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The world's largest amphibious aircraft, AG600, carried out its first takeoff and landing on waters in Hubei province's Jingmen on Saturday.

Developed and built by the State-owned aircraft giant Aviation Industry Corp of China, the seaplane took off from the Zhanghe Reservoir at 8:51 am and stayed airborne for about 15 minutes. It was piloted by four crew members.

AG600 made its maiden flight in late December in Zhuhai, a coastal city in Guangdong province, taking off and landing on an airport.

On Monday, the aircraft made a high-speed sailing test on Zhanghe Reservoir, fulfilling the final preparatory step before the first water-based takeoff, according to AVIC.

Development of the AG600 was approved by the central government in June 2009. Construction of the prototype began in March 2014 and was completed in July 2016.

The amphibious plane is one of three large-size aircraft to emerge from the nation's ambitious effort to become a top-tier player in the global aviation sector, joining the Y-20 strategic transport planedelivery of which began in July 2016 to the Chinese Air Forceand the C919 narrow-body jetliner, which is being flight-tested.

The AG600 will mainly be tasked with performing aerial firefighting and maritime search and rescue. It can also be refitted to conduct marine environmental inspections, marine resource surveys, anti-smuggling operations as well as personnel and supply transportation, according to AVIC.

Powered by four domestically designed WJ-6 turboprop engines, the AG600 is roughly the size of a Boeing 737. It has a maximum takeoff weight of 53.5 metric tons. These specifications make it the world's largest amphibious aircraft, surpassing Japan's ShinMaywa US-2 and Russia's Beriev Be-200.

The aircraft is designed for both land and water takeoffs and landings and has an operational range of more than 4,000 kilometers. It is capable of carrying 50 people during a maritime search and rescue mission.

When assigned to fight forest fires, it can collect 12 tons of water from a lake or sea in 20 seconds and then use the water to douse blazes over an area of about 4,000 square meters, according to AVIC.
By AFP

DUBAI: A complex man of contradictions, journalist Jamal Khashoggi went from being a Saudi royal family insider to an outspoken critic of the ultra-conservative kingdom's government, and was ultimately killed inside its consulate in Istanbul.

In his final column for The Washington Post, Khashoggi perhaps presciently pleaded for greater freedom of expression in the Middle East.

"The Arab world is facing its own version of an Iron Curtain, imposed not by external actors but through domestic forces vying for power," he wrote.

ALSO READ: Saudi Arabia admits Jamal Khashoggi killed in Istanbul consulate: State media

"The Arab world needs a modern version of the old transnational media so citizens can be informed about global events. More important, we need to provide a platform for Arab voices," Khashoggi wrote.

Now his voice has been permanently silenced.

The Saudi journalist -- who disappeared after entering his country's consulate in Istanbul on October 2 to obtain marriage papers -- went into self-imposed exile in the United States in 2017 after falling out with Saudi's powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

His disappearance has been shrouded in mystery, and triggered an international crisis for both Riyadh and Washington as Turkish officials accused Saudi Arabia of a state-sponsored killing.

Riyadh, after insisting that Khashoggi left its consulate alive, finally said over two weeks after his disappearance that he died in a fight that arose from a dispute with people he met there.

Bin Laden to Muslim brotherhood

Khashoggi came from a prominent Saudi family with Turkish origins.

His grandfather, Mohammed Khashoggi, was the personal doctor of Saudi Arabia's founder, King Abdul Aziz al-Saud. His uncle was the notorious arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi.

A friend of a young Osama bin Laden, a Muslim Brotherhood sympathiser, an aide to the Saudi royal family, a critic of the kingdom's regime and a liberal -- such conflicting descriptions were all ascribed to Khashoggi.

After graduating from Indiana State University in 1982, he began working for Saudi dailies, including the Saudi Gazette and Al-Sharq al-Awsat.

When he was sent to cover the conflict in Afghanistan, a picture of a young Khashoggi holding an assault rifle and dressed in Afghan clothing was widely disseminated.

Khashoggi did not fight in the country, but sympathised with the mujahideen in the 1980s war against the Soviet occupation, which was funded by the Saudis and the CIA.

He was known to have been drawn to the Muslim Brotherhood's policies seeking to erase the remnants of Western colonialism from the Arab world.

It was this shared vision that brought him closer to a young Osama bin Laden, who went on to found Al-Qaeda, which carried out the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.

As a young journalist, Khashoggi interviewed bin Laden several times, garnering international attention. But later in the 1990s, he distanced himself from the man who called for violence against the West.

Too progressive

Born in the Saudi holy city of Medina on October 13, 1958, Khashoggi spent his youth studying Islamic ideology and embraced liberal ideas.

But Saudi authorities came to see Khashoggi as too progressive and he was forced to resign as editor-in-chief of the Saudi daily Al-Watan in 2003 after serving just 54 days.

Over the years, he maintained ambiguous ties with Saudi authorities, having held advisory positions in Riyadh and Washington, including to Prince Turki al-Faisal, who ran Saudi Arabia's intelligence agency for more than 20 years.

When Faisal was appointed ambassador to Washington in 2005, Khashoggi went with him.

In 2007, Khashoggi returned to Al-Watan newspaper, lasting almost three years before being fired for "his editorial style, pushing boundaries of discussion and debate within Saudi society," according to Khashoggi's website.

He became close to Saudi billionaire Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal and together they launched in Manama a 24-hour news station, Al-Arab.

However, Bahrain -- a staunch Saudi ally -- shut the station down in 2015, less than 24 hours after it broadcast an interview with an opposition official.

Fear, intimidation

Khashoggi fled Saudi Arabia in September 2017, just months after Prince Mohammed was appointed heir to the region's most powerful throne.

Months later, Prince Al-Waleed and hundreds of officials and businessmen were arrested in November 2017 in what the Saudis called an anti-corruption campaign.

In an article published in the Post last year, Khashoggi, whose 60th birthday was on October 13, said that under Prince Mohammed -- the kingdom's de facto ruler -- Saudi Arabia was entering a new era of "fear, intimidation, arrests and public shaming."

He said he had been banned from writing in the pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat for defending the Muslim Brotherhood, which Riyadh has blacklisted as a terrorist organisation.

And he said Saudi authorities had barred him from using his verified Twitter account after he said the country should be "rightfully nervous about a Trump presidency."

Trump has expressed support for Crown Prince Mohammed, and his son-in-law and advisor Jared Kushner has deliberately cultivated close ties with the prince, known as MBS.

Khashoggi, who was due to marry his Turkish fiancee Hatice Cengiz this month, also criticised Saudi Arabia's role in the Yemen conflict and opposed a Saudi-led boycott of Qatar.

"For his domestic reform programme, the crown prince deserves praise. But at the same time, the brash and abrasive young innovator has not encouraged or permitted any popular debate in Saudi Arabia about the nature of his many changes," Khashoggi wrote in the British daily The Guardian in March.

"He appears to be moving the country from old-time religious extremism to his own 'You-must-accept-my-reform' extremism."
Ramananda Sengupta By

Express News Service

NEW DELHI: Reports that Maldives President elect-Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, better know as Ibu, is considering putting several Chinese-funded projects on hold, while reviewing others, have raised flags in Beijing.

On Friday, a newspaper quoted sources saying Ibu was exploring options to put several projects, part of Chinas ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in the Maldives, on hold.A journalist in Beijing, when contacted, said he was unaware of the report, but that It would not be so easy to cancel such massive infrastructure projects, because there might be huge penalties or debts involved. According to reports, Maldives faces liabilities of $1.4 billion, about a third of the countrys GDP, mostly for BRI projects.

The journalist however, conceded that we have noted with concern President-elect Solihs remarks against Chinese projects during the election campaign, as well as those by former President Mohamed Nasheed (2008-2012), and can only say they have been totally misinformed and misguided about Chinese intentions.

He also said India should seriously consider Chinas 2+1 suggestion, where we work together in the Maldives like we are now doing in Afghanistan.On Thursday, quizzed on reports that outgoing Maldives president, Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom, had filed a petition challenging the September 23 election verdict, MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar reiterated that India welcomes the acceptance of the verdict of the people of Maldives... In keeping with our Neighbourhood First Policy, India looks forward to working closely with the Maldives in further deepening our partnership.

On October 14, an editorial in Chinas state-run Global Times warned India against turning south Asian countries into a geopolitical tool.Former President Yameen had willingly welcomed Chinas Belt and Road Initiative-related investments, and when the opposition leader who vowed to review Chinese projects won the election in late September, China also expressed a willingness to deepen mutually-beneficial cooperation with the country and cement their long-standing friendship, it said.

According to the article, Many observers view elections in south Asian nations as a battle for influence between China and India.

South Asian stir

China has been looking to extert its dominance over the southeast Asian region with its Belt and Road Initiative which opens trade routes across countries
By PTI

KABUL: Dozens of Afghans were killed or wounded in poll-related violence Saturday as the legislative election turned chaotic with hundreds of polling centres failing to open and voters queueing for hours due to technical glitches and lack of staff.

Election organisers, who have been skewered over their shambolic preparations for the long-delayed ballot, extended voting until Sunday for 360 polling centres after hiccups with voter registration lists and biometric verification devices caused lengthy delays.

ALSO READ | Afghan parliamentary polls underway despite threats from Taliban

At least three people were killed and more than 30 wounded in multiple explosions across Kabul, acting health ministry spokesman Mohibullah Zeer said, after the Taliban warned voters to boycott the ballot "to protect their lives".

The Italian NGO Emergency said 37 people had been taken to its trauma hospital in Kabul, including a dead child.

An Independent Election Commission (IEC) employee was killed and seven others were missing after the Taliban attacked a polling centre in the northern province of Kunduz, destroying ballot boxes, provincial IEC director Mohammad Rasoul Omar said.

A man and women from the minority Sikh register to vote in Parliamentary elections in old city of Kabul, Afghanistan, Saturday. ( Photo | AP)

Three rockets also struck the Kunduz provincial capital, but there were no casualties.

The Taliban claimed it carried out 166 attacks on voting locations, checkpoints and military sites on Saturday morning.

Despite the threat of violence, large numbers of voters showed up at polling centres in major cities where they waited hours for them to open.

Most polling sites opened late after teachers employed to handle the voting process failed to show up on time, said the IEC, which promised to extend voting by four hours.

University student Mohammad Alem said he felt "frustrated" after spending more than three hours trying to vote in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif, only to discover his name was not on the registration list.

"There also were some problems with the biometric devices because they were already running out of charge," he said.

After waiting four hours at a polling centre, Tabish Forugh tweeted he had not seen "even remotely similar chaos" at previous elections.

Almost nine million people registered to vote in the parliamentary election, which is more than three years late.

But attacks across the country on Saturday are likely to deter many from turning up at the nearly 5,000 polling centres.

Hundreds of people were killed or wounded in the months leading up to the poll.

The killing of a powerful police chief in the southern province of Kandahar on Thursday further eroded confidence in the ability of security forces to protect voters.

Voting in Kandahar has been delayed by a week following the attack.

As well as Kunduz, there was a rocket attack near a polling station in the western province of Herat that a police spokesman said wounded a child and numerous explosions elsewhere.

Despite the risks, President Ashraf Ghani urged "every Aghan, young and old, women and men" to exercise their right to vote, after casting his ballot in Kabul.

Photos posted on social media showed scores of men and women clutching their identification documents lining up outside voting centres across the country amid a heavy security presence.

A woman dressed in a burqa leaving a polling centre in Mazar-i-Sharif told AFP she had been worried about "security incidents", but decided to vote anyway.

"We have to defy the violence," Hafiza, 57, said.

In previous years we were not happy with the elections, our votes were sold out. The Taliban issued several warnings in the days leading up to the poll, calling on candidates to withdraw from the race and for voters to stay home.

ALSO READ | Afghan national polls: Pakistan closes two border gates ahead of elections

At least 10 candidates out of more than 2,500 contesting the lower-house election have been killed.

Most of those standing are political novices, and include doctors, mullahs and journalists. Those with the deepest pockets are expected to win.

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, which has spearheaded international efforts to keep Afghan organisers on track, on Friday called on voters to "exercise their constitutional right to vote".

The poll is seen as a crucial test for next year's presidential election and an important milestone ahead of a UN meeting in Geneva in November where Afghanistan is under pressure to show progress on "democratic processes".

Preliminary results will be released on November 10 but there are concerns they could be thrown into turmoil if the biometric verification devices are broken, lost or destroyed.

Votes cast without the controversial machines will not be counted, the IEC has said.
By PTI

MOSCOW: Moscow on Saturday condemned Washington for indicting a Russian woman for interfering in US 2018 elections, saying the accusations were fabricated in order to impose further sanctions on Russia.

"We understand that Washington is fabricating a pretext in order to impose its notorious sanctions once more against our country," deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov was quoted as saying in a statement.

ALSO READ | Russian woman charged in first 2018 election meddling case

He complained that after previous accusations involving the 2016 presidential elections won by Donald Trump, "in Washington they are now trying to play the same card ahead of the approaching election day in the US".

On November 6, Americans will vote in mid-term congressional elections.

The finance chief of Russia's leading troll farm, named as Yelena Khusyainova, was indicted by the US Justice Department on Friday, becoming the first person to face charges of interfering in next month's vote.

Ryabkov accused "certain US politicians" of waging "a shameful slanderous campaign" in order to gain political advantage and "at the same time put pressure on Russia.

ALSO READ | China meddled in US elections too, is a bigger problem: Donald Trump

Moscow warned Washington that by "demonstrating enmity," it will just receive an even more forceful rebuff.
By AFP

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia on Saturday admitted that dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed inside its consulate in Istanbul, state media said, two weeks after his disappearance sparked global furore.

The kingdom also announced the sacking of a top intelligence official Ahmad al-Assiri and royal court media advisor Saud al-Qahtani, both top aides to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman who has faced mounting pressure over the Khashoggi affair.

Saudi journalist Khashoggi, a critic of the kingdom's leadership and a Washington Post contributor, was last seen on October 2 entering his country's consulate in Istanbul.

His disappearance had been shrouded in mystery and triggered an international crisis, with Turkish officials accusing Saudi Arabia of a state-sponsored killing.

ALSO READ: Saudis may blame intelligence official for Khashoggi killing: Washington Post

"The discussions between Jamal Khashoggi and those he met at the kingdom's consulate in Istanbul... devolved into a fistfight, leading to his death," the Saudi Press Agency said, citing the public prosecutor.

The kingdom announced that 18 people had been arrested in the ongoing probe.

The Saudi king also ordered the setting up of ministerial committee under the chairmanship of the crown prince to restructure the kingdom's intelligence agency and "define its powers accurately", state media said.

Shortly before Riyadh confirmed that Khashoggi had been killed, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Saudi King Salman agreed in telephone talks to continue cooperation in the investigation into the Khashoggi affair.

ALSO READ: US president Trump says Saudi journalist Khashoggi likely dead, warns of 'severe' response

Erdogan and Salman "emphasised the importance of continuing to work together with complete cooperation", said a Turkish presidential source, who asked not to be named.

The United States warned Friday of a "wide range" of responses should it determine that Saudi Arabia is behind the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, as Turkey widened its investigation into the scandal.

President Donald Trump said the United States, which is Saudi Arabia's biggest backer, could impose sanctions over the feared murder of Khashoggi.

His top diplomat Mike Pompeo told Voice of America Radio: "We'll certainly consider a wide range of potential responses."

The Trump administration has been notably slow to criticise Saudi Arabia, despite mounting evidence that Khashoggi, a critic of the Islamic petro-state's powerful crown prince, vanished after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

The Khashoggi case has presented Trump with one of the most acute foreign policy crises of his nearly two-year-old presidency.

Pro-government Turkish media have repeatedly claimed that Khashoggi was tortured and decapitated by a Saudi hit squad inside the diplomatic mission, although Turkey has yet to divulge details about the investigation.

The controversy has put the kingdom -- for decades a key Western ally and bulwark against Iran in the Middle East -- under unprecedented pressure to offer an explanation to take the heat off its rulers.
By Associated Press

ISTANBUL: Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi died in a "fistfight" in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, the kingdom claimed early Saturday, finally admitting that the writer had been slain at its diplomatic post. Authorities said 18 Saudi suspects were in custody and intelligence officials had been fired.

The overnight announcements in Saudi state media came more than two weeks after Khashoggi, 59, entered the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul for paperwork required to marry his Turkish fiancee, and never came out. They also contradicted assertions in Turkish media leaks that Khashoggi was tortured, killed and dismembered inside the consulate, claims the kingdom had rejected as "baseless."

But growing international pressure and comments by U.S. officials up to President Donald Trump forced the kingdom to acknowledge Khashoggi's death.

While it fired officials close to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia stopped short of implicating the heir-apparent of the world's largest oil exporter. King Salman, his father, appointed him to lead a committee that will restructure the kingdom's intelligence services after Khashoggi's slaying. No major decisions in Saudi Arabia are made outside of the ultraconservative kingdom's ruling Al Saud family.

ALSO READ | Donald Trump believes Saudi explanation for Jamal Khashoggi's death, lawmakers sceptical

The kingdom also offered a far different version of events than those given by Turkish officials, who have said an "assassination squad" from the kingdom including an official from Prince Mohammed's entourage and an "autopsy expert" flew in ahead of time and laid in wait for Khashoggi at the consulate. Beyond its statements attributed to anonymous officials, Saudi Arabia offered no evidence to support its claims.

Khashoggi, a prominent journalist and royal court insider for decades in Saudi Arabia, had written columns for The Washington Post critical of Prince Mohammed and the kingdom's direction while living in self-imposed exile in the U.S.

Barriers block the road leading to Saudi Arabia's consulate in Istanbul, Saturday .( Photo | AP)

"God have mercy on you my love Jamal, and may you rest in Paradise," Khashoggi's fiancee, Hatice Cengiz, tweeted following the Saudi announcements.

In a statement Friday night, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the U.S. will closely follow international investigations into Khashoggi's death and will advocate for justice that is "timely, transparent and in accordance with all due process."

Trump meanwhile called the Saudi announcement a "good first step," but said what happened to Khashoggi was "unacceptable."

The announcements came in a flurry of statements carried by the state-run Saudi Press Agency early Saturday morning.

"Preliminary investigations conducted by the Public Prosecution showed that the suspects had traveled to Istanbul to meet with the citizen Jamal Khashoggi as there were indications of the possibility of his returning back to the country," the statement read. "Discussions took place with the citizen Jamal Khashoggi during his presence in the consulate of the kingdom in Istanbul by the suspects (that) did not go as required and developed in a negative way, leading to a fistfight. The brawl led to his death and their attempt to conceal and hide what happened."

There's been no indication Khashoggi had any immediate plans to return to the kingdom.

The Saudi statements did not identify the 18 Saudis being held by authorities and did not explain how so many people could have been involved in a fistfight. The statement also did not shed any light on what happened to Khashoggi's body after his death.

"The kingdom expresses its deep regret at the painful developments that have taken place and stresses the commitment of the authorities in the kingdom to bring the facts to the public opinion, to hold all those involved accountable and bring them to justice," the statement said.

The kingdom at the same time announced the firing of four top intelligence officials, including Maj. Gen. Ahmed bin Hassan Assiri, a one-time spokesman for the Saudi military's campaign in Yemen who later became a confidant of Prince Mohammed.

Saud Qahtani, a powerful adviser to Prince Mohammed, also was fired. Qahtani had led Saudi efforts to isolate Qatar amid a boycott of the country by the kingdom and three other Arab nations as part of a political dispute.

ALSO READ | US president Trump says Saudi journalist Khashoggi likely dead, warns of 'severe' response

On Twitter, where Qahtani had launched vitriolic attacks against those he saw as the kingdom's enemies, he thanked the Saudi government for the "great opportunity they gave me to serve my country all those years"

"I will remain a loyal servant to my country for all times," he wrote.

Assiri had no immediate comment. Earlier this week, the Turkish pro-government newspaper Yeni Safak, citing what it described as an audio recording of Khashoggi's slaying, said a Saudi assassination squad seized the journalist after he entered the consulate, cutting off his fingers and later decapitating him. On Thursday, a leaked surveillance photo put Maher Abdulaziz Mutreb, a member of Prince Mohammed's entourage on trips to the U.S., France and Spain this year, at the consulate just ahead of Khashoggi's arrival.

Turkish crime scene investigators this week searched the Saudi Consulate building in Istanbul and the nearby residence of the Saudi consul general, and came out carrying bags and boxes. On Friday, investigators questioned staff and explored whether his remains could have been dumped outside Istanbul after his suspected killing, Turkish media and a security official said.

Trump has said that the consequences for the Saudis "will have to be very severe" if they are found to have killed Khashoggi, but has insisted that more facts must be known before making any judgements. He dispatched U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo earlier this week to both Saudi Arabia and Turkey to speak to officials on the case.

The president has made close ties to the kingdom a priority since taking office. Trump made his first overseas trip as president to Saudi Arabia and has touted his arms sales to the kingdom. Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, responsible for a coming peace proposal for Israel and the Palestinians, also has forged a close relationship with Prince Mohammed.

Trump's previous warnings over the case drew an angry response Sunday from Saudi Arabia and its state-linked media, including a suggestion that Riyadh could wield its oil production as a weapon. The U.S. president wants King Salman and OPEC to boost production to drive down high oil prices, caused in part by the coming re-imposition of oil sanctions on Iran in November.

It's unclear whether the Saudi announcement will be enough to staunch the criticism the kingdom faces from lawmakers in the U.S., its most-crucial ally. California Rep. Adam Schiff, the ranking Democrat on the House intelligence committee, called Saudi Arabia's claim that Khashoggi was "killed while brawling with a team of more than a dozen dispatched from Saudi Arabia is not credible."

He was "fighting for his life with people sent to capture or kill him," Schiff said.

Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who earlier this week said in a televised interview that Prince Mohammed "has got to go," added: "To say that I am skeptical of the new Saudi narrative about Mr. Khashoggi is an understatement."

ALSO READ | Saudi Arabia admits Jamal Khashoggi killed in Istanbul consulate: State media

Human rights groups like Amnesty International separately have been calling for a United Nations investigation into Khashoggi's killing.

"All along we were concerned about a whitewash, or an investigation by the entity suspected of involvement itself," Amnesty's Rawya Rageh said Saturday. "The impartiality of a Saudi investigation would remain in question."

Fraser reported from Ankara, Turkey, and Gambrell reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Associated Press journalists Mehmet Guzel and Ayse Wieting in Istanbul, Zeke Miller in Washington and Munir Ahmed in Islamabad contributed to this report.
By PTI

JOHANNESBURG: South Africa's government said at least 27 people, including children, have been killed in a multi-vehicle accident in Limpopo province.

The statement by President Cyril Ramaphosa's office said a minibus, truck and delivery vehicle crashed on Friday on a major highway between Mookgophong and Kranskop.

Ramaphosa said, "It is all the more worrying considering that barely a month ago 11 people lost their lives on the same stretch of road when a bus overturned.

" Neither the presidency nor emergency responder ER24 released details on what caused the accident.

South Africa's Road Traffic Management Corporation says 14,050 traffic deaths were recorded in 2017 alone.
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang pledged on Friday joint efforts between his country and Greece to push for new achievements in practical cooperation marked by port projects in Piraeus.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang(left) and Greek Premier Alexis Tsipras [Photo:China Plus]

Li made the remarks when meeting with his Greek counterpart, Alexis Tsipras, on the sidelines of the 12th Asia-Europe Meeting Summit in Brussels.

Li called Greece a reliable friend and partner of China and said China has attached great importance to its relations with Greece.

He said the Chinese side is happy to see the end of Greece's bailout program and that the country has opened a new chapter in socio-economic development.

China is ready to join efforts with Greece to intensify high-level exchanges, deepen mutually beneficial cooperation, and achieve mutually beneficial and win-win results, so as to lift their comprehensive strategic partnership to a new level, he said.

The Chinese side is willing to work with Greece to implement the cooperation agreement on the construction of the Belt and Road, Li said.

China, Li pledged, will encourage its capable enterprises to invest and develop in Greece, increase imports of Greece's competitive agro-products and deepen financial cooperation with the country based on the principles of commercialization and sustainability.

As countries with ancient civilizations, China and Greece should continue to enhance dialogue between different civilizations, blaze the trail for the diversified development of human civilization, and create a lasting impetus for mutual understanding and common development between the two countries, Li said.

Tsipras said the dialogue and cooperation between Greece and China are far-reaching, as both are countries with ancient civilizations that have made significant contributions to oriental and western civilizations.

China has stood together with Greece in times of difficulty, he said, adding that his country is now striving to advance socio-economic development, which produces vast room for Greek and China to carry out mutually beneficial cooperation.

The Greek side believes that the port projects in Piraeus will drive Greece-China cooperation in logistics and connectivity, and is ready to take this opportunity to strengthen bilateral cooperation and exchanges in economy, trade and investment within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative, to achieve common prosperity, he said.
Champaign, IL (61820)

Today

Becoming partly cloudy after some evening light rain. Low 32F. Winds NW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 60%..

Tonight

Becoming partly cloudy after some evening light rain. Low 32F. Winds NW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 60%.
PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa yesterday said his Government was aware and is gravely concerned by the manipulation of the economy by a group of people and some businesses aimed at destabilising the market through creation of artificial shortages and a black market economy.

Speaking at the 17th Bindura University of Science and Technology graduation ceremony in Bindura yesterday, President Mnangagwa warned those peddling false news on the social media.

He said the net was closing in on them.

We also note the wanton peddling of false news through social media to cause despondency and alarm among the people.
At least 61 people were killed and over 70 others injured in northern Indian state of Punjab after a train ran into a crowd watching festivities of a Hindu festival on the railway tracks, officials said Saturday.

A crowd gathers at the site of a train accident in Amritsar, India, Friday, Oct. 19, 2018. [Photo:IC]

The incident took place Friday evening at 6:45 p.m. local time at Jaura Phatak in Amritsar, the Sikh holy city of Punjab.

"So far 61 people, including women and children, have been killed in the incident and 72 others who were injured have been admitted at a hospital here," a local government official Rajesh Sharma in Amritsar told the media.

Eyewitnesses and officials said the crowd had gathered to watch the celebrations of a Hindu festival Dussehra when a train ran over hundreds of them standing on a railway track.

Dussehra is a Hindu festival marking the triumph of good over evil. Effigies are burnt and fireworks are set off as part of the festival in north India.

"As demon king Ravana's effigy was located very close to the railway tracks at Jaura Phatak, a section of the crowd retreated towards the tracks to watch the celebrations, almost ignorant of standing on the tracks," local man Parminder Singh told Xinhua.

"As the firecracker-filled effigy was lit and fireworks went off, there was lot of noise and people who were hit could not see or hear the train that mowed them."

Eyewitnesses said many on the tracks were busy filming the festivities on their phones, and did not notice the train approaching at high speed.

The local government has describing the incident as tragic and ordered an inquiry into the accident.

Officials said the state has decided to observe a mourning on Saturday in wake of the incident.

"The state will remain in mourning today in view of Amritsar train mishap. All offices and educational institutions will remain closed," a government spokesman quoted state's Chief Minister Amarinder Singh as having said.

Following the accident authorities rushed police and disaster management teams to the spot to carry out rescue work.

Reports said around 700 people were witnessing the effigy burning and over 300 were on the tracks.

The train that hit the crowds was travelling from Jalandhar to Amritsar city.

Angry residents blame the local government officials for the deaths.

"The administration and the Dussehra committee are to be blamed for the deaths as they should have not allowed to organize the celebrations near the tracks or halted the movement of trains around this hour," Khulwant Bhullar, another local resident said. "No alarm was raised when the train was approaching."

The local government has announced a relief of around 6,807 U.S. dollars to family of each deceased and announced free medical treatment to the injured in hospitals.

Indian President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have expressed grief over the tragedy.

"Extremely saddened by the train accident in Amritsar. The tragedy is heart-wrenching. My deepest condolences to the families of those who lost their loved ones and I pray that the injured recover quickly. Have asked officials to provide immediate assistance that is required," Modi said in a statement.

Indian Railway Minister Piyush Goyal also expressed grief over the deaths and said his ministry officials were on the spot assisting in rescue and relief measures.

"Shocked and deeply saddened by the tragic train incident that occurred in Amritsar. My heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims. I pray for the injured to recover quickly," the minister said. "Railways is conducting immediate relief and rescue operations."

There are fears that the death toll is likely to go up further, officials said.
One of the teachers had this to say: Concerned parents called for this cleansing ceremony and the thinking was that it would help address these strange happenings. We are suffering. This is real. We believe some teachers here are into witchcraft. A fortnight ago, we woke up to see heaps of faeces at four teachers houses. There was also a dead owl which was seen in one of the classrooms, but to our surprise one of us argued that the owl should be buried and not burnt as most of us had suggested.
Its Canoes Were Used to Cross

the Channel, So It Halted Sales
(Newser)  The 8-year-old girl who made sensational headlines after finding a pre-Viking sword in a Swedish lake has given her side of the story to the Guardian. In a first-person take, Saga Vanecek says she was in search of rocks to skim from the bottom of Lake Vidostern in the southern part of the country when she hit upon something that felt like a stick. Daddy, Ive found a sword! she recalls saying as she raised it like a warrior, making her the first to touch the weapon in some 1,500 years. Saga says she was forced to keep the historic find a secret while local officials investigated and sought to find other relics without interference from other treasure hunters. Even worse, she couldn't keep the sword!

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"I had to give the sword to the local museumDaddy explained that its part of history and important to share it with others," she laments. Meanwhile, Saga says she raising money in a bid to have a replica of the sword made. The BBC notes the water level in the lake was low due to drought, which made it easier for Saga to find the sword. An expert from a local museum says the "exceptionally preserved" sword is about 33 inches long and came in a wood-and-leather sheath. A brooch was also found in the lake, but how the weapon came to be there remains a mystery. What's clear is that the major find has made Saga a star and, perhaps, even a monarch. "People on the internet are saying I am the queen of Sweden," Saga says. (An even older, and controversial, find was made in Switzerland last year.)
(Newser)  Even at the age of 82, Bruce Dern is known for his fit lifestyle, heading out for daily jogs around Los Angeles. The actor has had a bit of a setback, though it appears he'll recover: TMZ reports Dern was running in Runyon Canyon close to 4pm Friday when he fell; his manager tells Variety some slippery gravel got under his shoe and caused the fall. The Los Angeles Fire Department converged on the scene to assist, and Dern was taken to a local hospital, where it was determined he fractured his hip, his rep tells TMZ.

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However, his publicist tells Variety "he was in good spirits," and a rep tells the AP he was released from the hospital Friday night. Dern starred in the 2013 film Nebraska, which earned him an Academy Award nomination for best actor. He also played in the films Coming Home, The Hateful Eight, Black Sunday, and White Boy Rick. His rep says Dern just finished filming Quentin Tarantino's upcoming movie Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. The actor is currently filming Showtime's upcoming comedy series Black Monday.

(Read more Bruce Dern stories.)
(Newser)  Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed in a "fistfight" in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, the kingdom claimed Saturday, admitting for the first time the writer had been slain at its diplomatic post, the AP reports. Authorities say 18 Saudi suspects were in custody for his slaying and that four top intelligence officials had been fired. The overnight announcements in Saudi state media came more than two weeks after Khashoggi, 59, entered Istanbul's Saudi Consulate for paperwork required to marry his Turkish fiancee and never came out. Since his disappearance, the kingdom had rejected as "baseless" Turkish fears he was killed and dismembered there, but growing international pressure and comments by US officials seem to have forced the kingdom to acknowledge the slaying. While it fired officials close to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom stopped short of implicating him.

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The Saudi statements didn't ID the 18 Saudis being detained, nor explain what happened to Khashoggi's body. It also offered a far different version of events than those of Turkish officials, who've said an "assassination squad" from the kingdom, including an official from Prince Mohammed's entourage and an "autopsy expert," flew in ahead of time and laid in wait for Khashoggi at the consulate. In a statement Friday, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said the US will closely follow international investigations into Khashoggi's death and will call for justice that is "timely, transparent, and in accordance with all due process." Trump called the Saudi announcement a "good first step" but said what happened to Khashoggi was "unacceptable." Doubts remain on the Saudi story: California Rep. Adam Schiff called the Saudi claims "not credible," while GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham said, "To say that I am skeptical of the new Saudi narrative about Mr. Khashoggi is an understatement." (Read more Jamal Khashoggi stories.)
(Newser)  Paul Manafort was there in a Virginia federal courtroom Friday to hear details on his sentencing, and his appearance seemed markedly different than the last time he was seen in public. NBC News notes the 69-year-old looked "visibly grayer," and that he showed up, in a wheelchair, wearing a green prison jumpsuitnot his usual tailored suitand missing his right shoe. "There are significant issues with Mr. Manafort's health concerning confinement," his lawyer, Kevin Downing, told the judge, asking that the sentencing be sped up so Manafort, if kept in prison, could be moved to a facility better able to manage his maladies. A person said to be "familiar with Manafort's condition" tells CNN his issue is serious and is inflammation-based, tied to what he's been eating.

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Judge TS Ellis had earlier struck down the Manafort legal team's request that their client be permitted to wear a regular suit to Friday's hearing, with Ellis noting "defendants who are in custody post-conviction are, as a matter of course, not entitled to appear for sentencing or any other hearing in street clothing," per NBC. Ellis gave Manafort a sentencing date of Feb. 8, where he'll hear his fate on eight counts of tax evasion and bank fraud. The judge also dismissed 10 additional charges on which the jury deadlocked during the trial, though CNN notes if Manafort doesn't keep cooperating with Robert Mueller's investigation, those charges could be reinstated. Earlier this week, CNN reported Manafort and his attorneys visited Robert Mueller's DC office at least nine times over the past month, where they hunkered down for about six hours each time. (Manafort's deal to avoid a second trial.)
(Newser)  Hundreds of exotic animals were taken from two Pennsylvania homes in what officials there are calling one of the worst cases of animal hoarding they've seen. Per CBS Philadelphia, 245 pets were seized Thursday from a home in Montgomery County. Authorities say the animals included snakes, ferrets, skunks, tortoises, guinea pigs, birds, dogs, cats and turtles, among others. Many of the animals "in various stages of neglect" were reportedly in cages and tubs that were stacked atop one another in the home.

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Per WPVI, the raid was the second in the area following an earlier operation in Lehigh County at a residence officials say is connected to the same two suspects who occupied the home in the most recent raid. All told, the two homes contained over 300 animals. One of the suspects reportedly told officials the animals were his pets. However, an investigation remains ongoing and charges ranging from citations to felonies could be filed. (As with so many of these cases, officials reported the stench in the residences was overwhelming.)
(Newser)  Is painting your lawn the same as putting up a sign? A Texas family says it is after painting "BETO" on their front yardbut their homeowner's association wants the message removed, the Hill reports. Shannon Bennett and her husband say they painted the letters in support of Rep. Beto O'Rourke, the Democratic challenger of Sen. Ted Cruz, to prevent sign stealing in a heavily pro-Cruz neighborhood in Katy, Texas. But before they had finished the sign Sunday night, the Chesterfield Community Association's president drove up and gave them a piece of his mind: "He was very hostile," Bennett, 48, tells the Star-Telegram. "This is truly a shock, that they became so angry."

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The association left them a notice Tuesday saying they had violated the HOA's landscaping code by creating a political sign "attached to plant material," ABC 13 reports. Bennett says it was "clearly written in a fit of rage" and gave them two different schedules by which to remove the sign unless they appeal the ruling within 30 days. So she called the community manager and said she would request a hearing, per the Houston Chronicle. According to Texas property code, an HOA can't stop the posting of "one or more signs advertising a political candidate" but can impose restrictions about signs attached to plants or bigger than four by six feet. And the Bennetts' sign (see it here) is a big one. But Bennett is standing by their work: "We wanted to be creative," she says. (See what O'Rourke called Cruz in their recent debate.)
(Newser)  You can fly free in November, if you like surprises. JetBlue plans to fly a plane-load of people to an unknown destination Nov. 27 to volunteer for an unknown cause for three days, USA Today reports. Anyone over 18 can apply here by Oct. 26 if they're willing to answer questions about their philanthropic interests, per People. A sample question: "If volunteer hours were stored in a karma bank, how big would your account be?" JetBlue is saying little else, but participants will leave from JFK Airport in New York and volunteer in three areas championed by JetBlue for Good: the environment, community, and youth and education. (Read more JetBlue stories.)
(Newser)  Vermont's state legislature only had one female black lawmaker. Now, there are nonebecause Kiah Morris quit last month amid a rash of apparent vandalism, home invasions, and racially fueled threats. "There were individuals in the community and throughout the state that we were finding were parts of white supremacist groups," she tells the BBC. Because Vermont is considered so progressive, she says, "we just sort of fell asleep and didn't pay attention to that." Elected in 2014 to represent the town of Bennington, Morris abruptly scuttled her re-election campaign in August and quit altogether in September due to "continued harassment" and her husband's health issues, she wrote on Facebook. Now she's divulging the details.

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Her family suffered home invasions and found swastikas painted on nearby trees, Morris recently told the New York Times. She also got a restraining order against an online harasser, but the threats kept coming. The 42-year-old Chicago native says her support for gun control legislationwhich beefed up background checks and banned bump stocks and large magazines when it passed in Aprilled to an intolerable level of threats and harassment. Colleagues and friends tried to stop her from quitting, and Vermont's governor, Republican Phil Scott, said he'd support her campaign because hate would win if she stepped down, but Morris wasn't buying it. "These are incredibly violent times, and I do not feel any need to martyr myself or my family," she says. "...So I win because I chose to take my life back." (Meanwhile, a transgender candidate is making history in Vermont.)
Watch the ceremony

After Venice and Hong Kong, the 72 watches pre-selected by the jury of the 18th Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Geneve (GPHG) are being exhibited from October 17th to 21st in Singapore by renowned retailer The Hour Glass, within the setting of its Malmaison boutique on Orchard Road.

Michael Tay, Raymond Loretan and Fabrice Filliez Swiss Abassador in Singapore  GPHG

On show for five days within this environment imbued with art and culture, the exhibition open to the public welcomes visitors eager to admire the years finest watch creations, competing to win the prestigious Aiguille dOr Grand Prix or one of the 16 awards to be handed out in Geneva on November 9th.

It gives me great pleasure to be part of this distinctive global platform that celebrates design and engineering innovation in the watch industry, says Michael Tay, Group Managing Director of Singapores leading watch retailer and member of the jury of the GPHG 2018. "Our organizational mission to advance watch culture necessitates us to devote resources to deepen our engagement with the watch collecting community both in Singapore and in the region. Endorsing and presenting this public exhibition is one such important exercise that will continue promoting the appreciation of horology and the watchmaking arts."

 GPHG

The principal partner of the GPHG, LGT Private Banking, is also taking part in the event by choosing to offer its clients exclusive initiation sessions into the technical and artistic finesse of the timepieces on show, in the company of watchmaking experts. A rare opportunity for these end customers to admire within a single location the diversity of todays watchmaking creativity expressed through models by more than 40 different brands.

The next stop for the Roadshow is Geneva, where a collective exhibition initiated by the GPHG and featuring several local institutions will invite the public to discover the multiple facets of the contemporary watchmaking art, from November 1st to 14th 2018 at the Musee dart et dhistoire.
(Newser)  A disturbing study out of Bowling Green State University has found that US police officers were charged in hundreds of rapes over the course of less than a decade. Per CNN, researchers behind the findings concluded that cops were charged in 405 forcible rapes in the nine years between 2005 and 2013. In order to compile their list, which includes other charges, researchers say they took to crowdsourcing because there is no comprehensive database that exists to document crimes committed by officers.

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As WVLT notes, study authors say the nature of their information gathering means the number could be higher. Experts also say victims of crimes perpetrated by police are frequently reluctant to come forward. The BSU study found that even more police officers were accused of crimes classified as forcible fondling, reporting 636 instances of such charges. (In just the last week, one Maryland officer was stripped of his badge after he was charged with the rape of an undocumented immigrant during a traffic stop.)
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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 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Gaining exposure to an international market and finding B2B networking opportunities were the most beneficial aspects of GITEX for Bahraini start-ups that participated in this years edition of the event, they said.

Participation in GITEX has been an invaluable experience for many Bahraini start-ups, which attended this years edition of the event, it is learnt.

Thousands of people including hundreds from Bahrain attended the prime technology event held in Dubai. Top industry players from around the world exhibited their best offerings at the event.

A wide variety of futuristic technologies were showcased at this years edition of the event, which was held at Dubai World Trade Centre.

Over 60 entities including companies, government entities and start-ups from Bahrain took part in this years edition of the premier technology event.
The CleanUp Bahrain team yesterday kicked off Think Pink Beach CleanUp in support of Think Pink Bahrains month of October awareness event for breast cancer.

More than 80 volunteers including citizens and expatriates took part in the initiative. Speaking to Tribune, Ali Alqaseer, Co-founder of CleanUp Bahrain, said The designated beach was Jid-Alhajj, where volunteers joined from all parts of Bahrain, local and international, of all ages, genders, races, united for one purpose and one goal.

The goal was to take care of our mother, which is our planet  the mother earth. The participants managed to remove 620kg of waste - 460kg general waste and 160kg plastic waste. The participants have followed the instructions well as separation; segregation of the waste is a key element of all beach cleanups.
The Information and eGovernment Authority (iGA) briefed iGA staff on the Voluntary Retirement Scheme, a one-off initiative launched as part of Bahrains Fiscal Balance Programme.

During the briefing - which took place at iGAs branches of Muharraq, Isa Town and Juffair - iGAs Acting Director of Human and Financial Resources, Mohamed Jasim Sayyar, outlined the criteria for the scheme and its role in encouraging entrepreneurship as well as participation in the private sector.
The Secretariat-General of the Supreme Council for Women (SCW) held a preparatory working meeting at the SCWs premises here yesterday.

The meeting, attended by the SCWs members, discussed the results of the evaluation of the National Plan for the Advancement of Bahraini Women (2013- 2017), and the expected action in the coming period, in accordance with the programmes and initiatives of the next Government Action Plan and the fiscal balance strategy of the national economy, and their impact on the Bahraini womens advancement plans.

The visions and remarks will be included in the recommendations to be submitted to next months meeting, set to be chaired by Her Royal Highness Princess Sabeeka bint Ibrahim Al Khalifa, Wife of HM the King and SCW President.
The Director-General of Anti-corruption and Economic and Electronic Security announced yesterday the department had monitored and followed up the complaints by some candidates over receiving threats on social media asking to withdraw their candidatures.

He said that an investigation showed that those social media accounts were managed in Iran by the political groups operating outside Bahrain, including the dissolved Al Wefaq Society, to disrupt the election process.

He said that to protect the elections from any foreign interference, the citizens should report such cases through the hotline 992 or via 992@interior.gov.bh
In a late phone call on Friday, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi discussed topics of mutual cooperation with Saudi Arabia's Salman bin Abdel Aziz, presidential spokesman Bassam Rady announced in a statement.

El-Sisi and Salman also talked about the latest developments in numerous regional matters of mutual concern and ways of coordinating joint efforts in a manner that "achieves stability in the region and the interests of the two nations."

Diplomatic relations between Egypt and Saudi Arabia were established in 1926 with the signing of the Friendship Agreement between the two states.

Egyptian-Saudi bilateral relations are viewed as one of the most prominent within the Arab world.

Saudi Arabia is ranked the first among the Arab States and second among the world in terms of foreign investments in Egypt.

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More than half of Albanias population would like to move to richer countries with better schooling, a study showed yesterday.

The study, led by Russell King of the University of Sussex and Albanian researcher Ilir Gedeshi, found that the countrys potential migration had grown from 44 per cent in 2007 to 52pc in 2018.

Since Albania toppled communism in 1991, more than 1.4 million Albanians, nearly half the current population of the Balkan country, have emigrated mostly to neighbouring Italy and Greece and less to the Britain, Germany and the United States.

The study showed economic motives were still the main factor, but less so, and that those mulling migration now prefer Germany and the US. Some 65,000 Albanians applied for asylum in Germany in 2015-16, with most of them rejected as it began welcoming Syrians fleeing war at home. Germany has since begun welcoming doctors and nurses, almost all new graduates.

As the global and economic crisis since 2008 hit the economies of Italy and Greece, home to about one million Albanians, remittances to Albania, key to alleviating poverty, shrunk by one third and 133,544 migrants came back home.
Cincinnati, OH (45221)

Today

Cloudy with rain developing after midnight. Low 41F. SSW winds shifting to NW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall near a half an inch..

Tonight

Cloudy with rain developing after midnight. Low 41F. SSW winds shifting to NW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall near a half an inch.
Doyin Okupe, a former aide to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, has opined that President Muhammadu Buhari has already lost the 2019 pre...





Doyin Okupe, a former aide to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, has opined that President Muhammadu Buhari has already lost the 2019 presidential election before its kick off.





Giving his reason, Okupe noted that some of the bigwigs that worked with President Buhari In 2015 have deserted him.





Mentioning names, Okupe pointed out that Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and former Kano State Governor, Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso were Buharis backbone during the last election.





In a tweet on Friday night, Okupe claimed that the 2019 election had already been lost and won.





President Muhammadu Buhari will battle Atiku Abubakar who emerged as presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP in the election.





Okupe tweeted, In 2015, the commanders of PMBs victory Army were: Atiku, Tinubu, Saraki and Kwankwaso.





Today, 3 out of 4 commanders have deserted.




Egypt is expected to witness temperatures reaching as high as 34 degrees for the next three days, Egyptian Meteorological Authority (EMA) official Mahmoud Shahin told privately-owned channel Extra News.

Last week, temperatures in most of the country's dropped at night to as low as 15 degrees.

Shahin explained that the upcoming heatwave is due to West-Saharan winds.

The official highlighted that rain is expected to fall in western cities such as Salloum and Siwa Oasis in the northwest of the country.

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The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has filed corruption charges against a former governor of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose, and hi...

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has filed corruption charges against a former governor of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose, and his hotel, Spotless Investment Limited, Saturday.It was learnt that the EFCC filed the charges before the Federal High Court in Abuja.Fayose is accused of receiving about N1.3bn when he ought to have known that the said fund formed part of the proceeds of an unlawful activity of Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd.), the then National Security Adviser, and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 18(a) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011 (as amended in 2012) and punishable under Section 15 (3) of the same Act.The former governor was accused of sending his aide, Abiodun Agbele, to receive about N1.3bn from a former Minister of State for Defence, Musiliu Obanikoro, sometime in June 2014.The money was said to have emanated from Dasukis office.According to the EFCC, the N1.3bn was flown to Akure Airport and Obanikoro handed over the money to Agbele, who is also standing trial for corruption.The EFCC said officials of Zenith Bank arrived at the Akure Airport tarmac in a bullion van to convey all the cash to the banks vault located at 13, Alagbaka Estate, Akure.Attached as evidence are bank tellers Agbele allegedly gave as bank instructions at different times to pay in money into Fayoses Zenith Bank account even after the elections.According to the commission, Agbele directed the bank to pay N137m into the account of Ayodele Fayose with number 1003126654 and Bank Verification Number 22338867502. The bank teller dated June 26, 2014, was filled by Agbele with teller number 0556814.Agbele also allegedly directed the bank to transfer N118,760,000 to the same account and paid in N50m cash into Fayoses account.The commission said on April 7, 2015, several months later, Fayose personally moved N300m to his fixed deposit account at Zenith Bank with number 9013074033 with his same BVN.The account is domiciled at 15 Olusola Abiona Street, Estate, Alapere, Ketu, Lagos.According to the anti-graft agency, on the instruction of Fayose, Agbele deposited N100m to the account of Spotless Investment Limited, a hotel which is owned by Fayose and his wife, Olayemi.Fayose allegedly used part of the money to buy houses in Abuja and Lagos. The houses have since been seized while his bank accounts with a balance of N380m have been frozen.No date has been fixed for hearing.
Former Aviation minister, Femi Fani-Kayode on Saturday revealed that he spoke with the leader of the Indigenous people of Biafra, IPOB, ...

Former Aviation minister, Femi Fani-Kayode on Saturday revealed that he spoke with the leader of the Indigenous people of Biafra, IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu.





Fani-Kayode, in a post on his Twitter page, said Kanu who suddenly reappeared in Jerusalem, promised to work with him to vote out President Buhari in 2019.





He tweeted: I just received a call from my brother Nnamdi Kanu.





I am delighted that he is alive and well. I commend his strength and courage even as I marvel at the loyalty, resilience, and commitment of his lawyer Ifeanyi Ejiofor and IPOB.

We have agreed to work together to VOTE Buhari out.





Meanwhile, the pro-Biafra leader is set to speak for the first time since he resurfaced in Jerusalem on Friday.




Former minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode has reacted to the re-appearance of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB,...





Former minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode has reacted to the re-appearance of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu.





A video surfaced online yesterday where the IPOB leader was seen donning a jewish outfit as he prayed at the Wailing Wall in the City of David, Jerusalem.





The IPOB leader was last seen in Nigeria on September 10, 2017 after military men invaded his residence in Afaraukwu community in Abia State during the Operation Python Dance II.





Reacting to sudden re-appearance of Kanu, Fani-Kayode on his Twitter page on Saturday listed some popular freedom fighters who are now deceased and added Kanus name at the bottom of the list as Resurrected.





He wrote: Che Guevera-killed Oct. 9th,1967.





Maurice Bishop- killed Oct. 19th,1983.









Samora Machel- killed Oct. 19th,1986.





Dele Giwa- killed Oct. 19th,1986.





Thomas Sankara- killed Oct. 15th,1987.





Muammar Ghaddafi- killed Oct 20th, 2011.





Nnamdi Kanu- resurrected Oct. 19th, 2018.





Meanwhile, the Biafra Leader is set to speak for the first time, since he resurfaced in Jerusalem on Friday.




Peter Obi, ex-governor of Anambra state, has appealed to stakeholders in the south-east to support his nomination as running mate to A...





Peter Obi, ex-governor of Anambra state, has appealed to stakeholders in the south-east to support his nomination as running mate to Atiku Abubakar, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate.





Obi, who was in Enugu to discuss with Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, governor of the state, and some elders, said the vice-presidential position would help the Ndigbo settle the issue of marginalisation.





The south-east leaders and governors of the region had protested against Obis nomination, saying they were not consulted.





contravened an initial agreement that the leaders will collectively endorse a candidate for any position zoned to the region. David Umahi, governor of Ebonyi and chairman of the south-east governors forum, said the choice of Obicontravened an initial agreement that the leaders will collectively endorse a candidate for any position zoned to the region.





Obi, however, said the success or otherwise of his nomination would depend on the leaders of the south-east.





This nomination is about our own area. We cannot continue to say we are marginalised. These are some of the opportunities to address whatever we think is not in our positions, Obi said.





I have served as governor, so people know a bit of my record. I am here to say to you (Ugwuanyi), I remain one of you. Everybody knows that I believe in Enugu. I believe this is our capital and it remains so.




The Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, said its leader, Nnamdi Kanu, who resurfaced Friday afternoon in Jerusalem where he was seen pray...

The Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, said its leader, Nnamdi Kanu, who resurfaced Friday afternoon in Jerusalem where he was seen praying will reveal his ordeal in the hands of the Nigerian Military, who allegedly abducted him last year September.





The Director of Media and Publicity of IPOB, Emma Powerful, who spoke to our correspondent on phone, said Kanu will take his time to rest before making an official release.





We thank God for our leader, he was seen today (Friday) in Jerusalem praying at the Wailing Wall.





I think he will take his time and rest, but very soon, he will speak to the world on his travails.





Asked if the group knew how he landed in Jerusalem, since he was allegedly abducted by Nigerian military in his house in Umuahia, Powerful said, that is what our leader will tell the world when he addresses.




The Minister of Labour, Dr. Chris Ngige, has said that the Organised Labour cannot fix a figure to be paid for Federal Government. ...





The Minister of Labour, Dr. Chris Ngige, has said that the Organised Labour cannot fix a figure to be paid for Federal Government.





He said this while calling on Organised Labour to accept the new minimum wage proposal, considering the capacity and ability of the government and the private sector to pay.





Ngige made the call when the new Director-General of Nigeria Employers Consultative Association, NECA, Timothy Olawale, visited his office on Friday in Abuja





The Minister had earlier, while labour leaders were threatening to call out workers for full strike over the minimum wage issue, said that the Federal Government had offered to pay N24, 000 to the workers.

But, the workers leaders countered, saying that N30, 000 was the amount agreed on by the committee saddled with the responsibility.





Ngige pointed out to NECA DG that it was imperative for organised labour to accept the proposed figure instead of the N30, 000 in line with social dialogue and the overall interest of the nation.





We need to arrive at a figure, which the employers can afford to pay as an employee cannot fix a figure for the employer.





Rather, it must be based on collective bargaining and mutual agreement by the tripartite partners.





It is not a function of moving motions or voting at the National Tripartite Negotiation Committee to insist that the figure must be as the organised labour appears to make it look.




Emmanuel Kanu, the younger brother to the leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, has spoken on his br...

Emmanuel Kanu, the younger brother to the leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, has spoken on his brothers appearance at a worship place in Israel.





He spoke with newsmen in Umuahia, after the news went viral on Friday.





I can boldly confirm to you that the person in the video is my brother, Kanu. He was praying in the video that we saw.





We are happy that he is still alive and we will try to establish communication with him, Emmanuel said.





He said that the news was received with wild jubilation in their family and Isiama Afaraukwu community in general.





Everybody in my family and the entire community is celebrating and thanking God since we received the news, he said.





He said that the Deputy Director of the organisation, Uche Ejiofor, also confirmed the online video report, when the family spoke with him on cell phone.





Afaraukwu community had declared Kanu and his parents missing in the aftermath of the Sept. 14, 2017 alleged invasion of their country home by members of the Operation Pyton Dance II.





Leaders of the three component villages of Afaraukwuad also claimed that the whereabouts of Kanus father, Eze Israel Kanu, remained unknown.




Ifeanyi Ejiofor, the lawyer of Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), has confirmed the authenticity of the vide...

Ifeanyi Ejiofor, the lawyer of Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), has confirmed the authenticity of the video where the Biafra agitator was seen observing spiritual rites in Jerusalem.





In the video, Kanu who was dressed like a Jew, held what looked liked a scripture.





In a statement on Saturday, Ejiofor said he received a statement from Kanu saying that the video was not doctored.





Ejiofor alongside some IPOB members had accused the military of keeping Kanu away from the public since his Abia residence was raided in September 2017.

Emmanuel, a younger brother of the IPOB leader, had asked the military to produce the corpse of Kanu if he had been killed.





In the statement, Ejiofor said Kanu would make a broadcast within 24 hours.





I woke up yesterday to scintillating news making round the social and online media to the effect that my client (Nnamdi Kanu) was sighted in Jerusalem during a prayer session, the statement read.





Initially, I wanted to disbelieve it but for the source, struggling at the same time to come to reality that God has kept to His Promises after the murderous invasion of his home on the 14th day of September 2017, by rampaging Nigerian Soldiers, that saw the horrific blood carnage witnessed in his home on this black day.





But the God of Isaac, Abraham and Jacob has put enemies to shame, by the development of yesterday. I cannot forget in a haste the anxiety that had enveloped me for this past 13 months .The anxiety over the uncertainty of his safety after my last contact with him on the 14th day of September 2017. A day I can never forget for the rest of my life.





On the face of this cheerful news staring on my face, I immediately intensified effort to ascertain the veracity or otherwise of the video clip. Only, this morning, I received a direct confirmation from my client, hearing once from him after 13 months in captivity.





I am very delighted therefore, to use this singular opportunity to announce to the world that my client is the very person seen in the pictures/video. That I can confirm authoritatively.





Furthermore, the shocking tale of how he made it alive once again will be made public in his scheduled world press broadcast to be beamed live within the next 24 hours.





Ejiofor said Kanu would reveal what happened at his residence during the military invasion.





He expressed gratitude to Kanus supporters for their prayers and encouragement while the IPOB leader was away from the public.





The general public and indeed the world is advised to keep a date with this broadcast. The world will now hear from the horses mouth, the gory accounts of what happened in my clients home on the 14th day of September 2017, only tomorrow, he said.





Thank you all for your prayers which had sustained him throughout the period of 13 months in captivity. To His most Mighty name shall all the glory be ascribed unto.




Abdullahi Ganduje, the Governor of Kano state, on Friday met with President Muhammadu Buhari. Ganduje accompanied a delegation of Ti...

Abdullahi Ganduje, the Governor of Kano state, on Friday met with President Muhammadu Buhari.





Ganduje accompanied a delegation of Tijjaniyya Shura Council of Nigeria to a courtesy call to the Aso Presidential Villa in Abuja.

This was revealed by Gandujes media aide, Salihu Tanko Yakasai, via his Twitter page.





H.E @GovUmarGanduje today accompanied a delegation of Tijjaniyya Shura Council of Nigeria to a courtesy call with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Aso Presidential Villa, Abuja. #GandunAiki, Yakasai wrote.





This comes a day after the Kano House of Assembly opened a probe into the bribe-taking videos that implicated the Governor.

Raising a matter of urgent public importance on Monday, a member representing Warawa Constituency, Labaran Madari, said the assembly should investigate the authenticity of the video and take measures.




Ben Murray-Bruce, the senator representing Bayelsa East has stated three things Nigerians should look out for in Peter Obi, running ma...





Ben Murray-Bruce, the senator representing Bayelsa East has stated three things Nigerians should look out for in Peter Obi, running mate to the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.





Bruce in a post on Saturday on his Twitter page, said Obi is a man with Character, competence and Connections





According to him, the three aforementioned qualities should determine the kind of vice president Obi will be, not the fact that he hails from Anambra State.





The Bayelsa lawmaker also used the medium to call for an end to Identity politics, urging Nigerians to watch out for those qualities in Obi rather than where he comes from.

Bruce wrote: It is time for Nigeria to bury identity politics.





Where you come from should not define where you end up. Character, competence and connections, are the 3 Cs that should matter in politics.




Egypt said on Saturday that it values the results of the preliminary investigations released by Saudi Arabias prosecutor- general in the case of of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a statement by the Egyptian Foreign Ministry read.

The statement stressed that this step is proof of the kingdoms desire and commitment to discover the truth of this incident and to take the necessary legal action against all involved parties.

Saudis recent decisions confirm the Kingdom's commitment to follow the course of a transparent investigation within the jurisdictions of the law to ensure full disclosure of the truth, the statement continued.

Egypt believes that the decisive and brave actions taken by his Majesty, Custodian of the Two Holy Sites, in this regard are in line with his established approach to respect the principles of law and the implementation of effective justice, concluded the statement.

Meanwhile, Egypt extended its sincere condolences to the family of the journalist Gamal Khashoggi, while stressing its confidence that the judicial proceedings undertaken by the Saudi government will determine based on conclusive evidence the truth of what happened and preempt any any attempt to politicize the case in order to target the brotherly Kingdom of Saudi Arabia."

Saudi Arabia confirmed on Saturday that Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi had died, and said it fired two senior officials over the incident that has provoked an international outcry and strained relations between Riyadh and the West.

A statement from the Saudi public prosecutor said its investigations show that a fight broke out between Khashoggi and people who met him in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul and led to his death.

The Kingdom has fired two senior officials and arrested 18 Saudi nationals in connection to the death of Khashoggi in early October.

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The Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Lagos State, Joe Igbokwe, has reacted to the sudden appearance of the ...

The Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Lagos State, Joe Igbokwe, has reacted to the sudden appearance of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB.





Igbokwe also claimed that the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has taken over Kanus leadership position in IPOB.





He said that Kanu will not meet his followers when he returns to Nigeria because of Atiku.





The Imo-born politician said this in a Facebook post on Friday, where he also mocked those who believed that President Muhammadu Buhari senthe t an army to kill Kanu.

Recall that a video surfaced online yesterday where the IPOB leader was seen donning a Jewish outfit as he prayed at the Wailing Wall in the City of David, Jerusalem.





The IPOB leader was last seen in Nigeria on September 10, 2017, after military men invaded his residence in Afaraukwu community in Abia State.





I thought they said PMBs army has killed our own Nnamdi Kanu. Now the play boy is in Jerusalem enjoying his life, he wrote on Facebook.





Will Nnamdi Kanu meet his followers when he returns? I do not think so.




The leadership of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Council Worldwide on Friday and ahead of the 2019 general elections tasked President Muhammadu B...

The leadership of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Council Worldwide on Friday and ahead of the 2019 general elections tasked President Muhammadu Buhari to grant Presidential pardon to Nnamdi Kanu.





Nnamdi Kanu, the national leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, was allegedly sighted while praying at his hideout in far away Israel.





The demand for the Presidential pardon on Kanu was contained in a statement signed and issued to journalists in Abakaliki by the Deputy President General of the group, Comrade Obinna Achionye.





He urged the Federal Government to grant Kanu pardon to enable him return home, especially as the 2019 general election approaches.





We Urge President Muhammadu Buhari to grant him presidential pardon and quash all legal proceedings instituted against him in the spirit of national reconciliation and forgiveness.





Ohaneze noted that if the Federal Government can release Boko Haram detainees in Kano and is planning to give amnesty to Boko Haram suspects, the same gesture should be extended to IPOB and Mr Kanu.





They should reverse the tag of IPOB as a terrorist organization and allow peace to reign, the group said.





The group also urged IPOB followers not to go to the street now in the spirit of jubilation in order not to create political tension in the South East and South/South geopolitical zones.





We Urge the South East Governors to close ranks and rebuild the palace of Nnamdi Kanus father, HRH Eze I. Kanu which was destroyed during the Python dance.




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English version: "Nick" bought this house in northern Sweden  was wanted by Interpol

None of the residents in the tiny village of Mjolan could believe that the man who moved in was the main witness accused of false testimony in Operation Midland. "Nick" is now detained, waiting to be turned over to the UK. "He would build B & B cottages and have been like any other happy and nice man," says a neighbor, Sonja Isaksson.
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Parliament will discuss two new laws aimed at regulating the medical profession and education.

After holding a procedural session on 2 October, Egypt's parliament will get down to business tomorrow.

According to the schedule of debates, parliament will discuss Sunday new government-drafted amendments to the medical profession law (law 415/1954).

On Monday, parliament is also scheduled to discuss amendments to the education law (139/1981) and a new government-drafted law that aims to set up a fund to be allocated to sponsoring innovative and intellectual persons.

A report by parliament's education committee said the law reflects a government strategy that focuses on upgrading the level of education in Egypt and sponsoring students who show strong intellectual aptitude and excellent performance in certain fields, particularly those related with innovative sciences such as engineering, electronics and mathematics.

On the third day of debates  Tuesday  the two ministers of health and education will be summoned to answer parliaments questions.

Minister of Health Hala Zayed will face questions on the poor performance of public hospitals and rural health centres.

More questions will be directed on the lack of ambulance services and the proliferation of the phenomenon of stray dogs in major cities and how to contain its negative side effects on public health.

Minister of Health Rania Al-Mashat will have to answer questions on the government's strategy in the area of tourism promotion.

Parliament member Mohamed Fouad said the Ministry of Tourism does not have reliable figures on the number of tourists who visited Egypt in recent months, and how Egypt was able to boost tourism in recent months.

Meanwhile, parliament committees will also meet to discuss a number of important issues. The Legislative and Constitutional Affairs Committee will meet Sunday to discuss an Egyptian-Russian deal on setting up and operating an industrial Russian city in Suez Canal's Economic Zone.

The deal was signed last May and was a major subject of debate between President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin last week.

Putin said in a press conference with El-Sisi in Moscow on 17 October that Russia's industrial city in Suez Canal's Economic Zone is expected to attract $7 billion in investments and generate as many as 35,000 jobs.

Also on Sunday, parliament's Industry Committee, led by businessman Farag Amer, will also discuss new amendments of the law regulating the performance of the General Federation of Industries, Chambers of Commerce and other industrial provincial councils.

Amer told reporters Saturday that seven cabinet ministers will be invited to review the existing industrial projects and draft a new strategy on industrial development in Egypt.

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The Shia-Sunni divide remains the greatest challenge that faces Iraq despite the rhetoric that a new government might bring sectarianism to an end

Shortly after Mohamed Ali Zeini, the temporary speaker of the Iraqi parliament, handed over his position to a newly elected speaker, the parliament erupted in uproar after a Shia lawmaker asked for a point of order to denounce Zeini over remarks he had made to glorify the Abbasid caliphs who ruled the Islamic world for centuries from their capital in Baghdad in modern-day Iraq.

He [Zeini] has just marked Baghdad with a stigma instead of glory by linking it to those [caliphs] who killed and persecuted the imams of Ahl Al-Bayt, declared Shia MP Ammar Tuma amid shouts and accusations of sectarianism from several Sunni members.

Tuma was objecting to Zeinis reference to Baghdad as the city of Al-Rashid and his son Al-Mamoun, two of the greatest Abbasid caliphs who are known for expanding the Abbasid Muslim Caliphate (750-1258 CE) and turning Baghdad into a world centre of science, literature, art and philosophy.

The Abbasid rulers were Sunnis whom Shia history books villainise as the persecutors of Shia Muslims. The Shias also accuse Al-Rashid and Al-Mamoun of killing two of their most venerated saints whom they call Ahl Al-Bayt (People of the Household) because they are descendants of the Prophet Mohamed.

Iraqi politics and the parliament floor are familiar with similar sectarian diatribes, but things did not unfold this time in quite the same way as they have done before. The timing of the bizarre bickering over a centuries-old Shia-Sunni schism was more unexpected this time round.

Before the parliamentary elections in Iraq on 12 May, the leaders of the countrys contending groups promised to alter the dynamics of Iraqs political system by pursuing nationalist and non-sectarian policies that would serve all Iraqis.

The ruling Shia political groups also pledged to abandon confessionalism and to form a cross-sectarian government following the elections in order to establish long-lasting stability.

Since the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 that toppled the Sunni-led regime of former dictator Saddam Hussein, Iraqi politics have been explicitly organised around sectarian identities.

Iraqs post-Saddam political system established confessional power-sharing arrangements that energised the countrys long-marginalised Shia majority and boosted its religious identity.

Though they have called it a power-sharing and consensus democracy, Iraqs post-Saddam governments have been built on the unwritten protocols of a quota-based system that gives power to Iraqs different communities according to their population numbers.

Under this informal power-sharing arrangement, the prime minister has always come from the Shia majority, and there has been a Kurdish president and a Sunni speaker of parliament.

Yet, the Shia leaders have been unable to share power in a stable way that can satisfy the Sunnis, the Kurds and even many in the Shia community.

Soon, Sunnis who considered the Shia empowerment following the American occupation as the end of their decades-long rule over the country felt they had been marginalised and excluded by Iraqs new Shia rulers.

In addition, the ethnic and sect-based quota system that was initiated after 2003 has created a social environment favourable to political sectarianism, and this has deepened communal divisions and triggered continued conflicts.

However, the defeat of the Islamic State (IS) terror group, according to the perspective of so-called experts on Iraq, has altered the mood of Baghdad politics significantly in recent months.

This conclusion has been based on assessments that the election campaign saw Iraqis turn towards issues unrelated to sectarianism and the low turnout could demonstrate that many were disenchanted with the confessional system.

Such assessments were bolstered by promises from the countrys political groups that they would be seeking a government that was not sectarian in order to manage the post- IS environment.

Hence, the change, if it happened, would breed hopes that Iraq would shift away from the sectarian system that had shaped Iraqi politics since Saddams fall and that the country would finally enter a period of real transition as it faced the daunting challenges of post-IS rebuilding.

Yet, divisions like the one over ancient religious issues clearly underline how deeply sectarianism is entrenched in Iraq and how it can fuel the resurgence of conflicts in the beleaguered country.

Soon after the parliamentary episode, Iraqis woke up to another row over new currency notes brought into circulation by the Iraqi Central Bank that also drew criticisms of sectarianism.

The front side of the new 1,000 Iraqi dinar note will carry the motif of an ancient Assyrian star instead of an older motif of a golden dinar dating back to the Sunni-dominated Islamic Caliphate.

Local and Arab media noted last week that many of the ancient Islamic sites in Iraq from the Abbasid era have been left to crumble.

One of these is Samara, 100 km north of Baghdad, with its Great Mosque famous for its landmark spiral minaret dating back to the Abbasid period that is now reportedly threatened by ruin.

Such controversies could shed light on the underlying issues that are shaping Iraqs sectarian conflicts, which have been largely described as political and susceptible to settlement through standard conflict-resolution.

For a long time, the literature on the rise of sectarianism in Iraq has focused on power struggles and argued that the sectarian politics in the country do not reflect the preoccupations of the majority of Iraqis across sectarian and ethnic lines.

Advocates of political sectarianism argue that the Iraqi political groups are competing for leadership and that they have been using the sectarian divide to further their ambitions.

They further suggest that greater democracy could resolve the conflicts by allowing all Iraqs communities to express themselves and compete peacefully for power.

The problem with this argument lies in the theory and practice of sectarianism in a politically, socially and historically complex country such as Iraq.

It is related to the nature of identity politics and how the Shia-Sunni rivalry in Iraq is shaping the political landscape and the balance of power between the two main communities.

The recent heated argument in parliament over the Abbasid caliphs, for example, has demonstrated how the schism in Islam that has been simmering for 14 centuries can still shape politics and underline sectarian sentiments deepening the divide.

As far as the practice is concerned, the shifts in the Iraqi polity since regime change in 2003 have been very deep, and analysts have not even started to decipher all or even most aspects of Iraqs sectarian politics.

The main pitfall in the sectarian politics theory is that while its proponents emphasise the political, economic and geostrategic factors involved in Iraqs conflicts, they fail to explain the religious discourse fuelling the underlying tensions.

Amid all these uncertainties, the question now is whether the Iraqi political groups that had claimed a desire to change to non-confessional government after the May elections can end the sectarianism and secure the desired breakthrough in Iraqs conflicts.

While the elections demonstrated significant developments in terms of cross-sectarian alliances, they are unlikely to produce major shifts in the distribution of power among the Iraqi communities.

The Shia groups, which have not only preserved their parliamentary majority but have increased it from 153 to 187 seats, are expected to pursue the hegemonic policies they have exercised since 2003.

Moreover, there are multiple signs that the political alliances that the Shia groups have forged with the Sunni political leaders do not reflect any broad-based power-sharing accords between the two communities.

Many Sunnis believe that their politicians who joined the Shia lists have only done so to benefit from the seats of power and the funds that they hope to be allocated for the reconstruction of the Sunni areas affected by the war against IS.

In sum, whether Iraqs current sectarian conflict is about politics or piety, it is clear that it is being manipulated and exploited by ruling cliques using the sectarian card in jockeying for political influence and control of the countrys enormous wealth.

Therefore, it is hard to see an end to Iraqs communalism until drastic changes are made in the countrys political system and the sectarianism of its current political leadership is attenuated or ended.

* A version of this article appears in print in the 18 October, 2018 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly under the headline: Can Iraq end sectarianism?

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Saudi Arabia says Royal court adviser Al-Qahtani and deputy intelligence chief Ahmed Siri dismissed from their positions; 18 Saudi nationals arrested

Saudi Arabia said on Saturday that Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi has died, and said it fired two senior officials over the incident that has provoked an international outcry and strained relations between Riyadh and the West.

A statement from the Saudi public prosecutor said a fight broke out between Khashoggi and people who met him in the consulate and led to his death.

"The investigations are still underway and 18 Saudi nationals have been arrested," the statement on state media said, adding that royal court adviser Saud al-Qahtani and deputy intelligence chief Ahmed Asiri have been fired from their positions.

Khashoggi went missing after entering the consulate on Oct. 2 to obtain documents for his upcoming marriage.

Saturday's comments marked the first time since Khashoggi went missing that the Saudis admitted to his death.

King Salman also ordered the formation of a ministerial committee headed by the crown prince to restructure the general intelligence agency, state media said.

The disappearance of Khashoggi, a U.S. resident and Washington Post columnist, strained relations between Saudi Arabia and Western allies. Arab allies have rallied to Riyadh's support, but Western pressure has intensified on Saudi Arabia to provide convincing answers.

Before the Saudi announcements, U.S. President Donald Trump said he might consider sanctions against Saudi Arabia over the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, while emphasizing the importance of the U.S.-Saudi relationship.

In Istanbul, Turkish prosecutors investigating Khashoggi's disappearance questioned Turkish employees of the Saudi consulate on Friday, widening the hunt for clues in a case straining Riyadh's alliance with Western powers.

Turkish police searched a forest on Istanbul's outskirts and a city near the Sea of Marmara for Khashoggi's remains, two senior Turkish officials told Reuters, after tracking the routes of cars that left the consulate and the consul's residence on the day he vanished.

Investigators have recovered samples from searches of both buildings to analyze for traces of Khashoggi's DNA.

Speaking to reporters in Scottsdale, Arizona, Trump said it was too early to say what the consequences for the incident might be, but that the U.S. Congress would be involved in determining the American response.

Asked whether Saudi sanctions were one of the measures he was considering, Trump said, "Could be, could be," though he provided no details.

"We're going to find out who knew what when and where. And we'll figure it out," Trump added.

The U.S. Congress is controlled by Trump's fellow Republicans, some of whom have called for tough action against Saudi Arabia.

"I will very much listen to what Congress has to say. They feel very strongly about it also," Trump said.

Trump, who said on Thursday he believes Khashoggi is likely dead and has warned of a potential "very severe" response, has appeared unwilling to distance himself too much from the Saudis, citing Riyadh's role in countering Iranian influence in the Middle East and lucrative potential arms deals.

"Saudi Arabia has been a great ally, they've been a tremendous investor in the United States," Trump said, adding, "That's why this is so sad."

"They agreed to spend $450 billion on buying in and investing in the United States, so I hope we can keep that open. ... There are plenty of other things we can do," he said, adding, "I might know a lot by Monday. I know a lot already."

State-run Anadolu news agency said the Turkish prosecutor's office had obtained testimony from 20 consulate employees, and 25 more people including foreign nationals would be questioned.

The consulate employees questioned included accountants, technicians and a driver, Anadolu said. The investigation is being conducted by the prosecutor's terrorism and organized crime bureau, it added.

Turkey said it had not shared with any country audio recordings purportedly documenting Khashoggi's murder inside the consulate, dismissing reports it had passed them to the United States.

"We will share the results that emerge transparently with the whole world," Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and senior ministers from France, Britain and the Netherlands have abandoned plans to attend an Oct. 23-25 investor conference in Riyadh.

On Friday, the CEOs of Deutsche Bank and ABB , plus Airbus' defense chief and energy historian Daniel Yergin, joined a list of Western business executives who have withdrawn.

Pakistan's prime minister and a delegation led by Russian Direct Investment Fund head Kirill Dmitriev plan to participate. Britain's BAE Systems is sending senior representatives.

A conference spokesperson confirmed the conference would proceed with an updated program that includes heads of state from the Arab world, Africa and Asia.

*This story was edited by Ahram Online.

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The White House said on Friday in a statement it had seen the announcement of Saudi Arabia's probe into the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi and would continue to press for "justice that is timely, transparent, and in accordance with all due process."

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Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said on Saturday that further investigations are needed after Saudi Arabia's acknowledgment that journalist Jamal Khashoggi had died inside its Istanbul consulate.

"A lot still remains uncertain. What happened? How did he die? Who is responsible? I expect and I hope that all relevant facts will be clear as soon as possible," Rutte told reporters in Copenhagen. "Thorough investigation is necessary".

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Turkey does not want anything covered up in the case of slain journalist Jamal Khashoggi, nor will it blame anyone in advance, the ruling AK Party's spokesman said on Saturday.

The state-run Anadolu news agency quoted Omer Celik as making the comment. Saudi Arabia on Saturday said Khashoggi had died in a fight inside its Istanbul consulate - Riyadh's first acknowledgement of his death after two weeks of denials that it was involved in his disappearance.

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Spain's government said on Saturday it was "dismayed" by information from Riyadh about the death of dissident Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

"The Spanish government is dismayed by early reports from the Saudi prosecutor about the death of the Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, and offers its most sincere condolences to his family," Spain said in a statement.

It also echoed a call from U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres for a thorough and transparent investigation to bring to justice those responsible for the incident.

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Iranian-Americans Call Out U.S. Senator Graham For 'Terrible' Ancestry Gaffe

10/19/18

By Golnaz Esfandiari, RFE/RL

A number of Iranian-Americans have responded with anger after U.S. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham quipped in an interview that it would be "terrible" if DNA testing revealed that he had Iranian ancestry.

Iranian-Americans Call Out Senator Graham For 'Terrible' Ancestry Gaffe https://t.co/HC7QEmV6gT  Golnaz Esfandiari (@GEsfandiari) October 18, 2018

A South Carolinian who has been hawkish on Iran and was a vocal critic of the 2015 nuclear deal that was subsequently abandoned by fellow Republican President Donald Trump, Graham quickly sought to clarify his comments by saying that his joke was directed at "the Ayatollah, not the Iranian people."



But some prominent Iranian-Americans had already decried the perceived slight as "racist" and "disgusting."



Iranian-American executives, including Twitter chairman Omid Kordestani, criticized the comments.



"Please start upholding the best values of our great nation and its institutions and stop mimicking the divisive and simpleminded voices! An apology is in order," Kordestani tweeted on October 17, before word of Graham's follow-up interview in which he said the remark was "a joke."

@LindseyGrahamSC Senator you should be so lucky. Please start upholding the best values of our great nation and its institutions, and stop mimicking the divisive and simpleminded voices! An apology is in order. https://t.co/q2RjmaOvRA  Omid Kordestani (@omidkordestani) October 17, 2018

CNN's chief international anchor, Christiane Amanpour, reacted to Graham's original comments in a series of tweets where she wrote, "Whatever you think of the regime, no need to tar all the people."



"In fact, just look around to see Iranian-Americans powering major sectors of U.S. life and economy, from Silicon Valley to Wall Street, from science and surgery to architecture and engineering, from art and culture to yes, even the media," she added.

Sigh. Every morning I wake up in London wondering about latest outlandish musings from leadership across the pond. https://t.co/lyjOognUyt Thread... 1/5  Christiane Amanpour (@camanpour) October 17, 2018

Hadi Partovi, CEO of nonprofit Code.org, which seeks to expand access to computer-science programs inschools, also criticized Graham's comments as insulting.



"Some of the greatest businesspeople, scientists, athletes, and leaders in America are of Iranian descent," Partovi said. "By calling us terrible you insult everything that makes America great."

Hey @LindseyGrahamSC why is it "terrible" to be Iranian? Some of the greatest businesspeople, scientists, athletes, and leaders in America are of Iranian descent. By calling us terrible you insult everything that makes America great. https://t.co/ByUUlCfGFo  Hadi Partovi (@hadip) October 16, 2018

A California-based venture capitalist of Iranian descent, Pejman Nozad, tweeted a thread of "facts about Iran" that included a list of political, intellectual, and cultural accomplishments in Persian history, as well as some of the "endless" achievements of Iranian-Americans.

@LindseyGrahamSC you said it is "terrible" to be Iranian and I found your comment racist and insulting, so here are some facts about Iran. https://t.co/S1pBQtTaLM  Pejman Nozad (@pejmannozad) October 16, 2018

Graham's initial remark came during an October 15 interview on "Fox & Friends" during which he was asked about an announcement by Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren that she had taken a DNA test that indicated some native American ancestry in response to repeated taunts from candidate, then president, Trump.



"I'll probably be Iranian. That would be, like, terrible," Graham said on the show.

Follow-Up Interview

Brian Kilmeade, a co-host of the show, reacted by saying, "Well, they have great people, just bad leaders," to which Graham responded: "Yeah, bad leaders. I'm not in the ayatollah branch."



It was an apparent reference to current Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the last say on political and religious matters in Iran, and the religiously dominated leadership that took power in the 1979 revolution.



In a follow-up interview with Fox, Graham said, "If you know anything about me, name one person who's been a bigger defender of the Iranian people to fight back against their oppressor."

.@LindseyGrahamSC on controversial Iranian comment: "The Iranian people are brave and cultured. To my liberal friends who are offended by my statement, [at] least I didn't vote for an agreement that gave $150B to the man who kills Iranians in the street." @FoxNewsNight pic.twitter.com/DZaaagGwlf  Fox News (@FoxNews) October 17, 2018

"It was a joke," Graham said, before adding in a reference to the 3-year-old nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers that exchanged curbs on Iranian nuclear activities for a relaxation of sanctions.

"The Iranian people are brave and cultured. To my liberal friends who are offended by my statement, [at] least I didn't vote for an agreement that gave $150 billion dollars to the man who kills Iranians in the street," Graham said.

Under the deal, U.S. officials are estimated to have released some $100 billion in previously frozen Iranian assets.



The Trump administration withdrew from the deal in May and announced the reimposition of sanctions and a renewed effort to punish companies and countries that do business with Iran.



Iranians were also the target of a recent U.S. travel ban on a handful of mostly Muslim countries over objections from critics who called it religiously based discrimination against would-be visitors to the United States.



Iranian-American organizations, including the National Iranian American Council (NIAC) and The Public Affairs Alliance Of Iranian Americans (PAAIA), also criticized Graham's comments.



"The Iranian-American community will not forget such casual racism, nor will it forget which party has enacted policy on the basis of such racism by banning our family members from Iran," the NIAC's president, Jamal Abdi, said in a statement.



In a letter to Graham, PAIAA Executive Director Leila Austin said her organization hoped that the senator would refrain in the future "from broad generalizations that are likely to mischaracterize an entire group of Americans and run counter to U.S. foreign policy objectives."



While the reaction inside Iran to Graham's comments appeared muted, the conservative news site Tabnak.ir suggested that while U.S. officials have stated repeatedly that sanctions are targeting the Iranian establishment, not the people, their comments and actions suggest the opposite.



"We have witnessed many times comments and actions by them that highlight contradictions in their behavior," Tabnak said. "It appears that the U.S. approach toward Iran has entered a new phase that targets the identity of the Iranian people through a racist view."

Lindsey Graham talking about taking a DNA test on Fox News said "I'll probably be Iranian. That'd be like terrible." ......... There are many grateful Iranian-Americans who have contributed to the US more than you you ignorant racist. pic.twitter.com/jRMMLthvV0  Firouz M. Naderi (@Firouz_Naderi) October 17, 2018

U.S. officials for decades have sought to distinguish their criticism of the Iranian government from a broader appreciation for the Iranian public and its history and culture.



The 2015 nuclear deal under President Barack Obama took years to complete and drew sharp criticism from hawkish elements in the United States who insisted it emboldened and enriched a government that had thumbed its nose for years at nuclear nonproliferation efforts, sowed instability through terrorism and support for radical elements in the Middle East, and trampled the rights of its own people.



There did not appear to be any public comment from Iranian officials over Graham's remark or subsequent apology.



About the author:



Golnaz Esfandiari is a senior correspondent with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. She can be reached at esfandiarig@rferl.org
Ghana and three other cocoa-producing countries in Africa have been charged to set the target to produce a minimum of 40 per cent of the worlds chocolate in the next 50 years.



The Majority Chief Whip of the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Professor Olusola Adeyeye, who threw the challenge, said it was sad that whereas Ghana, Nigeria, Cote d'Ivoire and Cameroun produced 66 per cent of the world's cocoa, they had not been able to derive the monetary returns from the crop because they had failed to add value to it.





Prof. Adeyeye was delivering the 30th anniversary lecture of the renowned Ghanaian politician and nationalist, Mr William Ofori-Atta (Paa Willie), in Accra last Wednesday.



The lecture, on the theme: "Cardinal imperatives for a new Africa", was to celebrate the life and contribution of Mr Ofori-Atta to the socio-political and overall national development process.



It was organised by the William Ofori-Atta Heritage and attended by state officials, members of academia, members of the Diplomatic Corps and a cross-section of the public.



Prof. Adeyeye said it was shocking that whereas Ghana and the other three African countries controlled 66 per cent of cocoa production in the world, four other countries, namely, the United States (US), Switzerland, Belgium and Germany, were responsible for 65 per cent of the world's chocolate production.



"The paradox of these two sets of facts is that in 2017 chocolate sales raked in $20 million, $14 million, $12 million and $10 million for the US, Switzerland, Belgium and Germany, respectively, totaling $56 million.





"It is shocking that the combined national budget of the four African countries that control 66 per cent of the world's cocoa production is less than the chocolate revenue of just four Western countries," he pointed out.



Accordingly, he urged the governments of the four countries to formulate bold industrialisation policies that would facilitate their transition from export dependent states to manufacturing economies.



He said the industrialisation agenda would require massive investments in capital and human resource to scale the challenge.



"It is clear that having the raw materials is not enough; there must be primary machinery, ancillary facilities, an enabling environment, corporate tenacity, requisite manpower, plus appropriate supervisory and managerial skills, to profitably run an industrial plant," he added.



Visionary leaders



On governance, the Nigerian Senator said the time had come for Ghana and other countries in Africa to elect visionary and upright leaders who would stand their ground and weed out corruption to pave the way for the growth of their economies.



"It is sad that governments in Africa have been turned into corruptocracy where we have government of the corrupt, by the corrupt and for the corrupt, where cronyism, nepotism and tribalism get elevated, while merit is dethroned, with the attendant loss of confidence in the government," he said.



He commended Ghana for having a relatively stable democracy, particularly in the Fourth Republic, but emphasised that it was important for tribalism and ethnocentrism to be discarded from the national discourse if the country wanted to consolidate the gains made.



Prof. Adeyeye said it was imperative that African countries invest more in the education of the younger generation to build a strong human resource base for the transformation agenda.



He said there was the need to prioritise civic, technological and citizenship education to lead that agenda.



For her part, a former Vice-President of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Prof. Akua Kuenyehia, said the call on citizens to elect upright and visionary was non-negotiable.



She observed that corrupt leaders did not only mortgage the opportunities for the country to develop but also endangered the lives of future generations.

Source: Daily Graphic









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Germany will over the next two years support government with a grant of 86.5 million in four priority areas of development cooperation to ensure sustainable economic development.



The support covers technical cooperation programmes to the tune of 35.5 million and 51 million for financial cooperation projects.



Dr. Stefan Oswald, Director General for the Marshall Plan with Africa, Displacement and Migration at the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, announced this to journalists in Accra, after concluding an intergovernmental negotiating meeting with officials of Ghana in Accra.



He explained that the agricultural sector would receive six million to finance market-oriented programmes and 39.5 million would be allocated to programmes in governance.



A total of 13million, he said, would support in the sustainable economic development, while 16 million would go into Africa Trade Insurance.



Five million Euros would be spent on the establishment of two state-of-the-art vocational training centres.

Source: GNA









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Ghanas sovereignty was nearly sold before former President Mahama and the National Democratic Congress exited power in 2016, the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party has said.



Mr. Bernard Antwi-Boasiako asserted that the condemnable act was a move by the former president to amass wealth for his personal use.



The NPP scribe who is popularly known as Chairman Wontumi emphatically stated that to test the waters, former President Mahama and the NDC deliberately caused a stir by giving a wrongful designation of Uhuru Kenyatta as Ghanas President during Ghana's 59th independence day anniversary.



The gaffe led to former President Mahama describing as unfortunate errors that were detected in the brochures for Ghana's 59th Independence Day anniversary celebration.



As president at the time, he pleaded that the errors were avoidable and the Chief of Staff was putting measures in place to forestall such mistakes from recurring in future celebrations.



The errors included the wrongful designation of Uhuru Kenyatta as Ghanas President to errors in grammar and spelling.



The incident caused many Ghanaians to express their anger, adding that it is an embarrassment and a dent on the country's image.



According to Mr. Bernard Antwi-Boasiako, the above occurrence was a clear indication by former President Mahama to give hint to the outside world that he was prepared to sacrifice his post as President for an amount that can make his bank account look fat and shapeless.



What happened during the Ghana at 59 wasnt a gaffe. John Mahama knew he was going to loose the 2016 election so he was negotiating with bidders who could meet his offer. He was a sell-out and we cant trust him o any day, the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the NPP said.



According to him, prior to the 2016 elections, the former President and the NDC knew their faith, through state loans they had wrongfully diverted into political researches, that Ghanaians had grown tired of their government and were going to vote them out.



For this reason, Mr. Antwi-Boasiako popularly known as Chairman Wontumi explained that former president Mahama commenced a mission to sell Ghanas sovereignty to the highest bidder in his eyes.

Source: newsroomgh.com









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German Chancellor Angela Merkel condemned the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Saudi Arabia's consulate in Istanbul and said explanations so far given of the circumstances of his death were inadequate.

"We condemn this act in the strongest terms," she and Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said in a joint statement issued on Saturday.

"We expect transparency from Saudi Arabia about the circumstances of his death ... The information available about events in the Istanbul consulate is inadequate."

Expressing deep sympathy to Khashoggi's friends and relatives, they said those responsible for his death must be held accountable.

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Minister of Foreign Affairs John Baird (right) and Minister of Defence Peter MacKay speak to reporters in the foyer of the House of Commons in Ottawa on Wednesday, June 22, 2011. Former federal politicians have weighed in to Toronto's mayoral race, with former Conservative cabinet ministers like MacKay and Baird backing incumbent John Tory and Olivia Chow of the NDP publicly aligning with nearest challenger, Jennifer Keesmaat. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
"The case of Khashoggi took place on Saudi sovereign territory and it will be looked at by Saudi courts when all procedures are complete," Saudi Arabia's justice minister said in a statement issued by state news agency SPA on Saturday afternoon.

Saudi Arabia had said late Friday night that dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi died in a fight inside its Istanbul consulate, its first admission of his death after two weeks of denials that have shaken Western relations with the powerful kingdom.

King Salman Ibn Abdel-Aziz had ordered the dismissal of five officials, including Saud al-Qahtani, a royal court adviser, and deputy intelligence chief Ahmed Asiri.

The Kingdom also arrested 18 Saudi nationals in connection with the case.

King Salman Ibn Abdel-Aziz also ordered the restructuring of the country's intelligence services under the leadership of Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman.

Turkish officials have suspected Khashoggi was tortured and killed inside the consulate by Saudi agents.

His body has yet to be found as a Saudi source told Reuters on condition of anonymity that the whreabouts of the body are unknown as it was handed over to a local operator.

The ruling AK Party's spokesman said on Saturday that "Turkey does not want anything covered up in the case of slain journalist Jamal Khashoggi, nor will it blame anyone in advance," according to Reuters.

Some Western governments and politicians gave guarded or skeptical responses to the Saudi explanation, but Middle Eastern allies closed ranks around the kingdom.

Trump says 'credible', US lawmakers skeptical

U.S. President Donald Trump, who has forged close ties with the world's top oil exporter and made Riyadh a centerpiece of his foreign policy, said the Saudi account was credible.

"I think it's a good first step, it's a big step," Trump said in Arizona after the Saudi revelation.

"Saudi Arabia has been a great ally. What happened is unacceptable," the US president said.

Trump added he would speak with the crown prince. But Trump again emphasised Riyadh's role in countering regional rival Iran and the importance a lucrative U.S. arms sales to Saudi Arabia for American jobs.

Before the Saudi announcements, Trump had said he might consider sanctions although he has also appeared unwilling to distance himself too much from the Saudi leadership.

The White House said it would continue to press for "justice that is timely, transparent, and in accordance with all due process".

Meanwhile, some U.S. lawmakers were unpersuaded by the Saudi account.

"To say that I am skeptical of the new Saudi narrative about Mr. Khashoggi is an understatement," Republican U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham said.

Democrat Senator Jack Reed, said the Saudis were still not forthcoming with the truth. "This appears to have been a deliberate, planned act followed by a cover-up," he said.

The case and the search for the truth?

Khashoggi, a U.S. resident and Washington Post columnist, went missing after entering the consulate on 2 October to obtain documents for his upcoming marriage.

The Saudi public prosecutor said on Saturday that a fight broke out between Khashoggi and people who met him in the consulate, leading to his death.

A Saudi official told Reuters separately: "A group of Saudis had a physical altercation and Jamal died as a result of the chokehold. They were trying to keep him quiet."

The prince had no knowledge of the specific operation that resulted in Khashoggi's death, a Saudi official familiar with the Saudi investigation said.

Turkish investigators, who have been combing a forest and other sites outside Istanbul, are likely to find out what happened to Khashoggi's body "before long", a senior Turkish official told Reuters on Saturday.

The state of the body when found, could make it difficult to ascertain whether the Saudi account of the killing is accurate if it has indeed been dismembered.

Turkish sources say the authorities have an audio recording purportedly documenting Khashoggi's murder inside the consulate, as reported in media outlets.

Western apprehension and criticism

Britian said on Saturday it was considering its "next steps", while the Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said today that further investigations are needed.

Meanwhile, German Chancellor Angela Merkel condemned in a statement on Saturday afternoon the killing of Khashoggi and said explanations so far given of the circumstances of his death were inadequate.

Spain's government also said it was "dismayed" by information from Riyadh about the death of the dissident Saudi journalist.

Regional allies support kingdom steps

Egypt, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates and Yemen issued statements to support the king's decisions.

Cairo said that it values the results of the preliminary investigations released by Saudi Arabias prosecutor- general in the case of Khashoggi, and described the steps taken by the king as "decisive and brave", according to a statement issued by the Egyptian Foreign Ministry on Saturday.

Egypt extended its sincere condolences to the family of Khashoggi, while stressing "its confidence that the judicial proceedings undertaken by the Saudi government will determine the truth of what happened, based on conclusive evidence, and preempt any attempt to politicize the case in order to target the brotherly Kingdom of Saudi Arabia."

The Kingdom of Bahrain also praised directives and decisions of Saudi king, Arabiya TV said.

The United Arab Emirates "commends directives and decisions of Saudi King Salman on the issue of Khashoggi," WAM said on Twitter.

Yemen praised decisions made by the Saudi king in relation to the death of dissident journalist, according to the government's state news agency.

In Saudi Arabia, there was widespread support for the king and the crown prince on Twitter, with hashtags such as "#I am Saudi and I defend it" and "#Saudi kingdom of justice" trending.

For her part, Khashoggi's Turkish fiancee, Hatice Cengiz, tweeted in Arabic: "The heart grieves, the eye tears, and with your separation we are saddened, my dear Jamal," she said, also asking "#where is martyr Khashoggi's body?"

*This story was edited and by Ahram Online.

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A state trooper was stabbed "multiple" times Friday by a teen following a half-hour-long pursuit that came to a head in the Central Massachusetts town of New Salem, officials said.

The trooper and the 18-year-old suspect were taken to UMass Memorial Hospital in Worcester and are expected to survive, officials said. The DA's office said the trooper was in surgery.

The trooper had multiple stab wounds to the head and neck and the suspect sustained a gunshot wound to the torso, authorities said. The suspect faces multiple charges, including armed assault with intent to murder, reports the Boston Herald.

State police said the suspect is believed to have been involved in a motor vehicle crash around noon in New Hampshire. He then allegedly carjacked the other vehicle involved in the crash, driving it into Massachusetts where he was pursued by state troopers and crashed that car. State police said, "The suspects attack on the Trooper followed that crash."
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A speeding train ran over a crowd watching fireworks during a religious festival in northern India on Friday evening, killing at least 58 people and injuring dozens more, police said.

The train failed to stop after the accident on the outskirts of Amritsar, a city in Punjab state, said the state governing Congress party politician, Pratap Singh Bajwa. Police Commissioner S. S. Srivastava said that 58 bodies had been recovered.

The Press Trust of India news agency said two trains arrived from the opposite direction on separate tracks at the same time, giving little opportunity for people to escape. The casualties were caused by one of the trains, it quoted officials as saying.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he was extremely saddened by the accident. Have asked officials to provide immediate assistance that is required, Modi said on Twitter.

A witness said the train didnt even sound its whistle as it sped past the site, where hundreds were watching the burning of an effigy of demon Ravana during the Hindu festival of Dussehra. As the effigy was lit and the fireworks started, a section of the crowd started retreating toward railroad tracks while observing the event.

Why did authorities allow the fireworks display so close to the railroad track? he asked. He told the Republic television channel that he lost two brothers.

Another witness said the victims didnt realize that a train was coming because the fireworks were too loud.

Navjot Kaur Siddhu, a local Congress party politician who was the chief guest at the religious function, said the celebrations take place in the area every year and railroad authorities are alerted to run the trains at slow speeds.

A large number of people live in the area with homes on both sides of the railroad track, she said.

However, Junior Railways Minisfter Manoj Sinha said after visiting the accident site that organizers did not alert railroad authorities about their plan to hold the event there.

Shatrughan Das, an injured 35-year-old factory worker, said he was sitting close to the tracks watching the fireworks. I didnt see the train coming. I fell unconscious. I saw the police taking me to a hospital as I regained consciousness.

I am feeling a strong headache and pain in my back and legs, Das said from his hospital bed, adding his injuries were not serious.

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The Delhi metropolitan area has one of the highest concentrations of population in the world, and suffocating the people of the area on an annual basis should be treated as a crime against humanity, especially when the cause for such suffocation can be controlled, says Arvind Kumar.

Until a few years ago, when farmers in Punjab burnt the remnants of the rice crops in their fields in preparation for sowing wheat, the smoke from such fires was confined to Punjab.

According to a publication of the Indian Council of Social Science Research (external link) published in 1991, 'At the end of September and in early October, it becomes difficult to travel in the rural areas of Punjab because the air is thick with the smoke of burning paddy straw.'

Clearly, farmers burnt the straw in late September and early October. However, in recent years, farmers have delayed the burning until late October.

This delay is crucial and responsible for the smoke being carried all the way to Delhi. An analysis of the wind flow patterns (external link) reveals that wind blows into Delhi primarily from the west during the monsoon season, but changes direction in October and starts blowing into Delhi from the north.

The decision to delay the clearing of the fields was not the choice of farmers, but was forced on them by the Punjab government which passed the Punjab Preservation of Subsoil Water Act (external link) in 2009.

According to this law, farmers could no longer sow rice in April, but had to wait until the middle of June. Rice has a 120-day period between germination and harvest, and the restriction on sowing means that the fields would be harvested and cleared only in October by which time the direction of wind would have changed.

Delhi's problem of being covered by smoke started right after this law was implemented.

Before this law was passed, the problem in Delhi was limited to vehicular and industrial pollution and there were no reports of the entire metropolitan area being enveloped by smoke.

This piece of legislation was passed ostensibly to preserve groundwater, the depletion of which was blamed on rice fields which supposedly used too much water and which were prone to evaporation, but this argument is a very tenuous one.

According to the International Water Management Institute, water in rice fields contributes to recharging the groundwater (external link) and very little of it is lost to evaporation.

The data from Uttar Pradesh in IWMI's report too shows that rice fields in the state contributed to increasing the level of the water table, thus supporting the claim that water in rice fields replenishes the aquifers.

The group that has been primarily responsible for exerting pressure to move away from growing rice in the name of 'crop diversification' is the United States Agency for International Development.

Over a period of several years, it has used the excuse of preventing the decline of groundwater (external link) to push this agenda.

USAID has a worldwide reputation of behaving like a front group for American multinational corporations such as Monsanto, and so it should come as no surprise that Monsanto is at the forefront of the purported solution for Punjab's problems.

Apparently, if farmers stop growing rice and replace it with Monsanto's GMO maize, the problem will be solved.

India's surplus food grain supply is an uncomfortable fact for Monsanto and other proponents of GMO food who insist that the world would face a shortage of food grains if not for genetically engineered plants sold by Monsanto.

It is in this light that one must view Monsanto's collusion with the Punjab government and their joint efforts targeting the production of rice in India.

In 2012, then Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal asked Monsanto to set up a research centre for creating maize seeds and announced plans (external link) to reduce the area under the cultivation of rice by around 45 percent in order to grow maize.

Monsanto typically co-opts not only politicians but also members of the academia and converts them into its shills.

Little wonder then that the fear-mongering about the cultivation of rice reached a feverish pitch a few years back in the form of a campaign advertisement (external link) from a group of 'eminent scientists' who appealed, 'Chonne hetho rakba katao, Pani Bachao, Punjab Bachao (Reduce the area under rice, save water, save Punjab).'

Monsanto now offers the replacement of rice by its GMO crops as a solution that will increase the level of subsoil water, but the multinational corporation is the cause of the problem.

Its fertilisers and pesticides have accumulated in the ground over the years and this has led to poor retention of moisture in the soil, (external link) leading farmers to pump excessive amounts of underground water.

The new law reducing the time period during which farmers are permitted to grow rice has further accentuated this problem. Farmers had developed their own method of crop diversification by growing multiple varieties of rice and staggering the time of sowing these varieties over a period of two months beginning in April.

The loss of the ability of farmers to easily diversify their rice crop combined with the fact that late sown rice is vulnerable to diseases and pests has created a fear in farmers of losing their crop leading them to use greater amounts of pesticides and fertilisers further degrading the soil and its ability to retain water.

Monsanto's GMO products are known to cause several problems. Its maize is known for killing bees (external link) leading to a shortage of seeds of plants such as onions which depend on bees for pollination.

Several European countries have banned its maize as its pollen has been responsible for killing entire colonies of bees.

Monsanto's GMO maize is also not fit for human consumption and is primarily used as chicken feed. Likewise, most of Monsanto's wheat is used to feed animals because it is unfit for human consumption.

Thus the government's plan to replace the cultivation of rice -- which is the staple food for a large section of the population of India -- by Monsanto's chicken feed is a cynical move that will result in government created food shortages in the country.

The problems related to the low levels of groundwater and the inability of the soil to retain moisture must be solved, but the solution should not be a drastic one such as creating famines by banning food items such as rice.

Before the level of groundwater fell in Punjab, the state experienced a problem of water-logging which was partially solved by pumping out the excess groundwater.

Thus, it is clear that an acceptable level of the water table can be maintained by finding a proper balance between the two extreme situations.

Today, farmers burn the residual straw from the cultivation of rice as it is the cheapest method of clearing the fields. A ban on such burning will destroy the livelihood of small farmers and give way to industrial farming with a few large corporations such as Monsanto owning all the land and resources.

The government has already helped large corporations through a slew of measures and it must not take any more steps that run the small farmers out of business.

Instead, if it wants to prevent burning, it must help small farmers clear the fields between the rice and wheat seasons and implement proper water management solutions.

This would mean going against the rules set forth by the World Trade Organisation which has mandated that no business other than American multinational corporations can receive aid or subsidies from the government, and any subsidy given to American businesses will be done under the cover of 'research grants' funnelled through universities.

India should completely ignore these rules and fix its problems, not the least of which is the yearly phenomenon of smoke cover over Delhi.

The Delhi metropolitan area has one of the highest concentrations of population in the world, and suffocating the people of the area on an annual basis should be treated as a crime against humanity, especially when the cause for such suffocation can be controlled.

Although smoke from fields remaining within Punjab is also a problem that needs to be dealt with, it is not as severe a problem as in Delhi, as the smoke in Punjab would be spread over a larger area with a much lower population density.

For now, a step that should be taken immediately in order to prevent Delhi from becoming a gas chamber for several days every November, is to revoke what should rightfully be called the Monsanto Profit Act of 2009 and farmers should be allowed to sow their rice crop whenever they deem it fit to do so.

Photograph: Kamal Singh/PTI Photo.

Arvind Kumar is an expert on technology and economic issues and can be reached at arvind@classical-liberal.net
'India may well be a religious country, but that is precisely why we need to avoid criminalising blasphemy,' argues Mihir S Sharma.

Illustration: Dominic Xavier/Rediff.com

The problem with laws criminalising speech is that they wind up being the opposite of what laws should be: They will be applied indiscriminately.

Everyone eventually uses them, or becomes their target.

Consider the recent arrest in Delhi of the defence analyst Abhijit Iyer-Mitra.

He was arrested, apparently, because the Biju Janata Dal-run Odisha government took offence at a sarcastic video he posted at the Konark Sun Temple.

In the video, Iyer-Mitra riffed on the erotic sculptures for which Konark is famous, and jokingly argued that, given the attitudes to sexual morality of the current self-appointed custodians of Hinduism, the temple could not have been built by Hindus but by outsiders conspiring against the religion.

This was not even a subtle point; it was blindingly obvious what Iyer-Mitra was driving at.

And yet he was arrested.

Note that this pokes holes in several narratives.

For one, it is not only the Bharatiya Janata Party that will arrest you for offending religion.

The BJD is not the BJP, though the local BJP supported the arrest.

And the debate demanding his arrest in the Odisha legislative assembly was led by Congress legislators.

Consider another point: It is sometimes argued by the Hindutva right that you might get in trouble for mocking Islam or Christianity, but not Hinduism.

Well, a fairly strident right-winger has just gotten arrested for talking about a temple, which should put paid to that idea as well.

Now, we can talk about how humiliating it is for the people of Odisha to have legislators, administrators and policemen so completely humourless that they couldn't figure out the point that was being made.

We can perhaps feel optimistic that Iyer-Mitra was granted bail by a group of lawyers that included prominent young members of both the Congress and the BJP.

But the larger point must not be lost sight of: That laws like Section 295A, which criminalise blasphemy, will constantly lend themselves to this sort of misuse.

It is not just humiliating for the people of Odisha; it is also embarrassing for the rest of us -- particularly as it came on the very day that India, at the United Nations, was sententiously mocking Pakistan for its blasphemy laws.

Talk about shooting yourself in the foot.

It would be nice to think that Section 295A is on the way out, that the national conversation is turning against it the way it did against Section 377, which criminalised homosexuality and was recently read down by the Supreme Court.

The problem, however, is that the opposite seems to be happening.

Consider the awful events in Punjab, where the Congress government of Amarinder Singh has decided to even more closely emulate Pakistan and make the act of desecration of the Guru Granth Sahib, the Bible, the Quran and the Bhagavad Gita punishable by life imprisonment.

This follows a rejection by the Centre of an earlier attempt by the Akali Dal-BJP government to create a Guru Granth Sahib-specific Section 295AA.

The Aam Aadmi Party, a powerful third force in Punjab politics, also supports the amendment, with Harvinder Singh Phoolan threatening to resign as MLA if cases aren't filed for blasphemy.

It is worth noting that it is supposed desecration that led to most of the prominent blasphemy cases in Pakistan, which have wound up being an effective way to terrorise minorities.

The leader of Pakistani Punjab lost his life after defending one such person; the leaders of Indian Punjab have chosen to empower fanatics equivalent to those who killed Salman Taseer.

It is an incomprehensible act of self-harm.

Yes, India is a religious country.

Some liberals, therefore, believe that we must walk on tiptoe around the 'sensitivities' of the religious.

This is a point of view that is both immoral and stupid.

It is immoral because it privileges one set of beliefs above others, and forces free-thinkers into silence.

It hurts both the irreligious and the religious; the former are silenced, and the latter are never given the opportunity to think through and defend their beliefs.

And it is stupid because the nature of religious fanaticism is such that no concession is enough; more will always be demanded.

Section 295A is not enough; now we have 295AA.

Yes, India may well be a religious country, but that is precisely why we need to avoid criminalising blasphemy.

The power of religious belief in our lives is already so great that it does not need the power of the State on its side.

This greatly reduces individual freedom -- and in fact makes us into subjects and not citizens. Any one of us can be arrested at any time.

If we pretend to be a liberal democracy at the United Nations, let us at least try to be one at home.
Mathematical problems can sometimes turn out to have real-world applications.

This is true for the Riemann Hypothesis.

Crypto-currency investors will heave a sigh of relief if the problem is unsolved since a proof could render their expertise obsolete, explains Devangshu Datta.

Illustration: Uttam Ghosh/Rediff.com

A 90-year-old genius, Sir Michael Atiyah, recently claimed to have proved one of the most esoteric of mathematical conjectures, the Riemann Hypothesis (RH).

His 'solution' is probably wrong, but it has not yet been definitively rejected by peer review.

Cryptographers and crypto-currency investors must have heaved a sigh of relief at the problem remaining unsolved since a proof could render their expertise obsolete.

Mathematical problems that start as abstract exercises can sometimes turn out to have real-world applications. This is true for the RH.

There's a $1 million Millennium Prize from the Clay Mathematics Institute for finding a valid proof (or disproof) of the RH. If Atiyah is wrong, that prize is still up for grabs.

In 1859, German mathematician Bernhard Riemann (1826-1866) had an insight into the way numbers are distributed. But he couldn't prove it.

Riemann was working with complex numbers (numbers with an imaginary component, 'i', which is defined as the square root of minus 1). While calculating a series known as the Zeta Function, he noticed a property that he conjectured to be true for all numbers.

If he was correct, the Zeta Function tells us a lot about primes -- numbers that can only be divided by themselves and one.

The RH is true till the 100 billionth test. New theorems have been generated by conditionally assuming Riemann was correct. However, there is an infinity of numbers (actually, many infinities) and simply because Riemann was correct 100 billion times doesn't mean the hypothesis is true.

Any proof/disproof could crack the foundations of modern cryptography.

It could also lead to insights into quantum theory, since there seems to be a strong correspondence between energy levels in quantum physics and the pure maths of the RH.

Our civilisation depends on the secure encrypted exchanges, and processing, of digital data.

That encryption can be of varying strengths. But although encryption may vary in strength, the basic principles are similar for most modern encryption methods.

A proof of the RH may include a magic formula that breaks into common encryption systems.

A four-digit ATM PIN is one of 10,000 combinations that could be guessed in a jiffy by a fast computer.

A bank password of 15 mixed characters is magnitudes stronger.

Military encryption standards are very strong and decoding a military message could, in theory, take very fast computers millions of years.

Computers multiply and divide by simple addition and subtraction.

Commonly, encryption is built around the fact that it is far easier to multiply than to divide.

For example, 101 can be multiplied by 409 (both primes) by simply adding 409 to itself 101 times to reach 41,309.

Dividing 41,309 involves dividing it first by 2, then 3, then 5, 7, and so on, until you discover 101 is a factor.

A computer will subtract 2 from 41,309, all of 20,655 times before rejecting 2 as a factor.

Then it will subtract 3, 13,769 times before rejecting 3 as a factor, and so on.

For example, 'ABCD' could be converted into '1234' (substituting numbers for letters) multiplied by 41,309.

To decode this simple code, you must divide '50,975,306' by 41,309. Try doing this without knowing the factors!

There are many tricks to speed up such computations. But factorisation is really hard for large primes.

Digital encryption systems are based on using 30-digit, or longer, prime numbers.

Crypto-currencies like bitcoin also rely on primes for encryption.

TGreek mathematician Euclid proved there are an infinity of primes. There is no easy way to find a prime, or to work out how many primes are in a given range.

here are 1,229 primes between 1 and 10,000, for example. Proving the RH would, almost certainly, involve developing methods for predicting prime distributions.

That would make it much easier to find primes, and break codes.

IMAGE: Has Sir Michael Atiyah proved the Riemann Hypothesis? Photograph: Kind courtesy newton.ac.uk

Atiyah has, in his time, received both the Abel Prize and the Fields Medal -- that's the equivalent of two Nobel Prizes for mathematicians. But mathematicians do their best work before turning 40 and the odds are against the nonagenarian's proof being valid.

His explanatory lecture at Heidelberg was charming, but unsatisfying.

Atiyah was working on a physics problem of calculating the Fine-Structure Constant (this measures electromagnetic attraction between particles) when he thought up his 'proof'. (Physicists say his Fine Structure Constant calculation is also flawed.)

He used an approach of reductio ad absurdum by initially assuming the RH was wrong. If it is wrong, certain things must follow. Since those things don't follow, the RH must be correct.

This approach is generally treated with suspicion by mathematicians and the initial consensus is, the proof isn't convincing.

The angle of approach, coming from physics to pure maths, suggests there may be some route to a proof from the real world.

In the meantime, bitcoin, ethereum, and so on, can trade without fear that somebody will suddenly hack the mining process.
IMAGE: Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh with Punjab Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu visits a victim of the train accident at Civil Hospital in Amritsar on Saturday. Photograph: PTI Photo

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Saturday ordered a magisterial probe into the Amritsar train accident after visiting injured and kin of those killed in the tragedy even as he urged the Opposition not to politicise the issue.

The chief minister postponed a trip to Israel and arrived in Amritsar on Saturday morning to assess the damage.

"We are announcing a magisterial probe into the incident," Singh said while talking to media in Amritsar.

He said four weeks have been given to submit the report to find out who was at fault.

The divisional commissioner of Jalandhar has been entrusted with the job of holding the inquiry, he said.

At least 59 people were killed on Friday evening after a crowd of Dussehra revellers that had spilled on to railway tracks while watching the burning of a Ravana effigy was run over by a train near Joda Phatak here.

At least 300 people were watching the 'Ravana dahan' at a ground adjacent to the tracks.

Singh visited the injured in Amandeep Hospital, Civil Hospital and Guru Nanak Dev Hospital on Saturday, where he met the injured and directed the doctors to provide them best possible medical treatment.

He expressed grief at the incident and extended his government's full support to the victims and their families. He observed that two little girls he met at a hospital had lost their entire families in the tragedy, which the whole nation was mourning.

He said this was not the time to play political games on the issue and urged the opposition parties to join hands with the government in providing relief work to the victims.

He said compensation of Rs 5 lakh each for the families of the deceased had already been announced by the state government. Besides, the government would bear the cost of medical treatments of the injured admitted to different hospitals, he told reporters.

"59 people were killed and 57 injured in the accident," he said, adding, "Except nine, most of the bodies have been identified."

The chief minister said he was at Delhi airport to leave for Tel Aviv when he heard of the tragic incident. He said he had to rush back after postponing his Israel visit.

He said he wanted to visit Amritsar on Thursday night itself, but was advised against it by the district authorities who did not want a VIP movement to divert attention from the urgent rescue and relief efforts needed at that hour.

After landing at the Amritsar airport this morning, Singh reached the accident site. He met senior officials and members of a crisis management group to take stock of the relief work.

He was accompanied by Health Minister Brahm Mohindra, Local Bodies Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu, Education Minister O P Soni, Punjab Congress chief Sunil Jakhar, among others.

Top police officials have also been asked to stay in Amritsar to provide immediate assistance.

Residents stage protest at accident site

Scores of people staged a sit-in on railway tracks in Amritsar on Saturday, demanding action against the erring officials and train driver and seeking adequate compensation for the victims.

The protesters raised slogans against the state government and demanded action against the train driver.

One of the protesters alleged the train passed through the area at a high speed and that the driver did not slow down the train despite the presence of a large crowd.

Later, police chased away the protesters when they tried to move towards residential areas from the railway tracks.

Police have barricaded the area to prevent the protesters from reassembling.

"Why did the government not ensure proper security arrangements at the time of Dussehra festival? Why such function was allowed to take place near railway tracks?" Sujit Singh, one of protesters, said.

Another protester demanded that the victims be given adequate compensation.

Some protesters blocked the GT Road near the train accident site. They also demanded government jobs for the kin of those killed.

A resident blamed Navjot Kaur Sidhu, the wife of Punjab minister Navjot Sidhu who represents the area in the assembly, for the tragedy.

"The tragic incident could have been averted, had Navjot Kaur Sidhu turned up at the venue on time and had the function not been delayed," said Deepak who works as a painter.

He said that every year, the effigy of Ravana was burnt between 5.30 pm and 6 pm, but this year it could not happen as Navjot Kaur Sidhu, who was the chief guest at the event, 'got late'.

The effigy was burnt around 7 pm. "Because of darkness, the tragedy occurred," he added.

According to villagers, the burning of Ravana effigy as part of Dussehra celebrations has been taking place at the same venue for over 20 years.

But, what has been a source of joy and excitement to the young and the old for over two decades turned out to be a nightmare on Friday.

37 trains cancelled, 16 diverted

The railways cancelled 37 trains and diverted 16 trains on Saturday, officials said.

Giving details, the railways said 10 mail/express trains and 27 passenger trains were cancelled. While 16 trains were diverted and reached their destination through a different route, 18 trains were short terminated, Northern Railways spokesperson Deepak Kumar said.

The route between Jalandhar and Amritsar was suspended, he said.

The railways maintains it had no information about the Dussehra function held near the tracks.

Chairman Railway Board Ashwani Lohani said in a statement that the accident occurred at a midsection between the Amritsar and Manawala stations and not at a level crossing.

"There was no information and no permission sought from us. The event took place at a place adjoining the railway land in private property," he said.

"At midsections trains run at their assigned speeds and people are not expected to be on the tracks. At midsections there is no railway staff posted. We have staff at the level crossings whose job is to regulate traffic," he added, explaining why the railways was not alerted about the congregation by its staff.

According to Lohani, the gateman was 400 metres away at a level crossing.

If the driver had applied emergency brakes, there could have been a bigger tragedy, he said.

The train was running at assigned speed and initial reports suggest that the driver applied brakes and the train slowed down, the top official said.

Refusing to assign any blame, Lohani, who visited the spot at midnight, said the the national transporter has been carrying out campaigns exhorting people not to trespass.

"We will take that forward," he said.
IMAGE: Local people gather at the scene of the accident along train tracks in Amritsar on Saturday. Photograph: Kamal Kishore/PTI Photo

A WhatsApp photograph of a head flashed on Vijay Kumar's phone screen at 3 am on Saturday, confirming his worst fears -- his 18-year-old son Manish was one of the revellers mowed down by a train while they were watching Ravan's effigy burnt the evening before.

His younger son, Ashish, returned safely from the festivities, said Kumar, but the frantic search for Manish ended with that 'ping' on his phone. He has since been roaming from hospital to hospital looking for the remains of his elder son.

It was a night of unspeakable horrors, said the father, aware that his son was decapitated when the train hurtled through the tracks, killing 61 people and injuring more than 70.

A leg was found and one hand, but they are not Manish's.

"My son was wearing blue jeans. This one is not wearing blue jeans. I have lost my world," an inconsolable Kumar said outside the Guru Nanak Hospital, attached to the Government Medical College, where most of the 70 who were injured on Friday evening have been taken.

As people milled around the hospital compound, some stunned into silence by the enormity of the tragedy that felled their loved one and others holding back tears, the injured were inside, grappling with their wounds and trying to piece together what had happened.

Among them was Sapna, who was on a WhatsApp call with her husband Satender to relay the 'Ravan Dahan' event live to him, when the accident took place.

The 30-year-old, who suffered head injuries, said she saw body parts scattered around the tracks and a severed head.

"When the effigy was set afire, people started moving away from the stage and towards the tracks," she said, recalling the minutes before tragedy struck.

As a train approached the area, people tried to clear the tracks and move towards another line, leading to a stampede-like situation.

Moments later, another train came from the opposite direction at a high speed and ran over the crowds.

She said they could not hear sound of the horn due to the sound of the bursting crackers.

"The train driver should have noticed the crowd as there was light and people were holding their mobile phones up to record the event," Sapna said.

Sapna lost her cousin and her one-year-old niece, who she said were not killed crushed by the train but in the stampede that ensued. The baby was flung on the stones and the mother was probably trampled to death by the crowds trying to flee.

Jagunandan, a 40-year-old wage labourer from Hardoi in Uttar Pradesh who has suffered injuries in the head and leg, said he was not standing near the tracks but was pushed as people started running away from the main stage after the Ravan effigy was set afire.

The father of four was brought to hospital by a relative, who accompanied him to the event.

Seven-year-old girl Khushi, who accompanied her mother Paramjit Kaur for the festivities, remains in a state of shock on her hospital bed.

Khushi, who also fell close to the tracks, was brought to the hospital in an unconscious state. She lies wordless in her hospital bed. She, too, fell close to the tracks.

Recounting the minutes before the disaster, most of the injured said they could not hear the horn of the approaching train.

They said another train had passed moments earlier. The sound of the firecrackers as the effigy came down, the train heading at a high speed led to commotion, triggering a stampede like situation, they said.

Motilal, a 35-year-old daily wager from Bihar's Gopalganj district who is undergoing treatment for chest injuries at the civil hospital, said, "I was standing on one side of the tracks. Suddenly, people started running and I fell down. Everything happened in a fraction of a second, giving very little time to people to react."

Sandeep, a 23-year-old resident of Amritsar, suffered serious head injuries and was admitted to the civil hospital.

Her husband, Jitendra, a daily wager, said his wife, their two children and father-in-law had gone to watch 'Ravaan dahan'.

"The train came at the speed of light and it led to a stampede-like situation as there was a large crowd present on the spot," he said, adding his six-year-old daughter, three-year-old son and father-in-law died in the rush.

Dr Rakesh Sharma, professor in-charge at the Gurunanak Hospital's surgery unit, said 20 people were brought dead there.

Most of the injured people suffered injuries in the head and legs. Dr Mayank said, "Most of the injured belong to Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. 80-90 doctors have been put on emergency duty and they are working round-the-clock."

"Some of the injured have been admitted to private hospitals and PGI, Chandigarh," he said.

Mayank said the Gurunanak Hospital is facing a shortage of ventilators in the ICU.

Many panic-stricken family members of those killed or wounded searched frantically from one hospital to another to know about the fate of their loved ones as the festive spirit drowned in sorrow and shock.

"My son, Jugu, is missing since the train accident. I went to Civil Hospital and Guru Govind Hospital, but I am unable to find him," Sushila, who lives in a nearby area, told PTI.

Lakhmeet, another person who was looking for his brother-in-law and found him in a hospital, said: "I was shocked when I heard about the train accident. I got a call from home that my brother-in-law Sujeet, who went out to watch Dussehra celebrations last evening, had not come back home.

"All family members rushed to Guru Govind Hospital, where I was told Sujeet is admitted at Civil Hospital," he said.

Several other distraught family members of those injured or killed in the accident also had to search from one hospital to another to locate their loved ones.

Most people who were mowed down by the speeding train were migrant workers from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

A senior official in the district administration said most migrant workers from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar work in an industrial area at a stone's throw away from the accident site and live nearby.
IMAGE: People surround the body of a victim lying on a railway track after a train runs over a crowd in Amritsar. Photograph: Munish Sharma/Reuters

The railways will launch a massive drive against trespassing on tracks across its network, Chairman Railway Board Ashwani Lohani said on Saturday, a day after 59 Dussehra revellers were run over by a train in an incident described by the railways as a 'clear case of trespassing'.

Lohani said the railways has launched such campaigns in the past as well, but intermittently.

The national transporter had initiated a drive last year too, after a slew of 'selfie deaths' on tracks were reported from across the country.

"We will launch a nationwide campaign against trespassing and the dangers thereof. This is all that we can do to avoid such tragedies," he said.

In the first six months of 2017, more than eight people lost their lives in accidents while clicking selfies on tracks, officials said, adding a campaign was launched after these reports.

In 2018, as of September, 1,20,923 people were arrested and prosecuted by the railway protection force (RPF) for intruding the railway system.

Under section 147 of Indian Railway Act, a total fine of Rs 2.94 crore was imposed on them by courts during the period, according to data provided by the railways.

In 2017, 1,75,996 persons were arrested and prosecuted by the RPF for trespassing the railways system and a fine of Rs 4.35 crore was imposed on them.

"We will increase the frequency of such campaigns and budget will not be a constraint," General Manager, Northern Railway, Vishwesh Chaube told PTI.

The gathering of people close to tracks was a 'clear case of trespassing', a senior official had said Friday, after the accident.

Lohani said the railways was not intimated about a Dussehra event along the tracks.

He said that the accident occurred at a stretch between two stations -- Amritsar and Manawala, and not at a level crossing.

"At midsections, trains run at their assigned speed and people are not expected to be on the tracks. At midsections, there is no railway staff posted. We have staff at level crossings whose job is to regulate traffic," he said, explaining why the railways was not alerted about the congregation by its staff.

He said that the gateman was 400 metres away at a level crossing. He also said that if the driver had applied emergency brakes, there could have been a bigger tragedy.

He said that the train was running at its assigned speed and initial reports suggest that the driver applied brakes and the train slowed down.

"There was no information and no permission sought from us. The event took place at a place adjoining the railway land in private property," he said.

Refusing to assign any blame, Lohani, who visited the spot at midnight, said that the national transporter has been carrying out campaigns exhorting people not to trespass. "We will take that forward," he said.

The Amritsar police also said that though they had given a 'no objection' certificate for the Dussehra celebration near Joda Phatak, the organisers did not take permission from the municipal corporation and the pollution department.

According to the permission document, the organisers were given the go-ahead following their assurance that they would follow the directions of the Punjab and Haryana high court on usage of loud speakers.

They had also assured that traffic movement would not be disrupted and nobody would carry any weapon at the event, it said.

The organiser, Saurabh Madan, who is also the president of Dussehra Committee (East) and husband of Congress Councillor Vijay Madan, had sought permission for the October 19 event.

He had also sought security from the police as Cabinet minister Navjot Singh Sidhu and his wife Navjot Kaur Sidhu were supposed to attend the event.

Deputy Commissioner of Police Amrik Singh Powar said the organisers were asked to also seek permission from the municipal corporation and pollution department as well.

"If any of these permissions is not granted, then the permission for holding a Dussehra event cannot be granted," Powar said.

Earlier on Saturday, the Amritsar Municipal Corporation (AMC) said no permission was granted to hold Dussehra celebrations at 'Dhobi ghat' ground.

"Nobody was given permission for organising the Dussehra event. Moreover, nobody had applied for the permission with the Amritsar Municipal Corporation," AMC commissioner Sonali Giri said.

Giri said unlike last year, the event was held on a large scale on Friday evening.

Opposition parties, including the Akali Dal, Bharatiya Janata Party and the Aam Aadmi Party have demanded strict action against those who gave permission for holding the event. They have also held the Congress-led Punjab government responsible for allowing the Dussehra celebrations near the railway track.
The United States said was "saddened" to hear the confirmation of Khashoggi's death, but made no mention of action against its major ally.

Saudi Arabia on Saturday admitted that journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed inside its consulate in Istanbul after "discussions" at the consulate devolved into an altercation.

The kingdom also sacked deputy intelligence chief Ahmad al-Assiri and royal court media advisor Saud al-Qahtani, both top aides to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman who has faced mounting pressure over the Khashoggi affair.

As many as 18 people have been taken into custody, according to Saudi officials.

An investigation in this regard is on.

Saudi Attorney General Sheikh Saud al-Mojeb confirmed the news saying that prelimenery investigations indicate that Khashoggi died after "discussions" at the consulate devolved into an altercation.

However, he did not disclose any details on the whereabouts of Khashoggi's body.

"Preliminary investigations... revealed that the discussions that took place between him and the persons who met him... at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul led to a brawl and a fist fight with the citizen, Jamal Khashoggi, which led to his death, may his soul rest in peace," the attorney general said in a statement.

Reacting to the news, the White House said it was "saddened" to hear the confirmation of Saudi Arabia's dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi's death, but made no mention of action against the major US ally.

"We are saddened to hear confirmation of Mr Khashoggi's death, and we offer our deepest condolences to his family, fiancee and friends," White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said after the Saudi Arabia issued a statement saying the journalist was killed in a fist fight with unidentified men inside the consulate.

President Donald Trump said he doesn't think he was lied to by Saudi leaders over the death of Khashoggi.

"I think it's a great first step," Trump said on Saudi Arabia's statement which he says he considers credible.

"The United States acknowledges the announcement from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia that its investigation into the fate of Jamal Khashoggi is progressing and that it has taken action against the suspects it has identified thus far," Sanders said.

"We will continue to closely follow the international investigations into this tragic incident and advocate for justice that is timely, transparent and in accordance with all due process," the White House Press Secretary said.

The Saudi statement confirming the death of Khashoggi in a fist fight did not appear to be credible for some US lawmakers, who demanded that Riyadh be held accountable for the incident.

Senator Lindsay Graham said it's hard to find this latest "explanation" as credible.

"To say that I am skeptical of the new Saudi narrative about Mr Khashoggi is an understatement," he said.

"The claim that Khashoggi was killed while brawling with 15 men dispatched from Saudi Arabia is not at all credible. If he was fighting with those sent to capture or kill him, it was for his life. The kingdom must be held to account. If (the Trump) administration doesn't lead, Congress must," Congressman Adam Schiff said.

House Foreign Affairs Committee Ranking Member Elliott Engel demanded a full account of what happened.

Congressman Jim Costa said that he is appalled by the reports that Saudi officials were involved in the death of Khashoggi.

"As we learn more details of Khashoggi's disappearance, the US must send a clear message that we will not condone such reprehensible behaviour that goes against our American values.

"We must carefully examine both the facts surrounding Khashoggi's disappearance as well as our relationship with Saudi Arabia, and I call on the President to take strong action in unwavering defence of our values. If the President will not stand up to Saudi Arabia, then we in Congress must stand strong for our nation, our values and journalists throughout the world," Costa said.

"Where is the body?" asked Congressman Eric Swalwell.

"Khashoggi's family deserve immediate custody of the remains as they seek some measure of closure," he added.

Khashoggi, who lived in the US as a legal permanent resident and worked for 'The Washington Post', was last seen on October 2 entering his country's consulate in Istanbul.
Secretary-General of the Union of Arab Chambers (UAC) Khaled Hanafy said the German-Arab Chamber of Industry and Commerce (GACIC)s executive bureau decided on Friday to choose Egypt to be a guest of honor at the upcoming German-Arab Business Forum.

The German-Arab Business Forum, to be held in June 2019 in Berlin, is an annual key international business forum that provides job opportunities and chances of investment, trade, and industry, Hanafy said in a statement.

Egypts selection as a guest of honor in the event comes in recognition of its leading role and international position in addition to the recent economic measures it has taken, he said, adding that Egypt has become attractive to investors.

Hanafy noted that a high-level Egyptian delegation along with representatives of Egyptian companies and the private sector will take part in the forum.

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IMAGE: People gather at the site of an accident after a train ran through a crowd of people on the rail tracks in Amritsar. Photograph: Adnan Abidi/Reuters

For more than 20 years, people from adjoining villages would gather at the vacant plot at Joda Phatak, barely 50 metres from railway tracks, to witness the burning of Ravan effigy as part of Dussehra celebrations.

What has been a source of joy and excitement to the young and the old for over two decades turned out to be a nightmare on Friday, after at least 61 revellers who had spilled onto railway tracks were mowed down by a train.

Fifty-year-old Jaswant said that the Ravan effigy is burnt at this plot, while the Ramlila event was organised at a good distance from the railway tracks.

Jawant claimed that people did not hear horn of the train coming from Jalandhar as there were noise due to bursting of firecrackers.

Before the train going to Amritsar from Jalandhar that mowed down the crowd, two trains passed through the tracks, but they slowed down their speed, he claimed.

Locals said that the train tragedy took place around 7.10 pm on Friday when railway tracks were packed with people who were watching the burning of Ravan effigy.

"Ravan effigy is being burnt at this vacant plot for over 20 years, but no such incident has happened earlier," Balwikdar, another resident, said.

Meanwhile, Punjab Police commandos and Rapid Action Force personnel have been deployed at the site of a train accident to manage a huge crowd on Saturday.

A heavy police deployment has been made to keep the situation in order. Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh will visit the site later in the day.

At least 61 people were killed and 72 injured Friday evening after a crowd of Dussehra revellers that had spilled onto railway tracks while watching burning of Ravan effigy was run over by a train near here, officials said.

The train was coming from Jalandhar when the accident occurred at Joda Phatak near Amritsar, where at least 300 people were watching 'Ravan dahan' at a ground adjacent to the tracks.
New moves to promote Egypts tourist destinations, with Londons World Travel Market in November being the first real test of the campaigns

Promising changes are afoot in the tourism business, with local advertising agency Synergy and international agency IPG/MCN teaming up to promote Egypt more efficiently to global tourism markets, Minister of Tourism Rania Al-Mashat has announced.

Its time for a change. We wanted an Egyptian company that understands our concepts that can translate our vision to an international agency, and this has been achieved through the new alliance, Al-Mashat said, referring to a consortium that includes the Middle East Communications Network (MCN), part of the Interpublic Group (IPG), a global marketing company.

The new consortium includes Universal Media (UM) that will promote the ministrys strategy and book broadcasting and advertising spaces in the international media. It also includes Weber Shandwick, a global public relations company, which will manage PR services and crisis management.

Joining the consortium is FP7/MCcann/Craft, which specialises in managing social-media platforms and developing and marketing digital content to suit each touristic market. There is also Jack Morton, a branding agency with expertise in curating international events, and Initiative Media, in charge of publishing digital content.

The campaign will work in three phases: changing mental images about not only Egypt, but also Egyptians, and this will be the focus of the People to People campaign that will be launched soon, inaugurating the Grand Egyptian Museum in 2020, and promoting each tourist citys trademark features, Al-Mashat said.

Joint efforts between the international company and local tourism agencies should ensure the best strategy possible for each market based on the individual figures, said Sameh Saad, a former tourism advisor at the Ministry of Tourism.

Mohamed Hassanein, manager of Galaxia Tours, a tourism agency working in the Spanish market, said the number of tourists recently arriving in Egypt had been the result of efforts made by private-sector companies. No promotions were made by the Egyptian Tourist Authority, he said.

Egypt recorded $9.8 billion in tourism revenues during the past fiscal year, which ended on 30 June, up from $4.3 billion the year before.

The new consortium replaces the advertising agency JWT whose three-year contract expired in September. The companys stint faced various obstacles, among them the crash of a Russian plane in Sinai in October 2015 that resulted in a Russian travel ban.

A source at JWT, who preferred to remain anonymous, said that had Russian holidaymakers returned to Egypt, the numbers would have exceeded those recorded in 2010, a bumper year for Egyptian tourism with 14 million vacationers bringing in over $12 billion in revenues.

Another hurdle was the controversial killing of Italian student Giulio Regeni in Cairo in 2016, leading to the loss of the Italian market, one of the largest touristic exporters to Egypt and Marsa Alam and Hurghada in particular.

The World Travel Market (WTM), which will be held in London from 5 to 7 November, will be the first major promotional event for the new alliance.

Egypts booth at the WTM will be digitalised in line with the World Tourism Organisations wish to digitalise tourism, Al-Mashat said.

Jack Morton will design the booth using state-of-the-art techniques in graphics and animation to revive its Egyptian character, Sahar Al-Zoghby, manager of IPG/MCN, said.

The Synergy company seeks to attract new and unconventional markets, said Hassan Kamal, its executive manager, according to researched data and changes on the worlds tourism map.

At the WTM, technology will reign supreme in the Egypt booth, which will use holograms and digital marketing to deliver a breathtaking image of the country, he said.

Saad said it was important to pinpoint the type and age of holidaymakers in each market. This is the best way to identify the most suitable means to address the tourists. There should be different ways to promote a destination to a younger or older age group, he said.

To promote Egypt in the French market, for example, an invitation could be extended to the French archaeological expedition that recently made discoveries at a number of sites.

The invitation could be sent to French media professionals and tourist agencies to attract French vacationers interested in cultural tourism, Saad added.

Former head of the Egyptian Tourism Federation Elhami Al-Zayat said it was important to strike a balance between promoting cultural-tourism destinations such as Luxor and Aswan in countries where holidaymakers are interested in this kind of tourism and promoting coastal destinations that still attract the majority of tourists.

Al-Zayat emphasised the importance of picking the right way to promote Egypt in each market. During the tenure of the previous tourism minister, advertising for Egyptian tourist destinations in the UK was carried out through the radio, since English people use their own cars a lot.

In Belgium and Denmark, the promotional campaigns were displayed on train routes because people there use public transport, Al-Zayat said.

When deciding on television to advertise in a given country, it is important to pick the channel with the highest viewing figures, he said.

Meanwhile, Kamal said of the Synergy campaign that it will use flexible marketing mechanisms combined with advanced technologies and creative tools to fulfil the demands of each market and open up new ones.

At the press conference announcing the alliance between Synergy and MCN/IPG, Kamal said the international company worked in 120 countries and had conducted numerous successful promotional campaigns around the world, including in Morocco, Spain, Greece, Thailand and Mexico.

* A version of this article appears in print in the 18 October, 2018 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly under the headline: Campaigning for tourism

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BCB Bancorp Inc. (BCBP) Friday reported third-quarter net income of $4.6 million or $0.27 per share, up from $3.2 million or $0.25 per share last year.

Net interest income, before the provision for loan losses, increased 28.9 percent to $20.1 million from $15.6 million in the third quarter a year ago.

Net interest margin was 3.22 percent in the third quarter, down from 3.50 a year ago. Provision for loan losses increased to $907 thousand from $511 thousand last year.

e Company also announced that its Board of Directors declared a regular quarterly cash dividend of $0.14 per share. The dividend will be payable November 16, 2018, to common shareholders of record on November 2, 2018.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Business News
Slipknot has revealed plans to perform at the Iowa State Fair in the summer of 2019. The show will take place on August 10, 2019. It will be the first time that the band, who are Iowa natives, have performed at the event.

Corey Taylor also revealed earlier this week that Slipknot's upcoming album will contain the band's "heaviest song" to date.

Speaking to Metal Hammer magazine about Slipknot's follow-up to 2014's .5: The Gray Chapter album, Taylor said, "The way we've been describing it is, 'What if the guys who made 'Iowa' matured? What if the kids who made 'Iowa' grew up?' That's kind of the way we're looking at it because some of this s**t is so heavy  but there's melody, there's really cool melancholic melody going on."

"At a time when most bands are slowing down, I think we've written our heaviest song  one of them anyway  on this new album," Taylor added.

Recently, Taylor told Spain's Resurrection Fest TV that Slipknot's next album will likely arrive next summer.

"It all depends on when we get in the studio. Right now, the plan is for us to be in the studio early next year  like, first couple of months next year. So, a couple of months to get that going, a couple of months to get production, new masks, new outfits, new everything, and hopefully be able to come and start touring in the summer when the album comes out," he said.

The vocalist also revealed that the band has commenced the songwriting process and demoed 20 songs.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Entertainment News
A high-ranking Democratic lawmaker in the United States is expressing doubts about the credibility of Saudi Arabias explanation that Jamal Khashoggi was killed in a fight inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

California Rep. Adam Schiff, the ranking Democrat on the House intelligence committee, said Friday that Saudi Arabias claim that he was killed while brawling with a team of more than a dozen dispatched from Saudi Arabia is not credible.

Schiff says that if Khashoggi was fighting inside the consulate, he was fighting for his life with people sent to capture or kill him.

He says if Trumps Republican administration wont hold Saudi Arabia accountable for Khashoggis death, Congress will.

Trump has previously warned against jumping to conclusions that Saudi Arabia was responsible for Khashoggis disappearance.

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The hunters became the hunted as Team Oman Air closed the gap on Extreme Sailing Series frontrunners, Alinghi, on the second day of racing in San Diego.

Having seen some strong results on the opening day of the Act, Oman Air were ready for take off on day two. Phil Robertson and his crew stalked the first place Swiss boat around the course, pushing hard to take a bite out of Alinghi's lead.Following six podiums out of seven races - including a hat-trick of pole position finishes - the Omani crew clawed back all-important points, finishing the day just five points behind the Swiss."We sailed so much better today than yesterday," said Oman Air skipper, Phil Robertson. "We strung some firsts together and took down Alinghi. It's tight at the top and you can't give these guys an inch, so we're going to stay focussed tomorrow and keep fighting hard."Usually the kings of consistency with a clean sheet of first place finishes, the crew onboard the Swiss boat appeared to drop the ball in today's races, falling off the podium in two of the day's seven races and failing to top it in all but one.Last year's San Diego Act and overall Series winners, SAP Extreme Sailing Team, were also kept at bay by the Omani crew. With tricky breeze plaguing the course, the Danes were unable to find their groove for much of the afternoon. Thankfully their mojo reappeared and they finished first in the day's final three races."We felt terrible for the first few races," admitted helm Adam Minoprio. "We were a bit upset as we didn't feel like we had managed to turn it around from yesterday. Then suddenly the mood onboard changed and we were back on track. Things haven't been going the right way for Alinghi; I'd say they've run out of luck!"The opposite was true for Red Bull Sailing Team. It looked hopeful for the crew when they scored a trio of consecutive podiums in the day's opening three races, but a series of mistakes saw them slip down the leaderboard as the racing drew to a close. The Austrian-flagged boat was unable to knock the Danes off the podium; they currently sit in fourth ahead of British INEOS Rebels."Despite our good start to the day, we lost it a bit towards the end," explained double Olympic gold medallist, Roman Hagara, the team's skipper and helm. "Overall it was a good day, but we could have done better."The team's new foil trimmer, Red Bull Foiling Generation star Micah Wilkinson, agreed that they would have liked to have done better, but affirmed that the team is still putting in 110%."The boys on board are giving it heaps," he said. "It's taking a few days for me to adjust to the new boat as the weights are much heaver than the Flying Phantom that I've been sailing recently. I'm slowly learning though. I may get shouted out when I get things wrong but it's all part of the fun!"Extreme Sailing Series San Diego, presented by SAP, continues all weekend in the sunny Californian city. GC32 racing is scheduled for a 14:00 PT (UTC-7) start tomorrow, and will be streamed LIVE on the Extreme Sailing Series Facebook and YouTube channels.1st, Alinghi (SUI) Arnaud Psarofaghis, Nicolas Charbonnier, Timothe Lapauw, Bryan Mettraux, Yves Detrey: 140 points2nd, Oman Air (OMA) Phil Robertson, Pete Greenhalgh, James Wierzbowski, Stewart Dodson, Nasser Al Mashari: 135 pts3rd, SAP Extreme Sailing Team (DEN) Rasmus Kstner, Adam Minoprio, Julius Hallstrom, Pierluigi de Felice, Richard Mason: 132 pts4th, Red Bull Sailing Team (AUT) Roman Hagara, Hans Peter Steinacher, Dan Morris, Rhys Mara, Micah Wilkinson: 118 pts5th, INEOS Rebels UK (GBR) Will Alloway, Leigh McMillan, Oli Greber, Adam Kay, Mark Spearman: 113 pts6th, Element Spark Compass (USA) Taylor Canfield, Sam Hallowell, John Wallace, Matt Noble, Mateo Vargas: 96 pts7th, Team Mexico (MEX) Erik Brockmann, Tom Buggy, Alex Higby, Tom Phipps, Danel Belausteguigoitia Fierro: 85 pts
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Friday issued preliminary findings of a special inspection it conducted at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station.

The findings come after an incident in August in which a canister filled with spent nuclear fuel got wedged while being lowered into a storage enclosure and was left suspended about 18 feet from the cavitys floor for 45 minutes to an hour.

Among its initial observations, the NRC faults the plants operator, Southern California Edison, for a series of deficiencies involving training, equipment, procedures, oversight and corrective actions.

The NRC also cited Edison for not reporting the incident sooner.

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A team of three NRC inspectors who spent a week at SONGS last month said it identified multiple procedural inadequacies surrounding the August incident.

Tom Palmisano, vice president of decommissioning and chief nuclear operator at SONGS said, generally, we agree and concur with the preliminary findings and added they roughly track a causal analysis Edison is conducting about the incident.

I think the important message is that this was an unacceptable situation that should not have occurred, we have taken actions to make sure it doesnt occur (again) and we will not restart fuel handling until corrective actions are in place and until we are satisfied, Palmisano said.

A final inspection report from the NRC is expected to be issued in about a month.

What happened in August

Home to 3.55 million pounds of nuclear waste, SONGS is in the midst of transferring 73 canisters of spent fuel from what is called wet storage  where nuclear fuel is cooled for about five years in a deep pool of water  to a newly constructed dry storage facility at the plant.

On Aug. 3, workers using rigging and lifting equipment attempted to lower a 45-ton canister of spent fuel into a 20-foot-deep storage cavity. Crews thought the canister had been deposited. Instead, it was suspended by an inner-ring inside the enclosure, some 18 feet from the cavitys floor.

An oversight team discovered the problem and the canister was safely lowered into place but not before it sat on the inner-ring between 45 minutes to an hour.

(Cristina Byvik/UT)

Edison officials have insisted the incident posed no danger to workers or the general public, with Palmisano saying the very robust design of the canister would have prevented any radiological leak.

News of the incident came to light six days later when a safety professional for a subcontractor at the plant stood up at a quarterly meeting of the SONGS Community Engagement Panel and said the canister was hanging by about a quarter inch.

Palmisano described the incident as a serious near-miss and suspended all future canister transfers until the problems get ironed out.

NRC officials had been tight-lipped about the details of its inspection until Friday, when it released the teams preliminary findings on the agencys website.

The NRC, which in charge of protecting public health and safety related to nuclear energy across the country, observed instances where personnel involved in important-to-safety tasks were not trained and certified or under direct supervision.

Edison officials informed the NRC the following business day  Aug. 6  but the agency said the operators of SONGS should have reported it within 24 hours. The agency said SONGS filed the necessary paperwork on Sept. 14 following prompting by NRC staff.

Palmisano said since the canister did not fall, Edison officials did not think they needed to file a 24-hour report. They (the NRC) felt it did. Therefore, theyve identified that as a potential issue.

While the NRC said if the canister had dropped any release of radioactive material to the outside environment is not considered likely, the agency found that a drop analysis conducted by Holtec International  the designers and manufacturers of the canisters  was found to be inadequate. Holtec has since put together another analysis.

The NRC asked for some more conservative assumptions in the analysis, Palmisano said. Thats been provided and the NRC is reviewing that. I think at the end of the day, they will accept the revised analysis.

Earlier incidents

The NRC on Friday also mentioned another, previously unreported, incident occurred at the nuclear plant in July.

The agency did not provide details, other than saying it did not require notifying the NRC or the public. Palmisano said it referred to an incident where workers had difficulty downloading another canister but, unlike the incident in August, the canister did not get wedged and the crew recognized and corrected the problem.

The NRCs point was that it was an opportunity to learn from that and we missed that opportunity to learn and prevent the Aug. 3 incident, Palmisano said.

Edison ran into another issue in March when work was delayed 10 days after crews discovered a piece of shim  essentially, a pin 4 inches by a half-inch  came loose while a canister was being loaded. Edison received assurance from Holtec and an independent engineering firm that the canisters integrity was sound.

Dave Lochbaum, former director of the Nuclear Safety Project at the Union of Concerned Scientists and a former NRC employee, told the Union-Tribune its fairly common for the NRC to issue a preliminary report from an inspection at a site like San Onofre that attracts a high degree of public and media attention.

Its clear that Edison, Holtec and the NRC are taking this near-miss very seriously, Lochbaum said. If and when they resume transfers, its clear theyve used up their get out of jail free card and no more near-misses are going to be tolerated by the NRC. I think thats good news for the community.

Critics of Edison were not mollified by the NRCs intial findings.

If the regulators were doing their jobs, they would have ordered Edison to immediately cease operations after the Aug. 3 incident, Charles Langley, the executive director of Public Watchdogs, said in an email. A real regulator would have had boots on the ground within hours of learning about an incident like this.

Ray Lutz, national coordinator for the advocacy group Citizens Oversight, said failures in training and procedures raise other questions.

If it is so easy to make a mistake, the design of the storage system should also be questioned, Lutz said in an email. Why is there a place where the canister can catch in the first place?

So far, crews at the nuclear plant have transferred 29 canisters from wet storage to dry cask storage this year.

Edison expects to transfer the remaining 44 canisters by the middle of next year but Palmisano reiterated nothing will resume until he is satisfied that corrective actions have been addressed and the NRC completes its inspection. When the inspection wraps up, Palmisano said he will discuss the findings at a special meeting of the Community Engagement Panel.

Business

rob.nikolewski@sduniontribune.com

(619) 293-1251 Twitter: @robnikolewski
StarKist Co. has agreed to plead guilty to a felony price-fixing charge as part of a broad collusion investigation of the canned tuna industry, the U.S. Department of Justice announced.

The Justice Department said Thursday that StarKist faces up to a $100-million fine when it is sentenced. Prosecutors allege that the industrys top three companies conspired between 2010 and 2013 to keep prices artificially high.

We have cooperated with the [Justice Department] during the course of its investigation and accept responsibility, StarKist Chief Executive Andrew Choe said. We will continue to conduct our business with the utmost transparency and integrity.

StarKist is owned by South Korean company Dongwon Industries, one of the largest tuna catching companies in the world. The parent companys website carries pledges to abide by ethical standards and good corporate citizenship.

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The scheme came to light when Thai Union Groups Chicken of the Sea attempt to buy San Diego-based Bumble Bee failed in 2015, according to court records. Chicken of the Sea executives then alerted federal investigators, who agreed to shield the company from criminal prosecution in exchange for cooperation.

Last year, Bumble Bee Foods pleaded guilty to the same charge and paid a $25-million fine.

Two former executives of Bumble Bee and one from StarKist have also each pleaded guilty to price-fixing charges. None of them have been sentenced.

Former Bumble Bee CEO Christopher Lischewski has pleaded not guilty to a price-fixing charge.

Column: The Bumble Bee tuna price-fixing case could point to the future of white-collar prosecutions 

The conspiracy to fix prices on these household staples had direct effects on the pocketbooks of American consumers, Assistant Atty. Gen. Makan Delrahim said.

In addition, the three companies face myriad lawsuits from wholesalers, food service companies and retailers such as Walmart, Target and Kroger.
San Diegans apparently have an outsized fondness for beer, wine and spirits, helping lift the metro area to the top of a new list of the booziest cities in America.

Thats according to a study assembled by Delphi Behavioral Health Group, a company that owns and operates drug and alcohol detox and treatment centers. Curious about testing the theory that staying sober can help consumers save money, Delphi decided to probe data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics annual Consumer Expenditure Survey.

Based on expenditure stats tabulated by the BLS, a San Diego consumer spent on average $1,112 last year on alcohol, easily catapulting the metro area to No. 1, past San Francisco, the leader in 2016. That year, San Diego came in at No. 2, at an annual expenditure of $850 per household, Delphi found.

San Diegos spending on booze rose more than 30 percent in just one year, according to the study. Could it be the explosive growth of the regions craft beer industry thats contributing to all that imbibing?

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After all, a soon-to-be released report found that San Diego County has more craft brewing locations  about 178  than any other U.S. county. Not only that, but local breweries produced 1.1 million barrels of beer in 2017, up from 900,000 in 2016.

While Delphi doesnt offer any explanations of its own for the areas growing affinity for adult beverages, it surmises that San Franciscos 23 percent drop may have had something to do with last years wine country wildfires that may have kept San Francisco residents away from weekend trips to nearby vineyards.

Meanwhile, San Diegos neighbor to the north, Los Angeles, ranked a distant 14th, with an average household expenditure of $620, still up 20 percent.

According to Delphis analysis, here are the top 10 tipsiest cities:

1. San Diego: $1,112

2. Seattle: $986

3. San Francisco: $875

4. Boston: $823

5. Anchorage: $788

6. Denver: $771

7. Minneapolis-St. Paul: $754

8. Baltimore: $724

9. St. Louis: $684

10. Washington, D.C.: $662

Business

lori.weisberg@sduniontribune.com

(619) 293-2251

Twitter: @loriweisberg
A candidate for the Alpine Union School District board sent an email Friday morning to members of the school board with a photo he took of a newspaper article that included an image of a gun.

The email was viewed by some as a possible threat and prompted the superintendent to notify the Sheriffs Department and send a letter to parents.

Lou Russo, who is also running for re-election to the Alpine Planning Group, sent the email via his iPhone with a subject line that said, I know reality. It contained a photo of a story on school gun violence by Nashville Tennessean/USA Today reporter Dave Boucher. The storys headline, Playing with fire, was displayed in large type and an image of a gun was prominently displayed.

Above the gun image it reads, The images of mass killings stay with us, but all too often there are near misses that go unnoticed. In Tennessee, a gun or threat is reported at school every three days.

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Alpine Superintendent Rich Newman said the district became alarmed by the email and called the San Diego County Sheriffs Department, who dispatched deputies to the district office on the campus of Joan MacQueen Middle School.

Newman said law enforcement is investigating and following up on the perceived threat.

The district also sent a letter to parents, saying while there has not been a specific threat against any of our schools, we take all threats seriously in order to best protect our students and staff.

Newman assured parents that the districts schools and law enforcement will immediately respond to any real or perceived danger, and communicate accordingly. Safety is our top priority.

I take the concern about the safety of our students seriously, Newman said during an interview later on Friday. If I received an image of a gun and a headline saying Playing with fire from a 13-year-old student, would I react differently than if it is an adult?

Russo said Friday he has been away on business in Virginia and was at the airport when he saw the story. He said he has been vocal about the school district not doing enough for safety for kids in the Alpine school district, one of the reasons he is running for a seat.

Lou Russo, Alpine Union School District board candidate (Union-Tribune photos)

Russo said that for years he has pressed the school district to protect our children from violence.

He said that he sends articles and studies about violence in schools to the board on a regular basis and that the Nashville Tennessean/USA Today article was sent to emphasize that I know the threat is real.

Russo, 66, has run unsuccessfully for the Alpine school board twice and has butted heads for more than a decade with members of the school board as well as the planning group, of which he has been a member for 10 years. He said his concerns include student safety, how money is spent by the district and development in the community of about 25,000.

Earlier this month, some political mailers were sent out disparaging Russo, saying he has been fired from jobs and that he verbally attacked community members. He says all assertions on the mailer are false.

Russo said that he has been in contact with the Sheriffs Department and that it has no issue with me, the email or the article. Russo said he felt that the districts reaction shows a blatantly political move that his email was reported as a threat to law enforcement and the community.

Ive been telling these guys for years that (gun violence) is the reality and that theres a lot more out there that we dont know of, Russo said. Ive been pressing these guys for school resource officers for years. I dont want armed guards in the schools, I want school resource officers like they have in other districts.

karen.pearlman@sduniontribune.com
When Steve Swaney was a teenager attending Junipero Serra High School in Tierrasanta, his grandmother fell and broke her arm.

Swaney watched as members of the San Diego Fire Department pulled up, along with emergency personnel in an ambulance, to help her.

I was so impressed by the care and compassion they showed her that I knew thats what I wanted to do, he said.

After graduating from Serra, Swaney enrolled in the Emergency Medical Technician program at Miramar College, obtaining a degree in fire science. He participated in paramedic training at UC San Diego, then did paramedic field training with the El Cajon Fire Department. Swaney graduated from California Coast University with a bachelors degree in management.

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On Oct. 20, Swaney, an Alpine resident, will become the new fire chief for Heartland Fire & Rescue, which oversees firefighting needs in El Cajon, La Mesa and Lemon Grove.

Swaney replaces Colin Stowell, who was appointed fire chief for the City of San Diego in July. Heartland Division Chief Mike Chasin had been interim fire chief for Heartland since Aug. 11.

As the new fire chief, one of my goals is to develop a strategic plan and identify some targets three and five years out, Swaney said. I want to make sure that we are continually working toward meeting the needs of the communities we serve along with making sure that our personnels health and well-being are being addressed. The implementation of a wellness program addressing mental health and cancer awareness is a priority.

Swaneys starting annual salary will be $164,403.

Swaney, 55, was born in Detroit but moved with his family to Riverside when he was 6. The family moved to San Diego during his senior year of high school.

Swaney began working for the city of El Cajon in 1985, then stayed on when the city became part of Heartland Fire & Rescue in 2010. He has been a Division Chief for Heartland since 2013, overseeing the daily operations of all the fire stations in the three cities.

Swaney also served as the fire chief for the Julian-Cuyamaca Fire Protection District. He is a certified Federal Emergency Management Agency canine evaluator and is a lead instructor for the FEMA Canine Search Specialist School. Swaney has been deployed as a commander on many regional and statewide fire events, including 9/11.

Swaney has been involved in Search and Rescue efforts with several canines he has trained over the past 20 years, and says he will miss not having a dog and going on deployments.

He and former Heartland Fire Chief Mike Scott observed National Disaster Search Dog Foundation dogs when they were working with San Diegos Urban Search and Rescue Team during the 1996 Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta. Upon their return, they approached then-Fire Chief Rich Henry about trying it in El Cajon.

Swaney started working with a chocolate Labrador named Sherman in 1997. Four years later, the two were deployed to search for survivors after the Sept. 11, 2001, attack in New York, Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans and Hurricane Rita in southeast Texas in 2005, Hurricane Ernesto off the Atlantic coast in 2006 and the Torrey Pines bluff collapse in 2004.

After Sherman retired in 2006, Swaney continued rescue work in San Diego with two other rescue dogs, Icon and Tank.

karen.pearlman@sduniontribune.com
October 20, 1929 The San Diego Union

The San Diego Union-Tribune will mark its 150th anniversary in 2018 by presenting a significant front page from the archives each day throughout the year.

Sunday, October 20, 1929

On Oct. 19, 1929, William Hawley Bowlus stayed aloft in his glider for more than an hour at Point Loma, two weeks after he had first broken the American soaring record set in 1911 by Orville Wright.

Here are the first few paragraphs of the story:

SAN DIEGAN AGAIN SETS GLIDER RECORD

ALOFT HOUR, 21 MINUTES OVER POINT

W.H. Bowlus Flight Timed By Officials of Three Associations; Soars 750 Feet Over Waves After Takeoff

Soaring gracefully over the waves off Point Loma in a glider yesterday afternoon W. H. Bowlus of San Diego established another American record for motorless airplanes by remaining aloft one hour, 21 minutes and nine and four-fifth seconds.

HIS SECOND RECORD

This was the second record to be set in two weeks by Bowlus. In his former record-breaking flight his sailplane remained aloft 14 minutes and 10 seconds. This record was short-lived, however, as the following day a glider enthusiast piloted a motorless plane above Cape Cod, Mass., for 15 minutes.

Bowlus took off at three seconds past 12 oclock yesterday. His craft was snapped into the air by means of shock cords and it tipped, tilted, and soared and dipped over the rocky sections of Point Loma, and then sailed out ouver the waves. When it was over the ocean it attained an altitude of 750 feet.

The take off and landing were almost perfect. Under the rules of the glider contest the pilot must land his machine at the place of takeoff or at the same altitude. The spot chosen to snap the sailplane into the air was a tiny space which had been cleared of sage brush, and when Bowlus decided to land,he headed his craft for this spot, appearing little larger to him than a small city lot. He dropped to earth in perfect form.

During his flight he found flying conditions almost ideal. The air currents were just right for his type of craft, the air rising in a steady up draught against the rocky cliffs. The watchers below could see the currents catch the outspread wings of the graceful craft, and send it skyward somewhat as a gliding seagull will turn and soar.

TALKS TO WATCHERS

In fact, in flight, the sailplane strongly resembles a seagull. Bowlus kept in constant communication with the watchers and timers below by calling to them from the cockpit.

It took constant and intricate maneuvering to keep the craft in the air long enough to break the record. Bowlus, however, is an expert pilot, and took advantage of every current of air, dipping his machine and tilting its wings to just the right angle to gain the greatest altitude and to cover the longest distance.

Bowlus designed the sailplane that carried him to the new American record.

View anniversary front pages online at sandiegouniontribune.com/150-years. For more from the Union-Tribune digital archives, go to newslibrary.com/sites/sdub. Searching is free, with registration. A fee is required to view full stories.
A California official who enforced the states liquor laws in Koreatown schemed with a businessman to shake down karaoke bar owners as part of a brazen ploy that went on for years, federal prosecutors alleged Friday.

Wilbur M. Salao, 46, and Scott Seo, 49, appeared in court this week on an array of federal crimes stemming from the fraud allegations. Both men pleaded not guilty and were released on bond, the U.S. Attorneys Office said in a statement.

The alleged con was detailed in a 26-page indictment handed down by a grand jury last month and unsealed this week.

Salao, a long time employee of the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, awarded valuable liquor licenses, directed investigations and meted out punishments to bar owners in Los Angeles Koreatown for several years until he left the agency in 2017, the indictment said.

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According to prosecutors, Salao accepted more than $28,000 in bribes and kickbacks from Seo, a former ABC employee who owned a consulting business that targeted Koreatown bars that needed help navigating the states stringent liquor laws and licensing requirements.

In exchange for the money, Salao allegedly took his cues from Seo on which karaoke bars and other businesses should be targeted for raids and investigations. Once they were in ABCs crosshairs, Seo would offer to help bar owners resolve their problems for a fee, according to the indictment.

Seos attorney, Stanley L. Friedman, declined to comment. A lawyer for Salao could not be reached.

As part of the scam, Salao would expedite license applications for Seos clients and delay those of owners who refused to work with the consultant, the indictment said. He also tipped off Seo when Los Angeles police officers were conducting undercover operations at Koreatown bars, prosecutors alleged. He once sent Seo a photo of an undercover LAPD officer, prosecutors said, so Seo could warn his clients to keep an eye out for him.

We will not tolerate the shakedown of local businesses by corrupt public officials and their cohorts, said U.S. Atty. Nick Hanna. All businesses subject to enforcement and licensing requirements should be able to play on the same level field.

The mens dealings involved at least eight businesses in Koreatown, according to the indictment.

One was a bar ABC officers raided in 2011. Afterward, Seo allegedly charged the owners $60,000 to help them avoid losing their liquor license, which is required to serve alcohol. Prosecutors said Seo used some of the money to pay off Salao, who issued a temporary license that allowed the establishment to continue operating.

In text messages included in the indictment, Seo and Salao openly discussed their scheme, referring to it as Asian Persuasion Control and Asian Persuasion Coalition.

Some karaoke bars and clubs in Koreatown are often cited for, among other violations, serving liquor after the legal last call at 2 a.m., serving minors and exploiting doumi  for-hire women who are paid by bar patrons for their company.

Los Angeles officials have said the Koreatown area has the highest concentration of liquor licenses in the city. For years, it had a reputation for its anything-goes nightlife  indoor smoking, after-hours bars and doumi  that operated exclusively for and by Koreans, out of view to law enforcement and state authorities.

As Koreatowns nightlife became increasingly popular with non-Koreans, vice squads operating out of LAPDs Olympic station attempted to crack down on some of the practices. Yet the enforcement was largely a cat-and-mouse game, based on random checks by police and the ABC team in the area, which was led by Salao.

Salao was part of a compliance check in 2015 at a karaoke bar that was observed by a Times reporter. Seeing hostess girls in the private rooms with windows taped over with paper, Salao told the owner at the time he was facing a 15-day suspension and fines for the violation.

joel.rubin@latimes.com

Follow @joelrubin on Twitter

UPDATES:

5:55 p.m.: This article was updated with additional information about enforcement activities in Koreatown.

This article was originally published at 3:15 p.m.
It is common for companies to organize various informal events where workers can come with their partners. One of those...
The operator of the San Onofre nuclear power plant was faulted for multiple procedural and oversight deficiencies after problems were found involving the transfer of a 45-ton canister of spent nuclear fuel into a deep storage enclosure at the plant, according to preliminary findings from an inspection by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

The findings come after an incident in August in which the canister got stuck as it was being lowered into an underground storage cavity and was left suspended about 18 feet above the floor for 45 minutes to an hour, officials said. Transfers have since been placed on hold.

Southern California Edison, the plants operator, was faulted for a series of deficiencies involving training, equipment, procedures, oversight and corrective actions in connection with the incident, according to the NRCs report. Edison was also cited for not reporting the incident sooner.

A team of three NRC inspectors spent a week at the plant last month conducting their review.

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Tom Palmisano, vice president of decommissioning and chief nuclear operator at San Onofre, said, generally, we agree and concur with the preliminary findings and added they roughly track a causal analysis Edison is conducting about the incident.

I think the important message is that this was an unacceptable situation that should not have occurred, we have taken actions to make sure it doesnt occur [again] and we will not restart fuel handling until corrective actions are in place and until we are satisfied, Palmisano said.

A final inspection report from the NRC is expected to be issued in about a month. Operators of the plant, which is holding 3.55 million pounds of nuclear waste, are in the midst of transferring 73 canisters of spent fuel from what is called wet storage  where nuclear fuel is cooled for about five years in a deep pool of water  to a newly constructed dry storage facility at the plant.

On Aug. 3, workers using rigging and lifting equipment attempted to lower a canister of spent fuel into the storage cavity. Crews thought they had maneuvered the canister into place. But instead, it had gotten hung up on a support ring inside the enclosure, almost 20 feet above the cavitys floor.

An oversight team discovered the problem and the canister was safely lowered the rest of the way about an hour later.

Edison officials have insisted the incident posed no danger to workers or the general public, with Palmisano saying the very robust design of the canister would have prevented any radiological leak if it had suddenly dropped the 18 feet to the floor.

The incident came to light six days later, when a worker for a subcontractor at the plant spoke up at a meeting of San Onofres Community Engagement Panel and said the canister was hanging by about a quarter inch.

Palmisano described the incident as a serious near-miss and said canister transfers had been suspended until the problems is ironed out.

The NRC, which is in charge of protecting public health and safety related to nuclear energy across the country, said it observed instances where personnel involved in important-to-safety tasks were not trained and certified or under direct supervision.

Edison officials informed the NRC about the incident on the following business day  Aug. 6  but the agency said plant operators should have reported it within 24 hours. The agency said San Onofre officials filed the necessary paperwork on Sept. 14 following prompting by NRC staff.

Palmisano said that since the canister did not fall, Edison officials did not think they needed to file a 24-hour report. The NRC felt it did. Therefore, theyve identified that as a potential issue.

Palmisano said the NRC also concluded that plant operators should have learned a lesson from a similar incident in July, previously unreported, in which workers transferring a canister also encountered trouble lowering it into place, but it did not get stuck. The agency said the incident did not require notification of the NRC or the public

Dave Lochbaum, former director of the Nuclear Safety Project at the Union of Concerned Scientists and a former NRC employee, told the San Diego Union-Tribune its fairly common for the NRC to issue a preliminary report from an inspection at a site like San Onofre that attracts a high degree of public and media attention.

Its clear that Edison, Holtec and the NRC are taking this near-miss very seriously, Lochbaum said. If and when they resume transfers, its clear theyve used up their get out of jail free card and no more near-misses are going to be tolerated by the NRC. I think thats good news for the community.

Critics of Edison were not satisfied by the NRCs initial findings. If the regulators were doing their jobs, they would have ordered Edison to immediately cease operations after the Aug. 3 incident, Charles Langley, the executive director of Public Watchdogs, said in an email.

A real regulator would have had boots on the ground within hours of learning about an incident like this.

Ray Lutz, national coordinator for the advocacy group Citizens Oversight, said failures in training and procedures raise other questions.

If it is so easy to make a mistake, the design of the storage system should also be questioned, Lutz said in an email. Why is there a place where the canister can catch in the first place?

So far, crews have transferred 29 canisters from wet storage to dry cask storage this year. Edison expects to transfer the remaining 44 canisters by the middle of next year.

Nikolewski writes for the San Diego Union-Tribune.

rob.nikolewski@sduniontribune.com
A community activist has filed a federal lawsuit alleging National City police used excessive force and injured her when they hauled her from a July City Council meeting as she and others staged a protest over the death of a man in police custody.

Tasha Williamson alleges in the complaint that officers dragged her by one wrist, with her hands cuffed behind her, and left her screaming in pain until paramedics arrived at City Hall.

Williamson, who is black, also alleges that three white female protestors were handled more carefully, with officers holding each woman at their upper arms as they too were dragged from the council chambers.

The lawsuit was filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in San Diego by attorney Douglas Gilliland.

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It alleges police used excessive force in a malicious and oppressive manner, with disregard for her rights, and that the violence against her was because of her race and her political activism.

Efforts to reach city and police officials for comment on Friday were not successful. National Citys City Hall is closed on Fridays. The San Diego Union-Tribune sent an email to City Attorney Angil Morris-Jones but had no immediate reply.

Protestors disrupted City Council proceedings with sit-ins, chants and heckling over the summer. Williamson and five others were arrested at the July 24 council meeting.

They were advocating more transparency in the role law enforcement played in the death of Earl McNeil, 40.

McNeil went to National City police headquarters seeking help about 5:30 a.m.on May 26. Authorities said he made incoherent statements about wanting to kill someone, then became belligerent with officers. They placed in a restraint and 90 minutes later took him to Central Jail in downtown San Diego.

He stopped breathing there, according to the District Attorneys Office. Medics performed CPR and got McNeil to a hospital, where he was placed on life support for about two weeks. He died after his family had the support systems removed.

The District Attorneys Office determined that National City officers and sheriffs deputies were not criminally liable for McNeils death. An autopsy revealed McNeil had a large amount of methamphetamine in his system.

Williamsons federal lawsuit against National CIty seeks unspecified monetary damages, including covering her medical expenses.

Her suit says she suffered torn ligaments and damage to the rotator cuff in her left shoulder, requiring surgery.

The complaint, complete with photos of women in handcuffs, said police officers carefully dragged the white protestors out of the City Council chambers. When they turned to Williamson, the cuffs were closed painfully tight on her wrists and one officer started dragging her by the wrists, she alleged.

She screamed in pain as the officer then pulled her full weight down a hall by just one wrist, the suit said.

It said police called for paramedics, then she was taken to jail and released about 4 a.m. the next day.

pauline.repard@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @pdrepard
An ex-con accused of killing the proprietor of an East Village flooring-materials store during a robbery pleaded not guilty Friday to a murder charge that could lead to the death penalty if hes convicted.

Kevin Eugene Cartwright, 51, was ordered held on $5 million bail in the death of 49-year-old Ghedeer ``Tony Radda of El Cajon.

An accomplice, a woman wearing a purple wig, remains at large.

Cartwright faces a charge of murder with special circumstance allegations of murder during a robbery and murder during a burglary.

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If the defendant is found guilty, District Attorney Summer Stephan will decide whether he will face life in prison without the possibility of parole or capital punishment.

Radda, a married father of two young children, was fatally shot at his Bottom Price Flooring store on G Street about 3:30 p.m. on Oct. 10.

Deputy District Attorney Matthew Greco called the attack on Radda ``a calculated, violent and lethal ambush.'

Radda was lured into a back room by the woman in a purple wig, Greco said. Cartwright then allegedly came into the room, shot Radda multiple times and took money from the register, the prosecutor said.

Cartwright escaped on foot and the woman drove off in his car, according to Greco.

San Diego police released a security camera image of the woman and the second robber, who wore a mask looking like an old womans hair and wrinkled face.

Homicide detectives arrested Cartwright in El Cajon on Wednesday

Greco said Cartwright went to prison for 10 years for a series of eight robberies in 1989 and was sent back to prison in 2005 after being convicted of possession of drugs.

Hes due back in court on Oct. 24 for a bail review. A status conference was scheduled for Nov. 15.

Authorities have asked anyone with information on the female suspect to call Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-8477.

pauline.repard@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @pdrepard
Famed former racehorse jockey Patrick Valenzuela pleaded guilty earlier this week to a misdemeanor domestic violence charge linked to slapping his girlfriend at a Carlsbad restaurant and bar last month, authorities said.

Valenzuela  whose career victories include seven Breeders Cup races  was sentenced to three years of probation, fined nearly $900, and ordered to take 52 weeks of domestic violence recovery classes, according to the District Attorneys Office. He was also ordered not to have any negative contact with his girlfriend.

In a phone call Friday, Valenzuela, 56, said he is very saddened by this whole situation, and I will continue to strive to be the best person I can be.

His defense attorney did not respond to a request for comment.

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Deputy District Attorney Melanie Guillen said Thursday that on Sept. 7, Valenzuela saw his girlfriend in the parking lot of an oceanfront Carlsbad bistro and started banging on her car window.

Initially, she didnt get out of the car because she was afraid, Guillen said. At some point, the woman entered the restaurant and sat at the bar.

Valenzuela, she said, later showed up inside the bistro.

In front of several witnesses, he grabbed her arm and then slapped her face..., Guillen said, adding that the strike was so hard, the womans ear became sore.

Valenzuela also took his girlfriends phone at some point in the encounter and threw it, but she soon recovered it, the prosecutor said.

Guillen said several men chased Valenzuela out of the restaurant.

During his lengthy career, Valenzuela captured more than 4,300 wins. He also won both the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness in 1989, two of the three competitions that make up horse racings Triple Crown.

He last raced in 2016 in New Orleans. Earlier that year, the California Horse Racing Board denied granting him a jockey license.

A spokesman for the board confirmed Friday that Valenzuela submitted an application two months ago for consideration to be re-licensed as a jockey. The application hearing dates have not yet been set.

He is currently licensed as an exercise rider for thoroughbreds.

teri.figueroa@sduniontribune.com

(760) 529-4945

Twitter: @TeriFigueroaUT
San Diego State has suspended one of its fraternities, the university announced in a statement late Friday.

SDSU made the decision after it began investigating an incident in which someone at a fraternity house near campus had to be given medical assistance, the statement said.

University officials would not release the name of the fraternity or when the alleged incident occurred. Officials also did not disclose any further details on the nature of the incident.

The university has reached out to the person involved in the incident, as well as the persons family, officials said.

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The health and well-being of all members of the campus community is of utmost importance to San Diego State University, the email statement said.
The Saudi government acknowledged early Saturday that journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, saying he died during a fistfight, but the new account may do little to ease international demands for the kingdom to be held accountable.

The announcement, which came in a tweet from the Saudi Foreign Ministry, said that an initial investigation by the governments general prosecutor found that the Saudi journalist had been in discussions with people inside the consulate when a quarrel broke out and escalated to a fatal fistfight.

The Saudi government said it fired five top officials and arrested 18 other Saudis as a result of the initial investigation. Those fired included Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salmans adviser Saud al-Qahtani and deputy intelligence chief Maj. Gen. Ahmed al-Assiri.

The announcement marks the first time that Saudi officials have acknowledged that Khashoggi was killed inside the consulate. Ever since he disappeared on Oct. 2 while visiting the mission, Saudi officials have repeatedly said that he left the consulate alive and that they had no information on his whereabouts or fate. He had gone to the consulate to obtain a document he needed for his upcoming marriage.

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The Saudi statement comes as the kingdom is facing unprecedented political and economic pressure to disclose what happened to Khashoggi, a critic of the government and a contributing columnist to The Washington Post. But it is unclear whether the Saudi explanation - which clashes with details provided by Turkish investigators and makes no mention of the crown prince - will be enough to satisfy foreign leaders, global business executives and U.S. lawmakers pressing for the perpetrators to be brought to justice.

Turkish investigators had concluded days ago that Khashoggi was killed and dismembered by a Saudi team dispatched to Istanbul. U.S. officials have said that Turkey has audio and video recordings providing evidence that the journalist was interrogated and killed and his body cut into several pieces.

Khashoggis body has not been recovered, and the Saudi statement did not address what happened to it.

A protester dressed as Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman demonstrates with members of the group Code Pink outside the White House on Oct. 19, 2018. Turkish media has reported that after dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, he was dismembered with a bone saw. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

A man leaves Saudi Arabias consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 19, 2018. (Lefteris Pitarakis/AP)

President Donald Trump said Friday night that the arrests were a great first step but that he wanted to talk further to the Saudis about the investigation. He added that if sanctions were imposed on the Saudis over the killing, he would prefer they didnt include arms sales.

According to a list confirmed by Turkish officials, 15 Saudis flew to Istanbul on the morning of Oct. 2, participated in an operation that left Khashoggi dead and then quickly left the country. At least 12 members of that team are connected to Saudi security services, and several have links to Mohammed himself, according to a review of passport records, social media, local media reports and other material.

Those personal connections and U.S. intelligence intercepts of Saudi officials discussing a plan to lure Khashoggi home have contributed to a growing suspicion that the crown prince was personally linked to the incident. But the Saudi statement did not implicate him in the killing.

The preliminary investigation conducted by the prosecutor found that the suspects traveled to Istanbul to meet with Khashoggi as he had expressed an interest in returning to Saudi Arabia, the official news agency said. Discussions that took place developed in a negative way and led to a fight and a quarrel between some of them and the citizen, it said. The brawl aggravated to lead to his death and their attempt to conceal and cover what happened, it said.

Investigations are continuing with the 18 detainees, it said, without naming them.

The Kingdom expresses its deep regret at the painful developments that have taken place and stresses the commitment of the authorities in the Kingdom to bring the facts to the public, the statement said.

The official Saudi statement said King Salman also ordered the creation of a commission to review and modernize the kingdoms intelligence operations and report back within a month.

In addition to Qahtani and Assiri, the Saudi news agency named several other military officers who had been fired. They included Maj. Gen. Mohammed bin Saleh al-Rumaih, assistant head of the General Intelligence Directorate; Maj. Gen. Abdullah bin Khalifa al-Shaya, head of General Intelligence for Human Resources; and Gen. Rashad bin Hamed al-Mohammad, director of the General Directorate of Security and Protection.

Qahtani has been one of Mohammeds closest advisers, serving as a strategist and enforcer. He had been referred to in some quarters as the Saudi Stephen Bannon and had created a blacklist of online critics of Saudi Arabia. Qahtani had made overtures to Khashoggi and tried to persuade him to return to Saudi Arabia this summer, when U.S. intelligence officials said there was an attempt to lure him back to the kingdom to detain him.

Do you think I can act by myself without taking orders/guidance? Qahtani said last year in a tweet that is being widely shared now after the announcement of his firing. I am an employee and a trustworthy executive to the orders of the king and the crown prince.

Assiri, who has also been close to the crown prince, served for two years as the public face of Saudi Arabias military intervention in the war in Yemen before his intelligence posting. Assiri, who speaks fluent French and English, held regular news briefings on the state of the battle that were unusual for the Middle East and appeared designed to promote the professionalism of the Saudi war effort.

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders issued a statement acknowledging the Saudi announcement that the investigation was progressing and that action had been taken against suspects.

We will continue to closely follow the international investigations into this tragic incident and advocate for justice that is timely, transparent, and in accordance with all due process. We are saddened to hear confirmation of Mr. Khashoggis death, and we offer our deepest condolences to his family, fiancee, and friends, Sanders said.

Other reaction in Washington was more negative.

To say that I am skeptical of the new Saudi narrative about Mr. Khashoggi is an understatement, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said in a Twitter post. First we were told Mr. Khashoggi supposedly left the consulate and there was blanket denial of any Saudi involvement. Now, a fight breaks out and hes killed in the consulate, all without knowledge of Crown Prince.

Rep. Adam Schiff, Calif., the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, was also dismissive of the Saudi account.

The announcement that Jamal Khashoggi was killed while brawling with a team of more than a dozen dispatched from Saudi Arabia is not credible, he said. If Khashoggi was fighting inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, he was fighting for his life with people sent to capture or kill him. Schiff added, The kingdom and all involved in this brutal murder must be held accountable, and if the Trump administration will not take the lead, Congress must.

A senior U.S. official said the Saudi explanation raised more questions than it answered about Mohammeds knowledge of the incident. The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to give a frank assessment, noted that Assiri and Qahtani are among Mohammeds closest aides and said they could not have acted without orders him.

Its impossible to blame them for anything without MBS having a direct role, the official said, using Mohammeds initials.

The news of the announcement broke late at night in Riyadh, the Saudi capital. Twitter was immediately filled with mixed reaction, much under the hashtag jamal is dead. Many tweeters praised the kingdoms action, including one who wrote that Saudi transparency showed no one is above the law.

Other Saudis saw a potential coverup in the works, one that would ultimately hold Mohammed blameless and eliminate any threat to his leadership.

A cloud of fear has enveloped the country, one Saudi academic, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, citing his personal safety, said in an interview. No one can talk in Saudi Arabia for fear of being dragged into a dungeon. The academic said very few Saudis would believe the official version of the case. Coverups on the way; why did they lie for sixteen days? the academic said.

Earlier Friday, Turkish prosecutors questioned staffers at the Saudi Consulate, state media said, suggesting that attempts were being made to strengthen a possible criminal case with insider details from the last place Khashoggi was seen alive.

An undisclosed number Turkish employees of the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul were interviewed by prosecutors, the semiofficial Anadolu news agency reported, a day after Turkish authorities began combing through wooded areas outside Istanbul in an apparent search for Khashoggis remains.

Turkish officials say that Khashoggi - a U.S. resident - was killed by a 15-member Saudi hit squad after he entered the consulate on Oct. 2.

The refocus on the consulate employees suggests that investigators are seeking to bolster a possible criminal case. Turkish officials say they also have an audio tape that purports to record Khashoggis killing, but the tape has not been shared with American or Saudi officials.

The disappearance of Khashoggi has provoked global criticism of the crown prince, Saudi Arabias de facto ruler, and convulsed the kingdom as it struggles to respond to increasing international pressure to explain the journalists fate.

Turkish media reports said more than a dozen Turkish staff members of the consulate - including technicians, drivers, telephone operators and accountants - were being interviewed by prosecutors.

Their accounts could provide valuable insights into the movements of Saudi officials at the mission in the hours and days before and after Khashoggi vanished.

It was not clear why the investigators waited more than two weeks to conduct the interviews, but the move came a day after Turkish officials said they were searching two wooded areas outside Istanbul for possible remains.

Until recently, the inquiry has focused on the consulate in Istanbuls Levent district and the nearby residence of the Saudi consul general, Mohammed al-Otaibi, who left Turkey this week.

Earlier Friday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said his country has not provided the audio recording of Khashoggis alleged killing to U.S. officials but promised that Turkey would share with the world the results of its investigation, according to Anadolu.

On Thursday, President Trump said Khashoggi is likely dead and warned of very severe measure against Saudi Arabia if the Saudi government is found to be responsible.

Morris reported from London and El-Ghobashy from Istanbul. The Washington Posts Zakaria Zakaria in Istanbul and Ellen Nakashima in Washington contributed to this report.

First published by The Washington Post.
A Florida man, whom at least one relative claims is mentally ill, faces charges after climbing a cell-phone tower Friday morning.

Pablo Perez could be booked with single counts of burglary and trespassing after mounting the 222-foot-tall structure in Hialeah, a suburb of Miami, said a police spokesman.

Perez, 58, was reportedly suicidal and demanded to talk to media when he reached the summit, reported TV station WFOR.

Hialeah police officials said crisis negotiators responded to speak with Perez, who lives in the area. His family was also at the scene helping to bring the incident to a safe conclusion.

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Before the crisis was averted, cops had been asking drivers to avoid the area.

Video footage appeared to indicate Perez using a rope to climb the tower as police cordoned off nearby streets.

Once the climber reached the tower top, he laid down and appeared to be talking to someone on his cell phone.

Firefighters began climbing the structure while Perez was on his way down in the mid-afternoon, reported WPLG-TV.

Miami-area TV station WTVJ reported Perezs aunt, who was not identified, said her nephew suffers from mental health issues and wanted to jump from the tower.

At some point before his descent, reports say he appeared to yell something to authorities below. Perez was transported to a local hospital to be checked out, said a police spokesperson.
A Georgia police officer was fatally shot Saturday by suspects who remain on the loose.

Gwinnett County police officer Antwan Toney was struck while responding to a suspicious vehicle parked behind a middle school.

He was a two year veteran of the department.

Toney was in critical condition when he was taken to Gwinnett Medical Center where he died, officials said.

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Police are pursuing at least four suspects, who fired shots through the vehicles window before fleeing the scene. They later crashed the vehicle and then fled by foot.
Just 11 years old when he was charged with fatally shooting his pregnant, would-be stepmother, Jordan Brown is finally a free man  more than nine years later.

Brown of Wampum, Pa., who had been found guilty at 14 of killing Kenzie Kouk  the woman engaged to his father, Chris Brown  had his conviction overturned in July, when a judge ruled the state had failed to prove he was guilty of murder beyond a reasonable doubt.

Jordan, now 21, recalls that fateful day on Feb. 20, 2009.

Cops claimed the boy walked into Houks bedroom brandishing a youth hunting shotgun, fatally shot her in bed and then calmly boarded the bus to school.

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Confused and scared after being charged with the murders of both Houk and her unborn child, Jordan recalls the trauma of the event.

I didnt understand what was happening, he told ABC News. I was at, like, what was going on or anything.

At the crime scene, police discovered a slew of firearms, including rifles, handguns and several rounds of ammo. They also found a 20-gauge shotgun belonging to Jordan that had been a Christmas present from his dad for when they would go hunting together.

While Chris Brown would visit his son at the detention center, he would repeatedly ask Jordan if he had killed Houk.

I gave him every opportunity. (Id say,) Jordan, listen, if something happens. Accidents happen, buddy. You know, if something happened, tell me. Im not going to be mad at you, Chris Brown told ABC News. Im your dad. Im never not going to be your dad.  (He) never changed his story once. You know, he maintained his innocence throughout from day one.

Jordan, who is studying computer science in college, has left the horrific trauma of the killing in the past.

Im not angry. I mean, I think the whole, like what happened and the way it happened is B.S., said Jordan.
A 23-year-old man was sentenced to 12 years in prison for biting off a part of his ex-girlfriends lip.

South Carolinian Seth Aaron Fleury pleaded guilty Thursday to assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature. He will serve at least 85% of the 12 year sentence before he becomes eligible for parole, according to a release from state solicitor W. Walter Wilkins.

Fleury met his former girlfriend Kayla Hayes on October 21, 2017, to discuss their relationship. Fleury became angry when Hayes was clear that she didnt want to resume dating him.

He leaned in for a kiss, and as Hayes pulled away, Fleury chomped down on her bottom lip with such force that part of her limp was amputated. He then left the scene, according to the release.

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Hayes underwent an unsuccessful procedure in an attempt to have her lip reattached.

She has permanent, serious, scarring and a limited range of motion in her mouth as a result.

Fleurys attorney said he intentionally bit his ex, according to a Facebook post she wrote.

I had to listen to his attorney say that when he attacked me, it was intentional. Saying that he claimed he was going to leave his mark for me next boyfriend, Hayes wrote.

She recalled the attack  which took place nearly a year ago.

This was the day that a piece of me died...Sitting in a puddle of my own blood with the majority of my lip laying on my leg, my whole mouth on fire, confused and terrified, I didnt know how I could ever show my face again. At that point, honestly wishing that those very seconds would just be my last- I wanted to give up for good.

She said she grappled with her new reality post surgery.

What I just woke up from was no joke. Never a day in my life will I ever wake up living my normal life again, she said.

Wilkins hopes her attackers sentence sends a message about domestic violence.

This case demonstrates the unique circumstances under which domestic violence occurs, and how quickly these situations can escalate into violence, he said. Hopefully this prison sentence will make it clear to both this defendant and other abusers that domestic violence in any fashion will not be tolerated.
The remains of roughly 63 fetuses and infants were uncovered and removed from the Perry Funeral Home in Detroit on Friday, according to reports.

Police made the grisly discovery Friday, about a week after the bodies of 11 babies were found stashed in a Michigan funeral homes fake ceiling.

Theres no clear connection between the two cases, Detroit Police Chief James Craig said at a press conference.

The investigation into the alleged improper disposal of fetuses is in its early stages, Craig said.

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About 36 sets of remains were found in unrefrigerated boxes at the facility, while another 27 sets of remains were found in a freezer.

This is deeply disturbing, Detroit Police Chief James Craig said Friday. I have never seen anything like this in my 41 and a half years, ever.

Its disturbing, but we will get to the bottom of this, he added.

The Perry Funeral Homes license was suspended and the business is closed, according to a statement from Michigan Licensing and Regulatory Affairs.
His antics just didnt fly.

A Texas man is facing federal charges after he played footsie with a fellow flier and interfered with the flight crew, causing his Southwest Airlines flight to make an emergency landing in New Mexico.

Justin Riley Brafford, 29, was arrested by the FBI Tuesday following his behavior on a flight from Los Angeles to Dallas that was ultimately diverted to Albuquerque.

The victim, a passenger who was originally in an aisle seat, alleges Brafford approached her after boarding the plane and asked if he could sit next to her in the middle seat between her and another passenger, according to the criminal complaint.

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Brafford then leaned closer to her, putting his arm over her armrest and on her leg. The passenger tried to ignore him by leaning away from him and towards the aisle, according to the complaint.

Thats when things really got freaky.

Brafford allegedly moved even closer to her and began playing footsie with her to get her attention. When he asked her if he was bothering her, she said yes and asked him to stop kicking her.

But, the passenger stated, Brafford continued to kick her and pulled on her sweater before asking her out. Once she declined the offer, the handsy flier whispered Dont f--- with me to her, according to the complaint.

A flight attendant changed the victims seat at her request after she complained of Braffords behavior. A flight attendant told the FBI he thought the seatmates were a couple because he spotted Brafford putting his head on her shoulder and getting in her personal space.

After the unnamed victims seat was moved, Brafford allegedly confronted her in her new seat. When the flight attended addressed the matter with Brafford, he alleged stood up and yelled at him, using profanities. Other flight attendants contacted the pilot and they decided to divert the flight to remove Brafford from the plane.

In his audio statement, Brafford claimed he felt like he and the victim were connecting and he put his hand on her leg but then felt like he went too far, may have misread the situation and removed it.

He also told the FBI that he used meth the day before the flight and overdosed on heroin on Oct. 13. He threw in that God was talking to him on the plane.

Brafford appeared in federal court Wednesday on a criminal complaint charging him with interfering with and intimidating members of a flight crew and flight attendants while on an aircraft, a felony charge, and simple assault, a misdemeanor charge.

If hes convicted of the interference and intimidation charge, he faces up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The simple assault charge has a maximum penalty of a year in prison and up to a $100,000 fine.
A Golden Krust pie purveyor in Brooklyn is facing claims he sexually harassed and assaulted a former employee.

Franchise owner Stanley Dennis, 64, was sued in federal court in Brooklyn this week by an unidentified cashier.

The woman, identified as Jane Doe in her paperwork, claims she started working for Dennis in August 2015 and felt bombarded with inappropriate questions from him about her personal life.

According to the complaint, Dennis began pressuring the woman to meet him outside work around February 2016 and professed his love to her in January 2017.

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She says she became increasingly uncomfortable around Dennis but needed her job and ultimately agreed to help him remodel a store on Church Avenue in Prospect Park South in March 2017 after he demanded her assistance.

She claims Dennis attacked her without warning at the location, aggressively pulling her by the arm into his office for a brutal assault.

Upon successfully forcing plaintiff inside, defendant Dennis then threw plaintiff in a chair. Defendant Dennis then squeezed plaintiffs legs together with his legs, locking them in place, the lawsuit obtained by the Daily News reads.

The woman, who was 31 at the time, claims she tried to fight Dennis off, pushing and slapping him in an effort to escape.

Dennis allegedly held the woman down as he lifted up her shirt and pulled down her bra to expose her breasts, the lawsuit states.

As Plaintiff continued to fight, defendant Dennis tilted his head down and tried to suck on plaintiffs exposed nipple. Defendant Dennis then attempted to untie plaintiffs sweatpants and put his hand down plaintiffs pants, the lawsuit alleges.

The woman finally broke free and ran out of the office, according to the complaint.

Reached by The News on Thursday, Dennis said he hadnt read the lawsuit yet and couldnt comment.

My attorney called me (about it), but I have not seen it, he said. I dont know where its going. I dont know where it came from. Im not going to get into it unless advised by my attorney.

A Golden Krust Bakery in Queens, not connected to this story, is pictured in 2009. (Christie Farriella for New York Daily News)

Dennis owns several Golden Krust restaurants in Brooklyn and reportedly is related to the companys founding family.

The parent company is also a named defendant in the lawsuit.

I cannot comment on any pending litigation against our client, said Brooke Youngwirth, a lawyer representing Golden Krust Franchising Inc.

In accordance with our company policy, we do not comment on any existing litigation, Golden Krust spokesman Steven Clarke said.

The woman claims in her lawsuit that she continued working for Dennis after the assault and endured more unwanted attention, which she rebuffed.

She said that around July 2017, Dennis grabbed her from behind and traced an X on the back of her neck with his finger.

She alleges Dennis proclaimed to two other employees that he was in love with her and that the X was to mark plaintiff as his property.

The unidentified woman claims she confided in her pastor about the abuse and was fired on Aug. 22, 2017.

As a result of defendants unlawful action, plaintiff felt extremely humiliated, degraded, victimized, embarrassed and emotionally distressed, the suit filed by the womans lawyer, Seamus Barrett, claims.

The woman filed a complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on Sept. 29, 2017 and received a right to sue letter from the EEOC on Aug. 6, according to her filing.

Golden Krust was founded by Jamaica-born meat pie mogul Lowell Hawthorne in the Bronx in 1989.

Hawthorne personified the American rags-to-riches dream, immigrating to the U.S. from Jamaica at age 21, opening his first Golden Krust less than a decade later with family investments and reportedly becoming the first Caribbean-owned business owner to be granted a franchise license.

He went on to build the beef-patty business into a national name with more than 120 restaurants in nine states.

Hawthorne died in a shocking suicide last December that left his family grasping for answers.

The 57-year-old entrepreneur was found with a self-inflicted gunshot wound on Dec. 2 inside his Bronx factory.

Police found the gun and a note, but authorities did not reveal what the message said.

Two former employees filed a proposed class action lawsuit days later, saying the company failed to pay them overtime wages. That suit was eventually dismissed.
A Los Angeles billboard for the new Halloween movie was hijacked by a right-wing street artist who plastered an image of Maxine Waters over the flicks fictional serial killer

The artist, who goes by the name Sabo, added the text #UNCIVIL and DEMOCRATS to the doctored billboard on Pico Boulevard.

In an interview with the Daily News, Sabo said he wanted to make a statement about the irony of the California congresswoman saying she supported efforts to shame White House officials encountered in public places.

I did it for the same reason Im wearing a MAGA hat, he said in a phone interview. I wanted to start smoking once to piss liberals off in Los Angeles, but the hat works better and I dont get cancer.

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Sabo claimed Waters was inciting incivility when she urged supporters back in June to speak out against White House policies they found amoral and inhumane.

If you see anybody from that cabinet in a restaurant, in a department store, at a gasoline station, you get out and you create a crowd and you push back on them and you tell them theyre not welcome anymore, anywhere, Waters said.

Waters made the comment after protesters heckled Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen while she dined at a Mexican restaurant amid reports about family separations at the border.

A short time later, the owner of a restaurant in Lexington, Va., asked White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders and her family to leave her establishment mid-meal.

Sabo claimed Friday that the the level of decorum is just so downhill with the left, but when asked about President Trumps comments at a rally Thursday night, he didnt want to talk about it.

I dont really watch the rallies, he said.

On Thursday night in Montana, Trump praised Rep. Greg Gianforte (R-Montana) for physically assaulting Guardian reporter Ben Jacobs last year.

Any guy that can do a body slam, hes my guy, Trump said as he made a hand gesture mimicking a body slam.

Gianforte pleaded guilty to the assault and was sentenced to community service and anger management therapy.

Well, were not going to be civil anymore, all right, were not going to be civil anymore, Sabo told The News on Friday.

If Im having dinner with my wife and kids and some morons come in and yell and scare my family, Im going to beat the hell out of them, he said.

Attempts to reach a spokesperson for Rep. Waters were not immediately successful Friday.
San Diego City Council President Myrtle Cole is facing a stiff test in her Nov. 6 runoff against fellow Democrat Monica Montgomery, a civil rights lawyer who says Cole is out of touch with the southeastern San Diego district she represents.

Montgomery beat Cole by six votes in the June primary despite Cole raising significantly more money and receiving support from local labor unions.

An incumbent hasnt lost a San Diego City Council race since 1992, but Montgomerys challenge of Cole from the left appears to have a solid chance to end that streak.

Montgomery portrays Cole as a City Hall insider who is too focused on politics and hasnt helped her low-income communities get the jobs, amenities and resources they have lacked for many years.

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Im running because the community needs a voice at City Hall, Montgomery said by phone. We have not had that. Weve been underserved and under-resourced, and the community is feeling it.

Cole says she has brought dozens of capital improvement projects to the area as the city has broken infrastructure spending records in recent years. Those have included a new Skyline Hills library, a teen center, multiple affordable housing developments and road repaving projects in nearly every neighborhood.

Cole, who declined requests to be interviewed, has said often that it will take time and patience for District 4 to fill all of its infrastructure needs and add the amenities it lacks, particularly supermarkets and full-service restaurants.

Montgomery, however, says Cole has failed the district by not pressing for things many residents prioritize, such as more accountability for racial profiling and other misconduct by police.

In particular, Montgomery has criticized Cole for not using her power as council president to get a measure on the Nov. 6 ballot that could have given subpoena power to a citizens police review board.

Concerns over race and police conduct are a primary reason the two women are facing off at the polls.

Montgomery resigned as a staff member for Cole last year when the incumbent condoned some forms of racial profiling, saying blacks frequently shoot blacks.

Cole later apologized for the comments, but not before Montgomery had decided to challenge her former bosss re-election bid.

Montgomery says its telling that Cole got less than 39 percent of the vote in the four-candidate primary, and that turnout was the highest in that part of the city since records have been kept going back several decades.

The people understand that they have a choice and it has driven them to the polls, she said.

Montgomery, however, still faces a significant challenge. Coles loss in the primary has made her keenly aware that she could lose next month, prompting more aggressive campaigning.

Montgomery was unsuccessful in her attempt this summer to get the county Democratic Party to rescind the endorsement in the race that it gave Cole last spring.

In addition, the regions leading labor unions have stepped up their support for Cole, who cast a key vote last year keeping off the November 2017 ballot a convention center expansion measure that the unions opposed.

Through late September, the San Diego-Imperial Counties Labor Council, an umbrella group for more than 100 local unions, had spent $35,000 on mailers, polling and other support for Cole.

Thats above and beyond $52,000 spent by Coles campaign, which is triple what Montgomery spent during the same time period.

Coles campaign has said the larger number of voters expected in the general election, in contrast to the primary, will help Cole more than Montgomery.

While both women are Democrats, critics of Cole say Montgomery would solidify the 5-4 majority Democrats have on the council because Cole is the most moderate of the five, sometimes breaking party ranks to side with Republican Mayor Kevin Faulconer.

Cole, whose colleagues elevated her to council oresident in late 2016 and re-elected her to that post in late 2017, is the first black woman to serve on the council and the first to serve as council president.

Before joining the council in a 2013 special election, Cole spent several years working as a campaign strategist and policy consultant for other local politicians.

Montgomery, who is also black, knows the inner workings of City Hall because she served on Coles staff and worked on the staffs of Faulconer and Councilman Todd Gloria when he served as interim mayor.

She says that experience goes well with her years as an attorney focused on civil rights, employment discrimination and helping families avoid foreclosures.

Cole, 68, lives in Redwood Village. Montgomery, 40, lives in Skyline Hills.

david.garrick@sduniontribune.com (619) 269-8906 Twitter:@UTDavidGarrick
San Diego officials say they plan to crack down on marijuana advertising, particularly the billboard ads that have become increasingly common with recreational use of the drug now legal in California.

Legislation proposed by City Councilman Chris Cate aims to keep marijuana billboard ads out of areas where young people congregate and to prevent illegal marijuana businesses from advertising anywhere.

The proposal, which would go beyond relatively new state laws that govern marijuana advertising, will be included in a series of city code updates that Mayor Kevin Faulconers staff plans to present to the City Council next year.

Marijuana billboard ads wouldnt be allowed within 1,000 feet of schools, parks, youth-oriented facilities, recreation centers, libraries, churches and residential care facilities.

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State law already prohibits the billboard ads within 1,000 feet of some sensitive uses, but the state list doesnt include parks, churches or residential care facilities.

In addition, Cates proposal prohibits marijuana billboard ads within 100 foot of residential housing, a restriction not included in state law.

Cate wants his restriction to apply to websites that list and rate local dispensaries, such as Weedmaps, and websites that facilitate marijuana deliveries, such as Eaze. State law governing marijuana ads doesnt apply to such businesses.

Cates proposal also expressly says the restrictions would apply to both legal and illegal marijuana businesses, unlike state law which has been criticized for leaving open the question of whether it applies to illegal businesses.

Finally, Cate wants to prohibit illegal marijuana businesses from any kind of advertising on billboards, internet platforms, newspapers, magazines and other publications.

While San Diego officials have managed to shut down nearly all of the illegal dispensaries in the city, an estimated 100 illegal delivery services have taken their place as a new black market for marijuana.

Cates proposal says violations of the new regulations would be prosecuted as infractions for a first offense and as misdemeanors for subsequent offenses.

Cate says his proposal is a crucial step for the city in the wake of recreational marijuana sales becoming legal on Jan. 1, which has prompted more aggressive advertising campaigns.

I believe my proposals are fair and reasonable regulations that will provide our code enforcement division and our Police Department with additional tools to better regulate marijuana advertisements within our city and protect our children and families, Cate said in a news release.

The citys legal marijuana businesses are welcoming the new restrictions.

These are common-sense reforms that make the citys advertising restrictions consistent with the states regulations, so we have no objection to Cates proposal, said Phil Rath, executive director of the United Medical Marijuana Coalition.

We also see the restrictions as another avenue for the city to identify unlicensed operators and bring them into compliance with the regulations our members abide by, said Rath, whose organization includes the citys legal dispensaries.

But critics of marijuana legalization and the citys policies on the drug say the proposal wouldnt go far enough.

Those critics would like to see content restrictions on marijuana ads, and they contend that limiting the locations of billboard ads wont prevent young people from seeing them.

They note that San Diego prohibits dispensaries from including on their storefront signs any pictures of marijuana leaves and other images that could attract the eyes of young people.

The billboards now have all the images that the City Council said shouldnt be part of the process, said Scott Chipman, leader of San Diegans for Safe Neighborhoods. Its mission creep. Its the normalization of drug dealing in our society.

Chipman said allowing any marijuana billboard ads is a terrible idea, suggesting the city should post ads warning teens about the dangers of marijuana use.

It sends a bad message to our teens, he said. Every teen drives by some billboard in the course of a week. Where are the messages telling them not to use marijuana?

A spokesman for Faulconer said his staff plans to present essentially what Cate has proposed to the council for approval.

The proposal is currently under review but we dont anticipate any substantial changes, said the spokeswoman, Christina Chadwick, in an email.

david.garrick@sduniontribune.com (619) 269-8906 Twitter:@UTDavidGarrick
Authorities are searching for the driver of a car  possibly a newer model red Ford Mustang  who fled the scene after crashing into a pedestrian in Fallbrook Friday night.

The pedestrian, a 56-year-old woman who lived in Fallbrook, died from her injuries.

The woman was walking on East Alvarado Street near Alvarado Court about 8:55 p.m. when she was struck in the eastbound lane, according to the California Highway Patrol.

She was taken by ambulance to a hospital, where she died. Her name has not been released.

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Authorities are asking any potential witnesses to contact the CHP at (858) 637-3800.

kristina.davis@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @kristinadavis
George Briest inherited a shotgun from his father  a gun he doesnt want or use.

Its like, what do we do with this? the San Diegan said.

So on Saturday morning, Briest was one of the first to trade in his weapon at a gun buyback event for a Loaded skateboard, which he is giving to his son. Briest said he thinks its a good way to make sure that gun stays off the street. He was also thinking of keeping his 18-year-old son safe.

Id rather have him have a skateboard than a gun, Briest said.

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Gun owners turned in 250 weapons for gift cards and skateboards during a gun buyback event held by a church nonprofit and law enforcement on Saturday.

The point of the buyback is to safely remove guns from homes and keep them out of the hands of criminals, who could steal them and use them in a crime, and out of the hands of children, who could hurt themselves and others. Law enforcement collected the guns with a no-questions-asked policy, which was meant to encourage more people to turn them in.

Many of the people who came Saturday said they simply had guns they didnt know what to do with, including guns inherited from family members or old guns that hadnt been used for decades and were lying around the house.

Mike Hopper, who lives near Santa Ysabel, turned in a shotgun that he said he got when he was 16 years old, a gun he used to go hunting with his father. Hopper stopped hunting years ago, however, and the gun had long sat in his garage, he said.

Like several others who dropped off guns, Hopper didnt have anything against guns in general. He and others just didnt want the guns to end up in the wrong hands.

I like guns, I think there just needs to be stronger measures on who gets them, Hopper said.

John Refoy of Escondido said he and his girlfriend had recently stumbled upon two revolvers in her familys house. He said it was a big relief that he could drop them off at Saturdays event.

She doesnt want anything to do with them, he said of his girlfriend. It scared us. We didnt even know they were there.

This is the 10th gun buyback event held by the United African American Ministerial Action Council, said the Rev. Gerald Brown, executive director of the nonprofit. The council started organizing the buyback in honor of 17-year-old Monique Palmer and 15-year-old Michael Taylor, local teenagers who were shot and killed after leaving a house party 11 years ago.

The thought was, we really need to remove weapons off of the streets of San Diego, Brown said.

The buyback events have collected 3,000 weapons over the years. This Saturday, authorities collected fewer weapons than they predicted. In the past three years, the event has collected about 300 weapons each time.

Saturdays event, which was held at the Encanto Southern Baptist Church, involved help from the San Diego Police Department, the Sheriffs Department and the District Attorneys Office.

The donated skateboards were arranged through Dennis Martinez, who heads a residential treatment and training program in Spring Valley to help ex-offenders transition to life after prison. A few people who have completed the program also volunteered at Saturdays gun buyback, including some who have served prison sentences themselves for murder by a gun.

Im here to give back. Ive changed my life, said Stephen, an alumnus of the Spring Valley program who said he served 24 years in prison for murder and asked to be identified by his first name only.

Stephen said he volunteered Saturday as part of his efforts to try to give back to the community what Ive taken.

All the guns collected will be destroyed by incineration, said Undersheriff Michael Barnett.

The gift cards were bought using forfeiture asset funds that law enforcement had seized in drug investigations, Barnett said.

We took bad money and turned it into good money, Barnett said.

People received $100 in gift cards each for handguns and shoulder weapons. People received $200 in gift cards for each assault weapon.

Kristen Taketa

Email: kristen.taketa@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @Kristen_Taketa
A 65-year-old woman riding a dockless scooter alongside family members crashed and fractured her femur Friday afternoon in the Marina area of downtown San Diego, police said.

The serious-injury crash happened around 1:45 p.m. near Kettner Boulevard and West E Street, San Diego police Officer Robert Heims said.

The woman was riding a Bird scooter in the roadway when she lost control, overturned and fell tot he asphalt, Heims said. She suffered a fractured femur and was taken by medics to a hospital for treatment.

Traffic division officers were investigating the crash.

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Earlier this month, a 9-year-old girl also fractured her femur in a dockless scooter crash. It happened in the City Heights area, where the girl was riding with her 16-year-old sister when they struck a tree.

San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer announced Thursday morning a proposal to regulate dockless scooters throughout the city, in large part because of safety concerns. Dockless scooter companies like Lime and Bird, backed by hundreds of millions of dollars in investor cash, first showed up in San Diego earlier this year.

The motorized scooters can travel up to 15 miles per hour and are often improperly used on city sidewalks, creating issues for both riders and pedestrians.

Last month, public health officials at Scripps Mercy Hospital in San Diego called the scooter trend a public health disaster in the making. Hospital officials said that while exact numbers on injuries are not yet available, at least 30 scooter riders have required hospitalization since June, with scores more being treated in the emergency room.

Twitter: @Alex_Riggins

(619) 293-1710

alex.riggins@sduniontribune.com
A repeat DUI offender and former prison inmate who was drunk when he drove on the shoulder of the freeway near Tierrasanta, striking and killing a tow-truck operator tending to a disabled trash truck, was sentenced Friday to 15 years to life in prison, plus 10 years.

Michael Gilbert Gray, 50, pleaded guilty in August to second-degree murder and other charges in connection with the Feb. 23, 2017, crash that killed 55-year-old Fred Griffith. He also admitted to two serious felony priors, including a domestic violence conviction for hitting his wife and rupturing her eardrum.

During the sentencing in San Diego Superior Court, Griffiths sister, Danelle Ragsdale, said in a letter that her brother  a single father with three sons, ages 15, 18 and 21  was needlessly killed.

He worked hard for the boys so they would have a good life, she wrote in the letter read in court by Deputy District Attorney Cally Bright. Fred was a ship in the night who would help you find your way to safety.

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Before he was sentenced, Gray apologized to the victims family and said he took full responsibility for Griffiths death.

Witnesses testified during a preliminary hearing last year that they saw Grays Ford Expedition swerve onto the shoulder of eastbound state Route 52 and narrowly miss a large disabled commercial trash truck before striking Griffith, who was standing outside his tow truck in front of the trash truck.

He was stopped shortly after by an off-duty sheriffs detective. He had a half-empty vodka bottle in the car, and his blood-alcohol level was measured at 0.27 percent, more than three times the legal limit.

Gray was convicted of drunken driving in 1999, 2001 and 2013. He was imprisoned in 1987 for assault to commit rape and sexual battery convictions and was incarcerated again in 2007 after the domestic violence conviction, according to a probation report.

Twitter: @gregmoran

greg.moran@sduniontribune.com
Mayor Kevin Faulconer deserves applause for proposing new rules for the motorized scooters that have become hugely popular in parts of the city. Faulconers rules would require every scooter to have a sign warning that riding on sidewalks is prohibited; would limit speeds to 8 mph in some areas, including several beach locations; would require scooter companies to carry liability insurance and to indemnify the city for liability claims; and would require the city be notified of accidents.

Councilwoman Barbara Bry called for the rules to go even farther. But starting with relatively loose rules makes sense, as Councilwoman Lorie Zapf expressed. Motorized scooters could be a valuable element of urban transportation for decades to come. The City Council should adopt these rules.

Twitter: @sdutIdeas

Facebook: San Diego Union-Tribune Ideas & Opinion
Re Trump cozying up to Saudis sets new low point (Oct. 18): Letter writer Carole Lombardi suggests the Trump administration has sunk to a new low by being complicit in the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

But Trump apparently decided to go even lower. While the vile murder of Khashoggi is still fresh news, Trump travels to Missoula, Montana, and heaps praise on Montana Congressman Greg Gianforte, a man who was sentenced to 40 hours of community service and 20 hours of anger management classes after pleading guilty to violently assaulting a reporter.

Trump called him My kind of guy while praising him for body-slamming the reporter.

We wont really know how low he can go until he actually does go.

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A. B. Rubin

Carlsbad

We must stand against attacks on free press

Re Trump backs Saudis, citing denials (Oct. 17): The press is under attack the world over. Forty-two journalists murdered this year alone. Reporting is becoming as dangerous as combat military service.

We Americans better pay attention. Adolf Hitler killed off the press before he started on the Jews. The most dangerous thing he-who-would-be-king in the U.S. White House has said is that the press is the enemy of the people. That is the plainest evidence of where his mindset is.

Freedom of speech is the basis of our democracy. Think Woodward and Bernstein. Think how the German citizens were hoodwinked. Think.

Julia Viera

Coronado

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The campaign of Jerald Steve McFall, a Republican running in the 3rd Congressional District says he does not know who posted an image on his Facebook page describing employees of the New Mexico Attorney Generals Office as dressing like pole dancers.
Pune, India -- (SBWIRE) -- 10/19/2018 -- Endpoint security refers to a methodology of protecting the corporate network when accessed via remote devices such as laptops or other wireless and mobile devices. The cloud endpoint protection market size was USD 910.0 million in 2017, and is expected to reach USD +1,820 million by 2025, at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of +13 % during the forecast period. The growing need for effective protection against cyber-attacks on endpoints is the major factor driving the growth of the market.



A latest report added to the research report database presents an in depth analysis of the key aspects and forces impacting the development of the global Cloud Endpoint Protection market. The report provides a thorough analytical overview of the past and present state of the market and, with the help of present statistics, trends, competition, and regulatory framework gives a forward-looking perspective of the way the market will expand over the course of the following couple of years. Along with qualitative details concerning the market's key factors, an overview of the leader macro and micro economic factors so that it will enable companies to the market to surmount competition are also examined in great details. It also includes business profiles of some of the leading players in the market.



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Top Key Vendors in Market:



Symantec (US), Sophos (UK), Trend Micro (Japan), ESET (Slovakia), Kaspersky Lab (Russia), Palo Alto Networks (US), McAfee (US), Fortinet (US), Cisco Systems (US), Panda Security (Spain), Avast (Czech Republic), SentinelOne (US), Bitdefender (Romania), Commvault (US), Carbon Black (US), FireEye (US), CoSoSys (Romania), Malwarebytes (US), K7 Computing (India), F-Secure Corporation (Finland), CrowdStrike (US), Comodo (US), Endgame (US), Webroot (US), and VIPRE Security (US).



Competitive Analysis serves as the bridge between manufacturers and other participants available in global Cloud Endpoint Protection market. The above-mentioned key players/manufactures are focusing on building their presence in the emerging economies to expand their geographical reach. New sellers in the market are confronting extreme rivalry from built up universal merchants as they battle with mechanical developments, dependability and quality issues. The report will answer queries concerning the present market advancements and the extent of rivalry, opportunity cost and more



The Cloud Endpoint Protection market is segmented on the basis of service, vertical and region. On the basis of service the market is segmented into Managed Services, Training and Consulting and Maintenance and Support. On the basis of vertical the market is segmented into Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance (BFSI), IT and Telecom, Healthcare, Manufacturing, Education, Retail and others. This study is been carried out in all of the major parts of regions including North America, Latin America, Middle East & Asia, Europe and Asia-Pacific and information is been given considering a forecast period of 2017 to 2025 respectively



A regulatory scenario that have an effect on the various decisions in the Cloud Endpoint Protection market are given a keen observation and have been defined. By means of such statistics, this report forms a top notch repository containing all the prime attributes of the businesses which are trending in this specific market. Their efficient market strategies are studied in depth and are properly explained.



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Table of Content:



Global Cloud Endpoint Protection Market Research Report 2018-2025



Chapter 1: Industry Overview

Chapter 2: International and China Market Analysis

Chapter 3: Environment Analysis of Cloud Endpoint Protection market

Chapter 4: Analysis of Revenue by Classifications

Chapter 5: Analysis of Revenue by Regions and Applications

Chapter 6: Analysis of Cloud Endpoint Protection Revenue Market Status.

Chapter 7: Analysis of Cloud Endpoint Protection Industry Key Manufacturers

Chapter 8: Sales Price and Gross Margin Analysis

Chapter 9: Marketing Trader or Distributor Analysis of Cloud Endpoint Protection

Chapter 10: Development Trend of Cloud Endpoint Protection Industry 2016-2021

Chapter 11: Industry Chain Suppliers of Cloud Endpoint Protection market with Contact Information

Chapter 12: New Project Investment Feasibility Analysis of Cloud Endpoint Protection

Chapter 13: Conclusion of the Global Cloud Endpoint Protection Market Research Report



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New York, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 10/19/2018 -- Domestic heating appliance is a device or system which is used to produce heat to accomplish various tasks. It also acts as a combustion appliance and having heat generation capacity up to 50 kW. Several domestic heating appliances includes heater, condensing boiler, heat spreader, hot water storage tank, fan heater, geysers, electric Iron, furnace, stoves, oil burner, radiator, space heater, solar water heater, immersion rods and wood-burning stove. Domestic heating appliances are used for both residential and commercial purposes. Global domestic heating appliances market is segmented into electric storage heating radiators, soil heating, non-electric heaters and electric heating resistors. Among various segment soil heating and electric storage heating radiators together hold the largest market share and accounts more than 40.0% share in domestic heating appliances market. Growing economy in developing country is one of the key factors for the growth of domestic heating appliances market.



The demand of high efficient, energy saving and safety domestic heating appliance is growing more in the market. This demand is seen more in urban market especially in high-tier cities as compared to rural area or low tier cities. Desire to live a comfort and luxurious life among individual is one of the key factor due to which, individual leads to invest more over domestic appliance including heating appliances. This helps in the growth of domestic heating market in all across the globe. Large investment over research and development on various domestic heating appliances and introduction of new and innovative technology in the market further helps in the growth of domestic heating appliances. Product upgrading is also one of the important factors for healthy growth of domestic heating appliances market.



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Asia pacific is one of the prominent markets for growth of domestic heating appliances. Growing housed hold income level of individual leads more investment over domestic appliances including heating appliance. Asia Pacific is expected to witness fastest growth rates in domestic heating appliances market during forecasted period 2014- 2020. Nations such as China, Japan and India hold the largest market share in domestic heating appliances market in Asia Pacific region. Japan is the second largest market of domestic heating appliance after China. Large population base in Asia Pacific offers huge market potential for growth in domestic heating appliances market. Asia pacific holds the largest market share in domestic heating appliances market. Tanzania, Jordan, Bolivia and Philippines are some of the fastest growing market for domestic heating appliances. These nations are expected to grow in double digit during forecasted period in global domestic heating appliances market. In North America, the U.S. holds the largest market share for domestic heating appliances. Germany accounts the largest market size for domestic heating appliances in European region. The global domestic heating appliances market is expected to grow in a single digit growth rate during forecasted period 2014- 2020.



Some of the major companies operating in global domestic heating appliances market are Clatronic GmbH Severin Elektrogerate GmbH, Sunbeam, Glen Dimplex, Ariston Thermo UK Ltd, Bajaj Electricals Ltd, Baxi Heating UK Ltd, Bosch Thermotechnology Ltd, Danfoss Randall Ltd, Honeywell Control Systems Ltd, Ideal Boilers Ltd, Quinn Radiators Ltd, Rettig Ltd, Vaillant Ltd and Vokera Ltd



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Up from 2011's record 11.51m

'The Italian ports historical 11.51 million passengers traffic figure registered in 2011 is expected to be surpassed in 2019 with an 11.85 million estimate,' Riposte Turismo president Francesco di Cesare said Friday during the 8th edition of Italian Cruise Day, held at Trieste's Stazione Marittima.

'Italy remains the most important destination in the Mediterranean basin, and all the sector players and institutions will have to look to these new traffic figures to make programs, strategies and investments as cruise traffic is expected to grow further, according to operators and companies,' di Cesare said. He cautioned, however, that prospects for Northern Africa and Eastern Mediterranean destinations are uncertain.

Italian Cruise Day round-table discussionsinvolving cruise lines, ports and other stakeholdersfocused on the need to improve infrastructure to support cruise growth, not just at the port level but also within destinations and between ports and airports. This will be key to attract new cruise business.

Venice stalemate

The Venice stalemate over cruise operations also came up, with the head of the Italian Port Association (Assoporti) and president of the Western Adriatic Sea system port authority urging institutions to reach a resolution. MedCruise president Airam Diaz Pastor contributed to the discussion, highlighting the challenges along with the support provided by his ports organization.

'The cruise industry is still young, in full expansion and offers Italy very interesting growth prospects,' said Pierfrancesco Vago, participating in the event as a member of the CLIA Europe executive board and as executive chairman of MSC Cruises. 'Italy continues to attract international cruise tourism thanks to its artistic, cultural and natural heritage, and 8,000 kilometers of coastline, which makes our country one of the most desired destinations. It's vitally important,' he added, 'to maintain continuous attention on the value of cruising to the national economy.'

The projected 11.85m passengers represents a 6.8% increase compared to 2018, whose cruise count is expected to tally 11.1m, while ship calls will remain stable with a 0.3% increase (4,750 calls versus 4,736). The trend of larger cruise ships fuels the passenger growth even though the number of calls is flat.

Rome continues to lead, Genoa moves up

The Rome and Lazio region port of Civitavecchia will continue as Italy's No. 1 cruise destination, with 2.56m passengers, up 4.5% from the 2.45m in 2018, and 827 calls, a 7.4% increase. 'One in five passengers to Italian ports in 2019 will pass through Civitavecchia, affirming its status of [leading] home- and turn-around port,' di Cesare said.

Venice will maintain its second place with 1.49m passengers, a 1.4% increase, and 530 calls, but passenger count could slightly differ due to the application of a new Italian Coast Guard algorithm pertaining to cruise ship traffic.

Genoa port will rise to No. 3, with 1.35m passengers (+32.1 %) and 257 calls. If these projections bear out, the Ligurian port will chalk up a record, thanks to substantial growth from MSC Cruises with the arrival of MSC Bellissima and MSC Grandiosa, in addition to the return of Costa Cruises with Costa Fortuna.

Naples will follow with 1.23m passengers (+12.6%) and 445 calls (+14.7%) and increased homeport figures. Due to important infrastructure and dredging activities to accommodate the LNG-fueled Costa Smeralda, Savona will settle at fifth position with 885,000 passengers (-1.3%) and 175 calls.

Livorno's traffic will slighly increase to 820,000 passengers (+3.1%) and 396 calls while work continues to improve cruise infrastructure. La Spezia will register a 48.9% increase to 700,000 passengers and 160 calls (+23.1%). Bari will reach 610,000 passengers and 239 calls, while Palermo will hold stable with 580,000 cruisers and 172 calls, with a renovated cruise and ferry area and new terminals on the horizon.

Sicilys other cruise ports, Messina and Catania, are expected to post respective increases of 452,873 passengers (+24%) and 217,950 (+82%) passengers, and 170 and 111 calls. Sardinia's Cagliari will see slight losses but be in position to regain ground from the 316,415 passengers and 108 calls estimated in 2019 with the doubling in size of the cruise terminal and dedicated area, while Porto Torres will jump to 50,000 passengers. Brindisi will reach 115,000 passengers and 47 calls, while Salerno will increase by 27% to 95,000 passengers on 70 calls.

German cruisers buoy Trieste

Host of the 8th edition of Italian Cruise Day, Trieste will register 25% growth to 100,000 passengers and 63 calls (including Sistiana destination), thanks to more German passengers. Trieste Terminal Passeggeri will be the starting point for the vernissage cruises of Costa Venezia and Sky Princess, while TUI Cruises will continue to call with the introduction of Mein Schiff 6. Phoenix Reisen will return with Artania and Amadea.

Ancona and Trapani figures will remain stable with a respective 65,000 and 51,000 passengers, and 38 and 52 calls, while among smaller destinations, Portofino will grow 21% to 40,000 passengers on 90 calls. Thirteen other ports also charted by the Italian Cruise Watch 2018 report will handle a total 161,893 passengers and 324 calls.

The Risposte Turismo analysis is based on estimates provided by 34 cruise ports, representing 98% of Italy's passenger traffic and 87% of calls.
He, however, said there was a "big negligence" and asked his detractors not to do politics over the incident.

: Punjab minister and local MLA Navjot Singh Sidhu said the mowing down of 61 people by a train in Amritsar was an accident and that nobody had done it intentionally.

"It was an unfortunate incident. I talked to few people who told me that some people were standing on the rail track and some were sitting on a stone near the track," the minister told reporters.

"When effigy of Ravan was lit, some people retreated back. Then the train came with a great speed and there was no horn and people did not come to know (about the approaching train) and it happened in a matter of just one or two seconds," he said.

Defending his wife Navjot Kaur Sidhu, who was accused of leaving the accident site without bothering about the victims, the state culture minister said she was attending to patients at the hospital when allegations were being levelled against her.

"When I talked to my wife Navjot Kaur Sidhu Friday, she was in a hospital," he said.

"I fought elections from here because of my wife. She has been working here. Friday night, when accusations were being levelled against her, she was with patients. She called me up Friday. She came to know about the incident before reaching home. She then immediately reached here," Sidhu said.

Meanwhile, the Congress leader visited local hospitals and met the patients and their relatives Saturday morning.

Sidhu said when he learnt about the accident, he was shocked. He added that he was away to Calicut for a function on Friday.

Refusing to point fingers, the minister said, "Nobody has done it deliberately. However, there is a big negligence (behind this incident)...when I talk about negligence, some people did not even understand their responsibility".

"Nobody had any intention to do this. There was no motive," he said, adding the incident was an irreparable loss.

He also requested not to give the incident a "political shape".

"The question is that the accident should not be given political shape. It is an accident. Do not make false allegations and do politics on this issue, Sidhu said.

At least 61 people were killed and 72 injured Friday evening after a crowd of Dussehra revellers that had spilled onto railway tracks while watching burning of Ravan effigy was run over by a train officials said.
According to the Russian embassy, Putin offered condolences to President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the train accident.

: Russian President Vladimir Putin, United Nations chief Antonio Guterres and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Saturday offered condolences to India on the train accident near Amritsar, which claimed 61 lives.

He conveyed his support to families of the victims of the train accident.

"I offer my deepest sympathies over tragic consequences of an accident on railways in the Punjab state. I ask to convey my words of sympathy and support to families and friends of the killed people and to wish the soonest recovery to those injured," Putin said, according to the Russian embassy.

The UN chief expressed his deepest condolences to the families and friends of the deceased, terming the incident as 'tragic'.

'My heart goes to all in Amritsar following Friday's tragic accident. Earlier this month, I was honoured to visit the Golden Temple and witnessed the warmth and generosity of the people. My deepest condolences to those who have lost family and loved ones,' Guterres said in a tweet.

The Canadian PM also condoled loss of lives in a tweet, 'My thoughts are with everyone who has lost a loved one in the tragic train crash in Amritsar, India. Canadians are keeping you in our hearts tonight & wishing all those injured a full recovery.'
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Utah man indicted over mailed ricin threats to Trump, officials



Los Angeles, Oct 19 (AFP) Oct 19, 2018



A former US soldier has been indicted on seven counts for mailing letters to Donald Trump and senior US officials containing material related to the deadly poison ricin.

Utah resident William Clyde Allen, 39, "knowingly threatened to use a biological agent and toxin, specifically ricin, as a weapon," according to a statement from the Justice Department and the US Attorney's Office in the western state.

In addition to Trump, Allen's targets included Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, along with the FBI and CIA directors and commanders of the Air Force and Navy.

Allen was arrested on October 5 shortly after the Pentagon intercepted suspicious mail. He pleaded not guilty.

The ex-soldier also sent Trump a letter containing castor bean material. Ricin naturally exists in seeds of the castor bean, and it is relatively simple to extract the poison from the seeds.

The statement said Allen had purchased 380 castor beans in December 2017.

Ricin is lethal in minute doses if swallowed, inhaled or injected. It is 6,000 times more potent than cyanide, with no known antidote.

Highly toxic, it can cause nausea, vomiting, internal bleeding and difficulty breathing, leading to death from organ failure or the collapse of the circulatory system.

Threatening to weaponize a biological toxin carries a maximum penalty of life in prison, while mailing a threat to the US president can result in up to five years in prison.

The exact content of the threatening messages sent to Trump and top officials were not disclosed, nor were the motives that may have prompted Allen -- a member of the Navy from 1998 to 2002 -- to send them.

His trial is slated for December 26 in Salt Lake City.
Trump adviser Bolton headed to Russia amid reports US is quitting nuclear deal



Washington, Oct 19 (AFP) Oct 19, 2018



US National Security Adviser John Bolton will meet Saturday in Moscow with Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, amid reports that Washington will tell Russia it plans to quit a landmark nuclear weapons treaty.

Bolton, who will also meet Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev, announced the visit to Moscow in a tweet, saying he would "continue discussions that began in Helsinki," referring to a summit between presidents President Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin in July.

The New York Times said that the Trump administration plans to inform Russian leaders in the coming days that it is preparing to leave the three-decade-old Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, known as the INF.

The newspaper said the US accuses Russia of violating the deal, signed in 1987 by Ronald Reagan, by deploying tactical nuclear weapons to intimidate former Soviet satellite states that are now close to the West.

Relations between the United States and Russia are under deep strain from accusations that Moscow meddled in the 2016 presidential election, as well as tension over Russian support for the Syrian government in the country's civil war, and the conflict in Ukraine.

However, Washington is looking for support from Moscow in finding resolutions to the Syria war and putting pressure on both Iran and North Korea.

No new summit between Trump and Putin has been announced, but both leaders will be in Paris on November 11 to attend commemorations marking the end of World War I.
Death on the Bosphorus How an Apparent Saudi Hit Job Has Shaken the World

A gruesome crime has quickly turned into a crisis in international relations: Saudi agents acting on behalf of the crown prince are thought to have dismembered a prominent opposition journalist. The West is disgusted and U.S. President Donald Trump finds himself in a tight spot. By DER SPIEGEL Staff
Former FBI Agent on Saudi Crown Prince 'He Wanted to Send a Message'

Why would someone want Saudi Arabian Jamal Khashoggi dead? The former FBI agent Ali Soufan says that the journalist posed a threat to the House of Saud.
XGonfreville L'Orcher (France), October 20, 2018 (SPS) - Sahrawi Coordinator with the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) Mhamed Kheddad denounced Friday, in Gonfreville-L'Orcher, the European Unions complicity vis-a-vis Western Saharas conflict.



Yes, there is a complicity of the European Union for sordid interests in Morocco and Western Sahara which helped perpetuating, so far, the conflict with all its consequences on the Sahrawi and Moroccan peoples, the Maghreb region, security and Euro-Maghreb relations, affirmed in a colloquium on Western Saharas natural resources, organized by the Association of friendship with the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic.



For the Polisario Fronts official, everyone knows that it is the economic greed which fuel Moroccos expansionist appetite and for good reason Western Sahara possesses important economic potential.



He said that the Polisario Front has been working on the recognition of our rights of sovereign people for seven years, so that the European Union abandons its illegal and immoral position vis-a-vis the Sahrawi people and to put an end to the illegal exploitation and plundering by Morocco of Western Saharas natural resources which constitutes a major obstacle to the political solution.



Mhamed Kheddad underlined that the decisions of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) confirmed the Sahrawi peoples right to preserve their interests in the natural resources of Western Sahara.



These decisions complete and strengthen the resolutions of the UN Security Council and offer it the possibility of maintaining its unquestionable historic position, which is that Morocco has no sovereignty over Western Sahara and its natural resources, he said. (SPS)



062/SPS/APS
English19/10/2018

VECERNJE NOVOSTI DAILY: US EMBASSY CONSPIRING TO PUT DODIK IN PRISON

BELGRADE, October 19 /SRNA/ - US Embassy officials in Sarajevo are putting pressure on the BiH Prosecutor's Office to issue an indictment against the newly elected Serb member of the BiH Presidency, Milorad Dodik, in order to prevent him from assuming this position, Vecernje Novosti reports.



According to information this daily tabloid received, Courtney Kline, Head of the US Embassy's Rule of Law Section is in charge of direct influence on the Prosecutor's Office of BiH.



The newspaper reports that she has been sitting in Sarajevo's prosecutor's offices for days and insisting on preparing an indictment against Dodik as soon as possible in order to detain him.



According to the Vecernje Novostis sources, the outgoing US Ambassador Maureen Cormack, whose mandate was marked by harsh conflicts with Dodik and undisclosed interference in BiH's internal affairs and politics, is behind all this.



During the Election Day, she was calling the citizens to go out and vote, and then even visited the Central Election Commission of BiH when it was certain that Dodik and the SNSD were in convincing lead, trying to force the "irregular voting" theory.



The newspaper states that the election of Dodik for the Serb member of the BiH Presidency has disturbed Western countries representatives over his close ties with Moscow, but also for insisting on independent Republika Srpska and statements on its possible independence.



The text recalls that before the general elections in BiH, there was a great deal about certain foreign countries interference in the election process, primarily the United Kingdom, with the aim of weakening Dodik's position, and even involving the British intelligence service that actively worked on that task. /end/vos
BOC, PB and BOI directors asked to quit By Bandula Sirimanna View(s): View(s):

Confusion reigned on Friday at three key state institutions after President Maithripala Sirisena had asked the boards of directors at these units to be reconstituted.

Despite the notification by the President to reconstitute the Boards of Directors of the Bank of Ceylon, Peoples Bank and the Board of Investment (BOI) of Sri Lanka on Wednesday, Chairmen and other directors of the two state banks and the directors of the BOI remained in office.

The Bank of Ceylon chairman is Ronald Perera PC, Peoples Bank  Hemasiri Fernando and BOI  Dumindra Ratnayake.

However Mr. Ratnayake had sent his resignation letter to the Presidential Secretariat on Thursday evening, informed sources said.

Till the appointment of new Director Boards, the present chairmen and directors will continue their services without any disruption to activities of the two banks and the economy, sources said.

The sudden move to reconstitute these boards would badly affect the financial situation in the country creating cash-flow problems, a senior Treasury official said revealing that all Treasury Deputy Secretarys bank accounts (DSTs Accounts) are maintained at the two state banks.

The sudden directive to reconstitute the Board of Directors of the BOI this week was not so sudden in a sense; it was a long time coming. The presidential order comes in the wake of controversy involving the BOI and the subject minister over an electric train project.

Friction within the countrys One stop shop for Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) had dogged the Governments desperate search for foreign investors.

The anticipated dollars, sterling and euros were not flowing in as the Government anticipated, forcing it to rely on state-backed investments from China and India along with foreign borrowings.

The rest of the BOI Board of Directors are yet to tender their resignations following the Presidents directive, but Minister in charge of the subject Malik Samarawickrema said these members are highly respected professionals, who served with utmost responsibility and integrity.

The BOI hit crisis levels, informed sources said, adding that at least two senior officials had been questioned on Wednesday by the CID in relation to alleged corruption in a high speed railway project.

On Wednesday, State Minister Sujeeva Senasinghe vigorously denied claims of asking a commission to approve the railway project and threatened to take to court his accusers including media organisations.

Secretary of the Ceylon Bank Employees Union (CBEU) Ranjan Senanayake told the Business Times that they had written to the President and the Prime Minister to appoint efficient professionals with integrity to the boards of the two state banks to maintain it without irregularities.

He noted that prompt action should be taken to re-constitute the two boards without paralysing banking activities.

The Board of Directors along with the chairmen of the two banks had been asked to step down by the President since the end of their term of office a couple of months ago but the ministry has extended their term on a monthly basis, he disclosed.

Alleged financial irregularities may have been the reason behind the move to appoint new board members, Mr. Senanayake said, adding that those allegations should be proved without any reasonable doubt by producing substantial evidence.
CBEU vows to paralyse banking sector over state banks divestiture View(s):

The Government, ignoring opposition from trade unions, has permitted two state banks  the Bank of Ceylon (BOC) and the Peoples Bank (PB)  to sell 10 per cent each of its stakes in the Colombo Stock Exchange with the aim of raising capital via the equity market, officials said.

This move proposed in the 2018 budget is aimed at providing an option for bank employees to become shareholders but they would be prohibited from selling their shares.

The sale of shares of these banks came under fire of bank trade unions in the recent past with officials said pointing that Cabinet approval had been given at a meeting on October 9.

The Treasury has infused Rs. 5 billion each as equity to BOC and PB as a measure to assist the bank to meet the international Basel III standards.

The Government will continue to maintain its controlling stake of two state banks, without pumping any more money from the Treasury into these banks, a senior official of the Finance Ministry told the Business Times.

He noted that the listing of minority stakes of 10 per cent each of the two banks would be a major boost in capital market in the country.

Vehemently protesting against the move, the Ceylon Bank Employees Union (CBEU) has vowed to paralyse the countrys banking sector, if the government goes ahead with the 2018 budget approval.

CBEU President Channa Disanayake told the Business Times that the government has bowed to the dictates of the International Monetary Fund committing itself to raise money to meet debt obligations and also to improve market liquidity.

He noted that this move to increase the liquidity in the stock market is also aimed at rescuing it from possible crash.

Issuing shares will be the initial step to sell the state banks, he said adding that the CBEU will take trade union action against the move.

However he disclosed that there was no public announcement made relating to the cabinet approval given to this proposal.

The CBEU has already sent a letter to Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera explaining the position of the trade union with a strong warning of trade union action if the government is failed to withdraw the 2018 budget proposal, he added.

According to latest Treasury data, the BOC has continued its lead position in the Sri Lankan banking sector with the largest asset base of Rs.1.9 trillion by the end of August 2017.

The deposit base of the bank has recorded an increase of 12 per cent to Rs.1.4 trillion by the end of August 2017 compared to the deposit base of Rs.1.2 trillion as at end of 2016

The Peoples Banks asset base has increased 13 per cent to Rs.1.47 trillion as at the end of August 2017, from Rs.1.3 trillion as at the end of 2016.

The deposit base increased by 9 per cent to Rs.1.18 trillion by the end of August 2017 compared to Rs.1.08 trillion as at the end of 2016.
Energy generation contributes $ 6 bn to Sri Lankas GDP, says expert By Raj Moorthy View(s): View(s):

While Sri Lanka is in an unprecedented economic situation where measures are underway to leverage and boost the economy and get GDP back on track, generation of energy using natural resources can contribute to US$6 billion to the GDP, says Engineer Parakrama Jayasinghe.

He made this remark during the launch of a book titled Energy Resources of Sri Lanka  View Points of Sector Professionals compiled by eight lecturers of the Mechanical Engineering Sub Committee of the Institution of Engineers Sri Lanka held at the BMICH in Colombo last week.

He said, Sri Lankas GDP growth is totally dependent on the availability and generation of energy. Energy generation can contribute $6 billion to the countrys GDP.

There will be a paradigm shift in the country with this implementation. Today human civilization is trapped in the fossil fuel dip. We need to look at other forms of energy.

On the importance of energy sources he elaborated, energy has become a need of every human being soon after food, shelter, clothing and medicine. All consumers must know about energy sources irrespective of their various lifestyle backgrounds. Its very important for a sustainable future in Sri Lanka, he stressed.

University of Moratuwa, senior lecturer in Mechanical Engineering, Dr. Thusitha Sugathapala on the sidelines of the event told the Business Times that technological development in saving energy has become vital in all industries manufacturing electrical appliances.

The energy resources covered in the book are hydro, wind, solar and biomass. There are also other energy resources such as geo-thermal, ocean-thermal, ocean-waves and so on which are not exploited yet. We are doing the resource mapping at the University of Moratuwa, he stated.

Sri Lanka is improving on the energy conservation aspect in terms of manufacturing LED light bulbs, hybrid and electrical cars are imported, and so on.

JLanka Technologies sponsored the launch of the resource book at the Techno 2018 Exhibition. The companys Operations Director, G. Jayasoma at the event stated, Technological innovation, especially sustainable technologies such as solar power generation is paving the way forward for a more sustainable future for humankind in the country. But still there are other resources that we could generate energy for the demand. Energy and renewable energy industry professionals are the best source to consult on the energy industry potential in this country.
Govt. to intervene in estate worker wage hike By Sunimalee Dias View(s): View(s):

The government is likely to intervene in the discussions between the estate worker unions and the Regional Plantation Companies (RPCs) on a new collective agreement for a wage hike.

The best the RPCs could afford is an all inclusive Rs.940 for its workers but unions representing the labour workforce have asked Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to intervene.

CWC spokesman Arul Sami told the Business Times that during the meeting with the RPCs on Monday the CWC leader A. Thondaman had called the Prime Minister and advisor R. Paskaralingam to intervene in the wage hike discussions as they were not in agreement with an all-inclusive increase upto Rs.940.

Hayleys Plantations Managing Director Roshan Rajadurai speaking with the Business Times said that they had offered the unions a wage hike of Rs.940 all- inclusive with a basic wage increase of 20 per cent.

But he noted the unions were not interested in discussing it and had simply walked off saying it was not sufficient.

The RPCs had offered two proposals i.e. an increase upto Rs.940 and another proposal to pay from the first kilo onwards after the norm Rs.46 upto 22 kg that would ensure they obtain Rs.1000. However, both these proposals were rejected.

Mr. Sami said that based on past experience workers were certain they would not be able to earn this Rs.1000 as they would not be able to meet the requirements for attendance and productivity incentives.

The collective agreement period has lapsed and workers have been campaigning on the estates for a Rs.1000 wage hike insisting that the high cost of living was taking a toll on them.
SLIC launches B Connect App View(s):

Sri Lanka Insurance (SLIC) has announced its latest digital feature, the B Connect App that connects all advisers of SLIC, enabling them to be informed of all updates real time.

In identifying the need of having a tech savvy sales force who can steer forward in a technology driven business environment, SLIC advisers can now communicate across cross-function of channels and departments to service the consumers with speed and efficiency.

The launch was held recently at the SLIC head office with the presence of SLIC Chairman Hemaka Amarasuriya, CEO Chandana L. Aluthgama, Chief Officer  Life Suresh Paranavithana, Chief Officer  Business Development Rukman Weerarathna, Chief Information Officer Aloka Jayawardhana and Chief Officer  General Insurance Ruanthi Goonarathne and members of corporate management.

Established in 1962, SLIC is the largest government-owned insurance company in Sri Lanka, with a managed asset base of over Rs. 193 billion and a Life fund of over Rs. 100 billion, the largest in the local insurance industry.
Sri Lanka sets off 4th industrial revolution in Malabe and Homagama By Bandula Sirimanna View(s): View(s):

Sri Lanka is gearing up to set off the worlds 4th industrial revolution in Malabe and Homagama areas changing the way people live, work and communicate, transforming the island nation unlike anything it has experienced ever before.

The master plan of the Ministry of Megapolis and Western Development will integrate and involve all stakeholders both locally and internationally, from the public and private sectors to academia and civil society.

Minister Patalee Champika Ranawake, an electrical engineer turned politician with Marxist and nationalist left wing ideology at the beginning and later took a moderate liberal stance in serving the public, is determined to implement the Tech City Development programme.

This programme will be the launching pad of Sri Lankas industrial revolution after President J.R. Jayawardenes Free Trade zone initiative, Minister Ranawake told the Business Times.

He said Sri Lankans will now have to change the slogan of Api yanne Koi pare, Marx Lenin giyapare to Api yanne Koi pare, Mark Zuckerberg giyapare.

Sri Lanka should step into the 4th Industrial Revolution building on the third, the digital revolution that has been occurring since the middle of the last century, he emphasised.

It is characterised by a fusion of technologies that is on the lines between the physical, digital, and biological spheres heralding the transformation of entire systems of production, management, and governance.

Improving and introducing the IT based information access and service providing network have the potential to increasing the efficiency of the entire system of the country.

The Tech City Project consists of four geographic development centres, or clusters at Malabe/Korathota for Hi-Tech, Meegoda for Electronics Development, Mahenwatta/Pitipana for Research, Development and Tertiary Education and Diyagama for Leisure and Recreation.

The Science and Technology City (STC) comprises mainly the knowledge services and research based education and training.

Special infrastructure required for such services is expected to be provided throughout this zone.

The Arthur C. Clarke Centre now at Moratuwa will be shifted to a 120-acre land in Horgollawatte in Homagama. This centre is now planning to launch nano satellite and its receiving centre will be built in this area.

This will enable to release all meteorology and climate condition reports and carry out GIS mapping etc .

Knowledge Services sector which encompasses IT software development, Knowledge Process Outsourcing/Business Process Outsourcing industry, Nano technology, bio technology, Geographic Information Systems and Data Centres, has tremendous potential to emerge as key growth sectors in Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka is in an ideal position to develop into a high value added research hub in the next 15 years, he pointed out.

Local institutions have been provided facilities and land to set up their centres at this city.

Some 17 acres have been given for a Colombo University technology faculty, 20 acres for Moratuwa University technology faculty, 45 acres for nano technology institute, 5 acres for the Department of Measurement Units, Standards and Services and 2 acres for a Research and Development Institute.

The 92-acre Mahalenwatta has been acquired to build a technology city. It will have a nano technology institute, a green university and NDT Faculty. Further, the Universities of Colombo, Sri Jayewardenepura and Moratuwa will each have a faculty there.

Some 800 acres had been acquired from Millewa estate. Four other large estates to be taken over have been identified and discussion was on with their owners to buy 246 acres to facilitate extension to the technology city.

A Technology Transfer and Small scale industrial supporting centre and innovation commercialisation research centre will be set up at on a 23-acre land in Dehigahawatte in Homagama. A CEB grid substation and water purification plant will be built on 27-acre land in Thalagala while establishing a bio technology research institute on a 34-acre land.
Ways to revive the crisis-hit RRI By P. H. Sarath Kumara View(s): View(s):

There have been some voices in the recent past, expressing negative sentiments about the Rubber Research Institute of Sri Lanka (RRISL), which isnt sweet music to ears of the scientists who have dedicated their life to RRISL and of those who are still serving with much dedication.

However, to some extent there are grounds for some of these negative impressions. There have been even suggestions from some quarters to close down the RRISL without knowing the yeomen service it has rendered to and still prevailing upon the entire rubber industry in Sri Lanka by this prestigious institute being the first institute in the world established for natural rubber research. Only very few know that if not for the RRISL the Sri Lankan rubber industry would not have come thus far to become close to a US$ 1 billion industry as at today for it has been supporting numerous upcoming product industries at their initial stages and also to increase the productivity of rubber lands.

Wretched treatment of RRISL

The woes of RRISL began in the 1980s when the then Minister wanted to remove the Director and the Chairman of Rubber Research Board (RRB) when they showed resistance to political influence in the recruitment process and to shifting of technology laboratories from Ratmalana to Agalawatte. In this subtle disharmonious battle, the then Director who had an illustrious career at RRISL, decided to give up his reigns although the then chairman who happened to be a respected senior planter took up the challenge to halt the shifting of technology laboratories which were set up at Ratmalana in the early 1970s to serve the emerging rubber products industries around Colombo metropolitan area and its suburbs. Despite objections, a building complex at Agalawatte with political directives was set up in the 1980s utilizing RRISL funds, reserved for research purposes and received as cess collected by customs, thus starving the RRI pushing it to financial bankruptcy. To add insult to injury, the Treasury got hold of the cess fund under its custody by amending the Rubber Research Ordinance, thus RRISL was compelled to depend on the Treasury thereafter. In the meantime the ministers plans of shifting never came to fruition and the buildings set up at Agalawatte were abandoned till recently when it was taken over by the National Institute of Plantation Management (NIPM) although it seems to be still underutilized. The ultimate result of the incongruity between the Minister and the RRB Chairman was the amendment of the Rubber Research Act in 1987 changing the structure of the board entrusting powers to the Minister in making appointment to the post of Chairman who was elected by board members under the provisions of the previous Act. According to the new composition of the RRB, the Director of RRISL had not been a member of the RRB unlike in the previous Board, who happened to be the vice-chairman under the provisions in the previous Act. However, this was corrected by amending the Act again in 2003 to include the Director as a mere board member and at the same time, with additional inclusion of two trade unionists as well, nominated by the Minister, an unprecedented move frowned upon by many.

Consequent to the amendments made to the Act after 1987, most of the Chairmen appointed by the ministers with the Director Board were catspaws who did mostly what the politicians and bureaucrats wanted to do according to their political and personal cravings and not to cater to the appetite of the industry although there were some respected chairmen who stood in good stead appointed by some perceptive Ministers who didnt exploit the facilities and did not disrupt the RRI activities by their interference. Two of such outstanding chairmen were R. I. Obesekara, a respected lawyer and Y. W. Gunawardhane, a senior SLAS administrator who didnt however have a scientific or plantation background and hence could contribute very little to ameliorate the standards of RRISL. The dereliction of duties by the senior scientific managers is partly responsible for the mess created under the clout of interference in the (mis)management of the RRISL by political humbugs especially during the latter part of the last regime resulting in a number of frustrated scientists leaving the RRISL in despair and also since they could not bear and witness the ruination of the RRISL anymore.

Fate of Advisory wing of RRISL

One disastrous move in 1994 brought about by the mandarins in the Ministry of Plantation Industries (MPI) with ulterior motives, was the amalgamation of the then Advisory Services Department (ASD) of the RRISL with the then Rubber Control Department, functionally and structurally two different entities, to form the present Rubber Development Department (RDD). The then RRB could not foresee the deleterious consequences of such a move and did not resist it despite some foresighted officers of ASD being against the move. The chaos due to this bureaucratic bungling is visible today; the RDD merely serving for the disbursement of the rubber subsidy to farmers. Now the rubber farmers are left high and dry without knowing as to who should be approached to get advice for every aspect of farming and rubber processing activities, which was a very efficient and satisfactory service rendered by an able, dedicated team of advisory officers of the former ASD (nurtured by RRISL) who got their knowledge updated regularly mingling with the scientists of the RRISL. The pathetic inefficient extension service of the RDD is apparent especially in Moneragala and its proximities, considered to be non-traditional areas where new plantings have come up but the farmers do not have previous experience unlike those who are in traditional areas. The farmers in these areas are ignorant on good agronomic practices, latex exploitation techniques and processing where extension services have not reached them properly. This writer, after witnessing the lack of awareness of rubber farmers in Moneragala, about five years ago, got involved in organizing some awareness programmes which were conducted together with RRISL officers among several batches of rubber farmers in Moneragala as a CSR project by a private company. Those awareness programmes were not adequate at all to quench the thirst of farmers for knowledge on farming, exploitation and processing of latex. The farmers said that any such programme had never been conducted until then and it is doubtful if a single such programme has ever been conducted for the benefit of rubber farmers since then. It is imperative that an efficient extension service is essential to make awareness among the farmers by a dedicated knowledgeable team of extension officers whose knowledge should be regularly updated and they are constantly trained by RRISL as was done in the glorified past. Without such a pragmatic approach, it would not be possible to increase productivity, and in turn, the total rubber production in the country required to cater to the products industry and also to attract new investments to expand the rubber products industry to earn enhanced revenue and foreign exchange by exporting a higher volume of rubber products.

Past glory and brain drain

The writer can vividly remember when Dr. Sarath Amunugama, the then Minister of Science and Technology, addressing the audience at an Awards Night of Plastics and Rubber Institute as its Chief Guest, said that the RRISL should be brought back to its past glory in order to support the ever expanding rubber products industry.

This can be done by keeping the RRISL away from unnecessary political and bureaucratic interloping to run it independently with the backing of the industry. However, perks enjoyed by its former scientists before 1970s shall be restored in order to attract intelligent young graduates and to retain them. The obvious choice of young graduates before 1970s had been the RRISL when the perks had been very attractive at RRISL during those days. Under the auspices of Navin Dissanayake, Minister of Plantation industries, at the inauguration of Finite Element Analysis and Simulation (FEAS) centre recently, Dr. Susantha Siriwardena, Deputy Director Research (Tech) of RRISL, in his address, revealed the reason for the brain drain and difficulty in retaining even the young graduates.

The young graduates seek temporary shelter at the RRISL as a transit point until they find some other attractive employment. This is why none of the young recruits has shown any interest to pursue their higher studies leading to PhDs despite having allocated Rs. 15 million in the current budget which was a luxury for their senior colleagues a few moons ago. In hindsight, if they oblige, they have to serve an obligatory period at the RRISL, apparently with hesitation, in return for the RRISL funds they use for their higher studies. It has been difficult even to retain the technical staff too due to the same reason, i.e. comparatively poor remuneration package resulting in a vast service gap, between the senior technical staff and the younger staff, which may further widen. As a result, the experienced staff both research and technical may disappear in a few years to come and the efficiency of the services will be affected while there may be some effect on quality of research as well.

The brain drain at RRISL has become a serious issue that only two dedicated senior scientists remain at the Rubber Technology laboratories at Ratmalana at the moment and the next most experienced scientist has served only 13 years without proper guidance of senior scientists since there has been a huge vacuum for quite some time.

The situation is no different in agronomy departments in Agalawatte. So, whilst a proper plan shall be drawn for retaining especially the young scientists, there should be another plan to guide them. One of the suggestions would be to get the services of senior scientists who are retired or serving in the private sector/universities in the country and are willing to guide them until the young scientists are properly guided and trained to stand on their own feet.

Unless the issue of retaining the much valuable human resources at RRISL is addressed, it will not be possible to invigorate the RRISL to its past glory which would otherwise be a distant dream to achieve at least a fraction of highly improbable ambitious targets set in the Rubber Master Plan. If there is a vibrant RRISL, it is possible to train and guide the potential entrepreneurs, providing technical services for product development, testing and certification of products, process and system development in order to cut down costs to be competitive in the global market and producing technical experts for the industry (there are RRISL scientists who later joined the private sector to develop them to the present status), etc. In the meantime, RRISL should be further equipped with necessary modern testing equipment and other scientific instruments if there is any deficiency.

Rubber production and productivity

To improve the productivity of rubber farms, the extension wing of the RRISL shall be strengthened whilst the RDD shall be reduced in size merely to release subsidy payments on the technical recommendations of RRISL since maintaining the RDD at current status is a waste of public funds. A properly updated reliable data base, which is currently lacking at RDD, can be maintained by the biometry department of RRISL in order to make appropriate decisions with regard to improving productivity of rubber lands, increasing rubber production in the country and also for the benefit of all stakeholders who need reliable data for planning purposes. A system shall be devised to monitor all the rubber plantations including the rubber plantations owned by Regional Plantation Companies (RPCs) whilst the performance of all these plantations shall be reported to the MPI and necessary action taken to improve their performance in order to increase the rubber production through productivity enhancement. In order to manage the rubber farms profitably under the current low price fetched for rubber, the only alternate solution is to enhance productivity of rubber farms as practiced by other rubber producing countries and some RPCs in Sri Lanka. Since it has been proven disastrous with waste of public funds by employing a non-scientific staff at RDD to manage the extension work, the process of monitoring the rubber plantations and making awareness on correct farming and exploitation techniques for enhanced productivity, can be assigned to the extension wing of the RRISL after strengthening it with sufficient qualified scientific staff and providing required logistics. The desired promising results, after implementation of such an effective programme, could be realised within five years. Better late than never.

(The writer is currently Consultant/Advisor  Rubber in Liberia. A former Research Officer at RRISL, he can be reached at sarath_kuma@yahoo.com)
Woes of migrant workers View(s):

Kussi Amma Sera was lamenting that a relative had gone to West Asia on work and had got into all sorts of difficulties.

Eyata godak karadara wuna (she got into a lot of difficulties), she was telling Serapina during their usual Thursday morning conversation under the Margosa tree.

I knew the case since Kussi Amma Sera had mentioned some weeks ago how a relative had gone abroad ostensibly on a visit visa, found a job and that was where things went wrong. She faced abuse in the household, her wages were not paid on time and the wage was also not what was promised in the work contract.

This weeks conversation on the crisis faced by Kussi Amma Seras relative came after she spotted a news item in a daily newspaper on the Family Background Report (FBR) and the appointment of a committee to examine whether it should be continued or not.

According to the report, a 5-member ministerial sub-committee has been appointed to evaluate the possibility of doing away with this controversial requirement which has been criticised for many years by rights groups as discriminatory to women.

The regulation is against most of the international rights conventions we have signed, and it is gender discriminatory, so we are looking at doing away with it. Further, the report has also opened up a lot of other avenues of abuse and illegal routes of travelling abroad, so it has put the women in a more vulnerable place, Telecommunication, Digital Infrastructure & Foreign Employment Minister Harin Fernando was quoted as saying in a recent report.

For once a minister appeared to have got it right. Of the 200,000 Sri Lankans who annually migrate to West Asia for work, quite a few women venture out on visit visas due to restrictions placed on their ability to find a job if they have a child under five years of age and also over.

While the FBR bans women with children below five years from going abroad on work, it places restrictions on women with children over five years of age from seeking work outside Sri Lanka unless permission is obtained from the spouse.

The FBR was enforced in June 2013 and in the past five years it has led to a lot of women, desperate to go abroad, finding other unsafe ways to migrate, often leading to human trafficking and other abuse.

The FBR has proved to be controversial and sparked debate on gender discrimination issues and the fundamental rights of women under the Sri Lankan Constitution.

This rule was applied in the aftermath of the execution of underage Sri Lankan female domestic worker Rizana Nafeek in 2013, in Saudi Arabia.

Subsequently, the Supreme Court also dismissed a petition seeking leave to proceed by a prospective female worker after her husband, though separated, refused to give his consent (under the FBR) to work abroad. The court took the view that the woman is the primary caregiver in the family and if there is no proper mechanism to take care of her children, she should not leave.

A recent ILO study on the FBR says that there is growing concern among parts of the central administrative structures that the FBR is failing. It has (also) given rise to irregular migration, with numbers given by officials interviewed, stating that at least 17,000 male and female workers are leaving Sri Lanka per year, using the visit visa option.

It said the women and men are left vulnerable and susceptible to trafficking. Equally worrying, the ILO said, is that the number of female workers who are not registered with the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE) fall outside the protection provided by the institution. Since the costs of repatriation are not borne by the Sri Lankan Embassy, it is transferred directly to the agent or the family of the migrant workers, the ILO report said.

In its recommendations having examined the FBR, the ILO report urged the authorities to reconsider the continued imposition of the FBR on prospective female migrant workers, since the FBR should not be considered a tool to stop women from migrating for employment. Instead, consider the further development of the Family Care Plan or one of the alternatives proposed or a version that is developed through consultation with the relevant officials and the key family members involved.

The discussion on currently is on seeking an alternative method, to ensure the wellbeing of young children left behind by mothers migrating for work abroad, which is non-discriminatory to women.

There are many cases of women falling into trouble after migrating abroad on a visit visa and finding a job through irregular migration. In one instance, a female worker recruited in one country, was taken by her sponsor to work in another country  crossing the border without proper visa papers. When it was time for her to return to Sri Lanka, she had to leave through irregular channels with bogus immigration papers.

Irregular migration has also seen agents in labour-receiving countries coercing workers to leave their jobs in a household and do free-lance work or multiple jobs, instead of working in one household.

This not only makes them illegals  without a proper visa and often with their passports retained by the agent or a particular household  but also at the mercy of the agent. They often end up in safe houses operated by Sri Lankan missions in these countries after encountering problems in the workplace like non-payment of wages, physical or sexual abuse and other rights-related issues.

Even in regular migration, women in particular  in some cases -have been compelled to sign two contracts: One in Sri Lanka and the other abroad giving two different wages.

The ILO report also said that the role of the Foreign Employment Development Officers (FEDO) should be realigned from a policing role to that of officers extending support for safe migration and supporting left-behind children and family members empowering (prospective) migrant women.

It urged the development of a Family Care Plan for all migrant workers, instead of attempting to further revise the existing FBR. This would allow for a more comprehensive picture to emerge from the family unit and would include other members in the family including those sharing the caregiver responsibilities in the absence of the mother or father and others who can stand in, when the designated caregiver is unavailable, it said.

The FBR while designed with good intentions in mind has created all sorts of problems particularly affecting the rights of female workers. One hopes the 5-member committee will be able to resolve these issues that would not only ensure the dignity of Sri Lankan domestic workers but also provide for proper care of children left behind with a bigger role for the husband, as the guardian and primary caregiver.
Fruitless search for honest politicos View(s):

At a public meeting not too far from Colombo last week President Maithripala Sirisena asked a pertinent question. Like Pontius Pilate he did not wait for an answer, probably because he knew what it was.

The question posed was not only relevant but crucial right now seeing the accusations flying around about high-level corruption not only at the political level but also among state officials.

President Sirisena should surely know. His own chief of staff and another state official from the Timber Corporation were arrested by the police for allegedly accepting bribes and are now facing charges against them.

Former president Mahinda Rajapaksas chief of staff Gamini Senarat is also due to appear in court shortly for alleged misuse of public funds. Some other high officials have already been sentenced or are being investigated for similar offences.

President Sirisenas challenge for clean politicians to get on to the stage in a public show of cleanliness (not physical of course) might leave plenty of empty stages across the length and breadth of the country if the presidential call was to be replicated in Sri Lanka.

Some readers will recall the old Greek philosopher Diogenes of Sinope who went round the market place carrying a lighted lantern in broad daylight looking for an honest person. Of course his search proved to be fruitless. He went to the wrong place. Who in his right mind would go to the market place looking for an honest person!

Every time I go to Colombo I hear more and more stories of ordinary citizens (that is those with political clout or the influence of senior officials) having to pay something (as a bribe or handout is called in the Wonder of Asia) to get normal work done in a state institution which should be available free. It is to perform regular tasks that public officials of whatever level in the institutional hierarchy are paid salaries with public money.

But more and more it appears that public officials  thankfully not all of them, as there are still honest men and women who do not solicit bribes or engage in graft  dilly dally with files and documents unless and until that something is given.

The latest story that came to me just a few days ago was of a young Tamil living in London who had to undergo pressure at the Bandaranaike International Airports immigration counter.

This young man and his wife and two children arrived in Colombo at around 8.30 in the morning on August 5. He and his family stood in line at one immigration counter, his wife and two children behind him in the queue.

When his turn came he walked up to the immigration desk. He handed his passport to the immigration officer, who perused it and observed that the passport holder had not travelled to Sri Lanka for 14 years, the last time being 2004. His wife and children travel to Sri Lanka at least once every two years.

The fact that the man came to Sri Lanka after a long time is no crime. Nor it is a violation of the law. But the officer seemed to suggest it was a heinous crime perpetrated on Sri Lanka.

After a few minutes of playing around with the passport, the traveller was asked whether he had any money with him. When he said he did, the passport was handed back to its owner asking him to place the money inside the passport and hand it back.

The money  40 which is all he had in his pocket  was rather surreptitiously withdrawn, the passport stamped and the man waved to the exit. That is the story this young Tamil told me.

I have heard similar stories before but was somewhat sceptical wondering whether it was a way of denigrating the country. But I have known the man who told me this story for several years and know him as an honest, hard- working chap with no axes to grind. Many have concocted stories including claims of torture and harassment on ethnic grounds to mislead foreign journalists who cook up colourful stories.

But there is enough proof to believe such things happen in other institutions too. Recently a Sri Lankan doctor (his wife and sons are also doctors) told me of his experiences with the Electricity Board office in Kirulapone. But this would take too much time and space to relate. The point is that there was no racial discrimination here. It was crass inefficiency or the greed for something and, unlike the mills of God, these do not grind at all unless adequately oiled.

Sri Lankans who have to visit government offices or public utility institutions are confronted with a variety of hurdles from absentee officials to those seeking their daily bread. This happens also in local government institutions such as the Colombo Municipal Council and lesser local bodies.

While President Sirisenas call for clean politicians to step forward will leave many empty spaces, it might be extended to officialdom as well. Speaking at a Colombo meeting of the Global Experts Group on the Jakarta Principles some months ago, he said in certain instances state officials have been far ahead in bribery and corruption than the politicians.

That may well be true. But it is the despicable acts of politicians that hit the headlines because they are not only the representatives of the people, they are expected to serve not rob them of funds and service due to them.

Only the other day there were stories circulating widely that a minister and a deputy minister had sought a substantial commission to okay an infrastructure project and Rs 150 million sent to the personal account of some other high up in government.

Whether these stories are true or not one cannot say. Only thorough investigations conducted by investigative agencies left to act independently without interference from political and other circles could establish the truth.

Admittedly there are irresponsible media, particularly social media that operate in a manner that blackens the name of all media because social media lack the responsibilities that are cast on mainstream media and the constraints under which many of them function.

Gossipy social media do not operate under those constraints and so the media across the board are painted and tainted with the same brush. If one does not like a politician or he or she is a potential contender for a position of strategic importance in political circles there would be social media or acolytes in the mainstream media to do the job of tarnishing the image of the rival.

President Sirisena was referring to politicians and senior bureaucrats when he spoke of corruption that had turned cancerous.

The question that one must ask is from where one should start to name and shame these parasites that exist in our society. Should it be a top-down process of exposing those guilty of denuding the nation of its assets or should it be a bottom up process as it might take longer to eliminate the crooks at the top as they have more resources to employ to save their thick skin.

Reaching the crooks at the top is not always easy. They have more means to employ to muddy the waters like the squid that blackens the water making it less visible to the naked eye.

Today the stakes are so high, these political crooks and bureaucratic hangers-on have resources not easily available to those in the lower rungs and so it is the latter who are more easily nailed.

There is another important issue which President Sirisenas briefly-reported homily on corruption does not mention. He talks of politicians and bureaucrats. But what of the families of these crooked politicians. Are they not on the take? Do they not use the position and power of the political person to pressure and browbeat officials to do their bidding.

One cannot exclude family, friends and relatives from this cancerous growth that is today embedded in the body politic. One way to do so is to make the assets declarations of all political figures especially in the higher echelons and all bureaucrats are made available for public scrutiny. Just getting them to make declarations that end up in the hamas pettiya unopened and unread is a travesty. This government promised accountability and transparency. Most often one sees neither.

There is little merit in shouting oneself hoarse about the spreading corruption if one does literally nothing to excavate the holes into which these disease spreading rodents creep.

Would the income tax returns submitted by many politicians and bureaucrats tally with their assets declarations or would there be horrendous discrepancies because there appears to be no way of comparing the two.

Should not the two declarations be thoroughly scrutinized for inconsistencies that now escape such examination? Perhaps the blood hounds would be contaminated too.
Mangala briefs SLFP leaders on budget reliefs View(s):

Other issues notwithstanding, the ruling Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and United National Party (UNP) leaders met to discuss matters over the November 4 budget proposals last Thursday night. Finance and Media Minister Mangala Samaraweera gave the SLFPers, for the first time, a general idea of how his budget proposals would be. The meeting was chaired by President Maithripala Sirisena.

An area of broad agreement came when Minister Samaraweera assured, at the request of SLFP ministers, that there should be proposals in the budget to bring down the cost of living. Among the other areas he had agreed to focus on were benefits to the agricultural and fisheries sectors.

Accompanying Samaraweera for the meeting were his deputy Eran Wickremeratne, Treasury Secretary R.S. Samaratunga, Deputy Secretary R.S. Attygalle and Advisor Mano Tittawala.

Rajitha cuts short nurses

Health Minister Rajitha Senaratne can not only embark on drives to reduce drug prices but now wants to reduce the height of nurses to be recruited to the health sector.

When he learnt that 121 prospective applicants for the position of nurses were short by just one inch, he came out with a bright proposal.

He sought to reduce the required height from 147.3 cm to 145 cm or from 4ft 8 inches to 4ft 7 inches.

The Minister has now informed the Deputy Director General of Health Services to make a request from the Public Service Commission to consider the reduction of the required height for nurses.

Police pull down itsy bitsy billboards

After a social media uproar, the Habaraduwa Police have been forced to remove two billboards put up by its Community Police Unit near a museum and a childrens park requesting tourists to dress according to Sri Lankan culture.

A Habaraduwa Police officer said one billboard had been placed near the Martin Wickramasinghe Folk Museum Complex and the other at the entrance to a nearby childrens park. The billboards were nowhere near the beaches, contrary to what some had claimed, he insisted. However, both billboards were taken down after the protests.

The billboards had been put up following a proposal made at the meeting of various community police committees. The meeting is held every three months and the officer said proposal to put up the billboards came from several community police committee chairpersons.

The offending billboards showed pictures of two women in bikinis that had been marked with a red cross with the words Improper written in English with translations in German and Russian. The billboards drew strong condemnation on social media, with many accusing the police of behaving like a Culture Police.

Even the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) expressed concern over the billboards, tweeting that such dress code policing is unneeded and unwarranted for tourists enjoying the scenic beaches of Sri Lanka. It added that the SLTDA had taken up the matter with the relevant authorities.

Hindu stands by its story on plot

One of Indias leading journalists, N. Ram, the Editor of the Chennai-based The Hindu newspaper has responded with two different tweets over the outcome of last Tuesdays weekly Cabinet meeting.

In one, he has said, Our Sri Lanka Correspondent verified what she had learnt with multiple independent sources before publishing her report. Let them issue their lame denials, try to wriggle out of what was said  but we stand by our Correspondents meticulously fact checked story.

In the other tweet, he has said, Another case of saying something wild & bizarre, expecting it to remain within a closed room, and then blaming the media for the furore caused. The Hindu did its job  truth-telling: Sri Lanka govt rejects reports on Sirisena assassination plot.

BIA runway safety area not of standard: ICAO

The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) has declared that the runway safety area at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) is not of standard.

A runway safety area (RSA) or runway end safety area (RESA) is defined as the surface surrounding the runway prepared or suitable for reducing the risk of damage to airplanes. A TSA (Taxiway Safety Area) is a defined surface alongside the taxiway prepared or suitable for reducing the risk of damage to an airplane unintentionally departing the taxiway.

Generally, on airports that serve air carrier aircraft, the RSA extends to 250 feet either side of the runway centre line and 1000 feet beyond each end of the runway in the event of an undershoot, overshoot, or excursion from the runway.

With reference to the BIA Runway Safety Team and the technical sub-committee which was appointed to seek a solution to the ICAO finding of a non-standard runway strip, Capt. Suranga Samarasinghe of SriLankan Airlines, a member of the Pilots Guild is to initiate measures.

This is at a meeting of the International Federation of Airline Pilots Associations in Bangkok. During this course, the draft report of corrective measures to be forwarded to the ICAO, will be submitted to the body for its views and necessary changes.

To save job, uniformed man climbs tree in loin cloth

What lengths would people go to save their jobs when they become the eye of a political storm?

The uniformed man had paid visits to many a temple. However, a rather comical situation erupted in one place where the rituals he was asked to perform included climbing a kohomba tree. That, too, whilst wearing a red piece of cloth almost resembling an amudey or loin cloth.

Deviyaney or oh god said one onlooker. If he falls, the job is gone, he quipped in whispers.



SLAF wants to switch buyer from Britain to Canada The Finance Ministry was called upon on Tuesday to make its observations on the Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) purchase of two K series Hercules C 130 aircraft. The SLAF had originally sought to buy them from Britains Marshal Aerospace and Defence Group. However, it has now changed its mind and wants to buy the same series from Cascade Aerospace Incorporated in Canada. President Maithripala Sirisena has made the recommendation to the Cabinet in his capacity as the Minister of Defence. He has noted that the Canadian companys offer is better than the one made by the British firm. The K series aircraft became operational in 1967. However, the SLAF has claimed that the aircraft from Canada will cost Rs 24.4 million and the remaining life span is a minimum of 2,500 hours or five years. The SLAF has claimed that an aircraft with avionics upgrade from Britains Marshal Aerospace would be around US$ 30.45 million. The aircraft from the British supplier, according to the SLAF, could be operated for a minimum of 1,800 hours or four years free from any overhaul or major servicing.
Sirisena touches a raw nerve with assassination plot claim Its not really what he said that matters but where he alleged it that puts him in the clear View(s): View(s):

It was not the best of all goodwill messages from Lankan President Sirisena to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi that Ranil Wickremesinghe would have wished he carried with him tucked in his inside coat pocket when he took flight on Thursday to New Delhi to meet his Indian counterpart and present Lankas credentials to be its closest neighbours best friend.

For the situation was dynamite and threatened to blow up the carefully cultivated friendship since 2015 between the two neighbours  one a Gulliver, the other a Lilliput  sky high overnight. Without warning. Without reason. Without purpose.

All because of a casual remark the President was said to have made at his weekly closed-door cabinet meeting this Tuesday where he is alleged to have accused Indias intelligence service, the innocuously named Research and Analysis Wing, better known as RAW, as being the mastermind behind the recently revealed plot to kill him.

And what did the missive Ranil carried on Wednesday night contain? A clarification issued by the Presidents media secretary that the Lankan President had not referred to Indias main intelligence branch RAW as being the instigator or to some other unnamed Indian intelligence wing.

The statement issued by the Presidents Media Division read:

In the meeting, the President emphasised the need to conduct a comprehensive investigation into the alleged assassination plot. Among other topics discussed at various times during the said Cabinet meeting, was the development of the Eastern terminal of the Colombo Port. The President highlighted the importance of Sri Lanka has a deep-sea port terminal in the interest of the national economy.

India and Sri Lanka have maintained cordial relations and cooperation since the inception of this Government. Several high-level visits have taken place between the two nations that have resulted in strengthening cooperation in many fields.

The PMD also wishes to state that the High Commissioner of India called on the President this morning and during the meeting, all matters were clarified and bilateral relations were reassured.

In these circumstances, it is very unfortunate that some parties with vested interests resort to spreading such malevolent manipulations detrimental to the existing good relations between the two countries as well as the excellent personal rapport between the two leaders.

But would such a clarification sufficed to have doused the wrath of Indias Prime Minister. No leader of any nation will take kindly to an unfounded charge made by a foreign sovereign Head of State that his government planned to assassinate the leader of another nation.

And even before Ranil Wickremesinghes plane touched down at New Delhis airport, Indian outrage was not only swift but ferocious. Earlier in the day the Indian High Commissioner had called upon the President. Shortly thereafter Sirisena was dialling a New Delhi number to speak to Modi on line, a Modi who would certainly not have been amused by this wild charge levelled against his government of planning an assassination attempt on a foreign Head of State.

Modi may not have been amused but he was certainly pacified. Especially after being given the golden opportunity to draw his can and give Sirisena six of the best.

A statement issued by Modis office on Wednesday stated:

The President of Sri Lanka Maithripala Sirisena called Prime Minister Modi on telephone today.

The President of Sri Lanka stated that he categorically rejected the reports in sections of media about him alluding to the involvement of India in any manner whatsoever in an alleged plot to assassinate the President and a former Defence Secretary of Sri Lanka.

He mentioned that the mischievous and mala fide reports were utterly baseless and false, and seemed intended to create misunderstanding between the two leaders as well as damage the cordial relations between the two friendly neighbours.

The President apprised the Prime Minister of the urgent steps taken by him personally and the Government of Sri Lanka to publicly reject these reports. In this context, he also recalled his meeting with the High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka today morning.

The President also stated that he regards the Prime Minister as a true friend of Sri Lanka, as also a close personal friend. He stressed that he greatly valued the mutually beneficial ties between India and Sri Lanka, and remained steadfast to work with the Prime Minister for further strengthening them.

The Prime Minister appreciated the prompt steps taken by the President and his Government to firmly refute the malicious reports by publicly clarifying the matters.

But whilst condemnation followed Sirisenas seeming indiscretion, whilst local politicians flocked to the tavern to condemn it and drink to his downfall, whilst the media lashed upon it repeatedly like an unsated wind that stubbornly refuses to give up its unremitting howls, whilst Indias Modi took sanctimonious umbrage over it and used it as a punching bag to reduce sovereign Lanka to a worm and floor it and trample upon it; and whilst Sirisena himself was forced to grovel before Big Brother Indias chappals and beg forgiveness for it, none asked what the verbal crime was that the Lankan President had committed to merit this degrading treatment from these moral upstarts?

What were the words that provoked the storm and made the Indian hemisphere unleash its blinding bolt of lightning and the deafening crack of thunder upon the hapless Sirisena and forced him to squirm in surrender to a foreign power whilst he was head of a sovereign state?

According to one of Indias influential newspapers, The Hindu, the offending words Sirisena had uttered were: the Indian national must be a RAW agent trying to kill me. The Indian PM may not be aware. That is often the case. Trump may not be aware of CIAs similar moves.

Do these words he is alleged to have said justify putting Sirisena in the pillory?

And why was there a need for his presidential media division to rush to defend him claiming it was a canard, even as one of his minister Mahinda Samarasinghe thought fit to earn favour by appearing to be the Lancelot in Sirisenas Camelot rushing to his aid to provide the protective armour, stating there was absolutely no basis for reports which quoted unidentified sources as having said that President Sirisena had accused the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) of planning to assassinate him.

Yes, if Sirisena had indeed said the words he is supposed to have said  as published by the Tamil Nadu based Hindu newspaper quoting unnamed sources that a RAW agent was trying to kill me  if he had claimed so on a public platform or at a news conference or even in Parliament that would have indeed been a good enough reason for total condemnation. And it would have been worth the racket that has ensued.

But its not what a Head of State says that matters but where he says it that is relevant. And its the failure of all to realise this salient point and distinguish the difference that has given rise to a diplomatic hullabaloo.

Even if the Lankan President had committed blasphemy against Bharat, he would have done so within the cloistered conclave of a close door cabinet chamber where all his chosen few were sworn to the unspoken oath of cabinet secrecy where what was discussed there were never leave its four walls to whisper outside to the whiling winds of gossip.

The whole concept of cabinet responsibility, practised, and adhered to, not only in Lanka but in India and Britain and many nations in the world, too, is firstly based on the cornerstone of cabinet secrecy.

It has been said that it is no exaggeration to write that cabinet secrecy is at the heart of collective cabinet responsibility. It protects both the opinions of ministers and the process by which cabinet arrives at decisions. Because of it, the opposition in Parliament cannot establish which ministers supported a decision and which ones opposed it and attempt to exploit divisions in cabinet, thereby threatening the confidence the House of Commons has in the government. Unless ministers are able to express views, however controversial, to cabinet colleagues without fear of seeing them exploited by the opposition in Parliament and the media, they may well decide to hold back important arguments. In brief, the Westminster system of government insists on collective ministerial responsibility to Parliament and the public while cabinet secrecy enables ministers to present a united front to make the system work. Doing away with cabinet secrecy is the surest way to put the final nail in cabinet government and turn cabinet into nothing more than a focus group for the prime minister.

Here within the cabinet room, cabinet ministers are given free rein to express their thoughts as they wish. Every minister can express his viewpoint and this includes the Prime Minister and the President. No chastity belt is tied around their mouths. They are free to speak their minds in the fullest confidence that no smoke will escape this conclave of cabinet ministers to give the slightest signal of their thoughts.

But once a consensus is reached and the matter is decided upon, the members will leave the chamber and defend the collective decision as one whilst not revealing to the outside world their own personal view on the subject concern nor the opinions expressed by another cabinet colleague.

Within that closed chamber, within that confidential confessional box if the chosen seed of government cannot free vent to their minds, then where else can they flatulate their opinions. Unheard, unsmelt, unreported.

President Sirisena had an unquestionable right to express his fears as to a potential danger to his life from a foreign secret agency to his close colleagues in the strictest confidence. He cannot be blamed and crucified purely because some of his so-called colleagues whom he had appointed to warm the ministerial seats ratted on him and chose to betray the supreme edict of cabinet government: Cabinet Secrecy.

But one deadly folly that Sirisena made, perhaps on his advisors instructions, is that instead of sticking to his guns and insisting that he has the supreme right to express his thoughts, wrong or right, to his cabinet colleagues in the privacy of his cabinet room and that none can question the privilege, he instead chose to be servile, deny, apologise and grovel at the feet of Modis Mojari.

Eureka! Mangala reveals petrol pricing suththare When Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera admitted last week that he himself couldnt make a head or tail of his own petrol pricing formula he had recently introduced to make the cost of living index rise even higher, it was akin to the sort of awkward situation that would have undoubtedly arisen had Einstein confessed in 1915 that he was baffled by his own theory and did not have the foggiest as to what his relativity hash was all about.Speaking to the media at the UNP headquarters Sirikotha in Pitakotte on October 9, he said: Even I cannot comprehend what this pricing formula is. When people come to know what this formula is, they will also be affected mentally. But within a week of giving it great thought and after doing his homework burning the midnight candle at both ends, Mangala had finally seen the light and come to know of it and shouted eureka when he found to his glee he had mastered the true import of the formula that had so eluded him for so long. So much so that he deemed the discovery worthy enough to hold a press conference on Thursday to announce the final cracking of petrol pricings elusive Da Vinci Code. This Thursday the Finance Minister Samaraweera, flanked by State Minister Eran Wickremaratne and Finance Ministry Secretary Dr. R.H.S. Samaratunga, addressed a media conference to present his findings. And here it is: For those scientific buffs who can fathom it, its simply this: MRP= V1+ V2+ V3+ V4. Got it. Good. MRP, of course, does not stand for Mahinda Rajapaksa President but simply means Maximum Retail Policy. And the V1, V2, V3 and V4 do not stand for four times victory either. n V1 simply means, Mangala explained, V1 is the Landed Cost (Rs/Litre), which included Singapore Platts Price per Barrel, weighted Average Premium per Barrel, Loss due to the Evaporation and Exchange Rate (US$/LKR) are applied. n V2 stands for V2 is the Processing cost which includes local port charges, Transport Cost, Dealers Margin including losses due to Evaporation to dealers and stock holding cost. n V3 is the administrative expenses including personnel Cost, depreciation and other cost elements, if any. n And V4 is about the taxation which includes Customs Import Duty, Excise Duty, Ports and Airports Development Levy and National Building Tax. So there you have it, boiled down to its quintessence and served in the clearest mathematical terms. Next time you line up to fill your tank at the newest petrol price arrived at by the application of Mangalas MRP= V1+V2+V3+V4 formula and understand why petrol prices have to be raised month by month as a demand of reality, realising Einsteins theory of relativity expressed in the equation, E= mc2,will be childs play. And even as you dish out more for your petrol take heart. And give yourself a hearty pat on the back. For if you can make head or tail of it: You are no dumb sucker. You are a bally genius. Where ignorance once made you curse the flaming fuel price hikes, enlightenment of MRP= V1+ V2+ V3+ V4 will surely help to douse the burning hole in your pocket. And keep your sanity on even keel. Alas for those who cannot, the only consolation is to ask: Are you Game For a Laugh? PS. The Minister also said that the tax levied in Sri Lanka is low compared to the other countries in the region. The tax levied on petrol in India was SL Rs. 82.14 and diesel SL Rs. 47.52 but in Sri Lanka it was Rs. 53.68 for petrol and Rs. 25.48 for diesel. In England Rs. 178.70 for petrol and Rs. 180.27 for diesel. Is that so? Really? How comforting to know we are far better off than the Indians and the British. President gifts million buck reward to T 56 toting sarge On September 29th, Police Sergeant Sanath Gunawardena attached to the Thebuwana Police stopped a lorry carrying sand and arrested the driver. According to him, the lorry driver had no permit to transport river mined sand. At the police station, however, the OIC released the driver and claimed that he did indeed have the necessary permit and, therefore, the police had no right to arrest the driver.Four days later on October 3, Sergeant Gunawardena, disgruntled and frustrated over what he considered to be an injustice and, suspecting foul play, decided to take the law literally to his own hands. He grabbed a T56 from the police armoury and staged a protest on the Thebuwana street and even fired a few shots to the air to express with gun power he pent up outrage. Thebuwana police efforts to coax him to surrender his weapon and the STF had to be called in. They managed to wrestle the gun and the street drama ended. Sergeant Gunawardena was arrested and produced before court and remanded and released on surety bail. The court date was fixed for December 11. He was also interdicted pending an inquiry as to his allegations and his conduct. This Tuesday the 16th President Sirisena invited him and his family to the Presidential Secretariat and hand over a cheque of a million bucks to his wife. The following day the Inspector General of Police Pujith Jayasundera reinstated Gunawardena. All this whilst there is an inquiry pending against him, not to forget a criminal case filed against him and December 11th set as the date for his appearance in court. Oh, lucky man. The divine intervention of the President seems to have changed his fortunes overnight. Not only has he got his job back but he is also a million bucks richer for firing shots in the air with his T56 weapon on a public street after flouting orders from his superior officers. The President may have been moved by the mans genuine sense of justice. But isnt there another dimension to it all. That discipline in the Tri Forces and the Police is the touchstone in the chain of command. Every serving man in the forces is not only expected but is required as a must to obey without question the order of his superior officer, be it right or be it wrong. Its not for him to debate within him philosophical issues involved in the order. Tennysons Charge of the Light Brigade is one literary example  for theirs not to question why, theirs but to do or die. Rewarding insubordination in the ranks may well lead civil society down the slippery slope to anarchy.
The kill bite of Sri Lankas proposed counter-terrorism act View(s):

There is a clever but devious strategy employed by big cats on the hunt for a kill. Three or more may approach a wary prey from one direction resulting in the attention of that unfortunate animal being focused on the group danger whereas a single predator will creep unobserved from a completely different direction and within seconds, aim for the neck of the target, administering the kill bite as it were.

Problematic policy decisions

Perhaps this somewhat grisly analogy may not be completely apropos when viewing Sri Lankas proposed draft Counter-Terror Act (CTA), now in the final stages of being enacted into law. However there is some relevance in this, as we will see. The thinking of the Supreme Court on the Bill will be in the public domain in the coming weeks. Detailed examination of the contents so reviewed in terms of their constitutional propriety must wait until then. But very real dangers in the Bill emanating from policy decisions taken by this Government (rather than constitutional conformity) must be scrutinized.

To enable a realistic discussion in these column spaces, it is not proposed to go into that intensely polarizing discussion as to whether a counter terrorism law is needed at all. While persuasive arguments can be made by both protagonists in that particular debate, what is before us in a practical sense is a different creature altogether and needs to be dealt with pragmatically in terms of the risks that the Bill holds out.

Indeed, these risks were overshadowed by the furore over other preposterous clauses in earlier versions of the CTA draft including broadly defined seditious offences, proscribing writings that threaten unity, allowing unrestrained powers to the police to gain access to bank records so on and so forth. Enormous public concern led to the removal of such sweeping powers in the Bill. Now judicial approval has been stipulated for obtaining access to bank records.

Serious fears of potential abuse

Meanwhile the much abused leeway given by the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) in admitting confessions by alleged terror suspects to police officers with the burden of proving that this confession was induced by torture placed on the suspects themselves was taken out. Possibilities of such amendments being entered into at the committee stage level remains however, a concern. All this is well traversed ground and need not be gone into at this point. But the point is that these improvements do not detract from significant risks to the protection of liberties that the Bill still poses.

The Bills expansion of powers of arrest without a warrant not only to police officers but also to or the armed forces and coast guards may ring some warning bells given that this is a permanent law rather than a temporary or emergency measure. But far more troublingly, the Ministers power to issue detention orders (under the PTA) has been summarily handed over to the police. Despite the fact that the detention period has been shortened, this raises serious fears in an environment where very senior police officers have been implicated in multifarious offences ranging from kidnapping plots to abduction for ransom rackets right down to the terrorizing of citizens in the normal law enforcement process.

Traditionally, the power to issue Detention Orders was vested in the Secretary, Defence. In interpreting that power, the Supreme Court has been mindful in emphasizing strict restraints at a time when its constitutional jurisprudence was alive and thriving. The seminal precedent, twenty years ago, remains its decision declaring that the arrest and detention of former UNP Minister Sirisena Cooray was arbitrary and wrong. The strictures passed down on senior defence officials were harsh. The Secretary, Defence was held to have relied on misleading advice given to him by senior police officers. Writing on this decision at the time, I observed that in its effective separation of the legal question in the political thicket of controversy, the Courts message to the executive was indisputable.

Exceptionally stern judicial warnings

This was just one such decision out of many. Just a few months following the Cooray decision, the Court ruled likewise, ironically this time concerning an application brought by police officers themselves over the violation of their rights. They had been arrested and detained in connection with proceedings of the Batalanda Commission had been violated. The judges were exceptionally stern in warning that a reasonable suspicion or apprehension of past or future wrongdoing is an essential pre-requisite for the deprivation of personal liberty.

In the opinion of the Court, no material implicating the petitioners had, in fact, been placed before Court. The Secretary, Ministry of Defence could not have formed an independent opinion that the arrests and subsequent detention was necessary. Not only was the tenuous material available to him vague and lacking in particulars but it was pure hearsay. Not even the motions of investigating any threat or wrongdoing had been gone through. The First Respondent (Secretary, Defence) had been misled into making the impugned orders by means of the exaggerations and distortions of the vague allegations which the police had the Court ruled.

The highest responsible officials at the time were directed by the Court to observe salutary safeguards in formulating policy in regard to arrests and detentions under emergency law. This had a ripple effect with the tightening of procedures relating to arrests under detention orders. These cautions were however disregarded, of course, in the decade that came later and openly mocked at during the Rajapaksa period.

Dilemmas in the future

Given this history, this clause transferring the power to issue Detention Orders to police officers, despite its seemingly innocuous nature, has all the potential to deal the kill bite to civil liberties. These are dangerous powers that need to be fenced in. Their exercise should be restricted to officials at the highest level who can appropriately be held responsible rather than be the happy hunting ground of each and every Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG).

The mere specifying of a duty to give reasons for issuing detention orders, (as the Bill stipulates), is not an effective safeguard against abuse. This is a theoretical requirement that will be treated with due disdain. The police are demonstrably unable to carry out their duties professionally even in mundane law enforcement situations. This is a persistent feature of Sri Lankas impunity landscape. So what does this potent for the citizen in fraught contexts of emergency? Who now has the means or the energy to fight these matters in courts of law, expecting positive outcomes?

These are dilemmas that we should do well to consider.
Govt. stuck in the port View(s):

The President got embroiled in an awkward diplomatic tangle this week by a statement he later officially retracted, or denied making. On the eve of his Prime Ministers visit to India on state business, he reportedly attributed to the Indian external spy agency, RAW, imputations of trying to assassinate him.

The story leaked from the Cabinet, where it was said he made the comment, to the media both local and foreign. The President was forced to act swiftly at damage-control by blaming the media for the misreporting. There is an anecdote in the newspaper world that a news story can only be confirmed when the Government denies it.

Stemming from the officially unsaid remarks was the case of India being invited to be a partner with a 20 percent stake in the construction of the East Container Terminal (ECT) of the Colombo Port. Now, the Shipping Minister has said that the MoU signed with India is invalid and the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) will finance the project.

Beginning with the Mahinda Rajapaksa Administration, the development of Sri Lankas ports have been problematic.

While much has been said about the controversial contracts, the Rajapaksa Administration carried out vis-a-vis the ports, the ECT was no exception. Some 400 metres of the ECT was ready by April 2015 and handling equipment was to be handed over by March 2016. But the new Government said the price agreed by the Rajapaksa Administration was too high. The new administration went into these matters in 2015. Cabinet approval was sought and obtained to re-negotiate the contract with the Chinese supplier. Some improvement on the deal was achieved albeit in the way of accessories etc. and it was the opinion of the Administration that the procurement should go ahead taking into account the importance of getting operational as early as possible.

Then the Administration was replaced and after three years, three chairmen and two ministers, nothing moved at the Terminal except unloading of cement, steel and project cargo on the surface built for clean cargo operations. With no idea of how to set about things, they seem to have fallen back on the Rajapaksa policy. Meanwhile the South Terminal (CICT) which is operated and managed by a Chinese company with expertise in operating and managing ports internationally was making vast strides  and moneys for the SLPA which had only 15% of the shares with the Chinese company holding 85%. Even with a share of 15% the income to SLPA was substantial as it consists of lease rental, royalties and profit sharing. As CICT goes from strength to strength with the ability to pull major shipping lines, the SLPA benefits with no involvement in the operation or the management of that Terminal.

The argument for inviting India to participate in funding the East Container Terminal is partly because 80% of the total cargo handled in the port of Colombo is transshipments to India. With little know-how to attract major liners, the SLPA doesnt seem to have the capacity to either fund the expansion or manage the terminal on its own, however much it would be the ideal option. Hence the importance of getting a reputed international terminal operator involved on BOT/PPP basis who would have the ability to bring major liners. It is interesting to note that India is using this arrangement in its ports.

Big power games and murder of Saudi journalist

The story of how a Saudi Arabian-born contributor to the Washington Post went missing during a visit to the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, Turkey has sent shock waves throughout the world. Saudi Arabia has finally, after several days, admitted that the journalist was slain inside the consulate. The audacity with which the alleged murder was carried out, trying to pathetically imitate the more sophisticated Israeli secret service, Mossad, has caused embarrassment to both fair-minded Saudi and US citizens alike  and deep revulsion among the citizens of the world.

Whether the House of Saud that runs the kingdom can get away with murder remains to be seen. The answer would most likely be a yes. A few years ago, the United States went the extra mile to find those behind the brutal killing of a Wall Street Journal journalist in Pakistan. The mastermind of that heinous crime is languishing at the dreaded US prison camp at Guantanamo. But in the case of the Saudi journalist, there seems to be some plea-bargaining going on. Admit the crime and get off with a light sentence.

The reason is simple. Mammon  the god of money is at play. Saudi Arabia has it, and the US wants it. So many human rights abuses have taken place in the kingdom, the custodian of the holiest of holy sites of Islam. These violations have deftly been ignored by countries sermonising on the subject elsewhere in the world.

The kingdom has exported sectarian violence, especially in Yemen with the help of not only the US, but also Britain. Hundreds are dying there as a result right now. Where there are arms and business contracts, there are no human rights issues. It is not for nothing they have earned the reference; the rapacious West. But Russia is joining the club and now looking for entre, should the US distance itself from the Saudis. So, its all superpower games once again.

At the recently held media event marking the 20th anniversary of the Colombo Declaration on Media Freedom and Social Responsibility, the representative from the Vienna-based International Press Institute (IPI) referred to the number of journalists killed around the world  100 over the past 12 months. Shockingly, more are killed in non-combat zones.

While Saudi Arabia ranks a dismal 161 out of 180 countries in the World Press Freedom Index  19th worst in the world, Turkey where the horrendous crime occurred is no better. They are placed at 157. Last year, the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) called upon Turkey to free all journalists jailed in that country, dozens of them, and to ensure a free press.

Did the Saudis feel the impunity against journalists in Turkey gave them the licence to commit such a crime against one of their own critics? Or was it just plain and simple, their petro-dollar arrogance on show.

The issue is more than just a statistic; and even more than a murder of a journalist. It has become a diplomatic and human rights quagmire. But eventually, it will be just another statistic after a temporary dust storm over the oil rich Saudi desert.
Kids World View(s):

I have two grandmothers

I have two grandmothers. One is my fathers mother and the other is my mothers mother. My fathers mothers name is Mallika. She is a teacher. She lives with us. She helps me with my homework.

I call my mothers mother, Punchi Achchi. She works in a bank. Her name is Chandanie.

Both my grandmothers prepare tasty food for me. Both my grandmothers give me presents.

I love both my grandmothers.

Niyumi Perera (Grade 3)

Vidura College

Water Wastage

When we look at the world around us, we see so many beautiful things. One of the most precious and valuable things is water. People nowadays are so careless that they never bother about water and dont even think twice about wasting it. Everyone needs water. Without it, we wont be able to live.

One of the worst habits of almost everyone is keeping the tap open when brushing the teeth. When we wash rice or any other food in water, we could use that water for plants. But people dont care. They just let the water go down the drain.

All these habits can lead to a disaster. We all should save water for our future generation. Save water, save life.

Raaya Rasheed

(Grade

Hejaaz Int. School, Dehiwala

A day at the beach

One sunny morning, my parents and I thought to have a nice time at the beach. After a 20 minute drive we arrived at the Mount Lavinia beach. It was filled with hundreds of people and it is such a huge beach. The sea was calm.

I did not forget to bring my beach toys. I made sandcastles as my parents taught me how to make them nicely. I had improved at making sandcastles! Then we walked along the shore and collected some seashells and kept some for the other kids who were looking for shells. The sandcastles were decorated with the nice shells I collected. My mother aimed the camera and took a photograph of me and my new palace.

Because of the hot sun, I was tired and thirsty so my father ran to the ice-cream van and bought ice-cream for us. It was delicious. Finally we bathed in the sea for a few minutes.

Later as it was afternoon people went to their homes, including us. Going to the beach and having fun is a very nice thing. It would be double the fun if my best friend could join us. I enjoyed it very much and it was a memorable day in my life.

Sathindu Galagama

(Grade 4)

Lyceum Int. School, Nugegoda

My favourite amphibian

My favourite amphibian is the frog. They spend much of their time in muddy depressions or buried in damp, dark holes. They have a complicated lifecycle, which starts with the fertilization of the eggs.

The male frogs are usually smaller than the female. Males comes to the pond or lake and croak loudly to attract females.

When the female lays eggs, the male releases his sperm to fertilize them. When the eggs swell with water they float as

frog spawn. There can be up to 3000 eggs in a clump.

There are many different types of frogs living in every continent of the world except Antarctica. They are usually harmless and in some ways very useful creatures. They devour great quantities of flies and other insects and therefore should be protected. Watching a frog with a tongue catching an insect is fascinating. It flips out its curiously shaped tongue, which is fixed at the front of its mouth.

I love frogs and I also protect them.

Sheza Ranya (Grade 4)

Eastern Int. College

My pet

My pet is a cat. Its name is Rosy. Rosy is brown colour. Rosy likes to eat rice and curry. Rosy likes to drink milk. It is very nice. I love my pet.

Sandevmie Vinethya (Grade 6)

Little Flower Convent, Bandarawela

Ananda Samarakoon

The famous song writer Ananda Samarakoon was a musician and a composer. He composed the National Anthem of Sri Lanka. All people considered him the father of artistic Sri Lankan music. He founded a musical tradition of our own. He composed many songs such as As e Madura Jeewanaye Geetha, Akke ara balannako etc. He was also a gifted painter. This great song writer passed away in April 1962 giving sadness to the whole nation.

Dulmith Wedagedara (Grade 7)

Maliyadeva College, Kurunegala

Our fish tank

We made a fish tank with bricks and cement. Then we filled it with water and put coconut husks in it. After two weeks we cleaned the water. Then we got fish. They were tiny. We love to see them swimming in the water. We put hydrilla into it. One day a kingfisher ate some of our fish. So we covered it with a net. We hope to put more fish and water lilies.

Sanuka Wickramanayake (Grade 3)

Richmond College, Galle
Cafe Nihonbashi opens at The Radh in Kandy View(s):

When it comes to authentic Japanese classics, no one does it better than Nihonbashi. Now, residents of Kandy can enjoy all this and more at Cafe Nihonbashi at The Radh.

An extension of Nihonbashi, Cafe Nihonbashi at The Radh in Kandy, offers an indoor seating capacity of fifty guests, and is open for lunch and dinner, serving a selection of Sushi, Sashimi and Tempura, as well as favourites such as Okonomiyaki and Kani Chahan, and a delectable range of Curry Rice and Donburi for rice lovers. An absolute must is the exclusive Bento Box that has been created, and christened the Perahera Bento in honour of the citys iconic Esala Perahera. The box is available for dine in guests as well as for take away.

Speaking at the launch in Kandy, CEO, Nihonbashi, Dharshan Munidasa was quoted in a media release as syaing Opening Cafe Nihonbashi is very special. We have been looking at Kandy for the last 20 years and now Kandy has reached its potential, tourism numbers have risen and most importantly we have found great partners in Afzal and his son and their beautiful property  The Radh. Cafe Nihonbashi strives to serve simple but great Japanese cuisine for the discerning Kandy resident and visiting tourists from all countries.

The newest entrant in the countrys ever expanding hospitality industry, The Radh, is a four star property owned and managed by Icon Hotels. Located within the heart of the city, the boutique hotel is just walking distance from the Sri Dalada Maligawa. The Radh refers to Royalty in Kandyan history and is derived from the Sinhala word Radala. As such, it is no surprise that Architect Nandika Denipitiya was inspired by traditional Kandyan design motifs. This tribute to the heritage and cultural majesty of the ancient kingdom is manifest in unique artistic nuances throughout the hotel.

Chairman Icon Hotels Afzal Marikar was also quoted as saying The Radh is the fulfillment of a long treasured dream. Kandy is the heart of this country. Our ancient hill capital has so much to offer visitors, and The Radh is a tribute to the grandeur of the past and the continuing wonder of the present. I am proud to say that every effort has been made to preserve the cultural identity of our surroundings, and to bring that unique atmosphere within the walls of the property.
Lively literary chat brightens up a rainy Kandy evening By Shyamali Ranaraja View(s): View(s):

The Alliance Francaise de Kandy held their 3rd annual Lire en Fete (Literary Festival) from October 12-14 with a series of events to celebrate both Francophone and Sri Lankan literature, ranging from creative writing and comic strip workshops to a Literary Brunch. The Literary Chat with authors Ashok Ferrey and Yudhanjaya Wijeratne was keenly awaited, and the typically rainy Kandy evening on Saturday meant that the small number of keen literati that braved the gloom to visit the AFK were rewarded with a cosy sitting room ambience that was unexpected as it was stimulating.

The evening was a study in contrasts: the acclaimed, multi-published and technologically (computer)-challenged author of contemporary Sri Lankan fiction and the self-taught emerging Sci-fi writer and tech-geek. But there was sufficient commonality between them: a love of short stories as the purest of literary art forms; a whimsical approach to life and its living despite the two authors different generations and genres; and a refreshing ability to laugh at themselves and their foibles.

Ashok shared truly valuable insights into his start in writing from where in his early forties and with no warning whatsoever, his first short story simply wrote itself, virtually vomiting itself onto the pages of a Raheema exercise book as a form of catharsis from watching and caring for a family member dealing with the dreaded cancer, to how there is at the heart of every one of his books a cold, hard, kernel of pure mathematics which he then spends 300 pages disguising for the reader. He spoke almost in bewilderment of the long intervals between books where he unconsciously or subconsciously puts together a story that is then supercharged into a first draft of a new book within six weeks or so. But there was a decided air of a young William Brown when he spoke of the little puzzles and Easter eggs he hides within his stories for his own amusement, which some readers may discover ten years after they first read the book.

Yudhanjaya described the low of the agony of not being able to write anything for a week, and the high that comes after he has got down 300 words of a story, with the clear indications of one addicted to writing. It was fascinating too to listen to his description of switching between the technical writing of his day job at a Sri Lankan think-tank and his creative writing, especially how he develops his storyline in the very digital-age platform of blogging and social media. A disarmingly down-to-earth young man too, from his description of not completing formal education to being a self-taught everything, and appreciative that it is still possible to do so in this country: a welcome change that, I thought, in this time of depressingly repetitive stories of how this country is fit for no one of sanity to live in.

The Director, Alliance Francaise, Kandy, Mickael Lenglet, cleverly fostered the air of a fireside-chat which helped the two authors to connect immediately with the audience. His interactive tool of asking the authors to email in some replies to a Proust questionnaire (a standard set of questions about ones personality popular as a form of interview due to the answers given by the French writer Marcel Proust), and asking the audience to guess the author by the response to a few questions proved to be vastly entertaining and provided a quick snap-shot of each author. So we learned that Ashoks s favourite occupation is to sit in an armchair contemplating the novel he ought to be writing, and that Yudhanjayas favourite virtue is honesty  raw honesty; that Ashok would like to die in a plain, unvarnished box, while Yudhanjayas idea of misery is having to write the last paragraph of a story.

(For the full list of answers, check out the FB page of AFK.) With open and honest responses to questions from the audience, the evening proved to be a truly stimulating event in the 2018 Lire en Fete.
Second MBFW 2018: All set to be a week of glamour and innovation By Sashini Rodrigo View(s): View(s):

Following a highly successful inaugural event last year, the Academy of Design (AOD) and their principal sponsor DIMO Mercedes Benz will present the second Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Sri Lanka, from October 25  28 at the Dimo 800 Mercedes-Benz Centre.

MBFW Festival Director and AOD principal, Karen Macleod says the ultimate goal is to promote Sri Lanka as a hub for the fashion and apparel industries in South Asia, to unite traditional craft with modern trends and high-tech production methods, with a particular focus on sustainability and innovation.

We have this amazing apparel industry, an amazing craft industry, and we have a design school that fuses it together, she says, highlighting the importance of establishing a bridge between traditional crafts and modern trends and technology to bring Sri Lankas unique style to the forefront of the fashion and design industry.

The partnership with Mercedes Benz has been ongoing since 2015. Sri Lanka caught their eye as a viable destination for their world renowned Fashion Week through AOD and director and founder Linda Speldewindes establishment of the Sri Lanka Design Festival  it was felt that local talent, the established industry and contemporary craft deserved international recognition.

Macleod feels that it was a natural progression, and an acknowledgement that Sri Lanka is at an international level with its own offering to the world of fashion. Weve never just been about fashion, its also about the content of the forums and bringing knowledge to Sri Lanka and sharing what Sri Lanka can do with the world.

This years theme is Innovation Island, which will be explored and showcased through a series of runways and forums highlighting the importance of keeping the tradition and livelihoods of local artisans thriving by combining it with modern fashion and the design industry.

The Emerging Talent Showcase features young designers and graduates, from both local and international design schools, carefully chosen by a panel of international judges. The show will open with ten AOD students and their work on a special heritage project, where they collaborate with local artisans and use batik and handloom.

The SS 2019 Showcase will also highlight the potential of Sri Lankas contemporary craft industry, as established designer brands fuse traditional craft with their own unique aesthetic in a celebration of local identity through a personal lens.

We cant just be a design school, we have to be entrepreneurs, we have to be movers and shakers, and we have to create these platforms for our graduates and Sri Lanka, she adds.

The Industry Showcase will highlight Sri Lankas apparel industry, where sustainability is one of the core objectives.

Complementing the runways are the forums on important aspects and issues of the industry. The Sustainable Fashion Summit, South Asian Apparel Leadership Forum (SAALF), Female Futures Forum and Design Education in the 21st Century forums will bring together a wide spectrum of industry personnel both local and international, to discuss the promising future of Sri Lanka as a fashion and design hub, and to inspire and educate those attending.

The Female Futures Forum in its second year will bring awareness to the challenges women face in the field of fashion and design, and highlight the breakthroughs and achievements of female entrepreneurs and the process of getting there.

This theme of inclusivity and collaboration even goes behind the scenes, as Macleod describes the process of getting AOD students involved in MBFW  actively involved in organising important aspects like hairstyle and makeup coordination, accessories, etc.

It promises to be an exciting week of glamour and innovation.

For more information, including ticketing for after parties, visit their website at www.mbfwsrilanka.com
Theres nothing to be afraid of anaesthesia By Kumudini Hettiarachchi View(s): View(s):

Dont be afraid to be put to sleep for any surgical procedure  anaesthesia is safe and we are by your side throughout. This is the strong assurance coming from the College of Anaesthesiologists and Intensivists of Sri Lanka as the globe celebrated World Anaesthesia Day on Tuesday.

We have evolved and now there are minimal side-effects when undergoing anaesthesia, stressed the Colleges President Dr. Ramya Amarasena, a Consultant Anaesthetist attached to the National Hospital of Sri Lanka (NHSL), explaining the importance of anaesthesia as a field of medicine. Numerous surgical techniques would not be possible if not for anaesthesia.

The College this week launched a public information section on its website: https://anaesthesia.lk/public-information/

Far have we come from the time people were held down physically for the surgeons to perform operations, she reiterates to MediScene, with the Colleges Scientific Affairs Secretary, Dr. Loranthi Samarasinghe, going back in time to bring forth the image of John Snow holding chloroform for Queen Victoria, who was in labour way back in 1853, at the birth of Prince Leopold, easing her pain.

Queen Victoria was so pleased and it was from then on that anaesthesia became popular among the common man, says Dr. Samarasinghe.

It is Dr. Amarasena who highlights the advancement in anaesthesia techniques and pinpoints the role played by anaesthetists when she says that earlier they were only in the Operating Theatres (OTs) but now there has also been a name-change to peri-operative physicians as they are involved in all stages of managing a patient including pre-op (before surgery), intra-op (during surgery) and post-op (after surgery).

Explaining the process, she says that sometimes patients are seen by General Practitioners (GPs) who refer them to a surgeon if they need an operation, while others come directly to surgeons. Once the date of surgery is set, the surgeon would refer them to the anaesthetist to check out co-morbidities (other diseases) etc.

In the past, we were only present in the OT and the patient didnt know who we were. But now we visit the patient in the ward before surgery and draw up an individual plan depending on what the surgery is, how long it will last and what his/her co-morbidities are, says Dr. Samarasinghe, underlining the fact that they perform prehabilitation including breathing exercises to help the patient, working very closely with the surgeon. We work with the patient to get the best possible outcomes, looking closely at factors such as his/her age and the risk-benefit ratio.

With any surgical procedure needing a multidisciplinary team including physicians, cardiologists, endocrinologists, nephrologists, respiratory physicians, radiologists, nurses, nutritionists and physiotherapists, the anaesthetist takes on the mantle of Coordinator, MediScene learns.There are guidelines, our own as well as the Royal College of Anaesthetists in the United Kingdom which we follow, according to Dr. Amarasena.

In Sri Lanka, we maintain a global standard and do not work in isolation, she says, with Dr. Samarasinghe chipping in that they use tested, tried and proven guidelines, while adapting to Sri Lankas own facilities. All the major hospitals have good facilities, it is understood, with 149 Consultant Anaesthetists in the government sector.

Both Dr. Amarasena and Dr. Samarasinghe stress that there is also a need for junior doctors as for major surgery the Consultant Anaesthetist will be in attendance throughout but minor surgical interventions can be managed by Medical Officers (MOs) trained in anaesthesia.

Having dealt with staff, MediScene hears about the major changes in the field of anaesthesia which has made it safer and more comfortable to undergo surgery:

Pre-op, the Consultant Anaesthetist or MO will visit the patient and have a chat, so that he/she will know who the doctor is. They will relieve stress, let the patient ask any question and look at the critical issue of pain relief. All the routine tests are performed and if any specific test is required for a particular patient depending on his/her condition that too will be done. The usual tests include coagulation (blood-clotting), sugar levels etc.

In a routine operation, if the patient has co-morbidities, we will see him/her well in advance, so that everything can be attended to early and also check out whether the patient is fit to undergo general anaesthesia (GA) and optimize their physiological state, says Dr. Amarasena.

Whereas in the past, patients were kept fasting for long hours, as much as 12 to 14 hours, now fasting guidelines are strictly adhered to, even though sometimes it could be challenging to do so in the government sector. Prolonged fasting periods have been found to be detrimental to patients, with more side-effects.

Now the fasting period is six hours for solids and just two hours for clear fluids such as water, plain tea and thambili.

Intra-operatively in major surgery, where earlier there was only basic non-invasive monitoring of blood pressure with the cuff and also basic monitoring of blood gases such as oxygen saturation, carbon dioxide levels and pH levels; ECGs (electrocardiograms) to see the heart function, now state-of-the-art equipment is available for closer monitoring.

Beat-to-beat variation of blood pressure can be monitored now, as also heart functions and a close check can be kept on oxygen entering and exiting the heart and the fluid status in the circulation, say these Consultant Anaesthetists, giving us a view of a sophisticated OT.

Within seconds during the surgery we know what is happening, they say.

Almost all anaesthetic drugs are short-acting with fewer side-effects.

No, we can wake up the patient on the OT table itself, they say, adding that there is minimal hang-over, nausea or vomiting which helps an early return to normalcy and enhanced recovery.

Post-op, the anaesthetists look after the patient in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) which is an extension of the OT. Post-operative pain management is carried out through nerve blocks, epidural catheters and parenteral (intravenous, intramuscular or subcutaneous) and oral drugs. There are also other techniques by which the patient can control his/her own pain relief, which is called patient controlled analgesia.

Even critically-ill patients who have not undergone surgery but are in the ICU come under the care of anaesthetists for interventions such as ventilation and monitoring Both Consultant Anaesthetists also explain that with the development of anaesthetic medications, whenever possible patients are advised to undergo regional anaesthesia  spinal or epidural, with nerve blocks being administered. Regional anaesthesia has been made easier as scans enable the location of nerves, minimizing complications. There is quicker recovery with regional anaesthesia.

Critical incidents such as death on the OT table due to anaesthesia are rare. Death due to anaesthesia is 1 in 300,000, they add.

Monitoring the depth of anaesthesia An oft-asked terrifying question is: Will I wake up in the middle of the operation, although I have been put under general anaesthesia (GA)?

No, assure Consultant Anaesthetists Dr. Ramya Amarasena and Dr. Loranthi Samarasinghe, going into detail how major advances have been made with regard to the monitoring of the depth of anaesthesia.Too deep or too light the anaesthesia is what we have to be meticulous about  it has to be just right, says Dr. Samarasinghe.

During major surgery under GA, the patients spontaneous ventilation is taken over by a machine and is manipulated by the anaesthetist to give optimum oxygenation during the procedure.Adds Dr. Amarasena: Ventilation is tailor-made for the patient. (Artificial ventilation is used to assist or replace a persons spontaneous breathing and may involve a ventilator.)Earlier, whether the patient would wake up during the surgery was the worst nightmare of an anaesthetist, MediScene learns, with all that being part of the distant past now.Fluid balance is optimized meticulously and the cardiovascular stability is maintained throughout the surgery. Earlier, tracheal intubation could be risky, says Dr. Samarasinghe, pointing out that it could be very difficult to do so too, in certain instances. Within seconds, if this procedure is botched, the patient could become hypoxic (deprived of oxygen) and suffer serious brain damage and go into a vegetative state or die. All that has changed now, with high quality equipment such as the video laryngoscope and fibre optic techniques. What is anaesthesia?

This refers to the practice of blocking the feeling of pain to allow medical and surgical procedures to be undertaken without pain, say the Consultant Anaesthetists, Dr. Ramya Amarasena and Dr. Loranthi Samarasinghe.An ancient Italian practice was to cover a patients head with a wooden bowl and beat on it repeatedly until the patient lost consciousness. Obviously, this method resulted in a number of side-effects the patient would not have found beneficial, they smile, explaining that opium and alcohol were also regularly used to produce insensibility, both of which had a number of negative side-effects and neither could dull the pain completely.Delving into history they say that few operations were possible and speed was the determinant of a successful surgeon. Patients were often tied or held down and the abdomen, chest and skull were effectively inoperable. Surgery was a last, and extremely painful, resort.

Here are the milestones in this journey:October 16, 1846  An American dentist, William Morton, proved to the world that ether caused complete insensibility to pain during an operation performed in front of a crowd of doctors and students at the Massachusetts General Hospital. Morton instructed the patient to inhale the ether vapour and, once the patient was suitably sedated, a tumour was removed from his neck. The patient felt no pain. This demonstration transformed medical practice.In two months, Drs. Francis Boott and James Robinson in London, England, performed a tooth extraction using ether and two days after that, Robert Liston performed an amputation. A write-up of these achievements appeared in the London Illustrated News the following year in January which reached Australia in May 1847.A doctor in Launceston in Australia, William Russ Pugh, and Sydney dentist, John Belisario, fashioned ether inhalers based on the diagram in the newspaper. On June 7, 1847, Pugh successfully performed two operations under ether anaesthesia, while Belisario performed two dental surgeries. Both had journalists present.

Ether was first used in New Zealand on September 27, 1847, when Colonial Surgeon James Patrick Fitzgerald performed a dental extraction on a prisoner at the Wellington gaol. On the same day, Fitzgerald also performed New Zealands first general surgical operation on an anaesthetised patient.During both procedures, the ether was administered by James Marriott, an optical instrument maker, using a vapouriser of his own design. Ether anaesthesia not only resulted in a better surgical experience for the patient, it also allowed doctors time during surgery to develop more refined and complex surgical skills.This is all history now with more advanced drugs and techniques being used when anaesthetizing a patient.
SINGAPORE, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- The United States has suspended another military exercise with South Korea to give diplomatic maneuvers with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) "every opportunity to continue," the U.S. military said.

U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis and South Korean Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo reached the agreement to suspend joint air defense exercise Vigilant Ace, Pentagon spokesperson Dana White was quoted as saying by local TV Channel NewsAsia in a statement on Friday.

"Both ministers are committed to modifying training exercises to ensure the readiness of our forces," White added.

Mattis and Jeong held talks Friday on the sidelines of the 12th ASEAN Defense Ministers' Meeting (ADMM) and the 5th ADMM-Plus. Mattis also discussed the issue with Japanese Defense Minister Takeshi Iwaya.

U.S. President Donald Trump met with DPRK top leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore in June, and after the meeting, Trump announced the suspension of several joint military drills with South Korea.

Vigilant Ace is previously scheduled for December this year.
AGs Dept yet to decide on appeal against Johnston Fernandos acquittal By Ranjith Padmasiri View(s): View(s):

The Attorney Generals (AG) Dept has so far not taken a decision on whether to appeal the acquittal of former Minister Johnston Fernando and two others, in the case involving the misappropriation of Rs 52.02 million of Lanka Sathosa funds, the AGs Dept sources told the Sunday Times.

Sources further said the AGs Dept had to first study the judgement delivered by the Kurunegala High Court acquitting the three accused, before taking a decision.

Kurunegala High Court Judge Menaka Wijesundara acquitted Mr Fernando, together with former Lanka Sathosa Chairman Nalin Fernando and Mr Fernandos Private Secretary Mohamed Shakir, without calling for witnesses from the Defence.

After the Prosecution had concluded its evidence, Senior Counsel for MP Fernando, Kalinga Indratissa P.C., maintained that the Prosecutions evidence was contradictory and untrustworthy, and called on the court to consider these facts and acquit the accused. The judge accepted the Defences argument under Section 200 of the Criminal Procedure Code, and acquitted all three accused.

Deputy Solicitor General Rohantha Abeysuriya led the Prosecution. Presidents Counsels Kalinda Indratissa, Anil Silva and Shavindra Fernando appeared for the accused.
Army withdraws peacekeeping teams chief from Mali By Asiri Fernando Complaints over his human rights record, 'vetting process did not go through HRCSL' View(s): View(s):

The Sri Lanka Army will comply with a United Nations request to withdraw the Commanding Officer of its peacekeeping contingent in Mali but will appeal the decision and, if the Lieutenant Colonel is cleared of charges, seek his reinstatement, Military Spokesman Sumith Atapattu said.

The UN on Friday requested the Sri Lanka Government to immediately repatriate the Commander of its UN peacekeeping force in Mali, following a review of his human rights background. Foreign media named him as Lt Col Kalana Amunupure.

UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric on Friday told journalists that the repatriation would be done at Sri Lankas cost, and according to normal procedures. He claimed that the decision to repatriate him was made by the UN following a review based on recently received information.

Meanwhile, Sri Lankas Human Rights Commission (HRCSL) which has agreed to vet Sri Lankan personnel nominated for UN peacekeeping missions, said yesterday that it did not have information about the case. This is not something that went through the Commission, HRCSL Chairperson Deepika Udagama said.

Sri Lankas contingent for Mali first came for review of the Commission in early 2017, she said. We went through it, cleared many and wanted further information about others. The Army Commander at the time Maj Gen Chrishantha de Silva wrote to us and said the UN had vetted them already, so we dont need your services.

So we stopped vetting the entire contingent. The UN and the Army handled it, she said. Dr. Udagama also said that when Sri Lanka Permanent Mission in New York informed the HRCSL of the early repatriation, it checked the details and found that Lt Col Amunupure had not been in the original list sent to the Commission for vetting. Its between the Army and the UN, she said.

In April a South African-based NGO, The International Truth and Justice Project (ITJP), sent to the UN a list of 56 Sri Lankans whom it claimed should be barred from peacekeeping duties. It comprised names of Special Task Force (STF) officers it believed were involved in or were in frontline service during the last stages of the war. The UN failed to properly vet Sri Lankan troops being sent for peacekeeping duties, the NGO claimed.

The Sri Lanka Army noted that it had and would in the future cooperate with the UN to vet troops. Earlier this year, the HRCSL at the invitation of the Government began a vetting process for Sri Lankan personnel selected for peacekeeping duties. The UN spokesperson said the UN Secretariat remained engaged with the Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka on the matter.

However, HRCSL vetting of a contingent for Lebanon is currently on hold till Standard Operating Procedures are agreed upon by all parties concerned, including the Sri Lanka military.
Buddhist Business Forum: Speakers stress importance of revisiting Buddhist teachings By Randima Attygalle View(s): View(s):

In the ever-changing globalised setting, the need to practice and propagate the teachings of Lord Buddha in every domain of society is unprecedented, and the world of business is no exception, Speaker, Karu Jayasuriya said on Tuesday.

He was speaking at the Buddhist Business Forum 2018 which was held at the BMICH. The forum held under the banner, Buddhist Leadership Practices in Business, initiated by the National Council for International Affairs of the All Ceylon Buddhist Congress (ACBC), brought together notable business leaders, scholars, eminent Buddhist monks and other professionals to deliberate on the need to adopt the sublime doctrine of Lord Buddha in the world of business.

The Chief Guest, Speaker Jayasuriya, shed light on the increasing recognition of Buddhist values by leading global corporates. The Buddhist meditation practice of vipassana for instance, is used by them, as a tool to develop emotional intelligence in order to achieve success both professionally and personally. Conflict management which forms an important component of theBuddhist corporate structure encourages peace and co-existence which is imperative to best management practices, he noted.

Citing Buddhist concepts such as samma kammantha which gives space to propagate, sustainable business models in a modern sense, the Speaker urged the audience to revisit the teachings of the Buddha. Buddhist values, as he observed, can spur a clean profile of an organisation while maintaining profits through healthy means. The basis for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) advocated by the UN, related to climate change and environmental impact, which underline business paradigms today are enshrined in the teachings of Lord Buddha, said Mr. Jayasuriya who went on to note that Buddhist practices will not only benefit the workforce of an organisation but also society at large.

President, National Council for International Affairs of the ACBC, Prof. Lakshman R. Watawala, in his opening remarks noted that the forum serves as a prelude to the International Buddhist Business Forum which is to take place next year in Sri Lanka as part of the ACBCs centenary celebrations. A Buddhist Business Circle, Prof. Watawala further remarked, is also envisaged as a by-product of this years forum. The move is to boost rural entrepreneurship, he said.

Rendering value to its theme, Buddhist Leadership Practices in Business, the forum focussed on Buddhist ethics and spirituality, technology, innovation, education and skills development, social and environmental responsibilities and Buddhist Economics practicing the Middle Path with special reference to the Singalovada Sutta to achieve the optimal wellbeing of everyone in all these domains.

Elucidating Buddhist values in Business, Head of the Department of Pali and Buddhist Studies, University of Jayewardendepura, the Ven. (Prof) Madagampitiya Wijithadhamma Thera, in his keynote address, drew analogies from the Singalovada Sutta driving home the message that the Buddhas teachings can be utilized in conflict-ridden businesses. The customer or the user first notion of the business world can only be achieved if compassion becomes the foundation of a business, reflected the thera, who went on to note that the ticket to credibility, transparency and integrity of a business or a business leader lies in non-violence, empathy and collectivity, advocated by Buddhist values. Urging business leaders to achieve a win-win situation by keeping one eye on profit and the other on ethics, aligned with the Eightfold Path, the prelate emphasised the perennial truth of the Buddhas teaching that avarice brings misery.

Management Consultant, Trainer and Author, Deepal Sooriyaarachchi elucidated Buddhist ethics and spiritualty in leading business organisations drawing inspiration from Buddhist teachings on wisdom, morality and energy. Urging businesses to create win-win situations as opposed to sales or deals, the senior professional emphasised on the need to contextualise the Buddhas teachings.

Drawing parallels with Prince Siddharthas renunciation of worldly pleasures to risk-taking, which entails most business transactions of the modern day, Head of the Department of Economics, University of Colombo, the Ven. (Prof) Wijithapura Wimalaratana Thera surmised: it was a huge risk which Prince Siddhartha took by renouncing all earthly pleasures which he did for the betterment of the entire mankind. Many Jataka stories, too, offer inspiration in this regard. Similarly, business demands risk-taking, especially if we are to transform our backward economy to a more robust one. The prelate also noted that exploiting the countrys potential prudently is imperative if we are to compete globally.

Several expert panelists from diverse business sectors, including finance, apparels, retail and e-commerce addressed the forum by sharing their best practices aligned to Buddhist values.
Modi wants more talks on pledges given to India By Our Special Correspondent View(s): View(s):

Two premiers discuss gamut of issues; New Delhi keen to secure ECT deal

Indian PM expresses concern over lack of progress in implementing Indian projects

NEW DELHI, October 20  Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday called upon Sri Lanka to continue the ongoing discussions on all pledges given to his country. It is learnt that this included the Colombo Ports Eastern Container Terminal (ECT), regarding which a memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed last year.

Reflecting the position, Indias External Affairs Ministry, in a statement, said, They also reviewed the progress in implementations of various decisions taken during high-level exchanges in the recent past Interpreting the statement, diplomatic sources said the Indian statement reflected a keenness to continue the provisions of the MOU on the Eastern Container Terminal with the possibility of making any amendments to the MOU.

President Maithripala Sirisena earlier told the Cabinet that under no circumstances, would the ECT be given to an outside party. The request came when visiting Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe held one-on-one talks with Prime Minister Modi at the latters office in New Delhi. The Indian governments statement did not give details but said the two Prime Ministers discussed a gamut of issues in bilateral relations. It noted that they reviewed the progress in implementation of various decisions taken during high level exchanges in the recent past. This had included Premier Modis visit to Sri Lanka in May 2017 for the International Vesak Day celebrations and the visit of Sri Lankan Prime Minister for the Solar Alliance Conference in March 2018.

Diplomatic sources said Prime Minister Modi told his Sri Lankan counterpart he also wished to see other assurances given to India were implemented by the Government. Prime Minister Wickremesinghes visit here came just 24 hours after Sri Lanka President Sirisena, spoke on the telephone with Mr. Modi. He told the Indian Prime Minister that he had not accused Indias intelligence agency RAW of being involved in a plot to assassinate him.

Mr Modi told his Sri Lankan counterpart he had conveyed to President Sirisena that when there were such issues, he would have preferred if Colombo government leaders reached out to their New Delhi counterparts directly. The move, officials here said, reflected his displeasure since both sides have suffered adverse publicity, with Sri Lanka facing the most part.

Meanwhile, In Colombo, the Prime Ministers office in a statement said Mr.Modi had expressed concern that several of the projects that were earmarked to begin in 2017 after the signing of agreements between the two countries had not got off the ground and requested that they be expedited. The Indian Prime Minister has said he has devoted the greatest amount of time to build relations between the two countries but it regrettable that this was not reciprocated by the Sri Lanka Government in the same manner. He requested that if there was a suspicion or any problem, it should be discussed without hesitation, the statement said.

Prime Minister Wickremesinghe assured his Indian counterpart that there was no suspicion or any problem regarding the Indian Government or Prime Minister Modi among Sri Lankans and if, due to some reasons, there was such a feeling, he regretted it.
SLFP-UNP coalition at flashpoint Divided loyalties on both sides View(s): View(s):

With badly strained relations between the coalition partners  the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and the United National Party (UNP), reaching a flashpoint, the next move by President Maithripala Sirisena has become the focal point of attention in political circles. His immediate priority, according to sources close to the presidency, is to replace Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, with whom many irreconcilable differences have arisen.

The latest crisis ignited over President Sirisenas flat refusal, at last Tuesdays weekly cabinet meeting, of the Premiers request, to allow both India and Japan to start a venture with Sri Lanka to operate the East Container Terminal in the Colombo Port. I will not allow any outside party, insisted Mr Sirisena. The issue was further clouded by the Presidents accusation, later denied, that RAW, Indias intelligence agency, was involved in the plot to assassinate him.

Even before the ECT imbroglio, President Sirisena had initiated a dialogue with his predecessor Mahinda Rajapaksa, to form a caretaker grand coalition. In that, he sought to replace Mr Wickremesinghe with Mr Rajapaksa as the Prime Minister.Though Sirisena denied to his party seniors this week that they met, more details of the meeting are now surfacing.

Sources close to Mr. Sirisena say he knows the mechanism to effect a change but an uncertainty still lingers over numbers  how many MPs could a new regime muster. Behind-the-scene manoeuvres are under way to persuade many MPs. These sources said the coalition, or the national government, between the SLFP and the UNP was formed firstly for two years. Thereafter, its continued existence was made possible by United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) General Secretary and Minister Mahinda Amaraweera issuing a letter that the coalition would continue. This was announced in Parliament by Speaker Karu Jayasuriya. It was endorsed by Minister Lakshman Kiriella, Leader of the House, on behalf of the United National Front (albeit the UNP).

If the General Secretary Amaraweera writes to the Speaker to say he was withdrawing such a letter, the sources said, the government including the Prime Minister and the Cabinet would cease to exist. There was widespread speculation that Mr. Ameraweera had handed over to Mr. Sirisena such a letter undated. However, this could not be confirmed. It is known that the UPFA General Secretary maintains a very close rapport with the UNP.

The UNP, too, is taking a close look to see whether it could get seven or more MPs to support it so that it may form its own government. Given the likelihood of divided loyalties on both sides of the divide, it is difficult to forecast who will emerge winner. At present, the UNP has 106 seats, the UPFA 95 (of whichJoint Opposition  54, SLFP rebels 15) and pro-Sirisena SLFP 23. The Tamil National Alliance has 16, the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna 6, Sri Lanka Muslim Congress 1 and the EPDP 1.
State bank boards remain in office; more talks soon View(s):

The Public Enterprise Ministry this week said that the chairmen and directors of the two state banks would remain in office until the Presidents memo seeking the reconstitution of the boards was further discussed with the President and the Prime Minister.

The chairmen and boards of directors of the Bank of Ceylon and Peoples Bank remained in-situ despite the Presidential request that the boards be reconstituted. All the appointments to these boards were done by UNP ministers since January 2015. Ministry sources told the Sunday Times that the President had only requested the minister, who is the appointing authority, to reconstitute the boards. The President had no powers to remove them.

Ministry Secretary Ravindra Hewavitharana in a statement said: Steps will be taken in the near future in consultation with the President and the Prime Minister to reconstitute the boards. At a ceremony, Bank of Ceylon Chairman Ronald Perera told reporters he had not been asked by the minister to tender his resignation. He said the minister would discuss the reconstitution of the boards with the President and the Prime Minister after the premier returned from New Delhi.

Peoples Bank Chairman Hemasiri Fernando, who is also the Chief of Staff at the Presidential Secretariat, was in Batticaloa.

Public Enterprise Minister Lakshman Kiriella told the Sunday Times yesterday that he had met the President and discussed the reconstitution of the two boards.

He said the President had suggested that they could re-discuss the matter within the coming week and reconstitute the boards.

There were some inaccurate reports going around that the boards stand dissolved. This type of reports could adversely affect the ratings internationally, Mr Kiriella said.
Bringing your own style into your own space Internationally known property entrepreneur John Hitchcox whose company is involved in a luxury apartment complex in Colombo talks to Sashini Rodrigo View(s): View(s):

To internationally renowned property entrepreneur John Hitchcox, the founder and Chairman of Yoo- a residential and hotel design company, a home is the most important place in a persons life because it represents many different things. Thats just why he aims to create a space that makes you comfortable and content.

As he puts it, whilst youre in your twenties, youre still feeling your way in. And in your thirties youve started to get an idea of your own identity and how it reflects in everything you do.Theres a sense of maturity. And in Johns world, this moved into communities quite quickly.

Were building a whole community, these vertical villages, these places where people go to meet like-minded people. Design started here and moved out into a much broader spectrum of social activities, he explains.

Hitchcoxs company is currently developing Sapphire Residencies by ITC in Colombo 1, a collection of 132 luxury apartments ranging from 2 to 5 bedroom apartments, four penthouses (c. 9,000 sqft), to two master penthouses (each c. 19,000 sqft), slated to open in 2021. The interiors were designed by YOO inspired by designer Philippe Starck, featuring a choice of four interior options (Classic, Culture, Minimal and Nature) for residents to style their apartments to suit their individual tastes and lifestyle choices.

Hitchcoxs mission has always been to try and improve the quality of peoples lives in their homes. Today, this has started to evolve into what the future of the home is. His visit to Sri Lanka commenced with a talk about design at the Academy of Design (AOD) Colombo. He enjoys sharing his collection of experiences, and would like to be involved with design education in the future, as his father once did as well.

Designing has always been in Hitchcoxs DNA. His father was a respected architect, and his sister too followed suit. He knew he wanted to be in the world of design as an entrepreneur very early on, and soon ventured down a path that involved both aspects, entering the world of property development at the age of 19 by buying and starting work on his first house in South London. I was practical, sort of a builder, he says.

His first major project was to bring the New York-style loft living to London when he co-founded the Manhattan Loft Corporation.

In 1999, he partnered with talented designer Philippe Starck, and together the pair founded Yoo which has worked with numerous international developers to design landmark residential and hotel projects in 27 countries across the globe. Today, it stands out as one of the leading residential and hotel design companies internationally.

Not limited to design alone, Yoo also offers a unique combination of branding and marketing expertise to its clients so they may compete successfully in the property marketplace.

Interior design starts where architecture stops. Hitchcox explains that his collaboration with Starck revolved around the frustration he felt when he recognised that the profession had divided itself into developer or architect. There was nothing on interiors, unless you brought somebody in.

Hitchcox realised quite early on, that though he was quite good at the big pieces, he was not fluent on how they would all go together and fit into a room. It was frustrating that you dont get any guidance on interior design, at school, he explains.

My inspiration was to democratise the space and to give interior design education to people in terms of how they design their home, and Philippe had the same inspiration.

He points out that the Sapphire Residencies by ITC is the highest-end project in Colombo. But you can still choose from the Classic, Culture, Nature and Minimal design themes. The idea behind them is very simple. The manual aids you to identify your style. Are you a Minimal person? Are you a Culture person, either local culture or art. Are you a Classic person, into rich materials? Or are you a Nature person, which uses much softer materials.

Having this spectrum of choice gives people a verbal identity, which is where you identify your style through your activities and what you enjoy in life. It helps people to choose, because your home is the most expensive thing youre ever going to buy in your life. Its important.

Theyre taking customers from big houses into big apartments, he notes. The transition of that is where youd have the community-based facilities within the building, yet outside your private space and in community-orientated spaces.

The inspiration comes from what Yoo has been doing internationally. Its more of a fusion of understanding the locals and taking them on a journey into a more international atmosphere. For example, the kitchen here has gotten a little bit closer to the living room. Theres definitely a globalisation piece in our work.

Ive been in the same world since I was 19, and Ive been very lucky to be able to do it on a global scale and learn so much from doing that, Hitchcox says, adding that its akin to that feeling you get when you climb a mountain. I love this so much, couldnt get enough!
Kalattawa murder: Our picture prompts a reporters tale View(s):

It was all about the photograph that appeared in the PLUS of the Sunday Times of October 7 in the piece on the Kalattawa double murder headlined Enter two saronged johnnies.

I too am in the photograph taken in Anuradhapura in the late 1960s, said the caller who telephoned the Sunday Times.

He was not a saronged johnny but a young man in black trousers and white shirt in the photograph  second from the right  who provided a few more very interesting nuggets of information to us.

Not only does 74-year-old Daya Wijesekera who now lives in Pita Kotte identify all the others in the photograph except one, he also added more colour to this sensational case that gripped Anuradhapura then.

Daya was the very powerful crime reporter of Davasa of the Independent Newspapers Ltd. group, which had its home in Hulftsdorp and was run by the Gunasenas of Gunasena Bookshop fame.

Daya, was sent from the Davasa Head Office to report from the ground. So he headed for Anuradhapura and more or less shadowed the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) team during the day, having a beer or two with them in the evening.

The photo, he says, if his memories are right, was taken at Tissa Wewa because the CID team was staying in a government bungalow close by. From the right are: CID Police Constable U.A. Piyasena; Daya himself; CID Sergeant M.H.P. Fernando; another person whose name he cannot recall; Davasa Public Relations Officer Narada Disasekera; and the Anuradhapura correspondent for Davasa Lal Chandrakumarage.

CIDs Fernando and Piyasena had gone as undercover agents to crack the case.

Narada was in the sacred city to organize a Bhakthi Gee programme and do you know that he sang the popular Galana Gangaki Jeevithe along with Nanda Malini for the first colour Sinhala film, Ranmuthu Duwa, says Daya, adding that he is also the father of well-known actor Saranga Disasekera.

Those were the days of trunk-calls and Daya would have to wait three hours after booking such a call in Anuradhapura to talk to the Davasa office in Colombo to give his story about the developments in the Kalattawa case for the next days newspaper. They had the highest circulation in Anuradhapura then, for everyday there was a story and the readers would lap up a ball-by-ball account of the happenings.

There were few telephones around then but those who had phones didnt allow me to use their phones because they were close to tavern owner and accused Alfred de Zoysa. It was only M.A. Sirisena who owned the Isurumuniya Beheth Shalawa in the market who allowed me to use his phone, he says.

An incident in the Anuradhapura courthouse is still vivid in Dayas mind. The handcuffed suspects, Zoysa, W. Piyadasa alias Kalu Albert and W. Fernando alias Willie Mama, were being brought along the corridor when the Lake House photographer Chandragupta Weerawardena using the box camera of those times was clicking photos. Zoysa penna gaman kakulen gehuwwa, says Daya, creating the image of Zoysa jumping forward and kicking out, sending the camera flying.

Camera eka kude-kudu, he laughs, adding that the camera shattered into smithereens.

Meanwhile CID constable Piyasenas family contacted the Sunday Times to clarify that his name was Udage Arachchige Piyasena (U.A. Piyasena) and not J.M. Piyasena as stated in the original article. He died in 2013.
Letters to the Editor View(s):

Look into the chaotic passport system at the Dept. of Immigration

My passport which was valid for 10 years had only a few months more of validity, so I applied for a new passport. After waiting about three weeks and not receiving it, I tried calling the Department to find out what was happening, but every single number I called was either busy or not being answered.

I then waited a further two+ weeks making it over five weeks since applying and I had still not received my passport or my original birth certificate, which they kept back. So, in a state of panic for fear of them losing my birth certificate I tried calling again. I repeatedly called all the numbers given for the Controller, the Deputy Controller and various other officials and departments but not a single number was being answered even though they were ringing forever.

I then went to the Dept. of Immigration to find out what was going on. I went to meet the Controller but he suddenly left his room and was nowhere to be found so I went to meet the Deputy Controller and he said yes it usually takes 2 to 3 weeks to get a passport issued but had nothing much to say when I told him that it had been over five weeks since my application was handed over.

As I was making a fuss and insisting on receiving my passport immediately and my birth certificate which is more important than the passport, somebody was hurriedly instructed to quickly see to my application and have my passport ready that very day. I was then asked to come back after two hours to collect it. So, actually, they dont need 5+ weeks to prepare a passport! They can do it in a day even for the normal service!

Five days after I collected my passport I received an SMS informing me as follows: Your Application xxxxxxx is completed and posted. I was wondering who has posted what to me, when my passport was collected five days before! So you can only imagine what a state of confusion exists in that Dept. for them not to even know that this passport was issued? What have they posted?

I was informed by a reliable source that the staff at the Passport Office have been told not to attend to the normal service applications for at least three weeks because they want to promote the same-day service which costs more than three times the price (apita kiyala thiyenne, sumaana thunaktavath atha thiyannavath epa kiyala, mokada rupiyal 10,000 ek dina service eka promote karanna oney nisa.)

So, in reality the department can actually process passports within the same day or even within two or three days at the most but they hold on to those same-day applications on purpose hoping that it will encourage more people to apply for the same day service at Rs. 10,000 instead of the normal service which costs Rs. 3,000.

Ps: The toilets at the Immigration Dept. are worse than public lavatories. I almost vomited as I entered them.

Disgusted individual

A memorable meeting with Ronnie Leitch

About two years ago I had gone to the Nedimala (Dehiwala) Post Office (a very small room, where a young lady was the Post Mistress), to post a letter. There were about four or five people there. Then a vehicle arrived and Mr. Ronnie Leitch stepped out. He had to buy a stamp to post his letter. All the money he pulled out of his pockets were very high value notes! He had no coins! I smiled with him and offered to buy his ten rupee stamp.

I saw you on TV singing a C.T. Fernando song. Nedimala is C.T.s home town, I told him. He smiled. Can you sing that song now? I dared to request. He chuckled a bit and then straightaway started to sing. When he finished, there were about twenty people gathered  and we all (including the P.M.) clapped in appreciation. He got into his vehicle  waved at us and drove away.

Although quite famous, what a simple and friendly man he was.

Kalyana de Silva Dehiwala

Ticket reservation facility needed at the Chunnakam Railway station

A retired Government Servant, aged 70 years, living at Chunnakam, I normally use the three wheeler for short journeys because of my physical condition and on advice by my doctor. Recently I went to the Chunnakam railway station by three wheeler to reserve two seats to go to Colombo by the intercity train.

The Station Master however told me that there is no seat booking facility, and said I would have to go either to Jaffna or Kankesanthurai. He said no phone booking could be made. I would have needed another Rs. 800 for the three wheeler to go to Jaffna or Kankesanthurai.

So I decided to travel to Colombo by bus because there are lots of bus booking places in Chunnakam town. Chunnakam is a significant town and situated more than 400 kms from Colombo.

I cannot understand why the Railway Department has still not opened a reservation counter in this highly residential area.

We appeal to the Transport Minister and General Manager Railways to please consider this public request.

M. Ganeshan Chunnakam
National Trust lecture: Ludowyk and the University of Ceylons early years View(s):

In preparation for his original lecture on Professor E.F.C. Ludowyke given at Peradeniya early this year, Tissa Jayatilaka read widely about Professor Ludowyk and his contribution as an academic and citizen. He was struck by how few seemed aware of Ludowyks significant contribution to the country as a whole. The majority know only of his immense service to the University of Ceylon as a brilliant teacher and director and producer of first rate theatre and ignorant critics tend to write him off as a westernised Ceylonese who only catered to the upper crust of our society.

A closer reading shows how mistaken the majority are.

Jayatilaka is also fascinated by the collaboration between Ludowyk and Ratnasuriya, the then Professor of Sinhala at the University of Ceylon.

Hence the theme of his National Trust lecture on October 25 will be The legacy of Professor E.F.C. Ludowyk and his contribution to the University of Ceylon in its early years.

Tissa Jayatilaka served as the Executive Director of the bi- national United States- Sri Lanka Fulbright Commission (US-SLFC) from ( May) 1989 to (May) 2018 and currently serves on the Council of Management of the Bandaranaike Centre for International Studies. He is also the Senior Fellow there researching into Sri Lanka- United States Relations and the 21st Century Politics of the Indian Ocean Region.

Jayatilaka is the author of publications, as well as involved in translations, editing of journals, and collections of essays. These include Peradeniya : Memories of a University (joint Contributory Editor), A Garland for Ashley: Glimpses of a Life, Celebrating the 75th Birthday of Ashley Halpe and His 50 Years of University Teaching (joint Editor), Excursions and Explorations, Cultural Encounters Between Sri Lanka and the United States( Editor) , International Relations in a Globalising World ( Editor). He was Chairman of the Board of Directors of the International Centre for Ethnic Studies, the Gratiaen Trust and a member, Board of Directors , the Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA). He serves as a Member, Board of Directors, the Law & Society Trust( LST).

Jayatilaka has taught English and American Literature at several Universities since 1975 both in Sri Lanka and in the US.

He has a Masters in Public Administration from the Postgraduate Institute of Management of the Sri Jayewardenepura University of Sri Lanka, Master of Arts in English from Wake Forest University, North Carolina, and a Post-Graduate Diploma in American Studies from Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts. He has been awarded scholarships to Cambridge University, UK, and other universities in the United States.

The lecture is at the HNB Auditorium, 22nd Floor, HNB Towers, 479 T.B. Jayah Mawatha, Colombo 10 at 6.30 p.m. on Thursday, October 25. It is open to all.
The United States and South Korea have suspended another major military exercise in a continued push for diplomacy, the Pentagon said Friday.

Chief Pentagon spokesperson Dana White said the two militaries would suspend their joint air exercise, dubbed Vigilant Ace, in order to "give the diplomatic process every opportunity to continue."

The decision was announced following trilateral talks among U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and his South Korean and Japanese counterparts. The defense ministers are in Singapore for an Association for Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) defense ministers' meeting.

The suspension of the air exercise follows a number of U.S. military decisions in the past year aimed at persuading North Korea to negotiate a verifiable path to giving up its nuclear weapons.

The United States and South Korea delayed their first large-scale exercise of the year, Foal Eagle, so it would not clash with the Winter Olympics. Later they canceled Ulchi-Freedom Guardian, their second large-scale joint exercise that had been scheduled for August.

That cancellation came after an unprecedented June summit between U.S President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Singapore, where Trump announced the U.S. would stop what he called "provocative" and "expensive" "war games" with South Korea.
Pipe by pipe, key by key, a silent organ comes to life By Chandani Kirinde View(s): View(s):

It would have been a very special day at the Wolvendhaal Church in Colombo when, over a century ago, the faithful gathered for prayers and heard for the first time the notes emanating from the newly installed pipe organ. Placed on the organ loft, the instrument with its 336 pipes and six different stops brought to life sounds ranging from the flute to trumpet and no doubt captured the imagination of those present.

But that was over a century ago and over the years the pipe organ lost its glory and has stood silent for many years. Now a team of three Dutchmen are working meticulously to restore it to its former glory and bring back the old familiar sounds to the countrys oldest Protestant church, the Wolvendhaal Church in Colombo.

The pipe organ repair and restoration work are part of the shared cultural heritage programme initiated by the Government of the Netherlands which assists in the preservation and maintenance of shared heritage sites in its former colonies. The team in Colombo will work in two phases, the first currently underway. They will return to the Netherlands later this month and return early next year to continue with the work.

Rudi van Straten, a senior specialist from the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands said they have been working on two projects, one in Colombo and in Galle, since early October. The pipe organ at the Dutch Reformed Church in Galle more than 200 years old, the oldest in the country needs a lot of work before it can be restored to working condition. The one at Wolvendhaal is close to 140 years and we are confident of having it in working condition when we return to Sri Lanka early next year, he said.

Even though the church was built by the Dutch around 1757, the pipe organ was installed during British rule, around 1880. It had been built by the world-famous organ builders Hill & Son from London.

Van Straten says it is likely they took the wood from Sri Lanka, built it in London and shipped it back here. They have used jak wood to build the organ frame as its a local wood resistant to termites. The builders would have realized that the kinds of wood found in Europe would not last in the hot and humid conditions here, he said. The pipe organ at the Galle Church, he said, has been built with the wrong kind of wood which is one reason it has deteriorated over the years and many of the pipes too have gone missing. In Wolvendhaal, all but three of the pipes are intact.

The keyboard will need extensive work as many of the keys are missing, likely stolen as they were made of ivory and were valuable, Van Straten said. The bellow which pushes air to power the instrument is in somewhat good condition and is getting a facelift from the restorers.

The first phase of the project involves dismantling the instrument and cleaning its parts, which will then be stored in boxes till the team returns next year.

For the project, the Dutch Government has chosen the most renowned organ makers in the country, who were decorated by the Royal household of the Netherlands having celebrated their 100th anniversary in the trade.

Hans Elbertse and son Jos, third and fourth generation organ builders in the company founded by Johannes Josephus Elbertse born in 1883, are the duo who are meticulously working to get the pipe organ back to working condition.

It is very exciting being here and seeing the Dutch heritage and being part of the efforts to preserve it, Hans said.

Hans developed a love for organ making after seeing his father and grandfather in the workshop in the town of Soest in the centre of the Netherlands. The workshop has been at the same location since 1926.

I went to high school and then I wanted to work in my fathers factory. He asked me to first go to carpentry school which I did and then I began work as an organ maker, he said.

Jos is the newest addition to the family business and has joined his father on the project work in Sri Lanka. We build new organs and also do restoration work in our country. This is our first time in Sri Lanka and it is fascinating to see the Dutch legacy that is retained here, Jos said.

Their workshop in the Netherlands is a place where young people interested in carpentry can apprentice and learn on the job as part of their college education.

One part of the shared heritage project is to train locals to do the restoration work. Two Sri Lankans have been recruited for the project and are immersed in the work at Wolvendhaal.

Van Straten is hopeful that come next year, the pipe organ at Wolvendhaal will once again fill the church with the familiar sounds. The pipe organ is a very versatile instrument. You can make a combination of sounds and even improvise popular music with it. We hope we can have a concert here with the pipe organ providing the music next year, he said.
Tanyas second solo album launched worldwide By Kaveesha Fernando View(s): View(s):

Internationally acclaimed British-Sri Lankan composer/pianist Tanya Ekanayakas second solo album (of her works for solo piano) was launched worldwide by Naxos Records (Grand Piano) in September. The album, titled Twelve Piano Prisms was performed and produced by Tanya.

The 12 prisms in this album evolved between 2016 and 2017 and correspond to the twelve primary notes of the keyboard, Tanya says, explaining that while autobiographical, they have been inspired not only by classical styles and indigenous world music but also by contemporary pop, rock and film music. The prisms blend adaptations of traditional melodies of Sri Lanka and countries she has been associated with musically  Armenia, China, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States of America.

Born and raised in Kandy, Tanya began studying the piano when she was just five years old. In Sri Lanka she studied the piano under the tutelage of her mother Indira Ekanayaka and later with Bridget Halpe. She made her debut public recital appearance at the age of 12, performed her first concerto at 16 with the Symphony Orchestra of Sri Lanka (SOSL), as joint winner and youngest competitor of the SOSL biennial concerto competition and has since performed in renowned international concert venues in Asia, Europe and the United States.

A member of the part-time academic teaching faculty of Edinburgh University since 2007, she taught in the Linguistics faculty of Edinburgh University from 2007 to 2011. Since 2007, she has been concurrently teaching performance to students of the Music Faculty undertaking performance courses and has been involved in teaching on academic courses relating to performance and composition since 2012.

She has been contracted with Naxos Records, the worlds largest independent classical music record label since August 2014. Her debut album of compositions for solo piano composed, performed and produced by her, titled Reinventions: Rhapsodies for piano was released worldwide by Naxos (Grand Piano) in 2015.

Here are extracts from an email interview:

Why are they called prisms?

The term prism is intended to reflect the manner in which sounds stemming from diverse cultures, eras and the very core of my being, meld, transform and refract through the piano to emerge as new narratives. It is also intended to allude to one of the concepts presented in the album which is that while the 12 prisms are entirely independent they are also connected (structurally and thematically) lending them to be connected in any combination with improvised motifs to form new works.

How do they correspond to the 12 primary notes of the piano?

Each prism explores the primary note assigned to it in terms of both direct and indirect tonality as well as its timbre. In some prisms aspects of such exploration is obvious while in others it is somewhat concealed requiring the listener to discern the exploration in the process of listening.

Whats it like performing on the world stage?

Interesting.

Its clear that your Sri Lankan heritage factors prominently in your music. Could you elaborate how exactly your Sri Lankan heritage has inspired you? What characteristics of Sri Lankan music do inspire you?

I was born and grew up in Sri Lanka. As such the musical and cultural tapestry of my homeland runs in my blood and manifests variously in my works for the piano.

How is Sri Lankan folk music different to folk music from other places?

This is a question-topic worthy of a book. Sri Lankan folk music is itself a conglomerate of differing genres. Broadly speaking, it is within the core musical elements of melody, rhythm and delivery that the folk music of different communities may be differentiated.

Some musicians have come under fire for their modern interpretations of traditional music. What are your

views on this?

Praise, appreciation and criticism in varying combinations have and always will be an inevitable part of creatives experience whenever their art is released to the world and as such ceases to be theirs alone.

What would you like listeners to take away from your music?

I hope that my music moves the hearts and minds of those who experience it, hopefully in ways which enhance their lives.

Tanyas album can be purchased online at https://www.naxos.com/catalogue/item.asp?item_code=GP785
Positive Living with PD  Support Group meeting View(s):

The next meeting of the Positive Living with PD  Support Group Meetingwill be on Tuesday, October 23, at 6 p.m. at the Methodist Church, Mount Lavinia (opposite S. Thomas College on Hotel Road).

Positive Living with PD is a secular, non-profit support group, that hopes to break through the stigma that surrounds Parkinsons Disease(PD), and uplift the quality of life for all people living with PD, their care-givers and their families. The group meets once a month, the meeting followed by light refreshments and fellowship.

The group relies 100% on donations to cover costs of venue and refreshments, so all donations are welcome. For more information, please call 0777-441420 / 0777-441320, or email positivelivingwithpd@gmail.com
It was a day of great hope for Spanish people as nearly five decades of terror was brought to an end with just 336 words. In a statement published in Basque language newspaper, Gara, on 20 October 2011 the Basque terrorist organisation Euskadi ta Askatasuna (ETA), declared that its armed campaign was over. The message was also delivered in an online video by three masked members of the organisation. In the ceasefire statement, ETA called upon leaders in France and Spain to engage in reconciliation talks to resolve the historical conflicts in the Basque Country, but they did not apologise for their 50 years of violence.

ETA was founded in 1959 during Franco's dictatorship when the Basque language was banned and the people suppressed. Despite the region gaining a greater degree of autonomy when Spain became a democracy, ETA continued its reign of terror and carried on recruiting members.

Throughout ETA's decades of fighting for a sovereign Basque state, the terrorists claimed the lives of over 820 innocent people and were responsible for car bombs, shootings, and attempted assassinations. It declared a ceasefire several times, although these usually lasted less than a year. In 2008, the prime minister at the time, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, ruled out any chance of peace talks with ETA after it broke the terms of the previous ceasefires.

In January 2011, ETA had declared a permanent ceasefire but the government rejected its moves for negotiations and demanded it put a &ldquodefinitive&rdquo end to all of its violence. Therefore on 20 October of that same year when ETA released its latest statement, the Spanish government's response was sceptical.

During the time before the announcement, ETA had been rumoured to be seriously weakening. Before this time French and Spanish forces had arrested dozens of ETA militants, including suspected leaders. The Spanish government had recently decided to ban political parties associated with ETA, which marginalised the group politically, and it is believed that the militant group was struggling to recruit younger members, which may have led them to the announcement.

However, it is only recently that French and Spanish governments have made any progress with ETA's arms surrender since the announcement of this ceasefire. In September 2016, French police stated that they were sure that ETA had made no steps towards giving up their weapons. On 8 April 2017, the group finally revealed the location of their weaponry to French officials and police seized 3.5 tonnes of weapons. Only then, did ETA announce that it had completely disarmed.

ETA was reponsible for an era of fear, political uncertainty and tragic losses. While its acts of terrorism may have finally come to an end, the effects of them will live on for a long time. Despite taking over five years to act upon the ceasefire announcement, everyone will always remember their reaction to the news on 20 October 2011.
China's economic growth slowed further in the latest quarter, adding to challenges for Communist leaders as they fight a tariff battle with Washington.

The world's second-largest economy expanded by 6.5 percent over a year earlier in the three months ending in September, government data showed Friday. That was down from 6.7 percent for the quarter ending in July and 6.8 percent for the year's first three months.

Forecasters expected China's economy to cool after Beijing tightened credit controls last year to rein in a debt boom. But the slowdown has been sharper than expected, prompting Chinese leaders to reverse course and encourage banks to lend.

Communist leaders express confidence their $12 trillion-a-year economy can survive the conflict with President Donald Trump. But export industries have begun to suffer from American tariff hikes of up to 25 percent on Chinese goods.


The film follows two women from North and South Korea who visit an orphanage in Poland and collect testimonies and data as their mutual understanding gradually deepens.

It is the directorial feature debut of actress Chu Sang-mi, who also appears in the film alongside North Korean defector and actress Lee Song.

A documentary titled "Children Gone to Poland," which will be released on Oct. 31, traces the little-known story of Korean War orphans who wound up in the Eastern European country.

The 1950-53 Korean War left an estimated 100,000 children orphaned. As the war progressed, North Korea sent orphans from its own side to Eastern Europe, and 1,500 were sent to Poland. Freshly emerging from the ashes of World War II, the Polish cared lovingly for these children.

But when regime founder Kim Il-sung launched his Chollima Movement to promote rapid economic development in the late 1950s, he needed more labor, and the orphans were forcibly returned to North Korea.

Why was Choo attracted to this true story? "It was a coincidence when I found and read novel 'Skrzydo Anioa' meaning 'Angels' Wings' by Polish journalist Jolanta Krysowata," Chu said.

"She was inspired to write it when she found the grave of Kim Ki-dok in a cemetery in Poland. Kim was a war orphan who died there in 1955."

The Polish state broadcaster made a documentary about him in 2006. "If war orphans are the most tragic product of wars, I was moved by the fact that there was someone who embraced them as their own," Chu added.

What prompted her move to directing? "When I was an actress, I was lonely because I was so immersed in the internal workings of the character's mind. But a director has to communicate with the world, so I became much more sensitive to social issues," she says.

"My father used to say a good piece of art stops anger and starts reflection. Maybe it's because of my father's influence, but I'm very interested in whether my work can do good things," she added." I'd be very happy if my work can lead to healing, purifying and awakening of society."

Her father was the stage actor Chu Song-woong.
#BTS BTS to perform 'My Universe' with Coldplay at AMAs South Korean supergroup BTS will hit the stage with British rock band Coldplay for a joint performance of their collaborative single "My Universe" at the 2021 American Music Awards...

#stalking Daily reports of stalking sharply increase after implementation of anti-stalking law: police The number of stalking complaints filed with police shot up to about 103 cases a day since the anti-stalking law went into effect a month ago from the daily average of 24 cases, po...
Florida's only legalized syringe access program found 11 people who tested positive for HIV within a six-month period this year. In the city of Miami, where one out of every 85 adults has HIV, the new infections may or may not constitute an outbreak. This is the subject of a local, active public health investigation that utilizes the Center for Disease Control (CDC)'s molecular surveillance system.

Molecular surveillance of the HIV virus was introduced to state health departments by the CDC in the beginning of this year and helps epidemiologists determine how closely linked HIV infections are to one another (it has been utilized for tracking tuberculosis and food contagions in the past). The impact of molecular surveillance is the subject of HIV community dialogues taking place in small meetings and large conferences, where its benefits for addressing outbreaks butt up against the implications of HIV criminalization laws.

The investigation is notable for its focus on a small area of a highway underpass where people experiencing houselessness, who often face intersecting forms of criminalization, reside. While people are living in encampments there, police barricades have closed off the area to traffic, and they have installed surveillance cameras. A local newspaper found the encampments' residents disoriented by the cameras and by the public health workers with clipboards.

Homeless rights advocates are concerned by the heightened presence of authorities in the encampment because the city of Miami recently asked the federal government to reconsider their historic consent decree: The 1988 Pottinger Agreement prevents police from arresting people who are homeless for loitering and other crimes associated with houselessness. Along the same lines, city officials have also proposed using a state law known as the Marchment Act to involuntarily commit homeless individuals with substance use disorders who do not want to enter treatment of their own volition. The city contends it has more resources to offer to people experiencing homelessness and should now be able to use police power over homeless communities. The American Civil Liberties Union is arguing against the City in the case this month.

The events surrounding this public health investigation are important for communities across the United States, whose loved ones are often sent to substance use treatment facilities in Southern Florida. Shuffled from treatment to treatment, people from all over the country routinely find themselves in a failed system that deserts them. Miami's streets are often the place where they can survive.

Congress recently passed its anti-opioid legislation package that addresses the nation's opioid crisis as a public health issue. The legislation made great gestures toward increasing access to medication-assisted treatment, peer recovery, and other related services. It did not, however, fully address the need for harm reduction services among a nation with so many people currently using drugs, underserved by systems of behavioral and public health. AIDS United is committed to advocating for greater federal investments in non-coercive services for people affected by the intersecting epidemics of HIV, viral hepatitis, opioid overdose, and drug use.

[Note from TheBody: This article was originally published by AIDS United on Oct. 19, 2018. We have cross-posted it with their permission.]
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Linkedin Perdian Tumanan (The Jakarta Post) Indiana, US  Sat, October 20, 2018 09:13 1125 882ab4bc56dbda08a069b30877876fbb 3 Opinion hoax,identity-politics,Indonesian-politics,Donald-Trump,#2019PresidentialElection,2019-presidential-election Free

Despite United States President Donald Trumps harsh comments regarding immigrants, people of color and women, 81 percent of white conservative evangelical Christians voted for him in the 2016 US presidential election. This reality has surprised many since the evangelical group is well known for its high ethical and moral standards. The American historian John Fea, who this year published Believe Me: The Evangelical Road to Donald Trump, stated three main elements that caused this anomaly to happen.



First and foremost, it is fear. The previous administration of Barack Obama, which had shown its inclination to progressive worldviews such as same-sex marriage, had intensified fear among American conservatives. Second, Republican politicians successfully capitalized on this fear to consolidate themselves and eventually gained political power. Third, morality issues contradicting evangelical convictions and doctrinal statements (abortion, gender minorities issues, etc.) has led conservatives to feel nostalgic about a golden age of Christianity. It includes the belief that America was founded as a Christian nation and must therefore remain a Christian nation, through power and political control.



Thus politics in this context is no longer a deliberate intention and effort to bring about common good, and justice for all is no longer its long-term goal. Fears and identity crises have transformed politics into merely a means to defend a particular identity and a weapon for a new cultural war.



Mary Kaldor of the London School of Economic and Political Science, in her 2012 book, New and Old Wars: Organized Violence in a Global Era,prophetically said that after the Cold War, a new kind of war is emerging. The objective of this war is to control people mainly by gaining sympathy and imposing fears. Fears then become the prime mover and raison detre behind every political and cultural change.



This situation has been attributed to globalization or the advancement of interconnectedness in every sector like the economy, education, politics, government and even in the state-military organization. The hierarchical classical, traditional form of society with all its boundaries and exclusivities becomes irrelevant in the face of international and transnational collaboration.



In particular, the capacity and role of the states militaries have been weakened as a result of increasing military cooperation. That is why the number of interstate wars has become meager in the past 15 years, according to the Uppsala Conflict Data Program, a data collection project on organized violence under the Uppsala University in Sweden.



This reality makes borders blurry; values become relative, and religious beliefs become normative. Some may gladly say this situation has created a better world without walls, and that we are citizens of the world. However many have felt marginalized and unconsciously regard themselves as losers, leading to fears and insecurity.



Similarly in Indonesia, we have witnessed the increasing use of religious language and symbols and other identity-based issues during election campaigns particularly for the last two years. Pragmatic politicians are gaining control over the anxiety and fears of Indonesians through hoaxes that are easily trusted, quickly spread and are massively divisive. This situation could trigger violence.



The burning of at least six temples in Tanjung Balai, North Sumatra in 2016 still retains tension until today. The alleged complaint from a Chinese-Buddhist woman about the volume of a mosque loudspeaker in front of her house had been distorted on social media. Hundreds of people were provoked to burn temples, believing she had said the mosque should not air the azan (call to prayer).



The fact that the woman was a double minority, both Chinese and Buddhist, had further incited the crowds. As Dutch colonial rulers had determined the Chinese as main players in the economy, a perception lingers that they are still given special privileges. A sense of injustice was probably behind the vandalism of the temples.



Similarly, the office of the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation also witnessed violence one year ago with disruption of talks on the 1965 bloodshed blamed on a failed coup, allegedly by communists close to China.



Toward the 2019 political year, the solution to such ugly incidents is not just about policies and controls over the internet and social media.



Only real social encounters between people from different backgrounds and identities could dissipate fears, anxieties and negative perceptions.



Since Indonesians are actually used to living together in a plural setting, and have been for a long time, much local wisdom could be revived as part of the solution at the community level.



Communal traditions to improve harmonious relations with neighbors of different backgrounds include pela gandong in Maluku, sintuwu maroso in Poso, Central Sulawesi, cidayu (Cina-Dayak-Melayu) in West Kalimantan, sipakatau in South Sulawesi, the gentenan tradition in the Tengger community in Malang, East Java and menyama braya in Bali just to name a few.



The government and civil society need to revive such local wisdom.

***

The writer is a lecturer in ethics and philosophy of religion at Petra Christian University, Surabaya, and is studying at the Theology and Peace Studies Program at Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary, Elkhart, Indiana, the United States.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official stance of The Jakarta Post.
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Linkedin Alison Bevege (Reuters) Sydney  Sun, October 21, 2018 05:03 1124 882ab4bc56dbda08a069b30877889def 2 People Prince-Harry,Meghan-Markle,Anzac-war-memorial Free

Britain's Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, brought the gift of dignity to Australia's war veterans on Saturday, laying a wreath for those who died at an Anzac war memorial.

The Prince, in military uniform, and his wife, respectfully clothed in a high-necked black dress by New Zealand designer Emilia Wickstead, silently and gently placed the wreath to rest together before fighter jets thundered past.

The memorial, in Sydney's Hyde Park, was first opened in 1934 by Harry's great, great uncle and namesake, Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester.

Retired General David Hurley, Governor of New South Wales, said there had been a crowd 100,000-strong at that opening where the Duke unveiled a plaque that said in simple terms: "Opened, by the son of a King".

To echo those sentiments, Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, unveiled the commemorative plaque at the re-opening following a $40 million upgrade that completes the original 1930s design by architect Bruce Dellitt.

In his speech at the opening, General Hurley told the crowd that a public fund had been established on the first anniversary of the Gallipoli landing to build the memorial but after the Great Depression hit, it was never completed.

The memorial has now been finished in time for the 100th anniversary of the end of World War One after a $40 million upgrade to include a spectacular cascading waterfall, a hall of service, education facilities and a library.

"Let silent contemplation be your offering," said General Hurley.

"These words found at the entrance to the hall of silence evoke the sense of loss and grief that this memorial represents to the people of NSW."

The hall contains an artwork collection of 1701 soil samples from every town, city or district that were homes of those who fought in World War One.

Read also: Royals Harry and Meghan go barefoot on Bondi

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex toured the upgraded memorial before attending the opening ceremony alongside Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison and other dignitaries.

Later on Saturday they are due to attend the first day of the Invictus Games on Sydney's Cockatoo Island.

The royal couple have also toured the drought-stricken NSW town of Dubbo and participated in a group hug on Sydney's Bondi Beach.
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Linkedin Markus Makur (The Jakarta Post) Flores, East Nusa Tenggara  Sun, October 21, 2018 06:03 1124 882ab4bc56dbda08a069b3087788a705 1 Environment Poco-Ndeki,Flores,East-Nusa-Tenggara,endemic-species,bird,bird-watching,bird-watchers,hunting Free

While on duty as a guide in Poco Ndeki forest, Samuel Rabenak found a dead owl on Oct. 14. He suspected the endemic Flores bird died from gunshot wounds.

An owl found dead in Poco Ndeki forest, Kota Komba district, East Manggarai regency, Flores, East Nusa Tenggara, on Oct. 14. It was allegedly shot by illegal hunters. (Courtesy of/Samuel Rabenak)

Located in Tanah Rata village, Kota Komba district, East Manggarai regency, Flores, East Nusa Tenggara, the forest is considered to be one of the best spots to observe various endemic Flores birds.

Samuel said the types of birds found in the area were eagles, crows, dark-backed imperial pigeons, black-nape fruit-doves, Maluku owls, blue-tailed bee-eater and crested white-eyes, among others.

I hope this forest is well taken care of by residents, and that all birds can thrive in the area, he said.

During his visit on Sunday, Samuels guests met with the residents, who then informed them that it was not uncommon to see people from outside the area hunting for birds with air rifles.

Read also: Photographer Riza Marlon launches a book on Indonesias endemic species

Yohanes Jehabut, another guide in Flores, told The Jakarta Poston Monday that illegal hunting was rampant in Poco Ndeki. Captured birds are often sent to Bali, with Flores green pigeons among those targeted as they moved slowly.

Every birdwatching guide who goes to Poco Ndeki has met people carrying air rifles, he said.

Yohanes said the forest was the best spot in West Flores for birdwatching, but the area had grown unpleasant with the increasing number of hunters, making birdwatchers reluctant to come to the area.

Earlier this month, I accompanied several international bird watchers to Poco Ndeki. But upon entering, I felt ashamed as we ran into a number of people with air rifles for the purpose of hunting. That would not make guests want to return, he said.

Yohanes said he hoped the East Manggarai administration would build a forest checkpoint and install signage for a better prevention. Failure to do so would mean the endemic birds of Flores would slowly go extinct, he said. (wng)
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) -  Sat, October 20, 2018 11:05 1124 882ab4bc56dbda08a069b3087787a78a 1 Lifestyle Gucci,necklace,jewelry,luxury Free

The Italian luxury brand known for its daring and bold pieces has revealed new luxurious additions to its Me Marche Des Merveilles collection.

According to a statement, key styles include four necklaces, four rings and a set of precious jewelry pieces.

Necklaces are decorated with a single stone of turquoise, onyx, jade or pink opal and accented with a diamond at the center. An extra interesting aspect includes the ability to reverse each piece to reveal the casting of a feline head. Whats more, the release stated that multiple necklaces could be mixed and matched to create a uniqi.

Read also: Kerings Gucci aims to steal the luxury crown from Louis Vuitton

Rings in the collection follow the coloring and design concept of the necklaces. Each ring is adorned with a single precious stone, rounded spikes around the outer edge, with a hidden feline head on the back. Sets of matching bracelets and earrings are also available.

Earlier this year, Italian fashion house Gucci said it aimed to reach 10 billion euros (US$11.7 billion) in annual sales and replace LVMHs Louis Vuitton as the worlds biggest luxury label. (acr/kes)
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Linkedin Jossa Lukman (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sat, October 20, 2018 08:32 1125 882ab4bc56dbda08a069b30877875470 1 Lifestyle Jakarta-Fashion-Week,fashion-designer,fashion,Danjyo-Hiyoji,Jakarta-Fashion-Week-2019,local-designer,Rinaldy-Yunardi,Sejauh-Mata-Memandang Free

It is the time of the year again when fashionistas across the city put on their best looks as Jakarta Fashion Week (JFW) 2019 returns for its eleventh year this October.



Running from Oct. 20 to 26 at Senayan City, this years JFW will feature more than 2,600 looks from 204 designers and labels, both domestic and international.



International collaborations are abound this year, as Australias Aboriginal Art Centres designers will showcase their designs along with Batik Chic by Novita Yunus, as well as British womenswear brand Teatum Jones with their joint collection with Indonesian label Sean Sheila.



The collaborations do not stop at the collection level, as the Indonesia Fashion Forward show on Oct. 20  featuring Bateeq, Danjyo Hiyoji and NY by Novita Yunus  will be styled by Japanese fashion stylist Makoto Washizu.



Other international fashion labels will also make their way down the catwalks of JFW, including Elendeek, UN3D, Tategami and Yoakeh from Japan, SYZ and Royal Layor from South Korea, Indian designer Vaishali S, as well as Zuria Dor from Pakistan.



Not to be outdone by their international counterparts, Indonesian designers also promised to wow audiences in this years JFW.

Sav Lavin founder Savira Lavinia said her brands collection for JFW is titled Submersion, drawing on the diverse marine life as inspiration.



Its actually a very personal collection for me because I feel that when I go to the depths, immersed in something, its very much about my own self, so I wanted to explore the emotional part of myself, Savira said, noting the collection will use deep and rich colors such as black, red, navy, mustard yellow and silver.



Savira said Sav Lavins silhouettes will be inspired by the 1990s, resulting in loose, baggy fits, which will be combined with military-esque elements.



Meanwhile, womens footwear brand PVRA  known mostly for their beaded sandals  worked with artisans in Sumba, East Nusa Tenggara, for their newest offerings.



Kara Nugroho, creative director of PVRA, said the artisans had created a line of weavings, which will be applied to the shoes.

The collection is titled To Dream, and its like a call to dream again. [...] The weaving is like a sign for us to continue weaving our dreams, Kara said, noting that the collection is one of two that they will showcase at JFW 2019.



PVRA cofounder Putri Katianda said their second collection is titled Sora, which means sky in the Japanese language.



For this collection, we combined minimalism with Japanese urban style. This is a change of pace for us, as we will be using patterned materials rather than plain, as well as bright and colorful colors we never tried before, Putri said.



Kara said both of the collections will feature new styles, including 7-centimeter heels and slip-ons.



Fashion shows showcasing shoes are really hard, because the clothes should look good, but you dont want them to overpower the shoes. As peoples eyes would normally go toward the clothes, we kept them minimalistic but also with interesting details, Kara said.



Along with the usual fashion shows, JFW 2019 will also hold talk shows on various topics, ranging from insider insights on Paris Fashion Week to the dangers of fast fashion.



Design competitions also make a return this year, with the final shows for accessory design and menswear design held on Oct. 23 at different times.

The fashion week is scheduled to be closed with Dewi Fashion Knights on Oct. 26, featuring Byo, Rinaldy A. Yunardi, Sean Sheila and Sejauh Mata Memandang.



JFW project director Lenni Tedja said this years event does not have a theme



as last years theme Bhinneka dan Berkarya was held to commemorate JFWs 10th anniversary. Overall, 40,000 guests are expected to attend the shows over the course of seven days.



The highlights for this year include the ever-changing list of designers and their collections, but also the presence of fashion stylist Makoto Washizu to mark 60 years of bilateral relations between Indonesia and Japan.
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sat, October 20, 2018 07:22 1125 882ab4bc56dbda08a069b30877873828 2 National oil-palm-plantations,palm-oil,forest-fires,environment Free

Palm oil company PT Jatim Jaya Perkasa (JJP) has withdrawn a lawsuit against Bogor Agricultural University (IPB) forestry expert Bambang Hero Saharjo, who once testified as an expert witness incriminating the company in a forest fire case.

The plaintiff filed the withdrawal request during the first hearing of the case at the Cibinong District Court in Bogor, West Java, on Wednesday, the court said.

The plaintiff decided to withdraw the lawsuit, Cibinong District Court spokesman Bambang Setyawan said on Friday, adding that the court would decide whether or not to grant the withdrawal in a hearing next week.

Neither Bambang Hero nor his lawyers attended the first hearing.

JJP director Halim Gozali cited the lack of documents to support the company arguments as the reason for the withdrawal, kontan.co.id reported.

JJP lawyer Didik Harsono, meanwhile, said that the company was considering to file a new lawsuit against Bambang Hero.

The withdrawal aims to give us time to add necessary documents [to support our arguments], Didik said as quoted by tribunnews.com. Perhaps, we can file another lawsuit later.

The lawsuit against Bambang Hero was filed in September, about three months after the Supreme Court found JJP guilty in a 2015 wildfire case in Riau and ordered it to pay Rp 491 billion (US$32 million) in restitution.

The lawsuit alleged that the IPB lecturer committed a wrongful act while testifying as an expert witness for the Environment and Forestry Ministry, demanding that he pay Rp 10 billion for material losses and Rp 500 billion in damages it suffered as a result of his testimony.

Environmentalists have decried the lawsuit as a case of retaliation and an attempt to intimidate expert witnesses.
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sat, October 20, 2018 07:11 1125 882ab4bc56dbda08a069b30877872d87 1 City Central-Sulawesi-earthquake,orange-troops,donation Free

Jakartas Public Facility Maintenance Agency workers, often referred to as orange troops because of their signature orange uniform, collected more than Rp 26 million (US$1,700) for victims of the Central Sulawesi earthquakes and tsunami.

The money was collected from the proceeds of merchandise sales such as pins, stickers, hats and shirts, sold by the troops under the group dubbed the Jakarta Elite Squad Forum.

We pooled our money to fund the production of the merchandise, which we later sold to people all over the city, Novita, one of the members of the squad said at City Hall on Friday as quoted by kompas.com, adding that the goods were distributed in every subdistrict in the city.

She said that the goods were sold at low prices, starting from Rp 5,000. She added that many buyers paid more than the asking price because they wanted to help the survivors.

The merchandise, Novita said, was sold for only a week, from Oct. 3 to Oct. 10. The money from the sales was later taken by the forum's members to the Jakarta aid post.

Another orange troop member, Dani, said although the troops do not have a lot of money, they empathized with the victims and survivors and this inspired them to want to help relieve their hardships by donating money.

Despite that we only collected this amount of money, we hope that we can help them get through this ordeal, he said. (ris)
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Linkedin Gemma Holliani Cahya (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sat, October 20, 2018 15:52 1124 882ab4bc56dbda08a069b30877880b18 1 Politics Jokowi,joko-widodo,review,administration,graft,human-rights Free

Four years after his election, President Joko Jokowi Widodo has yet to fulfill many of his promises on the issues of human rights and graft eradication.

Jokowi, who was sworn in as president on Oct. 20, 2014, after defeating former general Prabowo Subianto, did not consider the issue of human right a priority, according to the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras).

His administration failed to accomplish most of its initial commitments about human rights, Kontras commissioner Yati Andriyani told The Jakarta Post on Saturday.

In its evaluation report, Kontras noted that Jokowi had failed to carry out most of his own 17 priority human rights programs.

Jokowi, it claimed, had yet to address the issues of extrajudicial killings, past human rights abuses and religious freedom. The remaining issues, including disability rights, had only been partially resolved, it added.

Contacted separately, Indonesia Corruption Watchs political corruption division coordinator, Donald Fariz, echoes that sentiment with regard Jokowis antigraft drive.

Jokowi, he said, was not aggressive enough in reforming his bureaucracy by introducing e-budgeting and e-procurement, while many regional leaders have been charged with corruption by the nations antigraft body.

We have not seen a concrete agenda from the President to reform law enforcement agencies, such as the National Police or the Attorney Generals Office. These two institutions are very powerful, but there has yet to be an effective monitoring mechanism to prevent abuse, Donald said.

Irma Suryani Chaniago, a spokesperson of Jokowis campaign team, rebuffed Donalds claim regarding Jokowis lack of achievement in the graft fight, saying the fact that many politicians were arrested for graft under Jokowi showed that the President was allowing the KPK to work professionally.

She conceded, however, that the government had yet to make the issue of human rights a priority. In the future, the issue of human rights violation should be made a priority, especially past human rights abuses.
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Linkedin Dylan Amirio (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sat, October 20 2018

Band Burgerkill (Courtesy of Angga Bagja)

Prominent Indonesian metal bands Deadsquad and Burgerkill are currently in Europe touring under the 2018 Superinvasion banner.



Held as part of the tobacco giant Djarums Supermusic program, the respective tours aim to promote the best of the Indonesian metal scene abroad and gain each band a new, global audience.



Both the Bandung-based Burgerkill and the Jakarta-based Deadsquad have built their reputations as two of the most celebrated metal acts in Indonesia.



Burgerkill has already impressed audiences worldwide, having performed overseas several times, including at Australias defunct Big Day Out and Soundwave festivals. The band has also won various international metal awards.



Deadsquad has yet to reach that level of international acclaim, but has already established a loyal and rabid fanbase in Indonesia and is known for the number of acclaimed musicians it once had as members: Ricky Siahaan of Seringai, guitar virtuoso Prisa Adinda and Netral guitarist Coki. Deadsquads current lead guitarist, Stevie Item, is also part of Andra and the Backbone.



Both bands have departed for Europe already, with Burgerkill leaving for France on Monday and Deadsquad leaving for Austria on Wednesday.



Burgerkills itinerary will take the Bandung band through France, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic and Poland, while Deadsquad will travel through Austria, Germany, Switzerland, France and the Netherlands.



The Superinvasion tour is not the first opportunity Burgerkill has had to play on European stages, having played Germanys prestigious Wacken Open Air festival in 2015. However, this tour will be Deadsquads first time performing on the continent.



Burgerkill guitarist Aris Eben Tanto explained that while the band had played in Europe before, the Superinvasion tour would offer a different vibe because it would mainly cover small venues and clubs rather than festival stages.



The two bands will eventually meet up with each other during their stop in Amsterdam on Oct. 25, where they will share a stage for the only time on the tour.

Band Deadsquad (Courtesy of Stevie Item)



Burgerkill vocalist Vicky Mono said that in order to accommodate this vision, he wanted to show European audiences the essence of what made Indonesian metal so great by not only performing together with Deadsquad but also making their music (and merchandise) reflective of Indonesia.



[This collaboration in Amsterdam] is a way for us to really show what Indonesia is all about. Collaborating with Deadsquad for us isnt going to be too hard because we already click when it comes to music, but well just see where the music takes us, Vicky explained.



Merchandise-wise, Deadsquad vocalist Daniel Mardhany added that his bands wares would be modified in the spirit of the theme, featuring many Indonesian elements that could serve as a point of interest for the unfamiliar European crowd.



Vicky Mono observed that because of the efforts of Indonesian metal bands in getting their names out there in the world, European audiences were becoming more familiar with the Indonesian metal scene.



And we hope Burgerkill and Deadsquad can become the gateway for them to explore [the scene] further, he added.



Djarum Supermusic has a history of supporting Indonesian rock bands with tours abroad. In 2016 and 2017, the program succeeded in bringing bands such as The Hydrant, Kelompok Penerbang Roket, The SIGIT and Mooner to select cities in Australia and the United States.



Through Superinvasion, we want to show our consistency in our willingness to bring Indonesian musical names to the global music [scene]. That is why we are sending such bands abroad for the third year in a row, said Supermusic representative Adjie Aditya Purwaka.

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Linkedin News Desk (Agence France-Presse) Paris  Sat, October 20, 2018 16:00 1124 882ab4bc56dbda08a069b3087788180a 2 World JamalKhashoggi,Saudi-Arabia,reporters-without-borders,journalist,murder Free

The international community must keep up the pressure on Saudi Arabia after its admission that journalist Jamal Khashoggi died in its Turkish consulate, Reporters without Borders (RSF) said Saturday.

Riyadh had to be held to account for the death of Khashoggi and the imprisonment of other journalists, Christophe Deloire, Secretary General of the Paris-based media rights watchdog tweeted.

"Any attempt to get rid of the pressure on Saudi Arabia and to accept a compromise policy would result in giving a 'license to kill' to a Kingdom that puts in jail, lashes, kidnaps and even kills journalists who dare to investigate and launch debates," he wrote.

"After the recognition of Khashoggis death, we expect a determined, constant and powerful pressure to be kept on Saudi Arabia in order to get the whole truth on the case and the release of Saudi Arabian journalists (who have) been condemned to crazy and horrible sentences," he added.

After earlier denials, Saudi Arabia admitted earlier Saturday that Khashoggi, an insider turned critic of the regime, had been killed inside its Istanbul consulate in what it described as a "brawl".

His disappearance has been shrouded in mystery and tipped Saudi Arabia into one of its worst international crises.

Turkish reports have accused Riyadh of carrying out a state-sponsored killing and dismembering the body.

Khashoggi, a contributor to the Washington Post newspaper, had been living in the United States since 2017.

On Friday, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres called for a "prompt, thorough and transparent investigation" into Khashoggi's death.
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Linkedin Arya Dipa (The Jakarta Post) Bandung  Sat, October 20, 2018 12:10 1124 882ab4bc56dbda08a069b3087787b6c5 1 National LGBT,freedom-of-expression,sexuality,human-rights,ITE-Law,ITE,2019-elections Free

The West Java Police have arrested IS and his partner IH for allegedly running a Facebook page for the gay community in Bandung, West Java, in the first case of criminalization of LGBT hangouts on social media.

They raided on Thursday a house rented by IS, who allegedly created the Gay Bandung page on October 2015, in Batununggal, where they found the two men. They also confiscated five cell phones and 25 condoms.

Police identified IH as IS' partner.

They connect and matchmake people who want to make same-sex friendships, the polices special crimes deputy director, Adj. Chief Comr. Hari Brata said on Friday.

The Facebook group reportedly has 4,093 active followers of various ages, including teenagers.

A wave of anti-LGBT sentiment has swept across the conservative province of West Java, with rising public anxiety over LGBT groups on social media.

Another Facebook page for young gay people triggered controversy in Garut regency two weeks ago, triggering a call from school principals to ban LGBT students at schools.

Read also: Facebook page for gay students stirs controversy in Garut

The Cianjur regency administration issued a circular on Monday, instructing all subdistrict heads in the regency to ensure that sermons during Friday prayers on Oct. 17 discuss the so-called dangers of homosexuality as a lifestyle.

The instruction cited a report by the AIDS Prevention Commission (KPA) of Cianjur, which claimed that the number of LGBT people had risen significantly in the regency.

The Bandung case marked the first police crackdown on online LGBT groups, who often use discreet interaction in the largely conservative and religious society to avoid rejection and condemnation.

The suspects have been charged under Article 27 Point 1 of the Electronic Transactions and Information (ITE) Law on transmitting and spreading electronic information containing immorality, which carries a maximum sentence of six years' imprisonment and a maximum fine of Rp 1 billion.

In January, police arrested two men in Depok city for alleged prostitution. They allegedly produced videos to promote themselves and attract clients on social media. (foy)
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Linkedin Nurul Fitri Ramadhani (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sat, October 20 2018

The House of Representatives budget committee has proposed a Rp 3.9 trillion (US$255.4 million) allocation in the 2019 state budget to pay for the salaries of election monitors for the 2019 general election. The expenses have to date been covered by participating political parties.

The Golkar Party initiated the proposal that was eventually propounded by House Commission II overseeing home affairs. The commission also suggested that the funds should later be managed by the Elections Supervisory Agency to avoid potential misuse by political parties.

We [the budget commission] will discuss it and seek input from all factions during the deliberation of the 2019 state budget, House budget commission and Golkar lawmaker Aziz Syamsuddin said recently.

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Linkedin Gemma Holliani Cahya (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sat, October 20, 2018 20:09 1124 882ab4bc56dbda08a069b30877885921 1 National #CentralSulawesi,#PaluTsunami,#DonggalaEarthquake,Central-Sulawesi-earthquake,Donggala-earthquake-tsunami,Palu-Earthquake-Tsunami,foreign-aid Free

After President Joko Jokowi Widodo declared that Indonesia would accept foreign aid to reconstruct Central Sulawesi following a strong earthquake with a subsequent tsunami and soil liquefaction, a number of countries have pledged help.

The European Union, China, South Korea, Venezuela, Germany, Vietnam, Australia, Laos and Cambodia are among the countries that have offered to send help to Indonesia after the disaster, with pledges totalling US$11.6 million, 3 million and A$500,000.

Venezuela, despite facing an ongoing economic crisis at home, has pledged the highest amount, $10 million, for Indonesia. Other countries with pledges $1 million or above are Germany (1.5 million), South Korea ($1 million) and European Union (1.5 million).

The government-to-government cash aid is only allowed to be transferred to a National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) bank account.

Read also: How you can help Palu earthquake victims

BNPB spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said not all pledges would be transferred in cash; the help could also come in the form of goods, such as tents, medicine, electricity generators or water treatment facilities.

He said that, by Saturday afternoon, the agency had received more than $1.5 million from Cambodia ($200,000), Thailand ($145,312), Vietnam ($100,000) and South Korea and several private institutions as well as individuals. That is only about 10 percent of the total amounts pledged.

There are many who have pledged to help, but only a few who have realized it. Compared to our needs [in the field], the help is still not enough, he told The Jakarta Post on Saturday.

A 7.4-magnitude earthquake occurred off the western coast of Donggala regency on Sept. 28 and was followed by ocean waves, with Palu, Donggala, Sigi and Parigi Moutong the worst-hit areas. The catastrophe killed at least 2,100 people and severely injured almost 5,000, while 680 people have been reported missing. More than 270,000 people have been displaced and have to stay at shelters.

Thousands more are believed to be still buried in the ground when the soil liquefaction happened in Palu and Sigi following the massive earthquake.

A preliminary assessment by the World Bank estimates that the tragedy has caused $531 million in losses.

The bank and Asian Development Bank (ADB) have pledged US$1 billion each in funding to support disaster recovery, rehabilitation and reconstruction in Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara and Palu, Central Sulawesi.

Read also: World Bank, ADB commit $1b in loans each for disaster recovery

Yoedhi Swastono, the undersecretary for domestic political coordination at the Office of the Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister, who coordinates foreign aid for Central Sulawesi, explained that Indonesia had yet to receive the aid from Venezuela.

We still do not know what kind of aid Venezuela will provide, he said.

In 2004, a 9.1-magnitude earthquake hit the northern tip of Sumatra and later followed by tsunami that swept Aceh and Nias Island, killing at least 168,000.

A Brookings Institution report recorded that the total estimate of damage and losses from the catastrophe was $4.45 billion. The Indonesian government received a total of $7.7 billion in pledged assistance from countries and private sector for reconstruction and development. (wit)
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Linkedin Rachmadea Aisyah and Dian Septiari (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sat, October 20 2018

The government says it is concerned by the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi Arabian Consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, but it will still attend the Islamic kingdoms Davos in the Desert summit next week.

Indonesia has confirmed that it will not sit out the summit despite many other countries pulling out over allegations that the veteran journalist was brutally murdered at the consulate.

Formally known as the Future Investment Initiative (FII), the summit has been initiated by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as part of his Saudi Vision 2030, a plan to reduce the countrys dependence on oil and diversify its economy.

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Linkedin News Desk (Agence France-Presse) Riyadh, Saudi Arabia  Sat, October 20, 2018 06:36 1125 882ab4bc56dbda08a069b308778727ec 2 World JamalKhashoggi,Saudi-Arabia,murder,journalist,freedom-of-speech,MuhammadBinSalman Free

Saudi Arabia on Saturday admitted that dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed inside its consulate in Istanbul, state media said, two weeks after his disappearance sparked global furore.

The kingdom also announced the sacking of a top intelligence official Ahmad al-Assiri and royal court media advisor Saud al-Qahtani, both top aides to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman who has faced mounting pressure over the Khashoggi affair.

Saudi journalist Khashoggi, a critic of the kingdom's leadership and a Washington Post contributor, was last seen on October 2 entering his country's consulate in Istanbul.

His disappearance had been shrouded in mystery and triggered an international crisis, with Turkish officials accusing Saudi Arabia of a state-sponsored killing.

"The discussions between Jamal Khashoggi and those he met at the kingdom's consulate in Istanbul... devolved into a fistfight, leading to his death," the Saudi Press Agency said, citing the public prosecutor.

The kingdom announced that 18 people had been arrested in the ongoing probe.

The Saudi king also ordered the setting up of ministerial committee under the chairmanship of the crown prince to restructure the kingdom's intelligence agency and "define its powers accurately", state media said.

Shortly before Riyadh confirmed that Khashoggi had been killed, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Saudi King Salman agreed in telephone talks to continue cooperation in the investigation into the Khashoggi affair.

Erdogan and Salman "emphasised the importance of continuing to work together with complete cooperation", said a Turkish presidential source, who asked not to be named.

The United States warned Friday of a "wide range" of responses should it determine that Saudi Arabia is behind the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, as Turkey widened its investigation into the scandal.

President Donald Trump said the United States, which is Saudi Arabia's biggest backer, could impose sanctions over the feared murder of Khashoggi.

His top diplomat Mike Pompeo told Voice of America Radio: "We'll certainly consider a wide range of potential responses."

The Trump administration has been notably slow to criticise Saudi Arabia, despite mounting evidence that Khashoggi, a critic of the Islamic petro-state's powerful crown prince, vanished after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

The Khashoggi case has presented Trump with one of the most acute foreign policy crises of his nearly two-year-old presidency.

Pro-government Turkish media have repeatedly claimed that Khashoggi was tortured and decapitated by a Saudi hit squad inside the diplomatic mission, although Turkey has yet to divulge details about the investigation.

The controversy has put the kingdom -- for decades a key Western ally and bulwark against Iran in the Middle East -- under unprecedented pressure to offer an explanation to take the heat off its rulers.
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Linkedin Gemma Holliani Cahya (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sat, October 20, 2018 08:53 1125 882ab4bc56dbda08a069b308778759f9 1 National interview,World-Health-Organization,#health,health,WHO,leprosy,discrimination,stigma,Yohei-Sasakawa,discourse Free

Indonesia achieved the global target of eliminating leprosy as a public health problem in 2000, decreasing the prevalence rate to less than 1:10,000. However, the nation still struggles to eliminate the stigma and discrimination against people with leprosy or those who have been cured from it. Recently, the Goodwill Ambassador of the World Health Organization for Leprosy Elimination, Yohei Sasakawa, shared his insights on the situation in Indonesia with The Jakarta Posts Gemma Holliani Cahya.



Question: What is your target and what is the situation of leprosy in Indonesia?



Answer: These days I focus in the elimination of leprosy in India and Indonesia. My goal is to reduce [the number of] leprosy cases in these two countries to zero.



Indonesia has already achieved the global target. However, as the leprosy elimination campaign, including early detection activities, become more proactive, the number of new patients is increasing, because they finally found out about their leprosy condition.



But this is not an embarrassing situation, this is an achievement, because we can help the patients have a better life. The numbers will rise for a moment but will decrease again, because we already have the free medicine for them to cure the disease. So, do not worry about the increasing number.



I hope Indonesia keeps looking for new patients, to also stop the spreading of the disease.



In Indonesia, compared to Malaria, Tuberculosis and HIV, the number of leprosy patients is very little, so I understand if the government gives leprosy lower priority than those other diseases. However, I want to increase the priority.



What do you think about stigmatization and discrimination of people with leprosy?



The stigma toward people with leprosy has been there for ages, since the biblical period, so I dont think I can solve this issue in my lifetime, but we have to work as hard as we can on this.



Medicine for leprosy has been provided for free, but it is more difficult to address the stigma and discrimination than to decrease the number of cases.



There are thousands of diseases in this world, but do we call people who once suffered from Malaria former Malaria patients? No. But we always call those who have been cured from Leprosy former leprosy patients or ex-leprosy patients. Even though they are cured, society still looks out former leprosy patients. So, even though the disease is cured, the discrimination is not.



I always give the example of leprosy as a motorbike. A motorbike has two wheels. The front wheel is to eliminate leprosy, the back wheel is to eliminate the discrimination or stigma, if both wheels do not operate at the same time, the motorbike cannot move.



What can the government do to eliminate the discrimination and stigma?



Many people, even the educated ones, still do not understand leprosy. Many still believe it is a curse from God and easily transmitted. That is false information that can cause discrimination.



Therefore, we must do more campaigns and counseling on leprosy. If we could create a friendly environment where everyone could discuss leprosy freely, then patients would be motivated to visit the health facilities for check-ups.



One thing that you can do is ask public figures, such as the President or celebrities, to approach people who have been cured from leprosy and hug them. The pictures of this physical interaction could be spread on social media so more people see them. This could be a campaign tool to decrease the discrimination of people with leprosy.



On your trip to Indonesia, you plan to visit Ambon, one of the areas in Indonesia with the highest number of leprosy cases, what do you want to do there?



Most of the local administrations [in Indonesia] still put a low priority on eliminating leprosy. They know it is a disease, but they do not know what it is.



To give the [elimination of leprosy] higher priority, I must go to the places where there are still many patients. I want to talk to the regional leaders and discuss this issue with them, including persuading them to keep looking for the new cases.



Every time I visit some places, I will have an interactive program on local TV and radio. In those programs, people can ask me directly about leprosy, and many of them in that city will listen to me talking, including policymakers.



I also will ask some friends from the Leprosy Association (Permata) to share their experiences with people and open a new branch there.
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Linkedin N. Adri (The Jakarta Post) Balikpapan  Sat, October 20, 2018 13:46 1124 882ab4bc56dbda08a069b3087787d161 1 National immigration,visa-violation,Balikpapan Free

Three foreign nationals at an international school in Balikpapan, East Kalimantan, are being detained by immigration for allegedly violating their visa conditions.

Two South Africans Ayesha Ibrahim, 49, and Simone Milward, 36, as well as Canadian David Breckenridge, 36, are being detained at an immigration detention center in Lamaru subdistrict in the provincial capital city.

Milward and Breckenridge are English teachers at Raffles Independent School (RIS) while Ibrahim was in a teaching training program at the school.

I should have returned to my country on October 15, said Ibrahim who is locked up for 23 hours and only allowed to go outside for an hour in the afternoon.

An investigator at the Balikpapan Immigration Office, Andi Febrinaldy, said the three had been named suspects for visa violations.

They entered on a tourist visa, they should have attained a Visa 312 [work visa], he said.

RIS school administrator Tony David Gahegan said Milward and Breckenridge had attained the necessary work permits. What is lacking is a telex visa to proceed to temporary stay permit (KITAS).

The school as their sponsor has scheduled the document registration in the last week of October, he said. (wit)
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Linkedin W.G. Dunlop (Agence France-Presse) Washington, United States  Sat, October 20, 2018 09:24 1125 882ab4bc56dbda08a069b30877877257 2 World JamalKhashoggi,DonaldTrump,murder,Saudi-Arabia,UnitedStates Free

US President Donald Trump said Friday he found Saudi Arabia's explanation about the death of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi credible and termed it an "important first step."

And he said that if the US did take action over Khashoggi's death -- which Saudi Arabia said came as a result of a fight at its consulate in Istanbul, while Turkish officials have pointed to a state-sanctioned hit -- he does not want it to impact arms sales to the kingdom.

"I do, I do," Trump said when asked if he found the Saudis' explanation credible, adding: "It's early, we haven't finished our review or investigation, but... I think it's a very important first step."

"I would prefer, if there is going to be some form of sanction or what we may determine to do, if anything... that we don't use as retribution canceling $110 billion worth of work, which means 600,000 jobs," he said during a visit to Arizona, referring to a major arms deal with the kingdom.

Trump has sent mixed messages about Khashoggi for days, vowing a severe response but also saying that the United States wants to preserve its close relationship with the conservative kingdom.

Members of the US Congress were far harsher in the wake of the kingdom's announcement of Khashoggi's death.

Senator Lindsey Graham, a close Trump ally who has nonetheless been outspoken about Khashoggi, doubted the credibility of the Saudi authorities, which insisted for weeks that he left the consulate.

"To say that I am skeptical of the new Saudi narrative about Mr Khashoggi is an understatement," the Republican senator tweeted.

Bob Menendez, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said the United States should pursue sanctions against Saudis involved in Khashoggi's death under a US law named after Sergei Magnitsky, the anti-corruption Russian accountant who died in custody.

"The Global Magnitsky Act doesn't have exceptions for accidents. Even if Khashoggi died because of an altercation, that's no excuse for his murder," Menendez tweeted.

"This is far from the end and we need to keep up the international pressure."

Khashoggi, a Washington Post contributor who lived in suburban Washington, was a former insider who turned into a critic of the kingdom's direction under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

He visited the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2 to sort out marriage paperwork, but his fiancee saw nothing more of him after he entered.

Representative Mike Coffman, one of a number of lawmakers from Trump's Republican Party facing a tough race in November 6 elections, said the United States "must stand up for our values and demand our 'allies' respect human rights."

The Colorado lawmaker, who serves on the House Armed Services Committee, urged Trump to immediately recall the acting US ambassador from Saudi Arabia. Trump has yet to nominate a permanent envoy to the kingdom.

United Nations chief Antonio Guterres meanwhile demanded that those responsible for Khashoggi's death be held to account.

"The Secretary-General is deeply troubled by the confirmation of the death of Jamal Khashoggi. He extends his condolences to Mr Khashoggi's family and friends," Guterres's office said in a statement.

"The Secretary-General stresses the need for a prompt, thorough and transparent investigation into the circumstances of Mr Khashoggi's death and full accountability for those responsible."
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Linkedin News Desk (Agence France-Presse) Washington, United States  Sat, October 20, 2018 09:03 1125 882ab4bc56dbda08a069b30877876d29 2 World JamalKhashoggi,murder,UnitedStates,Saudi-Arabia Free

The White House said Friday it was "saddened" after Saudi Arabia said missing journalist Jamal Khashoggi died in a fistfight in its consulate, but made no mention of action against the US ally.

In Washington's first response to Saudi Arabia's confirmation that the US-based writer was dead, White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said merely that the US "acknowledges the announcement."

"We will continue to closely follow the international investigations into this tragic incident and advocate for justice that is timely, transparent and in accordance with all due process," she said.

"We are saddened to hear confirmation of Mr Khashoggi's death, and we offer our deepest condolences to his family, fiancee and friends."

President Donald Trump has sent mixed messages about Khashoggi for days, vowing a severe response but also saying that the United States wants to preserve its close relationship with the conservative kingdom.

Members of the US Congress were far harsher about the announcement on Saudi state media, which said that Khashoggi died after his discussions at the consulate in Istanbul devolved into a fistfight.

Senator Lindsey Graham, a close Trump ally who has nonetheless been outspoken about Khashoggi's death, doubted the credibility of the Saudi authorities, which insisted for weeks that he left the consulate.

"To say that I am skeptical of the new Saudi narrative about Mr Khashoggi is an understatement," the Republican senator tweeted.

Bob Menendez, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said the United States should pursue sanctions against Saudis involved in Khashoggi's death under a US law named after Sergei Magnitsky, the anti-corruption Russian accountant who died in custody.

"The Global Magnitsky Act doesn't have exceptions for accidents. Even if Khashoggi died because of an altercation, that's no excuse for his murder," Menendez tweeted.

"This is far from the end and we need to keep up the international pressure."

Khashoggi, who lived in suburban Washington, was a former insider who turned into a critic of the kingdom's direction under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Khashoggi, who contributed opinion pieces to The Washington Post, visited the consulate in Istanbul on October 2 to sort out marriage paperwork, but his fiancee saw nothing more of him after he entered.

Representative Mike Coffman, one of a number of lawmakers from Trump's Republican Party who is facing a tough race in November 6 elections, said the United States "must stand up for our values and demand our 'allies' respect human rights."

The Colorado lawmaker, who serves on the House Armed Services Committee, urged Trump to immediately recall the acting US ambassador from Saudi Arabia. Trump has yet to nominate an envoy to the kingdom.

Trump sent Secretary of State Mike Pompeo earlier in the week to Riyadh, where the top US diplomat praised the Saudis for conducting a probe and called for the two nations to maintain a close alliance for the sake of business deals and their shared opposition to Iran.
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Linkedin News Desk (Eleven Media Group/ANN) Naypyitaw, Myanmar  Sat, October 20, 2018 18:47 1124 882ab4bc56dbda08a069b308778848a7 2 SE Asia #SoutheastAsia,#Myanmar,Myanmar-Press-Council,calls,Myanmar,government,drop,journalist,charging Free

Myanmar Press Council (MPC) officially told Yangon Region Government to withdraw the lawsuit against three journalists from the Weekly Eleven Journal in order for them to be a mediator in media affairs as prescribed under Section 22 of the Media Law, according to the directive of the President.

On the morning of October 19, the MPC met with the director of the Yangon Region Government who lodged a complaint to the MPC under the directive of the President and officials of Eleven Media Group at the MPCs office in Yangon separately.

At a separate talk with the team led by Managing Director Dr. Thein Myint of Eleven Media Group, the MPC discussed the matter relating to putting additional facts into the letter about the charge against three journalists including chief editor Ko Kyaw Zaw Lin according to the procedures of the Myanmar Press Council.

The MPC officially told Director Aung Kyaw Khaing of the Yangon Region Government to withdraw the charge in order that the MPC can deal with the complaint in accordance with the law.

Hanthawaddy U Ohn Kyaing, President of Myanmar Press Council said: According to the Media Law, the MPC has no authority to mediate in the case that has been filed at the court. The MPC even has no mandate to deal with the case filed at the police station. Yangon region government needs to withdraw the charge against the Eleven Media. I would like to urge the region government to withdraw the case today or Monday if possible. I told the official to deal with it only after the withdrawal of the charge. According to the directive of the region government, Director U Aung Kyaw Khaing filed the case against the journalists at the court. He said he will make a reply to the MPC only after reporting it to the region government.

Myint Kyaw of the MPC said: According to the bylaws of the Media Law, the council can mediate in the case only after the charge has been withdrawn. The charge must be withdrawn. The MPC has difficulties in mediating in the case without withdrawal.

Managing Director Dr. Thein Myint said: The MPC told us about the complaint filed by the region government. We (Eleven Media Group) have sent a letter to the MPC to mediate in the case. The MPC said it will mediate in the case only after the withdrawal of charge. Journalists from the EMG will be free after the region government withdraws the charge. We can continue doing other things after the release of journalists. We are management members. Only reporters know the news coverage and have the facts and information. I have nothing. It will be natural only when they (themselves) solve the problem. We have told the MPC that we will solve the case only after the release of journalists.

Director U Aung Kyaw Khaing told the media: We still submit the complaint. I have to do it on behalf of the region government.

On October 17, a letter, issued by the Union government about the directive of the President for the case filed by the director of the region government, against Chief Editor U Kyaw Zaw Lin, Editor-in-Charge U Na Yi Min and Chief Reporter Ko Phyo Wai Win, under Section 505 (b) of the Penal Code, went viral on the social media.

Zaw Htay, Director-General of the State Counsellors Office said: The region government reported it to the Union government. The Union government sought the directive from the President. Then, the Union government sent the Presidents guidance to the region government. You are urged to ask the region government to know more details about it. The main point is the President gave guidance to the region government about how to file the case.

According to the Presidents guidance, the region government first lodges a complaint to the MPC. The MPC mediates in the case. The complaint files a case against them at the respective court in accordance with the law if both sides cannot reach agreement.

The director of the region government filed a case against three journalists from the EMG including the Chief Editor, under Section 505 (b) of the Penal Code. On October 18, the region government lodged a complaint to the MPC under Section 21 of the Media Law described in the Presidents guidance.

Plaintiff U Aung Kyaw Khaing, director of the region government was interrogated at the first court hearing on October 17.

Myanmar Press Council (MPC) issued a statement on October 11, saying it strongly denounced Yangon regional government charge against three senior journalists of the Weekly Eleven News Journal without undergoing through procedure in accord with the law that says the press council must be the first to receive the complaint.

Section 21 says if any of responsibilities or ethics required in Article 9 is considered to be breached by a News Media worker, the aggrieved department, organization or individual shall have the right to complain to the council first.

The Section 12 states the council is the only organization which can perform its tasks independently regarding people from mass media in keeping with regulations stated in this law. For that reason, the MPC strongly denounced charges against media professionals in use of other laws instead of using the media law. The MPC strongly denounced the charge against the senior journalists of Weekly Eleven News Journal, the statement said.
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Linkedin Ni Nyoman Wira (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sat, October 20, 2018 20:06 1124 882ab4bc56dbda08a069b30877884d56 1 News Binus-University-International,Rachel-House,palliative-care,The-Living-Wall Free

If you only had one more day to live, what would you do?

You can write down your answers on a 5.76 square meter board at Binus University International on the sixth floor of fX Sudirman, Central Jakarta. Open to the public, it is available for 11 days from Oct. 16 to 26.

Dubbed The Living Wall, it is a collaboration between Binus University Internationals student clubs and the Rachel House Foundation, which provides palliative care for children suffering from chronic illnesses, such as cancer and HIV AIDS.

The Living Wall at Binus University International on the the sixth floor of fX Sudirman, Central Jakarta. (Binus University International/Yosephine Claudia Chandra)

[The foundations] palliative care focuses on reducing the childrens pain, especially those coming from underprivileged families where theyre less capable of getting treatment, Amanda, one of the Communication students who initiated the event, told The Jakarta Post. Were trying to make their last days happier, so they wont view death as something horrible.

The project leader and student Yosephine said, At least theyre not in pain when they pass away. They can be treated at home surrounded by their parents and loved ones, so they wont be in the hospital all the time.

Read also: Rachel House spreading joy among terminally ill children

At first, Yosephine, Amanda and fellow students Zahra and Nazira were interested in volunteering at Rachel House, but then they decided to hold The Living Wall exhibition. Their campus held a similar event a few years ago but sticky-notes were used at that time to share peoples answers instead of the board.

We want to enhance peoples experience by using a real board, said Nazira, adding that the challenge was moving the board up to the sixth floor. We want this to be something inspiring for people  something to learn from.

Four Binus University International students behind 'The Living Wall' project at their campus; Nazira Muqthadi (above left), Yosephine Claudia Chandra (above right), Amanda Lydia (below left) and Zahra Fortuna (below right) at The Jakarta Post studio on Oct. 11. (JP/Wienda Parwitasari)

Those who are interested in understanding more about palliative care are welcome to join the event. There will be a talk show on the opening day and poetry night on the last day. Information about how to donate and volunteer are available throughout the event as well.

Aiming to raise awareness of palliative care, The Living Wall is part of the Rachel House Foundations program. Back in 2017, it celebrated its 11th anniversary with five giant boards in Cilandak Town Square (CITOS), South Jakarta, where around 1,600 people wrote on the boards. The foundation also displayed stories about children who were receiving palliative care at that time.

Founded in 2006, the foundation provides home-based palliative care where it treats children whose cancer medication is no longer viable or whose HIV AIDS infections are chronic. (mut)
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MBABANE  If government is familiar with the conventional ways teachers use to raise their concerns, then it should brace itself.



Going forward, teachers will now engage new tactics and new strategies to send through any message of concern.

The review of tactics was prompted by a meeting that the Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT) had with United States Ambassador Lisa Peterson after the delivery of a petition on September 26, 2018.



SNAT Secretary General Sikelela Dlamini said, What we appreciated the most with the Ambassador was opening her doors for a dialogue, which most recipients of a petition do not do.



Talks



He said during the talks between the ambassador and the National Executive Committee (NEC) it clicked to them that it was time they looked into the ways they were using to push issues of concern.

The trend is that we start at the negotiations table, often disagree, go to the Conciliation Mediation and Arbitration Commission (CMAC), and take to the streets or go to court.



We have realised that as a 90-year-old organisation, some of the strategies we are using may no longer be applicable to date, hence the failure to yield the desired results, he said.

Dlamini added that at the moment they were not in a position to divulge the new tactics even though they have been in communication with the SNAT leadership.



He did mention though that they would not substitute the entire existing methods but they will enhance them by adding different ones.

We have scheduled an Annual General Meeting (AGM) for October 23, 2018 where we will discuss such issues.



Ambassador



He said apart from being an eye-opener with regards to reconsidering the methods, the meeting with the American Ambassador also opened dialogue lines for the organisation.



When asked why they chose the American Embassy over others that are located in the country, Dlamini said that there was no specific reason besides that they were picky on the embassies that they chose.

In 2012 we worked closely with the South African High Commission on issues similar to this one.



Teachers have a long standing dispute with government following its reluctance to grant them a 6.55 per cent salary increase for two years in a row.

This started with salary negotiations where government tabled a 0.0 per cent salary increase.



The teachers then resolved to stage a mass strike action which rolled out over three days before government went to court to apply for an order to have it deferred to the last week of November when a new cabinet would be in place.








MBABANE  Yesterday marked the end of freedom for former Mhlatane High School Head teacher Simeon Makhubu.



This comes after Judge Mbutfo Mamba issued a warrant of arrest against him.

The warrant of arrest comes after Makhubu failed to pay in full the fine of E474 000 as ordered by the court.



Out of the fine, which the court had ordered him to pay over a period of six months in instalments of E79 000, Makhubu only paid E158 000. The outstanding balance is E316 000.



The E158 000 he paid only catered for approximately two years and two months of his 19 years and nine months sentence. The issuance of the warrant follows an application by Principal Crown Counsel Macebo Nxumalo yesterday.



balance



The judge ordered that Makhubu should be lodged in prison to serve the balance of the sentence that was meted out to him by the court

According to a notice of setdown that was filed by the Crown, Makhubu has failed to abide by the court order to pay the sum of E474 000 by September 2018.

When sentencing Makhubu in February this year, the court stated that in the event he failed to pay the entire fine by September 2018, he would serve a sentence of 19 years and nine months for contravening 79 counts under the Prevention of Corruption Act and committing one offence of theft.



On March 16, he paid an amount of E79 000. He paid a similar amount on May 4. The balance which he ought to have settled on or before September 9, 2018 is E316 000.



Judge Mamba ordered Makhubu to pay the fine in instalments of E79 000 each month. When passing the sentence, Judge Mamba said he hoped Makhubu would learn from the sentence.



The court found Makhubu guilty of defrauding Mhalatane High School a sum of E1.7 million.

He told the court that he did not benefit from the money because he gave it to the now deceased Sijabu Temnkitsi Dlamini, who claimed to have been sent by an inkhosikati.



His then co-accused, Qhawe Nxumalo and Comfort Hlophe, were acquitted and discharged.

The court found the former Mhlatane High School head teacher guilty Contravening the Section 24 (1) and (2) of The Prevention of Corruption Act 3 of 2006. He defrauded his former school a sum of E1 745 250. None of this money has been paid back to the school.



deceased



Makhubu gave this money to a woman who is now deceased, Sijabu Temnkitsi Dlamini. She allegedly deceived him that the money was borrowed by an Inkhosikati who would pay it back.



In his judgment, Judge Mamba said it was clear that Makhubu (58) lied in his evidence when he said he believed that the money would be repaid to the school or that there was any undertaking to pay it back.



Makhubu testified that as a Swazi, he could not say no to instructions from royalty meaning that he was compelled to make the payments.

Even for the moment that the first accused (Makhubu) honestly believed that he was acting on superior orders, these orders were manifestly unlawful, outrageous and most unreasonable. No one is expected to obey orders from whatever quarter  that are unlawful and grossly unreasonable, the judge said.



Makhubu admitted that he made payments to Temnkitsi and that he did so because he believed that she had been instructed by a person he thought was an inkhosikati.



The judge considered that the monies were taken from the school coffers and not used for purposes meant to benefit the school. Temnkitsi, according to the judge, did not give Makhubu any receipts for the money he gave her.

This, in my judgment clearly shows that the first accused is lying in his evidence that he believed that the money would be repaid to the school.



Judge Mamba further said it was also significant to observe that Makhubu failed to tell the court which law or Swazi Customary law obliged him to obey the orders of the said inkhosikati, if indeed the instruction came from a genuine inkhosikati. Makhubu himself conceded that as a Swazi male, it was improper for him to speak privately with an inkhosikati.



warnings



The judge mentioned that no inkhosikati was involved in the scam and added that Makhubu continued to give out money belonging to the school to Temnkitsi despite several warnings that the woman was a con artist or a fraud.
MANZINI  As the country gears itself for a First World Status by 2022, SANU prides itself for producing graduates who are ready to innovate and transform the world.



The Southern Africa Nazarene University (SANU) Vice Chancellor (VC) Winnie Nhlengetfwa, speaking during yesterdays graduation ceremony attended by USA- based President Keith Newman, said the institution had created graduates with a nine-principle DNA that is badly needed by the world.

They are ethically and morally correct, that is SANU DNA, she said.



The VC said the graduates were Christian ambassadors with all the essential competencies expected by the Teaching Service Commission (TSC), Eswatini Nursing Council and Eswatini Medical and Dental Council together with the International Board of Education of the Church of Nazarene.



Disciplines



She said the graduates were ready to teach, minister, provide health care and deliver services anywhere in the world in accordance with prescribed professional and international standards of their respective disciplines.

They are also ready to innovate and transform their communities, the VC said.



Among the graduates, the VC said there were entrepreneurs and small medium enterprises (SMEs). She said this was just the beginning of good things to come.



Africa, the future is bright, she said.

To prove that the institution was growing, Nhlengetfwa said this year, they had unleashed a total of 441 leaders who would no doubt transform their world compared to 381 graduates in 2017 and 374 in 2016, respectively.



On another note, the VC said the institution continued to pursue its 2015-2020 strategy as approved by the Board of Governors.



Academic



She said the first of the five key performance areas were aimed at changing the academic atmosphere of teaching and learning. She said the second area focused on organisational environmental and business processes.

The teaching and learning infrastructure, financial systems, leadership and governance of the institution constitute the third, fourth and fifth strategic focus areas, respectively, she said.



The VC said all these performance measurement areas had been aligned with the International Board of Education Guidelines and national statutory requirements by the Eswatini Higher Education Council and others.
MBABANE  The new parliament has been described as a perfect mechanism to revive the countrys ailing economy.



This was the obtaining view of people from different sectors of society when scrutinising the composition of the honourable House.

This was after His Majesty King Mswati III on Thursday night appointed the final 20 members of Senate.



Currently, the only missing link now is the head of government who is expected to be announced by the King during Sibaya very soon.

Already, all 69 members of the House of Assembly have been sworn in while senators are expected to take oath next week.



perspective



Businessman and economist, Enziwe Dube, who was speaking from a corporate perspective, said His Majesty had clearly made a statement of intent with the royal appointment of senators.

The list comprise of big wigs from the local corporate sector in the country. One cannot wait any longer to hear the nature and quality of debates in the House, Dube said.



Besides the corporate big guns, Dube also noted that royal appointees comprised youth, females and experience.

In his analysis, Dube said topping the list was the young vibrant and intelligent Princess Sikhanyiso.



He said her interest in the development of this country was unsurpassed as she served as a leader of Imbali diligently.

She has acquired due corporate experience as well in the various boards that she serves in. Personally, I would like to see her in cabinet as likusasa liphetfwe yiYouth, Dube opined.



The businessman was also of the view that the princes and princesses who have been appointed had diverse qualities and expertise.



invaluable



He said their participation in the Senate would be invaluable as custodians of institutional memory to provide guidance to deliberation.

Among them are those who wholeheartedly love our culture and way of life. I have had the opportunity to interact with most of them and found their engagement deep and thoughtful, including my colleague and friend Prince Mphatfwa, a person I hold in high regard. Personally, I am not surprised with these appointments.



He pointed out that he had had the opportunity of working, as well, under Cleopas Dlamini, whom he described as highly qualified with an immaculate executive leadership track record.



combined



He portrayed Dlamini as a strategist and technocrat combined- which was a rare corporate combination. Umlangeni is service delivery and results oriented as evidenced by the tangible milestones reached and achievements made by the institution he so diligently led, the PSPF.



He said having him in the Senate accords the assembly the corporate platform from which to comprehend the global landscape from an informed perspective in pursuit of the Royal vision- development and prosperity for all emaSwati.



Because I come from the corporate world, I have to guard against self-bias regarding the combination, diverse qualities and expertise of the rest of the Royal appointees. It boasts of tried and tested leaders in the public and political arena. these include former DPM Themba Masuku, a visionary who executed his duties flawlessly and selflessly, high respectable, he elaborated.



breath



Dube said it was a breath of fresh air having him back.

He said this also applied to Pastor Lindiwe Dlamini, who was the Minister of Public Works and Transport who ran her ministry as a corporate office instead of a traditional government department, as that was a catalyst to improved service delivery toward achieving first world status. He said it was not a surprise seeing her back.



About Thuli Dladla, Dube said she was renowned from her firm hand leadership of the Public Accounts Committee.



opportunity



I had the opportunity to interact with her both at PAC and within the corridors of board of directors she served in. Deep thinker; never hesitates to call a spade a spade. The right calibre of people we need in the legislature. He said it was intriguing to see successful and respected businesspeople such the former Regional Administrator of Lubombo region, Sylvia Mthethwa make it to senate.



In the corporate world, there is a familiar expression we call claim to fame- what are you known for. Everything she touches turns to gold. she built her company from nothing to one of the longest stationery manufactures and suppliers. Her participation in the assembly will be felt.



Last but not least are the corporate gurus and captains of the industry; Peter Bhembe and Mancoba Khumalo who young executive and upcoming managers need to look up to. He said one of the most difficult challenges in the top echelons of the corporate world was to remain upright and unblemished.

I repeat my words that I cannot wait to see the Senate commence its work.



foresee



From the royal appointees, Dube stated that he could foresee His Majestys vision 2022 being a reality.

I see the royal appointees as a special purpose vehicle with a clear-cut mandate- and above all, I remain optimistic and confident that these diverse skills, qualities and individual attributes when converged under the visionary leadership of their Majesties, will definitely take the country to higher heights and the Kingdom of Eswatini being the epitome of development, he said.



Meanwhile, veteran politician, Prince Masitsela, also concurred that the 11th Parliament was the vehicle to usher the country into First World.

He mentioned that it was his wish to have a well-groomed Parliament that would put God first.

When going about their duties, they must always ask themselves if God will be happy about their performance.

stability

The former Manzini RA added that the law makers should always think about peace and stability.

Im just praying that God must guide our politicians in making good decisions that will make the country to prosper, he said. Looking at the composition of the 11th Parliament, Prince Masitsela said it was important for the politicians to improve the countrys economy.

He urged them to tackle issues of taxation. In this regard, the senior citizen said the law-makers should research how other countries dealt with taxes.

They must also research if in other countries, old citizens like myself were taxed until they die, said the 88-year-old prince. He opined that it was wrong to tax the elderly.
EKUKHANYENI  Pupils at Ekukhanyeni High School torched their school in protest over four suicides.



When they arrived at the school yesterday morning, the expectation was that they would go through a normal day that began with a morning prayer at the assembly square.



The only difference would have been a memorial service for the latest victim of the spate of suicides that has occurred in the school. It was scheduled to take place at a nearby primary school around 8:.30am.



However, during the short prayer, pupils turned rowdy and reacted with violence, vandalising school property and burning down the schools furniture.

The memorial was for a fourth victim of suicide, a Form I pupil who died on Tuesday night.



incidents



The four suicide incidents involving four pupils took place between May and October 2018, with the latest victim being a Form I pupil who will be buried tomorrow.



The names of the deceased are Mthunzi Dlamini, who died in May, Ndumiso Shongwe, who died in July, Sibusiso Simelane, who died in September and Nokwethu Masilela, who died on Tuesday



A witness said the riot started after, deputy Head teacher Bongiwe Zuke made an announcement requesting pupils to proceed to the hall for a prayer for Masilelas memorial service.



The pupils started murmuring and as they were dispersing, they were suddenly armed with all sorts of missiles and started causing havoc. In the process they broke several classrooms and hall windows by throwing stones and then started burning furniture inside a classroom, said the source.

Head of Department (Design and Technology) Paymaster Mdluli confirmed the incident, describing it as a first of its kind.



He said most of the 50 teachers at the school were now in fear of what could follow next. We were taken aback by the extent of violence that our pupils exhibited this morning. This happened at a time when we were trying to find solutions to the deaths, which are also historic for us.



Mdluli, who was just parting ways with the deputy and several other teachers at the time the news team arrived, said the police eventually calmed the situation.

The riot kicked off less than five minutes after we dispersed from the assembly square. What we could pick from the pupils was that they were tired of being ushered to prayer services that they claimed did not save them from the recurring suicides, he said.



The teacher said the pupils described the rate at which they were dying as dying like chicks. During the skirmish they pointed out that they wanted to have a word with the head teacher, who had not yet arrived.



Mdluli said at that moment when the pupils were armed and rioting, most teachers ran for cover while others drove their cars to safety out of the school gate.

When the Swazi News team arrived, most pupils had already left while a few were still within vicinity.

A few who spoke to this reporter said they were not part of the violence even though they were also worried about the rate and manner in which their colleagues had died.



Solidarity



I came to school a bit late today and when I arrived there was already singing and chanting. Out of solidarity I joined them, but I did not damage any school property, said a Form IV pupil, who was already headed for his home.

About five hours after the incident an elderly member of the community identified as a Bhembe paid the schools administrators a visit and expressed his condolences.



Head teacher Lucky Mathunjwa said he had no comment on the matter and referred all questions to his employer. I am employed by the ministry of education and training, so I suppose you should talk to them.



Chief Police Information and Communications Officer (PICO) Superintendent Phindile Vilakati confirmed the incident, saying they had not made any arrests yet. She said the police monitoring exams were the first to intervene but when they failed to contain the situation they called for backup. The police only managed to restrain the pupils after the use of a hand grenade, she said.



Manzini Regional Education Officer (REO) Mlimi Mamba said he was in the middle of a meeting on the Ekukhanyeni issue and requested to be called after an hour. When he was called later he said everything was under control.

PS Sibongile Mtshali said she had not received any report regarding the matter.
Saudi Arabia said on Saturday preliminary results of investigations showed U.S.-based journalist Jamal Khashoggi died in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul after a fight with people he met there, state media reported.

"The investigations are still underway and 18 Saudi nationals have been arrested," a statement from the Saudi public prosecutor said, adding Royal court adviser Saud al-Qahtani and deputy intelligence chief Ahmed Asiri have been sacked from their positions.

It said deputy intelligence chief Ahmad al-Assiri and Saud al-Qahtani, senior aide to Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, were dismissed over the affair. The news bulletin said 18 Saudi nationals have now been detained as part of the continuing probe. This is the first time the kingdom has admitted Mr Khashoggi has died. Saudi King Salman has also reportedly ordered the formation of a ministerial committee, headed by Crown Prince Mohammed, to restructure the intelligence services. The journalist was last seen entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on 2 October, to pick up paperwork that would allow him to marry his fiancee Hatice Cengiz. Reports on Saudi state media followed shortly after King Salman spoke on the phone to Turkey\s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan about the case.

The pair exchanged information and agreed to continue cooperation into the investigation, Turkish presidential sources said. Earlier police in Turkey expanded their search for Mr Khashoggi\s body, with unnamed officials saying his body may have been disposed of in the nearby Belgrad forest or on farmland. Turkey alleges he was murdered in the consulate by a Saudi hit squad.

SOURCE REUTERS AND AGENCIES
I have a Panasonic TH-65FX600A (3 weeks old) connected to an LG SG9 sound bar via an HDMI 2 high speed cable thru the ARC HDMI 2 port. A Pioneer bluray player is connected to HDMI 1 and a Panasonic bluray player/recorder is connected to the sound bar's passthru port. This setup was working perfectly with my previous TV. The problem seems to be with the ARC input on the Panasonic. Changing inputs sometimes causes the sound bar to loop between mute and sound requiring the sound bar to be turned off and on again. I want to use ARC just like the old TV, not an optical cable. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Cyprus Department of Antiquities, Ministry of Transport, Communications and Works, announces the opening, on Wednesday 31 October 2018 at 19:00, of an art exhibition by Dimitris Alithinos titled Hysteron, Proteron, Us at the Archaeological Museum of the Lemesos District. The exhibition is organized within the framework of the European Year of Cultural Heritage 2018, using the slogan Our heritage: where the past meets the future and will be open from 31 October 2018 until 15 January 2019.

Dimitris Alithinos is considered one of the most significant contemporary Greek painters, with a pronounced and systematic global presence. Born in Athens, in 1945, he studied painting at the Athens Supreme School of Fine Arts and at Romes Accademia di Belle Arti, as well as architecture at the Ecole Speciale dArchitecture in Paris. He has held several solo exhibitions, participated in group exhibitions and repeatedly represented Greece to international events and major Biennales.

From 1981 to the present date, in parallel to his visual art work, he develops Concealments of works and symbolic objects in various locations across the planet. The Concealments series are in effect rituals during which the works are hidden inside the earth in an effort to preserve memory and the passage of human beings through this planet. Alithinos has made 210 Concealments to date, within an ongoing life work that occupies an emblematic place in his artistic yield. Since 1993 he has participated in cultural and religious events and ceremonies across the globe, aimed to rescue local cultural particularities threatened with extinction due to the homogenizing tendencies of globalized economy. In 2013 a large retrospective by Alithinos was hosted at the National Museum of Contemporary Art in Athens. In 2015 he was honoured for his body of work from AICA Hellas, the Greek Association of Art Critics.

Aside visual art, Dimitris Alithinos has also produced literary work; in fact, another one of his achievements is the relevance between the two, stemming from his interest in the political and social reality. Alithinos nurtures an ecumenical perception of art, which he believes may function as a medium of alternative political thinking and social considerations, enabling in this way a conjunction between art and life.

Exploration of time features prominently in the work of Dimitris Alithinos. In this exhibition he creates within an archaeological museum where time does not exist  or where there is a multitude of times, conventionally determined. On display at the museum are archaeological objects, alienated from their original use, now exhibited as concepts and ideas. It is there where Alithinos endeavours to intervene and engage with such concepts by way of his own works that include products and waste of contemporary civilization. In this manner, the artist raises questions about the role and the potential of art in periods of transition. At the same time, he urges spectators to set out on this journey into memory, to speculate and define themselves based on the guidelines proposed by the artist himself. The title of the exhibition alludes to a rhetorical device (Hysteron Proteron) where what is put first is in fact temporally or logically subsequent.

The exhibition will be inaugurated by the Minister of Transport, Communications and Works, Ms Vassiliki Anastassiadou and the Ambassador of the Hellenic Republic to Cyprus, Mr Ilias Fotopoulos. A reception will follow.

On opening day, the public is invited to use the parking area of the Limassol District Court, adjacent to the Archaeological Museum.

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: Cyprus Tourism Organisation
Although he seems to be over here at least once a year to promote a movie, it now looks like Will Ferrell may be actually buying a home here in Ireland.

The Meath Chronicle is reporting that Ferrell has bought a holiday house in Mountnugent in Co. Cavan, on the banks of Lough Sheelin. The house, called 'Arley', is described by the sales agent Savills as an eight-bedroom house that comes with over 12 acres of land, a boathouse, a double garage, mature woods on the grounds, and a duck pond. For ducks, presumably.

According to the listing, the house and lands has only changed hands once in 400 years, as it was previously owned by Lord Farnham of Cavan, before the current house was built approximately 30 years ago by an unnamed Irish film industry executive, according to the Meath Chronicle's report.

There's no word yet on whether Ferrell has landed in Ireland to pick up the keys, however the actor - who claims descendants from Longford - isn't keeping much of the interior furniture, as there's a house clearance auction set for today and tomorrow as part of the sale.

If you're feeling nosey, here's the house listing on Savills.
The Greek side requested that the massive Chinese investment at the port, Greece's largest and busiest, should have an "added value" for the local and national economy

China's visiting Minister of Transport Li Xiaopeng has reportedly asked the Greek government to accelerate the process for approval of a master plan submitted by Chinese multinational Cosco for its Port of Piraeus Authority.

Li broached of the subject during his meeting on Monday with Greek Shipping Minister Fotis Kouvelis, which was also attended by China's new ambassador to Greece, Zhang Qiyue, along with Cosco president Xu Lirong.

Li also said Cosco's investment in Piraeus is an example of a "strategic option", and the basis for enhanced bilateral relations.

According to sources that spoke with "Naftemporiki" newspaper, the Greek side requested that the massive Chinese investment at the port, Greece's largest and busiest, should have an "added value" for the local and national economy.

On his part, the Chinese minister referred directly to Beijing's "Belt & Road" and the maritime "Silk Road" initiatives, as well as more advanced cooperation with Greece in the maritime transport sector.

Read more at naftemporiki.gr

RELATED TOPICS: Greece, Greek tourism news, Tourism in Greece, Greek islands, Hotels in Greece, Travel to Greece, Greek destinations , Greek travel market, Greek tourism statistics, Greek tourism report

Photo Source: pixabay.com
The three candidates, according to media, are ubadala Investment Co. one of Abu Dhabi's sovereign funds; San Francisco-based Farallon Capital Management, and the Onassis Foundation

Three binding offers have reportedly been submitted for the Henry Dunant hospital in Athens, once the flagship facility of the Hellenic Red Cross in the country before it was taken over by its principal creditor, Piraeus Bank.

The three candidates, according to media, are ubadala Investment Co. one of Abu Dhabi's sovereign funds; San Francisco-based Farallon Capital Management, and the Onassis Foundation.

The latter is a somewhat surprise development, one that nevertheless has caused some controversy, given that Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras last month appeared to intervene in the tender process to sell-off the bankrupt hospital. Speaking from Thessaloniki, the Greek prime minister insinuated that the debt-ridden facility was "stolen" from the state's clutches, as well as warmly referring to the prospect of the Onassis Foundation winning the tender and then granting the facility to the Greek state.

Based on unconfirmed media reports from market sources in Athens on Monday evening, ubadala has offered the highest bid in the non-binding phase, roughly 80 million euros; approximately 70 million euros by Farallon Capital Management.

At the same time, the Onassis Foundation has reportedly submitted a non-binding bid of between 40 to 60 million euros.

Piraeus Bank, among others, calculates the hospital's value at between 80 to 100 million euros.

Another report making the real estate market rounds in the Greek capital is a bid by a consortium comprised of two companies: one interested in the medical facility and its operation, and the other in property redevelopment.

Read more at naftemporiki.gr

RELATED TOPICS: Greece, Greek tourism news, Tourism in Greece, Greek islands, Hotels in Greece, Travel to Greece, Greek destinations , Greek travel market, Greek tourism statistics, Greek tourism report

Photo Source: Wikimedia Commons Copyright: Jon Harald Sby License: CC-BY-SA
The contract aims to finance new hotel investments in the country

Piraeus Bank this week announced a financing deal worth 40 million euros with Thomas Cook Hotel Investments, a consortium comprised of Thomas Cook plc and LMEY Investments.

The Greek lender is TCHIs primary credit institution in Greece, while the contract aims to finance new hotel investments in the country.

TCHI was founded in 2018 with the intent to acquire and operate hotels in Spain and Greece, which are among Thomas Cooks primary destinations for tour packages.

The consortiums current hotel portfolio in Greece includes only two hotels, in Crete and Rhodes islands, under the Sunwing brand.

Thomas Cook has a huge presence in the Greek tourism sector, bringing roughly three million visitors to the east Mediterranean country so far in 2018, a figure that ranks it first among international tour operators.

Read more at naftemporiki.gr

RELATED TOPICS: Greece, Greek tourism news, Tourism in Greece, Greek islands, Hotels in Greece, Travel to Greece, Greek destinations , Greek travel market, Greek tourism statistics, Greek tourism report
Saudi-based Islamic Research and Training Institute (IRTI) has partnered with Bank Indonesia and Indonesia Waqf Board to unveil a set of principles that will facilitate effective management of Islamic endowments to help harness potentials of the sub-sector toward resources mobilisation for development activities.

A unit of the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) Group, IRTI launched the Core Principles for Effective Waqf Operations and Supervision and Cash Waqf-Linked Sukuk last week in Bali, Indonesia, on the sidelines of the Annual Meetings of World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The Islamic endowments (awqaf, singular: waqf) are a significant component of Islamic social finance, which has attracted attention of development partners as a tool for harnessing resources to address poverty, promote economic inclusion, and foster social development.

IRTI Director General, Dr Humayon Dar said: "I am delighted to note that the launching of these core principles is another milestone for IRTI in its strides towards facilitating the development of Islamic social finance."

"This is a sector with huge prospects especially for IsDB member countries, and IRTI would be happy to continue to work with our partners to optimally harness the potentials of the sector," he noted.

This is the second joint initiative between IRTI and Bank Indonesia, following the successful launch of the Core Principles on Zakat Management back in 2016.

Lauding all stakeholders, Dr Dar said that such a collaboration is an excellent example of success of global partnerships for development of Islamic finance.

The launching was attended by Indonesian Finance Minister, Dr Sri Mulyani Indrawati, and Governor of Bank Indonesia, Dr Perry Warjiyo, while the IsDB President was represented by IsDB Vice President for Partnerships, Dr. Mohamed Jouini.-TradeArabia News Service
At least 60 people were killed and several others injured when two speeding trains mowed down people standing on the tracks near a railway crossing in Amritsar, said media reports.

The victims were standing on the railway tracks watching celebrations for Dusshera, a Hindu festival, when a train hit them at high speed on Friday, reported the Indian Express.

Dozens more were hurt in the accident, some of them seriously, and overwhelmed local hospitals ran out of space for the dead, forcing them to leave some bodies outside.

The disaster, near Amritsar in the north of the country on Friday, led to new demands for safety reforms to India's accident-plagued railway system, which records thousands of deaths each year.

Reports said the train hit scores of people who had gathered on tracks to watch the burning of a firework-packed effigy of the demon king Ravana for a Hindu festival.

Police said victims did not hear the Jalandhar-Amritsar express arriving because the noise was drowned out by firecrackers.

Another train had narrowly missed the crowds two minutes earlier, officials said.

It is not clear who, if anyone, had given permission for the event and officials are trading blame, reported BBC.

An inquiry into the incident has been ordered by the Punjab authorities, it stated.

On Saturday scores of victims' families gathered at the tracks, criticising the state government and demanding action against the train's driver. The families protests came even as reports emerged that Congress leader and Cabinet Minister Navjot Singh Sidhus wife Navjot Kaur Sidhu was the chief guest at the Ravana effigy burning event. The locals claim she continued to give the speech as people were struck down by the train. Later, she left immediately without helping the people. The angry people who had gathered at the accident site raised slogans against the Cabinet Minister and his wife. A state of mourning was declared in Punjab with offices and schools staying closed on Saturday as the first funerals for identified victims took place.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi described the incident as "heart-wrenching" and expressed his condolences.

"Extremely saddened by the train accident in Amritsar. My deepest condolences to the families of those who lost their loved ones and I pray that the injured recover quickly. Have asked officials to provide immediate assistance that is required," he said in his twitter post.

According to eyewitnesses, at one point, some of the crowd moved on to some railway tracks a short distance away, with some reports citing organisers' safety concerns about the effigy.

Many on the tracks had been busy filming the festivities on their phones at the time so did not hear or see the train approaching at high speed, they stated.

Meanwhile, officials have warned identification of all the victims could take several days.

Ordering the inquiry, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh described the incident as "absolutely tragic".

He said officials would do "everything possible" to assist the injured.

Ashwani Lohani, the chairman of the Railway Board, said it was "wrong" to hold the railways responsible for what had happened because they had not been made aware of the event, and people "are not expected to be on the tracks".

But local residents have told media the effigy burning is a regular local event there for every Dusshera.

"I've been seeing this event every Dusshera from here and this has never happened before, the railways should have stopped or slowed down the train," Deep Kumari, who was watching from her home, told Reuters news agency.
GFH Financial Group, one of the most recognized financial groups in the Gulf region, has announced its successful exit from Lost Paradise of Dilmun (LPOD) waterpark in a deal valued at $60 million.

The LPOD waterpark is one of the key components of Al Areen development, located in the southern region of Bahrain next to the formula one (F1) track race with a township spreading over 2 million sq m.

It is one of the largest standalone water parks in the Middle East and the largest in Bahrain. It accommodates over 170,000 people per annum and features 18 of the fastest and most exciting slides, fountains and waive pools in the Kingdom catering to all ages.

Commenting on the exit, CEO Hisham Alrayes said: "We are pleased with achieving another exit in our real estate portfolio. This has and remains a key focus for GFH, where we enhance the value of our real estate assets and exit to channel proceeds into other investment classes and yielding assets."

"Nevertheless, due to the importance of this asset to our Al Areen development, we have retained the right to operate and manage the Waterpark over the next 5 years. We expect the transaction to reflect with good profitability to GFH during the remaining financial period of the year," he added.
Accident cripples Indian worker in UAE, seeks help to return home

Abu Dhabi, Oct 19 (UNI) A 26-year-old man from Kerala, who sustained multiple injuries in backbone and fracture on both legs in a work-site accident here in August, sought help from the UAE government, to make arrangement for his return to India.

"I cannot walk without the help of crutches. There is severe pain in my back, when I sit down for a long period. I neither have the means nor the physical ability to go to the Embassy or any amnesty centre," Khater Mohammed Adnan told Khaleej Times on Friday.

Medical records showed that he was under treatment at the Mafraq hospital for two months in inpatient acute care, and was discharged on September 29.
Bangladesh: HRW slams crackdown on social media

Dhaka,Oct 19 (UNI) The Bangladesh government has embarked upon intensive and intrusive surveillance and monitoring of social media ahead of national elections, raising concern over a chilling effect on speech, Human Rights Watch said on Friday.

Draconian new laws and policies are being used to target political opponents, journalists, internet commentators, and broadcasters, the HRW said in a statement on its website.

National elections are due in Bangladesh in January 2019. Opposition parties and independent observers fear that the increasing crackdown on privacy and free expression is an attempt to limit speech and criticism of the government in the election period. The government claims these efforts are to stem harmful rumors, false information, or objectionable content to maintain law and order.
New Delhi, Oct 19 (UNI) Railways Minister Piyush Goyal on Friday said that the Railways is carrying out immediate relief and rescue operations at Amritsar train accident site.

'May God give strength to the bereaved and injured. Railways is providing all possible assistance at the site. I have cancelled all engagements in USA and immediately returning back to India,' Mr Goyal tweeted in his condolence message after the train tragedy struck at the crowded Jora Phatak.

"Shocked and deeply saddened by the tragic train incident that occurred in #Amritsar. My heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims. I pray for the injured to recover quickly. Railways is conducting immediate relief and rescue operations,' the Minister added.

UNI AE
Lithuanian Prime Minister says discussed pressure on Belarus with EU Commission head 18 Nov 2021 | 8:19 AM Vilnius, Nov 18 (UNI/Sputnik) Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte said she had held a phone conversation with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and called on the latter to exert pressure on Belarus to stop the migration crisis on the Polish-Belarusian border. see more..

Building collapses in Nigeria leaving 4 people dead, 5 injured: Reports 18 Nov 2021 | 8:16 AM Moscow, Nov 18 (UNI/Sputnik) A building under construction has collapsed in the Nigerian town of Magbon, near the city of Lagos, leaving four people dead and five more injured, media reported. see more..

US Air Force pays 9 defense contractors $2 4Bln to streamline development: Pentagon 18 Nov 2021 | 6:49 AM Washington, Nov 18 (UNI/Sputnik) Nine major defense contractors have won US Air Force modification contracts worth nearly a combined $2.4 billion to help the Department of the Air Force streamline prototype development, production and sustainment into a single effort, the Defense Department said. see more..

UN says IS expanding to nearly all Afghan provinces, Taliban unable to curb it 18 Nov 2021 | 2:35 AM United Nations, Nov 17 (UNI/Sputnik) The Islamic State-Khorasan terrorist group (IS-K, banned in Russia) is now expanding to nearly all Afghan provinces, with the Taliban (under UN sanctions for terrorism) being unable to stop it, UN Special Representative for Afghanistan, Deborah Lyons, said on Wednesday. see more..
New Delhi, Oct 18 (UNI) India on Thursday exuded confidence that the mandate of the people of Maldives will "prevail" and asserted that New Delhi is looking forward to work closely with the new dispensation under President elect Ibrahim Mohamed Solih.

"In keeping with our 'Neighbourhood First' Policy, India looks forward to working closely with the Maldives in further deepening our partnership," MEA spokesman Raveesh Kumar told reporters here.

He said - "India has consistently held the position since the imposition of emergency early this year (in Maldives) that there was a need to protect the democracy in the Maldives and preserve the mandate of the people. India welcomes the acceptance of the verdict of the people of Maldives".

"This election marks not only the triumph of democratic forces in the Maldives, but also reflects the firm commitment to the values of democracy and the rule of law. We are confident that the mandate of the people will prevail," he said.

Answering questions, Mr Kumar said: "You are aware that we have welcomed the successful completion of the third Presidential election process and have congratulated Ibrahim Mohamed Solih on his victory".

He pointed out that Prime Minister Narendra Modi also spoke to President elect Solih and offered his personal congratulations.

"Other world leaders have also welcomed the successful conduct of the elections," he said.

Meanwhile, reports from Male said the President elect Solih's party has urged the police to impose a travel ban on outgoing President Abdulla Yameen so that he can face investigations in connection with graft cases that the new ruling regime will launch.

It is generally understood that during the recently held elections in Maldives, the Indian government and various other global powers were in favour of a regime change.

UNI DEVN AR 1758
Sukhbir Badal expresses shock and grief at Amritsar tragedy

Chandigarh, Oct 19 (UNI) Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal on Friday expressed shock and grief at 50 persons being run down by a train while escaping bursting crackers from Ravanas effigy at a Dussehra celebration at Amritsar.

In a statement here, the SAD president while expressing his condolences with the bereaved families, urged the Punjab government to provide adequate medical attention to the injured.

He said he had spoken to the SGPC President and requested him to provide free medical facilities to the injured persons at the Guru Ram Das hospital run by the institution.
Theres no doubt that wine is romantic, and that this romance inspires and motivates consumers and producers alike, especially in the new world, where wine as a profession and wine as a beverage are adopted, rather than hereditary. The popular discourse of wine remains so littered with near-mythical stories of people following their passions to create great wines and great wineries, that we all too easily forget that basic principles of economics always apply. No amount of passion can compensate for wine that consumers just dont want to buy, or that a winery owner cant figure out how to sell (as they are different but often related problems).

All of that, by way of introduction to a winery named Vinoptima, in the out-of-the-way wine growing region of Gisborne, on New Zealands North Island. Started by wine industry veteran Nick Nobilo in 2000, Vinoptima may be one of the worlds most unique wineries, given its dedication to a single grape variety. Now, there are wineries around the world who make only Cabernet. Some who make only Riesling. But as far as I know, Vinoptima is the only winery dedicated solely to Gewurztraminer.

Nobilo, you see, has something of an obsession with the grape, which began as far back as 1972, when he planted the very first vines of the variety in New Zealand. After working with it for three decades (and falling deeper in love with it in every passing vintage) Nobilo established Vinoptima in 2000 with the planting of a block of Gewurtztraminer in Gisborne, which he harvested in 2003 for the winerys first vintage.

Gewurtztraminer is a grape made famous in the Alsace region in France, which has somewhere around one third of the roughly 20,000 acres that are planted around the world. The grape is of ancient origin, and is actually one of three primary variants of Savagnin, which is a genetic parent to many, many modern grape varieties, not least of which are Chenin Blanc, Sauvignon Blanc (and therefore Cabernet Sauvignon), Trousseau, Gruner Veltliner and Verdelho, among others.

The other main regions producing Gewurtztraminer (also known in places as Tramin, Traminer, or Savagnin Rose) include the United States, Italy, Germany, Australia, and Hungary. It is one of the most distinctively aromatic grape varieties on the planet, with an unmistakable, often heady perfume of lychees, rose petals, and orange blossom water. The grape also has a natural bitterness, and is therefore often made with a bit of residual sugar to offset this bite. Made well, which in my book usually involves maintaining the often elusive acidity it may possess, Gewurtztraminer can be mind-bendingly aromatic and incredibly complex. The best dessert-style wines made with the grape (n.b. Domaine Weinbach in Alsace) are ambrosia-like and otherworldly.

At Vinoptima, Nobilo farms about 20 acres of the grape in the township of Ormond just north of Gisborne, and produces several styles of Gewurtztraminer, from off-dry to a deeply sweet botrytized version, in his immaculate winery that he says is custom designed from scratch to be run by just two men. His modest goal? To make the worlds best Gewurztraminer.

Im not sure he would ever be able to reach the heights to which the grape has been elevated in Alsace over the centuries, but the wines have consistently won awards and received scores in the 90-point range from critics (my own tasting notes on a number of vintages follow below.)

But theres just one problem.

No one wants to buy Gewurztraminer, said Nobilo, when I visited him in 2017. Not even the people who used to drink it all the time, he continued.

When I met with him, the congenial, ruddy-cheeked and white-haired Nobilo struck me as a man who had done reasonably well for himself after five decades in the wine industry. I privately speculated that his was a passion project that could potentially weather the lack of demand for some time.

But one unavoidable truth of the wine industry is that unsold wine gradually becomes a serious problem. And so it seems to have become for Vinoptima. I read with some sadness this week that with 100,000 liters of unsold wines in vats (roughly two vintages worth), Vinoptima has gone into receivership, which is what passes for bankruptcy in New Zealand.

Its a sad ending for a project begun and maintained with such singular passion, and a cautionary tale for those who believe that merely making excellent wine is the key to success in the wine industry.

Here are my notes on several of Nobilos vintages.

2004 Vinoptima Gewurtztraminer, Gisborne, New Zealand

Light yellow gold in color, this wine smells of orange blossom and lychee and honey. In the mouth, lightly sweet flavors of orange peel, lychee, and honey have a slightly spicy aspect, coating the palate and lingering with butterscotch notes in the finish. Has 20 grams per liter of residual sugar but finishes fairly dry. Moderate acidity. 14.5% alcohol. Score: around 9. Cost: $100. click to buy.

2006 Vinoptima Gewurtztraminer, Gisborne, New Zealand

Medium gold in the glass, this wine smells of orange peel and rose petals. In the mouth, weighty, silky flavors of orange peel and rose petals and honey with hints of lychee and a touch of lemongrass lingering in the finish. Despite moderate sweetness up front, the sugar doesnt linger on the palate. 13.5% alcohol. 18 grams per liter residual sugar. Score: between 8.5 and 9.

2008 Vinoptima Gewurtztraminer, Gisborne, New Zealand

Medium gold in color, this wine smells of orange blossom water and lychee. In the mouth, strong lychee fruit mixes with orange peel and pomelo pith, lingering slightly bitter on the palate, along with a striking wet chalkboard kind of minerality. The wine starts off sweet, but doesnt coat the palate. 14% alcohol. 15 grams per liter of residual sugar. Score: around 9.

2010 Vinoptima Gewurtztraminer, Gisborne, New Zealand

Light yellow gold in color, this wine smells of exotic flowers like tuberose and orange blossom. In the mouth, lithe flavors of pomelo and mandarine orange mix with lychee and very pretty minerality. Only faintly sweet, the wine has a wonderful wet chalkboard finish scented with lychee. 13.5% 13 grams per liter of residual sugar. Score: between 9 and 9.5. Cost: $70. click to buy.

2007 Vinoptima Noble Gewurtztraminer, Gisborne, New Zealand

Light to medium amber in color, this wine smells of a touch of chamomile flower, candied orange peels, honey, and dried apricots. In the mouth, silky, thick, very sweet flavors of apricot and butterscotch and tinned peaches still have a slight grip on the palate and a remarkable wet chalkboard character that emerges on the finish that leaves the mouth feeling rather cool and refreshed, instead of coated with sugar. Quite pretty. Not picked until the middle of June, when the select rows of grapes are fully botrytized with noble rot. 110 grams per liter of residual sugar, 11% alcohol. Score: around 9.5.
Daredevil Blindsided Season 3 Episode 4 Editors Rating 4 stars * * * *  Previous Next  Photo: Nicole Rivelli/Netflix

In the streaming era of television, you need a calling card to get noticed. A standout episode or moment that does a thing thatll encourage viewers to give it a Friends name when they talk about it  you know, The One With the [fill in the blank]. Daredevil wasted no time in doing this in 2015, closing out its second episode, Cut Man, with a dramatic, continuous hallway fight in which an exhausted Matt takes out a whole apartment full of bruisers on his way to rescue a kidnapped child. It was a good play, even if it was nakedly chasing a trend spurred on by True Detectives famous single-take shootout of the year before, and riffing on Oldboys signature desperate corridor brawl.

Funny thing though: Daredevil didnt just keep doing it, just about all the Netflix/Marvel shows kept doing it. Maybe they werent all continuous shots, but put a Defender in a corridor (or all of them in a corridor) and a fight was never far behind. Unfortunately, none of them worked as well as Cut Man, because none of them really bothered to root themselves in an episodes narrative  Cut Man works not because its impressive, but because theres a kid at the end of the hallway, and 40 minutes preceding it underlining how Daredevil is a hero that pushes himself through tremendous physical abuse to do what he does.

This is all to say that the centerpiece of this episode, a continuous prison fight in which Matt takes on a small army of inmates and guards, out-of-costume, through multiple corridors, is maybe the best fight a Marvel/Netflix show has pulled off since Cut Man. Narratively, the fight is about Matts dogged quest to answer a question: Why is Fisk targeting the Albanians, specifically?

He does this by stopping by his old apartment to don an old suit (the double-breasted kind) and catching a cab up to the prison where an old client of his is an inmate. Using Foggys credentials and his powers to pass as a sighted man, Matt tries to get his source to tell him about Vic Jusufi, the Albanian leader locked up there with him, and thats when he gets scared, and punches Matt, lest he be seen as a snitch. This is where everything goes wrong for Matt.

It goes down like this: After getting punched, hes made to see an orderly in an exam room for liability reasons. Only the exam room is deep in the prison, and the orderly locks him in the room and attacks him, partially drugging him with a syringe. Then Wilson Fisks calls  by means not quite clear to us, he can tap into the security cameras to see Matt, and also call him. He tells Matt that hes never letting go of the threat against Vanessa he made during their encounter in season two, hangs up, and unlocks the door, leaving Matt to fight  pretty much the entire prison.

Thus begins the most ambitious action sequence Daredevil, or any Marvel/Netflix show, has attempted thus far. Its 10 brutal minutes of escalating violence and desperation, raising the stakes as Matt gets closer to his goal. Doubly impressive is the fact that director Alex Garcia Lopez and crew decided to pull this off with Matt out-of-costume, making it that much more difficult to swap out Charlie Cox and his stunt double  if youre looking for it, its not hard to notice, but since its all in the service of putting together a terrific action sequence, it works.

So. Matt fights the orderly, who nearly drugged him. Matt fights some inmates, who have been told to take him out. He fights more inmates. He finds some guards and thinks hes safe  just kidding, he has to fight them too. The prison goes into lockdown, red lights begin to strobe. Hes accosted by another inmate, and brought into a locker room  still styled as a continuous tracking shot, making the whole affair extremely intense. Matt finds he has the attention of Vic, who tells him that Fisk put out a hit on himself while in prison, offering to arrange freedom to a man with a life sentence if he would shank him, giving him the pretense to push for his current arrangement. Matt asks for this former inmates name; if he can find him, he can get a confession, and evidence that Fisk is playing everyone.

Matt gets his name: Jasper Evans. Now he has to get out, with the help of an Albanian in a guard uniform and the camera, never resting, following them all the way through a full-on prison riot, back to the taxi Matt paid to wait outside for him.

This should have been the whole episode. Were 33 minutes in, and cutting to anything else feels wrong and also exhausting, like someone asking you to go for a brisk jog after youve done your share of wind sprints. Alas, there are 20 more minutes of TV here, and its a bit more thematically relevant than it may seem, despite its disjointed presentation.

Put simply, this is an episode in which men are confronted with forces that chip away at their pride and identity, and they react poorly to it. Thats the heart of why Matt went to the prison in the first place  Fisks presence anywhere outside of prison is an affront to him, a violation of Matts sense of purpose and meaning. Similarly, Foggy  whos felt directionless but finds himself galvanized by the Fisk scandal  decides at the suggestion of his girlfriend Marci to not hide, but to campaign against Blake Tower as a write-in candidate in the District Attorney race. To hide from Fisk by not hiding at all, seeking security in the crowd. His first move is to stab Tower in the back, appearing at a police union event and getting Detective Brett Mahoney to get the cops to listen to him, only as he uses his podium to turn the cops against Tower and endorse him. I dont know where this is going, but it feels like too much, too fast  the kind of brash, hasty move thats going to bite Foggy in the ass.

Meanwhile, Agent Rahul Nadeems pride as a law enforcement officer is being undermined at every turn. Hes a guy whos brought in the Kingpin of Crime, and he finds out that his son is too scared to sleep at home, and Poindexter  the agent who saved his life  is under scrutiny from the Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) because the official report conflicts with forensic evidence. Poindexter didnt take the Albanians down as a law enforcement officer should have, he just gunned them down, and OPR is close to figuring that out. So Nadeem, off-the record, tells Dex that, even as OPR officials arrive to interview Fisk to get his account of the motorcade attack.

Fisk sees Poindexters pride, and continues to exploit it despite the outward displays of contempt Dex shows him. He lies in Dexs defense to the OPR agents and looks dead at the camera when they leave, knowing Dex would see it. He postures as someone whos been humiliated and brought low, so he can sweet-talk Dex and tell him how he deserves to be commended for his service, and not treated with suspicion. And by the time hes done, it looks like Dex might finally be ready to listen.

Karen Page doesnt get a lot to do this episode  she has a scene where she pulls a gun (most likely to re-establish that she carries, and to remind us that shes killed) on some catcallers and threatens them in a sequence too brief to really say much about. Karen is starting to fray, doggedly chasing the Fisk shell game story, and has also learned that Matt is back but in hiding for some reason. Mitchell, it would seem, is right  Karens too close to this story.

But at the very least, shes not Matt Murdock, who wakes up in the back of the cab he passed out in after the prison riot to find someone else driving it, and too fast. Right into the river.
Photo: Mark Bourdillion/ABC

Without question, season three of The Great American Baking Show, the U.S. spinoff of the popular U.K. original, was an unmitigated disaster. Just a few episodes in, the show was pulled off the air after co-judge Johnny Iuzzini was accused of sexual harassment and abuse by former female employees. The rest of the show never aired, though it was later revealed that New York Citys own Vallery Lomas had won the competition.

As originally reported by blog Reality Blurred, the show will return on December 6 with one new host and one new judge. (Judge Paul Hollywood and host Anthony Spice Adams have stayed on.) Adams will be joined by Spice Girl Emma Bunton, a.k.a. Baby Spice, replacing Ayesha Curry, whos moving on to her own show, Family Food Fight. And Iuzzini will be replaced by reality-TV chef Sherry Yard, best known for her appearances on Cutthroat Kitchen, Iron Chef America, Food Network Star, and Top Chef: Just Desserts, as well as her time working for Wolfgang Puck. The new season will be a holiday edition as part of the networks 25 Days of Christmas, so expect a lot of gingerbread and more powdered sugar than usual.
Photo: Larry Busacca/MTV1617/Getty Images for MTV

Despite Kanye West and President Trumps increasingly chummy (and just plain baffling) relationship, Wests wife, Kim Kardashian, has spoken out numerous times about how she doesnt agree with his political ideology. She previously said, for instance, how she cried and fought over Wests comments about slavery, and also asserted that West isnt well-informed about the intricacies surrounding Trumps administration. However, in a new interview with Richardson magazine, Kardashian admitted the mens relationship has afforded her opportunities that wouldnt be otherwise possible, so shes just going to keep her head down and try to do good.

I am aware that Kanye speaking out in favor of Trump got me through the door  got him to pick up my call, Kardashian explained. Ive always had different opinions than Kanye. But when I went there, and when I saw what could be done, I realized that I could get more done if I just stayed focused on the issue I was passionate about instead of complaining. While not directly naming it, Kardashian was referring to her White House meeting with Trump about prison reform earlier this year, where Kardashian plead her case to grant clemency to Alice Johnson  a 63-year-old who was sentenced to life in prison without parole for a first-time, nonviolent drug offense. Trump pardoned Johnson a week later, but not before the meme factory churned out some content to forever immortalize the tete-a-tete.
Top prosecutors from across Europe gathered today at Eurojust in The Hague to tackle the ever-changing challenges of cross-border terrorism and migrant smuggling, share new strategies in using the European Investigation Order, discuss developments in the area of e-evidence and prepare for the new Eurojust Regulation. The 13th meeting of the Consultative Forum of Prosecutors General and Directors of Public Prosecutions of the Member States of the European Union (the Consultative Forum) works towards making the cooperation between judges, investigators and prosecutors in the European Union simpler, quicker and stronger.

This year's meeting was co-hosted by Ms Asya Petrova, Deputy Prosecutor General of Bulgaria, and Ms Barbara Goth-Flemmich, Head of the International Criminal Law Department of Austria, in the context of the Bulgarian and Austrian Presidencies of the Council of the European Union. Consultative Forum members stressed the importance of comparing problems and solutions, and sharing admissible evidence, including e-evidence, to help practitioners involved in international criminal investigations deliver more and better results in less time. They also pointed out the need to promote the work of Eurojust as the EU's judicial information hub and to use judicial cooperation tools, such as the European Investigation Order (EIO), more often and more efficiently.

Ms Petrova said: The channels used by migrants and asylum seekers to pass through Bulgaria are often also used by terrorists and human traffickers. This situation creates a major challenge for our country and requires a higher level of scrutiny and a coordinated approach at European level to identify the threats against, and be able to ensure, peace and security on the continent.

Ms Goth-Flemmich said: Crime does not stop at national borders. Therefore, it is of utmost importance to strengthen the cooperation between the prosecution services in the European Union and beyond. The Consultative Forum provides a key platform to discuss new developments in our common fight against transnational crime.

Mr Ladislav Hamran, President of Eurojust, said: At Eurojust, we serve the joint vision of justice for all our fellow European citizens. This year, Eurojust had once more the special honour and pleasure to welcome at its premises top prosecutors from all EU countries. The Consultative Forum is a unique opportunity for them to share national best practice and work more closely together towards the common goal of protection, security and justice.

Counter-terrorism

Among the main topics of the Consultative Forum's meeting were developments in national legislation in the area of counter-terrorism, current challenges and lessons learned from investigations of terrorism cases, as well as the experience gained through judicial cooperation between EU Member States and third States with the support of Eurojust and Europol. Forum members looked into effective mechanisms to both prevent and combat transnational terrorism, such as the enhanced sharing of information. The conclusions of Eurojust's annual meeting on counter-terrorism for 2018 were also presented to the Forum's participants.

Eurojust priority areas

This year's meeting paid special attention to Eurojust's operational activities in key crime areas, such as migrant smuggling, faster and easier access to e-evidence, with Eurojust in a coordinating role, as well as the effective implementation of the European Investigation Order (EIO), allowing for direct exchange and networking between the judicial authorities of different States. To that effect, the members of the Forum took note of the conclusions of this year's Eurojust meeting on migrant smuggling and Eurojust meeting on the EIO. The President of Eurojust also seized the opportunity to share his future vision of digital justice in the European Union, in which operational data is exchanged in an automated, structured and secure manner.

New Eurojust Regulation

Forum members were informed about the EU's new judicial landscape following the reform of Eurojust, and the establishment of the European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO). The new Eurojust Regulation is in the final stages of the legislative procedure, awaiting formal adoption by the Council. The new Regulation will provide Eurojust with a new governance set-up and the basis for cooperation with the EPPO, and will be aligned with the EU framework on external relations and data protection. Forum members reflected on the impact of these changes and new opportunities to reinforce judicial cooperation against serious cross-border organised crime.
NAACP Gala Banquet at Walker Hall

Oct. 20, 2018

By Oct. 20, 2018

The Annual Paducah/McCracken County Branch of the NAACP Freedom Fund Banquet will be held on Sunday, November 4, at 2:30pm at the Walker Hall Event Center on Madison Street.



Defeat Hate-Vote is the theme for this year's Banquet.



The Freedom Fund Banquet is an annual fundraiser that supports our NAACP programs and helps them reach the underserved populations within the community. For more than 50 years, this local branch has fought to give a voice to many that confront discrimination in all forms. They work toward improving education, cultural awareness, economic/equal housing opportunities, and civil rights.



The keynote speaker for the Freedom Fund event will be Leon Owens, President of Swift and Staley, Inc., of Paducah. 



The small business government prime-contractor is 100% employee owned and recognized as an exceptional infrastructure support services company. Before being named president, Owens held positions of increased responsibility ranging from Human Resource Manager, Operations & Maintenance Manager, Corporate Development Manager, and Chief Operating Officer. Prior to that, he worked 15 years as a production operator at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant. Owens earned a bachelors degree in political science from Eastern Illinois University, and a masters degree in business administration from Murray State University.



The Paducah-McCracken Co. NAACP will also present the Annual Curlee Brown Award to former Paducah Mayor Gerry B. Montgomery. Recipients of the 2018 Boyles/Coleman Scholarship, awarded to African American students attending WKCTC, will also be recognized.



Sponsorships for the event are available at $100 to $1,000 levels, and tickets are on sale now. Single tickets are $15 for students 17 and under, $35 for single tickets and $60 for a pair. Tickets are also available that include a year's membership in the NAACP or a lifetime membership.



Call the NAACP office at 270-444-6583 for more information.
By WestKyStar & Shawnee College Staff Oct. 20, 2018 | 05:49 PM | ULLIN, IL

Community members are invited to enjoy a pancake breakfast with Belle from the SCC production of Beauty and the Beast! Kids will enjoy story time with Belle in addition to a photo opportunity! Gaston has been rumored to make a special appearance and will be challenging any boys to an arm wrestle challenge! Tickets are $5 for kids and $10 for adults.





Contact Julie Oliver (618-638-4431) for tickets. All tickets must be purchased before the event. The last day to purchase will be October 22nd.



Upcoming performance tickets are also still available for purchase by contacting Stacy Simpson for at 618-634-3375.



Shawnee Community College Theatre Department is hosting a Breakfast with Belle event on October 27, from 9-11 am on the main campus of the college. This family event precedes the colleges upcoming performance of Disneys Beauty & the Beast performances on November 1st-3rd.
By WestKyStar & Mercy Health Staff Oct. 20, 2018 | 05:37 PM | PADUCAH

Our real passion is to send a patient home with their heart as healthy as possible. says Brenda Milam, RN, Clinical Manager of Cardiovascular Unit at Lourdes To see these patients now, back to their normal lives, is not only special to me but to our entire cardiovascular team.





The Mercy Health cardiovascular team used a small implantable device, known as the Impella heart pump, on these heart patients. The Impella provides minimally-invasive, temporary support to assist the pumping function of the heart, allowing it to rest and potentially recover. More than 60,000 patients in the United States have benefited from Impella heart pump support.



Mercy Health hosted a Heart Recovery Reunion on Friday that honored heart attack and heart failure patients. This group of men and women joined their families, physicians, nurses and staff to celebrate their survival. Dr. James ORourke spoke to the group about how Mercy Healths innovative technologies are helping save lives.
Benton Police remind residents to keep dogs on a leash or on their property
Advertisement

By West Kentucky Star Staff

Oct. 19, 2018 | PADUCAH

By West Kentucky Star Staff Oct. 19, 2018 | 02:28 PM | PADUCAH

A man was arrested Thursday on multiple charges after he was named a suspect in two different investigations.



According to the Graves County Sheriff's Department, a deputy took a complaint on Thursday from a man who reported someone had vandalized his excavator at a gravel pit on Neeley Road in Mayfield. The man said someone had cut hydraulic hoses and may have poured unknown substances into the equipment's fluid tanks. Investigation led to David James being named as a suspect.



Deputies learned that another complaint was filed earlier in the week with Kentucky State Police about a stolen vehicle, and James was also a suspect in that case. They checked at a home where family members reportedly lived, but didn't find him. However, when they returned to the gravel pit, deputies say they found James sitting in the stolen vehicle.



He was arrested, and a search of the vehicle led to seizure of marijuana and methamphetamine.



James was taken to Graves County Jail on charges of receiving stolen property valued under $10,000, possession of meth 2nd offense, possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia, and criminal mischief 1st degree.
Photos: Screen of Dine activist photo by Rebekah Miles and a Trump supporter (from Video)

We were assaulted today at the trump rally in Mesa, Az. We were standing in the side of the road, exercising free speech... Of course the assault happened in front of Mesa Police https://t.co/0l4hJ1m5MF October 20, 2018

VIDEO

"We were assaulted today at the trump rally in Mesa, Az. We were standing on the side of the road, exercising free speech..." said Amanda Blackhorse, a Dine activist."Of course the assault happened in front of Mesa Police Department- a trump supporter bull dozed his way thru our crowd knocking over a woman and others. My property damaged in the process. The police watched and did nothing. The woman in the video above is only one of very many, I was able to get this on camera as we were marching. trump spoke in Mesa, in an airport hanger, miles from the city. This was the perfect spot for them, far from the larger crowds that would face him in the city streets. The line to the event was endless, men, women and children with red hats, harassing us, saying vile things, and even following us to our cars." wrote Amanda Blackhorse on her twitter.President Donald Trump supporters turned out in droves for his Mesa rally, while few protesters were spotted in the crowd of red.Many in the Mesa crowd at the International Air Response hangar at Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport wore "Make America Great Again" hats. Others were dressed in red, white and blue shirts. Signs saying "Drain the Swamp" and "Trump Pence" were plentiful.Thousands of cellphones were raised taking photos and videos as Trump's helicopter arrived in Mesa at about 6:45 p.m. Women supporters blew him kisses, and the crowd chanted "USA" as he walked through the crowd.Mr. Trump continued his attacks on Democrats, whom he called an "unhinged mob.""Vote for the jobs, not for the mobs," he said, adding that the Republican majority was "very fragile." He urged rally goers not to be "complacent." He also targeted some Democrats by name, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who recently released a DNA test proving that she has a Native American ancestor in response to attacks from Mr. Trump."We can no longer call her Pocahontas! I don't know what I'm going to do," Mr. Trump said of Warren, claiming the test showed that she had no "Indian blood."
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The anti-concessions struggle of the 1,030 workers at the ABI aluminum smelter in Becancour, Quebec is in grave danger.

On October 5, the Quebec governments special mediator, former Quebec Premier Lucien Bouchard, announced he was suspending negotiations, because the companya majority Alcoa-owned joint venture with Rio Tinto Alcanand the United Steelworkers (USW) are too far apart.

ABI workers must face facts: the strategy pursued by the United Steelworkers has led them into a dead end. Confident that the union will continue to leave the ABI workers to fight alone, the aluminum bosses have repeatedly upped their concession demands. Yet the USW persists in diverting workers energies into futile attempts to pressure big business politicians, including Quebecs newly-elected right-wing populist premier, Francois Legault, and Alcoa and Rio Tinto shareholders to come to their support.

Speaking after the collapse of the six-month mediation-negotiation process mentored by Bouchard, the Steelworkers Quebec Director Alain Croteau admitted the union had repeatedly made concessions ... But the employer added so much that even what was settled was no longer settled.

ABI locked out its workforce on January 11, after they had massively opposed managements attempt to eliminate the defined-benefit pension plan and gut seniority rights. Since then, the company has demanded new concessions, including the elimination of 20 percent of the workforce through retirement. The union, without giving details, also stated in early October that ABI is demanding the reopening of the previously agreed upon management rights section of the new contract.

ABI workers have powerful allies. In Quebec, as in Canada and around the world, workers are determined to oppose the big business offensive on their jobs, living standards and social rights. In the United States, tens of thousands of fellow members of the USW, including thousands of employees of the multinational ArcelorMittal, have voted to go on strike to oppose the steel bosses demands for further wage cuts, health-care premium increases and other concessions.

It is to this social force that ABI workers must turn. But the leaders of the United Steelworkers and the Federation des travailleurs du Quebec (FTQ), to which they are affiliated, are dead set against mobilizing their hundreds of thousands of members to defend the workers at Becancour, for such a struggle would cut across their cozy corporatist relations with the employers and big business politicians.

Until two weeks ago, Alcoa employees in Western Australia were on strike for 53 days to oppose the same employer offensive. But both the USW and the Australian Workers Union were determined to keep the two struggles separate and apart. What the unions fear is that a genuine working-class mobilization in support of the ABI workers would require defying anti-worker laws and court injunctions, including those that have allowed the company to continue functioning one of its three Becancour smelters, and serve as the spearhead of a working-class counteroffensive against capitalist austerity.

In a transparent attempt to justify its opposition to any class mobilization, the Steelworkers continue to insist that the lockout is not part of a global drive of the aluminum bosses to squeeze more profit out of workers, but rather a manoeuvre aimed at pressuring the provincial-owned Hydro-Quebec to lower ABIs electricity rates.

The aluminum bosses, however, openly boast that they are determined to increase productivity, i.e., profits, at ABI so as to ensure the smelter remains internationally competitive.

In a recent press release, ABI said that during the lockout it has been able to test new production methods on the one smelter that it has continued to operate. This experience, it claims, has shown that it can maintain production rates while reducing the number of employees, thereby boosting profitability and ensuring the Becancour operations long-term viability.

The multinationals Alcoa and Rio Tinto want to make an example of the workers in Becancour and impose similar concessions and changes in the pace and organization of work at their other facilities in Canada and around the world.

The union is obscuring all this, because it demonstrates the urgency of all Alcoa and Rio Tinto workers joining forces to thwart the efforts of these multinationals to pit workers from different countries against each other and reduce working conditions and employment ever downward so as to swell investor profit.

The high-paid bureaucrats who head the USW agree with the bosses that workers jobs and wages must be subordinated to capitalist profit. Since the company locked out the ABI workers last January, USW Local 9700 President Clement Masse has repeatedly said that the union has agreed to important concessions, including to the pension plan, and that it is ready to cede more. Masses only complaints are that the company refuses to negotiate in good faith and its concessions demands are too extreme.

Following the collapse of negotiations, the union has launched an email campaign aimed at persuading Alcoa and Rio Tinto shareholders that the lockout is a bad business decision.

This manoeuvre is worse than worthless. It is aimed at demobilizing the ABI workers and their supporters, while underlining the unions concern for the companys bottom-line.

This ploy is completely in line with the corporatist policy that the USW and the trade union bureaucracy as a whole have been pursuing for decades. Since the 1980s, the unions have been systematically smothering, isolating and sabotaging workers struggles, while working with employers and governments to impose wage and job cuts. Politically, this has been expressed in the unions steadfast support for parties that have imposed austerity and supported Canadas rearmament and participation in a series of US-led predatory wars. In Quebec, the USW has long been a bulwark of the big business Parti Quebecois.

Now the FTQ and USW are offering to work with Quebecs new right-wing populist CAQ government. This includes claiming that Premier Legault, a former Air Transat boss and advocate of privatization, deregulation and social spending cuts, can be pressured into helping the locked out ABI workers reach favourable terms with management.

If the ABI workers are to prevail in their determined struggle against concessions and job cuts, they must seize control of it from the USW. This requires, as a first step, establishing a rank-and-file action committee dedicated to mobilizing the class strength of the working class against Alcoa and Rio Tinto. Such a committee should seek to rally support from industrial and public sector workers across Quebec, the rest of Canada, in the US, and beyond, as part of the development of an international working-class offensive against all concessions, capitalist austerity and anti-worker laws.
Media reports that Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena told his cabinet on Tuesday that Indian intelligence was plotting to assassinate him have created a political furore in Colombo and New Delhi.

Sirisena has denied making the remarks. The response to the alleged comments, however, has revealed deepening conflicts between the coalition governments ruling partnersSirisenas faction of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghes United National Party (UNP).

The controversy over Sirisenas alleged remarks comes as the government is increasingly wracked by mounting economic problems and social opposition to its widely unpopular austerity measures. Above all, the governments deepening crisis is bound up with the geopolitical rivalry between India and the US on the one hand and China on the other.

Wickremesinghes UNP holds the majority of MPs in the ruling coalition. Sirisena has the allegiance of only two dozen SLFP MPs. The majority of the SLFPs parliamentary representatives have lined up with Sirisenas arch rival, former president Mahinda Rajapakse. Two dozen SLFP MPs quit the government last month, expressing support for Rajapakse.

The Hindu, a prominent Indian newspaper, carried a report on Wednesday alleging that Sirisena told a cabinet meeting the previous day that Indian intelligence was trying to kill him. He reportedly said that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi may not be aware of the plan. The Sri Lankan media covered the claims.

Nervous that the reports would cause frictions with New Delhi, Sirisena telephoned Modi on Wednesday to deny that he had made the remarks. India, along with the US, is pushing for greater strategic ties with Sri Lanka, as part of a confrontation with China.

Indias ministry of external affairs issued a statement repeating that Sirisena categorically rejected the media claims. According to the statement, Sirisena told Modi that the allegations were mischievous and malafide, intended to create misunderstanding between him and the Indian prime minister and to damage the cordial relations between the two friendly neighbours.

The media outlets that reported the claims are sticking to their story. Many of Sri Lankas largest news outlets are aligned with the competing political factions.

Claims of a plot to assassinate Sirisena were first made by a police informant named Namal Kumara at a media conference last month. Kumara claims he has a voice recording of a conversation involving Nalaka de Silva, Sri Lankas Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG), discussing a plan to kill Sirisena.

Kumara stated that an Indian citizen was also involved in the conspiracy. Police later arrested and detained M. Thomas, an Indian national. The Indian High Commission has described him as a mentally unbalanced person.

Kumara is a dubious individual, who is posing as the leader of an anti-corruption movement.

Silva was in charge of the Terrorist Investigation Division (TID). The government interdicted Silva on Wednesday. Both he and Kumara are being investigated by the Criminal Investigation Department.

On Thursday, Port and Shipping Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe, a Sirisena loyalist, accused ministers of giving false information to the Hindu to damage relations between the president and Modi. Samarasinghe did not name the ministers but implied they were from the UNP.

The Presidents media advisors told a separate press conference on Thursday that the government, by which they meant the UNP, is not interested in investigating the assassination plot. These remarks would not have been made without the presidents approval.

Cabinet spokesman and health minister Rajitha Senaratne told a press conference the previous day that there was not sufficient evidence yet to prove Kumaras claims of a conspiracy.

The differences between Sirisena and Wickremesinghe have nothing to do with the democratic and social rights of working people. They are over how to best advance the interests of the corporate elite.

Sirisena came to power in the January 2015 elections, ousting former President Mahinda Rajapakse. He exploited widespread opposition among workers and the poor to the previous governments attacks on democratic rights, austerity measures and atrocities carried out in the war against the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.

The US and India backed the regime-change in Colombo. Both were hostile to the Rajapakse governments ties to Beijing. Sirisena immediately signalled that his government would deepen Sri Lankas alignment with Washington.

However, amid a deepening economic crisis, including mounting debt problems, the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe government has been forced to turn to China for financial aid.

In a bellicose speech last month, marking an escalation of US plans for war with China, Vice President Mike Pence cited the Sri Lankan governments Hambantota port deal with China Merchants Port Holdings as an example of Chinese debt trap diplomacy.

Pence declared that Sri Lanka took on massive debt to let Chinese state companies build a port. Two years ago, that country could no longer afford its payments, delivering the new port directly into Chinese hands, he stated. Pences comments underscored intense US hostility to Chinas influence on the island.

The government has also been compelled to obtain an International Monetary Fund bailout loan tied to a drastic austerity program aimed at slashing the fiscal deficit by increasing the price of essentials and gutting social spending on subsidies, health and education.

These attacks have provoked a spate of social struggles involving railway, postal and ports employees, along with teachers and other sections of the working class. Students have carried out continuous protests against the privatisation of education. Farmers and fishermen have taken action against cuts to subsidies. And some 200,000 plantation workers are protesting to demand a 100 percent wage increase.

The trade unions, backed by the pseudo-left groups, have played the key role in preventing these struggles from developing into a political confrontation with the government.

Last Februarys local elections underscored the deepening unpopularity of the government. Sirisenas SLFP came third and the UNP second, while the majority of seats were won by Rajapakses faction.

The government is also being squeezed by a currency crisis, with the Sri Lankan rupee depreciating by 11 percent this year. This is part of a trend throughout the region wracking India, Pakistan and other so-called emerging markets.

Admitting that the economic crisis is turning to the worse, Wickremesinghe last week stated that he hoped all parties will shed their political differences and support the government to overcome this crisis.

Sirisena has hypocritically sought to distance himself from his own governments austerity measures. He has claimed that corruption is the main cause of mounting economic problems and has publicly criticised ministers and state officials. This week, he demanded the resignation of the boards of the Bank of Ceylon and the Peoples Bank over alleged corruption. UNP ministers have expressed opposition to the move.

Sirisena is also seeking to promote nationalism to divert mounting social anger in reactionary directions.

Shipping Minister Samarasinghe presented a paper to this weeks cabinet meeting calling for the development of Colombo Ports eastern terminal by the national ports authority. Wickremesinghe countered the proposal, saying the government had already agreed to develop the terminal with Indian investment. Sirisena declared this was inimical to the countrys sovereignty.

Stating that he cant work with Wickremesinghe, Sirisena even tried to establish an agreement with Rajapakse on a proposal for a caretaker government. The media reported that the two held a secret meeting last month. Neither Rajapakse nor Sirisena denied the claims. Rajapakse, however, appears to be aiming to exploit the government crisis to form an administration that he leads.

In an interview with the Hindu last month, Rajapakse said: A government must be strong and speak in one voice. He warned that investors were turning away as there was no stable government in Colombo. Rajapakse is rallying Sinhala chauvinist groups and appealing to the military, accusing the government of victimising war heroes.

The competing factions of the ruling elite have all signalled that they want to deepen Sri Lankas ties to India and the US.

Wickremesinghe flew to New Delhi on Thursday for discussions with Modi on Indian investments in Sri Lanka.

In September, Rajapakse visited New Delhi to seek its blessing if he was to form a future government.

The infighting within the Sri Lankan political establishment expresses a deepening crisis of capitalist rule. Each of the competing factions are calculating how best to advance the interests of the capitalist class, by lining up with the major powers and deepening the offensive against working people.

These developments underscore that workers can only defend their rights by turning to an internationalist and socialist program aimed at establishing a workers and peasants government. The Socialist Equality Party alone advances this perspective.
Following a 96 percent strike vote, 25,000 employees at the University of California are preparing for a three-day strike from Tuesday, October 23 through Thursday, October 25. This is the largest group of service and patient care workers in California, represented by the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME).

AFSCME is the largest of the fifteen unions in the UC system, representing its lowest-paid workers, over 8,000 of whom are service workers and 13,000 patient care workers. They will be joined in a solidarity strike by the University Professional Technical Employee-Communications Workers of America (UPTE-CWA), which represents 15,000 UC communications workers.

For over a year, AFSCME has kept its 25,000 members on the job without a contract. Their current contract expired June 30, 2018 and workers have been kept completely in the dark about the negotiations between the union and UC.

AFSCME claims that the University of California has locked them out of negotiations, offering 3 percent across-the-board raises for each year of the contract and the elimination of step increases for five years. Additionally, the union states that UCs current proposal raises the retirement age to 65 and provides no wording to prevent contracting-out of jobs.

Despite the empty phrases by AFSCME about opposing contracting out jobs, the unions have put up no fight against this practice, subcontracting jobs to outside companies and UCs own Temporary Employment Services (TES). Workers at subcontractors are paid as much as 53 percent less than UC career workers, in addition to receiving only catastrophic health benefits if any, and can be fired for any reason, including for calling in sick.

According to an AFSCME report in 2015, UC uses at least 45 private contractors which employ thousands of workers, who work alongside UC employees performing jobs as custodians, security officers, parking attendants, and food service workers.

UC claims subcontract workers provide temporary relief when staffing levels are low. However, since low staffing levels are predominately the new normal, heavier workloads result in staggering rates of injury. Injuries have increased by 19 percent for service workers at UC Berkeley since 2010, with an alarming 41 percent jump in injuries for custodians.

Workers on social media have expressed anger and hostility that they have been kept in the dark about the state of negotiations and the contract and also point to plans by AFSCME to raise union dues by two percent in January 2019. One worker warned, Get it, they [AFSCME] are deceiving you. They work together [with UC]. In turn, the union is not doing its job for their people. Another complained that the union is raising our dues AGAIN in January to 2%, so really what are they fighting for. Us or them selves. Screw AFSCME and their political agenda.

Another noted: 3% is not a raise, they will take it in parking & healthcare. There is a bigger picture here, our retirement, & job security. You don't accept a 3% raise while agreeing to 401k, emergency lay off, & raising healthcare. They are the largest employer in the state & just greedy to the max. There is no reason we should give in to such a ridiculous offer from UC. Also they are saying we make much more than people nation wide, for example, Texas. Well guess what? Texas rent is $300 while CA rent is $3000. We are only asking for a living wage, they are raking in money constantly, they can give us what we want.

Workers should recall that in February 2014, 96 percent voted to strike, and the union cancelled the scheduled March strike days just days before, accepting a concessions contract and hailing it as a victory for AFSCME. Of course, the 2014 victory has done nothing to prevent workers from sinking even further into poverty and below a living wage.

At the time, AFSCME president Kathryn Lybarger said, This proposed agreement reflects compromise on both sides, improves safety in UC Hospitals, and honors the important contributions that Patient Care Technical Workers make to the UC Health system every day.

The 2014 contract handed UC administration its top priority of pension reform. This resulted in workers having to pay 2.5 percent more out-of-pocket into their pensions, which amounted to a cut in real wages after the paltry three percent across-the-board wage increases. The current proposal put forward by UC not only increases pension contributions by workers, but offers a 401(k) package to new hires as an option, while it is clear this will be the model for the future. UC administration and the ruling class as a whole view pensions as an unnecessary drain on profits.

AFSCME has admitted that 99 percent of service workers [are] currently income eligible for some form of public assistance, and some full time UC workers [are] even living in their cars. Of course, the union has never explained why it continues to negotiate these poverty wages.

Some workers have also spoken out about a recent report by AFSCME, Pioneering Inequality, which stressed that the real travesty is racial inequality among the lowest paid, as for example, that a Latino female service worker makes a dollar less an hour than her white male counterpart. The report suggested that the issue is not that workers are paid poverty wages, but low wages should be more equally distributed among the races. One worker proclaimed on social media, Stop making it about race and gender. The bottom line is administrators are overpaid. Everyone else is underpaid.

The union is seeking to sow even more division within its ranks by pitting combinations of races and genders against each other. Earlier this year when UC police brutally arrested AFSCME worker David Colea 51-year-old housing and dining services employee, during a lunchtime protest, the union proclaimed the police assault was racially based, and made no mention that a worker demanding a living wage and safe staffing had been attacked at a labor rally.

UC unions all have as a No Strikes clause for the duration of contracts, and verbiage that if a strike is planned the UC administration must have 10 days notice to seek scab labor and lessen the impact.

UC has balkanized the workforce and bargains with at least 15 different unions to keep the workers from organizing and linking their similar struggles for a living wage, health and retirement benefits, and safe staffing levels for both patients and workers.

The behemoth UC system reported global assets of $109.8 billion. The University of California is the largest non-governmental employer in the state of California, which in turn is the worlds fifth largest economy, with a GDP larger than that of United Kingdom.

The UC system plays a critical role in setting the bar for wages and working conditions throughout the state and beyond its borders. According to the UC Office of the President, the institution generates more than $46 billion in economic activity in California and supports 1 out of every 46 jobs in the state.

While UC workers are in a powerful position, they face a great enemy in the UC administration and Regents, composed of the highest levels of the Democratic Party-controlled state. Eighteen of its 26 board members are hand selected by the Governor of California, and seven are ex officio members, comprised of the current Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Speaker of the State Assembly, State Superintendent of Public Instruction, president and vice president of the Alumni Associations of UC, and president of the University of California.

The calculated placement of Janet Napolitano, the former Secretary of Homeland Security under President Barack Obama, as President of UC regents is part of preparation by the financial oligarchy in anticipation of upheavals among workers and students.

A 2016 study by Occidental College found that 70 percent of all UC clerical and administrative employees face food insecurity, with 45 percent reporting very low food security stating that they often skip meals and go without food because they cannot afford it.

Among UC students, 42 percent report food insecurity, and within that 23 percent report at very low levels. Five percent of UC students reported in surveys that they experienced homelessness, and among students without the support of family or parentsthe number is twice that, ten percent.

AFSCME workers must link up with other UC workers, temporary, and subcontract workers to form rank and file committees, independent of their unions which are bound to the Democratic Party. Only these organizations, democratically controlled and elected by workers, can break through the isolation of a repeat of 2014s three day strike charade, and expand it to other UC workers, students and beyond who face the same conditions.

The author recommends:

Who are California Governor Jerry Browns appointments to the University of California Board of Regents?

[10 September 2018]
Today marks one year since the death of Jacoby Hennings, a 21-year-old temporary part-time worker at Fords Woodhaven Stamping Plant, just south of Detroit. In the year since the tragedy of October 20, 2017, there has been no serious investigation into the circumstances surrounding Jacobys death, which police declared a suicide.

Known as Coby by family and friends, this popular youth, with some 2,000 Facebook friends, did not fit the profile of a despondent or suicidal individual. From birth, he had been nurtured by a close-knit community of autoworkers, including his parents, Shemeeka and Bernard Jr., and dozens of aunts, uncles and cousins. Three years out of high school, he worked as a part-time temp at both Ford and Fiat Chryslers Warren Truck plant, hoping to follow in his familys footsteps and become a full-time worker.

The horrific news of Jacobys sudden and unexpected death sent shockwaves throughout Detroit-area plants. Hundreds of autoworkers attended the young mans funeral, and workers contributed thousands of dollars at plant gate collections for the grieving family. Three months ago, hundreds of family, friends and co-workers gathered at a Coby Day memorial picnic to express solidarity with his family.

Essential facts surrounding the death of Jacoby remain shrouded in secrecy. Police say Jacoby was involved in an unexplained labor dispute with United Auto Workers officials, but no explanation has been provided about what his concerns or grievances were or how the UAW responded. Based on statements from union officials, police say the young man waved a gun at them during an hour-plus meeting in the UAW plant chairmans office, and then shot himself as police charged up the stairs and confronted him.

After taking these statements and gathering physical evidence, the Woodhaven police closed their investigation in less than 24 hours. A Woodhaven police detective told the WSWS that what happened during the meeting in the UAW office or what Jacobys concerns were had no bearing on their investigation and conclusion. This is ludicrous.

With the exception of a perfunctory statement the day of the incident, UAW officials from the national headquarters in Detroit and Local 387 have been completely silent. They did not even communicate with Jacobys bereaved parents.

In statements to the police, which were immediately picked up by local news media, UAW officials claimed that the young man appeared under the influence of drugs or alcohol. This slander was refuted by the autopsy performed by the Wayne County Medical Examiner, obtained by the World Socialist Web Site, which found nothing in the young mans system except caffeine.

The corporate media portrayed Jacobys death as yet another senseless workplace shooting by a disgruntled employee. After sensationalized news coverage of SWAT teams and helicopters descending on the plant, the media dropped the story the next day. This is in keeping with the mainstream media in general, which ignores the realities of working class life in capitalist America, making no effort to document or analyze the growing number of injuries, fatal accidents and suicides in workplaces.

While the mainstream media has remained silent, the WSWS has uncovered important information and provided a voice to the Hennings family and other autoworkers who have demanded a full investigation.

The specific details of the events of October 20, 2017 must be exposed. There is no question that if the victim had been a corporate executive, the police would have undertaken a thorough investigation. A working class family who lost a loving son, and autoworkers in general, deserve no less.

An understanding of the causes of Jacobys death must take into account the circumstances of the tragedy.

First, the brutal conditions in factories and workplaces across the US. Second, the abandonment of any shop floor representation by the UAW and other unions, which function not as mechanisms for advancing the interests of workers, but as tools of corporate management to increase their exploitation. As a direct result, the working class, and in particular the younger generation of workers, has been thrown back to conditions of industrial slavery that resemble 19th century sweatshops.

The Woodhaven Stamping Plant, which produces truck body sides, floor panels and other metal parts for the companys top-selling pick-up trucks and other vehicles, is a case in point. In interviews with the World Socialist Web Site, workers describe a brutal shop floor regime ruled over by Ford management and its UAW agents. Under a special competitive cost structure agreement, more experienced legacy workers have been pushed out of the plant and replaced by low-paid second- and third-tier workers, making as little as the $9 Michigan minimum wage.

The UAW physically segregates more experienced workers from the new-hires like Jacoby, who are relegated to a part of the plant known as the ghetto and forced to take on jobs that would have been performed by three older workers. The purpose is to prevent older workers from schooling the younger ones about resisting speed-up and unsafe conditions. The TPTs [temporary part-time workers] are treated like slaves, one veteran Woodhaven worker told the WSWS, whether they are black or white.

According Jacobys mother, four months after her son was hired into the plant, he stopped the production line because of unsafe conditions. She attributed her sons courage to the frequent discussions Jacoby had with his great-grandfather, Johnny Maye Sr., who had migrated to Detroit from Alabama and had participated in the battles that united black, white and immigrant workers to build the UAW in the 1940s.

Coby stopped the line when they wanted him to work when it was unsafe, Shemeeka told the WSWS. He started the issue and they didnt like it because they were losing money Coby wasnt a kid. He wasnt scared. But they dont want someone who has their eyes open. The company and the union were probably saying, 'Who does he think he is?' They thought that he was just a little temp with nobody behind him.

In the year since Jacobys death, the corruption scandal that has engulfed the UAW has confirmed that this organization is nothing but a paid enforcer for corporate management. Top union executives took millions in bribes to sign pro-company contracts, which destroyed the eight-hour day, established multi-tier wage and benefit systems, ending the principle of equal pay for equal work, and vastly increased the number of highly exploited TPT workers, who pay union dues but have no rights.

New organizations of struggle, including factory and workplace committees, must be built. These organizations, democratically controlled by rank-and-file workers, must be independent of the UAW and other corporate-controlled unions, and base themselves on the principles of the class struggle, not labor-management partnership. They must take up the responsibilities long abandoned by the UAW and champion the cause of young workers like Jacoby Hennings by fighting for workers control over production and industrial democracy.

The entire ruling class would like to reduce workers to docile slaves who believe they cant fight back. But the popular outpouring in response to Jacobys death expresses a countervailing movement, one that has been seen more broadly this year in the outbreak of strikes and mass working class protests by teachers and other sections of workers in the US and around the world, along with the increasing interest in socialism by a new generation of young workers and students.

Not just the death, but the courageous life of Jacoby Hennings, should propel workers and young people forward in the struggles that lie ahead.
President Donald Trump announced at a Cabinet meeting Wednesday that he would be requesting a five percent cut in the budget of each department for the 2020 budget, which is due to be submitted to Congress early next year.

Speaking to Cabinet secretaries at a meeting in the White House, he stated, There are some people here at the table, Im not going to point you out, but there are some people that can do substantially more than that. Because now that we have our military taken care of, we have our law enforcement taken care of, we can do things that we really werent in a position to do when I first came.

Translated from Trumps bluster into plain English, the president is declaring that now that CongressDemocrats as well as Republicanshas approved a record military budget, as well as tax cuts for the rich, its time to cut spending for everything else.

Trumps proposal comes amid the most rapid growth of the federal deficit since 2012. In fiscal year 2018, the deficit rose to $779 billionan increase of 17 percent over the previous yearaccording to figures released by the Treasury Department on Monday. The last time the deficit was this high was in the aftermath of the Great Recession, when the federal government was busily funneling money to the banks.

In 2018 too, handouts to the wealthy are responsible for the soaring deficit, in this case the $1.5 trillion tax cut for corporations and the wealthy enacted last December.

The White House has defended the proposal for across-the-board cuts, even though budget analysts have said that the cuts would not make much of a dent in the deficit, while devastating many federal agencies and programs. From Trumps standpoint, the deficit is a positive political factor because it can be used to generate a crisis atmosphere to justify cuts to social programs.

The budget Trump submitted to Congress last year proposed the dismantling of 62 different federal agencies. Congress refused to adopt the plan, instead sending a $1.3 trillion budget, which he grudgingly approved. He stated, after signing the budget, that he would never sign another bill like this again.

On Wednesday, Trump reiterated his support for increasing military spending at the expense of domestic programs, claiming that before he took office, The military was falling apart, it was depleted, it was in very bad shape.

Most of the federal government, about three-quarters, has funding secured until the end of September 2019. The departments of Agriculture, Justice, Transportation, and Homeland Security are among the agencies whose funding will run out on December 7. Congress is currently discussing budgets for those agencies in an attempt to stave off a partial government shutdown.

The House of Representatives approved $71.8 billion and the Senate approved $71.4 billion for the Departments of Transportation and Housing and Urban Development. This would amount to more than $1 billion above current spending for each department; it amounts to more than $23 billion over the Trump administrations proposals.

The Department of Veteran Affairs has a budget of about $200 billion for fiscal year 2019. Included in that budget is a paltry $200 million for suicide prevention programs, $400 million to address the growing scourge of opioid addiction, and $8 billion for mental health care services. The cuts proposed by Trump will cut deeply into these programs, leaving the human costs of permanent war largely unaddressed by the government that has caused those wars.

Trumps professed concern about the federal deficit is laughable given the massive tax breaks he pushed through on behalf of corporations and the wealthy. The Congressional Budget Office attributes most of the growth in the deficit to these cuts. While most analysts agree that the proposal is aspirational and will be rejected by Congress, it is yet another signal that, in the face of continued attacks upon working-class living standards, military funding will continue to increase while social programs will remain under attack.

Military spending for 2019 is projected to be nearly $900 billion, counting both the regular Pentagon budget, the Overseas Contingency Operations slush fund that pays for wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the war on terror, and the nuclear weapons programs of the Department of Energy. Last year, $700 billion was budgeted for the Pentagon alone.

Democrats have used the growing deficit to attack Trump, but Obama himself approved higher military budgets, and military spending has increased steadily year after year. Republicans have, in turn, blamed Democrats for using military spending as leverage to maintain social spending, but again, Obama oversaw and approved cuts to programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, once known as food stamps) during his two terms. Funding for SNAP sits at $84 billion for fiscal year 2019, a fraction of military spending.

Trumps demands may not be fully met, but they set down a marker for the next Congress, pushing the official budget debate even further to the right, setting the stage for even greater attacks on the social programs on which workers and these families depend.

The deficit is predicted to reach $1 trillion by this time next year. Neither Democrats nor Republicans have acknowledged the main drivers of the deficitceaseless warfare coupled with bailouts for Wall Street. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, in a statement October 16, called the deficit very disturbing but suggested that spending on entitlement programs like Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid was to blame.

He added that these programs could only be cut with the cooperation of the congressional Democrats, which might even be facilitated by the Democrats winning control of the House of Representatives. I think its pretty safe to say that entitlement changes, which is the real driver of the debt by any objective standard, may well be difficult if not impossible to achieve when you have unified government, he told Bloomberg News.
The official death toll from Hurricane Michael rose to 36 on Thursday. Thousands more residents are struggling to recover and survive. Those who evacuated last week and have been allowed to return home for the first time have arrived to a scene of utter devastation. Mexico Beach, Panama City and other areas hardest hit by the storm have the appearance of a war zone, with nearly every structure reduced to rubble.

An estimated 400,000 people are still without power in Florida. Motorists continue to form lines hundreds of cars long to buy gas for their cars and generators. Cellphone service is still unrestored in much of the impacted area, and freshwater and sewage systems in many areas are not functioning.

Residents left homeless by the hurricane have filled tent cities and makeshift refugee camps. Curfews have been imposed, including from 6:30 p.m. to 6:30 a.m. in Bay County, which includes Panama City, Lynn Haven and Mexico City. Local police have reported arresting dozens of residents desperate for food for looting every night. Thousands of National Guard troops have been deployed throughout the area.

Everywhere, the massive volunteer effort in support of the storms victims contrasts with the inadequate and repressive response of state and federal authorities.

Authorities have acknowledged that the death toll is likely to climb, as residents currently listed as missing will soon be presumed dead. In addition to those who are buried beneath the debris in the cities, there may be many more in remote, rural areas whom rescuers have not reached. Still others may have been carried out to sea in the storm. Efforts to identify victims have been hampered by the fact that the offices of the county medical examiners were damaged in the storm and are still without power.

Dr. Jay Radke, the medical examiner for Bay County, told the New York Times that most of the deaths in his county thus far were so-called medical fatalities, not arising from physical injuries during the storm, but nonetheless caused by it, perhaps because of missed dialysis or a heart attack connected to yard cleanup.

Among the ruins of Mexico Beach, one large house remained relatively unscathed and has been the subject of multiple news reports. Built in recent years by a wealthy Tennessee attorney who lives part-time in Florida, the house was constructed with the most modern safety features and is said to be designed to withstand winds of up to 250 miles per hour. That it stands amid hundreds of destroyed homes is a direct illustration of the role social inequality plays in determining who is most impacted.

The hurricane has produced an ongoing ecological catastrophe. In the latest example of its long-term impact, 80,000 gallons of untreated sewage discharged from a wastewater treatment plant compromised by the storm led to a large-scale fish die-off downstream in Apalachicola Bay. Waterways across the panhandle also face pollution from the runoff of industrial and agricultural chemicals during the flooding.

Governor Rick Scott, who is running for the Senate seat held by longtime Democratic Senator Bill Nelson, has exploited the human tragedy caused by the storm for his campaign. In an ad released this week, Scott claims, over footage of staged photo ops of him handing out emergency supplies, that he is personally leading the recovery effort. He claims to be personally housing first responders in his homethe governors mansion in Tallahassee.

Scott has also managed to overcome the alleged fear of voter fraud that led him to sign 2011 legislation that restricted early voting to reduce turnout among likely Democratic Party voters. Scott has signed an executive order that allows counties impacted by the hurricane to expand early voting days and locations. Though the roughly 200,000 voters in the affected counties only comprise approximately two percent of the states electorate, they typically give a large majority to Republican candidates and could decide a close election.

The impact of Hurricane Michael could have been even greater had it landed in a more densely populated area, rather than the relatively sparsely inhabited Panhandle region. Had the storm moved slightly east and made landfall in the Tampa Bay area, home to 3.5 million people, it would have killed at least 2,000 people, according to a study performed eight years ago by the Southwest Florida Regional Planning Council on the potential effects of a category five storm. The study projected that nearly half a million homes would be destroyed, along with 10,000 businesses. It also estimated that the storm surge in downtown Tampa would reach up to 26 feet.

The conclusions of the planning council are likely an underestimation, as the population in that area has since grown by another million. The study also projected a five-day window to evacuate residents between hurricane formation and landfall, a longer period than the 73 hours Michael took to develop in the Gulf of Mexico.

Indeed, the speed at which Michael developed from a tropical storm into a major hurricane is an indication that even the worst-case scenarios envisioned by climate scientists are being exceeded by events. Hurricanes are fed by warm ocean waters, and last month was the warmest September in recorded history. The waters in the Gulf of Mexico are said to be two to four degrees warmer this year than average, a phenomenon that is directly attributable to global warming.
Mexican federal police attacked and fired tear gas at a crowd of over 4,000 Honduran immigrants seeking entry to Mexico at its southern border with Guatemala yesterday. The migrant caravan left San Pedro de Sula, Honduras last Friday en route to the United States.

The decision by police to push back a crowd gathered on the narrow international bridge over the Suchiate River nearly provoked a stampede with potentially deadly consequences.

As it was, hundreds of women and children were injured and many youth jumped off the bridge in a desperate attempt to swim to the Mexican side. The massive crowd had just overrun a barrier set up by the Guatemalan government just south of the river.

Trump, meanwhile, escalated his threat to close the border and deploy the military to the US-Mexico border if Mexico does not stop the caravan with force.

We're calling up the military, not the guard, we're calling up the military and we're going to have the military stationed, he said Friday afternoon. They're not coming into this country. They might as well turn back."

Speaking at an Air Force Base before a rally in Phoenix, Arizona late Friday night, Trump called the caravan members criminals, spewing xenophobic rhetoric in a bid to boost turnout in the upcoming midterm elections among his base.

They put all the women and children up front, he said. Do you think theyre giving us their finest? These countries are not stupid, they give us people they dont want, and we need a wall.

In response to a question as to whether the immigrants were criminals, Trump responded, Oh please, dont be a baby, take a look. Look at whats happeningThese are hardened criminals. These are tough, tough people and I dont want them in our country.

At a press conference that took place amid Fridays crackdown, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo issued a thinly veiled threat:

President Trump's been clear about the largest issue we face today. We are quickly reaching a point which appears to be a moment of crisis: record numbers of migrants. [Mexican Foreign] Secretary [Luis] Videgaray and I spoke about the importance of stopping this flow before it reaches the US borderIf we can do this right we will improve the relations between our two countries materially as well.

At Fridays press conference, Videgaray praised Pompeo and the Trump administration, agreeing that Mexico will have to apply the law against the migrant caravan.

Mexican Interior Secretary Alfonso Navarette denounced the caravan yesterday for trying to enter the country with force and in a violent manner, labeling the caravans request to enter the country an atrocious act. The Mexican government has pledged to deport those without papers, though it began letting a trickle of immigrants cross the border from Guatemala after Fridays bridge standoff.

The migrant caravan, comprised mostly of workers and peasants, has galvanized broad popular support across Central America and Mexico. Residents of Mexican and Guatemalan border cities brought water and food to the Hondurans after yesterdays police attack. The Mexican governments crackdown on the Honduran caravan has been met with outrage by the Mexican people, the bulk of whom have family or friends who have immigrated to the US and faced similar repression from US immigration authorities.

Caravan participants are escaping brutal conditions of poverty and state violence, enforced by American imperialism. In 2009, the Obama administration and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton instigated a coup detat against the countrys elected president, Manuel Zelaya, initiating a reign of terror that continues to this day.

Many immigrants have expressed the opinion that they would rather be killed traveling to the US than be forced to return to Honduras, a society in total collapse. Two thirds of the country lives in poverty, police regularly collaborate with drug cartels and the government operates death squads to assassinate dissidents. Despite this, the Trump administration ended temporary protected status for 57,000 Honduran immigrants in the US, putting them at risk of deportation.

The government enjoys close relations with Washington, which tripled funding to the Honduran police and military over the course of the Obama administration to over $350 million per year. The US currently stations 500 to 600 troops at the Soto Cano Air Force base in the department of Comayagua. In the 1980s, the US operated the contra death squads employed in ethnic cleansing during the Nicaraguan Civil War out of Honduras.

We are nervous but we are still joyful, a young immigrant told Telemundo yesterday as a Mexican police helicopter flew overhead. We are good people, we are peaceful, but we need jobs. There are no jobs in Honduras,

We are men, we are all equal, another participant said. The crowd chanted: We are not traffickers, we are immigrants (no somos traficantes, somos inmigrantes)!

A 12-year-old boy named Mario David Castellanos Murillo was arrested by Mexican police on the international bridge yesterday after making the journey from Honduras by himself.

He has become an internet sensation in Honduras as a result of his bravery and good-natured speaking abilities. He previously told reporters he was traveling to the US to earn money for his epileptic mother as well as because of the gangs, because of all the violence, because we had no money and if you work, the money you earn is what you are robbed of. I want to study and work. An image taken of his arrest went viral on social media Friday.

US workers must recognize these immigrants as their brothers and allies in the fight against corporate exploitation and imperialist war. Together, they confront the same enemies: Wall Street, the American military-intelligence agencies that dominate the globe, and their corrupt puppets that run the governments of Latin America.

The fight for social equality means opening up the borders to allow the most exploited and oppressed to travel the planet as they please without fear of deportation or harassment.
The Saudi Arabian monarchial regime finally admitted late Friday that dissident Saudi journalist and Washington Post correspondent Jamal Khashoggi was killed on October 2 inside its consulate in Istanbul, Turkey. The acknowledgment comes after more than two weeks in which Saudi officials insisted that Khashoggi left the consulate unharmed and that they had no knowledge of his whereabouts.

The admission that Khashoggi was in fact killed was presented by the countrys chief public prosecutor in a statement delivered on national television. It was made in the face of detailed reports by Turkish investigators that a 15-man team of Saudi intelligence agents, with close ties to the heir to the throne and de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, was flown into Istanbul to assassinate Khashoggi. The journalist was viewed with hostility by the Saudi regime because of his criticisms of the crown prince and the murderous US-backed war being waged by Saudi Arabia in Yemen.

Khashoggi had visited the consulate on September 28 to finalise divorce proceedings from his Saudi wife so he could marry his Turkish fiancee. He returned on October 2 to pick up documents.

Turkish officials say that audio and video recordings in their possession show that the journalist was seized by the hit squad and brutally tortured and murdered, after which his body was dismembered and taken out of the building in suitcases by the Saudi operatives. The remains may have been flown to Saudi Arabia, though Turkish police have been conducting searches in forested areas on the outskirts of Istanbul.

The alternative version of events advanced by the Saudi regime is a fantastic and brazen attempt to substantiate its absurd claim, echoed by the Trump administration, that rogue killers carried out the murder without the knowledge of the crown prince or other key figures in the Saudi ruling elite. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo held meetings with Saudi King Salman and the crown prince on Tuesday, during which they agreed that an accounting of what had happened to Khashoggi would be presented.

The prosecutor asserted that the intelligence team had gone to Istanbul because Khashoggi had indicated an interest in returning to Saudi Arabia. A discussion developed in a negative way and led to a fight and a quarrel between some of them and the citizen. The fight purportedly aggravated to lead to his death and their attempt to conceal and cover what happened. The Saudi monarchy, he declared, expresses it deep regret at the painful development and stresses the commitment of the authorities in the Kingdom to bring the facts to the public.

The prosecutor stated that 18 unnamed people had been arrested in connection with Khashoggis death. It appears that this group will be the patsies offered up by the regime as the rogue elements who carried out the killing and sought to conceal it from the government.

Five top-ranking Saudi officials have been removed from their positions but not charged with any crime. They are the crown princes advisor Saud al-Qahtani, deputy intelligence chief Major General Ahmed as-Assiri and three other generals in the countrys military-intelligence apparatus. The official Saudi news outlet reports that the king has ordered an unspecified restructuring of the General Intelligence Presidency, the countrys main intelligence agency.

The commission to pursue the investigation and oversee the reorganization is reportedly to be headed by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman himself.

Almost universally, the Saudi narrative is being dismissed in the US political and media establishment and around the world as a crude attempt at cover-up based on an improbable patchwork of lies.

Ahead of the US congressional elections, the Democratic Party and publications such as the New York Times and Washington Post are seeking exploit the situation to denounce Trump for his well documented financial relations with the Saudi monarchy and his endorsement of its cover-up of the murder of Khashoggi.

Times correspondent Nicholas Kristof wrote in an op-ed piece published this week: The United States should quietly make clear to the Saudi royal family that the Mad Prince has gone too far not just with this murder, but also his war in Yemen, his confrontation with Qatar, his kidnapping of Lebanons prime ministerand will forever be tainted. A murderer belongs not at state dinners but in a prison cell.

Such rhetoric from the Democratic Party-linked faction of the American establishment is the height of hypocrisy. The brutal, semi-feudal dictatorship in Saudi Arabia has been backed by US imperialism for over 80 years. The near-genocidal war that Saudi Arabia is waging against the people of Yemen was launched in 2015 with the full support and assistance of the Obama administration.

Moreover, Donald Trump is far from alone in the American capitalist class in reaping benefits from relations with the Saudi royal family. The Clinton Foundation, for example, has received up to $25 million in Saudi donations since it was founded in 1997.

For all the feigned indignation over the criminality revealed in Khashoggis murder, the US government and ruling class will come together to ensure the stability of the Saudi regime. It is one of American capitalisms main assets in the Middle East and among the top international purchasers of American military hardware.

More immediately, the Trump administration intends to rely on Saudi Arabia to increase its oil production to prevent major price rises when harsh new US sanctions go into effect against Iran on November 5, following Washingtons unilateral renunciation of the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action under which the Iranian regime curtailed its nuclear program.

Washington will be particularly concerned over any sign that the fall-out from the assassination fuels what is already burgeoning discontent in Saudi Arabia and mounting demands for sweeping social change. Seven years after the revolutionary movement that swept the Mubarak dictatorship from power in Egypt, the oil-rich country looms large as a potential scene of mass political upheaval.

To the extent that calls are made by factions within the US ruling class and the state for token democratic reforms in Saudi Arabia, and even for the sidelining of the crown prince, the sole motivation is fear of a social explosion against the monarchy and a desire to dampen unrest and prop up the regime.
Workers at McDonalds, TGI Fridays, JD Wetherspoons, UberEats and Deliveroo recently struck in several cities, culminating in a rally in central London. Workers at the five food-delivery, restaurant and pub chains took part in coordinated strikes October 4.

Staff at several McDonalds branches previously struck in September 2017, in the first such action in the UK. Some also took part in what was dubbed the McStrike in May this year.

In the 2017 action, a small group of McDonalds workers from the Crayford and Cambridge branches struck to demand a wage of at least 10 an hour, secure working hours and the right to form trade unions. This May, a larger group of workers from branches in Manchester, Watford, Crayford and Cambridge walked out, opposing zero-hours contracts and the appalling working conditions in many restaurants.

In January, McDonalds announced the biggest raise workers at the company had seen in a decade, but pay remains abysmal. For workers under the age of 18, hourly compensation can start from as low as 5.75. Workers aged 25 or over receive a starting salary of 8 an houronly 17 pence above the national minimum wage. The new pay rate only applied to staff members at company-owned McDonalds branchesabout a quarter of all restaurants. The roughly 90,000 remaining workers in UK franchises were not affected.

McDonalds CEO Steve Easterbrook was paid 16.57 million last yeara raise of 4.7 million, or 42 percent over his 2016 pay.

This months strikes, dubbed the Fast Food Shutdown, saw workers from McDonalds, TGI Fridays and JD Wetherspoons pubs again call for a pay rate of 10 an hour and an end to insecure working conditions. UberEats couriers are demanding 5 per delivery and a further 1 per mile travelled as a minimum. Around 50 couriers and supporters temporarily occupied the lobby of Ubers London headquarters.

The McStrike movement has specifically aligned itself with the Fight for $15 campaign in the US. Last Septembers strike was timed to coincide with the US Labor Day fast food workers strike. That obtaining such a low wage is now considered to be a major objective is testament to the drastic degradation of the conditions and pay of the working class over the last decades.

This assault on the social position of workers has seen higher-paid, full-time positions, with a modicum of job security and working benefits, replaced with low-wage and precarious employment. Around 20 percent of Britains 33 million workers earn an annual salary of 15,000 or less.

Young workers are among the worst paid and most exploited. People under 30 years of age earn on average nearly 3 less an hour than those above 30, and precarious employment among the young has risen by 80 percent in hotels and restaurants since 1998.

A wage of 10 an hour will do little to alleviate this situation.

The strike action this month mobilised only a few dozen workers from each company. The Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union (BFAWU), which represents striking staff at McDonalds and Wetherspoons, balloted a handful of workers at less than a dozen restaurants across the country. The same was true for the striking employees at TGI Fridays, represented by Unite.

Workers from only two Wetherspoons pubs in Brighton, four McDonalds branches and three TGI Fridays restaurants participated in the strike, while sporadic work stoppages took place among delivery drivers across the country.

According to McDonalds, just 21 workers out of a workforce of 120,000 took part.

The small-scale participation does not reflect a lack of anger or the willingness to fight on the part of exploited young workers, but a total lack of confidence in the unions waging any serious struggle. According to figures from the Trades Union Congress, just 9.3 percent of young workers aged between 21 and 30 and earning low to average wages are union members. Of those under 25, just 8 percent are in a union. In the private sector, the level drops to just 6 percent.

It is under these conditions that some workers in the gig economy have been recruited to smaller unions, such as the Independent Workers of Great Britain (a split-off from public sector union Unison and the Unite union) and the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW).

It is in the context of widespread disaffection with the trade unions that efforts have been made by sections of the union bureaucracy, the Labour Party leadership around Jeremy Corbyn and pseudo-left organisations to present the unions as fighting organisations. The main purpose of calling sporadic and small strikes for these forces is to corral a layer of young militant workers into the unions and to keep social discontent within safe channels.

In his speech to the rally in London on October 4, Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell boldly declared, Let me be absolutely clear that the Labour party is 100 percent behind this strike.  The message to every exploitative employer in this country is that were coming for you. Were not tolerating low pay, insecurity and lack of respect. We will mobilise as one movement: the Labour and trade union movement in solidarity.

Resuscitating the flagging authority of the unions is just as important as Corbyns claims to be fashioning Labour as an opponent of austerityand just as bogus. The Labour supporting New Statesman commented, The UKs food industry, with the precarious employment it brings, could revive the dwindling British trade union movement among young workers.

The McStrike was hailed as a rewiring of capitalism by Guardian columnist Owen Jones. As someone who began his own lucrative career as a lobbyist for the trade unions, he held up the example of a McDonalds worker at a branch in Crawley, London, who is now a union official with the Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union 

As the result of mounting anger among Amazon workers at backbreaking conditions, the company recently agreed to increase pay rates in the US and UK. But this will be more than offset by depriving workers of previous bonuses and shares they were previously entitled to.

In a similar attempt to pacify its workforce, last month Wetherspoons announced that it was bringing forward an annual pay award. Pay will remain low, with the company trumpeting the fact that its lower pay rate for 18- to 20-year-olds will be abolished, meaning that all workers above 21 will receive just 8.25 an hour. Workers under 18 will get a rise of just 50 pence to 5.95 an hour.

Where companies with a long history of opposing unions agree to recognise them, such as at Ryanair, it is on the basis that the unions prove themselves to be reliable corporate partners who will act as an industrial police force.

Securing the right to good-paying jobs is only possible by building a powerful movement of the working class and carrying out a frontal assault on the entrenched wealth and political power of the corporate and financial oligarchy.

What is required is the formation of rank-and-file factory and workplace committees, independent of the corporate-controlled unions and the Labour Party. This must be combined with a political struggle by workers to overthrow the economic and political dictatorship of the capitalist exploiters, expropriate their obscene wealth, and transform giant corporations like McDonalds, Uber and Amazon into publicly owned bodies democratically controlled by the working class.
In the latest escalation of the US intelligence agencies anti-Russian campaign, federal prosecutors yesterday published previously sealed criminal charges of interference in the 2018 midterm elections against a Russian national.

The same day, the director of national intelligence, the FBI and the Department of Justice published a joint statement warning of unspecified ongoing campaigns by Russia, Iran and Chinaall the principal targets of US military aggressionto undermine and infiltrate American democracy and influence the upcoming elections.

Both statements have been released without any substantiation or the slightest evidence, but have been immediately accepted as gospel truth and amplified by a servile US corporate media. The New York Times and Washington Post published a combined total of four prominent online reports on the charges within a matter of hours.

The coordinated release and media campaign serves two purposes. First, it is aimed at legitimizing censorship of the internet by claiming that social opposition is the product of misinformation campaigns on social media carried out by Russia and other hostile foreign nations.

Second, it presents the US as being under siege in an effort to condition public opinion for an intensification of military tensions and preparations for war.

Also yesterday afternoon, the New York Times, a central mouthpiece of the military-intelligence establishments anti-Russia campaign, reported that the Trump administration will pull out of the 1987 Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty with Russia next week.

The INF treaty was signed by President Ronald Reagan and what was then the Soviet Union. It bans ground-launched short- and medium-range missiles capable of striking targets at distances between 500 and 5,500 kilometers. Washington has repeatedly charged Russia with violating the INF treaty but has provided no evidence for the allegations. Russia has denied violating the accord.

Withdrawal from the treaty would mark a new stage in the US military buildup against Russia and the preparations for nuclear war.

The danger of a direct military conflict between the worlds two largest nuclear powers was underscored earlier this month when the US ambassador to NATO, Kay Bailey Hutchison, threatened a preemptive military strike on Russia. Hutchison told a press gathering in Brussels that if Moscow did not cease development of a missile that Washington claims violates the INF treaty, the Pentagon was prepared to take out the missile.

Friday's Times article was written by David Sanger and William Broad, both highly connected in the American state. It claims that Trumps national security advisor John Bolton will tell Putin during a scheduled meeting next week that the US will withdraw from the treaty. The Guardian reported yesterday, based on unnamed sources, that Bolton was demanding that the president withdraw from the nuclear arms control treaty, and had already briefed European counterparts on the plans.

The criminal complaint by federal prosecutors filed in the US Federal Court for the Eastern District of Virginia names Elena Alekseevna Khusyaynova, a 44-year-old resident of St Petersburg. It claims that Khusyaynova was the chief accountant for a Russian network, named Project Lakhta, which sought to spread distrust toward candidates for US political office and the US political system.

The document claims that this network created fake social media accounts on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, posing as American citizens, to post divisive political content and support protests inside the US. This operation had a strategic goal, which continues to this day, to sow division and discord in the US political system, including by creating social and political polarization, undermining faith in democratic institutions, and influencing US elections, including the upcoming 2018 midterm election.

In the first place, even assuming that the unsubstantiated allegations contained in the document are trueand there is no reason to assume thisthe claim that social and political polarization and the undermining of faith in democratic institutions in the American population is the outcome of Russian interference is absurd.

The US is a country where three people possess as much wealth as the bottom half of the population, where one man (Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos) earns as much in three seconds as his employees do in a year, where police murder over 1,000 people every year, where polls show a growth in support for socialism and opposition to capitalism, and where the political system is dominated by two corporate-controlled and pro-war parties that are broadly hated by the mass of workers and youth.

The charges claim that as the accountant for Project Lakhta, Khusyaynova oversaw a total budget of $35 million between January 2016 and June 2018. However, it admits that only a tiny portion of this money was spent on actual social media activities. For example, it claims that between January and June, 2018, the organization spent $60,000 to purchase advertisements on Facebook, $6,000 on Instagram, and another $18,000 on bloggers and developing accounts on Twittera grand total of $84,000in order to influence the outcome of the 2018 US midterm elections.

This amount of money is approximately 0.0015 percent of the more than $5 billion that has already been raised by and for federal, state and local campaigns in this years midterm elections, which have already become the most expensive non-presidential elections in US history. Whichever party is elected on November 6 will answer not to Moscow, but to the American financial aristocracy that bankrolls both political parties.

According to the charges, Project Lakhta is funded by several Russian companies, including Concord, a firm that is owned by Yevgeny V. Prigozhin. The document contains no evidence of any involvement by the Russian government in the groups alleged activities. It claims that Concord had been paid by the Russian government.

Prigozhin and Concord were among the 13 individuals and three firms indicted in February as part of the investigation by Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 federal elections. All of the charges, including the latest against Khusyaynova, have been directed against individuals residing outside of the US, ensuring that there are no arrests or trials to test the allegations.

The charge against Khusyaynova was filed on September 28. The Washington Post's report cited unnamed officials explaining the domestic political purpose for the release yesterday. They cited a desire to raise public awareness about Russian political influence campaignsto warn voters that such activity was not limited to the 2016 campaign and that fake online personas are still trying to manipulate Americans heading to the polls in a matter of days.

The report released jointly yesterday by the intelligence agencies is, if anything, even more devoid of evidence. It declares that we are concerned about ongoing campaigns by foreign countries, including activities which may seek to influence voter perceptions and decision-making in the 2018 and 2020 US elections. Other elements of these campaigns can take many forms, it states, including using social media to amplify divisive issues, sponsoring content in English-language media like RT and Sputnik, and promoting disinformation through sympathetic spokespersons.

The logical corollary of these arguments is that political opposition in the United States, the outcome of disinformation through sympathetic spokespersons, must be criminalized and suppressed.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) - FEMA Individual Assistance and Public Assistance was approved October 11. Federal re-employment assistance is also now available for individuals in Jackson County.

FOOD AND WATER

There are six points of distribution in Jackson County:

3172 Main Street, Cottondale, FL 32431



3018 Hwy 71 North, Marianna, FL 32446



2562 Park Road, Alford, FL 32420



2010 Legion Rd., Sneads, FL 32460



5224 Brown Street, Graceville, FL 32440



4207 Bryan Street, Greenwood, FL 32443

There are two Salvation Army Kitchens/Canteens open in Jackson County:

4445 Lafayette St, Marianna, FL 32446



4534 Lafayette St, Marianna, FL 3244

FUEL

There are two fueling stations set up in Jackson County for first responders and utility crews to rapidly refuel so they can continue working.

COMMUNICATIONS

Currently, 92.77% percent of cellular service coverage has been restored in Jackson County. This does not include mobile cellular assets augmenting the network.

POWER RESTORATION

Seven push crews are working with utility crews to restore power for utilities that provide service for Jackson County.

As of noon, 18,657 or 78% of accounts in Jackson County do not have power.

38 generators have been deployed to Jackson County. Additional generators will be made available upon request.

SHELTERS

Currently one shelter is open in Jackson County at Marianna High School 3546 Caverns Rd., Gymnasium, Marianna, FL 32446.

Visit https://www.floridadisaster.org/shelter-status/

to find information on shelters in your area. This site is being updated as shelters open throughout the day.

MILITARY SUPPORT

There are currently 162 National Guard troops deployed to Jackson County. National Guard troops are assisting with conducting reconnaissance, search and rescue, and road clearance missions.

The Florida National Guard is providing communications support packages to Jackson County.

LAW ENFORCEMENT

Currently, 138 law enforcement officers have been deployed to Jackson County.

The Florida Highway Patrols chainsaw crews have assisted residents throughout the county clearing roadways and freeing driveways of large trees.

The Florida Highway Patrol has deployed an MRAP (high clearance recovery vehicle) to perform search and rescue missions and clear roadways throughout the county.

The Florida Highway Patrol is supplementing local law enforcement agency efforts in Altha and Blountstown to assist with traffic control throughout the county.

The Florida Highway Patrol has deployed an unmanned aerial vehicle with livestreaming capabilities to assess traffic flow and control issues.

The Florida Highway Patrol is providing increased law enforcement presence and patrol throughout the county during evening hours.

One Florida Licensing on Wheels (FLOW) mobile will be in Marianna starting Monday at the Marianna Driver License Office. Hours of operation will be Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 9am-4pm, CDT.

TRANSPORTATION & PUBLIC WORKS

All state roads in Jackson County are open.

FDOT has completed all state bridge inspections in Jackson County.

PUBLIC HEALTH AND MEDICAL

The Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) is in contact with healthcare facilities to ensure they have the resources they need.

Assisted living facility, Chipola Health and Rehabilitation Center has been completely evacuated and remains closed.

Jackson Hospital in Marianna has reopened and has power.

Facilities report their evacuation status to the Agency through the Emergency Status System. An updated evacuation report can be found on the AHCA twitter page: https://twitter.com/AHCA_FL

14 ambulances have been deployed to Jackson County.

DCF is providing additional SNAP benefits for customers Jackson County. These benefits are now in the customers accounts and accessible on their EBT cards. For more information, click HERE .

. Florida continues to communicate and monitor pharmacies in the affected areas and work to restore services with as little disruption to citizens as possible. To find an open pharmacy in Jackson County, go to RxOpen.org, which maps open and closed pharmacies during disasters. The site also has locations of American Red Cross shelters and infusion centers in the affected communities.

There are currently 5 active boil water notices in Jackson County.

VA Outpatient Clinics in Marianna is open with expanding service to area veterans. A Mobile Vet Center is also open in the parking lot of the Marianna VA Outpatient Clinic. Jackson County Veteran Service Office will reopen on Monday, Oct. 22. Contact information for each county office can be found online at http://floridavets.org/locations/.

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

An online tool for the public to report the location of storm debris in waterways has been deployed. 443 reports of debris have been received.

DEP has completed seven mission requests, and is assisting with an additional five, submitted through Florida's Water/Wastewater Agency Response Network (FlaWARN) in Jackson County.

Hazardous Area Response Teams (HART) have completed assessments at all high priority hazardous waste facilities in Jackson County.

235 Disaster Debris Management Sites have been pre-authorized for the counties addressed by the Governors Executive Order, with three in Jackson County.

DEP has deployed wastewater, drinking water and solid waste technical experts to Jackson County to ensure their needs are met.

BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY

Governor Rick Scott announced that Florida has been awarded federal National Dislocated Worker Grants to provide temporary employment to Floridians affected by Hurricane Michael. This program is administered by the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO) and provides disaster relief employment in the form of temporary jobs that support storm response and recovery efforts. See the Governors press release HERE.

Executive Director Cissy Proctor and members of the DEO Leadership Team are meeting with area businesses and CareerSource in Jackson County next week.

The Florida Department of Economic Opportunity, CareerSource North Florida, CareerSource Northeast Florida and CareerSource Okaloosa-Walton have provided mobile units with staff and resources, including laptops, satellite phones, and other supplies to allow CareerSource partners in the panhandle to begin assisting jobseekers and businesses as a part of the recovery efforts.

The Florida Department of Economic Opportunity has made the Disaster Reemployment Assistance program available for Florida businesses and residents whose employment or self-employment was lost or interrupted as a result of Hurricane Michael. To file a DUA claim go to www.FloridaJobs.org or call 1-800-385-3920. Customer service representatives are available Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturdays 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Eastern Standard Time to assist claimants.

DEO has launched the Small Business Emergency Bridge Loan Program to provide short-term, interest-free loans to affects businesses at www.floridadisasterloan.org.

Disaster cleanup and other related job openings are now available at http://disasterrecovery.employflorida.com for businesses to post job openings and for individuals to find job opportunities.

DEO has opened the Business Damage Assessment Survey for businesses impacted by Hurricane Michael. Businesses with damage should complete the survey at https://www.floridadisaster.biz/BusinessDamageAssessments.

Businesses can also visit FloridaDisaster.biz to view tips for assessing storm damage and to register to receive updates on storm recovery.

EDUCATION

The Florida Department of Education (FDOE) is in contact with school districts, state colleges and universities for updates and to determine their needs and provide assistance.

The Department is supporting Jackson Countys special needs shelter operations at Marianna High School.

The Department is coordinating with the utility companies that power Jackson County to prioritize schools and Chipola College for power restoration.

Jackson will reopen for staff Friday, October 26, and for students Monday, October 29.

Chipola College, which serves Jackson County, will reopen Monday, October 22.

The Division of Vocational Rehabilitation office inJackson County is closed until further notice, and clients are being directed to open locations for services.

FDOE will be posting up-to-date information regarding closures and meeting cancellations at www.fldoe.org/hurricaneinfo.

VOLUNTEER EFFORTS

At Governor Scotts direction, Volunteer Florida has activated the Florida Disaster Fund, the State of Floridas official private fund established to assist Floridas communities as they respond to and recover during times of emergency or disaster. In partnership with the public sector, private sector and other non-governmental organizations, the Florida Disaster Fund supports response and recovery activities. To donate, visit, www.volunteerflorida.org/donatefdf/.

STATE EMERGENCY OPERATION CENTER/ CONTACTS
(WTXL) - In a Saturday morning tweet, President Donald Trump praised gubernatorial hopeful Ron DeSantis and bashed Tallahassee mayor Andrew Gillum, calling Tallahassee "one of the worst & most corrupt cities in the USA."

President Trump posted the message on Twitter at 10:56 a.m.:

Ron @RonDeSantisFL DeSantis is working hard. A great Congressman and top student at Harvard & Yale, Ron will be a record setting governor for Florida. Rick Scott gave him tremendous foundations to further build on. His opponent runs one of the worst & most corrupt cities in USA!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 20, 2018

He then tweeted that Rick Scott is "easily one of the best governors in the USA." Calling Gillum incompetent, he again praised DeSantis, saying he will build on Scott's success.

Rick Scott is known as easily one of the best Governors in the USA. Florida is setting records in almost every category of success. Amazing achievement-the envy of the World. Ron DeSantis will build on this success. His incompetent opponent will destroy Florida - next Venezuela!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 20, 2018

Andrew Gillum didn't waste any time responding to Trump's comments:

When you lie about me from the most powerful office in the world and still dont have the courage to @ me... https://t.co/ESxXG5j6eH  Andrew Gillum (@AndrewGillum) October 20, 2018

Trump's comments come the day before DeSantis and Gillum's first scheduled debate.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-19 22:31:06|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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BERLIN, Oct. 19 (Xinhua) -- Fathers who take paternity leave spend more time with their children and do more household work in subsequent years, a study published on Friday by the RWI Leibniz Institute for Economic Research finds.

According to the RWI study, fathers who took time off work to help care for a new-born spent three additional hours on average with their children each weekend during the first six years of their lives than those fathers who had not taken any paternity leave.

The findings were based on an analysis of data from regular and representative "Socio-Economic Panel" (SOEP) surveys conducted by the Essen-based research institute.

Paternity leave was further found to have a statistically significant effect on the distribution of household chores in families. Fathers who had taken leave spent half an hour more on average doing daily housework than those which worked continuously during the infancy of their children.

Speaking to the Funke media group, study author Marcus Tamm noted that the sustainability of the "behavioural changes" caused by paternity leave as a surprise to the researchers. "Even if it mostly only lasts for two months, it changes the role which the father has in the family in the long-term", Tamm said.

In order to determine a confident causal relation between paternity leave and subsequent parenting behavior, the study compared men in Germany who had become fathers before and after the introduction of a new system of government-funded paternity leave in the country in 2007.

Tamm explained that behavioral changes observed following the reforms suggested that these were not just due to some fathers being generally more engaged in family life and hence also more likely to take leave. "We see differences with the same fathers between the first child for which they did not take leave and the second child for which they took at least two months off."

Commenting on the study in conversation with the Funke media group, family minister Franziska Giffey (SPD) argued that the findings provided evidence that Germany's parental leave policies were bearing fruit. "We have achieved a societal transformation with the parental allowance", Giffey said.

As of Jan. 1 2007, families in Germany have become eligible for 14 months of paid parental leave out of which two months are reserved for the father and two months are reserved for the mother. Families lose the two so-called "daddy months" unless they take them.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-19 23:56:38|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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HAIKOU, Oct. 19 (Xinhua) -- A newly formed international medical alliance has called for joint efforts in combating tropical diseases.

The Belt and Road Tropical Medical Alliance was formed on Friday in Haikou, capital of south China's Hainan Province. Close to 600 medical experts and scholars from home and abroad attended the inaugural meeting.

Mam Bunheng, Cambodia's Minister of Health, said at the opening ceremony that he hopes for cooperation in developing or updating a comprehensive multi-national action plan against emergency threats of tropical diseases.

"I strongly hope that the alliance will cooperate with Cambodia to support Cambodia to eliminate malaria by 2025," Mam said.

A medical summit is also being held along with the formation of the alliance.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-20 01:11:53|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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RIGA, Oct. 19 (Xinhua) -- Latvian President Raimonds Vejonis, who on Friday met with representatives of the three political parties that won the highest voter support in Oct. 6 general elections, called on politicians to come to an agreement on a new government coalition as soon as possible.

Janis Bordans, the leader of the New Conservative Party, said that his party's consultations with the president focused on a new ideological orientation. The party proposes to form a "conservative reform government", or a conservative bloc.

According to the party, potential heads of such a government include not only Bordans, but also Roberts Zile of the right-wing National Alliance and Krisjanis Karins of the center-right New Unity party.

The New Conservative Party is so far the only party to have presented its proposals regarding the composition of Latvia's next coalition government. It insists on a five-way coalition that would exclude the left-wing Harmony and the ruling centrist Greens and Farmers Union.

During their consultations with the president, representatives of both the New Conservative Party and KPV LV were urged to reach the agreement on the composition of the new government as soon as possible.

Aldis Gobzems, a candidate for prime minister nominated by KPV LV, stressed that this would depend on the parties' ability to agree on the would-be government's main tasks and objectives. KPV LV might come up with a draft government declaration next week, Gobzems said.

Vjaceslavs Dombrovskis, Harmony party's candidate for prime minister, characterized the conversation as constructive and voiced hope that the president would nominate him as PM-designate. However, Harmony has so far failed to attract any potential coalition partners.

The parties are expected to continue their negotiations on the government coalition next week.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-20 01:21:57|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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ISTANBUL, Oct. 19 (Xinhua) -- An oil refinery built by Azerbaijan on Turkey's Aegean coast went into operation on Friday amid hope of helping Ankara cut dependence on foreign refined oil products.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev attended the ceremony to inaugurate the Star Refinery, the first new oil refinery ever built in Turkey in the past 30 years.

Addressing the opening ceremony, Erdogan said the Star Refinery is expected to cut Turkey's dependence on imported refined oil products significantly.

"It aims to save around 1.5 billion U.S. dollars every year in imports of petroleum products," he added.

The refinery in the Aliaga district of Izmir province was built by SOCAR Turkey, a subsidiary of Azerbaijan's state oil company SOCAR, at a cost of 6.3 billion dollars.

The refinery, with an annual production capacity of 10 million tons of crude oil, will also produce naphtha and jet fuel, according to a press release.

In a statement, the Turkish Presidency called it "one of the largest petroleum operations carried out in recent years in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa."
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-20 01:21:58|Editor: Yang Yi

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Chinese State Councilor and Minister of National Defense Wei Fenghe (L, Front) attends the 9th China-ASEAN Defense Ministers' Informal Meeting in Singapore, on Oct. 19, 2018. (Xinhua/Then Chih Wey)

SINGAPORE, Oct. 19 (Xinhua) -- China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) pledged on Friday to promote defense cooperation between the two sides.

The pledge was made at the 9th China-ASEAN Defense Ministers' Informal Meeting, which was co-chaired by Chinese State Councilor and Minister of National Defense Wei Fenghe and Ng Eng Hen, the Defense Minister of Singapore which takes ASEAN's rotating chair this year.

Wei said China and ASEAN are close neighbors linked by mountains and waters, and ASEAN enjoys the priority of China's neighborhood diplomacy.

China supports the construction of an open and inclusive regional security framework with ASEAN at the core so as to build a closer China-ASEAN community with shared future, Wei noted.

Pointing out that China-ASEAN relations are standing at a new historical point, he said China hopes to continue to strengthen communication with the defense departments of ASEAN countries.

Wei called on the two sides to work for the setting up of direct telephone lines between defense authorities, to hold joint drills and exercises, and conduct cooperation in disaster-relief and emergency-rescue as well as exchanges between defense think-tanks and military officials so as to make new contributions to safeguarding regional peace and stability.

ASEAN defense leaders spoke highly of the development of the China-ASEAN ties, and they expressed support for China's suggestions for promoting China-ASEAN defense ties.

They also expressed their willingness to continue to work with China to move forward practical cooperation between the two sides in defense and security areas, enhance mutual understanding and trust and jointly maintain regional development and prosperity.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-20 01:26:59|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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NEW DELHI, Oct. 19 (Xinhua) -- At least 50 people, mostly women and children, reportedly died and many others were injured in India's northern city of Amritsar on Friday when a passenger train ran over them during a festival.

According to TV reports, an effigy of Ravana was put to flames very close to railway tracks on the occasion of Dussehra festival, leading to bursting of loud crackers and panicked people running towards the railway tracks without realising the train coming at a high speed.

The mishap involving the train took place at Choura Bazar area. The train was running from Pathankot city towards Amritsar.

Relief and rescue work is being carried out and the injured are being rushed to a nearby hospital, said a local government official.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has condoled the deaths in the train tragedy. He offered immediate assistance to the accident spot.

"Extremely saddened by the train accident in Amritsar. The tragedy is heart-wrenching. My deepest condolences to the families of those who lost their loved ones and I pray that the injured recover quickly. Have asked officials to provide immediate assistance that is required," tweeted Modi.

Amritsar is a city in India's northern state of Punjab.

State Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has directed his government officials to immediately rush to Amritsar and assist the injured and the families of those dead.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-20 02:17:17|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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BERLIN, Oct. 19 (Xinhua) -- German car maker Daimler AG issued its second profit warning in four months on Friday, blaming the diesel emissions troubles.

The Stuttgart-based luxury car manufacturer warned its investors that its earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) in 2018 would be "significantly below" last year's level of 14.3 billion euros (16.5 billion U.S. dollars).

"The main factor is an increase in expected expenses in connection with ongoing governmental proceedings and measures in various regions with regard to Mercedes-Benz diesel vehicles," Daimler said in a statement.

The car maker is under investigation for its diesel emissions in Europe, and had to recall more than 770,000 diesel-powered cars across the continent this year.

In addition, the Mercedes-Benz parent group cited lower van sales and decreasing demand of Daimler buses as further causes for the profits downgrade.

Furthermore, it noticed that against the backdrop of a recent ruling by the European Court of Justice, there is a potential need to take action on certain vehicles still operating with the previously used refrigerant R134a.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-20 02:27:21|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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NAIROBI, Oct. 19 (Xinhua) -- Kenya on Friday hosted a forum to discuss ways of strengthening China-Africa cooperation on governance, peace and security as a prerequisite to sustain inclusive prosperity and stability in the continent.

Delegates who attended the forum organized by Nairobi-based pan-African think tank Africa Policy Institute agreed that China has become a critical partner in Africa's quest to tackle conflicts and governance hiccups that have undermined its progress.

In his opening remarks, Li Xuhang, the Charge d'affaires at the Chinese Embassy, said Beijing is committed to realization of peace, security and good governance in Africa without interfering with the continent's sovereignty.

"When participating in African security affairs, China has always respected the sovereignty of the countries concerned," Li said.

"On the ground of non-interference, China holds an objective and fair attitude to urge peace and promote talks to convince people by reasoning but not bias," he said.

He said that China has rallied behind long-term solution to Africa's insecurity and civil strife by investing in projects that addresses poverty and youth unemployment.

"China believes that the root causes of instability and conflict lie in poverty and under-development and only by supporting African countries in achieving coordinated economic and social development can we fundamentally achieve stability," said Li.

Senor policymakers and scholars affiliated with pan-African think tanks attended the Nairobi forum which sought to stimulate conversation on how China can be an integral part of the continent's quest to be peaceful, stable and secure.

Christopher Chika, director of Asia and Australasia Directorate at Kenya's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that China's participation in Africa's peace and security agenda has redefined bilateral ties with the continent in recent times.

"The emerging consensus is to realign China-Africa engagement with our continent's peace and security agenda as we aspire to silence the guns," said Chika.

"China has invested heavily in Africa and therefore it is in its interest to promote peace and security that is key to improve the business environment," he added.

He commended Beijing's support towards stabilization of regional hotspots like Somalia and South Sudan.

Peter Kagwanja, chief executive officer of the Africa Policy Institute, said that China-Africa relations have for many decades placed heavy premium on peaceful development and sovereignty of individual countries.

"China was engaged in matters of peace and security in Africa in the 1950s as part of the struggle for liberation of states in the continent that led to their attaining of independence," said Kagwanja.

He stressed that investments in youth empowerment programs is key to neutralizing the threat of violent conflicts and terrorism in Africa.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-20 02:57:28|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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GENEVA, Oct. 19 (Xinhua) -- The 20th International Conference of Labor Statisticians (ICLS) said Friday it has agreed to a major revision and extension of labor and decent work statistics to help create better policies on the future of work.

The International Labor Organization (ILO) said that the Oct. 10-19 conference in Geneva agreed on new job classifications that take account of new, blurred boundaries in work.

"This is going to allow better and more effective policies at the country level and will have a direct impact on well-being for many people," ILO Director-General Guy Ryder said at the closing session here.

The conference adopted a unique statistical roadmap to measure progress on United Nation's 2030 Agenda on sustainable development.

Ryder said the new classifications agreed on will now cover all forms of work and provide national statisticians with much-needed alternative ways to make visible the emerging new forms of employment.

These include dependent work, in a traditional employment relationship with one single employer, and self-employment, which is a more individualized form of work.

They also include new forms of employment such as platforms, on-demand work, crowd-work, temporary employment, and agency work.

The Conference also took a detailed look at the issue of informality and ways better provide related policy advice.

Delegates also discussed the role of domestic work and how domestic workers could be included in the proposed new classifications of work relationships.

"The Conference also addressed the role of women in the world of work by launching new tools that will support the use of the innovative statistical definitions and indicators adopted by the ICLS in 2013," said the ILO.

It also agreed to the first statistical definition of work that goes beyond the narrow definition of "employment" as work performed only for pay or profit.

The new definition includes own-use production, unpaid work, and volunteer work.

These tools will help countries apply the new concepts in their labor force surveys, creating a basis for better-informed policy decisions, said the ILO.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-20 03:22:43|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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KIGALI, Oct. 19 (Xinhua) -- Cases of child defilement and drug abuse are among rampant cases in Rwandan courts, Rwanda's Chief Justice Sam Rugege said Friday.

In the past three years, more than 9,300 people were convicted of either drug abuse or trafficking, Rugege said at the opening of the 2018/19 judicial year in the Rwandan capital city Kigali.

He expressed dismay that cases of drug abuse seem to be on upward trend, from 1,030 registered in 2016 to 4199 so far this year.

Rugege also said 2,728 people were convicted of child defilement between 2016 and 2018 in different courts in the country, most of which involved victims between 3 to 12 years old.

Those found guilty of defilement will face 20 to 25 years in prison, and up to a life sentence for committing the crime against children below 14 years old. Trafficking or dealing in banned drugs will be sentenced to 20 years to life in prison.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-20 04:17:57|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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DAMASCUS, Oct. 19 (Xinhua) -- At least 32 civilians were killed over the past 24 hours by U.S.-led airstrikes on Syria's eastern province of Deir al-Zour, a war watchdog reported Friday.

The U.S. coalition launched airstrikes on the town of Souseh, which is located in the last pocket held by Islamic State (IS) militants in the eastern countryside of Deir al-Zour, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Women and children were among the killed in the aerial bombardment, the London-based watchdog said.

The U.S.-led coalition is supporting the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in their advance on the IS-held areas on the eastern bank of the Euphrates River in eastern Deir al-Zour.

The Syrian Foreign Ministry recently urged the UN to conduct an international investigation into the "crimes" of the U.S.-led coalition in Syria, charging that Washington is using the anti-IS battles as a pretext for continued intervention in Syria's affairs.

The U.S.-led coalition entered the course of anti-IS battles in Syria in 2014 without the consent of the Syrian government, which questions its intention and brands its intervention as illegal.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-20 04:17:57|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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NAIROBI, Oct. 19 (Xinhua) -- The financial aid that China has been providing African countries to stimulate their economic growth has strengthened peace and stability in the continent, experts said on Friday.

Speaking at China-Africa cooperation in governance, peace and security forum in Nairobi, the experts said Beijing's economic and diplomatic muscle has been instrumental in stabilizing the world's second largest continent.

Peter Kagwanja, CEO of Nairobi based pan-African thinktank Africa Policy Institute, which organized the forum, said that peace, security and governance had gained traction in China-Africa bilateral cooperation.

"China-Africa relations have for decades been defined by development but now a conversation to engage in matters of governance, peace and security has gained momentum," Kagwanja said.

Senior policymakers and scholars attended the Nairobi forum that sought to stimulate debate on strategic engagement with China to tackle Africa's governance and security challenges.

Kagwanja said that China's no strings attached support to Africa's socio-economic transformation agenda is providing durable solution to the crisis of poverty and youth unemployment that has fuelled civil strife and insecurity in the continent.

Martin Kimani, director of Kenya's National Counter-terrorism Center, said that many African countries have showed interest in the Chinese model of addressing root causes of instability that includes poverty and inequality.

"The Chinese development model that has focused on wealth creation and elimination of mass unemployment is at the core of Africa's bid to promote peace and security," said Kimani.

David Monyae, co-director of the Confucius Institute at the University of Johannesburg, said that African countries could leverage on China's diplomatic influence to advocate for innovative conflict resolution models.

Monyae said China has promoted development that is peaceful and harmonious and African countries will stand to gain if they follow similar path after dealing with a host of political and economic challenges.

He noted that China has rallied behind multilateral programs to promote conflict resolution in Africa.

Abdul Rahman Lamin, a program specialist at UNESCO Regional Office, said that strengthening Africa's peace and security architecture should underpin the next phase of bilateral cooperation with China.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-20 04:38:00|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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SANAA, Oct. 19 (Xinhua) -- At least 20 Yemeni Houthi rebels were killed on Friday in airstrikes conducted by a Saudi-led coalition near the Saudi southern border region of Jazan, Saudi-owned Al Arabiya television reported.

The targeted rebels, including a leader, were members of the "Death Battalion" rebels stationed in the far northwestern part of the Yemeni northern province of Hajjah near the Red Sea.

The Saudi TV channel said the operation, which also involved the Saudi artillery forces, was an "ambush" against the Houthi rebels.

The Friday's military attack was the latest in a series of Saudi-led operations targeting the Houthi rebels in the Saudi-Yemeni border fronts since the war in Yemen erupted in 2015.

There was no comment available from the Houthi group, which controls much of Yemen's north, including the capital Sanaa.

Saudi Arabia is leading an Arab military coalition that intervened in Yemen in March 2015 to support the government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi after the Houthi rebels forced him into exile.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-20 04:48:04|Editor: Li Xia

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Philippine foreign secretary Teodoro Locsin, EU's foreign affairs and security policy chief Federica Mogherini, Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz and South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha (from L to R) attend a press conference of the 12th Asia-Europe Meeting Summit in Brussels, Belgium, Oct. 19, 2018. The two-day Asia-Europe meeting summit wrapped up on Friday in Brussels has called on more connectivity between Europe and Asia. (Xinhua/Zheng Huansong)

BRUSSELS,Oct. 19 (Xinhua) -- The two-day Asia-Europe meeting summit wrapped up on Friday in Brussels has called on more connectivity between Europe and Asia.

"We want to give our relationship with Asia, which is already very dynamic - as illustrated by the numerous trade and cooperation agreements we have, fresh impetus", said European Commission (EC) President Jean-Claude Juncker at the Summit's plenary session on Friday morning.

"Only a multilateral approach will enable us to confront global challenges. This is why I reiterate our commitment to support multilateral organisations in all their efforts," he added.

Juncker is echoed by European Council President Donald Tusk.

"We do not agree on everything. But what we have in common is more important than any disagreement. That is why we want our two great continents to be ever more connected," Tusk said at the end of summit.

"We want Asians and Europeans to trade more with each other, to visit each other more often, to save the planet's habitat and, finally, to enhance each other's security in these uncertain times," Tusk added.

The 12th ASEM (Asia-Europe Meeting) Summit took place on Thursday and Friday in Brussels, bringing together 51 countries, as well as EU and Asian institutions. Under the title "Europe and Asia: Global Partners for Global Challenges", leaders addressed some of the world's most pressing issues.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-20 05:58:21|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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TRIPOLI, Oct. 19 (Xinhua) -- Libya's UN-backed government on Friday denied reports that an agreement to unify the army will soon be reached during the ongoing talks in Cairo.

"The Presidency Council of the Government of National Accord denies media reports and statements ... about reaching a final agreement in the ongoing talks regarding unifying the military establishment," the government said in a statement.

Any agreement must be in accordance with the UN-sponsored political agreement, and "most importantly the military establishment must be under an executive civilian authority," the statement added.

Local media said a final agreement would be reached in Egypt's capital Cairo next week to unify the Libyan army.

Since October 2017, Cairo has hosted extended meetings for Libyan military officers to unite the national army.

The eastern-based army announced in February that an agreement to unify the military under the auspices of the Egyptian authorities "is imminent."

Libya's UN-backed Prime Minister Fayez Serraj and eastern-based army chief Khalifa Haftar met twice in 2017, respectively in May in the United Arab Emirates and in June in France, to develop a strategy to unify the Libyan army and integrate the military institution under civilian authority.

Following the 2011 uprising which toppled former leader Muammar Gaddafi's regime, Libya has been suffering insecurity and political division, with divided authorities in the east and the west, including the army.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-20 06:33:34|Editor: zh

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Pierre-Yves Jeholet (L), vice president of Walloon government and minister of economy, and Shen Wei (C), president of Chinese company Thunder Power Holdings, unveil the new electric car Chloe, which will begin its production line in Gosselies, in the Walloon region of Belgium, Oct. 19, 2018. After months of negotiation, Chinese company Thunder Power Holdings and Belgian investment fund SOGEPA concluded a deal on Friday to manufacture a new electric city car called Chloe in Belgium. (Xinhua/Pan Geping)

BRUSSELS, Oct. 19 (Xinhua) -- After months of negotiation, Chinese company Thunder Power Holdings and Belgian investment fund SOGEPA concluded a deal on Friday to manufacture a new electric city car called Chloe in Belgium.

Thunder Power Electric Vehicles (TPEV) -- a technology innovator and manufacturer of electric vehicles -- chose the region of Wallonia in Belgium as part of an economic development strategy aimed at launching its range-extended electric vehicles in the European market.

The new electric car Chloe -- which will begin its production line in Gosselies in the Walloon region of Belgium -- was unveiled for the first time ever on Friday.

This small city car combines a list of impressive specifications and technological features like an extended driving range of 350 km, increased power and better energy efficiency than others cars in the same market segment.

Pierre-Yves Jeholet, vice president of Walloon government and minister of economy, mentioned in an exclusive interview with Xinhua that it is vital for Wallonia to attract investors from Asia, in particular China, to create wealth and jobs.

Belgium "must continue to invest and be open to emerging countries", he added.

"Wallonia, and Belgium as a whole, have some of the world's leading industries which are at the forefront of technological innovation especially in the pharmaceutical sector, research and innovation," the official said.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-20 06:48:38|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 19 (Xinhua) -- Apple CEO Tim Cook is urging Bloomberg to retract its story about an alleged embedded Chinese spying chips that compromised about 30 companies including the servers of Apple.

BuzzFeed News said Friday that the Apple CEO, who received an interview with the news outlet Thursday, went on the record for the first time to deny allegations that his company was the victim of a hardware-based attack from a Chinese supplier and demanded Bloomberg retract the unfounded story.

"There is no truth in their story about Apple," Cook told BuzzFeed News. "They need to do that right thing and retract it."

Bloomberg Businessweek issued a story earlier this month alleging about 30 U.S. companies were compromised after their servers were implanted malicious chips during their manufacture in China, which created "a stealth backdoor" into their network running on the servers.

Apple denied in an Oct. 4 statement that it had found the "malicious chips" in servers on its network, saying it refuted "virtually every aspect of Bloomberg' s story relating to Apple."

"Apple has never found malicious chips, hardware manipulations or vulnerabilities purposely planted in any server," it said.

In the latest response to the Bloomberg claims, Cook said he "was involved in our response to this story from the beginning."

"I personally talked to the Bloomberg reporters along with Bruce Sewell, who was then our general counsel. We were very clear with them that this did not happen, and answered all their questions," said Cook.

"Each time they brought this up to us, the story changed, and each time we investigated we found nothing," he added.

"We turned the company upside down ... We really forensically whipped through the company to dig very deep and each time we came back to the same conclusion: This did not happen. There's no truth to this," Cook said.

The Bloomberg's report has been extensively questioned even by representatives of the companies it claimed to fall victim to the "backdoor" attack.

Earlier this month, FBI Director Christopher Wray warned a hearing of the Senate Homeland Security Committee to "be careful what you read" in reference to the report, BuzzFeed News said.

It quoted a high-ranking executive of a tech giant in Silicon Valley as saying that his company has conducted investigations, which didn' t turn up any evidence of tampering.

"We couldn't find anything," he said. "Our assessment is that it didn't happen."
This file photo taken on Oct. 9, 2018 shows protesters holding portraits of missing journalist Jamal Khashoggi with the caption: "Jamal Khashoggi is missing since Oct. 2" during a demonstration in front of the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. (AFP photo)

RIYADH, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- Saudi Arabia said on Saturday that 18 people were arrested over the death of the missing Saudi Journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.

The initial investigations by the Public Prosecution revealed that Khashoggi had a physical fight with those he met at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, which led to his death, SPA said.

The Public Prosecution confirmed that the investigation over the case will continue, saying all involved in the case will be held accountable.

Saudi Arabia previously repeatedly denied allegations that the kingdom had murdered or arrested Khashoggi.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-20 08:06:09|Editor: Li Xia

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The defense minister of Singapore Ng Eng Hen (C) and other defence ministers of Association of the Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) attend the signing of a joint declaration on the 12th ASEAN Defense Ministers' Meeting (ADMM) held in Singapore on Oct. 19, 2018. The defense ministers from ASEAN adopted the world's first multilateral air guidelines on air encounters here Friday. (Xinhua/Then Chih Wey)
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-20 07:57:00|Editor: Li Xia

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People attend the funeral of Kandahar police chief General Abdul Raziq in Kandahar city, capital of Kandahar province, Afghanistan, on Oct. 19, 2018. Three top Kandahar provincial officials including General Abdul Raziq, General Momin Khan and provincial Governor Zalmay Weesa lost their lives, and few others including two U.S. soldiers were injured in a complicated shooting during Afghan-NATO-led forces security meeting in Kandahar city on Thursday afternoon. (Xinhua/Sanaullah Seiam)
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-20 09:13:55|Editor: Yang Yi

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BEIJING, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- China's national securities regulator has approved the initial public offering (IPO) application from a Zhejiang-based pesticide maker.

Zhejiang Xinnong Chemical Co., specializing in pesticide research, development and production, will raise no more than 500 million yuan (about 72 million U.S. dollars) in the A-share market, according to the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC).

The company and its underwriter will confirm IPO date and publish its prospectus following discussion with the stock exchange.

Under the current IPO system, new shares are subject to the approval from the CSRC. China is gradually switching from an approval-based IPO system to one based on registration.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-20 09:49:00|Editor: Li Xia

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SINGAPORE, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- The United States has suspended another military exercise with South Korea to give diplomatic maneuvers with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) "every opportunity to continue," the U.S. military said.

U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis and South Korean Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo reached the agreement to suspend joint air defense exercise Vigilant Ace, Pentagon spokesperson Dana White was quoted as saying by local TV Channel NewsAsia in a statement on Friday.

"Both ministers are committed to modifying training exercises to ensure the readiness of our forces," White added.

Mattis and Jeong held talks Friday on the sidelines of the 12th ASEAN Defense Ministers' Meeting (ADMM) and the 5th ADMM-Plus. Mattis also discussed the issue with Japanese Defense Minister Takeshi Iwaya.

U.S. President Donald Trump met with DPRK top leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore in June, and after the meeting, Trump announced the suspension of several joint military drills with South Korea.

Vigilant Ace is previously scheduled for December this year.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-20 10:14:05|Editor: Li Xia

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by Peerzada Arshad Hamid

NEW DELHI, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- At least 61 people were killed and over 70 others injured in northern Indian state of Punjab after a train ran into a crowd watching festivities of a Hindu festival on the railway tracks, officials said Saturday.

The incident took place Friday evening at 6:45 p.m. local time at Jaura Phatak in Amritsar, the Sikh holy city of Punjab.

"So far 61 people, including women and children, have been killed in the incident and 72 others who were injured have been admitted at a hospital here," a local government official Rajesh Sharma in Amritsar told the media.

Eyewitnesses and officials said the crowd had gathered to watch the celebrations of a Hindu festival Dussehra when a train ran over hundreds of them standing on a railway track.

Dussehra is a Hindu festival marking the triumph of good over evil. Effigies are burnt and fireworks are set off as part of the festival in north India.

"As demon king Ravana's effigy was located very close to the railway tracks at Jaura Phatak, a section of the crowd retreated towards the tracks to watch the celebrations, almost ignorant of standing on the tracks," local man Parminder Singh told Xinhua.

"As the firecracker-filled effigy was lit and fireworks went off, there was lot of noise and people who were hit could not see or hear the train that mowed them."

Eyewitnesses said many on the tracks were busy filming the festivities on their phones, and did not notice the train approaching at high speed.

The local government has describing the incident as tragic and ordered an inquiry into the accident.

Officials said the state has decided to observe a mourning on Saturday in wake of the incident.

"The state will remain in mourning today in view of Amritsar train mishap. All offices and educational institutions will remain closed," a government spokesman quoted state's Chief Minister Amarinder Singh as having said.

Following the accident authorities rushed police and disaster management teams to the spot to carry out rescue work.

Reports said around 700 people were witnessing the effigy burning and over 300 were on the tracks.

The train that hit the crowds was travelling from Jalandhar to Amritsar city.

Angry residents blame the local government officials for the deaths.

"The administration and the Dussehra committee are to be blamed for the deaths as they should have not allowed to organize the celebrations near the tracks or halted the movement of trains around this hour," Khulwant Bhullar, another local resident said. "No alarm was raised when the train was approaching."

The local government has announced a relief of around 6,807 U.S. dollars to family of each deceased and announced free medical treatment to the injured in hospitals.

Indian President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have expressed grief over the tragedy.

"Extremely saddened by the train accident in Amritsar. The tragedy is heart-wrenching. My deepest condolences to the families of those who lost their loved ones and I pray that the injured recover quickly. Have asked officials to provide immediate assistance that is required," Modi said in a statement.

Indian Railway Minister Piyush Goyal also expressed grief over the deaths and said his ministry officials were on the spot assisting in rescue and relief measures.

"Shocked and deeply saddened by the tragic train incident that occurred in Amritsar. My heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims. I pray for the injured to recover quickly," the minister said. "Railways is conducting immediate relief and rescue operations."

There are fears that the death toll is likely to go up further, officials said.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-20 10:59:17|Editor: Li Xia

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RIYADH, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud issued an order on Saturday to reorganize the General Intelligence Presidency, the primary intelligence agency of the kingdom, Saudi Press Agency reported.

The order included the evaluation of the rules and authorities of the agency to ensure a smooth workflow.

The King also issued orders to dismiss the deputy head of the intelligence agency and an advisor at the Royal Court. He also terminated the services of three senior intelligence officers.

The orders were made shortly after the announcement of the murder of missing Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi and the arrest of 18 Saudi suspects. No official announcement was made to confirm or deny that the king's orders are related to Khashoggi's death.

Saudi Arabia previously denied allegations that the kingdom had murdered or arrested Khashoggi.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-20 11:14:28|Editor: Li Xia

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CANBERRA, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- The head of Australia's top spy agency has dismissed concerns about proposed new encryption laws, saying they are necessary to stop terrorist attacks and save lives.

Duncan Lewis, the director-general of Security for the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO), told a parliamentary committee on intelligence and security that a small number of people were using encrypted messages to conceal activity that posed a threat to Australians' safety.

Under proposed changes to the telecommunications (assistance and access) bill, police and security agencies will be able to access encrypted data on a suspect's device.

"I can confidently say there are suspected terrorists in Australia using encrypted communications and due to that encryption it is impossible for us at this time to intercept and read their communications, despite our existing range of lawful and legal access authorities," Lewis told the inquiry.

Australian Federal Police Commissioner Andrew Colvin and Department of Home Affairs Secretary Mike Pezzullo joined Lewis in dismissing the objections of telecommunications companies, device manufacturers and the Law Council of Australia, all of whom cited privacy concerns.

Joseph Cannataci, the United Nations' special rapporteur on the right to privacy, said in a submission that the legislation was "fatally flawed" and would "force tech companies to help spy on citizens."

Lewis said he was not opposed to encryption, describing it as a "positive" part of everyday life, but that it presented "potentially the most significant degradation of intelligence capabilities in modern times, from our point of view."

"I remind you that ASIO ... have disrupted 14 terrorist attacks since 2014," he said.

"Our insights into around half of these investigations relied heavily on our ability to access the communications of would-be terrorists, but now, due to the diminishing capability and without the assistance of this legislation, ASIO cannot maintain this level of assurance in our ability to thwart attacks."

The Law Council of Australia said that the legal fraternity had "serious reservations" about whether the laws were necessary.

"The bill would authorise the exercise of intrusive covert powers with the potential to significantly limit an individual's right to privacy, freedom of expression and liberty," the council's President-elect Arthur Moses said.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-20 11:19:31|Editor: Yang Yi

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by Jose Aguiar

LIMA, Oct. 19 (Xinhua) -- The upcoming China International Import Expo has the potential to energize trade between Peru and the Asian giant, said Peruvian Foreign Trade and Tourism Minister Rogers Valencia.

Valencia described the expo, to be held in Shanghai on Nov. 5-10, as "very important," saying it represents an "initiative towards open trade and contributes to energizing trade between the two countries."

At the expo, Peru plans to showcase its best-selling export brands, including Super Foods Peru, Alpaca of Peru and Coffees of Peru, featuring products native to the South American country that are in high demand abroad.

The strategy aims to strengthen Peru's existing trade ties with China, its main export destination since 2014 and leading source of imports.

While most of Peru's current exports to China are related to minerals, there is "ample potential" to trade other products, such as agricultural goods, fish and seafood, and textiles such as fine alpaca, the minister said.

Peru's delegation to the fair will include representatives of the country's main export guilds as well as 16 companies "that will take the best of our foods," said Valencia.

The country's range of exportable foodstuff goes from specialty coffees to pepper, Andean grains, chocolate and such nutrition-packed "super foods" as maca (a root vegetable), sacha inchi (an Amazonian plant) and kiwicha (a type of amaranth).

"Given the importance of the event and the interest it has generated not just in China, but also around the rest of the world, we believe our participation will let us present our country's progress in developing a series of exportable products..." to a large audience, said Valencia.

To continue to diversify its exports to China "with high-quality goods," Peru "will keep working" within the framework of the free trade agreement (FTA) between the two countries, which was put into effect in March 2010, said the minister.

"We have been working with China to begin the process of optimizing our FTA. That will allow us to modernize and maximize the benefits of the agreement, which will result in a greater trade flow between our two countries," said Valencia.

China and Latin America in general have in recent years made an effort "to strengthen ties, boost trade and encourage investment flows," he said.

"That has led to a significant increase in Chinese investment in Latin American countries, especially in key sectors of their economies, such as transport, infrastructure and telecommunications," he noted.

For regional countries looking to step up exchange with China, Valencia recommended striking a trade pact, saying "one way to strengthen bilateral trade is negotiating free trade agreements."

Peru succeeded "in strengthening its ties with China through an FTA," he added.

For the region as a whole, the best way to further ties with China would be to participate in its Belt and Road Initiative to increase international trade and promote global infrastructure construction, he said.

That would also lead to the strengthening of multilateral ties, said Valencia.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-20 12:19:38|Editor: xuxin

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A security staff stands guard outside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, on Oct. 20, 2018. Preliminary investigations by the Saudi Public Prosecution showed missing journalist Jamal Khashoggi died after a fight at the Saudi consulate in the Turkish city of Istanbul, Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported on Saturday. (Xinhua/He Canling)

RIYADH, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- Preliminary investigations by the Saudi Public Prosecution showed missing journalist Jamal Khashoggi died after a fight at the Saudi consulate in the Turkish city of Istanbul, Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported on Saturday.

Investigations revealed that Khashoggi had a physical fight with those he met at the Saudi consulate, which led to his death, SPA said.

Eighteen people were arrested over the death of the missing journalist, and the investigation over the case will continue, the public prosecution said, adding that all involved in the case will be held accountable.

Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud issued orders on Saturday to dismiss the deputy head of the country's primary intelligence agency and an advisor at the Royal Court, and terminated the services of three senior intelligence officers.

The king also ordered the formation of a ministerial committee headed by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to restructure the kingdom's intelligence services.

The orders were made shortly after the announcement of the murder of Khashoggi and the arrest of 18 Saudi suspects. No official announcement was made to confirm or deny that the king's orders are related to Khashoggi's death.

Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist who lived in the United States, disappeared on Oct. 2 after visiting the consulate to complete paperwork related to his divorce. Saudi Arabia previously denied allegations that the kingdom had murdered or arrested Khashoggi.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-20 12:34:40|Editor: Li Xia

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WUHAN, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- China's independently-developed large amphibious aircraft AG600 completed its first water takeoff and landing in Jingmen city in central province of Hubei on Saturday morning.

The AG600, codenamed Kunlong, is designed to be the world's largest amphibious aircraft. It completed its maiden flight in December 2017.

The AG600 is the third member of China's "large aircraft family" following the large freighter Y-20 and large passenger aircraft C919.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-20 12:49:42|Editor: Yamei

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Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (R) meets with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras in Brussels, capital of Belgium, Oct. 19, 2018. (Xinhua/Wang Ye)

BRUSSELS, Oct. 19 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Keqiang pledged on Friday joint efforts between his country and Greece to push for new achievements in practical cooperation marked by port projects in Piraeus.

Li made the remarks when meeting with his Greek counterpart, Alexis Tsipras, on the sidelines of the 12th Asia-Europe Meeting Summit in Brussels.

Li called Greece a reliable friend and partner of China and said China has attached great importance to its relations with Greece.

He said the Chinese side is happy to see the end of Greece's bailout program and that the country has opened a new chapter in socio-economic development.

China is ready to join efforts with Greece to intensify high-level exchanges, deepen mutually beneficial cooperation, and achieve mutually beneficial and win-win results, so as to lift their comprehensive strategic partnership to a new level, he said.

The Chinese side is willing to work with Greece to implement the cooperation agreement on the construction of the Belt and Road, Li said.

China, Li pledged, will encourage its capable enterprises to invest and develop in Greece, increase imports of Greece's competitive agro-products and deepen financial cooperation with the country based on the principles of commercialization and sustainability.

As countries with ancient civilizations, China and Greece should continue to enhance dialogue between different civilizations, blaze the trail for the diversified development of human civilization, and create a lasting impetus for mutual understanding and common development between the two countries, Li said.

Tsipras said the dialogue and cooperation between Greece and China are far-reaching, as both are countries with ancient civilizations that have made significant contributions to oriental and western civilizations.

China has stood together with Greece in times of difficulty, he said, adding that his country is now striving to advance socio-economic development, which produces vast room for Greek and China to carry out mutually beneficial cooperation.

The Greek side believes that the port projects in Piraeus will drive Greece-China cooperation in logistics and connectivity, and is ready to take this opportunity to strengthen bilateral cooperation and exchanges in economy, trade and investment within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative, to achieve common prosperity, he said.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-20 12:54:43|Editor: Lu Hui

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WUHAN, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Saturday sent congratulatory messages on the successful water takeoff and landing of the AG600, China's independently-developed large amphibious aircraft.

The success of the first on-water flight of the AG600 marked another significant achievement through independent innovation by China's aviation industry, said Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission.

The flight was carried out Saturday morning in the city of Jingmen of central China's Hubei Province.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-20 14:09:51|Editor: Li Xia

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RIO DE JANEIRO, Oct. 19 (Xinhua) -- The Brazilian government Friday announced a decision to donate 100,000 U.S. dollars to a fund for the victims of the earthquake and tsunami which hit Indonesia late September.

The donation will be made through the United Nations World Food Program (WFP), which has been assisting the Indonesian government in coordinating logistics, it said.

The donation was announced during a meeting between Brazilian Foreign Affairs Minister Aloysio Nunes Ferreira and the ambassadors of countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

More than 2,000 were killed, 10,000 more seriously injured and 80,000 left homeless in the natural disaster in Indonesia.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-20 14:19:52|Editor: Chengcheng

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MEXICO CITY, Oct. 19 (Xinhua) -- The renegotiated United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) will bring many benefits to North America for several years, U.S. Secretary of States Mike Pompeo said here Friday.

In brief remarks to reporters, Pompeo thanked the Mexican government for the work it did and the "vigorous debate" in order to reach a modernized North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) after over a year's negotiation.

"We reached an outcome that will benefit the three countries for many years to come, which will create jobs and riches for our countries," Pompeo said.

The three countries came to an agreement on Sept. 30 for the new NAFTA, following negotiations that began in August 2017.

However, it must be signed by the leaders of the three countries which could occur by the end of November. It would then need to be approved by each of the countries' legislative bodies.

Pompeo went on to say that once the trade agreement is done, one of the biggest issues facing the United States and Mexico will be immigration on the southern border.

According to reports, thousands of Honduran immigrants have begun marching from their country in caravans to flee poverty and violence in the Central American country.

On Thursday, through his Twitter account, U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to call up the military and close the border if measures are not taken to stop the flow of immigrants.

During the same meeting with reporters, Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray said: "Mexico's immigration policy is defined by Mexico just like the United States' immigration policy is defined by the United States."

The Mexican government has deployed some 240 federal police to reinforce security along the border it shares with Guatemala. The measure was appreciated by Trump on Twitter.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-20 15:25:02|Editor: xuxin

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DAMASCUS, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- The Islamic State (IS) released six hostages taken in the southern province of Sweida, state news agency SANA reported Saturday.

The released hostages include two women and four children who had been captured by the IS militants during an offensive at dawn of July 25.

Altogether 30 people were taken hostages at the time, three of whom had died while in captivity.

Citing the governor of Sweida, Amer al-Ashi, SANA said the release of the first batch of hostages came as a result of the tight siege imposed by the Syrian Army on IS militants in the Tulol al-Safa hills in the eastern countryside of Sweida.

He noted that the rest will be set free soon.

Meanwhile, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the release comes due to a deal reached recently with the backing of Russia.

The Britain-based watchdog group said the Syrian Army has brought in reinforcements to the surroundings of the Tulol al-Safa as a pressure on IS to start implementing the deal.

The observatory said that 60 women from government jails are to be released in exchange for the Sweida hostages, as these women appear to be relatives of IS fighters.

The IS also demanded the release of their relatives from the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in northeastern Syria.

Calm prevails Tulol al-Safa, where IS militants are besieged, said the observatory. It added that if IS fails to release the rest of the hostages, the army will continue the assault on Tulol al-Safa.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-20 15:25:02|Editor: xuxin

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SYDNEY, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- Large swathes of Australia's New South Wales state, including farmland suffering from one of its worst droughts, were told to brace for severe thunderstorms starting Saturday, according to weather authorities.

At least one death has been reported from lightning strikes.

Heavy rain, damaging winds and large hailstones were forecast for the state stretching from its southern tablelands to northwest slopes and plains, with severe thunderstorms "likely to produce heavy rainfall that may lead to flash flooding," the national bureau of meteorology issued in a warning.

The storms were being generated by an atmospheric trough interacting with a humid airmass, it said.

Near the Dubbo central west agricultural area, a 53-year-old man died after being struck by lightning in the middle of a racecourse where a cattle dog community event was held, according to local media.

Organizers of a river festival also canceled their annual event, citing "real concerns" about the high amount of lightning strikes hitting the area, the ABC news channel reported.

The storms follow one of the country's worst droughts, with authorities increasing aid for farmers dealing with low crop production and livestock losses in the major eastern agricultural states in recent months.

New South Wales state emergency services advised residents on Saturday to stay indoors away from windows and be on the alert for damaged trees, fallen electricity cables and other contingencies.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-20 15:45:05|Editor: xuxin

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NEW DELHI, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- Indian railway authorities Saturday cancelled 37 trains and diverted others after a train ran into crowd sitting on tracks, killing 61 people and injuring over 100 others, officials said.

"Due to Amritsar train tragedy on Amritsar-Manawala railway section, 27 passenger trains and 10 Mail Express trains have been cancelled," an official said. "Besides this 16 trains have been diverted."

A train mowed down a crowd at Jaura Phatak in Amritsar, the Sikh holy city of Punjab, on Friday evening while they were witnessing the celebrations of a Hindu festival Dussehra.

Dussehra is a Hindu festival marking the triumph of good over evil. Effigies are burnt and fireworks are set off as part of the festival in north India.

Railway officials blame local authorities for the tragedy.

"The organizers and local authorities had not informed the railway officials about the event being held so close to the railway tracks," the railway official said.

Eyewitnesses said as the firecracker-filled effigy was lit and fireworks went off, there was lot of noise and people who were hit could not see or hear the train that mowed them.

The local government has described the incident as tragic and ordered an inquiry into the accident.

Meanwhile, state Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has reached Amritsar to visit injured in the hospitals and also to oversee the relief efforts.

Punjab is observing mourning on Saturday in the wake of the incident and all offices and schools have been closed.

Reports said the driver of the train has been detained and is being questioned by the police. The driver reportedly told police that he was given the green all-clear signal to move ahead and he had no idea that hundreds of people were standing on the tracks.

Reports said around 700 people were witnessing the effigy burning and over 300 were on the tracks.

The train that hit the crowds was travelling from Jalandhar to Amritsar city.

Angry residents blame the local government officials for the deaths.

Meanwhile condolence messages from world leaders are pouring in.

"My heart goes to all in Amritsar following Friday's tragic accident. Earlier this month, I was honored to visit the Golden Temple and witnessed the warmth and generosity of the people. My deepest condolences to those who have lost family and loved ones," UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a statement.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-20 16:00:08|Editor: xuxin

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KABUL, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- Two policemen and two civilians were wounded when an improvised explosive devise exploded near a polling station in the Afghan capital of Kabul, local police said.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-20 16:15:14|Editor: xuxin

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MUMBAI, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- Indian-owned hospitality company OYO has extended its services in Indonesia and decided to invest over 100 million U.S. dollars in the country as part of its expansion in Southeast Asia.

OYO has started its operations with over 30 hotels and more than 1,000 rooms in Jakarta, Surabaya and Palembang, according to the Press Trust of India.

The hospitality giant is seeking to expand the brand in Indonesia along with offering benefits of its service experience to asset owners, property investors and travellers in country.

OYO founder and CEO Ritesh Agarwal told the press, "We intend to invest over 100 million USD in this high-growth market and plan to grow in the top 35 cities in Indonesia, including Yogyakarta, Bandung and Bali, over the next 15 months."

OYO is seeking to create over 60,000 direct/indirect livelihood opportunities in Indonesia and ready to tap this opportunity of the market since Indonesia is one of the top choices for the both global and Indian travellers.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-20 16:25:16|Editor: xuxin

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KABUL, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- At least four people, including two policemen, were injured after four blasts, caused by improvised explosive devices (IEDs), occurred near polling stations in Kabul on Saturday, an Afghan official said.

The polling of the parliamentary elections in the militancy-plagued country continued smoothly, he added.

More than 2,500 candidates are contesting for the Wolesi Jirga or the 249-seat lower house of the parliament.

Taliban militants who have vowed to sabotage the voting are yet to confirm any attack on polling stations in the country, where more than 50,000 security forces have been deployed to provide security for the long-delayed polling.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-20 17:50:28|Editor: Yamei

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QUITO, Oct. 19 (Xinhua) -- WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange presented a protection action through his lawyers against the Ecuadorian government on Friday, accusing it of violating his fundamental rights and freedoms.

The anti-secrecy activist, who has claimed political asylum at Ecuador's embassy in London since 2012, believes the "special protocol," issued by the Ecuadorian government outlining new terms of stay, is unjust.

Assange's lawyers, the former Spanish judge Baltasar Garzon and Ecuadorian Carlos Poveda, presented his case at a press conference in the Ecuadorian capital of Quito.

According to the lawyer, Ecuadorian authorities presented Assange with a "special protocol," detailing rules on visitors, access to communications and medical attention, on Oct. 13.

The protocol declared that Ecuador will not be responsible for Assange's statements or views and that any breach of the rules will bring about the "termination of asylum."

However, the document was not signed nor is it clear under which authority operates it.

The existence of the protocol was confirmed by Ecuador's Foreign Ministry on Oct. 17. The ministry also stated that its production was a "sovereign decision".

On Friday, Wikileaks took to Twitter to state its rejection of the conditions in which Assange has been forced to live and voiced its full support for legal action.

Assange entered the Ecuadorian embassy in 2012 to avoid extradition to Switzerland for questioning over an alleged sexual assault in 2010.

In December 2017, Ecuador granted Assange citizenship and requested that Britain give him diplomatic status, which was refused.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-20 18:00:30|Editor: Yamei

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MEXICO CITY, Oct. 19 (Xinhua) -- The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) on Friday said Mexico must make the fight against international corruption a "priority" following the country's lack of concrete measures over the past 19 years.

As the country's economy is export-oriented, the fight against international bribery is a great concern, said an OECD statement.

According to the Paris-based organization, traditional export sectors, such as mining or agriculture, are particularly exposed to corruption.

The comments come following the Phase 4 review of Mexico's application to the OECD Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions, aiming at stopping the bribery of foreign public officials.

The OECD recommended that Mexico should adopt, "with urgency," recently passed constitutional reforms to create a national anti-corruption system.

The statement called particular attention to "the selection of an anti-corruption prosecutor, the designation of magistrates to the Federal Court of Administrative Justice and the selection of the attorney general in accordance with the new constitutional mechanisms."

Mexico's president-elect, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, scheduled to take office on Dec. 1, has promised to launch a "crusade" against corruption.

Organizations representing Mexican businesses claim that 8 to 10 percent of the annual gross domestic product is lost to corruption each year.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-20 18:05:31|Editor: Yamei

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TEGUCIGALPA, Oct. 19 (Xinhua) -- Honduran authorities on Friday announced they have reinforced their border with Guatemala following the exodus of thousands of Hondurans in a "migrant caravan" towards the United States.

Carlos Cordero, deputy director of the National Migration Institute (INM), told international press that hundreds of military and police were involved in the fortification efforts.

"No one is being prevented from passing through but migration controls into Guatemala are being tightened," he said.

The first caravan of around 1,200 people left San Pedro Sula, a city in the north of Honduras, on Oct. 13. In the following days, migrants from various cities in the country joined the group.

The group has crossed El Salvador, Guatemala and arrived at the Mexican border on Friday.

Mexican president-elect, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who takes office on Dec. 1, has said he will analyze granting working visas to migrants.

Police on the Honduras-Guatemala border have now been equipped with bulletproof vests, shields, wooden sticks and tear gas bombs.

One of the caravan's organizers, Bartolo Fuentes, was detained in Guatemala on Tuesday and returned to Honduras.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-20 18:05:31|Editor: Yamei

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LAGOS, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- Fifty-five people have been confirmed dead in Thursday's communal clash in north Nigeria's Kaduna State, the police said here Saturday.

The death toll was confirmed to Xinhua by Yakubu Sabo Abubakar, the state police spokesperson, as a result of a clash between Hausa and Adara youths in the state.

The incident reportedly resulted from a disagreement over where traders were to be off-loading their wares for sales during the Thursday market day in Kasuwa Magani, a village about 31 kilometres away from the state capital.

Abubakar said the police had arrested 22 suspects in connection with the mayhem.

Nasir El-Rufai, the state governor, who also confirmed this to reporters in Kaduna after he visited the scene of the incident, condemned the clash in strong terms.

He said 55 corpses burnt beyond recognition were recovered from the communal clash.

El-Rufai assured residents that the government will prosecute those responsible for the violence in their community.

The state government had on Thursday declared a 24-hour curfew on the community following the violence.

On his part, the state police chief, Ahmad Abdur-Rahman told reporters that all perpetrators of the mayhem would be brought to book.

He appealed to the public to continue to live in peace and assist the command with useful information to track the perpetrators.

Kaduna State, located in Nigeria's north-central region, is one of the states with recent high number of attacks in the West African country, with women and children being the most affected.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-20 18:20:34|Editor: Yamei

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DAMASCUS, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- "Cautious calm" prevailed the demilitarized zone in northern Syria on Saturday as the extremist groups have yet to withdraw despite Turkish efforts in accordance with a Russian-Turkish deal, a war monitor reported.

Calm is witnessed in the demilitarized zone on the sixth day since it went into force as part of a Russian-Turkish deal reached last month to create a buffer zone between the Syrian army and the rebels, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The Britain-based watchdog group said that some breaches were reported overnight in the northern countryside of Hama.

Meanwhile, the war monitor said that the extremist groups haven't pulled out from the zone as they were supposed to comply with the Russian-Turkish deal.

The Turkish intelligence apparatus have so far failed to persuade the rebels to leave the zone, according to the observatory.

In an earlier report, the observatory said the Turkish intelligence is continuing its "undeclared" efforts to push the ultra-radical groups out of the demilitarized zone in northern Syria, which should have been done by Oct. 15.

It said the Russian-Turkish deal to impose a buffer zone between the Syrian Army and the rebel groups in northern Syria has been partially implemented in terms of pulling out heavy weapons from the zone.

However, the second stage of the deal is for the ultra-radical rebel groups to withdraw, which did not happen as such groups, mainly al-Qaida-linked groups, have rejected to pull out.

The planned demilitarized zone includes areas in Idlib, which is the last major rebel stronghold in northwestern Syria, as well as adjacent countryside areas of the provinces of Hama, Latakia and Aleppo.

The Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, otherwise known as al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front, is considered as the most powerful among the rebel groups in Idlib province.

The deal for imposing a demilitarized zone was reached in September between the leaders of Turkey and Russia, aiming at averting Idlib province from a wide-scale offensive by the Syrian army.

The Syrian government has welcomed the deal but noted that it was only temporary.

Turkey's task in the deal is to persuade the rebel groups in Idlib to abide by the plan as Ankara enjoys sway over the militants there.

The observatory said that no Turkish-Russian patrols have yet started in the demilitarized zone as planned.

On Oct. 15, Syria's Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem said that there should be more time to judge the success or failure of the deal and that the Syrian army is standing by around Idlib should the rebels fail to abide by the plan.

The Syrian government officials repeatedly said that the demilitarized zone should end after Idlib and the surrounding rebel-held areas return under the government control.

In his remarks, Muallem was confident that Idlib will return under the government control.

He added that the next goal of the Syrian government is to restore areas on the eastern bank of the Euphrates River, which is under the sway of the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces.

Throughout the crisis, Idlib has emerged as the major destination and stronghold of the Syrian rebels fleeing other parts of the country after deals or surrender.

Idlib is now in a state of severe lawlessness characterized by assassinations, explosions, and infighting.

The major rebel group in Idlib is the Nusra Front, which has vowed not to surrender, saying it will keep on fighting the Syrian army.

Idlib is of strategic significance as it shares a border area with Turkey in the north and neighbors the coastal province of Latakia, hometown of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Notably, the namesake capital city of Idlib lies close to the international road linking the capital Damascus with the northern province of Aleppo.

Idlib is home to around 3.5 million people, including those who evacuated after the surrender of rebels in other Syrian areas.

Muallem said in his Monday remarks that the government prioritized resolving the situation in Idlib through reconciliation to spare the lives of people in Idlib.

However, the minister noted that the Syrian Army cannot stand indifferent about the situation in Idlib if it wasn't resolved as up to 50,000 rebels are believed to be positioned there.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-20 18:50:41|Editor: xuxin

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WASHINGTON, Oct. 19 (Xinhua) -- The White House said here on Friday that the United States acknowledges the announcement by Saudi Arabia on the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, despite suspicion of the U.S. Congress toward the Kingdom's explanation.

The Saudi Public Prosecution announced on Friday that preliminary investigations showed that the missing journalist Khashoggi died after a fight at the Saudi consulate.

The Saudi journalist who lived in the United States, disappeared on Oct. 2 after visiting the consulate to complete paperwork related to his divorce. Unconfirmed reports said before that Khashoggi was likely killed inside the compound, which was denied by Saudi officials as "baseless."

ONGOING INVESTIGATION

Ever since the journalist disappeared, Saudi officials had repeatedly said he left the consulate alive and the Saudi side had no information on Khashoggi's whereabouts.

A sharp reversal came soon as the Saudi Press Agency reported that preliminary investigations by the Public Prosecution revealed Khashoggi had a physical fight with those he met at the Saudi consulate, which led to his death in the compound.

Eighteen people were arrested over the death of the missing journalist, and the investigation over the case will continue, the public prosecution said, adding that all involved in the case will be held accountable.

Such a result gained the acknowledgement of U.S. President Donald Trump who told the media in an event in Arizona that the explanation was credible and a "good first step."

In a statement, White House spokesperson Sarah Sanders said that "the United States acknowledges the announcement from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia that its investigation into the fate of Jamal Khashoggi is progressing and that it has taken action against the suspects it has identified thus far."

"We will continue to closely follow the international investigations into this tragic incident and advocate for justice that is timely, transparent, and in accordance with all due process," she said.

OTHER FACTORS

Before Saudi Arabia made the announcement, Trump told the media that the case was a "very serious stuff and we're going to get to the bottom of it and will make that determination."

While promising to work with the Congress "in determining what to do," Trump emphasized that "we have 450 billion U.S. dollars worth of things ordered from a very rich country, Saudi Arabia. 600,000 jobs, maybe more than that."

"So there are other things we can do, but I would certainly, make that recommendation to Congress," he said, indicating that he would prefer not to hurt the U.S. companies and jobs by cutting billions of dollars in arm sales to the kingdom.

"I will very much listen to what Congress has to say ... I do hope that they'll be able to see the way clear to take," the president said, adding that "we're talking about almost every state in the union is affected because it's the largest order ever given."

"I went to Saudi Arabia first and a large part of the reason was they agreed to do this, spend 450 billion dollars on buying and investing in the United States. So, I hope we can keep that, I hope we don't lose track of that," Trump said.

RISING SUSPICIONS

Suspicions on Saudi Arabia's explanation over the case have been rising since the release of the kingdom's announcement. Several Republican heavyweights in the United States have urged Trump to reconsider U.S. military sales to Saudi Arabia over the case.

U.S. Republican senator Lindsey Graham, also Trump's close ally, noted via twitter that "to say that I am skeptical of the new Saudi narrative about Mr. Khashoggi is an understatement."

A high-ranking Democratic lawmaker, Adam Schiff, also expressed his suspicion on Saudi Arabia's claim, adding that if the Trump administration fails to hold Saudi Arabia accountable, the Congress will.

Trump said on Thursday that the United States will make a "very strong" statement about Khashoggi's case.

Meanwhile, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said after meeting with Trump and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that he has decided to cancel his coming trip to the kingdom for a major trade conference.

Trump and Pompeo had denied earlier that Pompeo, during his stay in Turkey, had been given or shown a transcript or video of Khashoggi's alleged death in the Saudi Arabian consulate.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-20 19:15:46|Editor: xuxin

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MADRID, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- Eleven Spanish police and one migrant were injured during a riot at a migrant detention center in the Spanish capital, police sources said.

The riot took place on Friday night at the Center for the Internment of Foreigners (CIE) in the Aluche region of Madrid. Of the injured, only two police were wounded seriously and hospitalized, Spanish media reports said.

The riot at the center, which is currently housing 170 migrants, was reportedly provoked by inmates of Algerian origin while medication was being handed out.

"With great violence," inmates are reported to have used benches as battering rams and attacked the 12 police officers who were on duty at the time.

The center, which has the capacity to house 280 inmates, has been in the news several times in recent months due to a series of incidents, the last of which was in August this year when 13 minors escaped.

According to a report published by the charitable organization SOS Racism Madrid in July this year, residents in the center took part in 15 hunger strikes and 3 collective protests against the conditions there between 2014 and 2017, while there were also 11 escape attempts and 7 attempted suicides.

One of the most serious incidents happened in October 2016 when 39 migrants staged a rooftop protest over conditions which lasted for over 10 hours.

This Thursday saw the Spanish Interior Ministry confirm that 48,669 migrants have reached Spanish territory so far in 2018, more than the combined total of migrants who arrived in the last three years, placing an enormous strain on Spain's capacity to deal with them.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-20 19:25:48|Editor: xuxin

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by Bai Xu and Pan Xiangyue

CANBERRA, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- Ten years ago, when Julie Nichols struggled to find a venue for her handmade market in Australia's capital, she could never imagine that it could one day be so popular that visitors sometimes had to queue at the entrance.

"We now have 270 businesses who are doing very well," said the 51-year-old organizer.

"Customers have an opportunity here to support handmade. That is awesome," she said.

This weekend marks the tenth anniversary for Handmade Canberra Market. The three halls in the Exhibition Park were packed with people in spite of the rain. They could find clothes, books, dazzling earrings and necklaces, uniquely designed utensils, as well as exotic food and snacks.

Nichols was a milliner and a stallholder for a very long time. More than a decade ago, when she moved back to Canberra, she found the market here had not changed.

"I thought maybe we should have a market just for people who make handmade products," she recalled.

The first handmade market, in November of 2008, was in the Albert Hall where there were only more than 30 stalls and more than 2,000 visitors.

"The number of our customers reached 33,000 last December," she said. According to the Canberra Times, the Handmade Market attracts 120,000 visitors and generates an estimated 15 million Australian dollars (about 10.7 U.S. dollars) in sales per year.

As the market expands, they changed from one day only in each season to two days to meet the need of more customers. This year to celebrate the 10th birthday, they are going to open one more time in December.

Louise Martiansen has been making porcelain for six years with her LouiseM Studio in Sydney.

About three years ago she learned about the market from someone else who had been here before.

"It is a really nice market, with lovely and chatty people," she was seemingly satisfied. The 31-year-old artisan travelled more than 280 km especially to Canberra yesterday. "It is worth the time to travel," Martiansen said.

Also among the stallholders are Ivan Bullock and Yumi Ando with their And O Design. They moved from Melbourne to Canberra a year ago. This time they brought the jewelry they designed.

"This is a small and isolated city," said Bullock. "It is good to have such a market in Canberra."

There are also some Chinese stalls in the market, like the Little Wu Jianbing.

According to Rosy Zhang who worked in the stall, they started to make Jianbing, or Chinese pancake, in Canberra more than a year ago as the first such store in the city.

"We believe that Jianbing is quite representative for Chinese snacks, so here we are," Zhang said. Many people came to take photos and ask about the snack.

Ken Zhou was from Guangdong province in South China, who has been running the Asian Tiger in Canberra Center for four years. This is the fourth time he came to the market.

"A friend recommended the market to me," he said. His Bao by Asian Tiger was quite welcomed by local visitors. They have sold more than 200 baozi, or steamed stuffed buns, within just one hour.

"We can sell 1,000 to 1,500 a day," he said. "The market helped promote our brand."

After he came to the market, more people followed the brand on social media. "This time we changed the location of our stall, and many people asked on social media 'where are you'," Zhou said.

This is just what Julie Nichols would like to see. "The handmade market is a good opportunity for stallholders," she said.

But her work of organization was far from plain sailing. Now that the market became a buzzing event, she, together with four other staff members, had to arrange everything from parking and public transport to the use of electricity.

But she never thought of giving up. "Not even once," she said. "I don't think it needs to grow bigger. It is good to keep it as current and ensure people enjoy coming."
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-20 19:30:49|Editor: xuxin

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ISTANBUL, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- Despite expected relaxation in ties between Turkey and the United States with the release of a U.S. pastor, analysts remain skeptical about Ankara's chance of obtaining exemption from U.S. sanctions on Iran ahead of a November deadline.

"I don't think the U.S. would stop pressuring Turkey to comply with the sanctions," Murat Bilhan, deputy chairman of the Istanbul-based Turkish Asian Center for Strategic Studies, told Xinhua.

After dropping out of a nuclear deal concluded with Iran in 2015, Washington reintroduced the first batch of sanctions on Tehran at the beginning of August.

The second tranche of the sanctions, which will be in effect on Nov. 4, is considered more critical as it targets Tehran's oil exports and financial transactions.

Bilhan's argument is mainly based on a trump card Washington has against Ankara, a U.S. court decision accusing Turkey's state-owned Halkbank of violating previous U.S. sanctions against Iran.

The court may impose a heavy fine on Halkbank as well as smaller fines on several other banks in Turkey for the same reason, according to Turkish media.

Celalettin Yavuz, a security and foreign policy analyst, does not totally rule out the possibility that Washington may grant its allies, including Ankara, some limited exemption regarding the impending sanctions.

The U.S. may consider giving Turkey time until it holds local elections in March next year, he said, describing the release of the American pastor as a favor to the Trump administration ahead of the upcoming mid-term congressional elections in the U.S.

Brian Hook, the Trump administration's special envoy for Iran, signaled early this week that Washington could be willing to consider its allies' specific needs while asking them to observe the sanctions.

He also noted that representatives of some countries had paid visits to Washington to present their side of the issue.

Ankara has repeatedly said it would not comply with the U.S. sanctions on its eastern neighbor, as the Turkish economy is expected to be hit hard by the sanctions in any case.

Should Ankara comply with the sanctions, its ties with Tehran would be damaged and it may have to pay a little more for oil to be imported from other countries.

In case Ankara does not observe the sanctions, it will face U.S. punitive measures unless it obtains a waver from Washington.

"The U.S. sanctions also aim to deal a blow to Turkish-Iranian ties," said Yavuz, who teaches at Istanbul Ayvansaray University.

Turkey would not be negatively affected by the sanctions, argued Mehmet Acet, a columnist with the pro-government Yeni Safak daily with a source in the know about the sanctions issue.

According to the anonymous source, Turkey's top oil refinery Tupras has been granted a waiver by Washington regarding the sanctions.

In 2017, Iran was Turkey's biggest supplier of crude oil and the second biggest supplier of natural gas after Russia.

Ties between Ankara and Washington, two NATO allies, have been rather strained in recent years for a number of reasons.

The release last week of evangelical Pastor Andrew Brunson, who was charged with espionage as well as being linked to terror groups, appears to have set the stage for a possible ease in ties.

U.S. President Donald Trump said on his Twitter account that Brunson's release was greatly appreciated by Washington and Ankara's move would "lead to good, perhaps great, relations between the United States and Turkey."

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was in Ankara on Wednesday to talk with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu.

Following the talks, Pompeo signaled that Washington could soon remove the sanctions levied on Ankara in August for keeping the pastor under arrest.

Both analysts feel, however, that the apparent ease in ties with Washington is no more than skin-deep and temporary as there still remain some major disagreements between the allies.

"I don't think the problems between Ankara and Washington are easy to resolve," stated Bilhan, a former diplomat.

"Turkish-U.S. interests clash in a good deal of areas," said Yavuz.

For one, continued U.S. military support for Kurdish militia in Syria is a thorn in the side of Turkey, as Ankara sees the Kurdish fighters as terrorists.

For its part, Washington is highly disturbed by Ankara's close cooperation with Moscow in war-torn Syria and its bid to buy Russian-made S-400 air defense system.

"Unless the U.S. changes its domineering attitude toward Turkey, it would not be realistic to expect a complete normalization in ties," argued Bilhan.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-20 19:35:50|Editor: zh

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MADRID, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese mobile technology firm OnePlus has opened its first offices in Spain in order to boost sales, it said in a press release on Friday.

"The company arrives in Spain with local offices and a local team to be closer to Spain users and to offer them the best technological experience possible thanks to the latest developments in mobile telephones, based on innovation and added value," it said.

The Chinese company plans to double its sales in the next year in the southern European country.

The Manager of OnePlus in Spain David Sanmartin said the decision to double sales was made with consideration of the idiosyncrasies of Spanish technology consumers.

"Spain is a market where technology is appreciated and where innovation and quality products are especially well valued by consumers. It is also known that Spain is a country of 'early-adopters', many of whom have been OnePlus clients almost from the moment we began and we are certain this confidence in Spain will be well-received by consumers," he commented.

The Chinese company sold a million units of its latest smartphone, the OnePlus 6, in just 22 days, but OnePlus's increased presence in Spain calls for a better knowledge of the Spanish market, where competition exists from other Chinese manufacturers, such as Xiaomi and Huawei.

"A stable presence in the Spanish market would allow OnePlus to be closer to users to know their comments and needs first hand and also help us develop new and surprising innovative products," it said.

In recent weeks OnePlus signed agreements with Amazon Espana, PoComponentes and the electronics store FNAC in a bid to increase its share of the Spanish mobile phone market.

According to data released by the company, OnePlus now has over 1,000 employees in 21 countries. OnePlus smartphones can be purchased in stores in 38 countries and regions or online, and its online community has over 5 million registered users all over the world.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-20 19:50:54|Editor: xuxin

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KABUL, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- At least 37 people, including two policemen, were injured in multiple blasts near polling centers in Kabul on Saturday, authorities said.

Several blasts occurred throughout Kabul since early Saturday when the polling started across the country. Some attacks also took place in countryside as millions of voters visited the polling centers amid Taliban threat and intimidation.

The long-delayed elections for Wolesi Jirga, or Lower House of the parliament saw more than 2,500 candidates vying for the chamber's 249 seats.

The polling in the militancy-plagued country continued amid reports of irregularities and allegation of fraud.

Taliban militants who have vowed to sabotage the voting are yet to confirm any attack on polling stations in the country, where more than 50,000 security forces have been deployed to provide security for the polling.

Nearly 9 million registered voters, including 3 million women, out of 12 million eligible voters, were expected to cast their ballots to elect members of the lower house of parliament for a five-year term.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (R) speaks with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani at the Presidential Palace in Ankara, Turkey, on April 4, 2018. (Xinhua/Turkish Presidential Palace)

ISTANBUL, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- Despite expected relaxation in ties between Turkey and the United States with the release of a U.S. pastor, analysts remain skeptical about Ankara's chance of obtaining exemption from U.S. sanctions on Iran ahead of a November deadline.

"I don't think the U.S. would stop pressuring Turkey to comply with the sanctions," Murat Bilhan, deputy chairman of the Istanbul-based Turkish Asian Center for Strategic Studies, told Xinhua.

After dropping out of a nuclear deal concluded with Iran in 2015, Washington reintroduced the first batch of sanctions on Tehran at the beginning of August.

The second tranche of the sanctions, which will be in effect on Nov. 4, is considered more critical as it targets Tehran's oil exports and financial transactions.

Bilhan's argument is mainly based on a trump card Washington has against Ankara, a U.S. court decision accusing Turkey's state-owned Halkbank of violating previous U.S. sanctions against Iran.

The court may impose a heavy fine on Halkbank as well as smaller fines on several other banks in Turkey for the same reason, according to Turkish media.

Celalettin Yavuz, a security and foreign policy analyst, does not totally rule out the possibility that Washington may grant its allies, including Ankara, some limited exemption regarding the impending sanctions.

The U.S. may consider giving Turkey time until it holds local elections in March next year, he said, describing the release of the American pastor as a favor to the Trump administration ahead of the upcoming mid-term congressional elections in the U.S.

Brian Hook, the Trump administration's special envoy for Iran, signaled early this week that Washington could be willing to consider its allies' specific needs while asking them to observe the sanctions.

He also noted that representatives of some countries had paid visits to Washington to present their side of the issue.

Ankara has repeatedly said it would not comply with the U.S. sanctions on its eastern neighbor, as the Turkish economy is expected to be hit hard by the sanctions in any case.

Should Ankara comply with the sanctions, its ties with Tehran would be damaged and it may have to pay a little more for oil to be imported from other countries.

In case Ankara does not observe the sanctions, it will face U.S. punitive measures unless it obtains a waver from Washington.

"The U.S. sanctions also aim to deal a blow to Turkish-Iranian ties," said Yavuz, who teaches at Istanbul Ayvansaray University.

Turkey would not be negatively affected by the sanctions, argued Mehmet Acet, a columnist with the pro-government Yeni Safak daily with a source in the know about the sanctions issue.

According to the anonymous source, Turkey's top oil refinery Tupras has been granted a waiver by Washington regarding the sanctions.

In 2017, Iran was Turkey's biggest supplier of crude oil and the second biggest supplier of natural gas after Russia.

Ties between Ankara and Washington, two NATO allies, have been rather strained in recent years for a number of reasons.

The release last week of evangelical Pastor Andrew Brunson, who was charged with espionage as well as being linked to terror groups, appears to have set the stage for a possible ease in ties.

U.S. President Donald Trump said on his Twitter account that Brunson's release was greatly appreciated by Washington and Ankara's move would "lead to good, perhaps great, relations between the United States and Turkey."

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was in Ankara on Wednesday to talk with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu.

Following the talks, Pompeo signaled that Washington could soon remove the sanctions levied on Ankara in August for keeping the pastor under arrest.

Both analysts feel, however, that the apparent ease in ties with Washington is no more than skin-deep and temporary as there still remain some major disagreements between the allies.

"I don't think the problems between Ankara and Washington are easy to resolve," stated Bilhan, a former diplomat.

"Turkish-U.S. interests clash in a good deal of areas," said Yavuz.

For one, continued U.S. military support for Kurdish militia in Syria is a thorn in the side of Turkey, as Ankara sees the Kurdish fighters as terrorists.

For its part, Washington is highly disturbed by Ankara's close cooperation with Moscow in war-torn Syria and its bid to buy Russian-made S-400 air defense system.

"Unless the U.S. changes its domineering attitude toward Turkey, it would not be realistic to expect a complete normalization in ties," argued Bilhan.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-20 20:46:04|Editor: xuxin

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KABUL, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- Afghanistan's Election Complaints Commission (ECC) on Saturday called upon the Independent Election Commission (IEC) to ensure transparency and fairness in the parliamentary elections.

"The turnout was high and people including women hugely rushed to the polling stations to use their constitutional rights to cast vote, but unfortunately our surveys and inspections have found that voting process is going on with shortfall and mismanagement," spokesman and secretary of ECC Alireza Rohani told reporters at a press conference here.

Voting for Wolesi Jirga or Lower House of parliament begun at 07:00 a.m. local time and would last until 04:00 p.m. local time on Saturday wherein more than 2,500 candidates are racing to secure a seat in the 249-seat house.

The voting started amid tight security coincided with blasts and militants' attacks in Kabul and other provinces, where according to eyewitnesses a dozen people have lost their lives and more than three dozen others sustained injuries.

People in many polling stations have complained that the stations have remained closed for hours, prompted the tired voters to return home without casting their votes.

"ECC wants the IEC to do its best to remove all the obstacles and pave the way for the voters to cast vote free of concerns to have free and fair elections," Rohani noted.

Meantime, Gula Jan Abdul Badi Sayad, chairman of Independent Election Commission has assured that the time of voting might be extended and those have failed to cast their votes might be allowed to use their franchise on Sunday.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-20 20:51:05|Editor: Li Xia

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An eyewitness receives an interview near the site of a train accident near Amritsar, northern state of Punjab, India, on Oct. 20, 2018. Eyewitnesses still remember the horror of the mishap wherein a passengers train mowed over more than one hundred people on Friday, killing around 61 and injuring almost an equal number at the annual Dussehra festival in India's northern city of Amritsar. (Xinhua/Zhang Naijie)

by Pankaj Yadav

AMRITSAR, India, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- Eyewitnesses still remember the horror of the mishap wherein a passengers train mowed over more than one hundred people on Friday, killing around 61 and injuring almost an equal number at the annual Dussehra festival in India's northern city of Amritsar.

Balwinder Singh, 41, whose house is located just next to the railway tracks, said it all happened within a couple of seconds.

"I, along with my wife, children and relatives, was standing on the rooftop of my house watching the Dussehra festivities, including burning of the Ravana effigy, when suddenly this train ran through the crowds standing on the railway tracks. No one could see the approaching train as everyone was keen on watching the festivities," he said.

People were ran over by the train running at a high speed while they witnessed festivities standing on railway tracks, and fell victim without realizing the approaching of the train amidst loud sounds of crackers.

Dussehra is a Hindu festival marking the triumph of good over evil. Effigies are burnt and fireworks are set off as part of the festival in north India.

Further describing the mishap, Singh added " We ran down and reached the spot, but could not think what to do. We were all bewildered. We were in a state of utter shock."

His wife Sarita Singh said, "It was a sight of horror and disbelief. There were human limbs and blood scattered all around the railway tracks. We could not believe for the next few minutes as to what had happened. I saw dead bodies, cut limbs of children, women, and men."

She said that just before this tragedy struck, one person in their immediate neighbourhood was appealing to all those standing on railway tracks to move away, but he himself got trapped in front of the train and died. "He is survived by an infant daughter," Sarita added.

Balwinder's niece Manpreet Kumari said that she was insisting on going on to the railway tracks to have a closer look of the festivities, but she was stopped by her uncle. "Had I gone there to have a closer look of the festivities, I too might have got killed. I am still not able to come to terms with whatever happened last night just in front of my eyes," she said.

Meanwhile, State Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has instituted an inquiry into the tragedy, the report of which is expected to come in four weeks.

"We will fix the responsibility on the culprits on the basis of the report of the probe, and thereafter we will take a suitable action against them. At this juncture we do not want to indulge in any blame game," said the chief minister.

Condolence messages over the tragedy came from different countries.

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan tweeted "Saddened to learn of the tragic train accident in Amritsar, India. Condolences go to the families of the deceased." Amritsar shares border with Pakistan.

In his message to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin said "I offer my deepest sympathies over tragic consequences of an accident on railways in Punjab. I ask to convey my words of sympathy & support to families & friends of killed people & to wish soonest recovery to those injured."
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-20 20:51:06|Editor: xuxin

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RAMALLAH, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- The Palestinian Foreign Ministry on Saturday accused Israel of anchoring apartheid through legislations that terrorize critics.

The ministry said in a statement that an Israeli draft law that would impose stiff prison term on activists in the anti-Israel boycott movement seeks to terrorize Israel critics.

An Israeli ministerial committee for legislation is going to discuss on Sunday a bill proposed by Likud members calling for imposing between seven and 10-year prison sentence on anyone that is active in the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement and calls for boycotting Israel culturally and economically.

"The occupying power (Israel) is quickly moving from an apartheid state to a fascist state," said the Foreign Ministry statement, adding that Israel is seeking to terrorize critics through legislating laws that clearly violate international law.

The statement condemned what it described as "discriminatory" laws, particularly the recently passed nation-state law, accusing the Israeli government of "violating the principles of human rights."

The ministry urged "specialized regional and international organizations to raise its voice to expose the flagrant violations of human rights principles, top most being the freedom of expression."
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-20 21:01:08|Editor: xuxin

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DAMASCUS, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- A total of 62 people have been killed over the past 24 hours as a result of the U.S.-led airstrikes on the country's eastern province of Deir al-Zour, state news agency SANA reported Saturday.

The coalition's airstrikes targeted areas in the village of Souseh in the countryside of the city of Abu Kamal in the eastern countryside of Deir al-Zour, killing 15 people, including women and children.

The U.S.-led airstrikes also killed 37 others when targeting a mosque in that area.

In the town of Abu Badran, the coalition airstrikes killed at least 10 people, said the report, adding that more wounded are expected to die as many of them are in critical conditions.

Many civilians have also been trapped under the rubble as a result of the airstrikes.

SANA said the coalition is following the tactic of scorched land under the pretext that it's targeting the Islamic State (IS) in eastern Deir al-Zour.

A day earlier, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said tens of people have been killed as a result of the U.S.-led airstrikes on the last IS-held pocket in the eastern countryside of Deir al-Zour.

The U.S.-led coalition backs the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in their push to defeat IS in a few areas the terror-designated group is still holding on the eastern bank of the Euphrates River in eastern Deir al-Zour.

The Syrian Foreign Ministry has recently urged the UN to conduct an international investigation into the "crimes" of the U.S.-led coalition in Syria.

The Syrian government side has repeatedly charged that the U.S. is using the battles on IS as a pretext to keep intervening in Syria's affairs.

The U.S.-led coalition entered the course of battles in Syria against the IS in 2014, with the government questioning the intention of the U.S. and branding its intervention as illegal as it happened without the consent of the Syrian administration.
Chinese group led by Zheng Zhuqiang, Chinese Ambassador to Uganda (2nd R) with the representative (1st L) of China Henan International Cooperation Group (CHICO) made a relief donation to support Ugandans who were affected by the Bududa landslide in the Eastern part of Uganda, about 249 km from Kampala, Capital of Uganda, Oct. 19, 2018. (Xinhua)

KAMPALA, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese embassy and Chinese enterprises in Uganda on Friday donated cash and emergency relief items to the victims of landslides that struck the eastern district of Bududa.

Handing over the donations, Zheng Zhuqiang, the Chinese ambassador to Uganda, said the embassy donated relief supplies worth about 3,500 U.S. dollars while the Chamber of Chinese enterprises and other communities plan to donate cash and items totalling about 62,000 dollars.

"I hope that this batch of donations will help the people in Bududa to return to normal life as soon as possible," Zheng said.

The landslides that left at least 46 people dead and 700 others affected occurred on Oct. 11 in Bukalasi and Buwali sub-counties.

Receiving the donation, Hillary Onek, minister of relief, disaster preparedness and refugees thanked the Chinese community for the donation and urged Ugandans to emulate them and come to the rescue of the victims.

He said the government would soon embark on the relocation of the people who are at risk in the region.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-20 21:15:43|Editor: zh

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Volunteers for the first China International Import Expo (CIIE) sing a theme song at an oath-taking ceremony at the National Exhibition and Convention Center (Shanghai) in east China's Shanghai, Oct. 20, 2018. More than 5,000 volunteers for the upcoming CIIE pledged responsibility and commitment during an oath-taking ceremony held here on Saturday. The ceremony also unveiled CIIE volunteers' outfits and a theme song. (Xinhua/Liu Ying)
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-20 21:11:12|Editor: xuxin

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WASHINGTON, Oct. 19 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday recognized Saudi Arabia's announcement about the death of a journalist Jamal Khashoggi as a "good first step," amid widespread suspicion from the U.S. media and Congress.

Trump told the media in an event in Arizona that Saudi Arabia's explanation was credible and a "good first step," but what had happened to Khashoggi was "unacceptable."

The initial investigations by the Saudi Public Prosecution revealed that Khashoggi had a physical fight with those he met at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, which led to his death, resulting in the arrest of 18 people.

"I think it's a good first step, it's a big step. It's a lot of people, a lot of people involved, and I think it's a great first step," Trump said, noting that "Saudi Arabia has been a great ally."

He added that he would talk to the Saudi crown prince before he takes next steps, explaining that Saudi Arabia has been helping the United States counter Iran and buying U.S. weapons.

"It's early, we haven't finished our review or investigation," he said.

Trump said that he'll work with Congress on what the U.S. response should be, but he'd prefer not to hurt American companies and jobs by cutting billions of dollars in arms sales to the kingdom.

Several Republican heavyweights have urged Trump to reconsider U.S. military sales to Saudi Arabia over the case. Congress has the power to block U.S. arms sales to Saudi Arabia.

After Saudi Arabia released the statement, U.S. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, also Trump's close ally, noted via Twitter that "to say that I am skeptical of the new Saudi narrative about Mr. Khashoggi is an understatement."

"It's hard to find this latest 'explanation' as credible," Graham said.

A high-ranking Democratic lawmaker, Adam Schiff, also said that Saudi Arabia's claim was not credible, noting that if the Trump administration fails to hold Saudi Arabia accountable, Congress will.

Democratic senator Chris Van Hollen called the Saudi statement a cover-up, noting "the United States must not be complicit in this cover-up. Looking forward to what our intelligence agencies have to say."

The wrangle between the Trump administration and Congress over the case appears ongoing.

POLITICO, a U.S. media outlet, reported earlier on Friday that the Trump administration has told Chairman of Senate Foreign Relations Committee Bob Corker that he could not view recent U.S. intelligence regarding Khashoggi's disappearance.

Corker, also a Republican, said on Thursday that the administration's information "clampdown" can't go on.

"There has been a clampdown on any further intelligence updates to senators ... it can't go on that long, they need to come out and share their views of what happened and share with us," Corker said.

The case of Khashoggi, a journalist and columnist for The Washington Post, has become a major source of tension between Saudi Arabia and the West.

Khashoggi 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, a claim denied by Saudi officials as "baseless."
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-20 21:36:18|Editor: zh

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BEIJING, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- Thirty-nine officials at or above the provincial or ministerial level were punished in the first nine months of 2018, China's top discipline inspection and supervision agencies said Saturday in a statement.

The officials are among a total of 406,000 people punished by the Communist Party of China Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Supervisory Commission in the first three quarters. The punishment ranges from oral and written inquiries to major adjustments to official positions, or prosecution.

About 36,000 officials were prosecuted and investigated for suspected criminal activities, the statement said.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-20 21:36:18|Editor: xuxin

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THIMPU, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- Druk Nyamrup Tshogpa Party (DNT) were elected to run the new government in Bhutan after winning 30 of the 47 seats in the general round of the parliamentary election held on Thursday.

This election was also hailed as a victory and major leap for the female political aspirants, with seven female candidates being elected, including five from the DNT and two from the Druk Phuensum Tshogpa (DPT). This was the highest number of women candidates ever elected so far.

Voter turnouts of this election also hit the highest since the establishment of the democracy in Bhutan in 2008, with a total of 313,473 total voters turnouts in its 47 constituencies.

DNT was led by the former surgeon Lotay Tshering. The party's manifesto focuses on narrowing the gap between the rich and the poor.

Winning 25 seats in the primary round, the DNT leader was confident that they could easily win this parliamentary election.

The president of DPT expressed that his party would welcome the results positively.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-20 21:41:19|Editor: xuxin

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WELLINGTON, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- The headline event for this year's Festival of Transitional Architecture (FESTA) was held on Saturday in the center of Christchurch in New Zealand's South Island.

Starting in 2012, FESTA involves architecture students from throughout Australasia creating a reimagined CBD, or "a spectacular temporary city," for a part of the city that was seriously damaged in the 2011 earthquake.

In previous years, temporary structures have been made out of recyclable materials and lit up at night and parades held with giant puppets. The biennial event had traditionally attracted large crowds to a part of the city that was often empty at night, encouraging more people to get involved in the remaking of their city, according to the Christchurch Transitional Architecture Trust (CTAT).

FESTA, the celebration of urban creativity and regeneration, comprises 54 events this year. It is an opportunity for the public to experience a reimagined Christchurch, comprising imaginative architectural installations, workshops, talks, pop-up projects, artworks and more, according to the event's website.

The festival creates a platform for city-makers and citizens to imagine and experience Christchurch differently, celebrating the culture of creativity, active citizenship and hope that has emerged in Christchurch since the earthquakes, organizers said.

The 2018 program builds on the main event's theme of feasting and gathering in public spaces, exploring the interconnections between food and urbanism. More than 150 architecture students are involved in this year's FESTA held from Friday to next Monday, according to the CTAT.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-20 22:06:22|Editor: Yurou

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Chinese Premier Li Keqiang addresses the 12th Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) Summit in Brussels, Belgium, Oct. 19, 2018. (Xinhua/Huang Jingwen)

by Xinhua writer Wang Lei, Peng Tianxiao

BRUSSELS, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- As economic globalization continues to lose momentum while protectionism and unilateralism rise, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang's Eurasian trip has offered China's answer on how to steer the world economy out of difficulties through concerted efforts and closer cooperation.

Li's nine-day visit took him to Tajikistan, the Netherlands and Belgium, where the Chinese premier and leaders of Eurasian countries held in-depth talks, promising to enhance mutual trust and forge stronger partnerships.

Furthermore, Asia and Europe, two stabilizing forces of the world as well as two major economic blocs, were committed to upholding multilateralism and safeguarding the rules-based free trade system to maintain sustainable global growth.

JOINT VOICE ON FREE TRADE, MULTILATERALISM

Li's trip came at a time when openness and cooperation were challenged by isolationism and confrontation. In face of such trying times, a more connected Eurasia is badly needed than ever before.

Situated on the world's largest landmass which houses more than two-thirds of the world's population, Asia and Europe share common ground for free trade and multilateralism because of their geographical advantages and demand for further development.

When addressing the two-day 12th Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) Summit held in Brussels, Li said that under the complicated circumstances, Eurasia should stay committed to building an open world economy.

As the largest inter-governmental platform, the ASEM Summit has played a key role in expanding ties and cooperation among member countries and boosting regional communication and connectivity.

The hard-won momentum of the world economic recovery still calls for adherence to open development, the premier said, urging the two continents to resolutely safeguard the multilateral trading system and consolidate the foundation for economic globalization and free trade.

Countries should continue to facilitate free trade and investment to provide opportunities for the global economy, he said.

In the joint communique of the 17th meeting of the Council of Heads of Government of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) held in Dushanbe, the member states agreed to "consistently strengthening an open, inclusive, transparent, non-discriminatory and rule-based multilateral trading system, as well as preventing any unilateral protectionist measures in trade."

Li called on the SCO members to launch feasibility studies on establishing an SCO free trade area, a specific measure to fulfill their commitment to upgrading multilateral cooperation.

Claudia Vernott, founder and director of China-EU Association for Digital spoke highly of the joint commitment to building an open economy by way of wider cooperation and reforms of the WTO and existing global mechanisms.

"It is the responsibility of both Europe and China to join efforts to make sure that multilateralism could be sustained," Vernott said.

DEEPENING ALL-LEVEL COOPERATION

During the Chinese premier's visits, a joint and firm voice could be heard at bilateral and multilateral meetings calling to bolster pragmatic economic cooperation, with the signing of agreements in various fields.

When meeting with Li, Tajik President Emomali Rahmon expressed willingness to enhance cooperation with China in such areas as transportation, agriculture, energy and infrastructure construction as well as people-to-people exchanges.

Having already joined China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), people in Tajikistan as well as other countries along the land route are making strides towards a brighter future.

The stride is also made in China-Netherlands ties, as the two countries' pragmatic cooperation in such fields as trade and investment enjoys continuous growth.

Over 900 Dutch companies are doing business and investing in China and the number is growing, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said at the China-Netherlands Business Forum. Ahead of the event, enterprises of the two countries signed a series of agreements worth nearly 10 billion U.S. dollars.

More opportunities would be brought to Dutch companies along with the advancing of the BRI, the boom of China's new growth drivers and upgrading of the industrial structure, and its innovation-driven development strategy, Li noted.

On the sidelines of both the SCO prime ministers' meeting and the ASEM Summit, joint stance of fostering all-round cooperation was repeated at more than 10 bilateral meetings, which have testified the earnest efforts and faith from China and its partners.

CREATING CONNECTIVITY

Enjoying the natural privileges of the supercontinent, Asia and Europe should first and foremost promote infrastructure connectivity by building transportation and logistics networks.

In Li's remarks, countries involved need to enhance "soft connectivity" of systems, policies, rules and standards in order to invigorate elements such as capital, technology, services and data.

Boosting the geographic connectivity through projects like China's BRI offers great benefits to people living on the continent.

China's determination to broaden the network of BRI beneficiaries is strengthened as more and more people in participant countries live better because of economic growth and jobs, global competitiveness and trade as well as the flow of goods and services.

In his speech delivered at the ASEM Summit, Li expressed hope for the further alignment of the BRI with the development strategies of regional countries, as well as other connectivity blueprints like the Eurasian connectivity strategy proposed by the European Union.

China takes the Eurasian continent as the core of BRI construction, which originated from China but belongs to the whole world, Li said.

To cultivate connectivity between Asia and Europe, China has taken every chance to assure the world of its opening-up policy and willingness to cooperate and communicate.

"Past experience shows that development cannot be achieved behind closed doors, and opening up is the right way forward," Li said when attending the SCO meeting.

China's firm attitude was valued by countries at the inter-governmental meetings, where they reaffirmed support for the BRI and advocated the establishment of a more open and mutually beneficial region.

Pierre-Yves Jeholet, vice-president of Belgium's Walloon government and minister of economy, hailed the Chinese premier's visit as an important one which strengthens both diplomatic relations and trade.

"I think diplomatic and trade relations go hand in hand," the official said, adding that "we must look to other countries and promote this connection" so that the projects can witness joint contribution and shared benefits.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-20 22:16:23|Editor: xuxin

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JOHANNESBURG, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- South African Transport Minister Bonginkosi Nzimande on Saturday called for a probe into the deadly car crash that killed 27 people on Friday.

On Friday a truck carrying cement had a tyre burst and it lost control crashing into three cars travelling in the opposite direction in Limpopo Province. Nzimande asked Road Traffic Management Corporation and police to invest the crash.

"I will meet with tyre manufacturing companies together with the road freight logistics companies to discuss the effect of tyre safety which is becoming a vital factor in thousands of road crashes we have every year," said Nzimande.

Nzimande said, "We call on all road users to be vigilant on our roads. Only a partnership between government, civil society and the private sector would see us winning the battle against road carnage."

Limpopo police spokesperson Moatshe Ngoepe said the police have launched investigations into the deadly crash.

"The police are investigating a case of culpable homicide following the death of 27 people during a fatal accident involving a truck carrying cement and four other vehicles. Amongst the fatalities, two are minor children. Four people survived and they were taken to different hospitals for medical treatment," he added.

Ngoepe said that at this stage they are still investigating the cause of the accident and in the process of identifying the deceased.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-20 22:26:25|Editor: zh

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MACAO, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- China's Macao pays great attention to advancing closer Macao-Portugal ties, and playing its strategic role in linking China and Portugal, chief executive Chui Sai On said here on Saturday when meeting with the Portuguese foreign minister.

During the fifth meeting of the Macao-Portugal Joint Committee which was co-chaired by Portuguese Foreign Minister Augusto Santos Silva, Chui briefed the Portuguese officials on Macao's latest developments, in particular how the government was integrating the Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) into the overall development of China.

Chui and Augusto Santos Silva jointly met the media after the meeting and shared their agreement on future cooperation between the two sides, including economic, trade, culture, language training, and education issues.

Chui said the meeting reviewed ongoing achievements in education, language and culture, and explored fresh opportunities for further cooperation in innovation and sports.

Macao would assist Portuguese businesses interested in taking part in the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and the Belt and Road Initiative, the chief executive said.

He added that as Macao had been designated a China-Portuguese-speaking Countries Young Entrepreneur and Innovation Exchange Center, a number of young Portuguese entrepreneurs leading innovative projects would be invited to visit Macao next year.

Macao would also establish more courses and academic entities focusing on the Portuguese language, he said.

The chief executive said the year 2019 would mark the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, the 40th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and Portugal, and the 20th anniversary of Macao's return to the motherland.

Macao was always dedicated to furthering ties between China and Portugal, and to making more contributions to the comprehensive strategic partnership of cooperation between the two countries, he added.

Augusto Santos Silva said the two sides had discussed a number of topics, including consumer protection and mutual recognition of academic degrees in higher education.

Friendly relations between Macao and Portugal served as an important gateway for the Portuguese business sector to enhance investment in the Chinese mainland, he said.

The foreign minister said closer Macao-Portugal ties not only benefited Chinese and Portuguese people, but also benefited people in other Portuguese-speaking countries such as Brazil, Angola, Cabo Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique and Timor-Leste.

He added that China and Portugal both strove for economic development and sustainability. Strengthening mutual trust between the two countries would encourage further exchanges in all aspects between their peoples, businesses and governments.
A digital board reminding motorists to slow down while driving is seen on a street in Dublin, Ireland, Oct. 19, 2018. (Xinhua)

DUBLIN, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- Irish police on Friday launched a 24-hour nation-wide operation to crack down on speeding to mark the country's National Slow Down Day.

The operation, which kicked off at 7:00 a.m. Friday morning, is aimed at reducing the number of speed-related collisions on the Irish roads.

The operation consists of high visibility speed enforcement over 1,000 enforcement zones across the country as well as the delivery of road safety messages to motorists through the use of the national, local and social media, said the police.

It is an action taken by the police in collaboration with Road Safety Authority (RSA), a government agency responsible for the public safety on the Irish roads.

A violator of the speed limits rules will face a three-penalty-point reduction and a fine of 80 euros (92 U.S. dollars), said an official with the RSA.

In Ireland, a driver's license will be suspended if he or she loses 12 penalty points in a three-year time.

According to the police figures, over 85,000 cases of speed limits violations had been detected by the end of this August.

The RSA officials said that inappropriate speed is a factor in a third of fatal crashes on the Irish roads each year.

As of the mid-October of this year, there had been 117 road deaths reported in Ireland, they said.

Last year, a total of 158 people were killed on the Irish roads, the lowest annual figure ever recorded in the country since 1959, according to the RSA figures.

Ireland was the 4th safest European Union country in terms of road deaths in 2017 partially thanks to the implementation of National Slow Down Day initiative which was first launched in 2012, said the RSA.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-20 23:11:42|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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SINGAPORE, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- The 5th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Defense Ministers' Meeting (ADMM)-Plus wrapped up here Saturday, with Chinese State Councilor and Defense Minister Wei Fenghe being one of its participants.

The meeting was attended by the Defense Ministers of ASEAN member countries as well as ASEAN's eight Plus partners, namely Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, Russia and the United States. It was chaired by Ng Eng Hen, the defense minister of Singapore which takes over the chairmanship of ASEAN this year.

Wei said in his speech that the Asian region is confronted with severe challenges in combating terrorism, and only concerted efforts would prove to be an effective way to cope with the situation. During recent years, the Chinese military has strengthened mutual trust and military exchange mechanism with relevant countries in the region, and will continue to do so in order to safeguard regional stability.

The Chinese defense minister noted that the international arena is witnessing profound changes, and there still exist a lot of destabilizing factors and uncertainties in the world. Chinese President Xi Jinping's proposals of creating a community of shared future for mankind and of building an Asian community with shared future provide new ideas to tackle the security dilemma as well as to maintain regional and even global peace and prosperity, Wei added.

The 5th ADMM-Plus Defense Ministers issued two Joint statements on Preventing and Countering the Threat of Terrorism and on Practical Confidence-Building Measures.

On the sidelines of the meeting, the Chinese defense minister met separately with the defense ministers of Singapore, the United States, Laos, New Zealand, Thailand, Japan, Australia and the Republic of Korea, with whom Wei exchanged views on issues of common concern.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-20 23:31:45|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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FUZHOU, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- China's restaurant chain serving Shaxian County cuisine has opened its first eatery in the United States.

Located at 818, 60th St. Brooklyn, the restaurant, which opened Monday, presents overseas foodies with traditional Chinese snacks, including peanut butter noodles and pork wontons.

Originating in Shaxian County in east China's Fujian Province, the snacks spread as locals traveled afar for work.

"In my childhood, food stalls could be seen everywhere in my hometown in Fuzhou," said the chain owner, Shao Binfang, a 34-year-old Chinese American born in the provincial capital. "But this is just a small step for the company, Shaxian Delicacies, to go global."

In June, the company set up its first overseas chain-eatery at Takadanobaba Station in Tokyo, Japan.

As of the end of September, the 80-square-meter restaurant had sold around 5 million yen (44,563 U.S. dollars) monthly. About one third of their customers are the Japanese residents.

"Our second eatery is to be open soon, and we plan to have 30 chains in Tokyo in the long run," said Wang Yuanyao, the owner of the Shaxian Delicacies eatery in Tokyo.

According to the industry development center of the brand, overseas Chinese in over 10 countries including the United States, Britain, Argentina, Australia and Canada, have shown their interest in joining the chain plan.

Representatives from France and Malaysia even came to China for further training.

With the help of modern commercial operations, the center hopes to bring fresh energy to Chinese traditional snacks.

"We will try our best to make Shaxian Delicacies an iconic Chinese brand with world-wide influence," said Zhang Xin, deputy director of the center.

Providing customers with snacks of good quality at competitive price, Shaxian Delicacies has become a local pillar industry, with over 10 billion yuan (1.44 billion U.S. dollars) turnover annually.

Over the past decades, there are over 60,000 restaurants serving Shaxian snacks nationwide, but only about 1,800 of them are the brand's authentic chain restaurants.

In order to prevent counterfeit restaurants and provide customers with authentic Shaxian foods, the Shaxian Delicacies trade association, founded in 1997, registered its trademark in 2014.

Shaxian County is also building a "central kitchen" for distributing semi-finished products to its franchises worldwide, according to Zhang.

"The standardized Shaxian Delicacies improved customer impressions of traditional Chinese snack stalls," Shao said.

Shao adopted the design of an open kitchen to create a clean and brightly-lit environment in her restaurant.

"When the customers can see the cooking process, it puts them at ease over food safety," Shao said.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-21 00:11:57|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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TEHRAN, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- Chief of staff of the Iranian armed forces urged Pakistan to make an effort to release the Iranian border guards who were kidnapped recently and transferred to Pakistan, Tasnim news agency reported on Saturday.

"Considering the bilateral agreements between the two countries' armed forces on ensuring the security of common borders, we expect the Pakistani armed forces to take necessary measures and push for the immediate release of the abducted (Iranian) soldiers and border guards," Mohammad Hossein Baqheri said in a telephone conversation with his Pakistani counterpart Qamar Javed Bajwa.

Baqheri also urged Pakistan to reinforce the presence of its security forces along the common borders with Iran, to promote security and stability in those areas, and to prevent acts of terrorism.

For his part, the Pakistani general expressed regret over the abduction of Iranian forces, and expressed hope that Pakistan would soon arrest the kidnappers and free the Iranian abductees.

On Tuesday, 14 Iranian border guards were kidnapped by an armed group in Mirjaveh border point in Iran's southeastern Sistan and Baluchestan Province.

Sistan and Baluchestan Province, bordering Pakistan, is the locus for frequent armed clashes between the Iranian security forces and armed rebels or smugglers.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-21 00:52:07|Editor: Li Xia

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People take part in the People's Vote March in London, Britain, on Oct. 20, 2018. Nearly 700,000 people marched in London on Saturday afternoon demanding a second Brexit referendum. (Xinhua/Ray Tang)

LONDON, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- Nearly 700,000 people marched in London on Saturday afternoon demanding a second Brexit referendum.

The People's Vote March demonstration surprised authorities and organizers with its size, which London's municipal police force had estimated beforehand to be up to 100,000 people.

The organizing body, People's Vote, estimated the turnout on the march and rally to be 670,000 people.

At the head of the march were political figures from all three major British political parties.

Vince Cable, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, was the most senior political figure present who was joined by Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, former Green Party leader Caroline Lucas, former Conservative government minister Anna Soubry and former shadow front bench Labour Party minister Chuka Umunna.

Cable told a rally in Parliament Square outside the Houses of Parliament: "There is no deal better than the one we have now: it is better for Britain and better for Europe."

Khan told the crowd in a speech: "The lies, the mistruths and the deceptions of the referendum campaign have now been exposed, and it's clear the will of the people is changing."

"No one voted to leave the EU to make themselves poorer. No one voted for the shambles that this government has created."

A spokesperson for People's Vote said in a statement: "We are demanding our democratic voice be heard on Brexit... We now know the true cost of the divorce bill, as well as the impact of Brexit on the NHS, workers' rights and public services."

The People's Vote March was organized by groups supporting remaining in the EU, among them are Open Britain, Wales for Europe, and Britain for Europe.

The Metropolitan Police said that there had been no trouble on the march and that no arrests had been made.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-21 02:32:25|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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ADEN, Yemen, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- Air defenses of the Saudi Arabia-led coalition destroyed two ballistic missiles fired by the Houthi rebels at the Red Sea coastal city of Hodeidah, a Yemeni government official told Xinhua Saturday.

The Houthi rebels targeted the government-controlled areas in Durayhmi of Hodeidah province, but the Saudi-led air defenses aborted the ballistic missile attack successfully, the government source said on condition of anonymity.

"The Saudi-led coalition protected the thousands of citizens living in government-controlled areas and destroyed the two missiles over the city's airspace," the government source said.

Media outlets affiliated with the United Arab Emirates, which is leading the anti-Houthi offensive in Hodeidah, reported that a drone loaded with explosives was destroyed on its way towards the city.

No casualties were reported as a result of the two coordinated Houthi attacks against government-controlled areas in Hodeidah.

Earlier in the day, sources of the pro-government Giants Brigades confirmed to Xinhua that the Houthi fighters launched an all-out attack against key military positions belonging to the Saudi-led coalition forces in Hodeidah.

The Houthi group lost scores of its fighters during the attack that was repulsed by the Saudi-led coalition forces after intense airstrikes.

The Yemeni government is seeking to expel Houthi rebels out of the strategic city of Hodeidah in recent days despite warnings by international humanitarian agencies.

The impoverished Arab country has been locked into a civil war since the Iran-backed Shiite Houthi rebels overran much of the country militarily and seized all northern provinces, including the capital Sanaa, in 2014.

Saudi Arabia is leading an Arab military coalition that intervened in Yemen in 2015 to support the government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi after Houthi rebels forced him into exile.

The United Nations has listed Yemen as the country with world's biggest humanitarian crisis, with 7 million Yemenis on the brink of famine and cholera causing more than 2,000 deaths.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-21 02:42:27|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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LOS ANGELES, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- The line for tickets stretched around the corner at the opening night of the fourth China Onscreen Biennial (COB) Friday at the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles, where Director Bi Gan's west coast premier of his Cannes festival favorite, "Long Day's Journey Into Night," was screening.

"There's not a lot of places to see Chinese movies in LA, so we jumped at the chance," former UCLA student, Sarah Anderson, told Xinhua.

"That's exactly why we started this," explained COB's artistic director, Cheng-Sim Lim, "Chinese films don't get shown in the U.S. very often and when they are shown, they lack context. Our curatorial team, drawn from different American cultural institutions, brings diversity and a deeper cultural context to the works we screen."

Inaugurated in 2012, the China Onscreen Biennial is co-presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), the UCLA Film & Television Archive, The Film at REDCAT (Roy and Edna Disney/CalArts Theatre), the Asia Society Southern California and the Asia World Film Festival.

It will be screening a dozen handpicked Chinese films of note and hosting appearances by high-profile Chinese filmmakers, including Yang Mingming, the heralded female director of the popular film, "Girls Always Happy."

"It's great to be here," smiled Yang Mingming. "I just wanted to make a movie about something I knew about - Mother and Daughter - but I am glad other people like it too."

Jia Zhangke, a celebrated Chinese director, was selected as the Artist-in-Residence of the event. According to organizer, he will appear at the West Coast Premiere of his latest film Ash is Purest White and will take part in a series of in-depth public conversations in Los Angeles this week about his career during a special retrospective screening program.

Besides of Ash is Purest White (2018), Jia's awarded films, including Xiao Wu (1997), Platform (2000), The World (2004), Still Life (2006), and A Touch of Sin (2013) will be shown at the Biennial.

"We're thrilled to present the most expansive and culturally significant selection of films in the history of our event," said COB's Cheng-Sim Lim.

The bicoastal event will run from Oct. 19 through Nov. 11 in LA, screening at multiple venues across the city, then travel to Washington D.C. from Nov. 2 to 11, and wrap up in New York on Dec. 2.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-21 02:52:30|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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NAIROBI, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- Chinese smartphone firm Transsion Holdings on Saturday donated books and color pens to a Kenyan children's home.

The firm, whose brands include Infinix, has been helping Emmanuel New Hope Rescue Center, which is located in the low-income neighborhood of Kayole, for two years, said Amos Zhou, digital marketing manager Infinix Mobility.

"The donations will enable the orphaned children to develop their creative skills so that (they) grow up to become productive citizens," Zhou said.

Saturday's donation, worth 800 U.S. dollars, was made while the children's home was celebrating Mashujaa Day, or Heroes Day.

The children also participated in activities such as face painting, bouncing castles games and card making.

Zhou said that at the end of every month, Infinix employees would volunteer to engage the children in various income-generating activities to help them become more self-reliant.

Jane Kagai, founder of Emmanuel New Hope Rescue Center, thanked the Chinese firm for their contribution, noting that Infinix is now the only donor for the children's home, which has 56 children.

"Through the partnership with the Chinese, we are now able to ensure that the orphaned children can grow up in a stable and secure environment," she said.

Jennifer Kwamboka, who stays at Emmanuel New Hope Rescue Center, said her living conditions have greatly improved since the Chinese began their regular donations.

The 18-year-old, who lost her father 10 year ago, said she will complete high school thanks to the generosity of the Chinese firm.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-21 04:07:40|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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PARIS, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- France strongly condemned the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, calling for an in-depth investigation, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on Saturday.

"France condemns this murder in the strongest terms," Le Drian said, adding that "the confirmation of Jamal Khashoggi's death is a first step toward the establishment of the truth. However, many questions remain unanswered."

"They require a comprehensive and diligent investigation to establish all the responsibilities and to ensure that those responsible for the murder... are held accountable for their actions," the French top diplomat stressed.

The Saudi journalist who lived in the United States, disappeared on Oct. 2 after visiting the consulate to complete paperwork related to his divorce.

The Saudi Public Prosecution announced on Friday that preliminary investigations showed that the missing journalist Khashoggi died after a fight with the people he met in the Saudi consulate. It confirmed that the investigation will continue, saying all involved in the case will be held accountable.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-21 04:57:46|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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VALLETTA, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- The NGO humanitarian ship Sea-Watch departed from Malta on Saturday after having been prevented from leaving the island by the Maltese authorities for more than three months, the organization said.

The ship was being used to rescue African migrants who were stranded at sea while attempting to flee to Europe.

The vessel said on social media that after having been "unlawfully detained," the Sea-Watch 3 was allowed to leave the port on Saturday morning. It is now en route to Spain.

The ship had been held in Malta after a dispute among European Union member states over the fate of a group of migrants rescued by another humanitarian vessel operated by a different NGO, the MV Lifeline.

Earlier in October, the reconnaissance aircraft Moonbird, operated by Sea-Watch, resumed operations after having been grounded in Malta for three months.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-21 05:37:53|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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BERLIN, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Saturday strongly condemned the killing of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Saudi consulate in Istanbul, calling for further investigation, while German foreign minister asked for a suspension of arms sales to Saudi Arabia.

"With great dismay, we have received the confirmation of the violent death of Jamal Khashoggi," said a statement issued by Merkel and German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas.

"We condemn the act with utmost sharpness. We expect transparency from Saudi Arabia in light of the circumstances of the death and the background," according to the statement.

The statement said that those responsible must be held accountable, and the information given at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul is insufficient.

Under massive pressure, Saudi Arabia admitted on Saturday that preliminary investigations by the Saudi Public Prosecution showed the missing journalist Jamal Khashoggi died after a fight at the Saudi consulate in the Turkish city of Istanbul.

In an interview with the German public broadcast ARD on Saturday night, Heiko Maas said that German arms exports to Saudi Arabia should not be approved for the time being due to Kashoggi's violent death.

"I think as long as the investigations are ongoing and as long as we do not know what happened there, there is no reason to take positive decisions on arms exports to Saudi Arabia," said Maas to ARD.

Saudi Arabia is the second largest customer of German weapons behind Algeria so far this year: until September, the German federal government granted export licenses worth 416.4 million euros to Saudi Arabia.

Prior to the announcement by Saudi Arabia, Heiko Maas had already put travel plans to Saudi Arabia on hold.

Maas said on Wednesday in Berlin that he would wait for the investigation and a possible statement from Riyadh.
SUA: Numarul deceselor anuale cauzate de supradoza de droguri a atins un nivel record

Peste 100.000 de americani au murit din cauza supradozelor de droguri in perioada de un an care s-a incheiat in aprilie, au declarat cercetatorii guvernamentali, conform The New York Times. Acesta este cel mai mare numar anual [citeste mai departe]
A pedestrian walks across the crosswalk at 16th and Walnut where a USPS truck blocks the turn lane on Walnut. Read more

When speed cameras come to Roosevelt Boulevard in about six months, they will represent the most concrete accomplishment yet of Philadelphia's year-old safe streets initiative.

"It truly is going to save lives," Leslie Richards, Pennsylvania's transportation secretary, said at an event Friday to celebrate the passage of legislation legalizing speed cameras in the city.

Gov. Wolf signed the bill Friday after years of lobbying from the city and safe streets advocates such as the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia. The law also legalized a five-year pilot program to place speed cameras in active work zones on Pennsylvania highways.

Last March, Philadelphia adopted a Vision Zero three-year action plan, committing to a philosophy that with education, engineering, and enforcement, traffic-related deaths can be reduced to zero. In Philadelphia, which has a higher rate of traffic deaths than New York City, Boston, or Chicago, the target for zero deaths is 2030. A report issued Friday charting Vision Zero's progress acknowledged that the city was not on track to meet that goal.

>>READ MORE: Speed cameras are likely coming soon to Roosevelt Boulevard

Clear-cut wins are hard to obtain when it comes to improving the quality of the city's streets. The high cost of meaningful road reconfiguration, the need for community input and approval, and the competing interests of city agencies and Council members have slowed progress. The city recently hedged on its commitment to create protected bike lanes, shifting the goal from 30 miles of lanes under the Kenney administration to 40 miles in the next seven years.

Dena Driscoll of the advocacy organization 5th Square credited the city for the progress listed in the report, while tasking the city with committing to better enforcement and a more aggressive road improvement schedule.

"For his entire term, shovel-ready funded projects have been waiting for the mayor's green light," she said. "Time and again  on South Street and Lombard, Pine and Spruce, on 22nd, 10th, and 13th Streets  the mayor has deferred to neighborhood politics, or simply ignored the issues."

>>READ MORE: Truck traffic is clogging Center City streets. What's Philly going to do about it?

Permission to install speed cameras, though, is a tangible step forward in the Vision Zero project. The goal is to slow cars on Roosevelt Boulevard, which just this year has accounted for almost 20 percent of the city's fatal crashes. There have been 13 deaths on the Boulevard this year, and one more on its limited-access stretch, the Roosevelt Expressway.

Half the revenue from the Boulevard cameras will go toward transportation projects in Philadelphia. The rest will go toward state projects.

On about 14 miles of residential streets, speed limits will drop to 25 mph, said Mike Carroll, the city's deputy managing director for the Office of Transportation, Infrastructure, and Sustainability. Those streets have not been selected. Between October and January, the city will take applications from neighborhoods seeking to be designated as "slow zones."

The city is also dedicating $1.5 million to cover the design for five fast-track projects. Of those, none are in Center City. They include safe streets initiatives at two schools, Cramp Elementary and Hamilton Elementary; work at a troubled Roosevelt Boulevard intersection; and corridor improvements on Parkside Avenue and North Broad Street. Speeding the design stage could speed a four-year completion schedule by up to a year and a half.

>>READ MORE: Where are you most likely to be killed by a car in Philadelphia? (Hint: Not Center City)

Embracing projects beyond the city core was one of the priorities for Vision Zero, officials said. When the Kenney administration began, there was awareness that street improvement projects often focused on Center City, Carroll said.

"There was a time we had to shift our focus so that everyone felt included," he said.

One of the speakers Friday was LaTanya Byrd, whose niece and three of her children were killed on Roosevelt Boulevard five years ago. She hailed speed cameras as an important step.

"How many times and how many people have to die," she asked, "before we all come together to do something?"
Angel Nelke, 25, of Sicklerville, began her journey out of heroin addiction after speaking to a treatment advocate in Gloucester Township municipal court three years ago. She spoke at Wednesday's announcement that 17 other Camden County communities will adopt the township's model approach on Jan. 1. Read more

A suburban courtroom may seem an unlikely venue for a lifesaving decision.

But Angel Nelke's recovery from opioid abuse began when she appeared before a Gloucester Township judge three years ago on a shoplifting charge. She was told a drug and alcohol counselor was available to talk to her about voluntarily beginning treatment at no cost.

"I thought, 'I might as well talk to him while I'm here,' " Nelke said as Camden County announced an ambitious early intervention program modeled on Gloucester Township's pioneering Project SAVE (Substance Abuse Visionary Effort).

Nelke, 25, of Sicklerville, spoke at a news conference last week in Audubon, one of the 17 communities preparing for a Jan. 1 launch of Project SAVE countywide.

The program will assign licensed, certified drug and alcohol counselors to Municipal Court cases involving low-level, nonviolent drug offenses. The service is free for defendants; the county will provide $100,000 in seed money to pay for the counselors in 2019, and Freeholder Director Louis Cappelli Jr. said he hopes all of the municipal courts in the county will choose to participate in the program.

I hope so, too.

Debates about addiction's root causes, the role of personal responsibility, harm reduction strategies, and best treatment approaches are worth having. But recognizing we're in the midst of a public health crisis that requires extraordinary responses is far more important.

Last year, 72,000 died of drug overdoses in this country, including 277 in Camden County. Ten of the dead were residents of Gloucester Township, 60 lived in Camden, 10 were from Cherry Hill, and nearly all rest were from suburban communities in Camden, Burlington and Gloucester Counties.

The county's fatal overdose total so far this year stands at 231  35 more than at the same point in 2017. The number is rising despite the widespread use of naloxone, which can reverse the effects of opioid intoxication.

"One person dies in my [congressional] district every day due to overdose," said U.S. Rep. Donald Norcross, a Camden County Democrat who co-chairs a bipartisan House task force that is focused on the heroin epidemic.

The days of regarding the disease of addiction as the fault of those who have it are over, he told the audience in Audubon. "We don't blame people for having cancer."

Since Project SAVE began in 2014, Gloucester Township Police Chief W. Harry Earle said, 178 of 274 defendants charged with nonviolent drug-related offenses and offered treatment have accepted.

A young person  or for that matter, any defendant making a first-ever appearance in a courtroom on a drug-related charge  is more likely to have what Earle called a "vulnerable moment" of willingness to say yes to rehab. Completion of treatment is a consideration when the charges are adjudicated, the chief said.

While the program does not track participants after their cases are concluded, it's fair to say that while some have gotten clean and sober and stayed that way, others have not. Relapse is a characteristic of the beast that is addiction, with heroin perhaps the most fearsome.

"I believe anything is worth a try, [given] what I see out there," Gary "Gsam" Samuels, a self-described ex-addict who's an outreach worker for New Beginnings Behavioral Health in Camden, said.

Steering low-level offenders toward treatment and recovery is better than imposing fines "that aren't going to be paid anyway," or a "revolving door" of incarceration, he said.

"Treatment can help people make better choices, help them find employment, and hold them accountable," said Samuels. "Accountability is a big issue with addicts."

Medical marijuana and LGBTQ activist Jay Lassiter, who originated and hosted the Heroin Uncut podcast in 2017, is more skeptical.

He has long lobbied the City of Camden to support a program to provide users with clean syringes, to prevent the spread of disease and provide them with a point of contact with agencies that can refer them to treatment. But he was heartened that the county is willing to see addiction as a medical, not a law enforcement, issue.

"Heroin isn't like the alcohol that ensnared you or the crystal meth that ensnared me," said Lassiter, who has been in recovery for years. "This heroin thing is so confounding. Our tool kit has got to include much more imagination and compassion."

Addiction certainly is a pernicious foe  particularly in the fragile early months of recovery. I know this all too well, as does Nelke, who relapsed after treatment but went on to celebrate the first anniversary of her sobriety in May.

"I tell people trying to get clean not to stop trying," she said.

Wise words.

Even wiser ones, with regard to heroin?

Don't start.
Police investigate a shooting at the Springfield Mall in Springfield, Pa. on Oct. 20, 2018. Read more

A fistfight at Springfield Mall ended with gunfire in the mall's parking lot Saturday, leaving at least five cars riddled with bullets and sending panicked staff and shoppers fleeing out the shopping gallery's doors.

Police said there had been no reported injuries from the shots that were traded in a remote section of the mall's parking lot, where two groups of combatants converged after exchanging blows on the mall's second floor near its Shoe Department shop.

"We were lucky it came into the lot," Springfield Township Police Lt. Joe Sadoff told reporters outside the mall following the incident, as teams of officers surveyed sections of the property segmented off with caution tape amid the flicker of patrol car lights.

Police said the incident is believed to have started with an argument between two small groups of people, who may have been on separate levels of the two-story mall when the first words were exchanged.

The fight then spilled into a section of the mall's parking lot by Baltimore Pike, where the shots were fired and at least five cars were struck.

Police responding to the scene after receiving reports of an active shooter around 1 p.m. found vehicles with bullet holes and shattered windows, and scattered shell casings.

The combatants, who were gone when police arrived, are thought to have fled in two vehicles, one for each group, Sadoff said. One of the vehicles may have been a white or light-colored van, he said.

Police believe there was at least one gunman in each group, but do not know what types of guns were used, Sadoff said.

"We are hoping to get some decent video from the mall," Sadoff said.

Heather Crowell, a spokesperson for the mall's manager, Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust, said in a statement that the mall would remain closed until Sunday.

"The safety and security of our customers and employees is our first priority," she said. "We are grateful there were no injuries and look forward to greeting our shoppers tomorrow."

Philadelphia-based PREIT owns the property in a venture with Simon Property Group of Minneapolis.

The gunfire erupted little more than a week before the 33rd anniversary of another incident at the Delaware County mall, in which a 25-year-old woman opened fire in the parking lot, then continued shooting inside, killing two men and a 2-year-old, and wounding several others. That shooter, Sylvia Seegrist, had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia 10 years earlier.

Anthony DiMario, 24, of Clifton Heights, said he had just walked into the mall's Finish Line store Saturday when employees began herding customers out of the shop.

"They said there was an active shooter and said we had to leave and that they were shutting down the mall," DiMario said.

DiMario said he started running toward the entrance of the mall, encountering a police officer with "full-on body armor and an assault rifle" in the building on his way.

By around 1:25 p.m., he was taking refuge in the nearby Disney Store with several store employees and customers.

"I'm very, very thankful to the employees of the Disney Store," DiMario said. "They were handing out toys and snacks to the kids and just being really helpful."

Just before 2 p.m., he said police instructed those in the store to evacuate the building in a single-file line with their hands up, he said.

Wayne Harmon, of Chester, was working as a DJ at Macy's for a customer appreciation day when he saw police officers in the store.

"A cop told me to shut it down and get out," Harmon said later, standing in the parking lot waiting to retrieve his equipment.

Daniel Piotti, 17, of Springfield, was riding his bicycle home from his job as a landscaper when he heard gunfire and saw police vehicles racing toward the mall.

He headed in the direction of the commotion just in time to see frightened shoppers and workers flowing from the mall's doors.

In a cell phone video taken by Piotti, people can be seen running from the building, some holding shopping bags, others carrying children.

The footage was interrupted when a fleeing shopper ran into Piotti, knocking him from his bike.

"It was chaotic," he said. "You see a lot of things, but this is out of the ordinary: the setting, the time. It's a mall parking lot. It's not good."

Astrid Rodrigues and Oona Goodin-Smith contributed to this article.
File photo of Chinatown Square in January. A Cherry Hill man was fatally stabbed outside Chinatown Square early Sunday. Read more

Philadelphia police on Friday reported no arrests yet in the fatal stabbing in Chinatown of a 28-year-old Cherry Hill man.

Brett Berdini was stabbed twice in the torso shortly before 2 a.m. Sunday as he was cross the 1000 block of Race Street, police said. Berdini was taken to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, where he died Wednesday morning.

Police said Berdini and his girlfriend had just left the Johnnie Walker Lounge on the second floor of Chinatown Square when he was attacked by several men. Witnesses told police there had been no argument or altercation before the attack, which appeared to be unprovoked.
Engracia Rodriguez painted her porch three years ago, and it still looks bright. The vibrant lilac she selected for its cement walls stands out against the white balustrades and iron grids that enclose her rowhouse's entrance on North Front Street in Fairhill.

When Rodriguez, 65, bought the house more than 20 years ago, there was no front porch. She added the extended fencing, the deep purple patio tile, and the sloping awning, and connected the new features with curved iron bars. Rodriguez calls this area her balcon (Spanish for "balcony"). The space is a portal to the home, but also to nostalgia.

"As years passed by, the people where I used to live progressed, and they started building their houses with cement and with a balcon," she said in Spanish. Rodriguez, a musician, designed her balcon to match her family's porch in Salinas, Puerto Rico, which she shared with 13 siblings. "I don't regret building it because sometimes, when you want something, with time and effort, comes a time when you can have it."

Balcon is one of many names used for these design features. Whether you call the overall space a balcony or a porch (galeria in Spanish), or refer to the wrought-iron gates in particular as cobertizos or rejas, these living spaces offer a Philly remix to cultural and architectural heritage that's singular to the Latino Caribbean diaspora.

The front of a rowhouse has long been a space that Philadelphians used for lazing and lounging. Step-sitting is one iteration; sliding into a chair on a front porch is another.

>>READ MORE: See more of our coverage on Philly stoops

Rowhouses are "the perfect canvas to do what you want inside of your space," said Ariel Vazquez, acting project architect at Blackney Hayes in Philadelphia.

Custom rehabs often reflect ancestry, said Vazquez, who sees hints of heritage in exterior color choices or permastone selection. Vazquez, who has researched Philly galerias, describes them as residents' attempts to re-create "what home looked like for them." He estimates that the popularity of these rejas swelled in North Philadelphia during the '70s and early '80s.

Census estimates suggest that nearly 215,000 Latinos live in Philadelphia. More than six out of 10 are Puerto Rican; three-quarters are of Caribbean origins.

James Rojas, an urban planner and researcher based in Los Angeles, argued in an essay that "the use and importance" of the front porch has faded for many Americans, but not for Latinos. In Spanish home design, the prominence of courtyards, patios, and florid gate designs has been passed down for centuries, Vazquez said. In his research, he pinpointed the origins of these styles to the eighth-century Moorish conquest. Whether in the south of Spain or in the Greater Antilles, a home dweller could expect a front porch to be a cooler area in the house, which made it an easy gathering point.

Josue Cruz, 25, said his parents had white gates installed on their family home in Harrowgate shortly after they moved in nine years ago. Cruz sat on the front step, next to their painted blue permastone fence, as a huddle of relatives concentrated on dominoes. Security was the first priority, he said, and with the gates, the porch could be more peaceful and relaxing.

When night falls, games don't have to stop, Cruz said: "Just lock the gate, and you don't even got to worry about it."

Residents expressed concern about crime in the area; some mentioned drug activity in particular. Fairhill and Kensington register the highest drug-crime rates in the city.

Cobertizos may serve several uses at once. Warren James, an architect and curator based in New York, said a gated porch offered protection but still let the breeze in. It functions as "this intermediate space between the private home and the public sidewalk," he said.

Many residents with rejas fill their patio spaces with chairs, tables, hammocks or wind chimes. Some porches welcome plants and resemble solariums. Parents may sit in a galeria's shade, with the ability to keep watch of their children

Maria Torres, 70, was advertising a yard sale on her sister's balcon in Fairhill. Her sister, Maria Pacheco, 78, has her porch painted in clean gray and white. When Pacheco first moved in 25 years ago, there were rejas, but those were more plain than the black pear-shaped rails that her husband would eventually install. Pacheco appreciates the control the rejas give her over visitors. When there isn't a heatwave, the sisters like to sit outside and banter.

"Like The Golden Girls, OK?" Torres said.

The gates remind James of suburban developments in Ponce, Puerto Rico, but speak to a predilection for wrought iron that he's observed in the Dominican Republic, Cuba, and New Orleans. James considers them cultural expressions, commissioned and designed without an architect's touch, but rather in step with the tastes of communities. Philly's cobertizos carry a message, James said: "This is where we are, and this is where we make our presence visible."

Nahum Juarez, 36, the owner of Philly Custom Metal Fab, crafts seven or eight porch gates in his Ludlow workshop. Each order requires tedious measurements to fit the house perfectly. The process, from measuring, to grinding, to priming, to installing, may take four to five weeks.

"That's why every job is custom," Juarez said. "Every job is different."

Window guards and porch gates were "the bread and butter" of his business several years ago, when he had a shop in Camden. Following local law enforcement reforms, crime dropped in Camden. By 2014, Juarez received fewer orders. The downward trend inspired him to set up shop in Philly.

Juarez learned welding from his father, who still runs a workshop in General Felipe Angeles, the town in the state of Puebla, Mexico, where Juarez grew up. In Puebla, Juarez said, customers were more likely to order doors and fences. In Philly and Camden, he's noticed that when homeowners think primarily of security, they often opt for straight bars with little ornamentation.

"But a lot of the people say, 'We don't want it to look like a jail,'" Juarez said. "'We want it to look nice.'"

For those aesthetically minded customers, the Philly Custom Metal Fab team crafts what it calls "a belly," giving the steel teardrop curves. Juarez works alongside a crew of three, including Herbert Patricio, a metalsmith/designer from Curitiba, Brazil. For a basic porch gate, the firm might charge $2,500. For bellies, the price goes up to $4,000.

The house in Fairhill where Daniela Herrera Sarduy grew up had gates before her family arrived 12 years ago. Herrera Sarduy, 20, said the family turns to the porch to drink coffee and have a smoke during the evening.

"Here is the space where we would be outside and breathe fresh air," she added, speaking at times in English and other times in Spanish.

After a shooting nearby several years ago, a bullet got stuck in the front window frame, she recalls, after penetrating the aluminum awning that cover the rejas. She feels more protected while being inside her home now.

"You can see what is happening outside before something can happen to you," she said.

Still, the porch was the place her family watched her prom date pin on her corsage. Most houses in Santa Clara, Cuba, where family still lives, have colorful porches like this, in blues, pinks and yellows.

To live in a house that doesn't have an enclosed porch would be such an odd thing, she said. She can't imagine her place without one: "I am so used to this."
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...
BJP on Saturday announced the list of candidates for Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Mizoram Assembly elections.

Union Minister JP Nadda addressed the media and announced a list of 77 candidates for Chhattisgarh Assembly elections.

Nadda also released a list of 38 candidates for Telangana Assembly elections and 13 candidates for Mizoram Assembly elections.

The announcement came after the BJP's Central Election Committee (CEC) meeting in Delhi earlier on Saturday.

Chhattisgarh will go to poll in two phases on 12 and 20 November. The terms of Chhattisgarh will end on January 5, 2019. Among the 77 candidates announced out of a total of 90 Assembly segments in Chhattisgarh, 14 are women candidates and 14 sitting MLAs have been replaced with new names, Union minister J P Nadda said.

Among those fielded by the BJP include former IAS officer O P Chaudhary and tribal leader Ramdayal Uike, who recently left the Congress and joined the BJP.

The 40-seat Mizoram Assembly will go to poll in a single phase on November 28.

Elections in Telangana will be held in a single-phase on December 7. There are a total of 119 Assembly candidates in the state.

The counting of votes for the above-mentioned states will be held on December 11.
In a respite to consumers, the prices of fuel witnessed a further dip across the nation on Saturday, for the third consecutive day. The petrol price in the national capital settled at Rs 81.99 per litre, a dip by 39 paise and that in Mumbai was Rs 87.46 per litre a decrease by 38 paise.

The diesel price mark was Rs 75.36 per litre, a decrease of 12 paise in Delhi and for Mumbai, the price was Rs 79 per litre, a reduction by 13 paise.

In the two other metro cities, almost the same cut was seen. In Kolkata, the petrol price settled at Rs 83.83 per litre, a dip by 38 paise and in Chennai, it was Rs 85.22 per litre, a cut of 41 paise -- the max amount across all the four metros.

The price for diesel in Kolkata was Rs 77.21 per litre and in Chennai, it was Rs 79.69.

On Friday the prices of both petrol and diesel across the country decreased. The petrol price in the national capital settled at Rs 82.38 per litre, a decrease of 24 paise and that in Mumbai was Rs 87.84 per litre also a cut by 24 paise.

The diesel price mark was Rs 75.48 per litre, a decrease of 10 paise in Delhi and for Mumbai, the price was Rs 79.13 per litre, a decrease by 11 paise.

In the two other metro cities, the same cut was seen. In Kolkata, the petrol price settled at Rs 84.21 per litre and in Chennai, it was Rs 85.63 per litre. The price for diesel in Kolkata was Rs 77.33 per litre and in Chennai, it was Rs 79.82 per litre.

As per the country`s pricing mechanism, the domestic fuel prices depend on international fuel prices on a 15-day average besides the value of the rupee. Prices vary from region to region due to local taxes as the product is excluded from the GST regime. The downward revision also comes on the back of multiple factors such as lower international crude oil cost and a strengthened rupee against the US dollar.

Accordingly, the Brent crude was priced below $80 per barrel, which in recent past traded around $85 a barrel, while the rupee closed at 73.50 to a greenback from its previous close of 73.61 to a US dollar.

The dip in fuel prices comes nearly a fortnight after Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced a cut in excise duty by Rs 1.50 a litre. Additionally, the state-owned oil marketing companies (OMCs) had been mandated to reduce the prices of petrol and diesel by Re 1 a litre. This is the first time after the announcement that the prices have come down.

The Delhi Petrol Dealers Association has announced a one-day strike demanding a decrease in VAT over fuel prices. The association said that they will observe the strike from 6 am on October 22 to 5 am on October 23. Following the strike call, all petrol and CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) pumps in the national capital will remain closed.

The dealers have called for a protest after Delhi government refused to decrease Value Added Tax (VAT) on petrol and diesel. VAT in Delhi is higher than neighbouring Uttar Pradesh and Haryana.
London: Award-winning American war reporter Marie Colvin was known for her dispatches from some of the world's most brutal conflicts. Now a new film starring "Gone Girl" actress Rosamund Pike tells her story about being fearless on the battlefront.

Focusing on the last decade of her life, "A Private War" takes audiences to the frontlines of fighting in Sri Lanka, Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya and Syria. Colvin, reporting for Britain`s Sunday Times, was killed in Syria in 2012.

Based on an article about Colvin in Vanity Fair, the film for which Pike wears a patch to cover the eye the journalist lost in a blast in Sri Lanka in 2001, follows her evading gunfire and digging for the truth as well as the effects her war zone trips had on her personally.

"I just thought `My gosh, this is a woman who would be a joy to kind of get people to see`... this complicated, ferocious, driven, ambitious, vulnerable, romantic soul and put that out on screen," Pike told Reuters. "Because... oh yes is she a role model, but a role model in a real way."

"Fifty Shades of Grey" star Jamie Dornan plays photographer Paul Conroy, who accompanied Colvin on trips and was with her when she died in Homs while covering the Syrian conflict.

"It gives you a far more sort of heightened respect for the people who go to these places and try to report the actual truth of what`s happening," Dornan said.

Conroy, who worked as the set photographer for the film, said the actors had caught "the essence" of his relationship with Colvin.

"(Colvin) was a force of nature... It was like peeling an onion back, she just kept going further and further and further in... until we were at what she considered the heart of it," Conroy said.

The film is directed by Oscar-nominated documentary maker Matthew Heineman, whose past works include covering activists grouping together against Islamic State in Syria.

"In this world of sort of fake news and with journalism under attack... I think it`s both a homage to Marie (and also) a homage to journalism and the importance of journalism," he said.

Heineman said he wanted to make the film, shot in Jordan for the war zone scenes, as "authentic as possible" and cast Syrian refugees who tell their stories.

"We spent a tonne of time researching every single detail, looking at every image we could to try to recreate these war zones but a huge part of that were the people we put on screen," he said.

"Most of the extras were non-actors, refugees from those countries who are living in Jordan... They are telling their real stories... Ultimately it created a real heightened sense of emotion on set."
In the aftermath of the Dussehra tragedy at Amritsar in Punjab, in which a train killed more than 60 people, 10 Amritsar-bound trains were shortly terminated on Saturday morning, according to CPRO Northern Railways.

At least eight trains have been cancelled, five trains short originated, and five trains diverted by the railways.

READ: Negligence? Yes. Intentional? No: Navjot Singh Sidhu on Amritsar train mishap

Here are the details of the trains:

Trains cancelled:

* The train No. 12460 Amritsar  New Delhi Intercity Express journey commencing on 20.10.2018 has been cancelled.

* The train No. 14681 New Delhi - Jalandhar Express journey commencing on 20.10.2018 has been cancelled.

* The train No. 12054 Amritsar  Haridwar Jan Shatabdi Express journey commencing on 20.10.2018 has been cancelled.

* The train No. 12053 Haridwar - Amritsar Jan Shatabdi Express journey commencing on 20.10.2018 has been cancelled.

* The train No. 74642 Amritsar  Jalandhar City Passenger train journey commencing on 19.10.2018 has been cancelled.

* The train No. 74644 Amritsar  Jalandhar City Passenger train journey commencing on 19.10.2018 has been cancelled.

* The train No. 74675 Amritsar  Pathankot Passenger train journey commencing on 19.10.2018 has been cancelled.

* The train No. 74672 Pathankot  Amritsar Passenger train journey commencing on 20.10.2018 has been cancelled.

Trains diverted:

* The 12904 Amritsar  Mumbai Central Golden Temple Mail journey commencing on 19.10.2018 has been diverted to run via Amritsar-Tarantaran-Beas.

* The 14632 Amritsar  Dehradun Express journey commencing on 19.10.2018 has been diverted to run via Amritsar -Tarantarn - Beas.

* The 12715 Nanded - Amritsar Sachkhand Express journey commencing on 18.10.2018 has been diverted to run via Beas - -Tarantarn - Amritsar.

* The 12483 Kochuvelli - Amritsar Express journey commencing on 17.10.2018 has been diverted to run via Beas -Tarantarn - Amritsar.

* The 12459 New Delhi -Amritsar Intercity Express journey commencing on 19.10.2018 has been diverted to run via Beas -Tarantaran - Amritsar.

Trains Short Terminated:

* The 12013 New Delhi  Amritsar Shatabdi Express journey commencing from 19.10.2018 will be short terminated at Jalandhar City.

* The 12925 Bandra Terminus  Amritsar Paschim Express journey commencing from 18.10.2018 will be short terminated at Mananwala.

* The 12203 Saharsa  Amritsar Garib Rath Express journey commencing from 18.10.2018 will be short terminated at Ludhiana.

* The 14673 Jay Nagar  Amritsar Shaheed Express journey commencing from 18.10.2018 will be short terminated at Ladhowal.

* The 12241 Chandigarh  Amritsar Superfast Express journey commencing from 19.10.2018 will be short terminated at Kartapur.

* The 12053 Haridwar  Amritsar Janshatabdi Express journey commencing from 19.10.2018 will be short terminated at Phagwara.

* The 54616 Pathankot  Amritsar Passenger journey commencing from 18.10.2018 will short terminated at Verka.

* The 12903 Bandra Terminus  Amritsar Golden Temple Mail journey commencing from 18.10.2018 will be short terminated at Ludhiana.

* The 18237 Bilaspur  Amritsar Chhatisgarh Express journey commencing from 18.10.2018 will be short terminated at Ludhiana.

* The 15211 Darbhanga  Amritsar Jan Nayak Express journey commencing from 18.10.2018 will be short terminated at Ambala.

Trains Short Originated:

* The 12242 Amritsar  Chandigarh Superfast Express journey commencing on 20.10.2018 will short originate from Jalandhar City.

* The 15210 Amritsar  Saharsa Jansewa Express journey commencing on 20.10.2018 will short originating from Ambala.

* The 12014 Amritsar  New Delhi Shatabdi Express journey commencing on 20.10.2018 will short originating from Jalandhar City

* The 18238 Amritsar  Bilaspur Chhatisgarh Express journey commencing on 20.10.2018 will short originating from Ambala.

* The 12904 Amritsar  Bandra Terminus Golden Temple Mail journey commencing on 20.10.2018 will short originating from Ambala.

On Friday evening, a local train killed and injured the people who were watching the burning of the Ravana effigy from a railway track. The Punjab Police has launched an investigation into the incident that left 72 people injured, some of them in critical condition. They were rushed to government hospitals in the area for treatment.

Bodies of the victims, most of which were dismembered, were being handed over to affected families on Saturday for performing their last rights. Amritsar Police Commissioner SS Srivastava told the media that the whole situation was being assessed by the police after completion of rescue work late on Friday. Punjab Police officials began the investigation early on Saturday into the man-made disaster.

The role of the train driver, railway officials and local authorities, who gave permission for holding of the event close to the railway tracks, is being probed, police officials said.

Scores of people were roaming on the railway tracks on Saturday morning to see the accident spot, with the police and local authorities failing to even cordon off the area. Most of the people were standing on the railway tracks near the ground where the Ravana effigy was being burnt. Eyewitnesses said the victims were either watching the burning of Ravana or were recording the event on their mobile.

Over 700 people were watching the huge Ravana effigy going up in flames amid exploding crackers at the Jora Phatak near Dhobi Ghat within Amritsar city when the Jalandhar-Amritsar DMU passenger train coming to Amritsar from Hoshiarpur came hurtling down around 7 pm. It took just about 10-15 seconds for the train to pass -- and leave behind a heap of crushed and dismembered bodies.

People standing on the tracks did not realise that the train was approaching fast due to the noise of the firecrackers during the burning effigy. Srivastava added that the toll could go up.

Wails and cries filled the air as people frantically looked for their near and dear ones. Severed bodies, including those of children, were lying at the accident site hours after the incident with angry people not allowing authorities to remove them.

Some people blamed Local Bodies Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu`s wife Navjot Kaur, who was the chief guest at the celebrations, saying her late arrival delayed the burning of the effigy by more than half an hour. The state government has declared a state mourning on Saturday. All offices and educational institutions will remain closed as a mark of respect to those dying in the train tragedy. Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, who announced an immediate compensation of Rs 5 lakh each for the families of victims, is scheduled to visit Amritsar on Saturday.
A day after a train mowed at least 60 people to death, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh visited hospitals across the state on Saturday where the injured are being treated and said that a magisterial inquiry has been ordered to investigate all aspects of the tragedy.

The tragedy happened around 1850hrs when people gathered for Dusshera celebrations near Amritsar were hit by a train. Many of them were on a level crossing. Expressing his grief, Amarinder said that his government is committed to getting to the bottom of the incident. "The sympathies of Punjab and of the entire country are with the injured and with the families of those who died. Most of the dead bodies have been identified - barring nine and they too would be identified in the course of today. We have ordered a magisterial probe into the incident and will have their reply within four weeks," he told mediapersons outside the Civil Hospital in Amritsar.

(Also read: Railways says incident not a train accident, says no to compensation)

Asked about why it took him more than 12 hours to visit the injured, Amarinder said that he was on his way to Tel Aviv and had to return mid-way from Delhi when he got to know about the tragedy. He also deflected the blame away from Navjot Singh Sidhu whose wife was the chief guest at the event. "Let's not point fingers just yet and let us not play politics. Every party should come together to ensure the injured receive all the support they need and families of those who died are taken care of."

Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh meets victims of #AmritsarTrainAccident at Guru Nanak Dev government hospital in Amritsar pic.twitter.com/bzlgusdwas  ANI (@ANI) October 20, 2018

Sidhu, earlier in the day, had called the incident an unintentional tragedy while admitting it was a case of negligence. Amarinder though said that it is only when the magisterial inquiry submits its report that accountability can be fixed.
The outpouring of sympathy in the aftermath of the train tragedy in Amritsar has not been limited to the country but has come from all across the world. Russian President Vladimir Putin, who was in India recently, expressed his condolences and prayed the injured return to good health swiftly.

At least 60 people were killed when a train ran over a crowd gathered to watch Dusshera celebrations on Friday evening. Many more were injured and are receiving treatment. While Prime Minister Narendra Modi, President Ram Nath Kovind and a number of other national figures have expressed their deep anguish, Putin too sent a heartfelt message. "I offer my deepest sympathies over tragic consequences of an accident on railways in Punjab," he said. "I ask to convey my words of sympathy&support to families & friends of killed people and to wish soonest recovery to those injured."

The tragedy has made international headlines and a probe has been ordered by the state government. CM Captain Amarinder Singh, who announced Rs 5 lakh families of each who dies, reached Amritsar on Saturday noon to take stock of the situation. Meanwhile, a political blame game has erupted as the event itself was reportedly organised by Congress. State minister Navjot Singh Sidhu, whose wife was the chief guest at the event, has admitted that it is a case of negligence but also said that it should not be given a political twist and ought to be seen as a tragic accident.
Most people who were mowed down by a speeding train in Amritsar during Dussehra celebrations Friday evening were migrant workers from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, an official said on Saturday. The accident has claimed 59 lives so far out of which 39 bodies have been identified by the authorities.

The Dussehra celebration gathering Friday evening had a good number of people who belonged to these two states as the festival is celebrated with great devotion and pomp back in their home towns, he said. "As per initial reports, most of deceased were migrant workers from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar and were working in the industrial area to earn their livelihood," the official said.

Jagunandan, a 40-year-old wage labourer from Hardoi in Uttar Pradesh who suffered injuries in the head and leg, said he was not standing near the tracks but was pushed as people started running away from the main stage after the Ravan effigy was set afire. The father of four was brought to hospital by a relative, who accompanied him to the event.

A burning effigy of Ravana, firecrackers and festive euphoria made people oblivious to the approaching train and in a matter of seconds, bodies were left strewn on the railway tracks, according to eyewitnesses of the tragic incident here.

"I was watching the burning of effigy of Ravana and suddenly I heard massive sound. After a few seconds, bodies of women, children and men were lying on the railway tracks. The moment was very devastating," Jaspreet, an eyewitness who was at the site, said.

Another local, Gurpreet, said: "We all were busy watching the Dussehra celebrations. Huge voice of firecrackers drowned the sound of the arriving train and we could not understand for a few seconds what had happened."

The train was coming from Jalandhar when the accident occurred at Joda Phatak near Amritsar, where at least 300 people were watching 'Ravana dahan' at a ground adjacent to the tracks.

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Saturday ordered a magisterial inquiry into the accident after visiting the injured and the kin of those killed in the tragedy.

Suraj Prakash, another eyewitness, said that a few minutes before the Jalamdhar-Amritsar train mowed down several people, another train going to

Howarh from Amritsar passed through on another track, but it did not hurt anyone.

"How can it be possible that a train which passed through the area a few moments back, did not cause any casualty, but another train killed several innocent people.

"It was the mistake of train driver (Jalandhar to Amritsar). After the train passed, screams of people could be heard from everywhere," he said.

Most people who were mowed down by the speeding train were migrant workers from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

A senior official in the district administration said most migrant workers from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar work in an industrial area at a stone's throw away from the accident site and live nearby.

(With PTI Inputs)
The Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday said that it was open to the idea of 'coalition dharma' in the background of ailing Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar.

BJP, in a press release, also dismissed Goa Power Minister Nilesh Cabral statement that "GFP leader Vijay Sardesai's views on new CM is out of personal interest".

The statement said, "Bhartiya Janata Party has dismissed as misleading news item attributed to Power Minister Nilesh Cabral in a section of media stating GFP leader Vijay Sardesai views on new CM is out of personal interest".

BJP president Amit Shah had earlier summoned coalition partners Sudhin Dhavilkar and Vijay Sardesai to Delhi for "consultation regarding the present political situation".

BJP is looking for future strategies for the smooth functioning of government in Goa, the statement added.

"Bhartiya Janata Party is fully committed to 'coalition dharma' and mutual trust and respect to the constituent parties therein," read a section of the press release.

Earlier on Friday, Cabral ruled out any alternative to ailing Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar.

Cabral also stated that Vijai Sardesai's discussion with Shah about finding alternatives to Parrikar was only borne out of "personal interest".

However, Sardesai had said that during his meeting with Shah alternatives leadership was discussed as Parrikar has been ailing for more than eight months now.

"BJP leadership is seriously looking at the leadership issues and I have explained to him (Shah) the aspirations of the Goan people... There are some names that are being discussed," Sardesai had said.

Cabral said it was wrong to suggest that Parrikar, who is suffering from advanced pancreatic cancer and has been in and out of hospitals in Goa, Mumbai, New York and Delhi, was not active vis a vis his duties as a Chief Minister.
MEDININAGAR: Prohibitory order under Section 144 Crpc were imposed in Chando village and its vicinity in Jharkhand's Palamu district, where one person was killed and five others were injured following clashes between two communities, a senior police officer said.

The deceased was a friend of the tractor driver that was carrying idols for immersion to a nearby ghat on Dashami, Palamu Deputy Commissioner Shantanu Kumar Agrahari said on Saturday.

"Arguments broke out when a group of people objected to the route being taken by a religious procession for idol immersion. The situation turned volatile when the tractor, loaded with idols, rammed into a wall and overturned as the driver tried to move ahead, despite the protests," he said.

The driver's friend, who was seated by his side, succumbed to his injuries Saturday morning at Medininagar Sadar Hospital, where five others, including three policemen, are currently undergoing treatment, Agrahari added.

Superintendent of Police Indrajeet Mahatha, who is currently camping at the village along with Agrahari, said the two warring groups have ransacked half-a-dozen vehicles and set three shops on fire in the area.

Police had to fire six rounds in the air to disperse the members of the two groups, he said.

"Six people have been detained in connection with the incident and adequate security forces have been deployed in the area to maintain law and order," he said.

The district administration officials have also urged the senior citizens of both the communities to help them restore normalcy in the area, Mahatha stated.

The SP warned people against spreading canards over the incident.

"The situation is well under control now and the police have decided to take strong action against miscreants who try to foment trouble in the region," he added.
Pakistan's Foreign Office has expressed its reservations at India buying the powerful S-400 missile systems from Russia in a deal struck when Vladimir Putin came calling to New Delhi.

India and Russia signed the crucial defence deal worth $5.43 billion earlier this month for five S-400 Triumf missile systems in what could now be a strong deterrent against Pakistani and Chinese aerial threats. The same system is used to provide aerial defensive cover over Moscow and India is now only the third country - after Russia and China - to possess it.

Pakistan, consequently, is not too pleased. "The Indian purchase of S-400 missile system is a part of their efforts to acquire a Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) System through multiple sources. This will further destabilise strategic stability in South Asia, besides leading to a renewed arms race," Dawn reported quoting a statement from the country's Foreign Office. The statement further said that Pakistan 'can develop capabilities which can render any Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) system ineffective and unreliable.'

The S-400 missile system though is far more advanced than what Pakistan may claim. It can engage targets independently as well as after receiving data from others radars, is the fourth generation of long-range Russian Surface-to-Air-Missiles (SAMs). The highly mobile, ground-based S-400 Triumf can detect, track and shoot down multiple targets including cruise missiles, ballistic missiles, aircraft, drones, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). It can target ballistic missiles in their terminal (descent or reentry) phase. The entire system consists of a multifunction radar, autonomous detection and targeting systems, anti-aircraft missile systems, launchers, command and control centre.

Military analysts mostly agree that the system is far more advanced than what even western military powerhouses have in their arsenal.
At least 32 National Disaster Rescue Force (NDRF) have been deployed in various districts of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh on Saturday following warning of a sudden flood. The NDRF will move to the districts as and when required.

Earlier on Sunday, Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Saturday directed authorities in districts bordering Arunachal Pradesh to "remain alert" for possible flash flood after China informed India about a landslide blocking a river in Tibet leading to the formation of an artificial lake.

The Yarlung Tsangpo river is known as the Siang after it enters India at Arunachal Pradesh from the Tibetan region and is called the Brahmaputra once it reaches Assam.

Sonowal has directed the authorities in Dhemaji, Dibrugarh, Lakhimpur and Tinsukia districts to remain alert and take all possible steps to prevent any major catastrophe, a spokesman of the Chief Minister's Office said.

The Ministry of External Affairs said that they are in constant touch with the Chinese side about updates on the landslide.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj spoke to the Chief Minister Friday night and urged him to take all possible measures in the wake of the situation. Districts along the Siang river in Arunachal Pradesh have been put on high alert for possible flash floods after China informed India about a landslide blocking a river in Tibet leading to the formation of an artificial lake, officials said Friday.

The district administration, District Disaster Management Authorities (DDMA) and all other departments concerned have been asked to remain on alert.

(With Agency Inputs)
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Saturday expressed his grief and offered condolences to the families of those who were killed in a train accident at Amritsar on Friday night while they were watching the burning of a Ravana effigy from a railway track.

Taking to Twitter the newly-elected PM said, "Saddened to learn of the tragic train accident in Amritsar India. Condolences go to the families of the deceased."

At least 59 people were killed and 57 injured when a speeding train mowed down the people standing on the tracks. As the Ravan and other effigies went up in flames with the deafening noise of bursting firecrackers, the people standing on the live railway tracks did not realise that a speeding train was approaching. The disaster was over in 10-15 seconds, people at the spot said.

The train was going from Jalandhar to Amritsar when the incident occurred at Joda Phatak. As the fireworks went off, a section of the crowd started retreating towards the tracks where a large number of people were already standing to watch the event, officials said.

Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Saturday visited hospitals where the injured are being treated and said that a magisterial inquiry has been ordered to investigate the mishap.

The incident took place around 7 pm when people gathered for Dussehra celebrations. Expressing his grief, Amarinder said that his government is committed to getting to the bottom of the incident.

"The sympathies of Punjab and of the entire country are with the injured and with the families of those who died. Most of the dead bodies have been identified - barring nine and they too would be identified in the course of today. We have ordered a magisterial probe into the incident and will have their reply within four weeks," he told media persons outside the Civil Hospital in Amritsar.
Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut on Saturday reiterated his stand on the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya and slammed AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi for his remark on the issue.

In a sharp retort to Owaisi, Raut advised him to stay within the limits of Hyderabad. Raut pointed out that the Ram Temple will be built in Ayodhya and not in Hyderabad, Pakistan or Iran. In a verbal bashing at Owaisi, Rawat accused that people like him mislead the Muslim community people with their politics which will cause a huge damage in the future.

Raut urged that a law should be made for the immediate construction of the Ram temple.

The senior Shiv Sena leader stressed that a law should be made immediately otherwise it'll be never be made. He expressed uncertainty about the outcome of the 2019 elections and said that the temple should be constructed when there is majority. Raut said that court cannot solve the issue as it's a matter of faith. He further added that it's a matter of political will power and Prime Minister Narendra Modi can do it.

"If a law in not made today, it will never be made later. Today, we have majority, we don't know what will be the situation after 2019 elections. Court cannot solve the Ram Temple issue, it's a matter of faith. It is a matter of political will power &Modi ji can do it. Asaduddin Owaisi should stay limited to Hyderabad. Ram Temple will be built in Ayodhya not in Hyderabad,Pakistan or Iran. People like him are trying to mislead the Muslim community people with their politics,this will cause huge damage in the future," said Raut.

Earlier on Thursday, Owaisi alleged that the RSS and the BJP believe in "totalitarianism" and not in the rule of law. His comments came in reaction to the demand made by RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat for a law to enable the construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya. Bhagwat said Ram temple was necessary for "self-esteem" and to usher an "atmosphere of goodwill and oneness" in the country.

"Do it. Who is stopping RSS and their government (from making a law for construction of Ram temple)? It is a clear example when a nation is converted into totalitarianism. RSS and BJP believe in totalitarianism. They don't believe in pluralism or rule of law," Owaisi told reporters in Hyderabad.

Owaisi, Lok Sabha member from Hyderabad, said the Supreme Court clearly stated that there cannot be an exclusive law for any particular religion and it was violation of the Constitution.

On October 14, Raut had asked the Narendra Modi-led government to "demonstrate courage" and start the construction of Ram temple at the disputed site in Ayodhya. If the Muslims agreed to allow construction of a Ram temple in Ayodhya, it will end the vote-bank politics, Raut had said in an article in the party mouthpiece "Saamana".

The Ramjanmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute is pending before the Supreme Court. The Ayodhya case is currently before the Supreme Court and the next hearing is scheduled for October 29.

Raut, the executive editor of "Saamana", said the fear that there would be riots if the construction of Ram temple began in Ayodhya was baseless. "The Narendra Modi government should demonstrate some courage and commence Ram Temple construction by issuing an ordinance," he said.

Raut argued that there have been instances of razing of mosques even in Islamic countries such as Iran and Pakistan. "This truth should be accepted by the Muslims who wish the Babri mosque to remain as it is. The day this takes place, it will be a big blow to the vote-bank politics," he said. He also quoted BJP leader Subramanian Swamy to allege that the saffron party may play the Ayodhya card to win the Lok Sabha elections.

"Swamy had said the country is going through difficult times. The Modi government has failed, but they will win the elections by playing the Hindu card," Raut said. "Swamy is hinting that either there will be a low-intensity war with Pakistan or some issues (would be raised) that would lead to communal tension. Construction of Ram temple is a key and sensitive issue," Raut said.

If Indian Muslims decide to end the Babri dispute before 2019, it will be "a new dawn for India", the Sena leader said.

Some Muslim leaders have supported the construction of temple at the site, Raut said, adding that the issue should be resolved outside the court. The BJP is citing the litigation over the issue as a roadblock for the Ram temple construction, he said. "This religion-centric issue has caused enough bloodshed and nobody wants its recurrence. Despite a strong mandate in the Centre and in Uttar Pradesh, BJP-led governments are not uttering a word about it (building the temple)," Raut said.
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Minister of State (MoS) for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju on Saturday said that the government of China is sharing information with India and the information is being passed on to the district administration in Siang belt of Arunachal Pradesh, after China told about a landslide blocking a river in Tibet leading to the formation of an artificial lake.

He added that all precautionary measures are being taken and it's not a conspiracy. Rijiju informed that the Siang is a very big river and when there are some natural calamities like earthquakes or landslides, it possesses a danger to people who live downstream.

"Chinese govt is sharing information with Indian authorities and Indian authorities have shared information with district administration in Siang belt. All precautionary measures are being taken. You can't say it's a conspiracy. Siang river is a very big river & when there are some natural calamities like earthquakes or landslides, it possesses a danger to people who live downstream," said Rijiju.

Earlier on Thursday, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) had about the landslide blocking of Yarlung Zangbo/Brahmaputra River in the Tibet Autonomous Region. Districts along the Brahmaputra river in Arunachal Pradesh were put on high alert for possible flash floods. The MEA said that they are in constant touch with the Chinese side about updates on the landslide.

Based on the information provided by China, all relevant authorities of the Central and State governments have been informed about the emerging situation.

Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Saturday directed authorities in districts bordering Arunachal Pradesh to "remain alert" for possible flash flood.

Sonowal has directed the authorities in Dhemaji, Dibrugarh, Lakhimpur and Tinsukia districts to remain alert and take all possible steps to prevent any major catastrophe, a spokesman of the Chief Minister's Office said here.

The Yarlung Tsangpo river is known as the Siang after it enters India at Arunachal Pradesh from the Tibetan region and is called the Brahmaputra once it reaches Assam.

Chinese Embassy spokesperson Counselor Ji Rong said that his country has activated the 'Emergency Information Sharing Mechanism' with India following the landslide on Wednesday morning near Jiala Village in Milin County in the lower ranges of Yarlung Tsangpo river in Tibet.

Yarlung Tsangpo river is called Siang when it enters Arunachal Pradesh and the Brahmaputra in Assam.

The Indian official said, "They (China) first informed us on Wednesday about the landslide and creation of an artificial lake. Water is over-topping (breaching). It will reach Arunachal Pradesh and cross the high flood level by Friday night."

The reason cited behind the landslide was "natural causes".

The official added that districts along Siang (Brahmaputra) in Arunachal Pradesh have been put on high alert.

The water will cross "high flood mark" and the situation is being monitored at the highest level, the official added.

"The data is being shared on an hourly basis," the official said.

Ji said the Hydrological Bureau of Tibet Autonomous Region has begun to share with the Indian side hydrological information every hour, such as the water level and flow rate at the Nuxia hydrological station and the temporary hydrological station downstream of the barrier lake.

The Chinese side will closely monitor the situation of the barrier lake, and continue to notify the Indian side the follow-up developments through bilaterally agreed channels timely, he said.

The Chinese side has been keeping close communication with the Indian side on Yarlung Tsangpo River hydrological information, reflecting another positive gesture of implementing the Wuhan consensus between President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Ji said.
Jammu/Srinagar: The counting of votes for the recently concluded municipal polls in 52 civic bodies is underway in Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday. The counting began at 8 am, and the results will be declared later in the day.

Heavy security arrangements have been put in place for counting across the state. A very low voter turnout was witnessed in the Valley but Jammu and Ladakh recorded heavy polling. The overall voting percentage for these polls in the state was 35.1 per cent.

The elections are a direct contest between the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress. A large number of independents are also in the fray. The National Conference and the PDP did not participate in the polls. The urban local bodies polls in Jammu and Kashmir were held after a gap of 13 years, with the last elections being conducted in 2005.

Here are the latest updates from the counting:

## BJP has won 100 seats (24 contested and 76 uncontested), Congress has won 157 seats (79 contested and 78 uncontested) and Independent candidates have won 178 seats (103 contested and 75 uncontested), news agency ANI reported.

## BJP candidate Bashir Ahmad Mir from Shankarpora elected as a corporator of the Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) by a slender margin of seven votes. Interestingly, only nine votes were polled in Shankarpora ward in the outskirts of the city on October 8.

## The counting of votes of Anantnag and Mattan -- the other two civic bodies in south Kashmir -- is going on and the results are expected later in the day.

## BJP won the urban local body elections in four districts of south Kashmir. It won 53 of the 132 wards, where polls were held over four phases earlier this month, election officials said

## With this unprecedented win, the BJP got control of at least four of the 20 civic bodies in the four districts of Anantnag, Kulgam, Pulwama and Shopian. The results of 94 wards of south Kashmir have been declared so far in which the Congress has managed to win 28 seats. The party, thus, will have control of at least three municipal bodies.

## BJP did well in Shopian where its candidates won in 12 wards unopposed. Five wards in the district did not have any nominations. In Devsar municipal committee, the party won all the eight seats. The area is represented by Congress leader Mohammad Amin Bhat in the legislative assembly.

## The BJP got a simple majority in Qazigund Municipal Committee, winning four of the seven wards. The other three wards had no candidates. In Pahalgam municipal committee, the party won seven of the 13 seats uncontested, while there were no candidates for the remaining six seats.

## The Congress won by a mssive margin in Dooru municipal committee, the stronghold of JKPCC chief GA Mir. The party bagged 14 of the 17 seats, while the BJP managed to win two seats. One seat remained vacant.

## Congress also won in Kokernag municipal committee, bagging six of the eight seats. In Yaripora, the party bagged three seats, while the remaining three seats were vacant due to absence of candidates.

## Independents bagged 13 seats in the polls.

## As per the results coming in at 11 am, the Congress has won in Ganie Mohalla, Khanpora, Wahadatpora, Bazar Mohalla, Karipora and Kharpora municipal wards while the BJP has won Narispora, Housing colony Ompora, Dobi Mohalla and Mohanpora municipal wards in Budgam.

## For the Srinagar municipal corporation, counting is being held at the Sher-e-Kashmir International Convention Centre (SKICC) in Srinagar and for the Jammu municipal corporation, counting is being held at the Polytechnic Institute near Bikram Chowk. For other districts of the state, counting is being held at the respective district headquarters.

Counting of votes for 52 civic bodies is underway across Jammu and Kashmir today; Visuals from a counting centre in Udhampur #JammuAndKashmir pic.twitter.com/RoE1PvRzEG  ANI (@ANI) October 20, 2018

## The municipal elections that took place in the state after 13 years, were held in four phases, covering 79 municipal bodies with an electorate of about 17 lakh electors.

Counting of votes for 52 civic bodies to be held across Jammu and Kashmir today; Visuals from a counting centre in Doda. #JammuAndKashmir pic.twitter.com/RjVoBTlWbT  ANI (@ANI) October 20, 2018

## A total of 3,372 nominations were filed for 1,145 Wards and the voting was held on October 8, 10, 13 and 16.

## Of the 598 wards in Kashmir, 231 candidates were elected unopposed, while there were no candidates in 181 wards.

## Nearly 17 lakh voters were eligible to vote for 79 urban local bodies of the state but polling was held only for 52. No voting was held in 27 civic bodies in the Valley either because there was no candidate or only one candidate had filed nominations for a particular ward.

## In the valley, there were no signs of any electioneering in the run-up to the polls as terror outfits had threatened to target those taking part in the elections in any form. Separatist groups like the Hurriyat Conference had also called for a boycott of the elections.

## The election authorities kept the identity of the contesting candidates as a secret in view of the security threat to them, prompting political parties, which were against the polls in the present circumstances, to question the genuineness of the process.
New Delhi: Iranian actress Elnaaz Norouzi, who played a pivotal part in the Netflix series 'Sacred Games' has accused director Vipul Shah of sexual harassment. Narrating her ordeal to Mid-Day, Norouzi alleged that the director made sexual advances towards her while auditioning her for a role in his recent released 'Namaste England'.

In a long account in published in Mid-Day, Elnaaz mentioned how Vipul kept her in running for a small role in the film for months without even actually casting her. She says he took several auditions of her but kept postponing signing her up for the film.

She told Mid-Day that she met Vipul when the film was still in its pre-production phase. The manager of the director told her she was being cast as the second lead in the film. Then she met Vipul Shah who made it look like he will sign her soon but which actually never happened. When she went to meet him in his office, the director allegedly came really close to her and gave her a peck.

"He took several auditions of her but kept postponing signing her up for the film. I met him again in his office, and again he mentioned, 'We will sign the papers over the next couple of days.' This time, when we were saying bye, he came on to me and it was too close for comfort. I didn't get the right vibe. He gave a peck on my face which I was expecting at all," she said.

She says he would try to kiss her every time she met him in his office and also touched her inappropriately in a hotel. "The next time we met at his office, he tried to kiss me. I backed off, said, 'What are you doing? We are in your office!' I pushed him away, being affirmative, but careful enough not to come across as rude, because I really wanted the film," she said.

She added further saying that Vipul got her to come to the shoot location for Namaste England in Patiala without ever signing her up for the film.

"He took another audition of her there but still did not tell her the story of the film. He said, 'Come to my room. I will make you hear the script." When I went there, he touched my butt, and dragged me towards himself. I dodged him, went back to my room, and sat there wondering if I should just give in," she said.

She said that it was then when she got signed for Netflix's 'Sacred Games' and claimed that Vipul tried his best to make her quit the project. "He said that he would launch me in a big way. It was a girl-next-door part in 'Namaste England', and that he was clear he would not be able to cast me, as a result of 'Sacred Games', and that I should skip the offer, since they would make me do nude scenes," she said.

Elnaaz said that by that time she had got the clue that Vipul wanted sexual favours from her in exchange for a role in his film. "I was mentally tortured for three months. It was evident that if I slept with Vipul, I would get the part. Every time I went to his office, he tried on me. He would inappropriately touch me, and try to kiss me," she said.

She added that she didn't take the matter to police as she is not an Indian national and feared that the complaint against the director would create work visa issues for her.
NEW DELHI: The Indian Railways will not be giving any compensation to victims of the Amritsar mishap as they are not including it in the list of train accidents.

Minister of State for Railways Manoj Sinha has already said that there was no need for Railways to hold an enquiry into the mishap. "Drivers are given specific instructions on where to slow down. There was a curve, the driver couldn't have seen it. About what should we order an inquiry? Trains travel in speed only," Sinha said. He also said that people should restrain from organising such events near railway tracks.

While some people have been holding them responsible for the incident, Railway authorities have been defending themselves saying that train speeds are pre-set and emergency brakes even if applied are not effective enough to halt it at a moment's notice. Also, since the accident took place in the dark, the driver may not have seen the presence of such a large number of people on the tracks.

#Punjab: Family of 13-year-old boy who died in #AmritsarTrainAccident yesterday, protests with his body at Amritsar-Jalandhar highway, demands compensation pic.twitter.com/PiyiSdakzy  ANI (@ANI) October 20, 2018

Meanwhile, the family of a 13-year-old boy who died in the accident is protesting with his body at the Amritsar-Jalandhar highway. They are demanding a compensation for the death of their child from the authorities.

Railway Board Chairman Ashwani Lohani had said in a statement that the Railways was not intimated about a Dussehra event along the tracks. He said that the accident occurred at a stretch between two stations -- Amritsar and Manawala, and not at a level crossing.

"At midsections, trains run at their assigned speed and people are not expected to be on the tracks. At midsections, there is no railway staff posted. We have staff at level crossings whose job is to regulate traffic," he said, explaining why the Railways was not alerted about the congregation by its staff.

He said that the gateman was 400 metres away at a level crossing. He added that if the driver had applied emergency breaks, there could have been a bigger tragedy.

Lohani claimed that the train was running at its assigned speed and initial reports suggest that the driver applied brakes and the train slowed down. "There was no information and no permission sought from us. The event took place at a place adjoining the railway land in private property," he said.

An FIR against unknown persons was filed under section 304, 304A, 337 and 338 of the IPC at the GRP Police Station on Saturday. During the Dussehra celebrations on Friday, more than 60 people were killed and over 70 injured when the people were watching the burning of the Ravana effigy from a railway track.
AMRITSAR: Facing ire over the train mishap in which at least 59 people were killed, Navjot Singh Sidhu's wife Navjot Kaur has defended the organisers. She said that several announcements were made for people to come to the ground where the function was being held.

"There were vacant seats at Dhobi Ghat ground. Ravan was tied securely and there were no chances of it falling down and creating chaos. There was no stampede. Announcements were made four-five times asking people to come inside the ground," Navjot Kaur recalled.

Navjot Kaur is facing the wrath of people for having allegedly left the accident site without bothering about the victims. Protestors shouted slogans against her, who was the chief guest during the event, alleging she left the venue after the accident. She, however, said she had left the place before the accident took place and rushed to the hospital the moment she came to know of it.

Defending his wife, Punjab minister Navjot Singh Siddu said that when allegations were being levelled against her, she was attending to patients at the hospital. "I fought elections from here because of my wife. She has been working here. Friday night, when accusations were being levelled against her, she was with patients. She called me up on Friday. She came to know about the incident before reaching home. She then immediately reached here," Sidhu said.

The minister also said that the mishap was an accident and nobody had done it intentionally. While he admitted that there was a "big negligence", he asked his detractors not to politicisethe matter. "It was an unfortunate incident. I talked to few people who told me that some people were standing on the rail track and some were sitting on a stone near the track," the minister said.

"When effigy of Ravana was lit, some people moved back. Then the train came with a great speed and there was no horn and people did not come to know (about the approaching train) and it happened in a matter of just one or two seconds," he alleged.

SAD leader Bikram Singh Majithia also accused the former local MLA of "running away from the accident site".
DUBAI/WASHINGTON: Saudi Arabia admitted on Friday that journalist Jamal Khashoggi died inside its Istanbul consulate and said it had fired two senior officials over the incident, which has sparked an international outcry and strained relations with the West. King Salman ordered the dismissal of Saud al-Qahtani, a royal court advisor seen as the right-hand man to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and deputy intelligence chief Ahmed Asiri, a statement on state media said.

Khashoggi, a critic of the crown prince, went missing after entering the consulate on Oct. 2 to obtain documents for his upcoming marriage. Days later, Turkish officials said they believed he was killed in the building, an allegation that Saudi Arabia had, until now, strenuously denied. In a separate statement on Friday, the Saudi public prosecutor said a fight broke out between Khashoggi and people who met him in the consulate, leading to his death.

"The investigations are still underway and 18 Saudi nationals have been arrested," the statement said. The disappearance of Khashoggi, a U.S. resident and Washington Post columnist, had led to mounting pressure from the West on Saudi Arabia to provide convincing answers.

Before the Saudi announcements, U.S. President Donald Trump said he might consider sanctions, although he has also appeared unwilling to distance himself too much from the Saudis, citing Riyadh`s role in countering Iranian influence in the Middle East and lucrative potential arms deals. The White House said in a statement that it had seen the Saudi announcement and would continue to press for "justice that is timely, transparent, and in accordance with all due process." But some U.S. lawmakers expressed doubt about the Saudi explanation.

"To say that I am sceptical of the new Saudi narrative about Mr. Khashoggi is an understatement," said Republican U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham, a Trump ally who has been sharply critical of Saudi Arabia over the incident. Democratic U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal told CNN the Saudi explanation "absolutely defies credibility" and called for an international investigation of Khashoggi`s death.

Turkish sources have told Reuters the authorities have an audio recording purportedly documenting Khashoggi`s murder inside the consulate. Turkish pro-government newspaper Yeni Safak has published what it said were details from the audio. It said Khashoggi`s torturers had severed his fingers during an interrogation and later beheaded and dismembered him.

"NO ORDERS TO KILL HIM"

The disappearance of Khashoggi has tarnished Prince Mohammed`s reputation and deepened questions about his leadership. King Salman has handed the day-to-day running of Saudi Arabia to his son, commonly known as MbS. But the growing crisis prompted him to intervene, five sources with links to the Saudi royal family told Reuters.

The king has ordered the formation of a ministerial committee headed by the crown prince to restructure the general intelligence agency, state media said on Friday. The crown prince had no knowledge of the specific operation that resulted in Khashoggi`s death, a Saudi official familiar with the investigation said.

"There were no orders for them to kill him or even specifically kidnap him," said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity and adding that there was a standing order to bring critics of the kingdom back to the country. "MbS had no knowledge of this specific operation and certainly did not order a kidnapping or murder of anybody. He will have been aware of the general instruction to tell people to come back," the official said.

The official said the whereabouts of Khashoggi`s body were unclear after it was handed over to a "local cooperator" but there was no sign of it at the consulate. In Istanbul, Turkish prosecutors investigating Khashoggi`s disappearance questioned Turkish employees of the Saudi consulate on Friday, widening the hunt for clues in a case straining Riyadh`s alliance with Western powers.

Turkish police searched a forest on Istanbul`s outskirts and a city near the Sea of Marmara for Khashoggi`s remains, two senior Turkish officials told Reuters, after tracking the routes of cars that left the consulate and the consul`s residence on the day he vanished. Investigators have recovered samples from searches of both buildings to analyse for traces of Khashoggi`s DNA.

Speaking to reporters in Scottsdale, Arizona, ahead of the Saudi announcements, Trump said it was too early to say what the consequences for the incident might be, but that the U.S. Congress would be involved in determining the American response. Asked whether Saudi sanctions were one of the measures he was considering, Trump said, "Could be, could be," though he provided no details. "We`re going to find out who knew what when and where. And we`ll figure it out," Trump added.

Turkey said it had not shared with any country audio recordings purportedly documenting Khashoggi`s murder, dismissing reports it had passed them to the United States. "We will share the results that emerge transparently with the whole world," Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said.
The rival used an unmanned aerial vehicle for a fire adjustment in Avdiivka

During the following day, from 7 a.m. through 6 p.m., the Russian occupation forces shelled the JFO positions ten times, as a result, one Ukrainian serviceman sustained injuries. The press office of the Joint Forces Operation reported this on Facebook.

The rival opened aimed fire from mortars, grenade launchers of different systems, heavy machine guns, and small arms. The highest activity of the enemy was recorded near Avdiivka, where they used an unmanned aerial vehicle for a fire adjustment. Generally, the Russian occupation forces performed shelling of the Joint Forces Operation in the area of settlements Krymske, Troitske, Avdiivka, Hnutove, and Lebedynske.

As a result of the shelling in Donetsk sector, one Ukrainian serviceman from the Joint Forces personnel was injured, the HQ reported.

In the case of threat of life, the commanders were adopting decisions on carrying out a fire impact on the enemy in order to force them to stop the firing.

As it was reported earlier, over the previous day on October 18, the militants in Donbas opened fire at the Ukrainian positions 16 times. No casualties among the Ukrainian servicemen were observed.
The U.S. governors received fake requests from the Ambassador of the Embassy of Ukraine in the U.S. Valeriy Chaly for a phone conversation with the Ukranian Ambassador

Open source

The Embassy of Ukraine in the U.S. denies its involvement in the fake requests received by the U.S. governors for a phone conversation between the Governor and the Ambassador or Ukrainian leaders. The Embassy reported this on Facebook.

'Fake alert! The information war against Ukraine continues. The Embassy of Ukraine in the U.S. has discovered facts of new cyber-attacks. Weve learned that a number of American governors offices received fake requests from our Embassy for a phone conversation between the Governor and Ukrainian leaders or Ambassador Valeriy Chaly, reads the message.

The diplomatic mission of Ukraine does not exclude that the materials of fake conversations will appear on the internet, and will be used for provocations or to harm the bilateral relations of Kyiv and Washington.

We call on our partners and friends to be aware and vigilant as well as to verify similar requests with official representatives of the Ukrainian Embassy in the U.S., reads the message.

As it was reported, Trump showed the statistics of provocations from the side of Iranian vessels against the United States Navy.
Macedonia to become North Macedonia on the demand of Greece. This is a prerequisite for joining NATO

AFP

The MPs of the Macedonian Peoples Assembly by a majority of votes endorsed the proposal of the government to start amending the Constitution to change the name of the country, Reuters reports.

The name of the country will change to North Macedonia, the text of the preamble, guarantees of the immutability of borders and sovereignty of neighboring countries will also be changed.

Related: Parliament of Macedonia to consider agreement on name change

On September 30, the country held a referendum, where the residents had to decide whether they support the agreement with Greece. Due to low voter turnout, he was declared invalid.

Earlier, Jens Stoltenberg, NATO Secretary General, stated that Macedonia would be invited to the negotiations on the membership in NATO right after the question of the renaming of the state is finally settled. Stoltenberg said that the recent agreement on the renaming of the country into the North Macedonia with Greece and the end of a long-term conflict was a historic agreement, which provides a historic opportunity for Skopje to join NATO.

Related: Referendum on name change of country takes place in Macedonia

Since Yugoslavias dissolution in the early 1990s, Macedonia is having arguments with Greece concerning its name. In Greece, the neighbor state is called Skopje (the name of Macedonias capital) or the Former Yugoslavian Republic of Macedonia.

Macedonias Parliament adopted a resolution on joining NATO in 1993, but the state is still at the level of the talks with the Alliance. Greece was blocking Macedonias talks with EU and NATO due to the argument in terms of the name.
Open source

The head of the Verkhovna Rada delegation to the PACE, Volodymyr Aryev, said that in 2019 the Russian delegation most likely would not return to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. He reported about it on air of Radio Svoboda.



According to Aryev, the only opportunity for Russia to restore authority is to submit this issue in January. However, he noted that at the moment there is no such question in the draft agenda.



If Russia is not put it on the agenda in January, then it will not be there in 2019. When we saw the draft agenda for January 2019, then this report wasn't in it. At best, it will be considered in April, perhaps even in the summer of next years, "said Aryev.



In addition, Russia unlikely would make such a step, since restrictive measures for the Russian delegation were not removed, he noted.



We remind you that the Russian delegation as part of PACE was deprived of a whole range of powers, including the right to vote, in April 2014 due to the annexation of Crimea and aggression in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Then the Russian delegation ceased its work in the Assembly in protest. Moscow responded by stating that the current PACE regulation infringes on the interests of delegations of individual countries and allows others to take discriminatory decisions - for example, to deny voting rights, to exclude from participation in governing bodies of the assembly and various monitoring missions, as was the case with the Russian delegation.



On October 2, the Verkhovna Rada adopted a statement in connection with the situation in the PACE, condemning the attempt to lift the restrictions against the Russian delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.



On 9 October, the PACE at the meeting retained restrictions against the Russian delegation in the assembly. The draft resolution, which created the conditions for the return of the Russians, was returned to the committee.

Related: U.S. accuses Russian woman Elena Khusyaynova of interfering in Congress elections
The United States plans to inform Russia of withdrawal from the Treaty on the Elimination of Intermediate-Range and Shorter-Range Missiles (INF).

According to sources, US plans to withdraw from the contract will be announced by the presidential aide on national security, John Bolton.

He will come to Russia on October 21.





The decision itself, Donald Trump plans to approve "in the coming weeks", as specified in the NYT,





"The pact restrained the United States from deploying new weapons in order to respond to Chinas attempts to consolidate a dominant position in the western Pacific Ocean ...", said in the publication.





We recall, the Treaty on the Elimination of Medium and Shorter-Range Missiles was signed in 1987 by General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee Mikhail Gorbachev and US President Ronald Reagan.





The agreement prohibits the parties to manufacture ground-based ballistic and cruise nuclear missiles with a range from 500 to 5,500 km, as well as their testing and deployment.
In Singapore, on the margins of the ASEAN defense ministers' meeting, the first personal meeting of US defense minister James Mattis and Russian defense minister - Sergei Shoigu took place.

It was noted that the heads of military departments of the two countries met before the start of the summit at the entrance to the conference room.

Sergei Shoigu and James Mattis shook hands.





According to the press service of the Russian department, the head of the Pentagon expressed his condolences to Shoigu in connection with the massacre at the polytechnic college of Kerch.





"He noted that in the United States similar things happen, and the Americans understand the feelings of Russians. The Russian defense minister thanked his colleague and noted that such cases are becoming common in the world and all possible measures should be taken to prevent these tragedies," the statement said

.





In turn, the US Department of Defense has not yet commented on the ministerial meeting.




Hungarian Government to double help to support Hungarians in Zakarpattia region in 2019. Janos Potapi, State Secretary for National Policy claimed this, Origo reports.

Related: Hungary allocates $5 million for education in Ukraine's Zakarpattia

According to Potapi, the financial aid will help 23-24 thousand people involved in the education, health, media and social and cultural sectors.

He added that the annual subsidies for the Hungarian teachers in Zakarpattia region will be increased from $960 to $1800.

Related: Hungary to change name of Zakarpattia Minister in Ukraine post

He said that the reason for this decision is the current tensed diplomatic situation and an unstable economic situation in Ukraine.

Reportedly, last year, Hungary increased one-time payments to Hungarian teachers in Zakarpattia region by 80 percent.
On the way to the creation of the United Orthodox Church in Ukraine, the U.S. authorities urge clerical hierarchy, and government officials to tolerance, restraint, and understanding

Reuters

Mike Pompeo, the U.S. Secretary of State called the Ukrainian authorities and believers to the creation of the autocephaly, reports the press office of the Department of State.

The United States reiterates its strong support for religious freedom and the freedom of members of religious groups, including Ukraines Orthodox community, to govern their religion according to their beliefs, free of outside interference, reads the message.

Related: Russian Orthodox Church Abroad breaks off relations with Constantinople Patriarchate

We support Ukrainians ability to worship as they choose and hope this will be respected by all. Tolerance, restraint, and understanding are key to ensuring that people with different religious affiliations can live and prosper together in peace. We urge Church and government officials to actively promote these values in connection with the move towards the establishment of an autocephalous Ukrainian Orthodox Church, the Department of State added.

Reportedly, the Russian Orthodox Church decided to completely cease the Eucharistic relations with the Patriarchate of Constantinople.

Related: Constantinople not to cease relationships with Russian Orthodox Church

On October 11, the Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate supported that the autocephaly provision for Ukraine is prolonged. Also, it has officially approved Constantinople as Ukraines mother-church. Besides, the Synod lifted the anathema from Filaret, the head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyivan Patriarchate, and Makariy, the Primate of Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church. Filaret stated that a united Jubilee Bishops' Council would take place soon to create a unified Ukrainian local church.

In addition, the Ecumenical Patriarchate recognized Russias Orthodox Church annexation of Kyiv metropole in 1686.
Donbas BG-32 marine guard ship of Mariupol unit of the Ukrainian Sea Guard returned to the service to secure the state borders in the Sea of Azov after dock repairs. The press office of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine reports.

Having won the bidding process, the Azov Shiprepair Plant conducted the repairs and upgrades of the ship. On short notice, the specialists of the plant carried out diagnostics and repairs of separate systems and mechanisms of the ships engines, clearance, and painting of the body, maintenance of fuel and ballast tanks.

After dock repairs and launching the ship, a mechanical run test was carried out. The committee was satisfied with the work of the mechanisms.

Donbas BG-32 marine guard ship was built in Russias St. Petersburg in 1982. The ship served in the Border Troops of the KGB of the USSR with the ID 035 PSKR-705, and in 1992 it joined the Marine Guard of the State Border Service of Ukraine. In 1992 was renamed to Donbas, and the side number was changed to BG32. In the spring of 2014, Donbas BG-32 marine guard ship moved from occupied Crimea to Mariupol.
The naval base in the Sea of Azov to be situated in Berdyansk and stationing sites will be opened in Mariupol and Henichesk

Berdyansk to become the main base for the Ukrainian Naval Forces in the Sea of Azov, and stationing sites will be situated in Mariupol and Henichesk. Admiral Ihor Voronchenko, Commander of the Navy of Ukrainian Armed Forces claimed this in the interview to BBC News.

Based on the decision of the NSDC, we are increasing our presence in the Sea of Azov due to the build-up of the group of boats, the arrival of ships and the deployment of marines and artillery. It is done on the principle of co-location, he said.

We received a joint order from the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Defense on the transfer of the former branch of the Zaporizhia University last week. It is a very auspicious location for the base, the Commander of Navy of UA Armed Forces claimed.

The Admiral explained that the reinforcement of the defense capacity of the Zaporizhia region has become a priority after Russia opened the Kerch Bridge and started blocking the movement of Ukrainian vessels through the Kerch Strait.

It should be noted that the Russian activity in the Sea of Azov increased over the last three months. Russians do not allow the trade vessels heading to and emerging from the Ukrainian ports to freely pass through the Kerch Strait. In this regard, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko commissioned the Minister of Defense, the Chief of the General Staff and the Commandment of the Naval Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to take measures to stop Russian provocations in relation to blocking the entry of vessels into Ukrainian ports on the Azov Sea. The Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine developed a set of measures in response to Russia's actions. The set of measures includes the limit of passenger traffic with Russia.
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YEREVAN, OCTOBER 20, ARMENPRESS. Artsakh Republic President Bako Sahakyan on October 20 sent a congratulatory address to His Holiness Aram I, Catholicos of the Armenian Apostolic Churchs Holy See of Cilicia, on the 50th anniversary of his ordination to priesthood, the Presidential Office told Armenpress.

The address runs as follows: Your Holiness, The 50th anniversary of Your Ordination is a landmark event for the Armenian Apostolic Church, the Holy See of Cilicia, our Homeland and numerous communities across the Armenian Diaspora.

On behalf of the Artsakh people, authorities and on myself personally I would like to extend the most heartfelt congratulations to You on this memorable occasion and wish You, Your Holiness, many healthy years to come, further strength and thriving to the Holy See of Cilicia and its prelacies.

Artsakh is well aware of and rates high Your long-standing commitment and service as Catholicos, faithful servant of the Church, public figure, dedicated patriot, aimed at strengthening and making prosperous our Church, maintaining the Armenian national identity, preserving and advancing national and spiritual values in the Diaspora, cementing the Homeland-Diaspora ties. You have been carrying out extensive work in the spheres of national education, cementing and widening inter-church and interreligious ties too.

You have always stood alongside of us both in the moments of ordeal and in times of triumph actively supporting the Artsakh people, helping solve the different challenges our country faces, being a reliable shoulder for our people who have undergone numerous predicaments while forging their own destiny themselves.

Your Holiness,

Accept, please, the assurances of my highest consideration and the sincerest wishes on the 50th anniversary of Your ordination to priesthood. Let You, the Mother Church and the world-spread Armenians always be under the protection of the Almighty.














YEREVAN, OCTOBER 20, ARMENPRESS. Gevorg Torosyan, who participated in the recent La Francophonie Economic Forum in Armenia, is going to establish the branch of Canadian ISB engineering company in Armenia by the support of the Enterprise Incubator Foundation (EIF), deputy minister of economic development and investments Mane Adamyan said on Facebook, reports Armenpress.

The company produces security devices which are attached to different production devices and block the devices during human work with sensors in order not to harm the employees. At this stage ISB Armenian branch will be engaged in improvement of software, and at the next stage the devices will already be produced in Armenia. Its worth mentioning that one of the key parts of these devices is being produced in Armenias Goris for a long time, and our compatriots have exported this part to Canada for many years aimed at organizing the complete production there. We have agreed with Mr. Torosyan to organize the whole cycle of production of the devices in Armenia soon, Adamyan wrote.

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 20, ARMENPRESS. Companies affiliated with Bellegprom Concern will represent Belarus during the upcoming Eurasian Week international forum which will be held in Armenia, Belta reports.

Bellegproms exposition will feature two companies  8 Marta and Galanteya.

The Eurasian Week is a large-scale international business forum bringing together companies from the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU). The event has been held every year since 2016. This years forum will include an exhibition of exporting companies from the EAEU member states. The exhibition will be structured into six sections, including organic agriculture, high-tech light industry, pharmaceutics and medical equipment, and jewelry production.

The forum will be held in Yerevan from October 22 o 24.

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 20, ARMENPRESS. President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian sent a congratulatory letter to His Holiness Aram I, Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia on the 50th anniversary of his ordination to priesthood, the Presidential Office told Armenpress.

The letter runs as follows: By your leadership the Catholicosate of the Great House of Cilicia continues to be a strong moral and spiritual support, inspiring and uniting force for our people. Your unconditional efforts aimed at uniting our people, preserving the Armenian identity, as well as the national and spiritual values are highly appreciated.

The President wished His Holiness Aram I health, longevity, inexhaustible energy and strength for implementation of the patriarchal mission.

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 20, ARMENPRESS. Mayor of Yerevan Hayk Marutyan hosted former mayors of Yerevan Suren Abrahamyan and Vahagn Khachatryan, the Yerevan City Hall told Armenpress.

Welcoming his former counterparts, Mayor Marutyan thanked for accepting the invitation to meet and stated that it will serve for the benefit of more effectively solving the issues of the capital.

The former officials thanked for the warm reception and invitation and congratulated Hayk Marutyan on his election as Yerevan Mayor, wishing him success in this responsible work. The former mayors of Yerevan stated that they are ready to convey their experience and advice to the new Mayor in case of necessity.

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 20, ARMENPRESS. The process of replacing Secretary General of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) Yuri Khachaturov will be completed as soon as possible, deputy foreign minister of Armenia Shavarsh Kocharyan told TASS.

The process of replacing the CSTO Secretary General and appointing new chief will be held by two stages. The replacement process of the CSTO chief will be completed as soon as possible. As for the second stage, the CSTO procedures do not envisage such situation. Its necessary to have a universal approach so that there will be a concrete approach in similar cases in the future, the deputy FM said.

Shavarsh Kocharyan said either the country, who nominates the candidacy of the CSTO Secretary General, will present a new candidate, or the chairmanship of the organization will be transferred to another country in alphabetical order.

CSTO Secretary General Yuri Khachaturov has been charged over the 2008 March 1 case. The court approved the motion to remand him into custody, but later he was released on bail.

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan
South Korea's Army unveiled an ambitious plan Thursday, October 18, 2018, to equip all of its infantry squads with advanced wheeled armored vehicles and other APC Armored Personnel Carrier by 2030.



South Korean army K808 8x8 wheeled APC Armored Personnel Carrier at DX Korea live demonstration. October 2018 (Picture source Army Recognition)

The Mount Paektu Tiger (MPT) project, worth US$1.1 billion, aims to enable all ground troops to move by wheeled armored carriers, such as the K808 and K806 combat vehicles and other small tactical vehicles. The MPT program is created to offer more mobility and fire power to infantrymen.

The South Korea Army, which has around 480,000 troops, is a key element in the country's 620,000-strong armed forces. The government plans to reduce the latter number to half a million by 2022 under a reform scheme.

According a news of December 8, 2017, from the South Korean Yonhap News Agency website, the Defense Department of the South Korean Company Hyundai Rotem has won a contract of US$357 million to deliver latest generation of wheeled armored vehicles K806 and K808 also called WAV (Wheeled Armored Vehicle) to the South Korean army.



South Korean army K806 6x6 wheeled APC Armored Personnel Carrier at DX Korea live demonstration. October 2018 (Picture source Army Recognition)

In September 2018, it was announced that the South Korean Company Hyundai Rotem will begin mass production of wheeled armored vehicles K806 and K808 later this year after the vehicles completed a series of field tests by Republic of Korea Army (RoKA) units between April and August.

The K806 and K808 are wheeled armored vehicles respectively in 6x6 and 8x8 configuration sharing the main components. The K808 has been designed to offer a rapid deployment combat vehicle for infantry units able to perform reconnaissance missions in front line areas, including mountainous regions, while the K806, a is intended for use in mobile strike and reconnaissance missions in the rear.
As Orwell foresaw, we now live in an era where distinguishing between truth and falsehood has become very difficult at times. Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin are but two examples of leaders who routinely lie to their constituencies.

In the novel, the ruling regime was constantly revising history to meet its current needs, even to the extent of fabricating new historic records to erase inconvenient truths or falsehoods and replace them with new facts that met its political needs.

In arguing this, Martin is echoing the words of George Orwell in his novel '1984' where he wrote that who controls the past controls the future.

ADELAIDE - Reader Martin Auld has expressed the view that history is written to legitimise those in power and he has concluded that history can be dangerous.

However, this behaviour is hardly a recent development. Political, business and religious leaders long ago discovered that they often can achieve their ends by using a combination of evasion, half-truths and, sometimes, telling the most egregious and self-serving lies.

For example, Julius Caesars account of the Gallic Wars was primarily written to raise his prestige in Rome and so the facts and their interpretation as related in that work are regarded by historians as suspect, at least to some degree.

Later on, English rulers like Henry VIII and his daughter Elizabeth I became very artful in presenting fiction as fact so as to cultivate an entirely misleading image of themselves and the Plantagenet dynasty to their contemporaries and to history.

William Shakespeare and many others then proceeded to burnish the reputation and image of the Plantagenets based upon sometimes entirely false notions of their actions and motivations.

It is said that when Winston Churchill was asked how he thought history would treat him, he said it should treat him very well. When asked why he was so confident that this would be the case, Churchill responded, Because I shall write it.

It is pertinent to note that Churchill also famously said that a lie gets half way around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on, so he knew that when it came to writing history the advantage lay with the person who got in first.

Churchills subsequent book on World War II, whilst justly praised for its magisterial scope and erudition, tends to gloss over or even omit some facts that might tend to shed a less than flattering light upon its author.

All this means that historians are invariably faced with the task of teasing out the objective truth from the various self-serving fictions and delusions that feature so prominently in the historic record.

This is why different histories about the same events can sometimes reach markedly different conclusions about the motivations and actions of historic figures.

As an historian, I would dispute that history per se is dangerous but I would agree that it can be dangerously, even maliciously, distorted.

A critical question to ask about any history is who has written it and why. It also is important to confirm, in so far as this is possible, that the author reports the known facts accurately. Errors of fact or omissions can powerfully influence how history is presented and understood.

Ultimately, how the agreed facts are interpreted is, of course, where the reader must form his or her own opinion about the veracity or otherwise of what any author is asserting about history.

In the context of Papua New Guinea, I do not think that its political leaders care one jot about history. Their eyes are fixed firmly on the here and now and, in too many cases, on maximising personal benefit from their time in office.

If and when one of todays leaders feels moved to write their version of history, it is highly improbable that it will be other than almost entirely self-serving.

Typically, politicians do not write warts and all accounts of their time in office. As they did in politics, they seek to justify themselves and burnish their reputations, not report the unalloyed truth.

For this reason no political memoir is fully reliable even if the facts are broadly correct and the author full of good intentions.

History can indeed be dangerous but a wary and careful historian can usually find a path to the truth even if it is long, tortuous and highly contested.

Happily, there are some people in PNG who are seeking to find and record the truth about the history of their peoples and cultures.

This is likely to be a more fraught task than they imagine but they should speak their truth and fear not, especially to those in power.
Australian environment minister Melissa Price

KATERINA TEAIWA | The Conversation

CANBERRA  Australias environment minister Melissa Price was trending on Twitter last week  and not for any good environmental reasons.

Price was introduced to the former president of Kiribati, Anote Tong, during a dinner at a Canberra restaurant hosted by Labor Senator Pat Dodson. Tong has brought global attention to his country because of the existential challenges it faces from climate change and rising sea levels.

According to Dodson, Price made what many have deemed an insulting comment to Tong:

I know why youre here. Its for the cash. For the Pacific its always about the cash. I have my chequebook here. How much do you want?

Others at the restaurant verified Dodsons version of the incident. For his part, Tong said he has some hearing problems and others closer to Price could better hear what she said.
A Spanish fighter jet taking part in a NATO mission over the Baltics accidentally fired a missile in early August.

The missile didn't hit anything, but it was never recovered, and now Russia is sending a message about it.

On August 7, a Spanish Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jet taking part in a Baltic air-policing mission accidentally fired an air-to-air missile as it returned from a training exercise over Estonia.

The Spanish jet was based in Siauliai in northern Lithuania, but the exercise, which included another Spanish jet and two French Mirage 2000 jets, took place over a training area in Estonia that is only about 60 miles from the Russian border.

The missile, which has a range of about 60 miles and carries a 50-pound high-explosive warhead, never acquired a target and flew off, reportedly bearing north. Its trajectory and final location were not known.

Estonia halted NATO air exercises to conduct a search, but after 10 days of looking the Estonian army was unable to recover the missile, which has a self-destruct feature, Spanish newspaper El Pais reported at the end of September.

Now Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has pointed to the incident as the kind of event that could escalate dangerously.

In an interview with RT France, a Russian state-run media outlet, and reported by state-owned outlet Tass, Lavrov said that almost all cooperation between Russia and NATO had been frozen.

Telephone contacts between the chief of Russia's general staff, army Gen. Valery Gerasimov, and NATO's supreme allied commander in Europe, US Army Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti, were not enough to reduce the risk of unintended incidents escalating, Lavrov said.

"This is not what is required in the current situation when the risk of some unintended incidents significantly increases. A Spanish fighter recently accidentally fired an air-to-air missile in Estonia," Lavrov said, according to Tass. "Thank God, it didn't kill anyone."

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"What if it fell on our soil rather than in Estonia?" Lavrov added. "After all, it was very close."

Lavrov pinned the dearth of communication on US influence over NATO, saying it was clear that no one in the alliance "does anything without the US" and that it was "absurd to remain hostage to US legislators' whims."

An official investigation found the accidental launch was the result of human error, El Pais reported at the beginning of September.

The pilot who accidentally launched the missile, a veteran commander, was found responsible but received the minimum punishment, as the investigation determined he became distracted by whether the other Spanish pilot applied their safety measures and forgot to apply his own.

When Spain's Eurofighters conduct such exercises over Spanish territory, they use inert munitions, according to El Pais. However, NATO requires fighters taking part in Baltic air-policing missions to use live munitions.

NATO has been running air-policing missions over the Baltic states since 2004, when those countries joined the alliance, to help protect their air space. The Spanish contingent taking part arrived in Lithuania at the end of May with six fighters and 135 personnel. Their deployment ended on August 31.
Outgoing UN Ambassador Nikki Haley jokes that when Trump found out she was Indian-American, he asked if she 'was from the same tribe as Elizabeth Warren'

Outgoing UN Ambassador Nikki Haley gave the keynote address at the Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner in New York City on Thursday night.

It was the first major appearance Haley has made since she announced her impending resignation last week.

During the dinner, which is traditionally comical, Haley poked fun at President Donald Trump's recent UN address, Sen. Elizabeth Warren's DNA test, and her fellow Trump administration officials.

Outgoing United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley showed off her sense of humour during a speech at a high-profile charity dinner in New York City on Thursday night.

Haley was the keynote speaker at the Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner, an annual white-tie gala that benefits Catholic charities and is hosted by by the Archbishop of New York, Cardinal Timothy Dolan.

President Donald Trump, Winston Churchill, and former President John F. Kennedy have spoken at the dinner in years past, which traditionally resembles more of a stand-up routine.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLHfhzUKLY4

In front of a crowd of about 700, including Mayor Bill de Blasio, billionaire Michael Bloomberg, and Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Haley poked fun at Trump, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, and Attorney General Jeff Sessions among others.

Here are some of the jokes that got the biggest laughs Thursday night:

"A couple of weeks ago I had this great breakfast with Cardinal Dolan, and I asked him if there was anything I could do to really boost attendance. ... He said, 'Why don't you resign as UN ambassador?' You didn't tell me you were kidding!"

On the president's advice for Haley's speech: "He said if I get stuck for laughs, just brag about his accomplishments. It really killed at the UN, I got to tell you."

"Two years ago, Trump was here and made some waves with his remarks. ... So last year you went with Paul Ryan, who's a Boy Scout and that's fine, but a little boring. So this year, you wanted to spice things up again. I get it, you wanted an Indian woman, but Elizabeth Warren failed her DNA test. Actually, when the president found out that I was Indian-American, he asked me if I was from the same tribe as Elizabeth Warren."

"I really am super excited to be at the Al Smith Dinner. As a member of the Trump Cabinet, it is a thrill to be out to dinner without being harassed."

"As a member of the UN delegation, I do have diplomatic immunity ... an exemption from prosecution, or as Mayor De Blasio calls it, a sanctuary city!"

"I saw Jeff Sessions earlier today - not in New York. I saw him on LinkedIn looking for a job. Actually we both were."

"Jeff Flake was going to be here, but he wanted to give the FBI a week to look into it."

"People always wonder if I felt different or isolated as an Indian-American growing up in rural South Carolina. Actually, there was a benefit. It totally prepared me for being a Republican in New York."

It wasn't all jokes for Haley, though, on Thursday night. At one point, she turned serious and appeared to call out Trump's political antagonism.

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"In our toxic political environment, I've heard some people in both parties describe their opponents as enemies or evil," Haley said. "In America, our political opponents are not evil."

New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman said in a tweet that this comment was "why folks in the West Wing were so annoyed with the showy Haley departure - they knew she would take shots [at] Trump from the outside. Started early."

Thursday night's speech was the first major public appearance Haley has made since she announced last week her intention to resign from her post at the end of the year.

The move sparked discussion about whether Haley might be intending to run for president, perhaps even challenging Trump for the Republican nomination in 2020, but Haley shot down those rumours during a press conference at the White House - going so far as to say she intended to help campaign for the president.

However, her resignation was seen by many as a way for Haley, who has become a highly respected figure, to distance herself from the chaos of the Trump administration so that she can pursue higher office later on.
The aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth, Britain's largest warship, sailed into New York Harbour Friday, marking the first visit of a British carrier to the city in nearly a decade.

The Portsmouth-based Queen Elizabeth, displacing over 70,000 tons, will stay in New York for a week, according to a statement from the Royal Navy.

Check out these amazing photos from the Royal Navy of their carrier sailing into the harbour.

"I am delighted and proud to have brought HMS Queen Elizabeth into New York Harbour for the first time," Captain Jerry Kyd, the ship's commanding officer, stated upon arrival. "This visit is very symbolic of the intimate relationship the Royal Navy has with the US Navy and Marine Corps."

The flagship of the Royal Navy has been undergoing intense trials with the F-35B Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter over the past few weeks.

"The largest warship in British history is joining forces with the most advanced fighter jets on the planet," Gavin Williamson, the British defence secretary, said late last month as the training began. "This marks a rebirth of our power to strike decisively from the seas anywhere in the world."

"HMS Queen Elizabeth is not just a warship, but a symbol of our enduring commitment to our security, and the security of our allies too. This state-of-the-art ship is built on more than 470 years of proud Royal Navy history and her entry into New York harbour shows that our Armed Forces are ready to stand by our allies for generations to come," Williamson said as the ship arrived in New York.

After her stay in New York, the Queen Elizabeth will return to the North Atlantic for continued training with supersonic F-35B stealth fighters, which use engines that swivel for short landings and take-offs.

When an F-35 landed on the Queen Elizabeth late last month, it marked the first time in eight years that an aircraft has landed on a British carrier.

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Sources: Business Insider

British pilots have, however, been practicing taking off from and landing on American carriers to maintain their skills.

The Queen Elizabeth was commissioned late last year, and the ship is reportedly expected to be operationally deployed with the F-35 stealth fighters in the next two to three years.
* Trump says seeks answer about dead reporter

* Merkel says Saudi explanation 'inadequate'

* Saudi Arabia acknowledges Khashoggi's death for first time (Adds France, Germany reactions, Turkish search)

By Jeff Mason and David Dolan

ELKO, Nev./ISTANBUL, Oct 20 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump joined European leaders on Saturday in pushing Saudi Arabia for more answers about Jamal Khashoggi after Riyadh changed its story and acknowledged that the journalist died over two weeks ago at its consulate in Istanbul.

Saudi Arabia said early on Saturday that Khashoggi, a critic of the country's de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, had died in a fight inside the building.

Germany called that explanation "inadequate" and questioned whether countries should sell arms to Saudi Arabia, while France and the European Union urged an in-depth investigation to find out what happened to the Washington Post columnist after he entered the consulate on Oct. 2 for documents for his marriage.

Turkish officials suspect Khashoggi, a Saudi national and U.S. resident, was killed inside the consulate by a team of Saudi agents and his body cut up.

The Khashoggi case has caused an international outrage and frayed political and business ties between Western powers and U.S. ally Saudi Arabia, the world's No.1 oil exporter.

Asked during a trip to Nevada if he was satisfied that Saudi officials had been fired over Khashoggi's death, Trump said: "No, I am not satisfied until we find the answer. But it was a big first step, it was a good first step. But I want to get to the answer."

Trump's comments about the Khashoggi incident in recent days have ranged from threatening Saudi Arabia with "very severe" consequences and warning of economic sanctions, to more conciliatory remarks in which he has played up the country's role as a U.S. ally against Iran and Islamist militants, as well as a major purchaser of U.S. arms.

He had earlier called the Saudi narrative of what happened to Khashoggi credible.

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Riyadh provided no evidence on Saturday to support its account and made no mention of what had become of Khashoggi's body.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian called for a full investigation and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, in a joint statement with her foreign minister, said the Saudi account was not enough.

"We expect transparency from Saudi Arabia about the circumstances of his death ... The information available about events in the Istanbul consulate is inadequate," the Germans said.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas called into question the sale of arms to Saudi Arabia.

Trump said it was possible that Prince Mohammed had been unaware of the circumstances around the death of Khashoggi, 59. Trump said he would speak with the prince.

For Western allies, a main question in the Khashoggi affair will be whether they believe that the prince, who has painted himself as a reformer, has any culpability. King Salman, 82, had handed the day-to-day running of Saudi Arabia to him.

Trump, who has forged close ties with Saudi Arabia and the crown prince, said he was concerned that it was unclear where the journalist's body is.

Turkish investigators are likely to find out what happened to the body "before long", a senior Turkish official said earlier on Saturday.

Officials told Reuters in Turkey on Thursday that Khashoggi's remains may have been dumped in Belgrad Forest adjacent to Istanbul, and at a rural location near the city of Yalova, 90 km (55 miles) south of Istanbul,

Turkish sources say the authorities have an audio recording purportedly documenting Khashoggi's murder inside the consulate. Pro-government Turkish newspaper Yeni Safak, citing the audio, said his torturers cut off his fingers during an interrogation and later beheaded him.

Trump said no one from his administration has seen video or a transcript of what happened inside the consulate.

A group of 15 Saudi nationals arrived in Istanbul in two planes and entered the consulate on the same day Khashoggi was there and later left the country, a Turkish security source told Reuters.

SAUDI VERSION

Saudi Arabia had until now strenuously denied that Khashoggi had died in the consulate.

But the Saudi public prosecutor said on Saturday that a fight broke out between Khashoggi and people who met him in the building, leading to his death. Eighteen Saudi nationals had been arrested, the prosecutor said.

A Saudi official told Reuters separately: "A group of Saudis had a physical altercation and Jamal died as a result of the chokehold. They were trying to keep him quiet."

Khashoggi's Turkish fiancee, Hatice Cengiz, tweeted in Arabic: "They have taken your body from this world, but your beautiful smile will stay in my world forever."

Saudi state media said King Salman had ordered the dismissal of five officials, including Saud al-Qahtani, a royal court adviser seen as the right-hand man to Prince Mohammed, and deputy intelligence chief Ahmed Asiri.

The crisis prompted the king to intervene, five sources with links to the Saudi royal family told Reuters.

The king also ordered a restructuring of the intelligence service, to be led by Prince Mohammed, suggesting the prince still retained wide-ranging authority.

Saudi Arabia's regional allies - including Egypt, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates - issued statements in praise of the king.

The dismissed official Qahtani, 40, rose to prominence after latching onto Prince Mohammed, becoming a rare confidant in his inner circle.

Sources say Qahtani would regularly speak on behalf of the crown prince and has given direct orders to senior officials including in the security apparatus.

The New York Times reported on Saturday, citing U.S. and Saudi officials, that Qahtani created the strategy behind the deployment an online army to harass Khashoggi and other critics of the kingdom on Twitter.

People close to Khashoggi and the government said Qahtani had tried to lure the journalist back to Saudi Arabia after he moved to Washington a year ago fearing reprisals for his views.

Asiri joined the Saudi military in 2002, according to Saudi media reports, serving as spokesman for a coalition backing Yemen's ousted president after Prince Mohammed took Saudi Arabia into that country's civil war in 2015. He was named deputy chief of foreign intelligence in 2017.

A Saudi official familiar with the Saudi investigation said the crown prince had no knowledge of the specific operation that resulted in Khashoggi's death,

"There were no orders for them to kill him or even specifically kidnap him," said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity. There was a standing order to bring critics of the kingdom back to the country, he added.

(Reporting by Jeff Mason and David Dolan Additional reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu in Ankara, Stephen Kalin in Istanbul, Yara Bayoumi and Yeganeh Torbati in Washington, Marwa Rashad and Hadeel Al Sayegh in Dubai, Nadine Awadalla and Yousef Saba in Cairo and Thomas Escritt in Berlin Writing by Chris Sanders Editing by Alistair Bell)
Afghan election workers began counting votes on Saturday following a partial legislative ballot tarnished by scores of deadly militant attacks, technical glitches and administrative chaos. Nearly 170 people -- civilians and security forces -- were killed or wounded in election-related violence, official figures showed, and there are fears of more bloodshed when voting resumes Sunday in 401 polling centres. "Inevitable" problems with biometric verification devices, which were introduced at the eleventh hour, as well as missing voter registration lists and lack of staffing delayed or even prevented voting at those polling sites, the Independent Election Commission (IEC) told reporters. According to initial IEC figures around three million voters turned up at 4,500 polling centres. Elections have been postponed in Ghazni and Kandahar provinces. That compares with nearly nine million registered voters, though many suspect a significant number of those were based on fake identification documents that fraudsters planned to use to stuff ballot boxes. Most polling sites opened hours late after voter rolls were not delivered or teachers employed to manage the voting process failed to show up following Taliban threats to attack the ballot. There were multiple explosions across Kabul during the day. Hours before polls closed a suicide bomber blew himself up inside a polling centre in the Afghan capital, which police said killed at least 15 people and wounded 20. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast, but the Taliban said it had carried out more than 400 attacks on the "fake election" across the war-torn country. Violence also disrupted voting in the northern city of Kunduz where a senior health official told AFP three people died and 39 were wounded after more than 20 rockets rained down on the provincial capital. Eight explosions were recorded in the eastern province of Nangarhar, with two people killed and five wounded, the provincial governor's spokesman said. The interior ministry put the overall casualty toll -- including civilians and security forces -- slightly lower at 160, with 27 civilians killed and 100 wounded. There were 193 attacks across the country, which the ministry said was half the number recorded on the day of the 2014 presidential election. - 'Frustrated' voters - Despite threats of violence, voters waited for hours outside polling centres across the country. Some eventually gave up and went home without casting a ballot. University student Mohammad Alem said he felt "frustrated" after spending more than three hours trying to vote in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif, only to discover his name was not on the registration list. "There also were some problems with the biometric devices because they were already running out of charge," he said. After waiting four hours at a polling centre, Tabish Forugh tweeted he had not seen "even remotely similar... chaos" at previous elections. The parliamentary ballot is more than three years late and only the third since the fall of the Taliban in 2001. Turnout was likely affected after the militant group issued several warnings in the days leading up to the poll calling on candidates to withdraw from the race and for voters to stay home. Hundreds of people were killed or wounded in the months before the poll. The killing of a powerful police chief in the southern province of Kandahar on Thursday further eroded confidence in the ability of security forces to protect voters. Voting in Kandahar has been delayed until October 27 following the attack. Despite the risks, President Ashraf Ghani urged "every Afghan, young and old, women and men" to exercise their right to vote, after casting his ballot in Kabul. Photos posted on social media showed scores of men and women clutching their identification documents lining up outside voting centres amid a heavy security presence. A woman dressed in a burqa leaving a polling centre in Mazar-i-Sharif told AFP she had been worried about "security incidents", but decided to vote anyway. "We have to defy the violence," Hafiza, 57, said. - Crucial test - At least 10 candidates out of more than 2,500 contesting the lower-house election were killed ahead of the poll. Most of those standing are political novices, and include doctors, mullahs and journalists. Those with the deepest pockets are expected to win. The poll is seen as a crucial test for next year's presidential election and an important milestone ahead of a UN meeting in Geneva in November where Afghanistan is under pressure to show progress on "democratic processes". Preliminary results are scheduled to be released on November 10. Votes cast without biometric machines will not be counted, the IEC has said. strs-emh-us-mam-amj/amu There are queues at some polling stations, as election officials wait to get voter lists or biometric devices Factfile on Afghanistan, ahead of the parliamentary election on October 20. Factfile on the election in Afghanistan. Voters waited hours to cast their votes across Afghanistan, even with violence and lengthy delays Votes cast without the use of biometric devices will not be valid, election officials have said
Afghans are bracing for more deadly violence on Saturday as voters turn out for the long-delayed legislative election across the war-torn country that the Taliban has vowed to attack. Some 54,000 security forces have been deployed to protect polling centres, which open at 7:00 am, but there are concerns the killing of a powerful police chief on Thursday will scare off many voters. Voting has been delayed in the southern province of Kandahar after a Taliban-claimed attack on a US-Afghan security meeting that killed three people, including General Abdul Raziq. General Scott Miller, the top US and NATO commander in Afghanistan, escaped injury in the shooting, but 13 others were wounded. Almost nine million people have registered to vote in the parliamentary election, which is more than three years late and only the third since the fall of the Taliban in 2001. But the threat of militant attacks and expectations for massive fraud are expected to deter many voters from showing up at the more than 5,000 polling centres. In the days leading up to the poll, the Taliban has issued several statements urging candidates to withdraw and voters to boycott what the group calls a "malicious American conspiracy". Shambolic preparations for the ballot have been made worse by a wave of poll-related violence that has left hundreds dead or wounded. At least 10 candidates out of more than 2,500 contesting the lower-house election have been killed so far. The most recent victim was Abdul Jabar Qahraman, who was blown up Wednesday by a bomb placed under his sofa in the southern province of Helmand. Most of the candidates are political novices and include doctors, mullahs and journalists. Those with the deepest pockets are expected to win. The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, which has spearheaded international efforts to keep Afghan election organisers on track, on Friday urged voters to "exercise their constitutional right to vote". The poll is seen as a crucial test for next year's presidential election and an important milestone ahead of a UN meeting in Geneva in November where Afghanistan is under pressure to show progress on "democratic processes". But the eleventh hour introduction of biometric voter verification machines, which have never been used in an Afghan election, threatens to derail the process. Observers are concerned the results could be thrown into turmoil if the devices are broken, lost or destroyed. There are also fears the data could be manipulated before preliminary results are released on November 10. Votes cast without the controversial machines will not be counted, the Independent Election Commission has said, even though polling centre workers have received little or no training in how to use them. Some 54,000 security forces have been deployed to protect polling centres
About 380,000 illegal migrants, mostly from the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo, have left Angola in less than a month during a massive operation targeting diamond smuggling, a minister said Saturday. On a visit to Dundo in northern Angola on the border with DR Congo, Pedro Sebastiao dismissed allegations that the migrants had been violently expelled and often beaten by police. Sebastiao, a state minister and the head of presidential security who is in charge of the operation, told travelling reporters that diamonds worth more than $1 million had been seized. He said that the migrants had all left voluntarily, and 231 premises for illegal diamond trading had been closed and 59 weapons seized. "Angola is a democratic and lawful state," he said. "It must be made clear that 'Operation Transparency' is not based on any xenophobic sentiment against citizens of neighbouring countries or any other nationality." Speaking at the Chitato border post, he said the crackdown across northern and western Angola was "legitimate" and was to ensure that the country's diamond reserves were correctly exploited. There was "illegal immigration and the plundering of our natural resources without any contribution to the treasury," he said, adding the operation was scheduled to continue for two years. After pouring across the border in recent weeks, many Congolese have described being brutally thrown out of Angola after sometimes living there for more than 10 years. - 'Left with almost nothing' - Migrants who had crossed back to the frontier town of Kamako told AFP this week that their houses had been burnt by police and gangs of Angolan youths, and some had been attacked with machetes and beaten as they fled. With 1,000 arrivals crossing some border posts every hour, many have been left in DRC Congo without shelter and adequate food and water as authorities struggle to cope. "During displacement, DRC nationals have experienced violence and human rights abuses, and many have arrived with almost nothing," ACAPS, an humanitarian crisis group, said in a briefing note. "Although the Angolan government claims all returns are voluntary, there have been reports of forced returns," it added. This week DR Congo threatened to take international action against Angola over the allegedly violent expulsions. Clashes have been reported between Congolese, Angolan security forces and local Angolans in several provinces especially in Lunda Norte, which borders on DRC. Local media and an NGO reported that several migrants have been killed. Oil-rich Angola attracts hordes of Congolese as it is relatively stable and offers better employment prospects. DR Congo has an abundance of mineral wealth but is rocked by unrest unleashed by rebel groups and militias from within and neighbouring nations such as Uganda and Rwanda. Angola and DR Congo share a 2,500-kilometre (1,550-mile) land border, the longest in Africa. Congolese migrants who were living in Angola gather near the Congolese border town of Kamako on October 12, 2018, after returning to their country following a security crackdown by Angolan authorities Humanitarian crisis group ACAPS asys that although the Angolan government "claims all returns are voluntary, there have been reports of forced returns," and migrants (like the woman pictured October 12, 2018) arrive with "almost nothing"
Australia's embattled conservative coalition was heading for a spectacular defeat in a crucial by-election Saturday, as analysts declared victory for a high-profile independent candidate. The loss, if confirmed after counting finishes, would snuff out the Liberal-National coalition's one-seat parliamentary majority. It would also be the biggest-ever swing in a by-election against a sitting government. The poll in the wealthy Sydney seat of Wentworth was triggered after former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull was ousted in a party coup in August -- the sixth change of national leaders in the last decade. Turnbull's successor, Scott Morrison, is facing public anger about the leadership merry-go-round and constant infighting in Canberra, and could be made to pay in Wentworth, traditionally a seat held by his Liberal Party. Just over an hour after polls closed, respected veteran analyst Antony Green of national broadcaster ABC said with some nine percent of the vote counted, the Liberals were facing a more than 25 percent swing against the party. The benefactor was doctor and independent candidate Kerryn Phelps, who capitalised on the voter discontent. "I think we can say that Kerryn Phelps will win the Wentworth by-election and this has been a pretty bad result for the Liberal Party," Green said. The Wentworth loss would transform the coalition into a minority government, effectively turning Morrison into a lame duck prime minister. Voting is compulsory in Australia but the buzz around the polling stations was unusual for Wentworth, with dozens of volunteers from different parties inundating voters with leaflets for their candidates. "I've done over 20 elections and this is the first time at eight o'clock (in the morning) we've had a queue," Liberal Party volunteer Kevin Berry told national broadcaster ABC. "It's quite extraordinary the level of interest in the election this time around." - Frustrated voters - Wentworth resident Roslyn Taylor said she was frustrated with politicians and the chaos that has plagued the main parties in recent years. "None of them have really got their mind on the job. None of them have got their mind on the people -- the true needs of the people in terms of education, in terms of health," she told AFP outside a polling booth at Bondi Beach. The sprawling Sydney constituency takes in the famous beach well as the haunts of stars like Russell Crowe and Hugh Jackman. While the seat was easily held by Turnbull in the traditionally Liberal seat, polls before the by-election were already pointing to defeat for the Liberal Party's Dave Sharma. "I'm hearing from the people in Wentworth that they are ready for change," Phelps told the ABC Saturday. A defeat would prove hugely embarrassing to Morrison, who even floated the idea of moving the Australian embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem -- upending decades of Australian foreign policy -- in a bid to woo Wentworth's Jewish voters. Despite the efforts of party heavyweights to ramp-up support for Sharma before polls closed, Morrison appeared resigned to a defeat. "The events of a couple of months ago would have caused a great deal of anger and outrage here in Wentworth," Morrison told reporters on Friday of Turnbull's removal. "I know, I was in the parliament." The leadership merry-go-round that has seen six changes of prime minister in a decade has irritated voters, who could punish the ruling party Polls were pointing to defeat for the Liberal Party's Dave Sharma at the expense of independent candidate Kerryn Phelps The Wentworth constituency includes Bondi Beach, as well as a raft of luxury homes owned by the likes of Hugh Jackman and Russell Crowe Scott Morrison ousted Malcolm Turbnbull in a party coup earlier this year, sparking the by-election that could now deprive him of his majority


The Chinese city of Chengdu could put an artificial moon in the sky to make nights brighter.

An illumination satellite could be in place by 2020 and is said to be eight times as bright as the real moon.

An official said it is designed to complement the moon at night.

The plan, which would give a dust-like glow for the south-western city of 14 million, was revealed in the Peoples Daily newspaper.

The Chinese city of Chengdu could put an artificial moon in the sky to make nights brighter. Source: Getty Images (File pic)

If successful, the moon could replace streetlights.

Officials said it could be controlled to light up an area up to 80km wide and said the idea was the brainchild of a French artist.

The likelihood that the moon will ever rise in the skies above Chengdu has already been dismissed by some sceptics but the Chinese are not the first to come up with the ambitious idea.

Most famously, the Russians wanted to use a satellite to deflect sunlight back to Earth, to illuminate night times in part of the vast country.

The moon is seen during partial lunar eclipse above Chengdu in August, 2017. Source: Getty Images

There have also been concerns raised that the science fiction-type plan could harm wildlife.

However, one of those involved in the project, Kang Weimin, director of the Institute of Optics, School of Aerospace, Harbin Institute of Technology, allayed those fears.

He said that the light of the satellite is similar to a dusk-like glow, so it should not affect animals routines.

The satellite is due for launch in 2020 and could start work soon after, the paper reported.

The idea was launched at a press conference earlier this month by Chengdu Aerospace Science and Technology Microelectronics System Research Institute.
A Colombian military helicopter crashed on Saturday after conducting an operation against drug traffickers, killing all four crew members, officials announced. Defense Minister Guillermo Botero, in a Twitter message, identified the dead as Major Pedro Granados, Captain David Quintero, Sergeant Ramiro Santos and Corporal Eduardo Gutierrez. The wreckage of the helicopter, an army Black Hawk, was found on the ground between the cities of Balboa and Argelia in the country's west. Bad weather hampered the search. A team of specialized technical investigators was heading to the crash site, a military statement said. The craft was returning to the Jose Hilario Lopez base in the city of Popayan -- capital of Cauca department, where the government has been battling both rebels and drug gangs -- when it disappeared from radars. The army said it immediately sent troops of an anti-drug brigade to the crash site, but bad weather impeded their efforts. The government has long struggled against illegal armed groups and drug gangs in Cauca, whose strategic position on the Pacific Coast has made it a launching point for cocaine shipments to Central America and the United States. Colombia remains the world's leading producer of cocaine, and the US remains the largest consumer. A Black Hawk army helicopter, like the one seen in this file photo, was returning to its base when it crashed in Colombia's west, the military said
The Comoros military on Saturday regained control of Mutsamudu's old city centre on the island of Anjouan, a minister told AFP, after armed rebels staged an uprising earlier this week. "The army has retaken the medina," Education Minister Mahamoud Salim Hafi, who has led the government response to the rebels, told an AFP team on the scene as soldiers patrolled the streets. Comoros soldiers and rebels opposed to President Azali Assoumani had fought in the narrow lanes of the medina quarter in Mutsamudu since Monday, with at least three people killed. Tensions in the coup-prone Indian Ocean archipelago have mounted in recent months as Assoumani bids to extend term limits through constitutional changes that could see him rule for 11 more years. AFP reporters saw civilians emerged from their houses, some for the first time in five days. "It was difficult to eat, except with the help of neighbours... but most difficult was that we were deprived of water and electricity," Djamou Houkoum said. Assoumani won a widely-criticised referendum in July allowing him to scrap the rotation of the presidency between Comoros' three main islands, disadvantaging opposition-leaning Anjouan, which was next in line. Comoros armed forces members search and patrol the medina quarter for weapons and armed men at Mutsamudu on the island of Anjouan


A couple has suffered an unthinkable tragedy on holiday.

Pregnant UK mum Chloe Sullivan and her fiance Michael Parrott were on holiday in the Dominican Republic with their four-year-old daughter last week when Ms Sullivan noticed something unusual down below, according to a GoFundMe page.

Family friend Harry Cottam wrote on the page that Ms Sullivan was told by a midwife to go straight to hospital, on October 13.

The couple claim they were told any treatment not covered by health insurance meant they would not be able to continue.

The parents claim the hospital wanted $30,000 from them and if they didnt pay it they wouldnt be able to leave the country. Source: Facebook/ Michael Parrott

They also claim the hospital was aware their insurance wouldnt cover the cost and they were originally quoted about A$15,000.

Ms Sullivan underwent an emergency caesarean and baby Arlo was born the following day but he was taken straight to the neonatal ward.

Neither Chloe or Michael were allowed to see Arlo at all, Mr Cottam wrote.

The doctors called them in at around 4am on October 15 to say Arlo was distressed and that they had discovered he had PPHN (persistent pulmonary hypertension) and respiratory problems.

Arlo unfortunately passed later on that morning. 

The couple with baby Arlo. Source: GoFundMe/ Baby Arlo

The heartbroken parents wanted to take Arlo home to the UK, but they claim the hospital threatened to dispose of the babys body unless they paid about $5100.

Their hearts are broken and they just want to get home, however the hospital refused to let them leave until they paid the medical fee which had now increased to over $28,000, Mr Cottam wrote.

They physically do not have that kind of money nor can they access that easily.

The couple claim they asked to pay in instalments but were refused and surrounded by police and security guards.

The hospital threatened to contact Interpol and said that if they did not hand over their passports they would ensure they could not leave the country, Mr Cottam wrote.

Chloe asked for proof of where she had signed to say she would be held accountable for these fees and they provided her with a document which, she had not signed.

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When she asked for a copy they refused.

Pregnant UK mum Chloe Sullivan and her fiance Michael Parrott were on holiday in the Dominican Republic when their son Arlo was born. He died after birth and the couple claim they were slugged with a $30,000 hospital bill. Source: Facebook/ Michael Parrott

Mr Cottam added the hospital advised Ms Sullivan that staff had saved her life and she should be grateful.

Ms Sullivan handed over her passport so the couple could return to the hotel.

Mr Cottam claims the British Embassy told the couple to pay the bill as it could not get involved.

Fortunately, the target of about $30,000 has been reached in just two days meaning the couple alongside their daughter and baby Arlo can now return home.

Ms Sullivan wrote on the page a thank you message to those who donated.

I cannot believe how amazingly kind people can be, she wrote.

We are incredibly lucky to have so much support from you all.

In a very dark and hard time you have helped to shine a little ray of light and given us the breathing space to start to grieve for our son.
Fifty-five people were killed this week in clashes between young Christians and Muslims in northern Nigeria following a dispute in a market, President Muhammadu Buhari said on Saturday. Sources told AFP fighting broke out between Hausa Muslim and Adara Christian youths in the town of Kasuwan Magani's market following a dispute among wheelbarrow porters. Two people were said to have been killed in the market fracas on Thursday. The violence was temporarily halted by police but Adara youth later mobilised and attacked Hausa residents, burning homes, the sources added. "Most of the killings were done in the second attack which took the Hausa community off guard," said Muhammadu Bala, a Kasuwar Magani resident who lost his home. In a statement the presidency said: "President Muhammadu Buhari has condemned the latest communal violence in Kasuwan Magani in Kaduna State which claimed 55 lives." The violence followed a dispute in a market on Thursday, the presidency added. The president expressed concern that Nigerians were too frequently resorting to violence over misunderstandings that could be resolved peacefully. "No culture and religion supports the disregard for the sanctity of life," he said, adding that "peaceful coexistence is necessary for the progress of any society and its wellbeing". He said that without harmony between communities an environment conducive to "our everyday businesses would be impossible to achieve". "Violence cannot be an alternative to peace. On the contrary, reliance on violence leads to ultimate self-destruction. Violence is an ill wind that blows nobody any good. Embracing peace is a necessity," he said. He appealed to community leaders to take part in regular dialogue to prevent misunderstandings and foster a spirit of tolerance and patience. Kaduna state police commissioner Ahmad Abdur-Rahman told reporters on Friday 22 people had been arrested in connection with the violence. The Kaduna state government also imposed a round-the-clock curfew in Kasuwan Magani on Friday. A similar crisis in February left at least 10 people dead and hundreds of homes and businesses burnt. Over 60 people are facing charges over the February violence. Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari, pictured October 1, 2018, expressed concern that Nigerians were too frequently resorting to violence over misunderstandings after fighting broke out in a market following a dispute among wheelbarrow porters
German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz said in an interview for publication Sunday he backed a global minimum fiscal regime for multinationals as Europe looks to levy tax notably on US tech giants. "We need a minumum tax rate valid globally which no state can get out of (applying)," Scholz, a social democrat in conservative Chancellor Angela Merkel's coalition government, told the "Welt am Sonntag" weekly. Europe is trying to devise a strategy to tax profits from the likes of Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple and digital platforms such as YouTube and Airbnb which currently manage to keep fiscal exposure to a bare minimum. Digital platforms "aggravate a problem which we know well from globalisation and which we are trying to counter -- the shifting of profits to fiscally beneficial regions," said Scholz. Scholz was last week nonetheless reported not to be convinced by a controversial EU proposal to slap a European tax on US tech giants amid worries it may turn out to be both ineffective and protectionist. France for a year has rallied EU partners to draw up the tax which Paris says is necessary to ensure tech giants pay their way. Scholz explained he had launched an initiative designed to help states react to so-called fiscal dumping in support of embryonic OECD plans designed to fight tax transparency and cross-border tax evasion. "We require coordinated mechanisms which prevent the displacement of revenues to tax havens," said Scholz. The European Commission, the EU's executive arm, has proposed a European tax on "big tech" with susbstantial digital revenue in Europe, based on overall revenue in Europe and not just profits. But lead opponent Ireland says a growing number of countries are grumbling about hidden problems with the tax, including that it could inadvertently snag European companies. There is also concern as to what consequences might flow from such a plan at a time against the backdrop of a potential full-blown EU-US trade war. Berlin worries that cranking up the ante on trade with the United States by launching what Washington could see as an attack on Silicon Valley's corporate giants may threaten German auto exports. Germany has already shown some opposition to a French plan to tax tech giants three percent of certain forms of revenue including advertising and sale of personal data. French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said Thursday he will in the coming days urge EU members to commit to backing a tax. A March proposal by the Commission includes introducing a tax as a bridge measure until such time as the OECD can roll out a measure which can be applied globally. Germany's Finance Minister Olaf Sholz (R, pictured May 2018) said there needs to be a "minimum tax rate valid globally which no state can get out of (applying)"
Angry relatives staged a protest Saturday on the tracks where a speeding train ploughed into crowds watching fireworks, killing about 60 people in the latest disaster to bedevil India's railway network. The Jalandhar-Amritsar express was hurtling at 90 kilometers (55 miles) per hour when it hit scores of people who had gathered on the tracks late Friday to get a view of a firework-packed effigy of the demon king Ravana for a Hindu festival. Many of the victims were dismembered beyond recognition and police said it would take several days to complete the identification of the dead. Some desperate families went from hospital to hospital in the northern city of Amritsar on Saturday looking for missing relatives, while the first funerals of some victims were held. Hardeep Singh, chief medical officer for Amritsar, told AFP 59 deaths had been confirmed and 90 people had been injured, with seven in critical condition. Singh said only 25 bodies had been identified so far. Amritsar's main hospital did not have enough space in its morgue, and some corpses were laid outside. The disaster led to new demands for safety reforms to India's accident-plagued railway system, which records thousands of deaths each year. Sporadic protests broke out near the accident site, with scores of protesters calling for action against the local authorities and the train driver who was questioned by police on Saturday. But federal junior minister for Indian Railways ruled out any punitive action against his staff, including the driver, saying the national carrier was not at fault. "There was no lapse on our part and no action against the driver will be initiated," Manoj Sinha told reporters in New Delhi, adding "trains travel in speed only". - Train not heard - Police moved the protesters off the tracks and brought in reinforcements to control a crowd of hundreds that gathered around the scene of the disaster. Investigators said victims did not hear the train because the drone of the locomotive was drowned out by firecrackers. Another train had narrowly missed the crowds two minutes earlier, officials said. According to media reports, the driver told police he did not see the revellers until the last second because he had come around a bend in the dark into the firework smoke. As the blame game spread, police said they had given permission for the display for the annual Dussehra festival fireworks but that organisers did not have approval from the city, health department and fire brigade. According to media reports the organisers, members of the ruling Congress party, had gone into hiding. Federal Railway minister Piyush Goyal returned early from a trip to the United States to go to Amritsar on Saturday. Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh called off a trip to Israel and rushed to visit the injured in hospital, where he ordered a magisterial inquiry into the incident. India's huge railway network is notorious for accidents, including scores who die while crossing the tracks illegally or falling off over-capacity trains. A 2012 government report described the loss of 15,000 passengers to rail accidents every year in India as a "massacre". The government has pledged $137 billion over five years to modernise the crumbling network. In 1981, seven carriages from a train fell into a river as it crossed a bridge in the eastern state of Bihar, killing between 800 and 1,000 people. But nearly every month there are accidents involving trains that derail or hit vehicles on crossings. In April, 13 children were killed when a train hit their school bus. In November 2016, the Patna-Indore express derailed in Uttar Pradesh state in the middle of the night, killing 139 people. Indian police are investigating how a speeding train ploughed into a crowd of revellers, killing around 60 and injuring dozens more. Some families went from hospital to hospital to try and find loved ones, and the first funerals were held Saturday Police brought in reinforcements to control a crowd of hundreds that had gathered at the disaster scene
Iran's President Hassan Rouhani has accepted the resignation of the embattled ministers of industry and roads, a statement on the presidential website said Saturday. The president thanked industry minister Mohammad Shariatmadari and roads minister Abbas Akhoundi's "selfless service" and "sincere efforts" during their tenures and appointed two acting ministers. Reza Rahmani, current deputy industries minister, will take over for Shariatmadari and the current governor of Mazandaran, Mohammad Eslami, will become acting roads minister effective immediately, the website said. The two ministers reportedly handed in their resignations over a month ago as lawmakers were preparing impeachment proceedings against them. Rumours of Shariatmadari's resignation first surfaced mid-September but were quickly denied by the ministry. Akhoundi published his resignation letter dated September 1 on Saturday, pointing to a "difference of opinion" as the main cause. Rouhani's labour and economy ministers were sacked by the parliament in August over their handling of an economic crisis, partly triggered by the withdrawal of the United States from the 2015 nuclear deal and reimpoisition of sanctions. Rouhani himself was summoned to the parliament to answer questions from lawmakers on August 28, a first in his five years in power, and only the second time for a sitting president. Lawmakers were also ready to impeach education minister Mohammad Bathaei but called it off on September 2 due to the upcoming school year. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, pictured September 2018, thanked the outgoing ministers of industry and roads for their "selfless service" and "sincere efforts" during their tenures
Macedonia's parliament on Friday voted to start the process of renaming the country North Macedonia, a major step towards ending a decades-long stalemate with Greece and opening a door to NATO and the EU. The razor-thin majority was reached after a tense week of debate and back-room negotiations in Skopje, where it was unclear until the last moment whether the government could secure votes from two-thirds of parliament. Amendments will now be drafted to incorporate the new name into the constitution, after which another parliamentary vote will be required to enshrine the changes. "I can confirm that with 80 'yes' votes the parliament adopted the proposal by the government to start the procedure to change the constitution," said Talat Xhaferi, speaker of the 120-member assembly. Although more legislative hurdles await, it is a crucial victory for Prime Minister Zoran Zaev, who had to win over several MPs from the right-wing VMRO-DPMNE party that has been staunchly against the deal. Under the accord, which Zaev struck with his Greek counterpart in June, the Balkan state would rename itself North Macedonia in exchange for Athens' promise to stop blocking its entry into NATO and the EU. Greece has stood in Macedonia's way for 27 years in protest at the country's name, which it argues is an encroachment on its own province called Macedonia. Macedonian critics of the deal have slammed it as an embarrassing concession to Athens. But enough of VMRO-DPMNE's MPs were eventually persuaded to break ranks with the party leadership. "I want to say thank you to every MP and especially to the MPs from VMRO-DPMNE who put the state's interests above party and personal interests, despite the unnecessary pressure over them," Zaev said after the vote, adding that he would "guarantee" their safety. - US, EU support for name change - Among the 'yes' voters were three VMRO-DPMNE politicians who were granted bail from house arrest this week. They are facing trial for their alleged involvement in a bloody mob attack on parliament on April 27, 2017, when nationalist supporters of VMRO-DPMNE stormed the assembly and injured scores, including Zaev. The Prime Minister refused to say Friday whether there had been any negotiation for their eventual amnesty. "I personally forgive everyone," he told reporters, reiterating a call her made earlier in the week for "reconciliation" over the incident. He also denied an accusation from VMRO-DPMNE that his government had offered bribes for votes. In recent weeks US and EU officials have voiced strong support for the name-change deal, pitching it as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Macedonia to cement an alliance with the West. "A great day for #democracy in #Skopje!" EU enlargement commissioner Johannes Hahn tweeted after the vote. "I expect that the free choice of all MPs is fully respected, especially of those who crossed the aisle tonight," he added. - 'Crudest interference' - Russia and the US have traded allegations of interfering in Macedonia's affairs. Last month Washington accused Moscow of running a disinformation campaign to sour the public on the deal ahead of a referendum on the changes. On Thursday Russia, which opposes Macedonia's NATO aspirations, fired back. "There is a continuation of the crudest interference of the US and EU in Skopje's internal affairs, the level of which has already surpassed conceivable boundaries," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Thursday. It mentioned a letter that US Assistant Secretary of State Wess Mitchell sent to VMRO-DPMNE leader Hristijan Mickoski this week, saying he was "disappointed" with the party's stance. Foreseeing a rocky road towards securing the necessary parliament votes, Zaev's government organised a "consultative" referendum on September 30, in hopes that strong public approval of the new name would make it difficult for VMRO-DPMNE to kill the deal. While more than 90 percent of those who voted approved the name-change the low turnout, in part because of opposition's calls for a boycott, undermined the result. If the name change is approved, Greek parliament will then need to ratify the deal to finalise it. Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras congratulated Zaev after the vote Friday, writing on Twitter: "Tonight's vote is a big step towards our common success." The vote approving Macedonia's name change is a crucial victory for Prime Minister Zoran Zaev, who fought hard to win over several opposition MPS who threatened to kill the deal Greece has long vetoed Macedonia joining NATO and the European Union over the name row Under an accord struck with Greece, the Balkan state would rename itself North Macedonia in exchange for Athens' promise to stop blocking its entry into NATO and the European Union Map showing the Greek province of Macedonia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia


A 29-year-old Vietnamese man who was keen to speed up court proceedings over tortoises stolen from Perth Zoo has been slowed down by a magistrate who refused to accept his guilty pleas.

Three Madagascan radiated tortoises were pinched from the zoo in June and September 2011, and in February 2016.

The third critically endangered reptile was returned within days after being dumped at a police station in a backpack.

But the other two were missing for more than seven years until police responded last month to reports of a burglary at Mai Huy Vu Vos Girrawheen home, where they allegedly found one of the animals in his backyard.

A man has faced court after three tortoises were stolen from Perth zoo. Photo: AAP

Days later, they found the other tortoise at a 35-year-old womans Greenwood house.

She was charged with trespass and stealing  so, according to police, one of the tortoises was stolen twice.

Vo was charged with three counts of possessing stolen or unlawfully obtained property, and tried to enter guilty pleas at his first court appearance in Joondalup Magistrates Court on Friday.

A professional interpreter had been arranged but fell through, so his multilingual lawyer Vinh Nguyen stepped in.

Vo gave a lengthy response in Vietnamese when asked how he would plea, and when Magistrate Laurence inquired about what hed said, Mr Nguyen responded: Guilty. He didnt know that it was stolen from Perth Zoo.

The lawyer said his client wanted the matter dealt with as expeditiously as possible, but the magistrate refused to accept the pleas without a professional interpreter.

Vo will return to court on November 2.
Mexican authorities allowed dozens of women and children from a US-bound Honduran migrant caravan to enter the country Saturday but thousands remain stranded on a border bridge between Guatemala and Mexico where riot police barred their progress. Mexico's ambassador to Guatemala Luis Manuel Lopez told AFP the women and children would be processed by immigration authorities and taken to a shelter in the city of Tapachula, 40 kilometers (25 miles) away. Mexican authorities said around 900 other migrants -- tired of waiting on the bridge -- resorted to crossing the Suchiate River below on makeshift rafts and police did not intervene as they clambered up the muddy riverbank on the Mexican side. Many of them had spent more than 24 hours on the packed bridge where heat and hunger was adding to a growing sense of despair. Efforts to retrieve them were ongoing, authorities said. - 'Politically motivated' - US President Donald Trump, speaking at a rally in Elko, Nevada, kept up his rhetoric against the migrants and suggested the caravan was politically motivated. "The Democrats want caravans, they like the caravans. A lot of people say 'I wonder who started that caravan?'" he said. He thanked Mexico for blocking the caravan's progress. "Mexico has been so incredible. Thank you Mexico and the leaders of Mexico, thank you. And you know why, because now Mexico respects the leadership of the United States." Last week, Trump threatened to cut aid to the region, deploy the military and close the US-Mexican border if authorities did not stop them. Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez and his Guatemalan counterpart Jimmy Morales continued Trump's theme after they met in Guatemala to discuss the crisis Saturday. "This migration has political motivations," said Morales, "which is violating the borders and the good faith of the states and of course putting at risk the most important thing, people." Hernandez also deplored "the abuse of people's needs" for "political reasons." "Without a doubt, we have a lot to do so that our people can have opportunities in their communities," he said. The caravan originated in the Honduran town of San Pedro Sula a week ago, with about 2,000 would-be migrants drawn together by social media. It is notably different from the "Migrant Viacrucis" organized in April every year by NGOs to draw attention to the plight of Central American migrants. - Women, children allowed in - The women ran forward when immigration officers unchained a gate that had been pinning back migrants at the crossing. "I'm happy, happy! At last!" shouted a relieved Gina Paola Montes, 21, as she ran onto Mexican territory. The women and children had spent the night on the bridge where hundreds slept in the open, as well as in the main square of the Guatemalan border town of Tecun Uman. Mexican authorities insisted those on the bridge would have to file asylum claims one at a time in order to enter the country. Guatemala has organized a fleet of buses to take Hondurans back to their country. More than 300 people have taken up a government offer of a bus ride home to their country, police said. - A surge, then clashes - The caravan of mainly Honduran migrants had surged through a series of police lines and barricades up to the final fence on Mexico's southern border on Friday. Sections of the crowd hurled rocks and other objects at hundreds of riot police, who responded with rubber bullets and tear gas -- stalling the caravan determined to reach the United States. Several people were injured. Police used tear gas to drive the migrants back and calm was restored. Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto described the situation as "unprecedented." Organizers of the caravan said a section of the crowd had confronted the police and spoiled what had been an orderly attempt to cross into Mexico. Some, like 22-year-old Alex Benitez, paid locals to take him across the river border by raft. "They promised they will give us a visa but the people are there (on the bridge) since yesterday and they have not given us anything," Benitez said as he waited for friends who were crossing on another raft, made from huge truck tires. - Going home - Some, like 25-year-old Honduran Bryon Rivera, had decided to give up on a long-held dream of a better life in America. "It is better to go back. It is very hard. There is a lot of disorder," said Rivera, who was hoping to get on a bus back to Honduras laid on by the Guatemalan government. The soft-spoken 25-year-old said he was traveling with three friends who decided to remain in the caravan, but that for him, the fear of being deported once he reached Mexico was too much. The migrants are generally fleeing poverty and insecurity in Honduras, where powerful street gangs rule their turf with brutal violence. With a homicide rate of 43 per 100,000 citizens, Honduras is one of the most violent countries in the world. Honduran migrants heading in a caravan to the US prepare to jump into the Suchiate River from the Guatemala-Mexico international border bridge in Ciudad Hidalgo, Mexico, on October 20, 2018 Honduran migrants sleep in the main square of Tecun Uman, Guatemala, on the border with Mexico Honduran migrants prepare to board makeshift rafts to cross the Suchiate River on the border between Guatemala and Mexico in Ciudad Tecun Uman, Guatemala Honduran migrants use makeshift rafts to cross the Suchiate River that marks the border between Guatemala and Mexico A Guatemalan firefighter carries an ailing baby
Sebastian Vettel complained that Formula One's red flag rules are wrong and need more common sense applied after he was handed a three-place grid penalty on Friday. The penalty, for speeding while red flags were waved, was consistent with other drivers' penalties this year, but left Vettel frustrated and dented his hopes of stopping Lewis Hamilton clinching his fifth world title this weekend. The Ferrari ace was reported to the stewards for not slowing sufficiently when the rain-hit opening practice was red-flagged after Charles Leclerc had brought gravel back on the circuit following a spin. Vettel said he slowed enough to respect the situation, adding that he felt unhappy at the use of precise delta times. "There should be common sense with the rules that we have," he said. "Lining out 27.7 seconds precisely, as not complying with the rules, I think is wrong. "I think I slowed down, I had a good look around at what was going on. The rules are clear -- so we know. "It is the first time we had this in the wet, where the target is a lot slower so, literally, you have to stop to 40-50 kph to bring down the delta, which probably I should do next time. "But, in my opinion, that is not the right thing. If there is a car right behind you, it might run into you?. But it is more important you don't get a penalty." Vettel added that he was disappointed with his and Ferrari's performance on a day when Hamilton and Mercedes eased to the fastest times in both wet sessions. "We had enough laps and it is clear that we were not competitive," he said. "We are missing quite a big chunk of performance." There was much support for Vettel in the paddock with Red Bull boss Christian Horner leading criticism of the red flag rule. "It is a rubbish rule, but they have got to have consistency because otherwise it makes a little bit of a farce of all the regulations if you have a penalty for one race, but not at another," he said. "But it is not a good regulation. If a driver commits a crime like that, speeding under a red flag, the biggest thing that will hurt the driver is fining him. "Give him a penalty, a wrap on the knuckles, a fine or something and give the money to charity. To give him a three-place penalty... It affects the race, affects qualifying and it is not a good penalty." Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel criticised red flag rules after being hit with a three-place grid penalty on Friday during Grand Prix of USA practice
A Peruvian prosecutor called Friday for powerful opposition leader Keiko Fujimori to be placed under preventive detention for three years as part of a corruption scandal involving Brazilian construction firm Odebrecht. Prosecutor Jose Domingo Perez lodged the request only two days after an appeals court ordered Fujimori's release from a week-long stay in prison as part of the same investigation. Her lawyer Giuliana Loza described the prosecutor's request as "an outrage and abuse," El Comercio's newspaper's online edition reported. The 43-year-old daughter and political heir to disgraced ex-president Alberto Fujimori, Keiko has increasingly come under the spotlight as prosecutors investigate millions of dollars in illicit campaign contributions to several former presidents. They say former presidents Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, Alan Garcia and Alejandro Toledo all took undeclared campaign contributions in exchange for pledges to have the Brazilian construction giant win local tenders. Their key witness, former Odebrecht Peru chief Jorge Barata, said he doled out millions of dollars to Peruvian presidential candidates between 2001 and 2016. Perez believes Fujimori -- leader of the main opposition Popular Force party -- received more than $1.2 million from Odebrecht for her 2011 presidential campaign. She was arrested on Perez's request on October 10 after she was summoned to give evidence to a court hearing in Lima. An appeals court ordered her release on Wednesday but specified in its ruling that it was making no judgment of the merits of the case against her. She denies all wrongdoing. Three of her aides are also being held in preventive detention. Fujimori said after her release she had used the time in prison to "begin a journey to achieve the unity of my family again" -- a reference to a feud with her younger brother Kenji which has weakened her politically. Her brother leads a rival faction of Popular Force. Up to her shock arrest on Wednesday, Keiko Fujimori had not been directly under investigation, as most of the prosecutors' attention was on two of her senior 2011 campaign aides. The two aides, Jaime Yoshiyama and Augusto Bedoya, were among more than a dozen others placed under arrest as part of the investigation. The leader of Peruvian opposition party Popular Force, Keiko Fujimori, is pictured after being released from detention in Lima
The Islamic State group has released two women and four children among 27 surviving Druze hostages it seized during a deadly July attack on the minority community's heartland in southern Syria. State television broadcast footage of the six arriving in the city of Sweida on Saturday, joyful at being reunited with their families but haggard after their three-month ordeal. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitoring group, said their release was the first part of a deal that would see at least 60 IS prisoners released in exchange and a $27 million ransom paid. The jihadists abducted around 30 people -- mostly women and children -- from Sweida province in late July during the deadliest attack on Syria's Druze community of the seven-year civil war. As negotiations for their release dragged on, families led a series of protests outside government offices in Sweida to demand more be done. "I cannot describe my joy," Rasmia Abu Amar told state television after being reunited with her husband. "But it is incomplete -- my son has not yet been released," she said, her hair covered by a white headscarf. A second woman appeared with her four children, their clothes still dirty from their long captivity and her sons with their heads shaved. Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP that the six were freed on Friday night and that further hostage releases were expected "in the next few days or hours". - Stiff price - He said that in return for the release of all of the hostages, the Syrian government had agreed to free 60 Islamic State group prisoners and pay a ransom of $27 million. "Nine IS women prisoners held by the regime have already been handed over to the group along with seven children," Abdel Rahman said. During the coordinated assaults on July 25, IS carried out suicide bombings, shootings and stabbings that left more than 250 people dead, most of them civilians. Sweida province is the heartland of the country's Druze minority, which made up around three percent of Syria's pre-war population -- or around 700,000 people. Followers of a secretive offshoot of Islam, the Druze are considered heretics by the Sunni extremists of IS. The jihadists executed a 19-year-old male student among the hostages in August and then a 25-year-old woman in early October. IS said a 65-year-old woman being held by the group also died from illness. Negotiations between regime ally Russia and the jihadists for the release of the hostages had stalled. But the latest round of talks appeared to have paid off -- albeit it with a stiff price. The Observatory said IS had also demanded the halting of an offensive against them in Sweida. - Jihadists killed - Government forces have battled its fighters in the volcanic plateau of Tulul al-Safa in the east of the province since the July attack. Abdel Rahman said the Syrian Democratic Forces, a Kurdish-led alliance that controls swathes of the north and northeast with the support of a US-led coalition, "should also release some IS detainees" but he did not specify the number. There was no immediate comment from the SDF, which has been taking heavy casualties fighting IS in its last pocket of control in eastern Syria, around the Euphrates valley town of Hajin. On September 10, the group launched a major assault on the pocket where they estimate some 3,000 jihadists are holed up. The battle has killed 414 jihadists and 227 SDF fighters in total since then, the Observatory says. On Saturday, coalition air strikes killed 28 IS fighters in and around Hajin, while another seven jihadists were killed in clashes with the SDF, the monitor said. Coalition air strikes on IS targets in another part of the eastern pocket killed at least 41 civilians, 10 of them children, on Thursday and Friday, it added. A coalition spokesman was not immediately available for comment. Syria's grinding civil war has claimed more than 360,000 lives since it erupted with the the bloody repression of anti-government protests in 2011. A caliphate which the jihadists proclaimed across large swathes of Syria and neighbouring Iraq in 2014 has crumbled in the face of multiple offensives against them but they remain a potent force. A mother and her four children, among six Druze hostages released by the Islamic State group after a three-month ordeal, appear for the cameras in a Syrian government office in the southern city of Sweida on October 20, 2018 The July 25 suicide bombings, shootings and stabbings were the deadliest attack on Syria's Druze community of the seven-year civil war The Syrian army has been battling Islamic State group fighters in Sweida province since a July attack in which they killed some 250 people and kidnapped around 30 more
In a match which ended with both players on their knees after the final point, sixth seed Daria Kasatkina of Russia beat Tunisian qualifier Ons Jabeur in a tough three-setter to win the Kremlin Cup on Saturday. "She was crying because she won. I was crying because I was cramping," tweeted Jabeur. The 21-year-old Kasatkina had to battle back from a set down to win 2-6, 7-6 (7/3), 6-4 in two hours two minutes. After clinching the match, Kasatkina fell to the court and wept for joy. Then, still wiping her face, she walked round the net as Jabeur struggled to her feet. The two hugged before the Russian helped the limping Tunisian from the court. "It was very tough and I saw you gave everything today and that's what sport is all about," Kasatkina told Jabeur at the trophy presentation. "I really appreciate I had this match with you today. I'm sure that it's not the last final for you." "I think it was a good week for you," she said. Jabeur, the first Tunisian to play in a WTA final, said she intended to be back. "I really enjoyed playing here this week," the 101st-ranked Tunisian said. "This is the first WTA premier final for me. Hopefully I will do more here next year." Kasatkina became the sixth Russian to win the Moscow event. "I remember 10 years ago when I was a kid I came here and was dreaming that (some day) I would stand on this central court holding the trophy aloft," Kasatkina said. "And now here I am. The dream came true." The opponents traded breaks at the start then held their serves until the sixth game when Kasatkina suddenly lost her nerve allowing Jabeur to break twice again to take the opening set in 23 minutes. In the second set tiebreak Kasatkina, ranked 14th in the world, was slightly more accurate to level the match at one set all after one hour 25 minutes on court. In the deciding set Jabeur, who was playing her eighth match in eight days, began to wilt. As the set wore on she suffered cramping in her leg and was almost unable to run, allowing Kasatkina to produce the deciding break in the 10th game to wrap up the victory. In the ATP section, French left-hander Adrian Mannarino claimed a place in the final with a close straight-sets win over the Italian veteran Andreas Seppi 7-5, 7-5. "It's very complicated to play against Andreas," said Mannarino, who levelled his head-to-head record with Seppi at four all. "We have the same pace. When I'm playing well he plays well, when I'm not good he's not as well. "That was a tactical game and just a couple of points at the end made the difference. And I think I was a bit more lucky today." In the final, Mannarino will face third-seeded Russian wildcard Karen Khachanov, who saw off second-seeded compatriot Daniil Medvedev 6-1, 6-7 (5/7), 6-3. Daria Kasatkina won her first Kremlin Cup on Saturday
Saudi Arabia admitted Saturday that critic Jamal Khashoggi was killed inside its Istanbul consulate, as world powers demanded answers and mystery surrounded the whereabouts of his body. Ankara vowed to reveal all the details of a two-week inquiry as US President DOnald Trump said he was unsatisfied with Saudi Arabia's response to the Washington Post columnist's death and the EU, Germany, France, Britain and the UN also demanded clarity. Before dawn on Saturday, Riyadh backtracked on a fortnight of denials by announcing that Khashoggi died during a "brawl" inside the consulate on October 2. It said 18 Saudis have been arrested in connection with his death and two top aides of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, as well as three other intelligence agents, have been sacked. Saudi Arabia has plunged into an international crisis over the fate of Khashoggi, who was critical of the crown prince. Turkish officials have accused Riyadh of carrying out a state-sponsored killing and dismembering the body, which police have begun hunting for in an Istanbul forest. In the latest version of events from Riyadh, Saudi Attorney General Sheikh Saud al-Mojeb said Khashoggi died after talks at the consulate degenerated into a physical altercation. "Discussions that took place between him and the persons who met him... at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul led to a brawl and a fistfight with the citizen, Jamal Khashoggi, which led to his death, may his soul rest in peace," the attorney general said in a statement. Trump said he found the explanation credible. The US president later said he was unsatisfied with the response, although he warned against scrapping a multibillion-dollar arms deal with the conservative kingdom. "It was a big first step. It was a good first step," Trump said of the sackings. "But I want to get to the answer." The Saudi king also ordered the establishment of a ministerial body under the chairmanship of the crown prince to restructure the kingdom's intelligence agency and "define its powers precisely," Saudi state media said. Key members of the crown prince's inner circle were sacked, including deputy intelligence chief Ahmad al-Assiri and royal court media adviser Saud al-Qahtani. Saudi Arabia's Gulf ally, the United Arab Emirates, welcomed the moves by the king, as did Egypt. But Khashoggi's Turkish fiancee Hatice Cengiz tweeted that her heart was "full of sorrow" over the confirmation of his death. - Turkish 'debt of honour' - The controversy has put the kingdom -- for decades a key ally in Western efforts to contain Iran -- under unprecedented pressure. It has evolved into a major crisis for Prince Mohammed, a Trump administration favourite widely known as MBS, whose image as a modernising Arab reformer has been gravely undermined. Ankara said it had a "debt of honour" to reveal what happened. "We are not accusing anyone in advance but we don't accept anything to remain covered (up)," said ruling Justice and Development Party spokesman Omer Celik. German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged "transparency from Saudi Arabia" and said that "available reports on what happened in the Istanbul consulate are insufficient." French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said many questions remained "unanswered" and insisted "they require exhaustive and diligent investigation." The EU's top diplomat Federica Mogherini called for a "continued thorough, credible and transparent investigation, shedding proper clarity on the circumstances of the killing and ensuring full accountability of all those responsible for it." UN chief Antonio Guterres stressed "the need for a prompt, thorough and transparent investigation," and "full accountability for those responsible." Britain's Foreign Office, which also has close ties to Riyadh, said it "was a terrible act and those responsible must be held to account." - Shielding crown prince - Saudi officials have roundly denied that King Salman's son, Prince Mohammed, had any involvement. But one suspect identified by Turkey was said to be a frequent companion of the young heir to the throne, three others were linked to his security detail and a fifth is a high-level forensic specialist, according to The New York Times. The decision to overhaul the intelligence apparatus and sack members of the crown prince's inner circle is designed to "distance the crown prince from the murder," said analysis firm Eurasia Group. In a recent off-the-record interview published posthumously by US magazine Newsweek, Khashoggi described the 33-year-old crown prince as "an old-fashioned tribal leader," but said he would have accepted an offer to work as his adviser. "I'm not calling for the overthrow of the regime," the one-time royal insider said. "I'm just calling for reform of the regime." Pro-government Turkish media have claimed that Khashoggi was tortured and dismembered by a Saudi hit squad, although Turkey has yet to release any official findings. Saudi Arabia admitted that journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed in its Istanbul consulate Saudi Arabia has sacked deputy intelligence chief Ahmad al-Assiri, a close aide of Crown Prine Mohammed bin Salman Saudi moves to overhaul the intelligence apparatus and sack top aides of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman appear designed to distance him from the killing, analysts said The death of Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul, Turkey
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, whose image has been tarnished by the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, gained popularity after shaking up the ultraconservative kingdom with reforms. But many now see his crackdown on dissent as verging on authoritarianism. Known by his initials MBS, the young, charismatic heir apparent to the Gulf region's most powerful throne has overseen the most fundamental transformation in the modern history of the oil-rich nation and sidelined all rivals after emerging as first-in-line in June 2017. US President Donald Trump quickly saw the prince as a vital pillar of the American strategy of containing Iran -- long a Saudi foe -- while trying to bring Israel and Saudi Arabia closer together in the search for a Middle East peace plan. Still only 33, Prince Mohammed has pledged to usher in a "moderate" Saudi Arabia as he seeks to win over international investors for his grandiose vision to overhaul the kingdom's oil-reliant economy. He has also taken on the powerful clerics who long dominated Saudi life and struck out at the nation's coddled elite with a dramatic purge in September last year of royals, ministers and business figures that saw hundreds detained in a probe over graft worth $100 billion. But Riyadh's admission on October 20 -- after two weeks of mounting global outrage -- that prominent critic Khashoggi was murdered during "a brawl" inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2 has jeopardised the prince's carefully cultivated reformist image. - Selfies with supporters - Two of the prince's inner circle, deputy intelligence chief Ahmad al-Assiri and royal court media advisor Saud al-Qahtani, have been sacked for their roles in Khashoggi's killing. Yet Saudi officials have sought to shield the young prince from the gruesome affair, insisting he had "not been informed" of what was afoot. And he still appears to have the unwavering support of his 82-year-old father, King Salman, who on Saturday named him as the head of a new committee charged with revamping the intelligence services. To show he remains firmly in place, MBS made a high-profile, if brief, appearance on Tuesday at a glitzy investment forum, aimed at diversifying the country's economy. Winning a standing ovation from the gathered delegates, he later posed for selfies with participants, smiling broadly and appearing to brush aside a wave of boycotts by global business leaders and top officials. The prince was also due on Wednesday to speak at the forum, being held in the same luxury hotel where he detained scores of people last year, in what will be his first public comments since Khashoggi's murder. Born on August 31, 1985, the favourite son of King Salman has said he was raised strictly by his mother. He has a law degree from King Saud University, and is now the father of two sons and two daughters. Since becoming the heir apparent, Prince Mohammed has developed close ties with the White House under Trump, especially with his son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner. Presenting himself as reformer to Western governments keen to carry on doing business and earning Saudi petrodollars, he has taken a series of measures including lifting the decades-long ban on women driving, reducing the powers of the religious police and agreeing to the reopening of cinemas. It is all part of Prince Mohammed's Vision 2030 plan for economic and social reforms as Riyadh prepares for a post-oil era, which include a series of ambitious projects such as futuristic mega-cities. One of the centrepieces of the plan was to sell off 5.0 percent of shares in the oil giant Aramco, in an IPO which could raise some $100 billion for the Gulf kingdom. But the plans have been repeatedly delayed. - 'Old-style tribal leader' - And since he took over as crown prince, he has unleashed a harsh crackdown on political dissent, earning sharp criticism from non-governmental organisations. In September 2017, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International reported the arrest of dozens of writers, journalists, activists and religious leaders, including prominent Islamist cleric Sheikh Salman al-Awda. It was around this time that Khashoggi left the kingdom for self-imposed exile in the US. The crown prince was also heavily criticised for placing Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri under house arrest in Riyadh in November. "Deep inside him, he is an old-fashioned tribal leader," Khashoggi told Newsweek earlier this year in an off-the-record conversation, only released after the reports of his killing had been confirmed. - 'Impulsive intellectual' - The prince has pushed to curb the power of hardline clerics and prominent sheikhs who promote the kingdom's uncompromising version of Islam, recognising that his country's association with Wahhabism is a problem. And he has also beefed up the kingdom's foreign policy, raising alarm with a ruinous conflict in neighbouring Yemen backing the government against Iran-backed Huthi rebels as well as a dragging blockade against Qatar. One western diplomat, who asked not to be named, described the prince last year as "an intellectual machine" but with a tendency to be "impulsive". Prince Mohammed "is very much a believer in himself. He doesn't believe in anybody else", Khashoggi told Newsweek. "He doesn't check. He doesn't have proper advisers, and he is moving toward a Saudi Arabia according to him, a Saudi Arabia according to Mohammed bin Salman only." Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman chats with Jordan's King Abdullah II at the Future Investment Initiative FII conference in Riyadh on October 23, 2018 A handout picture provided by the Saudi Royal Palace on October 23, 2018 shows Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman posing for a selfie with an unidentified man near Saudi billionaire Prince Al-Walid bin Talal during an investment forum in Riyadh A handout picture provided by the Saudi Press Agency on October 23, 2018 shows Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman meeting with the son of slain journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Riyadh
President Donald Trump confirmed Saturday that the United States plans to leave a landmark nuclear weapons treaty with Russia over claims Moscow has violated the deal. The three-decade-old Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, known as the INF, was signed in 1987 by president Ronald Reagan. "We're the ones who have stayed in the agreement and we've honored the agreement, but Russia has not unfortunately honored the agreement, so we're going to terminate the agreement and we're going to pull out," Trump told reporters in Elko, Nevada. "Russia has violated the agreement. They've been violating it for many years. I don't know why president (Barack) Obama didn't negotiate or pull out. And we're not going to let them violate a nuclear agreement and go out and do weapons (while) we're not allowed to." Trump spoke as his National Security Advisor John Bolton was in Moscow to meet with Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, ahead of what is expected to be a second summit between Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin this year. US-Russia ties are under deep strain over accusations that Moscow meddled in the 2016 presidential election, as well as tension over Russian support for the Syrian government in the country's civil war, and the conflict in Ukraine. However, Washington is looking for support from Moscow in finding resolutions to the Syria war and putting pressure on both Iran and North Korea. No new summit between Trump and Putin has been announced, but one is expected in the near future. The two leaders will be in Paris on November 11 to attend commemorations marking the end of World War I. A senior Trump administration official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said another potential date would be when the presidents both attend the Group of 20 meeting on November 30 to December 1. President Donald Trump says the United States will pull out of a landmark nuclear deal with Russia
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Friday that he hopes to receive his North Korean counterpart in Washington in the coming weeks to arrange a new summit. "I'm very hopeful we'll have senior leader meetings here in the next week and a half or so between myself and my counterpart to continue this discussion so that when the two of them get together, there is real opportunity to make another big step forward on denuclearization," Pompeo said in an interview with government-supported Voice of America. A visit to the US capital by North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho would be another landmark in the rapidly warming relationship between the two countries, which never signed a treaty to formally end the 1950-53 Korean War. President Donald Trump held a first-of-a-kind summit with North Korea's Kim Jong Un in Singapore in June and has been eager for a second meeting, with some political watchers predicting an announcement before the November 6 congressional elections. "We're working on finding dates and times and places that will work for each of the two leaders," Pompeo said, agreeing when asked whether the summit would take place "in the very near future." Trump has seen his diplomacy with North Korea as a signature foreign policy success following sky-high tensions. Pompeo said that Kim had told the United States that he has made a "strategic decision" that "we no longer need our nuclear arsenal for our country to be successful." "I'm very happy that he's made this decision, but to execute on that is complex and will take time," Pompeo said. Critics say that North Korea has taken only symbolic rhetorical steps in hopes of reducing pressure and is unlikely to give up a nuclear arsenal the regime has spent decades building. US Secretary of State Mike says he hopes to soon meet with his North Korean counterpart in Washington
Democratic challenger Dana Balter has heard the criticisms. Last week, Republican U.S. Rep. John Katko raised questions about the kind of representative she would be and whether her connections to a central New York activist group means she would be too partisan for the 24th Congressional District.

In an interview with The Citizen Thursday, Balter made it clear: She's not interested in contributing to partisan gridlock in Washington.

"The whole point of the way that I've been campaigning is about breaking through those labels, discarding those labels and having open conversations with anybody who wants to sit at the table and talk about the issues," she said. "That's why I do public meetings all over the district. That's why we publicize those public meetings well in advance so anybody can attend."

When people introduce her to other individuals or organizations, Balter said she asks them to connect her with those who may disagree with her policy positions. Her reason for doing that, she said, is because "that's how I think we make progress."

Balter's comments followed a press conference held by Katko, R-Camillus, outside Lockheed Martin in Salina. Katko called on Balter to denounce the CNY Solidarity Coalition. Balter was a member of the group before she launched her congressional campaign.

Katko expressed his displeasure with the coalition's tactics, including a recent protest outside Lockheed Martin in response to the revelation that a bomb made by the company was used by Saudi Arabia in an attack on a Yemeni school bus. The bombing killed 40 schoolchildren on board the bus.

During his press conference, Katko labeled the CNY Solidarity Coalition as "radical" and a "fringe group."

Because of Balter's ties to the group, Katko believes it shows she wouldn't be an independent representative for central New York. He touted his own record of working with members of both parties and noted that he has colleagues and friends who are Democrats.

"I break bread with them, I discuss issues with them and when we disagree, we disagree with respect and tolerance for each other," Katko said.

Balter hasn't shied away from conversations with those who might disagree with her. Even within the CNY Solidarity Coalition, she said, there are people who believe that's she's "far too moderate."

She has progressive positions on many issues. For example, she supports Medicare-for-all. Other Democrats have endorsed that idea, but Republicans have used it against her in television commercials and other anti-Balter messages.

Balter believes there are issues she can work on with Republicans in Congress. In prior public statements, she has mentioned infrastructure as a possibility. She's noted that President Donald Trump has discussed investments in infrastructure and the development of a national infrastructure plan.

Another issue of mutual interest: climate change. There is a growing number of Republicans who believe that climate change is caused by humans, and that action should be taken to address the environmental crisis.

"I think that, at this point, we can coalesce around the need to do something to address climate disruption," she said. "But I also think that we can work together on some of the solutions to this problem because there are a lot of market-based solutions to dealing with climate disruption. It gives us a huge opportunity for economic growth in this country, which is something that Republicans, as a party, are always interested in pursuing."

Balter continued, "There is a lot of room to work together there and it just happens to be one of our most pressing problems. That would be a great place to start with bipartisan work."

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AURORA  Although the landscape of higher education is ever evolving, some traditions at Wells College have managed to remain the same in its 150 year history.

Whether it be integrity, wearing regalia nine months before graduation to welcome the freshman class, lighting candles, breaking curfew or running into a cold Cayuga Lake  tradition and connection, Wells' President Jonathan Gibralter said  is what weaves Wells' history together.

"I've never been at a college where traditions matter as much as they do at Wells," Gibralter, the college's 19th president, said in his keynote address Saturday celebrating Wells' 150 years. "Traditions connect the many generations of alumni who graduated from this college in a way that honestly I've never seen before.

"There appears to be one single thread that transverses the whole 150 years," Gibralter said, "it comes down to a connection that is often difficult for many of (students and alumni) to describe."

He said a part of this connection is the way Wells values mentorship, a "close, personal relationship that our faculty and staff have with our students truly defines this fine institution," he said. "We've continued the very important tradition where relationships matter."

Alums from various classes, gathered in Wells' Phipps Auditorium from near and far, emphatically agreed with Gibralter.

"There's always been a connection to professors," said Mary Goodman, Wells class of 1970. One of her favorite things about Wells were her "great professors," she said, who connected with students in such a way that they intellectually stimulated them to explore directions they'd never dreamed of before.

Looking back on her own experience at Wells, Linda Glick Conway, class of 1961, said one of her favorite parts was also the "ability to form friendly relationships with faculty members."

Conway's classmate, Marguerite Raymond Long, said it's both the "fondness of the college (and) fondness for one another" that has kept many in their class  converging from Oregon, Chicago and Rhode Island, to name a few  coming back to Wells year after year.

"There's a bond that's not like anything else," said Carroll Wetzel Wilkinson, class of '68, and "connection among generations."

Wilkinson's classmate, Rhea Hirshman, explained that their class last year complied more than 30 letters  some funny, others serious  to give to the graduating class of 2018 in honor of their 50th year reunion.

Many graduates said that they also come back for the beauty of the campus and Cayuga Lake  which Goodman described as "the most beautiful (lake) on the planet."

Staff writer Megan Ehrhart can be reached at (315) 282-2244 or megan.ehrhart@lee.net. Follow her on Twitter @MeganEhrhart.

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What happens in a system of checks and balances when there are no checks? The system goes off balance.

Or, if as happened last week, a temperamentally unsuited, clearly partisan judge, credibly accused of sexual assault and displaying a willingness to lie under oath, nominated by a president unfit for the office in too many ways to list, is confirmed to the U.S. Supreme Court by two votes by a United States Senate half of whose members chose to ignore the disqualifying evidence and voted to solidly political power rather than to preserve the integrity of the court, it can be a threat to the very existence of that system. And to the people who have placed their trust in it.

The confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court was as ugly a demonstration of an out-of-balance system as has been witnessed by most Americans in their lifetimes. The fear of many, of course, is that Kavanaugh will now tilt the balance of the court to solidly conservative, with no "swing" vote, and affect many areas of Americans' life for decades to come. That is certainly possible, but it remains to be seen. What's more, history has shown that justices do not always vote as predicted. If not Kavanaugh, someone else may defy the conventional political wisdom on any given issue.

But that's the court's problem. Do the justices want to maintain a sense of credibility and non-partisan deliberation to give their rulings legitimacy and broad acceptance by the American people, or do they want to behave like the U.S. Senate?

In truth, the immediate and serious threat to the U.S. system of checks and balances created by the writers of the Constitution is not an out-of-balance-but-unpredictable Supreme Court, but an utterly predictable U.S. Senate, which has been off balance since Donald Trump moved into the White House.

McConnell made good on his word. A well-respected, moderate judge nominated by Obama was never considered. Trump, who has no political philosophy, hijacked the Republican Party, winning its nomination and the presidency. Our checks and balances have been sorely tested ever since.

 The Times Herald-Record, Middletown

Property tax assessments  yielding $28 billion a year and racing upward at more than 5% annually  fall on homeowners and (through their landlords) renters with such extreme inequity, and so little rhyme or reason, that a judge last month told Mayor de Blasio and Gov. Cuomo that the status quo may well not stand.

Watching the receipts grow and the inequities persist under a mayor who claims to care more than any of his predecessors about economic fairness, we consider it imperative to explain to New Yorkers, in language as plain as we can manage in this space over the coming weeks, the terribly tangled tax mess in which the city is trapped.

Homeowners in working-class and majority-minority neighborhoods, from Woodlawn to Canarsie to Stapleton, routinely pay higher effective tax rates than well-off owners of Park Slope and Upper West Side brownstones, among them Bill de Blasio.

We're not talking about a little discrepancy on the margins; poorer New Yorkers in one part of the can be forced to pay, as a percentage of their property value, three, four, even six times what wealthier New Yorkers in another part of the city pay.

Homes that recently sold for the same price get tax bills thousands of dollars apart, even though their taxes are supposed to be based on property values. Hell if homeowners know how the Department of Finance determines those values.

All of these inequities and more, the combined result of statutes passed over decades and more recent local decision making, run counter to the state Constitution and state law, which assure uniform assessments grounded in some semblance of market reality.

The mayor who aims to make this "the fairest big city in America," and a governor who talks almost as much about fairness, owe wronged taxpayers and tenants a vast debt.

 The Daily News, New York

Saudi Arabia's brutal, indiscriminate bombing campaign against rebels in Yemen has dragged on for three years with no end in sight, and it's time for the Trump administration to push for a negotiated settlement that could at least alleviate some of the immense human misery the conflict has caused.

The Saudi coalition has wrought such misery using U.S.-manufactured weapons, and it's fair to question whether their use does anything to enhance U.S. national security. It's also fair to question the wisdom of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's decision in August to vouch for the coalition's efforts to minimize civilian casualties, despite so much evidence to the contrary.

Pompeo's decision, in a report submitted to Congress on Sept. 12, lets the Pentagon continue aerial refueling of warplanes conducting the campaign for Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Defense Secretary James Mattis went even further, claiming the coalition was "making every effort to reduce civilian casualties and collateral damage to infrastructure resulting from their military operations in Yemen."

As Sens. Jeanne Shaheen, D-New Hampshire, and Todd Young, R-Indiana, of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee noted in an op-ed for The Washington Post, giving our Gulf allies a blank check regarding civilian casualties in Yemen could potentially backfire on the U.S.

The window of opportunity is closing for a negotiated end to a conflict that has lingered since the ouster of 22-year dictator Ali Abdullah Saleh in 2012. Saleh never really left; his repeated attempts to regain power ended with his death in a December 2017 ambush. Hadi never really gained control, and the Saudi-led coalition lame-duck client ruler might be a necessary sacrifice for the conflict to be resolved.

 The Daily Star, Oneonta

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Our own research shows that the USDA did not revoke any pet breeder licenses between May 2017 and May 2018, in contrast to approximately nine pet breeder licenses revoked in 2016. Photo by Amie Chou/The HSUS

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In early 2017, with a new administration in office, the U.S. Department of Agriculture deleted its online public database containing thousands of pages of records that the public and animal protection groups depended on to monitor Animal Welfare Act and Horse Protection Act violations. These were public records financed by taxpayers, many containing descriptions of animal neglect and suffering at puppy mills, roadside zoos, research laboratories and cruelty on the part of trainers and owners of Tennessee walking horses and related breeds. It was a shocking dereliction of duty by an agency charged with maintaining public trust in our federal governments oversight of animal use in a variety of contexts.

Unfortunately, its only getting worse. A new Washington Post article shows that the USDA, tasked with inspecting such facilities, has cut back drastically on the number of warnings it issues to businesses and enterprises it regulates. According to the Post, two years ago, USDA inspectors issued 192 written warnings to breeders, exhibitors and research labs that allegedly violated animal welfare laws, and the agency filed official complaints against 23. This year, the department issued just 39 warnings in the first three-quarters of fiscal 2018, and it filed and simultaneously settled just one complaint  levying a $2,000 fine on an Iowa dog breeder who had been out of business for five years.

Our own research shows that the USDA did not revoke any pet breeder licenses between May 2017 and May 2018, in contrast to approximately nine pet breeder licenses revoked in 2016. In May 2018, the USDA announced it will no longer cite a facility for a critical violation if certain conditions are met; for example, if the incident is not a repeat violation and the facility reports it. That means a facility may completely avoid enforcement consequences by taking a few simple stepseven if their negligence or mishandling caused an animal to suffer or die.

The data purge last year made it nearly impossible for us to track animal abuse and push for ending it, and we are challenging the withholding of animal welfare citations in court. We and others have used this data to reveal some of the most egregious animal abuses, like those detailed in our annual Horrible Hundred puppy mill reports. The USDA says that the information is still available through Freedom of Information Act requests, but when we submitted requests for records of inspections at four puppy mills in Ohio and at the Natural Bridge Zoo in Virginia, where an HSUS undercover investigation discovered serious animal welfare violations, we were stonewalled. It was months later, and only after a threat to sue the USDA, that we finally received the requested documents, and relevant information, including the inspection dates, the number and species of animals at the facilities, and even the entire substance of the inspection reports, was completely blacked out.

The USDA also withheld more than 600 photographs and nearly a dozen videos obtained in connection with AWA inspections that the HSUS had requested, citing privacy concerns. This makes no sense because these are businesses conducting commercial activity, licensed to do so by the federal government, and some, like zoos, are even open to the public. And nobody who has trouble meeting the most basic animal welfare standards in the course of their business should be allowed to conceal the treatment of their animals.

With regard to Horse Protection Act enforcement, the USDA announced earlier this year that its inspectors at horse shows would no longer examine horses or cite for violations of the Act if an industry-appointed inspector first found a violation and show management disqualified the horse from competition. What this means is that a violation of the Act found right under the USDAs nose will never be documented, tracked or prosecuted by the agency  and no meaningful penalty will ever be issued (since Tennessee walking horse industry organizations impose little or no penalties on violators). Its as if the violation never happened  and the public will never know it did.

The agency told the Post that the drop in enforcement is the result of a suspension of hearings due to litigation, as well as a revamped enforcement process that emphasizes working more closely with alleged violators to remedy deficiencies. But in the absence of any transparency and information about these facilities online, we have no way to know if this is true.

Sadly, we believe that the USDA, despite its mandate to enforce federal laws, is bending over backwards to protect the very parties it is supposed to regulate on behalf of a concerned public. We called the agency out on this when the first signs of its dereliction of mission surfaced, and we continue to apply pressure to right the ship over there. Were also working with allies in Congress to do the same. This year, a record bipartisan group of 190 Representatives and 38 Senators called for the USDA to strengthen its enforcement of the Animal Welfare Act and Horse Protection Act and reverse the data purge. Congress as a whole directed the agency to restore the purged records, in appropriations language that the USDA has chosen to disregard. Theres a lot at stake, for animals and for those who care about them.
WhatsApp, the messaging application business owned by Facebook, said on Friday it is "taking immediate legal action" against companies responsible for a flood of political spam ahead of Brazil's presidential elections.

Campaign propaganda has flooded social media in Brazil ahead of an Oct. 28 run-off vote in the presidential election.

Brazil's Folha (in Portuguese) is the best primary news source on this story.

WhatsApp's legal action today immediately follows a Folha report a couple of days ago that various companies (funding sources) linked to the extreme-right-wing frontrunner Jair Bolsonaro paid social media firms to send hundreds of millions of messages to Brazilian voters' phones that attacked Bolsonaro's rival, former Sao Paulo mayor Fernando Haddad.

Here's a machine translation of Folha's late-Friday update:

One day after Folha published a report showing that companies are funding political message campaign as mass-messages (Spam) on WhatsApp, the company sent out legal notices to Quickmobile, Yacows, Croc services and SMS Market agencies to stop their activities.

And in related reporting at Quartz by Luiz Romero, a bombshell report in Brazil linked fake political disinfo on WhatsApp to Brazil's presidential frontrunner. In other words, just like Trump in the USA in 2016.

An expose by Brazil's largest newspaper could dramatically change the South American country's already volatile presidential election. Folha reported that firms linked to far-right frontrunner Jair Bolsonaro have hired social media companies to send hundreds of millions of messages to voters attacking Bolsonaro's rival, former Sao Paulo mayor Fernando Haddad, and his Workers' Party. Folha also reported the companies are planning a massive misinformation campaign next week, just days before the final presidential vote on Sunday, Oct. 28. WhatsApp, Facebook's ubiquitous messaging service, has been under attack around the world for allowing the spread of rumors, false news, and political lies, sometimes with deadly consequences. Experts told Folha that the WhatsApp campaign could have broken the law in at least three ways: Companies, like those allegedly bankrolling the operation, are forbidden from making political donations; any electoral spending must be registered with regulators, and this wasn't; and it's illegal to buy large phone number lists to distribute messages, as was reportedly done here. If it's proven that Bolsonaro benefitted from the messaging campaign, his candidacy could be cancelled, or if he has already been elected, he could be removed from the presidency. Bolsonaro, a radical right-wing candidateknown for his support of Brazil's bloody dictatorship, and his conspiracy-fueled attacks on women, minorities, and institutionsis currently the heavy favorite to win the presidency. The latest poll, released Thursday (Oct. 18), shows him with a 59-41 lead over Haddad.

Bolsonaro is in lots of trouble, including campaign finance matters. That didn't stop Trump.
From the Open Markets Institute's Mat Stoller and Austin Frederick, who analyzed the FTC's panel, "The Current Economic Understanding of Multi-Sided Platforms," in which economic experts told the regulator that Big Tech's monopoly power just isn't a problem: "every single economist testifying on the issue of corporate concentration derived income, directly or indirectly, from large corporations. Beyond that, the hearing itself was held at the Antonin Scalia Law School, which is financed by Google and Amazon."



Here's a tldr version of the economists' argument: Big Tech isn't big because we stopped enforcing antitrust, it's because of globalism, network effects and first mover advantage (AKA, "My problems aren't caused by my alcoholism, it's because the world is so screwed up") and, second, "Monopolies aren't as bad as you think they are" (AKA "What's so bad about needing a drink or three every night?").



For instance, one panelist was MIT professor of management Catherine Tucker. She isn't just a professor, though; she also moonlights at the economic consulting firm Analysis Group, has consulted for Microsoft and Facebook, and has received a $155,000 research grant from Google.



Wharton Professor Katja Seim testified as well. She has a second job working for Vega Economics, which sells analysis to many of the major law firms in D.C., who in turn sell services to Fortune 500 companies. She stressed that one normal red flag for monopoly"supra-normal" profit marginsshould not necessarily concern regulators when it comes to tech platforms. (FF to 7:15-7:45). Also testifying was Boston University economist Michael Salinger, who also works at Charles River Associates. Salinger markets his services on the website of the group as leading the economics team that helped Google shut down the FTC antitrust investigation. He told the FTC that American enforcers, as opposed to European enforcers, thought about Google's "innovation and product design" rather than its monopoly power. (FF to 27:00) His colleague at Boston University, economist Marc Rysman, has a side job at Cornerstone Research, a firm that worked on Google's acquisition of Admob and ITA. (FF to 4:45)





Should we break up the tech giants? Not if you ask the economists who take money from them [Matt Stoller and Austin Frerick/Fast Company]





(via /.)
- Cheryl Zondi accuses a Nigerian pastor Timothy Omotoso of sexually assaulting her

- Cheryl has testified against the pastor in court, where she gave details of the tragic incident

- The South African public has been supporting Cheryl and she's overwhelmed and happy about the support

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Cheryl Zondi spent days at the stand of the Eastern Cape High Court in Port Elizabeth recounting and giving details of her alleged sexual abuse at the hands of Nigerian pastor Timothy Omotoso.

South Africans were outraged about the allegations and backed Cheryl every step of the way.

She has now written a thank you letter to the public for their passionate support.

Not only is this trial addressing the allegations against Omotoso, but it is also opening the can of worms that is the treatment of sexual assault victims.

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Cheryl was treated questionably by the pastor's lawyers - there was suggested she wasn't forced but a willing participant.

Briefly.co.za reported earlier on how Cheryl was forced to answer four harrowing questions asked by what can only be described as a hostile team of defence lawyers.

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Source: Briefly.co.za
- 5-year-old Tyler Link was stuck under a car that was reversing

- His 15-year-old cousin managed to lift the car and rescue him

- Luckily, Tyler did not suffer any broken bones and was treated for his minor injuries

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A 15-year-old boy in Delft, Cape Town, has been hailed a hero after rescuing his five-year-old cousin who was trapped under a reversing car.

A neighbour was reversing his car last week but didn't notice that little Tyler Link was under it, Daily Voice reports.

Tyler was dragged for a few metres before Cezario Rose realised his cousin was trapped, Briefly.co.za gathered. He managed to lift the small Fiat Uno and rescue Tyler.

Cazario rose (left) pictured with his cousin, Tyler Link. Photo credit: Daily Voice

Source: UGC

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Fortunately, Tyler did not suffer broken bones. He was rushed to a hospital, where he received treatment for his multiple but minor injuries.

Cezario, a Grade 8 learner, said he does weight training during his spare time. This came in handy while lifting the car, which he admitted was "a little heavy."

READ ALSO: Cheryl Zondi is grateful for the public's unwavering support during Omotoso trial

Tyler's mom, 32-year-old Natasha Link, commended Cezario for his heroic action:

He is our hero. He thought quickly because he knew the car was on top of Tylers tiny body and being under the front section for too long could have made things worse.

She added that luckily, the car had been moving slowly, which minimised the damage on Tyler's body.

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Source: Briefly.co.za
News / National

by Staff reporter

The Electoral Court has dismissed with costs the electoral petition lodged by MDC Alliance candidate, Gift Konjana, for the Chegutu West constituency national assembly seat in the 2018 harmonised polls.Konjana was seeking the invalidation of Dexter Nduna's victory in the 2018 polls.In the ruling of the Electoral Court handed down by Justice Mary Zimba Dube, the petition lodged by Konjana did not meet the rules governing election petitions.The petitioner sought an order setting aside the declaration by the Constituency Elections Officer of Dexter Nduna as the duly elected member of the national assembly for Chegutu West constituency in the harmonised elections held on 30 July 2018.Additionally, the petitioner sought an order of the court declaring him the duly elected member of the national assembly for Chegutu West constituency.Konjana also sought the Registrar of the Electoral Court to be directed to serve a copy of the order nullifying Nduna's victory to the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission and the Clerk of Parliament of Zimbabwe and finally he sought for the respondents to bear the costs of the suit.In her order, Justice Dube found the petition fatally defective in that it did not comply with the requirements of Rule 21.She registered her misgivings at the failure by the applicant's lawyers to follow the rules of practice.She added that the arrangement of the petition failed to meet the strict rules of procedure and therefore the court was left with no option but to dismiss the matter before delving into its merits as the court's residual power to condone infractions in electoral matters is curtailed.The court dismissed the petition with costs and ordered the Registrar of the Electoral Court to serve a copy of the court order on the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission and Clerk of the Parliament of Zimbabwe.
News / National

by Staff reporter

Major embarrassment as Deputy Minister of Industry Raj Modi exposed charging in USD while govt threatens shops that reject bond notes and RTGS.



It's an outrage.



90% of goods are imported. Should those be charged in forex too? Can OK supermarket do that too? Absolutely crazy. pic.twitter.com/Vx301JR9kI  Edmund Kudzayi (@EdmundKudzayi) October 19, 2018

Industry and Commerce Deputy Minister who is also Zanu-PF's representative in parliament for Bulawayo South Raj Modi's shop charges alcoholic drinks in United States dollars.Moji confirmed this on his Twitter account saying that his shop charges in foreign currency because their suppliers also require payment in United States dollars.He however said his shop accepts bond notes and swipe for other alcoholic drinks other than Amstel Lite and Heineken.Said Modi: "I would like to inform my valued clients that only alcoholic drinks bought in USD are being sold in USD to allow us to restock. Our suppliers want USD, nothing else. For all other goods, Liquor Hub accepts any form of payment. Bond notes and plastic money are legal tender."
News / National

by Globe and Mail

Canadian mining company Falconbridge Inc. had a big problem in Zimbabwe during the Gukurahundi disturbances in the early 1980s.Its operations in war-torn Zimbabwe were in chaos. ZIPRA rebels opposing Robert Mugabe were firing at Falconbridge's Blanket gold mine security force with rocket-propelled grenades. Workers there were also getting hungry, with food provisions running low due to blockades.Thirteen-thousand kilometres away in Toronto, Falconbridge's chief executive didn't mess around. Bill James flew 24 hours to Zimbabwe and went straight to the Robert Mugabe's office and demanded that Mugabe's government protect Blanket Mine staff 24-hours a day. Mugabe barged."Bill wasn't a wallflower. He'd barge into anyone's office," said Bill McNamara, a longtime friend of Mr. James and a lawyer with Torys LLP.Mr. James's demands, delivered in his signature loud, gravelly baritone, were simple: He wanted food for his employees and assault rifles for their protection."Mugabe's looking like someone's hit him on the head with a two-by-four," Mr. McNamara said. "[Thinking,] Who the hell is this guy?' "But here's the thing. Mr. Mugabe knew that without that mine in operation, Zimbabwe would suffer economically. The next morning, five truckloads of maize showed up at the mine, along with a dozen AK-47s.Mr. James, who died last month at the age of 89, had a no-nonsense manner that rubbed some people the wrong way, but was deadly effective. He was known for turning around a number of large mining companies in the 1980s and '90s, notably Falconbridge, which was in a deep financial hole when he took it over. Mr. James set a new bar for efficiency in mining that would be emulated in the decades ahead by the likes of Hunter Harrison in the American railroad industry. He was also renowned for his deep empathy and ability to connect with everyone, from some of the most formidable political leaders of the 20th century to the most junior miner in his operation.William (Bill) James was born in Ottawa on Feb. 5, 1929, son of Lenore (nee McEvoy) and William Fleming James, a geologist and owner of James, Buffam & Cooper, one of Canada's pre-eminent mining consulting businesses. Junior caught the mining bug early. He started working underground in a gold mine near Timmins, Ont., in 1947, while he was still in high school."A lot of shovel work," he told The Globe and Mail about his time in the mine.He earned a bachelor of arts, then a master's from the University of Toronto. In 1957, he completed a PhD in geology at McGill University in Montreal."He was always a practical down-to-earth type," said retired geologist Brian Hester, a fellow student at U of T in the early 1950s."In my mind he always had his jacket off and sleeves rolled up."After graduating, Mr. James took a job as crew chief at a uranium mine in Elliot Lake in Northern Ontario. Far from resting on his academic laurels, he earned more underground overtime than anyone else."He wasn't just a miner in an ivory tower. He was a miner's miner," Mr. McNamara said.In 1961, he joined his father's consultancy business, and worked with some of the big mining companies of the day, including Falconbridge, Teck and Placer.Bill James with his son John James at Georgian Bay, 2001.Michael Power, who worked alongside Mr. James at the consultancy, recalls his intense work ethic while the two raced to get a feasibility report on a mine done on time."We stayed in the office the entire weekend. We didn't sleep. We had some cheese in the fridge and we got the report done," Mr. Power said."He had unbelievable stamina."In 1973, Alfred Powis, CEO of Noranda Inc., one of the biggest Canadian metals companies of the day, hired Mr. James to run a subsidiary. By the next year, he moved up to executive vice-president with charge over the company's mine portfolio. Extremely hands on, he had a remarkable ability to see both the big picture and the fine details."The key thing when you were dealing with Bill James, as I used to tell the people there at Noranda, you tell the truth," Mr. Power said."There's a tendency in organizations to BS a little bit. You don't quite know the answer but you pretend to. You do that with Bill, he'll know."In 1982, Mr. James joined Falconbridge Ltd. as CEO at a time when the great nickel company was in deep trouble. Falconbridge was losing $2-million a week, amid moribund commodity prices and a crushing debt load. Mr. James went to work cutting corporate fat. Executive washrooms, the two private jets, the helicopter, the fleet of Jaguars  he got rid of all of them. Facing down union bosses, he laid off 40 per cent of the Sudbury workforce. The Toronto head office was cut in half. Not surprisingly, the layoffs garnered resentment from some quarters. According to Sudbury native Stan Sudol, owner and editor of RepublicOfMining.com, a joke making rounds at the time was, "Bill James dies and goes to hell, but the devil kicked him out, because he kept shutting down his furnaces."But eventually it was Mr. James who had the last laugh  by 1984, Falconbridge was back in the black.As ruthless as Mr. James could be, he also displayed a deeply human side. In 1984, when a rock burst trapped four miners underground in a mine near the town of Falconbridge, Ont., he raced to the scene. Against the advice of safety personnel, he went underground himself and through a small opening held the hand of a lone survivor, 22-year-old apprentice mine mechanic Wayne St. Michel, who was trapped under a giant rock. For more than a day, Mr. James stayed with the man."It's going great, Wayne, it's going great," he told him over and over."We're coming for you.'"After 27 hours, Mr. St. Michel was freed, but, cruelly, he died shortly after in the hospital."The only time when I was a kid that I ever saw him cry," said son John James of his father after the death of Mr. St. Michel."He was a really tough guy, but he really cared."Mr. James also proved himself to be a savvy dealmaker at Falconbridge. In 1985, the company paid $1.3-billion to acquire the coveted Kidd Creek copper, silver and zinc mine near Timmins, Ont. In doing so, he trumped his former boss at Noranda, Mr. Powis, who was desperate to buy the property. Kidd Creek, which helped diversify nickel-heavy Falconbridge into other metals, would go on to become an extremely profitable asset.Losing Kidd Creek only emboldened Mr. Powis to go after Falconbridge itself. But Mr. James was in no mood to sell the company on the cheap, especially considering that by 1988, profit and revenue were at record highs. Eventually a three-way fight for Falconbridge ensued with Sweden's Trelleborg AB and U.S.-based Amax Inc. also bidding. In the end, a joint offer by Noranda and Trelleborg AB succeeded, but the pair paid a steep premium, acquiring Falconbridge for $37 a share.In 1990, Mr. James took on another big challenge. Like Falconbridge, uranium producer Denison Corp. was heavily indebted when he joined as CEO. On one particularly bleak Friday afternoon, Mr. James got a call that Denison was to be served notice later that day on a loan that was coming due. That would have put Denison on the brink of bankruptcy. At that point, Mr. James ordered everyone out of the Toronto office, turned off the lights, locked up, and slipped out the back door. A hapless lawyer from McCarthy's showed up shortly after with the notice, banged on the door, but nobody came out. Over the weekend, Mr. James was able to line up alternative financing and Denison stayed afloat."He never quit," John James said. "He always would find another way to make it work."By the time he left Denison in 1996, Mr. James was in his mid-60s but he'd hadn't slowed down much. In the summer, one of his favourite leisure activities was to strap himself into his 9-metre Zodiac boat and take off around Lake Superior, often with his partner Jalynn H. Bennett in tow."He had two 400-horsepower engines on the back of the thing," Mr. Power said."He used to say it was the second fastest Zodiac in the world. The fastest was owned by the CIA for catching drug smugglers off the coast of Cuba."He'd met Ms. Bennett, a fellow CIBC board member, a few years after getting divorced from his first wife, Joanna, to whom he was married for 32 years. Naturally, Ms. Bennett and Mr. James got into a couple of scrapes. On one of their Zodiac trips down the St. Lawrence, a CIBC bank manager in a small Quebec town refused to let Mr. James withdraw $10,000 in cash as there was some uncertainty regarding his identity. Mr. James asked the manager if she had the CIBC annual report on hand. When she brought it to him, he pointed out that the two souls standing in front of her, in their orange survival suits, were in fact the same CIBC board members whose pictures were in the report. Mr. James got his money, and an apology.In 1996, Bill James signed up for one last business caper, this time at Inmet Mining Corp. Inmet's prized asset was its 50-per-cent stake in the promising Antamina zinc-copper project in Peru. But Antamina proved to be elusive. Unable to raise about $1.3-billion to develop it, a reluctant Mr. James was forced to sell Antamina at the urging of an activist investor. In 2000, at the age of 70, Mr. James stepped down as CEO of Inmet and walked away from corporate life for good.He stayed active in retirement. In winter, he skied most weekends at his cottage in Georgian Bay. In 2002, Mr. James, like his father, was inducted into the Canadian Mining Hall of Fame. In his later years, he moved into the family farm in Halton Hills, west of Toronto.After Ms. Bennett died in 2015, Mr. James developed breathing problems from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. He died on Sept. 4 in Oakville, Ont., from heart failure. He leaves his sons Paul, Bill, George, John; daughters, Mary Witham and Anne Rogers; stepdaughter, Alexandra Bennett; stepsons, Braden Bennett and Sam Bennett and 17 grandchildren.John James believes his father might have lived another 10 years, had he just slowed down a bit. But that wasn't his style. Bill James's attitude toward his own life was much like his approach to boating in a Zodiac."You're going to go full tilt til the thing breaks, and then that's it, you sink it."
News / National

by Stephen Jakes

Former MDC legislator for Bulilima East, Norman Mpofu, has described Zimbabwe business people as mercenaries out to loot the poor saying that prices in shops have been hidden."You walk into the supermarket like Greens Golden Hamorn and Plumtree bakery no prices," he said."How do you decide. They are violating our consumer rights. One needs to compare prices but they are hidden in the tills. These Zimbabwe business are mercenaries out to loot the poor. What are they hiding," he said."Let us go to their shops load a basket check prices at the till and just dump the trolley at the sale point. Vendors go and source things outside the country and come and sell in front of these shops and the government must stop protecting them," he urged.
Opinion / Columnist

Public Order and Security Act (POSA) was one of the many obnoxious pieces of legislations on the Zimbabwe statute books that this Zanu PF dictatorship has relied on to deny the people of Zimbabwe their basic right to freedom of assembly and to hold peaceful demonstration. So many people were thrilled that the country's Constitutional Court (ConCourt) has finally seen it fit to have the offending section of this legislation struck off the statute."Temporary prohibition of holding public demonstrations within particular police districts can be made if a regulating authority for any area believes on reasonable grounds that there might be public disorder," reads section 27 of POSA.The law stipulated that the regulating authority, the Zimbabwe Republic Police, must be informed of any public gathering of demonstrations and it has become the norm for the Police to evoke POSA and deny all anti-establishment gatherings."In addition to failing to pass the test on fairness, necessity and reasonableness, there is another feature of section 27 of POSA that I find disturbing. It has no time frame or limitation as to the number of times the regulating authority can invoke the powers granted to him or her under the section," said Justice Makarau sitting as Con-Court Judge."Thus, a despotic regulating authority could lawfully invoke these powers without end. This could be achieved by publishing notices prohibiting demonstrations back-to-back as long as each time the period of the ban is for one month or less. It, thus, has the potential of negating or nullifying the rights not only completely, but perpetually."On the basis of the foregoing, it is my finding that section 27 of the Public Order and Security Act (Chapter 11:17) is unconstitutional."Which is exactly what has happened all these years!However, before anyone start celebrating the death of POSA, the effect of the judgement has been suspected for six months to give the authorities to come up with a replacement legation. The regime may still be able to willy-nilly deny the people their right to hold peaceful demonstration using provisions in the new 2013 Constitution.Section 209 National Security Council(1) There is a National Security Council consisting of the President as chairperson, the Vice- Presidents and such Ministers and members of the security services and other persons as may be determined in an Act of Parliament.(2) The functions of the national security Council are:(a) to develop the national security policy for Zimbabwe.There is no doubt the National Security Council will, in its infinite wisdom decide "the temporary prohibition of holding public demonstrations within particular police districts can be made if a regulating authority for any area believes on reasonable grounds that there might be public disorder." Taking us right back to POSA!As far as I can see, there is nothing in the new Constitution saying the National Security Council must make its security policy public much less subjecting it to any of the usual democratic review, checks and balances. It could take our Con-Court decades, as happen with POSA, before our learned Judges finally realise the policy is once again being abused for the purposes of tyrannical oppression.Lest we must not forget, the same Con-Court ruled that in Zimbabwe stage a military coup "is legal, constitutional and justified!"The same Con-Court declared Mnangagwa the "dually elected President of the Republic of Zimbabwe" although the evidence brought before the Court left the Judges themselves in no doubt the whole process was flawed and illegal. ZEC's own sworn affidavit showed the commission failed to produce verified voters' roll and some of the V11 forms, showing vote count at each polling station, were never made public although these were legal requirements. ZEC's figures could not be trace and verified; indeed the commission had three different results.The judges ignored all the evidence that the election was rigged, a conclusion of all the election observer teams from democratic nations, on the grounds they would only consider primary source evidence from the seal ballot boxes. They had the power to order the boxes to be opened but chose not to exercise that power  somethings, it is best not know.Why these corrupt Judges still expect the nation to still call them "Justice" beggars belief when that is the last thing they service!The combined presidential powers in section 209 above plus his/her power to hire and fire everyone else in the National Security Council means the President has tyrannical powers to do as he/she damn well pleases!Zanu PF MP, Paul Mangwana, who was the co-chairperson of the parliamentary committee that drafted the new 2013 Constitution, boasted soon after the March 2013 referendum that "Mugabe dictated the document". It is clear to see why that is true  whilst the new Constitution gives the individual freedoms and rights in one part, make a big song and dance about it; they are whittled away in cleverly disguised small print.
Nhung Tran-Davies remembers her mother giving food away to hungry neighbours when her own family members  then living in a war-torn, flood-ravaged village in rural Vietnam  were themselves starving.

"She said it would always come back," Tran-Davies recalled in an interview with CBC Radio's Edmonton AM.

Terry Reith/CBC

"Back then, we were desperate, even for a grain of rice," she said. "Often, my older brother and sisters would have to give up eating so that the younger siblings could eat.

"People were being robbed and killed for a bag of rice."

Those powerful memories of her mother's strength and kindness inspired Tran-Davies's latest book.

Grain of Rice centres around a 13-year-old girl as she faces war, famine and persecution  and her family's decision to risk everything on a chance for a better life.

Tran-Davies said the young-adult fiction is semi-autobiographical. It relies heavily on her own experiences as a refugee, and the memories of her older sisters who suffered more than she did during those early years.

Courage and forgiveness

"I feel that I've written a book that's close to our own family's journey, our escape," she said.

"It is a story about the conflict and the challenges of the time, but it's also a story about the journey of my protagonist, the personal journey that she takes as she discovers her courage and learns about forgiveness."

Tran-Davies was born in Vietnam one year before the fall of Saigon to the North Vietnamese army. In the following years, hundreds of thousands would try to flee the communist regime, with many loading into rickety boats and setting out across the South China Sea.

Our mother made the decision to sacrifice everything. - Nhung N. Tran-Davies

By the late 1970s, her mother was a widow, trying to provide for her six young children.

She had moved her children to a remote village in the hopes of making a living for herself as a seamstress. The months that followed were marked by famine.

Story continues

"It was the year when there were bad storms and it flooded our village and so we were stuck living in the loft of a hut," Tran-Davies recalled.

"Food was scarce and it was very difficult to live in that situation so when the opportunity arose that we could potentially escape ... our mother made the decision to sacrifice everything and take us."

Edmonton Sun

Like more than 200,000 other Vietnamese refugees, Tran-Davies and her family ended up on the shores of Malaysia and eventually at a refugee camp, where they spent eight months before a church group in Alberta sponsored them to come to Canada.

Tran-Davies arrived in Canada in 1979. She was five.

Today, the author and social justice advocate lives in Calmar with her husband and three children, working full time as a family physician.

When her life gets hectic, as it often does, she remembers her mother's words.

Provided/Nhung Tran

"Remember to be grateful for what you have, to remember kindness and pass that kindness on to others."
Beer columnist Haydon Dewes visited the Calgary Eyeopener on Friday to talk about Alberta Beer Week (Oct. 19-27) with host David Gray. This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

Q: What's the story behind Unity Brew?

A: This is when all of the brewers in the province get together for one day and brew a beer together. It basically consists of one person doing all the work and the other 49 standing around telling them what to do.

Q: What's it taste like?

A: For this one, there was a bit of back and forth on email, trying to decide on the recipe.

They opted for something called the Alberta Maltster's Red Ale. What they've done is taken malt from five Alberta maltsters. If folks out there don't know, Alberta makes half of Canada's barley. We are a massive barley producer and there's a ton of small, little craft maltsters as well  just little small shops that take barley from the farm, malt it and then use it for beer.

Q: I just spoke to a farmer who said they're having a terrible year for growing barley. Will this be a problem for craft brewers?

A: I really hope not. Eighty per cent of barely is made for cattle feed; the rest is beer. The ones that use it for beer, it's quite specialized. So I've got fingers crossed. After all: no malt, no beer.

Q: What's it taste like?

A: It's a pretty rare style, actually. You don't see many red ales around. It usually goes from light ones straight to dark. This is sort of that middle of the road beer. It shows off the malt.

It's smooth. It's got some caramel and chocolate, a little bit of roastiness in there. It's a nice sipping one, whereas hoppy beer tends to lose its flavour straight away. This one is going to keep getting a little bit better over the next couple of weeks.

Haydon Dewes

Q: Where is it sold?

A: It's only sold at Alberta breweries or tap rooms. All the money goes back to the Alberta Small Brewers Association, which is the support group for small brewers in the province.

Story continues

Q: Why is there much unity? Everywhere you turn, there's another craft brewer. Isn't it time for some cutthroat competition?

A: The craft brewing industry is still so small compared to the macro brewing industry that it's still a situation where we believe that a rising tide lifts all boats.

We're working together to basically get some of that bigger market share. We will until we reach that point where craft beer becomes a much bigger chunk of the market  it's still tiny  so most of the beer being sold out there is still made by massive international conglomerations.

People are still working together. They're a good bunch of people.

They like their craft. That's why the craft is in there. It's all about your interesting, uniquely crafted product, made straight from the land here in Alberta. It's great. When you get 50 different companies together to make one product and sell it for the common good of the industry, it's pretty rare for that (to happen).

Haydon Dewes

Q: How big is Alberta Beer Week?

A: Its getting bigger and bigger. I was on the show one year ago, talking about this, and at that point, there were 67 breweries. There are now 90 breweries in Alberta. By Christmas, we should be up to 100. There are a bunch more just waiting to open their doors as well.

If you go onto Alberta.beer  that's the website for for the Alberta Small Brewers Association  there's listing of all of the events happening this week. It ranges from free samples to tours to new beers to beer and food pairing. And then there's one great event, next Wednesday night, at Last Best Brewing Company downtown. It's the IPA Tap Takeover. So they've got 36 breweries from across Alberta who all submit an IPA and you can get a sample of each one at Last Best.

So if you're doing really well that night, you can try 36 different IPAs made by Alberta brewers in one spot.

Q: Can we look forward to someone creating a cannabis-infused beer?

A: I don't think we will get it.

My understanding is its illegal to blend cannabis and beer together. But hops is in the same family as cannabis, so you're going to get a lot of beer that tastes like hops  the new beer that Banded Peak just put out, their double IPA, has got a very cannabis sort of aroma in play. There's no cannabis (in it), but it sure does smell like it.

With files from the Calgary Eyeopener.
ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates (AP)  Babar Azam just missed a maiden test century but Pakistan gave itself more than two days to win the short test series against Australia and made a good start on Thursday.

Azam fell for a career-best 99 and captain Sarfraz Ahmed added 81 before he declared their second innings over at 400-9 for an overall lead of 537 runs.

Pakistan delayed the declaration, mindful of Australia escaping defeat in the first test in Dubai last week. Pakistan declared there also, and gave itself just under five sessions to bowl out Australia. But Australia, given an improbable 462 to win, held out with two wickets to spare.

This time, Pakistan has set Australia a monstrous 538 to win in more than six sessions, and already undermined that notion by taking out Shaun Marsh for 4 with an incredible delivery by debutant Mir Hamza.

By stumps on day three, Australia was 47-1, Aaron Finch was on 24, and Tim Head on 17.

Pakistan suffered a late collapse but its lead had already passed 500.

It resumed from 144-2 overnight and the morning session was lowlighted by Azhar Ali's embarrassing run out on 64.

Ali steered a delivery through slips and the ball rolled towards the boundary. Ali didn't run, believing he'd hit a four, and met Asad Shafiq in the middle of the pitch to talk.

But the ball stopped before the boundary at third man, and the chasing Mitchell Starc threw it at the striker's end and captain Tim Paine whipped the bails off.

Ali, playing his 67th test, and Shafiq, playing his 63rd, were dumbfounded while the Australians celebrated a little slice of luck.

That dropped Pakistan to 160-4, but Shafiq, and particularly Azam and Ahmed took advantage of a tiring Australia attack.

Shafiq was the only wicket to fall in the middle session, caught at point for 44.

Then Azam and Ahmed dominated, briskly scoring 133 runs for the sixth wicket. Australia couldn't break the partnership even with the second new ball.

Story continues

Azam was on 99 when he fell lbw to seamer Mitchell Marsh while trying to play across the line. Azam's disappointment was obvious. His 161-ball knock included six fours and three sixes.

Offspinner Nathan Lyon, burdened with much of the workload, then grabbed two wickets in one over, those of Bilal Asif (15) and Yasir Shah (4).

Legspinner Marnus Labuschagne got Ahmed when the captain missed a sweep and was trapped lbw. Ahmed faced 123 balls and hit five fours and a six.

Lyon finished with 4-135 from 43 overs, and eight wickets in the match.

Marsh was forced to open the innings after regular opener Usman Khawaja injured his troublesome left knee during a warm-up before the third day's play. He didn't field all day and had to drop down the order.

Marsh has struggled in the series, which has ended for him with scores of 7, 0, 3 and 4. The lefthander couldn't cope against the Pakistan seamers, and gave Hamza his first test wicket when he lost his off stump.

___

More AP sports: https://apnews.com/tag/apf-sports and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
One of two tourists charged with vandalism for spray painting graffiti on an ancient red-brick wall in northern Thailand is from Grande Prairie, Alta.

Thai police said early Friday they had arrested a Canadian and Briton  Brittney Schneider and Furlong Lee, respectively, both 23  at a guest house in Chiang Mai. They are being held at the provincial court and face up to 10 years in prison if found guilty.

Schneider's mother, Tara, told CBC News she'd received a frantic phone call from her daughter.

"Mom, I'm in trouble," she said her daughter told her. "I spray painted an ancient wall and I'm going to prison. And I'm scared."

Closed-circuit TV footage allegedly shows the pair spray-painting a wall near the Tha Phae Gate, the main entrance to the city's old town.

"They admitted to the crime," Police Major Anon Cherdchutrakulthong told Reuters. "When people visit somewhere they should know not to [leave] graffiti."

Anon said they do not yet have a lawyer, adding that the young man and woman showed signs of having been intoxicated.

Tara said her daughter "made a mistake. This is out of character for her."

"I just told her, 'What's done is done,'" she said.

The Associated Press

Bail money has been sent to Thailand so Brittney can be released on Monday, she said. After that, her daughter will have to remain in Thailand until her trial, which could be in two months, she said.

"She has to face it. She's sorry for what she done. But I said stay strong and breathe and go through it."

Schneider said she asked her daughter why she did what she did.

"She said she's ashamed of herself," Schneider said. "It was an act of being intoxicated."

Tara said Canadian officials told her there is nothing they can do to change local laws in Thailand.

She said she plans to fly to Thailand to support her daughter while she awaits trial.

In addition to 10 years in jail, police said, the young tourists could face fines of up to one million baht, or $40,035 Cdn.

Video footage obtained by Reuters showed the words "Scouser Lee" painted on the wall in an apparent reference to the English city of Liverpool. Thai police did not confirm Lee's hometown.

With files from Reuters
BANGKOK (Reuters) - Two tourists charged with vandalism for spray painting graffiti on a wall in northern Thailand face up to 10 years in prison if found guilty, police said on Friday. Briton Furlong Lee and Canadian Brittney Schneider, both 23, were arrested at a guest house in Chiang Mai on Thursday and are being held at the provincial court, police said. CCTV video footage showed the pair spray-painting a red brick wall near Tha Phae Gate, the main entrance to the city's old town. "They admitted to the crime," Police Major Anon Cherdchutrakulthong told Reuters. "When people visit somewhere they should know not to (leave) graffiti." Reuters was unable to reach Schneider or Lee for comment. Anon said they do not yet have a lawyer, adding that the young man and woman showed signs of having been intoxicated. Video footage obtained by Reuters showed the words "Scouser Lee" painted on the wall in an apparent reference to the English city of Liverpool. Thai police did not confirm Lee's hometown. The pair face up to 10 years in jail, a fine of up to one million baht ($30,656) or both, if found guilty, police said. (Reporting by Panarat Thepgumpnat and Amy Sawitta Lefevre; Writing by Amy Sawitta Lefevre; Editing by Darren Schuettler)
Philosopher Charles Taylor says the new CAQ government "doesn't get the point" of the report he co-authored that's been frequently cited by the CAQ as justification for its controversial plan to ban the wearing of religious symbols by some civil servants.

Premier Francois Legault said again today, in announcing his cabinet, that he intends to proceed quickly with a ban that would prevent peace officers, judges, Crown prosecutors and teachers from displaying religious symbols in order to ensure the state is secular.

That means items such as kippas, hijabs or crosses couldn't be worn on the job.

Legault and the new minister who'll be responsible for implementing the ban, Simon Jolin-Barrette, have both said their plan is based on consensus that emerged from the recommendations of the 2008 report on religious accommodation co-authored by Taylor and sociologist Gerard Bouchard.

The CAQ plan includes some of Bouchard and Taylor's recommendations, but it ignores others  and goes further, in some cases.

Oleksandr Makhanets/Wikipedia

"It's either very ignorant or very intellectually dishonest," Taylor said of the CAQ plan in an interview with CBC News Thursday, as Legault's new cabinet was being sworn in.

"They're using the report to do things the report condemned totally. It's a very dishonest operation."

Religious symbol ban never intended for teachers

The most controversial element of the CAQ plan is its inclusion of teachers in the ban on religious symbols.

Bouchard and Taylor explicitly recommended against including teachers in the ban.

"We meant it to apply only to people with functions that we called 'coercive authority'  police and judges. Functions that can put you in jail," Taylor said.

'We're dealing with a situation which will heal itself over time because as people get to know each other, these kind of fears disappear.' - Philosopher Charles Taylor

"We thought that maybe it's too shocking for people to have people coming after them, as it were, who obviously belonged to a religion which was not that of the majority," he explained.

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"Teachers can send students home to write 200 times, 'I will always do my homework,' but they can't do really serious things like put you in jail."

"It's not at all the same kind of thing."

Radio-Canada

Taylor said he's worried about the consequences of the ban.

"They'll have alienated a lot of people. They'll have made a lot of our more talented immigrants move to Ontario or the rest of Canada, where they don't have this kind of harassment," Taylor said.

"It's just a very bad idea."

'A lot of blather'

Over the last few weeks, Legault and Jolin-Barrette have both been questioned about the apparent inconsistency of pressing ahead with the religious symbol ban while ignoring Bouchard and Taylor's recommendation to remove the crucifix from the National Assembly.

Ryan Remiorz/Canadian Press

Last week Legault said he didn't consider the crucifix a religious symbol, but rather a part of Quebec's history and traditional values.

Taylor called that "a lot of blather."

"I mean, if that's not a religious symbol, what is a religious symbol?" he asked.

"It's really very, very ridiculous."

'Drop it'

Taylor has said in the past, he no longer believes the ban on religious symbols for judges and police officers is necessary.

He said he agreed to the recommendation at the time of the report as a compromise with his co-author, Bouchard.

"In order not to jeopardize the whole thrust of the report  which was basically to say individuals should be free to express their own opinions and their own commitments  I agreed to go along with that," he told CBC News.

Taylor said if he were asked to advise the government now on how to manage religious accommodation, he would tell them to do nothing.

"Drop it," Taylor said.

"We're dealing with a situation which will heal itself over time because as people get to know each other, these kind of fears disappear."

Despite his fears about the consequences of the CAQ plan, Taylor said he's optimistic about the future.

He believes younger people are more open to religious diversity and that support for widespread bans on religious symbols won't last.

"We just have to get through ten years without creating too many wounds and too many divisions," Taylor said.
By Christian Shepherd DONGLU VILLAGE, China (Reuters) - In 1996, a tiny village with a huge Gothic-style church in China's Catholic heartland of northern Hebei province was the scene of a tense stand-off between the ruling Communist Party and the faithful. Authorities surrounded Donglu village's Our Lady of China Catholic Church, blocking thousands of pilgrims and detaining Vatican-ordained Bishop Su Zhimin, who was a member of the "underground" Church, not the state-backed official Church which did not recognize the pope's authority to name bishops. Despite repeated appeals to Chinese authorities from Vatican officials and underground clergy, it is unclear whether Su, who would now be 86, is still being held or is even alive. Decades on, the Donglu church's ties with officials are now convivial, according to Diao Ligang, a local priest, reflecting a generational shift toward acceptance of the ruling Communist Party's authority over China's Catholics. "Before, it was as if they kept wanting to see what we were hiding in our fist," said Diao. "But then we opened it and they realized there was nothing dangerous in there in the first place." Last month's secretive deal with the Vatican, which gives the Holy See a long-sought and decisive say over the appointment of new bishops, sets the stage for Beijing to recognize some underground congregations. Details of how and when this process might happen have not been released. Interviews with five underground priests and two dozen believers in Hebei suggest previously stark divisions between underground Catholics loyal to the Vatican and churches officially registered with the Chinese authorities have blurred in recent years. The coming together reflects growing, if grudging, acceptance of government oversight by the faithful, as the Vatican pushes for a reconciliation with Beijing and many of the older generation that had expressed staunch opposition to the party are either silenced or dead. Still, Cardinal Joseph Zen, 86, the outspoken former archbishop of Hong Kong, has led an international chorus of conservative critics who say the deal is a sellout to the Communist Party and an insult to those who had suffered under oppression. He and other opponents of the secretive deal warn the expected gradual folding of unofficial churches into a government system of control risks abandoning a group of "loyalist" bishops and priests, who for decades resisted joining the Catholic Patriotic Association, as the state-backed church is known, and have been punished as a result. BLURRED LINES China says there are six million Catholics in the country, across 98 officially approved dioceses. The Holy Spirit Study Centre, run by the diocese of Hong Kong, estimates that there are 10 million believers spread over 144 dioceses. Such discrepancies have been the subject of closed-door negotiations for more than a decade between Beijing and the Vatican, which wants to preserve and expand the Catholic community in China. The Vatican went ahead with the provisional deal, despite it failing to address some outstanding points of contention, because it feared the two Churches would split even further apart, resulting in a schism that would become irreparable, Vatican sources told Reuters At four recent services attended by Reuters journalists, three official and one at an underground church, there was little that was discernibly different between those at churches loyal to Beijing or the Vatican. Donglu is now run under the leadership of Bishop An Shuxin, who had been an "underground" coadjutor bishop alongside Su, meaning he had been granted right of succession by the Vatican. An was also detained in the 1996 crackdown but reappeared a decade later, and in 2009 announced he had joined the Patriotic Association. In 2010, he became the officially recognized bishop of Baoding diocese, where Donglu is located. An declined to be interviewed when contacted by Reuters, citing health problems. For Diao, the village priest, An's experience and that of the local Church in Donglu represents hope for an end to the divisions that have riven the church in China since Beijing in 1951 cut ties with the Vatican and banished its diplomatic mission. "These divisions are made by people who want to say they have more faith than others," Diao told Reuters during an interview in Donglu church, built in 1992 to replace the original shrine destroyed by Japanese bombers during World War Two. "If people have faith, then they have faith. That doesn't mean they shouldn't also follow the law." The church remains one of China's most important Catholic pilgrimage sites and thousands travel there every May to celebrate a claimed miraculous appearance of the Vigin Mary in 1900. A depiction of Our Lady of China and the Baby Jesus, a painted image of a Chinese woman holding a baby, both dressed in the yellow imperial robes of the Qing dynasty, which ruled China until 1912, hangs in the church. Since 2012, Chinese President Xi Jinping has overseen a tightening of restrictions on religious belief in China, with Muslims and Christians being targeted most. Regular weekend classes and week-long summer camps for children at one church had been canceled by the authorities over the summer, one underground priest from a village near Hebei's Zhangjiakou city said, declining to be named for fear of retribution from the authorities. In light of the Vatican deal, he preached patience and acceptance of government restrictions: "I told my parishioners, this is not about the millions of us who already believe; it is about those who do not yet believe. We must have the foresight to think about how to let them find faith." FRAGILE ACCORD The deal between Beijing and the Vatican was struck without resolution of some long-held Church concerns over clerics in detention, Catholic Church sources familiar with the substance of the deal have told Reuters. As part of the deal, the Vatican approved seven excommunicated Patriotic Association bishops ordained without church approval, meaning all Beijing-approved Bishops have now been accepted by the Holy See. It is unclear what, if any, immediate change the deal made for Beijing's attitude toward China's approximately 30 underground bishops, whose uncertain fate could still scupper the accord, said Yang Fenggang, a professor at Purdue University in the United States specializing in religion in China. "This is a baby step and the relationship looks very fragile," he said. However, the acceptance of government-backed bishops by the Holy See had already started to blur the lines, as more bishops were seen as both Vatican and Beijing-approved, he added. Wang Meixiu, an expert on China-Vatican relations at the state-affiliated Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said for the agreement to move forward the pope will have to call for unofficial churches to "abandon former hatred" and be good citizens. "The eyes of the government are still on those churches that have not registered and those underground clerics that have not been approved," she said. (Reporting by Christian Shepherd. Additional reporting byStella Qiu.; Editing by Tony Munroe and Lincoln Feast.)
KERCH, Crimea (Reuters) - Hundreds of residents in the Crimean port city of Kerch commemorated on Friday the victims of a college mass shooting in which an armed teenager killed 20 people, mostly his fellow pupils, and injured dozens more. The suspected attacker was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound after Wednesday's attack, which recalled shootings at schools in the United States. Mourners laid flowers and wept as they filed past closed coffins, set out on a public square in the center of the small city of 146,000 people. "This is a terrible tragedy for Kerch, for such a small city," said Galina Pesklyonova, 62. Some residents wore only black and clutched portraits of the victims. Vadim Vlasyuk, 18, who escaped the attack, said he was unsure if he would be able to return to the college. "I saw it all - the blood, the corpses," he said. "It was terrifying. We didn't know where to run." President Vladimir Putin on Thursday blamed the attack on globalization, saying a problem that began in the United States had spread around the world through online communities on the Internet. The attack prompted calls for the security services in Russia to have greater control over the Internet. Russia annexed the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014. (Reporting by Mikhail Antonov; Writing by Tom Balmforth; Editing by Gareth Jones)
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador, Oct. 19, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Almas Jiwani, CEO of Almas Jiwani Foundation and a global voice for gender equality and womens economic empowerment, shared her insights on the complex realities of the advancement of women and girls in El Salvador at the Plan International Breakfast gala in San Salvador on October 11th 2018. The event was organized to mark the UNs International Day of the Girl, which takes place each year on October 11. The theme for this years efforts is With Her: A Skilled GirlForce, which aims to bring together partners and stakeholders to advocate for, and draw attention and investments to, the most pressing needs and opportunities for girls to attain skills for employability.



The conference was hosted by Plan International with Attendees included women politicians and business leaders, country ambassadors, UN diplomats, civil society leaders on womens rights, and youth representatives working with Plan International. Plan International representatives also took the opportunity to launch their new global campaign called Girls Get Equal.

"The silver bullet in terms of empowering girls and women worldwide is education. This becomes even more important in the developing world, where access to education is limited. By empowering girls and women to seek education, a society drastically improves its economic outlook, and changes not just their social capacity, but increases their potential for economic output," said Almas Jiwani.

"Girls today face many barriers like lack of access to education, teenage pregnancies, sexual abuse and harassment, among others. Plan International calls for a social and political change to tear down these barriers that hold girls back. With our new campaign Girls Get Equal, Plan seeks to promote empowerment and leadership so that girls and young people challenge stereotypes and are agents of change," said Carmen Elena Aleman, Country Director for Plan International in El Salvador.

"We thank Almas Jiwani for sharing her valuable message in which we find a common point that crosses borders, and it is that we are convinced that education makes a difference and is key to achieving gender equality," added Carmen Elena Aleman.

There is an undeniable need for emphasis on the economic empowerment of women. With the ever-evolving innovation and automation of the current global workforce, it is vital now more than ever to help women acquire the skills required to thrive in the modern world. It is equally important to advocate for their rights. Girls make up 1.1 billion of the worlds population and they still face dire human and economic inequalities - a disparity that requires immediate and unwavering action.

About Almas Jiwani Foundation

The vision of The Almas Jiwani Foundation is to empower women, girls and marginalized communities through focused projects that directly address disparities in equality, education, entrepreneurship and energy rights. The Foundation aims to bridge inequalities through the fostering of relationships among the various actors and stakeholders in global issues, and provide a platform for discourse and action.

About Plan International

Plan International is an organization that sets to aid young people and children in making a positive long-lasting impact on their lives through their support of childrens rights and championing gender equality. By setting programs for positive influence and being outspoken activists of youth, Plan International puts the well-being and healthy development of young people as the foundation of their organization.

Contact information

Almas Jiwani Foundation

Nicole Mankinen

VP, Communications and International Development

info@almasjiwanifoundation.org

www.almasjiwanifoundation.org

Plan International Inc, - El Salvador

Francesca Cardenas  Encargada de Relaciones Publicas/Head of Public Relations

Bulevar del Hipodromo # 671, col. San Benito

San Salvador, El Salvador

Tel:(503) 2246-6104; Movil: (503) 7029-1579

Email: francesca.cardenas@plan-international.org

www.plan-international.org
Alzheimers could be linked to the herpes virus, a scientist has claimed (Picture: Getty)

The herpes virus could be linked to at least half of all Alzheimers disease cases, a scientist has claimed.

Professor Ruth Itzhaki, who has spent more than 25 years at the University of Manchester investigating a potential link between the two, said studies carried out in Taiwan suggested that the risk of dementia was much greater in those infected with herpes simplex virus (HSV).

There are two types of herpes simplex virus (HSV): HSV1, also known as oral herpes, which causes cold sores and blisters around the mouth and on the face; and HSV2, which is generally responsible for genital herpes outbreaks.

Prof Itzhaki said: The striking results include evidence that the risk of senile dementia is much greater in those who are infected with HSV, and that anti-herpes antiviral treatment causes a dramatic decrease in number of those subjects severely affected by HSV1 who later develop dementia.

HSV1 could account for 50% or more of Alzheimers disease cases.

Prof Itzhaki used Taiwan for the research as 99.9% of the population is enrolled in a National Health Insurance Research Database, which is being mined for information on microbial infections and disease.

In 2017/18, three studies were published describing Taiwanese data on the development of senile dementia  of which Alzheimers is the main cause  and the treatment of patients with marked overt signs of infection with HSV or varicella zoster virus (VZV  the chickenpox virus).

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But Prof Itzhaki said: It should be stressed that the results of these Taiwanese studies apply only to severe HSV1 (or VZV) infections, which are rare.

Ideally, we would study dementia rates amongst people who have suffered mild HSV1 infection, including herpes labialis [cold sores] or mild genital herpes, but these are far less likely to be documented.

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Cause and effect  The Alzheimers Society said the research doesnt show a cause-and-effect relationship between herpes and dementia (Picture: Getty)

Prof Itzhaki has previously shown that cold sores occur more frequently in carriers of APOE-?4  a gene variant that increases the risk of Alzheimers.

Our theory is that in APOE-?4 carriers, reactivation is more frequent or more harmful in HSV1-infected brain cells, which as a result accumulate damage that culminates in development of Alzheimers, Prof Itzhaki added.

Viral DNA is located very specifically within plaques in post-mortem brain tissue from Alzheimers sufferers.

The main proteins of both plaques and tangles accumulate also in HSV1-infected cell cultures  and antiviral drugs can prevent this.

The Alzheimers Society said the paper highlighted existing studies that suggest people who have the herpes virus infection may be more likely to develop dementia, but due to the nature of the research it does not show a cause and effect relationship between herpes and dementia.

The charitys head of research Dr James Pickett said: Herpes is a hot topic in dementia research, as the infection appears to be more common in the brains of people with Alzheimers compared to healthy brains  but we dont yet know enough about the relationship between the two.

The link between herpes and dementia isnt something that we feel people should worry about, although its sensible general advice to seek treatment for persistent cold sores.

Dementia is not contagious and shouldnt be thought of as an infectious disease.

More research is needed to find out whether antiviral drugs can reduce dementia risk. Someone in the UK develops dementia every three minutes, and our scientists at the UK Dementia Research Institute are working hard to understand why, so that we can find ways to beat it.

The research is published in Frontiers in Ageing Neuroscience.
By Krisztina Than BUDAPEST (Reuters) - A planned new Holocaust museum in Budapest has divided Hungary's Jewish community and triggered international concerns that it will downplay the wartime role of Hungarians in the persecution and deportation of Jews. Prime Minister Viktor Orban's right-wing government plans to open the museum next year to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the deportati7on of Hungarian Jews to death camps in German-occupied Poland. More than half a million Hungarian Jews were among six million Jews killed in Europe during the Holocaust. In a Sept. 7 decree the government granted ownership of the new museum, called the House of Fates, to the Unified Hungarian Jewish Congregation (EMIH), one of the three registered Jewish groups in Hungary. The permanent exhibition, to be set up by the EMIH with government help and housed in a former railway station, will be based on the concept of historian Maria Schmidt, who is an ally of Orban and owns a pro-government weekly. It will use personal histories to explore the 1938-48 period in Hungary, with particular focus on children, and will also feature temporary exhibitions and education programs. But the project, first announced in 2014, has drawn criticism from Israel's Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center. "The museum concept clearly avoids addressing the role and responsibility of... Hungarian leaders of that era for the plight of the nation's Jews, and their eventual abandonment to the hands of Nazi Germany," Robert Rozett, Director of the Yad Vashem Libraries, said in a statement last month. It also seeks to gloss over the role of ordinary Hungarian citizens, he said. "It is implied that Hungary was actually a nation of rescuers. This is a grave falsification of history." BLOODY HISTORY The head of EMIH, Rabbi Slomo Koves, said the museum remained open to suggestions from others, including Yad Vashem, adding that only about half of the concept was so far ready. Koves said he wanted to give young visitors "an emotional relation to the story" along with all relevant context. Hungary began ostracizing and discriminating against Jews under its right-wing ruler Miklos Horthy long before World War Two, when it was an ally of Nazi Germany. In 1944 the Germans invaded Hungary to stop it switching sides and in just eight weeks, with the collaboration of the authorities, some 437,000 Hungarian Jews were deported to the Auschwitz death camp. Tens of thousands of others were herded into ghettos in Budapest and killed, mostly by Hungarians. The World Jewish Congress has suggested that Hungary put the museum under the supervision of an international body such as Yad Vashem, the U.S. Holocaust Museum and the Federation of Hungarian Jewish Communities (MAZSIHISZ). The chairman of MAZSIHISZ, Andras Heisler, echoed that call, adding: "We've received much support from the government but this... dividing of the Jewish community affects us very negatively." Orban told parliament this month the opening of the museum could wait until the disputes surrounding it "die down". Budapest already has a Holocaust Memorial Center in a former synagogue that was opened in 2004. Orban has repeatedly declared a policy of zero tolerance on anti-Semitism but has also risked angering Jews with remarks about "ethnic homogeneity" apparently aimed at right-wing voters and has been accused of trying to whitewash Hungary's past. In 2014 Orban's government erected a monument to victims of the Nazi occupation that critics said depicted Hungarians only as passive victims, absolving them of guilt. But Orban has also spoken of "the very many Hungarians who chose evil over good". Gergely Gulyas, Orban's cabinet chief, said the government would bear responsibility for the content of the new museum. "We bow our heads before the victims of the Holocaust who became victims because the Hungarian state was unable to protect its own citizens and collaborated in the deportations," he said. (Editing by Gareth Jones)
Harrison Hove watched as the altitude dropped on the live map in the seat in front of him during his flight to Reykjavik Friday evening.

Moments earlier, a ding rang in the airplane and two flight attendants darted to the front. The destination on the map had changed, too, but Hove said no one knew why.

That's when the pilot announced there would be an emergency landing.

"Your mind goes in a billion different directions, like is this a medical emergency? Could we be hijacked? What is going on?" Hove, 34, said over the phone from his hotel room in Saguenay, a city about 200 km north of Quebec City.

The Icelandair plane made a last-minute landing in a small airport outside of Saguenay at about 11 p.m. Friday because of a cracked cockpit window. Hove says passengers were told the nature of the problem after they'd touched ground.

"I could tell on the map it was not Quebec City, but it looked like we were in a very rural area," said Hove, who manages the University of Florida's news stations.

"The captain later explained that should underscore the significance of the problem and why we landed immediately."

The airline said Flight FI688 from Orlando to Reykjavik was over Canada when pilots noticed the crack in the window. It said the crew followed standard procedure and diverted to a nearby airport in Bagotville.

Icelandair said the 155 passengers and seven crew were taken to a hotel to rest. Another plane is set to pick them up at 8 p.m. Saturday.

Hove, who lives in Florida, was with his mother and her partner on their way to an organized tour through Iceland. Hove says they missed the tour and would only have a few days left in Iceland, so they're trying to find a way to go straight home.

For Charlie Love and his family, the flight was supposed to mark the end of a trip. Love, his wife and three teenagers were on their way home to Scotland when the flight made the emergency landing.

"It gives them a story to tell about their holidays," Love said, laughing.

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He said the landing had happened quickly and relatively calmly.

"There wasn't very much drama, though clearly it was a concern."

With files from The Canadian Press
A group of companies led by multinational defence giant Lockheed Martin has been selected as the preferred designer for Canada's next generation of warships, the Liberal government said Friday.

The announcement that the group's BAE Type 26 design won the design competition represents a significant step forward for the long-anticipated $60-billion program to replace the navy's aging fleet of frigates.

"The Canadian Surface Combatant project is the largest, most complex procurement ever undertaken by the Government of Canada. These ships will form the backbone of our Royal Canadian Navy and will be Canada's major surface component of maritime combat power for decades to come," Public Services and Procurement Canada said in a press release.

Procurement and defence officials say this is not the final step; they will now enter into negotiations with the winning bidder to confirm it can deliver everything promised in the complex proposal. (Some observers have compared the process to placing a conditional offer on a home.)

The evaluation, which will take place over the winter, involves verifying the winning company's financial wherewithal to complete the project, confirming that the proposal meets the military's combat requirements and hammering down aspects of intellectual property licences.

Cindy Tessier, head of communications for Lockheed Martin Canada, said today the company is "confident that our proposed solution meets the requirements established, offering the best ship for Canada, with the world's most advanced warship design ...

"Our proposal is a true industry team effort, and we look forward to providing any additional information to the Government of Canada and Irving Shipbuilding. We are ready on Day 1."

The federal government now says it expects to award the final design contract sometime over the winter.

It could be 2023 before construction actually gets underway at the go-to yard for warships  Irving Shipbuilding of Halifax.

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But finally pulling the trigger on a designer is a "huge step," Dave Perry, an Ottawa-based procurement specialist at the Canadian Global Affairs Institute, said in an interview with CBC's Power & Politics. "There's a huge degree of interest in having this done by the spring, and certainly before the next election."

Watch Dave Perry's interview on Power & Politics

Perry said the importance of this order should not be underestimated, as the new ships will provide the navy with the bulk of its ocean-going fleet  vessels that can be used in war, to protect trade routes or to deliver humanitarian aid.

"They can basically do anything the government wants them to do," he said.

Perry said the $60-billion contract to build the frigates will be a major boon for the Halifax shipyard in particular. "When the economic impact starts spinning, it's really going to be meaningful," he said.

Andre Fillion, the assistant deputy minister of defence and marine procurement at Public Services and Procurement Canada, said if the federal government is not satisfied that the top bidder can deliver, it will open negotiations with the second-place team of companies.

Alion Science and Technology, along with its subsidiary Alion Canada, had submitted their proposal based on the Dutch De Zeven Provincien Air Defence and Command (LCF) frigate.

Navantia, a Spanish-based company, headed a team that included Saab and CEA Technologies.

Its proposal was based on the F-105 frigate design, a ship in service with the Spanish navy.

"The former naval officer in me is very excited," said Pat Finn, a retired rear admiral who heads up the Department of National Defence's material branch. "I've been around this for a long time."

Fillion would not say which aspect of the "due diligence assessment" will be the toughest to overcome.

Prior to asking for ship design bids, federal procurement officials spent a lot of time dealing with issues related to intellectual property on the complex systems that will be put into the new warships. Obtaining the necessary clearances is essential in order for the federal government to be able to maintain the vessels in the future.

Failure to do so could cost taxpayers untold tens of millions of dollars  perhaps hundreds of millions  over the five decades the ships are expected to be in service.

Some design changes are expected after the federal government selects an official winner and a contract is in place.

How many changes will be required is a critical question; Finn would only say he doesn't anticipate cutting steel on the new warships for up to four years.

That fuzzy timeline means the program is already months behind schedule. The design competition was launched almost two years ago, when the Liberal government said selecting a foreign, off-the-shelf design would be cheaper and faster than building a warship from scratch.

Finn acknowledged there will be a production gap at the Irving yard in Halifax of about 18 months between construction of the navy's Arctic offshore patrol ships and the frigate replacements.

He added, however, that the federal government is looking at a variety of options to keep the yard humming, including refit work on the existing frigates and possibly building an additional patrol ship, or ships.
By Anna Mehler Paperny TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada's move to legalize recreational marijuana this week is unlikely to immediately trigger a flood of pot-fueled tourism, as tour operators and consumers are unsure about rules governing the brand new industry. There are precedents for Canada to follow in California, Colorado and elsewhere. But observers noted that these U.S. states offering legal recreational marijuana could put a damper on Canada's own pot travel aspirations: Why go all the way to Canada when you can smoke legally a couple of states away? On Wednesday, Canada became the first major industrialized nation to legalize recreational marijuana, sparking huge demand. But those in the tourism industry are meeting legalization with more precaution than promotion. "The tourist is really at the mercy of the drastically changing landscape," said Neev Tapiero, who had a soft launch for his company, Canadian Kush Tours, months ago. "There's still other bugs to work out." The landscape changed on Wednesday with legalization. It will change again in six months when Ontario, Canada's most populous province, allows for private storefronts, and again months after that if edible pot products become legal, he said. Tapiero said he wishes government tourism agencies were more proactive in telling potential tourists what is and isn't legal. Denelle Balfour, a spokeswoman for Ontario's Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport, said a general public awareness campaign directs people to an information site. "We've only had a couple of calls" from would-be tourists asking about legal weed, said Gordon Orr, Chief Executive Officer of Tourism Windsor Essex. "One was, 'Where do we get it?'" Some tour operators are hesitant to highlight the fledgling industry. "We don't use it as a promotion tool," said Christian Wolters, Tour Radar's managing director of North America. "If someone specifically is asking questions we indicate it is legal ... but they have to be careful whenever they go back to their own country." Aaron Bowker, spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, had a tough message for the would-be visitors. "I've been telling people for months now: If you do travel to Canada to recreationally use marijuana and you are a U.S. citizen, you are guaranteed entry to the United States. However ... do not bring it back." On Wednesday, new posters went up at bus terminals across Canada targeted at a specific demographic: cannabis aficionados. Bus tour operator Greyhound's sign tells passengers where to pack the drug, where they can smoke it and, importantly, what to do with it if they're crossing the border: Leave it behind. But don't expect American tourists to be too pot-savvy when they cross the border in search of Canada's legal cannabis, said Ryan McConnell, senior vice-president of Kantar Consulting, a firm that recently researched America's "cannabis-curious." "You're going to find some people thinking it's a free-for-all, everything's legal. That's just not the case." (Reporting by Anna Mehler Paperny; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
By Philip Pullella VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis will seriously consider the possibility of an unprecedented visit to North Korea but some conditions will have to be met, a senior Vatican official said. Such a trip would be a landmark in a nation known for severe restrictions on religious practice. It would be the first by a pope to the reclusive East Asian state, which does not allow priests to be permanently stationed there. South Korean President Moon Jae-in relayed a verbal invitation from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to the pope during a 35-minute meeting in the Vatican on Thursday. "The pope expressed his willingness. We have to wait for it (the invitation) to be formalized," Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Holy See's second-ranking official, told reporters on Thursday evening. Asked if there were conditions that the North would have to meet, Parolin, speaking on the sidelines of a book presentation, said: "This will come later, once we start thinking in earnest about the possibility of making this trip, then we will have to think about conditions in which the trip can take place. "(The pope) is willing to make the trip but a trip of this kind will need serious preparation," added Parolin, who met separately with Moon after the South Korean president held talks with the pope. North Korea's constitution guarantees freedom of religion as long as it does not undermine the state. But beyond a handful of state-controlled places of worship - including a Catholic church in the capital Pyongyang - no open religious activity is allowed and the authorities have repeatedly jailed foreign missionaries. There is little information on how many of North Korea's citizens are Catholic, or how they practice their faith. Kim told Moon, a Catholic, of his wish to meet the pontiff during a meeting last month and the South Korean leader announced before his trip to the Vatican that he would be relaying a message.. The pope, who is due to visit nearby Japan next year, told Moon he would "definitely answer" an invitation from Kim if it arrives, according to Moon's office. A meeting with Pope Francis would be the latest in a string of major diplomatic encounters for Kim this year. The two Koreas have held three summits this year. Kim also held an unprecedented summit with U.S. President Donald Trump in Singapore in June, where the leaders promised to work toward decentralization of the Korean peninsula. (Reporting by Philip Pullella; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
Two law enforcement agencies and the federal tax authority are investigating the use of fake Indian status cards to obtain tax breaks, CBC News has learned.

The RCMP, Quebec's provincial police and the Canada Revenue Agency have separate and ongoing investigations into the use of the cards, according to Indigenous Services.

The department said it "is cooperating" with the three agencies.

A report submitted to federal officials this summer said seven different types of cards have been used in attempts to obtain tax-free vehicles and other goods delivered to the Kahnawake Mohawk reserve south of Montreal.

Crown-Indigenous Relations and Indigenous Services hired auditing firm KPMG in October 2017 to investigate the use of the fake cards, because of their "high degree of resemblance" to real Indian status cards.

KPMG submitted its findings this past July.

"The government of Canada is continuing to assess the findings of this report and it will determine next steps in the coming months," said Indigenous Services in an emailed statement.

The report will also be shared at an upcoming meeting with Kahnawake and the Mohawk community of Kanesatake, which sits west of Montreal, said the department.

DNA tests used to obtain cards

The KPMG report noted all the cards suggested the holder was entitled to rights in section 35 of the Canadian Constitution. An Indian status card is proof the bearer is registered as a status Indian under the Indian Act. The current on-reserve tax exemptions stem from the Indian Act.

"Five [card] types included the Canadian flag or maple leaf," said a redacted version of the report provided to CBC News by the department.

The report said that one card  issued by the Confederation of Aboriginal Peoples of Canada (CAPC)  used the word "government" in between a Canadian flag logo and the word Canada.

"The cards could appear to have been issued by the government of Canada," said the report.

Story continues

CBC

CAPC uses Indigenous ancestry DNA tests conducted by Toronto lab Viaguard Accu-Metrics to determine its card-holding membership.

Earlier this year, CBC News reported the lab returned positive Indigenous ancestry results on two dog DNA samples. The lab also found three CBC employees born in India and Russia had the same percentage of Indigenous ancestry.

Guillaume Carle, the grand chief of CAPC, said he still sends DNA samples to Viaguard Accu-Metrics for testing and doesn't fear the investigations.

"The card is legal; we are recognized as the government," said Carle. "I don't know what they can investigate because we are all legal."

The lab's owner, Harvey Tenenbaum, did not respond to a request for comment.

The KPMG report said the Surete du Quebec (SQ) began its investigation in November 2017 on a referral from police in Chateauguay, Que., which sits next to Kahnawake.

An SQ spokesperson said the provincial police force does not comment on ongoing investigations. An RCMP spokesperson said the force also does not comment on ongoing investigations.

Several groups issuing cards

KPMG investigators met with the Kahnawake Mohawk Peacekeepers during their investigation. They provided 28 occurrence reports involving individuals caught using the cards to receive goods tax-free on the reserve.

Purchases delivered to a reserve for people with Indian status are tax-exempt.

KPMG's report said 24 of the occurrence reports included deliveries of a car, truck or van.

The report said retailers believed the fake cards to be real.

The majority of individuals involved in the purchases lived in Montreal, but others were found to reside in northern Quebec and in the Gaspe Peninsula, said the report.

The report said Kahnawake Peacekeepers seized cards apparently issued by a number of groups including:

Native Alliance of Quebec

Metis Federation of Canada

Gaspe Peninsula, Lower St-Lawrence, Magdalen Islands Metis Aboriginals

Bedeqwe Native Community

Eastern Woodland Metis Nation of Nova Scotia

Mikinak

Confederation of Aboriginal Peoples of Canada (CAPC).

The report said individuals paid between $40 to $1,000 for the cards.

The KPMG report takes particular note of CAPC, which is headquartered in Gatineau, Que.

submitted by Louis Cote

KPMG investigators interviewed an individual  whose name is redacted from the report  who stated that some prospective members paid $250 to CPAC for DNA tests that were never conducted.

The individual told KPMG that some of the DNA test results were photocopied and altered with whiteout.

The report also noted that this individual referred to dog DNA and tap water sent for tests that returned with positive Native American ancestry results.

Carle said the allegations are false, because each test is accompanied by fingerprints and information from federal or provincial government issued ID.

"Dogs don't have fingerprints," Carle said.
By Jeff Mason and David Dolan ELKO, Nev./ISTANBUL (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump joined European leaders on Saturday in pushing Saudi Arabia for more answers about Jamal Khashoggi after Riyadh changed its story and acknowledged that the journalist died over two weeks ago at its consulate in Istanbul. Saudi Arabia said early on Saturday that Khashoggi, a critic of the country's de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, had died in a fight inside the building. Germany called that explanation "inadequate" and questioned whether countries should sell arms to Saudi Arabia, while France and the European Union urged an in-depth investigation to find out what happened to the Washington Post columnist after he entered the consulate on Oct. 2 for documents for his marriage. Turkish officials suspect Khashoggi, a Saudi national and U.S. resident, was killed inside the consulate by a team of Saudi agents and his body cut up. The Khashoggi case has caused an international outrage and frayed political and business ties between Western powers and U.S. ally Saudi Arabia, the world's No.1 oil exporter. Asked during a trip to Nevada if he was satisfied that Saudi officials had been fired over Khashoggi's death, Trump said: "No, I am not satisfied until we find the answer. But it was a big first step, it was a good first step. But I want to get to the answer." Trump's comments about the Khashoggi incident in recent days have ranged from threatening Saudi Arabia with "very severe" consequences and warning of economic sanctions, to more conciliatory remarks in which he has played up the country's role as a U.S. ally against Iran and Islamist militants, as well as a major purchaser of U.S. arms. He had earlier called the Saudi narrative of what happened to Khashoggi credible. Riyadh provided no evidence on Saturday to support its account and made no mention of what had become of Khashoggi's body. French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian called for a full investigation and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, in a joint statement with her foreign minister, said the Saudi account was not enough. "We expect transparency from Saudi Arabia about the circumstances of his death ... The information available about events in the Istanbul consulate is inadequate," the Germans said. German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas called into question the sale of arms to Saudi Arabia. Trump said it was possible that Prince Mohammed had been unaware of the circumstances around the death of Khashoggi, 59. Trump said he would speak with the prince. For Western allies, a main question in the Khashoggi affair will be whether they believe that the prince, who has painted himself as a reformer, has any culpability. King Salman, 82, had handed the day-to-day running of Saudi Arabia to him. Trump, who has forged close ties with Saudi Arabia and the crown prince, said he was concerned that it was unclear where the journalist's body is. Turkish investigators are likely to find out what happened to the body "before long", a senior Turkish official said earlier on Saturday. Officials told Reuters in Turkey on Thursday that Khashoggi's remains may have been dumped in Belgrad Forest adjacent to Istanbul, and at a rural location near the city of Yalova, 90 km (55 miles) south of Istanbul, Turkish sources say the authorities have an audio recording purportedly documenting Khashoggi's murder inside the consulate. Pro-government Turkish newspaper Yeni Safak, citing the audio, said his torturers cut off his fingers during an interrogation and later beheaded him. Trump said no one from his administration has seen video or a transcript of what happened inside the consulate. A group of 15 Saudi nationals arrived in Istanbul in two planes and entered the consulate on the same day Khashoggi was there and later left the country, a Turkish security source told Reuters. SAUDI VERSION Saudi Arabia had until now strenuously denied that Khashoggi had died in the consulate. But the Saudi public prosecutor said on Saturday that a fight broke out between Khashoggi and people who met him in the building, leading to his death. Eighteen Saudi nationals had been arrested, the prosecutor said. A Saudi official told Reuters separately: "A group of Saudis had a physical altercation and Jamal died as a result of the chokehold. They were trying to keep him quiet." Khashoggi's Turkish fiancee, Hatice Cengiz, tweeted in Arabic: "They have taken your body from this world, but your beautiful smile will stay in my world forever." Saudi state media said King Salman had ordered the dismissal of five officials, including Saud al-Qahtani, a royal court adviser seen as the right-hand man to Prince Mohammed, and deputy intelligence chief Ahmed Asiri. The crisis prompted the king to intervene, five sources with links to the Saudi royal family told Reuters. The king also ordered a restructuring of the intelligence service, to be led by Prince Mohammed, suggesting the prince still retained wide-ranging authority. Saudi Arabia's regional allies - including Egypt, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates - issued statements in praise of the king. The dismissed official Qahtani, 40, rose to prominence after latching onto Prince Mohammed, becoming a rare confidant in his inner circle. Sources say Qahtani would regularly speak on behalf of the crown prince and has given direct orders to senior officials including in the security apparatus. The New York Times reported on Saturday, citing U.S. and Saudi officials, that Qahtani created the strategy behind the deployment an online army to harass Khashoggi and other critics of the kingdom on Twitter. People close to Khashoggi and the government said Qahtani had tried to lure the journalist back to Saudi Arabia after he moved to Washington a year ago fearing reprisals for his views. Asiri joined the Saudi military in 2002, according to Saudi media reports, serving as spokesman for a coalition backing Yemen's ousted president after Prince Mohammed took Saudi Arabia into that country's civil war in 2015. He was named deputy chief of foreign intelligence in 2017. A Saudi official familiar with the Saudi investigation said the crown prince had no knowledge of the specific operation that resulted in Khashoggi's death, "There were no orders for them to kill him or even specifically kidnap him," said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity. There was a standing order to bring critics of the kingdom back to the country, he added. (Reporting by Jeff Mason and David Dolan; Additional reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu in Ankara, Stephen Kalin in Istanbul, Yara Bayoumi and Yeganeh Torbati in Washington, Marwa Rashad and Hadeel Al Sayegh in Dubai, Nadine Awadalla and Yousef Saba in Cairo and Thomas Escritt in Berlin; Writing by Chris Sanders; Editing by Alistair Bell)
DAR ES SALAAM (Reuters) - Africa's youngest billionaire, snatched a week ago off the street outside a luxury hotel in Tanzania, was kidnapped in a car that had arrived from "a neighboring country", police said on Friday. Police said they had identified the car's owner and driver, although they declined to identify which country the car had come from, saying to do so might cause diplomatic conflict. Mohammed Dewji, 43-year-old CEO of the METL Group family conglomerate, was seized as he arrived for a morning workout in Tanzania's commercial capital Dar es Salaam last week. Forbes estimates his net worth as $1.5 billion, making him Africa's 17th richest man and its youngest billionaire. His family have offered a reward of 1 billion Tanzania shillings ($440,000) for information leading to his release. Police Inspector General Simon Sirro told reporters in Dar es Salaam that the movements of the car used to seize Dewji had been traced on footage obtained from security cameras before it went out of view while still within Dar es Salaam. "We have got the information on the car owner and the nationality, the driver who was driving it and our people at Interpol are working on it," he said. Interpol is an international body that circulates requests from police forces for cooperation from police in other countries. Police were also conducting a house-to-house search for the kidnapped businessman, Sirro said. Tanzania's neighbors include Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique. METL Group is involved in a diverse range of manufacturing, farming, transport, infrastructure, agroprocessing and telecoms businesses spanning 11 African countries. (Reporting by Nuzulack Dausen; Editing by George Obulutsa and Peter Graff)
NEW YORK, Oct. 19, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pomerantz LLP announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed against Pretium Resources, Inc. (Pretium or the Company) (NYSE: PVG) and certain of its officers. The class action, filed in United States District Court, Southern District of New York, and index under 18-cv-09624, is on behalf of a class consisting of all persons and entities, other than Defendants and their affiliates, who purchased or otherwise acquired shares of Pretium securities between July 21, 2016, and September 6, 2018, inclusive (the Class Period), seeking to recover damages caused by Defendants violations of the federal securities laws and to pursue remedies under Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the Exchange Act) and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder, against the Company and certain of its top officials.



If you are a shareholder who purchased Pretium securities between July 21, 2016, and September 6, 2018, both dates inclusive, you have until November 6, 2018, to ask the Court to appoint you as Lead Plaintiff for the class. A copy of the Complaint can be obtained at www.pomerantzlaw.com. To discuss this action, contact Robert S. Willoughby at rswilloughby@pomlaw.com or 888.476.6529 (or 888.4-POMLAW), toll-free, Ext. 9980. Those who inquire by e-mail are encouraged to include their mailing address, telephone number, and the number of shares purchased.

[Click here to join this class action]

Pretium acquires, explores, and develops precious metal resource properties in the America.

The Brucejack Project, or Brucejack Mine, is a mine located in northwestern British Columbia and is comprised of 4 mining leases and 6 mineral claims currently totaling 3,304 hectares in area. The Valley of the Kings zone is the heart of the Brucejack Project. This is the only material mineral project that Pretium is required to report under Canadian reporting regulations governing mineral properties. Accordingly, the Brucejack Project is essential to Pretiums business and to the public market valuation of the business.

Throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and misleading statements regarding the Companys business, operational and compliance policies. Specifically, Defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) that the Brucejack Project is not a high-grade, high-output mine; and (ii) that, as a result of the foregoing, Defendants positive statements about the Companys business, operations, and prospects were materially false and/or misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis.

On January 23, 2018, the Company disclosed lower gold production for the Brucejack Mine than previously projected, and also delayed achievement of steady-state gold production and operation of the grade control program.

On this news, the Companys share price fell $2.86 per share, or over 26%, to close at $7.93 per share on January 23, 2018.

On September 6, 2018, Viceroy Research published a report entitled Pretium Resources  digging up dirt, alleging, among other things, that the Companys reported grades and reserves are significantly inflated, a much greater amount of waste is being dumped into local lakes, and more explosives are being utilized. The report further alleged that management is scrambling to find consistent, high-grade ore to maintain the charade that its debt and equity are viable.

On this news, the Companys share price fell $0.77 per share, or approximately 10%, to close at $6.94 per share on September 6, 2018.

The Pomerantz Firm, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Paris, is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, the Pomerantz Firm pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 80 years later, the Pomerantz Firm continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered numerous multimillion-dollar damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomerantzlaw.com

CONTACT:

Robert S. Willoughby

Pomerantz LLP

rswilloughby@pomlaw.com

888-476-6529 ext. 9980
Turkey's foreign minister says his country has not shared any audio recordings from Jamal Khashoggi's disappearance with U.S. officials, while the state-run Anadolu news agency said Turkish prosecutors are questioning Saudi Consulate employees over the missing Saudi journalist.

"It is out of the question for Turkey to give [U.S. Secretary of State Mike] Pompeo or any other U.S. official any audio recording," Mevlut Cavusoglu told reporters during a visit to Tirana, Albania.

Pompeo, who visited Saudi Arabia and Turkey this week, told reporters on a plane to Mexico that he's neither seen nor heard such a recording. Citing an anonymous senior Turkish official, ABC News reported on Thursday that Pompeo heard the alleged recording during meetings in Turkey and received a transcript of it.

"Of course, as a result of the investigation so far, Turkey does have some information and evidence," Cavusoglu said. "We will share them with the world when they become fully clear because the whole world, understandably, wants to know what happened to Khashoggi and how it happened."

Turkey's A Haber TV said as many as 15 employees were being questioned on Friday. The station said they included the consul's driver, technicians, accountants and telephone operators.

A report on Wednesday by the pro-government newspaper Yeni Safak, citing what it described as an audio recording of Khashoggi's slaying, alleges a Saudi team accosted the 60-year-old journalist after he entered the consulate, cutting off his fingers and later decapitating him.

Turkish reports say Khashoggi was killed by members of an assassination squad with ties to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The Saudis have dismissed those reports as baseless, but have yet to explain what happened to Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist who wrote critically of Prince Mohammed's rise to power.

Watch the Post's editorial page editor discuss Khashoggi's last column:

Story continues

A Turkish official said Friday that investigators are looking into the possibility that Khashoggi's remains may have been taken to a forest on the outskirts of Istanbul or to another city  if and after he was killed inside the consulate earlier this month.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the secrecy of the ongoing investigation, told The Associated Press that police have established that two vehicles belonging to the consulate left the building on Oct. 2  the day Khashoggi had walked in and vanished.

One of the vehicles travelled to the nearby Belgrade Forest while the other travelled to the city of Yalova, across the Sea of Marmara from Istanbul, the official said.

It was not immediately clear if police had already searched the areas.

Trump warns of 'very severe' consequences

President Donald Trump, who first came out hard on the Saudis over the disappearance but has since backed off, said Thursday it "certainly looks" as though Khashoggi is dead, and that the consequences for the Saudis "will have to be very severe" if they are found to have killed him.

Watch Trump comment on the Khashoggi investigations:

Saudi Arabia has not responded to repeated requests for comment from The Associated Press over recent days over Khashoggi's disappearance.

On Friday, Turkey's pro-government Sabah newspaper printed more surveillance camera photographs allegedly showing members of a Saudi team brought in to Turkey to dispose of Khashoggi.

Beawiharta/Reuters

A leaked surveillance photo published by the same paper on Thursday showed that a member of Prince Mohammed's entourage during several trips abroad had walked into the Saudi Consulate just before the writer disappeared.

The man, identified by Turkish officials as Maher Abdulaziz Mutreb, has been photographed in the background of Prince Mohammed's trips to the United States, France and Spain this year.

This week, Turkish crime-scene investigators searched the Saudi consul general's residence in Istanbul and carried out a second search of the consulate itself. Authorities have not said specifically what they found, although technicians carried out bags and boxes from the consul general's home. He left Turkey on Tuesday.

On Friday, a former head of Britain's MI6 overseas intelligence agency said Khashoggi was probably killed on the orders of people close to Prince Mohammed.

John Sawers, who headed MI6 between 2009 and 2014, said "all the evidence points to it being ordered and carried out" by people close to Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler.

Sawers told the BBC, "I don't think he would have done this if he hadn't thought he had licence from the U.S. administration to frankly behave as he wished to do so."

Sawers said the fate of Khashoggi was a wake-up call to the Trump administration about "just how dangerous it is to have people acting with a sense that they have impunity in their relationship with United States."

Pakistani PM heads to Saudi conference

In related developments, senior government officials from the United States, France, Britain and the Netherlands cancelled out of an investment conference in Saudi Arabia amid questions over the kingdom's involvement in Khashoggi's disappearance.

The kingdom had hoped to use the event, which is set to be held in Riyadh over three days starting Tuesday, to boost its global image. Several top business executives have also cancelled plans to attend, as has the head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Christine Lagarde.

On Friday, Pakistan's Foreign Ministry said Prime Minister Imran Khan would travel to Saudi Arabia next week to attend the conference. It said Khan would also meet King Salman.

Khan has been trying to secure bailout loans from IMF to avoid an economic meltdown and is also seeking loans from Riyadh.
ANKARA/PARIS (Reuters) - The leaders of Turkey, Russia, Germany and France will hold a summit on the Syrian conflict in Istanbul next week, officials said on Friday, a month after Ankara and Moscow brokered a deal to create a demilitarized zone in the northwest Idlib region. Idlib and adjacent areas are the last stronghold of rebels who rose up against President Bashar al-Assad in 2011. The area is also home to an estimated three million people, more than half of whom have already been displaced once during the war. Turkey and Russia reached a deal last month to set up a buffer zone running 15-20 km (9-13 miles) into rebel territory that had to be evacuated of all heavy weapons and all jihadists by Monday. The agreement averted a planned offensive on Idlib by Russia, Assad's biggest outside backer. The four countries will hold the talks on Oct. 27 and will discuss Idlib, and the political process for the resolution of the Syrian conflict, the spokesman for Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan was quoted by state-owned media as saying. France wants to avoid a humanitarian catastrophe in Idlib, and thereby prevent a new exodus of refugees, President Emmanuel Macron's office said. "We want to keep this stability and work from this agreement to move into a new phase of discussions on a political process," one senior French diplomatic source said. "And that it helps launch this constitutional committee that the U.N. is working on so that it meets as quickly as possible." German Chancellor Angela Merkel will focus on the situation in Idlib and supporting the implementation of the Sochi agreement between Russia and Turkey, a German government spokeswoman said. "The Federal Government sees Russia, as an ally of the Assad regime, as a partner with a very particular responsibility," the spokeswoman said. U.N. humanitarian adviser Jan Egeland said on Thursday that Russia and Turkey plan to give more time for the implementation of the de-escalation deal in Idlib. But he cautioned there were still "a million unanswered questions" about how the deal would work, and what would happen if groups designated as terrorists refused to lay down their weapons. U.N. Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura said this week he would step down at the end of November for family reasons, quitting as the Syrian government - backed by Iran and Russia - has retaken most of the country and a political deal remains elusive. (Reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu and John Irish; additional reporting by Riham Alkousaa; Writing by David Dolan, Editing by William Maclean)
UCP attacks media for 'old news' on party platform plans - but was it?

In the U.S., President Donald Trump attacks stories he doesn't like as "fake news."

In Alberta, politicians are attacking stories they don't like as "old news."

At least that seems to be the odd tactic of United Conservative Party Leader Jason Kenney.

He took umbrage this week at stories from members of the legislature press gallery about a speech he gave to the Calgary Chamber of Commerce on Oct. 9.

He didn't call the stories inaccurate or wrong, just old.

One story in the Edmonton Journal  headlined "Quick laws and freezing wages: Jason Kenney outlines plans for power"  explained that a Kenney government would lower the minimum wage for teenagers, put in place a minister of deregulation, and move swiftly to scrap swaths of NDP policy in a special session of the legislative assembly next summer.

(Full disclosure: I used to work for The Journal).

'Hit the ground running'

"We think it will be important to hit the ground running should Albertans give us a mandate," Kenney told the chamber audience, referencing a former New Zealand finance minister who enacted major job cuts to overhaul the public sector. "You move quickly. You move with speed because speed creates its own momentum. It also makes it harder for the opponents of reform to obstruct it."

Kenney said he wanted to consult with Albertans now, not later, "so we don't get bogged down" in consultations during what Kenney has called the "Summer of Repeal" after the election, when the UCP will repeal what it sees as the worst elements of the NDP agenda.

Not surprisingly, the story sparked outrage from the NDP government that accused Kenney of, among other things, plotting to overturn new labour legislation that protects pregnant workers from being fired.

"This is all part of a stark choice that Albertans face," said Environment Minister Shannon Phillips, who happily provided the government's reaction to Kenney's comments. "At least we are now getting to know Jason Kenney and Albertans are being introduced to Jason Kenney's ideas."

Story continues

Responding to his critics, Kenney used a Facebook posting to ridicule opponents of his bulldozer approach to legislation as "some over-caffeinated NDP-types."

Nothing new, UCP insists

Then @Unite Alberta  the official Twitter account for Kenney's office  issued a series of tweets saying "there was nothing new" in Kenney's comments to the chamber of commerce and went on to vilify press gallery journalists by saying they only covered the story "because the NDP told them the speech now needed to be covered."

It was a response both thin-skinned and paranoid. Not to mention exceptionally odd.

Kenney and his office weren't accusing the Edmonton Journal or other media at the Edmonton-based press gallery of getting the story wrong, just that the story happened a week before.

The fact is the UCP didn't like that Kenney had made himself sound a tad draconian by declaring he didn't want to get "bogged down" in consultations with Albertans and that moving quickly to scrap legislation "makes it harder for the opponents of reform to obstruct it."

Some of the things Kenney talked about are indeed not new  but the way he said it is. He is being much clearer now, for example, on his plans to speedily and ruthlessly overturn much of the legislation the NDP has introduced.

This is what piqued the interest of Edmonton Journal political writer Emma Graney. She's based in Edmonton and wasn't at Kenney's Calgary speech.

When she got around to viewing Kenney's comments online she, as someone who covers Alberta politics in detail, saw some news value and wrote a story  only to be attacked by Kenney's Twitter account for writing old news and being an NDP stooge.

Story was accurate

That led to a remarkable series of tweets from Graney having to explain to Kenney and the UCP that she was simply doing her job as a journalist.

And her story wasn't even critical. It was accurate.

What seems to be at the heart of Kenney's irritation with the news media this week is that he doesn't like the scrutiny.

As one of the Unite Alberta tweets complained: "Strange when some journalists view their role as holding the opposition to account."

Newsflash to Kenney: it's the role of journalists to hold all politicians to account, government and opposition.

That's especially the case when the leader of the official Opposition has an excellent chance of becoming Alberta's next premier, according to public opinion polls.

Kenney has plans to roll up his sleeves in a special post-election session of the legislature next summer to invoke major changes on the province.

Albertans deserve to know exactly what Kenney has up those sleeves before they go to vote.
Viettel Cameroun S.A commit to strive for Cameroon people :: CAMEROON

VIETTEL GLOBAL INVESTMENT JOINT STOCK COMPANY, a company duly established and operating in Vietnam with headquarter domiciled at Level 39th and 40th, Keangnam Hanoi Landmark Tower, Hanoi, Vietnam is currently the 70% majority shareholder, in joint venture with the 30% local shareholder Bestinver Cameroon S.A (Bestcam)with its promoter Mr. Baba Ahmadou Danpullo, of the telecommunication companyViettel Cameroun S.A (whose registered brand-name is Nexttel). Being remained as an integral part of our business, Viettel Global Investment JSC and its Cameroon-based subsidiary Viettel Cameroun S.A commit to strive for Cameroon people, objecting all efforts to jeopardize the partnership, underestimate the investment and purportedly defaming our reputation.

Viettel Global Investment JSC and the Cameroon-based subsidiary Viettel Cameroun S.A commit for the benefit of the Cameroon people, bringing to this African country the advanced technologies,experienced telecommunication managerial advantages, creating jobs and respecting Cameroons laws and regulations, Viettel Global Investment JSC,General Director cum Legal Representatvie, Mr.DO Manh Hung said in a statement, responding to current misleading information about false operation of the company and its Cameroon-based joint venture.

The truth is that Viettel Cameroun S.A, having inherited from the strong, standardized and sustainable investment of Viettel Global Investment JSC, has been growing dramatically since the commencement of telecommunication service four years ago, following the Convention of Concessionentered into with the Government of Cameroon in 2012. Until December 31st 2017, Viettel Global Investment JSC has invested successfully a total amount ofFCFA 201 billioninto Viettel Cameroun S.Ain the forms of investment capital (share capital, shareholder loans) and other types of commercial supports. Establishing the third telecommunication network in Cameroon and rolling out business operation, with the great support from Viettel Global Investment JSC, Viettel Cameroun S.A has quickly and successfullybuiltthe largestinfrastructure completely throughout the nation, with 2500 2G/3G stations and 8000 kilometres of optical cables.

Our local operator, Viettel Cameroun S.A, so far, has been incredibly growing in all shape and size. This telecommunications service provider now has 4,5 million subscribers, with the coverage erea spreading to most remote rural areas in Cameroon. Viettel Cameroun S.A is also the first company to provide 3G connection with the lowest prices in both inbound and outbound services, while also being the first one to provide mobile television application. Inheriting lots of advantages from its parent company, Viettel Cameroun S.A has achieved threeASCOM awards  the nations most remarkable and reputable prize in telecommunications, namelyThe best Internet service provider (2015), The best Internet service provider (2016), and The best mobile television application (2016). These achievements benefit to not only Viettel Cameroun S.A but also the remaininglocal joint venture partner, Bestcam, as the company has been inheriting the technological, managerial advantages from the majority Vietnamese investor.

Until now, there have been approximate 100,000 Cameroonian get the stable employment by joining in the supply chains of Viettel Cameroun S.A. Among 1,000 employees working at Viettel Cameroun S.A, Cameroonian accounts for 94%, and 85% of the management team is local Cameroonian. The Vietnamese employees are working side by side with their local colleagues and trying to train and transfer technologies to the local collaborators.

Viettel Cameroun S.A employs 2000 mobile sales representatives (D2D) and possesses 80,000 sales points, with 90 authorised dealers, ensuring the most comfortable and easy access to all and every Cameroonian residents. Viettel Cameroun S.A is the network provider with the expertise and ability to transform the lives of its customers and prospects through technology innovation. Through its

aCameroon-based subsidiary,Viettel Global Investment JSC aims to provide the latest in experience and the latest technology to the people of Cameroon, which has beenflourishing the countrys economy and creating more contribution to the society.

The Minister of Cameroonian Ministry of External Affairs, H.ELejeune Mbella Mbella admitted Viettel Cameroun S.A as a symbol for the success of the bilateral cooperation. Thesubsidiary created by Viettel Global Investment JSC in Cameroon is the largest, yet the fundamental project of Vietnam in Cameroon until now. Experts say, Viettel Cameroun S.A is the service provider that owns huge ability to excel the life of consumers into the next level by digital transformation as the company is pushing towards providing the most innovative technologies to Cameroonian. Therefore, there are numerous services of Viettel Cameroun S.A being provided and operated in Cameroon such as telecommunication services, Internet and others. Besides, the project also invests in building telecommunication infrastructure, cable television and digital terrestrial television facilities in Cameroon.

As a part of Viettel Global Investment JSCs business philosophy, Viettel Cameroun S.A has been operating many corporate social responsibility projects in order to give a hand for the development of Cameroon. One of the most prominent ones is the Nexttel Healthcare Program, initiated by Viettel Cameroun S.A since 2016 until now. With the total expense up to 20 million FCFA per annum, the program aims to offer free healthcare service for all underprivileged people living across the rural area in Cameroon. For nationwide coverage, Viettel Cameroun S.A joins hand with a charitable healthcare organization with 60 doctors, along with the support from local governments to offer free health check and healthcare service for 15,000 Cameroonians until now.

All regions that Nexttel Healthcare Program sets their foot on see a real festival atmosphere - lively, hopeful and cheering, as all the residents there are offered free healthcare services, free medicine, whilst being able to help the community by activities such as cleaning up the surrounding environment. Also, they are equipped with essential information and knowledge on taking care of their own health, especially in preventing malaria. The program has been admitted to be successful in term of the humane message and effectiveness in making the good for the Cameroonian society, whilst emphasizing the brand among their audiences.

Viettel Global Investment JSC and its Cameroon-based subsidiary Viettel Cameroun S.A have been working hard and tirelessly for the benefits of the nation and the people of Cameroon. All the efforts to defame the Vietnamese investor, to jeopardize the partnership in the joint venture and threat the investment of Viettel Global Investment JSC will trample up the Cameroonian Governments effort in attracting foreign capability, especially investment from Asia, for economic recovery and social revival, and that also is a hazardous action to damage national benefits of Cameroon./.
TORONTO, Oct. 19, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Biome Grow Inc. (Biome or the Company) (CSE: BIO) announces that it has issued an aggregate of 400,000 options, each option exercisable for a common share in the capital of the Company (Common Share) at an exercise price of $1.60 per Common Share, vesting on todays date and expiring on October 19, 2021, all such options issued under the Companys stock option plan approved by shareholders of the Company on June 27, 2018. Of the aggregate 400,000 options, 100,000 options were granted to each of the non-management directors of Biome, constituting Brett James, George Smitherman, J. Mark Lievonen and Steven Poirier.



The Company also announces its issuance of an aggregate of 75,625 Common Shares at a price per Common Share equal to $1.60 ($121,000 in aggregate), such price per Common Share representing the closing market price of the Common Shares as reported on the Canadian Securities Exchange on the date immediately preceding the date on which the Common Shares were issued and the issuance of 625 Warrants, each whole Warrant entitling the holder thereof to acquire a Common Share at an exercise price of $1.60 for a period of two (2) years from the date of issuance, to satisfy payment obligations owing for the same aggregate amount by Cultivator Catalyst Corp. (CCC), the Companys wholly-owned subsidiary, for advisory and referral services performed in connection with CCCs acquisition of Highland Grow Inc. (formerly THC Dispensaries Canada Inc.) on May 19, 2017 and for finder services in connection with a past capital raising round of CCC.

Finally, the Company announces the exercise of 368,750 Warrants at an exercise price of $0.20 per Common Share and of 1,665 Warrants at an exercise price of $0.30 per Common Share. The exercise of the Warrants resulted in an issuance of 370,415 Common Shares and provided the Company with aggregate gross proceeds of $74,249.50.

Following issuance of the securities described above, the Company will have a total of 107,763,769 Common Shares issued and outstanding and 1,840,357 Common Shares reserved for issuance pursuant to the due and proper exercise of options and Warrants.

The securities mentioned herein have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the Securities Act), or any state securities law and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from registration under the Securities Act and applicable state securities laws. This news release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities, nor shall there be any sale of securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction.

For further information, please contact:

Alise Mills

amills@sussex-strategy.com

778-928-0267

About Biome

Biome owns four wholly-owned subsidiaries: Highland Grow Inc., a licensed producer in Nova Scotia under Canadas Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes Regulations (ACMPR); The Back Home Medical Cannabis Corporation, a company incorporated under the laws of the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador and in the late stages of applying for a license under the ACMPR; P-209, a company incorporated under the laws of the Province of Ontario and in the late stages of applying for a license under the ACMPR and; Weed Virtual Retail Inc., a company incorporated under the laws of the Province of Ontario in the business of operating a new virtual reality technology platform focused exclusively on the medical and recreational cannabis markets. Biome is a Canadian-based company with national and international business interests.

Forward-Looking Information

This news release contains forwardlooking statements and forwardlooking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws. These statements relate to future events or future performance. All statements other than statements of historical fact may be forwardlooking statements or information. Generally, forward-looking statements and information may be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as plans, expects or does not expect, proposed, is expected, budgets, scheduled, estimates, forecasts, intends, anticipates or does not anticipate, or believes, or variations of such words and phrases, or by the use of words or phrases which state that certain actions, events or results may, could, would, or might occur or be achieved. More particularly and without limitation, this news release contains forwardlooking statements and information concerning the Companys planned securities issuances. Forward-looking statements consist of statements that are not purely historical, including any statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions regarding the future. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve numerous assumptions, known and unknown risks and uncertainties, both general and specific, that contribute to the possibility that the predictions, estimates, forecasts, projections and other forward-looking statements will not occur. These assumptions, risks and uncertainties include, among other things, the state of the economy in general and capital markets in particular, the ability to achieve its goals, and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of the Company. Forward-looking statements contained in this press release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement.

Factors that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements include, the continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market or business conditions, failure of counterparties to perform their contractual obligations, litigation, the loss of key directors, employees, advisors or consultants and fees charged by service providers.

The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date of this press release. Except as required by law, the Company disclaims any intention and assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Additionally, the Company undertakes no obligation to comment on the expectations of, or statements made by, third parties in respect of the matters discussed above. The Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Market Regulator (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.
An Original Harley-Davidson Pocket Watch Reborn As A Unique Wrist Watch For A Special Auction To Benefit The National Watch and Clock Museum



FORT COLLINS, Colo., Oct. 20, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Colorado-based Vortic Watch Company, recently completed the manufacture of a unique wristwatch using an original, one-of-a-kind 1920 Harley-Davidson pocket watch. Partnering with the National Watch and Clock Museum in Pennsylvania, this one of a kind Vortic timekeeper will be auctioned with the proceeds benefiting the ongoing mission of the museum.

Every watch we make is one-of-a-kind, R.T. Custer, co-founder of Vortic Watch Company, said, but this watch was so special, so unique and had such a classic American story, that we just had to honor and celebrate its heritage in some way.

The one of a kind watch has been constructed using the original movement (mechanism), dial (face), and hands from the original antique pocket watch. The dial features the Harley-Davidson Logo along with the brand of the original pocket watch manufacturer, South Bend. Everything inside the watch was manufactured in 1920 in South Bend, Indiana. South Bend was one of the great American watch companies, and manufactured thousands of pocket watches, but only a few were customized like this one.

The watchs antique movement was recovered from a long-discarded pocket watch, and had in fact been orphaned from its original case. Vortic specializes in the rehabilitation of such movements, turning them into one of a kind wristwatches that can be worn and enjoyed. Vortic procured the original movement, dial and hands at an auction, along with many other orphaned movements from the same time period. They then meticulously restored it using only original parts, and manufactured a modern wristwatch case for it, using their trademark 3D-printed titanium engineering system.

Historians and collectors have speculated that the original pocket watch might have been made for a Harley-Davidson dealership as a special piece for a valued customer. Another theory is that it may have been altered by the original owner who was likely a Harley-Davidson fanatic. Regardless of the original provenance, it is an iconic piece of American history, and owing to this, Vortic has decided to auction the piece to benefit one of their favorite causes, The National Watch and Clock Museum.

We love partnering with Vortic Watch Company, Tom Wilcox, CEO of the National Watch and Clock Museum, said, because we share a similar mission: preserving American horological history. Their watchmakers and engineers in Colorado did a fantastic job preserving this movement and were excited to find it a loving home.

The online charity auction for the watch will begin on November 8th on the National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors eBay page. To be alerted of the auction start, and to learn more, visit VorticWatches.com/Harley . Harley-Davidson owners can also learn more by reading the feature in HOG Magazine, the Harley-Davidson Owners Group official and exclusive publication.

The watch will be on display in New York City at the Windup Watch Fair by Worn and Wound November 2nd through 4th. Learn more at windup.wornandwound.com .

All supporting images and additional information about this release can be found here:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/gl2g4b9z8n41e1y/AACSTqBg1l3ydwIaNKt2PNbKa?dl=0

About Vortic Watch Company

Founded in 2013, Vortic Watch Company combines the cutting-edge technology of metal 3D printing with salvaged and restored antique American-made pocket watch movements to create bespoke wristwatches. Every Vortic watch is a one-of-a-kind timepiece with prices ranging from $1,500 to $7,500. Headquartered in Fort Collins, Colorado, its products are available both online and at select jewelry and watch retailers nationwide. For more information, please visit www.VorticWatches.com .

Contact:

R.T. Custer

+1-855-285-7884

rt@vorticwatches.com

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/31dbde7f-4160-4f97-b876-167027ce5b88




The 12th ASEAN Defence Ministers Meeting (ADMM) and 5th ADMM-Plus was held on October 19 and 20, 2018 Singapore. ADMM and ADMM-Plus serves as key Ministerial-level platforms in regional security architecture for promoting strategic dialogue and practical cooperation between ASEAN and its partners. The conferences were attended by defence ministers from India, Australia, China, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, Russia and US. India was represented by Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. This was second time Singapore has chaired ADMM since its establishment in 2006 and first time to chair ADMM-Plus since its establishment in 2010.

Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)

ASEAN is regional intergovernmental organisation comprising 10 Southeast Asian countries, which promotes intergovernmental cooperation and facilitates economic, political, security, military, educational, and sociocultural integration. 10-member ASEAN comprise of Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Philippines, Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia, Brunei and Laos. India is a full dialogue partner of the ASEAN.

ADMM-Plus

ADMM-Plus is platform for ASEAN and its eight dialogue partners to strengthen security and defence co-operation for peace, stability, and development in the region. Its objective is to promote mutual trust and confidence between defence establishments through greater dialogue and transparency. The inaugural ADMM-Plus was convened in Hanoi, Vietnam in 2010. The defence ministers then had agreed on five areas of practical cooperation, including maritime security, counter-terrorism, peacekeeping operations and humanitarian assistance.
At least 27 people have been killed, including two children, in a motorway pile-up in northern South Africa, a local transport minister and police said.The accident happened when a lorry carrying cement veered onto the opposite side of the motorway after one of its tyres burst, causing the driver to lose control, said Makoma Makhurupetje, transport minister for Limpopo province.Several vehicles were unable to brake in time to avoid the collision, including a crowded 22-seater minibus, Makhurupetje said.The accident happened on the N1 between Kranskop and Modimolle during the afternoon, according to rescue organisation ER24, which attended the scene along with other emergency services.Four of the victims had to be taken for hospital for treatment, police said.
A Kent council has postponed its fireworks display to stop Benny the Beluga whale from being disturbed.The white Arctic mammal has been spotted thousands of miles away from its natural habitat in the River Thames off Shorne Marshes, Gravesend, last month.Gravesham council has now taken the decision to postpone their display at the Riverside Leisure Area on Friday, November 2 until the whale was swum away.Following consultation with the Port of London Authority, the display of fireworks which was due to be set off from a barge will be halted to protect the 3.5m whale.Council leader Cllr David Turner said: 'Following advice from the Port of London Authority, we have decided to postpone the Gravesham Fireworks this year.'While we are very disappointed at having to postpone the fireworks, we understand the need to keep Benny safe, must take priority.'Every effort will be made to reschedule this hugely popular event, but a decision cannot be made now as no-one knows how long Benny will remain in residence here.'While we understand this is also disappointing to the thousands of residents and visitors who enjoy our fantastic fireworks display every year, we have to ensure our special visitor is kept safe and well.'We have considered alternative sites, but there is not a big enough area we can use for the 15,000 people that attend our fireworks display.'Also, the advice given to us is that we should not re-arrange the fireworks to take place near the river in the Gravesend area, as this may still disturb Benny.'Keeping Benny safe has to be our priority while he visits us here in Gravesend, thousands of miles from his usual Arctic habitat. I'm sure everyone, while disappointed by this postponement of the fireworks, will understand.'Gravesham council were told that disturbing the whale would be in breach of the Wildlife and Countryside Act.The council has urged residents and businesses to think about holding their own displays near the river, and have started a social media campaign with the hashtag '#KeepBennySafe' to raise awareness.The fireworks will be rearranged when Benny leaves Gravesend and the council will theme the revised display around Benny, 'ensuring everyone has a whale of a time.'
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is to launch legal action against the government of Ecuador, accusing it of violating his 'fundamental rights and freedoms'.The move comes several months after Ecuador cut off communications for Australian Assange, who has been living inside the country's embassy in London for over six years.WikiLeaks lawyer Baltasar Garzon has arrived in Ecuador to launch the case, which is set to be heard in a domestic court next week.WikiLeaks said Ecuador had threatened to remove the protection Mr Assange has had since being granted political asylum, and added that his access to the outside world had been 'summarily cut off.'It comes as documents released by the Ecuadorean government earlier this week laid bare an unorthodox attempt to extricate the WikiLeaks founder from the embassy by naming him as a political counsellor to the country's embassy in Moscow.But the 47-year-old Australian's new career in international affairs was nipped in the bud when British authorities vetoed his diplomatic status, effectively blocking him from taking up the post in Russia.The files were made public on Tuesday by Ecuadorean opposition lawmaker Paola Vintimilla, who opposes her government's decision to grant Mr Assange nationality.They largely corroborate a recent Guardian newspaper report that Ecuador attempted the elaborate maneuver to get Mr Assange to Moscow just before Christmas last year.Russian diplomats called the Guardian's story 'fake news,' but the government files show Mr Assange briefly was made 'political counsellor' to the Ecuadorean Embassy in Moscow and eligible for a monthly salary pegged at US$2,000.Ecuador also applied for a diplomatic ID card, the documents show, but the plan appears to have fallen apart with the British veto.A letter dated December 21, 2017 from Britain's Foreign Office said UK officials 'do not consider Mr Julian Assange to be an acceptable member of the mission.'An eight-page memo to Ms Vintimilla summing up the episode noted that Mr Assange's position as counsellor was scrapped a few days later.
Theresa May faces a revolt from all sides today over the Brexit endgame as she battles to hold her Government together until the Budget in ten days.Rumours swirled in Westminster today former Brexit Secretary David Davis could be installed in Downing Street to take over the negotiations.Mrs May enemies know defeating her in a confidence vote of Tory MPs is difficult as 158 Tories would have to oppose her - but blocking the Budget, due to be delivered on October 29, will require only a handful of rebels.The Prime Minister is still in Brussels this morning attending an EU-Asia summit but she will return later to fury on all sides of her party.Leading Brexiteer Iain Duncan Smith branded Mrs May's backing for a possible extension to the Brexit transition as a 'capitulation' to Brussels at yesterday's summit.Jacob Rees-Mogg, the ringleader of Brexiteer stories, said the pattern of the negotiation been 'giving the EU what it wants' - warning his group would vote down any extra payments to the EU triggered by a longer transition.And Remainer former minister Lord Bridges said the idea was 'dead on arrival'.But Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt insisted today the Prime Minister was delivering on the 'letter and spirit' of the referendum result.And he claimed the reason a deal was not struck in Brussels yesterday was because the PM 'has not buckled' on the outstanding issue of the Irish border.Ahead of the Budget, an unnamed senior minister told The Times: 'Next week is going to be tricky for [Mrs May], there's no point in denying it.'The DUP warned last week they were prepared to vote down the Budget over Brexit if the deal did not meet their demands. Brexit spokesman Sammy Wilson yesterday derided a longer transition as a 'mad plan'.Foreign Secretary Mr Hunt told the Today programme: 'We are leaving the EU next year with the letter and the spirit of what people voted for in the referendum'What happens if the Budget vote is lost?Mrs May and her Chancellor could try to come up with a new Budget package and vote again.Or the PM could accept she no longer has a majority in the Commons and quit.The Fixed Term Parliaments Act means it will not automatically trigger an election, as it would in the past.Will it happen?Unclear. Theresa May is in a perilous state in Parliament, with only a minority of Tory MPs propped up by 10 DUP MPs.With Labour certain to vote against the Budget, it means a tiny rebellion of Brexiteers could destroy the Budget - but it would be a huge political step.Rebels have already signalled they will vote down tax hikes proposed by the Chancellor.Crucially, if they want to bring down the PM defeating the Budget is much easier to win than a confidence vote among Tory MPs, which would require 158 MPs to vote against the PM.How could May be forced out?Tory MPs can remove their leader. They can trigger a no confidence vote if 48 MPs write to the party's ruling 1922 committee calling for one.Winning the vote requires a simple majority of Tory MPs - 158 of them.Mrs May's critics are widely thought to have the 48 needed to start a contest but maybe not the 158 needed to win.Will there be an election?Losing a Budget used to be a fast track to an election. Law changes under the coalition mean it is much more complicated - both making it more likely the Budget could be defeated and less like Britain goes to the polls.To call election now, there needs to be either a two thirds majority in the Commons or the PM needs to lose a specific confidence vote and Jeremy Corbyn be unable to form a Government after two weeks.May could resign and there not be an election.He added: 'The reason this week has been difficult is Theresa May has not buckled, she has stuck to her principles it is because she has not capitulated that we have not struck an agreement.'Mr Hunt insisted with 'four weeks' until a November deadline, Mrs May had successfully narrowed the unresolved issues down to the Irish border.He warned rebels: 'The great strength of the EU27 is they have stayed united... we need to do the same.'His defence of the PM came after Mr Duncan Smith told BBC2's Newsnight: 'I couldn't understand why we would offer to extend the transition period when we still haven't got anything back in return.'By extending the backstop we are likely to fall straight into the next budget of the EU which will mean tens of billions of pounds extra to be paid across to the EU.'We are in a negotiation but at the moment it begins to look more like a capitulation than a negotiation.'We have got to get some steel in our backbone and do something about actually negotiating, rather than saying 'what would you like?'It emerged today Mr Davis has been calling allies in Parliament about how to change the Prime Minister's policy - prompting rumours of a leadership challenge.'He is definitely on manoeuvres,' one recipient of a call told The Times.Although friends of Mr Davis insist he is only seeking a reversal of policy, not a change in leader, there are said to be a small but growing group of Tory MPs who would like to install him in a caretaker capacity.One senior Conservative said the 'current was flowing' against Mrs May as Brexiteer MPs met to discuss submitting letters of no confidence - with 48 needed to dislodge her.Eurosceptic Nadine Dorries urged MPs to follow her own lead by submitting a letter of no confidence in the PM.Jacob Rees-Mogg said a longer transition was a 'poor attempt at kicking the can down the road', while a source on the European Research Group said Tory MPs were 'on a hair trigger' to call for Mrs May to go.The group has warned Mrs May it will re-write the laws on delivering the Brexit deal to ban any extra payments to the EU caused by a longer transition period.On the Remain side, groups representing more than 100 pro-EU Tory MPs held a meeting to discuss ways of blocking a no-deal Brexit.Former minister Nick Boles, who campaigned for Remain, warned that Mrs May was 'losing the confidence of the party'.Germany and France have told Michel Barnier to be 'more flexible' with the embattled Prime Minister over the Irish border question.Angela Merkel and Emanuel Macron used a private meeting of European leaders on Wednesday to urge the EU's chief negotiator to give Mrs May a legal guarantee that any deal would not include a customers border at the Irish Sea, diplomats told The Times.They are said to be worried that without such a guarantee there would be no way for Mrs May to get a Brexit deal through Parliament.Brussels has insisted the only way of avoiding a hard border is for Northern Ireland to stay under its customs jurisdiction.But Mrs May says that would be unacceptable as it would split up the UK.Critically, the premier's DUP allies - who prop her up in power - are adamant they will not allow it to happen.Extending the transition  which is due to finish at the end of December 2020  means the UK would continue to accept EU laws and the free movement of people, and would involve billions more in payments on top of the 39billion divorce bill. Critics said an extra year could cost 16billion.There were indications in Brussels that Mrs May's gambit could break the deadlock over the issue of the Irish border, which has threatened to derail hopes of a deal.German Chancellor Angela Merkel was reported to have told EU leaders it was time to show 'flexibility' in Brexit negotiations.But this did little to put out the political firestorm at home, with both Brexiteers and some Remainers warning that the concessions were a step too far.There was also concern that Mrs May did not dispute a claim by Helen McEntee, Ireland's Europe minister, that she had dropped her demand for a fixed end date on a backstop plan that could see the UK remain in a temporary customs union after the transition ends.It was unclear, however, whether the anger would end in a leadership challenge, with much of the criticism coming from those who were already attacking Mrs May's approach. A Tory source added: 'It's the same people, they're just shouting louder.'Theresa May wore a bracelet depicting a Mexican artist who had an affair Trotsky as she appeared for the latest event in Brussels today.The Tory Prime Minister wore the chunky bangle bearing Frida Kahlo's self portrait. Mrs May has worn the bracelet repeatedly, famously during a high profile conference speech.The Mexican artist had an affair with Trotsky - one of the masterminds of Russian revolution - in the 1930s.The pair became lovers after Trotsky fled to Mexico in 1937 after he was exiled from Russia by his nemesis Stalin.Trotsky was killed in Mexico by an assassin, sent by Stalin, who hit him in the head with an ice pick.Despite the firestorm of opposition, Mrs May's willingness to extend the transition is also thought to have the support of some prominent Cabinet ministers.Business Secretary Greg Clark, Chancellor Philip Hammond and International Trade Secretary Liam Fox all told the PM she was on the right track.Environment Secretary Michael Gove and Commons leader Andrea Leadsom  both Brexiteers  are also said to have indicated they could live with the compromise. Yesterday, other Tories urged the party to get behind Theresa May and stop sniping.Former minister Gary Streeter said: 'We are making the mistake of reacting to the ebb and flow of negotiations rather than judging the deal at the end.'But there were positive noises from Brussels, with European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker saying an extended transition was 'a good idea' and a deal 'will be done'.Speaking in Brussels, Mrs May played down the criticism back home, and hinted that further concessions may be needed to seal a deal, warning of 'more difficult moments as we enter the final stages'.However, some Brexiteer ministers gave coded criticisms, with International Development Secretary Penny Mordaunt dismissing the idea of staying bound to the EU for longer, adding: 'That is not the position. The Prime Minister has been very clear about when the implementation period will come to an end.'Mr Gove said it was vital that Brexit occurred 'at the earliest possible point'.But Tory moderates urged MPs to back the PM. Simon Hart, founder of the Brexit Delivery Group of 80 Tory MPs, said critics were 'weakening our negotiating position'.A Whitehall source said Mrs May had offered concessions on the Irish border to 'unblock' talks that collapsed at the weekend, adding: 'We have got to get movement on this issue. It is holding everything back. If we don't solve it, we're stuck.'Theresa May will return from Brussels today facing revolts on all sides of the Brexit debate - both inside her party and in wider politics.The Prime Minister published her Brexit plan in July following the Cabinet showdown at Chequers and is sticking to it - despite its rejection by several factions in her party and the EU.Mrs May is sticking by her plan for Britain to voluntarily follow the EU's rulebook on goods, while keeping freedoms around its services sector and striking trade deals.But who are the rival factions and what do they say they are the alternatives?Brexiteers in the European Research Group (ERG)Who are they?Led by Jacob Rees-Mogg, the ERG counts Boris Johnson, David Davis and other former ministers including Steve Baker and Iain Duncan Smith.Estimates vary on how many members it has. It secured 62 signatures on a letter to the PM in February while Mr Baker has claimed the group has a bloc of 80 Tory MPs willing to vote against May's plans.What do they want instead?The ERG has said Mrs May should abandon her plans for a unique trade deal and instead negotiate a 'Canada plus plus plus' deal.This is based on a trade deal signed between the EU and Canada in August 2014 that eliminated 98 per cent of tariffs and taxes charged on goods shipped across the Atlantic.The EU has long said it would be happy to do a deal based on Canada - but warn it would only work for Great Britain and not Northern Ireland.The ERG say the model can be adapted to work for the whole UK. They say Northern Ireland can be included by using technology on the Irish border to track goods and make sure products which don't meet EU rules do not enter the single market.They also say it would give complete freedom for Britain to sign new trade deals around the world to replace any losses in trade with the EU.The group is content to leave the EU without a deal if Brussels will not give in.What are the pros and cons?PROS: A clean Brexit after transition with no interference from the EU in how Britain runs its affairs and complete freedom to strike trade deals.CONS: New hurdles to existing cross-Channel trade - potentially harming just-in-time deliveries to industries such as car making. Does not currently cover Northern Ireland.Why won't the Government support it?Mrs May says a Canada-style deal is not good enough for Britain. She says it would slow down goods coming across the Channel, which are currently subject to no checks at all.It also does not include services - a major British industry, particularly in banking and other financial work. The PM has also warns it would take a long time to negotiate.AnalysisThe ERG has been endorsed by the Economists for Free Trade group, chaired by Thatcherite Patrick Minford. It has more positive forecasts generally on the impact of Brexit on the economy and backs the ERG belief quitting the EU will help business.It is dismissed as hard-line by most other commentators. Most official forecasts of the economy are pessimistic about Brexit generally and a hard Brexit in particular.Moderates in the Brexit Delivery Group (BDG)Who are they?A newer group, the BDG counts members from across the Brexit divide inside the Tory Party. It includes former minister Nick Boles and MPs including Remainer Simon Hart and Brexiteer Andrew Percy.There are thought to be around 50 members.What do they want instead?The BDG prioritises delivering on Brexit and getting to exit day on March 29, 2019, without destroying the Tory Party or the Government. If the PM gets a deal the group will probably vote for it - but is cross about extending transition.It is less interested in the exact form of the deal but has said Mrs May's Chequers plan will not work.Mr Boles this week set out a proposal for Britain to stay in the European Economic Area (EEA) until a free trade deal be negotiated - effectively to leave the EU but stay in close orbit as a member of the single market.Under the Boles plan, Britain could eventually sign a Canada-style deal with the EU favoured by the hard line Brexiteers but until then stay as close to the bloc as possible.What are the pros and cons?PROS: If Britain joins the EEA, there is no change in current trading rules for businesses and much greater certainty while a trade deal is negotiatedCONS: With no end in sight, Britain would keep paying into the EU coffers, keep its doors open to EU migrants and risks the UK being kept in the 'waiting room' for years instead of a full Brexit.Why won't the Government support it?EEA membership is effectively EU membership but without any of the voting rights. It means free movement would continue, many EU subscription fees would still apply and the European Court would still impose most of its rulings.There is also concern that Britain in the EEA would be such a good outcome for the EU, it would never seriously negotiate on a full trade deal.AnalysisBig business groups such as the CBI are on board with anything that keeps Britain inside the EU single market so would probably back an EEA-based plan.Following the stalemate at the October summit, this is what is supposed to happen next:Mid November, 2018: The deal could be finalised, at least at negotiator level. A planned emergency summit is currently shelved.December 13-14, 2018: The next leader's summit and seen by many as the last chance to seal a deal.Late December, 2018-early January, 2019: The meaningful vote in Parliament. This is probably the main make-or-break moment to decide if Theresa May's deal will work.February, 2019: Ratification of the deal in the EU Parliament. Should be a formality if the deal has passed the UK Parliament.March 29, 2019: Exit day where transition is supposed to begin.December 31, 2020: The current date for ending transition - but this now could be delayed.2021-2025: In theory, the final trade deal comes into force.During the referendum campaign, economic think tank the IFS warned joining the EEA would cost about 4billion a year - wiping out much of the saving on EU membership fees.Pro-Brexit economists say it is the worst of all worlds - accepting rules from the EU without a say but no freedom to strike new trade deals.Unrepentant Remainers in the People's VoteWho are they?A handful of Tory MPs - mostly former ministers - who never supported Brexit an think the failure of politicians to get a deal means Parliament should hand it back to the people. The group includes Anna Soubry, Dominic Grieve and Justine Greening.What do they want instead?A so-called People's Vote. The exact timing still needs to be sorted out but broadly, the group wants the Article 50 process postponed and a second referendum scheduled.This would take about six months from start to finish and they group wants Remain as an option on the ballot paper, probably with Mrs May's deal as the alternative.There are established pro-Remain campaigns born out of the losing Britain Stronger in Europe campaign from 2016. It is supported by Tony Blair, the Liberal Democrats and assorted pro-EU politicians outside the Tory party.What are the pros and cons?PROS: Could end the political impasse in Parliament and give politicians a clear indication of what voters really want from Brexit.CONS: Risks undermining voters trust if they believe they already gave a clear verdict last time around.Why won't the Government support it?Mrs May has repeatedly ruled out calling another referendum, calling it a betrayal of the 2016 referendum.AnalysisConsensus is there is simply no time. There is no agreement on what any question should be or when a referendum should be held.Business wants certainty - not another six to 12 months of limbo.The European UnionWho are they?The main players are negotiator Michel Barnier, EU Council President Donald Tusk and the senior national leaders - particularly French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.What do they want instead?Brexit to be over and done with, without undermining the EU or its single market. In an ideal world, the EU would probably agree to cancelling the whole thing.Mr Barnier's negotiating mandate from the 27 leaders gives room to give Britain full membership of the single market and customs union - the Norway or EEA model - or negotiate a trade deal similar to Canada's - if Northern Ireland is effectively left behind to solve the Irish border.Getting a divorce finalised requires a deal on the Irish border acceptable to the EU - the so-called backstop. This essentially means Northern Ireland staying on the same rules as the EU in the absence of a trade deal.Why won't the Government support it?Mrs May has insisted she wants a hybrid deal to reflect Britain's unique status as a current EU member with totally frictionless trade.AnalysisThe EU has so far not shifted its substantive position on Brexit throughout the negotiation - but is thought more likely to compromise the later in the process talks get.Brussels is now broadly on board with a UK-wide backstop but says it will take time to deliver.So is it a sell-out - Or plain common sense?Calm down dears - the plan may work, says Dominic SandbrookOn the face of it, Theresa May's suggestion that Britain could extend its period of transition after leaving the EU looks like weakness.And it's easy to see why ardent Brexiteers are infuriated, not least because it could leave us facing a bill for an extra 10billion. And this on top of a divorce bill currently standing at some 39billion!But there is a difference between a sign of weakness and a recognition of reality. And Mrs May is nothing if not a realist. The central, unanswerable fact is that negotiations with the 27 member states have stalled over the Irish border.And although some insist the issue can be solved through some miraculous but hitherto undiscovered technological fix, no such solution has presented itself.Mrs May's idea of an extended transition is an attempt to deal with that problem. In effect, she is offering to keep Britain inside the customs union and single market for another year  or as she puts it, a few months  so there is no border in Northern Ireland before a new arrangement is found.Judging by some of her opponents' more hysterical effusions, you might think she had offered to tear down Nelson's Column and invited Jean-Claude Juncker to move into Buckingham Palace. In fact, she has merely suggested it might be worth abiding by EU rules for a little bit longer  if it buys us a better deal. Of course it's not ideal. I don't like the idea of paying an extra 10billion more than anybody else. But given that we have spent the last 45 years in the EU, a delay of a few months, even a year, should not strike even the most ardent Leaver as the end of the world.Also, an extra 10billion seems a small price to pay to avoid crashing out without a deal. A no-deal would be a disaster. A drop of 2 per cent in our annual economic growth in the next two years  which would be an unrealistically good outcome  would cost us at least 22billion.By comparison, even an additional 12 months under the EU's umbrella, would hardly be economic Armageddon. We might not like it in principle, but in practice I suspect most of us would barely notice.The fact that Mrs May is a pragmatist is why her MPs put her in Downing Street in the first place. It would be an unconscionable act of treachery and irresponsibility if they stabbed her in the back now.Betrayal leaves us humiliated, says Daniel HannanLet me ask you a question. What do you think is the worst imaginable outcome of our EU talks? Is there something so ghastly that Eurosceptics and Europhiles alike would see it as more painful than either leaving or staying?How about this? What if we kept every dot and comma of our existing EU obligations with only one change, namely that we lost our say over what they were. All of us, surely, can agree that that would be the most injurious status of all. We'd still be subject to the Common Agricultural and Fisheries Policies, to freedom of movement, to the budget levies, to the supremacy of EU over British law.The only difference is that we'd no longer be able to block proposals we didn't like. Indeed, the EU might bring forward measures that were specifically designed to hurt us  by, for example, seeking to shift financial services from London to Frankfurt  and we'd have to comply.You can see why Brussels likes the idea of extending the transition period. It is better than anything Eurocrats had hoped for  better even than the prospect of undoing Brexit, and seeing a humiliated Britain begging for readmission without its rebate. It would give them full control of the UK economy with no British veto.Why are we contemplating the idea? If reports are to be believed, we are ready to be a Euro-colony for at least three years. I say 'at least' because, once Brussels had us in such a position, it would have no incentive to discuss anything further. Our thraldom might become permanent.We're told that we need time to sort out the outstanding withdrawal issues, but hardly anyone believes that. The only outstanding issue is the Irish border. Even if you accept there is a problem  and the relevant customs officials say there is no logistical need for physical checks at the frontier  it is hard to see how an extra year would solve anything.The two sides have set out their positions, and either London or Brussels will have to give way. If that's going to happen, it might as well happen now. An extra year won't solve anything.Supporters of this climbdown seem to think that the only thing that matters is having something that can be technically called 'Brexit'  even if that something patently fails to address all the concerns that both Leavers and Remainers have expressed. In fact, literally any outcome  Norway, Switzerland, no deal, postponing our departure  would be better than non-voting membership. It's extraordinary that that should need saying.EU banks could be BANNED from trading in US markets if Brussels imposes 'completely irresponsible' new trading rules on Brexit BritainBy Tim Sculthorpe, Deputy Political Editor for MailOnlineEuropean banks could be banned from trading in US markets if Brussels forces new reading trading rules on Brexit Britain.A top US regulator said the EU's threats were 'completely irresponsible' and 'wholly unacceptable'.Christopher Giancarlo, head of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), said the EU should not be ordering rafts of regulatory changes.European Union financial regulators want more oversight of how markets outside the EU handle transactions customers inside the bloc.The rules are due to be in place before March and would apply to the City of London after Brexit.Mr Giancarlo warned the changes are too 'expansive' and must be blocked or could be subject to sanction by the US.He said the CFTC has 'strong and blunt' tools it can deploy unilaterally as a last resort without new legislation - including a ban on US firms using European banks.Mr Giancarlo added: 'I am ready to jump on even more planes, trains and automobiles bound for any European capital to work out a sensible approach.'The watchdog has privately warned European officials that the bloc would suffer far more than the United States in an all-out clearing war because US firms are much larger liquidity providers to European exchanges than vice versa.European Commission spokesman Johannes Bahrke said the proposed EU regulations were actually based on existing US rules.He said: 'It is the prerogative of the EU legislator to set the general supervisory framework for central counterparties (CCPs) active in the EU and we would expect third country authorities to respect that, just as we respect the rules and legislative procedures in other countries.'We reiterate that the cooperative oversight we have proposed is modelled for systemically important cross-border CCPs on the United States' own supervisory system.'Read more: Revolt grows over Theresa Mays handling of Brexit talks | News | The TimesBrexit: Macron and Merkel say EU must be more flexible to solve Ireland | News | The Times
Saudi Arabia has finally admitted that journalist Jamal Khashoggi is dead after offering various explanations for his disappearance two weeks ago.The country has carried out its own investigation into what happened to the 60-year-old at its own consulate in Istanbul, Turkey and claimed Friday evening he died following an altercation on October 2.This is the latest claim made by the kingdom, which earlier said Khashoggi had left the consulate alive and well.And President Donald Trump has said he believes the explanation for the journalist's death is credible, despite previous reports torturers severed the journalist's fingers during an interrogation and later beheaded and dismembered him.Scroll down for videosSaudi's attorney general said in a statement: 'Discussions between citizen Jamal Khashoggi and those who met him while he was in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul led to a brawl and a fist fight, which led to his death.'The investigations are still underway and 18 Saudi nationals have been arrested,' the state prosecutor said in a statement to media. 'The kingdom expresses its deep regret.'Saudi Arabia thanked Turkey for its 'exceptional cooperation' in the investigation. It added that it values Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's cooperation in investigating the case.Saudi Arabia claims the suspects went to Istanbul to meet with Khashoggi over the possibility of him returning to the country. He was trying to obtain documents for a marriage license at the consulate.His death occurred after a heated discussion turned into a quarrel and then a fist fight, they allege.The vague statement has not explained exactly how he died, but the suspects then apparently tried to cover it up.A Saudi official told Reuters it was unclear where the body was after it was handed over to a 'local cooperator' but there was no sign of it at the consulate.Saudi has not yet named any of their suspects.However Saud al-Qahtani, the royal court adviser, has been ousted after the country's own investigation.Mohamed bin Saleh al Rumeh, assistant to the president of general intelligence for intelligence affairs, Abduallah bin Khalifa al Shaya, assistant to the president of general intelligence for human resources ,and Rachad bin Hamed al Muhamadi, director of the general department for security and protection in the command of general intelligence, were also dismissed.Deputy intelligence chief Ahmed Assiri was fired and his Twitter account posted a message in Arabic Friday night.The user posted (rough translation): 'I extend my sincere thanks and gratitude to His Holiness the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and His Highness the Crown Prince, for the great confidence they have placed in me and for this great opportunity to honor my national service over the past years ...'I will remain a faithful servant of my country for a long time, and our dear homeland will remain lofty, God willing.'It's not clear whether Assiri posted it himself or whether someone else did so on his behalf.Since Jamal Khashoggi's disappearance, Saudi Arabia has changed its story multiple times.On October 3 , the day after he went missing, officials told Reuters the journalist had visited the consulate and then left.Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud was interviewed by Bloomberg on the same day and said no one knew what happened to Khashoggi.He said: 'We hear the rumors about what happened. He's a Saudi citizen and we are very keen to know what happened to him. And we will continue our dialogue with the Turkish government to see what happened to Jamal there.'On October 4 , a statement from the consulate said it was 'carrying out follow-up procedures and coordination with the Turkish local authorities to uncover the circumstances of the disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi after he left the consulate building.'On October 7 , Saudi officials slammed a Reuters report which claimed the journalist was killed and 15 Saudis flew to Turkey and visited the consulate on the day Khashoggi went missing. The officials called them 'baseless allegations'.On October 9 , Saudi ambassador to the United States, Prince Khalid bin Salman, said claims Khashoggi had been murdered in the consulate were 'absolutely false, and baseless'.He said: 'Jamal has many friends in the Kingdom, including myself, and despite our differences, and his choice to go into his so called "self-exile", we still maintained regular contact when he was in Washington.'The crown prince and the king told Donald Trump they knew nothing about the disappearance, the president said in an interview with the AP on October 16 .On October 19 , Saudi Arabia admitted Khashoggi had died during a fight at the consulate.The New York Times previously said it had spoken to three people with knowledge of the Saudi plans relating to General Assiri, who had earlier served as the spokesman for the Saudi-led military intervention in Yemen before being promoted to his current job in intelligence.Two of the sources said Saudi rulers are set to explain that Assiri had been given verbal permission from the Crown Prince to capture Khashoggi for questioning in Saudi Arabia but that he either overstepped the authorization or misunderstood his orders.According to CBS News Assiri was very close to the country's crown prince.'You don't get much closer,' a source told Kylie Atwood.US President Donald Trump says Saudi explanation for Jamal Khashoggi's killing is credible and a 'good first step'. The American leader said he does not believe Saudi Arabia's leadership lied to him, adding that the US needs Saudi Arabia to counteract Iran.The White House added it is 'saddened' by the confirmed death of the Saudi journalist.'The United States acknowledges the announcement from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia that its investigation into the fate of Jamal Khasshoggi is progressing and that it has taken action against the suspects it has identified thus far,' Press Secretary Sarah Sanders wrote in a statement.'We will continue to follow international investigations into this tragic incident and advocate for justice that is timely, transparent and in accordance with all due process.'We offer our deepest condolences to his family, fiancee and friends.'The country is to restructure its intelligence agencies after the killing of Khashoggi, under King Salman Abdulaziz Al Saud's orders.Salman - who is the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, Al-al-Haram (in Mecca) and Al-an-Nabawi (in Medina) - ordered that a ministerial committee is formed to restructure the General Intelligence Presidency, modernize its regulations and define its powers.The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it was a resolution concerning the journalist's death and is an extension of the Kingdom's commitment to consolidating justice.However the mission is said to be led by his son Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who was suspected of being behind Khashoggi's disappearance in some versions of stories alleging what happened to the Washington Post writer.A Saudi official said Friday the prince had no knowledge of details in the Khashoggi case.'There were no orders for them to kill him or even specifically kidnap him,' said the official to Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity and adding that there was a standing order to bring critics of the kingdom back to the country.'MbS had no knowledge of this specific operation and certainly did not order a kidnapping or murder of anybody. He will have been aware of the general instruction to tell people to come back.'But former British spy Sir John Sawers said earlier on Friday to BBC Radio 4 show, World at One: 'All the evidence points to it being ordered and carried out by people close to Mohammed bin Salman.'I don't think he would have done this if he hadn't thought he had licence from the US administration to behave as he wished.'Sawers, who headed MI6 between 2009 and 2014, said he had based his assessment on conversations with sources in Whitehall coupled with his understanding of Turkey's intelligence services.Some politicians are not convinced by Saudi Arabia's story.Republican senator Lindsey Graham said: 'To say that I am skeptical of the new Saudi narrative about Mr. Khashoggi is an understatement.'First we were told Mr. Khashoggi supposedly left the consulate and there was blanket denial of any Saudi involvement. Now, a fight breaks out and he's killed in the consulate, all without knowledge of Crown Prince.'Democratic Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal also chimed in.He said the explanation 'absolutely defies credibility' adding the country had been 'given a pass' for 'killing innocent civilians'.'The world deserves an explanation, and not from the Saudis,' he told CNN.It had been earlier reported that King Salman was personally intervening in the Khashoggi case after being kept in the dark about the crisis by his powerful son's aides.Initially the king, who has handed the day-to-day running of Saudi Arabia to his son, commonly known as MbS, was unaware of the extent of the crisis, according to two of the sources with knowledge of the Saudi royal court. That was partly because MbS aides had been directing the king to glowing news about the country on Saudi TV channels, the sources said.Since he acceded to the throne in January 2015, the king has given MbS, his favorite son, increasing authority to run Saudi Arabia. But the king's latest intervention reflects growing disquiet among some members of the royal court about MbS's fitness to govern, five sources said.MbS, 33, has implemented a series of high-profile social and economic reforms since his father's accession, including ending a ban on women driving and opening cinemas in the conservative kingdom.Prior to the confirmation Jamal Khashoggi had died, Turkish police announced they were hunting fifteen Saudi suspects in connection with his disappearance.It is not known whether these 15 people are among the 18 arrested by the Saudis.Turkish newspaper Sabah released CCTV images of a group of men who flew into Istanbul on the day Khashoggi went missing after walking into the Saudi consulate.They were pictured arriving at Ataturk airport's border control having flown into Turkey in two private jets from the Saudi capital Riyadh.The group of men identified by Sabah included Salah Muhammad A Tubaigy, 47, the head of the Saudi Forensic Medicine Institute.An expert on forensic evidence, he is known to have trained a large number of police officers in crime scene investigation.Another man, Muhammed Saad H. al-Zahrani, was revealed to have served as one of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman's royal guards - a unit nicknamed the 'rough swords'.Mugshots of the middle-aged men were released alongside details of their ages and travel itineraries.Turkish television also revealed CCTV footage of them arriving at Istanbul airport and making their way through the streets of the city around the embassy.The men arrived at the embassy half an hour before Khashoggi turned up for his appointment.Saudi officials denied reports they sent a 15-man team to Istanbul on the day Khashoggi disappeared, saying that the only team they sent to Turkey consisted of investigators who arrived Saturday to help find the journalist.But he has also marginalized senior members of the royal family and consolidated control over Saudi's security and intelligence agencies.His reforms have been accompanied by a crackdown on dissent, a purge of top royals and businessmen on corruption charges, and a costly war in Yemen.Kahasshoggi had been missing 17 days after entering the consulate to obtain documents for his upcoming wedding. His partner Hatice Cengiz waited outside for hours but never saw him again after he walked in at 1.14pm.Khashoggi was a critic of Saudi Crown Prince.The comments from Saudi on Friday evening marked the first time since Khashoggi went missing that the Saudis admitted to his death.Turkish officials had said they believed he was killed in the building. Saudi Arabia had previously denied the allegations and said Khashoggi had left the building shortly after.Before the Saudi announcements, US President Donald Trump said he might consider sanctions against Saudi Arabia over the disappearance, while emphasizing the importance of the US-Saudi relationship.His son Eric Trump said Thursday on Fox News' Outnumbered: 'Saudi Arabia has actually been a friend to the US in many ways. They're ordering from us, massive, massive orders. Hundreds of billions of dollars worth of arms that will create tens and tens of thousands of jobs.'So what are you going to do you do? You're going to take that and you're going to throw all of that away?'In Istanbul, Turkish prosecutors investigating Khashoggi's disappearance questioned Turkish employees of the Saudi consulate Friday, widening the hunt for clues in a case straining Riyadh's alliance with Western powers.Turkish police searched a forest on Istanbul's outskirts and a city near the Sea of Marmara for Khashoggi's remains, two senior Turkish officials told Reuters, after tracking the routes of cars that left the consulate and the consul's residence on the day he vanished.Investigators have recovered samples from searches of both buildings to analyze for traces of Khashoggi's DNA.Speaking to reporters in Scottsdale, Arizona, Trump said it was too early to say what the consequences for the incident might be, but that the US Congress would be involved in determining the American response.Asked whether Saudi sanctions were one of the measures he was considering, Trump said, 'Could be, could be,' though he provided no details.'We're going to find out who knew what when and where. And we'll figure it out,' Trump added.The US Congress is controlled by Trump's fellow Republicans, some of whom have called for tough action against Saudi Arabia.Turkey on Friday denied giving 'any kind of audio tape' from the investigation into the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo or any American official.'It is out of the question for Turkey to give any kind of audio tape to Pompeo or any other US official,' said Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, two days after meeting with the US's top diplomat for talks in Ankara.Turkey's pro-government press has reported that Turkey has an audio recording that proves the alleged murder of Khashoggi at the consulate and that he was tortured before his death.The existence of the tape has never been confirmed on the record by Turkish officials.ABC News, quoting a senior Turkish official, reported Thursday that during his visit to Turkey this week Pompeo heard this audio and was shown a transcript of the recording. But Pompeo denied the report.'I've seen no tape. I've seen no - or I've heard no tape. I've seen no transcript,' he told reporters during a trip to Latin America.Cavusoglu, like other Turkish officials, stopped short of revealing details of the investigation but vowed they would be shared in due course.'We will share the results to emerge with the entire world. It is out of the question for us to share this or that information with any country,' he said, quoted by the state-run Anadolu news agency.'I will very much listen to what Congress has to say. They feel very strongly about it also,' Trump said.Trump, who said on Thursday he believed Khashoggi was likely dead and has warned of a potential 'very severe' response, has appeared unwilling to distance himself too much from the Saudis, citing Riyadh's role in countering Iranian influence in the Middle East and lucrative potential arms deals.'Saudi Arabia has been a great ally, they've been a tremendous investor in the United States,' Trump said, adding, 'That's why this is so sad.''They agreed to spend $450 billion on buying in and investing in the United States, so I hope we can keep that open... There are plenty of other things we can do,' he said, adding: 'I might know a lot by Monday. I know a lot already.'Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said at the White House Thursday that Saudi Arabia deserves a 'few more days' to get to the bottom of the disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi.Pompeo spoke after he briefed President Trump on his meetings with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh, where he warned the Saudi royal family they have 72 hours to finish the investigation into Khashoggi's disappearance.Sources described a tough meeting between Pompeo and the crown prince, after smiling photos of the two men fed a narrative that the U.S. was willing to assist the Saudis in finding a cover for story for the killing.The Saudis assured him 'they will conduct a complete, thorough investigation of all of the facts surrounding Mr. Khashoggi and that they'll do so in a timely fashion, and that this report itself will be transparent for everyone to see, to ask questions about, and to inquire with respect to its thoroughness,' Pompeo told reporters Thursday morning.'And I told President Trump that we ought to give them a few more days to complete that so that we, too, have a complete understanding of the facts surrounding that. At which point, we can make decisions about how or if the United States should respond to the incident surrounding Mr. Khashoggi,' he said.State-run Anadolu news agency said the Turkish prosecutor's office had obtained testimony from 20 consulate employees, and 25 more people including foreign nationals would be questioned.The consulate employees questioned included accountants, technicians and a driver, Anadolu said. The investigation is being conducted by the prosecutor's terrorism and organized crime bureau, it added.Turkey said it had not shared with any country audio recordings purportedly documenting Khashoggi's murder inside the consulate, dismissing reports it had passed them to the United States.'We will share the results that emerge transparently with the whole world,' Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said.Turkish pro-government newspaper Yeni Safak has published what it said were details from the audio, including that his torturers severed Khashoggi's fingers during an interrogation and later beheaded and dismembered him.U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and senior ministers from France, Britain and the Netherlands have abandoned plans to attend an Oct. 23-25 investor conference in Riyadh.On Friday, the CEOs of Deutsche Bank and ABB, plus Airbus' defense chief and energy historian Daniel Yergin, joined a list of Western business executives who have withdrawn.Pakistan's prime minister and a delegation led by Russian Direct Investment Fund head Kirill Dmitriev plan to participate. Britain's BAE Systems is sending senior representatives.A conference spokesperson confirmed the conference would proceed with an updated program that includes heads of state from the Arab world, Africa and Asia.Read more: - The Washington PostBelgrad Ormannda 'Cemal Kakc' aramas | NTVBody of missing Saudi journalist was cut into pieces, Turkish official says - CNNJamal Khashoggi: Saudi former diplomat called 'pivotal' in Khashoggi's apparent killing - CNNSaudi Arabia confirms Jamal Khashoggi was killed at embassy - CBS NewsJamal Khashoggi: Former top British spy says people close to Saudi Crown Prince ordered journalist's grizzly murder - Mirror Online
It's a shame the second wave of big batteries about to join Australia's main grid did not come with Elon Musk's 100-day-or-its-free promise. Had they done so, the country might have been about to benefit from a lot of free storage!There's no doubt that strings were pulled to ensure that the Tesla big battery, located next to Neoen's Hornsdale wind farm in South Australia, was up and running by the December 1 deadline last year, and well within the 100-day promise.In Victoria, two other big batteries that were tendered around the same time as the big battery in South Australia have finally begun the commissioning process, and should be on-line in time for the official start of this summer, December 1.Both the Gannawarra Energy Storage System and the Ballarat Energy Storage System (GESS and BESS) are likely to play a critical role in helping the Australian Energy Market Operator manage the grid in Victoria, particularly given forecasts of a hot dry summer and stresses on thermal generation.So, too, will the new Dalrymple North battery storage facility on South Australia's Yorke Peninsula.RenewEconomy understands the 30MW/30MWh Ballarat battery, uniquely located in a network junction hosted by Ausnet, has begun commissioning and has been operating at a preliminary level of 5MW, with tests at higher ratings to follow soon.The 25MW/50MWh Ganawarra battery, located next to the 50MW solar farm of the same name, is also poised to begin its commissioning process, RenewEconomy understands, while the 30MW/8MWh Dalrymple North battery in South Australia is in the final stages of that process, having already tested its islanding feature, as we reported here.Both the Gannawarra and the Ballarat batteries have received significant funding from the Victorian government and the Australian Renewable Energy Agency - $25 million out of $34.7 million cost in the case of Ganawarra, and $25 million out of the $35 million cost in the case of Ballarat.The need for such hefty funding from government institutions points to the cost of the battery storage technology  which still has some way to fall  and the fact that Australia's electricity markets still have some way to travel before they unlock the full value of battery storage.The Tesla big battery at Hornsdale forged its own path by landing a $4 million-a-year contract with the South Australia government to provide emergency back-up and grid security, and also carved a profitable niche in the local frequency and ancillary services market, as well as making some money arbitraging the market by charging at low prices and selling at high.The juiciest part of the FCAS market has now been removed, ironically because the presence of the battery  and its speed, accuracy and versatility  meant that AEMO could ditch a grid constraint that had been outrageously gamed by the big gas generators before the arrival of battery.The Victorian big batteries  made by Tesla in the case of Ganawarra and Fluence in the case of Ballarat  will also have to forge their own path to a sustainable business model, although it's going to be complicated.Both batteries will be operated by EnergyAustralia, which will pay each storage installation an undisclosed annual fee. How the batteries are used will depend partly on AEMO's requirements, partly on local constraints, and partly on how they fit into EA's broader portfolio strategy.Andrew Stiel, the head of markets and off-take at Edify Energy, which is the majority owner of the Gannawarra battery, gave some insight into the challenges at the recent All Energy conference in Melbourne.Stiel noted that because Ganawarra was a retrofit, use of the battery would be limited by the fact the local sub-station was rated at 50MW, the same as the rated capacity of the solar farm. That means the battery won't be exporting while the solar farm is going full throttle.Batteries are a smart move for existing solar farms, however, because most substations built for solar projects are only used for eight hours a day. That leaves some hefty infrastructure investments that could be used more effectively, Stiel noted.There are also issues around dispatch. The solar farm is a semi-scheduled generator, while the battery is a scheduled generator, meaning that it is fully under the direction of AEMO's market management. Making both assets fully scheduled is problematic for a bunch of reasons.Stiel suggests a new category that encompasses battery storage  its limitations and opportunities  should be developed. I think the rules need to be changed there  and introduce new classifications to unlock this value.That's not an isolated gripe. Tesla has pointed out that many of its services  super-fast and accurate response to system faults that have been hailed by the market operator  don't actually get rewarded under the current market structure.Much needs to be done to bring the rules and operating structure into the 21st century to reflect the rapid changes in technology, as AEMO itself has acknowledged.The Ballarat system is unique in that is joined into a key network junction rather than a renewable energy facility, and will act in a number of different roles  including helping unlock the network constraint in a region that has limited network capacity but faces proposals for up to 4000MW of wind and solar.It will operate 24/7 to support critical peak demand and frequency control services. It is an asset that is designed to support all stakeholders along that corridor, Fluence's head of business development Jaad Cabbabe told the All Energy conference.The battery at Dalrymple, which an ElectraNet spokesman says is in the final stages of commissioning, after what seems to be an incredibly drawn out process (it was supposed to be on-line months ago), has a different role again.Like the others, it will be able to provide grid services such as FCAS, but in its case it will also be able to create a micro-grid, and use neighbouring wind power (it is situated next to the Wattle Point wind farm) and local rooftop solar resources to ensure local supply is maintained, even if the grid is down elsewhere.And then it will be the turn of a third wave of big batteries to join the grid, and continue the transition towards 100 per cent renewables, with a Tesla battery at the Kennedy wind-hybrid project in Queensland, and a 25MW/52MWh Tesla battery at the existing Lake Bonney wind farm in South Australia currently under construction.These will be followed by the 20MW/34MWh battery at the Bulgana renewable hub near Stawell, Victoria, as well as the 10MW/10MWh battery at the Lincoln Hill Gap wind farm, and a 21MW/26MWh battery next to a solar farm addition to the Snowtown wind farm in South Australia.And these are just the confirmed ones. Numerous other large-scale wind and solar projects are also looking to battery storage  and will likely go ahead with some clarity over market rules, energy policy, and network infrastructure. And, of course, there is pumped hydro and any number of distributed storage installations.
The top US commander in Afghanistan, General Scott Miller, escaped unhurt after a burst of gunfire in the governor's compound in Kandahar province but the powerful police chief General Abdul Razeq was killed, officials said.A senior security official said the governor's bodyguard opened fire and hit Razeq in the back as soon as officials came out of the meeting on Wednesday. The governor and the local head of the NDS intelligence service were wounded.Several Afghan and international security officials said Razeq, one of Afghanistan's most powerful commanders with a fearsome reputation as an enemy of the Taliban, had been killed.Miller, who had been attending a meeting with security officials ahead of parliamentary elections on Saturday, was not injured but two Americans were wounded in the crossfire and had been evacuated, NATO spokesman Colonel Knut Peters said.'Provincial officials including the governor, the police chief and other officials were accompanying the foreign guests to the plane when the gunshots happened,' said Said Jan Khakrezwal, the head of the provincial council.
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador, Oct. 20, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Almas Jiwani, CEO of the Almas Jiwani Foundation and a global voice for gender equality and womens economic empowerment, discussed the powerful role of women in financial institutions, and how they are breaking the glass ceiling in todays interconnected economy on October 10th, 2018. Almas Jiwani spoke at Scotiabanks Women in Middle Management Group event held at prestigious Scotiabank Headquarters (former US Embassy) in San Salvador.

"Equity equals prosperity. Women need increased access to education to equip them with the skills and confidence they need to succeed. Women also need equal access to markets so they can make a greater impact on the economy at local, national and international levels. Breaking these barriers means breaking the glass ceiling, and women and their communities will ultimately prosper, said Jiwani.

"At Scotiabank we promote the empowerment of women, which is why our current workforce is composed of 59% of women, 39% of whom lead senior management positions.

One of our priorities is to develop leaders who reflect our customers and employees. Increasing the representation of women in leadership roles involves a continued focus on identifying and developing women at the senior management level, said Lazaro Figueroa, President of Scotiabank El Salvador.

By inviting Almas Jiwani to share her experiences and raise awareness of the challenges women still face today in the workplace, Scotiabank reaffirms its commitment to women's empowerment, highlighting the positive impact of gender equality in economic and social growth," added President Lazaro Figueroa.

"Womens leadership and political participation are often restricted, due to a lack of financial resources, a lack of confidence, socially constructed barriers such as domestic and familial obligations, and fear of social ostracism. The time has come to pave a new road to economic prosperity with gender equality as its foundation. We need to remember that by advocating for womens rights and empowering women to succeed, we will all reap the benefits," Jiwani added.

About the Almas Jiwani Foundation

The vision of The Almas Jiwani Foundation is to empower women, girls and marginalized communities through focused projects that directly address disparities in equality, education, entrepreneurship and energy rights. The Foundation aims to bridge inequalities through the fostering of relationships among the various actors and stakeholders in global issues, and provide a platform for discourse and action.

Contact information

Almas Jiwani Foundation

Nicole Mankinen

VP, Communications and International Development

info@almasjiwanifoundation.org

www.almasjiwanifoundation.org

Scotiabank El Salvador

Juan Andres Granadino

Corporate Social Responsibility Manager

(503) 2234-4422

juan.granadino@scotiabank.com.sv

scotiabank.com.sv
RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat said, 'Nowhere in the world, healthy and peaceful social life has ever thrived and can thrive merely based on laws and fear of punishment.' (Photo: Twitter | ANI)

Nagpur: Amid ongoing protests at Sabarimala, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat on Thursday said the Supreme Court verdict has not taken into consideration the nature and premise of the tradition that has been accepted by society and has given rise to "divisiveness" in society.

He said questions such as why only the Hindu society experiences such repeated and brazen onslaughts on its symbols of faith, obviously arise in the public's mind and lead to unrest.

"This situation is not at all conducive for the peace and healthiness of the society," the Sarsangh chalak said in his annual Vijayadashmi address, the last before the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, at the RSS headquarters in Nagpur.

Decisions taken without considering all aspects and patiently creating mindset of the society will neither be adopted in actual practice nor will they help in creating a new social order, in tune with changing times and positions, he said.

"The situation arising out of the recent verdict on Sabrimala temple shows a similar predicament. The nature and premise of the tradition that has been accepted by society and continuously followed for years together were not taken into consideration," Bhagwat said.

"The version of heads of religious denominations and faith of crores of devotees was not taken into account. The plea by a large section of women, who follow this tradition, was not heard too," he noted.

The verdict has given rise to unrest, turmoil and divisiveness in the society in place of peace, stability and equality, the RSS chief said.

Bhagwat said, "Nowhere in the world, healthy and peaceful social life has ever thrived and can thrive merely based on laws and fear of punishment."

On September 28, a five-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court, headed by then chief justice Dipak Misra, lifted the centuries-old ban on the entry of women of menstrual age into the shrine located in Kerala.

The iron gates of the temple opened Wednesday for the first time since the court order, but none from the "banned" age group could make it to its hallowed precincts amid a welter of protests and violent clashes.

Women journalists were heckled, their vehicles smashed and young female devotees turned back as hordes of Hindu right activists besieged the road leading to the hill- top temple, abode to Lord Ayyappa.
Bengaluru: The residents of an apartment complex were attacked twice by two sets of mobs for organising a Dandiya dance party in Whitefield police station limits on Thursday.

The first incident took place around 9.30 pm at Isha Misty Green in Channasandra and the victims were mostly women, children and senior citizens.

A bunch of 30 local goons barged inside the residential apartment gate, armed with lathis, and indiscriminately attacked women, some of them pregnant, children and senior citizens, mostly retired army and air force personnel, who were performing Dandiya dance.

The miscreants also vandalised the apartment property and damaged the club house mirror by pelting stones. A woman and a defence veteran sustained grievous injuries in the attack.

A FIR was registered on late Thursday night In Kadugodi police station against six people.

However, the residents nightmare didnt end. When they thought the worst was over they were subjected to a more audacious attack.

A mob of around 20 men came charging towards the apartment, assaulted the security guard and didnt even spare the two policemen, attached to Kadugodi police station, who were deployed there.

A Misty Green resident and a retired air force officer told Deccan Chronicle, We were celebrating dandia night. While all men were in the basement preparing for dinner and had started to serve the food, we heard a commotion. As we ran up we saw a mob attacking everyone with lathis. While trying to save others and myself I sustained multiple fractures in my hand.

He added, What kind of goondaism it is? Pregnant women, children and elderly citizens were beaten up. We are still in a shock and unable to come to terms to what happened?

Nitin (name changed), a member of the resident welfare association and a witness to the entire incident, said the apartment owners had taken all the requisite permission from the police department, BBMP and others to host programme. He said the neighbouring property owner, who also once owned the land on which the apartment stands, had objected to festivities.

According to Nitin, the programme started from October 15. On the night of October 15, they said that we shouldnt play music. A group of residents went to the property owner, Gowda, and told him that it was festival time and assured that no loud music will be played. 

Nitin said there was no problem on the next day. However on October 17, they again threatened us. We had obtained police permission and music noise was within permissible limits and prescribed time. But to our utter shock, on Thursday, when all the women and children were playing dandia, a mob of 30 people came and attacked residents. Pregnant women, small children and senior citizens were attacked. It has created a fear psychosis among us.
Chennai: The Madras high court has made it clear that there shall be no recital/chanting of Tamil Prabandam of Acharya Vedanta Desika at Sri Devarajaswamy temple in Kancheepuram until further orders.

Temple is a place of worship where anybody can pray. Unfortunately, as there is difference between Vadakalai and Tenkalai of Iyengar community, the issue is yet to attain finality. As long as this globe exists in the orbit, their differences would not be resolved. Instead terming themselves as human being, they should first know how to be being human, said justice S. Vaidyanathan while passing orders at a special sitting in his residence on October 18 on a petition filed by K.B. Srinivasan.

The judge said the relief sought for in this petition was to prohibit chanting/reciting of Tamil Prabandam of Sri Vedantha Desika in the evening on October 18 at Devarajaswamy Devasthanam in Kancheepuram. In the main petition (filed by A.K. Suresh alias Satagopan), the prayer was restricted only for the rendition of Prabandam of Acharya Vedanta Desika at Sri Devarajaswamy temple on September 21, 2018. Justice R. Mahadevan has ordered verbally to continue the recital of Tamil Prabandam in the aforesaid temple and that the matter would be taken up for hearing on October 22.

It was represented by the present petitioner (Srinivasan) that when the relief sought for was restricted only to September 21, without taking any further orders from the court, the petitioner Suresh has proceeded to chant/recite in the morning on October 18 and therefore, they should be restrained from chanting in the evening on October 18. Taking note of the above fact, until further orders or modification of this order during the hearing of the petition by Justice R. Mahadevan, there shall be no recital/chanting of Tamil Prabandam of Acharya Vedanta Desika at Sri Devarajswamy temple, Kancheepuram, the judge added.

In his petition, Srinivasan submitted that all the disputes raised by the Vadakalai sect have been resolved by the judgment of this court, the Supreme Court and the privy council itself. The petitioner (Suresh) was attempting to rake in an already decided issue. Suresh has suppressed the judgments passed by various courts in which the rights of the two sects have been decided after a thread bare analysis of long custom and usage in the temples. In the judgment dated August 10, 1962, the sub-court, Chengalpet has given a categorical finding that the recitation of Tamil verses of Sri Vedantha Desikar on Sathumurai day during the Mangalasasanam in the sanctum sanctorum of Sri Devarajaswamy and other shrines is not established usage. This judgment was confirmed by a division bench of this court in 1970, he added.

He said the unassailable fact was that there were only two Mirasis-right holders, the Tenkalais for reciting Divya Prabandham and the Thathachariyas (the non Thathacharivadakalais were not included) for reciting Sanskrit Vedas and Stothrams. Other Vadakalais have at best can join the gosties only as ordinary worshippers. While so, violating the consuetudes and court directions, some recitation was conducted on September 21 on the basis of the alleged oral permission granted by this court. Suresh and others again conducted recitation in the morning on October 18, he added.
His party had taken a stand against triple talaq for its "arbitrary use and instant application so we said that needs to be reformed." (Representational Image)

Chennai: Accusing the BJP of whipping up communal passions in Sabarimala for electoral gains, CPI (M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury Friday demanded to know why the Centre was not applying the yardstick of equal treatment of women it had used on the triple talaq issue to the Sabarimala row.

Roughing up of women journalists and the violent groups wearing saffron head bands at Sabarimala indicated a pattern seen during the demolition of Babri masjid (1992), Yechury told reporters here, blaming the RSS for it.

Women journalists forming part of television crew were roughed up and "it is exactly the pattern, which is also very similar at the time of Babri masjid demolition...you have the heads of volunteers wearing saffron bands (leading protests)," Yechury said.

Such scenes had unfolded during the Babri protests and a "similar thing is done here; it is an organised thing that the RSS is doing and that will be fought," he said, while declaring that the RSS would "lose the Sabarimala battle".

Asked if the Marxist-led Left Democratic Front government in Kerala would oppose review pleas on Sabarimala issue before the Supreme Court, he said it was for the government to answer.

In a historic judgment last month, the Supreme Court had lifted the ban on entry of girls and women of menstrual age into the Sabarimala Ayyappa shrine.

Citing the Centre's advisory to Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka to take precautionary measures in view of some Hindu outfits planning protests, Yechury said law and order was being maintained by the Kerala government. "Those disturbing law and order will be dealt with; they are being dealt with," he said.

He said the Centre had recently promulgated an ordinance making triple talaq illegal saying the practice constituted unequal treatment of women."The government did that saying equality of men and women is fundamental to our Constitution and that it should be protected. Same principle why they are not applying for Sabarimala?" the Marxist leader asked.

His party had taken a stand against triple talaq for its "arbitrary use and instant application so we said that needs to be reformed."

The Centre still has the option of going in for a legislation or ordinance to circumvent the apex court verdict on Sabarimala "if they are really interested," the way it did for the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, he said.

However, "the real point here is to whip up communal polarisation with the hope that it will get some political and electoral benefit," he said.

Accusing the BJP of playing the "worst form of vote bank politics," Yechury said "they are seeking the consolidation of Hindutva communal vote bank at the expense of destroying our social harmony, unity and integrity of our country and this is very dangerous."

He accused the BJP and Congress in Kerala, of "duplicity" on the Sabarimala issue, pointing out that both reversed positions after initially welcoming the Supreme Court verdict.

Yechury said the state-wise electoral strategy (for the Lok Sabha 2019 election) would be worked out as per the recent central committee resolve to defeat BJP and its allies, strengthen the CPI(M) and the Left in Parliament and work for an alternate secular government at the Centre.

The Muslim Women Protection of Rights on Marriage- Ordinance was promulgated last month and a Bill in this regard was passed by Lok Sabha last year and is now pending in the Rajya Sabha.
The Charles de Gaulle, currently in the southern French port of Toulon undergoing renovation, should be ready to sail to the Indian Ocean early next year, Defence Minister Florence Parly said. (Photo: AFP | Representational)

Marseilla, France: France said Friday it would send its aircraft carrier to the Indian Ocean next year, to defend freedom of navigation at a time of growing Chinese assertiveness in disputed waters.

The Charles de Gaulle, currently in the southern French port of Toulon undergoing renovation, should be ready to sail to the Indian Ocean early next year, Defence Minister Florence Parly said.

France "has always stood in the front line in defence of the inalienable right of freedom of navigation in international waters," Parly told La Provence newspaper.

"Whenever there are infringements of this fundamental principal of international law, as is currently the case in southern China, we shall make a show of our freedom to act and sail in such waters," she added.

In May, the French helicopter-carrier Dixmude cruised the South China Sea, while a French air squadron flew over the region in August.

Also in May, French President Emmanuel Macron, speaking on a trip to Australia, said no country could be allowed to dominate the region.

France, Australia and India had a responsibility to protect the region from "hegemony" -- a veiled reference to Beijing's growing might, he said.

France has a number of island territories in the Pacific Ocean.
Chinese police have smashed a syndicate that allegedly trafficked Vietnamese into Hong Kong via mainland China.

Hong Kong police and their counterparts in Guangdong Province swooped into action Thursday evening after receiving a tipoff that the syndicate was arranging a new boatload of illegal Vietnamese immigrants to be ferried from Guangdongs Shenzhen City to Hong Kong.

Many hideouts in Hong Kong were raided and 14 people aged 28-60 were detained while mainland Chinese police rounded up another 11, the South China Morning Post reported Friday.

Among the 25 suspects were 15 central figures of the syndicate, while the others were illegal Vietnamese immigrants, police said.

Initial findings are that the Vietnamese people were smuggled to Guangxi Province by land, and vehicles were then arranged to take them to coastal areas in Shenzhen, from where they went to Hong Kong by boat, police said.

They were charged HK$10,000 ($1,275) for the journey to Hong Kong and an additional HK$1,500 ($191) for fake identity cards that help them to find jobs, police said.

Vietnam reported 670 human trafficking victims last year, down almost half from 1,128 in 2016.

Hong Kong is one of the top destinations for Vietnamese workers looking for jobs overseas, and reports of illegal Vietnamese workers being arrested have been made every recent year.
China and Southeast Asian states will hold their first joint maritime exercises next week in the disputed South China Sea. Photo by AFP

China and Southeast Asian states will hold their first joint maritime exercises next week, officials said Friday, in a move aimed at easing tensions but which may spark U.S. alarm.

Beijing's expansive claims to the South China Sea, which Vietnam calls the East Sea, have long been a source of friction with rival claimants in Southeast Asia, as well as Washington which has traditionally been the dominant naval power in the area.

Despite disagreements over Beijing's territorial ambitions, China and Southeast Asia are trying to strike a more conciliatory tone in an effort to stop tensions from spiralling dangerously out of control.

As part of this, the navies of China and the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are set to hold their first joint drills, which will take place in the South China Sea.

"As we speak, the navies of ASEAN are en route to Zhanjiang in China for the ASEAN-China Maritime Exercise," Singapore Defense Minister Ng Eng Hen said.

Making the announcement at a gathering of ASEAN defense ministers in Singapore, also attended by U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and his Chinese counterpart, Ng said the drills would help to "build trust, confidence."

The city of Zhanjiang in southern China is home to the South Sea Fleet of the People's Liberation Army.

Tabletop exercises between ASEAN and China were held in Singapore in August to prepare for next week's drills.

However, some observers see the exercise as part of efforts by China to diminish American influence in the region by forging closer ties with Washington's traditional allies and partners.

In an apparent effort to lessen any such fears, Ng said ASEAN was planning to hold maritime exercises with the U.S. for the first time next year.

Mattis insisted that he did not believe the China-ASEAN drills would reduce U.S. sway in the strategically vital region.

"We do not see this as contrary to our interests," he said.

"If we can have that sort of activity going on, it's transparent, something that's been lacking in the South China Sea. Then that's going to be working in the right direction."

'U.S. not losing ground'

Hoang Thi Ha, a political analyst with the ISEAS Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore, said next week's exercises were aimed at "demonstrating that China and ASEAN are managing well their maritime problems".

But she added its significance should not be overstated as it was a one-off drill in waters that were not disputed.

"The U.S. is not losing ground exactly because ASEAN chooses to be open and inclusive," she told AFP.

The Southeast Asian defence ministers also agreed on guidelines to prevent unplanned encounters between their military aircraft, and will propose them to other countries, including the US and China, at a meeting on Saturday, Ng said.

They are aimed at reducing the likelihood that a chance encounter could spiral into conflict in the case of a miscalculation.

China claims sovereignty over almost the entire area, including waters near the shores of smaller countries: four ASEAN members Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam. Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, Singapore and Thailand are ASEAN's other members.

Concerns have escalated dramatically in recent years as China started building artificial islands on reefs in disputed waters, and it has also constructed military facilities and airstrips.

Washington has expressed alarm over the island-building, saying it could affect freedom of navigation in the sea, which hosts some of the world's most vital commercial shipping lanes.

At Friday's meeting, Mattis stressed that "no single nation can rewrite the international rules of the road, and we expect all nations -- large and small -- to respect those rules."

The Pentagon chief met Thursday with his Chinese counterpart, General Wei Fenghe, on the sidelines of the gathering as they sought to normalise military relations that have dramatically soured over trade and sanctions tensions.
One cornea donor can bring light to two blind persons. Photo by Pixabay/Skeeze

From 2007 to 2018, the eyes of 494 donors have enabled blind people to see, but thousands remain in darkness.

Over the last decade, over 35,000 blind people have registered as recipients for cornea donations that can enable them to gain the gift of sight.

The 494 deceased donors from 15 provinces have met 14 percent of registered demand, so thousands are awaiting their chance to see the light of the day.

The Central Eye Hospital in Hanoi has collected and grafted corneas for hundreds of blind patients.

Nguyen Huu Hoang, Director of the Eye Bank at the hospital, said that cornea transplants are the only method in the world to help people with corneal pathology disease to obtain vision.

It is estimated that Vietnam has over 200,000 blind people suffering from corneal pathologies who require cornea transplants. At the Central Eye Hospital, the list of people waiting for corneal transplants is almost 1,000 and growing.

Inspiring pioneer

In 2006, Vietnams National Assembly enacted the law on tissue and organ transplantation.

Nguyen Thi Hoa from the northern Ninh Binh Province was the first person to donate corneas in Vietnam in 2007. Since then, many have followed in her footsteps, especially in her native place.

Since 2007, Ninh Binh, especially Kim Son District, has been the most prolific eye donor in the country. The eye donation movement in Kim Son has formed a network of collaborators and volunteers who work on raising awareness of this issue.

Inspired by the people of Ninh Binh, other localities joined the movement.

In May 2009, the first Eye Bank in Vietnam started its campaign to mobilize corneal donations. The Eye Bank receives, assesses, preserves and coordinates the donation of corneas.

The cornea, the clear tissue covering the front of the eye, which is a focusing element of the eye. If the cornea becomes cloudy, one's vision is dramatically reduced or lost. This loss of the vision is known as corneal blindness.

Cornea has to be harvested from the donor within 48 hours of death. The cornea collection happens in minutes, without compromising the shape of the donor's eyes, or affecting the funeral of the deceased.

Cornea after collection is preserved at the Eye Bank and then grafted for those with corneal malfunctions. One cornea donor can help two blind persons see.

In Hanoi, organ donors can go to the Viet Duc Hospital in Hoan Kiem District, while HCMC receives organ donations at the Cho Ray Hospital, District 5.
I have more pressure, but want no favors: female pilot

Captain Nguyen Phuong Anh, who stormed a male bastion to become a pilot, tells a story that sends spirits soaring.

On Vietnamese Womens Day, October 20, Captain Nguyen Phuong Anh spoke about how she ended up flying high, literally.

- How did you end up becoming a pilot?

- Id been a flight attendant for seven years. Day after day, I dreamed of flying in the sky, going around the world. Watching male colleagues in powerful pilot uniforms, I had an urge to wear them and sit in the cockpit and have passengers look up at me with their admiration. Then my opportunity came. With no hesitation, I went to America to fulfill my dream.

After years of hard work, Nguyen Phuong Anh made it happen.

- What were your feelings on your first flight?

- For most of us, the first one is definitely the most memorable one. In the basic course of training, there is a compulsory lesson to take-off and land 3 times. Its a difficult lesson, which requires concentration, determination and mastery.

I was so nervous when my course-mate passed the test. Bad weather also added up to my worries. For nights before my turn, I almost cried but didnt. When I sat in the cockpit on my own and completed the course by myself, I was over the moon. As the plane rolled into the parking lot, I hugged my teacher and cried like a baby.

There is a tradition that the teacher pours water on the student on completion of his/her course, but I was so happy that I jumped into the swimming pool right after I got out of the plane.

Sitting in a commercial plane carrying hundreds of passengers is not only a responsibility, but also the pride of each pilot.

- What is the process of training to become a pilot, especially for women?

- For both men and women, it is a highly responsible and challenging job. Personally, I think it is harder for women to handle the pressure. Ive been through sleepless nights, sweat and tears to achieve my knowledge and skills. I had to train and strive constantly to enhance my skills and to prove myself to male colleagues.

The happy pilot bride in one of her unique wedding photos taken at the airport.

- How hard did you have to train to become a captain?

- After graduation, I joined Vietjet Air as First Officer in 2014. Fortunately, there are many opportunities to learn and get promoted, especially for pilots. I never stopped improving my skills and adding to my experience. After four years of hard work and the guidance from Vietjet trainers, I succeeded in becoming a captain

Because I am a woman, I still have some typical pressures that male pilots dont have. So, I keep my head down and try to work even harder. From manners to actions, Im very careful when I coordinate with my partners, so that everything works well in the airplane.

"We have a 2-year-old boy and he is interested in flying already", she said.

- What has the life of a female pilot brought to you?

- The aviation industry is characterized by landing time, not normal time, like other jobs. However, it means happiness to me. I got married 3 years ago and my husband is also a captain with Vietjet. We have a 2-year-old boy and he is interested in flying already.

As a woman and a wife, I must know how to manage my schedule in detail in order to finish my job and take care of my family. I can cook quite well. In my free time, I try to organize parties for family members. When my husband and I are both on duty, we ask grandparents to take care of our boy.

Captain Nguyen Phuong Anh and her husband.

For women, the Lunar New Year is very important. But we who work in the aviation industry will still work non-stop, helping other people reunite with their families.

As a female captain, I do not want any better favors than my male colleagues. Thanks to the best working environment and family support, I always feel secure in completing the responsibilities of a female captain.
Foreign tourists take a boat ride on Ngo Dong River in Tam Coc-Bich Dong, a popular tourist destination in northern Ninh Binh Province. Photo by VnExpress/Meo Gia

A policy extension will allow citizens of 46 countries to enter Vietnam for 30 days with e-visa until 2021.

The Vietnamese government has approved a two-year extension of the pilot e-visa issuance program for foreigners visiting the country.

The policy was launched on February 1, 2017, allowing citizens from 40 countries to apply for electronic visas. These countries included major tourism markets of China, Japan, South Korea, the U.S, the U.K, Germany and Sweden.

Last year, visitors from six countries, Australia, India, Canada, the Netherlands, New Zealand and the U.A.E were added to the list.

The e-visa application scheme was scheduled to expire next February, but has been extended now.

As of August 31 this year, more than 241,000 foreign tourists have entered Vietnam with e-visas, according to Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT).

The policy allows foreigners to apply for a 30-day, single-entry e-visa for holidays or business trips by paying a $25 application fee online.

Applicants are required to complete a form available on two separate websites (one in Vietnamese and the other in English) run by the Ministry of Public Security. They will receive an application code and will be asked to pay a non-refundable fee online.

It takes three working days for tourists to find out if their applications have been approved or not.

Visitors with e-visas can enter the country at any of Vietnams eight international airports, including Tan Son Nhat in Ho Chi Minh City, Noi Bai in Hanoi and Da Nang in the central region. They can also arrive via land at 13 international border gates, and via sea at seven ports across the country.

The e-visa extension, which is still in trial mode, is one of the steps taken by the Vietnamese government to make tourism a key economic sector.

Vietnam extends e-visa policy for foreign tourists until 2021 Vietnam seen from above

Earlier, Vietnam had approved visa exemption for visitors from France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the U.K. for another three years to give the tourism industry a growth impetus. Western Europeans were big spenders, shelling out on average $1,316 per trip, according to VNAT.

With the new system, as well as visa waiver policies for several countries in Asia and Europe, the tourism industry hopes to welcome 17-20 million foreign visitors and gain $35 billion per year by 2020, contributing 10 percent to the countrys GDP, compared to the current 7.5 percent.

More than 11.6 million foreigners arrived in Vietnam in the first nine months of this year, a 22.9 percent year-on-year increase. The country received 12.9 million foreign arrivals in 2017.

A global report published last month by the United Nations World Tourism Organization ranked Vietnams tourism growth as fourth highest in the world.
The second Proud Boy to be charged for last week's violent clash between members of the group and protesters is a World Trade Center steel inspector, who prosecutors described as the "single most vicious" of the alleged attackers.

John Kinsman, 39, was charged with attempted first degree assault, attempted gang assault, and riot, according to the criminal complaint. He was held in lieu of $25,000 bond or $15,000 cash bail after his Friday night arraignment in Manhattan Criminal Court.

This defendant was the single most vicious of all the attackers, Manhattan Assistant District Attorney John Steinglass said in court, alleging that Kinsman repeatedly punched, kicked and stomped an anti-fascist protester.

"Afterwards he turned his attention to another antifa member who he also kicked. All the while, the defendant didn't bother to take a cigarette out of his mouth, Steinglass added.

I am working a night court shift at 100 Centre St. One Proud Boy defendant was arraigned about an hour and a half ago. Charged with Assault First Degree. DA asked for 50k bail, judge set 25k. Guys en route to Rikers.  Russ Novack (@russnovack) October 20, 2018

But Kinsman's lawyer, Ronald Hart, called the multiple felony charges overblown, and said they were the result of political pressure: The governor and the mayor have asked for some type of prosecution, Hart said, arguing that the conduct warranted nothing more than a misdemeanor.

Kinsman, the attorney added, had worked as a steel inspector for the last seven years, helping to rebuild the World Trade Center. He is married, and the very proud father of a three-year-old son and one-year-old daughter.

In court, a Proud Boys tattoo was visible on Kinsman's right forearma requirement for members of the organization to advance to the "third degree," according to Proud Boys founder, Gavin McInnes. Fourth degree status is reserved for those who "get beat up, kick the crap out of an antifa."

Another alleged Proud Boy, Geoffrey Young, 38, was arrested Friday. He was charged with attempted assault and riot and was released on his own recognizance. Hours prior to the arrest, Young was accused in an anonymous Medium post of assaulting a Muslim woman during an anti-Islam march in Manhattan last year, and later updating his Facebook bio to note his "fourth degree" status.

While McInnes told the Times that the remaining seven members of the group would surrender to police by Friday night, that had not happened as of Saturday afternoon. An unnamed law enforcement official also told the paper that the Proud Boys had become the subject of a broad criminal investigation. An inquiry to the NYPD was not immediately returned.

Also on Friday, a few dozen protesters staged a No Nazi rally near the 19th Precinct in the Upper East Side, where they condemned both the Proud Boys and the police. We expect the NYPD to continue to blame anti-racist protesters for the violence, said Sophia Adams, an organizer with Peoples Power Assemblies. The collusion between Proud Boys and the NYPD comes as no surprise to the activists in New York.

The Proud Boys are an exclusively male group who define themselves as "Western Chauvinists," and have a history of violent street brawls across the country. They are labeled a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. The violent encounter between Proud Boys and protesters occurred after McInnes spoke last Friday evening at the Metropolitan Republican Club.

Conviction on the assault charges against Kinsman and Young could lead to prison sentences, but it's unclear if any victims will come forward to testify. Kinsman's next court date is scheduled for October 24th.

Additional reporting by Jen Chung and Jake Offenhartz.
Yulia Tymoshenko, the leader of the Batkivschyna party, has called on President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko to reverse the government's decision on increasing natural gas prices for households by 23.5% starting November 1, 2018.

"An extraordinary thing has just happened. President Poroshenko ordered minutes ago that the price for gas be raised by 23.5%. This means by nearly a quarter more. And Poroshenko's decision has been fulfilled. This means that the price for gas and heating tariffs will be 23.5% higher in the new heating season," Tymoshenko said in a statement published on the Batkivschyna party's website.

For an absolute majority of people in the country, this price hike comes as "a real shock" and "a disaster that will push Ukrainians into a poverty niche," she said.

"Why has it happened that the prices for gas, and therefore the heating tariffs, have been raised? Because Poroshenko's corrupt entourage has already taken the best mineral fields in Ukraine. And in the seven months that are left before the end of their governance, they want to put billions on their offshore accounts by extracting gas from our own Ukrainian fields," Tymoshenko said.

She insisted that this cannot be allowed.

Tymoshenko also addressed Verkhovna Rada speaker Andriy Parubiy and the parliamentarians to immediately convene an extraordinary parliamentary session to consider the matter.

"If the deputies and all political forces do not react to this and pretend that nothing happens, most of the families will simply be unable to survive this winter," she said.

This time around, this spontaneous increase of the gas price has gone beyond all limits, "and everyone involved in the criminal groundless increase in the tariffs for gas and heating will be held accountable under the Criminal Code," she said.

Tymoshenko also demanded that the president of Ukraine stop "this genocide of the Ukrainian people."

"I also want to say that, when this administration led by the president is removed through democratic elections in seven months, I guarantee you that the tariffs for gas and heating will be cut at least by half. Or possibly even by 60%," Tymoshenko said.
Horizon Capital to invest up to $200 mln in Ukraine in 3-5 years

Horizon Capital Group, which manages $800 million, plans to invest up to $200 million in Ukraine over the next three or five years, Denys Tafintsev, a senior partner and a member of the Horizon Capital investment committee, has said at the Kyiv International Economic Forum.

"Ukraine has a relatively stable macroeconomic situation and poorly priced assets: six years ago they were three times more expensive," he described the current situation.

Tafintsev noted that large international investors are unlikely to come to Ukraine on the eve and during the presidential and parliamentary elections scheduled for 2019.

"This is a good opportunity for us as a domestic fund," he said.

According to him, among the company's industry priorities are IT, processing, export sectors, and light industry.

Tafintsev noted that Horizon Capital invests in share capital, avoiding companies with large debts.

He told Interfax-Ukraine that the named volume of investments is planned not only at the expense of the new investment fund Horizon Capital is currently creating, but all the company's investments.
Leader of the Batkivschyna party Yulia Tymoshenko believes that the draft national budget for 2019 submitted by the authorities is a budget for the destruction of the economy, since it envisages raising tariffs and freezing minimum wages and pensions, which will lead to the total impoverishment of the population and the destruction of the middle class, according to the official website of the party.

"For the first time in the history of Ukraine, wages and pensions are equal to 43% of the subsistence level. This is the budget of total poverty, saving the tariff policy that is crushing for Ukrainian families - they are increasing by 23%. This is a corrupt and destructive budget for the economy," Tymoshenko told journalists in the parliament.

According to the leader of Batkivschyna, the minimum wages and pensions provided in the estimates in U.S. dollar terms are 1.7 times less than they were at the beginning of 2014, health care financing has been reduced by 1.6 times.

According to Tymoshenko, it is unacceptable that the budget for 2019 is based on the old tax base, with twice the higher rates than in developed countries, which significantly slows down the development of the economy.

The politician noted that if the government draft budget is adopted, "the economy's falling, emigration of people to other countries, the destruction of the middle class will continue."

"This budget, in essence, is a verdict to the country. I hope that the deputies will not risk voting for it," Tymoshenko stated.
Washington expects Kyiv soon to fulfill its promises and launch the work of the High Anti-Corruption Court (HACC), U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Kirsten Madison has said.

She said at a briefing in Kyiv on Friday after a meeting with Director of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) Artem Sytnyk that the adoption of legislation on the creation of the High Anti-Corruption Court was an important step. The next step is the creation of a full-fledged, functional, independent, effective court in Ukraine, she added.

The U.S. expects Ukraine soon to take certain steps in this area, as was promised to the U.S. government, Madison said.
Police reform has become the most significant in the process of transformation of law enforcement agencies in Ukraine, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs Kirsten Madison has said.

She said at a briefing in Kyiv on Friday after a meeting with Director of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) Artem Sytnyk that police reform is one of the most striking elements of what modern Ukraine might look like. Ukrainian patrol police, the KORD special forces unit, and the State Border Guard Service are implementing advanced western standards and practices in their work, Madison said.

According to her, civil society in Ukraine is also actively promoting anti-corruption reforms.

NABU detectives and SAPO prosecutors are actively working to investigate high-profile corruption crimes of high-ranking Ukrainian officials, she said. The United States fully supports them in their difficult work, Madison added.
The Russian fishing vessel Nord detained by Ukraine has been handed to the Ukrainian National Agency for Tracing, Recovery and Management of Crime Assets as material evidence in a criminal case, the prosecutor's office of the so-called Autonomous Republic of Crimea based in Kyiv has reported.

This transfer was accomplished in line with a ruling by the Kherson City Court, the office said.

The Russian vessel should be put up for auction.

"The goal of the vessel's transfer is to carry out all management procedures to preserve and increase the value of assets or transfer the management of assets based on a management or disposal contract, or to sell the relevant assets and then deposit the cash into accounts with state banks until the completion of the criminal proceedings," Yevhen Komarovsky, a senior official at the prosecutor's office of the so-called Autonomous Republic of Crimea, said.

The decision was made to save budget funds for keeping the detained vessel at Berdiansk seaport, it said.

It was reported earlier that the Ukrainian State Border Service detained the Nord with ten crewmembers on board on March 25, 2018.

The office of the Verkhovna Rada human rights commissioner said it upheld the ownership rights of the sailors from the Nord, as some of their personal belongings were discovered on board when the vessel was being transferred to the Ukrainian national agency for its subsequent sale through an auction.

"Volodymyr Ostapenko, the commissioner's representative for the southern regions, and secretariat employee Viacheslav Bondarenko ensured the observance of the sailors' ownership rights during the vessel's transfer by the prosecutor's office of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea to the agency. They inventoried the sailors' personal belongings and drew up a relevant deed. This deed and a log with records have been passed to the ombudsman's office," the office said in a statement on Friday evening.

The office said it was monitoring the observance of the Nord sailors' rights and therefore invited them to be present during the vessel's transfer, but they refused.

"The commissioner's office stresses yet again that the rights of the Nord crewmembers have not been violated," it said.
Verkhovna Rada Human Rights Commissioner Liudmyla Denisova has discussed information rights, as well as conventions that Ukraine needs to ratify with the representatives of the Council of Europe.

"A meeting with Head of the Information Society Department at the Council of Europe Patrick Penninckx, Project Manager of the Council of Europe Office in Ukraine Viktoria Halperin and Project Manager at the Information Society Department Shahin Abbasov was devoted to information law. Ukraine needs to modernize personal data protection legislation, while the Council of Europe has the experience that we are ready to adopt," she said on Facebook.

Denisova stressed that, first of all, it is necessary to ratify the Council of Europe Convention on Access to Official Documents.

"Unfortunately, it has not yet been ratified in Ukraine. The reason for this is that the deputies of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine were not told about the importance of the provisions. They are not familiar with it, and therefore did not vote. I promised to update this process at the next session," she said.

Denisova also noted that Ukraine should ratify another convention, which concerns the protection of persons in connection with the automated processing of personal data.
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Occupation forces opened fire on the positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine 16 times over the past day, one Ukrainian soldier was injured, the press center of the Joint Forces Operation (JFO) has reported.

"Russian invaders opened fire on the positions of our troops 16 times. At the same time, the enemy used weapons that were forbidden by the Minsk agreements three times - three times fired with 82-mm mortars on the positions of our troops near Krymske, Avdiyivka, and Hnutove," a JFO report on Facebook says.

During the fighting, one soldier of the Joint Forces was injured. His health condition is satisfactory.
Verkhovna Rada Human Rights Commissioner Liudmyla Denisova and Pavlo Pushkar, the head of division at the Council of Europe department for the execution of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), have discussed the implementation of ECHR decisions by Ukraine.

Denisova said on Facebook that during a meeting in Strasbourg Pushkar had noted that Ukraine's reputation is at risk, since ECHR decisions are practically not implemented in Ukraine.

"Therefore we have to change this together. I reported that Ukraine had already created a "register" of citizens to whom the state owes funds on the decisions of foreign jurisdictional bodies. This first-come-first-served line removes the corruption component and makes it possible to track the prospects of reimbursement. Every year Ukraine increases funding for this direction, which reduces the debt to citizens," Denisova said.

She also said during the meeting the parties discussed the functioning of the national preventive mechanism.

"An effective instrument for identifying violations is a monitoring visit. We have a clear plan for holding them by the end of this year, but I regularly make unscheduled visits, which is more efficient. I know Ukraine needs to complete the reform of the penitentiary system as a whole. And now we direct our efforts towards prevention so that in future our citizens send fewer complaints to the ECHR," she noted.
Ukraine has made efforts to fight corruption, but much more needs to be done to meet the stated goals of European integration, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Kirsten Madison has said.

There remain challenges that need to be adequately responded. After the Revolution of Dignity, the government outlined an ambitious reform plan for itself. Some progress has already been made over the past few years, but there is still a lot of work to counter corruption, she said at a briefing in Kyiv.

According to the U.S. official, part of the implemented reforms is the work of independent anti-corruption institutions.

For Ukraine to move forward and meet the stated goals of European integration, attract investment and develop the economy, the government must undertake to eradicate systemic corruption, which is contrary to the principles of development of a democratic society, she adde
Artem Sytnyk, the director of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU), has noted he is interested in the independent audit of the NABU, but has not yet seen any action on this matter.

"The independent audit of the NABU is a dream of the NABU. Although there are fears that it will not be completely independent. There has not been a single call. I just read interviews with auditors, and there were no other actions regarding the beginning of the audit," he said in an interview with the Holos Ukrainy newspaper.
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) announced on October 19 its decision to continue the suspension of counter-measures against Iran. However, it expressed disappointment that the majority of Tehran's commitments to combat money-laundering and funding terrorism (known as AML/CFT) have not been fulfilled.

While suspending Iran from its blacklist temporarily for another four months, the FATF said it expects Iran to proceed swiftly in reforming its financial regulations and ensure all of the remaining items are addressed by completing and implementing the necessary AML/CFT reforms.

In the meantime, Iran will remain on the FATF Public Statement until the full Action Plan has been completed. According to the FATF, "Until Iran implements the measures required to address the deficiencies identified in the Action Plan, the FATF will remain concerned with the terrorist financing risk emanating from Iran and the threat this poses to the international financial system."

The FATF further warned members and urged jurisdictions "to continue to advise their financial institutions to apply enhanced due diligence, including obtaining information on the reasons for intended transactions, to business relationships and transactions with natural and legal persons from Iran."

The FATF is an intergovernmental organization founded in 1989 on the initiative of the G7 to develop policies to combat money-laundering and terrorism financing.

The Iranian Parliament has been working on the ratification of four bills that would ensure Iran's compliance with FATF requirements, including the AML/CFT reforms, since December 2017. However, many hardliners -- concerned that joining the FATF might prevent Iran from sending money to groups such as Hizballah in Lebanon and Houthi rebels in Yemen -- have strongly opposed the bills.

As a result, the bills have been sent back and forth between the parliament and other Iranian legislative bodies such as the Guardian Council and Expediency Council. The laws passed by the parliament must be endorsed by the hard-line Guardian Council, and if a dispute between the two drags on, the Expediency Council would step in as a second line of defense against compromising the regime's ideology and interests.

One of the bills, which is about joining the CFT convention, was passed in the parliament two weeks ago, but the Guardian Council has yet to endorse it.

According to the FATF, "In December 2017, Iran established a cash declaration regime. Since June 2018, Iran has enacted amendments to its Counter-Terrorist Financing Act and Parliament has passed amendments to its AML law and bills to ratify the Palermo and TF Conventions. The FATF notes the progress of the legislative efforts. As with any country, the FATF can only consider fully enacted legislation. Once the remaining legislation is fully in force, the FATF will review this alongside existing enacted legislation to determine whether the measures contained therein address Irans Action Plan, in line with the FATF standards."

In October 2018, the FATF noted that nine items are still not completed and that Iran should fully address the remaining items, including:

adequately criminalizing terrorist financing, including by removing the exemption for designated groups attempting to end foreign occupation, colonialism and racism identifying and freezing terrorist assets in line with the relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions ensuring an adequate and enforceable customer due diligence regime ensuring the full independence of the Financial Intelligence Unit and requiring the submission of STRs for attempted transactions demonstrating how authorities are identifying and sanctioning unlicensed money/value transfer service providers ratifying and implementing the Palermo and TF Conventions and clarifying the capability to provide mutual legal assistance ensuring that financial institutions verify that wire transfers contain complete originator and beneficiary information establishing a broader range of penalties for violations of the ML offense ensuring adequate legislation and procedures to provide for confiscation of property of corresponding value

Official news agency IRNA quoted Iranian Vice President Laya Jonaidi on October 20 as saying the continued suspension of Iran from FATF's blacklist was "a success for Iran's diplomacy," and "another success in an intelligent legal battle."

She added that the suspension would be helpful while Europe is preparing a special initiative to help Iran as the second round of U.S. sanction starts in November.

Earlier, the spokesperson for Iran's Foreign Ministry had criticized the FATF's statement for some of its "negative points.
Abbas Akhoundi, the Roads Minister in President Hassan Rouhanis cabinet has resigned.

Akhoundi published his resignation letter on his page on the social networking platform Telegram on Friday.

In the Letter, Akhoundi criticised the Rouhani administrations handling of US sanctions.

Akhoundi added that he was against the way the Rouhani administration confronts US sanction as his methods violate essential rights about ownership and competition and were against the law.

He said he has resigned on three previous occasions. However, he asked Rouhani to accept his resignation before October 22.

The resignation comes only two weeks before a second round of US sanctions against Iran start on November 4.
More international bodies have lent their voices in defense ofIranian truckers who are on strike, demanding that their hardship be addressed.

In a letter to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the International Confederation of Trade Unions -- along with four other labor unions with more than 200 million total members -- expressed its "deep shock" over recent comments by an official from the city of Qazvin threatening truckers with the death penalty.

Acting Chief Prosecutor Mohsen Karami cautioned the truckers on strike that if they were found guilty of "fighting against God," capital punishment would await them.

This is blatantly against international law and unacceptable in any society, the letter said, adding that it is deeply shocking to see a labor force being threatened with the death penalty for demanding their due rights.

The letter calls upon Khamenei to dismiss the threats without preconditions, guarantee the truckers safety, and hold talks with them.

The other signatories are the International Federation of Trade Unions, the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF);Education International; and the International Industries Union;the International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco, and Allied Workers' Associations.

The ITF had previously expressed concern over the Iranian governments reaction to the latest industrial action by truck drivers, which is in its second week. The ITF is extremely concerned that news emerging from Iran has detailed a large number of driver arrests, it said in a statement. "Most seriously, the ITF understands that Irans attorney general, Mohammad Jaafar Montazeri, has suggested that those who initiated the protest actions will be subject to the death penalty, citing a threat to national security. His comments have been echoed by other clerics.

Furthermore, ITF head of inland transport Noel Coard said, We are very concerned about the situation. Let it be clear that ITF unions globally voice their solidarity and stand alongside the truckers of Iran in their fight to defend workers rights.

The ITF is a global federation of transport workers' trade unions, founded in 1896. In 2017, the ITF had 677 memberorganizations in 149 countries.

In an ITF statement signed by General Secretary Stephen Cotton, Irans authorities have been urged to listen to the truckers demands.

The death penalty for striking is the most serious of violations of workers rights; its inhumane and unthinkable, he said.From what we understand, Irans truckers took action as a last resort in the struggle to feed their families. The threat of the death penalty is utterly disproportionate."

During the two weeks of the strike, more than 200 truckers have been detained across the country. The Iranian judiciary and police have charged detainees with blocking roads and attacking truckers who refused to join the strike.

In recent days, several judiciary officials, including the head of the judicial department of Qazvin, have threatened to sentence truckers to death after the most recent strike.

Announcing that 17 truckers were arrested in the province, Karami said on October 10, "We will demand the death sentence for the detainees, and if they are proven guilty of 'fighting against God, heavy sentences such as execution would be waiting for them."

Fighting against God is considered a serious crime in Iran.

Other judicial authorities have also accused strikers of "aggression" and threatened them with the punishment set for brigands, i.e. death.

To back up their claims, judicial authorities published footage trying to prove truckers attacked and damaged public and private property.

Nevertheless, the strikers have dismissed the clips as stagedevidence to pave the way for suppressing truck drivers who are merely demanding their rights.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 20

By Rufiz Hafizoglu  Trend:

Erciyes University of the Turkish city of Kayseri hosted a conference Oct. 20.

The event was attended by Ali Hasanov, Azerbaijani presidents assistant for public and political affairs, Azerbaijani MPs, members of the Lower House of the Russian Parliament.

Speaking at the conference, the head of the Turkey-Azerbaijan inter-parliamentary friendship group, member of the Parliament (Grand National Assembly) of Turkey Samil Ayrim said that Turkish-Russian relations, which had been deteriorated several years ago, were restored.

"As a result of the efforts of the presidents of both countries, the relations between the two countries were restored. Today, there are two countries that want to bring peace to Syria: Turkey and Russia. Currently, there are about 4 million Syrian refugees living in Turkey, and official Ankara directly concerns itself with and cares for problems of these people," Ayrim said.

He conveyed his congratulations on the occasion of October 18, the Independence Day of Azerbaijan.

Ayrim also said that Azerbaijan has been subjected to the genocide policy pursued by Armenians for 200 years. "However, Azerbaijan does not show anger and hatred towards any state. It wants to solve all problems peacefully. Turkey wishes elimination of the double standards applied to Azerbaijan and liberation of the occupied lands of the country," he said.

If Armenia were not an occupier, then today it could participate in many projects, the Turkish MP added.
Kayseri, Turkey, Oct. 20

By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:

Each country should hold dialogue with neighbors, Ali Hasanov, Azerbaijani presidents assistant for public and political affairs, said Oct.20.

He made the remarks at a conference held at the University of Erciyes in the Turkish city of Kayseri.

He noted that Azerbaijan is pursuing a policy of peace and cooperation in the region.

"Of course, there are certain principles. Each country should respect the rights of another state, the rights of another nation, the territorial integrity of another state, attributes, economic interests of the state, the mentality of the people. If you dont want your mentality being encroached on, you must not encroach on the mentality of another state. If you dont want your countrys territorial integrity violated, you must not make territorial claims against another country, if you dont want your safety being threatened, you should not endanger the safety of another country. That is, a country not allowing for any attitude in respect of itself, should not allow itself to show the same attitude to other countries," Hasanov said.

Ali Hasanov noted that there are conditions for building interstate relations in the world, which are reflected in the UN Charter.

"These are non-interference in the internal affairs of another state, respect for its territorial integrity and sovereignty, resolving problems not by disputes, but by peaceful means, building relations of interstate cooperation, respecting human rights, creating conditions for free movement, migration of people and other issues, he said.

Ali Hasanov noted that there are also conditions agreed between the two countries and among several countries.

For example, there is a common cooperation platform such as Russia-Azerbaijan-Turkey, which is quite promising. There is a platform Russia-Iran-Azerbaijan, which operates in the fields of transport and communications. There are platforms for cooperation Iran-Turkey-Azerbaijan, Azerbaijan-Georgia-Turkey, Azerbaijan-Turkey-Georgia-Turkmenistan. All of them are platforms for regional dialogue. Countries have expressed their wishes and reached mutual understanding, he said.

Ali Hasanov said that it is a must to achieve mutual understanding for a dialogue.

There is a struggle for the existing energy resources all over the world. The powerful nations of the world are focused on safeguarding their interests, intending to get energy sources on more favorable terms, at a lower price and without competition. Other, not so strong countries that do not possess these sources, create alliances with other countries in order to get their share, said Ali Hasanov.
Details added (first version posted on 17:31)

Kayseri, Turkey, Oct. 20

By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:

Each country should hold dialogue with neighbors, Ali Hasanov, Azerbaijani presidents assistant for public and political affairs, said Oct.20.

He made the remarks at a conference held at the University of Erciyes in the Turkish city of Kayseri.

He noted that Azerbaijan is pursuing a policy of peace and cooperation in the region.

"Of course, there are certain principles. Each country should respect the rights of another state, the rights of another nation, the territorial integrity of another state, attributes, economic interests of the state, the mentality of the people. If you dont want your mentality being encroached on, you must not encroach on the mentality of another state. If you dont want your countrys territorial integrity violated, you must not make territorial claims against another country, if you dont want your safety being threatened, you should not endanger the safety of another country. That is, a country not allowing for any attitude in respect of itself, should not allow itself to show the same attitude to other countries," Hasanov said.

Ali Hasanov noted that there are conditions for building interstate relations in the world, which are reflected in the UN Charter.

"These are non-interference in the internal affairs of another state, respect for its territorial integrity and sovereignty, resolving problems not by disputes, but by peaceful means, building relations of interstate cooperation, respecting human rights, creating conditions for free movement, migration of people and other issues, he said.

Ali Hasanov noted that there are also conditions agreed between the two countries and among several countries.

For example, there is a common cooperation platform such as Russia-Azerbaijan-Turkey, which is quite promising. There is a platform Russia-Iran-Azerbaijan, which operates in the fields of transport and communications. There are platforms for cooperation Iran-Turkey-Azerbaijan, Azerbaijan-Georgia-Turkey, Azerbaijan-Turkey-Georgia-Turkmenistan. All of them are platforms for regional dialogue. Countries have expressed their wishes and reached mutual understanding, he said.

Ali Hasanov said that it is a must to achieve mutual understanding for a dialogue.

There is a struggle for the existing energy resources all over the world. The powerful nations of the world are focused on safeguarding their interests, intending to get energy sources on more favorable terms, at a lower price and without competition. Other, not so strong countries that do not possess these sources, create alliances with other countries in order to get their share, said Ali Hasanov.
Details added (first version published at 17:41)

Kayseri, Turkey, Oct. 20

By Rufiz Hafizoglu  Trend:

The opening ceremony of a monument to the victims of the Khojaly tragedy took place Oct. 20 in the territory of Talas district municipality of the Turkish city of Kayseri.

The ceremony was attended by Ali Hasanov, Azerbaijani presidents assistant for public and political affairs, Azerbaijani MPs, members of the Lower House of Russian Parliament.

Addressing the event, Ali Hasanov thanked the Turkish and Russian MPs for a detailed assessment of the Khojaly tragedy.

"Many questions have been raised here. Member of the State Duma of Russia Dmitry Savelyev, member of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey Samil Ayrim made a speach. The chairman of the municipality of Talas and other speakers gave a detailed assessment of the Khojaly tragedy. Civilians were killed in Khojaly. They were killed due to the fact that they were Azerbaijanis, Turks. Everyone was killed that night. Even old people and children leaving the city were killed. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Khojaly tragedy became the bloodiest tragedy that went down in history. Since 1991, the states separated from the USSR began to defend their borders, develop independence and ensure their prosperous life. Since then, the Khojaly tragedy has been the bloodiest page in history. Prior to this, there have been many tragedies in history. But this tragedy has no difference from genocide in terms of its scope and cause. It is the notion of genocide that rightly reflects the essence of this tragedy," he said.

He said it is regrettable that the perpetrators of this tragedy are still at large.

"They are still building their policies. They represented Armenia in all international organizations. They were given the word despite of the fact that they were criminals. However, the Azerbaijani state, conveying to the whole world the truth about Khojaly, publishing books about Khojaly, erecting monuments in memory of the victims of this tragedy, does not intend to inculcate hostile sentiments against the Armenian people. We want the world community to know those criminals who were representatives of the Armenian people and stayed in power for a long time. We want to convey the essence of the acts committed by them so that such bloody tragedies would not recur. If the history does not give assessment to this, such events may repeat. Therefore, we urge peace-loving humanity to give a proper assessment to this tragedy," Ali Hasanov said.

He added that Azerbaijan most of all wants peace in the region.

"The leaders of the same aggressive regime keep our lands under occupation. We want to return these lands by peaceful means, because war will again cost the blood of innocent people," he said.

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.

On Feb. 25-26, 1992, the Armenian armed forces, together with the 366th infantry regiment of Soviet troops, stationed in Khankendi, committed an act of genocide against the population of the Azerbaijani town of Khojaly. As many as 613 people, including 63 children, 106 women and 70 old people were killed in the massacre. Eight families were totally exterminated, 130 children lost one parent and 25 children lost both. Some 1,275 innocent residents were taken hostage, while the fate of 150 people still remains unknown.

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. 20

By Jeyhun Alakbarov - Trend:

The bodies of the crew members of the Iranian Nazmehr dry cargo ship who died as a result of poisoning are still in Baku, the Iranian embassy in Azerbaijan told Trend on Oct. 20.

Medical examination of the bodies of Akbar Mansumi Kerim (1989), Seyid Murtuz Mirhuseyn (1986), and Sadzhad Sayad Feriydundur (1990) is underway.

"Due to the medical examination the bodies are still in Baku. After receiving the expert report they will be sent to Iran. Law enforcement agencies are conducting an investigation on the ship," the embassy said.

A massive poisoning occurred among the crew members of the vessel sailing from Aktau to Baku. The incident occurred at a distance of 21 miles from the island of Pirallahi, in the central part of the Caspian Sea.

According to the preliminary data, the cause of the poisoning was chemical substance, which was processed grain transported by the vessel.

At 03:00, a border patrol vessel approached the Nazmehr cargo ship, taking on board seven crew members. First aid was provided to them on the vessel, after which the patrol vessel headed for the Absheron port.

Doctors were called to provide emergency medical aid. Before their arrival, three members of the Nazmehr crew died.

The rescued crew members were placed in the toxicology department of the Clinical Medical Center No. 1.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 20

By Leman Zeynalova  Trend:

The Azerbaijani market has a certain potential Kazakhstan to export its products there, the Ministry of Investment and Development of Kazakhstan told Trend.

"The analysis of the world imports to Azerbaijan, compared with data on Kazakhstans exports to the world, as well as Kazakhstans exports to Azerbaijan showed that the Azerbaijani market has a certain potential for exports of Kazakhstani products," the ministry stated.

The ministry noted that 37 commodity items in such industries as: 1) metallurgy (ferrous metal pipes, flat rolled products made of iron or non-alloyed steel, metal structures, wire, fittings, etc.); 2) chemical industry (detergents and cleaning products, polypropylene); 3) machinery, equipment (stop valves, switchboards and bases for electrical equipment, static transformers and converters, heating boilers, fiber optic cable, bearings); 4) food industry (chocolate and cocoa products, soft drinks and water, sugar confectionery, flour confectionery, sunflower or safflower oil, malt, sausages, pasta) were selected as the most promising ones.

According to the data of the ministry, the foreign trade turnover between Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan in January-July 2018 amounted to $141.5 million, which is 94.6 percent higher than the figure for the same period in 2017 ($72.7 million).

"The exports from Kazakhstan to Azerbaijan in January-July 2018 amounted to $112.4 million, which is 98.9 percent higher than the figure for the same period of 2017 ($56.5 million).

The ministry noted that the imports to Kazakhstan from Azerbaijan in January-July 2018 amounted to $ 29 million, which is 79 percent more compared to the same period in 2017 ($ 16.2 million).

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Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Oct. 20

By Huseyn Hasanov  Trend:

A meeting with representatives of the private sector development corporation of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) was held at the Ashgabat headquarters of the Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs of Turkmenistan (UIET), the UIET said in a message.

An exchange of views took place on defining potential areas for the IDBs cooperation with the UIET and the Turkmen Joint-Stock Commercial Bank Rysgal, in particular in terms of the implementation of investment projects.

The meeting participants stressed the importance of a memorandum of understanding between the government of Turkmenistan and the IDB on intensifying cooperation on participation in the financing of promising development projects signed during the official visit of Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov to Saudi Arabia in May 2016, the message said.

It was noted at the meeting that Turkmen entrepreneurs make significant contribution to the socio-economic development of Turkmenistan, increasing the export potential of the country, and that they are entrusted with the implementation of important projects in various fields.

In November 2017, it became known that the IDB allocated $273 million to expand the telecommunications network in Turkmenistan.

Besides, the IDB issued a loan for Turkmenistan in 2016 to finance the construction of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline. An agreement worth $700 million was signed with the State Bank for Foreign Economic Affairs of Turkmenistan.

In June 2015, it was reported that Turkmenistan and IDB are discussing the possibilities for the banks participation in financing eight projects that are envisaged for implementation in the transport and communications sector and for supporting small and medium-sized businesses.
Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Oct. 20

By Huseyn Hasanov  Trend:

Turkmenistan, which has embarked on the industrialization and diversification of the economy, welcomes the investment activity of Japanese partners, President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov said at a government meeting, the Neutral Turkmenistan newspaper wrote Oct. 20.

A meeting of the Turkmen-Japanese Committee for Economic Cooperation and a joint business forum will be held in Tokyo, the message says.

This issue was discussed at the government meeting.

Noting the importance of expanding partnership with Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), with whose participation major investment projects in the oil and gas and chemical industries and other industries were implemented in the country, the head of state addressed a series of specific instructions to the leadership of the State Bank for Foreign Economic Affairs of Turkmenistan (Turkmenvnesheconombank).

It was emphasized that Japan is one of the reliable business partners of Turkmenistan. The portfolio of cooperation with Japan includes the implementation of work for construction of industrial complexes in the Balkan region of Turkmenistan including the enterprises for the production of urea fertilizers in Garabogaz, polyethylene and polypropylene - in Kiyanly, the plant for the production of gasoline from natural gas in Akhal region.

In its commentary, the state news agency Turkmen Dovlet Khabarlary paid particular attention to the agreements reached after the summit talks held in 2009 and 2013 as part of official visits of the President of Turkmenistan to Japan, and in 2015, during the official visit of the Prime Minister of Japan to Turkmenistan.

It was reported earlier that JBIC also expressed its readiness to finance the project of construction of a gas-turbine power plant with a capacity of 432 megawatts in the Charjew district of the Lebap region of Turkmenistan.

In 2013, a number of agreements and contracts were signed between the Turkmengaz, Turkmenkhimiya and Turkmennebit (Turkmenoil) state concerns with Japanese Sojitz, Chiyoda, Nippon, ITOCHU, JGC, Kawasaki, TOYO, Mitsui, Tsukishima, Mitsubishi Sumitomo companies. The total cost of the joint projects slated for implementation was estimated at $ 10 billion.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 20

By Ilkin Shafiyev - Trend:

Azerbaijan is ready to allocate Pakistan a loan of $100 million to address the country's energy issues, Pakistani media reported.

The offer was made by Ambassador of Azerbaijan Ali Alizade during a meeting with Pakistan's Minister for Information and Broadcasting Chaudhry Fawad Hussain in Islamabad.

Ali Alizade also showed Azerbaijans keen interest to strengthen cooperation with Pakistan in the fields of media and information.

Welcoming the Azerbaijani ambassadors offer and interest to resolve Pakistans energy issues, Hussain said that Pakistan would also like to enhance cooperation with Azerbaijan in tourism, media and information sectors.

According to the State Customs Committee of Azerbaijan, the trade turnover between the two countries amounted to $8.34 million in January-September 2018. The bulk of the turnover fell on Pakistani exports to Azerbaijan. Compared to the same period of 2017, trade turnover has increased by 22.46 percent.

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Follow the author on Twitter: @IlkinShafiyev
Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 20

By Fikret Dolukhanov  Trend:

Uzbekistan is developing projects for the production of "green" building materials, Uzbekistans Ozqurilishmateriallari JSC (Uzbuildmaterials) told Trend.

The company said that the building materials market of Uzbekistan is expanding, the housing construction sector is actively developing, and several large state programs for the reconstruction and construction of social facilities are being implemented.

A steady demand for building materials is being formed in the country. New production facilities are being commissioned, including through attracting foreign investment. Enterprises of the country satisfy the demand for basic construction materials, which are widely used in construction, Uzbuildmaterials said.

According to the information, the most popular building materials in the construction market of Uzbekistan are cement, reinforced concrete structures, burnt bricks, as well as plastic and aluminum profiles, windows and stained glass.

The company noted that the structure of demand is changing and, along with the quality of materials, it is now also necessary to ensure their energy efficiency and environmental friendliness.

Taking into account the sustainable development of the building materials industry, measures are being taken to switch to more environmentally friendly and energy-efficient production, which is very important given the accelerated growth in production volumes, the company said.

Uzbuildmaterials noted that Uzbekistan, therefore, is currently developing a number of projects to organize the production of green building materials, which are environmentally friendly, energy efficient and meet modern requirements.

Enterprises for the production of building materials are being modernized in order to increase energy efficiency and reduce the amount of waste.

In January-September 2018, the enterprises of the Uzbuildmaterials JSC produced marketable products for 3.51 trillion soums (2.43 trillion soums in 2017), of which products worth $40.1 million ($78.29 million) were exported.

Cement production for the reporting period amounted to 5.75 million tons (5.91 million tons).

(8208.04 soums = 1 USD on Oct. 20)

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Follow the author on Twitter: @FDolukhanov
Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 20

By Azad Hasanli - Trend:

Imports of AI-92 gasoline are temporarily exempt from customs duties. The decision was made by the Cabinet of Ministers of Azerbaijan.

Earlier, the customs duty rate for AI-92 gasoline was 15 percent.

By another decision of the Cabinet of Ministers, the excise rate on AI-92 gasoline imports has been reduced from 200 manats per ton to one manat.

Both decisions of the Cabinet of Ministers will not apply to aviation gasoline.

The decisions has come into force on October 1, 2018 and are valid for 90 days starting from October 1.

Azerbaijan's state oil company SOCAR told Trend that such decisions of the Cabinet of Ministers are associated with a temporary suspension of petroleum products' production at the Heydar Aliyev Baku Oil Refinery in connection with routine maintenance, as a result of which certain volumes are imported from abroad.

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Follow the author on Twitter: @AzadHasanli
Tehran, Iran, Oct. 20

Trend:

The secretary of the Association of Petrochemical Industry Corporation said Irans petrochemical industry should attract more foreign investment.

"So far, the country has absorbed $50 billion in the sector of petrochemistry," Ahmad Mahdavi Abhari said, Mehr news agency reported on October 19.

He added that this industry needs another $83 billion investment in the next seven years.

The official said fluctuations in the foreign exchange market have worsened the process of petrochemical products exports.

Abhari said cooperatives should be allowed to get involved in this industry to create a competitive atmosphere inside the country.

According to a recent report, the export of non-oil products in the first half of the current Iranian year shows that the value of petrochemicals exports has grown by 24 percent compared to the corresponding period last year.

Meanwhile, the value of exported products, excluding petrochemicals and gas condensates, has increased by 20 percent in the 6-month period.

In March 21-September 22, Iran exported more than $23 billion in non-oil goods, up 13 percent compared to the year before.

In August, CEO of National Petrochemical Company (NPC) Reza Norouzzadeh said Irans petrochemical industry was "unsanctionable" and that the exports would continue on schedule.

The US has imposed fresh sanctions on Iran after withdrawing from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal and is planning to push Irans oil exports down to zero by November 4.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct.20

By Leman Zeynalova  Trend:

Broad-based demand growth across the global emerging markets will support diesel prices over the coming years, according to the report of Fitch Solutions Macro Research (a unit of Fitch Group).

Although the company notes growing risks to the downside from rising oil prices and escalating trade tensions.

"We expect the implementation of the IMOs (International Maritime Organization) stricter ruling on shipping emissions to increase the share of diesel in the global consumption mix from 2020, and do not rule out signicant price volatility in the early stages of the policys adoption, as the supply-side scrambles to catch up to demand," said the report obtained by Trend.

Fitch Solutions expects diesel prices in Europe to remain elevated, supported by steady economic growth, a large dies el-based transport eet and a forecast uptick in heating demand over the winter months.

"Our global supply and demand balance forecasts continue to show that the market will remain oversupplied well into the next decade, primarily due to robust rening capacity additions planned across Asia and the Middle East," said the company.

Fitch Solutions believes that the pace of consumption growth in the US, the world's largest diesel market, will remain subdued, averaging annual growth of just 0.6 percent over 2018 -2022. "Growth in China will be comparatively stronger, although risks lie rmly to the downside amid persistent macroeconomic headwinds, cooling industrial sector growth, adoption of stricter environmental policies and rising competition from alternative-fuel vehicles in the trans port sector."

Risks to price outlook are the following:

- A sharp rise in oil prices, coupled with insufficient or a rollback in fuel subsidies, may lead consumers to scale back fuel consumption, raising the risk of demand destruction across global EMs.

- A more widespread government crackdown on older diesel cars in major European cities would prove negative for overall demand and fleet size growth.

- A surge in trade protectionism could derail global trade and negatively impact economic growth, which would hit consumption in the freight, construction and mining sectors.

- Compliance slippage to the IMO's global sulphur cap could see post-2020 diesel demand underperform expectations; development of enforcement mechanisms still remains in a nascent stage.

- Stronger investment into expanding gas-fired and renewables power generation capacity across the Asian EMs, would accelerate diesels ongoing decline in the power sector.

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Follow the author on Twitter: @Lyaman_Zeyn
Russian gas supplies are politicized by the United States but US gas will be 40% more expensive for Europe, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said after talks with Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel, TASS reports.

"This issue is highly politicized lately and not by efforts of Russia or Belgium, but by efforts of the United States in the first instance that wags its finger warningly at our European partners and says - do not buy gas from Russians. Why not? This is because the US has its own one," Medvedev said.

US LNG for Europe will require development of infrastructure and storage points, the Prime Minister said. "You and I understand pretty well any gas that will be supplied from the USD will be about 40% more expensive than gas supplied from Russia, simply by virtue of logistics of this process," he said.

Both pipeline gas and LNG are meant, Medvedev said. "Countering Russian natural gas on the European continent is an example of unfair economic competition, dressed up as some political care of European partners. I believe this is simply shabby and improper. We do nurture any sinister plans in respect of Europe. You and I are aware that Russia and the Soviet Union before that are supplying gas to West Europe for 50 years already and this only strengthens energy security of Europe, helping it to develop," he noted.

Gas consumption in Europe becomes higher because EU economies are growing, Medvedev added.
Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Oct. 20

By Huseyn Hasanov  Trend:

A meeting has been held at the Foreign Ministry of Turkmenistan with a delegation led by the Director General for Consular Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkey Mehmet Samsar, the Turkmen Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

During the talks, noting the positive dynamics in the development of bilateral relations, the sides exchanged views on the development of cooperation between the consular services of the two countries, the message says.

The meeting participants discussed the issues of the international agenda in the field of migration and noted the importance of holding such meetings on a regular basis in order to further expand interaction and learn best practices.

Turkey is one of the largest trading partners of Turkmenistan: about 600 Turkish companies operating in the fields of trade, investment, construction, energy, transport, communications, textile and processing industries have been registered in Turkmenistan.

Turkmenistan exports the products of textile, energy, chemical, agricultural industries. The metals and products made of metals, household goods, equipment, building materials, electrical goods, products of chemical and light industries, food products, vehicles, and medicines are imported from Turkey.

Ashgabat and Ankara express readiness to develop energy cooperation. Turkey declares its readiness to promote the issue of transportation of Caspian energy resources to Europe through Turkish territory, one of the options being the transportation along the bottom of the Caspian Sea and further across the territory of Azerbaijan.
Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Oct. 20

By Huseyn Hasanov Trend:

Strengthening protection and preparedness against terrorist attacks aimed at critical energy infrastructure was the focus of a risk-assessment and crisis management exercise held in Turkmenistans capital on 17 and 18 October 2018, organized by the OSCE Transnational Threats Department and the OSCE Centre in Ashgabat, OSCE Turkmenistan office reported.

The exercise was held as part of the OSCEs efforts to advance the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 2341 (2017) on the protection of critical infrastructure from terrorist attacks, and is the eighth national exercise on enhancing the capacities of OSCE participating States to mitigate terrorist attacks emanating from cyberspace on their critical energy infrastructure.

The exercise sought to raise awareness on the threat and vulnerabilities of critical energy infrastructure and to improve interagency co-ordination and collaboration in order to increase resilience. Through a simulation, 28 national experts, including representatives from the state and the energy sector tested the effectiveness of their existing protection and crisis management systems, including co-ordination with external crisis management mechanisms to mitigate the impact of a terrorist cyber-attack.

The use of ICT to conduct disruptive attacks on critical infrastructure is an increasing possibility, said Koen De Smedt of the Action against Terrorism Unit of the OSCEs Transnational Threats Department.

This exercise will help test and develop Turkmenistans national, sectoral and company-level capabilities to respond to a terrorist cyber-attack directed at industrial control systems.

The training is based on the OSCE Good Practices Guide on Non-Nuclear Critical Energy Infrastructure Protection from Terrorist Attacks Focusing on Threats Emanating from Cyberspace.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 20

By Rashid Shirinov  Trend:

The next, 23rd session of the Coordinating Committee on Hydrometeorology and Pollution Monitoring of the Caspian Sea (CASPCOM) with the participation of delegations of the Caspian littoral states is scheduled to be held in Ashgabat on October 30-31, Turkmenistan TV channel reported on Saturday.

President of Turkmenistan signed the corresponding decree, instructing the Foreign Ministry, the National Committee of Hydrometeorology under the Cabinet of Ministers and the State Enterprise for Caspian Sea Issues under the president to organize the event.

The Caspian Sea is the largest inland body of water on the planet. In 1994, the hydrometeorological services of the Caspian littoral states, with the active support of the World Meteorological Organization, established the CASPCOM to make their activities more efficient.

Hydrometeorological and pollution monitoring in the Caspian region is of a great importance for economies of the Caspian littoral states, as well as for the conservation of the seas unique ecosystem.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 20

Trend:

Russian Vnesheconombank, its subsidiary VEB-Leasing and the Tashkent City Administration have signed a cooperation agreement, Podrobno.uz reported.

The document was signed as part of the state visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to Uzbekistan.

"The parties intend to develop long-term, effective and mutually beneficial cooperation in financing road traffic management programs, modernizing urban transport and road facilities in Tashkent using Russian machines, equipment and digital technologies totaling up to $100 million," the Russian bank said in a statement.

The parties believe that the signing of the agreement is part of a large-scale agenda for the development of comprehensive and mutually beneficial cooperation between the Russian Federation and Uzbekistan.

The State Corporation "Bank for Development and Foreign Economic Affairs (Vnesheconombank)" (VEB) was established in 2007 on the basis of Vnesheconombank of the USSR. The objectives of the bank are to increase the competitiveness of Russian economy, and to diversify it, as well as stimulate investment activity.
The Consul General of Iran in Pakistans eastern city of Lahore has said that Iran is keen for stronger trade and economic ties with Pakistan and stressed that barter trade should be encouraged between the two countries, IRNA reports.

Reza Nazeri was addressing the business community at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI).



'Pakistan and Iran have common borders and cultural bonds and Iran has always tried to strengthen the bilateral relations with its neighboring countries and Pakistan is its first preference in this regard, he said.



He extended full support of the Iranian consulate to prospective trade delegations, adding Iran would organize an exhibition of its products in Punjab.



Oil, chemical, gas and other sectors should be focused for mutual trade, he emphasized.



He added Pakistan has a distinguished status in milk production and experience of Iran in dairy sector could be beneficial for Pakistan.



Reza Nazeri went on to say that Iran has great potential in the field of construction and could cooperate with Pakistan in this field and added that both countries should join hands for promotion of tourism sector as Iran and Pakistan have immense potential in this sector.



Answering a query, Nazeri lamented that lack of banking channels between the two countries was quite troublesome. Last year, Iran signed an agreement with the previous Pakistan government in this regard, he recalled. I will contact the current Punjab government to reactivate this agreement.



Speaking on the occasion, LCCI President Almas Hyder pointed out that over the years, the chamber and Iran consulate had worked hand in hand. He appreciated efforts of the Iranian consul general in aiding the ease of doing business through frequent direct flights between the two countries.



Both the countries have huge domestic markets and a unique geostrategic competitive advantage, he emphasized. In order to utilize each others strength, Pakistan and Iran will have to work jointly.



Hyder recalled his visit to Iran at the head of a business delegation in 2016 and said a great potential existed for Pakistani products in Iran.
Indonesia won't abandon its deal with Russia on Su-35 deliveries in spite of the possibility of being subjected to US sanctions, the country's defense minister, Ryamizard Ryacudu, said in an official statement on the sidelines of the ASEAN Defense Ministers' Meeting (ADMM), Sputnik reported.

"Indonesia is looking forward to receiving [the] fighter jets soon, we are very interested in this," he said.

Ryacudu added that the ministry is currently working out the details on payment procedures with the Ministries of Finance and Commerce, while all other issues have already been resolved.

Russia and Indonesia have agreed on the sale of 11 Sukhoi aircraft, with the contract valued at $1.154 billion. However, the deal could fall under CAATSA, which may lead to Washington imposing sanctions on Jakarta as a result. US Secretary of Defense James Mattis asked congressmen in August to grant a waiver to India, Indonesia and Vietnam allowing them to make deals with Russia without the threat of being subject to American sanctions. So far Washington hasn't given any guarantees that these countries will not face sanctions.
The Saudi prosecutor general announced on state television Friday that their preliminary conclusion about the fate of journalist Jamal Khashoggi is that a fight broke out between him and people who met him in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2, an altercation which led to his death, Sputnik reports.

The Saudi top prosecutor also said that while the investigation is still underway, 18 Saudi nationals have been arrested so far.

Saudi state media also announced that Gen. Ahmed Al-Assiri, a senior adviser to Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman and high-ranking official in the monarchy's general intelligence directorate, was fired from his post Friday amid reports that he would be a "fall guy" for Khashoggi's death, Sputnik reported. It was also reported that Saud al-Qahtani, a royal court adviser, was removed.

The report further indicated that Saudi King Salman had ordered the formation of a ministerial committee, with Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman as its head, to restructure the intelligence agency.

The Washington Post, a publication to which Khashoggi regularly contributed, reported on Tuesday that Qahtani is Mohammad bin Salman's "media adviser but also increasingly his consigliere," helping to boost his media image but also to use the latest methods in cracking down on dissent online.

The claims come amid news that Salman and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke on the phone Friday about the progress of both of their investigations.

Khashoggi never left the consulate after entering it on October 2 to obtain papers necessary for his upcoming marriage. After weeks of speculation and widespread reports that he had been killed or abducted out of the country, this is the first confirmation of the journalist's death.
Saudi Arabia said on Friday that journalist Jamal Khashoggi died in a fight inside its Istanbul consulate and said it had fired two senior officials over the incident, giving an account that U.S. President Donald Trump said was credible, Reuters reports.

Saudi Arabias acknowledgement that Khashoggi died came after two weeks of denials and growing demands from Western allies for an explanation over Khashoggis disappearance, which galvanized a global outcry and prompted some U.S. lawmakers to call for harsh action against Riyadh.

Saudi state media said King Salman had ordered the dismissal of two senior officials over the incident: Saud al-Qahtani, a royal court advisor seen as the right-hand man to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and deputy intelligence chief Ahmed Asiri, a statement on state media said.

I think its a good first step, its a big step. Its a lot of people, a lot of people involved, and I think its a great first step, Trump told reporters.

Saudi Arabia has been a great ally. What happened is unacceptable.

Though Trump said Riyadhs account was credible, it drew doubt from some U.S. lawmakers.

Khashoggi, a critic of the crown prince, went missing after entering the consulate on Oct. 2 to obtain documents for his upcoming marriage. Days later, Turkish officials said they believed he was killed in the building, an allegation that Saudi Arabia had, until now, strenuously denied.

In a separate statement on Saturday, the Saudi public prosecutor said a fight broke out between Khashoggi and people who met him in the consulate, leading to his death.

The investigations are still underway and 18 Saudi nationals have been arrested, the statement said.

The disappearance of Khashoggi, a U.S. resident and Washington Post columnist, had led to mounting pressure from the West on Saudi Arabia to provide convincing answers.

Before the Saudi announcements, Trump said he might consider sanctions, although he has also appeared unwilling to distance himself too much from the Saudis, citing Riyadhs role in countering Iranian influence in the Middle East and lucrative potential arms deals.

The White House said in a statement that it had seen the Saudi announcement and would continue to press for justice that is timely, transparent, and in accordance with all due process.

But some U.S. lawmakers expressed doubt about the Saudi explanation.

To say that I am skeptical of the new Saudi narrative about Mr. Khashoggi is an understatement, said Republican U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham, a Trump ally who has been sharply critical of Saudi Arabia over the incident.

Democratic U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal told CNN the Saudi explanation absolutely defies credibility and called for an international investigation of Khashoggis death.

Turkish sources have told Reuters the authorities have an audio recording purportedly documenting Khashoggis murder inside the consulate. Turkish pro-government newspaper Yeni Safak has published what it said were details from the audio. It said Khashoggis torturers had severed his fingers during an interrogation and later beheaded and dismembered him.
Egypt and the European Union have signed two agreements worth almost $155 million in a bid to create jobs and tackle illegal migrations, MEMO reports citing Al-Masry Al-Youm.

The signing was attended by Egyptian Minister of Investment Sahar Nasr and Director-General for EU Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Christian Danielsson.

The first agreement will fund an EU programme for inclusive growth, with a focus on creating job opportunities, through investment in small and medium businesses. The scheme will also attempt to create links between business owners of smaller firms and large corporations to enable the better exchange of funding and ideas. Egypt has made some progress in tackling joblessness, with the unemployment rate expected to drop to 10.9 per cent by the end of this year from 12.2 per cent in 2017.

The second deal, worth some $6.88 million, is targeted at reducing illegal immigration, as well as smuggling and human trafficking, in which Egypt is rapidly becoming a hotspot.

The project involves three stages which will be spread across 11 cities; improving the infrastructure of cities experiencing illegal migration, create several educational programmes in the areas most affected, and to support womens employment to ease the financial burdens that lead to individuals seeking work abroad.

Aid will also be given to local institutions and civic organisations trying to tackle migration in the north of the country.

Egypt is fast becoming a popular route for migrants from sub-Saharan Africa to cross the Mediterranean and enter Europe. However the EU has placed pressure on North African countries to stem the flow of people leaving the continent, and in July, revealed that European leaders would seek to establish centres in the Middle East and Africa to host deported asylum seekers.

The plan was quickly rejected by Egypt, and the EUs partner countries, including Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia.

Our capacities are already utilised today; therefore, it is important that Egypt receives support from Germany and the EU, Egyptian Parliament Speaker Ali Abdul Aal said at the time.

Egypt already hosts more than 221,675 refugees and asylum seekers, with 3,118 newly registered in 2018 alone according to the UNHCR. Unofficial estimates however indicate that the actual number exceeds 300,000.

The country has particularly struggled with the refugee burden in light of its own economic problems. The government is currently implementing numerous austerity measures as part of the reform programmes stipulated by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and has argued that the increase of foreigners in the country has resulted in significant costs to the country.
British Prime Minister Theresa May told business leaders during a teleconference that EU politicians are committed to reaching a Brexit agreement this autumn, striking what one source told, Reuters reports.

London and Brussels are racing to strike a deal by the end of the year and firms are worried that without one, there could be widespread disruption of everything from supply chains to flights and the movement of food and livestock.

May briefed around 120 business leaders to update them on the progress of the talks after discussions in Brussels earlier this week.

The Prime Minister spoke for about 10 minutes and the tone of her message was quite optimistic, a source familiar with the content of the call told.

Mays office said the prime minister had acknowledged that there were a few significant issues still outstanding but that progress was being made.

The very real sense she had from leaders around the table at the Council was that they wanted to reach a deal as soon as possible this autumn, Mays office said.

She said that her aim was to wrap this up in November, one of the business people listening to the call said.

May was told by some that time is pressing and heard concerns over contingency measures which may be irreversible, the source added.

She was also asked what business could do to help on Brexit, to which she suggested firms write to lawmakers in Britain and elsewhere in Europe, to make sure leaders were aware that business needed a resolution.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel condemned the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Saudi Arabias consulate in Istanbul and said explanations so far given of the circumstances of his death were inadequate, Reuters reported.

We condemn this act in the strongest terms, she and Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said in a joint statement issued on Saturday. We expect transparency from Saudi Arabia about the circumstances of his death ... The information available about events in the Istanbul consulate is inadequate.

Expressing deep sympathy to Khashoggis friends and relatives, they said those responsible for his death must be held accountable.
Hundreds of thousands of supporters of the European Union marched through London on Saturday in the biggest demonstration so far to demand that the British government holds a public vote on the terms of Brexit, Reuters reported.

The protesters waved the blue and gold flag of the EU and held up Bollocks to Brexit banners under sunny skies to call for another referendum on the eventual deal on how Britain will leave the worlds biggest trading bloc.

The march comes after another tumultuous week for Prime Minister Theresa May in which she failed to agree a divorce deal with EU leaders in Brussels and infuriated members of her own party by making further concessions in the talks.

With just over five months until Britain is due to leave there is no clarity about what a future trade deal with the EU will look like and some rebels in Mays Conservative Party have threatened to vote down a deal if she clinches one.

James McGrory, one of the organisers of the march, said voters should have the chance to change their minds because the decision will impact their lives for generations.

People think the Brexit negotiations are a total mess, they have no faith in the government to deliver the promises that were made, partly because they cannot be delivered, he said.

At the march, demonstrators carried placards saying Brexit is pants, Time for an EU turn and European and proud.

Organisers said about 670,000 people took part in the march, which would make it the largest in Britain since a demonstration against the Iraq war in 2003.

The Peoples Vote campaign, which includes several pro-EU groups, said they had stewards stationed at regular intervals to estimate the size of the crowd. The police did not provide an independent estimate of numbers participating.

Protesters originally gathered near Hyde Park and then walked past Downing Street and finished outside parliament where they listened to politicians from all main political parties.

Britains 2016 referendum saw 52 percent vote in favour of leaving the European Union. But the past two years have been politically fraught as the government has struggled to agree on a plan and there are fears that Britain could leave the bloc without a deal.

Some opinion polls have shown a slight shift in favour of remaining in the European Union, but there has yet to be a decisive change in attitudes and many in Britain say they have become increasingly bored by Brexit.

The prime minister has repeatedly ruled out holding a second referendum. The opposition Labour partys Brexit spokesman said last month his party open to a second referendum with the option of staying in the bloc in certain circumstances.

In Belfast in Northern Ireland, around 2,000 people gathered on Saturday to oppose Brexit.

Brendan Heading, a 39-year-old IT worker, said he was worried the decision to leave the EU would damage the economy and could lead to the break up of the United Kingdom.

I feel that Brexit threatens prosperity and stability, he said. People should have the opportunity to vote for an alternative based on what we now know.

Brexit supporters held their own rally in the town of Harrogate in the north of England.

Richard Tice, Vice-Chairman of Leave Means Leave and one of the speakers at the event, described the people on the march in London as losers and said a second referendum would trigger a constitutional crisis.

We had a vote, we voted to leave, the idea to have a second referendum would be incredibly damaging, he said.

People need to be under no illusions as to how people feel about what is a significant potential for a total betrayal of democracy in this country.
The European Union is calling for a thorough, credible and transparent investigation on the case of the death of Jamal Khashoggi, said Federica Mogherini, the EU Foreign Policy Chief, on Saturday, Sputnik reported.

"The European Union, like its partners, insists on the need for continued thorough, credible and transparent investigation, shedding proper clarity on the circumstances of the killing and ensuring full accountability of all those responsible for it. The memory of Jamal Khashoggi, the family of the journalist as well as his friends deserve justice," Mogherini said in a Saturday declaration, as quoted by the EU Council.

Mogherini expressed condolences to Khashoggi's family and friends as well as paid tribute to the memory of the murdered journalist.

"The emerging circumstances of Jamal Khashoggi's death are deeply troubling, including the shocking violation of the 1963 Vienna Convention on Consular Relations and particularly its Article 55," the EU foreign policy chief added.

Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist, went missing on October 2. He was last seen entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul where he went to receive papers he needed to remarry. Later, the Saudi authorities announced that a preliminary investigation had revealed that Khashoggi was dead.

The authorities said 18 Saudi nationals had been detained in relation with the matter, and intelligence chief Ahmad Assiri and senior aide to the Saudi crown prince Saud al-Qahtani had been sacked over the incident.
Venezuelas expelled ambassador to Ecuador on Friday boarded a plane to Caracas that also carried a group of Venezuelan migrants, Sputnik reported.

"Ambassador Carol Delgado bids farewell to Ecuadorians ahead of her return home alongside Venezuelans on the seventh Flight Home," the Venezuelan Embassy in Quito tweeted.

It posted a photo of the welcoming team that was preparing to meet the diplomat and 93 Venezuelan refugees, coming home as part of the governments plan to repatriate its nationals.

Delgado was ordered on Thursday to leave Ecuador after Venezuelan Communications Minister Jorge Rodriguez accused Ecuadors President Lenin Moreno of inflating the number of his compatriots that fled to the neighboring countries.
Russian Aerospace Defense Forces have made over 40,000 flights, including 21,000 flight in the nighttime, over the course of the operation in Syria and delivered strikes at around 122,000 terrorist facilities, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said on Saturday at the fifth council of defense ministers of ASEAN member countries and their dialogue partners, TASS reports.

"Over the course of military actions, strikes were delivered at around 122,000 terrorist facilities. Most militants were eliminated," Shoigu said. "We acquired extensive military experience in Syria, and we are ready to share it," he noted adding that peaceful life is being actively restored in Syria.

"As a result of concerted efforts of the Russian center for reconciliation of the conflicting sides, over 2,500 settlements from all over the country have already joined the reconciliation process," the defense minister said. Special attention is paid now to resolving humanitarian issues in Syria and assisting refegees in returning to their homes, he concluded.
The Islamic State terrorist group (outlawed in Russia) has been defeated over the last three years of military actions in Syria with Russia's support, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said on Saturday at the fifth council of defense ministers of ASEAN member countries and their dialogue partners, TASS reports.

"Over the course of the operation, 87,500 militants were destroyed, 1,141 settlements and over 95% of Syria's territory were liberated," Shoigu said.

"Key settlements were liberated and main communications were unblocked," he noted. "The Syrian armed forces currently control territory where 90% of the populaiton resides," he added.
US President Donald Trump may meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the commemoration marking the centenary of the end of World War I in Paris or the G20 summit in Buenos Aires, both scheduled for November, US media reported, citing a senior White House official.

The first full-fledged meeting between Putin and Trump was held in July in Helsinki.

Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday that despite the two leaders were planned to attend the same events in France and Argentina in November, their next meeting was not being discussed. Moscow has said it is ready to discuss the possibility of arrangement of the second meeting between the two presidents if Washington is interested in continuing high-level dialogue.
United States Defense Secretary James Mattis reiterated Washingtons position on the South China Sea Friday, calling for Japan and South Korea to work with America in the sea to prevent a singular power from dominating its waters, Sputnik reported.

"I think that all of us joining hands together  ASEAN [Association of Southeast Asian Nations] allies and partners  and we affirm as we do so that no single nation can rewrite the international rules to the road and expect all nations large and small to respect those rules," the secretary of defense said Friday after meeting with Japanese and South Korean officials in Singapore, The Hill reported.

The defense chief said the US would continue "to fly, sail and operate wherever international law allows and our national interests demand," before declaring that the US "cannot accept the [People's Republic of China's] militarization of the South China Sea or any coercion in this region."

Beijing has cultivated a slew of military assets in strategic areas of the South China Sea for what it calls national defense purposes. The resource-rich sea, which is also enormously important for trade in and out of Asia, is contested by numerous southeast Asian nations, which each claim unique and frequently overlapping rights to reefs, islets and fishing waters within the area.

The Spratly Islands and Paracel Islands are among the more frequently disputed territories. Beijing, Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia and the Philippines have staked claims over elements of the Spratlys, while Beijing, Taiwan and Vietnam dispute sovereignty over the Paracels. China has exerted de facto control over the Paracels since 1974, though.

US officials have long expressed dismay at China's construction of industrial outposts and military facilities on artificial islands in the South China Sea but have mostly reserved their reactions to verbal outbursts. US Navy ships conduct "freedom of navigation" operations in these areas, though, and US Air Force bombers sometimes conduct "flyovers" over the South China Sea.
The Trump Administration is not likely to agree to extend the New START (Strategic Arms Reduction) Treaty for five more years, a senior administration official told a group of reporters, TASS reports.

"We dont have a definitive US position yet, but there are several considerations including renegotiation, returning to the 'Treaty of Moscow' model, or an extension, but the latter is unlikely," the official said.

The New START Treaty entered into force in 2011. The treaty will expire in 2021 if it is not replaced by another agreement by that time. In 2021, the Treaty can be extended for five years until 2026 upon mutual agreement of the sides.
The Trump Administration is planning to tell Russian leaders next week that it is preparing to exit the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, TASS reports citing The New York Times.

Citing American officials and foreign diplomats, the newspaper says that "in the coming weeks, Mr. Trump is expected to sign off on the decision."

According to The New York Times, "the national security advisor, John R. Bolton, will warn the Russian President, Vladimir V. Putin, on a trip to Moscow early next week that the United States will leave the treaty."
By Dave Hueston, KYODO NEWS - Oct 20, 2018 - 15:44 | Arts, Feature, All

For a man born in Cameroon who grew up in Japan, finding his calling in life as a social minority has given him a unique perspective, which he has parlayed into a budding career as a manga artist.

As Japan's pop culture has evolved, so have the experiences of Rene Hoshino, who has used the bittersweet memories from his childhood years as the comical material for his recently released manga, "Afurika Shonen ga Nihon de Sodatta Kekka" ("The Results of an African Boy Growing up in Japan").

With a growing following of more than 45,000 people on Twitter, the 34-year-old appears to have struck a chord in a society where he is making his mark as an African-Japanese.

"My material comes from talking to Japanese people and the emotions they show," Hoshino, in a white button shirt and backward red cap, says in Japanese in a recent interview at his home in Kunitachi, western Tokyo.

"I take down notes when I see them emotionally react to me or see their response when I talk about life in Cameroon. They might think it peculiar that I can speak Japanese so fluently. If I write about that, readers find it interesting. As long as they're moved about differences or commonalities, anything is okay. That's the value in writing the manga."

Hoshino, whose artwork features vivid jungle scenes reminiscent of his native Cameroon, says he didn't consider the ill treatment from other kids at Japanese schools growing up to be "blatant prejudice."

But he admits the other kids in his class at first considered him an oddity and stereotyped him, or otherwise teased him about the color of his skin.

"There were kids who if they saw African television talent (like Ousmane Sankhon or Zomahoun Rufin) or a semi-naked African tribe on Japanese TV would say, 'Is that how your family is?' There was a lot of that."

Many of those incidents would later become the "neta" (stories) he would use for the humorous manga series he began posting on Twitter from March this year as a diary of his childhood memories.

Born in a small village in the former German, French and British colony in central Africa, Hoshino was just a baby when a Japanese anthropologist doing research near his village fell in love and proposed marriage to his mother, Dalina.

The family, including Hoshino who was the product of his mother's previous marriage, moved to Himeji, in western Japan's Hyogo Prefecture, when he was around 3.

Although he didn't yet speak Japanese, he was captivated by the TV anime "Anpanman" in nursery school and started drawing manga of his own. But what drew him to manga in the first place?

"It would've been stranger for me not to have been drawn into this magical world. You can fly or remove your face and give it to someone. Anything can happen there, can't it? I was fascinated. You understand why kids would rather read manga than play outside. In the real world, such marvelous things don't happen. It's like always having your own toy chest."

Even so, he says he never dreamed that years later as an adult he would turn his childhood pastime into something that would launch him into the spotlight as a manga artist.

"Honestly, I never thought I'd become a manga artist. I was just enjoying myself through manga and other childhood games. Drawing manga was just an extension of that."

Probably what bothered Hoshino the most as a small child was standing out in a crowd. Whereas the kids from his own elementary school grew used to him right away, he became an object of curiosity when kids from other schools would join his class on excursions.

In particular, he became self-conscious about dating Japanese girls in junior high school. When his group of friends talked about girls they intended to ask out, Hoshino says he felt left out because all he saw were Japanese dating other Japanese.

"I had completely no image of Japanese girls falling for an African guy. All of the guys they liked were from Japanese pop bands with light skin and straight hair. So I shut myself out from that group because I was so different," he says, hesitantly admitting that he didn't have a girlfriend in junior high school.

With the hip-hop and reggae boom and overall infiltration of black culture in Japan through Hollywood stars like Will Smith, dating became easier, he says. He references one of his favorite Japanese proverbs: "Kaho wa nete mate" (Good things come to those who wait).

"After high school, I noticed more and more Japanese girls began to follow hip-hop or reggae. They liked hip-hop dancers and black culture, so I learned enough about it to answer questions. Girls started to approach me to date. I was like, 'America and Jamaica, thank you very much!'," Hoshino says, pressing his palms together as if offering gratitude at a Shinto shrine.

Hoshino, who has permanent residency in Japan but retains his Cameroon nationality, worked for a building contractor and became popular as a manager of a bar in his local area after graduating from high school before moving to Tokyo at the age of 25 to pursue a career on television.

Although he has made TV appearances talking about his African experience in Japan, he was turned off by the fact a lot of TV producers were looking for African stereotypes: characters who play dumb, speak poor Japanese, or excel at sports.

He continued to draw manga as a hobby on the side and even tried pitching some to a number of major publishers, but without success.

Conversely, it was only when he took to Twitter in March that he saw his fortunes change.

Within two months of him beginning to post his observations of an African's perspective growing up in Japan, over 30,000 people had become followers of his Twitter handle, @RENEhosino. Next, a publisher came knocking and released the Japanese manga book on Aug. 20, 2018, Hoshino's 34th birthday.

"The title of the manga is purposely ambiguous -- the observations of an African boy or his experiment of living in Japan. I highlight the noteworthy points of the experiment of living here for 34 years. As much as possible, I leave interpretations to the reader and just show the results."

One manga strip depicts an event that occurred when Hoshino was in elementary school art class. He asked a girl he was friends with to lend him the "hada-iro" crayon. Not knowing at the time that hada-iro in Japanese means skin color, he was shocked when she hands him a brown crayon.

"I just didn't know the meaning of hada-iro was skin color," he says, adding that nowadays the crayon is called "pale orange."

There was also the time when he saw other kids making a fuss as they stared out a window at his high school entrance ceremony, a point in his life when he just didn't want to stand out anymore. To his embarrassment, his mother had shown up in full Cameroon native dress and was walking proudly across the school courtyard.

It wasn't until he graduated from high school and started working in the real world that he realized that standing out "actually wasn't always a bad thing." It had its advantages. People started to take notice of his stories.

Hoshino, who has five younger brothers and sisters who are of mixed race -- all from his mother's marriage to his Japanese father -- speaks French, one of the official languages of Cameroon, and some of the tribal language of the Mvae people. He says he is also learning English on Skype.

As a person who considers himself Japanese at heart with African roots, Hoshino says he is able to convey both worlds through his manga. Although the cultures, traditions and histories are completely different, he understands why Japanese people are intrigued by the African continent.

"Africa is a world of fantasy completely different from Japan. There are rich resources of diamonds, oil and gold. Japanese dress is rather conservative while Africans wear a lot of primary colors like red and yellow. Japanese also sympathize with the tragedies from history of Europeans who invaded, took people away to different places (into slavery) and divided up countries. Most Japanese also know it as the birthplace of humankind."

Hoshino himself, however, sees more similarities than differences between Japan and his homeland. "They both have the same worries about paying for children's education or marriage problems... husbands or wives cheating on each other, or problems with corrupt governments. We're all human so what we worry about doesn't change that much."

Looking forward, Hoshino says he hopes to see his future manga works made available overseas in different languages, not from the viewpoint of the hardships of prejudice but from what it means to be a minority living amongst the majority.

"I write about Japan and Cameroon but it could just as well be about other countries. I am writing about minorities and majorities. For instance, straight people don't understand the feelings of lesbian or gay people. The same goes for minorities who can't understand majorities because they might have a victim's mentality."

Hoshino says if people can stand in each other's shoes, "it can bring about empathy and close the distance between them."

"I want people to see this 'observation record' in the manga I write. If this is conveyed to the world, the minorities and majorities can have a common experience from the same book. The publisher is already talking about releasing my work in other languages. I think it will happen soon."

Hoshino's manga is a type of litmus test for Japanese reactions to issues dealing with other cultures and race. Even when he gets negative comments on Twitter he takes it all in stride, he says.

Asked what is the best feedback he has received, he says, "The thing that makes me happiest is when followers say 'I had never thought of that before' or 'I made a new discovery because of what you wrote.' I am happy that my manga has had the effect of bringing about positive change."

[Video provided by Rene Hoshino]
NEET 2021 Perfect Scorer Karthika G Nair on how she scored 720 for the entrance exam
Activation of precancerous pathways seen with obesity; secondary findings suggest that NSAIDs may lower the levels of pro-inflammatory proteins in the colon

BOSTON (Oct. 10, 2018)--Studies in mice have demonstrated that obesity-induced inflammation contributes to the risk of colorectal cancer, but evidence in humans has been scarce. A new study shows that two inflammatory proteins in the colon increase in parallel with increasing weight in humans. An incremental rise in these pro-inflammatory proteins (called cytokines) was observed along the entire spectrum of subjects' weights, which extended from lean to obese individuals. In participants with obesity, there was evidence that two pre-cancerous cellular pathways known to be triggered by these cytokines were also activated.

The study, while modest in size, provides new evidence that obesity promotes cancer through inflammation. Secondary findings suggest that NSAIDS lower the levels of pro-inflammatory proteins in the colon, regardless of a person's weight. The study is published online in advance of print in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.

Led by Joel B. Mason, M.D., a gastroenterologist who studies nutrition and cancer prevention at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University (HNRCA), the study included 42 Caucasian participants. Sixteen research participants were lean, with a BMI between 18.1 and 24.9, while 26 participants with obesity had a BMI ranging from 30.0 to 45.7. The participants were between the ages of 45 and 70 years of age and were undergoing routine screening colonoscopies at Tufts Medical Center.

Using blood samples and colonic biopsies, the researchers determined that the concentrations of two major cytokines rose in parallel with BMI. Cytokines are proteins that mediate and regulate immunity and inflammation, among other things. In addition to evidence that they can promote cancer risk in certain tissues, pro-inflammatory cytokines have been identified as actors in insulin resistance and diabetes, as well as inflammatory disorders such as arthritis.

In addition to the work analyzing cytokines, the research team studied differences in the mucosal transcriptome between the two sets of research participants, finding changes indicative of activation in two gene expression networks that are pivotal in the development of colon cancer in the participants with obesity.

"Our results establish, for the first time, that concentrations in the colon of two major cytokines increase in concert with increasing BMI in humans. The increased concentrations are accompanied by changes in gene activation within the lining of the colon that are pro-cancerous in nature," said senior author Joel B. Mason, M.D., director of the Vitamins and Carcinogenesis Laboratory at the HNRCA.

In an effort to identify potential confounding factors, the research team determined that thirteen of the 42 study participants were also regular users of NSAIDs, such as aspirin and ibuprofen. The research team discovered that participants who took NSAIDs at least once per week, compared to those who did not, had lower levels of pro-inflammatory proteins in the colon. This pattern was consistent across the two BMI groups.

"Observational and clinical trials show aspirin can reduce the risk of colon cancer, but it continues to be controversial because of the risk of serious gastrointestinal bleeding. NSAIDs are probably working through multiple avenues, one of which is cytokines. Our observation underscores prior work that has suggested that some NSAIDs reduce the risk of colon cancer, presumed to occur through a reduction in colonic inflammation. Their use, however, has to be weighed against the potential adverse effects," said Mason.

The authors noted that the modest study size and the Caucasian population are limitations of the study, writing "given the cross-sectional nature of this study, the results cannot prove that the observed changes in the colonic transcriptome are due to the rise in cytokines...Observations from this study nevertheless underscore the potential contribution that the establishment of an inflammatory milieu in the colonic mucosa may play in explaining the enhanced risk of colon cancer due to obesity."

In the United States, colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer and the second leading cause of death among cancers that affect both men and women, according to the CDC. The American Cancer Society reports that the overall lifetime risk of developing colorectal cancer is about 1 in 22 for men and 1 in 24 for women.

The first author on the study is Anna C. Pfalzer, a Ph.D. graduate in biochemical and molecular nutrition from the Friedman School and former member of Mason's laboratory. Pfalzer is now at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Joel Mason is also a professor at Tufts University School of Medicine and at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts and a gastroenterologist at Tufts Medical Center.

###

This work was supported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service. Any opinions, findings, conclusion, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the view of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Additional authors on the study are Keith Leung, Jimmy W. Crott, Susan J. Kim, Gail Rogers, and M. Kyla Shea of the HNRCA; Frederick K. Kamanu and Paloma E. Garcia, formerly of the HNRCA; Laurence D. Parnell of the USDA's Agricultural Research Service; Albert K. Tai of Tufts University School of Medicine, and Zhenhua Liu of the School of Public Health and Health Sciences at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

Pfalzer, A. C., Leung, K., Crott, J. W., Kim, S. J., Tai, A. K., Parnell, L. D., Kamanu, F. K., Liu, Z., Rogers, G., Shea, M. K., Garcia, P.E., and Mason, J. B. (Oct. 5, 2018, uncorrected proof). Incremental elevations in TNF-alpha and IL-6 in the human colon and pro-cancerous changes in the mucosal transcriptome accompany adiposity. Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention. doi: 10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-18-0121

About the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University

For three decades, the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University has studied the relationship between good nutrition and good health in aging populations. Tufts research scientists work with federal agencies to establish the Dietary Guidelines, the Dietary Reference Intakes, and other significant public policies.
bitcoin auction

The US Marshals Service has announced an upcoming auction for over $4 million worth of bitcoin seized during various legal proceedings. The sealed bid auction, which is scheduled to take place in November, will offer approximately 660 BTC seized during about 31 federal criminal, civil and administrative cases under the asset forfeiture framework of the Department of Justice.

Particulars for the Auction

Interested parties are expected to register with the USMS to be evaluated and cleared for the bid process. The required items for the registration are a manually signed copy of the bidder registration form, a copy of a government-issued photo ID for the bidder, a deposit in USD sent from a bank located within the United States, and a copy of the EFT transmittal receipt.

Following submission, eligible bid candidates will be announced on November 1, ahead of the auction, which is scheduled to take place on November 5. According to the USMS website, bid registration will take place between October 22 and October 31.

Following this, the online auction period featuring vetted and accredited bidders will begin on November 5.

An excerpt from the announcement reads:

The prevailing bids will be determined by the following criteria: The eligible bidder who offers the highest price will be the prevailing bidder; If there are multiple bids at the highest price, the first bid received will prevail; and If a winning bidder defaults, the next highest bidder will be declared the winning bidder.

Changing Global Law Enforcement Strategy

The asset forfeiture program has traditionally been used to go after assets acquired through proceeds of illegal or criminal activity, which are usually in the form of real estate, artworks, vehicles, jewelry, and cash.

Over the past few years, however, regulators and governments around the world have increasingly recognised bitcoin as an asset to be confiscated during civil and criminal proceedings that necessitate asset seizure.

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In July, CCN reported that Canadian police seized $1.6 million in bitcoin from an unnamed man accused of selling drugs on dark web marketplace Silk Road under the pseudonym MarijuanaIsMyMuse.

Last month, CCN also reported that the secretary of Thailands Anti-Money Laundering Office (AMLO), Witthaya Neetitham announced that the government agency is planning to create its own cryptocurrency wallet for the purposes of tackling crime relating to bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as it seeks to close a legal loophole that has allowed cybercriminals keep the proceeds of their activities despite prosecution.

Featured Image from Shutterstock



The post Checkbooks Ready! US Marshals to Hold $4 Million Bitcoin Auction appeared first on CCN.


(Refiles to fix spelling in para 3)

By Hugo Greenhalgh

LONDON, Oct 17 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - HIV transmission rates among gay and bisexual men fell by almost a third in the Australian state of New South Wales following the wide-scale introduction of a daily anti-HIV drug, sparking calls for other health authorities to follow suit.

According to research by the Kirby Institute at the University of New South Wales, new HIV infections among Australian-born gay and bisexual men fell by almost 50 percent following the mass introduction of PrEP, an oral prophylactic.

For gay and bisexual men living in inner-city Sydney, the research, published on Wednesday in respected health journal the Lancet HIV, revealed HIV transmission rates dropped by just under 52 percent.

The study, based on the EPIC-NSW trial which provided 9,714 HIV-negative people with PrEP between March 2016 and April 2018, offers further evidence of the drug's efficacy, experts said.

"Our findings demonstrate that PrEP, implemented on a background of condom promotion and high levels of HIV testing and treatment, can quickly and dramatically influence the trajectory of the HIV epidemic," Andrew Grulich at the Kirby Institute told the Thomson Reuters Foundation by email.

"This provides strong evidence that policymakers should ensure the rapid, targeted roll-out of PrEP at scale to help turn around HIV epidemics in men who have sex with men."

PrEP works by providing HIV-negative people with anti-retroviral drugs to combat exposure to the virus.

Earlier this year, Australia began to subsidise the cost of the once-daily pill, which is made by Gilead Sciences under the brand name Truvada, slashing the cost for state healthcare systems by thousands of dollars per regime.

Studies show that PrEP can cut the transmission rate of HIV by 99 percent.

France rolled out the drug in 2016, with only four new HIV infections reported among 2,805 people taking Truvada regularly.

PrEP was approved as a prophylactic by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2012 with an estimated 84,000 men taking the pill by the end of that year.

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San Francisco this year reported its lowest ever HIV transmission rate, with numbers of new infections down 5 percent since 2017 and 60 percent from 10 years ago.

"When we look at gay men in London, we are seeing similar drops in new diagnoses (to the Kirby research)," said Matthew Hodson, executive director of NAM, a British HIV/Aids information charity.

"NAM as well as the Terrence Higgins Trust and the National Aids Trust are urging the (British) government to set out a road map of how they are going to have full PrEP roll out by the beginning of April 1, 2019."

British healthcare authority NHS England said it had recently increased the number of places available under its three-year PrEP Impact Trial by 3,000 to 13,000.

"The NHS will look at evidence from the trial to expand prevention services in the most effective way," a spokeswoman said. (Editing by Lyndsay Griffiths. Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters that covers humanitarian news, women's and LGBT+ rights, human trafficking, property rights, and climate change. Visit http://news.trust.org)
Photo credit: Michael Stillwell

From Popular Mechanics

Weve Been Wrong Before is Popular Mechanics' encyclopedia of scientific ideas that sounded good at the time but didn't quite pan out. Today: The hunt for aether, which Aristotle, alchemists, and even Isaac Newton used to explain gaps in our understanding of the universe.

One of the most important science experiments of all time was a complete and utter failure.

In 1887, Albert Michelson and Edward Morley set up their project in the dormitory basement at a university in Cleveland, Ohio. The idea was to bounce light beams off mirrors in different directions and measure their speeds. The two researchers thought their hoped-for result-capturing light moving at different velocity-would help to prove the existence of aether.

The aether was the invisible material thought to permeate all the empty space in the universe, used by famous thinkers from Aristotle to Isaac Newton to explain the mysteries of the natural world. The much-heralded Michelson-Morley experiment, as the 1887 event would go down in history, sought to detect the existence of this undetectable substance.

Instead, it found nothing.

The experiment would go down as a faceplant, a failure that marked the end for a theory that had dominated physics for 2,000 years. But the fallout of the Michelson-Morley experiment led to the idea of the universal speed of light, inspired Einsteins breakthroughs in relativity, and opened the door to much of modern physics. Sometimes it takes failure to move forward.

The Stuff of Gods

Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain

Aether meant many things to many people. Ancient Greeks saw aether as the god of light and the fifth element of the universe. To the medieval alchemists, it was the fabled philosophers stone that could turn lead into gold and prolong life. Centuries later, early modern scientists like Rene Descartes and Nikola Tesla were still pointing to aether to explain fundamental natural phenomena like gravity and light. Yet aether does not exist, and it never did. It may be the most enduring imaginary concept in scientific history.

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Aether was invented by the ancients. In Greek mythology it described the pure air that the gods breathed in the heavens as opposed to the normal air breathed by mortals on Earth.

The word aether comes from the Greek aither, meaning upper air. The Greeks mythology described the pure air that the gods breathed in the heavens as opposed to the normal air breathed by mortals on Earth, and went further than that. Aether was also a Greek god, one of the first-born deities in the pantheon, the primordial god of light and the sky. This bright, divine Aether was the classical philosophers version of our upper atmosphere. In Platos theory of the cosmos, he writes that there are different kinds of air and the brightest part is called the aether.

Photo credit: Carlos Gonzalez / Wikimedia Commons

In the 4th century BCE, Aristotle brought this concept of heavenly air into the world of physics. His philosophy saw aether as the fifth element, after earth, air, fire, and water. He believed the four terrestrial elements were changeable and transient, but the planets and stars were eternal and thus must be made of a different substance that transcended the earthly four. He called it aether.

Centuries later, the classical fifth element would inspire another epic but influential scientific misfire: alchemy.

The Alchemists Cookbook

Photo credit: Derby Museum and Art Gallery

Alchemy, the magical medieval proto-science, came into vogue in the Western world in the 12th and 13th centuries, when the texts of the Greek and Arab philosophers were translated into Latin and European scholars finally got wind of these ancient ideas.

Alchemists dusted off the antique concept of aether and put a new spin on it. To them, it described the most pristine and perfect essence found in nature, which they called quintessence. They too saw quintessence (so named from the Latin phrase quinta essentia, meaning fifth essence) as divine, but believed it was found on Earth as well as in the heavens. A bit of godly essence was hidden in all things, whether animal, plant, or mineral. The trick was freeing it.

Aristotle believed the four physical elements were changeable, and alchemists took this idea and ran with it. The underlying belief was that metals were alive and growing, and could change into other substances. Metals were all composed of the four elements, but were in different stages of maturity on their way to spiritual perfection.

The theory, then, was that by distilling a substance down to its elemental form and creating the perfect balance and proportions of the different elements, you could purify matter and transmute one substance into another. The ultimate goal was to turn immature base metals like lead into higher metals like gold by releasing their perfect state, or quintessence.

But what exactly was quintessence? That depends on which alchemist you ask. Alchemy was a secretive and enigmatic art with endless interpretations. To some, quintessence was a subtle substance found in some degree in each of the other four elements. Others thought it contained all the other elements within it. One of the best-known European alchemists, the 16th-century Swiss physician Philippus Aureolus Paracelsus, called the aether element the substance of stars and souls. Isaac Newton, a passionate alchemist, described it as the perfect Elixir ... our gold ... red virginal milk most fragrant and healthy. In essence, it was a pure and perfect spirit concealed in all things-both chemically and spiritually.

The Philosophers Stone

Photo credit: Universal History Archive - Getty Images

The alchemists quest for gold wasnt just about metallurgy, though. This was Christian Europe, after all, and alchemys aims were spiritual as much as chemical. Metals and mortals could both be made more pure by freeing that little bit of divine spirit hidden in nature. Purification represented humans striving to perfect the soul. Achieving gold was like knowing God.

The holy grail of alchemy was the legendary philosophers stone, which wasnt a stone at all but an elusive substance that could isolate the pure essence of a material and transmute it into something else, namely gold. In the medicinal corners of alchemy, it was also known as the elixir of life, a universal cure that could bring eternal life. In a sense, the Stone was the physical representation of the concept of perfection, or quintessence itself. In fact it was sometimes called the lapis aethereus, Latin for aethereal stone.

Discovering this magical substance was the magnum opus of any alchemist. Newton devised a secret recipe for the philosophers stone, though like most of his alchemy work, it wasnt published until long after his death. The key ingredient of his recipe was mercury, which was likely also a key ingredient in the nervous breakdown he suffered in 1693 during his time experimenting with toxic chemicals.

A more happy side effect of the quest for the elusive stone was the accidental discovery of phosphorus, first made by boiling copious amounts of human pee. In 1669, a German hobby alchemist named Hennig Brand got his hands on a recipe for turning lead into gold using concentrated urine.

Brand somehow gathered more than 50 buckets of the golden liquid (he reportedly preferred the urine of beer drinkers), and after a likely gruesome period of experimentation in his basement laboratory, wound up with a bright, white liquid that would burst into flame when exposed to oxygen. Brand was certain had found the philosophers stone. In fact, he had discovered the 15th element on the periodic table, still used in the tips of matches today. He named it phosphorus, meaning bringer of light.

Aether 2.0

Alchemy would not survive the Age of Reason in the West. By the late 18th century it had morphed into the modern field of chemistry or else was relegated to the occult. Yet the theory of aether endured. In the 17th and 18th centuries, thinkers dusted off, revised, and reintroduced the concept of aether in another influential but ultimately flawed attempt to explain the natural world. This aether 2.0 was a subtle, invisible substance that existed everywhere, filling the empty vacuum of all space.

In 1644, when he developed his mechanical theory of gravity, French philosopher Rene Descartes (who thought, therefore he was) reasoned that empty space must not be empty at all and must be filled with something. He believed that something was aether. He envisioned a dense, fluid medium comprising colliding particles that could transmit forces, including the mysterious force of gravity. His theory said that as objects moved through the aether fluid, the displaced particles created vortices that pushed planets into orbit. Earth was an immense aether vortex, circling around the sun.

Descartes mechanical gravitation was less of a true scientific theory and more of a thought exercise. And while his vortex notion would be disproved, he got people thinking about the mechanics of the universe. In particular, he got Isaac Newton thinking about it just as the man under the apocryphal apple tree was about to change the world.

Photo credit: DEA / G. NIMATALLAH - Getty Images

Aether played a major role in Newtons early theories of gravity and light in the mid-1600s. He defined it as an elastic, invisible, strong, and subtle matter that existed everywhere in different forms. It is not a single uniform substance, he wrote, but just as the air contains aqueous vapours, so the aether may contain various aetherial spirits adapted to produce the phenomena of electricity, magnetism and gravitation.

Early in his career, Newton described gravity as the pressure caused by aether flowing downward toward Earth. But then he changed his mind, thanks to a nagging, unanswered question: If the mechanics of gravity were explained by particles of aether pushing celestial bodies toward Earth, then what was pushing the particles of aether?

Instead, in his monumental 1687 book Principia, Newton didnt bother with the aether. He theorized that the forces of attraction and repulsion are acting on each other from a distance and proved many of the motions of the cosmos mathematically. But Newton admitted he couldnt explain the cause of gravity itself, and famously declared he would not feign hypothesis. Some say he quietly speculated the aether had something to do it, but without any experiments to back it up, he did not publish the theory.

With the aethergravity question shelved, attention turned to the nature of light-and yet another aether theory entered the stage.

Invented for the Planets to Swim In

Photo credit: MirageC - Getty Images

In the 18th and 19th centuries, as physicists grappled with light, there was some debate over whether it was a wave or a particle. (Trick question-we now know it has properties of both.) Scientists thought that if light were a wave, then it needed a medium to travel through. Waves, after all, arent objects themselves, but the effects of movement on a substance like air or water. And so, once again minds turned toward aether.

Dutch scientist Christiaan Huygens first proposed the luminiferous or light-bearing aether as a medium for the propagation of light. It was a popular theory. Nikola Tesla held onto it well into the 20th century, writing in 1938 that all attempts to explain the workings of the universe without recognizing the existence of a light-bearing aether are futile.

But as scientists learned more about the true nature of light, the properties of aether became increasingly magical. To be consistent with the laws of physics, aether had to be fluid, so it could fill all space, but also solid enough to support light waves. It existed everywhere, yet was invisible, weightless, undetectable, and had no effect on physical objects-almost as if it didnt exist at all.

And still, the aether theory survived another major breakthrough in the understanding of light. Scottish physicist James Clerk Maxwell discovered that electromagnetic waves travel at the speed of light because in fact they are one and the same. In other words, radio waves and X-rays and visible light were all part of the same electromagnetic spectrum. Scientists were thrilled: This meant that the different kinds of waves didnt need their own aethers, but all traveled through the same luminiferous aether.

A luminiferous aether became entrenched in physics, even as the aethers of yesteryear were considered fallacies, and theories about the nature of aether abounded. Maxwell himself summed up the state of affairs in his definition of aether for the Encyclopedia Britannica in 1878:

Aethers were invented for the planets to swim in, to constitute electric atmospheres and magnetic effluvia, to convey sensations from one part of our bodies to another, and so on, until all space had been filled three or four times over with aethers  The only aether which has survived is that which was invented by Huygens to explain the propagation of light.

And then, the aether died in a basement.

The Fail That Wasnt

Photo credit: Public Domain / Case Western Reserve U.

Michelson and Morley hypothesized that light would travel at different speeds as it moved in different directions through the aether. The goal of their famed experiment, conducted less than a decade after Maxwells formal definition of aether, was to record the effect of the aether wind, the idea that the rotating Earth moving through the aether should create a wind of sorts, and light beams moving through it would have a measurable drag.

Of course, they found no difference in speed. Experiments capable of more exact measurements followed, all with the same null result. After all these centuries, it seemed aether didnt exist after all, a humbling revelation that Albert Einstein described as very perplexing to physicists. It seemed light traveled through a vacuum, not a luminiferous material.

Today we accept this fact as textbook science. In the 19th century, though, it required a radical realignment in thinking. Scientists started to abandon aether theory, and in its wake, an alternative model was proposed: Einsteins theory of special relativity.

The theory of relativity didnt disprove aether, but it provided a simpler explanation that didnt require an absolute omnipresent medium for the motion of light. Einstein proposed that light traveled at a constant speed through a vacuum, and that everything is moving relative to everything else. An aether wasnt needed as a fixed reference framework for the universe because time and space were relative, part of one continuum. Spacetime was the new aether.

In that sense, the MichelsonMorley experiment wasnt a failure at all, but a titanic turning point in the way scientists considered the very nature of time and space. Twenty years later, Michelson became the first American scientist to win the Nobel Prize in Physics, for developing instruments used to accurately measure the speed of light.

Soon after special relativity, French physicist Louis de Broglie proposed another revolutionary theory. He found that electron particles may also have the properties of a wave, and matter on an atomic scale has the same dual nature as light. This groundbreaking hypothesis led to the theory of quantum mechanics, which also had no need for aether.

Quantum mechanics sealed the coffin. By the end of the 1920s, aether was discarded, archaic. And yet it didnt disappear.

Dark Aether?

Photo credit: William Attard McCarthy - McCarthy's PhotoWorks - Getty Images

The term aether (or ether) lives on as a colloquial expression in the West, an abstract idea of the intangible void. Certain traditional cultures still consider aether the fifth element, and it plays prominently in the esoteric worlds of magic, mysticism, and the supernatural.

More recently, the spirit of aether has even come back into the discussion of the cosmos, thanks to the mysterious discoveries of dark matter and dark energy, the elusive force believed to be the cause of the accelerating expansion of the universe. Its not hard to see the parallels between the aether of yore used to fill in the gaps of understanding and this new invisible, imponderable energy. In fact, a form of dark energy proposed by physicists in the 1980s was dubbed quintessence after the fifth element of antiquity.

The new quintessence has been described as a fifth fundamental force, after the four conventional forces of nature known to physics: gravitational, electromagnetic, strong nuclear, and weak nuclear forces. Dark matter and dark energy cant be readily explained by any known theories of physics, which is leading scientists to consider whether there is another, yet-unknown force. Might as well call it aether.

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FILE PHOTO: Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz speaks to the media as he arrives at the European Union leaders summit in Brussels, Belgium October 18, 2018. REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw

By Philip Blenkinsop and Robin Emmott

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union signed a free-trade deal with Singapore at a summit with Asian leaders on Friday and pressed China to allow greater foreign investment in its economy, but ran into familiar resistance from Beijing over state subsidies.

At a biennial Asia-Europe Meeting bringing together leaders representing 65 percent of global economic output, France, Britain, Germany, Italy and the European Commission held private meetings with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, hoping for greater access for EU companies to the world's No. 2 economy.

When asked about Chinese trade practices, Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz told reporters after the summit that Europe expected rules to be upheld, and wanted reforms of the World Trade Organization.

"When we find protectionism, we reject it. Free trade must always be fair, equitable and based on rules. That goes in both directions," he said.

Li told British Prime Minister Theresa May that he "looked forward to ushering in a diamond era" after their bilateral meeting, a British government statement said.

In a sign of China's outsized role, Li led the pack of European and Asian leaders along the summit red carpet and stood in the centre of the 50 other leaders for a photo, alongside German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the summit chair, European Council President Donald Tusk.

LESS OR MORE STATE CONTROL?

China has been promising for years to ease restrictions on foreign investment, but Western governments say little has changed and many are worried that Beijing is heading towards more state control under President Xi Jinping.

China restricts foreign investment more than the EU in every sector except real estate, according to a report by the Rhodium Group consultancy.

French President Emmanuel Macron held talks with Li on Thursday evening, lobbying for better access to China's poultry, dairy, pharmaceuticals, services and financial services sectors, a French official said.

But there was no sign of a breakthrough. "Some gestures have been made, but it must go further now," the official said.

Story continues

China did appear to win some sympathy for U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs on billions of dollars of its exports.

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, visiting Brussels on official business for the first time since Moscow annexed Crimea in 2014, told his counterparts: "At this table, there are the leaders of countries that have experienced the signs of those trade wars in full. And it is, probably, the saddest thing that is happening now."

A final summit communique omitted a call for an end to government trade distortions that EU officials had hoped for.

China requested the changes at talks between senior EU and Asian officials overnight, two diplomats said. The statement instead committed to "free and open trade on a level playing field" and to fighting "all forms of protectionism", in an indirect reference to Trump's tariffs on Chinese imports.

An earlier draft, seen by Reuters, had called for "the elimination of unjustifiable market distorting measures by governments".

SUBSIDIES

The European Union and the United States accuse China of directly funding state companies through Chinese banks to help them to dominate global markets, breaking rules set down by the World Trade Organization, of which China is a member.

After sessions on improving connectivity and the multilateral system and a host of bilateral meetings, the summit finished on Friday with the EU signing the agreement with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

That pact has been eight years in the making. Negotiations ended in 2014, but as protests mounted against other trade accords, such as one planned with the United States and one struck with Canada, the deal was sent for approval to the European Court of Justice

Singapore and the Commission hope the agreement, which still needs the backing of the European Parliament, will take effect next year.

It would probably follow a larger free trade agreement that the EU plans with Japan, and would be the EU's first trade agreement with a member of the 10-strong Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

The EU remains interested in a deal with ASEAN, after talks were shelved in 2009. In the meantime, it has agreed a trade accord with Vietnam, is in negotiations with Indonesia, and has held talks with three other ASEAN members.

(This version of the story adds Merkel's full name and title in paragraph 6)

(Additional reporting by Daphne Psaledakis, Michel Rose, Noah Barkin and Vladimir Soldatkin; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
Florida Supreme Court



The Florida Supreme Court missed its regular weekly publication of decisions Thursday with widespread power outages afflicting Tallahassee in the aftermath of Hurricane Michael.



Court spokesman Craig Waters said power was intermittent at the courthouse, but "power lines still are down all over Tallahassee, and travel is difficult."



He issued a statement on behalf of the court saying opinions would be delayed "until a date and time still to be determined." The court plans to reopen Monday.



The court, which plans to reopen Monday, was closed starting Tuesday to give time for employees to prepare for Wednesday's landfall. Tallahassee is about 75 miles from Mexico Beach, where the hurricane came ashore as a Category 4 storm.



The First District Court of Appeal and the Office of State Courts Administrator, both in Tallahassee, remained closed Thursday.



The hurricane landed in Bay County, where the courts will be closed at least for the rest of the week. In other counties, Calhoun, Gulf, Holmes, Jackson and Washington courts also will be closed through Friday. Columbia, Franklin, Gadsden, Hamilton, Jefferson, Leon, Liberty, Madison, Okaloosa, Suwannee, Taylor, Wakulla and Walton courts were closed through Thursday.








(Bloomberg) -- Operatives behind Russian-linked bots used tools from U.S. startups, including IFTTT Inc., to supercharge social-media misinformation campaigns and meddle in elections.

Data disclosed this week by Twitter Inc. showed that hundreds of accounts affiliated with the Russia-based Internet Research Agency used services offered by IFTTT, RoundTeam Inc. and Dlvr.it Inc. to automate and disperse their divisive messages more widely.

San Francisco-based IFTTT lets people connect different apps and automatically post content on multiple services. The company is backed by investors including Salesforce Ventures, IBM Ventures and Andreessen Horowitz, according to Crunchbase.

The majority of Russian-linked bot content dispersed via IFTTT contained a hyperlink redirecting readers to other websites and blogs, most of which have either been removed or no longer exist, according to the Twitter data.

The Russian-linked accounts were using IFTTT a lot late last year and early this year, possibly to disguise the origin of the information they were spreading, said Ben Nimmo, a senior fellow at the Digital Forensic Research Lab, a network of researchers studying disinformation. Iranian-linked bots also used the service, he added.

Large internet and social-media companies have come under intense scrutiny after Russia spread misinformation across their services to influence the 2016 U.S. presidential election and the U.K.s Brexit vote. Less attention has been paid to services from smaller startups that some operatives also used to automate and disseminate their content.

"Whats interesting is that trolls are using an off-the-shelf American system to automate. That may be one way they were trying to hide their tracks," Nimmo said. "A lot of this is about side stepping the Twitter algorithm."

IFTTT co-founder Linden Tibbets said the startup "is actively investigating Twitters recent data set release and we intend to take thorough actions to remove and reduce such abuse where appropriate. Of the more than 4,600 Twitter handles released in the data set, 256 were connected to IFTTT accounts and have now been suspended, according to the startup, which has more than 15 million users. A Twitter spokesman declined to comment.

Story continues

RoundTeam automates the tasks of searching and sharing tweets and is based in San Francisco, according to Crunchbase. Portland, Oregon-based Dlvr.it, which is used by publishers, automatically posts content across different social media pages. The two startups did not respond to emails seeking comment on Friday.

IFTTT and services like it can be used to manipulate public opinion because they help bad actors magnify their political attacks, said Samuel Woolley, a research director at the non-profit Institute for the Future.

The data Twitter released are made up of 3,841 accounts affiliated with the Internet Research Agency, 770 other accounts potentially based in Iran, as well as 10 million tweets and more than 2 million images, videos and other media. The data showed that Twitters own products, like TweetDeck and its mobile apps for iPhone and Android, were also used by these accounts.

Earlier this year, Twitter updated TweetDeck and other services to stop users coordinating actions across multiple accounts. It also adjusted rules to prohibit the use of automation to post identical or substantially similar content.

"Twitter has sent a clear message to developers that automation should not be abused," Nimmo said. "But youll always find people trying to get around this system."

To contact the reporters on this story: Nour Al Ali in Dubai at nalali1@bloomberg.net;Selina Wang in San Francisco at swang533@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Giles Turner at gturner35@bloomberg.net, Alistair Barr, Emily Biuso

For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com

2018 Bloomberg L.P.
Starbucks sbux is selling 83 company-owned stores in France and the Netherlands to its longtime Mexican partner, Alsea SAB alssf . Alsea will also provide services to 179 other Starbucks locations owned by franchisees in France, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg. Alsea, a Mexico City-based fast food operator, already runs 900 Starbucks outlets across Latin America.

Starbucks plans to close an office in Amsterdam and consolidate its European headquarters in London, which is also being restructured. The closure will impact 186 employees, who will be encouraged to apply to open jobs in London. Starbucks will retain a roasting plant in the Netherlands that employs about 80 people.

The deal is similar to the one Starbucks struck in 2016 to sell its 144 German stores to AmRest. Madrid-based AmRest was already Starbucks exclusive licensed partner in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria and Slovakia. It also operates Pizza Hut, KFC and Burger King locations across Europe.

Europe has been a tough nut for the Seattle company to crack. Starbucks said that between 2008 and 2016 it built more than 260 stores in the four European markets affected by the deal with Alsea. Starbucks just recently opened its first cafe in Italy, a magnificent roastery in a historic building in Milan, but its understandably hard to sell American espresso to Italians.

Starbucks offloaded its consumer goods business to Nestle for $7.15 billion earlier this year, sending the Swiss food conglomerate about 500 of its employees.

Amid Starbucks European downsizing, the company is facing increasing competition on its home turf. Starbucks is undergoing an organizational restructuring, including cutting jobs and costs, as CEO Kevin Johnson is focusing his attention most on the U.S. and Chinese markets.

Starbucks is opening a new store in China every 15 hours. It has about 3,500 locations in mainland China and plans to build 600 new stores there every year for the next five years.

This story has been updated to make clear that Starbucks company-owned operation in Europe is shrinking. As part of the deal with Alsea, the number of Starbucks stores in Europe will remain constant.
NORFOLK, Va. (AP)  A California-based startup has announced big plans to go small as it reaches into space, rocketing satellites the size of loaves of bread into orbit from Virginia.

The endeavor reflects increasing demand from companies and governments alike to monitor ships, crops and the weather from space.

Rocket Lab said Wednesday it will build its launch pad at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport on the Eastern Shore. It's located at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility where unmanned cargo missions already are dispatched to the International Space Station.

Rocket Lab, which recently built its first launch pad in New Zealand, is setting up in Virginia at a time of unprecedented growth in the use of smaller and relatively inexpensive satellites.

The devices circle the earth for a few years before burning up in the atmosphere. Atlanta-based consulting firm SpaceWorks predicted in January that up to 2,600 of these will need to be launched into orbit over the next five years.

The industry is attracting venture capitalists, while firms in China and companies such as Virgin have built launch systems dedicated to the smaller devices. Dozens more are under development.

Rocket Lab has sent up two rockets so far, humorously calling those missions "It's a test" and "Still testing." The second rocket successfully reached orbit in January.

Rocket Lab's next commercial mission, known as "It's Business Time," is scheduled to lift off from New Zealand in November. Launches from Virginia are set to begin as early as summer 2019.

"We're not focused on the next flight, we're focused on the next 100 flights," Rocket Lab CEO Peter Beck, a New Zealander, said at a news conference in Virginia.

Small satellites have often hitched rides on rockets carrying bigger satellites into orbit or with supplies to the space station. But more firms are offering small satellites their own launches, providing more control over their schedules and the orbits to which they're delivered.

Story continues

Headquartered in Huntington Beach, California, Rocket Lab plans to keep costs low by using lightweight, expendable rockets with 3D-printed engines. It's a different plan than some other space companies like Elon Musk's SpaceX, which uses larger rockets to carry bigger payloads.

Rocket Lab said its cargo in January included an earth-imaging satellite for Planet, a company that offers clients information on anything from flooding to deforestation.

Rocket Lab said future launches will serve Luxembourg-based firm Kleos Space. That company says it can help law enforcement officials detect illegal activity, such as human trafficking or illegal fishing, by pinpointing maritime radio transmissions.

NASA also has a contract with Rocket Lab to deliver small satellites. But the firm's most famous cargo was perhaps the "Humanity Star," a geodesic sphere designed to reflect the sun's light back to Earth.

Beck said he hoped it would remind people to look past daily concerns and face larger challenges like climate change. The "Humanity Star" fell out of orbit a couple months after the January launch. Its life span was up to nine months.

Rocket Lab chose Virginia's state-owned spaceport over U.S. finalists that included Alaska's Pacific Spaceport Complex and Cape Canaveral in Florida. Virginia officials said it could create 100 jobs as flights increase to once a month.

Currently, there are four companies that have developed six vehicles dedicated to launching small satellites, and dozens more are under development, according to Carlos Niederstrasser, an engineer with Northrop Grumman who tracks the industry. His company also launches small satellites.

Other firms getting into this market include Virgin Orbit, a sister outfit to space-tourism company Virgin Galactic. It's been testing a small rocket that is to launch satellites into space from a 747 jet flying at 35,000 feet (10,000 meters). Chinese firms are also up and running.

Niederstrasser wrote in his 2018 industry survey that the market won't be able to support most of the new companies. But he said it's clear that the company's founders and investors believe there'll be room for at least some.
U.S. President Donald Trump rallies with supporters outside a hangar at Missoula International Airport in Missoula, Montana, U.S. October 18, 2018. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump is scheduled to meet the chief executives of the biggest U.S. defense companies at Luke Air Force Base in Arizona on Friday to discuss how they can source more parts and materials domestically, people familiar with the meeting said on Friday.

This is the second presidential meeting in as many weeks for executives from Lockheed Martin Corp <LMT.N>, Boeing Co <BA.N>, Northrop Grumman Corp <NOC.N> and General Dynamics Corp <GD.N> to discuss their supply chains, also referred to as their industrial base.

During the roll out of the Defense Industrial Base Review on Oct. 5, executives from the four defense firms were invited to the Oval office for a meeting that turned into a 90 minute discussion with Trump, according to sources familiar with the meeting.

The Pentagon-led review ordered by Trump identified hundreds of instances where the U.S. military depends on foreign countries, especially China, for critical materials.

The 150-page review included a series of recommendations to strengthen American industry.

Friday's meeting in Arizona will include executives from BAE Systems Plc <BAES.L>, which makes howitzers for the Army, as well as industrial giant Honeywell International Inc <HON.N>.

An administration source said weapons sales to Saudi Arabia were not on the official agenda for the Friday meeting, but did not rule out the issue could be raised.

Major U.S. defense contractors have expressed concern to the Trump administration that lawmakers angered by the disappearance of a Saudi journalist in Turkey will block further arms deals with Saudi Arabia.

Trump's trade advisor Peter Navarro, who has been working to shore up the defense manufacturing base, Deputy Secretary of Defense Pat Shanahan and Arizona Governor Doug Ducey were also expected to be at the meeting.

(Reporting by Mike Stone; additional reporting by Matt Spetalnick; Editing by Marguerita Choy)
* Case tests some of Riyadh's main alliances

* Turkish police search for body in forest, nearby city

* Trump says Congress will help craft U.S. response (Recasts with Trump's remarks)

By Jeff Mason and Ece Toksabay

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz./ANKARA, Oct 19 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said he might consider sanctions against Saudi Arabia over the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, while emphasizing the importance of the U.S.-Saudi relationship.

In Istanbul, Turkish prosecutors investigating Khashoggi's disappearance questioned Turkish employees of the Saudi consulate on Friday, widening the hunt for clues in a case straining Riyadh's alliance with Western powers.

Speaking to reporters in Scottsdale, Arizona, Trump said it was too early to say what the consequences for the incident might be. But he said the U.S. Congress would be involved in determining the American response.

Asked whether sanctions were one of the measures he was considering, Trump said, "Could be, could be."

"We're going to find out who knew what when and where. And we'll figure it out," Trump added.

Khashoggi, a critic of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, went missing after entering the consulate on Oct. 2 to obtain documents for his upcoming marriage. Turkish officials believe he was killed in the building. Saudi Arabia has denied the allegations.

The U.S. Congress is controlled by Trump's fellow Republicans, some of whom have called for tough action against Saudi Arabia.

"I'm going to have very much Congress involved in determining what to do. ... I will very much listen to what Congress has to say. They feel very strongly about it also," Trump said.

Trump has also been reluctant to imperil major arms deals with Riyadh.

"Saudi Arabia has been a great ally of ours. That's why this is so sad. ... Saudi Arabia has been a great ally, they've been a tremendous investor in the United States," Trump said.

Turkish police searched a forest on Istanbul's outskirts and a city near the Sea of Marmara for Khashoggi's remains, two senior Turkish officials told Reuters, after tracking the routes of cars that left the consulate and the consul's residence on the day he vanished.

Story continues

Investigators have recovered samples from searches of both buildings to analyse for traces of Khashoggi's DNA.

State-run Anadolu news agency said the Turkish prosecutor's office had taken testimony from 20 consulate employees, and that 25 more people including foreign nationals would be questioned.

The consulate employees questioned included accountants, technicians and a driver, Anadolu said. The investigation is being conducted by the prosecutor's terrorism and organised crime bureau, it added.

Turkey said on Friday it had not shared with any country audio recordings purportedly documenting Khashoggi's murder inside the consulate, dismissing reports it had passed them to the United States.

Turkish pro-government newspaper Yeni Safak has published what it said were details from the audio, including that his torturers severed Khashoggi's fingers during an interrogation and later beheaded and dismembered him.

"We will share the results that emerge transparently with the whole world," Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said.

Trump wrote on Twitter that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo "was never given or shown a Transcript or Video" from the consulate. Pompeo has also said he did not review any recordings.

The disappearance and presumed death of Khashoggi, a U.S. resident and Washington Post columnist, has caused an international outcry and strained relations between Saudi Arabia and Western allies.

(Additional reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu in Ankara, Brendan O'Brien in Washington, Andrea Shalal and Maria Sheahan in Berlin, Aziz El Yaakoubi in Dubai, John Revill in Zurich, Katie Paul in Dubai; Writing by Stephen Kalin; Editing by William Maclean, Alistair Bell and Will Dunham)
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KABUL -- Afghanistans long-delayed parliamentary elections were marred by deadly attacks and descended into chaos with many polling stations hit by technical and organizational problems

Police said a suicide bomber detonated his explosives at a polling station in the capital, Kabul, on October 20, killing at least 10 people, including police officers and voters.

Voting was extended by one day in some constituencies after voters were unable to cast their ballots, with Afghans expressing frustration over polling stations not opening on time, absent election staff, missing election materials, and technical glitches with biometric voter verification devices.

The chaos at the polls came as at least 25 people were killed earlier in the day across the country in attacks on polling stations and security forces.



Multiple blasts struck polling stations in Kabul, leaving at least three dead and over 30 wounded, health officials said. In the central province of Ghor, 11 police officers were killed while three people were killed in the northern province of Kunduz.

Almost 9 million people have registered to vote in the parliamentary election, which are seen as a key test of the governments ability to provide security across the country.

Abdul Badi Sayad, the head of the Independent Election Commission (IEC) said the voting process will continue till October 21 in polling stations where election officers or election material arrived late.

Mohammad Mohaqiq, a deputy to Afghan Chief Executive Officer Abdullah Abdullah, told a local television station that he waited hours to vote and feared frustrated voters would abandon the polling stations without marking their ballots.

Sayad said technical glitches had occurred, although he did not say if polling would be extended.

"More than 3,000 men and around 2,000 women are standing on the streets outside this polling station, a resident of the western city of Herat told RFE/RL. They dont know what to do. The election officials say the voter registration lists havent arrived.

Khaled Haq Parast, a Kabul police official, said two police officers were wounded when they tried to defuse an improvised explosive devise found near a polling station in Kabul. He said two civilians were also injured.

Jan Agha, another police official in the Afghan capital, said a "sticky bomb" -- a type of improvised grenade -- placed underneath the vehicle of an intelligence official exploded in Kabul but no one was hurt.

Officials said two people were wounded in the western province of Farah after a mortar landed in a residential area. In the eastern province of Kunar, gunmen fired on polling stations, leaving two injured.



Seven people were wounded in the eastern province of Nangarhar.

Interior Ministry spokesman Nasrat Rahimi said several "plots" in Kabul and elsewhere had been "neutralized."

"Several plots in the [provinces of] Kabul, Takhar, Badakhshan, and Jowzjan have been exposed and neutralized," he said.

The Interior Ministry announced that an additional 20,000 security personnel had been deployed to protect voters and polling stations, bringing the total number to around 70,000.

Despite the risks, President Ashraf Ghani urged "every Afghan, young and old, women and men" to exercise their right to vote, after casting his ballot in Kabul.



Photos posted on social media showed scores of men and women holding their identification documents lining up outside polling stations across the country amid a heavy security presence.



Ahmad Hanayesh, a RFE/RL correspondent in the northern province of Parwan, said despite worries over low turnout many people had turned up to cast their ballots in the face of security concerns and technical problems at polling stations.



The queues are long and they show peoples interest in the election," he said.



Shamila Jawed, a RFE/RL correspondent in Kabul, said there were extreme irregularities in the voting process at a polling station she visited in the capital.

Originally scheduled for 2015, the parliamentary vote was delayed for three years amid disputes over electoral reforms and because of the instability following NATOs handover of security responsibilities to Afghan forces at the end of 2014.

In a fresh warning issued on October 20, the Taliban urged voters to boycott the "sham and theatrical process to protect their lives."

The killing of the powerful police chief of the southern province of Kandahar on October 18 has eroded confidence in the ability of the government to conduct the vote safely and transparently despite ongoing fighting between government forces and militants in at least 20 of Afghanistans 34 provinces.

Voting in Kandahar has been delayed by a week following the attack, which killed three people, including the provincial intelligence chief. It also left the provincial governor in critical condition.

Candidates, campaign rallies, and senior security officials have been targeted in deadly attacks by Taliban and Islamic State (IS) extremists -- including suicide attacks, motorcycle bombings, and drive-by shootings.

During the three-week campaign period, two candidates and 34 civilians were killed in militant attacks.

Eight other candidates were killed by militants during the run-up to campaigning, and the fate of two abducted candidates remains unknown.

Elections will not be held on October 20 in 10 Afghan districts in different parts of the country that are under Taliban control.

They include five districts in the Taliban stronghold of Helmand Province, two in the northeastern province of Badakhshan, one in the southern province of Zabul, and districts in the northern provinces of Baghlan and Sar-e Pul.

Voting also has been postponed indefinitely in Ghazni Province amid a dispute over how to map out voting precincts to achieve more balanced ethnic representation.

Voting for district councils across the country also was supposed to take place on October 20, but has been postponed amid threats by the Taliban to attack candidates and security forces.

Altogether, there are more than 2,500 candidates contesting 249 seats in Afghanistans lower house of parliament, known as the Wolesi Jirga. Of those candidates, 417 are women.

Hundreds of those running are young, first-time candidates who include reporters, entrepreneurs, and educators.

But no major opposition party is poised to win enough seats to contest the national unity government headed by Ghani and Abdullah.

Most candidates for parliament are running as independents.

With reporting by AP, Reuters, and AFP
The #MeToo movement roiled the Statehouse the past year after six male legislators were accused of misconduct. Nationally, the movement got its second wind over the Brett Kavanaugh Supreme Court confirmation process and investigation.

But how bad is this environment for Republicans this year? Sen. Tim Neville, as Republican as a Ronald Reagan bumper sticker, is supported by an outside group that sent out a mailer in his district boasting of his cooperation with Gov. John Hickenlooper and giving the mistaken impression that he and the Democratic governor are of equally moderate minds.

Republicans have only a one-seat majority in the Senate, and the upper chamber could be the only GOP firebreak if Democrats keep the House and the governors office. The Hickenlooper- Neville mailer comes across as a Republican Hail Mary.

But come January, if the Democrats control all the Legislature and the governors office  and potentially four of the seven members of the states U.S. House delegation, if Coffman loses to Democrat Jason Crow  the good times will roll to the left.

And if youre a moderate Democrat, you should be worried.

The morning after the victory parties Nov. 6, the race for 2020 begins. And love affairs with parties dont last long. This one is likely to sour fast.

In the 2012 election, Democrats held the state Senate and took a one-seat majority in the House to control both chambers under Hickenlooper. When the 2013 legislative session got going, so did liberal policies that Hickenlooper tried to moderate, sometimes unsuccessfully.

Democrats took aim at regulating the oil and gas industry, but Hickenlooper, a former energy industry geologist, stood in the way. Hickenlooper also played a behind-the-scenes role in turning back an effort to repeal the states death penalty.

In 2014, Democrats lost the Senate majority, and Hickenlooper found himself in an unexpectedly tough fight for re-election.

In 2020, Hickenlooper could be running for president. Although Colorados issues will be in his rearview mirror, a fractious state wont play well for him on the national stage.

It wont play well for him or any other Democrat who might take on Republican U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner in two years. If Democrats sour the political mood with overreach, thats good for Gardner and bad for Democrats hope of taking or holding the U.S. Senate in 2020.

If Democrats manage to take the U.S. House and Senate next month, then overplay their hand on impeachment, they wont have Trump to kick around in 2020. Mike Pence would rev up the GOP base, but a Marco Rubio, Carly Fiorina or, heck, Mitt Romney might be the GOP tonic Democrats should hope to avoid.

Jared Polis, the Democrat running for governor this year, is no Hickenlooper. Hes not likely to curb the partys progressive excesses, if his history representing a Boulder-based district is any measure. Colorado would have a much more activist and liberal governor who hasnt clearly laid out a way of paying for his promises.

In the early debates, Republican Walker Stapleton has tried to pin Polis down on how he plans to pay for universal health care, all-day kindergarten and preschool, and a fast shift to renewable energy at the expense of a $32 billion energy sector in Colorado.

Polis, in a KCNC-CBS4 debate with Stapleton on Oct. 5, said hes not proposing tax increases and he wont bankrupt the state. Its only Stapleton who is talking about going into debt for transportation without a source of repayment, Polis said.

A dedicated revenue source is what Democrats say when theyre trying not to say tax increase.

The oil and gas industry this year largely has stayed on the sideline in races involving individual candidates, trying to maintain a fragile peace in case Democrats are in charge. That includes the governors race. Colorado Politics was the first to tell you that Polis had informal meetings and at least one lunch with local oil and gas executives.

If Democrats come in with a perceived mandate to take out the industry, however, they wont be so lucky in two years. Democrats running in 2020 wont be able to count on Polis private fortune when Anadarko Petroleum and Noble Energy start stroking million-dollar checks to take down state legislators.

Liberal voters could make things even tougher on Colorado Democrats in 2020 by passing Proposition 112, the 2,500-foot setback rule that the industry says will cripple its oil and gas production in Colorado.

When a $32 billion industry with more than 230,000 employees pulls up stakes, the political ground rumbles, said Dick Wadhams, the Republican strategist and state political historian.

The effect of 112 will be immediate, and it will get worse as the year goes on, he said on panel of political experts assembled at the University of Denver on Oct. 2.

As companies start pulling out of Colorado, jobs will be lost. Local governments will have revenue problems as we get into 2019 and 2020. There will be a backlash going into the 2020 election.

If thats piled onto massive tax increases for transportation  and education, it might not be fun to be a Democrat in the 2020 election.

Republicans know this. The question is, will Democratic voters reaching to the far left this November know it?
Three Halloween fall decor projects are happening this week in Colorado Springs. Make a "Hocus Pocus" sign at Crafted Colorado Handmade Market on Oct. 20, paint a pumpkin to support The Unsteady Hand artist collective for people with Parkinson's on Oct. 21 at Art 111 Gallery Gallery & Supply, or paint a sugar skull mug with Color Me Mine at FH Beerworks' Colorado Springs taprooms on Nov. 1 and 2.
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In this age of heightened partisanship, two candidates in the three-way Colorado House District 18 race have something in common  both have been accused of violating state campaign finance laws.

Kirk Garner, a Colorado Springs attorney, filed a complaint Thursday with the Colorado Secretary of States Office claiming that Democrat Marc Snyder has failed to be fully transparent with his campaigns finances, illegally accepted contributions from businesses and illegally accepted contributions exceeding the $400 limit set by the state.

Garner said he believes there needs to be more transparency in the election but declined to comment further on why he filed the complaint. He said he is not involved with other political campaigns.

El Paso County voting records show that Garner is registered with the Green Party and has previously been unaffiliated and a Democrat.

Snyder, the former mayor of Manitou Springs, said any potential violations are clerical or procedural errors.

There was perhaps an oversight or misunderstanding of the requirements as opposed to the intent to do anything in violation of campaign finance, Snyder said. There are absolutely no substantive violations here. Certainly nothing that indicates a desire to not comply fully and transparently.

Snyder also questioned Garners motivations for filing the complaint so near the Nov. 6 election.

Garners complaint asks that Snyders campaign be fined for the alleged violations.

On multiple occasions, Snyders expenditures, filed with the Secretary of States Office, fail to identify certain purchases as electioneering communications, the complaint says.

Other reported contributions from limited liability companies failed to include the owner of the company, the complaint says.

In another instance, Chris Cummings from El Paso, Texas, donated more than the states $400 contribution limit, the complaint says.

But Cummings is actually two people, Snyder said. His father-in-law, Chris Cummings Sr., donated $400 to his campaign in January and his brother-in-law, Chris Cummings Jr., donated $200 last December and another $100 in August. Neither exceeded the $400 limit, he said.

Snyders campaign finance reports corroborate his account. The donations in question list different addresses and the appropriate suffixes for each Chris Cummings.

In all, Garner claims Snyders campaign committed at least 12 campaign finance violations.

I hereby request that his campaign be immediately fined to the full amount of $50 per day for each campaign finance violation, he wrote.

As of Thursday, that requested fine amounted to $26,550.

The Secretary of States Office has 10 days to review the claims, dismiss the complaint, allow Snyder to fix potential violations or pass the investigation to an administrative law judge for further review, said Lynn Bartels, spokeswoman for the Secretary of States Office.

If Snyder is found to have violated campaign finance laws he could face a fine, Bartels said.

However, those violations would neither disqualify him from running for office nor serving, if elected.

Marc Snyder thought he could fool voters, but he got caught, said Andrew Short a consultant for Snyders unaffiliated opponent, Maile Foster.

He broke his promises not to take corporate PAC money and is operating his campaign finances with no transparency or respect for the law. For someone who touts his services as a career politician, he should know better.

Foster, too, has been accused of running afoul of the states campaign finance laws.

Foster is backed by a group of nonprofits named in a complaint last month by a Denver election law attorney, alleging campaign finance violations.

That complaint claims that Unite Colorado, Unite America and the Unite America Election Fund havent followed disclosure requirements and contribution limits while advocating for each of the candidates theyve endorsed.

Nick Troiano, executive director of Unite Colorado and Unite America, has said hes confident the complaint will be dismissed.

Bartels said Friday the claims remain under investigation.

At the start of the month, Snyder had raised more than $95,000 to Fosters $37,000, campaign finance filings show.

Their Republican opponent, Mary Elizabeth Fabian, has raised about $15,000. She was chosen as the GOP candidate by El Paso County Republican Party officials after the original nominee dropped out, citing health problems.

conrad.swanson@gazette.com @conrad_swanson
Police were justified in the shooting of an Iraqi refugee accused of shooting a Colorado Springs police officer, the 4th Judicial District Attorney's Office ruled Tuesday.

Karrar Noaman Al Khammasi, 31, is scheduled to be arraigned at 9 a.m. Nov. 30 in the Aug. 2 shooting of Cem Duzel on charges of attempted murder of a police officer, first-degree assault with a deadly weapon, felony menacing and illegal possession of a weapon.
Deramus Lemuel spent his final waking moments face-down on a concrete cell floor, restrained by El Paso County jail staff, according to an autopsy report released by the Coroners Office this week.

Hours earlier on July 31, the 38-year-old Colorado Springs resident was arrested at a liquor store on suspicion of a parole violation and ingested a small bag of meth and other illicit drugs to conceal them. His family has spent more than two months trying to determine what happened in the four days that followed his arrest that left him comatose in a bed at UCHealth Memorial Hospital Central until he died on Aug. 14.

The Coroners Office has attributed his death to complications that occurred after his brain was without oxygen when he went into cardiac arrest while high on drugs and held down by law enforcement officers.

The 4th Judicial District Attorneys Office is reviewing the case to see if criminal charges against jail staff or anyone else are warranted, District Attorney spokeswoman Lee Richards confirmed.

The coroner ruled Lemuels death a homicide, noting in the autopsy that the ruling does not imply intent or wrongdoing by law enforcement officers. Per the national guidelines followed by the office, Lemuels death was ruled a homicide because law enforcement officers were in physical contact with him when he went into cardiac arrest, said Dr. Leon Kelly of the Coroners Office.

But Deramus mother, Marva Lemuel, still believes her sons death could have been prevented.

When we see the ruling the death  manner of death homicide  that woke us up, said Marva Lemuel, who has retained an attorney. I want justice. His wife wants justice.

Jackie Kirby, a spokeswoman for the Sheriffs Office, didnt know how many jail staff were involved or how they restrained Lemuel. She said the Sheriffs Office has investigated the circumstances of Lemuels medical episode.

When Lemuel did not cooperate with jail staff, they had to physically restrain him to change him from his civilian clothes into an inmate uniform and remove a pair of handcuffs, Kirby said. After he tried to spit at jailers, they put a hood over his face  a routine practice to shield jail staff from bodily fluids.

She declined to provide further information, citing the pending review by the District Attorneys Office.

The autopsy states Lemuel suffered from high blood pressure  also believed to be a factor in his death  and had a history of cigarette smoking, anxiety, and illicit drug use.

His body had some injuries, including bruising on his ribs and scabs on one of his ears, his right leg and his ankle, according to the report.

Nothing makes sense, said Lemuels wife, Elizabeth. Thats all I want to know  what happened? Why was it taken to the extreme?

Deramus Lemuel, a graduate of Harrison High School, had four children with Elizabeth, including an 8-month-old daughter. He worked odd jobs, such as cleaning and construction, and lived with his wife on Colorado Springs south side.

Lemuel has several conviction since the late 1990s  third-degree assault, theft, driving under the influence and menacing.

Despite his past run-ins with the law, his mother said he wasnt a violent or confrontational person.

If trouble came his way, hed always just go the other way, Marva Lemuel said. Thats the type of person he was. Thats why its confusing.

At the time of his death, he was on parole, serving time for identity theft and attempted escape from a community corrections or intensive supervision parole program. But Lemuel had not checked in with his parole officer and was wanted for absconding from parole, said Colorado Department of Corrections spokesman Mark Fairbairn.

He was arrested about 8:30 p.m. July 31 at Bourbon Box Liquors, 4399 Airport Road, and taken to Memorial Hospital to be medically cleared after he swallowed the bag of drugs, Fairbairn said.

Hospital records show that, at the time of his first hospital visit, he tested positive for methamphetamine, benzodiazepines, amphetamine and MDMA, according to the autopsy report.

Lemuel was then transported to the jail about 4 a.m. the following day, the report says.

Shortly after he arrived, jail staff escorted him to the cell and he became combative, refusing their commands and resisting as they tried to secure him. About 10 minutes after jailers brought him to the floor, they noticed he was unresponsive and not breathing, according to the report.

Attempts to revive him with CPR and a defibrillator were futile, and he was taken to the hospital. He never regained consciousness, the report states.

Im one of those moms that said, that could never happened to me, Marva Lemuel said. And all the sudden, out of the blue, its one of yours.
Officials celebrated another milestone in the multimillion-dollar reconstruction of West Colorado Avenue with the opening Friday of the Adams Crossing Bridge.

The new bridge over Fountain Creek at Columbia Road is a centerpiece of the project, known as the Westside Avenue Action Plan, which stretches from 31st Street to U.S. 24. Since crews broke ground on the project in late 2016, drivers have endured countless lane restrictions and ever-changing traffic barriers.

Colorado Avenue drivers no longer have to veer from the new bridge to take the old one, which will soon be demolished, said Greg Dingrando, El Paso Countys digital media specialist.

Crews will continue finishing work on the south side of the new bridge, Dingrando said. The structure will be higher  more than 13 feet above Fountain Creek  to withstand major flooding. More than 121,000 pounds of reinforcing steel and 800 cubic yards of concrete was used to build the roughly 100-foot-long span, according to a county news release.

Midland Trail, which runs along the creek under the bridge, will reopen next year, Dingrando said.

Most of the project will be completed by the end of this year. When its done, the four-lane West Colorado Avenue, which turns into Manitou Avenue, will be transformed into a two-lane stretch separated by a center turn lane and lined with bike lanes, wide sidewalks and vintage streetlights.

Crews are still removing some of the utility poles along the street after power lines were buried, Dingrando said. Sidewalks still must be constructed, and the road has not gotten its final layer of pavement, he said.

The finishing touches will come next year: completion of a pedestrian and bicycle plaza at Ridge Road, improvements to Fountain Creek, landscaping and work on historic stone walls that had to be temporarily removed from along the creek and Columbia Road, he said.

The project will cost an estimated $35.5 million and will mostly be paid for with taxpayer dollars collected through the Pikes Peak Rural Transportation Authority. The Colorado Department of Transportation, Colorado Springs Utilities, El Paso County and Manitou Springs also are funding the project.
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daviesj wrote:





The statements above, if true, most strongly support which of the following?



A.To be placed into a certain classification, a fish must possess all the characteristics of that classification.

B.Physical characteristics, such as skeletons, are scientists' primary means of classifying new species.

C.Some fish with cartilaginous skeletons are not sharks.

D.The waters off Papua New Guinea are generally hospitable to eels.

E.A fish cannot be both a shark and an eel.



Show Spoiler OA D A new species of fish has just been discovered living in great numbers in the waters off Papua New Guinea. The fish exhibits some characteristics belonging to sharks, such as a cartilaginous skeleton. However, the fish also exhibits characteristics belonging to eels, such as a long, snake-like body. Because of the habitat where it was found and its obviously eel-like body, almost all scientists believe that the fish is an eel. But the cartilaginous skeleton puzzles them, since no known eel possesses one. So scientists are still unsure as to the fish's precise classification, but they agreed immediately that the most logical classification would be as either a shark or an eel.The statements above, if true, most strongly support which of the following?A.To be placed into a certain classification, a fish must possess all the characteristics of that classification.B.Physical characteristics, such as skeletons, are scientists' primary means of classifying new species.C.Some fish with cartilaginous skeletons are not sharks.D.The waters off Papua New Guinea are generally hospitable to eels.E.A fish cannot be both a shark and an eel.



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Responding to a pm:We need to look for an option which we can infer/conclude from the argument. The argument must provide data to support it. Since most of the options have come up for discussion, let's discuss each one of them.A.To be placed into a certain classification, a fish must possess all the characteristics of that classification.We cannot infer this from the argument. In fact, we can say that 'a fish needn't possess all the characteristics of that classification' with more authority. Note this line: "Because of the habitat where it was found and its obviously eel-like body, almost all scientists believe that the fish is an eel."The scientists believe that the fish is an eel because of a couple of eel like characteristics. They are puzzled by one characteristic that this fish has which no eel has but other missing eel like characteristics doesn't seem to cause any problem at all. Hence we can certainly not conclude this statement.B.Physical characteristics, such as skeletons, are scientists' primary means of classifying new species.Again, we cannot infer this. We don't know the primary means of classifying new species. Scientists seem to be using physical characteristics e.g. eel like body, skeleton etc as well as habitat.C.Some fish with cartilaginous skeletons are not sharks.All we can say from the argument is that no eel has cartilaginous skeletons and some sharks have cartilaginous skeletons. We don't know whether some non-sharks have cartilaginous skeletons too. The new fish has not been classified yet. We don't know whether it is an eel or a shark or both. If it is classified as an eel, then we can say that some fish with cartilaginous skeletons are not sharks. If instead, it is classified as a shark, then we do not know whether there are some fish with cartilaginous skeletons that are not sharks. Hence, we cannot infer this.D.The waters off Papua New Guinea are generally hospitable to eels.We can infer this statement. The fish has been found in the waters off Papua New Guinea. The statement "Because of the habitat where it was found and its obviously eel-like body, almost all scientists believe that the fish is an eel." helps us infer that this habitat is suited to eels.E.A fish cannot be both a shark and an eel.The argument only says that the fish is either a shark or an eel. Recall that 'either or' construct implies 'at least one' in reasoning. Both are also possible. When we say 'I will get either a dog or a cat', it implies I will get at least one of the two and I could get both too.In any case, the argument only talks about this particular fish. It says that this fish is either a shark or an eel. It is certainly possible that there is some fish which is considered both a shark and an eel. The argument doesn't say that such a fish does not exist. At the end of the debate, the scientists may put this fish also in both the classifications. We cannot conclude that a fish cannot be both from this argument.Answer (D)_________________
Success Stories of MBA Admits - Compilation of Application Debriefs [ #permalink

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Scott He began his undergrad studies at UC San Diego as an aspiring bioengineer, but soon discovered a passion for business and marketing. I was especially drawn to the economics courses, particularly market dynamics and entrepreneurship, he says.



After earning his bachelors in international relations: economics, He worked for a few years in diverse roles, from market research, analytics to managing campaigns. While these positions gave me a lot of experience, I wanted to have a bigger role in managing products and strategy for a company. It was this goal, combined with a desire to be in Silicon Valley, that brought me to the UC Davis and the GSM.



Today, He is a business development lead at HP in Palo Alto, Calif., applying his strategic thinking, marketing, communication and project management skills in the tech leaders dynamic Palo Alto headquarters. He enjoys the strong intrepreneurial ethos and the freedom to innovate and forge his own path.



He is also flexing his entrepreneurial muscle. He and his business partner, Nicolle Ma, joined forces in fall 2017 to found Los Angeles areabased Compassionlit. The startup was one of five finalists in this years Big Bang! Business Competition and received both the $10,000 Health Sector Award, sponsored by Bayer Crop Science, and the $5,000 Global Poverty Alleviation Award, presented by the UC Davis Blum Center for Developing Economies, for its novel, affordable phototherapy device to treat underserved jaundiced newborn babies.



Give us the backstory: how did you get involved in Compassionlit and the Big Bang!?



Compassionlit was created by my teammate, Nicolle Ma, who has a MS. in biology, a B.S. in human biology, a B.A. in psychology and an extensive background in healthcare. Having known her since high school, I was thrilled to hear about her idea, and wanted to provide my business experience to take Compassionlit to the next level. The Big Bang! was the ideal way to test and grow this idea into a full-fledged company.



I had previously participated in the Big Bang! when I was a full-time student at the GSM, and can attest to its value in helping startups. While I did not reach the final round before, I learned a great deal each time I participated. It is with these previous years of experience that I approached Big Bang! again this year, and we were thrilled to advance to the final round and win $15,000 in prizes.
What are your post-MBA goals and how will your prior experience and the London Business School programme contribute towards these? (500 words)This is the exact same question as last year, and more or less, the same question as the last few years. If you were to look at previous versions (What will your future look like after completing your MBA?) and compare it to these slightly tweaked versions (What are your post-MBA plans and how will your prior experience and the London Business School programme contribute?), its not hard to catch the vapors coming off of the LBS adcom:Lets just ask the question we want to ask a bit more directlyWhat does this mean for you as the applicant? Give them what they want: a clear, precise, well-argued case for what you hope to succeed in, and why you will be successful (based on your past experiences combined with an LBS MBA). Thats all, folks. If you accomplish those two things, everything extra (a novel idea, a big goal with big upside, a socially-responsible and inspiring vision, etc.) will be just that extra.Most people will miss the KEY to this essay by packing too much stuff in. Slow down, take it one simple step at a time, and get the key stuff NAILED down first (youll be 98% done at that point).Now, heres the danger of going too far with Part I of the question (the GOAL part) without considering how Part II supports it. If you pitch an incredible idea/vision for the future, but have limited ability to back it up with evidence in your past experiences that convinces us that you have the necessary chops to execute on that idea the idea may sound tasty, but it wont be worth the risk for an elite MBA program. Remember, elite MBA programs rely on PLACEMENT statistics. Things like how many students from the graduating class end up employed end up making XXX dollars in their first X years out of school, etc. Why? This affects their rankings, and rankings affect the caliber of student drawn to their program, which in turn affects the schools ability to churn out success stories that juice those stats that then improve rankings and the future caliber of you see how the cycle works.So, MBA programs prefer SURE THINGS to high-volatility applicants. Given all that, the best chance you have of proving future success is to point to evidence in your PAST of success in a similar arena. Now, typically this means success in ROLE and INDUSTRY X and then pitching future success that is essentially an EXTENSION of those two things. If youre a marketing maven, then you may have a hard time painting a picture of yourself as a logistics whiz. Why should we believe that you will be successful here? they will ask. This is why industry/career switches tend to be red flags, unless youre able to convincingly draw a crystal clear connection between your success in the past and your future goals.Start there: looking back at your career, what have you done? What have you achieved? What are you good at? What MAKES you good at the things youre good at? Isolate it, hone in, be able to describe this to someone in ONE sentence.Im the person who can mobilize a team of 50 people on ten continents.Im the person who can take ten departments confused and contradictory initiatives, and seamlessly cohere them into a winning, universally beneficial, perfectly aligned strategy.Im the person whoFind evidence in your past. Be messy at first, list ten chaotic forms of support. But then sharpen it, boil it down to three defining MOMENTS. Three episodes, where your actions PAINT A PICTURE of the value you brought.Once you have that piece LOCKED, now we can cook up a plan that is a mouth-watering EXTENSION of it. Now were willing to go wherever you take us. If youre Elon Musk, and you give us your resume, you better believe we will be interested when you tell us I have an idea for how to revolutionize public transportation in third world countries. If your background is in sales, however, were less interested in your Big Idea.As youre building your post-MBA plans, focus less on the flash of the idea, and more on the strategy behind EXECUTING it. Show us how well-thought-out the plan is. Do this with detail. Do this with evidence that walks us through how each step is necessary for the next one. Practical, pragmatic, bulletproof. This is the plan that excites MBA adcoms. You want them to say this person is going to be successful. Or this person has success written all over them.You dont want them to say Wow, this is an absolutely brilliant and inspired idea!  Im just not entirely sure s/hes gonna pull it off. That reaction is a potential death sentence.Heres the structure thatll keep you very safe for your first pass:Hit us with a high-level sense of what kind of ISSUE or PROBLEM you hope to fix. Or an OPPORTUNITY youre hoping to take advantage of. Quickly provide this background (sentence or two, max). Explain why solving this (or executing on the opportunity) isnt easy. Explain why this hasnt been done a million times successfully already. Then explain (super high-level) what your idea is. What your big picture plans are.Now take us through the story of how this all came into play. Whats the backstory? Where did you start, where did you cut your teeth? And most importantly, show us the evidence as you take us through the KEY NODES of your past, of your value. Dont just rehash your resume. Present value-defining ACTIONS that made it very clear what made/makes you valuable.Now that were sold on how credible you are in this arena, give us a more detailed walk-through of your plans, showing us exactly how you plan on achieving each step. Details, specificity, show us how much thought went into it by convincing us that there are no holes.Last but not least, spend just a little bit of time making an argument for why LBS, of all the business schools on Earth, provides a few UNIQUE opportunities to propel you toward success. Dont just explain that its a good B-School, or that youre interested in LBS. You need to isolate a few idiosyncrasies of the LBS offerings, class, or setup that somehow IMPROVES the probability that you will succeed as compared to, say, HBS, Stanford, or Wharton. The coolest test to give yourself (embrace this conceit!) is to imagine getting offer letters from Harvard, Stanford, Wharton, and LBS. Make a case for why you would TURN DOWN the other three and go to LBS. All it takes is two or three bulletproof reasons and youre home free.You can find more of our essay analyses HERE: https://admissionado.com/resources/essay-analysis/
The report suggests that in some cases radiation levels might have an [ #permalink

akhil911 wrote:

compared to areas with lower radiation levels .



(A) compared to areas with lower radiation levels

(B) compared to those in areas with lower radiation levels

(C) as those with lower radiation levels in their area

(D) than areas with lower radiation levels

(E) than those in areas with lower radiation levels



Show Spoiler

When is compared to used and is this usage in sentence B acceptable.



https://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/06/science/nature-adapts-to-chernobyl.html



The findings also suggest that in some cases radiation levels might have an inverse effect  birds in areas with higher radiation exposure may show greater adaptation, and thus less genetic damage, than those in areas with lower radiation levels . My question is here regarding the usage of compared to.When is compared to used and is this usage in sentence B acceptable.The findings also suggest that in some cases radiation levels might have an inverse effect  birds in areas with higher radiation exposure may show greater adaptation, and thus less genetic damage, The report suggests that in some cases radiation levels might have an inverse effect  rodents and insects in areas with higher radiation exposure may show greater adaptation, and thus less genetic damage,(A) compared to areas with lower radiation levels(B) compared to those in areas with lower radiation levels(C) as those with lower radiation levels in their area(D) than areas with lower radiation levels(E) than those in areas with lower radiation levels

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Is answer choice B correct for this modified question?

If so then -

unique adaptability

compared to those in areas with lower radiation levels

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compared with those in areas with lower radiation levels

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The findings also suggest that in some cases radiation levels might have an inverse effect  birds in areas with higher radiation exposure may showadaptation, and thus less genetic damage,those in areas with lower radiation levels.What I understand is that answer choice E is correct because of - correct usage of -Am I missing any other decision point for selecting Choice E over Choice B?Also if we have the question prompt as below :The report suggests that in some cases radiation levels might have an inverse effect  rodents and insects in areas with higher radiation exposure may show, and thus less genetic damage,(A) compared to areas with lower radiation levels(B) compared to those in areas with lower radiation levels(C) as those with lower radiation levels in their area(D) than areas with lower radiation levels(E) than those in areas with lower radiation levelsThe report suggests that in some cases radiation levels might have an inverse effect  rodents and insects in areas with higher radiation exposure may show, and thus less genetic damage,A)orB)Here for this modified question prompt are both choices A) and B) acceptable ?Am I correct to say that the selection betweenandis not expected to be the testing point on GMAT?_________________
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Maryam Rajavi first became involved in the resistance movement when she was an engineering student at Tehrans Sharif University of Technology in the 1970s.

Maryam Rajavi joined the student movement of the Peoples Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) in 1973 and served in the groups social department from 1979 to 1981, during which time she also stood as a candidate for parliament in the first elections following the overthrow of the shah. Maryam Rajavi received over 250,000 votes, but did not gain a seat in parliament, which was later discovered to be the result of widespread voter fraud on behalf of the mullahs that kept all opposition leaders out of parliament.

It was then that Maryam Rajavi suffered another loss, this time at the hands of the mullahs. Her pregnant sister Massoumeh, an industrial engineering student, was arrested, tortured, and hanged for her activism.

In 1985, Maryam Rajavi became joint-leader of the MEK for four years, before becoming its secretary general in 1989. Then in 1993, she took up her current post as president-elect of the parliament-in-exile National Council of Resistance of Iran; a coalition of democratic Iranian opposition groups, with the MEK as its largest member.

Maryam Rajavis role is to lead the Iranian people and their organised democratic resistance to the overthrow of the mullahs and to a free Iran. She will serve as the President of Iran for a transitional period, not to exceed six months, until a free and fair election can be held and a truly representative national assembly can be formed. Maryam Rajavi will then hand over power to the elected representatives.

Until that day, Maryam Rajavi serves as a figurehead for the Iranian resistance, inspiring people across Iran to rise up against the mullahs, as well as the head of the true Iranian government.

In her tenure as president of the Iranian Resistance, Maryam Rajavi has achieved so many objectives that it is hard to list them all here, but we will do so briefly. She has:

 Increased the number of women holding leadership positions in the Iranian Resistance to over 50% of total roles

 Made numerous speeches about the tolerant and democratic Islam and decried fundamentalism

 Made the case for the international community not to appease or launch a war on the Iranian Regime, but to instead support the Iranian people and their democratic resistance

 Garnered worldwide support for the Iranian resistance

 Achieved the safe relocation of MEK members from Iraq, where they faced attacks from the Iran-backed government, to Albania

 Successfully led the campaign to remove the MEK from terror watch lists, where they were wrongly placed to appease the Regime

 Started the movement calling for justice for the 30,000 victims of the 1988 Iranian massacre, which largely targeted MEK members
Dr. Majid Rafizadeh explained in an article in Arab News and continued as the Regime has been working with Al-Shabab to import sanctioned Somali charcoal into Iran using false certificates of origin from Comoros, Cote dIvoire and Ghana, before repackaging it into white bags labelled Product of Iran. The regime even lets the terror cell use its land, ports, and ships to make the smuggling process easier.

This shows that the Iranian Regime has no qualms about violating UN sanctions to help terrorist groups, as should already be evident by their provision of weapons to the Houthis in Yemen, which was cited in a previous UN report.

The two groups most likely to be involved in this smuggling operation are the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and its elite foreign operations wing, the Quds Force. The US has long been considering whether or not to add the IRGC to its list of terrorist groups, something that Canada has already done.

Al-Shabab

Last year, this terrorist group claimed responsibility for one of Somalias largest and deadliest terrorist attacks; a truck bombing in the capital Mogadishu that killed at 500 people. Thus, the UN imposed sanctions to cut off their supply of money.

Iran, a long time supporter of terrorist groups across the Middle East and beyond, knows that in order to keep terrorizing people, a group needs a constant flow of money and is more than happy to help. Not only are the Regime helping to commit terrorist activities through their charcoal smuggling, but they are also disrupting the domestic market and causing severe environmental and economic repercussions.

Deputy Prime Minister Mahdi Mohammed Guled said: We need cooperation to implement the UN Security Council (sanctions) and ensure the environmental, economic and human losses that happen because of the illegal charcoal trade are curbed.

It is important that we also recognise that the Shiite Iranian Regime is helping a Sunni terror group, proving that the mullahs are not concerned about religion. Their common ideological interests are terrorism, chaos and instability.

Dr. Majid Rafizadeh, an Iranian-American political scientist, wrote: Tehran views militant and terror groups such as Al-Shabab through the prism of political opportunism. From the Iranian leaders perspective, extremists can form invaluable non-state terrorist groups that could accomplish Irans two main revolutionary principles: Anti-Americanism and undermining Saudi Arabias interests in the region.

The Iranian Regime needs to be held to account for helping Al-Shabab and for any terrorist attacks committed by the group in the future.
Archives are extremely popular at the moment. In a way the word "archive" has turned into one of the most abused terms of our times, especially when used in the context of the fashion industry. Here an archive can be a well-organised entity attached to a historically famous house where young creative directors go and steal from the past or, in the case of younger designers and brands, a pile of random boxes in a corner, grandly described as "archive". Yet there are archives with very different purposes and dimensions, as proved by director Francesca Molteni.

In her brief documentary "The Importance of the Archive" Molteni takes us on a journey through the workshop of the Renzo Piano Foundation.

Molteni provides behind the scene footage showing the models being created and stored, plus the dossiers, drafts, sketches and drawings housed in a 3,000 sq meter converted factory in Genoa, and images of the Renzo Piano Building Workshop's Genoa studio, located in Punta Nave, on a terraced plot of land.

Including 60,000 drawings and 5,000 models, Piano's archive has Leviathan-like proportions and represents the "hidden part" of the iceberg. We usually see the final buildings created by Piano, but the archive contains the research and the studies behind them, so the two entities are interconnected and one can't exist without the other.

Yet, while some materials are being sent to or coming back from exhibitions all over the world, the purpose of the pieces stored here is not being merely showcased or displayed, but inspiring new generations. According to Piano, you can't indeed survive if you don't share your creativity.

The archive is therefore conceived as a living entity, a place with a strong didactic purpose: even badly done projects and sketches are stored here in the hope that one day they will be rediscovered or re-elaborated. Besides, we all learn from our mistakes, that's why it is important for an archive to store also those projects that never turned into reality.

The stored materials are also employed by Piano to show young people how an idea can be developed. Interviewed in the documentary, the architect states that it is important to detach oneself from beautiful drawings and computer renderings, that he calls the devil, and form in your mind an idea, an imprecise hologram of what a building may look like, remembering that the practice of visiting a building yard is fundamental to become more conscious about the physical space.

A passionate fan of Jean Prouve, Piano shares with the students visiting his Fondazione and archives some of his secrets, from being inspired by everything in your life and practice - from Brunelleschi's dome to a humble shed - to learning to talk with ordinary people and with the members of the community you're working for. He also states it is vital to preserve your freedom and humbleness (the architect emphasizes the importance of the studio as a collective of people and not of Renzo Piano himself) and keep in mind sustainability - the possibility of making wisely designed buildings that can preserve energy should indeed put fantasy and imagination in motion.

Though narrated by an excessively enthusiastic and at times irritating voice, "The Importance of the Archive", has therefore got a few interesting lessons for students of different creative disciplines. The same can be said about "Renzo Piano  The Architect of Light" by award-winning filmmaker Carlos Saura. Both the documentaries are on this weekend during the Architecture & Design Film Festival (ADFF; until tomorrow) in New York (check out the film schedule here).

Piano's teachings in Molteni's documentary are turned into practice in Carlos Saura's film. The latter follows the development of the Botin Centre in the bay of Santander, Spain. In 2010 Renzo Piano Building Workshop was commissioned the arts and cultural centre by Fondazione Botin, from an idea of Emilio Botin, founder and chairman of Banco Santander, who died in 2014.

Located on the waterfront of Santander, the cultural centre had to open up on the sea while guaranteeing the view onto the horizon. Though excited at the prospect of being able to play with the "luz" of Santander, the beautiful light bathing the city, Piano had to take into account several issues. Skeptical residents were indeed worried about the building turning into an obstruction and ending up blocking the view.

Inspired by his love for the sea and his passion for building with light that has characterised many of his projects for art institutions and museums, Piano came up with a structure divided into two separate volumes, suspended above the sea and elevated from the ground to allow people to stroll underneath it.

The two buildings frame the horizon and offer a sense of infinite space, they are trampolines on the water and give the sensation of being suspended in the air.

In the documentary the direct account of the construction phases turns into a sort of philosophical pondering about Piano's creative process, which, he explains is a combination of poetry and techne, the result of an equation between beauty, art and craftsmanship.

The documentary is about the theory and the inspirations behind the building and the evolution of a project, but it also looks at the beauty of the construction site: Piano, who developed a passion for visiting building sites with his father as a child, reminds us that after drawing or sketching on the paper you have to look at the real location to perceive the scale of a building and follow the construction phases. For Piano, building yards have got something extraordinary and miraculous about them because, in his opinion, a construction is magical.

There's something else magical for the architect: seeing the building finished and looking at the expressions of the people gazing at it.

The centre took almost 8 years to be completed: at a certain point of the documentary Saura confesses he has fallen in love with the skeleton of the building, but, little by little, the structure is radically transformed and covered with 270,000 ceramic eyes that shine under the sun.

Incorporating suspended gangway-like promenades opening onto the sea, once finished the building looks like a vessel, a ship ready to set sail (being born in Genoa, nautical influences have always been strong in Piano's works) that embodies all the principles Piano believes in  an architect's civic duty and social purpose and the possibility of preserving poetic values, since better buildings make better people.

"The Importance of the Archive" and "Renzo Piano: The Architect of Light" tie in with the retrospective "Renzo Piano: The Art of Making Buildings", currently on at the Royal Academy of Arts, London (until 20th January 2019). The latter looks at 16 buildings designed by the Renzo Piano Building Workshop, including The Shard in London, the Centre Pompidou in Paris, designed with Richard Rogers, and current projects still in the making.

Piano mentions in "The Architect of Light" Italo Calvino's Invisible Cities, reminding us that in the book Marco Polo states that even the most horrible city has a corner of happiness, serenity and harmony. Hopefully, he will manage to keep on creating such corners also in further ambitious projects like the new bridge over Genoa that should reconnect the city and regenerate the area after the tragic collapse of the Morandi bridge in August this year.


New Braunfels, TX (78130)

Today

A shower is possible early. Partly cloudy early followed by cloudy skies overnight. Low 53F. NNE winds at 5 to 10 mph, increasing to 15 to 25 mph..

Tonight

A shower is possible early. Partly cloudy early followed by cloudy skies overnight. Low 53F. NNE winds at 5 to 10 mph, increasing to 15 to 25 mph.
- The teams that became triumphant in this years Magpasikat were finally announced

- The scores were close and they just edged out each other by .2 points margin

- The winning team thanked the staff who exerted effort in coming up with the performance

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After week-long of breathtaking and emotional performances, the winners of Its Showtimes Magpasikat 2018 were finally revealed to public.

KAMI learned that the results were announced today, October 20, 2018, right after the hosts conducted a special edition of Miss Q and A.

Garnering the highest average score of 9.4 points, the team of Jhong Hilario and Karylle was hailed as this years Magpasikat champion.

The two presented an epic musical play that focused on self-acceptance, gender equality, and unconditional love of a mother. It was also a sequel to their last years performance.

At second place was the tandem of Vice Ganda and Amy Perez who presented a meaningful story of doing the best in order to gain success.

They tallied an average score of 9.2 points, just behind by a close .2 points from this years champion.

The team of Anne Curtis and Mariel Rodriguez was recognized as the third placer after receiving an average score of 9.0 points.

The two celebrities wowed the audience with their performance that was inspired by The Greatest Showman and that showed dangerous acrobatic routines.

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Meanwhile, Jhong and Karylle acknowledged their team for rendering support and exerting effort to come up with the brilliant idea.

The actor expressed that they just became instruments to the hardwork that his team gave for this years Magpasikat.

Marami pong salamat. Yung mga staff namin. Nakita niyo naman yung iyak nila. Kasi yung pagod talaga Yung puyat he quipped.

Wala kaming ibang pasasalamatan kundi sainyo dahil alam niyo kung gaano kami ka-busy. Pero kayo yung gumawa ng paraan para mabuo natin to Walang dapat ibang awardan kundi kayong lahat. Naging instrumento lang kami pero talaga yung pagod niyo he added.

Here is the video of the awarding:

In a previous article by , the team of Jugs and Teddy started the week-long competition through a heart-breaking father and son story.

Magpasikat is an annual event conducted during every anniversary of Its Showtime. The winners received cash prizes worth 300 thousadn, 200 thousand, and 100 thousand, respectively, for their chosen charities.

POPULAR: Read more news about Its Showtime hosts!

Many of you had asked us to shoot The Nun prank  and we did it! So, today we are proud to present you an extraordinary lady, Scary Nun! In this episode, she is going to roam the streets of the Philippines and scare innocent people to death! (Laughs evilly)  on HumanMeter!

Source: Kami.com.ph
My names Will Capers. For almost nine years, Ive blogged on various topics. I blogged as Blaque Ink first, and as Brotha Wolf second. The latter had a mu...

2 years ago
Why The Hate U Give Is Not a Black Lives Matter Movie

Some are touting The Hate U Give, as the first Black Lives Matter movie. Red flags should have gone up the moment we learned that Fox, recently acquired by Disney, was behind the film with a massive public relations budget, footing the bill for hundreds of advance screenings with celebrity guests, marketing swag, and heavy media saturation  especially in Black markets. We might also wonder about the choice to have Audrey Wells, a White screenwriter whose credits include Under the Tuscan Sun and The Truth About Cats and Dogs, adapt an urban Black novel for the screen. Angie Thomas New York Times bestseller on which the film is based swapped out the book cover that originally pictured a chocolate-colored Afroed girl, for the light-skinned young actress, Amandla Stenberg, who plays the lead, Starr Carter, in the film. Stenbergs braids hang long as she holds a placard that reads The Hate U Give, a reference to Tupacs THUG LIFE acronym (The Hate U Give Little Infants F*cks Everyone). Tupac, Hip Hop icon, poet, and son of a Black Panther, was intentional with his language. THUG LIFE, tattooed across his mid-section, was a scathing critique of the White-supremacist-capitalist system that treats Black and poor children with contempt, depriving them of resources, and ultimately causing the whole of society to suffer the consequences. The film betrays that analysis by entrenching old tropes. The Hate U Give makes Black people primarily responsible for their own oppression. The film asks viewers not to challenge a policing system that kills Black people at least every 28 hours, but to focus exclusively on Black-on-Black crime, even when unarmed Black boys are killed by White cops.

The film builds around Starr witnessing the killing of her childhood friend, Khalil, by a White police officer. Starr, straddles two worlds, not quite fitting in to the all-Black, inner-city neighborhood in which she resides that is replete with all kinds of stereotypical Black pathologies, and not feeling at home at her affluent prep school either, where her White friends exhibit class privilege and everyday racisms. Her father, Maverick, is an ex-gang member, who has ongoing conflict with the neighborhood drug dealer, King, for whom Khalil was selling drugs and is also the step-father of Starrs half-brother, Seven, who is the exact same age as Starr. If it sounds complicated, it is. We can ignore the technical challenges of the film for the moment, including the fact that if Starrs parents had her when they were 17, they should be 34and, even if Black dont crack, its a reach to have them played by 44-year-old Russell Hornsby and 47-year-old Regina Hall. Director, George Tillman (of Soul Food), is able to pull the audience in emotionally, with early heart-warming scenes of a loving two-parent family and Starrs charming voiceover that feels authentic and honest. However, emotional connection, sometimes causes audiences to set aside their critical lens, and we fail to unpack the message of the movie.

W.E.B. DuBois warns that all art is propaganda. So the question is what political perspective is The Hate U Give attempting to convey. Amidst the beauty of the familial relationships are a bevy of problematic messages, ones advancing respectability, colorism, sexism, Black flight, integrationism, Black pathology, exceptionalism, messianic models of change, White superiority, deracialization, and good-cop narrative. While Starrs family is a place of refuge, her neighborhood exemplifies a Black pathology narrative of poor Black folks who are inherently promiscuous and violent. She and her family are portrayed as the exceptions to this because of their ability to redeem themselves from their teenage indiscretions that include drug dealing, gang-banging, incarceration, and promiscuity, through adherence to a patriarchal nuclear-family structure. While Starrs mother, Lisa, is clear about her desire to escape the neighborhood and build a better life for her children, it is Starrs father who has a sense of community allegiance and Black nationalism that compels the children to memorize the Black Panther Partys 10-point platform in two of the most contrived scenes in the film. Ultimately, Starrs father and good-cop uncle Carlos (played by Common), save the family from the savage attack of the neighborhood drug dealer, who attempts to kill themincluding his own stepson. Although Khalils murder at the hands of a White cop is the crescendo of the film, the officer who killed him is quickly overshadowed by the neighborhood drug dealer as the primary villain, a set-up for an ongoing subtext and primary message about Black-on-Black crime as the root of all evil.

Throughout the film, Starr is working to find her voiceto speak for Khalil. An activist lawyer, April Ofrah (played by Issa Rae), who leads the strangely named social justice group Just Us for Justice, convinces Starr to go on national television to tell what she saw. Ultimately Starr spends more time naming the neighborhood drug dealer than she does talking about the police who murdered her friend. When the cop is exonerated, she, her siblings, andfor a brief momenther White boyfriend, join the protest march that they stumble upon. In an ultimate show of melodrama, Starr is lifted onto the hood of a car, handed a too-small bullhorn, and gives the least compelling speech of all time that ends with tears, a fist, and a declaration Khalil lived! Khalil lived!

As police move in with tear gas, she drags her freshly beaten brother into the back of a strangers pick-up truck and is transported to her fathers corner store to pour milk in their eyes, but the drug dealer is waiting and has his crony throw a molotov cocktail that promises to burn the teens alive. They are ultimately saved with their father shows up and lets them out the backdoor. As Maverick confronts the real villain, King-the-drug-dealer, Starrs eight-year-old brother has somehow gotten ahold of his fathers gun and points it at the drug dealer. Police, who arrive on the scene, in turn, point their guns at the small child, and Starr steps between. No! she saysHer voice gets through to the cops who lower their weapons and see the error of their ways. The entire neighborhood comes out to speak up about King, appealing to the White officers to save them. Then, the point of the film, Starrs voiceover comes in, hitting the audience over the head with the films messagethat Black communities are saved when Black folks rally together, not against murderous police, but against neighborhood drug dealers. We must trust police to save us from the Kings of the world and bring them to justice, the film proclaims. Starrs final voiceover, in a line that is not found in the novel, admonishes Black audiencesBecause its not about the hate YOU give, its about the hate WE give.

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The Hate U Give is propaganda that tells us that the answer to our woes is not addressing the intentional design of policing systems that are rooted in slave-catching and kill our people at least every 28 hours, but to trust that system to bring an inherently pathological Black community in line. While no evidence has emerged that police interests have provided financial support for the film or filmmaker (as Boots Riley uncovered with Spike Lee, shortly before BlacKKKlansman was released), Foxs conservatism, Disneys history of racist indoctrination, and the entrenchment of both in the White-supremacist-capitalist system that Tupac so brilliantly critiqued, offer cause for healthy suspicion.

We are eager for cinematic representations of this current iteration of Black freedom struggle. As Black Lives Matter organizers, we state emphatically that this is not a Black Lives Matter film; it is the antithesis. We encourage Black audiences, all those who reject narratives that make Black victims of police violence responsible for their own deaths, and Tupac fans, to invest their dollars in Black film that uplifts and empowers Black communities. The Hate U Give isnot that.
In Japan, very small automobiles traditionally were meant for families seeking a low-cost form of transportation. But these minicars, also known as kei-cars, have instead become popular with another group of drivers: older adults.

Hondas N-Box model car, for example, is very small. The car is equipped with technology designed to make it safe and easy to drive.

The N-Box has been marketed mainly to young families. But Honda has found that about half of its owners are 50 years of age or older.

Carmakers have hoped that by adding high-technology equipment, young people could be persuaded to buy minicars. Yet the number of Japanese drivers under age 30 has fallen by nearly 40 percent since 2001.

Minicars are not costly. Prices start at about $7,500, and ownership taxes are low. For those reasons, the cars have gained a loyal following among Japans growing number of elderly. Many of them very often earn about the same amount of money from one year to the next.

One out of every three passenger cars sold in Japan is a minicar.

Tortoise, an auto dealership south of Tokyo, specializes in minicars. Seventy percent of its buyers are older adults.

After their children are grown and leave home, more people are looking to downsize from larger family cars to more compact ones, noted Kiminori Murano, a managing director at Tortoise.

All of Japans major carmakers sell low cost, fuel-efficient cars. These vehicles are produced mainly for Japanese buyers. With very small engines, they are considered too small for foreign markets.

Carmakers deal with Japans aging population

Some industry experts are predicting that automated cars, taxis and buses will keep older people active later in life. But until those high-tech products become a reality, kei-cars are likely to continue to be popular in Japan, a country with an aging population.

The Reuters news agency recently spoke with Hideaki Takaishi, a safety engineer at Honda. He said that one safety device uses sensors to observe a vehicles surroundings and identify whether the driver has pressed the wrong pedal. Carmakers also are trying to develop artificial intelligence systems that can advise drivers.

Such advice could include warnings about safety risks, such as if the vehicle is moving toward the side of the road.

Takaishi said systems like this will help older drivers.

They really want to maintain their independence while theyre driving, and its a skill theyve honed over many years, he said.

In Japan, the number of people aged 60 and older with a drivers permit is growing faster than in other developed countries.

In many rural areas, some people are driving into their 80s and 90s. This has led to increased traffic accidents for older drivers, although the total number of accidents is decreasing.

Last year, the elderly were involved in 55 percent of Japans traffic accidents.

To deal with the problem, Japans Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry launched a program to support safety technologies. The program provides a logo that manufacturers can use to identify cars with the new safety aids. People buying such cars can save on accident insurance.

The safety technology may only increase the popularity of Japans Kei-cars.

Im Mario Ritter.

Mario Ritter adapted this Reuters' story for VOA Learning English. George Grow was the editor.

__________________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

elderly  n. older adults

compact  adj. smaller than other things of the same kind

managing  adj. administrative or supervisory

automated  adj. robotic; self-operating

pedal  n. a flat piece of metal that is pushed with the foot to make a machine move or work

artificial intelligence  n. ability of a machine to use and analyze data in an attempt to reproduce human behavior

hone  v. to make something better

logo  n. a symbol that is used to identify a company or organization and that appears on its products

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October 20, 2018 18:59

A teenager whose giant facial tumour caused his mother to disown him has had surgery and has been reunited with his family.



Kambou Sie travelled from his hometown of Bondoukou in the Ivory Coast to Italy for life-changing treatment to tackle the tumour engulfing his whole face.



Stunning before and after pictures show the 18-year-old's transformation after surgeons reconstructed his face.



The 18-year-old, known as Prosper, was 10 years old when the aggressive mass first started to appear on his cheek.



It was left untreated and over the years it began to completely swamp his facial features, affecting his eyesight and his whole face to droop.



Growing up, he was often ignored or avoided by his community because nobody understood his condition and thought he was contagious.



The only person who supported him was his father, as he was even disowned by his own mother.



After arriving at Naples Pascale Hospital in Italy 14 months ago, tests revealed that the tumour was a rare form of cancer called Burkitt lymphoma, which attacks the immune system.

He underwent six months of chemotherapy, radiotherapy and stem cell replacement to reduce the tumour.



Prosper said: 'When I arrived here, often I was afraid. I think that fear was all I felt. My nose used to block my sight. I had to hold my nose down to be able to see.



'Three days after I began chemo I realised I didnt need to hold my nose down anymore to see.



'I am very happy because when I go out I dont cry. I am happy to meet people. I go out, I have fun, I play around. I have no problems. I am very happy.'



Now the cancer has been eradicated, surgeons are working to reconstruct his face.

Specialist Dr Franc Ionna explained: 'Theres a flaw in the development of the facial bones. He has an alteration of the facial bone.



'Theres a dissymmetry the left side is different to the right. One side has too much bone on the other is a deficit.'



It will take several surgeries, as the cancer has affected the bone structure of Prospers skull.



The right side of Prospers face has an underdeveloped cheek bone and eye socket, which will need to be rebuilt.



But Prospers bones are still recovering from the impact of radiotherapy, so Dr Ionna will first work on the lower half of his face.



The surgeon spent three hours removing the cancer-damaged skin and releasing scar tissue hardened by the radiotherapy.



He said: 'I had an endless series of difficulties due to him having gone through radiotherapy the tissues were very stiff just like a wall.'



But the surgery goes well and Prosers face is starting to take shape.



Three weeks after his surgery, Prosper returned to his home in the Ivory Coast, where his community rejected him. He is welcomed by his fathers open arms and his mothers quest for reconciliation.



Prosper will return to Italy in the future for more surgeries, but for now he his enjoying being part of the community again.



He said: 'My face has changed. Its not finished, but its changed. I have also changed. I am not like before.



'Before leaving, I couldnt see a thing. Its my country, but today as I arrive Im new to it. I now have eyes to see it all. I don't know what to expect. How the welcome will be. I dont know if the welcome will be good or not. Were arriving, its here.



'After the new year, Ill go to school to study and find out what I want to do in the future.'



Prospers story is featured on Body Bizarre. Body Bizarre is on Saturdays at 10pm on TLC UK

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Dr. Jerome Martin-Babau from Centre Armoricain de Radiotherapie, Imagerie Medicale et Oncologie in Plerin, France, study author. Credit: European Society for Medical Oncology

Chemotherapy is known to have a negative impact on the reproductive potential of young breast cancer patients. Its effects on women's post-treatment fertility, however, are still poorly understood. A stud to be presented at the ESMO 2018 Congress in Munich, has confirmed that natural pregnancies are possible after chemotherapy but that survivors' desire to have children decreases greatly after treatment, calling into question the need for systematic recourse to fertility preservation measures.

Fertility preservation today is based on harvesting and freezing eggs or embryos after in vitro fertilisation. It is commonly offered to breast cancer patients under 40 during the first consultations following diagnosis. Globally, women in this age group represent less than 7% of breast cancer diagnoses, and survivors have a 70% lower chance of pregnancy compared with the general population. According to study author, Dr. Jerome Martin-Babau from Centre Armoricain de Radiotherapie, Imagerie Medicale et Oncologie in Plerin, France, "the main barrier to accessing fertility preservation measures for patients in France is that it requires lab facilities and medical expertise that are only available at larger hospitals. Women may have to travel further than their usual cancer centre for the procedure."

The French National Cancer Plan prioritises this solution as a key service to be rolled out nationwide. "We wanted to find out whether the need and demand for it among breast cancer survivors was on a par with the level of investment and organisation called for by the policymakers," Martin-Babau continued.

In the course of the study, 96 eligible patients aged between 18 and 40 years and treated by chemotherapy for non-metastatic breast cancer were identified60 agreed to participate in the survey. "We based our questionnaire on existing tools found in the literature and added a dedicated section on the changes in patients' menstrual cycles," Martin-Babau reported.

Participants' median age at diagnosis was 36 years, and the median time between the end of their chemotherapy and participation in the study was 57 months. In over half of cases, the cancer had spread to the lymph nodes at the time of diagnosis, which means it had a higher risk of recurrence. Triple negative tumours were diagnosed in 10 women: their prognosis is worsened by the fact that they cannot receive the anti-hormonal treatment usually prescribed after chemotherapy. All patients, however, were in complete remission by the time of the survey.

The results showed that 83% of participants experienced amenorrheaa complete absence of menstruationduring their treatment with chemotherapy. "This was an expected finding," said Martin-Babau. "What we didn't expect was that 86% of these patients also reported their menstrual cycle returning to normal within the following year after the end of chemoan indication that the treatment had not completely damaged their ovaries."

The evolution of patients' desire to bear children over the course of the disease was also assessed: more than one third of women reported having had plans to become pregnant before beginning treatment. By contrast, only one in ten stated that they still had this wish after the end of their chemotherapy.

"Of the six patients who did still want to have children, four women actually managed to get pregnant, although two eventually miscarried," Martin-Babau reported. The assumption that it is difficult to achieve pregnancy naturally after breast cancer was thus belied in this patient cohort.

"Of course, our study was limited to one centre and reflects the activity of just a few doctorsthe reality may be quite different elsewhere. In addition, one third of patients we identified didn't respond to the survey, possibly due to frustration with their personal situation. Their participation may have changed our results," Martin-Babau cautioned.

Drawing conclusions from the findings, he observed: "The fact is that most forms of breast cancer are stimulated by hormones. The implantation of in vitro produced embryos requires women to take additional hormones that could potentially play a role in disease recurrencewe currently have limited data to alleviate this concern."

"In a context, then, where it turns out that natural pregnancies are still possible after treatment, and where the actual demand for fertility preservation measures seems to be relatively low, we as clinicians need to think about how to provide the most balanced information possible during the onco-fertility counselling of these young patients," he said.

Commenting on the study for ESMO, Dr. Matteo Lambertini, ESMO fellow at the Institut Jules Bordet in Brussels, Belgium, said: "Previous data (5,6) have shown that only a small proportion of women actually choose to undergo fertility preservation measures at the time of breast cancer diagnosis. The present findings, though based on a small patient cohort, additionally tell us that breast cancer survivors' desire to have children decreases by the time they finish treatment, while simultaneously confirming that natural pregnancies are still possible after chemotherapy. However, this does not mean that oncologists shouldn't talk about fertility preservation measures with their patients, including in cases where their cancer centre doesn't offer fertility services onsite: indeed, the minority of women who are interested will gladly travel to the nearest facility that does."

"As physicians, we must continue to discuss the potential loss of ovarian function and fertility with every one of our breast cancer patients, just like we would do with any other side-effect of treatment: as early and extensively as possible," Lambertini added. "It is important for oncologists to be aware of existing ESMO Clinical Practice Guidelines on the subject (7) and to be attuned to the specific circumstances of each patient. Whilst this study reminds us that the need for fertility preservation measures should not be overestimated, we should also be careful not to exaggerate the risk of such a procedure to women when we offer them these options."

Explore further Chemotherapy may lead to early menopause in young women with lung cancer
Quality of life scores before and after chemotherapy in active and inactive patients. Credit: European Society for Medical Oncology

Including exercise or sport as part of cancer care can significantly improve symptom management, quality of life and fitness during and after treatment, French researchers have concluded in two presentations to be reported at the ESMO 2018 Congress in Munich. Even among patients at highest risk of poor quality of life, exercise can make a difference.

More than 3,500 patients with cancer already participate in exercise programmes each year at over 80 cancer centres in France, at a cost of approximately 400 per patient, and the number continues to rise, explained Dr. Thierry Bouillet, Medical Oncologist, Ile de France, American Hospital of Paris, Neuilly Sur Seine, France, and author of one of the new studies. Classes are run by trainers with specialist knowledge of cancer and its treatment who can adapt exercise programmes to individual needs.

"We have found that patients get the greatest benefit if they exercise two or three times a week for at least an hour during the six months of their chemotherapy or radiotherapy and then for a further six months so that physical activity becomes a part of their life," said Bouillet.

"With 20 years' experience, we have also seen that patients find it easier to exercise in on-site classes and feel more secure than if we give them exercise information and leave them to do it themselves or go to classes away from the hospital with trainers who do not know about the special needs of patients with cancer," added Bouillet.

In one of the French studies to be presented at ESMO, twice-weekly, 60-minute strength training and aerobic exercise classes significantly reduced pain and fatigue scores at 3 and 6 months in 114 patients undergoing cancer treatment, 83% for breast cancer and 21% with metastatic disease. Fatigue scores fell from 3.3 at baseline to 2.8 (p<0.05) at 3 months and pain scores from 2.8 to 2.3 respectively (p<0.05). In 71 patients with data at baseline and 6 months, fatigue scores fell from 3.1 at baseline to 2.1 at 6 months (p<0.05) and pain scores from 3 to 1.9 respectively (p<0.05).

There were also significant reductions in body fat, while lean body mass remained stable. In the overall group, fat mass fell from 33.9% at baseline to 33.2% at 3 months (p<0.05), while lean body mass remained stable (43.6 and 43.8 kg respectively). In the 71 patients with 6-month data, fat mass fell from 34.3% at baseline to 32.4% at 6 months, while lean mass was 42.8 kg at both time points. In addition, significant improvements were seen in overall fitness in terms of quadriceps endurance, strength of both arms and non-dominant leg balance (p<0.05 for all).

"Patients are often fatigued and have started to lose muscle before they are diagnosed with cancer, so it is essential to start exercise as soon as possible after the first consultation. We should see it as 'emergency treatment' for their initial symptoms and later to help with the side effects of treatment," said Bouillet.

In a second study to be presented at ESMO 2018, researchers not only reported the value of exercise for patients with cancer, but also demonstrated that it is possible to identify patients at greatest risk of poor quality of life during treatment so they can receive extra help.

In the study of 2525 patients with stage I-III breast cancer undergoing adjuvant chemotherapy, those who took 75 minutes of vigorous or 150 minutes of moderate exercise per week had significantly better overall quality of life at six and 12 months after treatment than those who were inactive (Table 1). They also had significantly better physical well-being and less fatigue, pain and breathlessness. Vigorous exercise included activities such as aerobic dance, heavy gardening or fast swimming, while moderate exercise included brisk walking, water aerobics or volleyball.

"Around 60% of patients were physically active before and after chemotherapy and, although their quality of life was adversely affected by chemotherapy, they scored consistently better on a variety of physical, emotional and symptom scales than those who were inactive," explained Dr. Antonio Di Meglio, study author and Medical Oncologist, Institut Gustave Roussy, Villejuif, France.

The study showed that patients who had a mastectomy or additional illnesses, smoked or had a low income were particularly at risk of poor quality of life following chemotherapy for breast cancer, but they too benefited from exercise.

"Using a novel approach, we showed that it is possible to identify breast cancer patients whose quality of life will be worst affected by chemotherapy so we can now target those patients for dedicated interventions including those aimed at increasing physical activity to WHO-recommended levels," added Di Meglio.

Commenting from ESMO, Dr. Gabe Sonke, Medical Oncologist, Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, underlined the importance of the French studies in demonstrating the value of physical therapy in everyday clinical practice, previously seen in clinical trials and supported by current ESMO recommendations for exercise as part of standard care for all cancer survivors.

"The insights from the new studies in patients with metastatic breast cancer are particularly timely as a large study is getting underway from the international PREFERABLE Consortium to further explore the value of exercise in this group of patients," he said.

Sonke pointed out that this and other studies are endeavouring to confirm early signs that physical activity programmes may improve adherence to chemotherapy and radiotherapy and thus improve treatment outcomes so that insurance companies are more encouraged to pay for exercise initiatives.

"Insurers may ask why they should pay for exercise for patients with cancer when they don't pay for it in the general population. But if we can show that there is improved treatment adherence and an added survival benefit for patients with cancer, this will strengthen our case for payment," said Sonke.

He also wants to see more patients routinely asked to participate in exercise programmes, including those who do not normally exercise: "We know that patients who are already active are getting into these exercise programmes, but those who are not active are missing out, particularly those with low income and less healthy lifestyle. The new results must encourage us to focus on how to be more inclusive so that all patients can benefit from exercise in improving quality of life during chemotherapy," he concluded.

Explore further New research shows benefits of exercise for first time in advanced lung cancer
Jacksonville, FL - A Jacksonville teacher was arrested for distributing a video of child sexual abuse.

Jordan Schemmel, 37, was a Terry Parker High School teacher who has been arrested and charged by a federal criminal complaint with distributing child pornography.

On Sept. 5, Schemmel responded to a message on an internet board frequented by people who have a sexual interest in children. The post was made by an undercover FBI agent. Schemmel began an online conversation with the FBI agent and sent a video of a child being sexually assaulted by an adult and a photo that depicted similar content.

On Oct. 19 searched Schemmel's home, computer, and phone. While interviewing with law enforcement, Schemmel said he had tried previously, and unsuccessfully, to stop viewing child porn in the past. His phone and a thumb drive located at his home had child porn and bestiality on it.

Schemmel faces a minimum of 5 years and up to 20 years in federal prison and he could face a lifetime of supervised release.

Pat Cochran, parent of a Terry Parker High sophomore, said she never suspected anything about the IB program coordinator.

"I'm in utter shock, because [my son] has been in his office, by himself with the door shut," Cochran told First Coast News. "I'm very concerned because he works with many students. He was a very nice man, very respectable, I admired him."

DCPS said in a statement from the Terry Parker High School principal:

Good Afternoon Parents and Guardians. This is Principal Pardue.

As you know we care greatly for the well-being of our students and we work diligently to provide your students with teachers and staff of the highest character and capability.

It is for that reason I am so disappointed to inform you that we have been notified by the FBI that one of our teachers, Mr. Jordan Schemmel, was taken into their custody on charges of Distributing Child Pornography. Information about the charges he is facing was announced by the US Attorneys Office for the middle district of Florida. He remains in federal custody. Should he be released from custody, he will be immediately removed from the classroom and not have further contact with students pending the outcome of an internal investigation.

In the meantime, we are grateful to law enforcement for their partnership, and we will continue to cooperate fully. We encourage anyone with information or questions regarding the investigation to contact FBI Jacksonville directly at 904-248-7000.

As always, you can call my office at 904-720-1650 if you would like to schedule a meeting to discuss this further. Please know that our greatest priority will always be the well-being of your students and maintaining a safe and effective learning environment. Please do not hesitate to reach out if I can be of further assistance. Thank you and have a good evening.

Schemmel attended UNF and also used to work in St. Johns County. According to his LinkedIn account, he taught at Ed White High School from 2003 to 2012, at Ponte Vedra High School from August 2012 to Feb. 2017 and at Terry Parker High School until Feb. 2017 to present.

Schemmel is the third Duval County Schools teacher to be arrested for a sex crime in the past 30 days.
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Owning a dual-SIM smartphone can be a great benefit if you want to make the most out of your monthly airtime allowance.

For example, using a Rain SIM in your secondary data slot while having a SIM from another mobile operator to make and receive calls could help you save on mobile data costs.

We therefore looked at some of the best devices with dual-SIM support that are available in South Africa.

It should be noted that dual-SIM variants of these devices are not available from MTN or Vodacom, as these operators only sell devices with a single SIM enabled.

Of the smartphone brands we compared, Huawei is the clear winner in terms of product availability.

Dual-SIM versions of its flagship P20 series are widely-available, whereas only Samsungs Galaxy S9 Plus could be found in a dual-SIM version.

Additionally, while Apples new iPhone Xs and Xs Max technically support dual-SIM by way of their embedded SIM cards, these are not yet supported in South Africa.

Below are some of the best dual-SIM smartphones available from major manufacturers in South Africa.

Apple iPhone Xs and Xs Max

Specifications iPhone Xs iPhone Xs Max OS iOS 12 iOS 12 Display 5.8-inch 2,436 x 1,125 OLED 6.5-inch 2,688 x 1,242 OLED Processor A12 Bionic A12 Bionic RAM 4GB 4GB Storage 64GB/256GB/512GB 64GB/256GB/512GB Rear Camera 12MP + 12MP 12MP + 12MP Front camera 7MP 7MP Connectivity 802.11ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.0, NFC 802.11ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.0, NFC Cellular LTE Cat.16 LTE Cat.16 Durability IP68 IP68 SIM NanoSIM + eSIM NanoSIM + eSIM Battery 2,658mAh 3,174mAh Price R21,999 R23,999

Samsung Galaxy S9+

Specifications Galaxy S9+ Weight 189g OS Android 8.1 Display 6.2-inch 1,440 x 2,960 AMOLED Rear camera 12MP + 12MP Front camera 8MP Storage 128GB, microSD RAM 6GB Processor Exynos 9810 Battery 3,500mAh Cellular LTE Cat. 18 SIM NanoSIM (Single/Dual) Durability IP68 Connectivity 802.11ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.0, USB-C Price R15,999

Samsung Galaxy J5 and J7

Specifications Galaxy J5 Galaxy J7 OS Android 5.0 Android 5.1 Display 5.0-inch 1,280 x 720 AMOLED 5.5-inch 1,280 x 720 AMOLED Processor Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 RAM 1.5GB 1.5GB Storage 8GB, microSD up to 128GB 16GB, microSD up to 256GB Rear camera 13MP 13MP Front camera 5MP 5MP Connectivity 802.11n, Bluetooth 4.1, microUSB 802.11n, Bluetooth 4.1, microUSB Cellular LTE Cat. 4 LTE Cat. 4 Durability   SIM Dual-SIM (MicroSIM) Dual-SIM (MicroSIM) Battery 2,600mAh 3,000mAh Price R2,899 R3,999

Sony Xperia XA1 and XA1 Ultra

Specifications Xperia XA1 Xperia XA1 Ultra OS Android 7.0 Android 7.0 Display 5.0-inch 1,280 x 720 IPS LCD 6.0-inch 1,920 x 1,080 IPS LCD Processor Mediatek MT6757 Helio P20 Mediatek MT6757 Helio P20 RAM 3GB 4GB Storage 32GB, microSD up to 256GB 32GB, microSD up to 256GB Rear Camera 23MP 23MP Front camera 8MP 16MP Connectivity 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.2, USB Type-C 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.2, USB Type-C Cellular LTE Cat.4 LTE Cat.6 Durability   SIM Dual-SIM (Nano-SIM) Dual-SIM (Nano-SIM) Battery 2,300mAh 2,700mAh Price R2,999 R3,999

OnePlus 5

Specifications OnePlus 5 OS Android 7.0 Display 5.5-inch 1,920 x 1,080 AMOLED Processor Qualcommm Snapdragon 835 RAM 8GB Storage 128GB Rear camera 16MP + 20MP Front camera 16MP Connectivity 802.11ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.0, USB Type-C Cellular LTE Cat.12 Durability  SIM Dual-SIM (NanoSIM) Battery 3,300mAh Price R11,999

Huawei P20 Lite, P20, and P20 Pro

Specifications Huawei P20 Lite Huawei P20 Huawei P20 Pro OS Android 8.0 Android 8.0 Android 8.0 Display 5.84-inch 2,280 x 1,080 IPS LCD 5.84-inch 2,280 x 1,080 IPS LCD 6.1-inch 2,240 x 1,080 AMOLED Processor HiSilicon Kirin 659 HiSilicon Kirin 970 HiSilicon Kirin 970 RAM 4GB 4GB 6GB Storage 64GB, microSD up to 256GB 128GB 128GB Rear camera 16MP + 2MP 12MP + 20MP 40MP + 20MP + 8MP Front camera 16MP + 24MP 24MP 24MP Connectivity 802.11ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.2, USB Type-C 802.11ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.2, USB Type-C 802.11ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.2, USB Type-C Cellular LTE Cat.6 LTE Cat.16 LTE Cat.16 Durability   IP67 SIM Dual-SIM (NanoSIM) Dual-SIM (NanoSIM) Dual-SIM (NanoSIM) Battery 3,000mAh 3,400mAh 4,000mAh Price R5,699 R12,899 R14,999

Xiaomi Redmi 5 and 5 Plus

Specifications Redmi 5 Redmi 5 Plus OS Android 7.2 Android 7.2 Display 5.7-inch 1,440 x 720 IPS LCD 6.0-inch 2,160 x 1,080 IPS LCD Processor Qualcomm Snapdragon 450 Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 RAM 2GB 4GB Storage 16GB, microSD up to 128GB 64GB, microSD up to 128GB Rear camera 12MP 12MP Front camera 5MP 5MP Connectivity 802.11n, Bluetooth 4.2, microUSB 802.11n, Bluetooth 4.2, microUSB Cellular LTE LTE Cat.6 Durability   SIM Dual-SIM (NanoSIM) Dual-SIM (NanoSIM) Battery 3,300mAh 4,000mAh Price R2,299 R3,299

Now read: Huawei Mate 20 Pro vs iPhone Xs vs Galaxy Note 9
Political class must sacrifice in the ...
Dear Jill,

I had two coupons for pasta. I bought multiple boxes, but the store would only accept one coupon.

Shouldnt they have accepted the coupons I had?

There was the normal per-purchase wording, which the cashier initially had an issue with.

Customer service came over and I explained the difference between per purchase and per transaction, so then she had an issue with the second sentence: No more than one coupon for the same product in the same transaction.

Im not sure what that even means. Thanks.

Eun N.

Unfortunately, theres not an industry standard as far as consistency of the terminology used within coupons fine print.

Each manufacturer is free to word their offers in whatever way they see fit. Lets go over some of the common (and less common) wording limits on our coupons.

Limit one coupon per purchase:

This statement appears on most coupons.

Each single item you buy is defined as a purchase, and you may use one coupon per purchase  per item. If you have two $1 coupons for cereal, you may buy two boxes and use one coupon on each box.

If you have a coupon for $1 off two boxes of cereal, your purchase to satisfy that coupons requirements is two boxes, and so on.

Limit two like coupons per transaction:

While each item you buy is a purchase, each trip through the checkout lane, in which you pay for your individual purchases, is one transaction.

Two like coupons means two identical coupons. If you subscribe to four newspapers, you could not use all four identical coupons to buy four items in the same transaction.

Not all coupons have a per-transaction limit, and it is more common to see this wording on high-value offers, such as those for laundry detergent.

Now, lets take a look at some less-than-common coupon terminology.

No more than one coupon for the same product in the same transaction:

While this wording seems to mean that you cannot use two manufacturer coupons on the same, single item, what it actually means is that you cannot use more than one coupon (of any value) for this particular product in the same transaction.

This is the wording that my reader found on a coupon for pasta. For instance, if she had a coupon for $1 off one box of pasta, but she also had another coupon for $1 off two boxes of the same pasta, the terms would prohibit using both coupons to buy three boxes of pasta in the same transaction.

Void if gang cut:

We dont see this wording too often, but whenever a brand opts to use it in their fine print, I will inevitably receive email asking if there are really hordes of coupon gangs cutting and using coupons together!

As strange or funny as this may seem, this is not what this particular phrase refers to at all.

Gang cutting refers to the practice of stacking multiple, identical coupon pages on top of each other, then cutting the entire stack of coupons together.

Why would manufacturers care how coupons are cut?

If multiple, identically cut coupons are submitted for redemption, the manufacturer may view this as an indication that coupons have been sold to the consumer in a single lot.

Because resale of coupons violates the terms printed on most coupons, the manufacturer can refuse to reimburse the store for the value of any coupons that are gang-cut.

Once coupons travel from the store to the redemption center, gang-cut coupons are machine-identified, and because their gang-cut appearance indicates that the coupons may have been sold by a third party, the manufacturer does not have to reimburse the store for them.

Its quite likely that a single person choosing to buy multiple newspapers might stack identical coupon pages together to cut them all at once to save time.

However, this practice can ultimately hurt your store if the brand refuses to reimburse the retailer for the coupons value, simply because of the way they were cut.

Email your own couponing victories and questions to jill@supercouponing.com.
Its the little things that make Jenna Bolyarde happy.

Coming home. Cooking dinner. Cleaning her kitchen. Helping her kids with homework.

While that sounds like everyday life to most people, Bolyarde takes none of it for granted.

Its a treat, she said.

Over an 18-month period several years ago, Bolyarde was homeless. She lived in her car or slept on couches or even on the bathroom floor of a hospital.

She was also an IV heroin user who had lost custody of both of her children.

Today, Bolyarde is in recovery. Shes also a brand new homeowner. And in Napa Valley, no less.

Its surreal, she said.

Bolyarde was able to buy her first home, a manufactured home located inside a Napa mobile home park, thanks to the citys Down Payment Assistance Program.

Gods pieced my little family back together, she said.

Its a goal that Bolyarde would never have imagined just a few years ago.

But after hearing about the Down Payment Assistance Program, she decided to apply.

Whats the worst that can happen? she asked herself.

To buy the home, Bolyarde had to come up with $5,700 for a down payment on a first mortgage.

The citys Down Payment Assistance Program  also referred to as the silent second program  was able to provide Bolyarde a second mortgage of approximately $35,000.

Bolyarde said she pays about $850 a month in utilities, rent for the lot and other costs at the mobile home park. Her mortgage cost for the home unit itself is about $710 per month.

The citys mortgage will eventually be forgiven. If she sells the home before that specified time period, shell have to pay the loan back with interest. The Down Payment Assistance Program is funded through grant funds received from the state of Californias Department of Housing and Community Development, said Lark Ferrell, city of Napa housing manager.

Bolyardes home is newly hers but not new to her. She bought the manufactured home from her parents. Theyre moving to another home.

They wanted to give me a chance, to own her own home, she said.

The house includes three bedrooms and two bathrooms. A newer model, it features modern appliances, flooring and other details.

Bolyarde doesnt have custody of her two teenage children, but each has a room at the house, she noted. Bolyarde has also reconciled with the father of their two children, and he shares the home with her. Their family also includes two cats, an elderly chiweiner dog and a ball python that lives quietly in a glass tank.

Bolyarde works as a housing specialist for Abode services. Abode runs the homeless shelters operating within Napa County, including two year-round homeless shelters, the Samaritan Family Shelter and the South Napa Shelter.

Shes also on the board of the Napa Continuum of Care, a consortium of non-profit, faith-based and government agencies that supply homeless services in Napa County.

When not working at Abode, Bolyarde also attends Napa Valley College.

My dream would be to transfer to UC Berkeley, she said. I dont know if thats feasible, she said, but thats her ideal, she admitted.

I want people to know how much their work helps, those in need, said Bolyarde.

You dont always get to see the success stories, but, It can happen.

Buying her own home gives her a real feeling of accomplishment and security.

Im not just getting by, she said. Im a part of this community and the city.

Bolyarde said some of her first plans for the house include painting an outside shed, replacing some exterior steps and decorating. In another five or so years, she might remodel the kitchen.

Shes even thought about doing a cross stitch pattern to hang on the walls  something irreverent or cheeky from a company called Subversive Cross Stitch.

Its pretty cool, she said of being a homeowner.

This is possible, she said.

Without Napas help, I wouldnt be a homeowner. I wouldnt be reunited with my kids.

Shes hoping to make a difference to others who used to be in her shoes.

Napa is a really special place that it has the means to actually end homelessness in our county, said Bolyarde. If we pulled together, we could very well help create the template or structure that other counties across the nation use to do the same.

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The Napa Valley Wine Trains next project may not involve wheels on rails, but roofs over heads.

Directors of the Napa-to-St. Helena rail excursion line have been drafting plans for 30 to 50 units of multistory workforce rental housing on a 3-acre parcel it owns on Soscol Avenue, just west of the Soscol Gateway Transit Center. A principal in the Wine Train describes the project, which the city of Napa may start reviewing by years end, as the companys effort to provide housing for service industry workers squeezed by years of rent and home price increases  homes close enough to many downtown businesses to lessen the need for cars.

Its always been an idea of ours to do workforce housing, the Wine Trains chief executive Scott Goldie said Wednesday. We talk to people all the time about how hard it is to get employees in Napa, so its the right thing to do. We thought it was a good idea to be proactive and come forward with this project.

The Wine Train has been conducting preliminary land planning for two months on its housing proposal and could file an application with the city Planning Division in one to two months, according to Goldie.

A housing development by the Napa transit center will likely consist entirely of smaller rental units most affordable to service workers, said Goldie. That mix may include dormitory-style lodgings, two sizes of studios and some one-bedroom apartments, at rents he described as significantly below market levels.

Occupying the ground floor may be about 12,000 square feet of retail space, which Goldie said may be occupied by one business or several, depending on demand.

Wine Train leaders have shared preliminary studies with Napa officials to show the apartment complexs possible massing and its parking arrangements, according to city Planning Manager Erin Morris.

Although the Wine Train has not yet submitted a detailed architectural plan, Morris said early looks at the concept indicate it could generate less vehicle traffic than other housing developments of its size  partly due to its location near a bus terminal and various businesses, as well as the inclusion of features such as bicycle storage and racks.

The whole concept of employee housing is very exciting, and the concept of how they showed the units might be organized looked very functional, she said. The site location is really perfect for this type of housing. I dont think you can get closer to the transit station other than to be on top of it.

Morris described parking at the housing development as one of the most important elements to its success. While the planned retail spaces will trigger a city requirement for a minimum number of parking slots, the project also could take advantage of a state density bonus allowing for fewer parking spaces if a portion of housing units are offered at below-market rents.

The potential housing site on Soscol Avenue is less than a mile north of a much larger apartment complex currently under construction  The Braydon, a development originally called Vista Tulocay that will include 282 units spread across nine buildings. The Gasser Foundation, which owns land tracts west of Soscol Avenues auto showroom corridor, has filed plans with Napa to add another 200 apartment units along with a 141-room hotel, projects that require city approval.

The Wine Trains housing concept is emerging at a time of vigorous housing demand that has boosted rents and pushed the rental vacancy rate down to just 1 percent, according to an annual city survey conducted in July. Home buying also has grown increasingly out of reach for many families, with the median sale price reaching $669,500 in June.

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With voting already underway and trailing in the polls, Kevin de Leon desperately needed to score big in Wednesdays one-and-only quasi-debate with U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein.

Billed as a conversation by the Public Policy Institute of California, the event was carried live only on the Internet in the middle of a weekday, and so would be viewed by only a tiny fraction of the California electorate.

Therefore, de Leon, a state senator from Los Angeles, needed to make something happen that would reverberate in the states political media during the few remaining days of the campaign and give him a better chance of unseating a fellow Democrat whos been serving in the Senate for a quarter-century.

De Leon, however, was strangely subdued, even when Mark Baldassare, PPICs CEO and moderator of the event, gave him an early opening to hammer Feinstein on how she handled the confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.

Baldassare virtually invited de Leon to tee off on Feinstein, as he had repeatedly done during the confirmation process, with a question about whether the sexual assault allegations against Kavanaugh should be investigated further.

The answer is yes, de Leon replied blandly  a position that Feinstein tersely echoed a few minutes later. Feinstein was a principal figure in the sensational allegations by California psychologist Christine Blasey Ford that Kavanaugh assaulted her when both were high school students.

De Leons response on Kavanaugh was typical of his demeanor during the entire event, which did, in fact, turn out to be more of a polite conversation than a political debate.

On question after question, de Leon talked about his humble origins, endorsed the usual progressive causes such as universal health care, voiced the party line criticism of President Donald Trump and pointed to California as an example that the nation should emulate.

We have to export California values to Washington and not the other way around, he said at one point.

But although he had several opportunities to go on the attack, not only on Kavanaugh but other issues, he voiced only mild, and indirect criticism of Feinstein  and never raised the age issue that, polls say, might be Feinsteins most vulnerable factor.

That non-aggressive approach gave Feinstein the opportunity, instead, to stress her seniority and declare, virtually unchallenged, that she and other Democrats would be powerless to enact their agendas until the Republican domination of the White House and Congress end.

Its like hitting your head against a concrete wall, she said of dealing with the dominant GOP leadership.

Feinstein benefitted, too, by ducking a couple of very controversial issues raised by Baldassare  Gov. Jerry Browns bullet train project and whether Democrats should begin impeachment proceedings against Trump should they recapture control of the House.

De Leon was a bit aggressive on impeachment, saying he would support it because We have a president who makes Richard Nixon look like a choirboy by comparison.

Feinstein, however, ignored the question and Baldassare did not press her for a response, nor did he after she also ducked whether California should proceed with the bullet train.

The bottom line of Wednesdays event was that nothing emerged to change the dynamic of the senatorial election and improve de Leons chances of winning on Nov. 6.

The burden was on de Leon to give Californians a reason to dump Feinstein and send him to Washington. He didnt do it.
When I hear the latest bad news about climate change, I freeze up.

I dont deny the reality of climate change. The recently issued United Nations report predicts a global warming crisis as early as 2040  worsening food shortages, wildfires and rising seas. Yet after finding myself drenched in dread, I pursue a kind of denial that allows people to function despite impending doom: Go about daily life, albeit under a darkening cloud.

What difference can one individual make?

Yes, I drive less. Turn off lights. Recycle. Thats important, but alone such efforts wont solve this problem. A resulting apathy, or paralysis, stems partly from a natural human reaction to problems so big we feel can do little. And maybe thats the trouble.

In Living in Denial: Climate Change, Emotions, and Everyday Life, University of Oregon sociology professor Kari Marie Norgaard noted that people stopped paying attention to global climate change when they realized that there is no easy solution.

Humans also experience loss aversion, a tendency to protect what we have (avoid sacrifices) rather than contemplate future losses or gains (face uncertainty). As Harvard Universitys Daniel Gilbert told New Scientist. A psychologist could barely dream up a better scenario for paralysis.

Its tough to get our heads around an environmental Armageddon. Then we watch yet another hurricane wash away entire towns.

Fossil fuel advocates meanwhile downplay predictions, focusing on short-term profits or resisting carbon taxes, yet oil-and-gas companies are already hedging their bets, investing in alternative fuels or discussing curbs on carbon emissions. Lets keep the pressure on. We are, after all, bearing witness to change: a summer of record-breaking U.S. western wildfires; Hurricane Florences catastrophic floods devastating the Carolinas, while across the globe mega-typhoons slam Asia; in this hemisphere, we see a rise in rapidly intensifying hurricanes like Hurricane Michael, which steamrolled a sleepy Florida Panhandle last week.

Society mourns, maintaining a cultural cognitive tradition. We now suffer from a form of ecological grief. Scientists are on the front lines of loss, and organizations such as the Union of Concerned Scientists offer new tool kits and personal strategies for action.

If current national leaders wont regulate carbon emissions, individuals; divest from fossil fuels; urge energy companies to break from climate disinformation groups; opt for solar or wind power to increase demand; donate to non-profits seeking climate change fixes; demand strong candidate platforms on climate change and vote. Plant trees, lots of trees. And urge CEOs of 100 companies apparently responsible for a whopping 71 percent of global emissions to shift financial resources to alternative fuels.

Doing something can tamp down anxiety and show we do indeed care.

For example, what if everyone concerned writes their governors to set stricter limits on carbon emissions statewide and encourage investment in climate-sustainable industries like solar to foster new jobs? What if Americans (at 325 million strong) commit to planting CO2-thirsty trees for everyone in their family or donating $10 to the Sierra Club or other nature-savvy groups?

To climate change deniers, I say: Who cares about the debate? Why take a chance on a polluted planet for your children and grandchildren? As the UN report noted, greenhouse gases are naturally produced yet have spiked amid forest loss and the Industrial Age, recorded data shows. Todays most abundant greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide, is the product of burning fossil fuels.

One way or another, humans are involved. Whether we feel powerless by grief or distrust, we can break the paralysis, as UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres recently urged nations to help prevent runaway climate change.

We are threatening our Earth, simply put. So why arent more conservative Christians leading this charge? From a Biblical standpoint, humans are the planets stewards. Consider the book of Job: But ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds of the air, and they will tell you; or speak to the earth, and it will teach you, or let the fish of the sea inform you.

I have to wonder if the grief-stricken Orca mother who carried her calf for a record 17 days of mourning wasnt trying to tell us something before time runs out for her species  and for ours.

J. Cavanaugh Simpson is a lecturer in creative writing at Johns Hopkins University. He wrote this for The Baltimore Sun.
Its rather scary watching Trump stack the deck inside the Supreme Court. Because of people like Brett Kavanaugh, we need local leaders like James Hinton.

Since Ive known James Hinton he has always defended womens rights. Hes defended Roe vs. Wade. I believe he will continue to defend womens rights as our city councilman.

James has always supported making Napa a sanctuary city. I believe he will continue to defend immigrants' rights as our city councilman.

James Hinton has the courage to stand up for those without a voice.

You get two votes for City Council this year and have six candidates to choose from. Please make sure one of them is for James Hinton. Hell fight to protect our community from the Trump Administrations war on women and immigrants.

Janice Morrish

Napa
The article in the Register on Oct. 14 ("Napa Valley College trustee Amy Martenson, seeking re-election, disputes college president's memo on ethics accusation") about Napa Valley College board member Martenson and president Kraft has me wondering. What exactly are the guidelines for board members communicating with professors? What was the content of Martensons discussions with any professors (did she have a legitimate concern that should be elevated)? Who was responsible for distributing Krafts letter around the community?
More than 80 families belonging to the minority community have left their village Kalilapur in Lalitbazar area and are camping in Ranirbazar Police Station (in Tripura). A great sense of insecurity prevails among the said families after their houses were allegedly looted, ransacked and burnt down by tribal people from the neighbouring village.

The entire incident was triggered by a fake news which went viral on the social media vis-a-vis a tribal girl being raped and molested by two youths belonging to the minority community from Kalilapur Village. The villagers of Kalilapur are refusing to go back to their village until adequate security arrangements are made and a permanent Tripura State Rifles camp is set up in the area.

Though the Revenue Minister NC Debbarma went to meet the tribal villagers to sort out the entire melee through dialogue but in vain. Later, top officials of the district and police administration including the District Magistrate (DM) and the Superintendent of Police (SP) rushed to the spot to bring the situation under control but till the filing of this report, the situation was still volatile.

The tribals urged Minister Debbarma not to allow the minority community people to return to Kalilapur Village. The district administration officials are trying their best to convince the tribal community villagers that the entire rape news is a fake one but they do not seem to be convinced at all and are in no mood to bury the hatchet with the minority community people.
YEREVAN.  The situation around Amulsar is certainly not helpful in presenting Armenia as a law-abiding and stable country for investments, Managing Director of Lydian Armenia Hayka Aloyan told Armenian News-NEWS.am.

- Is it true that Lydian Armenia is planning to layoff 1500 people?

As Lydian has announced since June, the Company wont be able to sustain its workforce, without being able to access the site and continue construction. Our shareholders invested in Armenia to finance a modern mine construction and operation based on the highest standards in the mining industry. Shareholders investment also provided for over 1400 Lydian and contractor companies employees. The illegal blockages are an obstacle for the company to continue its normal operations. Unfortunately this has resulted in layoffs of almost 300 Lydian employees and over 1000 contractor employees in the last 3 months. This week another 100 people have received a 2-month prior layoff notice. And unless the situation changes, these people too will be let go. These illegal blockades have already created serious socio-economic consequences in the region and significant foreign investment reductions for the country.

- Do you agree with the charge brought against you according to which 18 mln damage was caused by the company? What are you going to do?

As you know, the Ministry of Nature Protection has already repudiated the claims by the State Environmental and Mining Inspection about new ecological factors based on which the Inspection recommended the Ministry to suspend our operating license. After a second visit to Amulsar the experts concluded that the Red listed butterfly did not hibernate and breed at Amulsar and the plant they found was not a Red listed species. So the Ministry refused to acknowledge these factors as a base for suspending the license. Our lawyers are now dealing with the other accusation on the alleged damage, which, BTW, is not a base for questioning the license in any event. However, I want to note, that the State Inspection acted recklessly and behaved irresponsibly by making assertions that were false..

- PM Pashinyan suggested to create trilateral mechanism including activists, government and the company representatives to overcome this situation during his visit to Jermuk in the beginning of July. Do you have any progress or Pashinyans suggestion remained on a rhetoric level?

To my understanding, apart from the State Audits, a working group consisting mainly of activists and very few experts was formed. The Company was not invited to participate in this process, apart from a few meetings. So this was not a tri-lateral process.We received reports authored by all audit participants members.. Few of the reports, authored by some experts in mining, have reasonable comments and we have responded to those. The others, authored by activists, are quite like most of their interviews and speeches- no evidence, no science, no substance. Unfortunately. We understand that there are people that have a negative opinion about the mining industry . However, unless we have a knowledgeable and science-based debate, perception about mining will be emotionally driven by these groups and mining practice in the country will not be encouraged to align its operating practice with best practices associated with mining companies that show responsible and compliant operations.

- How do you evaluate the position of the Government regarding the situation around Lydian Armenia in general, taking into account that the company has applied many times to PM to solve the situation?

I believe that the situation around Amulsar is certainly not helpful in presenting Armenia as a law-abiding and stable country for investments. Roads to the largest investment project of the country have been illegally blocked for the fourth month by a group of people with dubious agendas and source of financing. There is a very tense situation in the communities. The law enforcement bodies are doing nothing to restore the rule of law and to investigate the criminal elements behind these actions. This, by any means, cant be considered a normal or acceptable situation and I believe this is very harmful for the country.

- Deputy prime minister promised Lydians employees to give an answer during 15 days on August 13. Have you received any answer and what is it?

The roads are still closed by a dozen people. I am not aware of any further communication between our workforce from the communities and the DPMs office. I am aware that the community members have once again met the DPMs office representatives. Yesterday I learnt that over 100 community members went to demand the re-opening of the roads to the Head of the Vayots Dzor regions office. No solution to my understanding, was offered to these people.

- Are you going to file a claim against the protests and over the Police inaction during the clashes? Particularly the police did nothing during the clashes on August 27?

Yes, our lawyers have already filed a complaint. We hope that the rule of law will prevail  but time will tell.

- How do you estimate the damage of the company since the start of protest?

I cant give you precise numbers, as its up to the lawyers and experts to calculate, but you can imagine we are talking about substantial financial losses. It is the companys intention to bring those responsible for these significant losses to account.



- Is it possible that Lydian will leave Armenia taking into account the current development of the situation?

Lydian has a legal right to operate. All our permits are legal, valid and meet all the requirements of the Armenian and International law. I also believe Lydian has been a role model in terms of environmental management. Both legally and from the environmental point of view the project and the company comply fully with the Armenian and International law. You also realize that we have legal obligations towards our shareholders. I do not know what do you mean by leave, but if the Company continues to be deprived of the right to operate, clearly it will have serious consequences. That is the last thing we all, Lydian employees and devoted citizens of Armenia want. We want to build a modern, responsible and well-managed operation but if the circumstances force the Company, it will use all available options to defend its rights.
Opposition MPs remind Armenia PM about treason, get into dispute with ruling party deputies

Armenian army commander: Azerbaijan wants corridor, leader of Armenia gave consent to that, but refused later

Armenia FM holds phone conversations with Russian counterpart, Karen Donfried and OSCE Chairperson-in-Office

MTS launches inspection of its 'daughter' operations in Armenia upon request of U.S.

Armenia MOD: Defense minister receives Rustam Muradov, who brought body of deceased Armenian soldier to Yerevan

Taliban call on US Congress to ease sanctions and unfreeze Afghanistan's assets

Armenia PM: The meaning of being captured and the circumstances of captivity need to be investigated

Moscow, Ankara agree to not release details about joint manufacturing of S-400s

OSCE Chairperson-in-Office welcomes ceasefire between Armenia and Azerbaijan after Russian mediation

Armenia Ombudsman discusses Armenian captives' issue with acting Head of ICRC Delegation

Armenia PM refutes possibility of giving order 'to not open fire' when it comes to homeland defense

Armenian PM tries to clarify situation regarding use of names "Eyvazli" and "Chayzami"

IAEA Director General to visit Iran

Armenia PM: Our goal is to sign a peace treaty

Rustam Muradov brings body of one Armenian serviceman

Reuters: UAE's high-ranking delegation to visit Tehran soon

James Langevin: Azerbaijani government again unleashed a volley of unprovoked violence against Armenia

Ambassador to the Holy See: Armenia calls on its international partners to condemn Azerbaijan's actions

Armenia President provides Singapore PM with information about Azerbaijan's aggressive actions

Armenia PM: Trilateral task force's work is not interrupted

Armenia Police's Educational Complex has new head

Jackie Speier: We're witnessing Aliyev's attempted land grab in real time

Mass media: Rustam Muradov bringing bodies of Armenian soldiers to Yerevan

Yerevan to host subsequent session of Eurasian Intergovernmental Council

Earthquake hits Turkey

Zakharova on possibility of enforcing Armenia-Russia Treaty, says consultations are being held

NEWS.am 17.11.21 digest: Latest on Armenia-Azerbaijan border situation

European People's Party issues statement on recent hostilities on Armenian-Azerbaijani border

Opposition 'Armenia' Alliance MP: Resistance movement will help get rid of this catastrophe, namely authorities soon

Armenia PM explains why he appointed new defense minister

Armenian PM: There are territories of Soviet Azerbaijan that are under Armenia's control

Armenia ruling party MP Andranik Kocharyan continues to talk about creation of professional army

Armenia and Russia Security Councils' Secretaries discuss regional security issues

Armenia Security Council Secretary: Azerbaijan fails to maintain ceasefire and isn't implementing reached agreements

Cavusoglu blames Armenia 'for terrorist attack against Azerbaijan'

Opposition 'Armenia' Alliance: Authorities' goal is to stay in power through ongoing concessions

Armenia PM: Our proposals are in effect, including proposal for start of delimitation and demarcation

Resident of Armenia's Shaki village panic when they hear the Azerbaijanis' gunshots

Armenia ruling party MP: Enemy can't achieve any success in Syunik Province

Armenia PM and ministers answering MPs' questions (LIVE)

Ambassador: Armenia Security Council Secretary will probably have separate meeting with Nikolai Patrushev

Armenia health minister: Kapan and Goris will have additional SUVs for paramedics

Armen Sarkissian presents situation on Armenia's borders at Bloomberg New Economy Forum in Singapore

Armenia FM: International community reaction to Azerbaijans provocative, aggressive actions was not targeted, proper

Armenia Prosecutor General receives Egypt Ambassador

Council of Europe Secretary General concerned about tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan

Armenian Assembly of America: Russian-brokered ceasefire is not enough

Armenia Security Council secretary: Yerevan expects diplomatic, military assistance from Moscow

Turkey and US hold talks on defense and security issues

Peskov: Moscow calls for restraint to parties to conflict on Armenia-Azerbaijan border

CSTO chief: There is still tension on line of contact between Armenian, Azerbaijani sides

Kremlin: All parties consent is necessary for contact between Russia, Armenia, Azerbaijan leaders

Russia deputy FM, EU representative discuss situation on Armenia-Azerbaijan border

Armenia health minister: We are at reduction phase of Covid cases

2 more persons die of coronavirus in Artsakh

Biden bans members of the Nicaraguan government from entering US

168.am: Ex-commander of Russia peacekeepers in Karabakh is urgently sent to Armenia

Ambassador to Russia: Not ruled out that Armenia may apply to CSTO for assistance

Armenia, Azerbaijan attending annual meeting of CIS Security Councils' Secretaries

Ambassador: Yerevan continues contacts with Moscow regarding situation on border with Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan reports 7 military casualties during recent aggression against Armenia

Spokesperson: Armenia MFA has informed UN Security Council President on situation

Armenian captives continue to be 'tried' in Azerbaijan

Armenia MFA: Pashinyan, Putin discussed possible joint steps enshrined in bilateral legal framework

982 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

Erdogan and Zelenskyy discuss bilateral relations

US Congressman: Azerbaijan must acknowledge, respect Armenia sovereignty

Adam Schiff: US must deter Azerbaijans ongoing aggression, show support for Armenian peoples sovereignty

Armenia legislature observes minute of silence in memory of fallen soldiers

Police forces being brought to Armenia parliament ahead of PM's visit

Armenia representative addresses UN Security Council discussion, speaks about Azerbaijan military aggression

World oil prices falling

Armenia MOD: Situation on eastern border relatively stable

Newspaper: Armenia Constitutional Court is tool in hands of executive branch of power

Russia peacekeepers deliver over 300 tons of humanitarian cargo to needy Karabakh residents in one year

Newspaper: Russia's obligations before Armenia, border situation

Frank Pallone: Azerbaijan's escalation of violence on Armenian soil is unacceptable

Blinken urges Armenia, Azerbaijan to take immediate concrete steps to reduce tensions

Canada FM calls Armenia, Azerbaijan for de-escalation of situation

Contract soldier Meruzhan Harutyunyan died in hostilities

Armenia Ambassador stresses need for targeted condemning calls during talk with Amanda Sloat

Earthquake hits 10 km northeast from Armenia's Tashir, felt in Lori and Tavush Provinces with 3-point magnitude

Minister: Armenian Nuclear Power Plant has major toolkit to protect itself from potential military attacks

US calls on Armenia and Azerbaijan to 'resume substantive negotiations'

Armenia ruling party MP: At end of day, Azerbaijan lost advantages it had, Armenian army retrieved many positions

His Holiness Aram I: Silence of Armenia's allies and friendly countries is strange

Pashinyan to Putin: Actions of Azerbaijan are aggression against Armenia's sovereign territory

Russia Ambassador to Armenia fails to comment on current situation on Armenian-Azerbaijani border

UN calls on Yerevan and Baku to show restraint

US Ambassador to Armenia on escalation on Armenian-Azerbaijani border: We're trying to stabilize situation

Meeting with foreign ambassadors at Armenian MFA is over

France is concerned about escalation of situation on Armenian-Azerbaijani border

Russian MOD: Armenia and Azerbaijan took measures to stabilize situation after talk with Sergey Shoygu

Firing in eastern direction of Armenia's border stopped starting from 6:30 p.m. through Russia's mediation

Azerbaijani and Turkish defense ministers discuss escalated situation on Armenian-Azerbaijani border

Iran MFA calls on Armenia and Azerbaijan to show restraint

Russian MFA: Moscow is in contact with Yerevan and Baku to move escalated border situation to peaceful path

CSTO hasn't received official applications from Armenia for assistance with regard to border escalation

Putin, Pashinyan discuss current situation on Armenia-Azerbaijan border

Opposition 'Armenia' Alliance issues statement on situation on Armenian-Azerbaijani border and solutions
The meeting between Armenias acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Lebanese President Michel Aoun was held Saturday at the official residence of the President of Lebanon, in capital city Beirut.

First, Pashinyan thanked Aoun for the warm reception, and noted that he is happy to visit Lebanon.

We have a new opportunity for discourse, Pashinyan said, in particular. After Armenias independence in 1991, the relations between our countries, the age-old relationships between our peoples have acquired new quality (). We need to make that best serve the strengthening of our partnership, implementation of our common goals.

The interlocutors stressed that there is a high-level political dialogue between Armenia and Lebanon.

Pashinyan said the Armenian people recall with gratitude the Lebanese peoples heartfelt approach toward the Armenians who had survived the genocide.

Lebanon is the only country in the region that formally recognized the Armenian Genocide, he added. And thats important not solely for the preservation of historical recollection, but also [for] the prevention of new genocides.

The Armenian acting PM and the Lebanese president reflected on the opportunities for development of bilateral trade and economic ties, and they underscored the respective active work.

Separately, Pashinyan presented the measures which the Armenian government has launched. Aoun, for his part, expressed readiness to assist the governments of the two countries in the implementation of joint programs and initiatives.

The parties exchanged views also on cooperation between the two countries within international organizations, as well as on regional and international matters.

In addition, the Lebanese president thanked the acting Armenian PM for Armenias participation in the UNs UNIFIL peacekeeping mission in Lebanon. Nikol Pashinyan, in turn, highlighted that Armenia is faithful to its international commitments, and it underscores participation in this UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon.
YEREVAN.  The newly-created Alternative Party will run in the forthcoming snap parliamentary election in Armenia.

Party chairman Edgar Arakelyan, who used to be a member of the Orinats Yerkir (Rule of Law) Party, stated the aforesaid at Saturdays founding congress of this new political force.

At this convention, Arakelyan was unanimously elected Chairman of the Alternative Party.

We find that, from now on, it is possible to engage in wholesome politics in Armenia, he said, in particular. [And] we are going to run in the snap parliamentary elections, since we have a good [political] team.

Also, Edgar Arakelyan assured that no one is behind the Alternative Party.

Our political force is sincere, and it will act with sincerity, he added.

According to the charter of the Alternative Party, it is a liberal political force, and it will wage an unwavering fight against corruption in Armenia.
The US presidential administration is preparing next week to inform Russia about its plans to withdraw from Intermediate-Range and Shorter-Range Missiles (INF) treaty, The New York Times reported.

According to the source, in the coming weeks, Trump is expected to sign off on the decision.

The national security advisor, John R. Bolton, will warn the Russian President, Vladimir V. Putin, on a trip to Moscow early next week that the United States will leave the treaty, the source noted.

Earlier, The Guardian reported, that Bolton favors US withdrawal from the INF Treaty, but this decision will still have to be agreed in the cabinet of ministers, while the US Department of State and the Department of Defense were standing against it.

The United States accuses Russia of violating the INF Treaty because of the ground-based 9M729 cruise missile developed by Russia.

Washington and NATO believe that this system is subject to the treaty, Moscow denies this. Russia has also repeatedly accused the United States of violating the agreement, for example, because of US missile defense systems in Romania.
As part of his working visit to Lebanon, Acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan met with Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri.

Nikol Pashinyan thanked Saad Hariri for a warm welcome and hospitality, Armenian PM's office said in a statement.

This is my first visit to fraternal Lebanon, a country with rich history of ancient civilizations. I am convinced that the visit will help us promote the agenda of bilateral cooperation. Of course, your father, Rafik Hariri, who was a great friend of Armenia, made an invaluable contribution to the deepening and strengthening of ties between our countries, he said.

Saad Hariri noted that Lebanon highly appreciates the ongoing cooperation with friendly Armenia and is interested in its further strengthening. He appreciated the role played by the Lebanese-Armenian community in his countrys development, as well as in the furtherance of Armenian-Lebanese ties.

The sides exchanged views on the situation in the two countries. Nikol Pashinyan took the opportunity to present the national movement in Armenia, which started in April-May this year, dwelling on the political transformations and the expected developments.

Nikol Pashinyan and Saad Hariri noted with satisfaction that a high-level political dialogue is on between the two countries. They agreed in that vigorous efforts should be made to upgrade the economic component of interaction. In this regard, they highlighted the role of the intergovernmental commission for economic cooperation.

The Acting Prime Minister of Armenia presented his governments steps aimed at improving the business environment and protecting investments. He suggested organizing a visit of Lebanese business circles in order to introduce Armenias business climate on the spot.

The parties discussed issues related to cooperation in agriculture, transport, tourism, as well as in other spheres of mutual interest. They expressed satisfaction at the rise in tourist flows as fostered by direct air communication between the two countries.



Nikol Pashinyan welcomed the interest shown by Lebanese companies in making investments in Armenia and reaching out to third markets through Armenia/

The two heads of government exchanged views over the ongoing Armenia-Lebanon cooperation at international platforms, touching upon regional issues and challenges.

At the end of the meeting, the Acting Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia signed the Golden Book of Honorary Guests.
YEREVAN.  One of the members of the Board of Trustees of the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund, a member of the ARF Nazareth Sapunjian proposed a new mechanism for the fund.

His proposal came during a Beirut meeting of Armenian acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan with the Armenian community of Lebanon.

In particular, Nazareth Sapunjian said this mechanism should allow every Armenian to regularly provide assistance to his homeland, investing even one dollar and, thanks to this, he can feel himself Armenian.

The inspection continues, but it is likely that nothing happened to the money. I urge you, if there was any mistrust, to turn this page over, and we should give a fresh impetus to the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund, Pashinyan noted.

Pashinyan added that it is possible to introduce a new mechanism so that anyone could make bank transfers on a monthly basis.

Transparency is the most important thing, as well as trust, a sense of brotherhood, he said, noting that Armenia-Diaspora relations should be based on trust primarily, and money is a technical issue.
YEREVAN.  If there is consensus among Armenias political forces about the change to the Electoral Code, the Venice Commission will not obstruct the sustainable development process of the country.

Such a statement was disseminated Friday after the meeting between acting First Deputy Prime Minister Ararat Mirzoyan of the Republic of Armenia (RA), and President Gianni Buquicchio of the Venice Commission, Zhoghovurd (People) newspaper reported.

Certainly, we can consider this statement the small victory of the [incumbent Armenian] authorities. But the reality is that the tradition of the Venice Commissions activities is being broken, and the commission, nonetheless, will not give its conclusion [with respect to the proposed amendments to Armenias election law].

Lets add that European Union [(EU)] Ambassador to RA Piotr Switalski also had made a similar statement yesterday: The whole volume of assistance coming to Armenia from outside will be solely European assistance; that is, the European Union and the three member states will assist.

On that very daybefore his interview, there was a meeting with [Armenias] NA [National Assembly] Vice President [and former ruling party member] Arpine Hovhannisyan. But the meeting did not go very smoothly, and that is attested to by NA vice presidents angry look after the meeting, and Switalskis statement to support the current [Armenian] authorities, Zhoghovurd wrote.
Home | News | General | Nigeria now imports stew from China as Customs seize container load of soup worth N27m

- A container with imported soups (stew) and some other eatable items worth N27,960,000 has been impounded

- The container was said to have been cleared from one of the ports in Lagos

- Customs says the imported pots of stew and other eatable items could not be verified as a result of the Chinese Language written on their packs

Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) says it has intercepted a container with imported soups (stew) and some other eatable items worth N27,960,000 from China.

The intercepted container was said to have been cleared from one of the ports in Lagos. Also, information provided by the Customs Intelligent Unit (CIU) of the NCS was pivotal in this interception, Tribune reports.

This was disclosed in Lagos on Friday, October 19, by deputy comptroller and national coordinator, CGC Strike Force, Abdullahi Kirawa.

The Customs officer lamented that the system has degenerated to the level that Nigerians are now importing stew into the country.

He also disclosed that the imported pots of stew and other eatable items could not be verified as a result of the Chinese Language written on their packs. According to him, this could pose serious dangers to the consumers.

Minimum wage: Accept the N24,000 we offered - FG tells Labour

How can someone come and import stew into the country? The stew was carefully concealed inside the container. I will advise that Nigerians should ignore xenocentrism and embrace ethnocentrism.

Our quest for foreign goods and items must be discouraged and we must work hard to embrace and patronise homemade goods including our delicious stew that is prepared from our homes, and stop engaging in this type of business.

This type of soup poses danger to public health, to the economy and of course our teeming youths. If stew could be imported, then what else are we going to do? So this is something we need to reflect on, he said.

He also disclosed that some other packed items that looked like mushroom was already deteriorating in the container.

Going further, he said: This is a call that this type of importation of goods must be discouraged. One of the things to use to solve this problem is public sensitization on the dangers of smuggling.

Therefore, you and I must work hard to ensure that we spread this news to all nooks and crannies of this country for people to be aware that these are some of the things that pose dangers to their health and must be stopped.

Legit.ng had reported that Chinese authorities in Central Henan province reportedly issued a warning forbidding any Christian gatherings in the area and placing Christians under house arrest.

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China Aid reports that Chinese officials are also tearing down couplet door decorations that use Christian language.

According to an anonymous source in Shangqiu, Henan, Christians in the province have been placed under house arrest without charge, with police officers watching their residence.

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Home | News | General | Just in: Gunmen kidnap traditional ruler, wife in Kaduna

Gunmen on Friday, October 19, kidnapped Mr Maiwada Galadima, the paramount chief of Adara Chiefdom in Kachia local government Area of Kaduna state and his wife along Kaduna/Kachia road.

Mr Ibrahim Yakubu, a son in-law to the chief disclosed this to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), adding that the police orderly to the paramount ruler was killed in the process.

READ ALSO: PDP stakeholders accuse Jonathan, others of working against party

Yakubu explained that the chief and his wife were taken away while returning to Kachia from Kaduna.

"he kidnappers stopped the chiefs vehicle at the military check point at Idon and shot his police orderly.

Immediately, they took the chief and his wife into the bush leaving behind two of his drivers, his daughter and a granddaughter, he said.

Efforts to get police confirmation proved abortive as Mr Yakubu Sabo, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) of the Kaduna Police Command was yet to pick telephone calls.

Legit.ng had reported that unknown gunmen on Wednesday, October 17 killed two policemen and and injured five other officers in Kaduna state.

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The Saint Gerald Hospital spokesperson, Sunday Ali, confirmed that the bodies had been deposited at the hospitals mortuary.

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Home | News | General | Kano State Govt. approves mandatory drug test for political appointees, civil servants

Kano The Kano State Government has approved compulsory drug test for political appointees, civil servants and students seeking admission into the tertiary institutions.

The Commissioner for Information, Malam Muhammad Garba, disclosed this while addressing newsmen on the outcome of the weekly State Executive Council meeting in Kano on Thursday.

He said that the policy was adopted during the state executive council meeting to mitigate drug abuse in the state.

Kano State Governor, Abdullahi Ganduje

All political appointees, civil servants particularly the ones that are due for promotion and students seeking admission will henceforth undergo compulsory drug test in the state, he said.

Garba said the council had also approved N332 million for the treatment of malnourished children for the period of six months in 2018.

According to him, the council also approved N67.3 million for the construction of drainages in Warkai village in Warawa Local Government Area in order to avert flooding.

The council also approved over N240 million for the maintenance, renovation and procurement of diesel for traffic lights and street lights for the months of April, October and June.

The council approved N70 million for electrification works at Kofar-Mata, Sanka and Yakasai quarters in Kano metropolis, he said.

He added that the council approved the release of N16 million for state contingents to participate in the 2018 Agric show in Kano, Nasarawa state.

Political appointees, friends shun Fayoses last dinner party, food wasted

Similarly, the council also approved N16 million for equipping and furnishing of Hotoron-Arewa health centre in Nasarawa Local Government Area. The commissioner reiterated the state governments determination to develop infrastructure in the state.

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Home | News | General | Police foil bank robbery attempt , kill 2 in Nasarawa

Lafia, The Nasarawa State Police Command on Thursday said it foiled a bank robbery attempt by a four-man gang, following a gun battle with the suspects in Lafia.

SP Kennedy Idirisu, Spokesman for the command, confirmed the incident to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lafia.

He said that policemen on duty at a branch of Diamond bank on Jos Road, Lafia, got a tip-off about the robbery on Wednesday, and engaged the gang in a gun battle at 10a.m. in front of the bank.

Idirisu said that the gang drove in two vehicles, both with Lagos registration number  a Toyota Lexus marked EKY 282 DP and Toyota Corolla marked FST 411 FH.

He said that the police arrested one of the suspects, and two died while receiving treatment at the Dalhatu Araf Hopital, Lafia.

According to the spokesman, a suspect escaped with bullet wounds.

Police arrest 4 robbery suspects, recover guns

Our investigation revealed that the gang trailed a staff of the General Hospital Nasarawa Eggon, from the bank in Lafia, where he withdrew N250, 000.

They followed him to Nasarawa Eggon, took the money, and returned to Jos Road, where there are clusters of banks, to carry out another operation, not knowing that they were being trailed.

The police swooped on them and arrested one of the suspects driving the Toyota Corolla, while the others in Toyota Lexus opened fire in an attempt to escape.

The jeep and two of the suspects were arrested on Shendam Road while the driver escaped with bullet wounds, Idirisu said.

He said that the arrested suspect confessed to the crime, adding that items recovered from the vehicles included the stolen N250, 000, a master key and a wallet containing N31, 000.

Similarly, Idirisu said that the police arrested three other robbery suspects on the same day at Nasarawa LGA for allegedly robbing a couple at Gunki Village.

He said that the robbery took place on Tuesday.

According to him, the police recovered two locally-fabricated pistols, two live cartridges and valuables of the victims from the suspects.

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Ekweremadu

These, competent sources say this was not unconnected with his total sidelining in the affairs of the party immediately after the Port Harcourt Convention where Alhaji Atiku Abubakar was elected the presidential candidate of the PDP in the 2019 election.

Competent source and a ranking member of the National Assembly said: The issue is not even the mishandling of the processes leading to the emergence of former Governor of Anambra State, Peter Obi, as the running mate to PDPs presidential candidate, in which the South East leaders were totally sidelined. The issue is a deliberate attempt to sideline the Senator in the emerging scheme of things within the party.

There is a clear grand conspiracy against Senator Ekweremadu and it is just unfair. I am not talking about him not been nominated as vice presidential candidate. In any case, he has shown more interest in restructuring and other key South East interests than in vice presidential ticket. In the discussions leading up to our consideration of the aspirants and eventual decision to give a block vote to Atiku, he always said that the South East should go for the substance than for sheer title.

To show that the sidelining of Ekweremadu was deliberate, none of the key actors have even reached out to him. The announcement was made on Friday, but Obi only started moving round on Sunday, in the evening. And I did not see him move with the National Chairman or National Secretary. It would have been ideal for Obi, Prince Uche Secondus and some other senior party leaders to have flown into Enugu that Saturday to meet with South East leaders.

Assuming Atku heard that there was a subterranean effort to substitute him, wouldnt he have since rushed home or even canceled his trip out of Nigeria that Saturday to address the matter? And was it too much for him or Uche Secondus to pick a phone to call Ekweremadu, especially given the role he has played in calming the angry South East party leaders?

Ekweremadu snubbed in the composition of PCC

It has also been alleged that Ekweremadu knew nothing about the composition of Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) of the party.

Our source said it was part of the grand schemes by some powerful interests to humiliate and sink Ekweremadu politically.

Recall that the PDP had earlier this week announced the PCC with Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki as the Director-General; Governor of Sokoto State, Aminu Tambuwal, as North West Coordinator; Governor of Gombe State, Ibrahim Dankwambo as North-East Coordinator; and Governor of Benue State, Samuel Ortom as North-Central Coordinator

Former Governor of Ekiti state, Ayo Fayose and Governor of Ebonyi State, David Umahi were named as the Coordinators for South-west and South East, respectively, while the Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Emmanuel Udom, was appointed Chairman of Fund Raising Committee, and a former presidential aspirant, Alhaji Taminu Turaki, heads the Legal Committee.

Ekweremadus name was however conspicuously missing.

It is not only about whether his name is there or not. I can also authoritatively inform you that Ekweremadu heard the news of the membership of the PCC in the media like other non-PDP members.

I can confirm to you that nobody mentioned anything about the PCC to him, let alone include him or ask him to nominate anybody or seek his suggestions even out of respect. I confronted a senior party leader just yesterday, who told me that the PCC is a large body and more names would be announced. And I told him that he was talking nonsense.

So, it is not just an accident and neither did it come to some of us here at the National Assembly as a surprise. Our party has been hijacked and there is a grand design, a gargantuan conspiracy to bury Ekweremadu politically and it started unfolding right from immediately after the Port Harcourt convention because a certain governor from the South South who worked for Governor Tambuwal wasnt happy the way South East voted and he is holding the South East party leaders responsible for greatly contributing to Atikus victory.

Dont forget that in announcing the PCC, Our National Chairman, Prince Uche Secondus said it was after due consultation with party stakeholders under his leadership.

When they announced the VP candidate, they said they consulted fare and wide, yet no party leader from Ekweremadus South East, including himself as both a senior national party leader from the zone was consulted. In order words, Ekweremadu is no longer a party stakeholder?

How could you discuss or constitute a presidential campaign council and the same man, who stood like the Rock of Gibraltar for the party when many abandoned it and it seemed the world had come to an end for it only read it in the papers like others?

Even though we have always known Ekweremadu as a man of principle, he has never changed party since 1998, we were surprised he could defy the persecutions and political pressures piled on him to stay firm to defend the PDP. He showed leadership. He rallied us to shepherded the PDP during the trying period.

Ekweremadu was slammed with phantom charge of forgery of Senate Standing Rule. Police invaded his guest house sometime in 2017 or so. In fact, before that, there was an assassination attempt on him in 2015 or thereabout. The EFCC has been harassing him. The same with all sorts of Federal Government Panels. Imagine, it got to such ridiculous extent that the Special Presidential Investigation Panel even asked him to declare his assets to it even when he had fulfilled the constitutional provision for public officers to declare their assets with the Code of Conduct Bureau every four years. He was asked to start filling new asset declaration forms contrary to the constitution. EFCC and police have laid siege to his house. Hoodlums invaded senate chamber and ran away with the mace while he was presiding sometime this year. Just too many harassments, intimidations, and media trial suffered because of this same party.

All these happened to force him to dump PDP because they knew without that seat occupied by Ekweremadu and him utilizing it well to hold the opposition together, PDP would have been dealt a fatal blow.

So, we feel very embittered that it is those, who abandoned the party and who worked against Alhaji Atiku Abubakars emergence as the partys presidential candidate that are now dictating the tunes. Impunity and injustice cost the PDP the 2015 elections and I can tell you that it is clear now that the same impunity and injustice followed the PDP home from very successful Port Harcourt convention.

And they are doing all these because Ekweremadu is not the radical type. But, as far as I am concerned, there is a limit to every rubbish. With these untrustworthy people, Ekweremadu needs no political enemies and he should be man enough to weigh his political options and his future with the PDP.

But, mark my words, this gang-up against a man, who has sacrificed so much for our party will be the last straw that will break the caramels back. It will result in intra-party civil war that could cost the PDP not only the 2019 election, but also consume it finally.

We see no reason he should rethink his political future with the PDP. This is the least he has to do now as a pragmatic politician because he has been told in unmistakable terms by fifth columnists working against Atikus presidential victory that he does not matter and has no future with the PDP even if Atiku wins.

But, for some of us, the truth is that if a snake comes into your home, you have two choices: fight off the snake or run away. For me, I will not only fight the snake, but I will also, in the instance of the humiliation and hanky panky treatment the PDP is meting out to our leader, burn down the entire house so that everybody can begin to shop for a new home, the source added.

Sout East PDP governors, leaders not against Obi

Meanwhile, contrary to news making the rounds, it has emerged that the South East PDP leaders are not against Obis nomination, but were concerned about the process and the future of the South East.

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, Governor of Ebonyi State and Chairman of South East Governors Forum, Dave Umahi told newsmen after the Enugu meeting was called off.

Also speaking with the press, the National Vice Chairman of the PDP (South East), Deacon Austin Umahi, said: Our leaders in the South East, the governors, the National Assembly Members came together to appreciate the Party for the recognition of South East and keeping to their promise to give the Vice Presidential slot to South East.
Home | News | General | FG reintegrates 254 ex-Boko Haram members, 3 foreigners - Army

- The federal government has reintegrated about 254 surrendered and repented Boko Haram sect members

- Major General Bamidele Shafa, coordinator, Operation Safe Corridor, made this known on Saturday, October 20, in Yola

- He explained that the remaining 157 reintegrated members would soon be dispatched, with Adamawa having three; Yobe seven and Borno 143

No fewer than 254 surrendered and repented Boko Haram sect members were reintegrated by the federal government.

Major General Bamidele Shafa, coordinator, Operation Safe Corridor, announced the development during a town hall meeting and dialogue with Boko Haram affected communities on Saturday, October 20, in Yola.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the meeting was organised by the presidential committee on the north east initiative in collaboration with the centre for democracy and development.

READ ALSO: Shehu Sani quits APC

The meeting was designed for the reconciliation and reintegration of repented Boko Haram members from most affected three states, Adamawa, Borno and Yobe.

Shafa recalled that majority of the repented youths of Boko Haram were victims of circumstances.

Shafa said: So far, the Operation Safe Corridor had treated no fewer than 254 repented Boko Haram members. Out of this number, 95 were already handed over to their respective states.

He explained that the remaining 157 reintegrated members would soon be dispatched, with Adamawa having three; Yobe seven and Borno 143.

He said that among the reintegrated were three foreign national from Chad Republic.

According to the coordinator, the operation Safe Corridor is in collaboration with PCNI and National Directorate for Employment where they given tools and other small business entrepreneur equipment for the reintegrated members.

The chairman also provided some funds to the ex-combatants for take off businesses after training in various skills acquisition.

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Among the skills acquired by the ex-combatants include vocational, tailoring, carpentry and shoemaking. He solicited the support of the affected communities in the reintegration of the youth.

General Theophilus Danjuma, the chairman PCNI, said that the initiative was in collaboration with various government and non-governmental authorities towards rehabilitation, resettlement and reintegration in the region.

Danjuma, represented by Asma,u Joda, said the initiative had made gigantic efforts in assisting and restoring the economic development of the area.

Meanwhile, Legit.ng had reported that the Nigerian Army graduated 95 former Boko Haram members after a rehabilitation programme, tagged Operation Safe Corridor, at a camp in Gombe.

Brigadier Bamidele Shafa, the coordinator of the programme, said the former Boko Haram terrorists would be taken back into the society after completely undergoing a 16-week training by some government agencies.

Shafa remarked that the 95 graduates went through training in many vocational skills like cosmetology, barbing and shoe making.

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Home | News | General | We will prosecute perpetrators of killings - El-Rufai vows

- Governor Nasir El-Rufai has promised to prosecute the sponsors and perpetrators of the killing in Kasuwan Mangani, Kaduna

- The governor said bringing the perpetrators to justice is inevitable

-He also said it is important for citizens to value the life of humans

Following the bloody riot which claimed the lives of 55 people in Kasuwan Mangani in Kaduna on Thursday, October 18, Governor Nasir El-Rufai has promised that the perpetrators and sponsors of the crime would be made to face justice.

El-Rufai said bringing the perpetrators to justice is inevitable.

Speaking after his visit to the village where there was a disagreement over theft in the village market which degenerated to a conflict between Muslims and christian group, the governor said it is important for citizens to value the life of humans.

READ ALSO: Breaking: Senator Shehu Sani resigns from APC

The governor said: We must live in peace and never use violence to solve a problem. We are not happy with this and government will pursue and punish those responsible for this devilish act."

Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that some gunmen on Friday, October 19, kidnapped Maiwada Galadima, the paramount chief of Adara Chiefdom in Kachia local government Area of Kaduna state and his wife along Kaduna/Kachia road.

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Ibrahim Yakubu, a son in-law to the chief disclosed this to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), adding that the police orderly to the paramount ruler was killed in the process.

Yakubu explained that the chief and his wife were taken away while returning to Kachia from Kaduna.

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Home | News | General | The Great Benin Kingdom: 10 mind blowing facts about the rich ancient city

The ancient kingdom of Benin which is believed to be 2054-year-old is considered one of the richest and most powerful kingdoms in the history of Nigeria. The Great Benin kingdom has been described as the center of Nigeria's development and with good reasons too.

Benin was a pre-colonial kingdom in what is now southern Nigeria. Its capital was Edo, now known as Benin City in Edo state. Benin which is often confused with the modern-day Republic of Benin, is one of the oldest and most highly developed areas in Nigeria.

Being one of the most talked about places in Nigeria, it comes as no surprise that a lot of things which have gained prominence in the country and the world today, first started or was witnessed in the Benin kingdom.

Here are some interesting facts about the ancient kingdom that proves how much of a great kingdom it really is:

1. The Oldest Church in West-Africa was established in Great Benin Empire by the Earliest Portuguese missionaries in the 16th Century which is today known as the Holy Aruosa (Benin National Church). Pope Pius XII visited Benin and handed the church to the Oba of Benin, Oba Oreoghene in 1692AD.

The church, Holy Aruosa which means 'Eye of God' is a traditional worship house of the Binis where the people are said to have direct contact with God without going through any intermediary.

Source: Edoworld.net

Source: UGC

2. Oba Orhogbua founded Lagos and planted a dukedom, the Obaship of Lagos.

His reign was marked with the expansion of the Empire westwards. He founded Eko and Badagry and established the monarchical rule in those places and placed his own representatives to rule them. He established the first Oba of Lagos.

3. Oba Ehengbuda was the last Oba of Benin to lead the Benin armies physically in battle.

After his death in 1601, the Benin kingdom gradually shrunk in size. The boundary of Benin Empire and Oyo Empire was set at Otun Ekiti during his reign after many wars was fought between the two Empires.

READ ALSO: How Mary Slessor became the white queen of Calabar

4. The Benin people are the best bronze casters in the world.

This is believed to be one of the greatest defining characteristics of the historic Kingdom of Benin. Established in the 14th century by Oba Oguola, the tradition of the casting profession remains a very preserved tradition only practiced by the Igun clan of casters by the official approval of the Oba.

10 interesting facts about the great Benin kingdom

Source: UGC

5. No female king has ever ruled Benin kingdom across the two dynasties; the purported female Ogiso Emose (584-600AD) who at his coronation, took the mothers name Emose, and so earned the reputation of being regarded as a woman Ogiso and Ogiso Orroro (600-618AD), was blacksmith and a philosopher who ruled for 18 years and died at the age of 98 years holding an iron in his hand.

9. According to the 1974 edition of Guinness Book of Records, the walls of Benin City and its surrounding kingdom as the worlds largest earthworks carried out prior to the mechanical era.

READ ALSO: King Jaja of Opobo: History of the great Nigerian hero

10 interesting facts about the great Benin kingdom

Source: UGC

10. The King of Benin can in a single day make 20,000 men ready for war and more, if need be. This is due to the fact that he has great influences among all the surrounding peoples. His authority stretches over many cities, towns and villages.

Amazing!

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Home | News | General | 2019: I need your prayers and support - Obi tells south east leaders

- Peter Obi has visited leaders of the party in the south east to seek support for his nomination

- Obi is the vice presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)

- Among the leaders he visited are Enugu state governor, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, Ebonyi state governor, Dave Umahi, and others

Peter Obi, the vice presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, has embarked on a peace mission to meet with the leaders of the party in the south east, including governors, over his nomination.

The Punch reports that Obi visited the leader to seek support from them ahead of 2019 presidential election.

He payed homage to Enugu state governor, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, on Friday, October 19. Obi visited Ebonyi state governor, Dave Umahi, and Abia state governor, Okezie Ikpeazu, as well as deputy Senate president, Ike Ekweremadu.

READ ALSO: Shehu Sani quits APC

It was learnt that Obi also visited president general of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Nnia Nwodo, at his Enugu residence, on Friday, October 19.

The former Anambra state governor explained that he was passing through Enugu and decided to see the governor and inform him of his nomination as the PDP vice presidential candidate.

According to him, Politics is about what is there for your people, not what is there for you. For me, this nomination is about all Igbo; we cant continue saying we are being marginalised. This is an opportunity to get some of the things we want.

I need the prayers and support of all of you and I can assure you that it is about us, not about Peter Obi.

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While meeting with Nwodo, Obi appealed to leaders of the PDP in the south-east to see his nomination as their own.

It was gathered that Obi, however, downplayed the reservations raised by some PDP leaders over his nomination describing the issue as a communication gap.

According to him, I dont think that they raised any dust  they are my leaders. They only disagreed with the process of communication.

None of them have said that they dont want Peter Obi; they only said they wished they were consulted. I respect them, I have visited Umahi, Ekweremadu, Ikpeazu, Ugwuanyi, and now I am visiting the Ohanaeze leader.

Meanwhile, Legit.ng had reported that Governor David Umahi revealed his reason for criticising the choice of Peter Obi as the running mate to the presidential candidate of PDP, Atiku Abubakar.

He said while he is not against the choice of former governor Peter Obi as the running mate to Atiku or his competence for that matter, he disliked the process leading to his (Obi) selection.

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Home | News | General | 2019: Senator Magnus Abe denies dumping APC for PDP

- Senator Magnus Abe has reacted to reports that claimed he defected to the opposition Peoples Democratic Party

- Magnus is the lawmaker representing Rivers East senatorial district in the Senate

- His ambition for the governorship seat of the state on the platform of the ruling All Progressives Congress has been met with obstacles

The senator representing Rivers East senatorial district in the upper chamber, Senator Magnus Abe, has denied resigning his membership of the ruling All Progressives Congress for the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

According to Punch, the senator denied some online reports of his defection in a chat with its correspondent.

Legit.ng gathers that Abe-led APC faction in the state has been in a supremacy battle with the Rotimi Amaechi-led faction over the governorship ticket of the ruling party.

READ ALSO: Missing general: Army denies killing woman, warns Nigerians against fake news

Amaechi is the immediate former governor of the state and Nigeria's minister of transportation.

Recall that the faction led by Senator Abe held an indirect governorship primary election, which he emerged as winner, while the Amaechi-led faction had a direct primary that produced Tonye Cole as candidate.

Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that Senator Magnus Abe rejected the adoption of Tonye Cole as the governorship candidate of the APC in Rivers state by the partys NWC, saying the battle for who remains the candidate of the party for the 2019 gubernatorial election in the state had just begun.

Abe made this known in Port Harcourt, Rivers state, following Coles adoption based on the report of the governorship primaries committee that supervised the indirect process in the state.

Rotimi Amaechi-led faction recently produced Tonye Cole as its candidate; while Abes faction produced him as its candidate.

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Abe said: I am sure you are all aware of the current decision of the NWC of our party which accepted the report that returned Tonye Cole elected, based on the indirect primary conducted in the state.

The battle has just begun. The party has set up an appeal. We will take advantage of the appeal panel and forward our case."

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Home | News | General | Obasanjo attacks Tinubu, says former Lagos governor's position in APC is not known

- Former president Olusegun Obasanjo has attacked APC national leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu

- He said the former Lagos governor's position in APC is not known

- Obasanjo also scored President Muhammau Buhari's administration low in its performance

Former president Olusegun Obasanjo has said that he doesnt know the position Asiwaju Bola Tinubu currently holds in the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

The Punch reports that Obasanjo said this during a programme titled, The Talk, which was aired on a YouTube Channel, Voice of the People.

Legit.ng gathered the former president had been asked to identify the designations of certain political figures in the country.

READ ALSO: Good news as Army invites applicants for direct, short service commission

He identified Muhammadu Buhari and Prof. Yemi Osinbajo as the president and vice president respectively, while he also identified Senator Bukola Saraki as the Senate president.

When asked to identify Tinubu, he said, Oh, Bola? Bola is supposed to be the leader of the APC. I dont know the position of his leadership as you and I are talking.

In the interview, which seemed to have been recorded before he openly endorsed the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abibakar, the former president said he had hoped that Atiku would succeed him as president in 2007.

Obasanjo said this was the reason he gave Atiku a lot of responsibilities but his former deputy made some wrong decisions.

Atiku didnt want to become even a vice president in 1999. He was elected as a governor, he recalled.

He, however, said his plan was to mentor Atiku to be his successor but his former deputy failed him.

Obasanjo added: My plan was that he would be given a lot of work to do domestically and Atiku even used to complain that I gave him too much work to do, which was intentional because I wanted him to get to know things.

My second term was that having prepared him for domestic issues, I would want him to represent Nigeria for one year at the African Union, Economic Community of West African States and the United Nations for a year so that he would be fully prepared, but the first thing I found out was that his judgement was not right on many occasions.

The former president, who insisted that Buhari had not done well in government, said as a watchman, he would continue to speak up when things were going wrong.

He said there was the need for Nigerians, especially the youth, to elect leaders that could fit into a digital 21st century post-modern era rather than electing analogue personalities.

On the Boko Haram crisis, Obasanjo said after he left office in 2007, his successor (late Umaru YarAdua) mismanaged the issue, which caused the group to become terrorists.

Obasanjo said had he been president at the time, Boko Haram would not have become what it is today.

He recalled that in 2011, with the permission of former president Goodluck Jonathan, he visited the family of Boko Haram founder, Mohammed Yusuf, and other aggrieved persons in the terrorist group and they explained why they were carrying out attacks.

The former president added, In 2011, I went to Maiduguri. This was after Boko Haram had attacked the UN building in Abuja and I just wanted to know who they were and if they had leaders and what their grievances were.

I found out that these elements of Boko Haram had been there even while I was in government. And they, through their intermediary, said they were there and I didnt disturb them so they didnt disturb me.

They were preaching Sharia and that was what they wanted. But, according to them, when I left government, they were being chased and haunted and they lost a number of their adherents and they decided to fight back and even the leader of their sect, Mohammed Yusuf, was killed and his in-law was also killed.

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They went to court to try and get compensation which was granted to them but the state government did not pay.

Meanwhile, Legit.ng had previously reported that mixed reactions trailed ex-president Olusegun Obasanjo's endorsement of the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the 2019 general elections, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.

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Home | News | General | Kwara lawmakers call for trial of human part dealers suspects in Ilorin

- Lawmakers in Kwara state have called for the trial of some human parts dealers in the state

- The lawmakers urged the IGP to transfer the case of suspects arrested with human parts to the state for trial

- They also called on on traditional rulers in the state and the public to always render useful information on security matters to law enforcers

The Kwara House of Assembly has called on the Inspector-General of Police, Mr Ibrahim Idris, to transfer the case of suspects arrested with human parts to the state for trial.

According to chairman of the assemblys Committee on Information and Culture, Alhaji AbdulRahman AbdulRafiu, the suspects were arrested in Ilorin and they should be tried under the states law in connection with the issue.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that the lawmakers recently passed a Bill, prohibiting dealings in human parts in any form in the state.

The state governor, Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed, has assented to the Bill.

READ ALSO: We'll mobilise our members to remove Ortom as governor in 2019 - Association of herdsmen

At a news conference on Saturday in Ilorin, AbdulRafiu urged Police in Kwara to as matter of urgency publish the names of the suspects arrested in the state in connection with the crime.

He commended security agencies in the state for their effort in exposing perpetrators of criminal activities.

The lawmaker called on traditional rulers in the state and the public to always render useful information on security matters to law enforcers.

READ ALSO:Breaking: EFCC moves Fayose to Lagos for trial

According to him, this will curb the activities of criminals and rid the state of crimes against humanity.

He said that the law enacted by the state was sufficient to try the suspects arrested in connection with the sales of human parts.

The lawmaker stated that in spite of the existence of the law, the assembly was surprised over the transfer of the suspects to Abuja for an offence that occurred in the state.

He explained that the state had the most adequate legislation on the subject matter in the country.

He expressed fear that the case, if allowed to be handled in Abuja, may go the way of the Offa bank robbery case that was turned into avenue to witch-hunt perceived opponents or political enemies.

AbdulRafiu, therefore, urged the police authorities to arraign the suspect before a competent court in the state as prescribed by the states law without further delay.

Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that authorities in South Korea has swung into action by cracking down on thousands of drug capsules filled with powdered flesh of dead babies from China.

According to CBS, officials on Monday, October 15, said the capsuled drugs - believed to serve as cure for diseases - seized from the drug peddlers were made in the northeastern China from babies whose bodies were chopped into small pieces and dried on stoves before being turned into powder.

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Officials of the Korea Customs Service however refused to say were the dead babies came from, who or which company made the drug.

Ex-prisoner turns advocate for release of former inmates - on Legit.ng TV

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Home | News | General | Missing General: Army denies killing woman, warns against fake news

Jos  The Nigeria Army has denied report that soldiers searching for missing Maj.-Gen. Idris Alkali (retd) shot and killed a 35-year old woman in Fwapa Doi, Jos, Plateau.

Nigerian troops rallied to flush out Boko Haram rag tag forces in Guzamala

Deputy Director, Army Public Relations, Col. Kayode Ogunsonya, who debunked the report in a statement on Saturday in Jos, by warned against fake news injurious to 3 Division, Nigeria Army, Rukuba.

Ogunsonya said that the Divisions headquarters wish to state categorically that the report was a deliberate falsehood and an attempt to portray the division in bad light.

I wish to state that contrary to the report, the soldiers were in the Dura-Du District and its environs from Monday, 15th October  Wednesday, 17th October, 2018.

They were there to provide security to the sniffer dogs deployed to assist in locating the whereabouts of the missing retired senior officer, Major-General Idris Alkali, and not on Friday, 19th October 2018 as reported.

On completion of the mission, the troops and sniffer dogs returned to the barracks on Wednesday, 17th October, 2018.

Weve invested N2.7trn on infrastructure  FG



The troops did not engage anyone in fire fight because the entire district has been deserted.

No soldier fired any shot. All the ammunitions were duly accounted for by the troops, he explained.

The spokesperson said that the report further insinuated that soldiers stopped people from accessing their homes, burgled their shops, ate their chickens and goats and ransack their homes.

He stated the insinuation was untrue, pointing out that the headquarters had earlier advised residents who fled their homes and business premises to return.

According to him, this is to avoid their homes and business premises from being broken into by miscreants.

Herders/farmers clashes, killings are being fuelled by fake news  Lai Mohammed

Ogunsonya advised the public to disregard the report describing it as antics of fifth columnists to prevent the Division from locating the whereabouts of the missing retired senior officer.

He vowed that the division would leave no stone unturned in locating the whereabouts of Alkali in spite of the distractions.

Consequently, this Division wishes to warn online and traditional media as well as agents of fake news and other like-minded mischief makers.

The 3 Division will no longer tolerate publication of fake news that are injurious to the hard-earned image and reputation of the Division in particular and the Nigerian Army in general, he warned. (NAN)

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Home | News | General | Nollywood producer, Chris Ekejimbe dies after receiving overdose malaria drugs

By Benjamin Njoku

Practitioners in the Nigerian movie industry were thrown into another mourning mood Saturday, as they lost one of their prominent members, Chris Ekejimbe to the cold hands of death.

Chris Ekejimbe

Ekejimbe died at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital,LUTH, Saturday morning after battling with acute malaria and typhoid fever for more than two months .

Founding president of Association of Nollywood Core Producers, ANCOP, and APC candidate for the Warri Federal Constituency seat in the forthcoming House of Representatives election, Comrade, Alex Eyengho who confirmed the news of his death to Vanguard, said the late film maker passed on about 9 am Saturday morning at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Idi-Araba.

According to Eyengho, late Ekejimbe was rushed to LUTH last Tuesday, when his condition became critical after he was allegedly given an overdose malaria drugs at another hospital.

More details soon

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A few weeks ago Zimbabwe's Minister of Finance, Mthuli Ncube joined the IMF, WB, Paris Club, ADB, etc. meeting in Bali Indonesia. He told the nation all the world's big financial institutions had "responded positively" to Zimbabwe's request for financial assistance. Now we hear no such thing happened, it was just another Cinderella and Pumpkin carriage story!

"Finance and Economic Development Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube will soon be headed for the United States of America to engage Washington on the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Amendment Act (Zidera) of 2018, the piece of legislation that appears to be the major hurdle blocking Harare's efforts to unlock international funding," reported Business Weekly.

"In as much as Government is leaving no stone unturned in implementing far reaching reforms to turn around the economy, it emerged the US law is holding back all the efforts as it directs American officials in key international financial institutions to block the extension of funding to Harare."

If there was ever any confusion and misunderstanding over what Harare needed to have all ZIDERA sanctions lifted there was no such confusion run up to the 2018 Zimbabwe elections. Harare must hold free, fair and credible elections, the Americans explained over and over again. US Officials in Harare and two US Senators visited Zimbabwe to explain exactly what the Americans would be looking for; free public media, allow Zimbabweans in the diaspora to vote, etc.

President Mnangagwa, himself, promised to hold free, fair and credible elections. Sadly he failed to keep his own promise as he and his Zanu PF junta went on to blatantly rig the elections. There was no free public media, the 3 million Zimbabweans in the diaspora were denied a vote; the regime failed to produce something as basic as a verified voters' roll!

President Mnangagwa and his Zanu PF regime insist the elections were free, fair and credible; with arrogance and contemptuous indifference of a school bully crushing his victim's toes! For 38 years Zanu PF has ridden roughshod over the people denying them their freedoms and basic rights including the right to a meaningful say in the governance of the country and ever the right to life.

Zanu PF has murdered over 30 000 innocent Zimbabweans to establish and retain the de facto one-party dictatorship we see today.

Zimbabweans are now the poorest nation in Africa. 38 years of Zanu PF gross mismanagement and rampant corruption have taken their heavy toll on the nation.

Zimbabwe is in this economic and political mess because for the last 38 years Zanu PF has rigged elections and got away with it. The party rigged the 30 July 2018 elections and, this time, it must not be allowed to get away with it. All pressure must be brought upon the regime, including keeping ZIDERA sanctions in place, to force it to step down.

If Zanu PF is still in power come 2023 elections we can all be certain of one thing  the party will rig those elections too! After 38 years of rigged elections, of having the school bully's big foot crushing one's toes, the thought of this going on for even another day is unthinkable!

Zanu PF rigged the elections and the party is therefore illegitimate. The party must be pressured to step down now to allow time for the preparatory work for free, fair and credible elections in 2023.

Finance Minister is reportedly travelling to Washington in January to meet US government officials. No doubt, the Minister will make fresh promises that Zimbabwe's next elections will be free, fair and credible and, in return, will be asking the American to lift ZIDERA sanctions. The sanctions were to be lifted on condition Harare held free, fair and credible elections and not on condition of yet another empty promise. The sanctions must stay until Zimbabwe holds free, fair and credible elections and the Zanu PF bully's foot is off povo's toes!
Home | World | Africa | Man nearly killed over cooking oil

The scarcity of cooking oil in the couthry has landed a Chiweshe man in hot soup after he reportedly axed another man who was holding a 2 litre bottle of cooking oil from Mbizi shop in Chiweshe after the commodity run out whilst he was still in the queue.

Enock Dhombo (40) was arrested after he allegedly attempted to murder Makesure Soda (41) of Zambara village under Chief Makope on Wednesday at Gunguwe business Centre in Chiweshe after he saw him holding the much needed cooking oil.

Mashonaland Central acting police spokesperson Assistant Inspector Petros Masikati confirmed the case.

"We are investigating a suspected murder case which occurred at Gunguwe Business Centre in Chiweshe , Dhombo is assisting police with investigations after he allegedly axed once in the head over a 2 litre cooking oil bottle dispute," Masikati said.

It is further alleged that Soda is battling for life at Howard Hospital in Chiweshe where he was referred from a local clinic.

Masikati urged people to respect human life and shun violence since failure to abide to the law results in them being arrested.

"As the police we continue to urge people to respect human life by avoiding violence as that will lead to unnecessary loss of life in most cases above all people must abide to Zimbabwean laws as failure to do so will eventually lead them to be incarcerated."

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Home | World | Africa | Price controls, tinkering with the deck while the titanic is sinking

Zanu PF mediocrity, lack of care for the people of Zimbabwe and their nauseating pursuit of patronage and self-preservation are the reasons of economic collapse in Zimbabwe.

An attempt to control prices is therefore tinkering with the deck while the titanic is sinking.

Several statements in successive press conferences by government officials including Kembo Mohadi are to the effect that Zanu PF has gone back to its default of price controls among other reactive and barbaric measures typical of a bunch with no proper understanding of elementary economics.

The people of Zimbabwe deserve better than a group of self-imposed leaders who are quick to make reckless announcements only good enough for the symptoms.

We in the MDC are aware that Zanu PF led by Mnangagwa does not want to take responsibility for its corruption and failure which has now resulted in economic meltdown and the suffering of the masses.

They play the blame game, blaming everyone except the trees and the stones. They blame the opposition for sabotage; blame shops for profiteering and blame the citizen for panic buying, surprisingly shortages include drugs in pharmacies.

Now productive time is being lost in fuel queues, food stalls and the search of now scarce basics like cooking oil. Electricity blackouts are also increasing by the day yet the business as usual approach seems not to go away.

Zanu PF has lost it.

With the above characterizing economic activity in Zimbabwe, the underlying assumptions for recovery are therefore non-existent. In this kind of situation a government which regulates consumer spending and control prices is a wrong government. It is a government which only worsens the situation.

It creates shortages, encourages the alternative market and subsequently exacerbates prices they are trying to control. The government must attend to its expenditure irregularities and provide supply side solutions.

We have also argued that the centre piece of any government policy must be restoration of production. Zanu PF's failure to create conditions in respect of which the economy is grown and jobs are created will always harm this economy.

We further made the point consistently that the cash crisis, multiple exchange rates and the bullish trend in respect of the prices of the US dollar is a direct result of fiscal mismanagement.

The cost of the dollar is therefore the major driver of inflation. This cannot be corrected through institution of barbaric price controls and threats of revoking retail licenses.

We therefore propose the following solutions.

1. The government must design an Emergency Recovery Economic Plan supported by an Emergency Recovery Fund.(Creating such a fund will not be possible under a Zanu PF government)

2. Inject funds into traditional funds like DIMAF and ZETREF to revive distressed companies as part of supply side solutions.

3. The government must leave within its means, maintaining a primary balance is a hallmark of successful fiscal cycles.

4. Deal with the liquidity crisis including paying back the money stolen by the government at the RBZ which was kept in RTGS balances.

5. The government must construct itself out of the current crisis, by dealing with the infrastructure gap employment will be created and aggregate demand will also increase.

6. Initiate a sustainable debt clearance strategy and end isolation of the country by sincere re-engagement of the international community.

7. Combat corruption which has put a huge premium on the economy, the strategy must include regular life style audits for all top public officials.

8. Scrap the bond note, attend to fiscal hygiene and join the rand monetary union.

MDC: Change That Delivers

Jacob Mafume

MDC National Spokesperson

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A pastor from Nkulumane suburb poisoned his two daughters before killing himself in South Africa where the family was based citing marital and other problems.

Precocious Mpofu (36) allegedly forced his two daughters, Shalom (11) and Panashe (7) to drink a drainage cleaning chemical before also taking it in Yeoville suburb, Johannesburg.

The deceased, who is alleged to have been a pastor at Prophet Blessing Chiza's Eagle Life Assembly and his wife, Ms Chido Chipangura had recently separated but she was still living in South Africa.

Family members said the bodies of the two girls and their father were found in his apartment while a container of the chemical was found in Pastor Mpofu's car.

The bodies are expected to arrive in the country today. Pastor Mpofu allegedly left a suicide note in which he stated that he was facing a lot of problems most of them in his marriage.

He also allegedly said they were some people who were stalking him and mentioned four people with their contact details. Pastor Mpofu however did not give reasons why the individuals were stalking him.

The now deceased also sent a lot of messages to his family on the fateful day although he did not mention his intentions to kill his children and commit suicide. He however gave a hint when he directed how his property should be shared.

The family members told the Chronicle at their family home in Nkulumane suburb yesterday that from the information they received, the tragedy could have happened on Monday between 2PM and 4PM after pastor Mpofu had just returned from collecting his children from school.

The deceased's father, Mr Sipho Mpofu, confirmed his son's and grandchildren's deaths. He said his son and his wife had recently separated and the pastor was staying with his daughters.

"I am reliably informed residents at his apartment saw him carrying each of the daughters on his shoulders into their flat at around 2PM. At 2:40PM he sent his sister here in Bulawayo a WhatsApp message saying one of his daughters, Shalom had died. Exactly 10 minutes later, he sent another message saying his second daughter had also passed on. This puzzled his sister who was trying to call him to understand what exactly he was trying to say," said Mr Mpofu.

He said when she tried to text him back, messages were no longer being delivered and the sister phoned Ms Chipangura telling her to go and check on her husband as he was texting strange messages. "Ms Chipangura dashed to the flat only to find three bodies.

The kids' bodies were neatly laid in bed between blankets while Precocious body was on the floor," he said.

Mr Mpofu said his son had earlier told him that he was being stalked by four men that he named in his suicide note.

He said his son also listed the four men's phone numbers. Mr Mpofu said he used to hear through rumours that his son and his daughter-in-law were having marital problems.

"My son was at times coming to Zimbabwe alone or with his kids and we would hear of his marital problems from other people," he said.

The deceased's mother, Mrs Sibangani Mpofu said earlier on the fateful day, her son was texting his sister strange messages giving directives on how his assets should be distributed.

He is said to have ordered his sister to sell his car that is in South Africa and said the money should be given to his parents so that they "fund a huge task " that was coming.

"It's like he had already planned everything and shared his assets. In his numerous texts, he mentioned that his wife should never set foot at this family home. It means he meant she shouldn't attend this funeral I guess," she said.

At the Chipangura's family home in Mpopoma suburb the news crew was chased away by family members who said they did not want to be disturbed while mourning.

"We are at loss and talking to you won't bring back our children.Go to the guy's family and get a comment from them and not us," said a woman at the family home.
Home | World | Africa | The White Man who sent fear down Mugabe's spine

Canadian mining company Falconbridge Inc. had a big problem in Zimbabwe during the Gukurahundi disturbances in the early 1980s.

Its operations in war-torn Zimbabwe were in chaos. ZIPRA rebels opposing Robert Mugabe were firing at Falconbridge's Blanket gold mine security force with rocket-propelled grenades. Workers there were also getting hungry, with food provisions running low due to blockades.

Thirteen-thousand kilometres away in Toronto, Falconbridge's chief executive didn't mess around. Bill James flew 24 hours to Zimbabwe and went straight to the Robert Mugabe's office and demanded that Mugabe's government protect Blanket Mine staff 24-hours a day. Mugabe barged.

"Bill wasn't a wallflower. He'd barge into anyone's office," said Bill McNamara, a longtime friend of Mr. James and a lawyer with Torys LLP.

Mr. James's demands, delivered in his signature loud, gravelly baritone, were simple: He wanted food for his employees and assault rifles for their protection.

"Mugabe's looking like someone's hit him on the head with a two-by-four," Mr. McNamara said. "[Thinking,] Who the hell is this guy?' "

But here's the thing. Mr. Mugabe knew that without that mine in operation, Zimbabwe would suffer economically. The next morning, five truckloads of maize showed up at the mine, along with a dozen AK-47s.

Mr. James, who died last month at the age of 89, had a no-nonsense manner that rubbed some people the wrong way, but was deadly effective. He was known for turning around a number of large mining companies in the 1980s and '90s, notably Falconbridge, which was in a deep financial hole when he took it over. Mr. James set a new bar for efficiency in mining that would be emulated in the decades ahead by the likes of Hunter Harrison in the American railroad industry. He was also renowned for his deep empathy and ability to connect with everyone, from some of the most formidable political leaders of the 20th century to the most junior miner in his operation.

William (Bill) James was born in Ottawa on Feb. 5, 1929, son of Lenore (nee McEvoy) and William Fleming James, a geologist and owner of James, Buffam & Cooper, one of Canada's pre-eminent mining consulting businesses. Junior caught the mining bug early. He started working underground in a gold mine near Timmins, Ont., in 1947, while he was still in high school.

"A lot of shovel work," he told The Globe and Mail about his time in the mine.

He earned a bachelor of arts, then a master's from the University of Toronto. In 1957, he completed a PhD in geology at McGill University in Montreal.

"He was always a practical down-to-earth type," said retired geologist Brian Hester, a fellow student at U of T in the early 1950s.

"In my mind he always had his jacket off and sleeves rolled up."

After graduating, Mr. James took a job as crew chief at a uranium mine in Elliot Lake in Northern Ontario. Far from resting on his academic laurels, he earned more underground overtime than anyone else.

"He wasn't just a miner in an ivory tower. He was a miner's miner," Mr. McNamara said.

In 1961, he joined his father's consultancy business, and worked with some of the big mining companies of the day, including Falconbridge, Teck and Placer.

Bill James with his son John James at Georgian Bay, 2001.

Michael Power, who worked alongside Mr. James at the consultancy, recalls his intense work ethic while the two raced to get a feasibility report on a mine done on time.

"We stayed in the office the entire weekend. We didn't sleep. We had some cheese in the fridge and we got the report done," Mr. Power said.

"He had unbelievable stamina."

In 1973, Alfred Powis, CEO of Noranda Inc., one of the biggest Canadian metals companies of the day, hired Mr. James to run a subsidiary. By the next year, he moved up to executive vice-president with charge over the company's mine portfolio. Extremely hands on, he had a remarkable ability to see both the big picture and the fine details.

"The key thing when you were dealing with Bill James, as I used to tell the people there at Noranda, you tell the truth," Mr. Power said.

"There's a tendency in organizations to BS a little bit. You don't quite know the answer but you pretend to. You do that with Bill, he'll know."

In 1982, Mr. James joined Falconbridge Ltd. as CEO at a time when the great nickel company was in deep trouble. Falconbridge was losing $2-million a week, amid moribund commodity prices and a crushing debt load. Mr. James went to work cutting corporate fat. Executive washrooms, the two private jets, the helicopter, the fleet of Jaguars  he got rid of all of them. Facing down union bosses, he laid off 40 per cent of the Sudbury workforce. The Toronto head office was cut in half. Not surprisingly, the layoffs garnered resentment from some quarters. According to Sudbury native Stan Sudol, owner and editor of RepublicOfMining.com, a joke making rounds at the time was, "Bill James dies and goes to hell, but the devil kicked him out, because he kept shutting down his furnaces."

But eventually it was Mr. James who had the last laugh  by 1984, Falconbridge was back in the black.

As ruthless as Mr. James could be, he also displayed a deeply human side. In 1984, when a rock burst trapped four miners underground in a mine near the town of Falconbridge, Ont., he raced to the scene. Against the advice of safety personnel, he went underground himself and through a small opening held the hand of a lone survivor, 22-year-old apprentice mine mechanic Wayne St. Michel, who was trapped under a giant rock. For more than a day, Mr. James stayed with the man.

"It's going great, Wayne, it's going great," he told him over and over.

"We're coming for you.'"

After 27 hours, Mr. St. Michel was freed, but, cruelly, he died shortly after in the hospital.

"The only time when I was a kid that I ever saw him cry," said son John James of his father after the death of Mr. St. Michel.

"He was a really tough guy, but he really cared."

Mr. James also proved himself to be a savvy dealmaker at Falconbridge. In 1985, the company paid $1.3-billion to acquire the coveted Kidd Creek copper, silver and zinc mine near Timmins, Ont. In doing so, he trumped his former boss at Noranda, Mr. Powis, who was desperate to buy the property. Kidd Creek, which helped diversify nickel-heavy Falconbridge into other metals, would go on to become an extremely profitable asset.

Losing Kidd Creek only emboldened Mr. Powis to go after Falconbridge itself. But Mr. James was in no mood to sell the company on the cheap, especially considering that by 1988, profit and revenue were at record highs. Eventually a three-way fight for Falconbridge ensued with Sweden's Trelleborg AB and U.S.-based Amax Inc. also bidding. In the end, a joint offer by Noranda and Trelleborg AB succeeded, but the pair paid a steep premium, acquiring Falconbridge for $37 a share.

In 1990, Mr. James took on another big challenge. Like Falconbridge, uranium producer Denison Corp. was heavily indebted when he joined as CEO. On one particularly bleak Friday afternoon, Mr. James got a call that Denison was to be served notice later that day on a loan that was coming due. That would have put Denison on the brink of bankruptcy. At that point, Mr. James ordered everyone out of the Toronto office, turned off the lights, locked up, and slipped out the back door. A hapless lawyer from McCarthy's showed up shortly after with the notice, banged on the door, but nobody came out. Over the weekend, Mr. James was able to line up alternative financing and Denison stayed afloat.

"He never quit," John James said. "He always would find another way to make it work."

By the time he left Denison in 1996, Mr. James was in his mid-60s but he'd hadn't slowed down much. In the summer, one of his favourite leisure activities was to strap himself into his 9-metre Zodiac boat and take off around Lake Superior, often with his partner Jalynn H. Bennett in tow.

"He had two 400-horsepower engines on the back of the thing," Mr. Power said.

"He used to say it was the second fastest Zodiac in the world. The fastest was owned by the CIA for catching drug smugglers off the coast of Cuba."

He'd met Ms. Bennett, a fellow CIBC board member, a few years after getting divorced from his first wife, Joanna, to whom he was married for 32 years. Naturally, Ms. Bennett and Mr. James got into a couple of scrapes. On one of their Zodiac trips down the St. Lawrence, a CIBC bank manager in a small Quebec town refused to let Mr. James withdraw $10,000 in cash as there was some uncertainty regarding his identity. Mr. James asked the manager if she had the CIBC annual report on hand. When she brought it to him, he pointed out that the two souls standing in front of her, in their orange survival suits, were in fact the same CIBC board members whose pictures were in the report. Mr. James got his money, and an apology.

In 1996, Bill James signed up for one last business caper, this time at Inmet Mining Corp. Inmet's prized asset was its 50-per-cent stake in the promising Antamina zinc-copper project in Peru. But Antamina proved to be elusive. Unable to raise about $1.3-billion to develop it, a reluctant Mr. James was forced to sell Antamina at the urging of an activist investor. In 2000, at the age of 70, Mr. James stepped down as CEO of Inmet and walked away from corporate life for good.

He stayed active in retirement. In winter, he skied most weekends at his cottage in Georgian Bay. In 2002, Mr. James, like his father, was inducted into the Canadian Mining Hall of Fame. In his later years, he moved into the family farm in Halton Hills, west of Toronto.

After Ms. Bennett died in 2015, Mr. James developed breathing problems from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. He died on Sept. 4 in Oakville, Ont., from heart failure. He leaves his sons Paul, Bill, George, John; daughters, Mary Witham and Anne Rogers; stepdaughter, Alexandra Bennett; stepsons, Braden Bennett and Sam Bennett and 17 grandchildren.

John James believes his father might have lived another 10 years, had he just slowed down a bit. But that wasn't his style. Bill James's attitude toward his own life was much like his approach to boating in a Zodiac.

"You're going to go full tilt til the thing breaks, and then that's it, you sink it."

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(Bloomberg) -- As polls closed in Brazil on Oct. 7, Facebook Inc. data scientists, engineers and policy experts gathered in a new space in the companys Menlo Park, California, headquarters called the War Room. As they monitored trends on the companys sites -- like articles that were going viral and spikes in political-ad spending -- they noticed a suspicious surge in user reports of hate speech.

The data scientists in the room told the policy experts that the malicious posts were targeting people in a certain area of Brazil, the poorer Northeast -- the only region carried by the leftist presidential candidate. The policy folks determined that what the posts were saying was against Facebooks rules on inciting violence. And an operations representative made sure that all of that content was removed.

The company, the worlds largest social network, says that by having different experts in this one room, representing their larger teams and coordinating the response together, they were able to address in two hours what otherwise might have taken several days -- time thats too valuable to waste during a critical election.

We were all delighted to see how efficient we were able to be, from point of detection to point of action, Samidh Chakrabarti, Facebooks head of civic engagement, said Wednesday in a meeting with reporters.

Delight is not a sentiment that people in Brazil necessarily share. Despite Facebooks stronger and more organized coordination of its effort to improve election-related content, Latin Americas largest country was still overrun with misinformation, much of it distributed via Facebook services. False information that was thwarted on Facebooks main site by the companys network of fact-checkers was still able to thrive on its WhatsApp messaging app, which is encrypted and virtually impossible to monitor.

Brazils runoff election is Oct. 28, when far-right candidate Jair Bolsonaro faces leftist Fernando Haddad. On Thursday, the latter asked federal police to investigate his opponents campaign for alleged deployment of fake news and improper use of WhatsApp, according to a copy of the request. Haddad also accused his competitor of receiving illegal and undeclared corporate donations after local newspaper Folha de S.Paulo reported companies are paying for a mass social media campaign against Haddad. Bolsonaro wrote on Twitter that his opponents party isnt being damaged by fake news, but rather by the TRUTH.

Story continues

Pablo Ortellado, a professor of public policy at the University of Sao Paulo who has studied fake news, said Facebook has made good strides, but isnt addressing the full scale of the problem. And he thinks the companys efforts still wont be enough to tame WhatsApp, where Facebook doesnt have visibility into exactly whats being shared.

All the malicious stuff of the campaigns went through WhatsApp, thats the problem, he said in an interview. Really, that was one of the disasters of this election.

Facebook has made some improvements, especially by deleting spam accounts on WhatsApp and labeling links that have been forwarded, Chakrabarti said. Still, some of the most popular election-related stories have contained false information.

A WhatsApp representative said the app is working on education campaigns to help users understand what stories might be credible and recently lowered the limit for how many people can receive a message, to 20 from 256, which may help limit virality.

Even if its not a full solution, the War Room is symbolic of Facebooks work to assuage public concern about the fake accounts, misinformation and foreign interference that cloud discussion about elections on its site. After the U.S. election in 2016, Facebook initially dismissed the idea that fake news on its site could have played a role in the outcome. But the company started to work more diligently on the problem after finding in 2017 that Russia ran a coordinated misinformation campaign to stoke discord, using stolen and fake identities. Russias effort reached more than 150 million people on Facebook and photo-sharing app Instagram. Since then, Facebook has found similar campaigns run in the U.S. by Iran, and even by domestic actors.

The company will again fly in its Portuguese-language experts from around the world to help. Theyll sit with about 20 other employees in a large conference room where they can view the election from Facebooks perspective.

The room, labeled WAR ROOM in red block letters on a sign out front, is one of the few work spaces in the companys headquarters with privacy. Black construction paper prevents other employees from seeing through the glass door. A few feet inside, on the wall, is a map of Brazil, with markers on several areas the task force is evaluating. On another wall, above large screens monitoring trends, is the Brazilian flag. Across from that is the American flag -- a reminder that whatever happens in Brazil will inform how Facebook handles the U.S. midterms a few days later.

Weve been doing extensive scenario planning, running drills on problems both real and imagined, Chakrabarti said. Engineers have built dashboards that measure election-related activity that could be threatening, such as the rate of foreign political content coming into a country having an election, or user reports of misinformation about voting. Any unusual spikes will set off alarms and bring an item onto a main to-do list called the situation board.

To augment the information it can glean from Facebook and Instagram, the company uses its CrowdTangle tool to monitor news trends on Twitter and online discussion forum Reddit. It also asks for information from regional government officials on any voting irregularities to which Facebook may be contributing.

People say theyve been so slow to respond, but shifting all those engineers, policy people and product managers into a central space to all focus on something like the threat to democracy is actually really significant, said Claire Wardle, executive director of First Draft, which coordinated fact-checking with Facebook during the most recent elections in France and the U.K.

Facebook has long been hesitant to mark news as true or false, except through third-party fact checkers like First Draft, because it doesnt want to be the arbiter of truth on the internet. And even those third parties are only helping down-rank what is specifically false. Wardle says Facebook doesnt yet address the murkier part of the problem -- the incendiary content that may be partly true or lack proper context.

The War Room shows Facebooks commitment to looking at the problem a different way, the company says. Instead of directly assessing individual pieces of content flowing through the site, they can evaluate trends of user behavior that may raise concerns, such as fake accounts and foreign election-related content.

Still, Facebooks advances remain confined to areas like the news feed and Instagram. Ahead of U.S. midterm elections in November, the company has been slower to tackle spaces like Facebook groups, where users can share in smaller communities, much like in WhatsApp, First Drafts Wardle said.

Were seeing some pretty nasty stuff around the midterms, but theres just really no discussion about how this is shaping up in darker or closed spaces, which I think is a shame, Wardle said. By 2020, if were really serious about understanding this information in the lead-up to the next presidential election, I hope that weve got a clearer sense of what we need to learn from places like Brazil.

(Updates with Brazil candidates request for police investigation in sixth paragraph.)

--With assistance from Kariny Leal.

To contact the reporters on this story: Sarah Frier in San Francisco at sfrier1@bloomberg.net;David Biller in Rio de Janeiro at dbiller1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Jillian Ward at jward56@bloomberg.net, Alistair Barr

For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com

2018 Bloomberg L.P.
Australias depleted batting stocks have been further devastated with Usman Khawaja in serious doubt for the start of the home summer after tearing the meniscus in his left knee.

Khawaja failed to take the field on day three of the second Test against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi after twisting his left knee awkwardly during a throwing drill in the warm-up.

The opening batsman, who was man of the match during the drawn first Test in Dubai, tore his anterior cruciate ligament in the same knee in 2014.

Scans have confirmed Khawaja has avoided further damage to his ACL graft but suffered a meniscal tear which is likely to require surgery.

Depending on the severity of the tear, a best-case scenario would see the injury sideline Khawaja for up to six weeks.

At the very least, Khawaja faces an uphill battle to be available when Australia host India in the first of four Tests at Adelaide Oval starting December 6.

The Queenslander will see a knee surgeon upon returning to Australia to consider his options.

Usman Khawaja could miss the entire summer with the torn meniscus. Pic: Getty

Khawaja appears highly unlikely to bat when Australia resume at 1-47 on Friday, requiring another 491 runs to pull off a world-record run chase in the series-decider.

A team spokesman said Khawajas function and pain levels would be monitored during the day but the 31-year-old was limping heavily when the team arrived at Sheikh Zayed Stadium.

Even if Khawaja does bat, the time he spent off the field prevents him from coming in higher than No.7 during the first two hours of the innings.

Veteran paceman Peter Siddle said Khawaja appeared to have hurt himself in innocuous circumstances.

It was just something in warm-up. We were throwing the ball, Siddle said after play on Thursday.

I dont know what specifically happened. Its disappointing for him.

Australia can ill-afford to lose Khawaja, who has become the most senior batsman in a heavily-depleted top six following the suspensions handed to Steve Smith and David Warner.

The injury is shocking timing for the left-hander, who defied his doubters to post scores of 141 and 85 and spearhead Australias remarkable comeback in Dubai.

Story continues

He was initially very flat, knowing that he cant get out there with the boys and help out, Siddle said.

But I think throughout the day he was up and about, moving around, helping us when we came in and trying to help us in the rooms. Hes a positive guy, so fingers crossed for him.

Aaron Finch (24 not out) and Travis Head (17 not out) will resume on Friday with Australia needing a miracle to avoid a crushing defeat.

No Test side in history has ever successfully chased a fourth-innings target greater than 418.
damnnn that's a nice paycheck



hope there's plenty after the lawyer fees

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bad gal is a bop.





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I'm still mad we never got a live performance of the remix of Love in This Club.

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lol Beyonce learned from the best huh..

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Damn

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Damn! Who has to pay this, the label or Usher? Doesnt Usher owe $20 million to one of the girls he gave an STD to?

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Omg NO

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You are a DEMON

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https://apnews.com/66f2f0f23d68491eba3086dc025c7ff2



"A jury last week awarded the sum to Daniel Marino. His former co-writer William Guice was ordered to pay $6.75 million in compensatory damages, and $20.25 million in punitive damages.



Also last week Destro Music Productions, owned by co-defendant Dante Barton, agreed to pay Marino $17.35 million. That brings his total award to $44.35 million." Neither."A jury last week awarded the sum to Daniel Marino. His former co-writer William Guice was ordered to pay $6.75 million in compensatory damages, and $20.25 million in punitive damages.Also last week Destro Music Productions, owned by co-defendant Dante Barton, agreed to pay Marino $17.35 million. That brings his total award to $44.35 million."

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He really, he really got it bad.

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These greedy people. What is it to them, a small fraction of the earnings? They should have credited him in the first place.

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Yea it's so off-putting.

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Why didnt they just credit him? Hope this works as a lesson. Give proper credit or pay 44 million. Good thing this guy didnt give up



Edited at 2018-10-20 06:55 pm (UTC)

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ask queen creole.

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Get that $$$, Daniel! Yes!

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in all seriousness good for this person!

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ouch! and Usher has herpes on top of that. It has not been a good year for Usher.

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So beautiful, such trash.

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Nice privilege, because it's not often that a gay actor gets to play a straight romantic lead. The studios aren't betting on audiences suspending belief for that.

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Y E P. Hell, out gay actors barely get lead movie roles at all.

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The solution to this isn't to pigeonhole actors in specific roles by identities but to demand that gay actors be granted the same variety of roles as straight actors, and then actually support the projects they're in when it happens...

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Studios are willing to suspend belief for fantasy, sci fi, horror, and the like but god forbid a gay person be onscreen bc thats just too unrealistic am i right

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Then that's the studios fault. Two wrongs don't make a right. I'm a straight audience member who would happily watch a gay performer play a straight romantic lead. It's wrong that they aren't given enough opportunities to do that, but the way to put it right is to give them those chances, not to put everybody in boxes.



Acting is meant to be the art of convincing people you are something you're not.



Maybe straight actors should wait until things are fairer, but I'm sick of them being positioned as the main villains in this... They aren't.



Edited at 2018-10-21 11:46 am (UTC)

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"I will fight to the death for the right to suspend disbelief and play roles beyond my experience."



Welp, somebody get the urn ready.

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LMAO

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like truly what an obnoxious statement

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Guess we shouldn't expect much from a woman who named her son after Roman Polanski.

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I don't have a problem with straights playing gay roles. It is a problem that it's Oscar bait and considered ~*brave*~. I wish more LGBT actors would get roles in general though. The problem is that too many people are too uninformed/stupid to realize that sexuality =/= personality or traits. To me it's very different from whites playing POC roles, which is fucked up f.y.i., miss Blanchett.

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I wouldn't have a problem with straight actors playing not straight if that didn't give them special acting brownie points. It's especially ironic considering the amount of IRL everyday acting people who are closeted for professional reasons must have to do.



In a perfect world, the sexual orientation of a performer should be irrelevant, but since we live in a world where that's really not the case, straight people can sit the fuck down in this debate.

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<3 Contra

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Love her

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theyre the worst

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Mte

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I'm sick of them speaking as if we give a fuck about what they have to say.

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We are. Cancel us.

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*stands up and claps*



YES, SAY IT TO THE WHITE, STRAIGHT DUDE THAT'S LURKING RIGHT NOW*

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extremely

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Whatever, she's right. It's called acting.



As long as we're not served overly long diatribes about their bravery for accepting the roles, it's fine.

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It is called "acting." They're making movies, not documentaries. What's the point of acting if you're only playing yourself? Is that even acting?

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No. And whenever an actor/actress plays the same roles or whatever they get called out for playing "themselves."



I don't think the solution is to have straight actors/actresses stop playing gay or bi roles but rather allow actors/actresses who are gay or bi to be allowed to have the same opportunities as everyone else, which imo is the problem.

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But the problem is the LGBT community doesn't have the same opportunities that straight people have, so by taking roles that are meant for them you are perpetuating the problem. I get that an actor can find interesting playing a character that is completely different from themselves, but if the consequence is that you are taking away opportunities from people who don't even have many chances to begin with, then it shouldn't be difficult to understand why it's a problem and why you shouldn't do it.

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Problem is that they do get awarded. And if a problem like that gets dismissed as "just acting" then nothing will change

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Completely agree with you.

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yeah lets get some white people to play POC if it's just "acting" then. hee hee

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well, i think in general - yes, acting means you should be able to play characters beyond your own experience and i do think that saying LGBT actors have to play LGBT roles can easily be twisted into the long-held oppressive belief that audiences won't find gay actors playing straight roles to be believable. but that's not really the point. the point is that LGBT actors are so rarely cast in anything and there is so little representation that they're trying to carve out space for themselves somewhere.



also i think a straight actor playing a gay role is way different, and not as offensive as a cis actor playing a trans role because the latter, in scarjo's example reinforces the wrong idea that a trans man is really just a woman underneath.

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She so does not live up to the hype.

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mte

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I'm so glad between this and the Woody Allen worship people are finally realizing she ain't shit.

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lmao honestly ty

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well ok miss blanchette

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I don't want her to ruin Ocean's 8 for me (because Sandra Bullock is basically the love of my life) but Cate keeps testing me.

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She's awful. When I was living in Australia she was there for an art...thing and she said she thinks it's fine if children are shown naked if it's art. She was basically defending child porn for the sake of 'art'. I hate her.

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That's sounds exactly something she would say ugh she's a Polanski and Allen lover, she's so fucking awful 

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that makes it palatable for the str8s, you see

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You can want both butch and femme representation instead of one over the other?



I understand the point you're trying to make, but femme couples and lesbians exist. Being the unwanted subject of the male gaze doesn't make their identities and experiences less valid.



I'm all for more butch representation, but you also can't pretend that is always flawlessly executed either.

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It's truly exhausting.

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I will fight to the death for the right to suspend disbelief and play roles beyond my experience



then perish.

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Former Vice-President of the United States Dick Cheney once said: the good lord didnt see fit to put oil and gas only where there are democratically elected states Occasionally we have to operate in places where, all considered, one would not normally choose to go. But we go where the business is. Europe is surrounded by states with abundant energy resources, but supply from these countries is not always as reliable. Russia, for example, is regularly accused of using energy as a weapon. However, major discoveries of gas in the Eastern Mediterranean could mitigate dependence on Russian gas.

The discovery of a gas field named Tamar near the coast of Israel in 2009 set off a wave of investments in the energy sector. After 9 years, companies are flocking to the region after other discoveries in the territorial waters of Israel, Cyprus, and Egypt. Ever larger finds in the Mediterranean Seas Levant Basin such as the Leviathan gas field in 2010 and Zohr in 2015, have the potential to transform the strategic importance of the region.

(Click to enlarge)

Turkeys energy hub ambitions

Few states in the world are geographically so well positioned as Turkey. The country controls Russias only warm water port in the Black Sea and serves as a bridge between east and west. Therefore, during the Cold War Ankara was an indispensable member of NATO. More recently, Turkey has the ambition to become an energy hub for Middle Eastern and Caspian energy. Ankara has had mixed successes in attracting investors and maintaining political stability.

Related: Will The U.S.-Saudi Spat Upend Oil Markets?

After Israels significant discoveries, a U.S. backed initiative presented Turkey as an energy hub. Although a land pipeline is the cheapest option to transport gas from the Mediterranean to Europe, political developments have stalled construction. President Erdogans escalating public denunciations of Israel have made Jerusalem look for other options. Furthermore, relations with Europe have also been damaged which would be dependent on Turkey as a transit country.

Egypt as the regional gas hub

Egypts has the third largest gas reserves in Africa. Therefore, its export-oriented LNG industry came on-stream in 2004 but was shut mid-2013 due to a lack of resources. The growth of the domestic market demanded ever larger volumes, which went at the expense of exports. Instead, Egypt started importing LNG. However, the discovery of the massive Zohr gas field, the largest in the Eastern Mediterranean, has turned around the situation. Egypt imported its last shipment of LNG in September 2018.

Although relations between Egypt and Israel are far from normal, privately held companies have been able to strike a deal. Starting from the first quarter of 2019, in 10 years 64 bcm worth $10 billion will be delivered. The agreement has stirred controversy in Egypt, which until recently was exporting to Israel. However, with this deal, Cairo comes closer in becoming an energy hub.

The recent signing of another agreement, this time with Nicosia to develop a subsea pipeline from Cyprus Aphrodite gas field, has been another important step. Cypriot gas will be pumped 400 miles (645 kilometers) to the south to Egypts LNG facilities. Difficult relations with Nicosias northern neighbors make a pipeline to the north highly unlikely.

Cairo has been able to act pragmatically concerning its relations with its neighbors such as Israel while taking advantage of the limited amount of options for exporting gas. The obvious winner in this context has been Egypt and its LNG industry. Its chances of becoming the regional energy hub instead of Turkey have significantly increased.

Turkeys hope for luck

All littoral states of the Eastern Mediterranean struck gold' in the shape of natural gas except for Turkey. Ankara strongly opposes the exploitation of the gas resources in the exclusive economic zone of the Republic of Cyprus without a sharing agreement with Northern Cyprus' Turkish inhabitants. The Turkish Navy prevented ships from Italys Eni from performing exploratory drilling off the coast of the Republic of Cyprus.

Related: The Dark Horse Of The Oil Price Rally

In search of its own luck, Ankara has set up a project to start looking for gas in the EEZ of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), which is only recognized by Turkey. Kudret Ozersay, TRNC deputy prime minister and minister of foreign affairs, proclaimed the desire to turn the TRNC into an energy and electricity hub. However, it seems unlikely that investors will be willing to participate due to political and legal reasons.

The legal situation of the TRNC is an impediment to any major decision involving a longtime commitment worth billions. From an international point of view, the region is de jure part of the Republic of Cyprus, despite holding no control over the region. The TRNC holds no seat in the WTO.

Large investments require solid legal and political support for companies to earn back their investments. The current economic situation of Turkey makes it dependent on foreign money. However, stringent due diligence rules could impede some international banks in lending the necessary funds.

The Eastern Mediterranean Sea basin promises great rewards, but the risks are also high. With Turkey potentially being the only country that doesnt profit from the gas bonanza, Ankara has acted aggressively to get what it regards as its fair share. However, it faces a united front from the other littoral states of the Eastern Mediterranean. Therefore, it is highly unlikely that Turkey will be able to profit in the same way as Cyprus, Egypt or Israel.

By Vanand Meliksetian for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
On August 30 the Ministry of Electricity and Energy (MoEE) announced it would be opening fresh rounds of bidding for oil and gas blocks in the first half of next year, and there are plans to launch a tender for at least one onshore block before the end of 2018.

If all goes according to plan, the MoEEs Department of Oil and Gas Planning will offer 18 onshore and 13 offshore blocks.

The bids are aimed at revitalising Myanmars energy sector, which has seen activity slowdown in recent years. The last round of exploration and production (E&P) tenders were held under the former government in 2014.

However, of the 31 blocks the MoEE intends to offer, 16 have been awarded in previous tender rounds, and the winning bidders subsequently relinquished their exploration rights. Preliminary testing was conducted on some of the blocks that were handed back by former leaseholders, which may raise doubts over their commercial viability.

A lack of E&P opportunities in recent years, along with the departure of a number of international energy companies from the local market, has been a major contributor to declining foreign direct investment (FDI). In FY 2017/18 the total value of FDI fell from $6.65bn to $5.72bn, according to the Myanmar Investment Commission.

New discovery could fuel investment appetite in offshore fields

Nonetheless, recent finds in the upstream energy segment have brought new opportunities in the countrys offshore fields to the fore.

On September 22 France-headquartered multinational energy company Total reported encouraging results from preliminary testing at the offshore Shwe Yee Htun-2 field, located approximately 100 km north-east of Pathein township. Initial appraisal of the find indicates significant natural gas reserves of commercial viability. Related: What Killed The Oil Price Rally?

Further testing on the block will be carried out to determine the extent of the deposit, since gas was found in each of the five appraisal wells, officials said.

The Shwe Yee Htun-2 field is part of the larger A6 block that has estimated reserves of up to 3trn cu feet, according to a statement by Total.

Myanmar has 53 onshore and 51 offshore blocks that have been identified as having commercially extractable reserves, and activity is currently under way at 35 onshore and 38 offshore blocks.

Production-sharing contracts revised to attract international investors

Beyond offering new prospects in oil and gas, the government is also looking to lift the requirement that overseas investors partner with a local company.

It will no longer be mandatory to join up with local firms, Daw Khin Htay, director at the state-owned Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise, said at a press conference in mid-July. This will instead be made voluntary in the future.

In the past, the authorities required that oil and gas projects be joint ventures. This was in part to ensure skills and technology transfer to the domestic energy sector, in order to better equip it for future growth. However, the requirement also diluted foreign investors holdings and revenue.

Potential leaseholders may also be encouraged by reports that the Department of Oil and Gas Planning is reviewing the terms of production-sharing contracts. According to consultancy Wood Mackenzie, some contracts mandate that the state receive up to 94% of all revenue generated from hydrocarbons projects, which is at the upper end of the international scale. Additionally, the government does not currently share the risk in exploration and development costs.

To this end, stakeholders have called for the government to reduce its share of revenue from oil and gas projects. Although this would lower state receipts from each project, the increased flexibility of energy contracts could help to increase the investment appeal of the new blocks and future offerings. However, this restructuring has yet to actually take place.

By Oxford Business Journal

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
China wants to launch a world-first man-made moon over the southwestern city of Chengdu by 2020 to help illuminate the city at night.

If the first artificial moon experiment is successful, China will launch three more moons in space in 2022, potentially saving electricity and conserving energy, China Daily reports.

The man-made moon that will be orbiting the Earth will have a reflective coating designed to deflect sunlight back to the earths surface similar to the shining of the Moon, Wu Chunfeng, head of Tian Fu New Area Science Society in Chengdu, told China Daily in an interview.

The artificial moon will actually be an illumination satellite that will complement the shining of the Moon at night. But the man-made moon is expected to be eight times brighter than the Moon, Wu told China Daily.

The brighter shining will be due to the much closer orbit at which the illumination satellite will stayaround 500 kilometers (311 miles) from Earth, compared to the average distance of the Moon to the Earth of 380,000 kilometers (236,120 miles), the scientist said.

But this is not enough to light up the entire night sky, Wu told China Daily. Its expected brightness, in the eyes of humans, is around one-fifth of normal streetlights, he noted.

The scientists behind the project expect that the artificial moon could replace some street lights in the urban area in Chengdu.

According to Wu, the city of Chengdu could save US$173 million (1.2 billion yuan) every year if its artificial moon illuminates 50 square kilometers (19 square miles) of the city.

The moon may also be turned off, if needed, the scientists expect.

However, a lot of work and testing on this man-made moon still need to be done, including in the scientific feasibility and business model departments, Wu told China Daily. There are also concerns about how a new moon hanging up in the sky would affect people and animals day and night routines, including sleep.

When the satellite is in operation, people will see only a bright star above, and not a giant moon as imagined, Wu told China Daily.



By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
" " Lilly Ledbetter speaks during the Democratic National Convention in September, 2012. Despite losing her 2007 Supreme Court case, Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, she eventually did "win" when President Barack Obama signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009. Alex Wong/Getty Images

Anyone who saw the documentary "RBG" probably remembers the assertive Alabama drawl of Lilly Ledbetter, the plaintiff in this important case of employment discrimination. Over the course of her nearly two-decade career at the Goodyear plant in Gadsden, Alabama, Ledbetter faced sexual harassment and was told by her employer that women shouldn't be working there. (Ledbetter was one of just a few female supervisors).

Because salaried employees were given or denied raises based on performance evaluations, Ledbetter believed she was being shortchanged compared to her male counterparts. Goodyear forbade employees to discuss pay, so Ledbetter didn't have solid proof of any sex-based discrimination until she received an anonymous note listing the salaries of three male managers. That's when she learned she'd been paid 40 percent less than the men with equal jobs in her division [sources: NWLC, Dvorak].

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Ledbetter filed suit after her November 1998, retirement and claimed discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits employers from discriminating against employees on the basis of sex, race, color, national origin and religion. The District Court awarded Ledbetter over $3.5 million in back pay and damages (which the judge later reduced to $360,000). But upon appeal, Goodyear argued that "the pay discrimination claim was time barred with regard to all pay decisions made before September 26, 1997  180 days before Ledbetter filed her EEOC questionnaire  and that no discriminatory act relating to her pay occurred after that date."

The Eleventh Circuit reversed the decision, agreeing that for Ledbetter's claims to hold up in court, the alleged discriminatory events would have had to occur within the 180-day-period before her filing. And while there were two pay decisions made during that period, the court felt "there was insufficient evidence to prove that Goodyear had acted with discriminatory intent" during that time [sources: AAUW, LLI].

When the case made it to the Supreme Court, the justices had to decide whether a plaintiff is allowed to bring an action under Title VII when the illegal pay discrimination they're alleging occurred outside the statutory limitations period. The court voted 5-4 to uphold the ruling that discriminatory intent must occur during the 180-day statutory period, so Ledbetter had missed her window.

Ginsburg wrote a passionate dissent, arguing that "pay disparities often occur, as they did in Ledbetter's case, in small increments; cause to suspect that discrimination is at work develops only over time. Comparative pay information, moreover, is often hidden from the employee's view. Employers may keep under wraps the pay differentials maintained among supervisors, no less the reasons for those differentials. Small initial discrepancies may not be seen as meet for a federal case, particularly when the employee, trying to succeed in a nontraditional environment, is averse to making waves" [sources: Bowman, Justia].

While the case didn't turn out as Ledbetter's supporters had hoped, it went on to make history: On Jan. 29, 2009, President Barrack Obama signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 as the first piece of legislation of his administration. The law overturned the Supreme Court's decision in Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. and states that each paycheck containing discriminatory compensation is a separate violation  no matter when that discrimination began [source: EEOC].
The United States called Friday on all sides to respect the new independence of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, wading into a religious feud that has enraged Russia. The leading authority in Orthodox Christianity, the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, last week granted the right of autonomy to the Ukrainian church, which for more than 300 years has been under Moscow's control. "The United States reiterates its strong support for religious freedom and the freedom of members of religious groups, including Ukraine's Orthodox community, to govern their religion according to their beliefs, free of outside interference," Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement. "We support Ukrainians' ability to worship as they choose and hope this will be respected by all. "Tolerance, restraint and understanding are key to ensuring that people with different religious affiliations can live and prosper together in peace," he said. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov earlier accused the United States of supporting the "provocation" led by the church's first among equals, Istanbul-based Patriarch Bartholomew I. The decision by the Ecumenical Patriarchate will likely reduce Russian influence in Ukraine, where Moscow has backed separatists in the country's east and annexed Crimea in 2014. The Russian church, whose Patriarch Kirill is a strong backer of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has broken ties with the leading Orthodox authority over the decision, which it refuses to recognize. Ukrainian leaders have been campaigning for independence for their church, but Russian church backers have described the move as a schism as significant as the 1054 split between Eastern and Western Christianity.
An albatross flying over the Indian Ocean islands of Crozet. Some will be equipped with radar beacons

Fishermen illegally trawling the Indian Ocean might soon find they have more to worry about than the proverbial albatross around their neckreal bad luck might now lurk in the form of one of the birds spying on them from the sky.

A scientific programme, designed to study the feathered giants of the air, might also help identify poaching fishing vessels, according to the Chize Biological Study Centre, a French research body which seeks to help preserve the endangered bird species.

Between November and March, 150 albatrosses, from the remote French southern Indian Ocean islands of Crozet, Kerguelen and Amsterdam, will be equiped with tiny beacons which will automatically detect radar signals put out by ships they meet at sea.

The programme known as "Ocean sentinel" and funded by the Council of Europe was first tested In South Africa early this year,

One of the main threats to the birds comes from commercial longline fishing as albatrosses seeking fish get hooked on the lines and drown, according to Henry Weimerskirch, director of research at the French centre.

The International Union for the Conservation of Nature says 18 of the 22 albatross species are threatened, some with extinction.

The beacons, weighing 70 grams (2.4 ounces) and built in cooperation with New Zealand, will be fitted to the back of the birds, thereby allowing researchers to follow them and analyse their feeding habits.

But they will also pick up radar emissions as they pass over ships.

Vessels intent on illegal fishing turn off their automatic identification system (AIS) when entering off-limit fishing grounds, so cutting themselves off from automatic satellite tracking.

But they still rely on low-level radar emissions for safety reasons and it is these that the airborne equipment will be able to pick up.

"Half the boats we detected (during tests) did not have their AIS switched on," said Weimerskirch.

With an albatross picking up signals from five kilometres (3 miles) away "we can localise a boat within half an hour of contact", and if its seeking to avoid detection pass the information on to authorities "for possible interception," he added.

Ocean Sentinel is also expected to be tested next year in New Zealand and in the Hawaiian islands.

Explore further Study reveals albatross interactions with fishing vessels in the southern ocean

 2018 AFP
9 hours ago

The TJX Companies Is Breaking Out To New Highs

The TJX Companies Is A Retailer You Can Buy Earnings from the retail sector have been robust this quarter and The TJX Companies (NYSE: TJX) is participating in the trend. The company not only reported better than expected earnings but gave an indication business trends were still advancing.

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No. 1 Chung Ying Street Director(s) Sung Kee Chiu Cast Kin Long Chan

is the latest from director Derek Chiu, a well-established figure in the Hong Kong film industry. The movie takes place during two periods of political unrest in Sha Tau Kok, a neighborhood that borders mainland China in Hong Kong's New Territories. The runtime is almost evenly split between the past and (near) future, with the same lead actors in dual roles.The first half is set in 1967, when citizens loyal to communist China are mounting protests against the British rule. Lai Wah (Fish Liew) just wants to focus on her studies, and one day move abroad, but her childhood friend Chun Mun (Yau Hawk-Sau) is involved deeply in the anti-British movement and inevitably draws her in. Meanwhile, Chi Ho (Lo Chun-Yip) is a milder, apolitcal fellow student who wants to woo Lai Wah, even if it means accompanying her all over Hong Kong on Chun Mun's impulsive trail.All three characters are familiar tropes: the loyal, suffering woman, the hotheaded, stubborn passionate youth, and the 'good guy' who never gets anywhere for being such. They resurface again for the second half of the film, which takes place in 2019.This time, Fish Liew plays Sze-wai, a woman who has just been released from prison for her involvement in the "Umbrella Revolution" of 2014. That protest was a reaction to China's wish to change Hong Kong's electoral procedure -- casting another dark shadow on Chun Mun's support of China in 1967. The other two young actors once more play the primary men in her life, one with a passion for her, the other with a passion for politics and a lack of consideration for anything else.Upon her return to the family farm, Sze-wai finds that their land has been unceremoniously sold, without the consent or knowledge of the inhabitants. They all band together to mount another protest, which may prove as ineffective as the others. But, to paraphrase one character, "if you love something, you should stop at nothing to protect it." While the film's societal implications are rather bleak and pessimistic, it always champions the spirit and courage of its protagonists and the people of Hong Kong.The film's low budget is mostly masked with gorgeous cinematography by Lai Yat-nam. It does show its seams with some of the redundant stylistic choices (e.g., an abundance of slow motion scenes that fail to be as dynamic as intended). The film also often gives in to melodrama and leans too hard on ensuring that the audience realizes a moment is tragic, when the depiction of the event should speak for itself.That said, Chiu has made a moving and genuinely educational film that examines not only some ugly truths about Hong Kong's past, but its present as well. While it may not be the most elegant cinematic experience, it has enough heart and passion to make up for it.For history buffs, or those interested in Hong Kong specifically,is a fine way to experience a chapter in time that hasn't often been illuminated. The fact that Chiu encountered some barriers in getting the film made (ten years in the making since inception) says a lot about the current state of affairs in Hong Kong, and validates the necessity of this narrative.
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October 30, 2017

Appreciating ugly sentencing realities facing Paul Manafort and Rick Gates after federal indictment

The big news in the political world this morning is the indictment of Paul Manafort, President Donald Trumps former campaign chairman, which flows from special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election. Along for the ride is another Trump campaign official, Rick Gates, who is also facing 12 federal criminal counts thanks to the work of a federal grand jury. As is my tendency, I will be content to respond to this news with a few sentencing-related observations while leaving it to others to engage in political spin and other forms of legal speculation.

The full 31-page indictment of Manafort and Gates is available via this link, and the 12 federal criminal counts facing them are conspiracy against the United States (count 1), conspiracy to launder money (count 2), failure to file required reports (counts 3 to 9), being an unregistered agent of a foreign principal (count 10), false/misleading FARA statements (count 11) and false statements (count 12). Though a number of these counts, coupled with the narrative of the defendants' actions in the indictment, can sound quite ominous, it is ultimately the money laundering count that should send a Halloween chill down the spine of Manafort and Gates (and, presumably, their defense lawyers).

The money laundering count appears to carry the highest statutory sentencing range (20 years) of all the charges. In addition, because of the large amounts of money involved in these offenses  the indictment alleges Manafort laundered $18 million  the calculated guideline range for this offense is least a decade (and likely more). In other words, if Manafort were convicted of just the money laundering allegations against him, the "starting point and the initial benchmark" for his sentencing is 10+ years in federal prison. (It is not clear from a quick review of the indictment whether the amounts involved for Gates would drive his guideline range up quite so high.)

Manafort, who is 68 years old, surely would like to avoid any prison time and he certainly does not want to risk spending the rest of his life in the federal pen. He can, of course, choose to fight all the charges at trial, but I suspect Mueller and his team only moved forward with these indictment allegations after becoming confident they could prove them all beyond a reasonable doubt. Moreover, thanks to the reality that federal judges can and often do consider "acquitted conduct" at sentencing, even an acquittal on most but not all of the counts may not significantly change these ugly sentencing realities for Manafort and Gates.

Of course, what can change these sentencing dynamics is a plea deal that locks in some favorable sentencing terms and/or a decision by the defendants to, in the language of 5K1.1 of the federal sentencing guidelines, "provide substantial assistance in the investigation or prosecution of another person who has committed an offense." Those hoping that these indictments turn up the heat on current members of Team Trump can and should relish the reality that Manafort and Gates now have strong sentencing reasons to consider providing substantial assistance in the investigation of others. What others they might have information about, and what others Mueller and his team are seeking information on, will sure keep folks inside the Beltway chattering in the coming weeks and months.

October 30, 2017 at 11:28 AM | Permalink

Comments

If Hillary committed no crime, I'm guessing Manafort and Gates were also merely "extremely reckless" and "incredibly negligent", but not criminally liable.

Posted by: Lock Herup | Oct 30, 2017 12:11:41 PM

Yes, perhaps Manafort can tell us what Lynch and Clinton were talking about on the tarmac, or how Uranium One went down. Who knows that things may come from investigating Russia?

Posted by: Fast and Furious with Abortions | Oct 30, 2017 12:18:25 PM

Charming. Another blog with descriptive comment names with the usual tone.

Posted by: Joe | Oct 30, 2017 12:31:31 PM

So the whole affair boils down to how much loyalty does 18 million purchase? Not to mention a favorable opinion from Trump for running a respectable convention. They went after the weakest link hoping to accomplish either one of two things. (1) Force Trump's hand and pardon Manafort thereby making Trump look guilty. This wins the legal battle but loses the political war. (2) Trump lets Manafort go and they hope Manafort rats him out.

So the real question is whether Manafort CAN provide assistance to the government or more precisely whether Trump wants to take the risk he can.

Posted by: Daniel | Oct 30, 2017 12:43:48 PM

Can the criminal law be used for political retaliation, especially for the result of an election? What does the solemn ABA have to say?

Standard 3-1.6 Improper Bias Prohibited

(a) The prosecutor should not manifest or exercise, by words or conduct, bias or prejudice based upon race, sex, religion, national origin, disability, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, or socioeconomic status. A prosecutor should not use other improper considerations, such as partisan or political or personal considerations, in exercising prosecutorial discretion. A prosecutor should strive to eliminate implicit biases, and act to mitigate any improper bias or prejudice when credibly informed that it exists within the scope of the prosecutors authority.

(b) A prosecutors office should be proactive in efforts to detect, investigate, and eliminate improper biases, with particular attention to historically persistent biases like race, in all of its work. A prosecutors office should regularly assess the potential for biased or unfairly disparate impacts of its policies on communities within the prosecutors jurisdiction, and eliminate those impacts that cannot be properly justified.

Posted by: David Behar | Oct 30, 2017 2:02:17 PM

@David

Manafort's indictment is an indictment for behavior that occurred BEFORE he can the Trump campaign; Trump or the presidential campaign is never mentioned in the indictment. That's interesting because even if the allegations are true that was/is not the role that Mueller was hired for. Mueller was hired to investigate Russian "meddling" in the election and so far he has not indicted anyone for that. So the only real purpose of this indictment is to get Manafort to flip under some domino theory of conspiracy. It can have no other point.

Posted by: Daniel | Oct 30, 2017 2:13:47 PM

Clemency aside, Manafort's only option is a plea deal.

Posted by: beth | Oct 30, 2017 2:54:16 PM

Beth. You are not a lawyer. I respect your opinion.

However, Mueller violated the client lawyer privilege of Manafort. Mueller should lose his law license. Any judge allowing the evidence, should be removed, and impeached.

Posted by: David Behar | Oct 30, 2017 3:14:15 PM

Daniel. Do you think that discretion would have turned to Manafort for investigation had he not been campaign director of the Trump campaign? If you do not think these matters would have been investigated, then the prosecution is retaliatory.

Let me have an hour with your personal laptop, I can send you to prison for decades and fine you $millions, just on the copyright infringements, never mind the content of your finances. If you were the campaign director of an opponent, my prosecutions would be retaliatory and unethical. Every adult can be prosecuted.

Posted by: David Behar | Oct 30, 2017 3:19:19 PM

Lost in all this rigamarole is due process. Wasn't the original warrant submitted with relation to the Trump campaign itself? If any evidence comes out that is not related to the actual investigation of criminal malfeasance with regard to Trump campaign activity, then such evidence cannot be used in conjunction with this special prosecutor, at least with regard to the original request for warrant.

Geez, I'm not even a lawyer nor do I play one on the Internet, but we are in a post-Constitutional world. I'm seeing the policies played out with regard to sex offender registry issues now being brought out to bear on the rest of the populace, just as predicted.

Posted by: Eric Knight | Oct 30, 2017 3:33:20 PM

if it's found that this offices did this kind of maddness all of them should be jailed for know less than 50 years. why because someone knew this all the time and someone should also look at michigan voteing systen to see if someone got some money to help thump win the white house this mess have to stop its not a game..

Posted by: c williams | Oct 30, 2017 4:30:24 PM

Test

Posted by: Jason Holt | Oct 30, 2017 5:57:54 PM

If Trump had some lawyers with some street, instead of Ivy indoctrinated morons, he would appoint a special prosecutor to investigate the role of Robert Mueller in the Uranium I scandal.

Posted by: David Behar | Oct 30, 2017 6:03:46 PM

original warrant submitted with relation to the Trump campaign itself?

I'm not sure what warrant you are talking about and evidence against him probably comes from various sources anyway. I'm not sure what evidence regarding investigating the former campaign manager of the Trump Administration with connections to various people involved in the investigation is "not related to the actual investigation of criminal malfeasance with regard to Trump campaign activity." Mueller broad power to investigate though if you have an actual copy of the warrant you are concerned about, it would be helpful.

Posted by: Joe | Oct 30, 2017 7:18:12 PM

Do you think Trump will put in Prison for 20 years or whatever? He is problem with tweet and attach on HC. I pray for them.... I thank God.. Safe in America.



Posted by: Donald Harmon | Oct 30, 2017 10:14:25 PM

Manafort or his lawyer should get a hold of the latest edition of Michael Levine's publication, "171 Easy Mitigating Factors." Come to think of it, 171 such factors may not be enough.

Posted by: Emily | Oct 31, 2017 12:21:15 AM

Emily. The lawyers, the filthy traitor lawyers, are advising Trump to be cool. Bannon wants to go after Mueller. I suggest a special prosecutor to investigate Mueller for his role in the Uranium One scandal.

What do you think? Give us the lawyer moron perspective.

Posted by: David Behar | Oct 31, 2017 4:54:57 AM

Behar, please explain how you got out of the straighjacket?

Posted by: Emily | Oct 31, 2017 8:33:33 AM

Eric, the scope of a warrant is different from the scope of Mueller's appointment as special prosecutor.

Not knowing the exact language of the warrant, I could easily see a warrant covering "all documents showing communications between Manafort and the Russian governments or those acting on behalf of the Russian government between March 2016 and November 2016." While the exact language of the warrant would be relevant to a motion to suppress, one issue in a motion to suppress would be the "plain view" doctrine. Under the plain view doctrine, if a law enforcement officer while properly looking for the evidence described in the warrant sees a different item -- say an e-mail to an overseas accountant giving directions on how to hide the proceeds of his work representing the Russian government -- that is evidence of a crime, the law enforcement officer who stumbles upon that item is not required to put blinders on and ignore that item.

Assuming that the item was found in plain view during a properly limited search, the question of what to do with that item would turn back to the scope of Mueller's appointment. If the terms of that appointment (not just the original terms, but any supplemental authority granted by the Deputy AG), does not include investigation of non-campaign related foreign contacts of campaign officials (and my vague understanding is that the Manafort investigation which began before he was hired as campaign manager was specifically within the scope of appointment), then that information would be forwarded to the appropriate U.S. Attorney's Office for their use in whatever charges not related to the special prosecutor's investigation were appropriate.

Posted by: tmm | Oct 31, 2017 10:33:25 AM

A.G. Rosensteins letter appointimg Muller as special counsel authorizes him to investigate not only any links and/or coordination between the Russian government and individuals associated with the campaign of President Donald Trump but also any matters that arose or may arise directly from the investigation. He is also authorized to investigate any matter covered by 28 CFR 600.4 (a) which includes the authority to investigate and prosecute federal crimes committed in the course of, and with intent to interfere with, the Special Counsel's investigation, such as perjury, obstruction of justice, destruction of evidence, and intimidation of witnesses.

Posted by: Michael R. Levine | Oct 31, 2017 1:25:33 PM

Trump cannot escape the fact that he hired Manafort as his campaign manager. He hired a corrupt money launderer and tax evader to run his campaign. So much for Trump's judgment.

Posted by: Dave from Texas | Oct 31, 2017 1:28:24 PM

Mueller needs to lose his law license for his violation of lawyer client privilege. He should have immediately returned the item upon learning of the illegality of the seizure. The entire collection during that raid is fruit of the poisoned tree, and needs to be excluded from any trial.

Posted by: David Behar | Oct 31, 2017 3:16:55 PM

Dave. He failed to fill out an onerous form. The form is illegal itself.

Posted by: David Behar | Oct 31, 2017 3:17:46 PM

Professor Levine

That elides my point. I don't have a problem with Mueller investigating anything that comes out of his investigation of Russian activity in the election; no one, I hope, expects him to turn a blind eye. But there is a difference between an investigation and an indictment. If his investigation discovered wrongdoing unrelated to Russian activity in the election the right thing to do would be for someone else to indict and try Manafort for that behavior. Muller is a special prosecutor, the DOJ can handle run of the mill crimes.

Posted by: Daniel | Oct 31, 2017 5:52:04 PM

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June 16, 2018

Paul Manifort has bail revoked ... and has not (yet) gotten rescued from jail by Prez Trump's clemency pen

As detailed in this CNN piece, a very prominent federal defendant grew the number of Americans incarcerated yesterday when he had his bail revoked and was taken immediately to jail:

Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort will await his trial for foreign lobbying charges from jail. Two weeks after special counsel Robert Mueller's prosecutors dropped new accusations of witness tampering on him, US District Judge Amy Berman Jackson on Friday revoked Manafort's bail, which had allowed him to live in his Alexandria, Virginia, apartment under house arrest. The order marked an end to almost eight months of attempts by Manafort to lighten his house arrest restrictions after he was charged and pleaded not guilty to foreign lobbying violations. "The harm in this case is harm to the administration of justice and harm to the integrity of the court's system," Berman Jackson told Manafort in court. The judge emphasized to Manafort how she could not make enough rulings to keep him from speaking improperly with witnesses, after he had used multiple text messaging apps and called a potential witness on an Italian cellphone. "This is not middle school. I can't take his cellphone," she said of Manafort. "I thought about this long and hard, Mr. Manafort. I have no appetite for this." Manafort also entered a not guilty plea to two additional charges levied against him last week, of witness tampering and conspiracy to obstruct justice. In total, he faces seven criminal charges in DC federal court. Three US marshals led Manafort out of the packed courtroom into the prisoner holding area immediately after the judge's ruling. He was not placed in handcuffs. Before he disappeared through the door, he turned toward his wife and supporters and gave a stilted wave. Minutes later, a marshal returned to give Manafort's wife, Kathleen, still standing in the courtroom's front row, his wallet, belt and the burgundy tie he wore Friday. Court marshals held Manafort in the bowels of the courthouse for several hours following the hearing as they considered how to keep him protected from other inmates behind bars. He arrived about 8 p.m. at the Northern Neck Regional Jail in Warsaw, Virginia, 90 miles south of Washington. In a tweet, President Donald Trump said the decision to revoke Manafort's bail was "tough," although he referred to it as a "sentence."

I cannot help but recall in this context the decision by Prez George W. Bush, made just under 11 years ago as reported here, to commute the entire prison sentence of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby to spare him from having to serve his 30 month prison term after his conviction in the CIA leak case. Notably, Prez Bush's clemency grant came down just a few hours after the DC Circuit refused to allow Libby to remain free on bail during the appeal of his conviction and sentence. In other words, as soon as Libby was subject to spending even an hour incarcerated, Prez Bush was moved to act to keep him free. Paul Manafort, notably, has not (yet) gotten the presidential consideration as he has now already spent one (of likely many) nights in jail without even yet having been convicted of anything.

June 16, 2018 at 12:08 PM | Permalink

Comments

@Doug Are you related to Amy Berman in any way?

While I think the underlying charges have merit I'm frankly skeptical of the witness tampering charges. The indictment made Manafort's activity sound more like standard media relations, not a threat to the justice system. Maybe this is a way to force Trump's hand so they can avoid the farce of a trial????

Posted by: Daniel | Jun 16, 2018 2:56:38 PM

This is a good idea. It sets a precedent to imprison political opponents on Trumped up charges. Two sides can play this game.

Posted by: David Behar | Jun 16, 2018 4:26:22 PM

Dan. Naturally, Judge Amy Berman Jackson is an Obama, Democratic Party attack dog. She was radicalized at Harvard Law School, and is a far left, extremist fringe, nutty feminist.

Republicans members of the Deep State will not impeach this unethical judge.

The defense lawyer collaborators with the enemies of our nation failed to demand her recusal for her extreme hate and bias.



This is a brief review of the career of this biased feminist abomination.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amy_Berman_Jackson



Posted by: David Behar | Jun 16, 2018 4:33:08 PM

"The harm in this case is harm to the administration of justice and harm to the integrity of the court's system,"

To put it as delicately and precisely as I can - What a croc of BS! There has been absolutely zero integrity (I take the word to mean intellectual honesty) in our courts and Justus System in eons, as exemplified by Mueller and this so-called judge. The judge couldn't spell integrity if you spotted her 8 of the 9 letters. She means pseudo, i.e., make believe pop integrity.

Posted by: albeed | Jun 16, 2018 10:24:34 PM

Your turn will come, Democratic Party operatives. You will be sent to prison for your misdeeds filling out forms ten years ago.

Posted by: David Behar | Jun 17, 2018 12:12:27 AM

Daniel: I am not related in any way to Amy Berman Jackson.

Posted by: Doug B | Jun 17, 2018 10:43:29 AM

Lord have mercy . . . .

Posted by: Fat Bastard | Jun 17, 2018 2:13:26 PM

It's worth keeping in mind that Scooter Libby and Paul Manafort are truly apples and oranges. Libby went through the whole investigation and trial to verdict, while Manafort is still in pretrial proceedings. More to the point, during the pendency of Scooter's case Mrs. Libby had made it clear, sotto voce, that he would flip (presumably on Cheney and maybe on Bush, too) if he were to spend even a day behind bars. The commutation of his sentence both freed him from the possibility of incarceration and managed to keep him muzzled. Had he been pardoned he would have had no Fifth Amendment (or other) privilege to keep him from being compelled to testify against his former bosses. Which is why I always thought Cheney's militating for a pardon in the waning days of the Bush administration was so much show, sound and fury signifying nothing.

Posted by: scribe | Jun 18, 2018 8:52:26 PM

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August 21, 2018

Paul Manafort found guilty of 8 of 18 counts ... and now faces real possibility of spending many years in federal prison

As the Washington Post reports here, a "jury has found former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort guilty after a three-week trial on tax and bank fraud charges  a major if not complete victory for special counsel Robert S. Mueller III as he continues to investigate the presidents associates." Here is more:

The jury convicted Manafort on eight of the 18 counts against him. The jury said it was deadlocked on the other 10. U.S. District Court Judge T.S. Ellis declared a mistrial on those other charges. Manafort was convicted on five counts of filing false tax returns, one count of not filing a required IRS form, and two bank fraud counts.... The 18 charges in the Manafort trial centered around Manaforts personal finances, and had little to do with the special counsels mandate of probing Russian interference in the 2016 election and whether any Trump associates conspired with those efforts. But the trial was the first to emerge from Muellers probe, and as such it marked a significant public test of his work. The jury deliberated for four days before announcing its verdict. Over two weeks of testimony, more than two dozen witnesses, including his former right hand man Rick Gates, as well as his former bookkeeper and accountants, testified against Manafort. They said he hid millions of dollars in foreign bank accounts that went unreported to the IRS, and then later lied to banks in order to get millions of dollars in loans. His lawyers had argued that Gates, not Manafort, was the real criminal, pointing to Gates admitted lies, theft, and infidelity. Gates pleaded guilty in February to lying to the FBI and conspiring against the United States, and has said he hopes to get a lesser prison sentence by cooperating against Manafort. Prosecutors, in turn, told the jury that the most compelling evidence in the case were the dozens of documents, many of them emails, showing Manafort oversaw the false statements to the IRS and banks. Manafort, 69, called no witnesses at all, as his lawyer argued prosecutors had failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he intended to defraud the government or banks. Manaforts lawyers repeatedly suggested their client might not have known the law. The trial featured heated arguments at times  not between the government and defense lawyers, but between U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis and prosecutors. The judge repeatedly chided prosecutors in front of the jury, though at the end of the trial he urged the panel not to consider during deliberations any opinions he may have expressed. Manafort faces a second trial in September in Washington DC, on charges that he failed to register as a lobbyist for the Ukraine government, and conspired to tamper with witnesses in that case. Manafort has been in jail since June as a result of the witness tampering charges.... Prosecutors charge that from 2010 to 2014, Manafort hid more than $15 million from the IRS  money he made as a political consultant in Ukraine. When that income ended in 2014, authorities charge Manafort lied to banks to get millions of dollars more in loans to support his extravagant lifestyle.

I speculated in this post from last year around the time of his indictment that Manifort could be looking at a decade in prison or longer following a conviction based on the large loss amounts connected to various charges. This split verdict does not change my prediction that the significant amounts of money involved here means Manafort will be facing a significant guideline range at sentencing. But his advanced age (and some of the behavior by the trial judge) leads me to think he might have a real shot at securing a below-guideline (but still substantial) sentence.

I expect some white-collar sentencing gurus might already have a sense of the guideline range that Manafort will be facing, and I will be interested to see sentencing arguments unfold in many arenas (including perhaps Twitter) in the coming weeks and months. Of course, I welcome commentors sharing their take on what they think Manafort will get and should get for his crimes.

Prior related posts:

August 21, 2018 at 05:08 PM | Permalink

Comments

Manafort's crimes disgust me. But there is also a partisan bias that also disgusts me. Manafort gets TWO trials, presumably with prison from each. Podesta got immunity. Witnesses against Manafort were threatened with hard time so they would testify against him. Hillary got an "investigation" with an exoneration letter drafted in advance. The "Justice" department agreed to destroy evidence during the investigation, and no witness in her case was charged with anything.

Lois Lerner? No charges. Michael Cohen? 46-63 months, apparently.

So, in a world in which members of both parties faced justice equally, I would have no problem with Manafort doing 7 years or so. But we don't live in such a world. I guess cut that in half because of the partisan bias. So 3.5 years, and if he gets convicted in his other trial, I'd cut that in half too, and make it concurrent. I don't like this lenience, and this is frankly a lousy compromise, but I don't see a good one.

Posted by: William Jockusch | Aug 21, 2018 8:06:37 PM

Well 2 biggees got the axe and have a pretty good sentence, maybe. We'll see if Trump commutes or does a pardon. Either way the Feds did a good job. $15,000,000 thats a wad of money and he had the resources to hide it from the IRS.

I wouldnt be a le to sleep if I did that. I would rather pay the tax and be free. Half of that should be dnough for anyone right.

Posted by: MidWestGuy | Aug 21, 2018 9:32:20 PM

To expand on that, the above was what I think he should get. I think he probably will get more.

Posted by: William Jockusch | Aug 21, 2018 9:34:38 PM

My own guess, and it is just a guess, is that Trump will not pardon him but will commute the sentence based upon his age and his service to the country (as Trump's campaign chair). There is no good argument for a full pardon because all these crimes happened before he became a Trump ally. And there is no good argument to do nothing because he is a Trump ally. So a commutation is a nice split the difference move.

Posted by: Daniel | Aug 21, 2018 9:39:32 PM

Mr. Jockush, Hillary was not indicted for any crime, much less convicted. Am I missing something?



Posted by: Dave from Texas | Aug 22, 2018 1:19:05 AM

@Dave, yes, they bent over backwards not to indict her; see here for example. https://twitchy.com/dougp-3137/2018/04/04/perfect-sharyl-attkisson-suggests-hillary-inspired-terms-for-trump-interview-with-special-counsel/

Posted by: William Jockusch | Aug 22, 2018 8:33:44 AM

As to Manafort, even though he has two trials - if the 2 cases area consolidated for sentencing - see 3D1.1, Application Note 1, they would be grouped for guideline purposes...just an FYI.

Posted by: atomicfrog | Aug 22, 2018 10:53:58 AM

He needs to consult Levine's "171 Easy Mitigating Factors." Maybe 3 or 4 will apply!

Posted by: Emily | Aug 22, 2018 11:13:42 PM

Trump will pardon Manafort--he should. Manafort is guilty as sin. He is a loathsome creature--but the reason he was prosecuted was because he was a member of the Trump campaign. That simply cannot be.

Any fair-minded person who juxtaposes how DPJ treated Clinton vs. Trump cannot help but come away with the feeling that a thumb was on the scale. That simply cannot be.

Posted by: federalist | Aug 23, 2018 7:24:36 AM

Turns out jurors were 11-1 to convict Manafort on the other 10 counts.

federalist, you say trump should pardon manafort. why doesn't he go all the way and pardon himself?

Posted by: Emily | Aug 23, 2018 10:55:06 AM

Trump wanted to drain the swamp. The problem is that he is the swamp creature.

Posted by: Dave from Texas | Aug 23, 2018 2:27:27 PM

I read somewhere that the Watergate scandal resulted in the indictment of 69 people, with trials or pleas resulting in 48 being found guilty, many of whom were top Nixon officials. So we have a ways to go, but I think we're going to make it. Go Mueller, go!!

Posted by: Harry from Vermont | Aug 23, 2018 2:30:43 PM

I am truly sorry to say that we are experiencing the most corrupt administration since that of Richard Nixon.

Posted by: anon1 | Aug 23, 2018 7:44:13 PM

I heard that Trump's next cabinet meeting will be at the visiting room of Leavenworth.

Posted by: Nancy | Aug 25, 2018 12:06:10 AM

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September 17, 2018

Paul Manafort's DC plea agreement has a calculated guideline range of 17.5 to 22 years (though he can only get 10)

In this post last year following the initial indictment of Paul Manafort in DC District Court on 12 federal criminal counts, I speculated based on the amount of money allegedly involved that Manafort's guideline range, the "starting point and the initial benchmark" for his sentencing, would surely be 10+ years in federal prison. I have just now had a chance to review a copy of Manafort's plea agreement (first discussed here), and I am intrigued to see that it confirms my (too quick) initial guideline assessment.

The full Manafort plea agreement is available at this link, and here is the final guideline range assessment: "Based upon the total offense level and the estimated criminal history category set forth above, the Office calculates your client's estimated Sentencing Guidelines range is 210 months to 262 months' imprisonment." But, of course, while the guidelines call for a range of 17.5+ years of imprisonment for Manafort, he is only in this agreement pleading guilty to two conspiracy counts that each carry a maximum sentence of five years in prison. So his prison sentence for the DC case is functionally capped at 10 years (but he could get more, I believe, at his sentencing in his Virginia case where he was convicted on 8 counts following a full trial).

The reality that his guideline range is 17.5+ years but his sentence is functionally capped t 10 years makes this subsequent (boiler plate?) sentence in the Manafort plea agreement intriguing: "Based upon the information known to the Government at the time of the signing of this Agreement, the parties further agree that a sentence within the Estimated Guidelines Range (or below) would constitute a reasonable sentence in light of all of the factors set forth in 18 U.S.C. 3553(a), should such a sentence be subject to appellate review notwithstanding the appeal waiver provided below."

Some prior related posts:

September 17, 2018 at 05:15 PM | Permalink

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September 14, 2018

Reported sentencing details in Paul Manafort's plea deal to wrap up his various federal prosecutions

Politico has this extended article with some of the details of the plea deal completed today between the federal government and Paul Manafort. Here are excerpts with an emphasis, of course, on sentencing particulars:

President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort has agreed to cooperate with special counsel Robert Mueller under a plea agreement revealed Friday. Manafort appeared in a Washington, D.C., courtroom Friday morning, looking relaxed in a suit and purple tie, to formally announce the deal. The deal dismisses deadlocked charges against Manafort from an earlier trial, but only after "successful cooperation with Muellers probe into Russian election interference and whether the Trump campaign coordinated with Moscow on its efforts. Later, U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson said Manafort is agreeing to "cooperate fully and truthfully" with the investigation. The agreement also calls for a 10-year cap on how long Manafort will be sent to prison, and for Manafort to serve time from his separate Virginia and Washington cases concurrently. But it will not release Manafort from jail, where he has been held since Mueller's team added witness tampering charges during the run-up to the longtime lobbyist's trial. Manafort addressed Jackson in a soft voice, saying I do and I understand as she asked him whether he understood what rights hes giving up. Has anybody forced you, coerced you or threatened you in any way? she asked later. No, Manafort replied, in a barely audible voice. A deputy marshal stood directly behind Manafort, a reminder that he remains in custody. Legal experts quickly spun the deal as a win for all the parties involved. Manafort gets a potentially shorter sentence and lessens his legal bills. Trump avoids several weeks of bad headlines ahead of the midterm elections about his corrupt former campaign aide. And Mueller  faced with Trump's constant claims that his probe is a witch hunt  gets to show yet again that his charges are not fabricated and can now divert resources to other elements of his Russia probe.... Trumps personal attorney Rudy Giuliani insisted the president and his lawyers were not concerned about Manafort cutting a deal. "Once again an investigation has concluded with a plea having nothing to do with President Trump or the Trump campaign," he said in a statement Friday. "The reason: the President did nothing wrong." White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders echoed those remarks in her own statement. "This had absolutely nothing to do with the President or his victorious 2016 Presidential campaign," she said. "It is totally unrelated. Prosecutors signaled the pending deal Friday morning, filing a new slimmed-down set of charges against Manafort, reining in the felony counts pending against him in D.C. from seven to just two: conspiracy against the U.S. and conspiracy to obstruct justice.... Last month, a jury in Alexandria, Virginia, convicted Manafort on eight felony charges in a tax-and-bank-fraud case also prosecuted by Muellers team. The jury deadlocked on 10 other counts, but a verdict form said the jurors were split, 11-1, in favor of conviction on those charges. Many Trump aides and advisers have said they believe the president is likely to grant Manafort a pardon on all the charges, which Trump has suggested amounted to prosecutorial overkill aimed at persuading Manafort to implicate Trump in wrongdoing in connection with the ongoing Russian investigation. The charges filed Friday morning came in a criminal information replacing the current indictment in the Washington-based case against Manafort. The new charges mean that prosecutors have agreed to drop five counts, including money laundering, failing to register as a foreign agent and making false statements. Manafort admitted to those allegations as part of the umbrella conspiracy-against-the-U.S. charge, but the individual charges and the potential prison time they carry are being dismissed. Weissmann said Manafort is admitting to all of the bank-fraud charges from the Virginia case. While that means Manafort wont face another trial over those federal charges, the admission could be critical to the issue of follow-up state charges, since bank fraud can typically be charged at the state and federal level.

Without seeing this plea agreement, it is unclear to me whether Manafort now has his sentencing exposure capped at 10 years for all of his convictions or just for those related to the second round of DC charges to which he today pleaded guilty. I presume the latter, since I am not sure a DC-based plea deal could bind the sentencing discretion of the Virginia-based judge who will be sentencing Manafort on the charges which resulted in jury convictions last month. The plea agreement could include, however, a representation by federal prosecutors that they will not seek a sentence longer than 10 years in the other part of the case (though I doubt it does).

Of course, the sentencing particulars could become academic if (when?) Prez Trump were to grant Manafort a pardon (which he could do at any time). As of this writing, I am inclined to predict that Prez Trump will commute Manafort's sentence to reduce how long he spends in prison (rather than grant a full pardon), and do so sometime after the mid-term elections. We might call this the "Libby treatment" as this is how Prez George Bush used his clemency powers to help our Scotter Libby after his perjury conviction but before he was sent to the federal penitentiary. (And if Prez Trump was clever and savvy in this arena, he could and would include a commutation for Manafort within a list of dozens or hundreds of other commutations of "regular" offenders.)

September 14, 2018 at 12:50 PM | Permalink

Comments

"Where there is smoke there is fire" could only be said by someone with no experience in American politics.

Posted by: Daniel | Sep 14, 2018 1:08:28 PM

Unless I have lost the ability to read or interpret plea agreements, that article is pretty much completely inaccurate.

Posted by: Fat Bastard | Sep 14, 2018 10:29:44 PM

Why was he wearing a suit and tie? My in-custody clients are in orange jumpsuits during their plea hearings. Is this standard for in-custody defendants in this district?

Posted by: Anon AFPD | Sep 15, 2018 12:10:30 AM

Trump only chooses "the best people." How many felons so far?

Posted by: Nancy | Sep 15, 2018 11:55:45 AM

Post a comment
Afghan election workers began counting votes on Saturday following a partial legislative ballot tarnished by scores of deadly militant attacks, technical glitches and administrative chaos. Nearly 170 people -- civilians and security forces -- were killed or wounded in election-related violence, official figures showed, and there are fears of more bloodshed when voting resumes Sunday in 401 polling centres. "Inevitable" problems with biometric verification devices, which were introduced at the eleventh hour, as well as missing voter registration lists and lack of staffing delayed or even prevented voting at those polling sites, the Independent Election Commission (IEC) told reporters. According to initial IEC figures around three million voters turned up at 4,500 polling centres. Elections have been postponed in Ghazni and Kandahar provinces. That compares with nearly nine million registered voters, though many suspect a significant number of those were based on fake identification documents that fraudsters planned to use to stuff ballot boxes. Most polling sites opened hours late after voter rolls were not delivered or teachers employed to manage the voting process failed to show up following Taliban threats to attack the ballot. There were multiple explosions across Kabul during the day. Hours before polls closed a suicide bomber blew himself up inside a polling centre in the Afghan capital, which police said killed at least 15 people and wounded 20. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast, but the Taliban said it had carried out more than 400 attacks on the "fake election" across the war-torn country. Violence also disrupted voting in the northern city of Kunduz where a senior health official told AFP three people died and 39 were wounded after more than 20 rockets rained down on the provincial capital. Eight explosions were recorded in the eastern province of Nangarhar, with two people killed and five wounded, the provincial governor's spokesman said. The interior ministry put the overall casualty toll -- including civilians and security forces -- slightly lower at 160, with 27 civilians killed and 100 wounded. There were 193 attacks across the country, which the ministry said was half the number recorded on the day of the 2014 presidential election. - 'Frustrated' voters - Despite threats of violence, voters waited for hours outside polling centres across the country. Some eventually gave up and went home without casting a ballot. University student Mohammad Alem said he felt "frustrated" after spending more than three hours trying to vote in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif, only to discover his name was not on the registration list. "There also were some problems with the biometric devices because they were already running out of charge," he said. After waiting four hours at a polling centre, Tabish Forugh tweeted he had not seen "even remotely similar... chaos" at previous elections. The parliamentary ballot is more than three years late and only the third since the fall of the Taliban in 2001. Turnout was likely affected after the militant group issued several warnings in the days leading up to the poll calling on candidates to withdraw from the race and for voters to stay home. Hundreds of people were killed or wounded in the months before the poll. The killing of a powerful police chief in the southern province of Kandahar on Thursday further eroded confidence in the ability of security forces to protect voters. Voting in Kandahar has been delayed until October 27 following the attack. Despite the risks, President Ashraf Ghani urged "every Afghan, young and old, women and men" to exercise their right to vote, after casting his ballot in Kabul. Photos posted on social media showed scores of men and women clutching their identification documents lining up outside voting centres amid a heavy security presence. A woman dressed in a burqa leaving a polling centre in Mazar-i-Sharif told AFP she had been worried about "security incidents", but decided to vote anyway. "We have to defy the violence," Hafiza, 57, said. - Crucial test - At least 10 candidates out of more than 2,500 contesting the lower-house election were killed ahead of the poll. Most of those standing are political novices, and include doctors, mullahs and journalists. Those with the deepest pockets are expected to win. The poll is seen as a crucial test for next year's presidential election and an important milestone ahead of a UN meeting in Geneva in November where Afghanistan is under pressure to show progress on "democratic processes". Preliminary results are scheduled to be released on November 10. Votes cast without biometric machines will not be counted, the IEC has said. strs-emh-us-mam-amj/amu
* Sept new home prices 0.9 pct m/m vs +1.4 pct in Aug

* Yearly growth +7.9 pct in Sept vs +7 pct in Aug

* 64 out of 70 cities post price gains vs Aug (Adds analyst comment)

BEIJING, Oct 20 (Reuters) - China's new home prices increased at a firm pace in September, supported by gains in smaller cities and showing the market remained resilient despite pressures from softer investment, a slowing economy and government curbs on the sector.

Average new home prices in China's 70 major cities rose 0.9 percent in September from a month earlier, Reuters calculated from official data published on Saturday, slower than the previous month's reading of 1.4 percent, which was the fastest growth in two years.

Compared with a year ago, however, new home prices climbed 7.9 percent, the quickest year-on-year gain since August 2017 and faster than the previous month's 7 percent rise.

Prices continued to rise despite tougher curbs designed to rein in a near-three-year real estate boom that has spilled over from megacities to the hinterland.

In a sign of continued broad-based market strength, 64 out of the 70 cities surveyed by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reported a monthly price increase for new homes, though the number was down from 67 in August.

While solid growth in the sector could cushion the impact of a vigorous multi-year government crackdown on debt and escalating trade tensions with the United States, it could also stoke fears of a bubble if prices climb aggressively.

Real estate has been one of the few bright spots in China's investment landscape, partly due to robust sales in smaller cities where a government clampdown on speculation has not been as aggressive as it has in larger cities.

Xia Dan, an analyst at Bank of Communications in Beijing, warned market expectations for property prices was moderating as the government tightened its property market controls.

"There are increasing uncertainties about the future trends in the housing market," Xia said.

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There have already been some signs of caution in the market, as authorities stepped up controls in hundreds of cities. Transactions fell sharply over the period dubbed "Golden September and Silver October", traditionally a high season for new home sales.

Prices in China's largest cities where the strictest control measures are in place, were mostly stable in September, though Guangzhou prices rose 0.4 percent on-month and 4.3 percent year-on-year.

The top price performer in September was Xian, the capital of China's northwestern Shaanxi province, whose prices rose a blistering 6.2 percent from the previous month, NBS data showed.

Official data this week showed growth in China's real estate investment eased in September while home sales fell for the first time since April, as developers dialled back expansion plans amid economic uncertainties and as additional curbs on speculative investment kicked in.

Real estate investment, which mainly focuses on residential but also includes commercial and office space, rose 8.9 percent in September from a year earlier, compared with a 9.2 percent rise in August.

Property sales by floor area fell 3.6 percent in September from a year earlier, compared with a 2.4 percent gain in August, according to Reuters calculations, the first decline since April. In year-to-date terms, property sales rose 2.9 percent in the first three quarters.

(Reporting by Elias Glenn and Jenny Su; Editing by Sam Holmes)
By John Revill and Cecile Mantovani

BERN (Reuters) - Russian spying in Switzerland is increasing, the Swiss intelligence agency said on Friday after two high-profile cases involving suspected Russian agents trying to infiltrate sites in Switzerland.

"I cannot give a lot of details about the Russian activities in Switzerland but it is clear we have more activities than before," Jean-Philippe Gaudin, director of the NDB intelligence service, told Reuters. "I cannot say how many spies, but it is significant."

Swiss authorities believe two Russian spies targeted a Swiss chemical weapons testing facility and prosecutors are also investigating a cyber attack against the offices of the World Anti-Doping Agency in Switzerland.

Gaudin said Switzerland was being targeted because it hosts many international organisations and NGOs, particularly around Geneva. Sporting organisations like the International Olympic Committee could also be targeted.

He said spying did not just involve Russians, but also agents from other countries.

"What is different today is the Russians tried to act against our sensitive infrastructure, that is a red line," he said.

The NDB said in September it had worked with British and Dutch counterparts to foil a Russian plot which, according to newspaper reports, was targeting a Swiss laboratory testing nerve agents such as Novichok. Britain says Moscow used Novichok to try to kill former Russian spy Sergei Skripal in the English city of Salisbury in March and has charged two Russian men in absentia with attempted murder.

The Russian embassy in Bern has dismissed the Swiss account as "absurd."

(Reporting by John Revill, Editing by Michael Shields and by Angus MacSwan)
U.S. National Security Advisor Bolton answers questions from reporters as Press Secretary Sanders looks on in the White House briefing room in Washington U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton answers questions from reporters in the White House briefing room in Washington, U.S., October 3, 2018. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

By Steve Holland

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump's national security adviser, John Bolton, will visit Moscow next week for talks that may include telling Russian officials that the United States plans to withdraw from the landmark Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty.

While Bolton will discuss other major topics with Russian officials, including North Korea, Ukraine and Syria, the 1987 accord between the United States and the former Soviet Union is also expected to come up.

The INF treaty, negotiated by then-President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and ratified by the U.S. Senate in 1988, required elimination of short-range and intermediate-range nuclear and conventional missiles by both countries.

The United States believes Russia is in violation of the accord. The New York Times said Bolton would tell Moscow that Washington planned to withdraw from the treaty. White House officials did not deny the report.

A senior Trump administration official said two administrations had tried to bring Russia back into compliance with the treaty.

"Despite our objections, Russia continues to produce and field prohibited cruise missiles and has ignored calls for transparency," the official said.

Withdrawing from the INF treaty could have major implications for U.S. defense policy in Asia and towards its main strategic rival there, China, with which Trump is engaged in a trade war.

China is not a party to the treaty and has invested heavily in conventional missiles as part of an anti-access/area denial strategy, while the INF has banned U.S possession of ground- launched ballistic missiles or cruise missiles of ranges between 500 and 5,500 km (311 and 3,418 miles).

"It has had major implications for Asia," said Eric Sayers, who served as an adviser to former U.S Pacific Commander Admiral Harry Harris and is now an adjunct fellow at the Centre for a New American Security.

"This will give the Pentagon and Indo-Pacific Command new conventional options to restore the military balance in the theatre," Sayers said.

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The Kremlin said Russian President Vladimir Putin planned to meet with Bolton, the RIA news agency reported. Bolton's meetings in Moscow were scheduled for Oct. 22-23, RIA said.

Bolton said on Twitter that he planned to meet with top Russian officials but did not mention Putin.

"Heading to Moscow tomorrow to meet with senior Russian leaders, including Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev, to continue discussions that began in Helsinki between our two countries," Bolton said.

Critics of Trump have accused him of being soft on Russia, and both Republicans and Democrats in the U.S. Congress are pushing for more sanctions on Moscow. Sanctions had been imposed for Russia's suspected meddling in elections in the United States and other countries, the Ukraine crisis, and allegations it was behind a nerve agent attack in Britain.

The Kremlin has denied any election interference or role in the nerve attack.

A senior administration official said Bolton will use the trip to discuss the next meeting between Trump and Putin. The two leaders may see each other in Paris at a Nov. 11 celebration of the 100th anniversary of the end of World War One.

But they may have more substantive talks on the fringes of a G-20 summit in Argentina later in November.

Trump's invitation to Putin to visit Washington still stood, the official said. Trump made the invitation in the aftermath of a summit in Helsinki in which he appeared to accept Putin's denials of interference in the 2016 U.S. election over the word of his own intelligence agencies.

While in Moscow, Bolton will emphasize the importance of maintaining sanctions against North Korea in order to keep pressure on the elimination of Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program. Russia and China have suggested easing up on sanctions.

Bolton will also travel to Azerbaijan for discussions on a range of regional issues including Iran, before continuing to Armenia and Georgia.

(Reporting by Steve Holland; Additional reporting by Tom Balmforth in Moscow and David Brunnstrom and Susan Heavey in Washington; editing by Richard Chang and Grant McCool)
Saudi Arabia admitted Saturday that critic Jamal Khashoggi was killed inside its Istanbul consulate, as world powers demanded answers and mystery surrounded the whereabouts of his body. Ankara vowed to reveal all the details of a two-week inquiry as US President DOnald Trump said he was unsatisfied with Saudi Arabia's response to the Washington Post columnist's death and the EU, Germany, France, Britain and the UN also demanded clarity. Before dawn on Saturday, Riyadh backtracked on a fortnight of denials by announcing that Khashoggi died during a "brawl" inside the consulate on October 2. It said 18 Saudis have been arrested in connection with his death and two top aides of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, as well as three other intelligence agents, have been sacked. Saudi Arabia has plunged into an international crisis over the fate of Khashoggi, who was critical of the crown prince. Turkish officials have accused Riyadh of carrying out a state-sponsored killing and dismembering the body, which police have begun hunting for in an Istanbul forest. In the latest version of events from Riyadh, Saudi Attorney General Sheikh Saud al-Mojeb said Khashoggi died after talks at the consulate degenerated into a physical altercation. "Discussions that took place between him and the persons who met him... at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul led to a brawl and a fistfight with the citizen, Jamal Khashoggi, which led to his death, may his soul rest in peace," the attorney general said in a statement. Trump said he found the explanation credible. The US president later said he was unsatisfied with the response, although he warned against scrapping a multibillion-dollar arms deal with the conservative kingdom. "It was a big first step. It was a good first step," Trump said of the sackings. "But I want to get to the answer." The Saudi king also ordered the establishment of a ministerial body under the chairmanship of the crown prince to restructure the kingdom's intelligence agency and "define its powers precisely," Saudi state media said. Key members of the crown prince's inner circle were sacked, including deputy intelligence chief Ahmad al-Assiri and royal court media adviser Saud al-Qahtani. Saudi Arabia's Gulf ally, the United Arab Emirates, welcomed the moves by the king, as did Egypt. But Khashoggi's Turkish fiancee Hatice Cengiz tweeted that her heart was "full of sorrow" over the confirmation of his death. - Turkish 'debt of honour' - The controversy has put the kingdom -- for decades a key ally in Western efforts to contain Iran -- under unprecedented pressure. It has evolved into a major crisis for Prince Mohammed, a Trump administration favourite widely known as MBS, whose image as a modernising Arab reformer has been gravely undermined. Ankara said it had a "debt of honour" to reveal what happened. "We are not accusing anyone in advance but we don't accept anything to remain covered (up)," said ruling Justice and Development Party spokesman Omer Celik. German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged "transparency from Saudi Arabia" and said that "available reports on what happened in the Istanbul consulate are insufficient." French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said many questions remained "unanswered" and insisted "they require exhaustive and diligent investigation." The EU's top diplomat Federica Mogherini called for a "continued thorough, credible and transparent investigation, shedding proper clarity on the circumstances of the killing and ensuring full accountability of all those responsible for it." UN chief Antonio Guterres stressed "the need for a prompt, thorough and transparent investigation," and "full accountability for those responsible." Britain's Foreign Office, which also has close ties to Riyadh, said it "was a terrible act and those responsible must be held to account." - Shielding crown prince - Saudi officials have roundly denied that King Salman's son, Prince Mohammed, had any involvement. But one suspect identified by Turkey was said to be a frequent companion of the young heir to the throne, three others were linked to his security detail and a fifth is a high-level forensic specialist, according to The New York Times. The decision to overhaul the intelligence apparatus and sack members of the crown prince's inner circle is designed to "distance the crown prince from the murder," said analysis firm Eurasia Group. In a recent off-the-record interview published posthumously by US magazine Newsweek, Khashoggi described the 33-year-old crown prince as "an old-fashioned tribal leader," but said he would have accepted an offer to work as his adviser. "I'm not calling for the overthrow of the regime," the one-time royal insider said. "I'm just calling for reform of the regime." Pro-government Turkish media have claimed that Khashoggi was tortured and dismembered by a Saudi hit squad, although Turkey has yet to release any official findings.
Mai Khoi, a dissident musician dubbed Vietnam's Lady Gaga, has appealed to Facebook's directors to safeguard freedom of expression as the government looks to bolster its control of the web. With 53 million users, Facebook is extremely popular in Vietnam -- where the internet has become a battleground for activists like Khoi. A controversial cybersecurity bill, due to come into effect in January, will require internet companies to remove "toxic" content and hand over user data if asked by the communist government to do so. It also requires firms to host servers in-country, which has sparked fears of further government meddling. "Protecting freedom of expression should be an official policy of Facebook, but sadly, it's not," Khoi told AFP during an interview at the city's airport. "Facebook is the only space in Vietnam where we can talk freely, express our mind freely and we can access uncensored information, and sometimes organize the peaceful protests. That's why the government is scared. So now they try to control Facebook," she said. "The crackdown is very heavy." Banned from selling her CDs and organising concerts, Khoi performs secret gigs away from the watchful eyes of police -- and is now afraid of becoming an online target. Facebook and Google have so far declined to comment on Vietnam's impending cybersecurity law, though rights groups have slammed the bill. Khoi said during Friday's meeting with Facebook, she urged the company to prevent government supporters abusing the network's community standards to silence dissidents. "Facebook said they already worked on this. But in reality, in Vietnam, many independent journalists and activists have their accounts locked and the post deleted every day," she added. Placed under informal house arrest in late 2017 after she brandished an anti-Donald Trump sign when the US president visited last year, Khoi was also banned from running in parliamentary elections a year earlier. "I think Facebook should do the right thing to show what they do is protecting freedom of expression," Khoi said.
If youve been paying attention, this is what talking about inequality looks like.

First, a contentious soundbite gets taken out of context and blown out of proportion.

Last month, this was I personally feel that a mixed class suggestion may not be very viable, said by the Indian IP student in the CNA documentary, Regardless of Class.

Following that, we, the collective public, lose our minds.

After all, it reinforces everything that anyone who has been following the inequality narrative knows by heart: students from IP streams are elitist; people who are high SES cannot empathise with people who are lower SES; the privileged are assholes.

With almost everyone having observed or experienced some version of the sentiment expressed in this soundbite, its unsurprising that it manages to dredge up visceral emotions: anger, frustration, and resentment. Underpinning these emotions, theres a heightened sense of social injustice, as though weve only just realised Singapore is not so perfect after all.

Inequality is now trending. Media platforms step in, seemingly to restore balance and nuance in the prevailing narrative. The topic is approached from a range of enlightening but emotional op-eds, revolving around why the poor make bad choices, whether meritocracy promotes elitism, and whether the education system truly acts as a social leveller.

We hope that when the buzz dies down, well be left with clear, actionable solutions to tackle inequality. But the result is glaringly different: we come away with nothing new.

We remember only the soundbite, the faces of those involved, and our collective rage for one simple reason: the entire spectacle panders to what we want to see and validates what were willing to believe.

Last month, CNA played us exactly like that.

In particular, the most controversial segment involved Senior Minister of State for the Ministry of Communications and Information, Dr Janil Puthucheary, in conversation with three students from the Integrated Programme stream, one from the Normal (Academic) stream, and two from the Normal (Technical) stream. These students were posed uncomfortable questions, such as whether they had good friends from other streams, and if they thought students from different streams should be placed in the same class.

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Through long shots capturing the downcast eyes and tense body language of the participants, the Normal stream students were cast in a sympathetic light. Contrastingly, the IP stream students came off as arrogant, elitist, and unapologetic.

Naturally, online comments expressed sympathy for the Normal students and contempt for the IP students.

In hindsight, my discomfort didnt just stem from the stark reflection of elitism displayed through mere teenagers. I also felt uneasy with the documentarys simplistic portrayal of Kareena (or the Indian IP student, as shes better known in online comments) that resulted in personal attacks against her.

I wanted to know if her comments on camera were what she really thought, given that shes young and presumably inexperienced in speaking to the media.

So I reached out.

Understandably, Kareena is cautious about speaking to the media after being featured in the documentary. Yet she was candid, even sharing what some of the other participants said. (The two other IP students declined to comment when I reached out, and I wasnt able to reach the two N(T) students in time.)

I was first surprised to learn that Aufa, depicted in the documentary as someone who merely hopes to pass all his subjects because hes been failing since Secondary One, wants to be an aerospace engineer. According to Kareena, who supports his dreams, he hopes to pursue the course in ITE and eventually in polytechnic. That information was omitted from the final cut.

Kareena also addressed the context of her viral comment, the one about how it wasnt viable for students of different streams to be in the same class.

When Dr Puthucheary asked about the feasibility of a mixed class, the N(T) students were the first to answer. Next, Dr Puthucheary asked whether they found it awkward because the group had all fallen into this awkward silence. However, no one knows if this awkward silence was caused by being in the presence of strangers in an unfamiliar studio environment, or by a supposed social divide.

After all the students agreed that it felt awkward, Kareena thought Dr Puthucheary was still expecting an answer from her about mixing different streams in one class.

She said, I answered that I didnt think a mixed class solution was very viable, because it may even increase the gap if these students feel like they cannot cope and give up completely.

Explaining her studio comments to me, Kareena added, I didnt want less academically-inclined students to struggle just because a different class pace might be unsuitable. If a classs pace is more suited to a specific demographic, students in the class might learn better. But Im not a policymaker or educationalist, so Im not very well read in these topics.

In hindsight, Kareena admitted that she could have phrased give up completely as they might struggle more. The former, she conceded, is a bit too much of a definite, absolute comment.

More importantly, she told me, I continued to say that it would take more than a mixed class to help the problem. Having programmes where students from different streams can volunteer to help each other and teach each other different things would help interaction. They can also teach us about subjects they learn that we hardly come across, like Design & Technology. Its like a peer-to-peer mentoring scheme.

She also mentioned that she used to have programmes like this in her primary school, where students would partner up to help each other.

Continuing, she said, There was this boy I was paired up with. I felt like he understood [the subjects] better as I spent more time with him than the teacher could. Even though I was only 12 and not the best teacher, I did see some a-ha moments come to him.

None of these words made it to the screen.

Instead, the average viewer remembers only the final edit: first Kareenas brief, elitist answer, then an abrupt cut to Aufas seemingly dejected face (that many have misconstrued as him tearing up).

In the CNA studio, Kareena mentioned that she has friends from Normal streams. This wasnt aired.

What was aired was her remark about how it would take a lot more effort for her to make friends from other streams. The omission of the former fact begs the question: was this meant to reinforce the impression that IP students have difficulty befriending Normal students?

The reason I said it takes more effort is because in an IP school, it is generally tougher to meet students from different streams due to the lack of opportunity, she explained.

The question was more about meeting students from different streams or educational backgrounds through school activities than personal ones. So I do have personal friends but I dont usually encounter them through school activities. I actively go out and make friends, such as online or with my neighbours.

When Dr Puthucheary asked how students felt talking to those from other streams, the N(T) students commented on the power English of those from the IP streams.

That was aired.

What wasnt aired was Kareena and Stephanie, another IP student, saying that talking to [friends from Normal streams] wasnt difficult. It was just different in a good way.

Kareena even added, A lot of people in my school talk about being conventionally successful a lot and having big ambitions. Its kinda stressful. I find it refreshing to talk to [friends from different streams] because they often have a different perspective of success and what they want. So I do appreciate talking to them whenever I get the opportunity.

And you mentioned this during the chat? I asked.

Yes, she confirmed.

Despite the flak shes gotten, Kareena doesnt blame the public for reacting the way they did. She understands that they have not seen the whole story.

At the same time, shes quite heartened by positive remarks from other strangers who have contacted her online to tell her that they hope shes okay.

I managed to contact Joey, the Chinese N(A) girl who said the Express students in her school thought the Normal students were quite stupid.

In the documentary, the students are asked about their expectations of themselves. Joey then comments that her parents dont have much expectations for her. What isnt shown is her saying that she would like to score an A for her better subjects and at least a B for the rest.

Students were also asked about their career aspirations.

Joey said she wanted to be a businesswoman to open up [her] own business. Unfortunately, the only aspiration that made it to the final cut was Kareenas goal to pursue a career in the foreign affairs.

Additionally, the documentary portrays Joey insinuating that she doesnt hang out with Express students in her school. However, I found out that Joey actually shared that shes really close to some of [her] Express friends outside. When theyre free, they would usually hang out.

All of this, as with the portions of Kareenas sharing that didnt make the final cut, were omitted. Which is a pity, because these responses would have added balance to the documentary. They would have driven home the point that the less academically inclined are not singularly defined by not being good at school.

Instead, CNA chose to edit the discussion in a way that reiterates trite stereotypes. Perhaps Joeys complete answers simply didnt align with how they thought an N(A) student should behave.

Shortly after we published our first commentary in response to Regardless of Class, a source who wanted to remain anonymous for this article reached out with information about the segment that involved Cindy Tay, the director and social worker at a Family Service Centre.

In the documentary, Cindy states that for the poor, access to resources is one thing, but knowing how to use these resources is another. One of the solutions suggested to bridge this gap involves early education and support for children from low-income families that doesnt depend on their parents marital status, work status, or socioeconomic status.

I was told that Cindy actually pushed for more government support, which didnt make it to the screen. I also learnt that while speaking off-camera, Cindy would try to share what its like on the ground and the issues that beneficiaries face, but Dr Puthucheary would quote statistics from the Ministry of Social and Family Development.

While statistics and numbers are important, Cindy and her staff are on the ground and see these issues every day. As such, they have a better grasp on the real life issues.

In particular, a salient point that didnt make it to the screen was how rental housing policies could change to assist the low-income.

Cindy talked about how these families are multi-stressed. They face a lot of issues, which are all interconnected. She mentioned rental housing lease terms being too short. Extending them or making it easier to renew would reduce the stress on families, because at least one factor [in their lives] would be constant, said our source.

Do note, however, that we were cautioned that this wasnt verbatim because filming happened months ago.

Following my conversations with the various participants, I approached both the producer and executive producer of Regardless of Class with questions about the rationale behind CNAs editing. After all, I still want to understand the original purpose of the documentary.

I questioned whether CNA was commissioned by Dr Puthucheary, OnePeople.sg, or the Ministry of Communication and Information; if participants were privy to how the final edit would portray them; whether participants had signed a consent form that allowed CNA to use their footage in any way to serve the main message.

To date, CNA hasnt responded.

In communication theory, framing suggests that how something is presented to the audience (i.e. the frame) influences the choices people make about how to process that information. Research has also shown that framing can cause audiences to deflect responsibility for solving social and political problems away from elected leaders, particularly when it comes to povertyan issue intrinsically tied to inequality.

So lets address the elephant in the room. Most of the IP students were Chinese, while both the Malays represented the N(T) stream. Some may argue that this is merely reflective of society, which is the point of a documentary.

If, however, CNA was truly serious about tackling inequality, it should have started with dismantling our internal biases. This includes understanding the power that visual media has to shift perspectives, rather than relying on lazy stereotypes to send a message.

In other words, it would have been more productive to see at least one Chinese N(T) student and one Malay IP student on screen.

Next, because Kareena is painted as a villain, the N(T) students in the same scene are inadvertently victimised. Audiences end up feeling so sorry for the N(T) students, it borders on patronising. And while sympathy is easy and not necessarily an undesired outcome, in reality, very little of this translates into adequate, lasting social and policy changes.

The villain versus victim cliche ends up implying that being privileged is a moral failing, thereby shifting the attention away from how Singapores policies may in fact have had a part in shaping inequality.

In this case, the N(T) students were also praised for being authentic with their feelings, as if their stories would be less valuable if their discomfort hadnt been as raw.

Since the documentary went live, several well-argued critiques have stated that its outright unethical for CNA to expect the disenfranchised to be vulnerable, all in return for clicks, shares, and views. And rightly sothe lives of the underprivileged are not neatly packaged lessons for the privileged to learn about inequality. Neither are the lower income responsible for educating those who are born with a silver spoon in their mouths.

For CNA to create a safe space for participants to share their stories, only to turn what they shared into a caricature of their actual lives, makes a painful mockery of the issues and underprivileged individuals that the documentary hoped to raise awareness of.

I get it. Every media outlet partakes in agenda setting, and nothing is ever completely objective since everything is inevitably filtered through a reporters personal worldview. This includes what issues to cover, what questions to ask, and what interviewees to approach.

Still, stories are messy. People rarely fit into anyones preconceived mental boxes. So when there is extra or unexpected information that doesnt click with the anticipated narrative, the responsible thing to do is to adapt the agenda.

In CNAs defence, I also understand the significance of personal anecdotes, like those featured in Regardless of Class. The media traditionally depend on interesting and relatable stories to explain abstract concepts to the layman. By humanising cold policies, the average citizen finds a reason to care about pertinent issues that affect their lives.

Yet the truth is that stories live up to their potential only when they are used responsibly and fairly. Unfortunately, the questions posed in the documentary wrestled this control from all the participants, placing the burden of carrying a national conversation on their individual experiences.

When tackling sensitive and multi-dimensional topics (like inequality) reduces participants to their visceral, emotional responses, the complexities of their perspectives are conflated into a simplified, palatable narrative thats primed for virality.

As a result, the average viewer usually fails to make logical connections between the issue and the reality that is the role of the government or the economy. For instance, the blame of inequality was squarely placed on those like Kareena, who has conveniently become the face of elitism. Such personal attacks only distract us from confronting the real causes of inequality.

If CNA wanted to have a productive conversation about inequality, the most effective way would have been to give full airtime to the marginalised. These groups are often acutely aware of their circumstances and their place in society, and know best what works for them. Their analyses about their situations are often the most insightful and detailed.

For an industry that frequently claims to give a voice to the voiceless, the media need to listen when the marginalised speak. The role of the media should be to educate and inform, and ideally, to present unadulterated versions of alternative perspectives.

Accordingly, the public must hold us accountable when the narrative around inequality becomes an orchestrated spectacle by the powerful to serve the privileged; to give the illusion of something being done.

In the wake of the documentary, many were grateful that we were finally having this uncomfortable conversationbut at the expense of those who were unwittingly thrown under the bus by how the documentary portrayed them.

As our first commentary pointed out, this can cause us to gloss over institutionalised factors that shape inequality. However, if the documentary meant to feed our resentment and sense of injustice, and not solve any problems, then it has succeeded.

I want to make this clear: doing a good thing the wrong way can turn it into a bad thing. When we dont talk about inequality the right way, we end up perpetuating myths about how things in society are the way they are.

Yes, its convenient to recycle existing views and stick with the norm, even when one has the power to change things. But when we talk about inequality this way, this isnt benign. We may think were just maintaining status quo, but were actually taking several steps back.

If youve been paying attention, this is what talking about inequality looks like.

But it doesnt have to be this way.

Have something to say? community@ricemedia.co / grace@ricemedia.co.

The post CNAs Regardless of Class Seemed Too Perfect. So We Dug Deeper. appeared first on RICE.
President Donald Trump dismissed as ridiculous a question from a female reporter who asked her about his claims that the migrants making their way to the United States are dangerous. During a roundtable with reporters, Trump answered questions about a large caravan heading to the border. Some of these people are hard criminals. Hardened criminalsnot good people, Trump said. These are some bad people coming through. These arent babies these arent little angels coming into our country.

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Reporter: "What evidence do you have that these are hardened criminals that are coming to the United States?"



Trump: "Oh, please. Please. Don't be a baby. OK?" pic.twitter.com/CpEewUIJwh  Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) October 20, 2018

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New York Times reporter Emily Cochrane asked Trump to explain himself: What evidence do you have that these are hardened criminals that are coming to the United States? Trump dismissed the question, as if the answer were obvious. Oh please. Please, dont be a baby, OK. Take a look, just take a look, look at whats happening, look at the Mexican soldiers that are laying on the ground. Take a look. These are hardenedI didnt say in all cases but in many cases these are hardened criminals. These are tough, tough people. And I dont want them in our country and neither does our country want them in our country.

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I asked President Trump what evidence he had that hardened criminals are trying to enter the country. Oh please, please, dont be a baby, was his response.  Emily Cochrane (@ESCochrane) October 20, 2018

Trump has turned the caravan that is largely made up of Hondurans into a rallying cry ahead of the midterm elections. In a tweet earlier in the week, Trump threatened to stop sending aid to Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador if their governments didnt prevent people from crossing into the United States.

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Before his death, Jamal Khashoggi was repeatedly attacked by an army of Twitter trolls that had been ordered to target him as part of a broader campaign against Saudis who were critical of the kingdom. Yet the attacks went far beyond a trolling campaign. The New York Times reveals that Saudi Arabia worked to groom a high-ranking Twitter Saudi employee to spy on user accounts. Western intelligence officilas suspected the employee used his access in the company to spy on accounts for the Saudi government. The intelligence officials warned Twitter about the employee, Ali Alzabrah, at the end of 2015.

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Twitter was surprised by the intelligence allegations and placed the employee on administrative leave. They questioned him and conducted analyses to try to figure out what he had seen, but they couldnt find any evidence that he had given information to the Saudi government. Still, Twitter fired him in December 2015. Alzabarah then returned to Saudi Arabia and now works with the Saudi government. Twitter later sent out warnings to a few dozen accounts that they may have been targeted by state-sponsored actors.

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The effort to recruit the Twitter employee exemplifies just how far the kingdom appears to be willing to go to attack critics and silence their voices on social media. At the center of that operation is a troll farm that uses group chats to distribute lists of people to attack and topics to monitor as well as pro-government messages to push on social media. The trolls also game the system by reporting critical tweet as sensitive, which leads the social network to automatically hide the posts from other users.

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NBC reported on Thursday that Twitter suspended a network of suspected Twitter bots that were pushing pro-Saudi talking points regarding Khashoggis disappearance. The network that was identified by researchers shows that the Twitter bots are getting more sophisticated to try to evade detection.

The Times piece ends with a disturbing story about the effect of a report by consultancy McKinsey & Company about how the public received a string of economic austerity measures the kingdom introduced in 2015. The report found that the Twitter coverage of the measures were much more negative and three accounts were leading the conversation. After the report was released, the man behind one of the accounts was arrested, another one said his cellphone was hacked and two of his brothers were arrested, and the third account, which was anonymous, was shut down.
Saudi Arabia made a stark turn in its narrative about what happened to Jamal Khashoggi, finally agreeing with Turkish officials who had been claiming the journalist was killed inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul.

But, according to Saudi Arabias telling, Khashoggi died during a fistfight that broke out at the consulate in an account that immediately raised doubts and skepticism because, well, it sounds pretty far-fetched. One person who seemed eager to give the kingdom the benefit of the doubt? President Donald Trump, of course. The president said he saw the explanation by Saudi Arabia as credible, calling it a good first step and a big step in clarifying what happened to Khashoggi. I think were getting close to solving a big problem, Trump said.

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According to Saudi Arabias telling of events, Khashoggi got into a discussion with people inside the consulate and a fistfight broke out that led to his death. The Saudi government said it fired five top officials and arrested 18 men in the case, including the 15 men who were sent to confront Khashoggi at the consulate. The discussions that took place with the citizen Jamal Khashoggi during his presence in the consulate of the Kingdom in Istanbul by the suspects did not go as required and developed in a negative way led to a fight and a quarrel between some of them and the citizen Jamal Khashoggi, yet the brawl aggravated to lead to his death and their attempt to conceal and cover what happened, according to the Saudi statement.

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A Saudi official tells the New York Times that an order to return Khashoggi to the kingdom was misinterpreted. Khashoggi tried to flee, the men stopped him, punches were thrown, Mr. Khashoggi screamed and one of the men put him in a chokehold, strangling him to death, the Times writes. A Saudi official told Reuters that the men were trying to keep him quiet. The men then handed the body to someone local so they dont know where it ended up, which is convenient considering that Turkish officials had claimed Khashoggi was dismembered.

Many, including several key members of Congress, immediately raised doubts about Saudi Arabias explanation. Rep. Adam Schiff, the senior Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee said that if Khashoggi was fighting inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, he was fighting for his life with people sent to capture or kill him. Schiff, who has received a detailed briefing on the killing from the CIA, said he thought the Saudi explanation was not credible. Schiff was hardly alone. Sen. Lindsey Graham wrote on Twitter: To say that I am skeptical of the new Saudi narrative about Mr. Khashoggi is an understatement.

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To say that I am skeptical of the new Saudi narrative about Mr. Khashoggi is an understatement. https://t.co/am4fraUL6H  Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) October 19, 2018

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For now, Saudi Arabias admission that Khashoggi died inside the consulate after days of vehement denials is unlikely to quell international pressure to figure out what happened. Turkey said Saturday it will never allow a cover-up in the killing and will continue its investigation. There can only be one of two possible alternatives here: eitheras many suspectthe powerful Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman was to blame or he had lost control of his inner circle, something most observers find hard to believe, writes BBCs security correspondent Frank Gardner. MBS, as he is known, has a huge following amongst young patriotic Saudis who see him as a visionary reformer. If that support were now to ebb away then the crown prince could find himself dangerously isolated at court.
Rep. Jason Lewis once mocked victims of sexual harassment on his former radio show, implying that harassment isnt worth complaining about if the victim isnt raped. In an audio clip CNN published on Friday, the Minnesota Republicanwho is up for re-election next month in a very close racesimulates the voice of a tearful woman recounting a most traumatizing experience of harassment.

The clip comes from a 2011 on-air conversation Lewis had with a woman who called in to his radio show, which was broadcast from 2009 until 2014. The topic of discussion was workplace sexual harassment allegations against thenpresidential candidate Herman Cain. I dont want to be callous here, but how traumatizing was it? Lewis asked the caller. How many women at some point in their life have a man come on to them, place their hand on their shoulder or maybe even their thigh, kiss them, and they would rather not have it happen, but is that really something thats going to be seared in your memory that youll need therapy for? Youll never get over?

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He then adopted a mocking tone of distress. It was the most traumatizing experience? Lewis said. Come on. She wasnt raped.

Lewis represents Minnesotas 2nd District, which he won by a narrow margin in 2016. The Cook Political Report currently has the competitive district leaning Democratic, and in a political moment that has seen the #MeToo movement and the sexual assault allegations against Brett Kavanaugh galvanize the urban and suburban white women Lewis needs to win over, the clip doesnt bode well for his chances at re-election.

CNNs resurfacing of Lewis response to the Cain allegations is a good reminder that Republicans have been using the same tactics to deflect claims of sexual misconduct since forever. Take the story of Christine Blasey Ford, who said Kavanaugh covered her mouth with his hand and attempted to remove her clothes and rape her. Many conservatives said that if Fords accusation were true, what Kavanaugh did wasnt all that badjust typical teenage horsing around. A roundtable of GOP operatives convened by CNN found one woman claiming that every single boy whos attended high school has done what Kavanaugh allegedly did, while another waved away the act as merely a touch. My goodness, there was no intercourse, the woman said. Thirty-six years later, shes still stuck on that?

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It wasnt just Lewis who used the Sexual harassment is no big deal defense on Cains behalf. Conservative pundits and Republican legislators took the opportunity Cains accusers presented to laugh off claims of workplace exploitation and attack the entire legal framework around workplace harassment. Sexual harassment laws make men hesitate to tell a joke to a woman and encourage any female employee who underperforms and is looking for a little green to file baseless lawsuits against innocent men for the fame and money, Cains defenders said. A writer at the National Review worried that when men pay a girl a compliment nowadays, she runs off and gets lawyered up.

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And just as Kavanaughs supporters compared themselves to Atticus Finch, Lewis said on his show that Cains accusers were right out of To Kill a Mockingbird. The comparison was only slightly more apt in Cains case, since he is black; Lewis claimed that Clarence Thomas too was victimized by a left-wing lynch mob that cast every black man as some sexual troll. Of course, unlike an actual lynch mob, those pursuing investigations into the behavior of Cain, Thomas, and Kavanaugh were concerned with rooting out sexual abuse, not inventing stories to give cover to extrajudicial killings. But the metaphor has proved lasting in right-wing politics. This week, an ad supporting a Republican congressman from Arkansas featured two voice actors meant to be caricatures of black women expressing fear that Democrats would bring back lynch mobs. When they do, the ad says, theyll target not just Kavanaugh, but also our husbands, our fathers, or our sons when a white girl lies on them. To the right, sexual harassment is both a giant lie weaponized for political gain and widespread behavior that everyone performs. Its everywhere, and its nowhere at all.
On Thursday night, President Donald Trump celebrated a violent crime. At a rally in Montana, Trump saluted Rep. Greg Gianforte, who pleaded guilty last year to assaulting a reporter. Trump mimicked Gianfortes takedown of Ben Jacobs, a Guardian correspondent who, on the final day of a special congressional election in May 2017, had tried to ask Gianforte about health care. Any guy that can do a body slam, hes my kind ofhes my guy, Trump told the applauding crowd.

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Trump looked off to the side and saw somebodyapparently Gianfortewho seemed embarrassed by his remark. Theres nothing to be embarrassed about, Trump said jovially. I had heard that he body-slammed a reporter.  And I said, Oh, this is terrible. Hes going to lose the election. Then I said, Well, wait a minute. I know Montana pretty well. I think it might help him. And it did! Trump grinned, and the crowd roared.

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Trumps praise for this assault makes a mockery of his claim, three minutes earlier, that Democrats have become the party of crime. He has a long history of encouraging violence, and hes still doing it as he defends a Saudi government that apparently murdered a journalist two weeks ago. But Trump isnt just saying its good to hurt people. Hes boasting that voters support politicians who hurt people or who endorse hurting people. Hes saying this because Gianforte won in 2017, and because Trump won in 2016 despiteor perhaps, in part, thanks tohis advocacy of violence and his admission on tape that he sexually assaulted women.

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Trump is betting that in 2018, hell win again. He thinks youll vote for Gianforte and other Republicans because you like their culture of brutality: beating up reporters and protesters, protecting Vladimir Putin, kneecapping the FBI, mocking women who report sexual assault, and separating children from their parents. If you vote Republican, or if you stay home and let Trumps supporters win, hell claim that the election of 2018, like the elections of 2017 and 2016, is a mandate for his war on morals and the rule of law.

Since Trumps election, his patterns of behaviorlying, smearing, baiting, subvertinghave worsened. Thats partly because these traits are in his nature. But its also because they havent hurt him much. Republican lawmakers have shrugged or chuckled and continued to support him. Voters have continued to elect Republicans to Congress. The first two congressmen who endorsed Trump for president are under indictment on charges of financial crimes. In their re-election ads, theyre race-baiting. And theyre winning.

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Trump believes that advocating violence and ridiculing victims are effective political tactics.

Most voters dont support thuggery. In the Montana special election, an automated poll by a Republican firm found that 9 percent of voters, after hearing about Gianfortes assault on Jacobs, switched to support the Democrat. But that wasnt enough to overcome Gianfortes lead. Many of his supporters brushed off or defended the attack. Weve watched how the press is one-sided, said one. Theres an end to everyones patience, said another. On Fox News, a veteran from Montana called Jacobs a snowflake and warned other troublemakers: You mess around, you might not be around.

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Two weeks after the attack, Public Policy Polling asked a national sample of voters, Do you think it is appropriate or inappropriate for Republican politicians to body slam members of the media? Seventy-two percent of women and 65 percent of men said it was inappropriate. But among Republicans, it was a close call: 48 percent said it was inappropriate, while 41 percent said it was appropriate. Among people who had voted for Trump, the split was almost even: 45 percent inappropriate, 42 percent appropriate.

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The poll results, like the election results, underscore two problems. First, every branch of the federal government is now controlled by a party in which a near-plurality of voters supports violence against the press. Majorities, pluralities, or near-pluralities of Republicans also support discrimination against Muslims and think whites face more discrimination than minorities do. And this is compounded by a second problem: Americans who dont support these positions arent punishing the GOP. Too many people who didnt approve of Gianfortes body slam or Trumps abuse of women voted for these candidates anyway.

In November 2016, exit pollsters asked voters, Does Donald Trumps treatment of women bother you? Half the respondents said it bothered them some, not much, or not at all, and the vast majority of these people voted for Trump. But among the other halfthose who said Trumps treatment of women bothered them a lot11 percent voted for him anyway. That made the difference. The same thing is happening now. In the latest Economist/YouGov poll, most people say Trump isnt honest or trustworthy and doesnt have the temperament to be president. Only 31 percent say hes honest and trustworthy, 18 percent say hes not hypocritical, and 11 percent say hes not arrogant. But 41 percent say theyll vote Republican for Congress. Thats just five points shy of the 46 percent who plan to vote Democratic.

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Thats why Trump celebrates violence against reporters and tells cops not to worry about banging suspects heads on police cars. Its why he jokes that I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldnt lose voters. Its why he brags that his speech at a rally two weeks ago, in which he mocked Christine Blasey Ford for not remembering details of her alleged sexual assault by Brett Kavanaugh, rescued Kavanaugh, and secured his confirmation to the Supreme Court. Trump believes that advocating violence and ridiculing victims are effective political tactics. He thinks that people who like this behavior will support Republicans and that many people who dont like itenough to decide the electionwill stay home or vote Republican anyway.

He was right in 2016. He was right in 2017. What you do on Election Day will tell him whether hes right again.
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2. Comments must not involve little more than name-calling and insulting remarks.

3. Comments must not be made by "anonymous" or "unknown".

4. Comments must not try to sneak in some free advertising for themselves (like spam).

I invite anyone who wishes to comment on this blog to do so. I enjoy the comments, whether you agree with what I have said or not. But some people want to abuse the right to comment, and since this is my blog, I have decided to lay down the following rules. If your comment violates these rules, it will not be published.
14-yr-old boy missing since Friday

A 14-year-old boy has gone missing since 10 am on Friday from local Dhunganabesi.
Fire guts house in Rukum

Property worth Rs 250 thousand was destroyed when fire gutted a house at East Rukum at 11.30 pm on Friday.
Nepal-Tibet trade hit for lack of road and other facilities

Trade with Tibet through the Tinkar transit point has come to a standstill for the past few years for lack of access road and customs office.
Issues of concern to people who live in the west: property rights, water rights, endangered species, livestock grazing, energy production, wilderness and western agriculture. Plus a few items on western history, western literature and the sport of rodeo... Frank DuBois served as the NM Secretary of Agriculture from 1988 to 2003. DuBois is a former legislative assistant to a U.S. Senator, a Deputy Assistant Secretary of Interior, and is the founder of the DuBois Rodeo Scholarship.
Mountain Shadows in Wayanad is just the place for a dreamy vacation
Three metric tonnes trash removed from Manohara, Hanumante rivers

Three metric tonnes of garbage was removed from the river on Saturday as part of the ongoing campaign of cleaning the Manohara and Hanumante rivers even during the festival period.
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.

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HANOI, Oct 19 - Tokyo Gas is interested in cooperating with Vietnams PetroVietnam Power Corp, or PV Power, to develop a natural gas-fired power project in the Southeast Asian country, PV Powers parent said on Friday.

Tokyo Gas wants to help secure long-term liquefied natural gas supplies and funds for the construction of the Nhon Trach 3 & 4 power plants in the southern province of Dong Nai, state-run Vietnam Oil and Gas Group said in a statement on its website.

It did not say if Tokyo Gas would hold a stake in the project.

Tokyo Gas did not immediately respond to a request for comment made via its website.

The statement follows a meeting between senior executives from PV Power and Tokyo Gas in Hanoi this week, PV Power said.

The two plants, with a combined capacity of 1,500 megawatts, would be operational from 2020, according to PV Power.

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A group of Vietnamese undergraduates have come up with the idea for a mobile application that gives fashion advice by matching users measurements and preferences with whats available at local clothing stores.

The idea won them second place at creative contest for university students in Ho Chi Minh City that concluded on Thursday.

The concept app, named Fashionista, allows users to input their measurements and preferred fashion styles, which are saved in its database for future reference.

Depending on the users interests and what are available at local clothing stores at any given time, the app will use an algorithm to give suggestions on what items and accessories go best together to meet their specific needs.

It will also suggest ideal places to shop for such items that will guarantee to offer the best prices, and include an e-commerce function allowing users to shop for such items online.

The concept, presented by a group of undergraduates from RMIT University in Ho Chi Minh City, won second prize at the 2018 Mastermind contest, held by the International University (IU),

Vietnam National University  Ho Chi Minh City for undergraduate students citywide.

The contest ran for four months from June to October 2018, during which participating groups pitched their ideas in front of a board of judges, including detailed strategies for human resource management, marketing, finance and call for investment.

This years contest focused on creative start-up in Industry 4.0 context, and contestants were required to present their ideas fully in English.

The champions were given a monetary reward of VND30 million (US$1,300) for their idea of applying Internet of Things into practical life.

Other ideas that made it to the final round on Thursday included an application for backpack travelers, a language-learning software, and an information system that provides support for college freshmen.

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A Ho Chi Minh City-based university has taken students by shock when it announced the timetable for the upcoming semester, with classes starting as early as 6:00 am and ending a little after ten at night.

A screenshot of the class time announcement of the University of Technology, a member of the countrys leading Vietnam National University, was posted on the schools Facebook page on October 18 and immediately sparked controversy among students.

According to the new academic schedule, there will be 17 separate class sections a day at the university, with the first one starting at six in the morning, and the last one ending at 10:10 pm.

Each period is 50 minutes long and is followed by a ten-minute break.

Classes after 6 pm will not be followed by a break so as to be able to finish the school as early as possible.

The new schedule is supposed to be implemented from the next semester.

While many students expressed strong opposition towards the new academic timetable, the schools professor claims it only benefits students.

The screenshot of the new school time

6-to-10 classes

The school did note in the timetable that the 6:00 am class and the one that starts from 9:20 pm to 10:10 pm should not be scheduled regularly.

For the earlier class times, lecturers are encouraged not to teach continuously without a break.

The screenshot of the document on the universitys Facebook page has received over 200 comments and 610 shares so far.

Many students expressed their concerns and frustration towards the new class times.

Studying from 6:00 am to 10:00 pm can only result in hospitalization, one of the comments claims.

A student named Phuong Linh expressed her doubts whether the school had even taken into consideration students needs and desires, as well as teachers thought on this.

I believe that not even a third of students and teachers would want this, she said.

Moreover, the question is whether it will be conducted like this in real life as the ten-minute break time could last much longer than expected.

Has anyone asked students what they truly want, or whether they would agree to it?

On the other hand, some students found it normal or did not seem to be concerned with the matter.

Back-up classes

Prof. Bui Hoai Thang, head of academic training with the University of Technology, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper that students used to begin their classes at 6:30 am, which was claimed to be too early, so from next semester on most students will begin the classes at 7:00 am.

However, to be prepared for special circumstances, the school still allocated class times at 6:00 am, he added.

For instance, Thang said, students of part-time programs who live in the rural area and want to finish the course quickly can take those classes.

This is well noted in the announcement, the professor said, indicating that many students have misunderstood the academic timetable and others were too quick to judge.

According to Thang, the current laws stipulate that an education institution properly register such class times as 6:00 am as it is not encouraged to be teaching at such unusual times.

Just because the University of Technology has registered to start classes at 6:00 am does not necessarily mean it will do so, he underlined.

In fact, full-time students will not start school earlier than 7:00 am, he added.

Moreover, while in previous semesters students had to be attending lectures for 6 consecutive periods, the streak will be reduced to five from the next semester on, which is why the new timetable will only benefit students, according to Thang.

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For college students in Vinh, the capital city of the north-central province of Nghe An, laptop repair and maintenance services are available free of charge during the first Sunday of every month.

Each month, Doi Cuu Ho May Tinh VinhUni , a group of generous students from the Department of Engineering and Technology at Vinh University, provides a free rescue service for laptops owned by college students from throughout the region.

The groups services are available on the first floor of the departments building at Vinh University, where dozens of college students line up on the first Sunday of the month to have their laptops fixed by the groups 20 core members.

Available offline once a month

Despite their services being offered as a charitable activity, Doi Cuu Ho May Tinh VinhUni maintains strict standards and adheres to professional procedures while servicing computers.

Their process usually involves three steps. First, the laptops are sent through an overall examination, during which they are filed and marked with a number. After that, the computers are handled by a repair group responsible for fixing bugs and issues.

Finally, the machines are checked again to ensure everything is working perfectly before they are returned to their owners.

Thanks to such a proper working process, the group guarantees high efficiency and that no laptops are lost.

At their most recent event, the group was able to process and repair 80 laptops in a single morning, with the severity of issues spanning the spectrum from simple to extremely complex, according to head of the team Hoang Ngoc Thang.

After repairing the computers, the group always provides owners with an explanation of the problem and instructions on how to avoid such problems from reoccurring.

Their usual tasks include consultation, an overall health check for the computers, reinstalling operating systems, and virus-scanning.

Most services are provided free of charge but when the component parts need to be replaced the computer owners are always offered at an affordable price as the not-for-profit Doi Cuu Ho May Tinh VinhUni does not charge any service fees.

Not only does the team come together once a month for a full day to help laptop-owners, they also provide online services, primarily consisting of private consultations, providing advice, and offering warnings to those who are not tech-savvy.

Their Facebook page, for many, is a resource used widely by students in the area who need more information about recent bugs in various operating systems, as well as for recommendations when buying new computers and other electronic devices.

Since the page is operated by university students, customers are not afraid to ask questions, receive consultation, or take recommendations, citing that it feels more like receiving help from a classmate rather than going to a business.

Even though the team operates for free, they consistently advertise where and when they will be offering their skills, as well as the specific services they provide, before they hold an offline helping session. This helps ensure that no one misses out on the opportunity.

Most recently, Doi Cuu Ho May Tinh VinhUni even started receiving registrations in advance so that those in dire need are guaranteed the service.

The registration also helps the group in allocate members to specific types of problems in order to reach the highest level of efficiency and help as many of their peers as possible.

Not only benefits the computer-owners

The group has been active in helping students since 2013, when it first began offering its services online.

During this time, the group supported the laptop-owners as fast as they possibly could, and even came to the students houses to provide offline support when necessary.

After only two months, the group began helping students at the schools campus in order to meet the increasing need.

However, at the beginning, Doi Cuu Ho May Tinh VinhUni was condemned by many computer service centers in the area, who accused the free service of hurting their businesses.

They claimed that our activity caused them to lose customers, Thang, the team leader, said.

However, after they understood what we do is only to help disadvantaged college students, and that it is only held once a month, they were less concerned.

For many students, sending their laptops to repair services is a great expense that they cannot cover with their part-time jobs.

Tran Thi Thuong, a junior at the Economy and Law Faculty of Vinh University, greatly appreciates the monthly service, as it helps her save a considerable amount of money.

Even though everyone praises the team, the members themselves are humble, saying that it benefits them just as much.

This activity is meaningful as it benefits both ourselves and others, Thang said.

Thanks to it, the members gain real-life experience, necessary skills, and knowledge related to the matter so as to be able to get a better job after graduation.

We hope to attract more members to better satisfy our customers and help more people.

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Fourteen designs of a contest were chosen and then painted along the streets of District 10 in Ho Chi Minh City to spread a message of environmental awareness and deter the posting of advertisements on old walls.

The 3D paintings, painted on the walls of worn-down buildings, were the top submissions to Khat vong thanh pho (Citys desire), a wall-painting design competition co-sponsored by the Ho Chi Minh City College Student Recreation Center and the Youth Union of Ward 10, District 10.

The two-month contest announced the 14 winners at a ceremony on October 14.

Painted walls encourage clean city living

Over 100 local youth split between 14 groups were able to transform dilapidated, dirty, and unappealing walls lining streets and alleyways in District 10 in just three days, creating a new selfie hotspot for local residents.

Before, the walls paint was peeling and advertisements were posted everywhere, said Nguyen Thi Rop, a resident of an alleyway off Su Van Hanh Street where a massive painting of two rhinos with a globe on their backs now watches over the neighborhood.

Thanks to the beautiful painting, the wall has become extremely eye-catching. Hopefully people will stop ruining it with leaflets.

Nearby , a whale bearing the message Protect our environment brightens up an alleyway, alongside a trees, flowers, and other plants to remind local residents of the need for environmental preservation.

In the alley at 655 Le Hong Phong Street, a mural designed with special paint glows at night. And it seems the addition of art to the once crumbling walls has had an immediate effect on the local residents.

Before this, the wall was ugly and dilapidated, but thanks to these youngsters effort, our neighborhood seems so much more beautiful. one of the residents said triumphantly, We are going to do our best to preserve the painting so that everyone can have the chance to enjoy it.

Environmental awareness

Tran Dang Thanh Binh, director of the Ward 10 Youth Union, believes the competition was a great opportunity for young, passionate individuals to create and display their work while interacting with others and beautifying the city.

The competition attracted many professional and amateur artists from both urban and rural areas, while the paints were sponsored by well-known brands, guaranteeing their quality and durability.

After pictures of the wall paintings were uploaded on social media, we received requests from other neighborhoods to participate in the next program, Binh said.

I hope in the future we can scale up the program to allow different areas to experience the same change. 

It also seems apparent from the images that they not only have a direct impact on beautifying the city, but also provide encouragement for people to take care of their environment and avoid littering.

We started painting the walls with pictures last year and noticed that people stopped posting advertisements immediately after, he added.

Tran Thi Kim Oanh, leader of BMT team, one of the competing teams at the competition, was proud of her groups elephant painting.

We are from the Central Highlands so we drew elephants to introduce the culture of our region to others, she explained.

Elephants are also an endangered species that needs to be protected. I hope that people will not just see the beauty of the painting, but also the importance of protecting the environment for these animals and for ourselves.

A painting of two trees with human faces was conducted by a group from Hanoi, to address the drawbacks of urbanization.

Nature provides us with lives so we have to change our habits so as not to destroy the environment, Do Thi Hong Lien, a representative of the team behind the works, said.

Urbanization is always followed by environmental problems. If we do not strongly encourage environmental protection, the consequences are unimaginable.

Children also showed their concern for the environmental by inundating Khat vong thanh pho with paintings.

The artists behind the painting

Despite her age, Ho Ngoc Lam, a sixth-grader at Nguyen Van To Junior High School, was able to develop the idea for two rhinos with a globe on their backs as a means of demonstrating the importance of environmental preservation.

Rhinos are seriously endangered animals, and where I live there are many who still litter, so I drew this picture hoping people will start taking measures to protect rhinos and the environment around us, Lam said.

Ward 10, District 10 is not the only area that has 3D paintings covering walls of old buildings. Since last summer, authorities around the city have been encouraging activities to cover streets in their area with 3D paintings as a means to beautify the areas, especially narrow alleys that may seem plain.

On some of the paintings the artists even include gentle written reminders, such as Together we admire the beautiful scenery so please do not stick any papers. It will upset the artists!

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The Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) should be at the forefront of promoting law-based multilateral cooperation and international order as well as responding to global challenges, Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said.

The government leader was addressing the second plenary session of the 12th ASEM Summit (ASEM 12) in Brussels, Belgium on Friday.

He suggested that Asia and Europe should work more closely together to deal with traditional and non-traditional challenges, maintaining peace, promoting dialogues and building trust as well as preventive diplomacy in line with international laws and common norms.

ASEM should work for more balanced economic-financial governance and make the multilateral trade system more open, transparent and inclusive while enhancing the role of the World Trade Organization in the new context, he said.

He also proposed that ASEM should lead in realizing commitments in climate change and natural disaster mitigation, sustainable management of natural resources, and food and energy security.

It is necessary to speed up the implementation of the Paris Agreement on climate change, PM Phuc said, adding that developed members of ASEM should support developing ones in accessing financial resources, technology and investment in clean energy, which enables green growth.

ASEM should exert more efforts in reducing plastic waste, a serious threat to the maritime ecosystem and oceans health, he underscored.

The PM also stressed the need to promote inclusive socio-economic cooperation, while focusing more on sustainable eradication of poverty, high quality education and human resources development in the digital era.

It is necessary to connect innovative centers and female entrepreneurs of the two continents, promoting people-to-people exchanges, he added.

Vietnam pledges increased contributions

Vietnam will increase its financial contributions to the Asia-Europe Fund from 2019, PM Phuc stated, adding SEM should share experience in inspiring innovation while assisting vulnerable groups in the society, especially women and girls, in accessing digital technology, adapting to changes and responding to risks.

Enhancing womens economic power should be an inherent subject of any national development strategies, thus fulfilling the United Nations sustainable development goals, he stressed.

PM Phuc declared in Brussels that Vietnam is striving to approve the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), ink a free trade agreement with the EU, and complete negotiations for the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership in late 2018.

Vietnam is prepared to take over chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 2020, he said, expressing his hope to receive support from ASEM members in running for a non-permanent member seat at the UN Security Council in the 2020-2021 tenure.

Affirming Vietnams interest in ASEM cooperation, the PM proposed to host the ASEM Conference in promoting inclusive socio-economic growth in Asia and Europe and another on strengthening digital economy amidst the Fourth Industrial Revolution in 2019.

PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc also held talks on Friday with his Chinese counterpart Li Keqiang on the sidelines of ASEM 12. The Vietnamese leader hailed recent improvements in bilateral ties and appreciated Chinas good intentions in promoting fields of cooperation between the countries. The Chinese PM reaffirmed that the Chinese Party and people attach great importance to friendship with Vietnam and the comprehensive cooperation between the countries. He hoped both parties can grab the opportunity to further enhance mutually beneficial cooperation in different fields, as well as resolve disputes and maintain peace and order in the East Vietnam Sea.

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Karen Lanyon, the Australian Consul General in Ho Chi Minh City, talked to Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper after she held the maiden Women in Vietnam 2018 Conference in the southern Vietnamese metropolis earlier this week.

Lanyon is a senior career officer of Australias Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Prior to her position in Ho Chi Minh City for the 2016-18 term, she served as Minister Counsellor at the Australian Embassy in Indonesia and Deputy Head of Mission in Cambodia, as well as postings to Jakarta and Singapore.

She has also served as Foreign Affairs and Trade Regional Director in Sydney, Assistant Secretary, Africa Branch and Assistant Secretary, Public Diplomacy Branch and worked extensively in APEC and ASEAN.

Lanyon holds a Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Laws from the Australian National University.

* This world cannot change if the status of women is not changed. Is that what inspires you to hold the Vietnam Women's Conference 2018 on October 15 and 16?

I agree with this statement and yes that is what inspired me to hold the Women in Vietnam 2018 Conference. The Conference is something very personal for me that I wanted to achieve while in Vietnam. I, and the Australian Government, are dedicated to gender equity and improving the lives of women and girls in Vietnam and Australia. Our countries cannot develop to their full potential if 50% of our populations are denied equal access to education, pay, career opportunities and protection from violence and exploitation.

* The public, especially the Vietnamese women, has received so much great value and great message from this conference. Why did you choose topics like How to project a winning image, Women/s health (breast cancer & material health), Human trafficking, Stopping violence against women, Women Pioneers - women in leadership and the importance of mentoring and support networks, Modern Day Taboos and How to break the silence - women's health and well-being to put on the conference this time?

These are all issues affecting women and girls in both Vietnam and Australia and often are topics that people do not wish to discuss in public. But if we do not begin national conversations and national education campaigns we cannot bring about change. I am privileged to be in a position where I can begin those public conversations and, I hope, change.

* In all the past seminars, conferences and workshops, what is the content that you are most interested in and want to touch women most? Why?

I want to give young women and girls practical skills and tools to be the best they can be in their careers and their lives. As a breast cancer survivor, I also want women to understand that cancer is not a death sentence and education and prevention can save lives. It saved mine.

* Modern Vietnamese women are always concerned about how to balance work, family and personal interests. As a active and busy female consul-general, how do you balance all of the three?

I have strong support from my friends and family but particularly my partner in life  my husband Craig. Without him I could not achieve this balance. It is a true partnership of mutual respect, and trust.

Australian Consul General in Ho Chi Minh City Karen Lanyon. Photo: Supplied

* You may have your own problems. Have you ever had a problem or a trouble that made you think that if you were a man, you would not fall into that crisis?

My father raised his three daughters to be strong and believe they could achieve anything they wanted so I have been very lucky in that regard. In my early career I was often the only women in rooms of men in suits and uniforms that was not serving tea. This has changed over the last 20 years. Despite that, we still have a long way to go.

* In your opinions, what makes Vietnamese women different?

Vietnamese women actually run Vietnam - from the board rooms to the rice fields of the country women shape Vietnam and Vietnamese families. They are unbelievably strong and resilent.

* Do you think Vietnamese women have developed/been better during your time in Vietnam?

Yes I think things have developed in a positive way and Australia will continue to support these changes through programs like Investing in Women and our other gender programs across Vietnam.

I heard during our conference that Vietnam is now above both its ASEAN neighbors and Europe and the USA in the percentage of women CEOs and board members in the private sector. That is impressive.

* What are your most desirable accomplishments when you undertake missions in Vietnam?

Vietnam was my chosen posting after Los Angeles and I am very grateful I was granted my wish. The Women in Vietnam 2018 Conference is one of my proudest achievements along with my work on breast cancer and promoting opportunities for women in education and business.

* We know that you will finish your term in Vietnam in December. How do you expect Vietnam to develop in the future?

I think the future for Vietnam is very bright. Its most precious asset is its people  particularly its women. They will ensure Vietnam reaches its true potential as a global leader.

Karen Lanyon at the Australia Day 2017. Photo: Supplied

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Legendary Bill Mr Movies Collins will tonight bow out from his 55 years as a film reviewer on television.

Foxtel has announced his last-ever hosting of Bill Collins Golden Years of Hollywood on FOX Classics, as he hands over duties to actor, writer and television critic for The Australian, Graeme Blundell.

For over 55 years Collins has introduced generations of Australians to the world of movies, becoming much-loved for his passion, detail and knowledge of classic Hollywood movie-making.

Beginning his career as a teacher and later a college lecturer, Collins moved into television in 1963 as a presenter / producer of film appreciation segments on ABCs Roundabout. Later he went on to work as a movie presenter at Nine, Seven and famously at TEN before signing with Foxtel for its launch in 1995.

For the past 23 years he has been FOX Classics resident movie critic, honoured with an Order of Australia Medal in 1987, a Logies Hall of Fame Award in 2009 and the inaugural ASTRA Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2013.

To all my fans, I want to say thank you for your support of the Golden Years of Hollywood. Thank you so much, youve brought me so much pleasure. Weve got some wonderful movies available On Demand from the Golden Years of Hollywood. I hope you continue to support and enjoy these films.

Graeme Blundell said, Its a great honour to continue the tradition of Bills foundation work on FOX Classics. Theres no doubt Bill is one of Australias best known and most loved movie presenters ever to appear on television, and its likely that hes been adored by not only your parents but your grandparents too.

His unique style, insight and passion for movies of the Golden Years of Hollywood has straddled many generations. Indeed the films from this era owe him a huge debt for keeping these wonderful classics alive over many decades.

Golden Years of Hollywood will continue to be available On Demand.

Bill Collins Golden Years of Hollywood The Long Hot Summer (1958) 8:30pm tonight on FOX Classics.
Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer. And keep your eyes glued to Bodyguard when it drops on Netflix this week.

The reputation of this series precedes it, attaining the highest BBC drama figures since 2008 and storylines that sent social media into meltdown.

Penned by the brilliant Jed Mercurio (Line of Duty) its a thrill-ride immersed in an era of terrorism, starring Richard Madden (Game of Thrones) as police protection officer David Budd.

Budd is a former and scarred Afghanistan vet, denying any PTSD, but estranged from his wife (Sophie Rundle) but remaining a doting dad to his two kids. He is also alert but not alarmed as demonstrated in an opening incident aboard a London train, which leads to a promotion protecting Home Secretary Julia Montague (Keeley Hawes).

But the two clash from the get go. Hawes is politically hard-lined, a supporter of the Iraq & Afghanistan campaigns and is planning to introduce tough legislation that deeply challenges Budd. Ever the steel-blue professional, he keeps his opinions to himself.

I dont need you to vote for me, only to protect me, says Julia.

Rest assured, maam, Ill do whats required, he replies.

As politics and protestors swirl around him, and unable to reconcile with his wife, Budd is increasingly tested. Alas, to reveal much more would be sheer spoiling, suffice to say Mercurio is a master at twists, cliffhangers and gripping tension.

In his designer suits hunky Richard Madden has never been better, the epitome of the strong, silent type, who steps up to the action plate and heats up the intensity. Keeley Hawes is perfectly cast as an aggressive politician unafraid to wield power in male-dominated circles.

Notable performances also include Gina McKee and Nina Toussaint-White as part of a diverse ensemble.

As the 6 part series progresses Mercurios conspiracy theories become dense, and occasionally tricky to follow, but it ramps up to a thrilling finale you wont see coming.

Having this on Netflix means you can binge your way through multiple episodes and like a guaranteed page-turning novel you wont want to put it down.

Bodyguard debuts Wednesday on Netflix.
Sophie Monk-hosted reality series will undergo changes in 2019 including a shift from 9GO! to Nines primary channel and a new filming location.

The first season drew bumper audiences for 9Now and Nines YouTube channel, but broadcast numbers were far more modest. That presumably makes the budget required for filming in a Spanish villa harder to justify.

But what the ITV Studios series spent in airfares was undoubtedly saved in using a camera-ready house.

The British series has used at least 2 Spanish villas so it isnt clear if Nine will remain in Europe or relocate to a Pacific setting (another Queensland coup coming?). The latter would also impact when the show may air given the warm weather requirement.

With its raunchy content, Love Island could be stripped into the post 9pm timeslot, where a loyal young audience could help stem a wider switch-off.
(Reuters) - French Connection <FCCN.L> said on Friday it has begun discussions with four interested parties regarding a sale of the British clothing retailer.

The company, which announced last week that it was reviewing all strategic options, said it has also had conversations with several other interested parties regarding its plans.

French Connection, which was founded by Chief Executive Officer and Chairman Stephen Marks in 1972, has a market capitalisation of over 51 million pounds ($67 million), according to Refinitiv Eikon data.

Once known for its provocative FCUK brand of clothes and accessories, the company has been in the red for six years. In March, it said it was close to turning profitable, adding that it would consider resuming dividend payments when it did.

French Connection said in a statement that it expects the strategic review, including the formal sale process, to conclude during the first half of 2019.

On Oct. 8, the company said it could be sold as it was reviewing its strategic options, sending its shares surging as much as 45 percent on the day.

The retailer, whose brands include its namesake French Connection, Great Plains and YMC, has struggled to differentiate itself from rivals such as Inditex's <ITX.MC> Zara, which offers a greater variety of clothes at cheaper prices.

($1 = 0.7668 pounds)

(Reporting by Sangameswaran S in Bengaluru, editing by Louise Heavens and Susan Fenton)
Sky News

The plan is expected to confirm that HS2 will be curtailed - with its eastern leg extending to Leeds cancelled - and the Northern Powerhouse trans-Pennine route scrapped despite the prime minister having publicly promised to deliver both in the last two years. In a press release that contained no details of the plan, the Department of Transport said the new plan had been drawn up "after it became clear that the full HS2 and Northern Powerhouse Rail schemes as originally proposed would not enter service until the early to mid-2040s". It said the new plans would deliver journey times "similar or faster" than the original HS2 and Manchester-Leeds schemes.
By Colin Packham

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Voting began in a Australian by-election on Saturday that could determine how long Scott Morrison's two-month-old premiership lasts, with the outcome keenly watched in the Islamic world after Morrison's brazen bid to woo Jewish voters.

Morrison, Australia's sixth prime minister in eight years, needs the ruling Liberal Party to hold onto Wentworth, an affluent Sydney harbourside constituency, to keep his centre-right coalition government's one-seat majority in parliament.

The seat was vacated by Morrison's predecessor, Malcolm Turnbull, who was ousted in August by in-fighting among Liberal lawmakers.

To boost his party's appeal in a constituency where 13 percent of voters are Jewish, Morrison proposed that Australia could follow U.S. President Donald Trump's controversial decision last December by recognising Jerusalem as Israel's capital and moving its embassy there.

Arab diplomats expressed their worries to Canberra this week, and neighbouring Indonesia, the country with the biggest Muslim population, warned that Australia was risking its trade and business relationship with the entire Islamic world.

Dave Sharma, the Liberal candidate in Wentworth, is a former Australian ambassador to Israel who is credited with first making the proposal to relocate the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

The status of Jerusalem is one of the thorniest obstacles to a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians. Israel regards all of the city, including the eastern sector that it annexed after the 1967 Middle East war, as its capital.

The Jerusalem proposal was the most controversial element of an already heated campaign. Turnbull's own son called on voters to shun the Liberal Party, while Sharma was scolded for using an unauthorised endorsement from a prominent rabbi.

Sharma's strongest rival is Kerryn Phelps, an independent candidate, who has said during campaigning that defence, trade and security implications need to be considered for any decision to be taken on Jerusalem.

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Should the government fail to win Wentworth, it will need support from independent lawmakers to survive any no confidence motions.

Two independents have already ruled out supporting the government, and others have warned Morrison that he will have to pay a hefty price for their backing.

While the gambit on Jerusalem has been welcomed by some members of Wentworth's Jewish community, the proposal has hardened the views of others.

"Im not thinking of voting Liberal anyway, but doing things like this makes me more inclined to vote Greens," said Jo Sharp, a 47-year-old resident, referring to the left-wing party.

Less than 0.5 percent of Australia's population is Jewish, while Muslims account for over 2 percent.

(Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)
MONROVIA (Reuters) - Liberia's government has launched an investigation into U.S. charity More Than Me (MTM) following allegations that a founding staff member raped several children in its care, government ministers said on Friday.

U.S. news website ProPublica last week detailed allegations that before 2014 the charity's Liberian co-founder, Macintosh Johnson, sexually assaulted at least 10 girls over several years including on MTM property. The report has sparked outrage among Liberians.

Johnson was arrested in 2014 and died of AIDS two years later in prison while awaiting re-trial for alleged rape.

MTM and MTM officials in the United States did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Friday

In a statement last week, the U.S. charity said its leadership should have recognized warning signs that Johnson was abusing children. "To all the girls who were raped by Macintosh Johnson in 2014 and before: we failed you," it said.

In a letter on its website, MTM said it would cooperate fully with the Liberian investigation, and it retained U.S. law firm McLane Middleton to conduct an external audit of the organization. It also said that when the charity learned of Johnson's crimes in 2014, the group immediately reported them to the Liberian government and took action to prevent a recurrence.

A Liberian committee representing the ministers of gender, justice, education, health, youth, labor and finance has been established to investigate the matter, said Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection Williametta Saydee Tarr on Friday.

Tarr said the committee would request the Liberian and American cell phone records of Katie Meyler, an American who founded MTM in 2008 with the stated aim of protecting vulnerable girls from sexual exploitation. Meyler did not immediately respond to a request for comment via LinkedIn.

In the letter posted on MTM's website, the group said that Meyler had taken a leave of absence and the board chairman had resigned.

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MTM now runs 19 Liberian schools with around 4,000 students and has received more than $600,000 in financing from the U.S. government, according to ProPublica.

Tarr said the committee wished to question all MTM employees. The education ministry will review the teaching credentials of MTM teachers and enact laws to set minimum requirements for expatriate teachers and principals, Tarr said.

MTM's statement last week said the Liberian education ministry was welcome to inspect its flagship academy at any time.

"The president does not take lightly to this embarrassment, which threatens and most importantly puts our children at risk," Eugene Fahngon, Liberia's deputy minister of information, told Reuters after the news conference.

Meyler's work has been praised by former Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sireaf, Bill Gates, Warren Buffett and Oprah Winfrey. In 2014, Time Magazine named her and others fighting Liberia's Ebola epidemic as its Person of the Year.

(Reporting By James Giahyue; Writing by Cooper Inveen; Editing by Aaron Ross and Cynthia Osterman)

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Swedish student who stopped deportation flight of Afghan asylum seeker to be prosecuted

Authorities in Sweden are set to prosecute a 21-year-old student who refused to sit down on a passenger plane in protest against the deportation of an Afghan asylum seeker who was also on board.

Elin Ersson single-handedly managed to stop the deportation on the 23 July flight from Gothenburg to Istanbul, due to take the 52-year-old man out of the country.

Footage of her defiant stand in defence of the Afghan man has notched up 13 million views online and earned her international praise.

But the Swedish prosecutors office announced on Friday that the activist will be charged with violations of aviation law, according to Swedish media.

Ms Ersson is accused of repeatedly refusing to obey orders from the pilot and aircraft crew.

Police have previously said passengers who do not obey a pilots commands while onboard a plane can face up to six months in jail and a fine.

She will be tried at Gothenburg district court, but no court date has yet been set.

Ms Erssons live-streamed video of the July incident showed her demanding the pilot exercise his right to refuse to take off while a deportee is on board.

Despite shouts of sit down, we want to go from those around her, some passengers began to voice their support of her protest.

I dont want a mans life to be taken away just so you dont miss a flight, Ersson said.

Passengers finally erupted in applause as the Afghan man, three security personnel and Ms Ersson were disembarked from the plane. She was later interviewed by police.

In Facebook posts written after her protest, Ms Ersson claimed no laws were broken.

Sweden has maintained a strict policy on the removal of asylum seekers.

In 2017, more than 9,000 rejected asylum seekers were ordered to leave the country by the Swedish Migration Agency.
U.S. student Lara Alqasem walks at the Ben Gurion international airport terminal in Lod, near Tel Aviv, Israel October 18, 2018 REUTERS/Dudu Bachar

Thomson Reuters

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - A U.S. student's court victory against the Israeli government's attempt to bar her from the country may prove only a short reprieve in the "battle" over a law targeting some pro-Palestinian activists, one of her lawyers said on Friday.

Lara Alqasem, 22, was allowed out of Tel Aviv airport on Thursday after Israel's Supreme Court overturned her Oct. 2 detention there on suspicion of being active in the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement - charges she denied.

The case has touched off a debate in Israel over whether democratic values were compromised by the 2017 law that bars the entry of foreigners who publicly support boycotts of Israel over its policies toward the Palestinians. Israel's government slammed the Supreme Court ruling as short-sighted.

But a lawyer for Alqasem, who is of Palestinian descent and a former president of a small local chapter of the Students for Justice in Palestine group at the University of Florida, hailed the ruling as "an incredible day for Israeli democracy".

"We're celebrating, but yesterday was an intermission and the battle goes on," the lawyer, Leora Bechor, told Reuters.

Bechor said Israeli legislators appeared poised to draft even tougher laws against suspected pro-Palestinian boycotters.

"The court decision rules that thought-policing has zero place in Israeli democracy. Unfortunately, the court decision fell on deaf ears," she said.

Alqasem, who was due to enroll for a year-long master's program at Jerusalem's Hebrew University, voiced relief, in a brief statement issued by her lawyers, at being let into Israel.

Some BDS activists say they aim to promote Palestinian rights. Others advocate Israel's elimination. Israel describes BDS as anti-Semitic.

Gilad Erdan, one of the Israeli security cabinet ministers charged with implementing the anti-boycotter law, suggested that Alqasem's studies at an Israeli university were no guarantee against future BDS activity.

Story continues

"We will examine the legal criteria in order to ensure that the original intent of the law is maintained," he tweeted in response to the Supreme Court ruling.

(Writing by Dan Williams; Editing by Gareth Jones)

See Also:
A report by the Journal of Nature has revealed that the number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites are under threat from climate change.

The report says that 49 UNESCO heritage sites located in the Mediterranean are particularly under threat from rising sea levels.

Major issues facing these coastal communities includes flooding and coastal erosion. Places like Venice could be facing a major catastrophe as the region struggles to mitigate the worst effects.

World Heritage Site status are granted for areas that are particularly important to global heritage, history and culture.
One duty that Hawaii Five-O and all the police dramas cast, crew, writers, and showrunners take very seriously is the deep honor and connection to the military, and to all those who have served and sacrificed. The week of October 19's fourth episode of Season 9 is A'ohe'kio pohaku nalo i ke alo pali (On the Slope of the Cliff, Not One Jutting Rock Is Hidden from Sight). There have been numerous touching and memorable episodes in honor of the military from the original Hawaii Five-O series run to the current long-running incarnation, and this particular episode pulsates with power and emotion from the first five minutes, and throughout the remaining episode, which transcends time.

Junior (Beulah Koale) and Jerry (Jorge Garcia) assume the duty and honor of escorting the body of a heroic fallen Staff Sgt. from Dover AFB to his family in Hawaii. Junior is perplexed as to why he was designated as the escort, and he is told that it is probably because he and officer Kaliko (Kainalu Moya) are from the same hometown. The moving honors of transporting the heros body from the hangar to the C-130 cargo plane are enough to bring tears from a turnip, much less any viewer with a loved one in the military. Through the journey, Junior and Jerry reveal their own reasons behind being compelled for this somber duty. Personal touches are added throughout, including Jorge Garcia, Jr., portraying a pallbearer.

This is the finest performance to date from Beulah Koale.

On another front, when a semi truck loaded with black sand is tailed by a traffic cop, and the driver opts to dump the contents to delay confinement, a decomposed body is part of the load, missing many parts, but most notably, both feet. Danny and Steve (Scott Caan and Alex O'Loughlin) take a boat out to find those specific body parts and find more than they bargained for, while Tani (Meaghan Rath) and Lou (Chi McBride) discover more unique details on the case.

Discuss this news on Eunomia

A matter of honor

Steve tries to convince Duke (Dennis Chun) to fight to clear his name and get his well-deserved job and reputation back during his reinstatement hearing, but the grandfather, and beloved part of the Hawaii Five-O ohana, seems resigned be content with retirement and dote on his granddaughter, who was at the core of the incident leading to his suspension.

When Steve gets on-site at the scene of the sand/body dump, there is little left to define the victim's identity. Noelani (Kimee Balmilero) identifies surgical marks on the tibia that indicate a screw was in place on the foot, which is certainly a unique marking. Steve and Danny take a high-definition imager on a boat, and Steve dives for the right feet. Danny takes the opportunity to state his case on not being included in the restaurant decisions and Dukes situation while Steve is submerged in water and cannot disagree. Steve brings up what he thinks is the only pair of feet, but these have nail polish and female shape. He has to take another dip to retrieve the male feet, one of which has that unique screw.

They realize that this case is a double homicide.

The experience of being escorts brings Juniors memories back from serving in Afghanistan when he was asked to designate his own escort. He was not only tormented by the question but by his father's spurning due to his joining the military. He eventually chose his cousin, but the pain of the gulf between father and son still lingers.

Jerry, too, feels a different kind of loss. He was inspired to serve in the military, after the tragedy of September 11, but suffered a panic attack during his recruitment interview and had to face the news that he was not military material. Junior consoled him, letting him know there were other ways to show bravery and Jerry had fulfilled those on the team.

An added pain was that he had encouraged his good friend to join the military and that friend lost his life in service. Jerry became so consumed with grief that he never attended his funeral, and saw fulfilling this duty as some measure of making amends.

Truth of life

Action fans who live for the thrilling chases of Hawaii Five-O will love the scenes at the sand processing site, where McGarrett and the perpetrator leap and fly across stairs and silos. Danny delivers a great line about ending up with three bodies and no partner. Writers Talia Gonzalez and Bisanne Masoud crafted singular components into the storyline, including the fact that when a female body is found at the site, both victims share the same name.

Lou and Tani reveal that the female is part of the Mahu culture, in which both female and male identities can be expressed and respected. A visit to a dance studio turns grim when Tani and Lou are told that the good friend and fellow teacher of the owner have been missing for weeks.

The perpetrator is revealed when an interrogation uncovers that the husband of the victim made the call about his missing wife, while on vacation with her friend in Bali, and the inexpensive hitman had first killed the wrong victim, then the right one, resulting in real prison time.

Duke visits Steve, telling him that he has reconsidered, and wants to defend himself at his reinstatement hearing. He realizes that his example may be a roadmap for his granddaughter, and he asks for Steves support, which is promised 1000%.

Junior does not realize why he was chosen as the escort until they arrive at a church near Pearl Harbor where Christopher Kaliko s parents wait.

Seeing a high school bumper sticker, his memory is triggered to a speech he gave there for an assembly encouraging enlistment in the military. A young Chris Kaliko thanks him for the inspiration. He is overcome with guilt for the loss of the officer and his part in it. Jerry urges him to see the heroism that he inspired, and how he lives that heroism out with Hawaii Five-O. He must fulfill this duty, and as he gently informs the family of the arrival of their son, he receives a letter from Christopher. The personally addressed letter states things didn't go my way, leading to this sad day but, moreover, the lasting impact of the young mans service resulted in a community of people living in freedom with their home intact. The screen goes to white for the credits as the words the greatest satisfaction of my life.

This was a job well done for Hawaii Five-O.
The Washington-based 65 public companies generated $442.5 billion for the State in 2016. They employed 1.16 million people. But after the addition of more 2 companies, 67 companies reached at more than $557.3 billion in 2017. These companies also provided 1.58 million jobs to the people from all around the world.

Saltchuk Resources is a transportation company and ranked at the top in 2013 with the estimated revenue at $2.3 billion. Darigold Inc. is a Dairy cooperative company and it was just behind with the revenue at $2.24 billion.

Saltchuk Resources Inc. and Darigold Inc. maintained their positions for the last 5 consecutive years as the largest private companies in the Washington State. Both companies are Seattle-based and generated $2.6 billion revenue for the state in 2014. They undisputedly shared the 1st position on the list.

Washington-based International Companies

Now, there are some other major companies appeared with remarkable positions and revenues. Amazon.com is one of the most popular companies. More than two-thirds of Americans have connected with this largest online retailing company. The company covers its global operations and offers a large number of products including clothing, books, electronics appliances, and many more.

The Boeing Company is also Washington State legend since 1916. It is one of the largest aerospace companies in the world. The company has produced at least 14 thousand military and commercial aircrafts. Boeing also participated in manufacturing space exploration vehicles and measureless rockets.

Microsoft has its own worth in the computing industry. You can find 95% Microsoft products in all personal computers.

A good idea became the great one as Starbucks because of one mans trip to Milan, Italy. The Starbucks successfully created an international culture of coffee after selling coffee beans at a few stores in the Northwest.

Costco presented a new and simple strategy with keeping costs low and offering the savings to its members. The company remarkably changed the retailing scenario worldwide. Costco has more than 595 stores in 8 countries.
Erica Eisen at the LRB:

The Library Cave was bricked up some time in the 11th century, for unknown reasons: perhaps to keep the books safe from invaders; or perhaps, given the large number of worn and partial texts, the chamber was less a library than a tomb for books. Locals continued to worship at the shrines, but several of the the exterior walkways connecting the ancient cave entrances collapsed, and the sand that slowly filled many of the caves severely abraded their delicate murals.

At the end of the 19th century, Wang Yuanlu, a Taoist monk, took it on himself to restore the caves. He found the cache of texts in the course of his repairwork, and in 1907 sold the Dunhuang Diamond Sutra, along with more than 9000 other objects, to the Hungarian-British archaeologist Aurel Stein, who smuggled them out of the country. Earlier plans by Chinese officials to take the librarys collection out of the caves for storage and scholarly analysis had been put on hold for lack of funds; in China, Stein is widely regarded as a thief. The sutra remains in England, housed in the British Library.

more here.
By Samuel Ssebuliba .

The Directorate of Interpol has condemned the continued brutal arrest of people in Uganda.

This comes as police still analyze a video circulating on social media showing armed men in civilian clothes manhandling an alleged suspect who has since been identified as Yusuf Kawooya.

Addressing the media in Kampala, the director Interpol Uganda Fred Yiga said that all arrests must adhere to the arresting guild lines that were released by the inspector general of police.

He said that the aspect of human rights and dignity must always be fundamental while effecting any arrest regardless of any circumstance.
Warrants sought T. Denny Sanford's email and data records

The Argus Leader and ProPublica went to court to win the release of public information.
MESA, Ariz.  President Donald Trump, seeking to frame the choices for voters in the midterm elections, said Friday that Democrats are too extreme and too dangerous to take control of Congress.

On a three-day swing out West to make his closing arguments for Republican candidates, Trump sought to hone in on immigration as one of the defining election issues this fall by falsely accusing Democrats of wanting open borders and encouraging illegal immigration.

Anybody who votes for a Democrat now is crazy, Trump said.

Rallying thousands of supporters in an Arizona aircraft hangar for GOP Senate candidate Rep. Martha McSally, Trump warned of dire consequences if her opponent, Democratic Rep. Kyrsten Sinema, is victorious.

Trump, trying to hold onto Republicans narrow 51-49 advantage in the Senate, said a vote for Sinema is dangerous because it would empower Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.

The Democrat Party has become too extreme and too dangerous to be trusted with power, he claimed.

Trump also had harsh words for Central American migrants trying to travel through Mexico and reach the U.S. border, declaring they arent little angels but hardened criminals.

Asked what evidence he had that they were hardened criminals, Trump told a reporter: Oh, please. Please. Dont be a baby.

Thousands of the migrants have fled poverty and violence in their home countries. Others are in search of work and help for their families.

Trump also claimed without evidence that Democrats want them to enter the U.S. because theyre gonna vote Democrat.

Earlier Friday, during a roundtable at Luke Air Force Base, Trump said McSally, a former Air Force colonel and combat fighter pilot, is brilliant and brave and has a very, very strange opponent.

The two congresswomen are vying for the seat of Republican Sen. Jeff Flake, who is retiring. McSally was a Trump critic in 2016 and represents a Tucson district that voted for Democrat Hillary Clinton.

McSally has now embraced the president and hopes his visit to Arizona will unite Republicans against Sinema.

Trump campaigned Thursday in Montana on behalf of GOP Senate candidate Matt Rosendale and on Saturday will visit Elko, Nevada, to support Sen. Dean Heller, considered the most vulnerable Republican incumbent this fall.
Copyright  2018 Albuquerque Journal

In efforts to combat a high rate of gun violence in the city, Albuquerque police announced plans Friday to create a Crime Gun Intelligence Center.

The center, which will be located in the police departments crime lab, will have analysts and equipment that will test guns and bullet casings to learn their unique characteristics, such as markings on a bullet that has been fired from a particular gun. That information will go into a database that will allow police to connect guns and ammo to other crimes.

Were hoping that this, especially in cases where gang members are using guns, will help us link all those cases together so we can build bigger cases, Deputy Chief Harold Medina said at the news conference.

Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller said the city will pay for the center with a $450,000 grant from the Bureau of Justice Assistance, which is part of the Department of Justice. He said the city received about half the money that it had requested and the city plans to ask the Legislature to contribute additional money to the project.

The grant says that within two years Albuquerque will have an Electronic Gunshot Detection System. Those systems are placed at locations around the city and direct police to a specific location if there is a gunshot within a square mile or farther. That allows police to respond more quickly to shootings and hopefully find shell casings or catch suspects, which could result in fewer gun crimes, according to the project description on the grant notification.

Police have said most gun crimes are committed by and against people who are involved in drugs and gangs, in addition to domestic violence cases.

Medina said the intent of the gun intelligence center is to allow police to better connect particular guns to multiple crimes throughout the city. That, Medina said, might allow police to better target criminal networks, like gangs.

There is more than one way guns are impacting the community. We know theres a nexus to domestic violence  and we know there are gang members using guns, Medina said. Were hoping that (the Crime Gun Intelligence Center), especially in cases where gang members are using guns, will help us link all those cases together so we can build bigger cases.

The new center was announced during a press conference where Keller also gave a quarterly update on city crime statistics, this time covering the first nine months of 2018.

The good news, Keller said, is that the city is seeing a decrease in most crimes.

The unfortunate news for everyone is that when it comes to violent crime we still have, of course, lots of challenges, and the progress there has been much, much slower, Keller said. This is the really hard stuff. Its going to take years. It is going to be a long road to fix this.

Non-fatal shootings are the only major crime that increased this year compared to last. There have were 377 non-fatal shootings through the end of September compared with 331 in the same time last year, so that crime has ticked up 14 percent.

Homicide statistics have changed little since 2017, when the city saw a record-number of murders. There were 54 homicides through the first nine months of the year, compared to 57 last year.

Last month, police officials said that nearly 80 percent of the citys homicides were committed with a firearm.

There were 760 fewer robberies in the first nine months of 2018 compared to the same nine months in 2017, a 34 percent decrease. Likewise, there were 1,653 fewer automobile thefts so far this year compared to last, according to the most recent crime statistics. Thats a 28 percent decrease.

Auto burglary  when a thief breaks into a car to steal items out of it  is down 27 percent. There were 9,848 reported cases in the first nine months of 2017 and 7,181 this year.
Hard-working families in our state are drowning. Families should never have to choose between buying healthy groceries and paying their utility bills, but they do. Kids should be focusing on their work instead of their grumbling stomachs during school, but they cannot help it when their hard-working parents can only provide one meal a day. Workers should not have to take out payday loans for exorbitant fees to afford back-to-school supplies for their kids. Ive heard too many devastating stories about the challenges that New Mexicos minimum-wage workers face, and I believe that hard-working New Mexicans deserve better.

A minimum wage increase is long overdue  it hasnt been raised in almost a decade. As prices increase, purchasing power erodes, and families find themselves sinking deeper into dire straits. Our $7.50 minimum wage is now worth just $6.30. Economic insecurity is pervasive in our state. In fact, 31 percent of workers who are paid an hourly wage in New Mexico earn low wages  or less than $12 an hour. Nearly a quarter of a million low-wage workers are not only trying to stay afloat when it comes to paying basic living expenses, they are trying to stay afloat with the added weight of other challenges that can accompany economic security, including lack of health care, toxic stress, unsafe neighborhoods, and food and job insecurity. When workers and families suffer, local economies suffer. In order for our state to be a nourishing and attractive environment where children and businesses can thrive, families need to be economically secure so they have the ability to invest in their futures.

My recent report, New Mexicans are Worth More: Raising the States Minimum Wage, highlights the impacts of incrementally increasing the state minimum wage to $12 by 2022, protecting workers by prohibiting training wages, and giving counties and cities the freedom to raise their minimum wages even higher. If the Legislature enacted such a proposal, $204.8 million a year would be added to the paychecks of New Mexican workers. This achievable policy reform will lessen poverty across the state and offer low-wage workers a few more dollars to support themselves and their families.

Most of the workers  65 percent  who would benefit are over the age of 25. About half of the low-wage workers in the state are Hispanic. Women disproportionately work in low-paying service occupations, and these women, who may work as caretakers or early childhood educators, will greatly benefit from a wage increase.

Local economies will reap the benefits, as well. Minimum-wage increases help small businesses: multiple studies highlight that in both rural and urban communities, wage increases improve employment. Research shows that when employees are paid higher wages, they are more productive. Minimum-wage increases also correlate with heightened morale, decreased absenteeism and fewer lost sales. And when families and individuals are earning more, they can spend more money at local businesses, leading to increased tax revenue. Research shows this impact is especially evident in rural economies, where consumer demand is often weaker.

New Mexicos workers are resilient fighters. They have worked tirelessly to tread water for years while watching countless nearby states increase their minimum wages to better protect workers and improve economies. There is no better time for us to help our community members plant their feet on the ground so they can support the people and places they care so deeply about. Its time for the Legislature to fight for low-wage workers in the same way that these low-wage workers have been fighting to provide a bright future for their families. Lets show New Mexicans that they are worth more than $7.50 by increasing the state minimum wage to $12 by 2022, then continuing the fight until the minimum wage becomes a living wage.

Sarah Hyde worked as a research and policy analyst for New Mexico Voices for Children over the summer.
For the first time in nearly 50 years a Chicago police officer has been convicted of murder after shooting to death a civilian while on duty. It took a while, but officer Jason Van Dyke was found guilty of second-degree murder and 16 counts of aggravated battery, one count for each of the 16 bullets he pumped into teenager Laquan McDonald back in 2014. Van Dyke is white, McDonald was black.

The shooting took place in an isolated area while several other Chicago Police Department officers watched. But the public was kept in the dark because the dash camera video of the incident was kept secret for more than a year. When a judge finally ordered it released, everyone who saw the young mans final moments were shocked. He seemed to be slowly dancing and twirling in the street holding a three-inch pocket knife and not, as cops claimed, lunging at armed officers who had him surrounded.

Youd think that since Van Dyke has now been convicted the case would be over. It is not. In a move law enforcement across the country is closely watching, three officers who witnessed the shooting are to be tried next month for covering up the truth.

Officer Joseph Walsh, who was Van Dykes partner the night of the shooting, officer Thomas Gaffney and Detective David March each face charges of lying to investigators about the threat the teenager posed that night. In addition, four other members of Chicagos police department face disciplinary dismissal hearings for withholding information. At least four more resigned before charges could be brought against them.

The mostly white jury decided McDonalds death was murder. Future juries will decide the punishment for those accused of lying to protect one of their own.

Anyone who wears a badge is  or should be  worried about the publics perception of what they do. In minority communities it doesnt matter what color skin the officer has; it is the uniform they automatically distrust. The continuous stream of police shootings of unarmed civilians, mostly men of color, have left many fearing the police instead of trusting them to protect their neighborhood. That isnt good for anyone involved.

The only way this attitude changes is for the traditional blue wall of silence to crumble  completely and permanently. Officers can no longer follow the unwritten rule against reporting a colleagues misconduct or crimes. Officers need to know that if they look the other way, feign ignorance or out-and-out lie to protect a fellow cop they will face prosecution and loss of their jobs, benefits and pension.

Over the years the trend had been against convicting police officers who had taken a life while on duty. Guess how many officers were found guilty of murder or manslaughter in 2016? None. And none were found guilty in 2015 or 2014 either. Judges and juries believed the officer when he or she said they really did fear for their life when they pulled the trigger.

But now the tide may be changing. In Dallas last month, white officer Roy Oliver was found guilty of murder for shooting into a car that he felt was aiming to hit his partner. A black high school freshman, Jordan Edwards, 15, was sitting in the passenger seat as the car left a party and was struck and killed by one of Olivers bullets. At trial Olivers colleague jumped the blue wall of silence and testified he did not believe the car posed a danger and he never felt the need to pull his gun. Oliver was sentenced to 15 years in prison.

Will the members of Chicagos police department ignore the age-old dictum that one cop cannot possibly testify against another? With the video tape of Laquan McDonalds death now public, how can they possibly stick to their original story that he was lunging at police?

Bottom line: cops gotta step up on this. This blue silence is, in reality, a stepping stone to community distrust. Lie to protect one of your own, plant a gun, tamper with a body camera, and you run the risk of becoming an even bigger target out on the street. One earns respect through honesty and acts of integrity, not by covering up for one another.

Regular readers of this column understand I am most frequently filled with praise for uniformed men and women who put their lives on the line to keep the rest of us safe. Everyone realizes the potential dangers officers face every single day. But with police officers shooting and killing an average 1,000 civilians every year, statistics tell us there have to be some questionable cases. And those cases deserve honest, straightforward testimony so justice can prevail.

Diane@DianeDimond.com.
Trailblazer is one way to describe Mary Lynn Roper.

The journalist has seen a series of firsts during her 41-year career in New Mexico.

She was the first female co-anchor in New Mexico.

Not to mention she was the first female news director in New Mexico.

And lets not forget, her roles as corporate officer and TV general manager in Albuquerque.

At 6 p.m. Sunday, KOAT will air a one-hour special celebrating Ropers legendary career. Roper announced earlier this year that she is retiring this fall.

Whew, what a run it has been. New Mexicans have been so kind and supportive of me, said Roper, KOAT president and general manager. I am so grateful for the viewers, advertisers and such talented employees who have joined me in the 41-year journey at KOAT-TV.

The program is full of extended interviews with Roper on the state of news and journalism today, her love for New Mexico and her incredible tenure and legacy.

Its been an incredible privilege to work alongside and learn from Mary Lynns decades of experience in broadcasting. Its been fascinating to hear her perspective on the biggest stories from then and now, said Greg Shepperd, KOAT news director. This special broadcast gives us an opportunity to share Mary Lynns riveting experiences with the viewers who have been so gracious to let us into their homes each night.

The special will also be available to view at KOAT.com.

KOAT President and General Manager Mary Lynn Roper is the subject of an hour-long documentary airing on KOAT.

On TV

Celebrating 40+ years with Mary Lynn will air at 6 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 21, on KOAT-TV, Channel 7.
Copyright  2018 Albuquerque Journal

SANTA FE  The issue of whether the new managers of Los Alamos National Laboratory will pay state taxes remains unsettled, even as Triad National Security LLC is set to take over the lab on Nov. 1.

While Triad officials have stated publicly that they will pay New Mexico gross receipts taxes, Los Alamos County Manager Harry Burgess said he has learned that the federal government is pushing Triad to apply to the Internal Revenue Service for 501(c)3 nonprofit status, which would make the new lab management group tax-exempt.

Los Alamos County would lose $20 million a year  40 percent of its general fund budget  without its share of lab GRT, said Burgess. Citing a legislative study, he said state government would lose $25 million.

Smaller amounts of GRT from lab purchases go to other local governments and entities like the North Central Regional Transit Districts regional bus service.

Triad consists of the University of California, Texas A&M and Ohio-based scientific nonprofit Battelle Memorial Institute and is organized as a limited liability company.

Earlier this year, Triad won the bidding to take over the $2.5 billion annual LANL operating contract from the current contractor, private consortium Los Alamos National Security (LANS), which includes the University of California and the Bechtel corporation. LANS has paid state taxes during its tenure that started in 2006.

Over the summer, New Mexico state government denied tax-exempt status for Triad.

On Thursday, a Triad spokesperson reiterated: The NM State Department of Taxation and Revenue has indicated that Triad is liable for gross receipts tax in response to a request for ruling from Triad. Accordingly we will be paying the State taxes required under NM State law.

But thats not the whole story, according to Burgess.

He said that he and other Los Alamos County officials went to Washington, D.C., in September and discussed the matter with Lisa E. Gordon-Hagerty, administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration, the semiautonomous wing of the Department of Energy that runs the nations weapons labs.

Burgess said Gordon-Hagerty and her staff cited procurement regulations requiring that any eligible cost savings in federal contracts should be pursued. It was expressed to us from the director herself that meant they (Triad) would have to go after 501(c)3 status, he said in a verbal report to the Los Alamos County Council at a recent meeting.

In effect, GRT paid by LANLs operators would be a pass-through of federal dollars to pay state taxes.

Burgess also said Triad officials have confirmed that theyve been asked to pursue nonprofit status from the IRS, but that Triad is undertaking a legal review before doing so.

Its unclear what the future may hold, Burgess said.

He says the most ominous issue facing his county is the prospect of having to refund tax dollars if Triad starts paying GRT when it takes over the lab Nov. 1, but then applies for and wins tax-exempt status down the line. If the application process takes a year, we could be on the hook for some $20 million, Burgess said.

There is case law that says entities that achieve 501(c)3 status should get a refund on taxes paid from the date they apply to become nonprofit, according to Burgess.

That means that Los Alamos County must start ratholing money to be prepared for a refund, he said. In essence that would mean some sort of cuts in spending for county operations, he said.

The possibility of a refund would also negatively affect the countys bond rating, Burgess told the County Council.

Councilor Christine Chandler said Triads leadership has had very positive interactions with the county but are in a bit of box because Triad has to take direction from NNSA. She said the federal agency doesnt have the same appreciation or sympathy for what the host city must provide in the way of infrastructure and other resources to support the lab. Chandler also said she was disappointed that NNSA has not been terribly forthcoming or collaborative.

Burgess told the Journal that LANL would be the only one of 17 national lab sites that doesnt pay local taxes like the GRT.

In response to Journal questions about whether NNSA was pushing Triad to apply for nonprofit status, an agency spokesman provided this statement: NNSA is focused on making the transition from LANS to Triad a success. We are mindful of the concerns expressed by County leadership regarding the Gross Receipts Tax issue and will look at the issue once transition is complete and Triad is operating Los Alamos National Laboratory.

Earlier this year, with the possibility that a public university or other nonprofit could take over LANL under a new management contract, the Legislature passed a bill that would apply GRT to any nonprofit in charge of the lab. Gov. Susana Martinez vetoed the measure.

In her veto message, the governor acknowledged potential revenue loss as a concern, but said the loss will be less than what it is claimed to be; if the prime contractor (at LANL) is a nonprofit, then the subcontractors become taxable, She also called the bill yet another piecemeal attempt at tax reform instead of the comprehensive reform package she supported.

Burgess said that both the Legislative Finance Committee staff and Los Alamos County came up with similar numbers for tax losses if the lab doesnt pay GRT and he has not seen how any lower estimate might have been arrived at. He said the county based its estimate in part on how GRT revenues went up after the private LANS consortium started paying the tax when it took over the lab in 2006 after decades of management by the University of California, which didnt pay GRT.




By Jung Da-min







North Korea's party mouthpiece Rodong Sinmun's Monday edition highlighted conflicts surrounding a joint gas pipeline project between Germany and Russia, supporting Russia's argument that European countries should approve the project.







In a relatively toned-down editorial titled "Complex contradictions surrounding 'Nord Stream 2,'" the newspaper said the American attempt to sanction countries involved in the project was aimed at replacing Russian gas with the U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG).







The editorial came out two days after the DPRK Information Committee, the North Korean government's organization committed to state-level public relations, began a rare trip to the U.K., France and Hong Kong.







These moves are seen as North Korea's efforts to raise its voice in international diplomacy, strengthening its ties with other countries as well as traditional close alliances with Russia and China to fight back against U.S. sanctions.







The North Korean newspaper also criticized the "double standards" of European countries that opposed the Russia-Europe joint project.







"Friction has been widening between Europe and the U.S. due to U.S additional tariffs on steel and aluminum, but Europe is not even trying to shift to active cooperation with Russia," Rodong said.







Nord Stream 2 is a project to build a new pipeline alongside an existing one to double the amount of gas directly transferred to Germany from Russia  from up to 55 billion cubic meters to 110 billion cubic meters a year.







Russia's state-run gas company Gazprom is leading the project, working with companies from France, Austria, the Netherlands and Germany.


ELKO, Nevada  President Donald Trump said Saturday he will exit a landmark arms control agreement the United States signed with the former Soviet Union, saying that Russia is violating the pact and its preventing the U.S. from developing new weapons.

The 1987 pact, which helps protect the security of the U.S. and its allies in Europe and the Far East, prohibits the United States and Russia from possessing, producing or test-flying a ground-launched cruise missile with a range of 300 to 3,400 miles.

Russia has violated the agreement. They have been violating it for many years, Trump said after a rally in Elko, Nevada. And were not going to let them violate a nuclear agreement and go out and do weapons and were not allowed to.

The agreement has constrained the U.S. from developing new weapons, but America will begin developing them unless Russia and China agree not to possess or develop the weapons, Trump said. China is not currently party to the pact.

Well have to develop those weapons, unless Russia comes to us and China comes to us and they all come to us and say lets really get smart and lets none of us develop those weapons, but if Russias doing it and if Chinas doing it, and were adhering to the agreement, thats unacceptable, he said.

National Security Adviser John Bolton was headed Saturday to Russia, Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia. His first stop is Moscow, where hell meet with Russian leaders, including Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev. His visit comes at a time when Moscow-Washington relations also remain frosty over the Ukrainian crisis, the war in Syria and allegations of Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential race and upcoming U.S. midterm elections.

There was no immediate comment from the Kremlin or the Russian Foreign Ministry on Trumps announcement.

Trump didnt provide details about violations, but in 2017, White House national security officials said Russia had deployed a cruise missile in violation of the treaty. Earlier, the Obama administration accused the Russians of violating the pact by developing and testing a prohibited cruise missile. Russia has repeatedly denied that it has violated the treaty and has accused the United States of not being in compliance.

Defense Secretary James Mattis has previously suggested that a Trump administration proposal to add a sea-launched cruise missile to Americas nuclear arsenal could provide the U.S. with leverage to try to convince Russia to come back in line on the arms treaty.

Russias Foreign Ministry said in February that the country would only consider using nuclear weapons in response to an attack involving nuclear or other weapons of mass destruction, or in response to a non-nuclear assault that endangered the survival of the Russian nation.

We are slowly slipping back to the situation of cold war as it was at the end of the Soviet Union, with quite similar consequences, but now it could be worse because (Russian President Vladimir) Putin belongs to a generation that had no war under its belt, said Dmitry Oreshkin, an independent Russian political analyst. These people arent as much fearful of a war as people of Brezhnevs epoch. They think if they threaten the West properly, it gets scared.

Trumps decision could be controversial with European allies and others who see value in the treaty, said Steven Pifer, a former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine and now a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution who focuses on nuclear arms control.

Once the United States withdraws from the treaty, there is no reason for Russia to even pretend it is observing the limits, he wrote in a post on the organizations website. Moscow will be free to deploy the 9M729 cruise missile, and an intermediate-range ballistic missile if it wants, without any restraint.

U.S. officials have previously alleged that Russia violated the treaty by deliberately deploying a land-based cruise missile in order to pose a threat to NATO. Russia has claimed that U.S. missile defenses violate the pact.

In the past, the Obama administration worked to convince Moscow to respect the INF treaty but made little progress.

If they get smart and if others get smart and they say lets not develop these horrible nuclear weapons, I would be extremely happy with that, but as long as somebodys violating the agreement, were not going to be the only ones to adhere to it, Trump said.

___

Balsamo reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Deb Riechmann in Washington and Tanya Titova and James Heintz in Moscow contributed to this report.
UPDATE 11:24 a.m Thursday, Nov. 1, 2018 - Anthony Hatcher, 44, turned himself into deputies.

He was wanted for trying to break into property, and police also found stolen guns in his home.

---

PALERMO, Calif. - Deputies from the Butte County Sheriff's Office (BCSO) are searching for a man in connection with a find of firearms, body armor and silencers in Palermo.

At 10:30 p.m. on the night of Thursday, Oct. 18, 2018 deputies responded to a report of a disturbance in the 200 block of Refuge Avenue in Palermo.

According to the BCSO, Anthony Hatcher, age 44, was at the residence trying to gain entrance. They said that he is a wanted man.

When deputies responded, Hatcher was no longer there. They continued to investigate.

A search warrant was obtained and served on an adjacent property. A Mac 10 and an AK-47 were located. In addition to the assault weapons, there were 18 other firearms seized. Two of the firearms had been reported as stolen.

In addition to those firearms, deputies say they found body armor and silencers. The items were found in a fifth wheel trailer and a boat on the property.

During the investigation deputies learned Hatcher was the person who was living in the fifth wheel trailer, but they said he was not there on the property when the search warrant was served.

Now investigators and deputies are actively searching for him. Anyone with information about Hatcher's location is asked to call 9-1-1 and make a report. Hatcher is considered armed and dangerous.
College Plus Students in the Mains'l program paid a visit to the Action News Now Studios in Chico Friday to learn more about television news broadcasting, and to watch the Noon News with Linda Watkins-Bennett and Hayley Watts in for Cort Clopping doing weather.

The students enjoy various field trips on what are called "Fun Fridays".

College Plus is a support group for Northern California college students with developmental disabilities ... associated with the umbrella of the Far Northern Regional Center.

The group was fun and enthusiastic and loved getting their moment in the spotlight!
ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) - The Latest on federal cases involving former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort (all times local):

2:15 p.m.

Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort has a February sentencing date on fraud charges after appearing in a Virginia courtroom in a green jail jumpsuit and a wheelchair for a post-trial hearing.

A judge on Friday set Feb. 8 for sentencing of Manafort, who was convicted of tax and bank fraud charges.

As expected, the judge also dismissed 10 remaining counts against Manafort that had deadlocked the jury at his trial earlier this year.

Manafort was wheeled in and out of the courtroom, wearing a jumpsuit that said "ALEXANDRIA INMATE."

His lawyer, Kevin Downing, said Manafort is suffering "significant issues" with his health at the Alexandria jail, and he requested an expedited sentencing so that Manafort could be moved from the jail.

Manafort is now cooperating with prosecutors and that had been delaying his sentencing date. But Judge T.S. Ellis expressed concerns about any further delay of the sentencing.

___

1:10 p.m.

Special counsel prosecutors and attorneys for Paul Manafort are releasing several years of the former Trump campaign chairman's tax returns that were at the center of his criminal trial.

The document release Friday comes after The Associated Press requested access to the documents and an attorney acting for the wire service and other news outlets got involved.

The documents were admitted into evidence during Manafort's trial and several portions were read aloud, but special counsel Robert Mueller's office had withheld them.

Prosecutors say Manafort falsified the documents, leaving off millions in income. A jury convicted Manafort of eight felony counts of filing false tax returns, failing to report foreign bank accounts and bank fraud.

He has since pleaded guilty in a second criminal case and is cooperating with Mueller's Russia investigation.

___

6:15 a.m.

Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort is due back in a Virginia courtroom to decide whether he will be sentenced on fraud charges before or after he completes his cooperation with prosecutors.

Manafort was convicted in federal court in Alexandria on tax- and bank-fraud charges largely unconnected to his work on the Trump campaign.

After his conviction, Manafort struck a plea deal on separate charges in the District of Columbia and agreed to cooperate with special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation.

Prosecutors had wanted to delay Manafort's sentencing until his cooperation was complete, but Virginia Judge T.S. Ellis expressed concerns about the delay and scheduled a hearing for Friday afternoon.

Manafort will appear in court in a prison jumpsuit; the judge denied a request he be allowed to wear civilian clothes.

(Copyright 2018 The Associated Press
Concept Business Intelligence Unit (Concept BIU), one of Indias leading media monitoring agencies, has acquired the business of Comniscient Groups Bluebytes News. Concept BIU is part of Concept Group, which is Indias leading independent agency offering advertising, digital and PR services. With this acquisition, Concept BIU will be servicing around 550 clients.

Bluebytes has had the PR fraternity for media monitoring and analysis for nearly thirteen years and this consolidation with Bluebytes will make Concept BIU the largest and most comprehensive Media Monitoring & Analytics service provider in India.

Ankoor Choudharri, CEO, Concept BIU, said, We are proud to acquire the business of Bluebytes and we are happy to welcome their 120 plus clients onboard. The new clients will have access to Concept BIUs service experience which offers an array of analytic tools, consultative client relations; mobile application based services and more allied services offered by us.

Speaking on the aggressive growth, he further added its been a terrific year for Concept BIU; this is the second business acquisition in this fiscal year. Along with a tremendous organic growth that Concept BIU is witnessing we remain eager to explore opportunities to acquire or partner with growing businesses that strengthens our market presence and also helps us in improving our range of services.

Chandramouli, CEO, Bluebytes News commenting on the acquisition, said, It was a strategic initiative for our group, Bluebytes will be acquired by Concept BIU, a competition we came to admire over time for their large and satisfied clients. While the parting of Bluebytes from our group is an emotional one considering we birthed and raised it, we are happy that the clients are in safe hands with Concept BIU. That said, the next decade for the Comniscient Group looks exciting due to growth in public relations and in brand analytics through our companies, Blue Lotus Communications and TRA Research.

Chandramouli added, We felt Concept BIU was the most aptly suited to continue the services to the Bluebytes clients in the same efficient manner as we have over the years. The two teams are working in unison to ensure the client transitions are seamless.
As the country gears up to celebrate the symbolic victory of good over evil, EPIC makes the day special for their viewers by airing special programming for the festival of Vijayadashami. The programming aims at giving a varied perspective of the festival along with sharing some great stories and traditions passed down through generations.



A must-watch in the line-up is the feature, Rampath, which is a narrative on the Ramleela art form performed in Jaswant Nagar; where the enactment is not on stage as is custom, but is performed across the streets and by-lanes of the town. The performance is recognized by UNESCO as the world's best field Ramleela and categorized as an UNESCO intangible heritage



While in many parts of India, the festival marks the day of victory of Lord Rama over Ravana, in the EPIC Special Ekaant  Sarhad Paar, host Akul Tripathi travels to Sigiriya in Sri Lanka which many believe to have been the palace of Ravana! On the other hand, Sara Khan, in Kahi Suni, visits Orchhas Raja Ram temple where Lord Rama is worshipped not as God, but as king of the town.



The lineup for also includes episodes from Tyohaar Ki Thaali where TV actress Sakshi Tanwar will be seen celebrating Navratri Bathukamma, and Dussehra by cooking traditional recipes associated with these festivals; and Devlok With Devdutt Pattanaik, where popular mythologist Devdutt Pattanaik will discuss Ravana, versions of Ramayana, Rama's ancestors and the women of Ramayana in his show.
The cultural extravaganza of Durga Pujo is what every Bengali looks forward to, and every non-Bengali wants to experience at least once in their lifetime. This is the time when the City of Joy is at its festive best and friends & family come together to enjoy delicious food, go shopping and of course, pandal hopping.

Keeping with the Durga Pujo spirit and celebrations in Kolkata, all KFC restaurants in the city are gearing up, as Pujo Hobe finger lickin good! Walk into any of the KFC restaurants in the city before or during Durga Pujo to enjoy great deals on combo meals. While you feast on your favourite Hot & Crispy or Smoky Grilled chicken, plan your next shopping spree or pandal visit with your crew right here. To make planning easier, find Durga Pujo guides at the restaurant that list out everything you need to know about Pujo in the city. The guide include a city map highlighting major Durga Pujo pandals, alongside the nearest KFC restaurants  after all, what are Pujo celebrations without KFCs finger lickin good-ness!
The One Club for Creativity, the global non-profit organisation recognising creative excellence in advertising and design, is now accepting applications for its next exclusive Executive Creative Summit, taking place on November 29-30, 2018 in Amsterdam.

The Executive Creative Summit-Amsterdam brings together a select group of top-level industry leaders from around the globe to discuss the issues far beyond the scope of creativity that affect their businesses, providing a rare opportunity for the exchange of productive ideas in a confidential setting. Speakers focus on a particular topic, followed by Q&A and open discussion with all attendees.

Among the industry leaders scheduled to lead sessions are Sir Martin Sorrell, Executive Chair, S4Capital in conversation with Victor Knaap, Main Monk and CEO, MediaMonks; Susan Credle, Global CCO, FCB and Chair of The One Club; Anna Qvennerstedt, Global Executive Chair, Forsman & Bodenfors; Stephane Xiberras, President/CCO, BETC; Glenn Cole, Creative Co-chair, 72andSunny; Ian Tait, ECD, Wieden+Kennedy London; Femke Bartels, Global Managing Director/ partner, THNK School of Creative Leadership; Philippe Meunier, CCO, Sid Lee; Dinesh Sonak, Managing Director, ADCN | Club for Creativity; and Kevin Swanepoel, CEO, The One Club for Creativity.

The summit, presented in partnership with ADCN | Club for Creativity, the Netherlands, and GWA, Germany, is limited to just 75 attendees to ensure productive two-way conversations. Due to the exclusive nature of the event, attendance is reserved for agency founders, CCOs and managing partners. Attendees will represent a diverse range of leaders from both independent agencies and global networks, including members of The One Club for Creativity Board of Directors.

The Executive Creative Summit is designed to foster open dialogue between top creatives who started agencies, run creative departments and manage the business side of a creative agency, said Kevin Swanepoel, CEO, The One Club for Creativity. The summit is the industrys only forum for these leaders to discuss their greatest business challenges in a confidential setting, and serves as a support network for them to exchange ideas and help each other navigate through those challenges.

In order to generate frank discussion, a strict closed-door format will ensure the highest level of confidentiality. No live streaming, no recordings, no press, no pitches, no tweets or other social media posts are allowed. Our entire focus is to foster intimate and honest conversation with some of the most successful creative professionals in the industry, said Swanepoel.

Creative leaders who fit the profile of the Executive Creative Summit can apply to attend at https://www.oneclub.org/executive-summit-amsterdam/. Applications will be accepted up to the day of the summit, which will then be approved by The One Club.
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We listen to local police and fire departments scanner traffic, but sometimes miss crimes, wrecks, fires or other incidents, especially if they happen overnight. If you know of something were not covering yet, please let Managing Editor Jeff Pownall know by emailing him at jpownall@lufkindailynews.com, or submit a news tip online by visiting lufkindailynews.com/tips.
Members of the Tehran City Council will soon be choosing the Iranian capitals third mayor in less than 18 months. This comes as political infighting between Reformist groups is on the rise, making the public lose hope in the competency of the camp.

Mohammad Ali Najafi, who became mayor after Reformists swept the city council elections in May 2017, resigned March 14 citing health concerns. Najafi was succeeded by Samiollah Hosseini Makarem, who became the caretaker for a month. Makarem was in turn replaced by Mohammad Ali Afshani in May. Now he is also packing his suitcase earlier than expected, though for different reasons.

Afshani, 59, is subject to a newly adopted law that bans the re-employment of retired public employees for governmental positions. The law took force in mid-September after being approved by the Guardian Council. The only exceptions to the re-hiring ban are the heads of the three branches of government (executive, legislative and judicial), first vice president, deputy speakers of parliament, members of the Guardian Council, ministers, legislators and vice presidents.

Afshani took early retirement three years ago, after 27 years of public service. In July 2015, however, he was again given a government position and appointed as governor of Fars province. Some council members, who like Afshani belong to the National Trust Party, have been lobbying parliament to exclude him from the banned list. However, they have not been successful, and it seems as if Afshani must step down from his post.

This has revitalized the continuous infighting in the incumbent 21-member council, whose members are all Reformist  the outcome of an unprecedented electoral victory last year, which was also accompanied by some challenges. Indeed, the absence of any rivals on the stage has been one such challenge, which has resulted in the drawing of lines within the Reformist camp.

Council Chairman Mohsen Hashemi is one example of this internal division. Hashemi, who has always been an option for the post of mayor, was unable to compete against Najafi and Afshani due to Reformist opposition and especially that of the Union of Islamic Iran People Party (UIIPP). In the councils internal mayoral polls since the 2017 elections, Hashemi has withdrawn his own candidacy after council members and outside Reformists insisted that no one should leave a council seat  even for the mayorship  since this would open the door for a conservative to break the Reformist monopoly over all seats.

To better understand the political infighting, one must look at the parties within the council. Overall, the city council is composed of three main Reformist parties. However, on closer inspection, this 21-member group can be divided into five categories. This includes the UIIPP, Executives of Construction Party, National Trust Party, independents and lone representatives of smaller factions. The UIIPP, together with the independent members, generally make up the strongest group in the council. These are followed by the Executives of Construction Party, which is more affiliated with the moderates and, later, former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani. Finally, there is the National Trust Party, led by opposition leader Mehdi Karroubi, which has the lowest membership in the council.

During the past 18 months, Tehran has had a mayor from the Executives of Construction Party, namely Najafi, and a mayor from the National Trust Party, Afshani. The UIIPP, while having the most members, has not been successful in securing the mayorship  perhaps due to its lack of experience and the influence of the Executives of Construction Party.

The Executives of Construction Party has in both internal mayoral polls over the past 18 months not been shy in expressing its interest in Mohsen Hashemi as mayor and has worked hard to make this happen. However, the UIIPPs strong opposition has prevented Hashemi from achieving his long-time dream. This opposition has in the past led to the Executives of Construction Party stepping back from their candidate but at the same time gaining more power in the negotiations over who ought to be mayor.

Saeed Laylaz, deputy secretary-general of the Executives of Construction Party, told Al-Monitor, We thought Hashemi was an ideal choice for mayor from the start. But some friends did not accept this, and the result was that we must wait for the election of a third mayor in less than two years.

The ongoing instability resulting from infighting does not bring back good memories for those who support the Reformists. Similar internal bickering and discussions were also seen in the first city council, back in February 1999, a period when Reformists were also in the majority. Those disputes led to very low voter turnout in the 2003 elections and resulted in the Principlists finding their way to the council, who then chose Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, an unknown politician at the time, as Tehrans mayor.

With the resignation of Afshani around the corner, Tehrans residents are once again witnessing political fighting among the Reformists as they elect yet another mayor. But there may be change on the horizon. Despite the opposition he is facing, Hashemi may face a better chance of victory this time around. Indeed, the reason for this is that the UIIPP is being blamed more than any other party for the ongoing instability due to its opposition to Hashemi.
BAGHDAD  For the first time since 2005, the Islamic Dawa Party finds itself far removed from the head of Iraqs federal government. The number of seats it holds in the new parliament dropped dramatically from those won in the previous elections in 2014, which saw a major split in the party.

Ibrahim al-Jafari, Dawa's former secretary-general, held the post of interim prime minister from 2005 until 2006, before his successor and the partys current leader, Nouri al-Maliki, took the role from 2006 to 2014. In August 2014, Haider al-Abadi took over.

It could be argued that the biggest reason behind the party's loss of the premiership to the compromise candidate, Adel Abdul Mahdi, was its division into two lists  the Victory list headed by outgoing Abadi and Maliki's State of Law list. The Electoral Commission does not permit one party to run on two electoral lists.

Dawa leader Hassan al-Sunaid told Al-Monitor, There are calls by the leaders of the Islamic Dawa Party to hold an urgent conference, with the aim of unifying internal ranks and electing a new secretariat for the party. A date has not been set.

Sunaid stated, [The party] will be an active participant in Abdul Mahdis government, with ministers, ministerial aides and ambassadors. It will not show a preference for the opposition and will support Abdul Mahdi in his new mission. He went on, Dawa granted Abdul Mahdi freedom to choose individuals for ministerial portfolios and did not interfere by imposing the names of any of its members for executive positions.

Observers of Dawas parliamentary loss point to the governments failure to manage the country and take responsibility for its current security, economic and political conditions. However, Dawa leaders argue that the party was not running Iraq alone, but was part of a larger coalition. Dawa member Jasim Mohammed Jaafar told Al-Monitor, [The party] had no ministers in recent years. It was only at the head of government, so did not incur any internal damage after leaving the presidency. As is normal in the political process, it will continue to participate in the new government.

He explained, The Islamic Dawa Party, like any other party, will conduct a strategic review in the light of recent developments, especially following the entry of its members on two electoral lists, with the aim of securing unity within parliament. Unity between the blocs of Maliki and Abadi, if it can be achieved early on, will change the status of the party in negotiations to form government.

At its last leadership meeting, held Sept. 22, the party failed to merge the two blocs or to broker an agreement on a single candidate for prime minister. A number of party members, including the senior leader Abdul Halim Zuhairi, blamed both Maliki and Abadi for bearing responsibility for the party's weakness. Most significantly, their joint statement read, [Maliki] went out on a Fatah coalition and [Abadi] walked along behind the Sairoon. Now we go to our brothers a second time for the sake of rapprochement and harmony, having given up their alliance. But we find only deaf ears, especially from brother Abadi. This has brought us to where we are now, with the adversaries of politics [Fatah and Sairoon] agreeing over the shreds of Dawa.

Abadi responded with a statement of his own, noting, I am surprised by the unfortunate statement from the three brothers [Abdul Halim Zuhairi, Sadik al-Rikabi and Tareq Najm] that distorts the facts and raises more than one question as to whether its timing and publication were an organized campaign to divide us and parcel out the remains of Dawa.

A new split could now take place, all the more likely if the outgoing prime minister enters a reformed parliamentary coalition whose policies and slogans diverge far from the coalition built by Maliki, as he is unlikely to play a subordinate role under Malkis leadership again.

Yet as an institution, the party will remain influential and active within and outside the government, despite losing some of its key seats. It has numerous directors and officials in the government as well as in independent institutions, departments and local administrations. Many Iraqis even see it is holding power in Iraqs so-called deep state.

The question remains: How will the popularity of Dawa, an elitist and not a populist party that did not have a large public support base before 2005, will be effected after it leaves the seat of power?
A recent spate of attacks in Iraq killed dozens of civilians and wounded many more as officials fear terrorist groups may be gaining ground once again.

In the latest news, a bomb-laden car exploded Oct. 13 in the center of Kirkuk, wounding eight people. This came on the heels of a week filled with bombings, including ones in Baghdad, Salahuddin and Anbar provinces. Baghdad was dealt the heaviest blow, as a series of bombings targeted the capital Oct. 7. Fallujah faced a terrorist bombing on Oct. 6, after a long period of stability there since Iraqi forces liberated it from the Islamic State (IS) in 2016.

The government is trying to control the security situation. The Ministerial Council for National Security, headed by outgoing Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, convened Oct. 7 and 14 to discuss the security situation and intelligence efforts to pursue terrorist cells.

IS posted a propaganda video Oct. 11 called Hasad al-Ajnad (Harvest of Soldiers) in which it claimed it had carried out 55 operations in Iraq since Oct. 4, though the claim hasn't been verified.

Russian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Oleg Syromolotov said Oct. 9 that Moscow has information that some terrorists in Idlib, Syria, are attempting to move into Iraq. Idlib, in northwest Syria, is the last stronghold of opponents of President Bashar al-Assad. Jihadi factions of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, a group that broke off from al-Qaeda, are active there. IS also has a small presence in the province.

Some believe the recent car bombings are linked to Syria's political situation.

Ali al-Sunaid, leader of the Victory Alliance political party, considers the bombings in several provinces to be political messages designed to pressure Adel Abdul Mahdi, the incoming prime minister. Sunaid said, The recent bombings aim at foiling the reform project that Mahdi was tasked with, and at pressuring him to choose new ministers based on the quota system. That controversial system is designed to ensure fair representation among various segments of the population: The presidency, a largely symbolic position, is reserved for a Kurd; the prime minister's post goes to a Shiite Muslim; and a Sunni Muslim assumes the position of parliament speaker.

Sheikh Maitham al-Zaidi, general commander of al-Abbas Combat Division, which is part of the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), said that the political situation can be affected by foreign powers, which confuses the security situation.

Iraq is the stage for international intelligence operations and regional desires and agendas that most Iraqi politicians implement. For that reason, the security situation is always shaky," he told Al-Monitor. The incidents don't necessarily stem from terrorists entering Iraq from Syria. There are terrorist groups in the country that become active every once in a while, depending on the security and political situation.

Referring to PMU factions that are politically active, such as Asaib Ahl al-Haq, Zaidi called for separating politics from security and not putting military arms in the hands of politicians, as this would threaten civil peace and stability. Unlike many Shiite factions close to Iran that are politically active, Zaidi's al-Abbas Combat Division doesn't participate in the political process.

Moreover, the main political parties in the country don't have a clear, unified vision. Muqtada al-Sadr, leader of the Sairoon Alliance in Iraq's parliament, tweeted Oct. 6 that the next prime minister "should handle the ministr[ies] of Interior and Defense and all delicate security positions.

A Badr Organization member has held the position of interior minister for many years and has long demanded that the security in the cities be handed over to the ministry. Badr reiterated its demand for the post of the Ministry of Interior on Oct. 9

A group of parliamentarians  mostly members of the Fatah Alliance, of which the Badr Organization is a vital component  on Oct. 11 started collecting signatures to allow the Interior Ministry to take charge of security and to eliminate operational commanders. These positions, established in 2006, are affiliated with the general commander of armed forces, who is also the prime minister.

In the absence of a common vision among the ruling parties on how to deal with the complex security situation in Iraq, and with the confusion regarding political and security issues, the likelihood is increasing that terrorist groups will return to control parts of the country.

Iraq has no immunity against a major security breach that might lead to a new setback," Hisham al-Hashemi, a researcher specializing in armed groups, told Al-Monitor. "There are gaps and weaknesses in the military victory that Iraqi forces achieved, [and those shortcomings] clearly threaten liberated areas."

In addition, according to Hashemi, Iraq's forces require better technology for handling security intelligence and need to improve their overall structure.

In light of the growing violence and needed improvements to its security forces, Iraq's security situation is likely to remain unstable, and might even worsen.
On Oct. 17, Russian and Egyptian Presidents Vladimir Putin and Abdel Fattah al-Sisi signed a bilateral agreement on comprehensive partnership and strategic cooperation. An initiative to declare 2020 a Year of Humanitarian Partnership was also approved.

These are basically the only publicly known results of the talks between the leaders of two nations, held for the eighth time in the last four years. The event demonstrated that the statements about friendship and partnership stem from practical actions  a good way to commemorate the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Russia and Egypt, which is commemorated this year.

According to Putin, the relations between the two nations are friendly and mutually beneficial in nature. Sisi, for his part, pointed out that the conclusion of the partnership agreement would turn a page in the history of bilateral relations, ensure their long-term prospects and open new horizons.

The visit by the Egyptian president to Russia lasted three days. It officially started in Moscow, when Sisi delivered a speech at the Federation Council  Russia's senate  and met with Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev. Later, the Egyptian president went to Sochi, where Putin first took him to dinner at a waterfront restaurant and hosted official negotiations the next day.

However, due to the mass shooting at a college in Kerch, a town in Crimea, where more than 20 people were killed, the agenda was changed  the expanded meeting and a formal dinner with a concert were canceled.

Nevertheless, the presidents managed to touch upon all the issues that were originally scheduled on the agenda.

Their final press conference only lasted for 15 minutes. The points they made for the most part overlapped; however, each leader emphasized his own vision of them. Putin started by mentioning a 62% increase in the trade between Russia and Egypt, achieved in 2017. Trade amounted to $6.7 billion  Russias highest within the Middle East save for Turkey.

By comparison, trade between Russia and Iraq in 2017 was $1.4 billion, while trade with Israel was $2.4 billion. Still, all these figures are overshadowed by Russian-Turkish trade of $21.6 billion.

Trade with Egypt continues to expand  from January to August, it increased 28% compared with the same period last year, mostly due to Russias export of wheat, vegetable oil, vehicles and equipment. The increase in Russian imports from Egypt mostly comes from potatoes.

Putin said growth could be expanded further when Egypt signs an agreement on free trade with the Eurasian Economic Union  likely in 2019.

The Russian president also mentioned a significant contract signed in late September between the Russian-Hungarian consortium Transmashholding-Hungary Kft. and Egypt. It amounts to more than 1 billion euros ($1.15 billion) and calls for 1,300 railway passenger carriages to be supplied to Egypt in five years. This would be the largest project in the history of the Egyptian National Railways, both in terms of funding and of the quantity of product.

Amr Shaat, the deputy transport minister for Egypt, told RIA Novosti that Cairo has offered to allow a Russian company to construct a carriage factory in Egypt and later export the cars to third countries. Shaat said the factory could be built in the Russian industrial zone near the Suez Channel or elsewhere.

The possible creation of an industrial and logistical zone on 500 hectares (1,235 acres) near the Suez Channel, where instrument, wood-processing and pharmaceutical factories would be constructed, and the building of the El Dabaa nuclear plant are Russias largest and most long-term projects in Egypt and were mentioned by both presidents.

The construction plan for the nuclear plant has already been drawn up and agreed upon. Four units of the facility are supposed to be built by 2028-2029, and the funding will be from $21 billion to $26 billion, according to various sources. The contract on fuel may amount to $15 billion. The Rosatom company is to hire Egyptian subcontractors by the end of the year.

The situation involving the industrial zone is much more complex. This project is called doubtful, according to a number of sources in Russian business structures, who informed Al-Monitor that the companies willing to establish their presence in Egypt are still unknown. Expenses would be high, and the distribution scale is not guaranteed, although the Egyptian market, as well as the markets of African, Middle Eastern and European countries with which Cairo has concluded free trade agreements, are rather appealing for Russian entrepreneurs. However, as those whom Al-Monitor interviewed emphasized, Russian corporations still have not mastered seeking outlet markets and are more interested in government contracts, which Cairo is not willing to provide. Thus, many business people in Russia are certain that the industrial zone is mainly a political issue.

Nevertheless, the creators of the project insist that Russian companies ready to develop their export potential would eventually discover benefits from the zone. Russia became actively engaged in the design of this project around two years ago, simultaneously with Germany. However, the Germans had already started to construct their first buildings while Russians were still stuck at the point of budget alignment and debates over the structures that would work on the project and the format of their functioning. The bureaucratic delays are mostly due to Russias lack of experience in such projects and absence of approved scenarios. However, the creators of the project are certain that the industrial zone will start to function, even if it takes five to seven years. According to Putin, the zone is supposed to attract investments amounting to up to $7 billion and provide more than 35,000 workplaces.

An issue that has been casting a shadow on Russian-Egyptian relations is a lag in the restoration of direct flights between Russian cities and Egyptian Red Sea resorts. In April, direct transportation was re-established between Moscow and Cairo; however, flights to resort areas remain halted following the bombing that downed a Russia passenger plane over Sinai three years ago. Currently, Moscow plans to send an inspection commission to Egypt to check the safety and security level there. It should be noted that our Egyptian friends are doing everything needed to improve security in the airports. We aim to re-establish charter flights on these routes in the nearest future, Putin said, not mentioning any specific dates.

Contrary to the Russian leader, Sisi highlighted the political aspect of cooperation and a common vision of regional problems. He started his speech with a review of the situation in Syria and the conflict between Palestine and Israel; however, it was obvious that his main concern is the problem of Libya, which he discussed in detail. I shared Egypts vision of political resolution in Libya with President Putin, as well as informing him of Cairos efforts to unite the Libyan National Army and allow it to efficiently achieve its objectives, Sisi said. Sisi said the consequences of recent confrontation in Tripoli were also discussed. The fighting demonstrated that relying on armed groups in the questions of security is dangerous and risky.  We are certain that this task should be delegated exclusively to the regular army, law enforcement and security services, Sisi said, showing how Cairo supports Libyan military strongman Khalifa Hifter, while avoiding naming him directly.

It was Cairo that lobbied for Hifters cooperation with Russia. However, recently Moscow has paid more attention to the administration in Tripoli. Russian diplomats, however, emphasize that they attempt to maintain relationships with all sides of the conflict.

Discussing cooperation in the resolution of regional problems, Putin highlighted the situation in Syria in general and the issue of Idlib in particular. We agreed that the state of affairs in this province requires special attention, due to the concentration of a large number of radical militants in the de-escalation zone there. The danger of the spread of terrorism to neighboring countries is very real. We have informed our Egyptian friends about the principles forming the foundation of our agreements we concluded with Turkey to solve this problem, Putin said.

To sum up, he said, The negotiations proved that Russia and Egypt have close or common positions on crucial issues of the region and the world. The agenda of the talks also included the issues of Russian-Egyptian cooperation in the fight against terrorism and military-technical trade. According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, 21% of weapons for the Egyptian army were supplied by Russia in 2013-2017 (weapons bought from the United States amounted to 26%). Moreover, the nations hold joint military exercises every year; one of them is currently being conducted in Egypt.

As a conclusion to the meeting, the presidents visited the Sochi Autodrom where, among other events, the Formula 1 Grand Prix of Russia is held. To travel to the racetrack, they took a ride in the Aurus king-size limousine  a car that Denis Manturov, Russian industry and commerce minister, officially presented among other luxury models designed and made in Russia. This project is dedicated to the development of a product line of cars, supposed to be used as service vehicles for state officials, as well as sold commercially. A limousine of this type was used by Putin for the first time during his inauguration ceremony on May 7; it is possible that some of the Aurus cars will be seen in Egypt in the near future.
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More than two weeks after Jamal Khashoggi's disappearance from the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, Saudi Arabia said late Friday that the journalist was killed in an altercation in the diplomatic facility.

The official confirmation of Khashoggis death, following mounting international pressure and a steady drip of leaks from Turkish sources, will come with a house-cleaning of top leadership, the Saudi Attorney General's office said in a statement. Riyadh had maintained until now that Khashoggi left the consulate safely Oct. 2 and that it had no idea of his whereabouts.

In all, 18 Saudis have been arrested in connection with Khashoggis case, though none were immediately identified.

The preliminary investigations conducted by the Public Prosecution showed that the suspect[s] had travelled to Istanbul to meet with ... Khashoggi as there were indications of the possibility of his returning back to the country, the kingdom said in a statement carried by the official Saudi News Agency. "The results of the preliminary investigations also revealed that the discussions [between Khashoggi and the suspects] did not go as required and developed in a negative way [and] led to a fight and a quarrel [and] the brawl aggravated to lead to his death and their attempt to conceal and cover what happened.

In a swift round of firings, Saudi King Salman bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saudi will dismiss Saud al-Qahtani, a top adviser to the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, also known as MBS, and Ahmed al-Asiri, the deputy chief of the Mukhabarat, the countrys leading spy agency, state-run Saudi news channels report.

Dismissing Saud al-Qahtani and Ahmad al-Assiri is as close to MBS as it is possible to go, tweeted Kristian Ulrichsen, a fellow at the Baker Institute at Rice University who specializes in Arabian Gulf affairs. Interesting to see if these moves prove sufficient. If the drip-drip of additional details continue, there's no buffer to shield MBS any longer.

The kingdom said its investigation is still ongoing. And the king has also called for the formation of a committee led by Prince Mohammed to investigate the countrys intelligence community.

The inquiries will likely be dogged by international skepticism at the Saudis' changing storyline.

The description of Khashoggi's death does not mesh with numerous anonymous Turkish leaks that a kill team cut the journalist's body into pieces while he was still alive. The New York Times reports that many of the 15 alleged assassins identified by Turkish intelligence leaks had close ties to the monarch-in-waiting.

Skeptics in Congress  many of whom have complained about lack of access to US intelligence about the case  immediately pushed back after the announcement, as Riyadh offered few details to back up its statement.

To say that I am skeptical of the new Saudi narrative about Mr. Khashoggi is an understatement, tweeted Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. Graham previously said Prince Mohammed has got to go over Khashoggi's death.

Where is the body, tweeted Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., the ranking member on the House Intelligence subcommittee overseeing the CIA. #Khashoggis family deserve immediate custody of the remains as they seek some measure of closure.
Bethlehem United Methodist Church in Dolomite was established 200 years ago  making it older than the state of Alabama, which celebrates its bicentennial next year.

The first church was a log cabin made from hand-hewn logs cut by Adam, a slave owned by the first minister, the Rev. James Tarrant.

The smooth, sturdy logs were saved and now form a rustic ceiling for the fellowship hall in the church basement. They are a testament to the churchs history.

They are now in the ceiling of our downstairs, said church member Jeanette Peterson.

The church, near the railroad tracks as you approach Hueytown from Birmingham, hosts a luncheon for needy members of the community on Wednesdays in the fellowship hall.

The church started as a Methodist campground with a big tent, drawing wagonloads of people from as far away as Pratt City in the early 1800s. Preachers would arrive on horseback to lead revivals.

A Methodist history records that one early church member, William Brown, was a hunting companion of frontiersman Davy Crockett, who may have visited the church.

On summertime Sunday mornings in the 1920s, they opened the church windows; in winter, they stoked the fires of a pot-bellied stove.

So far, the church has been able to withstand the test of time.

The congregation has been able to renovate and stay up-to-date with modern additions, including an electronic sign, Peterson said.

A doctor who was a member of the church bequeathed about $100,000 that helped to fund some updates, she said.

Although there are 125 members listed on the roll, Sunday attendance usually runs 35 to 40, Peterson said.

Many of the former members returned from near and far to celebrate the 200th year, which was marked in the spring, although the church was actually founded late in the year in 1818.

Pastor Tim New, who has been at the church more than a decade, said the church celebrated its centennial year on May 20 with more than 150 people attending.
Cities across the country are struggling to analyze the backlogs of previously untested rape kits. Jefferson County is just starting to make a dent.

Michele Yarbrough, general counsel and business manager for the Jefferson County District Attorneys Office, along with help from Birminghams Crisis Center secured a $1.5 million grant from the United States Department of Justices Bureau of Justice Assistance to help end the backlog of untested rape kits in Jefferson County.

According to the Jefferson County DA there have been 27,402 reported rapes in Alabama since 1998, 5,772 of those took place in Jefferson County. Yarbrough said there hadnt previously been a way to know how many of the rape kits taken from these cases had been tested.

Since receiving the grant in Oct. 2016, the DAs office hired staff to help determine the number of kits in the countys 27 law enforcement offices. They determined 1,109 of the 4,999 kits had been submitted for testing since 1985, or 22 percent countywide.

I was alarmed personally, as someone who has worked in and around the district attorneys office for 15 and a half years, Yarbrough said. I was very surprised and very shocked.

Why these Alabama women didn't report their sexual assaults Four Alabama women share why they didn't report. Content warning: This video contains descriptions of sexual assault. Posted by Reckon by AL.com on Wednesday, October 17, 2018

Mayor Randall Woodfin was equally shocked. Something about that doesn't sound right and is not fair to the victims, Woodfin said to WVTM. I think what my administration is tasked with is investigating what happened, why it happened and making sure it doesnt happen again.

The DAs office then worked with national protocol to determine a process for testing that would work in Alabama. They sent two rounds of kits for testing beginning in August.

Yarbrough said there is no way to know why so many kits have gone untested at this time, but that it will be part of the report sent back to the BJA.

One of the other components of SAKI [sexual assault kit initiative] is looking at how did we get here, Yarbrough said. What were the unique roadblocks within our jurisdiction and how can we eliminate these roadblocks so we dont ever have to go there again and then to end the backlog?

Along with testing unsubmitted rape kits, Jefferson Countys SAKI projects goals include hiring a prosecutor specifically to handle sexual assault cases and setting up a vertical court for sexual assault cases.
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Post: #1 Trump flashback: Redacted 9/11 pages have very profound info on Saudi Arabia

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I think I know what its going to say, he said on Fox Newss Fox & Friends." "Its going to be very profound, having to do with Saudi Arabia and Saudi Arabias role on the World Trade Center and the attack.



Thats very serious stuff. Its sort of nice to know who your friends are and perhaps who your enemies are. Youre going to see some very revealing things released in those papers.



Lawmakers are pressuring President Obama to declassify the 28 pages.



more:

https://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/pre...udi-arabia



and of course you wanted more:



Trump demands Clinton Foundation return $25 million from Saudis Saudi Arabia and many of the countries that gave vast amounts of money to the Clinton Foundation want women as slaves and to kill gays, Trump wrote in a separate post. Hillary must return all money from such countries!

Donald Trump renews call for Muslim ban



Trump: Clinton, Obama protecting terrorists to be 'politically correct'







In a national security speech she delivered Monday, the former secretary of state highlighted the disruption of radicalization and countering the Islamic State and other terrorist networks recruiting efforts in the U.S. and Europe as an area that demands attention.



For starters, it is long past time for the Saudis, the Qataris and the Kuwaitis and others to stop their citizens from funding extremist organizations, Clinton said. And they should stop supporting radical schools and mosques around the world that have sent too many young people on a path toward extremism.



Trump last week accused Clinton of turning the State Department into her private hedge fund. The Russians, the Saudis, the Chinese all gave money to Bill and Hillary and got favorable treatment in return, he said then. It's a sad day in America when foreign governments with deep pockets have more influence in our own country than our great citizens.



In the same remarks, Trump had teased a major speech in which he would discuss all of the things that have taken place with the Clintons. The speech, originally scheduled for Monday, was canceled in the wake of the Sundays deadly shooting in Orlando, Florida.



Clinton acknowledged last week that some donations may have "slipped through the cracks" on "one or two instances" but insisted that the nonprofit had "overwhelming disclosure."

https://www.politico.com/story/2016/06/t...ion-224287 Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on Tuesday said that the 28 redacted pages of a report on 9/11 likely depict Saudi Arabias role in the terrorist attacks.I think I know what its going to say, he said on Fox Newss Fox & Friends." "Its going to be very profound, having to do with Saudi Arabia and Saudi Arabias role on the World Trade Center and the attack.Thats very serious stuff. Its sort of nice to know who your friends are and perhaps who your enemies are. Youre going to see some very revealing things released in those papers.Lawmakers are pressuring President Obama to declassify the 28 pages.more:and of course you wanted more:
Adaptation explores religious roots of Shakespeares Moor of Venice as director says play is warning about otherising.

London, England  A new adaptation of Othello in the UK subtly interrogates the tragic heros religious identity, presenting to audiences the possibility that the Moor of Venice was a closeted, practising Muslim.

Produced by the English Touring Theatre, there is an Arabic recitation in the opening scene and an image of Othello with his hands cupped in what is unmistakably a Muslim prayer.

Highlights Othello was written around 1604

The central themes are jealousy and power

Othello is a black convert to Christianity and general of the Venetian army

In the play, Iago manipulates Othello into believing his wife, Desdemona, is unfaithful

Othello is convinced and kills his wife

After realising Desdemonas innocence, Othello kills himself

I was very aware of the racism Othello suffers because of his skin colour, but there was a much more insidious and layered thing that was happening to him as an outsider, director Richard Twyman told Al Jazeera.

The biggest thing is within the language, where Othello is constantly called the Moor. We know historically about the Moorish kingdom of Spain (where Spanish Muslims or Moriscos were forcibly converted to Christianity in 1492). But I never put it together that Moor might also be referring to Othellos spiritual and cultural identity, he said.

It was not until Twyman encountered the research of Jerry Brotton, professor of Renaissance Studies at Queen Mary University of London and author of This Orient Isle: Elizabethan England and the Islamic World, that it became plausible Islam was intrinsic to Othellos identity.

Brotton told Al Jazeera: A Moor is an inhabitant of Mauritania which is in northwest Africa. Its effectively modern-day Morocco.

In this period in the 15th and 16th century, Muslims were referred to as black. There was no word for Muslim. It didnt enter the English language until the second decade of the 17th century. But you have all these synonyms  Turk, Moor, Saracen, Persian, which are an attempt by an English tradition to describe Muslims.

In addition to the opening prayer scene, in which Othello unfurls a prayer mat for him and Desdemona to sit on during their marriage ceremony, the play makes other references to his spirituality.

In the first line, Othello recites in Arabic the foundational invocation for Muslims: In the name of God, the most gracious the most merciful.

He also moves from one religion to another.

A crucifix hangs from his neck throughout the play, but when he is told of his wifes alleged infidelity, he raises his prayer beads and shouts in Arabic, Ya Akbar, Oh, Great One.

Islam was not the enemy

Viewed in the historical context in which it was written, Othello offers a glimpse into the economic and political anti-Catholic alliance between Elizabethan England and the Muslim world.

Spanish Catholicism for Protestant Elizabethan England was the absolute enemy, Brotton said.

Islam was not the enemy, and so to ally with Islamic imperial power and northwest African Islamic commercial, military, and naval power, was seen as highly appropriate.

As well as sparking a three-decade correspondence between Elizabeth I and Sultan Murad III, this Anglo-Islamic alliance found its way onto the Elizabethan stage.

All those notions of the fear of cosmopolitanism, of people who cross cultures, languages and boundaries, this is the language that has fuelled so much of right-wing discourse of UKIP and Brexit. Jerry Brotton, professor of Renaissance Studies

From 1579 to 1624, 62 plays with Muslim characters, themes or settings were performed, though Shakespeares earlier Muslim characters lacked the complexity of Othello.

In Titus Andronicus, Aaron, a blackamoor, is described as having a soul black like his face.

The Prince of Morocco, who sought to marry Portia in The Merchant of Venice, was said to have the complexion of a devil.

Othello emerged in contrast as the most nuanced attempt at a Muslim character.

As Anglo-Islamic relations blossomed, the arrival in 1600 of Muhammad Al-Annuri, the Moroccan ambassador to Elizabethan London, is said to have been Shakespeares inspiration for Othello.

Wearing a flowing black robe and white turban, his portrait was painted to commemorate a military alliance between England and Morocco which never came to fruition. It is now the earliest surviving picture of a Muslim painted from life in England.

Contemporary relevance

Othello is an exceptional, loyal and erudite character, but positive associations are attempted to be dashed when Senator Brabantio is informed of his daughter Desdemonas relationship with the black Venetian general  an old black ram / Is tupping your white ewe.

He is also described as a man of here and everywhere who travelled from Cyprus to Aleppo.

All those notions of the fear of cosmopolitanism, of people who cross cultures, languages and boundaries, this is the language that has fuelled so much of right-wing discourse of [far-right UK Independence Party (UKIP)] and Brexit, said Brotton.

For Twyman, Othello was prescient.

This play is a really sobering, shocking, really quite stark warning about what happens when we otherise people, about giving into the Iago within us or the Iago in our society, he said.

Victor Oshin, the actor who portrays Othello in the production, said the characters experience resonated with his own.

Growing up as a young black man in Dagenham, East London, he said he had to downplay his identity to avoid being stereotyped.

That cautiousness, to always have to be soft, to always have to be on the back-foot, to not have to intimidate has definitely informed my portrayal of Othello, he said.

You lose certain parts of yourself when you have to assimilate. At the end of the play, Othello questions what he has become, what he has lost. Its funny to see it being done 400 years ago when even now, even in myself, there are times when I say to myself, Is this my true voice?'
Afghanistan headed to the polls on October 20 to vote for its third parliament since adopting the 2004 constitution.

Afghanistan headed to the polls on October 20 to vote for its third parliament since the countrys new constitution was adopted in 2004.

It has not been easy for Afghanistan to arrive at this point; the country is wracked with violence as the government fights the Taliban, which controls up to 14 percent of the countrys territory.

In the past three months, 10 of the 2,565 candidates who put their names forward to run have been killed in attacks, the majority carried out by the Taliban.

Elections were originally scheduled for 2014 but have been delayed several times, not only because of the security situation, but also due to unresolved disagreements about election reforms and potential fraud.

In Kandahar, the polls were delayed by a week following the killing of the southern provinces powerful police chief, General Abdul Raziq, which was claimed by the Taliban.

Ghazni, one of Afghanistans 34 provinces, was excluded from the vote this year because of a volatile security situation and an ongoing dispute over how to divide electoral constituencies to have a more balanced ethnic representation.

In 2010, parliamentary elections, the Hazaras, a minority community, won all the seats from Ghazni, leaving majority Pashtuns and also Tajiks without representation as voting was not conducted in their areas that are mostly controlled by the Taliban.

















Afghanistans parliament explained

The parliament of Afghanistan comprises two houses: The upper house, or Mesherano Jirgaw, serves in a mostly advisory role with some veto powers, and the lower house, or Wolesi Jirga, is tasked with passing legislation.

The 250 seats in the Wolesi Jirga are distributed among the 34 provinces according to proportional representation.

One seat is reserved for the Sikh and Hindu communities and 10 are reserved for representatives of the nomadic Kuchi peoples. Sixty-eight seats are earmarked for female representatives, two from each of Afghanistans 34 provinces.





A total of 205 candidates across the country have registered as members of political parties. The rest of them are registered as independent candidates.

There is no voting for the upper house of parliament, the Mesherano Jirga, which consists of parliamentarians chosen from local councils and those appointed by the president, as well as members elected in district elections.

Major players

At a glance












Dr Adnan Abu Amer is the head of the Political Science Department at the University of the Ummah in Gaza.

Over the past few years, there has been a growing tension between supporters of the Palestinian cause and supporters of the Syrian revolution and opposition in the West. This has often turned into heated exchanges during public debates, in traditional and on social media. While these rhetorical clashes have often reduced the conversation on Syria and Palestine to a single narrative (supporting Palestine means supporting the Assad regime), the way Palestinians see the situation in Syria is much more complex than that.

Since it gained independence in 1946, Syria has always had an important role to play in Palestine, both because of its geographic proximity and because of its direct confrontation with the Israeli state. From the early independence period to the Baathist era, successive Syrian governments have had the Palestinian issue among their top priorities.

Yet the relationship between the various Palestinian political forces and Damascus has always seen its ups and downs. The Arab uprisings of 2011 shook the entire region and inevitably affected Syrian-Palestinian relations. They also stirred the Palestinian people who had also been suffering from growing alienation and dissatisfaction with their political elite.

It is within this historical and contemporary context that we should view the relations and attitudes of the Palestinian people and their political leadership to Syria and the various political actors there.

Syria and Palestinian political groups

Throughout their long struggle against Zionism, Palestinian political factions have found support in Syria, often maintaining headquarters on its territory. Traditionally it was leftist, nationalist and Baathist movements in Palestine that were closest to Damascus, but as Hamas and Islamic Jihad came to prominence in the early 1990s and developed close relations with Iran, they also started receiving Syrian support. Syria would give Palestinian groups logistical assistance, training, and political backing to the level that no other Arab country would.

Yet these close ties between the Syrian regime and various Palestinian political groups caused strain in relations with the official Palestinian leadership, especially during Yasser Arafats time. Syria stood against the political course that he had undertaken, and encouraged a number of splits within his Fatah movement. In the early 1990s, a coalition of Palestinian forces opposing the peace process Arafat was part of came together and set up their base in Damascus.

This led to a crisis in relations between the Palestinian authorities and the Syrian regime which ultimately ended with the death of Arafat and the rise to power of Mahmoud Abbas. Since then, Syria has pressed for rapprochement, fearing that the Palestinian Authority could move closer to Jordan and Egypt, curbing its influence over the Palestinian issue.

The Arab uprisings of 2011 inevitably affected the relations between Syria and the Palestinian groups. The leftist and nationalist strands of the Palestinian political elite maintained their support for Damascus  like the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP)  declaring that the Syrian revolution was a Zionist plot. Fatah remained remarkably silent on the events in Syria although there have been a number of official visits by its members to the country.

Hamas took a very different position. After much internal deliberation, it chose to leave Syria as a way to demonstrate its rejection of the Syrian regimes brutal crackdown on popular protests. It joined the axis of the Syrian opposition supported by Gulf states, cutting its relations with the regime and angering Iran.

Although Hamas has maintained this position for more than seven years now, it feels growing pressure to change it; there are some members who already regret the groups decision to withdraw from Syria. As the US-Israeli-Saudi axis intensifies its campaign against Iran, it might seek to bring the Palestinian armed groups back into its axis of resistance with Hezbollah and other regional allies. This would mean that Hamas and Damascus would have to reconcile, which might be difficult to accomplish.

The Assad regime and the Palestinian people

Until 2011, the Palestinian people generally saw the Assad regime as more committed to their cause than most other Arab regimes. The Palestinian refugees in Syria enjoyed much better socioeconomic conditions than their counterparts in Lebanon and Egypt.

But with the outbreak of the Syrian revolution, the situation in the Palestinian refugee camps quickly deteriorated. The Assad regime accused Palestinian refugees of joining protests and the armed opposition. A number of the camps, especially Yarmouk, saw fierce fighting between the regime and opposition forces and were almost completely destroyed.

Thousands of Palestinians have been killed in Syria due to the fighting or debilitating sieges laid by the Assad regime on their camps; more than a thousand have also been detained in regime prisons. More than 100,000 Palestinian refugees have been displaced to third countries, including Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey, Egypt and a number of European states.

The Arab Spring also affected attitudes towards the Assad regime in Palestine itself. When Arab peoples revolted one after the other, driven by decades of frustrations with their ruling elites, the Palestinians joined. They too had grown increasingly angry with the mismanagement and corruption of their political leaders.

Although the Palestinian protest movement in 2011 was short-lived and quickly put down in the West Bank and Gaza, public support for the uprisings  including for the Syrian one  remained. A September 2012 poll found that almost 80 percent of respondents in the West Bank and Gaza were supporting the Syrian protesters and opposition.

But over the years, as the Syrian uprising transformed into a bloody sectarian conflict, attitudes started to change. Reports of Israel providing support to some opposition groups in southern Syria did not help; for those who already believed that the revolution was an Israeli conspiracy, that was just another piece of evidence. By 2016, some 40 percent of respondents in a survey indicated that they supported the Free Syrian Army, one of the main moderate opposition groups at that time; 18 percent said they supported the Assad regime.

Palestinians are increasingly convinced that their cause is not really one of the priorities of the Syrian opposition, or of any of the movements and groups that took part in the Arab uprisings. There is growing concern in Palestine that there is little interest in the rest of the Arab world in alleviating its suffering and putting up a fight against the Zionist project.

Arab states have either focused on their own internal problems or have joined the Saudi-led group which seeks closer ties with Israel in an effort to create a united front against Iran.

As for the Syrian regime, if and when it emerges from the current crisis, it in all likelihood would be unable to provide the same support for Palestinian political groups as it did in the past. Its own survival now largely depends on outside actors and its future will be sealed in a deal between foreign powers in which it is unlikely to have much say.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial stance.
Close to nine million Afghans have registered to take part in the vote, but concerns abound over the threat of attacks.

Kabul, Afghanistan  Polls opened in Afghanistans long-delayed parliamentary election on Saturday amid security threats from the Taliban armed group who vowed to disrupt the bogus vote.

Voting centres opened at 7am (02:30GMT) and will close at 4pm (12:30GMT).

Close to nine million Afghans have registered to take part in the vote, which was first scheduled for 2015.

There are 21,000 voting stations in 5,100 polling centres in the countrys 33 participating provinces.

The vote  the third since the fall of the Taliban in 2001  was postponed because of security fears and reforms to the voter registration process.

The election commission acquired more than 20,000 biometric devices to prevent voter fraud [Hamza Mohamed/Al Jazeera]

Security has been a major issue in the run up to voting day. Since late September, when campaigning officially started, at least 10 candidates have killed and two others abducted.

Afghanistans interior ministry told Al Jazeera it has deployed more than 70,000 security forces across the country to ensure security of the voters.

There was a heavy presence of security forces on the streets of the capital, Kabul, with vehicles being searched and some roads closed.

In the citys District 9, voters started queuing early on Saturday. Most voters said they cast their ballot without any issues.

Afghan National Security Forces personnel have been deployed to protect the 21,000 polling stations [Hamza Mohamed/Al Jazeera]

I waited in the queue for 30 minutes to vote. The process was easy and I am happy. Overall I believe in the ongoing process, but we will see what will happen, 60-year-old Ali Shah told Al Jazeera after casting his vote.

The electoral commission said one-quarter of the polling centres in the country will not be open because of security concerns.

Several hours after voting was supposed to start some polling stations were yet to allow voters to cast their ballot.

We have been waiting for an hour and the process has not been started yet. They said the materials have not arrived yet, Latifa Amarkhil, a doctor, said while she waited to vote at Al Fatah High School in Kabul.

Khalid Amel, an agent for one of the candidates, said there were also issues with some of the electronic voting materials.

The Independent Election Commission says 8.9 million Afghans are registered to vote in election [Hamza Mohamed/Al Jazeera]

The biometric system has a problem. It does not accept some fingerprints. The process is not going according to schedule. The voting centre is small and large number of people have turnout, Amel told Al Jazeera at Al Fatah High school.

Our responsibility is to hold elections and it is the responsibility of government to maintain security of election, Zabih Ullah Sadat, deputy spokesman for the electoral commission, told Al Jazeera on Saturday.

Despite the vote not taking place across the entire country, Sadat said the poll results will be valid and the vote free and fair.

We have taken enough measures to hold transparent elections. The elections will be transparent and fair, he said.

The election has been delayed by a week in the southern province of Kandahar following the assassination on Thursday of the provinces powerful police chief, General Abdul Raziq, in an attack claimed by the Taliban.

Voting will also not take place in Ghazni because of the precarious security situation  the Taliban controls significant parts of the province. There is also an ongoing dispute over how to divide Ghaznis electoral constituencies to have a more balanced ethnic representation.

The Taliban has vowed to disrupt what it calls bogus elections.

People who are trying to help in holding this process successfully by providing security should be targeted and no stone should be left unturned for the prevention and failure [of the elections], Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a statement last week.

Controversial vote

According to the Independent Election Commission (IEC), there are 2,565 candidates running for a seat in the 250-seat parliament, 417 of whom are women.

A total of 205  nearly eight percent  of the candidates have registered as members of political parties. The rest are independent candidates.

Ballot counting will begin upon the conclusion of the vote in the presence of election observers.

The electoral commission has not set a timeline for announcing official results, but preliminary results are expected within a month.
General al-Asiri was fired as the deputy head of the Saudi intelligence services on Friday over killing of Khashoggi.

Major General Ahmed al-Asiri, a high-ranking figure with close ties to the Saudi royal family, was sacked as Saudi Arabias deputy intelligence chief on Friday, Saudi state media reported.

The announcement came as the kingdoms state media said missing journalist Jamal Khashoggi had been killed in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, citing an official Saudi investigation.

A report in The New York Times on Thursday indicated Saudi rulers were considering blaming Asiri for the killing of Khashoggi in a bid to help to ease pressure on the crown prince.

Saudi state media also reported King Salman ordered the restructuring of the command of the general intelligence agency, under the supervision of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, commonly known as MBS.

Asiri served as a spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen. He came under fire from human rights organisations after a May 2015 declaration that Houthi-held cities Saadah and Marran were military targets, putting civilians at risk.

Human rights groups and protesters continued to decry Asiris statements on Saudi war efforts in Yemen, which Human Rights Watch called a clear violation of the laws of war until he was removed from his position in 2017.

Asiri then served as an adviser to MBS, who promoted him to his intelligence position last year, and is considered to be one of MBS closest aides.

He is a key figure within the royal household, a very senior figure, Al Jazeeras Andrew Simmons reported from Istanbul, following the announcement.

He has been fingered by the royal household as being partly to blame for this.

Asiri was not part of the 15-man hit squad named by Turkish media, who Turkish officials suspect were involved in the killing of Khashoggi.
Bolsonaro appears to be at least temporarily shaken by reports his backers allegedly flooded voters with fake news.

Sao Paulo  Brazils turbulent election enters its final phase with far-right candidate Jair Bolsonaro poised for victory amid a high-profile fake-news scandal and an uptick of reports of electoral violence.

Latest opinion polls from the Datafolha polling agency suggest that Bolsonaro  who openly praises Brazils 1964  1985 military dictatorship  is heading for a landslide victory against his centre-left rival Fernando Haddad of the Workers Party (PT) on October 28 with the 59 percent of intended votes compared with 41 percent.

But on Thursday, his campaign appeared to be at least temporarily shaken, as Brazils Folha de Sao Paulo newspaper reported that businessmen and companies were secretly financing the mass spread of slanderous messages about Haddad via the online messaging platform Whatsapp.

According to the newspaper, the practice constitutes an electoral crime as all political campaign donations must be declared and donations from companies were banned in 2015, a practice introduced to tackle corruption.

We will call on the Federal Police and the Electoral Justice to prevent Deputy Bolsonaro from violently violating democracy as he has done, Haddad tweeted.

In an article published by the Brazilian news portal UOL, legal experts commented that if proven the case could eventually lead to Bolsonaros electoral ticket being cancelled though this is considered highly unlikely before the final round of voting next Sunday.

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On Friday, a video  originally posted on August 28  circulated on Brazilian social media of two prominent businessmen Luciano Hang and Mario Gazin calling for Bolsonaro to win in the first round to not have to spend more money, fuelling further speculation of illegal campaign practices.

Hang, owner of the chain of department stores Havan, is one of the businessmen cited in the Folha de Sao Paulo newspaper report. He denied the accusations and said he planned to sue the newspaper.

Bolsonaro hit back on Thursday night with a 20-minute Facebook Live in which he attacked the newspaper as continuing to sink into the mud and the Workers Party; calling Haddad a scoundrel.

We dont need fake news to combat Haddad, the truths are sufficient, he said.

Probe ordered

Brazils electoral court scheduled a meeting for Friday to discuss measures to tackle the spread of fake news on social media but delayed the meeting until Sunday. On Friday night, the electoral court opened an investigation. And on Saturday, Brazils Federal Police opened an inquiry to investigate the scandal.

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The mass spread of fake news during Brazils 2018 election has become a key concern. While attacks have been directed at all candidates, observers say that Bolsonaro is a main benefactor.

Its a campaign based very little on news, based more on images and videos, with a language of social media and of very poor quality, Pablo Ortellado, a professor of public policy at the University of Sao Paulo, who leads a project to monitor online debates, said of content found in pro Bolsonaro Whatsapp groups.

Here's how Brazil is fighting back against fake news. pic.twitter.com/5O1h7tcfo3  Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) October 5, 2018

Meanwhile, the number of reports of electoral violence in Brazil continues to rise and prompted the United Nations Human Rights Commission last week to issue a condemnation. Bolsonaro and Haddad have both publicly condemned the violence.

Sao Paulo police are investigating the murder of a transgender woman who died from stab wounds in the early hours of Tuesday morning in which a witness reported that the attackers shouted Bolsonaro.

On Wednesday, police in Bahia state confirmed that the murder of capoeira master Moa do Katende was committed by Bolsonaro supporter Paulo Sergio Ferreira de Santana who stabbed the victim 12 times in the back after an argument about politics.

Throughout his nearly three-decade career in politics as a congressman, Bolsonaro repeatedly made statements affirming support of the use of torture, extrajudicial police killings and calling for the execution of political opponents, including former Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso.

Observers worry that if hes elected, an iron-fisted crackdown on Brazils spiralling crime problem  with more than 63,000 homicides last year  could lead to a greater even explosion of violence, disproportionately affecting marginalised groups.

We hope that control of any excesses would be made by Brazils democratic institutions and that, the outrageous remarks he made throughout his career, werent serious and wont be put into practice, said Bruno Paes Manso, a researcher at the Nucleus of Violence Studies at the University of Sao Paulo.
Cameroon denies deporting Nigerian refugees to unsafe conditions

The UN has said that Cameroon is forcing Nigerian refugees to return home, even when it is not safe for the refugees to do so.
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US Catholic Church sex abuse victims still haunted after decades

US victims of Catholic Church child sex abuse crisis are demanding reform and asking, How can you still have faith and trust in an institution where  these men protected each other?
The reporters were held after publishing articles about alleged misappropriation of rations for police cadets.

Five journalists arrested by the police in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have been released after 12 hours of interrogation.

The journalists were picked up on Friday after publishing articles about alleged misappropriation of rations for police cadets, their newspaper said.

They have been allowed to leave and told to return on Monday with AfricaNews managing editor Achille Kadima, the police said in a statement on Saturday.

It is unbelievable and very disturbing that the police have arrested journalists who revealed that a police investigation was being conducted into alleged misappropriation, said Arnaud Froger, head of Reporters Without Borders (RSF) Africa desk.

The journalists, Octave Mukendi, Bruce Landu, Roddy Bosakwa, Dan Luyila and Laurent Omba, just did their job by informing the public that an investigation was under way, Froger said.

The journalists had been working at the offices of the tri-weekly newspaper overnight to finish the latest edition when they were arrested on the premises.

The officers who took them did not show any documents, Kadima told the AFP news agency, adding that he had gone into hiding.

Earlier, he had written a letter to the national police chief complaining that police had conducted a roundup of copies of AfricaNews from newsstands.

Media clampdown

On the front page of the current issue, the paper carried a story on an inquiry into misappropriation of police cadet rations.

The detentions followed a series of prosecutions of journalists in the DRC, which is just two months away from tense elections to replace President Joseph Kabila.

DRC ranks 154th out of 180 countries on the press freedoms index compiled by RSF.

On Wednesday, RSF also sounded the alarm over the case of reporter Sylvanie Kiaku, of the weekly La Percee, who has been detained for more than a week on charges of defamation, over two articles she wrote about redundancies at a local bank.

This year, around 20 journalists have been harassed or arrested in the DRC, according to Joseph-Boucard Kasonga, president of the UNPC national press union.
Indias huge railway network is notorious for accidents that lead to thousands of deaths each year.

Angry relatives staged a protest on Saturday on the tracks where a speeding train ran into crowds celebrating a Hindu festival, killing around 60 people in northern India.

The Jalandhar-Amritsar express hit scores of revellers who had gathered on the railway tracks on the outskirts of Amritsar city in Punjab state on Friday to watch a firework display.

Many of the victims were dismembered or mutilated beyond recognition and police said it would take several days to complete the identification of the dead.

Some desperate parents went from hospital to hospital in the city on Saturday looking for missing children, while the first funerals of some victims were held.

Hardeep Singh, chief medical officer for Amritsar, told the AFP news agency 59 deaths had been confirmed and 90 people had been injured, with seven in critical condition.

Singh said only 25 bodies had been identified so far. Amritsars main hospital did not have enough space in its morgue, and some corpses were laid outside.

Train not heard

The disaster led to new demands for safety reforms to Indias accident-plagued railway system, which records thousands of deaths each year.

Punjab State Governor VP Singh Badnore said: Those who need to be punished will be punished and accountability will be fixed.

Scores of protesters, who gathered on the railway tracks, condemned the Punjab state government and demanded action against the driver who was questioned by police on Saturday. Others blocked a nearby road.

Police moved the protesters off the tracks and brought in reinforcements to control a crowd of hundreds that gathered around the scene of the disaster.

Investigators said victims did not hear the train because the drone of the locomotive was drowned out by firecrackers. Another train had narrowly missed the crowds two minutes earlier, officials said.

According to media reports, the driver told police he did not see the revellers until the last second because he had come around a bend in the dark into the firework smoke.

As attempts to apportion blame continued, police said they had given permission for the display of the annual Dussehra festival fireworks, but that organisers did not have approval from the city, health department and fire brigade.

Indian Railways said it had not been informed of the celebration, even though locals said it had been held at the same place for several years.

According to media reports, the organisers  members of the Congress party which rules Punjab  had gone into hiding.

Railway Minister Piyush Goyal returned early from a trip to the United States to go to Amritsar on Saturday. Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh called off a trip to Israel to go to the disaster scene.

Indias huge railway network is notorious for accidents.

A 2012 government report described the loss of 15,000 passengers to rail accidents every year in India as a massacre. The government has pledged $137bn over five years to modernise the crumbling network.

In 1981, seven carriages from a train fell into a river as it crossed a bridge in the eastern state of Bihar, killing between 800 and 1,000 people.

But nearly every month there are accidents involving trains that derail or hit vehicles on crossings.

In April, 13 children were killed when a train hit their school bus. In November 2016, the Patna-Indore express derailed in Uttar Pradesh state in the middle of the night, killing 139 people.
The National Follow-Up Committee wants King Abdullah II to enact reform and reduce his own personal powers.

Scores of protesters gathered in Jordans capital Amman on Saturday, calling for constitutional reform and the establishment of parliamentary democracy in the country.

Led by members of the National Follow-Up Committee, a pro-reform coalition including military veterans, leftists and Islamists, the protesters railed against corruption and economic policies that they claim have brought the countrys economy to its knees.

Photographs and videos posted on social media showed scores of people gathered for the rally in a public square. One group held aloft a banner bearing the slogan the royal national anthem is slavery.

Organisers said that more than 400 people attended the demonstration, although Al Jazeera could not independently verify the figure.

Before the protest, the Committee issued a statement demanding immediate reform and also called on the Jordanian monarch King Abdullah II to enter into a dialogue with them.

Despite our repeated calls on the King to expedite reform and to crack down on corruption, he never listened to the pulse of the street or addressed our grievances. Retired army general Sulieman al-Maaitah

One of the protesters key demands is for the king to rescind the constitutional amendments he implemented in 2016, which greatly increased his powers.

As a result of the changes, which Jordans parliament passed with a sizeable majority at the time, the monarch was empowered to appoint the head of the judiciary and the heads of the military and security agencies by royal decree.

Checking the kings powers

King Abdullah IIs popularity has declined among key segments of Jordanian society, mainly military retirees and the powerful tribes whose members make up the majority of the armed forces and government bureaucracy.

Retired army general Suleiman al-Maaitah, one of the leaders of Saturdays protest, told Al Jazeera that the king has surrounded himself with people who are viewed by the public as corrupt, disloyal and motivated by personal and business interests.

Despite our repeated calls on the king to expedite reform and to crack down on corruption, he has never listened to the pulse of the street or addressed our grievances, he said.

Al-Maaitah also criticised the government of Prime Minister Omar al-Razzaz, calling it powerless and alleged it was beholden to Jordans spy agency, the Mukhabarat.

The security agencies appoint members of the parliament who no longer represent the public, rather their paymasters within the halls of power in the country, he added.

In 2011, former Mukhabarat chief Mohamad al-Raqaad, said in Jordans upper house that he personally installed the majority of members of the parliament in two elections cycles beginning in 2007 when he was head of the agency.

Democratic governance

Hussam Abdallat, a former senior government official turned political activist, told Al Jazeera that Jordanians were calling on the king to dissolve parliament, appoint a national salvation government and to hold new free and democratic parliamentary elections.

Abdallat, who attended the rally in Amman, said Jordans economy, political life and social fabric have deteriorated under King Abdullah IIs leadership.

We are not against the king personally or the royal Hashemite family, but we want genuine democratic reform and the return of parliamentary representation in accordance with the Constitution Political activist Hussam Abdallat

However, Abdallat stressed that he is not opposed to the royal family.

We are not against the king personally or the royal Hashemite family, but we want genuine democratic reform and the return of parliamentary representation in accordance with the Constitution, he said.

With national poverty and unemployment rates around 20 percent, thousands of Jordanians took to the streets in June to protest against former Prime Minister Hani al-Mulqis governments planned austerity measures and a proposed law that would have increased taxes on ordinary citizens.

The king ended up sacking al-Mulqis government and appointed the current al-Razzaz government, which currently faces its own decline in popularity over the allegations of being soft on corruption and endemic weakness.

Retired army General Ali Habashneh, a key former military general behind the protests, told Al Jazeera that constitutional reform and limiting the kings absolute powers were important steps the king could take to calm the streets and begin a process of reconciliation and political reform in the country.

We want the king and the government to follow the constitution that says the people are the source of all powers in the country, he said.

Al Jazeera contacted Jordanian government spokesperson Jumana Ghunaimat for comments on this report but did not receive a response before publication.

Follow Ali Younes on Twitter: @ali_reports
A growing number of US Congressmen, including Republicans, have called for Saudi accountability in Khashoggi case.

The killing of Jamal Khashoggi has reverberated throughout the United States political establishment, with politicians on both sides of the political divide expressing their dismay over the Saudi journalists confirmed death.

Condemnations and legislative moves have come quickly in the hours following the Saudi governments admission that Khashoggi was killed in a quarrel and a brawl inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul as he was trying to collect documents for his upcoming marriage.

Many Congressmen, including Republican Senator Lyndsey Graham, a close ally to US President Donald Trump, have expressed their scepticism of the Saudi version of events.

Graham said on Tuesday that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was a wrecking ball and he has got to go.

Riyadh has been the key ally of the US for decades and only grew closer under the Trump administration.

Trump has pointed to a $450bn arms deal with Saudi Arabia and the kingdoms position as a bulwark to Iranian expansion in the region as reasons to continue close relations.

Its unclear from where Trump drew the $450bn figure. The US and Saudi Arabia announced a $350bn arms deal before Trumps first trip to Saudi Arabia as president. Roughly $110bn of that deal, which is set to extend over 10 years, was effective immediately, according to CNBC.

Khashoggis death has drawn the ire of both the Democrats, as well as Trumps own party, which threatens to affect US-Saudi relations, particularly the billions of dollars worth of arms deals.

Arms Sales

A bill introduced by Democratic Congressman Ted Lieu on Friday  the same day that Saudi Arabia admitted Khashoggi was killed in its Istanbul consulate  would amend the US Arms Exports Control Act to make it easier for members of the House of Representatives to review and force debate on arms deals with foreign governments.

In a time where arms sales with countries like Saudi Arabia are worthy of intense Congressional scrutiny, House Members shouldnt face roadblocks to doing our jobs, Lieu said in a statement on the bill.

Lieu tweeted early on Saturday morning that The Saudi Arabia story that Khashoggi would get into a fist fight with up to 18 Saudis, many of whom are trained killers, is ridiculous on its face.

The Saudi Arabia story that Khashoggi would get into a fist fight with up to 18 Saudis, many of whom are trained killers, is ridiculous on its face. Oh, and there's that whole bone saw thing. https://t.co/k9hrIJAQRU  Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) October 19, 2018

Jim McGovern, a Democratic Congressman from Massachusetts, co-sponsored the bill.

He said its US legislators job to determine whether Americas actions reflect the very best of our democratic values.

The legislation would align House procedures for reviewing major arms sales with existing Senate procedures under the Arms Export Control Act, making it possible for any House member to force debate on the House floor if the House Foreign Affairs Committee does not debate a contested arms sale, a press release said.

McGovern introduced a bill in the House of Representatives on October 16 to prohibit the provision of United States security assistance to the Government of Saudi Arabia until State Secretary Mike Pompeo certifies that Saudi government officials did not order Khashoggis death.

The bill would make Pompeo submit a report no later than 30 days after the enactment of the bill detailing the progress and findings of the US investigation into Khashoggis death.

During that 30-day period, the US secretary of defense would not be able to provide any United States assistance, including security assistance, intelligence, training, equipment, or services relating to maintenance, testing, or technical data, nor make any arms sales to the government of Saudi Arabia, the bill states.

The act has 15 co-sponsors, including three Republicans.

Republican chorus

Trump has stated he is open to listening to the Congress on the future of US-Saudi relations. This could spell trouble for the Saudis, as a growing Republican chorus is calling for accountability in the Khashoggi case.

Republican Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee, chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, has expressed concern with Trumps handling of the Khashoggi case.

If there is any sense that is not being taken seriously, legislators may well need to consider their own surgical piece of legislation imposing sanctions, Corker was quoted as saying by Politico.

Mike Coffman, a Republican representative from Colorado and member of the House Armed Services Committee, called for the immediate recall of the Acting US Ambassador to Saudi Arabia.

Coffman, a former serviceman with the US Marines, said in a statement our country must stand up for our values and demand our allies respect human rights  I did not fight to have us look the other way.

Rand Paul, a Republican senator from Kentucky who has been critical of Saudi air raids in Yemen, tweeted that he agreed with Coffman: We should also halt all military sales, aid and cooperation immediately. There must be a severe price for these actions by Saudi Arabia.

Michigan Republican Justin Amash, a cosponsor of McGoverns legislation to halt defensive cooperation until the state secretary reports the progress of US investigation into Khashoggis death, reiterated Pauls calls to end arms deals.

Stop U.S. arms sales to Saudi Arabia. This is just the latest atrocity by that government. https://t.co/183dtZL3GP  Justin Amash (@justinamash) October 12, 2018

Still, there is scepticism that any firm action will take place.

We may see a delay or postponement of this arms deal of 90 or 180 days, but ultimately it will go through, Saeed A Khan, a professor at Wayne State Universitys Department of Near East and Asian Studies, told Detroit News.

Echoing Trump, Khan said the defence contracts are simply too lucrative, and the kind of manufacturing and work behind these purchase orders permeates several states.

But Al Jazeeras Patty Culhane, reporting from Washington, DC, recounted mounting calls for a reevaluation of US-Saudi relations, especially from Capitol Hill.

If Congress disagrees, its likely the president will not have final say, she concluded.
The caravan is under international pressure to turn back as Mexico deploys police and US threatens use of military.

Hundreds of people in a caravan of migrants and refugees that crossed from Honduras into Guatemala staged a dramatic bid to breach the Mexican border on Friday, as local governments began preparing to disperse the convoy under pressure from Washington.

Caravan members poured through Guatemalan border posts in the town of Tecun Uman and onto a bridge leading to Mexico, only to be halted by dozens of Mexican police in riot gear. Mexicos president sharply rebuked the migrants for the border surge.

US President Donald Trump has warned the Central American caravan must be stopped before it reaches the United States, and Honduras and Guatemala said late on Friday they were mobilising to assist the return of Honduran migrants to their homeland.

Some migrants violently shook fences at the border and police said a few officers were injured in clashes. A handful of people jumped into the Suchiate River below to swim for rafts. Others turned back towards Guatemala.

Carrying backpacks and small children, many bedraggled migrants simply sat down on the bridge. Some said that they had been teargassed. As the afternoon drew on, a tropical storm, Vicente, formed nearby off the Pacific coast.

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Jose Brian Guerrero, a 24-year-old Honduran travelling with neighbours and his extended family, said he had joined the caravan to escape violent street gangs, and to find work.

Theres nothing for us in our country, said Guerrero, who used to sell beans in Honduras.

On Friday evening, Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez said he had spoken to his Guatemalan counterpart Jimmy Morales for clearance to send civil protection personnel to help the Hondurans and to find transport for those wanting to return.

Well continue this operation for as long as is necessary, Hernandez said in a post on Twitter.

Shortly afterwards, Guatemalas government tweeted that Hernandez would meet Morales on Saturday in Guatemala City to implement a strategy for returning the Honduran migrants.

Meanwhile, in a late televised address, Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto called the mass rush to penetrate the border unprecedented, accusing some migrants of attacking police.

Mexico does not and will not allow (people) to enter its territory illegally, let alone violently, he said.

A similar caravan of Central Americans that formed in southern Mexico in late March also drew the ire of Trump, who on Thursday threatened to use the military and close the southern border if Mexico did not halt the new march.

The caravan trying to reach the US faced delays at Tecun Uman, Guatemala, where police attempted to stop them [Ueslei Marcelino/Reuters]

Such a move would cause chaos on the crossing, one of the worlds busiest, and badly disrupt trade.

Speaking in Scottsdale, Arizona on Friday, Trump said he appreciated very much Mexicos efforts to stop the caravan.

If that doesnt work out, were calling up the military  not the (National) Guard  were calling up the military, he told reporters. Theyre not coming into this country.

Trump has also threatened to cut off aid to Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador  some of the poorest and most violent countries in the Americas  if they fail to prevent undocumented immigrants from heading to the US.

Their emigrants make up the bulk of people now caught trying to enter the US illegally every year.

Several migrants at the Guatemala-Mexico border spoke of entire neighbourhoods leaving their homes to join the trek after news circulated on social media of a call for a new caravan to Mexico six months after the previous one.

UN assistance

Earlier, Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met in Mexico City and discussed the caravan, which set off from Honduras last weekend.

Its a challenge that Mexico is facing, and thats how I expressed it to Secretary Pompeo, Videgaray told a joint news conference.

Pompeo said he and Videgaray spoke of the importance of stopping the caravan before it reaches the US border.

In contrast to the earlier caravan, which had advanced into Mexico before officials began intensive efforts to process the migrants, the Mexican government turned its attention to the new group right on its southern border.





Mexicos government has sought assistance from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

On Friday morning, Videgaray said the caravan had close to 4,000 people and that the migrants could individually present their claims to enter Mexico or seek refugee status.

We havent had a caravan or group of this size seeking refuge at the same time, thats why weve sought the support of the United Nations, he told Mexican television.

Mexico says the migrants without a legitimate case to claim refuge in Mexico will be returned to their countries of origin. A Mexican official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the country had the capacity to process around 200 people a day.

Police waiting

Hundreds of Mexican police were sent to guard the border between the Guatemalan town of Tecun Uman and Ciudad Hidalgo in Mexico to prepare for the migrant caravans arrival.

Manelich Castilla, the head of Mexicos federal police, said at the scene that his officers had restored order after the rush of migrants towards the border, and would begin allowing people to be processed in an orderly fashion.

Six police had been injured, Castilla said.

UNHCR spokesman Charlie Yaxley said the agency was reinforcing capacity in southern Mexico to offer counselling, legal assistance and humanitarian aid to asylum seekers.

UNHCR is concerned that the mobilization of such a large number of people in a single group will overwhelm the capacities that exist in the region, he told a news conference.
After the election of US President Donald Trump, the US saw an historic uptick in interest in left-wing groups.

Protests enveloped Washington, DC and other cities, where the streets teemed with hundreds of thousands of demonstrators on January 20, 2017, when Donald Trump was sworn in as the United Statess 45th president.

Angry rallygoers stuffed airports nationwide the following month, when the newly minted Trump administration introduced an executive order banning entry to the US for travellers from several Muslim-majority countries.

With public furore generated by the presidents anti-immigration programme, anti-Muslim policies, controversial remarks about women and flirtation with white nationalists, the political landscape was primed for change.

In the early months of Trumps presidency, membership in several left-wing outfits flourished, while progressives vied to chart an alternative path within the Democratic Party.

More recently, Democratic Socialists of America-backed candidates garnered a flurry of media attention in primary elections, during which many of them challenged  and some bested  centrist Democratic incumbents.

On November 6, Americans will cast their ballot in midterm elections largely understood to be a referendum on Trumps presidency.

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But after months of upheaval in the Democratic Party, with young progressives seeking to displace party longtimers, there is heightened attention on a surge in left-wing newcomers.

We break down the five things you should know about the US progressive surge:

1. Trumps presidency has fueled a left-wing surge

When Trump became president after a heated campaign taking aim at immigrants, Muslims, women and others, the US saw an historic uptick in interest in left-wing groups.

Bernie Sanders, who unsuccessfully challenged Hillary Clinton in the 2016 Democratic primaries, describes himself as a democratic socialist and has been a senator for Vermont since 2007. His 2016 primary campaign saw a swell in support, particularly from young people.

The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), founded by Michael Harrington in 1982, more than doubled from May 2016 to February 2017, reaching 16,000 members. The growth continued at a breakneck pace, touching 32,000 by the end of 2017.

Demonstrators with the Democratic Socialists of America take part in a rally on International Womens Day in New York City [File: Lucas Jackson/Reuters]

Now, the group estimates that it has 50,000 members across the country and describes itself as the largest socialist outfit in the US.

Though not a political party, the DSA endorses candidates with politics that align with the organisations. Those candidates share the DSAs views on broadening access to healthcare and education, opposing capitalism and US wars, and advocating for labour rights, among other issues.

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Earlier this year, DSA-backed candidate Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez defeated Democratic incumbent Joe Crowley in the Democratic Party primary election for New Yorks 14th District in the House of Representatives.

Her victory was celebrated by advocates as a step in the direction of creating a society more broadly able to provide a decent life for the many.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez defeated Democratic incumbent Joe Crowley in the Democratic Party primary election for New Yorks 14th District [Scott Eisen/Getty Images/AFP]

But while the DSA has received the lions share of attention in discussions about socialism in the Trump era, several other groups and parties reported increased membership in the wake of the presidents election. Among them were the International Socialist Organization, Socialist Alternative and the Socialist Party USA.

2. Socialism has a long history in the US

Socialist organising is nothing new in the US. Its roots can be traced back to the 19th century, when immigrant communities arriving in the country played a vital role in its inception and growth.

In 1901, the Socialist Party of America was founded after a merger of previously existing socialist groups. During that era, several socialist politicians landed in office.

In 1910, Victor L Berger became the first socialist elected to US Congress after winning Wisconsins 5th District Congressional seat. In New York, Meyor London became the second socialist elected to Congress in 1914.

Poster for the socialist presidential ticket of 1904, with portraits of Eugene V Debs and Ben Hanford [File: VCG Wilson/Corbis/Getty Images]

In the 1912 and 1920 elections Eugene V Debs, a socialist icon who ran for president five times, pulled in more than 900,000 votes. His Socialist Party of Americas membership peaked in 1912 at around 118,000.

During that period, socialists played an active role in campaigning against the USs entry into World War I. Many of them were jailed over that advocacy, owing to the Espionage Act.

In June 1917, more than 2,000 protesters were jailed for rallying against US participation in the war. Debs himself was arrested and put on trial in September 1918 on 10 counts of violating the Espionage and Sedition acts. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison and campaigned for the presidency from behind bars in 1920. His sentence was commuted, and he was released from jail in 1921.

Crackdowns on socialist organising continued throughout the 20th century, most notably during the Second Red Scare, a period during which US Senator Joseph McCarthy led a far-reaching campaign against leftists.

Eugene Victor Debs, American Union leader, addressing a crowd [File: Historica Graphica Collection/Heritage Images/Getty Images]

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At the time, with the Cold War in its early years, McCarthys efforts led to the highly publicised trials  and imprisonment  of many people merely suspected of being socialists or communists.

During the 1960s and 1970s, the New Left saw socialists and other leftists participate in struggles for civil rights and against US wars abroad, such as the war in Vietnam. Many prominent black rights groups, such as the Black Panthers, were self-described as Marxist organisations.

Later, socialists played important roles in the pushback against a slew of wars, including the first Gulf War in 1990 and the 2003 invasion of Iraq under President George W Bush.

3. Many famous Americans identify as socialists

Actor Mark Ruffalo is one of many famous Americans to embrace democratic socialism in recent years, along with fellow actor Wallace Shawn, acclaimed author Angela Davis, writer Barbara Ehrenreich, and many others.

But they follow in the footsteps of largely celebrated socialists and others who embraced elements of socialism.

Civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr was a staunch opponent of capitalism, who often sang the praises of socialism and an end to the class system. I am much more socialistic in my economic theory than capitalistic, he famously told a girlfriend. Later, he called for a politics that waged war on both racism and poverty, supported a guaranteed annual income, advocated constitutional amendments to secure economic equality and pushed for an expansion of public housing.

Hellen Keller, the first deaf-blind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree and celebrated writer, was an active socialist until her death in 1968. A member of the Socialist Party of America and the Industrial Workers of the World, Keller actively campaigned for womens suffrage, labour rights and anti-war causes, among others.

Albert Einstein, the legendary physicist, admired Soviet revolutionary Vladimir Lenin and called for the establishment of a socialist economy. Writing for the Monthly Review, a socialist publication, Einstein stated: I am convinced there is only one way to eliminate these grave evils, namely through the establishment of a socialist economy, accompanied by an educational system which would be oriented toward social goals. In such an economy, the means of production are owned by society itself and are utilized in a planned fashion.

I am convinced there is only one way to eliminate these grave evils, namely through the establishment of a socialist economy, accompanied by an educational system which would be oriented toward social goals. In such an economy, the means of production are owned by society itself and are utilized in a planned fashion. Albert Einstein

These views led to the FBI keeping a file on him that eventually amassed some 1,400 pages.

4. Young Americans are moving away from capitalism

Less than half of Americans between 18 and 29 embrace capitalism, according to an August 2018 poll by Gallup. The poll marked a 12-point decline from a previous survey in 2010, when 68 percent of young Americans viewed capitalism positively.

That same poll found that 51 percent of young people view socialism favourably. The increase came owing to growing costs of living, stagnant salaries, increasing healthcare costs, dwindling pensions and the need to take on second jobs to make ends meet.

The Socialist Feminists of Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) protest outside of the New York County Republican Office against Republican efforts to repeal Obamacare [File: Erik McGregor/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images]

Earlier this year, a University of Chicago GenForward Survey of Americans found that 62 percent of respondents between 18 and 34 years old believe that the US needs a strong government to handle todays complex economic problems.

That survey concluded that 45 percent of young Americans view socialism favourably, contrasted with a previous poll that found that 26 percent of their parents generation would prefer to live in a socialist country.

Meanwhile, a 2016 survey published by Stanford University found that Americans entering the job market are far less likely to earn more than their parents when compared with children born two generations before them.

5. Can the current socialist surge last?

Although the current surge has elicited widespread attention, not all of it has been positive. When DSA-backed Ocasio-Cortezs decried Israels response to Palestinian protests in the Gaza Strip and was criticised, she replied by admitting that she is not an expert on geopolitics on this issue. It led critics to lambast the faces of the nascent left-wing surge as unserious.

The primary campaign of Julia Salazar, another DSA-backed candidate for New York State Senate, was marred in controversy after a string of news reports accused her of falsifying her background, a charge she rejected and chalked up to misreporting and confusion.

Others have charged the left with either being implausible in the US, where history has been less than kind to self-described socialists, or out-of-tune with the priorities of most American voters. In a country whose history and ethos are so intimately tied to capitalism and individualism, critics say, socialism could not work in practice.

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For his part, Trump has attempted to brand his opponents as radicals, alleging on several occasions that his detractors were paid protesters or professional anarchists.

With US midterms approaching, Trumps current approval rating hovers just below 43 percent, a fact large enough to cast hesitation on the longevity of the progressive uptick. Unemployment is low, sitting below four percent, and it remains unclear how widespread a traction the new progressives can command.
Saud al-Qahtani was dismissed as the kingdoms royal court adviser on Saturday.

Saud al-Qahtani was fired as Saudi Arabias royal court adviser on Saturday, Saudi state media reported.

The announcement came as the kingdoms state media said the missing journalist Jamal Khashoggi had been killed in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, citing an official Saudi investigation.

Saudi state media also reported King Salman ordered the restructuring of the command of the general intelligence agency, under the supervision of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS).





Al-Qahtani, a law graduate, served as media adviser to MBS after holding several positions within the royal court.

He had previously worked as a legal adviser with late Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz Al Sauds team in 2003  when King Abdullah was the kingdoms crown prince.

Al-Qahtani then worked as an adviser to the deputy chief of the royal court, before becoming an adviser to the court in 2012.

Last year, when Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt severed diplomatic and trade ties with Qatar, al-Qahtani launched the hashtag #TheBlacklist, urging Saudis to add names of Qatar sympathisers to the list.

The Saudi-led quartet accuse Qatar of harbouring terrorism  an allegation Doha strongly denies.

Al-Qahtani had also tweeted that anyone who conspires against Saudi and its allies would be unable to escape trial.

Al-Qahtani has also been accused of using bot networks against political opponents and push government propaganda.

On Twitter, where al-Qahtani had launched vitriolic attacks against those he saw as the kingdoms enemies, thanked the Saudi government for the great opportunity they gave me to serve my country all those years.

I will remain a loyal servant to my country for all times, he wrote in a Twitter post on Saturday.
A summary of Saudis response to news of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was killed at the kingdoms Istanbul consulate.

Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist who wrote critically of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), entered Saudi Arabias consulate in Istanbul on October 2. He was not seen since.

Below is a summary of how Saudi Arabias narrative surrounding the circumstances of Khashoggis death changed over the weeks as international pressure mounted.

October 2

Khashoggi entered Saudi Arabias consulate in Istanbul to pick up a document certifying he divorced his ex-wife so he could remarry while his fiance, Hatice Cengiz, waited outside.

After waiting for three hours, his fiance asked the consulates staff for his whereabouts. They told her Khashoggi had already left the building via the backdoor.

October 5

In an interview with Bloomberg, MBS says that Khashoggi left after a few minutes or one hour.





My understanding is he entered and he got out after a few minutes or one hour. Im not sure. We are investigating this through the foreign ministry to see exactly what happened at that time.

October 6

Saudi Arabias consul in Istanbul reopened to prove that Khashoggi was not at its premises and said that talk of his kidnapping was baseless, according to Reuters.

I would like to confirm that  Jamal is not at the consulate nor in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and the consulate and the embassy are working to search for him, consul-general Mohammad al-Otaibi told Reuters.

October 8

In an unsolicited Whatsapp message to Axios reporter Jonathan Swan, MBS younger brother Prince Khaled bin Salman denied allegations that Saudi Arabia had any role in the death of Khashoggi.

I assure you that the reports that suggest that Jamal Khashoggi went missing in the consulate in Istanbul or that the kingdoms authorities have detained him or killed him are absolutely false and baseless, he wrote.

Do you have footage of him leaving the consulate? Swan replied. The reporter didnt receive an answer.

October 10

Turkish media published images of an alleged 15-member Saudi assassination squad and video of suspicious movements at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul following Khashoggis disappearance.

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Saudi Arabia remained silent as the images played across television networks in Turkey and the world, and did not offer definitive proof about Khashoggis fate.

Saudi-owned Al Arabiya criticised the media coverage, writing in an article: The mystery over missing Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi has been riddled with misreported news, dubious sources and orchestrated media campaigns.

October 11

The Saudi ambassador to Washington, Prince Khalid bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, described the allegations as malicious leaks and grim rumours and said the kingdom is gravely concerned about Khashoggi.

Saudi officials maintained he left the consulate shortly after entering, though failed to provide evidence to back that up, such as video footage.

Al Arabiya wrote that the 15-member Saudi team were tourists falsely accused of killing Khashoggi.

October 12

A delegation from Saudi Arabia arrives in the Turkish capital, Ankara, for an investigation into Khashoggis disappearance, according to two Turkish sources cited by the countrys Anadolu news agency.

October 13

Saudi Minister of Interior Abdulaziz bin Saud bin Naif bin Abdulaziz denied allegations regarding the disappearance and alleged murder of Khashoggi.

He said that allegations about orders to murder Khashoggi were lies targeting the government, according to the official Saudi Press Agency.

October 15

US President Donald Trump wrote on Twitter that he had spoken with King Salman, who denies any knowledge of whatever may have happened to Jamal Khashoggi.

The New York Times reported that the Saudi royal court will soon put out a narrative that an official within the kingdoms intelligence services  who happens to be a friend of Prince Mohammed  carried out Khashoggis killing.





According to that narrative, the crown prince approved an interrogation or rendition of Khashoggi back to Saudi Arabia, but the intelligence official was incompetent and eagerly sought to prove himself. He then tried to cover up the botched handling of the situation.

According to two sources, CNN also reported that Saudi Arabia is preparing a report that will acknowledge that the killing of Khashoggi was the result of an interrogation that went wrong.

Trump suggested rogue killers could be responsible for Khashoggis mysterious disappearance, an explanation offering US ally Saudi Arabia a possible path out of a global diplomatic firestorm.

The Saudis continued to deny they killed the writer.

After a personal 20-minute phone call with Saudi King Salman, Trump quoted the king as saying neither he nor his son, MBS, had any information about what had happened to Khashoggi.

October 16

Trump spoke with MBS, stating that the crown prince totally denied any knowledge of what happened to Khashoggi.





In a tweet, Trump said MBS told him the Saudis would rapidly expand an investigation into the matter. Answers will be coming shortly, the president said.

October 17

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Saudi Arabia has made a serious commitment to hold senior leaders and officials accountable in the case of the missing journalist if any wrongdoing is discovered.

Pompeos statement said the Saudis acknowledged something had happened to the missing journalist, but were not specific.

October 18

A report in The New York Times on Thursday indicated the Saudi rulers were considering blaming Major General Ahmed al-Asiri for the killing of Khashoggi, noting it would provide a plausible explanation for the killing and help to deflect blame from the Saudi crown prince.

October 19

Ahmed al-Asiri is sacked as Saudi Arabias deputy intelligence chief.

He had served as an adviser to MBS, who promoted him to his intelligence position last year, and was considered to be one of MBS closest aides.

October 20

After weeks of mounting international pressure, Saudi Arabia finally admits that Khashoggi was killed in their consulate in Istanbul after a fight broke out with the people he met there, but made no mention of where his body is.

The investigations are still under way and 18 Saudi nationals have been arrested, state media said.

October 21

A Saudi official has told the Reuters news agency that the team of 15 Saudis who were sent to confront Khashoggi on October 2 killing him in a chokehold after overstepping their orders.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said the team tried to intimidate Khashoggi but when the 59-year-old raised his voice, the team panicked.





They then tried to restrain him and placed him in a chokehold and covered his mouth.

Asked if the team had smothered Khashoggi, the official said: If you put someone of Jamals age in this position, he would probably die.

A member of the 15-man-team then dressed in Khashoggis clothes to make it appear as if he had left the consulate, the official added.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabias foreign minister said Riyadh is still not aware of where Khashoggis remains are, calling the killing a rogue operation and a huge mistake.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with Fox News, Adel al-Jubeir said Khashoggis killing inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul almost three weeks ago was a terrible tragedy that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) had nothing to do with.

Al-Jubeir said Khashoggi was approached by a Saudi security team when he entered the consulate on October 2. He added that the teams account of what happened after that differed from that of Turkish officials, which prompted the Saudis to investigate.

October 24

MBS calls Khashoggis killing a heinous crime that cannot be justified, in his first public remarks since Riyadhs admission that the journalist was murdered.

Speaking at the Future Investment Initiative in the Saudi capital, he said that some people are trying to seize this painful moment to drive a wedge between Saudi Arabia and Turkey.

He continued: I want to send them a message: You will not be able to do that as long as we have a king called Salman bin Abdulaziz and a crown prince called Mohammed bin Salman and a Turkish president named Erdogan.

The rift will never be created. We will prove to the entire world that the both countries are cooperating to punish all perpetrators and justice will be above everything.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman speaks during the Future Investment Initiative Forum in Riyadh [File: Reuters]

October 25

Saudi Arabias public prosecutor says the journalists assassination in Istanbul was premeditated, reversing previous statements that the murder was unintended.

Information from the Turkish authorities indicates that the act of the suspects in the Khashoggi case was premeditated, the public prosecutor said in a statement carried by the state-run Saudi Press Agency.

The public prosecution continues its investigation with suspects  to complete the court of justice.

October 27

Adel al-Jubeir, Saudi foreign minister, criticises the global outcry surrounding Khashoggis killing as hysterical while rejecting Turkeys demand to extradite the 18 suspects.





We have made clear that we are going to have a full and transparent investigation, the results of which will be released. We have made it very clear that those responsible will be held responsible, al-Jubeir said.

Unfortunately, there has been this hysteria in the media about Saudi Arabias guilt before the investigation is completed, he said.

November 2

MBS is quoted in US media reports describing Khashoggi as a dangerous Islamist.

The comments were reportedly made during a phone call with President Donald Trumps son-in-law Jared Kushner and National Security Advisor John Bolton, which allegedly took place before Saudi Arabia publicly acknowledged that Khashoggi had been killed in its consulate in Istanbul.

Citing people familiar with the call, the New York Times and the Washington Post reported that the crown prince said Khashoggi belonged to the Muslim Brotherhood  outlawed by Riyadh and its Arab allies  and urged Kushner and Bolton to preserve the US-Saudi alliance.

November 15

Saudi Arabias deputy public prosecutor Shaalan al-Shaalan says the kingdom is seeking the death penalty for five out of the 11 people charged in the murder of Khashoggi.

Al-Shalaan said Khashoggi was murdered after negotiations for his return to Saudi Arabia failed, and that the killing was ordered by the head of a negotiating team sent to repatriate the journalist after he decided it was unfeasible to remove him from the consulate.

The order to repatriate Khashoggi had come from former deputy intelligence chief General Ahmed al-Asiri, al-Shalaan said. Al-Asiri was sacked last month following an initial investigation.

Khashoggi died from a lethal injection and his body was dismembered and taken out of the building, al-Shalaan said.

Some details provided on Thursday again contradicted previous versions, none of which mentioned a drug-induced death and one of which called the killing premeditated based on information provided by Turkish authorities.

Al-Shalaans account of the killing, the latest of Riyadhs shifting explanations, was met with scepticism in Turkey while US Senator Chris Coons dismissed as utterly incredible the idea that a rogue team carried out the killing.
Businessman says his abductors spoke a Southern Africa language, confirming suspicions that they were foreigners.

Tanzanian tycoon Mohammed Dewji, who was kidnapped a week ago in Tanzanias economic capital Dar es Salam, has returned home unharmed.

Dubbed as Africas youngest billionaire, the 43-year-old heads the MeTL Group which operates in about 10 countries with interests from agriculture to insurance, transport, logistics and the food industry.

I thank Allah that I have returned home safe and sound, Dewji told a press conference on Saturday in Dar es Salaam where he was abducted on October 11 as he entered a gym at a hotel.

He also thanked the Tanzanian authorities, including the police, who worked for my return.

I thank all my fellow Tanzanians and everyone around the world for their prayers, he added.

I thank Allah that I have returned home safely. I thank all my fellow Tanzanians, and everyone around the world for their prayers. I thank the authorities of Tanzania, including the Police Force for working for my safe return.

 Mohammed Dewji

(3:15AM, Dar es Salaam)  MeTL Group (@MeTL_Group) October 20, 2018

Dewji earlier tweeted that he had been released and his father, Gullam Dewji, confirmed his sons release in comments to the Tanzanian daily Mwanachi.

Simon Sirro, national police chief, said the businessman had provided some information about the kidnapping,

Mohammed Dewji told us that the kidnappers wanted money but were very afraid, even though they were armed. He asked them several times how much they wanted but they gave no figure, Sirro said.

We now know their network, we know which country the plans were made, he added, without giving details.

Foreign captors?

Dewji had indicated that his abductors spoke a Southern Africa language, confirming suspicions that the kidnappers were foreigners, said Lazaro Mambosasa, Dar es Salam police chief.

The family had offered a reward of one billion Tanzanian shillings ($440,000) for information that would help police find him.

Dewji is Tanzanias richest man and is reportedly worth $1.5bn. He served as a member of parliament from 2005 to 2015.

In 2013, he became the first Tanzanian to be featured on the cover of Forbes magazine. Two years later he was named Forbes Africa Person of the Year.

In 2016, he signed a pledge to donate at least half of his fortune to philanthropic causes, according to Forbes.
Protesters chant anti-China slogans on Taipei march in first large-scale rally pro-independence rally in decades.

Thousands of people have rallied in Taiwans capital to call for a referendum on independence, in the first major protest calling for a popular vote since the self-ruling island became a democracy more than 20 years ago.

The march on Saturday through Taipei took place as China has stepped up its claims to Taiwan, which Beijing considers as part of its own territory.

Chinas aggression can only push us to defend ourselves, a female protester told Al Jazeera. We will safeguard our right to self-determination.

Crowds gathered outside the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) headquarters in Taipei, chanting slogans such as Want referendum! and Oppose annexation!

Taiwan has its own judiciary, political system, as well as its own currency [AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying]

China and Taiwan have been ruled separately since the civil war on mainland China in 1949.

Taiwan considers itself a sovereign state, with its own currency, judiciary and political system. Beijing, however, sees Taiwan as part of China and has warned it would use force to reunite Taipei with the mainland if necessary.

In recent years, Beijing has increased diplomatic, economic and military pressure on the government of Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen in an attempt to force her to agree that the island is a part of one China.

It has also successfully pressured global firms to list Taiwan as part of China on their company websites.

Fan Yun, a member of the Social Democratic Party, told Al Jazeera that a referendum is a democratic way to tell China and to tell the whole world that, actually, we want to be an independent country.

Organised by the Formosa Alliance, which is backed by two former Taiwanese presidents who support independence, the protest amounted to a large-scale demand for a public vote on whether to formally declare Taiwans independence from China.

We want to tell China to stop bullying Taiwan, Alliance leader Kuo Pei-horng, 63, told the crowd, the AFP news agency reported.

Taiwanese people want to be their own master, he added.

Organisers said that more than 100,000 people turned out for the march, although local police put the figure at 10,000, according to news agencies.

Protesters also challenged Tsais stance on a potential independence referendum. Under increased pressure from Beijing, Tsai has sought to strike a balance between appeasing pro-independence groups and Taiwans powerful neighbour.

For its part, the ruling DPP publicly prohibited its officials and candidates from attending Saturdays rally, instead holding its own protest against Chinas annexation of Taiwan in the southern city of Kaohsiung, its traditional heartland.

But the rally did not call for an independence vote and in a statement in advance of the protest, the DPP emphasised it did not want to change the status quo of Taiwans independent sovereignty.

Organisers said 10,000 people attended the Kaohsiung event.
US president confirms Washington plans to leave nuclear weapons treaty with Russia over claims Moscow violated deal.

The United States is going to unilaterally withdraw from a decades-old treaty with Russia that bans a wide array of nuclear weapons, US President Donald Trump has said.

The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty was signed in 1987 by then-US President Ronald Reagan and Soviet General-Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev in Washington.

It banned nuclear and conventional missiles with ranges of 500 to 5,500km, as well as their launchers.

The two countries have long accused one another of violating the terms of the landmark treaty.

Russia has not adhered to the agreement, Trump told reporters in Elko, Nevada, without giving any further details.

Were going to terminate the treaty and were going to pull out, he added.

When asked what that meant in practice, he said Well have to develop those weapons.

Trump made the comments as his National Security Adviser John Bolton was in Moscow to meet Russias Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, before what is expected to be the second summit between Trump and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, later this year.
After weeks of denials, Saudi Arabia for the first time confirmed that journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed inside its consulate in the Turkish city of Istanbul.

The kingdom claimed early on Saturday that The Washington Post columnist died after a fist fight inside the building and 18 Saudi citizens were arrested over the killing.

Khashoggi, a critic of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, went missing on October 2 after entering the consulate in Istanbul to obtain documents needed for his upcoming marriage.

Saudi officials had previously denied Khashoggi had been killed and dismembered inside the diplomatic facility, insisting he had left the consulate before disappearing.

Heres a round-up of the international reaction related to the confirmation of the Saudi journalists killing.

Saudi whitewash

Amnesty International said Saudi Arabia should immediately produce the body of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi so that independence forensic experts can conduct an autopsy in line with international standards.

"#Saudi authorities claiming that #JamalKhashoggi died as a result of a fist-fight inside the consulate are not trustworthy and marks an abysmal new low to Saudi Arabias human rights record" said @samahhadid https://t.co/r09AU9ggvv  amnestypress (@amnestypress) October 20, 2018

Samah Hadid, Middle East director of campaigns for Amnesty International, said the Saudi version of events cannot be trusted, and a UN-led investigation would be necessary to avoid a Saudi whitewash of circumstances surrounding the writers killing.

Meanwhile, Turan Kislakci, president of the Turkish Arab Media Association, said the authority that gave the orders to kill Khashoggi should be punished

France

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said his country condemned the killing of Khashoggi and called for a thorough investigation into the incident.

France condemns this murder in the strongest terms, Le Drian said in a statement.

The confirmation of Mr. Jamal Khashoggis death is a first step toward the establishment of the truth. However, many questions remain unanswered, he added.

Le Drian added that those responsible for Khashoggis death should be held accountable.

Spain

Spains government said it was dismayed by information from Riyadh about Khashoggis death, and echoed a call from the UN for a thorough and transparent investigation to bring to justice those responsible for the killing.

The Spanish government is dismayed by early reports from the Saudi prosecutor about the death of the Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, and offers its most sincere condolences to his family, Spain said in a statement.

No cover-up

The deputy head of Turkeys ruling party says Turkey will never allow a cover-up of the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Saudi Arabias consulate in Istanbul.

Numan Kurtulmus of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) also said that Turkey would share its evidence of Khashoggis killing with the world and that a conclusive result of the investigation is close.

Kurtulmus says he thinks its not possible for the Saudi administration to wiggle itself out of this crime if its confirmed.

Denmark, Netherlands

Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said he was unconvinced by Saudi Arabias account of Khashoggis death, Bloomberg reported.

The fact that the Saudis last night confirmed that he died, after previously insisting he left the consulate alive, shows that we havent been told the full truth, and we must insist on getting that, Rasmussen was quoted as saying in Copenhagen after talks with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte.

Rutte called Khashoggis killing shocking.

Both have called for an investigation into his death by the United Nations and other Western powers.

Germany

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she does not accept Saudi Arabias explanation on the death of Khashoggi, Bloomberg reported.

They still havent been cleared up and of course we demand that they be cleared up, she said at a regional convention of her Christian Democratic Union Party in eastern Germany.

The horrific events surrounding the journalists killing as a warning that democratic freedoms are under assault across the globe, she added.

Egypt, UAE, Bahrain, Yemen

Saudi Arabias allies in the Middle East rallied behind the kingdom over its response to the ongoing investigation into the killing of Saudi writer and critic Khashoggi.

On Saturday, Saudi state media reported that King Salman had ordered the formation of a ministerial committee, headed by Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, to restructure the kingdoms intelligence services.

Egypt praised Saudis King Salman for taking decisive action, saying it was confident the ongoing probe into Khashoggis death would reveal the truth.

Egypt sees that the brave and decisive decisions and actions taken by the Saudi King over this matter align with his majestys approach that respects the principles of law and applications of effective justice, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) also voiced support for Saudis King Salman and commended his directives and decisions  on the issue of Kashoggi, UAEs state-run WAM news agency reported.

Bahrain, meanwhile, said in an official statement that Saudi Arabia will remain a state of justice, value and principles, the Saudi-owned Al Arabiya TV network reported.

Yemen also praised decisions made by the Saudi king, according to the countrys state news agency.

United Kingdom

Britains Foreign Office said it was considering its next steps following Saudi Arabias admission over Khashoggis killing and reiterated that that those responsible must be held to account.

We send our condolences to Jamal Khashoggis family after this confirmation of his death. We are considering the Saudi report and our next steps, the statement said.

As the Foreign Secretary has said, this was a terrible act and those responsible must be held to account, the statement added.

The UKs main opposition Labour party has called on the governing Conservative Party to suspend arms sales to the kingdom.

United Nations

Antonio Guterres, secretary-general of the United Nations, is deeply troubled by Riyadhs confirmation of Khashoggis death, according to a spokesperson.

The UN chief called for a prompt, thorough, transparent probe into the circumstances of the killing and urged full accountability for those who were involved.

The secretary-general is deeply troubled by the confirmation of the death of Jamal Khashoggi. He extends his condolences to Mr Khashoggis family and friends, Guterress office said in a statement.

The secretary-general stresses the need for a prompt, thorough and transparent investigation into the circumstances of Mr Khashoggis death and full accountability for those responsible.

Donald Trump

US President Donald Trump said Saudi Arabias explanation for how Khashoggi was killed was credible, adding what happened at the consulate is unacceptable.

Speaking to reporters at Luke Air Force Base in Arizona, he said Khashoggis death was a horrible event that has not gone unnoticed, but he noted the announcement on the circumstances of the journalists death was a good first step.

Saudi Arabia has been a great ally, but what happened is unacceptable, Trump said.

He also said he prefers any sanctions against Riyadh not include cancelling multibillion-dollar defence deals.

White House

Earlier, White House spokesperson Sarah Sanders said in a statement that Washington acknowledged Saudi Arabias announcement and was closely following the developments.

We will continue to closely follow the international investigations into this tragic incident and advocate for justice that is timely, transparent, and in accordance with all due process, Sanders said.

We are saddened to hear confirmation of Mr Khashoggis death, and we offer our deepest condolences to his family, fiancee, and friends.

Statement on Saudi Arabia Investigation: pic.twitter.com/DjBdwZAGAi  Kayleigh McEnany (@PressSec) October 19, 2018

US politicians

Politicians in the US have reacted in disbelief at claims in Saudi Arabias state media that Khashoggi died following a fist fight.

To say that I am sceptical of the new Saudi narrative about Mr Khashoggi is an understatement, prominent Republican Senator Lindsey Graham wrote on Twitter, adding it was hard to find this latest explanation as credible.

First we were told Mr. Khashoggi supposedly left the consulate and there was blanket denial of any Saudi involvement. Now, a fight breaks out and hes killed in the consulate, all without knowledge of Crown Prince.  Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) October 19, 2018

Democrat Congressman Adam Schiff also questioned the Saudis credibility, tweeting: If he was fighting with those sent to capture or kill him it was for his life. The kingdom must be held to account. If the administration doesnt lead, Congress must.

Californias Eric Swalwell, a senior Democrat congressman on the Intelligence Committee, said the unanswered question now is the location of Khashoggis remains.

Where is the body? Khashoggis family deserve immediate custody of the remains as they seek some measure of closure, he wrote on Twitter.

Brutal assassination

Karen Attiah, The Washington Posts Global Opinions editor, described the Saudi announcement as almost insulting.

2 weeks later, and this is the best explanation they could give? Its almost insulting. But here goes: 1) Then what happened to the body?

2) Why did officials lie say and he left the consulate?

3) What evidence do they have to support that there was a fistfight? #Khashoggi https://t.co/SMZiV51sz1  Karen Attiah (@KarenAttiah) October 20, 2018

In another Twitter post, Attiah wrote: Utter bulls**t.

Fiancee farewell

Khashoggis fiancee, Hatice Cengiz, was the last person to see him alive on October 2 when he entered the Saudi consulate. The reason he went there was to obtain a document proving his divorce so he could remarry.

God have mercy on you my love Jamal, and may you rest in Paradise, Cengiz tweeted following the Saudi announcement of his killing.

Human rights groups such as Amnesty International separately have been calling for a United Nations investigation into Khashoggis killing.

All along we were concerned about a whitewash, or an investigation by the entity suspected of involvement itself, Amnestys Rawya Rageh said on Saturday. The impartiality of a Saudi investigation would remain in question.

Some analysts noted the international pressure finally became too much for the Saudis to bear.

It took an intense international outcry sustained for two weeks to acknowledge the obvious  that Khashoggi is dead, that he was killed in the Saudi consulate, said Kristin Diwan of the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington.

That gives you an idea of the immense financial and strategic interests that are invested in maintaining the US partnership with Saudi Arabia and its leadership.

Others questioned the believability of the latest Saudi explanation.

Each successive narrative put out by the Saudis to explain what happened to Khashoggi has strained credulity, said Kristian Ulrichsen, a fellow at Rice Universitys Baker Institute in the United States.

Especially because the Saudis are still unable or unwilling to produce the one piece of evidence  a body  that could provide a definitive answer one way or the other.
Since life isn't fair and God finds humor in our feeble attempts at self-governance, Hillary Clinton continues to haunt public life, like a jilted ex-girlfriend stalking all your usual hangouts.

The only reason, as I see it, why Clinton is still sought after for insight is purely sadistic: a not insubstantial number of us enjoy watching a loser's reaction to events he can't control. Hillary shamelessly indulges these rubberneckers, going as far as to write a grievance missive that shot up to the top of the New York Times best-seller list.

With a knack for ill timing, Hillary and her slick-styled lecherous husband are embarking on a six-month speaking tour, which will hit all her major support areas in deep blue metropolises, while leaving out the many purple-state cities that cost her the presidency. Wisconsin is conspicuously absent from the list.

(Perhaps Hillary is secretly lactose-intolerant and will bust out in hives if she visits America's Dairyland. Nothing else I see explains her assiduous avoidance of the state.)

Just before the tour gets underway, Hillary granted an interview with CBS correspondent Tony Dokoupil. Fresh off the Kavanaugh hearings, where the world's greatest deliberative body deliberated on whether or not a distinguished appeals court judge was a dope-peddling gang rapist in his beery youth, the former secretary of state dared to tread into the dangerous territory of sexual misconduct, defending her husband's licentious history. Unlike in Bosnia, she really encountered enemy fire on the #MeToo battlefield.

Dokoupil wasted little time in addressing the matter, asking a phlegmatic Clinton, "In retrospect, do you think Bill should've resigned in the wake of the Monica Lewinsky scandal?"

"Absolutely not," Hillary replied without missing a beat. Dokoupil pressed further: "There are people who look at the incidents of the '90s and they say, 'A president of the United States cannot have a consensual relationship with an intern. The power imbalance is too great.'"

That's when Hillary ditched the intersectionality feminism she appropriated for her 2016 campaign and went right to hard politics, coldly pointing out, "[She] was an adult." The implication was that since Lewinsky was a few years on the other side of what we consider "legal age," she was responsible for her actions. In other words, she consented.

In that moment, we caught a glimpse of the Hillary of old, the first lady the media loved to torment. At the very mention of her husband's affair, her street-fighting instincts kicked in. Notice the length of time it took for Hillary to parry the rhetorical jab by invoking Lewinsky's legal status: half a breath, maybe less. Her retort was locked and loaded, and she didn't hesitate to pull the trigger. Maybe she could have beaten Donald Trump had her more naturally ruthless side been allowed to show during the campaign other than at that fateful night at the swank LGBT gala in Manhattan.

Say what you will about the cult of intersectionality, but at least its disciples have a nuanced view of power dynamics. Hillary, on the other hand, holds the dominant view of sexual ethics, which revolves around choice and assent.

Consent is the watchword of our modern sexual ethos. All sexual acts are now judged by their consensual nature. Liberals, progressives, libertarians, and even some conservatives see sex strictly through the lens of explicit approval. The only outliers are the intersectionality left and religiously traditional conservatives.

When Hillary cites Monica Lewinsky's age, she's echoing a shared sentiment when it comes to sex: if they're both consenting adults, who cares? Respect the sacral privacy of the bedroom!

Viewing intimate intercourse as just another transaction not at all different from buying groceries robs sex of its larger, inherent meaning. The teleological nature of sex  its sublime purpose, its emotional dimension, its divine designation  is lost in its commoditization, which is the effect of relying solely on consent as a moral barometer.

"Sexuality is not simply a matter of something that I have, as though my body is another possession just like my wallet or my car," writes theology professor Angela Franks. The irony of the focus on consent is that it arguably helped give cover to Harvey Weinstein, the Hollywood mogul cum feminist boogeyman. Weinstein has argued that all of his trysts were consensual and that plenty of his paramours were trading their sexual currency for a shot at fame. Picture the situation: a young actress is being ogled and fondled by the debauched Weinstein. She gives in to his advances, if only to better her career. Isn't that consensual?

By Hillary's and many others' standard, Weinstein taking advantage of aspiring starlets is perfectly permissible. After all, they consented! (Weinstein has yet to be found guilty of rape.)

The advocates of a consent-only approach to sex probably don't want their beliefs used to support predators like Weinstein, or even Bill Clinton. But they're left with little choice: such a parochial view of sex limits the scope of passing judgment on anything other than explicit affirmation.

Is it too conspiratorial to think those in power, like the Clintons, prefer it that way?

Image: Nathania Johnson via Wikimedia Commons.
Political tribalism has been a very popular topic in 2018. A great divide has been created in our society as a result of identity politics. Many have retreated into groups with only like-minded individuals creating mini echo-chambers all over the country. These groups push their agenda without any regard of the effects on the rest of society. Do these disparate groups undermine American society? Is it inevitable these groups will continue to grow apart until the country becomes ungovernable? Will Americans be able to find any middle ground on which they agree? While some argue drastic change in the structure of government is needed to address this problem, the correct course would be a return to the original design of the Republic. James Madison provided much insight into the problems that arise from such factions in the Federalist Papers.

Factions

Madison defines factions in Federalist 10 as some common impulse of passion, or of interest, adversed to the rights of other citizens, or to the permanent and aggregate interests of the community. People will align themselves with others who share their interests, and at times, support measures which are not beneficial to the public as a whole. He goes on to say So strong is this propensity of mankind to fall into mutual animosities, that where no substantial occasion presents itself, the most frivolous and fanciful distinctions have been sufficient to kindle their unfriendly passions and excite their most violent conflicts. As we see today, once people have grouped themselves with others of similar passions, it is easy for conflict to occur between groups even about trivial matters.

Madison explains, There are two methods of curing the mischiefs of faction: the one, by removing its causes; the other, by controlling its effects. Madison first addresses the ways the causes of factions could be removed. The first method of removal he prescribes is destroying the liberty which is essential to its existence. Obviously, Madison found this to be an unacceptable answer. The other method was giving to every citizen the same opinions, the same passions, and the same interests -- an impossible task. Madison believed the formation of factions to be inevitable in a free society. These factions divided mankind into parties, inflamed them with mutual animosity, and rendered them much more disposed to vex and oppress each other than to co-operate for their common good. Since there is no appropriate measure to prevent factions from occurring, Madison turned his attention on how to mitigate their effects.

Democracy vs Republic

Madison further explained the significance of creating a system of government that would not be a democracy, but a republic. Madison believed a democracy would have no ability to control the conflicts that arise between factions. The largest factions would dominate through a sort of mob rule. Under a republic, though, Madison believed that the public would select as representatives individuals who were less likely to sacrifice the good of the whole of society for the interests of a faction. Madison also predicted there would be some who choose representatives who are corrupt or betray the interests of their people, but in a large republic it would be more difficult for those individuals to gain power. This is why Madison begins Federalist 10 by stating AMONG the numerous advantages promised by a well constructed Union, none deserves to be more accurately developed than its tendency to break and control the violence of faction. Our Republic forces our leaders who represent different geographic regions and diverse people to come together in order for the government to function properly. This prevents the tyranny that could arise from the strongest factions accumulating power.

Federalism

One solution that both sides of the political spectrum can agree on is a de-escalation of the nationalization of all issues. Allow California to live under the policies it chooses,and allow Oklahomans to live under their policies. By allowing these policy battles to be waged locally there wont be such division nationally. As Madison described in Federalist 45, The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the federal government are few and defined. Those which are to remain in the State governments are numerous and indefinite. The states, by design, would be the arena for the vast majority of policy decisions. This allows geographic neighbors with a more shared background to decide the laws and regulations they will be governed by. Since individuals may have a very diverse history of life experiences depending on where they might live, they may be able to choose a very different type of governmental policy that best suits their unique community. Not only does federalism allow for varied local solutions, it also allows for multiple remedies to be attempted for the same problem at the same time. As Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis wrote in the 1932 New State Ice Co. v. Liebmann case, a "state may, if its citizens choose, serve as a laboratory; and try novel social and economic experiments without risk to the rest of the country." These laboratories of democracy will not only allow states to experiment with what policies are most effective for their state, but will also minimize the unrest that stems from polarizing national policy. If most of our policymaking decisions were to be done at the local level, much of the fervor driving citizens across the country into their disparate factions would be subdued by limiting the effects of policy making decisions to smaller sections of the country. If citizens are unhappy with a policy they can address the issue with their local official or vote them out of office, instead of resenting those across the country who advocate the policy who do not share their views. This federalism system was designed to empower familiar local leaders who were attuned to the needs of their local districts, rather than distant congressmen in Washington

Uniting a broken people

Ultimately the answer will have to come from something beyond politics. Madison stated in a speech to the Virginia Ratifying Convention on June 20th, 1788:

Is there no virtue among us? If there be not, we are in a wretched situation. No theoretical checks-no form of government can render us secure. To suppose that any form of government will secure liberty or happiness without any virtue in the people, is a chimerical idea, if there be sufficient virtue and intelligence in the community, it will be exercised in the selection of these men. So that we do not depend on their virtue, or put confidence in our rulers, but in the people who are to choose them.

We must be a virtuous people to heal the wounds caused by tribalism. We can disagree on domestic policy, but we must have some basic moral principle that calls us to respect our neighbor. Federalism can help ease the tensions in our society, but ultimately, we are in desperate need of a spiritual revival.
Trying to sound nonpartisan on TV, some conservatives and Republicans begin their comments by saying there is too much vitriol and incivility on both sides of the political aisle. Folks, that is simply not true. As a veteran of the Tea Party movement, I can testify that Tea Party people are a class act -- salt-of-the-earth, decent, hardworking, respectful and law-abiding Americans. We do not behave like the Democrats' arrogant Trump-hating domestic terrorists.

When I was nine, I babysat my three younger siblings. Jerry liked to play alone building things in our bedroom. Just to be annoying, David would go into our bedroom and break whatever Jerry built. They would fight. When mom got home from work, both would plead their case. Too tired to figure out the details, mom would punish both boys for fighting. I told mom that was unfair because David started it. In life, there are good guys and bad guys. Democrats/leftists are the bad guys. Tea Party Americans are the good guys.

Democrats/leftists forced their way into our lives, hellbent on breaking traditional Godly principles and values that average Americans hold dear. And yet, with the help of fake news media, Democrats/leftists have deceived many Americans into believing that Conservatives, Republicans, Christians, and Tea Party people are the hateful aggressors. We are not.

We are the ones minding our own business. Meanwhile, Democrats/leftists are demanding that we stop celebrating Christmas and Easter. Democrats/leftists demand that teachers stop addressing students as boys and girls; deeming it hateful and discriminatory. Democrats/leftists are demanding that they be allowed to kill babies even after they are born. Democrats/leftists are demanding that schools assist students with abortions and sex changes without parental knowledge or consent. Democrats/leftists demanded that prayer and Bibles be banned in schools, while mandating that LGBTQ lessons become mandatory in public schools. LGBTQ lessons include instructions on rimming, anal sex and using fruit as sex toys.

In response to the spontaneous grassroots birth of the Tea Party, Democrats orchestrated their Occupy Wall Street movement. Fake news media loved it, claiming OWS was morally superior to the Tea Party. Hogwash! OWS deadbeats trashed every site of their events, leaving mountains of trash and human waste. People were raped at OWS camps.

OWS attracted people obsessed with viewing themselves as victims of someone or something. Wacko anti-American, anti-capitalism, pro-socialism and pro-communism zealots found a home in OWS. These deadbeats demanded that government give them the fruit of hardworking American's labor. OWS minions vandalized private property, which included dumping a bucket of feces in the lobby of a public building.

During the 500 Tea Party rallies I attended on numerous national bus tours, I never witnessed violence coming from our side. Our Tea Party Express tour bus was attacked with eggs and bottles on a few occasions. Outside a St Louis town-hall meeting, a Democrat/leftist hit-squad beat up black vendor Kenneth Gladney, sending him to the emergency room for daring to sell flags which read, Don't Tread on Me.

A million-plus Tea Party people attended our 2010 rally in Washington D.C. to stop ObamaCare. We left the site super clean , the same as we left every site of every rally.

I do not ever recall hearing the 'f ' word spoken from the stage at a Tea Party rally. Our rallies typically began with prayer, our National Anthem and the Pledge of Allegiance. Years ago, I sang at a Gathering of Eagles rally in Washington DC in support of our troops. Blocks away, a thousand or more Democrats/leftists marched down a street of our nation's capitol chanting, F*** George Bush! Folks, Tea Party people would never be so crude, rude, or disrespectful of the public (children and families). After Trump won the presidency, the Democrats'/leftists' Woman's March in D.C. was an orgy of vulgarity and profanity screamed from the stage and praised by fake news media.

Fake news media practically ignored Democrats/leftists marching down a NY street chanting, What do we want? Dead Cops! When do we want it? Now! And yet, fake news media have deceived many into believing Conservatives and Republicans are the mean-spirited violent aggressors in leftist assault on our culture. We are not.

Democrats/leftists kidnapped and tortured a disabled man for expressing support for Trump. Seniors wearing MAGA caps are being assaulted and punched in the face. Democrats severely punish young blacks caught wearing MAGA caps. It still blows my mind that Democrats have successfully convinced many blacks that a desire to make our/their homeland great is racist.

Obama told Democrats to get into Republican's faces. Hillary Clinton told Democrats to be uncivil. Maxine Waters said that upon seeing a Republican at a supermarket, gas station and etc., Democrats should gather a crowd to scream, yell, and humiliate them. Tea Party people would never engage or encourage such mob assaults.

Cops being ambushed and assassinated around the country is the direct result of Democrats/leftists promoting Black Lives Matter's inflammatory lie that cops murder blacks on site.

In my many years as a black conservative Tea Party activist, neither white supremacists or their rhetoric was ever tolerated anywhere near a Tea Party rally. Tea Party organizers were extremely passionate about making it clear that our beef with Obama was about his extreme leftist policies and not his skin-color. Despicably, fake news media relentlessly promoted their lie that the Tea Party was made up of white supremacists and was the new KKK without sheets. Fake news media is using the same disgusting bogus racist smear to undermine Trump making America great again.

Meanwhile, fake news media celebrates openly racist hate groups and anarchists like Black Lives Matter and Antifa. Black Lives Matter boldly sent out a clarion call to their minions that it is 'open season' on killing cops and white people. Antifa terrorists are destroying private property and physically attacking all who refuse to submit to their outrageous demands. Do you see why it drives me nuts hearing Conservative/Republican pundits parroting the leftist lie that the violence and hate on both sides needs to be toned down? Tea Parties are upbeat family friendly events; inspiring speakers, featuring Christian and patriotic music.

We Tea Party people never beat up our opposition. Desiring the best for all our fellow Americans, we reach out to Democrats/leftists trying to educate them. Democrats/leftists have become super-hostile to facts and truth. They now seek to silence, punish and jail anyone daring to disagree with their agenda. Tea Party people are the opposite. We highly respect our constitutional right of free speech. So don't tell me that Tea Party people are just as guilty of incivility as Democrats/leftists. That is a lie.

Trump's swift dismantlement of Obama's anti-America agenda and successfully placing another conservative on the Supreme Court has caused Democrats and the fake news media to suspend any pretense of civility, honesty, and respect for the law. The Democratic Party has morphed into an angry insane mob. Their enforcers, joined by fake news media, are determined to beat the American people into submission. The Democrats' Trump resistance mob bears no resemblance to the Tea Party which is dignified, patriotic, and good. The Democratic Party has become the home of pure evil and must never be allowed back into power, controlling the house, senate or White House.

Lloyd Marcus, The Unhyphenated American

Help Lloyd spread the Truth
In his January 1989 State of the Union Address, President Ronald Reagan said, Yes, we will have our differences. But let us always remember: what unites us far outweighs whatever divides us.

The point the president was making that we are all Americans and we all share the same ideals and aspirations: self-reliance, belief in a free-market economy, and commitment to the democratic process. The current political environment, however, is fundamentally different.

Todays Democratic Party does not offer a different philosophy for achieving the same objectives; for years, it has had a different philosophy and different objectives entirely. The ideological paradigm of todays Democrats is Obamas neo-Marxist version of socialism, the driving force of which is bondage: The hand that feeds you controls you.

Devotion to the socialist cause has turned the Democrats in the House and Senate into what Bolshevik Leon Trotsky called the Voting Herd, acting much like the unthinking members of the Soviet Congress of Peoples Representatives that for seventy years unanimously approved every one of the Communist Partys programs.

Just like the Soviet Politburo, a small group of ideologically driven Democrats in leadership positions formulates the policies while the majority, possessing a limited understanding of the underlying ideology and not overburdened by convictions or moral virtues, is enmeshed in a philosophy that destroys individualism and self-reliance and fosters the blind following of leaders. There is no inner hesitation and no inner opposition. The psychopaths have turned this once respected political party of John Kennedy, Henry M. Jackson, and Mike Mansfield into a socialist cartel.

It is not a stretch to equate the Democratic Party with the ideas of socialism and the principles of the Bolsheviks Democratic Centralism. The core principle of Democratic Centralism is, "The decisions of higher bodies shall be absolutely binding on lower bodies and on all Party members." The Party requires uniformity of thought and action, exhibits the signs of Soviet obedience, and equates the will of the Party with the will of the people.

This ideological conversion eroded democratic values, forced the Democrats to abandon their principles, and eventually led to the moral degeneration of the party.

Unable to offer an ideologically sustainable alternative to capitalism and powerless to stop Trumps massive onslaught on socialist programs, the Democrats have purposely been trying to worked America into a deadlock by employing potent Marxist tactics -- resistance, demagoguery and lies.

In a concerted effort to paralyze executive authority, they blatantly subvert every program on the Presidents agenda and actively support a collective mania for ever more sweeping investigations of dubious claims, rumors, unsubstantiated allegations and innuendos that has descended over the President, his family, his associates, and nominees.

The intellectual concept of truth has been challenged. Falsehood confronts reason, and intimidation replaces consensus. The truth is no longer what can be proven, the truth is any insinuation that cannot be avoided. The party migrated to the Soviet playbook and completely abandoned American ethics.

The Democrats have employed political homicide and character assassination as a weapon of choice. Unsubstantiated accusations of sexual misconduct against male rivals have become a familiar feature of the American political landscape. People with a lifelong stellar record in public service have been smeared and venomously attacked for their virtues and success.

The prerequisites of being Democratic nowadays are political expediency and knavery supplemented by a congenital lack of integrity and common decency. There are hardly any thinkers or mavericks left in the party, but rather a gathering of pedestrian opportunists who, just like their Bolshevik precursors, have professed their egalitarian vision and prophetic absolutism they committed to achieve at any cost.

Having failed to find a middle ground between total victory and total defeat, the born again Bolsheviks, with nothing to offer beyond racism and mistreatment of women, will inevitably resolve to violence in order to preserve socialist gains.

According to the Bible, the great battle of Good vs. Evil would take place in the plain of Armageddon. Americans must realize that this battle has been going on for a quite a while in Washington, D.C. and soon will take place around the country in this November.

Alexander G. Markovsky is a senior fellow at the London Center for Policy Research and author of Anatomy of a Bolshevik and Liberal Bolshevism: America Did Not Defeat Communism, she Adopted It.
Alaska's independent governor, Bill Walker, shocked the political establishment in announcing his withdrawal from his re-election race just 18 days before the voting begins.

Walker's withdrawal follows the withdrawal and resignation of his lieutenant governor, Bryan Mallot, for "inappropriate comments" made to a woman.

Anchorage Daily News:

With less than three weeks until Election Day and with more than 23,000 absentee ballots already mailed to voters, Walker's decision to step away from his campaign marks a significant, last-minute change in the battle to become Alaska's next governor. The three-way race has now become a two-way fight between Begich, a former U.S. senator, and Dunleavy, a former state senator. How this complicates voting is not yet completely clear. Some Alaskans have already sent in their voted ballots. Walker had been scheduled to attend a candidate forum at the AFN convention Friday afternoon with his competitors Begich and Dunleavy. Instead, he went on the stage at the Dena'ina Civic and Convention Center  before the forum started  and told a crowd of hundreds from across the state: "Every decision I have made as your governor, I have made on the basis of what I believe is best for Alaska. With that said, effective today, I am suspending my campaign for the re-election as governor." There were gasps and shouts from the audience. An emotional Walker, in a blue kuspuk, said that with only 18 days until the election, "it has become clear, we cannot win a three-way race." This week, he said, he talked to "many, many, many Alaskans" about who had a better chance of competing against Dunleavy. The determination was made that, at this point, Begich has the better odds," Walker said.

Begich lost his Senate seat to Republican Dan Sullivan in 2014 largely because he was seen as too liberal for Alaska. He's gotten more clever at presenting a moderate, independent image to the voters, but Dunleavy has heavily outraised Begich and leads fairly comfortably in the polls.

More interesting at this point is why Walker endorsed Begich. Walker, who says he's a moderate, didn't like some of Dunleavy's criticism about his stewardship of the state, which most voters believe was abysmal. It's doubtful this close to the election that Walker's endorsement will carry a lot of weight, which makes Walker's choice to drop out more than a little mysterious.
A group of illegal aliens from Honduras estimated to number up to 4,000 tried to force their way across the border between Guatemala and Mexico, rioting when they were denied entry into Mexico.

Washington Free Beacon:

A caravan of migrants, whose numbers have been estimated to range between 3,000 to 4,000 strong, began converging on the Guatemala-Mexico border early Thursday evening. Some of the migrants, who are recognized to be fleeing violence, political instability, and the poor economic conditions of their native homelands in Central and South America, hope to stay and work in Mexico. The majority seek to use the country's northern border to infiltrate the U.S. illegally, according to the Associated Press. The men and the women of the caravan turned violent and began to riot upon being denied passage into Mexico. The migrants, most of whom began their journey last week in Honduras, had traveled hundreds of miles on foot or by bus and were unwilling to take no for an answer. They quickly moved to overwhelm the law enforcement and military officers on both sides of the border by hurling rocks and other readily available objects. One of the migrants, a Honduran man who was first to overcome the police barriers and cross into Mexico, was heard shouting euphorically that no one could stop the caravan's momentum. "We are going to the United States!" he said. "Nobody is going to stop us!" The crowd was also heard chanting "Yes we can!" and "We're going to get in!" as they stormed the border. It is unclear how many individuals or law enforcement officers have been wounded or hurt by the migrant's rioting.

This is not some amorphous mob of poor people. These people are being directed and have probably been told that no one will shoot at them if they are determined to cross borders.

Mexico has not been overly helpful. While they announced that anyone without proper papers would be sent home, Mexico also said anyone seeking asylum or who had the proper documents would be allowed passage.

Needless to say, few will be seeking asylum in Mexico.

Trump has threatened to cut aid to Mexico and any other country that allows the illegals passage.

Since the mid-1970s, migrants from Central and Southern America have exploited Mexico's relatively lax policies on border security to enter the U.S. illegally. The situation, however, has changed in recent months as the Trump administration takes a strong hand in pressuring Mexico to crack down on illegal border crossings. To that effect, high ranking administration officials, along with the president himself, have threatened to cut foreign aid to Mexico and other countries complicit in allowing illegal immigrants [sic] to pass through their borders en route to the U.S. The president took to social media on Tuesday to reiterate that threat when the caravan first appeared poised to leave Honduran territory and enter Guatemala. "The United States has strongly informed the President of Honduras that if the large Caravan of people heading to the U.S. is not stopped and brought back to Honduras, no more money or aid will be given to Honduras, effective immediately!" Trump wrote.

The president may turn out the military to defend our sovereignty if the mob makes it to the U.S. border. Without the cooperation of Mexico, the situation has the potential to escalate out of control  which is what both the illegals and Mexico wants. Nothing would speed illegal immigration more than a confrontation between the U.S. military and civilians. But if the illegals insist on trying to cross the border, such a confrontation may be unavoidable.
Is deep blue California earning itself a new title of distinction as the nation's pestilence capital?

Starting to look like it, given the latest news of a typhus outbreak among 64 of the homeless in Los Angeles County, according to The Guardian:

Los Angeles officials have pledged hundreds of thousands of dollars and created a dedicated taskforce to fight an outbreak of typhus, as a city of glittering wealth grapples with a disease linked to intense poverty. "We're deploying every available resource to help control and stop this outbreak," said Alex Comisar, press secretary for Los Angeles's mayor, Eric Garcetti. Many of those resources have focused on the city's large homeless population, considered most at risk for contracting the flea-borne illness.

The news follows San Diego County's sub-distinction as the nation's hepatitis capital, again a product of its homeless population, killing 20 and infecting 600, which was reported last year here. Apparently there have been more cases since the press claimed they got it all cleaned up here. Here's another news account:

A newly detected hepatitis A case prompted a public warning from the county health department Friday. Health and Human Services Agency officials recommend vaccination for anyone who lived at the Volunteers of America Renaissance Treatment Center in National City from June 19 through June 21 because a client who was at the facility on those dates recently tested positive for the viral infection that can damage the liver if left untreated.

Then there's San Francisco, a city so covered in the excrement of homelessness it has 16,000 feces-related complaints from the public, complete with suitcases and trash bags full of excrement decorating its city streets, that the city now employs "poop patrols" as its solution to the problem. It has undoubtedly created massive public health problems in the closely packed, densely populated city, things city officials don't talk about. As American Thinker contributor Lee DeCovnick wrote yesterday, it's so gross in that city that "it'll make you cry."

It didn't use to be this bad in California. The economy is Trumpian, so it's not the economy  California, after all, does have a 4.1% unemployment rate, not as good as the rest of the country, but certainly a figure the Obama economy could only dream of.

But it also didn't use to be this blue a state, and it's quite likely there's a connection.

Lefty governments have long had permissive policies toward homelessness and illegal immigration, culminating in the naming of all the top cities as sanctuary cities. They've also failed to do anything to end homelessness other than throw money at the problem. The dynamics have been simple: more homelessness, more bureaucrats to "serve" them, and more bureaucrats always create a bigger, more powerful, and less accountable state. So homelessness, like illegal immigration, is de facto encouraged, because the state benefits.

Instead of instituting vagrancy laws, or institutionalizing people with long-term drug problems, at a minimum, just getting them off the street, the state feeds them by feeding more bureaucrats. As economist Thomas Sowell has noted: you can have all the poverty you'd like to pay for.

The Californians are paying a lot now, and the evidence of it is in the pestilence that's growing. There have even been stray reports of cholera, which is right in there with the other types of pestilence never seen in the state until Democrats took over.

The bottom line is that Democrats have no interest in ending homelessness except if they can benefit from it. That's why money-shoveling is trumping the public's need for public health. Living homeless goes hand in hand with pestilence, and it's no way for anyone to live. But until the state puts an actual stop to it, regardless of the feelings of the homeless themselves, it's just going to get more intolerable. Waiting for the next pestilence in the meantime.
Over the years, I've learned a couple of things about Mexico's political class.

First, they need to send a certain number of people north. It is an essential valve to release potential social pressures.

Second, they don't want Central Americans, or anybody else, using Mexico as a highway to the U.S.

This is what we are seeing again. Mexico is proactively handling the caravan by stopping it on their border. Again, the Mexicans don't want them, as this report shows:

Mexico has said the Hondurans in the current caravan would not be allowed to enter as a group, and members would either have to show a passport and visa  items few of the migrants have  or apply individually for refugee status, a process that can take three months for approval. Mexican officials also said migrants caught without papers would be deported. In a statement, the country's foreign ministry said the "government of Mexico maintains permanent communication with the members of the caravan that have reached the southern border, to whom the options to which they are entitled have been explained."

Many are reacting saying Mexico buckled to President Trump's threat. I don't think so.

I agree with President Trump's threats to Mexico and other countries. However, I believe that this is Mexico acting on its own interests. In this case, Mexico and the U.S. have common interests.

We should remember that southern Mexico, or the states that border Guatemala, makes for the poorest areas of the country. They've had their share of problems down there, and adding more poor people from Central America is out of the question.

As my Mexican friends have me told me over the years: "No nos conviene," or, loosely translated, "It does not suit us."

Indeed, it does not.

PS: You can listen to my show (Canto Talk) and follow me on Twitter.
House minority leader Nancy Pelosi didn't quite get the welcome reception she expected when she went to Cuban-filled Miami to campaign for Democrat Donna Shalala for Congress. According to the Washington Post:

A group of hecklers angrily confronted House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi during a campaign stop for a congressional hopeful in South Florida, cursing at her and calling her a communist in a moment that was captured on video.

You can see the video here.

And you can see that the Democratic Party's big honcho in Congress was more or less caught off guard. She didn't expect protests.

Now, the Miami Cubans, who constituted this group at least partially, are an extraverted lot. They're famous for talking with their hands. A little culture shock is not a bad thing.

But I have mixed feelings about this event, given that Democrats have perfected the art of harassment and violence to such virtuosity. On the negative side, the group used foul and incendiary language and banged on the door to Pelosi's event in what Pelosi could arguably say was a threatening gesture. That the group was called the Proud Boys, a weird name that sounds as though it comes out of the working-class slums of London, sounds a little inorganic, because the group first came to news attention from a confrontation with Antifa leftists in New York recently, suggesting some professional agitation. There is reason to be wary, because obnoxious confrontation, rather than peaceful protest, tends to drive away voters.

But some things were gotten right: they didn't engage in the sort of things the left engages in, such as poop-flinging, tire-burning, rock-throwing, vandalism, or punches and kicks; they just yelled a lot and let the woman pass. Also, the group rightly targeted Pelosi, who's going to be calling every shot and every vote should the Democrats retake the House in November, which draws attention to that fact. Also, the chants that she was a communist and that "socialism sucks" were rather the right vernacular things to say to her, given her awful left-wing record.

The interesting thing is that it had to be unexpected. Many of the participants were Miami Cubans who know communism firsthand and don't like what they are seeing coming from her or her little cat's-paws in Congress. And by coming out, they show that Miami Cubans, long dismissed as a non-element in Florida politics, a thing of the past, seem to have some energized people who may matter.

Let's hope it's a portent of bad things for Pelosi's Jurassic left come November.
The government of Saudi Arabia confirmed yesterday that journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed in the kingdom's consulate in Istanbul. But the Saudis refused to acknowledge that the killing was an assassination ordered by Crown Prince Salman, saying that Khashoggi died as a result of a disagreement and subsequent "brawl" between the journalist and several "unnamed" suspects that got out of hand.

Washington Post:

"The discussions that took place ... did not go as required and developed in a negative way," the statement continued, leading to a "fight and a quarrel" and a "brawl" that led to Khashoggi's death. The unnamed suspects then attempted "to conceal and cover what happened," the Saudi government claimed, without elaborating. Current and former U.S. intelligence officials, foreign policy experts and lawmakers were quick to accuse the Saudi government of a whitewash.

"They're buying time. And they're buying cover," said Sen. Richard Blumenthal. "They are seeking to, in effect, shift blame to a group of fall guys and confine the investigation to the Saudi government."

You don't say.

President Trump has privately expressed skepticism that the operation could have taken place without Mohammed's knowledge, and the president has been told by a number of advisers that the Saudis would try to create a cover story that avoided blaming the crown prince, Trump's advisers said. But Trump is also wary of overreacting to Khashoggi's death, his aim being to avoid aggravating an international crisis and rupturing U.S.-Saudi relations. U.S. officials knew what the Saudis planned to say hours before they released their statement, a Trump adviser said. "Trump's inclination is not to ruin the relationship," the adviser said.

Let's be clear about what's happening here. In realpolitik terms, the Saudis are pretending to tell the truth about Khashoggi's murder. No one believes it, but there's more at stake here than the death of a journalist. So Trump is saying that the admission is a "good first step" and it sounds credible, even though it sounds like a crock.

So the Saudis are pretending to be transparent about the incident, Trump is pretending to accept the explanation, and everyone else is pretending to be super-outraged. The moral preening and posturing associated with the entire Khashoggi affair are nauseating. If those who are saying how horrible and evil the act of killing Khashoggi was would get half as worked up about the executions and deaths of Christians in Muslim countries, or human rights activists in Myanmar, or dissidents in Russia and China, they may have a moral leg to stand on.

But the Saudis murdered a high priest  a journalist for the Washington Post. On a weighted scale of despicable acts, this tops the list.

Trump wants to avoid a break with the Saudis, which may be good policy but lousy politics. The only nations that would benefit by punishing the Saudis the way Trump's political foes are screaming for him to do would be the Islamist dictatorship in Turkey and the terrorist state of Iran.

The killing of Khashoggi has become a domestic political issue and one more opportunity for Democrats to pummel the president. And the hell of it is, I don't believe that Barack Obama would be acting very differently.
When I heard that StarKist was being fined as much as $100 million for price-fixing, I thought of Nancy Pelosi.

Here's a story from NPR:

StarKist Co. has reportedly agreed to plead guilty to charges of price fixing as part of a conspiracy with two of its competitors to keep the price of canned tuna high. Federal prosecutors announced the plea agreement on Thursday, which includes a fine of up to $100 million, according to The Associated Press. In the same deal, a former StarKist executive and two former Bumble Bee Foods executives pleaded guilty to price fixing.

...and another from the Washington Post:

StarKist Co. agreed to plead guilty to a felony price fixing charge as part of a broad collusion investigation of the canned tuna industry, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Thursday. The DOJ said StarKist faces up to a $100 million fine when it is sentenced. Prosecutors allege that the industry's top three companies conspired between 2010 and 2013 to keep prices artificially high.

I knew that since the media are so concerned about corporate and political corruption and the rich that they would then talk about House minority leader Pelosi and her husband in the article about the corruption, so I was just shocked that...the Pelosi name didn't come up.

Because not too long ago, the news headlines were like this:

The Minimum Wage, Pelosi, Tuna and American Samoa

Paul Pelosi owns a $17 million investment in H. J. Heinz's company, which in turn owns ~75% of Del Monte Corp's stock. Del Monte is the parent company of StarKist. StarKist Tuna owns one of the two packing plants on American Samoa. Combined both plants employ over 60% of the population paying less than $3.75 a hour in wages.

...and this...

Pelosi's Tuna Surprise Economists of every political stripe agree that a higher minimum wage will cost some low-skill workers their jobs. But don't believe us; just ask Democratic Speaker Nancy Pelosi. The House last week whooped through an increase in the minimum wage to $7.25, by a vote of 315-116. But, lo, included as part of this boon to the working man was a loophole: The new, higher wage floor applied to all of these United States and its territories  save for the Pacific outpost of American Samoa. In the immortal words of Congressman Patrick McHenry (R., N.C.), "There's something fishy going on here." It turns out that American Samoa has a big fish and tuna canning industry, specifically operations run by StarKist and Chicken of the Sea. Both companies are headquartered in California, and StarKist's parent is located in none other than Ms. Pelosi's own San Francisco district. So faster than you can say "middle class squeeze," Democrats rediscovered the eternal economic truth that a higher minimum wage can cost jobs and granted Samoa its reprieve. They have a good point. In 2004, according to the Department of Labor, Samoan canneries directly employed some 4,800 people, or nearly 40% of the work force. StarKist and Chicken of the Sea would have plenty of other low-wage locations to do their canning. The average hourly wage for the American Samoan canneries in 2004 was about $3.60. In contrast, the average cannery wage in Thailand was 67 cents an hour and in the Philippines 66 cents.

Funny how Pelosi finds her name so closely connected to StarKist.

Of course, while we are on the topic of Democratic politicians from deep blue California, the Feinstein family has also greatly benefited from the generosity of the taxpayers. Like what we see here:

The real estate giant chaired by Richard Blum, the husband of California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, is cashing in on a new federal crisis. Just a few years after the firm now known as CBRE Group collected more than $108 million from a contract to help the FDIC sell foreclosed properties, the company owned in part by Blum is selling off old post offices under an exclusive contract with the financially struggling U.S. Postal Service, records show.

Then there is the brilliant Rep. Maxine Waters of Los Angeles. Her husband was on the board at One United Bank, and the bank got extremely special treatment from President Obama and the Democrats.

If the Democrats get control of the House, she will head the powerful Financial Services Committee. What could go wrong?

From the moment Boston-based OneUnited Bank began seeking a federal bailout in the summer of 2008, it received special treatment that went beyond what the Treasury Department or the bank and its political supporters have previously disclosed. Congress adjusted the law and regulators broke with customary practices, despite an explicit internal warning that the bank was in financial trouble. Among other exceptions, the bank was allowed to count as part of its capital $12 million in federal bailout money  before the aid arrived. OneUnited was the only bank to receive all of these considerations among the 707 recipients of money from the Troubled Assets Relief Program, according to documents and interviews. A close look at how OneUnited  which is now at the center of an ethics investigation involving Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.)  won bailout money shows how the Treasury Department, federal regulators and another influential lawmaker helped it despite its record of bad investments and extravagant spending. A Washington Post review of documents and interviews with many involved in the decisions show that regulators flagged the bank early on for its "highly visible" connection  in OneUnited's case, a former board member who is married to Waters, the chairman of an important banking subcommittee. The alert was part of a previously undisclosed practice at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. of trying to identify banks that might cause "unnecessary press or public relations" problems, according to testimony a top FDIC official gave to House ethics investigators. Then, the bank won a rare chance to make its case for help to top Treasury Department officials, a meeting requested by Waters. When it became clear that the bank did not qualify, House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass.) sponsored a legislative provision encouraging officials to provide special relief for banks such as OneUnited. Other favorable considerations followed.

...and this...

Rep. Maxine Waters' Democratic colleagues are sticking by her as the party's top candidate to run the powerful Financial Services Committee[.]

It's a good thing that Pelosi, Feinstein, and Waters never owned hotels that foreigners stayed at because then the media and Democrats would investigate and sue.

And nope, the media never cared about the massive kickbacks to the Clintons for political favors. All I can see from these minimally reported stories is that maybe corruption by Democrats is just fine.

Image credit: Gage Skidmore via Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0.
At the Washington Post, lefty columnist Eugene Robinson is up to his old tricks, calling President Trump a failure on moral leadership. Here's the title of his sanctimonious column: "Eugene Robinson: Trump has abdicated moral leadership on what should be core issues for America."

As he rants about that, the rest of us remember that throughout President Obama's eight years, almost all journalists, and almost all entertainers and other Democrats, supported Obama and his two ambitious secretaries of state, John Kerry and Hillary Clinton, in matters such as the following:

They backed away from our commitment to Poland and the Czech Republic to put up missile shields to appease Russia.

They pulled 100% of troops out of Iraq and called ISIS the J.V. team, making the Mideast and the world a more dangerous place.

They allowed a gun-running operation where they lost track of thousands of weapons. How many people died because of this carelessness? If a reporter had been killed by these weapons instead of a border guard, you can bet the media and Democrats would have cared about the cover-up by the Obama administration on this gun-running operation.

They failed to enforce immigration laws that Congress passed, and that certainly abdicates moral and legal leadership responsibilities. If an illegal alien killed a reporter instead of Kate Steinle, would Obama and journalists have cared?

They told Russia that Obama would be more "flexible" if he was re-elected in 2012. Obama was whispering that under his breath in a bid to keep American citizens from hearing. We still don't know what he did, but moral leadership this was not.

They refused to provide defensive weapons to Ukraine when that country was attacked by Russia, even though the U.S. promised that we would help defend the Ukrainians when they gave up their nuclear weapons. How many people died because Obama abdicated our responsibilities?

They blamed a video instead of telling the truth about terrorism in Libya, making the world a more dangerous place. Maybe if a reporter had died instead of diplomats, the media would have been outraged by the lies.

They did not enforce Obama's fictional red line in Syria and pretended that dictator Bashar Assad got rid of chemical weapons as well as trusted Russia's Vladimir Putin and Russia to monitor Assad. How many people have died in Syria because Obama did not do what he promised to do? How much of the refugee crisis in Europe and elsewhere is because Obama didn't do what he promised to do in Syria?

They lied continuously through the media in order to give the tyrannical, dictatorial, murderous leaders in Iran hundreds of billions of dollars to spread terrorism around the world.

They shipped over $1 billion in unmarked bills to Iran's tyrannical leaders in the middle of the night to spend as they liked.

They dictatorially stopped the Justice Department from investigating the billion-dollar drug-running operation by the terrorist organization Hezb'allah to appease Iran. How many thousands of people have died in America and elsewhere throughout the world because Obama and Kerry were more concerned about their legacy than their moral responsibility?

They essentially did nothing to stop North Korea from developing dangerous weapons to threaten the world besides repeatedly telling the North Koreans to stop.

They rewarded the murderous dictators in Cuba despite their not changing their ways.

Not once, as Robinson rants on, did I see where he or others like him talked about Obama, Hillary, or Kerry abdicating their moral leadership no matter what they said or did. But now he goes after Trump because Trump has not absolutely punished Saudi Arabia within twenty days of one reporter dying.

It is very similar to the media declaring that Trump colluded with Russia and that Justice Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted Christine Blasey Ford with absolutely no actual evidence. Facts obviously haven't mattered to such supposed journalists for a long time.

Obama, Kerry and Hillary obviously abdicated American leadership and moral leadership many times, but the biggest abdicators of their moral leadership are journalists who look the other way when people they support do something and who seek to destroy others no matter what they do. It is dangerous to our freedom, our way of life, and most significantly our core issues when journalists report based on an agenda instead of facts.

Image credit: Gage Skidmore via Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0.
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Page: 1 2 3 4 5 ... 12 Alabama Supreme Court: Jessie Philips gets murder conviction for the unborn also engineering

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10-20-2018 09:16 PM



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Post: #16 RE: Abortion now carries the death penalty in Alabama

Advertisement eclipsed Wrote: (10-20-2018 09:14 PM) in cases of rape or incest then yes i say abortion is necessary.

but OTHERWISE, women cant just lay down any old time and get pregnant and think oh i can just get an abortion.

thats bullshit.



Planned Parenthood is making money off of baby parts, that sh*t has GOT TO STOP!

I also think it's weird that by law if someone kills a pregnant woman they will be charged with double homicide but yet that same woman can walk into an abortion clinic and kill the unborn baby and then have dozens of people patting her on her shoulders telling her how powerful and strong she is. I also think it's weird that by law if someone kills a pregnant woman they will be charged with double homicide but yet that same woman can walk into an abortion clinic and kill the unborn baby and then have dozens of people patting her on her shoulders telling her how powerful and strong she is. CupidStunt

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10-20-2018 09:21 PM



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Post: #17 RE: Abortion now carries the death penalty in Alabama

engineering Wrote: (10-20-2018 08:59 PM) CupidStunt Wrote: (10-20-2018 08:56 PM) Abortion doesnt carry the death penalty.



This wasnt a new case, nor is it a new law. Brodys law was enacted 12 years ago that gave unborn children the same rights as other people. The law was recently challenged by a man seeking to overturn his capital punishment sentence by arguing that he only killed one person when he tortured and murdered his pregnant wife, not the two murders he was convicted of.



A very pro life judge issued a separate concurring opinion that he believes Roe V. Wade ought to be overturned, since so many courts around the country have consistently voted in favor of giving unborn children rights of personhood.



Quote: Oct 19, 2018



Today, in a fetal-homicide case decided by the Alabama Supreme Court, Justice Tom Parker urged the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the Roe v. Wade abortion decision as it is a constitutional aberration that hinders the states ability to protect the God-given respect and dignity of unborn human life.



In Jessie Phillips v. State of Alabama, the Alabama Supreme Court unanimously affirmed the death penalty sentence for Jessie Phillips, a man convicted of capital murder for killing his wife and their unborn child, Baby Doe. Phillips had argued that he should not get the death penalty for killing his unborn child because he said the child was not a person under Alabama law. The Court rejected Phillips arguments and held that, under Alabama law, Baby Doe was a full person and that the value of the life of an unborn child is no less than the value of the lives of other persons.



Referring to the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court abortion decision in Roe v. Wade, Justice Parker in his special concurrence wrote, I urge the United States Supreme Court to overrule this increasingly isolated exception to the rights of unborn children.



Justice Parker wrote separately to emphasize how broadly and consistently the law and judicial decisions in Alabama and around the country protect the rights of unborn children. This, Justice Parker said, contrasts with the continued legal anomaly and logical fallacy that is Roe v. Wade.

This is exactly what happened. Abortion does not carry the death penalty. It is still legal. In fact, earlier this year, Alabama tried to pass some restrictive measures on abortion, were blocked, and issued a permanent injunction. This is exactly what happened. Abortion does not carry the death penalty. It is still legal. In fact, earlier this year, Alabama tried to pass some restrictive measures on abortion, were blocked, and issued a permanent injunction. engineering

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10-20-2018 09:23 PM



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Post: #18 RE: Abortion now carries the death penalty in Alabama

CupidStunt Wrote: (10-20-2018 09:21 PM) engineering Wrote: (10-20-2018 08:59 PM)

Quote: Oct 19, 2018



Today, in a fetal-homicide case decided by the Alabama Supreme Court, Justice Tom Parker urged the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the Roe v. Wade abortion decision as it is a constitutional aberration that hinders the states ability to protect the God-given respect and dignity of unborn human life.



In Jessie Phillips v. State of Alabama, the Alabama Supreme Court unanimously affirmed the death penalty sentence for Jessie Phillips, a man convicted of capital murder for killing his wife and their unborn child, Baby Doe. Phillips had argued that he should not get the death penalty for killing his unborn child because he said the child was not a person under Alabama law. The Court rejected Phillips arguments and held that, under Alabama law, Baby Doe was a full person and that the value of the life of an unborn child is no less than the value of the lives of other persons.



Referring to the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court abortion decision in Roe v. Wade, Justice Parker in his special concurrence wrote, I urge the United States Supreme Court to overrule this increasingly isolated exception to the rights of unborn children.



Justice Parker wrote separately to emphasize how broadly and consistently the law and judicial decisions in Alabama and around the country protect the rights of unborn children. This, Justice Parker said, contrasts with the continued legal anomaly and logical fallacy that is Roe v. Wade.

This is exactly what happened. Abortion does not carry the death penalty. It is still legal. In fact, earlier this year, Alabama tried to pass some restrictive measures on abortion, were blocked, and issued a permanent injunction.

The court just decided.

"Baby Doe was a full person and that the value of the life of an unborn child is no less than the value of the lives of other persons. The court just decided."Baby Doe was a full person and that the value of the life of an unborn child is no less than the value of the lives of other persons. CupidStunt

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10-20-2018 09:25 PM



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Post: #19 RE: Abortion now carries the death penalty in Alabama

engineering Wrote: (10-20-2018 09:23 PM) CupidStunt Wrote: (10-20-2018 09:21 PM) This is exactly what happened. Abortion does not carry the death penalty. It is still legal. In fact, earlier this year, Alabama tried to pass some restrictive measures on abortion, were blocked, and issued a permanent injunction.

The court just decided.

"Baby Doe was a full person and that the value of the life of an unborn child is no less than the value of the lives of other persons.

ABORTION IS STILL LEGAL. Are you daft? The ruling was made in response to a man who murdered his wife and unborn child. It has nothing to do with abortion. ABORTION IS STILL LEGAL. Are you daft? The ruling was made in response to a man who murdered his wife and unborn child. It has nothing to do with abortion. engineering

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10-20-2018 09:29 PM



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Post: #20 RE: Abortion now carries the death penalty in Alabama

CupidStunt Wrote: (10-20-2018 09:25 PM) engineering Wrote: (10-20-2018 09:23 PM) The court just decided.

"Baby Doe was a full person and that the value of the life of an unborn child is no less than the value of the lives of other persons.

ABORTION IS STILL LEGAL. Are you daft? The ruling was made in response to a man who murdered his wife and unborn child. It has nothing to do with abortion.

So what do you think that means when the court decided that the value of the life of an unborn child is no less than the value of the lives of other person? So what do you think that means when the court decided that the value of the life of an unborn child is no less than the value of the lives of other person? LoP Guest

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10-20-2018 09:32 PM











Post: #21 RE: Abortion now carries the death penalty in Alabama

CupidStunt Wrote: (10-20-2018 09:25 PM) engineering Wrote: (10-20-2018 09:23 PM) The court just decided.

"Baby Doe was a full person and that the value of the life of an unborn child is no less than the value of the lives of other persons.

ABORTION IS STILL LEGAL. Are you daft? The ruling was made in response to a man who murdered his wife and unborn child. It has nothing to do with abortion.



He's reality challenged.. your facts and reality mean nothing to him. He lives in a deluded fantasy world due to a head injury. He's reality challenged.. your facts and reality mean nothing to him. He lives in a deluded fantasy world due to a head injury. CupidStunt

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10-20-2018 09:35 PM



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Post: #22 RE: Abortion now carries the death penalty in Alabama

engineering Wrote: (10-20-2018 09:29 PM) CupidStunt Wrote: (10-20-2018 09:25 PM) ABORTION IS STILL LEGAL. Are you daft? The ruling was made in response to a man who murdered his wife and unborn child. It has nothing to do with abortion.

So what do you think that means when the court decided that the value of the life of an unborn child is no less than the value of the lives of other person?

It means, when you kill a pregnant woman, you will be charged for two murders. Abortion is LEGAL, you will not be charged with any crime, let alone receive the death penalty. It means, when you kill a pregnant woman, you will be charged for two murders. Abortion is LEGAL, you will not be charged with any crime, let alone receive the death penalty. engineering

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Post: #23 RE: Abortion now carries the death penalty in Alabama

LoP Guest Wrote: (10-20-2018 09:32 PM) CupidStunt Wrote: (10-20-2018 09:25 PM) ABORTION IS STILL LEGAL. Are you daft? The ruling was made in response to a man who murdered his wife and unborn child. It has nothing to do with abortion.



He's reality challenged.. your facts and reality mean nothing to him. He lives in a deluded fantasy world due to a head injury.

Let me explain this to you.

Phillips will appeal his death sentence to the supreme court.

If it makes it, the court will decide whether the unborn baby that Phillips murdered is to be considered a person under the 14th Amendment.



Do you not understand? Let me explain this to you.Phillips will appeal his death sentence to the supreme court.If it makes it, the court will decide whether the unborn baby that Phillips murdered is to be considered a person under the 14th Amendment.Do you not understand? LoP Guest

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10-20-2018 09:40 PM











Post: #24 RE: Abortion now carries the death penalty in Alabama

engineering Wrote: (10-20-2018 09:37 PM) LoP Guest Wrote: (10-20-2018 09:32 PM) He's reality challenged.. your facts and reality mean nothing to him. He lives in a deluded fantasy world due to a head injury.

Let me explain this to you.

Phillips will appeal his death sentence to the supreme court.

If it makes it, the court will decide whether the unborn baby that Phillips murdered is to be considered a person under the 14th Amendment.



Do you not understand?

Change your brain-damaged title, it's wrong. Change your brain-damaged title, it's wrong. engineering

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Post: #25 RE: Abortion now carries the death penalty in Alabama

CupidStunt Wrote: (10-20-2018 09:35 PM) engineering Wrote: (10-20-2018 09:29 PM) So what do you think that means when the court decided that the value of the life of an unborn child is no less than the value of the lives of other person?

It means, when you kill a pregnant woman, you will be charged for two murders. Abortion is LEGAL, you will not be charged with any crime, let alone receive the death penalty.

No that's not what it means. It means that the state of Alabama now has ruled that the unborn are no different than anyone else.

I'm no lawyer but I understand how a precedent is established so stop being retarded i'm sure you do as well so stop trying to force your delusion onto me. No that's not what it means. It means that the state of Alabama now has ruled that the unborn are no different than anyone else.I'm no lawyer but I understand how a precedent is established so stop being retarded i'm sure you do as well so stop trying to force your delusion onto me. engineering

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Post: #26 RE: Abortion now carries the death penalty in Alabama

LoP Guest Wrote: (10-20-2018 09:40 PM) engineering Wrote: (10-20-2018 09:37 PM) Let me explain this to you.

Phillips will appeal his death sentence to the supreme court.

If it makes it, the court will decide whether the unborn baby that Phillips murdered is to be considered a person under the 14th Amendment.



Do you not understand?

Change your brain-damaged title, it's wrong.

What happened in this case was that a guy murdered his 6 weeks pregnant wife. Under Alabama law and case law, he was charged with double-murder and sentenced to death. His lawyers argued that the 6 weeks old baby was not a "person" and thus was not protected by laws against murder, and Phillips could not be charged with double homicide (a capital crime).



The Alabama Supreme Court unanimously decided that the 6 weeks old unborn baby was unequivocally considered a person according to U.S. law and sentenced Phillips to death.



Phillips is now appealing to the Supreme Court. If the Supreme Court reaffirms his sentence, not only is Roe v. Wade overturned, but there will be a constitutional ban on abortions across the board..... What happened in this case was that a guy murdered his 6 weeks pregnant wife. Under Alabama law and case law, he was charged with double-murder and sentenced to death. His lawyers argued that the 6 weeks old baby was not a "person" and thus was not protected by laws against murder, and Phillips could not be charged with double homicide (a capital crime).Phillips is now appealing to the Supreme Court. If the Supreme Court reaffirms his sentence, not only is Roe v. Wade overturned, but there will be a constitutional ban on abortions across the board..... LoP Guest

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10-20-2018 09:48 PM











Post: #27 RE: Abortion now carries the death penalty in Alabama

Abortion is going to be a huge issue when people wake up. They have this mindset that it's all ones and zeros.

Through hardship some of the most amazing people have blazed a trail over this world, competition breeds excellence, it's built into nature.



How many einsteins have been snuffed out in the womb.. LoP Guest

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10-20-2018 09:48 PM











Post: #28 RE: Abortion now carries the death penalty in Alabama

engineering Wrote: (10-20-2018 09:37 PM) LoP Guest Wrote: (10-20-2018 09:32 PM) He's reality challenged.. your facts and reality mean nothing to him. He lives in a deluded fantasy world due to a head injury.

Let me explain this to you.

Phillips will appeal his death sentence to the supreme court.

If it makes it, the court will decide whether the unborn baby that Phillips murdered is to be considered a person under the 14th Amendment.



Do you not understand? No, read page 176 of the PDF.

..."The Roe exception is the last remaining obstacle to the states' ability to protect the God-given respect and dignity of unborn human life"... No, read page 176 of the PDF...."The Roe exception is the last remaining obstacle to the states' ability to protect the God-given respect and dignity of unborn human life"... CupidStunt

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10-20-2018 09:55 PM



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Post: #29 RE: Abortion now carries the death penalty in Alabama

Alabama has had Brodys law for over a decade. If you harm a woman and her fetus, you will be charged with crimes against two people.



Supreme Court has ruled again, and again in this matter. States can confer personhood to a fetus, but it will be considered juridical person, not a natural person. So when when states (of which there are many that have fetal protection laws ALREADY on the books) grant personhood rights to fetuses, those rights do not take on constitutional importance at the federal level, they arent automatically granted the same constitutional rights to which natural persons are entitled. Meaning, a fetus state rights dont trump those of a womans federal rights. engineering

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Post: #30 RE: Abortion now carries the death penalty in Alabama

LoP Guest Wrote: (10-20-2018 09:48 PM) engineering Wrote: (10-20-2018 09:37 PM) Let me explain this to you.

Phillips will appeal his death sentence to the supreme court.

If it makes it, the court will decide whether the unborn baby that Phillips murdered is to be considered a person under the 14th Amendment.



Do you not understand? No, read page 176 of the PDF.

..."The Roe exception is the last remaining obstacle to the states' ability to protect the God-given respect and dignity of unborn human life"...

Of course it is. The 70's gave as crack cocaine, abortions and rampant drug use that continues to this day.

All of this was designed to cripple poor communities and keep them under the complete control of the corporate mafias via government/state. Of course it is. The 70's gave as crack cocaine, abortions and rampant drug use that continues to this day.All of this was designed to cripple poor communities and keep them under the complete control of the corporate mafias via government/state. Advertisement



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In short: Google Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL pre-orders officially began shipping this week and already complaints about bugs are appearing on the official Google Pixel User Community forums. The message boards arent immediately flooding with users filing reports and it is still too early to tell exactly how widespread any given problem might be, but there do seem to be quite a few issues to watch out for. The most common of those appears to be tied to the smartphones respective camera features. Specifically, several users have complained that the camera is not saving every photo they take and is, in some case, slow to respond. Beyond that, other users claim that the sound is muffled from the devices front-facing stereo speakers, with higher tones being washed out almost entirely. AndroidHeadlines was able to verify the reported issues with high tones in the audio output of the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL. That particular problem also extends to the mic, with users reporting that recorded audio while shooting videos is trash. The USB Type-C to 3.5mm audio adapter seems to be causing trouble for some customers too, with audio dropping or cutting out at random intervals.

Other reports claim that the battery in the smaller Pixel 3 version of the device is draining too quickly, with one user claiming his handset died within three hours. Meanwhile, there are at least three minor issues that have been reported exclusively with the Pixel 3 XL phablet, beginning with an apparent bug thats causing the bottom bar UI to hop up and down without any interaction from the user. Users also suggest the device is freezing up during the setup process for Google Assistant, not sending through notifications from Google Calendar, or failing to activate the companys newly added Photo Frame feature when placed on the Pixel Stand charger.

Background: Realistically, no smartphone ships from the factory without any caveats, quirks, or drawbacks regardless of the manufacturer or OS. However, this actually marks the third Google-branded run of flagship handsets in a row  out of only three  to have complaints crop up almost immediately. Those have covered pretty much the same gamut as the new apparent issues and more continued to crop up with subsequent updates to the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XLs predecessors. Most recently, reports about the Pixel 2 XL centered around problems with waking the device up following a security patch released in June. Prior to that, reports surfaced that suggested an early update might have been responsible for sudden battery drain for the handsets, although Google indicated it wasnt caused by the update.

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Impact: Google hasnt issued an official response to any of the reports and it is still too early to determine whether they are the result of widespread bugs or well-contained to a small subset of users who just happened to receive glitchy devices. AndroidHeadlines tested for problems on both handsets but wasnt able to replicate the vast majority of issues. In either case, most of the problems seem to be software bugs that could easily be ironed out in a future update and even some of the hardware issues could be software-related. Without a statement from Google, its not really possible to say at this point and theres no timeline with regard to when any fixes might be forthcoming. Regardless, the negative publicity is not likely to be helpful in Googles efforts to place its handsets as best-in-class devices from the perspective of consumers.
An Overview of PureVPN

PureVPN is counted among the pioneers of the VPN industry. The VPN provider boasts one of the largest networks of servers, and has the reputation of one of the most reliable VPN services out there, trusted for its unbeatable security and the privacy it provides to its users.PureVPN also owns one of the largest networks of VPN servers in the industry. The service has more than 2,000 servers placed in 180 locations worldwide. It covers more than 140 countries in all the continents in the world. The total number of IP addresses exceeds 300,000 IP addresses from around the globe.PureVPN has been known for its security and now it has been complemented with some advanced VPN features, which are specifically integrated to tighten the security of its users on the web. These advanced security features show the dedication of PureVPN towards the protection of users privacy.

These advanced security and privacy features include ad-blocker, antivirus, app blocker, IDS/IPS and URL Filter as part of the Ozone umbrella. In addition, businesses and gamers can also opt for DDoS protection along various other innovate features to strengthen the security on the web. Besides the features and security provisions mentioned above, PureVPN also is among the best no-logs VPNs. Their crystal clear privacy policy explicitly states that PureVPN does not keep any logs of user activities. The trust on the service can easily be determined by the fact that PureVPN has more than 3 million active subscribers around the globe and these are for the premium service as PureVPN does not offer its service for free.

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Features

PureVPN is highly regarded for being one of the most features filled VPN services in the industry. So, we are going to discuss each of its most prominent features and offerings that we tested.

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Servers Around the globe

PureVPN owns one of the largest networks of VPN servers around the globe. The network consists of 2,000+ servers placed in more than 140 countries and 180 locations. It is essential for the service to have a large network of servers so that the load on the servers can be managed in a better way. Also, a wider network of servers allows users to enjoy more internet freedom as they can easily select any country from the available 140+ countries. This way, any site or service which is only available in one country can be accessed.The servers offered by PureVPN are highly optimized for best performance, fast speed, and strong security. In total, the IP pool offered by PureVPN crosses 300,000 IP addresses from around the globe, which is more than what other major VPN offers.

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Streaming

The powerful and optimized servers of PureVPN give users the advantage to stream their favorite content without any buffering issue. The key to having an amazing streaming experience is to have exceptional speed, which is not throttled one bit. PureVPN understands it well which is why it offers optimized servers that provide a superior streaming experience, free from throttling and buffering. Be it Amazon Prime, Netflix, Hulu, or any other streaming service, PureVPN gives the same i.e. a brilliant streaming experience for all streaming services.

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Universal Accessibility

One of the biggest reasons why many people use a VPN is to get access to the websites or services that they wish to access, despite its availability in their region. This is what true internet freedom is and this is what PureVPN gives to its users. The whole network of more than 2,000 servers and the high-end integrations are meant to provide ultimate unblocking powers to its users. So, with PureVPN, you can not only work around geographic restrictions to access geo-blocked sites and services, but you can also work around censorships.

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Split Tunneling

Split tunneling is one of the most important features which many top VPN services offer, including PureVPN. With split tunneling, a user can divide their internet traffic between the VPN connection and the ISP network. It comes really handy for users who wish to simultaneously use a VPN for certain sites and services and access others via their local network. For instance, if a user wishes to download FTP files on the local ISP network, while simultaneously accessing restricted websites, then split tunneling is the way to go. It is mostly preferred by gamers and streamers who need to use the best of both networks.

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Internet Kill Switch

It is always better to have a failsafe when it comes to privacy and security. The internet kill switch is that failsafe of VPNs to guarantee the protection of users privacy even in the instances of unplanned VPN disconnections. It blocks all the outgoing and incoming connections whenever the VPN disconnects. This way, the real IP of the users stays protected even if the VPN goes offline. It is really important in the instances when the user is on a public Wi-Fi hotspot, which is extremely risky. Additionally, if the user is performing any activity where they cannot reveal the real IP, the internet kill switch comes really handy, because nobody knows when a disconnection may occur.

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Ozone

In addition to all the pro VPN features, PureVPN offers some advanced security features as well to enhance the protection of its users. The advanced features are dubbed as Ozone and this security feature-set includes malware protection, app filtering, website filtering, intrusion detection and prevention system, and ad blocking for PureVPN users.

Encryption

It has become a necessity for VPN providers to offer the best encryption for the security of users data. Since PureVPN is among the top ones, it utilizes the best in class encryption algorithms to make sure that the data of its users is always secure. Military-grade encryption is what PureVPN offers, which is basically the AES 256-bit encryption. It is not false that it is a military-grade encryption since it is used by the US army.

VPN Protocols

When it comes to VPN protocols, PureVPN offers all the major ones, which covers the needs of almost all the users, from not too tech savvy to advanced VPN users. The VPN protocols offered include SSTP/IPSec, PPTP, IKEv2, OpenVPN, and more. Although OpenVPN is the most reliable VPN protocol, some users rely on PPTP to get more speed. It is not the most secure VPN protocol, but it sure is the fastest. So, if you are solely looking for speed then using PPTP is a good option. However, if you are looking for security then IKEv2, OpenVPN and SSTP is the way to go. If we have to recommend one from these, then we will certainly recommend OpenVPN, as it is very secure and decent in speed as well. All of these protocols are already integrated in the VPN apps of PureVPN. But, users can also configure their desired protocol on their devices manually, using the easy-to-follow guides hosted by PureVPN.

Dedicated IP

PureVPN is one of the handfuls of services that offer dedicated VPN IPs to its users for special purposes. It costs just a couple bucks extra to subscribe for a dedicated IP address, but the benefits certainly do outweigh the low cost of this add-on. Dedicated IP basically is a fresh IP address, which is exclusively assigned to only one user. So, it is only utilized by one user, unlike shared IP addresses which are utilized by numerous users from around the globe. There are various reasons why users go for dedicated IP addresses like getting remote access, IP whitelisting and accessing bank accounts.

Port Forwarding

In order to access a home device or corporate networks remotely, while also remaining under the connection of a VPN, Port Forwarding is the most useful add-on. This feature helps users connect to any port or device without disconnecting PureVPN. The remote access also comes under the secure tunnel created by PureVPN, which makes it so much better.

24/7 Customer Support

Offering a brilliant customer support has become a necessity to remain successful in any business. So, PureVPN offers a brilliant round-the-clock customer support. Their agents are always there to help users setup VPN on their devices or troubleshoot any issue that they are facing. The users can reach out for help using Live Chat and Support Tickets. However, if they are DIYers or self-starters, then they can check the FAQs and support center, where all the easy-to-follow guides are hosted.

Now lets look at some of the positives and negatives about PureVPN below:

Pros

Prices start from $3.33/month. PureVPN is cheap!

Offers 2,000+ servers in 140+ countries in all continents!

Offers protection against DDoS attacks.

Users can get multiple add-ons (Dedicated IP, Port Forwarding, Internet Kill Switch, etc.)

24/7/365 live support for all.

A 31-day money-back guarantee.

No logs kept.

Users can have up to 5 simultaneous VPN connections using a single account.

Is compatible with most devices.

Offers P2P-optimized servers.

Nucleus of servers based in the US, the UK, Canada and Australia.

Protocol support includes PPTP, L2TP/IPSec, SSTP, OpenVPN and IKEv2.

Cons

No free trials offered.

Conclusion

All in all, PureVPN is one of the top VPN services, not only because of the fact that they are among the pioneers of VPN industry but also because of the fact that they really do offer a top class service. The innovations introduced by PureVPN helps it remain ahead of its competitors and a user favorite.

Be it the speed, performance, encryption or convenience, PureVPN always keeps its users at the top and tries to customize everything to offer a better experience. Additionally, the features and pricing offered by PureVPN are also highly competitive. You can currently get a 2 years subscription for just $3.29/month which gives you an exciting discount of 70% off total price.
No more rides: Vietnams first ethical elephant tours begin 17 October 2018

Radical eco-tourism initiative that replaces chains and cruel rides with observation and learning is a huge hit.

Ethical elephant tours in Vietnams Yok Don National Park began earlier this month as part of an Animals Asia initiative that could change the face of elephant tours in the country.

The national park has ended all tourist rides, and instead began new tourism experiences where visitors observe the parks four elephants freely roaming the natural forest.

Animals Asia Animal Welfare Manager Dionne Slagter said:

This project has entirely changed the lives of the elephants at the park and it is also providing a much better experience for the tourists. Exploitation has been replaced with respect and if successful, its a model we could see spread across the country and even the region.

Before the project began, Yok Dons elephants were chained to trees with heavy riding baskets on their backs, waiting for tourists.

They worked for nine hours a day, and while chained had no access to water, were unable to touch each other or express natural behaviour such as roaming, dusting, mudding, scratching parasites from their skin or foraging as they would in the wild. A tourist ride could last from 10 minutes to an entire day in the forest.

Now, the elephants are free to roam the forest throughout the day. When thirsty they walk to the river to drink, if they are dirty they clean their skin in mud baths or against trees, and when they are hungry they forage for their favourite food.

Dionne said:

In the wild, elephants spend up to 18 hours a day foraging and this is exactly how Yok Dons elephants now spend the majority of their time. It is rainy season here and there is food everywhere. They all look so much healthier and are increasingly confident in how far they roam.

A fourth elephant at the park, HNon was previously used for rides elsewhere in Dak Lak province. Animals Asia supporter her retirement from riding so she could live in Yok Don with fellow retirees Thong Ngan, Bun Kham and YKhun.

HNon is in her 60s and has grown fond of the group bull Thong Ngan who is in his mid-twenties. The pair tend to spend their days in the same area of forest communicating through rumbling sounds.

The other two females Bun Kham and YKhun love spending time together touching each others trunks and faces - something they were unable to do while chained - and have developed a very close bond.

While the elephants roam the forest, their mahouts follow to ensure they are safe and to avoid any potential conflict.

In the first two weeks, 11 tourists have joined the tours, including visitors from South Africa, the UK and Australia.

While the tours will evolve over time, early feedback from visitors has been hugely positive.

The project has been made possible by the UKs Olsen Animal Trust, whose funding will ensure the present legal owners of the elephants will not lose their livelihoods.

It is hoped the new model will provide as much or even more profit for the owners than elephant rides and become an example for other mahouts and facilities to follow.

The official agreement between Animals Asia and the state-run national park was signed on July 13, 2018 and runs until April 2023, providing ample opportunity for the new model to become profitable.

Elephants used in the tourism industry for riding typically endure conditions which greatly harm their welfare. They undergo a process known as the crush during which they are confined and beaten with bullhooks.

Representatives from Yok Don National Park told Animals Asia they hoped the new tourism model would change the perspective of tourists towards elephant rides while also enabling rangers to fulfill their duty of protecting the forest and all its inhabitants.

In 2015, the elephant tourism industry made headlines in Vietnam when a number of animals died of exhaustion due to overwork.

Dak Lak province, home to Yok Don National Park, is famed for its elephant tourism and is believed to contain around 40 captive elephants.

Vietnams wild population of Asian elephants is thought to have fallen to below 100, a figure conservationists say is not viable to ensure their survival, while fewer than 80 live in captivity across the country, mostly providing rides for tourists.

In recent years, Vietnam has taken emergency steps to conserve the countrys remaining wild populations by establishing the Elephant Conservation Centre, where Animals Asia provides animal management and welfare advice.

Olsen Animal Trust was established to partner organisations and individuals to end animal cruelty and exploitation, enhance animal welfare, and conserve wildlife in its natural habitat. The charity, established in 2015, is inspired by the Olsen familys love of all animals.
Marysville, CA (95901)

Today

Partly cloudy this evening with more clouds for overnight. Low near 45F. Winds light and variable..

Tonight

Partly cloudy this evening with more clouds for overnight. Low near 45F. Winds light and variable.
Men Share The Difficulties Of Being A Man Today

Trending News: Guys Reveal The Downsides Of Being A Man In This Messy World

We are living in an explosive and divisive time between the sexes right now: sexual harassment, incels, #MeToo etc.

For the millions of guys out there who aren't Harvey Weinstein and just want to be a good guy, all this negativity involving sh*tty men can start to weigh on their shoulders.

That's not to say the majority of men have been perfect their whole lives  we've all f*cked up at one time or another (and that's worth apologizing for). And women have to go through way more sh*t than guys do on a daily basis (as revealed in this excellent song). But it is without a doubt a pretty hard time to be a good guy right now and sometimes it can be hard to express that.

Related: Why Every Guy Should Stop Being Afraid And Seriously Consider Therapy

UK-based writer Caitlin Moran gave men that opportunity. She asked guys to explain the downsides of being a man, and she got some truly heartfelt responses.

Men. Men of Twitter. What are the down-sides of being a man? We discuss the downsides of being a woman very frequently - but what's going on with you lovely guys?  Caitlin Moran (@caitlinmoran) October 18, 2018



Honestly, when I saw this tweet I thought the answers would be some men's rights bullsh*t or angry feminist bashing (feminism is all about gender equality, duh). But the responses  for the most part because there were some bad ones  were surprisingly genuine. So grab a Kleenex box, here are just a few:

Emotional repression. Competition. Pressure to behave as an extrovert. Valued by looks and economic sucesss not humanity. Scared to approach women for fear of harrasment. Value by physically being able to stand ground. Value by height and hair.  luke barnes (@northernluke) October 19, 2018

I think from like a cultural and or racial dynamic Im so used to being invisible and worrying about how i take up space and peoples perceived safety. Scary black man or whatever  ?a" ?? ???????? a"? (@HE_VALENCIA) October 19, 2018

We have very few avenues to emotionally express ourselves. We're supposed to fit this stereotype of being tough and only wanting touch if it comes with sex. I want a hug and head pats, dammit.  Ash Menon (@ashvinmenon) October 19, 2018

People seeing my sensitivity as a weakness. My emotional intelligence has been preyed on as effeminate and being targeted as gay. These are not weaknesses. These are strengths and being 'in touch' with the spectrum of emotions is good.  Kip Mcdonagh (@KipMcdonagh) October 19, 2018

I think women & men alike will relate to this, but I've felt a lot of anxiety over my identity as a dude as I've watched media/pop culture present ever-shifting templates of what type of guy constitutes "the ideal man."  Nathan Veshecco ?? (@nathanveshecco) October 19, 2018

I would say newer fathers are trying to be very involved fathers but we don't have any models for how to do so cause previous generations allowed fathers to hide in their work or commutes! I struggle sometimes as a father of 2 beautiful boys because the map is sparse  Ted Auch (@lsarpp) October 19, 2018



Some women even chimed in to offer support and to show that we're all in this equality thing together.

CJ, my friend, I think you've been shopping for your women at the wrong store. I'm so sorry that's been your experience, it must have been painful for you. You deserve better, and I promise you it's out there. Keep shopping! Xx  Caroline (@Bottster73) October 19, 2018

Real feminists believe in gender equality. That means they understand/acknowledge unfairness, problems, & pain faced by people, regardless of their gender.  Dr. Helen Ofosu (@drheleno_ca) October 19, 2018



If you're out there and the negativity surrounding us all is getting to you, remember, it really is OK to talk to someone. Maybe it's a therapist, maybe it's a loved one or maybe it's other dudes going through the same sort of sh*t (Moran started a Facebook group about it called 'The Decent Fellows'). If we are going to move towards a more equal world  as we should  we need to be able to have sympathy for each other's pain.

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Raptors Wrecked By Michael

In addition to being the main Raptor roost, Tyndall AFB is also the location for the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center. In other words, when your 406MHz ELT goes off in the lower-48, theyre the ones who hear the alarm and start the response. I wonder if their operations are affected, too?

Kirk Wennerstrom

This debacle  assignment of blame notwithstanding  ought to be a wake up call for the military AND for the Congress. And thats before we examine the mission capable rate of the F-22. Since the end of the Viet Nam war and accelerated since the end of the Cold War, Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) laws have closed and consolidated scores of military installations  to the point where were increasingly putting our eggs in one or two baskets. The military isnt necessarily wanting to do this although in some cases they do it because theyre constrained by budgets and manpower issues and have to do more with less (e.g., retiring the F-117A Nighthawks). Mostly, it is generic rules of engagement that even the Congress doesnt clearly control  its on autopilot so that no one Congress member can be blamed for loss of the revenue each closed installation generated. No ones fingerprints are on BRAC actions. It is a ridiculous example of penny wise and dollar foolish behavior. And now  we paid the price. Potential loss of 22 Raptors doesnt sound too bad until you remember that there are only 187 operational jets. Thats 12% of the force! You can bet our adversaries are watching. When Curtis E. Lemay was alive, he established Offutt AFB, NB as HQ for SAC because it was far from any coast such that warning time for incoming missiles was maximized. (Thats why President Bush was taken there on 9/11). Just to be sure, Cheyenne Mountain was established and  for a time  Chrome Dome missions had jets in the air 24/7 if retaliation became necessary. MAD worked. Since the end of the cold war and the takeover of the bomber boys by the fighter mafia of Air Combat Command, Joint Base Langley  Eustis, VA  itself a VERY vulnerable Base  has assumed too great a role. Langley is also a F-22 base and itself was heavily damaged by hurricane Isabel in 2003 and another bad storm in 2009. When are those Generals gonna wake up? Start distributing this limited equipment to outlying fields which could be used as backup in cases like this. As I said above, our adversaries our watching with glee, no doubt? As a retired USAF member, Ive been concerned about this for years  not just the closed bases but the limited number of machines necessary to conduct a serious and protracted multi-front war.

Back in the 60s, nearly 100 B-58A Hustler airplanes were assigned to just two bases, Little Rock and Bunker Hill (now Grissom ARB), IN. Even though those bases were in the heartland, SAC realized the assets were too valuable to keep so concentrated. So each base had a half dozen auxiliary locations where a few cocked airplanes were rotated  a sort of shell game. Keeping 50 advanced F-22 jets  more than 25% of the Raptor fleet  in one place and on a coast prone to hurricanes is crazy. Langley  Eustis / NAS Norfolk is another concentrated area where just a few well placed tactical devices could neuter a major part of the Countrys systems. I guess they forgot how close U-boats pulled in to sink ships on the entire east coast during WWII? With precision guided weapons these days, a nefarious actor could have a field day with Tyndall. If we had 750 Raptors  as was initially planned  it wouldnt matter. With SO few actually produced, its time to rethink the basing scheme. Even if only a few were lost, thats STILL too many; the production line no longer exists. And  the F-35 fleet is currently grounded, as well. In Europe, very serious bomb proof shelters for individual airplanes are in widespread use. When you think of what each Raptor costs, its a shame that such protective facilities dont exist here. The airplanes coulda stayed home. Sometimes, I think that the people who run MY USAF think theyre running an Aero Club and not an Air Force.

Larry Stencel

A 60% dispatch reliability on a $140 MM asset is absolutely DISGRACEFUL!

Placing so much of our air superiority capability in so few assets, and concentrating them, allows that capability to be eradicated with a hand full of tactical nuclear weapons. General LeMay understood that dispersal of capability greatly reduced the attractiveness of a preemptive nuclear attack  both at home and on our allies soil.

Kim Hunter

I dont know about you, but this report really has me steamed. 22 out of 55 Raptors were unflyable and thus were not moved before the hurricane? Why?? As taxpayers, we end up footing the bill for all of this. And then there is the storm damage to the buildings, not to mention the entire area and the costs, both in terms of dollars and human suffering, of all the homes and businesses lost. But thats another subject: climate change.

At the very least, perhaps its time to move these kinds of sensitive government facilities away from hurricane zones.

So the Southeast ends up losing lucrative military bases. Maybe the politicians should have been listening decades ago when science-based climate experts warned these things would happen.

Crista Worthy

Balloon Fiesta TFR

I just read Ted Spitzmillers article on the Albuquerque TFR which I found very informative. However, I was disturbed by his suggestion that pilots go no closer than 500 feet from balloons in flight. If someone intentionally flew anywhere near 500 feet from me while I was in the air, I would consider that to be outrageous, dangerous, and bordering on criminal.

Marc Rodstein

First Man: Neil Armstrong As He (Partly) Was

Im with Buzz. Omitting the flag was inexcusable.

Wally Roberts

I started reading this, stopped and went to see the movie  impressive! Blessedly less talking than many movies, especially during the moon part. That was so starkly and quietly well done. The shaky-cam not so well  I think it somewhat detracted from things although the intent was clear. The lack of flag-planting depiction was perfect though. The movie directly references the common feeling around the world that people developed, that it was their moon landing too. It was classy to skip the overt flag thing. I suspect that for people who witnessed the real thing the moon landing section could be quite touching.

Cosmo Adsett

I liked some parts. But the lack of realism, especially in flight scenes, ruined it for me. Would not watch again. Excessively over-dramatized flight scenes. Instruments are frequently zoomed in on while they do unrealistic things that may or may not relate to what can be seen outside. Motions and timing are frequently very fast-forwarded. The excessive shaking everywhere! Not just the stupid amount in the flight scenes, but even on the ground the camera is all-over the place. Apparently, the most important things to see are close-ups of peoples eyes and screw-heads.

Cameron Garner

Plaques on the LM ladder notwithstanding, telling the story of the first moon landing, without including the flag-erecting event, is like telling the story of Americas Revolutionary War, without mentioning the Declaration of Independence.

Tom Yarsley

I havent seen the movie yet but Ive heard a lot about it, and it seems to me that its not a story about the first moon landing but rather the person who was at the controls for that landing.

To me, the flag planting is just a very small part of the whole Apollo program. Sure, it was what set everything in motion to reach the moon, but the science and engineering and planning to get there was so much more, as was everything that allowed us to work our way up to that point.

As for over-dramatization, thats kind of a subjective term. Just trying to hover and land a helicopter in gusty tailwinds can be dramaticto the pilot on the controls. But the whole point is so that an outsider doesnt see or experience it as dramatic. So to that extent, I expect a certain level of additional dramatization in movies depicting real events.

Gary Baluha

I attended Purdue University in the early 2000s majoring in aerospace engineering, with Armstrong being the most famous alumnus of the program. Armstrong made several visits while I was there  some were official and heralded, others were not.

By far the most memorable was one was an unplanned visit. One morning a group of us were headed to the aero student lounge in Grissom Hall (named after another famous Purdue Alum). When we arrived there was an older gentleman in the corner reading a copy of the campus newspaper. Most of us didnt give it a second thought, but one of the girls in our group had grown up down the street from Armstong and was a family friend. She recognized him and exclaimed, Neil!

We sat and chatted with him for several hours. He was very humble, yet out going and quick with an engineering joke or axiom. He was much more interested in reminiscing about his days as a student and sharing his engineering insights and lessons learned than he was about talking about the Apollo program or his military life. I think he thought he had more value to share in engineering mentorship than simply retelling the so there I was type of stories.

The new aero engineering building at Purdue is named after Armstrong, and has a statue of him out front. Not as an astronaut, but as his undergraduate self, sitting on a wall looking up to the sky. In the grass in front of him are replicas of his first step on the moon. His humility is what I believe made him the perfect choice as the First Man.

Adam Rietz

Is Raising The Weight Limits of LSAs A Good Idea?

NO, they shouldnt even be in the air, anyone that flies an aircraft should have a full certified pilots license.

Bill

The weight limit change to 3600lbs. with a speed limit of 150mph doesnt make a lot of sense to me not many planes that are that heavy fly under 150mph. Seems to me 1500  2000lbs. would be plenty increase to include planes that are less than 150mph.

Jim Hefner
Political spam via calls, texts, emails and social media posts is rising, with more people looking to take advantage of minimal regulation and heightened interest around the midterms.

Why it matters: For years, people have complained about feeling inundated with political messaging during election seasons. But it's only getting worse now that new, unregulated technologies are being used more frequently by both campaigns and spam actors.

A barrage of news, campaign pitches and fundraising pushes around politics is coming from a multitude of sources, many of which are regulated in different ways.

Facebook said last week that it was purging over 800 political pages and accounts that have demonstrated dangerous spam-like behavior. Because there is no government regulation around social media, Facebook is now forced to manage the problem retroactively.

said last week that it was purging over 800 political pages and accounts that have demonstrated dangerous spam-like behavior. Because there is no government regulation around social media, Facebook is now forced to manage the problem retroactively. Calls with spam messages have also increased dramatically. Caller identification app Hiya says it measured a 3,250% increase in political spam calls between Q1 2017 and Q2 2018. In a blog post the company warned, "Callers that offer incentives to take campaign surveys should be seen as a red flag, especially when they request credit card information."

with spam messages have also increased dramatically. Caller identification app Hiya says it measured a 3,250% increase in political spam calls between Q1 2017 and Q2 2018. In a blog post the company warned, "Callers that offer incentives to take campaign surveys should be seen as a red flag, especially when they request credit card information." Email continues to be used liberally by campaigns that enjoy the luxury of minimal regulation. Most anti-spam laws only apply to commercial e-mail, not political e-mail. A recent report from The New York Times found that the Trump campaign is offering up millions of emails for rent to candidates, conservative groups and even businesses at a rate of $35 per 1,000 addresses."

Be smart: The biggest form of political spam this election cycle is text messaging  specifically peer-to-peer (P2P) texting. P2P texting has become the hottest way for political campaigners on both sides to increase voter engagement ahead of the midterms, mostly because P2P texting is not subject to the same regulations as automated texting.

In total, VICE reported this summer that four biggest peer-to-peer political texting firms (Hustle and Relay on the left, RumbleUp and Opn Sesame on the right) "have collectively sent 90 million texts for political groups since the 2016 election," according to the firms.

"With short code text messaging, there is no room for doubt. Users must opt-in and they can unsubscribe at any time, but P2P texting is different. There aren't as many rules and regulations governing PTP, a tactic that began in 2016 leading up to the general election, and it does seem like it's more prevalent this time around."

 Sean Carlson, Chief Strategy Officer, Revolution Messaging, a progressive digital agency in Washington DC
Nearly 700,000 protesters gathered in London's Parliament square seeking a referendum on Brexit, reports the BBC.

Why it matters: A referendum has already been ruled out by Prime Minister Theresa May, per the BBC. If she were to reverse her decision a referendum would likely generate a majority vote to remain in the EU: The UKs demographics are moving in a pro-EU direction, and some voters have changed their minds, writes Peter Kellner for Axios. Participants of the "People's Vote" march held the largest gathering of its kind as Britain continues to grapple with negotiations to leave the European Union.

Protestors marching to Parliament Square. Photo: John Keeble/Getty Images

Protestors flying European Union flags. Photo: Niklas Halle'n/AFP via Getty Images

Protestors calling for the European Union to stick together. Photo: Niklas Halle'n/AFP via Getty Images

Demonstrators with signs against Brexit. Photo: Niklas Halle'n/AFP via Getty Images

Demonstrators filling Parliament Square with signs. Photo: Niklas Halle'n/AFP via Getty Images

Go deeper: The slow-motion Brexit train wreck
Health officials' longstanding fears about the potent mix of armed conflict in weak states  combined with a highly infectious disease outbreak  are being realized. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), an Ebola virus outbreak is now at a tipping point and threatens to expand.

Why it matters: The current outbreak began Aug. 1 and appeared to be slowing down, as most of the new cases were contacts of known infected people. However, as security deteriorated, new cases surged  with 25% of all suspected and confirmed cases being recorded in the first 2 weeks of this month alone. Experts say a combination of ongoing violence in North Kivu's Beni town, community distrust, population density and other factors are hampering containment efforts.

Between the lines: Tom Inglesby, director of the Center for Health Security at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, tells Axios that this outbreak is the "kind of scenario that many people who care about epidemic response, pandemic response have been worried about for a long time.

The latest: The World Health Organization met on Wednesday and decided not to declare the outbreak a "Public Health Emergency of International Concern," which could've triggered international travel restrictions. But the security situation in DRC continues to deteriorate  with 8 major security incidents in north Kivu in the last 8 weeks, per WHO.

The violence has led to an interruption in public health initiatives  including efforts to quarantine those who may be infected, to vaccinate all "contacts" of people who were infected, and to educate pockets of people who are suspicious of health care workers.

This has led to a spike in cases  with special concern voiced that roughly half of them are not on contact lists of previously known patients, meaning the outbreak is definitely spreading.

Details: The violence has been serious enough to cause the CDC to withdraw its Ebola experts from field work in that area, as first reported by STAT News and confirmed by Axios.

The CDC says it moved an Ebola expert adviser, a vaccine expert and a border health expert to Kinshasa, which is more than 1,500 kilometers from Beni.

Since the start of the outbreak, the U.S. has deployed more than 2 dozen experts from USAID and the CDC to support preparedness and response in the DRC and neighboring countries.

Vaccination's impact: The DRC's Health Ministry mobilized an experimental ring vaccination campaign a week after the first case was reported. Between Aug. 8 and Oct. 17, nearly 19,000 people have been vaccinated, DRC ministry says.

Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), tells Axios the Ebola outbreak in DRC is "obviously a difficult situation."

"We're all concerned about it because we want to have optimal response to the outbreak but we're restrained because of the security issue."

 Anthony Fauci, NIAID director

Julie Fischer, co-director of the Center for Global Health Science and Security at Georgetown University, tells Axios there's a "real risk this outbreak is ready to explode locally."

"Contact tracing is absolutely essential to the ring vaccination campaign," Fischer says, but this requires face-to-face meetings that can't be completed without workers feeling secure.

The bottom line: This outbreak is nowhere near over. The longer it lasts, the greater the chances of it spreading. However, the WHO says it has confidence that at-risk neighboring countries are prepared.
Musselkanaal reception centre. Photo: Je Seung Lee/Al Jazeera

Gilze en Rijen, the Netherlands  There are hundreds of North Korean defectors living in Europe, many considering it safer for themselves and their families still in the North than either South Korea or the U.S.

Why it matters: "North Korea considers the U.S. and South Korea as enemies, while its view on Europe is more neutral, says Jihyun Park, outreach officer at Connect to North Korea, an NGO that campaigns for the rights of North Korean defectors worldwide. Most defectors from North Korea are eventually offered South Korean citizenship, leading to some European countries deporting asylum seekers there. But right activists protest against this, saying North Koreans complain of discrimination in South Korea, which is ill-equipped to handle so many refugees.

There are currently 91 North Koreans in the Netherlands, 25 of whom are refugees, according to official statistics. Kyung-Ae Choi, a North Korean woman in her early fifties, first arrived in Europe on a fake Chinese passport, in 2012.

"I was as cheerful as a kid," she said of her first train ride in Europe, describing an unprecedented sense of freedom. She is currently living at a reception centre in the Netherlands.

Because she is undocumented, Choi is unable to work. Each month, she is obliged to meet with the organization in charge of expediting the departure of foreign nationals not entitled to remain.

"I really feel like I want to die [after each meeting]. I have even thought about leaving the kids behind and killing myself," said Choi. "They tell me to provide evidence on why my husband and family back in North Korea will be sent to prison camps if I move to South Korea. But this is something that you cannot prove with a piece of paper.

The bottom line: Ban-suk Jung, Choi's oldest son, says he feels much more relaxed and free in the Netherlands than he did in China. Still, he says it is hard to dream when you don't know what you can do or where you will be. Right now, all I can think about is getting the permanent residency, and then I will be able to think about what I want to do and plan my future."

Go deeper: Read the full Al Jazeera report.
Numan Kurtulmus, deputy head of Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party, said on Saturday that Turkey "will never allow a cover-up" of journalist Jamal Khashoggi's killing, the Associated Press reports.

The details: Turkey has said it has evidence that Khashoggi's body was dumped in a forest, and that it has audio of his killing. Kurtulmus said Turkey would be sharing its evidence of what happened in the Saudi consulate, per the AP, and that there would be a "conclusive result" of the investigation soon. He said: "[I]t's not possible for the Saudi administration to wiggle itself out of this crime if its confirmed." The Saudi attorney general said on Friday that Khashoggi died after a fight broke out in the consulate.
Sea level rise due primarily to global warming threatens to submerge dozens of the most culturally significant sites in the Mediterranean.

In Italy alone, at least 13 UNESCO World Heritage Sites are at risk, according to a study published this week in Nature Communications.

Why it matters: UNESCO designates cultural World Heritage Sites for places that represent cultural traditions or civilizations that have since disappeared. The Mediterranean region was home to several ancient civilizations, many of which flourished by the sea.

"Mediterranean society has been centered on the coast and sea for millennia. Much of the cultural heritage is therefore in the hazard zone,"

 Richard Tol, study co-author and professor at the University of Sussex

What they did: For the study, a team of researchers in Europe produced the first-ever risk assessment of cultural UNESCO World Heritage Sites based on flood risk and exposure to erosion.

They defined the flood risk as the floodplain of a storm surge with a 100-year return period, and calculated how such flood footprints and frequency would shift depending on different scenarios involving low, medium to high greenhouse gas emissions.

The team looked at 49 World Heritage sites located within 10 meters, or 33 feet, above sea level.

What they found: The researchers found that the majority of the 49 World Heritage sites they examined are already at risk from either a 100-year flood level, erosion, or both.

Such risks are only going to increase during the rest of the century, with the sharpest increases occurring if greenhouse gas emissions are not significantly curtailed in the next two decades.

Not surprisingly, the World Heritage Site that's at the most risk from sea level rise is Venice and its Lagoon. But costly protective measures are already being put into place there, in the form of a retractable barrier that can protect against high waters of up to 3.6 feet above sea level.

World Heritage Sites located in the northern Adriatic Sea are also at high risk of flooding, particularly under a high emissions scenario. This includes the Patriarchal Basilica of Aquileia, in Italy.

The country with the most at-risk sites is Italy, with 13, followed by Croatia and Greece.

Only 2 sites  Medina of Tunis and Xanthos-Letoon, an archaeological complex in Greece, were found to not be at risk from either flooding or erosion by 2100 under any of the scenarios studied.

The researchers note that adaptation options may be limited, and that expensive solutions  such as the wall being erected around Venice  are not an option for many other sites.

"It is relatively easy to protect a working city, although it may be expensive and the political will may be lacking," Tol told Axios. "Heritage is more difficult as dikes and seawalls may ruin the very thing we seek to preserve."

Go deeper: Catch up with the NYT's project on covering climate change's threat to World Heritage Sites.
By Trend

The Azerbaijani market has a certain potential Kazakhstan to export its products there, the Ministry of Investment and Development of Kazakhstan told Trend.

"The analysis of the world imports to Azerbaijan, compared with data on Kazakhstans exports to the world, as well as Kazakhstans exports to Azerbaijan showed that the Azerbaijani market has a certain potential for exports of Kazakhstani products," the ministry stated.

The ministry noted that 37 commodity items in such industries as: 1) metallurgy (ferrous metal pipes, flat rolled products made of iron or non-alloyed steel, metal structures, wire, fittings, etc.); 2) chemical industry (detergents and cleaning products, polypropylene); 3) machinery, equipment (stop valves, switchboards and bases for electrical equipment, static transformers and converters, heating boilers, fiber optic cable, bearings); 4) food industry (chocolate and cocoa products, soft drinks and water, sugar confectionery, flour confectionery, sunflower or safflower oil, malt, sausages, pasta) were selected as the most promising ones.

According to the data of the ministry, the foreign trade turnover between Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan in January-July 2018 amounted to $141.5 million, which is 94.6 percent higher than the figure for the same period in 2017 ($72.7 million).

"The exports from Kazakhstan to Azerbaijan in January-July 2018 amounted to $112.4 million, which is 98.9 percent higher than the figure for the same period of 2017 ($56.5 million).

The ministry noted that the imports to Kazakhstan from Azerbaijan in January-July 2018 amounted to $ 29 million, which is 79 percent more compared to the same period in 2017 ($ 16.2 million).

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Ayala Foundations Ruel Maranan discusses Ayalas contribution to the 17 Sustainable Development Goals

Ayala has put in place interventions that contribute to all 17 sustainable development goals, covering not only our business operations but also our social and environmental commitments.These were highlighted by Ayala Foundation Ruel Maranan as he spoke at the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Sustainability Summit held on October 8 at the Conrad Manila. Speaking at a session entitled "Family Businesses and Foundations: A Force for Sustainable Development, Maranan emphasized the pioneering work of the Ayala group in the field of sustainability reporting. Given such standards, Ayala Foundation aims to be a community development expert by investing heavily in initiatives that have high a social impact and by ensuring the sustainability of its community programs. Maranan also emphasized the need for community solutions that are as suitable as they are sustainable. He said: Sustainability is a byproduct when we are engaged. Be part of the solution. Part of this, he added, can be achieved by empowering community leaders who will be on-the-ground advocates for community development.Maranan concluded his talk by citing Ayala Foundations sloganAs One We Can. He said: Let us make that slogan (As One We Can) a way of life; imagine how formidable we will become if we do it together. The other session speakers were Cedie Lopez-Vargas of the Lopez Group Foundation, Ramon Gil Macapagal of the SM Foundation, and Mike Liwanag of JG Summit. The first of its kind in the Philippines, the GRI Sustainability Summit gathered together leaders from the business and development sectors to share perspectives and experiences in sustainable development. The summit also served as a venue to discuss the finer points of GRIs sustainability reporting standards. Earlier that day, Ayala Corporation Chairman Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala spoke at a panel on the role of Philippine business in paving the way to the sustainable Philippines.
By Trend

Over 100,000 young people enter the labor market annually in Azerbaijan, the Minister of Labor and Social Protection of the Population Sahil Babayev said at the presentation of the draft National Action Plan on Curbing Gender-Based Selection and Taking Appropriate Response Measures in Azerbaijan".

Young people aged between 14-29 years comprise 25.4 percent of Azerbaijan's population, the minister said adding that this is a positive aspect.

"Every year more than 100,000 young people enter the labor market. The solution of the issue of youth employment, training qualified personnel are also the main objectives of the Azerbaijani government," the minister said raising the issue of youth employment.

Life expectancy in Azerbaijan is also increasing, the minister said, mentioning that the average life expectancy of women (78 years) is longer than that of men (73 years).

As the country's economy develops and social welfare issues are dealt with, the life expectancy of the population increases, Babayev said.

There are 1004 women for every 1,000 men in Azerbaijan and it indicates that the demographic balance is still preserved in Azerbaijan, Babayev added.

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By Trend

Azerbaijan is ready to allocate Pakistan a loan of $100 million to address the country's energy issues, Pakistani media reported.

The offer was made by Ambassador of Azerbaijan Ali Alizade during a meeting with Pakistan's Minister for Information and Broadcasting Chaudhry Fawad Hussain in Islamabad.

Ali Alizade also showed Azerbaijans keen interest to strengthen cooperation with Pakistan in the fields of media and information.

Welcoming the Azerbaijani ambassadors offer and interest to resolve Pakistans energy issues, Hussain said that Pakistan would also like to enhance cooperation with Azerbaijan in tourism, media and information sectors.

According to the State Customs Committee of Azerbaijan, the trade turnover between the two countries amounted to $8.34 million in January-September 2018. The bulk of the turnover fell on Pakistani exports to Azerbaijan. Compared to the same period of 2017, trade turnover has increased by 22.46 percent.

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By Laman Ismayilova

"There is no sincerer love than the love of food." George Bernard Shaw.

Food is one of the defining aspects of culture. There's no better way to understand a culture than through its food.

One of the best ways to truly experience local culture is to taste its national cuisine. Chefs surprise us with fusion of myriad tastes.

Each year on October 20th, people around the world celebrate International Chefs Day.

Since its creation by esteemed chef Dr. Bill Gallagher in 2004, Worldchefs has committed to using International Chefs Day to celebrate this noble profession.

Various culinary contests, master classes and promotions are held as part of the celebration.

The holiday brings together a large number of people who possesses the most modest ingredients to create culinary masterpieces.

International Chefs Day is celebrated in about 70 countries, including Azerbaijan.

The Day will be marked at Sheraton Baku Airport Hotel on October 20. The Second Tea Festival will be also held as part of the event.

The tea traditions of Azerbaijan, Japan, Turkey, China, India, Russia, Uzbekistan and other countries will be presented at the festival.

Public and officials, representatives of ministries and government agencies, diplomatic missions will take part in the event.

Meanwhile, Azerbaijani cooks are known all over the world. They introduce us to impressive food of the Azerbaijani cuisine.

It's not a secret that Azerbaijani cooking abounds with numerous spices and intriguing flavor combinations. National cuisine employs a range of herbs, meat and vegetables. Fresh herbs, including mint, coriander, dill, basil, parsley, tarragon, leek, chive, thyme, marjoram, green onion, and watercress are very popular and often accompany main dish.

Dolma, bozbash, bozartma, Shish kebab, piti, pilaf, and govurma are unique dishes of national cuisine. Azerbaijan also attracts all those who have a sweet tooth. There are more than 30 varieties of Azerbaijani pastries that use unique ingredients such as poppy seeds, walnuts, almonds, sesame seeds, ginger, and cardamom, which make the treats spicy and especially tasty.

Azerbaijani chefs successfully represented the country at international culinary competitions. The national team was awarded the first place at in the 33rd Mengen International Culinary and Tourism Festival in Turkey. National chefs also participated in the third International Culinary Festival Kranjska Gora in Slovenia.

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Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova

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By Trend

Erciyes University of the Turkish city of Kayseri hosted a conference Oct. 20.

The event was attended by Ali Hasanov, Azerbaijani presidents assistant for public and political affairs, Azerbaijani MPs, members of the Lower House of the Russian Parliament.

Speaking at the conference, the head of the Turkey-Azerbaijan inter-parliamentary friendship group, member of the Parliament (Grand National Assembly) of Turkey Samil Ayrim said that Turkish-Russian relations, which had been deteriorated several years ago, were restored.

"As a result of the efforts of the presidents of both countries, the relations between the two countries were restored. Today, there are two countries that want to bring peace to Syria: Turkey and Russia. Currently, there are about 4 million Syrian refugees living in Turkey, and official Ankara directly concerns itself with and cares for problems of these people," Ayrim said.

He conveyed his congratulations on the occasion of October 18, the Independence Day of Azerbaijan.

Ayrim also said that Azerbaijan has been subjected to the genocide policy pursued by Armenians for 200 years. "However, Azerbaijan does not show anger and hatred towards any state. It wants to solve all problems peacefully. Turkey wishes elimination of the double standards applied to Azerbaijan and liberation of the occupied lands of the country," he said.

If Armenia were not an occupier, then today it could participate in many projects, the Turkish MP added.

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By Trend

Parents desire in Azerbaijan to necessarily have a boy in the future may lead to adverse consequences in terms of the general structure and dynamics of the population, said Farid Babayev, assistant representative of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in Azerbaijan.

He was speaking Oct. 19 at the presentation of the draft National Action Plan on curbing gender-based sex selection and taking appropriate response measures in Azerbaijan.

He said that the UNFPA is very concerned about the issue of gender-based sex selection.

Babayev added that this phenomenon, observed earlier in Southeast Asia, is now observed throughout the South Caucasus, including Azerbaijan, and in a number of countries in Eastern Europe.

Studies show that regardless of socio-economic situation of a family, the existing system of patriarchal relations, modern technologies that allow determining the sex of the fetus, encourage parents to have a boy, said Babayev.

He added that the increase in the number of men is closely linked to a number of negative situations, such as the inability to find a partner for marriage, further deterioration in the overall crime situation as a result of widespread violence, human trafficking, etc.

We hope that as a result of joint efforts, it will be possible to achieve the adoption of the National Action Plan and its successful implementation, and thus Azerbaijan will be excluded from the list of countries with shortage of girls, Babayev noted.

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By Trend

The creation of new vocational education centers in Azerbaijan will not have an effect without a modern material and technical base and proper conditions, Prime Minister of Azerbaijan Novruz Mammadov said at a regular meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers on Oct. 19.

The meeting discussed issues related to the organization and activities of the network of vocational education institutions and the improvement of their funding, problems, and the "Action Plan for the implementation of the State Strategy for the Development of Education in Azerbaijan."

The prime minister stressed that over the 15-year term of Ilham Aliyev's presidency, the education sector also developed dynamically.

The adoption of the State Strategy for the Development of Education in Azerbaijan was especially a manifestation of the great attention and care of President Ilham Aliyev for education, he said.

Novruz Mammadov said that over the past period, the country had a positive dynamic in the education sector and a number of successful achievement were made. The prime minister also said that the strategy identified five important areas, adopted state documents relating to different levels and stages of education, including stage of vocational education and adopted measures to improve legislative framework.

The main objective of the State Education Development Strategy and the Strategic Road Map for the development of vocational education and training in Azerbaijan is to create, in accordance with the development of Azerbaijans economy, a flexible and market-oriented vocational education system and ensure its activities, he said.

To this end, the Cabinet of Ministers of Azerbaijan adopted appropriate decisions on the rationalization and organization of a network of vocational education institutions, he added.

The prime minister noted special importance of creating specialized vocational training centers that provide training in accordance with the requirements of the labor market.

Mammadov also said that the optimization of the network of vocational education institutions, creation of new vocational education centers wont have effect without modern material and technical base and educational conditions.

From this point of view, the main objectives of the State Education Development Strategy include creating an education system that is at the forefront in terms of quality and coverage, adapting Azerbaijans education system from an economic point of view to the standards of the worlds leading education systems and, eventually, ensuring sustainable development of Azerbaijan, he said.

Then the reports of Azerbaijans Minister of Education Jeyhun Bayramov on both issues on the agenda were heard out.

Also, reports were made by Azerbaijans Minister of Labor and Social Protection of the Population Sahil Babayev, Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors of the State Examination Center Namig Babayev, Department Head of the Cabinet of Ministers Musa Alakbarov and others.

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By Trend

The Star oil refinery will help reduce Turkeys dependence on imports in the petrochemical industry, Turkish Treasury and Finance Minister Berat Albayrak said at the opening ceremony of the Star refinery in Izmir.

The minister stressed the importance of the Star refinery for Turkey, noting that the refinery will greatly contribute to the development of the countrys petrochemical industry.

Albayrak reminded that the opening ceremony of the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP), which can be considered a symbol of the brotherhood of Azerbaijan and Turkey in the 21st century, took place four months ago.

The friendship and unity of Azerbaijan and Turkey must become an example for the whole world, he noted.

The minister said that only mutual support, healthy competition and strong cooperation can help protect the interests of the two countries and achieve economic stability.

An inauguration ceremony of the Star refinery of Azerbaijans state oil company SOCAR took place in the city of Izmir, Turkey on Oct. 19.

The STAR refinery will produce naphtha, diesel with ultra-low sulfur content, aviation fuel, petroleum coke, liquefied gas and other products. The refinery will not produce gasoline and fuel oil.

The plant is planned to process oil of such grades as Azeri Light, Kerkuk and Urals. The refinery's processing capacity will amount to 10 million tons per year.

The share distribution in the project is as follows: 60 percent of shares are owned by the Rafineri Holding (being in 100-percent possession of SOCAR Turkey Energy), which previously bought 18.5 percent of the participation interest of Turcas Petrol in the project, and 40 percent of shares are owned by SOCAR.

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By Trend

Star refinery will make significant contribution to the development of the economies of Azerbaijan and Turkey, President of Azerbaijans state oil company SOCAR Rovnag Abdullayev said Oct. 19 at the refinerys opening ceremony in Izmir, SOCAR said in a message.

This day is historic for us, he said. Star refinery, built and equipped with the most advanced technology, unites our petrochemical business with oil refining and is therefore of strategic importance to our company. The plant with annual processing capacity of 10 million tons of crude oil will significantly contribute to the development of Azerbaijani and Turkish economies.

An inauguration ceremony of the Star refinery of Azerbaijans state oil company SOCAR took place in the city of Izmir, Turkey on Oct. 19.

The STAR refinery will produce naphtha, diesel with ultra-low sulfur content, aviation fuel, petroleum coke, liquefied gas and other products. The refinery will not produce gasoline and fuel oil.

The plant is planned to process oil of such grades as Azeri Light, Kerkuk and Urals.

The refinery's processing capacity will amount to 10 million tons per year.

The share distribution in the project is as follows: 60 percent of shares are owned by the Rafineri Holding (being in 100-percent possession of SOCAR Turkey Energy), which previously bought 18.5 percent of the participation interest of Turcas Petrol in the project, and 40 percent of shares are owned by SOCAR.

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By Trend

Imports of AI-92 gasoline are temporarily exempt from customs duties. The decision was made by the Cabinet of Ministers of Azerbaijan.

Earlier, the customs duty rate for AI-92 gasoline was 15 percent.

By another decision of the Cabinet of Ministers, the excise rate on AI-92 gasoline imports has been reduced from 200 manats per ton to one manat.

Both decisions of the Cabinet of Ministers will not apply to aviation gasoline.

The decisions has come into force on October 1, 2018 and are valid for 90 days starting from October 1.

Azerbaijan's state oil company SOCAR told Trend that such decisions of the Cabinet of Ministers are associated with a temporary suspension of petroleum products' production at the Heydar Aliyev Baku Oil Refinery in connection with routine maintenance, as a result of which certain volumes are imported from abroad.

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By Trend

President of the Russia Vladimir Putin proposed to continue work on optimizing the Uzbek-Russian trade and its logistics, Uzbek media reported.

He also added that only in the first eight months of 2018, the volume of Russian-Uzbek trade of agricultural products increased by almost 40 percent to $340 million.

In particular, according to the Russian president, now it is necessary to resolve the issue of loading the transport which is returning back to Uzbekistan with Russian products, including foodstuffs.

"There are opportunities for this. The volume of agricultural production in Russia over the past five years has increased by more than 20 percent. We believe that this is certainly the breakthrough nature of the development of Russian agriculture. A real breakthrough has been made in this field. Last year, a record harvest of grain was collected - 135 million tons, this year the figures will be a little smaller, but still it is a significant amount of over 100 million tons," Putin said.

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Charles Castaneda

Many Filipinos dream of working as a healthcare professional in the United Kingdom. Luckily for 25-year-old Charles Castaneda, that dream will soon come to fruition. In a few months, he will be flying to the UK to start his career as a nursea dream-come-true that Castaneda attributes to his success taking the International English Language Testing System. IELTS is the worlds proven English language test. It is trusted and accepted by more than 10,000 institutions worldwide.At first, Charles viewed IELTS as a challenge that he needed to overcome to push through with his plan of working abroad. But the more I prepared for it, I realized it was more of a bridge that will bring me closer to pursuing my dream of becoming a nurse in the UK, he said. Taking IELTS is among the UK body requirements to work as a nurse in the UK. An IELTS band score of not less than 7 across all sections of the test is required to prove that the test taker is able to communicate well in English, something Charles knows important for nurses who want to work in English-speaking countries like the UK. This will allow them to be able to communicate well, to build rapport with colleagues, understand the needs of the patients and explain therapeutic interventions. As a healthcare professional, being able to communicate well in English is essential because we deal with peoples health and well-being, he said. Charles took IELTS with the British Council earlier this year. His reason for choosing to take it with the British Council was because of its long history of teaching and assessing English, making them an authority in the English language.I also found out that upon signing up for the test, the British Council offered a lot of free resources for me to utilise, so I can really prepare for the test and achieve my desired band score, he said. Charles was very particular with the Road to IELTS, an online preparation course by the British Council, because it made preparing for the test convenient for him. Working as a nurse in one of the biggest hospitals in Manila, he didnt really have time for himself because he often had to render overtime work beyond his assigned 9-to-5 shift, even on weekends. It was really convenient for me because I couldnt find time to physically be at their office to use the resources, he said. With Road to IELTS, I was able to prepare for the test during my free time. I had 30 hours free access to its video tutorials and sample tests. All I needed was an internet connection and my phone. Registering for the test was equally convenient because of the friendly customer service team that assisted me from the time I enquired to the actual registration, he said. They made the whole experience as stress-free as possible by going out of their way to go the extra mile for test takers who dream big like me, he said. Overall, Charles is grateful to have the chance to make his dream of working in the UK come true through taking the IELTS test. Im excited to practice my profession in the UK, and Im happy that I will soon be reaping the benefits of the hours I spent in preparing for this test, he said. The British Council is the UKs international organization for cultural relations and educational opportunities. It works with over 100 countries across the world in the fields of arts and culture, English language, education and civil society.
By Trend

A meeting with representatives of the private sector development corporation of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) was held at the Ashgabat headquarters of the Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs of Turkmenistan (UIET), the UIET said in a message.

An exchange of views took place on defining potential areas for the IDBs cooperation with the UIET and the Turkmen Joint-Stock Commercial Bank Rysgal, in particular in terms of the implementation of investment projects.

The meeting participants stressed the importance of a memorandum of understanding between the government of Turkmenistan and the IDB on intensifying cooperation on participation in the financing of promising development projects signed during the official visit of Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov to Saudi Arabia in May 2016, the message said.

It was noted at the meeting that Turkmen entrepreneurs make significant contribution to the socio-economic development of Turkmenistan, increasing the export potential of the country, and that they are entrusted with the implementation of important projects in various fields.

In November 2017, it became known that the IDB allocated $273 million to expand the telecommunications network in Turkmenistan.

Besides, the IDB issued a loan for Turkmenistan in 2016 to finance the construction of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline. An agreement worth $700 million was signed with the State Bank for Foreign Economic Affairs of Turkmenistan.

In June 2015, it was reported that Turkmenistan and IDB are discussing the possibilities for the banks participation in financing eight projects that are envisaged for implementation in the transport and communications sector and for supporting small and medium-sized businesses.

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By Trend

The secretary of the Association of Petrochemical Industry Corporation said Irans petrochemical industry should attract more foreign investment.

"So far, the country has absorbed $50 billion in the sector of petrochemistry," Ahmad Mahdavi Abhari said, Mehr news agency reported on October 19.

He added that this industry needs another $83 billion investment in the next seven years.

The official said fluctuations in the foreign exchange market have worsened the process of petrochemical products exports.

Abhari said cooperatives should be allowed to get involved in this industry to create a competitive atmosphere inside the country.

According to a recent report, the export of non-oil products in the first half of the current Iranian year shows that the value of petrochemicals exports has grown by 24 percent compared to the corresponding period last year.

Meanwhile, the value of exported products, excluding petrochemicals and gas condensates, has increased by 20 percent in the 6-month period.

In March 21-September 22, Iran exported more than $23 billion in non-oil goods, up 13 percent compared to the year before.

In August, CEO of National Petrochemical Company (NPC) Reza Norouzzadeh said Irans petrochemical industry was "unsanctionable" and that the exports would continue on schedule.

The US has imposed fresh sanctions on Iran after withdrawing from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal and is planning to push Irans oil exports down to zero by November 4.

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By Trend

The Islamic State terrorist group (outlawed in Russia) has been defeated over the last three years of military actions in Syria with Russia's support, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said on Saturday at the fifth council of defense ministers of ASEAN member countries and their dialogue partners, TASS reports.

"Over the course of the operation, 87,500 militants were destroyed, 1,141 settlements and over 95% of Syria's territory were liberated," Shoigu said.

"Key settlements were liberated and main communications were unblocked," he noted. "The Syrian armed forces currently control territory where 90% of the populaiton resides," he added.

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By Trend

Egypt and the European Union have signed two agreements worth almost $155 million in a bid to create jobs and tackle illegal migrations, MEMO reports citing Al-Masry Al-Youm.

The signing was attended by Egyptian Minister of Investment Sahar Nasr and Director-General for EU Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Christian Danielsson.

The first agreement will fund an EU programme for inclusive growth, with a focus on creating job opportunities, through investment in small and medium businesses. The scheme will also attempt to create links between business owners of smaller firms and large corporations to enable the better exchange of funding and ideas. Egypt has made some progress in tackling joblessness, with the unemployment rate expected to drop to 10.9 per cent by the end of this year from 12.2 per cent in 2017.

The second deal, worth some $6.88 million, is targeted at reducing illegal immigration, as well as smuggling and human trafficking, in which Egypt is rapidly becoming a hotspot.

The project involves three stages which will be spread across 11 cities; improving the infrastructure of cities experiencing illegal migration, create several educational programmes in the areas most affected, and to support womens employment to ease the financial burdens that lead to individuals seeking work abroad.

Aid will also be given to local institutions and civic organisations trying to tackle migration in the north of the country.

Egypt is fast becoming a popular route for migrants from sub-Saharan Africa to cross the Mediterranean and enter Europe. However the EU has placed pressure on North African countries to stem the flow of people leaving the continent, and in July, revealed that European leaders would seek to establish centres in the Middle East and Africa to host deported asylum seekers.

The plan was quickly rejected by Egypt, and the EUs partner countries, including Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia.

Our capacities are already utilised today; therefore, it is important that Egypt receives support from Germany and the EU, Egyptian Parliament Speaker Ali Abdul Aal said at the time.

Egypt already hosts more than 221,675 refugees and asylum seekers, with 3,118 newly registered in 2018 alone according to the UNHCR. Unofficial estimates however indicate that the actual number exceeds 300,000.

The country has particularly struggled with the refugee burden in light of its own economic problems. The government is currently implementing numerous austerity measures as part of the reform programmes stipulated by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and has argued that the increase of foreigners in the country has resulted in significant costs to the country.

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By Trend

Azerbaijan Airlines CJSC, Silk Way Holding, the State Tourism Agency of Azerbaijan and Azerbaijan Tourism Bureau signed a cooperation agreement.

Considering such a priority task as developing foreign tourism, set by the country's leadership, cooperation of key bodies in this sphere will positively affect the development of the tourism sector.

The agreement was signed by President of Azerbaijan Airlines Jahangir Asgarov, Chairman of the State Tourism Agency of Azerbaijan Fuad Naghiyev, First Vice President of Silk Way Holding Teymur Mammadov and Executive Director of the Azerbaijan Tourism Bureau Florian Sengstschmid.

The agreement envisages joint measures aimed at increasing passenger traffic of both the countrys main air gate  Heydar Aliyev International Airport and regional airports. Much attention will be paid to low-cost air transportation, as well as opening of inexpensive 3-star hotels.

Today, the main tourist flow to our country is accounted for air transportation. The national airline AZAL operates regular and charter flights to the countries of near and far abroad.

Starting next year, the fleet of Azerbaijans national airline will begin to replenish with the latest Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, which will further expand the geography of the route network. The Heydar Aliyev International Airports management is actively working to attract foreign air carriers.

It should be noted that during the first nine months of 2018, Heydar Aliyev International Airport served 3.49 million passengers. This indicator exceeds the same indicator of the previous year by 10 percent, and the same indicator of 2016 - by 39 percent.

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Azerbaijan's growing tourism potential contributes to the development of passenger air transportation and the opening of flights to new countries and cities. Currently, Baku airport serves over 30 airlines on more than 40 destinations.
Bounty Agro Ventures Inc. president and general manager Ronald Mascarinas (center)

Ronald Mascarinas may be the president and general manager of a poultry integrator company, but he is everything but chicken in his leadership. Lauded as one of the Southeast Asian regions Outstanding Leaders in Asia at the Asia Corporate Excellence & Sustainability Awards held at Fairmont Singapore on Oct. 11, 2018, Mascarinas was deemed an exceptional leader who has demonstrated sound leadership, successfully applying management wisdom to spearhead growth and prominence for his organization. Cited as an individual who exhibits the ideal blend of business acumen, professionalism, entrepreneurial caliber and astuteness, Mascarinas was instrumental to the continued successin fact, the very survivalof his company, Bounty Agro Ventures Inc. BAVI was initially established as a poultry integrator company operating in Cebu and Davao, carrying the Bounty Fresh brand. Incorporated in 1997, BAVI is presently ranked 207th among the top 1,000 corporations in the Philippines.In 2002, the company embarked on a program to modernize operational capability and market expansion, led by Mascarinas. The [resident helped link together hundreds of broiler contract farms, dozens of hatcheries, feed mills, poultry processing plants and processed meats plants, with the end goal of establishing a highly efficient supply chain in poultry integration. The venture was an unmitigated success, and consistently earned Triple A ratings by the National Meat Inspection Service for cleanliness. The implementation of the Asian Free Trade Agreement, however, led to an open market, which led to cheaper imports. Faced with thin margins and fierce competition, BAVI faced a dire threat to its existence. In the light of this challenge, Mascarinas made a bold move to diversify operations. BAVI launched its own retail operation, and developed a complementing range of cooked chicken and dressed chicken products. In 2009, the company launched its oven roasted chicken business under the trade name Chooks-to-Go, completing the integration cycle of poultry operations, from the farm to the dinner table.

Under Mascarinas leadership, BAVI has set itself apart from the industry by being the first and only poultry integrator to offer antibiotic-free chicken. BAVI is presently the countrys number one poultry integrator, and largest rotisserie chicken chain, with more than 1,200 rotisserie stores nationwide. In a pre-award interview, Mascarinas, attributed his bold business strategy to the trinity of vision, people and training. I have always believed in the importance of a good reputation founded on ethical and fair business relationships; and the paramount importance of competent and trustworthy people in the organization working as a team. What connects the two is good management. A good leader teaches, guides, and even handholds, if needed. A good leader does everything to ensure that people who work with them are encouraged, and taught the value of discipline, he said. His win is one of 11 awards won by the Philippines at the fifth Asia Corporate Excellence & Sustainability Awards.
Ayala Foundation president Ruel Maranan

Ayala has put in place interventions that contribute to all 17 sustainable development goals, covering not only our business operations, but also our social and environmental commitments. These were highlighted by Ayala Foundation president Ruel Maranan as he spoke at the Global Reporting Initiative Sustainability Summit held on Oct. 8 at Conrad Manila.Speaking at a session entitled Family Businesses and Foundations: A Force for Sustainable Development, Maranan emphasized the pioneering work of the Ayala group in the field of sustainability reporting. Given such standards, Ayala Foundation aims to be a community development expert by investing heavily in initiatives that have high social impact and by ensuring the sustainability of its community programs. Maranan also pointed out the need for community solutions that are as suitable as they are sustainable. Sustainability is a byproduct when we are engaged. Be part of the solution, he said.He said a part of this could be achieved by empowering community leaders who will be on-the-ground advocates for community development. Maranan concluded his talk by citing Ayala Foundations sloganAs One We Can. He said: Let us make that slogan [As One We Can] a way of life; imagine how formidable we will become if we do it together. The other session speakers were Cedie Lopez-Vargas of the Lopez Group Foundation, Ramon Gil Macapagal of the SM Foundation and Mike Liwanag of JG Summit. The first of its kind in the Philippines, the GRI Sustainability Summit gathered together leaders from the business and development sectors to share perspectives and experiences in sustainable development.
The North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) Harbor Link Segment 10 in the Camanava (Caloocan, Malabon, Navotas, Valenzuela) area will be passable by Christmas. Department of Public Works and Highways Secretary Mark Villar announced this on Friday as he inspected the newly-constructed portion of the project at McArthur Highway, Karuhatan, Valenzuela City, together with NLEX Corp. officials led by its president Rodrigo Franco. He noted that works are getting close to completion now that the DPWH has given 100 percent of the right-of-way between Karuhatan, Valenzuela City to C3 Road, Caloocan City. He said the completion of the project will be the Duterte administration and Metro Pacific Tollways Corp.s Christmas gift to the people as they target to deliver it in time for the holidays. We will try to finish this just in time for the Christmas rush to help ease the publics traffic woes and it will be passable by holiday season, Villar said. NLEX Harbor Link Segment 10 is composed of the 5.65-kilometer elevated expressway traversing the NLEX from McArthur Highway Karuhatan, Valenzuela City, passing through Malabon City and C3 Road, Caloocan City and the 2.6-km section between C3 Road, Caloocan City, and R10 in Navotas City.Villar said that the first section is now 83 percent complete while the construction progress of the second section stands at 5 percent. The project is envisioned to boost the countrys transport and logistics industry as cargo trucks will have 24/7 direct access from the port area in Manila to the northern provinces of Luzon via the NLEX. Franco said that aside from providing travel convenience, the NLEX Harbor Link Segment 10 will spur massive investment in communities. The NLEX construction team is working nonstop to complete the project by the end of this year, he added.
Pink Ball supports cancer victims

SARATOGA  To Life! is celebrating its 20th year anniversary with the Pink Ball beginning at 6:45 p.m. (VIP reception at 6:15 p.m.) Friday at the Hall of Springs.

This black-tie event supporting victims and survivors of breast cancer will feature live music and silent and live auctions.

Tickets are $200 per person, $350 per couple. To purchase tickets, call the office at 518-439-5975 or register online at tolife.org.

Fort Ticonderoga to host night maze

TICONDEROGA  Fort Ticonderoga is hosting "Maze by Moonlight" from 7 to 10 p.m. Oct. 26 and 27, 102 Fort Ti Road.

The maze's new design spreads across six acres and is divided into two phases, featuring a smaller maze.

Tickets are $10 and are available at the door, last ticket sold at 9 p.m. Members of Fort Ticonderoga, Ticonderoga Ambassador Pass Holders, and children age 4 and younger are admitted free of charge.

For details, call 518-585-2821 or visit fortticonderoga.org.

Historical society hosts a seance

SCHENECTADY  The Schenectady County Historical Society is teaming up with the Northeast Theater Ensemble to host a Victorian-style seance. Event times are 7 and 9 p.m. Oct. 27, 28 and 31 at the Brouwer House, 14 N. Church St.

Mediums will guide guests through ghost stories from the region, inside a cozy home with hundreds of years of local history.

Tickets are $20 and will include light refreshments. A portion of the evening will take place outdoors, weather permitted, so guests are encouraged to dress appropriately.

To register, visit schenectadyhistorical.org/tours.

Spooktacular event to benefit animals

SARATOGA  Adirondack Save-A-Stray is holding a "Howlin' at the Moon" Halloween Costume Party from 4 to 8 p.m. Sunday at the Holiday Inn, 232 Broadway.

The event will feature a costume contest, live music, raffle, door prizes, silent auction, readings by Psychic Whitney and more. Costumes are optional. An hor d'erves buffet and cash bar will also be available.

This fundraising event will be the start of the organization's new Outreach Program and partial proceeds will benefit ASAS.

A monetary donation is suggested. Tickets are available at the door or at ASAS, 4880 Rt 9N Corinth. To donate by phone, call 518-654-6220.

Trick or treat celebration Oct. 29

VALATIE  The Grand Rehabilitation and Nursing at Barnwell is hosting a Community Trick or Treat Celebration from 6 to 8 p.m. Oct. 29 at 3230 Church St.

The festivities will feature a trick-or-treat trail through the hallways of Barnwell, a costume contest, haunted house, Halloween games and prizes, cider and doughnuts and more. Two pet llamas will also be present for feeding and pictures.

There will also be non-treat items available for children with food allergies.

For details, call 518-758-6222, Ext. 3026 or email BDelcoure@thegrandhealthcare.com.

Registration open for annual 5k run

SCHUYLERVILLE  Registration for the seventh annual 5k Revolutionary Run is now open.

The race supports Saratoga County Veterans Trust and Agency Fund and will begin at 10 a.m., registration at 8:30 a.m., Nov. 3 at Fort Hardy Park.

A Kids Fun Run will follow the 5k.

Registration fee is $25. Runners can register at FinishRight.com.
Rep. Barbara Comstock, R-Va., has relied on a vast network of Republicans from a lifetime in GOP politics to help her raise more money overall than Democratic challenger Jennifer Wexton in their hotly contested Northern Virginia race.

From Vice President Mike Pence to 2012 Republican presidential nominee and current Senate candidate Mitt Romney to House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., Comstock's campaign has benefited from national starpower.

Pence also plans to campaign this weekend in Richmond for two congressional candidates in close races - Rep. Dave Brat and Republican Denver Riggleman - as well as Ryan McAdams, a Republican minister running in a safe Democratic district.

Comstock's northern Virginia district is one of the most competitive in the nation and one that Democrats say they need to win to take back control of the House. Hillary Clinton carried the district in the 2016 presidential race.

Wexton, a state senator, has collected endorsements from Clinton, former president Barack Obama and former vice president Joe Biden.

Although four public polls show that Comstock is behind, her supporters say the data does not take into account the two-term congresswoman's knowledge and connection to the district, where she has lived for more than three decades.

"It is an uphill battle, but I think she will win because she is in reality the hardest-working person I have ever known," said Bobbie Kilberg, a donor and veteran of three GOP presidential administrations. "She is totally in tune with and responsive to the district, and that will overcome the unpopularity of President [Donald] Trump."

Kilberg, who heads the Northern Virginia Technology Council, last week hosted a fundraiser for Comstock at her McLean home that brought in nearly $350,000.

Ryan, who has known Comstock since their days as Capitol Hill staffers, attended the fundraiser instead of Justice Brett Kavanaugh's ceremonial swearing-in at the White House, stayed for 2 1/2 hours and left directly from there for Afghanistan, Kilberg wrote in an email.

Other bold-faced names in the room included Wes Bush, the CEO of Northrop Grumman, and his wife, Natalie; Jim Nicholson, a former ambassador to the Vatican and former secretary of Veterans Affairs, and his wife, Suzanne; as well as Ken and Alice Starr, she said.

"It's a who's who of the conservative movement in Washington," former Virginia GOP chairman John Whitbeck said of Comstock's donor list. "It's not surprising in the slightest."

Romney's campaign for U.S. Senate in Utah donated $2,000 to Comstock's campaign, as first reported by Politico and confirmed by federal campaign finance reports.

Comstock was a policy adviser to his 2008 presidential race and a co-chair of his 2012 race. Romney won Virginia's 10th Congressional District that year by one percentage point over Obama, who had carried the district four years earlier.

Beth Meyers and Matt Rhoades, the managers of Romney's two presidential campaigns, last week sent alumni of those races a letter asking them to donate their time or money to Comstock, whom they called an "early ally."

"Barbara is committed to doing everything in her power to win re-election, and we hope that we can bring the full force of the Romney/Ryan alumni network to help her," they said.

The note included a link to a Roll Call story about an internal Comstock poll showing that the race is close and ended with the message: "We need more people like Barbara in our party."

David Bossie, a longtime friend who is president of the conservative nonprofit Citizens United and served as a senior aide to the Trump campaign, said plans are in the works for Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., to visit Virginia on Comstock's behalf.

Eugene Scalia, the eldest of the late Justice Antonin Scalia's nine children, and Sheila Johnson, the entrepreneur and co-founder of BET, are also donors, he noted.

"The congresswoman is up against a very tough district," Bossie said. "To be honest with you, she hasn't seen eye to eye with the administration, nor any administration for that matter."

In Congress, she voted against Trump-backed legislation to repeal the Affordable Care Act and opposes government shutdowns and pay freezes for federal workers. But from January 2017 through the end of July 2018, Comstock voted with the president's agenda 98 percent of the time, according to the website FiveThirtyEight.

She remains close to Pence, and, during the 2016 campaign when the "Access Hollywood" video was released, she said that he would make a better nominee than Trump.

Pence raised money for her at the Willard InterContinental hotel in downtown Washington this month and tweeted a photo from the fundraiser.

"Proud to support @BarbaraComstock - who helped pass the largest tax cuts & reform in American history & the biggest pay raise for our troops since the days of Ronald Reagan. @BarbaraComstock is the kind of leader Northern Virginia needs!" he wrote.

Comstock's campaign did not return a message seeking comment.

In the last quarter, which ended Sept. 30, Wexton raised $2.6 million, about twice Comstock's total. But throughout the campaign, Comstock has outraised Wexton by about $500,000 to amass a war chest of $5.1 million.

Outside groups are pouring millions of dollars in TV ads into the district, which includes all of Loudoun County, parts of Fairfax and Prince William counties, Manassas, Manassas Park, Clarke and Frederick counties, and Winchester.
"Warren might even be less Native American than the average European American."

- News release from the Republican National Committee, Oct. 15

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"Pocahontas (the bad version), sometimes referred to as Elizabeth Warren, is getting slammed. She took a bogus DNA test and it showed that she may be 1/1024, far less than the average American."

- President Donald Trump, in a tweet, Oct. 16

- - -

After being egged on by President Trump, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., released the results of a DNA test Oct. 15 that indicated she had a Native American ancestor.

The results - which identified Native American DNA from six to 10 generations ago - were immediately misinterpreted.

It started with a Boston Globe report, which initially indicated that the test showed she was at best 1/32nd Native American and possibly just 1/512th Native American. After confessing twice to a math error, the Globe corrected the numbers to 1/64th and 1/1,024th Native American. That would translate to between 98.44 percent and 99.9 percent not Native American.

The Republican National Committee then issued a news release directing reporters to a 2014 New York Times report that said "European-Americans had genomes that were on average 98.6 percent European, .19 percent African, and .18 Native American." So it sounded like Warren had less Native American DNA than the average European American.

The Fact Checker even issued a tweet along these lines (at a moment when the Globe still indicated the range was between 1/32nd and 1/1,024th): "So Elizabeth Warren could be 3.1 percent Native American - or as little as 0.01 percent Native American." We included a link to the New York Times article "for context," highlighting the sentence about the average European-American.

But it turns out that reporters and politicians are not very good at understanding genetics. So we will set the record straight, after reviewing the results in detail and consulting with genetics experts.

- - -

Warren's DNA was sequenced and analyzed by a group led by Carlos Bustamante, a well-regarded Stanford University geneticist. Researchers studied a fraction - far less than 1/1,000th - of Warren's DNA, and then compared it to the DNA of 148 people from Finland, Italy, Spain, China, Nigeria and North and South America. Additional comparison was done on 185 individuals from Utah and Great Britain.

As one might expect, the vast majority - 95 percent - of Warren's DNA indicated European ancestors. But five genetic segments were identified, with 99 percent confidence, as being associated with Native American ancestry. The largest segment identified was on Chromosome 10.

"While the vast majority of the individual's ancestry is European, the results strongly support the existence of an unadmixed Native American ancestor in the individual's pedigree, likely in the range of 6-10 generations ago," the report said.

Here's where the reporting went off course. The report said that Warren had 10 times more Native American ancestry than the reference set from Utah, and 12 times more than the set from Britain. The report also said that the long segment on Chromosome 10 indicated that the DNA came from a relatively recent ancestor.

Those are significant findings. But reporters focused on the language indicating a range of between the sixth and 10th generations. That raised the prospect of an ancestor amid hundreds of great-great-great-etc.-grandparents. That's because most people, looking at the contributions of generations over time, would imagine an even distribution, with each successive ancestor contributing equally to the DNA of an individual.

But ancestors do not contribute genetic material equally over time, especially when you move past great-grandparents. Some ancestors contribute a lot - while others do nothing at all. In other words, as you go back in time, the number of your ancestors keeps increasing but not nearly as fast as the number of genealogical ancestors. In the sixth generation, a genetic chart of an individual would show some strong contributors of genetic material - and many weak ones.

The most important point is this: The results in Warren's DNA test are static. The percentage of Native American DNA in her genome does not shrink as you go back generations. There could be one individual in the sixth generation - living around the mid-1800s, which is similar to Warren family lore - or possibly a dozen or more ancestors back to the 10th generation, which would be about 250 years ago. Her results are consistent with a single ancestor, however.

(Note: Bustamante did not have access to Native American DNA because of mistrust in the community that DNA results could affect tribal identity, so he relied on samples of indigenous people from Mexico, Peru and Colombia - populations in the Americas with high Native American genetic ancestry. There is research showing that using these groups as references is accurate when differentiating between genetic ancestries at a worldwide level. But no tribe for Warren could be identified, only that she had an ancestor or ancestors descended from indigenous people.)

This basic error in understanding the test results was compounded by the RNC's reference to the 2014 New York Times article, which was about a genetic profile of the United States based on a study of 160,000 people drawn from the customer base of 23andMe, a consumer genetics company. With reporters believing that Warren's genome was only as little as 0.01 percent Native American, the article's line that "European-Americans had genomes that were on average 98.6 percent European, .19 percent African, and .18 Native American" made it appear as if Warren's sample was even smaller than that of the average American. But the majority of European Americans in the study have zero.

Not so. Remember we said that the Bustamante study said she had 10 times more than the individuals from Utah? That's the relevant statistic, indicating that her claim to some Native American heritage is much stronger than most European Americans.

In fact, the 23andMe study used a different methodology, so it cannot be compared to the Bustamante report. Moreover, the reference to an average "European-American" is misleading, because there are wide variations in the genetic makeup, with the vast majority of European Americans having no Native American ancestry. The small percentage of European Americans with more than 2 percent Native American ancestry are concentrated in a handful of states, such as North Dakota, New Mexico and Louisiana.

Mike Reed, the RNC spokesman who circulated the Times article, said in response: "The bottom line is Elizabeth Warren has, at most, a minuscule amount of Native American heritage and it is obvious she had absolutely no right to claim minority status while climbing the professional ladder to the Ivy League."

The test results certainly have not won fans in the indigenous community.

Kim TallBear, associate professor at the University of Alberta, said the "very desire to locate a claim to Native American identity in a DNA marker inherited from a long-ago ancestor is a settler-colonial racial understanding of what it is to be Native American." In an email, TallBear said that Native Americans' own definitions of legitimate Native American or tribal identity focus not on long-ago ancestors identified through a test but are based on a living community, or "close social and biological relations of people one can name, indeed people one probably knows (huge LOL here) - one's family, community, and tribe."

- - -

We are not trying to defend Warren's decision to release the test, just to set the record straight about what the test shows. The media bungled the interpretation of the results - and then Warren's opponents used the uninformed reporting to undermine the test results even further. We fell into this trap as well, and were too quick to send out a tweet (now deleted) that made an inaccurate comparison. We should have not relied on media reporting before tweeting.

Warren's Native American DNA, as identified in the test, may not be large, but it's wrong to say it's as little as 1/1,024th or that it's less than the average European American. Three Pinocchios all around - including to our tweet.
Government troops have captured three Abu Sayyaf Group bandits as military operations continue in the hinterlands of Sulu province, an official said Saturday. Lt. Gen. Arnel dela Vega, Western Mindanao Command chief, said the three were captured following a clash with the Armys 5th Scout Ranger Battalion in Barangay Maligay, Patikul, Sulu at about 9:40 a.m. Thursday. Dela Vega identified the captured ASG bandits as Gafur Albani Absari, Medzfar Mangkabong, and Madjid Mangkabong. The three were turned over to the Armys 501st Infantry Brigade for proper disposition and filing of charges in coordination with the Sulu Provincial Police Office. My congratulations to the troops of the Joint Task Force Sulu, headed by Brig. Gen. Divino Rey Pabayo for the aggressive measures taken in order to ensure that criminals will never be free to roam in the province [of Sulu], he said. The militarys operations in Sulus hinterlands aim to rescue the 10 remaining ASG hostages, consisting of two foreignersa Dutch and a Vietnameseand eight Filipinos. Meanwhile, three more members of the Islamic State-inspired Maute group have surrendered in Lanao del Sur, the military reported Saturday. According to Major Gen. Roseller Murillo, commander of the Armys 1st Infantry Division, the three surrendered to troops of the 49th Infantry Battalion in Masiu, Lanao del Sur last Thursday. Murillo said they turned over one rocket-propelled grenade launcher, a caliber .45 pistol and several rounds of ammunition.He said the three, whose identities were withheld, were placed under debriefing. Murillo said they surrendered to Lt. Col Edgar Villanueva, commander of the Armys 49th Infantry Battalion, through the efforts of Councilor Hamil Gubar, Liga ng mga Barangay president of Masiu, and Maliksaif Masjida, Afgani Deputy Base commander of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. They were recruited during the Marawi siege. However, they were not inserted in the main battle area due to the relentless security efforts and checkpoints around the (Lanao) lake, Villanueva said. One of them was involved in (the) Pagayawan clash last June, he added. Murillo commended the troops, local officials and the peace-inclined MILF member that facilitated the surrender of the three Maute remnants. We will continuously collaborate with different stakeholders and concerned citizens to encourage other Maute ISIS remnants to surrender and go back to mainstream society, he added. The surrender of the three brings to 13 the total number of Maute members who have yielded to the Joint Task Force Ranao this month. Seven surrendered to the 55th Infantry Battalion in Pagayawan on Oct. 9; a sniper turned himself in to the 49th Infantry Battalion in Butig on Oct. 10; and two others yielded to the 55th Infantry Battalion in Lumbaca-Unayan, Lanao del Sur on October 16.
The September jobs report that found record-low unemployment statewide also contained some good news for Southeast Texas: The jobless rate locally is at the lowest point in a decade.

We are very happy with the steady decline, said Lauren Van Gerven, , a Beaumont-based analyst with Workforce Solutions of Southeast Texas.

The unemployment rate in Beaumont-Port Arthur fell to 5.9 percent in September, down from 8.2 percent a year ago and 6.3 percent in August, according to the official Texas Workforce Commission jobs report released Friday.

But that report also found the number of employed people here is actually slightly lower than it was in September 2017, according to results that are not seasonally adjusted. The size of the labor force fell more steeply than the number of employed people did.

Job growth was most robust in the Government and the Mining and the Logging and Construction sectors, which grew by 6.3 percent and 2 percent, respectively, a separate report from Workforce Solutions of Southeast Texas found.

Mayor Becky Ames lauded Fridays economic news, even though joblessness in the region remains notably higher than the state as a whole.

Anytime we see a decrease in the unemployment rate, its a celebration, Ames said. We should be proud. Im sure it will continue to go down with the opening of Northwest Parkway allowing for more expansion.

The parkways scheduled November opening will open 600 acres to development. City planners expect half of that to be filled within 10 years.

The Workforce Solutions of Southeast Texas report shows monthly drops in the Manufacturing, Education and Health Services and Leisure and Hospitality sectors. Lindsey further cautioned that the rise in Government employment is a seasonal fluctuation due largely to the return of public school teachers to the classroom.

More Information Local employment Unemployment rate, October 2017 - September 2018, across Southeast Texas City of Port Arthur: 9.5% - 8.7% Newton County: 6.5% - 6.2% Jefferson County: 6.6% - 6.2% Beaumont-Port Arthur MSA: 6.3% - 5.9% South East Texas WDA: 6.3% - 5.9% Orange County: 6.3% - 5.5% City of Beaumont: 6.0% - 5.6% Hardin County: 5.4% - 5.0% Source: Workforce Solutions of Southeast Texas See More Collapse

Texas overall unemployment rate fell to a record low 3.8 percent in September. Texas added 15,600 jobs last month, while annual employment growth for the state last month was 3.3 percent. The state has recorded annual growth 27 consecutive months, according to the Texas Workforce Commission.

The region recorded 160,600 people employed and 10,100 unemployed, the Workforce Commission report showed.

Van Gerven agreed that Beaumont is benefiting from recent retail expansions.

Beaumont wont be considered fully employed until the unemployment rate reaches 4 percent, but Van Gerven found a positive aspect there as well.

It just means we wont run out of workers and it makes the market more competitive, which is good, she said. It means we still have room to grow and new businesses wont have to worry about finding people to fill positions.

Statewide, jobs related to financial activities led all industries and rose by 5,800 positions over the month. The high-paying energy sector, which includes mining, continued to increase, added 2,600 new jobs in the month as the industry still recovers from a downturn that began in late 2014.

Over the past year, Texas added 402,500 jobs.

John C. Roper in Houston contributed.

Erica.Apodaca@beaumontenterprise.com

twitter.com/erica_a10
Starting next year, expect a rush of Filipino nurses, farmers, construction workers, shipbuilders and those in the hospitality sector to make a beeline for available jobs in Japan. This after the Japanese government announced that it would accept at least 50,000 Filipino workers as part of its new policy on residency status for foreign workers in various industries in the next six years. They will join the 1.28 million foreign workers already in Japan, based on data from its Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare cited in various reports. In his speech last Friday at the 44th Philippine Business Conference, Japanese Ambassador Koji Haneda said in line with the new Japanese policy of employing at least 500,000 foreign workers for the next six years from 2019 to 2025, Japan will open its doors to more Filipino workers, mainly to serve its aging population. Japan faces an aging society and lacks labor force, while the Philippines is abundant with young labor force with great potential, Ambassador Koji Haneda said. While we are waiting for the rules and regulations of this new scheme to be released, I personally estimate more than 50,000 workers from the Philippines will come to work in Japan with this new work permit by 2025, he added. Haneda said that the government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will soon finalize its new rules for giving temporary residence to foreign manual laborers, as its parliament is set to deliberate during its extraordinary session in autumn on the creation of a new residency status that would allow foreign workers in a wider range of industries to stay for 5 years. The new policy effectively lifts the ban on the recruitment of foreigners for manual labor. Hanedas speech actually tackled the three defining aspects of the Philippines and Japans economic partnership: cooperation in infrastructure development, mutually beneficial trade policies, and people-to-people ties. Haneda said there are 153,600 Filipino workers in Japan, or 12 percent of the total number of foreigners workers in that country. Most of the Filipinos in Japan belong to highly specialized fields, such as engineering and the academe as Japan currently allows the hiring of only highly-skilled foreign workers. Under the new program, however, one in 10 job openings starting the summer of 2019 will be filled by a Filipino. Haneda said that based on Japans initial rollout of the Basic Policy on Economic and Fiscal Management and Reform 2018, Filipino workers are allowed to work in the nursing, farming, construction, hospitality, and shipbuilding industries, while businesses in other industriesamong them, manufacturing and fisheries have also asked the government to allow them to hire foreigners too. Presently, Japan only hires Filipino nurses and care workers due to special arrangements under the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement, which took effect in 2008.Japan has accepted more than 2,200 Filipino candidates under JPEPA, Haneda said. On June 5, during a Cabinet meeting, Abe cited the reviews conducted by Chief Cabinet Secretary [Yoshihide] Suga and Minister [of Justice Yoko] Kamikawa on the acceptance of foreign personnel. Abe told the Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy that labor shortage is becoming an increasingly serious issue, particularly for small- and medium-sized enterprises in local districts. For this reason, there is an urgent need to establish a system for accepting a wide range of foreign personnel who have specific expertise and skills, and can be of immediate help. The draft Basic Policy that was presented today clearly sets forth the creation of a new category of residence status, as a matter separate from immigration policies. Abe announced the adoption of this policy in a June 15 meeting. The Japanese economy is facing an urgent need to increase our potential growth rate by increasing productivity and securing human resources both in terms of quality and quantity as labor shortages become prominent. Japanese citizens are divided on the new policy. Some expressed concern that the influx of foreign residents (as opposed to tourists) might entail security risks and take away jobs from the Japanese, while others acknowledged that our current society cannot be sustained without foreigners. Japan is the Philippines top export market and its largest foreign investor. Over 1,500 Japanese companies operate in the country, mostly engaged in manufacturing and business process outsourcing. More than 900 of these firms are located in export processing zones. Aside from the new jobs in Japan, Haneda also discussed the ongoing economic cooperation between Japan and the Philippines, including the railway projects in Metro Manila, as he affirmed that Japan is ensuring quality and speedy implementation to support President Dutertes Build, Build, Build program. Haneda also touched on bilateral cooperation, as he underscored the deepening business and investment ties between the two countries. Haneda also said that he is proud of Filipino-Japanese athletes and sumo wrestlers who are making headlines these days, proof of a stronger people-to-people ties. He also expressed hopes that more Filipinos will keep coming back to Japan.
Former Trump Administration White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus and Former Obama Administration Senior Advisor David Axelrod engaged in a lively, heated debate on topics like the midterm elections, working with presidents and possible scenarios for 2020.

Mr. Priebus and Mr. Axelrod discussed a gauntlet of hot-button political topics at Becker's ASC 25th Annual Meeting: The Business and Operations of ASCs, Oct. 18 in Chicago. Becker's Healthcare Publisher Scott Becker moderated the debate.

Note: Responses were lightly edited for style and clarity, and responses were presented in order.

On the midterm elections:

David Axelrod: I think the odds Democrats take the House are pretty high. I think the odds Republicans retain the Senate are pretty high. But if Democrats take the House, I think that's going to make for a different equation [over the next two years. Democrats in the House] can go one of two ways. One is that Democrats are judicious about the role they play. They're aggressive about their oversight, but they don't go overboard.

I think the margin of their victory will have something to do with how far Democrats go. If the margin is small, I think the discipline will be greater, in that the people that won these marginal seats will have greater influence in their decision-making. If it's a bigger win? Maybe not so much.

Reince Priebus: Right now, if the election were held today, I think the Democrats would win the House, [and] Republicans add two or three seats to the Senate. But the trend of where we are today as compared to three weeks ago is that the political environment is better for the Republicans based on a few things:

No. 1: Kavanaugh. ... The Democrats went way too far, politically, in the environment we're in. That has caused Republicans to become far more engaged than they would've been, which has caused polling on the Republican side to get to a place where the Senate is out of reach, and it's [caused] Democrat seats in the House they thought were easy to not be so easy.

The second thing is the president's approval rating has ticked up and the generic ballot [split between Republicans and Democrats] is far [wider] even then the Democrats want it to be.

On President Donald Trump:

RP: I don't think most presidents are run-of-the-mill, Midwest-normal. I think everyone, especially if they're successful, [has] things about them that are a little quirky and a little different. There are things that appeal to the American people that allow them to stand out differently from others. But yeah, he's a fun guy, an engaging person.

In a crowd or an event like this, if he was in front of you answering questions and taking pictures and shaking hands, you'd all leave and go, 'You know what? That person is a really cool guy.' You'd fall in love with him. You would. He's good at it. He's good with people. He's in a profession where being good with people and walking tables and shaking hands [is important]  that's who Donald Trump is.

On Former President Barack Obama:

DA: We had this quaint idea  and he did  that the words of a president could start armies marching and markets tumbling, so we better choose them with some care, not to say we never made mistakes.  Reince said presidents aren't just 'Midwestern-normal.' I think Obama was as close to that as can be. I actually think George W. Bush was a normal,down-to-Earth kind of guy.I always call him the most down-to-earth, extraordinary person I know because he was very down-to-earth, very unflappable  famously so. Whenever we had a bad day  and we had bad days  he was always the guy who picked up the group.

On the 2020 election:

DA: You're going to see a cavalcade of candidates. For those of you who are weary of campaign 2018, do not despair; campaign 2020 will begin on Nov. 7.  [Former Vice President Joe] Biden is the leading candidate right now, the second most popular candidate in the Democratic party is [Sen. Bernie] Sanders.  For Biden to be successful, he is going to have to run a vigorous campaign to prove that he is up to the job.

RP: My prediction is the Democratic primary is going to make the Republican primary look like child's play. The difference is  the Democrats are structured differently than the Republicans. The RNC had an enormous amount of resources, hundreds of millions of dollars  a $200 million database. We had the capability of keeping 16 people pretty much in line.
Belfast city centre is set to lose up to 3m a month as a result of the Primark fire, economic experts say.

The impact of the August blaze that destroyed Bank Buildings is set out in documents which also warn that part of the landmark property has an 80% chance of collapsing in the next six months.

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The information was supplied by various parties in response to a consultation for the conservation-led works on the Primark building.

The August 28 blaze, which raged for three days, has had a severe impact on the city's economy.

A safety cordon has been put in place around the building, and is expected to remain until December.

It was Belfast City Council's economic development team that laid bare the true financial impact of the inferno, estimating that the city will lose between 1m and 3m per month in the short-term as a result of the fire.

It also said that around 300 businesses were impacted and that 22 organisations within a cordon area have had to close as a result, including 14 retailers.

It added that businesses outside the cordon have seen sales levels drop by between 20% and 70%.

According to its statistics, CastleCourt is one of the biggest casualties of the fire, having seen a drop of almost 50% in footfall in September compared to the same period last year.

Meanwhile, Donegall Place has suffered a footfall drop of over 20%.

"Footfall figures are only part of the picture in illustrating the economic impact of the Primark fire on the city centre," the document says. "Supporting information from the council's car parking revenue also highlights a 12% reduction in the three weeks following the fire compared with the preceding four weeks."

And data from Translink suggests passenger numbers have fallen by 4%.

Retailers on Castle Street told the Belfast Telegraph yesterday that their custom has plummeted by around 60%.

A letter to the Planning Service from Building Control suggests elements of Bank Buildings are at immediate risk of collapse, suggesting that the present safety cordon could remain in place until further notice.

According to Belfast City Council's place and economy department, conclusions were made that "a rotational collapse of the front and/or side masonry above a level of approximately 19m onto Castle Place/Royal Avenue/Castle Street/Bank Street remains a possibility".

Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Previous Next Close Aerial views showing the aftermath of the fire in the Bank Buildings - Primark Belfast - August 29th 2018 (Photo by Kevin Scott) Kevin Scott Aerial views showing the aftermath of the fire in the Bank Buildings - Primark Belfast - August 29th 2018 (Photo by Kevin Scott) Kevin Scott Aerial views showing the aftermath of the fire in the Bank Buildings - Primark Belfast - August 29th 2018 (Photo by Kevin Scott) Kevin Scott Aerial views showing the aftermath of the fire in the Bank Buildings - Primark Belfast - August 29th 2018 (Photo by Kevin Scott) Kevin Scott Aerial views showing the aftermath of the fire in the Bank Buildings - Primark Belfast - August 29th 2018 (Photo by Kevin Scott) Kevin Scott Aerial views showing the aftermath of the fire in the Bank Buildings - Primark Belfast - August 29th 2018 (Photo by Kevin Scott) Kevin Scott Aerial views showing the aftermath of the fire in the Bank Buildings - Primark Belfast - August 29th 2018 (Photo by Kevin Scott) Kevin Scott Aerial views showing the aftermath of the fire in the Bank Buildings - Primark Belfast - August 29th 2018 (Photo by Kevin Scott) Kevin Scott Aerial views showing the aftermath of the fire in the Bank Buildings - Primark Belfast - August 29th 2018 (Photo by Kevin Scott) Kevin Scott Aerial views showing the aftermath of the fire in the Bank Buildings - Primark Belfast - August 29th 2018 (Photo by Kevin Scott) Kevin Scott Aerial view over Bank Buildings following Tuesdays fire. Photo by Gregory Weeks. Photo by Gregory Weeks. Aerial view over Bank Buildings following Tuesdays fire.. Photo by Gregory Weeks. Aerial view over Bank Buildings following Tuesdays fire.. Aerial view over Bank Buildings following Tuesdays fire. Photo by Gregory Weeks. Photo by Gregory Weeks. Aerial view over Bank Buildings following Tuesdays fire.. Photo by Gregory Weeks. Aerial view over Bank Buildings following Tuesdays fire.. Photo by Gregory Weeks. Aerial view over Bank Buildings following Tuesdays fire.. Photo by Gregory Weeks. Aerial view over Bank Buildings following Tuesdays fire.. / Facebook

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Whatsapp Aerial views showing the aftermath of the fire in the Bank Buildings - Primark Belfast - August 29th 2018 (Photo by Kevin Scott)

It also said that tilt sensors placed on the building have logged lateral movements, and despite the structure weathering Storms Ali and Callum "neither of which have resulted in any collapse of the building (major or minor), there is no guarantee that a sudden collapse will not occur".

It added that some parts of the building were 29m high and "given lack of lateral restraint and the apparent damage to the masonry, there is a serious risk that a significant section of the building may fall at any time".

A separate report from the engineering consultancy Wentworth House, which was prepared for demolition and refurbishment contractors, went into more detail about potential hazards.

It said that elements above the fifth floor had a high (80%) likelihood of collapsing onto the road or building within the next six months.

This included "chimney members" which it suggested should be dismantled for removal.

Belfast City Council said it was currently fast-tracking Primark's planning proposal, which was filed at the beginning of this month. It also said that reducing the cordon and opening up access to the city centre was its priority.

It said it was working closely with Primark to consider all options to that end.

"However, due to the instability of the building, any reduction of the cordon can only happen once it is safe to do so," it added.

"The existing cordon is having a significant impact on footfall, and businesses in the area are suffering as a result. Council is urgently seeking solutions to restore pedestrian access as soon as possible..."

In a bid to prevent a further dent in footfall the council has planned a series of events and new features in the area.

The council has also allocated 500,000 to the worst-hit retailers on behalf of Primark.

It is expected that the planning committee will host a meeting next week to consider Primark's planning application.
Belfast Fashion Week kicked off with a runway show in St Annes Cathedral on Friday, showcasing the best of high-street and designer brands.

The Runway Edit featured trend pieces from Marks and Spencer and ASOS as well as local boutiques Blush, Jourdan and many more.

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Python, cheetah and croc roamed wild across the West Coast Cooler catwalk, alongside the reincarnation of the seventies silhouette. (And, in case you hadnt heard, brown is the new black).

Speaking about this seasons key trends, Fashion Week Director Cathy Martin commented: This season there is a focus on texture as fabrics in burnt oranges and mustards take the shape of chunky, over-sized knits layered over pretty pleated dresses as seen at Balenciaga.

High-shine fabrics are also key with updated trench coats in glossy and metallic finishes. Think 1980s in terms of colour and finish. Staying in that decade, Chanel showed off power dressing at its shows and the high street has followed suit with bold trouser suits in strong colours.

Martin choked up as she paid tribute to model Mairead ONeill, who died suddenly on Monday. She urged the audience to dig very deep as the show closed with a charity collection for Samaritans.

Models hair was styled by Paul Meekin Hair in partnership with ghd Hair and make-up was by award-winning Oonagh Boman, who took inspiration from the international catwalks to create a selection of exciting looks to complement the outfits.

West Coast Cooler Fashion Week runs from October 18-21 and features the Max Mara Weekend Brunch, Sushi Saturday and Style Sunday.
Once again the Presbyterian Church has been making the headlines as the suspension of one of its eminent academics from his duties at Union Theological College continues.

The Reverend Dr Laurence Kirkpatrick, the highly respected Professor of Church History, was suspended from his post on June 25.

No explanation was given by the college or the Church, so people were left wondering why this step was taken.

Was it because of his comments on BBC Radio Ulster's Talkback programme on June 13, when he said of the staff at the college, "I am, personally, totally conscious that at graduation we must look like escapees from an old people's home - getting on, (an) exclusively male full-time faculty"?

This could be taken as a highly individualistic opinion from someone who has been on the Union College staff for a long time, which gives him a first-hand experience of the situation there.

It is important to underline also that he described his views as personal.

His remarks seemed mild enough to outsiders. They appeared to be meant jocularly rather than as a severe critical condemnation of the college.

However, is it possible that his personal remarks riled other members of the college staff who objected to being described in this way?

This leads to another question. Was there any connection between Prof Kirkpatrick's remarks on BBC Talkback and his suspension soon afterwards?

If this was so, and we can only speculate in light of no further information from the college or Church, this was a denial of the professor's freedom of speech.

David Ford, the former Alliance leader and a Presbyterian elder, described the college's treatment of Prof Kirkpatrick as "bizarre", and many people will agree with him.

The suspension of a senior academic in any institute of higher education is a serious matter that worries academics the world over - and all others who value free speech.

Prof Kirkpatrick's suspension was followed by an announcement from Queen's University that it was reviewing its links with Union College.

This development was almost inevitable, given the suspension of a senior member of the college.

A Queen's report is expected within the next few weeks. People inside and outside the Church will be keen to find out the views of such an august body as Queen's, which is mindful of its obligations to support academic programmes which are fit for purpose in a world where human rights, individual protection and gender equality are of paramount importance.

People may also want to know the number of new students who are opting for a career in the Presbyterian ministry, as well as how many are studying theology at Union College, and how many of these are females.

There may be dramatic developments in the next few weeks, but in the meantime we are left in the dark as the college and the Church are effectively saying nothing when you read between the lines of the statements.

To outsiders, this may seem an ecclesiastical storm in a tea cup, but it is much more than that. It is part of the ongoing battle for the heart and soul of the Presbyterian Church.

Even though the hardliners have always had a strong influence, it remained a broad church until relatively recently, when it was taken over almost entirely by the fundamentalists.

The Presbyterian Church's hardline stance on same-sex issues and its refusal to baptise the children of LGBT couples has put off many people, as well as its lack of graciousness to the Church of Scotland, with which exchange of Moderatorial visits has been stopped.

The tragedy is that instead of listening to its critics, who are trying to help, the Church is circling the wagons and behaving as if only it has the truth.

It is no wonder that some people have lost faith in the Church, and who can blame them? I am still a member, criticising from within, but I understand why others are voting with their feet and going elsewhere.

The Presbyterian Church, which has a noble dissenting history, still needs dissenters and should not driving them out.

An historically dissenting church which does not tolerate dissent is losing its way.
Our Lola died recently. Lola the dog. If you're not a pet owner yourself you'll probably have rolled your eyes there. It's a dog - not exactly a family member, is it? But if you do have a pet you will understand. A dog is a family member.

Lola wasn't my dog. She belonged to our son Jamie and our daughter-in-law Lucy. Lola landed on her four paws when she ended up with them. Lucy in particular is the kindest, most loving girl on Earth.

Lola lived a life of dog luxury. And, it has to be said, she seemed to expect nothing less. If there is such a thing as dog royalty Lola was well up the ranking. There's a King Charles spaniel. There was also a Queen Lola spaniel.

And she took all the pampering as her due. She had a greater sense of entitlement than the Rich Kids of Instagram.

Dogs have their own distinct personalities. Some are bolshy, some are meek. Lola was a happy wee thing, although sometimes she huffed. She also tended a little towards laziness - a trait that, in fairness, I could identify with. Occasionally when you took her out for a walk she'd stop, press her four paws into the ground and just refuse to budge. All the while fixing you with a look that would curdle blood.

I'm vexed that she's died. Lucy is just broken-hearted. But the comfort is she had such a happy life. Lola won the dog lottery the day Lucy brought her home.

As human beings our relationship with the other beasts with whom we share this Earth is a complex one. We depend on them for food, and in some places labour. Some we treat as our best friends. Some we fear.

What unites most of us, though, is revulsion at the thought of cruelty to animals. Which is why this week Blake Fischer (above), formerly of the Idaho Fish and Game Commission, has made global headlines - something of an achievement given that there are few stories coming out of the US these days which don't contain the word Trump.

Mr Fischer has resigned from his wildlife role after news broke of a hunting trip to Namibia where he'd tracked down and killed an entire catalogue of spectacular creatures including baboons, a giraffe, a leopard, an impala and an antelope.

When I say the news broke of his killing spree... actually it was Fischer himself who spread the word. He'd posted pictures of the dead animals in an email which he then sent to around 100 people.

The pictures were accompanied by zippy captions such as "So I shot a whole family of baboons". This beneath an image of the poor things propped up against each other, the baby of the family bloodied from a gaping wound, with Fischer smirking above.

It's this picture which appears to have caused most public outrage.

But appalling as that is, worse still I think is the photograph of the dead giraffe. Why is it even legal to shoot a giraffe? Why would anyone want to shoot a giraffe? It's a large animal and as such hardly a difficult target. I could have hit it. Even from a marksmanship point of view, this wasn't something to boast about.

In a weirdly worded "apology" Fischer has expressed regret for not showing respect for the animals he'd "harvested". Harvested! A fitting verb there for this particular Grim Reaper.

And he's just the one we know about...

In 2018 big game hunting is still considered sport, attracting gun-toting tourists - Americans especially - to Africa to kill and then crow about their exploits.

And they say we humans are the highest form of animals?

Genes don't fit? Blame parents...

Science news... a report this week reveals that genetics play a major role in whether you will go to university. Being well-off also helps, I imagine. Anyway who is really going to be surprised by this 'revelation' that genes play a role in brain power?

I suppose the kids themselves could use it as a weapon to turn against nagging parents.

How can you be expected to do well in your A-levels when, through no fault of your own, you've already come up short in your DNA levels?

Man up, its just a change of name

Man-size tissues are finally out on their nose - cast aside by Kleenex which, in common with most corporate interests now, doesn't wish to be seen as sexist.

We all now accept that women also can be soft and strong. But something which appears to have been totally cast aside, however, is the notion that women are generally not so petty as to get themselves in a tizzy over everything and anything that includes the word 'man'.

It's just a box of big tissues. Dry your eyes.

Things wont always be easy for favourite royals

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex is expecting. So naturally, given the happy news, her current tour of Australia with husband Harry has been attracting even more media attention that it might otherwise have done.

From here on in she'll have to become accustomed to cameras focusing in on her abdomen aiming for that first pic of the baby bump.

And the royal pair do seem to be wowing the crowds Down Under. Like his mother before him, Harry is clever when it comes to working an audience. He gets on well with small children, which is always a big plus on these occasions.

Again, like Diana, he seems to have cornered the Nation's Favourite Royal title. Meghan's attire, meanwhile, is forensically analysed for us in gushing tabloid reports. Even Brexit gets less attention.

The other day she was photographed holding her mobile phone. Something which, one report solemnly told us, was a rare sight. Very few "senior royals" had ever previously been pictured with their iPhone. Which, when you think about it, is true.

Henry VIII certainly wasn't carrying his in any of his portraits.

On the one hand all this guff about the pair can be put down to just harmless hype. A bit of light relief from the some of the darker stories of the day.

But again, as with Diana, you can see where this could be headed.

For now the Sussexes seem to be enjoying all the attention. But the more popular they become... the even more popular they will become.

And that's not always easy to live with.
Anna Burns on stage at the Guildhall in London after she was awarded the Man Booker Prize on Tuesday

She laughs when I tell her the INLA joke. Its what the initials stand for: I Never Leave Ardoyne. Fantastic, she says. Anna Burns says that her book Milkman is not specifically about life in Ardoyne. It creates, perhaps, a parallel Ardoyne, not quite the real world. This one is unnamed  like the characters in her book.

It is the product of the fiction writing process, not a deliberate attempt to make a statement about the place she grew up.

She says: I just write down what I get. I wait for the writing to come.

I dont plot it out. I wait till I hear a voice telling me.

There is no plot, no plan, no deliberate intention to describe the world she grew up in.

We are sitting in the Faber & Faber boardroom in Bloomsbury, virtually next door to the British Museum.

There is a framed cover of Sylvia Plaths Ariel on the wall. There have been some big writers in this room. She is the publishers hottest property today because she has just won the Man Booker Prize for Milkman.

This is the story of a young woman living in a place that sounds a lot like Ardoyne, keeping her head down and her nose in a book much of the time for fear of violating the social codes of a community caught up in the Troubles.

The tightness and reserve of that community goes beyond keeping itself safe from the violent forces within and beyond. Imagination itself is diminished there.

In one extraordinary chapter, a teacher in a night class tries to persuade people to look at the sky and see that there are more colours than blue there.

But it is not only in Seventies Ardoyne that people do your thinking for you. She sees current parallels in the behaviour of journalists.

Things do get twisted, even here in interviews, she says.

She has taken offence at a newspaper article that says she was bankrupt before she won the Booker.

Its not true, though she has been candid about how she can now clear her credit card debt.

There are journalists who turn up with their narrative in their head, which is the opposite to how I write, she continues.

She doesnt know when she starts a book where her stories are going and only finds out in the writing, but suspects that journalists work in the opposite direction, having the story already written in their heads before they meet her.

She adds: Ill go where the energy is, always. I follow my instinct. I believe in holding my nerve through those bits of intuitiveness where I dont know what is coming after the first step.

I think that she is a little guarded in her initial responses to me after her encounters with the media.

She rebukes me for butting in while she is answering a question.

One of the judges said of Milkman that it is not an easy read. She is a bit miffed about that too. Im not surprised.

The book is the reflections of an intelligent teenage girl, her observations tumbling out of a lively mind and the style presents no problems or glitches at all.

But perhaps it is easier on an ear accustomed to Belfast rhythms of speech.

The narrator, a young woman being harassed by a manipulative predator who is feared for his connections, shares her fascination with everything.

While the book is about the ghastly intrusiveness of an evil and sneaky thug, she also exudes a love of some men. This isnt a tirade about the awfulness of men but is a celebration of the best of men too, though sometimes the knowing female gaze sees through the crust of the confident man to marvel at the childlike qualities underneath.

Yet even the good men that she loves and admires have the local habit of trying to do her thinking for her.

We jog round the Waterworks with her, see men playing with cars, their ways of arguing with each other, the horrific way in which minor intimations of disloyalty grow into violence.

The understanding throughout a community that there is an obligation to disdain the other and adhere to the tribal mores.

She describes a society which is utterly stifling yet does so with the vigour and extravagance of language of one who is not remotely stifled.

As a child in Ardoyne she had been most shocked by tarring and feathering attacks on women who had mixed with soldiers. And then of course kneecapping.

I was going to a disco once at the bottom of Etna Drive. We went into the shops, my friends and I to get sweeties or crisps and I remember this man  obviously hed got drunk before theyd kneecapped him. They used to let you get drunk first. He was lying just outside the door and to me, the way his legs were, it was as if he had about eight legs.

She says she coped with violence by not reflecting on it.

Of course there were other people who watched every news programme, they had the TV on all the time, they were always talking about the Troubles. It was as if they had maps on the wall moving pins about. I could see it was their way of coping. Now I can see that. But I used to stay away from them.

They were too scary with their intensity about the Troubles.

Anna Burns did not get much of an education because she mitched school. Unlike most mitchers, she studied alone in derelict buildings, at first from a book on accountancy that she borrowed after persuading a teacher to enrol her in an accountancy O-level.

Later she took night classes at the College of Business Studies.

She went to English class after work. She had moved to the university area and got occasional work as a copytaker for the Belfast Telegraph and the Irish News.

I was always tired and there was a teacher who was boring. It was very hot and we would doze off. Then one day this teacher strode in  Pat McCann  and he said: What are you all doing? You are all sleeping. This is English!

He just woke us all up and he introduced me to literature.

After that one class I went home buzzing  I wanted to go to his class. I wanted him to teach me.

She went to university in London to study Russian and dropped out to get sober. She had been drinking from an early age and says weaning herself off drink through the 12-step programme was one of the hardest things she has ever done.

She says: When I got sober, there was this awful grief. How can I be social again and go out for a night? Everything was around drink. But it all came out of Twelve Step. I made some absolutely amazing friends and I could see, okay, this is another way to be in the world. Sober and reflective.

From there she discovered Spiritual Healing, a group she attends now.

When she was in England she started reading about the Troubles.

She says: And I started getting my feelings. I would read about something I remembered but which hadnt engaged my feelings at the time. And then I would start to get my feelings. Fifteen or 20 years later I would be sitting in my room in London having a reaction emotionally to something that happened 15 or 20 years ago.

Thats how it started to get reconnected. I got my felt reality about that experience.

Milkman is the product of that eruption of feeling, but she says that the emotions coming first, through the reading, enabled her to approach the book on an even keel.

It came out in the reading rather than in the writing, so when I started writing there was a bit more of an even keel, she explains.

The result is a truly wonderful book, the voice of a survivor.

Milkman by Anna Burns, Faber & Faber, 12.99
READ: Election to UNHRC a vote for Dutertes drug warsolon

President Rodrigo Duterte has warned drug importers again they would be killed if they continued to flood the country with illegal drugs. Duterte said while there were no more drug laboratories operating in the country, the importation of drugs remained active. The President issued the warning during the inauguration of Gaisano Grand Citygate Mall in Davao city, saying they should not underestimate him. Dont destroy the country and its young people, or else [you] face consequences, said Duterte, who has been criticized for his continuing drug war that has claimed more than 4,000 suspected drug pushers and users. In a related development:  The chief of Bohols provincial police has lamented the extent of the drug problem in the province. In a press conference with members of the Bohol Police Provincial Office press corps, Senior Supt. Angeles Genorga said on Friday the huge amount of drugs seized by his men recently made him realize that much needs to be done to deal with the provinces drug problem. Personnel of the Provincial Intelligence Branch and Provincial Drug Enforcement Unit, armed with a search warrant, raided the residence of suspect Joseph Alburadora in Barangay Mansasa on Wednesday and seized 945 grams of suspected shabu (crystal meth) worth P11 million. The President even told police officers to carry out their duties, promising to pardon them if they were investigated or convicted of killing suspects in the course of carrying out their mission in the drug war. If they want to put up a violent fight, thereby placing yourself, the lawmen, in jeopardy, go for it. That is my order, he said. According to Duterte, Importation [of the illegal drugs], its from the Bamboo Triad. They hold drug operations in Southeast Asia and Mexico, he said. These drug dealers know fully well that their business is against the law. They know the consequences of their criminal acts, especially when they are caught in the act and they violently resist arrest. They know that illegal drugs waste away lives, destroy families, and ruin relationships, the President said. Duterte launched the anti-drug crackdown after he took office in June 2016 to wipe out the drug trade in the country. Despite criticisms both here and other countries, Duterte said he would not be dissuaded from continuing his war on drugs.Genorga said his men were shocked to find the huge volume of drugs as they never expected the suspect to have such a big stock in his possession. The BPPO chief said the suspect allegedly received a kilogram of shabu from his suppliers but already managed to sell some of the stashes prior to the raid. This development, Genorga said, only showed the huge market for drugs in Bohol and the need to work on demand reduction to eliminate the problem. A kilo of shabu can be repacked into approximately 40,000 smaller packs, which will then be sold to small players in the drug trade operating near and around the city, he said. Genorga, on the other hand, said he was happy with the successful implementation of the Enhanced Managing Police Operations, which resulted in the arrest of 45 persons, including Alburadora, in different parts of the province. About 1.87 kg. of shabu with a total street value of P11,810,266 had been seized from the suspects upon the implementation of the EMPO this week. Genorga said they were also verifying the information that an inmate of the Bohol District Jail was allegedly supervising Alburadoras drug trade from inside the prison facility. The Cybercrime Division is also conducting a forensic investigation on Alburadoras mobile gadgets to establish the connection between the suspect and the BDJ inmate. Meanwhile, the BPPO has finalized its operational and security plan for the upcoming observance of All Saints Day and All Souls Day. Genorga said BPPO personnel would be deployed to main transportation hubs and tourist information desks and would beef up security in major cemeteries across the province.
It was lovely this week to open the pages of the paper and turn on the TV to be met with a happy event, the news that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are expecting their first child.

In the midst of the never-ending, permanently worrying Brexit debates and the usual he-said-she-said from squabbling politicians at home and abroad, it was nice to read a story that simply put a smile on my face and made me think, 'Awww'. I can't help it - the thought of newlyweds in love, starting a family and having a beautiful, newborn baby brings out the Mills & Boon in me.

Almost from the moment they married in May, Harry and Meghan have been scrutinised by people looking for a sign that the pitter patter of wee Windsor feet was on the way. Or rather, not actually 'Windsor' feet. I hadn't realised until this week that both Harry and William's children take their surname from the county connected to their father's dukedom. Which means William's children are listed as George, Charlotte and Louis Cambridge and William's will be Baby Sussex. Is it just me, or is that a bizarre system? I'm grateful this habit of adopting a new name from land that has a connection to your parents hasn't caught on for the rest of us, given that my parent's home is on Semicock Road...

On every public outing since the couple said 'I do' earlier this year, Meghan has been examined and inspected from every angle for evidence that she was expecting. Lengthy online discussions were conducted on whether having three rather than all four buttons on her coat fastened was an indication of approaching parenthood.

I even saw a ridiculous online article, debating, at some length, the colour, style and shine of her hair and whether any change of the above was proof that she was pregnant, as though every woman who undergoes a hair cut or restyle has a new addition to the family on the way. But now the guessing game is at an end with the confirmation that a little Elizabeth or a tiny Charles is definitely on the horizon - who knows if those names are actually in the running, but I'd put money on them being more likely to name the wee one after his side of the family than hers, given the very public turbulence amongst the Markles.

Not that any thought of familial squabbles seems to be weighing heavily on the couple's shoulders. In fact, at the end of her first trimester, at a time when many mums, myself included, look about as fresh as a week old pan of porridge, Meghan is looking very sprightly and much younger than her 37 years.

It may come as a shock to her then, when she discovers that, in the eyes of the medical profession, she is a 'geriatric mother'.

I had my last baby when I was 40 and as someone who has trod the path of older mum before her, I feel it my duty to give her a head's up on the unfortunate label used for any mother-to-be over the age of 35. It came as a bit of an unpleasant surprise to me, the first time I opened my green maternity folder and spotted those two words written in capital letters at the top of the page.

Not knowing that it was merely medical terminology and associating the word geriatric with old age, I couldn't help but wonder how dog rough I must be looking and just how old the doc thought I was.

Luckily, during my next appointment, a lovely maternity nurse explained why those two offending words were there but not before I had turned up with so much eye bag concealer on that I could barely blink. My advice to Meghan? Pay no attention to the unfortunate choice of words. Instead, enjoy this time and be thankful for joining a very lucky group of women who were blessed with an addition to the family as they stare 40 in the eye.

I'm sure that just like Jerry Hall, Mariella Frostrup and Nicole Kidman you'll do it in style!
A woman has been arrested.

A 35-year-old woman was arrested in Belfast on Friday night on suspicion of a number of offences related to running a brothel.

Officers from PSNIs Serious Crime branch arrested the woman in south Belfast.

Detective Chief Inspector Mark Bell, head of PSNIs Modern Slavery Human Trafficking Unit, said: A team of officers from the Modern Slavery Human Trafficking Unit made this arrest as part of a proactive investigation into human trafficking.

"The woman was arrested on suspicion of human trafficking, controlling prostitution for gain and brothel keeping.

She is currently in police custody, helping us with our enquiries.
A new memorial will be unveiled next month in memory of those who died in the Birmingham pub bombings.

Two IRA bombs exploded in city centre bars in November 1974, killing 21 people.

A memorial to the victims will be unveiled on November 21 outside New Street Station, 44 years after the atrocity took place.

The memorial was designed by local artist Anuradha Patel, and comprises a grove of sculptured metal trees with the names of the 21 victims engraved on the leaves. Seating will be built into the base of two of the trees, providing visitors a place to rest and contemplate.

Julie Hambleton, whose sister, Maxine, died in the bombing, said: "The families have always had a dream of healing the fractured community of Birmingham that has existed since the pub bombings in 1974.

"This new memorial is not only to remember those who were slain in cold blood, but to illustrate how the communities in Birmingham, continue to support each other, no matter what."

Maurice Malone, from the Birmingham Irish Association, added: "We wanted to create an inclusive and healing memorial which could reflect both the damage the pub bombings did to our city and the hope we have for the future."

Two bombs ripped through the Mulberry Bush and nearby Tavern in the Town pubs, killing 21 and injuring 182.

The Birmingham Six were jailed for the murders and served 17 years behind bars before their convictions were quashed.

Last month the Court of Appeal backed a coroner's decision not to investigate who was responsible for the attack.
Gregory Campbell has written to Leo Varadkar to point out that the Newry bombing he highlighted in Brussels originated in Co Louth.

The East Londonderry MP last night released a letter in which he accused the Irish leader of "scaremongering" and claims the 1972 bomb attack raised questions about the Dublin's attitude to IRA violence.

Mr Campbell said the Taoiseach's reference to the 1972 attack was "a disservice to victims".

He wrote: "The 1972 IRA bomb was understood to have been made in County Louth, smuggled across the border and then detonated in Northern Ireland.

"This raises more questions about how the Irish Government of that day stood against the PIRA in County Louth than it does about customs posts.

"The bomb at Newry killed four customs officers, two lorry drivers and three PIRA men, left five wives without husbands and fourteen children without fathers. Six others were injured in the explosion.

"I understand the trauma caused by bombs. Of course families are still hurting. However, to use that bomb attack to create fears of violence today amongst EU leaders is distasteful. It is also a disservice to victims," the MP wrote.

The senior DUP figure pointed out that London, Brussels and Dublin have all said that they do not intend to build customs posts on the Irish border in any circumstance, adding in his letter: "It is dangerous if the blackmail of terrorist violence determines the policy direction of democratic governments such as yours."

Mr Campbell also reminded the Taoiseach of the difficulties the UK experienced in extraditing terror suspects.

"Perhaps you should also have shown fellow EU leaders some of the newspaper articles from that time about the Republic of Ireland's shameful record when it came to ensuring that terrorist suspects could stand trial in the United Kingdom."

Earlier, DUP Brexit spokesman Sammy Wilson MP was also highly critical of Mr Varadkar's reference to the bomb, accusing the Taoiseach and his government of trying to destabilise Northern Ireland.

Mr Wilson said: "If the Irish Government continue to step up the rhetoric and continue to try to destabilise Northern Ireland, whether by getting it out of the UK under the guise of Brexit or by stirring up the kind of sectarian problems which could arise from the kind of language which Leo Varadkar has raised, then they can't expect unionists to sit back and say nothing."

Ireland's Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney said: "We are not trying to scaremonger here, what we are trying to do here is protect a very precious peace and normality on the island of Ireland."
Irish presidential candidate Peter Casey has insisted he is not basing his campaign on Donald Trump.

Mr Casey, who has come under increased scrutiny and has had some of his comments labelled "populist" and "racist" by other candidates, said there are stark differences between what he has said and statements made by the US President about different ethnic groups.

Some critics have compared the Londonderry businessman's political campaign, and in particular his recent comments on the Traveller community, to Mr Trump's bid for the Oval Office.

"It disappointed me when he got elected, but I did predict it because when you live there, America is a racist society," he said of Mr Trump.

"I think his behaviour is indefensible, and you can't defend the indefensible and I would certainly not want to."

Mr Casey came under fire earlier this week after saying that Travellers should not be recognised as an ethnic minority, because they are "basically people camping in someone else's land", and the group are "not paying their fair share of taxes in society".

Amid pointed exchanges in an interview yesterday morning, during which Mr Casey's staff moved to shut down some lines of questioning, the candidate told the Press Association he stands by his comments.

He said: "If Travellers think that I slighted their community in any way, they're wrong, I did not."

After a series of questions on the controversy in the on-camera interview, Mr Casey announced that he was considering withdrawing from the race.

On Thursday Mr Casey visited Thurles with a large contingent from the media to see the site of a housing dispute between the local Traveller community and the county council.

New houses were built for Travellers at an area in Cabragh Bridge, but they currently lie empty as the community says the development does not include the land they were promised to graze their horses on.

When asked about the visit, which he said was a fact-finding expedition, Mr Casey insisted the Traveller community was wrong on the matter. It was reported that a Traveller's children had been left frightened after hearing about his comments, broadcast on a podcast, from other children at school.

Asked if he thought that was fair, Mr Casey replied: "Children don't listen to podcasts.

"The councillors (in Tipperary) are being bullied by the Traveller community down there and I think it's a disgrace.

"The reason his children are being subjected (to negative comments) is because they didn't move into the house."

In a later statement on whether he would consider staying in the race, Mr Casey said; "I do not want the people of Ireland to elect me as President of Ireland just based on one statement I made."
Presidential candidate Peter Casey has accused the Taoiseach of unfairly intervening in the election, saying Leo Varadkar should "shut his trap".

The businessman has withdrawn from public events this weekend "to think carefully about whether to continue in the race".

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He is refusing to back down from his view that Travellers should not be considered an ethnic minority.

But Mr Casey admitted to being shaken by the reaction from rival candidates, interest groups and politicians.

While in Brussels for the crucial EU summit on Brexit, Mr Varadkar urged voters to send Mr Casey "a very clear message" at the ballot box next Friday.

However, Mr Casey believes it was "totally out of order for the Taoiseach to get involved and make statements that impact the presidential election".

He went on to described the Taoiseach as "being a member of an ethnic community himself" and "being Indian".

Mr Varadkar's father is Indian, but he was born in Ireland and has lived here all his life. A spokesperson for the Taoiseach declined to respond.

Mr Casey has faced widespread calls to drop out of the presidential race following his comments about Travellers on Independent.ie's 'Floating Voter' podcast.

He has become the most-talked about candidate after claiming Travellers are "basically people camping in someone else's land".

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Yesterday he denied adopting Trump-like tactics to try push up his polling figures.

"It disappointed me when he got elected, but I did predict it because when you live there, America is a racist society," he said of Mr Trump.

"I think his behaviour is indefensible."

The Irish-American businessman told Galway Bay FM he is not "in any way racist".

He noted that he grew up in Derry where Catholics were discriminated against in terms of voting rights and jobs.

A decision on whether to withdraw from the race will be announced on Monday - but even if he does quit the race, Mr Casey's name will still appear on the ballot paper.

According to the Department of Local Government the last date on which a candidate can formally removing their name was September 26.

Mr Casey said he will not make any decision lightly.

"I haven't said anything that is wrong," he said, adding: "For the other Dragons and other candidates, in particular Michael D, for them to say and suggest that I'm a racist is just so wrong. They look to themselves in the mirror."

Central to Mr Casey's argument has been the case of six unoccupied homes built at a cost 1.7m. A number of Traveller families are refusing to move in on the basis that they want access to land for their horses.

Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy has now said that the dispute in Tipperary "can be resolved and will be resolved".

"We will work to finding a resolution. They're fantastic homes," he said.
How a bridge to Scotland could look

The DUP have renewed calls for an assessment into building a bridge between Northern Ireland and Scotland.

Transport spokesman Paul Girvan admitted it would be an "ambitious endeavour but previous bridges dubbed impossible have been made".

"As a unionist there will always be an attraction in seeing a physical connection between Northern Ireland and Great Britain, but there are benefits stretching outside of the United Kingdom," the South Antrim MP said.

He made the comments in an article published yesterday online at politicshome.com. "Across the world, bridges and tunnels have been constructed which only a decade or two earlier would have been ruled impossible or impractical.

"Technology moves on and we in the UK should not self-censor ambition," Mr Girvan added.

"For our part, we do not ignore the technical or financial considerations of engaging in such a major infrastructure project."

He urged a feasibility study to be completed and for the plan to be given more consideration.

"It seems strange that anyone would be opposed to proper expert analysis of the issues involved, but in Northern Ireland there have been some who have not been able to even support an endeavour to establish the facts," he said.

Plans to connect the two countries have been voiced since the 1880s, when the idea of a tunnel was backed by engineers and the Belfast Chamber of Commerce.

The DUP's 2015 general election manifesto called for a feasibility study into a tunnel or enclosed bridge across the North Channel from Larne, 23 miles north of Belfast, to the Scottish coastline.

But it was not until last year that the proposal was discussed on a national level.

DUP leader Arlene Foster called on the Scottish government in June to back plans for a bridge which would be around 28 miles long at an estimated cost of 15 billion.

Mr Girvan said no one in his party could have predicted "quite the level of interest" there would be in the proposal.

A stumbling block could be Beaufort's Dyke, a 300-metre deep submarine trench in the North Channel, which was used as a munitions dump at the end of the two world wars.

However, Mr Girvan drew on the Oresund Bridge between Denmark and Sweden, which has reportedly added 8.41bn to the Danish economy, to emphasise the benefits to Northern Ireland.

"As we leave the EU, the DUP has been clear that there should be no border erected down the Irish Sea. Instead of placing barriers between parts of the UK we should be building bridges."
Robin Swann has claimed that the DUP has become the "main threat to the Union".

Speaking ahead of the party's annual conference at the Armagh City Hotel this weekend, the Ulster Unionist leader said the actions of the DUP were "not serving unionists well on the national and European stage."

"The DUP are seen as the voice of unionism, but how they act and what they say is not consistent with how we want to be viewed," he Mr Swann added.

"They are seen as bullying and holding the UK to ransom. We don't want unionism to be represented in that way.

"We have to let Europe and the UK know that the DUP do not speak for all unionists."

Mr Swann also admitted it was a major regret that he had not been able to influence local politics in the way he would have liked in his 18 months as party leader.

He said: "Not once have I sat in the chamber at Stormont as the leader of a political party with the chance to debate and influence decisions that affect the day-to-day lives of the people who live in this country.

"As a party we have made it clear we want to push for a single education system and a single health trust.

"Health, education, jobs, infrastructure - these are the things that are important to the community and the things we, as politicians, should be there to support. Brexit is important, but as a country we need to get back to local politics. We've lost that."

But Mr Swann feels there will be no return to Stormont as long as the Brexit debate continues. "Unfortunately, I've come to believe the impasse is now related to Brexit. There will be no return until that is sorted," he said.

"What we have now are options that simply kick the can further down the street with talk of extending transition periods. In the meantime, we need to get on with things in Northern Ireland, but that's not happening.

"It seems to give Sinn Fein and the DUP some sort of comfort to have Brexit issues to focus on rather than dealing with the so many more concerns people have by getting back into the Assembly."

Mr Swann said he does not feel Secretary of State Karen Bradley's decision to legislate on providing extra powers for civil servants will be of any benefit, calling it no more than a "smokescreen for the failure to deliver a political solution that is acceptable to the people of Northern Ireland".

"It's almost as if she had to be seen to be doing something, but what this provides is no more than guidance, not real powers to make crucial decisions," he stressed. "We will still be left in limbo with the threat of judicial reviews."

Stating his party's position on the current Brexit situation, Mr Swann said the EU must give Prime Minister Theresa May the flexibility she requested in negotiations and that undermining the Belfast Agreement to facilitate the backstop proposal is not a sensible way forward.

"The UK Government should not be bounced into doing a bad deal which would threaten the constitutional and economic integrity of the United Kingdom," he said.

"There is now a window of opportunity for everyone to take stock and for the EU to go back to the drawing board.

"Theresa May has asked the EU for flexibility and they should give her that.

"It is in everyone's interests to get a sensible deal that respects the result of the referendum, that doesn't undermine the Belfast Agreement and maintains a frictionless border with the Republic of Ireland.

"However, I continue to be disappointed by the intransigent language coming from Leo Varadkar and the Irish Government.

"If they continue to hold to the position that it's either a border in the Irish Sea or no deal, it is likely to have dire consequences on both sides of the border in terms of both economies and relationships across these islands.

"Breaking the Belfast Agreement to facilitate the backstop proposal is definitely not a sensible way forward."

Responding to Mr Swann's criticisms, Strangford DUP MLA Peter Weir said: "It is ridiculous to attack unionists when the threat is Sinn Fein, Dublin and those in the EU who want to put a border in the Irish Sea.

"While Mr Swann seeks to divide unionism for headlines and relevance, the DUP will continue to work towards uniting unionism and convincing the next generation to protect and preserve the Union."
BRONZE WOLF AWARDEE BINAY

The World Scout Committee has given former Vice President Jejomar Binay the prestigious Bronze Wolf Award for his exemplary leadership and service at all levels of Scouting.The Bronze Wolf is the highest honor given to a volunteer scout leader worldwide and is the only distinction presented by WSC, the executive body of the World Organization of the Scout Movement. The award was given during a ceremony on Saturday at the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City. Binay expressed his gratitude for the recognition, saying he wanted to share the honor with all his fellow Filipino scouts in the country and abroad. I am deeply grateful to the World Scout Committee for considering me to be worthy of the Bronze Wolf Award. It is such a great honor, and I would like to humbly share it with my fellow Filipino scouts all over the world who embody the principles of Scouting in their own pursuits, he said. Binay also called on fellow scouts who are in leadership positions to strive to fulfill the mission of the scout movement, which is to contribute to the development of young people in achieving their full physical, intellectual, social and spiritual potentials as individuals, as responsible citizens and as members of their local, national and international communities. I hope that those among us who are leaders in their own right are making a conscious and sustained effort to be catalysts of holistic growth among the youth, taking every opportunity to bring out the best in them and help them achieve their full potential, he said. The Bronze Wolf awardee is a known advocate of youth empowerment through quality education. As mayor of Makati for over two decades prior to his election as vice president in 2010, Binay established a strong public education system that has become the benchmark for quality public education in the country. He prioritized the construction of modern school buildings and facilities comparable to private schools, making these highly accessible and conducive to learning.Today, students in the citys public schools continue to enjoy free school supplies and school gear from head to toe, giving those from poor families a fighting chance at succeeding in life. Makati also gained international prominence when its public health program that was Binays brainchild, the Yellow Card, was named a Best Practice by the Dubai International Award 2002. Today, Makati remains one of Metro Manilas healthiest cities, with one of the lowest mortality and malnutrition rates in the country. During his term as mayor, Binay was also ranked fourth among the Top Ten World Mayors in 2006. The biennial award organized by the City Mayors Foundation aims to raise the profile of mayors worldwide, honoring those who have served with excellence and dedication and spurred the overall growth and development of their cities. The former vice president first joined the scout movement over 30 years ago as a Cub Scout in the Philippines. He earned his First Class award but left the Movement as a Senior Scout to pursue his law profession. He later returned to Scouting as a volunteer adult scout leader who would go on to become president of the Boy Scouts of the Philippines and chairman of the Asia-Pacific Region. To date, Binay is the only scout to have served on the Asia Pacific Regional Scout Committee for 12 years (1998- 2004, 2007-2012), and the only Regional Committee member to have served as chairman of the Asia-Pacific Region for two three-year terms (2007-2010, 2010-2012). As regional chairman, he set a high standard of leadership in National Scout Organizations and strengthened camaraderie among national and regional leaders. He also welcomed the Cambodia Scouts Association to the Movement while setting the groundwork for other prospective member countries like Timor-Leste, Myanmar, and Vietnam. As part of the transition team, he was especially instrumental in the successful transfer of the World Scout Bureau Global Office from Geneva, Switzerland to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
The scene of the arson attack on the house in Magherafelt

A woman has told how she and her family fled their home after an arson attack that is being treated as a hate crime.

Diane O'Neill was in the house at Leckagh Walk in Magherafelt with her partner and three-year-old daughter when a tyre was placed against the door and set alight in the early hours of yesterday.

Ms O'Neill said it was her boyfriend Samuel who raised the alarm.

"He opened the living room door and he realised the place was on fire, the front door was on fire. So he came up the stairs and he shouted to us to get up.

"We got up, Samuel grabbed the child and we ran downstairs and got out the back," she told the BBC.

The family have lived in the house for 12 years.

A PSNI investigating officer said: "The tyre was set alight which resulted in extensive damage to the door and caused scorch damage to the hallway.

"An upstairs bedroom received scorch and smoke damage as a result.

"This totally reckless act could have resulted in injuries or fatalities."

The Northern Ireland Fire & Rescue Service attended the scene and extinguished the blaze.

Sinn Fein councillor Darren Totten, who met the family yesterday in the aftermath of the attack, hit out at the people behind the arson outrage.

"This has to be utterly condemned," he said.

"There can be no justification whatsoever for this kind of attack.

"This is a family home with a mother and children, including a three-year-old.

"It could very easily have been a much more serious scenario we were dealing with this morning.

"When this kind of action is carried it out it has the potential to do serious harm, perhaps more serious than intended, and ruin lives.

"I would call on anyone with any information to get in touch with the police or, if they would prefer, contact myself or another community representative."

The PSNI has appealed for anyone who witnessed anything suspicious in the area to contact detectives on 101 or anonymously via the Crimestoppers number on 0800 555 111

It's the second attack on a property in the area in recent months. Last month sectarian and racist graffiti was sprayed on a vacant property in the predominantly loyalist estate.
Mourners at the funeral of model Mairead ONeill have heard how she had struggled to get her life back on track after the death of her mother last year.

Hundreds of people, including many of the 21-year-olds friends from within the world of fashion, packed into St Malachys Church in Belfast to say their final farewells yesterday afternoon.

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Father Michael McGinnity said her sudden death on Monday night had left her entire family numb with grief as they struggled to comprehend yet another tragedy.

Missing her mother became the heartache that wouldnt go away, he said.

Just 10 months ago the young CMPR models mother Karen Pelan succumbed to bowel cancer after a long battle with the disease.

When she died just before Christmas, it was a terrible blow to her children, who each set out on their own journey of grief, Fr McGinnity said. A journey that nothing ever prepares you for in this life.

The clergyman paid tribute to the former St Malachys Primary School and Hazelwood Integrated College pupil, as he sought to comfort her heartbroken sister and brother, Bronagh and Brendan.

There was nothing she wanted more than to be creative, artistic and to celebrate the gift of life, he told them.

The very last thing she would have ever wanted was to cause the pain and hurt that many of you are now having to feel.

Fr McGinnity said it was obvious Mairead wasnt coping well at all as she struggled to keep her life and work on track over the past year, despite being surrounded by people who would have done anything for her.

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But nothing anyone said could make up for the loss  the inner emptiness just kept eating away at her, he said.

In an effort to console Maireads loved ones, including her boyfriend Keaton and young nephews and nieces, the parish priest told them that they became Gods messengers of hope in trying to help ease Maireads agony.

Each of you reached out in your own way to try and love her back to life, he said.

Today you might be thinking that whatever you did, didnt matter much in the end, that it wasnt enough.

Can I just say to you today that every act of kindness did matter and still matters  each of you have been a great star shining your light, compassion and mercy into Maireads pain.

That is written on Gods heart for eternity.

Fr McGinnity described how the loss of the young model, who regularly participated in Belfast Fashionweek events and also worked as a make-up artist, has touched people across the country and shattered the hearts of everyone in the Markets area where she lived.

He said the sheer volume of tributes which have poured in from former fashion industry colleagues and the many people who encountered Mairead at various charity events was testimony to how much she will be missed.

Many who knew her well will find it hard to take in that someone who was so full of life is now gone, he added.

Fr McGinnity appealed directly to those who may be struggling in the journey of life to reach out for help and urged everyone attending the service to speak to a representative of the counselling service Lifeline who was available in the church foyer. He concluded by extending his deepest sympathy to all those left hurting in the wake of Maireads death and vowed to pray for them in the difficult months that lie ahead. He also expressed his hope that Mairead has finally found rest in everlasting peace. Following the service, the congregation gathered outside the city centre church where loved ones released 21 white balloons into the air  each one representing a single year of the young womans life.

Friends and family wept as a local band performed a moving rendition of their song Believe In Love as requested by Bronagh. It was an emotional tribute to her sister who features in the music video for the Echo Raptors track which was filmed just a few years ago.

Then, as the solemn sound of church bells rang out, Maireads coffin was placed onto a horse-drawn carriage which was waiting to take her on her final journey to Roselawn Crematorium.

If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article you can call Lifeline free on 0808 808 8000 or visit their website for more information.
Police have launched an investigation after an arson attack on a flat in Londonderry in the early hours of Saturday morning.

The fire was started a flat in the Strabane Old Road area of Gobnascale, the flat was unoccupied at the time.

Police attended the scene along with The Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service, who confirmed this was a deliberate ignition and police are treating it as arson.

"Thankfully, the fire failed to take hold and only minimal damage was caused to the front door of the flat. No injuries were reported," Detective Constable Richard Donnell said.

"I am appealing to anyone who was in the area around 7am this morning and saw anything suspicious, or to anyone who has information which may assist our investigation to get in touch with detectives at Strand Road on the non emergency number 101, quoting reference number 384 of 20/10/18."

"Alternatively, information can also be provided to the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 which is 100% anonymous and gives people the power to speak up and stop crime."
Irish President Michael D Higgins has admitted he flew to an event in Belfast last May while a car drove from Dublin to pick him up at the airport.

He blamed the PSNI for not being able to provide security from the border.

His election rivals have repeatedly questioned his travel arrangements last May 29, suggesting they amounted to an unwarranted expense for Irish taxpayers.

Mr Higgins was in Belfast to address the Sixth Annual Harri Holkeri Lecture, which is organised by the Senator George J Mitchell Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice.

He said that ahead of such trips his office takes part in consultations with the PSNI "about where they will pick me up".

He acknowledged there was an issue on the day in question but the "important thing" was to give the lecture as there were people from "all sides" of the community present.

Referring to his use of the Government's Learjet for the short trip, he said: "This was in fact the only way I could do it in time."

Assistant Chief Constable Alan Todd said that police could not comment on individuals but make every effort to meet the needs of dignitaries visiting Northern Ireland.

It is a long established policy of the Police Service of Northern Ireland not to comment on the security arrangements made for individuals," he said.

"The Police Service of Northern Ireland routinely work with visiting Heads of State and other key figures visiting Northern Ireland and make full provisions for their safety in line with their requirements.

The cost of travel in the Learjet is estimated by the Irish Department of Defence to be 3,780 per hour.

Records show that in the first three months of this year, Mr Higgins used the jet to travel to London, Belfast, Athens and Kerry.

The total flight time cost was close to 50,000 for these trips.
A farmer has spoken of his devastation after one of his cows was found to have BSE.

Thomas Jackson said he had taken pride in doing everything correctly and it was "heartbreaking" to be told the dead animal had so-called mad cow disease after routine testing.

A movement ban has been put in place at the farm in the Huntly area of Aberdeenshire as investigators try to determine its source.

Officials have stressed there is no risk to public health, and the case shows the surveillance system is working effectively.

Mr Jackson said in a statement issued through the National Farmers Union in Scotland: "This has been a very difficult time for myself and my wife and we have found the situation personally devastating.

"We have built up our closed herd over many years and have always taken great pride in doing all the correct things.

"To find through the surveillance system in place that one of our cows has BSE has been heartbreaking.

"Since this has happened we have been fully co-operating with all the parties involved and will continue to do so as we, like everyone, want to move forward and clear up this matter."

The farmer said several other cows will be slaughtered and tested for BSE, known in full as Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, as a precaution.

Scotland's chief veterinary officer said she believes the disease was not transmitted, and occurred spontaneously in the affected animal. But she warned that it could be several months before investigators can say for certain.

Sheila Voas said: "All the information we have is this is under control, there's no reason for people to panic.

"It's not the start of an outbreak, it's a single isolated case that won't affect the food chain."

Millions of cattle were culled in the UK in the 1990s during a BSE epidemic.

Strict controls were introduced to protect consumers after it was linked to a fatal condition called variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) in humans.

Prior to the discovery of the latest case Scotland had been BSE free since 2009, earning it 'negligible risk' status along with Northern Ireland.

Now it will re-join England and Wales in having "controlled risk" status. The last recorded case of BSE in the UK was in Wales in 2015.

Northern Ireland chief veterinary officer Robert Huey has said the Scottish BSE case will not impact our negligible risk status.
UUP leader Robin Swann said the backstop would make Northern Ireland an EU protectorate (David Young/PA)

Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 20th October 2018 - Party leader Robin Swann MLA pictured at the Ulster Unionist Party Conference 2018 in the Armagh City Hotel. Photo by Kelvin Boyes / Press Eye.

Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 20th October 2018 - Party leader Robin Swann MLA pictured at the Ulster Unionist Party Conference 2018 in the Armagh City Hotel. Photo by Kelvin Boyes / Press Eye.

Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 20th October 2018 - Party leader Robin Swann MLA pictured at the Ulster Unionist Party Conference 2018 in the Armagh City Hotel. Photo by Kelvin Boyes / Press Eye.

Party leader Robin Swann MLA pictured at the Ulster Unionist Party Conference 2018 in the Armagh City Hotel. Photo by Kelvin Boyes / Press Eye.

The backstop would make Northern Ireland a protectorate of an unaccountable EU, the Ulster Unionist leader has said.

Robin Swann said unionists who voted remain did not do so because they wanted to leave the UK and it was dishonest to portray them as such.

It would effectively make Northern Ireland an EU protectorateRobin Swann

An overall majority in Northern Ireland voted remain in the Brexit referendum.

Mr Swann told his partys annual conference in Armagh: This is not just about the immediate constitutional problems it raises, but also the long-term implications as the UK would begin to diverge from EU regulations.

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It would effectively make Northern Ireland an EU protectorate.

So where is the accountability?Robin Swann

If this scenario were to become a reality, we would be complying with regulations set by a body we were no longer part of and we had no input into.

So where is the accountability?

The backstop is in place in case no deal is reached between the EU and UK and has been interpreted by Europe to mean Northern Ireland continuing following the blocs trading rules to prevent a hard Irish border with the Republic.

The British Government and unionists in Northern Ireland have opposed any solution which would effectively see a regulatory border created down the Irish Sea between Northern Ireland and Great Britain.

One of the EUs red lines entails opposition to the UK as a whole enjoying special trading status while not having to follow other rules of the bloc, cherry-picking, as some have put it.

Some British Brexiteers are also opposed to the Northern Ireland backstop.

Mr Swann said: Those unionists who voted remain did not do so because they wanted to leave the United Kingdom and it is dishonest and deceitful to portray them as such.

And they certainly didnt vote for the backstop either.

While you continue to swing wildly between assuring people the backstop is an insurance policy no one wants to then have to refer to it as the best of both worlds, it leaves the impression there are those out there who have their fingers crossed behind their back that the UK Government wont get a good deal and we will default to the backstop.

This position is as reckless as those chasing a hard, or even a no-deal Brexit.

The Irish Government has said it is not challenging the constitutional position of Northern Ireland as part of the UK but wants to preserve frictionless cross-border trade and peace on the island.

I have a message for Leo Varadkar, Simon Coveney and their colleagues in the Irish Government. Tread carefullyRobin Swann

Mr Swann added: Let me also be clear that we want a good relationship with our neighbours in the Republic of Ireland, but its very hard to maintain that when you continually poke us in the eye. Work with us, not against us.

So I have a message for Leo Varadkar, Simon Coveney and their colleagues in the Irish Government. Tread carefully.

Every day that you trample over the Belfast Agreement and the principle of consent, you do further damage to relationships across these islands.

"Its grim that the DUP have created a situation where Sinn Fein of all people are able to call for integrity in government and gifted them the opportunity to pull down the institutions" #UUP18 pic.twitter.com/L75cQNsGTm  Ulster Unionist (@uuponline) October 20, 2018

Breaking the Belfast Agreement to facilitate the backstop risks destroying what has taken decades to build.

Stop trying to exploit Brexit to weaken the integrity of the United Kingdom.

It would also be economic vandalism to impose a border on our most important trading route which is between Northern Ireland and Great Britain.
20th October 2018 - Picture by Matt Mackey/Presseye.com People from across Northern Ireland gathered in Belfast on Saturday afternoon to show their opposition to Brexit. The Rally for Remain at Belfast City Hall saw activists gather at a crucial time during negotiations around the UK's exit from the European Union.

20th October 2018 - Picture by Matt Mackey/Presseye.com People from across Northern Ireland gathered in Belfast on Saturday afternoon to show their opposition to Brexit. The Rally for Remain at Belfast City Hall saw activists gather at a crucial time during negotiations around the UK's exit from the European Union.

20th October 2018 - Picture by Matt Mackey/Presseye.com People from across Northern Ireland gathered in Belfast on Saturday afternoon to show their opposition to Brexit. The Rally for Remain at Belfast City Hall saw activists gather at a crucial time during negotiations around the UK's exit from the European Union.

20th October 2018 - Picture by Matt Mackey/Presseye.com People from across Northern Ireland gathered in Belfast on Saturday afternoon to show their opposition to Brexit. The Rally for Remain at Belfast City Hall saw activists gather at a crucial time during negotiations around the UK's exit from the European Union.

20th October 2018 - Picture by Matt Mackey/Presseye.com People from across Northern Ireland gathered in Belfast on Saturday afternoon to show their opposition to Brexit. The Rally for Remain at Belfast City Hall saw activists gather at a crucial time during negotiations around the UK's exit from the European Union.

20th October 2018 - Picture by Matt Mackey/Presseye.com People from across Northern Ireland gathered in Belfast on Saturday afternoon to show their opposition to Brexit. The Rally for Remain at Belfast City Hall saw activists gather at a crucial time during negotiations around the UK's exit from the European Union.

People from across Northern Ireland gathered in Belfast on Saturday afternoon to show their opposition to Brexit. Picture by Matt Mackey/Presseye.com

20th October 2018 - Picture by Matt Mackey/Presseye.com People from across Northern Ireland gathered in Belfast on Saturday afternoon to show their opposition to Brexit. The Rally for Remain at Belfast City Hall saw activists gather at a crucial time during negotiations around the UK's exit from the European Union.

20th October 2018 - Picture by Matt Mackey/Presseye.com People from across Northern Ireland gathered in Belfast on Saturday afternoon to show their opposition to Brexit. The Rally for Remain at Belfast City Hall saw activists gather at a crucial time during negotiations around the UK's exit from the European Union.

20th October 2018 - Picture by Matt Mackey/Presseye.com People from across Northern Ireland gathered in Belfast on Saturday afternoon to show their opposition to Brexit. The Rally for Remain at Belfast City Hall saw activists gather at a crucial time during negotiations around the UK's exit from the European Union.

20th October 2018 - Picture by Matt Mackey/Presseye.com People from across Northern Ireland gathered in Belfast on Saturday afternoon to show their opposition to Brexit. The Rally for Remain at Belfast City Hall saw activists gather at a crucial time during negotiations around the UK's exit from the European Union.

20th October 2018 - Picture by Matt Mackey/Presseye.com People from across Northern Ireland gathered in Belfast on Saturday afternoon to show their opposition to Brexit. The Rally for Remain at Belfast City Hall saw activists gather at a crucial time during negotiations around the UK's exit from the European Union.

20th October 2018 - Picture by Matt Mackey/Presseye.com People from across Northern Ireland gathered in Belfast on Saturday afternoon to show their opposition to Brexit. The Rally for Remain at Belfast City Hall saw activists gather at a crucial time during negotiations around the UK's exit from the European Union.

20th October 2018 - Picture by Matt Mackey/Presseye.com People from across Northern Ireland gathered in Belfast on Saturday afternoon to show their opposition to Brexit. The Rally for Remain at Belfast City Hall saw activists gather at a crucial time during negotiations around the UK's exit from the European Union.

20th October 2018 - Picture by Matt Mackey/Presseye.com People from across Northern Ireland gathered in Belfast on Saturday afternoon to show their opposition to Brexit. The Rally for Remain at Belfast City Hall saw activists gather at a crucial time during negotiations around the UK's exit from the European Union.

20th October 2018 - Picture by Matt Mackey/Presseye.com People from across Northern Ireland gathered in Belfast on Saturday afternoon to show their opposition to Brexit. The Rally for Remain at Belfast City Hall saw activists gather at a crucial time during negotiations around the UK's exit from the European Union.

20th October 2018 - Picture by Matt Mackey/Presseye.com People from across Northern Ireland gathered in Belfast on Saturday afternoon to show their opposition to Brexit. The Rally for Remain at Belfast City Hall saw activists gather at a crucial time during negotiations around the UK's exit from the European Union. Event organisers Sorcha Eastwood and Seamas de Faoite

20th October 2018 - Picture by Matt Mackey/Presseye.com People from across Northern Ireland gathered in Belfast on Saturday afternoon to show their opposition to Brexit. The Rally for Remain at Belfast City Hall saw activists gather at a crucial time during negotiations around the UK's exit from the European Union.

20th October 2018 - Picture by Matt Mackey/Presseye.com People from across Northern Ireland gathered in Belfast on Saturday afternoon to show their opposition to Brexit. The Rally for Remain at Belfast City Hall saw activists gather at a crucial time during negotiations around the UK's exit from the European Union.

20th October 2018 - Picture by Matt Mackey/Presseye.com People from across Northern Ireland gathered in Belfast on Saturday afternoon to show their opposition to Brexit. The Rally for Remain at Belfast City Hall saw activists gather at a crucial time during negotiations around the UK's exit from the European Union.

Europe is a force for peace in Northern Ireland and around the world, a pro-Remain rally was told.

A sizeable crowd waving EU flags and carrying anti-DUP placards converged outside Belfast city hall on Saturday afternoon.

Even some of the dogs on the street bore the blocs blue and gold symbol.

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Cross-community Alliance Party leader Naomi Long said: We have the EU to thank for the longest period of peace and stability on the continent of Europe in history.

The EU forced nations to compromise, forced people to come together on the big issues like climate change.

It underpinned the peace. The EU spent money underpinning the peace right across Europe, from the fall of the Berlin Wall, which could have been chaotic, right through to the former Yugoslavia.

Nowhere did it do that more so than right here.

She said the Brexit debate was not about protecting the UKs union or creating a united Ireland, as it has been characterised by some on opposite sides of the issue.

Just in case anyone was wondering what NI thinks of Brexit... #Rally4Remain pic.twitter.com/LDT5bMVG8G  James Gordon (@jamesgordon89) October 20, 2018

Mrs Long said: This is about the people of this place coming together and saying, just like the EU, we value cooperation, we value immigration, we value working together in the best interests of everyone in this society.

That is why we value the EU, it is not just a model of cooperation, it underpins the very cooperation that we need here.

Northern Ireland voted to remain in the EU by 56%.

One placard hoisted aloft in the crowd said: 56% say protect Good Friday.

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People fanned out around a stage in front of the city hall down the main shopping street, Donegall Place, to hear speeches focused on environmental, human rights, business and student concerns.

Residents of border communities who oppose Brexit were also present.

The crowd held a range of placards, including one proclaiming: We wont be DUPed in reference to the pro-Brexit Northern Irish partys partnership with Theresa Mays Conservatives at Westminster.

Donald Trump and Vladimir Putins apparent support for Brexit was referenced as a reason for Northern Ireland to reject it.

Other slogans demanded a Peoples Vote, a second referendum, which another podium speaker, SDLP South Belfast Assembly member Claire Hanna, said Brexiteers should have nothing to fear from if they are so wedded to democracy.

She added: Nobody voted to be poorer.

Fab turnout at Rally for REMAIN at Belfast City Hall pic.twitter.com/dz0YViV110  Damian McGenity (@damian_mcgenity) October 20, 2018

John Barry, a Queens University professor associated with the Green Party in Northern Ireland, also attacked the Brexiteers.

He said: They are drunk on magical thinking around making England great again and continuing the border with science fiction technology and an exaggerated sense of their importance in the world and they show no signs of sobering up.

Meanwhile, Sinn Fein vice-president Michelle ONeill said Brexiteers had exhibited reckless disregard for the people of Northern Ireland.

They care nothing for jobs or for rights and are prepared to drive our economy over the cliff.
President Rodrigo Duterte softened his stance against the communist rebels and even offered members of the New Peoples Army good life by providing them houses and jobs. In his brief remarks at the inauguration of Gaisano Grand Citygate Mall, the President also acknowledged the initial support the NPA had given him when he was running for the presidency. I will not be where I am today without the help of the people of Davao and the NPA. Im thankful for that, he said. In a related development:  The Communist Party of the Philippines is willing to resume peace negotiations with the government whenever President Duterte was ready. In a statement posted on his Facebook page, founding chairman Jose Maria Joma Sison said it was up to the President to end his position of having terminated the peace negotiations through Proclamation 360. The standing policy of the NDFP is to negotiate with the GRP anytime he is ready to resume the peace negotiations in accordance with The Hague Joint Declaration and further agreements, said Sison. Duterte reiterated to them the significance of working with the government. And because you helped me, I am asking you to also help me find a way for all of us to live, Duterte said. I would not be here in this position right now if not for the people of Davao, including the NPA. I dont want to fight with you. I also dont want to kill you. We are friends,'' the President said.The NPA is the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines. The President, through an executive proclamation, declared the NPA as a terror group in December 2017. What we have to do in our generationit behooves this generation to find the elusive peace, Duterte explained. The Chief Executive also reassured the rebel returnees that jobs were waiting for them, especially in Davao, and they could avail themselves of livelihood training skills from the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority. There are jobs here, and that makes me very happy. You NPAs sleep on it. Nobody else is closer to the NPAs here than the Davaoenos, he said. Meanwhile, the President lauded the Gaisano Group for playing a vital role in the lives of the Davaoenos, and for contributing to the overall progress of Davao City. I want to thank you a lot first because of the jobs. You have generated jobs for the people here, he said. You know, when I was still mayor, I told you that I would do my best to lift the economy here in Davao City so that we could provide more jobs. Now there are a lot of businesses, he added.
Former president of Ireland Mary Robinson is standing firm on her call for people to go vegan to tackle climate change, despite a backlash which saw her local council ask her to withdraw the comments.

The long-standing campaigner, who runs a climate justice foundation in her name, said she spoke from the heart when she made the remarks two years ago and stands by her call for people to consume less.

The former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights told the audience at the One Young World summit in The Hague on Saturday that her comments, made at the same summit in Ottawa two years ago, prompted a formal letter from her local council in her native Co Mayo.

Mary Robinson is standing by her 2016 call for people to go vegan to tackle climate change. Former Ireland president told @OYWTheHague her local council sent a formal letter asking me to withdraw those words, which I have not done. And I still say. #OYW18 pic.twitter.com/oSwZ28LDJq  Aine Fox (@aine_fox) October 20, 2018

Mrs Robinson faced criticism from some in Irelands farming community following her comments in 2016.

She said on Saturday: I said (in 2016) we all have to do more. We have to be more energy-efficient, we have to recycle, we must think about what we eat, we need to eat less meat, maybe become vegetarian or even vegan. And I got a big cheer.

But, back in my country, Ireland, this didnt go down too well and it ended up with the local authority in my county in Ireland, Co Mayo, sending me a formal letter asking me to withdraw those words, which I have not done. And I still say, and I still say.

And the point is we do have to take a stand and we do have to make our voices heard and if people take action themselves they are much more likely to use their vote and their power to change what government policies are doing.

Individual action alone wont get us there even if we try our hardest; we need government policies.

Expand Close Mary Robinson speaks at the One Young World summit in The Hague (One Young World/PA) Press Association Images / Facebook

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Expanding on her comments later in an interview with the Press Association, she described herself as pro-farmer and said Ireland could successfully diversify and market itself as an organic producer.

She said: I know Im criticised in Ireland for saying that we need to eat less meat, and we need to become more vegetarian, maybe even some of us vegan. I say this because there are studies that prove that we do need as a global community to eat less meat and the figures are actually quite startling of the reduction that we need to do.

She said diversification would be a positive thing for the country, adding that farmers should not be blindly thinking theres only one way forward.

We could market Ireland as an organic place for food that could be very important in the European Union, she said.

Im certain it could be a positive thing and should be, and Im all for farmers having good incomes and being supported.

She told this years summit, which is being attended by more than 1,900 young leaders from 196 countries: Achieving climate justice, I believe, is the space race for your generation.

Mrs Robinson accused US President Donald Trump, who recently suggested climate change could go back, of making stupid remarks.

She told PA: I dont think President Trump necessarily believes in anything but himself and his own advancement and the advancement of his family and the advancement of his friends who are more or less very much wedded to, and in the pocket if you like, of fossil fuel companies.
Police in Northern Ireland have disputed Irish President Michael D Higgins claim that he had to travel to Belfast by private jet because they could not provide security for him to journey by road (Niall Carson/PA).

Police in Northern Ireland have disputed the Irish Presidents claim that he had to travel to Belfast by private jet because they could not provide security for him to journey by road.

Michael D Higgins said his staff were advised that for security reasons I couldnt be picked up at the border during last Mays trip.

He is running for a second term as president and the election will be held on Friday.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) told the BBC: It is the long-established policy of the PSNI not to comment on the security arrangements made for individuals.

Great buzz about Bandon this morning on our #Aras18 canvass. Plenty of people across the town will be voting for #ANewIreland on October 26th! #LiadhForPresident https://t.co/Eq7ivt6sJS pic.twitter.com/dUDirRmhFe  Liadh Ni Riada (@LiadhNiRiada) October 20, 2018

Assistant chief constable Alan Todd added: The PSNI routinely work with visiting heads of state and other key figures visiting Northern Ireland and make full provisions for their safety in line with their requirements.

Mr Higgins made his claim about his travel arrangements during a televised presidential debate on Wednesday evening.

In May, he spoke at Queens University Belfast on the 20th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement around the concepts of remembering, forgiving, forgetting, and imagining.

It is clear now that Michael D Higgins' claim has caused considerable anger within the PSNILiadh Ni Riada

Sinn Fein presidential candidate Liadh Ni Riada said President Higgins claim about his transportation had been disputed by the PSNI.

She added: They reject this security claim [and] say it would be inconceivable that the President of Ireland would not have been afforded security if it had been requested.

It is clear now that Michael D Higgins claim has caused considerable anger within the PSNI.

Another wonderful afternoon meeting supporters in Bray! And stunning weather too! #michaeldforpresident #aras18 pic.twitter.com/4TxxGOnCGM  Michael D Higgins (@MichaelDHiggins) October 20, 2018

Michael D Higgins must make a public statement on this matter immediately. This is very serious. He must come clean.

Another candidate, the Londonderry-born businessman Peter Casey, has suspended his campaign for this weekend as he reflects on whether to continue in the race.

He caused controversy when he challenged the right of Irish Travellers to be classed as members of an ethnic minority.
Former billionaire Sean Quinn has condemned an attack on the home of a manager at one of his former firms and appealed to the perpetrators to stop.

Arsonists attacked the Co Cavan home of the chief financial officer of Quinn Industrial Holdings (QIH), Dara O'Reilly.

His car was set alight at around 11pm on Wednesday, shortly after the family had gone to bed.

It is the latest in a string of attacks on homes and businesses linked to the former Quinn Group, which was broken up after Sean Quinn fell into bankruptcy.

QIH said that there has been a campaign against its staff "by persons who had sought the return of Sean Quinn".

Speaking to Shannonside Northern Sound Radio, Mr Quinn condemned the latest incident.

He said: "This shouldn't happen outside any family home.

"This shouldn't happen in any family home.

"Whatever happens in business should stay in business, but you should never have to bring it home to your wife and kids.

"All I can say to whoever is doing it, please stop."

He added: "The people that are doing this, and carrying out these criminal acts, they're not doing it in the best interest of the Quinn family, me or my family. We're totally against this type of activity.

"Regardless of how these people feel or what has happened, this is doing us no good whatsoever."

Mr O'Reilly commented: "My family and I are still in shock, but our overriding emotion is one of relief that we all managed to get out safely."

QIH chairman Adrian Barden said that the incident was a shocking attack on Mr O'Reilly's family.

He said he had warned previously that the attacks would result in injuries or fatalities if they continued.
Britain will be under increasing pressure to act against Saudi Arabia after the Gulf kingdom admitted dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed at its Istanbul consulate.

Saudi state television reported on Friday night that a primary investigation into the Washington Post columnists disappearance found he died after a fight broke out in the consulate in Turkey.

So far, 18 Saudi nationals have been arrested and deputy intelligence chief Ahmad al-Assiri and Saud al-Qahtani, a senior aide to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, have been dismissed, state TV reported.

In the US, the White House said it acknowledged the latest announcement and reasserted its call for justice that is timely, transparent and in accordance with all due process.

The British Government is yet to publicly comment on the latest announcement, but the Press Association understands officials are considering the UKs response to the reports.

Expand Close Saudi Arabias crown prince Mohammad bin Salman is greeted by Prime Minister Theresa May at 10 Downing Street (Victoria Jones/PA) PA Archive/PA Images / Facebook

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Jeremy Hunt had earlier warned there will be consequences for the UKs relationship with Saudi Arabia if it was found the journalist was murdered.

The Foreign Secretary said the Government remained extremely concerned about his fate after he went missing when he visited the consulate more than two weeks ago to get paperwork so he could marry.

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said in a tweeted statement: The United States acknowledges the announcement from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia that its investigation into the fate of Jamal Khashoggi is progressing and that it has taken action against the suspects it has identified thus far.

We will continue to closely follow the international investigations into this tragic incident and advocate for justice that is timely, transparent, and in accordance with all due process.

We are saddened to hear confirmation of Mr Khashoggis death, and we offer our deepest condolences to his family, fiancee, and friends.

Statement on Saudi Arabia Investigation: pic.twitter.com/DjBdwZAGAi  Kayleigh McEnany 45 Archived (@PressSec45) October 19, 2018

Labours shadow foreign secretary, Emily Thornberry, has called for action to be taken, tweeting in response to the announcement late on Friday: The Saudi lies and impunity must stop here.

We have heard the same excuses time and again from Saudi Arabia on Yemen, and now on Khashoggi: when disgraceful atrocities are committed, they call them unintended mistakes, and the world does nothing, she said.

Earlier, former MI6 chief Sir John Sawers said all the evidence suggested that Mr Khashoggi had been murdered on the orders of someone close to the crown prince.

Turkish government sources have alleged Mr Khashoggi, a critic of the prince and the Saudi government, was tortured and murdered and by a hit squad flown in from Riyadh.

The Saudi lies and impunity must stop hereEmily Thornberry

The Saudis first dismissed the claims as baseless, without providing an explanation as to how he disappeared after entering the consulate on October 2.

News of the arrests came as it was reported that members of the suspected hit squad came to Britain during the Saudi crown princes state visit in March, during which he met the Queen and Theresa May.

At least three of the suspects, First Lieutenant Dhaar Ghalib Dhaar Al-Harbi, Sergeant Major Walid Abdullah Al-Shihri and Abdul Aziz Muhammad Musa Al-Hawsawi, were part of the crown princes entourage, the news site Middle East Eye reported.

Another suspect, Major General Mahir Abdul Aziz Muhammad Mutrib, was seen emerging from a car in Downing Street during the visit, according to the Daily Mail.
Theresa May is under pressure to suspend arms sales to Saudi Arabia after the Gulf kingdom admitted that dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed at its Istanbul consulate.

Saudi state television reported on Friday night that a primary investigation into the Washington Post columnists disappearance found he died after a fight broke out in the consulate in Turkey.

But the explanation about Mr Khashoggis death has been met with widespread scepticism and the Prime Minister has been urged to now put arms trading with the kingdom on ice.

Saudi Arabia is the UKs key ally in the region and also a significant trading partner.

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Britain rolled out the red carpet for Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in March.

During his state visit he was granted rare access to a briefing on foreign policy issues by national security officials alongside his meetings with the Queen and Mrs May.

Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt is considering the next steps in Britains response to the case, officials said.

Mr Hunt has previously warned there will be consequences for the UKs relationship with Saudi Arabia if it was found the journalist was murdered.

Shadow international trade secretary Barry Gardiner told BBC Radio 4s Today programme: What we would do certainly at the moment, and I think the Government should do this, is to suspend all arms sales to the kingdom.

Mr Gardiner acknowledged there were a lot of jobs in the UK linked to the defence trade but said this is about who we are as a country.

We have a thriving defence industry and, of course, this would be a hit to that industry, he added.

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Vince Cable said the case gets murkier and murkier.

He added: The Government should have already suspended arms export licences to Saudi Arabia given the outrages in Yemen. This reinforces the argument for loosening the bonds to the regime.

US President Donald Trump said he found the Saudi explanation credible and it was a very important first step.

A number of Saudi nationals have been arrested and deputy intelligence chief Ahmad al-Assiri and Saud al-Qahtani, a senior aide to the Crown Prince, have been dismissed, state TV reported.

Turkish government sources have alleged that Mr Khashoggi, a critic of the prince and the Saudi government, was tortured and murdered by a hit squad flown in from Riyadh.

The Saudis first dismissed the claims as baseless, without providing an explanation as to how he disappeared after entering the consulate on October 2.

Members of the suspected hit squad reportedly came to Britain during the princes state visit.

At least three of the suspects  First Lieutenant Dhaar Ghalib Dhaar Al-Harbi, Sergeant Major Walid Abdullah Al-Shihri and Abdul Aziz Muhammad Musa Al-Hawsawi -were part of his entourage, the news site Middle East Eye reported.

Another suspect, Major General Mahir Abdul Aziz Muhammad Mutrib, was seen emerging from a car in Downing Street during the visit, according to the Daily Mail.

A Foreign Office spokesman said: We send our condolences to Jamal Khashoggis family after this confirmation of his death.

We are considering the Saudi report and our next steps.

As the Foreign Secretary has said, this was a terrible act and those responsible must be held to account.
Chris Pine at the Scottish premiere of Outlaw King at the Vue Omni in Edinburgh (David Cheskin/PA)

Chris Pine has said that God willing Outlaw King will be appreciated by the Scottish audience.

The biopic depicts the story of how Robert the Bruce led 500 men to defeat the larger and better equipped English army during the 14th century.

Joined by his co-stars at the Scottish premiere in Edinburgh, the American actor told how he was excited to bring the Netflix film home to Scotland.

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Pine said: Were very excited to bring a Scottish film back to Scotland, its a film about a successful campaign of your (Scottish) people to win freedom from a tyrant.

Its nice when you get to show a film youve made  (spent) so many months on, worked so many hours on  and show to an audience that, God willing, will be appreciative.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon was among the special guests attending the screening.

She said Creative Scotland funding was able to attract the production to be based in the country and build important relationships with Netflix.

Speaking from the red carpet, Ms Sturgeon told Press Association Scotland: Im really looking forward to seeing it, I think its going to be absolutely fantastic.

I think its great to see the legend of Robert the Bruce brought to the screen, but its going to be fantastic to see the wonderful Scottish scenery.

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She added: Hopefully it will not only entertain people, but encourage lots of people to come and visit Scotland as well.

Braveheart star James Cosmo plays Sir Robert VI de Brus  father of the protagonist  in Outlaw King.

The 70-year-old said there were similarities between the two Scottish history-based stories, but victory was the key difference.

Cosmo said: Obviously, it has historical similarities.

I guess the fact is, Robert the Bruce is the man who won the freedom for Scotland  he became King of Scots.

At the end, (William) Wallace didnt make it but Bruce did.

Director David Mackenzie said he wanted to be involved with the project because it was a story which needed to be told.

Being out in that landscape was just incredibleAaron Taylor-Johnson

He said ideas about Robert the Bruce had been lost in mythology which needed a historical focus.

The 52-year-old, who used to live in Edinburgh, added: It feels like weve done a great job.

The film was shot at various locations around the country, although a lot of time was spent in Glasgow and Edinburgh.

But Kick-ass actor Aaron Taylor-Johnson, who plays James Douglas, said it was time spent in the Highlands he will remember most fondly.

He added: We stayed in Glasgow, filmed a little bit in Edinburgh, but when I was up in the Highlands it was just  being out in that landscape was just incredible.

Billy Howle, who plays the main villain the Prince of Wales, spoke of his excitement to be in the capital for its Scottish premiere.

FM @NicolaSturgeon meeting cast & crew of #outlawking including #chrispine #aarontaylorjohnson The film is based on the life of Robert the Bruce, was filmed across 45 Scottish locations and supported by @CreativeScots funding pic.twitter.com/HJEWPJtUje  First Minister (@ScotGovFM) October 19, 2018

He said: I think its an absolute privilege and a blessing to be opening this film here this evening.

Pine previously told the Press Association he would listen to YouTube videos of a Scottish rugby captain to work on his accent.

Tony Curran, who plays Angus Macdonald and is from Glasgow, had high-praise for his co-stars accent.

He added: Its better than mine, actually.

The premiere was at Vue Omni on Friday.

Outlaw King is released on Netflix and in select cinemas on November 9.
A 61-year-old man needed hospital treatment after a targeted attack at a scrap metal yard.

The victim was assaulted at the premises on French Street in Renfrew, near Glasgow, on Friday at around 2pm.

Police Scotland said he was treated at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital for lacerations to his upper body following the vicious attack.

A force statement said: It is believed that the attackers may have had access to a car and possibly made off in it.

Officers are appealing to anyone who may have seen any suspicious vehicles in the street, or indeed anyone hanging about the area prior to the attack or running off afterwards.

Anyone with information is asked to contact police on 101, quoting reference number 2252 of October 19, or call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
Ian Tomlin was killed in Battersea on Wednesday (Metropolitan Police/PA)

Two men have been charged with murder after a 46-year-old father died following a mass brawl near his flat.

Michael Swan, 45, and Gary Beech, 48, will appear in court in connection with the death of Ian Tomlin.

Police said Mr Tomlin died of a head injury caused by blunt force trauma following an incident in a communal area of a block of flats in Battersea, south-west London, on Wednesday.

Expand Close Police at the scene in Charlotte Despard Avenue, Battersea (Tom Horton/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook

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Officers were called to a group fighting at the building on Charlotte Despard Avenue at about 5.30pm.

Medics battled to save Mr Tomlins life, but he was pronounced dead 45 minutes later.

Swan, of Enterprise Way, Wandsworth, and Beech, of Charlotte Despard Avenue, Battersea, will appear at Wimbledon Magistrates Court on Saturday.
Radical preacher Anjem Choudary will have to comply with more than 20 licence conditions following his release from prison.

The 51-year-old, who was locked up in 2016 after being convicted of inviting support for the Islamic State terror group, left Belmarsh high-security jail in south-east London early yesterday morning.

A smiling Choudary emerged briefly from a probation hostel in north London yesterday afternoon.

A former head of counter-terror policing insisted Choudary is not "some sort of evil genius".

Sir Mark Rowley, who retired from policing earlier this year, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "It was a significant arrest and it was good to put him in prison. But I think we have to be careful not to overstate his significance.

"At the end of the day, he is a pathetic groomer of others.

"That is what he has done in the past. He is not some sort of evil genius we all need to be afraid of."

Choudary was due for automatic release after reaching the halfway point of a five-and-a-half-year sentence, taking into account time spent on remand in custody and subject to restrictions while on bail.

Once a leading figure in the now-banned group al-Muhajiroun (ALM), the former solicitor had previously stayed on the right side of the law for years.

For the rest of the sentence period, he will be subject to a strict supervision regime.

Police and MI5 are expected to be among a host of agencies involved in monitoring him in the community.

Following his release, Choudary was photographed arriving at an address in north London.

It is thought he will initially be placed in a probation hostel and will have to comply with more than 20 licence conditions.

There are a number of standard requirements, including maintaining good behaviour, receiving visits from and keeping in contact with his supervising probation officer, and not travelling outside the UK without prior permission.

In addition, Choudary will be subject to a bespoke package of further measures while on licence.

These are expected to include electronic tagging; a night-time curfew; requirements to stay within a set area and only attend pre-approved mosques; a ban on contacting individuals who he knows or believes to have been charged with or convicted of extremist-related offences without prior approval; and restrictions relating to internet use and mobile device ownership.

Any breach of licence conditions can result in immediate return to custody.

Choudary, from Ilford, east London, will be supervised under a system known as multi-agency public protection arrangements (Mappa).
SydneyAustralias embattled conservative coalition was heading for a spectacular defeat in a crucial by-election Saturday, as analysts declared victory for a high-profile independent candidate. The loss, if confirmed after counting finishes, would snuff out the Liberal-National coalitions one-seat parliamentary majority. It would also be the biggest-ever swing in a by-election against a sitting government. The poll in the wealthy Sydney seat of Wentworth was triggered after former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull was ousted in a party coup in August the sixth change of national leaders in the last decade Turnbulls successor, Scott Morrison, is facing public anger about the leadership merry-go-round and constant infighting in Canberra and could be made to pay in Wentworth, traditionally a seat held by his Liberal Party. Just over an hour after polls closed, respected veteran analyst Antony Green of national broadcaster ABC said with some nine percent of the vote counted, the Liberals were facing a more than 25 percent swing against the party. The benefactor was doctor and independent candidate Kerryn Phelps, who capitalised on the voter discontent. I think we can say that Kerryn Phelps will win the Wentworth by-election and this has been a pretty bad result for the Liberal Party, Green said. The Wentworth loss would transform the coalition into a minority government, effectively turning Morrison into a lame duck prime minister. Voting is compulsory in Australia but the buzz around the polling stations was unusual for Wentworth, with dozens of volunteers from different parties inundating voters with leaflets for their candidates. Ive done over 20 elections and this is the first time at eight oclock (in the morning) weve had a queue, Liberal Party volunteer Kevin Berry told national broadcaster ABC.Its quite extraordinary the level of interest in the election this time around. Wentworth resident Roslyn Taylor said she was frustrated with politicians and the chaos that has plagued the main parties in recent years. None of them have really got their mind on the job. None of them have got their mind on the people -- the true needs of the people in terms of education, in terms of health, she told AFP outside a polling booth at Bondi Beach. The sprawling Sydney constituency takes in the famous beach well as the haunts of stars like Russell Crowe and Hugh Jackman. While the seat was easily held by Turnbull in the traditionally Liberal seat, polls before the by-election were already pointing to defeat for the Liberal Partys Dave Sharma. Im hearing from the people in Wentworth that they are ready for change, Phelps told the ABC Saturday. A defeat would prove hugely embarrassing to Morrison, who even floated the idea of moving the Australian embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem -- upending decades of Australian foreign policy -- in a bid to woo Wentworths Jewish voters. Despite the efforts of party heavyweights to ramp-up support for Sharma before polls closed, Morrison appeared resigned to a defeat. The events of a couple of months ago would have caused a great deal of anger and outrage here in Wentworth, Morrison told reporters on Friday of Turnbulls removal. I know, I was in the parliament.
Police Scotland have appealed for witnesses to the crash on Saturday (Andrew Milligan/PA)

A teenager is in hospital after a crash involving a scooter and a car in Aberdeenshire.

Police Scotland said the 19-year-old was riding a black Honda motor scooter on the B994 Kintore to Kemnay road near Upper Cottown when the collision happened at around 5.40pm on Saturday.

He was taken to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary where his condition is described as serious.

Police are investigating a two vehicle collision that occurred on the B994 Kintore -Kemnay road , Aberdeenshire, about 1740 hrs Sat 20 Oct 18. The collision involved a black Seat Leon and a black Honda scooter. Witnesses phone Police 101 or Crimestoppers

0800555111. Inc No.3000  North East Police (@NorthEPolice) October 20, 2018

The occupants of the black Seat Leon suffered minor injuries.

Sergeant Peter Henderson said: Our thoughts at this time are with those involved and their families.

An investigation into the collision is under way and we have already spoken to a number of witnesses.

In order to help establish the cause of the collision I would urge anyone who saw either vehicle prior to the collision or the collision itself and who has not already come forward to get in touch.
Both leaders of the Scottish Green Party have given their backing to a vote on the final Brexit deal.

Co-conveners Patrick Harvie and Maggie Chapman pledged their support for a so-called Peoples Vote in a bid to stop the UK leaving the EU.

Speaking at the party conference in Glasgow, Ms Chapman said she is very much in favour of the principle of a Peoples Vote.

Mr Harvie told delegates they would have the chance to join the campaign for a Peoples Vote in a motion to be debated at the conference.

Like Maggie, I cant stay neutral on that question,  he said.

Even if it is a narrow window of opportunity to bring that vote about, and even if bringing it about gives us no guarantee of the outcome, weve already said as a party that it looks like now being the only way, the only possibility of stopping Brexit.

"The Greens are adamant that Brexit can be stopped" says @Ross_Greer as he proposes a motion reaffirming our belief that Scotland's future is independence in the EU #SGPconf #SGPconf18 pic.twitter.com/YhbLdCXqTD  Harry Huyton (@Harryhuyton) October 20, 2018

He said the motion gives party members the choice to join the chorus of voices saying loudly that the only thing to do is to stop this mess and, if Westminster wont come to its senses, let the public be the ones to cancel Brexit.

Mr Harvie said the Brexit process is incompetent chaos and a direct assault on the authority of our parliament.

He warned that leaving the EU would harm Scotland as well as the rest of the UK and elsewhere in Europe, and criticised the Conservative and Labour stance on immigration, saying freedom of movement is a human right.

The Green MSP said the Scottish Greens remain committed to Scotlands future as an independent country which is a full member of Europe.

He added: The extreme Brexiteers are already flirting with the sociopaths of the US libertarian right, the same outfits which have been a force for ill from climate denial to union-busting.

Thats the agenda these people want to impose on us  one in which the social, environmental and workplace rights and protections which were fought for by generations before us are torn to pieces in the pursuit of an already failed economic system.

Patrick Harvie on migration : human beings should not be considered only for their economic value. Well said!#SGPconf  Alex Staniforth (@Alex4Craig_Dudd) October 20, 2018

He ridiculed proposals for a Festival of Brexit, saying: Can any day out sound less appealing?

He added: The only reason to call a festival would be if we cancel Brexit and stop this mess.

The conference also heard from Green member of the Irish senate, Grace OSullivan, who warned of concern in Ireland that the UK is three seconds from midnight in the Brexit negotiations but appears to have no resolutions to key problems.

She said: Brexit is something that we discuss every day in Dublin, every day in Ireland, in fact its on everyones mind.

A guillotine blade hanging ominously over the political, economic and social progress that has defined the island of Ireland since the Good Friday Agreement came into effect.

She said there is cross-party agreement in Ireland to look to the EU and the UK to protect the peaceful and borderless island we have worked so hard to create.
Scotlands First Minister has pulled out of a conference after learning that former White House strategist Steve Bannon will speak at the event.

Nicola Sturgeon had been scheduled to attend News Xchange 2018 in Edinburgh next month, but said she would not be part of any process that risks legitimising or normalising far right, racist views.

Mr Bannon, who worked on Donald Trumps successful presidential election bid, has championed right-wing political causes since leaving the White House.

I believe passionately in free speech but as @ScotGovFM I have to make balanced judgments - and I will not be part of any process that risks legitimising or normalising far right, racist views. I regret that the BBC has put me and others in this position. https://t.co/5x1rHZkaR9  Nicola Sturgeon (@NicolaSturgeon) October 20, 2018

Ms Sturgeon tweeted: I believe passionately in free speech but as Scotlands First Minister I have to make balanced judgements  and I will not be part of any process that risks legitimising or normalising far right, racist views.

News Xchange is a gathering of journalists and media operators from around the world. Mr Bannon is scheduled to be interviewed by the BBCs Sarah Smith.

BBC News and BBC Scotland are listed as host partners of the event at Edinburgh International Conference Centre November 14 and 15, and Ms Sturgeon said I regret that the BBC has put me and others in this position.

It is understood the First Minister was due to speak at the opening reception at the National Museum of Scotland on November 13.

Who are you looking forward to hearing speak at the #NX18?



Here's a list of some of our speakers --->https://t.co/53Zdo8KyMI pic.twitter.com/bu1Iaqre2i  News Xchange (@NewsXchange) October 19, 2018

She tweeted: The email the BBC sent to my office justifying Bannons inclusion described him as a powerful and influential figure  promoting an anti-elite movement. This kind of language to describe views that many would describe as fascist does seem to me to run the risk of normalisation.

A spokesperson for the event organisers told journalists at The Ferret: News Xchange is a journalism conference which seeks to explore the main industry trends and challenges delegates to understand the wider political and social context.

Steve Bannon is a key influencer in the rise of populism  one of the dominant political trends of our times. He has been invited to speak at News Xchange this year because his views are relevant to todays society at large and therefore to the media industry.

We also consider it our journalistic responsibility to share and scrutinise a range of relevant viewpoints within the framework of a balanced debate.

A BBC spokeswoman said: Steve Bannon was invited on behalf of the EBUs News Xchange committee.

Good journalism in a world of fake news and disinformation is more vital than ever. Journalism is about asking tough questions and understanding what is happening in the world and why.

A conference designed to analyse the big issues impacting that world isnt an endorsement of anyone or anything  it is a function of what journalism is.

It's those who give media platforms to dangerous far right extremists like Bannon who *make* them powerful and influential. The BBC must withdraw the invitation. https://t.co/JJRcnG6NYJ  Patrick Harvie  (@patrickharvie) October 20, 2018

Green MSP Patrick Harvie commented: Steve Bannon has been centrally involved in the attempt to re-boot the far right, both in the US and in Europe.

To normalise such dangerous extremists and give them media platforms of this kind only serves to give them a veneer of legitimacy.

When the rise of fascism threatens so many people across the world, there must be a clear line drawn between democratic politics and extremism and the BBC must recognise that line.
Top row: Amere Singh Dhaliwal; Irfan Ahmed; Zahid Hassan; Mohammed Kammer, Raj Singh Barsran. Bottom row: Mohammed Rizwan Aslam; Abdul Rehman; Nahman Mohammed; Mansoor Akhtar, and Mohammed Irfraz were all sentenced for campaign of abuse in Huddersfield

Lengthy jail sentences have been handed out to a gang of men who embarked on a campaign of rape and other sexual abuse against vulnerable teenage girls in Huddersfield.

Ringleader Amere Singh Dhaliwal (35) was jailed for life earlier this year and told he must serve a minimum of 18 years in prison by a judge who said: "Your treatment of these girls was inhuman."

Dhaliwal is one of 20 men who have been found guilty of scores of offences in a series of trials at Leeds Crown Court. Those already sentenced have received prison terms totalling 221 years.

Fifteen women told juries what happened to them between 2004 and 2011 when they were aged between 11 and 17.

The series of three trials has been subject to a blanket reporting ban which was partially lifted yesterday.

It was lifted by the Recorder of Leeds, Judge Guy Kearl QC, following representations by a number of media organisations.

It was towards the end of the second of these trials, in May, that English Defence League founder Tommy Robinson was arrested as he reported about the case live on Facebook from outside the court. Robinson was jailed for contempt of court but his conviction was later quashed and the case is due to be heard again at the Old Bailey next week.

Dhaliwal, who has children of his own, was convicted of 54 separate counts, including 22 rapes, involving 11 girls. Judge Geoffrey Marson QC told him earlier this year: "You treated them as commodities to be passed around for your own sexual gratification and the gratification of others.

"The extent and gravity of your offending far exceeds anything which I have previously encountered. Children's lives have been ruined and families profoundly affected by seeing their children, over months and years, out of control, having been groomed by you and other members of your gang."

The girls, who are now all adults, told the juries how they believed they were being shown genuine affection and attention as they were groomed.

But Judge Marson told the men this was "deliberately created to enable predatory men such as you to perpetrate gross sexual abuse for your own perverted gratification".

The judge noted that at least one girl attempted suicide. One was also seen being thrown out of a moving car outside her home. She had bruises all over her face and was under the influence of alcohol and drugs.

Judge Marson said at the end of the first trial: "The way you treated these girls defies understanding; this abuse was vile and wicked. None of you has expressed any remorse for what you did."

Dhaliwal, of Holly Road, Huddersfield, was jailed in June along with seven other men, who received prison terms of between eight and 18 years. After the second trial, which also ended in June, eight more men were jailed for between five and 18 years. Four more men were found guilty of a range of offences earlier this month after the third trial, and will be sentenced on November 1.
Donald Trump has been criticised for praising a Republican congressman who body-slammed a journalist.

The US President called Greg Gianforte a "tough cookie" and said he thought the incident helped the party win a special election in Montana last year.

Mr Gianforte pleaded guilty to misdemeanour assault after body-slamming Guardian reporter Ben Jacobs the evening before his victory. He was fined $385, completed 40 hours of community service and 20 hours of anger management counselling.

Guardian editor Kath Viner tweeted: "This is shocking and chilling, especially in light of the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi."
United States Navy sailors have been injured after a helicopter crashed on the flight deck of an aircraft carrier

United States Navy sailors have been injured after a helicopter crashed on the flight deck of an aircraft carrier.

The MH-60 Seahawk crashed shortly after take-off while the USS Ronald Reagan was off the coast of the Philippines, it was reported yesterday.

All sailors were in a stable condition and their injuries were not life-threatening, the Navy's 7th Fleet said. It did not say how many sailors were hurt.

A spokesman said some would be examined and treated after they reached the shore.

The Navy did not give details of any damage to the helicopter or the aircraft carrier, but it said the ship was fully capable to conduct its mission for security and stability in the Indo-Pacific region.

The aircraft carrier, which last week was hosted off the South Korean island of Jeju, has since resumed flight training.
People hold signs during a protest at the Embassy of Saudi Arabia (Jacquelyn Martin/AP)

Saudi state-run media is reporting that prosecutors in the kingdom believe Saudi writer Jamal Khashoggi was killed in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul in a fight.

State media also quotes prosecutors as saying 18 Saudi nationals are being held on suspicion of being involved in the Washington Post columnists death.

Earlier, US President Donald Trump says he could consider sanctions against Saudi Arabia over Mr Khashoggi.

President Trump told reporters after signing a presidential memo in Arizona on Friday that he will involve Congress in any decision. But he says he will be making certain recommendations.

He says that it is still too early to determine potential consequences but that he expects to know more by Monday.

He says: Were going to find out who knew what when and where and well figure it out.
Saudi Arabias announcement that suspects are in custody over the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi is a good first step, Donald Trump has said, adding that he would work with Congress on a US response.

The president was speaking at a defence roundtable event in Arizona hours after Saudi Arabia claimed that Mr Khashoggi, a Washington Post contributor who was last seen on October 2, was killed in a fistfight at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey.

The kingdom also said 18 suspects were in custody and that intelligence officials had been fired.

Asked by a reporter whether he thought Saudi Arabias explanation for Mr Khashoggis death was credible, Mr Trump said I do. I do.

Expand Close Barriers block the road leading to Saudi Arabias consulate in Istanbul (Lefteris Pitarakis/AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook

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But he said that, before he decided what to do next, he wanted to talk to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Saudi Arabia has been a great ally, but what happened is unacceptable, the president said.

Of the Saudi arrests, he added: Its a big first step. Its only a first step, but its a big first step.

Expand Close A security guard stands at the entrance to Saudi Arabias consulate in Istanbul (Lefteris Pitarakis/AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook

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On Capitol Hill, politicians including Trump ally Senator Lindsey Graham expressed scepticism about the Saudi account, which was vastly different from that given by Turkish officials, who said an assassination squad sent by the kingdom had killed and dismembered Mr Khashoggi.

First we were told Mr Khashoggi supposedly left the consulate and there was blanket denial of any Saudi involvement, Mr Graham tweeted on Friday. Now, a fight breaks out and hes killed in the consulate, all without knowledge of Crown Prince.

Its hard to find this latest explanation as credible.  Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) October 19, 2018

Mr Khashoggi, a prominent journalist and royal court insider for decades in Saudi Arabia, had written columns critical of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and the kingdoms direction while living in self-imposed exile in the US. He went to the Saudi consulate to obtain paperwork for his forthcoming marriage.

The Saudi explanation for murdering journalist and Virginia resident Jamal Khashoggi in a consulate  a fistfight gone wrong  is insulting, tweeted Senator Tim Kaine, the 2016 Democratic vice presidential nominee. Since the Trump Administration wont stand up against atrocity, Congress must.

The Saudi explanation for murdering journalist and Virginia resident Jamal Khashoggi in a consulatea fistfight gone wrongis insulting.



Since the Trump Administration wont stand up against atrocity, Congress must.  Tim Kaine (@timkaine) October 20, 2018

Democratic Representative Adam Schiff of California said Saudi Arabias claim that Mr Khashoggi died in a brawl was not credible.

If Khashoggi was fighting inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, he was fighting for his life with people sent to capture or kill him, said Mr Schiff, the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee.

The kingdom and all involved in this brutal murder must be held accountable, and if the Trump Administration will not take the lead, Congress must, he said.

In a statement on Friday night, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the US will closely follow international investigations into Mr Khashoggis death and will advocate for justice that is timely, transparent and in accordance with all due process.

Earlier on Friday, Ms Sanders said Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had spoken to the Crown Prince and briefed the president and John Bolton, Mr Trumps national security adviser.

Mr Trump dispatched Mr Pompeo to Saudi Arabia and Turkey earlier in the week to speak to officials about the case.

Meanwhile, the deputy head of Turkeys ruling party said his country would never allow a cover-up over the killing of Mr Khashoggi.

Numan Kurtulmus, of the ruling Justice and Development Party, also said on Saturday that Turkey would share its evidence with the world and that a conclusive result of the investigation is close.

He added that he thinks its not possible for the Saudi administration to wiggle itself out of this crime if its confirmed.
Northern Ireland may have enjoyed 20 years of relative peace since the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, but increasingly the air, which once reverberated to the sound of gunfire, is being filled with verbal bullets.

Brexit is the catalyst for the toxic cross-border atmosphere, but that does not excuse the tone or content of the debate.

Leo Varadkar, not for the first time, has learned that careless talk cranks up the tension and causes hurt, even where none was intended. It is all avoidable collateral damage.

His argument that a Brexit deal which results in a hard border in Ireland could lead to a resumption of violence was, at best, ill-advised.

It is the sort of argument that could easily become a self-fulfilling prophecy and implies that there are some who would resort to violence if they did not get their way. The fact that a very diverse range of unionists reacted angrily to it shows that it touched many raw nerves.

The Rev David Clements and Trevor Ringland are people who rarely veer from reason and calm words in pressing the unionist case, while Gregory Campbell and the hair-triggered Sammy Wilson can be relied upon to bring what could be described as plain language to any discussion.

However, Mr Wilson appears not to see that his use of words like 'vile', 'despicable', 'low' and 'rotten' undermine his argument that Mr Varadkar's own language was intemperate.

What all sides need to remember is that invoking past deeds or violence is not only trampling on the graves of the dead but also on the still raw grief and pain of the bereaved and survivors.

There are plenty of economic and constitutional arguments to be advanced by those on either side of the Brexit debate, without dragging the past into it. The Irish government's comments are also opening a can of worms.

Many people living along the border can argue that if previous Irish governments had policed the area more assiduously and extradited known terrorists more readily, the eventual death toll might well have been significantly lower.
WashingtonUnited States President Donald Trump said Friday he found Saudi Arabias explanation about the death of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi credible and termed it an important first step. Trump added if the US takes action, he does not want it to impact arms sales to the kingdom, which said Khashoggi was killed in a fight at its Istanbul consulate. Turkish officials pointed to a state-sanctioned hit. I do, I do, Trump said when asked if he found the Saudis explanation credible, adding: Its early, we havent finished our review or investigation, but... I think its a very important first step. I would prefer, if there is going to be some form of sanction or what we may determine to do, if anything... that we dont use as retribution canceling $110 billion worth of work, which means 600,000 jobs, he said during a visit to Arizona, referring to a major arms deal with the kingdom. Meanwhile, the international community must keep up the pressure on Saudi Arabia after its admission that journalist Jamal Khashoggi died in its Turkish consulate, Reporters without Borders (RSF) said Saturday. Riyadh had to be held to account for the death of Khashoggi and the imprisonment of other journalists, Christophe Deloire, Secretary General of the Paris-based media rights watchdog tweeted. Any attempt to get rid of the pressure on Saudi Arabia and to accept a compromise policy would result in giving a license to kill to a Kingdom that puts in jail, lashes, kidnaps and even kills journalists who dare to investigate and launch debates, he wrote. After the recognition of Khashoggis death, we expect a determined, constant and powerful pressure to be kept on Saudi Arabia in order to get the whole truth on the case and the release of Saudi Arabian journalists (who have) been condemned to crazy and horrible sentences, he added. Trump has sent mixed messages about Khashoggi for days, vowing a severe response but also saying that the United States wants to preserve its close relationship with the conservative kingdom. Members of the US Congress were far harsher in the wake of the kingdoms admission that Khashoggi was dead. Republican Senator Bob Corker, Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman, said he doubted the credibility of the Saudi authorities, who insisted for weeks that he left the consulate. The story the Saudis have told about Jamal Khashoggis disappearance continues to change with each passing day, so we should not assume their latest story holds water, he tweeted. Senator Lindsey Graham, a close Trump ally who has nonetheless been outspoken about Khashoggi, shared Corkers suspicion.To say that I am skeptical of the new Saudi narrative about Mr. Khashoggi is an understatement, the Republican senator tweeted. Bob Menendez, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said the United States should pursue sanctions against Saudis involved in Khashoggis death under a US law named after Sergei Magnitsky, the anti-corruption Russian accountant who died in custody. The Global Magnitsky Act doesnt have exceptions for accidents. Even if Khashoggi died because of an altercation, thats no excuse for his murder, Menendez tweeted. This is far from the end and we need to keep up the international pressure. Khashoggi, a Washington Post contributor who lived in suburban Washington, was a former insider who turned into a critic of the kingdoms direction under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. He visited the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2 to sort out marriage paperwork, but his fiancee saw nothing more of him after he entered. Representative Mike Coffman, one of a number of lawmakers from Trumps Republican Party facing a tough race in November 6 elections, said the United States must stand up for our values and demand our allies respect human rights. The Colorado lawmaker, who serves on the House Armed Services Committee, urged Trump to immediately recall the acting US ambassador from Saudi Arabia. Trump has yet to nominate a permanent envoy to the kingdom. United Nations chief Antonio Guterres meanwhile demanded that those responsible for Khashoggis death be held to account. The Secretary-General is deeply troubled by the confirmation of the death of Jamal Khashoggi. He extends his condolences to Mr. Khashoggis family and friends, Guterress office said in a statement. The Secretary-General stresses the need for a prompt, thorough and transparent investigation into the circumstances of Mr. Khashoggis death and full accountability for those responsible.
Updated at 5:52 p.m. ET on 2018-10-23

An 81-year-old lawyer who cultivated Prime Minister Sheikh Hasinas political career four decades ago but who has since turned against her, says he is aiming to bring back full-fledged democracy in Bangladesh amid imminent national polls.

Kamal Hossain, a former law minister, was a political protege of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Hasinas father and the founding leader of the 47-year-old nation.

We are united to restore democracy through free and fair elections, Hossain told BenarNews as he announced on Oct. 13 that the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) had joined forces with a new political alliance headed by him. Two days later, 18 partners in a coalition led by BNP declared that they were also siding with Hossains alliance.

This united front is not in the interest of any party, he said. We are united in the national interest.

For decades since the late 1960s, Hossain had been involved in politics. He would be known as the lawyer who led the committee that drafted Bangladeshs first constitution, which came into effect in December 1972  a year after the country gained its independence from Pakistan through a vicious war.

Hossain was elected to parliament in 1970 and 1973, and Sheikh Mujibur, nicknamed Mujib, was his political guru.

Mujibur, who became prime minister under a parliamentary system adopted by his country, appointed Hossain as law minister in 1972. A year later Hossain was appointed foreign minister before also taking charge of the petroleum ministry.

But Mujibur faced challenges involving rampant poverty and allegations of rights violations and corruption. Renegade army officers assassinated him, along with his wife and several family members, during a coup in August 1975.

Hossain had received a bachelors degree in economics from Notre Dame University in Indiana in 1955 and a bachelors in civil law from Oxford University, where he earned a doctorate of philosophy in 1964.

After teaching constitutional law and international law at Queens College in England in the late 1950s, Hossain returned to Bangladesh, where he taught law at the University of Dhaka for five years until 1967.

Early in his legal career, Hossain worked on human rights cases before becoming a legal counsel of Mujibur, the first president of Bangladesh.

Hossain was on a bilateral visit to Yugoslavia when Mujibur was assassinated. He rejected calls from the military government to return and stayed at Oxford, where he taught and got himself immersed in legal research.

But Hossain would eventually return to Bangladesh, and in 1981 he became the ruling Awami League partys presidential candidate. He was defeated by Acting President Abdus Sattar in the election, which, Hossain alleged, was rigged.

In 1982, rebel soldiers ousted Sattar in a coup led by army Lt. Gen. Hussain Muhammad Ershad. In 2010, the Supreme Court declared Ershads coup and martial law illegal.

As the young nation went through a series of political upheavals in the early 1980s, Hossain urged Mujiburs daughter, Sheikh Hasina, to head the Awami League (AL).

Personal conflict with Hasina

But due to feuding with Hasina, Hossain would quit the Awami League in 1991. He eventually formed his own party, Gono Forum.

Since then, Hossain has opposed Awami as the nation gears up for general elections likely to take place in December.

Last week, Hossain became the leader of an opposition conglomerate called the National Unity Front (NUF) that includes his Gono Forum party.

He took the opposition cudgels as more parties began showing interest in joining the NUF against the ruling party and its allies.

Dr. Kamal Hossain has created a sensation in Bangladesh politics, Emajuddin Ahamed, a former Dhaka University political science professor, told BenarNews.

He called Hossain an educated good man, with strong commitment for democracy.

While Bangladesh, a Muslim-majority nation of more than 163 million people, is formally a multiparty democracy, rights activists describe the government as a hybrid regime, one in between a flawed democracy and an authoritarian state, according to East Asia Forum, a research platform.

Hossain, in his recent speeches, vowed that the new alliance would aim to restore democracy as he demanded Hasinas resignation and the dissolution of parliament before holding the general elections under a non-party caretaker government. The ruling party rejected his demands.

His NUF alliance drew flak from Hasina who alleged in a public rally that Hossain had formed an alliance with a corrupt political party, apparently referring to the BNP whose top two leaders had been accused of corruption.

Hasina also described NUF as a front of opportunists.

The government has been running the country in a despotic way. They want to cling to power, lawyer Moudud Ahmad, a member of the BNP standing committee, told BenarNews.

The attacking comments from the ruling party indicate that the front puzzled them, he said, describing Hossain as a light at the other end of the tunnel.

Poor contact with the common people

But Arun Kumar Goswami, a political science professor at Jagannath University, told BenarNews that Hossain had poor contact with ordinary Bangladeshis.

The politics Dr. Kamal Hossain wants to introduce would not work in Bangladesh, he said. You cannot succeed in politics here without having connection with the people.

But Moudud Ahmad contradicted him.

I can refer a number of politicians who succeeded with lesser contact with people than that of Dr. Kamal Hossain, he said.

Hossains family hailed from southern Barisal district, but he was born on April 20, 1937 in Kolkata in British India. His family returned to Dhaka in 1947 following the creation of Pakistan and East Pakistan, which became Bangladesh in 1972.

Political analyst Emajuddin Ahamed said Hossains arrival as Hasinas potential rival comes as BNP chief and former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia remained behind bars, while the main opposition partys acting chief and Zias son, Tarique Rahman, was in self-imposed exile.

The BNP has been in a leadership crisis. Against this backdrop, getting Dr. Kamal Hossain as a leader is a plus point for the BNP, he said.

He is excellent, he said. I would not be surprised if he ends up facing troubles.

CORRECTION: An earlier version wrongly reported that all 19 of BNP's partner parties in the coalition that it heads were siding with Kamal Hossain's alliance.
A year after the liberation of Marawi, thousands of children still miss out on school while families remain in cramped evacuation centers. More than 350,000 people fled Marawi after fighting broke out on May 23 last year. At least 86,000 children were affected by the conflict with an estimated 22,700 who missed out on their classes, based on the Child Protection Rapid Assessment (CPRA) of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD). Save the Children Philippines has launched the Balik Marawi, Balik Eskwela, project over the weekend to provide 1,000 school age children in Marawi and those attending schools in Lanao del Sur to have access to safe and equipped learning spaces. The four-month project with funding assistance worth P1.9 million Insular Foundation Inc. runs from October 2018 to February 2019. Lawyer Albert Muyot, CEO of Save the Children Philippines, said the project facilitates purchase of school materials such as teachers tables, childrens armchairs and teacher kits for Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) and implementation of interventions. The conflict has left scars on hundreds of children that are difficult to heal, said Muyot. He said that the DSWD report cited the psychological impact of humanitarian crises on children. The DSWD report said children suffer psychological stress during disasters and emergencies. These include different reactions such as sleeping problems, nightmares, withdrawal, concentration problems, guilt feelings. Children stop going to school due to financial constraints since their parents had little to no source of income while they were in evacuation camps. Muyot said resuming classes for displaced children of Marawi addresses the psychosocial problems among affected children in Marawi. Displaced children regain a sense of normality and routine in classrooms, said Muyot. School also gives children the opportunity to be with their friends, to have fun and forget about what they have been through, and offers protection from risks theyre vulnerable to, he added. Save the Children Philippines calls on local governments in Marawi to implement RA 10821 or Children in Emergency and Relief Act of 2016 that addresses the needs of children before, during and after a disaster and emergency. The Comprehensive Emergency Program for Children (CEPC) lines up disaster risk reduction measures to ensure safety of children during emergencies such as Marawi conflict. RA 10821, the first legislation of its kind in Asia was passed in 2016 following the experience of Typhoon Haiyan where 6 million children were affected and led to massive deaths and destruction of properties and infrastructure.With over 6,000 people dead, Typhoon Haiyan (local name Yolanda) opened the minds of government agencies and civil society organizations on the need for implement a coordinated humanitarian response to address the vulnerabilities of children in times of disasters and emergencies. The law mandates local officials to establish the following in their respective cities and provinces:  A Comprehensive Emergency Program to protect and safeguard children, and promotes human rights, ensures children have access to essential services for immediate recovery.  Heightened Surveillance against child trafficking and other forms of violence and abuse against children in the aftermath of disasters and calamities  Increased participation of children in disaster risk reduction (DRR) planning and post-disaster needs assessment  A system of restoring civil documents for children and their families to better access services and protection against the exploitation  Less disruption of educational services with limited use of schools as evacuation centers and proper use of temporary learning spaces.  Improved care and process for family tracing and reunification for orphaned, unaccompanied and separated children.  Improved data collection and reporting related to affected children for better understanding of their needs.  Child-centered training and standard setting for all responders for community and village leaders, school personnel and rescuers. Save the Children Philippines stands ready to help in rebuilding the war stricken city, said Muyot. The effective implementation of RA 10821 in cities and municipalities through the CEPC will ensure protection of rights and welfare of children.
PR Newswire

COPENHAGEN, Denmark, Oct. 20, 2018

COPENHAGEN, Denmark, Oct. 20, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- On October 20th 2018, in the framework of Vietnam-Denmark Business Forum at the headquarter of Confederation of Danish Industry (DI), CMC Corporation from Vietnam signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Approxima, a partner from Denmark. The signing ceremony was witnessed by Prime Minister of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam Nguyen Xuan Phuc and the press agencies of the two countries.

With 25 years of development, CMC has been providing ICT products and services for major partners from multinational corporations in 21 countries such as Japan, Korea, USA, Singapore, etc. CMC has consulted and implemented SAP ERP system for Honda Vietnam, AEON IBS, provided telecommunications services for NTT Communications, SAMSUNG, AT&T Ciber-CMC (a member company of CMC Corporation) is a leading consulting company to deliver professional implementation services in SAP's enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution and Microsoft Dynamics customer relationship management (CRM) solution. With more than 150 leading SAP & Microsoft Dynamics CRM consultants, Ciber-CMC is the most trust-worthy provider in Vietnam with more than 30% market share of SAP, and has been honored "SAP's Best Service Partner" in 2015, "Top Performance Partner" of SAP in 2016.

Approxima is a leading SAP consultant in Denmark with many years of experience in consulting and deploying SAP solutions for medium and large organizations. Under the strategic cooperation agreement, Approxima will be responsible for expanding CMC's business in European markets such as Scandinavia, Denmark, Germany and Russia which are the areas where Ciber-CMC is aiming for the No.1 position of SAP solution provider. Approxima is expected to tap into the digital convergence market for businesses with a market size of hundreds of millions of euros, aiming at reaching 100 million euros from the European market in 2023. In addition, Approxima will also share its methods and experience to promote Ciber-CMC's growth, supporting Ciber-CMC to meet international capacity requirements in service delivery. This also matches CMC's "Go Global" strategy with the goal of exporting software, ICT services and products to the global market.

Speaking at the signing ceremony on October 20th 2018, Mr. Lars Damgaard (Partner, Director of Approxima) said: "The reason we chose Ciber-CMC to deploy SAP solutions in the Nordic market as well as throughout Europe is that we want to increase the power of Approxima to meet the ever-increasing demand for SAP solutions. Ciber-CMC has more than 10 years of experience in providing SAP solutions to the international market. With the abundant human resources and the goal of delivering the SAP solutions on the cloud computing platform of Ciber-CMC, we completely believe in the success of the strategic partnership between CMC and Approxima."

Mr. Nguyen Trung Chinh (Chairman/CEO of CMC Corporation) also expressed optimism in the agreement: "CMC Corporation has a strategic goal of reaching out to the global market with the best IT and telecommunications products to meet the world standard. In fact, we have been present in 21 countries, including Japan, Korea, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, and we are expanding to international markets like USA and Europe. Through this cooperation with Approxima, we are confident that CMC will make a strong move in the European market."

About CMC Corporation:CMC Corporation is the second largest ICT corporation in Vietnam with more than 25 years of establishment and development. With 12 member companies, joint ventures and research institutes, CMC has affirmed its position in the market of Vietnam and many countries in the world through 4 core business fields: System Integration, Telecommunications & Internet, Software Services and Manufacturing, assembly and distribution of ICT products. In Vietnam, CMC Corporation is known as a reliable and prestigious partner in medium and large ICT projects for Government, Education, Taxation, Treasury, Customs, Electricity, Banking, Finance and Business. In fiscal year 2017, total consolidated revenue of CMC was 250 million USD, pre-tax profit reached nearly 12 million USD, targeting total revenue of 500 million USD in 2020.

View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cmc-corporation-from-vietnam-signed-strategic-agreement-with-danish-partner-under-the-witness-of-vietnams-prime-minister-300734733.html

SOURCE CMC Corporation
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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
PR Newswire

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 19, 2018

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 19, 2018 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- A person with a strong hairline is often associated with being successful and powerful. Even though some men have a hairline that is seen as full by others, they might have lost some of the original strength and density of their hairline over the years. "Power Hairline" helps these types of hair transplant patients attain a more robust hairline.

Dr. Parsa Mohebi, founder of Parsa Mohebi Hair Restoration, has created this new FUE hair restoration technique that benefits men with a hairline that is fading. According to Dr. Mohebi, "Non-balding men can also experience changes in the density and location of their hairline as they age. This can result in a lower density of hair, the scalp becoming more visible and a less solid hairline for older men."

Dr. Mohebi states that "an aging hairline should not be mistaken for a hairline suffering from patterned baldness. An aging hairline has hair thickness that does not have any hair miniaturization beyond the frontal areas. A weakened hairline can normally be solidified with a single hair transplant session using a small number of grafts. The hair does not have to be shaved so patients having the procedure show no visible signs of undergoing a hair transplant."

Since fewer grafts are used in "Power Hairline" than a traditional hair transplant on a balding patient, the cost is generally less expensive for a patient. Dr. Mohebi shared that "the full results should be visible with 6-10 months. The results are natural in appearance and will last a lifetime. For patients desiring a more youthful and rejuvenated appearance to their somewhat full hairline, this hair transplant technique is an ideal medical option."

About Dr. Parsa Mohebi: As the first chairman of the FUE Research Committee of the International Society of Hair Restoration and creator of several methods and techniques in modern hair restoration, Dr. Mohebi, along with his staff, provides his patients with the most advanced hair restoration techniques currently available. Dr. Mohebi has been in the forefront of new research and developing the latest technology to advance the field of hair restoration. Dr. Mohebi is a Diplomat of the American Board of Hair Restoration and a fellow of the International Society of Hair Restoration.

SOURCE Parsa Mohebi Hair Restoration
Future lady cop targets Philippines' 7th Miss International crown

posted October 20, 2018 at 06:30 pm by Eton B. Concepcion October 20, 2018 at 06:30 pm

Ahtisa Manalo, 21, hopes to make her country proud by aiming for the 7th crown for the Philippines at the Miss International pageant in Japan. Manalo with her fellow Binibini queens Catriona Gray (left) and Jehza Huelar during a send-off press conference organized by BPCI at the Novotel Manila in Araneta Center. Bb. Pilipinas-International 2018 Ahtisa Manalo looked radiant and queenly as she faced members of the press at the send-off party organized by the Binibining Pilipinas Charities, Inc. (BPCI) at the Novotel Manila, Araneta Center before her trip to Japan to compete at the 2018 Miss International pageant.Ive been waiting for this moment, and Im not going in Japan to settle for anything less than the title, Ahtisa confidently declared to the delight of her well-wishers and supporters that included Miss Universe Philippine Catriona Gray and Miss Supranational Philippines Jehza Huelar. READ: Ready to win the crown I have to be the best in every way I can, even when nobody is looking, to stand out but not overpowering others. To meet with as much people as I can and to consider the Japanese culture as they are known to be homogenous people, Ahtisa said when asked on her game plan and strategy in the forthcoming international pageant. I have to incorporate issues which are the focus of the Miss International pageant. Im going to tackle women empowerment, gender equality, inner strength as well as the cultural side of the pageant, the doll-face Ahtisa said regarding her planned speech for the finals. Ahtisa, a 21-year-old Accountancy graduate of Manuel Enverga University Foundation, from Candelaria, Quezon is aiming for the countrys seventh Miss International title since Gemma Cruz won the first in 1964 and to tie Venezuela for the country with the most number of wins. Becoming a beauty queen has changed me a lot. I have to be prim and proper, I have to be responsible in what I say and in all my actions, Ahtisa revealed. Im ready to cut my hair short when I apply at PNP, she said regarding her wish to become a police officer.Ahtisa was asked on the social issues and advocacies closest to her heart. On the LGBT issue: Every gender deserves equal rights and equal opportunities in life. Many of my friends and a lot of those who have helped me in my career come from the LGBT community. On animal rights and welfare: I have 21 cats would you believe? I remember I cried a lot when my first pet died when I was about nine years old. On dealing with bashers: I admit that I dont post a lot. I dont get affected by comments from people who dont really know me. On other advocacy she wants to work on: Environmental preservation which is the first issue that I took when I first joined a beauty contest. I cant wait to party with you (as Miss International), Gray told Ahtisa. Dont forget to pray wherever you are in Japan, Huelar advised her baby girl co-queen.Reigning titlist Kevin Lilliana of Indonesia will crown her successor during the Miss International 2018 finals to be held on Nov. 9.

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Ding Oroza (3rd from left), President of Oroza Enterprizes and Hans Sy (right) of SM Prime Holdings link hands with Houkoku Parking Systems Co. of Japans Satoshi Akamatsu and Koshi Okamoto for the creation of the first-ever APS in the country.

You've seen it on television and in the moviesthose big metal structures moving ones car into an available area where it could be parked. Soon, you will see it here in the Philippines.Oroza Enterprises of the Philippines, in cooperation with the Houkoku Parking Systems Co. of Japan, is bringing to the country its first-ever Automated Parking System, a mechanical system that automatically moves cars from the car park entry to an available parking space, using multiple levels and stacking cars vertically to use the least square footage possible in order to park as many cars as possible. Oroza Enterprises is involved in the distribution of retail and consumer goods, industrial equipment leasing as well as real estate and property development, while Houkoku is under Houkoku Holdings, which is part of Wathahan Co Ltd., a 16th generation business in Japan that is involved in various industries. The first Automated Parking System in the country aims to not only address common parking problems but also revolutionize the parking business in the country, said Ding Oroza, president of Oroza Enterprises, which recently signed an exclusive distributorship with Houkoku Parking System of Japan, represented by Satoshi Akamatsu and Koshi Okamoto. Japan leads the way in design and innovation when it comes to APS and Houkoku is among the best in Japan. Were excited over this partnership, added Oroza. Hans Sy of SM Prime Holdings also inked a contract with Oroza Enterprises, making SM Megamall as the first ever site of the APS in the country. It is expected to rise at the back portion of SM Megamall along Julia Vargas St. A partial APS structure will be built before by December, to be completed before the first quarter of next year.Oroza Enterprises enumerated the various benefits that an APS has over parking facilities, such as maximization of available space as cars are parked closer to each thereby maximizing the number of vehicles that can be parked; no more ramps, driving lanes, curbs etc.; and ceiling height is kept in the minimum. In addition to the space saving, many APS designs provide a number of secondary benefits such as: parked cars and their contents are more secure since there is no public access to parked cars; minor parking lot damage such as scrapes and dents are eliminated; drivers and passengers are safer not having to walk through parking lots or garages; driving around in search of a parking space is eliminated, thereby reducing engine emissions; only minimal ventilation and lighting systems are needed; handicap access is improved; the volume and visual impact of the parking structure is minimized and shorter construction time. What excites us its low environmental impact as there is no heavy construction required as most of these APS structures are already built in Japan, wed just be bringing them over here for assembly, added Oroza. The earliest use of an automated parking was in Paris, France in 1905 at the Garage Rue de Ponthieu, consisting of a multi-story concrete structure with an internal elevator to transport cars to upper levels where attendants parked the cars. After over a century, APS has come a long way and has evolved into other forms such as Mechanical Parking System, Robotic Parking System, Rotary Parking System, Automatic Parking and Stacker Parking.
By Padraig Hoare

Next week, a record number of Irish firms will showcase at the worlds biggest food fair, in Paris, to diversify into new markets following Brexit.

Bord Bia said 35 companies will attend the SIAL International Food Fair, the biggest business-to-business trade event in the world this year.

Chief executive of Bord Bia, Tara McCarthy, said since the Brexit vote, in 2016, the body specifically worked with UK-exposed companies to measure risks to growth, as well as exploring new markets.

We now understand better the risks around Brexit and the measures we need to take to support companies get the right products into the right markets to ensure sustainable growth, Ms McCarthy said.

Bord Bia said that while Brexit impacts on all food and drink sectors, exporters in prepared consumer foods are particularly exposed,

A third of the 35 Irish firms at SIAL are involved in prepared foods, with eight of them participating for the first time.

Prepared food exports were valued at 2.8bn in 2017, an increase of 12% on the previous year. The UK accounted for 1.8bn, or 62% of its value, Bord Bia said.

Minister of State for Food, Andrew Doyle, said there was clearly the strategy to shift away from reliance on one market, opening up to opportunities in Europe and further afield, to reduce their risk to trading volatilities for Irish firms in Paris.

While the UK market continues to perform well, with an increase in exports again this year, it is prudent to increase our footprint internationally, and SIAL gives us an opportunity to do that, with 160,000 trade visitors from 110 countries, he said.

Hassatts Bakery, in Cork, said that it was growing business in the UK, US, Canada and France, but was looking to SIAL to secure new listings in the key European target markets of France, Germany, Switzerland, and Poland.

Some 38% of Irish meat and 31% of dairy exports go to Europe, according to Bord Bia.

For the first seven months of this year, exports of prepared food to Europe reached 1.32bn, including the tripling of exports to Denmark in the past two years, to 24.5m.

Emerging eastern European countries, including Hungary and Romania, were also lucrative, Bord Bia said, growing 400% and 347%, respectively, over the past two years.
By Eamon Quinn

The spotlight will continue to fall on Italy as well as global tensions over the alleged killing in Istanbul of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, analysts said.

Romes new government is keeping up the pressure by not blinking in its spat with the European Commission over its budget spending plans, which Brussels has warned break the EUs spending rules.

Nonetheless, an EU official said it wont interfere with Italys economic policies, helping to reverse a slide in Italian markets, just as investor worries over EU opposition to the countrys aggressive budget were coming to a head.

Fiona Cincotta, senior market analyst at City Index, said that the spotlight will continue from Monday with the country suffering a possible downgrade of its huge debt pile.

Italian banks have tumbled across the week and are trading at their lowest level in 18 months as fears over the countrys debt and its financial sector refuse to go away. Italian banks such as UBI Banca, Banco BPM, and UniCredit declined between 3.5% to 5.5% as they are directly exposed to sovereign debt through their holdings of Italian bonds, Ms Cincotta said.

With concerns of another debt crisis rising and S&P Global widely expected to downgrade Italys credit rating, the Italian government could find themselves backed into a corner by market forces rather than succumbing to the European Commission, she added.

With the value of Italian bonds falling in recent weeks and the yield on its 10-year bond trading at 3.6%, Italian bank stocks had been hit because they hold Italian government debt on their books. For comparison, the yield on the Irish 10-year bond has crept higher but trades at just above 1%.

We advise not to hold any bank for the coming days-weeks, Valerie Gastaldy, technical strategist at Day By Day, said. Wait for the market to show a convincing bottom, and then for the sector to stabilise before buying, Ms Gastaldy said.

Global investors will probably need more good news to spur a return to Europe. Europe equity funds posted their biggest outflows in 27 weeks, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch. This brings outflows so far this year to 43.5bn. Capital Economics said the commissions letter to Italy was probably more strongly worded than expected.

The commission has called for a response from Italy by midday on Monday, but there would be no direct repercussions if that deadline were missed. Either way, the commission will give its final opinion on the draft budget by 29 October, which is likely to request that Italy re-writes the document, the economists said.

Capital Economics said that the least likely outcome was for the collapse in the Italian government over the spat.

Meanwhile, oil prices headed for a weekly loss as plentiful supplies helped offset worries that tensions between Saudi Arabia and the US over the disappearance and alleged killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi could lead to the use of crude as a political weapon.

Brent traded at $80.09 a barrel in London, up 80 cents. The contract was down 0.4% for the week.

Saudi Arabia had issued a veiled threat about using its position as a major crude supplier if the kingdom is punished for the disappearance of Mr Khashoggi.

- Additional reporting Bloomberg
The UK and the EU are inching towards a plan that could help unblock Brexit negotiations and clear the path to a deal, raising hopes of progress after months of stalemate.

While the EU summit in Brussels fell far short of the breakthrough it was long touted to be, a glimmer of hope emerged from the gloom that has descended on the process in recent weeks.

Sterling ended the week in surprisingly good shape--despite the failure of the EU leaders summit over Brexit. At 87.99 pence against the euro, the UK currency reflected the central expectation that some sort of deal will be worked out, in time, said Philip OSullivan, chief economist at Investec Ireland.

UK figures showing that public borrowing was at its lowest level in 11 years also helped the pound this week, he said.

The sterling exchange rate is key for small Irish exporters selling into Britain. They had to endure a 14% slump in sterling after the Brexit referendum in the summer of 2016.

A weak sterling against the euro can wipe out the profit margins of Irish companies selling across the Irish Sea.

The idea thats breathing new life into the Brexit negotiations is an old one: Take more time to do the deal. But its a risky one for Ms May -- members of her Conservative Party have angrily criticised her and UK Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said cabinet ministers have lots of concerns.

Both the EU and Britain now think theres merit in keeping the UK inside the blocs full membership rules for longer after it formally leaves, with an option to extend the 21-month transition period thats due to end in December 2020.

That would give negotiators more time to resolve the biggest obstacle thats blocking the road to a deal: How to avoid customs checks at the border.

There will be more difficult moments as we enter the final stages of the talks, She told reporters in Brussels. But I am convinced that we will secure a good deal that is in the interests of the UK and of the European Union. The move is a gamble for Ms May, who doesnt have a parliamentary majority and has fought off threats to her leadership for more than a year. However, pro-Brexit rebels acknowledge that they do not have the numbers to oust her.

Its been a bad month for Brexit talks. In September, Ms May was humiliated when leaders rejected her plans at a summit in Salzburg.

And last weekend, talks hit a roadblock when Ms Mays Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab travelled to meet EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier to tell him he could not accept the border solutions proposed by Brussels. That impasse dealt a fatal blow to the long-term goal of using the leaders summit to seal the terms of the divorce.

When the leaders gathered in the Belgian capital on Wednesday, they were determined to avoid another diplomatic catastrophe like Salzburg. Ms Mays 15-minute address to her fellow leaders before dinner didnt impress, and left some of them confused and frustrated. But she showed a willingness to move her position, and the EU has too, according to officials on both sides.

Ms May signalled that she was open to extending the transition period to help solve the problem of the border. In return, the EU has agreed to engage with Ms Mays proposal for the so-called backstop guarantee to avoid customs checks in Ireland--which would involve keeping the whole UK inside the EUs customs regime.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the leaders pledged on Wednesday to do everything to find a solution.

If the summit had gone badly, EU officials were weighing up the idea of calling a special summit in November to prepare themselves for a chaotic divorce without a Brexit deal. To the relief of Ms Mays team, that didnt happen.

- Bloomberg and Irish Examiner staff
By Padraig Hoare

Founders of outsourcing firm Voxpro, Dan and Linda Kiely, have been named joint Tech Person of the Year at the IT@Cork Awards.

IT@Cork is a voluntary body, made up of professionals from indigenous and multinational firms, aimed at boosting tech in the Cork region.

Mahon-headquartered Voxpro announced, this week, that it is to add 400 jobs to its Cork workforce, as well as a new office campus.

Dan and Linda Kiely, founders of Voxpro, are honoured with Corks Tech Person of the Year, at the annual it@cork Leaders Awards withchairperson Caroline O Driscoll and judge Dan Mackey of Teamwork. Picture: Diane Cusack

The firm started as a paging company in 1995, with six employees, operating out of an office above a pub on Corks Marlboro Street.

The new jobs will bring its workforce in Cork and Dublin to 3,000, with another 2,000 around the globe.

A majority stake in Voxpro was sold to Canadian firm Telus International last year, in a multi-million euro deal.

Clients of the firm include Google, Airbnb, and Nest.

Ms Kiely said Voxpro wanted to assist other indigenous firms, especially startups. I definitely want to help other companies. It would be in my DNA to do that. I am particularly interested in start-ups that are investigating uncharted territory.

Investing in people is absolutely paramount. I firmly believe that the success of Voxpro, and the reason I am here today, is down to our people, she said.

Mr Kiely said the IT@Cork Awards were a fantastic showcase of whats coming through the ranks, in terms of new ideas and new start-ups.

McKesson was named Multinational/Large Company of the Year, while cybersecurity firm Smarttech27 was named One To Watch.

Joint winner in the Tech Start-Up of the Year category were Altada and GetVisibility.

The Excellence in Education award went to Gaelcholaiste Mhuire AG, on Corks northside.

VMware International Cork was the winner in the Corporate Social Responsibility category, while the Technical Training award went to Xanadu. The Smart Technology Innovation award went to GridBeyond.

Judges included experts from Blizzard, PepsiCo, KPMG, VMware, Investec, Trend Micro, CIT, Qualcomm, National Software Centre, Cork BIC, Poppulo, Enterprise Ireland, Dell EMC, Cork County Council, Tyndall, Malwarebytes, and Teamwork.
Stephen Maguire

The King of Donegal's Tory Island, Patsy Dan Rodgers, has died.

Mr Rodgers, who was 74, passed away at Dublin's Mater Hospital following a long-term illness.

Patsy Dan, or Patsai Dan Mag Ruairdhri, had been born in the inner city suurb of Westland in Dublin in 1944 but adopted and brought to Tory island aged just four.

He soon became part of the island community and so grew a love for a place which he promoted around the globe.

A traditional musician who loved speaking the Irish language, Mr Rodgers was a true ambassador for the remote island which has a population of around 150 people.

Visitors to the island were often met by the King who welcomed them in Irish as they made their way up the steps of the pier.

Mr Rodgers was also one of the many self-taught Tory painters whose primitive artwork is hailed around the world.

He became friends with renowned artist Dr Derek Hill who set up the Tory School of Primitive Art on the island.

Patsy Dan's work featured in galleries around the world and his last exhibition was held in Donegal this summer to celebrate his fiftieth year as an artist.

He became King of Toraigh in the 1990s when the family of the last King, Padraig Og Rodgers, asked him to accept the honour of their father and become King.

He was a renowned musician, could often be seen playing the button accordion, and was awarded an honorary Master's degree by the University of Ulster in 1997.

A book published this year by Dr Art Hughes titled Ri Thorai - From City to Crag - Patsy Dan Rodgers, documented his life.

Funeral details have yet to be arranged.
Edinburgh stormed to a 40-14 win over Toulon in Heineken Champions Cup Pool 5.

A deserved bonus-point win kept their qualifying hopes on track as Ben Toolis, Henry Pyrgos, Stuart McInally and Chris Dean scored tries and Jaco van der Walt kicked 18 points.

Toulis and Pyrgos crossed as Edinburgh built up a 26-7 half-time lead, Romain Taofifenua with Toulon's response, and McInally made the lead a comfortable one early in the second half.

Daniel Ikpefan pulled another try back but Dean grabbed the bonus-point score late on, converted by Simon Hickey.

Edinburgh built up a 10-0 lead in just 15 minutes. Centre Matt Scott found a hole to make a long run and when Toulon were penalised, Van der Walt kicked the penalty.

A short-side break by Blair Kinghorn and Dougie Fife let Edinburgh hammer away on the line until penalised but the opening try was not long delayed. Prop WP Nel, bouncing off a tackle, burst into the Toulon 22 where pressure resulted in a try from Toolis converted by Van der Walt.

Toulon then put in their first attack in the 20th minute and pulled back seven points when pressure from a lineout saw the ball spread wide for lock Taofifenua to crash over, with Anthony Belleau converting.

Edinburgh responded with a fine handling break involving Kinghorn, Scott and Pyrgos, with the latter scoring under the bar to make Van der Walt's conversion simple.

As Edinburgh remained in the ascendency, their South African fly-half added three more penalties before the interval.

Five minutes after the resumption, Edinburgh pressure resulted in the third try scored by McInally with Van der Walt again converting.

Toulouse roused themselves for the rest of the half but could make nothing of Edinburgh's defence.

Particularly notable was a last-ditch tackle on Toulon winger Josua Tuisova by Simon Berghan.

With eight minutes left Ikpefan got over for Toulon and Francois Trinh-Duc converted, but Edinburgh replied with Dean's try to claim maximum points.
Rwandas President Paul Kagame on Thursday appointed a new foreign affairs minister to replace Louise Mushikiwabo.

The mini cabinet reshuffle follows the election of Mushikiwabo as secretary-general of the International Organization of La Francophonie (OIF) last week.

Richard Sezibera, a former secretary general of the East African Community regional bloc, has been appointed as new foreign minister. The 54-year old previously served as health minister.

Kagame also announced that Albert Murasira, an army general, would replace long-serving James Kabarebe as defense minister.

Kabarebe, an influential figure in the restive Great Lakes region, will now serve as a presidential advisor on security affairs.

Prof. Anastase Shyaka, who has been the CEO of Rwanda Governance Board (RGB), was appointed as the new Minister for Local Government, replacing Francis Kaboneka.

Youthful Paula Ingabire, who has been the head of ICT at Rwanda Development Board, was appointed Minister for ICT and Innovation. The other new entrant is Soraya Hakuziyaremye, who will serve as Minister for Trade and Industry, replacing Vincent Munyeshyaka.

Women make up 50 per cent of the new cabinet, 13 out of 26.

The cabinet has also been reduced from 31 down to 26 members.
At Bistro Guillaume, one chef, who asked not to be named, said some weeks they had worked up to 70 hours. ''Its like hell," the chef said. Chefs at Bistro Guillaume are paid for a 38-hour week, despite working the long hours. No overtime or penalty rates are paid and up to 20 to 30 hours a week of the work is unpaid - a clear breach of workplace laws. Brahimi could be "very friendly but also very tough," the chef said. "Hes very French, he yells ... everyone tenses up." Many of the chefs are on temporary visas, including from France, the UK and South America.

Guillaume Brahimi moved to Australia at 23 and has run some of Australia's finest restaurants. Credit:James Brickwood In a statement, the restaurant did not deny the excessive work hours or that some of its workforce was being underpaid. It said it had never been its "intention" to underpay staff. Brahimi did not respond to a request for an interview. "This matter comes as a surprise to us and we have not received any complaints from our team," the statement said. "As a business, we care for and respect all our employees. It has never been our intention at Bistro Guillaume to not remunerate our team appropriately." It said if the issue had been brought to them "it would certainly have been given the highest priority and rectified".

Last service for Guillaume Brahimi's Bennelong restaurant, New Year's Eve 2013. Credit:Anthony Johnson Brahimi, through a public relations representative, would not respond to questions whether working conditions at Bistro Guillaume restaurants in Sydney and Perth were similar to Melbourne. The Fairfax Media investigation has obtained rosters and pay-slips from over the last year which show chefs working up to four double shifts a week. A double shift can run from about 9am and finish at midnight or 1am the next day - a 15 or 16-hour day. Hourly pay at Bistro Guillaume - which is above the minimum rates of the award- falls well below the legal minimum award wage once the amount of hours worked is factored in.

As a result some chefs would be underpaid hundreds of dollars a week. The hospitality industry has a culture of long and unsociable hours, and the restaurant award allows management to "buy out" penalties and overtime for a 25 per cent higher hourly rate. However, under the buy-out, permanent workers must still be paid more than the award overall. It is a breach of workplace laws for an employer to require excessive unpaid overtime that pushes wages below minimum legal rates. Lobby group Restaurant & Catering Australia recently conceded the industry had a problem that extended beyond isolated cases and was now working with the Fair Work Ombudsman.

Celebrity chef George Calombaris has also been forced to re-pay workers after underpaying them, while Shannon Bennett's Vue de Monde has denied reports it has underpaid its staff. Loading In response to the problems at his own business, Neil Perry told Fairfax Media recently that Rockpool would be one of only a few restaurants now complying with workplace laws. "We have made a few changes to better reflect the award," he said. "It's always hard in restaurants, but I believe we would be one of very few, if any, that are complying with it currently.' In an interview with Fairfaxs Good Food earlier this year, Brahimi, 51, said he had mellowed and would tell his 21- year-old self to "think before screaming".
57 LAWSON 

15+, 70 minutes. Australian Centre for the Moving Image, Friday, October 27

The illusion of permanence and the intimate reality of change are the underpinning themes for this Australian independent feature, which deserves wider exposure in Melbourne than a sole screening. Built around long, considered takes from a camera that is physically fixed and philosophically free, Ben Ferris' film examines the day-to-day realities at the Poet's Corner apartments in the inner-Sydney suburb of Redfern. Beginning with the rhythms of the building itself, there all hints of Chantal Akerman's Jeanne Dielman, 23 Commerce Quay, 1080 Brussels alongside the prevailing minimalism of Slow Cinema as residents offer access to their lives. The sparseness leaves you alert to moments of happenstance  an elderly woman breaks into song off camera while tidying her kitchen  and nocturnal transitions, while the arrival of bureaucrats (played by actors) looking to relocate the multicultural and often ageing residents to facilitate commercial redevelopment makes clear both what is at stake and what Ferris is trying to preserve. Documentary and drama intertwine, but the outcome is a particularly cinematic truth.

Ben Ferris' film 57 Lawson examines the day-to-day realities at the Poet's Corner apartments in the inner-Sydney suburb of Redfern.

JEWISH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

(jiff.com.au). Cameo, Classic, and Lido Cinemas, Tuesday, October 24, to Wednesday, November 21.

"My comedy was just to make things all right," says the late comedian Gilda Radner in the deeply engaging documentary Love, Gilda (, CTC, 87 minutes), and throughout Lisa D'Apolito's film there's friction between her upbringing and her expectations, her humour and her self-doubt, and the demands of the success that came to her in the wake of Saturday Night Live becoming a huge American television hit in 1975 versus the underdog mentality that percolated through so many of her characters. Stars who've followed in Radner's steps, such as Amy Poehler and Melissa McCarthy, read from her extensive writings, while the archival footage is a treasure trove as the gifted comic plays off the likes of Martin Short, Steve Martin and Bill Murray. Radner, who died in 1989 from ovarian cancer, had a joyous smile and eating disorders, and the film's success is to contain a multitude of facets that informed her personal life while capturing her genius as a public performer. There's a final television appearance from 1988, alongside Garry Shandling, that is masterful for how it transmutes years of suffering.
Living with a severely unsettled baby has been described as a form of torture. For Laura Conway, its an experience still seared into her memory.

When her youngest was an infant, the reflux-troubled child went through months of sleeping only in 45-minute stints. The little boy would wake up screaming, emitting a noise that Laura compared to a jackhammer.

I remember going to drop my older daughter off at childcare, and saying to the worker I probably shouldnt even be allowed out of the house, Im just so tired, she said.

It was relentless.
Plastic surgeons who pander to social media to create on-trend procedures and advertise their practices have earned a stern rebuke at their Breast Masters Symposium in Sydney.

Professor Emerita Nichola Rumsey, a leading international expert on appearance psychology, delivered a scathing assessment of the cosmetic industrys role in the unrelenting rise of poor body image.

Professor Nichola Rumsey is very concerned about the unfettered rise of low body image and the role of plastic surgeons. Credit:Louise Kennerley

Speaking at the Australian Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons Symposium (ASAPS) Professor Rumsey said she was deeply uncomfortable with the advertising and social media marketing plastic surgeons engaged in.

Some were using soft-porn images on Instagram and other social media that gives patients unrealistic expectations of the likely outcomes, contributes to negative body image and it should change, said Professor Rumsey from the University of the West of England and honorary member of the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons.
A 35-year-old man has been arrested in Queensland in relation to the alleged murder of a South Australian man found dead in a "cannabis grow house".

The body of a 46-year-old man was found at an address in Para Vista, about 20 kilometres north-east of Adelaide, on October 12

A man has been arrested in Ipswich, Queensland in relation to the murder of a South Australian man. Credit:Glenn Hunt/Fairfax Media

Queensland's homicide squad and a special emergency response team squad arrested his alleged killer, from Murray Bridge, South Australia, at an Ipswich motel on Friday without incident.

He appeared in court in Ipswich later that day, when SA Police sought his extradition to Adelaide on Saturday to face an eventual charge of murder.
A 32-year-old woman has had her head smashed into a table and mirror after an alleged assault in Brisbane's south.

Police said a man attended a Colvillea Street home at Eight Mile Plains on Saturday afternoon, claiming to work in the property industry.

The man allegedly pushed the woman's head into a table near the front door and a mirror after she had told him the house was not for sale.

The woman received facial cuts from the attack and and decorative items on the table were destroyed.
Cameroons Constitutional Council on Thursday rejected the remaining two poll petitions for nullification of Oct. 7 presidential election. The verdict was pronounced late in the night after a heated debate between lawyers of the opposition parties and the ruling party.

The two petitions were filed by main opposition Social Democratic Front, SDF, and the Cameroon Renaissance Movement, CRM, led by Maurice Kamto.

Joshua Osih, the flagbearer of the SDF had decried what he described as a state of apartheid in English-speaking regions, where most people could not cast votes due to insecurity.

On Wednesday, Kamto, through his lawyers, argued that the election should be nullified in seven out of 10 regions in the country because of massive irregularities, insecurity in troubled Anglophone regions and fraud.

However, the Constitutional Court in its ruling said the case was dismissed because it lacks legal backing and proofs.

More than 200,000 people have been displaced because of violence by both separatists and the military in the English-speaking Northwest and Southwest regions, with many towns simply abandoned.

Sixteen of eighteen petitions were dismissed by the Council on the first day of its sitting earlier this week.

According to the Electoral Code, the decision of the Constitutional Council is final, and the final results of the election are expected to be declared by the Council by Oct. 22.
Twelve people wrestling to reach a verdict in a trial is hard enough, jurors say; asking them to then decide an offender's sentence would be mayhem.

Jurors from 124 Victorian County Court trials were asked if they should play a role in sentencing in a four-part survey led by Monash University professor Arie Freiberg.

Almost 1000 jurors were asked - after guilty verdicts and before sentencing - if they should recommend a sentence and the factors a judge should consider, according to the study recently published in the Alternative Law Journal.

The jurors, who sat through trials between 2013 and 2015, were divided. A narrow majority, 52 per cent, said they should play a part in helping the judge to decide the factors to take into account, but less than a third wanted to suggest the type and length of the sentence.
The Morrison government has abandoned plans for a $10 million campaign promoting the Great Barrier Reef's promising future, after a public backlash over its failure to address climate change and protect the natural wonder.

An eminent reef scientist has also slammed as "not scientifically credible" claims by a charity gifted $444 million for reef conservation efforts that it will "climate-proof" the tourism icon.

Fairfax Media has learned the government has scrapped the $10 million reef communication campaign outlined in this year's federal budget.

The Morrison government has abandoned a $10 million pubic relations campaign to raise hopes about the future of the reef. Credit:

The campaign would have sought to give the public hope that the reef can be saved and outlined action being taken to protect it, after devastating back-to-back coral bleaching events brought on by climate change.
It's time for us to wrap up now this historic victory for Kerryn Phelps is clear.

Having secured a far greater swing than she needed, with 50 per cent of votes counted, Phelps is projected by the AEC to win with about about 54 per cent to Liberal Dave Sharma's 46 per cent.

A well-known GP and activist, Phelps will advance a socially progressive and economically conservative agenda. She has highlighted climate change and asylum seekers as pressing issues for her electors. The strength of her victory sets her up as a longtime MP who could be extremely difficult to dislodge.

As Fairfax Media has reported, the Liberal Party was very pessimistic about this but I'm not sure anyone really expected a loss this emphatic.

To lose this prized blue-ribbon seat, which has been held by the Liberals as long as the party has existed, is a devastating loss for the government. The swing of over 20 per cent is easily the largest against a government in any byelection in Australian political history.

We will now have a hung Parliament for the second time in a decade. The Coalition no longer has a 76-seat majority and will need the support of crossbenchers  including Phelps  to guarantee confidence and supply and pass legislation. Labor, which is renewing its calls for a general election now, will immediately be looking at testing the government's control of the Parliament.

And the Liberal Party will need to face up to why this happened. There will be heated debates about ideology and policy direction, especially on climate change, and the role of Malcolm Turnbull  both his demise and decision to quit Parliament immediately and not campaign in the seat. Scott Morrison has a mammoth task ahead of him.
The former NSW education minister and ex-Nationals MP, Adrian Piccoli, has accused the Catholic Church of "hoodwinking and bullying" federal politicians into giving its schools more money, and warned his old party the deal left country schools short-changed.

In a letter to NSW Nationals leader John Barilaro, Professor Piccoli urged his one-time colleagues to resist church pressure to sign off on the federal government's $4.6 billion private school funding deal.

The former NSW education minister Adrian Piccoli is urging his former colleagues not to be fooled by the Catholic Church. Credit:Louie Douvis

NSW Catholic Schools rejected Dr Piccoli's comments as "offensive and unjustified" and offered to debate him on the issue in the Nationals' party room.

"While the Catholic Church has managed to hoodwink and bully the Commonwealth Government into offering this new deal, I urge you not to succumb to the same tactics," Dr Piccoli said in the letter, sent last week.
The Queensland premier will present the Duke and Duchess of Sussex a hand-made teddy bear from the state's sheep country for their impending first child when the couple visit Fraser Island on Monday.

Tambo, a tiny town boasting a population of just 345, rejuvenated their economy in the midst of crippling drought by producing unique teddy bears, stuffed with wool, out of woollen pelts.

The Tambo Teddies store in Tambo, Queensland. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

Twenty-five years on and Tambo Teddies have made their way into bedrooms around the world.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk says the gift is a reminder of the importance of Queensland's fine wool industry and the extent to which western parts of the state have suffered from drought.
Ankara: Saudi Arabian prosecutors have said they believe Saudi writer Jamal Khashoggi was killed in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul in a quarrel. A royal court adviser close to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has been fired.

State media also quotes prosecutors as saying that 18 Saudi nationals are being held on suspicion of being involved in the Khashoggi's death.

A statement from the Saudi public prosecutor said a fight broke out between Khashoggi and people who met him in the consulate and led to his death.

"The investigations are still underway and 18 Saudi nationals have been arrested," the statement on state media said, adding that royal court adviser Saud al-Qahtani and deputy intelligence chief Ahmed Asiri have been fired from their positions.
Abdulaziz, who has asylum in Canada, said he had been working on several projects with Khashoggi that may have given the Saudi leadership more reason to want him out of the way. Khashoggi had sent him $US5000 for a project they called "the bees" - an initiative to build an online "army" inside Saudi Arabia to challenge pro-government trolls on the internet. The pair were also working on a short film, a website tracking human rights, and a pro-democracy project, Abdulaziz said. This work was supposed to be secret. But Abdulaziz said he was targeted by Saudi spyware this summer. "They had everything," he said. "They saw the messages between us. They listened to the calls." Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was an outspoken critic of the Saudi regime. Credit:AP In the recording made by Abdulaziz, the two visitors say repeatedly that they had come personally from the crown prince. They also mention that they were working on orders from Saud al-Qahtani, a top strategist and enforcer for Mohammed. It was Qahtani who, Khashoggi told friends, called him in the months before his disappearance, urging him to end his self-imposed exile and return to Saudi Arabia.

Abdulaziz originally left Saudi Arabia in 2009 to study in Canada, he said. He built a Twitter following during the Arab Spring and then, while at McGill University in Montreal, he started a popular YouTube show known for criticising and satirising the Saudi leadership. He gained permanent residency in Canada in 2014. Abdulaziz and Khashoggi struck up a friendship after the Saudi journalist moved to Washington in the summer of 2017. "He was lonely when he left," Abdulaziz said. "We started to talk about living abroad away from our families, how is life and the projects we are going to do ... Jamal was a father, a friend." Loading "The bee army" was Abdulaziz's idea, but he said Khashoggi liked it. As he criticized the Saudi leadership as a contributing columnist to the Post, Khashoggi had encountered the pro-government Twitter accounts that Saudi activists refer to as "the flies". "Jamal was insulted so much by the Saudi bots," Abdulaziz said. "They were focusing on Jamal as he was the voice in the Western media."

Abdulaziz said he suggested an online countermovement. He just needed some cash to get it off the ground. "We call them 'the fly army,'" he said. "We call ourselves 'the bee army'." The plan, he recounted, was to buy SIM cards with Canadian and American numbers that Saudis inside the kingdom could use. Twitter accounts must be verified with a phone number, and activists in Saudi Arabia are scared of linking their Saudi numbers to their Twitter accounts, fearful they could be traced and arrested for being critical of the government, he said. They'd already allocated 200 SIM cards to people. Loading Khashoggi had also asked Abdulaziz to help on a short film showing how the Saudi leadership was dividing the country and on a logo design for a foundation he was forming, Democracy for Arab World Now. Abdulaziz was also helping Khashoggi design a website to track human rights issues. But Khashoggi was particularly apprehensive about the SIM card project. "He told me this project is too dangerous," Abdulaziz said. "He told me to be careful ... Twitter is the only platform we have, we don't have a parliament."

In a June 21 message, Khashoggi wrote to Abdulaziz: "I will try to get the money ... We should do something. You know sometimes I'm [affected] by their attacks." Two days later, Abdulaziz placed an order on Amazon. He clicked a link sent to his phone to track a parcel delivery. He suspects that the action infected his phone. Loading The Citizen Lab, a University of Toronto project that investigates digital espionage against civil society, warned him in August that his phone may have been hacked. Two weeks ago, the group concluded with a "high degree of confidence" that his mobile phone had been targeted, by an operator linked to "Saudi Arabia's government and security services". Abdulaziz said one of the men had been making overtures to get him back to Saudi Arabia for several months. If the man had a message, he could bring it to Canada, Abdulaziz recalled telling him. He could have a new start in Saudi Arabia, they said. He said he was coming and set up a WhatsApp group called "New Era" on March 30, a screen shot shows.

Khashoggi had counselled Abdulaziz to be sure to meet the men in public places and by no means return to the kingdom with them. "He said, 'If you want to take money, it's your decision,' " Abdulaziz recalled. "'But do not go back; do not trust them.' " The two Saudi visitors began their pitch to Abdulaziz at the May 15 meeting in Montreal's Juliette et Chocolat cafe as Neil Diamond's Sweet Caroline played in the background. Khashoggi is a "headache", but he was thinking of returning to Saudi Arabia, one man said. Abdulaziz should, too. "Omar, to deal with you, we didn't want to come from a minister or an ambassador. We wanted to come from the top of the pyramid, the prince," one man said. "No one can better deal with this subject than the prince himself." The Post has listened to more than 10 hours of recordings provided by Abdulaziz, which he says were taped during meetings with the men over four days in May. The file data shows that the recordings were made at the times he specifies. Contemporaneous WhatsApp messages about the visit also jibe with his story. Abdulaziz asked that the men not be identified. He said he does not know if they were working for Saudi intelligence or had been forced by the government to try to bring him back. The men, both public figures who have spoken in support of the crown prince, did not answer calls or respond to questions. One said he would send a response but did not. Calls to a Saudi Foreign Ministry spokesman went unanswered.

The tone of much of the conversation is jovial and friendly. "They started with the carrots," Abdulaziz explained. "Trying to convince me to go back, bringing my brother." Loading He believed then that they wanted to bring him back to the kingdom, pay him off, and use his wide following on social media for Saudi propaganda, he said. At one point in the conversation, the men urged him to visit the Saudi Embassy with them to pick up a new passport - a request he now sees as potentially sinister since Khashoggi vanished inside the consulate in Istanbul. Over caramel coffees, the two men elaborate on the options. A scenario in which Abdulaziz returns to Saudi Arabia is a win-win situation, one man says. "Omar is a beneficiary or a winner, because he is going back home," he says. "The second side, the state, is a winner and is happy as well."

Abdulaziz's return could help polish the kingdom's image, they said. The government had already spent millions of dollars on the crown prince's Washington visit to enhance it. "This shows the kingdom is ready to take such a step," he says. But in the second scenario, everyone loses, the man continued. "Omar is a loser because he is going to jail," he said, adding that he would be "caught at the airport". The government would also lose. Since Abdulaziz is not a significant opposition figure, any "information" obtained from him if he was detained "would not be much use for the state". But the government would be harmed by the "propaganda" from human rights groups and media covering his detention, they said. At points, the conversation turns to how much money Abdulaziz could be paid if he accepted their offer. He says Saudi Arabia owes him about $US316,000 for cutting off the government tuition payments for his scholarship. "I will take the money. I will give it to the homeless in Montreal, give it to the cancer hospital or buy a new watch and break it," he says in another one of the meetings. "It's not anyone's business."

During the discussions, Abdulaziz stayed in touch with Yahya Assiri, a Saudi human rights activist in London. "I kept asking him, 'Do you want anything? Do you want to find a compromise with them?' " Assiri said. "He said, 'No, no, no, I want to see what they want from me.' In my opinion, it was clear what they wanted. They wanted him to go back. To get rid of his work and silence him." Abdulaziz said he never had any intention of returning. The men said they wouldn't transfer any money before he returned. He turned down the offer, and the men ultimately left Montreal without him. In early August, Abdulaziz's two younger brothers were arrested in Saudi Arabia along with eight of his friends, he said, stopping to hold back the tears. He messaged one of the men who visited him in May. "I understand you are a middle man," he said, according to message screen shots. "Ask them their demands." The reply came back, and it referred to the "bees". "The group spoke a lot about the social media accounts. And they know that you have them." But Abdulaziz said he can't give in. "They hacked my phone and jailed my brothers, kidnapped and maybe killed my friend," he said. "I'm not going to stop."
In the months before the disappearance of columnist Jamal Khashoggi, Saudi Arabia's government racked up a startling record of human rights abuses.

It has led a coalition waging a brutal war in neighbouring Yemen, which has killed thousands of civilians, including 40 children whose school bus was bombed in August. Saudi officials have jailed dissidents, businesspeople, clerics and journalists, as well as royal rivals to the country's de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was an outspoken critic of the Saudi regime. Credit:AP

None of the Saudi's atrocities and trespasses generated sustained outrage, at least not in the West. Thanks to crafty public relations management, Salman until recently enjoyed an image as a progressive reformer and staunch American ally. On a recent goodwill tour of the United States, he was cordially received by the likes of Amazon founder and Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Oprah Winfrey and Rupert Murdoch.

The apparent murder of Khashoggi in Saudi Arabia's consulate in Istanbul appears to have changed all that.
With 92 mayors and 18 regional councilors, Ivorian President Alassane Ouattaras ruling alliance won a majority in local elections that were contested by its former coalition ally Henri Konan Bedie.

The PDCI, led by Henri Konan Bedie, alleged electoral fraud and filed appeals before the countrys Supreme Court, challenging the results in several constituencies.

Violence broke out after some of the results were disputed and protesters took to the streets in the northwestern region of Seguela.

The violence has officially claimed the lives of five people. The elections will be held again in Port-Bouet, in the south of Abidjan, following the clashes.

These local elections were the first since Ouattara, 76, took office seven years ago following almost a decade of conflict.

Independent candidates got 56 municipalities, the electoral commission said.

The PDCI backed Ouattara in 2010 and 2015 presidential elections but wants to nominate its own candidate in 2020.

Bedie announced last month that his party was quitting the ruling coalition, even as his partys ministers remain in government.

Bedie, 84, served as president of the former French colony from 1993 to 1999.

Under Ouattara, the worlds top cocoa producer has routinely recorded some of the highest economic growth rates in Africa on the back of record cocoa production.
Vedanta will be the first private company to look into the prospects of unconventional hydrocarbon in oil and gas fields, after the government in August allowed operators to explore all unconventional hydrocarbons  including shale, coal bed methane and hydrates  in an area licensed to it. The company will kick off the initial testing for shale by December. We will be starting testing for shale by the end of this year and exploration over the ...

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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.

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Dear Reader,

Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance.

We, however, have a request.



As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed.



Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard.



Digital Editor
The Ethiopian government on Thursday announced the release of 1,174 youth arrested over violent protests in and around the capital Addis Ababa last month.

The unrest escalated on the day of a rally marking the return to Ethiopia of leaders of the exiled Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), which had waged a four-decade insurgency for self-determination for Ethiopias largest ethnic group.

According to Amnesty International, 83 people are to be put before courts on suspicion of committing crimes.

Police Chief Jemal Zeinu disclosed that the soon-to-be released detainees had undergone a month-long training in the area of staying away from crimes and other related issues.

Those found to be without employment were to be engaged in various work sectors by organizing them in micro and small enterprise in collaboration with the city administration, he said.

Ethiopian authorities have in recent months made a commendable attempt to empty the countrys prisons of arbitrary detainees. The Abiy-led government has since April been tagged an administration that had done a lot to break from the past of arbitrary arrests.

Ethiopias Oromo, who make up about a third of the population, have long complained of being marginalized during decades of authoritarian rule by governments led by politicians from other smaller ethnic groups.
Many panic-stricken family members of those killed or wounded in the Amritsar searched frantically from one hospital to another to know about the fate of their loved ones as the festive spirit drowned in sorrow and shock following the tragic incident.



Forty of the 59 people killed in the have been identified so far and the bodies of 36 of were cremated, officials said Saturday.

At least 59 people were killed and 72 injured Friday evening after a crowd of Dussehra revellers that had spilled onto railway tracks while watching burning of Ravana effigy was run over by a train near here, officials said.

BSP chief Mayawati Saturday demanded that a through investigation be conducted into the Amritsar and those found guilty of negligence be punished.

"My son, Jugu, is missing since the train accident. I went to Civil Hospital and Guru Govind Hospital, but I am unable to find him," Sushila, who lives in a nearby area, told PTI.

Lakhmeet, another person who was looking for his brother-in-law and found him in a hospital, said: "I was shocked when I heard about the train accident. I got a call from home that my brother-in-law Sujeet, who went out to watch Dussehra celebrations last evening, had not come back home.

"All family members rushed to Guru Govind Hospital, where I was told Sujeet is admitted at Civil Hospital," he said.

Several other distraught family members of those injured or killed in the accident also had to search from one hospital to another to locate their loved ones.

The train was coming from Jalandhar when the accident occurred at Joda Phatak near Amritsar, where at least 300 people were watching 'Ravana dahan' at a ground adjacent to the tracks.

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh Saturday ordered a magisterial inquiry into the accident after visiting the injured and the kin of those killed in the tragedy.

Most people who were mowed down by the speeding train were migrant workers from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

A senior official in the district administration said most migrant workers from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar work in an industrial area at a stone's throw away from the accident site and live nearby.

The bodies of four other persons, who belonged to Uttar Pradesh, have been sent to their home towns by the district administration, an official said.

According to officials, the post-mortem examination on 29 bodies has been done.



Meanwhile, the Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS) said the Amritsar tragedy won't be probed as it was not a railway accident but a case of trespassing on rail tracks.

The Commission of Railway Safety works under the administrative control of the Ministry of Civil Aviation and conducts mandatory inquiry into all railway accidents - at unmanned level crossings, derailments or after a bridge collapse.

"The Commission conducts statutory investigation into railway accidents. This was an incident where people were trespassing on the tracks and not an accident," Railway Board chairman Ashwani Lohani said.
It was just another Dussehra celebration, with revellers cheering as Ravana's effigy was set aflame. Some even captured the episode on their mobile cameras.

None could have imagined the tragedy that was about to unfold. At least 61 people were killed and 72 injured on Friday evening after a crowd of Dussehra revellers that had spilt onto the railway tracks while watching the burning of Ravana effigy was run over by a train, officials said. The train was coming from Jalandhar when the accident occurred at Joda Phatak near Amritsar, where at least 500-600 people were watching ...
The BJP on Saturday demanded the arrest of former MLA and the organiser of the celebrations in Joda Phatak here, where at least 59 people were killed after being run over by a train.

Navjot Kaur Sidhu, the wife of Punjab minister Navjot Singh Sidhu, was the chief guest at the event held on Friday. She was accused of leaving the site of accident without bothering about the victims.

"(Navjot Kaur) Sidhu's lie that she was not aware of the people standing on the railway tracks is exposed. She is repeatedly being told, according to new video evidence, that there are people on the tracks and even if the trains arrive, nothing will happen to them," senior BJP leader Rajinder Mohan Singh Chinna said in a statement.

He said the inquiry ordered into the incident by Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh was a "mere eyewash".



He alleged that and were telling "one lie after another".

Earlier on Saturday, said several announcements were made from the stage at the event, requesting people to come inside the Dhobi ghat to watch the burning effigies.

The families who have lost their loved ones have been ruined and the Sidhus are trying to save themselves, Chinna said, adding that the incident was a "major administrative failure".

"The organisers seemed to have no regard for the law and the rules," he said.



He claimed that a video of the incident showed the organisers goading the people to stay on the railway track to appease Navjot Kaur Sidhu.

"Words are not enough to mourn the Amritsar train tragedy that claimed so many innocent lives. The incident needs to be probed as it casts a serious question on administration," he said.

The BJP leader said responsibility must be fixed from the top of the administration and not from the bottom.

At the time of the tragic incident on Friday, at least 300 people were watching the 'Ravana dahan' at the ground adjacent to the elevated rail tracks.
Scores of people Saturday staged a sit-in on the railway tracks where 61 people were mowed down by a train during a Dussehra event.

The protesters raised slogans against the state government and demanded action against the train driver.

One of the protesters alleged the train passed the area at a high speed and that the driver did not slow down the train despite the presence of a large crowd.

At least 61 people were killed and 72 injured Friday evening after a crowd of Dussehra revellers that had spilled onto railway tracks while watching burning of Ravana effigy was run over by a train near here, officials said.



The train was coming from Jalandhar when the accident occurred at Joda Phatak near Amritsar, where at least 300 people were watching 'Ravana dahan' at a ground adjacent to the tracks.



Thousands of people have gathered at the accident site since morning. Police have made elaborate arrangements to manage the crowd.
Punjab Chief Minister Saturday ordered a magisterial inquiry into the Amritsar after visiting injured and kin of those killed in the tragedy.

The chief minister postponed a trip to Israel and arrived this morning to assess the damage.

"We are announcing a magisterial probe into the incident," Singh said while talking to media.

ALSO READ: Railway Minister condoles loss of lives in Amritsar train accident

He said four weeks have been given to submit the report to find out who was at fault. The divisional commissioner of Jalandhar has been entrusted with the job of holding the inquiry, he said.

At least 59 people were killed Friday evening after a crowd of Dussehra revellers that had spilled onto railway tracks while watching the burning of a Ravana effigy was run over by a train near Joda Phatak here.

At least 300 people were watching the 'Ravana dahan' at a ground adjacent to railway tracks.

He said compensation of Rs 500,000 each for the families of the deceased had already been announced by the state government. Besides, the government would bear the cost of medical treatments of the injured admitted to different hospitals, he told reporters.

Fifty-nine people were killed and 57 injured in the accident, he said, adding except nine, most of the bodies have been identified.

After landing at the Amritsar airport, Singh reached the accident site. He met senior officials and members of the crisis management group and took stock of the relief work.

He was accompanied by Health Minister Brahm Mohindra, Local Bodies Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu, Education Minister O P Soni, Punjab Congress chief Sunil Jakhar, among others.
Nimala Sitharaman met Singapore's Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean on the sidelines of the ASEAN Defence Ministers' Meet here on Saturday.

The 12th ASEAN Defence Ministers' Meeting (ADMM) and the 5th ADMM-Plus are being held in Singapore and attended by the defence ministers from the ASEAN countries.

The two day conference which began on Friday is also attended by defence ministers from Australia, China, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, Russia, and the US.

"Smt Sitharaman in a courtesy meeting with Mr Teo Chee Hean, Deputy PM of Singapore on the sidelines of ASEAN Defence Ministers' Meet (Plus) in Singapore," Office of said in a tweet along with the pictures.

Sitharaman is scheduled to meet her Singaporean counterpart Ng Eng Heng later in the day.

Earlier, she spoke on terrorism at the Fifth ASEAN Defence Ministers' Meeting-Plus (ADMM-Plus).



"We condemn terrorism in all its forms and manifestations given that it constitutes one of the most serious threats to international peace and security," said a joint statement by the ADMM-Plus Defence Ministers on 'Preventing and Countering the Threat of Terrorism'.

"We reaffirm that any acts of terrorism are criminal and unjustifiable regardless of their motivations, whenever, wherever, and by whomsoever committed, and remain determined to contribute further to enhancing the effectiveness of the overall effort to fight this scourge on a global level," it said.

The ministers emphasised the importance of cooperation between states and their competent bodies who bear the primary responsibility in preventing and combatting terrorism.

"We call upon all states to fulfil their international counter-terrorism obligations, including taking lawful steps to prevent the commission of terrorist acts, eliminating the financing of terrorism and other material support there to, suppressing the flow of foreign terrorist fighters, and preventing the recruitment and movement of terrorists,"it said.

The ADMM-Plus Ministers also reaffirmed the grouping as a key component of a robust, effective and open regional security architecture that promotes mutual trust and confidence among the defence establishments.

This is the second time that Singapore is chairing the since its establishment in 2006 and the first time to chair the ADMM-Plus since its establishment in 2010.

ASEAN is a regional intergovernmental organisation comprising 10 Southeast Asian countries, which promotes international cooperation and facilitates economic, political, security, military, educational, and sociocultural integration.
AAP chief and Chief Minister will launch a campaign on Sunday to seek votes and donations from residents of his New Delhi Assembly constituency for the 2019 Lok Sabha election, the party said on Saturday.

In the door-to-door campaign, Kejriwal will visit the New Delhi constituency areas, the party said in a statement.

"Huge door-to-door campaign starts tomorrow. We will reach every voter n explain why they should vote AAP ann not BJP, how voting for Cong in Del will mean voting for BJP. We will also ask for donations from each voter(sic)," Kejriwal tweeted.

The AAP leaders and workers, including Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, will also approach people for votes and donations across the city in the campaign that will continue till announcement of the Lok Sabha election next year.

The party will endeavour to convince the voters to support AAP by explaining them the "failures" of the sitting BJP members of Parliament in Delhi and the achievements of the party government, it said.

Kejriwal had launched the party's donation campaign "Aap Ka Daan, Rashtra Ka Nirman," at Talkatora stadium here on Monday.

The party has announced its in-charges for for all the seven parliamentary seats currently held by BJP MPs in Delhi.

"An important element of the campaign will be to inform the voters that seven Lok Sabha MPs should be those who can strengthen the hands of the Kejriwal government. What is important is who thinks about the welfare of Delhi and not who will be the Prime Minister of the country," it said.

Party volunteers will ask people to compare the performance of seven BJP MPs with that of the government during the campaign.

They will inform people about "cheap" electricity in Delhi, free water, major improvement in schools, free treatment, reining in of fee hike by private schools and Mohalla Clinics.

The AAP will also "strongly" raise the issue of Metro fare hike and sealing drive, during the Lok Sabha election campaign and will "expose the silence" of BJP MPs on these important issues, it said.
There was never any doubt about the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) anti-minority electoral gambits but the agenda has now been unambiguously and forcefully articulated by the party's friend, philosopher and guide, the (RSS).

Delivering the organisation's customary message on the occasion of Dussehra/Vijay Dashami, its chief, Mohan Bhagwat, has left no stone unturned about what the government should immediately do -- which is to start building the Ram temple in Ayodhya even by enacting an ordinance.

By pointedly ignoring the fact that the issue is currently before the Supreme Court, the RSS chief has taken the party and the brotherhood to the days of the Ramjanmabhoomi movement in the 1990s when the saffron storm-troopers used to say that the courts can have no say in a matter of faith.

Apart from a reiteration of this aggressive "religious" stance, Bhagwat's directive to the BJP to get down to business and not dilly-dally any longer on building the temple has scrapped Atal Behari Vajpayee's decision in 1996 to put in cold storage the three "core" issues of the -- building the temple, doing away with Article 370 of the Constitution conferring special status on Jammu and Kashmir, and introducing a uniform civil code

That the negation of Vajpayee's wishes has been done in the year of his death is not without significance. It remains to be seen whether the RSS will give any "advice" to the government on the two other issues -- Article 370 and the uniform civil code.

But why the sudden hurry about constructing the temple? There may be two reasons. One is that it is the last throw of the dice by the party and the parivar in an election season to consolidate its vote bank of communal-minded Hindus at a time when the less than favourable economic scene may make sections of the liberal Hindus, who voted for the BJP in 2014, drift away.

The other is the realisation in the saffron brotherhood that it is now or never where the temple is concerned since the BJP is unlikely to get a majority on its own in the Lok Sabha in 2019. The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) led by it may get it, but it will not be easy for the BJP to persuade some of its allies such as the Janata Dal (United) -- which has opposed the BJP's favourite triple talaq ordinance -- and the Akali Dal to endorse a construction programme which cannot but alienate the minorities.

Notwithstanding BJP president Amit Shah's conviction that the party will reign for half a century, there may be an awareness in the organisation that the 2014 outcome was the result of several unforeseen events -- the Congress's sudden and somewhat inexplicable collapse and Modi's emergence (against the wishes of several in his party) as some kind of a messiah. From this standpoint, 2019 will not be the same as 2014.

Ever since the party and the parivar sensed that the mantras of neither "achhe din" (good days) nor "sabka saath, sabka vikas" (development for all) is evoking a favourable response, the focus of the saffron propaganda has been on Hindu-Muslim polarisation.

Whether it is extending the scope of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) from Assam to other states or the removal of long-established Muslim names in Uttar Pradesh like Mughalsarai and Allahabad, the BJP's aim has been to send the message that Muslims will be under pressure to prove the genuineness of their citizenship and that India's multi-cultural past will be erased as Hindu rashtra takes root.

Along with the direct and indirect offensive against Muslims, the parivar is also intent on confirming its Hindu credentials by opposing the Supreme Court's verdict allowing women of all ages to enter the Sabarimala temple in Kerala on the grounds it violates centuries-old beliefs.

The Sabarimala episode enables the RSS and the BJP to try and kill two birds with one stone. One is to project themselves as the standard-bearers of Hinduism, and the other is to flaunt a defiance of the Supreme Court.

The court has aroused the saffron lobby's ire ever since it delivered a series of "progressive" judgments (of which Sabarimala is one) such as the one upholding the rights of privacy, which the government argued was an elitist concept, and the other was to decriminalise homosexuality in a case from which the government recused itself evidently because while the legalisation went against the BJP's crusty orthodoxy, the party could not afford to be seen as living in Victorian times.

Sabarimala has given an opportunity to the RSS and the BJP to defy the apex court and suggest that it is not right all the time. The defiance may have also been motivated by the #MeToo movement which has claimed the scalp of a Union minister and persuaded another minister to say that those who support the movement are "perverted".

Among the others who also answer to the description of being perverted are the so-called "Urban Naxalites", a new form of abuse coined by the RSS and the BJP for the Left-Liberals who have always been called anti-nationals. Not surprisingly, another of the RSS chief's advice to the government was to keep the "Urban Naxalites" under surveillance.

It will be interesting to know what those "secularists" who interacted with the RSS recently like former President Pranab Mukherjee and the business tycoon, Ratan Tata, think of the pitch for the temple and the castigation of "Urban Naxalites".

(Amulya Ganguli is a political analyst. The views expressed are personal. He can be reached at amulyaganguli@gmail.com)
While the ruling is thinking of not giving tickets to 70-80 of its sitting MLAs for the forthcoming Assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh, the opposition is almost ready to renominate 42 out of its 57 legislators.

MP goes to polls on November 28 and counting of votes will be taken up on December 11. The state has a 230-member House.

A leader, on condition of anonymity, told PTI Saturday that renominate these 42 MLAs who are likely to renominated was found to be satisfactory.

"In fact MP chief Kamal Nath is not in favour of dropping sitting MLAs without a valid reason from the first nomination list of 71 candidates which is going to come out shortly," he said.

He said that a final list of candidates had been prepared and has been submitted to Congress chief Rahul Gandhi who will take a call on it.

"There is a strong anti-incumbency wave in MP and we are going to return to power after 15 years," he said.

A senior MP leader had Friday told PTI that the party was thinking of not repeating 70-80 out of 165 MLAs in order to tide over anti-incumbency.
Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Saturday promised of up to Rs 200,000 at one go if his party wins in Telangana and targeted Prime Minister and TRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao accusing them of making false promises and indulging in corruption.

Kicking off the party's campaign for December 7 Telangana Assembly polls at a public meeting in Nirmal district here, he alleged that KCR, as Rao is popularly known, insulted B R Ambedkar by changing the name of a project named after him.

"Change will come in Telangana. KCR government will go. And in Delhi, Narendra Modi's government will go. I did not come here to make false promises. If you want to listen to false promises, then go to KCR and Modi, they will give you false promises," the Congress president said.

Attacking the Telangana Rashtra Samithi chief, Gandhi alleged that he changed the project designs, inflating its cost from Rs 380 billion to Rs one trillion.



"Why was it made into Rs trillion(project)? Because the Chief Minister wants to indulge in corruption," he alleged.

Gandhi said with Rajiv Sagar and Indira Sagar projects too original costs were inflated.

"Wherever you see, CM indulges in corruption and benefits go to his family, relatives. As soon as he became CM, KCR started indulging in corruption, giving all the benefits to his family," Gandhi alleged.

He also promised that the Congress will implement the Tribal Rights Bill (The Scheduled Tribes and other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act) and Land Acquisition Acts in letter and spirit when it comes to power at the Centre as well as in the state.

"Farmers are committing suicide all over the country. Thousands of farmers committed suicide in Telangana because they didn't get proper price (for their produce).

"The Congress party promises that Rs 200,000 in farm loan with be waived in one go. Not only that we will also ensure Rs 7,000 per quintal for cotton," the Congress president said and alleged that "neither Modi nor KCR is able to provide farmers' good price for their produce".



"The moment Congress comes into power in Telangana, we will protect tribal lands. We will give Rs 3,000 allowance each to unemployed youth," Gandhi added.

He said the KCR government failed to fulfil promises such as job for every family, three acres of land to every SC and ST family and two bedroom houses for all eligible people.

The AICC leader alleged that Rao also failed to implement 12 per cent quota for STs and provide drinking water to every family.

"Similarly, Modi failed to keep up the promised Rs 1.5 million in each and every bank account, two crore jobs for Indian youth every year and fair price for farmers.

"Wherever Modiji and KCR go they make false promises. You watch all my speeches. I am in politics for the past 15 years. We promised to waive their loans (earlier). We waived Rs 700 billion worth of farm loans," he said.

Gandhi also accused Modi of spreading hatred and enmity and said "he pits people of one religion against the other, one region against another, one caste against another, and weakens the country".

The Congress moves forward by taking everybody together, he said.



He alleged that the the note ban which was implemented during the end of 2016, destroyed the small-scale sector in the country.

Firing salvos at Modi on the Rafale deal, Gandhi said the PM owes answers to the nation.

He alleged that Modi who calls himself the "watchman" of the country "has turned out to be a thief" by "helping his friend" Anil Ambani to get a Rs 300 billion contract in the Rafale deal.

Rahul Gandhi and his Congress party have been attacking the government and Prime Minister over the Rafale deal, alleging corruption and favouritism.

The government has dismissed Rahul Gandhi's allegations, while the BJP has accused him of spreading lies on the issue



Anil Ambani-led Reliance Group too has denied the Congress' allegations.
The central bank has sought to retain control of payment companies with itself, through a dissent note placed on the RBI website. The Payments Regulatory Board (PRB) must remain with the Reserve Bank and headed by the Governor of the RBI. It may comprise three members nominated by the Government and RBI respectively, with a casting vote for the Governor to ensure smooth operations of the Board, said RBIs ...

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A suicide bomber blew himself up in the Afghan capital on Saturday, killing at least 15 people as voting concluded in parliamentary elections overshadowed by the threat of violence and long delays at polling stations. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the bombing, which appeared to have been the most serious of a day marked by a series of smaller-scale attacks that caused dozens of casualties across the country. Voting should have been concluded by the time the suicide bomber struck a polling station in the north of Kabul, killing 10 civilians and five police, ...
Saudi Arabia has long been a major US ally in the Middle East, thanks primarily to security considerations and oil.

But their diplomatic friendship has not always been a smooth one.

The two countries established diplomatic relations in 1940, in the early stages of World War II.

On February 14, 1945 their partnership was sealed during a historic meeting between king Abdel Aziz bin Saud and President Franklin D Roosevelt on board the cruiser USS Quincy in the Suez Canal.

The agreement saw the US guarantee military protection for the kingdom in return for privileged access to oil reserves, which were discovered in enormous quantities in the 1930s.

After Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein's invasion of in August 1990, Riyadh allowed hundreds of thousands of US troops to deploy in the kingdom.

ALSO READ: Donald Trump says US needs Saudi Arabia in fight against terrorism

The country served as a base for the US-led coalition during the 1991 Gulf War against Saddam.

Over the following years, the coalition continued to station planes in the kingdom to enforce a "no-fly zone" over southern Iraq, provoking the anger of Saudi fundamentalists who carried out two anti-US attacks on Saudi soil in the mid-1990s.

The September 11, 2001 attacks against the US represented a serious setback for bilateral relations -- 15 of the 19 plane hijackers were Saudi nationals.

Saudi Arabia denounced the attacks but was accused of quietly financing Islamic extremism.

Riyadh refused to take part in strikes against Afghanistan in late 2001, or participate in the Iraq war in 2003, although the US again used Saudi territory for air operations against Saddam.

Washington evacuated most of its remaining soldiers from Saudi Arabia and transferred them to Qatar, the headquarters for its aerial operations in the Gulf, but maintained military cooperation with Riyadh.

Riyadh supported the Syrian uprising against President Bashar al-Assad and did not hide its anger after US President Barack Obama in September 2013 backed away from carrying out air strikes against the regime.

In October that year, Saudi Arabia refused to take a seat at the UN Security Council, to protest against what it regarded as multilateral and US inaction over the Syrian crisis.

The 2015 nuclear agreement with rival regional power Iran -- signed by the US and other world powers -- further undermined Saudi Arabia's confidence in the Obama administration.

Delighted to turn the page on the Obama era, Saudi leaders warmly welcomed President Donald Trump's arrival.

In May 2017, Trump was received with pomp in the Sunni kingdom for his first overseas presidential visit.

The US president called for the isolation of Iran, to counter the Shiite power's growing influence in the

The US and Saudi Arabia announced huge contracts exceeding $380 billion, including $110 billion for the sale of US arms to Riyadh to counter Tehran and Islamist radicals.

The two allies accuse Iran of arming Huthi rebels in Yemen, where since March 2015 Riyadh has intervened to support the government.

On March 20, Trump gave Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman an effusive welcome at the White House, hailing a "great friendship".

"Saudi Arabia is a very wealthy nation and they are going to give the United States some of that wealth hopefully, in the form of jobs, in the form of the purchase of the finest military equipment anywhere in the world," said Trump.

On May 8, Riyadh "supports and welcomes" Trump's decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear agreement.

On October 2, Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi disappeared after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

The Washington Post contributor had been critical of the crown prince and lived in self-imposed exile in the US from 2017.

Turkish officials accused Saudi Arabia of a state-sponsored killing.

On October 20, Riyadh admitted that Khashoggi was killed inside the embassy and said he died during a "brawl".

Trump endorsed the explanation as credible and "an important first step", saying the US had not yet completed its own review of the case.

But Saudi Arabia's version of events drew scepticism from some top US lawmakers.
When the archaeologist Giovanni Carboni first came upon the oddly shaped ceramic object during an excavation in a Roman suburb in 2006, he was baffled. I said  please dont write this, though, because I said a swear word  I said: What the heck is this thing,  Dr. Carboni recalled recently. The object resembled half an oversize walnut shell, the rim perforated evenly with holes. It had been found in a tomb, placed next to the body of an adult man (identified only by his teeth after centuries lying in acidic earth). I had ...
Six days after Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi disappeared, US President Donald Trump tried to play down the crisis, saying "hopefully that will sort itself out". It did not, and on Oct. 10, amid a growing outcry, Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner and national security adviser John Bolton pressed Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, in what one US official described as a "stern" phone call, to identify who was responsible for Khashoggi's disappearance or death. Trump then seemed to give Saudi Arabia the benefit of the doubt, suggesting ...
Former Indian diplomat NN Jha hailed the recent Bhutan general elections and congratulated centre-left Druk Nyamrup Tshogpa (DNT) party for their victory, saying that the party is committed to friendship with India.

The DNT, which was formed in 2013, swept the polls, garnering at least 30 seats, with royalist Druk Phuensum Tshogpa (DPT) winning the remaining 17 in the 47-member lower house of the Bhutan Parliament.

"This party is committed to friendship with India and continuing our close ties with Bhutan. The political parties of both India and Bhutan want to have a good relationship with each other. However, we need to keep in mind about the Chinese presence, not only across the border, but in Bhutan as well. Otherwise, there is nothing to worry about," Jha told ANI.

Echoing similar sentiments, former Foreign Secretary Salman Haider said that the ties between New Delhi and Thimphu are very strong and will continue to flourish. He also lauded the recent general elections that took place in the tiny Himalayan nation.

"We respect Bhutan's democratic processes. The people have demonstrated their (voting) rights. It is a major step in Bhutan's revolution as a democratic country. The friendship between India and Bhutan is very strong and well-established and it will continue to flourish," he told ANI.

Bhutan went to polls earlier on Thursday. Both the DNT and DPT fielded 47 candidates each in the final round in a bid to lead the young democracy for the next five years. The tiny Himalayan nation transitioned from a century-old monarchy to democracy in 2008.

DNT President Lotay Tshering, who joined in 2013, is set to take office as the new Prime Minister of Bhutan.

In a telephonic conversation on Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi extended good wishes to Tshering on his party's victory and welcomed the successful conduct of general elections. He conveyed that India attaches the highest priority to further strengthening the unique ties of friendship and cooperation with Bhutan, which is based on shared interests and values, utmost trust, goodwill, and mutual understanding. The Prime Minister also invited Tshering to visit India.

Tshering thanked Prime Minister Modi for his greetings and good wishes and accepted the invitation to visit India at the earliest opportunity. The two leaders also agreed to take forward the unique and multifaceted bilateral co-operation to new heights for the benefit of the people of Bhutan and India.

According to the Buddhist country's constitution, only two parties with highest votes in the primary round qualify for the final round. A voter turnout of over 70 per cent was recorded in the general elections, as per the country's election commission.

The ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP) of Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay faced a drubbing in the round held in September and got ousted from the contest.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
American actor Bruce Dern has suffered a hip fracture after a fall during his daily jog in Los Angeles and has been released after being hospitalized.

"The injury is probably a broken hip. He's in incredibly good spirits," People Magazine quoted the statement of a representative for the 82-year-old.

The Oscar-nominated actor is an avid jogger.

On the work front, Dern will be next seen in Quentin Tarantino's upcoming 'Once Upon a Time in Hollywood'. The 'Hateful Eight' actor replaced late Burt Reynolds, who died in September at the age of 82.

Also starring, Brad Pitt, Leonardo DiCaprio, Margot Robbie, Dakota Fanning, Kurt Russell, and Al Pacino, the film centers on a faded TV actor and his stunt double who embark on a mission to make a name for themselves in Hollywood during Charles Manson's Helter Skelter reign of terror in 1969 Los Angeles.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Actor Cate Blanchett, who played a lesbian in the 2015 film 'Carol', has staunchly defended straight actors playing LGBT characters on screen.

The 'Ocean's 8' star further stated she would "fight to the death" to take on those roles.

Speaking at the Rome Film Festival, the 49-year-old revealed she had never been asked more questions about her sexuality than when she played a lesbian character. The questions implied whether having a lesbian experience was essential to understanding such a role.

"This defies the whole point of acting. It also speaks to something that I'm quite passionate about in storytelling generally, but in film specifically, is that film can be quite a literal medium," Blanchett said, as reported by The Hollywood Reporter.

"And I will fight to the death for the right to suspend disbelief and play roles beyond my experience. I think reality television and all that that entails had an extraordinary impact, a profound impact on the way we view the creation of character," she added.

Earlier this year, Scarlett Johansson was criticised for taking on the role of a transgender man. She later exited the drama film 'Rub and Tug' after her casting sparked backlash among trans-groups and activists. In August, Ruby Rose quit Twitter amid a backlash over her role as lesbian superhero in TV series 'Batwoman'.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Purnea Lok Sabha Vikas Parishad (PLSVP) had organised an essay competition for school and college students of Bihar in the fond memory of former prime minister late Atal Bihari Vajpayee is receiving a huge response in the first year itself.

Looking at the enthusiasm and positive response amongst the students of Bihar, the organisers have decided to extend the deadline of the state-wide online essay competition that kicked off on October 2, Gandhi Jayanti.

The multilingual essay competition started accepting entries from 8:00 am on October 2, 2018 and was expected to end at midnight of October 19, 2018. But the organisers have now extended the date to November 14, that is Children's Day.

"The competition has already received a huge response, we have received more than 8000 entries so far. Meanwhile, we've received requests across various quarters in Bihar that several students, who were busy with the festivities during the Navratri, couldn't participate in the competition. Hence, we have decided to extend the deadline. The entries can now be submitted until midnight of November 14, 2018, which is also celebrated as Children's Day," said former Member of Parliament (MP) from Purnea Lok Sabha seat and PLSVP patron, Uday Singh.

Rahul, a college student and a participant, while talking about the competition said, "As Navratri is celebrated with big pomp and show in Bihar we were all in the festival mood and couldn't complete our essays. We have requested our teachers to raise this issue with the organisers to extend the deadline for submission of the entries."

A student from Patna, Roshan Ara, who wrote her essay in Urdu said, "This competition will help the candidates know more about the vision and philosophy of Atal ji and during my research, I learnt about some untold stories of the former Prime Minister. It was under Vajpayee Government that India successfully conducted the Pokhran Test despite being under so much of international pressure."

Another student Arti, from Begusarai, too highlighted the fact that she wanted the deadline to be extended.

"Due to Navratris, I wasn't able to complete my essay because I had to help my mother with the daily chores as she was fasting all nine days. Not just me, many of my classmates too faced a similar problem. I urge the organisers to extend the deadline," said Arti, a student of Class XI.

Every student of Classes 10 to 12 in the state of Bihar is eligible for participation in this online competition. The results will be declared at 12 PM on December 25th, 2018 (Atal Bihari Vajpayee's birthday) on www.atalpratiyogita.com.

18 students will be given cash rewards worth Rs 4.50 lakh. The students will also be awarded a certificate of participation. The students are free to write the essays in Hindi, Urdu, and English. Each of the three languages in the essay contest shall have a first, second and third prize. Winner of the first prize from the college section will be rewarded Rs. 50,000, the second and third prize winners will receive Rs. 25,000 and 15,000, respectively.

Under the school section, the first prize winner will be given Rs. 25,000 while the second and third prize winners will be awarded Rs. 15000, Rs. 10000, respectively.

This competition is open for all the students in Bihar. The students can visit the website and upload their essays. The entries will be judged by independent markers who will (at their sole discretion) apply the marking criteria. Teachers from all over the country have been invited to act as independent markers.

They will receive the entrants' essays anonymously to ensure fairness. The short-listed essays will be reviewed by another marker before reaching the final decision of winners. The word count for school students is a maximum of 1000 words while the college students have a maximum word limit of 1500. This competition will be held every year in the month of October and winners would be announced on December 25.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Gujarat Police has arrested one man suspected to be involved in the alleged rape and murder of a three-year-old girl in the state's Sabarkantha district. The suspect has been arrested from Buxar district in Bihar.

As per reports, the girl went missing on October 13. Two days later her body was found inside a polythene bag in the neighbourhood.

Sub-Divisional Police Officer Satish Kumar said that the suspect, Ajay Yadav, hails from Buxar. He was taken to Sardar Hospital for the medical test and a case of rape and murder has been registered against him.

In the wake of the minor girl's death, the deceased's family demanded capital punishment for the suspect.

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Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal on Saturday said that an independent agency should conduct an inquiry into Amristar train tragedy that claimed lives of 59 people.

He further attacked Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh-led Punjab government for taking the incident "lightly". "The present government is taking the accident lightly as Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh said that inquiry report will come after four weeks. An FIR should be registered on the statements of the victims. An inquiry should be done by an independent agency."

The SAD leader also asked the Chief Minister to take action against those responsible for the accident.

Meanwhile, former minister and secretary of SAD, Bikram Singh Majithia said that ruling government should be held accountable for the incident as it did not inform the railways about the event being organised there.

"A case is being filed against four unknown people, on the basis of the statement made by a police officer, who was not even present at the accident spot, even when every single person responsible for this accident was identified from the CCTV footage. Why the matter is being covered up. We demand an immediate registration of the case. We will launch an agitation if the investigation not carried out properly," Majithia said.

The accident took place in Choura Bazar near Jhoda Phatak area of Amritsar after a train ran over the crowd, standing along train tracks, to watch an effigy of Ravan being burnt. 59 people died and 57 sustained injuries in the tragedy.

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The Spokesperson of the Chinese Embassy in India, Counselor Ji Rong, claimed that India was "immediately" informed about the landslide which occurred in the lower ranges of Yaluzangbu river in Tibet and caused a river blockage on the Indian side.

Counselor Ji confirmed that the river was blocked and a barrier lake was formed due to the landslides which occurred on October 17.

In official remarks released in the wake of the incident, the spokesperson added, "After the incident happened, Ministry of Water Resources of China informed the Indian side immediately and activated the Emergency Information Sharing Mechanism."

While stating that China is closely monitoring the situation, Counselor Ji said, "According to instructions from the Ministry of Water Resources of China to inform India the hydrological information of the Yaluzangbu River at emergency, the Hydrological Bureau of Tibet Autonomous Region of China has begun to share with the Indian side hydrological information every hour, such as the water level and flow rate at the Nuxia hydrological station and the temporary hydrological station downstream of the barrier lake."

The Spokesperson also outlined that the Indian side will be "timely" informed about the follow-up developments through bilaterally agreed channels.

He also highlighted the Wuhan consensus, which was agreed upon by the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping during the informal summit in Wuhan, while stating that the Chinese side has been keeping close communication with the Indian side on Yaluzangbu River hydrological information. The consensus promotes all-round cooperation between India and China.

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) concerning cross-border river cooperation was signed by Prime Minister Modi and President Xi, who had met on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Qingdao Summit in June this year.

Counselor Ji further said, " I believe, with the joint efforts of both sides, China and India will carry out more positive and pragmatic cooperation in more fields and continuously push forward the healthy and stable development of bilateral relations."

The Indian Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar had earlier said that all relevant authorities of the central government and concerned state governments have been apprised about the emerging situation to enable them to take necessary precautionary measures, while stating that both the nations are in regular contact over the Brahmaputra river blockage that has been caused by a landslide in Tibet.

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How to gain Support Ivanishvili's Support

By Levan Khutsishvili

On October 15, Salome Zurabishvili, independent presidential candidate gave the interview to the journalist of Rustavi 2. In the interview, Zurabishvili said that she did not like the project of Panorama Tbilisi as it doesnt fit the capital of Georgia.As Zurabishvili said she will not protect Bidzina Ivanishvili in every case and as it seems Panorama Tbilisi is one of this case, but regarding the creation of Dendrological Park in Shekvetili and the process of collecting trees from different parts of Georgia for this park, Zurabishvili has no problem.I have no problems with trees. By the way, Niko Nikoladze was also bringing trees from Europe to Georgia ... I will not protect Bidzina Ivanishvili in all cases, but I will protect his effort of collecting trees till the end. Even My relatives from Guria asked me if I knew Bidzina, to help them sell a tree", said Salome Zourabichvili.Panorama Tbilisi and Dendrological Park in Shekvetili are the projects that Bidzina Ivanishvili implements not taking into consideration protest from the society and can be said that they are very important for him, as much as the case of the Presidential Palace in Avlabari. Bidzina Ivanishvili believes that the palace built by Mikheil Saakashvili should not be used as a residence for presidents, and a president should live in Orbeliani Palace on Atoneli street. Ivanishvili urged Saakashvili to leave the palace. Giorgi Margvelashvili, before becoming the president was promising that he would never enter in Avlabari Palace, though he didnt comply the promise and it became one of the main reason for complicit between Margvelashvili and Ivanishvili. And now Salome Zurabishvili says that she will live in Orbeliani Palace as a president. But not always she was thinking that Avlabari Palace should not have Presidential or Governmental functions:In principle, I consider that building of presidential palace (built by the American billion given to the Georgian people after the war) should have Presidential or Governmental functions, and not be in private property for university, club or something else.  - said Salome Zurabishvili in 2015.After 3 years Zurabishvili changed her mind and by expressing her position about the Avlabari Palace, in fact, she strengthened trust and support from Ivanishvili."Salome Zurabishvili is a symbol of the recent history - the first emigration representative, the great descendant of Niko NikoladzeWe are asking you show the maximum possible support to Salome Zurabishvili and I am sure she will win the elections, but of course, most important contribution in her victory will have her history, her actions and our support, " - Bidzina Ivanishvili said.Interesting episode about Ivanishvili - Zurabishvili cooperation, is 2013 year, when Zurabishvili wanted to participate in Presidential elections and wanted to gain the support of Ivanishvili and Georgian Dream, but she didnt manage it and went in opposition. And later in 2016, she became an independent MP as a majoritarian representative of Mtatsminda district, as Georgian Dream didnt initiate candidate in that district in favor of Salome Zurabishvili. And when Salome Zurabishvili sais now that she doesnt like Panorama Tbilisi, she could do the same and protest the project when she was representing the district in Parliament, which is affected by the Panorama Tbilisi mostly, but she preferred to say nothing.In fact, she is an independent presidential candidate supported by the Georgian Dream, because, as it seems, she will not protect Bidzina Ivanishvili only in those cases when nothing can be changed, for example in case of Panorama Tbilisi, in all other circumstances she will be his apologist.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Sri Lankan counterpart Ranil Wickremesinghe on Saturday discussed the entire gamut of bilateral relations and ways to further deepen the historically close and friendly relations between the two countries.

In the delegation level talks held here, the two leaders exchanged views on regional and global issues and even reviewed the progress in the implementation of various decisions taken during high-level exchanges in the recent past.

The Sri Lankan Prime Minister was on a three-day official visit to India from October 18 to 20, accompanied by his wife Maithree Wickramasinghe.

The Ministry of External Affairs in a statement said that Wickremesinghe's visit is part of India's continuing engagement with the Government of Sri Lanka at the highest level.

"The multi-faceted partnership has been marked by close contacts at the highest political level, growing trade and investment, wide-ranging development cooperation, increasing linkages in the fields of education, health, infrastructure, connectivity and capacity building and broadening people to people contacts," the MEA said in a statement.

Earlier on Saturday, Prime Minister Modi also hosted a luncheon for Wickremesinghe. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh met Wickramasinghe and the Sri Lankan officials separately.

On Friday, Wickremesinghe met with several Congress leaders, including party president Rahul Gandhi, chairperson of the United Progressive Alliance, Sonia Gandhi, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and senior party leader Anand Sharma.

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India and Swaziland have signed two agreements in the field of Health and Medicine and Visa department on Monday.

One of the agreement deals with granting of the visa waiver for the diplomats and officials holding relevant passports while the other is to ensure cooperation in the field of health and medicine.

The agreements were signed in the presence of Indian President Ram Nath Kovind, who is on his maiden official visit to Swaziland as part of his three-nation tour in Africa.

Earlier on Monday President Kovind inspected a guard of honour in front of the Lozitha Palace in Swaziland and then met Swaziland's King Mswati III at the Lozitha Palace.

President Kovind is on a three-nation state visit to the African countries- Equatorial Guinea, Swaziland and Zambia from April 7 to 12.

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Indian Vice President Venkaiah Naidu called for international cooperation to deny shelter to economic offenders while addressing the plenary session of the 12th Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) Summit held in Brussels.

In the summit, whose theme was "Global Partners for Global Challenges", Naidu expressed that India considered economic offences, tax crimes and criminal misappropriation of public assets as a significant threat to the integrity of financial systems.

"We need to considerably strengthen international cooperation within G20 and other fora, to deny shelter to economic offenders. There is also an urgent need for enhancing mechanisms for Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI) with committed timelines. ASEM can and should play an important role in this regard," he added.

He further labelled terrorism as a "major threat to global peace and security", along with radicalisation and extremism, while adding, "India, as an affected party, urges the international community to work towards early adoption of the United Nations Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism which will, inter alia, deny terrorists and their supporters' access to arms, funds and safe havens."

Naidu also highlighted India's efforts in environmental protection. Quoting the 'International Solar Alliance' launched jointly by India and France in 2015 as an "excellent" example of Asian and European cooperation, Naidu underscored that global cooperation is essential to addressing formidable environmental challenges.

The Indian Vice President also called on ASEM partners to join the initiative on renewable energy, as he mentioned the United Nations Champion of the Earth award which has been given to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron for their efforts towards the

Naidu also urged developed nations to fulfill their obligations towards the provision of financial and technological support to prevent climate change. He further talked about elimination of poverty and said, "Elimination of poverty through the sustainable use of resources and improvement in livelihoods will be the biggest driver to prevent climate change."

"Connecting nations, connecting the hearts and connecting minds and connecting economic development with environmental protection is at the heart of our shared commitment", said Naidu at the summit.

He further highlighted India's dedication towards connectivity by outlining the nation's involvement in a "number of international connectivity projects". He mentioned connectivity projects such as the International North-South Corridor and the India-Myanmar-Thailand trilateral highway, both of which India is a part of. "Connectivity initiatives must meet universally recognised international norms such as respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity and should be transparent, fiscally and environmentally sustainable", Naidu added.

The Indian Vice President reiterated Prime Minister Modi's words, which lay emphasis on the fact that India's development architecture is underpinned by 'Collective Efforts for Inclusive Development'. He further highlighted that India has listed women empowerment as a key development imperative.

Expressing ASEM's importance for India at the event, Naidu said, "India values its participation in ASEM which acts as a bridge between the two continents and brings together countries with a deep commitment to the rules-based international system, in particular, strengthening WTO."

"May our purpose be the same May we all come to a common understanding May our aspirations and intentions be similar May a common set of objectives unite us all," Naidu concluded with a line from the Rigveda.

During the session, Naidu also highlighted that peace is a prerequisite for progress. "If there is tension at the border, there will be no attention in the nation. Let's work together to eliminate terror from the globe."

The Indian Vice President arrived in Belgium on October 18 to participate in the 12th ASEM summit and also called on global dignitaries, including the Belgian King Philippe at the Royal City Palace here.

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Saudi Arabia's Attorney General has confirmed that preliminary investigations indicate that journalist Jamal Khashoggi died inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul after a brawl within the premises.

The Saudi prosecutor further said that investigations continue with 18 Saudi nationals who have been detained in connection with the incident, according to Al Arabiya.

The statement also said that al-Qahtani, the royal court advisor and Ahmed Asiri, the deputy intelligence chief have been fired.

Furthermore, Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz has ordered the restructuring of the general intelligence agency through the constitution of a ministerial committee which is headed by the Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist who wrote for The Washington Post, disappeared on October 2 after cameras captured him walking into the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

Several high-profile meetings have been held regarding the scribe's disappearance between the involved countries, as allegations against Saudi Arabia have been repeatedly and vehemently dismissed by the kingdom.

Further details pertaining to the investigation are awaited.

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L&T Technology Services (NSE

The survey by ISG is the first-ever service provider ranking on Product Engineering, Manufacturing, Plant/Process Engineering and Software Digital & Platform Engineering. The survey evaluated LTTS across Automotive, Chemicals and Oil & Gas, Lifesciences & CPG and recognized the company's expert capabilities in these domains.

For the US market, ISG acknowledged LTTS as a preferred partner for its customer base due to its expertise in end-to-end service offerings across the product lifecycle from test, validation and certification to design and implementation. The survey also highlights LTTS' long standing engineering heritage, multi domain and vertical expertise, strong partner ecosystem, state of the art research and test labs and experienced engineering workforce.

In its ISG Provider Lens Awards Ceremony at Austin, TX on October 17, LTTS was presented with award recognizing its engineering expertise in Automotive, Chemicals and Oil & Gas and Lifesciences & CPG.

"ISG's recognition of LTTS as a global leader is a validation of our focus and strategic investments into domains such as manufacturing, plant and platform engineering and digital, which have helped us develop industry-leading and client-centric solutions for multiple verticals. LTTS' best in-class offerings and ability to be agile to dynamic market needs have reduced costs and accelerated the time to market. We will continue to partner with our customers and help them innovate faster," said president, sales & development and executive director, L&T Technology Services, Amit Chadha.

Esteban Herrera, Partner and Global Leader of ISG Research said, "L&T Technology Services has successfully advanced its rich engineering legacy to establish a strong presence in the US and German markets.

LTTS' focus on strengthening its digital capabilities, high caliber specialized engineering talent and maintaining a strong portfolio of products, frameworks, solutions and licensable IP makes it a preferred partner for its customers.

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Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Friday expressed his grievances over the death of more than 50 people in the train accident in Punjab's Amritsar during Dussehra celebrations.

Speaking to ANI, Jaitley said, "Innocent people who had gone there to celebrate Dussehra themselves became victims of a very big tragedy, a lot of people have been injured as well. This is a tragedy that could have been avoided had the necessary steps been taken."

Jaitley further said, "But the time right now is for every agency from the state and the central governments, the railways, Zila authorities, etc, to come together to help the injured, provide them medical care, relief.. I just spoke with the Minister of State for Railways, Manoj Sinha, he said he will reach there, along with other officials and ministers from the Central government. I am confident that in the next few hours, all the injured will be attended to and provided relief."

Meanwhile, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh has ordered an inquiry into the tragic accident and announced an ex-gratia compensation of Rs 5 lakh each to the next of kin of the deceased.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also approved an ex-gratia payment of Rs 2 lakh for the families of those killed in the mishap while announcing a compensation of Rs 50,000 for the injured.

The incident took place when people were watching Dussehra celebrations near a train track in Choura Bazar on Friday. Several people also got injured in the incident and have been rushed to the hospital for treatment.

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New Delhi [India] October 20 (ANI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi pleasantly surprised many on October 19, during his interaction with beneficiaries of Pradhan Mantri AawasYojna in Maharashtra, when he broke into chaste Marathi.

No sooner did the PM finish the interaction that various media houses began to speculate the roots of Modi's near perfect Marathi. Some media houses linked it to Modi's close association with top RSS leader Laxmanrao Inamdar 'Vakil Saheb' (who Modi named during the interaction, referring to his origins in Satara) and subsequent interactions with Mohan Bhagwat in Gujarat.

The real story of PM Modi's conversant Marathi has a much simpler and more benign origin. Sources close to PM Modi revealed that Narendra Modi picked up Marathi during his days as a RSS Pracharak, when he used to stop over for meals at the residence of the Bhate family, based in the Calico Mills area in Gujarat's Ahmedabad.

The Bhate family was based near Behrampura in Ahmedabad, which locals also refer to as the Calico Mills area, due to the presence of one of the earliest textile mills in Ahmedabad.

Like all Pracharaks, Modi's role too involved close interaction with local families. Due to that, he would closely interact with the Bhate family, particularly over meals. Since the Bhate family traced their roots to Maharashtra, they would talk in Marathi in front of Modi, who would gradually pick up the language. In fact, the Bhate family and Modi had an informal arrangement of sorts that they would serve Modi food only when Modi asked for it in Marathi.

In the same neighborhood that the Bhate family resided in, lived another family with multi-ethnic roots. In that family, there was a small girl who was proficient in six languages owing to the fact that her mother was a Bengali, father a Malayali but all inhabitants of Ahmedabad (hence, Gujarati) that lived in a locality that spoke predominantly Marathi, including a close friendship with the Marathi speaking Bhate family.

Taking inspiration from this girl's ease in being conversant in roughly six languages Narendra Modi continued to interact in Marathi, albeit in a rudimentary fashion at first but gradually, he became confident enough to make a promise to this girl that whenever they would meet, Marathi would be the language of choice when they would interact.

Later on, Modi was sent to Vadodara for RSS work. Vadodara, with a strong influence of the Gaekwad dynasty had a strong Marathi presence. This sharpened Modi's Marathi. In fact, he also interacted with the founder of the Bhartiya Mazdoor Sangh Dattopant Thengadi in Marathi.

What surprised many on October 19, when PM interacted in Marathi came as no surprise to those that knew the story of Narendra Modi, the RSS Pracharak, that picked up a language from the by-lanes of the Mill areas of Ahmedabad.

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A Delhi court on Saturday reserved its order on an application moved by Congress leader Motilal Vora, seeking directions to restrain Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Subramanian Swamy from posting derogatory tweets regarding the Herald case.

The court would pronounce order on the application on November 17. The rest part of the submission of evidence by Swamy will be recorded on the same date.

During the argument, Swamy said that he has every right to tweet but added he cannot remember the tweets of those cited by Vora. He also stated that the copies of tweets are not admissible under the law.

On September 10, the Delhi High Court rejected Congress president Rahul Gandhi and United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson Sonia Gandhi's plea challenging the Income Tax (IT) notice, seeking tax reassessment related to the Herald and Young India transactions for the financial year 2011-2012.

The Congress president had earlier challenged the IT department's authority to reopen his tax assessment.

The Herald scam is an ongoing case filed by Swamy against Sonia, Rahul, their company and four other persons including Vohra alleging that both Sonia and Rahul have grabbed land and committed fraud worth Rs.16 billion by acquiring a public limited company Associated Journals Limited (AJL), through their private company, Young Indian (YI).

In his complaint, Swamy also claimed that, through this fraud, they had got the publication rights of the National Herald newspaper, besides real estate properties.

He alleged that the acquired properties, which were given by the government only for the purposes of publishing newspapers, were used for running a passport office

Swamy, in his plea, also claimed that the Congress party granted an interest-free loan of Rs. 90.25 crore to AJL which was either not repaid or repaid in case, which was in violation of Section 269T of the Income Tax Act, 1961.

However, the Congress said that the loan was given only for reviving the National Herald newspaper with no commercial interest.

Swamy has named, Gandhis, Motilal Vora (AICC treasurer), Oscar Fernandes (AICC general secretary), Suman Dubey, Sam Pitroda and YI as an accused in his complaint.

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The Supreme Court has directed the Central government to submit a rehabilitation plan for the farmers in Andaman and Nicobar Island who were affected by 2004 Tsunami.

Many farmers from the island had lost their land and livelihood in the 2004 Tsunami.

The apex court has sought a report regarding rehabilitation of farmers, many of whom have no means of livelihood left after their land got washed away in the 2004 natural disaster.

The top court, which was hearing a bunch of applications over the issue, also noted that one of the major problems faced by the farmers is masses of land were washed away as a result of the Tsunami that struck the islands.

Additional Solicitor General ANS Nadkarni told the court that "there is hardly any land available for compensatory afforestation."

He also informed the bench that as much as 87 per cent of the land mass in the region is a natural notified forest.

The ASG, however, suggested that the "peculiar problems" faced by the farmers can be sorted out collectively by the officers of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands Administration, officers of the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) and the Central Empowered Committee (CEC).

Reacting on the arguments, the bench headed by Justice Madan B Lokur also asserted the factual validity of the same and said, "In our opinion, the suggestion made by the learned ASG is eminently reasonable."

The bench further directed the Secretary, MoEF to have a meeting with the officers of the islands along with CEC.

The bench, also comprising Justices S. Abdul Nazeer and Deepak Gupta, ordered that the report should be placed before the court on October 23, the next date of hearing.

India was hit by a major Tsunami on December 26, 2004.

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Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on Saturday met his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi at the Hyderabad House in Delhi, as part of the engagements of his three-day official visit to India.

Earlier today, Wickremesinghe separately met External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Home Minister Rajnath Singh.

Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said that the two leaders discussed strengthening bilateral relations and reviewed progress on development projects.

"Continuing commitment to deepen our partnership with a close friend. EAM @SushmaSwaraj called on Sri Lanka PM Ranil Wickremesinghe @RW_UNP. Exchanged views on strengthening bilateral relations and reviewed progress on development projects," Kumar wrote on his Twitter handle.

Rajnath termed his meeting with the Sri Lankan Prime Minister as fruitful and said that he exchanged views on bilateral cooperation between the two countries on security and terrorism.

"Had a fruitful meeting with the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe in New Delhi today. We had deliberations on further strengthening cooperation between India and Sri Lanka on issues pertaining to security and terrorism in the region," the Home Minister tweeted.

On Friday, Wickremesinghe met with several Congress leaders, including party president Rahul Gandhi, chairperson of the United Progressive Alliance, Sonia Gandhi, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and senior party leader Anand Sharma.

The visit of the Sri Lankan leader came close on the heels of a media report that Maithripala Sirisena, the President of the island nation, accused India of hatching a plot to assassinate him.

However, Sirisena himself categorically rejected the report on Wednesday and hours later had a telephonic conversation with Prime Minister Modi.

"He (President Sirisena) mentioned that the mischievous and mala fide reports were utterly baseless and false, and seemed intended to create misunderstanding between the two leaders as well as damage the cordial relations between the two friendly neighbours," read a statement from the Prime Minister's Office.

Sri Lanka's Ministry of Foreign Affairs also dubbed the reports as "baseless and false" while highlighting the strong relationship between New Delhi and Colombo.

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United States President Donald Trump on Saturday confirmed that the US will be pulling out of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF), a nuclear deal signed between Washington and Moscow during the Cold War.

"We're going to terminate the agreement and we're going to pull out. We'll have to develop those weapons," The Hill quoted Trump, as saying.

Trump further claimed that Russia has been violating the treaty and has not adhered to the agreement.

INF was signed in 1986 between former US president Ronald Reagan and Soviet Union President Mikhail Gorbachev and allows the US to counter Chinese efforts to accumulate arms in the Pacific. It, however, prevents Washington from deploying new weapons in response.

A nuclear strategy document from the Trump administration, which was accessed by The Hill, noted that Russia's decision to violate the INF Treaty and other commitments was a clear indication of the fact that Russia has "rebuffed repeated US efforts to reduce the salience, role, and the number of nuclear weapons."

The US' withdrawal from the treaty comes a week ahead of National Security Adviser John Bolton's trip to Moscow to meet with top Russian officials.

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Russian President Vladimir Putin and Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan offered condolences over the train accident in Amritsar, which claimed nearly 60 lives.

In a message to those affected in the tragedy, Putin said, "I offer my deepest sympathies over tragic consequences of an accident on railways in Punjab. I ask to convey my words of sympathy and support to families and friends of killed people and to wish soonest recovery to those injured."

Khan wrote on his Twitter handle, "Saddened to learn of the tragic train accident in Amritsar India. Condolences go to the families of the deceased."

The accident took place in Choura Bazar near Joda Phatak area of Amritsar on Friday, where a large number of people had gathered along a railway track to watch burning of Ravana effigy when a Jalandhar to Amritsar local train crushed them. In the tragedy, as many as 59 people lost their lives while 57 others sustained injuries.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved an ex-gratia payment of Rs 2 lakh for the families of those killed in the train tragedy. He also announced a compensation of Rs 50,000 for the injured.

Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh had ordered a probe into the incident and announced an ex-gratia compensation of Rs 5 lakh each to the next of kin of the deceased. He also directed senior officials to rush to the accident site for the rescue operations.

The Punjab Chief Minister also set up a crisis management group to monitor the relief and rehabilitation efforts.

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For alleged contraventions under the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999

New Delhi Television announced that the Directorate of Enforcement, based on a complaint alleging certain contraventions under the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 relating to receipt of Foreign Direct Investment of Rs. 1,637 crore and Overseas Investments of Rs. 2,732 crore, has issued a Show Cause Notice dated 17 October 2018 ('SCN') inter-alia to the Company, two Executive Co-Chairpersons of the Company, NDTV Networks (a subsidiary of the Company) and NDTV Studios (an erstwhile subsidiary of the Company which, as of date, stands merged with the Company).

The Company is currently examining the aforesaid SCN and the legal options available to it. The Company will seek appropriate legal advice and will take necessary action(s) accordingly.

Powered by Capital Market - Live News

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At least three persons were injured when the fuel tank of an autorickshaw suddenly exploded while it was being refuelled at a CNG station in Kandivali West here on Saturday morning, police said.

The incident took place at the HPCL's CNG station near Milap Cinema on the busy S.V. Road, around 8 a.m.

The fuel tank of a new autorickshaw MH-47-C-2747 burst when it was being refuelled, injuring three persons including two autorickshaw drivers.

Those injured are Anil Shivram More, 57, Sohail Kamal Shaikh, 57, and Shailesh K. Tiwari, 25. The condition of at least two has been described as critical.

They have been rushed to the Tunga Hospital nearby and police are investigating the cause of the blast with specialized experts joining the probe.

The autorickshaws and pump properties also suffered damages from the explosion.

--IANS

qn/mag/vm

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At least 40 organizations belonging to different indigenous communities have called for a dawn-to-dusk bandh on October 23 opposing the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2016, according to Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS) leader Akhil Gogoi.

He said the Assam Jatiyatabadi Yuva Chatra Parishad (AJYCP) and 40 other organizations have joined hands to call the bandh.

"The BJP government in Assam came to power promising to protect 'Jati', 'Mati', and 'Bheti' (community, land and foundation) of Assam. However, it has made a U-turn on its promises and is hatching a conspiracy against indigenous communities," said Gogoi while addressing a press conference.

"The BJP government in Assam wants to give citizenship to the Hindu Bengalis through the constitutional amendment bill. In Meghalaya, where the BJP is also a part of the government, the cabinet has already decided to oppose the bill," said Gogoi.

"We have decided to oppose the Bill tooth and nail because it will affect the indigenous communities in Assam," he said.

Gogoi also demanded the Assam government to stop the proposed convention being organized by an umbrella organization of Hindu Bengalis on November 17 supporting the Citizenship Bill. He warned that there would be serious repercussions if the Hindu Bengalis are allowed to hold the convention.

"The Hindu Bengali organizations are backed by RSS and they want to trigger a law and order issue in Assam. We demand the government to stall the convention," he said.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
At least five people were killed and 118 injured in a series of violent attacks and explosions in Afghanistan as the long-awaited parliamentary elections got underway in the militancy-plagued country on Saturday.

In Kabul, blasts killed at least three people and injured 78, said Zear Khan, a spokesman for the Ministry of Public Health.

In Kunduz province, two people were killed and over 40 were injured in Taliban mortar and armed attacks, Kunduz Provincial Council Chief Yusuf Ayubi told Efe news.

"Around 30 rockets were fired on Kunduz city and Imam-Sahib district. Around 15 rockets landed in Shir Khan High School and Bandahar-e-Imam Sahib of Kunduz city" he said.

"We have people martyred and injured. At least two persons martyred and over 40 injured in the mortar and armed attacks. There was fighting in at least three districts of Kunduz today" he added.

The Afghan government deployed 70,000 troops -- an increase of 16,000 from the figure announced previously -- to boost security during the electoral process, Interior Ministry spokesperson Najib Danish said at a press conference.

He added that 4,900 polling centres had opened in 32 out of the 34 provinces. The voting was to begin at 7 a.m. across the country, but in some polling stations it started at around 9 a.m. and in some even later.

In some of the polling stations biometric devices were malfunctioning, while in others election material, including ballots, did not arrive on time.

Elections were delayed in the Ghazni province owing to ethnic tensions and security concerns, while in Kandahar it was pushed back by a week after a brazen attack by the Taliban on Thursday during a high-level security meeting that killed and injured top officials.

The Election Commission said it will continue till Sunday in centres which were unable to open on Saturday.

"Holding of this election is the success of the constitution, success of the people and the democracy," President Ashraf Ghani had said in an address to the nation even as the Taliban warned again on Saturday that they would target all polling booths and warned people against voting.

"Enemy's polling stations all over the country are under attack by Mujahideens, countrymen must refrain from taking part in this fake process, to save their lives and not to become a tool for the implementation of the evil plans of the enemy," said Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid in a statement.

The insurgents claimed on Twitter that they perpetrated attacks in at least 20 of the 34 provinces in Afghanistan on Saturday.

The elections are being held after a delay of three years owing to security challenges and political and economic instability in the country.

Violence in the run-up to the vote caused 30 per cent of all polling stations to shut and left 10 candidates dead.

More than 2,500 candidates, including many women, are vying for 250 seats in the legislative elections. Nearly nine million voters were entitled to cast their ballots.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Punjab Police has launched an investigation into the Dusshera tragedy here on Friday evening in which a local train crushed at least 58 people while watching the burning of a Ravana effigy from a railway track.

The incident left 72 people injured, some of them in critical condition. They were rushed to government hospitals in the area for treatment.

Bodies of the victims, most of which were dismembered, were being handed over to affected families on Saturday for performing their last rights.

Amritsar Police Commissioner S.S. Srivastava told the media that the whole situation was being assessed by the police after completion of rescue work late on Friday.

Punjab Police officials began the investigation early on Saturday into the man-made disaster.

The role of train driver, railway officials and local authorities, who gave permission for holding of the event close to the railway tracks, is being probed, police officials said.

Scores of people were roaming on the the railway tracks on Saturday morning to see the accident spot, with the police and local authorities failing to even cordon off the area.

Most of the dead and injured were standing on the railway tracks near the ground where the Ravana effigy was being burnt.

Eyewitnesses said the victims were either watching the burning of Ravana or were recording the event on their mobile.

Over 700 people were watching the huge Ravana effigy going up in flames amid exploding crackers at the Jora Phatak near Dhobi Ghat within Amritsar city when the Jalandhar-Amritsar DMU passenger train coming to Amritsar from Hoshiarpur came hurtling down around 7 p.m. It took just about 10-15 seconds for the train to pass -- and leave behind a heap of crushed and dismembered bodies.

People standing on the tracks did not realise that the train was approaching fast due to the noise of the firecrackers during the burning effigy. Srivastava said that 58 people were left dead and 72 have been rushed to hospitals in the city, adding that the toll could go up.

Wails and cries filled the air as people frantically looked for their near and dear ones. Severed bodies, including those of children, were lying at the accident site hours after the incident with angry people not allowing authorities to remove them.

Some people blamed Local Bodies Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu's wife Navjot Kaur, who was the chief guest at the celebrations, saying her late arrival delayed the burning of the effigy by more than half an hour.

The state government has declared a state mourning on Saturday. All offices and educational institutions will remain closed as a mark of respect to those dying in the train tragedy.

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, who announced an immediate compensation of Rs 5 lakh each for the families of victims, is scheduled to visit Amritsar on Saturday.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A day after the train tragedy in which 59 people watching Dusshera effigy burning were crushed to death by a speeding train, the traffic on the Jalandhar-Amritsar route has not yet been restored, officials said.

Northern Railway spokesperson Deepak Kumar told IANS: "The train services on the Amritsar-Jalandhar route have not been restored yet as the railways was awaiting safety clearance from the law and order department of the state government."

He said however, the Jalandhar-Jammu route was operational and a number of trains have been diverted through that.

The spokesperson said that following the accident, the railways cancelled 37 trains, diverted 16, short-terminated 12 and short-originated six trains on the route.

Earlier in the day, Minister of State for Railways Manoj Sinha and Chairman Railway Board Ashwani Lohani, who visited the accident site and hospitals to meet the injured said that the railways was not "responsible" for any lapses leading to the disaster.

The Railways was not informed about the Dusshera ceremony near the Joda Phatak vicinity either by the area administration or the event organisers, Sinha said.

"In fact, the Commissioner (Amritsar) in his report has said he had not granted permission to hold the Dusshera festival at the spot," Sinha, who visited the accident site at midnight, told reporters.

Sinha said the venue was nearly 70 metres from the accident spot which was not the property of Railways'.

"It's the duty of the public not to hold public functions near the railway tracks. Even the local administration should not allow such functions," Sinha said, adding "the driver could not see the crowd standing on the tracks because of the curve," he added.

Lohani explained that the accident site falls under the "mid-section of the two stations" where the trains run at their "assigned speed" as per the condition of the track.

He also dismissed the railways' responsibility in the tragedy. "The place where the accident happened was basically mid-section between two stations -- Mananwala and Amritsar and not at a level crossing."

"Trains run at their assigned speed and people are not expected to step on the tracks. It was a clear case of trespassing," he said.

According to a senior railway official, the incident happened some 340 metres from an interlocked level crossing of the railways.

On Friday, a 700 strong crowd watching a huge Ravan effigy go up in flames amid exploding crackers spilled on to the tracks at Joda Phatahk when the Jalandhar-Amritsar DMU passenger train heading to Hoshiarpur from Amritsar came hurtling down around 7 p.m.

In just 10-15 seconds it left behind a heap of crushed and dismembered bodies. Video clips posted on the social media showed some people who had apparently seen the approaching train tried to run away.

Lohani also said that the railway posts its staff at the manned level crossing to regulate the road traffic and nod at the mid-sections of the railway track between two stations.

The Railway Board chairman said at Jora Phatak the Jalandhar-Amritsar Diesel Multiple Unit (DMU) passenger train which was running at its assigned speed, its loco-pilot applied brakes to slow it down.

At the time of the incident the gates of the manned level crossing were closed and the train was given the green signal.

When asked about the responsibility of the loco-pilot, Lohani said, "Our initial report suggests that the loco-pilot applied the brakes and the speed came down from 90 kmph to around 60-65 kmph. We are still looking at the seepdometer charts," Lohani said.

The train driver was also questioned by the Punjab and Railway Police.

A senior Railway Ministry official, however, admitted that the loco-pilots of the Diesel Multiple Unit (DMU) Jalandhar-Amritsar Passenger train did not apply emergency brakes.

Emergency brakes could also derail the train at high speed, the official explained.

Railway Minister Piyush Goyal who was in the US, cancelled all his engagements and was set to return.

Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh announced the Jalandhar Divisional Commissioner will conduct an inquiry within four weeks. He also announced an ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakh to the next of the kin who died in the tragedy and Rs 50,000 for those injured.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
With at least 60 people crushed by a speeding train in Amritsar and over 70 others injured, senior political figures including Punjab Governor V.P. Singh Badnore and Cabinet Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu, visited the injured in hospitals here on Saturday.

Badnore arrived early on Saturday and met the injured at the Guru Nanak Dev government hospital here.

"This is a big tragedy. The doctors here are doing a good job in trying to save people," Badnore, who rushed from Chandigarh, told the media.

State Education Minister and Amritsar legislator O.P. Soni was also present during the Governor's visit.

Sidhu arrived at the hospital on Saturday morning accompanied by hordes of security personnel and officials.

Sidhu, whose wife Navjot Kaur Sidhu was the chief guest at the Dusshera festival function where the tragedy took place near Jora Phatak area of Amritsar city on Friday evening, refused to talk to the media.

Sidhu met the injured and their families in the hospital and assured all possible help from the government and the local administration.

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh is expected to arrive here later on Saturday and meet the families of victims.

Amarinder had on Friday night announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh each to those who died in the incident.

Over 700 people were watching the huge Ravana effigy going up in flames amid exploding crackers when the Jalandhar-Amritsar DMU passenger train coming to Amritsar from Hoshiarpur came hurtling down around 7 p.m.

It took just about 10-15 seconds for the train to pass -- and leave behind a heap of crushed and dismembered bodies.

People standing on the tracks did not realise that the train was approaching fast due to the noise of the firecrackers during the burning effigy.

The police has said that the toll could go up.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A case against former JNU Students Union leader Kanhaiya Kumar was lodged in Bihar's Begusarai district on Saturday over his alleged statement against the Hindu religion, police said.

Subham Bhardawaj, Bajrang Dal convenor, has filed the case against Kumar.

Subham said Kanhaiya Kumar has made objectionable statements against Hindus.

Early this week Kumar's vehicle was attacked by alleged Bajrang Dal activists in Bhagawanpur when he was returning from a public meeting.

Last Monday, a case was lodged against Kanhaiya and his 100 supporters for their alleged misbehaviour with a doctor, nurses and a security guard of AIIMS-Patna.

But Kanhaiya had refuted the charges against him and described it as a conspiracy by the BJP to defame him.

Kumar, who is associated with the CPI's student body AISF, is likely to contest the 2019 Lok Sabha polls from Begusarai in Bihar.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Apple CEO Tim Cook is urging Bloomberg to retract its story about an alleged embedded Chinese spying chips that compromised about 30 companies including the servers of Apple.

BuzzFeed News said Friday that the Apple CEO, who received an interview with the news outlet on Thursday, went on the record for the first time to deny allegations that his company was the victim of a hardware-based attack from a Chinese supplier and demanded Bloomberg retract the unfounded story, reports Xinhua news agency.

"There is no truth in their story about Apple," Cook told BuzzFeed News. "They need to do that right thing and retract it."

Bloomberg Businessweek issued a story earlier this month alleging about 30 US companies were compromised after their servers were implanted malicious chips during their manufacture in China, which created "a stealth backdoor" into their network running on the servers.

Apple denied in an October 4 statement that it had found the "malicious chips" in servers on its network, saying it refuted "virtually every aspect of Bloomberg' s story relating to Apple".

"Apple has never found malicious chips, hardware manipulations or vulnerabilities purposely planted in any server," it said.

In the latest response to the Bloomberg claims, Cook said he "was involved in our response to this story from the beginning".

"I personally talked to the Bloomberg reporters along with Bruce Sewell, who was then our general counsel. We were very clear with them that this did not happen, and answered all their questions," said Cook.

"Each time they brought this up to us, the story changed, and each time we investigated we found nothing," he added.

"We turned the company upside down... We really forensically whipped through the company to dig very deep and each time we came back to the same conclusion: this did not happen. There's no truth to this," Cook said.

The Bloomberg's report has been extensively questioned even by representatives of the companies it claimed to fall victim to the "backdoor" attack.

Earlier this month, FBI Director Christopher Wray warned a hearing of the Senate Homeland Security Committee to "be careful what you read" in reference to the report, BuzzFeed News said.

It quoted a high-ranking executive of a tech giant in Silicon Valley as saying that his company has conducted investigations, which didn' t turn up any evidence of tampering.

"We couldn't find anything," he said. "Our assessment is that it didn't happen."

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A Bharatiya Janata Party corporator in Meerut was arrested on Saturday for assaulting a uniformed sub-inspector at a restaurant that the former owns, police said.

On Friday, the sub-inspector had gone to a restaurant -- Black Pepper -- with a woman lawyer. There, he allegedly got into a tiff with a waiter after which Corporator Manish Chowdhary attacked him and was caught on a video slapping the police officer thrice.

He was also abusing the duo even as the woman lawyer threw crockery at the restaurant staff, mouthing obscenities.

Meerut City Superintendent of Police R. Singh said that the BJP leader had been booked under non-bailable offences. BJP workers created a ruckus soon after the corporator was arrested and tried to prevent the police from discharging their duties.

Chowdhary has also lodged a complaint, alleging that Sub-Inspector Sukhpal Singh came to his restaurant drunk, vandalized property and attacked his staff.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
As a hassle-free counting of votes in the Jammu and Kashmir civic elections ended on Saturday, the BJP emerged winner in the Jammu Municipal Corporation, while majority of seats in Srinagar Municipal Corporation went to Independent candidates.

Thanks to the presence of security forces in large numbers around the counting centres, the counting process ended peacefully in both Jammu province and the Valley.

Due to very poor turnout of voters in the Valley and the boycott by regional National Conference (NC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), an overwhelming majority of those who won these elections were new and unknown faces.

It was only during the result declaration announcements by the poll authorities that the people came to know who the contestants were.

Due to security reasons the poll authorities had not made the names of the contestants in the Valley public.

In Srinagar Municipal Corporation, the Independents won 49, Congress 12 and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) four wards.

After completion of the counting process, the BJP emerged as the largest party in the Jammu province and the Congress doing marginally better in the Kashmir valley.

In the Jammu region that includes the districts of Jammu, Samba, Kathua, Reasi, Doda, Kishtwar, Ramban, Udhampur, Poonch and Rajouri, the BJP candidates won 212 wards, the Congress 110, National Panthers Party 13 and the Independents 185.

In the Valley, with Srinagar, Baramulla, Kupwara, Badgam, Anantnag, Pulwama, Shopian, Kulgam, Bandipora and Ganderbal as its districts, the Congress won 79 wards, the BJP 75, Independents 71, Peoples Conference two and others two.

In Leh, the Congress swept the polls winning all the 13 seats, while in Kargil, the Congress won six and Independents seven wards.

Independents supported by former Minister and Peoples Conference Chief Sajad Gani Lone won all the 13 seats in the Handwara Municipal Committee polls in Kupwara.

In Anantnag, Kokernag and Dooru municipal committees, the Congress candidates won most of the wards.

In Srinagar Municipal Corporation polls, among the prominent winners was Junaid Azim Mattu, who left the National Conference (NC) after he disagreed with the poll boycott decision by the NC.

Prominent among the losers was Asifa Tariq Karra, the wife of senior Congress leader Tariq Hameed Karra.

The municipal elections, taking place in the state after 13 years, were held in four phases, covering 79 municipal bodies with an electorate of about 17 lakh electors.

A total of 3,372 nominations were filed for 1,145 wards and the voting was held on October 8, 10, 13 and 16.

The Valley witnessed very low voter turnout while Jammu and Ladakh recorded heavy polling.

Of the 598 wards in Kashmir, 231 candidates were elected unopposed, while there were no candidates in 181 wards.

The overall voting percentage for these polls in the state was 35.1 per cent.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Actor Bruce Dern was hospitalised here and later released after he suffered a possible fractured hip.

TMZ had reported that the incident took place at 3.45 p.m on Friday. It posted a photo taken by a bystander of a shirtless Dern, 82, on the ground as he was being treated and said the incident occurred at Runyon Canyon, a popular and rugged hiking area in the Hollywood Hills.

Dern's manager Alan Somers told Variety that the accident took place after he slipped on gravel while jogging, while his publicist Lee Wallman said he jogs everyday.

Wallman said that Dern had recently completed filming his role as George Spahn in Quentin Tarantino's "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" Dern was cast as a replacement for the late Burt Reynolds.

Wallman said she expects that Dern will want to return to shooting the upcoming Showtime comedy series "Black Monda" next week.

"Knowing Bruce, he'll want to get back to work as soon as possible," she added.

Dern, the father of actress Laura Dern, has credits dating back to "Route 66" in 1960. He was nominated for the Academy Award for supporting actor for "Coming Home" in 1978 and for best actor for "Nebraska" in 2013. He also appeared in Tarantino's "The Hateful Eight."

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Manju, a 38-year-old Dalit activist, won't be taken to the Sabarimala temple on Saturday, police said, adding that they were also checking her antecedents.

"We will not take her (to the temple) today (Saturday). We also are checking her background and more details will be provided tomorrow (Sunday)," Inspector General of Police S. Sreejith said.

Earlier on Saturday, Manju presented herself before Sreejith and Manoj Abraham, another Inspector General of Police, and requested them to facilitate her pilgrimage to the temple in the light of the Supreme Court verdict.

The Supreme Court on September 28 overturned a centuries-old practice that barred women of menstrual age (10-50 years) from entering the hill temple, where a celibate deity Lord Ayyappa is worshipped.

The police officials cautioned her about the risks, as Hindu traditionalists had dug their heels in, opposing the entry of women in the 10-50 age group in defiance of the SC order.

However, Manju, who claimed to be the President of the Kerala Dalit Mahila Federation, would have none of it.

Meanwhile, a woman from Tamil Nadu was allowed inside the Sabarimala temple on Saturday after facing initial protests, as traditionalists presumed her to be below 50 years of age.

Latha, 52, accompanied by her husband and son, was stopped just as she was about to climb the hallowed 18 steps leading to the temple. The protesters presumed her to be below 50, despite her protestations to the contrary.

It was only after the intervention of state BJP leader K. Surendran and others that the devotees allowed Latha to enter the sanctum sanctorum after checking her identity card.

Protesters have blocked the entry of women in the age group of 10-50, in defiance of the SC order, and despite the state government's assurance to facilitate the entry of women to the shrine.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Saturday opened the gates to a "primary library" in a government school -- the first among 100 libraries which will be open for students in the coming days.

"100 new primary libraries being opened from today (Saturday) in Delhi government schools! Inaugurated one at President Estate School. Keep reading, keep gaining wisdom and keep imparting it all around," Sisodia tweeted.

As a part of its policy, the Delhi government is going to set up libraries in every section of the primary classes of government schools to engage children with books.

Taking to Twitter, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal lauded the initiative.

Speaking with the teachers and students, Sisodia said that though these libraries are for small children, "if a small child gets active in the older ones, they too should come here and read story books".

"Children's library is a great place to read and learn, understand and explain," Sisodia asserted as he went on to inaugurate a similar library in School of Excellence, Khichripur.

This is the second phase of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government's initiative to open special libraries designed for the primary sections of 100 Sarvodaya Vidyalayas.

In 2017, the Kejriwal government, in partnership with Room To Read, had similarly opened 100 libraries for primary levels in public schools across the national capital.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The National Capital saw a sudden spike in the air-pollution on Saturday, a day after Dussehera.

As stubble-burning stepped up in neighbouring Punjab and Haryana, the combined effects of Dussehera and meteorological reasons such as low winds in Delhi gripped the city in haze with many regions heading towards 'severe-plus' or 'emergency level' air quality.

The Air Quality Index (AQI) of Delhi on Saturday was 326 -- marked very-poor -- against 276 on Friday, at about 4pm.

While Dwarka sub-city turned out to be the most polluted with 'severe-plus' air-quality and an average AQI of 405, according to Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).

Earlier on Friday, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal expressed his disappointment that the Centre along with the state governments of Punjab and Haryana did not do anything to manage stubble.

Kejriwal warned that he Delhi will turn into a 'gas chamber' soon.

The average presence of major pollutant PM2.5 or particle with diametre less than 2.5mm, also spiked in past 24 hours, mostly credited to festival where hundreads of Ravana effigies were set ablaze to mark Dussehera and the festival traffic.

The average PM2.5 concentration was 186 units across 48 regions of NCR against 129 units merely 24 hours back. The average PM2.5 across 36 areas of Delhi was 191 units at around 5 pm, against 133 units on Friday.

Dwarka sub-city, where incidents of garbage burning intensified the air-pollution levels, saw 239 units of PM2.5 concentration, about seven times the international safe standards.

The permissible range or PM2.5 is 60 as per national standards and 25 by the international standards.

Meanwhile, System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR) labelled NCR's air quality as toxic and recommended keeping relief medicine handy. SAFAR advised everyone to avoid tiring outdoor physical activity.

Across NCR, Bhiwadi in Rajasthan turned out to be the most polluted, with severe air-quality with AQI of 434. The AQI 314 in Ghaziabad, 326 in Faridabad, 317 in Greater Noida, 374 in Gurugram and Noida was 319 respectively.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The district authorities here have ordered a probe into allegations that members of the ruling BJP removed a memorial of Mohini Tripura at Matai village, and laid a foundation stone to build a Ram temple there, officials said on Saturday.

"After receiving a written complaint from a CPI-M delegation, I have ordered a probe," South Tripura District Magistrate and Collector Debapriya Bardhan told IANS.

Ghuncha Sanobar, the Sub-Divisional Magistrate of Belonia, will inquire into the incident, and the authorities would decide the next course of action after she files a report, he said.

A four-member delegation of the Communist Party of India-(Marxist), led by its central committee member Badal Choudhury, met the District Magistrate on Friday and sought an immediate reinstatement of the memorial of Mohini Tripura.

Mohini, a tribal rights activist, was killed in police firing in 1968 while protesting against the government's ban on 'Jhum' cultivation in the "Reserve Forest", as notified by the central government.

Tribals, who constitute 27 per cent of the 45.58 million people in the northeastern states, practise 'Jhum' or slash-and-burn method of cultivation. Rice is grown along with vegetables, maize, cotton and mustard. The 'jhumias' or shifting cultivators traditionally also collect forest produce and firewood for their livelihood.

The then state and central governments prohibited 'Jhum' cultivation in forest land. Tribals, specially the women led by Mohini Tripura, resisted the government order, triggering a clash with the police.

A temporary memorial had been set up at Matai village in southern Tripura, months after the incident. On the occasion of 50 years of the martyrdom of Mohini Tripura, a permanent memorial was established by former Chief Minister Manik Sarkar on March 17, 2017.

Badal Choudhury, who was a minister in the state government, told IANS on Saturday that the Bharatiya Janata Party's state Vice President Subal Bhowmik and Sanatan Sena's (a BJP ally) Tripura President Mrinal Sen laid the foundation stone on March 14 at the memorial site for a Ram Mandir.

BJP leader Bhowmik said that the CPI-M had illegally grabbed the land of a local person to build the memorial.

"The original owner of the land was present with us on the dais when we laid the foundation stone for the Ram Mandir at Matai village," he said.

--IANS

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Two satellites developed in Europe and Japan are on their way to the Sun's closest planet Mercury. It is likely to take them seven years to reach their destination.

The joint endeavour BepiColombo left Earth on an Ariane rocket that launched out of South America on Friday, the BBC said.

The probes lifted clear of the Kourou spaceport in Atlantic coast of French Guiana at 10.45 p.m. on Friday.

Mission controllers based in Darmstadt, Germany, would spend much of Saturday talking to the spacecraft, to confirm they were properly configured for the long cruise ahead.

Coming close on the heels of NASA's Parker Solar Probe that was launched in August, Bepi is aimed at finding more about Mercury that "doesn't really fit with our theories for how the Solar System formed", said Bepi scientist Professor Dave Rothery from the UK's Open University.

"We can't understand our planet fully unless we're able to explain Mercury that has an oversized iron core -- 60 per cent of its mass," Rothery said.

Science has not yet explained why the planet only has a thin veneer of rocks. Bepi's high-resolution data should bring us nearer to an answer, the BBC reported.

It's the first time the European and Japanese space agencies (Esa and Jaxa) have set out for Mercury. The Americans have already been there, briefly with the Mariner 10 probe in the 1970s, and with the Messenger orbiter earlier this decade.

Messenger discovered that water-ice is held inside some of Mercury's shadowed craters, and that its crust contains a lot of graphite (pencil lead).

Bepi will build on those. The new mission carries twice as much instrumentation and will get closer for longer.

Mercury's dense body does not reflect its initial form. It's possible the planet began life much further and later migrated inwards, mission scientist Suzie Imber from Leicester University.

"It's also got huge cliffs, many kilometres tall. And those cliffs formed as Mercury shrank. We call them wrinkle ridges," Imber said.

It is possible to directly reach Mercury in a matter of months, but the speed picked up by a spacecraft falling into the Sun's deep gravity would make it very hard to stop at the planet, the BBC report said.

Bepi will take a more circuitous route. It will fly past Earth, Venus and Mercury itself, using the tug of their gravity to bleed off speed, so that by 2025 the mission can gently slot into position.

The toughest prospect ahead is the heat. At just 58 million km from the Sun, working at Mercury is like being in a pizza oven, Imber said.

The sides of the probes in direct sunlight will have to cope with temperatures over 400 degrees Celsius. Even those surfaces facing away from the Sun have to be protected.

Coping strategies include covering the MMO in thick blankets of insulation material made from titanium and ceramics. "The is extremely hostile," explains Esa mission controller Elsa Montagnon.

"On Mercury, we get 10 times the solar energy we get on Earth. But then from the illuminated side of Mercury, we get about four times what we get on the Earth. So, the spacecraft are continually in a heat sandwich," Montagnon said.

The mission is an expensive one. It's estimated the costs borne by the European Space Agency and the Japanese space agency amount to about 1.65 billion euros.

Additionally, national space agencies in Europe have paid for the instrumentation on the MMO, taking the overall budget above 3 billion euros.

This number covers the full lifecycle of the mission, from its approval (2007) to its termination (late 2020s).

Engineers have had a torrid time developing the technologies to keep Bepi safe so close to the Sun. Delays have kept on adding to the price.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The body of former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Narayan Dutt Tiwari was flown into the state capital on Saturday where it will be kept in front of the Vidhan Sabha for followers and friends to pay their tributes.

The casket carrying the mortal remains of the veteran politician, who passed away at a Delhi hospital aged 93 on Thursday, was received by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

Former UP Chief Minister and Samajwadi Party (SP) President Akhilesh Yadav also paid floral tributes to the late leader at the tarmac of the Chowdhary Charan Singh International Airport at Amausi.

Deputy Chief Minister Dinesh Sharma accompanied the late politician's family from Delhi in an air ambulance.

Agriculture Minister Surya Pratap Shahi, Tourism Minister Rita Bahuguna Joshi, Law Minister Brajesh Pathak, Medical Education Minister Ashutosh Tandon and senior bureaucrats including Chief Secretary Anoop Chandra Pandey, Director General of Police (DGP) O.P. Singh also paid tributes to Tiwari, who was the Chief Minister thrice and once of Uttarakhand.

Tiwari's body will be kept at the Vidhan Bhawan for about two hours after which it will be flown to the hill state of Uttarakhand where it will be kept for 'darshan' at the circuit house in Kathgodam.

The funeral is slated to be held in Pantnagar's Chitrashila Ghat on Sunday.

Many political leaders, including Adityanath and his cabinet colleagues are likely to attend the last rites.

--IANS

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The Goa Congress on Saturday demanded to know why two of its now former MLAs met BJP national president Amit Shah before submitting their resignation from the party earlier this week before joining the BJP.

''They should explain under which rule they had to go to Delhi to resign. Before going to Delhi, one of them had said that he was going for a reception while another cited a business work. They will have to tell the people what business they had with BJP Chief Amit Shah,'' Congress spokesperson Amarnath Panjikar told a press conference in Panaji.

The two former Congress MLAs -- Dayanand Sopte and Subhash Shirodkar -- on Tuesday quit the Congress and joined the BJP, which sparked political controversy in Goa.

Both former legislators met Amit Shah in the national capital before formally quitting the Congress.

Their decision comes in the backdrop of a political controversy in Goa, following Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar's prolonged illness and with coalition allies stepping up pressure on the BJP for a bigger share of plum portfolios.

--IANS

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In its push to promote Hindi at the world body, India has reiterated its request to the UN to conduct tours for visitors to the headquarters in that language.

Saying that the tour is popular with Indians visiting New York, Deepak Misra, a minister in the Indian Mission, made the request while speaking at a meeting on Friday on information issues held by the General Assembly committee dealing with special political matters.

"The guided tour has been very popular with Indian tourists to New York and, as highlighted by our delegations last year. We urge the addition of guided tour in Hindi, India's official language, to facilitate the tourists," he said.

The UN now offers tours in its six official languages - Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, and Spanish - as well as in German, Italian, Japanese, Korean and Portuguese.

The tours run between 45 minutes and an hour and cost $22 for adults and $15 for students and seniors.

Besides viewing the Security Council and General Assembly Chambers and visiting exhibits, the visitors get an overview from the tour guides of issues important to the UN like disarmament, peace and security, human rights and sustainable development.

Stressing the case for Hindi, Misra said: "Genuine multilingualism promotes unity in diversity and international understanding by recognising the importance of communicating to the peoples of the world in their languages by bringing the common goals and ideals closer to the people."

Misra also asked the UN to publish its peacekeeping website in "the main languages" of the troop contributing countries.

He acknowledged that the UN was facing a financial crunch that affected its ability to expand its activities.

Therefore, he said, the Department of Public Information has to look at innovative ways to raise resources through initiatives like raising voluntary contributions to expand its global outreach activities in the widely-spoken non-official languages.

The UN began to incorporate Hindi in its social media outreach by launching a Twitter feed in the language in July.

Last month, the UN advertised for a Hindi Public Information Officer at its headquarters in New York.

The advertisement said that besides monitoring media, the officer's responsibilities would include production of news stories and multimedia feature materials on UN activities.

(Arul Louis can be reached at arul.l@ians.in and followed on Twitter @arulouis)

--IANS

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India and Sri Lanka discussed the entire gamut of their bilateral relationship during delegation-level talks headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Sri Lankan counterpart here on Saturday.

"Both the Prime Ministers discussed the entire gamut of bilateral relations and ways to further deepen the historically close and friendly relations between the two countries," the External Affairs Ministry said in a statement.

"The leaders exchanged views on regional and global issues," it stated.

According to the statement, the two leaders reviewed the progress in implementation of various decisions taken during high-level exchanges in the recent past, including the visit of Wickremesinghe in April and November 2017, Modi's visit to Sri Lanka in May 2017 during the International Vesak Day Celebrations and the visit of Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena for the International Solar Alliance Founding Conference here in March 2018.

"The visit is part of our continuing engagement with the government of Sri Lanka at the highest level," it stated.

"This multi-faceted partnership has been marked by close contacts at the highest political level, growing trade and investment, wide ranging development cooperation, increasing linkages in the fields of education, health, infrastructure, connectivity and capacity building and broadening people-to-people contacts."

India is a leading aid partner of Sri Lanka and New Delhi has extended several lines of credit to Colombo.

Earlier in the day, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Minister of Home Affairs Rajnath Singh and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval called on Wickremesinghe.

The Sri Lankan Prime Minister arrived here on Thursday in what is his fifth visit to India after assuming office in 2015.

A high-level delegation comprising Minister of Development Strategies and International Trade Malik Samarawickrama, Minister of Petroleum Resources Development Arjuna Ranatunga, Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister and Minister of Youth Affairs, Project Management and Southern Development Sagala Ratnayake and other senior government officials accompanied him.

The visit comes after reports in a section of the media alleged that President Sirisena has alluded to the involvement of an Indian agency in a plot to assassinate him.

Firmly dismissing the reports, Sirisena held a telephonic discussion with Modi earlier this week to clarify the matter.

--IANS

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Geologists had warned Indonesian authorities regarding soil instability in the region on Sulawesi Island that was affected by an earthquake and a tsunami in September, experts said on Saturday.

Indonesian Association of Geologists (IAGI) head Sukmandaru Prihatmoko said that an agency of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources in 2012 drew a map showing the areas vulnerable to soil liquefaction in Palu, the worst-affected in the quake.

"They released an official report and they claimed they already reported to the local government there. Supposedly the local government should know about it but nobody cared about that," Sukmandaru told Efe news.

Soil liquefaction is a phenomenon where soil substantially loses its strength and rigidity as a result of applied stress, such as in the case of an earthquake, causing it to behave like liquid, and can sweep away entire buildings or bury them in mud.

Last year, seismologists Ian Watkinson and Robert Hall of Royal Holloway, University of London, in an article identified the Palu-Koro fault as the most dangerous one in Sulawesi and warned of risk of tsunami and liquefaction in Palu.

The article had also warned about the possibility of liquefaction in the basin on which the city lies and its vulnerability to a tsunami on account of the location of Palu bay.

"Nobody really expected it (the extent of liquefaction) to be as bad as it was," Hall said.

In the Petobo and Balaroa neighbourhood, both in Palu, rescue teams were able to recover the bodies of a few hundred residents of the nearly 5,000 people that got buried, according to official estimates.

The disaster at Sulawesi left 2,103 people dead and 4,612 severely injured, according to latest official toll.

--IANS

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Actress Sruthi Hariharan on Saturday accused multilingual south Indian actor Arjun Sarja of sexually harassing her on the sets of a film in 2016. He has dismissed the claim.

"I was shooting for a bilingual film which starred Arjun Sarja, a man whose movies I have grown up watching. I was excited about the opportunity," Sruthi said in a Facebook post.

During the film rehearsal, the 54-year-old actor who has appeared in Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam films, had to do a romantic scene with the actress, who played the role of his wife in the film, which she has not named in the post.

"During the rehearsal, we delivered our lines and Mr. Arjun hugs me. With no forewarning or permission, he runs his hands intimately up and down my back. He pulls me closer with my body taut against his and asks the director if we could use this idea of foreplay in the scene," the 29-year-old actress recalled.

The incident which took place before at least 50 of the film's crew left her "aghast", Sruthi said.

"I am all for depicting realism in cinema, but this felt absolutely wrong. His (Arjun) intent seemed anything but professional. I hated that he did it and angry that I didn't know what to say then," she added.

The actress said the film's director had "sensed her discomfort" and that she had shared the incident with her make-up team and informed the direction department that she was not interested to be part of rehearsals.

"During the course of production, every smutty innuendo he (Arjun) made created an unpalatable work environment for me. His salacious invitations to meet him after work appalled me," added Sruthi, who featured in the critically acclaimed Kannada film "Lucia" (2013).

Though she didn't want to go back to filming, she had to finish the project she had signed, Sruthi said.

"I choose to come out now because henceforth, I think Mr. Arjun Sarja needs to make sure he doesn't cross the thin line between two actors and use his position of power to cause another person discomfort or hurt," she added.

The actress said the #MeToo movement is to make sure "no man ever takes a woman's personal space for granted, whoever she is to him.

"This (film) industry has helped me achieve my dreams, explore my capabilities and inspired me to be versatile. It breaks my heart to share that I have felt unsafe, disturbed and disappointed in far too many situations," said Sruthi.

Arjun, popularly known as 'Action King', has acted in over 150 movies across Tamil, Telugu and Kannada languages. He has dismissed the allegations as "false".

"The allegations being levelled against me are entirely baseless. I am shocked to hear such false allegations," Arjun told a news channel responding to the sexual harassment allegation.

--IANS

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So many of the contemporary filmmakers seem to have lost the plot. Imtiaz Ali, the supremo among avant garde directors, is struggling to make himself coherent to an audience that just doesn't care what happened when "Harry Met Sejal".

Vishal Bhardwaj's last three films "Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola", "Rangoon" and the recent "Patakha" have ranged from the strange to the ugh.

As for Anurag Kashyap, when did any of his films make money?

The heartening news is that another pioneer of new-age Indian cinema, Mani Ratnam, has regained his mojo somewhat. His new film "Chekka Chivantha Vaanam" (CCV), meaning Crimson Red Sky, is most decidedly not among Mani's best works. But it is markedly superior to his other recent films, the vapid "O Kadhal Kanmani" and the weird "Kaatru Veliyedai". As for his last Hindi film "Raavan", it was lost in translation.

Luckily, gangsterism sits well on the post-60 phase of Ratnam's life and career. CCV is a virile and rugged he-man kind of film. It looks at the sprawling family life of a gangster Senapati (the ever-credible Prakash Raj) from the viewpoint of his violent job-profile. It's like Sooraj Barjatya meets Francis Ford Coppola. And they both decide to share a sumptuous lunch of dosa, sambhar, idli and rasam.

Go ahead and say, "Burp". CCV is a work of excessive self indulgence. Ratnam goes for the (over)kill. There are long shootouts on the streets of Chennai and in brothels and other claustropobic settings which give away nothing of Ratnam's earlier brilliance in portraying the wages of gangsterism in "Dalapathi" or "Nayakan".

Not one moment in CCV is dedicated to romancing brilliance. Rather, I feel Ratnam made this film to regain lost boxoffice ground, the way Raj Kapoor made "Bobby" after the failure of "Mera Naam Joker". Or Guru Dutt made the kitschy "Chaudhvin Ka Chand" after the classic "Kaagaz Ke Phool". Sometimes a filmmaker has gotta do what he's gotta do.

Except this: Ratnam's last film was no "Mera Naam Joker" or "Kaagaz Ke Phool" but a horribly botched-up love story where the talented Karthi didn't know how to approach his character's reckless passion. He plunged in and never came up for breath.

Reckless passion runs through CCV. Here it is passion for power. Senapati's three sons, played with varying degrees of excellence/non-excellence by Arvind Swamy, Arun Vijay and Silambarasan, look and behave like leftovers from a Shakespearean tragedy that the bard would rather not think about.

Betrayed by their own ambitions, Mani's heroes behave as if they own the city of Chennai. The swagger is tragically misplaced in the context of the decadence that grips the city.

The acting is uneven. With some actors rising to the occasion. Others just not caring because there are so many characters being accommodated into the tank of treachery, that the whole framework threatens to sink in the abyss of blood and butchery. Not that the shoot-outs are particularly impressive. But this time doing an action film Mani Ratnam has not shot himself in his foot the way he did in "Raavan".

There is a desperate velocity to the violence in CCV. But he creates and carves out women characters as full-bodied, and not only in their physicality. Here there are two major female characters. Chennai's Brando, Senapathi's wife played by Jaya Sudha, who's the backbone of the family. The other more powerful female character is the eldest scion Nawab (Arvind Swamy's) wife Chithra played with tender firmness by Jyothika.

Arvind Swamy's mistress is played by Aditi Rao Hydari who seems happy being a nonentity in a Mani Ratnam film. Now I know what Shabana Azmi meant when she said she would happily take a broom and sweep from one corner of a frame to the other in a Satyajit Ray film.

Death stalks "Chekka Chivantha Vaanam", luckily not the distributors. This time Mani's film has made lots of money. Hopefully, his next one won't only be a profit earner, it would also remind us of the director's brilliance in "Nayakan", the underrated "Yuva" and "Alai Payuthe".

(Subhash K. Jha can be contacted at jhasubh@gmail.com)

--IANS

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Senior counsel Maninder Singh has resigned as the Additional Solicitor General (ASG) after serving as a government counsel for over four years.

With Singh stepping down, the strength of the government lawyers at the ASG level was reduced to four -- Pinki Anand, Atmaran Nadkarni, Aman Lekhi and Vikranjit Banerjee.

Prior to Singh, senior counsel P.S. Narasimha had resigned as Additional Solicitor General.

Another ASG Sandeep Sethi had quit earlier in 2018.

Singh along with others was appointed ASG for a three-year term after the Bharatiya Janata Party-led NDA government came to power. He got an extension in 2017.

--IANS

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An administrative employee at a kindergarten was arrested on Friday on suspicion of having sexually abused 37 children, Mexican authorities said.

An arrest warrant was issued based on evidence that the suspect, identified as Ramon M., abused a 3-year-old student, the Attorney General's Office said in a statement, reports Efe.

The arrest took place in Ecatepec, a populous suburb of Mexico City.

Separately, the department announced that the entire staff of the kindergarten is to be replaced effective October 22 as part of an accord between the AG Office and parent representatives.

"It was also agreed that the new staff must fit the required profile," and that the kindergarten will be subject to unannounced inspection visits, the department said.

The first complaint about the kindergarten was made on October 8, when a parent reported that his child had been abused. That complaint was followed by others and the AG Office opened an investigation.

Though Ramon M. is the only person charged so far, parents say that their children's statements point to the possible involvement of teachers.

--IANS

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A day after 60 hapless Dussehra revellers were mowed down by a train here in Punjab, Union Minister of State for Railways Manoj Sinha on Saturday said his ministry is not to be blamed for any lapses leading to the disaster.

The Railways was not informed about the Dusshera ceremony near the Jora Phatak vicinity either by the area administration or the event organisers, he added.

"In fact, the Commissioner (Amritsar) in his report has said he has not granted permission to hold the Dusshera festival at the spot," Sinha, who visited the accident site at midnight, told reporters.

On Friday, a 700 strong crowd watching a huge Ravan effigy go up in flames amid exploding crackers spilled on to the tracks at Jora Phatahk when the Jalandhar-Amritsar DMU passenger train heading to Hoshiarpur from Amritsar came hurtling down around 7 p.m.

In just 10-15 seconds it left behind a heap of crushed and dismembered bodies. Video clips posted on the social media showed some people who had apparently seen the approaching train tried to run away

Sinha said the venue was nearly 70 metres from the accident spot which was not the Railways'.

Witnesses and survivors said the deafening noise of fire crackers masked the sound of the approaching train.

Saying it was not the time for the blame game, Sinha added that there was no provision of barricading along railway tracks across the country.

Earlier Chairman Railway Board Ashwani Lohani had explained that the accident site falls under the "mid-section of the two stations" where the trains run at their "assigned speed" as per the condition of the track.

Lohani on Saturday also dismissed the railways' responsibility in the tragedy. "The place where the accident happened was basically mid-section between two stations -- Mananwala and Amritsar and not at a level crossing."

"Trains run at their assigned speed and people are not expected to go on the tracks. It was a clear case of trespassing," he said.

"It's the duty of the public not to hold public functions near the railway tracks. Even the local administration should not allow such functions," Sinha said, adding "The driver could not see the crowd standing on the tracks because of the curve," he added.

According to a senior railway official, the incident happened some 340 metres from an interlocked level crossing of the railways.

Lohani also said that the railway posts its staff at the manned level crossing to regulate the road traffic and nod at the mid-sections of the railway track between two stations.

The Railway Board chairman said at Jora Phatak the Jalandhar-Amritsar Diesel Multiple Unit (DMU) passenger train which was running at its assigned speed, its loco-pilot applied brakes to slow it down.

At the time of the incident the gates of the manned level crossing were closed and the train was given the green signal.

When asked about the responsibility of the loco-pilot, Lohani said, "Our initial report suggest that the loco-pilot applied the brakes and the speed came down from 90 kmph to around 60-65 kmph. We are still looking at the seepdometer charts," Lohani said.

The train driver has been detained at the Ludhiana railway station and questioned by the Punjab and Railway Police on Saturday.

A senior Railway Ministry official, however, admitted that the loco-pilots of the Diesel Multiple Unit (DMU) Jalandhar-Amritsar Passenger train did not apply emergency brakes.

Emergency brakes could also derail the train at high speed, the official explained.

Doctors at the Civil Hospital said that the death toll could rise as some of the injured were critical. Many killed were migrants from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.

The Punjab government has declared state mourning on Saturday and a probe has been ordered.

Railway Minister Piyush Goyal who was in the US, cancelled all his engagements and was set to return.

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh who arrived in Amritsar on Saturday at the accident spot 16 hours after the tragedy, has announced Rs 5 lakh compensation each to the kin of the deceased immediately after the incident.

He also cancelled his proposed Israel visit in the aftermath of the disaster.

The Prime Minister also announced Rs 2 lakh compensation each to the families of the dead and Rs 50,000 each to the injured.

--IANS

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Challenging Prime Minister Narendra Modi's statement that 16,000 villages in Maharashtra have become 'drought-free', the state Congress on Saturday demanded that the Bharatiya Janata Party government release the list of all these villages.

In his speech in Shirdi (Ahmednagar) on Friday, Modi had patted Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis' government for making 16,000 villages self-sufficient in water, while work was on to make another 9,000 villages drought-free very soon, under the flagship Jalyukta Shivar Abhiyan (JSA) scheme.

"The reality is that there is a serious drought situation prevailing in at least 20,000 villages in 201 sub-districts of the total 353 sub-districts in the state.

"The state government claims that the number of tankers supplying water to villages has reduced by 80 per cent, but from October (2018) itself, hundreds of tankers have already been deployed to grapple with the water shortage," state Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant said.

This makes it clear that the implementation of the JSA scheme by the BJP is a complete failure and there is massive corruption in it with the Prime Minister uttering 'lies' on the figures of the drought-free villages, he pointed out.

Sawant added that the government has spent more than Rs 7,459 crore on 541,000 JSA schemes, plus another 20,420 works are in progress, yet the spectre of drought has hit the state as the monsoon ended this year.

In this context, he cited the Pune-based Directorate of Geographical Survey & Development Agency (GSDA)'s 2018-2019 report to the state government which warns of a severe water crisis in view of the shocking state of groundwater levels in the state.

"The GSDA report says that compared to the situation five years ago in Maharashtra, the current groundwater level in 13,984 villages in 252 sub-districts, has plummeted by more than one metre, in 7,212 villages upto two metres, in 3,430 villages by upto three metres and in 3,342 villages it has gone down by more than three metres," Sawant said.

Alleging that this is a serious indicator of the corruption in the JSA scheme, he demanded a judicial inquiry into the scheme to ascertain where the Rs 7,500 crore has gone.

He also sought the list of all the 16,000 villages already declared drought-free and the names of the 9,000 which will be declared water-sufficient, as per the PM's statement on Friday, "to unmask the massive corruption in the scheme by the BJP government here."

Sawant said that it was "unfortunate that Modi is seen 'lying' even in a sacred place like Shirdi" though holding an important position of dignity.

--IANS

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Lelectricite est devenue, de nos jours, un besoin dune importance majeure, et cela, dans tous les domaines dactivite. Que ce soit dans les maisons ou []
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Saturday arrested a Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) operative involved in the Nagrota Army camp terror attack case from Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA), officials said.

A senior NIA official said the arrested JeM operative has been identified as Mohammad Ashraf Khandey, a resident of Pulwama district in Jammu and Kashmir.

He was arrested from the IGIA while he was trying to flee to Saudi Arabia via Sri Lanka.

According to counter-terror probe agency officials, Khandey was a co-conspirator in facilitating, harbouring and transporting a group of three heavily armed Pakistani terrorists belonging to the proscribed terrorist organisation Jaish-e-Mohammad who had infiltrated into India from Kathua-Samba sector of Jammu and Kashmir in the intervening night of November 27-28, 2016.

Three armed terrorist attacked the Army camp at Nagrota on November 29, 2016, in which seven Army personnel were martyred and three others were injured. All three Pakistani suicide squad terrorists were killed in the operation and a huge quantity of fire arms, ammunition, explosives and other articles were recovered.

During investigation, the agency has unearthed a well-planned conspiracy and a network of overground workers of JeM was busted which was responsible in facilitating this attack.

Earlier the agency had arrested three accused -- Sayeed Munir-ul-Hassan Qadri, Tariq Ahmed Dar and Mohammad Ashiq Baba -- in the case.

The official said that the NIA's investigation has established the role of all the accused in providing shelter and transportation to the terrorists on the directions of leaders or handlers of JeM based in Pakistan for carrying out the terrorist attack.

The official said the investigation of the case was in final stages and it would soon file a chargesheet in the court.

--IANS

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hoist the national flag at Red Fort on Sunday to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the formation of the government of 'free India'.

Traditionally, the country's Prime Minister hoists the flag at the historic fort on Independence Day every year on August 15.

This year, Modi will hoist the Tiranga and unveil the plaque to celebrate anniversary of the Azad Hind government, inspired and headed by Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose.

An official statement said that the commemoration of this historical event will also have the presence of Union Minister Mahesh Sharma and Indian National Army (INA) veteran R.S. Chhikara among others.

Founded on October 21, 1943, the Azad Hind government was inspired by the ideals of Subhas Chandra Bose.

It was a part of the freedom movement, originating in 1940s outside India with a purpose of allying with axis powers to free India from the British rule.

The INA played a crucial role in bequeathing a much-needed impetus to the country's freedom struggle.

The Red Fort will remain closed for the general public and visitors till the function in over.

The Prime Minister will also lay the foundation stone for a museum dedicated to the Azad Hind Fauj or the INA.

--IANS

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Congress President Rahul Gandhi kicked off his party's election campaign in Telangana by targeting both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao by accusing them both of indulging in corruption.

Promising to build 'new Telangana', he addressed a massive public meeting at Bhainsa town in Adilabad district, where he told people that five years were wasted as Chief Minister Rao shattered the dreams of the new state.

Gandhi said it was only KCR's family which "cornered" all the benefits. He said only Congress could build a Telangana which is free from corruption and farmers' suicides.

On his first visit to Telangana after the announcement of the poll schedule, Gandhi was scheduled to address public meetings in Kamareddy and Hyderabad later in the day.

The Congress chief told the gathering at Bhaina that governments of both Modi and KCR were on their way out.

He also alleged that KCR insulted B.R. Ambedkar by changing the name of an irrigation project in the state to Kaleshwaram.

He claimed that KCR was resorting to corruption in irrigation projects by redesigning them to benefit his family and friends.

"This project was named after Ambedkar and was to be built at a cost of Rs 38,000 crore but KCR has revised the cost to Rs 1 lakh crore. Other irrigation projects were also redesigned to hike their cost," he said.

He promised that if voted to power Congress would implement the legislation brought by the UPA government to protect the lands of farmers and tribals and return the lands which were forcibly acquired by the KCR government.

He claimed that the purpose of the legislation was to ensure that the lands of farmers were not acquired without their consent and if the lands are acquired with their consent they should be paid compensation which is four times the market value.

Gandhi said if voted to power Congress would waive all farm loans up to Rs 2 lakh and pay Rs 3,000 unemployment allowance to youth.

He alleged that KCR failed to fulfil his promises to provide one job in each family, three acres of land to every Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe family, two bed-room houses for poor and drinking water to every household.

Gandhi said like KCR, Modi had also made false promises including Rs 15 lakh in every bank account, two crore jobs every year and remunerative prices for farmers.

On Modi's charge that Congress did nothing for the poor, Gandhi claimed that it was Congress which pulled out many families out of poverty by brining MNREGA and providing right to food.

Gandhi said Modi had promised that he would work as a "chowkidar" but he did not mention whose "chowkidari" he would do. He alleged that Modi was doing "chowkidari" of the likes of Nirav Modi, Vijay Mallya, Mehul Choksi, Lalit Modi and Anil Ambani.

He reiterated that Modi snatched Rafale contract from public sector Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and gave it to Anil Ambani to benefit him to the tune of Rs 30,000 crore. "India's chowkidar has stolen people's money," he said.

The Congress leader also alleged that Modi spreads hatred. "He pits people of one religion against another, one caste against the other and one region against another.

"He is weakening the country. Congress believes in uniting people irrespective of their religion, caste and region and that the difference between BJP and Congress," he said.

--IANS

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Tamil cinema superstar Rajinikanth on Saturday welcomed the Supreme Court verdict on Sabarimala, but cautioned against interfering with the traditions of temples.

He said that every temple had some traditions, and it was better not to interfere with those traditions.

However, he was quick to hail the September 28 Supreme Court verdict that overturned a centuries-old practice barring women of menstrual age (10-50 years) from entering the hill temple, where a celibate deity Lord Ayyappa is worshipped.

His cine rival Kamal Haasan, however, refused to be drawn into the Sabarimala controversy.

Haasan, the founder of Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) party, said he was not the right person to comment on the issue, as he had never been to the Sabrimala temple.

He observed that Karnataka did not follow the SC verdict asking for the release of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu, and now Kerala was not obeying the SC ruling on Sabarimala.

Rajinikanth said that a lot of work had been completed towards forming his political party but denied reports that it would be launched on December 12.

The two Tamil cinema rivals are now set to slug it out in the world of

Protesters have blocked the entry of women in the age group of 10-50, in defiance of the SC order, and despite the state government's assurance to facilitate the entry of women to the shrine.

--IANS

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After over two weeks of shifting stories, Saudi Arabia has acknowledged that missing journalist and Washington Post contributor Jamal Khashoggi died during a fistfight inside the country's consulate in Istanbul and that 18 men had been arrested in the case.

Following this admission, Turkey on Saturday vowed to reveal all details in the case. "Turkey will never allow a cover-up... We are carrying out our own independent investigation. We will reveal our own conclusion," a ruling party spokesperson said.

Turkish investigators previously said that Khashoggi had been deliberately killed inside the consulate and his body was later dismembered.

After 18 days in which it insisted it had no involvement in the journalist's disappearance, Riyadh on Friday night said that an initial investigation by the government's general prosecutor found that the Saudi journalist had been in discussions with people inside the consulate when a quarrel broke out and escalated to a fatal fistfight.

Those responsible then tried to cover it up, a Saudi statement said. Khashoggi was a permanent resident of the US in self-imposed exile and was a fierce critic of Riyadh's human rights violations and of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's policies.

He went to the consulate on October 2 for paperwork needed for his upcoming wedding to his Turkish fiancee, Hatice Cengiz.

An announcement carried on Saudi state TV was the first official confirmation of Khashoggi's death in Turkey, and the first acknowledgment by Saudi Arabia of its role in it.

"The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia expresses deep regret at the painful developments that have taken place in this case and affirms the commitment of the authorities in the Kingdom to bring the facts to the attention of the public and to hold accountable all those involved," it said.

The Saudi government said it fired five top officials and arrested 18 other Saudis as a result of the initial investigation. Those fired included the Crown Prince's adviser Saud al-Qahtani and deputy intelligence chief Maj. Gen. Ahmed al-Assiri.

The Saudis set up a commission, led by the Crown Prince, that will restructure the Saudi general intelligence directorate and will have one month to release a report, state TV said.

The commission will consist of national security officials, the Foreign Ministry and the Interior Ministry.

The Saudi statement came as the kingdom faced unprecedented political and economic pressure to explain what happened to Khashoggi.

It was unclear whether the Saudi explanation, in contrast with details provided by Turkish investigators, will be enough to satisfy foreign leaders, global business executives and US lawmakers pressing for the perpetrators to be brought to justice.

Turkish investigators had concluded days ago that Khashoggi was killed and dismembered by a Saudi team dispatched to Istanbul. US officials have said that Turkey has audio and video recordings providing evidence that the journalist was interrogated and killed inside the consulate and his body cut into several pieces.

According to the Washington Post, CIA officials had listened to an audio recording that Turkish officials say proved the journalist was killed and dismembered by the Saudi team, according to people familiar with the matter.

If verified, the recording would make it difficult for the White House to accept the Saudi version that Khashoggi's death was effectively an accident. Nor has Khashoggi's body been recovered, and the Saudi statement did not address what happened to it.

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump said that he found the Saudi claim credible, CNN said. He called the official statement from Riyadh a "good first step" and said talks with Saudi officials would continue.

He added that Saudi Arabia was a "great ally in the Middle East", but "what happened is unacceptable".

Trump said he would work with Congress to develop a response to Khashoggi's death, but said that he didn't want sanctions to affect US arms sales to the Kingdom.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
An advocate got into a scuffle with her brother's wife within the court compound on Saturday. The police have lodged cross FIRs.

While the bar association has complained about delayed action, the advocate involved in the scuffle said she had no complaints against the police.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Meghna Yadav said the incident happened around 10.30 a.m. in the Karkardooma Court, where Aruna Singh is fighting her brother's divorce case.

A few lawyers, she said, went to the nearest police station and started "screaming" at the Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) even after he had sent two women police personnel to deal with the matter.

The DCP refused to comment on the behaviour of the lawyers. "But I can guarantee that the ACP behaved in the most appropriate manner and in spite the provocation, he restrained himself," she said.

According to the Shahdara Bar Association, Singh, the advocate fighting her brother's case, was among the lawyers who approached the police station to protest their "inaction".

Association president Pramod Nagar condemned the incident, but said no inquiry was initiated by him as "the matter was between women belonging to one family".

"The incidents in the court and at the police station are condemnable. The police will investigate and take action."

Singh, however, told IANS that the police reached "within half hour after we called up and action was taken immediately".

She expressed disappointment at the current security situation in the city courts.

"How can someone attack a lawyer inside the courtroom? There is a certain decorum that everybody is supposed to follow. It's high time the bar council provided its female advocates some security."

"She may be my relative, but this is no way to behave inside the court."

The police said that both the women had injuries and bite marks.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A Delhi court on Saturday paved the way for trial as it framed sexual harassment charges against noted environmentalist R.K. Pachauri and will start recording evidence from January 4, 2019.

Metropolitan Magistrate Charu Gupta formally framed the charges against Pachauri dealing with harassing a woman colleague in 2015 with intent to outrage her modesty, advances made in an unwelcome manner with explicit sexual overtures and for using words, gestures and acts intended to insult her modesty under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

Defence counsel Ashish Dixit requested the court to expedite the proceedings as Pachauri, 78, and his family were facing hardship due to the pendency. Pachauri pleaded not guilty and claimed a trial.

On January 4, court will start examining prosecution witnesses against Pachauri.

In the last hearing, the court dropped charges of criminal force against a woman, stalking and wrongful restraint that were levelled against the former chief of The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) that the Delhi Police had booked him under.

Pachauri had to step down as Chairperson of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in February 2015 and quit TERI after the charges emerged.

Pachauri has denied all charges against him.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj called on visiting Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe here on Saturday and reviewed progress on development projects being implemented on the island nation with India's aid

"Continuing commitment to deepen our partnership with a close friend," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar tweeted following the meeting.

"Exchanged views on strengthening bilateral relations and reviewed progress on development projects," Kumar said.

Wickremesinghe will also hold talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The Sri Lankan Prime Minister arrived here on Thursday in what is his fifth visit to India since assuming office in 2015.

--IANS

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(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
At least 32 civilians were killed over the past 24 hours in US-led airstrikes on Syria's eastern province of Deir al-Zour, a war watchdog reported on Friday.

The US coalition launched airstrikes on the town of Souseh, which is located in the last pocket held by Islamic State (IS) militants in the eastern countryside of Deir al-Zour, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Women and children were among the killed in the aerial bombardment, reported Xinhua news agency quoting the London-based watchdog.

The US-led coalition is supporting the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in their advance on the IS-held areas on the eastern bank of the Euphrates River in eastern Deir al-Zour.

The Syrian Foreign Ministry recently urged the UN to conduct an international investigation into the "crimes" of the US-led coalition in Syria, charging that Washington is using the anti-IS battles as a pretext for continued intervention in Syria's affairs.

The US-led coalition entered the course of anti-IS battles in Syria in 2014 without the consent of the Syrian government, which questions its intention and brands its intervention as illegal.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
India's Vice President Venkaiah Naidu visited the Jain Temple in the Belgian port city of Antwerp on Saturday where he addressed the Indian community.

The event, organised by the members of Indian Association in Belgium and the Jain Culture Centre, was also attended by Antwerp Governor Ms. Cathy Berx.

The function began with a Kathakali performance by Margi Kathakali Group from Trivandrum which presented "Geetopadesham", a performance based on the Bhagavad Gita.

Naidu began his address by mentioning the contributions and sacrifices made by Indian soldiers who fought alongside their Belgian counterparts during the First World War.

He praised the Indian community and their contributions to the continued success of Belgium as the hub of global diamond trade and towards the prosperity of the Belgian economy. The Indian Diaspora in Antwerp mostly came from Palanpur in Gujarat and contributes 80 per cent of the Belgium's global diamond trade.

In his speech to the Indian community, the Indian Vice President also talked about the ASEM (Asia-Europe Meeting) Summit held in Brussels on Thursday and Friday, saying the two-day meet was aimed at strengthening Asia-Europe cooperation to promote world peace and stability.

He also briefed the community on the transformational changes in India under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

He referred to India's inherent advantages, including its expanding workforce and consumer market, rapid urbanisation, growing education and skill capabilities, stronger technology adaptation, and potential for driving exports through greater local manufacturing, among others.

He spoke at length on India's flagship programmes in the areas of manufacturing, digitisation, skills, financial inclusion, urbanisation, startups, infrastructure, clean energy and transportation, which have unleashed a new momentum that is driving organic growth in the country.

Naidu also mentioned about India's fight against climate change, terrorism and efforts taken against economic offenders and to tackle corruption and black money.

After the community event, the Vice President visited the Office of the Governor of Belgium to pay floral homage to the bust of Mahatma Gandhi.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Voting was underway across Afghanistan on Saturday for the country's parliamentary polls that were delayed by three years and marred by a brazen terror attack by the Taliban that killed and injured top security officials earlier this week.

The polls opened at 7 a.m., amid tight security and vote-rigging concerns, and are the first polls to be held after NATO ended its combat mission in 2014, reports Efe news.

"Holding of this election is the success of the constitution, success of the people and the democracy," President Ashraf Ghani said in an address to the nation on Friday.

He had also urged the citizens to come out and vote, amid public statements by the Taliban that warned people to stay away from voting.

Around 8.8 million Afghans, 34 per cent of them women, will cast their ballots on Saturday to elect 250 lawmakers to the country's lower house.

There are 2,564 candidates - 16 per cent of them women - contesting the polls, voting for which will end at 4 p.m. on Saturday.

Saturday's vote has been termed critical for the war-torn country with a fragile democracy and will also set the stage for next year's presidential elections, scheduled for mid-April 2019.

"These elections are also important for international community who has been engaged in Afghanistan for years and spent billions to back democracy in the country," Abdul Baqi Amin, head of the Centre for Strategic and Regional Studies (CSRS) told Efe, while stressing on the need for a "fair and rigging-free election."

The Independent Election Commission (IEC) had filtered out nearly 0.7 million fake voters out of its list of registered voters ahead of the polls.

This is also the first Afghan elections where the IEC will use more than 20,000 biometric devices to prevent multiple voting by same voters.

Besides electoral fraud, security concerns surrounding the polls have been on a major high too.

Several election workers and voters and at least 10 candidates have been killed in terrorist attacks on election offices and campaign meets in the past five months, while hundreds others have been injured.

According to the IEC, 2,311 out of the 7,384 or nearly one-third of polling stations will remain closed on election day due to security challenges.

In a statement on Friday, the Taliban had vowed to oppose the elections and said their fighters will block all major and minor roads.

The Afghan government has deployed 54,000 troops to protect voters and polling stations on election day.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Come January, literary heavyweights will gather in Jaipur for a sumptuous feast of ideas at the annual Zee Jaipur Literature Festival. Its co-director and noted historian William Dalrymple said the organisers will be fielding the strongest lineup of literary heavyweights in the upcoming edition as the first 30 speakers were announced on Saturday.

The speakers include Colson Whitehead, author of nine books of fiction and nonfiction, including the Pulitzer Prize winning "The Underground Railroad"; Markus Zusak, the international bestselling author of "The Book Thief", which spent more than a decade on the New York Times bestseller list and has been translated into more than 40 languages; Andrew Sean Greer, bestselling author of six works of fiction, including the 2018 Pulitzer Prize winning novel "Less"; acclaimed British novelist and journalist Hari Kunzru; and Juergen Boos, President and CEO of the Frankfurt Book Fair since 2005.

"In 2019 we'll be fielding the strongest Jaipur lineup ever, an unrivalled literary First Eleven of remarkable poets and acclaimed novelists, historians and biographers, thinkers and dreamers, travellers and critics, actors and screenwriters, genii and major league prize winners. It's an astonishing line up and I can't wait for the 24th of January to see it all become a reality," Dalrymple said.

Manisha Koirala, who after her break from fighting ovarian cancer, recently returned to the screen with the coming-of-age drama "Dear Maya", Netflix's "Lust Stories", and "Sanju", will also be a part of the festival.

They will be joined by Tamil author, scholar and literary chronicler Perumal Murugan whose works include six novels, four collections of short stories and four anthologies of poetry, along with astrophysicist and Professor at Yale, Priyamvada Natarajan.

Other speakers announced in the first list include Uday Prakash, Upamanyu Chatterjee and Vikram Chandra.

"It has been a year of many upheavals and changes in the struggle for gender equity, and our programming will reflect these issues and concerns. We also have a special emphasis on science, the scientific temper, speculative fiction, as well as artificial intelligence and what the future might hold for our planet. Looking forward to Jaipur in January as the 2019 edition returns with its own special brand of magic, whimsy and intellectual rigour," said writer and co-director Namita Gokhale.

The 2019 edition of the festival will take place January 24-28, 2019. It is produced by Teamwork Arts, headed by Sanjoy K. Roy.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Reacting sharply to Congress president Rahul Gandhi's remark that MIM shared BJP's ideology of hatred, MIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Saturday his party would continue to fight both soft and hard Hindutva.

The Hyderabad MP also reminded Gandhi that MIM was part of Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) till 2012.

"@RahulGandhi be assured that we will continue to contest elections & defeat soft and hard Hindutva in Telangana inshallah. Pls refresh your memory about who was with UPA till 2012. We need an assertive & independent minority SC/ST leadership which @INCIndia's chamchas can't provide," tweeted Owaisi.

The president of Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) tweeted hours after Rahul Gandhi addresses a meeting at historic Charminar in the old city of Hyderabad, considered a bastion of MIM.

In his first direct and bitter attack, Gandhi said MIM was supporting Prime Minister Narendra Modi because they have the same ideology of hatred and divisiveness.

Before Gandhi's visit to Charminar, Owaisi dared him and BJP president Amit Shah to contest against him in Hyderabad Lok Sabha constituency.

"Amit Shah had come to my constituency 10 days ago and said we will ensure Owaisi and Majlis 'mukt' Hyderabad. I want both Rahul Gandhi and Amit Shah to contest from Hyderabad. People of Hyderabad will give befitting reply to a Janedaru Hindu and a Hindu nationalist," he said.

Owaisi, whose party is an ally of Telangana's ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), said there was not a single communal riot in Hyderabad during last four-and-a-half year whereas there were several riots during Congress rule after 2009.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Congregation of Christian Brothers, a worldwide religious community within the Catholic Church, on Saturday said an "internal investigation" will be carried out against Brother Francis Gale, who is accused of sexually abusing a tribal Khasi woman in Meghalaya.

"Something has happened. We understand the hurt, the pain and the shame of the victim (Kurkalang). We want to address it," a senior Brother of the Congregation at St. Edmund's campus in Shillong told IANS on the condition that he not be named.

The Society Protection Officer for Safeguarding Children and Vulnerable Adults will come down from New Delhi to Shillong in a day or two and collect all facts related to the incident, he said.

Mary Therese Kurkalang, from the state capital Shillong, on Friday took to the social media #MeToo campaign, accusing two Catholic brothers - Francis Gale and Muscat - of sexually abusing her since she was five.

The Brother quoted above said that the Congregation had earlier carried out an internal investigation, after they came to know of such allegations against Gale.

Mary, who said she had attempted suicide thrice in the past, in her Facebook post named two Catholic brothers "Br Francis Gale of the Christian Brothers and Br Muscat of Don Bosco" for sexually abusing her since she was 5".

Gale, who is now based in West Bengal, had "sexually abused Mary for eight years".

"He (Gale) was a trusted friend of my family and was held in great esteem as a religious man. I was sent to him for tuitions -- I was 5 when he first showed me his '----' and asked me to touch it."

However, Mary's family members distanced themselves from the alleged sexual scandal.

"I have nothing to say on the matter. You go and ask her. Please get out of my sight," Mary's elder sister Zita Kurkalang told journalists.

Mary said that she never got the support of her family members, one of whom instead "slapped" her when she informed them about the sexual abuse committed by Gale.

"I never spoke about it again, the abuse continued all the years till when I turned 12 and started menstruating, I mustered the courage to refuse to meet this man (Gale) or talk to him," she said.

Father Edmund Gomes, who is the Rector of Don Bosco Technical School, where Muscat had abused his victims by giving them sweets and toffees, refused to comment on the matter.

"I have spoken to the Special Branch people (Meghalaya police) and I will not speak to the media on the matter," Gomes said.

Mary alleged in her Facebook post that Muscat would call children to his side of the table and ask "us (children) to choose toffees from his drawers and while we did, he would slide his hands up," she said.

The victim said that she never told anyone about the sexual abuse committed by Muscat because of the larger abuse she faced from Gale.

Mary told IANS over phone on Friday that she had consulted her lawyers to understand the repercussions before she put out her statement on Facebook against the two Catholic brothers.

"I don't know yet what my next steps would be. I have taken the first steps for now and these were not easy," she said.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Training guns on the Congress, Union Minister said on Saturday that the party eliminated the poor instead of poverty and there was strong resentment against it.

"There is strong resentment against the party and it has lost its attraction among people. It is supporting infiltrators and encouraging divisive powers," he alleged.

"It is this party which eliminated the poor instead of poverty," Javadekar said here while addressing a meeting of BJP workers from 36 Assembly constituencies of seven districts.

He alleged that the Congress in the times of Mahatma Gandhi was different from the party of present times as now it was surviving only on lies.

Referring to the Rafale aircraft deal, the minister said only the Congress and Pakistan were protesting against the deal.

Javadekar, who is also the BJP's state election in-charge, said party workers were upbeat and exuded confidence that the lotus will bloom once again in the desert state in the upcoming polls.

BJP's joint general secretary (organisation) V Satish said if the party workers fight the polls unitedly, nobody can stop the BJP from coming to power again.

State BJP president Madan Lal Saini said there was no reason for the Centre and state government to feel ashamed as people of the country were appreciating schemes of both the governments.

During the three-day meeting being held in Jaipur, the party will take suggestions from workers of 98 Assembly constituencies.

Earlier, the BJP had taken feedback from workers of 102 Assembly constituencies in Ranakpur of Pali district.
Following one of the state ministers accusing a coalition partner of having "personal interest" in leadership change in Goa, the BJP on Saturday said it was committed to "coalition dharma".

BJP leader and minister Nilesh Cabral said Friday that Goa Forward Party chief Vijai Sardesai had "personal interest" in pressing for leadership change.

Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar has been ailing since February this year and recently underwent month-long treatment at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi.

Cabral's statement evoked a strong reaction from Sardesai, also a minister, who said if he had any personal interest, he would have been somewhere else.

Goa BJP chief Vinay Tendulkar issued a statement Saturday, saying "BJP is fully committed to coalition dharma and mutual trust and respect for constituent parties."



He dismissed as misleading the reports on Cabral's statement.

Tendulkar pointed out that BJP national president Amit Shah recently met leader of both the allies, Sudin Dhavalikar of MGP and Vijai Sardesai of GFP, and discussed the political situation in Goa with them.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Expressing grief over the in Punjab, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has questioned the level of preparedness for the public event near railway tracks.

More than 58 people were mowed down by a train on railway tracks Friday evening at Joda Phatak area near Amritsar during Dussehra celebrations.

The revellers had spilled onto the tracks while witnessing the burning of Ravana effigy.

"The incident is tragic. We have learnt that some of the deceased belong to Bihar. Our condolences to all those who have lost their lives," Kumar, who had served as railway minister under Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, told reporters Saturday.

A high level of alertness is required while holding any public function in the vicinity of a railway line, the chief minister said.

"We do not know whether the Railways were informed in advance about the Dussehra programme. Whoever organizes events near tracks need to exercise great caution. The authorities, too, should take safety aspects into consideration before granting permission," he said.

It is often not possible for a train to apply brakes abruptly, Kumar noted.

"The trains cannot make a sudden swerve. Moreover, it is often not possible to apply the brakes abruptly.

Therefore, people must be careful while allowing any gathering close to railway tracks anywhere," he added. Nitish announces Rs 200,000 ex-gratia for kin of Bihar natives killed in Amritsar train incident

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Saturday announced an ex-gratia of Rs 200,000 to the next of kin of persons hailing from Bihar who died in the in Amritsar.

Four persons from Bihar - one each from Patna and Bhagalpur districts and two from Bhagalpur - were confirmed to be among the 59 killed in the incident. The

Chief Minister has announced an ex-gratia of Rs 200,000 to the next of kin of each of them, an official release said here.

Out of the total ex-gratia amount, half would be paid from the Chief Minister's Relief Fund and the remaining amount would be released under "Pravasi Mazdoor Durghatna Anudan Yojana" - a scheme meant for migrants from Bihar who meet with an accident elsewhere while trying to eke out a living, it said.

Kumar, who had served as Railway minister during the Prime Ministership of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, expressed grief over the loss of lives and questioned the level of preparedness for the Dussehra function that was being held close to the railway tracks in Amritsar.

"A high-level of alertness and preparedness is required while holding any public function in the vicinity of a railway line. We do not know whether the Railways were previously informed about the Dussehra programme held there. But whoever organizes such events at such places, and the authority that grants sanction for the same, need to exercise great caution," the Chief Minister had told reporters here.

"After all, under all circumstances, a train will run on the tracks. It cannot make a sudden swerve. Moreover, it is often not possible to apply the brakes abruptly. Therefore, people must be careful while allowing any gathering close to railway tracks anywhere," he added.
Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh Saturday ordered a magisterial probe into the Amritsar train accident after visiting injured and kin of those killed in the tragedy even as he urged the Opposition not to politicise the issue.

The chief minister postponed a trip to Israel and arrived here this morning to assess the damage.

"We are announcing a magisterial probe into the incident," Singh said while talking to media here.

He said four weeks have been given to submit the report to find out who was at fault. The divisional commissioner of Jalandhar has been entrusted with the job of holding the inquiry, he said.

At least 59 people were killed Friday evening after a crowd of Dussehra revellers that had spilled on to railway tracks while watching the burning of a Ravana effigy was run over by a train near Joda Phatak here.

At least 300 people were watching the 'Ravana dahan' at a ground adjacent to the tracks.

Singh visited the injured in Amandeep Hospital, Civil Hospital and Guru Nanak Dev Hospital Saturday, where he met the injured and directed the doctors to provide them best possible medical treatment.

He expressed grief at the incident and extended his government's full support to the victims and their families. He observed that two little girls he met at a hospital had lost their entire families in the tragedy, which the whole nation was mourning.

He said this was not the time to play political games on the issue and urged the opposition parties to join hands with the government in providing relief work to the victims.

He said compensation of Rs 5 lakh each for the families of the deceased had already been announced by the state government. Besides, the government would bear the cost of medical treatments of the injured admitted to different hospitals, he told reporters.

Fifty-nine people were killed and 57 injured in the accident, he said, adding except nine, most of the bodies have been identified.

The chief minister said he was at Delhi airport to leave for Tel Aviv when he heard of the tragic incident. He said he had to rush back after postponing his Israel visit.

He said he wanted to visit Amritsar Thursday night itself, but was advised against it by the district authorities who did not want a VIP movement to divert attention from the urgent rescue and relief efforts needed at that hour.

After landing at the Amritsar airport this morning, Singh reached the accident site. He met senior officials and members of a crisis management group to take stock of the relief work.

He was accompanied by Health Minister Brahm Mohindra, Local Bodies Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu, Education Minister O P Soni, Punjab Congress chief Sunil Jakhar, among others.

Top police officials have also been asked to stay in Amritsar to provide immediate assistance.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
An ambulance driver, who ferried some of the victims from the site of the train accident to the Guru Nanak Hospital here, Saturday described the scene as "very disturbing".

Soon after the accident, the Ambulance Seva Samiti of the Guru Nanak Hospital, attached to Government Medical College in Amritsar, operated round-the-clock service.

Ambulance driver Pratap Singh said that when they reached the site soon after the accident, the scene was horrifying with body parts scattered on tracks.

Pratap Singh, along with Jaspal Singh and Gurbax Singh, recovered close to 15 bodies.

At least 59 people were killed Friday evening after a crowd of Dussehra revellers that had spilled onto railway tracks while watching burning of Ravana effigy was run over by a train near here, officials said.

The train was coming from Jalandhar when the accident occurred at Joda Phatak near Amritsar, where at least 300 people were watching 'Ravana dahan' at a ground adjacent to the tracks.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS) will not probe the Amritsar tragedy in which a train mowed down 59 Dussehra revellers, with the Railway Board chairman saying Saturday it was not a railway accident but a case of trespassing on rail tracks.

The Commission of Railway Safety works under the administrative control of the Ministry of Civil Aviation and conducts mandatory inquiry into all railway accidents - at unmanned level crossings, derailments or after a bridge collapse.

"The Commission conducts statutory investigation into railway accidents. This was an incident where people were trespassing on the tracks and not an accident," Railway Board chairman Ashwani Lohani said.

The railways has maintained that it was not at fault because it had no information about the Dussehra event.

Earlier, Minister of State for Railways Manoj Sinha ruled out any punitive action by his department.

"The incident was not a railways' fault. There was no lapse on our part and no action against the driver will be initiated," Sinha said Saturday.

"People should refrain from organising such events near the tracks in future. I think if precautions had been taken, the accident could have been averted," he said, adding wherever such events are held, the district administration gives the permission.

Vivek Kumar, Divisional Railway Manager, Ferozpur, said the driver has been questioned but no lapse was found.

He said the train was travelling at a speed of 91 km/hr but after spotting the crowd on the track, it slowed down to 68 km/hr.

Senior railway officials said that there was no way in which the railways could have averted the accident.

Railways which pays compensation in most case of accidents at unmanned level crossings, in which the victims are "trespassers", has so far not offered any monetary aid to the families of those killed on Friday.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Punjab government on Saturday ordered a magisterial probe into the accident near Amritsar where 59 Dussehra revellers were mowed down by a train, while railways has ruled out any inquiry on its part.

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh Saturday said that a magisterial inquiry into the train accident will be conducted and the report will be submitted in four weeks.

The chief minister postponed a trip to Israel and arrived in Amritsar this morning to assess the damage.

"We are announcing a magisterial probe into the incident," Singh told reporters.

He said four weeks have been given to submit the report to find out who was at fault. The divisional commissioner of Jalandhar has been entrusted with the job of holding the inquiry, he said.

Meanwhile railways on Saturday said that the tragedy was a case of trespassing and not a railway accident and ruled out a probe by the Commissioner Railway Safety.

The Commission of Railway Safety works under the administrative control of the Ministry of Civil Aviation and conducts mandatory inquiry into all railway accidents - at unmanned level crossings, derailments or after a bridge collapse.

"The Commission conducts statutory investigation into railway accidents. This was an incident where people were trespassing on the tracks and not an accident," Railway Board chairman Ashwani Lohani told PTI.

Railways also said that no action will be taken against the driver of the train who had managed to slow down the train to around 68 kmph from the speed of 91kmph at which he was assigned to run.

"The incident was not the railways' fault. There was no lapse on our part and no action against the driver will be initiated," Minister of State for Railways Manoj Sinha said on Saturday.

"People should refrain from organising such events near the tracks in future. I think if precautions had been taken, the accident could have been averted," he said, adding wherever such events are held, the district administration gives the permission.

An FIR was lodged against unknown persons, officials said as locals asserted that effigy burning had been going on at the spot for at least 20 years.

The organiser of Friday's event, Saurabh Madan, who is also the president of Dussehra Committee (East) and husband of Congress Councillor Vijay Madan, is missing.

Meanwhile, the Amritsar police said though they had given a "no objection" certificate for the Dussehra celebrations, the organisers did not take permission from the municipal corporation and the pollution department.

According to the permission document, the organisers were given the go-ahead following their assurance that they would follow the directions of the Punjab and Haryana High Court on usage of loud speakers.

They had also assured that traffic movement would not be disrupted and nobody would carry any weapon at the event, it said.

"Nobody had applied for the permission with the Amritsar Municipal Corporation," AMC commissioner Sonali Giri.

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Many panic-stricken family members of those killed or wounded in the Amritsar train accident searched frantically from one hospital to another to know about the fate of their loved ones as the festive spirit drowned in sorrow and shock following the tragic incident.

At least 59 people were killed Friday evening after a crowd of Dussehra revellers that had spilled onto railway tracks while watching the burning of the Ravana effigy was run over by a train near Joda Phatak in Amritsar.

"My son, Jugu, is missing since the train accident. I went to Civil Hospital and Guru Govind Hospital, but I am unable to find him," Sushila, who lives in a nearby area, told PTI.

Lakhmeet, another person who was looking for his brother-in-law and found him in a hospital, said: "I was shocked when I heard about the train accident. I got a call from home that my brother-in-law Sujeet, who went out to watch Dussehra celebrations last evening, had not come back home.

"All family members rushed to Guru Govind Hospital, where I was told Sujeet is admitted at Civil Hospital," he said.

Several other distraught family members of those injured or killed in the accident also had to search from one hospital to another to locate their loved ones.

The train was coming from Jalandhar when the accident occurred at Joda Phatak near Amritsar, where at least 300 people were watching 'Ravana dahan' at a ground adjacent to the tracks.

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh Saturday ordered a magisterial inquiry into the accident after visiting the injured and the kin of those killed in the tragedy.

Most people who were mowed down by the speeding train were migrant workers from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

A senior official in the district administration said most migrant workers from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar work in an industrial area at a stone's throw away from the accident site and live nearby.

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Wikileaks founder Julian Assange is taking legal action against Ecuador, the South American nation that continues to provide him asylum, for allegedly violating his "fundamental rights and freedoms".

The 47-year-old Australian national, who has been holed up in a back room of the Ecuadorean embassy in central London for over six years, was placed under a new set of house rules after he was allowed limited internet access recently after a seven-month hiatus.

The WikiLeaks said Ecuador had threatened to remove the protection Assange has had since being granted political asylum in 2012, and added that his access to the outside world had been "summarily cut off".

WikiLeaks lawyer Baltasar Garzon is now in Quito, the capital of Ecuador, to launch the case, which is set to be heard in a domestic court next week, according to UK media reports.

"Ecuador's measures against Julian Assange have been widely condemned by the human rights community," a Wikileaks statement said.

Assange's lawyers said they are also challenging the legality of the Ecuadorian government's "special protocol", which makes his political asylum contingent on "censoring" his freedom of opinion, speech and association.

The protocol also requires journalists, lawyers and anyone else seeking to see Assange to disclose their private or political details, such as social media usernames and the serial numbers and codes of their phones and tablets, with Ecuador which the protocol says the government may "share with other agencies".

The protocol claims the embassy may seize the property of Assange or his visitors and, without a warrant, hand it over to UK authorities, notes the Wikileaks statement.

Assange sought refuge at the Ecuador Embassy in Knightsbridge in June 2012, having lost an appeal against extradition to Sweden for questioning on allegations of rape and sexual assault that went to the Supreme Court.

While the Swedish case has since been dropped, Assange is still wanted by the Scotland Yard for breach of bail and faces arrest the moment he steps out of the diplomatically immune territory.

Assange had been granted asylum six years ago on the grounds that he feared extradition to America, where he faced a possible death sentence or torture for Wikileaks' alleged leak of secrets.

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An AIMIM corporator who was earlier beaten up for opposing an Aurangabad Municipal Corporation resolution paying homage to former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee was Saturday denied entry into the civic house here.

Mayor Nandkumar Ghodele said that corporator Syed Mateen Syed Rashid was denied entry as other members had opposed his presence at the AMC's general body meeting called Saturday.

Rashid (32) was allegedly assaulted on August 17 after he opposed a proposal tabled in the AMC to pay tribute to former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee who died on August 16.

Rashid was arrested on August 18 on charges of promoting enmity between different groups, wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause riot and obscene acts in public.

The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen corporator was later released.

Five BJP corporators were also arrested on August 20 in connection with the alleged assault on Rashid.

Speaking on the issue Saturday, mayor Ghodele said, "In the afternoon today, some members asked me not to permit Rashid into the civic house as he had misbehaved on August 17. Accordingly I directed security personnel to stop Rashid's entry, which they did."



AMC officials said that a resolution for the cancellation of his corporatorship was passed in the civic house and a report on it had been submitted to the state government.

The state government is yet to decide on the matter, they said.

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Australia's embattled conservative coalition was bracing for defeat as polls opened in a crucial by-election Saturday, with a loss set to snuff out its slim parliamentary majority.

The by-election in the wealthy Sydney seat of Wentworth was triggered after former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull was ousted in a party-room coup in August -- the sixth change of leader in the last decade.

Turnbull's successor, Scott Morrison, is facing public anger about the leadership merry-go-round and constant infighting in Canberra, and could be made to pay at Wentworth, traditionally a Liberal Party seat.

The Liberal-National coalition has a one-seat parliamentary majority, and a loss in Wentworth would transform it into a minority government and effectively turn Morrison into a lame duck prime minister.

The sprawling Sydney constituency takes in the famous Bondi Beach and the haunts of stars like Russell Crowe and Hugh Jackman.

While the seat was easily held by Turnbull, polls before the by-election were pointing to defeat for the Liberal Party's Dave Sharma at the expense of high-profile independent candidate Kerryn Phelps.

A defeat would prove hugely embarrassing to Morrison, who even floated the idea of moving the Australian embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem -- upending decades of Australian foreign policy -- in a bid to woo Wentworth's Jewish voters.

On Friday the prime minister appeared resigned to a defeat.

"The events of a couple of months ago would have caused a great deal of anger and outrage here in Wentworth," Morrison told reporters of Turnbull's removal.

"I know, I was in the parliament."



Counting will start after polls close on Saturday evening.

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Senior Samajwadi Party leader Ram Govind Chaudhary has accused Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat of remembering Lord Ram only "months before the General Elections".

Speaking to reporters here Friday night, Chaudhary said, "RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat has once again remembered Lord Ram. Why is it so that he brings up Ram temple (issue) only before the elections? Why was he silent for the past two years?"



Chaudhary, who is also the Leader of Opposition in UP Assembly, said, "Lord Ram is known as 'Maryada Purushottam' and is a symbol of faith. He will himself destroy the BJP. The BJP has proved to be a failure on all fronts, as it has not fulfilled poll promises. Law and order has deteriorated. The people are reeling under the hike in petrol and diesel prices. Owing to these reasons, BJP's popularity has declined."



Chaudhary further alleged that the BJP and its allied organisations were raising the Ram temple issue to deviate the people's attention from basic issues.

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The values that built America "are being shredded by a president who's all about himself," former Vice President Joe Biden said Saturday as the potential 2020 White House candidate and President Donald Trump held duelling rallies in Nevada weeks before Election Day.

As early voting in the pivotal state got underway, Trump appeared in rural Elko, wrapping up a swing of Western states where he campaigned for Republican candidates, while Biden was several hundred miles south in Las Vegas at a union local.

Biden, whose appearance ended shortly before Trump's began, said the United States was founded "on an idea, the American idea, basic fundamental decency, and it's being shredded."



He said values long admired by other countries helped the United States build "the great alliances in literally the history of the world" over the past 70 years.

"But my God, think of what's going on now," Biden said, bemoaning that those values "are being shredded by a president who's all about himself. It's all about Donald."



Biden also called out congressional Republicans, saying that "because of gerrymandering and unlimited spending ... are in fact choosing party over their country." Trump was lending support for Dean Heller, considered the most vulnerable GOP senator on the Nov. 6 ballot as Republicans hope to retain their Senate majority.

In a further sign of the state's importance in the midterms, former President Barack Obama scheduled a stop Monday in Las Vegas.

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BJP councilor Munish Chaudhary has been booked for allegedly thrashing a police sub-inspector and his female friend in the district's Kankar Khera area, police said Saturday.

Mohiuddinpur police outpost in charge Sukhpal Singh Pawar and his friend, an advocate, Friday evening had gone to a restaurant owned by Chaudhary, police said.

The woman expressed displeasure over not getting their order on time and allegedly threw away the food. Chaudhary protested against it and soon the three involved in an altercation following which Chaudhary allegedly thrashed Pawar, Circle Officer at Daurala Pankaj Kumar Singh said.

Police reached the spot and summoned the SI to police station.

The woman has alleged that she was harassed and beaten up by the BJP councillor following which he was booked under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code.

Officials conducted a medical test on the police sub- inspector and his friend which detected alcohol in their blood.

The police sub inspector was line-attached, a senior official said.

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Rajasthan Congress chief Sachin Pilot on Saturday said when the BJP has no trust in its MLAs, how could the party will face the people of the state.

He was reacting to speculation that Bharatiya Janata Party may drop over half of its sitting MLAs in state polls.

"Today, the BJP is talking about dropping 100-125 MLAs. If they do not have trust in its MLAs, then how could the party claim the trust of the common man", said Pilot.

He has come to Jodhpur Saturday afternoon to offer his condolences over the demise of Kanwarsen, the elder brother of former chief minister Ashok Gehlot. Kanwarsen had passed away on Thursday due to cardiac arrest.

While talking to media at the airport here, Pilot said Congress would come to the power in the state.

While replying to a question about Rajput leader Manvendra Singh joining the party, Pilot said that chief minister Vasundhara Raje has insulted different communities whether they are farmers, kshatriya, Dalit, backward or forward.

Rajasthan BJP MLA Manvendra Singh, who is the son of former Union minister Jaswant Singh, joined the Congress on Wednesday ahead of assembly elections in the state.

"Raje has humiliated person and communities in her entire tenure whereas the Congress has a culture of respecting all," said Pilot.

He said people have been joining the party due to the devotion towards Congress president Rahul Gandhi and the party.

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Boko Haram jihadists on Saturday hacked 12 farmers to death as they worked on their fields in the volatile northeastern Nigerian state of Borno, civilian militia said.

They came in two trucks and attacked the farmers with machetes outside Kalle, a remote village 17 kilometres outside the state capital Maiduguri, the birthplace of the Boko Haram movement.

"They used machetes to kill their victims who were working on their farms," militia leader Babakura Kolo said.

"So far, we have recovered 12 dead bodies from the fields and nearby bush." Three people were injured in the raids.

The militants had guns but did not use them so as not to attract the attention of troops in nearby Molai village, said another militia leader Ibrahim Liman.

"When the farmers saw them pulling over close to their crop fields they all ran in different directions but the terrorists pursued them," Liman said.

It was not clear which of the two Boko Haram factions was behind the attack. The jihadist faction loyal to Abubakar Shekau is notorious for deadly attacks on civilian targets.

The IS-affiliated faction --Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) -- focus on the military and high profile targets including Western interests, although they have recently been involved in attacks on civilians.

Boko Haram has stepped up attacks on farmers and loggers in recent years, accusing them of passing information on the group to the military.

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Actor Bruce Dern was rushed to hospital after he fell down while jogging.

According to Variety, the 82-year-old actor slipped on gravel on Friday and has possibly fractured his hip. He has been released from the hospital.

A representative for the actor said he is in good spirits.

Dern recently completed filming for Quentin Tarantino's "Once Upon A Time In Hollywood".

He plays rancher George Spahn in the film, a role he took over from late Burt Reynolds.

The veteran actor is best known 2013 film "Nebraska", which earned him an Academy Award nomination for best actor.

His other notable films include "Coming Home", "The Hateful Eight", "Black Sunday" and "White Boy Rick".

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A burning effigy of Ravana, firecrackers and festive euphoria made people oblivious to the approaching train and in a matter of seconds, bodies were left strewn on the railway tracks, according to eyewitnesses of the tragic incident here.

At least 59 people were killed Friday evening after a crowd of Dussehra revellers that had spilled onto railway tracks while watching the burning of the Ravana effigy was run over by a train near Joda Phatak here.

"I was watching the burning of effigy of Ravana and suddenly I heard massive sound. After a few seconds, bodies of women, children and men were lying on the railway tracks. The moment was very devastating," Jaspreet, an eyewitness who was at the site, told PTI.

Another local, Gurpreet, said: "We all were busy watching the Dussehra celebrations. Huge voice of firecrackers drowned the sound of the arriving train and we could not understand for a few seconds what had happened."



The train was coming from Jalandhar when the accident occurred at Joda Phatak near Amritsar, where at least 300 people were watching 'Ravana dahan' at a ground adjacent to the tracks.

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh Saturday ordered a magisterial inquiry into the accident after visiting the injured and the kin of those killed in the tragedy.

Suraj Prakash, another eyewitness, said that a few minutes before the Jalamdhar-Amritsar train mowed down several people, another train going to Howarh from Amritsar passed through on another track, but it did not hurt anyone.

"How can it be possible that a train which passed through the area a few moments back, did not cause any casualty, but another train killed several innocent people.

"It was the mistake of train driver (Jalandhar to Amritsar). After the train passed, screams of people could be heard from everywhere," he said.

Most people who were mowed down by the speeding train were migrant workers from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

A senior official in the district administration said most migrant workers from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar work in an industrial area at a stone's throw away from the accident site and live nearby.

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Cate Blanchett has defended the casting of straight actors as LGBTQ characters, saying she will "fight to the death" with people who stop artistes from taking up any kind of roles.

The 49-year-old actor, who played a lesbian woman in her critically-acclaimed film "Carol", said at the Rome Film Festival that it is not necessary for an actor to experience what the character feels, and she believes that it defies the whole point of acting.

"It also speaks to something that I'm quite passionate about in storytelling generally, but in film specifically, which is that film can be quite a literal medium.

"And I will fight to the death for the right to suspend disbelief and play roles beyond my experience. I think reality television and all that that entails had an extraordinary impact, a profound impact on the way we view the creation of character," Blanchett said.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the actor was in a discussion with festival artistic director Antonio Monda.

"I think it provides a lot of opportunity, but the downside of it is that we now, particularly in America, I think, we expect and only expect people to make a profound connection to a character when it's close to their experience," Blanchett said.

Of late, Hollywood has been severely criticised for casting straight actors to play gay, lesbian and trans roles.

In July, actor Scarlett Johansson had to drop out from a project, where she was supposed to play a transgender man, following backlash from the LGBTQ community.

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Prohibitory order under Section 144 Crpc were imposed in Chando village and its vicinity in Jharkhand's Palamu district, where one person was killed and five others were injured following clashes between two communities, a senior police officer said.

The deceased was a friend of the tractor driver that was carrying idols for immersion to a nearby ghat on Dashami, Palamu Deputy Commissioner Shantanu Kumar Agrahari said Saturday.

"Arguments broke out when a group of people objected to the route being taken by a religious procession for idol immersion. The situation turned volatile when the tractor, loaded with idols, rammed into a wall and overturned as the driver tried to move ahead, despite the protests," he said.

The driver's friend, who was seated by his side, succumbed to his injuries Saturday morning at Medininagar Sadar Hospital, where five others, including three policemen, are currently undergoing treatment, Agrahari added.

Superintendent of Police Indrajeet Mahatha, who is currently camping at the village along with Agrahari, said the two warring groups have ransacked half-a-dozen vehicles and set three shops on fire in the area.

Police had to fire six rounds in the air to disperse the members of the two groups, he said.

"Six people have been detained in connection with the incident and adequate security forces have been deployed in the area to maintain law and order," he said.

The district administration officials have also urged the senior citizens of both the communities to help them restore normalcy in the area, Mahatha stated.

The SP warned people against spreading canards over the incident.

"The situation is well under control now and the police have decided to take strong action against miscreants who try to foment trouble in the region," he added.

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The Comoros army on Saturday started an operation to disperse armed rebels who had taken control of Mutsamudu city centre on the island of Anjouan earlier this week, a government minister said.

"The army has started to take up positions inside the medina (old city centre), no shots have been fired. The forces are content to secure the medina so that the population can move freely," said Mahamoud Salim Hafi, who has led the government response to the uprising.

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A Dalit woman activist, who was planning to visit the Sabarimala shrine Saturday has put her plans on hold and left Pamba following heavy rain, as high drama was witnessed when another woman was stopped from entering the temple by devotees who thought she was under 50.

Today is the fourth day since the temple gates were opened for the monthly puja after the Supreme Court last month lifted a centuries-old ban on women between 10 and 50 years entering the Lord Ayyappa shrine.

Top police officers camping at downhill Pamba, about five km from the temple complex, held discussions with Manju, leader of Dalit Mahila Federation, during which she reportedly insisted that she wanted to visit the shrine as a devotee of Lord Ayyappa.

Police told her that it was not possible to climb the hill Saturday evening due to heavy rains in the area, police sources said.

She has been convinced about the slippery state of the roads leading to the temple and difficulties in climbing the hill and providing security cover in the rains, they said.

Manju left Pamba in the evening, saying she was a devotee and would come here to climb the hill "on a convenient date."



She said police had offered all sorts of assistance to her to visit the shrine.

Police had earlier said it was verifying the background of the woman, said to be in her late 30s, and a decision regarding her trekking would be taken Sunday morning.

Manju, said to be in her late 30s, was making an attempt to reach the shrine, a day after the temple complex witnessed high drama and tense moments when two women reached the hilltop with police escort, but had to return before reaching the sanctum sanctorum following protests by devotees.

If she had reached the shrine, she would have been the first woman from the menstruating age group to visit the temple after the apex court verdict last month.

Earlier, devotees gathered in large numbers at 'Valiya Nadapandhal' the queue complex located a few metres away from the holy 'pathinettampadi' (the 18 sacred steps), leading to the sanctum sanctorum to protest a woman's entry into the temple.

However, the tension was defused after the woman, who had come with members of her family, convinced the protesters that she was above 50 years, and proceeded to the shrine.

The woman carrying 'irumudikkettu' (holy bundle) climbed the 18 holy steps amid security cover to reach the temple and have 'darshan'.

Pathanamthitta District Collector P B Nooh said there was no tension at 'Sannidhanam.'



"A woman came for darshan.Some channels followed her.Then a crowd gathered. That was the only issue," he said.

The collector also dismissed as "rumours" reports that some young women were planning to trek the hills to reach the shrine.

Some BJP workers were arrested at Nilackal for violating section 144 of CrPC (prohibiting an assembly of more than four persons in an area) that has been clamped in the area in view of the protests by devotees against entry of women of all age groups into the ancient Sabarimala temple.

Meanwhile, a member of the Travancore Devaswom Board, that manages the shrine, flayed the statement issued by the Sabarimala temple tantri (chief priest) that the shrine would be shut down in case its traditional customs are broken.

K P Sankaradas alleged that chief priest Kandararu Rajeevaru's statement was in contempt of court since the doors of the Sabarimala temple were thrown open to women in all age groups by the Supreme Court.

The tantri's comments also came under fire from Kerala Minister G Sudhakaran.

The minister likened the tantri's statement to the act of downing the shutters of shops during hartal.

However, head priest of the Malikappuram temple at Sannidhanam, Anish Namboothiri, defended Rajeevaru's statement, saying the tantri is the highest authority on matters related to the temple's customs and if it was violated, he has the power to take such actions.

The Sabarimala temple complex had witnessed high drama and tense moments Friday when two women reached the hilltop with heavy police escort, but had to return before reaching the sanctum sanctorum following massive protests by Lord Ayyappa devotees.

Madhavi, a devotee from Andhra Pradesh, and a New Delhi-based woman journalist were also forced to return following intense protests by devotees on October 17 and 18 respectively.

Kerala has been witnessing massive protests by Lord Ayyappa devotees opposing the entry of girls and women of menstrual age into the Sabarimala temple since the government decided to implement the apex court order.

The devotees had intensified the agitation at the shrine complex and nearby areas including the base camps, Nilackal and Pamba, since the shrine was opened for the five-day monthly puja on October 17.

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A three-member fact-finding team of Delhi Minorities Commission (DMC) on Saturday reached Palwal in neighbouring Haryana to probe the alleged funding of a local mosque by terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).

The team will also meet the family members of the persons arrested by the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) in connection with foreign funding of the mosque, DMC chairman Zafarul Islam Khan said.

"The fact-finding team is in Palwal to probe the allegations about the alleged foreign funding of the mosque being constructed in a village in Palwal, Haryana," he said.

It will also meet, in Hazrat Nizamuddin area, the family members of the persons arrested in this connection, he added.

The team comprises human rights activist Ovais Sultan Khan, a member of DMC's advisory committee Sardar Gurmindar Singh Matharu and a member of Sikh Gurudwara Parbandhak Committee, Amritsar, Abu Bakr Sabbaq.

In July this year, the NIA filed a case to probe the terror funding module linked to Pakistan-based terrorist Hafeez Saeed's Falah-e-Insaniyat Foundation (FIF) -- a front-end organisation of LeT.

During the probe, it emerged that one Mohammad Salman was in regular touch with a Dubai-based Pakistani national, who in turn is connected with the deputy chief of FIF, the agency had said.

So far, three persons have been arrested in this case including Mohammad Salman, Mohammad Salim, both residents of Delhi, and Sajjad Ahmad Wani, who is a native of Srinagar.

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The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh's (RSS) demand that a law be passed to enable the construction of a in Ayodhya shows it lacks faith in the judiciary, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) said here Saturday.

The Babri Masjid- issue is pending before the Supreme Court, NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik pointed out.

"Still, the Sarsanghchalak (RSS chief) wants a law, and the alliance partner speaks on the same lines. Does it not amount to not having faith in the judicial system?" he asked.

"Why isn't there a willingness to accept whatever verdict the court may pass," Malik said.



During his annual Vijayadashmi speech in Nagpur, said Thursday that the government should pave the way for the construction of in Ayodhya by enacting a suitable law.

The construction of Ram temple was necessary from the "self-esteem point of view", and it will usher in an atmosphere of goodwill and oneness, Bhagwat said.

Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, a BJP ally, too made a strong pitch for the construction of Ram temple on the same evening at his party's Dussehra rally in Mumbai.

He will visit Ayodhya on November 25 and question prime minister Narendra Modi over the issue, Thackeray said.

Criticising the Sena, NCP's secretary Hemant Takle said it was indulging in an "emotional blackmail" of people over issues such as the Ram temple.



The Shiv Sena has nothing to say on the economic situation and incidents of mob lynchings, he said.

"People are feeling insecure. Students, farmers, people in the unorganised sector are not happy. The Ram temple is being talked about because elections are around the corner," Takle said.

"The state (Maharashtra) and the country are grappling with issues of water scarcity, farmer suicides, unemployment. The Shiv Sena has no control over governance and bureaucracy. The party's ministers attend cabinet meetings but are unaware of what is going on around them," the NCP leader said.

The Sena knows that its defeat is certain if it does not align with the BJP, Takle said, adding, "Uddhav Thackeray has to resort to sloganeering to keep his flock together.
A 30-year-old farmer, dejected over low crop yield allegedly committed suicide here Saturday, police said.

Gurwinder Singh, a resident of village Badochi in Fatehgarh Sahib district hung himself from the ceiling fan, they said.

Singh had taken a piece of land on lease to grow paddy but got less than expected produce due to unseasonal rain. So, he took the extreme step, police said.

The post-mortem examination of the body was conducted at Civil Hospital, Fatehgarh Sahib and the body was handed over to the family, they said.

Singh is survived by his wife Harjeet Kaur and a daughter.

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Disney has delayed the release of Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt-starrer "Jungle Cruise" by nine months.

The film, being directed by Jaume Collet-Serra, will now hit the theatres on July 24, 2020 instead of previously announced date of October 10, 2019, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The film, a feature adaptation of Disney's theme park ride, follows a boat captain who takes a sister and her brother on a mission to find a tree believed to possess healing powers. Wild animals and a competing German expedition figure into the proceedings.

Johnson, who was most recently seen in "Skyscraper", will portray the role of the boat captain, while Blunt and actor Jack Whitehall are playing the sister and the brother.

The film will also feature Edgar Ramirez, as the villain with a conquistador (soldiers and explorers of the Spanish Empire) background, and Paul Giamatti.

Beau Flynn, John Davis and John Fox are producing alongside Johnson and his Seven Bucks Productions partners Dany Garcia and Hiram Garcia. Scott Sheldon will serve as the co-producer.

The film had wrapped shooting in September.

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Jamil was six when he was adopted from a Mumbai orphanage by a Dutch couple in 1976.

Now, 42 years later, he wants to "give something back" to the Dogri Children's Home in the city, where he spent two years of his early life.

Jamil Meusen is now posted at Bergen-op-Zoom in the Netherlands as a chief superintendent of police, a rank equivalent to the commissioner of police in India.

After he was transferred from the Dongri shelter home, a centre for orphans and children in conflict with the law, to St Catherines Home, an orphanage in suburban Andheri, he was adopted by the Dutch couple and taken to the Netherlands.

"My Dutch parents raised me like I was one of their own. They gave all the chances and the love I could get, and I was very fortunate to have that," Meusen said.

"This is my home. It has beautiful surroundings which attract me, making me visit it again and again," Muesen told PTI while visiting the Dongri Children's Home earlier this week.

"I have a lot of memories about this home. The gate in front (was) such a remarkable thing in my mind when I was in Netherlands. In 1986, when I came back, I found this gate," he said.

He first returned to Mumbai with his parents in 1986, when he was 16 years old.

Since 2013, he has visited the Dongri Children's Home and St Catherines Home three to four times.

"I remember the field, the school, the building, the farm on the top of the hill on way back, school on the right side...I still keep them (the memories) warm in my heart," said Meusen, excited to be visiting the Dongri institution once again.

He said he wanted to do something for it.

"I came here with my friends, with some projects for my brothers and sisters (at children's home)...as a part of that we are constructing a kitchen and a dining hall in the Dongri home and there will be more projects for these kids in near future," he said.

"I and these children have brother and sister's relationship. It is my duty to give something back to them," he said.

"I met some important people with my friends this time, to get some help for these children. I can tell people outside, specially big companies, that you have a lot of money, please do help," he said.

Talking about his success story, Meusen said, "I got a chance to study and to do all the things which helped me achieve what I wanted to be. I worked hard, as it was also a tough struggle."



Asked if he searched for his biological parents, he said, "I tried to find out about my past. I had heard that I had come from Dongri area. I went to the Dongri Children's Home in 2013 for the first time. I asked for my documents. But they don't have any documents.

"In early 70s, there was no registration of children. I only knew my first name, not my family name. So I could not find anything about my family. Maybe with the help of DNA test technology we can do something," Muesen said.

When asked whether his unique background helps him in work as a police officer, he said, it helps him handle investigations more sensitively.

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At least eight persons were killed in two separate road mishaps in West Bengal's Hooghly district, police said Saturday.

Five persons were killed when a car ploughed into a Durga puja immersion procession at Dumurdaha in the district Friday night, the police said.

Hooghly Rural, Superintendent of Police, Sukesh Jain said two persons have been arrested in connection with the incident.

In the second incident, three persons were killed when a truck hit an e-rickshaw at Chuchura Friday night, they said.

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Families and relatives Saturday bid an emotional goodbye to 39 of the 59 people killed in the tragic train accident here that has sent shock waves across the country.

The mortal remains were consigned to flames at different cremation grounds here as heartbroken friends and family members of the deceased wept inconsolably, not ready to believe their loved ones were no more.

Some of the tragedy-struck women fainted at the cremation grounds when the funeral pyres of their relatives were lit.

Parents of the children killed in the accident broke down several times.

Davinder found it really hard to come to terms with his brother's death.

Several members of his family, hailing from Bihar, were killed in the horrific accident.

Earlier, officials said 40 of the 59 people killed in the accident had been identified.

At least 59 people were killed Friday evening after a crowd of Dussehra revellers that had spilled onto railway tracks while watching the burning of a Ravana effigy was run over by a train near Joda Phatak here.

Additional Deputy Commissioner Sandip Rishi said 31 bodies were cremated at the Durgiana Mandir's cremation ground. The mortal remains of five people were consigned to flames at the crematorium in the Mohkampura area.

Three bodies were cremated at the crematorium near the Shaeed Ganj gurdwara.

Rishi said four bodies were taken to Uttar Pradesh for the final rites, while three bodies kept in the mortuary would be cremated later.

Shiromani Akali Dal Badal chief Sukhbir Badal and former ministers Bikram Majithia and Daljit Singh Cheema attended the cremation ceremony at the Durgiana Mandir's cremation ground.

Sukhbir expressed condolences to families of the victims and offered all possible help to them.

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National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah and party leader Omar Abdullah Saturday expressed grief over the loss of lives in the Amritsar train accident.

Expressing solidarity with the bereaved families, the two leaders prayed for peace to the departed souls and strength to the families to bear the loss, a party spokesperson said.

At least 59 people were killed after a crowd of Dussehra revellers that had spilled onto railway tracks while watching the burning of a Ravana effigy was run over by a train in Amritsar.

The spokesperson said the leaders also prayed for early recovery of those injured in the tragic accident.

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The Delhi Police have solved and arrested four persons in the New Jankipuri murder case, in which a woman was shot dead on October 3, officials said Saturday.

The arrested were identified as Shabuddin alias Shahid (30), Umardin alias Badru (27), Laeek Ansari alias Lucky (30), all residents of Palgarh district in Maharashtra, they said, adding that the fourth accused was Rifakat Khan (57) from New Janki Puri in Uttam Nagar here.

On October 3, the police received information that a woman was rushed to a hospital in New Janki Puri area with gunshot wounds, later the woman was pronounced dead by the doctors.

Later, Chhote Lal, the husband of the deceased, registered a case where he stated that three unknown men had murdered his wife Rekha at their home, after locking him and his children in a room.

After killing Rekha, the accused took her mobile phone and fled the spot, said Anto Alphonse, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Dwarka).

Footages of several CCTV cameras were analysed and three of the suspects were spotted, said Alphonse. Later, it was found that the suspects were in contact with Rifakat Khan, a family friend of the deceased. However, Rifakat could not be contacted as he had fled his home by then.

Through call detail report of Khan's mobile number, the police got to know that the suspects had come from Mumbai and that they had returned after committing the crime, he added.

On Wednesday, three of the accused were arrested in Mumbai and brought to Delhi. During interrogation, they revealed that Rifakat Khan had called them to Delhi and arranged weapons for them to carry out the loot.

On Saturday, Khan was arrested from Delhi. During questioning, Khan disclosed that he worked as a property dealer and Rekha had been his partner in few deals.

The business relation turned sour due to monetary disputes. Khan got information that Rekha had sold her house few months back and she got about Rs 20 lakh in proceeds. Khan believed Rekha had kept huge amounts of the cash in her Janakpuri home.

Khan had recently met Umardin, who is from the former's native place but lived in Mumbai at the time. Khan roped in Umardin in his plan and promised good money for the loot. Umardin roped in his friends -- Shahid and Anwar. All three came to Delhi and stayed with Khan, Alphonse added.

Posing as customers, the three entered Rekha's home locked her husband and children in a room and asked for Rs 20 lakh. An altercation began and Umardin shot Rekha. Later, he attacked her with a knife. The three fled the spot with Rs 6,000, Alphonse said.

After the incident, Khan stayed put at his home and kept track of the police investigation. He fled his Delhi home when he sensed the police were suspecting his role. Three country-made pistols with eight live rounds and two knives were recovered, he added.

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Days after two of its MLAs quit the party and joined the ruling BJP, the Goa Congress Saturday claimed that its remaining legislators were "united".

Subhash Shirodkar and Dayanad Sopte had resigned as Congress MLAs and joined the BJP, bringing down the strength of the opposition party to 14 in the 40-member Goa Assembly.

"There is no question of any other MLA leaving the Congress party. All the remaining MLAs are united and are working to tackle the BJP-led government which is determined to stay in power by hook or by crook," Goa Congress spokesperson Amarnath Panjikar said here Saturday.

He added that the Congress would contest bypolls in both Assembly seats -- Shiroda and Mandrem that were vacated by Shirodkar and Sopte respectively.

Panjikar alleged that BJP MLAs and ministers were "misusing" chief minister Manohar Parrikar's illness for their personal gains.

The Congress leader alleged that proposals were being cleared by the Investment Promotion Board (IPB) by claiming they were approved by Parrikar through video-conferencing.

"Can a person who was airlifted and brought on a stretcher from AIIMS to his residence hold a meeting through video conferencing from 3:30pm to 8:30pm?" he questioned.

Parrikar, who is suffering from a pancreatic ailment, arrived in Goa on October 14 after being hospitalised in New Delhi's All India Institute of Medical Sciences.

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Congress leader Shaktisinh Gohil sent a legal notice to Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani Saturday, seeking apology, after Rupani allegedly blamed him for the recent violence against migrant workers.

In the notice, posted on Gohil's Twitter handle, the Congress leader said he will take "criminal and civil action" against Rupani if, within two weeks, he did not "make a statement expressing regret and denial".

On October 16, Rupani had said while speaking to the media in Lucknow that "the Congress in-charge of Bihar" was responsible for the attacks on migrants in Gujarat.

"I alone have the responsibility as in-charge of Congress for Bihar. You made a clear allegation against Congress in-charge of Bihar, which is against me," Gohil said in the notice.

"Gujaratis live in many states and countries, and similarly, people of other states have the Constitutional right to settle in Gujarat. These are my clear views," the Congress leader said.

He was in Bihar and Delhi when the Hindi-speaking factory workers were attacked in Gujarat, he claimed, adding that he had appealed for peace by holding press conferences.

The ruling BJP has been accusing Congress MLA Alpesh Thakor of inciting violence against Hindi-speaking workers. Thakor is an in-charge secretary of Congress in Bihar.

When asked by reporters on October 16 if Rupani could be referring to Thakor and not him, Gohil had said, "In Congress, the party appoints only one in-charge for a state, all others are secretaries. I hope the Gujarat chief minister has this basic knowledge.

"If he was not speaking about me, he should clarify. In many newspapers today (October 16) it is written that the chief minister is saying that I am responsible for the violence, so I have decided to take legal action," he had said.

Gujarat witnessed several incidents of violence against Hindi-speaking migrant workers recently after a 14-month-old girl was allegedly raped in Sabarkantha district and a man hailing from Bihar was arrested in the case.

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: One kg of gold worth Rs 35.4 lakh was seized from two women passengers, who had landed at the airport here from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, customs authorities said Saturday.

A press release said the officials, acting on a tip-off, detained Parameshwari and Fathima Beevi and a check revealed the yellow metal concealed in emergency lamps that were found in their luggage.

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A CRPF jawan was killed and another injured when a grenade was hurled at their vehicle by suspected militants at Nagampal area of Imphal town in Manipur on Saturday, police said.

The incident took place at around 6.30 pm and the CRPF jawan who was identified as Umesh was killed on the spot in the blast, the police told PTI.

The explosion is the second in the state since the early hours of Friday when an IED explosion occurred at Kangpokpi district a few hours ahead of Chief Minister N Biren Singh's programme.

The vehicle was transporting a small contingent of CRPF personnel from Kangpokpi district to their camp at Lamphel in Imphal West district, the police said.

The injured, who was identified Ram Ranjan was rushed to the Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS).

Investigation into the blast is on, the police added.

The chief minister said on Friday that such incidents will not be tolerated and measures have been taken to catch the culprits with the assistance of the state police and paramilitary forces.

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Uzbekistan Ambassador to India Farhod Arziev will Sunday inaugurate a four-day international dance festival titled "Udbhav Utsav" here.

Dance troupes from Bulgaria, Turkey and Sri Lanka, apart from 25 teams from India, will participate while a team from South Korea dropped out at the last minute, organising committee president Keshav Pandey told PTI Saturday.

He said that the inaugural session will be held in Jiwaji Club here.

The dance festival, sponsored by the Greenwood group of schools, is in its 15th year, he added.

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Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan and Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena Saturday expressed grief over the death of 59 people, run over by a train during Dussehra celebrations in Amritsar, Punjab.

In a series of tweets, Khan said "Saddened to learn of the tragic train accident in Amritsar India".

"Condolences go to the families of the deceased," he tweeted.

At least 59 people were killed and 72 injured Friday evening after a crowd of Dussehra revellers that had spilled onto railway tracks while watching burning of Ravana effigy was run over by a train.

The train was coming from Punjab's Jalandhar city when the accident occurred at Joda Phatak near Amritsar, where at least 300 people were watching 'Ravana dahan' at a ground adjacent to the tracks.

Meanwhile, Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena also wrote to his Indian counterpart Ramnath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi extending his condolence over the incident.

"Sri Lanka stands in solidarity with the people of India at this time of difficulty and our thoughts and prayers are with those affected," Sirisena said in his message to Kovind, according to Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry release.

"The people of Sri Lanka join me in extending heartfelt condolences to you," he said in his message to Modi.

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, who at present is in New Delhi, in his message to Modi said: "I am deeply saddened to hear about the tragic train accident in Amritsar last night."



Forty of the 59 people killed in the accident have been identified and the bodies of 36 were cremated on Saturday.

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India has exhibited measures to disrupt and deter the activities of terror groups and their patrons and would not hesitate to do so again if required, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said Saturday, in a veiled reference to cross-border terrorism from Pakistan.

Sitharaman, speaking at a meeting of ASEAN defence ministers in Singapore, also said that the presence of terrorist infrastructure and support to terrorists in the "immediate neighbourhood" constantly tested India's patience and as a responsible power it exercised "great restraint" in dealing with the menace.

"However, India had exhibited measures to disrupt and deter the activities of terrorist groups and their patrons and would not hesitate to do so again if required in future," she said, according to a statement released by the Defence Ministry in New Delhi.

Sitharaman emphasised India's concern on the grave challenges to international peace and stability due to the threat of terrorism.

Condemning the use of terror as an instrument to further state policies, she said that the interplay between states and non-state actors used as proxies to foment violence had worsened this menace.

Speaking at the Fifth ASEAN Defence Ministers' Meeting-Plus (ADMM-Plus), she reiterated India's view on the Indo-Pacific, as outlined by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as an open, balanced region, connected by open and secure seas, integrated by balanced trade and shaped by a rules-based order, and anchored in ASEAN centrality.

She asserted that India was committed to maintaining a sustained focus of its Act East policy in terms of economic, cultural and developmental engagement of the region.

The theme of this year's dialogue was 'Strengthening Cooperation, Building Resilience'. The dialogue adopted two resolutions on 'Countering the Threat of Terrorism' and 'Practical Confidence Building Measures'.

Sitharaman lauded the ADMM-Plus mechanism for emerging as a credible and effective platform forging practical cooperation among the members of the armed forces.

She informed the partners of India's active participation in all the ADMM-Plus mechanism contributing effectively to their success.

India and Myanmar are the co-chairs for the Expert Working Group for Military Medicine for this cycle and a standalone Field Training Exercise on Military Medicine will be held in Lucknow in March 2019 along with the release of ASEAN Military Medicine Handbook, Sitharaman said.

The defence minister emphasised India's commitment to a rules-based international order that was inclusive and democratic.

She reiterated India's desire to work both bilaterally with ASEAN member states as well as institutionally and welcomed Thailand's taking over the chairmanship of the ADMM-Plus.

On the sidelines of the meeting, Sitharaman also held constructive bilateral discussions with the defence ministers of the US, Australia, Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines, the statement said.

She also attended a meeting with the defence ministers of Russia, China, Thailand, Laos and Myanmar.

Sitharaman also held discussions with the Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore Teo Chee Hean and her Singaporean counterpart Ng Eng Hen.

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Hours after Congress president Rahul Gandhi hit out at the Telangana government on "redesigning" of projects, a state minister said expenditure of irrigation projects had gone up owing to the Land Acquisition Bill brought by the UPA government.

Addressingpublic meetings at Bhainsa and Kamareddy in Telangana, Gandhi alleged that Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao (popularly known as KCR) was indulging in corruption in the name of redesigning of irrigation projects.

He said the Kaleshwaram Project cost was increased to Rs one lakh crore from the earlier estimation of Rs 38,000 crore.

Gandhi also alleged that the KCR government insulted B R Ambedkar by changing the name of a project named after him.

"It was congress which neglected Ambedkar. He got Bharat Ratna during V P Singh period, not in congress rule.

He talks about the cost escalation of Kaleshwaram project. The cost has gone up as land acquisition cost has gone up due to the Bill," Minister for IT and Industries K T Rama Rao told reporters.

The congress leader should know the facts before making allegations, he said.

The minister wanted to know from Rahul Gandhi whether his party apologised to the nation for the "massacre of Sikhs" in 1984 following the assassination of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

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An Istanbul-based journalists' group on Saturday demanded punishment for those who ordered the killing of Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi Arabian consulate.

"We demand that not only the 18 men but those who commanded (the killing) are punished," said Turan Kislakci, head of the Turk-Arab Media Association (TAM), of which Khashoggi was a member.

Saudi Arabia admitted on Friday that the journalist, a Washington Post contributor and Riyadh critic, died during a "brawl" inside its Istanbul consulate -- after persistent claims that he left the consulate alive on October 2.

Riyadh announced the arrest of 18 Saudis and the sacking of two top aides of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who has faced mounting international pressure over Khashoggi's disappearance.

Turkish police and prosecutors searched this week both the consulate and the consul's residence in Istanbul. But it remains unclear where the journalist's body is.

"There's only one thing that matters right now. Give Jamal back to us. Give him back so that we can hold his funeral," Kislakci told journalists outside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

"Let the whole world watch the funeral of Jamal Khashoggi, who was killed in a dark room in a horrific manner." Turkish media outlets claimed there were audio tapes in which Khashoggi's alleged killers tortured him by cutting his fingers off before his decapitation.

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Union Minister Pon Radhakrishnan Saturday said the Kerala government was trying to pass the buck on the Sabarimala temple issue to the Travancore Devaswom Board that manages the shrine, instead of taking responsibility.

"There is no place in Sabarimala for social activists or social enthusiasts. Activists are trying to destroy the unity among the communities and destroy faith in religion," he told reporters here.

He said the government instead of remaining silent on the Lord Ayyappa temple issue should take responsibility.

The minister also accused the Kerala government of being vindictive to people who participated in the protests on the Sabarimala issue.

On September 28, a five-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court, headed by the then chief justice Dipak Misra, lifted the centuries-old ban on the entry of women of menstrual age into the shrine.

He termed the ongoing war of words between the ruling AIADMK and the opposition DMK in Tamil Nadu as nothing but "streetquarrel."



Earlier, he participated in the "Healthy Food Habits" awareness campaign here.

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A complex man of contradictions, journalist Jamal Khashoggi went from being a Saudi royal family insider to an outspoken critic of the ultra-conservative kingdom's government, and was ultimately killed inside its consulate in Istanbul.

In his final column for The Washington Post, Khashoggi perhaps presciently pleaded for greater freedom of expression in the Middle East.

"The Arab world is facing its own version of an Iron Curtain, imposed not by external actors but through domestic forces vying for power," he wrote.

"The Arab world needs a modern version of the old transnational media so citizens can be informed about global events. More important, we need to provide a platform for Arab voices," Khashoggi wrote.

Now his voice has been permanently silenced.

The Saudi journalist -- who disappeared after entering his country's consulate in Istanbul on October 2 to obtain marriage papers -- went into self-imposed exile in the United States in 2017 after falling out with Saudi's powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

His disappearance has been shrouded in mystery, and triggered an international crisis for both Riyadh and Washington as Turkish officials accused Saudi Arabia of a state-sponsored killing.

Riyadh, after insisting that Khashoggi left its consulate alive, finally said over two weeks after his disappearance that he died in a fight that arose from a dispute with people he met there.

- Bin Laden to Muslim brotherhood -



=======================



Khashoggi came from a prominent Saudi family with Turkish origins.

His grandfather, Mohammed Khashoggi, was the personal doctor of Saudi Arabia's founder, King Abdul Aziz al-Saud. His uncle was the notorious arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi.

A friend of a young Osama bin Laden, a Muslim Brotherhood sympathiser, an aide to the Saudi royal family, a critic of the kingdom's regime and a liberal -- such conflicting descriptions were all ascribed to Khashoggi.

After graduating from Indiana State University in 1982, he began working for Saudi dailies, including the Saudi Gazette and Al-Sharq al-Awsat.

When he was sent to cover the conflict in Afghanistan, a picture of a young Khashoggi holding an assault rifle and dressed in Afghan clothing was widely disseminated.

Khashoggi did not fight in the country, but sympathised with the mujahideen in the 1980s war against the Soviet occupation, which was funded by the Saudis and the CIA.

He was known to have been drawn to the Muslim Brotherhood's policies seeking to erase the remnants of Western colonialism from the Arab world.

It was this shared vision that brought him closer to a young Osama bin Laden, who went on to found Al-Qaeda, which carried out the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.

As a young journalist, Khashoggi interviewed bin Laden several times, garnering international attention. But later in the 1990s, he distanced himself from the man who called for violence against the West.

- 'Too progressive' -



==============



Born in the Saudi holy city of Medina on October 13, 1958, Khashoggi spent his youth studying Islamic ideology and embraced liberal ideas.

But Saudi authorities came to see Khashoggi as too progressive and he was forced to resign as editor-in-chief of the Saudi daily Al-Watan in 2003 after serving just 54 days.

Over the years, he maintained ambiguous ties with Saudi authorities, having held advisory positions in Riyadh and Washington, including to Prince Turki al-Faisal, who ran Saudi Arabia's intelligence agency for more than 20 years.

When Faisal was appointed ambassador to Washington in 2005, Khashoggi went with him.

In 2007, Khashoggi returned to Al-Watan newspaper, lasting almost three years before being fired for "his editorial style, pushing boundaries of discussion and debate within Saudi society," according to Khashoggi's website.

He became close to Saudi billionaire Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal and together they launched in Manama a 24-hour station, Al-Arab.

However, Bahrain -- a staunch Saudi ally -- shut the station down in 2015, less than 24 hours after it broadcast an interview with an opposition official.

- 'Fear, intimidation' -



===============



Khashoggi fled Saudi Arabia in September 2017, just months after Prince Mohammed was appointed heir to the region's most powerful throne.

Months later, Prince Al-Waleed and hundreds of officials and businessmen were arrested in November 2017 in what the Saudis called an anti-corruption campaign.

In an article published in the Post last year, Khashoggi, whose 60th birthday was on October 13, said that under Prince Mohammed -- the kingdom's de facto ruler -- Saudi Arabia was entering a new era of "fear, intimidation, arrests and public shaming."



He said he had been banned from writing in the pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat for defending the Muslim Brotherhood, which Riyadh has blacklisted as a terrorist organisation.

And he said Saudi authorities had barred him from using his verified Twitter account after he said the country should be "rightfully nervous about a Trump presidency."



Trump has expressed support for Crown Prince Mohammed, and his son-in-law and advisor Jared Kushner has deliberately cultivated close ties with the prince, known as MBS.

Khashoggi, who was due to marry his Turkish fiancee Hatice Cengiz this month, also criticised Saudi Arabia's role in the Yemen conflict and opposed a Saudi-led boycott of Qatar.

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Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said Saturday his government is ready to discuss the demands of Haryana Roadways employees who are on strike and urged them to join duty immediately keeping in mind the problems faced by people during the festive season.

The employees have been on strike since October 16 against the state government's decision to hire 700 buses of private owners, seeing the move as a step towards privatisation of the transport department. On Friday, they extended their strike until Monday.

According to an official statement, all roadways union office-bearers have been urged to come to the office of Director General, State Transport, Haryana, in Chandigarh on Sunday to discuss and resolve the matter.

Khattar said the genuine demands of the employees on strike would be considered sympathetically and action would be taken to fulfil them.

He said it is "our constitutional and moral responsibility" to ensure that the general public is not inconvenienced, especially so during the festive season.

The Haryana Roadways employees have this misconception that engaging 700 private buses would lead to the department's privatisation, Khattar said, stressing that those buses would have conductors from the department.

According to the norms of the department, 980 conductors would be recruited for these buses and the fare charged from passengers of these buses would be deposited to the state exchequer, he said.

The owners of these buses would be paid as per the fixed rate of the various depots (from Rs 31.01 to Rs 37.30 per km) and it is not a stage carriage or contract carriage scheme.

In fact, under Public Private Partnership mode, 700 additional buses would be added to the fleet of Haryana State Transport so that the general public would get cheaper, reliable and convenient transport facility.

These buses hired on per kilometre basis would not be given any permit and would ply on the permit and fixed routes of Haryana Roadways buses, he said.

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The Madras High Court Saturday refused to stay the appointment of a new pontiff to the Srirangam mutt saying secular courts should refrain from interfering in religious practices.

A division bench comprising justices V Parthiban and Krishnan Ramasamy made the observation over the appointment of Yamunachariyar as the 12th pontiff of Srirangam Srimath Andavan Ashramam.

Claiming the appointment was made in violation of the will executed by late 11th pontiff Srimath Srimushnam Andavan and the general customs of the mutt, S Venkata Varadhan, a follower of the mutt wanted the court to stay the 'ashrama sweekaram and pattabhisheka utsavam' of Yamunachariyar scheduled Saturday and Sunday at Srirangam Periya Ashramam.

Wondering how such relief could be sought through a public interest litigation (PIL), the special bench, constituted to hear the plea, said there were lakhs of devotees waiting for the ceremony, so it cannot be stalled at the instance of one follower.

The bench further said the will executed by the 11th pontiff could be challenged only in a civil court and not before the high court.

Moreover, the mutt and its activities cater to only a particular community. Therefore, such issues can be construed as private and not public, the bench said and posted the plea after two weeks.

During the hearing, counsel for the petitioner contended the mutt being a public religious entity, issues pertaining to the institution can be challenged through PILs.

"We are not challenging the will or the qualification of the person to be appointed as the pontiff. We are only aggrieved that the terms of the will and the customs of the mutt are not followed in the appointment," the counsel said.

The pontiff is the custodian of the funds and properties donated by the followers, therefore the functions of the mutt would have public interest, the counsel added.

Opposing this, advocate V Raghavachari submitted that prima facie the plea is not maintainable as a PIL.

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The man who played the character of demon king Ravana at the Ram Leela at Joda Phatak was among those killed in the train accident.

After he enacted the role of Ravana, Dalbir Singh, in his twenties, was watching the burning of an effigy from the tracks when he, along with 58 others, was run over by a train.

Dalbir has an eight-month-old daughter.

Unable to control her emotions, Dalbir Singh's mother said her son was playing different characters in the Ram Leela for the past many years.

"My son played the role of Ravana at the Ram Leela, which was held on the ground at Dhobi Ghat adjacent to Joda Phatak...he is no more...He too was run over by the train," the mother said.

Manoj, a friend of Dalbir, said he had been playing the role of Ravana for the past five years at the Ram Leela, which is held at a ground a little distance away from the accident site.

His mother says said that Dalbir's body would not be cremated until the family gets compensation from the government.

Seeking job for the widow of Dalbir Singh, his mother said that the state government should give her a government job so that the family could sustain their livelihood.

"We want justice...it is unfortunate that none from the government or any politician has visited the family," she said.

Another friend of Dalbir said that on seeing a speeding train approaching the area, he had rushed towards them to save them.

"Dalbir was able to push 7 to 8 people away from the rail track...but there was something else in store for him as the train ran over him, killing him on the spot," he said.

At least 59 people were killed Friday evening after a crowd of Dussehra revellers that had spilled onto railway tracks while watching the burning of a Ravana effigy was run over by a train near Joda Phatak here.

The incident took place on Friday evening when at least 300 people were watching the 'Ravana dahan' at a ground adjacent to the tracks.

As the effigy was lit and fireworks went off, a section of the crowd started retreating towards the tracks where a large number of people were already standing to watch the event, officials had said.

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Alleged Maoists set ablaze nine vehicles of a construction company at Jhanpa in Jharkhand's Hazaribag district, police said on Saturday.

The Jamshedpur-based construction company is engaged in the Rs 100 crore renovation work of the state-owned Baksha Dam irrigation canal, located about 7 km from here.

Police said that about 30 masked men, suspected to be members of CPI-Maoists raided the Baksha irrigation canal area, locked in about 24 labourers and set ablaze the vehicles on Friday night, the police said.

Seven trucks of the construction company were completely gutted, while two others were partially damaged, said superintendent of police Mayur Patel Kanhaiyalall after visiting the incident site.

The attackers freed the labourers before leaving and ordered them to tell the police, if asked, that Maoists had damaged the properties, the SP said.

The contractor lodged a complaint with the police against unknown persons, he said adding a search operation has been launched to nab the culprits.

A large police force was deployed at the site, Kanhaiyalall added.

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Actor Matthew Broderick has come aboard the cast of Netflix's dramedy "Daybreak".

The 56-year-old actor will play the role of Burr, the cheerful and upbeat principal of Glendale High, the streaming giant said in a press release.

The series is based on the graphic novel by Brian Ralph and follows 17-year-old high school outcast Josh searching for his missing girlfriend Sam in post-apocalyptic Glendale, California.

Joined by a ragtag group of misfits including a pyromaniac 12-year-old Angelica and Josh's former high school bully Wesley, now turned pacifist samurai, Josh tries to stay alive amongst the horde of Mad Max-style gangs (evil jocks, cheerleaders turned Amazon warriors), zombie-like creatures called Ghoulies, and everything else this brave new world throws at him, read the official synopsis.

The 10-episode show has been co-created by Aron Eli Coleite and Brad Peyton. The duo will also executive produce the show.

It will be directed by Peyton while Coleite will serve as the showrunner.

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Leaders across political divide Saturday paid their last respects to Congress veteran N D Tiwari in Lucknow.

Tiwari, who was undergoing treatment at Max Super Speciality Hospital in New Delhi, breathed his last at 2.50 pm Thursday after he suffered a heart attack, hours after he turned 93.

His body reached Lucknow this afternoon by an air ambulance.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and his ministerial colleagues received the mortal remains at the airport here.

Tiwari, 93, died at a private hospital in Delhi on Thursday after prolonged illness.

Tiwari, who was considered close to Indira Gandhi, had served as a Union minister in several Congress-led governments. He had the unique distinction of having served as the chief minister of two states, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, where his native place is located.

The body was taken to UP Vidhan Bhawan, where leaders from different political parties had gathered to pay their tributes to Tiwari.

UP Deputy Chief Minister Dinesh Sharma in a tweet said, "Shri Tiwari had significantly worked for the development and prosperity of UP. He was soft-spoken, able administrator and also had knowledge of parliamentary traditions."



Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav was also present at the airport.

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A pistol manufactured in Pakistan was among six firearms seized Saturday from four persons, including a minor, in Madhya Pradesh's Jabalpur district, a senior police official said.

Crime Branch Additional Superintendent of Police Shivesh Singh said that Ritesh Mali (26), Kartik Ben (25) and Mohiti Gupta (19) and the 17-year-old minor were nabbed from Azad Nagar in the district's Gorakhpur area following a tip-off.

"We seized four pistols, one of which has been made in Attock in Pakistan, two country-made firearms and six live bullets from the accused," he informed.

Police said that preliminary investigations have revealed that the weapons were brought from Sagar and Damoh districts in MP.

They were charged under relevant sections of the Arms Act and produced in a court which remanded them in police custody for two days, the ASP said.

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Five alleged Nigerian drug peddlers were arrested and contraband worth Rs 2.58 lakh was recovered from them, an Anti Narcotics Cell official said Saturday.

He said said that the five were in a cab Friday night when a patrolling team of the Azad Maidan unit of the ANC apprehended them on P D'Mello Road in south Mumbai.

"A search of the car led to the seizure of cocaine, MDMA (ecstasy) and mephedrone worth Rs 2.58 lakh," the official said.

He identified the five arrested persons as Johnson Ude Eme (44), Igvu Idam Felix (46), Ejike Godwil Olechikvu (35), Ernest Okoroji Ejime (28) and Chi Basil Oniagvesa (28).

A case has been registered under relevant sections of the NDPS Act and the Foreigners Act, the official said.

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The last rites of veteran Congress leader Narayan Dutt Tiwari will be held at the Chitrashila Ghat, Rani Bagh, Nainital district, on Sunday.

All arrangements for the former CM's funeral have been made, Nainital District Magistrate Vinod Kumar Suman said on Saturday, adding that the last rites would be conducted with full state honours in the afternoon.

His body has been kept at Kathgodam Guest House here for the people to pay their last respects, he said.

Chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat, a former ministerial colleague of Tiwari, and a host of prominent politicians will attend the rites, he said.

The body of Tiwari, who passed away at a private hospital in Delhi on his 93rd birthday on October 18, after a prolonged illness was brought to Pantnagar in Uttarakhand in an air ambulance from Lucknow on Saturday. The body was brought to Kathgodam Guest House via Halduchod by road.

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The National Investigation Agency has arrested a man wanted in the 2016 attack on an army camp in Jammu's Nagrota when he was allegedly trying to flee the country through Sri Lanka, officials said Saturday.

Ashraf Khandey, a resident of Pulwama in Jammu and Kashmir, was taken into custody from the Indira Gandhi International Airport here when he was trying to leave for Saudi Arabia via Sri Lanka, they said.

Khandey was arrested for his alleged involvement in the terrorist attack on the army camp in Nagrota on November 29, 2016, in which seven Army personnel including two officers were killed and three others injured, they said.

The agency was looking for him for a long time and a lookout circular was issued against him which was triggered during his attempt to flee the country, they said.

Three Pakistani terrorists were killed in the operation and a huge quantity of firearms, ammunition, explosives and other articles were seized from them, they said.

Khandey had allegedly provided transport to the terrorists after they had crossed over from Pakistan to carry out their nefarious activities, they said.

In May, the agency had taken custody of Jaish-e-Mohammed operative Muneer-ul-Hassan Qadri from the Jammu and Kashmir Police in connection with the 2016 attack.

The investigation has so far revealed that the attack was carried out by the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) banned terror group in furtherance of a well-planned conspiracy from Pakistan, the NIA had said.

Qadri and other Valley-based JeM operatives were in touch with the outfit's leadership in Pakistan and had received a group of three Pakistani terrorists, who had infiltrated from pakistan, from the Samba sector a day before the attack.

Subsequently, they stayed at a hotel in Jammu and then left the attackers outside the army camp in Nagrota late at night, and proceeded to the Kashmir Valley, the NIA spokesman had said.

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Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Saturday announced an ex-gratia of Rs two lakh to the next of kin of persons hailing from Bihar who died in the train accident in Amritsar.

Four persons from Bihar - one each from Patna and Bhagalpur districts and two from Bhagalpur - were confirmed to be among the 59 killed in the incident. The



Chief Minister has announced an ex-gratia of Rs two lakh to the next of kin of each of them, an official release said here.

Out of the the total ex-gratia amount, half would be paid from the Chief Minister's Relief Fund and the remaining amount would be released under "Pravasi Mazdoor Durghatna Anudan Yojana" - a scheme meant for migrants from Bihar who meet with an accident elsewhere while trying to eke out a living, it said.

Kumar, who had served as Railway minister during the Prime Ministership of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, expressed grief over the loss of lives and questioned the level of preparedness for the Dussehra function that was being held close to the railway tracks in Amritsar.

"A high-level of alertness and preparedness is required while holding any public function in the vicinity of a railway line. We do not know whether the Railways were previously informed about the Dussehra programme held there. But whoever organizes such events at such places, and the authority that grants sanction for the same, need to exercise great caution," the Chief Minister had told reporters here.

"After all, under all circumstances, a train will run on the tracks. It cannot make a sudden swerve. Moreover, it is often not possible to apply the brakes abruptly. Therefore, people must be careful while allowing any gathering close to railway tracks anywhere," he added.

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Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his deputy Sushil Kumar Modi on Saturday condoled the death of BJP MP from Begusarai Bhola Singh who breathed his last at a Delhi hospital on Friday.

The mortal remains of Singh, who died at the age of 80 at the Ram Manohar Lohia hospital where he had been admitted for some time, were brought here in the afternoon.

His body was taken to the state BJP headquarters and then to the Assembly premises where the CM and the Deputy CM joined other top leaders in paying tributes to the late leader.

Kumar recalled "Bhola babu's contribution to the of Bihar" while Modi described the deceased MP as "an excellent orator with an in-depth knowledge of constitutional provisions and deep trust in parliamentary traditions".

Others present on the occasion were Speaker Vijay Kumar Chaudhary, Union ministers Ashwini Kumar Choubey and Ram Kripal Yadav, state BJP president and MP Nityanand Rai and state ministers Rajiv Ranjan alias Lalan Singh, Nand Kishore Yadav and Mangal Pandey.

In a party release, Nityanand Rai said that the last rites of Bhola Singh will be performed in his native district of Begusarai on Sunday.

The ceremony is likely to be attended, among others, by BJP national general secretary Bhupendra Yadav and Rajya Sabha MP and RSS ideologue Rakesh Sinha.

The BJP president also said the party would be observing a two-day state-wide mourning and keeping this in view all organizational programmes scheduled for Saturday and Sunday have been postponed.

Condolence messages also came from RJD leaders like Tejashwi Yadav, Rabri Devi, Tej Pratap Yadav and Misa Bharti.

Singh, who began his career as a CPI leader in the 1970s, joined the Congress in the decade that followed and served as a minister with important portfolios.

He joined the BJP later and served as Deputy Speaker for some time while the RJD was in power, and became a minister again in 2005 from the BJP quota when Nitish Kumar-led NDA defeated Lalu Prasad's party to herald a change of regime in the state after more than a decade.

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Pune police told a court here Saturday that it did not find sufficient evidence against top officials of the Bank of Maharashtra, arrested in connection with a cheating case against city-based developer D S Kulkarni.

The public sector bank's CEO & Managing Director Ravindra Marathe, Executive Director Rajendra Gupta and former CMD Sushil Muhnot should therefore be discharged, police said.

Assistant Commissioner of Police (Economic Offences Wing) Nilesh More filed a report before special EOW judge D G Murumkar Saturday, seeking discharge for the three accused.

"During the investigation, no sufficiency of evidence to file charge sheet against the three accused -- Marathe, Gupta and Muhnot -- was found so an application seeking discharge is being submitted...to exclude the names of the accused from the case," the report said.

The EOW did not include the name of another accused, Nityanand Deshpande, a zonal manager of the Bank of Maharashtra, in the discharge plea.

All four are currently out on bail. The court is likely to pass an order on the discharge plea on November 3.

In June, the Pune EOW arrested Marathe and other top officials for allegedly misusing their official positions for sanctioning a loan to Kulkarni's construction firm, DSKDL.

They allegedly colluded with DSKDL with a "dishonest and fraudulent intention" to sanction the loan, police said.

Defence lawyer Harshad Nimbalkar told reporters Saturday that police arrested the bank officials for no reason.

"A loan of Rs 600 crore to the DSK (as Kulkarni's firm is popularly known) was given by six banks which were part of a consortium and in that consortium, Bank of Maharashtra was one of the banks which had given a loan of Rs 100 crore and it had been approved after complete due diligence," he said.

"One investor of DSK in his complaint said he along with several other people invested money in DSK and they did not get their returns, including the principal amount, and they were being cheated," Nimbalkar said.

"So the present case of cheating and the role of bank...there is no relation at all," the lawyer said.

In May, police had filed a 37,000-page charge sheet against Kulkarni and his wife, accusing them of a scam of Rs 2,043.18 crore by floating nine firms to siphon off funds collected from 33,000 investors and fixed-deposit (FD) holders.

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A criminal who has several cases registered against him and his aide were injured in an encounter with Navi Mumbai police in neighbouring Raigad district Saturday, a senior official said.

Bullets fired by Faiyaz Khalid Shaikh, a history-sheeter, hit two police officers who escaped unhurt as they were wearing bulletproof jackets, police claimed.

Shaikh and his two aides were arrested by police.

The incident took place in the early hours of Saturday at Nadhal village in Khalapur tehsil, said Navi Mumbai Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Tushar Joshi.

Police were looking for Shaikh for the last few months and he was spotted at Kahanvade toll plaza in Virar in neighbouring Palghar district on October 14, he said.

A police team tried to nab him then but he escaped after opening fire on them, Joshi said.

On Friday, Shaikh and his aide Haji Pir Mohammed Shaikh alias Salim allegedly committed two thefts in Kharghar area of Navi Mumbai and fled in a stolen car, the official said.

A team of Navi Mumbai police raided a house in Nadhal village early Saturday morning on learning that the duo and Shaikh's another accomplice were hiding there.

While trying to flee, Shaikh opened fire on police from his pistol, the DCP said.

The bullets hit two police officers who escaped injury as they were wearing bulletproof jackets, he said. Two other officials were also injured during the chase, Joshi added.

Despite sustaining a bullet wound, Shaikh ran for some distance but was chased and nabbed around 1.5 km from the house.

Shaikh, Salim and his another alleged aide, Sakharam Pawar, were arrested.

Shaikh and Salim were admitted to a private hospital as both sustained injuries in the police's retaliatory firing, DCP Joshi said.

Shaikh has at least 90 offences registered against him including chain-snatching, theft, attempt to murder as well as three cases of attacking police personnel, he said,



According to police, he was active in Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Thane and Ratnagiri districts of Maharashtra, and also in Gujarat.

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Two Pakistani security personnel have been killed in a targeted attack carried out by the Taliban militants in the country's restive Waziristan district, officials said.

The incident took place in Walma Langar Khel area where the two personnel had gone to fetch water. The security personnel came under attack from the Taliban militants as they were returning from the area, said the official.

Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan has claimed the responsibility of the attack.

Waziristan has long been a sanctuary for Pakistani Taliban and other militant groups.

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The five-day Durga Puja festivities came to an end in Cuttack on Saturday with people bidding an emotional farewell to the goddess, a senior police officer said.

Elaborate arrangements have been made here to ensure smooth and hassle-free immersion ceremony over two days, Police Commissioner Satyajit Mohanty said.

"No report of untoward incident has arrived from any part of Cuttack so far. The immersion ceremony will continue all night on Saturday and end by Sunday morning," he said.

More than 40 clay idols were immersed in Cuttack till 6pm on Saturday, Mohanty stated.

"The clay deities along with well-decorated tableaux were taken to the ghats in majestic processions for immersion in artificial ponds at Devi Gada, on the left embankment of river Kathjodi," he said.

While over 50 platoons of security personnel were deployed in the city during the five-day puja, the number has been beefed up for the immersion procession, the police commissioner said.

The fire brigade, district administration and civic body officials have also been put on high alert for the two-day-long procession, he added.

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People living along the banks of Siang river in Arunachal Pradesh have been moved to safer places after China informed India about possible flash floods in the area due to formation of an artificial lake in Tibet, officials said Saturday.

The first rush of water reached Pasihgat, the headquarters of East Siang district in Arunachal Pradesh, at around 7.30 am Saturday, said Water Resources department, superintending engineer (Hqs), Getom Borang.

The water flow was under control and below the danger level at 11 am, he told PTI over phone.

Deputy Commissioner of East Siang district, Duly Kamduk and officials of the Water Resources department are constantly keeping a watch on the flow of the Siang river, while the National Disaster Response Force (NERF) team has arrived, officials said.

In East Siang district, many people living near the banks of the Siang river have been evacuated to safer locations as a precautionary measure, they said.

Arunchal Pradesh Health and Family Welfare Minister Alo Libang, who is also the MLA of Yingkiong constituency in East Siang district, said the water level of the Siang river had risen at around 11 pm Friday night, but started receding after some time.

The minister said the officials were constantly monitoring the water level of the river.

Chinese Embassy spokesperson Counselor Ji Rong had said that his country has activated the 'Emergency Information Sharing Mechanism' with India following the landslide on Wednesday morning near Jiala village in Milin County in the lower ranges of Yaluzangbu river in Tibet.

The reason cited behind the landslide was "natural causes".

Yaluzangbu river is called Siang when it enters Arunachal Pradesh and Brahmaputra in Assam.

Ji had said the Hydrological Bureau of Tibet Autonomous Region has begun to share with the Indian side hydrological information every hour, such as the water level and flow rate at the Nuxia hydrological station and the temporary hydrological station downstream of the barrier lake.

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The police gave a no objection certificate' for the Dussehra event here but the organisers held it without seeking the required permission from municipal authorities, officials said Saturday, a day after a train mowed down at least 59 revellers.

In their letter seeking the certificate, the organisers had also asked for security arrangements, citing the expected presence of Punjab minister Navjot Singh Sidhu and his wife, former MLA Navjot Kaur Sidhu, at the event.

But eyewitnesses complained the arrangements for the safety of people at the ground along the tracks near Joda Phatak were not adequate.

"Why did the government not ensure proper security arrangements? Why was such a function allowed to take place near the railway tracks?" asked Sujit Singh.

Funeral pyres were lit at city's cremation grounds Saturday for 39 of those killed when a train from Jalandhar tore through people standing on the tracks for a better view of Ravana going up in flames.

Railway officials said no permission was sought from them either, and ruled out any inquiry by the department into what they said was the worst accident due to trespass on railway tracks.

Amid a blame game over the accident, the Government Railway Police (GRP) registered an FIR against unknown persons and Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh announced a magisterial inquiry, which will submit its report within four weeks.

Singh, who visited the accident site and the hospitals where the injured are admitted, said 59 people were killed and 57 injured. Sub-divisional magistrate Rajesh Sharma, however, said 61 people died.

Crowds gathered outside the hospitals and squatted on the tracks in protest Saturday.

Tensions ran high as the police, which barricaded the area, tried chasing them away from the railway line.

Some people also hurled stones at the house of Saurabh Madan Mithu, son of Congress councillor Vijay Madan, whose family organised the event.

Both have not been seen after the tragedy.

Amritsar Deputy Commissioner of Police Amrik Singh Powar said the organisers were given a no objection certificate' on the condition that they also get permission from the municipal corporation and the pollution department.

The Amritsar Municipal Corporation distanced itself from the tragedy.

"Nobody was given permission for organising the Dussehra event. Moreover, nobody had applied for the permission with the Amritsar Municipal Corporation," Commissioner Sonali Giri said here.

Railway Board chairman Ashwani Lohani, who visited the spot at midnight, said the railways was not informed about the gathering of people.

"At midsections (between level crossings), trains run at their assigned speed and people are not expected to be on the tracks. At midsections, there is no railway staff posted, he said.

Opposition parties, including the Akali Dal, BJP and AAP, demanded strict action against those who allowed the event, harping on Navjot Kaur Sidhu's presence on the dais.

A video clip on social media appeared to indicate that those on the dais could see people standing on the railway tracks.

By morning, the tracks had been cleared of the bodies and the body parts that were strewn after the accident.

Angry slogans like Congress government hai hai were heard in the locality near Joda Phatak and loud cries broke the silence outside the hospitals.

It was a night of unspeakable horrors, said Vijay Kumar, who lost his 18-year-old son Manish.

A WhatsApp photograph of a severed head had flashed on his phone screen at 3 am, confirming his worst fears. His son was one of those killed.

His younger son Ashish returned safely, said Kumar, but the frantic search for Manish ended with that 'ping' on his phone. He has since been roaming from hospital to hospital looking for the remains of his elder son.

A leg was found and one hand, but they are not Manish's.

"My son was wearing blue jeans. This one is not wearing blue jeans. I have lost my world," an inconsolable Kumar said outside the Guru Nanak Hospital where most of the injured were taken.

People milled around the hospital compound, some stunned into silence by the enormity of the tragedy that felled their loved ones and others holding back tears.

Among those admitted at the hospital was Sapna, who was on a WhatsApp call with her husband to relay the 'Ravana Dahan' live to him, when the accident took place.

The 30-year-old, who suffered head injuries, said she saw body parts scattered around the tracks and a severed head.

"When the effigy was set afire, people started moving away from the stage and towards the tracks," she said.

Sapna lost her cousin and her one-year-old niece, who she said were not crushed by the train but in the stampede that followed.

Jagunandan, a 40-year-old wage labourer from Hardoi, Uttar Pradesh, who suffered injuries in the head and leg, said he was not standing near the tracks but was pushed as people started running away after the effigy was set afire.

Most of the injured said they could not hear the horn of the approaching train. They said another train had passed moments earlier.

The sound of the firecrackers as the effigy came down and the speeding train led to commotion, triggering a stampede like situation, they said.

Train traffic in the area was hit with 37 trains being cancelled and 16 trains diverted.

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Congress chief Rahul Gandhi Saturday met Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) president Ashok Chavan at Nanded airport, over 550 kilometres from here, and discussed the prevailing political situation in the state.

Gandhi arrived in Nanded from Delhi noon Saturday and took a chopper to Bhainsa town in Nirmal district in Telangana to address a public meeting.

Brains is around 80 kilometres from Banded.

Congress sources said that Gandhi was also briefed about the party's ongoing Jan Sangharsh Yatra in Maharashtra.

Gandhi Saturday kicked off the Congress' election campaign in neighbouring Telangana with a public meeting in Nirmal district there.

Telangana goes to polls on December 7 and votes will be counted on December 11.

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Targetting caretaker Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, Congress President Rahul Gandhi Saturday alleged 4,500 farmers have committed suicides in Telangana during the past four years, and claimed the state is reeling under a debt of Rs two lakh crore.

Speaking at a public meeting here as part of the campaign for the December 7 Assembly polls, he said KCR (as Rao is popularly known) neglected farmers and their problems but had spent Rs 300 crore of public money to construct a palatial bungalow in the state capital, referring to "Pragati Bhavan", the chief minister's residence.

He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi and KCR have "friendship" adding Rao supports any decision of BJP.

"Now, MIM has joined KCR in helping Modi," he said but did not elaborate.

"Telangana farmers played an important role in the state formation. In the same Telangana, 4,500 farmers committed suicide in the past four years. Farmers seeking support price were handcuffed in the state.

"KCR pushed the state into debt. Telangana has now Rs two lakh crore debt. There is debt of Rs 2.60 lakh on every family in Telangana. Every citizen of Telangana carries a debt burden of Rs 60,000," the Congress president said.

Gandhi alleged KCR had failed to exert pressure on the centre for setting up turmeric Board in Nizamabad.

KCR also failed to take steps to reopen Nizam Sugar Factory which was shut down in the past, he alleged.

Taking potshots at Modi and KCR, he said both the leaders indulge in corruption in the name of 'redesigning' projects.

"KCR is supporting BJP in Telangana. Whatever policy decision is taken by the BJP government (at the centre), KCR supports it and stands by them," he added.

"Modi announced note ban and took out all the money from your pocket and gave it to Nirav Modi, Lalit Modi and Vijay Mallya and Anil Ambani... Now along with KCR, MIM is also supporting Modi," the Congress leader charged.

Gandhi promised that one lakh government jobs will be filled within one year after coming to power in Telangana.

"People have realised that in the last five years the chief minister has only indulged in corruption," he said.

Earlier speaking at a public meeting at Bhainsa in Nirmal district, he said farm loan up to Rs two lakh would be waived at one go, if his party is voted to power, even as he also targeted Modi for making "false promises."



He also alleged KCR insulted B R Ambedkar by changing the name of a project named after him and indulged in corruption by changing the project designs and inflating its cost from Rs 38,000 crore to Rs one lakh crore.

Why was it made into Rs one lakh crore (project)? ... because the Chief Minister wants to indulge in corruption," he charged.

Gandhi accused Rao of indulging in corruption, giving benefits to his family.

"As soon as he became CM, KCR started indulging in corruption, giving all the benefits to his family," Gandhi said.

He said farmers were committing suicide all over the country because they couldn't get proper price for their produce.

"Thousands of farmers committed suicide in Telangana because they don't get proper price (for their produce). Neither Modi nor KCR is able to provide farmers good price," he added.

The Congress chief said change would come in Telangana and accused Rao and Modi of making false promises.

"Change will come in Telangana. KCR government will go. And in Delhi, Narendra Modi's government will go. I did not come here to make false promises. If you want to listen to false promises, then go to KCR and Modi they will give you false promises," he added.

"The moment Congress comes to power in Telangana, we will protect tribal lands. We will give Rs 3,000 allowance each to unemployed youth," Gandhi said.

He said the KCR government had failed to fulfil promises such as job for every family, three acres of land to every SC/ST family and two bedroom houses for all eligible people.

The AICC leader also alleged that Rao also failed to implement 12 per cent quota for STs and drinking water to every family.

"Similarly, Modi also failed to keep up the promised Rs 15 lakh in each and every bank account, two crore jobs for Indian youth every year and fair price for farmers.

Gandhi also accused Modi of spreading hatred and enmity and said "he pits people of one religion against the other, one region against another, one caste against another, and weakens the country".

The Congress moves forward by taking everybody together, he said.

Firing salvos at Modi on the Rafale deal, Gandhi said the PM owes answers to the nation.

He alleged that Modi who calls himself the "watchman" of the country "has turned out to be a thief" by "helping his friend" Anil Ambani to get a Rs 30,000 crore contract in the Rafale deal.

Rahul Gandhi and his Congress party have been attacking the government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the Rafale deal, alleging corruption and favouritism.

The government has dismissed Rahul Gandhi's allegations, while the BJP has accused him of spreading lies on the issue



Anil Ambani-led Reliance Group too has denied the Congress' allegations.

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The railways was not intimated about a Dussehra event along the tracks that led to the deaths of at least 61 people in Amritsar, Railway Board Chairman Ashwani Lohani said in a statement.

He said that the accident occurred at a stretch between two stations -- Amritsar and Manawala, and not at a level crossing.

"At midsections, trains run at their assigned speed and people are not expected to be on the tracks. At midsections, there is no railway staff posted. We have staff at level crossings whose job is to regulate traffic," he said, explaining why the railways was not alerted about the congregation by its staff.

He said that the gateman was 400 metres away at a level crossing. He also said that if the driver had applied emergency breaks, there could have been a bigger tragedy.

He said that the train was running at its assigned speed and initial reports suggest that the driver applied brakes and the train slowed down.

"There was no information and no permission sought from us. The event took place at a place adjoining the railway land in private property," he said.

Refusing to assign any blame, Lohani, who visited the spot at midnight, said that the transporter has been carrying out campaigns exhorting people not to trespass. "We will take that forward," he said.

At least 61 people were killed and 72 injured Friday evening after a crowd of Dussehra revellers that had spilled onto railway tracks while watching the burning of a Ravana effigy was run over by a train near here, officials said.

The train was coming from Jalandhar when the accident occurred at Joda Phatak near Amritsar, where at least 300 people were watching 'Ravana dahan' at a ground adjacent to the tracks.
Unidentified persons Saturday attacked two Bandhan Bank staffers and robbed Rs 1,30,000 in Madhya Pradesh's Jhabua district, police said.

Four unidentified robbers, on two motorbikes, stopped Mahesh Rathore (24) and Ankit Satyanarayan (22) near Khawasa village here when the duo were returning after collecting money from bank customers, Thandla police station inspector ML Meena said.

The robbers attacked them with sticks and fled after looting Rs 90,000 and Rs 40,000 from Satyanarayan and Rathore respectively, Meena said.

Both received injuries and were discharged after being treated at a local hospital, he added.

A case has been registered and efforts were on to nab the accused, Meena informed.

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The shipping ministry is planning to undertake works worth Rs 2.35 trillion under the in Maharashtra, Union minister said here Saturday.

He said projects worth over Rs 1.50 trilllion are in various stages of implementation, while the work on remaining Rs 850 billion-worth projects is yet to begin.

Work on these remaining projects, starting with preparation of detailed project reports, will be initiated soon, he said.

Gadkari was speaking here at the inauguration of a premium passenger ship service to Goa, which is being restarted after a gap of nearly three decades.

Overall, departments under him including shipping, ports, roads and waterways will be spending Rs 7.5 trillion in Maharashtra, he said.



Gadkari said initially the estimates of spend on various projects in his home state were in the range of Rs 5 trillion, which have now gone up to Rs 7.5 trillion.

Eight projects entailing investment of Rs 53.84 billion have already been completed, while 45 others involving investment of Rs 270 billion are in various stages of implementation, he said.

The minister did not offer details of all the works being undertaken, but said the figure includes Rs 1 trillion for waterways development.

At least five rivers in the state feature in the list of over 100 rivers where water transport potential will be exploited, he said.

Gadkari also said that he had a meeting with a Russian deputy prime minister who assured India to deploy ethanol-powered "watercrafts" in the Ganga river.

An Indian company has forged a joint venture with Russian firm United Ship Builders for this, he said.
Right wing outfit Sanatan Sanstha filed a police complaint Saturday against a journalist and a cameraman of a channel for allegedly trespassing into its premises in North Goa district and shooting video of a woman disciple.

The complaint was lodged by trustee of the Sanstha Virendra Marathe and the woman disciple at Ponda police station.

The journalist and the cameraman illegally entered the Sanstha's headquarters in Ramnathi in Ponda tehsil and shot video of a woman disciple ("sadhak") without her consent on October 10, said the complaint.

The video was later broadcast on the channel, it said.

When contacted, a senior policeofficial from Ponda police station said the complaint was being examined.

The Sanstha was recently under the scanner when a man arrested by Maharashtra police following a seizure of arms and ammunition claimed that he was its member.

Sanatan Sanstha denied any connection with him.

The channel had recently run a 'sting operation' linking the Sanstha's followers to right-wing extremists.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Saudi Arabia on Saturday admitted that critic Jamal Khashoggi was killed inside its consulate in Istanbul, more than two weeks after his disappearance tipped the kingdom into one of its worst international crises.

The kingdom also sacked deputy intelligence chief Ahmad al-Assiri and royal court media advisor Saud al-Qahtani, both top aides to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman who has faced mounting pressure over the Khashoggi affair.

The admission that Khashoggi died at the hands of Saudi officials after weeks of vehement denials by the Gulf kingdom comes after President Donald Trump said that the United States, which is Saudi Arabia's biggest backer, could impose sanctions if it was proved the journalist was killed.

Saudi Attorney General Sheikh Saud al-Mojeb said Khashoggi died after "discussions" at the consulate devolved into an altercation, without disclosing any details on the whereabouts of his body.

"Preliminary investigations... revealed that the discussions that took place between him and the persons who met him... at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul led to a brawl and a fist fight with the citizen, Jamal Khashoggi, which led to his death, may his soul rest in peace," the attorney general said in a statement.

In its first reaction to Khashoggi's confirmed death, the White House said it was "saddened" but made no mention of any possible action against its major ally.

"We will continue to closely follow the international investigations into this tragic incident and advocate for justice that is timely, transparent and in accordance with all due process," White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said.

UN chief Antonio Gutterres said he was "deeply troubled" adding there needed to be "full accountability for those responsible."



- Shrouded in mystery -



================Saudi journalist Khashoggi, a critic of the Islamic petro-state's powerful crown prince and a Washington Post contributor, was last seen on October 2 entering his country's consulate in Istanbul.

His disappearance had been shrouded in mystery and triggered an international crisis, with Turkish officials accusing Saudi Arabia of a state-sponsored killing and dismembering his body.

The public prosecutor said 18 people, all Saudi nationals, have been detained in connection to the probe.

The Saudi king also ordered the setting up of ministerial committee under the chairmanship of the crown prince, widely known as MBS, to restructure the kingdom's intelligence agency and "define its powers accurately", state media said.

The controversy has put the kingdom -- for decades a key Western ally and bulwark against Iran in the Middle East -- under unprecedented pressure to offer an explanation to take the heat off its rulers.

It evolved into a major crisis for Prince Mohammed, a Trump administration favourite who has portrayed himself as a modernising Arab reformer, but whose image and even position at home could now be gravely undermined.

"Dismissing Saud al-Qahtani and Ahmad al-Assiri is as close to MBS as it is possible to go," said Kristian Ulrichsen, a fellow at Rice University's Baker Institute in the United States.

"Interesting to see if these moves prove sufficient. If the drip-drip of additional details continue, there's no buffer to shield MBS any longer."



- Threat of sanctions -



==============



Shortly before Riyadh confirmed that Khashoggi had been killed, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Saudi King Salman agreed in telephone talks to continue cooperation in the investigation into the Khashoggi affair.

Erdogan and Salman "emphasised the importance of continuing to work together with complete cooperation", said a Turkish presidential source, who asked not to be named.

The United States warned Friday of a "wide range" of responses should it determine that Saudi Arabia is behind the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, as Turkey widened its investigation into the scandal.

President Donald Trump said the United States could impose sanctions over the feared murder of Khashoggi while his top diplomat Mike Pompeo told Voice of America Radio: "We'll certainly consider a wide range of potential responses." The Trump administration has been notably slow to criticise Saudi Arabia, despite mounting evidence that Khashoggi, a critic of the Islamic petro-state's powerful crown prince, vanished after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

The Khashoggi case has presented Trump with one of the most acute foreign policy crises of his nearly two-year-old presidency.

Saudi Arabia's admission comes after Turkish authorities widened their probe on Friday, searching a forest in Istanbul city.

Fifteen staff, all Turkish nationals, testified at the chief prosecutor's office, state-run agency Anadolu said. It has been reported that Turkish employees were given the day off on October 2, the day Khashoggi disappeared.

Pro-government Turkish media have repeatedly claimed that Khashoggi was tortured and decapitated by a Saudi hit squad inside the diplomatic mission, although Turkey has yet to divulge details about the investigation.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Southeast Asian nations seeking to combat the threat of militancy have agreed to share intelligence, Singapore's defence minister said Saturday, as he warned of a "real and present" danger to the region.

More than a year after Islamic State-linked fighters seized the southern Philippine city of Marawi, the terrorist threat is as potent as ever, said Ng Eng Hen after hosting a meeting of defence ministers.

"Unfortunately even as the situation in Iraq and Syria improves, we are expecting more foreign fighters to come this way," he added.

Ng said all 18 ministers at the gathering in Singapore, from Southeast Asia and key partners outside the region, viewed "terrorism as a real and present threat".

The Southeast Asian delegates adopted an information-sharing platform called "Our Eyes" that will be used to share real-time intelligence that can immediately be acted upon, the minister added.

This came after the countries realised that they had underestimated the threat before the attack on Marawi, where the rebuilding effort could cost around USD 1 billion, he said.

Proposed by Indonesia, the platform is based on an intelligence-sharing alliance set up by the United States, Britain and three other countries after World War II to monitor the former Soviet Union.

The weekend security meeting was attended by the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), as well as US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis and their counterparts from countries including China, Australia, India and Russia.

In last year's assault on Marawi, hundreds of armed militants backed by foreign IS fighters attacked and took control of the largely Muslim city in a bid to establish a base in Southeast Asia.

Philippine troops, supported by sophisticated surveillance planes from the United States, dislodged the militants after five months of heavy fighting that left more than 1,000 people dead and the city in ruins.

Militants from other Southeast Asian countries, including Indonesia and Malaysia, were involved in the fighting.

Those at the meeting "felt that this must never happen again to any city within ASEAN", Ng said.

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Scarcity of drinking water was leading to a huge migration crisis in Maharashtra, economist and former member of State Planning Board H M Desarda, said on Friday, and sought an immediate ban on water-guzzling crops like sugarcane in the state.

He also demanded that big-ticket projects like the Mumbai-Nagpur Samruddhi Expressway should be immediately be stopped as they require huge amount of water.

The Samruddhi corridor is the pet project of Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.

Desarda, who is also the vice president of the state Drought Mitigation and Famine Eradication Board, said in a press conference here that Maharashtra was heading towards an unprecedented famine situation due to man-made factors and failure of government policies, and not due to natural causes.

"Earlier, natural resources like ground water banks were intact. But now, in the last 40 years, we have exhausted all the water. In 1961, one lakh agriculture pump-sets were in use in Maharashtra.

"Today, there are 40 lakh pump-sets drawing water not for the survival of common people, but for crops like sugarcane, banana and for production of alcohol and big construction projects. The political class has done a great damage to the common people. The government is not doing drought mitigation and famine eradication work," he said.

"All the available water resources, whether it is flowing water, impounded surface water or ground water, should be entirely reserved for drinking and livelihood purposes," Desarda said.

"A huge migration is happening in Maharashtra due to water scarcity. Such migrations are not for jobs or livelihood purposes, but due to scarcity of drinking water. Districts like Buldhana, Washim, Akola, Yavatmal and many other parts are facing shortage of drinking water," he added.

He said perennial crops like sugarcane should be banned in Maharashtra as they were "destroying" the state.

"Water required for one hectare of sugarcane crop is three crore litres. That much amount of water can be used by one thousand people for a year. Presently, there is sugarcane crop on 10 lakh hectares, which is using water that can be used by about 100 crore people. It is a straight challenge: whether you want to save sugarcane or people," he said.

According to him, even if Maharashtra stops sugarcane farming, the country won't face much problems as there is good production of sugar in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

"In UP and Bihar, the cultivation of sugarcane is rain dependent, whereas in Maharashtra it is mostly groundwater dependent," he said.

Raising concerns over "wastage of water" on big construction projects, he said he Mumbai-Nagpur Samruddhi Expressway should be stopped.

"There is acute water shortage in Maharashtra and water is being wasted for this expressway. Big construction works like the Samruddhi expressway should be stopped immediately," he said.

"How can you expect industries to come up on this expressway when several MIDCs (Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporations) are witnessing that industries are shutting down," he observed.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Refuting allegations that he was trying to influence the proceedings in the Herald case with his tweets, BJP leader on Saturday told a Delhi court that he does not remember the social media posts cited by the

Swamy was responding to leader Motilal Vora's application seeking the court's order to restrain him from tweeting about the case in which Vora is an accused along with his party chief Rahul Gandhi and mother Sonia Gandhi.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) told the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal that he was afraid that the tweets cited by Vora may be tampered with, but maintained that he had every right to tweet.

I can't remember the tweets. I made countless tweets and do not know whether those cited by the applicant (Vora) are mine, Swamy said.

The copies of tweets are not admissible under law and do not count as evidence to press on their application. If I do not know what are the evidence, how will I proceed further?I have every right to tweet. But the evidence you claim are not evidence since they are not certified, he added.

He further argued that there was no evidence that his tweets were defamatory and therefore, Vora's application should be "dismissed".

They have not brought anything to show that the tweets, even if true, are defamatory to anyone. This is a case of corruption. it contains public interest. The country is moving to a more open society," Swamy said.

"There is no evidence in this case and this application should be dismissed with a cost, he added.

Senior advocate R S Cheema, representing Vora, said Swamy did not deny the allegations in the written submissions filed by the BJP leader.

This is contempt of court. When we filed application citing tweets, he did not deny them in his written submissions. He is interfering with my work as an advocate, Cheema said, after which the court reserved its order on the application for November 17.

The BJP leader, in a private criminal complaint, had accused the Gandhis and others of conspiring to cheat and misappropriate funds by paying just Rs 50 lakh, through which Young Indian Pvt Ltd (YI) obtained the right to recover Rs 90.25 crore that Associate Journals Ltd owed to the

Vora had earlier told the court that Swamy was indulging in "character assassination" of the accused persons by tweeting.

"The complainant (Swamy) is also insulting the lawyers appearing for the accused persons and trying to influence the ongoing probe by commenting on the merits of the case," the counsel had said.

Vora, also represented by advocate Tarannum Cheema, had requested the court to pass an injunction order restraining Swamy from tweeting about the case.

In his application, Vora said he has time and again noticed that the complainant (Swamy) has been putting up various posts on social media regarding the daily proceedings of the case to defame the accused and for the vilification of the court process.

Vora also alleged that Swamy had been indulging in "loud and persistent publicity", amounting to an interference with the administration of justice.

The application said, "Before and after every date of hearing he (Swamy) unleashes hostile publicity through tweets, posts on social media or statements to the media."



All the seven accused the Gandhis, Motilal Vora (All India Congress Committee treasurer), Oscar Fernandes (AICC general secretary), Suman Dubey, Sam Pitroda and YI have denied the allegations levelled against them in the case.

The court had summoned the accused persons, besides YI, on June 26, 2014. On December 19, 2015, it had granted bail to Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Vora, Fernandes and Dubey, who had appeared before it pursuant to summonses.

Pitroda was also granted bail on February 20, 2016 when he had appeared in the court.

Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Vora, Fernandes, Dubey and Pitroda had been summoned for the alleged offences of misappropriation of property, criminal breach of trust and cheating, read with criminal conspiracy of the Indian Penal Code.
A teacher of a private school, who was charged with molestation of six students recently, has surrendered before police in Assam's Kokrajhar district, a senior officer said.

The accused, Saifur Rahman, was also a senior leader of All Bodoland Muslim Students' Union (ABMSU).

The organization suspended him over the allegations, the police officer said.

"The matter came to light earlier this month after the parents of the minor girls filed a complaint against Rahman, who taught science at the private school in Gossaigaon area of the district," he said.

Rahman, who was on the run following the FIR registration, surrendered at Gossaigaon police station on Saturday, he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Under fire from the Opposition over the Madras High Court directing a CBI probe into road contracts awarded by him, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami Saturday accused DMK President MK Stalin of defaming him.

Palaniswami said Stalin had failed in his earlier bids to "topple" the government and was, therefore, targeting him on this matter.

"He tried all tricks (against the government). He tried to topple the government. (During last year's confidence vote), his party MLAs even occupied the Speaker's chair," the chief minister said.

Responding to reporters' queries on criticism by Stalin in the wake of the court direction for a CBI probe into the case, he alleged the Leader of Opposition was on the "verge of frustration" and was resorting to "slander" against him.

Palaniswami charged Stalin with trying to break the AIADMK earlier and accused him of "instigating" some people within the ruling party. However, he did not name anyone.

"They (DMK) thought that this government will fall after the death of Amma (lJ Jayalalithaa). They said the party will split, but nothing happened.

"Things that he (Stalin) expected are not happening. So, he is now sticking to this issue," the chief minister said.

Palaniswami, who also holds the highways portfolio, denied any irregularity in the award of contracts and rejected the DMK's charges that they were given to his relatives.

Claiming that proper procedures under the E-tender system were being followed and there was no scope for any irregularity, he said the person who won the contracts had also bagged projects during the DMK rule.

He claimed the government has come across instances of "excess" payments made to certain contractors during the DMK's tenure.

Asked if the government would file a case in this regard, Palaniswami said he could respond only after consulting legal experts.

On October 12, the Madras High Court had ordered a CBI probe into allegations of corruption in the award of government road contracts, giving ammunition to opposition parties to attack the chief minister.

Palaniswami declined to comment on the Supreme Court verdict allowing entry of women of all age groups into the Sabarimala shrine.

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The 300-odd people of West Tripura district, who had fled the area after their homes were torched and looted over the alleged molestation of a girl, said Saturday that they were scared to return.

They alleged that the looting and ransacking of their houses in Lalit Bazar locality under Ranirbazar police station area began following instigation of revenue minister and prominent tribal leader N C Debbarma, who had gone there Friday.

Debbarma, president of the Indigenous People's Front Tripura (IPFT), declined to comment on the charge.

Prohibitory orders under Section 144 CrPC was promulgated in the area for 48 hours from 8 am Saturday, Sub-divisional Magistrate Subhasish Bandopaddhyaya said.

Bandopaddhyaya, who is camping in the area, told PTI that at least four houses were set ablaze on Friday and many others ransacked and looted.

Officials have started recording the losses, he said.

There was no problem after the initial confrontation on Thursday over the alleged molestation. But a group of tribal youths started torching and looting houses only after the minister's visit, said the people who had fled and are now sheltered in a school near their village.

"The ransacking and looting of our houses started only after N C Debbarma visited the spot. He came here at 9 am and looting of our houses started around an hour later. He had instigated the tribal youths to do the misdeeds," 50-year-old Samena Khatun, who was among of the 300 people, alleged.

"My house was ransacked. The gas cylinder, gas stove and golden jewellery were taken away. My ducks and chickens were looted. All these happened when the minister was present. When we told him about the looting, he said they (attackers) do not listen to him," Khatun claimed.

Another women, Sulekha Khatun (45) said, "My house was set ablaze, my belongings looted. I do not want to return. Let the police shoot me dead. I will not return."



The village is a stone's throw from a camp of state paramilitary Tripura State Rifles (TSR) and villagers alleged that they did not act during the attack of the village.

"Our cattle and chickens were looted, house ransacked. How far is the TSR camp from our house? It is not even 100 yards. Everything happened before the police and the paramilitary (forces) and the minister. I will not return home in such a condition," said Hajar Banu (85).

The incident started when a girl, along with her boyfriend, had come to Ranirbazar area on Thursday from a nearby locality to see Durga idols there and four youths allegedly molested her and snatched her mobile phone.

The two went back to their locality and then returned with a large group of people who tried to attack the houses of those who reportedly molested the girl.

The four had fled by then but were arrested on Friday.

The attack continued on Friday and, on receipt of the information, Debbarma went there to pacify the situation but it could not be controlled immediately and around 300 members of 61 families fled.

District administration provided them food and a large contingent of the police and TSR personnel have deployed in the area.

"Security for the villagers would continue so long as the villagers are afraid," the sub-divisional magistrate said.

When contacted, the IPFT president said, "We will hold a press conference and tell you about the incident."



On the villagers' complained that looting and ransacking started in his presence, he declined to comment.

The IPFT's major partner BJP claimed the incident was the result of a conspiracy.

"We want punishment for both the molesters and those who looted and torched houses. No guilty should be spared." BJP spokesperson Ashoke Sinha said.

Senior CPI(M) leader Pabitra Kar said the administration should try its best to restore normalcy at the earliest and the guilty should not go unpunished.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
US President Donald Trump said Saturday he believed Saudi Arabia's explanation that dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi died in a "fist fight" and termed the arrest of 18 people by the Gulf kingdom "a great first step".

Saudi Arabia on Saturday announced that Khashoggi, 60, died following a "fist fight" at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, without disclosing any details on the whereabouts of his body.

"Preliminary investigations... revealed that the discussions that took place between him and the persons who met him... at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul led to a brawl and a fist fight with the citizen, Jamal Khashoggi, which led to his death, may his soul rest in peace," Saudi Attorney General Sheikh Saud al-Mojeb said in a statement.

The government said that 18 Saudis had been arrested for further investigation while Deputy Director of Saudi Intelligence Ahmed al-Assiri has been dismissed.

"I do. I do," Trump said when asked about his confidence in the Saudi explanation.

"Again, it's early. We haven't finished our review, our investigation. But I think it's a great first step," he said.

Trump said talks with Saudi officials would continue, including raising some questions about their account of events that led to the death of Khashoggi, and that he would work with Congress to develop a response.

"We are saddened to hear confirmation of Mr Khashoggi's death, and we offer our deepest condolences to his family, fiancee and friends," White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said after Saudi Arabia issued the statement.

An investigation in the killing is on.

"The United States acknowledges the announcement from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia that its investigation into the fate of Jamal Khashoggi is progressing and that it has taken action against the suspects it has identified thus far," Sanders said.

"We will continue to closely follow the international investigations into this tragic incident and advocate for justice that is timely, transparent and in accordance with all due process," the White House Press Secretary said.

The Saudi statement confirming the death of Khashoggi in a fist fight did not appear credible to some US lawmakers, who demanded that Riyadh be held accountable for the incident.

Senator Lindsay Graham said it was hard to find this latest "explanation" as credible.

"To say that I am sceptical of the new Saudi narrative about Mr Khashoggi is an understatement," he said.

"The claim that Khashoggi was killed while brawling with 15 men dispatched from Saudi Arabia is not at all credible. If he was fighting with those sent to capture or kill him, it was for his life. The kingdom must be held to account. If (the Trump) administration doesn't lead, Congress must," Congressman Adam Schiff said.

House Foreign Affairs Committee Ranking Member Elliott Engel demanded a full account of what happened.

Congressman Jim Costa said that he was appalled by the reports that Saudi officials were involved in the death of Khashoggi.

"As we learn more details of Khashoggi's disappearance, the US must send a clear message that we will not condone such reprehensible behaviour that goes against our American values.

"We must carefully examine both the facts surrounding Khashoggi's disappearance as well as our relationship with Saudi Arabia, and I call on the President to take strong action in unwavering defence of our values. If the President will not stand up to Saudi Arabia, then we in Congress must stand strong for our nation, our values and journalists throughout the world," Costa said.

"Where is the body?" asked Congressman Eric Swalwell.

"Khashoggi's family deserve immediate custody of the remains as they seek some measure of closure," he added.

Khashoggi, a known critic of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, lived in the US as a legal permanent resident and worked for 'The Washington Post'. He was last seen on October 2 entering his country's consulate in Istanbul.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on Saturday hailed as "historic" the Macedonian parliament's vote in favour of changing the country's name, a source of tension with Greece for decades.

Macedonia's parliament on Friday voted to start the process of renaming the country the Republic of North Macedonia after a tense week of debate and back-room negotiations in Skopje where it was unclear until the last moment whether the government could secure the two-thirds majority needed to pass.

"Today is a historic and symbolic day ... it is a day of joy which proves the dynamic role Greece plays (as) a factor in the stabilisation of the Balkans and southeastern Europe," Tsipras said.

Tsipras was speaking at a ceremony to take on the foreign affairs portfolio after minister Nikos Kotzias -- who helped him broker the deal with Skopje -- resigned earlier this week.

Kotzias quit after clashing with Defence Minister Panos Kammenos, the coalition partner holding up Tsipras' government.

Tsipras said his taking on the foreign minister's job was proof of his "determination" to push the accord through.

The accord has raised strong objections in both countries.

Greece also has a northern province named Macedonia, the heart of Alexander the Great's ancient kingdom.

Many Greeks fear the deal will enable Skopje to lay claim to their cultural heritage but Tsipras sees it as ending years of stalemate and helping both sides and the region move on.

The Macedonian government hopes the agreement will allow it to pursue membership of the European Union and NATO, cementing its place in western Europe despite Russian hostility.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Unaccounted cash to the tune of Rs 10 crore was seized and two persons arrested in this connection in Adilabad district, police said Saturday.

The incident occurred Friday evening at Pipparawada toll plaza bordering Maharashtra, Adilabad DSP Narasimha Reddy said.

The car in which the cash was being transported was intercepted at the toll plaza as part of the drive to check the use of money and violation of Model Code of Conduct in the run upto the December 7 assembly elections.

"The vehicle was stopped at the check post. The officials on duty identified five sacks of cash with Rs 2000 and Rs 500 currency notes.

As the duo in the vehicle did not give us convincing replies we seized the cash, which will be produced in the court today," Reddy told PTI.

The official said the accused claim that they were businessmen travelling from Nagpur to some place in Karnataka.

He said they are investigating the case and have informed the Income Tax officials also.

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The Uttar Pradesh government has issued a notification directing its departments to use Prayagraj instead of Allahabad for all official purposes, district magistrate Suhas L Y said on Saturday.

Governor Ram Naik approved the name change on Friday and the order comes into force with immediate effect, he said.

However, it will not have any bearing on cases already in the courts, according to a release from the magistrate's office.

The proposal to rename the historic city of Allahabad as Prayagraj was approved by the Uttar Pradesh Cabinet on Tuesday.

The decision was taken at a cabinet meeting presided over by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who had said this was in keeping with the wishes of the people.

"The BJP government has rectified the mistake made by Akbar," a state BJP spokesperson had said.

Earlier, opposition parties, including the Samajwadi Party and Congress, criticised the decision, which comes ahead of the Kumbh Mela in January next year.

Congress spokesperson Onkar Singh had said that the region where Kumbh is held is already called Prayagraj and if the government is so eager, they can make it a separate city, but the name of Allahabad should not be changed.

Adityanath had dismissed the Opposition's criticism saying, "Those who are opposing this are not aware of their history, culture and traditions and we can't have hopes from them.

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An offensive by US-backed forces against the Islamic State group's last redoubt in eastern Syria killed 35 jihadists on Saturday, a Britain-based war monitor said.

Twenty-eight IS members were killed in air strikes by the US-led coalition around the town of Hajin, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

And a further seven jihadists were killed in ground fighting with the Syrian Democratic Forces, who launched a coalition-backed offensive against the IS-held pocket in the Euphrates valley last month.

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President Donald Trump has confirmed that the US will pull out of the Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty that it had signed with Russia during the Cold War and alleged that Moscow has "violated" the agreement.

We're going to terminate the agreement and we're going to pull out, Trump told reporters Saturday in Nevada when asked about responding reports that his National Security Advisor John Bolton wants the US to pull out of the three-decade-old treaty.

We'll have to develop those weapons, he said.

The INF treaty was signed between the then US president Ronald Reagan and his USSR counterpart Mikhail Gorbachev in 1987 on the elimination of intermediate-range and shorter-range missiles.

It eliminates all nuclear and conventional missiles, as well as their launchers, with ranges of 5001,000 kilometers or 310620 miles (short-range) and 1,0005,500 km or 6203,420 miles (intermediate-range).

We are going to terminate the agreement and then we are going to develop the weapons, unless Russia and China agree to a new deal, the US president said.

He alleged that Russia had violated the agreement. "Russia has violated the agreement. They have been violating it for many years," Trump said.

He asserted that "and we're not going to let them violate a nuclear agreement and go out and do weapons and we're not allowed to.

We'll have to develop those weapons, unless Russia comes to us and China comes to us and they all come to us and say let's really get smart and let's none of us develop those weapons, but if Russia's doing it and if China's doing it, and we're adhering to the agreement, that's unacceptable," Trump asserted.

He said the US will not adhere to the agreement, unless others were violating it.

Trump alleged that his predecessor Barack Obama had kept quite on this. I don't know why president Obama didn't negotiate or pull out. And we're not going to let them violate a nuclear agreement and go out and do weapons and we're not allowed to," he said.

"We're the ones that have stayed in the agreement and we've honoured the agreement.

If they get smart and if others get smart and they say let's not develop these horrible nuclear weapons, I would be extremely happy with that, but as long as somebody's violating the agreement, we're not going to be the only ones to adhere to it," the US president said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The White House said Saturday it was "saddened" to hear the confirmation of Saudi Arabia's dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi's death, but made no mention of action against the major US ally.

Saudi Arabia on Saturday said Khashoggi, 60, was killed inside its consulate in Istanbul after "discussions" at the consulate devolved into an altercation, without disclosing any details on the whereabouts of his body.

"We are saddened to hear confirmation of Mr Khashoggi's death, and we offer our deepest condolences to his family, fiance and friends," White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said after the Saudi Arabia issued a statement saying the journalist was killed in a fist fight with unidentified men inside the consulate.

As many as 18 people have been taken into custody, according to Saudi officials.

An investigation in this regard is on.

"The United States acknowledges the announcement from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia that its investigation into the fate of Jamal Khashoggi is progressing and that it has taken action against the suspects it has identified thus far," Sanders said.

"We will continue to closely follow the international investigations into this tragic incident and advocate for justice that is timely, transparent and in accordance with all due process," the White House Press Secretary said.

The Saudi statement confirming the death of Khashoggi in a fist fight did not appear to be credible for some US lawmakers, who demanded that Riyadh be held accountable for the incident.

Senator Lindsay Graham said it's hard to find this latest "explanation" as credible.

"To say that I am skeptical of the new Saudi narrative about Mr Khashoggi is an understatement," he said.

"The claim that Khashoggi was killed while brawling with 15 men dispatched from Saudi Arabia is not at all credible. If he was fighting with those sent to capture or kill him, it was for his life. The kingdom must be held to account. If (the Trump) administration doesn't lead, Congress must," Congressman Adam Schiff said.

House Foreign Affairs Committee Ranking Member Elliott Engel demanded a full account of what happened.

Congressman Jim Costa said that he is appalled by the reports that Saudi officials were involved in the death of Khashoggi.

"As we learn more details of Khashoggi's disappearance, the US must send a clear message that we will not condone such reprehensible behaviour that goes against our American values.

"We must carefully examine both the facts surrounding Khashoggi's disappearance as well as our relationship with Saudi Arabia, and I call on the President to take strong action in unwavering defence of our values. If the President will not stand up to Saudi Arabia, then we in Congress must stand strong for our nation, our values and journalists throughout the world," Costa said.

"Where is the body?" asked Congressman Eric Swalwell.

"Khashoggi's family deserve immediate custody of the remains as they seek some measure of closure," he added.

Khashoggi, who lived in the US as a legal permanent resident and worked for 'The Washington Post', was last seen on October 2 entering his country's consulate in Istanbul.

In a statement, Saudi Attorney General Sheikh Saud al-Mojeb said: "Preliminary investigations... revealed that the discussions that took place between him and the persons who met him... at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul led to a brawl and a fist fight with the citizen, Jamal Khashoggi, which led to his death, may his soul rest in peace.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A 38-year-old woman was arrested for allegedly killing a 16-year-old domestic help after she demanded her salary, police said Friday.

The girl's decapitated head and chopped off limbs were found in a drain in outer Delhi on May 4, they said.

During a search operation to recover the remaining body parts of the girl, the police found the torso and chopped off arms of the victim in a bag, the police said.

One person, identified as Manjit, was arrested by the police while co-accused Shalu alias Sharu, Rakesh and Gauri continued to be at large.

They were declared as proclaimed offenders and a reward of Rs 50,000 each was declared on their arrest.

On October 18, the police learnt that Gauri, a native of West Bengal, had married one Kartar Singh to camouflage her identity, and was living in Ratta Khera of Jind district in Haryana, said Deputy Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) Sanjeev Kumar Yadav.

Subsequently, the woman was arrested, he said.

Gauri was running a placement agency here and the victim was brought from Jharkhand to work as a maid but her salary was not given to her for a year, the DCP said.

When the victim demanded her salary, the woman killed her, he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A woman worker of a software firm in Pakistan was told to either stop wearing hijab at workplace or resign, in perhaps the first incident of its kind in the Muslim-majority country.

The incident caused an uproar on social media, leading to the resignation of Chief Executive Officer Jawwad Kadir of the Creative Choas company.

She was told that she could keep her job only if she took off her hijab by her line manager who said that wearing hijab would spoil the company's image as an "all-embracing" workplace.

The woman said that she was offered alternative jobs in two Islamic banks if she left.

Kadir initially tried to downplay the incident by issuing an apology.

"Yesterday, a senior member of our staff asked a colleague to resign on unprofessional and unethical grounds. She was told that her obligations may come in the way of her performance," Kadir said.

"Not only is this action disgraceful but shows extremely poor moral judgement by her hiring manager. I take full responsibility for this failure and am deeply ashamed that a colleague was put through distress and trauma," he said.

Kadir said the victim has been asked to withdraw her resignation and resume her job.

A Facebook post detailing the trauma faced by the hijab-wearing woman caused a hue and cry with majority of people terming it as discrimination against the woman.

The software firm in a Facebook post later said Kadir had been asked to step down "for workplace discrimination".

In an email sent to the board members and associates, titled "My apology is not enough", Kadir said he was resigning as the CEO of the software house.

"I have crossed a line which I deeply regret," he wrote in the email, a copy of which was available on social media.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Hitting out at the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre, Congress president Rahul Gandhi Saturday alleged fearing attacks, women in the country were now scared of coming out.

Gandhi also alleged that freedom fighter Veer Savarkar, who is worshipped by the BJP party as an icon of patriotism, wrote a letter to the British government to release him when leaders like Mahatma Gandhi were in prison.

He said there were currently two ideologies in the country.

"One ideology is hatred and the other is spreading love. There is fight between these two. Wherever you see-Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu all over the country people are scared.

Today it is being enquired about the religion, place and language of people.

Whether it is Rohit Vemula or Dalit or Adivasi or Muslim, they are being threatened, why because there is some weakness in India now."



Turning to women, Gandhi said "Women today in India are scared to come out. They do not know what will happen to them. There is a reason for that.

Today Prime Minister for the first time in India tries to divide the country, spreads hatred. Similarly his supporters also spread hatred," he said.

Rahul Gandhi was addressing a gathering on the occasion of 'Rajiv GandhiSadbhavana Yatra commemoration day' at Charminar.

He said many leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Patel and Rajiv Gandhi tried to keep the country united and everybody in this country has a right to live peacefully as provided by the Indian constitution.

"Why is MIM (All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul Muslimeen) supporting the PM when he is trying to divide the country.One after another state, MIM is supporting the PM. Because they (both BJP and MIM) think on similar lines. We are fighting with both them," the congress leader said.

Attacking Veer Savarkar, Gandhi said "Prime Minister Narendra Modi kept the portrait of Veer Savarkar in Parliament....When Britishers were ruling this country, when all the Congress leaders were in prison, Veer Savarkar wrote a letter to the British. He was not veer (gallant)."



The congress president alleged that Savarkar wrote that he would do anything for them (British).

"I apologise you. I will not indulge in any political activities. Release me from the prison. With folded hands, I will touch your (British) feet. Please release me from the prison.

On the other hand, Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Ambedkar and Sardar Patel were fighting for the freedom of the country," Rahul Gandhi said.

Hitting out at the Prime Minister, the congress leader said "Modi insults the nation by saying India was sleeping and there was no development before he came to power."



Unfazed by the congress president's attack, MIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi dared Rahul Gandhi and BJP chief Amit Shah to contest from Hyderabad against him.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Actor-politician Kamal Haasan Saturday refused to be drawn into the Sabarimala controversy, saying it won't be proper to seek an opinion from him on the matter.

The Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) founder-president said he would prefer to "stay in the centre" and talk about things benefiting women.

The veteran actor, a self-declared rationalist, said he has never been to Sabarimala though he had visited other temples.

"It won't be proper to seek an opinion from me on this matter. I will stay in the centre and say about things good for women. I don't understand the (Ayyappa) devotees' stand. So it is better not to interfere in that," he told reporters.

When asked about the Supreme Court verdict not being "respected" by Kerala in this case or by Karnataka in the Cauvery water dispute with Tamil Nadu, Haasan shot back saying "one can't say Kerala (government) is not respecting" the judgement.

"It is a different thing if people don't respect it," he said in an apparent reference to the stiff resistance and protests by Ayyappa devotees at Sabarimala to the entry of women into the shrine.

"In Karntaka, the government is not respecting and in this case people are not respecting. There is a difference between the two," he added.

Kerala has been witnessing protests against the entry of girls and women of menstrual age into the Sabarimala temple since the government had said it would abide by the ruling of the apex court.

The agitation intensified since the shrine was opened for the five-day monthly puja on October 17.

On September 28, a five-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court, headed by the then chief justice Dipak Misra, lifted the centuries-old ban on the entry of women of menstrual age into the shrine.

To a question on reports of MNM's possible alliance with the Congress for next year's Lok Sabha polls, Haasan said it was "too early" to talk about it.

Internal discussions were going on in the party about MNM facing the parliamentary elections, Haasan added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Young Mizo Association (YMA), a powerful youth organisation in Mizoram, has demanded enactment of a law to ensure that any Mizo woman who marries a non-tribal loses her scheduled tribe status.

The demand was raised in a one-day conference of the YMA here Friday and it was decided that the Association would soon submit a proposal to the state government to enact a law to that effect, a YMA statement said.

Such a legislation, if enacted, will take back scheduled tribe status of any Mizo woman who marries a non-tribal, it said.

The conference also proposed to move the state government to commence a bus service between Champhai town in Mizoram and Tahan town in Myanmar as many Mizos resided there.

The delegates of the conference also proposed to take up the matter of implementation of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Mizoram.

The conference decided that the YMA would take steps to ensure that traditional Mizo clothes and 'puan' (shawl) were patented, the statement said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Judging by the breathless coverage, it can seem as if the only countries developing AI are the United States and China. But while companies in those two countries are leading the way in cutting-edge research and products, its still early for the industry and other nations are working hard to become major AI players. Here are six that could challenge the two juggernauts. Singapore Singapore was one of the first countries to announce a national strategy, called AI Singapore, in May 2017. The initiative brings the government, research institutions and companies together to ...
Racehorses are introduced before a race at the Horqin Right Middle Banner racecourse in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region on July 27. This is one of the government-sponsored events as part of the Nadam Fair, which draws hundreds of thousands of local spectators. Guo Xianzhong/Caixin

Horqins Right Middle Banner is the southernmost banner of the Hinggan league in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region. It is located to the south of the Greater Khingan Mountains and the northern end of the Horqin Sandy Land. It has a total population of 255,000, 86.6% of whom are ethnic Mongolians  the highest proportion in the whole region. It is also a poverty-stricken area and a key battleground in the national fight against poverty.

As with other parts of the country, causes of poverty here include illness, natural disasters, a small labor force. However, there are also some deep-seated reasons that are quite different  namely, desertification.

Historically, the Horqin grasslands have been described in a traditional folk song describing grass so tall, only wind reveals the cattle and sheep. But now, under disastrous desertification, when the wind blows it picks up dust and sand that blots out the sun.

Currently, 53% of land in Horqin Right Middle Banner is desert or quasi-desert. In other words, whether it is for cultivating crops or raising livestock, over half of the local land is now not only unusable, it has also become a nightmare for every herder.

Climate change has unavoidably reduced precipitation, but excessive grazing and unregulated deforestation are clear local contributions. When I was young, during spring we could see from the village that the tops of the mountains were white  not from snow, but from the flowers of different kinds of wild fruit. Its a pity that now its bare, said Bai Zhanquan, chairman of the local photographers association, who often reminisces about the beauty of times gone by.

Creating prosperity from Horqins sand is impossible. The only way to alleviate poverty here is to restore the local ecosystem. Returning grazing land to grassland, returning farmland to grassland, raising livestock in pens, building sheds, improving livestock breeding, expanding the area on which rice is planted, developing ecotourism and so on  the regional government initiatives are committed to restoring the ecosystem and striving for long-term sustainable development. However, despite huge investment, the desertification in the largest of Chinas four sandlands, especially the areas around the Horqin Right Middle Banner, has continued at one of the fastest rates in the country.

Destruction can happen overnight, but repair will take several generations of effort. Yet positive signs are already visible: This years grasslands have been the best in many years. The last few years, there wasnt enough grass to reach the top of a horses hoof. This year, the grass came up to the calf, said Jin Bagenna, a local horse breeder.

Fighting poverty is a complex and lengthy, systemic project. Caixin journalists chose to come to Horqin Right Middle Banner, go among the people of the grassland fighting desertification, select samples and try to use long-term tracking to tell the residents stories  their backgrounds; the living conditions of several generations on the grasslands; and the confrontation with their fate, rebuilding nature  and record this arduous journey.

The road was not lonely, and the interviews were only a small part of the Photographic Witness of the New Era, Focusing on Poverty Alleviation 2018-2020: Large-Scale Impact Cross-Border Research and Creation Project, jointly initiated by the China Federation of Literature and Art, the China Photography Association, and the Chinese Folk Literature and Art Association. The project has chosen 17 unique locations fighting poverty, gathering a group of 80 photographers, experts in folk literature and art, economists, sociologists, anthropologists and other experts in many areas to enter deep into the grass-roots level of effective poverty alleviation, using photography, paintings, videos, the written word and other integrated media to create a diverse, creative, multi-angle presentation. On Wednesday, International Poverty Eradication Day, the first multimedia exhibition on comprehensive reporting, research and creation opened at the Chinese Literature and Art House Exhibition Hall.

As the initiator of the project, Li Ge, chairman of the China Photography Association, has in-depth thoughts on and unique insights into the images of poverty alleviation. In an exclusive interview with Caixin, Li Ge answered questions about the motivation behind the photography project and modes of collaboration.

Caixin: The poverty alleviation image project is a large-scale project that you coordinated. What is the opportunity and original intention of this project?

Li Ge: As a political journalist of the Central Committee, I participated in the reporting work of the 14th to the 19th national congress of the Communist Party of China, and also witnessed the important development process of poverty alleviation in China. When the China Federation of Literature and Art studied the spirit of the 19th National Congress, I proposed that the photography world conduct a creative research project on poverty alleviation. At the end of last year, we officially launched the Photographic Witness of the New Era, Focusing on Poverty Alleviation 2018-2020: Large-Scale Impact Cross-Border Research and Creation Project. The project has also been listed as a creative project of the Central Publicity Departments China Contemporary Literature and Art Creative Work Project Plan (2017-2021) and as a project under the Chinese Literary Federations Acclaim the New Era, Build the Chinese Dream theme.

In the second half of last year, after the founding of the new presidium of the China Photographers Association, we discussed the direction, methods and themes of photography. For example, in the photography world now there is a phenomenon of shallowness. A variety of photographic activities are endlessly emerging and on a grand scale, but I feel that much of this so-called creative behavior is superficial; so-called works merely follow a trend; are imitations; or are simply in pursuit of beauty in form and dont even have any ideological feeling or point of view. Through this kind of special, creative poverty alleviation research project, we will transform a creative concept, cultivate a way of approaching work, so that more photographers steadily take root in people and villages at the grass-roots level. Only when you really understand the subjects family situation, historical evolution, ideological roots, and emotional expectations can you build a true heart-felt friendship and shoot more temperate works.

You said at the summary seminar that this project is more than just a superficial article, aiming to avoid condescension and instead emphasize the spirit of speculation and revealing. How do you understand speculation and revealing?

The word speculative concerns the direction of creation. Nowadays, many photographers still have a superficial understanding of documentary photography. They think that documentary photography is simply photographing daily life and people, without any later-stage image processing. This is an enormous misjudgment. True art must be supported by the artists thoughts, viewpoints and attitudes, not by a deliberate hunt for an exotic subject or the blindness of the technique of expression.

What kind of thinking can support your artistic creation and make your work prolific? I believe the core is to have an independent ideological system and speculative ability. Photography must not simply dazzle people with beauty to win awards, nor can it rely on excessive consumption of other peoples suffering or invasion of privacy to get applause. What is more important is to see the depth of the authors independent thinking and the degree of social relevance behind the image. So though some works seem to be in a silent place, in fact, in the background there is an ear-shattering thunder that passes on strong spiritual power and energy and contains great social value.

Another change this time is from one single reporter to the cooperation of an integrated media team to produce photography, video, voice recordings and text. How do you see this kind of transformation?

At the moment, integrated media has brought about dramatic changes in the form of communication. It requires you to be versatile. You must write well, but you must also take good pictures and video. This is certainly a good thing for a media practitioner to master multiple technologies. But in the process of specific news reports and artistic creation, you will find that if you do everything, you may not do anything well. Therefore, we still hope that the industry has specialization  when doing static images, we will concentrate on making the best static images. If we shoot video, we will take the best video. When a team conducts an interview across multiple mediums, it becomes multidimensional and gives those who care about social development more space to watch and think. At the same time, it also provides a platform for learning and communication for the main creators in the team. For example, on our team we have economists who create unpredictable sparks when joined with photographers. Collisions between creators of video and still images can also result in an explosion of inspiration. Of course, there are also problems of learning to accommodate each other, reaching mutual understandings and cooperation. After all, it is very difficult to work with so many different resources at once and create something meaningful.

What role do you think the poverty-alleviation image project can play in the process of poverty alleviation?

I think there are two roles. One is supplementary, providing images and text about concrete poverty alleviation work. Through the investigation and creation of this project, it can provide multiple angles for cadres and policymakers on the front lines  an accurate, objective basis. For example, as a reference point, from the sidelines we can explore whether the effect of poverty alleviation is good or not and help them appropriately amend the direction of their work. Another long-term consideration  we strive to document the achievements of the next three years of this special stage in the new era of building a well-off society in the national archives for history and future generations to judge.

The Horqin Right Middle Banner racecourse is seen on June 1. After the training is finished, the horses rest, but the work of the grooms is only beginning. Guo Xianzhong/Caixin

Horqin Right Middle Banner is experiencing a prolonged heat wave, so the horses must be cooled with a shower after training. Guo Xianzhong/Caixin

A distillery is seen in Horqin Right Middle Banner, where workers use traditional methods to ferment the alcohol by hand on March 17. This is one of the local items of intangible cultural heritage, with over 100 years of history. Guo Xianzhong/Caixin

Workers from Liaoning province install high-tension wires through Horqin Right Middle Banner on March 15. Guo Xianzhong/Caixin

Huo Linhe transplants local farmers rice shoots on June 4. She raises cattle and sheep, but is also learning how to transplant rice shoots and farm. Guo Xianzhong/Caixin

The Temple of the White Dragon is seen on March 18. On the second day of the second month of the lunar calendar, Samangaridi (left) and some of his students pray for good weather for the crops. Guo Xianzhong/Caixin

Women remove weeds in a local grass seed farm on June 3. In recent years, the local government has implemented a grazing ban in an attempt to reverse the deterioration caused by unregulated grazing. Many herdsmen have learned to farm and can earn nearly 100 yuan ($14.44) per day. Guo Xianzhong/Caixin

In a spontaneous event at the Nadam Fair, wrestlers engage in intense competition on July 28. Guo Xianzhong/Caixin

A traditional Mongolian wedding is held at a modern hotel in Horqin Right Middle Banner on May 30. The groom, Hegangbeigong, and bride, Sarula, bow and present gifts to a painting of Genghis Khan. Guo Xianzhong/Caixin

A cultural group comes to Horqin Right Middle Banner for a performance on June 1. In the local party member activity room, the performers change clothes. Guo Xianzhong/Caixin

(qiuyuren@caixin.com)
news, latest-news

Waiting times for cancer treatment in the ACT have risen sharply, according to figures just released in ACT Health's annual report. According to the report, 58 per cent of patients with terminal cancer started their radiotherapy within two weeks of the doctor deciding they needed it (well short of the targeted 90 per cent of patients receiving treatment within that time). Between 2014 and 2017, at least 80 per cent of cancer patients who needed palliative care each year were treated within two weeks of being diagnosed. 53 per cent of those who were not terminally ill but needed radiation therapy to stop their cancer from spreading were treated within four weeks (also short of a targeted 90 per cent). Each year between 2014 and 2017, the figure was 82 per cent or higher. For emergency cases, all patients received treatment within two days. The ACT Health report blamed a raft of factors for the worsening of treatment times for all but the most urgent cases, including the "increasingly complex treatment techniques and related treatment delivery times, increasing demand and workforce shortages". A spokesman for Canberra Health Services said new equipment was due to be installed in 2019, and that would improve treatment and lower waiting times. The spokesman said there had already been a big improvement in the last few months, and by the middle of September this year, waiting times for treatment were down to one week. Part of the problem, he said, was an increase in demand for cancer treatment - up by 6.5 per cent over the previous year. "This increased demand created additional challenges in meeting target wait times for palliative and radical treatments," he said. There have been ongoing issues with cancer treatment in Canberra. Last month, Canberra Hospital radiologists warned staff shortages meant cancer patients' previous scans were being ignored and trainee specialists were working unsupervised. Some CT scans were being sent away to be examined because of a shortage of radiologists. This, radiologists said, hampered treatment because scans were being viewed by people unfamiliar with the particular patient. The Health Services spokesman said, though, that previous scans of a patient were sent with more recent ones so they could be compared. Shadow Health Minister Vicki Dunne blamed the Labor government for a lack of investment. "Most alarming is that cancer equipment is too old to deal with the complex needs of our patients", Mrs Dunne said. "We have a new cancer centre. Why wasnt the equipment updated with the new centre? "This government is not looking at trends and making decisions ahead of time, and this is creating adverse outcomes for patients in Canberra." At the time of writing, there had been no comment from ACT Health Minister Meegan Fitzharris's office.

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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.

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Intelligence Bureau (IB), under the Ministry of Home Affairs has released an employment notification calling out for aspirants to apply for the post of Security Assistant. Those interested can check out the eligibility, salary scale, how to apply and the complete details of the government job here. Selected candidates can earn up to INR 20,200 per month. The last date to apply for the government job is Nov 10, 2018.

Bank Of India Recruitment 2018: 12 Security Officer Vacancies Available, Earn Up To INR 45,950

IB Recruitment 2018 Vacancy Details

CRITERIA DETAILS Name Of The Posts Security Assistant Organisation Intelligence Bureau (IB) Educational Qualification Class 10 passout from a recognized university Experience Desirable Skills Required Knowledge of local language Job Location India Salary Scale INR 5,200 to INR 20,200 per month Industry Ministry of Home Affairs Application Start Date October 20, 2018 Application End Date November 10, 2018

Maximum Age Limit 27 years

Also Read: Railway Job Opportunity For 2907 ACT Apprentices At Eastern Railway

How To Apply For The IB Recruitment 2018

In order to apply for the IB Recruitment 2018, follow the steps given here:

Step 1: Log on to the Intelligence Bureau official website.

Step 2: The brief details with instructions will be displayed on the screen. Read them carefully.

Step 3: Click on the checkbox to confirm that you have read the detailed advertisement.

Step 4: Click on the button that reads, CLICK HERE TO PROCEED..

Step 5: A login form will appear. Click on the registration link below.

Step 6: The registration form will open from Oct 20, 2018.

Step 7: Enter your details in the fields provided. Follow the subsequent pages to complete the registration process.

Step 8: Use your credentials to login and complete the application process.

Follow the link - https://mha.gov.in/sites/default/files/VacanciesSecurityAssistant_18102018.pdf to read the detailed official notification.
Carlow's Shauntelle "Shan" Tynan wasn't scared of dying, but didn't want to die, she told host Ryan Tubridy on Friday's Late Late Show.

Shan was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer at just 16-years-old.

After eight months of chemo with little success, her mother Leona started the mammoth task of raising 600,000 so Shan could take part in US clinical trials that had the potential to save her life.

The family raised just over 700,000 in two days through a GoFundMe page.

In Texas for the last year, she returned to Ireland this week having been declared cancer free.

Speaking on the Late Late Show on Friday night, Leona said: "You never, ever give up. You just keep going."

On being back in their own home, the determined mother added: "This is the Carlsberg of mornings, there is no better feeling than to have your family where you're supposed to be."

Shan talked about organising her own funeral when she was first diagnosed and said: "I wasn't scared of dying but I didn't want to die. I was scared about what would happen my parents and my family."

When asked what she missed most while in Texas for eighteen months, she said: "Food, the bread." She also had a spice bag on her first night back in Ireland on Thursday.

Shan's future looks bright and she added: "I want to learn how to drive, I want to get a job, I want to go to college. I want to advocate," and live her life.
Photo: Wayne Moore

The battle against the provincial government's speculation and vacancy tax is not over.

Mayors Doug Findlater in West Kelowna and Colin Basran in Kelowna are being joined by Kelowna West MLA Ben Stewart in the fight to try and defeat the tax.

Stewart spoke on the controversial tax at the Kelowna Senior Citizen's Club 17.

Prior to introduction of the bill Tuesday, Green Party leader Andrew Weaver said he was not a fan of the spec tax. After it was introduced, he said he would go over the bill and suggest some amendments.

Those came down Thursday, including a lowering of the tax to 0.5 per cent from one per cent for all Canadians, and a provision that would allow money collected to remain in the municipality it was collected from.

Stewart says the changes don't go far enough.

"I'm disappointed because Andrew Weaver had been telling people in the construction industry we didn't like the speculation tax," said Stewart. "He's been huffing and puffing all summer... at UBCM he said he didn't like it. We can't count on him as a reliable partner."

But, Stewart said the fight isn't over.

"They're going to bring in amendments when the bill comes to committee stage next week. We're considering whether we should bring forward amendments as well, because we are entitled to do that.

"We are not happy with it. Housing starts in Kelowna are down over 60 per cent, across the province 43 per cent. That's not all just a slowdown in the economy, that's also because of uncertainty."

Both Findlater and Basran had hoped the bill would either be scrapped entirely, or municipalities hit with the tax could choose to opt out.

Stewart said Weaver appeared to want the opt out clause added, but said Carole James and the Ministry of Finance said no.

"Really, they're in a deadlock with the partners in the NDP."
Photo: CTV Vancouver file photo

The Vancouver Police Department is investigating a fight early Saturday that left three people with stab wounds.

Just after 3 a.m. officers attempted to break up a fight between two groups on Granville Street near Helmcken. The groups consisted of men and women in the 20s and 30s.

By the time officers broke up the fight three people had been stabbed and transported to hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries. A fourth was taken to hospital with minor injuries.

Several arrests have been made, but the investigation continues.

"Our investigators are working diligently to piece the evidence together and are hopeful that criminal charges will soon be laid", said Sergeant Jason Robillard.
Season nine of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills hasnt started yet and drama has begun in 90210. Rumblings are that one cast member, Lisa Vanderpump is on the outs with just about everyone, with the exception of newcomer, Denise Richards, US Weekly reports.

None of the ladies will shoot with Vanderpump and the only reason Denise Richards will, is because shes new, an insider source told US Weekly. Shes feeling this all out because shes a newbie and is still adjusting to the insanity whereas the other women are more comfortable with each other, the third source tells Us. [Richards] like a fish out of water. Shes harmless and sweet but does not know her place yet.

So what happened between Vanderpump andwelleveryone?

Season 9 is going to be on fire

Some well-placed breadcrumbs provide some clues that the upcoming season is going to be explosive.

Plus cast member, Kyle Richards told US Weekly: Its been a really outrageous season, from, like, literally the get-go. Usually, its like catching up, it picks up  this was like, Bam, out of the gate, I dont even know, weve never had a season like this before. Its been a very wild and crazy ride so far. You never know whats going to happen next around here.

Vanderpump isnt part of Camille Grammers wedding

She seems to be a no-show at RHOBH alum, Camille Grammers Hawaiian wedding to David C. Meyer. One piece of evidence is the Instagram image Kyle Richards posted of the RHOBH team, sans Vanderpump. Also, Grammer told Bravos The Daily Dish Vanderpump vyed for a bridesmaid position, but it wasnt happening. I think Lisa Vanderpump has been angling at it, but Im not sure. Lisa and I have had our ups and downs, even though I adore her, but theres probably another Housewife that I think that is more worthy and has been closer to me as a friend over the years  so well see.

Vanderpump is not planning to attend the wedding, even as a guest, US Weekly confirmed.

Shes also been iced out of other events

Vanderpump is either opting out or being uninvited to a number of Real Housewives events. First cast members Lisa Rinna and Erika Girardi said Vanderpump refused to participate in the group shot, according to US Weekly. Then, was a no-show during a few concerts where the entire cast (but Vanderpump) attended.

She clashed with this cast member over a dog

RHOBH cast member, Dorit Kemsley adopted a dog from Vanderpumps rescue organization, but then dumped the pup at another shelter days later, Celebrity Insider reports. Kemsley asserts the dog nipped at her children so she took the puppy to a shelter. When Vanderpump found out she was furious and was reportedly crying and angry during a trip to the Bahamas with the ladies.

Eventually, Vanderpump recovered the dog, but the damage was done. Kemsley received death threats from animal lovers once news broke, US Weekly reports. Richards claims the whole incident never happened.

This may have fractured a close friendship

Vanderpumps husband Ken Todd and Richards got into a screaming match after a party, according to US Weekly. A source told US Weekly Todd told Richards she, would never be allowed in their house again. Why the fight? The only clue is Vanderpump was caught in a lie and the more she ignores what is happening the more tensions build.

There have been numerous attempts from the other cast members to reach out to [Vanderpump] and they have gone unanswered, a source told US Weekly. The women feel like Lisa doesnt want to face them and confront the situation. She has kept her distance and now thats creating more problems with the cast. However, another source told US Weekly that it is the other way around. And that the cast is not talking to her.

Richards drops this hint

Fans are trying to shame the cast for bullying Vanderpump. But Richards advises fans to hold tight before making judgments about the situation. In an Instagram post where the ladies attended a Boy George concert, Richards commented on a suggestion that the group was going against Vanderpump. Nobody has ganged up on anyone. Wait and watch

Questions still remain. What lie did Vanderpump tell? Who is icing out whom and what really happened with the Vanderpump rescue dog?

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Frankly, I was not surprised when Pastor Andrew Brunson said that praying and knowing people were praying for him kept him sane and hopeful after being imprisoned in Turkey.

"When I was arrested, and it kept going on and on, and it seemed there was no way out ... I lost a lot of hope," Brunson said. "What helped me  I began to see that there was value in my suffering, especially as time went on. I saw that many people around the world began praying for me. And I began to see that God was involved in this."

How could he know people all over the world  including myself  were praying for him? The Turkish authorities allowed Brunson's wife Norine to visit him about once a week, for 30 minutes. The two of them would speak over the phone through a glass window, and in those precious moments they could share together, she made sure he knew people were praying for him.

"She would bring encouragement to me, and tell me that people were praying for me. And as I learned that I began to see that God was involved in this and that God was going to do something with my suffering that had value," Brunson said.

If there has been one constant truth in Pastor Andrew Brunson's tumultuous journey to freedom, it has been the power of prayer. In fact, when the Brunsons learned that they would be seeing the president of the United States their reaction was to pray they would have the opportunity to pray for him  and they did.

On live TV and in the presence of the secretary of state and cabinet members, Andrew Brunson  who 24 hours earlier had been sitting in a prison cell in Turkey  knelt down and prayed for President Trump in the Oval Office.

"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 you have for this country and for him," Brunson said, before concluding, "May he be a great blessing to our country. In Jesus' name, we bless you. Amen."

As I watched Pastor Brunson pray over President Trump, it suddenly struck me that we were not only celebrating Brunson's release; we were also celebrating the power of prayer. Behind the tense negotiations between the U.S. and Turkey, inside the Oval Office and even within the chambers of the Turkish court that finally freed Brunson, God was at work, using the president, vice president and countless men and women to orchestrate the miracle we witnessed this past weekend. Rep. Mark Meadows, who was one of Brunson's greatest advocates, recognized this fact.

"You had dozens and dozens of advocates. You had one champion in the President of the United States. But he was the answer to millions of prayers that went up on your behalf and the behalf of your family," Rep. Meadows said to Brunson and the crowd gathered in the Oval Office.

At a time when there are so many reasons to be worried or anxious, the reminder that God listens and responds to our prayers is encouraging news. He might not always answer them the way we want him to, but he will listen to us and will not leave or forsake us.

Pastor Brunson's release is a great victory for international religious freedom and a testament of President Trump and his administration's commitment to defending it. Religious freedom is a bipartisan issue we can all agree on. Every human being has the right to worship  or not worship  without the threat of abuse or persecution. Under President Trump, we have made great advances to protect this right at home and abroad, and for this I'm grateful

This past Saturday, exactly 1,183 miles away from the White House, sitting in our home in Springdale, Ark., my wife and I celebrated this great moment for religious freedom and Brunson's return home. It is a good reminder to each of us in America and across the world, if God can set Andrew Brunson free from Turkish imprisonment, God can do anything in your life today. Never forget: all things are possible with God.
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There is no hiding the ugliness of Louis Farrakhan's latest antisemitic comments, in which he likened Jews to termites. There is one thing you do with termites. Exterminate them!

Termites are destructive. Termites are nasty. Termites survive by destroying. Termites do nothing good. Rid the earth of them!

My good friend, Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, was therefore right to tweet this in response: "Louis Farrakhan calling Jews termites is a virtual call to genocide. The Nazis regularly referred to Jews as roaches and pests who needed to be exterminated. I call on African-American leaders like my close friend @CoryBooker to immediately condemn this vile and loathsome attack."

These were Farrakhan's exact words from a speech on October 14 in Detroit where he mocked his Jewish adversaries: "I can go anywhere in the world and they've heard of Farrakhan...I'm not mad at you, because you're so stupid."

Then, a little later in his speech, he said, "when they talk about Farrakhan, call me a hater, call me anti-Semite...I'm anti-Termite. I don't know nothing about hating somebody because of their religious preference."

He then reinforced his message with this tweet, linked to a video from his message: "I'm not an anti-Semite. I'm anti-Termite."

Remarkably, Twitter has declined to act, leaving Farrakhan's tweet intact. This is beyond crazy. This is immoral.

In 1943, the Nazis printed an educational pamphlet titled, "The Jew as World Parasite." (In German, "Der Jude als Weltparasit.")

It begins by saying, "In this war for the very existence of the German people, we must daily remind ourselves that Jewry unleashed this war against us. It makes no difference if the Jew conceals himself as a Bolshevist or a plutocrat, a Freemason or uses some other form of concealment, or even appears without any mask at all: he always remains the same. He is the one who so agitated and spiritually influenced the peoples that stand against us today such that they have become more or less spineless tools of International Jewry."

You can imagine just how ugly the whole pamphlet is.

Better still, don't try to imagine. Just read it. How much Jewish blood was spilled because of these lies?

But this rhetoric is far from dead.

On January 2, 2018, BBC News reported that, "A self-proclaimed Nazi told gatherings of far-right activists that Jewish people were parasites who should be eradicated, a court has heard."

On July 28, 2018, a headline in HaAretz stated, "'Jews Drink Blood:' Britain's Labour Party Suspends Councillor for Facebook Post."

Reference was then made to Facebook posts containing language like this: "Talmud Jews are parasites! . . . All Talmuds need executing!"

Last year, on December 15, 2017, the Times of Israel reported that, "A professor emeritus from an esteemed university in the Netherlands whose father was a Nazi called Jews 'parasites' in a televised interview."

Jan Tollenaere, described as "a lecturer on medicinal chemistry who retired from the Utrecht University in 2001, is the son of Raymond Tollenaere. His father "was in charge of propaganda for the Belgian pro-Nazi collaborationist government of Flanders during the German occupation of Belgium in World War II."

According to Jan, "Jews 'are not a nice people, I don't feel any warmth toward them.' They are, he added, 'parasites, speculators and mean people.'"

Parasites should be exterminated!

They suck your blood and drain you and eat you alive.

They are obnoxious and insidious and hard to get rid of.

Special efforts must be taken to destroy them before they destroy you!

Such is the mentality of violent antisemitism. And with full knowledge and clear intent, Louis Farrakhan played right into to this mentality by likening Jews to termites.

Shame on Twitter, infamous for its overzealous censoring of conservative views, for letting this tweet (and Farrakhan's account) remain intact.

And shame on all people of conscience who do not distance themselves from such remarks. (Can you be a person of conscience and not denounce them?)

It is spineless passivity like this that leads to the shedding of blood. Jewish blood.
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Reformation Sunday is coming up on October 28. In our church, each year on Reformation Sunday we sing Reformation hymns, that is, hymns that in some way connect to the Reformers and the movement they sparked.

If you are in charge of choosing hymns for your Reformation Sunday service, here are some you might consider using (along with free downloads!):

A Mighty Fortress Is Our God (EIN FESTE BURG)

You cannot celebrate the Reformation without singing Martin Luther's most well-known hymn. Luther wrote both the lyrics and the tune to this hymn in 1529. They lyrics are actually a paraphrase of Psalm 46, expressing confidence and comfort in the Lord's protection of his people. For our hymnal, we chose to use a harmonization composed by J. S. Bach, whose church music rose as a direct result of Luther's worship reforms.

Free download

Out of the Depths I Cry to Thee (AUS TIEFER NOT)

A lesser known hymn of Martin Luther, this paraphrase of Psalm 130, written earlier than "A Mighty Fortress" in 1524, is an expression of true repentance and confidence in God's power to forgive through Christ. Luther wrote the melody as well, and his lyrics were translated into English by the well-known translator, Catherine Winkworth in 1863.

Free download

Christ Jesus Lay in Death's Strong Bands (CHRIST LAG IN TODESBANDEN)

Another important hymn of Martin Luther, written also in 1524, is this hymn celebrating Christ's death and resurrection. Luther based this text on the older Latin, Victimae Paschali. The tune was also originally a Latin melody from around 1100, and was adapted in 1524 by Luther's first hymn tune collaborator, Johann Walther.

Free download

To Avert from Men God's Wrath (HUS)

Martin Luther adapted this Communion hymn text in 1524 from John Hus, the Bohemian Reformer and martyr from a hundred years prior, who wrote the original hymn in 1410. The tune was composed for this text and included in the 1628 Cantionale Germanicum in Dresden.

Free download

Now Thank We All Our God (NUN DANKET ALLE GOTT)

The Thirty Years' War was fought in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648 as part of the Counter-Reformation strife between new Protestants and Roman Catholics. Lutheran pastor Martin Rinkart wrote this hymn, often called "The Te Deum of Germany," in the midst of the war. Rinkart conducted as many as fifty funerals in any given day during the conflict, including that of his own wife. The tune was composed by one of the most influential second generation Lutheran chorale composers, Johann Cruger, in 1647, and harmonized in 1840 by Felix Mendelssohn.

Free download

Ah, Holy Jesus (HERZLIEBSTER JESU)

This hymn, most appropriate for use in remembrance of Christ's atoning sacrifice, was written in 1630 by Lutheran pastor Johann Heermann. The tune was composed by Johann Cruger in 1640, and was frequently used by J. S. Bach.

Free download

All People That on Earth Do Dwell (OLD HUNDREDTH)

Although Lutheran hymns often get the most attention in relation to the Reformation, John Calvin's psalm tradition is also an important legacy of this period. William Kethe's 1561 paraphrase of Psalm 100 is likely the most well-known Reformation psalm paraphrase in English, and it is set to French composer Louis Bourgeois's tune, originally composed for Psalm 134 in the 1551 Genevan Psalter.

Free download

Jesus, Priceless Treasure (JESU, MEINE FREUDE)

A stunningly beautiful text and tune about Christ, this hymn was written in 1653 by Lutheran theologian Johann Franck, and the tune was composed in the same year by Johann Cruger. Bach used this chorale as well, and we have used his harmonization in our hymnal.

Free download

Praise to the Lord, the Almighty (LOBE DEN HERREN)

One of the most well-known Lutheran chorales, this hymn was written in 1680 by Lutheran pastor Joahim Neander, and the tune comes from a collection on Lutheran chorales from 1665. Interesting trivia: Neander often held religious services in a particular valley that was later called "Neander's Valley." This valley became famous when in 1856 the remains of an ancient man were found in that valley, aptly named the "Neanderthal Man."

Free download

Sing Praise to God Who Reigns Above (MIT FREUDEN ZART)

Another second generation Lutheran hymnwriter and theologian, Johann Schutz, wrote this hymns of praise in 1675. The hymns has an even deeper connection to the Reformation with its tune, which was included in the Bohemian Brethren's Kirchengesange ("Church songs") in 1566. The Bohemian Brethren trace their theological lineage a hundred years prior to Martin Luther with John Huss's reforms in Bohemia. These Christians would later become the Moravians, significant hymn writers themselves.

Free download

Jesus, Still Lead On (SEELENBRAUTIGAM)

Speaking of Bohemian Brethren, Nicolaus von Zinzendorf was a third generation Lutheran pietist who offered a place for Bohemian Brethren to live in Germany when they were expelled from their own country. Zinzendorf wrote several excellent hymns, including this one in 1721. The tune comes from 80 years earlier by Lutheran composer, Adam Drese.

Free download

Jesus, Thy Blood and Righteousness (GERMANY)

Another important hymn by Nicolaus Zinzendorf is this hymns about the imputed righteousness of Christ, written in 1740.

Free download
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The reaction to my last Op-Ed of October 11, The Proper Position for the Church: Anti-Abortion and Pro-Choice, was revealing to me for a few reasons. It seems that any attempt at a discussion on abortion, especially if it forwards an alternative to the current (public) position held by the church, is akin to touching the dreaded third rail. This is evident because the editorial board of the Christian Post deemed it prudent to add a disclaimer emphasizing its prolife philosophy while allowing a debate on the issue. I appreciate very much that allowing, and I am encouraged that reasonable voices are not censored because of differing views on non-essentials.

That, however, exposed the problem we run into by failing to adequately define the meaning of the labels we use to circumscribe the debate. Pro-choice does not necessarily mean pro-abortion. In fact, there are many born-again, spirit-filled, walking-with-the-Lord, faithful Christians who are firmly anti-abortion but believe that a woman's right to choose should not be prohibited. The truth is that Christians, of whatever stripes, are anti-abortion. Sure, as with any group, there is always a spattering of contrarians, but within the Christian faith the overwhelming belief is anti-abortion.

One commenter decided not to even read the op-ed after seeing the title because he or she thinks one has to be either prolife or pro-abortion. In the debate, the term pro-life has been narrowly defined to mean anti-abortion. Well, guess what? That would apply to all the anti-abortion Christians mentioned above, even to those who believe that a woman has the right to choose. Divisions are created, aspersions are cast, and bitterness against each other ensues because this fact is not understood or appreciated. There is blight of binary thinking that stymies any meaningful debate without the unpleasantness of irreligious sniping.

The lack of clarity on what it means to be pro-life was evidenced in July of this year with the article by Steven D. Greydanus, in the National Catholic Register. In it, he mentioned competing articles by two Catholic writers:

Within the last week, the term "pro-life" has come under crossfire from two Catholic writers coming from almost diametrically opposed perspectives.

"The Pro-Life Movement Has Lost," writes Rebecca Bratten Weiss at Patheos, while at CatholicVote.com Eric Sammons explains "Why I'm Through Being 'Pro-Life'."

Each article is, in effect, the other's worst-case scenario.

For Weiss, the pro-life movement has lost because it no longer has a moral platform to stand on, no longer has any semblance of a claim to care genuinely for all lives, for women as well as babies, for the born as well as the unborn.

For Sammons, it's precisely the insistence that being pro-life necessarily entails anything other than opposition to abortion that has ruined the term: ...by calling every issue a "pro-life" issue, we dilute and fracture the brand. We make other, less important issues as important as the abortion issue. We needlessly divide pro-lifers over prudential issues about which we should be able to respectfully disagree.

In my view, those writers are victims of the imprecision of the meaning of pro-life. They are both anti-abortion, but the depth of the issues of abortion, which is so much more than the simplicity with which most of us think about it, forced them to vie with each other.

If we are going to remain entrenched in our own positions without trying to understand each other, then we are going to miss the kernel of unity in our beliefs on abortion. There has to be Christian comity. We must take the time to listen to and understanding each other's reason for why we believe as we do on this issue. There is really more than a kernel of unity, because, as stated earlier, we are all overwhelmingly anti-abortion. On that we ought to be clear.

What we ought to try and understand are the reasons why one is anti-choice on the issue, and the other is pro-choice. I cannot overemphasize the importance of appreciating that this is not a simple either/or issue; it is often complicated and complex to navigate. There are strong religious convictions on both sides, but that does not make one side less or more "Christian" than the other.

Being anti-choice or pro-choice cannot be exclusive in each case. Is there never a time when it is morally acceptable to have an abortion? Is it always morally acceptable to have an abortion? I believe most Christians would say there should be exceptions to both. I also believe that just like the contrarians mentioned before, only a few from either camp would say "yes."

Marvin G. Thompson has, over the past 38 years, served as youth leader, church officer, assistant Sunday School Superintendent and teacher, and presently as a deacon and preacher, serve men's and small group ministry leadership and. Started the Berean Fundamentals blog on Christian Post to challenge Christians to live consistently with the teachings of Scripture.
Lawyers for the Wikileaks founder said yesterday that they would begin legal action against Ecuador over an alleged violation of Mr Assange's "fundamental rights and freedoms".

The Wikileaks co-founder has lived in its United Kingdom embassy since 2012 after seeking asylum to avoid extradition to Sweden over a rape inquiry - later dropped.

That case has since been dropped but Assange fears being extradited to the United States to face charges over the WikiLeaks website's release of troves of sensitive U.S. government files.

Assange's Spanish lawyer Baltasar Garzon says Ecuador granted his client asylum, which carries these rights. The hearing of the case is expected to take place next week.

The move to start legal proceedings comes just days after Ecuador issued Assange with a list of rules to obey if he wanted to continue living in the embassy.

Mr Assange's guests will also have to be previously approved by the embassy, and their private details, including social media usernames and serial numbers of phones and tablets, be revealed to the embassy.

Mr Garzon said Mr Valencia was named in the lawsuit because he served as the intermediary between Mr Assange and the Ecuadorean Government.

"Mention of the cat is degrading", Garzon said, adding that Assange is ill due to his prolonged confinement in the embassy. Earlier this week, Ecuador threatened Assange with expulsion if he kept "interfering in the internal affairs of other states".

The Ecuadorian government partially lifted restrictions on Assange's internet access last weekend, but stipulated he would only be allowed to use the embassy wifi for his personal computer and phone. The lawyer also said during a press conference that there are now no plans to take Assange to Russian Federation.

Foreign Minister Jose Valencia says Ecuador intends to follow worldwide standards and Ecuador's law.

Quito "has full legal support for its position, because the protocol was adopted in accordance with global rules and Ecuadoran law", the minister said.
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Iconic Hollywood actress Shirley MacLaine caused outrage when she once asked if the Nazi Holocaust victims suffered because of their sins in past lives. "Karma" seems to give a reason as to why God allows or even sanctions suffering. If a baby is born blind, or a child gets a terminal disease, at the very least it offers some sort of explanation.

But is that really how it works? When someone dies from a car accident or terrorists slaughter "innocent" people, is it because they somehow deserved it?

This same question arose 2,000 years ago. Certain people came to Jesus asking about two incidents that were in the news. The first was about evil. A number of Galileans were quietly worshiping God when the governor of the region suddenly slaughtered them. The second was about suffering. A tower in the city of Siloam fell on 18 men tragically killing them, and no doubt leaving many grieving friends and loved ones.

This is what Jesus said of these two incidents:

"Do you suppose that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans, because they suffered such things? I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish. Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish." (Luke 13:25)

Seventy Interesting Questions

Over 1,000 years before these incidents happened, a man named Job was going through endless suffering and wanted to question his Creator. He believed he was owed an explanation. However, when God spoke to him, He had seventy questions of His own for Job. After hearing those questions Job laid his hand on his mouth, and said, "I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees You. Therefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes" (Job 42:5,6). Job's question about why he was suffering wasn't so important after he heard God's questions. Let me see if I can give you a synopsis of those seventy questions.

Think about how God created the eyes that you are using to gather this information. He created every one of the 137 million light-sensitive cells that make up each eye. He fashioned the focusing muscles that focus your eyes an estimated 100,000 times each day. He made the tear ducts that keep your eyes lubricated, and the lids that automatically blink every few seconds. He made the nerve endings that take the images you see and send them to your amazingly sophisticated brain. He created the subconscious voice in your mind that quietly talks to you and continually feeds you fresh thoughts. He gave you the ability to ask questions about suffering and evil, and that very yearning you have for an explanation. Animals don't care about evil and justice or suffering and death, but you do because you are very specialyou were made in the image of your Creator.

Have these thoughts expanded your view of God? Then try to multiply those a million times and think of all the different eyes and brains of animals. Consider that the giraffe, the elephant, the horse, all the different species of fish, the octopus, the ant, the fly, and the million and one other creatures that have eyes, are made up of male and female, with God-given instincts to mate with their kind and raise their young.

Or ask yourself how God created the sun and balanced it in the sky. How did He position it so that it would perfectly sustain life here on this earth? How did He set the earth in motion at 67,000 mph to orbit the sun? Instead of just brushing your hair as you look in the mirror each day, think about how God created every atom that composes each hair, gave it roots, and caused it to grow. Think about the DNA He gave you that defines the blood and bones of your body, as well as your basic personality. Think about how He made your flesh, your fingers, your teeth, gave you a tongue for tasting and speaking, and your ability to understand language. Everything you possess came from God. None of this is the result of random chance, where "nothing" suddenly exploded and became all the complexity and design we see in the universe today. Such a thought is not only scientifically impossible, it is intellectually ridiculous.

Now compare God's unspeakable ability with your own ability. Can you make an eye from nothing? How about blood or bones? How would you go about making the life-sustaining sun, from nothing? Could you breathe life into lifeless bodies, as God did with us? We can't even make one grain of sand from nothing. Now keep these thoughts in mind as we look at the second (and more important) part of this explanation.

Creating Perspective

When the questioners asked Jesus whether these victims were being punished for their sins, He simply said, "I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish" (Luke 13:3). What did He mean by that? To answer, let me ask you some very relevant questions about your moral state before God. You may wonder why this is necessary, but keep reading because this will help to bring this issue into the right perspective.

Do you consider yourself to be a morally good person? If so, here are a few questions: How many lies do you think you've told in your whole life? Have you ever stolen anything, regardless of its value? Have you ever used God's name in vain? Jesus said, "Whoever looks upon a woman to lust for her has committed adultery already with her in his heart." The Bible even says that if you hate your brother, you are a murderer. Have you ever gossiped about someone, failed to keep your word, been unthankful to God, dishonored your parents, had selfish thoughts, been self-righteous (thinking that you are morally good when you're not), or failed to love others as much as you love yourself? If you have committed those sins, God sees you as a lying, thieving, blasphemous, murderous, adulterer at heart. On Judgment Day, if you are still in your sins, the Bible warns that you will justly end up in God's prison, a terrible place called "Hell."

Our problem is that we tend to consider our own goodness while we are ignorant of God's perfect goodness, something called "righteousness." Then when we see what we consider to be evil, we think, "If God was good, He would immediately step in and stop the evil." We criticize His lack of action because we fail to consider something vital.

Let's imagine that the average person sins ten times a dayonly ten times a day he falls short of the required moral standard (in God's Book, "good" means moral perfection). In one year he would have clocked up over 3,600 sins. In forty years, that's almost 150,000 sins that God has seen and must punish. How many sins do you think that you've committed in your lifetime? With that knowledge, do you still want God to immediately step in and punish those He considers to be evil? The Bible does give us one explanation about why God doesn't intervene and punish evil: it's because He is "longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance" (2 Peter 3:9). He doesn't want you to end up in Hell.

Do you remember how Job laid his hand on his sinful mouth? Has that happened to you? Hopefully, you have seen that we have no right to demand an explanation from God. Like a good judge, He isn't obligated to give us anything but justice. And so the words that Jesus said to His hearers now make sense. He was saying that the answer to their question about suffering and evil was secondary. The first question is, will you repent of a multitude of sins that you yourself have committed, or will you remain in rebellion to your Creator and end up in Hell?

First Things First

Fortunately, God is rich in mercy and He provided a way for guilty sinners to be forgiven. He became a perfect sinless Man in Jesus Christ, and suffered and died on a cruel cross, taking the punishment for the sin of the world. We broke God's moral Law (the Ten Commandments) and Jesus paid our fine. If a guilty criminal has someone pay his fine, the judge can then legally let him go. It is because Jesus paid our fine that God can clothe us in righteousness and dismiss our case. He can commute our death sentence and let us live forever because of the suffering death and resurrection of the Son of God.

The Bible says, "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life" (John 3:16). If you will repent and trust in Jesus alone, God will forgive every sin you have ever committed and grant you the gift of everlasting life. The moment you come to know Him, you will receive a new heart with new desires. You will truly be born again.

Along with being made a brand-new person, you will find that you can trust God with very little effort. It's similar to a love relationship between a man and a woman. If we love someone, we will naturally trust them. Love and trust go hand in hand. When you see the love that God has for you (expressed on the cross), you will easily trust Him regarding His allowance of evil and of suffering. It won't be such a big issue. You will say to yourself, "God miraculously created my eyes, my brain, my yearning for justice, and on top of that He gave me the gift of eternal life. I'm just a creature, and He is the Almighty Creator. He allows evil and suffering because He has His purposes, and His purposes are infinitely above my understanding. I know that He knows what He's doing, and so I will trust Him with all of my heart, knowing that one day I will get a complete explanation" (see 1 Corinthians 13:12).

New World Coming

It's also essential to remember that the Bible tells us evil and suffering exist because we live in a "fallen" creation. When God created the heavens and the earth in the beginning, everything was "very good." According to the World Health Organization, there are now over 12,000 categories of disease. Think of it12,000 diseases! These exist because Adam sinned against God, opening the door to greed, lust, hatred, rape, anger, jealousy, pride, murder, racism, and war. His sin also ushered in the Genesis curse, which brought with it killer earthquakes, terrifying tornadoes, horrific hurricanes, dreadful droughts, disease-carrying mosquitoes, poisonous snakes, man-eating tigers, killer bees, plague-ridden rats, the pains of old age, endless suffering, and of course, death.

However, the day is coming when God will restore this earth to its original state and there will be no more Genesis curse, a day for which we patiently wait. If you study the signs of the times given to us in the Scriptures, you will know that that day isn't too far away.

One More Thing



There's a wonderful consolation for those who love God. If we find ourselves going through some sort of suffering, we have the knowledge that He is permitting this "fiery trial" for a reason. He promises to work out all things for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purposes (see Romans 8:28). That word "all" means just what it says. When ten of the original twelve disciples were murdered for their faith, God allowed it for their good. Jesus told them that not a hair on their head would perish, and we will see the fulfillment of that in eternity. God is without sin, so He keeps every promise He makes.

So if you are a Christian, whatever terrible lion's den in which you find yourself, know that God has allowed it for a purpose, and that nothing, not even death, can separate you from His amazing love. Remember the admonition to "trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding" (Proverbs 3:5, emphasis added). Those who do that can say with Job, "Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him" (Job 13:15). Let your trust in God banish any hopelessness, despair, or fear of the future. He knows what He's doing.

If you are not a Christian and you've irreverently questioned God in your heart or you've let life's pains make you bitter, please don't make the mistake of shaking your fist in anger at the One who gave you your life. Instead raise both hands in surrender to His perfect will. You will never regret doing that...not in a million years.
Christian radio host Delilah says faith in God got her through son's suicide

One year after tragedy met nationally syndicated radio personality, Delilah, the loving mother is opening up about her teenage son's suicide.

In a recent interview on Good Morning America, Delilah shared that she "couldn't write, and couldn't talk" about her 18-year-old son's October 2017 suicide for a great deal of time. It was her new book, One Heart at a Time,that encouraged her to share his story.

Known for her signature smooth voice, the grieving parent took a rare break from her eight million listeners each week to tell her son Zack's story in her new book.

She revealed that writer's block had set in after her loss, so her "publishers" talked to her sister about possibly stepping in and penning Delilah's story for the next book.

"She said, 'I'll help. You know, I'll step in and help,' and I'm like, 'Oh, no, no, no, no. Nobody's telling Zack's story but me,'" Delilah told GMA about her motivation to finally share her experience.

"I do want parents to know. We need to talk about teenage suicide," the Oregon native continued. "And we need to start having open conversations as painful as they are, because it's epidemic."

When asked how her faith played a role in her healing journey, the outspoken Christian said she "would not be standing if it weren't for the prayers of my friends, my family, and my listeners."

Delilah is known for bringing comfort to millions in the evening through her radio show and now she finds herself needing that support.

"It's so funny because nights are the worst. You know, I finish the show and that's when it hits," Delilah explained. "That was our time together. My son was a night owl."

The mother of 13, including 10 adopted children, said many of her listeners sent "the most beautiful thoughts and prayers" and "shared their own stories of loss ... and grief, and what helped them get through."

She found sanctuary being outdoors and called nature her "church." Delilah revealed that admiring creation is where she feels closest to God.

In her book, One Heart at a Time, she opened up a bit more about her faith and how she believes people can truly change the world.

"So how do we change the world? The answer: one heart at a time. I'll start by sharing my heart with you," an excerpt of One Heart at a Time reads.

"By sharing my personal stories and what I've learned in my experiences, the positive and the negative, my hope is you'll start to see the miracles in your life, recognize divine promptings, consider your purpose, follow with prayerful obedience, open yourself to serve others, and let go of things that burden youall so you may find peace in this harsh existence.

"When your life comes into harmony with the Lord's plan for you, and people around you start to notice the change, guess what? They'll want to know what you know. So you'll share your stories, too, soften hearts, open eyes, and change the world with me, one heart at a time."

Delilah ended her GMA interview by confessing that "it's been hard," but she believes she's still the "most blessed woman I know.'"

One Heart at a Time is now available in bookstores nationwide.

Courtesy of The Christian Post
Saudi Arabia admits Khashoggi died in consulate, Merkel says explanation 'inadequate'

Saudi Arabia said on Saturday that dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi died in a fight inside its Istanbul consulate, its first admission of his death after two weeks of denials that have shaken Western relations with the kingdom.

Riyadh provided no evidence to support its account, which marked a reversal of its initial statement that Khashoggi had left the consulate the same day he entered. Its statement made no mention of what had become of his body.

While Middle Eastern allies closed ranks around the kingdom after the Saudi statement, Western reaction varied with U.S. President Donald Trump saying Riyadh's explanation was credible and Germany strongly condemning it as "inadequate".

Turkish officials suspect Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist and critic of the powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, was killed inside the consulate by a team of Saudi agents and his body cut up.

Trump, who has forged close ties with the world's top oil exporter and maintains strong relations with the crown prince, Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler, said the Saudi account was credible and marked an important step.

"I think it's a good first step, it's a big step," Trump said in Arizona. "Saudi Arabia has been a great ally. What happened is unacceptable."

He said he would speak with the crown prince. But Trump again emphasized Riyadh's role in countering regional rival Iran and the importance that lucrative U.S. arms sales to Saudi Arabia have for American jobs.

In contrast, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, in a joint statement with her foreign minister, robustly condemned the account of Khashoggi's disappearance.

"We condemn this act in the strongest terms," their statement said. "We expect transparency from Saudi Arabia about the circumstances of his death ... The information available about events in the Istanbul consulate is inadequate."

Khashoggi, a U.S. resident, went missing after entering the consulate on Oct. 2 to obtain documents for his upcoming marriage. Days later, Turkish officials said they believed he was killed in the building, an allegation Saudi Arabia had, until now, strenuously denied.

The Saudi public prosecutor said that a fight broke out between Khashoggi and people who met him in the consulate, leading to his death. Eighteen Saudi nationals had been arrested, the prosecutor said in a statement.

A Saudi official told Reuters separately: "A group of Saudis had a physical altercation and Jamal died as a result of the chokehold. They were trying to keep him quiet."

For her part, Khashoggi's Turkish fiancee, Hatice Cengiz, tweeted in Arabic: "The heart grieves, the eye tears, and with your separation we are saddened, my dear Jamal," she said, also asking "#where is martyr Khashoggi's body?"

Turkish investigators, who have been combing a forest and other sites outside Istanbul, are likely to find out what happened to his body "before long", a senior Turkish official told Reuters on Saturday.

Saudi state media said King Salman had ordered the dismissal of five officials, including Saud al-Qahtani, a royal court adviser seen as the right-hand man to Prince Mohammed, and deputy intelligence chief Ahmed Asiri.

Some U.S. lawmakers were unconvinced by the Saudi account.

"To say that I am sceptical of the new Saudi narrative about Mr. Khashoggi is an understatement," Republican U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham said.

Another Republican Senator, Marco Rubio, called for an investigation and sanctions imposed against those responsible.

AUDIO RECORDING

Turkish sources say the authorities have an audio recording purportedly documenting Khashoggi's murder inside the consulate. Pro-government newspaper Yeni Safak, citing the audio, said his torturers cut off his fingers during an interrogation and later beheaded him.

A group of 15 Saudi nationals arrived in Istanbul in two planes and entered the consulate on the same day Khashoggi was there and later left the country, a security source told Reuters.

The crisis prompted the king to intervene, five sources with links to the Saudi royal family told Reuters.

The king also ordered a restructuring of the intelligence service, to be led by Prince Mohammed, suggesting the prince still retained wide-ranging authority.

Before the Saudi announcements, Trump had said he might consider sanctions although he has also appeared unwilling to distance himself too much from the Saudi leadership. The White House said it would continue to press for "justice that is timely, transparent, and in accordance with all due process".

For other Western allies, a main question will be whether they believe Prince Mohammed, who has painted himself as a reformer, has any culpability. King Salman had handed the day-to-day running of Saudi Arabia to his son.

Britain said it was considering its "next steps", while Australia said it had pulled out of a planned investment summit in Saudi Arabia in protest at the killing. Spain said it was "dismayed" by information from Riyadh.

Amnesty International said the Saudi explanation appeared to be a whitewash of "an appalling assassination".

The Saudi findings "marks an abysmal new low to Saudi Arabia's human rights record," its Middle East director said.

But regional allies - including Egypt, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates - issued statements in praise of the king.

The spokesman for Turkey's ruling AK Party said it would not allow a "cover up". [L8N1X00B2]

'NO ORDERS TO KILL HIM'

The dismissed official Qahtani, 40, rose to prominence after latching onto Prince Mohammed, becoming a rare confidant in his inner circle.

Sources say Qahtani would regularly speak on behalf of the crown prince and has given direct orders to senior officials including in the security apparatus.

People close to Khashoggi and the government said Qahtani had tried to lure the journalist back to Saudi Arabia after he moved to Washington a year ago fearing reprisals for his views.

Qahtani wrote on Twitter in August 2017: "Do you think I make decisions without guidance? I am an employee and a faithful executor of the orders of my lord the king and my lord the faithful crown prince."

In a tweet on Saturday, he thanked the king and crown prince for the "big confidence" they had in him.

Asiri joined the Saudi military in 2002, according to Saudi media reports, serving as spokesman for a coalition backing Yemen's ousted president after Prince Mohammed took Saudi Arabia into that country's civil war in 2015. He was named deputy chief of foreign intelligence in April 2017.

The prince had no knowledge of the specific operation that resulted in Khashoggi's death, a Saudi official familiar with the Saudi investigation said.

"There were no orders for them to kill him or even specifically kidnap him," said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity. There was a standing order to bring critics of the kingdom back to the country, he added.

"MbS had no knowledge of this specific operation and certainly did not order a kidnapping or murder of anybody," the official said.

The official said the whereabouts of Khashoggi's body were unclear after it was handed over to a local operator but there was no sign of it at the consulate.

In Saudi Arabia, there was widespread support for the king and the crown prince on Twitter, with hashtags such as "#I am Saudi and I defend it" and "#Saudi kingdom of justice" trending.
Photo courtesy of Urban Land Institute and Levy Park

John Sandford

American novelist will sign and discuss his new Virgil Flowers novel, "Holy Ghost."

When: 6:30 p.m. Friday

Where: Murder By The Book, 2342 Bissonnet

Details: 713-524-8597, murderbooks.com

Blues and the Spanish Tinge

Da Camera of Houston presents virtuoso pianist Aaron Diehl, featuring works from classical, jazz and blues traditions.

When: 7:30 p.m. Friday

Where: Zilkha Hall, Hobby Center for the Performing Arts, 800 Bagby

Details: $37.50-$72.50; dacamera.com

Houston Maker Faire

Event showcases makers across all spectrums of science, engineering, art, performance, craft and explorers of new forms and technologies.

When: 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday

Where: George R Brown Convention Center, 1001 Avenida de las Americas, Hall E

Details: $15-$80; houston.makerfaire.com

Wine Fest at Brenners on the Bayou

Festival features wine sampling, food pairings and live music.

When: 3-6 p.m. Saturday

Where: 1 Birdsall

Details: $99-$150; brennersfest.com

Houston Pride Band 40th Anniversary Celebration

Gala concert will feature dynamic music representing the bands history, present and future.

When: 6-9:30 p.m. Saturday

Where: Hobby Center, 800 Bagby

Details: $15; thehobbycenter.org

Haunted Pub Tour Spooky Saturdays

A combination of ghost tour and pub crawl. Attendees will get to explore local haunted bars and buildings.

When: 8:30 p.m. Saturday

Where: Charbar, 305 Travis

Details: $25; nightlyspirits.com/houston-tours

Sunday Drum Jam

An informal, facilitated drum circle session, participants are encouraged to bring drums, percussion instruments or other objects to create rhythmic sounds.

When: 3:30-5 p.m. Sunday

Where: Levy Park, 3801 Eastside

Details: levyparkhouston.org/calendar/619

Cuatro Puntos Cardinales

Film director Javier Kafie will discuss and screen Cuatro Puntos Cardinales, a cultural documentary that portrays stories from El Salvador.

When: 6 p.m. Monday

Where: Holocaust Museum Houston, 9220 Kirby, No. 100

Details: hmh.org

Conversation with a Texas Liberator

Texas Liberators and descendants will share their stories in a special event led by moderator and HMH board member David Bell.

When: 6 p.m. Wednesday

Where: Holocaust Museum Houston, 9220 Kirby, No. 100

Details: hmh.org

Friends Trivia Night with Karbach

Trivia game based on the characters, storylines and plots of the hit series Friends.

When: 7-10 p.m. Monday

Where: The Ginger Man Midtown, 160 W. Gray

Details: facebook.com/events/339030696662102

Amigo the Devil

Folk rock concert featuring Amigo the Devil, Harley Poe and D. Kosmo.

When: 7 p.m. Thursday

Where: White Oak Music Hall, 2915 N. Main

Details: $15; whiteoakmusichall.com
ANSONIA Thursdays rally for education which included comments from Democratic candidates has been criticized by Republican officials as partisan politics at its worst.

Not a single candidate speaking was an Ansonia resident or taxpayer, charged David Papcin, the citys Republican town chairman. Not a single Republican was included on the speaking program, regardless of their prior support of education funding increases.

Schools Superintendent Carol Merlone, who spoke at the rally, said that one of the teachers who also spoke is an Ansonia resident and taxpayer for years. There were also two individual Ansonia taxpayers that did speak.

Matt Hough, the president of the 175-member Ansonia Federation of Teachers, said candidates called him and asked how they could help. He said the Republicans had six months to offer help.

Two Republican Alderman, Phil Tripp and Kevin OBrien, were in the crowd but did not speak. OBriens wife is employed by the Board of Education.

I dont see this as a Republican or Democratic issue, said Tripp. I break it down as to who supports education and who doesnt ... The rally put the spotlight on that issue.

This was a transparent political rally that has no place in the Ansonia public school system, charged Sam Pollastro Jr., Derbys Republican town chairman and campaign manager for Joseph Jaumann, an Ansonia alderman running for the vacant 104th state house seat. .Raising taxes is not going to help support any school system. Its just further burdening our taxpayers who support the system.

Pollastro questioned Ansonia Superintendent of Schools Carol Merlones use of a Board of Education computer to send invites through her contact list to push a political event/agenda? If this isnt illegal is it at the very least unethical?

The email sent by Merlone and provided by Pollastro reminded all staff...secretaries, paras, aides, custodians, food service employees,etc. of the event. It told them: ...your participation will definitely reflect your support for our students and teachers.

Some city officials viewed that last statement as an indirect threat.

I can only say that it would be highly improper for the Mayor to utilize a city email list for the purpose of urging city staff to attend partisan political rally, said John Marini, the citys corporation counsel. Merlones actions are governed by the Board of Education.

The education rally was sponsored by the Ansonia Federation of Teachers. I had nothing to do with it. I was invited to speak as were others, Merlone said in an email to Hearst Media. I always put out reminders on my work computer to staff in support of events for example regionalization meetings, student concerts, plays, etc. The intent of the e-mail was to support our teachers and students. It is not illegal or unethical to support teachers and students.

The message is about the students and teachers that deserve better, Merlone said. Lets put the focus where the focus belongs and let the community decide.

Some 80 students, teachers, parents and Democratic candidates braved chilly temperatures made colder by wind blasts late Thursday afternoon to decry the conditions of the citys public schools which they believe have gotten worse following the removal of $600,000 from the school board budget in January.

That removal, which the Board of Aldermen said was because of additional funding they gave the schools during the 2017-18 state budget crisis, became unnecessary when the state gave the schools $1.8 million, more than anticipated but less than they asked for.

The school board sued the city demanding the moneys return and members filed a complaint which is being investigated by the State Board of Education. The lawsuit is headed for a summary judgment hearing Nov. 13 in Derby Superior Court.

That was a huge mistake on the part of the mayors office, said Tripp, who has been an outspoken critic of his Boards action and Ansonia Mayor David Cassetti.

As a result, school officials say they had to eliminate 13 teaching and one and a half administrative positions, which led to increased class sizes and teachers being forced to instruct grades they had never done before.

Hough and teachers said the reducations have led to stress-related illnesses in at least two teachers. One Middle School teacher in her first year on the job quit after just a few weeks, he said.

During the rally, Democrats William Tong, running for attorney general; Jorge Cabrera, seeking the 17th state senate seat, and Kara Rochelle, campaigning for the 104th state house seat, all urged those in attendance to fight for more education funding.

William Tong? said Republican Party state chair J.R. Romano, who grew up in Derby. They were promoting a guy who voted against a budget that would have restored $500,000 in education funding to Ansonia? That shows how hypocritical this was. It wasnt about children, teachers, families or schools. It was partisan politics at its worst.

Hearst Connecticut Media requested a response from Tong, who did not stay for the end of the rally.

While the message may have been obscured, the message rang clear to anyone truly listening: Ansonia taxpayers are not paying their fair share, Papcin said. Or maybe not so shocking, considering the chants of raise the taxes shouted by AFT members during budget meetings earlier this year.

Papcin said, much can be said about how Ansonia taxpayers have struggled to support education, including the allocation of millions in additional funding for our schools since 2014. And how Democratic majorities in the state legislature have unfairly underfunded Ansonia at the expense of wealthier communities for years.

He said whats needed are solutions involving creativity, compromise and cooperation -- not higher taxes.

I attended the rally in hopes of hearing solutions to these issues, yet I did not hear a single one, Papcin said I opened the door to communications with (Superintendent) Merlone, as well as other education officials in hope that we can all come to a mutual agreement, putting both the students and taxpayers first.
Assistance League of Montgomery Countys signature program, Operation School Bell, is in high gear. Thousands of students who attend Montgomery County schools, elementary through high school, will be able to shop for new clothes during the new school year. This year, Assistance League will reach a new total, 60,000 students dressed since the program began 30 years ago.

Students who participate in the program are recommended by their school counselors who identify the students need. Vouchers are then issued, redeemable at stores partnering with Assistance League. These include Kohls, Walmart, Burlington, and JC Penney.
After several months of turmoil with the Montgomery County Treasurers Office regarding the publics access to the policy and procedure manuals, Republican candidate Melanie Bush and Democrat candidate Mandy Sunderland say they both would bring transparency to the department if elected.

Bush, who defeated incumbent Stephanne Davenport in the Republican Primary runoff election in May, said her first order of business is to visit with all county departments to make their jobs more efficient and how the treasurers office can help with that.

More pressing in the county upcoming installation of an enterprise resource planning system. An ERP is the integrated management of core business processes, often in real-time and mediated by software and technology. ERP is usually referred to as a category of business-management software  typically a suite of integrated applications  that an organization can use to collect, store, manage, and interpret data from these many business activities.

I will also help to determine if we need to go ahead and implement some temporary measures to make all our departments more efficient, including the treasurers office, while we are in the process of converting to the new software, she said. All while being as transparent with the taxpayers.

Sunderland agrees.

I intent to make the work of the office completely transparent, she said. The taxpayers deserve to know how the county conducts its business and how many is being spent.

Sunderland noted she would make sure required financial reports would be made available monthly.

This would be something that would be done on time without fail, she said.

The office, Sunderland said, has not kept up with the times. She added she welcomed the opportunity to help implement the new ERP system as well.

While it has been almost three decades since a Democrat has been elected as county treasurer, she believes now is the time to see that shift in the county.

To me it has been like the fox watching over the hen house, she said.

cdominguez@hcnonline.com
First responders will now be recognized and honored at the new Montgomery County Veterans Memorial Park and Educational Center.

The Montgomery County Veterans Memorial Commission that is spearheading the construction of the estimated $12 million war memorial at the park at the Intersection of Interstate 45 North and Texas 105 West has unanimously voted to designate an area to honor the first responders.

The whole entire memorial is built honoring men and women for their courage, strength, and sacrifice and that is part of our mission and vision statement, said Jimmie C. Edwards III, chairman of the Montgomery Veterans Memorial Commission. He noted many first responders are also veterans. So it would only follow through that we would honor our first responders, not only from the city of Conroe and Montgomery County, but the state of Texas and this country. The memorial will play a national level; we are not excluding anyone or anybody.

The design of the memorial for the first responders will be determined by the commission, Edwards said.

The Woodlands Rob Eissler, director of governmental relations for the commission, made the motion to designate an area of the Veterans Memorial Park for first responders.

This park commemorates, bravery, sacrifice, and devotion to duty, and unselfish voluntarism, I make the motion, he said.

It was seconded by Duke Coon, mayor pro tem of Conroe, and director of development for the commission.

 I am very proud and honored to second this motion, Coon said. First responders across this city, county, state, and country put their lives on the line every day.

Edwards said the project is moving forward and is well into its first phase of design.

The response has been so tremendous across the county and state that our time frame is just continually moving up, Edwards said. Architects and engineers are fighting to stay up with us.

He added the project will ultimately be an educational center that combines a memorial, museum, and working center where different veteran and support groups can meet as a gathering area for nearly 30 services that can be offered veterans.

We are not talking about just putting names on granite wall  this is going to be a living viable memorial with the state of the art multimedia, Edwards said.  We have found that veterans dont know where to go, they dont know who to call, they dont even know what to do sometimes when they come back especially later when they have problems. This education center will be a working memorial. That is very important  we are honoring but at the same time we are helping.

Edwards, who lost his legs after being bombed while fighting in Vietnam, began the mission to relocate the park from downtown Conroe about a year ago. His goal is to improve the park, which has 166 names of local men killed in action during their military service. For Edwards, veterans and fallen warriors deserve more than the small park built 31 years ago in downtown Conroe. In November, the memorial currently downtown was decommissioned in order to move it to its new location.

Edwards successfully secured $150,000 each from the city of Conroe and Montgomery County to help relocate and expand the memorial. Each commissioner agreed to provide $25,000 out of their budgets to total $100,000. That $100,000 will be added to the $50,000 the court budgeted for in its budget for next year.

In March, the commission raised about $100,000 in-kind and cash donations at the inaugural Land of the Free Because of the Brave fundraiser dinner which will be held every two years. Edwards estimates at least $500,000 total has been raised so far.

For more information, visit www.mcvetmemorialpark.org.

mellsworth@hcnonline.com
As one of the fastest growing counties in the state, the incoming county judge will need to hit the ground running as mobility, flood mitigation and infrastructure top the lists as most pressing issues.

Republican Mark Keough, who ousted incumbent Craig Doyal in March Republican Primary, is facing Democrat Jay Stittleburg for the top spot in Montgomery County.

Stittleburg said the biggest need he sees for the county is a strategic plan to address population growth. He said projections show the county growing to one million people by 2030.

We need to have a road map as a county so we can move forward as a county, he said noting that plan needs to high light mobility, flood mitigation and infrastructure. It affects us now, quite frankly.

Stittleburg, who is a Naval Academy graduate and served as a submarine warfare office for two tours of duty, said working with surrounding entities like the San Jacinto River Authority and the city of Conroe is also a priority in addressing flooding in the county.

We need to make sure emergency plans are in place, he said noting updated flood zone maps and buyout plans are needed. We have a three-year track history of major flooding events in this area.

Keough agrees.

Montgomery County has experienced unprecedented flooding from three catastrophic floods over the last four years, Keough said. As our growth will continue we must start to address this flooding with immediate drainage needs while planning for future growth. So I will work with each of the commissioners to develop a short term plan to mitigate flooding, while reaching out to our regional, state, and federal stakeholders to develop a long term flood mitigation plan.

Mobility planning is also a priority for Stittleburg potentially needing billions of dollars in new infrastructure to address current gridlock and future growth.

Those (projects) probably need to be executed over the next 25 years, he said but identifying critical areas and identifying funding could be challenging.

Stittleburg said seeking state and federal dollars will be critical in order to avoid increased taxing to help fund those mobility projects.

Additionally, Stittleburg said the county needs to continue to utilize tax abatement incentives as long as those agreements benefit the county as well including help with mobility and drainage projects.

We need to use (tax abatement agreements), he said. The truth is it does keep our taxes low.

As for Keough, he is focused on a more open and transparent county government, being fiscally responsible and providing property tax relief , putting together a comprehensive county-wide mobility plan to address roads and infrastructure needs now and into the future.

cdominguez@hcnonline.com
In the weeks leading up to the 2018 U.S. Senate race between incumbent Republican Ted Cruz and Democratic Representative Beto O'Rourke, Cruz's wife Heidi gave a rare interview to The Atlantic.

The 46-year-old, who was born in San Luis Obispo, California, spoke about her life with Ted Cruz, to whom she has been married since 2001.

In 2009, the two met in Austin, Texas, where they were both working on George W. Bush's presidential campaign, and began dating. "It was love at first sight," she told the magazine.

At the couple's wedding reception in 2001, he insisted they play the Disney song "A Whole New World." At the time, she didn't understand the odd request. Since then, the song has taken on a new meaning.

"I would say to younger women: Be intentional about your decisions. And I do appreciate that Ted started our life together with that song, because there's some truth to it. He'll be like, 'It's such a great life! We have so much adventure ahead! It's like our magic-carpet ride. And sometimes I'm like, 'I hope we don't hit the cement.'"

Indeed, Heidi has hit a few bumps in the road during her life in the public eye.

RELATED: Beto/Cruz battles play out on Houston front lawns, as political tensions rise

In 2005, she gave up her post working for Condoleezza Rice on the National Security Council and moved from Washington D.C. to Texas. Ted was already living in Austin, where he was Solicitor General.

Only Heidi moved a two and a half hour drive away to Houston, where she could work in banking. They took turns making the weekly commute to see each other. It was during this time that Heidi says she hit a low point.

One evening, while in Austin, she walked to the side of an on-ramp of MoPac Expressway near her home and buried her head in her hands.

In his report, the officer who arrived on the scene believed that Heidi was a "danger to herself" and thus, drove her to the police station.

"We were early in our marriage ... It's a wonderful thinglike, in a great way, you amplify each other. You're a couple now, you're two together, stronger. But before that, you make all your own decisions," she said. "And there's an adjustment that takes place when you realize that life is now all about the two of you, and that's fine, but there are trade-offs.

"I think it's very natural to feel afraid, to feel like things are in your path, in your wake, that were not your decision. I think my spirit just fell to a low place," she said.

Ten years later, after Ted held roles as Texas Solicitor General and U.S. Senator, Heidi again found herself going through a period of depression just prior to her husband announcing his bid for the White House.

Heidi Cruz says she put her career aspirations aside one more time. She took unpaid leave from her position as the successful managing director of Goldman Sachs to campaign for her husband.

"I realized early on that if I didn't do this for my own reasons, and I did it to help Ted ... that I could very easily resent everybody," she said.

She set out on the campaign path with the goal of having her own purpose and identity.

"I think feeling empowered through different chapters of your life is so important ... Sometimes, you can do that by being deliberate," she said.

In the end, it was Donald Trump who received the Republican presidential nomination. After the 2016 campaign ended, Heidi went back to work at Goldman and was promoted to a new national role.

The Cruzes had a couple of calm years until the media madness around the Texas Senate race kicked in. She is supporting her spouse as he runs for re-election while keeping up with her own busy career.

RELATED: Protesters chase Ted Cruz and Heidi Cruz from Washington restaurant

"I really feel mission-driven on what he's accomplishing," she clarified. But "it does take some supportiveness, you know. Six to seven years in it, with me being the primary breadwinnerit's like, 'Uh, yeah, this is when people say thank you. I'll now take that appreciation.'" She laughed. "Yeah, we're seven years into this, and we're not buying a second home anytime soon."

But the Cruzes do see Houston in their long-term future. "I think I'm a Houston lifer ... It's important to our constituents that Ted be in the state," she said.

Click here for the full story by The Atlantic.

Marcy de Luna is a digital reporter specializing in social media, the famous, and food. You can follow her on Twitter @MarcydeLuna. Read her stories on our breaking news site, Chron.com, and on our subscriber site, HoustonChronicle.com. | Marcy.deLuna@chron.com | Text CHRON to 77453 to receive breaking news alerts by text message
Asked if the sea guidelines were working, Ng said, "In a way they are like seatbelts, not completely protected, but at least they provide some protection".

Making the announcement at a gathering of ASEAN defence ministers in Singapore, also attended by US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis and his Chinese counterpart, Ng said the drills would help to "build trust, confidence".

"As we speak, the navies of ASEAN are en route to Zhanjiang in China for the ASEAN-China Maritime Exercise", Ng Eng Hen, the defense minister of Singapore, said.

Last year, Asean and its partner nations agreed a similar code to govern encounters at sea.

Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, Singapore and Thailand are ASEAN's other members.

The Defense Ministers of China and Japan met for the first time in three years Friday, the Japanese Ministry of Defense said, days ahead of the first bilateral visit by a Japanese prime minister to China in seven years.

The United States and China in 2015 signed a pact on a military hotline and rules governing air-to-air encounters.

"China stands firmly on principle on Taiwan and South China Sea issues ...[We] hope the USA can follow the trend of the times and walk towards the same direction alongside China, and make positive contributions to the peace and stability of the region and the world".

Mattis was reported to have replied: "There are differences between the U.S. and China, but differences do not mean confrontation, competition does not mean rivalry".

The pair had been due to meet earlier the month but Beijing cancelled the meeting, apparently in retaliation for Washington sanctioning a unit of China's military for buying Russian fighter jets and missiles in September. The resource-rich sea, which is also enormously important for trade in and out of Asia, is contested by numerous southeast Asian nations, which each claim unique and frequently overlapping rights to reefs, islets and fishing waters within the area.

Indeed, US officials may be alarmed that traditional allies and partners in Southeast Asia appear to be drawing closer to China at a time when concern is already growing about American commitment to the region under US President Donald Trump.

Beijing has cultivated a slew of military assets in strategic areas of the South China Sea for what it calls national defense purposes.

Mattis and Chinese Defense Minister Wei Fenghe were in Singapore for a regional meeting of defense ministers.
Texas drivers ought to be on their best behavior next week.

The Texas Department of Public Safety announced that state troopers will be following school buses all over the Lone Star State next week to make sure drivers are following the law.

The creative initiative will coincide with National School Bus Safety Week and last from Oct. 22 to 26.

"DPS urges all motorists to make the safety of our school children a top priority year round, and to practice safe driving habits when traveling near school buses, in school zones and wherever children are present," said DPS Director Steven McCraw in a prepared statement. "Drivers who disregard the law needlessly put children in danger, and that type of reckless behavior will not be tolerated by law enforcement."

According to Texas DPS, one of the most dangerous violations of school bus laws happens when drivers try to pass up a stopped bus. The agency said it issued 1,394 citations and 685 warnings last year for drivers that pulled off the illegal maneuver.

Just last week, a car slammed into a school bus in The Woodlands and injured several Conroe ISD students.

To avoid similar incidents, Texas DPS offered the following tips for National School Bus Safety Week:

- Be mindful of posted speed limits when driving in school zones and near buses.

- Slow down and watch for children congregating near bus stops.

- Be aware of student pedestrians and watch for children who may unexpectedly dart into the street without checking for traffic.

- Know and obey the traffic laws regarding school buses in Texas.

LATEST: Baytown Police investigating officer accused of assaulting teen

Fernando Ramirez is a digital reporter for Chron.com and Houstonchronicle.com. Read him on our breaking news site and on our subscriber site. Follow him on Twitter at @fernramirez93 or email him at Fernando.ramirez@chron.com.
When hes not on the clock, John Nanninga puts his energy into repurposing old fire hoses  cutting and piecing them together to create flags.

Nanninga is a firefighter with the Spring Fire Department. As firefighters respond to fires, car accidents, or medical emergencies on a daily basis, taking their minds off the job can be just as important.

I started with woodworking and moved into this. This is something I was able to do with old equipment and repurpose it and use it for something else instead of having a blank wall in the fire station, he said.

Nanninga said he happened to see a video online about crafting flags and decided to make them himself. He pieces the hoses together, sometimes including the hose coupling, then paints the stars on the Texas, or U.S. flags.

Since he began making them in 2014, Nanninga said hes made about 14 flags from fire hoses for fire stations, or to sell in charity fundraisers.

Santiago Eckardt, another firefighter with the department, is currently working on making a kitchen table for Station 75, which will have its opening next month.

After obtaining a slab of elm wood, he plans to turn it into a live edge design, which preserves the natural edges of the wood into the design.

He originally learned how to use tools after seeing how his dad created model airplanes.

Its just the satisfaction of having something that you build from nothing, he said.

Both Nanninga and Eckardt said that creating things are one way to take their minds off the job, where they often respond to rescues, roadway accidents, medical emergencies and fires.

Hobbies in arts, crafts and music can also be ways for firefighters to mitigate the effects of helping others in emergency situations, said Elizabeth Anderson Fletcher, an associate professor of decision and information sciences at the University of Houston.

First responders often help people in emergency situations, which can lead them to experience post-traumatic stress.

Its a very normal human (reaction) to abnormal things that you would see. Firefighters, paramedics as well as cops see things that no human being should have to see. Sometimes, it does have a cumulative effect on you over the course of a period, she said.

Fletcher, who also works with the Cypress Creek Volunteer Fire Department, also helped author a study on the cumulative effects of stress from the job.

While the study points to fire departments providing more education and training for their firefighters as a way to mitigate the negative effects of stress, having a creative hobby, such as art or music can help to take responders minds off the job as well.

Im a musician myself and I know that when Im playing or composing music, it takes me out of anything Im dealing with, Fletcher said.

mayra.cruz@chron.com
On Sunday mornings in a building along Alden Bridge Drive in The Woodlands, New Hope Christian Church hosts two worship services: one in English and one in Chinese.

The 250 people who attend the church are pastored by Matt Connally in the English service and David Chu in the Chinese service. They call themselves one church with two congregations.

The church was planted by the West Houston Chinese Church and moved into their own building three years ago. Chu said he believes they are the only Chinese-English church in this area, and the only one in an even broader area from FM 1960 to Huntsville.

The field is so big, and we have a lot of work to do, Chu said. He estimated that there are close to 5,000 Chinese-speaking families in their broad service area.

Connally and Chu seem to make a good team, since Connally is familiar with the Chinese culture from the time he spent there doing missionary work.

We want people to come and worship God, not necessarily come to a Chinese organization and not come to an English one either, but to see past culture and see God and worship Him. Forming a bridge between cultures takes a lot of work, Connally said.

While the congregations may not worship together, they do eat lunch together every Sunday. And, they have a combined service about four times a year  but it can get tricky with translation.

To translate on a relationship and a heart level, it takes a lot of work. We only have a handful of people who can translate preaching, even though they understand both languages very well, Connally said.

At the heart of the church, though, is the small group ministry, which they think of as house churches.

Connally said that is what the churches in China are called, but their small groups consist of congregation members and attendees who gather in each others homes.

This is where the growth happens. This is where people will first be able to bring friends or neighbors, Connally said.

Some of the groups are just like the church: intercultural.

Student Director Lie Sie said that a group like this may be helpful in a marriage where one spouse is Chinese and another is American. Many of the church attendees are in bi-cultural marriages.

Theres so much difficulty in communication, for the American to understand the Chinese culture and for the Chinese to understand American culture, Sie said. Having this type of group can bring people closer together and then closer to God.

Mike and Nancy Vaugh have been members of the church since its inception: they began attending West Houston Chinese Church, but since they live in The Woodlands, they made the switch up to New Hope when the church began meeting here.

While Mike is from Missouri, Nancy is from Taiwan. The two met and married at the University of Central Missouri. They chose a Chinese church because they are an interracial family.

They mostly attend the English service and are also part of the intercultural small group.

In an interracial and intercultural marriage, many issues can arise that are outside the usual marriage relationship, like communication challenges and cultural differences, Mike said.

Chu said that in the future, theyd like to plant more dual congregation churches like this as the population grows.

jane.stueckemann@chron.com
Rebecca Riley has a seat at the table of Houstons largest higher education institution and one of the fastest-growing community colleges in the nation.

As the Lone Star College-Montgomery campus president, Riley sat down with The Villager to talk about her jobs joys and challenges, how students have changed and whats on the horizon for the campus.

QUESTION: Tell us a little bit about how you got to be here?

RILEY: Its a really long story, but I started my Lone Star career as a part-time instructor in the art department at Lone Star College-Kingwood. I think that was in 1994. A year or so later, the vacancy for the full-time position came up in art, and I applied for that and got it. I became the program coordinator for art. A few years after that, the associate dean position came open. I applied for that and got it, and about six weeks later they had a big reorganization and all the associate dean positions went away. We got to reapply for our jobs, and thats what I did. I became a dean.

It wasnt so much that I had that ambition to keep going up in the hierarchy, but I knew that if I wanted to keep going, I would need to get my doctorate degree. I went to Sam Houston (State University), and got that and finished in 2007. I became a vice president and ended up over here in 2015. Ive been with Lone Star for a very long time, but started as a faculty member.

QUESTION: What has drawn you to stay so long?

RILEY: This is a great place to work. Youre never bored here, and through all the administrations that Ive worked under, Ive been really fortunate. Ive always seemed to have the freedom to be creative and to be innovative and involve others in trying new things. Thats part of what keeps me satisfied at work, so why would you leave that?

QUESTION: Whats your favorite part about working here?

RILEY: There are so many things that I like about this job, and that Ive liked about all the jobs that Ive had at Lone Star. At this point in time, some of my favorite things are working with really committed and dynamic people all around me. Youll find that people really care about what theyre doing. Theyre committed to seeing that students get the best opportunities they can. Thats a really satisfying work environment to be in.

It goes back to the ability to innovate and be creative. I feel like I have that opportunity here, and I get to tie what we do into a lot of other things, like whats going on in workforce and into the community, or like whats going on in public policy. Whether its at the state or national level, Lone Star is big enough that being part of this organization lets you sit at the table in some of the public policy and legislative decision-making processes that go on.

QUESTION: Whats the most challenging aspect?

RILEY: One of our challenges is always stretching resources. When youre growing, you have to stretch resources to maintain service levels. Thats always a challenge, but weve become incredibly efficient at the same time. Since Ive gotten here, our cost-per-student has actually gone down in terms of delivering a credit hour. Were meeting that challenge of stretching our resources.

Id say other challenges include innovating to meet the demands of students today. Students today have different challenges and are different from students 10, 20, 30 years ago. They have different needs in order to succeed.

QUESTION: At the last LSC system board meeting, you spoke about the typical-atypical college student. Explain what you mean by that and how you see that demonstrated on campus.

RILEY: For many people who went to college in the 60s, 70s, 80s, the profile of a college student was a younger age, fresh out of high school. In the earliest part of that historical block that Im talking about, college student bodies were predominately white, they were usually residential students, they went to a four-year college and stayed in a dormitory and mom and dad were the ones paying for college, if not the GI bill. So the mindset of a college student is different in that kind of scenario than the way it looks today.

The majority of our students are part-time, and we are not a residential college, so that means their lives are very much balanced between going to school here, working part-time or full-time and caring for children, spouses or elders. As a percentage of household income, the cost of college has gone up significantly over the years, so the financial challenges for students now are very different than they were not even 25 years ago.

So all of those things contribute to a different profile of the student body. Our average age for a student here at LSC-Montgomery is 26 or 27. The biggest block of students are still 18 to 24, but a huge number of our students are in that 24 to about 28 age group. So that means those students have either delayed going to college in the first place, or they may have been in the military or starting a family. Or, they had to stop and are coming back. They have a whole different set of challenges with the balancing act theyre doing between all their obligations. In terms of academic support and psychosocial support for students, what is needed for students in those situations is very different than the 18-year-old who does not have to worry about the bills and live on campus. Not that those students dont have their challenges too, but its different.

QUESTION: Has that changed the way youve done things here? Give us a specific example.

RILEY: Yes. All of our students, unless they are only enrolled in a Certificate Level 1, enroll in a course called Education 1300. Its a college success course. They enroll in that typically in their very first semester of college. That helps them sort through career options and interests and aptitudes. It helps them understand their finances, the idea being so many students incur debt when they go to college. We want to help them think very carefully about those options. It also helps them learn study skills and time management skills. It also, most importantly, gets them connected to all kinds of services on campus. They have to do a lot of group activities, so by the time theyre done with that course they at least have a little handful of friends here if they didnt know anybody before. Those connections become really important.

Attached to each one of those courses is an adviser. That adviser helps make sure that every student in that course, by the time theyre finished, have a degree plan mapped out through completion. It helps people stay on track better. Especially when youre juggling a lot of things, that becomes really important.

QUESTION: Tell me about the Magnolia Satellite Center that is planned to be under your discretion.

RILEY: Right now we have the Conroe center up in Conroe that is attached to this campus. So this will be our second center. Itll be located over in Magnolia, near the Magnolia West High School. Itll be similar to the Creekside Center in The Woodlands. I dont know if itll look just like that, but itll be similar. Its usually a combination of workforce and academic transfer programming.

What we do for programming at a center is a lot of community listening sessions and labor market research to make sure that whatever we do there is closely tied to the workforce needs of the community. Theres not a lot of heavy industry in the Magnolia area that would make an obvious indicator of what should go over there. LSC-Tomball college is not that far away, and they have a robust health occupations program over there. We probably wouldnt replicate those programs 10-15 miles away.

What we are thinking about in terms of programming for that center is the proximity of that center to Texas A&M and opportunities for degree completion that students would have. When you think about that together with the high-performing status of the high schools in Magnolia, it makes us think a little more about programming in the STEM areas as a possible area of focus out there. Community listening sessions and labor market research will also inform that. The centers land purchase is happening now and the architect programming and planning will start to happen in late 2019 or early 2020.

QUESTION: If you could pick one or two broad goals for this campus, what would they be?

RILEY: On this campus, we have some key results that we are working toward. They include improving our course success and completion rates, our persistence rates from one semester to the next and our graduation rates. We have specific goals around each of those things. Those are tied to our key performance indicators that we have across Lone Star, but specifically for Montgomery thats where our focus is right now. Were really zeroing in on persistence right now. The success and completion feeds into that, and persistence feeds into graduation rates.

More broadly speaking, were working on a number of new programs and innovations. The aviation program in Conroe is one, and the bachelor of science in nursing is a system-wide program that will start at Montgomery. If we get both of those things going and successful, boy, thatll be amazing.

One of the things were exploring and working on is how we can tie the workforce needs, especially in the northern part of our service area in Conroe, to both the K-12 and community college programs. Labor shortage is a huge issue for manufacturing, for oil services industries, for a number of other industries in this area. Conroe is an extremely attractive place for companies looking to relocate, but we have to make sure that it stays that way by contributing to the workforce development.

QUESTION: What do you like to do in your free time?

RILEY: Im a pretty faithful gym rat. Id rather be outside anytime than inside, so I like being outdoors. Even if its working in the yard, its a very grounding  literally  process for me. I go back to my arts roots and paint, work on things like that. And spend time with my husband, hes pretty sweet.

jane.stueckemann@chron.com
HAKUI, Japan - A wild boar 1.2 meters long and weighing about 100 kilograms lay in a room at a game meat processing facility in Hakui, Ishikawa Prefecture. Hakui is the gateway city to the Noto Peninsula, which is blessed with the bountiful nature of satoyama and satoumi (woodlands and oceans near populated areas).

The room was being kept at 15 C, and pre-treatment of the animal was completed within an hour after hunters called to say it had been killed. The boar was cleaned with acid water for sterilization, and swiftly separated into skin and meat before processing.

The facility is operated by a joint company called Notoshishidan, which has been commissioned by the city government.

"When processed quickly and well, the meat doesn't smell so strong," said company head Shinji Kato, 31, emphasizing the importance of time-critical work.

In fiscal 2015, the Hakui city government launched Notoshishi Daisakusen, a project to sell the meat of captured boars. The name Notoshishi comes from the Noto region's traditional Shishi Goroshi lion dance, in which a tengu long-nosed goblin gets rid of vermin that devastate farms and rice paddies.

The project was devised in response to the serious crop damage caused by the beasts in the mountain area, endangering conservation of the satoyama landscape.

In accordance with an increasing number of boar sightings in Hakui and two neighboring towns, the number of animals killed jumped from 25 in fiscal 2012 to 779 in fiscal 2015, about 30 times the earlier level. The project was meant to kill two birds with one stone: Protect crops and also develop a local brand of meat.

Five people, including members of the central government's Community-Reactivating Cooperator Squad, are participating in the mission.

Kato, who is from Kyoto Prefecture, moved to Hakui in 2015 as a member of the squad, promoted by the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry to revitalize underpopulated areas. Kato joined Notoshishidan at the time of its inauguration in spring 2015. Back then, the organization was just a voluntary group.

In December 2017, Kato finished out his term as a squad member and became the head of Notoshishidan, which has developed into a corporate body.

There were only two members when the group began its activities, laymen with no knowledge of distribution. "I didn't know where to sell our meat," Kato recalled.

With the city's support, they visited michi no eki roadside rest areas and participated in trade fairs in Kanazawa and Tokyo organized by the Ishikawa prefectural government. They also submitted the meat as a return gift in the furusato nozei tax deductible donation system and gradually expanded its distribution routes.

Around summer 2017, Notoshishidan secured sales of more than 1 million yen a month, moving its operations into the black. In fiscal 2017, 336 boars that were killed in one city and two towns were processed into 4.8 tons of meat, whose sales reached about 16 million yen.

The company's meat is popular for being "less smelly and soft, despite being game meat." The brawn loin sells for 5,000 yen per kilogram - a price that favorably compares with the price of top-quality A5 domestic beef - and is distributed to broader markets, including restaurants in Kanazawa and Tokyo.

Bones and guts, which otherwise are treated as industrial trash, are carbonized to become fertilizer, while the skin is processed into key cases and other accessories, utilizing every part of the animal to earn a profit.

Notoshishidan previously carried out its mission with a subsidy from the city, but has operated without monetary assistance from this fiscal year.

More members of the company are needed to expand the market. Daisuke Higuchi, 23, graduated from university in Tokyo this year, and became both a squad member and a member of Notoshishidan.

"I've wanted to get a job related to hunting and game meat for a long time. I want to go hunting by myself in the future," Higuchi said.

The key will be bringing in the younger generations, who are increasingly interested in hunting culture, which is directly involved with nature.

"If our activities stop, these pests will bedevil local farmers. We must continue our activities while spreading the name of 'notoshishi' throughout Japan," Kato said.

Amid the growing popularity of game meat cuisine nationwide, the central government and local authorities have individually set up certification systems to relieve consumers' concern over quality and help expand the market.

In July, the central government started a certification system for good-quality domestic game. Wild game meat that meets certain standards of hygiene control and distribution can obtain a certification label.

Since 2015, the Nagano prefectural government has given authentication numbers to individual deer and posted online information regarding the killing and processing of the animals. Hokkaido followed suit in 2015 and Yamanashi Prefecture in 2017, setting individual standards for certification related to venison and slaughterhouses.
BP's new U.S. onshore oil headquarters in Denver serves as a testament to Colorado's regal mountains, its expansive forests, its nature-loving culture.

Aspen trees line the BP club room, newly installed beer taps await local craft brews, multiple stone fireplaces invite cozy discussions about ski conditions, and a 52-foot pine tree, sliced in half, serves as a conference table.

Whether Coloradans want the tribute is another matter.

On Nov. 6, voters may spoil BP's welcome. That's when Colorado decides whether to limit drilling in an initiative that has drawn almost $39 million in campaign finance contributions. If passed, the proposition would cut the state's oil output by more than half and, perhaps, act as a potential blueprint for blocking development elsewhere.

BP moved its office from Houston weeks before the proposition hit the ballot. Colorado has been drawing drillers whose interest has been piqued by production that's climbed 10-fold since 2001 to a record 450,000 barrels a day in April. Along with Noble Energy Inc., Anadarko Petroleum Corp. and others, BP is now in the midst of a multimillion-dollar war over the state's environmental future.

"The long-term impact is quite significant," said Matt Andre, an energy analyst at S&P Global Platts. "It's about the precedent being set, and it working its way to other states."

At issue is Proposition 112, which requires that new drilling sites, processing plants and gathering lines be more than 2,500 feet from homes, schools and other "vulnerable" areas. In effect, it makes 54 percent of surface land inaccessible to producers.

If the measure passes, production could fall 55 percent by 2023, according to an S&P analysis. But Andre sees that as just a best-case scenario: "It assumes that people who can drill will drill," he said. "But you have to imagine that some people will move to other plays."

The stakes are extraordinarily high. By July, Colorado overtook Alaska to become the nation's sixth-largest oil producer. In 2016, the government estimated that the state had 1.3 billion barrels of proved oil reserves.

The vote's in a few weeks. In the meantime, the latest campaign filings show opponents to the proposition have put $37.8 million into defeating it, including $300,000 contributed by BP on Oct. 2, and about $6 million each overall from Anadarko Petroleum and Noble Energy.

That compares with just $921,000 raised by proponents. The latest polling by Height Securities showed support for the measure at 43 percent and opposition at 47 percent, based on a survey conducted Oct. 15 and Oct. 16.

These companies "don't just have to win," said Ethan Bellamy, a senior analyst at Robert W. Baird & Co Inc. "They have to win by a mile to take the risk overhang out of the stocks. If Proposition 112 wins, the stocks will get torched."

BP isn't the only company to show renewed interest in Colorado, even amid efforts to restrict development in the state. Wyoming gas producer Ultra Petroleum Corp. in September moved its headquarters from Houston to Denver, part of a plan to consolidate operations.

Even Noble, which last year shifted operations to Texas, has reallocated activity back to the Denver-Julesberg basin amid pipeline bottlenecks expected to slow growth in the prolific Permian Basin.

For Denver-based companies with operations outside the state, such as BP, opposing the ballot measure is a matter of principle. But for pure-play producers the proposition could be a significant blow. Independent explorers Extraction Oil and Gas, PDC Energy and SRC Energy all saw their shares fall after Colorado put Proposition 112 on the ballot.

Other heavily exposed companies include Highpoint Resources Corp., Bonanza Creek Energy Inc., Whiting Petroleum Corp., Anadarko and Noble, according to an analysis by Bloomberg Intelligence.

Some companies are doing what they can to mitigate the impact of the measure.

Highpoint, for instance, is evaluating the drilling of longer laterals, Chief Financial Officer Bill Crawford said. Others are rushing to secure drilling permits ahead of the vote. Extraction Oil & Gas anticipates having more than three years of drilling inventory permitted and "ready to go" if the measure passes, Chief Executive Mark Erickson said on a second-quarter earnings call.

Anadarko, which holds 400,000 acres in the D.J. basin, has already announced plans to trim new production in the region, even before the measure made it onto the ballot.

"There's uncertainty," said Bloomberg Intelligence analyst James Blatchford. "Anadarko might reduce activity in the DJ basin, but aren't likely to leave entirely."

A BP spokesman declined to comment on what impact if any, the measure might have on that company. BP opposes the proposition, like its fellow producers, and its Lower-48 unit plans to increase its share of oil production, amid low gas prices. But it hasn't announced new exploration in the state.

The company now operates more than 1,300 wells in the Colorado portion of the San Juan basin but is weighing selling those assets following its $10.5 billion acquisition of most of BHP Billiton Ltd.'s onshore U.S. fields. It also owns and operates a natural gas plant near the New Mexico border that can process as much as 280 million cubic feet a day.

Politically, BP is trying to straddle both sides. While the company opposes the ballot measure, it casts itself as broadly supportive of Denver's environmental goals.

"This is a city and a state that cares about the environment -- we see ourselves as a partner in that," said Dave Lawler, chief executive of BP's Lower 48 unit, in an interview last month. "This is one of the many steps of how we're transforming the company."

Lawler insisted that the Denver office is here to stay, regardless of the referendum's outcome or the potential sale of BP's holdings. The decision to relocate to Denver rested largely on the state's "entrepreneurial mindset," he said. "And in Denver, certainly, a technology emphasis that we want to be part of the company long-term."
ISTANBUL - A spokesman for Turkey's ruling party vowed Saturday that the government would "uncover what has happened" to Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, as skepticism mounted over Saudi Arabia's account that the U.S.-based columnist was killed Oct. 2 during a fistfight inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul.

The Saudi explanation - that an argument in the consulate led to a fatal brawl - is at odds with the conclusions of Turkish investigators, who believe that Khashoggi was deliberately killed by Saudi agents who had been dispatched to Istanbul for the purpose. Khashoggi, a Washington Post contributing columnist, was a prominent critic of the Saudi leadership.

"We don't blame anyone in advance, but we do not consent to this being covered up," said the ruling-party spokesman, Omer Celik, according to the semiofficial Anadolu news agency.

As Saudi Arabia's closest Arab allies rushed to its defense on Saturday, the results of the Saudi investigation were being greeted with skepticism or derision by others, including several U.S. lawmakers and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

But Turkey's reaction is being especially closely watched, because Turkish authorities are said to possess evidence, including audio recordings, that could reveal exactly how Khashoggi died. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government has so far refused to publicly share that evidence, possibly to protect Turkish surveillance methods but also, analysts said, to preserve a measure of leverage over the Saudis and the Trump administration, which has tried to protect its Saudi allies.

Khashoggi, a resident of Virginia, vanished on the afternoon of Oct. 2 after entering the Saudi Consulate to obtain documents that he needed to remarry. For more than two weeks, Saudi Arabia denied any knowledge of his whereabouts and insisted that he had walked out of the consulate unharmed. The journalist's disappearance and slaying have sparked an international outcry as well as intense criticism of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the country's de facto ruler, tarnishing his image in the West as a reformer.

Early Saturday, the Saudi government acknowledged for the first time that Khashoggi was dead. Saudi authorities said they had fired five top officials and arrested 18 other Saudi nationals as a result of the preliminary investigation. Two of Mohammed's close advisers were among those fired.

In a possible attempt to derail Turkey's ongoing criminal investigation, Saudi Arabia's justice minister, Walid bin Mohammed al-Samaani, said on Saturday that Saudi courts had jurisdiction over the case because it occurred in a Saudi consulate, which "falls within the sovereignty of the Kingdom," according to a statement posted on the official Saudi Press Agency.

President Donald Trump told reporters Saturday afternoon that he would be speaking with the crown prince very soon and is considering placing sanctions on Saudi Arabia, though preferably not on U.S. sales of arms and other military equipment. "That would hurt us far more" than it would harm the Saudis, Trump said.

He said no one in his administration had heard audio or seen video of what transpired in the Saudi Consulate or had reviewed transcripts of any recordings. "I'm not satisfied until we find the answer," he said, referring to how Khashoggi died.

Trump appeared initially to accept the Saudi explanation, but U.S. lawmakers, intelligence officials and foreign policy experts quickly accused the government in Riyadh of a coverup.

"This is an admission of guilt, but the Saudis still aren't coming clean with the truth," Jack Reed, R.I., the ranking Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said in a statement. "The Saudi's latest version of events still isn't credible, and the Trump administration must not be complicit in allowing them to sweep this under the rug."

Bob Corker, R-Tenn., the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said the Saudi version of events changes "with each passing day, so we should not assume their latest story holds water."

U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres, the European Union and numerous European officials condemned Khashoggi's killing and called for a thorough and transparent investigation, with accountability for those involved.

Merkel and German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas issued a statement saying: "We expect transparency from Saudi Arabia about the circumstances of his death. . . . The information available about events in Istanbul is inadequate."

Maas also questioned the continued sale of weapons to Saudi Arabia, telling the German broadcaster ARD that "as long as we don't know what happened [in the consulate], there's no basis for reaching positive decisions on arms exports to Saudi Arabia."

"The Spanish government is dismayed by early reports from the Saudi prosecutor about the death of the Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi," the Spanish government said in a statement, according to Reuters.

Fred Ryan, The Washington Post's publisher and chief executive, called the Saudi explanation a "coverup."

"The Government of Saudi Arabia has shamefully and repeatedly offered one lie after another in the nearly three weeks since Jamal Khashoggi disappeared in their Istanbul consulate," Ryan said in a statement. "Offering no proof, and contrary to all available evidence, they now expect the world to believe that Jamal died in a fight following a discussion. This is not an explanation; it is a coverup.

"President Trump, Congress and leaders of the civilized world should demand to see verifiable evidence," he continued. "The Saudis cannot be allowed to fabricate a face-saving solution to an atrocity that appears to have been directed by the highest levels of their government."

The kingdom's closest Arab allies, including the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt, have pledged their support. Saudi Arabia's preliminary investigation "demonstrates the Kingdom's keenness and commitment to finding the truth of this incident and taking the required legal action against those involved," Egypt's Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Turkish investigators are still searching for Khashoggi's body, which they believe was cut into pieces after he was killed. The Saudi statement on Saturday did not address what happened to the body.

"This is not over. It is just starting," said Fatih Oke, a representative of the Turkish Arab Media Association, speaking Saturday at a news conference held in front of the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul by Khashoggi's supporters.

"We want justice for Jamal," Oke said. "We want Jamal's murderers to be punished. However, we want punishments not only for the 18 men, but also for the authorities that gave the orders."

Hatice Cengiz, Khashoggi's fiancee, posted a short video of him on Twitter on Saturday, depicting a light moment when a cat jumped onto his lap during an interview. "They took your bodily presence from my world," she wrote. "But your beautiful laugh will remain in my soul forever."

- - -

The Washington Post's Tamer El-Ghobashy and Zeynep Karatas contributed from Istanbul.

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Video: Saudi Arabia acknowledged Oct. 20 that Washington Post contributor Jamal Khashoggi was killed while visiting its consulate in Istanbul, saying he died during a fist fight.(The Washington Post)

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The Mercury Planetary Orbiter will take a close look at Mercury's surface and composition while the Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter will analyze its magnetosphere.

The European Space Agency said the 1.3 billion-euro ($1.5 billion) BepiColombo mission is one of the most challenging in its history.

The mission consists of two orbiters, ESA's Mercury Planetary Orbiter and JAXA's Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter, which will be launched and travel together via the ESA-built Mercury Transfer Module, which is a sort of cosmic semitrailer powered by solar electric propulsion.

BepiColombo, named after the 20th century Italian scientist Giuseppe "Bepi" Colombo who studied the planet Mercury, is a European-built spacecraft that will transport the European Space Agency's Mercury Planetary Orbiter and the Japanese Space Agency's Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter to their final orbits, which will bring them down to within a few hundred kilometers of the planet's surface. During that time, the two spacecraft will investigate a range of questions about Mercury. "I believe they will achieve a very successful mission with their joint science measurements".

A complex series of fly-bys past the Earth, Venus, and Mercury will also help to reduce BepiColombo's velocity by 7km/s. This map, combined with its other investigations, seeks to complement the data collected by previous visits to Mercury.

NASA's Mariner 10 flew past the planet three times in 1974-75 and the American space agency's Messenger probe orbited Mercury from 2011 to 2015.

Mysterious MercuryArtist's rendering of BepiColombo near Mercury. One year on Mercury is only 88 Earth days long, but a day-night cycle on the smallest planet lasts more than twice as long.

One might think it's a relatively easy thing to reach Mercury, the innermost planet in the Solar System. It also has the highest orbital eccentricity of any planet and virtually no axial tilt.

That milestone will occur in December 2025 when ESA's MPO satellite and JAXA's MMO, by then released from the carrier spacecraft, settle into different orbits around Mercury's poles.

Scientists will be eager to explore previously discovered evidence of water ice on the planet.

That means that some places on Mercury don't see sunlight for 2 Mercury years, some are in perpetual "high noon" for weeks at a time, and others occasionally see the Sun reverse direction just after rising or just before setting. -What produces a thin "exosphere" around the planet? Many of these features were unexpected discoveries from Mariner 10 or MESSENGER.

The plunge into the inner solar system will require seven planetary flybys to counteract the sun's enormous gravity and slow the spacecraft down enough to slip into orbit around hellish Mercury.

This interplanetary mission comes hot on the heels of Ariane 5's 100th flight, placing two telecommunications satellites into orbit in the process - which are the bread and butter missions for this launch vehicle. One of the monitoring cameras is positioned on the MTM with a field of view looking up towards the Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO), which sits above.

BepiColombo is scheduled to launch no earlier than Friday, 19 October, at 9:45 p.m.

The British-built BepiColombo took off aboard an Ariane 5 rocket at about 2.45am United Kingdom time on Saturday.
Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review whether the state's drug price-gouging statute is constitutional.

Frosh, a Democrat, said he is asking the court to uphold the 2017 legislation, which has been blocked from taking effect, to bring down the skyrocketing cost of generic drugs.

"It's an important public policy and a number of studies have shown that these drug prices are going up 1,000 percent, which defies common sense," Frosh said.

A federal appeals court refused a request from Frosh in July to reconsider the lawsuit filed by generic-drug manufacturers after a three-judge panel ruled that the law violates the commerce clause of the Constitution.

According to the filing, "this case presents the question whether the states' sovereign power to regulate in-state commerce includes the power to impose consumer-protection requirements on both in-state and out-of-state manufacturers of goods destined for sale in the state."

"I believe the circuit court missed the mark," Frosh said. "This was designed not to have an impact on other states . . . We don't think that the commerce clause is impacted."

Maryland is the only state to pass a law giving its attorney general the power to take legal action against drug companies that dramatically increase the prices of off-patent or generic drugs.

Vincent DeMarco, president of Maryland Citizens' Health Initiative, a health-care advocacy group, applauded Frosh's decision to move the case forward.

"Too many people in Maryland cannot afford the lifesaving drugs they need," DeMarco said in a statement. "We are optimistic that the Supreme Court will consider this case and endorse our efforts to keep drug costs in check."
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BRUNSWICK -- Police Friday evening continued to examine the scene of a fatal accident near the Center Brunswick fire house on Route 7 in which a pedestrian was hit by a vehicle.

Rensselaer County dispatchers received the call at 7:52 p.m. Friday, and the accident prompted closure of Hoosick Road/Route 7.
MASON, Ohio - For months, a loud and acrimonious campaign for Ohio's 1st Congressional District has played out in the Cincinnati area between incumbent Republican Steve Chabot and his challenger, Hamilton County Clerk of Courts Aftab Pureval.

Gordon Marsh, shuffling across a strip mall parking lot, was quick with a blunt assessment. "I'm voting against Chabot," he said. "I'm not crazy about Pureval, either."

But Marsh said his choice had little to do with the local candidates or issues.

It was all about Donald Trump.

"I'm going Democrat all the way," Marsh said gruffly before stomping into a Best Buy. "They need the seats. My position right now is that he is a lousy president and a lousy person."

Less than a month from the midterm elections, dozens of congressional races are tightening as campaigns make their final push. Democrats are aiming most acutely at nearly two dozen seats held by Republicans but won in 2016 by Democrat Hillary Clinton, figuring those are the easiest to pick off.

The next ring of interest are districts the president won, but narrowly. In those districts, located mainly in the suburbs and exurbs such as those outside Cincinnati, Des Moines and Greensboro, North Carolina, the president's shadow is looming so large that it obscures everything else.

The president has sought to make the election revolve around an improving economy and the dire results he says would emanate from a Democratic takeover of one or both chambers of Congress. But he has also contended that he is on the ballot - and voters in those districts agree.

Trump's ability to dominate the political conversation has put congressional candidates from both parties in a tricky spot.

For Republicans, the risk is sticking close to a president with immense star power among the MAGA faithful but who is radioactive to other voters. For Democrats, the options are attacking Trump and appearing to be members of a "leftist mob," or staying mum and turning off voters eager for an aggressive check on the president.

"I don't believe anymore that all politics is local," said Ferrel Guillory, director of the Program on Public Life at the University of North Carolina. "Politics has stopped being local for a good while. Increasingly, national issues, national perceptions take over."

North Carolina's 13th District stretches from the suburbs north of Charlotte to Greensboro. Battered by the loss of the state's textile industry, the region features a strong mix of left-leaning voters in the cities, conservative rural voters and a bipartisan mix in the suburbs.

Republicans were ordered to redraw the district in 2016 following a gerrymandering lawsuit. Trump won the district in 2016 by 9 points - his smallest margin in a North Carolina Republican district.

The Republican incumbent, Rep. Ted Budd, is a gun store owner seeking reelection after he emerged from a 17-person primary in 2016. Kathy Manning, a Greensboro lawyer and community organizer, is making her first bid for elected office.

Manning has steered away from addressing the president directly and insisted that voters are talking about "kitchen table issues." Still, without mentioning Trump by name, she said voters are fed up with the atmosphere in Washington.

"They can't stand what's going on," she said. "They don't like the incivility. They don't like that people are unwilling to compromise."

Budd, however, has embraced Trump wholeheartedly, while conceding that his style is different from the president's.

North Carolinians on both sides of the party divide say Trump not only is a significant part of the decision between Budd and Manning, but has also changed the tenor of local politics.

On a rainy Tuesday night last week, as voters gathered at a forum for local candidates in Salisbury, Anthony Smith, a pastor at Mission House Church, said he sees the race between Budd and Manning as a referendum on the president's policies and rhetoric. The same is true for every race in the 13th District, he said.

"Trump more was a catalyst to energize something that was already there, that never left our culture," he said. The timbre of the races has become more contentious in the past two years, sometimes devolving into name-calling and animus, Smith said. In August, tempers flared after someone defaced a Confederate monument that stands just outside city hall. Later, Ku Klux Klan fliers tied to rocks were thrown into yards in suburban neighborhoods.

Andrew Poston, a 25-year-old teacher, said he leans Republican but would have trouble voting for anyone who wouldn't be a check on Trump.

"Do I hope the Democrats take the house? No, I don't. But I hope that this extreme political climate we have melts like snow over the next few years," he said. "I hope cooler heads prevail."

Halfway across the country, Iowa's 3rd Congressional District includes Des Moines and suburban and rural areas west and southwest of the city. The number of Democratic, Republican and independent voters is nearly equal. Trump won by only 3 percentage points in 2016.

Republican incumbent David Young, the mild-mannered grandson of a farmer and a preacher, is the opposite of Trump in style, comfortable hosting low-key forums and roundtables where he talks about the nitty-gritty details of a pending farm bill.

Seeking to unseat him is Cindy Axne, a political newcomer and small-business owner who casts herself as the Washington outsider and Young as a politician who works for corporations and not for Iowans. If elected, she would be the first woman to represent the district in Congress.

Young rarely invokes Trump - saying he's different, both stylistically and morally. He's not accountable to Trump, he says, but to "the people in the 3rd District" - although he did speak at the president's recent rally in Council Bluffs

Axne has drawn on the energy released by opposition to the president. She casts the race in stark terms: "The heart and the soul of the country is at risk."

For Des Moines Democrat Penny Murphy, the race is less about the candidates than the president.

"Just making sure Donald Trump does not win in 2020, that we capture the seats that are open. We are very worried," Murphy said.

Staying at home on Election Day is not a choice, Murphy said as she ate lunch at Palmer's Deli & Market in Des Moines.

"We are trying to turn the tide in Washington and have some balance," she said. "He darn well has come close there to reversing everything Obama has done."

Charles Ruby, 55, said he usually ignores the midterm elections. But this time around, he voted early, stopping by on his motorcycle at a polling site in Adel, a small town outside of Des Moines. The "whole Kavanaugh debacle," he said, is his prime motivator for voting.

"This is the most important election. As a conservative, we have to win this one," he said shortly after he voted. "Even if you don't agree with Trump, you got to stick with the Republican Party."

Ohio's 1st District includes Cincinnati's Hamilton County and, since 2010, when the state legislature redrew the lines, traditionally conservative Warren County.

The incumbent, Chabot, was first elected in 1994. A folksy, family-values conservative, Chabot has held his seat for 22 of the past 24 years. Trump took the district in 2016 by 6 points.

The district's realignment gave Republicans a tight hold on the seat for a few years, but urban sprawl reaching into Warren County has helped make the 2018 election surprisingly close. Challenger Pureval, 36 years old and the son of Indian and Tibetan immigrants, has anchored his campaign in the contrasts between his agenda and the incumbent's. But he largely keeps Trump out of his message.

"My folks want me to focus on health care, the economy and infrastructure," he said. "That's exactly what I plan to do."

Until very recently, Chabot also kept his distance from the president. In March 2016, when Trump was the front-runner to capture the Republican nomination, the congressman penned an open letter to the candidate urging Trump to "stop saying thuggish things." His campaign and allies, however, have engaged in raw personal assaults, at one point seeking to tie Pureval to Libyan terrorists.

Nonetheless, Ohioans said the president was at the center of their decision.

Parking his car outside a downtown Cincinnati bank branch, Michael Southern admitted he did not know much about either Chabot's or Pureval's platforms. When he votes in November, it will be based on each candidate's stance on the president.

"I don't agree with [Trump's] politics at all," Southern said. "Both his opinions and tactics, and the comments about women, African Americans, people with disabilities, equality across the board."

Justin Kittle, a registered Republican walking his dog downtown, said he disagrees with many of Pureval's positions. "But that doesn't shut him down completely for me. Chabot has been in for a long time. I don't mind change."

But again, the president was key.

"I am for the president, and I'm happy that he's a business guy instead of a politician," he explained. "I would want to see a Republican in office to keep his politics going."
WASHINGTON - Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has decided to take part in an anti-terror finance meeting with Saudi security officials and their Middle Eastern counterparts in Riyadh later this month, opting to attend despite growing global outrage over the suspected murder of a U.S.-based journalist at the hands of Saudi operatives, according to three people familiar with his travel plans.

The security gathering next week is separate from a Riyadh financial summit that Mnuchin announced on Thursday he would not attend. Numerous other Western officials and corporations have pulled out of the "Davos in the Desert" financial summit because of the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who wrote for The Washington Post.

The event Mnuchin still plans to attend - a gathering of the Terrorist Financing Targeting Center in Riyadh - would include participation by Saudi security services that are under scrutiny in Khashoggi's death.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman - the presumptive king and one of Trump's closest allies in the region - is under growing pressure to explain the disappearance of Khashoggi, who U.S. intelligence officials believe was killed and dismembered by a Saudi "murder team" inside the Saudi consulate in Turkey on Oct. 2. He has not been seen since.

The White House has been hesitant to criticize Saudi Arabia, although President Donald Trump acknowledged for the first time Thursday that Khashoggi was likely dead.

In announcing his withdrawal Thursday from the financial summit, called the Future Investment Initiative, Mnuchin said he reached the decision with the help of Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

Mnuchin did not give a reason for pulling out of the conference, but he was under growing pressure from congressional Republicans not to attend as it could have been seen as a sign the Trump administration was not concerned about the alleged killing. He joins an exodus of government officials and corporate titans who have announced their withdrawal from the summit, including Jamie Dimon of JPMorgan Chase, Bill Ford of Ford Motor Co. and AOL founder Steve Case. Fox Business also announced its departure after Mnuchin's announcement Thursday.

Financier Tom Barrack, a friend of the president with deep ties in the Middle East, has also dropped out of the conference, a person familiar with the matter confirmed Friday.

The Terrorist Financing Targeting Center is a new entity co-founded by the United States and Saudi Arabia that Mnuchin helped establish last year. It includes the governments of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates.

Trump administration officials have not revealed who Mnuchin plans to meet with from the Saudi government during his visit.

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., criticized Mnuchin's planned Saudi visit Friday. "It is unconscionable for @stevenmnuchin1 to stand beside the Saudi government after the likely murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. This administration is emboldening lawless dictators around the world," he wrote on Twitter.
MESA, Ariz. - President Donald Trump railed against migrants traveling toward the southern border Friday, telling supporters in this border state that, "this country doesn't want them."

Thousands of migrants traveling in a caravan broke a border fence between Guatemala and Mexico on Friday, and some were met by Mexican police.

"Right now as you know, they're fighting some bad people," Trump said of Mexican authorities.

"There are some bad people in that group," Trump said. "This country doesn't want them."

On Thursday, Trump had threatened to close the U.S. border if Mexico failed to stop the caravan.

Trump repeated a favorite phrase for what he calls immigrant criminals, "bad hombre," and complained about misuse of "chain migration," the policy of legal family immigration that helped his in-laws come to the United States from Slovenia.

Democrats, Trump said, want to give immigrants free livelihoods with no strings.

"Next thing you know, they'll want to buy 'em a car," Trump said.

Maybe, he said, a "Rolls-Royce, made not in America so I hope that's not what we do."

Former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski has said Trump owned a Rolls-Royce and drove the British-made luxury car early in the presidential campaign.

"Democrats believe our country should be a giant sanctuary city for criminal aliens," Trump said.

"Republicans believe our country should be a sanctuary for law-abiding Americans."

Trump was campaigning for Republican Rep. Martha McSally, who is trying to win the Senate seat held by retiring Sen. Jeff Flake, a frequent Trump critic. McSally, a former Air Force officer and combat pilot, was also a Trump critic in 2016, when her Tucson district voted for Democrat Hillary Clinton.

McSally has since become a strong Trump ally.

"She's tough and she's brave and she can fly an airplane better than anybody," Trump said Friday.

Trump called McSally's opponent, Democratic Rep. Kyrsten Sinema, "a far-left extremist," and claimed that Sinema "is being protected by the fake news back there," a reference to news media covering his rally.

McSally hailed Trump's tough stance on border security, prompting a chant of "Build the Wall."

"This is personal for us in Arizona," McSally said.

Recent polls show the race neck and neck, offering Democrats one of their best chances to pick up a Senate seat.

Fox News polling and CBS News/YouGov both found Sinema with a slim margin over McSally, well within the error margin.

Early voting is underway in the state, and Trump told the crowd he wouldn't mind if people wanted to leave early to cast a ballot.

McSally was asked earlier this week whether she would encourage Trump not to refer to a woman as "horseface," as he did in a tweet about Stormy Daniels, who claims that she had a sexual relationship with the president.

"I didn't agree with that. I thought it was inappropriate, OK," McSally said, according to NBC. "I thought it was inappropriate. That's an absurd question."

Trump roused the crowd to cheers and laughter when he joked that, "I can no longer call her Pocohontas," referring to Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., a frequent Trump foil. "She has no Indian blood!"

Warren has released results of a DNA test showing she had some Native American heritage, answering Trump's assertion that she had falsely claimed that heritage.

Since she was elected to Congress in 2012, Sinema has refashioned herself from the ardent liberal who served in the Arizona Legislature to an aisle-crossing moderate who votes with Trump more than nearly any other Democrat in the House.

Sinema touts herself as more of an independent than a Democrat, and in a recent radio interview declined to say whether she'll vote for David Garcia, the Democratic nominee for Arizona governor.

McSally and outside groups have reminded voters that Sinema was once a liberal activist, and that she used to advocate for closing Luke Air Force Base on the western edge of the Phoenix metro area.

Sinema's past is no secret, but the Senate race has surfaced new nuggets, including a video showed her referring to Arizona as the "meth lab of democracy."

During a debate Monday, McSally accused Sinema of "treason" for 2003 comments she had made that were critical of U.S. intervention in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Stan Houston, a resident of Apache Junction, said he thinks McSally has the race in hand.

"If you listen to CNN and MSNBC, she's not going to make it. But if you listen to the people that are out there voting for her, she's going to make it," Houston said.

Several rally-goers were skeptical that Sinema is leading.

"They were wrong before. Why can't they be wrong again?" Juanita Richardson, a Tucson resident who drove up to Mesa for the rally, referring to' the many polls that showed Hillary Clinton defeating Trump in 2016.

Phoenix resident Lizzy Durso described herself as a "silent supporter" of Trump who now feels comfortable enough to back the president openly and attend her first rally for him, and said she's one of many. That same silent support will help carry McSally to victory, she said.

- - -

The Washington Post's Emily Guskin contributed from Washington.
Earlier, on 5 October, the Deputy Prime Minister of Italy Matteo Salvini accused the head of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker and Commissioner for economic Affairs Pierre Moscovici EU "in the destruction of Europe and Italy in particular".

But he has warned that Italy's populist coalition government was "not scared" of using its veto powers in the European Union as a "last resort" to push the bloc into lifting sanctions against Russian Federation.

He criticized the basis of the sanctions, which were imposed on Moscow after Russia's 2014 annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula and backing for separatists in eastern Ukraine in a war against the government. Salvini leads Italy's far-right League party and is also Italy's interior minister. "It's clear that it makes no sense that they are in place", he told a gathering of Italian businessmen in Moscow in a speech live-streamed on his Facebook account.

"If we are asked to confirm the sanctions, we say no". "If you look at the current global developments, it is obvious that it would be in our interest to rebuild a pragmatic, normal cooperation between Europe and Russian Federation, based on common sense, based on mutual trust, and based on the respect toward worldwide law", he said.

Previously on 24 channel wrote that Italy will propose to the European Union to resume funding of small and medium private business in Russian Federation at the EU summit in Brussels this week.

Conte is scheduled to meet Russia President Vladimir Putin next week in Moscow. In some European countries I don't.
There are just 2 1/2 weeks until Election Day, and it was an election Gov. Bill Walker, an independent, looked likely to lose. Instead, on Friday, he abruptly ended his campaign and threw his support to the Democrat in the race, Mark Begich.

It's a weird move that isn't fully explained by his statement that he realized he couldn't win. Walker's campaign had been behind much of this election cycle, and he suspended it so late in this election that his name will still be on the ballot. And his decision comes days after his lieutenant governor resigned over still-mysterious circumstances related to "inappropriate comments" to a woman.

So what's going on? Insiders who spoke to The Washington Post aren't entirely clear, but here's a look at some significant moments that could give us clues to why Alaska's governor suspended his campaign at the last minute.

- He's been one of the most vulnerable governors all election cycle: Walker is the only independent governor in the country, and unseating him has been Republicans' top priority. Meanwhile, this race was never much on Democrats' radar. (They have plenty of more likely pickup opportunities in the Lower 48.)

In The Post's most recent rankings of the top 10 governorships most likely to flip in the midterm elections, Walker is No. 2 out of 10. He's unpopular, he's leading a state with high unemployment, and as The Post's David Weigel reports, as part of an effort to launch the state out of a recession, he made cuts to yearly checks sent to all Alaskans. Cutting those checks was a move one Democratic operative described as the death knell for Walker's popularity.

- The Republican looked set to win: And it's possible Walker wanted to thwart that, even at the expense of his campaign. Walker has more in common with Republicans than Democrats, but Mike Dunleavy, a former state senator, is further to the right than Walker.

Walker's re-election hopes against Dunleavy got even fainter when Democrat Mark Begich, a former senator and mayor of Anchorage, got into the race. Polling showed Dunleavy leading each candidate by double digits. A recent Alaska Survey Research poll found Dunleavy with 43 percent of the vote and Begich and Walker splitting the rest of it, with about 26 percent each. So it stands to reason that if you combined their two votes entirely, Begich could have enough to win.

- He has a history of last-minute change-ups in his election: Though none as last-minute as this, as Walker was still in the race when nearly 2,000 absentee ballots were recently mailed out.

But in 2014 he started out running as a Republican, then switched to independent, then persuaded his Democratic opponent, Byron Mallott, to join his campaign as lieutenant governor. Walker and Mallott barely won that election.

- His lieutenant governor resigned days ago: On Tuesday, Mallott resigned over "inappropriate comments" to a woman. But there is little more known than that. Within hours a new lieutenant governor had been sworn in, and Walker had distanced himself from his former No. 2: "Byron recently made inappropriate comments that do not reflect the sterling level of behavior required in his role as lieutenant governor," he said in a statement. "I learned of the incident last night. Byron has taken full responsibility for his actions and has resigned."

But as the Anchorage Daily News reports, it was difficult to near-impossible for Walker to fully detach himself from the lieutenant governor just three weeks before Election Day: Mallott's name is on Walker campaign materials, signs across the state and on the ballot.

It's not entirely clear why Walker left, but it is clear that a number of things in the past few weeks haven't gone his way. And the state of the race gets slightly more competitive for Democrats as a result, but Republicans still have the upper hand, just as they did before Walker suddenly dropped out.
Chanting "Yes we can!" and "Mexico!". This is an global problem that we have. They risked drowning over defeat. By Tuesday, U.S. President Donald Trump had weighed in with a warning, threatening to cut foreign aid to Honduras if the group didn't turn back.

The migrants could be seen passing babies overhead through the crowd, as women holding crying children by the hand or pressing their infants to their chests streamed past the broken metal barriers and onto the bridge.

Young men began violently tugging on the barrier and finally succeeded in tearing it down.

"Well, we're looking at a lot of things", he said.

A similar caravan of migrants made the journey to the USA in April, taking the same route from Honduras to the United States, via Guatemala and Mexico.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will travel to Mexico on Friday for a meeting with the country's top officials, where the caravan will likely be among the topics of discussion. NBC News reports the Mexican government sent 500 officers to the country's border with Guatemala ahead of their approach.

On Thursday, Trump branded the migrant caravan an "onslaught" and an "assault on our country" in a series of typically fiery tweets.

A first group of several hundred migrants arrived late on Wednesday in the border town of Tecun Uman, Guatemala, where they overflowed a local shelter, leaving many to sleep in the town square or on the street, an AFP correspondent said. Numerous migrants may chose to stay in countries along the route, though the Mexican government is already preparing a response.

"The challenge related to security for our southern border is. a challenge for American sovereignty", he said.

Denis Contreras, who is fleeing Honduras with his sister and two nieces, told France24 that his nation's people could "no longer endure so much violence", adding that "this is the beginning of an avalanche that is coming".

"Mexico also issued a very clear statement saying if somebody is seeking asylum, Mexico is there along now with the U.N.to look at those claims, we want to make sure those claims are legitimate".

Edgar Corzo of Mexico's National Human Rights Commission expressed concern about the police deployment in Ciudad Hidalgo.

A video shows a group of people in Honduras being paid by George Soros to join a migrant caravan and storm the United States border.

In his string of tweets, Mr Trump also said the migrant issue was more important to him than the new trade deal with Mexico to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement pact.

"We're looking for concrete results", the State Department said before Pompeo's trip, "and for solutions that work for both countries".

In April, Mexican immigration officials had some success in dispersing a smaller caravan by processing many who made a decision to seek refugee status in Mexico, but some did continue on to the USA border.

The news comes as families entering the U.S. illegally have reached a record high, prompting a demand from President Donald Trump that Central American countries and Mexico take steps to correct the situation immediately.
The Houston Police Department will be fully mobilized to handle the more than 70,000 people who have signed up to attend President Donald Trumps rally in downtown Monday, Chief Art Acevedo said Friday.

Police will begin closing off streets  including Bell, Clay, Crawford, Jackson, La Branch and Polk  around the 18,000-seat Toyota Center around 5:30 a.m. Monday, Acevedo said.

Attendees must have tickets to enter the 5 p.m. and will be admitted in the order in which they line up. People are expected to line up overnight, Acevedo said. He advised people who work downtown to plan accordingly for delays because of the large crowds.

Keep in mind that once the capacity is met, you wont get in, whether you have a ticket or not, Acevedo said. More than 77,850 hopefuls had signed up by Friday morning, but the Trump campaign was not considering moving to a bigger venue, a person familiar with the event said.

Trump, who is expected to speak around 6:30 p.m., is holding the rally with Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who is facing a re-election challenge from U.S. Rep. Beto ORourke, D-El Paso. Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, Trumps Texas campaign chairman, will also speak at the rally.

Acevedo said HPD had heard unconfirmed reports of a separate nearby rally for ORourke that could draw thousands more people.

We will have many many officers out and about, Acevedo said. We will have officers on the high ground, low ground, in the air. We will have officers in plainclothes, we will have undercover officers, we will have react teams.

He added that officers from the federal, state and county levels would lend support, with the usual Secret Service presence accompanying Trump.

The police department expects people to exercise their First Amendment rights in a lawful manner, Acevedo said, including protesters and counter-protesters. You would be foolish not to.

Rain is expected Monday, with projected temperatures in the high 50s to low 60s.
A crew of anti-gay protesters rallied outside the federal courthouse Friday afternoon, announcing they have sued the Houston Public Library over a city-sponsored Drag Queen Story Hour which they say violates their freedom of religion.

Opponents of the story hour have also turned out to protest the library events, which began last summer in Montrose, the citys historic gay enclave. Similar drag queen events have been hosted around the country with the aim of providing role models for children.
A man was shot and killed in his car early Saturday while driving west on the Interstate 610 South Loop, causing his car to crash into a wall along the freeway in southwest Houston.

Houston police were dispatched to the scene about 12:45 a.m. and discovered the man, identified as 21-year-old Jermaine Deshane West, had been struck by several rounds of gunfire inside his vehicle.
The U.S.is suspending another military exercise with South Korea to aid negotiations over North Korea's nuclear program that President Donald Trump has said should "soon" result in another summit with Kim Jong Un.

The top Pentagon spokeswoman, Dana W. White, said Washington and Seoul are suspending an air exercise known as Vigilant Ace "to give the diplomatic process every opportunity to continue".

"Both ministers are committed to modifying training exercises to ensure the readiness of our forces".

Last year's version of Vigilant Ace lasted about one week and involved more than 200 aircraft from the USA and South Korea flying from eight bases.

Mr. Trump also had taken direct aim at the drill, saying it was unnecessarily provocative toward North Korea and too expensive for US taxpayers.

Occurring just days after North Korea's successful test of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) capable of reaching the east coast of the United States, North Korea blasted the exercise as being a provocation.

Mattis told reporters on August 28 that there were no plans to cancel further exercise in South Korea; however, the USA government had not yet decided whether to hold the Foal Eagle and Ulchi Freedom Guardian wargames in 2019. But lower-level training operations between the two allies have continued apace.

According to a statement by spokesperson Dana White on Friday, . the decision was reached by South Korea's Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo and his USA counterpart James Mattis to give the ongoing diplomatic process with North Korea "every opportunity to continue".

Vigilant Ace is an annual exercise last held in December 2017.

Vigilant Ace is primarily an air-combat exercise in which fighter jets from both countries come together and fly in various scenarios.

Senior U.S. military officials have said they have ways of adjusting to limited suspensions of exercises with South Korea but that at some point the lack of exercising the procedures involved in commanding and controlling combat forces will erode their preparedness for war. Besides, the President can instantly start the joint exercises again with South Korea, and Japan, if he so chooses.

Interested in South Korea?

On the heels of President Trump's landmark summit with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un in June, the Pentagon scrapped the Ulchi Freedom Guardian exercise, one of the largest joint drills between the US and South Korea.

Earlier this month, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with Kim in Pyongyang, and also with leaders in South Korea and China to discuss nuclear disarmament in North Korea.

Trump's relationship with Kim was warmed considerably this year.
Much of the reporting to date has relied on anonymous officials, often Turkish ones, and Turkish state-run media.

Khashoggi, who lived in suburban Washington, was a former insider who turned into a critic of the kingdom's direction under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. As part of the palace manoeuvring, he loses one of his most trusted intelligence chiefs and a close aide but in so doing, he may have engineered a way out of an escalating crisis, allowing him to protect relations between Riyadh and Washington.

In a statement, Saudi public prosecutor added that Khashoggi was killed after fighting with people who met him in the consulate.

"Yes, he's not inside", the heir to the Saudi throne said.

Khashoggi went missing after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2. "It is a big step", Trump said, admitting, though, that "some questions" do remain and that he will be dealing with Congress on how to proceed to address the issue."Saudi Arabia has been a great ally but what happened in unacceptable", Trump emphasized.

Saudi Arabia thanked Turkey for its "exceptional cooperation" in the investigation.

The kingdom also offered a far different version of events than those given by Turkish officials, who have said an "assassination squad" from the kingdom including an official from Prince Mohammed's entourage and an "autopsy expert" flew in ahead of time and laid in wait for Khashoggi at the consulate.

Amid global outcry over Khashoggi's brutal murder, the Saudi public prosecutor said 18 nationals had been detained in connection to the probe.

"We're going to find out who knew what when and where and we'll figure it out", Trump said.

"The reporting that Jared Kushner may have, with USA intelligence, delivered a hit list, an enemies list, to the crown prince, to MBS in Saudi Arabia, and that the prince then may have acted on that and one of the people he took action against was Mr. Khashoggi", Castro said.

"After the recognition of Khashoggi's death, we expect a determined, constant and powerful pressure to be kept on Saudi Arabia in order to get the whole truth on the case and the release of Saudi Arabian journalists (who have) been condemned to insane and frightful sentences".

Saudi officials have roundly denied that Prince Mohammed had any involvement. Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, responsible for a coming peace proposal for Israel and the Palestinians, also has forged a close relationship with Prince Mohammed. "They feel very strongly about it also", Trump said.

Turkish media reports said more than a dozen Turkish staff members of the consulate - including technicians, drivers, telephone operators and accountants - were being interviewed by prosecutors.

"Even if MbS wanted to keep this away from the king he couldn't because the story about Khashoggi's disappearance was on all the Arab and Saudi TV channels watched by the king", one of the five sources said.

The country's Foreign Minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, said: "We will share the results that emerge transparently with the whole world". He called for a USA investigation.

On Friday, the CEOs of Deutsche Bank DBKGn.DE and ABB ABBN.S , plus Airbus' AIR.PA defence chief and energy historian Daniel Yergin, joined a list of Western business executives who have withdrawn. Saudi Arabian state television has now confirmed he is dead.
Immigration policies, diversity helping Canadas reputation as artificial intelligence leader Canada's Global Skills Strategy paving way for top international AI talent Stephen Smith Aa Accessibility Font Style Serif

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Canadas diversity and immigration policies are playing key roles in the countrys growing reputation as a global leader in artificial intelligence, say two of the countrys top minds in the field.

Steve Irvine, a veteran of Facebook and Instagram and the founder and CEO of integrate.ai, returned to Canada two years ago to build his new artificial intelligence (AI) company after six years in Californias famed Silicon Valley.

At first, it seemed like a no-brainer that he would build integrate.ai in Silicon Valley. But his research led him to conclude that Toronto was the place to set up shop.

Speaking at Fortune Magazines Global Forum this week in Toronto, Irvine said the diversity of Canadas biggest city was one of the major factors that led him to establish integrate.ai there.

Diversity is the reality here in Canada, he said. Were one of the most diverse countries in the world, Toronto is one of the most diverse cities in the world, and that brings a lot of perspectives on these issues. Not only can we get great top-end technical talent and research talent, but we naturally have a pool of more diverse candidates who bring interesting perspectives to the big issues were dealing with.

Immigration policies pave the way

Contributing to this reality are policies like Canadas Global Skills Strategy and its Global Talent Stream program, which provides work visas for eligible international workers in as little as two weeks. The hardline immigration polices of the current U.S. government under President Donald Trump are giving top AI minds an added incentive to choose Canada over Silicon Valley.

Its never been easier to bring top international talent into the country, Irvine said. Its easy now to get them in from a visa standpoint, but with everything thats happening geopolitically, weve noticed a big difference  theres a lot of top-notch talent that would normally be on their way to Silicon Valley right now that have changed their plans. [Canada] is a great alternative for them  it gets them over to North America, into a big hub that is close to all the other hubs that they would care about, but they can live in a city where they can feel comfortable and that gives them the same level of opportunities.

Discover your Canadian immigration options by completing a free assessment.

Raquel Urtasun, who leads Ubers self-driving car research program in Toronto, told the Global Forum that she moved to Canada because Canada was, is and will be at the forefront of AI.

Originally from Spain, Urtasun was teaching at the Toyota Technological Institute at Chicago when she decided to join the University of Torontos Department of Computer Science.

Dubbed an AI superstar by Wired Magazine, Urtasun said Canadas diversity and its immigration policies are playing a key role in luring AI talent north of the border.

I came to join the University of Toronto, which is one of the top places for doing AI research, she said. Also, immigration policies are very good here and, as a foreigner, I really appreciate the diversity that we see. I subscribe to Canadian values and I moved here from the U.S. and it was great to see.

As co-founder of Torontos Vector Institute, shes seen the same feeling growing among its community of international AI researchers.

Its been a year and a half and were starting to see a lot of talent stay in Canada, she said. We have retained a lot of talent and there is so much talent coming from outside that doesnt necessarily have ties to Canada but wants to be here because this is the place to be. Were really building an ecosystem here that will allow Canada to maintain that.

Canadas open to people

Sharing the stage with Irvine and Urtasun was Canadas Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development, Navdeep Bains.

Bains said ensuring Canadian companies have access to the foreign workers they need to fill skills gaps in the local workforce is a key aspect of Canadas value proposition, especially in the current geopolitical climate.

Immigration policies really differentiate [Canada], he said. When youre seeing the rise of anti-immigrant sentiments, populist politics, nationalism, and our brand in Canada is that were open  open to trade, open to investment, open to people  that brand, that openness is so critical.

Bains said that openness is critical for innovative startups looking to Canada.

If youre a company, youre moving very quickly, you have to be agile, you need access to talent, you need to scale up your business or you need certain technical skills, you can bring that individual to Canada in a matter of two weeks, he said, referring to Canadas Global Talent Stream program.

Thats a big, big deal and I think thats why [Canada is] really well-positioned  we have a diverse domestic workforce, and we have access to global talent.

On December 6, Canada will host a G7 conference on artificial intelligence in Montreal, which has emerged alongside Toronto and Edmonton, Alberta, as a hub for AI research and development.

To find out if you are eligible for any Canadian immigration program, fill out a free assessment.

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CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Downtown Cleveland would become a power-secure site for new businesses that cannot afford power failures and want a grid insulated from cyber attacks, says a proposal prepared for the Cleveland Foundation.

The Energy Policy Center at Cleveland State University and the Great Lakes Energy Institute at Case Western Reserve University are proposing that the City of Cleveland and Cuyahoga County build a microgrid powered in part by a new power plant at Cleveland Thermal.

The microgrid would encompass an area from Lake Erie border south to Carnegie Avenue, from the Cuyahoga River east to E. 55th Street.

In the proposal, commercial customers willing to pay a delivered price of 14 cents per kilowatt-hour would have clean power delivered in a cyber-secure system designed to be operational 99.999 percent of time, or "less than 6 minutes of power loss per year."

Additionally, customers would see improved power quality, in other words, no voltage sags or changes in frequency. And they would not have to spend as much on their own backup power generators, though the studies contemplate that the private systems could also be integrated into the new grid as additional backup supplies.

Customers would also be insulated from a regional or national blackout because the microgrid would be designed to "island" itself from the larger grid if needed.

The all-new downtown microgrid, aimed to be operational in 2022, would be connected to Cleveland Public Power's system, which would deliver the electricity from a "combined heat and power" plant Cleveland Thermal would build.

Combined-heat-and-power plants are considered among the most efficient gas-fired systems because they make both steam and electricity and Cleveland Thermal envisioned adding power generation to its new boilers installed last year.

Cost of the project, which is being proposed as an economic development tool, has been estimated at $100 million. And economic impact study predicts the project by 2026 would create as many as 2,264 jobs with annual earnings of nearly $162 million.

The two feasibility studies, to be released by the universities Monday, are among topics that will be discussed next week at a cybersecurity conference at the IX Center.

One additional feasibility study is pending. An initial study published last fall noted that the marginal cost of secure power adds over 5 cents per kilowatt-hour to the regular commercial rate of around 9-10 cents per kilowatt-hour.

Andrew Thomas, executive in residence at the Energy Policy Center, said the study teams surveyed 150 companies in an effort to see whether there would be potential customers for the microgrid.

He said companies were interested if the grid could provide the power at 14 cents per kilowatt-hour or lower. The projected price on the grid is 13 cents.

"These prices would be pretty attractive right now," he said. "Our goal here is growth, not to steal customers from the Illuminating Co. or Cleveland Public Power," he said.

"We identified three areas that had the largest [loss of productivity] in the event of an outage, professional and technical services, health care and insurance."

Some county and city leaders have seen the early versions of the feasibility studies, he said, but will need a lot of time to digest the information.

County Executive Armond Budish said he is interested in further research and discussion.

"I am very interested in exploring how a microgrid could make a difference here in Cuyahoga County," he said in a written statement. "We've seen the problems in the past few years of large electric grids going down and customers losing power for days and months.

"A microgrid district like the one being envisioned with clean, affordable and reliable power could be a great economic development attraction for us. From the County's perspective, we want to help make this a reality."
CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, Ohio -- Domestic violence, Monticello Boulevard: At 7:20 p.m. Oct. 11, police were dispatched to a home on a report of a disturbance between two sisters.

At the front door, officers were greeted by a woman who was hysterically crying. The woman said her sister had asked her to watch the sister's infant son, 1, while she went out. The woman replied that she would not and her sister became angry and began punching her and pulling her hair.

The complainant then ran upstairs. Her sister followed and again punched her. The victim took out her cell phone and began recording her sister. The sister did not like this and attempted to take the phone.

The two returned downstairs, where the sister swung the front door several times to strike the victim, who suffered a bloody hand.

The police report noted that both women are pregnant. Police arrested the victim's sister on a domestic violence charge.

Disorderly conduct, Mayfield Road: At 6:10 p.m. Oct. 11, police were dispatched to a bus stop where a man and woman were arguing. When police arrived, the two had already boarded a bus heading east on Mayfield Road.

The officer found the bus and stopped it. He spoke with the man and woman, who said they had only argued, and that nothing physical took place. Others on the bus backed their story.

The officer left and followed the bus in his cruiser. At the next stop, passengers who got off the bus waved for the officer, stating that the man and woman were arguing with people on the bus.

The officer again spoke to the man and woman. The upset man, who had argued with a male bus passenger, was yelling and swearing. Police could smell the odor of alcohol on the man. He was eventually arrested for disorderly conduct and, due to his condition, taken to the hospital for evaluation.

The woman, it was learned, was wanted on a probation violation warrant issued by the Lyndhurst Police Depatrment. Police arrested the woman on the warrant.

Assault, Vineshire Road: At 12:45 p.m. Oct. 11, police were called to a home on a report that a woman was possibly holding a knife while arguing with a man.

Police spoke with the woman, 22, who said that she stopped at the man's house to take a short nap and collect her belongings. The man, 39, then came home and confronted the woman.

The two argued and, the woman said, the man struck and pushed her. When she tried to leave, she said, the man pulled her back in the house and grabbed her by the neck and began to strangle her.

Police saw injuries on the woman's body that corroborated her story.

The man told police that he took a knife from the woman and threw it in the back yard. Officers did not find a knife in the back yard. The man said no physical violence took place.

The woman further stated that, after the physical incident took place, she tried to crawl back into the house through an unlocked bedroom window in order to retrieve her cell phone.

Police charged the man with domestic violence. The man's police record includes two prior domestic violence arrests.

Disorderly conduct, Mayfield Road: Just before 2 p.m. Oct. 11, officers on patrol saw a man walk into an alley and urinate.

Police detained the man, who explained, "I just couldn't hold it." He was cited for disorderly conduct.

Fleeing and eluding, Noble Road: At 8 p.m. Oct. 7, an officer on patrol saw a car traveling north on Noble Road with only one working headlight. The officer then conducted a traffic stop.

The suspect car stopped, but then drove off, traveling at 35 mph. Police followed as the car was driven through a red light, made several turns and accelerated to 45 mph.

For safety reasons, the pursuit was terminated after about a half-mile. It was learned that the car is registered to a South Carolina man. Police are following up on the felony fleeing and eluding matter.

OVI, Fairmount Boulevard: At 8:15 p.m. Oct. 14, an officer responded to a call of a car crash at Lee Road and Fairmount Boulevard.

Police spoke with one of the drivers, a man, 47, who smelled of alcohol, spoke with slurred speech and had bloodshot, glassy eyes. When asked if he had had any alcohol to drink that day, the man replied that he had had one drink of vodka.

The driver failed field sobriety tests and was later found to have a blood-alcohol content of .117, above the state minimum for drunk driving of .08. In his car, police found an open 16-ounce bottle of vodka.

Police charged the man with OVI and failure to maintain an assured clear distance.

If you would like to discuss the police blotter, please visit our crime and courts comments page.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A 41-year-old woman faces felony charges after she admitted to investigators that she fabricated a rape allegation against Parma Heights Police Chief Steve Scharschmidt, according to officials.

Sylvia Davis of Brooklyn came clean about her allegations after state agents confronted her with multiple inconsistencies in her story as well as cellphone records that showed Google searches that included the phrase "can you go to jail for lying about a cop raping you," prosecutors said.

A grand jury handed up an 11-count indictment Thursday charging Davis with extortion, intimidation, tampering with evidence and tampering with records.

She is set for a Nov. 1 arraignment in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court.

"Chief Scharschmidt is an outstanding police officer and it is appalling that this conniving individual would fabricate this story out of sheer greed," Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Michael O'Malley told cleveland.com.

Scharschmidt said in a phone interview with cleveland.com that the ordeal had been difficult on him, and hoped the charges against Davis send a message that police officers are not targets.

"We endure a lot as police officers. I know what I signed up for and all policeman do," he said. "But not something like this. This was just so wrong on a lot of levels."

Davis could not be reached for comment, and no attorney is listed in court records.

Prosecutors are not sure what motivated Davis to fabricate the allegation. The charge of extortion seems to indicate investigators believe she may have had a financial motivation, but Scharschmidt said Davis never asked him for money.

Davis came forward to Cuyahoga County Sheriff's Department investigators on Aug. 15 and filed a written report accusing Scharschmidt of raping her three weeks earlier, on July 26, according to records.

Davis is well-known to the Parma Heights police department, including Scharschmidt. She has previous arrests for petty theft in 2014 and was prosecuted for felony aggravated theft in 2015. She was charged in Parma Municipal Court with misdemeanor counts of falsification and solicitation in September. That case is still pending.

Scharschmidt, a former detective, sergeant and captain in the department who had been appointed as chief a month before, said Davis told investigators that he picked her up in a car while she was walking along a street and told her she owed him a favor from a previous case. She then claimed that Scharschmidt drove her back to his office at the police station and raped her, he said.

The sheriff's department turned the case over to the Ohio Attorney General Office's Bureau of Criminal Investigation. Agents with the bureau interviewed Davis the same day, court records say.

Scharschmidt told investigators that he went to Yorktown Lanes on the night that Davis said the assault occurred. He said his mother fell down and hurt herself, and he and other family members took her to a hospital to get checked out, where they spent much of the evening.

Surveillance video backed up his story, prosecutors said.

As investigators dug further, they found multiple inconsistencies in Davis's version of the events.

The car she described as Scharschmidt's did not match the one he drove, and the sketch that she drew of his office, where she said the rape occurred, was not accurate, prosecutors said.

Agents found the Google search on her cellphone, as well as searches of "can you go to jail for lying to police on a police report" and "Parma Heights sex scandal," prosecutors said.

They confronted her with the evidence and, 13 days after she first reported the rape, she confessed to making it up, prosecutors said.

Scharschmidt, a married father of two adult children, said his family supported him through the allegations. He trusted that the investigation would vindicate him, but it was still trying, he said.

"I was pretty frustrated that she put me through that," Scharschmidt said. "I'm fortunate that BCI worked hard at this and in 13 days got to the truth."

To comment on this story, please visit Friday's crime and courts comments page.
CLEVELAND, Ohio - Our brunch and breakfast series continues as we check out Fire Food and Drink in Shaker Square. Here's a look at what to expect:

Location + hours: 13220 Shaker Square, Cleveland. Weekend brunch hours: 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

Menu or buffet? Menu.

About the place: Doug Katz' restaurant in Shaker Square has a busy open kitchen that keeps the dishes flowing. Great energy in the space. Some parking spaces are out front with a nearby lot available. Note: The farmers market can add to crowds on Saturdays. There is a patio. Our very friendly and animated server Katie was quick with coffee and helpful hints about the menu.

About the menu: A dining pal tried the egg sandwich, made with local eggs, naan bread, tomato, lettuce and home fries. (She was able to get hollandaise instead of simply mayonnaise.) Filling, fresh and tasty. The local beef smoked pastrami hash - with potato, gruyere, honey dijon aioli, fennel, apple, arugula (and a fried egg, of course) was a bowlful of contrasts. Arugula gave a bit of bitterness while the thinly sliced apple offered some sweetness. The gruyere melted wonderfully on the bottom with the potatoes. Interesting take on hash. A rice side dish, spiced with cumin and cardamom, was delicious, prompting my friend to wish she has this instead of potatoes with her egg sandwich. It also included onions - some cooked within, come crispy atop the dish.

Don't miss: "This was all good," my pal says, "but I could have lived on the sticky bun. That was amazing." The fresh bun is served warmed, with the frosting and airy bun basically melting in your mouth. (It's a popular item; our server told us the restaurant once ran out of them at 11 a.m., leading to a few pouting faces and near revolt.)

Varied menu: There's clearly something for all types of breakfast eaters. You can get rich-tasting vanilla mascarpone French toast or barbecue-glazed duck confit cheddar grits, green tomato jam and poached local egg. Breakfast sandwiches include croque madame while starters include a few salads and lighter options.

Have a brunch spot you've wondered about and want us to visit? Email me.

Previous eats: Northeast Ohio breakfast-brunch spots we've tried:

111 Bistro - Medina

35 Brix - Green

Akron Family Restaurant - Akron

Alley Cat - Cleveland (Flats East Bank)

Bay Diner - Bay Village

Beau's on the River - Cuyahoga Falls

Big Al's Diner - Cleveland (East Side)

Blue Canyon Kitchen & Tavern - Twinsburg

Blue Door Cafe - Cuyahoga Falls

Bomba Tacos & Rum - Akron

Bonefish Grill - Independence

Brim Kitchen + Brewery - Willoughby

Burntwood Tavern - Brecksville

Check Please Cafe - Grafton

The Cheesecake Factory - Lyndhurst

The City Diner - Cleveland

City Works - Orange Village

Creekside Restaurant & Bar - Brecksville

The Eye Opener - Akron

Fat Cats - Cleveland (Tremont)

First Watch - Fairlawn

Flour - Moreland Hills

Flury's Cafe - Cuyahoga Falls

Flying Fig - Cleveland (Ohio City)

Fred's Diner - Akron

Fresh Start Diner - Twinsburg

Gabe's Family Restaurant - Cleveland

Gandalf's Pub & Restaurant - Valley City

The Girves Brown Derby - Medina

Hofbrauhaus - Cleveland (Downtown)

Jennifer's - Strongsville

Kelly's cafe - Brunswick

Lamp Post - Akron

Luxe Kitchen & Lounge - Cleveland (Gordon Square)

Michael's A.M. - Akron

Mom's Deli & Grille - North Royalton

Mustard Seed Market & Cafe - Fairlawn

Noble Beast Brewing Co. - Cleveland (Downtown)

Perk Cup Cafe & Grill - Berea

Punch Bowl Social - Cleveland (Flats East Bank)

Rosewood Grill - Hudson

Soho Chicken + Whiskey - Cleveland (Ohio City)

Tartine Bistro - Rocky River

Tony's Family Restaurant - Parma

Twisted Citrus - Canton

Urban Farmer - Cleveland (Downtown)

Valley Cafe - Akron

Village Diner - Orange

Wally Waffle - Akron

Yours Truly - Mentor
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The National Weather Service in Cleveland issued a severe thunderstorm warning for Cuyahoga County until 5:15 p.m. Saturday.

Parts of Lake and Ashtabula counties were also under a severe thunderstorm warning until 5:30 p.m.

Severe Thunderstorm Warning including Painesville OH, Ashtabula OH, Conneaut OH until 5:30 PM EDT pic.twitter.com/Xc8nYdECNK  NWS Cleveland (@NWSCLE) October 20, 2018

NWS cautioned the area about winds of up to 60 or 70 mph and the potential for penny-sized hail.

"These strong winds are ahead of a storm that has dissipated and you may not hear thunder/see lightning, but expect wind gusts up to 70 mph and tree damage in the warning," NWS tweeted three minutes after the agency issued the first warning.

The storm caused tens of thousands of FirstEnergy customers in Northeast Ohio to lose power, according to FirstEnergy's website.

FirstEnergy estimates power will be restored to most customers by 4 p.m. Sunday.
COLUMBUS, Ohio--David T. Daniels, the longtime director of the Ohio Department of Agriculture, has been fired by Gov. John Kasich because of his resistance to the governor's anti-algal bloom policies, an administration source said Friday.

Daniels, who has served as Kasich's ag director since 2012, "was let go because of his prolonged and active opposition to the governor's efforts to improve Lake Erie water quality," according to the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Tim Derickson, a former Republican state representative from Butler County who served as Daniels' assistant director, has been sworn in as interim director, Kasich's office announced in a release on Friday. The release did not state why Daniels left.

It's still unclear exactly what Daniels did to oppose Kasich on the issue of water quality. But in July, Kasich issued a controversial executive order allowing the Department of Agriculture to impose new rules on farmers to limit fertilizer runoff that contributes to the toxic blooms in Lake Erie.

The Lake Erie blooms drew nationwide attention in 2014 when they forced the city of Toledo's water system to be shut down for three days. Ohio's agricultural industry subsequently agreed to a voluntary program to reduce runoff, but recent research found those efforts haven't done much to stop the blooms.

However, farmers and many state lawmakers have spoken out against Kasich's executive order, saying the governor is moving too fast to pass mandatory requirements and hasn't done enough to work out a solution with farmers.

Kasich's office declined comment Friday evening. Neither a Department of Agriculture spokesman nor Derickson immediately returned phone calls, and Daniels couldn't be immediately reached for comment.
Tha Pae Gate, which dates back to the 13th century, is part of an historic wall that forms a square around Chiang Mai's inner city.

She said she is overwhelmed by the charges against her daughter.

Lee Furlong and Brittney Schneider, both 23, were arrested at a hostel in Chiang Mai on Friday, Thai Rath News reported.

Lieutenant Colonel Teerasak Sripraser told the Metro: "The graffiti says "Scousse Lee".

Tara said Canadian officials told her there is nothing they can do to change local laws in Thailand.

"You would have to know Britteny to know this is not her", said Schneider.

Video footage obtained by Reuters showed the words "Scouser Lee" painted on the wall in an apparent reference to the English city of Liverpool. "She is liked by many, she's got friends everywhere in the country".

"She never did a bad thing in her life".

Police launched a manhunt and Furlong, as well as Canadian woman Brittney Schneider, 23, who was with him at the time and also sprayed "B" on the wall, were arrested Thursday afternoon.

"We've now sent the bail money". "That's been shipped off in the process and she will be released Monday". After that, her daughter will have to remain in Thailand until her trial, which could be in two months, she said.
Officially, the longest Ohio night of 2018 will begin on Friday, Dec. 21 - the winter solstice. But politically, Ohio's longest night may begin on Tuesday, Nov. 6, when polls close, because, at this writing, the contest for governor between Democrat Richard Cordray, of Grove City, and Republican Mike DeWine, of Cedarville, appears exceedingly close.

The Dayton Daily News's Laura Bischoff reported Wednesday on a University of Akron Bliss Institute Poll that showed Cordray and DeWine in a dead heat.

"Overall," according to the institute, "37 percent of voters favor Republican Mike DeWine and 36 percent favor Democrat Richard Cordray .... The remaining one-quarter of voters (27 percent) are undecided." What's more, "If the undecided voters are excluded, Republican DeWine is ahead of Democrat Cordray 51 to 49 percent - well within the survey's margin of error," the institute reported.

The poll queried "a random sample of 1,000 eligible Ohio voters ... by telephone ... between September 10 and October 4, 2018, with a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points," the institute said. The Center for Marketing & Opinion Research LLC conducted the poll.

Ohio's other candidates for governor: The Green Party's Constance Gadell-Newton, of Columbus, and the Libertarian Party's Travis Irvine, of Bexley.

Cordray was an Ohio House member, then state treasurer and attorney general. In 2010, DeWine unseated Cordray as attorney general. Then in 2012, President Barack Obama appointed Cordray as the first director of the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and he was confirmed the following year.

DeWine, before beating Cordray in 2010, had been a state senator and U.S. House member, then Republican Gov. George V. Voinovich's lieutenant governor. In 1994, DeWine won a U.S. Senate seat, but in 2006, now-Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Cleveland Democrat, defeated DeWine.

Given that there's a Republican president in Washington, a midterm election challenge inside Ohio by Democrats should, in theory, give Democrats an edge.(The same would be true if a Democrat were president and Republicans were trying to retire Ohio Democrats.) That is, this year's "out" party (Democrats) should have an advantage over this year's "in" party (Republicans).

Republican Gov. John Kasich, of suburban Columbus, can't seek a third consecutive term. If Ohio's political history is any guide, a Democrat (in this case, Cordray) would likely be Kasich's successor. Why? Because only twice in 100 years - in 1934 (Democrats George White and Martin L. Davey) and 1998 (Republicans Voinovich and Bob Taft) - has an incumbent Ohio governor been succeeded by a governor of the same party.

Still, it's important to recall a maxim of the late Thomas A. Flinn, a Cleveland State University political scientist: "Ohio is now and has long been a competitive two-party state in which the Republicans enjoy the advantage."

Over the last few decades, industrial unions' membership losses and the disappearance of rural Democrats from the Ohio General Assembly have further strengthened Ohio's GOP. That in-built Republican edge wasn't the only reason, but in 2016, Ohioans preferred Donald Trump to Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton by almost 450,000 votes. (Nationally, Clinton beat Trump by 2.87 million votes, but Trump won 304 electoral votes, 34 more than the necessary 270.)

And in 1974, in the wake of Watergate, and President Richard M. Nixon's resignation, Republicans lost 48 U.S. House seats and five U.S. Senate seats. But on that same 1974 day, Ohio voters unseated Democratic Gov. John J. Gilligan - and returned Republican James A. Rhodes to the governorship.

Democrats may well win some statewide executive offices next month (leaving aside, for now, the ultra-tight governorship contest). Those other races are for attorney general (Democrat Steven Dettelbach vs. Republican David Yost); auditor (Libertarian Robert Coogan vs. Republican Keith Faber vs. Democrat Zack Space); secretary of state (Democrat Kathleen Clyde vs. Republican Frank LaRose vs. Libertarian Dustin Nanna) and treasurer (Democrat Rob Richardson vs. Republican Robert Sprague). On Nov. 6 - or Nov. 7 - Ohioans will see who captured what office.

Time was, early in the Democratic Party's history, that when Democrats won, they'd light bonfires. There's no harm in piling logs now. But it's too soon to strike a match. In the race for governor, Ohio's Democrats may well close the deal. So far, they haven't.

Thomas Suddes, a member of the editorial board, writes from Athens.

To reach Thomas Suddes: tsuddes@cleveland.com, 216-999-4689

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William T. McGinty

Seeking to succeed retiring Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Michael E. Jackson for the Jan. 3 term are former Assistant Cleveland Prosecutor Lorraine Coyne, a Republican, and Fairview Park Law Director William T. McGinty, who won the May Democratic primary. Jackson, widely praised for the court's Veterans' Docket, cannot run again because of Ohio's judicial age limits.

Since leaving the city prosecutor's office in mid-June after more than 20 years, Coyne has practiced criminal law with the Jack W. Bradley law firm of Lorain.

Coyne, 67, was the assistant Cleveland prosecutor who in December 2008 decided not to charge suspect Anthony Sowell after a woman told police he'd tried to kidnap, rape and rob her. Less than a year later, the bodies of 11 murdered women were found at 12205 Imperial Avenue, Sowell's Cleveland home. He's now on Death Row. At least six of Sowell's victims are believed to have been killed after December 2008.

Interviewed by phone, Coyne said she and Cleveland Police Sex Crimes Det. Georgia Hussein spent an unusual amount of time reviewing the matter, since the 40-year-old woman had been injured, but that the woman's account of the incident kept changing. Hussein has been sued by families of Sowell's victims -- including one lawsuit the city of Cleveland recently settled for $1 million. Coyne was named as a defendant in at least two of those lawsuits, but the courts have determined she had immunity as a prosecutor.

It's easy to pass judgment in hindsight, but Coyne's failure to ensure that the 2008 allegations against Sowell were more thoroughly investigated raises troubling questions about her care and diligence.

McGinty, 66, law director in Fairview Park since 2015, has been a partner in the McGinty, Hilow & Spellacy law firm since 1980, with a practice focused on criminal and juvenile defense. He advocates a range of efficiencies to manage and expedite litigation and trials in Common Pleas Court.

William T. McGinty is the superior candidate in this race and should be elected to Common Pleas Court in the Jan. 3 term. Early voting has begun.

Early in-person and absentee voting for the Nov. 6 election has begun. For more resources on Cuyahoga County judicial races, consult the Judge4Yourself judicial ratings by four local bar associations, Judicial Votes Count at the University of Akron and the League of Women Voters' voters' guide.

The race for the Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court seat now held by Michael E. Jackson, who cannot run again because of state age limits for judges, pits Fairview Park Law Director William T. McGinty, winner of the Democratic primary, against Republican Lorraine Coyne, a former assistant Cleveland prosecutor. The candidates were interviewed by the editorial board of cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer on Aug. 21, 2018. Listen to full audio of the interview below:

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The first Boeing 787 Dreamliner test plane is the centerpiece of an aviation-themed park at a Japanese airport.

At first, it seems odd that Boeing's first 787 Dreamliner test plane is the main attraction inside an exhibition center that opened this month at the airport in Nagoya, Japan. It may seem even odder that all the retail and dining venues in the hall have a theme  from Seattle.

But it makes sense when you consider that Nagoya-area aerospace manufacturers build 35 percent of the parts for each 787 aircraft  including wings and fuselage sections that are ferried from the Nagoya airport to Boeing assembly plants in Everett, Washington, north of Seattle, and North Charleston, South Carolina. The oversized 747 cargo planes carrying them are dubbed "Dreamlifters."

In 2015, Nagoya's Chubu Centrair International Airport received the first 787 Dreamliner test plane (known as the ZA001) as a gift from Boeing. The airport built the newly opened, multistory "Flight of Dreams" aviation attraction and commercial complex around it.

"Japan is one of the most important and special overseas visitor markets for Seattle, and this permanent exhibition provides a unique opportunity to highlight our destination to millions of potential Japanese visitors," said Tom Norwalk, president & CEO of Visit Seattle. "An opportunity of this magnitude rarely becomes available, let alone in a key visitor market."

Visitors pay admission (about $11 for adults; $7 for kids) to gain to admission to the "Flight Park" on the first floor, where the ZA001 is the center of a variety of interactive and hands-on aviation-related activities.

The second- and third-floor "Seattle Terrace" looks out over the historic airplane. It's lined with well-known Seattle businesses and retailers, including Starbucks, Fran's Chocolates, Beechers Handmade Cheese and Pike Brewing.

CNBC recently got a look at what visitors will find at Nagoya's airport's Flight of Dreams.
President Donald Trump called Saudi Arabia's announcement of arrests in the death of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi a "good first step."

Yet, he added that considers what happened to the writer to be "unacceptable."

The president also said he would work with Congress on the matter, but that he would prefer not to hurt U.S. companies and jobs by cutting billions of dollars in arms sales to the kingdom. Trump has boasted of $110 billion in weapons sales to Saudi Arabia, although the transactions have yet to come to fruition.

Trump said that he wants to talk to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman before the next steps in the process.

Through its state press, Saudi Arabia said arrested 18 Saudi nationals after preliminary investigations linked them to the Khashoggi case.

The president said the death of Khashoggi was a "horrible event" that has not gone "unnoticed."

Trump spoke during a defense roundtable in Arizona, where he was set to hold a political rally. His remarks followed Saudi Arabia's announcement confirming that Khashoggi had indeed been killed.

However, the kingdom said the journalist and critic of the Saudi royal family was killed during an altercation with Saudi operatives at the nation's consulate in Istanbul.

This account is vastly different from previously leaked stories that said Khashoggi was tortured and dismembered. Media reports said that the team who allegedly killed Khashoggi included men linked to the Saudi crown prince, who has denied involvement in the matter.

The White House said in a statement it would continue to press for "justice that is timely, transparent, and in accordance with all due process."

Trump told reporters Friday that he found the Saudi explanation to be credible. However, many others, including Trump ally and Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, weren't buying the latest story.

Graham tweet 1

Graham tweet 2

Graham tweet 3

Republican Senator Rand Paul tweeted: "We should also halt all military sales, aid and cooperation immediately. There must be a severe price for these actions by Saudi Arabia."

Democratic Senator Jack Reed, the Ranking Member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the Saudis were still not coming clean with the truth.

"This appears to have been a deliberate, planned act followed by a cover up," he said in a statement. "You don't bring 15 men and a bone saw to a fist fight with a 60 year old."

 The Associated Press, Reuters and CNBC's Christine Wang and Amanda Macias contributed to this article.
One of the least appreciated aspects of this drama is the influence of Turkish President Erdogan, who has shown the ability, through the well-timed release of crucial details, to fuel the global outrage against Saudi Arabia or tamp it down, driven by his unique mix of outrage and calculus.

Western diplomats believe the Turkish leader's rapid response was driven by a mixture of regional rivalry, religiously motivated disgust and diplomatic cunning. By these accounts, he was outraged that his Saudi neighbors would so brazenly act on Turkish soil and was further inflamed that the victim, Jamal Khashoggi was "a brother"  a long-time friend of the Muslim Brotherhood, the sworn enemies of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Beyond that, Erdogan used the opportunity to weaken Saudi Arabia's rising Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. He at the same time further burnished his image with U.S. President Donald Trump, as U.S.-Turkish relations emerge from a low point.

The timing of the Khashoggi death on Oct. 2 and the Turkish release of American Pastor Andrew Brunson 10 days later from house arrest likely was coincidental. However, Turks hope that their intelligence sharing around the murder, and U.S. distancing from Riyadh, will contribute to their own efforts to further improve relations.

Though Erdogan would never have wished for such a tragedy, Western diplomats say he has thus far he has managed the situation skillfully.

They believe he slowed the release of damning details after it seemed Trump might throw the Saudi crown prince under a bus and following the Saudi king's intervention to repair relations with Turkey. When both Trump and the Saudis appeared to veer from this more cooperative course, the Turkish revelations again accelerated.

Reports primarily in the Washington Post, the New York Times and Sabah, a newspaper close to the Erdogan regime, included details of the two private planes' arrival and departure from Istanbul, and now as well have included the names and ages of their 15 passengers, a dozen of whom have links to Saudi security services. One is now said to be Maher Abdulaziz Mutreb, a frequent travel companion on Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's diplomatic missions.
Republicans who feel Silicon Valley harbors a bias against conservative views are developing their own online networks, according to a Saturday report in The New York Times.

The Times highlighted a new generation of mobile applications made for the National Rifle Association and the Great America pro-Trump political action committee (PAC), which deliver curated partisan news feeds on what are effectively private social media platforms.

These apps are gaining attention at a time when Silicon Valley has been accused repeatedly of using their power to stifle right-leaning voices.

"People with center-right views feel like the big social platforms, Facebook and Twitter, are not sympathetic to their views," said Thomas Peters, CEO of uCampaign, the Washington startup behind the NRA and Great America apps.

Peters added that the apps are "creating a safe space for people who share a viewpoint, who feel like the open social networks are not fun places for them."

While looking to propagate their message outside the offerings of Big Tech ahead of next month's midterm election, these mini-platforms also actually aim to harness the enormous reach of those networks. The Times noted that the right-leaning platforms offer options to post messages on Facebook and Twitter that are scripted by the campaigns.

Democratic candidates, including former President Barack Obama, have used consumer-facing apps to promote their political campaigns and advocacy. This year, Democratic campaigns are also embracing peer-to-peer text messaging, believed to engage younger voters more than stand-alone candidate apps, the Times said.

Meanwhile, uCampaign recently started its own peer-to-peer texting platform, RumbleUp, for conservative campaigns.

The full report can be found on the New York Times' website.
President Donald Trump on Saturday launched a new salvo in the fierce battle over immigration, blasting Democrats for obstructing his efforts to secure the border as thousands of Central American migrants flooded the dividing line between the U.S. and Mexico.

Amid worsening tensions in the White House over refugees from Guatemala and Honduras flocking to the border, Trump took to Twitter and blamed Democrats for being weak on border security. Calling attention to the "horrors taking place on the border," the president urged Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-California, to work with the White House on a solution.

If the Democrats would stop being obstructionists and come together, we could write up and agree to new immigration laws in less than one hour. Look at the needless pain and suffering that they are causing. Look at the horrors taking place on the Border. Chuck & Nancy, call me!

With the November midterms just 17 days away, Trump has become more vocal about the border crisis. At an election rally on Friday in front of thousands of supporters in Arizona, a state bordered by Mexico.

"Democrats want to throw your borders wide open to criminals. I want to build a wall," Trump told the crowd. "The Democrats don't care that a flood of illegal immigration is going to bankrupt our country."

The president held a rally in rural Nevada on Saturday afternoon. Meanwhile, former Vice President Joe Biden was also in Nevada, headlining a get-out-the vote rally for Democrats in Las Vegas.

The president and Republicans are trying to fire up their base ahead of next month's hotly-contested election, in an effort to stave off a possible "blue wave" that could see Democrats elected in large numbers.

Trump has reportedly become frustrated by efforts to stymie his tough stance on immigration, an issue that launched his 2016 election bid. Several publications this week reported an expletive-filled shouting match between White House Chief of Staff John Kelly and National Security Adviser John Bolton over the issue, sparking new concerns Kelly could resign.

In September, the president signed a spending bill to keep the government open, despite previously calling the measure "ridiculous" because it did not include funding for a wall along the southern border. White House budget director Mick Mulvaney told CNBC shortly after the House followed the Senate in passing the funding measure that the administration would take up the wall issue after the midterms.
At around 2pm, Singapore time, the Chinese Yuan was at 6.94 against the U.S. dollar, edging closer to the psychological barrier price of 7 per dollar.

"These pose major challenges to achieving fairer and more balanced trade, and we will continue to monitor and review China's currency practices, including through ongoing discussions with the People's Bank of China", said U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin, as per the statement. These include hacking into US companies' computers to steal trade secrets and forcing American firms to hand over technology to China in exchange for access to the Chinese market.

That helps Chinese exporters cope with tariffs of up to 25 percent imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump in a fight over Beijing's technology policy.

"We want to make sure that we don't have gains on trade issues only to be offset on currency issues", Mnuchin said in an interview with CNN on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund's annual meeting in Bali, Indonesia.

The six major trading partners on the Treasury monitoring list for currency practices are China, Japan, Republic of Korea, India, Germany and Switzerland.

China's foreign ministry welcomed the report and said it reflected "common sense and the consensus of the worldwide community".

The Report on Macroeconomic and Foreign Exchange Policies of Major Trading Partners of the United States concluded that while the currency practices of six countries "require close attention", no major USA trading partner now met the 2015 legislative criteria for enhanced analysis. Still, Treasury is critical of Beijing for not pursuing more market-based reforms that could bolster confidence in the renminbi, that has depreciated significantly.

In August, with the US-China trade dispute escalating, there was concern in the US that China, the largest non-US holder of Treasuries, would retaliate by paring its holdings. That would raise borrowing costs at a time when communist leaders are trying to shore up cooling growth.

Governments manipulate currency by keeping the exchange rates artificially low to make its goods and services cheaper on the world market.

Yi Gang, governor of the People's Bank of China, the central bank, said last week that China will continue to let the market "play a decisive role" in the formation of the RMB exchange rate. Foreign investors continued to buy more Chinese domestically-traded shares than they sold for a seventh straight month.

The Treasury Department further noted that it places significant importance on China adhering to its commitments to refrain from engaging in competitive devaluation and to not target China's exchange rate for competitive purposes. Beijing is not a currency manipulator but China's exchange rate practices and the yuan's recent weakness are of "particular concern". For instance, the PBOC can use its "counter-cyclical factor" in the calculation of the yuan reference rate to limit the pace and extent of the currency's fall.
David Mytton: So you want more employee company ownership? The answer seems to be less government intervention  not more.

David Mytton was the CEO of his own UK-based software startup from 2009-2018, before it was acquired by a US cyber security business. He now runs product engineering for the acquirer and advises a number of London startup venture investment firms.

Employee ownership of company shares is a good idea. As an employer, you want your team to be incentivised towards the success of the business. Thats why its fairly standard for startup companies to offer generous stock options as part of the compensation package when competing in the hiring market. Linking employee effort to shareholder returns seems like a reasonable goal.

Unfortunately, its not quite as simple as that.

To begin with, options are just that: the option to purchase stock in the future at a price fixed today. You dont actually own anything  only the potential to own something in the future. Options are used by new firms because the actual valuation of the company is often uncertain, and startups are typically unprofitable for some time, so dividends are not paid.

They are also used to encourage employees to stay with the business. It is usual to have vesting terms whereby the employee must stay with the company for at least a year, and then a certain proportion of the options vest over a period of years. This encourages employees to stay, which is good for the company. But if they do want to leave, they only have 90 days to exercise those options  assuming they have the cash to exchange them for stock. In the US, that limit is ten years.

Options are a necessary instrument because ,if you do decide to give someone stock, that stock is an asset which has a value. And that value incurs a tax charge in a similar way that giving someone cash would incur income tax. Its simply considered an employment-related benefit, and so HMRC says it must be taxed.

But what if youre given stock in a company that isnt yet public? A large company might have a private valuation, but not have floated on the stock market. The stock is not easily tradable and has no public value, so employees are left with a tax charge against a theoretical valuation that must be paid in cash.

Of course, there is a mechanism to protect employees from that tax charge today, deferring it to the future  the so-called s431 election that must be signed within 14 days of the grant. If you forget, or dont know, you might find you have to pay a significant amount. Hopefully your accountant is paying attention. Assuming you have an accountant?

This is just the beginning of the complex rules around employee company ownership, all built up over time, no doubt, to try and balance the benefit of employee stock ownership with the challenges of tax avoidance through elaborate corporate structuring. Perhaps the reason why employee ownership is so low is because of the unreasonable complexity?

Simplifying the tax code is where we should be focused. Not with a possible future Labour Government forcing companies to issue up to 10 per cent of stock to a collectively managed fund. A ten per cent stake is significant, particularly for the largest companies, and would mean material dilution for other shareholders. The ownership makeup of UK shareholders is not just individuals (who only make up only 12 per cent) but unit trusts, pension funds, insurance providers, and over 50 per cent of stock market ownership is foreign investment. When there is a sudden, unexpected transfer of wealth forced by central government, how would investor confidence be affected?

The structure of Labours proposed ownership fund itself is also unclear. How would the managers of the fund get elected? What voting rights would they have? What kind of employee is interested in getting involved, and what would that mean for the kind of actions they pursue? Shareholders rarely have all the information available to the executive team, even if they are part of the ordinary workforce: indeed, that is why operational responsibility is delegated to executives. Active management by activist shareholders is unusual and often drastic. A more pragmatic proposal to involve employees in key decisions is through worker representation on boards  then they at least have information rights to understand and participate in those decisions.

Linking employee benefits to the success of the business is a good incentive and gives workers a meaningful stake in the output of their efforts. But if this is indeed the goal, why is there a 500 annual cap? This is a clearly misaligned incentive: why put any more effort in once you hit the bonus level? There is a big altruistic assumption that employees would work more just for the benefit of the state, an assumption already disproved with the exodus of high earners during the period of extreme income tax bands in the 1970s.

When something isnt working, the solution is rarely for the Government to force a solution that only involves first-order thinking. Employees dont own enough of their company? Lets have the government force them!? No. We must think deeper and consider the root cause. If the rules were a lot easier to understand and the tax implications less onerous, aligning incentives would be much more appealing, making employee ownership easier and more popular. Rather than more government intervention, the answer seems to be the opposite.
There was great indignation this morning about a new job for Nick Clegg. Having been ejected by the voters of Sheffield Hallam at last years General Election he has been recruited by Facebook as their Vice-President for Global Affairs and Communications. He will be paid a 1 million a year and move to California. Its a lot of money  but I suspect he will provide the company with good value. A big part of his role will be to push the European Union to make the regulatory regime as advantageous as possible for his employer. Surely with Cleggs experience and contacts he will prove a top notch lobbyist of the EU. With all its secrecy and complexity and its vast legal remit the EU is an organisation where lobbyists can thrive.

As Enoch Powell declared in 1982:

The institutions of the EEC create an ever-expanding vested interest on the part of those who service them, to whom this becomes a livelihood and a way of life. Quite apart from politicians, there is the multitude of lobbyists, purporting to represent almost every interest with which the Common Market might interfere, who have thus gained an illimitable extension to the parasitical profession of go-betweens and know-somebody-who-knows-somebody else.

The perfect milieu for Clegg. Whether he will enjoy the time he spends in Silicon Valley rather than Brussels is a bit more doubtful. A couple of years ago he wrote:

I actually find the messianic Californian new-worldy-touchy-feely culture of Facebook a little grating.

In any event some of those marching this morning for the EU referendum result to be overturned might quietly grumble to themselves that Cleggs timing was less than helpful to their cause. I want to hear talk of a new referendum in the post office queue, not the foyer of the Royal Opera, declared the devoted Remainer pundit, Matthew Parris, this morning in The Times. Clegg has burnished his credentials as the ultimate citizen of nowhere, to use David Goodharts phrase. In seeking to build a popular revolt against Brexit the Remainers seek to extend their base beyond the metropolitan elite; somehow Cleggs timing doesnt help..

The news also reflects a wider malaise in British politics  the decline in the status of the House of Lords. Clegg, when he was Deputy Prime Minister, managed to secure lots more bottoms of mediocre Lib Dem functionaries on the red benches. But he has declined to join them himself. He has the excuse that he objects to its undemocratic nature. Senior politicians in the past, such as Michael Foot, have declined the chance of a peerage on the same grounds. Indeed in the case of Tony Benn fought vigorously to avoid being forced to join. However there is also the intrusive aspect that membership of the House of Lords involves in being required to publish financial interests. It is generally felt that this consideration put off David Cameron, Tony Blair, and Sir John Major from joining.

Sir Edward Heath didnt accept a peerage either. But then he stayed on in the House of Commons until 2001  sulking away magnificently for a full 16 years after being overthrown by Margaret Thatcher as Tory leader.

James Callaghan and Harold Wilson both stayed on as MPs for several years after leaving Downing Street  and then accepted peerages. Of course Margaret Thatcher also joined the House of Lords. It is hard to imagine any of them having instead opted to be press officers for some 1980s equivalent of Mark Zuckerberg.

Even those who are members dont always make the most of it. For instance if Lord Hague has something interesting to say he will tend to save it up for his Telegraph column. Or Lord Finkelstein for his Times column.

The reform of the hereditary peers by the Blair Government has made matter worse. The expedient of the quota of hereditary peers being filled using by-elections with a tiny electorate has proved a bit of a joke. But like so many temporary measures introduced by politicians it has become rather a fixture, Cynicism over using peerages to reward donors to Party funds or to encourage MPs to retire so that someone can have their seat is not new  but has probably grown.

I would suggest that abolishing the tax free 300 a day daily attendance allowance which peers receive for clocking in should be abolished. That would help ensure that those who serve do so with the right motives.

The number of new peers created should be limited so that the size of the upper House can gradually diminish. But those that put through should be of higher calibre. Paul has suggested that future Conservative nominees include Eamonn Butler, Ruth Lea, Charles Moore and Roger Scruton.

Many academics and others favour drastic reform of the Lords. But I suspect this would make matters worse. I will not rehearse agan the well worn objection to an elected upper house  essentially that it would well and truly gum up the works.

While it might be diminished the House of Lords remains an important constitutional asset and should be handled with care. Perhaps if serving Prime Ministers and party leaders made more effort over appointments then why they become ex Prime Ministers and Party leaders they might find the prospect of serving there themselves more tempting. As it is there is a risk of a downward spiral. With the quality of debate declining the figures of greatest authority and experience have less and less wish to be part of it.
Not everyone looks back on the period of Conservative Government from 1992 to 1997 as a time of national renaissance.

For one thing the Government was beset by divisions over the issue of our relationship with the European Union. There was a weak Prime Minister undermined by speculation over leadership contests. There was also a lack of an effective majority in the House of Commons to push through Government business. Few of us would wish to revisit such a fraught and unhappy era

Yet there was a development which took place on May 27th 1993 which proved to be of lasting value. Michael Howard was appointed Home Secretary. He has recounted what happened:

I was given a briefing by Home Office civil servants. They showed me a graph, which clearly displayed the trend in crime. It vividly demonstrated that crime had increased inexorably, relentlessly and almost without interruption under Administrations of all political complexions for 50 years. They said, This is whats happened to crime in the past 50 years and what will continue to happen in the next 50 years. The first thing you must recognise, Home Secretary, is that there is nothing you can do about it. Your job is to manage public expectations in the face of the inevitability of rising crime. 

But rather than passively accept the advice of his sophisticated and liberally minded officials Howard came up with a bold alternative. Prison works, became his catchphrase. When he took over there were 44,256 prisoners. During his tenure there was a rapid growth of 24,200 driven by a rise in volumes of offenders receiving custodial sentences, as custody rates went up from 16 per cent to 25 per cent. All very crude and simplistic. Except it did work. Crime fell by 18 per cent when Howard was at the Home Office. There were a million fewer crimes in 1997 than there had been in 1993.

In very general terms the trend has remained favourable. Howards Labour successors would do some triangulating third-way tut tutting  but then quietly continued his tough approach. The prisons were not emptied  on the contrary the numbers incarcerated continued to rise. The latest figure is 83,364. When David Cameron was Prime Minister crime fell by 20 per cent.

But recently crime has started to increase. This week the figures from the Office of National Statistics offered grim confirmation of that. It is true that the rise has been significantly worse in London. That is an indictment of the record of the Labour Mayor, Sadiq Khan. On his watch knife crime has risen by 50 per cent. The murder rate in London has become worse than New York. But we also need to face up to the reality that crime has increased outside the Capital.

Various caveats apply. Given that crime has fallen in other countries as well, was Howard just in the right place at the right time? No  but technological advances have certainly helped too. Doesnt rehabilitation matter as well as just keeping the criminals off the streets? Yes, as Howard is the first to agree. What about the causes of crime? Indeed  reducing the number of children languishing in care, better order in the classroom, an end to building tower blocks. The list goes on.

Then keeping track of the crime trend is a bit tricky. In categories where crime (such as sexual offences) has officially increased some of that may be due to be more thorough methods of recording it. Also not only do we deal with two crime measures  the number of offences logged by the police and the estimate extrapolated from the Crime Survey, based on interviews with 50,000 members of the public  but over the years there have been changes in the calculations. During the Labour Government recorded crime rose, including violent crime, but the Crime Survey indicated a fall.

In a way, measuring crime according to the total number is a bit silly. Last year I got a pile of letters, perhaps a dozen or more, through the door thanking me for applying for various credit cards  by the next post came another batch of letters logging that these had been detected as fraudulent applications. So I suppose I could say I was the victim of a dozen crimes  but I didnt lose any money. Given the fraud was detected so quickly the criminals didnt make any money. Still those crimes were logged  but, of course, others mattered far more.

To take another example the latest crime figures show that there has been a decrease in computer viruses. That is most welcome. But the fear of dopily clicking on something on the keyboard that installs a bug  and then having to pay a technician 50 to come round and debug the computer hardly equates to the ordeal of burglary, robbery, rape or murder.

Anyway lets accept that, very broadly, for more than a couple of decades the menace of crime has been diminishing. But that it is now getting worse again.

The Mayor of London, the Labour Party, the Police Federation, and others will say that more public spending is the answer. But as noted above crime fell during the Cameron years even though spending fell. Much of the police budget does not go on front line policing. Also at least as important as how many police officers we have is what they do  their priorities, their powers, how they spend their time.

The scaling back of stop and search has been a terrible mistake  for which black teenagers have been the greatest victims.

There certainly should not be a focus on pursuing those whose religious beliefs lead them to denounce homosexuality or transgenderism. This sort of indulgence is an affront to free speech at the best of times. But when real crime is rising then pursuing thought crime is particularly outrageous. So the police in Nottinghamshire will grumble about a lack of resources to pursue thieves  but can find the time to go after wolf-whistling scaffolders.

There is a constraint in chasing moped thieves  due to health and safety concerns and the incompetence and politicisation of the Crown Prosecution Service. We used to think that traffic legislation did not need to give specific exemptions to the police who are in pursuit of criminals. It was assumed that the CPS would exercise common sense. Those days are long gone.

We should not be defeatist now, anymore than Michael Howard was in 1993. But do lets remember what we are in politics for. Just as a Conservative Government should be ensuring wider home ownership and a lower burden of taxation, a falling crime rate should be absolutely key to our mission.
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.
This week we learn from the GAO that more than 1 million public servants have applied to certify their work and their student loan payments as qualifying for Public Service Loan Forgiveness. The number seems to be growing by about 300,000 annually. These teachers, child care workers, firefighters, soldiers, police officers, nurses, prosecutors, and public defenders, are facing a gauntlet of needlessly complex and exacting rules to receive the debt relief Congress promised them.

According to the GAO report, 40% of the tens of thousands of rejected applicants were found not to have made the required 120 monthly payments. The Department of Education's regulations for the program, 34 CFR 685.219, require that there be 120 "separate" monthly payments, that every payment be made within fifteen days of the due date, in the required amount, and under a qualifying repayment plan. This creates all sorts of problems, for example, when a servicer delays posting a timely payment until day 16, or a borrower has an emergency and makes 2 payments in a lump sum, or especially for borrowers who receive employer or law school assistance in making their payments. The "every month by day 15" rule was not written by Congress. The statute, Section 455(m) of the Higher Education Act, requires only that public servants have made 120 monthly payments under a qualifying plan. A less procrustean payment rule would be an easy regulatory fix.

Only Federal Direct loans qualify, not private or guaranteed loans. However, borrowers can use a Direct Consolidation loan in many cases to convert ineligible student loans into eligible loans.

The statute also requires that the public servant have been in a qualifying full-time job "during the period in which the borrower makes each of the 120 payments. . . ." This requirement has also been interpreted strictly by the Department, and may create problems for public servants changing jobs or job assignments, teaching for only part of the year, and so forth. It also appears that some simple technology fixes could go a long way towards fixing the problems. For example, a public servant's monthly loan statement could show a running total of months earned towards the 120 total required, perhaps with two check boxes for timely payment, and qualifying work.

Another obvious fix is to provide assistance for public servants whose applications were rejected, to calculate exactly what they need to do to finish making 120 qualifying payments and receive their discharge. The problems with this program are being widely reported. What is needed now are solutions from Congress, the Education Department, and the servicer (PHEAA/FedLoan.)
Acting BCFP CFPB Director Mick John Michael Mulvaney announced this week that the CFPB would be undertaking a rulemaking to define "abusive," the third part of the UDAAP triad . The CFPB's key organic power is to prohibit unfair, deceptive, and abusive acts and practices. Unfair and abusive have statutory definitions, whereas deceptive does not, but "abusive" is a new addition to the traditional UDAP duo of unfair and deceptive. Mr. Mulvaney suggests that a definitional rulemaking is necessary so that regulated entities will know what the law is.

"Abusive" basically means nothing more than unfair or deceptive. By my count, the CFPB has brought some 206 enforcement actions to date. Of these, the CFPB brought "abusive" claims in only 27 cases, and in all but one of those cases, the actions alleged to be abusive were also alleged to be either unfair or deceptive. All 27 "abusive" cases were brought under Director Cordray.

Given the way the CFPB has deployed "abusive" to date, it's hard to see what the concern about "uncertain law." The CFPB really hasn't used enforcement actions as a proxy for rulemaking, at least with the "abusive" power. At best, the CFPB has deployed "abusive" as a sort of belt-and-suspenders pleading strategy. If I were advising a financial institution client, I'd say that there was little to worry about with the new "abusive" power. The Mulvaney CFPB won't use it at all, and even under the supposedly radical Cordray Directorship, it didn't have any bite. In other words, there's not an actual problem here of unclear law as appliedthere's not even that an issue on which one can disagree.

It's not at all clear to me that a Mulvaney CFPB will be able to finalize an "abusive" rulemaking before 2021. Such a rulemaking would presumably have to go through the SBREFA process and also through consultation with federal prudential regulators. It will also be required to contain a cost-benefit analysis. And the rule will be automatically subject to a reassessment within 5 years (but it could be less). All of the frictions that exist on CFPB rulemaking apply here as well. And then there's the fact that "abusive" has a statutory definition and a legislative history that substantially limits what can be done with a rulemaking. Defining terms like "unreasonable advantage" or "materially interferes" without being arbitrary and capricious will be challenging. All of this means that there is a host of potential Administrative Procedures Act (and Consumer Financial Protection Act) challenges to any ruleboth on the process and on the substance of the rule being "arbitrary and capricious."

A final observation. While I assume that Mulvaney's interest in a rulemaking is to cabin off the "abusive" power, it would actually have one surprising effect: it would enhance the enforcement authority of state attorneys general. The Consumer Financial Protection Act allows for its enforcement by state attorneys general. But the state AGs are not allowed to bring UDAAP actions against national banks or federal savings associations except under a UDAAP rulemaking done by the CFPB. Once the CFPB does a UDAAP rulemaking of any sort, state AGs will be able to bring suits alleging "abusive" behavior against national banks and federal savings associations. I suspect that Mr. Mulvaney hasn't considered that. But I can think of some rather influential financial institutions that might not want a UDAAP rulemaking, even if it is a restrictive one....
P&O Cruises Australia has that the Pacific Explorer will make Brisbane her new homeport starting in October 2020.

P&O Australia said that since 2012 more than one million Queenslanders have cruised with P&O; and almost three quarters of them have sailed from Brisbane.

This year, Queensland will source some 220,000 P&O guests, the company said.

The Pacific Explorers first round-trip cruise from Brisbane will be the seven-night Pacific Island Hopper itinerary departing on October 24, 2020, followed by a seven-night Main Event themed cruise to the Melbourne Cup.

The Pacific Explorer will replace the Pacific Dawn which has been sailing from Brisbane since December 2009. The Dawn will continue to sail from Brisbane until the Pacific Explorer arrives, with a 2020 program scheduled from April to October.

She will continue to cruise from Brisbane until October 2020 offering guests a new 14-night "Bounty Adventure," part of P&Os new Voyages cruises.

P&O Cruises President Sture Myrmell said Pacific Explorers move to Brisbane will provide Queenslanders with new onboard activities as well as the chance to experience some exciting destinations as part of the Voyages concept.

We are pleased to soon offer Brisbane guests our flagship Pacific Explorer and the chance to enjoy the features that this ship brings including two new 'fast-casual' dining options: Luke's, a poolside grill by Australian chef and restaurateur Luke Mangan and 400 Gradi, a traditional Neapolitan pizzeria by award-winning Melbourne chef Johnny Di Francesco," said Myrmell.

Relaxation and good times will also be on the menu in Pacific Explorer's elegant new small bar, The Bonded Store, featuring a cocktail list created in partnership with Sydney-based award-winning Archie Rose Distilling Co, as well as whisky and gin-making classes.

Guests can also enjoy a cocktail or two on the upper deck playing outdoor lawn bowls  an Australian cruise ship first or sit back and enjoy the Love Riot show featuring world-class dance, comedy, circus and acrobatics from internationally acclaimed Australian director Scott Maidment, the creative mastermind behind Madonnas Rebel Heart Tour. There really will be something for everyone sailing with P&O from Brisbane.

The new 2020 program will feature 43 round-trip cruises from Brisbane including 18 three-night themed cruises and four-night short cruises visiting Airlie Beach.

There are also longer cruises including a 12-night Fiji Adventure itinerary, four10-night New Guinea Island Encounter cruises and an 11-night New Guinea Island Encounter.
BRIDGEPORT  Downtown businesses this week warned City Hall not to increase the charges on hundreds of new parking meters, at least in the near term.

The municipal budget the City Council and Mayor Joe Ganim finalized in May included $150,000 in new parking revenues for raising parking meter violations from $20 to $30. City officials are also considering eliminating free Saturday parking downtown.

The council last summer reduced meter fines  they had been $40  and established free Saturdays after the failed rollout of new, camera-equipped downtown parking meters. Critics said that the cutting edge technology, used to issue tickets by mail, was poorly advertised and too aggressive, hurting the neighborhoods fragile economy.

Those meters were recently replaced with camera-less technology and a return to the citys reliance on flesh-and-blood parking enforcement officers to issue tickets.

You guys did a phenomenal job on the recent changeover, Kelvin Ayala, owner of Moes Burger Joint and a small business leader, told public facilities officials Thursday. Its the feeling of the merchants we should just let things be and the dust settle.

Ayala presented Public Facilities Director John Ricci and Steven Auerbach, hired this year by Ricci to oversee the new meters and parking enforcement, with a petition signed by 50 businesses who want the meter charges to remain what they are now.

Lauren Coakley Vincent, president of the Downtown Special Services District, which works to promote the neighborhood, also attended Thursdays meeting, along with Phil Pires, chairman of her board. They sided with Ayala.

DSSD is comfortable saying we are in alignment with the merchants and it (the meter fines) should not go up, Coakley Vincent told Ricci and Auberbach. Were fine, for the moment, with Saturday no-enforcement.

Last year, the DSSD under different leadership supported the $20 meter violations but opposed free parking on Saturdays.

At some point, were going to need Saturday enforcement, Pires added. The question is, is it now?

Ricci said he will convey what he was told to the council. Though the $150,000 revenues were included in the budget, the council still must vote on the necessary changes to the meter fines and to the Saturday parking rules.

I hear you loud and clear, Ricci said.

A few cameras return

The plea against changes was not universal. Phil Kuchma, who has redeveloped several buildings on Fairfield Avenue and Golden Hill for housing, restaurants and retail, pushed back against Ayala during the meeting: I think meters should be used on Saturdays and probably Sundays.

Otherwise, Kuchma said, downtown residents who park in garages or lots leave their cars on the streets, taking up visitor spaces.

Auerbach agreed with Kuchma, telling Ayala, On a Saturday, if all residents are parking all along Main Street, how are people going to patronize your business?

But Ayala argued there is still plenty of parking: The concept downtown is booming on Saturday and Sunday, its not true.

All present agreed they wanted tougher enforcement of parking in illegal areas  loading zones, near fire hydrants and in bus stops or crosswalks. Coakley Vincent suggested that might make up for some of the parking revenue increases counted on in the budget.

Toward that end, Auerbach announced that cameras downtown would make a very modest return at months end. He called the new cameras safety sticks  cameras mounted on gray polls just a few feet high being installed in various trouble spots to monitor for illegal parkers who pull in front of fire hydrants, bus stops and other forbidden locations.

Itll be a ticket in the mail, Auerbach said. Tough. Its illegal. Youre parked there. You should know better.

But Auerbach emphasized the new cameras will not be used to patrol the meters and will not go live until they are well-publicized and new signage and street markings are in place.

Pires said the more publicity the safety sticks receive, the better. And, Pires said, public facilities must make it clear, Were not returning to camera meters. This is isolated.

Kuchma also broached a sensitive subject for City Hall  expanding the new parking meters to other economic corridors in town, specifically the Black Rock neighborhood with its restaurant and retail scene, So downtowns not being picked on.

It would help the economy of the city and be a more fair approach, Kuchma said.

Ricci said that is not his decision to make and he has received no formal request from the mayor or council to consider it.
BRIDGEPORT  A Shelton man faces charges after he was caught with an unregistered gun and about 4 grams of heroin, a police report said.

Javon Thorbourne, 24, of Kanungum Trail in Shelton, was charged with possession of narcotics with intent to sell and carrying a pistol without a permit.

Police had been receiving information of narcotic sales in the area of Boston Avenue and Orchard Street, according to a recently obtained incident report, dated Aug. 29.

This area has been a hot bed of narcotics trafficking especially at 334 Orchard St., a large apartment building, which has become very popular for illegal narcotics sales, the report said. Information has been gathered that rival drug dealers are attempting to control this area, because of the high volume of drug users that frequent this area. (Dealers) are using firearms for protection and control of the drug trade.

Police were given the description of a man, later identified as Thorbourne, who sells narcotics in the area and were told that he had a gun.

Around 7:30 p.m. on that August day, police got a tip that Thorbourne was spotted in downtown in possession of a gun. Police headed to the area and detained him near Fairfield Avenue and Water Street.

Officers found a black revolver in Thorbournes possession. When asked, the report said, Thorbourne said he did not have a pistol permit.

A sandwich bag with 15 glassine folds with a substance that later tested positive as heroin was also found in his possession, the report said. The bags featured a stamp of a green gas pump and the word Diesel. In total, there were 4 grams of heroin in the bags, the report said.

When Thorbourne was taken into custody, he was held on a $200,000 bail, court records show. He was not released from custody and pleaded not guilty at his last court appearance.

Thorbourne is no stranger to the court system. The report said he had four pending arrests for various charges, including violation of a protective order.

Most recently, back in July, Thorbourne was charged with third-degree assault, first-degree reckless endangerment and patronizing a prostitute. He pleaded not guilty to those charges.

Thorbourne will further answer to the July and August charges during his next court appearance on Nov. 9.
First Tech Federal Credit Union ($12.1B, Mountain View, CA) is $45 million into addressing the nations trillion-dollar student debt issue the Silicon Valley credit union says is hitting hard among its membership and SEGs.

The cooperative is three years into a deliberative process of discovery and creation that took it out of lending to students for school and put it into refinancing their existing debt.

First Tech offers three different loan products that are tailored to members at different life stages and repayment capabilities. The loans have been available for approximately 18 months  the credit union soft launched them in April 2017  and already account for approximately 700 of the 1,600 student loans currently on First Techs books.
For Subscribers Who are the top 25 county boys high school athletes since 2001?

Wrestling champs and track, soccer, baseball, football and basketball stars, it's the top 25 athletes from Somerset County high schools this century.
On August 6, 1806, a herald in full regalia rode across Vienna to the citys Jesuit church.

He climbed the tower, blew a silver trumpet and summoned the crowd to silence.

He then announced that the Holy Roman Empire was dead.

After a thousand years of existence, Europes oldest union was being wound up  courtesy of Napoleon. The crowd wept.

President of the European Commission Jean Claude Juncker, and French leader Napoleon, right. Today, Europe is wealthy, stable, mostly liberal and a magnet to the worlds migrants, rich and poor alike

Might it happen again? History tells us that whenever Europe tries to act in unison, it screws up.

The Holy Roman Emperor Charlemagne left an empire that collapsed into ruins. Ferdinand of Bohemia tried to create a single Roman Catholic empire, and unleashed the Thirty Years War in the 17th century.

Napoleon brought most of Europe under his rod, and millions died until Wellington did for him at Waterloo.

The Allies punished Germany after the First World War, and so brought Hitler to power. Todays European Union mishandled Russia after 1989 and paved the way for the reign of Vladimir Putin.

Anyone who believes the EU is so modern, united and peace-loving that it will deftly handle Britains departure should read history  and shudder.

Ever since somewhere called Europe came into being under the Ancient Greeks, two forces have driven this continent forward.

The Holy Roman Emperor Charlemagne, right, left an empire that collapsed into ruins. Rome was a sort of opposite, a realm of law and order, the wielding of power over the entire Mediterranean basin.

One is the inability of the descendants of its original migrant tribes to live at peace with their neighbours. The other is the attempt of one power after another to seek to dominate and unite those disparate tribes.

Rome tried. So did successive popes, Holy Roman emperors, Louis XIV, Napoleon, Hitler and now, dare I add, the leaders of the European Union. Some of these attempts were well-intentioned; most were not so.

There is no question they together forged a continent that is globally outstanding.

Today, Europe is wealthy, stable, mostly liberal and a magnet to the worlds migrants, rich and poor alike. Whether this was because of or in spite of a history of ceaseless conflict is an open question. But so, too, is whether half a century of stability can survive any new breakdown in unity.

When I first studied Europes history, I searched for themes that have glued together its various forces. First was the potency of ancient Mediterranean culture. Greece under Pericles was a kingdom of reason, fascinated by the human condition as expressed in art, literature and civic politics.

Rome was a sort of opposite, a realm of law and order, the wielding of power over the entire Mediterranean basin. These be your arts, O Rome, said Virgil, to impose the ways of peace. The operative word was impose.

As Roman rule disintegrated, it mutated into that of the Christian church.

Christianity was ostensibly a doctrine of universal love and peace, but it soon became a cauldron of rivalry and disunity. It split Rome from Constantinople, and proved so quarrelsome that a third of Christendom  in the Levant and Africa  became Muslim and has remained so ever since.

In 1216, the bid of Pope Innocent III to declare himself sovereign lord of Europe bred endless conflict with the Holy Roman Empire, based in Germany.

A ruined Berlin in 1945. The collapse of a united Europe did neither tyrant any good, but it did turn Germany from a peaceful confederacy  a kind of giant Switzerland  into a belligerent power under the supremacy of warlike Prussia

So we can conclude that as a glue of union, religion was a failure. By the 16th century, the Reformation had split Innocents Roman church in two, between Protestant north and Catholic south.

This, in turn, led to the Thirty Years War  the cruellest devastation of Europe before the 20th century. From the wreckage of that first great European war arose ever more potent nation states  notably France, Spain and Austria.

The new cause of disruption was not religion but dynasty. Louis XIV sought perpetual war with his neighbours. Russia flexed its territorial muscles. Frederick the Great of Prussia declared that national enlargement is a fundamental law of life. To him, Europe was synonymous with struggle.

Nothing seemed able to bring peace to the continent: not the vitality of the Renaissance or wisdom of the Enlightenment, not great thinkers and writers like Petrarch, Shakespeare, Locke, Voltaire or Goethe.

Napoleons attempt to unite Europe under French rule led to five million deaths. The victorious nations at the Congress of Vienna in 1815, a few months after Waterloo, valiantly attempted a Concert of Europe. In future, they ordained, differences would be settled around a conference table not a battlefield.

Peace lasted for half a century, while Europe plunged into a different form of aggrandisement  that of overseas imperialism.

President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker (L) and European Council President Donald Tusk (R) in Brussels this week

By the end of the 19th century, the British, French, Dutch, Portuguese, Spanish and Germans ruled an astonishing half of the worlds population, and 85 per cent of its trade.

Some might have hoped that such expansion might leave Europe itself at last in peace. Yet no sooner had it strutted the globe as a champion of progress, than it fell victim to two of the worlds most horrendous conflagrations.

The idea that the Kaisers war and then Hitlers war were random Prussian monstrosities was absurd. They resulted from a failure of political imagination and leadership across all of Europe, whose turbulent nations seemed incurably belligerent.

By 1945, Europe was in self-inflicted ruins. Its peoples were starving, its cities destroyed and a centuries-old edifice of cultural achievement was crippled. Though Fascism had been defeated, the price was half a continent enslaved to Communism, and the other half dependent on American protection.

There is no doubt that the subsequent half-century saw Europe at its best. It rebuilt itself, displaying a sincere desire for there never to be a war ever again. Economics and trade should be the new glue of union.

Churchill pictured with American President Roosevelt at the Yalta Conference, which decided how Germany- and Europe, should be split after the war

A Common Market was formed in 1956 under the Treaty of Rome. This treaty grew and flourished, until a free trade area covered virtually all non-communist Europe. The continent seemed genuinely at peace, under the embrace of ever-closer union.

But as this half of Europe prospered and cohered, it also slid into the morass of bureaucratic centralism. And here is where the lessons of history were ignored.

The ambition of the Brussels elite was curiously reminiscent of the medieval church. It became a quest for ever-tighter control of its adherents, and a disregard for the political mood of member states.

The first moment of truth came with the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. This ended the wartime division of Europe, to which the EU reacted like a conquering power. It enticed Russias old Warsaw Pact allies into the EU and NATO, and left Moscow dangerously isolated.

When Boris Yeltsin warned that advancing NATO deep into Eastern Europe meant the flames of war could break out again across Europe, the EU laughed.

The result was Vladimir Putin, vowing to make Russia great again under his kleptomaniac rule. In the U.S., the balance of power between a central superstate and its various subordinate states was embedded in a constitution, written in blood. In Europe, that balance was left to evolve.

The EU ignored the risks it was running, not just in mishandling Russia but in readily opening its borders to the immature democracies of Eastern Europe.

After Maastricht in 1992, which effectively pledged the continent to become one giant federal entity, majority voting in the EU council eroded the authority of national parliaments. Europe seemed the plaything of French bureaucrats and German bankers.

Once more, the hard-learned lessons of the past were disregarded in the zealous pursuit of a new Nirvana. For example, the continents longest confederation was the Holy Roman Empire.

Voltaire may have called it not holy, nor Roman nor an empire  but its respect for the treasured autonomy of dozens of German princelings contrived to keep the German peoples at peace with their neighbours for a millennium.

Soviet soldiers march through the Red Square, Moscow, on the May Day parade. Todays European Union mishandled Russia after 1989 collapse of the Soviet Union and paved the way for the reign of Vladimir Putin

Europe gained, in the process, the wealth of the Rhine and the Baltic, the radicalism of Luther and the genius of Bach and Beethoven. That union collapsed only when Napoleon in France and then Bismarck in Germany could not tolerate what they saw as affront to their imperial ambitions.

The collapse of a united Europe did neither tyrant any good, but it did turn Germany from a peaceful confederacy  a kind of giant Switzerland  into a belligerent power under the supremacy of warlike Prussia.

The lessons must be obvious. Attempts at European union fail when they lose respect for the identity and autonomy of the continents ancestral communities.

You cannot ram union, let alone globalisation, down peoples throats. Diversity lies at the core of Europes collective experience, but it is a jealously guarded diversity.

When Russian president Boris Yeltsin warned that advancing NATO deep into Eastern Europe meant the flames of war could break out again across Europe, the EU laughed

Europe can never be subsumed under a single power structure. Union can only be light-touch and consensual.

The EUs greatest mistake was to move beyond ever-closer trade to an ill-defined ever closer union. Above all, it lay in demanding that member states accept open borders.

That may have seemed a small matter to the globe-trotting cosmopolites of Brussels. But control over immigration meant control over the character and rate of change of local communities.

To the member states of Europe, this was a critical area of sovereignty. The character of ones society is not to be bartered merely for tariff-free trade.

Unlike previous unions in Europe, the EU is a collection of self-determining democracies.

Already by 2010, anti-European sentiment was growing and consent crumbling. Turnouts in EU elections plummeted from 60 per cent to 40 per cent.

Populist politicians  anti-immigration and often anti-EU  emerged in the UK, France, Italy, Germany and former communist states.

The 2008 financial crisis saw the Eurozones German masters inflict terrible damage on Greece and Spain.

There was nothing new in Britain detaching itself from the rest of Europe. It had left after the Hundred Years War that finally ended in the mid-15th century

Then, in 2016, the UK shattered the equilibrium. Its people voted  narrowly  to withdraw. Europes union faced a fissure, and a deep one.

There was nothing new in Britain detaching itself from the rest of Europe. It had left after the Hundred Years War that finally ended in the mid-15th century, and after Henry VIIIs defection from Rome nearly a century later. It refused to join the Common Market in 1957, and only combined under NATO to benefit from Americas nuclear shield.

Now, once again, Britain has said enough is enough.

We should have no doubt of the reason. Political Europe has not found an answer to the question that defied all earlier attempts at union. How can this fragmentary continent be united without lurching either towards debilitating central authority or towards disintegration?

Since the Lisbon Treaty of 2009, the EU has lurched towards the former. Now, with the rise of a reactionary populism, it is lurching towards the latter.

There is hardly a member state that would dare imitate Britain, and hold a referendum on EU membership. But that is insufficient consent for union.

With or without Britain, the EU must find a way of returning substantive sovereignty to its member states, not least over their borders. If it does that, who knows, Britain might rejoin.

If it fails, Britain will not be the only defector. The EU will go the way of its many forerunners  to disintegration and danger.

A Short History of Europe: From Pericles to Putin by Simon Jenkins, Viking, 25. To order a copy for 20 (20pc discount), visit www.mailshop.co.uk/books or call 0844 571 0640; p&p is free on orders over 15. Spend 30 on books and get FREE premium delivery. Offer valid to 27/11/2018.
Sir Nick Clegg, pictured on Wednesday, will be joining Facebook as a PR executive after being recruited by Mark Zuckerberg to help him lobby in the EU and the US

Exit Sir Cleggy to be a PR man in the land of all that chlorine-washed chicken he so bemoans. Yesterdays news of his move to America to become head of global affairs for Facebook was almost comical in its ripeness. Gleaming Mr Liberalism is off to earn a greenback fortune with one of the most cynical forces in capitalism.

After initial laughter at the caricature greediness, two immediate thoughts: is Facebook really sure it wants to be represented by such a slippery hypocrite? And what about Cleggs British political allies, who may be feeling distinctly sore at his Yankee volte-face?

Former deputy prime ministers used to retire to the Lords (Howe, Prescott, Whitelaw), an Oxbridge Mastership (Rab Butler), writing (Herbert Morrison), or to their Oxfordshire arboretum to snap twigs and gnash teeth in bitter regret (Heseltine). Only two (Attlee and Eden) went on to become PM. None, until now, was crass enough to become a US corporations seven-figure floosie.

Sir Nick Clegg, pictured, is off to earn a greenback fortune with a cynical force of capitalism

Facebook has hired him for his EU contacts  he was once a Brussels official and an MEP. A few months ago, half-Dutch Sir Nick, a hard-core Remainer, travelled to Brussels to help the European Commission plot against Brexit.

We are entitled now to ask: did he go for high-minded political reasons or to schmooze for career purposes?

The Eurocrats who are so grateful to him for helping to dilute Brexit will now be the very officials he will be courting for Facebook. Social media firms face regulatory hurdles in Europe. Clegg has just monetised the anti-Brexit brownie points he had built up with Jean-Claude Juncker & Co.

Boy, this stinks. But then so does much of Cleggs time in politics. He used to pose as the foe of tax-avoiding multinationals and their big-shot bosses. Now he is joining their ranks.

For years, he cultivated a reputation as an earnest politician, concerned about the vulnerable. Now he is going to be top lobbyist for a firm so deaf to decency that when British police investigating a schoolgirls murder asked to look at a suspects Facebook activity, they were given no help. The company says it was restricted from doing so under US law.

Clegg, as an MP, wanted oppressive regulatory checks on newspapers. His new employer is a direct competitor of those newspapers. But Facebook is markedly less responsible about its editorial content than even the most vulgar of our red-tops. No British newspaper has been used by jihadis to publish recruitment content. Facebook has. Clegg used to style himself a democrat. How does that square with claims that Facebook has been used by the Kremlin to help rig elections in Europe and America? As for Facebooks tax-avoidance record (all of it completely legal, we are assured), just think how many students fees  the fees Clegg introduced, after saying he wouldnt  could have been subsidised by the Government if social media firms had only coughed up more in corporate duties.

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg looks like a laid-back California dude, but he is a ruthless billionaire whose business swaggers round the world, treating national governments like pawns. Zuckerberg is one of those Silicon Valley smoothies whose image fooled the Cameron/Clegg/Osborne government. Dont lets deter the Ubers and Facebooks and Googles by pursuing them with big tax bills, went the word.

Sir Nick and his Spanish wife Miriam will be heading to Silicon Valley in the coming months with their three children

Sir Nick released a long statement explaining why he was moving to Facebook and the 'wrench' of quitting the second referendum campaign

Clegg, as a member of the quad which ran the Coalition, was right in the cockpit when social media giants were cut all that slack. Now, kerching-kerching, Clegg is off to join them. In California, his feistily Iberian wife will not want for domestic help. She and Nick will be joining the seriously rich.

What are Lib Dem members to make of this Californian flit? Many of the partys rank and file are decent, civic-minded folk who care deeply about standards in public and corporate life. Many of them will have volunteered for the party for years, knocking on doors to argue for localism and accountability. Now their hero Clegg is off to stuff his pockets with glib, amoral Facebook.

A word of advice to Mr Zuckerberg: watch your back. Sir Nick has form for duplicity. As well as that appalling U-turn on college fees (which saw the Lib Dems massacred at the 2015 election), there was also his churlish refusal to agree to parliamentary boundary changes, another issue the Lib Dems had long supported because it would make constituencies more equal in size.

Nick Clegg, centre, pictured with Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg

Mark Zuckerberg is said to have pursued the former MP for months as he battles scandals in the US and EU

Clegg changed his mind in a bad-tempered pique because some Tory backbench MPs had opposed his House of Lords reforms. Oh yes, and he once enthused about giving the British people a vote on Europe. When it happened, and his pro-EU side lost, he was furious.

Ever since, he has been saying he did not want Britain to become globalised and Americanised  even while he was in discussions to join Facebook.

So farewell to the cocky, calculating Clegg, booted out of Parliament by the voters last time around, and now taking a running jump into a swimming pool full of dollar bills. Brexit Britain will be the better without him.
The fate of Jamal Khashoggi (pictured) is now beyond doubt, even if the terrible details are yet to emerge in full

At least the fate of Jamal Khashoggi is now beyond doubt, even if the terrible details are yet to emerge in full. Saudi Arabia has finally confirmed that the missing journalist was killed inside its Istanbul consulate and alleges, implausibly, that he died in a fist fight that somehow went wrong.

How unfortunate for Mr Khashoggi, a dissident writer and thorn in the side of the regime, that he should pick a quarrel with 15 trained thugs, including bodyguards to the ruling Saudi elite and a forensics expert armed with a bone saw.

In contrast, the gruesome account of his death leaked by the Turkish authorities seems overwhelmingly likely: that the 59-year-old, soon to be married, was lured into the consulate, where he was dismembered alive and decapitated by a tiger team flown into the country especially for the purpose.

No doubt in the coming days we will receive further distressing news from the Turks  that, for example, the freshly painted walls in the consulate show traces of Mr Khashoggis blood.

A major search of the woodland near Istanbul might very well reveal his body parts. Why else would a Saudi consular vehicle head in that direction, wrenching out and discarding its satellite tracking equipment on the way?

Yet none of this can explain the reckless brutality of a murder which, as John Sawers, the former head of MI6, has said, was clearly ordered from the top by the Crown Prince and de facto leader of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed Bin Salman.

The diplomatic and reputational consequences have been hugely damaging for the Kingdom.

The first explanation is that Mr Khashoggi was seen as a particular threat. Not only was he an exceptionally well-informed insider, a member of the Riyadh establishment  he had been an adviser to the Saudi security services  but he was a vocal critic of the current regime through his regular column in the Washington Post.

Significantly, Mr Khashoggi was a patron of a new online platform called the Bee Army, an encrypted messaging system for dissidents both outside and inside the Kingdom, with a particular space for Saudis to post their grievances about corruption.

It was the Bee Army that probably proved fatal.

Saudi Arabians are the largest internet users in the Middle East, but the government there has nothing like the Chinese Great Firewall to filter out undesirable influences. It uses more draconian means.

More disturbing, still, however, is the growing evidence that the 33-year-old Crown Prince, who presents himself as a reformer, is fast becoming an irrational, unstable despot to rival the late Saddam Hussein.

Worried Kuwaitis already call him little Saddam, fearing that he, too, has plans to invade their vulnerable emirate.

Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman on his way to meet PM Theresa May at 10 Downing Street on the first day of his three-day visit to the UK in March this year

As early as December 2015, the BND, the German equivalent of MI6, took the highly unusual step of releasing a report about generational change in the Saudi leadership. It warned that power was being concentrated in the hands of Bin Salman, then the defence minister and Deputy Crown Prince. It also predicted he would attempt to succeed his father as king, and that he would use that platform to become a Saddam-style leader of the Arab world.

As a result, the Saudis, who have often been seen as a valuable pro-Western ally, would abandon past caution in favour of a destabilising regional role. Worse, the BND feared he was a gambler who would use military might to get his way.

This was an odd statement for an intelligence service to release, particularly given the strong commercial relationship between the two countries (Germany, like Britain, sells arms to Saudi Arabia). Unless, that is, the agency had access to clear and worrying evidence.

I have been told by a member of another Gulf ruling house that the BND got its hands on Bin Salmans medical history after he was treated for epilepsy in Germany as a teenager  including psychiatric records that have led to such concern about his state of mind.

The BND was right about Bin Salmans ambitions. With his 82-year-old father King Salman, suffering from Alzheimers, Bin Salman took over as Crown Prince last year.

Now, it seems, the Germans are being proved right about his stability. Under Bin Salman, the Saudis ongoing war in Yemen has been conducted without any regard for the 10,000 civilian casualties or the risk of 11 million people starving to death.

In November last year, he detained the Lebanese prime minister Saad Hariri, who is a Saudi dual national, in Riyadh to force him to resign in revenge for not containing the rising influence of Iranian-backed Hezbollah.

The same month, Bin Salman organised the notorious sheikhdown in Riyadhs Ritz-Carlton Hotel. Some 150 members of Saudi Arabias political and business elite were invited to a major international investors conference at the palatial hotel, then held there by armed guards until they agreed to pay $100 billion dollars Bin Salman says the country was owed. Sundry Saudi billionaires were abused and in some cases tortured. At least one army general died of a broken neck, while several reformers (former economics or finance ministers) have completely disappeared.

Every rival to Bin Salman has been purged, notably the previous Crown Prince, his cousin Mohammed Bin Nayef, who had strong Western security links.

Numan Kurtulmus (pictured) of Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party said that Istanbul would share its evidence of Khashoggi's killing with the world

Bin Salman has been hoping to prompt Donald Trump to wage a potentially catastrophic war against Iran, something the Israelis and Saudis want to bring about.

And he has come close to invading Qatar because of its global pretensions, settling instead for an economic blockade.

The Saudis are planning to separate Qatar physically from Saudi Arabia by spending $700 million on a huge canal, leaving just enough room for a toxic nuclear waste dump on the border.

The regional Gulf Co-operation Council alliance lies in ruins, with Bahrain, the Emirates and Saudi Arabia on one side, and Kuwait, Oman and Qatar on the other.

All of this brings us back to Mr Khashoggi, who opposed the isolation of Qatar and challenged the entire notion of the new Crown Prince as a reformer, notably by questioning the economic basis of his reform programme.

Critics of the Saudi regime say he was vindicated after the part-privatisation of the vast state oil concern Saudi Aramco, championed by Bin Salman, was abandoned this summer.

All eyes are on Washington, where President Trump finally seems to accept that Mr Khashoggi has been murdered. (His own security services will hold intercepts of numerous calls from the killers in Ankara to Riyadh, likely to be damning.)

America does not have to worry about the Saudis ramping up oil prices since, thanks to the fracking boom, the US is the worlds biggest oil producer. So we can expect to see the murder team put on Specially Designated Nationals lists  blocking their assets and banning them from the US  while informal pressure will be applied on King Salman to clip his sons wings.

The Crown Prince, meanwhile, will try to blame rogue subordinates. Five officials have reportedly been fired, and 18 people arrested. A major general called Assiri is being lined up as the chief fall-guy, though his sinister head of personal security Maher Abdulaziz Mutreb was also photographed in Istanbul at the time of the killing.

Normally there is no problem that Saudi Arabia cant buy itself out of. This is different. A consulate has been used to commit murder. At a minimum the West, including Britain, should expel all Saudi military attaches and spies.

King Salman should know that his son, Mohammed the Murderer, is now tainted in the eyes of the world and reconsider the succession to the throne.

As for Britain, although our weapons sales to Saudi Arabia are hugely profitable, they make up only one per cent of our export total.

We should not be fawning to the House of Saud.

Our MPs should not be on their payroll, rubbing their hands like a set of Mayfair car dealers.

We must not allow customers for our armaments to get British foreign policy thrown in for free.
She was the greatest interviewer, who not only succeeded in extracting telling soundbites from her subjects, but often managed to manoeuvre them into full heart-to-heart confessions.

Lynda Lee-Potter, always courteous but searingly honest about both herself and her interviewees, frequently charmed the celebrities she met.

If she didnt, however, she was not the least bothered, once saying, I never worry about hurting peoples feelings.

'If you have that anxiety you really shouldnt be doing this job.

She loved people who, when things got tough, could pick themselves up, dust themselves down and pin a smile on their face  and she adored sharing a bottle of champagne.

Fascinated by the aspirations of the famous, she liked to delve into their upbringings, often uncovering extraordinarily tragic tales.

Above all she loved to laugh. How we all still miss her...

We recall Lynda Lee-Potter's (pictured) best celebrity interviews as part of Weekend magazine's 25th anniversary edition

'I cant imagine having kids with anyone but Liz, we even look so alike!'

In 1999, Hugh Grant gave this hilarious interview to Lynda. At the time he was living with Elizabeth Hurley  though it would end the following May. He now has five children and is married to Swedish TV producer Anna Eberstein.

Hugh Grant is currently starring with Julia Roberts in the hugely successful film Notting Hill.

Hes been described as the man most American women want to sleep with. Wherever he goes, girls fall for him in droves.

Unfortunately hes spoken for, having lived with the exquisite Elizabeth Hurley for more than a decade, but he loves the adulation.

I wish there was a lot more adulation and girls falling over, he says.

What little I get I thoroughly enjoy. Im certainly not immune to the vanity charge that brings. But its a cheap thrill.

'Its rather like eating a bar of chocolate. It makes you feel better for ten minutes, then you feel worse.

He insists the real Hugh Grant is nowhere near as nice as the sweet-natured characters he plays with such consummate charm.

I fly to New York to meet him, at the Mercer hotel where hes staying under a Scottish pseudonym so he doesnt have to answer the phone if besotted strangers call.

Id heard hes fanatically tidy, so Im surprised when he opens the door to his room to see an unmade bed at four in the afternoon and a room littered with papers and scripts.

Im tidy by comparison to Elizabeth, he says.

Youve never known a messier person in your life. She comes in, sits in the middle of the floor. Then she takes everything out of her bag and spreads it around till the whole room is a tip.

Lynda spoke to Hugh Grant in 1999 about his relationship with Elizabeth Hurley (pictured together that same year) which came to an end the following May

He met Elizabeth in 1987 when they both auditioned for the film Rowing In The Wind, and he fancied her like mad.

On location they were staggered to find startling similarities between them. Its alarming, he says, maybe were both horrible narcissists so were attracted to someone who looked rather like themselves.

'Her mums a teacher, so is mine, her dad was in the Army and mine was briefly. It was spooky, shed read all the same books and we had the same sense of humour.

'People thought we were brother and sister. Maybe were more different now. She looks like a supermodel.

People thought we were brother and sister - Hugh Grant

'And Im He pauses. A superstar? I suggest. Well no, he says, more an ageing, knackered old man.

In truth he and Elizabeth are blessed with physical perfection, which gives them the added invaluable gift of total confidence.

Recently Liz said that Hugh drives her demented, but she couldnt imagine having children with anybody else and she likes the idea of their genes uniting.

I rather feel the same, he says, and probably I do drive her demented. Im sure I am irritating, but I wouldnt say tolerance is her greatest quality.

'She has very strong opinions about how life should be and how the day should be and what restaurant we should be going to, and woe betide anyone who dares to differ.

Hugh (pictured with Elizabeth wearing the iconic Versace pin dress) admitted that he would get nervous when Elizabeth asked for his advice on what to wear

'She has a frightful temper. Id do anything to avoid a row but she shouts and theres a bit of throwing and people cower.

'There was one particular telephone she used to throw at me an awful lot, and she once hit me with a pestle, as in a pestle and mortar, in our kitchen.

'We call it our wrestle with the pestle. Ive hardly hit her, but I once gave her a dead leg. Shes strong as an ox, she has the strength of insanity I always think.

'Shed be all right whatever happened. Shed be all right in an Iranian jail. Shed end up running it.

Liz is famed for looking dazzling at movie premieres, though her appearance in that famous safety-pin frock was not planned.

She lives in a sort of strange Hurley World - Hugh Grant

I remember her calling up some designers saying, I havent got anything to wear, can I borrow something? They didnt know who she was and they all said No, except for Versace who said, We might have something.

'We collected it with barely enough time to change so she just slung it on.

Occasionally Elizabeth asks Hugh which dress she should wear, which makes him nervous.

What Ive realised is that its not an open question. There is a correct answer. If its a choice between A or B and shes already decided on B, Id bloody better choose B.

'She truly doesnt really know how eccentric she is. She lives in a sort of strange Hurley World.

'She never watches TV, for instance. I sit there with my slack jaw in front of rubbish.

Hugh (pictured with Elizabeth Hurley in 1999) revealed that she played recorder as his mother played piano when they were together

'She cant bear the noise so she has to leave the room, and shell never admit shes wrong over anything. Everyones frightened of her. Have you met her? Shes terrifying, terrifying.

He says shes the only person hes ever been in love with, though hes wary of stating theyll be together for ever.

Its dangerous, like doing a Hello! interview, but I adore her. It would be a very weird thought to imagine life without her.

'When you get a bit of fame is the time when you need someone who is totally unimpressed and knows you for who you really are.

Hughs acting talent comes from his mother Fynvola, whos a brilliant mimic.

I may be ready for a little less glitz now - Hugh Grant

Elizabeth loves my mums jokes and they get on very well. When she comes over Mum plays the piano and Elizabeth plays the recorder.

'I make it sound like the Waltons, but they both like that kind of thing. But my mothers not a Versace girl, shes more of a Peter Jones girl.

'My parents live in a world thats disinterested in showbusiness.

'She went to a dinner party and a man sitting next to her said, I hear you have two sons. What do they do? She said, Ones a merchant banker and the others a film star. He said, How very interesting, which bank?

When he and his older brother Jamie were children his mother used to do a lot of funny characters.

If we had to get to bed quickly shed turn into Brunnhilde, a German au pair, and she could get us into the bath and into bed in two seconds.

Hugh (pictured with Elizabeth in 2010) has remained great friends with his ex and is even godfather to her son

'These days I find German women curiously attractive.

Despite his success, he seems vaguely dissatisfied.

Ive spent five years flitting around the world having the life I always felt I wanted  aeroplanes, hotels, a bit of glitz.

'I may be ready for a little less glitz now.

'But then if I ring a restaurant and say, Can I have a table for four in the name of Hugh Grant, and they say, No, sorry, were full, I suddenly find myself on a terrible high horse.

'I moan, I cant bear to be on another plane, but then if someone said, OK, all that side of your life has gone and youre back to Hugh Grant 1991... it does slightly call your bluff. The fact is, I want a bit of both.n

I have my fathers temper  he was a thrower and so am

Felicity Kendal spoke to Lynda in both 2002 and 2003.

Its the final day of shooting on Rosemary And Thyme and Felicitys co-star Pam Ferris has brought a celebratory bottle of champagne.

She and I share it while Felicity, of course, drinks water.

At 56 she looks about 37 due to the rigid discipline that rules her life without making her a killjoy.

Ive known her for years because Ive interviewed her so many times (Well here we are again Lynda, she says on one occasion), but never seen her eat so much as a crisp or drink anything stronger than mint tea.

However, she always gives the impression that the abstinence is transitory and that most of the time shes knocking back the wine by the bottle. Its part of the smokescreen shes erected to hide her iron resolve.

Felicity Kendal (pictured) spoke to Lynda in 2002 and 2003. She revealed that she's never been dumped

If something needs to be done Id rather do it myself because I know it will be done properly, Ive got my fathers temper, his pig-headedness, she says.

Im very opinionated about things. When I was young my nature was outwardly sweet, which masked a will of iron and a selfish determination to succeed at all costs.

My father was a great thrower and so am I. I dont throw things any more but it is a very good way of getting rid of pent-up emotion.

The first time I interviewed her was when she was a single mother juggling her life, career and young son Charley.

Ive always left before anybodys ditched me - Felicity Kendal

Her first marriage, to actor Drewe Henley, was over.

Felicity rented a single room with her son and her dog and soon found that men found her irresistible.

During the next ten years she was never without a lover. The joke among the cast of The Good Life, who called her Foo, was that Felicity couldnt be more different to her character, loyal, domesticated Barbara.

And in real life, despite being happily married, her co-star Paul Eddington was more than a bit in love with her.

And God I loved him so, she says. His death was cruel, cruel. I saw him the day before he died and he just turned his head, smiled and said, Oh, Foo.

If a relationship is breaking down, Felicity is the one to walk away  shes never been dumped. I have a need to run, she says. Ive always left before anybodys ditched me.

How I wooed my wife

In March 2004, two years after winning an Oscar for Gosford Park and before he created Downton Abbey, Julian Fellowes told Lynda of his monumental struggle to win the hand of his wife Emma...

The night Julian Fellowes won his Oscar, he says, They were all expecting me to turn up with a plump lady with grey plaits round her head. But this dazzling beauty was on my arm.

His stunning wife Emma is 14 years younger than him, with waist-length black hair, and has, according to Princess Michael of Kent, to whom she is lady-in-waiting, the best legs in Europe.

Julian Fellowes (pictured at home with his wife Emma in 2004) revealed to Lynda that he had a monumental struggle to win his wife's hand

Julian is a toff descended from Rear Admiral Sir Thomas Fellowes, and Emma is the great-great-niece of Lord Kitchener of Khartoum.

Unfortunately, I once described Princess Michael as a ruthless freeloader, and savaged Julian when he played Noel Coward in a film.

Im lucky to be even allowed into their house.

Emma and Julian met 15 years ago at a party. An actor I knew was talking to this girl, says Julian.

He said, Do you know Emma Kitchener? She turned to me and said, How do you do.

'Its the only psychic moment Ive had because I thought, Shes arrived, after 39 years shes here. I knew I was going to marry her.

He didnt waste any time and after 20 minutes he popped the question.

Emma said, Thats very kind of you, but I didnt hear what your name was.

He said, Julian Fellowes. Will you at least have dinner with me? Emma said she was too busy and wouldnt give him her number.

Julian (pictured with his wife at Princess Eugenie's wedding last week) pursued his wife endlessly with dinners and theatre trips to try and prove that he was husband material

Julian persuaded his hostess to let him have Emmas mothers address and he wrote to Emma to say, If you want to meet again the man you are going to marry, ring me.

Julian knew shed respond, because Emma would rather be burnt at the stake than be rude.

My friends assumed Id always be on my own, having discreet liaisons - Julian Fellowes

I then endlessly pursued her. We went to dinners and theatre. It was all pretty chaste. Once I threw myself on my knees in the mud.

But Emma had decided he wasnt husband material.

I thought he was incredibly funny and clever, but he was 14 years older, short, fat, bald and an actor, so obviously nothing was going to happen.

Undeterred, Julian continued his siege and began to sense a thaw. Then he had to face Emmas mother.

It was hard for her  shed thought Emma would marry a handsome seven-footer with a coronet and 50,000 acres in Wiltshire.

Finally he gave Emma an ultimatum. Either we spend the rest of our lives together, he said, or Im going to go and live in Los Angeles.

Julian (pictured with his wife Emma in 2002) recalls his wife being made to wear low heels on their wedding day to ensure that she wasn't taller than him

Emma rang her best friend, who said, If your mother was out of the equation, would you marry him? Emma said yes and knew what she had to do.

When she accepted, Julian gave her the family ring, then shot off to a bridge party, says Emma.

Mummy wanted me to marry someone called Evelyn.

'She adores Julian now but insists on calling him Evelyn, darling. So when Julian writes to her, he signs his letter Evelyn.

The pair had an immensely grand wedding and Emma, in a slinky sheath by Catherine Walker, looked like Rita Hayworth in Gilda, says Julian.

My mother-in-law had a thing about her being taller than me so made her wear low heels and Emma was furious.

'Shes not taller than me if were naked but we dont often go out when were naked.

On their honeymoon, says Julian, I remember Emma sitting naked on the bed, saying something amusing.

'I thought, Its going to be all right. This woman is going to be good fun to live with.

'Id been 20 years a bachelor and no one thought I could adjust. My friends assumed Id always be on my own, having discreet liaisons.

'If I hadnt met Emma that may well have happened.
Most people would agree that streaming services that eliminate the need to watch commercials are a welcome improvement to TV-watching  but some people are still feeling nostalgic for the old days.

This week, a New York woman's tweet about a time when commercials offered a much-needed break went viral, earning a million likes and plenty of supportive replies.

'I feel sorry for Netflix era kids. They will never know the high stakes adrenaline of running to the bathroom/fridge/bedroom in a single ad break, with the beckoning call of a sibling screaming Its ONNNNNN to send you hurdling over furniture to get back in time,' wrote Felicity.

Fast forward: Most people would agree that streaming services like Netflix make their viewing experience better  but some still feel nostalgic for the old days

Remember? A woman named Felicity said kids today will never feel the 'adrenaline' rush of running to the bathroom or fridge during a commercial break

Hurry! Her tweet was like a million times and others looked back on running between breaks

Mom-approved: This woman joked that she may pause Netflix so her kids can experience it

Hazardous: This woman recalls breaking her toe while running back to catch Buffy after a commercial

While it's clear that no one misses commercials because they actually want to watch them, Felicity and others who replied were in agreement that the scheduled breaks could be useful.

And rushing to get back in front of the screen without missing a moment of a favorite show could be exciting.

'I literally broke my toe in 2002 when my husband yelled "IT'S ONNNNNN" about Buffy The Vampire Slayer and I went running from the bedroom of our apartment to the living room and accidentally kicked the couch,' wrote one.

'Real tempted to pause Netflix at regular intervals and tell my kids to go to the bathroom and unpause after a set time regardless of whether theyre ready to watch so they can experience this,' wrote another woman.

Faves: Several people looked back on '90s shows like Buffy and Dawson's Creek as their must-see TV

Looking back: People reminisced about how television used to be, with scheduled programming

Staying tunes: They recalled having to wait for their favorite shows to be on

Social engagement: Before everyone had multiple screens, people would watch shows together

Woosh! Running back at the end of a commercial break was practically an Olympic sport

'"YOU MISSIN IT!!" "HURRY UP!" "I'm not peeing till the commercial!"' another person wrote. 'Bonus for when you would leave and someone would steal your seat or take the remote.'

Others reflected on other things they missed about how TV used to be  particularly, the must-see element of it, when people would gather around to watch together and talk about a popular show on the next day.

'I watched the first season of Star Trek: The Next Generation in my dorm lounge with a dozen or so other students that all piled in around the sole TV there and I'll never see Star Trek like that again. I forgave a lot that I wouldn't now. It's a whole thing,' one tweeted.

'The next day you would be either talking about the same show with friends at School or FF at work. Lets not forget having parties to mark a mile stone event for a show at someone's home.

See it once! Now everyone watches their favorite shows over and over

Did you watch? People miss how everyone would discuss the episode from the night before at work or school the next day

Watch together: Some would watch with their friends on the phone

Appointment television: There was no On-Demand back in the day

Huh? Some people, though, didn't understand the nostalgia, asserting that things are much better now

'Believe it or not TV was more social then, [fewer] channels,' wrote another.

But not everyone was convinced. Tweeted one: 'Why does anyone have nostalgia for this? Am I allowed to ask?'

Some aired complaints instead, like a Twitter user who remembered that you were out of luck if you missed a single episode.

Others remembered only being able to watch an episode once, or having to wait for a summer re-run.
It won high praise for featuring women in senior roles, but a former equalities chief has blasted the BBC hit drama Bodyguard as misogynistic because it portrayed them as dim and devious.

Trevor Phillips, former Chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), described the series as possibly the most misogynist piece of TV Ive seen in years, adding: All the women were dim, devious, pusillanimous or all three.

He said he had been left with the impression that Jed Mercurio, the creator of the series, had got some pretty rubbish (probably male) advice on this occasion.

Keeley Hawes plays Julia Montague. The criticism of the drama, which attracted 10.4 million viewers for its final episode, comes in an article by Trevor Phillips for Television, the magazine of the Royal Television Society

The six-part drama featured some of Britains biggest female stars including Keeley Hawes as Home Secretary Julia Montague; Gina McKee, who starred as the Met Polices Head of Counter Terrorism, Anne Sampson; and Pippa Haywood as Chief Superintendent Lorraine Craddock, the boss of bodyguard David Budd, played by Richard Madden.

Each of the three were shown as ambitious schemers, with Craddock eventually revealed to have leaked confidential information about Montagues location to assist in her assassination.

Other female characters in the drama included suicide bomber Nadia (Anjli Mohindra); neurotic PR adviser Chanel Dyson (Stephanie Hyam); and Budds estranged wife Vicky (Sophie Rundle).

Gina McKee plays Anne Sampson in the hit drama. Each of the three were shown as ambitious schemers, with Craddock eventually revealed to have leaked confidential information

The criticism of the drama, which attracted 10.4 million viewers for its final episode, comes in an article by Phillips for Television, the magazine of the Royal Television Society.

In it, he adds: I am lucky to have known several of the real women who occupied the jobs portrayed  top politicians, cops and spooks  all of them forced their way to the top of male-dominated, sexist outfits by sheer character, and all of them can freeze molten lead with a glance at a range of 20 metres.

Feminist novelist Kathy Lette said she agreed with Phillipss analysis  up to a point. Yes, most of the female characters in the show were dim, devious and pusillanimous, she said.

Pippa Haywood as Lorraine Craddock, left. The show won high praise for featuring women in senior roles, but a former equalities chief has blasted the BBC hit drama Bodyguard as misogynistic

I thought they all needed to go to the vets to get their claws done, but the male characters didnt fare all that much better.

'At least the women were depicted in positions of power and not as human handbags  decorative and demure and draped over the arm of some powerful man.

The broadcaster also welcomed a change of emphasis within what she described as the BBCs perving department, saying: What with Poldarks pecs appeal, [Tom] Hiddlestons pert posterior and the Bodyguards dimpled derriere, its a welcome change to have the male character highlighted as a sex object for a change.
Finally, scientists can answer the question everyone who has ever gotten too high has been dying to know: 'how long will this last?'

It's still a range, but University of Alberta researchers discovered that cannabis still impairs learning up to 24 hours after consumption - but the effects dissipate fully by the third day.

The team tested how long cannabis would change their study participants' ability to learn new information.

Much remains to be studied, but their research provides a starting point for the Canadian government to establish safety guidelines, now that the country has legalized marijuana.

Smoking, eating or vaping marijuana impairs memory and learning up to 24 hours after consumption, a new Canadian study reveals, two days after weed was legalized there (file)

Canada has been hard at work preparing for nationwide cannabis legalization.

Lead study author, Dr Scot Purdon says that for the last year, Canada has had its watchful eye on US states like Colorado, California and Washington, learning from their successes (and mistakes).

But marijuana's cognitive effects are more complicated and subtle than those from alcohol, and we don't yet have a particularly good way to test, for example, drivers for it.

Dr Purdon has made it his mission to work out what weed does to the brain - and for how long.

We know that cannabis can 'have very significant psychological and cognitive effects,' he told Daily Mail online.

These effects are particularly obvious in the memory, learning and verbal abilities of someone who has recently used cannabis.

So Dr Purdon and his team decided to test these abilities in 120 young people who were frequent users.

He an his team administered the students verbal learning and fluency standardized tests and before and after they used marijuana.

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Unsurprisingly, the subjects struggled on these tests in the hours immediately following their cannabis consumption.

But even 48 later, people may still make mistakes they wouldn't have sober.

By 72 hours after cannabis consumption though, people should well back to their baseline, Dr Purdon said, leading him to suggest this could be a good time limit standard for people to return to jobs.

Of course, everyone metabolizes marijuana somewhat differently, and heavy users may even have signs of marijuana in their urine after 28 days.

Dr Purdon also says that his research also clarifies some common notions about marijuana, such as the idea that it makes people more focused.

'A lot of people tell us it's a positive thing [for concentration], but the data don't always bear that out,' he says.

'Its complicated, in that [high] people don't have the distractability that might be necessary in day-to-day functioning. You get so focused on A that you don't notice B, C and D around you.'

And focused or not, his research subjects simply didn't retain or recall information as well within the first couple of days after using cannabis, which is especially pertinent to students who be tempted to light up a joint as a study aid or study break.

Though his research did not examine how long after smoking, eating or vaping weed people were capable of driving cars, it could become important to Canada's laws surrounding road safety and marijuana.

In 2016, marijuana was involved in more fatal car accidents in the US than alcohol was, sparking calls from officials for better testing and stricter laws.

Dr Purdon says that Canada's broad legalization of marijuana is an 'experiment on 33 million people,' and hopes that, now that it's a legal substance, there will be more control over its potency, and greater clarity about how high high is too high - and for how long.
Kitty Genovese was a 28-year-old New York bar manager whose rape and murder outside her own front door in the early hours of a March morning in 1964 became a textbook case for psychologists.

According to stories in the Press, 38 people saw or heard the attack but no one came to her aid or called the police.

Analysis of their reaction  or failure to react  became known as the Genovese effect or Bystander effect, a psychological phenomenon whereby individuals are less likely to come to the aid of another if there are, or they think there are, others around who might do so.

I was reminded of Kitty this week when I came across a survey by the British Heart Foundation which found that a third of people wouldnt attempt CPR (cardio-pulmonary resuscitation) on someone who collapsed in the street in front of them.

A third of people wouldnt attempt CPR (cardio-pulmonary resuscitation) on someone who collapsed in the street in front of them

Some admitted they wouldnt even call an ambulance. They were content to remain as bystanders to a crisis.

Various psychological factors contribute to the bystander effect, with people assuming others will intervene  what is known as a diffusion of responsibility.

Or pluralistic ignorance comes into play: since no one is reacting to the emergency, witnesses feel that they dont need to either, and anyway it cant be that serious, otherwise someone would be doing something, wouldnt they?

Others say they do not feel qualified or senior enough to be the one to take a lead.

But there can be consequences. People whove been bystanders at a serious incident can be haunted by feelings of guilt or horror that they didnt do anything, or didnt realise how serious it was.

The good news is that you can avoid becoming a bystander. Studies show that once people are aware of the bystander effect, theyre less likely to exhibit it. That was certainly my experience.

One evening, I was waiting on a platform as a train was pulling in. The doors opened and I saw a woman to my right boarding with her son, who was probably four or five years old, trailing behind her.

Studies show that once people are aware of the bystander effect, theyre less likely to exhibit it

There was a large gap between the platform and the train, he missed the step and fell. As the doors closed, there was a collective scream from the commuters who remained on the platform.

Thankfully, the train didnt move  but there wasnt a guard in sight and the doors remained closed.

It dawned on me that no one wanted to take charge. We were all waiting to see who would react first. Yet the train might still pull out at any moment, the driver unaware of what had happened.

I realised I was seeing what Id only read about before  the bystander effect  and it galvanised me into action. I ran to the edge of the platform and peered down, fearing the worst.

I dropped my Maltesers, the little boy staring up at me said. I knelt down and hauled him up onto the platform. The train doors opened and his mother ran forward and scooped him up.

He was fine, barely shaken  unlike me, his mother and those watching on the platform.

It taught me a valuable lesson. When faced with an emergency in a public place, ask yourself how youd behave if you were on your own. Dont worry about what anyone else is doing. Ignore them and go with your gut instinct.

The worst that can happen is you might look a little foolish at having over-reacted. And the best? You might save someones life.

DrMax@dailymail.co.uk

NHS hospital trusts in England made almost 70m from charging staff for parking and close to 157m from patients and visitors in the past financial year. Few things make me more angry. How dare hospitals treat their staff like cash cows?

As for patients and visitors, making them pay is tantamount to a tax on the sick. Recently, a father told me how, after his daughter had taken an overdose and was sectioned, the family had emerged from the hospital to find their two cars clamped. Exhausted and upset, they had to pay 60 for each car to be released. Its a disgrace. Hospital parking charges must be banned.

It's good to talk even if it makes you feel miserable

I came across an interesting study this week that found 40 per cent of those having CBT reported feeling worse while they were undergoing this form of talking therapy, which challenges unhelpful or distorted patterns of thinking and behaviour, and aims to develop coping strategies for problem situations.

Some patients complained it had led to the break-up of their relationship.

On one level, this shouldnt be surprising. I often warn patients to expect to feel worse before they feel better when starting any type of therapy.

It can be distressing and painful to confront problems that youve been trying to ignore, and to change behaviours that have become ingrained.

Around 40 per cent of those having Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) reported feeling worse while they were undergoing this form of talking therapy

And, yes, sometimes, having completed therapy, people realise their relationship was a factor in their problems and they feel strong enough to do something about it.

But I worry that by embracing CBT so enthusiastically, the NHS is ignoring other therapies. There is no one size fits all solution.

Psychodynamic psychotherapy, for example, which explores underlying, deep-seated issues, is now incredibly difficult to get on the NHS. Yet for some individuals, this is exactly the kind of therapy that they need.

So if youve been referred for CBT and it hasnt worked, dont be afraid of asking for help to find an alternative approach that will work for you.

Face it: the obese eat too much

Earlier this week, I wrote an article welcoming proposals by the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health for all children to have their weight and height monitored annually.

With a third of children leaving primary school now classed as obese, it is part of a new strategy to tackle the greatest health crisis we as a nation face.

When I wrote that fat people are fat because they eat more food than their body needs, I was roundly condemned by some readers for failing to acknowledge the complexities surrounding the issue, such as poverty and poor education.

Well, I make no apology: I was stating an indisputable biological fact. Yes, social factors may play a part but, ultimately, obesity is caused by excess calories.

It is an alarming feature of modern life that basic facts are discounted because they are deemed likely to make people feel uncomfortable.

Take some members of the trans lobby, who refuse to accept there are two sexes: male and female. While I fully support the rights of trans people, I will not deny a biological reality just to fit a political dogma. Its time to stand up for science  even if some people dont like it.

How to fight baby blues

New mothers are far more likely to develop post-natal depression if they experience physical pain in the days after giving birth

For decades doctors have assumed that post-natal depression  which affects more than one in ten women  is the result of hormonal changes that occur during and after birth.

Now, however, a new study calls into question that assumption.

It seems that new mothers are far more likely to develop post-natal depression if they experience physical pain in the days after giving birth, suggesting its cause is far more complex than hormonal imbalance.

This fits with what we know in general about depression: that there is no one, single cause, and that its likely a complex combination of biological, social and psychological factors.

The good thing is we can act quickly on the study findings.

Ensuring no woman is in unnecessary pain after giving birth, will, hopefully, reduce the risk of them developing debilitating postnatal depression  and it doesnt require any more resources and interventions than are already in place.

Just access to adequate pain relief.
Coffee chains typically charge an extra fee if you want a latte made with an alt-milk  because weve been led to believe theyll make us healthier, and that buying them is more virtuous

Non-dairy milks? As a seasoned investigative food journalist, I wouldnt touch them with a bargepole.

So Im sorry to see that people are forking out more for them than dairy milk.

Coffee chains typically charge an extra fee if you want a latte made with an alt-milk  because weve been led to believe theyll make us healthier, and that buying them is more virtuous.

Lets look at how the vast majority of milk lookalikes are made.

Large factories buy the ingredient highlighted in the product name  such as almond, cashew, rice, oats, soy, coconut or hemp  in a processed form, often as a fine powder or in a thick liquid form.

They mix small amounts of these with lots of water, usually straight from the tap.

In fact, 85 to 95 per cent of what youre paying for is tap water. But water and the drier ingredients would naturally separate out, leaving a cloudy liquid with powdery sediment. So to make the mixture look more like real dairy milk, and imitate its natural consistency and texture, a range of high-tech ingredients and chemical food additives  thickeners, emulsifiers, stabilisers  go into the mix.

Manufacturers also typically add whats known as hydrocolloid gums, such as xanthan and gellan, to slightly thicken this watery mixture. These gums are made by fermenting a starchy food with bacteria. Not only that, but often an industrially produced starch called maltodextrin is used to help give the liquid a body and consistency that more resembles milk.

Usually, heavily refined oils, typically rapeseed (the cheapest commodity oil used in food and drink manufacturing), or sometimes sunflower oil, are added to imitate the mouth-coating consistency that naturally occurring fat gives dairy milk.

Then, to imitate the rich nutrition of true milk, plant milk companies often add a sprinkling of man-made vitamin and mineral powders such as Vitamin B12 and calcium.

Chemical preservatives are also mixed in as they extend the shelf life of food well beyond its natural lifespan.

Its a complicated procedure but still does not add up to a recipe for deliciousness.

Chemical preservatives are also mixed in as they extend the shelf life of food well beyond its natural lifespan. Its a complicated procedure but still does not add up to a recipe for deliciousness

Without further tweaking, these watery, factory-created drinks wouldnt taste good, particularly those made with soy, which is infamous throughout the processed food industry for its bitterness.

This is why many companies add synthetic flavourings, along with salt and sugar, to improve palatability. For me, such trendy white liquids  I refuse to call them milk  are a perfect example of the ultra-processed, fake food that I wont eat or drink. Also, many of the ingredients used for plant milks arent great for the planet because theyre grown in unsustainable ways.

Soy, for instance, is commonly grown on vast plantations where the crop is sprayed with pesticides, while most of the almonds used in almond milk are imported from California where this thirsty crop is contributing to water shortages.

There are smaller brands that try to be superior by having fewer additives, and we should take the ingredients they list on their packaging at face value. But I prefer my food to come from fields, not factories, and Im sticking with dairy.

I accept that factory farming causes great suffering to dairy cows, but not all milk production is cruel. I wish vegans would stop spreading scary dairy stories that fail to draw this crucial distinction between wretched factory farmed dairy cows, and traditional, grass-based dairying.

Militant vegans argue that cows are pumped full of growth hormones, but this practice is banned in the UK and Europe.

Other fake news includes warnings that drinking milk makes you fat. A comprehensive review of the scientific facts presented at this years European Congress on Obesity concluded that this is false. Other recent research has found that drinking milk reduces your risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

Personally, Im happy to pay a bit more for organic milk, or milk that comes with the Pasture Promise label, which is available in Asda. They both guarantee that cows are free-range, grazing outdoors for at least six months of the year.

If I were allergic or intolerant to cows milk, Id swap to goats milk. If that didnt work, Id start making my own non-dairy milk in a blender  there are many recipes online. It would taste infinitely better than the fashionable plant milks on the market and cost a fraction of the price.
Womb cleanses, healing drums and a magic hot chocolate that helps open the heart. They sound like hokum and, on the balance of evidence, probably are.

So why are an increasing number of rational career women, including teachers, lawyers and doctors, turning to such bizarre practices in an effort to boost their health and wellbeing?

The rituals are all used in shamanism, an ancient form of healing which has been practised for thousands of years.

And far from only being found in Amazonian rainforests, modern-day shamans reside in airy city centre studios, hotel spas  and are even available via Skype.

So why are an increasing number of rational career women, including teachers, lawyers and doctors, turning to such bizarre practices in an effort to boost their health and wellbeing?

I dumped friends - it made me feel great! Bridget Crotty, who works in banking, attended her first full moon shamanic circle in London last month. I went because there were things in my life I wanted to get rid of, including friendships, but I wanted to do it in a positive and spiritual way, says the 39-year-old. Bridget Crotty, who works in banking, attended her first full moon shamanic circle in London last month The three-hour session cost 25 and there were 20 women there. The shaman explained how letting go of old emotions was the key to moving on, says Bridget, above. I wrote down my feelings about people I no longer wanted in my life. Then the drumming started, I was asked to wrap the piece of paper with all of the things I wanted to let go of around a stick and put it in a fire, before a 15-minute guided mediation session. I felt really good about myself afterwards and it has made me look at how I conduct my personal life. It was a Advertisement

Advocates claim sessions with a shaman can help with anything from IBS to boosting business ventures, dealing with grief and even the side effects of cancer treatment.

Predictably, actress Gwyneth Paltrow has been vocal about the benefits of shamanism, describing her Los Angeles-based healer, Shaman Durek, as her light in shining armour.

Dureks belief is that women feel drained because they are divine givers  be it as a mother, partner, friend, woman in the workplace or indeed just a woman in the world  and they give until nothing is left.

While pilgrimages to South America have led to a soaring interest in shamanism, some rituals practised there have recently hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons.

In August, a coroner urged the Foreign Office to produce guidance on travelling to take part in tribal rituals abroad following the death of Henry Miller, 19, from Bristol.

He died in the Colombian rainforest after reacting to ayahuasca, a hallucinogenic tea which he drank during a shamanic ceremony. Retreats in East Sussex and South Wales offer such rituals.

Shamans first came from the Tungus tribe in Siberia about 2,000 years ago  the word itself means spiritual healer or one who sees in the dark  and their magic has been practised across the world, in various forms, ever since.

Today, as people look for something deeper and more meaningful than a quick fix or taking a pill, shamanism is enjoying a resurgence.

Jo Bowlby, who has been touted as the secret shaman to Britains rich and famous, says that despite their success, many of her clients do not feel at peace in their overburdened world.

Todays world is so fast, its easy to lose yourself in the demands of everyday life, she explains. We are constantly being overstimulated, looking at smartphones every ten seconds. Finding stillness is becoming increasingly hard.

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Many of her clients, she says, are at the top of their game after spending years striving to enjoy such success. But she adds: The top can feel very lonely. The pressures can spark anxiety, insecurity and feelings of isolation. They feel lost.

Yet rather than resort to being given medication by a GP, modern women, and some men too, are turning to shamanism. Bowlby adds that everyone can benefit  how to see the world from different perspectives, to see its magic, to find stillness in the mayhem. Her clients typically follow a course of six to ten 75-minute sessions that cost 250 for the first one and 200 thereafter. They involve meditation, hands-on healing and visualisation techniques.

Natasha Saltzer, whose East Sussex practice attracts doctors and teachers, claims to help clients suffering with a broad range of medical issues, from depression to the side effects of cancer treatment.

She uses an extraction healing method  playing a hand-held circular drum over the clients body to help remove toxins from chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

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Glastonbury-based Jen McCarty, who works with lawyers and business owners, claims she can help with addictions to food, work, money and alcohol. She believes addictions are triggered by past events, which means healing our inner child.

For Sarah Holdway, 36, a bespoke jewellery maker from Hull, a shamanic ceremony was the only thing that helped her get over the trauma of several miscarriages. She says: Id tried counselling but I never quite felt over each of the losses.

The shaman said Sarah needed a womb cleanse and asked her to pick seven crystals for each baby she had lost. There was a massage bed which she asked me to lie down on and then she placed a basket over my womb, says Sarah.

She guided me through a meditation while she was drumming and singing. I felt able to start talking about each loss and say goodbye properly. I felt empowered.

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Rebecca Lownie, 52, believes visiting a shaman each month for two years gave her events business the direction it so desperately needed. Her sessions included drinking a raw chocolate drink that is said to open the heart and release blocked and negative energy.

However, Dr Sarah Burnett, a London-based GP, says: A shaman may well help people feel better, but with a disease or infection patients shouldnt avoid conventional treatment.
Men who are classed as infertile could become fathers thanks to a new procedure that gives one in five the chance of conceiving a baby.

Most of the estimated 300,000 British men with extremely low or zero sperm count are told they cant have biological children, because they either dont produce enough sperm or there is a blockage in one of the tubes along which the sperm travels.

The new technique, being offered at five specialist NHS hospitals across the country, involves surgically removing a tiny section of the testicle  less than a millimetre wide  dissecting it, and then retrieving individual sperm cells stuck inside.

The new technique, being offered at five specialist NHS hospitals across the country, involves surgically removing a tiny section of the testicle  less than a millimetre wide  dissecting it, and then retrieving individual sperm cells stuck inside

Crucial to the success of the new procedure, called MicroTESE, is a specialised microscope that magnifies the tubes inside the testicles by 20 times, helping the surgeon to find the sperm.

Dr Channa Jayasena, consultant in reproductive endocrinology at Imperial College London, who performs the procedure, says: Many of these men have been told they cant have children, but this procedure sees between 10-30 per cent of them have a baby. Its amazing.

For men diagnosed with zero sperm count in the UK, there is no chance of natural pregnancy.

Surgical interventions are offered which can increase chances of sperm extraction by up to 25 per cent.

These involve recovering semen from inside the body using a fine needle or removing several 5mm pieces of the testicle, from which sperm is later extracted.

Not only is there a risk of serious complications  such as shrinkage of the testicles and blood clots  but any tissue retrieved must be sent off for biopsy, delaying insemination by up to a week and reducing the chance of successful pregnancy.

With the MicroTESE procedure, surgeons know if they have successfully extracted sperm within two hours, meaning couples do not face an anxious wait for results.

Two weeks before surgery, patients are given a dose of the sex hormone FSH to boost sperm production. Then, during the procedure, a urologist makes a tiny cut in the scrotum, allowing access to the testicles.

The surgeon then examines them under the super-magnifying microscope, identifying the tubes where sperm is made, called the seminiferous tubules.

These involve recovering semen from inside the body using a fine needle or removing several 5mm pieces of the testicle, from which sperm is later extracted

Those that are swollen are most likely to contain sperm and are cut away using minute instruments.

The incision is stitched back up while a second urologist performs a biopsy on the removed tissue, and extracts any sperm stuck in the tubes.

Any sperm found is frozen immediately and kept for use in IVF treatments later that week.

Patients are able to return home within three to four hours.

Lorry driver Adrian Barrett, 50, who has a very low sperm count, spent 30 years believing hed never be able to become a father.

I had been through some very dark times coming to terms with the fact I would probably never be a dad, he recalls.

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Then he and his partner, Michelle, 42, from Scole, Norfolk, were referred to fertility clinic Bourn Hall in Cambridgeshire, where the treatment has been pioneered by consultant Oliver Wiseman. Adrian was thrilled when surgeons explained fatherhood may be possible, even with a drastically low sperm count.

With Michelles eggs harvested and ready for insemination, Adrian had the MicroTESE procedure in September 2015.

Remarkably she became pregnant at the first attempt, but devastation quickly followed when she miscarried at ten weeks.

But then, on the third attempt at insemination, Michelle became pregnant again. She gave birth to son Michael on October 6, 2016.

Adrian says: Being a dad has totally changed my life. There is only one way to describe what has happened to us  it is a miracle.

Wearing lipstick can instantly make an older woman look younger, a new study suggests. US researchers took photographs of 32 women aged 20 to 52 with and without make-up. These were then rated for age by 130 other women. Make-up-wearers in their 50s were estimated to be 1 years younger on average than their real age. The researchers said make-up on middle-aged women emphasised youthful features, including smooth skin and the size of the eyes and mouth.
As we prepare to say goodbye to our continental neighbours, how about a brisk British handshake? Bella Younger examines why weve never got our stiff upper lips round the awkward art of the mwah-mwah

At first, I thought air-kissing might be a posh thing or a fashion thing, but it seems that it has truly entered the national consciousness. People kiss their relatives, friends and even colleagues. It isnt pretentious or overly intimate  but it is a social minefield. In the past week alone, Ive encountered people that Ive kissed once, kissed twice, hugged, kiss-hugged, shaken hands with and kissed while shaking hands. And at times of extreme social anxiety, Ive been known to go for an awkward contactless wave. Am I being rude  or is it simply time that somebody laid down some rules?

Even the PM cant pull off an air-kiss as she greets European Council president Donald Tusk

Social kissing has ducked in and out of popularity since the 17th century, explains author and body-language expert Judi James: The handshake allows you to keep your body at a safe distance and your eyes on your potential foe, whereas when you go for an air-kiss, your hands are hidden, so its literally easier to stab someone in the back. The air-kiss made a comeback in the 1920s. Until fairly recently it was mostly confined to relatives or close friends, adds James. Now it seems to have invaded more formal business cultures as well as what you might call the Absolutely Fabulous professions.

Were clearly keen to do it, yet it feels resolutely non-British  and there is a huge margin for error. We are, as a nation, passionate about personal space, hence the awkward waves and rigid hugs. Air-kissing feels too glamorous, too suave for us to do well, and the fact that James says that it causes some level of anxiety and distress is not surprising to any of us.

According to social anthropologist Kate Fox, we just havent found a suitable greeting replacement since the death of How do you do? In a talk at the Hay Festival, she noted that every single other nation on the planet has a straightforward ritual for greeting someone. We seem to be the only ones who cant reach a consensus on whats appropriate.

The Spanish favour two kisses, the Dutch three, while some Germans prefer none. We presumably learned to what the French call faire la bise from the continent, where it is an expression of mutual respect and affection. In France, anything between one and four kisses is de rigueur, but more than two is considered vulgar by the upper classes and different regions favour a different number of mwahs. Its little wonder we Brits are confused.

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James says that you officially graduate from childhood cuddles to adult air-kissing when youre tall enough for relatives to cheek-kiss you without toppling over. The problem is nobody seems to be sure if theyre doing it right. If everyone knew exactly what they were doing wed be free of clumsy lunges and puckered lips left hanging in mid-air. The continent may have brought us la bise but they didnt leave us instructions on how to use it.

When I was younger, my uncle fell in love with and married my au pair, leading to a Spanish wedding full of relatives with no idea how to properly greet each other. It is Spanish custom to welcome family members of all sexes with a double kiss. By the end of the day, my father had managed to kiss his way into another wedding party by accident. Apparently, he told me, everyone loved his kilt.

British etiquette expert Jo Bryant claims that technique is crucial and you have to have confidence in your gesture. Usually its their right cheek first, but prepare to change direction at the last minute. There are no set rules on whether you should go for one or two kisses, but you should rein it in with people you dont know. Younger people have grown up with social kissing but older people might not feel as comfortable with such an intimate gesture. You mustnt try to pursue someone whos unwilling to pucker up.

Go in with too much aggression and you risk injuring a potential client, go in with too little and you risk delivering a Trump-esque side kiss. For Bryant, sincerity is important. You must remember your hands, make cheek-to-cheek contact and avoid saliva at all costs.

How good is it for our health to be kissing all these strangers? Hands are regularly washed but our faces are potential petri dishes of disease. Should you really be breathing in that acquaintances musk? According to YOUs health expert Dr Clare Bailey, risks of social kissing include infections such as the common cold, flu, chicken pox, measles  even TB or whooping cough. However, you probably get sprayed with more airborne infections in higher quantities simply standing on a crowded train. In essence, avoid people with visible infections such as flu whatever the weather.

Disease aside, I know that the only thing were truly risking with an air-kiss is our dignity.
At first, the message seems harmless  an email pops up on your screen that could be from a friend or colleague.

But click on it and your blood will run cold. Because what follows is a string of vicious threats to destroy your life unless you hand over money.

The 'ransom' email explains that you have been caught viewing an adult website  captured on your computer's camera.

To add credibility to the sting, the email includes key private details, such as your phone number and secret passwords for a bank or shopping account.

The 'ransom' email explains that you have been caught viewing an adult website

The effect is chilling, as Sarah Hartley, a Mail on Sunday journalist, found out for herself when she was targeted recently.

'Like most journalists, I am as tough as old boots and used to dealing with all sorts. Yet what horrified me most about receiving such an email is that it breached my work firewall,' she says.

'That was my fault  the email name had looked credible. It came from a common female name and I had assumed it was a public relations adviser. So I clicked on the option to permit.

'But when I read it I flushed hot and cold from head to toe  I was stunned by the sheer nastiness of the words. [see below].

'If the person had been standing in front of me I felt they would have been wielding a knife. Adding to my sense of fear was that the email included a password I use for an online shopping account. A barrier had been broken.'

Hartley adds: 'Although I knew I had not been watching pornography, the way I was threatened  that a video of me would be passed on to contacts if I dared breathe a word  was horribly menacing.

'I would have been mortified to know my friends and work colleagues might be contacted in this way. The language was perfect  no hieroglyphics or request to send money to a Nigerian bank account  and that is what made it plausible.'

The fraudster's sinister email 'Let's get straight to the purpose. You do not know me and you're probably wondering why you're getting this email. In fact, I actually set up a malware on the XXX streaming (adult porn) website and guess what, you visited this website to experience fun (you know what I mean). While you were watching video clips your web browser started functioning as a remote control desktop with a keylogger which provided me access to your screen and also webcam. Just after that, my software gathered your complete contacts from the messenger, social networks, as well as email account. Next, I created a video. The first part displays the video you were watching (you've got nice taste haha) and second part shows the view of your web camera, yeah it is u. There are just two possibilities. Very first solution is to ignore this email. In this situation I will send your recorded material to all your contacts and thus just consider the embarrassment you can get. 2nd alternative will be to give me $3,000. Let us regard it as a donation. In such a case I most certainly will instantly eliminate your videotape. You will make the payment by Bitcoin. If you are planning on going to the police, look, this message cannot be traced back to me. I have covered my moves. You have a day in order to pay.'

Hartley ignored the email. But criminals are frightening victims into handing over 500 or more in anonymous Bitcoins.

If they do not pay up, the blackmailer says they will share the details they have on the web.

Millions of computer users are being targeted in the sinister wave of ransom scams reputed to be cheating innocent people  targeted at random  out of at least 30million a year.

Personal information the blackmailers use to add credence to their claims can be bought for as little as 3 over the 'dark web' or 'harvested' using gadgets that can be purchased for about 40.

Colin Tankard is a cyber security expert who has been targeted himself by such criminals.

He says: 'Ransomware can destroy lives.

'There have been instances when people have committed suicide as a result of the horrible threats made.

'It breaks up perfectly stable relationships and causes untold misery.'

Tankard, managing director of Harlow-based Digital Pathways, adds: 'Part of the awfulness of such cyber attacks is that these emails are often sent randomly.

'The criminal has no idea what a recipient has been doing  just making a guess.

'Paying up is the worst thing a victim can do. You are then put on a 'sucker list'.'

This means your name will be added to lists of people deemed susceptible to crime, which are then traded among criminals  invariably leading to victims receiving further demands for money.

Menacing language is used to make a victim feel insecure and vulnerable to the prey.

Tankard says: 'Wording usually goes as follows, "While you were watching videos, your internet browser started out functioning as a remote viewer having a keylogger which gave me accessibility to your screen and web cam. After that, my software program obtained all your contacts."

'Then, "Well, in my opinion, $1,000 is a fair price for our little secret. You'll make the payment by Bitcoin."

'An additional message might read, "I know that you have read through this email. If I do not receive the Bitcoins I will send your video recording to all of your contacts, including close relatives and colleagues."'

Aware of the scam, Tankard ignored the threat sent to him and did not reply  and suggests that others targeted should do this too.

Being a dark web criminal does not require much skill  just a lack of scruples.

Tankard says a harmless looking 40 USB stick device known as a 'rubber ducky' can be inserted into the side of a laptop.

It includes a 'slurp' facility that will then instantly grab hold of personal computer files, including passwords and contacts. The details are copied, leaving the computer user none the wiser.

Victims are asked to make the payment by Bitcoin

Similarly, a small hand-held 'wi-fi pineapple' box with antenna can be purchased on the internet for 80.

It offers free wi-fi to nearby internet users and even imitates servers, perhaps pretending it is the wi-fi provider for the coffee shop a person is sitting in. The device can be used to steal home log-in details for wi-fi.

Ruth Walker, of internet search engine consultant Evolved, says lists of potential victims and their private financial details can easily be purchased.

Recent research for website Money Guru revealed passwords for social media, online music or email accounts can be bought for 3 on the dark web.

Newcastle-based computer expert Walker says: 'These details have often initially been gathered through phishing  perhaps using pop-up windows or emails with click-on links to websites that harvest personal information.

'People often have the same password for a variety of services making it easier for criminals to build a data profile.'

Successful malware attacks have also raised fear among many potential victims  making it more likely they pay up if blackmailed.

A malware virus known as CryptoLocker, hidden in Microsoft software in 2013 and 2014, made off with 2.3million when an innocuous looking 'Trojan horse' file opened in an email attachment sent computers into meltdown.

Last year, another known as WannaCry infected more than 200,000 computers  including those used by the National Health Service  with victims paying some 110,000 in Bitcoins to unlock their computers.

According to analysis by technology company Vanson Bourne, ransomware attacks cost British businesses 350million a year, with 40 per cent of firms getting attacked at least five times in 12 months.

Given many firms are beefing up their cyber security, hackers are increasingly targeting individuals.

Computer users should be wary of pressing links on pop-up windows or contained in unsolicited emails.

Rogue security software and copycat websites  claiming to be popular online shops such as Amazon and eBay, payment system PayPal or official organisations such as Revenue & Customs  are favoured by fraudsters hoping to trick you into giving away private information.

Anti-virus software is a way of combating a cyber attack. Providers to consider  that offer free options  include Avira and Sophos.

Others worth considering include McAfee, Intego, Norton and Bitdefender although you will have to sign up to an annual subscription costing at least 30.

Have you been a victim of ransomware? If so send an email to toby.walne@mailonsunday.co.uk
It is hard  and extremely expensive  to build infrastructure in Britain.

The availability of land is tight, the environmental lobby for reasons good and bad is powerful, and costs are high.

But poor infrastructure damages wellbeing as well as wealth: few people enjoy being stuck in a traffic jam.

Common sense, therefore, says we should use our infrastructure better  and, hey presto, when Gatwick is blocked from building a second runway, it finds it can widen its existing emergency one and use that instead.

Gatwick is blocked from building a second runway

There are lots of other examples where we can do better with what we have got. Squeezing in an extra lane on the M6.

Cutting the interval between trains on the Victoria line in London to 100 seconds. Cramming 80million people this year through Heathrow.

Technology helps. The Waze app means we use the road network more efficiently, though at a cost to people living in once-quiet suburban streets.

Satnav direction makes deliveries more efficient and more precise. We need more of this because all the evidence is that pressures will go on rising.

A new study by Oxford Economics projects that the London region will add 2.3million people by 2030 and become the third largest market of high-income households in the world after Tokyo and New York.

The other side of doing more with what we already have is not wasting money on grandiose projects. There are a lot of tough questions here.

Do we need to spend upwards of 50billion on a faster railway between London and Birmingham? Is that third runway at Heathrow really needed?

We all pay for infrastructure, either in taxes or in user charges. So we should all press politicians to heed the message from Gatwick: use ingenuity to find a cheaper way.

Real data

How did governments know what was happening before the economics profession had thought up the idea of measuring the output of a country in Gross Domestic Product?

The answer is that they looked at real data: how much coal was being mined, what was exported through the ports, how many journeys people made on trains and so on.

That was laborious. If they wanted a quick picture, a former head of the Treasury once explained to me, they looked at tax receipts.

If people were earning more and spending more, taxes came in and the economy must be growing. If not, it wasn't.

Apply this to those public finances figures out on Friday.

The headlines were that the deficit is coming down much faster than the Office for Budget Responsibility expected in the spring and that the Chancellor will have more room in his Budget for tax cuts and/or spending increases.

The other story, less noted, was that if tax revenues so far this year are up 4.6 per cent on last year, then the economy must be growing too.

Of course there are concerns, but we have not talked ourselves into a slump yet.
Tony Hetherington is Financial Mail on Sunday's ace investigator, fighting readers' corners, revealing the truth that lies behind closed doors and winning victories for those who have been left out-of-pocket. Find out how to contact him below.

Mrs I.D. writes: Some time ago I agreed to try the phone call blocking system offered by HomeservicesUK Limited.

But I quickly found my phone company provides blocking at no extra charge, so I cancelled Homeservices within the first two weeks.

I returned the call blocking box, but it said I was too late to cancel. Next, Secure Telephone Service Limited took over and demanded a further payment.

In March this year Call Protect UK demanded money and said it would use bailiffs if I did not pay up. This was 149.99, which I paid. I want this stopped.

Demands:The reader got caught in a web of call blocking companies

You have been caught in a web spun by a network of companies and individuals, all in or near Bournemouth and all claiming to offer plug-in gadgets that are supposed to block unwanted telephone sales calls.

Ironically, the same companies use cold-calls to get many of their sales.

HomeservicesUK Limited no longer exists. Companies House started proceedings last March to have it compulsorily struck off, but boss Kevin Doherty decided to have it dissolved voluntarily. It ceased to exist in July.

Secure Telephone Service Limited is also defunct. It was compulsorily struck off by Companies House last April. It had filed no accounts since 2016.

Call Protect UK is still in business though. According to its website, 'Call Protect UK Limited is a nationally recognised data controller and independent service dedicated to empowering and protecting the privacy of UK consumers.'

It claims: 'We are registered by the Information Commissioner's Office and committed to ensure your personal data is processed fairly and lawfully.'

Really? In fact, there is no such company as Call Protect UK Limited. Its real name is KOT Marketing Limited and it is based at Burlington Arcade in Bournemouth.

As for being registered as a legitimate data controller, the Information Commissioner's Office told me: 'KOT Marketing Limited did have a registration, which lapsed on July 31 of this year.'

So, if the company is still handling the personal data of customers, it is doing so unlawfully by failing to be registered with the ICO. Its website claim to be registered is just plain false.

Company records show that KOT Marketing was set up in July last year. It has just one director, 40-year-old Kourosh Tamjidi.

He has been a director of three previous companies that are no longer in business.

One of these is Signed Sealed Delivered Marketing Limited, which went bust in 2017 with debts of 11,000.

Tamjidi was one-third owner of the company, with the other two thirds owned by his business partner Luke Ashbee.

And Ashbee is already known to me. Three years ago, I warned against Do Not Call (UK) Limited, a Bournemouth business that was using high pressure sales calls to market a plug-in device that was supposed to stop unwanted sales calls.

The snag was that it would only stop calls after customers programmed in the numbers they wanted blocked, which meant answering the phone and then realising it was an unwanted call. If the same caller rang from a different number, they would still get through.

Do Not Call (UK) Limited was run by Ashbee. It failed to file accounts that were legally due and Companies House began proceedings to have it struck off. Ashbee put the company into liquidation, with debts estimated at 125,000.

You have given me bank evidence showing that Tamjidi and KOT Marketing took 149.99 from your account in March.

I asked Tamjidi to show me anything that would prove he had a contract with you. I also asked him about the false claim that his company was a registered data controller.

Apart from an acknowledgement saying I would get a reply, there has been no response or comment. Meanwhile, KOT Marketing continues with its false claims.

The signs are that your details have simply been passed from one company to another and you have paid up out of fear.

Do not pay another penny. If KOT Marketing or any other company demands money from you, pay nothing and let me know. I shall be only too glad to give them some unwanted advertising.

Bad luck... we lost your parcel

T.C. writes: I used Hermes to deliver a CCTV recorder and hard drive worth 175, and I paid extra for insurance. Hermes collected the parcel on May 12 and its website showed it had arrived at the recipient's local depot on May 15 and was with the local courier the next day. Whenever I checked after that, Hermes showed it as a delivery 'in progress'. But the recipient said nothing had arrived, so on June 14 I contacted Hermes. It accepts it has lost my parcel, but says I cannot claim anything because I did not complain within 28 days of the date I paid, which was May 12. In effect, it is just my tough luck it lost my goods.

'In progress': But the parcel never arrived

When you contacted Hermes in June, you were told it would take 72 hours for a 'sweep' of the depot in a bid to find the missing parcel. This failed to turn up any sign of the lost goods, but Hermes sent you a message headed 'query resolved', saying it could not even investigate the loss because you had failed to ask for the search within 28 days.

Yet months later, when you contacted me, I went on to the Hermes website and entered your tracking number and it still showed 'delivery in progress'.

I asked Hermes to look into this and you suddenly received an email saying your claim had been accepted.

So far, so good. But six days later another email arrived, demanding proof of purchase of the missing equipment.

You supplied this, but my own contact at the company knew nothing about the demand and described it as unacceptable. She intervened and you have now received 175 plus a refund of 9.99 which was the cost of the delivery service and insurance. Hermes told me: 'We would like to apologise to Mr C for any inconvenience caused.'

Don't fall for road tax ruse

I.S. writes: I received a text message, supposedly from the DVLA in Swansea, telling me I had not yet claimed a 48 refund on my road tax, despite several letters. No such letters were received. The text message was a final notice. They wanted my name, address, date of birth, driving licence number, national insurance number, mother's maiden name, bank card number, sort code, account number, expiry date, and the security number from the back of the card. Their number is 07808 633 183 and the address shown on the text is tax-disc.dvla.gov.uk.dsa2.pw.

As you quite rightly guessed, this is a scam. Anyone who hands over the wealth of information demanded is likely to find that their bank account has been emptied and if they have a credit card, it will be maxed out.

I called the mobile number and it went straight to the O2 message service. It is likely to be an untraceable pay-as-you-go phone. And when I tried the website, my own computer flashed up a message saying it was likely to infect it.

A giveaway is the fact that the dodgy website address refers to tax discs, which no longer exist, but just for the record, I invited the real DVLA to comment. Officials told me: 'We don't send emails or text messages that ask you to confirm your personal details or payment information.'

If you believe you are the victim of financial wrongdoing, write to Tony Hetherington at Financial Mail, 2 Derry Street, London W8 5TS or email tony.hetherington@mailonsunday.co.uk. Because of the high volume of enquiries, personal replies cannot be given. Please send only copies of original documents, which we regret cannot be returned.
Last week, the National Cyber Security Centre warned that the UK faces a major, life-threatening cyber-attack in the near future.

A Government agency, the Centre advises companies on how to avoid security threats.

It has handled more than 500 cases in the past 12 months alone and the numbers are growing by the week.

Life support: Cyber criminals threaten the NHS

The stakes are high. When TalkTalk suffered a data breach, it cost more than 40million and customers were furious.

British Airways has yet to reveal the cost of its cyber-attack last month but it could run into hundreds of millions of pounds, let alone the reputational damage that the company has suffered.

Osirium aims to prevent these types of attacks. The company is relatively small but it is a market leader in its field and growing fast.

The shares, at 124p, should follow suit. Osirium specialises in so-called 'privileged access management'  in essence, preventing hackers from accessing the accounts of people who administer software systems.

Most individuals  customers, employees, even board directors  only have access to their own online information. 'Privileged account' holders have access to hordes of information.

They invariably work in an organisation's IT department and their computers include data on customers' bank accounts, patients' records, sensitive employee details or confidential information about defence and security.

For sophisticated cyber-criminals, these accounts are like the Holy Grail, allowing them to steal vast quantities of information in a single hit.

As a result, over 80 per cent of cyber-attacks concern privileged accounts.

Reading-based Osirium aims to turn the tide. The company is a pioneer in the privileged access area and it has a number of blue-chip customers, including several NHS trusts.

Most customers prefer to remain anonymous but major retailers, water groups, universities, insurers, mobile phone firms, defence specialists and online retailers have all signed up to Osirium and many more businesses are expected to do so over the next year or two.

The company's services are highly complex but they centre on making sure that customers have a measure of control over privileged accounts holders or system administrators. They are not allowed to create their own passwords, for instance.

Instead, Osirium creates passwords for them, which are exceptionally secure and changed continually.

These passwords only allow users to see what they need to, rather than giving them access to a company's entire data.

This simple measure can make a huge difference to an organisation's cyber security.

Over 99 per cent of all cyber-attacks relate to human error, often involving the use of passwords that are easy to guess or accidentally allowing outsiders to see them.

Worryingly too, around a quarter of cyber-attacks globally are inside jobs. Restricting highly-placed systems administrators' access to information can dramatically cut the risk of attacks.

Osirium was founded by chief executive David Guyatt, who has spent almost 30 years in the cyber industry, founding the business behind email security product MIMEsweeper in 1995 and selling it for 700 million just five years later.

Guyatt set up Osirium in 2009 and listed the business in 2016. Interim results were impressive, with first-half revenues up 78 per cent to 466,0000 year-on-year.

Brokers expect 2018 sales of 900,000, rising to 1.4million in 2019. The company is loss-making, as it invests in future growth, but should become profitable in 2020, growing rapidly thereafter.

MIDAS VERDICT: Cyber security is big business and one of the fastest growing areas in the industry relates to privileged accounts  and how to make them safer.

This is Osirium's speciality and it is one of the world's most innovative companies in this sector.

The business is growing fast, expanding into other countries and may well attract a takeover bid along the way. At 124p, the shares are a buy.
Just over a week ago, Volution chief executive Ronnie George bought 10,000 shares in his firm.

The purchase, at 170p a share, cost 17,000 and took his stake in the ventilation business to nearly 3 per cent. George called the move as 'a protest'  his way of saying that the shares were undervalued.

The stock closed at 178p on Friday so George has already gone some way to proving his point. But brokers who know the firm well believe it has a lot further to go.

The company has doubled in size over five years  without recourse to shareholders

Volution makes ventilation products from bathroom extractor fans in bathrooms to sophisticated air purifier systems, increasingly used in new homes, offices and warehouses.

Behind brands such as Vent-Axia, Ventilair and Diffusion, the company has doubled in size over five years  without recourse to shareholders  and George wants to do the same again by 2023, expanding organically and through well-placed acquisitions. The target is well within reach.

Volution listed on the stock market in 2014 at 150p and was recommended by Midas in September that year at 155p.

The firm operated mainly in the UK at the time. Today, the UK accounts for less than half group revenues.

The group has a thriving Nordic division and has expanded into Belgium, Germany, the Nether-lands and even New Zealand.

Its factories export far and wide, from Crete to the Falkland Islands.

George is keen to beef up Volution's presence in Europe, cement the group's position in Britain and possibly move into Australia. Regulation is on Volution's side too.

Governments are keen to reduce energy use by making new homes and offices as well insulated as possible.

That creates a need for effective ventilation products and Volution makes some of the best on the market.

Annual results to July 31 showed an 11 per cent increase in sales to 206million, profits rose 4 per cent to 37million and the dividend was up 7 per cent to 4.4p.

Analysts expect sales of 230million, profits of 42million and a 4.8p dividend next year with further growth in 2020.

MIDAS VERDICT: Volution shares have risen more than 16 per cent since Midas recommended them, and there have been some decent dividends too.

However, the stock has plenty more mileage, with most City brokers expecting the price to rise to at least 230p in the next 12 months.

Current investors should stay with this one. New investors could also follow George's lead and buy a few.
Although investing is now primarily done online, many investors still have share certificates as a result of receiving shares in the demutualisation of building societies and other businesses in the 1990s and early 2000s.

Some of these holdings have long been forgotten. According to the Unclaimed Assets Register, part of credit rating agency Experian, shares and dividends worth 3billion are still waiting to be reunited with their owners.

Mark Taylor is chief customer officer at Selftrade, part of share registrar Equiniti. He warns treasure hunters to manage their expectations over the value of any share certificate finds.

Share treasure? Many investors still have share certificates

He says: 'Some certificates will no longer be valid. The company may have been taken over or gone into liquidation.

Or the share certificate may have been replaced by a new one following an event such as a share split or a company takeover.'

Equally there could be a valuable holding hiding in your paperwork that could help boost your wealth.

Turn detective to track down a fortune

A quick call to the relevant share registrar should put you out of your misery  or reveal a windfall. Most share certificates show the name of the registrar which manages the shareholders of a stock market listed business.

There are three main players: Link Asset Services (formerly Capita), Computershare (formerly Lloyds TSB registrars) and Equiniti.

Companies do change their share registrar but it should be easy to track down the correct one. Failing that, Companies House, the national register of companies, will hold the contact details you need.

Why paper shares are going out of fashion

Paper shares are steadily going out of fashion and the pressure is on shareholders to join the digital age to cut costs.

Taylor says: 'Many countries have done away with them in a process referred to as dematerialisation  and replaced them with some form of electronic reference number or key.'

European Union regulation is prodding the UK towards a similar paper-free environment but there is no imminent date for implementation.

Indeed, Brexit could put a spanner in the works.

Even without regulation, more investors are choosing to hold shares electronically.

This means a stockbroker manages shares on behalf of shareholders in a so-called nominee account.

Taylor says: 'Nominee accounts generally make it easier and more cost-effective to buy, sell and hold shares than paper certificates.

'Despite this many people are reluctant to give up their certificates as they are worried that using a nominee account diminishes the relationship between shareholder and company.'

Contact a stockbrokers to help you go digital

If you wish to keep the shareholding but 'dematerialise' into digital format then it will be necessary to open an account with a stockbroker. This can be done quickly online once you have picked your preferred broker.

The next step is to download two types of form from the broker's website. The first is a 'transfer-in' form on which you list the share certificates you want to transfer.

The second is a 'Crest transfer' form which acts as the instruction to the market to convert the paper shares to electronic shares. You need one of these for each shareholding you want to dematerialise.

Post the forms to the stockbroker enclosing the paper shares. It will take a couple of days after receipt for them to appear in the new electronic nominee account.

How to sell paper shares without setting up an account

Dematerialising is one way of organising the sale of unearthed shares. Most brokers will make the transfer of share certificates into a nominee account free of charge but then charge normal selling prices. These might be 5 or 10 with a low-cost broker.

If that sounds like too much hassle, it is possible to sell paper-based shares through a stockbroker without setting up an account.

With broker The Share Centre you can complete a form from its website and post it with the certificates  at a cost of 1 per cent of the proceeds or a minimum 35.

Sell through Hargreaves Lansdown and the charge is 1 per cent  a minimum 20  plus a 20 paper share charge.

Expect a charge for replacing a lost certificate

Replacing lost or stolen certificates requires a different course of action  and attracts extra charges. The first port of call is to contact the registrar, which will put a restriction on the certificate. This is to stop it being used fraudulently.

It will then issue a replacement for which you will have to pay at least 50  possibly more. The amount depends on the number and value of the shares.

For high-value shareholdings, usually more than 10,000, expect to have to arrange a letter of indemnity signed by you and countersigned by your bank. If the certificate was stolen you will need to provide a crime reference number.

Keep all your financial details up to date

Kevin Firth, managing director of registrar Computershare, recommends that everyone commit some time to regularly update financial paperwork  especially those who have moved home recently.

This is especially important if, for example, regular dividend payments are sent by post.

He says: 'Over the course of a year hundreds of people get in touch with us to discuss forgotten shareholdings.

'We work hard alongside our client companies to contact customers who have stopped banking dividend payments, but it is difficult when we do not have up-to-date contact details.'

If you uncover dividend cheques that are out of date these can usually be reissued by the registrar  although there will be a charge deducted from the dividend's value. It is sensible to have them paid into your bank account directly instead.
The Mail today launches a campaign to give thousands of savers who own shares online a fair say in company votes.

Investing is quicker, cheaper and more popular than ever due to internet platforms such as those operated by Hargreaves Lansdown, Charles Stanley Direct, AJ Bell and Barclays Smart Investor.

But there are fears the shift to the web may unintentionally be undermining shareholder democracy.

This was highlighted by the recent row over Unilever's aborted plan to move its headquarters from London to Rotterdam.

Ordinary savers who hold stock in large firms are entitled to vote on corporate matters, including their bosses' pay  but those who hold stock online often miss out. Unlike savers with traditional paper share certificates, many online investors do not realise votes are happening and may not know how to take action even if they want to.

In crucial votes at the likes of Unilever, the system has limited online investors' rights. The Mail is calling for reform to voting rules so that all shareholders get a fair say.

We want the votes of online investors to be treated in the same way as those who own stock through certificates. They should not be charged any money by their online platform to register a vote.

And we are calling on big businesses to set up simple online voting systems so that any investors can easily make their voice heard.

Stockbrokers, trade groups and MPs last night backed the campaign. Gavin Oldham, chairman of online platform The Share Centre, said: 'This is absolutely fundamental. If shareholders don't feel they have any say over the companies they own, then they are likely to challenge the whole basis of the system.'

Mark Northway, chairman of retail shareholder group Sharesoc, said: 'The ability of shareholders to exercise their rights, and the ability of companies to contact their shareholders, is absolutely essential.'

John Barrass, deputy boss of financial adviser trade group Pimfa, said: 'Owners of the same classes of equity in a company have the same rights as each other, regardless of the size of their holdings.'

Unilever's plan to have a sole legal base in the Netherlands triggered an outcry over shareholder rights this month.

For the firm to get its plans passed, it needed support from more than half of individual investors who voted. In theory this gave ordinary shareholders an equal say to giant pension funds.

It emerged, however, that the company would only count online brokers such as Hargreaves Lansdown as a single investor  even though they looked after shares for thousands of people.

Hargreaves had 20,000 clients with Unilever stock  but they would not have been counted separately.

This is because online platforms look after all their customers' stock collectively in a so-called nominee account.

Unilever eventually called off the vote and abandoned the scheme following the backlash. But campaigners have warned that the voting rules should be changed so that individual shareholders get an equal say in all future votes.

Labour MP Wes Streeting, a member of the Treasury Select Committee, said the system is hard to justify. He added: 'It risks disengaging huge numbers of shareholders in all sorts of businesses and it's something Parliament, the Government and regulators ought to look at very seriously.'

Danny Cox of Hargreaves Lansdown said: 'Nominated shareholders should have the same rights as certificated shareholders.'

Andy Bell, chief executive at AJ Bell, said: 'We can enable our customers to cast their votes online, but this is futile if there is a barrier to those votes counting.'

A spokesman for Barclays Smart Investor said: 'Any effort to provide more simplicity in the process is something we would greatly welcome, on behalf of our customers.'
New WPP boss Mark Read's baptism of fire is set to continue this week as he unveils disappointing figures to the City.

Analysts fear the advertising behemoth is in need of 'radical surgery' and are forecasting an annual revenue fall of 4 per cent.

A sales drop, at the end of a tumultuous year in which its founder and chief executive Sir Martin Sorrell, 73, departed in controversial circumstances, would represent the FTSE 100 firm's first yearly fall in turnover since 2002.

Tough job: New WPP boss Mark Read

Read, 51, who formerly led WPP's digital agency Wunderman, was appointed as Sorrell's successor early last month.

Sorrell, who founded WPP in 1985, left the business following the conclusion of a board investigation into mysterious allegations made against him.

It was later reported that Sorrell had been accused of paying for a prostitute on company expenses  an allegation he strenuously denied.

Read's early weeks have been plagued by a series of high-profile contract losses, including from US car giant Ford earlier this month. Sources said these losses would not be felt until next year.

But WPP's share price has already fallen by around a quarter over the past year, closing at 10.34 on Friday.

Under Sorrell, the company was known for buying up large numbers of small businesses in the advertising industry. However, according to Refinitiv data, it has made just 11 acquisitions this year, down from 25 last year.

In July, WPP lost out to S4 Capital, a new investment vehicle led by Sorrell, in a bidding war for Dutch agency Media Monks.

Analysts expect third-quarter turnover, which will be reported on Thursday, to be flat on last year's figures, thanks in part to the lower value of sterling.

The company is expecting like-for-like growth to be near-flat at 0.3 per cent for the year as a whole.

But, according to a Bloomberg compilation of analyst expectations, the City is anticipating a 4 per cent drop in total turnover, from 15.3billion in 2017 to 14.7billion.

Earnings, meanwhile, are forecast to drop 4 per cent to 2.4billion.

Sources said the fall of sterling, which has been prompted by Brexit uncertainty, would be a major factor, because WPP is a global business and most of its revenues are paid in foreign currencies and then exchanged into pounds.

Like-for-like revenues fell 0.3 per cent last year  WPP's worst turnover performance since 2009. But its total revenue figure, which includes the impact of currency changes, has not dropped in 16 years.

Steve Liechti, an analyst at City broker Numis, said: 'We fear WPP might need more radical surgery than currently communicated.'

In a note to investors, he added that his team at Numis are 'worried over the scale of US problems' the business is facing, citing Ford's decision this month to drop WPP as its lead creative agency in favour of its rival, Omnicom.

Exit: Sir Martin Sorrell left WPP after an inquiry into allegations against him

Ian Whittaker, a media analyst at City broker Liberum, said Ford's decision was a 'blow to prestige' for WPP, but he suggested it would not have a major economic impact on the business.

He added that some would question whether Sorrell's departure was a factor in WPP losing Ford.

When Read was introduced as the new chief executive last month he admitted the company was 'underperforming' in the US, which is by far its biggest market.

As well as Ford, the company has also lost high-profile contracts including American Express, GlaxoSmithKline and car firm Opel in Germany in recent weeks.

Read is expected to launch a new strategy for the business in December or early next year.
A third of FTSE-listed general retailers have issued profit warnings so far this year, according to research by EY highlighting the growing strain on the sector.

Store chains have issued eight profit warnings, the highest of any FTSE sector. The list includes Debenhams, Moss Bros and Carpetright which are all showing signs of significant financial stress.

EY also warned that retailers face rises in business rates on their property and higher labour costs. 'Profit warnings have begun to increase in the apparel sub-sector which benefited from a prompt start to summer,' the report said.

'Financial stress': The list includes Debenhams, Moss Bros and Carpetright

The industry may also face higher costs in the event of border disruption when the UK leaves the EU. Food and drugs firms may also have to stockpile goods in preparation, EY said.

Travel and leisure companies have also been under pressure with a quarter of FTSE-listed firms in the sector issuing profit alerts.

'Renewed weakness in sterling or disruption to food or labour supply linked to Brexit could trigger a further wave of profit warnings,' EY added.

'Companies with high operational and financial leverage remain vulnerable to further increases in overheads.'
Six months ago Britain's favourite posh coffee and cake shop Patisserie Valerie was flying.

While the rest of the high street was shaken to its core by a wave of collapsing shop and restaurant businesses, the 206-store Belgian-themed chain employing 2,500 staff was having a bumper year  or so its investors believed.

Chairman Luke Johnson, who made his fortune building up the Pizza Express chain, issued a report in May to the London stock market saying he was 'delighted' with the chain's performance.

Sell-off: Bosses Luke Johnson, left, and Paul May cashed in shares

All the more astonishing because, that same month, restaurant chains Carluccio's, Cote and Byron were all digesting painful and very public store closure plans.

Few  least not, we are told, Johnson and several of his fellow credulous directors  stopped to find out how it could be that a chain selling coffee and cakes could be doing so well when all around it was engulfed in chaos.

The opportunity was too good to miss. With the company's shares hitting new peaks in February as investors' confidence in the numbers ballooned, chief executive Paul May, finance director Chris Marsh and a non-executive director James Horler, whose job it was to keep an eye on the management, cashed in a swathe of shares worth almost 5.9million.

The stock price surged further, peaking at 4.92 by mid-June, and another 7.2million of shares were sold by the board, company documents say  this time with Marsh and May joined by deputy chairman Lee Ginsberg, a South African and former finance director at pizza delivery chain Domino's.

No doubt they could hardly believe their good fortune. But the company's run was about to come crashing to a halt.

Just 11 days ago, on October 10, as stock markets were rocked, the hype exploded  and the business almost followed.

The directors said they had been made aware of 'potentially fraudulent accounting irregularities'. What was more, it needed to find 25million in the next few days. Two days later, another blow came when finance director Marsh was arrested before being released on bail.

Marsh previously helped run two firms which later went bust, The Mail on Sunday's inquiries revealed, but otherwise had an unblemished record at Patisserie Valerie.

Red flags: Stores have been opening in increasingly far-flung locations while the average takings appeared static, analysts have said

Then the Serious Fraud Office released a statement relating to Patisserie Valerie, saying it had 'opened a criminal investigation into an individual', without identifying the person. 'We can give no further information or comment at this time,' it added.

Their shares were suspended, which prohibits further trading for now. Short-term funding, in part from major shareholder Johnson, has been found. But, analysts say, when trading resumes the value of the firm is likely to plummet, assuming it survives at all.

Sources estimated the slump could leave Johnson nursing losses of more than 100million. City sources said there were a number of red flags  stores have been opening in increasingly far-flung locations while the average takings appeared static.

Several sources drew attention to the nominal interest earnings of 1,000 on huge cash reserves estimated at 25million, which were tucked away in the company's accounts.

That cash pile has now been restated as a 9.8million debt. The board has since discovered the existence of almost 10million overdrafts run up in two 'secret' company facilities. Johnson said neither he nor the board had know of the overdraft facilities.

Johnson  who says he only discovered the accounting catastrophe the day before the shock news emerged  has spoken of the 'nightmare' that has become the 'most harrowing week of my life'.

But one industry insider told The Mail on Sunday that Johnson is well known for his usually meticulous approach to his investments  of which this was by far his largest.

'Everyone who has ever worked with Johnson says he is normally all over the fine details of his investments. How could it be that this could have happened, that he let this past him? Nobody can get their head around it.'

Johnson, who has had a pugilistic relationship with corporate governance bodies, finally concedes that accusations he 'was stretched too thin' were 'fair criticism'.

Shareholders  unamused and bemused in equal measure that someone who weekly doles out business advice through a newspaper column could be blindsided in this way  are yet to find out how much of their money has been burnt.

One investor said, if the accounts were 'bogus or misleading,' directors may need to 'consider repaying the proceeds [of share sales] back into the company'.

An industry insider went further, saying that if any criminal deceit is uncovered there could be an attempt to recover money through 'proceeds of crime' legislation  including money made through the sale of shares by anyone with knowledge of wrongdoing.

'This could get very complicated very quickly,' the insider added.
Some of the country's local authorities stand accused today of adding to Britain's 'broken' housing market by obstructing people wishing to buy a home.

The accusation has been made by Phil Spencer, television property expert and co-founder of website Move iQ.

He says councils countrywide 'are adding needless delays and expense to the homebuying process'. The findings could prompt the Government to intervene.

Phil Spencer, television property expert and co-founder of website Move iQ, with Kirstie Allsopp, who presented Location, Location, Location

Move iQ has carried out exhaustive research into the fees each of England's 326 local authorities levy when a solicitor asks them to carry out a property search on behalf of a home buyer.

It has also documented the time it takes each authority to undertake this work.

Such searches are a necessary part of the conveyancing work that must be completed before a home is bought and a lender is prepared to grant a mortgage.

A local authority search enables a buyer  and mortgage lender  to know of future plans that may impact on the property's value, for example a proposed housing development.

It also outlines who is responsible for maintaining roads and paths adjoining the property.

Move iQ's research indicates that one council in seven is failing to meet a Government target to complete searches in ten days or less.

While 12 per cent of councils complete the task in three days or less, some are taking more than 25 days. Worst offenders are Stratford-upon-Avon (95 days), Wyre Forest (40 days), Rochford, Herefordshire and Epping Forest (all 25 days).

On fees, 78 per cent of local authorities now charge more than 100 for a standard residential land search.

But the range is dramatic, from 44 (Wakefield) to 333.50 (Hammersmith and Fulham).

Hammersmith and Fulham says that the average waiting time in September for a search was 5.98 days. It also says that if someone pays online for a search, the charge is 280.50.

The Government has already stated that delays in carrying out searches are 'unacceptable'.

Over the summer, the Government launched the Local Land Charges digital register to help cut search waiting times.

This enables homebuyers to use the Land Registry for part of the required search work, but they must still go to a local authority for details of planned developments.

Spencer told The Mail on Sunday: 'It is unacceptable to force buyers to wait up to three months for what should be a routine process.'
Tens of thousands of firms could be locked out of justice unless the Government launches a new system for businesses mistreated by their banks next week, campaigners warn.

Chancellor Philip Hammond is under intense pressure to address the issue of disagreements between small firms and their lenders in the Budget, which will take place a week on Monday.

Tory MP Kevin Hollinrake, who has been leading the charge for an improved system as co-chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Fair Business Banking (APPG), met with Hammond, as well as City Minister John Glen, last week to urge them to change the law.

Mistreated firms: Chancellor Philip Hammond is under intense pressure to address the issue

Last night, another bank backed The Mail on Sundays Justice For Our Firms campaign, which is calling for a new tribunal regime to help businesses hold their lenders to account.

Craig Donaldson, the chief executive of Metro Bank  a challenger to the big lenders  joined TSB in endorsing the tribunal plan, saying it is so important for British businesses that there is an effective dispute resolution service.

The tribunal system is vital because a planned extension to the Financial Ombudsman Service, revealed last week, would only cater to firms with turnover of less than 6.5million a year and fewer than 50 employees.

The APPG estimates 42,000 British companies would not fit within these parameters and so would have to seek justice by launching costly legal actions.

Ombudsman claims will also be limited to 350,000, and many firms mistreated by banks would have lost larger sums.

The vast majority  90 per cent  of the cases I deal with fall certainly outside the 350,000 threshold, said Hollinrake, who regularly speaks to businesses caught up in the scandals surrounding GRG, Royal Bank of Scotlands controversial turnaround unit, and Lloyds Banking Groups HBOS Reading. We need justice to be done.

His intervention comes ahead of a crunch couple of days for the tribunal campaign. UK Finance  a body representing Britains banks  and the Treasury Select Committee are expected to set out their views on a tribunal later this week. The Treasury will then decide whether to push ahead with a tribunal in the Budget.
Philip Hammond is eyeing a 300million tax cut for shops in Britain's most deprived town centres as pressure mounts on the Government to help high street retailers, we can exclusively reveal.

The move  being 'actively considered' at a ministerial level according to sources  could be introduced from April and would mean an instant reduction in bills for the next two years.

The Government is weighing up the plan as part of a package of measures that could include a tax on digital firms.

The Chancellor is eyeing a 300m tax cut for shops in Britain's most deprived town centres

It is facing growing pressure to level the playing field on tax to help domestic firms and was last night called on to demand greater transparency from global corporations operating here.

Multinationals are accused of using complex company structures to reduce their tax bills.

The Tax Justice Network told The Mail on Sunday that powers enshrined in the Finance Act 2016 gives the Treasury the ability to demand firms publicly state country-by-country financial data.

That would heap pressure on them to pay an additional 2.5billion a year in tax, the group says.

It estimates that the total underpaid tax of all foreign-based multinationals operating through British subsidiaries is around 25billion.

A report due to be published tomorrow by Tax Justice Network says: 'The UK Government has already legislated to be able to require publication, so no further parliamentary time is needed.

All that is required is for the Chancellor Philip Hammond to simply announce that this legislation will now come into force  which he could do at any time.'

A cut in business rates may form part of a wider 800million cut for firms operating in areas where property values have slumped.

Tax cut plans: Chancellor Philip Hammond

Those companies have been saddled with artificially high business rates due to what is known as 'downward transitional relief', which the Treasury is considering removing.

The system means that, instead of immediately seeing bills fall after the last seven-year revaluation, reductions are phased in over the period.

Robert Hayton, head of UK business rates at Altus Group and a long-term critic of the transitional policy, said: 'Abolishing the strict limits on rate reductions would put fairness back into the heart of the system, providing badly needed respite.'

The Mail on Sunday first reported two years ago that transitional relief was hastening the demise of town centre shops in struggling regions.

Shops that should have seen bills fall have since overpaid on rates by 1billion  money which has until now been used to prevent sudden rises in bills for firms in more prosperous areas such as London.
For nigh on 100 years, governments of all colours and persuasions have encouraged us to save for our retirement.

A bit of tax relief, the occasional savings allowance thrown in for good measure and tax-free investment plans galore.

All welcome as far as savers are concerned, but also vital from a political point of view.

After all, it is in the best interests of all governments  Left or Right, red or blue  to ensure as many people as possible reach later life in rude financial health so they do not become a burden on the State.

Chancellor Philip Hammond is dubbed Eeyore for his gloomy demeanour

The most advantageous of these tax sweeteners by a country mile is tax relief on pension contributions.

Put 100 into a works or personal pension every month as a basic rate taxpayer and it will only cost you 80.

Even better, if you are a higher rate taxpayer, the same 100 only costs you 60.

There is no more tax advantageous way to save for retirement although once you start to take income from a pension, you will likely have to pay tax on it  that is after exercising your right to take 25 per cent of the pension pot as tax-free cash.

Very generous but, from the Government's point of view, expensive. Indeed 'eye-wateringly expensive', in the words of Philip Hammond, the Chancellor dubbed Eeyore for his gloomy demeanour.

According to the Treasury, tax relief costs the Government a cool 39billion a year. A cost that some now believe is excessive, especially when the Government soon needs to conjure up the 20billion-a-year of extra money it has promised to keep the National Health Service chugging along.

With the Chancellor's Budget now only eight days away, speculation has mounted that Hammond is planning a pensions tax raid to claw back a slice of that 39billion.

Action plan Save as much into a pension while you can. Any changes  if indeed there are any  are likely not to kick in until the start of the new tax year. And keep your fingers crossed between now and Monday week that Hammond sees sense and does not go pension raiding.

Nothing new there  in recent years, Chancellors from Gordon Brown to George Osborne have conducted similar raiding missions.

But Hammond could be the one who does the unthinkable and ends higher rate tax relief.

Osborne toyed with this radical idea in the run-up to his March 2016 Budget but, fearing a Middle England backlash ahead of the Brexit vote, backed off at the last moment.

This time around, Hammond could hide behind the NHS shield and go ahead with such a plan even though in doing so he would provoke widespread opprobrium.

Ironically, such a move would probably draw the loudest praise from the usually snarling individual facing him in the House of Commons, Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell.

He has long called for higher rate tax relief to be abolished on grounds of fairness. Back in 2016, when Osborne backtracked from axeing higher rate relief, McDonnell accused him of 'putting the interest of his party ahead of those of our country'.

So will he? Won't he? Or will Hammond do what most Chancellors end up doing, which is to tinker with the pension rules rather than risk a tax grab which could prove the final nail in the Tory coffin? Here are the choices he'll be considering...

Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell has long called for higher rate tax relief to be abolished

OPTION ONE: NUCLEAR

The most radical move would be to axe all tax relief on pension contributions from the start of the new tax year, April 6, 2019.

To sweeten this toxic pill, Hammond could then allow all withdrawals post age 55  the age at which most pensions can now be accessed  to be free of tax.

In effect, he would turn pensions into a clone of Isa  with contributions paid from net pay. The only difference, apart from the age 55 ruling, would be that in the case of the pension Isa, contributions could be topped up by an employer.

It was an option entertained by Osborne before he got the Brexit willies. Possible? Yes  it would save Hammond a small fortune straightaway  although the quid pro quo would be a loss in future taxation on retirement income.

Likely? Not in a million years. A nightmare to implement, too explosive and probably the death knell not just for pensions but a Conservative Government hoping to be returned at the next Election.

OPTION TWO: NUCLEAR LITE

Not far behind in terms of radicalness  and propensity to upset Tory voters  would be for Hammond to axe 40 per cent higher rate tax relief on pension contributions.

Instead, he could introduce a flat rate of relief  say 20, 25 or 33 per cent  which applies to all contributions, irrespective of a person's tax status.

A recent report from the influential  and respected  Institute for Fiscal Studies indicated that Hammond could save the Treasury 11billion a year by restricting income tax relief on pension contributions to 20 per cent.

So in terms of saving money (for the Treasury, not us savers), it ticks many boxes for the Chancellor. But on other grounds, it is wrong.

Former Chancellor George Osborne

For a start, the IFS says that axeing higher rate relief would be 'a step in the wrong direction'.

This is because pension tax relief cannot be looked at in splendid isolation.

It needs to be assessed in the context of the tax people go on to pay on income they draw from their pension in later life.

As the institute says: 'It is hard to see how it can be unfair for higher rate taxpayers to receive 40 per cent relief when basic rate taxpayers receive 20 per cent relief, yet at the same time not be unfair for higher rate taxpayers to pay 40 per cent on their pension income when basic rate taxpayers pay only 20 per cent.' Absolutely.

Secondly, such a move would simply be pandering to the Left's redistribution agenda whereas Tory voters expect the Government to stand up for hard-working aspiration and personal responsibility.

Because of this, axeing higher rate relief would lose the Government the next Election. Fact.

OPTION THREE: PENSION TINKERING

If I were a betting man, I would put a fiver on Hammond opting for a spot of pension tinkering. He could do this in various ways. For example, by cutting the amount we  and an employer on our behalf  are permitted to put into a pension every year.

This stands at 40,000 although high earners  150,000 plus a year  have a smaller allowance which can be as low as 10,000.

One option he could argue for with a modicum of conviction would be to reduce the annual allowance to 20,000, aligning it with the Isa allowance.

Alternatively, he could reduce the annual income at which someone starts seeing their allowance reduced  say, from 150,000 to 125,000.

Another possible move would be to reduce the amount our pension savings can grow to before any surplus is subject to an extra tax charge that can be as high as 55 per cent.

This is known as the lifetime allowance and stands at 1,030,000  1,054,800 from next April. Given it was not long ago that the allowance stood at 1.8 million, it would not be inconceivable if he were to cut it to 750,000.

Spiteful? Yes. Fair? No, because it would be a tax on successful pension investment. Of all these options, a cut in the annual allowance is the fairest.

OPTION FOUR: DO NOTHING

There is a possibility Hammond will leave pensions alone for fear of upsetting swathes of Middle England.

It is a strategy favoured by Steve Webb, a former Pensions Minister, and Jason Hollands, a director of wealth manager Tilney.

'Pensions are meant to facilitate long-term savings,' says Hollands, 'but if people see the goal posts shifting all the time, it undermines trust.' Spot on.

Hammond may box clever by making no immediate change, but indicating future reform.

Osborne adopted this strategy in 2015, launching a Treasury consultation into remoulding pension tax relief. The results of this exercise were then allowed to gather dust.

OPTION FIVE: THE MAIL ON SUNDAY WAY

Rather than go down the radical or tinkering roads, Hammond should do something which Chancellors have long lost the art of doing  which is simplify pensions. How refreshing that would be.

For a start, he could get rid of the so-called tapered allowance that applies to those earning 150,000 plus (just to be clear, I am not in this camp).

It is far too complicated with many high earners unsure as to whether they are caught up in it or not. If its axeing has to be paid for through a smaller annual allowance for all, fine.

He should also remove the lifetime allowance which is a spiteful tax grab on successful pension investment.
by PHILIP NETTLETON

A police car today killed a woman pedestrian when it ploughed into her while answering an emergency call.

The 29-year-old woman was struck by the Vauxhall Astra outside a police station early this morning in south-east London. Paramedics were unable to save her and she was declared dead 45 minutes later at the scene in Shooters Hill Road, at the junction with Academy Road.

The tragedy raises new fears over the safety of police drivers while responding to emergencies. Deaths in highspeed pursuits have tripled in four years. Scotland Yard has launched a full investigation into the latest incident and has informed the Police Complaints Authority.

Police today said the victim, who lived in the Shooters Hill area, was struck as she was walking along the road. Scotland Yard said the coroner had been informed and a post mortem was being carried out.

The identity of the victim is known but police are still trying to trace her next of kin. The two male police constables w ho were in the car and are based at Eltham police station w ere said to be "extremely shaken by the incident and now on sick leavei. It is understood the Astra was on its way to a burglary call in the area. A police spokesw oman said the car had its blue lights on but not the warning siren.

It is unclear at this stageif the car had just left Shooters Hill police station or whether it was on patrol in the area when it responded to the call. The inquiry is being carried out by the collision investigation unit at Catford and will be overseen by the Met's directorate of professional standards. Police are appealing for witnesses and at this stage it is unclear whether

the woman was on her ow n at the time of the accident.

Deaths in high-speed police pursuits have risen dramatically, prompting fierce criticism from the Police Complaints Authority. It was revealed last year that fatalities had tripled from nine in the year up to April 1998 to 26 in only seven months last year.

PCA chairman Sir Alastair Graham said at the time: "Both members of the public and police officers themselves are at risk during such pursuits - we must find an answer to this problem."

Channel 4 newsreader Sheena McDonald was knocked down by a police van rushing to a pub fight in London in 1999. She spent 72 hours in a coma.
Advertisement

For centuries it was one of the most difficult and deadly journeys for mankind - but essential for the development of the human race.

Now a book examines the history of the Atlantic Ocean and how people have crossed the treacherous waters with varying degrees of success.

Written by highly experienced mariner and journalist Dag Pike, it explores mankind's early efforts to master sailing over the waters right up to more recent days and the challenge of crossing in a record-breaking time.

It also details the impact the Atlantic has had on the world's economy including the slave trade and the merchant voyages to establish colonies in both North and South America.

The huge waves of immigrants from Europe to the US and Canada are also covered as are the continuing development of naval skills and techniques, such as successfully predicting the weather.

Mr Pike first went to sea aged 16 and has twice been shipwrecked and claims to be the 'most rescued person in the world' during numerous powerboat races.

He was also chief navigator for Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Atlantic Challenger both when it sank in 1985 and then when it broke the Atlantic speed record in 1986.

Mr Pike has participated in six Atlantic record attempts and, as a member of the Italian Destriero project, made the fastest crossing averaging over 60mph.

He has written more than 40 books and contributes to marine magazines across the world.

The history of the Atlantic Ocean and mankind's attempts to cross it is the subject of a new book, looking at how it became an important but incredibly dangerous trading route responsible for deaths as well as the continuing development of the human race. Pictured is the tug Oceanic heading to the rescue of a ship in storm conditions

The book is written by experienced sailor and journalist Dag Pike, who has taken part in six attempts at breaking the power boat crossing record over the Atlantic, succeeding in 1986. Pictured is an offshore service vessel, the Norwegian Bourbon Mistral, heading into dangeous hurricane seas

Although advances in technology have made sea travel across the Atlantic much safer, there is still always an element of danger, as proved in the wreck of the Amoco Cadiz, pictured. In March 1978 she ran aground off the coast of Brittany, France, splitting into three and spewing oil across the French coastline

Waves and rough seas still provide as much danger to ships as ever, with this boat heading into a near-vertical 'wall of water' which can still cause damage and prove a danger to life by sweeping sailors overboard

This 40ft pilot boat belong to Irish ship-building firm Safehaven Marine is also about to discover how dangerous the seas can be as it tackles a huge wave

Mr Pike is not exempt from shipwrecks either, having been chief navigation officer on the Virgin Atlantic Challenger led by Sir Richard Branson, left, which sank in 1985 while trying to break the record time for crossing the Atlantic in a power boat. He was successful a year later however, claiming the Hales Trophy

The 65ft Challenger powerboat, pictured, sank just 138 miles from the finish line at Cornwall, after surviving rough seas and successfully avoiding icebergs only to overturn late on. A year later the Virgin team smashed the record by two hours, averaging 60mph in a time of three days, eight hours and 31 minutes

Another wooden trade ship is pictured in a painting enduring rough seas as the crew make their way across the Atlantic

The German's were also pioneers of the cruise and transatlantic crossing industries, ferrying thousands to the US on large steam ships. Pictured is an artists impression of the German liner Columbus for an advert, describing it as the 'largest and fastest' in its fleet

The SS United States is know as the 'last of the true Atlantic liners', having been built in 1951 at a cost of $80million. She is the largest ship to be built in the US and still holds the record as the fastest ocean liner to cross the Atlantic in either direction, first set in 1952. She was retired in 1969 and has been bought and sold several times since, including once being stripped, and is currently berthed in Philadelphia with plans to restore her in place

On the smaller scale, crews are still trying to set records by rowing across the Atlantic. The present World Record for the fastest crossing of the Atlantic Ocean was set in 2011 by a six-man crew aboard 'Sara G', with a crossing time of 33 days 21 hours and 46 minutes from Morocco to the West Indies

Modern ships rely extensively on electronics for navigation and safety but the Atlantic still remains a challenge, with weather forecasting still a difficult issue
Advertisement

The UK's leading blindness charity - which boasts Queen Victoria as its first patron - is celebrating its 150th anniversary.

Founded in 1868, the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) has paved the way for modifications to banknotes, phones, television and radio - and made London 2012 the most accessible Olympic Games to date.

It pioneered 'Blintraders' kiosks staffed by blind and partially sighted people in the 1930s and its renowned Talking Books service allowed soldiers who had lost their sight in the First World War to enjoy stories again.

And this week the charity has released fascinating snapshots from its past as it celebrates a century and a half-worth of groundbreaking achievements.

Between 1930 and the early 1980s, RNIB had a thriving scheme of 'Blintraders' kiosks staffed by blind and partially sighted people

Princess Diana visits the RNIB's Condover Hall School in 1984. King George was also among the royals who visited the charity

The Queen and King George visiting the RNIB, which campaigns tirelessly to make groundbreaking changes to the way blind and partially sighted people live

Former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher visiting the RNIB's library after she used the Talking Books service following an eye operation

More than two million people in the UK are living with sight loss that significantly impacts their daily life and it is predicted that by 2050 that number will double to more than four million.

The RNIB was founded by Thomas Rhodes Armitage, a physician who had lost his sight, to improve the availability of literature to people with sight loss.

Queen Victoria became the charity's first patron in 1875.

The RNIB had a thriving scheme of 'Blintraders' kiosks staffed by blind and partially sighted people between 1930 and the early 1980s (pictured: employees serving customers)

The National Institute for the Blind's Home Industries shop, which sold items made by blind workers such as baskets, mats, brushes and soaps from the 1930s onwards. You could arrange to have pianos tuned, mattresses remade and chairs repaired

War-blinded men using the RNIB's Talking Books service, which was introduced by the charity in 1935 to provide servicemen who lost their sight in the First World War with access to stories they could no longer read

Blind men on their way to London to interview the Prime Minister. Margaret Thatcher herself visited the charity and used their Talking Books service when she underwent an eye operation

The charity's Talking Books service was launched 60 years later, providing servicemen who lost their sight in the First World War with access to stories they could no longer read themselves.

Cherished author Roald Dahl, Absolutely Fabulous actress Joanna Lumley and Any Human Heart star Jim Broadbent are among those who have since made recordings for the service.

Cherished author Roald Dahl (pictured), Absolutely Fabulous actress Joanna Lumley and Any Human Heart star Jim Broadbent are among hundreds who have made recordings for the RNIB's Talking Books service

A Daily Mail 'edition for the blind' published in 1906 (left) and a letter announcing the charity's foundation in 1868 (right)

The RNIB was founded by Thomas Rhodes Armitage, a physician who had lost his sight, to improve the availability of literature to people with sight loss (pictured: RNIB employees)

A woman using the Talking Books service, which revolutionised the lives of blind and partially sighted people between 1930 and the early 1980s

In 1999, tireless campaigning by the RNIB led to free eye tests being introduced in England for the over-60s and the Big Button phone being launched by BT.

Six years later, the charity partnered with Pure Digital to bring the first talking DAB digital radio to the market and in 2016 Samsung worked with the RNIB to create the first smart TV range with an accessible user interface.

The RNIB has supported millions of blind and partially sighted people since its inception 150 years ago.

And today it continues its groundbreaking work, offering information, advice and services on a range of issues including legal rights, access to books and emotional and practical support.

The charity paved the way for modifications to banknotes, phones, television and radio to help those less able to see

The National Institute for the Blind's Home Industries shop, which sold items made by blind workers such as baskets, mats, brushes and soaps from the 1930s onwards

Eleanor Southwood, Chair of RNIB, said: 'Our 150th anniversary is a unique moment. It's a time to look back and celebrate how the lives of blind and partially sighted people have been transformed over the last century and a half.

'But it's also a time for us to take stock, acknowledge the challenges that still exist for blind and partially sighted people, and renew our commitment to overcoming them.

'Our vision of the future is a world free of barriers for people with sight loss, where we can live the lives we want to lead and are valued for who we are, not defined by the disabilities we have.'
Police have charged a 42-year-old woman with murder after a father whose two-year-old daughter died from a rare form of cancer was found dead at his home.

The man who is thought to have been stabbed has been named as Turkish-born Atakan Atay, 45, who owned a shop and was the landlord of another property, from Birtley, Tyne and Wear.

Helena Karine Atay, 42, who is thought to be Mr Atay's wife, has now been charged with his murder and is due to appear before Magistrates in Newcastle later today.

The couple's young daughter Sophie captured the hearts of the nation including Simon Cowell, who donated 100,000 to her cause, when she was diagnosed with a severe form of Neuroblastoma in 2009.

Police have charged a woman on suspicion of murder after a father, Atakan Atay, 45, was found dead at his home. Mr Atay's two-year-old daughter Sophie (pictured together) died from a rare form of cancer in 2010

A fundraising drive was launched to send her to the US for life saving treatment but the family was left devastated when she lost her race against time and passed away the following year.

Emergency services were rushed to Jasmine Terrace in Bitley at around 11pm on Thursday night but Mr Atay was pronounced dead a short time later.

A 42-year-old woman, of the same address, was arrested on suspicion of murder and was charged in the early hours of Saturday morning, say Northumberland Police.

Sophie (pictured with her father) captured the hearts of the nation including Simon Cowell, when she was diagnosed with a severe form of Neuroblastoma in 2009

Pictured: Mr Atay's daughter Sophie in 2009 with mother Karine

Officers say they believe the two people were known to each other.

Police say Atakan's next of kin have now been informed and they are receiving specialist support from officers.

Mr Atay had owned a shop close to his home named Sophie's Store as well as being the owner and landlord of a property which was used as a Turkish restaurant.

A neighbour, who did not want to be named, said: 'He lost his daughter about eight years ago, she died of a rare form of cancer.

Simon Cowell made a 100,000 donation to help the toddler

'She was only two-years-old when she died. It's terrible. He had three children all together.

'He was lovely. He was really well respected and he had time for everyone. He was hard working and really supported the town.

'I finished work late last night. It was about 11.40pm when I got home. There were rows of police cars.'

Mark Moodie, 47, who lives next door to Atakan and his family, said: 'I knew nothing until I heard the police knocking on the door telling me there was an incident. Then all hell broke loose. There was armed police.

'One thing about these houses are that the doors are pretty damn thick. I didn't hear a thing.'

Mr Moodie, an industrial lighting engineer, added: 'I've known them for about ten years. It's shocking really. I shared a drink with the bloke last Saturday. He's a lovely fellow.'

A man who works at the restaurant, called A'la Turka, said: 'It is just shocking. He's a well respected person.

Mr Atay owned a convenience shop in Birtley, Tyne and Wear, named after his tragic daughter

'The boss at the restaurant used to go to Istanbul to visit Atakan's family. He sees everybody because of the shop he has.

'I see him every day taking his kids to school. He's a nice guy. He's been living here over 20 years.

'He's got one son and one daughter. The son is about eight but the daughter, I've never seen her. But I know he's got a daughter because he's told me.

'I think his wife's family are from Birtley, he's lived there a long time.'

In a statement, the owner of the restaurant, Halil Olmez, paid tribute to the Atay family and thanked the people who had called into the restaurant offering their condolences. `Mr Atay was a great friend to me long before he became my landlord. I will be travelling with the family to take Atakan back to Turkey for his funeral.'

Sophie's diagnosis in 2009 sparked a huge fundraising drive to raise 500,000 for specialist treatment in New York with music mogul Simon Cowell making a donation.

But in January the next year her family was told she was too ill to make the trip to America and she died despite months of gruelling chemotherapy.
Jayme Closs, 13, is now the #1 Missing or Kidnapped Person on the FBI list

The search for missing Wisconsin teen Jayme Closs has expanded nationwide, with the FBI moving her to the top of their list of kidnapped and missing persons.

Searchers in Barron, Wisconsin suspended a ground search near Jayme's home on Friday after finding no evidence, as the search effort turned nationwide supported by the full force of the FBI.

Chilling new details also emerged of the home invasion and murder of Jayme's parents that preceded her disappearance on Monday.

The Barron County Sheriff's Department released dispatch logs Friday that indicate responding deputies found the door of the home kicked in, with multiple spent rounds inside the home.

Jayme's parents James and Denise Closs were found shot dead inside the home, which no trace of the girl, when deputies arrived just minutes after receiving a cryptic 911 call.

The FBI has moved Jayme to the top of its missing persons list and distributed this flyer to field offices and media partners across the country as the search for the girl goes nationwide

The door of the home (above) was kicked in, and investigators believe that the father was shot first, and the mother killed after barricading herself in the bathroom and calling 911

The front door of the Closs home is seen on Wednesday. It appears to be covered with plywood and a blanket, and sources say it was kicked in during the home invasion

Denise and James Closs (above) were found shot dead, with Jayme missing, when deputies arrived at the home just minutes after Denise made a desperate final 911 call

The missing teen is not considered a suspected in the murders. Investigators believe that she did not leave the home willingly, and that she is now in extreme danger.

The newly released logs also indicate that the initial 911 call that summoned deputies to the home at about 1am on Monday came from a cellphone belonging to the girl's mother.

Investigators believe that the killer came to the home with the specific intention of abducting Jayme, an FBI source told RadarOnline.com.

'There is a report that someone allegedly knocked on the door and as the father went to answer it gunfire erupted through the door. That has not been confirmed yet as it's an active investigation,' the source said.

'The mother appeared to have barricaded herself in the bathroom and called police,' added the source.

Authorities have previously revealed that a cryptic 911 call drew deputies to the residence - though no one spoke to the dispatcher, a screaming and loud noices could be heard in the background.

Barron County Sheriff Chris Fitzgerald speaks during a press conference about 13-year-old Jayme Closs who has been missing since her parents were found dead in their home

Jayme was first reported missing after officers were summoned to her home in Barron just before 1am on Monday; . The teen is not a suspect in the homicides

It now appears that the dispatcher may have heard the panicked mother's final moments as the killer stormed into the bathroom where she was hiding.

A family member told Fox News that Denise Closs was 'the familys angel' and said relatives had no idea what could have motivated the murders.

'Its a shock to the system,' the family member said.

No gun was found at the scene but autopsies confirmed that Jayme's parents had been fatally shot.

The FBI source said Jayme was home during the attack, but it's unclear whether she was injured before or after she was abducted.

A ground search of the fields and forest around the home was called off on Friday, after Barron County Sheriff Chris Fitzgerald said nothing of evidentiary value had been recovered.

The search began Thursday with 100 volunteers combing fields and ditches.

Fitzgerald says his office hasn't received any tips that justify continuing the ground search.

A group of volunteers searched the ditches along highway 8, in Barron, Wisconsin near the home where 13-year-old Jayme Closs lived with her parents James, and Denise

100 volunteers took park in the search and police say they have received 1000 tips

A nationwide search for Jayme Closs is now underway amid desperate fears for her safety

The sheriff's office also asked that anyone who'd recently spent time with family or had a misunderstanding with them, or knew someone who did, to call authorities.

Fitzgerald said Wednesday that investigators believe Jayme is alive but in danger, and he urged the public to continue calling in tips.

The sheriff has so far declined to elaborate as to why investigators believe Jayme is not a runaway, saying that disclosing more information would compromise their investigation.

'I'm telling you, Jayme is missing and endangered,' Fitzgerald said. 'We want to bring Jayme home and put that smile back in her family's hands.'

'Is it a random attack or a targeted attack? I don't know that answer. That's why those leads are so important,' the sheriff continued.

Jayme is described as 5ft and 100 pounds, with green eyes and blond or strawberry-blond hair

He said that even though they've received more than 1000 tips, none have been of a credible sighting.

An earlier report that Jayme may have been spotted at a gas station in Miami appears to have been a false lead.

More than 100 local, state and FBI agents have been working on the case.

Jayme is described as standing 5-feet tall, weighing 100 pounds, with green eyes and blonde hair.

Anyone with information about Jayme's whereabouts is urged to call the Barron County Sheriff's Office at 1-855-744-3879, or contact your local FBI office, American Embassy or Consulate.
Stephen Lawrence was murdered in a racially motivated attack in London in April 1993

More than 55,000 people have signed a petition calling on the London mayor to install a statue of murdered teenager Stephen Lawrence in Trafalgar Square.

Islamophobia monitoring group Tell Mama launched the online petition on Monday asking Sadiq Khan for the memorial to show 'the UK is standing strong against hatred'.

Stephen Lawrence was murdered in a racially motivated attack while waiting for a bus in Eltham, South East London, in April 1993.

Iman Atta, director of Islamophobia monitoring group Tell Mama, who launched the petition said: 'It has been 25 years since Stephen's death - but the hatred and violence towards people like Stephen have not subsided.

'To this day, far-right groups are marching in great numbers in Whitehall and agitating in the heart of our democracy - with the aim of causing fear and violence.

'His case shook the UK - and hate crime today is still shaking people's lives. The course for justice is still unclear - even in Stephen's case only two killers have been convicted.

Stephen Lawrence was murdered in a racially motivated attack while waiting for a bus in Eltham, southeast London, on in April 1993. His case shook the UK and two men were convicted for his murder in 2012

'That's why it still matters and it's why I'm calling on the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan to have a statue of Stephen Lawrence in Trafalgar Square - so that we never forget the plight of Stephen and that of all those who have been persecuted in the UK.

'Far right groups are attempting to attach their values to being British and we need to send a message that being British is about coming together against extremism and valuing others.

'That is who we fought and defeated in the Second World War and we need to ideologically mobilize now against hate. This statue would prove, as a symbol, that the UK is standing strong against hatred.'

Five suspects were arrested after the 1993 attack but not convicted due a lack of evidence.

Gary Dobson and David Norris were convicted of his murder in 2012 after new evidence came to light.

The petition already has 57,170 signatures. Saqid Khan has been approached for comment.
Scammers are using cheap and widely available technology to make calls and send texts which appear to come from your bank.

The deception, known as spoofing, lets the caller choose what phone number is displayed on the recipients phone when they call up.

It means a fraudster could find out the number of the victims bank and make it flash up on the recipients phone when they call  even though they are in fact calling from an entirely different number.

A fraudster could find out the number of the victims bank and make it flash up on the recipients phone when they call [File photo]

Text messages can also be spoofed to make it look as if your bank is messaging when it is actually coming from a scammers phone.

A Daily Mail investigation has discovered that with a simple Google search anyone can access a host of online services which allow people to make spoof calls and text messages.

Experts warn that while these websites and mobile apps advertise themselves as a harmless way to prank your friends, they can just as easily be used by people for more sinister purposes.

Money Mail has heard from scores of bank transfer victims who said fraudsters had managed to convince them they were really calling from their bank. They told them to check the number they were calling from against the one on the back of their debit or credit card or on the firms official website.

Experts warn that while these websites and mobile apps advertise themselves as a harmless way to prank your friends, they can just as easily be used by people for more sinister purposes [File photo]

When it matched, the victim was reassured the call was genuine and followed the callers instructions to transfer vast sums of money out of their account.

One provider of the spoofing service  CrazyCall  allows people to change their caller ID and alter the sound of their voice to make it higher or lower pitch.

On its website it says: CrazyCall is the ultimate tool for making prank calls and fooling your friends. You can change your caller ID, so when you call someone he sees on his caller ID display the number you selected.

It sounds like harmless fun but for just 75p per minute (plus an access charge) Money Mail was successfully able to use the site to call a landline from a mobile phone and make it look as though the call was coming from Lloyds customer service number.

So if someone picked up the phone they would think the call was coming from their bank. Some services block official numbers such as those belonging to certain banks and the taxman. But even then not all numbers are barred.

For example, British website Fakemyphone.co.uk prevented users from posing as most major UK banks.

But it was possible to make it look as though the HMRC income tax office was calling. And using the US version of that site  Spoofmyphone.com  Money Mail was still able to call a UK landline from a UK mobile phone and make the HSBC customer service number flash up on the caller ID.

Separately, experts said fraudsters can use other legitimate services  that allow people to make calls and send messages over the internet  to send texts which appear in the same chain as previous genuine messages from their bank.

It means it is often impossible for customers to tell if a text message is really from their bank.

As part of the Mails Stop The Bank Scammers campaign, we called on telecom providers to do more to identify and stop scam text messages getting through.

Using the US version of that site  Spoofmyphone.com  Money Mail was still able to call a UK landline from a UK mobile phone and make the HSBC customer service number flash up on the caller ID [File photo]

Just last month Money Mail revealed how even a top fraud chief at Britains biggest bank can sometimes not tell the difference between a fake and genuine text message.

Regarding the fake texts which appear in the same chain as past real messages from your bank, Scott McGready, from the National Cyber Security Tactical Advice team which aids law enforcement, said: A fraudster only has to learn a few lines of basic code  rules that instruct a computer to do something  and they can use these systems to make it look as though a text message has been sent by a legitimate company such as a bank.

The infrastructure behind the whole mobile system needs overhauling. If Royal Mail can stop suspicious letters being posted through peoples letterboxes, why cant mobile phone companies do the same thing? We need a spam folder for text messages like people have for their emails so people know to be cautious.

Gareth Shaw, from consumer group Which?, said: People lose life-changing sums of money after falling victim to this type of scam, which is becoming increasingly difficult to spot.

Spoofmyphone.com and CrazyCall did not respond to requests for comment.

The City of London police said number spoofing apps and websites are legal. However, it is illegal to use them to commit a crime.
Billionaire James Packer has opened up about his bitter feud with former best mate David Gyngell and how his dream to enter politics was crushed by father Kerry.

In Damon Kitney's new biography The Price of Fortune, Mr Packer revealed the true extent of his feelings towards former best mate and former Nine boss Mr Gyngell.

The 51-year-old spoke candidly about how enduring animosity towards Mr Gyngell came to a dramatic head with a street brawl in 2014.

The 51-year-old spoke candidly about how enduring animosity towards Mr Gyngell came to a dramatic head with a street brawl in 2014 (pictured)

In Damon Kitney's new biography The Price of Fortune, James Packer (right) revealed the true extent of his feelings towards former best mate and former Nine boss David Gyngell (left)

James Packer, pictured here with model and socialite Kylie Lim, has revealed his parliamentary ambitions in a new biography

The spectacular fallout is nothing new for the billionaire, with relationship breakdowns being a recurrent theme in his life - and almost always related to money, the author explained.

According to Mr Kitney, many of Mr Packer's friendships ended up being beneficiaries of his largesse, so they often ended in tears, or in Mr Gyngell's case - punches.

Speaking of the infamous punch-up outside his family home, Mr Packer recalled how, at the time, he felt like he was being 'physically assaulted outside my house'.

'[It] was an open-and-shut-case of assault. Who gets assaulted outside their house, regardless of the build-up?' Mr Packer said in the book.

James Packer (left) has opened up about his bitter feud with former best mate David Gyngell and how his dream to enter politics was crushed by father Kerry (right)

Another failed friendship for the billionaire mogul (left) was with UBS banker Matthew Grounds (right)

Mr Packer's bitterness towards his former school mate stems from the billionaire's belief he made special allowances for Gyngell during their friendship, SMH reported.

The 51-year-old claimed when Mr Gyngell left Nine for the first time, after he clashed with Kerry Packer, he gave him his own 'personal severance package' worth millions.

The billionaire also said he was saddened when he lured Mr Gyngell to Network Ten, but he refused and used the offer to secure a promotion and pay rise at Nine.

'I got him his job, got him his big contract by buying into Ten on his advice, and saved him his job. Then he stopped talking to me,' Mr Packer said.

While the billionaire paints a sad picture of a broken friendship, Mr Gyngell has refused to comment on the events that led to the demise of their friendship.

James Packer (left) is said to have lavished Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu (right) with gifts

Another broken relationship for Mr Packer includes American film director and producer Brett Ratner (right in both photos)

Other examples of the billionaire mogul's broken relationships include UBS banker Matthew Grounds, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and film director and producer Brett Ratner.

That said, not all of Mr Packer's relationships have being money-driven and ended abruptly, including his father-son like relationship with actor Warren Beatty.

But despite Mr Packer's qualms about the former Nine boss, which are mostly money-focused, as the author explained, Mr Gyngell's issues are more character related.

Gyngell is said to have been upset with the billionaire's lifestyle choices at the time of their fallout, which often included heavy drinking and partying, SMH reported.

Another revealing aspect of Mr Kitney's tell-all is how a much younger Mr Packer's dream to become a politician was crushed

As Mr Kitney writes, Mr Packer said he was approached by businessman and party powerbroker Michael Kroger to run for pre-selection in the blue-ribbon seat of Kooyong in Melbourne's east in 1994.

Mr Packer (pictured) said in his new biography The Price of Fortune: The Untold Story Of Being James Packer, he told how he had 'always been interested in politics'

Mr Packer described how he had become good friends with Michael Kroger, who encouraged him to run for pre-selection following Andrew Peacock's retirement.

He said he was 'interested' in running for the seat but according to The Australian he revealed he was persuaded not to enter the political game by his father Kerry Packer and former Labor Senator Graham Richardson.

The billionaire said his father thought the tilt at federal politics 'was a seriously bad idea'.

In a revealing excerpt from the book, Mr Packer revealed the words exchanged between his father and Mr Richardson as they discussed the possible career move.

Mr Richardson had told aspiring politician Mr Packer he agreed with his father that politics was not a good move.

Mr Packer recalled how Mr Richardson had warned him of the risk of then prime minister Paul Keating tearing him limb to limb and spiting him out.

James Packer said he was approached by businessman and Liberal powerbroker Michael Kroger in 1994 and encouraged to run for pre-selection in the Melbourne seat of Kooyong but he was eventually dissuaded by his father Kerry Packer (pictured)

Former federal treasurer Peter Costello also said in the book how he strongly advised Mr Packer not to run for pre-selection, calling it a 'stupid idea'.

A run at parliament could have made him the latest member of the Packer family to be directly involved in policy-making.

His uncle Clyde Packer was an Liberal Party MP in New South Wales.

Despite deciding against the move, Mr Packer joined the Liberal Party to back Malcolm Turnbull's pre-selection for Wentworth - the seat currently at the centre of a fierce by-election campaign - in 2003.
Travellers are shelling out up to 30 an item to reclaim lost property at train stations and airports  with charges varying greatly around the country.

Four rail companies even charge 10 per cent of cash found in lost wallets.

Lost property charges typically range from 2 for items such as umbrellas, books and gloves to 20 for laptops, iPads and passports.

Transport for London has made almost 500,000 from lost property fees

On top of administrative costs, some firms levy a daily storage fee. ScotRail charges up to 2 a day for storage with a maximum charge of 30. The company, along with London Northwestern Railway and West Midlands Trains, takes 10 per cent of cash found in lost wallets  but not more than 10.

The Greater Anglia rail company charges passengers 2 to collect lost keys or books and 20 for high value electronics such as laptops. Customers must also pay a 1 storage fee for every 24 hours for expensive or larger items.

Transport for London makes customers pay 20 to return an iPad and 10 for a buggy. Airport lost property companies charge up to 20 to hand back a passport or mobile phone, 15 for an ID card and 5 for a pair of glasses.

Excess Baggage Company, which has sites at Gatwick and Heathrow, has four bands. Items such as umbrellas, scarves and pushchairs cost 3 to collect. Briefcases, cameras and clothes cost 5, mobile phones 10 and laptops 20.

Luggage Point, which operates at airports including Glasgow, Edinburgh, Birmingham, Manchester and Stansted, charges three times more if items are branded.

It charges 2.50 to store unbranded gloves, belts, scarves  but 8 if the items are branded. Almost all companies refused to disclose how much revenue they make from lost property each year.

But Transport for London publishes its figures on its website. Over the past three years, it has received 463,273 from claimed items and 9,354 in postage fees.

Martyn James, of complaints website Resolver, said: Why should they be able to hold your belongings to ransom? These firms are raking it in, taking thousands of pounds and it is completely unfair. Other firms do not make you pay to get your belongings back.

Mike Hewitson, of independent watchdog Transport Focus, said the current lost property systems were not fit for purpose. The group is calling for a centralised national system and sensible rules across the rail network.

A spokesman for Excess Baggage said if the charges were not levied then the travelling public are paying for the forgetfulness of a few, in the shape of higher ticket charges.

He stressed the firm incurred costs including staff, rent and maintaining its website, adding ironically: Strangely, none of the above are free of charge. Jacqueline Starr, of the Rail Delivery Group, which represents train firms, said the charges have been approved by the Department for Transport.
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Michael Dunn, 47, was charged with second-degree murder Friday in the shooting death of a shoplifter at his military surplus store

A Florida city commissioner has been charged with fatally shooting a man he accused of shoplifting a hatchet from an Army-Navy surplus store.

The Ledger reports that a Polk County grand jury indicted 47-year-old Michael Dunn on second-degree murder charges Friday in connection to the October 3 shooting death of 50-year-old Cristobal Lopez.

A conviction could mean a possible life sentence.

State Attorney Brian Haas said in a statement Friday evening: 'I have determined that this case and the actions of Mr. Dunn fall outside of Stand Your Ground.'

Surveillance video previously released to the public shows the Lakeland commissioner shooting Lopez.

Dunn is seen wrestling with Lopez at the entrance to his Vets Army Navy Surplus store in Lakeland.

Lopez is seen trying to escape while Dunn holds on to the intruder's arm in one hand and a pistol in the other hand.

As Lopez is about to slip away and flee the store, Dunn tries to grab his shoulder.

The entire time, Dunn is pointing his gun at Lopez.

Dunn, a Lakeland city commissioner, is seen wrestling with Christobal Lopez, 50, at the entrance to his Vets Army Navy Surplus store in Lakeland, Florida, on October 3

Lopez is seen trying to escape while Dunn, 47, holds on to the intruder's arm in one hand and a pistol in the other hand

The entire time, Dunn is pointing his gun at Lopez. As Lopez struggles to break free of Dunns grip, Dunn pulls the trigger and shoots him.

Dunn, a Lakeland City Commissioner, is seen right. Lopez is seen left

As Lopez struggles to break free of Dunns grip, Dunn pulls the trigger and shoots him.

Lopez is seen falling to the pavement just outside of the store.

Nobody tries to offer Lopez assistance or first aid, and lies on the pavement unattended for three minutes.

Dunn accused Lopez of trying to steal a hatchet.

Dunns lawyer, Rusty Franklin, claims that his client was justified in shooting Lopez because he was holding a hatchet during the struggle, according to the Tampa Bay Times.

The Lakeland Police Department and the State Attorneys Office continue to investigate the shooting.

A state attorney for the 10th Judicial Circuit told the Times that the investigation is expected to wrap up sometime this week.

Police said that Lopez tried to shoplift a hatchet from inside the store.

They arrived at the store at around 2:30pm and found Lopez dead on the sidewalk.

Dunn told police that he confronted Lopez by asking him if he was going to pay for the hatchet.

In Florida, a person is legally permitted to use deadly force if he or she reasonably believes that using or threatening to use such force is necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm to himself or herself or another or to prevent the imminent commission of a forcible felony.

From viewing the video, it does not appear that Dunns life was in any danger.

The so-called stand your ground law does not require anyone who perceives themselves as being under threat to retreat before using force.

The video appears to show Lopez trying to flee. At no time did he appear to pose a threat to Dunn.

Lopez lies on the ground for at least three minutes without anyone approaching to render first aid

Cops then arrive and find him on the sidewalk. He was declared dead a short time later

Two lawyers who reviewed the footage for the Times said that Dunn will have a difficult time explaining his position in court.

Florida law does allow store employees to use reasonable force to detain suspected shoplifters.

Dunn may claim that he feared Lopez would take a swipe at him with the hatchet while they were struggling near the door.

Lopez was laid to rest Monday morning in Wauchula, Florida.

This is the second time that Dunn has shot a person, though its the first time the shooting was fatal.

When Dunn was 19, Dunn accidentally shot a man, according to the Lakeland Ledger.

Dunn is known to be a strong advocate of gun ownership.
Tory MP Dr Dan Poulter is spending 90 hours a month working at Guy's Hospital in London

A Tory MP is spending 28 hours a week working as a doctor.

Dan Poulter, 39, puts more time into his second job than any other member of the House of Commons.

According to a parliamentary register of financial interests, he earns 41,000 a year as an NHS doctor in London. The money comes on top of his 77,000 political salary.

Dr Poulter, who represents Central Suffolk and North Ipswich, insisted yesterday that his NHS work gave him valuable experience and did not interfere with his work as an MP.

But a Suffolk county councillor, who asked not to be named, told the BBC the situation raised questions.

'Are you an MP or are you a doctor?' said the source. 'People are raising that with me.'

Dr Poulter is training to be a consultant psychiatrist at Guy's Hospital in London, pictured

Dr Poulter is training to be a consultant in psychiatry and has been working shifts at Guy's Hospital in central London. He increased his hours from 50 to 90 a month in March and to 112 hours a month on average from August.

He has a voting record of 56 per cent since June 2017, which is among the lowest for Conservative backbenchers.

In July, a watchdog's report found that 119 MPs had regular and paid outside work. They averaged 4.6 hours a week.

The highest-earning MP was Geoffrey Cox, a Tory who declared more than 300,000 for work as a barrister.

Dr Poulter said: 'The majority of my medical work is done either in the mornings before Parliament sits or during the recesses. It never interferes.'
Wine bosses have invented the 'Helix' cork stopper - which combines the tradition of cork and the convenience of screw cap

After the introduction of screw top wine bottles, the cork industry went into a nosedive.

But now its fighting back  and theres a twist in the tale  quite literally. Bosses have invented a twist-off cork stopper.

The Helix cork combines the tradition of cork and the convenience of screw cap  and means a bottle of wine can be easily re-sealed, so preventing it from going off.

The twist and pop cork is the brainchild of Portuguese cork manufacturer Amorim, which has worked with the Adega Vila Real winery and the Co-op.

Portugals cork forests are recognised as one of the worlds most precious nature areas.

However, the entire wine cork industry and the forests have been threatened by the rise of metal screw caps.

The countrys natural cork answer to the metal rival has taken four years to develop and ensure it is easy to use.

The Helix cork is shaped with a thread which means it is released from the mouth of the specially designed bottle when twisted and will simply screw back on to keep the wine fresh.

Consumers say wines sealed with a cork rather than a screwcap (shown) are better quality and offer a better experience

An Oxford University study found drinkers feel wines sealed with a cork rather than a screwcap are better quality and offer a better experience.

The first wine to have the Helix cork is a Vila Real Rabelo Red 2015, which is described as robust and fruity, and sells at Co-op stores for 6.

Co-op wine buyer Sarah Benson said: Its an exciting development for shoppers that prefer to buy wine with a cork.
Three former civil service chiefs have blasted Tory MPs for undermining the civil service by blaming Whitehall for the slow progress of Brexit talks.

Robert Armstrong, Robin Butler and Gus O'Donnell - who served for a combined 25 years as cabinet secretary - spoke out after officials including Olly Robbins were slammed by Leave supporters for making further concessions to Brussels.

Lord Armstrong, who served under Margaret Thatcher, told Brexiteers to 'concentrate their fire on the organ grinder' rather than the 'monkey'.

O'Donnell, who held Whitehall's top job under Blair, Brown and Cameron, said 'attacking our own officials' was not the way to make a deal, The Times reported.

Former cabinet secretaries (from left) Robert Armstrong, Robin Butler and Gus O'Donnell - who served for a combined 25 years as cabinet secretary - have hit back at Tory Brexiteers

And Lord Butler of Brockwell, who served under Blair and Major, said attacks against advisers were not in the national interest.

The current acting cabinet secretary, took the unusual step of writing to the newspaper earlier this week to defend Mr Robbins.

Mr Robbins, the leading civil servant in exit negotiations, is widely mistrusted by Brexiteers who believe he wants to keep the UK in a close orbit around the EU.

The three former cabinet secretaries said they sympathised with the 'exceptionally difficult circumstances' of Brexit talks.

Politicians should not attack 'those who can't answer for themselves' as Whitehall officials have to remain neutral, they said.

Some in the Leave camp believe Mr Robbins was the true architect of the Chequers plan.

They claim it was drawn up in the Cabinet Office while David Davis and other Brexit ministers were kept in the dark.

Theresa May's official spokesman said: 'It is one of the roles of the Cabinet Secretary to uphold public trust in the integrity and impartiality of the civil service.'

Olly Robbins (pictured), the leading civil servant in exit negotiations, is widely mistrusted by Brexiteers who believe he wants to keep the UK in a close orbit around the EU

The PM's spokesman said Sir Mark Sedwill's letter was approved by 10 Downing Street.

Sir Mark later posted a link to the letter on Twitter, saying he had been 'defending our Brexit team, and the values of the dedicated and impartial public service of which I'm proud to be a member'.

It comes after Mrs May attempted to reassure business leaders about the progress being made in the Brexit talks following a tricky week.

In a 35-minute conference call with around 130 company bosses, the PM is said to have told them she knows time is running out to reach a Brexit deal, but is confident it can be done.

Stephen Martin, IoD director general, said the PM did not say if the possibility of extending the transition period was being seriously considered.

He told BBC Radio 4's PM programme: 'She accepts fully that time is running out and a deal needs to be done certainly in the autumn, as she put it.

It comes after Theresa May (pictured) attempted to reassure business leaders about the progress being made in the Brexit talks following a tricky week

'We need time to get ready for that. She was very clear she accepts the uncertainty that it's causing at the minute and the impact that could be having.

'But she was making it clear to everybody that she does believe a deal can be done and she is confident.

'The only sticking point is the Northern Ireland border and the backstop arrangements.'

Downing Street said Mrs May told the business leaders that 'significant progress' has been made in the talks.

'She acknowledged that there were a few significant issues that were still outstanding, but said that the very real sense she had from leaders around the table at the council was that they wanted to reach a deal as soon as possible this autumn,' a No 10 spokesman said.
In a clip released ahead of the broadcast in the US tomorrow, the Duchess of Sussex reminisced about being a struggling actress who would arrive for auditions in a bashed up second hand car. Meghan, wearing a white 1,991 Oscar De La Renta blouse and black trousers, said the Ford Explorer had 'a life of its own' and broken front doors that she couldn't afford to fix so she had to climb 'out of the trunk'. Her new TV appearance came as a shock today. It was long rumoured that the Duchess would give her first interview to Ellen after she and Harry emigrated in January 2020. But in the end the Sussexes chose their neighbour in Montecito, Oprah Winfrey. The clip will raise fears in Buckingham Palace that she may be about launch a fresh attack on the royals, who the Sussexes have previously accused of racism towards Archie and allegations they ignored Meghan when she claimed to be suicidal while pregnant and living in London. During her appearance today, the Duchess spoke about her Hollywood auditions, and said: 'So I had this very old Ford Explore Sport and at a certain point the key stopped working on the driver's side, so you couldn't get yourself in through the door so after auditions I would park at the back of the parking lot and I would open the trunk and climb in, pull the door shut behind me and crawl all over my seats to get out. That's how I would come to and fro.' Teasing the full interview, Ellen tweeted the clip and said: 'A lot has changed since the last time Meghan, The Duchess of Sussex, was on the Warner Brothers lot. Don't miss the rest of our interview tomorrow.'
Famed former jockey Patrick Valenzuela has pleaded guilty to misdemeanor domestic violence for slapping his girlfriend at a Southern California restaurant.

The seven-time Breeders Cup winner entered the plea on Tuesday, receiving a sentence of three years of probation, according to The San Diego Union-Tribune.

Valenzuela, 56, was fined nearly $900, ordered not to have any 'negative contact' with his girlfriend, and required to take 52 weeks of domestic violence recovery classes.

Valenzuela said that he was 'very saddened' by the situation.

'I will continue to strive to be the best person I can be,' he told the Union-Tribune over the phone on Friday.

Famed former jockey Patrick Valenzuela pleaded guilty to misdemeanor domestic violence on Tuesday for slapping his girlfriend at a restaurant in Carlsbad, California on September 7

Prosecutors say Valenzuela slapped his girlfriend on September 7 for hugging a bartender at a Carlsbad restaurant.

'In front of several witnesses, he grabbed her arm and then slapped her face...,' Deputy District Attorney Melanie Guillen said on Thursday.

Leading up to that point, he had been seeing banging on her car window in the parking lot.

His girlfriend didn't open the door 'because she was afraid,' Guillen said, but eventually went inside and sat at the bar in the oceanfront bistro.

Valenzuela has struggled with drug and alcohol abuse, losing his California driver's license in 2016; Valenzuela is shown here on October 28, 2006, reacting after riding Romance Is Diane to victory in the California Cup Juvenile Fillies horse race at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California

Once they were both inside, Valenzuela took his girlfriend's phone and threw it, Guillen said, which she later retrieved.

Valenzuela was eventually chased out of the restaurant by several men.

His girlfriend testified on Tuesday that the ordeal was due to alcohol and asked the court not to implement the protective order that the prosecutor was seeking, ABC 10 News reported.

Valenzuela has struggled with drug and alcohol abuse, losing his California driver's license in 2016.

After a career that included more than 4,300 winning races, including the 1989 Kentucky Derby and Preakness, he lost his California racing license in 2008.

He last raced in 2016.

He is in the process of trying to have his California jockey's license reinstated.
Middle school teacher Patricia Cummings was officially fired from New York City public schools on Friday after allegedly forcing black students in the Bronx to play slaves, and stepping on at least one student's back while doing so, in January; She has denied she stepped on any student's back

A New York City school teacher has been fired after allegedly forcing three black students to lie on the ground while she stepped on their backs, in a lesson on slavery gone terribly wrong.

Patricia Cummings allegedly told three students at a predominantly black and Hispanic school in The Bronx to lie down to illustrate conditions on a slave ship, after which she stepped on their backs to show 'what it's like to be a slave,' in January.

Cummings had first been reassigned and then suspended pending termination from Middle School 118 in The Bronx, which became official on Friday.

'Ms. Cummings was terminated based on the results of this investigation and a review of her overall performance as an educator,' City Department of Education spokesperson Doug Cohen said.

Cummings has denied that she stepped on the students' backs.

'We are not going to let them ruin our clients life and career,' her attorney, Tom Liotti, told the New York Post.

Cummings filed a lawsuit against the city of New York in September, claiming she is the victim of 'reverse racism,' seeking $120 million in damages. Her lawyer claimed her lawsuit could be worth $1 billion.

Cummings reportedly carried out the poorly executed lesson in mid-January while discussing the infamous Middle Passage: the forced voyage of African captives across the Atlantic Ocean to America as part of the global slave trade; Ms Cummings was removed from the classroom and subjected to an investigation, after which she was suspended pending termination, which became effective on Friday

Cummings reportedly carried out the poorly executed lesson in mid-January while discussing the infamous Middle Passage: the forced voyage of African captives across the Atlantic Ocean to America as part of the global slave trade.

The slave ships were notoriously cramped, filthy and riddled with disease, and a high percentage of the enslaved people died en route to the New World.

Speaking to the New York Daily News earlier this year, students said that Cummings had singled out three black children and instructed them to stretch out on the floor in front of the class.

She then reportedly asked the trio: 'You see how it was to be a slave? How does it feel?'

According to the student, when one of the children said she felt fine, Cummings allegedly put her foot on the girl's back and inquired again, 'How does it feel? See how it feels to be a slave?'.

The incident took place at Bronx Middle School 118, where more than 80 per cent of the student body is black and Hispanic

Ms Cummings was removed from the classroom and subjected to an investigation, after which she was suspended pending termination, which became effective on Friday.

A spokesperson for the Department of Education said an investigation had found that Ms Cummings used poor judgment, and that her employment had been terminated based on this.

A few weeks ago, Cummings' attorney made the claim that the his client is a victim of reverse racism - which he has also argued is preventing white parents from sending their children to Bronx schools.

'There is blatant racism and reverse discrimination in the public schools of New York City,' Liotti told the New York Daily News on September 27.

'This is why white parents do not want to send their children there.'

He added: 'The Bronx has been described by some as a "war zone". White teachers who work there should get combat pay.'

City of New York DOE spokesperson dismissed Ms Cummings' lawsuit as 'baseless'.

According to her LinkedIn page, Cummings has a Bachelors' degree from Adelphi University and a Master's degree in teaching from the State University of New York College of Old Westbury.

She was hired to teach seventh- and eighth-grade social studies at MS 118 in The Bronx in September 2016.

The student body at the school is 60 per cent Hispanic and 21 per cent black, and less than 3 per cent of the students are white.
Tony Blair has accepted millions of pounds from Saudi Arabia, figures reveal.

The former Prime Minister is one of the crisis-hit states most high-profile cheerleaders.

His deal with the regime was worth a reported 9million to his not-for-profit organisation, and is buried in the latest accounts of his institute for global change.

Mr Blair was a prized attendee at last years Davos in the Desert conference in Riyadh, where he gushed: This is an enormous gathering of top people from around the world and its a huge vote of confidence, frankly, in the leadership of Saudi Arabia.

The former Prime Minister Tony Blair (pictured last week) has accepted millions of pounds from Saudi Arabia

At the same investor conference this year, most of the top names have pulled out in protest at the suspected murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Mr Blairs spokeswoman said yesterday he was never due to attend the conference this year, as he has long standing commitments elsewhere.

The former Labour leaders institute - his self-styled crusade for global change - took the cash last year, the accounts disclose.

The payment to the not-for-profit Tony Blair Institute is described as a donation in its annual report, which does not specify the exact amount but was reported to be 9million, to help support the Crown Princes modernisation programme.

The Crown Prince has announced a string of reforms, including allowing women to drive, but the kingdom remains one of the worlds most draconian societies.

His deal with the regime was worth a reported 9million to his not-for-profit organisation, and is buried in the latest accounts of his institute for global change

The payment was made from Media Investment Ltd (MIL), a Guernsey-registered firm which is a subsidiary of the Saudi Research and Marketing Group, a large publishing group chaired until recently by Prince Badr bin Abdullah bin Mohammed Al Farhan, who went on to become the kingdoms culture minister.

When he attended last years Future Investment Initiative conference in capital Riyadh - dubbed Davos in the Desert after the annual Swiss summit of Western business leaders - he praised it as something you couldnt have imagined happening in Saudi Arabia even a few years back.

But Mr Blair was criticised by human rights charity Reprieve whose director Maya Foa said: The Saudi government has executed hundreds of people in the past few years - including protesters and children.

Mr Blairs office said the institute was working to support the Saudi change programme and was committed to backing reform. None of the money goes personally to the former PM, who works for free.

The payment is described as a donation in its annual report, to help support the Crown Princes modernisation programme (Pictured, Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman)

A spokeswoman said: Donations made to the Institute are used to fund our partnerships with 14 African governments where we work to deliver better living standards and job opportunities for their people and the Middle East, where we promote religious co-existence, modernisation and reform and support a regional solution to the peace process.

Mr Blair strongly supports the change programme of Prince Mohammed bin Salman and believes it is essential for the country, the region and the wellbeing of the wider world.

Mr Blair said he regarded the apparent murder of Mr Khashoggi as an extremely troubling situation.

He said: I know the Saudi government have issued a very strong denial, but the thing has to be properly investigated and explained. This issue has to be resolved because otherwise it runs completely contrary to that process of modernisation.

Mr Blair has long been opaque about his own wealth.

Asked by the FT in 2014 about his lack of disclosure, he said: I read Im supposed to be worth 100million - Cherie is asking where it is. Im not worth half of that, a third, a quarter, a fifth of that, I could go on.
Hardline Eurosceptics were urged to back down last night after threatening to block the legislation needed to deliver Theresa Mays Brexit compromises.

Jacob Rees-Mogg, chairman of the European Research Group of anti-EU Tories, yesterday confirmed that MPs could use parliamentary tactics to try to scupper any extension to the Brexit transition this autumn.

An ERG source said guerilla warfare against Mrs Mays plans could also extend to this months Budget  and warned she could face a leadership challenge within days.

Jacob Rees-Mogg's anti-EU European Research Group is planning a 'guerilla war campaign against Theresa May's Brexit plan to force through the hardest departure possible

An increasing number of Tory MPs believe Theresa May no longer commands the respect of the party

The threat came despite a warning from Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt that Tory infighting is undermining Mrs Mays efforts to secure a Brexit deal in Brussels. He said: What we have to remember is the strength of the EU in this whole process, is they have stayed united. So we just stay united behind her so that they know we are backing her as she battles for Britain.

There were indications that Eurosceptic threats are starting to irritate more moderate MPs. Former Tory minister Andrew Percy, who campaigned for Brexit, said: The ERG are acting more and more like spoiled schoolyard bullies.

More importantly, they are aiding the EU by their actions and engaging in behaviour that makes our leaving the EU less likely.

Simon Hart, founder of the 80-strong Brexit Delivery Group of Tory MPs who want to give Mrs May space to get a good deal, said critics undermining the Prime Minister were weakening our negotiating position. He added: Our best chance of success lies in keeping our nerve, avoiding internal disputes and making sure we rule nothing in or out. In talks with EU leaders this week, Mrs May made two critical concessions aimed at unblocking the talks.

Boris backs anti-Brexit rebel Tory MP Boris Johnson yesterday backed a Tory MP who said he would not vote for his own party and branded the Government a s*** show. Johnny Mercer, a former British Army officer who was only elected in 2015, said he would not have run for Parliament if the situation was like it is now. He added that with hindsight his pre-MP self wouldnt vote. Yesterday, Mr Johnson, who resigned as foreign secretary over Theresa Mays Chequers plan for Brexit, sided with him. In a provocative move, he tweeted: The Conservative Party is fortunate to have MPs with the passion and determination of Johnny Mercer  his fight for veterans shows why we need more like him. Advertisement

She agreed to consider extending our transition out of the EU by a matter of months if it helps clinch a deal. And she dropped her demand for a fixed end date on a controversial backstop plan that could keep the whole UK in a temporary customs union after Brexit.

Critics warn the UK could have to contribute up to 16billion to remain tied to the EU for another year, as well as accept free movement and the imposition of EU laws over which it would have no say.

Mr Rees-Mogg said Eurosceptic MPs could block the plans when ministers bring forward the Bill needed to enshrine a deal in law. He said: I think thatll be very hard to get through the Commons.

An ERG source said there could be a vote of no confidence in Mrs May as early as next week. The source said: I just dont see any way round a confidence vote now.

But there are signs Mrs Mays gambit could break the deadlock in Brussels. Angela Merkel warned EU leaders to show more flexibility to reach a deal with the UK.
A pubgoer has died after he was arrested and handcuffed by police who arrived at the bar following reports a man was assaulting patrons.

Police were called to a bar on Glenhuntly Road in Elsternwick, in Melbourne's southeast, following reports of a man assaulting patrons on the premises just after 2am.

A number of people apprehended the man and held him down before he was arrested, Victoria Police said in a statement.

A pubgoer has died after he was arrested and handcuffed by police who arrived at the bar following reports that a man was assaulting patrons (stock image)

The man lost consciousness while in police custody and officers tried to revive him before Ambulance Victoria arrived at the scene.

Despite efforts by the emergency service team, the man died on the scene.

The man has yet to be formally identified.

A post mortem examination will be done in order to determine his cause of death.

Deaths in police custody are investigated by the Homicide Squad with oversight from the Professional Standards Command.
South Sudan has reiterated its position in support of Moroccos sovereignty over its southern provinces, the Sahara, dissipating a false hope by Algeria and its proxy the Polisario to see Africas youngest nation be deluded to back its separatist thesis.

The South Sudanese position was expressed in a joint statement in Rabat by foreign minister Nhial Deng Nhial who commended Moroccos autonomy plan as a political solution to the regional dispute over the Sahara.

Nhial who held talks with his Moroccan peer Nasser Bourita also backed the UN process to find a lasting solution to the Sahara issue.

During the visit King Mohammed VI paid to Juba in February 2017, South Sudans President Salva Kiir Mayardit put the final nail in the coffin of the Algerian-backed SADR separatist entity by making it clear that there is no parallel between his countrys struggle for independence and the Sahara issue.

While considering that the issue of the Sahara is different in its genesis, legal and political background from that of South Sudan, President Salva Kiir Mayardit acknowledges the efforts of the United Nations to reach a political solution to the regional dispute over the Sahara. The President welcomes the serious and credible efforts of Morocco, said a joint statement issued following King Mohammed VIs two-day visit to South Sudan.

The two heads of state had co-chaired the signing ceremony of bilateral agreements and memoranda of understanding (MoU) in the fields of Agriculture, Energy, Mining and Hydrocarbons, Industry, Investment, Tax Avoidance, Vocational Training and Economic Partnership between the two countries business communities.

On the same occasion, an agreement on urban development of South Sudans new capital was signed with Morocco contributing $5.1 million to fund the technical and financial feasibility studies of this large-scale project, which offers huge business and job opportunities.

The sovereign had then visited the Moroccan field hospital deployed in Juba in January 2017 and handed Jubas teaching Hospital medical equipment generously donated by the Mohammed VI Foundation for Sustainable Development.

King Mohammed VI had also handed over items to a number of internally displaced persons.

All these humanitarian gestures are reflective of the Kings care to bring a helping hand to the South Sudanese people.
The suspected murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was ordered by allies of the kingdom's crown prince, a former head of MI6 has claimed.

Britain's former spy chief John Sawers said 'all the evidence' suggested Khashoggi - who went missing from the Saudi embassy in Istanbul on October 2 - was killed on the orders of someone close to Mohammed bin Salman.

The Gulf kingdom admitted last night that Khashoggi was killed at the consulate but said he had died after a fight broke out, claiming Salman had no knowledge of the alleged hit.

Sawers also slammed Donald Trump's administration for emboldening the crown prince.

Former spy chief John Sawers (pictured) said 'all the evidence' suggested Jamal Khashoggi - who went missing in Istanbul - was killed on the orders of the crown prince's allies

He told the BBC: 'I don't think he would have done this if he hadn't thought he had license from the U.S. administration to frankly behave as he wished to do so.'

Khashoggi's death showed 'just how dangerous it is to have people acting with a sense that they have impunity in their relationship with United States,' he said.

Sawers served as head of the Secret Intelligence Service between 2009 and 2014.

Saudi state TV last night admitted for the first time that Khashoggi, a columnist for the Washington Post, was dead.

So far 18 Saudi nationals have been arrested and a deputy intelligence chief - a senior aide to the crown prince - have been dismissed, state TV reported.

Turkish government sources have alleged Mr Khashoggi, a critic of the prince and the Saudi government, was tortured and murdered and by a hit squad flown in from Riyadh.

An official familiar with the Saudi operation said: 'There were no orders for them to kill him or even specifically kidnap him.

'[Salman] had no knowledge of this specific operation and certainly did not order a kidnapping or murder of anybody.

The Gulf kingdom admitted last night that Khashoggi (pictured) was killed at the consulate but said he had died after a fight broke out, claiming Salman had no knowledge of the alleged hit

'He will have been aware of the general instruction to tell [critics of the regime] to come back.'

The White House said it acknowledged the latest announcement and reasserted its call 'for justice that is timely, transparent and in accordance with all due process'.

Mr Trump has suggested that 'rogue killers' could have been involved in the case but such a move without sanction from the Saudi regime is believed to be highly unlikely by many.

Jeremy Hunt had earlier warned there will be 'consequences' for the UK's relationship with Saudi Arabia if it was found the journalist was murdered.

The Foreign Secretary said the Government remained 'extremely concerned' about his fate after he went missing when he visited the consulate more than two weeks ago to get paperwork so he could marry.

Labour's shadow foreign secretary, Emily Thornberry, has called for action to be taken, tweeting in response to the announcement late on Friday: 'The Saudi lies and impunity must stop here.'

'We have heard the same excuses time and again from Saudi Arabia on Yemen, and now on Khashoggi: when disgraceful atrocities are committed, they call them unintended mistakes, and the world does nothing,' she said.
The aunt of a teenage boy accused of slashing a 12-year-old girl in the face 20 times with a knife has spoken out about his morbid confession.

The woman, who cannot be named due to legal reasons, told 9News her nephew arrived home drenched in blood and allegedly confessed to the attack on Thursday.

She said she was 'horrified' when the 17-year-old allegedly confessed to viciously knifing the girl in a pedestrian tunnel at Kingston in Logan City, Queensland.

Detectives said the 12-year-old girl was walking to school about 7.20am on Thursday when she was allegedly attacked by the 17-year-old boy in the tunnel (pictured)

'He said "I've got something to tell you and I've done something bad",' the woman said.

In hearing the boy's alleged confession, the woman Googled it and, after confirming it with the 17-year-old, she said she called the police straight away.

The boy allegedly fled from the woman's house after she contacted police, but was apprehended by police a short time later.

'They've come here but he's bolted, he's ran ...and they got him last night - just wandering the streets,' the woman said.

Detectives said the 12-year-old girl was walking to school about 7.20am on Thursday when she was allegedly attacked by the 17-year-old boy in the tunnel.

She was taken to Lady Cilento Hospital in a serious but stable condition, where she was treated for a large laceration to the side of her face.

The aunt of a teenage boy accused of slashing a 12-year-old girl in the face 20 times with a knife has spoken out about his morbid confession

Detective Acting Inspector Grant Ralston told 9News more than 50 officers were involved in the hunt to find the 17-year-old, who was living with his aunt at the time.

'It was something that we wanted to solve quickly, there was obvious concern from the public,' Inspector Grant Ralston said.

The boy's case was briefly heard at Beenleigh Court House on Saturday, but he has refused to speak to detectives.

The woman said she her nephew has never been in trouble with the law before, but added he has mental health issues.

She said when he allegedly confessed to the crime, he said he 'flipped out' at the time of the knifing because he thought 'they were someone else'.

He has since been charged with acts intended to cause grievous bodily harm.

The girl remains at the Queensland Children's Hospital in a stable condition.
President Donald Trump continued his effort to try to paint Democrats as a radical mob during a campaign swing through Arizona where he tried to muddy his opponents with freighted ideological insults.

'The Democrats have become an angry, unhinged mob determined to get power by any means necessary,' Trump told a screaming crowd of supporters at an Air Response Center in Mesa Arizona after making a dramatic entrance aboard Marine One.

'What the radical democrats did to justice Kavanaugh and his wonderful family is a national disgrace and don't forget it on November 6th,' Trump said.

'The Democrats have become an angry, unhinged mob,' Trump told chanting supporters in Mesa, Arizona

Trump gave GOP Senate candidate Martha McSally a political embrace as soon as the rally began. He said she would 'protect your jobs defend your borders and continue making America great again.'

And McSally, who previously has spoken critically of Trump, told him: 'It has been an honor to be leading in the House to make sure we build the wall'  his signature campaign promise.

Trump also attacked McSally's opponent, Democratic Rep. Krysten Sinema as a 'far left extremist,' then added: 'She's being protected by the fake news back there,' in reference to the media.

President Donald Trump arrives with U.S. Rep. Martha McSally to a campaign rally Friday, Oct. 19, 2018, in Mesa, Ariz. Trump is in Arizona stumping for Senate candidate Martha McSally

Trump also picked up on a McSally campaign ad that dredges up a 2003 Sinema radio interview from years ago where she agreed with a host saying 'go ahead' and join the Taliban.

'While Martha was bravely fighting the Taliban, Kyisten Sinema said she had no problems with American defecting form our country to join the Taliban. How does that happen?' Trump asked.

In another attack, Trump said: 'Kirsten Sinema also embraced a left wing radical who is convicted of providing material support to terrorists.'

He was referencing her promotion of events at Arizona State University that included a lawyer later convicted for aiding the 'Blind Sheikh,' Omar Abdel Rahman.

She invited people in an online group to attend events with the man, Lynn Stewart, in 2003, Fox News reported.

In his slash-and-burn rhetoric with the election 18 days away, Trump claimed Democrats want to 'impose socialism on our country. Turn us into another Venezuela, take away your health care, destroy your Second Amendment - and Democrats want to throw your borders wide open to deadly drugs and ruthless gangs,' he said.

It was one of an onslaught of attacks meant to fire up his base, in a strategy of stressing of trying to muddy his opponents.

Trump gave a political embrace to GOP Rep. McSally and picked up her campaign Taliban attacks on her opponent

'While Martha was bravely fighting the Taliban, Kyirsten Sinema said she had no problems with American defecting form our country to join the Taliban. How does that happen?' Trump asked

Scroll down for video

Trump also went on an extended harangue against Democrats on immigration.

He once again went after 'chain migration,' a term he has used repeatedly to describe immigrants come here and then try to gain status for family members. It is an issue that cause a bit of blowback when it was revealed that first lady Melania Trump's parents gained citizenship.

'That's called chain migration. It's a chain. sounds so good. Like right out of school. Sounds so beautiful  the chain, everyone comes together. Nope we're ending it folks,' Trump said, waving his hands for emphasis.

With news of a 'caravan' of up to 3,000 migrants traveling to Mexico in the headlines, Trump once again cast illegal immigration as a type of plot by Democrats to score votes.

Honduran migrants waving the flag of Honduras stream towards the border bridge in Tecun Uman, Guatemala on Friday

Trump said earlier immigration is a 'great issue' for Republicans.

'Right now as you know, they're fighting some bad people,' Trump said of the Mexican government. 'There are some bad people in that group. 'This country doesn't want them.'

'Everybody that comes across the border, for the most part, they're going to vote Democrat,' Trump claimed.

'No matter what we do, they will be voting Democrat, and they understand that,' he said.

'This will be an election of Kavanaugh, the caravan, law and order and common sense ... Remember it's gonna be an election of the caravan.'

'That's why Democrats support programs like catch and release. That's why Democrats want to give illegal aliens free welfare, free health care and free education. Give em a drivers' license,' he said.

'Next thing you know they'll want to buy them a car. Then they'll say the car's not good enough  how about a Rolls Royce?' he said.

'That's why Democrats want to give illegal immigrants the right to vote,' Trump said.

Supporters of US President Donald Trump wear t-shirts reading "Assyrians for Trump" during a "Make America Great" rally in Mesa, Arizona on October 19, 2018

Trump was deposited by Marine One just steps from the venue, an International Air Response hangar

In yet another immigration attack, Trump said: 'Democrats believe our country should be a giant sanctuary city for criminal aliens. 'Republicans believe our country should be a sanctuary for law-abiding Americans.'

Most Democrats in Congress favor a path to citizenship for 'Dreamers' brought here illegally as children, and some favor a more expansive path to citizenship for people who have been in the country for years and have clean records other than their illegal entry, while also supporting deportations for people who commit other crimes, in particular violent crime.

Trump didn't hold off on the politics before his rally. During a meeting at Luke Air Force Base, he was accompanied by McSally and other state GOP lawmakers.

At one point, he turned to McSally and called her Democratic opponent, Kyrsten Sinema 'very strange.'

Earlier this week McSally demanded Sinema apologize for a 2003 radio where she told a radio host to 'go along' and join the Taliban.

McSally brought up the interview, which was unearthed by CNN, in an angry debate Monday night, saying Sinema should apologize for saying 'it's OK to commit treason.'

Sinema hit back for 'ridiculous attacks' and accused McSally of 'trying to smear my campaign.' In her own campaign she stresses other elements of her background: being homeless for several years as a child, earning a Ph.D and a law degree, and getting elected to Congress.

The venue helped reinforce a key piece of McSally's bio as the first woman Air Force fighter pilot to fly in combat.

Before Trump arrived at the Aviation Air Response hangar where he several thousand supporters gathered, introducers drove home the message that Democrats were far left and bent on revolution.

President Donald Trump talks to a pilot in the cockpit of an F-35 aircraft during a Defense Capability Tour at Luke Air Force Base, Ariz., Friday, Oct. 19, 2018. At his evening rally, Rep. Andy Biggs claimed Democrats want to 'emasculate our military'

GOP Rep. Andy Biggs said they wanted power 'by any means' and believed 'the ends justified the means.

'They're going to try to impeach Donald trump. They want to abolish ICE. They want to open our borders. They want to kill our economy, and they want to emasculate our military,' Biggs said.

'They bully us they threaten us they harass. Sometimes it seems like they're acting like a mob,' Biggs added.

The state's governor, Doug Ducey tried to connect the party to Democratic socialist Bernie Sanders, who lost the party's nomination to Hillary Clinton.

'Would you be proud to stand with Bernie Sanders?' he asked.

The president came to Arizona in an effort to boost Republican Rep. Martha McSally, who is in a top-tier race against Rep. Kyrsten Sinema to succeed Sen. Jeff Flake.

The race is deadlocked, with each garnering 45 per cent of the vote in the RealClearPolitics average.

The president's appearance came hours after Saudi Arabia has admitted journalist Jamal Khashoggi is dead.

The results of the country's own investigation were revealed Friday evening and showed the 60-year-old died following an altercation at the kingdom's consulate in Istanbul, Turkey October 2.

Saudi's attorney general said in a statement: 'Discussions between citizen Jamal Khashoggi and those who met him while he was in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul led to a brawl and a fist fight, which led to his death.'

'The investigations are still underway and 18 Saudi nationals have been arrested,' the state prosecutor said in a statement to media. 'The kingdom expresses its deep regret.'
Another week of Brexit horror, and my admiration for Prime Minister Theresa May grows stronger by the hour. Yes, she is under fire from all sides. Yes, she has made mistakes. Yes, she is in a political pickle. Yes, the Government might yet fall.

But the massive problems she faces make cracking the Enigma code look easy.

Her difficulty is easy enough to identify: she is conducting two sets of negotiations at once.

On the one hand, her Brexit chief Dominic Raab  a considerable improvement on his overhyped predecessor David Davis  has to strike a deal in the national interest with Brussels.

British Prime Minister Theresa May (L) and European Council President Donald Tusk (R) during the Asem 12, Asia-Europe Meeting in Brussels, Belgium

On the other hand, she has to negotiate with mutinous Conservative MPs  some of whom think she is being too hostile to Brussels, and some too friendly.

In this game of multi-dimensional chess, she faces four conflicting negotiating objectives.

First, Mrs May, who is at heart a patriot, is determined to avoid the chaos and economic distress which would inevitably flow from a no-deal Brexit.

Second, she is utterly determined to avoid the break-up of the United Kingdom, an outcome that is very much on the cards, if the wrong Brexit deal is struck.

Third, she needs to retain the support of the ragged group of Democratic Unionist MPs who are vital if the Conservatives are to maintain a majority in Westminster.

And fourth, she must avert the danger of a General Election followed by the very likely election of Prime Minister Corbyn.

UK Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union Dominic Raab (R) and Michel Barnier, European Commission Chief Negotiator Dominic Raab visit the European Commission

In these desperate circumstances, I believe Mrs May has done a solid job. Any fair-minded observer must surely acknowledge that she deserves enormous credit for steadfastness and courage under savage attack.

This is why it is so important to ignore the headlines and look at the underlying realities. These are rather more encouraging than many realise.

Behind the political histrionics, hundreds of civil servants are quietly working towards a deal. Even ice-cold EU negotiator Michel Barnier said yesterday that we are 90 per cent of the way there.

Crucially, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the most important voice in Europe, is making encouraging noises.

And lets further remember theres precious little new about any of this. Every deal ever struck with Europe has gone down to the 11th hour and often beyond. There is no reason Brexit will be an exception.

Nevertheless, the Prime Minister is approaching a moment of terrible danger. She faces a nightmare three months, starting with the Budget in nine days time.

Jacob Rees-Moggs Brexiteers threaten to cause trouble with Chancellor Philip Hammonds financial statement.

Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May (C) poses with Asian and European leaders for a family photograph during an ASEM summit at the European Council

They are arguing that the Prime Ministers offer to Europe this week to extend the transition period (with the extra cost to Britain of billions of pounds in payments to Brussels) amounts to a betrayal of Mrs May and Mr Hammonds promise of extra money to plot the path out of austerity.

This means they aim to link Mrs Mays Brexit plan to the Budget itself. Mr Hammond will be forced into extra revenue-raising measures to pay for the Prime Ministers concession of an extended negotiating period.

Brexiteers say they would be justified in voting against the Budget because it would not be necessary to find these additional funds if Mrs May sticks to her original plan of the transition period ending on December 31, 2020.

Frankly, the PM may not be able to survive if she cant carry her Budget in the Commons.

For an old hand like me, the situation today is hauntingly similar to the problems faced by the John Major government in the mid-Nineties, when Maastricht Treaty rebels voted against Chancellor Ken Clarkes plans to raise VAT on fuel.

Then, too, the Tory government was humiliatingly dependent on the votes of Ulster Unionists. John Major just scraped through, and my belief is that Mrs May will be able to as well.

British Prime Minister Theresa May, second left, laughs with Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa, right, during a group photo at an EU-ASEM summit in Brussels. EU leaders met with their Asian counterparts Friday to discuss trade, among other issues

Even if the Prime Minister survives the Brexiteer Budget rebellion, she still faces a torrid time forcing her Europe deal through the Commons.

There had been hopes that it would be struck at the European summit in Brussels this week. It now looks likely that no deal will be decided until December, or even as late as January next year.

Mrs May must then take her deal back to the House of Commons. This will be the most potentially dangerous moment of all.

Will the DUP really vote against the Government, as it is threatening to do? They must know that could spark a General Election which might lead to John McDonnell  who said this week he longs for a united Ireland  marching into Number 11 Downing Street.

Are the hard Brexiteers really able to muster the support they need to sabotage Mrs May? And how many Labour rebels can be induced to vote with the Conservative Government?

Mrs May has to confront fresh talk of Cabinet resignations, and warnings that Tory rebels have mustered the necessary 48 letters to spark a Tory leadership contest. Yet I cannot see the point of bringing down the Prime Minister.

Whoever took over from Mrs May would face exactly the same problems.

Boris Johnson might change direction and force through a hard Brexit, but could not command a majority in the Commons when it came to a vote.

I accept the Prime Minister has made mistakes. She was too quick to exercise Article 50, committing Britain to leave the European Union on March 29 next year.

Negotiations have proved much more difficult and complex than she predicted.

The Prime Minister was also unwise to cave in to European pressure to agree the so-called Northern Irish backstop. Neither has she consulted enough with senior Cabinet colleagues.

Yet, for all that, she deserves respect. The most likely outcome remains that Mrs May will still be Prime Minister next April, having led Britain out of the European Union. And that will have been a remarkable achievement.

Nick Clegg was deputy prime minister for five years. Now, hes accepted a job as Facebooks head of global policy and communications  in other words, Mark Zuckerbergs press officer. What a humiliation not just for Nick Clegg, but for Britain, too.

An officer, but no class

Johnny Mercer, veteran of the Afghan war, been tipped as a future Tory leader but is not impressed with the current government

Army officers are meant to be loyal, dutiful and discreet. So why do so many wrong uns become Tory MPs?

Bob Stewart, a hero of the Bosnian conflict, is amiable and decent, but useless. Patrick Mercer, former commanding officer of the Sherwood Foresters, was forced to resign after breaking House of Common anti-sleaze rules.

The latest former Army officer to make a fool of himself is Johnny Mercer. This veteran of the Afghan war has been tipped as a future Tory leader.

This week, he launched a vicious attack on the Prime Minister, in which he labelled her Government a s**t show. These remarks were not the comments of an officer and a gentleman.

Just as disgracefully, Boris Johnson backed his comments almost as soon as they were made.

Maggie shouldn't be on the 50 note

Noor Inayat Khan an SOE operative who spied for Britain in World War II before she was captured and murdered at Dachau. She would be a good candidate for the 50, says Peter Oborne

Pressure is mounting for an image of Maggie Thatcher to be displayed on the new 50 note.

This plan must not go ahead. Mrs Thatcher was one of the greatest prime ministers of the 20th century, but many disliked her, and national currencies are there to be used by everyone.

More time needs to elapse before she gains such a signal recognition  besides, I believe there are better candidates.

One is brave Noor Inayat Khan (left), an SOE operative who spied for Britain in World War II, before being captured, tortured and murdered by the Nazis in Dachau concentration camp aged just 30.

I also like the claims of Aneurin Bevan, founder of the National Health Service. Yes, he was a Labour politician who once called Tories lower than vermin, but he was the founder of one of our great national institutions.

It would be a generous gesture to recognise his achievement in an age where politics has become too partisan.
Nancy Pelosi was hassled by an angry mob of anti-communists Wednesday outside a building in South Florida where one of her campaign events had been held.

The House minority leader was making her way into a meeting with fellow Democratic leaders when she was met with protesters who fired expletives her way and demanded she get out of Miami.

The conservative protesters held up signs that said things like 'Pelosi is a communist' and 'No communists!' as they swarmed the politician when she approached the entrance.

One male protester shouted out: 'Look at Nancy Pelosi right here... look at this piece of sh*t right here... look at this piece of sh*t!

'F***ing communist! You don't belong here, you f***ing communist. Get the f*** out of here!'

Nancy Pelosi was hassled by an angry mob of anti-communists Wednesday outside a building in South Florida

The House minority leader was making her way into a meeting with fellow Democratic leaders when she was met by a mob of angry protesters

He continued in the fiery rant: 'F*** you and your f***ing Democrats.'

The mob of protesters banged on the door and demanded it be opened after she entered the building.

The group shouted out: 'Socialism sucks! Socialism sucks! Socialism sucks!'

Pelosi's spokesperson, Drew Hammill, said in an email statement to DailyMail.com: 'From day one, President Trump and the GOP Congress have stoked the flames of incivility, intolerance and aggression.

'It is deeply sad but unsurprising that we now see that ugliness rearing its head. It is stunning that Republicans have the gall to call courageous survivors of sexual assault a "mob", at the same time they incite and condone violent actions like this.

'Republicans must condemn this vile and dangerous conduct, and stop the reckless and dangerous rhetoric that encourages it.'

The protest follows weeks of public harassment against Republican leaders.

In June, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders was harassed and booted from a Virginia restaurant by the owners.

Demonstrators stand outside a building where Pelosi spoke to volunteers at a get out the vote event for Florida Democratic congressional candidates Donna Shalala and Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, Wednesday, October 17, 2018, in Coral Gables

Demonstrators chant outside the building Wednesday in protest of Pelosi

Pelosi, right, speaks to volunteers at a get out the vote event for Florida Democratic congressional candidates Donna Shalala, left, and Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, center, Wednesday in Coral Gables

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was confronted by a group of protesters in his home state of Kentucky in July who told him that they 'know where he lives.'

The powerful Republican senator was having lunch in Louisville with a state legislator when a group of activists approached him and shouted 'Abolish ICE.'

Just a couple weeks prior, his wife, Elaine Chao, furiously defended her husband in a shouting match with immigration protesters who confronted them as they departed an event at Georgetown University.

The public harassment against Republicans was encouraged by Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters.

Waters said in a statement: 'Let's make sure we show up wherever we have to show up. If you see anybody from that Cabinet in a restaurant, in a department store, at a gasoline station, you get out and you create a crowd.

'And you push back on them... you tell them they're not welcome anymore, anywhere. We've got to get the children connected to their parents.'

A woman is seen sporting a Trump 2020 hat during the Wednesday demonstration near Miami

The mob of protesters banged on the door and demanded it be opened after she entered the building
The number of fathers choosing to stay at home to look after their children has fallen to the lowest level in five years.

Experts put the sudden reversal of the upwards trend - which had seen numbers more than double over two decades - down to men 'growing tired' of the thankless task of raising children.

There were just 223,000 stay-at-home fathers in the UK in the three months to August this year  the lowest number since mid-2013, according to new Office for National Statistics figures.

There were 223,000 stay-at-home fathers in the UK in the three months up to August

Professor Sir Cary Cooper, professor of organisational psychology at Manchester University, said fathers had found the sheen of being 'new men' quickly wore off.

He said: 'Many men who have tried being stay-at-home dads have realised what many women have felt for years  that looking after children as a full-time role is not valued by society.

'But unlike women, there are few men in that position so there is very little social interaction. The support network is not there for fathers in the same way as it is for mothers, which can be very isolating.'

Over the past 25 years, the number of fathers choosing to look after their families grew from 111,000 when records began in 1993 to a peak of 262,000 by March 2017.

But in the last 18 months their numbers have gone into decline, with the latest figures 15 per cent below peak levels.

Prof Cooper said it was likely more men had chosen to stay at home in the years after the financial crisis when the number of permanent, full-time jobs which were traditionally more male-orientated fell, while women thrived in the growing world of more flexible temporary, part-time or self-employed positions.

But he said men were returning to traditional roles as the job market stabilised - with many finding employers still did not see staying at home to raise children as acceptable.

This was reflected in the number of stay-at-home mothers creeping up by 36,000 in the latest figures, with 1,819,000 in the UK in the three months to August this year.

The upward trend is a break from a rapid decline in stay-at-home mothers over the past 25 years, with more than a million fewer in the UK today than the 2,913,000 recorded in 1993.

Levels hit a record low of 1,783,000 in the three months to May, but have been growing ever since.

When records began in 1993, there were just 110,000 stay-at-home fathers in the UK

Prof Cooper added that the millennial generation were just as likely to fall into the pattern of seeing men as the breadwinner as their parents and grandparents.

He said: 'I don't think men are more 'new man' these days, 'old man' is still there.

'I see men in their 30s who come home late, say goodnight to their children, and that's it. Their wives and girlfriends may well work too, but it is the women who still do most of the childcare.

'At the school gates it is 80 per cent women and grandparents. You see only a few fathers.

'There is not a general acceptance of the role of caring for children by men or by society.'

He said a wider acceptance of shared parental leave  where both mothers and fathers take paid time off work in the year after having a child - and more support for stay-at-home fathers could help improve their numbers.

Although the latest figures for stay-at-home fathers are double the 1993 figures, the population of working-age men has grown from 18million to 20.5million over the the same time. It means the proportion of working men choosing to look after their families has actually only inched up from around 0.6 per cent to just over 1 per cent in two and a half decades.

In 2016, a report found younger parents were becoming more likely to share childcare, domestic chores and work  but this had led to both mothers and fathers being prone to 'burn out'.

The Modern Families Index, compiled by campaign charity Working Families, found fathers aged 35 and under were more likely than older parents to have adapted work to look after their children, with two in three working flexibly.

But they were twice as likely as older parents to say they felt 'burnt out' most or all of the time.

More than half of fathers surveyed said they feared asking their boss to reduce their hours, allow remote working or cut down on the amount of calls and emails they take outside of work.

Commenting at the time, then-chief executive of Working Families Sarah Jackson said: 'Younger parents are more likely to share care than the generations before them but they're on shaky ground because working life hasn't caught up.

'If we want children to have the time with parents that they need, and for parents to give their best at work, employers need to tackle unrealistic and unmanageable workloads.'
Democrat Senator Elizabeth Warren and her Republican challenger, Massachusetts state Representative Geoff Diehl, clashed on everything from tax cuts to immigration to Warren's decision to release a DNA test during their first debate Friday.

The meeting was combative at times, with the candidates challenging each other and sometimes talking over one another.

Diehl faulted Warren during the televised debate for opposing the Republican-led tax bill, which he said benefited local taxpayers and businesses.

'Eighty percent of Massachusetts residents are getting a tax cut, lower taxes federally, because of that tax reform,' Diehl said. 'That's why we're seeing, now, businesses reinvesting.'

Massachusetts Senate candidates Sen. Elizabeth Warren and her opponent State Rep. Geoff Diehl shake hands before a debate in Boston on Friday

Warren said the bill works for billionaires and corporations - and not enough for ordinary taxpayers - while expanding the deficit, which she said is giving Republicans a reason to target cuts to Social Security and Medicare.

'This is the basic Republican scam and that is cut taxes for those at the top and make everyone else pay for it,' she said. 'This economy is working better and better and better for a thinner and thinner and thinner slice at the top.'

Warren, a possible 2020 presidential candidate running for a second six-year Senate term, defended her decision to release DNA test results this week that provide some evidence a Native American is in her bloodline.

Warren released the tests in part to counter President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly criticized Warren's claims of Native American heritage, calling her 'Pocahontas.'

Warren also said she released the tests for the same reason she put 10 years of her tax returns online and released hiring records from her career as a law professor.

'The whole notion of confidence in government has really gone to a low point and so for me, what I've done is I've just tried to put it all out there,' she said. 'I am an open book.'

Warren defended her release of a DNA test showing minute Native ancestry. Diehl did not call her 'Pocahontas' but accused her of posing as a minority to benefit from affirmative action

Warren said she's not claiming to be a citizen of any tribal nation.

Diehl, who co-chaired President Donald Trump's 2016 Massachusetts presidential campaign, said he didn't care about Warren's heritage, but suggested Warren may have benefited from listing her Native American heritage in a national directory.

'It seems that maybe that was inappropriate to list yourself,' Diehl said, suggesting Warren may have ended up 'taking a minority hire position away from somebody else.'

Warren said that 'nothing in my background ever made any difference in my hiring.' She criticized Diehl for not releasing his tax returns.

On immigration, Diehl said Warren supports eliminating U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Warren said she backs a comprehensive approach to immigration and border security.

Warren repeatedly tried to tie Diehl to Trump, who remains unpopular in Massachusetts.

'Let's talk about - if we're going to talk about character - what it means to have Donald Trump's back,' she said. 'It means standing by Donald Trump when he calls white supremacists in Charlottesville 'fine people.''

Sen. Elizabeth Warren greets supporters before a debate with her Republican opponent Geoff Diehl in Boston on Friday

Diehl didn't back down from his support of Trump, but said he wouldn't vote in lockstep with Trump or Senate Republicans.

'I am not a Mitch McConnell Republican, I'm a Massachusetts Republican,' he said, referring to the GOP Senate majority leader.

Diehl said Warren has taken her eye off her day job representing Massachusetts by exploring a White House run. Warren has said she'll take 'a hard look' at a 2020 run after the midterm elections.

'You are running for president. Everybody knows,' Diehl said. 'It's not a secret at all.'

The two were also asked about Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who Saudi officials claimed was killed in a 'fistfight' in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul. Turkish officials have said an 'assassination squad' from the kingdom flew in and laid in wait for Khashoggi.

David Duffy shows support for Massachusetts Republican Senate candidate Geoff Diehl before a debate with incumbent Democrat Sen. Elizabeth Warren in Boston

Warren said Khashoggi's fate 'was an attack on democracy all around the world.'

'The response should come not just from the United States but should come all around the world, otherwise we empower dictators to kill journalists who ask hard questions,' Warren said. 'Do we need a strong response on Saudi Arabia? Absolutely. And Donald Trump is showing he is not capable.'

Diehl said the U.S. needs to protect press freedoms, but called Saudi Arabia a strong ally.

'We need to continue to have a relationship,' he said, pointing to companies in Massachusetts that do business in the kingdom. He also credited Saudi Arabia with helping keep terrorism in check 'in their own backyard.'

Independent candidate Shiva Ayyadurai is also on the ballot, and has protested to be allowed onto the debate stage. On Friday he sat in the road as the car carrying Warren approached the debate, which was broadcast on WSBK-TV.

There are two more scheduled debates before Election Day.
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President Donald Trump has again threatened to pull aid money from Honduras and El Salvador if migrant caravans headed to the U.S. are not stopped, and blamed Democrats for organizing the latest march, which he said is full of 'hardened criminals'.

'These are some bad people. These aren't little angels. These are some hardened criminals coming up. And we're not letting them in,' he told reporters on Friday during a defense round-table in Arizona. 'They put all the women and children up front, to show you how brave they are.'

He reiterated the sentiment in a rally in Mesa later Friday: 'You got some bad people in those groups. You got some tough people in those groups, and I'll tell you what, this country doesn't want them!'

Earlier in the day, a column of some 4,000 Central American migrants burst through police barricades in Chiapas, Mexico, pouring over the border from Guatemala in their quest to reach the U.S. Many waved Honduran flags.

'You got some bad people in those groups. You got some tough people in those groups, and I'll tell you what, this country doesn't want them!' Trump said at a rally in Mesa, Arizona on Friday night

Honduran migrants waving the flag of Honduras stream towards the border bridge in Tecun Uman, Guatemala on Friday

Honduran migrants await access on the bridge that crosses the Suchiate River after crossing the fence on the border with Guatemala to enter Mexico, in Ciudad Hidalgo, Mexico on Friday

Aerial view of a Honduran migrant caravan heading to the US, on the Guatemala-Mexico international bridge

Honduran migrants pour through an immigration checkpoint as they cross the Guatemala-Mexico international bridge

Trump also reiterated his threat to cut off foreign aid to Honduras and El Salvador if the waves of migration did not stop.

'I called them I said very nicely, 'You're not going to get any money if you let this happen' and all of a sudden, they're starting to close it up tightly. They're trying,' Trump said.

The president of Honduras, Juan Orlando Hernandez, appeared to balk at the threat, announcing an agreement with Guatemala to send Honduran civil defense personnel to airlift any migrants who wish to return to Honduras. Salvadoran president Salvador Sanchez has not publicly addressed the caravan, which

Trump also said he spoke with Mexico and thanked the country for its assistance stopping the caravan, which was briefly halted at Mexico's southern border with Guatemala, before breaking through barricades manned by federal police and pouring into the country.

Trump added: 'If that doesn't work out, we're calling up the military, not the guard, we're calling up the military and we're going to have the military stationed. They're not coming into this country, they might as well turn back.'

Trump reiterated his threat to cut off foreign aid to Honduras and El Salvador if the waves of migration did not stop

Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez (left) said on Friday that he would transport any migrants back to Honduras who wanted to return. Salvadoran President Salvador Sanchez (right) has not publicly addressed the caravan

The President also repeated his claim, thus far not backed up by evidence, that Democrats may have organized the caravan

'A lot of people have gathered and a lot of people are looking at Democrats why did they gather, there's a lot of information,' Trump said.

'People are saying there's a lot of money being passed around so that this would normally hit just before election,' he continued, repeating a suggestion he made at a rally in Montana on Thursday.

Earlier, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray in Mexico City to discuss the caravan.

'It's a challenge that Mexico is facing, and that's how I expressed it to Secretary Pompeo,' Videgaray told a joint news conference.

Pompeo said he and Videgaray spoke of the importance of stopping the caravan before it reaches the U.S. border.

Mexico's efforts to stop the migrant caravan using tear gas from riot police were for naught, after the column of migrants burst through a gate, poured across a bridge, and carried babies and children as they charged at the police line.

An aerial shot shows thousands of Honduran migrants marching from Guatemala to Mexico on Friday where they were met with riot police (shown bottom right) who threw tear gas at them and resisted them before agreeing to let them pass in, women and children first, before putting them on buses. Also shown are the small numbers who took their chances on the River Suchiate in makeshift rafts built out of discarded tires (top right). The caravan, which has around 4,000 people in it, is determined to make it to the US and has already crossed through two countries on foot to get there

The migrants crossed over the bridge on Friday after overpowering police in Guatemala (left) to make their way into Mexico (right), the last country they must get through before they reach America

The migrants were then allowed to cross the gates single file where Mexican police were waiting to put them on buses. Sources at the scene say they were told they would be allowed to go further north but where exactly the police are taking them remains unclear. On Thursday night, Mexican officials struck a deal with the US which involved them agreeing on sending any of the migrants who make their way into Mexico and claim asylum there to be put in shelters

Thousands of Honduran migrants were tear gassed by Mexican police as they stormed the border with

A baby is squashed between its mother and Mexican police as the migrants try to force their way into the country on Friday

A father shields his baby daughter from the chaos as he retreats from police. Sources on the border tell DailyMail.com the police threw tear gas into the crowds before suddenly deciding to let women and children through

The sudden clash was frightening and dangerous for the thousands of children involved. While the police officers tried to comfort the children and keep them out of the fray, the chaos grew too large to contain on Friday

The crowd broke down barriers and rushed towards the riot police, hellbent on getting through them no matter the cost. Above, a boy retreats in his mother's arms after coming up against the squad of officers

A woman wipes blood from her face after splitting her tooth as she tried to cross into Mexico from Guatemala on Friday

The line of police officers stood firm behind shields as the migrants ran fearlessly towards them

The map above shows the journey the caravan is taking from Honduras through Guatemala and up through Mexico towards the U.S.

The group of around 4,000 migrants overpowered police first in Tecun Uman, Guatemala, to make their way over the short bridge into Ciudad Hidalgo in Mexican's southernmost state of Chiapas.

They had been forced to retreat and reorganize earlier in the day after being met with strong resistance.

After crossing the bridge, they were confronted by a daunting force of armed Mexican officers who threw tear gas in their direction and stood in lines, lifting up children who ran towards them and standing firm behind their shields.

After a standoff, Mexico agreed they would let some of the migrants through and started asking that they form lines. They plan to allow women and children into the country first.

The decision flies in the face of President Trump's plea to Mexican officials on Thursday to put an end to the caravan's progress.

Though the State Department and Mexican officials have agreed on a plan to shelter any of the migrants who make asylum claims in shelters, their decision to let them carry on north on Friday sends them marching on towards the US.

Videos showed the thousands of migrants celebrating on the bridge once they had managed to get over the crossing.

A woman has her face and hair washed after being sprayed with tear gas at the Mexican border on Friday

A woman tries to wash out her mouth as another of the migrants douses her in water. The group was met with large resistance at the Mexican border after overpowering Guatemalan officials with considerably less violence

A Mexican police officer was among those injured by the gas as his comrades sprayed it into the crowds on Friday

The group has thousands of people in it and was an unstoppable force in Guatemala, heaving against police to break past barriers and move on. They continued moving as one in Mexico but were met with more resistance

The crowd lifted up barriers with ease, discarding them in the street as they carried on before being met with a line of police

The thousands of migrants climbed the roofs of checkpoint stands to try to sneak past and scaled fences too

A woman weeps into her child's hand as they try to enter Mexico with thousands of others in the caravan on Friday

Not all of the migrants went on foot. A small number took their chances in makeshift rafts made from discarded rubber tires and wood

A Honduran woman interviewed at the Guatemala/Mexico border by Noticias, who did not give her name, said: 'We are going to the United States. We know God is going to help us because we can't live in Honduras, our country. Every month the president is raising electricity costs. We can't live. We can't live with him'

A Honduran woman interviewed at the Guatemala/Mexico border by Noticias, who did not give her name, said: 'We are going to the United States. We know God is going to help us because we can't live in Honduras, our country. Every month the president is raising electricity costs. We can't live. We can't live with him.

'We are suffering a lot (on this trip). Sleeping on the ground but it's worth it for my children as they can see that my country is not worth anything. That president we have is worthless.

'Can I send a message to Trump? Mr. Trump I ask of you to take Juan Orlando [Hernandez] out from my country. You have him there. Look how my country is turning out. The young people in my country, Honduras' youth, look at how they're suffering, kids in coffins, kids along the way have died, pregnant women have died on us because of this delinquent man that we have in the country.  Trump has him in there. Take him out mister. Take him out of the country. We don't want him. It's a president he [Trump] placed, we didn't place him.'

They waved Honduran flags, chanted and beeped horns in victory and celebrated as they reached the Mexican side of the bridge.

Mexican police threw tear gas into the crowds, according to Guatemalan sources who spoke with DailyMail.com on Friday. Mexican officials then asked them to form lines and said they would allow women and children through first.

On Thursday, authorities there arrested a key activist who was waiting to welcome the migrants once they crossed over.

Thousands of Honduran migrants have stormed a border crossing in Guatemala and have made their way into Mexico

Thousands of Honduran migrants pour through the border gate at Tecun Umna, Guatemala, to make their way into Mexico on Friday

A Honduran migrant climbs over the border gate at the Guatemalan - Mexico boorder as children cling on to it on the other side, sitting on their parents shoulders

Before the barrier came down, there were many who climbed over the fence to get t the other side

Some of the migrants climbed the gate first then pulled at it as their countrymen and women on the other side pushed to tear it down

Two Honduran men pull at the gate as others on the other side push it frantically to try to tear it down in Tecan Uman on Friday

There are thousands of children and babies among the migrants passing through. Drenched in sweat, they were passed above head between adults on Friday morning as chaos ensued at the border crossing

The migrants heaved against Guatemalan police who were dressed in riot gear and were able to overcome them with their large numbers

On the other side of the crossing, a single Guatemalan police officer prepares to run as the large group crashes down the gate

It did not take long for the group to reorganize on Friday morning after retreating briefly elsewhere in the town. Among the first to run over were elderly women and children, spurred on by the crowd behind them

Jubilant migrants shout and sing in victory as they run across the border into Mexico from Guatemala on Friday as Guatemalan police run out of their way

Mothers clutched their babies and young children to rush over the border, fearful of how the police would respond with their weapons

Many among the group of thousands are children. They set off from Honduras in search of a better life free of drug wars and desperate work prospects

A young boy is passed over the gate before the migrants were able to smash it open by two Honduran men who later helped the crowds tear it down

There are approximately 4,000 people traveling in total as part of the main group or in smaller, breakaway groups from Honduras

A Honduran migrant chants on Friday morning as the group makes their way towards the Mexican border crossing. They yelled: 'One way or another, we will pass' in Spanish and said: 'We are not smugglers, we are migrants'

A woman carries a baby across the border as others around her tote strollers and backpacks, their chosen belongings to make the trip

A frightened boy is lifted overhead in the crowd to climb the border fence in Guatemala on Friday morning as the group continues its march into Mexico and towards the US

Migrants saunter past the migration checkpoint that was left abandoned by workers after they flooded the gates and overpowered police

A woman is pictured after being injured during the chaotic crossing on Friday morning. She was pictured in Chiapas, the Mexican state the migrants crossed into

A jubilant Honduran man raises his arms in celebration on Friday after crossing the bridge from Guatemala into Mexico

Others used makeshift rafts made out of discarded car tires to cross the Suchiate River

On Friday the group chanted: 'We are not smugglers, we are migrants,' as they reorganized themselves on Friday afternoon.

The stern police presence comes after President Trump appealed directly to Mexico to help block the flood of people.

Hundreds of Mexican police officers and troops have stationed themselves along the other side of the tall fence which separates it from Guatemala. Guatemalan troops are also said to be putting up resistance.

Mexico has implemented what the ambassador to Guatemala calls a 'metered entry' system to try to control the vast numbers of people who are traveling there from other Central American countries.

Next stop USA: The group are now in Mexico, the last country they need to get through before they arrive at their intended destination

The immigrants breaking through the gate on the Mexican side of the bridge after crossing over from Guatemala

It did not take long for the group to crash open that gate, as they had with the other, and continue on their path

A Mexican police officer strokes his eye as he recovers from the scuffle with the migrants in a police van

A young man holds an umbrella over a baby on her father's shoulders to keep her out of the sun as they continue their march over the bridge and towards Mexico

Late on Thursday night, a small number of the Honduran group who broke off from the main crowd were able to successfully cross over into Mexico.

NBC reports that US officials are now tracking that small group as they make progress towards the US.

The migrants are fleeing Honduras where they say they have no prospects. Many are eager to escape the gang violence they say their children are doomed to encounter as they grow up.

Trump has commentated on their movements throughout by blaming their optimism on Democrats and calling their march towards America an 'assault' on the country.

On Thursday, as the group made progress through Guatemala, he tweeted: 'I am watching the Democrat Party led (because they want Open Borders and existing weak laws) assault on our country by Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, whose leaders are doing little to stop this large flow of people, INCLUDING MANY CRIMINALS, from entering Mexico to U.S.

Earlier: Police stand in riot gear at Mexico's border with Guatemala ready to take on the Honduran migrants who retreated on Friday to reevaluate their plan

There are thousands of people in the largest group. Some are pictured waiting near the border in Tecun Uman on Friday

A migrant prays as he waits for the group to decide what to do on Friday in Tecun Uman, Guatemala

'In addition to stopping all payments to these countries, which seem to have almost no control over their population, I must, in the strongest of terms, ask Mexico to stop this onslaught - and if unable to do so I will call up the U.S. Military and CLOSE OUR SOUTHERN BORDER!'

'The assault on our country at our Southern Border, including the Criminal elements and DRUGS pouring in, is far more important to me, as President, than Trade or the USMCA.

'Hopefully Mexico will stop this onslaught at their Northern Border.

'All Democrats fault for weak laws!'

On the Mexican side, the foreign ministry said its government was in constant communication with members of the caravan explaining the migrants' options.

It said officials were already assisting some migrants who had crossed and requested refugee status.

On Thursday, Mexican officials said they had agreed on a plan with the US to establish shelters along the Mexican southern border for anyone in the caravan who makes an asylum claim in Mexico.

'Just today, the Mexican government, and this is a very important step, requested the intervention of the U.N., the Office of the High Commissioner on Refugees, to help Mexico review any asylum claims from the members of the caravan,' Mexican Ambassador to the U.S. Geronimo Gutierrez told Fox News.

'That will allow us to have a process by which in our border we will make sure that of serving human rights, respecting international law, if there are legitimate claims to refugee, those can be processed in a very clear way,' he added.

Pompeo later released a statement to say the State Department supported the plan and would be 'ready to assist'.

'We welcome the government of Mexico's statement that they will seek cooperation with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to address immigration issues in the region, including the influx of people arriving in Mexico.

'The United States stands ready to assist the Government of Mexico and UNHCR in this effort,' he said.

But the migrants are determined to plow through Mexico on foot and in trucks, eventually reaching the US border where they want to make their final crossing.
A flesh-eating bacteria epidemic has worsened, and experts fear there could be up to 400 infections by January.

The record number of 277 cases of Buruli ulcer recorded last year in the Mornington Peninsula, south of Melbourne, has already been surpassed in 2018, with 49 new cases diagnosed in the past four weeks alone.

Medical experts fear the number of ulcer cases will reach up to 400 by January 2019, according to data from Victoria's Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS).

Meanwhile in Queensland, a separate outbreak has seen five cases reported near Cairns, and mosquitoes found carrying the bacteria.

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A flesh-eating bacteria epidemic has worsened as dozens of new cases surpassed last year's record - with experts fearing that there could be up to 400 infections by January (stock image)

49 new cases were diagnosed in the past four weeks and is feared to reach 400 by January

Buruli ulcer is a skin infection that can develop into a destructive skin ulcer. It initially appears as a painless nodule or papule.

In extreme cases, Buruli ulcer can cause permanent disfigurement.

The DHHS has warned locals to take necessary precautions and protect themselves from mosquito bites, which is suspected to be the cause of the disease's spread.

Safety measures include wearing gloves, long sleeved shirts and trousers when going outside for extended periods of time.

People are also advised to wear insect repellent, wash and cover scratches, and visit the doctor immediately if skin lesions are found on the body.

Aside from mosquitoes, microbiologist Tim Stinear also identified possums as potential carriers that spread the disease.

EPIDEMIC OF THE FLESH-EATING BURULI ULCER: WHAT WE KNOW WHAT IS A BURULI ULCER? It's a skin infection caused by a bacteria known as Mycobacterium ulcerans The organism belongs to the family of bacteria that causes tuberculosis and leprosy It typically causes skin ulcers, otherwise known as Buruli ulcer It is also known as Bairnsdale or Daintree ulcer It can affect the bone and can lead to permanent disfigurement and long-term disability WHERE DOES IT OCCUR? According to WHO, at least 33 countries, including Australia, with tropical, subtropical and temperate climates have reported Buruli ulcer, but mainly in west and central Africa WHO IS AFFECTED? About 2000 cases are reported worldwide each year All age groups, including young children, can be infected HOW IS IT TRANSMITTED? The exact method remains unclear, but the disease is often associated with wetlands, especially stagnant water Evidence indicates it can not be transmitted from person to person Insects, such as mosquitoes, have been shown to contain the bacteria and they may play a role in transmission Use of repellent and mosquito nets have been linked to a reduction in occurrence WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE? The first sign of Buruli ulcer is usually a painless, non-tender blister-like nodule on the skin, often thought to be an insect bite A lesion may occur anywhere on the body but is most common on the limbs After one to two months, the nodule may begin to erode, forming a characteristic ulcer HOW IS IT TREATED? In Australia and Japan, most lesions are detected early and diagnosed as a Category 1 Treatment involves a combination of antibiotics, depending on the patient Many sufferers require plastic surgery Source: AAP - Health Victoria, World Health Organisation, Medical Journal of Australia Advertisement

'Their precise role in transmission were still trying to work out, but they are definitely boosting the number of bacteria in the environment,' he said.

'We only see human disease in areas where possum are carrying the bacteria'.

Medical experts and researchers are also preparing several research projects in order to understand the disease.

A questionnaire is being prepared in order to gather information about the locals' day-to-day activities and habits, which could help in identifying how the disease has spread, according to The Australian.

'Were trying to establish the risk factors for catching the disease,' Geelong Barwon Health Associate Professor Daniel O'Brien told The Australian.

'Once you know the risk factors, you can design a public health intervention around reducing those risk factors and therefore reduce the disease'.
A nine-year-old Texas girl who was granted one more week on life support after being declared brain dead last month passed away Friday in her hospital bed.

Payton Summons took her last breath around 8:30pm at the Cook Children's Medical Center in Fort Worth, the family's attorney, Justin A. Moore said in a statement.

'Known by everyone as full of determination and fight she fought until her heart gave out.

'After scoring a big win in the Appeals court today, she left us just a few hours later. She showed us how to fight against the odds. #RIPPJ,' Moore wrote in the statement.

On Monday, State District Judge Melody Wilkinson extended an order that Cook Children's Medical Center keep Payton on life support until 6pm on October 22.

Payton was taken to the hospital after suffering cardiac arrest at her grandmother's house September 25.

The hospital said in a statement the child had inoperable tumor in her chest that restricted her circulation.

Twenty-four hours after Payton was admitted to the hospital, doctors conducted a brain death exam and found it conclusively confirmed she was brain dead.

Nine-year-old Payton Summons - who was declared brain dead - was scheduled to be taken off life support on Monday at the Cook Children's Medical Center. She died, however, Friday

Payton's family contacted 25 hospitals in hopes that they could transfer Summons but no one would take her in

Payton (pictured getting treatment in a past photo) had a tumor that aided in the cardiac arrest

'Payton Summons took her last breath around 8:30pm at the Cook Children's Medical Center in Fort Worth, the family's attorney, Justin A. Moore said

The family's attorney, Justin A. Moore (pictured) announced the tragic news about Payton's death

Doctors at the hospital initially wanted to remove Payton from life support, citing little to no hope of reviving the child.

Wilkinson ruled doctors could remove her from life support Monday afternoon when the parents could find no alternative facility.

Judge Melody Wilkinson of the 17th District Court of Texas agreed to the parents' request to keep Payton on life support for another week

The family contacted 25 hospitals in hopes they could transfer the child, but no one would take her, according to co-counsel Paul Stafford.

Attorneys for her parents, though, asked for an extension after they and lawyers for the hospital couldn't reach an agreement on a next step.

Her mother, Tiffany Hofstetter, explained to KTVT about the September 25 incident that her daughter 'screamed for her grandmother to help her and said that she couldn't breathe ... then she collapsed.'

Summons was taken to the hospital, and doctors were able to detect a heartbeat, but she was placed on a ventilator because she stopped breathing.

Doctors were able to revive her heartbeat, but found that Payton couldn't breathe on her own.

She was without oxygen to the brain for almost an hour.

They then discovered she had a tumor twice the size of her heart, was crushing Payton's heart and lungs and cutting off her circulation.

Payton is pictured with her mother, Tiffany Hoffstetter, in this Facebook photo

Payton had been sleeping when she woke up, 'screamed for her grandmother to help her and said that she couldn't breathe ... then she collapsed,' her mother, Tiffany Hofstetter, explained

Payton was taken to the hospital, and doctors were able to detect a heartbeat, but the girl was placed on a ventilator because she stopped breathing

Doctors also ran an electroencephalogram (EEG) test, which they said showed 'no electrical activity in her brain'.

In September, the hospital released a statement that said: 'Per our protocol and national pediatric medical standards, a second brain death exam was scheduled to take place by a different physician within 12 hours of the first to complete the legal process of declaring Payton deceased.

'In addition to dealing with the sudden blow of her cardiac arrest and devastating brain injury, Payton's family is also coping with the news that the arrest was caused by the growth of a very large tumor in her chest that is shutting off her circulatory system.'

Payton's family had filed a temporary restraining order against the hospital to keep her on life support in the days after her suffered cardiac arrest.

Stafford said: 'Unfortunately after 25 out of 28 facilities that were contacted, we had no takers, we have two maybes and those were preconditioned on certain things which may be life threatening to Payton if performed.'
The European Union has agreed to increase its financial support to Morocco to 140 million, as proposed by Spain.

The decision was made during the EU Summit of Heads of State and Government held on Wednesday and Thursday.

The EU will contribute at least 140 million from EU funds to Morocco for the management of migratory flows, said the Spanish government presidency in a statement.

Spain had pleaded for increasing support to Morocco underlining that the European Union can solve the problem of migration only in collaboration with the North African Kingdom, a country to which the EU grants a tiny part of the aid earmarked for the fight against illegal migration.

Spain had pointed out that Morocco, one of the main EU partners in the migration flows management, is treated unfairly and does not benefit from the same aid granted to other countries, drawing a comparison with Turkey, which receives 6 billion from the EU while Morocco barely gets 50 million.

The EU leaders had stressed at their summit meeting in Salzburg Austria, last September, the importance of continuing the fight against illegal migration and to strengthen cooperation with countries of origin and transit, particularly in North Africa, as part of a broader partnership.

Meanwhile, Morocco has reaffirmed its refusal to set up reception centers for migrants on its territory. Financial support will not change the stance of Morocco refusing to play the role of the gendarme at the gates of Europe in the Mediterranean, said Thursday in Rabat, the spokesperson for the government, Mustapha El Khalfi.

These centers only export the problem without resolving it, the spokesperson said, affirming, however, that Morocco will continue to assume its responsibilities in the fight against illegal migration networks.

Up to August, Morocco dismantled some 80 networks, including 23 in August alone. Some 13,000 members of the security forces in the north of the country were mobilized to that effect.

Morocco, which has become a host country and not just a country of transit to Europe, will however carry on its humanitarian policy based on migrants integration, El Khalfi said. This policy allowed the regularization of 50,000 migrants, mostly from Sub-Saharan Africa, he added.
A Northern Territory butcher who sparked outrage after he was photographed naked handling sausages has apologised and promised to leave the region immediately.

The man was fired after he uploaded the racy photo to social media on Friday and three stores were then asked to remove all meat products pending an inquiry.

In the photo, which was allegedly taken at a Kalkarindji abattoir, the naked butcher is seen wearing nothing else but an apron and hat with his bare buttocks on display.

A Northern Territory butcher (pictured) who sparked outrage after he was photographed naked handling sausages has apolgised and promised to leave the region immediately

After his dismissal, the man told ABC News he was deeply saddened by his 'momentary lapse of judgement', saying the photo was meant to be a bit of fun.

He lamented his decision to take the photo and said he had the 'utmost respect' for the First Nations people of Australia, their culture and knowledge.

'I can only offer my most genuine and sincere apologies to all affected by my inconsiderate behaviour,' the butcher said.

As a result of the backlash, the man also promised to leave the region 'effective immediately', saying he regretted the 'hurt and disappointment' he caused.

'I have always endeavoured to provide the best service and high-quality products to the local community,' the man said.

Kalkarindji Traditional Owner and Gurindji Aboriginal Corporation spokesperson Rob Roy told ABC News the photo showed no respect for the people living in the region.

When news of the bare-bummed butcher broke, local supermarkets and schools were ordered by to remove all produce supplied by the butcher from their shelves.

When news of the photo broke, local supermarkets and school were ordered by to remove all meat produce supplied by the butcher

The Northern Territory Department of Primary Industries also confirmed it was investigating the matter to ensure the safety of the people in the local community.

After he promised to leave the region, the butcher said the incident was in no way reflective of his practices, his colleagues, his employer or the industry as a whole.

He said he decided to leave out of respect for 'everybody concerned' - although he added he would definitely come back given the opportunity to do so.

'I have really enjoyed my time here, and it is a very sad day for myself and my family to be leaving under these circumstances,' the man said.

Daily Mail Australia contacted the Northern Territory Department of Primary Industries for comment.
Women are increasingly making the switch into traditionally male-dominated industries.

Plumbing and carpentry are two trades that have seen a spike in female employment, and according to New South Wales TAFE Minister Adam Marshall, industry employers are on board with the change.

'They do a great job not only comparable to men, but in a lot of cases they do even better, particularly on the finer details of those high-end jobs,' he told A Current Affair.

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Female plumber and ex-survivor contestant Aimee Stanton redefined public perceptions of plumbers when she was dubbed 'the world's hottest plumber'

The 24-year-old from Melbourne told Daily Mail Australia her gender has been a blessing for unclogging stereotypes in the traditionally-male industry

Female plumber and ex-Survivor contestant Aimee Stanton redefined public perceptions of plumbers when she was dubbed 'the world's hottest plumber' before entering the reality television contest.

The 24-year-old from Melbourne told Daily Mail Australia her gender has been a blessing for changing stereotypes in the traditionally-male industry.

Ms Stanton, who competed on Australian Survivor last year, said: 'I'm always getting mistaken for a hairdresser.'

'When I started on the job I was definitely getting weird looks. A lot of people aren't used to seeing girls on the job, so they're like 'is she serious'?'

Ms Stanton, who competed on Australian Survivor last year, said: 'I'm always getting mistaken for a hairdresser'

Women are increasingly making the switch into traditionally male-dominated industries

'But I think it's also been a blessing. You have to work hard to prove yourself and get your hands dirty.'

Her well-groomed physical appearance might suggest the young plumber would have been more suited to a career in beauty therapy, but she admitted this was certainly not the case.

'I couldn't paint nails to save my life,' she said.

Instead, she threw in the towel and began labouring for her builder father, before trying her hand at plumbing and enrolling in the TAFE course.

Her well-groomed physical appearance might suggest the young plumber would have been more suited to a career in beauty therapy, but she admitted this was certainly not the case

After 140 job applications in the industry, she finally got her first break; a position as a roof plumber.

In the past 12 months, over 10,000 women have started in the trades.

While Ms Stanton's experience has been mostly positive since entering the industry, apprentice carpenter Rachel Bennett said she feels she's sometimes treated differently due to her gender.

'I've had employers not let me lift anything or not let me dig holes because girls don't get dirty,' she said.

'I just tell them, I'm here to do the job just like anybody else, please let me do my job.'
First Saudi Arabia claimed Jamal Khashoggi left the consulate building following his appointment on October 2, then it slammed reports he was murdered at the consulate as 'absolutely false and baseless'.

However, those claims were not baseless and the Kingdom has finally admitted - albeit more than two weeks after the journalist's disappearance - that he was in fact killed inside the consulate in Istanbul, Turkey.

The country has carried out its own investigation into what happened to the 59-year-old at its own consulate and claimed Friday evening he died following an altercation on October 2.

A statement released by the Saudis said the suspects got into a fight with Khashoggi, which led to his death.

'While the investigations are still ongoing into the case with the 18 Saudi detainees, the Kingdom expresses its deep regret at the painful developments that have taken place,' it added.

This is quite different from officials' claims to Reuters on October 3, the day after Khashoggi went missing, that the journalist had visited and then left.

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Saudi Arabia has finally admitted journalist Jamal Khashoggi (pictured) is dead. He died on October 2 at the country's consulate in Turkey

The official said: 'Mr. Khashoggi visited the consulate to request paperwork related to his marital status and exited shortly thereafter.'

The same day, Saudi Arabias Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud was interviewed by Bloomberg and said no one knew what happened to Khashoggi.

He said: 'We hear the rumors about what happened. Hes a Saudi citizen and we are very keen to know what happened to him. And we will continue our dialogue with the Turkish government to see what happened to Jamal there.'

On October 4, a statement from the consulate said it was 'carrying out follow-up procedures and coordination with the Turkish local authorities to uncover the circumstances of the disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi after he left the consulate building.'

Three days later on October 7, Saudi officials slammed a Reuters report which claimed the journalist was killed and 15 Saudis flew to Turkey and visited the consulate on the day Khashoggi went missing. The officials called them 'baseless allegations'.

On October 9, Saudi ambassador to the United States, Prince Khalid bin Salman, said claims Khashoggi had been brutally murdered in the consulate were 'absolutely false, and baseless'.

He said: 'Jamal has many friends in the Kingdom, including myself, and despite our differences, and his choice to go into his so called "self-exile", we still maintained regular contact when he was in Washington.'

The country is to restructure its intelligence agencies after the killing of Khashoggi, under King Salman Abdulaziz Al Saud's orders

However the mission is said to be led by his son Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who was suspected of being behind Khashoggi's disappearance in some reports

The crown prince and the king told Donald Trump they knew nothing about the disappearance, the president said in an interview with the AP on October 16.

Despite this, Trump said Friday he believes the explanation for the journalist's death is credible, despite previous reports torturers severed the journalist's fingers during an interrogation and later beheaded and dismembered him.

In its Friday statement, Saudi Arabia thanked Turkey for its 'exceptional cooperation' in the investigation. It added that it values Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's cooperation in investigating the case.

Saudi Arabia claims the suspects went to Istanbul to meet with Khashoggi over the possibility of him returning to the country. He was trying to obtain documents for a marriage license at the consulate.

His death occurred after a heated discussion turned into a quarrel and then a fist fight, they allege.

The vague statement has not explained exactly how he died, but the suspects then apparently tried to cover it up.

A Saudi official told Reuters it was unclear where the body was after it was handed over to a 'local cooperator' but there was no sign of it at the consulate.

Saudi has not yet named any of their suspects.

Top intelligence officer General Ahmed al-Assiri (left) was fired in connection with Jamal Khashoggi's death. Saud al-Qahtani, the royal court adviser (right) was also ousted after the country's own investigation

Saudi Arabia's statement on Jamal Khashoggi in full The case of the disappearance of the citizen Jamal bin Ahmed Khashoggi drew the attention of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia at the highest levels, and due to the circumstances surrounding his disappearance, the Kingdom took the necessary procedures to clarify the truth and began by dispatching a security team to Turkey on 6 October 2018 to investigate and cooperate with counterparts in Turkey. That was followed by the formation of a joint security team between the Kingdom and the Republic of Turkey, with a permission given to the Turkish security authorities to enter the Consulate of the Kingdom in Istanbul and the residence of the Consul, for the Kingdom's keenness to clarify all the facts, as the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud has issued an order to the Public Prosecutor of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, No. 5709 dated 3/2/1440 H to conduct investigations into the case. The Public Prosecutor has already investigated a number of suspects on the basis of information provided by the Turkish authorities to the Joint Security Team to determine whether any of them had any information or relation to what has been happened related where the information that transferred to the security authorities indicated that the citizen Jamal Khashoggi had left the consulate. In implementation to the directives of the leadership of the need to clearly know the truth and declare it transparently whatever, the preliminary investigations conducted by the Public Prosecution showed that the suspect had traveled to Istanbul to meet with the citizen Jamal Khashoggi as there were indications of the possibility of his returning back to the country. The results of the preliminary investigations also revealed that the discussions that took place with the citizen Jamal Khashoggi during his presence in the consulate of the Kingdom in Istanbul by the suspects did not go as required and developed in a negative way led to a fight and a quarrel between some of them and the citizen Jamal Khashoggi, yet the brawl aggravated to lead to his death and their attempt to conceal and cover what happened. The source added that while the investigations are still ongoing into the case with the 18 Saudi detainees, the Kingdom expresses its deep regret at the painful developments that have taken place and stresses the commitment of the authorities in the Kingdom to bring the facts to the public opinion, to hold all those involved accountable and bring them to justice by referring them to the competent courts in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Advertisement

However Saud al-Qahtani, the royal court adviser, has been ousted after the country's own investigation.

Mohamed bin Saleh al Rumeh, assistant to the president of general intelligence for intelligence affairs, Abduallah bin Khalifa al Shaya, assistant to the president of general intelligence for human resources, and Rachad bin Hamed al Muhamadi, director of the general department for security and protection in the command of general intelligence, were also dismissed.

Deputy intelligence chief Ahmed Assiri was fired and his Twitter account posted a message in Arabic Friday night.

The user posted (rough translation): 'I extend my sincere thanks and gratitude to His Holiness the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and His Highness the Crown Prince, for the great confidence they have placed in me and for this great opportunity to honor my national service over the past years ...

'I will remain a faithful servant of my country for a long time, and our dear homeland will remain lofty, God willing.'

It's not clear whether Assiri posted it himself or whether someone else did so on his behalf.

The White House added it is 'saddened' by the confirmed death of the Saudi journalist

The New York Times previously said it had spoken to three people with knowledge of the Saudi plans relating to General Assiri, who had earlier served as the spokesman for the Saudi-led military intervention in Yemen before being promoted to his current job in intelligence.

Two of the sources said Saudi rulers are set to explain that Assiri had been given verbal permission from the Crown Prince to capture Khashoggi for questioning in Saudi Arabia but that he either overstepped the authorization or misunderstood his orders.

According to CBS News Assiri was very close to the country's crown prince.

'You don't get much closer,' a source told Kylie Atwood.

US President Donald Trump says Saudi explanation for Jamal Khashoggi's killing is credible and a 'good first step'. The American leader said he does not believe Saudi Arabia's leadership lied to him, adding that the US needs Saudi Arabia to counteract Iran.

The White House added it is 'saddened' by the confirmed death of the Saudi journalist.

'The United States acknowledges the announcement from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia that its investigation into the fate of Jamal Khasshoggi is progressing and that it has taken action against the suspects it has identified thus far,' Press Secretary Sarah Sanders wrote in a statement.

'We will continue to follow international investigations into this tragic incident and advocate for justice that is timely, transparent and in accordance with all due process.

'We offer our deepest condolences to his family, fiancee and friends.'

The country is to restructure its intelligence agencies after the killing of Khashoggi, under King Salman Abdulaziz Al Saud's orders.

Salman - who is the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, Al-al-Haram (in Mecca) and Al-an-Nabawi (in Medina) - ordered that a ministerial committee is formed to restructure the General Intelligence Presidency, modernize its regulations and define its powers.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it was a resolution concerning the journalist's death and is an extension of the Kingdom's commitment to consolidating justice.

However the mission is said to be led by his son Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who was suspected of being behind Khashoggi's disappearance in some versions of stories alleging what happened to the Washington Post writer.

A Saudi official said Friday the prince had no knowledge of details in the Khashoggi case.

'There were no orders for them to kill him or even specifically kidnap him,' said the official to Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity and adding that there was a standing order to bring critics of the kingdom back to the country.

'MbS had no knowledge of this specific operation and certainly did not order a kidnapping or murder of anybody. He will have been aware of the general instruction to tell people to come back.'

Jamal Kashoggi is seen with his finacee Hatice Cengiz, who stood outside the consulate waiting for hours after he walked inside on October 2, never to emerge

The former head of MI6,Sir John Sawers (pictured) has said evidence suggests Saudi's Crown Prince ordered the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi

But former British spy Sir John Sawers said earlier on Friday to BBC Radio 4 show, World at One: 'All the evidence points to it being ordered and carried out by people close to Mohammed bin Salman.

'I dont think he would have done this if he hadnt thought he had licence from the US administration to behave as he wished.'

Sawers, who headed MI6 between 2009 and 2014, said he had based his assessment on conversations with sources in Whitehall coupled with his understanding of Turkey's intelligence services.

Some politicians are not convinced by Saudi Arabia's story.

Republican senator Lindsey Graham said: 'To say that I am skeptical of the new Saudi narrative about Mr. Khashoggi is an understatement.

'First we were told Mr. Khashoggi supposedly left the consulate and there was blanket denial of any Saudi involvement. Now, a fight breaks out and hes killed in the consulate, all without knowledge of Crown Prince.'

Democratic Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal also chimed in.

He said the explanation 'absolutely defies credibility' adding the country had been 'given a pass' for 'killing innocent civilians'.

'The world deserves an explanation, and not from the Saudis,' he told CNN.

It had been earlier reported that King Salman was personally intervening in the Khashoggi case after being kept in the dark about the crisis by his powerful son's aides.

Initially the king, who has handed the day-to-day running of Saudi Arabia to his son, commonly known as MbS, was unaware of the extent of the crisis, according to two of the sources with knowledge of the Saudi royal court. That was partly because MbS aides had been directing the king to glowing news about the country on Saudi TV channels, the sources said.

Since he acceded to the throne in January 2015, the king has given MbS, his favorite son, increasing authority to run Saudi Arabia. But the king's latest intervention reflects growing disquiet among some members of the royal court about MbS's fitness to govern, five sources said.

MbS, 33, has implemented a series of high-profile social and economic reforms since his father's accession, including ending a ban on women driving and opening cinemas in the conservative kingdom.

15 suspects identified by Turkey Prior to the confirmation Jamal Khashoggi had died, Turkish police announced they were hunting fifteen Saudi suspects in connection with his disappearance. It is not known whether these 15 people are among the 18 arrested by the Saudis. Turkish newspaper Sabah released CCTV images of a group of men who flew into Istanbul on the day Khashoggi went missing after walking into the Saudi consulate. They were pictured arriving at Ataturk airport's border control having flown into Turkey in two private jets from the Saudi capital Riyadh. Meshal Saad M Albostani (left), Salah Muhammad A Tubaigy (center), and Muhammed Saad H. Alzahrani (right), all flew in and out of Ataturk airport on the day Khashoggi disappeared Saif Saad Q Alqahtani (left) and Mustafa Muhammed M. Almadani (right) are also being sought for questioning in connection with the incident last week Naif Hassan S. Alarifi (left) Turki Musharraf M. Alsehri (center) and Khaled Aedh G. Altaibi (right) were also named by Turkish newspaper Sabah Waleed Abdullah M. Alsehri (left) and Abdulaziz Muhammed M. Alhawsawi (right) are also wanted for questioning over the disappearance The group of men identified by Sabah included Salah Muhammad A Tubaigy, 47, the head of the Saudi Forensic Medicine Institute. An expert on forensic evidence, he is known to have trained a large number of police officers in crime scene investigation. Another man, Muhammed Saad H. al-Zahrani, was revealed to have served as one of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman's royal guards - a unit nicknamed the 'rough swords'. Mugshots of the middle-aged men were released alongside details of their ages and travel itineraries. Maher Abdulaziz M. Mutreb (left) Fahad Shabib A. Albalawi (center) and Thaar Ghaleb T. Alharbi were also part of the group who flew into Ataturk airport Mansur Othman M. Abahuseyin and Badr Lafi M. Alotaibi passed through border control on Tuesday last week Turkish television also revealed CCTV footage of them arriving at Istanbul airport and making their way through the streets of the city around the embassy. The men arrived at the embassy half an hour before Khashoggi turned up for his appointment. Saudi officials denied reports they sent a 15-man team to Istanbul on the day Khashoggi disappeared, saying that the only team they sent to Turkey consisted of investigators who arrived Saturday to help find the journalist. Advertisement

But he has also marginalized senior members of the royal family and consolidated control over Saudi's security and intelligence agencies.

His reforms have been accompanied by a crackdown on dissent, a purge of top royals and businessmen on corruption charges, and a costly war in Yemen.

Khashoggi had been missing 17 days after entering the consulate to obtain documents for his upcoming wedding. His partner Hatice Cengiz waited outside for hours but never saw him again after he walked in at 1.14pm.

Khashoggi was a critic of Saudi Crown Prince.

The comments from Saudi on Friday evening marked the first time since Khashoggi went missing that the Saudis admitted to his death.

Turkish officials had said they believed he was killed in the building. Saudi Arabia had previously denied the allegations and said Khashoggi had left the building shortly after.

Before the Saudi announcements, US President Donald Trump said he might consider sanctions against Saudi Arabia over the disappearance, while emphasizing the importance of the US-Saudi relationship.

His son Eric Trump said Thursday on Fox News' Outnumbered: 'Saudi Arabia has actually been a friend to the US in many ways. They're ordering from us, massive, massive orders. Hundreds of billions of dollars worth of arms that will create tens and tens of thousands of jobs.

'So what are you going to do? You're going to take that and you're going to throw all of that away?'

In Istanbul, Turkish prosecutors investigating Khashoggi's disappearance questioned Turkish employees of the Saudi consulate Friday, widening the hunt for clues in a case straining Riyadh's alliance with Western powers.

Turkish police had searched a forest on Istanbul's outskirts and a city near the Sea of Marmara for Khashoggi's remains

Turkish police searched a forest on Istanbul's outskirts and a city near the Sea of Marmara for Khashoggi's remains, two senior Turkish officials told Reuters, after tracking the routes of cars that left the consulate and the consul's residence on the day he vanished.

Investigators have recovered samples from searches of both buildings to analyze for traces of Khashoggi's DNA.

Speaking to reporters in Scottsdale, Arizona, Trump said it was too early to say what the consequences for the incident might be, but that the US Congress would be involved in determining the American response.

Asked whether Saudi sanctions were one of the measures he was considering, Trump said, 'Could be, could be,' though he provided no details.

'We're going to find out who knew what when and where. And we'll figure it out,' Trump added.

The US Congress is controlled by Trump's fellow Republicans, some of whom have called for tough action against Saudi Arabia.

Turkey denies giving 'any kind of audio tape' on Khashoggi to US Turkey on Friday denied giving 'any kind of audio tape' from the investigation into the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo or any American official. 'It is out of the question for Turkey to give any kind of audio tape to Pompeo or any other US official,' said Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, two days after meeting with the US's top diplomat for talks in Ankara. Turkey's pro-government press has reported that Turkey has an audio recording that proves the alleged murder of Khashoggi at the consulate and that he was tortured before his death. The existence of the tape has never been confirmed on the record by Turkish officials. ABC News, quoting a senior Turkish official, reported Thursday that during his visit to Turkey this week Pompeo heard this audio and was shown a transcript of the recording. But Pompeo denied the report. 'I've seen no tape. I've seen no - or I've heard no tape. I've seen no transcript,' he told reporters during a trip to Latin America. Cavusoglu, like other Turkish officials, stopped short of revealing details of the investigation but vowed they would be shared in due course. 'We will share the results to emerge with the entire world. It is out of the question for us to share this or that information with any country,' he said, quoted by the state-run Anadolu news agency. Advertisement

'I will very much listen to what Congress has to say. They feel very strongly about it also,' Trump said.

Trump, who said on Thursday he believed Khashoggi was likely dead and has warned of a potential 'very severe' response, has appeared unwilling to distance himself too much from the Saudis, citing Riyadh's role in countering Iranian influence in the Middle East and lucrative potential arms deals.

'Saudi Arabia has been a great ally, they've been a tremendous investor in the United States,' Trump said, adding, 'That's why this is so sad.'

'They agreed to spend $450 billion on buying in and investing in the United States, so I hope we can keep that open... There are plenty of other things we can do,' he said, adding: 'I might know a lot by Monday. I know a lot already.'

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said at the White House Thursday that Saudi Arabia deserves a 'few more days' to get to the bottom of the disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi.

Pompeo spoke after he briefed President Trump on his meetings with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh, where he warned the Saudi royal family they have 72 hours to finish the investigation into Khashoggi's disappearance.

Sources described a tough meeting between Pompeo and the crown prince, after smiling photos of the two men fed a narrative that the U.S. was willing to assist the Saudis in finding a cover for story for the killing.

The Saudis assured him 'they will conduct a complete, thorough investigation of all of the facts surrounding Mr. Khashoggi and that they'll do so in a timely fashion, and that this report itself will be transparent for everyone to see, to ask questions about, and to inquire with respect to its thoroughness,' Pompeo told reporters Thursday morning.

'And I told President Trump that we ought to give them a few more days to complete that so that we, too, have a complete understanding of the facts surrounding that. At which point, we can make decisions about how or if the United States should respond to the incident surrounding Mr. Khashoggi,' he said.

State-run Anadolu news agency said the Turkish prosecutor's office had obtained testimony from 20 consulate employees, and 25 more people including foreign nationals would be questioned.

The consulate employees questioned included accountants, technicians and a driver, Anadolu said. The investigation is being conducted by the prosecutor's terrorism and organized crime bureau, it added.

Turkey said it had not shared with any country audio recordings purportedly documenting Khashoggi's murder inside the consulate, dismissing reports it had passed them to the United States.

All smiles: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo shakes hands with the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh on Tuesday

'We will share the results that emerge transparently with the whole world,' Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said.

Turkish pro-government newspaper Yeni Safak has published what it said were details from the audio, including that his torturers severed Khashoggi's fingers during an interrogation and later beheaded and dismembered him.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and senior ministers from France, Britain and the Netherlands have abandoned plans to attend an Oct. 23-25 investor conference in Riyadh.

On Friday, the CEOs of Deutsche Bank and ABB, plus Airbus' defense chief and energy historian Daniel Yergin, joined a list of Western business executives who have withdrawn.

Pakistan's prime minister and a delegation led by Russian Direct Investment Fund head Kirill Dmitriev plan to participate. Britain's BAE Systems is sending senior representatives.

A conference spokesperson confirmed the conference would proceed with an updated program that includes heads of state from the Arab world, Africa and Asia.
A schoolgirl has been mobbed and bashed by bullies in a vicious playground attack before footage of the ordeal was shared online.

Summer Hartson, 14, was left with a black eye, bruises, and a sore back after being set upon at Staughton College in Melbourne's west on Wednesday afternoon.

Her mother Kristy was also assaulted earlier this year when she was thrown into a head lock while she was waiting to pick up Summer from school, 7 News reported.





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A 14-year-old schoolgirl was mobbed and bashed by bullies in a Melbourne high school in a vicious playground attack (pictured)

Summer Hartson (pictured) was punched and kicked by a mob of bullies, leaving her with a black eye, bruises, a headache and a sore back and neck

The attack on Summer was filmed by other students at the high school and shared on social media.

There are also claims the bashing was triggered by racism and Summer's mother said the fight was planned and organised on Facebook.

'I've constantly cried, screaming in my own body,' Ms Hartson told 3AW radio on Friday morning.

She added that she is terrified to let Summer go back to school and that she is also considering making her daughter take self-defence classes.

Her mother, Kristy Hartson (pictured), was also assaulted earlier this year when she was thrown into a head lock while she was waiting to pick up Summer from school

She said the school has not done enough to prevent the attack.

'They've got a duty of care and they're not doing that,' she said, adding this was not the first time her daughter was viciously attacked, and it also happened last week.

In response to the incident, the school has introduced special assemblies to address bullying.

'There is no place for bullying or aggressive and threatening behaviour in our school and this incident does not reflect our values,' Staughton College principal David Lord told 7 News.

Police visited the school on Friday and are investigating the incident.
Saudi Arabia has said that it has fired five high-ranking officials in connection with finally admitting that a journalist has died after offering various explanations for his disappearance more than two weeks ago.

Washington Post writer and veteran Saudi reporter Jamal Khashoggi, 59, disappeared in Istanbul, Turkey after walking into the consulate of Saudi Arabia on October 2.

After completing its own investigation into what happened to the Post's Global Opinions section columnist at the Saudi consulate in Turkey, the kingdom of Saudi Arabia claimed on Friday that Khashoggi died following an altercation on the day he entered the facility.

The kingdom said it has fired deputy intelligence chief Ahmed Assiri and royal court adviser Saud al-Qahtani, both of whom have been regarded as very close to the 33-year-old Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (commonly known as MbS), in connection with Khashoggi's death.

Assistant to the president of general intelligence for intelligence affairs Mohamed bin Saleh al Rumeh has also been fired, along with assistant to the president of general intelligence for human resources Abduallah bin Khalifa al Shaya, and director of the general department for security and protection in the command of general intelligence Rachad bin Hamed al Muhamadi, the nation said.

These five individuals are now being cast by Saudi Arabia as the people responsible for the death of a man who was visiting the consulate to obtain documents for his upcoming wedding, and who had also been critical of his home nation in his writings for the Post and otherwise, despite previous statements from the kingdom that Khashoggi had left the consulate alive and well.

A total of 18 suspects have also been arrested by Saudi officials. It's not known whether the five individuals named as fired are part of that group of 18 people, or in addition to them.

Turkey is conducting its own investigation into the disappearance of Khashoggi, who would have turned 60 years old on October 13.

Turkey has named 15 suspects related to Khashoggi's death. It's not known whether any of those suspects are included in the 18 Saudi nationals who have been detained.

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Saudi Arabia has said that it has fired five high-ranking officials in connection with admitting that journalist Jamal Khashoggi (pictured) died at its consulate in Turkey on October 2

State-run Anadolu news agency said the Turkish prosecutor's office had obtained testimony from 20 consulate employees, and 25 more people including foreign nationals would be questioned.

The consulate employees questioned included accountants, technicians and a driver, Anadolu said. The investigation is being conducted by the prosecutor's terrorism and organized crime bureau, it added.

Turkey said it had not shared with any country audio recordings purportedly documenting Khashoggi's murder inside the consulate, dismissing reports it had passed them to the United States.

'We will share the results that emerge transparently with the whole world,' Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said.

Turkish pro-government newspaper Yeni Safak has published what it said were details from the audio, including that his torturers severed Khashoggi's fingers during an interrogation and later beheaded and dismembered him.

Turkish pro-government newspaper Yeni Safak has published what it said were details from the audio, including that his torturers severed Khashoggi's fingers during an interrogation and later beheaded and dismembered him.

Top intelligence officer General Ahmed al-Assiri (left) was fired in connection with Jamal Khashoggi's death. Saud al-Qahtani, the royal court adviser (right) was also ousted after the country's own investigation

Saudi Arabia's statement on Jamal Khashoggi in full The case of the disappearance of the citizen Jamal bin Ahmed Khashoggi drew the attention of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia at the highest levels, and due to the circumstances surrounding his disappearance, the Kingdom took the necessary procedures to clarify the truth and began by dispatching a security team to Turkey on 6 October 2018 to investigate and cooperate with counterparts in Turkey. That was followed by the formation of a joint security team between the Kingdom and the Republic of Turkey, with a permission given to the Turkish security authorities to enter the Consulate of the Kingdom in Istanbul and the residence of the Consul, for the Kingdom's keenness to clarify all the facts, as the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud has issued an order to the Public Prosecutor of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, No. 5709 dated 3/2/1440 H to conduct investigations into the case. The Public Prosecutor has already investigated a number of suspects on the basis of information provided by the Turkish authorities to the Joint Security Team to determine whether any of them had any information or relation to what has been happened related where the information that transferred to the security authorities indicated that the citizen Jamal Khashoggi had left the consulate. In implementation to the directives of the leadership of the need to clearly know the truth and declare it transparently whatever, the preliminary investigations conducted by the Public Prosecution showed that the suspect had traveled to Istanbul to meet with the citizen Jamal Khashoggi as there were indications of the possibility of his returning back to the country. The results of the preliminary investigations also revealed that the discussions that took place with the citizen Jamal Khashoggi during his presence in the consulate of the Kingdom in Istanbul by the suspects did not go as required and developed in a negative way led to a fight and a quarrel between some of them and the citizen Jamal Khashoggi, yet the brawl aggravated to lead to his death and their attempt to conceal and cover what happened. The source added that while the investigations are still ongoing into the case with the 18 Saudi detainees, the Kingdom expresses its deep regret at the painful developments that have taken place and stresses the commitment of the authorities in the Kingdom to bring the facts to the public opinion, to hold all those involved accountable and bring them to justice by referring them to the competent courts in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Advertisement

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said at the White House on Thursday that Saudi Arabia deserves a 'few more days' to get to the bottom of the disappearance of Khashoggi.

Pompeo spoke after he briefed President Trump on his meetings with Saudi Crown Prince MbS in Riyadh, where he warned the Saudi royal family they have 72 hours to finish the investigation into Khashoggi's disappearance.

Sources described a tough meeting between Pompeo and the crown prince, after smiling photos of the two men fed a narrative that the U.S. was willing to assist the Saudis in finding a cover for story for the killing.

The Saudis assured him they would 'conduct a complete, thorough investigation of all of the facts surrounding Mr. Khashoggi and that they'll do so in a timely fashion, and that this report itself will be transparent for everyone to see, to ask questions about, and to inquire with respect to its thoroughness,' Pompeo told reporters on Thursday morning.

A statement was then released by the Saudis on Friday, saying the 18 suspects who had been detained, but not named, got into a fight with Khashoggi, which led to his death.

'While the investigations are still ongoing into the case with the 18 Saudi detainees, the Kingdom expresses its deep regret at the painful developments that have taken place,' it added.

Saudi Arabia thanked Turkey for its 'exceptional cooperation' in the investigation. It added that it values Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's cooperation in investigating the case.

Saudi Arabia claims the suspects went to Istanbul to meet with Khashoggi over the possibility of him returning to the country. It's not know how they knew he was trying to obtain documents for a marriage license at the consulate.

His death occurred after a heated discussion turned into a quarrel and then a fist fight, they allege.

The vague statement has not explained exactly how he died, but the suspects then apparently tried to cover it up.

A Saudi official told Reuters it was unclear where the body was after it was handed over to a 'local cooperator' but there was no sign of it at the consulate.

Saudi has not yet named any of the 18 suspects, beyond the five men named who have been fired.

A message was posted to the Twitter account of Assiri, deputy intelligence chief, on Friday night, written in Arabic.

The user posted (rough translation): 'I extend my sincere thanks and gratitude to His Holiness the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and His Highness the Crown Prince, for the great confidence they have placed in me and for this great opportunity to honor my national service over the past years ...

'I will remain a faithful servant of my country for a long time, and our dear homeland will remain lofty, God willing.'

It's not clear whether Assiri posted it himself or whether someone else did so on his behalf.

The White House added it is 'saddened' by the confirmed death of the Saudi journalist

Saudi Arabia's conflicting statements Since Jamal Khashoggi's disappearance, Saudi Arabia has changed its story multiple times. On October 3, the day after he went missing, officials told Reuters the journalist had visited the consulate and then left. Saudi Arabias Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud was interviewed by Bloomberg on the same day and said no one knew what happened to Khashoggi. He said: 'We hear the rumors about what happened. Hes a Saudi citizen and we are very keen to know what happened to him. And we will continue our dialogue with the Turkish government to see what happened to Jamal there.' On October 4, a statement from the consulate said it was 'carrying out follow-up procedures and coordination with the Turkish local authorities to uncover the circumstances of the disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi after he left the consulate building.' On October 7, Saudi officials slammed a Reuters report which claimed the journalist was killed and 15 Saudis flew to Turkey and visited the consulate on the day Khashoggi went missing. The officials called them 'baseless allegations'. On October 9, Saudi ambassador to the United States, Prince Khalid bin Salman, said claims Khashoggi had been murdered in the consulate were 'absolutely false, and baseless'. He said: 'Jamal has many friends in the Kingdom, including myself, and despite our differences, and his choice to go into his so called "self-exile", we still maintained regular contact when he was in Washington.' The crown prince and the king told Donald Trump they knew nothing about the disappearance, the president said in an interview with the AP on October 16. On October 19, Saudi Arabia admitted Khashoggi had died during a fight at the consulate. Advertisement

The New York Times previously said it had spoken to three people with knowledge of Saudi plans involving General Assiri, who had earlier served as the spokesman for the Saudi-led military intervention in Yemen before being promoted to his current job in intelligence.

Two of the sources said Saudi rulers are set to explain that Assiri had been given verbal permission from the Crown Prince to capture Khashoggi for questioning in Saudi Arabia but that he either overstepped the authorization or misunderstood his orders.

According to CBS News Assiri was very close to the country's crown prince.

'You don't get much closer,' a source told Kylie Atwood.

US President Donald Trump says Saudi explanation for Jamal Khashoggi's killing is credible and a 'good first step'. The American leader said he does not believe Saudi Arabia's leadership lied to him, adding that the US needs Saudi Arabia to counteract Iran.

The White House added it is 'saddened' by the confirmed death of the Saudi journalist.

'The United States acknowledges the announcement from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia that its investigation into the fate of Jamal Khasshoggi is progressing and that it has taken action against the suspects it has identified thus far,' Press Secretary Sarah Sanders wrote in a statement.

'We will continue to follow international investigations into this tragic incident and advocate for justice that is timely, transparent and in accordance with all due process.

'We offer our deepest condolences to his family, fiancee and friends.'

The country is to restructure its intelligence agencies after the killing of Khashoggi, under King Salman Abdulaziz Al Saud's orders.

Salman - who is the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, Al-al-Haram (in Mecca) and Al-an-Nabawi (in Medina) - ordered that a ministerial committee be formed to restructure the General Intelligence Presidency, modernize its regulations and define its powers.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it was a resolution concerning the journalist's death and is an extension of the Kingdom's commitment to consolidating justice.

However the mission is said to be led by his son Crown Prince MbS, who was suspected of being behind Khashoggi's disappearance in some versions of stories alleging what happened to the critical writer.

A Saudi official said on Friday the prince had no knowledge of details in the Khashoggi case.

'There were no orders for them to kill him or even specifically kidnap him,' said the official to Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity and adding that there was a standing order to bring critics of the kingdom back to the country.

'MbS had no knowledge of this specific operation and certainly did not order a kidnapping or murder of anybody. He will have been aware of the general instruction to tell people to come back.'

Jamal Kashoggi is seen with his finacee Hatice Cengiz, who stood outside the consulate waiting for hours after he walked inside on October 2, never to emerge

The country is to restructure its intelligence agencies after the killing of Khashoggi, under King Salman Abdulaziz Al Saud's orders

However the mission is said to be led by his son Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who was suspected of being behind Khashoggi's disappearance in some reports

The former head of MI6, Sir John Sawers (pictured) has said evidence suggests Saudi's Crown Prince ordered the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi

But former British spy Sir John Sawers said earlier on Friday to BBC Radio 4 show, World at One: 'All the evidence points to it being ordered and carried out by people close to Mohammed bin Salman.

'I dont think he would have done this if he hadnt thought he had licence from the US administration to behave as he wished.'

Sawers, who headed MI6 between 2009 and 2014, said he had based his assessment on conversations with sources in Whitehall coupled with his understanding of Turkey's intelligence services.

Some politicians are not convinced by Saudi Arabia's story.

Republican senator Lindsey Graham said: 'To say that I am skeptical of the new Saudi narrative about Mr. Khashoggi is an understatement.

'First we were told Mr. Khashoggi supposedly left the consulate and there was blanket denial of any Saudi involvement. Now, a fight breaks out and hes killed in the consulate, all without knowledge of Crown Prince.'

Democratic Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal also chimed in.

He said the explanation 'absolutely defies credibility' adding the country had been 'given a pass' for 'killing innocent civilians'.

'The world deserves an explanation, and not from the Saudis,' he told CNN.

It had been earlier reported that King Salman was personally intervening in the Khashoggi case after being kept in the dark about the crisis by his powerful son's aides.

Initially the king, who has handed the day-to-day running of Saudi Arabia to his son was unaware of the extent of the crisis, according to two of the sources with knowledge of the Saudi royal court. That was partly because MbS aides had been directing the king to glowing news about the country on Saudi TV channels, the sources said.

Since he acceded to the throne in January 2015, the king has given MbS, his favorite son, increasing authority to run Saudi Arabia. But the king's latest intervention reflects growing disquiet among some members of the royal court about MbS's fitness to govern, five sources said.

MbS has implemented a series of high-profile social and economic reforms since his father's accession, including ending a ban on women driving and opening cinemas in the conservative kingdom.

15 suspects identified by Turkey Prior to the confirmation Jamal Khashoggi had died, Turkish police announced they were hunting fifteen Saudi suspects in connection with his disappearance. It is not known whether these 15 people are among the 18 arrested by the Saudis. Turkish newspaper Sabah released CCTV images of a group of men who flew into Istanbul on the day Khashoggi went missing after walking into the Saudi consulate. They were pictured arriving at Ataturk airport's border control having flown into Turkey in two private jets from the Saudi capital Riyadh. Meshal Saad M Albostani (left), Salah Muhammad A Tubaigy (center), and Muhammed Saad H. Alzahrani (right), all flew in and out of Ataturk airport on the day Khashoggi disappeared Saif Saad Q Alqahtani (left) and Mustafa Muhammed M. Almadani (right) are also being sought for questioning in connection with the incident last week Naif Hassan S. Alarifi (left) Turki Musharraf M. Alsehri (center) and Khaled Aedh G. Altaibi (right) were also named by Turkish newspaper Sabah Waleed Abdullah M. Alsehri (left) and Abdulaziz Muhammed M. Alhawsawi (right) are also wanted for questioning over the disappearance The group of men identified by Sabah included Salah Muhammad A Tubaigy, 47, the head of the Saudi Forensic Medicine Institute. An expert on forensic evidence, he is known to have trained a large number of police officers in crime scene investigation. Another man, Muhammed Saad H. al-Zahrani, was revealed to have served as one of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman's royal guards - a unit nicknamed the 'rough swords'. Mugshots of the middle-aged men were released alongside details of their ages and travel itineraries. Maher Abdulaziz M. Mutreb (left) Fahad Shabib A. Albalawi (center) and Thaar Ghaleb T. Alharbi were also part of the group who flew into Ataturk airport Mansur Othman M. Abahuseyin and Badr Lafi M. Alotaibi passed through border control on Tuesday last week Turkish television also revealed CCTV footage of them arriving at Istanbul airport and making their way through the streets of the city around the embassy. The men arrived at the embassy half an hour before Khashoggi turned up for his appointment. Saudi officials denied reports they sent a 15-man team to Istanbul on the day Khashoggi disappeared, saying that the only team they sent to Turkey consisted of investigators who arrived Saturday to help find the journalist. Advertisement

But he has also marginalized senior members of the royal family and consolidated control over Saudi's security and intelligence agencies.

His reforms have been accompanied by a crackdown on dissent, a purge of top royals and businessmen on corruption charges, and a costly war in Yemen.

Khashoggi, who was specifically critical of Saudi's Crown Prince MbS, had been missing 17 days after entering the consulate on October 2, before Saudi Arabia confirmed his death. His partner Hatice Cengiz waited outside for hours but never saw him again after he walked in at 1.14pm.

The comments from Saudi on Friday evening marked the first time since Khashoggi went missing that the Saudis admitted to his death.

Turkish officials had previously said they believed he was killed in the building. But until Friday, Saudi Arabia haddenied the allegations and said Khashoggi had left the building.

Before the Saudi announcements, US President Donald Trump said he might consider sanctions against Saudi Arabia over the disappearance, while emphasizing the importance of the US-Saudi relationship.

His son Eric Trump said Thursday on Fox News' Outnumbered: 'Saudi Arabia has actually been a friend to the US in many ways. They're ordering from us, massive, massive orders. Hundreds of billions of dollars worth of arms that will create tens and tens of thousands of jobs.

'So what are you going to do? You're going to take that and you're going to throw all of that away?'

Turkish police had searched a forest on Istanbul's outskirts and a city near the Sea of Marmara for Khashoggi's remains

In Istanbul, Turkish prosecutors investigating Khashoggi's disappearance questioned Turkish employees of the Saudi consulate on Friday, widening the hunt for clues in a case straining Riyadh's alliance with Western powers.

Turkish police searched a forest on Istanbul's outskirts and a city near the Sea of Marmara for Khashoggi's remains, two senior Turkish officials told Reuters, after tracking the routes of cars that left the consulate and the consul's residence on the day he vanished.

Investigators have recovered samples from searches of both buildings to analyze for traces of Khashoggi's DNA.

Speaking to reporters in Scottsdale, Arizona, Trump said it was too early to say what the consequences for the incident might be, but that the US Congress would be involved in determining the American response.

Asked whether Saudi sanctions were one of the measures he was considering, Trump said, 'Could be, could be,' though he provided no details.

Turkey denies giving 'any kind of audio tape' on Khashoggi to US Turkey on Friday denied giving 'any kind of audio tape' from the investigation into the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo or any American official. 'It is out of the question for Turkey to give any kind of audio tape to Pompeo or any other US official,' said Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, two days after meeting with the US's top diplomat for talks in Ankara. Turkey's pro-government press has reported that Turkey has an audio recording that proves the alleged murder of Khashoggi at the consulate and that he was tortured before his death. The existence of the tape has never been confirmed on the record by Turkish officials. ABC News, quoting a senior Turkish official, reported Thursday that during his visit to Turkey this week Pompeo heard this audio and was shown a transcript of the recording. But Pompeo denied the report. 'I've seen no tape. I've seen no - or I've heard no tape. I've seen no transcript,' he told reporters during a trip to Latin America. Cavusoglu, like other Turkish officials, stopped short of revealing details of the investigation but vowed they would be shared in due course. 'We will share the results to emerge with the entire world. It is out of the question for us to share this or that information with any country,' he said, quoted by the state-run Anadolu news agency. Advertisement

'We're going to find out who knew what when and where. And we'll figure it out,' Trump added.

The US Congress is controlled by Trump's fellow Republicans, some of whom have called for tough action against Saudi Arabia.

'I will very much listen to what Congress has to say. They feel very strongly about it also,' Trump said.

Trump, who said on Thursday he believed Khashoggi was likely dead and has warned of a potential 'very severe' response, has appeared unwilling to distance himself too much from the Saudis, citing Riyadh's role in countering Iranian influence in the Middle East and lucrative potential arms deals.

'Saudi Arabia has been a great ally, they've been a tremendous investor in the United States,' Trump said, adding, 'That's why this is so sad.'

'They agreed to spend $450 billion on buying in and investing in the United States, so I hope we can keep that open... There are plenty of other things we can do,' he said, adding: 'I might know a lot by Monday. I know a lot already.'

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and senior ministers from France, Britain and the Netherlands have abandoned plans to attend an Oct. 23-25 investor conference in Riyadh.

On Friday, the CEOs of Deutsche Bank and ABB, plus Airbus' defense chief and energy historian Daniel Yergin, joined a list of Western business executives who have withdrawn.

Pakistan's prime minister and a delegation led by Russian Direct Investment Fund head Kirill Dmitriev plan to participate. Britain's BAE Systems is sending senior representatives.

A conference spokesperson confirmed the conference would proceed with an updated program that includes heads of state from the Arab world, Africa and Asia.
Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle laid a wreath at the ANZAC War Memorial in Sydney on Saturday ahead of the first event of the Invictus Games.

The wreath, laid ahead of the official opening of a $40 million extension of the Hyde Park memorial, contained a small, handwritten note which reflected Harry's deep admiration of those who have served in war.

'In grateful memory of those who made the ultimate sacrifice and in recognition of the men and women for whom the scars of war endure,' the note, signed by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, read.

Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle left a touching handwritten note in a wreath laid at the unveiling of the refurbished war memorial in Sydney's Hyde Park

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex stood side by side as they presented the wreath, made of native Australian flowers

Prince Harry served in the Army for ten years, rising to the rank of Captain and undertaking two tours of Afghanistan

Prince Harry served in the Army for ten years, rising to the rank of Captain and undertaking two tours of Afghanistan.

His time in the military, and the horrors he witnessed, served as the inspiration for the Invictus Games, which uses sport to inspire recovery and support rehabilitation in injured veterans, and help people get a better understanding of what veterans experience both in and after the war.

Prince Harry's first round of active duty came to an abrupt end when he was revealed to be present in the war zone, and thought he later returned to combat there as an Apache gunship pilot, he has spoken of his regret at not being able to fully serve with his comrades.

Harry had spent just ten weeks in the Helmand Province amid safety concerns when news of his secret deployment was leaked in the media, meaning he had to leave in order to protect himself and his fellow troops.

Meghan and Prince Harry, who was in military uniform, laid a wreath in honour of fallen soldiers before touring the new facilities

He told Good Morning America in 2016 it was not until he was boarding his flight back to Britain that he saw the true cost of war, witnessing the 'unbelievably traumatic injuries' his fellow soldiers had suffered.

They included soldiers with missing limbs, people wrapped in plastic, and one soldier, in a coma yet clutching tiny bottles of shrapnel removed from their skull.

In the 10 weeks he spent at the battlefront, the Duke of Sussex said he had never seen injured soldiers, and witnessing it all at once made him want to find a way to help.

In 2013, soon after his second deployment, Harry attended the Warrior Games in Colorado Springs, where he discovered how sport had helped veterans both physically and psychologically.

A year later, the Invictus Games were launched.

Prince Harry served for 10 years in the British military, and was deployed twice. Pictured: Harry sitting on his camp bed in his accommodation at FOB Delhi in 2008

The Duke of Sussex's first deployment was cut short after media discovered where he was. Pictured: A 24-year-old Harry manning a .50 caliber machine gun in the Helmand province on January 2, 2008

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex arrived at Hyde Park about 10am on Saturday with NSW Governor David Hurley, a former chief of the defence force, and were welcomed by an Australian Army marching band.

The couple received a tour of the new education and interpretation facilities at the renovated memorial, and visited the Hall of Service where the sculpture Sacrifice stands.

The major new artwork features over 1,700 soil samples from each NSW town, suburb and district given as a place of address by First World War enlistees in the region.

The extension of the memorial has been designed to enhance the its role in supporting and providing services for veterans and their families who have suffered loss, ensuring a public and a private place of contemplation, remembrance, education and reflection.
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders hit out at Democratic representative for Texas Joaquin Castro Friday after he suggested Jared Kushner may have provided information to Saudi Arabia that led to the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

The POTUS representative called his allegation made on CNN 'an outrageous slanderous lie without a shred of proof' after he said during an interview that Donald Trump's adviser may have provided an 'enemies list' to the leaders of the Middle Eastern country.

'Jared Kushner may have, with US intelligence, delivered a hit list, an enemies list, to the crown prince, to MBS, in Saudi Arabia and that the prince may have acted on that, and one of the people he took action against is Mr. Khashoggi,' he said about reports.

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Democratic representative for Texas Joaquin Castro on Friday suggested Jared Kushner may have provided information to Saudi Arabia that led to Jamal Khashoggi's death

POTUS representative Sarah Sanders said in a tweet that Castro made allegation on CNN 'without a shred of proof'

Democratic rep for Texas said Congress should open investigation into whether Kushner (second left) or another admin official shared US intelligence with Saudis. Mohammed bin Salman is pictured left and Ivanka Trump is pictured center left

While host Poppy Harlow paused his speech to tell viewers they were not aware of any such articles, he stated he had seen 'reporting to that effect'.

It prompted Sanders to issue a statement in response via Twitter insisting that it was simply a rumor.

'It's reprehensible for a sitting Congressman and supposed 'news' outlets to continue citing an article that used unnamed sources and was completely debunked,' the press secretary wrote.

But Castro had already tried to defend his statement by sharing a number of articles on Twitter with an aim to back up his words.

He added on the micro-blogging website that he was not trying to slander Kushner but was simply mentioning the reports.

One of the stories was a piece from Intercept that reported Kushner shared materials with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, 33, from the President's Daily Brief assembled by the CIA and enclosing names of royals who criticized the leader.

Khashoggi was not a royal but was well-known to the high-powered family.

'To be clear, I did not intend to accuse @jaredkushner of orchestrating anything. Based on press reporting, I'm asking for Congress to open an investigation of whether any US Intelligence was shared with Saudi Arabia that led to political persecution or killing of #Khashoggi,' he posted.

Saudi Arabia finally admitted journalist Jamal Khashoggi (pictured) is dead. He died on October 2 at the country's consulate in Turkey

The White House added it is 'saddened' by the confirmed death of the Saudi journalist

'There has been broad skepticism in the US intelligence community of @jaredkushner's relationship with #MBS,' he said, referring to a New York Times story that quoting news around Washington Post writer Khashoggi as a 'personal reckoning' for Kushner.

'For these reasons, Congress should open an investigation to see whether @jaredkushner or any other Admin official shared any US intelligence with the Saudis that led to any political persecution, including the killing of #JamalKhashoggi,' he said.

Trump's son-in-law Kushner joined the family, including his wife Ivanka Trump, and First Lady Melania Trump on a trip to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia last year.

Then Kushner was said to be close to the crown prince after they enjoyed dinner during the royal's trip to Washington DC in March.

Castro added on Twitter that he was not trying to slander Kushner but was simply mentioning the reports

Democratic rep for Texas said Congress should open investigation into whether Kushner or another admin official shared US intelligence with Saudis

Sanders and Castros tweets came hours before Saudi Arabia finally admitted that journalist Khashoggi is dead after offering various explanations for his disappearance more than two weeks ago.

The country carried out its own investigation into what happened to the Saudi citizen at its own consulate in Istanbul, Turkey and claimed Friday evening he died following an altercation on October 2.

This is the latest claim made by the Kingdom, which earlier said Khashoggi had left the consulate alive and well.

And President Trump said he believes the explanation for the journalist's death is credible, despite previous reports torturers severed the journalist's fingers during an interrogation and later beheaded and dismembered him.

Saud al-Qahtani, the royal court adviser, was been ousted after the country's own investigation.

Mohamed bin Saleh al Rumeh, assistant to the president of general intelligence for intelligence affairs, Abduallah bin Khalifa al Shaya, assistant to the president of general intelligence for human resources, and Rachad bin Hamed al Muhamadi, director of the general department for security and protection in the command of general intelligence, were also dismissed.

Deputy intelligence chief Ahmed Assiri was fired and his Twitter account posted a message in Arabic Friday night.

The user posted (rough translation): 'I extend my sincere thanks and gratitude to His Holiness the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and His Highness the Crown Prince, for the great confidence they have placed in me and for this great opportunity to honor my national service over the past years ...

'I will remain a faithful servant of my country for a long time, and our dear homeland will remain lofty, God willing.'

It's not clear whether Assiri posted it himself or whether someone else did so on his behalf.
Despite almost dying during an Antarctic storm while out at sea, solo sailor Lisa Blair has embarked on another death-defying mission in the hopes of breaking a national record.

Ms Blair was attempting to become the first woman to sail solo around Antarctica when strong winds and near freezing weather savaged her sail boat.

She was in a race against time in pure darkness to free the masthead before the sharp metal tore through the fiberglass and sunk the boat.

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Despite almost dying during an arctic storm while out at sea, solo sailor Lisa Blair has embarked on another death-defying mission in the hopes of breaking a national record

'I had to come to terms with the fact I might not survive the night,' Ms Blair told 9News.

Eventually, she completed the task and set her sights on Cape Town, where she would get her repairs and replenish herself.

She suffered from hypothermia, stress and sleep deprivation during the trip, but to earn the world record, she was expected to return to the location of her near-death experience before continuing on the journey.

But with a taste for adventure, Ms Blair has embarked on yet another perilous journey, this time hoping to become the first woman to sail around the entire coast of Australia.

Ms Blair was attempting to become the first woman to sail solo around Antarctica when strong winds and near freezing weather savaged her sail boat

The 33-year-old set sail from Rushcutters Bay in Sydney for the non-stop, unassisted and solo voyage around the nation on Saturday.

For the duration of the trip, she will be required to sleep in 20-minute intervals to avoid any accidents.

Ms Blair will also be required to keep a journal of her moods and complete reactive tests twice daily to monitor her cognitive functioning.

'People have an image of champagne on deck in sunny weather,' she said.

'But it's not like that. Solo sailing is a lot of hard work, uncomfortable sea sickness and extreme fatigue.'
Jordan Ilencik, 13, was outside the ANZAC war memorial in Hyde Park on Saturday, waiting to take Prince Harry up on a promise he'd made the day before

A plucky 13-year-old who received a hug from Prince Harry on Friday was back at the barricades on Saturday, hoping this time to meet his wife.

Jordan Ilencik, 13, made headlines after presenting the Duke of Sussex with a $250 replica of a crown worn by his mother, Princess Diana.

The pair chatted and shared a hug, and Jordan, who had travelled to the city alone, says the Prince made him a special promise.

'He said he was going to introduce me to Meghan today if I was here,' he told Daily Mail Australia.

Jordan stood across the road from Sydney's ANZAC war memorial in Hyde Park on Saturday morning, holding a framed picture of the moment he got to meet his hero, a British flag, and a piece of paper with 'Harry, it's Jordan', scrawled on it in lipstick.

He also carried an envelope full of photos of the teenager's special moment with the Prince, addressing it to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, and adding it was from: 'your biggest fan, Jordi'.

Jordan was bright-eyed and bubbly as he waited patiently for the royals to come say hi, and charmed those waiting around him with his excited retelling of how he got to meet Australia's favourite prince.

Jordan brought a sign to identify himself and a framed picture of the pair hugging near the Harbour Bridge

He told the story of how he'd met the Duke of Sussex to everyone around him, to their delight (pictured: Jordan, left, and nine-year-old Adam Yassine, who came to see the police horses and stayed for Prince Harry)

'I got to see him, and they took me out of the crowd,' he explained to a riveted crowd.

'They said could you please come here - I thought I was in trouble, but they said: "Oh you're going to meet Prince Harry".'

When the pair met, Jordan says the royal was overjoyed at his gift selection.

'He said thank you so much, and he gave me a hug and he said he loved the gift I gave him,' he said.

Unfortunately for the self confessed royal enthusiast, neither the Duke or Duchess of Sussex came to greet the waiting crowds at Hyde Park on Saturday.

Meghan Markle gave a wave to excited Sydneysiders before accompanying her husband to the war memorial.

The couple left in a car that departed from inside the park, meaning royal fans were barely able to catch a glimpse of the couple as they headed to the first event of the Invictus Games.
Members of Congress have slammed Saudi Arabia's explanation that journalist Jamal Khashoggi died during a fight at the consulate in Istanbul on October 2.

'To say that I am skeptical of the new Saudi narrative about Mr. Khashoggi is an understatement,' Republican U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham said on Twitter.

Graham, who has been sharply critical of Saudi Arabia after Khashoggi's disappearance, is a close ally of President Donald Trump.

'First we were told Mr. Khashoggi supposedly left the consulate and there was blanket denial of any Saudi involvement. Now, a fight breaks out and he's killed in the consulate, all without knowledge of Crown Prince,' Graham said.

'It's hard to find this latest 'explanation' as credible,' he added.

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President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally in Arizona on Friday

Saudi Arabia has finally admitted journalist Jamal Khashoggi (pictured) is dead. He died on October 2 at the country's consulate in Turkey

Saudi Arabia finally admitted on Friday that Khashoggi is dead after offering various explanations for his disappearance more than two weeks ago.

The country said it carried out its own investigation into what happened to the 59-year-old at its own consulate in Istanbul, Turkey and claimed Friday evening he died following an altercation on October 2.

US President Donald Trump said Friday he found Saudi Arabia's explanation about the death of Khashoggi credible and termed it an 'important first step'.

Trump added if the US takes action, he does not want it to impact arms sales to the kingdom.

'I do, I do,' Trump said when asked if he found the Saudis' explanation credible, adding: 'It's early, we haven't finished our review or investigation, but... I think it's a very important first step.'

'I would prefer, if there is going to be some form of sanction or what we may determine to do, if anything... that we don't use as retribution canceling $110 billion worth of work, which means 600,000 jobs,' he said during a visit to Arizona, referring to a major arms deal with the kingdom.

'To say that I am skeptical of the new Saudi narrative about Mr. Khashoggi is an understatement,' Republican U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham said on Twitter

The White House added it is 'saddened' by the confirmed death of the Saudi journalist.

'The United States acknowledges the announcement from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia that its investigation into the fate of Jamal Khasshoggi is progressing and that it has taken action against the suspects it has identified thus far,' Press Secretary Sarah Sanders wrote in a statement.

'We will continue to follow international investigations into this tragic incident and advocate for justice that is timely, transparent and in accordance with all due process.

'We offer our deepest condolences to his family, fiancee and friends.'

Democratic U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal told CNN the Saudi explanation 'absolutely defies credibility' and he called for an international investigation of Khashoggis death.

'The Saudis very clearly seem to be buying time and buying cover. But this action raises more questions than it answers and there is no way the world will wait for 30 days for a Saudi investigation to be done,' Blumenthal said.

Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen, called the Saudi statement a cover-up.

'The United States must not be complicit in this cover-up. Looking forward to what our intelligence agencies have to say,' Van Hollen said.

'The Saudi 'explanation' for murdering journalist and Virginia resident Jamal Khashoggi in a consulate - a fistfight gone wrong - is insulting,' tweeted Sen. Tim Kaine, the 2016 Democratic vice presidential nominee. 'Since the Trump Administration won't stand up against atrocity, Congress must.'

Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff of California said Saudi Arabia's claim that Khashoggi died in a brawl wasn't credible.

'The claim that Khashoggi was killed while brawling with 15 men dispatched from Saudi Arabia is not at all credible. If he was fighting with those sent to capture or kill him, it was for his life,' said Schiff, the ranking member of the House intelligence committee.

'The Kingdom must be held to account. If Administration doesnt lead, Congress must,' Schiff said.

Republican Senator Bob Corker, Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman, said he doubted the credibility of the Saudi authorities, who insisted for weeks that he left the consulate.

'The story the Saudis have told about Jamal Khashoggi's disappearance continues to change with each passing day, so we should not assume their latest story holds water,' he tweeted.

Democratic U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal said the Saudi explanation 'absolutely defies credibility' and he called for an international investigation of Khashoggis death

Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen, called the Saudi statement a cover-up

Bob Menendez, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said the United States should pursue sanctions against Saudis involved in Khashoggi's death under a US law named after Sergei Magnitsky, the anti-corruption Russian accountant who died in custody.

'The Global Magnitsky Act doesn't have exceptions for accidents. Even if Khashoggi died because of an altercation, that's no excuse for his murder,' Menendez tweeted.

'This is far from the end and we need to keep up the international pressure.'

Representative Mike Coffman, one of a number of lawmakers from Trump's Republican Party facing a tough race in November 6 elections, said the United States 'must stand up for our values and demand our 'allies' respect human rights.'

The Colorado lawmaker, who serves on the House Armed Services Committee, urged Trump to immediately recall the acting US ambassador from Saudi Arabia. Trump has yet to nominate a permanent envoy to the kingdom.

Republican Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul tweeted: 'We should... halt all military sales, aid and cooperation immediately. There must be a severe price for these actions by Saudi Arabia.'

A statement released by the Saudis on Friday, said the suspects got into a fight with Khashoggi, which lead to his death.

'While the investigations are still ongoing into the case with the 18 Saudi detainees, the Kingdom expresses its deep regret at the painful developments that have taken place,' it added.

Saudi Arabia thanked Turkey for its 'exceptional cooperation' in the investigation. It added that it values Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's cooperation in investigating the case.

Saudi Arabia claims the suspects went to Istanbul to meet with Khashoggi over the possibility of him returning to the country. He was trying to obtain documents for a marriage license at the consulate.

His death occurred after a heated discussion turned into a quarrel and then a fist fight, they allege.

The vague statement has not explained exactly how he died, but the suspects then apparently tried to cover it up.

A Saudi official told Reuters it was unclear where the body was after it was handed over to a 'local cooperator' but there was no sign of it at the consulate.

Saudi has not yet named any of their suspects.

Top intelligence officer General Ahmed al-Assiri (left) was fired in connection with Jamal Khashoggi's death. Saud al-Qahtani, the royal court adviser (right) was also ousted after the country's own investigation

Saudi Arabia's statement on Jamal Khashoggi in full The case of the disappearance of the citizen Jamal bin Ahmed Khashoggi drew the attention of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia at the highest levels, and due to the circumstances surrounding his disappearance, the Kingdom took the necessary procedures to clarify the truth and began by dispatching a security team to Turkey on 6 October 2018 to investigate and cooperate with counterparts in Turkey. That was followed by the formation of a joint security team between the Kingdom and the Republic of Turkey, with a permission given to the Turkish security authorities to enter the Consulate of the Kingdom in Istanbul and the residence of the Consul, for the Kingdom's keenness to clarify all the facts, as the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud has issued an order to the Public Prosecutor of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, No. 5709 dated 3/2/1440 H to conduct investigations into the case. The Public Prosecutor has already investigated a number of suspects on the basis of information provided by the Turkish authorities to the Joint Security Team to determine whether any of them had any information or relation to what has been happened related where the information that transferred to the security authorities indicated that the citizen Jamal Khashoggi had left the consulate. In implementation to the directives of the leadership of the need to clearly know the truth and declare it transparently whatever, the preliminary investigations conducted by the Public Prosecution showed that the suspect had traveled to Istanbul to meet with the citizen Jamal Khashoggi as there were indications of the possibility of his returning back to the country. The results of the preliminary investigations also revealed that the discussions that took place with the citizen Jamal Khashoggi during his presence in the consulate of the Kingdom in Istanbul by the suspects did not go as required and developed in a negative way led to a fight and a quarrel between some of them and the citizen Jamal Khashoggi, yet the brawl aggravated to lead to his death and their attempt to conceal and cover what happened. The source added that while the investigations are still ongoing into the case with the 18 Saudi detainees, the Kingdom expresses its deep regret at the painful developments that have taken place and stresses the commitment of the authorities in the Kingdom to bring the facts to the public opinion, to hold all those involved accountable and bring them to justice by referring them to the competent courts in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Advertisement

However Saud al-Qahtani, the royal court adviser, has been ousted after the country's own investigation.

Mohamed bin Saleh al Rumeh, assistant to the president of general intelligence for intelligence affairs, Abduallah bin Khalifa al Shaya, assistant to the president of general intelligence for human resources ,and Rachad bin Hamed al Muhamadi, director of the general department for security and protection in the command of general intelligence, were also dismissed.

Deputy intelligence chief Ahmed Assiri was fired and his Twitter account posted a message in Arabic Friday night.

The user posted (rough translation): 'I extend my sincere thanks and gratitude to His Holiness the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and His Highness the Crown Prince, for the great confidence they have placed in me and for this great opportunity to honor my national service over the past years ...

'I will remain a faithful servant of my country for a long time, and our dear homeland will remain lofty, God willing.'

It's not clear whether Assiri posted it himself or whether someone else did so on his behalf.

The White House added it is 'saddened' by the confirmed death of the Saudi journalist

Saudi Arabia's conflicting statements Since Jamal Khashoggi's disappearance, Saudi Arabia has changed its story multiple times. On October 3, the day after he went missing, officials told Reuters the journalist had visited the consulate and then left. Saudi Arabias Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud was interviewed by Bloomberg on the same day and said no one knew what happened to Khashoggi. He said: 'We hear the rumors about what happened. Hes a Saudi citizen and we are very keen to know what happened to him. And we will continue our dialogue with the Turkish government to see what happened to Jamal there.' On October 4, a statement from the consulate said it was 'carrying out follow-up procedures and coordination with the Turkish local authorities to uncover the circumstances of the disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi after he left the consulate building.' On October 7, Saudi officials slammed a Reuters report which claimed the journalist was killed and 15 Saudis flew to Turkey and visited the consulate on the day Khashoggi went missing. The officials called them 'baseless allegations'. On October 9, Saudi ambassador to the United States, Prince Khalid bin Salman, said claims Khashoggi had been murdered in the consulate were 'absolutely false, and baseless'. He said: 'Jamal has many friends in the Kingdom, including myself, and despite our differences, and his choice to go into his so called "self-exile", we still maintained regular contact when he was in Washington.' The crown prince and the king told Donald Trump they knew nothing about the disappearance, the president said in an interview with the AP on October 16. On October 19, Saudi Arabia admitted Khashoggi had died during a fight at the consulate. Advertisement

The New York Times previously said it had spoken to three people with knowledge of the Saudi plans relating to General Assiri, who had earlier served as the spokesman for the Saudi-led military intervention in Yemen before being promoted to his current job in intelligence.

Two of the sources said Saudi rulers are set to explain that Assiri had been given verbal permission from the Crown Prince to capture Khashoggi for questioning in Saudi Arabia but that he either overstepped the authorization or misunderstood his orders.

According to CBS News Assiri was very close to the country's crown prince.

'You don't get much closer,' a source told Kylie Atwood.

The country is to restructure its intelligence agencies after the killing of Khashoggi, under King Salman Abdulaziz Al Saud's orders.

Salman - who is the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, Al-al-Haram (in Mecca) and Al-an-Nabawi (in Medina) - ordered that a ministerial committee is formed to restructure the General Intelligence Presidency, modernize its regulations and define its powers.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it was a resolution concerning the journalist's death and is an extension of the Kingdom's commitment to consolidating justice.

However the mission is said to be led by his son Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who was suspected of being behind Khashoggi's disappearance in some versions of stories alleging what happened to the Washington Post writer.

A Saudi official said Friday the prince had no knowledge of details in the Khashoggi case.

'There were no orders for them to kill him or even specifically kidnap him,' said the official to Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity and adding that there was a standing order to bring critics of the kingdom back to the country.

'MbS had no knowledge of this specific operation and certainly did not order a kidnapping or murder of anybody. He will have been aware of the general instruction to tell people to come back.'

Jamal Kashoggi is seen with his finacee Hatice Cengiz, who stood outside the consulate waiting for hours after he walked inside on October 2, never to emerge

The country is to restructure its intelligence agencies after the killing of Khashoggi, under King Salman Abdulaziz Al Saud's orders

However the mission is said to be led by his son Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who was suspected of being behind Khashoggi's disappearance in some reports

The former head of MI6,Sir John Sawers (pictured) has said evidence suggests Saudi's Crown Prince ordered the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi

But former British spy Sir John Sawers said earlier on Friday to BBC Radio 4 show, World at One: 'All the evidence points to it being ordered and carried out by people close to Mohammed bin Salman.

'I dont think he would have done this if he hadnt thought he had licence from the US administration to behave as he wished.'

Sawers, who headed MI6 between 2009 and 2014, said he had based his assessment on conversations with sources in Whitehall coupled with his understanding of Turkey's intelligence services.

It had been earlier reported that King Salman was personally intervening in the Khashoggi case after being kept in the dark about the crisis by his powerful son's aides.

Initially the king, who has handed the day-to-day running of Saudi Arabia to his son, commonly known as MbS, was unaware of the extent of the crisis, according to two of the sources with knowledge of the Saudi royal court. That was partly because MbS aides had been directing the king to glowing news about the country on Saudi TV channels, the sources said.

Since he acceded to the throne in January 2015, the king has given MbS, his favorite son, increasing authority to run Saudi Arabia. But the king's latest intervention reflects growing disquiet among some members of the royal court about MbS's fitness to govern, five sources said.

MbS, 33, has implemented a series of high-profile social and economic reforms since his father's accession, including ending a ban on women driving and opening cinemas in the conservative kingdom.

15 suspects identified by Turkey Prior to the confirmation Jamal Khashoggi had died, Turkish police announced they were hunting fifteen Saudi suspects in connection with his disappearance. It is not known whether these 15 people are among the 18 arrested by the Saudis. Turkish newspaper Sabah released CCTV images of a group of men who flew into Istanbul on the day Khashoggi went missing after walking into the Saudi consulate. They were pictured arriving at Ataturk airport's border control having flown into Turkey in two private jets from the Saudi capital Riyadh. Meshal Saad M Albostani (left), Salah Muhammad A Tubaigy (center), and Muhammed Saad H. Alzahrani (right), all flew in and out of Ataturk airport on the day Khashoggi disappeared Saif Saad Q Alqahtani (left) and Mustafa Muhammed M. Almadani (right) are also being sought for questioning in connection with the incident last week Naif Hassan S. Alarifi (left) Turki Musharraf M. Alsehri (center) and Khaled Aedh G. Altaibi (right) were also named by Turkish newspaper Sabah Waleed Abdullah M. Alsehri (left) and Abdulaziz Muhammed M. Alhawsawi (right) are also wanted for questioning over the disappearance The group of men identified by Sabah included Salah Muhammad A Tubaigy, 47, the head of the Saudi Forensic Medicine Institute. An expert on forensic evidence, he is known to have trained a large number of police officers in crime scene investigation. Another man, Muhammed Saad H. al-Zahrani, was revealed to have served as one of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman's royal guards - a unit nicknamed the 'rough swords'. Mugshots of the middle-aged men were released alongside details of their ages and travel itineraries. Maher Abdulaziz M. Mutreb (left) Fahad Shabib A. Albalawi (center) and Thaar Ghaleb T. Alharbi were also part of the group who flew into Ataturk airport Mansur Othman M. Abahuseyin and Badr Lafi M. Alotaibi passed through border control on Tuesday last week Turkish television also revealed CCTV footage of them arriving at Istanbul airport and making their way through the streets of the city around the embassy. The men arrived at the embassy half an hour before Khashoggi turned up for his appointment. Saudi officials denied reports they sent a 15-man team to Istanbul on the day Khashoggi disappeared, saying that the only team they sent to Turkey consisted of investigators who arrived Saturday to help find the journalist. Advertisement

But he has also marginalized senior members of the royal family and consolidated control over Saudi's security and intelligence agencies.

His reforms have been accompanied by a crackdown on dissent, a purge of top royals and businessmen on corruption charges, and a costly war in Yemen.

Khashoggi had been missing 17 days after entering the consulate to obtain documents for his upcoming wedding. His partner Hatice Cengiz waited outside for hours but never saw him again after he walked in at 1.14pm.

Khashoggi was a critic of Saudi Crown Prince.

The comments from Saudi on Friday evening marked the first time since Khashoggi went missing that the Saudis admitted to his death.

Turkish officials had said they believed he was killed in the building. Saudi Arabia had previously denied the allegations and said Khashoggi had left the building shortly after.

Before the Saudi announcements, President Trump said he might consider sanctions against Saudi Arabia over the disappearance, while emphasizing the importance of the US-Saudi relationship.

His son Eric Trump said Thursday on Fox News' Outnumbered: 'Saudi Arabia has actually been a friend to the US in many ways. They're ordering from us, massive, massive orders. Hundreds of billions of dollars worth of arms that will create tens and tens of thousands of jobs.

'So what are you going to do? You're going to take that and you're going to throw all of that away?'

In Istanbul, Turkish prosecutors investigating Khashoggi's disappearance questioned Turkish employees of the Saudi consulate Friday, widening the hunt for clues in a case straining Riyadh's alliance with Western powers.

Turkish police had searched a forest on Istanbul's outskirts and a city near the Sea of Marmara for Khashoggi's remains

Turkish police searched a forest on Istanbul's outskirts and a city near the Sea of Marmara for Khashoggi's remains, two senior Turkish officials told Reuters, after tracking the routes of cars that left the consulate and the consul's residence on the day he vanished.

Investigators have recovered samples from searches of both buildings to analyze for traces of Khashoggi's DNA.

Turkey denies giving 'any kind of audio tape' on Khashoggi to US Turkey on Friday denied giving 'any kind of audio tape' from the investigation into the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo or any American official. 'It is out of the question for Turkey to give any kind of audio tape to Pompeo or any other US official,' said Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, two days after meeting with the US's top diplomat for talks in Ankara. Turkey's pro-government press has reported that Turkey has an audio recording that proves the alleged murder of Khashoggi at the consulate and that he was tortured before his death. The existence of the tape has never been confirmed on the record by Turkish officials. ABC News, quoting a senior Turkish official, reported Thursday that during his visit to Turkey this week Pompeo heard this audio and was shown a transcript of the recording. But Pompeo denied the report. 'I've seen no tape. I've seen no - or I've heard no tape. I've seen no transcript,' he told reporters during a trip to Latin America. Cavusoglu, like other Turkish officials, stopped short of revealing details of the investigation but vowed they would be shared in due course. 'We will share the results to emerge with the entire world. It is out of the question for us to share this or that information with any country,' he said, quoted by the state-run Anadolu news agency. Advertisement

President Trump, who said on Thursday he believed Khashoggi was likely dead and has warned of a potential 'very severe' response, has appeared unwilling to distance himself too much from the Saudis, citing Riyadh's role in countering Iranian influence in the Middle East and lucrative potential arms deals.

'Saudi Arabia has been a great ally, they've been a tremendous investor in the United States,' Trump said, adding, 'That's why this is so sad.'

'They agreed to spend $450 billion on buying in and investing in the United States, so I hope we can keep that open... There are plenty of other things we can do,' he said, adding: 'I might know a lot by Monday. I know a lot already.'

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said at the White House Thursday that Saudi Arabia deserves a 'few more days' to get to the bottom of the disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi.

Pompeo spoke after he briefed President Trump on his meetings with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh, where he warned the Saudi royal family they have 72 hours to finish the investigation into Khashoggi's disappearance.

Sources described a tough meeting between Pompeo and the crown prince, after smiling photos of the two men fed a narrative that the U.S. was willing to assist the Saudis in finding a cover for story for the killing.

The Saudis assured him 'they will conduct a complete, thorough investigation of all of the facts surrounding Mr. Khashoggi and that they'll do so in a timely fashion, and that this report itself will be transparent for everyone to see, to ask questions about, and to inquire with respect to its thoroughness,' Pompeo told reporters Thursday morning.

'And I told President Trump that we ought to give them a few more days to complete that so that we, too, have a complete understanding of the facts surrounding that. At which point, we can make decisions about how or if the United States should respond to the incident surrounding Mr. Khashoggi,' he said.

State-run Anadolu news agency said the Turkish prosecutor's office had obtained testimony from 20 consulate employees, and 25 more people including foreign nationals would be questioned.

The consulate employees questioned included accountants, technicians and a driver, Anadolu said. The investigation is being conducted by the prosecutor's terrorism and organized crime bureau, it added.

Turkey said it had not shared with any country audio recordings purportedly documenting Khashoggi's murder inside the consulate, dismissing reports it had passed them to the United States.

All smiles: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo shakes hands with the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh on Tuesday

'We will share the results that emerge transparently with the whole world,' Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said.

Turkish pro-government newspaper Yeni Safak has published what it said were details from the audio, including that his torturers severed Khashoggi's fingers during an interrogation and later beheaded and dismembered him.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and senior ministers from France, Britain and the Netherlands have abandoned plans to attend an Oct. 23-25 investor conference in Riyadh.

On Friday, the CEOs of Deutsche Bank and ABB, plus Airbus' defense chief and energy historian Daniel Yergin, joined a list of Western business executives who have withdrawn.

Pakistan's prime minister and a delegation led by Russian Direct Investment Fund head Kirill Dmitriev plan to participate. Britain's BAE Systems is sending senior representatives.

A conference spokesperson confirmed the conference would proceed with an updated program that includes heads of state from the Arab world, Africa and Asia.
President Trump and Mohammed bin Salman meet at the White House on March 14, 2017. Photo: Mark Wilson/Getty Images

A permanent breach with Saudi Arabia is not an acceptable outcome. That was the blunt assessment of former State Department official and longtime GOP foreign policy maven Marc Thiessen in the Washington Post this week. Thats more true than many would like to think, even amidst bipartisan disgust over the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, apparently by Saudi security forces in Istanbul (on Friday night the Saudis finally confirmed Khashoggis death, but claimed he died in a fist fight). The United States and Riyadh are deeply entangled, both economically and around core security goals. Undoing those ties would be a slow process, but it may be a better bet than trying to change Saudi behavior.

A popular American stereotype is that the U.S. is dependent on Saudi oil. Were not. Saudi Arabia accounts for 13 percent of global crude oil production, while the U.S. produces 12 percent. While were debunking outdated ideas, many Americans  including President Trump  still believe that the Saudi-led Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) controls world production and prices. While its members control about 40 percent of oil production, and 80 percent of proven petroleum deposits, it has been decades since its members have been able to agree on measures stringent enough to inflict pain on developed nations like the U.S. In fact, in recent years the Saudis have usually chosen to live with lower oil prices for political reasons.

The economic truth is more complicated. An awful lot of the U.S. economy is greased by Saudi money  the oil industry, but also the assembly lines making weapons the Saudis buy, or buy for others, and the Silicon Valley firms where the Saudis are parking their oil money in anticipation of a low-carbon future. Then theres the Washington lobbying firms and think tanks that the Saudis and their Gulf allies have invested in heavily.

But like OPEC, the influence of Saudi money gets exaggerated awfully fast  and popular debate over Saudi doings can be quick to take on a racist tinge.

Lets look at what Trump claims is a deal to supply $110 billion worth of weapons to Riyadh, maintaining profits and priceless manufacturing jobs here in the U.S. CNN reports that, 18 months after the deal was announced, the Saudis have only followed through on about one-eighth of the purchases. Bloomberg crunches some numbers to point out that, although the Saudis have been weapons customers for decades, their total purchases of U.S. goods annually are dwarfed by  Switzerland.

And about those defense manufacturing jobs? They do matter, tremendously, to the manufacturing communities where they are clustered, the unions who represent the well-paid workers, and members of Congress in states like Ohio, Missouri and Washington. Over all, though, the entire private sector defense industry represents .5 percent of U.S. employment.

In recent years, the Saudis heavy investment in Silicon Valley has led some observers to warn that the same government that apparently killed one of its own citizens on foreign soil could decide to turn the screws on the U.S. high-tech industry. But in fact, for every dollar the Saudis want to pull out, theres still an American, Chinese or other global investors dollar eager to get in.

U.S.-Saudi economic ties are important  and convenient for whichever party is in power, as both Republican and Democratic presidents have found over the years. But the ties that hold Washington and Riyadh the closest are political.

For decades, Washington has seen the Saudi kingdom as a force for stability in the Middle East  stability of oil prices and thus not only the U.S. economy, but the regional politics of other U.S. partners. The Saudis formed many of their core policies in line with U.S. desires, using their oil money to help prop up Jordan and Egypt, and coming to a quiet understanding and even partnership with Israel, rather than continuing to promote the more radical of Israels Palestinian opponents. Washington, in turn, accepted whatever Riyadh chose to do internally to maintain its version of stability  occasionally raising a protest, supporting reformers, and allowing dissidents to settle here, but all quietly.

This bargain had frayed badly before Trump. The American public never got over the perception of Saudi royals tolerance of the growth of Al Qaeda and 9/11. Policymakers were deeply frustrated by the influence of Saudi-trained and funded extremists elsewhere in the Muslim world, and angered by Saudi efforts to promote hardliners and foil civil society movements during the Arab Spring. The two states fundamental goals seemed to have diverged, particularly over Iran. Riyadh sees Tehran as its chief regional foe and expected Washingtons support against it; President Obama and his team sought to defuse nuclear tensions and, for much of the administration, hoped to reset the relationship more broadly.

But the Trump administration reversed that course and built its Middle East policy entirely around the Saudis tacit alliance with Israel and their full-press hostility against Iran. The U.S. economy may be able to manage if the Saudis raise oil prices  but Trumps plan to squeeze Iranian oil production to zero cannot succeed without Saudi willingness to supply substitute oil as needed.

Another administration might want to rebalance more evenly between Tehran and Riyadh  or play less of a role all together in the regions quarrels. But the Trump team has defined Tehran as one of its chief foes, leaving them without a regional alternative  and Riyadh knows it, no one better than Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, whose relationship with Jared Kushner has allowed him a close-up view into what this administrations bottom lines are.

There is one last reason, regardless of who sits in the White House, for caution when thinking about changes to the relationship. Rapid change in the Middle East  or anywhere, for that matter  raises the risks of violence, instability, and human suffering. Washington has been so deeply implicated in the regions arrangements for decades that it is just wrong to image we could dust our hands and walk away without any human cost following us.

Still, if Washington wants to disentangle itself, there are steps it can take. The fact that those would be slow and led by Congress might actually, given the risk of instability and violence, be just right. Congress can slow down the spigot of military aid and add stronger conditions to get serious about Yemen, where dozens of civilians are dying as horribly as Khashoggi every day. Congress can ease off the energy policies that promote fossil fuels. Congress can limit the administrations gratuitous attempts to heighten tensions with Iran; there are plenty of real issues in Iranian behavior without creating non-issues. And Congress can insist that more information be released on what we knew, and when, about the plot to murder a journalist in a consulate, historically a place of refuge. Whether the current batch of lawmakers  or perhaps those elected in November  are willing to take any of those steps is another question.
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Mexico faces a mounting crisis at its southern border, where thousands of migrants remain crowded and pressing for entry after some groups managed to break through.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo rushed to Mexico City on Friday to confer with his counterpart, and declared the situation is reaching 'a moment of crisis' and posing 'a challenge for American sovereignty.'

Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray Caso insisted Mexico would not cave to pressure to detain the migrants, saying: 'Mexico's migration policy is for Mexico to decide.'

As night fell at the border with Guatemala, many migrants prepared to camp out on the bridge over the Suchiate River, which had earlier been the scene of chaos and violent clashes with riot police.

Aerial view of a Honduran migrant caravan heading to the US, as it is stopped at a border barrier on the Guatemala-Mexico international bridge in Ciudad Hidalgo, Chiapas state, Mexico on Friday

Following clashes with Mexican police, thousands of bedraggled migrants sat down on the bridge and prepared to camp

The gated entry into Mexico via the bridge has been closed. Migrants pressed against the gates and pleaded for entry

'We're staying here until they open this fence,' said Adonai Sanchez, 36, who was traveling with his three nephews, aged two, three and 14, as they set up camp on the bridge.

In the twilight dusk, the migrants' frustration turned to despair as women clutching small children took up the rows in front of the gate pleading with the Mexican federal police.

Some migrants yelled 'We are hungry!' Others wailed that they had children while others set up tarps to prepare for the night sleeping on the increasingly dirty and befouled bridge.

'Please, it is night. Let us pass,' Alba Luz Giron Ramirez, a former shop employee and mother of three, pleaded to the officers.

Giron said they had come from San Pedro Sula, Honduras, and that gangs had killed her brother and threatened her.

'We want them to give us permission to go to Mexico,' her 5-year-old son Ramon said in a child's voice. 'We wouldn't stay.'

Honduran migrants taking part in a caravan heading to the US, rest as they arrive at the border crossing point with Mexico

As night fell at the border with Guatemala, many migrants prepared to camp out on the bridge over the Suchiate River

Honduran migrants taking part in a caravan heading to the US, rest as they arrive at the border crossing point with Mexico

Groups of Honduran migrants rest while waiting to be able to enter Mexico on the bridge from in Tecun Uman, Guatemala

Honduran migrants, part of a caravan trying to reach the U.S., are seen on the bridge that connects Mexico and Guatemala

A Honduran migrant looks at his phone on the bridge that connects Mexico and Guatemala in Ciudad Hidalgo, Mexico

Alison Danisa wept as she knelt in the garbage already piling up on the bridge, clutching her naked 11-month-old infant to her breast.

'We have suffered so much. She has a fever and we brought nothing,' she said, showing the baby's bare bottom to indicate they had no diapers.

A Mexican marine official with a loudspeaker approached the gate and told migrants they would be taken in trucks to 'a humanitarian attention center' in Tapachula, a border city in the Mexican state of Chiapas. But the official did not say when this would happen.

The scene remained tense at the final border barrier, a tall fence of white metal bars that had been the scene of violent clashes just hours earlier.

Chanting 'Yes we can!' and 'Mexico! Mexico!' migrants earlier climbed or violently tore down a series of barriers, flooding across the bridge.

The migrants could be seen passing babies overhead through the crowd. Women holding crying children by the hand or pressing their infants to their chests streamed past the broken metal barriers and onto the bridge.

Earlier on Friday, groups of migrants stormed the border gate on the Mexican side of the bridge, carrying Honduran flags

Honduran migrants await access to Mexico on the bridge that crosses the Suchiate River from Guatemala

The crowd lifted up barriers with ease, discarding them in the street as they carried on before being met with a line of police

A baby is squashed between its mother and Mexican police as the migrants try to force their way into the country on Friday

A father shields his baby daughter from the chaos as he retreats from police. Sources on the border tell DailyMail.com the police threw tear gas into the crowds before suddenly deciding to let some women and children through

The crowd broke down barriers and rushed towards the riot police, hellbent on getting through them no matter the cost

A Honduran migrant with a minor in their arms shouts at members of the Mexican police at the border crossing on Friday

The migrants hurled rocks and other objects at hundreds of riot police, who responded with rubber bullets and tear gas. At least six Mexican federal police officers were injured in the clashes.

About 50 managed to push their way through before officers unleashed pepper spray and the rest retreated, joining the sea of humanity on the bridge.

Acner Adolfo Rodriguez, 30, one of the last migrants through the breached Guatemala border fence, said he hoped to find work and a better life far from the widespread poverty and gang violence in Honduras, one of the world's deadliest countries.

'May Trump's heart be touched so he lets us through,' Rodriguez said.

Back on the bridge, scores of bedraggled migrants carrying backpacks and small children simply sat down on the bridge. Some said that they had been teargassed.

'We're running away from violence, and we arrive here and they just hit us more,' sobbed 28-year-old Marta Ornelas Cazares, who was nursing her baby -- but had lost her other two children, aged 10 and 15, in the turmoil.

'I don't know what happened, I thought we were going to cross peacefully and then suddenly there were rocks flying and tear gas,' she said.

Some migrants used a rope to jump off the bridge and swim across the river or hitch a ride on the many rafts that cross it regularly, charging a dollar or two for the crossing.

Migrants tired of waiting to cross into Mexico jumped from a border bridge into the Suchiate River on Friday

A Honduran migrant, part of a caravan trying to reach the U.S., jumps from the bridge that connects Mexico and Guatemala

Migrants used a rope bridge to ford the river and cross into Mexico, avoided border guards on the bridge above

Others used makeshift rafts made out of discarded car tires to cross the Suchiate River from Guatemala into Mexico

Honduran migrants, part of a caravan trying to reach the U.S., are seen after crossing the Suchiate River into Mexico

Manelich Castilla, the head of Mexico's federal police, said at the bridge that his officers had restored order after the rush of migrants towards the border, and would begin allowing people to be processed in an orderly fashion.

Mexican authorities insisted the migrants would have to file asylum claims one at a time in order to enter the country.

They began letting them through in a trickle - first women and children, who were ushered onto trucks and taken to shelters.

Jose Brian Guerrero, a 24-year-old Honduran traveling with neighbors and his extended family, said he had joined the caravan to escape violent street gangs, and to find work.

'There's nothing for us in our country,' said Guerrero, who used to sell beans in Honduras.

Several migrants at the Guatemala-Mexico border spoke of entire neighborhoods leaving their homes to join the trek after calls circulated on social media to form a caravan to head toward the U.S.

At least one splinter group from the main caravan managed to cross the river and is being tracked by the U.S. government as it heads north, according to documents reviewed by NBC News.

Another large caravan of roughly 1,000 Hondurans recently crossed into El Salvador heading north, threatening to exacerbate the border crisis.

Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez (above) said he had spoken to his Guatemalan counterpart Jimmy Morales for clearance to send civil protection personnel to help the Hondurans and to find transport for those wanting to return

In Honduras, a girl who hopes to migrate to the US kneels in front of a police checkpoint at the Agua Caliente border crossing on Friday. Honduran authorities have intensified immigration control measures at the checkpoint bordering Guatemala

In Tegucigalpa, Honduras protesters burn tires at the US embassy during a march in support of the caravan of migrants on Friday. Hundreds of people marched to express their solidarity with the caravan of migrants trying to reach the United States

Honduran former deputy Bartolo Fuentes, who was deported from Guatemala for organizing the massive migrant caravan heading to the US, speaks during a demonstration in front of the US embassy in Tegucigalpa, Honduras on Friday

On Friday evening, Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez said he had spoken to his Guatemalan counterpart Jimmy Morales for clearance to send civil protection personnel to help the Hondurans and to find transport for those wanting to return.

'I also asked authorization to hire ground transportation for anyone who wants to return and an air bridge for special cases of women, children, the elderly and the sick,' Hernandez tweeted. 'We'll continue this operation for as long as is necessary.'

Shortly afterwards, Guatemala's government tweeted that Hernandez would meet Morales on Saturday in Guatemala City to implement a strategy for returning the Honduran migrants.

Late Friday night, Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto said in an address to the nation that a large group of migrants had 'tried to enter Mexican territory irregularly, attacking and even hurting some elements of the Federal Police.'

'Mexico does not permit and will not permit entry into its territory in an irregular fashion, much less in a violent fashion,' he said.

Speaking in Arizona on Friday, President Donald Trump said he 'appreciated very much' Mexico's efforts to stop the caravan.

'If that doesn't work out, we're calling up the military - not the (National) Guard - we're calling up the military,' he told reporters. 'They're not coming into this country.'

You got some bad people in those groups. You got some tough people in those groups, and I'll tell you what, this country doesn't want them!' Trump said of the migrant caravan at a rally on Friday

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Foreign Affairs Secretary of Mexico Luis Videgaray (right) deliver a press conference as part of U.S. Secretary of State official visit to Mexico at Secretariat of Foreign Affairs on Friday

'These are some bad people. These aren't little angels. These are some hardened criminals coming up. And we're not letting them in,' he told reporters on Friday during a defense round-table in Arizona.

'They put all the women and children up front, to show you how brave they are,' he said.

When a reporter challenged him to produce evidence that there were criminals among the migrants, Trump scoffed: 'Oh please, please, don't be a baby.'

'Take a look, these are hardened criminals, tough people,' he said.

Trump also reiterated his claim, so far without evidence, that Democrat operatives had organized the caravan to stir chaos ahead of the mid-term elections.

In contrast to the earlier caravan six months ago, which had advanced into Mexico before officials began intensive efforts to process the migrants, the Mexican government turned its attention to the new group right on its southern border.

Honduran migrants taking part in a caravan heading to the US rest as they arrive at the border crossing point with Mexico

Mexico's government has sought assistance from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

On Friday morning, Videgaray said the caravan had close to 4,000 people and that the migrants could individually present their claims to enter Mexico or seek refugee status.

'We haven't had a caravan or group of this size seeking refuge at the same time, that's why we've sought the support of the United Nations,' he told Mexican television.

Mexico says the migrants without a legitimate case to claim refuge in Mexico will be returned to their countries of origin. A Mexican official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the country had the capacity to process around 200 people a day.

On his trip to Mexico City on Friday, Pompeo said that he had stressed the importance of stopping the caravan before it reaches the U.S. border in his conversation with Foreign Minster Videgaray Caso.

Ultimately, he said, Mexico will have to decide how it wants to deal with the crisis.

'The way that Mexico will handle this, the way that you will handle this, is your sovereign decision,' Pompeo said, turning to address Videgaray Caso. 'Mexico will make its decision.'
Right to Climb Ayers Rock blogger Marc Hendrickx (pictured) has filed a Human Rights Commission complaint alleging racial discrimination

An Uluru climber is fighting to keep the famous rock open on the back of claims traditional owners guided visitors to the top in the past.

Right to Climb Ayers Rock blogger Marc Hendrickx has filed a Human Rights Commission complaint alleging racial discrimination.

'I deeply respect the past Aboriginal owners but I think the decision to close the climb has been handled badly,' he told The Australian.

Concerns for the conservation of Uluru partly drove the decision to close it to climbers in October next year.

It was argued that tours to the summit of Uluru not only had a detrimental effect on the environment but also disrespected the traditional owners, the Anangu people.

Opponents to the closure claim crucial data was lacking at the time of the decision, and local Aboriginal people, in fact, once guided visitors to the top.

Mr Hendrickx drew up archival images and reports to back up this claim.

A 1940s film showed two Aboriginal men Tiger Tjalkalyirri and Mitjenkeri Mick guiding heading a tour to the summit.

Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park board of management chairman Sammy Wilson disputed Mr Hendrickx's claims and urged people to look beneath the surface.

He also slammed tourism authorities and a nearby resort for turning Uluru into a moneymaker.

Concerns for the conservation of Uluru (pictured) partly drove the controversial decision to close it next October

'We are teaching our kids not to climb,' Mr Wilson said.

He added it was 'a spiritual place' and noted 'can I climb your temple?'

At the moment, a sign is planted at the base of the rock: it urges visitors to not climb the feature, though many ignore it.

Mr Hendrickx visited Uluru with his daughters in July and said the view at the top was 'stunning'.

On top of closing down the rock, it is also believed five plaques at the rock's base, the chain and a historic cairn at the summit have also been ordered to be removed.

Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park board of management chairman Sammy Wilson (pictured) slammed tourism authorities and a nearby resort for turning Uluru into a moneymaker

Opponents say it would destroy the very same cultural heritage that authorities are sworn to protect.

'I believe that closing the climb and removing those monuments will breach the lease agreement,' Mr Hendrickx said.

A Parks Australia spokeswoman denied any plans to 'destroy the summit monument, chain and memorial plaques.'

The spokeswoman added Parks Australia does not agree with the 'assertion that the director of National Parks has breached the lease agreement with the Anangu traditional owners.'
The name Winx is synonymous with Australian horse racing, known for the greatest winning streak in more than a century.

But the story of how an unnamed foal became a champion is encompassed in a trifecta of good luck, a book extract from Winx: The Authorised Biography reveals, the Herald Sun reported.

A long-shot bet, an unprecedented replacement in breeding and an injury on the practice track helped shape Winx into the elite racehorse she is today.

The story of how champion racecourse Winx (pictured) rose to fame has been revealed

New Zealand horse breeder John Corcoran is known for raising winning mares.

But he would not have ever gotten started in the business if it were not for a miraculous bet coming through.

In the 1970s, Corcoran turned $8 into more than $33,000 when he picked the winner of six consecutive races.

With his winnings, he bought the stud property where Winx's lineage begins.

A trifecta of good luck allowed Winx to rise to stardom, starting more than 40 years ago

Winx's mother raced for the last time, eight years before her foal ran on the same course for the first time as a professional

Her story continues nearly 20 years later, where Winx's grandmother was bred with a unexpected mare.

Graeme Rogerson owned more horses than he could count, among them was Winx's mother Vegas Showgirl.

But the Showgirl would never have come to be if not for a partnership between Rogerson and Corocan.

The two would breed Vegas Magic, a mediocre mare, with Batavian, a champion horse past its prime.

Little known to the breeders was the ticking time bomb inside Batavian, a horse with a history of heart attacks.

The horse's heart gave out just as he was preparing to sire a child with Vegas Magic, dying at the scene.

But as luck would have it, Corocan offered a mare he had in reserve, a battler called Al Akbar, who went on to sire Vegas Showgirl.

Vegas Showgirl went on to race nine times as a two-year-old, an impressive feat for a young mare.

She raced for the final time on the Sunshine Coast in 2007, leaving behind a legacy as a capable racehorse.

Eight years later at the exact same racecourse, her second foal would begin the greatest winning streak of a generation.

Starting in May 2015, Winx has won 28 consecutive stakes races including 21 Group 1s

But Winx's emergence onto the racing scene needed one more stroke of good fortune.

Dubbed as an 'unfinished' horse, the young foal looked a long way away from appearing in a Golden Slipper.

The week she arrived at Chris Waller's stables, her owner suggested she could run as a two-year-old for educational purposes.

But the horse developed a hoof abscess, which prevented it from running in a race it wasn't prepared for.

Looking back, Waller says he realises that if the young Winx had not gone lame that Christmas, she would probably have run in the 2014 Gold Slipper in the autumn and probably lost.

Instead, starting in May 2015, she has won 28 consecutive stakes races including 21 Group 1s.

She will next run in the Cox Plate at Moonee Valley on October 28.

Her complete story is being unveiled in an autobiography written by Andrew Rule.
Liberal candidate Dave Sharma's Saturday could go from bad to worse after a tough day of campaigning as voters went to the polls in the Wentworth by-election.

Mr Sharma was mobbed by climate change protesters with a coordinated 'sign-bombing' during his photo and media opportunity at a polling station in Rose Bay.

The Morrison government is set to lose its one seat majority if Mr Sharma does not win ousted Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's former seat in Sydney's eastern suburbs, which has never been held by anyone outside the Liberal party.

Climate change protesters photobombed Dave Sharma's election day press conference in Rose Bay on Saturday during the Wentworth by-election

Protesters made it a difficult morning for Liberal candidate David Sharma on Saturday, the day of the Wentworth by-election

Independent candidate and renowned GP Dr Kerryn Phelps is the hot favourite to win the crucial by-election and is at $1.30 short-priced odds with Sportsbet.

Dr Phelps is 10 per cent ahead of her Liberal rival in the latest poll with 55 per cent of the two-party preferred vote, compared to 45 per cent.

Voting closed at 6pm with a result likely to be declared later on Saturday night.

Early voting results have revealed swings of up to 30 per cent against the Liberals, according to Sky News, which has already declared Dr Phelps will win.

ABC analyst Antony Green has also declared victory to Dr Phelps.

Mr Sharma told reporters he had heard from Mr Turnbull in recent days, who has just returned from a holiday in New York.

Mr Sharma acknowledged it would be a tough election to win.

'We're competitive but I think it's going to be close,' Mr Sharma told News Corp.

By-election rivals Dave Sharma and Dr Kerryn Phelps wished each other well on Saturday

'It's a pretty hard race to model with 16 candidates and multiple preferential flows and a strong independent.'

Mr Sharma had the support of former Prime Minister Tony Abbott's sister Christine Forster, who handed out how-to-vote cards.

'It's important that people who have traditionally voted Liberal put whatever disappointments about what has happened in Canberra aside and stick with the party,' Ms Forster told News Corp.

Dr Phelps, pictured shaking hands with her biggest rival, is tipped to become the new Wentworth MP on Saturday night and become the first non-Liberal candidate to win the seat

Mr Sharma later shook hands with his biggest rival Dr Phelps at Bondi Beach Public School, where they wished each other well.

Dr Phelps' campaign staff told 9 News they were not getting ahead of themselves but said plenty of how to vote cards were being taken by voters at polling booths

'I don't think anyone can be confident - we don't really know how this is going to turn out,' she told AAP.

'I'm trying to turn around a massive majority and I'm doing that by focusing on the issues that are important.'

Some of the candidates which were vying to win Saturday's Wentworth by-election

Voters in Sydney's eastern suburbs went to the polls in the Wentworth by-election on Saturday after former Prime Minister and local member Malcolm Turnbull quit politics

Prime Minister Scott Morrison acknowledged Wentworth voters are 'grumpy' with the government in the wake of the recent leadership challenge which saw their MP Mr Turnbull quit politics.

'I know there has been the events of a couple of months ago,' Mr Morrison told the Today Show on Friday.

Mr Turnbull's Daisy Turnbull-Brown was among the thousands of voters who went to the polls on Saturday.

Oscar the pooch pledged his support for independent Licia Heath on Saturday

'This is the first federal ballot that I have voted for someone who isn't my Dad,' she posted on Instagram, along with a photo of the ballot paper.

'The voters of Wentworth have elected an excellent candidate for the past 14 years, and I'm sure they'll do the same today. Enjoy the democracy sausage!'

Her father commented: 'Thank you darling daughter, couldn't have done it without your love and support.'
A top chief constable has called for an outright ban on the sale of fireworks in order to stop young people 'terrorising' communities.

Greater Manchester Police's chief constable Ian Hopkins said he didn't want to come across as a 'party pooper', but that the law needed to be made stricter in order to combat anti-social behaviour.

Mr Hopkins said the use of the pyrotechnics should be restricted to professional displays so they will no longer used by young people to 'terrorise' communities.

Ian Hopkins (pictured) has called for an outright ban on the sale of fireworks to combat anti social behavior

Mr Hopkins who has been GMP Chief Constable since 2015 and lead the force's response to the devastating 2017 Manchester Arena bomb, which killed 22 people, made the comments after some residents said they were living in fear following fireworks being set off at an estate in Tameside.

'We cannot go and purchase a weapon, the sale of knives is being restricted,' he said.

'The time has come to do the same around fireworks.'

Mr Hopkins said that police services struggled to cope in the run-up to Halloween, Bonfire night and Diwali due to the vast amounts of fireworks being let off in residential areas.

'We need to restrict the sales to young people who think it is acceptable to go around and terrorise communities,' he told BBC Radio Manchester on Wednesday.

'The answer cannot be that more firefighters and more police officers turn up to deal with this and people are scared to go out of their homes.'

However, his calls were slammed by the Hindu Council who branded his claims as an 'overreaction', the Telegraph reported.

Co-chair of the Hindu Council UK, Satya Minhas, said fireworks bring communities together and that as long as people used common sense, it shouldn't be a problem.

'The chief constable can say what he think is appropriate, but I think it's an overreaction.

Mr Hopkins said that police services struggled to cope in the run-up to Halloween, Bonfire night and Diwali

'As a community fireworks are important - they bring us together. Clearly if one person wants hundreds that shouldn't be allowed, but there's nothing wrong in people letting off the odd one or two.

'As long as people use their common sense, it should be allowed.'

This is while police chief also highlighted that parents needed to take more responsibility for their children in the run up to festivities which involved fireworks and said anti-social behavior during these times could be curbed if a ban was implemented.

Last November over 40,000 people signed a petition calling for a new law banning the use of fireworks - restricting them only official displays such as New Year's Eve celebrations in Manchester (left and right)

'Parents have a responsibility in this, particularly at this time of year,' Mr Hopkins said.

'Where are your young ones, are they out, do you know what they are doing?

'The dangers of fireworks and the way that they being used - I think the time has come that the sale is restricted far more than it currently is.'

The calls from GMP's Chief Constable come as people on an estate in Tameside, Manchester (pictured) said they were afraid to leave their homes in case they were attacked with fireworks

During the phone-in, presenter Mike Sweeney asked Mr Hopkins how the ban would work and said: 'So you wouldn't actually be able to buy them for personal use at all, they would only be at an organised event?'

In response Mr Hopkins said: 'I think so. It needs thinking through, because there are birthdays and New Year and all of that sort of stuff.

'But there should be stronger licensing around the way we purchase these sorts of things.

People in Tameside, Manchester (pictured) have said its like living in a war zone with constant bangs and flashes

At present, fireworks can be purchased by anyone 18 years of age or older but it is against the law for them to be used on the street or in public places. It is also illegal to set off fireworks between 11pm and 7am, except on certain occasions.

Anyone under the age of 18 cannot buy fireworks and it is also illegal for them to possess them in a public place. People can be fined up to 5,000 and imprisoned for up to six months for selling or using them illegally.

One listener, Aimee Henderson had called into the show which had been focusing on yobs wreaking street havoc, and told them fireworks have turned her hometown of Ashton-under-Lyne into a war zone.

Aimee said: 'Every year is seems to be getting worse, because they know they are getting away with it, the kids with the fireworks.

'Last year a woman actually got attacked by all these kids. She went out to confront them to tell them to stop and she ended up in hospital.'

Mr Hopkins told her: 'If there is a particular problem in (your) area we can make sure us, the local authority and fire service work together to resolve that.

'Nobody should be attacked with fireworks - I go back to what I was said about restricting the sales.'

Last November over 40,000 people signed a petition calling for a new law banning the use of fireworks - restricting them only official displays.

Under current UK law, the sale of fireworks is restricted to certain holidays throughout the year including Chinese New Year, the three days before New Year's Eve, the three days before Diwali and from 15 October to 10 November for Guy Fawkes Night.
15-year-old Natasha Ednan-Laperouse died after eating a baguette from Pret A Manger which contained sesame

Fast-food chains are failing to produce adequate labelling for food which contains allergens, despite the recent inquest into the death of a 15-year-old girl who died after eating baguette containing sesame, which was incorrectly labelled.

A recent report found that staff at several fast-food chains failed to correctly identify whether or not popular items had certain allergens in.

During the research, items with sesame seeds, celery and mustard were ordered to see if lessons had been learned in the wake of the inquest of 15-year-old Natasha Ednan-Laperouse who had died after consuming sesame at a Pret A Manager branch.

The allergens in the foods selected were among 14 which firms are required to list. In each outlet tested, staff were asked if the products contained allergens. Seven of the 15 establishments failed to check the foods, warranting them as safe for consumption.

Bakery chain Greggs emerged as the most careful out of the fast food chains. When asked if an Oval Bite contained sesame, Newcastle and Walsall staff either checked the packet, a nutrition guide or with a colleague.

The Mirror reported that at a Burger King in Peckham, South East London, the reporter asked if a Chicken Royale had sesame in. The server shook her head and said 'No'. Yet the bun does.

Staff at a Burger King in Peckham failed to give the correct advice regarding a sesame bun

At a nearby KFC, staff were asked if a Fillet Burger contained sesame  again, it has it in the bun.

The server replied, 'I don't know', before asking a colleague, who told her there was no sesame.

At a South London branch of Subway, staff were asked if a six-inch Teriyaki Chicken Breast Sub on Italian bread contained the allergen. He replied: 'No, there is no sesame in that bread.' But it is in the meat filling.

The various chains were visited in a bid to find out if they were correctly labelling foods which contained allergens

Correct allergy advice was given at McDonald's in Peckham. However in Newcastle, a Spicy Chicken Wrap was ordered, asked if it contained celery, the server said 'No' and listed the main ingredients.

McDonald's said: 'We recently reminded and reiterated all of our restaurants and crew about procedures.' It said an allergen booklet was available in each branch, with allergy information on its app, ordering systems and tray liners.'

At Domino's Pizza in Gateshead, staff were asked about the celery in a Texan BBQ pizza. The assistant did not check the nutrition leaflets and listed toppings.

KFC said they try to make allergen information as visible as possible across their branches

Domino's apologised for its Gateshead team's mistake, adding: 'Allergen information is available via our website, app and also through leaflets in store.'

It said celery is in its BBQ sauce, with relevant products listed, with no sesame used.

In Walsall, West Midlands, Domino's staff provided the reporter with a booklet to check through the ingrediants. At a KFC in the town, correct advice was given. Yet when asked if its Chicken Fillet Tower Burger had celery, a server at its Newcastle branch said: 'No, just lettuce.'

McDonald's (pictured) said the company had recently reminded and reiterated all restaurants and crew about procedures when it comes to allergens

The city's Subway and Nando's gave correct advice, though Burger King staff there gave incorrect mustard advice on its Crispy Chicken Burger. They said there was no mustard on the burger, whereas staff at the chain's Walsall branch gave correct information on the allergen.

Subway said: 'We take this matter very seriously and are immediately following up with all stores to ensure customers receive accurate information via access to clear information in store'.

KFC said: 'We try to make allergen information as visible as possible. When asked, our teams are trained to direct customers to full details on tray liners.

'That information is also available on our website or app. We'll certainly follow up with all of our restaurants.'

Burger King UK said: 'Communicating allergens clearly is a top priority. We are proactively working with franchisees to reinforce current procedures. We continually review training procedures to ensure allergen standards are upheld.'
Residents living in protected areas of land will have to accept the development of new homes, a Government adviser has said.

During his review Julian Glover said that more homes needed to be built and raised the idea of creating national parks on the edge of major cities such as Birmingham.

He is currently deciding whether more areas can be added to the list of England's treasured national parks.

His proposal comes as Environment Secretary Michael Gove asks the public to choose what areas of land across England could be added to the country's national park areas.

Government adviser Julian Glover is currently deciding whether more areas can be added to England's national parks list

Mr Glover told The Daily Telegraph: 'Almost all people who run national parks want houses-but you want the right kind.

'What we need are houses that people can afford, that are designed properly, in relatively small numbers, not big developments in one place but add three of four houses into one village- and keeping a stead supply.'

Mr Glover, who is heading the government review, added that as populations in the parks are not consistent they would not require a vast amount of new houses.

He also said that he wanted to encourage small developers to build the new houses on these protected areas of land.

Environment Secretary Michael Gove has asked the public to choose what areas of land across England could be added to the country's national park areas

The first national park in England was created in 1951 and now there are ten protected areas on the list. Pictured: Serpentine Road in the Peak District

England's first national was created in 1951 and since then the list has grown to ten areas.

The current protected areas of countryside in England are: Peak District, North York Moors, Northumberland, New Forest, Lake District, Exmoor, Dartmoor, Broads, Yorkshire Dales and South Downs.

Alongside his development plans, the Government adviser is also open to the idea of creating national parks on the edge of cities, with Birmingham Mayor Andy Street a strong advocate to this proposal.

The review, which began this year, set out to both conserve and enhance England's most cherished landscapes and ensure the areas are fit for future generations.
Police have insisted that they haven't lost control of the streets in the wake of reports that a father-of-two was 'murdered by drug dealers' outside his flat.

Last night Murder Squad cops charged two suspects over the killing of Ian Tomlin, who was murdered on the London estate where more than 50 people were arrested for drug offences last year.

Michael Swan, 45, and Gary Beech, 48, were arrested at separate London addresses on Thursday and charged on Friday, 24 hours after former boxer Mr Tomlin, 46, was murdered.

But an investigation has revealed that police had no suspect in nearly a quarter of crimes which happened on the Doddington Estate in Battersea, South West London.

Last night Murder Squad cops arrested two suspects over the killing of Ian Tomlin (pictured)

Superintendent Peter Gardner, head of the CID at Wandsworth Police, denied that the Metropolitan Police had lost control of street crime.

He said: 'I certainly don't feel it's like that, but I understand residents' frustration.

'We will do everything to bring this investigation to conclusion, and justice to those involved, and continue to do so, for all instances like this.

'I don't feel at all that we've lost control of the streets, I think that's not at all accurate.'

Mr Gardner said there had been previous drug-related problems on the estate.

Police at the scene in Battersea, south London yesterday evening where shocked witnesses say the 'devoted' father was left in a pool of blood

He would not confirm or deny reports that a gunshot was heard by locals a few weeks previously.

An operation in the area last year saw 54 arrests of people for drugs and other related offences, including possession of an offensive weapon.

Mr Gardner said the recent arrests were made following information passed to the police by the public.

Floral tributes lay near the scene in Charlotte Despand Avenue in Battersea

He did not say whether the men were residents of the estate or if they knew the victim.

He said: 'This is a tragic incident and it's absolutely senseless.

'We will do everything within our power to investigate this fully, bring those responsible to justice and to support the family through this devastating time.'

CCTV footage had also been 'instrumental' in aiding officers.

Police and forensics at the scene of the violent incident at a block of flats in Battersea, south London. They have now launched a murder investigation

The victim  believed to be a driver for the local council  frequently confronted drug dealers on the estate, his father has said.

Scotland Yard confirmed this was one line of inquiry the force was looking into.

Stats show police are called to the estate daily, with 392 crimes reported over the last year. Officers failed to identify a suspect in 89  with charges in just 14.

After Scotland Yard launched a murder investigation, official figures showed a 14% increase in police-recorded homicide offences, from 630 to 719 in a year.

Police were called to a group fighting in a communal area at about 5.30pm.

Medics battled to save the father's life at the scene in Charlotte Despard Avenue, but he was pronounced dead 45 minutes later.

Police at the scene in Charlotte Despard Avenue, Battersea

Mr Tomlin's grieving father Cecil, 84, who arrived from Jamaica in the 1950s as part of the 'Windrush generation', said his son shared his fears over people dealing drugs outside his ground floor flat two months ago.

The father-of-five, who lives nearby, said: 'The attack was inside the block. He said, 'Don't sell here'.

'He has been afraid of them. He'd told them to go away before and I think they had threatened him before and attacked him one time too.

'He was a good man, he works hard. He was a good father who loved his kids, he loved playing with them in the park.'

Mr Tomlin's children, a boy and a girl aged around ten, are said to live with their mother in another flat in the same block.

His father added: 'The problem with drug dealers has got much worse. They sit on the stairs or the bench and smoke cannabis. If I cause trouble I'm scared they'll kill me.

'I've rung the police before to tell them they are doing it and they did nothing. Maybe if they came more often the attack on Ian wouldn't have happened.'

A post-mortem examination was taking place on Friday.

Swan and Beech are due to face Wimbledon magistrates today charged with Mr Tomlin's murder.
A Jetstar flight was forced to turn around after two flight attendants became ill due to an unusual smell in the cabin.

Flight JQ 772 left Melbourne airport about 11.45am on Saturday and was headed for Adelaide, but the captain made the choice to turn back.

Just half an hour after leaving Melbourne airport, the Airbus A320 touched back down.

Flight JQ 772 left Melbourne airport about 11.45am and was headed for Adelaide, but the captain made the choice to turn back (stock image)

Paramedics were immediately called and both flight attendants were treated at the scene.

They were then taken to hospital for observation, both crew members remained in a stable condition.

It is understood the two were overcome by fumes after they noticed the smell, believed to be caused by cleaning product residue.

A Jetstar spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia it was the captain's decision to turn the flight around.

'The Captain decided to return to Melbourne as a precaution due to two of our crew reporting feeling unwell after an unusual smell in the back galley,' the spokesperson said.

'Our crew have been assessed by medical staff and our engineers are inspecting the aircraft.'

Just half an hour after leaving Melbourne airport (pictured), the Airbus A320 touched back down

Jetstar said they made sure to accomodate all customers by putting them on a replacement aircraft.

The flight was delayed until early Saturday evening, leaving Melbourne just after 5pm.

The airline also said no other passengers or crew were reported unwell on the flight.
Australia has a hung federal parliament after independent Dr Kerryn Phelps claimed victory in the Wentworth by-election, becoming the first independent to hold the seat.

The shock result in former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull's seat in Sydney's eastern suburbs means the Morrison Government has lost its one seat majority.

Sky News and ABC analyst Antony Green declared victory to Dr Phelps within 90 minutes after polling booths closed at 6pm on Saturday.

A jubilant Dr Phelps was all smiles as she made her grand entrance at her election party at North Bondi Life Saving Club at around 8pm, where she hugged and danced with supporters.

'I won't let you down,' the well-known GP told the crowd.

Independent Dr Kerryn Phelps is the new Wentworth MP and has become the first non-Liberal to hold the seat

Dr Kerryn Phelps with her wife Jackie after her historic victory in the Sydney seat of Wentworth

'Just a few short weeks ago I was told this was an impossible task and if we actually managed to win the seat of Wentworth, that it would be a miracle. It was said if we won the seat of Wentworth, it would make history, and, my friends, we have made history today.'

With 38 of 41 polling places returned and almost 55 per cent of votes counted, she's currently ahead with 54.64 per cent in the projected two party preferred vote.

The Liberals suffered a whopping 21.8 per cent swing, the biggest ever recorded in a by-election in Australian federal politics.

The two-party Liberal Party vote went from 67.7 per cent under Malcolm Turnbull in 2016 to 45 per cent, after preferences.

The new Wentworth MP (pictured) hugged and danced with supporters when she made her grand entrance to election party celebrations

The win to Kerryn Phelps (pictured) means that the Morrison Government has lost its one seat majority

The ABC count shows a 22 per cent swing against the Liberal Party on primary votes, compared with Malcolm Turnbull's 62 per cent result in 2016, for a first-preference vote of 40 per cent.

Kerryn Phelps was on 33 per cent. After preferences, the ABC was projecting a 55-45 per cent win for the former head of the Australian Medical Association.

Dr Phelps hopes the victory will signal a return of decency, integrity and humanity to the Australian Government.

'What we have done is tapped into a sentiment in the Australian people, to talk about the issues that are important to them. This victory is for the people in Australia who need a voice,' Dr Phelps said.

She later told Sky News: 'I believe people want politics to move to the sensible centre. I believe they are interested in having strong, local representation. I will vote on good legislation if I see it.'

Election night celebrations were a bit more subdued in Double Bay for Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Liberal candidate David Sharma (right)

Dr Phelps hopes her by-election victory will signal a return of decency, integrity and humanity to the Australian Government

Dr Phelps (pictured) vowed to not let constituents down in her election victory speech

Liberal candidate Dave Sharma conceded defeat shortly afterwards, where he was briefly joined by Prime Minister Scott Morrison at his election party in Double Bay.

'Tonight's result has been over a little sooner than I expected. I'm certainly glad I kept my day job,' Mr Sharma joked to supporters.

The gracious candidate paid tribute to Dr Phelps, whom he described as a formidable citizen and vowed to do anything he could to support her in her new role.

Mr Sharma also thanked Wentworth voters.

'Wentworth is indeed a remarkable place, full of talented and interesting and hard-working people, who have been generous enough to share with me their concerns and their priorities and their issues over the past several weeks and who I have enjoyed getting to know greatly and sharing their life stories with them greatly,' he said.

Before rushing off to the Invictus Games opening ceremony, Mr Morrison described Saturday as a tough day at the office.

He vowed to 'listen and learn' from the result.

Kerryn Phelps' supporters are jubilant after Saturday's by-election result in Wentworth

'What has happen here in Wentworth is not unexpected. Liberals are angry and they've expressed that,' Mr Morrison said.

'They've expressed that and I want to make something really clear: The result today is on us, the Liberals, not on Dave Sharma. I know this is a tough day, but leadership requires you to turn up on the tough days and the good days, and that's what you will always get from me as the Leader of the Liberal Party. As a party, we will continue to rise again.

Mr Turnbull's son Alex welcomed the result against the Liberals, which Dr Phelps later retweeted.

Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull's son let his feelings known about the election result

'I want to make something really clear: The result today is on us, the Liberals, not on Dave Sharma,' Prime Minister Scott Morrison told Liberal supporters

'Incredible result and proud of the people of Wentworth. A hearty congratulations to Dr Kerryn Phelps who fought a great campaign. A great day for Australian democracy,' he tweeted on Saturday night.

It's the first time ever the Liberals haven't held the seat.

'Since 1901 Wentworth has provided the Liberal Party with two leaders, one PM, one deputy leader, a Treasurer, and an Attorney-General. It's never been lost before. Today, Wentworth has called time on arrogance, incompetence, dysfunction,' shadow treasurer Chris Bowen tweeted.

Long-time Liberal voter turned campaigner for Dr Phelps, Peter Chadwick, said it was the first time he did not vote for the party.

'I just couldn't do it, I thought they've gone too far to the right,' he told AAP.

'I'm feeling elated. I was hoping and I thought it would be very close. I didn't think it would be as quick as this.'

Earlier on in the night, deputy opposition leader Tanya Plibersek described the result as disastrous for Mr Morrison and publicly urged him on Sky News to call an early election.

Dr Phelps' election party celebrations are in full swing at North Bondi Life Saving Club

'As a party, we will continue to rise again,' Scott Morrison, pictured with Dave Sharma said

'A hearty congratulations to Dr Kerryn Phelps (pictured) who fought a great campaign,' former Malcolm Turnbull's son Alex tweeted on Saturday night

'Australians want better from their government,' Ms Plibersek later tweeted.

'They want a stable government focused on them and their families. They want a strong economy and a fair society - where everyone can get a great education and healthcare, can get a job with decent pay and conditions, and afford to live a good life.'

Former Turnbull government minister Craig Laundy hopes the former prime minister isn't blamed for the loss in his former seat.

'If we do lose this seat tonight one of the interesting things we are going to see is how quickly those that were responsible (for the leadership challenge) try to turn it to: 'It's Malcolm's fault, not what we did,' Mr Laundy told Sky News.

'I argued all the way through for stability and loyalty and came up short but it's our job now and I think there is an internal struggle within the party sadly about where we go going forward.'

'It was said if we won the seat of Wentworth, it would make history, and, my friends, we have made history today,' Dr Phelps told the crowd
This is the shocking moment a Muslim pupil has her headscarf ripped off by a schoolgirl before being punched and kicked in a violent assault.

Disturbing footage of the fight was captured by onlookers at a tram stop in Oldham, Greater Manchester.

The Muslim schoolgirl appears to be using a mobile phone as she is taunted by another female pupil who asks her if she wants 'the first go.'

Disturbing footage captured at a tram stop in Oldham, Greater Manchester, shows the victim's headscarf being ripped off before she is punched, kicked and slapped

When the victim does not respond, the girl tries to grab the device out of her hand before launching into a violent assault.

Her attacker then strips the headscarf and glasses from the victim's head and continues her savage assault by hitting her in the face.

The victim tries to defend herself but the schoolgirl retaliates by kicking her repeatedly in the legs and punching her in the face.

Eventually another school pupil bravely steps in to stop the violence with the help of a mother pushing a baby in a pram - who appears to swear at the attacker as she walks away.

A crowd of schoolchildren are gathered to watch the fight as the attacker violently hits the victim

A crowd of around a dozen children in uniform can be heard jeering throughout the horrific attack.

However the school suggested the assault was not racist and that it arose from a 'misunderstanding'.

In a statement made on its Facebook page, the school said: 'The academy is aware of a video currently being circulated on social media involving pupils in a physical altercation on a public road.

'At Royton and Crompton E-ACT Academy, we absolutely do not tolerate physical or verbal abuse of any kind amongst pupils, and we are taking this matter extremely seriously.

The victim tries to defend herself but the schoolgirl retaliates. eventually another school pupil steps in along with a mother pushing a pram

'We have been in contact with both pupils' families and we understand that the incident was not racially motivated, but escalated from a misunderstanding between the two pupils.

'As an important part of our local community, we will continue to set the highest expectations of pupil behaviour both in and out of the academy.'

Greater Manchester Police has been approached for comment.
A father-of-two was 'murdered by his next door neighbour and another man', a court heard today.

Neighbour Gary Beech, 48, and Michael Swan, 45, appeared before a magistrate charged with killing former boxer Ian Tomlin, 46.

They spoke only to confirm their names, ages, addresses and British nationalities before being remanded in custody to appear before the Old Bailey on Wednesday.

Beech confirmed that he had been living next door to Mr Tomlin on the ground floor of Cromwell House in Doddington Estate, a floor below the father's two young children.

Neighbour Gary Beech, 48, and Michael Swan, 45, appeared before a magistrate charged with killing former boxer Ian Tomlin, 46 (pictured)

Meanwhile Swan lived in a plush apartment in Wandsworth, south West London.

Prosecutor Toks Adesuyan told Wimbledon Magistrates' Court: 'Both defendants are charged with an offence which can only be tried in crown court.

'No applications to make a bail application this morning.'

They were arrested on Thursday night, 24 hours after Mr Tomlin, the son of a Windrush immigrant, died in his block in Battersea on Wednesday.

Beech confirmed that he had been living next door to Mr Tomlin on the ground floor of Cromwell House in Doddington Estate, a floor below the father's two young children (pictured the Battersea estate)

Battersea residents slam 'rich-poor divide' between plush park-view properties and drug-dealing estate which is 'breeding ground for criminals'

Residents of the estate where a father died claim the area is a 'breeding ground for criminals'.

However in stark contrast just two streets away the more fortunate inhabitants of the Wandsworth borough live in stunning period properties with a view of Battersea Park.

Although crime still exists on these streets, it apparently scarcely affects the residents who reside in the properties which can sell for up to 2million.

Ian Tomlin, 46, was allegedly brutally murdered by two men on Wednesday evening.

Residents of the Doddington estate where Mr Tomlin was killed have claimed their is a stark rich-poor divide between them and the plush redbrick houses just two streets away

An operation in the area last year saw 54 arrests of people for drugs and other related offences, including possession of an offensive weapon.

One resident has claimed that the people who live on the estate have been forgotten about, reports the Sun.

Sam Walker, who visits his mother on the estate, told the outlet that there is a rich-poor-divide in the area and he worries about coming to see her.

He said the posh houses just a short walk from whether his mother lives are world's away from the flat she occupies.

Mr Walker added: 'I bet the police would be there in a heartbeat if drug dealers were on their roads.'

A woman, who lives on the more upmarket side of town, said that she doesn't worry about crime in the area and had no idea that a man had been killed nearby.

Former residents association member Joe Stuart told the outlet that he has lived on the estate for more than 40 years and in the last few years the crime level has risen dramatically.

Police and forensics at the scene of the incident at a block of flats in Battersea, south London

He alleged that police in the area don't do anything about the high levels of crime so people have stopped asking for help.

He said: 'They have to make their own protection and form gangs around them to keep them safe but it doesn't solve the problem.

'Criminals and drug dealers are being sent to live here so it becomes a breeding ground and everyone is too scared to say anything.

Mr Stuart added that the gangs try to intimidate the people who live in the area.

A third resident of the estate, who has lived their for 20 years, said that they have previously found people injecting themselves on stairwells.

Ian Tomlin's family comfort each other at the scene of the violent crime in south London

The person, who wanted to remain nameless, said that they refuse to leave the house after dark and the crime is killing the community.

They reinforced the area that if Mr Tomlin lived just 10 minutes away it wouldn't have happened.

An investigation revealed that nearly a quarter of crimes which happened on the estate had no suspect.

Yesterday, Superintendent Peter Gardner, head of the CID at Wandsworth Police, denied that the Metropolitan Police had lost control of street crime.

He said: 'I certainly don't feel it's like that, but I understand residents' frustration.

'We will do everything to bring this investigation to conclusion, and justice to those involved, and continue to do so, for all instances like this.

'I don't feel at all that we've lost control of the streets, I think that's not at all accurate.'
A 22-month old boy miraculously survived a python five times his size locking its jaws around his arm and coiling itself around his tiny body.

Naish Dobson had been playing on the veranda of his home in Julatten, North Queensland last Saturday when the 4.2 metre scrub python grabbed him out of view from his family.

It was only when his mother Amanda Rutland came to check on Naish and saw his three-year-old sister Evie-Blue backing up that she realised something was wrong.

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Toddler Naish Dobson (pictured) miraculously survived a python five times his size locking its jaws around his arm and coiling itself around his tiny body

Naish had been playing on the veranda of his home in Julatten, northern Queensland last Saturday when the 4.2m scrub python (pictured on the veranda) grabbed him out of view from his family

'Because it's a pole home and he was right behind a pole, I couldn't see him,' she told the Cairns Post.

'My daughter started backing up and looking at me really weird and I thought "uh-oh something's wrong".'

The mother-of-two raced around the corner to see the snake had bitten Naish and coiled three times around his right arm.

She was bitten herself when she tried to pull the python's jaw's off her son.

But the boy's grandfather Ron Rutland allowed him to stage a remarkable escape when he emerged with a knife and stabbed the python down the spine.

The snake loosened its grip on the one-year-old, but then turned its attention to Mr Rutland as well - forcing the grandfather to kill the defiant reptile.

The infant's mother realised her son, who had been hidden out of view when the snake grabbed him, had been bitten (wounds and brusing pictured) and coiled around three times by the python

'The snake had wrapped itself three times around my arm and was starting to go for hard meat,' the grandfather told Channel 7.

'I yelled to my wife to get me a knife and she came out with a kitchen knife - albeit the bluntest one in the place.'

The blade was still brutally effective and Naish was freed.

He was then taken to Cairns Hospital to be treated for the snake bites and bruising.

Incredibly the only victim of the ordeal was the snake - which died from its injuries.

The family believe the snake had been hanging around the veranda for as long as 18 months eating rats and mice.

The bite of a scrub python is non-venomous but the snake has been known to cause death by constriction.

The reptile breed is the largest in Australia and can grow up to 8m long.
Britains former head of counter terrorism said yesterday it was a disgrace that tech giants had given Anjem Choudary a platform as he dismissed him as just a pathetic groomer.

Mark Rowley, the former national lead for the UKs counter-terrorism policing, blamed sites like Google and YouTube for elevating his status and giving him a higher profile than he deserved.

Mr Rowley, who was the Metropolitan Assistant Commissioner when Choudary was jailed for five-and-a-half-years in 2016 for urging support for Islamic State, said: At the end of the day he is a pathetic groomer of others.

Mark Rowley, the former national lead for the UKs counter-terrorism policing, blamed sites like Google and YouTube for elevating the status of Anjem Choudary

That is what he has done in the past. He is not some sort of evil genius we all need to be afraid of.

I think we have to recognise that radicalisers look to generate a profile, look to prey on the vulnerable and we need to be thoughtful about how we report their activity.

He told BBC Radio 4s Today programme: Its pretty depressing if you Google UK Muslim spokesman and he comes up as the first hit.

For goodness sake, we have a very impressive Muslim mayor of London, a Muslim home secretary and he comes up as the first hit.

On YouTube he is four of the first ten videos.

That is giving him a profile because these companies chase your attention through the salacious and contentious rather than through anything accurate or responsible.

That is the disgrace in this and it gives people like him, who is a sad individual, more credibility and more attention than they deserve.

The former anti-terror chief said: 'Its pretty depressing if you Google UK Muslim spokesman and he comes up as the first hit'

The retired police leader said work was being done to get the US to tweak legislation so that silicon valley tech companies alter their treatment of radical hate speech.

He predicted the next decade would see a mix of persuasion, balanced with regulation because he said it would take a lot to change the way firms such as YouTube operated.

When Choudary was jailed, many of his twisted posts and videos which inspired hundreds of Britons to carry out terror attacks, remained online as Twitter and YouTube refused to remove them.

Counter terrorism police had to make repeated efforts to get his sickening Twitter posts and ISIS recruitment videos taken down after Choudary signed an oath of allegiance to the Caliphate pledging support for the terrorism group.

Mr Rowley, who was the Metropolitan Assistant Commissioner when Choudary was jailed for five-and-a-half-years in 2016 for urging support for Islamic State

But social media firms resisted for months despite police demonstrating that his rants clearly promote terrorism and have encouraged scores of his followers to plot atrocities around the world.

When he was jailed in 2016, Choudary had more than 32,000 followers on Twitter.

Experts estimated that 300 of his followers who went to fight with IS in Syria had been radicalised by Choudary who sent out at least 10 Tweets a day, hundreds of videos and thousands of press releases.

Yet at his trial at the Old Bailey it emerged that police have no power to force social media corporations to remove material from the internet even if it was believed to have fallen foul of UK anti-terror laws.

Around 95 per cent of terrorist content on Twitter is removed proactively through our technology, the firm claims.

A spokesman for Twitter said: We dont comment on individual accounts for privacy and security reasons.

Choudarys YouTube account was eventually taken down months after his conviction.

Most terrorist material on YouTube is now flagged automatically by machine learning.

A YouTube spokeswoman said: Content from known terrorists, terrorist organisations or content promoting terrorism is not allowed on YouTube.

Thats why weve invested heavily in people, technology such as Machine Learning and collaborated with other tech companies to fight it.

Google was approached for comment.
The SAS are shown to be 'a bunch of military monks' but this is far from the truth, a former special forces commander has said.

Lieutenant-General Sir Cedric Delves, 71, said that the special force troops were normal people too and that 'inventive writing' about the force were exacerbated following the 1980 Iranian embassy siege in London.

Following the raid at the South Kensington building, tales of the SAS became wildly exaggerated according to Sir Cedric.

Lieutenant-General Sir Cedric Delves, 71, said that the SAS were not always painted accurately and that there was a lot of 'inventive writing' about the force. (Stock photo of Falklands Conflict)

The former SAS Commander said that troops are usually placed up on a pedestal which can become unhelpful.

He told The Times: 'It was absurd some of it. It didn't help. It distorts the relationship with our colleagues.'

Sir Cedric joined the Army in 1966 and later joined the SAS, which he commanded at every level.

He led the Special Forces before serving as Commander of the Field Army.

The former SAS Commander said that myths about the force became exaggerated following the 1980 Iranian embassy siege in London. (Stock photo of Falklands Conflict)

In 2003, he was medically discharged after losing a leg to a drunk driver.

His book Across an Angry Sea gives a first person narrative of the Falklands War and recounts his experiences of commanding D Squadron.

Aiming to give an accurate portrayal of those on the front line Sir Cedric said he has tried to be honest in his book.

His new book Across an Angry Sea gives an honest account of life in the SAS during the Falklands War and recounts the his experiences of commanding D Squadron

He told The Times: 'Ultimately that's more helpful. Then people have the right expectation of their forces, whether they're special forces or conventional forces.

'We are not a bunch of occidental military monks and particularly brutal with it. We're quite normal.'

He added that while it took special skills to become a troop, the force retained their humanity in a way the public can be proud of.

Across An Angry Sea chronicles Sir Cedric's honest account of events during the Falklands War and reflects on the tight-knit band of brothers that belonged to the SAS.
Safety concerns have forced a famous restaurant tram off the tracks, leaving owners of the iconic restaurant furious and hundreds of customers with cancelled bookings.

Colonial Tramcar Restaurants ground to a halt after Yarra Trams suspended the famous restaurant from its usual route circling Melbourne's inner city.

A recent inspection found the structural elements of the three trams badly weathered.

It concluded the trams - built in 1947, 1948 and 1950 - posed a safety risk in the case of a collision.

Colonial Tramcar Restaurants (pictured) was forced off the tracks after Yarra Trams suspended the famous restaurant from its usual route circling Melbourne's inner city

'While we appreciate that this decision is disappointing for the restaurant tram, patrons and employees, we cannot allow trams on the network that do not meet safety standards,' a Yarra Trams spokeswoman told the Herald Sun.

Customers have been offered an immediate refund, the option to hold their booking for a later date, or to eat in a stationary car on the tracks near the Southbank depot.

Belinda Arlove had planned months ahead to eat at the restaurant for an annual catch up with friends she's known for 57 years. She said that's not going to happen anymore.

'There's no way I'm going to sit in a stationary tram in a depot instead,' she said.

Colonial Tramcar Restaurant CEO Paul O'Brien said in a statement the award-winning restaurant was seeking an urgent intervention from the Victorian Government.

'We reject suggestions from Yarra Trams that our iconic rolling restaurants are not safe,' he said in the statement.

'Yarra Trams has inspected our trams weekly since 2010 and up until two weeks had given us the all clear to run.

'How we can go [sic] from safe one week to unsafe the next? It is perplexing to say the least.'

A recent inspection found the structural elements of the three trams badly weathered

O'Brien said safety had been at the front of the restaurant operation's mind since it started 35 years ago without one single serious incident.

'We are calling on Minister [for Public Transport Jacinta] Allan to urgently intervene and set a deadline which will actually be possible to meet so we can convert our trams to the department's new standards and save the jobs of more than 60 Victorians and an iconic Melbourne tourism attraction.'

A government spokesperson said that they were advised Yarra Trams began safety discussions two years ago.

'The Minister does not have the power to overrule a safety decision, however has asked Public Transport Victoria to ensure the works that need to be carried out are prioritised within our current schedule of city circle tram upgrades,' the spokesperson said.
A university is under fire after putting a convicted art thief in charge of a multi-million pound research project before he used corporate cards to buy luxury goods.

James Hampton-Till, 38, was forced to resign from Anglia Ruskin University over allegations he spent 85,000 on art, fine furniture and other extravagant items.

The university had appointed him to a senior position in 2012 knowing that he had changed his name from James Paddick after a conviction for a three-month thieving spree from Norfolk art galleries.

Hampton-Till was reportedly a 'charming chap' and 'hardworking' and was promoted quickly to deputy dean of the university, The Times revealed.

James Hampton-Till, 38, was forced to resign from Anglia Ruskin University over allegations he spent 85,000 on luxury goods

But an investigation was launched after an anonymous tip-off was sent to a senior executive at the university. They flagged up a photo posted on twitter of Hampton-Till receiving an award.

The image, tweeted by the medical faculty, showed Hampton-Till receiving a sculpture from a colleague.

But the photo turned out to be a sham and the sculpture, a bronze blue tit, had allegedly been purchased by Hampton-Till who persuaded a colleague to pose for a fake photo.

The statue was worth 2,000 and was made by sculptor Adam Binder whose work was displayed in galleries in Norfolk - where Hampton-Till had previously stolen art from.

It sparked a full internal investigation into fraud and misuse of credit cards by police. They have not yet made any arrests.

Hampton-Till returned a number of items he had stolen from the university and police searched his home and found more.

The university had appointed him to a senior position in 2012 knowing that he had changed his name from James Paddick

The case has sparked concerns about financial control at the university which has a 214million income and a vice chancellor who earns 303,000 a year.

And students, who pay thousands of pounds a year to study there, along with staff have been kept in the dark about the credit card spending.

Anglia Ruskin University says it will not discuss the case due to the ongoing police investigation.

However one senior source said it could be 'embarrassing' for the university's reputation.

Paul Stanton, who was a former associate dean at the university, told The Times: 'Given the university was aware of Hampton-Till's criminal conviction for theft, prior to his initial appointment, it is astonishing stringent safeguards were not put in place.'

A spokesperson for the University and College Union said: 'It is quite remarkable that we can be in a situation where anybody can be accused of running up tens of thousands of pounds on a credit bill seemingly without there being proper checks and balances.

'Most people have to jump through hoops to get their expenses signed off, yet some at the top of our universities seem to be able to spend with impunity.'

A university spokesman said: 'Any breach is disappointing for the organisation but is dealt with by following the relevant policies and procedures.'

Hampton-Till was unable to comment.
A former Commons clerk has said that the Speaker of the House of Commons John Bercow called her a 'little girl' when she was unable to find the envelope he was looking for.

Libby Bradshaw, who worked in Westminster for 12 years before leaving, said Parliament is haemorrhaging talent as a result of the way staff are treated.

She said calls for change set out in a report into bullying and harassment in the Commons are in 'danger of being drowned by politics again'.

Speaker of the House of Commons John Bercow called a former Commons Clerk a 'little girl' when she was unable to find the envelope he was looking for

In an article for HuffPost UK, Ms Bradshaw wrote: 'There has been a haemorrhage of talent from Parliament because of this issue alone and some of the brightest, most capable people I worked with are no longer there because of the treatment they received.

'This is not only bad for public service, but it turns the patriarchy into a self-fulfilling prophecy in one of the most high-profile organisations in the country.

'The House of Commons Commission will have a large role in what happens next.

'The Commission is made up of some of these senior managers along with the Speaker who, when he was just a regular backbencher, once screamed at me and called me a 'little girl' simply because he had been unable to find an envelope (which was exactly where I said it was, for the record).'

A probe by High Court judge Dame Laura Cox lifted the lid on a toxic environment in Westminster and led to MPs calling for Mr Bercow to quit

Conservative MPs called for Mr Bercow to quit after a probe by High Court judge Dame Laura Cox lifted the lid on a toxic environment in Westminster.

The damning report this week found some male politicians were guilty of 'predatory' behaviour, with women in Westminster complaining that male MPs had been abused in 'vulgar gender-related terms' and even touched their bottoms and breasts.

The report also said that some male MPs were so well known for their lewd advances that women were privately warned never to be in a room alone with them.

What are the claims of bullying and bad behaviour made against John Bercow? John Bercow has been hit by a number of bullying claims, all of which he denies. Here are the allegations: Andrew Sinclair, the former Speaker's Secretary: Said he left his post in 2010 after he was subjected to angry outbursts, foul- mouthed tirades and mimicry by John Bercow. He said was 'gagged' and stopped from speaking out about his time in the role as part of an 86,000 early retirement payoff. David Leakey, former Black Rod: Mr Leakey, who retired last year, said staff were terrified of the Speaker. Kate Emms, John Bercow's former private secretary: She took a job as Mr Bercow's private secretary in May 2010 but left her role less than a year later in February 2011 amid claims she was bullied by the Speaker. Her colleagues alleged that this was because of the behaviour of Mr Bercow after she told staff that she suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder. Colleagues told Newsnight that she was undermined by Mr Bercow in a range of ways  and he seemed to shout at her a lot. Advertisement

But Labour's Dame Margaret Beckett faced criticism when she said she believed the constitutional future of the country as a result of Brexit 'trumps bad behaviour'.

Dame Laura's report found a culture of 'deference, subservience, acquiescence and silence' had allowed the mistreatment of staff in the House of Commons to thrive.

She said it was 'difficult to envisage' how the reforms needed could be delivered under the current senior House administration.

Earlier this week Shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry insisted John Bercow should stay on as Speaker and said it was 'absolutely not the time to be changing Speaker', as the UK leaves the EU.

Emily Thornberry, have said John Bercow must stay on as Speaker to ensure MPs have a decisive say on the UK's EU exit.

In her article, Ms Bradshaw, who contributed to the Cox Report, said she knew of dozens of former colleagues who had been bullied, assaulted and abused while working in Parliament.

She added: 'The Cox Report should be a pivotal moment in Parliament's evolution into a modern workplace and those of us that contributed to the inquiry felt relieved and vindicated that we had finally been believed when we read the report and recommendations.

'But there is already talk that the report could get kicked into the long grass and the tribal warfare surrounding the Speaker, and Brexit, have meant that this issue that has affected so many lives and careers is in danger of being drowned by politics again.'

A spokeswoman for Mr Bercow said: 'The Speaker has absolutely no recollection of this alleged incident - and it's not, in his experience, the sort of statement he would make.'
The mother of missing Wisconsin teenager Jayme Closs was described as the 'family angel' by grieving relatives.

Denise Closs, 46, and her husband James Closs, 56, were shot and killed in their Barron, Wisconsin home on Monday in a double murder that has shocked the nation.

Their 13-year-old daughter Jayme Closs was at home at the time and has been missing ever since, landing her the top spot on the FBI's kidnapped and missing persons list.

'It's a shock to the system,' a family member said to Fox News.

Denise was described as 'the family's angel...she would take vacation days if you needed help,' the relative added.

Relatives have described 46-year-old Denise Closs (left) as a loving mother and 'the family angel'. She and her husband were shot and killed on Monday in their Barron, Wisconsin home and their daughter Jayme Closs, 13, (right) has been missing ever since

A relative close to the family said that Denise was so kind 'she would take vacation days if you needed help'. Denise Closs pictured above in an old photo

Family and investigators are clueless as to why the Wisconsin couple that worked at a turkey plant was targeted.

Denise called police moments before she was killed.

Cops arrived to the couple's Barron home minutes after receiving a cryptic 911 call at 1am on Monday from Denise's cell phone. Once they arrived at the home they found James and Denise fatally shot inside the home - but no trace of their daughter Jayme.

In that cryptic 911 call no one spoke to the dispatcher but a 'lot of yelling' and loud noises could be heard in the background. Police later traced the call log back to Denise.

On Friday deputies revealed the front door of the home was kicked in when they arrived and they found multiple spent rounds inside the home.

Investigators believe that the killer came to the home with the specific intention of abducting Jayme, an FBI source told RadarOnline.com.

'There is a report that someone allegedly knocked on the door and as the father went to answer it gunfire erupted through the door. That has not been confirmed yet as it's an active investigation,' the source said.

Denise and James Closs (above) were found shot dead, with Jayme missing, when deputies arrived at the home just minutes after Denise made a desperate final 911 call on Monday

The door of the home (above) was kicked in, and investigators believe that the father was shot first, and Denise killed after barricading herself in the bathroom and calling 911

The front door of the Closs home is seen on Wednesday. It appears to be covered with plywood and a blanket, and sources say it was kicked in during the home invasion

'The mother appeared to have barricaded herself in the bathroom and called police,' added the source.

It now appears that the dispatcher may have been hearing Denise's panicked final moments as the killer stormed into the bathroom where she hiding.

Denise was a doting mother who often posted on Facebook sharing snaps of Jayme.

For Jayme's birthday in July 2017 Denise shared a touching post for her daughter writing: 'Happy Birthday to My Daughter Jayme Closs who is Growing up to be the Sweetest and most kind Hearted GirlLove you to the Moon And Back..Hope you Have the Best Day Ever'

Jayme responded saying: 'Thank you for Awesome Birthday Mom and Thank you Aunt Sue for Everything. love you all'

The hunt for Jayme continues. Earlier in the week Miami police said a witness claimed to have possibly seen Jayme at a gas station in Miami, Florida, but it was later not considered a credible lead.

The FBI has moved Jayme to the top of its missing persons list and distributed this flyer to field offices and media partners across the country as the search for the girl goes nationwide

Jayme was first reported missing after officers were summoned to her home in Barron just before 1am on Monday; . The teen is not a suspect in the homicides

Some locals have speculated that Jayme might have had a boyfriend or met someone who took advantage of her and killed her parents. However neither authorities or family members have indicated that Jayme had some type of boyfriend.

'It's a tough pill to swallow. We're not ruling anything out,' the family member who described Denise said.

The Barron County Sherriff, Chris Fitzgerald, released a statement Friday urging anyone who knew the Closs family or had recently been with them to come forward.

'We are seeking information about the victims Denise and James Closs. We are hopeful to learn more about the Closs family to help bring Jayme home. If you spent time with members of the Closs family recently or if you have ever had a misunderstanding with any members of the Closs family or know someone who has, please call the tip line,' Fitzgerald wrote in an online post.

Jayme is described as 5ft and 100 pounds, with green eyes and blond or strawberry-blond hair

A group of volunteers searched the ditches along highway 8, in Barron, Wisconsin near the home where 13-year-old Jayme Closs lived with her parents James, and Denise

100 volunteers took park in the search and police say they have received 1000 tips

Barron County Sheriff Chris Fitzgerald said nothing of evidentiary value has been found in a ground search of field and forests near the home and the search was called off Friday. The search began on Thursday with 100 volunteers.

The police department has received hundreds of tips. Fitzgerald believes Jayme is alive and in danger.

The sheriff has so far declined to elaborate as to why investigators believe Jayme is not a runaway, saying that disclosing more information would compromise their investigation.

'I'm telling you, Jayme is missing and endangered,' Fitzgerald said. 'We want to bring Jayme home and put that smile back in her family's hands.'

'Is it a random attack or a targeted attack? I don't know that answer. That's why those leads are so important,' the sheriff continued.

Anyone with information about Jayme's whereabouts is urged to call the Barron County Sheriff's Office at 1-855-744-3879, or contact your local FBI office, American Embassy or Consulate.
Incredible footage shows two planes landing side by side in perfect symmetry at San Francisco Airport.

The video shows a United Airlines 747 passenger jet and a smaller American Eagle Aircraft approach the runway from the same direction.

The two planes then land in perfect symmetry with the smaller plane just slightly in front as they jet on to the runway strip which runs alongside San Francisco Bay.

The planes at San Francisco Airport (pictured) approach the runway in perfect harmony

The landing is one that could be more associated with daredevils like the Blue Angels or Red Arrows and is engaging to watch

San Francisco Airport is famous for its parallel runways which on occasion have two planes landing in sync.

While they look as if they could be just feet apart. The runways are about 750 feet apart and the long camera lens compresses the distance.

The San Francisco International Airport can handle 104 planes - 54 landings and 50 departures - every hour.

The runways are about 750 feet apart and the long camera lens compresses the distance

The planes touch down in perfect symmetry on the runway overlooking San Francisco Bay

During peak hours, the extremely skilful Air Traffic Controllers crisscross the traffic to give clearances for planes to land side-by-side on two runways and planes to take-off side-by-side ontwo other runways.

The Precision Runway Monitor (PRM) and Simultaneous Offset Instrument Approach (SOIA) are a marriage of existing approach technology.

When applied together, as they have been at San Francisco International Airport, they can provide delay reduction.

The plane to the left is clearly identifiable as a United Airlines aircraft but the carrier the footage was filmed from is not known.

The video has so far recorded more than 200,000 views.
Turkey will 'never allow a cover-up' of the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Saudi Arabia's consulate in Istanbul, a senior official in Turkey's ruling party said today.

Numan Kurtulmus, deputy head of the Justice and Development Party, made the announcement after the Gulf kingdom said hours earlier that the self-exiled Washington Post columnist died during a 'fistfight' in its consulate.

His critical reaction suggested that Turkey, which started its own investigation amid pro-government media reports that a Saudi hit squad killed Khashoggi, was not prepared to go along with the Saudi version of what happened to the 59-year-old reporter.

'It's not possible for the Saudi administration to wiggle itself out of this crime if it's confirmed,' Kurtulmus said.

He also said that Turkey would share its evidence of Khashoggi's killing with the world and that a 'conclusive result' of the investigation is close.

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Turkey will 'never allow a cover-up' of the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi (above) in Saudi Arabia's consulate in Istanbul, a senior official in Turkey's ruling party said today. Turkish government sources alleged Mr Khashoggi, a critic of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and the Saudi government, was tortured and murdered by a hit squad flown in from Riyadh

Numan Kurtulmus (above), deputy head of the Justice and Development Party, made the announcement after the Gulf kingdom said hours earlier that the self-exiled Washington Post columnist died during a 'fistfight' in its consulate

An Istanbul-based journalists' group today demanded punishment for those who ordered the killing. 'We demand that not only the 18 men but those who commanded (the killing) are punished,' said Turan Kislakci (centre), head of the Turk-Arab Media Association (TAM), of which Khashoggi was a member

One of the most visible of Khashoggi's Istanbul-based supporters has been Ayman Nour (left), the Egyptian chief of opposition broadcaster El-Sharq, who also heads the secular and liberal Egyptian opposition party, Al-Ghad.

Another Turkish ruling party official also criticized Saudi Arabia, saying the kingdom should have given its explanation 'before the situation reached this point.'

Leyla Sahin Usta, a human rights official in the ruling party, said it would have been 'more valuable' if Saudi officials had earlier admitted that Khashoggi was killed in its diplomatic post.

'We'll find out what happened to Khashoggi's body before long,' say Turkish investigators Turkish investigators are likely to find out what happened to the body of Khashoggi 'before long', a senior Turkish official said on Saturday. The official, who declined to be identified, also said that Khashoggi's DNA samples were being obtained from Turkey. Saudi Arabia said on Saturday that Khashoggi had died in a fight inside its Istanbul consulate - Riyadh's first acknowledgement of his death after two weeks of denials that it was involved in his disappearance. 'We'll find out what happened to the body before long,' the official said. 'The DNA is being procured from within Turkey. It seems there will be no need to ask Saudi Arabia at the moment.' Khashoggi's killers may have dumped his remains in Belgrad Forest adjacent to Istanbul, and at a rural location near the city of Yalova, a 55 mile drive south of Istanbul, officials said on Thursday. Investigators were still focused on the Yalova and Belgrad Forest areas, and were looking at CCTV footage from near Belgrad Forest, the official said. Investigators were also still examining traffic records of every car that went in and out of the Saudi Consulate on Oct.2, the day Khashoggi entered the consulate, the senior official said. Advertisement

Meanwhile, an Istanbul-based journalists' group today demanded punishment for those who ordered the killing.

'We demand that not only the 18 men but those who commanded (the killing) are punished,' said Turan Kislakci, head of the Turk-Arab Media Association (TAM), of which Khashoggi was a member.

Saudi Arabia admitted on Friday that the journalist, a Washington Post contributor and Riyadh critic, died during a 'brawl' inside its Istanbul consulate - after persistent claims that he left the consulate alive on October 2.

Riyadh announced the arrest of 18 Saudis and the sacking of two top aides of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who has faced mounting international pressure over Khashoggi's disappearance.

Turkish police and prosecutors searched this week both the consulate and the consul's residence in Istanbul.

But it remains unclear where the journalist's body is.

'There's only one thing that matters right now. Give Jamal back to us.

'Give him back so that we can hold his funeral,' Kislakci told journalists outside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

'Let the whole world watch the funeral of Jamal Khashoggi, who was killed in a dark room in a horrific manner.'

Turkish media outlets claimed there were audio tapes in which Khashoggi's alleged killers tortured him by cutting his fingers off before his decapitation.

Jamal Kashoggi is seen with his finacee Hatice Cengiz, who stood outside the consulate waiting for hours after he walked inside on October 2, never to emerge

International outrage grows over Khashoggi death The UN chief, Britain's foreign ministry and media groups on Saturday called for the punishment of those who ordered and carried out Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi's killing in Istanbul. Here are a few reactions: UN: 'The Secretary-General stresses the need for a prompt, thorough and transparent investigation into the circumstances of Mr Khashoggi's death and full accountability for those responsible,' Antonio Guterres's office said in a statement. Britain: 'We send our condolences to Jamal Khashoggi's family after this confirmation of his death. We are considering the Saudi report and our next steps. As the Foreign Secretary has said, this was a terrible act and those responsible must be held to account,' the foreign ministry said. Demonstrators dressed as Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Donald Trump pretend to kiss outside the White House yesterday, demanding justice for Khashoggi Spain: 'The Spanish government is dismayed by early reports from the Saudi prosecutor about the death of the Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, and offers its most sincere condolences to his family,' Spain said in a statement. Reporters Without Borders: 'Any attempt to get rid of the pressure on Saudi Arabia and to accept a compromise policy would result in giving a 'licence to kill' to a Kingdom that puts in jail, lashes, kidnaps and even kills journalists who dare to investigate and launch debates,' Christophe Deloire, Secretary General of the Paris-based media rights watchdog tweeted. Turk-Arab Media Association: The Istanbul-based body, of which Khashoggi was a member, said it wanted all those involved in the plot - right up to the highest rung - to be punished. 'We demand that not only the 18 men but those who commanded (the killing) are punished,' said Turan Kislakci, the head of the association, speaking outside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. UNESCO: 'The killing of Jamal Khashoggi reminds us of the need to fight for press freedom, which is essential to democracy. Accountability for these crimes is non-negotiable. I urge the relevant authorities to conduct a thorough investigation into this crime and bring its perpetrators to justice,' UNESCO chief Audrey Azoulay said. Amnesty International: 'The investigation findings by the Saudi authorities claiming that Khashoggi died as a result of a 'fist-fight' inside the consulate are not trustworthy and marks an abysmal new low to Saudi Arabia's human rights record,' Samah Hadid, the human rights group's Middle East director, said in a statement. It called on Saudi authorities to produce Khashoggi's body so that independent forensic experts could perform an autopsy. It also said the UN should investigate his death. 'An independent investigation will be the only guarantee against what increasingly appears as a Saudi whitewash surrounding the circumstances of Khashoggi's murder or any attempts by other governments to sweep the issue under the carpet to preserve lucrative arms deals and other business ties with Riyadh,' Hadid said. Advertisement

Theresa May under pressure to suspend arms sales to Saudi Arabia

The Prime Minister is under pressure to suspend arms sales to Saudi Arabia after the Gulf kingdom admitted that self-exiled journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed at its Istanbul consulate

Theresa May is under pressure to suspend arms sales to Saudi Arabia after the Gulf kingdom admitted that dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed at its Istanbul consulate.

Saudi state television reported on Friday night that a primary investigation into the Washington Post columnist's disappearance found he died after a fight broke out in the consulate in Turkey.

But the explanation about Mr Khashoggi's death has been met with widespread scepticism and the Prime Minister has been urged to now put arms trading with the kingdom on ice.

Saudi Arabia is the UK's key ally in the region and also a significant trading partner.

Britain rolled out the red carpet for Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in March.

During his state visit he was granted rare access to a briefing on foreign policy issues by national security officials alongside his meetings with the Queen and Mrs May.

Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt is considering the 'next steps' in Britain's response to the case, officials said.

Mr Hunt has previously warned there will be 'consequences' for the UK's relationship with Saudi Arabia if it was found the journalist was murdered.

Saudi Arabia is the UK's key ally in the region and also a significant trading partner. Britain rolled out the red carpet for Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in March. Above, the crown prince arriving at Downing Street during his visit

And Tory MP Bob Seely told MailOnline: 'It isn't convincing to claim that Khashoggi was killed in a fight, unless he was killed trying to defend his life against those trying to harm him.

'But that's not a fight. That's self-defence against premeditated violence. The sooner the Saudis come clean, the better. It's an appalling trend in the world we're seeing when journalists are increasingly becoming the targets of violence.'

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Vince Cable said the case gets 'murkier and murkier'

Shadow international trade secretary Barry Gardiner told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'What we would do certainly at the moment, and I think the Government should do this, is to suspend all arms sales to the kingdom.'

Mr Gardiner acknowledged there were a 'lot of jobs' in the UK linked to the defence trade but said 'this is about who we are as a country'.

'We have a thriving defence industry and, of course, this would be a hit to that industry,' he added.

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Vince Cable said the case gets 'murkier and murkier'.

He added: 'The Government should have already suspended arms export licences to Saudi Arabia given the outrages in Yemen. This reinforces the argument for loosening the bonds to the regime.'

US President Donald Trump said he found the Saudi explanation credible and it was a 'very important first step'.

A number of Saudi nationals have been arrested and deputy intelligence chief Ahmad al-Assiri and Saud al-Qahtani, a senior aide to the Crown Prince, have been dismissed, state TV reported.

Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt is considering the 'next steps' in Britain's response to the case, officials said

Turkish government sources have alleged that Mr Khashoggi, a critic of the prince and the Saudi government, was tortured and murdered by a hit squad flown in from Riyadh.

The Saudis first dismissed the claims as baseless, without providing an explanation as to how he disappeared after entering the consulate on October 2.

Members of the suspected hit squad reportedly came to Britain during the prince's state visit.

At least three of the suspects - First Lieutenant Dhaar Ghalib Dhaar Al-Harbi, Sergeant Major Walid Abdullah Al-Shihri and Abdul Aziz Muhammad Musa Al-Hawsawi -were part of his entourage, the news site Middle East Eye reported.

Another suspect, Major General Mahir Abdul Aziz Muhammad Mutrib, was seen emerging from a car in Downing Street during the visit, according to the Daily Mail.

A Foreign Office spokesman said: 'We send our condolences to Jamal Khashoggi's family after this confirmation of his death.

'We are considering the Saudi report and our next steps.

'As the Foreign Secretary has said, this was a terrible act and those responsible must be held to account.'

Saudi Arabia finally admits Jamal Khashoggi is dead

Saudi Arabia has finally admitted that journalist Jamal Khashoggi is dead after offering various explanations for his disappearance more than two weeks ago.

The country has carried out its own investigation into what happened to the 59-year-old at its own consulate in Istanbul, Turkey and claimed Friday evening he died following an altercation on October 2.

This is the latest claim made by the kingdom, which earlier said Khashoggi had left the consulate alive and well.

And President Donald Trump has said he believes the explanation for the journalist's death is credible, despite previous reports torturers severed the journalist's fingers during an interrogation and later beheaded and dismembered him.

Top intelligence officer General Ahmed al-Assiri (left) was fired in connection with Jamal Khashoggi's death. Saud al-Qahtani, the royal court adviser (right) was also ousted after the country's own investigation

A statement released by the Saudis, said the suspects got into a fight with Khashoggi, which led to his death.

'While the investigations are still ongoing into the case with the 18 Saudi detainees, the Kingdom expresses its deep regret at the painful developments that have taken place,' it added.

Saudi Arabia thanked Turkey for its 'exceptional cooperation' in the investigation. It added that it values Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's cooperation in investigating the case.

Saudi Arabia claims the suspects went to Istanbul to meet with Khashoggi over the possibility of him returning to the country. He was trying to obtain documents for a marriage license at the consulate.

His death occurred after a heated discussion turned into a quarrel and then a fist fight, they allege.

The vague statement has not explained exactly how he died, but the suspects then apparently tried to cover it up.

A Saudi official told Reuters it was unclear where the body was after it was handed over to a 'local cooperator' but there was no sign of it at the consulate.

Saudi has not yet named any of their suspects.

Saudi Arabia's statement on Jamal Khashoggi in full The case of the disappearance of the citizen Jamal bin Ahmed Khashoggi drew the attention of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia at the highest levels, and due to the circumstances surrounding his disappearance, the Kingdom took the necessary procedures to clarify the truth and began by dispatching a security team to Turkey on 6 October 2018 to investigate and cooperate with counterparts in Turkey. That was followed by the formation of a joint security team between the Kingdom and the Republic of Turkey, with a permission given to the Turkish security authorities to enter the Consulate of the Kingdom in Istanbul and the residence of the Consul, for the Kingdom's keenness to clarify all the facts, as the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud has issued an order to the Public Prosecutor of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, No. 5709 dated 3/2/1440 H to conduct investigations into the case. The Public Prosecutor has already investigated a number of suspects on the basis of information provided by the Turkish authorities to the Joint Security Team to determine whether any of them had any information or relation to what has been happened related where the information that transferred to the security authorities indicated that the citizen Jamal Khashoggi had left the consulate. In implementation to the directives of the leadership of the need to clearly know the truth and declare it transparently whatever, the preliminary investigations conducted by the Public Prosecution showed that the suspect had traveled to Istanbul to meet with the citizen Jamal Khashoggi as there were indications of the possibility of his returning back to the country. The results of the preliminary investigations also revealed that the discussions that took place with the citizen Jamal Khashoggi during his presence in the consulate of the Kingdom in Istanbul by the suspects did not go as required and developed in a negative way led to a fight and a quarrel between some of them and the citizen Jamal Khashoggi, yet the brawl aggravated to lead to his death and their attempt to conceal and cover what happened. The source added that while the investigations are still ongoing into the case with the 18 Saudi detainees, the Kingdom expresses its deep regret at the painful developments that have taken place and stresses the commitment of the authorities in the Kingdom to bring the facts to the public opinion, to hold all those involved accountable and bring them to justice by referring them to the competent courts in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Advertisement

However Saud al-Qahtani, the royal court adviser, has been ousted after the country's own investigation.

Mohamed bin Saleh al Rumeh, assistant to the president of general intelligence for intelligence affairs, Abduallah bin Khalifa al Shaya, assistant to the president of general intelligence for human resources ,and Rachad bin Hamed al Muhamadi, director of the general department for security and protection in the command of general intelligence, were also dismissed.

Deputy intelligence chief Ahmed Assiri was fired and his Twitter account posted a message in Arabic Friday night.

The user posted (rough translation): 'I extend my sincere thanks and gratitude to His Holiness the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and His Highness the Crown Prince, for the great confidence they have placed in me and for this great opportunity to honor my national service over the past years ...

'I will remain a faithful servant of my country for a long time, and our dear homeland will remain lofty, God willing.'

It's not clear whether Assiri posted it himself or whether someone else did so on his behalf.

The White House added it is 'saddened' by the confirmed death of the Saudi journalist

Saudi Arabia's conflicting statements Since Jamal Khashoggi's disappearance, Saudi Arabia has changed its story multiple times. On October 3, the day after he went missing, officials told Reuters the journalist had visited the consulate and then left. Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud was interviewed by Bloomberg on the same day and said no one knew what happened to Khashoggi. He said: 'We hear the rumors about what happened. He's a Saudi citizen and we are very keen to know what happened to him. And we will continue our dialogue with the Turkish government to see what happened to Jamal there.' On October 4, a statement from the consulate said it was 'carrying out follow-up procedures and coordination with the Turkish local authorities to uncover the circumstances of the disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi after he left the consulate building.' On October 7, Saudi officials slammed a Reuters report which claimed the journalist was killed and 15 Saudis flew to Turkey and visited the consulate on the day Khashoggi went missing. The officials called them 'baseless allegations'. On October 9, Saudi ambassador to the United States, Prince Khalid bin Salman, said claims Khashoggi had been murdered in the consulate were 'absolutely false, and baseless'. He said: 'Jamal has many friends in the Kingdom, including myself, and despite our differences, and his choice to go into his so called 'self-exile', we still maintained regular contact when he was in Washington.' The crown prince and the king told Donald Trump they knew nothing about the disappearance, the president said in an interview with the AP on October 16. On October 19, Saudi Arabia admitted Khashoggi had died during a fight at the consulate. Advertisement

The New York Times previously said it had spoken to three people with knowledge of the Saudi plans relating to General Assiri, who had earlier served as the spokesman for the Saudi-led military intervention in Yemen before being promoted to his current job in intelligence.

Two of the sources said Saudi rulers are set to explain that Assiri had been given verbal permission from the Crown Prince to capture Khashoggi for questioning in Saudi Arabia but that he either overstepped the authorization or misunderstood his orders.

According to CBS News Assiri was very close to the country's crown prince.

'You don't get much closer,' a source told Kylie Atwood.

US President Donald Trump says Saudi explanation for Jamal Khashoggi's killing is credible and a 'good first step'. The American leader said he does not believe Saudi Arabia's leadership lied to him, adding that the US needs Saudi Arabia to counteract Iran.

The White House added it is 'saddened' by the confirmed death of the Saudi journalist.

'The United States acknowledges the announcement from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia that its investigation into the fate of Jamal Khasshoggi is progressing and that it has taken action against the suspects it has identified thus far,' Press Secretary Sarah Sanders wrote in a statement.

'We will continue to follow international investigations into this tragic incident and advocate for justice that is timely, transparent and in accordance with all due process.

'We offer our deepest condolences to his family, fiancee and friends.'

The country is to restructure its intelligence agencies after the killing of Khashoggi, under King Salman Abdulaziz Al Saud's orders.

Salman - who is the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, Al-al-Haram (in Mecca) and Al-an-Nabawi (in Medina) - ordered that a ministerial committee is formed to restructure the General Intelligence Presidency, modernize its regulations and define its powers.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it was a resolution concerning the journalist's death and is an extension of the Kingdom's commitment to consolidating justice.

However the mission is said to be led by his son Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who was suspected of being behind Khashoggi's disappearance in some versions of stories alleging what happened to the Washington Post writer.

A Saudi official said Friday the prince had no knowledge of details in the Khashoggi case.

'There were no orders for them to kill him or even specifically kidnap him,' said the official to Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity and adding that there was a standing order to bring critics of the kingdom back to the country.

'MbS had no knowledge of this specific operation and certainly did not order a kidnapping or murder of anybody. He will have been aware of the general instruction to tell people to come back.'

The country is to restructure its intelligence agencies after the killing of Khashoggi, under King Salman Abdulaziz Al Saud's orders

The former head of MI6,Sir John Sawers (pictured) has said evidence suggests Saudi's Crown Prince ordered the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi

But former British spy Sir John Sawers said earlier on Friday to BBC Radio 4 show, World at One: 'All the evidence points to it being ordered and carried out by people close to Mohammed bin Salman.

'I don't think he would have done this if he hadn't thought he had licence from the US administration to behave as he wished.'

Sawers, who headed MI6 between 2009 and 2014, said he had based his assessment on conversations with sources in Whitehall coupled with his understanding of Turkey's intelligence services.

Some politicians are not convinced by Saudi Arabia's story.

Republican senator Lindsey Graham said: 'To say that I am skeptical of the new Saudi narrative about Mr. Khashoggi is an understatement.

'First we were told Mr. Khashoggi supposedly left the consulate and there was blanket denial of any Saudi involvement. Now, a fight breaks out and he's killed in the consulate, all without knowledge of Crown Prince.'

Democratic Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal also chimed in.

He said the explanation 'absolutely defies credibility' adding the country had been 'given a pass' for 'killing innocent civilians'.

'The world deserves an explanation, and not from the Saudis,' he told CNN.

It had been earlier reported that King Salman was personally intervening in the Khashoggi case after being kept in the dark about the crisis by his powerful son's aides.

Initially the king, who has handed the day-to-day running of Saudi Arabia to his son, commonly known as MbS, was unaware of the extent of the crisis, according to two of the sources with knowledge of the Saudi royal court. That was partly because MbS aides had been directing the king to glowing news about the country on Saudi TV channels, the sources said.

Since he acceded to the throne in January 2015, the king has given MbS, his favorite son, increasing authority to run Saudi Arabia. But the king's latest intervention reflects growing disquiet among some members of the royal court about MbS's fitness to govern, five sources said.

MbS, 33, has implemented a series of high-profile social and economic reforms since his father's accession, including ending a ban on women driving and opening cinemas in the conservative kingdom.

15 suspects identified by Turkey Prior to the confirmation Jamal Khashoggi had died, Turkish police announced they were hunting fifteen Saudi suspects in connection with his disappearance. It is not known whether these 15 people are among the 18 arrested by the Saudis. Turkish newspaper Sabah released CCTV images of a group of men who flew into Istanbul on the day Khashoggi went missing after walking into the Saudi consulate. They were pictured arriving at Ataturk airport's border control having flown into Turkey in two private jets from the Saudi capital Riyadh. Meshal Saad M Albostani (left), Salah Muhammad A Tubaigy (center), and Muhammed Saad H. Alzahrani (right), all flew in and out of Ataturk airport on the day Khashoggi disappeared Saif Saad Q Alqahtani (left) and Mustafa Muhammed M. Almadani (right) are also being sought for questioning in connection with the incident last week Naif Hassan S. Alarifi (left) Turki Musharraf M. Alsehri (center) and Khaled Aedh G. Altaibi (right) were also named by Turkish newspaper Sabah Waleed Abdullah M. Alsehri (left) and Abdulaziz Muhammed M. Alhawsawi (right) are also wanted for questioning over the disappearance The group of men identified by Sabah included Salah Muhammad A Tubaigy, 47, the head of the Saudi Forensic Medicine Institute. An expert on forensic evidence, he is known to have trained a large number of police officers in crime scene investigation. Another man, Muhammed Saad H. al-Zahrani, was revealed to have served as one of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman's royal guards - a unit nicknamed the 'rough swords'. Mugshots of the middle-aged men were released alongside details of their ages and travel itineraries. Maher Abdulaziz M. Mutreb (left) Fahad Shabib A. Albalawi (center) and Thaar Ghaleb T. Alharbi were also part of the group who flew into Ataturk airport Mansur Othman M. Abahuseyin and Badr Lafi M. Alotaibi passed through border control on Tuesday last week Turkish television also revealed CCTV footage of them arriving at Istanbul airport and making their way through the streets of the city around the embassy. The men arrived at the embassy half an hour before Khashoggi turned up for his appointment. Saudi officials denied reports they sent a 15-man team to Istanbul on the day Khashoggi disappeared, saying that the only team they sent to Turkey consisted of investigators who arrived Saturday to help find the journalist. Advertisement

But he has also marginalized senior members of the royal family and consolidated control over Saudi's security and intelligence agencies.

His reforms have been accompanied by a crackdown on dissent, a purge of top royals and businessmen on corruption charges, and a costly war in Yemen.

Khashoggi had been missing 17 days after entering the consulate to obtain documents for his upcoming wedding. His partner Hatice Cengiz waited outside for hours but never saw him again after he walked in at 1.14pm.

The comments from Saudi on Friday evening marked the first time since Khashoggi went missing that the Saudis admitted to his death.

Turkish officials had said they believed he was killed in the building. Saudi Arabia had previously denied the allegations and said Khashoggi had left the building shortly after.

Before the Saudi announcements, US President Donald Trump said he might consider sanctions against Saudi Arabia over the disappearance, while emphasizing the importance of the US-Saudi relationship.

His son Eric Trump said Thursday on Fox News' Outnumbered: 'Saudi Arabia has actually been a friend to the US in many ways. They're ordering from us, massive, massive orders. Hundreds of billions of dollars worth of arms that will create tens and tens of thousands of jobs.

'So what are you going to do? You're going to take that and you're going to throw all of that away?'

In Istanbul, Turkish prosecutors investigating Khashoggi's disappearance questioned Turkish employees of the Saudi consulate Friday, widening the hunt for clues in a case straining Riyadh's alliance with Western powers.

Turkish police had searched a forest on Istanbul's outskirts and a city near the Sea of Marmara for Khashoggi's remains

Turkish police searched a forest on Istanbul's outskirts and a city near the Sea of Marmara for Khashoggi's remains, two senior Turkish officials told Reuters, after tracking the routes of cars that left the consulate and the consul's residence on the day he vanished.

Investigators have recovered samples from searches of both buildings to analyze for traces of Khashoggi's DNA.

Speaking to reporters in Scottsdale, Arizona, Trump said it was too early to say what the consequences for the incident might be, but that the US Congress would be involved in determining the American response.

Asked whether Saudi sanctions were one of the measures he was considering, Trump said, 'Could be, could be,' though he provided no details.

'We're going to find out who knew what when and where. And we'll figure it out,' Trump added.

The US Congress is controlled by Trump's fellow Republicans, some of whom have called for tough action against Saudi Arabia.

Turkey denies giving 'any kind of audio tape' on Khashoggi to US Turkey on Friday denied giving 'any kind of audio tape' from the investigation into the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo or any American official. 'It is out of the question for Turkey to give any kind of audio tape to Pompeo or any other US official,' said Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, two days after meeting with the US's top diplomat for talks in Ankara. Turkey's pro-government press has reported that Turkey has an audio recording that proves the alleged murder of Khashoggi at the consulate and that he was tortured before his death. The existence of the tape has never been confirmed on the record by Turkish officials. ABC News, quoting a senior Turkish official, reported Thursday that during his visit to Turkey this week Pompeo heard this audio and was shown a transcript of the recording. But Pompeo denied the report. 'I've seen no tape. I've seen no - or I've heard no tape. I've seen no transcript,' he told reporters during a trip to Latin America. Cavusoglu, like other Turkish officials, stopped short of revealing details of the investigation but vowed they would be shared in due course. 'We will share the results to emerge with the entire world. It is out of the question for us to share this or that information with any country,' he said, quoted by the state-run Anadolu news agency. Advertisement

'I will very much listen to what Congress has to say. They feel very strongly about it also,' Trump said.

President Trump, who said on Thursday he believed Khashoggi was likely dead and has warned of a potential 'very severe' response, has appeared unwilling to distance himself too much from the Saudis, citing Riyadh's role in countering Iranian influence in the Middle East and lucrative potential arms deals.

'Saudi Arabia has been a great ally, they've been a tremendous investor in the United States,' Trump said, adding, 'That's why this is so sad.'

'They agreed to spend $450 billion on buying in and investing in the United States, so I hope we can keep that open... There are plenty of other things we can do,' he said, adding: 'I might know a lot by Monday. I know a lot already.'

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said at the White House Thursday that Saudi Arabia deserves a 'few more days' to get to the bottom of the disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi.

Pompeo spoke after he briefed President Trump on his meetings with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh, where he warned the Saudi royal family they have 72 hours to finish the investigation into Khashoggi's disappearance.

Sources described a tough meeting between Pompeo and the crown prince, after smiling photos of the two men fed a narrative that the U.S. was willing to assist the Saudis in finding a cover for story for the killing.

The Saudis assured him 'they will conduct a complete, thorough investigation of all of the facts surrounding Mr. Khashoggi and that they'll do so in a timely fashion, and that this report itself will be transparent for everyone to see, to ask questions about, and to inquire with respect to its thoroughness,' Pompeo told reporters Thursday morning.

'And I told President Trump that we ought to give them a few more days to complete that so that we, too, have a complete understanding of the facts surrounding that. At which point, we can make decisions about how or if the United States should respond to the incident surrounding Mr. Khashoggi,' he said.

State-run Anadolu news agency said the Turkish prosecutor's office had obtained testimony from 20 consulate employees, and 25 more people including foreign nationals would be questioned.

The consulate employees questioned included accountants, technicians and a driver, Anadolu said. The investigation is being conducted by the prosecutor's terrorism and organized crime bureau, it added.

Turkey said it had not shared with any country audio recordings purportedly documenting Khashoggi's murder inside the consulate, dismissing reports it had passed them to the United States.

All smiles: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo shakes hands with the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh on Tuesday

'We will share the results that emerge transparently with the whole world,' Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said.

Turkish pro-government newspaper Yeni Safak has published what it said were details from the audio, including that his torturers severed Khashoggi's fingers during an interrogation and later beheaded and dismembered him.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and senior ministers from France, Britain and the Netherlands have abandoned plans to attend an Oct. 23-25 investor conference in Riyadh.

On Friday, the CEOs of Deutsche Bank and ABB, plus Airbus' defense chief and energy historian Daniel Yergin, joined a list of Western business executives who have withdrawn.

Pakistan's prime minister and a delegation led by Russian Direct Investment Fund head Kirill Dmitriev plan to participate. Britain's BAE Systems is sending senior representatives.

A conference spokesperson confirmed the conference would proceed with an updated program that includes heads of state from the Arab world, Africa and Asia.
Ivanka Trump was mercilessly ridiculed online for incorrectly attributing a motivational quote to the ancient Greek Philosopher Socrates.

In a swiftly deleted tweet, the Presidents daughter and senior White House adviser, 36, posted a quote she attributed to the ancient Greek philosopher Socrates.

'The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new,' Trump tweeted, citing Socrates.

Ivanka Trump (left) used a motivational quote she thought was from the Ancient Greek philosopher Socrates (right), however the quote actually originated from a different Socrates

The tweet appeared on Ivanka's feed Tuesday but was deleted when the error was identified

She then clarified that the Tweet came from a different Socrates- and Twitter had a field day

However it turned out the quote Ivanka used was from a different Socrates - a fictional gas character from a book by American gymnast Dan Millman.

The self-help book called Way of the Peaceful Warrior: A Book That Changes Lives was published in 1980.

According to Quote Investigator, the quote comes from a gas station attendant called Socrates in the fictionalized memoir.

The book was a fictionalized memoir that explored the physical and mental challenges Millman faced in his early life and the spiritual growth he experienced, Quote Investigator says.

The main catalyst of his spiritual journey was an attendant at an all-night gas station who became his mentor in 1966'.

Millman gave this enlightened counselor the nickname 'Socrates', and the quotation above was spoken by the modern fictionalized character and not the ancient Socrates.

It is not the first time Ivanka (pictured) has misquoted someone when trying to instill motivation amongst her followers on Twitter

Former White House Strategist Steve Bannon (pictured) once called Ivanka 'dumb as a brick'

Trumps tweet was deleted after around 30 minutes of being online on Tuesday.

But after deleting the tweet, Trump posted it again with an important clarification.

This time, she attributed the quote to 'Socrates (note: a fictional character not the philosopher)'.

Even though she clarified her mistake, social media users had their fun  posting a series of witty memes and comments on the embarrassing gaffe.

The quote Ivanka used actually came from a character from a self-help novel by Dan Millman (pictured)

This isnt the first time Ivanka Trump has misattributed a quote.

Her tweet quoting the physicist Albert Einstein from 2013 resurfaced four years later when people realized it was wrong.

If the facts dont fit the theory, change the facts, was the quote she mistakenly identified as being that of the Nobel Prize Winning Physicists.

Einstein never said that quote even though it is often attributed to him.

Trump was touted recently as a potential replacement for Nikki Haley as her father's ambassador to the United Nations.

So nice, everyone wants Ivanka Trump to be the new United Nations Ambassador.

She would be incredible, but I can already hear the chants of Nepotism! We have great people that want the job,' President Trump tweeted.

Ivanka also ruled herself out of the running for the job.

It is an honor to serve in the White House alongside so many great colleagues and I know that the President will nominate a formidable replacement for Ambassador Haley.

That replacement will not be me, she tweeted.

Twitter users were quick to post witty memes and comments in response to Ivanka's mistake

Some users made historical references to mock Ivanka's gaffe which surely will have irked her

One user made reference to the 1989 movie Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure in which the lead characters travel through time to 410 BC and meet Socrates

Ivanka should be now be immune to people poking fun at her on Twitter as it's not the first time she misquoted someone

Other Twitter users took a more serious approach when reminding Ivanka of her mistake

Former White House strategist Steve Bannon once called Ivanka Trump 'dumb as a brick', according to an excerpt from the book Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House.

'A little marketing savvy and has a look but as far as understanding actually how the world works and what politics is and what it means  nothing,' he is quoted saying.

Donald Trump Trump attacked Mr Bannon after the excerpts were released from Michael Wolff - which included comments from Mr Bannon.

Steve Bannon has nothing to do with me or my Presidency, Mr Trump wrote in a statement distributed by the White House.

When he was fired, he not only lost his job, he lost his mind.
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Around 170 Afghans were killed or wounded in poll-related violence on Saturday - as the Taliban claims responsibility for targeting the 'fake election.'

In the latest attack, a suicide bomber blew up a Kabul polling centre, killing at least 15 people and wounding 20, police said, taking the number of casualties across the capital to 19 dead and nearly 100 wounded.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast, but the Taliban said earlier it had carried out more than 300 attacks on the 'fake election' across the country.

Violence also disrupted voting in the northern city of Kunduz, where a senior health official said three people died and 39 were wounded after more than 20 rockets rained down on the provincial capital.

Around 170 Afghans were killed or wounded in violence on Saturday, taking the number of casualties across the capital to 19 dead and nearly 100 wounded

An injured man receives treatment at a hospital after a poll-related suicide attack in capital Kabul, Afghanistan on Saturday

Police say a suicide bomber blew himself up in front of a polling station in a school in the northern Kabul neighborhood of Khair Khana

An Independent Election Commission employee was killed and seven others were missing after the Taliban attacked a polling centre several kilometres from Kunduz city, destroying ballot boxes, provincial IEC director Mohammad Rasoul Omar said.

Eight explosions were recorded in the eastern province of Nangarhar, with two people killed and five wounded, the provincial governor's spokesman confirmed.

The interior ministry put the overall casualty toll - including civilians and security forces - slightly lower at 160, with 27 civilians killed and 100 wounded.

Afghan election workers began counting votes on Saturday evening following the partial legislative ballot.

Eight explosions were recorded in the eastern province of Nangarhar, with two people killed and at least five wounded (pictured, an injured man in Kabul)

A wounded person is being carried to a hospital on a stretcher after a suicide attack targeted a polling station during the parliamentary elections in Kabul, Afghanistan

There were 193 attacks across the country on Saturday, which the ministry said was half the number recorded on the day of the 2014 presidential election.

In 401 polling centres, technical and organizational problems stopped voters casting their ballot, government officials said.

Abdul Badi Sayad, chairman of Independent Election Commission, said the voting process will continue until Sunday in those places where election officers or election material arrived late.

Police officers were also ambushed in central Ghor province. At least four were killed in an explosion, although other reports put the death toll at 11, the BBC reported.

There were 193 attacks across the country, which the ministry said was half the number recorded on the day of the 2014 presidential election

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the bombing, which appeared to have been the most serious of a day marked by a series of smaller-scale attacks

Despite the threat of violence, large numbers of voters showed up at polling centres in major cities, where they waited hours for them to open.

Turn out in rural districts was not clear, however.

Initial figures showed at least 1.5 million voters turned up at polling centres in 27 provinces, election organisers said - a fraction of the nearly nine million voter registrations.

The election commission, which has been skewered over its preparations for the long-delayed ballot, said they would extend voting until Sunday for 401 polling centres after hiccups with voter registration lists, biometric verification devices and staffing.

Despite the threat of violence, large numbers of the almost nine million registered voters showed up at polling centres in major cities

Most polling sites opened late after the teachers employed to handle the voting process failed to show up to work on time

Afghan security forces arrive at the site of a suicide attack in Kabul, which led to ten civilians and five police being killed

University student Mohammad Alem said he felt 'frustrated' after spending more than three hours trying to vote in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif, only to discover his name was not on the registration list.

'There also were some problems with the biometric devices because they were already running out of charge,' he said.

After waiting four hours at a polling centre, Tabish Forugh tweeted he had not seen 'even remotely similar... chaos' at previous elections.

At a polling station in crowded west Kabul, Khoda Baksh said he arrived nearly two hours early to cast his vote, dismissing Taliban threats of violence.

'We don't care about their threats. The Taliban are threatening us all the time,' said 55-year-old Baksh, who said he wanted to see a new generation of politicians take power in Afghanistan's 249-seat Parliament.

The Defense Ministry said it had increased its deployment of National Security Forces to 70,000 from the original 50,000 to protect the country's polling stations

Initial figures showed at least 1.5 million voters turned up at polling centres in 27 provinces, election organisers said Saturday

Despite the risks, President Ashraf Ghani urged 'every Afghan, young and old, women and men' to exercise their right to vote, after casting his ballot in Kabul (pictured)

'He bemoaned the current Parliament dominated by warlords and corrupt elite. They have done zero for us.'

The Defense Ministry said it had increased its deployment of National Security Forces to 70,000 from the original 50,000 to protect the country's 21,000 polling stations.

Almost nine million people registered to vote in the parliamentary election, which is more than three years late.

But attacks across the country on Saturday are likely to deter many from turning up at the nearly 5,000 polling centres.

Wasima Badghisy, a commission member, called voters 'very, very brave' and said a turnout of five million would be a success.

Stakes were high in these elections for Afghans, who hoped to reform Parliament, challenging the dominance of warlords and the politically corrupt and replacing them with a younger, more educated generation of politicians.

Hundreds of polling centres all over Afghanistan were hit by delays because of explosions and technical difficulties as people turned out to vote in the long-awaited election

An Afghan woman arrives with her young child to cast her vote during parliamentary elections at a polling station in Kabul

Hundreds of people were killed or wounded in the months leading up to the poll. The killing of a powerful police chief in the southern province of Kandahar on Thursday further eroded confidence in the ability of security forces to protect voters.

Voting in Kandahar has been delayed by a week following the attack.

The Taliban claimed it carried out 318 attacks on voting locations, checkpoints and military sites throughout Saturday.

Despite the risks, President Ashraf Ghani urged 'every Afghan, young and old, women and men' to exercise their right to vote, after casting his ballot in Kabul.

The Taliban had earlier issued several warnings in the days leading up to the poll, calling on candidates to withdraw from the race and for voters to stay home

The election also saw several women turn out to vote. Here, a woman casts her vote at a polling station during the parliamentary elections in Herat

Photos posted on social media showed scores of men and women clutching their identification documents lining up outside voting centres amid a heavy security presence.

A woman dressed in a burqa leaving a polling centre in Mazar-i-Sharif told AFP she had been worried about 'security incidents', but decided to vote anyway.

'We have to defy the violence,' Hafiza, 57, said.

'In previous years we were not happy with the elections, our votes were sold out.'

Security forces block the main road at the site of a suicide attack during the first day of parliamentary election

Afghan Independent Election Commission (IEC) officials prepare ballot papers for voters at a polling centre for the country's legislative election in Khost Province

The Taliban had earlier issued several warnings in the days leading up to the poll, calling on candidates to withdraw from the race and for voters to stay home.

At least 10 candidates out of more than 2,500 contesting the lower-house election have been killed.

Most of those standing are political novices, and include doctors, mullahs and journalists. Those with the deepest pockets are expected to win.

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, which has spearheaded international efforts to keep Afghan organisers on track, on Friday called on voters to 'exercise their constitutional right to vote'.

The Taliban claimed it carried out 318 attacks on voting locations, checkpoints and military sites throughout Saturday

Photos posted on social media showed scores of men and women clutching their identification documents lining up outside voting centres amid a heavy security presence

The poll is seen as a crucial test for next year's presidential election and an important milestone ahead of a UN meeting in Geneva in November where Afghanistan is under pressure to show progress on 'democratic processes'.

Preliminary results will be released on November 10 but there are concerns they could be thrown into turmoil if the biometric verification devices are broken, lost or destroyed.

Votes cast without the controversial machines will not be counted, the IEC has said.
Dr Kerryn Phelps has made a shocking blunder moments into her new career as a federal politician following her historic Wentworth by-election win on Saturday.

Dr Phelps, an independent, defeated Liberal candidate Dave Sharma following a massive 22 per cent swing against the party.

There are now growing calls for Prime Minister Scott Morrison to call an early election after the Liberal Party lost Wentworth for the first time in its history.

Dr Phelps takes over the seat in Sydney's eastern suburbs from former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull, who quit politics after he was ousted from the top job.

New Wentworth MP Kerryn Phelps (second right) celebrates with son-in-law Rob Chambers, grandson Billy and daughter Jamie at her election victory party on Saturday night

Dr Kerryn Phelps with her wife Jackie after her historic victory in the Sydney seat of Wentworth

She received a rock star reception on arrival at her election party celebrations at North Bondi Life Saving Club.

But the massive cheers around the room soon turned into awkward laughter and shocked gasps as the new MP took to the microphone to make her victory speech.

'First of all thank you to the people of Warringah,' Dr Phelps said in referring to Tony Abbott's seat before she realised and laughed at her embarrassing gaffe.

'... to the people of Wentworth,' she quickly corrected, before adding 'You've got to allow a little bit for nerves tonight'.

The gaffe sent social media into meltdown.

'An omen of things to come, Tony Abbott you're next,' one person tweeted, while another added: 'People of Wentworth have a good look at yourselves - first words already a stuff up.'

Then there was this comment: 'That faux pas was bad enough! but you'd think Kerryn would have learned something after the fallout from Theresa May's "dancing queen" moves -not a good look!'

The historic by-election result means the Morrison Government has lost its one seat majority in federal parliament.

Liberal candidate for Wentworth David Sharma (pictured) appeared to have closed the door on running again when he conceded following a crushing defeat

There are growing calls for Prime Minister Scott Morrison (pictured) to call an early election

Politicians will return to a hung parliament when it resumes in Canberra on Monday.

'There's a clear message - the voters of Wentworth have rejected the Morrison Governments chaos, instability and lack of vision for our nation,' Opposition Leader Bill Shorten tweeted following the by-election.

A spokesman for Mr Shorten later told News Corp: 'Morrison is still the Prime Minister but he now leads a minority government'.

'The swing is so big and historic, the result is disastrous for Morrison. Given he said losing Wentworth would cause chaos and unprecedented instability, he should do the right thing for the country and go to an election,' the spokesperson said.

Deputy opposition leader Tanya Plibersek publicly urged Mr Morrison on Sky News to call an early election.

'Australians want better from their government,' Ms Plibersek later tweeted.

'They want a stable government focused on them and their families. They want a strong economy and a fair society - where everyone can get a great education and healthcare, can get a job with decent pay and conditions, and afford to live a good life.'

Mr Sharma appeared to have closed the door on running again in the seat when he conceded defeat.

'Tonight's result is over a little sooner than I expected. I'm certainly glad I kept my day job and I have something to go back to,' the former Ambassador to Israel told supporters.

Dr Phelps replaces former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull (pictured) as the Wentworth MP

Dr Phelps made a shocking blunder moments into her new career as a federal politician when she addressed her supporters

Election night celebrations were a bit more subdued in Double Bay for Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Liberal candidate David Sharma (right)

'This is the first time I've ever run for elected office, as well, and the first time I've run a campaign, and it has been a little bruising, no doubt about it.'

Mr Turnbull's son Alex welcomed the result against the Liberals.

'Incredible result and proud of the people of Wentworth. A hearty congratulations to Dr Kerryn Phelps who fought a great campaign. A great day for Australian democracy,' he tweeted on Saturday night.

As the war between the Turnbull/Abbott families continues, former prime minister Tony Abbott's sister Christine Forster has not ruled out running for the seat of Wentworth in the next general election.

'Yes, I will have a think about Wentworth,' she admitted on Sky News on Saturday night.

'It certainly makes you campaign ready when you're in an environment like I am. I will consider my options in the approach to the general election.'

Ms Forster said the Liberals can '100 per cent' win back the seat at the next election but refused to say whether Mr Sharma was the best candidate to run.

Christine Forster (pictured), the sister of former prime minister Tony Abbott, said she was not surprised about the voter backlash against the Liberals

'I think there will be a competitive field,' she said.

She told Sky she had opted not to nominate for Liberal preselection this time around because of her connection to her brother and the 'perceived' hostilities with Mr Turnbull.

Ms Forster said she was not surprised about the voter backlash against the Liberals.

'I think this problem started in 2015 when we knifed a sitting Prime Minister. We justified it with polls, scraped through a 2016 election and then had the stupidity to knife another one,' she said.

'The electorate is telling us that they don't want that. What people are seeing now is instability and disloyalty and it's being going on for five years now.'

The win to Kerryn Phelps (pictured) means that the Morrison Government has lost its one seat majority

The new Wentworth MP (pictured) hugged and danced with supporters when she made her grand entrance to election party celebrations

She later backtracked on her comments about running for Wentworth.

'Tonight I was asked on Sky News about a future tilt at Wentworth. For now, let's just get votes counted and congratulate Dave Sharma and Kerryn Phelps. From here, it's about how to stop Labor's plan to tax property and retirees, not what I do.'

On the most recent count, Dr Phelps had received 54.3 per cent of the two-party preferred vote, to the Liberals 45.7 per cent.

Dr Phelps had received 33.1 per cent of the primary vote, while Mr Sharma was on 39 per cent, at the most recent count.

In 2016, Mr Turnbull received 67.7 per cent of the two-party preferred vote and 62 per cent of the primary vote.

The swing against the Liberal Party was the largest at a federal by-election.
Day also saw Carol Vorderman and Made in Chelsea's Georgia Toffolo among the face faces at the racecourse

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The rich and famous descended upon a gloriously sunny racecourse at the eighth QIPCO British Champions Day at Ascot today.

As leading jockeys, trainers and owners from Europe attended in their masses the day also saw other well known celebrities attend the prestigious sporting event.

The Queen, dressed in a flattering blue ensemble, was seen arriving at the stunning Ascot racehorse in Berkshire to watch the events unfold before presenting the prize in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes.

The Queen dressed in a flattering blue ensemble arrives at a sunny Ascot Racehorse in Berkshire today to watch the events unfold for the QIPCO British Champions Day

TV presenter Carol Vorderman sporting a slick cream leather jacket, pencil skirt and shades posing for the cameras at the Berkshire racecourse

The former Countdown presenter cheers on jockey Frankie Dettori as he wins the QIPCO British Champoins Long Distance Cup on Stradivarius

Former Countdown presenter Carol Vorderman, 57, gets animated while cheering Franki Dettori during The Qipco Champions Day at Ascot

Made in Chelsea's Georgia Toffolo enjoy a glass of champagne as she watches the jockeys take to the racecourse from a VIP balcony

Carol Vorderman was also at the British racing event sporting a slick cream coat, pencil skirt and gloves as she posed for the cameras.

The presenter was seen cheering on Italian racing jockey Frankie Dettori as he won the QIPCO British Champions Long Distance Cup on Stradivarius.

Also among the famous faces was Made in Chelsea's Georgia Toffolo who was spotted enjoying a glass of champagne as she watched the finale unfold from a VIP balcony.

The day saw Stradivarius and superstar jockey Frankie Dettori win the QIPCO British Champions Long Distance Cup Race run during the events at the Ascot Racecourse.

As the Queen enjoys her day at the races the Duke of Edinburgh relaxes outside castle grounds and is seen riding his horse and carriage

Carriage-driving has been a favourite past-time of Prince Philip's since he gave up playing polo during the 1970s

Track and field athlete Denise Lewis looks glamorous in a knee length purple dress and cream coat as she smiles at cameras

English composer Andrew Lloyd Webber and wife Madeleine Gurdon are seen attending the QIPCO Champions Day at Ascot Racecourse today

Stradivarius and Frankie Dettori (second left) win the QIPCO British Champions Long Distance Cup Race run during the QIPCO British Champions Day at the Ascot racecourse

Jockey Frankie Dettori leaps for joy as he wins the QIPCO British Champions Long Distance Cup Race run during the QIPCO British Champions Day

Track and field athlete Denise Lewis and musical composer Andrew Lloyd Webber were was among the elite at the Ascot grounds.

As the Queen enjoyed her day at the grand sporting event the Duke of Edinburgh was spotted taking his horses for a stroll through Windsor Great Park.

Dressed in a green jacket and a flat cap Prince Philip looked relaxed as he took a breath of fresh air and rode his horse and carriage outside the castle grounds, while accompanied by his aides.

Carriage-driving has been a favourite past-time of the Duke's since he gave up playing polo during the 1970s and he is often seen steering his two-horse carriage around the grounds of the castle.

Following a spectacular showdown during the races today, Cracksman, trained by John Gosden and ridden by Frankie Dettori, won the Champion Stakes at Ascot today by six lengths.

British jockey and former track cyclist Victoria Pendleton smiles for the camera as she attends the racecourse in Ascot today

Ola Jordan (left) dressed in a floral dress and James Jordan (right) sporting a grey blazer and waistcoat attend today's races

British Athletics star Katarina Johnson-Thompson (L) and Killing Eve actor Jodie Comer (R) attend the QIPCO British Champions Day at Ascot Racecourse on October 2
Jo Shintah (pictured) was killed in August 2016 as she was attempting to exit the Pacific Fair car park on Queensland's Gold Coast

The family of a Strictly Ballroom actress who was killed in a shopping centre car park are furious an inquest into her death will not be held.

Jo Shintah, 61, was killed in August 2016 as she was attempting to exit the Pacific Fair car park at Broadbeach on the Gold Coast.

Ms Shintah's family has since lobbied for the inquest but Coroner James McDougall has refused, The Courier Mail reported.

The former ballroom dancer opened her Mercedes door as she was trying to insert her ticket to open the boom gate but dropped it on the ground.

As Ms Shintah was leaning out of the car, she accidentally accelerated and was torn from the vehicle, causing her to be jammed against the ticket machine.

She suffered fatal head injuries, with shoppers watching the horror accident unfold.

The sister of Ms Shintah, who was killed in Pacific Fair car park (pictured), is infuriated at the decision not to hold an inquest into her death

Mr McDougall penned a letter to Ms Shintah's sister, Judith Kennedy, that said he rejected calls for the inquest as the 'investigation revealed sufficient information' for him to come to a decision.

He said the accident was caused as Ms Shintah failed to put her car in 'park' before opening the door.

Ms Kennedy is outraged by the decision, claiming the fact the ticket machine malfunctioned was over looked.

'This is a public safety issue, not just a car accident,' she told Mr McDougall in a letter.

'There is a fundamental danger with boom gates and the automated ticket box operation and positioning, particularly at Pacific Fair.'

At the time of Ms Shintah's death, the Pacific Fair car park had only just introduced paid parking as part of a $670million redevelopment.

Ms Shintah's (pictured) family has since lobbied for an inquest into the fatal accident but Coroner James McDougall refused

Ms Kennedy questioned whether the boomgate machine was working properly, as she said she was told by police there were 10 tickets stuck in the machine when the accident occurred.

She claimed multiple people had issues with the ticket machines soon after they were installed.

Ms Kennedy said Mr McDougall 'could have at least recommended that signs be put up warning of the dangers and not to get out of your car'.
Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales boasted on Thursday that under his guidance, security detail has been able to capture almost 100 ISIS terrorist.

Morales shared the news while giving a speech at the second Conference for Prosperity and Security in Central America in Washington D.C. on October 11 and 12.

The president claimed that his administration has captured 'close to 100 people completely linked to terrorist issues, with ISIS and that not only have we arrested them within our territory, but they have been deported to their countries of origin.'

Morales shared the news while giving a speech at the second Conference for Prosperity and Security in Central America in Washington D.C. on October 11 and 12

Secretary of Social Communication for the Presidency, Alfredo Brito, added that the additional data on the captures was 'protected information of National Security,' Guatemalan newspaper Prensa Libre reported.

The president claimed that his administration has captured 'close to 100 people completely linked to terrorist issues, with ISIS and that not only have we arrested them within our territory, but they have been deported to their countries of origin'

Brito asserted that the president mentioned the news 'because it is a work in coordination with the different intelligence and security agencies.'

Secretary of Stategic Intelligence, Mario Duarte, reaffirmed that 'the individuals intercepted, detained, prosecuted or returned to their country of origin, is close to 100.'

While Duarte alluded that info pertaining to the arrest were confidential, he did point to a 2016 incident where 'several citizens of Syrian origin who were detained with false documents were detained, for which they were prosecuted and subjected to criminal proceedings.' Those people were said to have been deported.

Both Duarte and Morales pointed to the coordinated work 'with several intelligence and security agencies of the world' as the reason why so many of the people have been detained.

Back in Guatemala, members of a 4,000-strong migrant caravan have made it to a border town across the muddy Suchiate River from Mexico and faced-off with authorities as a notorious march ringleader has been arrested.

Back in Guatemala, members of a 4,000-strong migrant caravan have made it to a border town across the muddy Suchiate River from Mexico

About 50 managed to push their way through before officers unleashed pepper spray and the rest retreated, joining the sea of humanity on the bridge

Members of the caravan of more than 3,000 migrants had earlier burst through a Guatemalan border fence and rushed onto the bridge over the Suchiate River, defying Mexican authorities' entreaties for an orderly crossing and U.S. President Donald Trump's threats of retaliation.

But they were met Friday by a wall of police with riot shields on the Mexican side of the bridge. About 50 managed to push their way through before officers unleashed pepper spray and the rest retreated, joining the sea of humanity on the bridge.

Police and immigration agents began letting small groups of 10, 20 or 30 people through the gates if they wanted to apply for refugee status. Once they file a claim, they can go to a shelter to spend the night
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Thousands of Central American migrants trying to get to the United States stood off against local police at Mexico's southern border and begged for food and shelter - as President Donald Trump ragged on Democrats for being 'obstructionist' with immigration laws.

The president took to his Twitter on Saturday morning to blast Democrats for not working to get proper immigration laws, which he claimed could be finalized in an hour.

'If the Democrats would stop being obstructionists and come together, we could write up and agree to new immigration laws in less than one hour,' he claimed.

'Look at the needless pain and suffering that they are causing. Look at the horrors taking place on the Border. Chuck & Nancy, call me!

The president took to his Twitter on Saturday morning to blast Democrats for not working to get proper immigration laws

On Friday, some of the 4,000 migrants in the caravan burst through a Guatemalan border fence and rushed onto the bridge over the Suchiate River

On Friday, members of the caravan of 4,000 migrants had burst through a Guatemalan border fence and rushed onto the bridge over the Suchiate River, defying Mexican authorities' entreaties for an orderly crossing and U.S. President Donald Trump's threats of retaliation.

But they were met by a wall of police with riot shields on the Mexican side of the bridge. About 50 managed to push their way through before officers unleashed pepper spray and the rest retreated, joining the sea of humanity on the bridge.

Police and immigration agents began letting small groups of 10, 20 or 30 people through the gates if they wanted to apply for refugee status. Once they file a claim, they can go to a shelter to spend the night.

Police and immigration agents began letting small groups of 10, 20 or 30 people through the gates if they wanted to apply for refugee status. Once they file a claim, they can go to a shelter to spend the night

As night fell, many migrants took to the nearby river to bathe as they realized they wouldn't be allowed through the border

A father uses the river to wash his son's head as thousands of migrants struggled knowing they wouldn't get Mexican refugee status in the night

Central American migrants reach the shore on the Mexican side of the Suchiate River after wading acros

As night fell on the bridge, the migrants' frustration turned to despair as women clutching small children took up the rows in front of the gate pleading with the Mexican federal police. Some migrants yelled 'We are hungry!' Others wailed that they had children while others set up tarps to prepare for the night sleeping on the increasingly dirty and befouled bridge.

'Please, it is night. Let us pass,' Alba Luz Giron Ramirez, a former shop employee and mother of three, pleaded to the officers.

Giron said they had come from San Pedro Sula, Honduras, and that gangs had killed her brother and threatened her.

Other migrants arrived at the bridge via makeshift rafts

The map above shows the journey the caravan is taking from Honduras through Guatemala and up through Mexico towards the U.S.

'We want them to give us permission to go to Mexico,' her 5-year-old son Ramon said in a child's voice. 'We wouldn't stay.'

Alison Danisa wept as she knelt in the garbage already piling up on the bridge, clutching her naked 11-month-old infant to her breast.

'We have suffered so much. She has a fever and we brought nothing,' she said, showing the baby's bare bottom to indicate they had no diapers.

A Mexican marine official with a loudspeaker approached the gate and told migrants they would be taken in trucks to 'a humanitarian attention center' in Tapachula, a border city in the Mexican state of Chiapas. But the official did not say when this would happen.

A migrant tries to avoid the Mexican Federal Police as he prepares to jump into the river

Migrants organized a rope brigade to ford the river's muddy waters

Late Friday night, Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto said in an address to the nation that a large group of migrants had 'tried to enter Mexican territory irregularly, attacking and even hurting some elements of the Federal Police.'

'Mexico does not permit and will not permit entry into its territory in an irregular fashion, much less in a violent fashion,' he said.

Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez tweeted late Friday that he spoke with his Guatemalan counterpart, Jimmy Morales, and asked permission to send Honduran civil protection personnel to the bridge to help the migrants.

'I also asked authorization to hire ground transportation for anyone who wants to return and an air bridge for special cases of women, children, the elderly and the sick,' Hernandez tweeted.

Some migrants floated across on rafts operated by local residents who usually charge a dollar or two to make the crossing

Many migrants weren't able to find shelter for the night and were forced to stick to the streets

One migrant was lucky enough to find a bench to rest in while he waited to get refugee status

A Honduran baby migrant, taking part in a caravan to the US, rests in Ciudad Tecun Uman, Guatema

Hernandez and Morales are expected to meet in Guatemala early Saturday to discuss the situation.

Some migrants, tired of waiting, jumped off the bridge into the Suchiate River on Friday. Migrants organized a rope brigade to ford its muddy waters, and some floated across on rafts operated by local residents who usually charge a dollar or two to make the crossing.

The U.S. president has made it clear to Mexico that he is monitoring its response. On Thursday he threatened to close the U.S. border if Mexico didn't stop the caravan. Later that day he tweeted a video of Mexican federal police deploying at the Guatemalan border and wrote: 'Thank you Mexico, we look forward to working with you!'

The U.S. president has made it clear to Mexico that he is monitoring its response. On Thursday he threatened to close the U.S. border if Mexico didn't stop the caravan

Mexican officials said those with passports and valid visas - only a tiny minority of those trying to cross - would be let in immediately.

Migrants who want to apply for refuge in Mexico were welcome to do so, they said, but any who decide to cross illegally and are caught will be detained and deported.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met Friday with President Enrique Pena Nieto and Foreign Relations Secretary Luis Videgaray in Mexico City, with the caravan high on the agenda.

A Honduran migrant heading in a caravan to the US, prepares to jump to the Suchiate River from the Guatemala-Mexico international border bridge

A man holding a child gets help coming down from the bridge after realizing that he may not make it through the checkpoint

A group of Central American migrants wade across the Suchiate River

At a news conference with Videgaray, Pompeo called illegal migration a 'crisis' and emphasized 'the importance of stopping this flow before it reaches the U.S. border,' while also acknowledging Mexico's right to handle the crisis in a sovereign fashion.

'Mexico will make its decision,' Pompeo said. 'Its leaders and its people will decide the best way to achieve what I believe are our shared objectives.'

Elizabeth Oglesby, a professor at the University of Arizona's Center for Latin American Studies, said people join caravans like this because it's a way to make the journey in a relatively safe manner and avoid having to pay thousands of dollars to smugglers. She disputed Pompeo's assertion that that there is a 'crisis' of migration.

'The border is not in crisis. This is not a migration crisis. ... Yes, we are seeing some spikes in Central Americans crossing the border, but overall migration is at a 40-year low,' Oglesby said.

A group of Central American migrants gather in the central park of Ciudad Hidlago

A tired girl holds onto a fence as she tries to get some rest
Prince Harry proudly displayed his collection of military medals just hours before he delivered a rousing speech to open the Invictus Games in Sydney.

The Duke of Sussex attended the Anzac Memorial service in Hyde Park with wife Meghan ahead of the contest, which he founded in 2014.

He wore the Tropical Dress of the Blues and Royals, dubbed his 'Officer and a Gentleman' attire, as he paid tribute to Australia's war dead.

Prince Harry wearing the Tropical Dress of the Blues and Royals, dubbed his 'Officer and a Gentleman' attire, as he paid tribute to Australia's war dead

The golden eagle on Harry's left arm is the Eagle of the 105th Regiment of the Line, which was captured at the Battle of Waterloo and symbolises honour and pride.

The Pilots Wings resting above his medals are a nod to his time serving in the Army Air Corps flying Apache helicopters.

And the large silver badge on his chest is a symbol of the Royal Victorian Order, which represents distinguished personal service to the monarch.

The Duke of Sussex displayed three medals on his white uniform.

On the left is his Afghanistan Operational Service Medal to mark his service at the frontline in Helmand Province.

In the middle is the Queen's Golden Jubilee Medal, which was awarded to all those in active service on February 6, 2002 who had been in the forces for five years.

And on the right is his Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal which was awarded to mark his grandmothers sixtieth year on the throne in 2012.

It was given to all those in the Armed Forces, emergency services, prison services and members of the the Royal Household.

Prince Harry also wore a aiguillette from his right shoulder.

The gold braid aiguillette shows that Harry is now one of the Queen's personal Aide de Camps.

He also had the Queen's cyphers - EIIR - on his shoulder boards.

The Duke of Sussex displayed three medals and his aiguillette from his right shoulder on his white uniform during the service in Sydney

While Prince Harry looked dashing in his military attire, Mehgan opted for an elegant buttoned black midi dress nipped in at the waist.

The pair then swapped their formal attire for casual chic to take a boat across Sydney Harbour to Cockatoo Island for a special Invictus Games car challenge.

They took the private vessel from Admiralty House in Kirribilli where they have been staying as a guest of Governor-General Sir Peter Cosgrove.

While Prince Harry looked dashing in his military attire, Mehgan opted for an elegant buttoned black midi dress nipped in at the waist

The couple then made their way to Sydney Opera House for the opening ceremony of the Invictus Games, where the Duke addressed hundreds of athletes.

Prince Harry shared his 'personal joy' of soon becoming a father and hailed the 'Invictus family' as a symbol of strength, honour and optimism.
Famous faces joined an estimated half a million anti-Brexit campaigners who gathered in central London calling for a second referendum.

The march, dubbed the People's Vote March, attracted TV chef Delia Smith, presenter Richard Bacon and former Dragon's Den star Deborah Meaden.

Following the march they took to the stage at a rally, which was held in Parliament Square this afternoon.

Celebrity chef Delia previously told the Standard that she thought Brexit is a 'dog's dinner' before making her decision to speak at the rally.

Famous faces joined an estimated half a million anti- Brexit campaigners who gathered in central London calling for a second referendum

Leading speeches in Parliament Square, Delia said people were not fully informed when they voted but now understood 'the dire consequences'.

'When the vote first happened we weren't fully informed,' she said.

The household names were also joined by TV and radio presenter Mariella Frostrup and Sadiq Khan, who took to the stage and addressed the crowds.

Meanwhile, as these celebrities stood up in support of a second referendum on stage, others were among the sea of people marching from Park Lane through the streets of London.

Stand-up comedian Eddie Izzard donned a navy suit and waved Union Jack and European flags as he strolled through the capital's streets.

The march, dubbed the People's Vote March, attracted TV chef Delia Smith, presenter Richard Bacon and former Dragon's Den star Deborah Meaden

Following the march they took to the stage at a rally which was held in Parliament Square this afternoon

The household names were also joined by TV and radio presenter Mariella Frostrup and Sadiq Khan, who also took to the stage and addressed the crowds

Ex-spin doctor Alastair Campbell is another celebrity who supports the People's Vote and was among the crowd at the 'Wooferendum March' earlier this month

Along with the well-known personalities, Sadiq Khan the Mayor of London, insisted that there would be 'nothing more democratic than another referendum.

He said: 'I can't think of anything more democratic, anything more British, than trusting the judgement of the British people.

Along with the well-known personalities, Sadiq Khan the Mayor of London, insisted that there would be 'nothing more democratic than another referendum

Organisers of the rally, People's Vote UK, posted to Twitter: 'Well over HALF A MILLION are marching on Parliament today, demanding a #PeoplesVote on the Brexit deal. Everybody needs to know this'

Meanwhile, as these celebrities stood up in support of a second referendum on stage, others including Bob Geldoff were among the sea of people marching from Park Lane through the streets of London

Mr Khan said: 'I can't think of anything more democratic, anything more British, than trusting the judgement of the British people'

'What we are saying is not there should be neverendums or a best of three, or best of five, but what we are saying is some of the promises made two years ago clearly have not materialised.'

'Nobody was talking about a bad Brexit deal, nobody was talking about no deal whatsoever.

'In those circumstances, for the first time, the British public should have a say over whether they accept the outcome of the negotiations, with the option of staying in the EU.'

Organisers of the rally, People's Vote UK, posted to Twitter: 'Well over HALF A MILLION are marching on Parliament today, demanding a #PeoplesVote on the Brexit deal. Everybody needs to know this.'

Stand-up comedian Eddie Izzard donned a navy suit and waved Union Jack and European flags as he strolled through the capital's streets

Celebrity chef Delia previously told the Standard that she thought Brexit is a 'dog's dinner' before making her decision to speak at the rally

Britons voted to leave the trade bloc by a narrow margin in the 2016 EU membership referendum and Prime Minister Theresa May has ruled out another public vote on the subject

Britain is scheduled to leave the EU on March 29, but negotiations have been plagued by disagreements, particularly over the issue of the Republic of Ireland-Northern Ireland border, which will be the UK's only land frontier with the EU after Brexit

Britons voted to leave the trade bloc by a narrow margin in the 2016 EU membership referendum and Prime Minister Theresa May has ruled out another public vote on the subject.

Britain is scheduled to leave the EU on March 29, but negotiations have been plagued by disagreements, particularly over the issue of the Republic of Ireland-Northern Ireland border, which will be the UK's only land frontier with the EU after Brexit.

A statement on the People's Vote website reads: 'Whether you voted leave or remain, nobody voted to make this country worse off, to harm jobs, to damage the NHS, to affect the future of millions of young people, or to make this country more divided.

'The more the shape of the final Brexit deal becomes clear, the more it is clear that it will do nothing to improve social justice, reduce inequality, increase our standard of living, or create a better future for future generations.'

A statement on the People's Vote website reads: 'Whether you voted leave or remain, nobody voted to make this country worse off, to harm jobs, to damage the NHS, to affect the future of millions of young people, or to make this country more divided

Alistair Campbell, a keen pro-remainer and former spin-doctor joined the protest
A lioness at the Indianapolis Zoo has killed the father of her three cubs.

On Monday morning Nyack, a 10-year-old male African lion, died suffering injuries to the neck.

He got into a physical confrontation with female lion Zuri and zoo staff reported hearing 'an unusual amount of roaring' at the lion's outdoor yard early Monday morning before the zoo opened to the public.

10-year-old African lion Nyack died on Monday morning at the Indianapolis Zoo. Nyack pictured above

He was attacked and killed by lioness Zuri, with whom he has three cubs, as she held him by the neck until he stopped moving. Zuri pictured above

Video courtesy WXIN

When they arrived at the yard they say the two fighting and tried to separate the two, 'but Zuri held Nyack by the neck until he stopped moving'.

A zoo veterinary staff said Nyack died of suffocation according to the necropsy.

Nyack and Zuri were housed together for eight years at the zoo and according to staff logs there were no previous signs of aggression, according to CNN.

They had three cubs together in 2015.

The Indianapolis Zoo announced Nyack's death in a statement on Friday.

Nyack and Zuri were housed together for eight years at the zoo and according to staff logs there were no previous signs of aggression

The incident took place on Monday morning before the Indianapolis Zoo opened to the public

'Our Zoo family is sad to announce that 10-yr-old male African lion Nyack has died. Earlier this week he was injured during a physical incident with female lion Zuri. We will conduct a thorough review to attempt to understand what may have led to this,' the zoo posted on Facebook on Friday.

'Zuri and the other three lions are all ok. Zuri and Nyack had three cubs together three years ago. Nyack was a magnificent lion and he will be greatly missed. We appreciate the support from our community as we cope with the loss,' they added.

The zoo will investigate the incident. At the moment there are no plans to change how the lions are housed and managed.
Alaska Governor Bill Walker has dropped his re-election bid just three days after a close colleague resigned for 'making inappropriate' comments towards women.



Lieutenant Governor of Alaska Byron Mallott abruptly resigned on Tuesday over inappropriate behavior but no further details were released.

Walker's announcement, made at the Alaska Federation of Natives conference in Anchorage shortly before he was to participate in a debate, was met with gasps and cries of 'No' from the audience.

Walker, 67, said it became clear he could not win a three-way race against Republican former state Senator Mike Dunleavy and Democratic former US Senator Mark Begich for the Governors seat.

Alaska Governor Bill Walker (pictured) will not be running for re-election he said Friday

Walker's decision came after the resignation of his lieutenant Byron Mallet (pictured) over inappropriate behavior towards women

'With more time, I am confident that Val and I could deliver a message and a campaign that could earn a victory in this election,' Walker wrote in an Instagram post Friday night.

'But there are only 18 days remaining before election day. Absentee ballots have already been mailed, and Alaskans are already voting.

'In the time remaining, I believe we cannot win a three-way race'.

Walker, a former Republican and the only independent governor in the country, told reporters he doesn't agree with Begich on a lot of things. But he said Begich would be better for Alaska than Dunleavy.

Walker was showered with praise and hugs by conference attendees after his announcement. The debate went on without him.

Begich called Walker's action courageous, while Dunleavy did not acknowledge it.

Walker's campaign was rocked Tuesday by the resignation of Lieutenant Governor Byron Mallott, a Democrat who was replaced by former state health commissioner Valerie Davidson.

Walkers announcement on Friday was met with gasps and cries of 'No!' from the audience.

Walker's wife Donna cried when he told the crowd he was suspending his reelection campaign

Mallott, in a resignation letter, apologized for 'inappropriate comments I made that placed a person whom I respect and revere in a position of vulnerability'.

Few details have been released because Walker said he is honoring the wishes of the woman involved.

The partnership of Walker and Mallott - and blurring of partisan lines - was a central theme of their administration and campaign.

Walker said he considers Mallott his closest friend and 'soul mate'.

Byron Mallet resigned on Tuesday, saying comments he made 'do not reflect the sterling level of behavior required in his role as Lieutenant Governor'

Governor Bill Walker said in a statement that he learned late Monday about the comments 'that do not reflect the sterling level of behavior required in his role as Lieutenant Governor.'

Walker said Mallott made an 'inappropriate overture' Sunday but details of exactly what was said have not been released.

In 2014, Walker and Mallott were each running for governor, trying to unseat Republican Governor Sean Parnell Walker was a Republican mounting an outsider bid. Mallott was the Democratic candidate and an Alaska Native leader.

With the support of the Democratic party, the two men, who had developed a friendship, combined their campaigns and defeated Parnell.

Walker changed his affiliation from Republican to undeclared, and Mallott became Walker's running mate.

This year, their desire to run together helped seal what some had already seen as an uphill battle for Walker because of the three-way race.

Though Democrats now allow independents to run in their primaries, Walker opted against that when it appeared Begich would run.

Mallott and Walker have a close bond since joining forces as part of a 'unity ticket' in 2014

He instead gathered signatures to appear on the general election ballot, which ensured that he and Mallott could run together. Libertarian Billy Toien also is running for governor.

As governor, Walker faced criticism for halving the size of the check Alaskans received from the state's oil-wealth fund in 2016.

He defended his decision as proper, as it came amid legislative gridlock over how to address the deficit. But critics labeled him a thief.

'I ran for the job to do the job, not to keep the job, he said in a recent interview, describing that and other difficult decisions.
Iowa Republican Representative Steve King has revealed his white nationalist views in an interview with an Austrian far-right publication.

King, an eight-term congressman up for re-election next month, has been linked to Neo-Nazism and the far-right before, but he laid out his extremely conservative views like never before in an interview with far-right propaganda website Unzensuriert, which translates to 'uncensored' in English.

He was interviewed when he stopped in Vienna in August and candidly called for stricter immigration policies, said Mollie Tibbett's killer should have never been in the U.S., and claims Democrats are teaming up with radical Islamists to attack 'Western civilization'.

Iowa Republican Rep. Steve King has laid out his extremely conservative views like never before in an interview with far-right propaganda website Unzensuriert, which translates to 'uncensored' in English

King visited Vienna in August and sat down for an interview with the far-right site which has been flagged by Austrian authorities for being anti-Islamic and anti-Semetic. Pictured at a rally where a protester holds a 'Build the Wall' sign

The interview with Austrian website Unzensuriert, meaning 'Uncensored', was published September. He was interviewed by Caroline Sommerfeld of Europe's fascist identitarian movement, which is connected to the alt-right in the U.S.

He was interviewed by Caroline Sommerfeld, an intellectual in the European neo-fascist identititarian movement which is connected to the U.S.'s alt-right, to discuss how Muslim and Latino immigrants threaten the U.S. and Europe.

The interview was published in September and went unnoticed by American news outlets until the Huffington Post flagged it.

In the interview Sommerfeld asks: 'In your opinion is Islam the problem or Western liberalism?'

King replies saying 'it is like fighting a two front war. How is it, that the liberals, the leftists, on the one side, could build an alliance with the misogynistic hard core rightist Islamic people that have no tolerance for everything?'

'If we dont defend Western civilization, then we will become subjugated by the people who are the enemies of faith, the enemies of justice,' King said.

He cited an old NBC interview where he slammed Charlie Peirce after he said the Republican convention was full of 'old white men'.

King clapped back saying: 'That kind of talk is a little tiresome and old, isn't it? Can you name another subgroup that has contributed more?'

When asked 'more than white people?' King responded 'More than Western civilization itself! No subgroup has contributed more to Western civilization.'

Speaking on migrants, he touched on Mollie Tibbetts, the 20-year-old girl who was found stabbed to death in an Iowa cornfield whose confessed killer is believed to be an illegal immigrant from Mexico.

'The individual who murdered Mollie Tibbetts should have never been in America,' he said.

'Liberals in the US say that Mollie Tibbetts' death is just because the perpetrator was male, that it didnt have anything to do with him being a law breaker, a criminal. And what I say to those people who say that immigration isn't part of her death is: then go and tell her family, that if her killer had been deported the minute he set foot illegally on US soil, your daughter would still be dead,' he added.

He also slammed the U.S. low fertility rate saying 'if we continue to abort our babies and import a replacement for them in the form of young violent men, we are supplanting our culture, our civilization.'

At multiple points in the interview he uses the phrase 'Western Civilization' which he seems to define as white America.

The two touched upon the theory of the Great Replacement - which is the idea that mass migration such as from Muslim-majority countries, could lead to the extinction of white European culture and identity.

The Iowa Congressman, pictured right, called for stricter immigration policies and claimed radical Islamists and Democrats are trying to attack 'Western civilization'

His Democratic challenger J.D. Sholten criticized his interview saying he spends more time in Austria than Iowa

King called it 'slow-motion cultural suicide'.

The Great Replacement is a term used by anti-Muslim European networks who believe migrants and refugees are leading to the Islamification of Europe.

Unzensuriert is well known in Austria as a far-right publication that attacks the country's traditional outlets.

'Unzensuriert is very much like a German-language version of Breitbard. They are opinion pieces which offer a far-right view on the world,' Ingrid Brodnig, an author and expert on the Austrian far-right, said.

Last year Austria's intelligence services flagged the site as promoting anti-Semitism and extreme xenophobia.

King has been linked to Neo-Nazism and white nationalism before and on Wednesday he endorsed Toronto's mayoral candidate Faith Goldy, who is connected to white nationalism

King hasn't commented on his interview with the Austrian site.

His Democratic opponent J.D. Scholten retweeted the story and noted how King was able to sit down for an interview in Austria but refused to be interviewed by Iowa's largest newspaper before the election.

'It's disrespectful to this district that he's spent more time (five times in the last six years) in Austria on TAXPAYER DIME than he does in most counties in our district,' Scholten said to the Huffington Post.

King has been a Congressman for Iowa for eight terms in Iowa, in one of the reddest districts of America.

He has beaten Democratic opponents by more than 20 points in the past five elections.

According to a poll from last month, he was leading his Democratic challenger Scholten by 10 percentage points.

He made headlines on Wednesday for endorsing Faith Goldy, a white nationalist mayoral candidate in Toronto's upcoming election.
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Florida is still feeling the consequences of a devastating hurricane which ravaged parts of the country over a week ago.

Over 100,000 Florida homeowners and businesses are still without power more than a week after Hurricane Michael smashed into the Florida Panhandle on a path of destruction that led all the way to the Georgia border.

While more than half the outages are in Bay County where the storm came in between coastal Mexico Beach and Panama City, rural counties had a greater percentage of people without power eight days after the storm.

The area includes Calhoun County, where 86 per cent of customers of the local electric cooperative had no electricity.

Utility crews set up new poles and utility wires in the aftermath of Hurricane Michael in Panama City during the week

Utility workers have been working around the clock to restore power to homes and businesses in Florida Panhandle

Jeff Rogers, a spokesman for Gulf Power told Fox News: We're trying to make sure they understand how widespread the damage was and that we're leveraging every resource that we possibly can to get it on as quickly as we can.

'It doesn't serve Calhoun. This was an unprecedented storm.

In Bay County, thousands of utility poles were blown down or snapped in half like toothpicks.

Power lines drooped over roadways or were tossed to the ground like piles of spaghetti.

Many transmission line towers - the enormous metal structures that bring electricity to substations that then route it into specific neighborhoods - were left in twisted piles or knocked to the ground.

Contract workers begin repairing damaged buildings and removing debris in Mexico Beach which was hit hard by Michael

James Whiddon looks over damage caused by Hurricane Michael which left his home badly damaged one week on

Contract workers begin repairing damaged buildings and removing debris at households in Mexico City

LeClaire Bryan, mother of country music artist Luke Bryan, places a sign she found on a pile of rubble left by Hurricane Michael near her home

Several power substations were damaged, and there were countless disrupted connections to individual homes.

New power poles and lines are going up quickly in a visible sign of progress.

Long lines of utility trucks snake through Panama City streets every morning on the way toward areas where service is still out.

Workers suspended in buckets from nine trucks strung lines along just one street on Thursday and the same scene was being repeated countless times each day.

A week after the storm, Gulf Power had replaced 5,600 utility poles, a process that can take as little as 10 minutes or much longer depending on damage to the pole as well as trees and debris that could make access to it more difficult, Rogers said.

Tracy Lachance and her dog stands at the back of her home which she believes was damaged beyond repair in Panama City

Nathan Donahue bathes with bottled water in the driveway of his aunt's home in Panama City as they still don't have power

John and Krystal Reardon prepare to leave Florida and drive to Kansas to stay with family in their fully-packed SUV

Chet Bundy stands in the kitchen of the trailer home he was in when Hurricane Michael passed through in Panama City

Cynthia Lamphier and Chet Bundy pose for a picture in their trailer home when it was destroyed by Hurricane Michael

Gulf Power has about 1,200 employees working on power restoration, supplemented by 6,200 people from 15 states who are helping out.

But even far from the hurricane-damaged coast, northern rural counties were also struggling. In Jackson County along the Georgia and Alabama borders, more than 80 percent of customers were without power a week after the storm.

'Our electrical grid is totally destroyed,' said Rodney Andreasen, the county emergency management director.

'Right now our biggest need is getting power back on. Power regeneration'.

Rogers said one big concern is that people are getting used to dead power lines lying on the ground or drooped in front of homes. As service is restored, those lines could be deadly.

Told that there were families in Lynn Haven that were using power lines in front of their damaged houses as a makeshift clothes line, he said: 'Oh my goodness. That's a little scary. Just stay away.'

'We're starting to turn on and people get complacent after being around them a little bit, he said. It has been a week without power and you get kind of used to not being wary around them.'
She signed up to Strictly Come Dancing to prove that the mental and physical scars she sustained in a horrific acid attack were not going to hold her back.

But model Katie Piper has revealed that callous trolls mocked her injuries during her time on the BBC show  even as the man who attacked her was released from jail.

Heartless strangers cruelly called her a 'monster' and mocked the partial blindness and facial disfigurement she suffered.

Trolls called her a 'monster' and mocked partial her blindness and facial disfigurement

Katie Piper and her dance partner Gorka Marquez during the dress rehearsal for Saturday's live show

In an interview with The Mail on Sunday, she said: 'I got some really horrible abuse, it was awful. I was told 'You look like a monster' by someone one night. It's so cruel. Then someone else said, 'Thank goodness for make-up.' '

The mother-of-two said another mocked the fact she is 75 per cent blind in one eye. 'Someone said to me, 'Are you sure you're not blind in both eyes, not just one? Because you definitely dance like you are.'

'These people seem to forget I'm a human. I just wanted to scream back, 'I know I can't dance!' '

While she found the attacks distressing, the 35-year-old said she enjoyed her time on the show and added: 'I am just so glad to be alive.'

Recent weeks have been a constant reminder of what happened on a busy street near her West London home in April 2008.

Katie Piper was the victim of an acid attack outside her West London home in 2008

She was left severely scarred, blind and with a serious throat injury after Stefan Sylvestre hurled acid at her on the orders of her ex-boyfriend, Daniel Lynch.

Sylvestre was released on October 10, but Lynch is still serving his 16-year sentence.

'In week one of Strictly, I got myself into a bit of a dark place,' said Katie. 'I remember standing on the balcony, making unhealthy comparisons about things and just telling myself again and again, 'No, don't do this to yourself.'

I tried to show the real me on Strictly. I was really determined to show people that my injuries wouldn't stop me from doing a show like this.'

But the show also served to underline her disability. While she has become used to tackling day-to-day tasks with one eye, rehearsing with dance partner Gorka Marquez was challenging as she struggled to see him demonstrate the moves.

She says: 'It was hard adapting.'

Katie was voted off Strictly last weekend, while Seann Walsh and Katya Jones remained in, despite the scandal of their illicit kiss.

But she says: 'I wasn't surprised. It was probably time for me to go. How many more times can Craig Revel-Horwood tell me I clump along?'

But to her, all that matters is raising the profile of the Katie Piper Foundation, which helps fellow burns survivors.

And since the attack, Katie has undergone intensive mental therapy, as outlined in her new book Confidence: The Journal. As for her self-confessed limitations on the dancefloor, Katie might have expected sympathy from her four-year-old daughter, Belle, but it was not to be.

'I told her I wouldn't be in Strictly any more and she said, 'Oh, so you're not good enough then.' '

Katie Pipers Confidence, The Journal by Quercus Books is out now at www.amazon.com & all good book stores.
A conservative street artist's latest effort at making a statement was to recast Democrat Rep. Maxine Waters as a famed slasher movie icon on a Los Angeles billboard.

Right-wing Sabo created his latest work, which he's called Dark Waters, on top of a billboard advertising the new Halloween movie in West Hollywood.

To create the project, Sabo placed an unflattering photo of Waters' head over that of fictional serial killer Michael Myers' head, so that it appears as though the politician is the one wielding a kitchen knife. He then added the words '#Uncivil' and 'Democrats' on either side of Waters' head.

Right wing street artist Sabo recast Democratic Sen. Maxine Waters in the role of Halloween movie slasher Michael Myers on a billboard in Los Angeles

Sabo said that the words '#Uncivil Democrats' were inspired by a speech Waters made in June. One Instagram user thought Waters turned out looking like a 'bada**' in the poster

On his website, Sabo wrote of the altered billboard, 'HORROR MOVIES DON'T SCARE ME. PSYCHO POLITICIANS DO.'

Sabo, who was kicked off Twitter in April, told The Hollywood Reporter that the phrase he'd added to the poster was inspired by a June speech in which Waters told her audience that they should confront politicians in public and make it clear that they are not welcome there.

'If you see anybody from that Cabinet in a restaurant, in a department store, at a gasoline station, you get out and you create a crowd,' Waters famously said at the Los Angeles rally in June.

'You push back on them and you tell them they're not welcome anymore, anywhere.'

Sabo posted several pictures of his work in billboard alteration in progress on his website

Unlike famed street artist and political activist Banksy, Sabo is not shy about showing his face

In the days after her speech made headlines, protesters were seen hounding Republicans including Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen and White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, while they were attempting to eat at restaurants.

While many #MAGA fans lauded Sabo's efforts, at least one person on Instagram thought he missed the mark by a long shot.

'This actually makes her look bada**. Was that your intention?' asked Instagram user hutch______.

Unlike famous satirical street artist and political activist Banksy, whose never reveals his face and does not sell his work, Sabo frequently posts YouTube videos of himself and is offering prints of photos from his website depicting the Waters billboard in progress for $50 a pop.

Waters does not appear to have responded publicly about the billboard.
Holidaymakers strolling along a promenade in Benidorm were greeted by a naked groom bound to a tree with clingfilm today.

The stag seemed to be in good spirits, despite being completely nude with his hands strategically placed around his manhood, as amused tourists got alongside him to take selfies.

Visitors fed the Briton, wearing nothing but sunglasses, and gave him water to re-hydrate after his boozy night out.

A British man was strapped to a tree with clingfilm whil naked in Benidorm after his stag do

He seemed in good spirits, despite being completely nude with his hands strategically placed around his manhood, as amused tourists got alongside him to take selfies

His friends had laid a hat on the ground in front of him to encourage passers-by to drop coins into.

At one point - after two smartly-dressed ladies got either side of him to pose for a holiday snap with a difference - he could be heard shouting: 'It's three euros per pic.'

The unidentified Brit was put on display outside a tattoo parlour near the Torre Principado apartments on Benidorm's Levante beach.

The stunt met with a mixed reaction from locals and tourists.

His friends had laid a hat on the ground in front of him to encourage passers-by to make donations

The unidentified Brit was put on display outside a tattoo parlour on Benidorm's Levante beach

While most of the holidaymakers filmed engaging with the stag seemed to love every minute of it, many Spaniards and some Brits voiced their discontent on social media and claimed it was another example of their fears Benidorm is becoming a new Magaluf.

Judz Llorente raged: 'This is the type of tourism that stains our country.'

Lisa Davies added: 'Vile. Used to love Benidorm but this is unacceptable when there's children about.'

He proved to be a popular tourist attraction with beach-goers coming up to him for pictures

Pepa Valero said: 'They're really ruining Benidorm and the politicians are allowing it to happen. It's getting worse every day.'

Daniel Peret, who lives in the nearby resort of Altea, added: 'An absolute disgrace. Benidorm is getting more and more like Magaluf. The police should have heavily fined this man.'

But Brit Stewart Read added: 'It's really funny. It's a stag do for goodness sake. I bet some of your stag dos were so boring they sent people to sleep.'
It looks as if 007 has finally met his match  in the form of a tiny six-week-old baby.

Daniel Craigs new daughter has succeeded where countless Bond villains have failed, leaving the star distinctly shaken AND stirred.

The actor was spotted at New Yorks JFK airport last week lovingly cradling her to his chest. But if his exhausted stare is anything to go by, being a doting dad is proving to be even tougher than saving the world from Spectre.

The actor, 50, was spotted at New Yorks JFK airport last week looking disheveled

Wearing a flat cap and turned-up jeans, the 50-year-old battled through security with his baby girl, looking much more haggard than his usual suave secret agent image.

The pictures come after Mail on Sunday columnist Piers Morgan sparked controversy when he suggested that Craig had become emasculated after he was pictured carrying his daughter  whose name has not yet been publicly revealed  in a papoose. Oh 007.. not you as well?!!!, he tweeted.

Craig, who will receive a reported 20 million to star in the 25th Bond film next year, became a father for the second time when his wife of seven years, the actress Rachel Weisz, gave birth last month.

Craig, pictured with his daughter, will receive a reported 20 million to star in the 25th Bond film next year

Sleepless nights would appear to be taking their toll on the 007 star and new dad

He already has a 26-year-old daughter, Ella, from his first marriage to actress Fiona Loudon, while Weisz also has son Henry, 11, from her relationship with Hollywood film director Darren Aronofsky, whose credits include Black Swan and The Wrestler.

At 48, Weisz joins the likes of Halle Berry, 46, and Janet Jackson, 50, in having a baby later in life.

Announcing her pregnancy in April, she said: Daniel and I are so happy. Were going to have a little human. We cant wait to meet him or her. Its all such a mystery.
It's news that could well have women furrowing their brows  if they still can.

Researchers have found that those who have Botox treatment to smooth out facial wrinkles are less likely to achieve orgasms.

Injections of the toxic substance paralyse nerves, making it difficult to produce the full range of facial expressions.

Psychologists at Cardiff University have discovered that, as a result, women find it harder to communicate to lovers that they are enjoying sex.

Researchers have found that those who have Botox treatment to smooth out facial wrinkles are less likely to achieve orgasms

This, the researchers say, affects performance between the sheets and blunts the womans feeling of physical enjoyment.

Dr Michael Lewis, who led the research, explained that just as people find it difficult to feel ecstatically happy without actually smiling, so people struggle to reach orgasm without having full control of the muscles in their face.

He said: Facial expressions associated with orgasm utilise the same muscles targeted in typical botulinum toxin cosmetic treatments.

The predicted consequence of having treatment is that women may feel an orgasm to a lesser extent and may find it harder to reach climax.

Analysis from our study suggests thats what is happening.

The study involved 36 women, 24 of whom had been treated with botulinum toxin, measuring their Female Sexual Function Index Orgasm Satisfaction Score.

Injections of the toxic substance paralyse nerves, making it difficult to produce the full range of facial expressions

Those whose frown lines had been injected reported a notable drop in their satisfaction score.

Writing in the journal Scientific Reports, Dr Lewis said: Reduction of mobility of these muscles may interfere with the expression and feedback of excitement during sexual activity.

The current research provides support for this hypothesis in that participants reported that, following BTX treatment, there was a decrease in sexual function: in particular, orgasms were harder to achieve and less satisfying.

He added: The results suggest that the facial expressions do not occur simply to communicate pleasure.

'They are an integral part of the feeling of pleasure and are important in the process of achieving orgasm. This demonstrates an important role for facial feedback within sexual intercourse and it is potentially a significant negative impact from BTX treatment.
President Donald Trump confirmed Saturday that the United States plans to leave a landmark nuclear weapons treaty with Russia over claims Moscow has violated the deal.

The three-decade-old Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, known as the INF, was signed in 1987 by president Ronald Reagan.

'We're the ones who have stayed in the agreement and we've honored the agreement, but Russia has not unfortunately honored the agreement, so we're going to terminate the agreement and we're going to pull out,' Trump told reporters in Elko, Nevada.

'Russia has violated the agreement. They've been violating it for many years. I don't know why President (Barack) Obama didn't negotiate or pull out. And we're not going to let them violate a nuclear agreement and go out and do weapons (while) we're not allowed to.'

'We're the ones who have stayed in the agreement and we've honored the agreement, but Russia has not unfortunately honored the agreement, so we're going to terminate the agreement and we're going to pull out,' Trump told reporters in Elko, Nevada

The three-decade-old Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, known as the INF, was signed in 1987 by president Ronald Reagan (seen right during the signing ceremony alongside Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev at the White House in 1987)

Trump spoke as his National Security Advisor John Bolton was in Moscow to meet with Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, ahead of what is expected to be a second summit between Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin this year.

U.S.-Russia ties are under deep strain over accusations that Moscow meddled in the 2016 presidential election, as well as tension over Russian support for the Syrian government in the country's civil war, and the conflict in Ukraine.

Trump spoke as his National Security Advisor John Bolton was in Moscow to meet with Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, ahead of what is expected to be a second summit between Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin this year. Trump and Putin are seen in July

However, Washington is looking for support from Moscow in finding resolutions to the Syria war and putting pressure on both Iran and North Korea.

No new summit between Trump and Putin has been announced, but one is expected in the near future.

The two leaders will be in Paris on November 11 to attend commemorations marking the end of World War I.

A senior Trump administration official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said another potential date would be when the presidents both attend the Group of 20 meeting on November 30 to December 1.
Meghan Markles half-sister has revealed that the letter she hand-delivered to Kensington Palace begs the Duchess of Sussex to reconcile with their ailing father before its too late.

In the letter, Samantha Markle admits that the family has said some unfavourable things clumsily, but she adds that she believes the Duchess is gracious and compassionate enough to do the right thing.

Samantha 53, who suffers from multiple sclerosis and is in a wheelchair, delivered the letter to a gatekeeper at Kensington Palace two weeks ago during a trip to the UK.

Samantha Markle Visits Kensington Palace to hand a letter over to her half sister, Meghan Markle

The photograph of her handing it over was published in newspapers and magazines around the world but the contents of the letter were not known  until now.

Addressed to Dear Duchess Meghan, the emotional two-page letter in elegant script implores Meghan to heal the rift with their father Thomas, 74, who has had two heart attacks and is in poor health.

Samantha was born to Thomass first wife Rosalyn. However, she lived with her father, Meghan and Meghans mother Doria  Thomass second wife  during her teenage years in the Los Angeles suburb of Woodland Hills.

What is most critical here, is the fact that Dad suffered a real heart attack, not just once but twice

Revealing the contents of the letter exclusively to The Mail on Sunday last night, Samantha explained: I know Meghan and I know she has a kind heart.

Her rift with our father makes no sense at all.

The Palace spin doctors have put out that Meghan feels she cant trust Dad because of all the stories that have been written about him but Meghan should know better.

Because of my illness, my hands dont work so I wrote the letter on my computer in an elegant script. Meghan is into calligraphy and I wanted to send her something beautiful and from the heart.

A photograph posted on Twitter by Meghan's half sister Samantha (left) shows them in happier times

Now that she is about to become a parent herself I was hoping this letter would cut through all the misconception and explain to her the hurt and isolation the family felt.

The letter implores Meghan not to believe reports suggesting Thomas faked having a heart attack to avoid walking his daughter down the aisle because he was embarrassed about colluding with paparazzi pictures before the wedding.

Samantha writes: What is most critical here is the fact that Dad suffered a real heart attack, not just once but twice, as a result of the stress from all of the misperception, the breakdown in communication with you and his being forced to be reclusive and inactive to avoid the limelight.

I know he loves you very much and has made several attempts to reach out to you... I don't believe that his health can bear this isolation on a continual basis

His attempt to avoid the tension created just the opposite he loves you very much and has made several attempts to reach out to you both privately and publicly at his fragile age of 74.

I dont believe that his health can bear this isolation on a continual basis. He has been loving and self-sacrificing to you over your whole life, even raising you on his own for a significantly large part of it.

The letter criticises the way Mr Markle was left to fend for himself at his home in Mexico when news of Meghans relationship and subsequent engagement to Prince Harry became public.

While Meghans mother Doria was given support  at one point representatives from the British Consulate in LA were photographed visiting her house  Samantha says their father was hung out to dry and given no guidance, security protection or advice on how to deal with the deluge of attention.

You know you were not raised as an only child... and this family is and always was supportive of you even though we have said some unfavorable things clumsily...

He should have been able to speak directly with his daughter, she writes, while imploring her sister to have a broader understanding of these very unique circumstances.

You have been wished well and supported (by us) from afar throughout all of this, even though we expressed frustration at times. And so much did not make sense.

The letter continues: You know you were not raised as an only child, contrary to public attempts at painting the picture this way, and this family is and always was supportive of you, even though we have said some unfavorable things clumsily, out of self-defense and hurt feelings and only as a last resort.

Pictured is Meghan Markle aged 11 (left) with L-R Tyler Dooley, Thomas Markle Sr, Thomas Dooley, Samantha Markle

Meanwhile Meghan, Britain's Duchess of Sussex, visits Macarthur Girls High School in Sydney, Australia

All of this came about upon our family quite suddenly, as you know. I want nothing from you, but your continued happiness, and the happiness of Dad. He loves you very much, and I only ask that you reach out to him before it is too late.

I know that he wants to be there for you, without the media and water under the bridge as an unnecessary barrier.

I believe that in your heart you understand that what Im saying is true. I also believe that you are gracious and compassionate enough to do the right thing and engage in peaceful resolve as none of this was ever intended [to be] hurtful and could have been prevented early on by effective communication and understanding within the entire family.

Samantha ends the letter by saying: I do not require a response to this letter but please communicate with Dad.
Video grab taken from ITV News shows a Michael Adebolajo holding weapons by the scene in John Wilson Street, Woolwich

The Muslim extremist who led the Woolwich terror attack has blamed hate preacher Anjem Choudary  released from prison on Friday  for inciting him to murder Lee Rigby.

Sources have told The Mail on Sunday that Michael Adebolajo, who hacked the off-duty soldier to death in South-East London in 2013, claims to be racked with guilt over his despicable crime and says he was inspired by Choudarys twisted interpretation of the Koran.

Fusilier Rigby was murdered near the Royal Artillery Barracks by Michael Adebowale, 26, and attack mastermind Adebolajo, 33, who appeared on TV wielding the meat cleaver he had used to almost decapitate the soldier.

Both men were found guilty of murder and sentenced to life terms. Adebowale must serve at least 45 years before he is eligible for release. Adebolajo is unlikely ever to be freed.

According to sources at the maximum security Frankland prison in County Durham, Muslim convert Adebolajo claims he would never have killed Rigby had it not been for Choudarys brainwashing.

Anjem Choudary, from Ilford at this bail hostel in north London. The Muslim extremist who led the Woolwich terror attack has blamed him for inciting him to murder Lee Rigby

Choudary, 51, spent most of his time in jail at Frankland. He was released on Friday after serving half of a five-and-a-half-year sentence for inviting support for the IS terror group.

According to sources, Adebolajo broke down in tears as he claimed Choudarys flawed interpretations of the so-called Qital [killing] verses of the Koran inspired him to plot the attack on Rigby.

The insider quoted Adebolajo saying: It was Choudarys reading of the verses, which talk of an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, which justified attacking a British soldier in Britain. The source added that Adebolajo believed the hate preachers teachings gave him the religious justification for an attack on a British soldier because Britain was involved in conflicts in Muslim countries such as Iraq and Afghanistan.

Choudary, from Ilford, East London, has been accused of radicalising other notorious terrorists in Britain, including Khuram Butt, 27, ringleader of the London Bridge attacks.

He is also believed to have inspired Siddhartha Dhar, 35, who became an IS executioner. It was reported this weekend that Dhar, from Palmers Green, North London, had been killed in a Syria drone strike last year.

British-born Adebolajo converted to Islam while a student at Greenwich University and joined Choudarys banned group Al-Muhajiroun, rising through its ranks to become the preachers lieutenant.
Turkish investigators believe they are 'very close' to finding the remains of murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

As forensic teams continued to scour a forest outside Istanbul, officials suggested that the 59-year-old's mutilated body may have been buried with the help of 'Turkish collaborators' with links to the criminal underworld.

One Turkish official said: 'We'll find out what happened to the body before long.'

Footage has emerged of journalist Jamal Khashoggi - who Saudi Arabia has now admitted is dead - and his fiancee Hatice Cengiz together just hours before his death

The development came as:

The Saudi government finally admitted that Mr Khashoggi had died inside their consulate in Istanbul on October 2  but claimed he had done so in a fist fight;

Donald Trump sparked anger by describing the Saudi version of events as 'credible';

Footage emerged of the journalist and his fiancee together just hours before his death;

The vans that left the consulate  and which may have contained Mr Khashoggi's body  tried to avoid being tracked;

Turkish investigators said that parts of the consulate, as well as being painted, showed signs of being 'chemically cleaned'.

A fortnight after Mr Khashoggi's disappearance and apparent slaughter caused worldwide revulsion, the Saudis were finally forced to admit that he had died at their consulate in Istanbul.

But they denied his death had been ordered by the country's ruling elite, instead claiming he had been killed in a fight.

Saudi Arabia's deputy intelligence chief Ahmed al-Assiri and Saud al-Qahtani, a senior aide to Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, have been sacked over the affair.

The vans that left the consulate in Istanbul (pictured)  and which may have contained Mr Khashoggi's body  tried to avoid being tracked

Yesterday, despite widespread cynicism over the account, President Trump described it as 'credible'. Republican Senator Rand Paul was among those who rubbished the comment, saying: 'The so-called explanation from the Saudis is not even close to credible.'

The British Government did not comment yesterday, but Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt has previously warned of 'consequences' if Mr Khashoggi was murdered.

As the worldwide political implications of the affair continued, grainy footage of the journalist with his Turkish fiancee, Hatice Cengiz, 36, emerged on Turkish TV. It showed the couple arriving at their apartment in Istanbul's Topkapi district at 5am on October 2 and leaving shortly afterwards.

They were captured on camera again at 2pm and as they left on the six-mile journey to the consulate in the Levent area of the city.

Mr Khashoggi had gone to the consulate to obtain a copy of his divorce certificate so he could marry Ms Cengiz. Instead, he was walking to his death as his fiancee waited outside.

Turkish investigators believe they are 'very close' to finding the remains of murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi (pictured)

According to reports thought to be based on information from the Turkish intelligence services, Mr Khashoggi was tortured and mutilated by a 15-strong hit squad, who then dismembered his corpse during a seven-minute bloodbath.

Turkish media reported yesterday that some of the rooms in the consulate appeared to have been 'chemically cleaned'.

There were also reports that vans leaving the building sought to evade CCTV, but were traced to Belgrade Forest, 18 miles north of Istanbul.

Forensic teams were also searching an area in the remote town of Yalova, 58 miles east of Istanbul. One van  fitted with diplomatic plates  reportedly 'disappeared' from cameras for about seven minutes, leading investigators to suspect Mr Khashoggi's remains may have been handed to a local criminal group for burial.

Last night, Numan Kurtulmus, a deputy head of justice of Turkey's ruling AKP party, said full details of the death would be released.
Home Secretary Sajid Javid has launched an outspoken attack on the Huddersfield grooming gang  who targeted girls as young as 11  by explicitly highlighting their racial heritage.

In comments that triggered a storm on social media, Mr Javid described the gang members as sick Asian paedophiles  leading one Twitter user to accuse him of trying to appeal to far-right extremists.

Twenty men were found guilty on Friday of belonging to a grooming gang that raped and abused young girls in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire.

Sajid Javid, above, was elected as Tory MP for Bromsgrove in 2010 but his Twitter comments have come under much greater scrutiny since becoming Home Secretary in April

The men were convicted of more than 120 offences against 15 girls. The victims were plied with drink and drugs during a seven-year campaign of rape and abuse between 2004 and 2011.

The men were all British Asians, with most of them  like Mr Javid  of Pakistani heritage. All but two of the victims were white.

After the verdicts were announced, Mr Javid  who has adopted a high public profile in recent weeks ahead of an expected challenge for the Tory leadership if Prime Minister Theresa May steps down  tweeted: These sick Asian paedophiles are finally facing justice. I want to commend the bravery of the victims. For too long, they were ignored. Not on my watch. There will be no no-go areas.

Nahman Mohammed (left), known as 'Dracula' got 15 years. Zahid Hassan (centre) was jailed for 18 years. Manzoor Hassan (right) got five years for drugs offences

Mohammed Kammer (left) got 16 years. Irfan Ahmed (centre) got eight years for exploitation. Faisal Nadeem (right) got 12 years

Mohammed Aslam (left) got 15 years. Raj Singh Barsran (centre) got an 17-year jail term. Mohammed Akram (right) faces jail

Wiqas Mahmud (left) got 15 years for rape. Nasarat Hussain (centre left) was jailed for 17 years. Niaz Ahmed (centre right) faces jail. Mansoor Akhtar (right), nicknamed 'Boy', was jailed for eight years

Sajid Hussain (left) got 17 years for rape. Mohammed Irfraz (centre left) got six years for trafficking. Asif Bashir (centre right), and Mohammed Imran Ibrar (right) face jail when they come back before a court at a later date

His remark was liked and copied by more than 10,000 Twitter users the following day. It also attracted more than 4,000 comments, many objecting to his choice of words.

Labours Shadow Equalities Minister, Dawn Butler, tweeted: No, Home Secretary, paedophiles are defined by their crimes and not their ethnicity. They are paedophiles. Condemn the crime, not the race.

Many pointed out that Asian was an unhelpfully broad term, with one man replying: Do not refer to these men as Asian. Its misleading. There are no Chinese or Japanese men amongst them.

Their background is quite specific in most cases, smearing others with them is unacceptable. Another tweeted: If they were white would you say these sick white paedophiles? Probably not. But it should be possible to stop abusers without pandering to racist narratives in the process.

An Asian sex gang which operated in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, above, has been jailed for more than 200 years

Others highlighted his use of the phrase no-go areas, a controversial term used by supporters of US President Donald Trump and Tommy Robinson  former leader of the far-Right English Defence League  when claiming parts of Britain are under Sharia law.

One Twitter user wrote: You may appeal to the far right extremists, but decent people, and we are the majority, will not forgive you for this.

Mr Javid was born in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, after his parents moved to Britain from Pakistan in 1961.

He was elected as Tory MP for Bromsgrove in 2010 but his Twitter comments have come under much greater scrutiny since becoming Home Secretary in April.

In August he criticised Jeremy Corbyn for using the term Zionist in a speech, claiming the Labour leader would never dare single out Asians in the same way. If Corbyn had said Asians or Blacks instead of Zionists hed be gone by now, Mr Javid tweeted.

A spokesman for Mr Javid declined to comment.
Thousands of migrants travelling en masse across Central America to the US were last night trapped on a bridge on Mexicos southern border after failing to enter the country.

The 3,000-strong caravan, made up mainly of Hondurans, awoke yesterday on the international border bridge in Ciudad Hidalgo, Chiapas state after being battled back by border police.

The makeshift camp on the bridge has become a focus of the refugee crisis after the caravan, which comprised no more than 150 people nine days ago, swelled dramatically with hundreds more migrants joining desperate to leave poverty and violence behind them.

Aerial view of a Honduran migrant caravan heading to the US, on the Guatemala-Mexico international border bridge in Ciudad Hidalgo, Chiapas state, Mexico, on October 20

A Honduran migrant heading in a caravan to the US, prepares to jump to the Suchiate River from the Guatemala-Mexico international border bridge

Many spent the night in makeshift tents near the bridge after a day of violent clashes with baton-wielding police.

US President Donald Trump, who has threatened to close down the US border and cut aid to countries allowing the migrant caravan to pass, said the military would be called upon if needed.

They might as well turn back, theyre not coming into this country, he said.

But as Guatemalan president Jimmy Morales and his Honduran counterpart, Juan Orlando Hernandez, met to thrash out a plan to return the migrants home, dozens boarded ramshackle boats and crossed the Suchiate River from Guatemala to Mexico.

The dramatic scenes came just a week after the caravan  mostly fleeing the crushing poverty and violence that has transformed Honduras into one of the most dangerous nations in the world  set out from the city of San Pedro Sula on a journey of 2,800 miles to the Mexican border.

Honduran migrants heading in a caravan to the US, help a man holding a child get down to the Suchiate River from the Guatemala-Mexico international border bridge

Mexican authorities said migrants with valid passports or visas would be allowed into the country but the vast bulk trying to enter illegally have been blocked.

Ill fight. Ill try again, said Honduran mother-of-four Hilda Rosa, who said she left because of no work and violence.

The latest crisis comes in the wake of a major US crackdown on illegal immigrants ahead of the midterm elections on November 6.

On Friday, the caravan, which includes hundreds of families, students and farmers, was met with pepper spray from shield-bearing Mexican officers as thousands tried to break through the border gates.

Jose Ramon Rodriguez, 45, a construction worker from Honduras, had made the journey with his nine-year-old son but yesterday said he planned to return home.

Some, including 40-year-old Adriana Consuelo, made it to the Mexican side of the river by paying raftsmen 25 pesos (1) to ferry them across on vessels made of rubber tires.

A Honduran migrant heading in a caravan to the US, prepares to jump to the Suchiate River near Mexican Federal Police officers

Mexican authorities for a second straight day refused mass entry to a caravan of Central American migrants held up at the border with Guatemala, but began accepting small groups for asylum processing and gave out some 45-day visitor permits that would theoretically allow recipients time to reach the United States

Marta Ornelas Cazares, 28, said: Were running away from violence, and we arrive here and they just hit us more.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo reiterated demands that the procession does not reach the US and warned the situation was reaching a moment of crisis.

Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto accused migrants of attacking police.

Erika Guevara-Rosas of Amnesty International said: These families deserve dignity and respect to ensure that no one is illegally returned to situations where they could risk serious harm due to violence.
Ten years ago, broadcaster Justin Webbs son Sam, then eight, was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. Writing in The Mail on Sunday, Justin revealed his shock and heartbreak and fears for the future.

Today, in his own words, Sam, now 18, paints a resoundingly positive picture. And his father admits that he, too, is almost ready to stop worrying...

Ten years ago, broadcaster Justin Webbs son Sam, then eight, was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. Writing in The Mail on Sunday, Justin revealed his shock and heartbreak and fears for the future. Today, in his own words, Sam, now 18, paints a resoundingly positive picture. And his father admits that he, too, is almost ready to stop worrying...

Sam's story

I was recently flicking through some old photographs and found a picture of my eight-year-old self on a family holiday, standing by a swimming pool, my eyes squinting in the sunlight, chocolate ice cream spilled across my white shirt. I was grinning, unburdened and happy, as a child ought to be.

Just a few weeks later I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, and everything changed.

Id been tired quite a lot. And, embarrassingly, Id wet the bed a couple of times, which given my age, was a concern. I was constantly thirsty, and hungry.

And so on one sunny day, with Christmas around the corner, I sat waiting to be seen in a doctors office.

To persuade me to go without making a fuss, Dad promised me I wouldnt have to have any injections.

The rest of the day is a bit of a blur  although I do recall quite a few injections, which I wasnt too happy about.

A doctor said to me: Im really sorry, but you have type 1 diabetes.

I didnt understand what I was being told, but I could see from the worried expressions on my parents faces that it was serious.

Without insulin, sugar builds up in the blood and causes damage. So we type 1 diabetics have to inject a synthetic version of the hormone after eating. And then there is the constant finger-pricking to draw the blood needed to test sugar levels

There was a stuffy grey lift which stank of disinfectant, and when the doors closed, the sounds of the hospital  the beeping noises, the crying babies  were gone.

A musical melody played in the background, my parents were squeezing my shoulders, and a nurse was with us. After a while she looked at me and asked: Did you ever want to be a pilot anyway?

The tension broke. My parents laughed. Not really, I told her, blushing slightly, as the doors opened, and the noises recommenced.

Back in my bedroom, I remember thinking it was all over. It wasnt, of course. Life changed, but it did go on. I slowly discovered more about my condition.

My pancreas had packed up  doctors still dont know why it happens  and so I no longer produced my own insulin, the hormone that helps the bodys cells use sugar for energy.

Without insulin, sugar builds up in the blood and causes damage. So we type 1 diabetics have to inject a synthetic version of the hormone after eating. And then there is the constant finger-pricking to draw the blood needed to test sugar levels.

Its a balancing act. You need to take enough insulin to keep blood sugar normal because if its high, it starts to cause irreversible damage throughout the body.

But if you inject too much, blood sugar can plummet. This is called hypoglycaemia, or a hypo. You feel very wobbly, and confused, and it can even lead to blackouts.

This is why type 1 diabetics, it was later explained to me, werent allowed a commercial pilots licence. It is no longer a disqualifying factor  the law changed in 2012  but I still dont want to be a pilot.

Since the age of about nine, Ive used an insulin pump, which is an electronic gadget thats permanently attached to me, delivering insulin as and when I need it, so I dont need to inject myself.

I dont need to prick my finger all the time either, thanks to my Freestyle Libre, a tiny sensor stuck to my arm which sends my blood sugar levels, wirelessly, to an app on my mobile phone. The Prime Minister, Theresa May, who also has type 1 diabetes, has one too.

Ten years on from my diagnosis, the condition doesnt stop me from doing anything.

When Mrs May announced she had type 1 diabetes, my dad wrote that she was proof I could grow up to be whatever I wanted to be, even the PM.

And hes right, but instead Id quite like to be a writer, or a film director, or an actor.

Im taking a gap year right now, currently working to save up for a bit of travelling in January  where to, Im not sure.

Next year Im going to read English literature with creative writing at the University of East Anglia.

And life at university will have its challenges. For a start, I dont eat pizza. I could if I wanted to. But pizza contains slow-release carbohydrates, which makes it harder to control blood sugar with insulin after eating it. So I tend to avoid it.

I also dont really drink alcohol, and I definitely dont get sloshed. Alcohol puts a strain on the liver which has a knock-on effect on blood sugar control, causing it to fluctuate. Mixing booze with my insulin medication means there is a risk that I could have a hypo. If this happens at night, it can be particularly worrying.

On the plus side, diabetes has forced me into making healthier decisions about what I eat, and what I avoid. But feeling disconnected from the social scene can be quite upsetting.

My twin sister Martha lives a very different life to mine: she drinks and eats normally because she doesnt have diabetes. Its tough, but there is no escaping this disease.

A close friend handed me a shot of tequila at a party recently and shouted: Down it! Down it! I wanted to have fun, but I would be taking a huge risk.

A big part of managing diabetes is handling how other people feel about it, whether thats friends who may or may not think Im being boring, or my parents worries

I looked at my friend, and said No thanks, and gave him the shot. He looked disappointed, but I know I made the right decision.

A big part of managing diabetes is handling how other people feel about it, whether thats friends who may or may not think Im being boring, or my parents worries.

Thanks to the Freestyle Libre, Dad is also able to remotely monitor my blood sugar levels via his smartphone. I dont see it as in invasion of privacy, or feel Im being watched over.

You see, I know Im OK, but it helps him to know that too, which is a good thing. Once Ive left home, he might stop, but if he doesnt, it doesnt bother me.

It was strange to read the first piece my Dad wrote for this newspaper in 2009 about my illness.

He feared for my future, which I never have.

Treatment advances mean that this once fatal disease is now manageable with a bit of effort. Yes, there are days when it can feel almost impossible to deal with, but that just motivates me more in the end. Diabetes is a challenge, not a catastrophe. It is difficult, but never impossible.

Perseverance is essential.

Justin's story

He is still alive! And so are his parents, though only just. Ten years after Sams diagnosis, a young adult is ready to leave home and ready to find his way in the world. And my wife Sarah and I are ready for a rest.

Not a physical rest. Sam has looked after himself for years now. But mentally: from the constant out-of-one-corner-of-the-eye monitoring, chivvying, worrying. You cannot help yourself: Whats your blood sugar number? Is that a bit high, or a bit low? How many carbs in a peach?

I said in my piece for this newspaper all those years ago that a chronic illness in a child changes everything, and it does. It tightens something inside you that can never be loosened again.

I also said that I was all too aware that other parents have received worse diagnoses.

And after ten years of coping with Sams condition I am even more aware that, as he puts it, type 1 diabetes is a challenge, not a catastrophe.

I talked about a cure. Well, there is no cure and, frankly, little prospect of one in Sams lifetime.

But (and its a huge but) as Sam says, there is massive progress on the kit and caboodle that can help you cope with type 1 and control it in a fashion that gives a more decent chance of a long and healthy life. So there is progress.

And we have brought up a boy who has a sense of humour and a love of literature and travel; a boy who must struggle to keep well and has much more to cope with than most young men, but who is not defined by his condition.

Ten years ago, if I could have settled for this, I would have taken it like a shot. Heres to the next ten. And if you have type 1 diabetes in your life: good luck.
British paratroopers are secretly training Saudi Arabia's army how to fire missiles, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.

The elite soldiers are teaching their Saudi counterparts to use the 81mm mortar, a mini-rocket system which fires high explosive rounds up to three miles.

Troops, understood to be from the Royal Engineers and Royal Logistic Corps, are also instructing Saudi soldiers how to find and defuse improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and ways to improve border security.

The elite soldiers are teaching their Saudi counterparts to use the 81mm mortar (file photo), a mini-rocket system which fires high explosive rounds up to three miles

In the wake of the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, former development secretary Andrew Mitchell last night called for the UK teams to stop working with the Saudis.

'A period of inactivity would be sensible given where we are, even though there is no doubt that the involvement of the British Army can be a force for good in underlining respect for human rights and the rules of war,' he said.

Lord West, the former head of the Royal Navy, said: 'Following the appalling killing of Jamal Khashoggi, we must be clear and open about the assistance we are providing to Saudi Arabia. Never has there been a greater need for transparency than now.'

A Saudi-led coalition is using rockets and airstrikes against Yemeni rebels and their allies who drove the Saudi-backed government into exile in 2015. British soldiers have trained Saudi forces throughout the conflict.

UK arms sales to Saudi Arabia are worth about 675 million a year.

A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: 'We have an ongoing and wide-ranging defence engagement relationship with Saudi Arabia, which has included the provision of training, advice and guidance in the UK and Saudi Arabia.'
Cate Blanchett has defended straight actors playing gay characters, vowing she will fight to the death for the right to suspend disbelief.

The actress spoke out as Hollywood faced growing criticism for giving LGBT roles to straight actors.

Scarlett Johansson recently dropped out of playing a transgender character after a backlash.

Cate Blanchett, above at the Rome Film Festival, has defended straight actors playing gay characters, vowing she will fight to the death for the right to suspend disbelief

But Miss Blanchett, a two-time Oscar-winner who played a lesbian in the 2015 film Carol, said she disagreed that a performer can form a deep bond with a character only if they have shared experiences, saying it defies the point of acting.

Speaking at the Rome Film Festival, the 49-year- old Australian star added: It also speaks to something that Im quite passionate about in storytelling generally, but in film specifically, which is that film can be quite a literal medium.

Scarlett Johansson, 33, pictured in The Avengers, above, had been due to play 1970s transgender Pittsburgh crime boss Dante Tex Gill  who was born Jean Gill  but pulled out of the project in July after a backlash from LGBT activists

I will fight to the death for the right to suspend disbelief and play roles beyond my experience.

Avengers star Miss Johansson, 33, had been due to play 1970s transgender Pittsburgh crime boss Dante Tex Gill  who was born Jean Gill.

But she pulled out of the project in July after a backlash from LGBT activists, who said the role should go to a transgender actor.
The self-styled 'bird in a biplane' will learn today if she has won the fight to clear her name after being stripped of a prestigious award amid claims she lied about flying solo.

Tracey Curtis-Taylor had been honoured for recreating aviation pioneer Lady Mary Heath's historic 1928 flight from Cape Town to Britain in a vintage aircraft.

But she was unceremoniously stripped of the Bill Woodhams Trophy by the Light Aircraft Association after it was alleged that she had passengers with her during the 8,000-mile journey in 2015.

Tracey Curtis-Taylor, pictured with a vintage Boeing Steaman biplane completed an 8,000 mile journey in 2015 flying from Cape Town, South Africa to Britain, recreating the 1928 historic flight of aviation pioneer Lady Mary Heath

Ms Curtis-Taylor, 56, accuses her detractors of being members of an 'old boys' club'

Ms Curtis-Taylor, 56, appealed against the decision by the LAA, which represents recreational pilots, and claims the decision was part of a 'vicious vendetta' by a group 'that operates like an old boys' club'.

The row has divided the LAA's 7,600 members, many of whom will attend today's meeting in Northamptonshire. Two representatives will call for Ms Curtis-Taylor's award to be reinstated.

'I've been treated disgracefully,' said Ms Curtis-Taylor.

'Many of the members are ex-military men and about 80 to 90 per cent are over 60. They act like some kind of old boys' club.

Ms Curtis-Taylor, pictured, flew her aircraft over 23 countries over the course of three months

'I've often felt like an outsider because it has been made clear that some resented seeing a woman doing something that they don't do.

'The personal attacks have been incredibly painful. The financial cost and distress to me has been huge. I never set out to deceive anyone. It's been blown out of all proportion.

'I wish they had never bothered to give me the award. There was no money, just a cup which you keep for a year and then give back.'

She said: 'I was doing everything to promote the female pioneers who did fly solo, but I never claimed to be doing the same. I was, however, the only pilot. No one flew but me'

Ms Curtis-Taylor admits that in a 'slip of the tongue' during one interview, she inadvertently used the term 'solo' to describe the trip.

But she added: 'I was doing everything to promote the female pioneers who did fly solo, but I never claimed to be doing the same. I was, however, the only pilot. No one flew but me.'

LAA chairman Brian Davies said: 'A vote was taken [to rescind the award]. The member said that it was unfair, so the remedy is to take the vote again, which is what we plan to do.'
Today's warning that Theresa May should 'bring her own noose' to her 'show trial' before the 1922 Committee highlights the level of visceral aggression which Brexit has brought to political discourse.

The 2016 EU referendum split the Tory tribe in two, and led to exile for David Cameron and George Osborne as Mrs May moved into Downing Street. Osborne's bitterness came out in his vengeful line about not resting until Mrs May was 'chopped up in bags in my freezer'.

Mrs May's catastrophic General Election campaign heightened the frustration of the Brexiteer wing, as No 10 was forced to negotiate with Brussels without a Commons majority. It might explain Boris Johnson's angry complaint in The Mail on Sunday that Mrs May had 'wrapped a suicide vest around the British constitution  and handed the detonator to [EU negotiator] Michel Barnier'.

Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May leaves after a news conference at the European Union leaders summit in Brussels

It's not just the Tories of course: Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell spoke about 'lynching' Cabinet Minister Esther McVey, while his colleague Clive Lewis told an audience member at a party event to 'get on your knees, bitch'.

Here are some of the most vicious comments to come from MPs in recent times...

'You realise it's a s***show'

Johnny Mercer on the current Government

'They were arguing 'Why are we sacking her? Why aren't we lynching the bastard?' '

John McDonnell recalling a public meeting demonstrating against Esther McVey

'[I won't rest until she] is chopped up in bags in my freezer'

George Osborne on Theresa May

'We have wrapped a suicide vest around the British constitution  and handed the detonator to Michel Barnier'

Boris Johnson on Theresa May's Brexit plan

'I always think he looks like somebody has put their finger up his bottom and he rather likes it'

Anna Soubry on Nigel Farage

'A stupid, sanctimonious dwarf'

Simon Burns to Commons Speaker John Bercow

'Boris? Well, he's the life and soul of the party but he's not the man you want driving you home at the end of the evening'

Amber Rudd on the former Foreign Secretary during a heated TV debate

'I am not blind'

David Davis, asked if he had tried to embrace Diane Abbott

'Get on your knees, bitch'

Clive Lewis to an audience member at a Momentum event

'[Prince] Harry can't actually fly a helicopter... He just sits there going 'vroom vroom' '

Slur from Kensington Labour MP Emma Dent Coad

'Calm down, dear'

David Cameron to Angela Eagle in the Commons chamber
Afghan FM asked Shah Mehmood to identify perpetrators of Kandahar attack

ISLAMABAD: Afghan Foreign Minister Salahuddin Rabbani Friday demanded his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureshi to help identify the perpetrators of the attack on Afghan security officials in Kandahar, Afghan Foreign Ministry said.



Both the foreign ministers spoke by the phone a day after an Afghan security guard sprayed bullets at the participants of a high-level meeting attended by top American forces commander Gen Austin Scott Miller and Afghan officials.



Police Chief General Abdul Raziq and Intelligence Head of Kandahar Momin Hussainkhel were killed when the guard opened firing at the participants of a high-level meeting.



Kandahar Governor Zalmay Wesa, who was critically wounded, is getting treatment, according to Afghan officials.



Taliban had quickly claimed responsibility in a statement and also released a photograph of the attacker, who was wearing military uniform.



The Afghan Foreign Ministry said Rabbani told Qureshi that the killing of General Raziq had raised loads of questions and that the Afghan government had started investigation into the incident.



In Islamabad, the Foreign Office issued a separate version of the telephonic talk between Qureshi and Rabbani and said that the former reiterated Pakistans support to Afghanistan.



Foreign Minister Qureshi called his Afghan counterpart to express condolences on the sad demise of senior Afghan leaders in a terrorist attack in Kandahar, a FO statement said. Pakistan condemns terrorism. We will continue to work with Afghanistan for achieving long-term peace and stability in the region for which ending the conflict in Afghanistan was an essential step. Peace and economic development in Pakistan was linked with restoration of complete peace and stability in Afghanistan, Qureshi was quoted as saying.



The foreign minister expressed the hope that Afghan parliamentary elections, scheduled for today (Saturday) would be held in a peaceful environment throughout Afghanistan. These elections are an important landmark for strengthening of democracy in the country, which remains the key to achieve sustainable peace and progress in Afghanistan, he said and also reassured Rabbani of Pakistans support for Afghan democratic process.



Rabbani briefed Qureshi about the difficulties being faced by the Afghan government in holding the upcoming elections in Afghanistan in a successful manner.



He reiterated Afghan governments strong resolve to overcome all difficulties in this regard and also expressed the hope that both countries would continue to work together for putting an end to the decades-old conflict in Afghanistan.



Meanwhile, the Afghan government postponed parliamentary elections in Kandahar for a week in view of the tense situation in the southern city, the presidential palace in Kabul said. The elections for 250-seat Wolesi Jirga, lower house of the parliament, will be held today amid fresh threats by the Taliban insurgents.



The Taliban military commission in a rare statement said Taliban fighters intend to close all major and minor roads of the country during election day hence all countrymen should remain indoors and desist from bringing out any means of transport.



We do not want to harm any common Afghan and therefore ask the public and especially city dwellers to refrain from participating or casting votes during elections. Do not allow your homes, guestrooms, schools, religious seminaries, clinics and workers be utilized by the organizers of this vile process, the statement said.



According to the Afghan Ministry of Interior, nearly 54,776 members of the Afghan National Security and Defence Force will be deployed for security of 5,100 polling centers, Tolo TV reported.



The Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) had registered 30 attacks against election candidates since the registration process started in July. The commission chairperson, Sima Sama, said that 54 people, including 10 parliamentary candidates were killed and 186 others were wounded during the said period.
Former Culture Secretary Dame Tessa Jowell left almost 1.6 million in her will to her husband.

Dame Tessas entire estate was left to lawyer David Mills, from whom she separated for several years after he was caught up in a corruption scandal involving the former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.

The couple announced their split in 2006 but they were later reconciled, and Mr Mills supported her during her fight against brain cancer.

Dame Tessa Jowell, pictured, in 2013 with her husband David Mills, right, left him her entire estate according following her death in May

Probate records reveal that her will was drawn up in August last year, three months after her diagnosis. She died in May this year, aged 70.

After legal expenses, her estate was 1,592,962.

No inheritance tax would have been payable because the duty on assets over 325,000 is not due on anything left to a spouse.

Mr Mills, whose conviction in 2009 for taking a bribe in return for providing false testimony was overturned on appeal, is named as one of the executors.

Last year, Dame Tessa, pictured, was diagnosed with incurable brain cancer

Dame Tessa, who received a standing ovation in the Lords last January following a moving speech about her illness, was remembered at a memorial service in Southwark Cathedral last week.

Mr Mills told the 1,000-strong audience, including former prime ministers Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and David Cameron, that his wifes final words had been Love forever.

As a Labour MP, Dame Tessa held a number of Cabinet roles, and also masterminded the bid to bring the Olympics to London in 2012.
President Donald Trump last night announced the US withdrawal from a landmark nuclear weapons treaty, blaming Russian violations.

Mr Trump said he was leaving the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty because he was not prepared to let Russia 'do weapons and we're not allowed to'.

The 1987 pact bans the US and Russia from possessing, producing or testing ground-launched cruise missiles with a range of 300 to 3,400 miles.

President Donald Trump, above, last night announced the US withdrawal from a landmark nuclear weapons treaty. He said America needs to 'get smart' as Russia has been violating the treaty for years

Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev, left, and US President Ronald Reagan, right, signed the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty in the White House in December 1987

But Mr Trump said: 'Russia has violated the agreement. They have been violating it for many years.'

The US has accused Russia of creating a new medium-range missile called the Novator 9M729 which would allow it to strike Nato countries at short notice.

The Russians deny it breaches the 1987 deal, but Mr Trump last night said that unless Russia and China  which is not currently party to the pact  agree to neither possess nor develop such weapons, America will begin building them itself. '

We'll have to develop those weapons, unless Russia comes to us and China comes to us and they all come to us and say, 'Let's really get smart and let's none of us develop those weapons,' ' he said.

'But if Russia's doing it and if China's doing it, and we're adhering to the agreement, that's unacceptable.'

Mr Trump, who questioned why his predecessor Barack Obama had not withdrawn from the treaty or negotiated its terms while in the White House, did, however, hold out some hope of avoiding America's withdrawal.

The pact was historic for the U.S and Russia, the former Soviet Union, above, when it was signed. The 1987 pact banned the US and the Soviet Union from possessing, producing or testing ground-launched cruise missiles with a range of 300 to 3,400 miles

'If they [Russia and China] get smart and if others get smart and they say, 'Let's not develop these horrible nuclear weapons,' I would be extremely happy with that. But as long as somebody's violating the agreement, we're not going to be the only ones to adhere to it,' he said.

His announcement came as US National Security Adviser John Bolton headed to Moscow for talks with senior Russian officials.
Apple's chief design officer Jonathan Ive told The FT the problems created by Apple technology 'keeps me awake'

The man behind the iPhone and Apple Watch has revealed he believes the firm has a 'moral responsibility' to deal with the effects of its technology.

As technology firms come under increasing fire for their role in phone and app addiction, Apple's chief design officer Jonathan Ive told The FT the problem 'keeps me awake'

'If you're creating something new, it is inevitable there will be consequences that were not foreseen  some that will be great, and then there are those that aren't as positive,' he told the newspaper.

'There is a responsibility to try and predict as many of the consequences as possible and I think you have a moral responsibility to try to understand, try to mitigate those that you didn't predict,' he said.

'I think it's part of the culture at Apple to believe that there is a responsibility that doesn't end when you ship a product. It keeps me awake.'

Part of Apple's answer to the problem, called Screen Time, launched as part of the free iOS 12 software update for iPhones, iPads and the iPod Touch.

Technology firms have come under increasing fire for their role in phone and app addiction

It offers new tools for managing screen time, letting users see will let you see how often they (or their kids) picked up the phone after bedtime or how long they were on Instagram at work for.

Apple's chief design officer also revealed he attended the wedding of Princess Eugenie, saying he first met her father, Prince Andrew, who was pictured at the wedding wearing an Apple Watch, a decade ago.

Last week Ive told the Wired25 conference in San Francisco 'the nature of innovation is that you cannot predict all the consequences.

'In my experience, there have been surprising consequences,' he told Anna Wintour.

'Some fabulous, and some less so.'

Ive spoke to Anna Wintour at the WIRED25 Summit, who opened the questioning with a question about addiction.

'First there were iPhones, and now there's iPhone addiction,' said Wintour.

'How do you feel about that? Is the world too connected?'

'I think it's good to be connected,' Ive replied.

'I think the real question is what you do with that connection.'

'We've been doing a lot of work in terms of not only understanding how long you use a device, but how you're using it,' Ive said.

Ive said the key to beating addiction in human connection.

He said the work Apple has been doing on emoji and messaging are meant to 'restore some humanity to the way we connect.'

He also addressed Apple's secrecy, saying 'I've been doing this for long enough where I actually feel a responsibility to not confuse or add more noise about what's being worked on because I know that sometimes it does not work out.'

Wintour also asked what keeps Ive driven at Apple, and he says excitement was the key.

'If you lose that childlike excitement, I think it's time to do something else.'

Wintour asked if he's at that point, to which he responded 'Oh goodness no.'
Stand by for more hugs and kisses when the Duke and Duchess of Sussex arrive in Fiji on Tuesday. Fijians are notoriously warm and friendly and it wont take long before Meghan is whispering into Harrys ear her wish to return for a longer, less frenetic stay.

On arriving in the capital Suva, the first thing they can expect after a garland of flowers is a cup of the national drink, known as kava. Pregnant Meghan now has an excuse to refuse it, but Harry will have no such luck. Mildly narcotic, it numbs the lips and tongue surprisingly quickly.

Then Harry will head for the Colo-i-Suva indigenous forest  home to species including the Fiji Tree frog  while Meghan goes shopping in the market to highlight the contribution of female sellers.

Wow-factor: The new Six Senses resort on Malolo Island, part of the Mamanuca Islands in Fiji

They will also visit Nadi in western Fiji to unveil a statue commemorating a British-Fijian soldier, Sergeant Talaiasi Labalaba, who lost his life at the Battle of Mirbat in Oman in 1972.

At this point, ideally, they should take a 20-minute speed boat ride over to Malolo Island, part of the Mamanuca Islands, and bed down for a few nights at the new Six Senses, where there are 24 thatched cottages fringed by lush vegetation and a riot of colour from red hibiscus to pink frangipani.

Thats what I did  and thats what a lot of honeymoon couples are likely to be doing in the future. It is popular with families, too, especially those lucky ones who can hop over from Australia or New Zealand.

If you take one of the villas, you get a complimentary nanny thrown in for eight hours and theres a good Kids Club, which teaches children the local art of weaving palm leaves.

There are also nightly movies under the stars and, once darkness sets in, take a torch and go in search of the endangered crested iguana. Several of them sleep in the huge banyan tree at the centre of the resort.

There are 20 islands in this cluster (Fiji has 332 islands scattered across more than 200,000 square miles of the South Pacific Ocean), one of which, Monuriki, is famous for its on-screen appearance as Tom Hanks lonely paradise in Cast Away and where his large H E L P has been preserved on the golden sands. Feejee was what Captain Cook, who sailed through here in 1774, called Fisi, its original name, an Anglicisation of the Tongan word for the islands. And its not just its name that came from England. Drive through the villages and the children are all playing rugby.

Fiji has 332 islands scattered across more than 200,000 square miles of the South Pacific

I was introduced to their national drink on my first evening. Do you want to try our kava? asked the elderly villager, sitting cross-legged in his sarong, with a group of friends around him and a large bowl by his knees.

Watching as he dipped a tanoa, or half a coconut shell, into the dark depths, I took the outstretched cup. Officially its called yakona and comes from the ground. It is the powdered root of the Piper methisticum plant and seems to take centre stage at every ceremony or any good excuse for a party.

I sipped and almost instantly my lips began to buzz. Its an acquired taste, but what it lacks in flavour is more than made up for by the national dish, Kokoda  a superb mix of creamy fresh coconut, coriander, chilli and white fish.

Loved up: Fiji's palmy beaches and friendly locals await Meghan and Harry (pictured above)

Fish of brighter colours live out on the reef, which earns Fiji its title as the soft coral capital of the world. Extraordinary lace-like corals in vivid purples are home to tiny Blue Devil fishes and zingy yellow butterfly fish.

Luke, my snorkelling guide, dived down to show me how the Magic Coral changes colour when you touch it, before lying on the bottom of the reef floor and blowing perfect air rings up through which he then swam.

Fijians are a religious people and so I made a point of going to church in the local village and sang lustily in Fijian as the turaga ni koro, or village headman, beautifully dressed in a jacket, tie and sula skirt came to share his hymn book with me.

These grey skirts, the sula, he told me afterwards were originally adopted to show who had converted to Christianity and left their cannibal ways behind.

Most people are Methodist, courtesy of visiting Welsh missionaries who literally risked their necks (impressive wooden neck breakers from cannibal days still hang on village walls) in the 19th century to spread the word around the South Pacific.

The head man showed me round the village. That is the Chiefs house, he said, pointing to a thatched stone structure. We call it the House of Lords. And the rest of us, we live in the Houses of Commons. You see, we still remember our British friends.
To spend a week in Italy without ordering a plate of spaghetti alle vongole is tragic. Not to start the day with a cappuccino and pastry filled with sweetened cream is almost criminal.

But here we are at lunch on our first day at Palace Merano Espace Henri Chenot in northern Italy, near the Austrian border, staring at a stick of raw carrot, a radish and a piece of celery not much thicker than dental floss.

Reboot: Palace Merano Espace in northern Italy (above) offers a cleansing detox programme

After lunch, Im told that all diseases start with negative energy, that toxins cling to power over our bodies  and need to be dealt with ruthlessly.

The thing is that my own negativity is such that I may be about to pick up a fatal disease. Never mind the toxins, I might be toxic.

If you consume as much vino, coffee and onion bhajis as I do, a place like this is not easy.

But I know that. Ive been here before. Well, not here in Palace Merano, but at similar spas where tough love is the order of the day. Just give me 48 hours to get through the crippling headaches, light-headedness, hunger pains and prejudice against fat-cat Russians and Ill be fine. And so it proves.

Henri Chenot, 75, has been in the detox game for 40 years and is dedicated to a combo of Chinese medicine, homeopathy and common sense.

People take care of diseases, but not health, he says. Why wait until you become sick?

Perhaps because Palace Merano is expensive and, at first, debilitating.

On arrival, you might assume that its just another old-fashioned hotel, with a restaurant you might have found in Vienna in the early 20th century. But head down to the spa in the basement, or the medical centre on the fifth floor, or the high-tech bio-energetics department and its all brilliantly white, modern and super-efficient.

Every day starts with an hour of hydro-mud therapy. My first session introduces me to a small, kindly Italian woman shouting: Striptease, please.

They are the only two words of English she knows.

I duly hop into a warm bath, where jets massage my skin and the water changes colour. Then she shows me to a water-bed with a sheet of plastic on it. I am coated in mud from head to toe and wrapped in layers of towels and sheets.

Buonanotte, she says.

After marinating in the mineral mud, I am hosed down and whisked off for a massage; then a session with someone who sends electric currents through my body (I dont feel a thing) to liberate any blocked energy, of which there is an awful lot.

Treat yourself: Mark had an hour of hydro-mud therapy every day (stock image)

The above happens every day, interspersed with seeing a doctor and nutritionist, a full body scan, perhaps a scalp massage here, a detoxing facial there. In fact, every conceivable treatment you can imagine.

There are a couple of hours in the day to wander around Merano, a pretty town with mountains to the north and lush rolling hills to the south  and tempting delis and cake shops.

All the staff are empathetic and knowledgable. Get to see Dr Max Mayrhofer if you can (kind and wise), and you are sure to come across Marie-Pierre, Chenots sister-in-law. Shes a bundle of (positive) energy who specialises in Chinese medicine and explains why you feel, at first, so ropey, and then, ultimately, so much lighter and clearer.

This kind of detox is like cleaning out the fridge. Everything has to be removed and then youll see the smears of dried honey, congealed ketchup and rotten tomato trapped behind the carton of out-of-date creme fraiche. All must go.

Any deep cleansing  be it the fridge or body and soul  may not always be fun, but youll be overwhelmingly pleased to have done it.

And I lost nearly half a stone, too.
Rob Lowe has opened up about his experience at Gwyneth Paltrow's wedding.

The Iron Man actress tied the knot with Brad Falchuk in an intimate ceremony at her East Hampton estate last month.

Only 75 people were in attendance as Gwyneth walked down the aisle and tied the knot with her television writer beau.

A spectacular event: Robe Lowe has revealed his experience attending Gwyneth Paltrow's wedding to Rob Falchuck last month

But it seems that the intimate occasion made for quite the outcome.

In an interview with Extra, Lowe  who was one of the lucky attendees on the guest list  gushed about the star-studded wedding by describing it as 'beautiful' and 'immaculate.'

'My wife and I have known Gwyneth since she was 17 years old, Blythe and her dad,' The Outsiders actor revealed.

We're married: Lowe says that the occasion was intimate, adding that only people who were very close to the couple were in attendance

A day after the ceremony: Paltrow took to her Instagram where she flaunted her wedding ring

When describing details of the wedding to the publication, it seemed as if Paltrow's big day had quite the spectacular turnout.

'It's sort of really family. It was just a beautiful, family oriented, immaculate, loving, fun,' the 54-year-old continued.

'I love weddings, I love weddings, and you gotta figure Gwyneth knows how to do something like that.'

Though the ceremony on September 29 was said to have been 'intimate and romantic,' the event was anything but short of a line-up of celebrities flocking to see the mother-of-two exchange her vows with Falchuk.

A walk down memory lane: Rob notes that he's known the actress since she was 17 years old, pictured at the Academy Awards in 2000

A handful of A-list people were in attendance including Cameron Diaz, Benji Madden, and longtime pal Robert Downey Jr.

Echoing the words of Lowe's comments, sources tell People that the only guests who were present at the wedding were those who were considered to be really close friends to the Hollywood duo.

'The whole wedding seemed very intimate and romantic,' a source said.

'The friends that attended are all people that love them.

Professing their love for one another: While the couple has opted not to share photos of their wedding day on social media, they definitely haven't been shy to flaunt their romance online

And apparently, that could be felt by the atmosphere at the ceremony.

'Throughout the reception, guests laughed and you could tell everyone had a wonderful time. It was truly a beautiful wedding.'

After her big day, Paltrow had taken to Instagram, posting a photo of the couple's wedding bands as she placed her hand over his.
Craig Revel Horwood has reportedly ripped into his Strictly Come Dancing colleagues, labelling them 'dull' and 'attention-seeking'.

The Australian star, 53, apparently lashed out at presenter Tess Daly as well as fellow judges Shirley Ballas and Bruno Tonioli.

Craig reportedly addressed a room of around 50 people with his allegedly scathing comments as part of a book tour in Oxford.

Scathing: Craig Revel Horwood has reportedly ripped into his Strictly Come Dancing colleagues, labelling them 'dull' and 'attention-seeking'

According to The Sun, the sharp-tongued judge branded Tess' questions on the show 'dull' when speaking to his fans.

And his harsh criticisms didn't stop there as he reportedly commented on the appearance of head judge Shirley, and called Bruno an 'attention-seeker'.

He is alleged to have talked about Shirley's breasts, which he claims are 'fake', and added that Bruno was a 'proper attention-seeker', although he believes him to be a nice guy - yet still hit out at his willingness to spend money.

Craig reportedly told the audience that the judging panel was 'scared' when Seann Walsh and Katya Jones danced after revelations about their private life, and said that he would have got a room if he was them.

Criticism: The Australian star, 53, apparently lashed out at presenter Tess Daly as well as fellow judges Shirley Ballas and Bruno Tonioli

All smiles: He reportedly addressed a room of around 50 people with his allegedly scathing comments as part of a book tour in Oxford

The judge added that he thought the so-called 'Strictly curse' could be the 'Strictly blessing' for couples who work out.

MailOnline has contacted the representatives of Craig for comment.

Craig has recently claimed that the famous 'Strictly Curse' only affected those who weren't solid in their romances.

'I think of it as a blessing, actually, to be honest. When you think of the success stories.

Unimpressed: He is alleged to have said Bruno was a 'proper attention-seeker', although he believes him to be a nice guy

Not nice: Craig is also alleged to have talked about Shirley's breasts, which he claims are 'fake'

'If you come on Strictly, sometimes you are in a relationship that is not working anyway. I have noticed that if they are in love or are married, [they] end up being absolutely faithful to one another because of that love.'

He continued: 'It doesnt mean youre going to fall in love with your partner at any given point. They are actors arent they.'

Speaking on whether it was the correct decision to allow Seann and Katya to stay in the competition despite fierce backlash after their passionate kiss, Craig said: 'My take was keep them in the show, make them do the Dance of Shame, if you like.'

Hitting back: Speaking on whether it was the correct decision to allow Seann and Katya to stay in the competition despite fierce backlash after their passionate kiss, Craig said: 'My take was keep them in the show, make them do the Dance of Shame, if you like'
She's a big fan of the spooky holiday.

And on Friday, Vanessa Hudgens looked Halloween ready as she donned a themed t-shirt and spiderweb tights while out in Los Angeles.

The 29-year-old actress paired her Gothic ensemble with platform loafers and a bulky choker.

On theme: On Friday, Vanessa Hudgens looked Halloween ready as she donned a themed t-shirt and spiderweb tights while out in Los Angeles

Hudgens wore her dark locks pulled back in a bun, while her makeup included a deep burgundy lip.

She hid behind round sunglasses and carried her belongings in a large tote bag.

The California native fiddled with her phone as she departed a friend's well-decorated pad.

Goth vibes: The 29-year-old actress paired her Gothic ensemble with a bulky choker

Vanessa has 'weekend witching plans,' according to Instagram.

The Disney vet will likely be watching the Hocus Pocus 25th Anniversary Bash, which she hosted roughly three weeks ago.

The event, which airs on Freeform this Saturday, October 20, was shot in the famed Hollywood Forever cemetery.

Gloomy glam: Hudgens wore her dark locks pulled back in a bun, while her makeup included a deep burgundy lip

In an interview with Extra, Hudgens talked about her love for Halloween and her pending costume.

'I do everything Halloween. It's my favorite holiday,' she said.

'For me it's not necessarily about the costume, for me it's about celebrating all month long. I'll probably just be some heightened glam version of my witch self.'
She recently parted ways with her fiance Wladimir Klitchko.

But Hayden Panettiere wasn't letting the break up keep her down as she was spotted smiling brightly in Los Angeles on Friday.

The 29-year-old Nashville star rocked a casual ensemble as she was joined by her new beau Brian Hickerson at LAX.

New beau: Hayden Panettiere, 29, rocked a casual ensemble as she was joined by her new beau Brian Hickerson at LAX

Daring to impress, the beauty sported a Smokey The Bandit tee underneath a denim jacket that featured ripped sleeves.

Her trademark platinum tresses were left long and loose as they playfully cascaded over her shoulders.

Hayden and Brian are said to have met through mutual friends.

They were first seen together in early August, according to People.

Impressive: Daring to impress, the beauty sported a Smokey The Bandit tee underneath a denim jacket that featured ripped sleeves

The source said 'Brian moved to Los Angeles to do real estate and acting. He just started getting into the acting business and is going on castings trying to break in the industry.'

The magazine's insiders revealed that Hayden and Wladimir 'break up and get back together frequently,' adding that they are 'still very attracted [to each other].'

And after the reported new pair were photographed together, her mom Lesley Vogel confirmed to RadarOnline that the Heroes alum had parted from her longtime love.

Hair story: Her trademark platinum tresses were left long and loose as they playfully cascaded over her shoulders

'There are a lot of changes going on in her life. But I think they're positive changes. And I think that she's taking some time,' Vogel told the publication.

Hayden and Wladimir are parents to three-year-old daughter Kaya.

They began dating in 2009 before splitting up briefly in 2011; they reconciled and got engaged in 2013 and one year later, welcomed their daughter together.
Her outfits for the Channel 5 series have become somewhat legendary, with the presenter even using #whatyouwearinwillis to keep her fans updated.

And Emma Willis did not disappoint as she showed off her sensational sense of style on Friday's brutal double eviction.

The host, 42, looked incredible in a black tuxedo jacket and matching coloured flared trousers.

Work it: Emma Willis did not disappoint as she showed off her sensational sense of style on Friday's brutal double eviction

She teamed the items of clothing with a plunging black silk camisole, which she wore underneath.

Keeping her accessories equally as chic, Emma opted for a pair of classic black heels and a collection of simple earrings.

The mother-of-three styled her cropped blonde locks into a her signature swept back quiff hairdo, as she added a slick of glamorous make-up.

Stylish star: The host, 42, looked incredible in a black tuxedo jacket and matching coloured flared trousers

Details: She teamed the items of clothing with a plunging black silk camisole, which she wore underneath

On Friday's live eviction, Hussain Ahmed and Isabella Farnese become the fifth and sixth housemates to be evicted after a brutal double eviction twist, where they decided to condense a week into one night.

Emma has been presenting Big Brother and Celebrity Big Brother for five years since June 2013.

The presenter addressed the fact the show had been axed after 18 years during Big Brother's Bit On The Side with host Rylan Clark-Neal on its launch show last month.

Leading lady: Keeping her accessories equally as chic, Emma opted for a pair of classic black heels and a collection of simple earrings

He's gone!: On Friday's live eviction, Hussain Ahmed become the fifth housemate to be evicted

Brutal twist: Isabella Farnese became the sixth housemate to be evicted after a brutal double eviction twist, where they decided to condense a week into one night

She said: 'This should be a positive thing because we should just f**king show everybody how great this programme is and we should love it and embrace it and give it the send off it deserves.

'I've also been here before when it finished, so Im like, "Oh yeah, we buried it and then it came back to life".'

She added: 'It was brilliant actually, and all the changes that the production team have made this series for celebrity and the one were about to enter.

'I think theyve taken all the brilliant bits from the past and brought them back and mixed them with something different for the future, because its been on for a b****y long time and it has to be different. So I think they've made, I'm getting emotional now too, they've made a brilliant mix.'

Talented star: Emma has been presenting Big Brother and Celebrity Big Brother for five years since June 2013
France supports Chinese BRI concept: French Ambassador

ISLAMABAD: France has declared its support for Chinas gigantic programme. Talking to Chairman of the Senate Standing Committee on Defence Production retired Lt Gen Abdul Qayyum, French Ambassador to Pakistan Marc Barety on Friday said: France supports the Chinese BRI concept and is ready to invest in the subsequent phases of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) provided transparency is ensured.



The remarks came amidst reports suggesting that the United States, Australia, Japan and India were considering establishing a joint regional infrastructure scheme as an alternative to Chinas multibillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative in an attempt to counter Beijings spreading influence.



The ambassador also showed keen interest in the defence sector, but expressed his disappointment that French competing companies could not win any of the three tenders floated for radars, submarines maintenance and mobile bridges which were won by the companies from the US, Turkey and China, respectively. He pointed out that the submarines, for which the tenders for maintenance were floated, had been provided by France.



The committee chairman assured the ambassador that the procedures followed were transparent and French companies would always get fair chance to compete. Gen Qayyum said that Pakistan also looked forward to French investment in health, education, energy and especially in railways and connectivity.



The French ambassador said his countrys investments in Pakistan would be enhanced in due course of time. He said that about 40 French companies, including Engie, TOTAL and Sanofi, were doing successful business in Pakistan and France wanted to enhance bilateral trade, which was presently only 1.4 billion Euros.



He said France and Germany were planning joint cultural events in Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi and Peshawar. He appreciated that in view of tremendous improvement in the security situation in Pakistan these events were being held with desired freedom. The ambassador informed the committee chairman that France was also opening French language institutes in Peshawar, Faisalabad and Karachi.



Gen Qayyum said Pakistan appreciated and welcomed Frances willingness to increase its investments in Pakistan.



He also welcomed the French governments decision to participate in the forthcoming Asian Parliamentary Association (APA) meeting scheduled to be held in Gwadar on Oct 29 and 30.
The Irwins are typically surrounded by wild animals at their zoo on Queensland's Sunshine Coast.

But on Friday, the family brought exotic creatures, including a crocodile and kangaroo, to the New York premiere of their new series, Crikey! It's The Irwins.

With the trio decked out in their signature khaki uniforms, mum Terri, 54, looked proud as punch while posing alongside her beaming children.

Crikey! Terry, Bindi and Robert Irwin bring a crocodile and kangaroo to New York premiere of their new Animal Planet series

Flaunting her slim figure in the casual ensemble, Terry kept a protective arm around her youngest, Robert, 14, who bravely clutched a juvenile crocodile.

His sister, Bindi, 20, meanwhile cuddled up to a small kangaroo in a cloth bag.

Premiering at the end of the month, the Animal Planet series will follow the family as they run Australia Zoo, and travel the world protecting and celebrating animals.

Family time: Mum Terri kept a protective arm around her youngest, Robert, 14 who bravely clutched a juvenile crocodile. His sister, Bindi, 20 meanwhile appeared enamoured while gently carrying a small kangaroo in a cloth bag.

Before hitting the promotional trail for the new show, Bindi recently fueled engagement rumours to boyfriend, Chandler Powell.

Earlier this month, she penned a cheeky caption alongside a photo of herself holding a diamond python.

Taking to Instagram, she wrote: 'Diamonds are a girl's best friend.'

Youthful: Terri, 54 flaunted her youthful figure in her signature khaki Australia Zoo uniform

'Diamonds are a girl's best friend': Bindi cheekily teased engagement with boyfriend of four years, Chandler Powell by posing with a diamond python

And the post comes after the smitten couple celebrated their anniversary in June.

The daughter of late Australian icon Steve Irwin once again took to Instagram to share a heartwarming tribute to Chandler, sharing a photograph of the pair cuddling up to one another.

'I have loved this guy since I first met him, over four and a half years ago. Every day is so special with you,' she wrote, as the post quickly generated thousands of likes.
It seems the domestic violence lawsuit in which Ryan Phillippe is currently embroiled is only getting more complicated.

According to The Blast, the 44-year-old Cruel Intentions actor was recently sanctioned by the court for failing to turn over text messages that are allegedly relevant to the case.

The suit was originally filed by Elsie Hewitt, a 21-year-old former Playboy Playmate.

Bad news: It seems the domestic violence lawsuit in which Ryan Phillippe is currently embroiled is only getting more complicated

The model is suing Phillippe for $1 million after claiming he grabbed so hard he left 'bruises on her arms and twice threw her down the stairs' on July 4, 2017.

In the latest twist, earlier this month Hewitt filed documents accusing Phillippe of unfairly drawing out the court case by failing to turn over text messages.

Said messages, which were between Phillippe and his famous ex Reese Witherspoon, apparently contained mentions of the young starlet, which Hewitt said made them relevant to the case.

The Shooter star was married to Witherspoon, 42, from 1999 to 2007; they also share two children - Ava, 18, and Deacon, 14.

Victim? The suit was originally filed by Elsie Hewitt, a 21-year-old former Playboy Playmate

It seems the judge agreed with Hewitt about the texts in question, and has decided to give the Hollywood heartthrob another 20 days to turn over the messages.

Phillippe will also be fined $1,580, which is significantly less than the penalty of $12,640 initially requested by Hewitt.

When Hewitt filed her suit back in September of last year, Phillippe immediately counter-sued, and his court documents asserted that she 'fabricated a story in an unjustified attempt to extort money,' People reported.

Ex and company: The Shooter star was married to Witherspoon, 42, from 1999 to 2007; they also share two children - Ava, 18, and Deacon, 14 (family pictured together in 2015)

Ryan staunchly denied Elsie's allegations, tweeting a statement that read in part: 'Domestic violence is a very real and tragic issue faced by many women the world over and should never be used to vengefully slander or as a ploy for monetary gain.'

Phillippe and Hewitt had been dating for just a few months when the alleged incident occurred.

Earlier this year, his show Shooter was cancelled by USA back in August.
She is heavily pregnant with her third child.

And on Friday, Em Rusciano shamelessly ate a cookie from the floor of her car after experiencing an emotional day.

The 39-year-old took to her Instagram story to share a series of gratitude posts after reuniting with people who have been supportive of her career.

'Don't you judge me!' Heavily pregnant Em Rusciano has dared to eat a cookie from the floor of her car after an emotional work day, on Friday

'Don't you judge me, you would eat it too - look - I'm totally going to eat it,' she declared, before chomping down on the sugary treat.

Before indulging on the biscuit, she discussed her exciting work day filming Hughesy We Have A Problem with fellow comedians Charlie Pickering, Denise Scott, Sam Simmons and Dave Hughes.

She praised them and explained that they each played a role in her comedy career.

Hungry: She declared, 'Don't you judge me, you would eat it too - look - I'm totally going to eat it,' before chomping down on the sugary treat' Pictured: Em picking up the cookie from her car floor (left) and eating it (right)

Em also said that she ran into Network Ten boss Stephen Tate 'who cast me on Australian Idol.'

To top off the her day, Dave Hughes even gave his business class seat up for the former breakfast radio presenter who she called 'the kindest man in showbiz'.

She called her day a 'total, full circle career day sent from the gods. It made me realise how far I've come and how lucky I am.'

Grateful: Before indulging on the sweet, she discussed her work day filming Hughesy We Have A Problem with fellow comedians Charlie Pickering, Denise Scott, Sam Simmons and Dave Hughes. She praised them and explained that they each played a role in her comedy career

Kind gesture: To top off the her day, Dave Hughes even gave his business class seat up for the former breakfast radio presenter who she called 'the kindest man in showbiz' in another Instagram story post

'I know that I'm pregnant and emotional, and I'll probably regret these stories and delete them in the morning, but I'm so grateful for today,' she added.

Em is expecting a son with husband Scott, with whom she shares two daughters.

In September she announced that she would be leaving her 2Day FM breakfast show to focus on her pregnancy.
Ditching frocks for tailored ensembles, female celebrities turned heads in stunning androgynous outfits at Melbourne's Caulfield Cup on Saturday.

One of Australia's most in demand models, Gemma Ward, commanded attention as she went braless under a wrap top and trousers.

The 30-year-old led the trend, with models Jessica Hart, Victoria Lee and Lindy Rama-Ellis also sporting structured looks.

Taking the plunge! Model Gemma Ward, 30, went BRALESS in a burnt orange wrap top and slim-fit pants at Melbourne's Caulfield Cup on Saturday

Gemma revealed a glimpse of her delicate decolletage with the top's low neckline, and elongated her already statuesque frame with nude strappy heels.

The Perth-born beauty carried her belongings in a Chloe metallic clutch and accessorised further with a statement gold hair clip.

Gemma swept her blonde locks into a sleek chignon and opted for an ethereal makeup palette.

Details: The Perth-born beauty revealed a glimpse of her delicate decolletage with the top's low neckline, while a tie cinched in at her slender waist

Luxe touches: Gemma carried her belongings in a Chloe metallic clutch and accessorised further with a statement gold hair clip

Lindy Rama-Ellis and husband Adam embraced for photos trackside.

The 40-year-old model stunned in a black vest with green silk tie, teamed with a black and white blazer and cropped pants.

Lindy added green pointy-toe Roger Vivier heels and a gold-chained shoulder bag, and swept her locks back off her face.

The Balinese princess drew attention to a radiant complexion and enhanced her eyes with kohl liner and lashings of mascara.

Well-suited! Lindy Rama-Ellis, 40, cut a tailored figure in a white blazer and slim-fit pants as she embraced husband Adam Ellis trackside

Fashion-forward: Lindy added green pointy-toe Roger Vivier heels and a gold-chained shoulder bag, and swept her locks back off her face

The eyes have it: The Balinese princess drew attention to a radiant complexion and enhanced her eyes with kohl liner and lashings of mascara

British property developer Adam donned a pastel blue dress shirt, a coordinating plaid suit jacket and trousers, a narrow tie and brown leather shoes.

Jessica Hart revealed her trim pins in a pastel pink blazer dress, which she teamed with a white trench coat and coordinating fedora.

The 32-year-old added metallic pointy-toe heels and a layering of delicate necklaces.

Jessica styled her blonde locks in soft waves and enhanced her striking facial features with a matte complexion, bold brows and a natural lip.

Legs eleven! Jessica Hart, 32, revealed her trim pins in a pink blazer dress, which she teamed with a white trench coat, metallic heels and a white fedora

Beauty: Jessica styled her blonde locks in soft waves and enhanced her striking facial features with a matte complexion, bold brows and a natural lip

Household name: Jessica posed for photos with fellow model Jessica Gomes, 34, at the race day event

Model turned actress Jessica Gomes sported a pastel blue frock, consisting of a tight bodice and flowing fabric from the waist down.

The 34-year-old elongated her frame with black jewelled Roger Vivier heels and accessorised further with a black net headpiece.

The brunette tucked her locks behind her ears and opted for a neutral makeup palette.

Playful: The ladies appeared in high spirits with Jessica Hart pulling an animated facial expression

Pastel perfection: The 34-year-old sported a pastel blue frock, consisting of a tight bodice and flowing fabric from the waist down

Picture-perfect: Jessica, an ambassador for David Jones, posed in front of the track in the slim-fit design

Trim and terrific: Placing one hand in the frock's pocket, Jessica offered a glimpse of her lean legs

Victoria Lee, 27, put on a leggy display in a white linen long-sleeved frock with a dramatic thigh split.

Nude strappy heels, gold drop earrings and a wide-rimmed white hat tied in nicely.

The David Jones ambassador's strawberry blonde locks fell loosely around her toned shoulders and her cheekbones were defined with a subtle touch of bronzer.

Chic: Jessica elongated her frame with black jewelled Roger Vivier heels and accessorised further with a black net headpiece

Group affair: Gemma, Jessica Hart and Jessica Gomes, later posed for a photo with David Jones ambassador Victoria Lee [far left], 27

Leggy lady: The David Jones ambassador put on a leggy display in a white linen long-sleeved frock with a dramatic thigh split

Coordinating style: Nude strappy heels, a Chloe handbag, gold drop earrings and a wide-rimmed hat tied in nicely

Actress April Rose Pengilly dazzled in a thigh-skimming pink lace frock with a sheer panel accentuating her slender waist.

Gold strappy heels, drop earrings and an oversize hat added glamorous touches to the 30-year-old's look.

April tied her brunette locks into a side ponytail and her eyes were enhanced with a false set of lashes and kohl liner.

Stunning: Victoria's strawberry blonde locks fell loosely around her toned shoulders and her cheekbones were defined with a subtle touch of bronzer

Pretty in pink: April Rose Pengilly, 30, dazzled in a thigh-skimming pink lace frock with a sheer panel accentuating her slender waist

Glam: The actress tied her brunette locks into a side ponytail and her eyes were enhanced with a false set of lashes and kohl liner

Feminine feel: Gold strappy heels, drop earrings and an oversize hat added glamorous touches to the star's look

Neighbours star Jodi Anasta opted for an all-white ensemble on the day.

She covered her lithe frame in long billowy trousers, silk camisole and a black suit blazer.

The actress wore her brunette locks down in a wavy style, with two unique fascinator clips above each ear.

A vision in white! Neighbours star Jodi Anasta opted for an all-white ensemble on the day

That's different! The actress wore her brunette locks down in a wavy style, with two unique fascinator clips above each ear

Australian Survivor star and AFL women's player Moana Hope also attended the trackside event with her fiancee Isabella Carlstrom close by.

Moana wore a bright pink suit with a skull-patterned button up underneath.

Her fiancee wore a powder blue floral suit as she cuddled up to Moana for photos.

Cute! Australian Survivor star and AFL women's player Moana Hope also attended the trackside event with her fiancee Isabella Carlstrom close by
There was no missing Jessica Gomes when she stepped out for the Caulfield Cup in Melbourne on Saturday.

The model-turned-actress, 31, looked stunning in a pale blue frock, consisting of a tight bodice and flowing fabric from the waist down.

Elongating her frame with black jeweled Roger Vivier heels, the beauty accessorised further with a black net headpiece.

Pretty in pastel! Jessica Gomes commands attention as she flaunts her perfect pins in a sensational pale blue frock at Melbourne's Caulfield Cup on Saturday

Thanks to the sleeveless detail, she flaunted her gym-honed limbs and perfect bronzed skin while showcasing her traffic-stopping figure in the pastel number.

Tucking her locks behind her ears, Jessica opted for a neutral makeup palette paired with dark brows and a light pink lip.

A David Jones ambassador for five years, the catwalker was joined at the event by fellow models, Victoria Lee, Jessica Hart and Gemma Ward.

Leggy display: The 34-year-old model turned actress looked stunning in a pastel blue frock, consisting of a tight bodice and flowing fabric from the waist down

Grey sky are gonna clear up: Elongating her frame with black jeweled Roger Vivier heels, the beauty accessorised further with a black net headpiece

The glamorous appearance comes after Jessica revealed how she maintains her enviable physique.

'I live in Los Angeles, so it's pretty healthy there,' she told Daily Mail Australia in August.

'There's lots of whole foods and fresh foods. I'm not really a big drinker so I keep everything quite clean.'

Model behaviour: Thanks to the sleeveless detail, she flaunted her gym-honed limbs and perfect bronzed skin while showcasing her traffic-stopping figure in the bright frock

Keeping things high glam: Tucking her locks behind her ears, Jessica opted for a neutral makeup palette paired with dark brows and a light pink lip

The stunner also revealed the motto she swears by to stay happy and body-confident in such a competitive industry.

'I think it's about how you feel about yourself and you can't really worry about what anyone else thinks. I think that's the way to keep yourself happy,' she added.

The way Jessica stays body confident is also quite simple, with the star explaining: 'Everyone is always going to have an opinion, but I think it's the way you feel about yourself and so that's kind of been my motto.'
Teen Mom Jenelle Evans shared dinner with husband David Eason on Friday.

The romantic date was posted on David's Instagram stories and follows news that the MTV star's 911 call alleging David assaulted her last Saturday was a 'drunk and dramatic misunderstanding' according to E! News.

Evans spoke up about the alleged assault after TMZ released audio of a frantic 911 call where she told an operator 'My husband, he just assaulted me.'

Damage control? Teen Mom Jenelle Evans shared dinner with husband David Eason on Friday following news that the MTV star's 911 call alleging David assaulted her last Saturday was a 'drunk and dramatic misunderstanding'

During the quick clip, David can be heard saying: 'a little sizzle dizzle' as he zoomed in on steak and seafood.

He quickly panned the camera over to his wife who smiled brightly.

Meanwhile family and friends of the star have expressed concern, with one insider telling Radar they're worried Eason could even 'kill her.'

Jenelle was hospitalized this weekend after calling 911 and telling the operator she was assaulted by her husband.

Alleged: Evans spoke up about the alleged assault after TMZ released audio of a frantic 911 call where she told an operator 'My husband, he just assaulted me.'

But the reality star said it was all a 'misunderstanding' during a chat with E! News shortly after the 911 audio was made public.

'It was a drunk and dramatic misunderstanding,' Janelle said, 'Everything is great. We are totally fine  just taking time off social media, time to focus on ourselves and our family.'

But things did not appear to be 'totally fine' in the 911 call, where Evans is heard crying hysterically and accusing her husband of breaking her collarbone.

Sizzle: During the quick clip, David can be heard saying: 'a little sizzle dizzle' as he zoomed in on steak and seafood

Panned: He quickly panned the camera over to his wife who smiled brightly

In the call Jenelle says Eason 'pinned her down on the ground' so hard she heard her 'collarbone crack.' She continued to tell the operator that she had no feeling in her arm because of the injuries.

She also said that Eason was drunk and suggests that he flew into a rage because he was inebriated. When asked if he has 'weapons', Evans first tells the operator 'no' before clarifying 'I don't know what he has.'

The incident happened while Jenelle was recovering from surgery to repair a deviated septum in her nose. She also revealed that the family's four children were in the house 'sleeping' at the time of the incident.

Bad feeling: Jenelle's mother Barbara (above in 2015 together) has expressed fear over her grandchildren's well-being, telling people at the Teen Mom reunion 'I dont feel Jenelle is OK. David is going to hurt her'

A spokesperson for Jenelle tried to cover up the incident this week, insisting she had tripped and fallen into a bonfire while hosting friends at her home.

But 'Family and friends' of the star 'hope she leaves' Eason, according to a source who spoke to Us Weekly.

Others said they seriously fear for Evan's life because of David, with one telling Radar 'Jesus he's going to f***ing kill her. That man has the capacity to do that. I've seen with my own eyes. I don't want to be right about this.'

Jenelle's mother Barbara has previously expressed fear over her daughter's well-being.

Opening up on last season's Teen Mom 2 reunion Barbara said: 'I dont feel Jenelle is OK. David is going to hurt her.'

Disturbing: Jenelle Evans cries hysterically as she tells an 911 operator that her husband Dave Eason attacked her. The incident happened not long after she posted this picture on Saturday, which shows her recovering from a nose job with Eason by her side

The original incident took place this past Saturday when law enforcement responded to a 911 call alleging an assault had taken place at the North Carolina home that Evans and Eason share together.

However, she ended up being taken to a medical facility by a private vehicle and a spokesperson for authorities in Columbus County, North Carolina, said no official incident report was taken.

Reps for the MTV reality star told People Thursday that she had been injured when she 'had friends over Saturday night and they had a bonfire on her property.'

'Jenelle ended up tripping and falling by the fire,' they explained.

She was not filming for her reality show, according to insiders.

Violent: In the call Jenelle claims Eason 'pinned her down on the ground' so hard she heard her 'collarbone crack.' She also said that Eason was drunk and suggests that he flew into a rage because he was inebriated. The pair are pictured here in 2017

Mom of three: The reality star, 26, who lives in North Carolina, has sons Jace, eight, and Kaiser, four, with former partners and also a 21-month-old daughter Ensley with husband Dave Eason. David has a daughter from a previous relationship

David shared several posts of the pair together on his Instagram Thursday, hoping to signal everything is ok.

In a video from today the couple are seen playing with their daughter, but Evans' face is conspicuously kept out of the frame.

He also shared a provocative photo of Jenelle's rear end, completely ignoring the controversy at hand.

But commenters didn't let him off the hook, flooding the post with call outs about the alleged domestic abuse.

He later turned the comment feature off.

David posted this picture of his wife on Thursday, days after the alleged attack
Some of her followers may have bristled to see her posing in the buff in aid of her eye collection Flashing Lights.

But Kim Kardashian, who posted a topless snapshot to Instagram during the day on Friday, continued doing so into the evening.

The 37-year-old raised her hands over her bust to prevent her violating Instagram's Community Guidelines as she posed against a cosmic backdrop.

'Turqouise Tears': Kim Kardashian, who posted a topless snapshot to Instagram during the day on Friday, continued doing so into the evening

Glistening blue tears rained down from her eyes, presumably digitally added later to the snapshot by photographer David LaChapelle.

Kim, who had her hair done by Chris Appleton and her makeup by Sam Visser, wrote: 'Turqouise Tears' in her caption before plugging the makeup line.

The reality queen, who will turn 38 on Sunday, showcased her ample cleavage as she cosied up to a hunky male model in another campaign shot for her Flashing Lights Collection, shot by David LaChapelle.

Striking a sultry pose, the brunette beauty let her tousled raven locks cascade down her chest on to her taut midriff, protecting her modesty in the Lady Godiva inspired shoot.

Defiant: Kim proved she wasn't letting the criticism over her naked photo get to her as she shared another eye-popping topless photo to Instagram on Friday

Oozing confidence, the star was embraced by a male model, who had a white dove resting on his hand. The star tenderly held his hand as she pointed up into the sky.

Her stunning features were enhanced with 60s style powder and navy eyeshadows, with feline flicks of liner accentuating her peepers.

A pop of rose blush and frosted lipgloss on her plump pout completed the showstopping look.

So Kim of her!The photo was a demure departure for the star who provoked ire among her fans with a saucy image shared on Thursday

The photo was a demure departure for the star who provoked ire among her fans with a saucy image shared on Thursday.

The diva, was naked as she partially covered her chest with her fingers and had only the corner of a silver sheer over her lower half.

Immediately her followers went wild with comments with one saying, 'U have a husband and kids!' and another asking, 'Is she selling boobs or something?'

In the eyes: As she lay down on a bed looking up, the star revealed a full face of makeup that appeared inspired by the 1960s. She had on silver eye makeup and a light pink lip

A third fan said she was 'spicy' as another added the 'flashing lights' makeup name was very appropriate. And one especially harsh critic wrote: 'This was the only idea you could come up with to advertise eye shadow?'

Her caption read, 'A little silver eye this morning!'

As she lay down on a bed looking up, the star revealed a full face of makeup that appeared inspired by the 1960s. She had on silver eye makeup and a light pink lip. The new makeup collection goes on sale Friday.

She knows how to get attention on social media: Her caption read, 'A little silver eye this morning!'

Push back: Some of her followers did not like her decision to pose naked

This comes the day after she posted another eye-opening image that shocked her 119m followers.

The high school graduate was seen on her knees in a silver leotard and clear above-the-knee boots as a naked man held up a mirror for her.

Mrs Kanye West was announcing that she was introducing new jewel toned colors for KKW Beauty.

New look: The pinup posted another risque photo o Instagram on Wednesday

Ready to rock: The TV star and producer was seen on her knees in a silver leotard and clear above-the-knee boots as a naked man held up a mirror for her

Kim proudly captioned the exotic image: 'Kkwbeauty by David LaChapelle! A New collection featuring 7 Pressed & Loose Powder Pigments, all in bright & jewel-toned shades!!!!!'

Kim has worked with LaChapelle on one of her family Christmas cards.

On her KKW Beauty side more was said: 'To celebrate Kim Kardashians birthday this weekend were releasing a brand new collection featuring 7 Pressed Powder Pigments & 7 Loose Powder Pigments, all in bright & jewel-toned shades for the ultimate party vibe.'

Like a Blade Runner character: The mother-of-three wore heavy purple eye shadow

"Legends': Also on Friday, Kim posted a throwback photo of her parents Kris Jenner and Robert Kardashian and her maternal grandparents Mary Jo Campbell and Robert Houghton

Deep colors: On her KKW Beauty side more was said: 'To celebrate Kim Kardashians birthday this weekend were releasing a brand new collection featuring 7 Pressed Powder Pigments & 7 Loose Powder Pigments, all in bright & jewel-toned shades for the ultimate party vibe'

Like amethysts and emeralds: The packaging is no-nonsense in small KKW Beauty containers

Also on Friday, Kim posted a throwback black and white photo of four 'Legends' - her parents Kris Jenner and Robert Kardashian and her maternal grandparents Mary Jo Campbell and Robert Houghton.

This post comes after West wants to have a total of seven children with wife Kim.

That is what the rapper told Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni as he visited the State House in Entebbe for a brief meeting on Monday.

His wife looked stunned by the news. The couple already have three kids: North, aged five, Saint, aged two, and Chicago, only nine months old.

Seven IS a lucky number: Kanye West wants to have a total of seven children with Kim. That is what the rapper told President Yoweri Museveni as he visited the State House in Entebbe for a brief meeting on Monday

When the president asked how many kids they have, Kanye got right to it. 'We have three. I would like to have seven,' said West.

The camera panned over to Kim, who sat patiently several feet away.

The Playboy cover girl looked shocked and at first could not speak, but then she muttered: 'I would not like to have seven.'

The star was smiling a bit as if she were embarrassed to be put on the spot.

She loves wildlife: This image shared on Thursday morning showed two giraffes in Africa

In the past, Kim has said she may want another child.

And she added that they have more embryos so it would not be as much effort on their part.

They would likely use the same gestational carrier they used for Chicago.

But Kim has never spoken of having seven kids.

Adding four more kids to their family would take a lot of time and planning.

Kim and Kanye jetted to the East African Nation over the weekend with their daughter North for a vacation in one of the country's national parks.

Visiting the locals: On Wednesday Kim and North were seen at the Uganda Women's Effort to Save Orphans

Helping others: And the KUWTK star and producer shared this image with North and Kanye

It seems as if Saint and Chicago stayed home.

Since then, Kanye has been seen jamming out to local music and performing. He is said to be recording his ninth album, Yandhi, while he is there.

The visit to the State House on Monday comes less than a week after his bombastic, headline-making trip to the White House to meet with Trump.

During that meeting, he pounded on the Resolute Desk, said he felt like 'Superman' whenever he wore his Make America Great Again Hat and went on a long rant which left the often garrulous president speechless.
She's one of Hollywood's fastest rising actresses.

And Grown-ish star Yara Shahidi showed off her chic red carpet style on Friday, when the 18-year-old attended the GLSEN Respect Awards in Beverly Hills.

The actress was a study in monochrome, slipping a black dress on over a stark white blouse.

Back in black: Grown-ish star Yara Shahidi showed off her chic red carpet style on Friday, when the 18-year-old attended the GLSEN Respect Awards in Beverly Hills

Yara's dress boasted gold chain straps, which she matched to a gold chain choker.

The teenager's simple black pumps poked out from beneath the floor length gown.

Later, she took to the podium and presented an award at the awards show, which recognized the great efforts educators, students and corporations have made to impact the lives of the LGBTQ community.

All that glitters: Yara's dress boasted gold chain straps, which she matched to a gold chain choker

Also at the event were Will & Grace cast members Debra Messing, Sean Hayes, Megan Mullally, and Eric Cormack.

The foursome appeared gleeful while posing for photos on the red carpet.

Fellow actress Ellen Pompeo was likewise in participation, wearing a sparkling jumpsuit to the gala.
Twin sisters Lisa and Jessica Origliasso rose to fame with hits like 4ever and Hook Me Up with their band, The Veronicas.

And on Friday, the duo stormed the stage yet again when they appeared at a star-studded fund-raiser for the Sydney Children's Hospital Foundation.

Lisa and Jess opted for racy leather outfits before belting out their hits from the stage.

Ladies in leather! The Veronicas, Lisa and Jessica Origliasso (pictured), 33, stormed the stage for a stellar performance at a star studded event for Sydney Children's Hospital Foundation on Friday

Fresh from her relationship ending with Ruby Rose, Jess showed no sign of heartbreak as she danced on the stage with Lisa.

The event was for SunSCHine, which raises over $1million for cardiac patients at Sydney Children's Hospital Foundation.

The pair appeared to get the crowd going with their rendition of their songs along with a catalogue of others.

Storming the stage! The Veronicas entertained the crowd at SunSCHine Fundraiser for Sydney Children's Hospitals Foundation on Friday night

For the performance, Jess wore a plunging skin-tight leather dress which clung tightly to her slender figure.

Meanwhile, Lisa opted for a sporty take on the look, flaunting her midriff in a maroon red leather bra, and black-and-red leather pants.

The twins chose to wear their signature jet black hair out while giving their edgy look a boost with winged eyeliner and rouge lipstick.

High glam! Channel Nine star Erin Molan (pictured), 36, looked glam in a strapless black pantsuit, which she accessorised with a diamond bangle and ring

Also attending the event was Channel Nine star Erin Molan, 36, who opted for a chic black pantsuit for the event.

Enjoying a rare night out after becoming a first-time mother to daughter Eliza, Erin didn't put a foot wrong at the ritzy do.

The former host of the NRL Footy show kept things high glam in the pantsuit by wearing her shoulder length blonde hair partly back.

Glamour couple: NRL WAG Terry Biviano, 43, and husband Anthony Minichiello (pictured), 38, looked every inch the fashionable power couple. Terry flaunting her trim pins in a emerald green minidress

Erin opted for a glossy make-up look, enhancing her already flawless complexion with a dewy foundation and golden tan.

Erin finishing off her look with glamorous drop earrings, a sparkling diamond bangle and an assortment of rings.

Meanwhile, NRL WAG Terry Biviano, 43, and husband Anthony Minichiello, 38, looked every inch the fashionable power couple.

All black! Former Great Outdoors presenter Sophie Falkiner (pictured), 44, donned a high-end wrap dress for the outing, finishing it off with a pair of textured heels

Terry flaunted her trim pins in a glamorous emerald green mini-dress, which she paired with a matching clutch.

Terry finished off her look with a pair of bright pink stilettos.

Meanwhile, Anthony looked dapper in a relaxed black suit, with his collared shirt unbuttoned underneath.

Shimmering! Real Housewives of Sydney star Matty Samaei (above) looked glam in a sparkling beige and black mini-dress

Anthony wore a pair of black slip-on moccasins to complete his look.

Keeping things glamorous, Sophie Falkiner, 44, donned a high-end black wrap dress which she paired with a quirky silver bag.

The former Great Outdoors presenter opted to wear her blonde hair out while finishing off the look with a pair of textured black heels.

The Real Housewives of Sydney star Matty Samaei turned plenty of heads in a glittering skin tight beige and black dress.

The former reality star paired the outfit with a designer black bag and a pair of black pointy heels.

Matty opted to wear her hair down with a glossy make-up palette.
Mandy Moore and Wilmer Valderrama were spotted in Los Angeles on Friday night.

The actress, 34, and actor, 38 - who dated more than 16 years ago - continued their annual tradition of attending Universal Studios Halloween Horror Nights.

And the video posted to Mandy's Instagram account proved exes can still be friends even after Wilmer said in an interview he took her virginity... which she denies.

Still friends:Mandy Moore and Wilmer Valderrama were spotted in Los Angeles on Friday night

The dimly lit video has Mandy describing her entrance into the special theme night at the popular amusement park.

She pans the camera to show her accompanied by several friends and WIlmer.

'This is a tradition right?' Mandy asked.

'Its a yearly tradition that Mandy and I take the horror of Halloween Horror Nights,' Wilmer said.

Tradition: The actress, 34, and actor, 38 - who dated more than 16 years ago - continued their annual tradition of attending Universal Studios Halloween Horror Nights

Fright night: The dimly lit video has Mandy describing her entrance into the special theme night at the popular amusement park

Mandy retorted: 'Im scared.'

Mandy and Wilmer dated way back when from 2000 to 2002.

Back in 2006, Wilmer told Howard Stern on his radio show that he took his then-teen girlfriend Mandy's virginity.

'The sex with Mandy was good, but it wasn't like warm apple pie,' he claimed.

But this past June on Howard's show, Mandy denied the allegations.

Halloween scares: 'Its a yearly tradition that Mandy and I take the horror of Halloween Horror Nights,' Wilmer said

'I dated him when I was 16 and 17,' she said.

'I love him and I still love him, and hes a very good friend and thats why I was so shocked by it because not only was it a fib, but it was so unlike him, it was so uncharacteristic.'

'I met him at a photo shoot for like, some teen magazine, literally, when I was 15? 15! I was [pretty innocent!]' she continued.

'Again, never French kissed a boy. He was like my first real true boyfriend. [But] he did not [take my virginity].'

But both have moved on as Mandy got engaged to Taylor Goldsmith in 2017 and WIlmer has been supportive of his ex Demi Lovato as she continues her rehab stint.
Govt to curb money laundering-terror financing: Asad Umar

ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Asad Umar on Friday reiterated his governments commitment to curb money laundering and terror financing in line with international guidelines during a meeting with a delegation of the Asia-Pacific Group (APG), a Financial Action Task Force-style regional body on money laundering.



The delegation, headed by APG Executive Secretary Gordon Hook, informed the finance minister about the objectives of its trip, and of meetings it would hold with relevant stakeholders.



Meanwhile, media reports stated that in its recommendations following the 3rd Mutual Evaluation Process of Pakistan, the APG technical experts suggested that more actions should be taken to put an end to money laundering and terror financing.



The third round continued for a week and a half in the federal capital, ending on Friday. The nine-member delegation have finalised a report with a set of recommendations for the country to get off the grey-list of the FATF.



The group is likely to provide Pakistan the first report until November 19 and return in March or April 2019 for a follow up visit. The final report is expected to be made public in July 2019.



Media reports suggested that the APG team had found Pakistan compliant in more than 50 per cent of the recommendations. However, this alone would not be sufficient to come out of the grey list.



The reports stated that the country has been found to be mostly compliant in legislation on money laundering and terror financing, but implementation was a problem.



Earlier in August, as part of the pre-site mutual evaluation, the APG identified a series of gaps in Pakistans anti-money laundering (AML)/counter-terror financing (CFT) laws and mechanisms. The report was sent to Pakistan with recommendations.



In response, Pakistan provided details of measures taken in compliance with the recommendations.



On October 5, Pakistan received another technical compliance annexure from APG which further highlighted deficiencies in the AML/CFT measures that Islamabad needs to take.



The visiting assessment team comprised Ashraf Abdulla, Financial Intelligence Unit, Maldives; Boby Wahyu Hernawan, Ministry of Finance, Indonesia; Gong Jingyan, Peoples Bank of China; Ian Collins, New Scotland Yard, United Kingdom; James Prussing, Department of the Treasury, United States; and Mustafa Necmeddin OZTOP, Ministry of Justice, Turkey. Three members of the APG secretariat included Gordon Hook, Executive Secretary; Mohammad Al-Rashdan, Deputy Director; and Shannon Rutherford, Deputy Director.



The round of meetings was attended by officials of the ministries of interior, finance, foreign affairs and law besides the State Bank of Pakistan, Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan, National Counter-Terrorism Authority, FIA, Federal Board of Revenue, National Accountability Bureau, Anti-Narcotics Force, FMU, Central Directorate of National Savings and provincial counter-terrorism departments.
She is one of the most successful food writers of all time, having sold more than 10 million cookbooks worldwide.

And on Saturday, Nigella Lawson, 58, shared her excitement about about touring Australia next year to show off her remarkable culinary journey.

Speaking to Confidential, the brunette beauty said: 'I'm very excited that Australia and New Zealand will be the first countries outside of the UK to see this show.'

'I love the food and the people': Chef Nigella Lawson (pictured) will show off her culinary skills during her first Australian tour in January next year, in An Evening With Nigella Lawson

'I love the food and the people, and so I am delighted to be touring the country, meeting audiences and sharing our culinary stories,' she added.

The mother-of-two will kick off her tour Down Under in Adelaide on January 27th, and then head to Perth, Sydney, Canberra, Hobart, Melbourne and Brisbane.

A statement from her official tour website shared some insight into what fans can expect on the night.

Ready steady cook! The mother-of-two will kick off her tour Down Under in Adelaide on January 27th, and then head to Perth, Sydney, Canberra, Hobart, Melbourne and Brisbane

'Direct from London's West End, An Evening with Nigella Lawson is Nigella's brand-new show, where she tells her own remarkable culinary story, live on stage.

'Nigella is one of the most talked-about celebrities in the world, but now she's doing the talking.

'An Evening with Nigella Lawson is interactive and intimate, allowing the audience to ask questions, with Nigella sharing her thoughts, food stories, and insights into what she's eating and cooking now.'

A statement from Nigella's official tour website shared some insight into what fans can expect on the night: 'An Evening with Nigella Lawson is interactive and intimate, allowing the audience to ask questions, with Nigella sharing her thoughts, food stories, and insights into what she's eating and cooking now'

Exciting: 'Direct from London's West End, An Evening with Nigella Lawson is Nigella's brand-new show, where she tells her own remarkable culinary story, live on stage,' the website said

The news comes after the vivacious cook took a trip to Greece last month to attend Australian chef George Calombaris' wedding to Natalie Tricarico in Greece.

Nigella, who adorned her face with glitter, was seen partying with Australian chef, Matt Moran, and Miguel Maestre.

In one photo shared to Instagram by pastry chef Stelios Parliaros, Nigella, clad in a plunging black frock, is seen raising her lithe arms in the air.

All that glitters! Nigella Lawson [back, centre], 58, let her hair down and partied with fellow chefs at George Calombaris' (front, centre) wedding to girlfriend-of-11-years Natalie Tricarico in Greece recently

The brunette beauty proved she was one of the boys on the night by posing with a posse of male chefs at the star-studded affair.

In the memorable picture, a jubilant George grins at the front of the group while other wedding guests, including Shannon Bennett and Matt Preston, appear very much in celebration mode.

Tickets to An Evening With Nigella Lawson can be purchased at the official tour website.
Cate Blanchett has defended her right to play gay characters on screen.

The 49-year-old recently told The Hollywood Reporter that she would 'fight to the death' to take on those roles.

The Australian actress said: 'I will fight to the death for the right to suspend disbelief and play roles beyond my experience.'

'I will fight to the death for the right to suspend disbelief and play roles beyond my experience': Actress Cate Blanchett (pictured) has staunchly defended depicting gay characters

The Oscar winner, who played a lesbian in the 2015 film Carol, directed by Todd Haynes, rejected the notion that actors must resemble the characters they play.

'I think reality television and all that that entails had an extraordinary impact, a profound impact on the way we view the creation of character,' she said.

Cate has also defended the playing of gay characters in the past, telling the ABC in 2015: 'People are still interested whether you [can] play a gay character without being gay.

Risky roles? The Oscar winner, who played a lesbian in the 2015 film Carol, directed by Todd Haynes, rejected the notion that actors must like the characters they play. Cate is pictured in Carl with co-star Rooney Mara

Speaking up: Cate has also spoken about the 'gay undertones' of her Ocean's 8 character, Lou, saying she'd be happy to explore that element in sequels. Cate is pictured in Ocean's 8 with co-star Sandra Bullock

'No-one asked me when [in the film Truth] I played Mary Mapes, a journalist, how many years I'd actually worked for a newspaper, had I gone to journalism school? No-one asks you those questions,' she said.

The star this year spoke about the 'gay undertones' of her Ocean's 8 character, Lou, saying she'd be happy to explore that element in sequels.

The Aviator actress has however been coy about her own sexuality, responding when Variety magazine asked about her 'lesbian experiences': 'On film or in real life?'

Suspension of disbelief: 'No-one asked me when I played a journalist, how many years I'd actually worked for a newspaper, had I gone to journalism school? No-one asks you those questions' Cate has said

Help: The two-time Oscar winner, 49, shares four kids - Dashiell, 16, Roman, 14, Ignatius, 10, and Edith, four. And she's revealed she asks her children advice on what roles to take. Pictured with her son Ignatius on September 23, 2018 in Milan, Italy

When asked if she has had past relationships with women, Cate replied, 'Yes. Many times.'

The two-time Oscar winner, 49, shares four kids - Dashiell, 16, Roman, 14, Ignatius, 10, and Edith, four - with her theatre director husband Andrew Upton.

And she's revealed to Who magazine that she asks her children advice on what roles to take.

'I seek their opinions all the time. Particularly with a film like [The House with a Clock in Its Walls], you want to know, 'Is this something you want to go and see?'' she said.
She's been through a tough time in recent weeks after being diagnosed with womb cancer.

But Danniella Westbrook was in good spirits on Thursday, as she rode her motorbike to a local fish market.

The 44-year-old actress looked stylish in a grey crop top as she was seen riding away on the vintage cycle sporting a Union Jack helmet, after it was revealed she plans to reconcile with her daughter Jody amid her latest health battle.

Low-key: Amid her diagnosis with womb cancer, Danniella Westbrook was in good spirits on Thursday, as she rode her motorbike to a local fish market

Danniella was putting on a stylish display as she perused some of the fish available at the market, showing off her trim figure in skinny grey jeans and thigh high black suede boots.

The former EastEnders teamed them with a grey cropped jumper and padded black jacket, highlighting her ageless complexion with barely-there makeup.

After looking over the fish on sale, Danniella popped a Union Jack helmet on her head before climbing aboard the motorbike to head home.

Stylish: Danniella was putting on a stylish display as she perused some of the fish available at the market, showing off her trim figure in skinny grey jeans and thigh high black suede boots

Danniella's outing came after it was reported she is planning to reconcile with her 17-year-old estranged daughter, should she lose her battle with womb cancer.

A source told The Daily Star On Sunday: 'We're telling her medicine can work wonders these days and she has caught it early.

'But she just has this feeling that even the hysterectomy will be too much for her and she'll die on the operating table.

'She just wants to see Jody.'

Beaming: The former EastEnders flashed her abs in a grey cropped jumper, as she climbed aboard her motorbike and headed home

Tough time: Her outing came after it was reported that Danniella is desperate to reconcile with her 17-year-old daughter Jody (above in 2009) after her cervical cancer diagnosis

Danniella recently admitted she has been terrified by the thought of dying, and has been thinking about her late friend Jade Goody - who died of cervical cancer in 2009.

The former EastEnders star is set to have a hysterectomy next week as she battles the disease.

Speaking to The Mirror, she explained: 'I've always said I am not scared of dying. But when the doctor said, "You have cancer", straight away my thoughts turned to Jade and that I don't want to die.

Danniella, whose mother also battled the disease and is now cancer-free, revealed that doctors initially misdiagnosed her illness after finding a tangerine-sized clot in her womb, mistakenly believing she was pregnant.

After collapsing in the UK, the star was rushed to the hospital by her best friend Kerry Katona, but didn't receive the cancer diagnosis until she had returned home to Spain.
Chloe Ayling's lawyer has claimed that she is refusing to pay a 9,000 bill and he is now being forced to take legal action against the star to claim the money.

Francesco Pesce successfully defenced the CBB star in court after she claimed to be drugged, stripped and held captive in Italy for six days last year in a horrific kidnap ordeal at the hands of Lukasz Herba - who was convicted of the crime in June.

However, Pesce, an Italian national, had confessed to The Sun that the mother-of-one, 21, is refusing to foot his bill after he represented her almost a year - claiming: 'She is refusing to take my messages and I am being brushed off by her agent.'

Money claims: Chloe Ayling's lawyer has claimed that she is refusing to pay a 9,000 bill and he is now being forced to take legal action against the star to claim the money

Francesco, who revealed that the situation has left him 'upset', has now threatened that he has 'no alternative but to go through the courts'.

He also noted that Chloe will need further legal representation in the future as Lukasz, 30, has an appeal coming up.

'She will find it very hard to find an Italian lawyer. Lukaszs legal team will have a good chance of getting the conviction overturned,' he stated.

MailOnline has contacted representatives for Chloe for further comment.

Controversy: Francesco Pesce successfully defenced the CBB star in court after she claimed to be drugged, stripped and held captive in Italy for six days last year in a horrific kidnap ordeal at the hands of Lukasz Herba - who was convicted of the crime in June

Chloe has been embroiled in controversy since the revelation of her kidnapping, with many members of the public failing to believe details of her harrowing ordeal - doubts which she recently blasted as 'ridiculous'.

The model told how she was kidnapped and stuffed into the back of a car - with the intention of being sold into sex trafficking  after being lured by a bogus photoshoot.

Lukasz was sentenced in June to serve 16 years in prison and pay 60,000 euros ($69,500) in damages to Ayling, who was a civil plaintiff in the trial.

His brother Michal is also set to stand trial in connection with her abduction.

Speaking on BBC Two's Victoria Derbyshire story in July, Chloe revealed she had to make her captor fall in love with her in order to be let free.

Lawyer claims: He also noted that Chloe will need further legal representation in the future as Lukasz, 30, has an appeal coming up

Kidnap: Chloe has been embroiled in controversy since the revelation of her kidnapping, with many members of the public failing to believe details of her harrowing ordeal - doubts which she recently blasted as 'ridiculous'

The South London native discussed the 'horrendous ordeal' where she was drugged with ketamine, stuffed in a holdall bag, and driven 120 miles in the back of a car.

She said hearing she was going to be sold into sex trafficking was 'horrendous' and her mother and agent wouldn't be able to pay the 300,000 euros (265,000) ransom.

During his trial, in Milan, Herba claimed he had met Ms Ayling and fallen in love with her and that he wanted to make a scandal to give her publicity.

'I still don't fully understand his motivation,' she says. 'It can't just be money as why [pick] me and he added me on Facebook two years ago, it's like he's been stalking me for that long so it must be obsession as well.'
He went 'missing' from his KIIS FM breakfast show in August.

And Kyle Sandilands appeared to be making light of his sickies and no-shows as he 'appeared' at the Australian Commercial Radio Awards (ACRAs) in Melbourne.

A dummy version of the 47-year-old was wheeled on stage at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre on Saturday night on a gurney.

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Chucking a sickie? 'Kyle Sandilands' was wheeled on stage at the ACRAs on a gurney wearing an oxygen mask after being a confirmed no-show at the event on Saturday... so what really happened?

Hidden under a white sheet, Kyle's portly 'body' was presented by the hosts on stage.

Wearing what appeared to be an oxygen mask, the dummy was a spitting image of the star.

The gag took place after it was confirmed that Kyle was a confirmed no-show at the event, raising eyebrows after his recent 'sickies' from his breakfast radio show.

Sick joke: The gag appeared to be making light of the radio host's sickies and no-shows

Still life: The dummy appeared at the Australian Commercial Radio Awards (ACRAs) in Melbourne on a gurney

The prank follows Kyle's candid interview with Daily Mail Australia at the Beauty & The Beast Charity Ball for Zambi Wildlife Retreat at Sydney's Star Casino on Thursday.

The KIIS FM breakfast radio presenter spoke fondly about is past cocaine use, after being questioned if he's worried he'd fall back into the 'hole'.

'I dont even think about that s**t [drugs]. I just don't do it, and it wasn't a hole it was a great time,' he confessed.

Candid: The prank comes after Kyle spoke to Daily Mail Australia exclusively about is past cocaine use

'I had the f***ing time of my life, really... it was rock n roll! Obviously some people can't handle it, and it takes over them so there's rehab for that, but for me it was a non-event,' he added.

Kyle also opened up about his past drug use on his breakfast show back in August.

The controversial radio personality revealed the shocking real reason why he 'chucked sickies' so often.

Truthful: Kyle also opened up about his past drug use on his breakfast show back in August

He admitted: 'I'll tell you why for the first time ever... I was on the coke back then.'

He said he suffered 'terrible migraines' and was feeling 'depressed' at the time, which led to him taking time off work - with co-host Jackie O oblivious to his struggles.

The shock jock added: '[Doctors] didn't even know if I was depressed - didn't even know. I was just self-medicating, bumping back dozens of lines.'
Nadia Essex has claimed she was rushed to hospital, after telling fans 'the world would be better off without me.'

Taking to Twitter to former Celebs Go Dating star admitted she received medical attention after seeing nasty tweets about her posted by former co-star Eden Blackman.

Nadia resigned from Celebs Go Dating after it was claimed she had created fake Twitter accounts to troll social media users, but the star has since insisted to MailOnline she was driven to do this by show bosses.

Open: Nadia Essex has claimed she was rushed to hospital, after telling fans 'the world would be better off without me'

In her tweet, Nadia responded to a fan expressing their concern over the tweets posted by Eden, leading the blonde to admit her mental health was heavily suffering due to the online abuse.

She wrote: 'The attack was 2much to cope with [sic]. I was taken to hospital for my mental health. Being called toxic, Stupid & calculated made me feel the world would be better off without me.

'Having a barrage of abuse just as I was feeling happy again devastated me. Thank god for our NHS!'

MailOnline has contacted representatives for Nadia Essex and Eden Blackman for further comment.

Emotional: Taking to Twitter the 36-year-old former Celebs Go Dating star admitted she was rushed to hospital after Eden Blackman's social media rant slamming her

Hard times: Nadia also explained that she felt as if 'the world would be better off without her,' receiving much sympathy from fans on social media for her ordeal

Nadia then proceeded to reply from numerous posts from fans who were expressing their sympathy.

Her post came after Eden Blackman had tweeted claiming that Nadia 'was playing the victim' and slamming claims that bosses drove her to post from the fake social media accounts.

It came after Nadia exclusively told MailOnline that she was 'silenced' by Celebs Go Dating bosses, despite raising concerns that Eden was involved in dalliances with some of the show's stars.

At odds: Eden had posted a series of tweets slamming Nadia for 'playing the victim' and slamming claims that bosses drove her to post from the fake social media accounts

She said: 'Because I wasnt allowed to release a statement I started to get abusive messages raising questions why I wasnt condemning his behaviour.

'Eden was subsequently allowed to leave the show with his head held high, under the guise of needing to concentrate on other commitments.

'I now realise that my reactions were poorly judged but believing this was a way that I could speak the truth.

'Its clear to see by everyone the difference in treatment between myself and Eden [who was never] given a warning or suspension - whereas I was thrown to the wolves.'
The Perth Telethon Weekend raised more that $36.4million in 2017.

And this year the event is hosting a star-studded line-up in an attempt to smash that figure on Saturday.

Home And Away stars Sam Frost, Sarah Roberts and James Stewart were among the celebrities pitching in for the good cause.

Smiles for a great cause! Sam Frost (pictured right) led the celebrities helping raise money for children with life threatening diseases at the Perth Telethon weekend on Saturday

Former Hi-5 star Casey Burgess also joined the star-studded lineup at the event, which was hosted by Seven West Media.

Former Bachelorette Sam cut a casual figure as she posed for pictures with fans and signed autographs.

She wore a black singlet and a long orange and tan skirt.

Helping hand: Former Bachelorette Sam cut a casual figure in a black singlet and a long orange and tan skirt

Ready for a fun day! Sam was more than happy to pitch in

All for a good cause: She couldn't help but smile at fans as they helped raise money for children with life-threatening diseases

The 29-year-old completed her casual look with nude slides and kept her blonde hair in a neat knot on her head.

She couldn't help but smile at fans as they helped raise money for children with life-threatening diseases.

Sam's co-stars James and Sarah also signed autographs for fans and posed for pictures.

Not the only soap star! Sam's co-stars James Stewart and Sarah Roberts (pictured) also signed autographs for fans and posed for pictures

Casual beauty: Sarah wore a high-neck blush shirt with a floral print. She had her dark locks in a loose ponytail

Dynamic duo! James Stewart (left) wore a form-fitting black T-shirt for the fundraiser, that continues on Sunday

The pair, who are a couple in real life, were all smiles while they interacted with their adoring public.

Sarah wore a high-neck blush shirt with a floral print. She wore her dark locks in a loose ponytail.

James wore a short-sleeved form-fitting black top for the occasion.

Say cheese! Sarah (right) and James happily posed for selfie with fans at the charity event

Clowning around: Casey Burgess (pictured) channelled relaxed chic in a grey playsuit with white converse sneakers as she had a ride on spinning teacups and posed with a Storm Trooper character from Star Wars

Casey Burgess, who replaced Charli Robinson in 2008 in Hi-5, made the most of the childrens' rides at the 26-hour telethon.

She channelled relaxed chic in a grey playsuit with white converse sneakers as she had a ride on spinning teacups and posed with a Storm Trooper character from Star Wars.

The telethon runs October 20-21.
She is known to enjoy the finer things in life.

And Georgia Toffolo was looking like she was having a whale of a time, as she arrived in style at the QIPCO Champions Day at Ascot Racecourse on Saturday.

Joining the Made In Chelsea star were Carol Vorderman, 57, and Victoria Pendleton, 38, who both put on a sensational style display.

In her element: Georgia Toffolo was looking like she was having a whale of a time, as she arrived in style at the QIPCO Champions Day at Ascot Racecourse on Saturday

Turn out: Joining the Made In Chelsea star were Carol Vorderman, 57, and Victoria Pendleton, 38, who both put on a sensational style display

Georgia looks chic in her sleeveless furry number which she teamed with a patterned green skirt.

The reality star looked like happy and relaxed as she giggled away with a pal.

Carol Vorderman was also in attendance and was dressed to impress in a chic figure-hugging ensemble.

Trendsetter: Georgia looks chic in her sleeveless furry number which she teamed with a patterned green skirt

Loving life: The reality star looked like happy and relaxed as she giggled away with a pal

Happy: Georgia put on an animated display at the event

What's so funny? Her pal clearly proved hilarious

Happy: The Made In Chelsea star appeared in good spirits as she posed for cameras

She was clad in a skintight white top, which she teamed with an embroidered pencil skirt, as well as black leather gloves.

Carol sported a striking coat of blush-infused make-up and shielded herself from the autumnal sun with a pair of shades.

Victoria embraced Parisian chic in a beige coloured coat with a navy beret.

Incredible: She was clad in a skintight white top, which she teamed with an embroidered pencil skirt, as well as black leather gloves

Wow: Carol Vorderman was also in attendance and was dressed to impress in a chic figure-hugging ensemble

Age-defying: Carol sported a striking coat of blush-infused make-up and shielded herself from the autumnal sun with a pair of shades

In the zone: Carol got into the spirit of things as she cheered away at the races

Fun times: Carol animatedly cheered along

Yay! Carol delightedly celebrated with her pal

Work it: The presenter knew how to work her best angles as she posed up a storm at the event

She completed her attire with a black shift dress, riding boots and a gold necklace.

James Jordan cut a dapper figure as he attended the QIPCO Champions Day alongside wife Ola.

The former Strictly Come Dancing star, 40, was suited and booted in a three-piece suit as he cosied up to Ola who stunned in a pretty embellished black dress.

Elegant: The Queen looked effortlessly elegant in a powder blue coat with black gloves

Royalty: Her Majesty completed her look with a matching coloured hat with feather detailing and pearl jewellery

Stylish: Victoria embraced Parisian chic in a beige coloured coat with a navy beret

Details: The British jockey, 38, completed her look with a stylish navy blue beret

Hot couple: James Jordan cut a dapper figure as he attended the QIPCO Champions Day at Ascot Racecourse alongside wife Ola on Saturday

Dapper: Love Island's Chris Hughes looked dapper as he wore a stylish blue chequered suit

James looked sensational in a a grey blazer atop his waistcoat, which he teamed with a pair of black trousers.

His look was completed with a slick tie, black trousers and matching black shoes.

Ola cut a glamorous figure in her incredible billowing black dress which teased at her dance-honed figure with it's sheer material.

The blonde beauty added to the chic look with a black fascinator and toted her essentials in a small boxy handbag.

Leading lady: Killing Ever star Jodie Comer looked fabulous in a black and gold star patterned blazer at the sporting event

In attendance: Helen Lederer opted for a chic monochrome ensemble

James' Dancing On Ice signing was confirmed at the beginning of October and despite facing backlash he denies having an unfair advantage as he's already a professional dancer.

James famously appeared on Strictly Come Dancing from 2006 to 2013 and although he never won the show he was runner-up in 2012 with partner Denise Van Outen.

He has been dancing with his wife, professional dancer Ola, 36, for 15 years. The pair have appeared on Total Wipeout and Through The Keyhole together.

Together: Andrew Lloyd Webber and his wife Madeleine Gurdon were dressed up to the nines
She's been busy training in the rink to prepare for her appearance on Dancing on Ice earlier next year.

But Gemma Collins, 37, took a break from her skate training to head to Blackpool Pleasure Beach to mingle with an array of reality stars, musicians and celebrities at Nickeldon's SlimeFest on Saturday.

Joining her was The Only Way is Essex co-star Chloe Sims, 35, and former Miss Great Britain Danielle Lloyd, 34, as the TV personalities layered up to fight off the cold.

Pals: Gemma Collins, 37, took a break from her skate training to head to Blackpool Pleasure Beach to mingle with an array of reality stars, musicians and celebrities at Nickeldon's SlimeFest on Saturday, pictured here with Chloe Sims

Star-studded: Joining Gemma (left) was TOWIE co-star Chloe Sims, 35, and former Miss Great Britain Danielle Lloyd, 34, (right) as the TV personalities layered up to fight off the cold

Gemma kept cosy in an all black ensemble pairing leggings with a fluffy black padded jacket.

Meanwhile, pal Chloe looked very similar in the same shoes, and an edgy leather jacket.

The TOWIE pair both wore their golden tresses loose and posed together in dark sunglasses and layers of black.

Similar: Chloe looked very similar to Gemma in the same shoes and an edgy leather jacket

Chloe kept her possessions in a Gucci cross-body satchel, while Gemma opted for no bag at all.

Meanwhile, former glamour model Danielle showed off her lithe legs in a polo neck jumper minidress with a chunky belt cinched in at her enviably tiny waist.

Also walking the orange carpet were legendary noughties boyband Busted.

Posing: The TOWIE pair both wore their golden tresses loose and posed together in dark sunglasses and layers of black

Legendary: Busted, who are headlining the event, looked dapper as they posed up a storm

The trio, who are headlining the event, looked dapper as they posed up a storm.

Charlie Simpson, 33, opted for black jeans and shiny shoes with a casual grey top and opened denim shirt.

Next to him was Matt Willis, 35. The husband of CBB host Emma dressed to impress in a patterened black and purple suit with shiny shoes and black t-shirt.

Family first: CBB winner Ryan Thomas was joined on the orange carpet by his girlfriend Lucy Mecklenburgh and his brother Adam, and his daughter and nephew

Bright star: JoJo Siwa, 15, wore a striking multi-coloured animal print onesie and bedazzled hightops as she gave a peace sign to the photographers

Electing for a more relaxed vibe, drummer James Bourne, 35, went to dark trainers, jeans and a bright yellow hoodie.

CBB winner Ryan Thomas was joined on the orange carpet by his girlfriend Lucy Mecklenburgh and his brother Adam.

He also took his daughter Scarlett, ten, and his nephew Teddy, four, who was adorably carried by his dad.

Soapstars: Ellie Leach, 17, opted for a more toned down look in a black jumpsuit, Gucci belt and grey coat while her Corrie co-star Lucy Fallon, 22, was pretty in pink in a pastel jumper

WAG: Chantelle Tagoe, the wife of Emile Heskey, was also at the event with her children, , Reigan Heskey, 10, and Milanna Heskey, three

Emmerdale star Adam wore box fresh white trainers and dark jeans and kept warm in a Tommy Hilfiger jacket. While big brother Ryan kept cosy in a maroon varsity jacket and jeans.

Dance Mom's JoJo Siwa, 15, was also performing at the kids' event.

The teenager wore a striking multi-coloured animal print onesie and bedazzled hightops as she gave a peace sign to the photographers.

Year 3000! James Bourne, Charlie Simpson and Matt Willis of Busted took to the stage to perform at Nickelodeon's Slime Fest

Gunge: Matt Willis, James Bourne and Charlie Simpson were splattered with green slime on stage in front of hundreds of people

Meanwhile, soapstar Ellie Leach, 17, opted for a more toned down look in a black jumpsuit, Gucci belt and grey coat.

Her Corrie co-star Lucy Fallon, 22, was pretty in pink in a pastel jumper and polka-dot midi skirt.

The blonde beauty wore her hair loose and teamed the outfit with suede boots and a monochrome satchel.

Chantelle Tagoe, the wife of Emile Heskey, was also at the event with her children, Reigan, 10, and Milanna, three.

Covered in paint: Guitars doubled up as spray guns to smother the rockers in green gunge
Love Island's Sam Bird has claimed he broke off his relationship with Georgia Steele after finding a secret selfie of her in bed with her ex-boyfriend.

Speaking to The Sun, the 25-year-old claimed his suspicions were first aroused after Georgia didn't return home from a PA, and went onto find secret messages to her ex on her phone.

It comes after Georgia exclusively told MailOnline she did spent the night at her ex's but in the spare room, confessing she felt 'trapped' in their relationship and only stayed with Sam to prove a point to the public.

Upset: Love Island's Sam Bird has claimed he broke off his relationship with Georgia Steele after finding a secret selfie of her in bed with her ex-boyfriend

Brutal: Sam told The Sun his suspicions were first aroused after Georgia didn't return home from a PA, and went onto find secret messages to her ex on her phone

Sam said: 'I looked at her phone and found messages she sent to her mates and one of them had a selfie of her in bed with her ex and she put the word 'oops' and joked about it and I thought that's not right.

'Telling your ex you want their d*** isn't banter. I saw these messages late at night while she was asleep and I screenshot them so she couldn't lie about it. I wanted proof so she couldn't get out of it.

'My gut feeling was found to be true. She's not the person I thought she was.'

MailOnline has contacted representatives for Georgia Steel for comment.

Not my fault: It comes after Georgia exclusively told MailOnline that while she did spent the night with her ex it was in the spare room, and she did NOT cheat on Sam

But Georgia exclusively told MailOnline that while she did spend the night with her ex, it was in a spare room and did not cheat on him.

The self-confessed 'loyal' star added that she fell out of love with Sam and that led to the split, admitting that she stayed in the 'loveless' relationship just to prove a point to the public.

She said: 'There was NO third party involved in the break up between him and I.

'Sam thinks I cheated because he went through my phone and threatened to sell the screenshots to the press.

'He read and took screen shots of banter I had between me and my best mate.

'The banter was about my ex boyfriend from which he's then put two and two together and come up with an imaginary scenario.'

All over: The couple went their separate ways just hours after this photo was taken at the ITV Palooza on Tuesday night - but Georgia says she did remain loyal to Sam

However, Georgia admitted she hasn't been completely innocent.

She said: 'I will put my hands up and say yeah I do admit I went round [to my ex's] house and stayed the night in the spare room but NOTHING did happen.

'I'm honestly not like that. I went over to collect some things which he had of mine which I needed for the flat and then ended up having a heart to heart as I was very down as me and Sam had been constantly arguing.

'Sam now wants to believe that I did cheat on him but in reality the relationship ended due to the fact I fell out of love.'

Georgia has implied there is now no going back for the couple.

She said: 'He was a lovely boyfriend and I did really love him but moving in so soon and the public pressure did make me feel very trapped.

'I gave our relationship everything as I really did want it to work and I was loyal throughout. But you can't help your feelings.

'I'm stubborn and wanted to prove the public wrong about me and him but the reality is it just didn't work.

'I really do hope he finds the girl for him as he has so much to give and does deserve to find love. And I really hope I find the man for me too in the future.'

Something to say: After speaking to MailOnline, Georgia posted her statement to her Instagram stories

Georgia's words come a day after a source told MailOnline: Sam found out she had gone to her ex-boyfriend's flat without telling him and he was pretty annoyed.

'He and Georgia had dated up until a few months before she went on Love Island and she still had belongings stored at his place from when they used to live together.

'She hasn't cheated on Sam, there has been no sleeping around and she only went round as a one-off. But it doesn't sit well with him that she didn't tell him.'

Sam admitted how devastated he is about the split on social media but the source also told MailOnline the writing has been on the wall for a while.

Awkward: Amid the chaos, Georgia previously vehemently denied claims made by the Mirror Online that she was romantically involved with her tour manager Steven West

They said: 'In reality, the relationship has been coming to an end for a while. They've been doing PA's at opposite ends of the country and hardly see one another.'

Amid the chaos, Georgia vehemently denied claims made by the Mirror Online that she was romantically involved with her tour manager Steven West.

Steven West is a third man and not the ex-boyfriend Sam is referring to.

The 'loyal' beauty made further claims a romance with West was 'laughable' as she reiterated he is her tour manager who drives her to her press days.

She wrote via Instagram stories: 'The story of myself being linked with Steven West. This is laughable.

'He is my tour manager who drives me to all my PAs. Nothing more.'

Explained: Steven is a third man and not the ex-boyfriend Sam is referring to

Split: The fitness trainer, 25, revealed their break-up in a cryptic statement on Twitter on Wednesday evening, shocking fans in the process

Sam and Georgia are now the fifth couple from this year's series to part ways, attended the ITV Gala just hours before Sam, 25, revealed their break-up on Twitter.

In his initial statement, Sam penned: 'I'm devastated to announce me and Georgia have split up for reasons I can't bring myself to comment on at the moment. As always I wish her all the best.'

Shocked fans rushed to offer their support to Sam, with one writing: 'So sorry to hear this I really thought you was going to last for a long time x' while another penned: 'Noooooo!!!! All the best to both of them.'

Love Island 2017 star Chris Hughes added: 'Chip up buddy. More happiness around the corner. Keep smiling and upbeat.'

Their split comes after the break-ups of their co-stars Laura Anderson and Paul Knops, Laura Crane and Jack Fowler, Charlie Brake and Ellie Brown and Samira Mighty and Frankie Foster.

The duo met on Love Island over the summer and had been inseparable since leaving the villa, often attending glitzy events together.

No more: He penned: 'I'm devastated to announce me and Georgia have split up for reasons I cant bring myself to comment on at the moment. As always I wish her all the best'

Support: Love Island 2017 star Chris Hughes added: 'Chip up buddy. More happiness around the corner. Keep smiling and upbeat'

They embarked on a whirlwind romance and moved in together in Essex just weeks after returning home from Mallorca.

Last month Georgia gushed that the hunk was her 'best friend' as well as boyfriend, while sharing loved-up snaps of them.

'Thank you for being my partner in crime and always standing by my side. Not just my lover but my best friend too,' she penned.

Former flames: The duo met on Love Island over the summer and had been inseparable since leaving the villa, often attending glitzy events together (pictured last week)

Their romance was previously rocked when fans accused Sam of being at a 'girl's house' while she was away.

Tweeting a photo of Sam on his phone while sitting on a sofa, a user wrote in August: 'Hey @georgia_steel where was @SamRobertBird on the weekend? Not so LOYAL.'

Georgia replied: 'By the looks of it babe he's ordering a Uber home sweetheart' accompanied by a laughing face emoji.

The fan hit back: 'No s**t Sherlock, that's what most guys do when they leave a girls house.'

Rejected: The pair struck up a romance in the villa after Georgia's love interest, Josh Denzel decided to couple up with newcomer Kaz Crossley (pictured) after they hit it off in Casa Amor

Oh dear: She then sparked public outcry with 'Kiss Gate' after insisting she didn't kiss newcomer Jack Fowler on the lips first - despite the footage showing otherwise

Sam then waded in to explain himself, writing: 'With my friends at a house I was in for 10 minutes so I could charge my phone and get an Uber home (as seen in your picture). You're embarrassing yourself mate.'

The pair struck up a romance in the villa after Georgia's love interest, Josh Denzel decided to couple up with newcomer Kaz Crossley after they hit it off in Casa Amor.

Georgia caused friction in the villa when she picked then newcomer Jack Fowler, who was coupled up with Laura Anderson, to go on a date with her, and then caused chaos when she kissed him at the end of the date.

Scandal: Kissgate worsened when host Caroline Flack oversaw a VAR breakdown of the kiss on After Sun, only for viewers to point out continuity errors in the playback of the kiss from different angles

Tension: Things took more of a turn when Georgia and Sam decided to split up in order to remain on Love Island - leaving their fellow contestants baffled

The plot thickened when Georgia and new Jack ended up offering different accounts of what actually went down, with Georgia saying the kiss was mutual but Jack saying it was unintentional.

Kissgate worsened when host Caroline Flack oversaw a VAR breakdown of the kiss on After Sun, only for viewers to point out continuity errors in the playback of the kiss from different angles.

Trying to set the record straight, Georgia has now admitted the kiss was filmed more than once.
Imran Khan to attend Saudi Arabian investment conference

Pakistans Foreign Ministry announced on Friday that Prime Minister Imran Khan would attend a Saudi Arabian investment conference, despite a string of cancellations from leading policymakers and corporate chiefs over the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.



The decision came a day after US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and senior ministers from Europe announced plans to skip the conference.



The move by the White House intensified the kingdoms mounting isolation amid an uproar over the mysterious disappearance of Khashoggi after he entered a Saudi consulate in Istanbul earlier this month.



Khans visit comes as Pakistan continues to court friendly nations in search of billions of dollars to shore up its deteriorating finances as it faces a balance of payment crisis and upcoming talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) over a potential bailout.



Khans participation in the conference signifies our solidarity with the kingdom in its efforts to become an emerging hub of international business and investment, the foreign ministry said in the statement.



The conference provides an opportunity to interact with important business leaders who are interested in investing in Pakistan.



The conference is being touted as a high-powered showcase for the economic reforms of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman  who has been widely accused of having links to Khashoggis disappearance.



Pakistan briefly weighed in on the incident earlier this month, calling on Turkey and Saudi Arabia to jointly address the matter. Khan made his maiden foreign visit as the premier to Saudi Arabia in September as Islamabad explored alternative avenues to financing before approaching the IMF.
They are set to dance an energetic quickstep on Saturday.

And Strictly Come Dancing's Seann Walsh has been praised by 'proud teacher' Katya Jones ahead of their next live performance, as she took to Instagram to reveal they'd spent a staggering 46 hours in rehearsals.

It comes following the scandal that erupted earlier this month, when Seann and Katya shared a kiss on a night out, leading to the comedian's split from his long-term girlfriend Rebecca Humphries.

Delighted: Strictly Come Dancing's Seann Walsh has been praised by 'proud teacher' Katya Jones ahead of their next live performance

Katya took to social media alongside a video of her 2017 quickstep with series winner Joe McFadden, writing in the caption: 'Tonight we're doing Quickstep, so here is a little look back to this high speed routine I did with @mrjoemcfadden in week 10 last year!!

'Every little improvement is a massive achievement for these guys who work their socks off every single day to be as good as they can!

'@seannwalsh and I rehearsed 46 hours this week, I'm a proud teacher already! Let's do this! #quickstep #dance #strictlycomedancing #teamdreamcurls #dancing #saturday #saturdaynight.'

Happy: Katya posted on her Instagram just hours ahead of their performance on the fifth live show

Delighted: In the social media post, Katya praised Seann's progress after spending all week rehearsing the quickstep

Seann and Katya have been hard at work in the training room all week as they prepared to perform their new dance, and in a clip from spin-off it Takes Two is seems they were getting very close indeed.

As part of the routine, the duo have to hold hands and guide each other across the floor as their feet follow in quick succession.

While during the rehearsal, Seann and Katya couldn't stop laughing as they joked around with the comedian even asking: 'Are you trying to kill me?'

It comes after the duo put on a defiant display last Saturday as they returned to the dance floor after they were caught locking lips in a drunken clinch earlier this month.

Strictly: Seann and Katya got close and joked around during their Quickstep rehearsal in a sneak peek video on Strictly Come Dancing's spin-off show It Takes Two

Rehearsals: Presenter Zoe Ball decided to show clips of all of the celebrities practising their routines ahead of Saturday's live show

Joking around: And during footage of Seann and Katya's rehearsal, following their kiss scandal and defiant return last Saturday, it showed the duo getting close as they did their Quickstep performance

Seann and Katya failed to mention their kiss scandal in their VT, which is the pre-recorded video ahead of their dance, while the judges also ignored the reports.

The images, which emerged on Sunday, led to the demise of Seann's long-term relationship with Rebecca Humphries and added strain onto Katya's marriage to Neil Jones.

Ahead of throwing themselves into performing the Charleston - a dance reportedly chosen by bosses to diminish any sexiness in their routine, the duo made their way defiantly down the stairs - linking arms as they playfully threw their arms in the air.

While their Charleston, which was performed to Bills by Lunchmoney Lewis, had several comical elements such as a tumbling load of boxes and a burnt pizza.

They're back: Seann and Katya returned to the Strictly Come Dancing dancefloor on Saturday night following their week from hell amid a cheating scandal and kiss pictures

What kiss?: The funnyman, 32, and Russian dancer, 29, put on a defiant display after they were caught locking lips in a drunken clinch earlier this month

And at the end of the routine, after an impressive lift, Seann and Katya threw themselves to the floor, later hugging over their success.

The judges ignored the kiss scandal and were left impressed by the routine, scoring them six, seven, eight and seven - with a total of 28, placing them fifth on the leaderboard.

While Katya revealed that she and Seann had an 'amazing week', she said: 'It was an amazing week, we worked so hard.'

And on Sunday's results show, the dancing duo discovered that they had survived the public vote, leaving them both stunned and delighted.

They're back!: Strictly Come Dancing fans were left divided on Sunday evening after Katya and Seann survived the results show after their scandalous kiss
The Stella Artois Caulfield Cup was a star-studded event for its first year under the name of the new sponsor.

Celebrities such as Lauren Phillips, Adam Demos and Jodi Gordon graced the event.

Nine presenter Lauren showed off her trim pins in a floral mini dress with a pink collar.

New year, new look! The Stella Artois Caulfield Cup was a star-studded event for its first year under the name of the new sponsor. Pictured: Lauren Phillips

Her gold and royal blue hair piece gave the effect of a crown, and she completed the look with black sandal heels.

UnReal star Adam Demos also graced the horse race turf.

The actor, from the New South Wales South Coast, sported black slacks with a pale blue suit jacket and white button up shirt.

UnReal! Adam Demos also attended the famed horse race. The actor, from the New South Wales South Coast, sported black slacks with a pale blue suit jacket and white button up shirt

Cheers to that! Adam was pictured at the event with comedian Tim Ross, who complemented the actor in a pale pink suit jacket

Rain can't ruin this party! Despite the bad weather, Adam Demos and Billy Slater couldn't shake the smiles off their faces

He livened up his ensemble with a lilac patterned tie and pocket square.

Adam was pictured at the event with comedian Tim Ross, who complemented the actor in a pale pink suit jacket.

He looked dapper while shaking hands with NRL star Billy Slater.

Style king! Tim looked regal as he wore a pale pink suit jacket, accessorising with a pair of classic aviator sunglasses

The pair also posed with twins and international models Jordan and Zac Stenmark.

Classy bunch! The pair also posed with twins and international models Jordan and Zac Stenmark. Pictured: (L-R) Adam Demos, Jordan Stenmark, Zac Stenmark and Tim Ross

Model pair! Jordan and Zac opted for dark colours for their Caulfield Cup looks

AFLW star Moana Hope and her model fiancee Isabella Carlstrom stepped out as a proud couple at the race.

The glamourous twosome opted for bright colours and patterns for the race day.

Neighbours star Jodi Gordon lived up to her title as a fashion icon with her all white ensemble.

Dynamic duo: AFLW star Moana Hope and her model fiancee Isabella Carlstrom step out in patterned suits

Lady in white! Jodi Gordon stunned as she steps out in a classy ensemble

She wore high-waisted loose pants and a silk camisole.

Jodi, who was married to NRL star Braith Anasta for three years, paired the outfit with an oversized blazer.

Australian hall of fame horse trainer David Hayes and his son Ben were also classicly dressed for the occasion.
He's known for playing goofy and lovable characters on the big screen.

But Simon Pegg couldn't have looked further from his screen persona on Friday night as he gave off an exceedingly frosty vibe.

The 48-year-old comedian shot a steely look as he was spotted out with his wife Maureen, and spotted leaving Scott's in Mayfair after a dinner date.

No laughing matter: Comedian Simon Pegg was out on a date night with his wife Maureen on Friday but failed to muster a smile

Serious business: The 48-year-old Shaun of The Dead star held on to his wife's hand as the couple left Scott's in Mayfair

Despite what appeared to be a lovely romantic evening, the actor failed to muster a smile, instead shooting his best Clint Eastwood glare.

The Spaced star wore a dark blazer over a pale blue shirt and navy trousers for the outing at the seafood eatery.

Maureen sported a floral frock and some ankle-strap heels.

Simon starred in this summer's hit action flick Mission: Impossible - Fallout alongside Hollywood heavyweight Tom Cruise.

Lighten up! At one point the actor appeared to be close to cracking a smile as he went along his way

Menacing: Despite what appeared to be a lovely romantic evening, the actor failed to muster a smile, instead shooting his best Clint Eastwood glare

The actor, who has been married to Maureen since 2005, has appeared in the famous franchise since 2006.

Simon and Tom formed a close friendship from the franchise, and the comic actor previously gushed over how surprisingly normal the Hollywood A-Lister is.

Speaking to the Belfast Telegraph in 2015, he said: 'It makes me laugh sometimes just how much of a bloke he is.

'I think he does get an unfair rap for a lot of things. People just don't know everything about him, but they think they do.'

When asked if they ever talk on a personal level, he added: 'Sometimes, we'll have heart-to-hearts at the end of the day.'
Rumer Willis has opened up about her decision to remove some of her tattoos.

The 30-year-old detailed the 'awful' process, which she undertook to signify a new chapter in her life, revealing that she's having multiple tattoos removed including a the large lion inking on her left shoulder.

While at the AmfAR Gala in Beverly Hills on Thursday, the eldest daughter of Bruce Willis and Demi Moore said: 'Its awful, its awful. Im very lucky that a lot of my big ones were super light  but when people said that it hurt, I just had no idea,

Dewy: Rumer Willis has opened up about her painful tattoo removal process while attending the AmfAR Gala in Beverly Hills on Thursday

'I just kind of had a moment where you know, I got a lot of them when I was very young and Im lucky to live in a time where its very accessible to be able to take them off. But, it just didnt feel like me anymore, so I just thought to change it up.'

Rumer showed off her progress at the gala while wearing a yellow off-the-shoulder gown that revealed her faded lion tattoo.

The DWTS Mirrorball champ also showed a lot of leg in the floral-embroidered dress and gold stilettos.

Thanks LaserAway! The Kentucky-born, Idaho-raised socialite showcased her progress removing many of her 22 tattoos - including a garish lion head on her left shoulder (seen right in 2016)

The Kentucky-born socialite has a total of 22 tattoos, some of which she's having removed at LaserAway.

She continued, 'I turned 30 this year, and I think its really important,

'I think sometimes it's so easy, especially right now in the world to focus on the negative and what's going on in the world, and I think it's just really important to find gratitude every day even in tiny little things  whether it's that you have a job or that you have your house of your family or your legs even  just whatever it is and find the small gratitude, I think its really important.'

The SOS video vixen has been hard at work shooting Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, in which she plays Manson Murder victim Sharon Tate's (Margot Robbie) friend Joanna Pettet.

But it's still unclear if the Planned Parenthood activist has remained clean since publicly celebrating six months of sobriety on June 30 of last year.

Mirror mirror: Once inside the swanky AIDS benefit, Rumer - who boasts 947K Instagram/Twitter followers - Insta-storied several selfies of her glamorous look




Ant McPartlin posed up a storm with admirers as the smiling star returned home to Newcastle on Friday, just four days after his divorce with Lisa Armstrong.

Ant and his ex-wife Lisa's divorce was finalised with their 11-year marriage ending in a 30-second hearing at the Central Family Court.

But the embattled presenter showed no signs of heartache as the grinning star posed with fans when he returned to the leafy street where he used to live.

Let the good times roll: Ant McPartlin posed with adoring fans as smiling star returned home to Newcastle on Friday, days after finalising divorce with Lisa Armstrong

Sharing the snaps on social media, the fan wrote on Twitter: 'Lovely meeting Ant in me mams (his old) street today! And his mam and sis, looking fab.' (sic)

Ant also made time to go down to pay a trip to the hospital nearby his native home, with a happy fan posting a selfie.

The I'm A Celeb frontman has been focusing on himself as he has temporarily stepped down from his television duties.

Just days ago, the TV host finalised his divorce with his teenage sweetheart in court after they announced the end to their marriage in January.

He's back! But the embattled presenter showed no signs of heartache as the grinning star posed with fans when he returned to the leafy street where he used to live

There is no love lost between the former flames who were romantically together for 23 years.

Court documents revealed that McPartlin had 'committed adultery' with his new girlfriend Anne-Marie and that his former wife found it 'intolerable to live with' the TV star.

Under divorce laws, Ant technically had to admit adultery because he was still married when the relationship began.

What a man! Ant also made time to go down to pay a trip to the hospital nearby his native home, with a happy fan posting a selfie

He has since been seen out with Anne-Marie, who was the ex couple's former PA, and has even made the background on his mobile phone.

Lisa has not commented, but liked Twitter comments from friends telling her 'good things come to kind people' and 'pull on your big girls pants, it's your turn to start afresh'.

Since learning of her former colleague's relationship with her estranged husband, Lisa has revealed that she didn't know the two were dating until she saw pictures of them together in a newspaper.

Happier days: Ant and his ex-wife Lisa's divorce was finalised with their 11-year marriage ending in a 30-second hearing at the Central Family Court (October 2018, London)

In 2017, Ant entered rehab after struggling with a two-year addiction to super-strength painkillers following a knee operation in 2015.

In April, three months after announcing his split from Lisa, he was banned from the road for 20 months and fined 86,000 for driving while more than twice the legal limit.

After the incident and another rehab visit, Ant announced that he is stepping down from all his TV commitments and will not appear on the next series of Im a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here!

It has since been revealed that Holly Willoughby will replace the presenter on the hit ITV Australian jungle series with his co-host Declan Donnelly later this year.
She plays the late American war correspondent Marie Colvin in the gritty new drama, A Private War.

But Rosamund Pike looked worlds away from her onscreen role as she attended the biographical film's European premiere and Mayor of London gala screening on Saturday.

The British beauty, 39, exuded gothic glamour in a skintight bodysuit and sheer maxiskirt as she stormed the red carpet during the 62nd BFI London Film Festival.

Stunning: Rosamund Pike exuded gothic glamour in a skintight bodysuit and sheer maxi skirt as she attended the A Private War screening in London

The Gone Girl actress certainly took centre-stage in her skirt, which drew the eye with its floor-sweeping hem and delicate laser-cut floral applique.

Sticking to a monochrome palette, Rosamund cinched in her tiny waist with a wide patent black belt.

Slicking her golden tresses back into a sleek chignon, she injected a dose of colour with a vampy slick of burgundy lipstick and subtle mascara.

Looking good: The Gone Girl actress certainly took centre-stage in her skirt, which drew the eye with its floor-sweeping hem and delicate laser-cut floral applique

Having a whale of a time: The critically acclaimed actress appeared to be in great spirits on the night

Glamorous: Slicking her golden tresses back into a sleek chignon, she injected a dose of colour with a vampy slick of burgundy lipstick and subtle mascara

Chic: Sticking to a monochrome palette, Rosamund cinched in her tiny waist with a wide patent black belt

Unrecognisable: She plays the late American war correspondent Marie Colvin in the gritty new drama, A Private War (pictured in character)

Focusing on the last decade of Marie Colvin's life, A Private War takes audiences to the frontlines of fighting in Sri Lanka, Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya and Syria.

Colvin, reporting for Britain's Sunday Times, was killed in Syria in 2012.

Based on an article about Colvin in Vanity Fair, the film for which Pike wears a patch to cover the eye the journalist lost in a blast in Sri Lanka in 2001, follows her evading gunfire and digging for the truth as well as the effects her war zone trips had on her personally.

'I just thought "My gosh, this is a woman who would be a joy to kind of get people to see"... this complicated, ferocious, driven, ambitious, vulnerable, romantic soul and put that out on screen,' Pike told Reuters.

Horror: Rosamund's chracter Colvin, reporting for Britain's Sunday Times, was killed in Syria in 2012

Tough role: Based on an article about Colvin in Vanity Fair, the film for which Pike wears a patch to cover the eye the journalist lost in a blast in Sri Lanka in 2001, follows her evading gunfire and digging for the truth as well as the effects her war zone trips had on her personally

Impressed: Of the role, Pike said: 'I just thought "My gosh, this is a woman who would be a joy to kind of get people to see"... this complicated, ferocious, driven, ambitious, vulnerable, romantic soul and put that out on screen'

Impressed: She added: 'Because... oh yes is she a role model, but a role model in a real way'

Double trouble: Rosamund later posed with her co-star, Fifty Shades of Grey actor Jamie Dornan

Come here, you! Rosamund greeted the hunk with a hug and a kiss on the cheek

She added: 'Because... oh yes is she a role model, but a role model in a real way.'

Fifty Shades of Grey star Jamie Dornan plays photographer Paul Conroy, who accompanied Colvin on trips and was with her when she died in Homs while covering the Syrian conflict.

'It gives you a far more sort of heightened respect for the people who go to these places and try to report the actual truth of what's happening,' Dornan said.

Conroy, who worked as the set photographer for the film, said the actors had caught 'the essence' of his relationship with Colvin.

Here he is! He plays photographer Paul Conroy, who accompanied Colvin on trips and was with her when she died in Homs while covering the Syrian conflict in A Private War

Getting on famously: The co-stars laughed and joked around on the red carpet

Gritty: Focusing on the last decade of Marie Colvin's life, A Private War takes audiences to the frontlines of fighting in Sri Lanka, Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya and Syria

Cute couple: Jamie was supported by his stunning wife Amelia Warner, 36

Love is in the air: The couple recently announced they were expecting their third child

Together: Supporting her husband of five-years, Amelia looked stunning in a regal navy dress which flowed over her concealed baby bump

Parents: And while Jamie admits there are times he and Amelia get 'frustrated' at each other, they never let it become an issue

Glam: She showed off her wild side with a pair of feisty leopard print heels and kept her brunette tresses in chic waves

Cute couple: The pair already have two children, four year old Dulcie and two year old Elva

Happy times: Jamie recently opened up about being a dad, saying it was an amazing experience

'(Colvin) was a force of nature... It was like peeling an onion back, she just kept going further and further and further in... until we were at what she considered the heart of it,' Conroy said.

The film is directed by Oscar-nominated documentary maker Matthew Heineman, whose past works include covering activists grouping together against Islamic State in Syria.

'In this world of sort of fake news and with journalism under attack... I think it's both a homage to Marie (and also) a homage to journalism and the importance of journalism,' he said.

Candid: Rosamund recently revealed that her transformation for the role meant 'changing everything', and even having to learn how to smoke

Honest: During an appearance on The Graham Norton Show to air on Friday night, the Gone Girl star said: 'I had to change everything - my hair, my teeth, my eyes, my walk and I had to learn to smoke'

Opening up: She added: 'Gosh, that was hard, but now I'm quite a good smoker! It's probably a bit of a dated skill now everyone is vaping!'

To be a fly on the wall: Rosamund burst out laughing at one point while chatting to Jamie and A Private War director Matthew Heineman

Suited and booted: Jamie cut a dapper figure in a sharply tailored three-piece suit

The man of the hour: He showed off his trademark designer stubble and carefully coiffed locks

Shine on: Gugu Mbatha-Raw dazzled in a purple metallic slip Emilia Wickstead dress with an embellished plunging neckline, which she accessorised with Alinka jewellery

Heineman said he wanted to make the film, shot in Jordan for the war zone scenes, as 'authentic as possible' and cast Syrian refugees who tell their stories.

'We spent a tonne of time researching every single detail, looking at every image we could to try to recreate these war zones but a huge part of that were the people we put on screen,' he said.

'Most of the extras were non-actors, refugees from those countries who are living in Jordan... They are telling their real stories... Ultimately it created a real heightened sense of emotion on set.'

Check him out! Stanley Tucci, 57, looked suave in a checked suit and patent brogues

But first, let me take a selfie! The actor happily posed for photos with fans

Friends in high places: Rosamund and Jamie posed alongside the Mayor of London, Sadiq Kan

Icon: The film is directed by Oscar-nominated documentary maker Matthew Heineman, whose past works include covering activists grouping together against Islamic State in Syria
Bradley Cooper and Irina Shayk are settling into their new West Village neighborhood in New York, with the pair seen heading out for breakfast.

Cooper, 43, who dropped $13.5 million for a West Village townhouse earlier this month, was seen pushing a stroller with his one year old baby Lea on Friday.

Cooper and Shayk, 32, were both smiling widely while strolling through the neighborhood that they now call home.

Breakfast time: Bradley Cooper and Irina Shayk were seen heading to breakfast with daughter Lea in the West Village area of New York City

Cooper was seen wearing light blue jeans, along with a dark blue short jacket that was buttoned up to the top.

He was also wearing matching blue sunglasses and brown boots, while pushing his baby's stroller.

The A Star Is Born star/director was also seen wearing a rather large wristwatch on his right wrist.

Happy couple: Cooper and Shayk, 32, were both smiling widely while strolling through the neighborhood that they now call home

Shayk was seen slightly matching her partner, wearing a dark navy blue top, tight navy blue yoga pants and black and white shoes.

The outing came days after rumors emerged that the couple are on the rocks after more than three years together.

The couple are 'are miserable together' and 'have been for months,' a source told Page Six.

Differences between the couple, have allegedly begun to impact their relationship for the worse.

'He doesn't drink and is into spirituality,' the source said. 'She wants to go out.'

The 5ft10 beauty 'went to Ibiza by her herself for a party' tossed by photographers Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott, a source told the outlet.

All smiles: Shayk was seen slightly matching her partner, wearing a dark navy blue top, tight navy blue yoga pants and black and white shoes

Bradley, looked sulky and uncomfortable during a dinner at the upscale New York City restaurant Masa,the paper previously reported.

Another source told the newspaper: 'They were not looking happy ... they barely spoke to each other at the start of the meal. Halfway through, she started looking off to the side and he was moody.'

There has been chatter over the celebrity couple's relationship problems 'in that big Russian model community,' an insider told the paper.

Arm in arm: She was also wearing a pear of dark sunglasses, but she completed her look with an olive green trench coat and a brown stocking cap

It's been a big month for Cooper, who not only bought his West Village home for his burgeoning family, but he made his directorial debut with A Star Is Born.

The project had been lingering years, with Clint Eastwood once set to direct and Beyonce slated to star, before Cooper decided to make this his directorial debut, and star alongside pop icon Lady Gaga.

The movie debuted with a strong $42.6 million, opening in second place behind Venom's $80 million, with its worldwide total now at $164.4 million from just a $36 million budget.

On the go: It's been a big month for Cooper, who not only bought his West Village home for his burgeoning family, but he made his directorial debut with A Star Is Born

Dad and director: The project had been lingering years, with Clint Eastwood once set to direct and Beyonce slated to star, before Cooper decided to make this his directorial debut, and star alongside pop icon Lady Gaga

Cooper will next be seen on the big screen in The Mule, which reunites him with American Sniper director Clint Eastwood.

Eastwood both directs and stars as the title character, based on the true story of a 90-year-old WWII veteran who was caught smuggling more than $3 million in cocaine across Michigan to Canada.

Cooper plays Colin Bates, the DEA agent who has been tracking this mule, with a December 14 release date already set.
She's known for flaunting her toned figure in risque ensembles on the Strictly dancefloor.

But Katya Jones cut an uncharacteristically demure figure on Saturday night's installment of the BBC One dancing competition.

The 29-year-old Russian beauty got fans talking when she stepped onstage in a high-neck polka dot dress with a modest midi hemline.

Modest: Katya Jones cut an uncharacteristically demure figure on Saturday night's installment of the BBC One dancing competition

Fans couldn't resist discussing her unusual outfit choice, flocking to Twitter to claim she wasn't 'allowed' to dress more provocatively.

'Katya has been dressed for Sunday school,' one viewer wrote, while another added: 'Katya still not allowed to look sexy then.'

'Have they dressed Katya for church?' a third user asked, and a fourth penned: 'Katya's dress is very modest' followed by an eye roll emoji.

Hmm: The 29-year-old Russian beauty got fans talking when she stepped onstage in a high-neck polka dot dress with a modest midi hemline

Ok then: The dress and polka dot headband were a far cry from some of her racier looks in the past

Transformation: She's known for flaunting her toned figure in risque ensembles on the Strictly dancefloor

Seeing double: Seann matched her dotty look with a polka dot shirt of his own

Confused: 'Katya has been dressed for Sunday school,' one viewer wrote, while another added: 'Katya still not allowed to look sexy then'

The fallout continues after Katya shared a kiss with comedian and dance partner Seann Walsh were seen sharing a kiss on a night out, though the pair have since apologised and resumed training for the BBC show.

Strictly bosses have reportedly banned stars from boozy nights out, and instilled a strict curfew in the wake of the Seann Walsh and Katya Jones kiss scandal.

A source told The Sun that stars were told not to attend a late night bash on Friday, as producers feared it would set a bad example the night before a live show.

Awkward: The fallout continues after Katya shared a kiss with comedian and dance partner Seann Walsh were seen sharing a kiss on a night out, though the pair have since apologised and resumed training for the BBC show

Everything going well? The dance partners seemed to have cast the controversy aside as they put on a jovial show on Saturday night

Having a whale of a time: The couple appeared to be in great spirits on the night

Laughing away: They decided to do a Quickstep to Lightning Bolt by Jake Bugg as their chosen routine

The source said: 'The dancers wanted to attend a late-night party on a Friday.

'It was suggested that it would not look good for them all to be seen out and about at a bash the night before the live BBC show.'

MailOnline has contacted representatives for Strictly Come Dancing for comment.

This comes just a day after Strictly star Graeme Swann admitted that this year's stars didn't take kindly to the strict rules brought in by producers, in the wake of the kiss scandal.

Controversial: It comes amid claims Strictly bosses have reportedly banned stars from boozy nights out, and instilled a strict curfew after the Seann and Katya kiss scandal

Hard rules: A source told The Sun that stars were told not to head out on Friday night, as bosses feared it would set a bad precedent the night before a live show

Views: This comes after Graeme Swann also revealed that producers had brought in new rules for the show's stars, saying they had been put on 'lockdown'

Speaking to a BBC Sounds podcast he said: 'The pros were told to wind their neck in and they were all very angry because they couldn't go to a couple of functions that they wanted to do.

'They were on lockdown - the curfew was placed upon them. It's very much like being on a team - if one person lets the side down...'

This comes ahead of Saturday's fifth live show of the series, when Seann and Katya will take to the floor for the second time following their kiss scandal.

Explosive: The fallout has continued regarding Seann and Katya's kiss on a night out, thought it was not addressed when they returned to the live shows last week

The couple caused uproar when they were photographed sharing a cheeky smooch on a night out, with both apologising and insisting it was a 'drunken mistake.'

Seann's girlfriend Rebecca Humphries has since dumped the star in a scathing Twitter statement, while Katya has insisted that her marriage to Neil Jones is 'absolutely fine.'

The scandal was not addressed last week when Seann and Katya took to the floor, and while many fans were adamant they would be eliminated, the duo were saved by the public vote.

Strictly Come Dancing continues on Saturday 20th October at 6:45pm on BBC One.

Ex: Since the kiss, Seann's girlfriend Rebecca Humphries has dumped the star in a scathing Twitter statement
She's the busy mom-of-three, actress and founder of The Honest Company.

And getting back to her acting roots, Jessica Alba was spotted filming her new show, L.A.'s Finest alongside her co-star Gabrielle Union, 45, on Friday night.

Seemingly having a grey fun on set, the acting duo weren't alone, also pictured with their body doubles.

Action! Jessica Alba and Gabrielle Union were spotted filming their new LAPD series in Los Angeles on Friday night.

Jessica, who's set to play the role of Nancy McKenna, showcased her effortless beauty in a pair of flattering black jeans and a maroon colored top.

She kept warm with a bomber jacket of the same shade over the top and comfortable with some black sneakers.

The wife of Cash Warren had her brunette locks styled into curls and sported a dewy natural makeup look.

Gorgeous: Jessica, who's set to play the role of Nancy McKenna, showcased her effortless beauty in a pair of flattering black jeans and a maroon colored top

Stylish: She kept warm with a bomber jacket of the same shade over the top and comfortable with some black sneakers

On the go: The wife of Cash Warren had her brunette locks styled into curls and sported a dewy natural makeup look

Gabrielle, who plays the leading role of Sydney Burnett opted for a grey T-shirt to go with her dark trousers.

She kept warm with a leather jacket and sported a similar hairstyle and simplistic glam look.

One shot saw the duo chase down a bad guy while filming in East Los Angeles.

Simple: Gabrielle, who plays the leading role of Sydney Burnett opted for a grey T-shirt to go with her dark trousers

All friends: Between takes, Jessica and Gabrielle were seen chatting and laughing with their stunt doubles

Working hard or hardly working? The duo were also photographed hanging around a Mariachi band as they filmed the 2019 series

The duo were also photographed hanging around a Mariachi band as they filmed the 2019 series.

Between takes, Jessica and Gabrielle were seen chatting and laughing with their stunt doubles.

L.A.'s Finest is the spin-off television series of the Bad Boys film.

Girl power: L.A.'s Finest is the spin-off television series of the Bad Boys film

Leading role: The show will follow Gabrielle's character who was last seen in Miami taking down a drug cartel

New role: Jessica Alba will play Gabrielle's detective partner in the series although the pair's characters don't get along very well

The show will follow Gabrielle's character who was last seen in Miami taking down a drug cartel.

It will pick up with her leaving her past behind to become an LAPD detective, where she meets her new partner Nancy.

According to IMDb, 'the two women don' agree on much, but they find common ground when it comes to taking on the most dangerous criminals in Los Angeles'.
He recently announced he was expecting his third child with wife Amelia Warner.

And Jamie Dornan, 36, was looking every inch the proud dad as he posed at the European premiere of his new movie A Private War on Saturday night with his beloved partner.

The Fifty Shades of Grey star looked dashing in a sharply tailored three-piece suit as he walked the red carpet during the 62nd BFI London Film Festival.

Loved up: Jamie Dornan, 36, posed at the European premiere of his new movie A Private War on Saturday night with his pregnant wife Amelia Warner

He paired it with a pristine white shirt and a simple watch as well as Tod's shoes, while showing off his trademark designer stubble and carefully coiffed chestnut locks.

Supporting her husband of five-years, Amelia, 36, looked stunning in a regal navy dress which flowed over her baby bump.

She showed off her wild side with a pair of feisty leopard print heels and kept her brunette tresses in chic waves.

Suited and booted: The Fifty Shades of Grey star looked dashing in a sharply tailored three-piece suit as he stormed the red carpet during the 62nd BFI London Film Festival

Love is in the air: The couple recently announced they were expecting their third child

The man of the hour: He showed off his trademark designer stubble and carefully coiffed locks. And the star also wore a pair of Tod's shoes

Dornan was also seen with his co-star Rosamund Pike on the red carpet, who plays celebrated war correspondent Marie Colvin in the film.

The movie, which is set to be released nationwide on November 16, sees Dornan play Colvin's photographer, Paul Conroy.

'It gives you a far more sort of heightened respect for the people who go to these places and try to report the actual truth of what's happening,' Dornan said.

Together: Supporting her husband of five-years, Amelia, 36, looked stunning in a regal navy dress which flowed over her baby bump

Glam: She showed off her wild side with a pair of feisty leopard print heels and kept her brunette tresses in chic waves

Conroy, who worked as the set photographer for the film, said the actor had caught 'the essence' of his relationship with Colvin.

The film is directed by Oscar-nominated documentary maker Matthew Heineman, whose past works include covering activists grouping together against Islamic State in Syria.

'In this world of sort of fake news and with journalism under attack... I think it's both a homage to Marie (and also) a homage to journalism and the importance of journalism,' he said.

Pals: Dornan was also seen with his co-star Rosamund Pike on the red carpet, who plays celebrated war correspondent Marie Colvin in the film

Here he is! He plays photographer Paul Conroy, who accompanied Colvin on trips and was with her when she died in Homs while covering the Syrian conflict in A Private War

Getting on famously: The co-stars laughed and joked around on the red carpet

The premiere comes just a week after Dornan's wife Amelia announcement that she is pregnant with their third child.

The couple already have two children, four year old Dulcie and two year old Elva.

Jamie recently opened up about being a dad, saying it was an amazing experience.

'I feel a healthy and lovely duty to provide for my kids, and I really like it,' the actor said. 'It suits me. Making my kids happy is a good thing for my wife and me to be driven by.'

To be a fly on the wall: Rosamund burst out laughing at one point while chatting to Jamie and A Private War director Matthew Heineman

Cute couple: The pair already have two children, four year old Dulcie and two year old Elva

Happy times: Jamie recently opened up about being a dad, saying it was an amazing experience

And while Jamie admits there are times he and Amelia get 'frustrated' at each other, they never let it become an issue.

'We get frustrated at times, usually when travelling with the kids, but we'd never let anything boil and become a thing,' he added.

'We know couples who are plate-throwers, but that's just not us. I'm glad it's not us - plates are expensive ... Certainly there's never a day that I don't tell her I love her.'
Qatari FM met Imran Khan

Prime Minister Imran Khan and Qatari Minister for Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammad Bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani on Friday discussed expansion of bilateral trade and Qatari investment in Pakistan, according to a statement issued from the Prime Ministers Office.



The Qatari foreign minister, who arrived in Islamabad on a two-day official visit, conveyed felicitations and best wishes of Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani to Khan on his election as Pakistan premier.



Expressing appreciation for warm sentiments of the emir of Qatar, the prime minister reciprocated by underlining the commitment of his government to build mutually beneficial relations with Qatar. Referring to increase in Pakistans exports to Qatar, he hoped that bilateral trade would further expand in the coming years.



Khan invited Qatari investment in all sectors of Pakistans economy, especially in agriculture, livestock and energy. He also expressed the hope for early implementation of Qatars decision to import 100,000 workers from Pakistan. The Qatari foreign minister assured Khan of full support and cooperation of the government of Qatar in attaining the dream of a progressive, prosperous and forward looking Pakistan.



In response, PM Khan conveyed his best wishes for the continued peace, progress and prosperity of Qatar under the leadership of Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani.



Earlier, the visiting dignitary met his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureshi. During the meeting, bilateral relations, economic and trade ties came under discussion.



The Qatari foreign minister assured Pakistan that Qatari visa centre was being established in Islamabad to facilitate skilled human resource for job placement in various companies in Qatar.
Seann Walsh and Katya Jones returned to the Strictly Come Dancing dancefloor once again on Saturday night two weeks after pictures emerged of them kissing.

Yet the funnyman, 32, was left squirming after judge Shirley Ballas made a 'badly timed joke' and asked if he 'felt it' during his feedback from the judging panel.

The Queen Of Latin, 58, said: 'You did a little misstep there, Seann. You felt it Seann, didn't you? Tell Shirley you felt it - I know you did.'

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Eek!: Seann Walsh was left squirming after judge Shirley Ballas made a 'badly timed joke' and asked if he 'felt it' during his feedback from the judging panel

With Seann left squirming and awkwardly laughing over the remark, as he added: 'I felt it, Shirley.'

The audience and judging panel were left laughing over the comment, with guest judge Alfonso Ribeiro saying: 'How do you follow that?!'

Meanwhile, the exchange didn't go unnoticed by show watchers at home who took to Twitter to share their thoughts.

One person said: 'Oh dear that was a badly timed joke from Shirley considering Seann and Katya's hard week recently #Strictly.'

'Bad timing'!: The Queen Of Latin, 58, said: 'You did a little misstep there, Seann. You felt it Seann, didn't you? Tell Shirley you felt it - I know you did.'

Awkward: With Seann left squirming and awkwardly laughing over the remark, as he added: 'I felt it, Shirley.'

A different user put: '"Tell Shirley you felt it". It? That's no way to refer to Katya... #Seann #Strictly.'

While another show watcher added: 'Shirley saying "You felt it Seann didn't you?" Badly timed! #strictly.'

Seann and Katya, 29, who looked uncharacteristically demure in a high-neck polka dot midi dress, decided to do a Quickstep to Lightning Bolt by Jake Bugg as their chosen routine.

With the comedian pretending to be a busker as he used a guitar prop as part of the performance with the Russian dancer.

They're back... again!: Seann and Katya returned to the Strictly Come Dancing dancefloor once again on Saturday night two weeks after pictures emerged of them kissing

The routine received a mixture of comments from the judging panel, with a total of 24 points leaving them in the bottom section of the leaderboard.

However, some viewers accused the show and the duo of using the guitar prop to keep them apart during the performance.

And during Seann and Katya's rehearsal, Graeme Swann and Oti Mabuse came in to watch and offer some words of wisdom.

Carefully chosen prop: The funnyman, 32, and Russian dancer, 29, decided to do a Quickstep to Lightning Bolt by Jake Bugg as their chosen routine

Awkward: With Seann pretending to be a busker as he used a guitar prop as part of the performance with Katya

Yet this left show watchers joking that the duo were being used as 'chaperones' during their practice.

One person tweeted: 'Good idea to use a guitar to keep them apart. #Strictly.'

A different account put: 'Oti and graham are this weeks sean(n) and katya chaperones #StrictlyComeDancing #strictly.'

Eagle-eyed fans: However, some viewers accused the show and the duo of using the guitar prop to keep them apart during the performance

'Chaperones': And during Seann and Katya's rehearsal, Graeme Swann and Oti Mabuse came in to watch and offer some words of wisdom

Another show watcher commented: 'Ah dancing with a guitar between them...anything to keep Seann and Katya apart #Strictly.'

A different fan put: 'Graeme & Oti going into Seann & Katya training session not that people are keeping an eye on them lol #scd #Strictly.'

Another viewer commented: 'Wtf...lets put a guitar between them so they dont get too close to each other #seannandkatya #strictly.'

While a different account added: 'Well thats one way of ensuring Seann & Katya dont get too close; stick a guitar in between them. #Strictly.'

'Chaperones': Yet this left show watchers joking that the duo were being used as 'chaperones' during their practices

After the routine, Tess Daly made a rather awkward comment to Seann when talking about their future in the competition and their rehearsals.

She said: 'We know you always give 100% commitment,' which again didn't go unnoticed by viewers at home.

Meanwhile, show watchers spotted Katya's husband Neil Jones looking less than impressed as they received their scores from the judges on the balcony.

The professional dancer could be seen hiding away from cameras while he chatted and joked with co-star Gorka Marquez.

And after they got their score of 24, eagle-eyed show watchers joked that his face 'told a story' as he shrugged his shoulders.

Spotted: Meanwhile, show watchers spotted Katya's husband Neil Jones looking less than impressed as they received their scores from the judges on the balcony

It comes after the duo put on a defiant display last Saturday as they returned to the dance floor after they were caught locking lips in a drunken clinch earlier this month.

Seann and Katya failed to mention their kiss scandal in their VT, which is the pre-recorded video ahead of their dance, while the judges also ignored the reports.

The images, which emerged on Sunday, led to the demise of Seann's long-term relationship with Rebecca Humphries and added strain onto Katya's marriage to Neil.

Not impressed?: The professional dancer could be seen hiding away from cameras and after they got their score of 24, eagle-eyed show fans joked his face 'told a story'

Ahead of throwing themselves into performing the Charleston - a dance reportedly chosen by bosses to diminish any sexiness in their routine, the duo made their way defiantly down the stairs - linking arms as they playfully threw their arms in the air.

The judges ignored the kiss scandal and were left impressed by the routine, scoring them six, seven, eight and seven - with a total of 28, placing them fifth on the leaderboard.

While Katya revealed that she and Seann had an 'amazing week', she said: 'It was an amazing week, we worked so hard.'

And on Sunday's results show, the dancing duo discovered that they had survived the public vote, leaving them both stunned and delighted.

Defiant return: It comes after the duo put on a defiant display last Saturday as they returned to the dance floor after they were caught locking lips in a drunken clinch earlier this month
Kate Garraway has revealed she had a terrifying cancer scare after finding a lump in her breast.

The Good Morning Britain presenter, 51, found the lump after giving birth to her son, Billy, now nine and faced an agonising two-day wait before being told it was a benign cyst.

'You're in the clinic, looking round at everyone thinking, 'Why shouldn't it be me any more than anyone else?' It's really scary,' she told The Sun.

Ordeal: Kate Garraway has revealed she had a terrifying cancer scare after finding a lump in her breast

The TV star is now pushing women to drink less after figures revealed that one in 13 cases of breast cancer is caused by alcohol.

'I was flabbergasted by the link. I don't want to scare people but to have it in your mind is really important,' she said.

Kate added that she herself drinks less since welcoming her two kids, Billy and Darcey, 12, into the world with husband Derek Draper.

The presenter did, however, admit that she has some 'crazy' booze-fuelled anecdotes from her past.

Nightmare: The Good Morning Britain presenter, 51, found the lump after giving birth to her son, Billy, now nine and faced an agonising two-day wait before being told it was a benign cyst

'A few years ago Ben Shephard and I went for lunch and champagne at the Cannes film festival  I tripped and totally wiped out Ben,' she said.

Kate's cancer fears haven't been her only health scare, as she previously worried she had contracted meningitis.

She had two weeks off work last month. after falling ill backstage and being rushed to hospital.

Tough times: 'You're in the clinic, looking round at everyone thinking, 'Why shouldn't it be me any more than anyone else?' It's really scary,' she told The Sun (seen with husband Derek Draper)

When Garraway returned to GMB, she explained to her co-hosts, Susanna Reid and Ben Shephard, that doctors were worried she had contracted the serious illness.

Luckily for the host it wasn't meningitis, and while she didn't clarify her exact diagnosis she later alluded to a 'virus'.

Recalling the moment she started to feel unwell she told Ben and Susanna: 'I came in Friday before last and I couldn't look at the lights and I had a temperature over 40.

Cutting down: Kate added that she herself drinks less since welcoming her two kids, Billy and Darcey, 12, into the world with husband Derek Draper

'I said, 'I'll be fine,' but the director said, 'Even you can't make this funny, Kate, there is no way you can do the show, we can't turn the lights off'.'

'Actually I went straight to the hospital. They were thinking meningitis, fortunately it wasn't, and they sorted me out and I was fine.'

She added: 'Can I just say The Wittington Hospital, can I tell you how brilliant they were, they saw me straight away and got me on a drip.'
Almost a decade ago, Australian film producer Gary Hamilton and his movie executive wife Ying Li were in Thailand and about to fly to Mumbai, India, and stay in the elegant Taj Mahal Palace Hotel.

They received what they thought was bad news.

Mass demonstrations had flared across Thailand, Bangkok's airports were shut down and they wouldn't be able to fly to Mumbai to attend a film festival.

They were stranded in Bangkok. Soon after, news reports filled the TV in their hotel room.

Terrorists had launched attacks across Mumbai and the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel became the final battleground during four days of bloodshed in November 2008 that left 164 people dead and 308 injured.

If the airport hadn't been shut down in Bangkok, Hamilton and his wife would have been staying in the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel on the day of the attacks.

"It has haunted my wife and I," Hamilton, from his Los Angeles office, told AAP in a recent interview.

"Because of the shutdown of Thailand in terms of not being able to exit we were saved from not having to go to the hotel."

It had such an impact on Hamilton he began to delve into human stories behind the violence in Mumbai.

He joined up with screenwriter John Collee and writer-director Anthony Maras and the result was Hotel Mumbai starring Armie Hammer, Dev Patel, Nazanin Boniadi, Jason Isaacs and Tilda Cobham-Hervey.

The film received a standing ovation at its world premiere at the recent Toronto International Film Festival and had its Australian premiere this week at the Adelaide Film Festival.

Hamilton's film sales company, Arclight Films, handled the international licensing and has closed distribution deals worldwide to ensure a global audience for a film with a relatively small $A25 million budget.

The secret to making such a high-quality, heart-wrenching thriller on a tiny budget was the film's main shoot location: Adelaide.

"I don't think there are two more different cities in the world than Adelaide and Mumbai," Hamilton said.

Most of the interior scenes were shot in Adelaide, while exterior shots in Mumbai.

Funnily enough, it was the grand South Australian Film Corporation building, with its almost identical architecture, that was used to replicate the inside of the Taj Mahal hotel.

The film focuses on the brave employees of the hotel who, instead of fleeing, stayed on the premises to help during the carnage.

"My wife had seen rough cuts of the film and then finally in Toronto she saw the film with an audience for the first time and I don't think she could talk for five minutes after because it brought back to her what we could have actually experienced," Hamilton said.

"She just literally couldn't talk for five minutes."

Hotel Mumbai is scheduled to open in Australian cinemas in January.
Doctors kicked off Nauru say the detainees Australia put on the island nation are suicidal and suffering from "absolutely devastating" mental health conditions.

The Nauruan government forced Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) out of the country last week, abruptly ending their free medical care for refugees and local Nauruans.

"It is the Australian government's policy of indefinite offshore detention that destroyed (refugees') resilience, shattered all hope and ultimately impacted their mental health," MSF Australia executive director Paul McPhun told reporters in Sydney on Thursday.

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A former Dreamworld safety officer felt budgetary concerns affected her plans to provide training to staff at the Gold Coast theme park.

Rebecca Ramsey, a qualified nurse, has told an inquest into the deaths of four guests on a ride in 2016 that she had often attempted to get authorisation to bring staff in early to undertake training.

Ms Ramsey said she'd repeatedly discussed the issue with management but never got a clear response.

"It was all a 'we'll wait and see' conversation," she told the Southport Coroners Court on Thursday.

When asked by barrister Matthew Hickey, representing the family of victim Cindy Low, if she felt she was being "fobbed off" she replied: "Yes".

Ms Low, Kate Goodchild, her brother Luke Dorsett and his partner Roozi Araghi all died when the Thunder River Rapids ride malfunctioned on October 2016, flipping a raft they were in.

Ms Ramsey, who undertook risk assessments at the park, said she had not been made aware of previous incidents on the 30-year-old ride.

She agreed it would have been beneficial to have been provided with that information.

Ms Ramsey was among several first aid officers to respond to the 2016 tragedy.

When asked what she felt could have been done better on the day, Ms Ramsey said the activation of an alarm by a ride operator may have prompted a swifter response.

"If the alarm had have been sounded by the operator then we may have had a more wider response, then more people would have been there sooner," she said.

Earlier, the inquest heard lawyers for Dreamworld's parent company Ardent Leisure produced more than 1000 documents on Monday as the inquest reopened.

The documents are still being examined by counsel assisting the coroner, and may force the postponement of evidence from Dreamworld staffer Andrew Fyfe, scheduled for Friday.

Barrister Bruce Hodgkinson, for Ardent, apologised for the late production of the documents but said his team was constantly going through company records to locate evidence.

"We have had four people full-time going through materials. There are 600,000 emails," Mr Hodgkinson said.

Ms Ramsey is one of four former park employees who have engaged Shine Lawyers to sue Dreamworld for psychological injuries suffered on the day of the tragedy.

Before the inquest resumed, counsel assisting Ken Fleming QC apologised for accusing Shine Lawyers of compromising witness evidence by publicising the details of the lawsuits.

Mr Fleming insists however it would have been better for the firm to wait until the inquest was over before making the announcement.
Papua New Guinea is struggling with a polio outbreak but it has found millions of dollars to buy 40 Maseratis to ferry world leaders at an upcoming meeting.

Port Moresby will host the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting next month, and it chartered two Boeing 747s to bring the brand new cars direct from Italy.

The cars will be used to drive world leaders around the city, with Chinese President Xi Jinping and United States Vice President Mike Pence expected to attend.

The move has angered some PNG locals, but PNG's Minister for APEC Justin Tkatchenko says the cars will be sold onto private hands after the meeting.

"Maserati Quattroporte sedans have been secured and delivered, and are committed to being paid for by the private sector," he said in a statement.

"Having vehicles paid for by the private sector is the smartest way to have use of the vehicles at APEC at no overall cost to the state."

The cars cost up to $345,000 each.

China has donated nine fire engines, while Japan has provided 22 ambulances for the event.

Australia is spending at least $130 million in in-kind support to help PNG host APEC, including using Australian fighter jets to secure the airspace above Port Moresby.

Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne on Thursday announced a $6 million donation to help PNG stop its polio outbreak.

In June 2018, the PNG government declared a national public health emergency in response to confirmed cases of polio virus.

"PNG is our closest neighbour, and a strong response is needed to protect both PNG's and Australia's health security," Senator Payne said.

"Routine immunisation remains the most effective prevention for highly infectious diseases including polio."

APEC Leaders Week will be held from November 12 to 18.
A convicted Australian drug trafficker on death row in Malaysia could escape the hangman's noose after the government of Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad announced plans to abolish the death penalty.

An appeal court in Malaysia sentenced Sydney grandmother Maria Elvira Pinto Exposto to death by hanging earlier this year after overturning her earlier acquittal on charges of trafficking 1.5kg of crystal methamphetamine into Malaysia.

"That will have a very very positive effect on Maria's case, it means she won't face the death penalty," Exposto's lawyer, Farhan Shafee, told AAP.

Abolition of the death penalty was announced on Wednesday - World Day Against the Death Penalty - and Shafee said legislation was expected to be tabled in parliament next week.

"We are still waiting for it to be tabled," he said. "Of course we are very, very happy to read the news and we welcome this decision by the cabinet. This means Malaysia will conform with international standards, which we have always been advocating."

Exposto, 54, claimed she was the victim of a set-up after she was found with the drugs stitched into the lining of her bag when arriving in Kuala Lumpur on a flight from China en-route to Melbourne in 2014.

She was acquitted after the judge found she was scammed by her online boyfriend and was unaware she was carrying the drugs. But the prosecution in the appeal argued Exposto had been wilfully blind, that her defence was made up and she had engaged in a "sly game".

Shafee said a date had not yet been set for Expostos's final appeal to be heard in the Federal Court, although he expected this to be made known shortly.

Australia's relationship with Malaysia has been strained in the past over the use of the death penalty and soured in 1986 amid the hanging of Australian drug runners Kevin Barlow and Brian Chambers.

The decision to abandon the death penalty was also welcomed by Amnesty International.

"Today's announcement is a major step forward for all those who have campaigned for an end to the death penalty in Malaysia," Kumi Naidoo, Amnesty International's Secretary General, 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."
WHAT WE FOUND OUT FROM PARLIAMENTARY HEARING INTO BANKS:

THEY WERE TOO SLOW

* Both Commonwealth Bank chief executive Matt Comyn and Westpac chief executive Brian Hartzer acknowledged their banks had been too slow to address problems in the institutions that were eventually raised by the banking royal commission.

INTERACTIONS WITH THOSE HURT BY MISCONDUCT:

* Mr Comyn has spoken face to-face with fewer than 10 customers who have been affected by misconduct in his six months in the job, but has spoken with others on the phone.

* About 9000 people have replied to a letter from Mr Comyn to Commonwealth Bank customers about changes made at the bank following the revelations at the royal commission.

* Westpac chief executive Brian Hartzer says he speaks with customers "all the time", or roughly once a day, with many of those discussions related to complaints. But he later clarified he hasn't met face-to-face with anyone with a long-standing issue in the past three months.

VIEWS ON THE ROYAL COMMISSION:

* Both Mr Comyn and Mr Hartzer had once rejected the need for a banking royal commission. But Mr Cormyn acknowledged he was wrong to do so, while Mr Hartzer said it was very clear it has been a "valuable process", albeit a "very painful process for the banks".

SOME OF THE FALLOUT AND REFORMS:

* So far this year, about 41 Commonwealth Bank employees have been terminated due to misconduct, while another nine have resigned while being investigated.

* Dozens of senior executives at the Commonwealth Bank (90) have now been part of a formal accountability process, through which it had been made clear exactly what they are liable for within the organisation. The same is true for at least 15 senior executives at Westpac.

* Both banks have made changes to how their staff are incentivised. About 70 per cent of incentives for Westpac's frontline staff are now non-financial.

* A new group executive has been appointed at Westpac, reporting to the chief executive, to deal with customer complaints.

* All Westpac staff - about 40,000 people - downed tools for half a day earlier this month to "recommit" to the bank's values and code of conduct, where stories of those affected by misconduct were played.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison's dash to Melbourne to spruik his small business tax cuts didn't include a catch up with Victorian Liberal leader Matthew Guy, who is busy preparing for a state election.

Mr Morrison gave a lunchtime speech in the city on Thursday, while Opposition Leader Mr Guy spent much of the day campaigning in Geelong, announcing a $90 million schools package.

The last time the two leaders publicly met was on September 7, shortly after Mr Morrison's rise to the top job, when they recommitted to a $450 million train extension in Melbourne's southeast.

Federal Opposition Leader Bill Shorten, who calls Melbourne home, also has an evening speaking engagement in the city, but has no plans to meet with Labor Premier Daniel Andrews.

The pair held a joint press conference at the weekend announcing kindergarten funding.

AAP understands Mr Morrison will be back in Victoria to lend support to the Liberals during the election campaign.

Victoria goes to the polls on November 24.
Pregnancy warning labels will be mandatory on alcohol products under a deal agreed by Australian and New Zealand ministers on Thursday.

The alcohol industry has applied pregnancy warning labels on a voluntary basis since late 2011.

But ministers responsible for food regulation who met in Adelaide say it needs to go further, amid evidence that babies exposed to alcohol in the womb can face intellectual, behavioural and developmental disabilities.

The label, which is to be developed by Food Standards Australia New Zealand in consultation with industry, will include a pictogram and warning statement.

Brewers Association chief Brett Heffernan said key players in the industry recognised the current 75 per cent compliance rate under the voluntary system was not good enough.

"Our members - Carlton & United Breweries, Lion Beer Australia and Coopers Brewery - have been 100 per cent compliant with the voluntarily labelling regime since 2014, applying the warning pictogram across every product they produce," he said.

"We are perplexed as to why others in the industry failed to heed the writing on the wall since 2012."

The Brewers Association will seek to have the DrinkWise Australia warning be made the standard.

Research has shown 74 per cent of women aged 18-40 are aware of the warnings on drink labels.
There's a lovely story about the refugees who saved Nhill, a tiny town in regional Victoria crying out for workers.

It's the dream for politicians trying to figure out what to do with migration.

A migrant community from farming backgrounds, who wanted jobs, moving in large numbers to work at a duck farm and settling into a welcoming small town.

They've created tens of millions of dollars worth of economic value since then.

As politicians from Sydney and Melbourne worry about how to slow down the rapid growth of cities, the Karen people in Nhill seem like a glowing opportunity.

"What I'm talking about is managing where the population goes, where the temporary migration goes," Prime Minister Scott Morrison told the ABC on Thursday.

"That means you can maintain a healthy migration program, but what you're doing is making sure it's getting to the places that need it, just like you need rainfall where you need it."

Sydney politicians especially are feeling the pressure of rising population, thanks to decades of focusing on roads rather than broader plans to make the city liveable.

Melbourne is well ahead on that front, but it's also a victim of its own public transport success. Thousands of people move there every week.

Australia can't force young Tasmanians and West Australians to stop moving to find work, like they always have. Permanent residents cannot be told where to live.

"But for temporary residents, those on temporary visas, non-permanent visas, then the powers the Commonwealth have are very, very different," Mr Morrison says.

The Regional Australia Institute recently hosted a meeting in Canberra about supporting rural communities looking to welcome migrant workers and their families.

"Workforce shortages are hampering growth in rural Australia and undermining the future of our towns," chief executive Jack Archer said.

"Locally-led migration strategies have proven to be the best way to connect migrants to jobs and welcoming communities across rural Australia."

So how to do it? How to get migrants to those regional towns crying out for workers?

The Nhill experience provides a shining example - and a warning for policy-makers.

It worked so well because there were plenty of jobs available, there was a willing migrant community, and a small town that went out of its way to welcome them.

That meant signing up local families to mentor refugee families, getting local community leaders on side, and schools, churches, and businesses.

Local champions determined to make it work, with a community of migrants who enjoyed the rural lifestyle.

Politicians looking at this model will not always have those superb conditions in place.

If the jobs aren't there, migrant communities will add unemployment to the other problems they face moving to new countries.

Without the local community strongly on board, regional towns risk seeing racism and division arise among old and new residents.

And the support needs to be there to help get new migrants settled in, their children into schools, and the details of their new lives clearly explained.

There are solutions, and as always they involve money.

The government can offer fast-track permanent residency for migrants who spend several years in regional areas.

It can identify industries that need workers, migrant communities who would fit the bill, and match them up.

It can pay for social workers to help migrants settle, pay for local cultural festivals, maybe a trip to the city once a year for a big event.

This program could work.

It might not slow down the rate of growth in Sydney and Melbourne, as young Australians move to both cities in search of jobs and opportunities.

Congestion in those cities isn't going away regardless of whether new migrants move to the country.

But it could reinvigorate regional areas and regional towns, similar to the post-World War II migration program that built much of modern Australia.

If it's done well, politicians could buy themselves some time to pay for the infrastructure still needed in Sydney and Melbourne.

And there could be many more towns like Nhill with lovely stories to tell.
Stephanie Gilmore's quest for a record-equalling seventh world surfing crown is on hold after the Australian's unexpected early exit from the Roxy Pro in France.

Gilmore would have joined compatriot Layne Beachley on seven titles had she won in the waves off Hossegor or at least banked enough points to surf beyond the reach of American Lakey Peterson, the only other tour member capable of winning the title.

However, Gilmore finished last in her third round heat with Courtney Conlogue and Malia Manuel and missed the quarter-finals on Thursday.

"It's the worst feeling in the world when you're trying so hard ... there's so much going on and there's so much pressure," Gilmore said.

She made a last-ditch bid to rule her heat when taking a wave with two minutes remaining.

Gilmore needed a score of 8.33 to progress but was awarded 8.27.

"In the beginning I missed a couple of opportunities when I had priority. I kept making mistakes and started stressing out a bit," she said.

"I got that one in the end. It was a good score and if I had one good turn at the end I might have got an 8.5. It was tough to swallow."

While Gilmore was frustrated to be eliminated, Peterson was also disappointed at her inability to narrow the gap after she also finished last in her heat with Coco Ho and Australian Bronte Macauley.

The title will now be decided in the final tour event in Maui next month.

"I'm not feeling too good. It was definitely a good opportunity for me to get in a good position going into Hawaii," Peterson said.

"I'm disappointed with my surfing, I didn't surf well. I've been a little bit sick and there was a couple of things I let get in my head too much."

Australia will still be represented in the quarter-finals by Macauley, who takes on Brazil's Tatiana Weston-Webb while Macy Callaghan is drawn against Hawaiian star Ho.

Carissa Moore and Manuel line-up in an all-Hawaiian clash while Conlogue faces Frenchwoman Johanne Defray.
Police are searching for a man who allegedly filmed up a woman's skirt at a railway station in Sydney's inner west.

The man, travelling from Woolooware, got off a train at Redfern station, walked onto the escalators directly behind a woman and began filming up her skirt about 12.30pm on September 7, NSW Police said.

Police are searching for a man they believe may be able to assist with their investigation. He is described as being of Mediterranean/Middle Eastern appearance, about 183cm tall, aged in his 30s or 40s and with short facial hair.
The silicosis crisis is set to be discussed at a meeting of state and federal health ministers in Adelaide on Friday.

It's feared thousands of Australian workers in the stonecutting industry could have been affected by the deadly lung disease, which is caused by breathing in silica dust.

Cheap manufactured stone favoured by the industry to build kitchens and bathrooms can contain up to 90 per cent silica and most workplaces have up until now used dry-cutting techniques which produce a large amount of silica dust.

A crackdown on the practise in Queensland at just 10 workplaces uncovered 35 cases of the disease, 11 of which are the most serious category

There are at least 160 companies that work with manufactured stone in Queensland alone, leading to fears the full extent of the problem could involve thousands of workers across the country.

Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt has flagged the issue to be discussed at the COAG meeting of health ministers in Adelaide on Friday.

The meeting will examine whether there is potential benefit in exploring the development of a national dust diseases register.

Safe Work Australia is understood to also be looking into the issue.

It follows calls from workers affected by the disease for a national response, not just a state based one.

Gold Coast Stonemason Mick White, 52, was diagnosed with silicosis in 2017, and urges a national response to the issue.

"It got to be across the board, otherwise you'll never fix the problem," he told AAP.

"If you can't do it in Queensland, you can just go to NSW and start dry-cutting down there. And then there's more bloke's getting killed."

Workers in their 20s have been diagnosed with silicosis in Queensland, with the onset of the disease much more rapid than similar lung diseases like black lung or mesothelioma.
Today marks 30 years since two young Melbourne constables were shot dead after being ambushed near an abandoned car.

Steven Tynan, 22 and Damian Eyre, 19, died in the line of duty in Walsh Street, South Yarra on October 12, 1988.

Four men were tried for the constables' murder but were acquitted in 1991. No one has ever been convicted of the killings.

The tragedy, known as the Walsh Street shootings, will be remembered at a public memorial event at Prahran Police Station on Friday at 10am.
The chief executive of ANZ is due to be questioned by federal politicians about "appalling behaviour" uncovered at the banking royal commission.

Shayne Elliott will face the House of Representatives economics committee at a public hearing in Canberra on Friday.

He is the third banking head to be grilled by the MPs this week, after the Commonwealth Bank's Matt Comyn and Westpac's Brian Hartzer fronted the group on Thursday.

Both acknowledged their institutions took too long to address misconduct that was eventually uncovered by a royal commission.

They also admitted they have their work cut out for them to regain the public's trust.

"From an overall reputation point of view, this is obviously going to take years to restore," Mr Hartzer said.

The hearings come two weeks after banking royal commissioner Kenneth Hayne QC delivered an interim report, blaming greed and the pursuit of profit for the widespread misconduct in the banking and financial services industries.

National Australia Bank boss Andrew Thorburn will appear next Friday.

Economics committee chair and Liberal MP Tim Wilson says the hearings are an important opportunity to scrutinise the chief executives.

He said it's important to ensure the "appalling behaviour" revealed at the royal commission is not repeated, without inhibiting the contribution of the banks to the economy.
Tony Abbott has stoked the smouldering tensions between himself and Malcolm Turnbull, demanding the former prime minister offer his vocal support to the Liberal Party candidate in Wentworth.

Mr Abbott said he would not be drawn into a war of words after Mr Turnbull called him a "miserable ghost" during a recent event in New York.

"I don't call people names ... I'm not going to engage in a slanging match," Mr Abbott told 2GB radio on Monday.

But Mr Abbott did have one piece of advice for his successor ahead of this Saturday's poll in his Sydney seat.

"The one thing I would love to see from Malcolm this week is a tweet endorsing Dave Sharma," he said.

"I reckon he owes it to the party and to the people of Wentworth to give Dave Sharma a solid, clear, personal endorsement this week in particular."

He would not criticise Mr Turnbull for his Singapore-based son Alex encouraging Wentworth voters to support Labor.

"Let the son speak for himself, but it would be good to hear from Dad this week, it really would."
Concerns about Australia's treatment of asylum seekers on Nauru will be raised when the head of the International Red Cross visits Canberra this week.

International Committee for the Red Cross president Peter Maurer will confidentially report on the situation on Manus Island and Nauru, where Australia has sent asylum seekers who arrived by boat.

"We share our findings confidentially with the respective authorities in Australia and we will certainly do that when I arrive in Canberra," Mr Maurer told AAP ahead of the visit.

"I just want to assure the Australian public that the humane treatment of detainees there, of those who are held in those facilities, the humanitarian concern for their medical, physical as well as psychological well being is at the core of our interest.

"We will certainly pursue and make recommendations on that behalf to the Australian government."

Mr Maurer will also talk to Australian authorities about trends in global wars, including how long they now drag out.

"It's striking that ICRC's presence in our 15 largest operations today is an average of 35 years," he said.

"We have been created as an emergency operation and organisation ... (but) these conflicts last forever."

Mr Maurer says armed conflicts are also fragmenting, with groups with "fuzzy" political aims increasingly prominent.

In the war-torn city of Taiz in Yemen, the Red Cross found almost 40 armed groups claim chunks of territory.

"If you want to negotiate a humanitarian space then this is a big challenge," Mr Maurer said.

The Red Cross is also operating in Myanmar, but Mr Maurer says a "tricky" political situation makes it difficult to do the necessary humanitarian work.

"At the present moment I must say we are happy for what we are able to do, but we are eager that other international actors will also be able to operate in Rakhine state," he said.

With images from wars and conflicts now flooding social media, Mr Maurer said Australians who want to help can volunteer their time or donate money to the Red Cross.

He also urged Australians to support governments giving money to international aid organisations.

"I know this is a delicate issue, politics is normally local and national," he said.

"People always have the impression that too much money is handed out for international concerns, international problems, but these problems will haunt you at home if you don't deal with them abroad."
They say that absence makes the heart grow fonder - and that familiarity breeds contempt.

Which probably explains why the world's all-time favourite car - the Toyota Corolla - seems to have fallen just a little bit out of favour in recent years.

A sad but true fact of modern life. The longer something has been around, the less we tend to value it. And with 44 million vehicles sold since it arrived in 1966, the Corolla has certainly been around.

Ok, more than five decades of familiarity might not quite translate into contempt - but it will get you a rather large serve of indifference. So no wonder the world has been guilty of taking this motoring icon for granted.

None more so than its maker Toyota - which has been showering all kinds of funky design and sharp technology on cars like its C-HR baby SUV - but leaving the Corolla sitting in the corner.

Now, with hungry rivals like the Mazda3 and Korea's Hyundai i30 suddenly threatening the Corolla's market dominance, Toyota has finally started to show some love to its unstoppable hatchback.

New technology, new style and new drive-trains have suddenly made the dear old Corolla look new again. Most importantly, Toyota's signature hybrid technology - available in some models for almost two decades - has finally been made available across the full range of its most popular machine.

This latest generation of the Corolla is the 12th - yes, 12th - to hit the market since the car's debut all the way back in 1966 and while there have been some beloved models in the past, this one must surely rank as the best.

As well as the familiar four-cylinder petrol engine, it will offer buyers a choice of Hybrid-powered variants - from the $25,870 Ascent Sport Hybrid (tested here), through the mid-range SX ($28,370) and the fully-specified ZR, which just tips over the $30,000 mark.

The elements are familiar - a 1.8-litre petrol four-cylinder engine coupled to Toyota's Hybrid Synergy Drive electric system - and it's the same power plant that has featured the Hybrid-only Prius for two decades now. It's a thoroughly well-resolved and well-evolved means of propulsion.

In the Corolla, it's a revelation.

The little hatchback jumps away from the traffic lights, operating primarily on regenerated battery power for the bulk of city driving with the petrol engine kicking in when extra acceleration is required.

The net result is a car that's smooth, quiet and quite fun to drive and one that, for the duration of our week-long test, required just 4 litres per 100km of mostly city driving. We covered almost 200km in our test and handed the car back with the fuel gauge still on full.

There are a couple of downsides with selecting the Hybrid version - it's about $3000 more expensive than its petrol-only sibling - and the car's luggage capacity is somewhat diminished by the need to store the vehicle's electric batteries beneath the cargo floor.

Neither are deal-breakers and at $25-grand the miserly Corolla represents a very sound financial package on fuel savings alone.

Of course, the Corolla itself is also a well-resolved thing - how could it not be as it enters its 53rd year on the market? It's not exciting but is totally predictable and reliable in its ride, handling and general road manners.

It's arguably the best looking Corolla we've seen and its styling reflects some of Toyota's fresh, modern new corporate look, both outside and particularly in the cockpit.

The new interior is cohesive (something that definitely didn't apply to recent previous models). It's also modern and uncluttered - with a centrally-mounted control screen providing information and access to functions including audio, vehicle performance and, in higher spec models, satellite navigation. There's a minimalist feel to the remainder of the dash, but it's nicely finished and brings the Corolla thoroughly up to date.

Even on the modestly-priced Ascent Sport, the features list includes LED headlights with an auto high beam function, electric park brake, alloy wheels, an eight-inch touch-screen featuring Bluetooth and audio streaming; as well as push-button start and keyless entry.

On the safety side, the entry-level version gets autonomous emergency braking to avoid frontal collisions, plus a very capable adaptive cruise control that allows you to set a safe distance from the car ahead while driving at freeway speeds. Seven airbags and a reversing camera complete the safety suite.

There are also thoughtful inclusions such as speed sign recognition, lane-keeping assistant and lane departure warning. That's a good swag of kit for a car in the Corolla's very affordable price range.

All of a sudden, it looks as if the Corolla could have another 50 years left in it.

TOYOTA COROLLA ASCENT SPORT HYBRID

HOW BIG? This is the biggest Corolla ever - and also the most stylish. Cargo space is compromised, particularly in the Hybrid, and the Corolla falls short of best-in-class in this area.

HOW FAST? With a combined 90kW on tap fro its petrol and electric motors, it's not particularly fast but feels willing and responsive in most situations. And it cruises effortlessly on the highway.

HOW THIRSTY? This is where the Hybrid has lifted the Corolla to a new level - with an official thirst of 4.2L/100km. It's even more frugal around town, where it uses its electric motors more regularly - and we had no trouble getting below the 4L/100km mark.

HOW MUCH? While a couple of grand more expensive than its petrol-only sibling, the Ascent Sport Hybrid is excellent buying at $25,870. Choose some more luxury in the ZR model and you'll pay a tick over $30k.
Australian doctors are ramping up their campaign to have children in detention immediately removed from Nauru.

Australian Medical Association pediatric representative Dr Paul Bauert, who has treated patients on Nauru, says it is a sad situation that could be easily avoided.

Health professionals are calling on the government to give the vulnerable children urgent support.

"This is the only situation I've come across where it is deliberate government policy which is causing the pain and suffering of these children," Dr Bauert told reporters in Canberra on Monday.

The AMA has been lobbying the government to change policy on Nauru, but just last month Prime Minister Scott Morrison rebuffed a plea from the peak doctors' association.

"I will not put at risk any element of Australia's border protection policy," Mr Morrison said.

About five per cent of all registered doctors in Australia have signed a letter that is being delivered to Mr Morrison in Canberra on Monday.

Almost 6000 doctors are demanding the government remove the 80 children from Nauru because of serious mental and physical health concerns.

Dr Bauert said almost all the children in detention on Nauru are traumatised.

"Many are damaged already, but we don't want this damage to be permanent," Dr Bauert said.

"They need to be assessed and treated as a matter of urgency.

"It's a miracle we haven't had a death already."

A separate rally will take place outside of parliament on Tuesday calling for the removal of children from Nauru.

The protest is being led by Rural Australians for Refugees.
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
Australia is working on a new nuclear deal with the United Kingdom once it leaves the European Union.

One fifth of Australia's uranium goes to the UK, but it cannot be used for military purposes, or sold to other countries who use it for their militaries.

Dr John Kalish, acting director general of the Australian Safeguards and Non-proliferation Office, says a new deal will have to be done with the UK to mirror the old one with the EU.

Under the old deal and the proposed one, the UK can only sell the uranium on to certain countries.

"Retransfers can only be made to third parties that have a nuclear cooperation agreement with Australia," Dr Kalish told a parliamentary committee on Monday.

But Dr Kalish could not reveal which countries Australian uranium ends up in, citing "commercial in confidence".

Liberal MP Andrew Wallace can't understand why.

"I'm just trying to work out why the Australian people can't be informed what third party countries the UK might reassign or retransfer uranium that comes out of this country?" he asked.

Dr Kalish said he could give the committee the names of the countries, but they would have to remain secret.

Meanwhile, Labor's foreign affairs spokeswoman Penny Wong gave a speech to the Australian Institute of International Affairs on Monday, in which she called for Australia to take a greater role in banning nuclear weapons.

"A Shorten Labor government will seek to muster wide international support, including from the states that possess nuclear weapons, for a 'No First Use' declaration," she said.

"For states with nuclear weapons to adopt a 'No First Use' policy would constitute a major step forward in reducing tensions and risks of accidental or mistaken use."

Senator Wong says Labor will also use Australia's strong relationships with nuclear weapons states to push for a reduction in their nuclear stockpiles.

"Dismantling 15,000 nuclear warheads and the security arrangements that rest upon them is not going to happen overnight," she said.
The United States' embassy in Canberra has apologised for a "training error" after distributing a fake meeting invitation, complete with a photo of a pyjama-wearing cat.

The email, titled "meeting", featured a photo of a tabby cat wearing a blue Cookie Monster outfit and holding a plate of choc-chip biscuits, beneath the title "cat pajama-jam".

In a clear case of misdirected correspondence last week, the email also contained a section of Latin and recipients were given the option to hit an RSVP tab.

It's unknown how widely the email, sent by the US Department of State, was distributed.

US Mission to Australia public affairs counsellor Gavin Sundwall kept his apology lighthearted.

"Sorry to disappoint those of you who were hoping to attend this 'cat pajama-jam' party, but such an event falls well outside our area of expertise," he wrote in a follow-up email two days after the original.

"It was a training error made by one of our new staff testing out our email newsletter platform."

Mr Sundwall said "strong new management controls" would be added to prevent a repeat of the mistake.
HOW THE ABC CRISIS UNFOLDED:

2017

- Communications Minister Mitch Fifield writes to ABC board over concerns about Triple J changing the date of the Hottest 100 away from Australia Day. Board stands by Triple J decision, despite concerns from board chair Justin Milne.

2018

Feb - ABC receives complaints from Prime Minister's Office, Fifield, Qantas, Business Council regarding stories on corporate tax by ABC chief economics correspondent Emma Alberici. Article is amended and published.

Feb 28 - Board receives a document seeking to strengthen editorial control and oversight and agrees changes are appropriate.

March-May - Fifield expresses concerns to ABC managing director Michelle Guthrie over Tonightly program using coarse language directed at an Australian Conservatives party candidate. Minister also complains to Australian Communications and Media Authority.

May 7-9 - Further complaints are made by PMO and Fifield about other Alberici stories. Milne is copied in to complaints.

May 8 - Milne emails Guthrie seeking the sacking of Alberici.

May 25 - Guthrie write to Fifield saying there had been no breach of ABC editorial standards for accuracy.

May 26 - PMO complains about Andrew Probyn report claiming Malcolm Turnbull "chose" the July 28 by-elections date. Fifield also complains.

June 14 - Milne seeks update via email from Guthrie on the 'Probyn matter'.

June 15 - Milne follows up email with a heated phone call to Guthrie, in which he reportedly spoke about "shooting" Probyn. Guthrie describes the call as angry and upsetting and felt pressured to sack Probyn in order to "save the ABC" (which she says is a reference to future funding under threat).

June 16 - Milne emails Guthrie about recommencement of Tonightly.

June 27 - Guthrie confirms to minister there was a breach of accuracy standards in the Probyn report.

July 25 - ACMA report finds no breach of editorial standards in Tonightly program.

July-Aug 22 - Milne says the board was "performance managing" Guthrie during this period. Guthrie says she has no warning of her dismissal before August 22 or that such a performance management process was under way.

Sept 12 - Milne contacts Fifield to advise the board "no longer believed Guthrie was best placed to lead the organisation". Milne says he will give Guthrie this message on September 13. Minister says it is a matter for the board.

Sept 14-16 (date unknown) - Milne tells Fifield discussions with Guthrie are "ongoing".

Sept 21 - ABC board gets letter from Guthrie in which she responds to issues raised with her. She also asks that the board confidentially investigate other matters.

Sept 23 - ABC board resolves to appoint an external, independent, expert advisor to look at the matters raised by Guthrie.

Sept 24 - Guthrie is sacked by the broadcaster's board, who claimed it was "not in the best interests" of the broadcaster for her to continue in the role. Milne says Guthrie's relationship with the government was a factor but there had been no government pressure. Guthrie says she is considering legal options and considered the Alberici, Probyn and Tonightly matters were behind the board losing confidence in her. David Anderson is appointed acting managing director.

Sept 26 - Fifield announces his department secretary will hold an inquiry into the matter. Labor and the Greens say they will pursue a Senate inquiry.

Sept 27 - ABC board meets without Milne before asking the chairman to step aside. He resigns. Milne denies claims he called for journalists to be sacked, saying leaked confidential emails were taken out of context.

Sept 28 - Prime Minister Scott Morrison announces ABC board member Dr Kirstin Ferguson has been recommended to take over as acting chair.

Oct 11 - Fifield gets report from his department secretary Mike Mrdak. Report finds no political interference.

(Sources: Statements by minister; media reports; report by Mike Mrdak)
Convicted drug trafficker and businessman John Kizon remains in a critical but stable condition after crashing his car outside a Perth hospital almost one week ago.

Mr Kizon, 56, crashed his BMW into a parked vehicle, then travelled through several bollards and hit a tree outside Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital in Nedlands on Tuesday night after reportedly suffering a heart attack.

Often referred to as a "colourful Northbridge identity", Mr Kizon has had several run-ins with the law over the decades, including serving a prison term as a young man for heroin trafficking.

Mr Kizon has long said he is an honest businessman who police continue to harass because of his criminal past.
WHAT WE LEARNED

* Monday is the 48th anniversary of the West Gate Bridge collapse, in which 35 men died.

* Prime Minister Scott Morrison has written to Opposition Leader Bill Shorten seeking support for law changes to ensure students can't be banned from schools for being gay.

--

WHAT THE GOVERNMENT WANTED TO SPIN

The Australian people don't trust Bill Shorten because he flips and flops on policy.

--

WHAT LABOR WANTED TO TALK ABOUT

Government instability is the only reason why there is a by-election in Wentworth on October 20.

--

WHAT THEY SAID

"The prime minister has complained that voting for anybody but the Liberals in Wentworth will destabilise his government, but didn't this prime minister destabilise the government in the first place when he and his colleagues deposed Mr Turnbull?" - Opposition Leader Bill Shorten.

"A vote for anyone other than Dave Sharma, the Liberal Party candidate in Wentworth, is a vote that would undermine that certainty and would undermine the strong economy that our government is delivering." - Prime Minister Scott Morrison.

"There will be a time and a place to address those issues." - Morrison on addressing schools banning gay teachers.

"There is no such thing as dead in politics." - Labor's Joel Fitzgibbon quoting Agriculture Minister David Littleproud on special visas for foreign fruit pickers.

"The member for Hunter (Fitzgibbon) does a pretty good impersonation of the walking dead in politics." - Morrison in reply.

--

TWEETED

@TimWattsMP As Peter Costello said, "very, very weird" #qt
Factory fires in Melbourne's north have sparked the evacuation of nearby properties as crews work to extinguish the blazes and determine their cause.

Firefighters were called at about 1.30pm Monday to a panel beating business at Thomastown and 90 minutes later to a tyre factory in the same suburb.

"The fire was located at the rear of the factory and involved a line of tyres 15 metres in length," the Metropolitan Fire Brigade said, noting that nearby factories were evacuated as the area was blanketed in thick black smoke.

Both fires were brought under control. They are the latest in a string of Melbourne factory fires, with another at Thomastown on Sunday night under investigation.
Umesh Yadav has snared 10 wickets in India's final Test before they head to Australia, where Virat Kohli knows he will need an arsenal of fit-and-firing pacemen to make history.

India have never won a Test series in Australia.

This summer's four-match series is arguably their best chance to stop that streak, with Australia's batting order weakened by Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft's bans.

The world's top-ranked Test side cruised to a 10-wicket win over West Indies in Hyderabad, completing a 2-0 series win with minimal fuss on the third day.

Yadav earned man-of-the-match honours, having stepped up superbly after fellow paceman Shardul Thakur suffered a groin strain during the match.

Kohli, preparing for his third Test tour of Australia, knows the difference between success and failure could well be the squad's fast-bowling depth.

The fiery captain is also acutely aware that his quicks won't receive as much assistance as they did earlier this year in England.

"Four Tests in Australia can be brutal because the ball doesn't do much," Kohli told reporters.

"You have to come in and run in all day, bowl in the right areas, with pace.

"Umesh is right up there, to be featuring in Australia, because he's got the pace. He's got the fitness levels to run in all day, to pick up wickets at crucial times and he gets good bounce as well.

"He's a very, very talented bowler. He can bowl you unplayable deliveries ... he's come a long way and he understands his bowling really well."

Veterans Mohammed Shami and Ishant Sharma, swing specialist Bhuvneshwar Kumar and youngster Jasprit Bumrah headline the other pacemen in the mix to spearhead the attack on December 6, when the Border-Gavaskar series starts in Adelaide.

"It's a great sign to have four guys bowling so well," Kohli said.

"Bowling is something we need to keep as a major strength in order for us to feel like we have a chance to win a series when we travel."

Kohli also heaped praise on 18-year-old opening batsman Prithvi Shaw.

"I don't think any of us were even 10 per cent of what he is at (age) 18-19," he said.

India will play a series of limited-overs matches against the West Indies at home before travelling to Australia.
The son of former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull says he is not acting as a proxy for his father by campaigning against the Liberal Party in his former electorate.

"Absolutely not," Alex Turnbull told ABC Radio of the suggestion on Monday.

The son of the former Liberal leader is backing Labor candidate Tim Murray in a crucial by-election in Wentworth, the Sydney seat his father relinquished when he was dumped as prime minister in August.

Liberal Dave Sharma and independent Kerryn Phelps are also vying for success when voters hit the polls on Saturday.

Alex Turnbull said he didn't seek his father's permission for his anti-Liberal campaigning and would not have received it if he had.

But he is determined to send a message to the Liberal Party about its stance on energy and climate policy.

"What I am very motivated by is to point out the unreality and the absurdity that we're still having this debate when technology has made it possible to just get on with it," he said.

The younger Mr Turnbull said he was concerned the Liberal Party is following in the lead of the Republican Party in the US.

"My concern is I see a similar pattern where culture wars are taking precedence over good, sober, sensible policy," he said.

"That's why I've come out so strongly because when I speak to my friends in the states, they say 'wow, I wish I'd spoken up earlier', because we're stuck with this now."

Mr Turnbull, who lives in Singapore, said he wouldn't consider representing the Liberal Party as it now stands.

But he would consider the idea if the party underwent reform.

"It's something I would consider if basic things, like ensuring the National Party isn't infiltrated by Nazis, was solved," he said.

"There's some basic things which need to happen I think for that party to be acceptable to a lot of normal, acceptable people."
Heritage Victoria has recommended Federation Square be listed on the Victorian Heritage register, potentially conflicting with tech giant Apple's plans to build a controversial mega-store on the site.

Heritage Victoria executive director Steven Avery has recommended the square be protected for its "historical, architectural, aesthetic, cultural and technical significance to the state".

Apple's plans for its flagship store - one of only five in the world - were approved by Premier Daniel Andrews last year, but public opposition has been vehement.

The final decision on whether it should be included on the register will be made by the Heritage Council of Victoria. Heritage Victoria says if it is included, "this would not prevent future use or development".
Three men have been arrested and a woman is to face court after they allegedly helped parents abduct their own children across Australia in contravention of family law orders.

Two men, aged 63 and 64, are due to face Grafton Local Court on Thursday, while another man, aged 83, is to appear in Townsville Local Court on charges related to organising the abduction of three children who "have since been safely located", the Australian Federal Police said in a statement.

A 78-year-old Perth woman has been served with a court attendance notice.

Detectives say as part of a two-year investigation 10 missing children have been located with a parent who had abducted them.

"Five of these are believed to be linked to this group of people," Assistant Commissioner Debbie Platz said on Thursday.
An engineer has defended his decision to issue a safety certificate for Dreamworld's Thunder River Rapids ride despite never seeing any maintenance logs.

Thomas Polley was appointed by Dreamworld to complete an inspection as part of workplace health and safety regulations a month before four people died on the 30-year-old ride.

In a report dated October 17, 2016, Mr Polley deemed the ride to be mechanically and structurally safe to use.

On October 25 a malfunction on one of the ride's water pumps led to two rafts colliding and flipping.

Cindy Low, Kate Goodchild, her brother Luke Dorsett and his partner Roozi Araghi all died in the tragedy.

At an inquest into their deaths on the Gold Coast, Mr Polley refuted a suggestion he should have not issued a certificate due to the lack of logbooks being non-compliant with legislation.

"I don't agree with that because the ride to me was structurally and mechanically safe," Mr Polley told the Southport Coroners Court on Wednesday.

Mr Polley was also queried on why he had marked the logbook area of his report as "no fault found" when regulators relied on the information to ensure compliance.

"Whether the regulator looks at it or not is not a big issue for me," he replied.

Mr Polley will continue giving evidence when the inquest resumes at 9.30am on Thursday.

The inquest is also expected to hear from Dreamworld attractions manager Andrew Fyfe.
A $240 million transmission line is likely to built on South Australia's Eyre Peninsula to secure electricity supplies.

Transmission company ElectraNet has released a report on supply options for the region, recommending the line from Cultana to Port Lincoln be built by the end of 2021.

"The key driver for this project is to deliver a solution that provides the greatest benefits to the community while keeping costs as low as possible for electricity customers," ElectraNet chief executive Steve Masters said on Thursday.
The Australian Federal Police is investigating the leaking of a secret ASIO briefing that warned that any move to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel could provoke unrest and violence in Palestinian territories.

Fairfax Media reports the federal government believes a state Labor government leaked the briefing note from Australia's spy agency to The Guardian.

Scott Morrison on Thursday told parliament Australia's spy agency "as a matter of routine practice provides this advice to Commonwealth and state governments on security matters".

An ASIO spokesperson told Fairfax the agency's head Duncan Lewis had spoken to AFP boss Andrew Colvin and "formally referred this matter to the AFP for investigation".

The Victorian government has denied it was behind the leak with a spokesperson saying Melbourne "had nothing to do with this information being put in the public domain.

"For the Morrison government to point fingers at the states shows how desperate and erratic they are," he told Fairfax.

It followed the leak of a series of WhatsApp messages from Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi to her Australian counterpart Marise Payne on the proposed embassy move.
Good cholesterol could be the key to long term brain health and the prevention of dementia in women, new research has revealed.

The findings come as two thirds of people living with dementia are women and confirmation from the Australian Bureau of Statistics that it is now the leading cause of death for women.

Two new University of Melbourne studies show cholesterol levels alter the structure of grey and white matter in the brain, which determines the likelihood of decay to the brain.

The first study, published in the journal Brain Imaging and Behaviour, found the volume of grey matter in a woman's brain at 60 predicts her memory performance at 70.

The second study, published in the same journal, found women with normal levels of 'good' cholesterol had less white matter damage in their brain when tested again a decade later.

Researchers found women with white matter changes were worse at planning and organisation tests and those with grey matter volume loss had worse memory as they aged.

So the studies showed that maintaining healthy levels of cholesterol impacted on the structure of the brain directly.

A co-author of both and the director of the University of Melbourne's Women's Healthy Ageing Project, Professor Cassandra Szoeke, said the research showed healthy blood vessels (with good cholesterol in them) reduced the risk of cognitive decline and disease.

"This aligns with our knowledge that regular physical activity, normal blood pressure and maintaining normal levels of HDL ('good') cholesterol are all associated with better cognition," she said.

Good cholesterol refers to high-density lipoprotein, as opposed 'bad' cholesterol or low-density lipoprotein.

Not smoking, being a healthy weight and doing regular exercise contribute greatly to achieving good cholesterol, as well as eating fatty fish, olive oil, coconut oil and purple vegetables.
A 7.5-magnitude quake and subsequent tsunami struck off the Indonesian island of Sulawesi in September, killing more than 2,000 people

An earthquake Thursday killed three people in Indonesia and rattled hotels where IMF delegates are attending a major summit, a fortnight after a quake-tsunami killed more than 2,000 elsewhere in the archipelago.

The 6.0-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Indonesia's Bali and Java islands in the early hours, jolting residents awake and sending them rushing into the streets.

Some attendees in Bali for the International Monetary Fund and World Bank annual meetings this week evacuated their hotels as the quake shook the island.

"I felt the quake for at least 30 seconds and I panicked. At first I didn't want to go out but then I decided to leave," Katharina Sudiyono, an Indonesian attendee at the summit, told AFP.

Peter Jacobs, head of the Indonesian Central Bank's IMF-World Bank taskforce, said delegates in Bali's Nusa Dua district for the summit were quickly informed of the situation.

"Many summit participants woke up and asked questions, but we immediately sent out information to them that there had been an earthquake and the impact in Nusa Dua," he told AFP.

There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries in Bali and the summit proceeded Thursday uninterrupted.

"We send our condolences to those affected by the earthquake. Here in Bali, the earthquake has not caused significant damage nor any disruption to the meetings," an IMF spokesman said.

No caption

The conference centre was designed to withstand seismic events, and participants had been told to remain there in the event of a quake.

In case of tsunami risk, attendees would be evacuated to a nearby building.

Holidayers in the island's popular tourist districts also rushed into the streets as buildings swayed.

"Wow, that was really strong and it lasted a long time," said one woman who took refuge in a hotel parking lot in Nusa Dua, a few kilometres from where the IMF and World Bank are holding their meetings.

Others in Nusa Dua, south of Bali's main international airport, also panicked.

"The quake was very big. I immediately woke up and took my little kids out of the house," Ni Komang Sudiani told AFP.

"All my neighbours were also running, said the mother of two.

- Volatile archipelago -

Dwikorita Karnawati, the head of Indonesia's geophysics agency who was also in Nusa Dua for the IMF summit, said no tsunami warning was issued.

"I felt the quake too," she told AFP. "We are also still gathering data from our team in East Java.'

In East Java, three people were crushed to death in their sleep when the quake brought down buildings in Sumenep district and sent people fleeing their homes.

"Everybody panicked and the entire village ran outside. We have never experienced an earthquake as strong as last night," Zainurrohman, a 21-year-old from the district told AFP.

"We stayed outside until dawn," he said. Many Indonesians go by one name.

The tremor's epicentre was in the Bali Sea around 40 kilometres (25 miles) off the eastern end of Java island, according to the United States Geological Survey.

The tremor comes after a 7.5-magnitude quake and subsequent tsunami struck off the Indonesian island of Sulawesi last month -- around 1,000 kilometres northeast of the latest quake's epicentre -- killing more than 2,000 people.

Thousands more remain missing since the twin disaster ravaged the city of Palu and surrounding areas. The search for the dead is expected to end Thursday.

A string of earthquakes in Lombok in eastern Indonesia killed more than 550 people over the summer.

Indonesia, one of the most disaster-prone nations on earth, straddles the so-called Pacific "Ring of Fire", where tectonic plates collide and many of the world's volcanic eruptions and earthquakes occur.
A jury ordered Roundup producer Monsanto to pay Dewayne Johnson $290 million in damages for not warning him that the weed killer might cause cancer

A judge on Wednesday was mulling whether to gut a jury order that Monsanto pay $290 million in damages for not warning a groundskeeper that its weed killer product Roundup might cause cancer.

In motions filed after the historic August verdict, Monsanto urged the judge to strip away the $250 million punitive portion of the damages, arguing that a new trial was justified.

Rival attorneys argued before California state Judge Suzanne Bolanos, who did not say when she would rule on the motions.

Jurors unanimously found that Monsanto acted with "malice" and that its weed killers Roundup and the professional grade version RangerPro contributed "substantially" to Dewayne Johnson's terminal illness.

The San Francisco jury ordered Monsanto to pay $250 million in punitive damages along with compensatory damages and other costs, bringing the total figure to nearly $290 million.

Johnson, a California groundskeeper diagnosed in 2014 with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma -- a cancer that affects white blood cells -- says he repeatedly used a professional form of Roundup while working at a school in Benicia, California.

Monsanto attorney George Lombardi argued in court Wednesday that the evidence presented at trial did not support the jury verdict, and that an attorney for Johnson was wrong to urge jurors to teach the company a lesson.

"The message it sent to this jury was that you can look beyond what Mr Johnson's case is about and you can go out to things that you think society would like to hear about," Lombardi said in court.

Johnson sat nearby as his attorneys countered that jurors came to a lawful verdict based on what was presented at trial, and that Bolanos should deny Monsanto's motions.

"We have a jury that got it right and did it right," argued Johnson's attorney, Michael Miller.

"We need to respect the jury's verdict."
German carmaker BMW is to take control of its China joint-venture with Brilliance China Automotive

German luxury carmaker BMW announced Thursday a plan to take control of its China joint-venture, the first foreign automaker to take advantage of Beijing's new ownership rules for the sector.

BMW will acquire a further 25 percent stake in the venture with Brilliance China Automotive for 3.6 billion euros ($4.2 billion), the company said, bringing its stake to 75 percent by 2022.

Foreign automakers have long been restricted to holding no more than a 50 percent stake in their China operations, but Beijing decided to relax the ownership caps this year.

The reforms are part of Beijing's plan to further open its economy to foreign business, after years of facing pressure from the United States and Europe.

But US and European business groups say the reforms have still not gone far enough, and have pushed for further opening.

To force the issue, and to hit back at China for alleged theft of American intellectual property, US President Donald Trump has slapped tariffs on roughly half of the imports from China.

The joint-venture "is the cornerstone of the BMW brand's sustained success in its largest single market," said Harald Kruger, BMW's chairman.

"BMW Group and Brilliance continue to set a good example of successful cooperation in China," he said.

- Trade war effect -

The changes in ownership rules are a boon for foreign automakers which will gain a greater share of control and profits from their China operations, but hurt prospects for their Chinese partners.

Brilliance China's shares in Hong Kong have plummeted this year, and were suspended from trading on Thursday.

The two companies had extended their joint venture contract until 2040 and announced a plan to pump 3 billion euros ($3.5 billion) into expanding their auto plants in northeast Liaoning province -- ramping up production capacity to 650,000 cars early next decade while creating 5,000 new jobs.

BMW has been hit particularly hard by the US-China trade war with many of its SUVs imported from the US facing new 25 percent taxes, while cars imported from other countries have benefited from China's tariff cut for vehicles from 25 percent to 15 percent.

With the new production capacity, the China joint-venture will start to produce BMW vehicles like fully-electric BMW iX3 for export globally from 2020, BMW said.

China's auto market, the world's largest, has faced headwinds this year as the economy slows.

In August, China's new vehicle sales continued to fall, following a drop in July.
At least two men have died in Cyclone Titli, one when a house collapsed and another killed by a falling tree

A cyclone packing winds of up to 150 kilometres (95 miles) per hour and heavy rains hit eastern India early Thursday, with over 300,000 people evacuated from low-lying areas and two men reported killed.

Officials in neighbouring Bangladesh said they were on alert in the coastal district of Cox's Bazar, home to around one million Rohingya refugees from Myanmar living in tarpaulin and bamboo shelters.

Cyclone Titli, which intensified into a "very severe cyclonic storm" over the Bay of Bengal, made landfall on India's eastern coast early Thursday, the Press Trust of India (PTI) news agency reported.

The Odisha state government has evacuated more than 300,000 people from coastal districts

Wind speeds of up to 150 kilometres per hour were reported, with gusts of up to 165 kph.

One man died in a house collapse while another was killed by a falling tree, an emergency services official was quoted as saying by PTI.

The Odisha state government evacuated more than 300,000 people from five coastal districts on Wednesday while local schools, colleges and childcare centres were ordered closed and fishermen advised not to go out to sea.

"We have already evacuated three lakh (300,000) people and more may be shifted to safer places in view of the very severe cyclone," PTI quoted Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik as saying.

Fishermen were advised not to go out to sea as Cyclomne Titli approached

They were accommodated in more than 1,100 cyclone shelters. Officials have also shifted 123 pregnant women to hospitals.

Trees and electricity poles were uprooted, officials told PTI, with roads and houses also damaged.

The Bangladeshi governments Rohingya commissioner Mohammad Abul Kalam said the cyclone had brought rain to Cox's Bazar over the last three days.

"We're on alert. We've taken adequate cautionary measures for the cyclone," Kalam told AFP, adding Dhaka had held meetings with agencies operating in the camps in preparation for the storm.
Demonstrators staged protests outside the Saudi embassy in Washington to demand justice for missing Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan pressed Saudi Arabia on Thursday to release images that prove Riyadh's claim missing journalist Jamal Khashoggi left the Saudi consulate in Istanbul alive, vowing Turkey would "not remain silent" in the mystery over his fate.

Khashoggi, a Washington Post contributor, vanished on October 2 after he went to the consulate to obtain official documents for his upcoming marriage.

Saudi Arabia has insisted the journalist left the building safely. But Turkish government sources said police believe Khashoggi was killed by an assassination team sent to Istanbul.

The Saudi consulate has said CCTV cameras were not working that day and has dismissed the murder claims as "baseless".

But in comments to Turkish reporters travelling on his presidential plane, Erdogan indicated that he did not find the Saudi explanations sufficient.

"Is it possible there were no camera systems in a consulate, in an embassy? Is it possible that there was no Saudi camera system where this incident took place?" Erdogan said, according to Hurriyet daily.

"If a bird flew, or a fly or a mosquito appeared, the systems would capture this; they (Saudi Arabia) have the most cutting-edge systems," he was quoted as saying.

Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi went missing on October 2

While unnamed Turkish officials quoted in the media have been giving sometimes macabre details of the alleged murder, Erdogan has so far been more circumspect.

He has said Saudi Arabia must prove its version of events but so far has stopped short of directly accusing the kingdom or laying the blame on powerful Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman.

"This is an incident which took place in our country. It's not possible for us to stay silent regarding an incident like this," Erdogan said.

"It would not be right for me to make any comment at this moment. But we have concerns."

Turkish police are looking into a team of 15 Saudis who were at the consulate at the same time as Khashoggi and arrived in Istanbul on October 2 on board two private planes.

The 15 have been described by Turkish media as an "assassination team" who took the footage with them.

Khashoggi was a former government adviser who fled Saudi Arabia in September 2017 and lived in the United States fearing arrest back home.

In his columns for the Washington Post and comments elsewhere, Khashoggi was critical of some policies of Mohammed bin Salman as well as Riyadh's role in the war in Yemen.
Detainees say many camp inhabitants suffer from psychological illnesses and medical services are often overwhelmed

Medecins Sans Frontieres Thursday called on Australia to immediately remove all asylum-seekers and refugees from the tiny Pacific nation of Nauru, saying the detainees were in a "complete state of hopelessness and despair".

The appeal came days after the medical charity was ordered by Nauru's government to cease its work treating asylum-seekers and locals suffering from mental health problems.

Nauru has been heavily criticised for its agreement to house Canberra's offshore detention camps, where asylum-seekers -- including women and children -- who try to reach Australia are held, sometimes for several years.

Detainees say medical services in the camps are limited and habitually overwhelmed because so many inhabitants suffer from psychological illnesses.

MSF Australia executive director Paul McPhun told reporters in Sydney that his organisation found the detainees were in a "complete state of hopelessness and despair" and have mental health conditions that are "absolutely devastating".

"Shockingly, of the refugee patients we treated, at least 78 had attempted suicide, had suicidal thoughts and inflicted self-harm -- and they are conservative numbers," he said.

McPhun, whose organisation worked in Naura from November last year, added that many children were suffering "traumatic withdrawal syndrome" and in a semi-comatose state -- unable to eat, drink or talk.

Canberra says its harsh policy -- which has also included sending asylum-seekers to Papua New Guinea's Manus Island -- is necessary to stop refugees and people smugglers from attempting the treacherous boat journey to Australia.

The United Nations, human rights groups and doctors have slammed conditions in the camps amid horror stories of abuse and suicides.

Canberra also bars the refugees from resettling in Australia and instead tries to send them to third countries like the United States.

The process has been slow, leaving some refugees languishing for years in the island camps.

"While the Australian government describes offshore detention as a humanitarian policy, our experience proves that there is nothing humanitarian about saving people from sea only to leave them in an open air prison on Nauru," McPhun added.

MSF says there are nearly 900 asylum-seekers in Nauru, including 115 children.

They have all been on the island for more than five years.
More than 2,000 bodies have been recovered after the quake-tsunami and around 5,000 are believed to be still buried under the ruins

Indonesia Thursday called off the grim search for those killed in the quake-tsunami, with no hope of retrieving around 5,000 bodies believed to be still buried under the ruins nearly two weeks after the disaster.

The magnitude 7.5-quake and a subsequent tsunami razed swathes of the city of Palu on Sulawesi island on September 28.

A total 2,065 bodies had been recovered since the twin disaster, the disaster agency said Thursday.

But authorities fear 5,000 more could be buried beneath the ruined city, where entire villages were swallowed.

Rescuers had struggled to find remains in the twisted wreckage, a job made worse as mud hardened and bodies decomposed in the tropical heat.

"The search and rescue (SAR) operation for the victims will end this Thursday afternoon," SAR field director in Palu, Bambang Suryo, told AFP.

Sulawesi quake-tsunami disaster

"Considering the difficulty on the ground, we really need to consider the health and safety of our rescue personnel."

Teams would however remain on standby in Palu until October 26, when a state of emergency is expected to be lifted.

The government earlier indicated that hard-hit areas would be left untouched as mass graves.

Parks and monuments are planned at three of these worst-hit areas -- Balaroa, Petobo and Jono Oge -- to commemorate the possibly thousands of dead who will never be found.

Those zones were all but destroyed by liquefaction, a phenomenon where the brute force of a quake turns soil to quicksand.

More than 200,000 people remain in dire need of humanitarian assistance in Palu, with clean drinking water and medical supplies still in short supply.

A total 2,065 bodies have been recovered since the twin disaster

The United Nations has sought $50.5 million for immediate relief to help the victims.

Planeloads of donations have flown into Palu from the United States, Australia, the European Union and the Philippines, among many others.

Nearly 80,000 people were displaced by the disaster, many sheltering in tents outside their destroyed homes.

United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres will tour the disaster zone with Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla on Friday.

- 'It will rise again' -

Central Sulawesi governor Longki Djanggola said the survivors would be supported in their time of need.

A ship lies stranded among quake-tsunami rubble in Wani, just north of Palu

"I am sure Central Sulawesi will rise again," he said in a statement.

Humanitarian efforts have accelerated into the disaster-ravaged city, but the recovery effort was criticised for moving too slowly.

Looters ransacked shops in the immediate aftermath of the disaster, as food and water ran dry and convoys bringing life-saving relief were slow to arrive.

Getting vital supplies to the affected areas proved hugely challenging as flights into Palu were limited by its small airport, leaving aid workers facing gruelling overland journeys.

Indonesia initially refused international help, saying the military had the situation in hand.

Thousands have been left homeless by the disaster

Four days after the disaster, once the picture became clearer, President Joko Widodo reluctantly agreed to allow in overseas aid.

But earlier this week foreign aid workers were told to withdraw their personnel, frustrating some groups keen to help out on the ground.

Some foreign rescue teams were unable to access the disaster zone and deploy quickly to help search for the dead and missing.

"We just came here because the government of Indonesia asked for assistance," said Marcus Butler from South African charity Gift of the Givers, which was denied permission to help with the search.

"They say there is no need for aid in Indonesia. But look at all these people," he told AFP.

Getting vital supplies to affected areas has proved hugely challenging

Indonesia sits along the world's most tectonically active region, and its 260 million people are vulnerable to earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanic eruptions.

Another earthquake rattled the region Thursday, killing at least three people in Java and sending tourists and IMF delegates in Bali for a major summit scrambling from hotels.

The 6.0-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Bali and Java islands in the early hours, jolting residents awake and sending them rushing into the streets.

A string of earthquakes in Lombok, in eastern Indonesia, killed more than 550 people over the summer.
US student Lara Alqasem sits for a hearing at the Tel Aviv district Court on October 11, 2018

A US student banned from entering Israel for allegedly having supported a pro-Palestinian boycott of the country appeared in court on Thursday to challenge the decision.

It is the latest in a series of cases drawing criticism of an Israeli law barring boycott supporters that opponents say violates freedom of expression.

Israeli authorities have also come under criticism in recent months over what some have seen as the politically motivated questioning of certain foreigners seeking to enter the country.

Lara Alqasem, 22, arrived at Israel's Ben-Gurion airport on October 2 to study for a master's degree at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, but was not allowed to enter.

She has been held at an immigration facility, choosing to challenge the entry ban rather than fly back to the United States.

A hearing was being held on her case in Tel Aviv district court on Thursday.

In March 2017, Israel's parliament passed a law banning the entry of supporters of the pro-Palestinian Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement, inspired by measures 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 while an undergraduate student at the University of Florida.

The group has supported boycott campaigns against Israel.

- US weighs in -

Alqasem has reportedly said she has since distanced herself from the movement, and supporters point to her willingness to enter Israel to study as proof.

Israeli media has quoted her mother, Karen Alqasem, as saying that she had enrolled for a one-year master's course in human rights at Hebrew University, for which she had an Israeli visa.

The university has called on the authorities to allow her in to study, while professors from the University of Florida have also supported her.

A professor of Jewish language and culture who taught Alqasem in Florida wrote in a letter to the editor to Israeli newspaper Haaretz that she was "an outstanding student, curious, with an open mind".

Dror Abend-David added that she was "someone who very much wanted to study international relations in Israel to develop her own opinion on the conflict."

The United States said Wednesday it supports freedom of expression and that its embassy in Jerusalem was offering Alqasem consular assistance.

"As a general principle, we value freedom of expression even in cases where we don't agree with the political views expressed and this is such a case," State Department deputy spokesman Robert Palladino told reporters.

"Our strong opposition to the boycotts and sanctions of the state of Israel is well-known," he said.

But he added: "Israel is a sovereign nation that can determine who enters."

Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Gilad Erdan has said that he would consider allowing Alqasem to take up her university place if she publicly denounces BDS.
The project dubbed 'No Time to Sleep' saw actor Sarmad Khoosat embody 'Prisoner Z' in his last hours in this world This handout photo taken on October 10, 2018 and released by Justice Project Pakistan shows a performance by Pakistani artist Sarmad Khoosat during a 24-hour live performance as "Prisoner Z" in isolation, in Lahore.The project, dubbed "No Time to Sleep", saw actor Sarmad Khoosat embody "Prisoner Z", locked in isolation for his last hours in this world, in a live-streamed 24-hour performance which ended at the stroke of midnight on October 10.

How does a condemned person feel in the 24 hours before execution? In Pakistan, one of the world's top executioners, an unprecedented artistic performance lays bare what happens when a life is ended behind prison walls.

The project, dubbed "No Time to Sleep", saw actor Sarmad Khoosat embody "Prisoner Z", locked in isolation for his last hours in this world, in a live-streamed 24-hour performance which ended at the stroke of midnight Wednesday.

His story is inspired by a real case, that of an inmate named Zulfiqar Ali Khan, who spent 17 years on death row before being executed in 2015.

The project was launched by the Justice Project Pakistan (JPP), an organisation which seeks to defend the most vulnerable prisoners.

Its goal is to show "the sheer humanity of how, what a person goes through... what it actually takes up front and close when the state decides to take a human life," said Sarah Belal, JPP director and the lawyer for Zulfiqar Ali Khan.

As the performance began at 12.00am on Wednesday, Z sat in his cell, faithfully reconstructed in a Lahore studio, and awaited his final hour.

European Union ambassador to Pakistan Jean-Francois Cautain screened the project at his residence in Islamabad

Cameras broadcast his movements in real time on Dawn newspaper's website.

Through them, Pakistanis watched Z talking to his guard, reading the Koran, and receiving the last, heartbreaking visit from his family.

"We give permission for the state to execute in our name, so if we're going to do that it's our duty as citizens to be educated about how it's actually done," Belal said.

Executions generally take place "in the dark of night behind prisons... so it's really removed from the society that's taken that decision".

The performance, unprecedented in Pakistan, was shown in universities and captivated social media, becoming a top trend in Pakistan and spurring widespread debate.

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Many described watching the "jaw-dropping" performance for hours.

"It took me some time to recover from #notimetosleep - & I still don't have the right words to express the impact this screening has had. I've never felt more confident in my choice to be against the death penalty," said one viewer, Daanika Kamal.

Others criticised JPP for focusing on the experiences of the condemned man.

"Do you understand the destruction and devastation, a murder causes to the victim and the family and heirs of the victim? Or is your sympathy for the criminal alone?" tweeted Ismael Malek.

- 'Death is no deterrent' -

Excluding China, which classifies its executions as a state secret, Amnesty International says Iran, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Pakistan -- in that order -- carried out 84 percent of all executions in 2017.

Since 2004, 4,500 people have been sentenced to death in Pakistan, almost one per day, according to statistics gathered by JPP -- and that time period includes a six-year moratorium on executions.

Sarah Belal, the lawyer for condemned prisoner Zulfiqar Ali Khan who inspired the performance, said it is designed to show the humanity behind an execution

The moratorium was controversially lifted shortly after a bloody attack on a school in Peshawar in 2014.

Since then, according to JPP, Pakistan has hanged 496 people, among them some of the school attackers.

But the executions were carried out behind closed doors to the anger of grieving parents, who demanded the hangings be public -- a grim demonstration of support for the death penalty in a traumatised country which has lost so much to militant violence.

The list of crimes punishable by death in Pakistan is long -- taking in 33 offences including blasphemy, extra-marital sex, drug trafficking, and, oddly enough, "sabotage of the railroad".

The performance captivated social media in Pakistan, spurring widespread debate

"(The) death penalty is usually presented as a means to try to curtail crimes, but we know that it does not work," said Jean-Francois Cautain, ambassador of the European Union in Pakistan.

He regularly discusses the issue with Pakistani authorities, he said, trying to convince them that more violence will not help victims.

Belal said there was "a lot of hope" after the performance. "We definitely feel public opinion shifting."

But it has been hard to watch, she added. Zulfiqar Ali Khan was her first death penalty client.

"I'm reliving the memory of this prisoner that changed the course of my life."
Capital punishment is currently mandatory in Malaysia for murder, kidnapping, possession of firearms and drug trafficking, among other crimes

Malaysia's cabinet has agreed to abolish the death penalty, a senior minister said Thursday, with more than 1,200 people on death row set to win a reprieve following a groundswell of opposition to capital punishment.

Capital punishment is currently mandatory for murder, kidnapping, possession of firearms and drug trafficking, among other crimes, and is carried out by hanging -- a legacy of British colonial rule.

Communications and multimedia minister Gobind Singh Deo confirmed the cabinet had resolved to end the death penalty.

"I hope the law will be amended soon," he told AFP.

The government decided to scrap capital punishment because the Malaysian public had shown they were against the death penalty, Gobind said.

Government minister Liew Vui Keong said earlier Thursday there would be a moratorium on executions for inmates currently on death row, according to local media.

"Since we are abolishing the sentence, all executions should not be carried out," the Star newspaper quoted him as saying.

Liew said the amended law would be put before parliament next Monday.

The moratorium on the death penalty would save two women accused of assassinating the estranged half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il last year

The moratorium on the death penalty would save, among others, two women accused of assassinating the estranged half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il last year.

A Malaysian court last year ruled the case could proceed against Indonesian national Siti Aisyah and Doan Thi Huong of Vietnam after Kim Jong Nam's murder at Kuala Lumpur Airport.

Australian citizen Maria Elvira Pinto Exposto, who was found guilty of drug smuggling by an appeals court in May, will also win a reprieve.

The 54-year-old grandmother was arrested in December 2014 after she was found in possession of 1.1 kilograms (2.4 pounds) of crystal methamphetamine while passing through Kuala Lumpur on a flight from Shanghai to Melbourne.

- 'Barbarous, cruel' -

In April last year, human rights group Amnesty International ranked Malaysia 10th in the use of death penalty among the 23 countries that carried out capital punishment in 2016.

Between 2007 and 2017, 35 individuals were hanged, the New Straits Times newspaper said.

A total of 1,267 prisoners are on death row, making up 2.7 percent of the 60,000-strong prison population.

The decision was welcomed by rights advocates, who said there was never any proof that mandatory death sentences deterred offenders from violent or drug-related crimes.

"The death penalty is barbarous, and unimaginably cruel," N. Surendran, an advisor with the Lawyers for Liberty rights group, said in a statement.

Once capital punishment is scrapped, Malaysia will have the moral authority to fight for the lives of Malaysians facing death sentences abroad, he added.

Neighbouring Singapore, also a former British colony, maintains the death penalty for certain crimes such as murder and drug trafficking.

Only 23 countries retain the death penalty, with China believed to be the "world's top executioner", according to Amnesty International in its report last month on capital punishment in 2017.

There were 993 executions recorded in 2017 in 23 countries, but Amnesty's numbers do not include the "thousands" it says are believed to have been executed in China, which classifies this information as a state secret.

Excluding China, Amnesty says Iran, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Pakistan -- in that order -- carried out 84 percent of all executions in 2017.
Demonstrators staged protests outside the Saudi embassy in Washington to demand justice for missing Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi

Turkey and the United States on Thursday ratcheted up the pressure on Saudi Arabia to explain how a journalist vanished after entering its Istanbul consulate last week, with President Donald Trump declaring he "had to find out what happened".

The Washington Post, which Khashoggi wrote for, added to the still unresolved mystery by reporting Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had ordered an operation to "lure" the critical journalist back home.

Khashoggi, a Saudi national whose articles have criticised the prince, has not been seen since October 2 when he went to the consulate in Istanbul to obtain official documents for his upcoming marriage.

Turkish officials have said he was killed -- reportedly by a 15-man "assassination team" that arrived on two planes -- but Riyadh denies that.

The disappearance has captivated the world but also threatens to harm Saudi's relations with both Ankara and Washington, as well as hurt efforts by Prince Mohammed to improve the country's image.

CCTV video from Istanbul's Ataturk airport made available by Turkish Newspaper Sabah allegedly shows suspects in the case of missing Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan challenged Saudi Arabia to provide CCTV images to back up its account that Khashoggi had left the consulate safely, indicating he did not find the current Saudi explanations sufficient.

"Is it possible there were no camera systems in a consulate, in an embassy?" he asked.

"If a bird flew, or a fly or a mosquito appeared, the systems would capture this; they (Saudi Arabia) have the most cutting-edge systems," he was quoted as saying.

The consulate said CCTV cameras were not working that day and dismissed the murder claims as "baseless".

- 'Demanding everything' -

The case is also threatening the strong relationship the Trump administration has built with Prince Mohammed, who wants to turn the oil-rich conservative kingdom into a hub for innovation and reform.

The two sides have worked together in confronting Iran despite growing concern over the prince's campaign against dissidents, which critics say has revealed the true face of his rule.

Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi went missing on October 2

In a reversal from Washington's initial low-key response, Trump expressed determination to get to the bottom of the matter.

"We can't let it happen. And we're being very tough and we have investigators over there and we're working with Turkey and frankly we're working with Saudi Arabia," Trump said in an interview with "Fox and Friends".

"I have to find out what happened," Trump said. "We're probably getting closer than you might think," he added.

However, a Turkish diplomatic source quoted by the state-run Anadolu news agency denied US investigators had been tasked to work on the case.

Jeremy Hunt, the foreign secretary of key Saudi ally and trade partner, Britain, warned there would be "serious consequences" if the allegations were true.

"People who have long thought of themselves as Saudi's friends are saying this is a very, very serious matter," he told AFP.

Khashoggi is a former government adviser who fled Saudi Arabia in September 2017 and lived in the US fearing arrest back home.

In his columns for the Washington Post and comments elsewhere, he was critical of some policies of Mohammed bin Salman as well as Riyadh's role in the war in Yemen.

- 'Cannot remain silent' -

While unnamed Turkish officials quoted in the media have been giving sometimes macabre details of the alleged murder, Erdogan has so far been more circumspect.

Details of the alleged murder of Jamal Khashoggi

He has said Saudi Arabia must prove its version of events but so far has stopped short of directly accusing the kingdom or laying the blame on the powerful crown prince.

Erdogan said it would "not be right" to comment yet but said he had "concerns".

"It's not possible for us to stay silent regarding an incident like this," he said.

Turkish authorities have been given permission to search the consulate -- Saudi sovereign territory -- but this has not yet taken place.

Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Turkish prosecutors had began an "intense and comprehensive investigation" which needed the cooperation of Saudi Arabia.

The Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul said CCTV cameras were not working that day and dismissed the murder claims as "baseless"

Ankara and Riyadh have worked over recent years to maintain cordial relations despite disputes on key issues, such as the ousting of the Islamist Egyptian government and the blockade on Turkey's key regional ally Qatar.

Relations between Turkey and the United States, meanwhile, have been in crisis over the two-year detention of US pastor Andrew Brunson. But should he be released at his next hearing Friday it would help restore confidence between the NATO allies.

Friends of Khashoggi told the Washington Post that for several months, senior Saudi officials were offering him protection, "even a high-level job working for the government" if the critic returned to the kingdom. Khashoggi was sceptical of such offers.
Beijing has long had a strained relationship with Xinjiang's mostly Muslim minority groups

China on Thursday accused the United States of seeking to "disturb" its security policies after a US congressional report said Beijing's mass internment of Muslim minorities may constitute "crimes against humanity".

The report by the Congressional-Executive Commission on China described the situation of human rights in China as "dire" and worsening, a trend epitomised by the internment of as many as one million Uighurs and other ethnic minorities in the far west Xinjiang region.

In response, China's foreign ministry characterised reports of its policies in the region as "rumours and groundless accusations".

Chinese policies "aim to safeguard the social stability and security of Xinjiang and are supported by the people," foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang told reporters during a regular press briefing.

"Relevant parties want to disturb such efforts. This is futile," he said.

Beijing has a long history of accusing the US of fomenting anti-China "separatism" in Xinjiang, alleging Washington has sponsored groups advocating for the region's independence in an attempt to weaken China.

The region -- which comprises one-sixth of China's land area -- is a jumping off point for the country's ambitious new "Belt and Road" project aimed at opening up new overland routes to increase access to markets across Asia and Europe.

Maintaining stability there has become a priority for the country's leadership, which seeks to prevent any disruptions to its economic ambitions.

Beijing has long had a strained relationship with Xinjiang's mostly Muslim minority groups, particularly the Turkic Uighurs, which make up about half of the region's population and bridle under the central government's draconian security policies.

The region experienced a brief increase in attacks following deadly riots in the regional capital Urumqi in 2009.

Beijing says its policies towards the region have effectively eliminated the problem.

But critics say that the measures are unsustainable and will stoke resentment as China seeks to assimilate Xinjiang's minority population and suppress religious and cultural practises that conflict with Communist ideology and the dominant Han culture.

China has sought to achieve that goal by detaining hundreds of thousands in a network of shadowy "re-education" centres where they are force-fed propaganda and drilled on Chinese language skills, according to rights groups.

Beijing has denied the existence of the centres, while admitting that some people accused of minor crimes have been put in correctional programmes where they receive job training.

But on Tuesday, Xinjiang updated its counter-terrorism and anti-extremism regulations to codify such centres, saying that people accused of minor crimes related to terrorism would be allowed to voluntarily enter the facilities instead of being jailed.

But there may be little difference between the two.

In July, a former teacher at one of the centres told a court in Kazakhstan that "in China they call it a political camp but really it was a prison in the mountains."
The Soyuz rocket failed shortly after take-off

A two-man crew bound for the International Space Station was forced to make an emergency landing when a Soyuz rocket failed shortly after blast-off on Thursday, in a major setback for Russia's beleaguered space industry.

US astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksey Ovchinin were rescued without injuries in Kazakhstan.

The manned spacecraft incident is the first of its kind in Russia's post-Soviet history.

The Russian space industry has suffered a series of problems in recent years, including the loss of a number of satellites and other spacecraft.

"The emergency rescue system worked, the vessel was able to land in Kazakhstan... the crew are alive," the Russian space agency Roscosmos said in a tweet.

"An accident with the booster, two minutes, 45 seconds," the voice of Ovchinin could be heard saying calmly in live-streamed footage of the launch from Kazakhstan's Baikonur cosmodrome.

Hague and Ovchinin were rescued without injuries in Kazakhstan

The incident came as the rocket was travelling about 4,700 miles (7,563 kilometres), 119 seconds into the voyage, according to NASA.

"Shortly after launch, there was an anomaly with the booster and the launch ascent was aborted, resulting in a ballistic landing of the spacecraft," the American agency said in a statement.

Rescue workers reached the site of the emergency landing and evacuated Ovchinin and Hague. Roscosmos published pictures of the men on a sofa in the Kazakh city of Zhezkazgan, having their blood pressure taken.

The descent was sharper than usual meaning the crew was subjected to a greater G-force, but they have been prepared for this scenario in training, according to a commentator on NASA's video livestream of the launch.

"We're tightening our seatbelts," Ovchinin said on the video.

"That was a short flight."

"Thank God the cosmonauts are alive," Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists.

The Soyuz rocket was carrying US astronaut Nick Hague of NASA and Alexey Ovchinin of Roscosmos

Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov told news agencies that Russia would suspend manned flights.

Roscosmos's online stream of the launch cut out shortly after lift-off.

- Hole on the ISS -

There were two similar Soviet-era accidents involving the Soyuz spacecraft, which are still used to ferry crews to and from the ISS.

In 1975, Oleg Makarov and Vasily Lazarev made a successful emergency landing in Siberia's Altai mountains following problems during booster separation.

Vladimir Titov and Gennady Strekalov survived a fire during launch in Kazakhstan in 1983.

Former military pilots Ovchinin and Hague had been set to join Alexander Gerst of the European Space Agency, NASA's Serena Aunon-Chancellor and Sergey Prokopyev of Roscosmos following a six-hour flight.

Hague and Ovchinin reported to Roscosmos head Dmitry Rogozin before boarding the spacecraft and were greeted by him after their emergency landing

The International Space Station -- a rare point of cooperation between Moscow and Washington -- has been orbiting the Earth at roughly 28,000 kilometres per hour since 1998 and will mark its 20th birthday in November.

But even the space station has proved a source of controversy in recent weeks.

Russian space officials have said they are investigating whether a hole that caused an oxygen leak on the ISS was drilled deliberately by astronauts.

The hole was detected in August and quickly sealed up, but Russian newspapers said Roscosmos was probing the possibility that US crewmates had sabotaged the space station to get a sick colleague sent back home.

Dmitry Rogozin, a firebrand nationalist politician who this year was appointed by President Vladimir Putin to head Roscosmos, said on Twitter he had ordered a state commission to probe the accident.

He was shown talking to the astronauts after they arrived in Zhezkazgan.

The politician has clashed with the US, suggesting American astronauts should use trampolines instead of Russian rockets to reach the ISS after Washington imposed sanctions over Moscow's 2014 annexation of Crimea.
Passengers walk on the platform at Mecca train station on October 11, 2018 as Saudi Arabia's new high-speed railway opens

Saudi Arabia's new high-speed railway opened to the public on Thursday, whisking Muslim pilgrims and other travellers between Mecca and Medina, Islam's holiest cities.

The Haramain High Speed Rail system will transport passengers 450 kilometres (280 miles) via the Red Sea port of Jeddah at speeds of up to 300 kilometres per hour.

Two trains, each carrying 417 passengers, departed from Mecca and Medina at 8 am (0500 GMT), according to the state-run Saudi Press Agency.

Two daily services are initially planned in each direction, it said.

Saudi King Salman on October 25 inaugurated the high-speed railway, which local officials described as the biggest transportation project in the region.

The new link will slash the travel time Mecca and Medina from several hours to 120 minutes, transport officials said.

Passengers wait at Mecca train station on October 11, 2018 as Saudi Arabia's new high-speed railway opens

The rail project, dogged by several delays, was built at a cost of more than $16 billion, according to Saudi media.

In 2011, Saudi Arabia signed a deal for a Spanish consortium to build the rail track, supply 35 high-speed trains and handle a 12-year maintenance contract.

The kingdom is boosting its infrastructure spending and expanding its railways, including with a $22.5 billion metro system under construction in the capital Riyadh, as it seeks to diversify its oil-dependent economy.

The annual hajj pilgrimage, which is to be held in September next year, attracts more than two million Muslims to the Mecca region.
A file picture taken on January 18, 2018 from the Israeli side of the border with the Gaza Strip shows a tunnel leading into Israel from the Palestinian enclave

Israel's military said it destroyed a Hamas-built tunnel extending into its territory from the Gaza Strip on Thursday that was intended for attacks.

Military spokesman Jonathan Conricus said it was the 15th such tunnel discovered and destroyed by Israel in the past year.

There were no indications of casualties linked to the destruction of the tunnel around one kilometre in length (less than a mile) and which originated from the Khan Yunis area of southern Gaza.

It extended around 200 metres (650 feet) into Israeli territory, Conricus said, adding Israel's army had been monitoring its construction for several months.

He declined to elaborate on how the tunnel was destroyed, but said "combat engineering means" were used.

Conricus called it a "complex tunnel system with various connections and branches."

Israel has in recent months employed technology to detect and destroy tunnels without bombing them, including by filling them with material to make them unusable.

Israel is also building an underground wall around the blockaded Gaza Strip to stop tunnel digging. Work on the massive project is expected to be completed by the end of 2019, Conricus said.

Conricus alleged Hamas used new methods in building the tunnel destroyed Thursday that seemed intended to evade Israel's detection methods.

He declined however to provide specifics, but noted it was equipped with electricity and communication hardware.

The destruction of the tunnel comes amid months of protests and clashes along the Gaza border that have raised fears of a fourth war since 2008 between Israel and Hamas, the Islamist movement that runs the Palestinian enclave.

At least 198 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire in Gaza since the protests began on March 30, while one Israeli soldier has been shot dead by a Palestinian sniper in that time.

Israel says its actions during the protests and clashes are necessary to defend the border and stop infiltrations and attacks, which it accuses Hamas of seeking to carry out.

Palestinians and rights groups say protesters have been shot while posing little threat.

The last conflict between Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza in 2014 was waged in part over tunnels that were used to carry out attacks within Israel.
Singapore took the top spot in the new Human Capital Index which ranks countries on how well children are prepared for the future

Asian nations got the highest marks in a World Bank ranking launched Thursday that names and shames countries on how much they invest in their own children, saying neglect was dooming millions to sub-par lives.

Singapore, South Korea and Japan took the top three spots in the World Bank's Human Capital Index, released at the institution's annual meeting in Bali.

They were followed by Hong Kong, Finland, Ireland, and Australia. Sweden, the Netherlands and Canada round out the top 10.

European countries dominated the next 10, while the United States came in 24th and China 46th.

Rather than using traditional measures such as GDP, the index ranks countries on how well children are prepared for the future, with an emphasis on factors like schooling and healthcare.

The World Bank said those considerations often get lost amid other national political priorities, yet were vital to fostering high-quality economic growth and development.

World Bank president Jim Yong Kim told a press conference on the Indonesian resort island that one-quarter of the planet's young people are at risk of "chronic malnutrition and illness that result in stunting".

He said this "permanently affects a childs cognitive development, school performance, and future income".

Africa dominated the bottom half of the 157-nation ranking system.

The worst ranking went to Chad, followed by South Sudan, Niger, Mali and Liberia.

"If a country's children grow up unable to meet the needs of the future workplace, that country will find itself incapable of employing its people, unable to increase its output, and utterly unprepared to compete economically," Jim said.

"Policies to build human capital are some of the smartest investments that countries can make to boost long-term, inclusive economic growth."

Jim said the bank hopes the ranking and the data provided for each country can provide nations with a "stronger argument" when weighing whether to put resources into policies that benefit children.

The World Bank said the index shows 56 percent of children born today across the world will lose more than half their potential lifetime earnings due to inadequate government policies.

The Human Capital Index purports to measure the amount of "human capital that a child born today can expect to attain by age 18" by assessing a range of national conditions and factors.
Eight soldiers died in twin attacks on the Burkinabe army headquarters and the French embassy in March

An alarming increase in deadly jihadist attacks has led to expanded French military action in Burkina Faso, a marked shift after years of reticence by the west African nation to call in help from its former colonial master.

Until now France's 4,500-member Barkhane anti-terror force in West and Central Africa has intervened mainly in Mali, while focussing on training in Burkina Faso and the other nations of the G5 Sahel military alliance -- Chad, Mauritania and Niger.

But over the past two weeks, more than 20 members of Burkina Faso's security forces have been killed in the country's restless north and east.

After rebels raided a police station in the north last week, officials asked Barkhane's command for air strikes, which killed around 10 of the attackers as they fled.

It also deployed two attack helicopters to the suspected rebel haven in the heavily forested Pama region last weekend after a Burkinabe soldier was killed by an IED, military sources said.

The new theatre for operations highlight the challenges facing France as it tries to contain the jihadist threat in the region, which has taken a toll on economic growth and helped fuel the wave of migrants fleeing toward Europe.

Paris's strategy has been based on trying to build up local African forces in the stuttering G5 Sahel alliance, but the growing instability in Burkina now looks likely to draw its troops into more frontline fighting.

French Defence Minister Florence Parly sought to put a positive spin on the prospect of deeper French involvement last week during a visit to Chad.

"A pragmatic and constructive step has been taken," she said.

- New strain? -

The new front could put further strain on the Barkhane force, whose command was taken over two months ago by General Frederic Blachon.

Yet officials are playing down such risks for now, pointing to the rapid air responses possible from the Barkhane air base in Niger's capital of Niamey.

The Barkhane force has intervened mainly in Mali

"A plan can be adapted," Blachon said recently, adding that Burkina Faso's government "will have the same support that we give to others in the G5."

"We always maintain sufficient intervention capacity to lend support" outside Mali, a senior military officer said in Paris, requesting anonymity to discuss military strategy.

Burkina's requests for help underline the worsening security situation in the country due to the state of the country's armed forces and the difficulty in containing numerous armed jihadist groups operating in the region.

Since the 2014 ouster of Burkina leader Blaise Compaore, who used elite forces as his personal guard, the government has been wary of giving the military too big a role in a country scarred by several coup attempts.

But the attacks are now jeopardising President Roch Marc Christian Kabore's vow to improve security, education, health and drinking water in the country's Sahel region.

French officials have made no secret of their concerns about the violence, and the risk of contagion to countries further south like Ghana and Ivory Coast.

- Special forces -

Paris has for years stationed special forces in the Burkina capital Ouagadougou, who intervened after twin attacks last March on the French embassy and Burkina's military headquarters which left eight soldiers dead.

That attack was claimed by the Group to Support Islam and Muslims (GSIM), one of several prowling across the vast desert expanses of the Sahel.

But French forces are still trying to identify the insurgents operating with increasing boldness in the country's east.

"It appears they are not with Ansarul Islam," a jihadist group based in the country's north which has carried out several attacks against the army along the 1,000-kilometre (600-mile) border with Mali, a Barkhane intelligence officer said.

"But we don't yet have enough information about how many there are, or where they're coming from," he said.
Authorities in Myanmar say more than 100 Rohingya have returned from camps in Bangladesh in recent months

A Rohingya family of five has returned to Myanmar from Bangladesh, sources said Thursday, a rare development while a large-scale repatriation deal remains stalled.

More than 720,000 of Myanmar's stateless Muslim minority fled a brutal military crackdown in August last year, taking shelter in crowded camps in Bangladesh.

There they recounted tales of rape, murder and arson as villages in Rakhine state were burned to the ground.

United Nations investigators have said senior Myanmar military officials should be prosecuted for genocide, but the country has rejected these calls, insisting it was defending itself against militants.

Myanmar and Bangladesh signed a deal to bring back the Rohingya but many fear returning without guaranteed rights such as citizenship, access to healthcare and freedom of movement.

Authorities in Myanmar say more than 100 displaced Rohingya have returned in recent months though rights groups have questioned whether the returnees did so voluntarily.

The family of five "displaced people" came back to Rakhine state on Wednesday morning, state mouthpiece Global New Light of Myanmar reported Thursday.

Myanmar's government has trumpeted each return but Bangladesh insists that the official process has not commenced.

The Bangladesh government's Rohingya camp commissioner Mohammad Abul Kalam said he had only heard about the family leaving, but has not received official confirmation of their return to Myanmar.

"Anyone can go back if he/she wants," he said.

"But formal repatriation has not begun."

Abdur Rahim, a Rohingya camp leader in Bangladesh, said the family had been staying in the Balukhali camp in Cox Bazar district.

"They returned to their home...near Maungdaw township in Rakhine yesterday," he said.

UN agencies, which signed a deal with the Myanmar government to assess conditions on the ground in northern Rakhine, said they had carried out an initial survey in September of about two dozen villages.

"Mistrust, fear of neighbouring communities and a sense of insecurity are prevalent in many areas," they said in a statement.

burs-joe/dhc/rma
A demonstrator dressed as Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman with "blood" on his hands protests outside the Saudi Embassy in Washington on October 8, 2018

President Donald Trump said Thursday that US investigators were working with both Ankara and Riyadh to probe the suspicious disappearance in Turkey of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

"We can't let it happen. And we're being very tough and we have investigators over there and we're working with Turkey and frankly we're working with Saudi Arabia," Trump said in an interview with "Fox and Friends."

"I have to find out what happened," Trump said, when asked if US-Saudi relations would be jeopardized by the disappearance of Khashoggi, a US resident who Turkish officials suspect was murdered after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

"We're probably getting closer than you might think," he added.

Khashoggi, a Washington Post contributor who lived in the United States, vanished October 2 after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul to obtain a document needed to marry his Turkish fiancee, Hatice Cengiz, who waited for him outside.

Turkish police say he was murdered inside the consulate by a 15-member Saudi team that flew into the country just ahead of Khashoggi's scheduled appointment, and left the same day, according to Turkish government sources.

Saudi Arabia insists Khashoggi exited the consulate after a brief visit.

"He went in and doesn't look like he came out. Certainly doesn't look like he is around," Trump told "Fox and Friends."

The Washington Post, citing US intelligence intercepts, reported that Saudi Arabia's crown prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered an operation to trap Khashoggi.

The United States has called for a transparent investigation, amid warnings by US lawmakers of serious repercussions if suspicions of a murder were borne out.

"That would be a very sad thing and we'll probably know in the very short future," Trump said. "We have incredible people and incredible talent working on it. We don't like it. I don't like it. No good."

Khashoggi has been a critic of Saudi policy, especially its intervention in Yemen's brutal civil war, under the crown prince.

Trump, and son-in-law Jared Kushner, have been personally close to Mohammed bin Salman, since turning to Saudi Arabia as a pivotal ally in the Middle East against Iran.
In this file photo taken on December 15, 2014, Jamal Khashoggi, looks on during a press conference in the Bahraini capital Manama

Riyadh's silence since shrugging off as "baseless" reports of a state-sponsored killing of Saudi columnist Jamal Khashoggi is a risky strategy amid increasing pressure from key allies such as the US, analysts said Thursday.

A day after demanding that Saudi Arabia provide answers to Khashoggi's disappearance, US President Donald Trump said Thursday American investigators were working with both Ankara and Riyadh to probe the affair. Turkey swiftly denied Trump's comments.

But Britain's foreign secretary warned Riyadh faces "serious consequences" if reports that Khashoggi was murdered turn out to be true.

Khashoggi, a Washington Post contributor who was critical of some of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's policies and had been living in self-imposed exile since late 2017, vanished after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2 to obtain official documents for his upcoming marriage.

Turkish officials quoted in the Turkish and US media have said he was killed, but Riyadh denied that allegation as "baseless" in a Twitter message and since then has maintained its silence.

- 'Reputational damage' -

Updated graphic on the alleged murder of Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul, Turkey

Saudi Arabia is being cautious about making official statements, "as other countries are," said Aleksandar Mitreski, a security and defence analyst.

"The risk here is that by remaining silent the kingdom may look guilty in the eyes of international media," Mitreski, researcher at the University of Sydney, told AFP.

Riyadh has also not commented on US and Turkish media reports that an "assassination team" was sent to Istanbul or claims that Prince Mohammed issued an order to "lure" Khashoggi back to the kingdom.

"However, making an official statement that can be questioned as new evidence emerges could be even more damaging for Saudi Arabia," said Mitreski.

Earlier this week, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged the kingdom to release footage of the journalist leaving the Saudi consulate, to back up its contention that he left the building safely.

A frame grab on October 10, 2018 taken from a police CCTV video made available through Turkish Newspaper Sabah allegedly shows a black van in front of the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2 the day that Jamal Khashoggi disappeared

Turkish police are looking into a team of 15 Saudis who they say were at the consulate at the same time as Khashoggi and arrived in Istanbul on October 2 on board two private planes. Turkish media have said the 15 were an "assassination team" and that they took the consulate's footage with them.

The consulate has said the CCTV cameras were not working that day.

The kingdom has "done itself few favours by flatly rejecting any responsibility for Khashoggi's disappearance," said James Dorsey, an expert in international affairs.

"Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has suffered significant reputational damage irrespective of Khashoggi's fate, raising the question of his viability if Saudi Arabia were condemned internationally," Dorsey, a fellow at Singapore's S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, told AFP.

- 'Serious consequences' -

With Khashoggi's finance Hatice Cengiz calling on the US to help find him, the mystery has captivated the world and hurt efforts by the young crown prince to improve the image of his country with his reform drive.

US President Donald Trump (R) holds a defence sales chart with Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in the Oval Office during the prince's first visit to the US since becoming heir to the throne on March 20, 2018

"I have to find out what happened," Trump said Thursday, when asked if US-Saudi relations would be jeopardised.

"We're probably getting closer than you might think," he added.

Much is at stake.

A major three-day investment conference hosted by Prince Mohammed and due to be held in Riyadh from October 23-25 with invited international leaders such as US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and IMF chief Christine Lagarde is going ahead, organisers said.

But Britain's Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt told AFP he was very concerned about Khashoggi's fate.

"People who have long thought of themselves as Saudi's friends are saying this is a very, very serious matter," Hunt said.

"If these allegations are true, there will be serious consequences because our friendships and our partnerships are based on shared values."

Trump spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said National Security Advisor John Bolton, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Trump's close aide and son-in-law Jared Kushner had all spoken to the crown prince over the past few days.

While Saudi Arabia has in the past days not officially commented, local media has reported that the kingdom is a subject of a smear campaign by political rivals.

Saudi-owned Al-Sharq al-Awsat cited on Thursday an unnamed official source as saying there was "no evidence" that Saudi Arabia was behind the alleged killing.

The 33-year-old crown prince, who was named heir to the throne in June 2017, has garnered international attention with his rapid rise to power as well as social and economic reforms.

While he has been lauded by some for pursuing changes such as lifting a decades-long ban on women driving and clipping the wings of the long-feared religious police, others have criticised his recent crackdown on political dissent.
Harvey Weinstein (C) arrives at Manhattan Criminal Court for a hearing on October 11, 2018 in New York City

A New York judge on Thursday dismissed one of six sexual assault allegations against disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein, which defense lawyers claim taints the entire case against him.

The 66-year-old father of five, out on a $1 million bail and forced to wear a GPS monitor, has long pleaded not guilty to six counts allegedly committed against three women in 2004, 2006 and 2013.

He walked into the criminal court in downtown Manhattan dressed in a dark suit, tie and white shirt for the brief hearing that scored at least an initial win for his defense attorney Ben Brafman.

The tossed count relates to Lucia Evans, who has accused Weinstein of forcing her to perform oral sex in 2004.

It leaves Weinstein facing allegations largely related to two women, but Brafman argued that Evans' "perjury" also taints the first count against Weinstein, if not the entire case.

"When one of the principle allegations in this indictment is predicated on perjured testimony that's a very big, important development," Brafman told reporters.

"I think this grand jury is irreparably damaged. I think the case against Mr Weinstein is, in my view, not sustainable," Brafman added, saying he would submit additional motions in November.

"I'm not certain he will have any choice but to dismiss the entire indictment against Harvey Weinstein," Brafman said.

Brafman asked in August for the entire case against Weinstein be thrown out, disclosing dozens of intimate emails between his client and his alleged rape victim, in which she said "I love you."

Weinstein has been accused of misconduct by dozens of women, allegations that torpedoed his career and helped launch the #MeToo movement.
Female pairs of mice produced viable babies, whose offspring went on to have their own progeny

A team of researchers has produced viable offspring from same-sex pairs of mice, using a novel technology that involves stem cells altered to remove certain genes.

While the applications of the research are largely theoretical for now, they could include improving existing cloning methods for mammals and even eventually fertility treatments for same-sex couples.

The study, published Thursday in Cell Stem Cell journal, is the first time the method has been successfully implemented, though previous research has looked at other ways to produce babies from same-sex pairs.

But while the team was able to produce viable babies from female pairs of mice, whose offspring went on to have their own progeny, the mice produced from male pairs fared less well.

They survived only 48 hours after birth, despite a complicated process of gene manipulation intended to eliminate abnormalities resulting from the same-sex reproductive process.

While same-sex reproduction might seem an unusual avenue for research, many species are able to reproduce via methods that do not involve a male-female pairing.

Species including reptiles, amphibians and fish can reproduce with just a single parent, but the process is more complicated for mammals.

"We were interested in the question of why mammals can only undergo sexual reproduction," co-senior author Qi Zhou of the Chinese Academy of Sciences told the journal.

There are thorny ethical questions on how new gene editing methods could potentially be used in humans

This field of research treads on tricky ethical ground, with previous studies involving genetic editing and novel methods of reproduction prompting fears about the implications if similar processes were eventually applied to humans.

- 'Imprinting regions' -

During the reproduction process, mammals mostly inherit two sets of each gene, one from their mother and one from their father.

But a small subset of genes, known as "imprinted" genes, are inherited from only one parent.

For these genes, the set produced by the other parent is effectively inactive, having been "shut off" when it is transmitted.

If this "shutting off" process does not function correctly, the offspring could suffer from abnormalities or even die.

Mixing genetic material from same-sex couples runs the risk of the babies receiving two sets of "imprinted" genes.

So the study used haploid embryonic stem cells, which resemble "primordial germ cells, the precursors of eggs and sperm," said co-senior author Baoyang Hu.

They then altered the genetic makeup of the cells, deleting "imprinting regions" to effectively mimic the "shutting off" process in normal reproduction.

In the case of the female mice, three "imprinting regions" were deleted from the stem cells, which were then injected into the eggs of another mouse.

In the case of the male mice, seven "imprinting regions" were deleted and the cells were injected into a mouse egg along with sperm from a second mouse "father."

The nucleus of the mouse egg was removed, meaning there was no female genetic material left and the fertilised egg was placed in a surrogate mouse.

Using two sets of female mice DNA, with gene manipulations, the scientists produced 29 babies from 210 embryos, which lived to adulthood and reproduced normally.

But the mice produced from two male sets of genetic material survived only 48 hours, with the researchers planning further study as to why the process did not work.
The Rafale controversy has sparked protests in India

India's defence minister faced new questions Thursday over a 2016 deal to buy Rafale fighter jets from France, which critics say unfairly profited a key backer of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Speaking at a briefing in Paris, Nirmala Sitharaman reiterated the government's claim that it had no idea the jets' builder, Dassault Aviation, would team up with Reliance Group, run by the Indian billionaire Anil Ambani.

Several reports say Dassault was forced to choose Reliance by Modi, despite its having almost no experience in the aviation sector.

On the eve of Sitharaman's visit French investigative website Mediapart quoted the notes of a meeting between Dassault management and workers' representatives which described the choice of Reliance as "imperative and compulsory".

"We are very clear: With the government of France, we agreed to purchase 36 Rafale aircraft in flyaway condition," Sitharaman said.

"And in an intergovernmental agreement, there are no mentions of any individual firms," she said.

Pressed on whether India would go ahead with the deal amid a chorus of "crony capitalism" claims and complaints filed by Indian anti-corruption groups, the minister adopted a more combative tone.

"It is more for the companies which have chosen A, B or C as their partners to answer questions if there are any," she said.

Dassault on Wednesday contested the Mediapart report, saying it had "freely chosen" to form a joint venture with Reliance.

But that stance was contradicted recently by former French president Francois Hollande, under whose watch the Rafale deal was signed.

Hollande said last month that France had "no choice" but to join with Reliance after it was pushed by the Indian government -- comments which were seized upon by Indian opposition parties.

Under Indian defence procurement rules, foreign companies winning contracts must "offset" or reinvest half the total value -- in this case around eight billion euros -- in joint ventures or purchases with Indian firms.

Dassault Aviation's CEO Eric Trappier told AFP that a joint factory with Reliance in the central Indian city of Nagpur represented "around 10 percent" of the roughly four billion euros of offset investments.

"We're in talks with about 100 Indian firms, including around 30 with which we've already confirmed partnerships," he said.

Dassault negotiated for years with India's state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for the order, with the jets being jointly built in India.

But those talks were cancelled after Modi took office, when he decided to purchase the jets directly from France.
Prince Harry and Meghan are set to visit Australia, Fiji, Tonga and New Zealand on their first major trip abroad as a couple

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.
Public health officials contend that smoking cannabis is as harmful as tobacco, but welcome the opportunity legalization affords for open dialogue

Canada will end its pot prohibition Wednesday with the goals of curbing the black market and use by youth, amid concerns around the public health and safety merits of legalization.

Public health officials contend that smoking cannabis is as harmful as tobacco, but welcome the opportunity legalization affords for open dialogue.

Police, meanwhile, are scrambling to prepare for a predicted rise in drug-impaired driving and are not yet ready to lay three new charges, which require blood tests within two hours of being pulled over to show above-limit levels of THC, the psychoactive agent in cannabis.

"As a doctor and as a father, I do not agree with the legalization of recreational cannabis," said Antonio Vigano, a medical marijuana specialist and research director at the Sante Cannabis clinic in Montreal, citing the risk of increased consumption among young people.

"There are health concerns," Gillian Connelly of the Ottawa Public Health Agency told AFP. "But legalization is creating an opportunity to have discussions about cannabis use, for example, parents starting a conversation with their kids about it."

"For decades, we've said: 'Just don't use,' but that hasn't worked," she said.

This failed messaging has helped to make Canadians among the highest per capita users of cannabis, with 4.6 million or one in eight having consumed pot this year (including 18 percent of Ottawa youth).

There are now hundreds of millions of dollars in funding available for education, and, Connelly said, "a concerted effort to get information out to people about the harms of cannabis."

"People will also have information about what they're consuming, with THC levels on the package, in order to make informed decisions about how much is okay for them to consume," she said.

- Driving while high -

The government sent a mailer to 14 million households outlining the basics, including health warnings and the need to keep cannabis away from children and pets.

Mothers Against Drunk Driving also partnered with Uber and pot grower Tweed in a campaign against high-driving.

Connelly noted a brief spike in hospitalizations after the US state of Colorado legalized cannabis in 2014, attributed to people not realizing its potency. THC has risen from an average of three percent in the 1980s to 15 percent today.

"Our message is to start low and go slow," she said.

Employers, meanwhile, are setting a wide range of restrictions on its use affecting work. The military, for example, has ordered soldiers not to use cannabis eight hours before a shift, while some police and airlines have announced bans.

Officials urged updating workplace policies, but acknowledged a patchwork of court decisions on employee drug screening has created challenges for employers.

- Teenage tokers -

In addition to legal gray zones, there is a dearth of scientific data on cannabis, which has made policy-setting harder.

This became apparent when officials dismissed doctors' concerns about pot's impact on developing brains under 25, and set the minimum age for consumption at 18 or 19 in line with the legal age for alcohol.

A panel that recommended the framework for legalization to the government said the "current science is not definitive on a safe age for cannabis use."

It also determined that setting the bar at 25 would undercut efforts to eliminate the black market, which in turn would undermine providing a safer product to consumers.

Connelly said she hopes legalization will spur research. Many of the current policies around cannabis, she noted, are based on alcohol and tobacco.

For policing, corresponding consumption to impairment also remains hazy.

To get around this, the government set limits of blood drug concentrations at, or over 2 nanograms of THC but under 5 ng; 5 ng and over; and 2.5 ng combined with 50 mg alcohol per 100 ml of blood, so prosecutors don't need to prove impairment.

"For people who drive, we know that the presence of THC is a risk for attention, concentration, judgement," said Vigano.

But most forces do not yet have dedicated staff for taking blood samples.

Officers are being trained to use alternative roadside saliva testers for detecting THC, approved in August.

But some forces, including the Ottawa Police Service, are opting not to use them over concerns about costs (Can$6,000 each), their effectiveness in the cold and their admissibility in court.

"It functions best at temperatures from 4 degrees to 40 degrees (Celsius). In winter, which can stretch from October to April in this part of Canada, it may present challenges," said Ottawa police Constable Amy Gagnon.

A Senate brief noted that drug-impaired driving cases take twice as long to litigate compared to alcohol-impaired driving cases, and are less likely to result in a guilty verdict.

Meanwhile, the government is hoping that undercutting traffickers on price will simply put them out of business.

But the proposed after-tax pricing is above the average Can$6.74 (US$5.16) per gram on the black market, according to Statistics Canada.

For Jean-Sebastien Fallu, an addiction specialist at the University of Montreal, the risks do not outweigh the virtues of legalization.

"Cannabis is not good for health, but prohibition is extremely harmful and worse than cannabis," Fallu said, citing the "catastrophic consequences" of "stigmatization, violence, crime (and) illicit economy."
The blue-eyed rare triplet cubs were born nearly three months ago at the Yunnan Wildlife Zoo

Three playful white Bengal tiger cubs are charming visitors as they clamber around their enclosure at a zoo in China.

Breeders help the new mother feed the cubs and assist with looking after them

The rare, blue-eyed triplets were born nearly three months ago at the Yunnan Wildlife Zoo in Kunming, and made their public debut in early October.

"The oldest one -- the largest -- is very naughty and has a real appetite. He's the naughtiest. The youngest is like a baby, she's gentle. She never wins when fighting for food," zookeeper Hao Li said.

The zoo is home to 41 of this rare variety of white Bengal tiger

The cubs' busy mother is getting a helping hand keeping her youngsters from getting hungry, with keepers always ready to step in with a bottle.

The tigers' white fur is a genetic variation of the common orange Bengal tiger.

There are currently more than 2,500 Bengal tigers outside captivity

The mutation seldom occurs in the wild, but the zoo is home to 41 cats of this rare white variety.

There are currently more than 2,500 Bengal tigers outside captivity, most of them in India, according to conservation group World Wildlife Fund.

A competition is being held to name the three newborn cubs

A competition is being held to name the three newborns, with final names chosen at the end of October.

-- This story accompanies a photo essay by Fred Dufour and video by Pak Yiu --
As well as teaching school girls how to defend themselves, instructors from Action Breaks Silence also advise girls on how to read and react to potentially risky situations

In a classroom in the South African township of Soweto, girls listen carefully, knowing they need to learn how to avoid the threat of rape that hangs over their daily lives.

"You are going to pretend that it is the rapist's testicles," says trainer Dimakatso Monokoli, holding out a padded target.

An 11-year-old girl charges without flinching and delivers a powerful knee slam.

It is part of a day of self-defence and rape avoidance strategies taught at the Thabisang school, where chairs and desks have been pushed back to the pink walls of the classroom.

Official statistics suggest that more than 110 rapes are recorded by the police every day in South Africa.

In South Africa, official statistics suggest more than 110 rapes are reported to the police every day, but such figures are widely seen as inaccurate due to under-reporting

But such numbers are widely seen as inaccurate due to under-reporting. Some studies suggest only one in 13 rapes is reported to the police.

Recent news stories have triggered fresh horror among South Africans over the prevalence of rape.

In September, a 17-year-old was raped in a hospital maternity ward by a man pretending to be a doctor one day after she had given birth.

Around the same time, a seven-year-old girl was raped in the toilets of a popular chain restaurant in the capital Pretoria, with a video footage emerging of the naked man moments after the attack.

For the African National Congress Women's League, drastic action is needed.

"We have tried our best... there's nothing that seems to lower (the number of attacks). Hence, we are calling for chemical castration," ANCWL secretary general Meokgo Matuba said after the two rapes.

- Spotting the risk -

Phumzile Mapisa, 12, wears a helmet during a training session at her school in Sowete with Action Breaks Silence, an NGO which empowers women and girls to defend themselves against rape and sexual violence

Back in another classroom in Soweto, Monokoli teaches not only self-defence, but how girls can read and react to potentially risky situations.

"Don't ever, ever make the mistake of being in the same room as someone you don't feel comfortable with because your guts have warned you," she says.

"They have sent a message -- you are not supposed to be alone with that person."

If you are attacked, she says: "Scream as much as you can."

Monokoli works for Action Breaks Silence (ABS), a South African charity that works with schools to educate girls in self-defence.

It also runs a "Hero Empathy" programme for boys to try to preempt abusive and violent behaviour.

Instructors from Action Breaks Silence spend a day in schools teaching girls self-defense and rape avoidance strategies

ABS founder Debi Steven was herself raped as a child, and has spent decades teaching and advising at schools and companies.

"Violence has been normalised in South Africa," she told AFP.

"There is so much rape that people have become desensitised to it."

- Setting boundaries -

She advocates a mix of self-defence training with mental awareness.

"The self-defence gives girls the confidence to set boundaries," she said.

Action Breaks Silence also runs a 'Hero empathy programme' for boys, which challenges gender stereotyping and builds feelings of empathy and respect towards women and girls

"If I have an education about what is wrong and right, I know what abuses it, and I am going to identify the minute you start abusing me emotionally, physically, sexually, financially."

In many cases, sexual violence is committed by relatives or people known to the victim. Steven says two women are murdered every day by their partners or former partners in South Africa.

In the classroom, the girls -- wearing their blue school uniform and long socks -- giggle occasionally but the atmosphere is serious and focused.

"We are going to teach you how to fight smart, without strength," one male instructor tells them, pointing out they can always "rip off the ears and nostrils."

And the lessons seem to have sunk in.

"We are warriors," says Nonkululeko, an energetic 11-year-old.

"I have this amazing drug in me, adrenaline, that helps you fight. It helps you to do almost the impossible."

The classes are often cathartic, with pupils occasionally sharing with instructors their own stories of abuse they have suffered.

- Teaching boys too -

Girls are taught how to defend themselves physically but also how to identify and respond to potentially dangerous situations

At another Soweto school, boys in the "Hero Empathy" programme run through roleplay games that encourage them to show emotions and develop empathy for other people's feelings.

They have to act out moods such as anger or sadness while their classmates try to guess how they feel -- not always successfully.

"In an African community, it is often taught that boys (should not) show emotions. When you show emotions, it is like a sign of weakness," said instructor Isaac Mkhize.

ABS has taught over 13,000 children, and its impact has impressed the government health ministry, which has asked the charity to train 160 new staff.

One mother, Mali Masondo, explained how deeply the fear of rape is embedded in the daily lives of children and families.

"You don't know who to trust, who to love and who to care for," she said.

"Sometimes you don't even allow people to love your kids as they wish because every time you think of the negative side."
A general view taken on July 7, 2018 shows Jordan's Jaber border post with Syria a day after the Syrian army retook the Syrian side of the crossing known as Nassib

Jordan on Monday reopened its main border crossing with war-torn Syria, a key Middle East trade route, after a three year closure, an AFP photographer reported.

The black metal border gate was opened from the Jordanian side of the crossing at 8:00 am (0500 GMT) as more than a dozen police and customs officials stood nearby, the photographer said.

Several cars bearing Jordanian license plates queued to enter Syria, the photographer added, as travellers expressed their joy at being able to cross the border.

"Today is a celebration for us and I wanted to be among the first to cross the border," said Syrian businessman Mohammed Hisham as he waited for his turn to enter Syria from Jordan where he now lives.

Jordanian taxi driver Imad Sariheen called the reopening of Jaber a source of "great happiness for all of us" which will help ease "economic hardships" caused by the closure of the crossing.

"Our conditions have worsened over the past years. Our work (driving taxis) was halted because of the closure of the border between Jordan and Syria," he added.

Members of the Russian military police patrol the Nassib border crossing with Jordan in the southern Syrian province of Daraa a on August 14, 2018

The border crossing, known as Jaber on the Jordanian side and Nassib on the Syrian side, was a key trade route before Amman closed it after the post was overrun by rebels in April 2015.

The crossing was a major link not only for direct trade between the neighbouring countries but also for longer-distance transit, which was a signficant source of revenue.

The reopening comes after Syrian government troops retook their side of the crossing in July under a deal with rebel fighters brokered by Moscow.

After seven years of civil war, Syria's government has recaptured large swathes of territory from rebels with backing from Russia, but it still only controls around half the 19 crossing points with neighbours Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Turkey.

Jordanian government spokeswoman Jumana Ghneimat announced the intended reopening of the Jaber crossing on Sunday.

She said in a statement that the decision was taken after "Jordanian and Syrian technical teams agreed on the final measures needed to reopen the border during a meeting held at the Jaber crossing".

Syria's Interior Minister Mohammed al-Shaar also confirmed on Sunday the decision to reopen Jaber.

According to an agreement between Jordan and Syria seen by AFP, the traffic of passenger and goods at the border crossing will resume daily from 0500 GMT to 1300 GMT.

Syria also requested that Jordan send an expert to help with border checks at Nassib where there are no X-ray machines, according to the terms of the agreement.

The accord stipulated that travellers entering Jordan from Syria "must obtain prior to their trip a security permit" from Jordanian authorities.

And those who plan to use Jordan as a transit stop en route to a third country must show proof of their residency permit in Syria as well as an entry visa to the country they plan to visit.
Yang Kaili wore an antler-shaped headband and hummed a ceremonial song in combination with some of the words of China's national anthem, while waving her arms and mimicking a conductor

A popular Chinese live-streamer has been sentenced to five days detention for "insulting" China's national anthem by waving her arms and mimicking a conductor as she sung the song during a broadcast to millions of her followers.

The woman, Yang Kaili, was detained by authorities in Shanghai Saturday for violating a national anthem law that was enacted last year.

In a broadcast on the Huya live-stream website on October 7, Yang, 21, appeared wearing an antler-shaped headband and hummed a ceremonial song in combination with some of the words of "The March of the Volunteers", while waving her arms and mimicking a conductor.

Huya subsequently blocked Yang's live-stream channel, froze her account and removed her videos.

Yang's husky voice became popular on another live-stream platform, TikTok, and in August she was invited to perform by Chinese state broadcaster CCTV.

"The national anthem is solemn and should not be sung in a live-stream room," Yang wrote in an apology and self-criticism to her 1.1 million followers on Twitter-like platform Weibo.

"I will stop all live-stream work, perform self-rectification, draw lessons from the bitter experience, deeply reflect and fully accept education on ideological politics and patriotism."

In September last year, the National People's Congress passed a law against mocking the national anthem, with a punishment of up to 15 days in jail. The NPC changed the criminal law in November to allow those who disrespected the anthem to be jailed for up to three years.

President Xi Jinping, considered Communist China's most powerful leader since Mao Zedong, has stepped up the promotion of patriotism in the world's most populous country.
President Azali Assoumani has been accused of a "dictatorial power grab" on the Indian Ocean archipelago in recent months

Comoros' government claimed Wednesday that clashes between troops and opponents of President Azali Assomani on the island of Anjouan had subsided despite witnesses describing continued violence.

Interior Minister Mohamed Daoudou said "the situation is back to normal" after three days of deadly violence in Anjouan's main city Mutsumadu which has pitted security forces against a nascent rebellion.

Three people have been killed in the violence, he added, although no independent verification was immediately available.

Assoumani's bid to extend his term limits has fuelled anger in the Indian Ocean archipelago in recent months, especially on Anjouan which is administered by the main opposition Juwa party and is home to its leader Abdallah Sambi.

He has been charged with corruption as part of a government crackdown on opposition dissent.

But witnesses reported that the situation had deteriorated since the first reported clashes in the early hours of Monday, with Mutsumadu's densely-populated medina the centre of violence between government forces and Assoumanu's opponents.

"No one was able to shut their eyes all night, there was shooting everywhere," said one witness who spoke to AFP by telephone who claimed that local people were bearing the brunt of violence that flared between Tuesday night and Wednesday morning.

Markets did not open, shops were shuttered and water and electricity supplies were cut as security forces encircled the medina area, according to witnesses.

"(It's) endangering the whole population," said one of them, who added that rebel forces were using the "confusion to take advantage of the situation and attack the soldiers directly."

A night-time curfew has been imposed on Anjouan.

The United Nations and African Union called on Wednesday for talks to urgently re-start in the coup-prone Comoros islands.

Assoumani won a referendum in July on constitutional changes that includes ending the rotation of the presidency between the country's three main islands after one term.

- 'Drug addicts and alcoholics' -

Assoumani, from Grand Comore island, launched a crackdown on rivals following the vote, which was boycotted by opposition parties and which he won with 92.74 percent support.

Under the constitutional changes, Assoumani, who came to power in a military coup and was elected in 2016, will be able to run for consecutive terms.

He has indicated that he also plans to stage polls next year which would allow him to reset his term limits and theoretically rule until 2029.

The government has pinned the blame for the unrest on the opposition.

"They are responsible for everything that has happened in the medina," said Daoudou, the interior minister, who denied government forces had taken hostages there. "That's a campaign of lies."

"In Anjouan, people are coming and going normally except for in the medina which has been occupied by terrorists, as well as drug addicts and alcoholics," he added.

"These armed Comorians are not Comorians."

Assoumani's critics including Juwa have accused him of a "dictatorial power grab".

"Assoumani appears increasingly intolerant of dissent," Jane Morley, analyst at the London-based Fitch Solutions risk consultancy, told AFP.

"A number of opposition figures have been arrested or gone into hiding, amid accusations of coup plots, corruption and the like.

"Should Assoumani stand in early elections in 2019, as looks likely, power is unlikely to rotate to Anjouan, as would have been the case under the rotational system."

The last of several coups was in 1999 when Assoumani, then the head of the army, seized power for the first time.

He gave up power in 2006 before being elected in 2016.

A group of parliamentarians from France, the former colonial power, who had been due to visit the island were forced to cancel their trip because of the ongoing insecurity.
The United States has given the impression that it is prioritizing giving Saudi leaders a way out after the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi (pictured December 2014)

The top American diplomat Mike Pompeo appears visibly satisfied with his mission to Riyadh, dubbing it "incredibly successful."

But to what end? So far, the United States has given the impression that it is prioritizing giving Saudi leaders a way out after the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

- How did the US react? -

US President Donald Trump sounded upset as the hypothesis that the journalist -- a critic of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman who went missing after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2 -- was murdered grew increasingly plausible.

The Republican leader threatened the Gulf kingdom with "severe punishment" if it was found culpable.

But he has since softened the rhetoric, coming out strongly against halting arms sales to the Saudis and emphasizing the denials of King Salman and Prince Mohammed, widely known as MBS, who claim not to know what happened.

- What did the US get? -

In that context Pompeo went Tuesday to Riyadh, flashing wide smiles as he stood next to the king as well as the crown prince, who is suspected of being behind Khashoggi's death.

The US secretary of state said he discussed with Saudi leaders "the importance of the investigation, completing it in a timely fashion, and making sure that it was sufficiently transparent that we could evaluate the work that had been done to get to the bottom of it."

On whether the journalist had died, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he didn't "want to talk about any of the facts" and that Riyadh "didn't want to either"

"We received commitments that they would complete this, and I am counting on them to do that," Pompeo said.

But on whether the journalist had died, Pompeo said "I don't want to talk about any of the facts."

"They didn't want to either," he said.

The diplomat's attitude has left many in Washington cringing.

"A Saudi investigation isn't credible," said Dalia Dassa Kaye, who directs the Center for Middle East Public Policy at the Rand Corporation.

"Congress should be calling for intl independent probe and not accept Trump/Pompeo inclination to give Saudis a pass," she tweeted.

- What are the real US intentions? -

Many in Washington suspect the government is seeking to provide cover to Saudi leaders.

"Why is the Trump administration cleaning up Saudi Arabia's mess?" wondered the editorial board of The Washington Post, a daily that Khashoggi had published in.

"The US is organizing a diplomatic cleanup operation for MBS and (his) regime," said Simon Henderson, a researcher at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

"As a White House level, apparently good," he said of US relations with MBS.

The sequence of events has proved striking: on Monday, the US president mentioned the possibility that "rogue killers" may have been behind the disappearance.

Shortly thereafter, media reported that Riyadh would recognize that an interrogation of the journalist went wrong. And then, Saudi Arabia promised Washington that the culprits would be held accountable.

But Trump holds he is "not at all" giving the oil-rich US ally cover.

- Why? -

According to Henderson, "the president almost certainly would prefer to preserve the relationship and avoid Saudi retaliation."

"They could cut oil production, but this will hit them hard economically," he told AFP.

US President Donald Trump said Saudi Arabia remains a vital partner the the "fight against all of the terrorism, everything that's happening in Iran and other places"

And according to Trump, Saudi Arabia remains a vital partner.

"You know we need Saudi Arabia in terms of our fight against all of the terrorism, everything that's happening in Iran and other places," he said.

The Sunni kingdom is indeed a cornerstone of the US effort to thwart regional influence from Shiite Iran.

The president's son-in-law Jared Kushner, who has forged a close relationship with MBS, has even envisioned a Middle East in which the Saudis aligned with Israel against Iran.

The Trump administration has remained silent over allegations against the powerful crown prince, including a purge of dozens of people last year that the royal family justified as an anti-corruption effort.

- Will it work? -

The "cleanup operation" underway is "only a Band-Aid to what looks like a much bigger problem," said researcher Henderson.

"The bigger problem is how to contain MBS in the longer term," he said.

Analyst Dassa Kaye doubts that the "rogue killer defense" will satisfy US members of Congress, who have vowed actions over the feared killing, with some calling for sanctions.

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, an influential ally of Trump, called for MBS's ouster, labeling him "a wrecking ball" who "had this guy murdered in a consulate in Turkey."

Last week, top senators including Graham sent a letter compelling the White House to report to Congress within 120 days with a determination about whether human rights abuses had occurred, and whether sanctions should be applied.
US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, seen here at recent meetings in Bali, has yet to decide if he will attend Riyadh investment conference

US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin will decide on Thursday whether he will attend an investment conference in Riyadh that has been boycotted by global business leaders concerned about the fate of Saudi critic Jamal Khashoggi.

Two weeks after The Washington Post contributor disappeared at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, titans of finance and industry, as well as major media groups, have withdrawn from next week's Future Investment Initiative organized by Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund.

On Saturday, on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund meetings in Bali, Mnuchin expressed "concern for Mr Khashoggi and his family" but said he still planned to attend the Saudi conference known as the "Davos in the Desert."

"The answer is for now I am" still going, Mnuchin said, adding that if more information came out he would take it into consideration.

Asked about the matter at a press conference on Wednesday, Mnuchin said: "We're going to revisit the decision again tomorrow."

He said a decision will be taken "based on Secretary Pompeo's report."

Mike Pompeo, the top US diplomat, held talks with Turkey's leaders in Ankara on Wednesday over the Khashoggi case.

He arrived there from Riyadh where, he said, the Saudis "made a commitment that they would show the entire world the results of their investigation."

Under growing pressure Saudi Arabia, a major buyer of US weapons, has denied knowledge of the fate of Khashoggi who had lived in self-exile in the United States since last year.

Pro-government Turkish media have published allegations purporting to confirm that Khashoggi was not only murdered by Saudi agents in their consulate in Istanbul, but tortured and dismembered.

Among those who have pulled out of the Riyadh conference are IMF chief Christine Lagarde, HSBC chief executive John Flint, Credit Suisse CEO Tidjane Thiam, and JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon.
Open letters signed by 11 Democratic senators request US President Donald Trump and his sons Donald Jr and Eric provide "documents pertaining to financial transfers from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the Trump Organization over the last 10 years"

US senators on Wednesday urged Donald Trump and his company to publicly disclose any financial ties to Saudi Arabia, as speculation grows over possible "conflicts of interest" amid a probe into the disappearance of a prominent Saudi journalist.

The US president has been on the defensive after Jamal Khashoggi -- a US resident and Washington Post contributor who had been critical of Saudi leadership -- vanished on October 2 after visiting the Istanbul consulate.

Open letters signed by 11 Democratic senators request the US president and his sons Donald Jr and Eric provide "documents pertaining to financial transfers from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the Trump Organization over the last 10 years."

After his inauguration to the White House in January 2017, the billionaire real estate magnate-turned-president entrusted his sons with the management of the Trump Organization, but the president retained his shares.

The senators pressed the Republican leader and his sons to release "information about discussions surrounding potential business deals involving Saudi Arabia and the Trump Organization; and information about any potential gifts provided to the president by Saudi nationals."

Trump tweeted Tuesday that "for the record, I have no financial interests in Saudi Arabia (or Russia, for that matter). Any suggestion that I have is just more FAKE NEWS (of which there is plenty)!"

Senators recalled in the letter that at a rally in 2015 Trump, then a candidate, had boasted of his relationship with the Gulf kingdom: "Saudi Arabia. I get along with all of them. They buy apartments from me. They spend $40 million. $50 million."

The senators cite the "emoluments clause" of the US constitution that prevents any public officer holder from accepting "any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State" without the approval of the legislature.

Trump is accused by Washington DC and the state of Maryland of accepting illegal payments from foreign officials through his hotel in the US capital.

The Republican leader had threatened Saudi Arabia with "severe punishment" if it is shown that Khashoggi was killed inside its Istanbul mission.

But he later backpedaled on the possibility of action against the kingdom, which he has repeatedly praised as a customer for the US weapons industry.
Harvey Weinstein (L) is an international pariah after being accused by more than 80 women of sexual misconduct

The prosecution has admitted to a new embarrassing error in the Harvey Weinstein case, saying a police detective told one of the disgraced Hollywood producer's accusers to delete from her phone anything she wanted to keep private.

In a letter to Weinstein's attorney dated Tuesday, prosecutor Joan Illuzzi-Orbon acknowledged that the lead detective had made the recommendation to one of two women accusing Weinstein in the case, in which he faces charges of rape and a forced oral sex act.

"My office had asked Complainant 2 to produce any and all cell phones that she might have used during the time she interacted with the defendant," the letter said.

But the detective told her she "should delete anything she did not want anyone to see before providing the phones to our office."

Illuzi-Orbon says the woman ultimately handed over the phones "without any deletions," but the admission further weakens the prosecution's case.

"This new development even further undermines the integrity of an already deeply flawed indictment of Mr Weinstein," his lawyer Ben Brafman was quoted by a spokeswoman as saying.

The lawyer requested in August for the whole case to be thrown out and is awaiting a decision of the judge. The next hearing is scheduled for December 20.

The New York Police Department said "the evidence against Mr Weinstein is compelling and strong," according to a statement published in The Los Angeles Times.

"The NYPD will continue its work with the prosecution to deliver justice for the courageous survivors who have bravely come forward."

Weinstein, an international pariah after being accused by more than 80 women of sexual misconduct, is out on a $1 million bail and denies any non-consensual sex.

One of six sexual assault allegations against Weinstein thrown out earlier this month in a victory for the defense.

A letter from prosecutors, subsequently unsealed by the judge, revealed credibility issues and seemed to suggest that Lucia Evans, an aspiring actress in 2004, may have performed oral sex on Weinstein of her own volition, in the hope of obtaining an acting part.

The document also referenced possible police misconduct, after a detective failed to turn over details from a witness interview, and a draft email from Evans to her husband that exposed further inconsistencies in her account.
Don't try this in the US: American immigration officials warn that businessmen from Canada's newly legal recreational marijuana industry are not welcome to promote their business in the United States

Canada may have legalized recreational marijuana Wednesday, but executives of the country's booming pot industry need to be aware that they are not exactly welcome south of the border in the United States.

As the world's first major economy fully legalized cannabis, officials of US Customs and Border Protection warned they won't admit anyone arriving with the intent "to aid in the proliferation of the marijuana business."

Even if some US states and localities, including the capital Washington, permit medical or recreational pot use, the CBP warned that the drug remains illegal under US federal law, giving them the responsibility to fight its use and promotion.

"If... a Canadian is coming to the United States and it has nothing to do with the marijuana industry or the proliferation of the industry, that person would generally be deemed admissible," CBP officer Christopher Perry said in a press conference in Detroit, Michigan, on the Canadian border.

But "if they're coming to the United States... with the express interest to facilitate or develop the marijuana industry, they would generally be deemed inadmissible."

The stance posed a new threat to the already extensive cross-border exchanges of supplies, technology and investment in the marijuana sector.

Canadian companies have already lent funding and expertise to US cannabis companies in the eight states like Colorado, California and Maine where recreational use is allowed, and around 30 others which permit medical marijuana.

Moreover, shares in a number of Canadian pot firms are traded on US stock markets, including the largest, Canopy Growth Corporation, which is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

Theoretically, the CBP's stance could prevent their executives from traveling to US financial centers on business, which could be considered supporting "proliferation" of pot.

The seemingly contradictory stance arises from US Attorney General Jeff Sessions' determination to enforce the federal ban on marijuana.

Amid growing acceptance across the country of the drug, on January 4 Sessions rescinded standing federal government policies to tolerate the stance of state and local governments, declaring "a return to the rule of law."

At the same time, Sessions permitted federal prosecutors to exercise their own discretion in their regions.
US student Lara Alqasem attends a hearing at Israel's Supreme Court in Jerusalem on October 17, 2018

Israel's supreme court on Thursday overturned an entry ban imposed on a US student over past support for a pro-Palestinian boycott campaign, leading to her release after more than two weeks of detention.

The three-judge panel upheld Lara Alqasem's appeal against the ban, allowing the 22-year-old to take her place on a master's degree programme at Jerusalem's Hebrew University.

The interior ministry's decision to bar her from entry, the court ruled, "was not within the bounds of reason and is revoked".

Alqasem landed at Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion airport on October 2, but despite having a visa she was not allowed to clear immigration due to a 2017 law barring supporters of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.

Ordered to return to the United States, she decided instead to stay in Israel and challenge the ban.

She had since been in detention at the airport while lower courts rejected two appeals.

A spokeswoman for the immigration authority said she was released from the holding facility on Thursday evening.

Alqasem, whose father is of Palestinian descent, had been president of a chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) during her undergraduate studies at the University of Florida.

The group has supported boycott campaigns against Israel.

Alqasem says she left SJP in 2017 and is no longer part of the BDS movement.

Alqasem's lawyer argued before the supreme court that the state should apply common sense when applying the law against BDS supporters.

"Why would she want to enter Israel to call for a boycott?" Yotam Ben Hillel asked.

The Hebrew University has said it wants Alqasem to take up her studies.

A university representative said foreign students and researchers provided "oxygen" for local academia and their presence could in fact counter boycott efforts.
Palestinian protesters carry tyres as smoke billows from burning tyres at the Israel-Gaza border, east of Gaza city, on October 12, 2018

With its economy in a freefall and tensions rising with Israel, the Hamas-ruled enclave of Gaza is imploding, the UN envoy for the Middle East warned Thursday.

Nickolay Mladenov delivered the warning to the Security Council a day after Israeli warplanes struck the Gaza Strip in retaliation at rocket firings from the Palestinian territory.

"Gaza is imploding. This is not hyperbole. This is not alarmism. It is a reality," Mladenov told the council.

He cited World Bank figures showing official unemployment at 53 percent, with more than 70 percent of Palestinian youths jobless.

Every second person in Gaza now lives below the poverty line, he said.

Hamas, which has ruled Gaza for a decade, on Thursday pledged to launch an investigation into the rocket fire after denying any involvement in the attack, but Israel rejected the denials.

"We remain on the brink of another potentially devastating conflict, a conflict that nobody claims to want, but a conflict that needs much more than just words to prevent," said Mladenov.

The United Nations has made some headway in joint efforts with Egypt to address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, but Mladenov warned this could collapse.

"Barring substantial steps to reverse the current course, this precarious sense of calm is doomed to give way under the mounting pressure. It is already beginning to fray," he said.

Hamas and Israel have fought three wars in Gaza since 2008.
Websites offering DNA testing have a wealth of genetic information, and researchers are trying to come up with a way to access it that would protect user privacy and help with scientific advances

Using nothing more than a simple vial of saliva, millions of people have created DNA profiles on genealogy websites.

But this wealth of information is effectively inaccessible to genetics researchers, with the sites painstakingly safeguarding their databases, fearful of a leak that could cost them dearly in terms of credibility.

This problem of access is one that Bonnie Berger, a professor of mathematics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and her colleagues think they can solve, with a new cryptographic system to protect the information.

"We're currently at a stalemate in sharing all this genomic data," Berger told AFP. "It's really hard for researchers to get any of their data, so they're not really helping science."

"No one can gain access to help them find the link between genetic variations and disease," she said. "But just think what could happen if we could leverage the millions of genomes out there."

The idea of this new cryptographic method, described Thursday in the US journal Science, was developed in connection to finding drug candidates in datasets from pharmaceuticals companies.

In an earlier work, the researchers have shown the concept could be applied to DNA profiles.

Labs are constantly looking to identify links between millions of drug compounds and the tens of thousands of proteins in the human body, to identify good candidates for certain drugs.

But they don't want their competitors to know what they are working on. Often, their drug compounds are patented and secret. So they don't share much.

- 'Secret sharing' -

With the researchers' new scalable technique, the first based on a secure "neural network," Berger explained, labs could share their sensitive data, dividing it between several servers that would run to find new links based on the data sample as a whole.

But no entity would be able to access the initial inputs, which might include proprietary information -- provided they don't decide to collude with each other.

Each entity would get results based on its contributions.

Berger says their technique is based on a cryptographic framework called "secret sharing."

The researchers introduced new optimization and artificial intelligence techniques to be able to handle the millions of chemical compounds or genomes that need to be analyzed.

Ancestry.com -- seen here -- has more than 10 million registered profiles, while 23andMe has more than five million

"We can do something that was absolutely not possible before," the MIT professor said, noting that existing cryptographic methods involve unwieldy large-scale computer calculations and communications costs.

They also only work for thousands of data points, not millions.

The same technique could allow the major genealogy websites, like Ancestry.com and 23andMe, to open their databases to researchers and pool them.

Ancestry has more than 10 million registered profiles, while 23andMe has more than five million.

Berger told AFP she had been in contact with both companies about her findings.

Ancestry, 23andMe, MyHeritage and others offer physical, genealogical and sometimes even medical data -- such as a history of cancer in the family. It is this information that researchers want to match against certain genetic variations.

23andMe has taken a step in this direction, via a partnership with pharmaceuticals group GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). A 23andMe spokesman told AFP that scientific collaborations have led to the publication of about 100 research articles.

But the company only offers researchers a statistical summary of the results, in this format: "30 percent of males aged 20-35 have reported being diagnosed with X disease and have Y variants/mutations in common."

And user participation is on a voluntary basis, which limits the scope of the findings.

- Privacy concerns -

The intersection of genetics and genealogy has made headlines in the United States. Last week, a new study showed that half of all Americans could be identified from relatives' DNA samples found in GEDmatch, a free website.

This technique has been a boon for US police forces, who have used it to identify suspects in cold cases dating back decades, such as the "Golden State Killer," who is blamed for 12 murders and more than 50 rapes starting in the mid-1970s.

It can also be used by people looking for their biological parents.

But what happens if the data falls into the wrong hands? Hackers could potentially exploit the information to nefarious ends. Or what if insurance companies and others used it to discriminate against customers?

Benjamin Berkman, a bioethics researcher at the National Institutes of Health, told AFP there is "not really evidence of systemic discrimination," but noted that "doesn't mean that it couldn't become a problem."

"People are very worried about genomic privacy. It's something that they cite as a reason why they're not getting genetic testing, or they're not enrolling in research," Berkman said.
President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker (R) and European Council President Donald Tusk (L) welcome Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (C) to the Asia-Europe Meeting summit at the European Council in Brussels on October 18, 2018

European leaders sought to build support from Asia Thursday in defence of free trade and the fight against climate change, to counter the growing protectionism of President Donald Trump's America.

The 28 EU states were joined at a summit in Brussels by more than 20 Asian leaders including Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, Japan's Shinzo Abe and South Korean President Moon Jae-in.

Russia's Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev is also attending, despite tensions over Moscow's alleged cyber attacks on international institutions and European democracy.

Amid bitter tariff disputes with Washington, the leaders are expected to use the two days of talks to give their backing to the global trading system based on the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

"To those who prefer quick fixes without clear rules I say it's not worth it. A world without rules is by definition a world of chaos," EU Council President Donald Tusk said as he opened the summit.

EU diplomatic chief Federica Mogherini insisted as she arrived that it was not an "anti-Trump" meeting, before enumerating most of the current areas of difference between Europe and the United States.

"We don't organise meetings against anyone," she said.

"We have our agenda, it's a very clear agenda that supports multilateralism, starting from the UN system, climate change action, trade -- free and fair -- non-proliferation and international agreements that support the non-proliferation global architecture."

After a gala dinner on Thursday evening, the leaders head into talks on Friday, while Singapore and Vietnam are expected to sign trade deals with the EU on the sidelines of the event.

Korean detente will also be on the agenda, with senior EU officials to hold talks with Moon, who earlier this week said world powers need to reassure the North Korean leader Kim Jong Un that he had taken the right decision in committing to scrap his nuclear weapons programme.

The EU will also seek to shore up support for the beleaguered Iran nuclear deal, which suffered a hammer blow when the US pulled out earlier this year and reimposed sanctions on Iran -- despite the desperate pleas of European allies.

Brussels is seeking to beef up its role in international diplomacy, answering a call by European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker for the EU to develop a more muscular foreign policy to match its economic clout.

The leaders will discuss the EU's new "Asia connectivity strategy", which aims to improve transport, digital and energy links between the two continents while promoting environmental and labour standards.

- Trade war -

Brussels insists the scheme is not a response to any other player, but many observers see it as a direct riposte to Beijing's vast "Belt and Road" trade infrastructure project.

The summit comes amid renewed tensions between the US and EU, a day after top American officials slammed the bloc for stalling trade talks, putting a transatlantic trade truce under pressure.

After a trade war looked to be brewing over metals tariffs, Trump and Juncker pledged in June to hold off from further tit-for-tat measures and to work towards scrapping customs duties on all goods.

The deal was hailed as a breakthrough but on Wednesday US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross hit out at EU officials.

Asked if EU-Asian cooperation was particularly important in the context of the current trade disputes, Malaysia's Deputy Prime Minister Wan Azizah Wan Ismail said: "Of course -- that's the reason why we should come closer together."

Washington is also locked in a trade war with China, rolling out billions of dollars in tariffs in a bid to reduce its trade deficit and to rein in what the US says are unacceptable Chinese commercial practices.

Ahead of the summit, Zhang Jun, the Chinese assistant minister of foreign affairs, said there was consensus between Europe and Asia on the need to protect multilateralism.

"Especially in protecting the international order of trade organisations that abide by international norms and laws," Zhang said.

"This is the focus of cooperation between Asia and Europe, as well as China and Europe."

But any European desire to build a united front with Asian powers will be tempered by grave concerns about numerous human rights issues in countries across Asia.

The EU has warned Cambodia and Myanmar that they could face losing preferential trading privileges with the bloc over election irregularities and the Rohingya crisis, respectively.

In addition to numerous long-standing rights complaints about China, the EU added its voice last week to a chorus of condemnation of the decision to expel a leading British journalist from Hong Kong.
Former South African president Kgalema Motlanthe heads a panel of inquiry probing post-election violence in Zimbabwe

An inquiry probing the killing of six people after soldiers opened fire on post-election protesters in Zimbabwe will summon police and the army to appear before it, an official said Friday.

Kgalema Motlanthe, the former president of South Africa and the commission chairman, said the military and police would give evidence next month.

"We will be hearing from the army and the police," Motlanthe told a news conference in the capital Harare where the killings occurred on August 1.

"We will ask all pertinent questions and expect to get pertinent answers," he said.

Motlanthe was appointed by President Emmerson Mnangagwa to lead a seven-member team to investigate the killings.

The deaths occurred after protesters took to the streets accusing the country's electoral commission of delaying the announcement of results for the July 30 general election.

Mngangagwa succeeded long-time ruler Robert Mugabe who was ousted in November 2017 following a brief military takeover.

This week, several witnesses, including relatives of the deceased, gave their testimony.

Elizabeth Rubinstein, sister of one of the victims, Gavin Dean Charles, called for justice.

"I find what happened to him was brutal and it... (caused) indescribable pain to my family. The perpetrators should face justice," a sobbing Rubinstein said in her evidence to the inquiry.

She said her unemployed brother was hoping to get a job after Mugabe's ouster.

Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa appointed the commission of inquiry to probe the deaths of six people after the country's landmark elections

"He just wanted a better life. He was harmless, and to be shot twice, unarmed. The pain has been indescribable. My mum is not well, she had a stroke (and) she is not aware of his death. If we tell her it will kill her," she said.

Some of the relatives want the government to compensate the victims' families.

The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), the main opposition party has vowed not to take part in the inquiry calling it a "circus" and a "big sham".

"The actual issue is supposed to be on how soldiers ended up in the streets, firing live ammunition at unarmed civilians," MDC said in a statement on Thursday.

The commission has three months to complete its investigations and report back to the president.
There are queues at some polling stations, as election officials wait to get voter lists or biometric devices

Afghan election workers began counting votes on Saturday following a partial legislative ballot tarnished by scores of deadly militant attacks, technical glitches and administrative chaos.

Nearly 170 people -- civilians and security forces -- were killed or wounded in election-related violence, official figures showed, and there are fears of more bloodshed when voting resumes Sunday in 401 polling centres.

"Inevitable" problems with biometric verification devices, which were introduced at the eleventh hour, as well as missing voter registration lists and lack of staffing delayed or even prevented voting at those polling sites, the Independent Election Commission (IEC) told reporters.

According to initial IEC figures around three million voters turned up at 4,500 polling centres. Elections have been postponed in Ghazni and Kandahar provinces.

That compares with nearly nine million registered voters, though many suspect a significant number of those were based on fake identification documents that fraudsters planned to use to stuff ballot boxes.

Most polling sites opened hours late after voter rolls were not delivered or teachers employed to manage the voting process failed to show up following Taliban threats to attack the ballot.

Afghanistan

There were multiple explosions across Kabul during the day. Hours before polls closed a suicide bomber blew himself up inside a polling centre in the Afghan capital, which police said killed at least 15 people and wounded 20.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast, but the Taliban said it had carried out more than 400 attacks on the "fake election" across the war-torn country.

Violence also disrupted voting in the northern city of Kunduz where a senior health official told AFP three people died and 39 were wounded after more than 20 rockets rained down on the provincial capital.

Eight explosions were recorded in the eastern province of Nangarhar, with two people killed and five wounded, the provincial governor's spokesman said.

The interior ministry put the overall casualty toll -- including civilians and security forces -- slightly lower at 160, with 27 civilians killed and 100 wounded.

There were 193 attacks across the country, which the ministry said was half the number recorded on the day of the 2014 presidential election.

- 'Frustrated' voters -

Despite threats of violence, voters waited for hours outside polling centres across the country. Some eventually gave up and went home without casting a ballot.

University student Mohammad Alem said he felt "frustrated" after spending more than three hours trying to vote in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif, only to discover his name was not on the registration list.

Afghanistan vote

"There also were some problems with the biometric devices because they were already running out of charge," he said.

After waiting four hours at a polling centre, Tabish Forugh tweeted he had not seen "even remotely similar... chaos" at previous elections.

The parliamentary ballot is more than three years late and only the third since the fall of the Taliban in 2001.

Turnout was likely affected after the militant group issued several warnings in the days leading up to the poll calling on candidates to withdraw from the race and for voters to stay home.

Hundreds of people were killed or wounded in the months before the poll.

Voters waited hours to cast their votes across Afghanistan, even with violence and lengthy delays

The killing of a powerful police chief in the southern province of Kandahar on Thursday further eroded confidence in the ability of security forces to protect voters.

Voting in Kandahar has been delayed until October 27 following the attack.

Despite the risks, President Ashraf Ghani urged "every Afghan, young and old, women and men" to exercise their right to vote, after casting his ballot in Kabul.

Votes cast without the use of biometric devices will not be valid, election officials have said

Photos posted on social media showed scores of men and women clutching their identification documents lining up outside voting centres amid a heavy security presence.

A woman dressed in a burqa leaving a polling centre in Mazar-i-Sharif told AFP she had been worried about "security incidents", but decided to vote anyway.

"We have to defy the violence," Hafiza, 57, said.

- Crucial test -

At least 10 candidates out of more than 2,500 contesting the lower-house election were killed ahead of the poll.

Most of those standing are political novices, and include doctors, mullahs and journalists. Those with the deepest pockets are expected to win.

The poll is seen as a crucial test for next year's presidential election and an important milestone ahead of a UN meeting in Geneva in November where Afghanistan is under pressure to show progress on "democratic processes".

Preliminary results are scheduled to be released on November 10.

Votes cast without biometric machines will not be counted, the IEC has said.

strs-emh-us-mam-amj/amu
Hindu refugees from Myanmar gather to celebrate the Durga Puja festival at the Kutapalong refugee camp in southern Bangladesh

Hindu refugees from Myanmar living in a camp in Bangladesh have been celebrating the festival of Durga Puja for the first time since fleeing violence in northern Rakhine state last year.

More than 500 Hindus escaped their homes last August along with over 700,000 Rohingya Muslims as Myanmar's army launched a brutal crackdown that the UN says amounted to "ethnic cleansing".

Hindu community leader Jibon Sharma told AFP that the terrifying circumstances of their escape prevented them from celebrating the annual festival last year.

But now local authorities in southeastern Bangladesh and the country's Hindu minority have helped them, including with materials to build the pavilions housing displays of the many-armed goddess Durga.

The festival includes 10 days of music and cultural performances

"When we were in Myanmar we used to worship regularly. But it's different here. Bangladeshis helped us beyond imagination with money and clothes," Sharma told AFP.

"We are very grateful to them."

The Hindu refugees say that their community was attacked in August 2017 in northern Rakhine state by Rohingya militants, and relations with the Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh remain tense.

The Hindus are camping only a kilometre or two (a mile) around away from the world's largest refugee camp -- Kutupalong near Cox's Bazar -- where hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims have been living.

"We have full-time security posted at this camp. We are well aware of the tension between them," said police official Jahangir Alam.

The Hindus are camping not far from the world's largest refugee camp -- Kutupalong near Cox's Bazar -- where hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims have been living

The festival includes 10 days of music and cultural performances, as well as clothes being gifted to cheering children.

"I forgot when was the last time we had such a great Puja (prayer ritual). I am seeing my kids' happy faces... I am very happy," Suma Paul, a Hindu refugee, said as she cried happy tears.
Indian police are investigating how a speeding train ploughed into a crowd of revellers, killing around 60 and injuring dozens more.

Angry relatives staged a protest Saturday on the tracks where a speeding train ploughed into crowds watching fireworks, killing about 60 people in the latest disaster to bedevil India's railway network.

The Jalandhar-Amritsar express was hurtling at 90 kilometers (55 miles) per hour when it hit scores of people who had gathered on the tracks late Friday to get a view of a firework-packed effigy of the demon king Ravana for a Hindu festival.

Many of the victims were dismembered beyond recognition and police said it would take several days to complete the identification of the dead.

Some desperate families went from hospital to hospital in the northern city of Amritsar on Saturday looking for missing relatives, while the first funerals of some victims were held.

Hardeep Singh, chief medical officer for Amritsar, told AFP 59 deaths had been confirmed and 90 people had been injured, with seven in critical condition.

Some families went from hospital to hospital to try and find loved ones, and the first funerals were held Saturday

Singh said only 25 bodies had been identified so far. Amritsar's main hospital did not have enough space in its morgue, and some corpses were laid outside.

The disaster led to new demands for safety reforms to India's accident-plagued railway system, which records thousands of deaths each year.

Sporadic protests broke out near the accident site, with scores of protesters calling for action against the local authorities and the train driver who was questioned by police on Saturday.

But federal junior minister for Indian Railways ruled out any punitive action against his staff, including the driver, saying the national carrier was not at fault.

"There was no lapse on our part and no action against the driver will be initiated," Manoj Sinha told reporters in New Delhi, adding "trains travel in speed only".

- Train not heard -

Police moved the protesters off the tracks and brought in reinforcements to control a crowd of hundreds that gathered around the scene of the disaster.

Investigators said victims did not hear the train because the drone of the locomotive was drowned out by firecrackers. Another train had narrowly missed the crowds two minutes earlier, officials said.

According to media reports, the driver told police he did not see the revellers until the last second because he had come around a bend in the dark into the firework smoke.

Police brought in reinforcements to control a crowd of hundreds that had gathered at the disaster scene

As the blame game spread, police said they had given permission for the display for the annual Dussehra festival fireworks but that organisers did not have approval from the city, health department and fire brigade.

According to media reports the organisers, members of the ruling Congress party, had gone into hiding.

Federal Railway minister Piyush Goyal returned early from a trip to the United States to go to Amritsar on Saturday.

Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh called off a trip to Israel and rushed to visit the injured in hospital, where he ordered a magisterial inquiry into the incident.

India's huge railway network is notorious for accidents, including scores who die while crossing the tracks illegally or falling off over-capacity trains.

A 2012 government report described the loss of 15,000 passengers to rail accidents every year in India as a "massacre". The government has pledged $137 billion over five years to modernise the crumbling network.

In 1981, seven carriages from a train fell into a river as it crossed a bridge in the eastern state of Bihar, killing between 800 and 1,000 people.

But nearly every month there are accidents involving trains that derail or hit vehicles on crossings. In April, 13 children were killed when a train hit their school bus. In November 2016, the Patna-Indore express derailed in Uttar Pradesh state in the middle of the night, killing 139 people.
The first protest in central in Taipei came as President Tsai Ing-wen struggles to appease both Beijing and independence factions

Thousands of Taiwan independence campaigners took to the streets Saturday for a major rally that is a rebuke to Beijing and a challenge to the island's already embattled government.

The protest in central Taipei came as China increasingly pushes its claim to the self-ruling democratic island and President Tsai Ing-wen struggles to appease Beijing and independence factions.

It was the first large-scale protest calling for an outright independence vote since Taiwan first became a democracy more than 20 years ago.

Organisers claimed a turnout of 80,000. A police estimate was not immediately available.

Demonstrators gathered outside the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) headquarters chanting slogans and waving flags reading "Independence Referendum".

"Want Referendum!" and "Oppose Annexation!" the crowd shouted.

China still sees Taiwan as part of its territory to be reunified, despite the two sides being ruled separately since the end of a civil war on the mainland in 1949.

Taiwan considers itself a sovereign state, with its own currency, political and judicial systems, but has never declared formal independence from the mainland.

Beijing has warned it would respond with force if Taiwan tried an official split.

Organised by new group Formosa Alliance, which is backed by two pro-independence former Taiwan presidents, Lee Teng-hui and Chen Shui-bian, the rally called for a public vote on whether the island should formally declare independence from China.

"Only through holding a referendum can Taiwanese people show to the international community our right to build an independent new country," said Tsai Wen-li, 63, a retired postal worker who wore a T-shirt reading "Taiwan is my country".

Engineer Rex Yang, 35, described Taiwan as an "orphan in the international community".

"Taiwanese people want Taiwan to become a normal country...that is why I stand out here today", he told AFP.

- Beijing pressure -

Even though the DPP is traditionally independence-leaning, President Tsai has said she wants to maintain the status quo with China.

But that has not prevented relations deteriorating since she took office in 2016, as she refuses to adhere to Beijing's line that Taiwan is part of "one China".

Beijing has made a multi-pronged attack to erase Taiwan from the international stage, including blocking it from global forums and poaching its dwindling number of official diplomatic allies.

China has also successfully pressured global firms to list Taiwan as part of China on their company websites.

At the same time, Tsai's measured approach has alienated some pro-independence DPP supporters.

A vote on independence would require an amendment to current laws, which bar referendums on changing the constitution or sovereign territory.

Formosa Alliance is urging the DPP government, which has a majority in parliament, to change the laws to allow such a vote.

Analysts agree Tsai would be unlikely to allow such an amendment which would be a red flag to Beijing.

Chinese authorities have already said Formosa Alliance should not go down what they called a "dangerous path".

The DPP publicly prohibited its officials and candidates from attending Saturday's rally, instead holding its own rally against China's "annexation" of Taiwan in the southern city of Kaohsiung.

The move was seen as a way for the party to distance itself from activists but to reflect the feelings of some of its more pro-independence members and supporters.
JUNCTION, Texas (AP) - The search for four people missing after a West Texas recreational vehicle park was overrun by raging floodwaters has ended for the day.

Searchers used a helicopter, drone and crews in boats and walking the river banks on Wednesday. Authorities say they still haven't found any sign of the three men and one woman swept away early Monday morning while staying at the RV park along the South Llano (LA'-noh) River in Junction, a town about 140 miles (225 kilometers) west of Austin. The search will resume Thursday morning.

The operation spans from the RV park to 35 miles (56 kilometers) downstream as the South Llano River becomes the Llano River.

Authorities say the river has been receding and about 20 people searched the river banks with the help of rescue dogs.

A member of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Game Warden K9 team walks past a buried truck as they continue the search Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2018, along the South Llano River in Junction, Texas, for the 4 missing individuals believed to be swept away in a Monday morning flash flood. This photo was taken on the South Llano River across from the RV park in Junction, Texas, where the people were swept away from. The search for four people missing after a recreational vehicle park was overrun by raging floodwaters from a West Texas river includes a helicopter, drone and rescuers who are in boats and walking the riverbanks. (Rachel Kellner/Texas Parks and Wildlife Department via AP)

Residents of an RV park search the water side for property as the search continues Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2018, for four missing persons who were swept away from their RV park in Junction by the flooding South Llano River. (Tom Reel/The San Antonio Express-News via AP)

Natalie White and Anthony Rodriguez, from Odessa, stop to watch the river as the search Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2018, for four missing persons who were swept away from their RV park in Junction by the flooding South Llano River in Junction, Texas. (Tom Reel/The San Antonio Express-News via AP)

Rescue workers congregate in town as the search continues Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2018, for four missing persons who were swept away from their RV park in Junction by the flooding South Llano River in Junction, Texas. (Tom Reel/The San Antonio Express-News via AP)

The north and south branches of the river converge in town as the search continues Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2018, for four missing persons who were swept away from their RV park in Junction by the flooding South Llano River in Junction, Texas. (Tom Reel/The San Antonio Express-News via AP)

This image made from video provided by Shonda Winston shows floodwaters on a street in a Camp Wood area, about 120 miles (193 kilometers) west of San Antonio, Texas, Tuesday, Oct. 9. 2018. Crews in swift-water boats on Tuesday patrolled a 35-mile stretch of the South Llano River, a West Texas river north of the Camp Wood area, for several people who went missing after a recreational vehicle park was overrun by raging floodwaters a day earlier. (Shonda Winston via AP)

A bus appears under the Main Street bridge in the receding water as the search continues Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2018, for four missing persons who were swept away from their RV park in Junction by the flooding South Llano River in Junction, Texas. (Tom Reel/The San Antonio Express-News via AP)

An RV park is left destroyed as the search continues Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2018, for four missing persons who were swept away from their RV park in Junction by the flooding South Llano River in Junction, Texas. (Tom Reel/The San Antonio Express-News via AP)
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Latest on the U.S. and the missing Saudi writer Turkish authorities say was slain inside his country's consulate in Istanbul (all times local):

9:30 p.m.

The Washington Post reports that U.S. intelligence intercepts outlined a Saudi plan to detain a prominent journalist and critic who disappeared a week ago.

The Post, citing anonymous U.S. officials familiar with the intelligence, says Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered an operation to lure Jamal Khashoggi from his home in Virginia to Saudi Arabia and then detain him.

Khashoggi vanished last week after visiting the Saudi consulate in Turkey.

Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman Bob Corker says he has reviewed U.S. intelligence reports suggesting that Khashoggi was killed Oct. 2, the day he went to the consulate.

FILE - In this Feb. 1, 2015, file photo, Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi speaks during a press conference in Manama, Bahrain. Turkish claims that Khashoggi, who wrote for The Washington Post, was slain inside a Saudi diplomatic mission in Turkey, has put the Trump administration in a delicate spot with one of its closest Mid-east allies. (AP Photo/Hasan Jamali, File)

Turkish authorities have said he was killed by an elite Saudi "assassination squad." The Saudi government has dismissed that allegation.

___

6:10 p.m.

Top U.S. senators are triggering an investigation into the disappearance of a prominent Saudi journalist that will require President Donald Trump to consider possible sanctions on officials in Saudi Arabia.

Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker and top Democrat Bob Menendez triggered the probe Wednesday under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act. Trump will be required to give a report to Congress within 120 days.

The senators said in a letter that Washington Post writer Jamal Khashoggi's disappearance suggests "a gross violation of internationally recognized human rights." More than a dozen Republican and Democratic senators signed it.

The Saudi journalist critical of the kingdom disappeared last week after visiting the country's consulate in Turkey.

Turkish authorities have said he was killed by an elite Saudi "assassination squad." The Saudi government has dismissed that allegation.

___

2:30 p.m.

Sen. Bob Corker says he has reviewed U.S. intelligence reports on the disappearance of a prominent Saudi journalist and critic and "everything" points to involvement by the government of Saudi Arabia.

Corker tells The Associated Press that information he has reviewed suggests that Jamal Khashoggi was killed on Oct. 2, the day he went to the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

The Tennessee Republican, who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, says he has also spoken with the Saudi ambassador to the U.S.

Corker says he was told that closed-circuit TV from the consulate was live only and did not record. The senator called that statement "not credible" and he said it's now up to the Saudi government to clarify the situation.

Corker says, "the Saudis have a lot of explaining to do because all indications are that they have been involved at minimum with his disappearance." Corker said "everything points to them."

___

12:25 a.m.

Turkish claims that a well-known Saudi writer and government critic was slain inside his country's diplomatic mission in Turkey have put the Trump administration in a delicate spot.

Members of Congress have grown increasingly insistent in recent days that the administration get to the bottom of the disappearance of the writer for The Washington Post, Jamal Khashoggi. He had apparently drawn the wrath of the Saudi government, which has become an ever-closer U.S. ally under President Donald Trump.

Angry lawmakers likely won't prompt the administration to turn away from Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. But they could throw a wrench into arms sales that require their approval and demand the U.S. scale back support for the Saudi military campaign against Iran-backed rebels in Yemen.

President Donald Trump speaks during his meeting to discuss potential damage from Hurricane Michael, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2018. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Alyssa Edling, center, and Thomas Malia, second from right, both with PEN America, join others as they hold signs of missing journalist Jamal Khashoggi, during a news conference about his disappearance in Saudi Arabia, Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2018, in front of The Washington Post in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Nihad Awad, right, executive director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, speaks during a news conference with Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., left, asking for answers about journalist Jamal Khashoggi's disappearance in Saudi Arabia, Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2018, in front of The Washington Post in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
HACKENSACK, N.J. (AP) - A grand jury in New Jersey has indicted rapper Fabolous on counts of domestic violence and making terroristic threats.

The rapper, whose real name is John Jackson, was charged in connection with two alleged incidents in Englewood in March.

The indictment handed up last week in Bergen County charges him with one count of domestic violence stemming from an incident on March 7. He's charged with two counts for allegedly threatening to shoot or kill three individuals on March 28, including the alleged victim from the earlier incident.

He also faces a weapons count for allegedly brandishing a pair of scissors with intent to use them unlawfully.

Each of the four third-degree crimes carries a maximum sentence of five years.

Jackson's attorney didn't immediately return a message seeking comment.
HEALDSBURG, Calif. (AP) - Authorities in Northern California are looking for a hammer. A really, really big one.

The Santa Rosa Press-Democrat says police in Healdsburg in California's wine country are looking for an enormous artwork that vanished over the weekend.

The artwork was an 800-pound ball-peen hammer made of metal with a long redwood handle. The hammer measures 21 feet long and the head is 6 feet tall.

The piece, valued at $15,000, was loaned by the artist about a year ago to the Healdsburg Community Center. It vanished from the lawn sometime Friday night or Saturday morning.

The artist, Doug Unkrey, says it would have required about eight people or a flatbed trailer with a winch to carry off his work.

Police, of course, want to nail the thieves.
TOKYO (AP) - Tokyo's famous fish market reopened Thursday at a new location but retained its most famous tradition: the tuna auction.

The customary clanging of bells opened the auction for raw and frozen tuna, which crammed the huge warehouse wall-to-wall, at the waterfront Toyosu facility. The rhythmical shouts of the auctioneers and the special hand signals by the bidders that followed were unchanged from Tsukiji, the smaller, more accessible home the market recently left after more than eight decades.

The top bid for tuna, a delicacy much like premium-grade beef in Japan, was 4.28 million yen ($38,000), not an unusually high price for quality tuna.

The more than 400 kinds of seafood at the market come from all over Japan, as well as from abroad, including octopus, eel, sea urchin and other items special to Japanese cuisine.

The market serves top restaurants and everyday supermarkets alike. The move was delayed for two years because of worries about contamination, including arsenic, at the Toyosu site. Measures were taken to ensure safety, such as better water pumps and extra concrete sealing.

Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike attended the opening and expressed hopes for the location's success.

A prospective buyer checks frozen tunas before bidding during the first auction at the newly opened Toyosu Market, new site of Tokyo's fish market, in Tokyo Thursday, Oct. 11, 2018. Tokyo's famous fish market reopened Thursday at a new location but with an old tradition: the tuna auction. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

"Of course, things are different here," she said of how the new place may take getting used to.

"We must build the Toyosu brand, day by day, to make it a symbol of Tokyo, and of Japan. I hope to move forward with all of you."

Officials and workers then clapped rhythmically in celebration of Toyosu's opening, the same customary gesture for good luck that had closed Tsukiji on Oct. 6.

Free-of-charge tours for the public start Saturday, including seeing the auction from a huge glass window. Visitors will not be able to go on the auction floor as they could at Tsukiji. Reporters got a tour of the grounds Thursday.

Like Tsukiji, Toyosu also has a vegetable wholesale area, where auctions also take place. In several spots in the same market complex are tiny restaurants, including the ones that used to be at Tsukiji but also new ones.

Still, much of the humbly quaint atmosphere of Tsukiji was gone in the sterile factory-like environment of Toyosu. Whether Toyosu can attract tourist traffic remains to be seen.

Serving as reminders were the people zipping around in their scooting carts, as busy as ever.

Toyosu is a bit farther to get to than Tsukiji, which is within walking distance of downtown Ginza. Toyosu is reachable by an unmanned monorail called Yurikamome. A walkway from Shijo-mae station, which means "in front of the market," leads right to the Toyosu market.

About 40,000 people used to visit Tsukiji each day, not just retailers and restaurant operators but also "salarymen" on lunch breaks and tourists from all over the world.

It's unclear whether the stalls serving noodles and raw-tuna bowls that remain in the area surrounding Tsukiji will continue to be a draw without the backdrop of a real market.

Many fish wholesalers, workers and supporters had opposed the move out of Tsukiji, alleging that Toyosu was inefficient and unsafe. A handful of businesses were continuing to sell inside Tsukiji, saying they hoped to fight the planned tearing down of the old construction.

Tsukiji is being turned into a parking lot for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. What gets built afterward is undecided, according to the Tokyo city government. But it's clearly prime real estate, and plans under consideration include a casino.

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Prospective buyers bid fresh tunas during the first auction at the newly opened Toyosu Market, new site of Tokyo's fish market, in Tokyo Thursday, Oct. 11, 2018. Tokyo's famous fish market reopened Thursday at a new location but with an old tradition: the tuna auction. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

A prospective buyer looks at frozen tunas during the first auction at the newly opened Toyosu Market, new site of Tokyo's fish market, in Tokyo Thursday, Oct. 11, 2018. Tokyo's famous fish market reopened Thursday at a new location but with an old tradition: the tuna auction. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

Prospective buyers bid frozen tunas during the first auction at the newly opened Toyosu Market, new site of Tokyo's fish market, in Tokyo Thursday, Oct. 11, 2018. Tokyo's famous fish market reopened Thursday at a new location but with an old tradition: the tuna auction. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

Workers transport merchandise before the first auction at the newly opened Toyosu Market, new site of Tokyo's fish market, in Tokyo Thursday, Oct. 11, 2018. Thursday was the first day of business at the new facility on Tokyo's waterfront called Toyosu after more than eight decades in Tsukiji. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike delivers a speech at the newly opened fruit and vegetable wholesale part of Toyosu Market, in Tokyo Thursday, Oct. 11, 2018. Thursday was the first day of business at the new facility on Tokyo's waterfront called Toyosu after more than eight decades in Tsukiji. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

Prospective buyers bid tomatoes as Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike, bottom right, watches the first auction at the newly opened fruit and vegetable wholesale part of Toyosu Market, in Tokyo Thursday, Oct. 11, 2018. Thursday was the first day of business at the new facility on Tokyo's waterfront called Toyosu after more than eight decades in Tsukiji. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

Prospective buyers bid vegetable during the first auction at the newly opened fruit and vegetable wholesale part of Toyosu Market, in Tokyo Thursday, Oct. 11, 2018. Thursday was the first day of business at the new facility on Tokyo's waterfront called Toyosu after more than eight decades in Tsukiji. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

A worker cuts a fresh tuna with an edged tool at a wholesale shop at newly opened Toyosu Market, in Tokyo Thursday, Oct. 11, 2018. Tokyo's famous fish market reopened Thursday at a new location but with an old tradition: the tuna auction. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

Prospective buyers bid vegetable during the first auction at the newly opened fruit and vegetable wholesale part of Toyosu Market, in Tokyo Thursday, Oct. 11, 2018. Thursday was the first day of business at the new facility on Tokyo's waterfront called Toyosu after more than eight decades in Tsukiji. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

Prospective buyers bid vegetable during the first auction at the newly opened fruit and vegetable wholesale part of Toyosu Market, in Tokyo Thursday, Oct. 11, 2018. Thursday was the first day of business at the new facility on Tokyo's waterfront called Toyosu after more than eight decades in Tsukiji. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

Workers carry merchandise on the first official opening day at the newly opened Toyosu Market, new site of Tokyo's fish market, in Tokyo Thursday, Oct. 11, 2018. Thursday was the first day of business at the new facility on Tokyo's waterfront called Toyosu after more than eight decades in Tsukiji. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

A worker of a wholesale market stands at the newly opened Toyosu Market, new site of Tokyo's fish market, in Tokyo Thursday, Oct. 11, 2018. Thursday was the first day of business at the new facility on Tokyo's waterfront called Toyosu after more than eight decades in Tsukiji. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike, third from left, gestures as she looks at frozen tunas during the first auction at the newly opened Toyosu Market, new site of Tokyo's fish market, in Tokyo Thursday, Oct. 11, 2018. Tokyo's famous fish market reopened Thursday at a new location but with an old tradition: the tuna auction. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

A prospective buyer carries a fresh tuna after bidding during the first auction at the newly opened Toyosu Market, new site of Tokyo's fish market, in Tokyo Thursday, Oct. 11, 2018. Tokyo's famous fish market reopened Thursday at a new location but with an old tradition: the tuna auction. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

Workers carry merchandise at the first official opening day at the newly opened Toyosu Market, new site of Tokyo's fish market, in Tokyo Thursday, Oct. 11, 2018. Thursday was the first day of business at the new facility on Tokyo's waterfront called Toyosu after more than eight decades in Tsukiji. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

A prospective buyer checks a frozen tuna during the first auction at the newly opened Toyosu Market, new site of Tokyo's fish market, in Tokyo Thursday, Oct. 11, 2018.Tokyo's famous fish market reopened Thursday at a new location but with an old tradition: the tuna auction. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
NUSA DUA, Indonesia (AP) - The Latest on the IMF-World Bank annual meeting (all times local):

8:40 p.m.

Leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations have reaffirmed their commitment to open trading systems that have underpinned their economic growth.

The leaders met Thursday in Bali, Indonesia, on the sidelines of the annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank.

Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said the group will redouble efforts to reach a "substantial conclusion" to a regional trade arrangement, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, by the end of the year.

That initiative includes China, India and Japan, but not the United States.

Southeast Asian leaders pose for family photo during ASEAN Leaders Gathering ont the sidelines of International Monetary Fund and World Bank Annual Meeting 2018 in Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia, Thursday, Oct. 11, 2018. From left, Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen, Brunei Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, Thailand's Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, World Bank President Jim Yong Kim, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Indonesia's President Joko Widodo, United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres, IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde, Vietnam's Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte. (Johannes P. Christo/Pool Photo via AP)

Indonesian President Joko Widodo said ASEAN, which includes wealthy Singapore and poorer countries like Myanmar and Laos, also is determined to close gaps in development within ASEAN.

He said: "This is important, to make sure that no one is left behind."

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4:30 p.m.

About a dozen activists have staged a brief, peaceful protest at the annual meeting of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund in Bali, Indonesia.

Representatives of various rights groups held up placards and chanted "Defend peoples' rights!" and "Stop the attacks!" outside meeting rooms Thursday at a convention center where media and civil society groups are gathered during the annual meeting.

Those involved had badges allowing them to enter the tightly guarded venue.

Members of advocacy groups for women, farmers and workers said their gathering of about 500 at a hotel in the city of Denpasar, miles from the conference, was twice shut down by police.

An IMF staff member said she would discuss the issue and bring it to the "highest levels."

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11:45 a.m.

International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde has said a bailout package for Pakistan would need to be fully transparent.

Lagarde said Thursday that she had not yet seen a formal request for help but thought she might receive one later in the day when meeting with Pakistan's finance minister.

He said earlier this week the country would seek assistance to help it weather a financial crisis.

Pakistan is one of a number of countries that have accepted Chinese financing for projects of Beijing's "Belt and Road Initiative" for building roads, ports and other infrastructure across the globe.

Lagarde said help for the country would have to take into account what debts are owed to whom. She said the issue of "debt transparency" applies to all countries.

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11:05 a.m.

International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde says the U.S. and China should de-escalate their trade dispute and work to fix trade rules instead of breaking them.

Lagarde told reporters Thursday at the annual meeting of the IMF and World Bank in Bali, Indonesia, that so far there had been no "contagion" of major damage from penalty tariffs imposed by the two countries on each other's exports, but that they do risk hurting "innocent bystanders."

Lagarde said her advice was in three parts: "De-escalate. Fix the system. Don't break it."

She said the rules-making World Trade Organization had ways of addressing U.S. complaints that China's policies unfairly extract advanced technologies and put foreign companies at a disadvantage.

But she said the WTO does need to work on addressing issues like subsidies.

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9:10 a.m.

World Bank President Jim Yong Kim says the trade tensions escalating between the U.S. and China could undo global progress in helping end extreme poverty.

Speaking at the outset Thursday of the annual meeting of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund on the island of Bali in Indonesia, joined the IMF's chief in warning of the risks to world growth and economic development from threats to world trade.

The U.S. has imposed tariffs on tens of millions of dollars of Chinese exports and Beijing has responded with similar retaliatory taxes on imports of U.S. goods.

Kim said the most extreme measures, if imposed would cause a "clear slowdown."

He said that without free trade, there would be no hope of helping millions of people escape dire poverty.

Managing Director of International Monetary Fund (IMF) Christine Lagarde talks during a press conference ahead of the annual meetings of the IMF and World Bank in Bali, Indonesia on Thursday, Oct. 11, 2018. (AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati)

Managing Director of International Monetary Fund (IMF) Christine Lagarde, left, leaves after a press conference ahead of the annual meetings of the IMF and World Bank in Bali, Indonesia Thursday, Oct. 11, 2018. (AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati)

Managing Director of International Monetary Fund (IMF) Christine Lagarde talks during a press conference ahead of the annual meetings of the IMF and World Bank in Bali, Indonesia on Thursday, Oct. 11, 2018. (AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati)

World Bank President Jim Yong Kim speaks during a press conference ahead of the annual meetings of the IMF and World Bank in Bali, Indonesia Thursday, Oct. 11, 2018. (AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati)
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) - Malaysia's new government said it will abolish the death penalty for all crimes and halt all pending executions, a rare move against capital punishment in Asia that human rights groups hailed Thursday as a major advance.

More than 1,200 people are on death row in Malaysia, which mandates hanging as punishment for a wide range of crimes including murder, drug trafficking, treason, kidnapping and acts of terror.

Law Minister Liew Vui Keong announced Wednesday that the Cabinet had agreed to abolish the death penalty and that amendments to laws with capital punishment were expected to be presented when Parliament resumes Monday, local media reported. Liew couldn't be reached for immediate comment.

Communications Minister Gobind Singh Deo on Thursday confirmed the Cabinet's decision.

"This is part of our election pledge and also in line with the move away from capital punishment in the rest of the world," he told The Associated Press.

Amnesty International said the move would be a major advance but urged the government to "completely abolish the death penalty for all crimes, with no exceptions." It said the death penalty has been a "terrible stain" on Malaysia's human rights record, and death row prisoners often have to wait years for their appeals to be processed.

"There is no time to waste, the death penalty should have been consigned to the history books long ago," the human rights group's secretary-general, Kumi Naidoo, said in a statement, adding that 142 countries worldwide have rejected capital punishment.

Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's alliance won a stunning election upset on May 9, ousting a scandal-tainted coalition in the first change of government since independence from Britain in 1957. Its promises included eradicating corruption and bolstering human rights.

The Malaysian human rights group Lawyers for Liberty praised the government's decision, saying the death penalty is barbarous and pointless as it has never been proven to deter serious crimes. Its adviser, N. Surendran, said the new government has shown that "it is a force for moral good, and an example for the region and the world."

Many Asian countries such as China and neighboring Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam still impose capital punishment.

Surendran urged the government to not forget the hundreds of Malaysians who are languishing on death row in Singapore and other countries, particularly for being drug mules.

"We call upon the government to vigorously speak up for our citizens facing death in distant shores. Having rejected the death penalty in this country, we now have the moral authority to fight for the lives of our citizens abroad," he said in a statement.
NEW YORK (AP) - Amazon's plans to pay all its U.S. employees at least $15 an hour is putting pressure on small business owners, even those who aren't retailers directly competing with the huge company.

"Amazon is giving a kick in the butt to a lot of business owners to increase compensation," says Gene Marks, owner of The Marks Group, a small business consulting firm in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania.

Small businesses located near Amazon's dozens of order fulfillment centers vie with the company for staffers, and the competition will become even fiercer during the upcoming holiday season, when Amazon needs an extra 100,000 people to pack and ship boxes.

Amazon is "doing what they need to do to get employees," Marks says.

The company, whose market value briefly topped $1 trillion last month, has another motive - placating critics including some politicians who have called on Amazon to give its employees a raise.

The strong economy and shrinking labor pool has made workers hard to find for employers of all kinds, including big retail chains, fast-food restaurants and small businesses. Some are boosting pay. But higher wages are harder for small businesses to absorb because they don't have the massive revenue stream of a company like Amazon.

FILE- In this Dec. 21, 2016, file photo an employee of Amazon PrimeNow stacks shelves for customers making last minute holiday orders at a distribution hub in New York. Amazon's plans to pay employees at least $15 an hour is putting pressure on small business owners, even those that aren't retailers who directly compete with the huge company. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews, File)

Meanwhile, small retailers who sell on Amazon expect the internet giant to increase the fees it charges them to help fund the salary increases. But small business consultants, and owners themselves, say strategizing can help lessen the pain.

Here are three things small business owners need to know about Amazon's wage hike:

AN ADVANTAGE WHEN HIRING

A small business can be more flexible than a huge company. So, while small businesses may not be able to match Amazon's pay, they can sweeten the pot for potential hires and their current employees in other ways.

Owners should say to prospective employees, "we may have a little difficulty giving you the full $15, but what else can we do for you," says Brent Leary, co-founder of CRM Essentials, a consulting firm.

With fewer workers to juggle, small businesses can more easily offer flexible schedules, transportation or other perks that might make up for slightly lower pay. And companies that employ people in their 20s and 30s find that many of their staffers would prefer more benefits to extra pay.

Small businesses can also be better at giving younger people training and mentoring, even during a short-term hire.

"If you provide a work experience that they're looking for, that makes it easier to find people," Leary says.

RAISING PRICES MAY NOT SCARE CUSTOMERS AWAY

Some small business owners may have to pass along the higher costs of competing with Amazon or selling through its website to their customers. Many owners dread having to charge more but they should realize that consumers and businesses are likely to be more accepting of higher prices now that the economy is strong, Marks says.

Moreover, "if you have to increase your prices, your competition probably has to also," Marks says.

Companies that have to raise prices should be up-front with customers about why it's happening, Leary says. That will help preserve a good relationship with their customers.

Amazon stokes goodwill of its own by offering customers same-day or even one-hour delivery. Still, retailers have the ability to differentiate themselves, says John Lawson, an online marketing consultant.

"Amazon doesn't necessarily have the most personalized service," he says.

Lawson finds that more consumers are interested in ordering online and picking up merchandise in stores; any brick-and-mortar retailer that can offer that service should, he says.

AMAZON SELLERS EXPECT THEY'LL HELP FOOT THE BILL

GoVacuum.com, which sells on Amazon as well as its own website, believes the fees it pays the company for taking orders and packing and shipping merchandise will go up as a result of the higher wages. But GoVacuum.com Vice President Justin Haver says the increase is a cost of doing business, and a change the Chantilly, Virginia, company will take in stride.

"The reality is, selling online and running a business requires forward thinking and nimble adaptation to current trends/opportunities," Haver says.

Many owners may look for cost savings elsewhere in their company, perhaps finding cheaper supplies or lower shipping costs.

But Lawson, whose company sells vacuum cleaners and parts, notes that it costs money to sell merchandise, no matter what retail channel or what distribution and delivery system a business owner uses.

"After all these years, you just kind of get used to it. If it's not Amazon, it's the U.S. Postal Service," says Lawson, who has been an online seller. "Every year it gets more and more expensive to stay in business and ultimately the consumer pays more."

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Follow Joyce Rosenberg at www.twitter.com/JoyceMRosenberg . Her work can be found here: https://apnews.com/search/joyce%20rosenberg
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) - Humanitarian medical professionals expelled from Nauru say asylum seekers that Australia banished to the tiny Pacific atoll were suicidal and their children have lost hope.

The Nauru government forced Doctors Without Borders out of the country last week, abruptly ending their free medical care for asylum seekers refugees and local Nauruans.

The United States has agreed to resettle up to 2,500 refugees that Australia sent to Papua New Guinea and Nauru. Australia adopted a policy five years ago to prevent asylum seekers from trying to reach Australian shores by boat by refusing to allow boat arrivals from ever making Australia their home.
McLEAN, Va. (AP) - Suburban women could hold the keys to control of Congress this election year. Once considered reliably Republican, college-educated, affluent women may be turned off by President Donald Trump and some of his party's policies, recent polling has shown, and Democrats are eager to offer them an alternative.

WHAT'S HAPPENING

The outer suburbs of Washington, D.C., provide a case study.

Virginia's 10th Congressional District stretches from the wealthy precincts of McLean, just outside Washington, through very suburban Loudoun County and west to rural areas surrounding Winchester near the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Two-term Rep. Barbara Comstock of Virginia is one of the most vulnerable Republicans in Congress in a year when Democrats are hoping to pick up dozens of seats and take control of the House. The district has been represented by a Republican for more than three decades, but the affluent, highly educated area is diversifying and newcomers are not showing party loyalty.

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FILE - In this June 26, 2018, file photo, Rep. Barbara Comstock, R-Va., walks to a closed-door GOP strategy session at the Capitol in Washington. Two-term Rep. Barbara Comstock of Virginia is one of the most vulnerable Republicans in Congress in a year when Democrats are hoping to pick up dozens of seats and take control of the House of representatives. Democrat Jennifer Wexton, a state senator and former prosecutor, won a six-way primary for the right to take on Comstock in a northern Virginia district that has been held by the GOP for nearly 40 years. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

EDITOR'S NOTE: Associated Press reporters are on the ground around the country, covering political issues, people and races from places they live. The Ground Game series highlights that reporting, looking at politics from the ground up. Each week, in stories and a new podcast, AP reporters examine the political trends that will drive the national conversation tomorrow.

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Democrat Jennifer Wexton, a state senator and former prosecutor, won a six-way primary for the right to take on Comstock and has been highlighting her dual roles of attorney and mother.

Both women are spending millions of dollars in the pricey Washington media market.

WHY IT MATTERS

Democrats need to add at least 23 members to regain control of the House. Districts like Virginia's 10th, which Hillary Clinton won by double digits in 2016, are prime targets. With commuting federal workers, a thriving tech sector and sizable defense contractors based in the area, the district is filled with the sorts of highly educated, independent voters who have been resistant to Trump. It remains to be seen how the contentious battle to confirm Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh will play out among those same voters.

WHAT TO WATCH

This race could provide an early sign on Election Night of how Democrats are performing. If Wexton does well, winning by double digits, Democrats across the country will feel more confident about their strength in suburban areas.

The heart of the district, Loudoun County, is a swing county in a swing state, routinely vacillating between Democratic and Republican control. It is one of the wealthiest counties in the nation, and has seen tremendous growth over the past few decades. Many of its residents are newcomers and political free agents.

Wexton lives in Loudoun County, while Comstock lives in neighboring Fairfax County, which is closer to Washington.

DON'T MISS

While the Comstock-Wexton battle has received national attention, it is one of four Republican-held House seats in Virginia where Democratic women look to have a strong chance to flip Republican districts.

In the 2nd District, former Navy commander Elaine Luria is seeking to unseat Rep. Scott Taylor, a former Navy SEAL, in a Norfolk-based district with a large military population. In the 7th District, a swath of central Virginia with a population base in the suburbs of Richmond, former CIA officer Abigail Spanberger is challenging Rep. Dave Brat. The college professor turned congressman shook up the political establishment in 2014 by knocking out then-Majority Leader Eric Cantor in a primary.

And in the sprawling 5th District, which stretches from Charlottesville to the North Carolina border, former "60 Minutes" producer Leslie Cockburn is running against distillery owner Denver Riggleman for an open seat being vacated by Rep. Tom Garrett, who dropped his re-election bid after announcing he's an alcoholic.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Indiana Sen. Joe Donnelly has repeatedly attacked his opponent, multimillionaire auto-parts magnate Mike Braun, for importing the products he sells from China.

It's a potent issue for Donnelly, a Democrat running for re-election in a manufacturing state.

But it ignores one inconvenient fact: Records reviewed by The Associated Press show a family business Donnelly owned stock in has received shipments of materials from the Asian country for much of this decade.

That sets Donnelly up for charges of hypocrisy in the final weeks of the campaign, while undercutting one of his main attacks against Braun.

Donnelly says he sold his stock in the company and accuses Braun of benefiting from "Chinese labor at the expense of Hoosier workers."
ERIE, Pa. (AP) - President Donald Trump took a short break from politics at a rally in Pennsylvania to offer his thoughts and prayers for those in the path of Hurricane Michael.

Trump promised to spare no effort in the federal response to damaged areas.

Returning to the upcoming midterm elections, the president told supporters Wednesday night in Erie, Pennsylvania, that Democrats want to impose socialism and take over and destroy the nation's health care. He also accused Democrats of wanting to abolish America's borders and allow drugs and gangs to pour in.

Trump told reporters before the rally that he considered canceling the event because of the hurricane but decided he didn't want to disappoint those waiting for him. In 2012, Trump criticized President Barack Obama for campaigning shortly after Superstorm Sandy.

President Donald Trump arrives to speak at a campaign rally at Erie Insurance Arena, Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2018, in Erie, Pa. As Hurricane Michael pounded the Southeast on Wednesday, Trump took shelter at the campaign rally in Pennsylvania, where he sought to boost Republicans before the midterms. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at Erie Insurance Arena, Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2018, in Erie, Pa. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at Erie Insurance Arena, Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2018, in Erie, Pa. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

President Donald Trump arrives to speak at a campaign rally at Erie Insurance Arena, Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2018, in Erie, Pa. As Hurricane Michael pounded the Southeast on Wednesday, Trump took shelter at the campaign rally in Pennsylvania, where he sought to boost Republicans before the midterms. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

President Donald Trump arrives to speak during a campaign rally at Erie Insurance Arena, Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2018, in Erie, Pa. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at Erie Insurance Arena, Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2018, in Erie, Pa. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at Erie Insurance Arena, Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2018, in Erie, Pa. As Hurricane Michael pounded the Southeast on Wednesday, Trump took shelter at the campaign rally in Pennsylvania, where he sought to boost Republicans before the midterms. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

President Donald Trump, right, speaks at a campaign rally at Erie Insurance Arena, Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2018, in Erie, Pa. As Hurricane Michael pounded the Southeast on Wednesday, Trump took shelter at the campaign rally in Pennsylvania, where he sought to boost Republicans before the midterms. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

President Donald Trump arrives to speak at a campaign rally at Erie Insurance Arena, Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2018, in Erie, Pa. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

President Donald Trump pauses as he speaks at a campaign rally at Erie Insurance Arena, Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2018, in Erie, Pa. As Hurricane Michael pounded the Southeast on Wednesday, Trump took shelter at the campaign rally in Pennsylvania, where he sought to boost Republicans before the midterms. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Supporters of President Donald Trump cheer as he arrives to speak at a campaign rally at Erie Insurance Arena, Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2018, in Erie, Pa. As Hurricane Michael pounded the Southeast on Wednesday, Trump took shelter at the campaign rally in Pennsylvania, where he sought to boost Republicans before the midterms. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
WASHINGTON (AP) - Days after ending a turbulent Supreme Court confirmation fight, the Senate turned back to health care - with a battle squarely aimed at coloring next month's crucial elections for control of Congress.

In a return to its characteristically more unruffled mode of work, the Senate on Wednesday rejected a Democratic attempt to stop President Donald Trump from expanding access to short-term health care plans, which offer lower costs but skimpier coverage. It was clear Democrats would lose, and a real victory was never feasible since the measure would have died anyway in the Republican-run House.

But by pushing ahead, Democrats made Republicans cast a health care vote that Democrats could wield in campaign ads for next month's midterm elections, in which they hope to topple the GOP's 51-49 Senate majority. The vote was also aimed at refocusing people away from the Senate's nasty battle over confirming Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, which both sides say has transformed indifferent conservative voters into motivated ones - for now.

Wednesday's vote was about showing whether Congress will "allow insurance companies to scam Americans with cut-rate health insurance," said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. "I wouldn't want to be on the wrong side of that vote."

Republican Sen. Cory Gardner of Colorado insisted it was actually the Democrats who had done themselves no favors with the vote.

"Look, if they want to take away people's health insurance and that's what they're campaigning on for the next several weeks, I think it's a losing strategy," said Gardner, who heads the Senate GOP's campaign organization.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of N.Y., points to a reporter as he speaks to media after the Democratic policy luncheon on Capitol Hill, Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2018, in Washington. Senate Democrats briefly turned the chamber's subject to health care Wednesday, just four days after lawmakers' nasty war over confirming Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. And while Democrats lost the vote, they hope they've gained a message that will bolster their chances of winning Senate control in next month's elections. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Using regulations, Trump has moved to let people buy short-term insurance that could last one year - and up to three years if renewed. President Barack Obama's health care law, which Trump and Republicans have weakened but failed to repeal, created more limited versions of those plans, lasting up to just three months. The policies are for people who don't get coverage at work.

The administration says premiums for the new short-term plans will be around one-third the cost of comprehensive coverage that Obama's law requires. Republicans have promoted them as a low-cost option for strapped consumers after years of steadily rising premiums, which they blame on Obama's law, and GOP candidates will be happy to use Wednesday's vote to make that point.

"It's not surprising that Senate Democrats are fighting to take away people's choices on health care, to drive up premiums," said Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who's facing a surprisingly robust re-election challenge from Democratic Rep. Beto O'Rourke.

Unlike Obama's statute, the new policies don't require coverage for people with pre-existing conditions. The government has estimated those people number from 50 million to 130 million, making them a potent political talking point for Democrats. The short-term insurance also doesn't have to cover a menu of services like prescription drugs and could cap beneficiaries' benefits. Democrats call the plans "junk insurance" because, they say, the policies will leave unwary consumers purchasing dangerously meager packages.

"Anyone who supports coverage for people with pre-existing conditions should oppose Trump's "expansion of these junk insurance plans," said Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., who is running for re-election and introduced the Democratic measure.

On its face, Wednesday's fight was over repealing Trump's new rules. But practically speaking, it served to renew attention on the overall issue of health care, which polling shows ranks at the top of the public's priorities and has been a major concern for voters for over a decade.

It also comes as campaign operatives assess whether the Kavanaugh battle will overshadow what has been shaping up as a voters' referendum on Trump, colored by candidates' views on health care and the economy.

Both sides' consultants say initial polling shows newfound enthusiasm among conservatives, who until the court fight were far less excited about voting than their liberal, anti-Trump counterparts. The big question, they agree, is whether conservative enthusiasm will last until Nov. 6 or fade away, victim to the historic pattern of midterm congressional losses by the party holding the White House and the ever-changing parade of distracting controversies prevalent under Trump.

Lawmakers from both parties are putting the best face on voters' mood.

"Whatever difference in enthusiasm Republican voters may have had going into the fall elections has been eliminated," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., told reporters.

"Kavanaugh's in the rear-view mirror," said Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., who spends weekends campaigning and is expected to be easily re-elected next month. "What people are asking me about is health care."

The Democratic effort to block Trump's short-term plans lost 50-50, with legislation needing a majority to pass. They forced the vote under a seldom-used procedure that makes it easier for lawmakers to try repealing recent federal regulations.

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, the only lawmaker to join the other side in the vote, complained that the plans could deny coverage to people with pre-existing conditions. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, voted against the Democratic proposal, saying people in her high-cost state could benefit from the low-cost option.

Collins and Murkowski helped defeat Trump's effort to repeal Obama's law last year.

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Associated Press writer Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar contributed to this report.
LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) - A Pakistani extremist Islamist party is demanding the country's Supreme Court uphold the death sentence for a Christian woman convicted of blasphemy.

Asia Bibi has appealed her sentence and the court earlier this week postponed ruling on the final appeal. Her lawyers say she was falsely accused.

The Tehreek-e-Labbaik party said on Wednesday that if the court's three-judge panel frees Bibi, the judges will face "consequences." The party also says its supporters will rally on Friday to demand death for Bibi.

The charge against Bibi dates back to a hot day in 2009 when she went to get water for fellow farmworkers. Two Muslim women refused to drink from a container used by a Christian.

Bibi was later accused of insulting Islam's prophet, a charge which carries the death penalty.
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - South Korea has walked back on a proposal to lift some of its unilateral sanctions against North Korea following President Donald Trump's blunt response.

Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha had said on Wednesday that Seoul was considering lifting measures applied after a deadly attack in 2010. She cited the intent to create more diplomatic momentum with the North, but Trump reacted by saying Seoul could "do nothing" without Washington's approval.

Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon said Thursday removing the sanctions has not been seriously considered and would be hard to do unless North Korea acknowledges responsibility for the 2010 attack. North Korea has fiercely denied it sunk the Cheonan warship, an attack that killed 46 South Korean sailors.

Lifting the South's sanctions would have little effect since U.S.-led international sanctions remain.

South Korean Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon speaks at the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Oct. 11, 2018. South Korea has walked back on a proposal to lift some of its unilateral sanctions against North Korea following President Donald Trump's blunt response. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
BEIRUT (AP) - Dictators and autocrats have always sought to silence dissenters, even ones that flee abroad to escape their grasp. They seem to only get bolder in turning to their playbook of detention, threats and killings.

That may in part be because, despite decades of talk of human rights, violations get only muted government reproaches.

In the United States, the Trump administration avoids strenuous criticism of human rights abuses by allies, like Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Israel and the Philippines, or leaders it seeks to cultivate ties with, like Russia, China and North Korea.

So when Turkish officials said they believed Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi had been killed last week after disappearing during a visit to his country's consulate in Istanbul, there was good reason to wonder whether there would be serious repercussions.

FILE - In this Feb. 1, 2015, file photo, Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi speaks during a press conference in Manama, Bahrain. The disappearance of Khashoggi, during a visit to his country's consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2, 2018, raises a dark question for anyone who dares criticize governments or speak out against those in power: Will the world have their back? (AP Photo/Hasan Jamali, File)

FILE - In this Monday, Oct. 8, 2018 file photo, members of the Turkish-Arab Journalist Association hold posters with photos of missing Saudi writer Jamal Khashoggi, as they hold a protest near the Saudi Arabia consulate in Istanbul. The disappearance of Khashoggi, during a visit to his country's consulate in Istanbul last week, raises a dark question for anyone who dares criticize governments or speak out against those in power: Will the world have their back? (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis, File)

FILE - In this Tuesday, Oct. 9, 2018 file photo, a security guard walks in the Saudi Arabia consulate in Istanbul, Turkey. The disappearance of Khashoggi, during a visit to his country's consulate in Istanbul last week, raises a dark question for anyone who dares criticize governments or speak out against those in power: Will the world have their back? (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis, File)

FILE -- In this Feb. 12, 2016 file photo, the family of Giulio Regeni follows his coffin during the funeral service in Fiumicello, Northern Italy. Regeni, was found dumped on the side of a road outside the Egyptian capital, Cairo, his body mutilated and his bones broken. Suspicion in Italy immediately fell on Egypt's security forces, notorious for their abuses. The disappearance of Saudi Journalist Jamal Khashoggi, during a visit to his country's consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2, 2018, raises a dark question for anyone who dares criticize governments or speak out against those in power: Will the world have their back? (AP Photo/Paolo Giovannini, File)

FILE - In this Sept. 17, 2018 file photo, released by the Egyptian Presidency, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, right, walks with Roberto Fico, president of Italy's Chamber of Deputies, in Cairo, Egypt. Fico complained that Cairo has not made much progress on the unresolved case of an Italian student gruesomely killed in Cairo in 2016. Suspicion in Italy fell on Egypt's security forces, notorious for their abuses. The disappearance of Saudi Journalist Jamal Khashoggi, during a visit to his country's consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2, 2018, raises a dark question for anyone who dares criticize governments or speak out against those in power: Will the world have their back? (Egyptian Presidency via AP, File)

FILE - In this May 10, 2002 file photo, Alexander Litvinenko, former KGB spy is photographed at his home in London. Litvinenko, who defected to Britain and become a vocal Kremlin critic, died in Nov. 2006, three weeks after drinking tea laced with radioactive polonium-210 in London. A public inquiry concluded in 2016 that Russia's security service killed him, likely on Putin's orders. The disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, during a visit to his country's consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2, 2018, raises a dark question for anyone who dares criticize governments or speak out against those in power: Will the world have their back? (AP Photo/File)

FILE - In this July 23, 2018 file photo, a masked demonstrator stands next to a banner protesting the thousands of victims of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's so-called war on drugs in Quezon, northeast of Manila, Philippines. Nearly 5,000 drug suspects, mostly from the ranks of the poor, have been killed so far in reported clashes with police, and more than 155,000 others arrested. Trump praised the campaign in a phone call with Dutarte, telling him, "What a great job you are doing," according to a leaked transcript of the call. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez, File)

U.S. President Donald Trump toasts with Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte during the gala dinner marking ASEAN's 50th anniversary in Manila, Philippines, Sunday, Nov. 12, 2017. Nearly 5,000 drug suspects, mostly from the ranks of the poor, have been killed so far in reported clashes with police, and more than 155,000 others arrested in Duterte's so-called war on drugs. Trump praised the campaign in a phone call with Dutarte, telling him, "What a great job you are doing," according to a leaked transcript of the call. (Athit Perawongmetha/Pool photo via AP, File)

FILE - In this Nov. 10, 2016 file photo, released by Xinhua News Agency, then China's Vice Minister of Public Security Meng Hongwei delivers a campaign speech at the 85th session of the general assembly of the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol), in Bali, Indonesia. China detained the now former Interpol chief, who was taken into custody upon arriving in Beijing late Sept. 2018, the latest in a number of Chinese figures who went missing only to appear in court accused of corruption. The disappearance of Saudi Journalist Jamal Khashoggi, during a visit to his country's consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2, 2018, raises a dark question for anyone who dares criticize governments or speak out against those in power: Will the world have their back? (Du Yu/Xinhua via AP, File)

FILE - In this May 4, 2001 file photo, Kim Jong Nam, the eldest son of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, prepares to board a plane to Beijing at Narita international airport near Tokyo, Japan. Kim was fatally poisoned at Kuala Lumpur's airport on Feb. 13, 2017, in one of the most brazen instances of assassination in recent memory in an attack that authorities said used VX nerve agent. Strong suspicion has fallen on North Korean agents. (AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi, File)

FILE - In this 1998 file photo made available on March 19, 2004, Osama bin Laden is seen at a news conference in Khost, Afghanistan. The United States carried out the most noteworthy assassination of this century when Navy SEALs under President Barack Obama's direction tracked down Osama bin Laden in Pakistan and killed him in 2011. (AP Photo/Mazhar Ali Khan, File)

FILE - In this March 12, 2018 file photo personnel in protective gear work on a van in Winterslow, England, as investigations continue into the nerve-agent poisoning of Russian ex-spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia, in Salisbury, England. British officials said the attack on the Skripals received approval "at a senior level of the Russian state" and announced charges in absentia against two Russian agents. The disappearance of Saudi Journalist Jamal Khashoggi, during a visit to his country's consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2, 2018, raises a dark question for anyone who dares criticize governments or speak out against those in power: Will the world have their back? (AP Photo/Frank Augstein, File)

FILE - In this Oct. 10, 2013 file photo, exiled Syrian Rami Abdurrahman, who operates the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights from Coventry, gives an interview to The Associated Press, in Coventry, England. Abdurrahman, who has monitored the Syrian war for years and has now become a British citizen, said he got word that a senior Syrian military official named him in meetings as the next target, "wherever I am." The disappearance of Saudi Journalist Jamal Khashoggi, during a visit to his country's consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2, 2018, raises a dark question for anyone who dares criticize governments or speak out against those in power: Will the world have their back? (AP Photo/Raphael Satter, File)

FILE - In this March 22, 2004 file photo, thousands of Palestinian mourners follow the coffin of Hamas spiritual leader Sheik Ahmed Yassin, during his funeral in Gaza City. Israeli helicopters fired missiles killing Yassin as he left a mosque near his house at daybreak. Israel and the Palestinians have a history of assassinations. Israel's Mossad killed several top PLO and Hamas leaders in the Arab world and Gaza. A Palestinian splinter group attempted and failed to kill the Israeli ambassador to the United Kingdom in 1982 and Palestinian militants assassinated Israel's tourism minister in 2001. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra, File)

FILE - In this Oct. 18 2001 file photo, mourners wait to pass by the flag-draped coffin of assassinated Israeli Tourism Minister Rehavam Zeevi, who lies in state in front of the Knesset, Israel's parliament, in Jerusalem. Israel and the Palestinians have a history of assassinations. Israel's Mossad killed several top PLO and Hamas leaders in the Arab world and Gaza. A Palestinian splinter group attempted and failed to kill the Israeli ambassador to the United Kingdom in 1982 and Palestinian militants assassinated Israel's tourism minister in 2001. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis, File)
BERLIN (AP) - This weekend's state election in Bavaria has been casting a long shadow over German politics for the past year - and the aftershocks could cause more turbulence for Chancellor Angela Merkel's struggling national government.

Polls suggest that Bavaria's center-right Christian Social Union party, which has run the region for 61 years, is heading for its worst performance since the 1950s on Sunday. It appears to be losing voters despite enviable prosperity and rock bottom 2.8-percent unemployment.

The socially conservative party is an important but often-awkward sister to Merkel's Christian Democratic Union.

Though the CSU is unlikely to lose power in Bavaria altogether, a result like the one pollsters are forecasting would be humiliating. Speculation is rife that party leader and Horst Seehofer, Germany's interior minister, could be forced out.

FILE - In this Sept. 21, 2018 file photo German Chancellor Angela Merkel, left, and Interior Minister Horst Seehofer, right, listen to Vice Chancellor and German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz during a joint press conference at the chancellery in Berlin, Germany. This weekend's state election in Bavaria has been casting a long shadow over German politics for the past year, and the aftershocks could cause more turbulence for Chancellor Angela Merkel's struggling national government. Polls suggest that Bavaria's center-right Christian Social Union party, which has run the southeastern region for 61 years, is heading for its worst performance since the 1950s on Sunday. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber, file)

In this Oct. 10, 2018 photo election posters stand in the small village Hundham near Rosenheim, Germany. This weekend's state election in Bavaria has been casting a long shadow over German politics for the past year, and the aftershocks could cause more turbulence for Chancellor Angela Merkel's struggling national government. Polls suggest that Bavaria's center-right Christian Social Union party, which has run the southeastern region for 61 years, is heading for its worst performance since the 1950s on Sunday. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

FILE - The Dec. 16, 2017 photo shows Bavarian State Governor of German Christian Social Union party, CSU, Markus Soeder attending a party convention of the German Christian Social Union in Nuremberg, Germany. This weekend's state election in Bavaria has been casting a long shadow over German politics for the past year, and the aftershocks could cause more turbulence for Chancellor Angela Merkel's struggling national government. Polls suggest that Bavaria's center-right Christian Social Union party, which has run the southeastern region for 61 years, is heading for its worst performance since the 1950s on Sunday. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader, file)

FILE - In this Dec. 15, 2017 fiel photo Bavarian State Governor and Chairman of German Christian Social Union party, CSU, Horst Seehofer, right, and Bavarian Finance Minister and candidate for new State Governor Markus Soeder attend a party convention of the CSU in Nuremberg, Germany. This weekend's state election in Bavaria has been casting a long shadow over German politics for the past year, and the aftershocks could cause more turbulence for Chancellor Angela Merkel's struggling national government. Polls suggest that Bavaria's center-right Christian Social Union party, which has run the southeastern region for 61 years, is heading for its worst performance since the 1950s on Sunday. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader, file)
JERUSALEM (AP) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's top ministers are squabbling, a deadline looms for contentious legislation that may bring down his government and a corruption indictment could be just around the corner.

Against this backdrop, there are growing signs he may soon call for elections - possibly as early as next week, when parliament reconvenes from its summer break. And though Netanyahu hasn't committed yet, conditions appear ripe for him to schedule the vote, nearly a year ahead of schedule.

Polls, for now at least, predict a solid Netanyahu victory, one that would assure his place in history as Israel's longest-serving leader and allow him to solidify his close alliance with President Donald Trump. Another term would also allow Netanyahu to push forward with his nationalistic agenda and worldwide campaign to thwart Iran's nuclear ambitions.

But one big obstacle could still trip him up: a mounting corruption investigation that may soon deliver criminal charges.

"It comes down to his electoral prospects and his legal situation," said Avraham Diskin, a political scientist at Israel's Hebrew University. "On both fronts he seems to be doing well for now, so he could easily manufacture a crisis and seize on it for elections."

If he gets another term, Netanyahu would most likely build a government similar to the religious, nationalistic coalition he currently leads.

FILE - In this March 17, 2015 file photo, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu greets supporters at the party's election headquarters in Tel Aviv, Israel. His top ministers are squabbling, a domestic political land mine beckons and an indictment for corruption could be just around the corner. Indications are mounting that Netanyahu may soon call for new elections, nearly a year ahead of schedule, bringing a premature end to his fourth term in office. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty, File)

A strong showing in the polls could also shield him in the corruption case, the thinking goes, making it much harder for the attorney general to charge a popular, newly re-elected prime minister.

Netanyahu's opening speech to the Knesset, or parliament, on Monday could give an indication as to which way he is leaning. On the agenda will be passing a new law mandating the military draft of ultra-Orthodox men, a political hot potato that has deeply divided the government.

Israel's Supreme Court has dictated a Dec. 2 deadline to get the law passed and if his divided coalition partners remain inflexible, Netanyahu could use it as a pretext to dissolve parliament. With political parties focused on nationwide municipal elections later this month, Netanyahu's final decision will likely come down in November, which would set up an election early next year.

Already, signs of coalition upheaval are everywhere.

Naftali Bennett, who heads the pro-settler Jewish Home party, has launched a scathing critique of Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman's handing of the past six months of violence along the Gaza border, in what is widely seen as a campaign to replace him.

Lieberman, who heads the nationalist, but secular, Yisrael Beiteinu faction, is also refusing to bend to an ultra-Orthodox demand that he ease the proposed legislation to draft young religious men.

Ultra-Orthodox parties consider conscription a taboo, fearing that military service will lead to immersion in secularism. But years of exemptions have generated widespread resentment among the rest of Jewish Israelis.

Earlier this week, Netanyahu held an impromptu press conference, fielding questions from the media for the first time in months in what was viewed as a warm-up for the election season.

Cabinet minister Gilad Erdan, a senior member of Netanyahu's ruling Likud Party, said he hadn't heard from the prime minister on his plans.

"But it's obvious that when Lieberman and the ultra-Orthodox are hardening their positions about the draft law, we have a problem abiding by the Supreme Court's demand," he told Israel's Army Radio. "You can't run the Knesset and the country when everyone does as they please."

If history is any guide, elections look likely. The last time a government served its full term was in 1988. Since then, elections have almost always been moved up because of a coalition crisis or a strategic move by the prime minister to maximize his chance of re-election.

A poll aired Sunday on Israel's top-rated Channel 2 newscast showed Netanyahu to be on solid ground.

The survey found that, if elections were held today, Netanyahu's Likud party would get 32 seats of the 120-seat Knesset - a two seat jump from its current level - and his current coalition would score a solid majority. The centrist Yesh Atid party would earn 18 seats, while the center-left Zionist Union would trail with 12.

The poll had Netanyahu, with 38 percent support, as being the most suitable candidate for prime minister - far ahead of his closest competitor at 12 percent, retired military chief Benny Gantz who has yet to say whether he even plans to enter politics.

The Midgam poll surveyed more than 500 Israelis and had a margin of error of 4.4 percentage points.

The biggest wild card for Netanyahu is the corruption investigation.

Police have already questioned Netanyahu a dozen times and recommended he be indicted on bribery and breach of trust charges in two cases. The first involves allegedly taking gifts from billionaires and the second for allegedly discussing legislation that favored a major newspaper in exchange for positive media coverage. Netanyahu has also been grilled about a corruption case involving Israel's telecom giant.

This week, his wife, Sara Netanyahu, went on trial for fraud charges for allegedly overspending roughly $100,000 on celebrity chefs at their official residence, even when there was a full-time chef on staff.

Israel's attorney general, Avichai Mandelblit, is expected to make a decision on charges in the coming months.

Netanyahu has angrily rejected the accusations against him and his wife, calling them part of a media-orchestrated witch-hunt. His sense of indignation seems to have served him politically, rallying his conservative base in an assault on the supposed liberal elites plotting to get rid of him.

Israeli law is unclear whether a prime minister must step down if indicted. Speaking to journalists on Tuesday, Netanyahu refused to discuss the topic, expressing confidence that he would not be charged.

But later, his finance minister, Moshe Kahlon, said Netanyahu should step aside if charged, saying a prime minister under indictment "cannot function."

If indicted, Netanyahu can expect such calls to grow - whether there are elections or not.
TORU, Pakistan (AP) - She's just 10 years old, but Pakistani girl Ansa Khan's day is a hectic one.

At the first hint of dawn, she is up saying her morning prayers before reading her Quran, Islam's holy book. Those are Ansa's quietest moments. After that, her day is a whirl of chores, school, studying and the occasional moments stolen away to play marbles.

Since 2012, the United Nations has reserved Oct. 11 as the International Day of the Girl Child "to recognize girls' rights and the unique challenges girls face around the world." This year the theme is employable skills for girls, particularly in poorer economies.

Early marriage is often the first option for girls in many of the world's poorest countries and Pakistan is no different.

According to the global organization Girls Are Not Brides, in 2017, there were 1.9 million women in Pakistan between the ages of 20 and 24 who had been married off before they turned 18. The organization had an even higher figure for India - 15.5 million. There are no official figures for the current numbers of child brides.

Poverty and patriarchy are the oft-cited reasons for child brides.

In this Tuesday, August 13, 2018, photo, Ansa Khan sifts through dry sugarcane peel and for use as firewood in Mardan, Pakistan. At just 10 years old, her day is a hectic one. At the first hint of dawn, she is up saying her morning prayers before reading her Quran, Islam's holy book. Those are Ansa's quietest moments. After that her day is a whirl of chores, school, studying and the occasional moments stolen away to play marbles. (AP Photo/Saba Rehman)

But Pakistan also has its girl heroes, most notably the youngest Nobel Laureate, Malala Yousufzai, who was shot by Taliban insurgents at just 13 years old for speaking out in favor of girls' education.

Yousufzai survived and made educating all girls everywhere her goal. She was only slightly older than Ansa when she first blogged for the BBC advocating education for girls, even as the Taliban burned girls' schools and threatened harsh punishments for those who would send their girls to school.

Like Yousufzai, Ansa is from Pakistan's conservative Khyber Pukhtunkhwa Province, which borders neighboring Afghanistan.

Also, like Yousufzai, Ansa enjoys school, saying her favorite subject is Islamic religious studies. Electricity is not always reliable in Ansa's village of Toru and she is often forced to study by flashlight.

Ansa's father, Tajbar Khan, said his young daughter often helps him on the land he farms for a large landowner in the area. She runs to help feed the cattle and spends hours with her mother making the dung or manure collected from the animals into large round cakes that are dried out and later used for cooking.

The farm produces tobacco, a major crop in the province. While her father and older brother harvest and shred the leaves from the tobacco plants, Ansa, her older sister and mother sew the leaves together to be dried.

This year's U.N. statement about girl child day calls for a focus on gaining skills.

"Of the 1 billion young people - including 600 million adolescent girls - that will enter the workforce in the next decade, more than 90 per cent of those living in developing countries will work in the informal sector - jobs that are not regulated or protected - where low or no pay, abuse and exploitation are common," the statement says.

"The most disadvantaged girls - including those in rural areas and those with disabilities - have even less access to decent work."

___

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In this Wednesday, June 27, 2018, photo, while other children are enjoying their summer vacations, every morning Ansa Khan goes out to farm in Mardan, Pakistan. The farm produces tobacco, a major crop in Pakistan's KPK. While her father and older brother harvest and shred the leaves from the tobacco plants, it is for Ansa, her older sister and mother to sew the leaves together to be dried. (AP Photo/Saba Rehman)

In this Wednesday, July 25, 2018, photo, Ansa Khan, along with elder sister and neighbors, gather tobacco leaves in Mardan, Pakistan. Since 2012 the United Nations has reserved Oct. 11 as the International day of the Girl Child "to recognize girls' rights and the unique challenges girls face around the world." This year the theme is employable skills for girls, particularly in the poorer economies.(AP Photo/Saba Rehman)

In this Wednesday, July 25, 2018, photo, Ansa Khan and the women in her family sort through tobacco leaves in Mardan, Pakistan. The family farm produces tobacco, a major crop their area. While her father and older brother harvest and shred the leaves from the tobacco plants, it is far Ansa, her older sister and mother to sew the leaves together to be dried. (AP Photo/Saba Rehman)

In this Monday, July 9, 2018, photo, Ansa Khan cools her feet with running water just adjacent to her home while her mother and sister are busy in their household activities and washing clothes and utensils in Mardan, Pakistan. Since 2012 the United Nations has reserved Oct. 11 as the International day of the Girl Child "to recognize girls' rights and the unique challenges girls face around the world." This year the theme is employable skills for girls, particularly in the poorer economies. (AP Photo/Saba Rehman)

In this Tuesday, June 27, 2018, photo, Ansa Khan carries grass from the family farm, a daily afternoon chore, in Mardan, Pakistan. At the first hint of dawn, she is up saying her morning prayers before reading her Quran, Islam's holy book. Those are Ansa's quietest moments. After that her day is a whirl of chores, school, studying and the occasional moments stolen away to play marbles. (AP Photo/Saba Rehman)

In this Wednesday, June 27, 2018, photo, Ansa Khan takes a tea break in the late morning in Mardan, Pakistan. In rural villages of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistan, this brunch time tea is very important for all farmers and it is called as "Sakhtee chay" in Pashto language. (AP Photo/Saba Rehman)

In this Tuesday, June 26, 2018, photo, Ansa Khan first's work in the morning after breakfast is to recite the Quran with her religious teacher in her village in Mardan, Pakistan. After that her day is a whirl of chores, school, studying and the occasional moments stolen away to play marbles. (AP Photo/Saba Rehman)

In this Monday, July 9, 2018, photo, Ansa Khan feeds her small chicks and hens at her home in Mardan, Pakistan. Since 2012 the United Nations has reserved Oct. 11 as the International day of the Girl Child "to recognize girls' rights and the unique challenges girls face around the world." This year the theme is employable skills for girls, particularly in the poorer economies.(AP Photo/Saba Rehman)

In this Friday, August 10, 2018, photo, in Mardan, Pakistan, Ansa Khan plays marbles on the dirt floor of her home. This is the most famous game in rural areas of Khyebr Pakhtunkhwa Province, which is played by small girls and boys both. (AP Photo/Saba Rehman).

In this Wednesday, June 27, 2018, photo, Ansa Khan and her sisters' combs are hang on the the mud wall of their house in Mardan, Pakistan. Since 2012 the United Nations has reserved Oct. 11 as the International day of the Girl Child "to recognize girls' rights and the unique challenges girls face around the world." This year the theme is employable skills for girls, particularly in the poorer economies. (AP Photo/Saba Rehman)
ISTANBUL (AP) - Saudi royal guards, intelligence officers, soldiers and an autopsy expert were part of a 15-member team from the kingdom that targeted missing writer Jamal Khashoggi, Turkish media said Thursday. The Washington Post contributor vanished last week while visiting the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul.

The reported details, coupled with more-direct comments from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, appear aimed at gradually pressuring Saudi Arabia to reveal what happened to Khashoggi, while also balancing Ankara's need to maintain the kingdom's investments in Turkey and relations on other issues.

In Washington, President Donald Trump expressed reservations over withholding American arm sales over the writer, even as prominent American lawmakers increasingly criticize Saudi Arabia - America's longtime security ally in the region.

Turkish officials say they fear Saudi Arabia killed and dismembered Khashoggi, without offering evidence explaining why they believe that. Khashoggi contributed columns to the Post, including some critical of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Saudi Arabia, before going silent in recent days, called the allegation it abducted or harmed Khashoggi "baseless." However, it too has offered no evidence to support its claim the writer simply walked out of its consulate and vanished despite his fiancee waiting outside for him.

Information continues to trickle out through Turkish media about the 15-man Saudi team previously described as an "assassination squad." These leaks, largely matching across Turkey's state-run media and private Erdogan-linked outlets, likely come from the country's security services as another means to pressure the kingdom over Khashoggi's Oct. 2 disappearance.

Security guards stand outside Saudi Arabia's consulate in Istanbul, Thursday, Oct. 11, 2018. Turkish officials have said they believe Saudi writer and government critic Jamal Khashoggi, was killed inside the consulate after he visited the mission to obtain a document required to marry his Turkish fiancee. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)

The first plane of nine Saudis arrived from Riyadh around 3:30 a.m. that day, and included an individual described as a forensics official, according to the Sabah newspaper. One Turkish official, speaking on condition of anonymity to The Associated Press to discuss an ongoing police investigation, previously described that official as an "autopsy expert."

The other six flew in on commercial flights, according to a list obtained by Sabah, which also published their names and faces. Local media described the Saudis being military and intelligence officers, as well as several "royal guards."

Around the time Khashoggi entered the consulate, a second private plane from Riyadh took off for Istanbul. About two hours after he entered the consulate, video released by state media in Turkey shows several vehicles with diplomatic license plates, leave the consulate and drive some 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) away to the consul's residence.

The Hurriyet newspaper and other media alleged that the consulate's 28 local staff were given the day off because a "diplomats' meeting" would be held there. The reports did not cite a source and there was no official confirmation.

By 7 p.m., six of the Saudis left by the newly arrived private plane, flying onto Cairo and remaining overnight until heading back to Riyadh, according to Sabah and other media reports. By 11 p.m., another seven left by the other private plane, heading to Dubai, United Arab Emirates, similarly remaining there overnight and then flying on to Riyadh the next day, according to reports. Two others flew out commercially, Sabah said.

While the reports provide nothing definitive, they darken the picture surrounding Khashoggi's disappearance.

Erdogan was quoted by Turkish media on Thursday as telling journalists flying with him back home from a visit to Hungary that "we cannot remain silent to such an incident."

"How is it possible for a consulate, an embassy not to have security camera systems? Is it possible for the Saudi Arabian consulate where the incident occurred not to have camera systems?" Erdogan asked. "If a bird flew, if a mosquito appeared, these systems would catch them and (I believe) they (the Saudis) would have the most advanced of systems."

Meanwhile, Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that he has a call in to Khashoggi's fiancee, Hatice Cengiz, who has appealed to the president and first lady Melania Trump for help.

Trump said he had spoken with the Saudis about what he called a "bad situation," but he did not disclose details of his conversations. He also said the U.S. was working "very closely" with Turkey, "and I think we'll get to the bottom of it."

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said national security adviser John Bolton and presidential senior adviser Jared Kushner spoke on Tuesday to Crown Prince Mohammed about Khashoggi.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo then had a follow-up call with the crown prince to reiterate the U.S. request for information and a thorough, transparent investigation.

In an interview later Wednesday with "Fox News @ Night," Trump said he wanted to find out what happened to Khashoggi but appeared reluctant to consider blocking arms sales, citing economic reasons.

"I think that would be hurting us," Trump said. "We have jobs, we have a lot of things happening in this country. We have a country that's doing probably better economically than it's ever done before."

"Part of that is what we're doing with our defense systems and everybody's wanting them," he continued. "And frankly, I think that that would be a very, very tough pill to swallow for our country. I mean, you're affecting us and, you know, they're always quick to jump that way."

On his first international trip as president, Trump visited Saudi Arabia and announced $110 billion in proposed arms sales. The administration also relies on Saudi support for its Middle East agenda to counter Iranian influence, fight extremism and support an expected peace plan between Israel and the Palestinians.

Khashoggi had gone to the consulate on Tuesday last week to get paperwork he needed for his upcoming marriage. His Turkish fiancee waited outside.

The Post reported Wednesday evening that U.S. intelligence intercepts outlined a Saudi plan to detain Khashoggi. The Post, citing anonymous U.S. officials familiar with the intelligence, said Prince Mohammed ordered an operation to lure Khashoggi from his home in Virginia, where he lived most recently, to Saudi Arabia and then detain him.

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Fraser reported from Ankara, Turkey, and Gambrell reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

FILE - In this Monday, Oct. 8, 2018 file photo, members of the Turkish-Arab Journalist Association hold posters with photos of missing Saudi writer Jamal Khashoggi, as they hold a protest near the Saudi Arabia consulate in Istanbul. The disappearance of Khashoggi, during a visit to his country's consulate in Istanbul last week, raises a dark question for anyone who dares criticize governments or speak out against those in power: Will the world have their back? (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis, File)

Security guards stand outside Saudi Arabia's consulate in Istanbul, Thursday, Oct. 11, 2018. Turkish officials have said they believe Saudi writer and government critic Jamal Khashoggi, was killed inside the consulate after he visited the mission to obtain a document required to marry his Turkish fiancee. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)

People hold signs during a protest at the Embassy of Saudi Arabia about the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2018, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Security guards stand outside Saudi Arabia's consulate in Istanbul, Thursday, Oct. 11, 2018. Turkish officials have said they believe Saudi writer and government critic Jamal Khashoggi, was killed inside the consulate after he visited the mission to obtain a document required to marry his Turkish fiancee. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)

Nihad Awad, right, executive director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, speaks during a news conference with Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., left, asking for answers about journalist Jamal Khashoggi's disappearance in Saudi Arabia, Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2018, in front of The Washington Post in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
MADRID (AP) - Spanish rescuers have found the bodies of a German couple who went missing after flash flooding on the island of Mallorca, bringing the confirmed death toll to 12. A young child is still missing.

The Germans' last communication was a call to a friend on Tuesday evening saying they were caught in a vehicle, according to Sabine Lammers, the German Consul in the island's capital, Palma de Mallorca, who spoke on Cadena SER radio on Thursday.

The emergency service in Spain's Balearic Islands said the bodies of the man and the woman were found near the town of Arta, one of the hardest-hit by a four-hour downpour that saw up to 23 centimetres (9 inches) of water fall in some areas.

A creek that is usually dry overflowed as a result of the rainfall, sending a river of water and mud through the town of Sant Llorenc de Cardassar, about 60 kilometers (40 miles) east of Palma de Mallorca.

At least four people died in Sant Llorenc.

The Civil Guard said that the body of the missing 5-year-old boy's mother was found Wednesday. She reportedly managed to bring her 7-year-old daughter out of their car, but she and her son were dragged away.

A boy walk along the street after flooding in Sant Llorenc, Mallorca, Spain, Thursday, Oct. 11, 2018. Spanish rescuers have found the bodies of a German couple that went missing after a destructive flash flooding that killed at least 10 more earlier this week in Mallorca and are still looking for a missing child. (AP Photo/Francisco Ubilla)

On Thursday, around 800 people participating in the clean-up and rescue operations were still looking for the boy.

The confirmed victims are the German couple, a British couple, an 80-year-old Dutch woman and six Spanish citizens, according to the regional emergency service. One victim's identity has yet to be confirmed.

The Spanish government has taken the first steps to declaring the area a "zone of catastrophe," which will unlock funds for recovery, reconstruction and compensation of victims.

People clean their belongings on a street after flooding in Sant Llorenc, Mallorca, Spain, Thursday, Oct. 11, 2018. Spanish rescuers have found the bodies of a German couple that went missing after a destructive flash flooding that killed at least 10 more earlier this week in Mallorca and are still looking for a missing child. (AP Photo/Francisco Ubilla)

Workers remove destroyed furniture from the street after flooding in Sant Llorenc, Mallorca, Spain, Thursday, Oct. 11, 2018. Spanish rescuers have found the bodies of a German couple that went missing after a destructive flash flooding that killed at least 10 more earlier this week in Mallorca and are still looking for a missing child. (AP Photo/Francisco Ubilla)

Residents clear up after flooding in Sant Llorenc, Mallorca, Spain, Thursday, Oct. 11, 2018. Spanish rescuers have found the bodies of a German couple that went missing after a destructive flash flooding that killed at least 10 more earlier this week in Mallorca and are still looking for a missing child. (AP Photo/Francisco Ubilla)

Residents remove destroyed furniture from their houses affected by flooding in Sant Llorenc, Mallorca, Spain, Thursday, Oct. 11, 2018. Spanish rescuers have found the bodies of a German couple that went missing after a destructive flash flooding that killed at least 10 more earlier this week in Mallorca and are still looking for a missing child. (AP Photo/Francisco Ubilla)

A man removes water and mud from his house affected by flooding in Sant Llorenc, Mallorca, Spain, on Thursday, Oct. 11, 2018. Spanish rescuers have found the bodies of a German couple that went missing after a destructive flash flooding that killed at least 10 more earlier this week in Mallorca and are still looking for a missing child. (AP Photo/Francisco Ubilla)
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) - A group of black ministers is calling for the firing of a white school resource officer who arrested a black teenage girl at her middle school in North Carolina.

The Winston-Salem Journal reports Winston-Salem police Officer Tyler McCormick arrested 14-year-old Rockell Baldwin this month. Baldwin's mother, Tamkea McLean, also called Wednesday for McCormick's firing.

A short clip of the arrest shared online shows McCormick and Baldwin on the ground in a parking lot. Baldwin is heard screaming for help while McCormick handcuffs her.

Baldwin says she was calling her mother and walked past McCormick, who tried to trip her. Chief Catrina Thompson says McCormick was responding to a fight when he arrested Baldwin. She says his body camera recorded the interaction. But that footage isn't public record under state law.

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Information from: Winston-Salem Journal, http://www.journalnow.com
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) - An American graduate student who has been held in detention while fighting an expulsion order over her involvement in the boycott movement against Israel appeared in court on Thursday, asking a judge to allow her to enter the country to begin her studies.

It was the first time that Lara Alqasem has appeared in public since she was stopped at Israel's Ben-Gurion Airport on Oct. 2.

Alqasem, 22, appeared calm during the hearing, her hands folded on her knees. She kept quiet and stared straight ahead, at first struggling to suppress a giddy smile when swarmed by reporters and photographers.

She is to remain in detention until the court delivers its written verdict in the coming days. The judge gave no indication which way he would lean or when he would make his decision.

"I think we have a good case. The state's argument and evidence was weak, but I've learned not to be optimistic," her lawyer Yotam Ben-Hillel said, referring to a court's rejection of Alqasem's first appeal.

The 22-year-old American, whose father is Palestinian, arrived in Israel with a valid student visa and was registered to study human rights at Jerusalem's Hebrew University.

American Lara Alqasem, center, sits in a courtroom prior to a hearing at the district court in Tel Aviv, Israel, Thursday, Oct. 11, 2018. A senior Israeli cabinet minister on Wednesday defended the government's handling of the case of an American graduate student held in detention at the country's international airport for the past week over allegations that she promotes a boycott against the Jewish state. (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner)

But she was barred from entering the country and ordered deported, based on suspicions that she's an activist in the boycott movement.

Israel has said that she is not being held against her will and is free to leave the country. It also has said it would reconsider its decision if she apologizes and renounces the boycott movement.

Israel enacted a law last year banning entry for any foreigner who "knowingly issues a public call for boycotting Israel." It has come under heavy criticism for its handling of Alqasem's case.

Alqasem, from Southwest Ranches, Florida, is a former president of the University of Florida chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine. The group is a branch of the BDS movement, whose name comes from its calls for boycotts, divestment and sanctions against Israel.

BDS supporters say that in urging businesses, artists and universities to sever ties with Israel, they are using nonviolent means to resist unjust policies toward Palestinians. Israel says the movement masks its motives to delegitimize or destroy the Jewish state.

Asher Fredman, a senior official in the Strategic Affairs Ministry, which oversees Israel's anti-BDS efforts, said that Alqasem was being denied entry because of her past activities, not her opinions.

"We have clear criteria," he said. "We believe that Miss Alqasem meets those criteria based on her actions, and the actions of the organization of which she was a senior leader over several years."

Alqasem's lawyers say that she is no longer engaged in BDS activity, and has promised not to promote it in the future. They claim her involvement in what they say is a small and insignificant chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine does not warrant Israel's deportation order.

Ben-Hillel told the court that his client had come to Israel to learn Hebrew and study the Holocaust and other issues.

Former professors have described her as a curious and open-minded student. Jewish groups in the United States as well as the Hebrew University, where she is registered to pursue a master's degree in human rights, have also flocked to her defense.

A Hebrew University lawyer and two opposition lawmakers testified in her defense, saying the government's tough stance was wrong and hurting the country's image abroad.

American Lara Alqasem sits in a courtroom prior to a hearing at the district court in Tel Aviv, Israel, Thursday, Oct. 11, 2018. A senior Israeli cabinet minister on Wednesday defended the government's handling of the case of an American graduate student held in detention at the country's international airport for the past week over allegations that she promotes a boycott against the Jewish state. (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner)

American Lara Alqasem sits in a courtroom prior to a hearing at the district court in Tel Aviv, Israel, Thursday, Oct. 11, 2018. A senior Israeli cabinet minister on Wednesday defended the government's handling of the case of an American graduate student held in detention at the country's international airport for the past week over allegations that she promotes a boycott against the Jewish state. (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner)

American Lara Alqasem, center, sits in a courtroom prior to a hearing at the district court in Tel Aviv, Israel, Thursday, Oct. 11, 2018. A senior Israeli cabinet minister on Wednesday defended the government's handling of the case of an American graduate student held in detention at the country's international airport for the past week over allegations that she promotes a boycott against the Jewish state. (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner)

American Lara Alqasem, center, sits in a courtroom prior to a hearing at the district court in Tel Aviv, Israel, Thursday, Oct. 11, 2018. A senior Israeli cabinet minister on Wednesday defended the government's handling of the case of an American graduate student held in detention at the country's international airport for the past week over allegations that she promotes a boycott against the Jewish state. (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner)
BERLIN (AP) - Germany's justice minister has sharply condemned efforts by a nationalist party to establish online platforms where students and parents can report teachers expressing personal political thought.

Katarina Barley said Thursday that "organized denunciation is a tool of dictatorships."

The far-right Alternative for Germany, or AfD, has already launched one such portal in the northern city of Hamburg and is planning to create others in several German states.

Barley told daily Frankfurter Allgemeine that "a party using this to expose disagreeable teachers ... reveals a lot about its own understanding of democracy."

The German Teachers Association also criticized the AfD's actions, calling it an attempt at intimidation.

The AfD has also targeted other groups including migrants and Muslims.
HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) - Lawyers say police in Zimbabwe have arrested dozens of trade union members ahead of a planned protest in the capital over the worst economic crisis in a decade.

Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights says police arrested Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions members in Harare and the cities of Mutare and Masvingo.

There is a heavy police presence in Harare after the government banned the protest, citing an ongoing cholera outbreak. A court will hear a case challenging the ban later Thursday.

Zimbabwe now has gas lines snaking for hours, prices spiking and some food and medicines running out. The government calls the problems temporary and a necessary pain in rebuilding the southern African country.

The lawyers' group calls the arrests a pre-emptive strike on the protest against "disastrous economic policies."
JOHANNESBURG (AP) - The abstract work of South African artist Christo Coetzee, who died in 2000, was widely shown around the world, including at a 1961 exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Yet Coetzee is largely unknown in his home country, an outsider whose experimental methods seemed alien to both the early apartheid-era establishment and later protest art that rejected white rule.

A new exhibition in Johannesburg, the biggest show of Coetzee's work in decades, aims to stoke interest in a prolific artist who barely gets mentioned in local classrooms even though prominent universities in the country have large collections of his pieces.

Its curators see Coetzee as a stylistic counterpart to some contemporary South African artists who incorporate wire, plastic and other debris in "assemblage" art that explores inequality and other social challenges.

Coetzee, who died at home at age 71, was the "forefather of abstract expressionism in South Africa," said Shonisani Netshia, co-curator of "The Safest Place is the Knife's Edge," a Standard Bank Gallery exhibition that opened last week and runs until Dec. 1.

And yet, fellow curator Wilhelm van Rensburg said, Coeztee is "not in the public imagination."

In the 1950s and 1960s, Coetzee was part of a global movement of abstract expressionism that hardly resonated in South Africa, then in the grip of a race-based system that denied basic rights to the black majority.

A woman attends the opening of an exhibition of South African abstract artist Christo Coetzee, who died in 2000 and is largely unknown in his home country, on Thursday, Oct. 4, 2018. The retrospective show at the Standard Bank Gallery in Johannesburg aims to stoke interest in Coetzee, who won some international acclaim decades ago. (AP Photo/Christopher Torchia)

As a white artist free of those restrictions, Coetzee went to Europe and traveled to Japan, where he collaborated with an avant-garde group. In 1975, he scandalized the South African art scene by slashing 23 of his paintings at a Cape Town gallery and stitching them back together.

The vandalism was possibly a way of saying that white rule in South Africa would eventually disintegrate, and Coetzee later designed the cover of a novel by a writer who fiercely opposed apartheid, according to van Rensburg.

Even so, Coetzee was not overtly political at a time when art clearly depicting the hardship and repression of the time was becoming a potent way to express opposition to apartheid, which ended in 1994 when Nelson Mandela became president.

Coetzee, whose works include "Butterfly Lighting in a Diamond" and "Homage to Leonardo," seemed content as an artist on the fringes. He is reported to have said that "you can't be a prophet to society" and that "you want to be yourself."

It did mean, though, that the pioneer of South African abstract art was mostly ignored in a country still struggling to move past its legacy of racial conflict, despite progress toward reconciliation.

"We're still playing catch-up with our own history," said arts writer Percy Mabandu, describing apartheid as "an assault on memory."

And maybe Coetzee's work during white rule was more politically relevant than some people thought, Mabandu said. When "ugliness" is legislated, he said, "beauty is an act of protest."

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Follow Christopher Torchia on Twitter at www.twitter.com/torchiachris

People inspect the work of South African abstract artist Christo Coetzee, who died in 2000 and is largely unknown in his home country, at the opening of a retrospective exhibition on Thursday, Oct. 4, 2018. The show at the Standard Bank Gallery in Johannesburg aims to stoke interest in Coetzee, who won some international acclaim decades ago. (AP Photo/Christopher Torchia)

People attend the opening of an exhibition of South African abstract artist Christo Coetzee, who died in 2000 and is largely unknown in his home country, on Thursday, Oct. 4, 2018. The retrospective show at the Standard Bank Gallery in Johannesburg aims to stoke interest in Coetzee, who won some international acclaim decades ago. (AP Photo/Christopher Torchia)
BEIJING (AP) - China says accusations against an alleged spy of attempting to steal trade secrets from several American aviation and aerospace companies were "made out of thin air."

Yanjun Xu, an operative of China's Ministry of State Security, was charged Wednesday in Ohio after being extradited to the U.S. from Belgium.

Foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang dismissed the allegations Thursday and called on the U.S. to deal with the matter "fairly in accordance with law" and ensure Xu's "legitimate rights and interests."

The Justice Department has accused Xu of recruiting experts who worked at the companies and paying them stipends to travel to China in order to obtain trade secrets.

The case comes amid a brewing trade war based largely on U.S. accusations China coerces foreign companies into handing over technology.
LONDON (AP) - The British government is considering making companies reveal the pay gap between white and non-white workers, in a bid to end disadvantages faced by employees from ethnic minorities.

Prime Minister Theresa May says revealing the figures might "uncover some uncomfortable truths." She says "too often ethnic minority employees feel they're hitting a brick wall when it comes to career progression."

Last year the government told companies with 250 or more employees to disclose the difference in median wages between men and women.

The government said Thursday that businesses including accountants KPMG, advertising firm Saatchi & Saatchi and the civil service had signed up to a Race at Work Charter, promising to recruit more ethnic-minority employees and help their careers advance.

The government will decide on mandatory reporting after a consultation.
BERLIN (AP) - The German government has cut its forecast for the country's economic growth this year to 1.8 percent from 2.3 percent, in part because of rising global trade tensions.

The government also trimmed its 2019 outlook for Europe's biggest economy on Thursday, saying that it now expects 1.8 percent growth rather than the 2.1 percent expansion it predicted in April. Last year, gross domestic product grew 2.2 percent, Germany's strongest performance in six years.

Economy Minister Peter Altmaier said a statistical revision and delays in registering new cars accounted for most of the change, but "smoldering trade conflicts worldwide" played a part.

He said an escalation of tensions between the U.S. and Europe was averted, but "the underlying problems haven't yet really been solved" and U.S.-China tensions are affecting global growth.
REDWOOD CITY, Calif. (AP) - A career criminal thought to be the "Gypsy Hills Killer" has been sentenced to life in prison for raping and murdering two teenage girls in Northern California more than 40 years ago.

The San Jose Mercury News says 70-year-old Rodney Halbower demanded a mistrial and was shouted at by the victims' family and friends after he was sentenced Wednesday in Redwood City.

Halbower was convicted last month of the 1976 killings of 17-year-old Paula Baxter and 18-year-old Veronica Cascio.

Authorities believe he raped and killed six women and girls - including a 14-year-old and a nursing student in Nevada - in 1976 but he was only charged with two murders.

The killer's nickname was based on the area of Pacifica, south of San Francisco, where one body was found.
BENGHAZI, Libya (AP) - Libyan authorities have found a mass grave believed to contain the bodies of 75 Islamic State fighters near the coastal city of Sirte, formerly the main North African stronghold of the extremist group, an official said Thursday.

Salem el-Ameel, a spokesman for a local force, said a resident reported the grave about a month ago on his farm in al-Daheir district, east of Sirte.

"At the time we did not have the capabilities to go and dig it up, but now we have dug up more than 75 bodies," he said. He says those buried at the site appear to have been wearing the clothes of IS fighters, but that forensics testing is needed to determine their identities and nationalities.

IS and other extremist groups exploited the chaos in Libya following the 2011 uprising that toppled and killed Moammar Gadhafi. Islamic State militants carved out a fiefdom centered on Sirte before Libyan militias drove them out 2016. The country is currently governed by rival authorities in the east and west, each backed by various militias.

In a separate development, the self-styled Libyan National Army said it seized two Italian fishing vessels off Libya's coast.

LNA spokesman Ahmed al-Mosmari told a news conference in the eastern city of Benghazi that the vessels were seized in Libyan territorial waters and brought to the port of Ras al-Hilal.

Italy's ANSA news agency reported that Libyan forces fired on the boats, causing damage to the cabin of the 140-ton Afrodite Pesca. The other boat, Mcv Pesca, sustained no damage, and no injuries were reported, ANSA said.

It quoted Nicola Cristaldi, the mayor of the town of Mazara del Vallo, where the boats are based, as saying that the seizure happened in waters that the Libyans "unilaterally and illegitimately" consider their own.

Italy plans to host talks among Libya's political factions in November. Italy's Deputy Foreign Minister Emanuela Del Re visited eastern Libya on Wednesday, meeting with the speaker of the Libyan House of Representatives in Tobruk, Aguila Saleh, and Field Marshal Khalifa Hifter, who leads the Libyan National Army.

He had concluded his visit before the seizure of the fishing boats was announced.

Libya is a former colony of Italy, which is just across the Mediterranean and has tried to work with Libyan leaders to restore stability and stem the flow of migrants through the North African country.
LONDON (AP) - A fund set up by British celebrities as part of the Time's Up movement says it has awarded more than 1 million pounds ($1.3 million) to help women who have experienced sexual harassment or abuse.

The Justice and Equality Fund was launched earlier this year with backing from stars including Emma Thompson, Gemma Chan, Keira Knightley and Emma Watson.

It said Thursday that just over 1 million pounds has been given to seven women's organizations across the U.K., including a legal-advice helpline, a project geared toward helping ethnic-minority and migrant women and a Northern Irish rape crisis service.

Knightley said that "to be able to fund the first rape crisis service provision in Northern Ireland for 12 years feels like a huge step forward."
ISLAMABAD (AP) - The head of the International Monetary Fund says it will send a team to Pakistan in the coming weeks after the government requested emergency bailout loans.

IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde confirmed that Pakistan had requested the loans after meeting with Finance Minister Asad Umar in Indonesia on Thursday, without saying how much the Pakistanis had asked for.

Analysts say Pakistan is seeking $8 billion in loans in order to confront a balance of payments crisis. The government is also seeking fresh loans from China, which is already heavily invested in transport and energy.

Pakistan's currency plunged by around 7 percent earlier this week after word of the loan request was made public.
PARIS (AP) - India's defense minister is travelling to Paris amid controversy over a multi-billion dollar deal in which France will sell 36 fighter jets to India.

Nirmala Sitharaman will meet his French counterpart, Florence Parly, on Thursday evening.

The 2016 deal was for India to buy 36 Rafale fighter jets from France's Dassault for $8.78 billion.

The leader of India's main opposition Congress party, Rahul Gandhi, has accused Narendra Modi's government of buying the aircraft at a highly inflated price.

Gandhi also accused Modi's government of favoring the company owned by industrialist Anil Ambani, Reliance Group, when choosing an Indian partner for Dassault.

India's government has denied any wrongdoing.

Dassault Aviation said it "has freely chosen to make a partnership with India's Reliance Group" in a statement Wednesday.
CAIRO (AP) - Egypt's president says he wants a prominent militant captured in Libya this week extradited so that he can be "held accountable."

Thursday's comments by President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi were the first official word in Egypt on the capture of Hisham el-Ashmawi by a self-styled Libyan military force allied with Egypt.

El-Ashmawi was captured in the city of Derna, a longtime militant bastion. He is the prime suspect in a series of high-profile terror attacks in Egypt, including a 2013 attempted assassination of Egypt's interior minister at the time.

El-Sissi said: "We want him so we can hold him accountable."

Libya's chaos has enabled the rise of Islamic militants. A 2015 audio recording attributed el-Ashmawi has him proclaiming allegiance to the Islamic State group's rival, al-Qaida, led by Egyptian militant Ayman al-Zawahri.
BANGKOK (AP) - Thai authorities have convicted 70 Pakistani asylum seekers of staying illegally in Thailand despite their protestations that they face persecution if they are sent home.

The Taling Chan Provincial Court on Thursday issued fines and up to two-month suspended jail sentences to the group, which was charged with overstaying their visas and illegal entry. An officer in charge of the case said they will be held in a detention center until they are deported.

One of the defendants said the group consists mostly of Christian Pakistanis and some Ahmadi Muslims, and that members of the two religious groups risk persecution in Pakistan.

Thailand regularly deports foreigners who are in the country illegally, even if they are recognized by the United Nations as refugees fleeing persecution.

In this image made from video, Pakistani refugees exit a police truck as they arrive at the Immigration Detention Center, Thursday, Oct. 11, 2018, in Bangkok, Thailand. Thai authorities have charged 70 Pakistani refugees for their illegal stay in the country despite fears that they could be persecuted if sent back to their home country. (AP Photo/Tassanee Vejpongsa)

In this image made from video, Pakistani refugees exit a police truck as they arrive at the Immigration Detention Center, Thursday, Oct. 11, 2018, in Bangkok, Thailand. Thai authorities have charged 70 Pakistani refugees for their illegal stay in the country despite fears that they could be persecuted if sent back to their home country. (AP Photo/Tassanee Vejpongsa)
NEW YORK (AP) - First lady Melania Trump says she thinks she's "the most bullied person" in the world, based on what "people are saying" about her.

Mrs. Trump also says there are people in the White House she and President Donald Trump can't trust. She didn't name names but added that some of them "don't work there anymore."

The Trump administration has dealt with numerous staff departures and an anonymous senior official's newspaper op-ed critical of the president.

Mrs. Trump was interviewed during her recent Africa trip by ABC, which aired portions Thursday on "Good Morning America." She promoted her Be Best initiative, which tackles online bullying.

The president frequently attacks people on Twitter.

In this Oct. 6, 2018 photo, First lady Melania Trump pauses as she speaks to media during a visit to the historical Giza Pyramids site near Cairo, Egypt. First lady Melania Trump says she thinks she's among the most bullied people in the world and there are people in the White House she and President Donald Trump can't trust. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
CAIRO (AP) - An Egyptian rights lawyer says a military court has sentenced 17 Islamic militants to death for involvement in deadly attacks on Christians.

Khaled el-Masry said Thursday the court in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria also issued life sentences to 19 defendants and sentenced another nine to 15 years in prison. He says another defendant got a 10-year term.

El-Masry says military prosecutors had accused the defendants of belonging to the Islamic State group and plotting attacks against Christian churches and security forces. The verdict can be appealed.

Egypt's Christians have been targeted by Islamic militants in a series of bombings and suicide attacks since December 2016 that have killed more than 100 and wounded scores.

Amnesty International condemned the verdict as the result of a "grossly unfair military trial."
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Donald Trump is suggesting he would "do what is necessary" to bring the Russia probe to a conclusion, including potentially sitting down for an interview.

Trump, in a wide-ranging interview with Fox & Friends on Thursday, said of the investigation into possible ties between his campaign and Russia: "They ought to get it over with."

His lawyers have yet to negotiate terms for an interview with special counsel Robert Mueller. But Trump did not close the door on the possibility.

The president also said that he would resist making changes at the Justice Department, which is running the probe, until after the midterm elections.

But said that "we'll see what happens" to Attorney General Jeff Sessions future after the ballots are cast.
SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) - Bosnian prosecutors have indicted a former Bosnian army commander and 16 other people for war crimes against civilians and prisoners during the country's brutal 1992-95 war.

A statement from the prosecutor's office says Atif Dudakovic and the other accused are charged with crimes against humanity over the killings of more than 300 Serbs, mostly elderly civilians or prisoners of war.

The accused are former members of the Bosnian army's wartime 5th Corps. Their prosecution for war crimes is sensitive for Bosnia because the corps was in charge of the northwestern Bihac area that was under Serb siege during most of the war, which killed around 100,000 people and left millions homeless.

The 64-year-old Dudakovic became the Bosnian army commander after the war and remains highly respected and popular.
LONDON (AP) - Britain's Prince William has told a two-day international wildlife protection conference that he could not face his children if his generation allows elephants, tigers and other species to become extinct.

"It's heartbreaking to think that by the time my children, George, Charlotte and Louis are in their 20s, elephants, rhinos and tigers might well be extinct in the wild," he told the Illegal Wildlife Trade Conference hosted by the British government.

William told political leaders and businesses and conservation groups in the keynote speech Thursday that it makes economic sense to protect wildlife from criminal networks targeting animals in the wild.

British officials also announced an "Ivory Alliance 2024" initiative designed to lessen demand for ivory products, strengthen enforcement of existing bans and toughen anti-poaching legislation.

Britain's Prince William gestures as he makes speech at the Illegal Wildlife Trade Conference in London, Thursday, Oct. 11, 2018. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant, Pool)

Britain's Prince William, officially opens the 2018 Illegal Wildlife Trade Conference at St James' Palace in London, Wednesday Oct. 10, 2018. The 2018 Illegal Wildlife Trade Conference is the fourth such international conference bringing together heads of state, ministers and officials from nearly 80 countries, alongside NGOs, academics and businesses, to build on previous efforts to tackle this lucrative criminal trade. (Tolga Akmen/Pool via AP)

Britain's Prince William, left, is greeted by the British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt as he arrives at the Illegal Wildlife Trade Conference to give a speech in London, Thursday, Oct. 11, 2018. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant, Pool)
MIAMI (AP) - Activist groups have lost the latest battle in a decadeslong fight to free an orca named Lolita from the Miami Seaquarium.

The Miami Herald reports a federal appeals court on Tuesday rejected a petition to reopen a lawsuit over Seaquarium's treatment of Lolita.

Lolita lives in the country's smallest orca aquarium, and has been Seaquarium's star attraction since she was captured off the Puget Sound in 1970.

The decision says that, at around 51, Lolita's age makes the case "unique," but there's no threat of serious harm that could trigger a federal animal welfare law violation. The court also couldn't identify a "realistic means" to return her to the wild without being harmed.

PETA General Counsel Jared Goodman says the ruling sentences Lolita to "a lifetime of physical and psychological harm."

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Information from: The Miami Herald, http://www.herald.com
Shanghai (Gasgoo)- We have a good cooperation relationship with FAW-VW and at the moment, there will be no changes in the stake ( of the joint venture). Thomas Owsianski, President of Audi China, said in an interview when he was asked whether his company will increase stake in the joint venture.

On October 11, BMW Group said it intends to increase its stake in its joint venture BMW Brilliance Automotive (BBA) and the group has signed a corresponding agreement with its China partner Brilliance China Automotive Holdings (CBA).

As to whether they will adopt new stake structure in the new joint venture with SAIC Group, in accordance with the policy, Alexander Seitz, Member of the Board of Management of AUDI AG Finance, China, Compliance and Integrity, revealed they are still discussing details of the cooperation.

Seitz said that in July, Audi bought 1% stake in SAIC-VW. Thus, the luxury brand and its parent company, VW Group hold a total of 50% stake in SAIC-VW.

2018 is the thirtieth anniversary for Audis entrance into China market. Apparently, both executives have clear picture about China auto market. They all think that rapid changes place Audi in challenging situation. With the brands advantages over other brands narrowed, they will introduce large-scale reform and strategic planning.

The brand wants further localization, in personnel, manufacturing, financing, sales and R&D. They summarize the strategy as In China, For China. Alexander Seitz pointed out that if we want to enrich our product portfolio and increase our sales in China, we have to took root in the largest auto market and be much closer to the market.




BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) - A high-ranking U.S. cardinal in Boston says he is concerned about a bishop's handling of alleged clergy abuse in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Buffalo and wants the Vatican to step in.

A spokesman for the Boston archdiocese tells WKBW-TV in Buffalo that Cardinal Sean O'Malley reviewed reports on Bishop Richard Malone, and he will send the documents to the Most Rev. Christophe Pierre, Apostolic Nuncio to the U.S.

Malone is facing calls to resign after an investigation found he allowed multiple priests accused of misconduct to return to the ministry.

He previously acknowledged "past inadequacies" in his handling of complaints, but he says he will not resign.

Malone did not respond to a request for comment on O'Malley's statements.
PARIS (AP) - Emmanuel Macron won't be rushed. The 24-hour news cycle? The French leader isn't interested. At least, that's what he wants people to think.

France's president is turning a government reshuffle into a soapbox against the time-pressures of modern politics and wall-to-wall news coverage.

Behind the scenes, Macron's government is struggling to quickly plug the gap left by the sudden resignation last week of his interior minister, Gerard Collomb.

But Macron and his aides are spinning the delay in appointing a replacement. The message from his office: Relax everyone.

"He makes no apologies for taking time in order to do this famous reshuffle," government spokesman Benjamin Griveaux said, just before Macron set off Wednesday afternoon for an overseas trip to Armenia that will further postpone the appointment of a new minister at least until the president's return on Friday.

Collomb's resignation, to free him up to re-run as mayor of the southeastern city of Lyon, initially appeared to blind-side Macron, who tried but failed to get the minister to reconsider. His departure was so sudden that when U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions and European interior ministers gathered for a long-planned meeting to discuss anti-terrorism and other issues this week, Macron's prime minister had to be dispatched to greet them, standing in temporarily in the absence of a French interior minister.

French President Emmanuel Macron addresses the audience as he visits the Station F startup campus in Paris, France, Tuesday, Oct. 9, 2018. (Ludovic Marin/Pool Photo via AP)

Opposition leaders quickly argued that not swiftly replacing Collomb was symptomatic of a government in disarray. Guillaume Peltier of the right-wing Republicans asked if France "still has a captain." A "mess," sniffed far-left leader Jean-Luc Melenchon.

Sometimes proudly sporting a made-in-France watch, on a red-white-and-blue wrist-strap, Macron likes to describe himself as the "master of the clocks." But he is almost always late -even at meetings with other heads of states. As the days without a reshuffle have stretched beyond a week, Macron has sought to use the mini-saga to signal that his schedule is his own and that he won't be pushed around.

Usually, reshuffles take a few days, at most. One reason this one is taking longer may be that Macron has equilibriums to maintain. Recruiting more men than women to his administration would violate his promise of equality between the sexes. Recruiting too heavily from the left or right wings of French politics would risk tilting his government too far from its centrist, middle-way axis. And background checks have to be conducted to ensure that candidates don't have legal or other skeletons in their closet that could soil Macron in the same way that ugly scandals undermined previous French administrations.

In short, Macron is far too busy to be rushed.

"He takes responsibility for breaking with usual practices when some were changing the minister of so-and-so within a few hours, moving him from one ministry to another," Griveaux said. "He said, with his own words, that ministers were not objects on shelves but people with whom it was necessary to have an extensive dialogue before deciding to give them the important mission we have started of transforming the country."

So hold the presses.

As 24-hour news channels have breathlessly speculated about who might be shuffled to which ministry and talked of a possible split between Macron and his prime minister over candidates, the French leader took a sunset stroll on Tuesday evening along the banks of the Seine River, where lovers have long hoped that time will stand still.

A journalist who seemingly happened to luck across the unusual scene snapped Macron walking ahead of his bodyguards, a mobile phone glued to his ear . "Crisis? What crisis?" the image seemed to say.

Macron has even coined a phrase - the "tyranny of immediacy" - to describe his manifest refusal to become enslaved by the tick-tock, tick-tock of the right-here, right-now. Defending the right to take one's time all seems very French, fitting with France's fondness for leisure, for two-hour lunches and slow food.

It's a far cry from the famously frenetic style of one of Macron's recent predecessors, Nicolas Sarkozy. He was so in a hurry as president that he dared to remove cheese from presidential palace menus so meals would go quicker. That anecdote came courtesy of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who lamented the axing of fromage at the Elysee Palace.

Sooner, or later, there'll be a new minister, probably more than one if the reshuffle concerns several portfolios.

But all in good time.

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EDITOR'S NOTE - Sylvie Corbet has covered French politics for The Associated Press since 2010, and John Leicester has been based in France for the AP since 2002 and was the Paris bureau chief from 2005-2009.

French President Emmanuel Macron addresses the audience as he visits the Station F startup campus in Paris, France, Tuesday, Oct. 9, 2018. (Ludovic Marin/Pool Photo via AP)
NEW YORK (AP) - Kathleen Turner will make an unexpected Metropolitan Opera debut in Donizetti's "The Daughter of the Regiment" in the non-singing role of the Duchess of Krakenthorp.

The 64-year-old will appear in seven performances of the comic opera from Feb. 7 to March 1, the Met said Thursday. The last performance will be televised to movie theaters around the world in high definition.

Turner terms her voice "kind of baritone" and says Met general manager Peter Gelb calls her "one of the few women he knows who can sing 'Ol' Man River' in the original key."

Turner received an Academy Award nomination for "Peggy Sue Got Married" in 1997 and Tony Award nominations for "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" in 1990 and "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" in 2005.

FILE - In this May 23, 2017, file photo, actress Kathleen Turner attends a special screening of "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales", in New York. Turner will make an unexpected Metropolitan Opera debut in Donizetti's "The Daughter of the Regiment" in the non-singing role of the Duchess of Krakenthorp. She will appear in seven performances of the comic opera from Feb. 7 to March 1. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)
When Takiia Anderson graduated from Boston College Law School in 1999, she was a single mom with a 2-year-old child, nearly $100,000 in student loans and a new job as a government attorney that paid $34,102 a year. She didn't like that math.

"People are talking about 20 years to pay off a student loan, and my daughter is going to college in 16 years," recalls Anderson, now 47 and based in Atlanta. "I didn't want to be in a situation where I'm helping her pay for college while I'm still paying my student loan."

Today, Anderson's student debt is long gone. She has nearly $500,000 in retirement savings, and her daughter, Taje Perkins, finished her third year at Spelman College in Atlanta with no student loans to cover its nearly $30,000 per year in tuition and fees.

How did she do it? She set a series of targets and kept a laser-like focus on them that, even though she later became a high-earner and has ridden a surging stock market, can serve as a lesson to others today.

"Any time I got a raise, a bonus or a tax refund, I put it toward my debt, my daughter's education savings and then retirement," Anderson says.

TOUGH CHOICE: SAVE FOR RETIREMENT OR COLLEGE?

In this October 2014 photo provided by Nerdwallet, Takiia Anderson, left, poses for a photo with her daughter Taje Perkins during a campus visit to Anderson's alma mater, Howard University in Washington. Today, Anderson's student debt is long gone. She has nearly $500,000 in retirement savings, and her daughter, Taje Perkins, finished her third year at Spelman College in Atlanta with no student loans to cover its nearly $30,000 per year in tuition and fees. (Nerdwallet via AP)

Many financial advisers would advise flipping those last two priorities: "The same way that airplane announcements tell us parents should put on their own oxygen masks before assisting their children, parents should prioritize saving for retirement and putting themselves in a good financial position before saving for their children's education," says Paul R. Ruedi, CEO of Ruedi Wealth Management in Plano, Texas.

Yet more parents like Anderson are prioritizing saving for college over retirement - 56 percent are doing the former vs. 54 percent the latter, according to a recent survey by Sallie Mae , one of the nation's largest student loan lenders.

"Although college wasn't as expensive when I went in 1989, I know what it's like not to have to pay those bills, and that's what I wanted for her," says Anderson, a Howard University graduate.

TACKLING HER BIG DEBT FIRST

Anderson attacked her student loan debt first with single-minded determination.

"We didn't have cable. No internet," she recalls, adding that instead they watched old or borrowed DVDs and VHS tapes. "I was literally living in overdraft protection. But I was paying my bills on time. I drove the same car for 12 years, cooked at home and packed lunches."

As her salary increased and she was promoted to roles with the U.S. Department of Labor in Maryland, Philadelphia and Atlanta, she pumped more cash toward her debt.

"Even when I was making low six figures, I was renting $1,200 apartments - a lot of money for some people, but much less than I could afford," she says.

In the end, Anderson was able to pay off her $100,000 in debt in nine years rather than 20.

COLLEGE SAVING: FROM $135 IN CHANGE TO $12K A YEAR

Anderson began saving for her daughter's education when Taje was 3 years old. She started small. Following advice she heard on "Oprah," Anderson paid for daily expenses in cash and at the end of each day threw change in a drawer. After one year, she had $135 that she used to open a savings account for Taje. She later rolled that into a 529 college savings plan and began contributing $50 a month.

Once Anderson paid off her student loans and credit cards in 2008, she began saving $12,000 a year toward her daughter's education. By the time Taje started college, Anderson had saved $56,000 and added another $22,000 during her first years.

But to do so, Anderson quit contributing to her government retirement plan for two years - a move most financial advisers would caution against.

"Fortunately, the two years I didn't contribute to my retirement plan was during the financial crisis," she says. In 2010, she resumed contributing to her employer-sponsored retirement plan up to the legal limit - $16,500 a year at that time - "to catch up," she says.

Anderson's max contributions have aligned nicely with the current nine-year bull market, in which the S&P 500 index has seen annualized returns of about 10 percent.

DEBT-FREE MEANS MORE LIFE CHOICE

Some might view Anderson's story as one of sacrifice, but she believes that aggressively paying down her debt has brought her freedom, like the opportunity to choose early retirement this year after working 20 years with the government.

Anderson has $15,000 in emergency savings, owns a home and is doing contract legal work to keep earning some money. She also writes a personal finance blog, "The Frugal Biddy." Her daughter has begun her last year in college, and she will be taking over payments from her mother and getting student loans to finish her degree.

Dedicating five or 10 years of a career to pay down debt "may seem to some that they are losing their life, but what they don't realize is how much they gain," says Anderson.

This article was provided to The Associated Press by the personal finance website NerdWallet. Kevin Voigt is a writer at NerdWallet. Email: kevin@nerdwallet.com. Twitter: @kevinvoigt.

RELATED LINKS:

NerdWallet: Retirement calculator - How much do you need to retire?

https://nerd.me/2y3xVjb
RICHMOND, Ky. (AP) - President Donald Trump's planned visit to Eastern Kentucky University has sparked opposition at the school.

Trump's campaign is planning a rally Saturday to support Republican U.S. Rep. Andy Barr, who's in a tight race with Democrat Amy McGrath for the Sixth District seat.

News outlets report 120 faculty and staff signed a letter sent Wednesday to university President Michael Benson and the Board of Regents. It says they object to Trump's campaign "which has consistently, openly, and unambiguously attacked the values of inquiry, learning, and free speech" that are central to higher education.

English professor Gerald Nachtwey says the opposition isn't political. He says faculty support free speech on campus even when they disagree with the viewpoint.

Benson said the school's freedom of speech policies require open use of the facilities.
MOSCOW (AP) - The booster rocket failure that forced an emergency landing for two astronauts headed to the International Space Station was the first launch accident for Russia's manned-space program in 35 years. But several launches of unmanned Progress cargo ships have not gone as planned in the past decade.

The astronauts, a Russian and an American, were reported safe, but the failed launch Thursday throws off the schedule for sending crew to the International Space Station. Russia's Soyuz capsules currently are the only way for humans to reach the orbiting laboratory.

The next manned launch was planned for December. Russia has suspended manned flights pending an investigation of the latest failure.

A look at past failures of Russian space launches:

Dec. 1, 2016: A Progress ship carrying food, fuel, air, water and other supplies failed to reach orbit after launching from Russia's space complex in Baikonur, Kazakhstan. It separated from the third stage of the rocket early and fell to Earth in Russia's Tuva region.

April 28, 2015: A Progress ship reached low Earth orbit, but it was spinning and could not be controlled. It burned up while re-entering the Earth's atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean on May 8.

Smoke rise as the boosters of first stage of the Soyuz-FG rocket with Soyuz MS-10 space ship carrying a new crew to the International Space Station, ISS, separate after the launch at the Russian leased Baikonur cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, Thursday, Oct. 11, 2018. The Russian rocket carries U.S. astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin. The two astronauts are making an emergency landing after a Russian booster rocket carrying them into orbit to the International Space Station has failed after launch. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)

Aug. 24, 2011: An onboard computer terminated a Soyuz flight about five minutes into the launch after detecting an engine failure, resulting in the loss of a Progress ship. Russia's space agency Roscosmos said a blocked fuel duct was at fault.

Sept. 27, 1983: A Soyuz rocket that was to carry Vladimir Titov and Gennady Strekalov to a Salyut space station caught fire in the final seconds of the countdown at Baikonur. A "launch escape system" - a rocket mounted above the capsule - pulled the capsule away from the rocket seconds before an explosion. Titov and Strekalov landed several kilometers away, apparently uninjured despite being subjected to intense G forces.

April 5, 1975: Oleg Makarov and Vasily Lazarev were about four minutes into their flight to a Salyut space station when the second and third stages of the booster rocket failed to separate correctly. The space capsule landed near the Chinese border in deep snow about 20 minutes after launch.

Emergency services wait as U.S. astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin arrive at Baikonur airport, Kazakhstan, Thursday, Oct. 11, 2018. Two astronauts from the U.S. and Russia were safe Thursday after an emergency landing in the steppes of Kazakhstan following the failure of a Russian booster rocket carrying them to the International Space Station. (Yuri Kochetkov/Pool Photo via AP)

Expedition 57 Flight Engineer Alexey Ovchinin of Roscosmos, left, and Flight Engineer Nick Hague of NASA, right, embrace their families after landing at the Krayniy Airport, Thursday, Oct. 11, 2018, in Baikonur, Kazakhstan, after an emergency landing following the failure of a Russian booster rocket carrying them to the International Space Station. (Bill Ingalls/NASA via AP)

The Soyuz-FG rocket booster with Soyuz MS-10 space ship carrying a new crew to the International Space Station, ISS, blasts off at the Russian leased Baikonur cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, Thursday, Oct. 11, 2018. Two astronauts from the U.S. and Russia were safe Thursday after an emergency landing in the steppes of Kazakhstan following the failure of a Russian booster rocket carrying them to the International Space Station. NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos' Alexei Ovchinin lifted off as scheduled at 2:40 p.m. (0840 GMT; 4:40 a.m. EDT) Thursday from the Russian-leased Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, but their Soyuz booster rocket failed about two minutes after the launch. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)

U.S. astronaut Nick Hague, member of the main crew to the International Space Station (ISS), waves to his relatives from a bus prior to the launch of Soyuz-FG rocket at the Russian leased Baikonur cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, Thursday, Oct. 11, 2018. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky, Pool)

In this photo provided by Roscosmos, NASA astronaut Nick Hague sits in a hall after being transported by the rescue team, in Dzhezkazgan, about 450 kilometers (280 miles) northeast of Baikonur, Kazakhstan, Thursday, Oct. 11, 2018. Two astronauts from the U.S. and Russia were safe Thursday after an emergency landing in the steppes of Kazakhstan following the failure of a Russian booster rocket carrying them to the International Space Station. (Roscosmos via AP)

The Soyuz-FG rocket booster with Soyuz MS-10 space ship carrying a new crew to the International Space Station, ISS, blasts off at the Russian leased Baikonur cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, Thursday, Oct. 11, 2018. The Russian rocket carries U.S. astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin. The two astronauts are making an emergency landing after a Russian booster rocket carrying them into orbit to the International Space Station has failed after launch. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)

In this photo provided by Roscosmos, Russian cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin sits in a hall after being transported by the rescue team, in Dzhezkazgan, about 450 kilometers (280 miles) northeast of Baikonur, Kazakhstan, Thursday, Oct. 11, 2018. Two astronauts from the U.S. and Russia were safe Thursday after an emergency landing in the steppes of Kazakhstan following the failure of a Russian booster rocket carrying them to the International Space Station. (Roscosmos via AP)
FLINT, Mich. (AP) - A senior Michigan medical executive who is charged in the death of a man due to a Legionnaires' outbreak linked to Flint's lead-tainted water crisis has been recognized for her eminent career in health care.

The Flint Journal reports that Dr. Eden Wells has been awarded the Roy R. Manty Distinguished Service Award.

A judge is deciding if Wells will stand trial for involuntary manslaughter in the death of a man who had Legionnaires' disease. She's also charged with obstruction of justice and lying to police. Wells has denied the allegations.

The Michigan District Attorney's office says Wells should have done more to inform the public about the Legionnaire's outbreak that killed at least 12 people in the Flint area in 2014 and 2015.

The awarding associations say the award is the highest individual honor given by Michigan's public health community.
BAGHDAD (AP) - Turkey's foreign minister says his country will reopen its consulates in the Iraqi cities of Basra and Mosul and pursue deeper economic and commercial ties with its neighbor.

Mevlut Cavusoglu visited Iraq on Thursday to meet with newly appointed President Barham Salih and Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi. Turkey exported more than $9 billion in goods to Iraq in 2017.

Turkey closed its Mosul consulate in 2014 after Islamic State militants overran the northern Iraqi city and kidnapped 49 Turkish diplomats. Cavusoglu said the Basra consulate was also closed for security reasons.

The foreign minister said Turkey would continue to prosecute its 'war on terror' in the region. Turkey has previously targeted Kurdish targets in northern Iraq belonging to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which Ankara says is a terror organization.
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - Arkansas' highest court has upheld a voter ID law that is nearly identical to a restriction struck down by the court four years ago.

The state Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a measure that requires voters to show photo identification before casting a ballot. A state judge earlier this year blocked officials from enforcing the restriction, but justices stayed that ruling and kept the law in place while they considered the case.

Opponents of the measure had argued that it circumvents a 2014 ruling striking down a previous voter ID law.

Arkansas officials say the new measure complies with part of the decision that said it needed at least two-thirds approval in both chambers of the Legislature to become law.
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - An Oklahoma man serving three life prison terms in the murders of two girls and his fiancee has lost an appeal of his conviction on a separate assault charge.

Kevin Sweat attacked his attorney, Peter Astor, with a razor blade in 2014 as he arrived at court to be sentenced for killing 11-year-old Skyla Whitaker, 13-year-old Taylor Paschal-Placker and 23-year-old Ashley Taylor.

Sweat pleaded guilty to the murders in exchange for prosecutors not seeking the death penalty.

The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals on Thursday denied Sweat's appeal in the attack on Astor.

Sweat had argued there was insufficient evidence and that the judge should have recused.

A spokeswoman for the state attorney general said it isn't clear how Sweat obtained the razor blade.
Comedian Bill Cosby, now inmate No. NN7687 in a Pennsylvania prison, was not slapped with a chicken patty during a food fight, despite stories circulating online.

Reports claiming inmates were throwing food at the 81-year-old Cosby began circulating on online news sites and social media soon after he was sent to prison for sexual assault. He was sentenced to three-to-10 years in prison Sept. 25, after being convicted of drugging and sexually assaulting a woman at his gated estate in 2004.

Pennsylvania Department of Corrections spokeswoman Amy Worden told The Associated Press that Cosby had not been involved in any food fights since arriving at the SCI Phoenix facility in Collegeville, Pennsylvania, where he is currently incarcerated. And, she noted, he does not eat in the main dining room with other inmates.

Radar Online cited an unidentified source when reporting Oct. 8 that Cosby - who played Dr. Cliff Huxtable on "The Cosby Show" - had attempted to crack a joke when an inmate became angered and took the chicken out of its bun and hit the actor with it. The story was published under the headline, "Food Fight! Jailbird Bill Cosby Slapped With Chicken Patty In Prison." The site reported that it was not the first time Cosby had been hit with a prison provision. The story said that on Sept. 25 Cosby was slapped with a stale hot dog bun as well. Other sites redistributed the report with similar headlines, and it was picked up widely on social media.

Radar Online could not be reached for comment.

Worden said she also spoke with officials at Montgomery County Correctional Facility in Eagleville, where Cosby was held immediately after his sentencing, and they confirmed he was not hit in the head with a hot dog bun.

FILE - In this Sept. 25, 2018, file photo, Bill Cosby arrives for his sentencing hearing at the Montgomery County Courthouse in Norristown, Pa. Cosby, now inmate No. NN7687 in a Pennsylvania prison, was not slapped with a chicken patty during a food fight despite reports circulating online. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum, File)

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This is part of The Associated Press' ongoing effort to fact-check misinformation that is shared widely online, including work with Facebook to identify and reduce the circulation of false stories on the platform.

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Find all AP Fact Checks here: https://www.apnews.com/tag/APFactCheck

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Follow @APFactCheck on Twitter: https://twitter.com/APFactCheck
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) - A lawyer says Malaysia's new government has released 11 ethnic Uighur Muslims after dropping charges against them for entering the country illegally and rejecting China's request that they be deported back to Beijing.

Fahmi Abdul Moin, who represents the Uighurs, says the 11 men flew out of Kuala Lumpur late Tuesday to Turkey.

They were part of a group who bolted from a Thai prison in November last year. Their release appeared to be a departure from Malaysia's past norm of forcibly repatriating Uighur Muslims to China despite concerns by rights groups that it could endanger their lives.

Fahmi said Thursday that prosecutors agreed to drop the charges against the men after defense lawyers made an appeal citing humanitarian grounds.
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) - The two presidential candidates who will square off in Brazil's election later this month are calling for an end to politically motivated violence.

Numerous cases of violence were reported in the week before the first round of voting on Oct. 7 and have been ongoing since then. The second round of voting is scheduled Oct. 28.

Front-runner Jair Bolsonaro condemned the violence late Wednesday and said he didn't want the votes of anybody perpetrating it. Runner-up Fernando Haddad also called for an end to the brutality, saying parties needed to confront it together.

One of the most extreme cases was in the northeastern city of Salvador, where a capoeira teacher and supporter of the left-leaning Workers' Party was stabbed to death during a discussion with a supporter of far-right candidate Bolsonaro. Police say the attacker was arrested and confessed the killing was politically motivated.

A supporter of presidential candidate Jair Bolsonaro of the Social Liberal Party, buys a Brazilian flag being sold in front of the entrance of Bolsonaro's home in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2018. Bolsonaro will face Workers Party presidential candidate Fernando Haddad in a presidential runoff on Oct. 28. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Documentary filmmaker Ken Burns is being honored in Philadelphia with an award from the Museum of the American Revolution.

The museum announced Thursday that Burns will receive the Gerry Lenfest Spirit of the American Revolution Award. The museum says the award honors Burns' "lifetime of work advancing understanding of our national history and revolutionary spirit."

The medal and $25,000 prize will be presented at a private event at the museum April 11.

The museum's chairman emeritus H.F. (Gerry) Lenfest, who died in August, created the award to recognize distinguished achievement in advancing public awareness and understanding of history and of its relevance in the "American experiment."

Burns is now planning an American Revolution documentary film project.
OSCEOLA, Mo. (AP) - Prosecutors say a Missouri woman persuaded her terminally ill father to fatally shoot her estranged husband to resolve a custody dispute, then kill himself so it appeared to be a murder-suicide.

The Springfield News-Leader reports that 35-year-old Elizabeth Kilgore pleaded not guilty last week to first-degree murder in the death of 35-year-old Lance Kilgore.

Prosecutors say 77-year-old Charles Sander killed his son-in-law and himself in September during what was supposed to be a custody exchange at a convenience store in Osceola. The News-Leader doesn't describe Sander's terminal illness.

Court documents say Elizabeth Kilgore, a jailer, had previously asked two inmates to kill her husband, but later told one in a recorded phone call that her father had offered to "handle (her) problem."

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Information from: Springfield News-Leader, http://www.news-leader.com
NEW YORK (AP) - If you listen closely to Tom Morello's new album, you'll hear a 24-year-old guitar riff. He's been patiently waiting since the mid-1990s to finally unleash it.

The song "Vigilante Nocturno" contains a riff he wrote during recording sessions for Rage Against the Machine's "Evil Empire" but never found its way into a song. So it went into Morello's stockpile, hanging out until the day it was needed.

That day is now with the release of "The Atlas Underground," which finds Morello teaming up with an eclectic collection of artists he hopes will "challenge the conventions of rock 'n' roll and electronic music and hip-hop and punk."

The album, out Friday, features collaborations with folkie Marcus Mumford, alt-rock darlings Portugal. The Man and guitar god Gary Clark Jr., among others.

FILE - In this Oct. 1, 2017 file photo, Tom Morello, of Prophets of Rage, performs at the Louder Than Life Music Festival in Louisville, Ky. Morello released his latest album, "The Atlas Underground," on Friday. (Photo by Amy Harris/Invision/AP, File)
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) - Three farmers have agreed to plead guilty to fraudulently marketing non-organic corn and soybeans as certified organic as part of a lengthy, multi-million-dollar scheme.

Documents filed in federal court in Iowa show that Tom Brennan, James Brennan and Michael Potter each intend to plead guilty to wire fraud.

All three are identified in court papers as farmers from Nebraska, but additional information about them wasn't immediately available. Their attorneys didn't immediately reply to phone messages.

Prosecutors allege that the three sold non-organic grains to an Iowa company that marketed them nationwide with an organic label. In particular, they allegedly used unapproved substances such as pesticides and nitrogen to grow the crops.

The scheme allegedly lasted from 2010 until 2017 and netted at least $10.8 million.
LONDON (AP) - Britain's former ambassador to the European Union says Prime Minister Theresa May's blueprint for Brexit is a "pipe dream" that has no chance of being accepted by the bloc.

Ivan Rogers says that, more than two years after voting to leave the EU, Britain is "on fantasy island" about what kind of divorce deal is possible.

Rogers, who quit last year, said Thursday that both May's plan, which would keep Britain in the EU single market for goods, and rival Boris Johnson's vision of a looser free-trade deal have "precisely zero" chance of being accepted.

The EU says there needs to be progress at a summit in Brussels next week if the two sides are to strike a divorce deal before Britain leaves the EU in March.
ISTANBUL (AP) - The Istanbul-based Ecumenical Patriarchate says it will move forward with its decision to grant Ukrainian clerics independence from the Russian Orthodox Church.

The decision was announced Thursday following a regular holy synod meeting.

Ukraine has asked Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, seen by many as the first among equals of Eastern Orthodox leaders, to make the Ukrainian church autocephalous.

The church has been tied to the Moscow Patriarchate for hundreds of years, although many parishes have split off over the past two decades to form a schismatic church. Calls for independence have increased since Moscow's 2014 annexation of the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine.

The Russian Orthodox Church has warned that it will sever ties with Bartholomew if he grants Ukraine's church autonomy.
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - Democratic Congressman Beto O'Rourke of Texas, who is running against Republican Sen. Ted Cruz for a Senate seat, has not been charged with federal campaign finance violations as suggested in claims circulating online.

The claims stem from a letter the Federal Election Commission sent the O'Rourke campaign, dated Sept. 30 , that identified potentially "excessive, prohibited and impermissible" contributions from supporters. O'Rourke raised nearly $24 million through the first half of 2018 in his challenge against Cruz, defying expectations and making the Senate race one of the most expensive of the midterm elections.

Claims on social media have mischaracterized the letter as O'Rourke getting "slapped with federal charges" that will derail his candidacy. However, the FEC said it routinely sends similar letters to political campaigns and the notices carry no civil or criminal penalties. Cruz's campaign has received the same notices, including one as recently as June , according to FEC filings.

"They are fairly common," FEC spokesman Myles Martin said of the letters, which the commission refers to as requests for additional information .

In O'Rourke's case, the FEC flagged six donations from individuals with foreign addresses and more than a dozen individuals who gave above federal contributions limits. Campaigns can't accept money from foreign nationals or more than $2,700 from any one person. O'Rourke spokesman Chris Evans said the foreign donations are U.S. citizens who live overseas and that the campaign refunded the excessive contributions flagged in the FEC letter.

O'Rourke must formally respond to the FEC by Nov. 5. Campaigns can be fined by the FEC for failing to remedy improper contributions, although the enforcement process can take years.

FILE - In this Oct. 2, 2018 file photo, Democratic Senate candidate Rep. Beto O'Rourke makes a campaign stop at Austin Community College Eastview, in Austin, Texas. O'Rourke, of Texas, who is running against Republican Sen. Ted Cruz for a Senate seat, has not been charged with federal campaign finance violations as suggested in claims circulating online. The claims stem from a letter the Federal Election Commission sent the O'Rourke campaign, dated Sept. 30, that identified potentially "excessive, prohibited and impermissible" contributions from supporters. O'Rourke raised nearly $24 million through the first half of 2018 in his challenge against Cruz, defying expectations and making the Senate race one of the most expensive of the midterms. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)

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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):

4:50 a.m.

More major players in international finance and industry are pulling out of a high-profile business conference in Saudi Arabia in the wake of reports that a Saudi writer critical of the government disappeared and is feared dead after entering a Saudi consulate in Turkey.

The chief executive of JPMorgan Chase & Co., Jamie Dimon, had been a featured speaker at the conference in Riyadh. The Wall Street Journal reports that Dimon has backed out.

Ford Motor Co. confirms that Executive Chairman Bill Ford will not attend. He too had been scheduled to speak.

Turkish officials have said they fear a Saudi hit team killed Washington Post contributor Jamal Khashoggi. The kingdom has called such allegations "baseless" but has not offered any evidence Khashoggi ever left the consulate.

FILE - In this Oct. 7, 2008 file photo, the shadow of a Saudi trader is seen on a stock market monitor in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The Saudi stock market sharply fell Sunday after President Donald Trump threatened "severe punishment" over the disappearance of Washington Post contributor Jamal Khashoggi. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar, File)

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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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.
KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) - The nine climbers who died during the worst disaster on a Nepal mountain in recent years included the first South Korean to summit all 14 Himalayan peaks over 8,000 meters without using supplemental oxygen.

Seoul's Foreign Ministry confirmed on Monday that Kim Chang-ho was among the dead but has not yet disclosed the names of the four other South Koreans. Four Nepalese guides also were killed when a storm swept the climbers' base camp on Gurja Himal mountain Friday.

Rescuers had retrieved the climbers' bodies on Sunday after weather cleared. The body of one of the guides was taken to his village, while the eight others were flown to Kathmandu.

"It was the worst mountaineering disaster in Nepal in recent years and an unimaginable one," said Rameshwor Niraula of Nepal's Mountaineering Department, which issues climbing permits and monitors expeditions.

Niraula said officials were still gathering details of what exactly happened but from what rescuers described, the climbers were blown over by the blast of the blizzard-like wind conditions.

One Korean member of the climbing team had become ill and was in a village far below the base camp during the storm.

Officials unload the bodies after a helicopter carrying bodies of those killed in Gurja Himal mountain arrives at the Teaching hospital in Kathmandu, Nepal, Sunday, Oct. 14, 2018. Rescuers retrieved the bodies of five South Korean climbers and their four Nepalese guides from Gurja Himal mountain, where they were killed when their base camp was swept by a strong storm. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)

It was the deadliest climbing disaster in Nepal since 2015 when 19 people were killed at Mount Everest base camp by an avalanche triggered by an earthquake that devastated the country. The previous year, an avalanche above Everest's base camp killed 16 Nepalese Sherpa guides.

The Himalayan range includes all 14 of the world's peaks that rise above 8,000 meters, and only a few dozen climbers have made verified, successful ascents of them all. Kim achieved his feat in 2013.

Santa Lama of the Nepal Mountaineering Association, who helped with coordinating the rescue, said since all nine people at the camp were killed and no surviving witnesses it was difficult to say what exactly happened or when.

The climbers were also attempting to scale a 7,193-meter (23,590-foot) peak which is not among the highest, the most difficult or popular mountain to climb in Nepal.

Grieving family members gathered at the Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital in Nepal's capital where the bodies were to be autopsied before being handed to their families.

The South Korean ministry told reporters strong winds during the storm blew the victims from their base camp off a steep cliff. Word of the destruction got out Saturday morning, and helicopters were sent. They were not able to land due to the continuing bad weather but spotted the bodies, which were retrieved Sunday.

They were issued permit to climb the peak during the autumn climbing season. Spring and autumn are the optimal climbing seasons in Nepal in between the harsh winter and summer monsoon.

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Associated Press writer Kim Tong-hyung in Seoul, South Korea, contributed to this report.

Family members of Nepalese guides cry as bodies of those killed in Gurja Himal mountain arrive at the Teaching hospital in Kathmandu, Nepal, Sunday, Oct. 14, 2018. Rescuers retrieved the bodies of five South Korean climbers and their four Nepalese guides from Gurja Himal mountain, where they were killed when their base camp was swept by a strong storm. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) - The Latest on communities struggling in the aftermath of Hurricane Michael (all times local):

7:00 p.m.

Federal Emergency Management Agency chief Brock Long is calling the damage left by Hurricane Michael some of the worst he's ever seen.

Long toured several towns in Florida's Panhandle on Sunday with Gov. Rick Scott. Long said afterward the storm damage will require officials to help meet housing needs of displaced residents for the next several months.

Long previously said that he has expected the death toll to rise due to the deadly storm. But both he and Scott sidestepped questions on whether they anticipate more deaths to be announced in the days ahead.

Long also added that FEMA employees were going to start going through shelters and in damaged neighborhoods to start registering people for federal assistance that is available to residents after a disaster.

Lavonia Fortner helps her father-in-law, John E. Fortner, search for memorabilia his wife collected, in the aftermath of Hurricane Michael in Mexico Beach, Fla., Saturday, Oct. 13, 2018. His wife died in 2010 but his home was destroyed by the storm. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

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5:20 p.m.

Georgia emergency officials say approximately 120,000 customers in the state remain without power after Hurricane Michael.

An emailed statement Sunday afternoon from the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency said that included customers of Georgia Power, the cooperatvies of the Georgia Electric Membership Corporation and various municipalities.

Georgia EMC was reporting more than 66,700 outages as of 4 p.m. Sunday; Georgia Power, more than 22,600.

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4:40 p.m.

The North Carolina city of Greensboro says flooding from Tropical Storm Michael caused more than 1 million gallons of untreated wastewater to overflow from its facilities.

The city announced the spills Saturday evening. It says the largest discharge was 800,000 gallons that flowed over a 16-hour period into a creek.

According to the News & Record, the city says the downstream areas were inspected and cleaned up where necessary.

Flooding during Hurricane Florence last month also caused sewage overflows in Greensboro.

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2:35 p.m.

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.

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2:30 p.m.

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.

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1 p.m.

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.

Michael barreled into the Florida Panhandle last week as a Category 4 hurricane with 155 mph winds that practically flattened the town of Mexico Beach. The storm then raced through Georgia, the Carolinas and Virginia, killing at least 17 people so far.

At a campaign rally Saturday in Kentucky, Trump praised individuals involved in the massive recovery effort and pledged that "we will not rest until the job is done."

Trump toured parts of the Carolinas last month after Hurricane Florence.

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10:40 a.m.

Florida officials have evacuated almost 3,000 inmates after two prisons were damaged during Hurricane Michael.

The Department of Corrections said Saturday that the inmates were evacuated from the Gulf Correctional Institution and Annex and a portion of Calhoun Correctional Institution.

The facilities sustained significant roof damage, as well as damage to infrastructure critical for security.

Three prisons - the Gulf institution and annex, the Gulf Forestry Camp, and Panama City Work Release Center are closed until further damage assessments are made.

No inmates or staff members were injured. The agency says inmate locations will be updated on its website within 24 hours.

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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. The tally of lives lost across the South stood at 15.

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.

Authorities have set up distribution centers 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.

Marla Wood pulls a framed art piece out of the rubble of her damaged home from Hurricane Michael in Mexico Beach, Fla., Sunday, Oct. 14, 2018. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

Josh Starnes collects water from the gulf to flush toilets at his damaged home from hurricane Michael in Mexico Beach, Fla., Sunday, Oct. 14, 2018. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Brock Long, left, and Florida Gov. Rick Scott talk with the media in Mexico Beach, Fla., Sunday, Oct. 14, 2018. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

Diane Hoal, right, 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, Fla., Saturday, Oct. 13, 2018. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

People walk amidst rubble in the aftermath of Hurricane Michael in Mexico Beach, Fla., Saturday, Oct. 13, 2018. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Letty Cervantes prays during Mass which was moved outdoors due to damage to Saint Dominic Catholic Church from Hurricane Michael in Panama City, Fla., Saturday, Oct. 13, 2018. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

Residents look down their street which is blocked off by debris from Hurricane Michael in Mexico Beach, Fla., Saturday, Oct. 13, 2018. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

Matthew Fortner hugs his mother, Lavonia Fortner, as they walk to view the beach for what they feel is the last time, after they sifted through the rubble of her father-in-law's destroyed home in the aftermath of Hurricane Michael in Mexico Beach, Fla., Saturday, Oct. 13, 2018. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Lora McCalister-Cruel prays during Mass which was moved outdoors due to damage from Hurricane Michael inside Saint Dominic Catholic Church in Panama City, Fla., Saturday, Oct. 13, 2018. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

Father Michael Nixon holds Mass outside Saint Dominic Catholic Church which stands damaged in the background form hurricane Michael in Panama City, Fla., Saturday, Oct. 13, 2018. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

Public Service Company of Oklahoma utility trucks deliver utility poles and trucks in Panama City, Fla., Saturday, Oct. 13, 2018, as part of the continuing relief effort after Hurricane Michael. (Joshua Boucher/News Herald via AP)

In this Friday, Oct. 12, 2018, photo, Justin Rascoe holds a sign advertising free food in Panama City, Fla., after Hurricane Michael swept through the area. He and his family felt they had more than enough, so decided to give away as much as they could. (Joshua Boucher/News Herald via AP)

Michael Cain, right, and Jackie Slusser calm tempers between motorists as they wait in line for gas during a shortage in the aftermath of hurricane Michael in Southport, Fla., Saturday, Oct. 13, 2018. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
KIEV, Ukraine (AP) - About 10,000 people have marched through the capital of Ukraine in an annual nationalist commemoration of the formation of the World War II-era Ukrainian Insurgent Army.

About 1,000 police officers were deployed for the Defender of Ukraine Day march. Demonstrators lit colorful flares and shouted slogans such as "We are returning Ukraine to Ukrainians."

There was a scuffle when riot police intervened to stop some protesters attempting to destroy a Soviet-era monument near the parliament building.

The march in Kiev took place amid growing concern about radical far-right nationalists attacking Roma encampments and LGBT and women's rights activists.

Sunday was the 76th anniversary of the formation of the paramilitary group, known by the acronym UPA, that fought against the Soviet army, sometimes in collaboration with Nazi forces.

Members of the nationalist movements attend a rally marking Defender of Ukraine Day in centre Kiev, Ukraine, Sunday, Oct. 14, 2018. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

Right wing activists scuffle with riot police as they pull a ladder in an attempt to destroy a Soviet-era monument during a protest near the parliament building in Kiev, Ukraine, Sunday, Oct. 14, 2018. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

Right wing activists approach a Soviet-era monument during a protest near the parliament building in Kiev, Ukraine, Sunday, Oct. 14, 2018. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

Right wing activists leader Mykola Kokhanivsky holds a hammer as demonstrators attempt to destroy a Soviet-era monument during a protest near the parliament building in Kiev, Ukraine, Sunday, Oct. 14, 2018. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

Members of the nationalist movements light flares during a rally marking Defender of Ukraine Day in centre Kiev, Ukraine, Sunday, Oct. 14, 2018. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

Ukrainian army veterans attend a rally marking Defender of Ukraine Day in centre Kiev, Ukraine, Sunday, Oct. 14, 2018. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

Ukrainian army veterans attend a rally marking Defender of Ukraine Day in centre Kiev, Ukraine, Sunday, Oct. 14, 2018. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

Members of the nationalist movements light flares during a rally marking Defender of Ukraine Day in centre Kiev, Ukraine, Sunday, Oct. 14, 2018. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

Members of the nationalist movements light flares during a rally marking Defender of Ukraine Day, in centre Kiev, Ukraine, Sunday, Oct. 14, 2018. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

Members of the nationalist movements attend a rally marking Fatherland Defender Day in centre Kiev, Ukraine, Sunday, Oct. 14, 2018. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

Members of the nationalist movements attend a rally marking Defender of Ukraine Day in Kiev, Ukraine, Sunday, Oct. 14, 2018. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
ATLANTA (AP) - Stacey Abrams has become the first major-party nominee for the Georgia governorship to participate in the Atlanta Pride Parade, one of the largest LGBT parades in the Southeast.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that the Democrat rode atop a white Jeep on Sunday afternoon during the annual celebration as supporters chanted her name.

Abrams, who is seeking to become the first black woman elected a U.S. governor, says she would oppose so-called "religious liberty" bills that critics say would let businesses deny service to LGBT people.

Abrams' opponent, Republican Secretary of State Brian Kemp, says he supports a state law that mirrors a 1993 federal measure signed by President Bill Clinton that Kemp insisted "doesn't discriminate."

Prior to the Democratic primary, Abrams and her Democrat opponent Stacey Evans both took part in last year's parade.

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FILE- In this May 22, 2018, file photo Georgia's Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams waves in Atlanta. Abrams is trying to reach voters who don't usually vote in midterm elections in the hopes to drive up turnout in her race against Republican Brian Kemp. (AP Photo/John Bazemore, File)

Information from: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, http://www.ajc.com
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Donald Trump is backing off his claim that climate change is a hoax but says he doesn't know if it's manmade and suggests the climate will "change back again."

In an interview with CBS' "60 Minutes," Trump says he doesn't want to put the U.S. at a disadvantage in responding to climate change.

Trump called climate change a hoax in November 2012 and in years since. As far as the climate "changing back," temperature records show that the world hasn't had a cooler-than-average year since 1976 or a cooler-than-normal month since the end of 1985.

The president also expressed doubt over scientists' findings linking the changing climate to more powerful hurricanes. He is scheduled on Monday to visit areas of Georgia and Florida damaged by Hurricane Michael.
MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) - Actor Alec Baldwin says voters should see the Nov. 6 midterm elections as an opportunity to peacefully "overthrow the government of Donald Trump."

Baldwin spoke Sunday night at a fundraising dinner for the New Hampshire Democratic Party a night after returning to "Saturday Night Live" to portray the president.

He says on issues from immigration to health care, Republicans are destroyers, not builders, who are intent on stopping change or returning to the past.

Baldwin's appearance in the state that holds the first presidential primary came hours before the premiere of his new talk show. "The Alec Baldwin Show," which airs on ABC at 10 p.m., will feature one-on-one conversations with celebrities and cultural icons, but Baldwin says it won't be overtly political.
CLEVELAND (AP) - Candidates in Ohio's U.S. senate campaign sparred Sunday over health care, approaches to climate change, student loan debt, immigration, tariffs and gun control in the first of three debates.

Republican U.S. Rep. Jim Renacci repeatedly criticized incumbent Democrat Sherrod Brown as being a Washington insider, citing Brown's connections to Democratic New York Sen. Chuck Schumer multiple times.

"The problem is Sherrod Brown loves Washington so much and Chuck Schumer that he continues to vote with those policies instead of trying to change those," Renacci said in one remark, answering a question about student loan debt.

Renacci referred to Brown's two-decade career as a congressman and senator, claiming he spends little time in Ohio.

Brown said he returns home to his Cleveland home each weekend. In turn, he criticized Renacci as unable to get things done in Washington even though Republicans control both the presidency and Congress.

"They can't seem to get anything done on immigration or on wages or on trade or on healthcare or on climate change," Brown said.

Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio speaks during a debate at the Idea Center in Playhouse Square, Sunday, Oct. 14, 2018, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Phil Long, Pool)

Late in the debate, both candidates were asked how the ugly Supreme Court nomination fight in the Senate over Judge Brett Kavanaugh could have been handled differently.

Brown said he decided against supporting Kavanaugh before the judge faced decades-old allegations of sexual assault.

As he has in ads during the campaign, Renacci then accused Brown of a different standard of conduct on domestic abuse, raising Brown's divorce in the 1980s when his then-wife accused him of domestic violence.

"That situation is a standard of conduct that Sherrod Brown now has violated, and he should not be sitting in a U.S. Senate seat any longer," Renacci said.

Brown's ex-wife, Larke Recchie, and her second husband have held fundraisers for Brown and repeatedly asked Republicans to stop using the divorce in political campaigns.

Brown told Renacci his ex-wife has called these attacks despicable. "You should be ashamed of yourself," Brown said to his opponent.

Asked about combatting climate change, Brown said Republicans have been derelict on the subject, saying the U.S. should never have pulled out of the Paris climate accord. He said he supports all forms of energy, including renewable energy.

By contrast, "Our state government and our federal government continue to be in the pockets of the fossil fuel industry," Brown said.

Renacci said he supports clean air and water, but he said the state can't walk away from the coal and natural gas industry.

"You eliminate coal and natural gas like the senator would like to do, and energy costs for hard-working Americans are going to go up," Renacci said.

On health care, Renacci said he supports coverage of preexisting conditions and keeping children on parents' plans until they're 26 years old. But he also said the cost of health care is out of control.

"Our health insurance since the Affordable Care Act has gone up 132 percent in this state," Renacci said. "It's unacceptable."

Brown said Renacci voted 20 times to repeal the federal health care act, which would have eliminated coverage for preexisting conditions.

Five million Ohioans have some kind of preexisting condition, and "If Congressman Renacci has his way, they could lose their coverage," Brown said.

On tariffs, Brown said he supports tariffs enacted by President Donald Trump if they're done correctly. He noted he has sided with Trump on "Buy America" policies, though he's also taken on Democratic presidents over trade policies. Brown said Renacci has supported every trade agreement that came before him while he's been in Congress.

Renacci said he supports Trump's use of tariffs in a trade war started by China, but he said tariffs should be used on a short-term, not long-term process.

He said he supported trade agreements "because Ohioans wanted it."

Renacci has aligned himself closely with Trump, whose administration urged Renacci to enter the Senate race after state Treasurer Josh Mandel dropped out because of his wife's health.

Renacci moved over from the governor's race to challenge Brown, a longtime fixture in Ohio politics who some see as a potential 2020 national-ticket candidate.

The two have debates planned Saturday in Columbus and Oct. 26 in Oxford.

Rep. Jim Renacci, R-Ohio speaks during a debate at the Idea Center in Playhouse Square, Sunday, Oct. 14, 2018, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Phil Long, Pool)

Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown speaks during a debate at the Idea Center in Playhouse Square, Sunday, Oct. 14, 2018, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Phil Long, Pool)

Rep. Jim Renacci, R-Ohio speaks during a debate at the Idea Center in Playhouse Square, Sunday, Oct. 14, 2018, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Phil Long, Pool)

Rep. Jim Renacci, R-Ohio speaks during a debate at the Idea Center in Playhouse Square, Sunday, Oct. 14, 2018, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Phil Long, Pool)

Rep. Jim Renacci, R-Ohio speaks during a debate at the Idea Center in Playhouse Square, Sunday, Oct. 14, 2018, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Phil Long, Pool)

Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio speaks during a debate at the Idea Center in Playhouse Square, Sunday, Oct. 14, 2018, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Phil Long, Pool)

Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio speaks during a debate at the Idea Center in Playhouse Square, Sunday, Oct. 14, 2018, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Phil Long, Pool)
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Donald Trump has asked Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel to serve a second term.

That's according to a person familiar with the president's decision.

The decision comes as the president looks to build out his team for his re-election campaign. As head of the RNC, McDaniel leads the party's fundraising and voter mobilization efforts.

McDaniel has accepted Trump's offer. The RNC will hold an official vote in January.

The person familiar with Trump's decision was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly. Axios first reported that the president had asked McDaniel to stay on.
KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) - The Latest on mountaineering deaths in Nepal (all times local):

South Korean President Moon Jae-in, an amateur hiking enthusiast who visited Nepal in 2016, has expressed condolences for the climbers who died in a storm on a Nepal mountain.

Five South Koreans and four Nepalese guides died Friday when a storm swept their base camp on Gurja Himal mountain, and their bodies were retrieved Sunday.

Moon said the victims displayed a "great spirit that's about respecting nature while simultaneously trying to overcome it."

His message was posted on Facebook on Sunday during his visit to France.

Moon continued, "a snow storm has taken the nine climbers into the mountains forever, but their bravery and fighting spirit to break out a new route can never be buried."

Family members of Nepalese guides cry as bodies of those killed in Gurja Himal mountain arrive at the Teaching hospital in Kathmandu, Nepal, Sunday, Oct. 14, 2018. Rescuers retrieved the bodies of five South Korean climbers and their four Nepalese guides from Gurja Himal mountain, where they were killed when their base camp was swept by a strong storm. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)

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10 a.m.

A South Korean climbing group says the bodies of five Koreans who died in a storm on a Nepal mountain will be returned to their home country on Wednesday.

An official from the Corean Alpine Club said famed mountaineer Kim Chang-ho was leading a veteran climbing team that was on Gurja Himal mountain when they died Friday. Kim was well-known as the first South Korean to climb the world's 14 highest mountains.

The CAC official, who didn't want to be named because she wasn't authorized to speak to reporters, identified the other South Koreans as Yu Yeong-jik, Im Il-jin, Jeong Jun-mo and Lee Jae-hoon. Four Nepalese guides also died when the storm swept over base camp on Gurja Himal on Friday.

Yu was reportedly in charge of the team's climbing equipment, and Im was a filmmaker who had specialized in documentaries on mountain climbers. Yonhap news agency reported senior CAC member Jeong wasn't part of Kim's climbing team but was visiting the others at their camp.

The CAC official said a Korean Air flight carrying the remains will return to Seoul early Wednesday.

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Associated Press writer Kim Tong-hyung in Seoul, South Korea, contributed to this report.

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7 a.m.

The nine climbers who died during a storm on a Nepal mountain included Kim Chang-ho, who was the first South Korean to summit all 14 Himalayan peaks over 8,000 meters without using supplemental oxygen.

Seoul's Foreign Ministry confirmed his identity Monday but has not yet disclosed the names of the four other South Koreans who died in the weekend storm.

Four Nepalese guides also were killed when a storm swept their base camp on Gurja Himal mountain Friday.

Kim achieved his feat in 2013.

The South Korean ministry told reporters the storm blew the victims from their base camp off a steep cliff. Rescue helicopters were not able to land but spotted the bodies, which were retrieved Sunday.

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5:30 p.m.

Rescuers have retrieved the bodies of five South Korean climbers and their four Nepalese guides from Gurja Himal mountain, where they were killed when their base camp was swept by a strong storm.

Two helicopters brought the bodies to Kathmandu, Nepal's capital, on Sunday from the mountain after the weather cleared up.

The bodies are being kept at the Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital morgue, where doctors will conduct autopsies before the bodies are handed over to family members.

The storm swept the camp on Friday night, and news of the destruction reached on Saturday morning. Rescuers reached the base camp Saturday evening.

The climbers were attempting to scale the 7,193-meter (23,590-foot) peak during the autumn climbing season.
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) - Malaysian Prime Minister-in-waiting Anwar Ibrahim said he felt "vindicated" after taking his oath as a lawmaker Monday, marking his return to active politics three years after he was imprisoned for sodomy in a charge that critics said was politically motivated.

The swearing-in ceremony in parliament followed Anwar's landslide win in a by-election Saturday in the southern coastal town of Port Dickson in which he defeated six other candidates. The seat was vacated after a lawmaker from his party quit, paving the way for Anwar's political comeback.

Anwar, 71, joins his wife, Wan Azizah Wan Ismail - currently Malaysia's deputy prime minister - and his eldest daughter, Nurul Izzah Anwar, in parliament. He has said that his by-election victory is a "vote of confidence" in the new government.

"I have been deprived of my right from time to time and I have to go through a by-election to come back ... I feel vindicated," Anwar told reporters Monday. He reiterated support for Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's leadership to ensure a stable government and pledged to focus on parliamentary reforms.

"Our parliament has in the past been considered or dubbed as a rubber stamp ... we would like to ensure a new approach where parliament is more effective," he said.

Once a high-flying member of the former ruling coalition, Anwar was convicted of homosexual sodomy and corruption after a power struggle with Mahathir, who was prime minister for 22 years until 2003. He was freed in 2004 but was once again convicted for sodomy in 2015, charges that he said were concocted to destroy his political career.

Malaysian politician Anwar Ibrahim greets after his swearing-in as a lawmaker at the parliament in Kuala Lumpur, Monday, Oct. 15, 2018. Charismatic Malaysian politician Anwar won a by-election for a parliamentary seat with a landslide victory on Saturday in a grand political comeback to help him prepare for his eventual takeover from Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad. (AP Photo/Yam G-Jun)

Angered by a massive corruption scandal at a state investment fund involving then-Prime Minister Najib Razak, Mahathir made a political comeback and formed an alliance with Anwar, with the two setting aside their bitter feud ahead of May's general election.

Following their stunning election victory, Anwar was designated as Mahathir's successor.

Anwar was freed from prison and received a royal pardon days after the polls. Mahathir, the world's oldest leader at 93, has said he expects to step down in two years and will keep his promise to hand over power to Anwar.

"Of course I am happy he is back ... we expected him to come back. We knew he was going to win," Mahathir was quoted as saying by local media on Monday.

Malaysia's politician Anwar Ibrahim speaks to the media during a press conference following the swearing-in ceremony at the parliament in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Monday, Oct. 15, 2018. Malaysian Prime Minister-in-waiting Anwar Ibrahim has taken his oath as a lawmaker, marking his return to active politics three years after he was imprisoned for sodomy in a charge critics said was politically motivated. (AP Photo/Yam G-Jun)

Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, right, and Deputy Prime Minister Wan Azizah Ismail, pray during a parliament session in Kuala Lumpur, Monday, Oct. 15, 2018. Charismatic Malaysian politician Anwar Ibrahim won a by-election for a parliamentary seat with a landslide victory on Saturday in a grand political comeback to help him prepare for his eventual takeover from Prime Minister Mahathir. (AP Photo/Yam G-Jun)
WASHINGTON (AP) - By making a rare second trip this year to Vietnam, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis is signaling how intensively the Trump administration is trying to counter China's military assertiveness by cozying up to smaller nations in the region that share American wariness about Chinese intentions.

The visit beginning Tuesday also shows how far U.S.-Vietnamese relations have advanced since the tumultuous years of the Vietnam War.

Mattis, a retired general who entered the Marine Corps during Vietnam but did not serve there, visited Hanoi in January. By coincidence, that stop came just days before the 50th anniversary of the Tet Offensive in 1968. Tet was a turning point when North Vietnamese fighters attacked an array of key objectives in the South, surprising Washington and feeding anti-war sentiment even though the North's offensive turned out to be a tactical military failure.

Three months after the Mattis visit, an U.S. Navy aircraft carrier, the USS Carl Vinson, made a port call at Da Nang. It was the first such visit since the war and a reminder to China that the U.S. is intent on strengthening partnerships in the region as a counterweight to China's growing military might.

The most vivid expression of Chinese assertiveness is its transformation of contested islets and other features in the South China Sea into strategic military outposts. The Trump administration has sharply criticized China for deploying surface-to-air missiles and other weapons on some of these outposts. In June, Mattis said the placement of these weapons is "tied directly to military use for the purposes of intimidation and coercion."

This time Mattis is visiting Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam's most populous city and its economic center. Known as Saigon during the period before the communists took over the Republic of South Vietnam in 1975, the city was renamed for the man who led the Vietnamese nationalist movement.

FILE - In this Jan. 25, 2018, file photo, U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and his Vietnamese counterpart Ngo Xuan Lich, left, review an honor guard in Hanoi, Vietnam. By making a rare second trip this year to Vietnam, Mattis is showing how intensively the Trump administration is trying to counter China's military assertiveness by cozying up to smaller nations in the region who share American wariness about Chinese intentions. The visit beginning Tuesday also shows how far U.S.-Vietnamese relations have advanced since the tumultuous years of the Vietnam War, whose legacy includes a continued search for the remains of U.S. war dead on Vietnamese soil. (AP Photo/Tran Van Minh, File)

Mattis also plans to visit a Vietnamese air base, Bien Hoa, a major air station for American forces during the war, and meet with the defense minister, Ngo Xuan Lich.

The visit comes amid a leadership transition after the death in September of Vietnam's president, Tran Dai Quang. Earlier this month, Vietnam's ruling Communist Party nominated its general secretary, Nguyen Phu Trong, for the additional post of president. He is expected to be approved by the National Assembly.

Although Vietnam has become a common destination for American secretaries of defense, two visits in one year is unusual, and Ho Chi Minh City is rarely on the itinerary. The last Pentagon chief to visit Ho Chi Minh City was William Cohen in the year 2000; he was the first U.S. defense secretary to visit Vietnam since the war. Formal diplomatic relations were restored in 1995 and the U.S. lifted its war-era arms embargo in 2016.

The Mattis trip originally was to include a visit to Beijing, but that stop was canceled amid rising tensions over trade and defense issues. China recently rejected a request for a Hong Kong port visit by an American warship, and last summer Mattis disinvited China from a major maritime exercise in the Pacific. China in September scrapped a Pentagon visit by its navy chief and demanded that Washington cancel an arms sale to Taiwan.

These tensions have served to accentuate the potential for a stronger U.S. partnership with Vietnam.

Josh Kurlantzick, a senior fellow and Asia specialist at the Council on Foreign Relations, said in an interview that Vietnam in recent years has shifted from a foreign and defense policy that carefully balanced relations with China and the United States to one that shades in the direction of Washington.

"I do see Vietnam very much aligned with some of Trump's policies," he said, referring to what the administration calls its "free and open Indo-Pacific strategy." It emphasizes ensuring all countries in the region are free from coercion and keeping sea lanes, especially the contested South China Sea, open for international trade.

"Vietnam, leaving aside Singapore, is the country the most skeptical of China's Southeast Asia policy and makes the most natural partner for the U.S.," Kurlantzick said.

Vietnam's proximity to the South China Sea makes it an important player in disputes with China over territorial claims to islets, shoals and other small land formations in the sea. Vietnam also fought a border war with China in 1979.

Traditionally wary of its huge northern neighbor, Vietnam shares China's system of single-party rule. Vietnam has increasingly cracked down on dissidents and corruption, with scores of high-ranking officials and executives jailed since 2016 on Trong's watch.

Sweeping economic changes over the past 30 years have opened Vietnam to foreign investment and trade, and made it one of fastest growing economies in Southeast Asia. But the Communist Party tolerates no challenge to its one-party rule. Even so, the Trump administration has made a focused effort to draw closer to Vietnam.

When he left Hanoi in January, Mattis said his visit made clear that Americans and Vietnamese have shared interests that in some cases predate the dark period of the Vietnam War.

"Neither of us liked being colonized," he said.
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) - Japan's foreign minister has raised concerns about the high levels of debt accrued by some Pacific Island nations and says it wants to help resolve the problem.

Foreign Minister Taro Kono made the comments Monday while visiting New Zealand, where he met with his counterpart Winston Peters.

Some observers have become alarmed at the growth in Chinese lending in the Pacific and worry that small countries such as Tonga and Vanuatu are becoming beholden to China because of their high debt levels.

Kono didn't mention China specifically in his comments.

His visit to New Zealand is the first by a Japanese foreign minister in five years. It marks a warming relationship between the two nations over the past year since Jacinda Ardern became New Zealand's prime minister.
PHOENIX (AP) - In a windowless conference room, Republican Senate candidate Martha McSally was asking executives at a small crane manufacturing company how the GOP tax cut has helped their business when one woman said: "I want to ask you a question about health care."

Marylea Evans recounted how, decades ago, her husband had been unable to get health insurance after developing cancer, forcing the couple to sell some of their Texas ranch to pay for his treatment. Now she was worried about Democratic ads saying McSally, currently a congresswoman, supported legislation removing the requirement that insurers cover people with pre-existing medical conditions.

"It's a lie," McSally said quickly, accustomed to having to interrupt a discussion of the tax cut to parry attacks on health care. But she had voted for a wide-ranging bill that would have, among other things, undermined protections for people with pre-existing conditions and drastically changed and shrunk Medicaid.

The exchange demonstrated how Democratic arguments about health care are resonating with voters in the final weeks before the midterm elections. While Democratic enthusiasm this year has largely been fueled by anger toward President Donald Trump, candidates have targeted their messaging to focus more on health care.

It's the subject of the greatest share of political ads on television now, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis, and a top issue in campaigns from Virginia to Arkansas to California - and especially in Arizona, where Democratic Rep. Kyrsten Sinema has made it the foundation of her Senate campaign against McSally.

"Democrats believe that health care is the issue that's going to deliver them the majority," said Nathan Gonzalez, editor and publisher of the nonpartisan Inside Elections. "In 2016, Democrats learned that going all-in against Trump was not the right strategy, so they're trying to be more specific."

FILE - In this Aug. 28, 2018, file photo, Rep. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., talks to campaign volunteers at a Democratic campaign office in Phoenix. As the November elections near, Democrats are focusing on health care. It's been a constant drumbeat since the GOP launched its effort to repeal the Obama-era health law and is the subject of the greatest share of political ads on television now. It's a top issue in campaigns from Virginia to Nebraska to California, and especially in Arizona, where Democratic Rep. Kyrsten Sinema has made it the foundation of her Senate campaign. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File)

The Democratic furor around health care comes from Trump's push to repeal the President Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act. House Republicans voted for a bill that would have rolled back parts of "Obamacare." But the Senate never took up the bill, and its own attempt to reverse the health care law failed by one vote.

This year, the Trump administration supported a group of GOP attorneys general who filed a lawsuit arguing "Obamacare" is unconstitutional. The administration singled out protection for pre-existing conditions as unsustainable.

Democrats are effectively performing political judo on the GOP, who accused them over four election cycles of messing up voters' health care with "Obamacare" and vowed a hasty repeal once they were back in power. Now that the GOP tried and failed to change health care, Democrats are pouncing.

"You see in every survey, whether it's a Senate race in a red state or a House race in a purple district, health care is the No. 1 issue," said Patrick McHugh of Priorities USA, a major Democratic campaign group. "One party wants to actually expand health care coverage and reduce costs, and the other party campaigned claiming they did, but when they got into power, they did not."

In Missouri, Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill is defending her seat by highlighting that her Republican challenger, state Attorney General Josh Hawley, signed onto the lawsuit over pre-existing conditions. In Michigan, Democrat Elissa Slotkin aired an ad showing her mother dying of cancer and called incumbent Republican Rep. Mike Bishop's vote for the GOP health bill "dereliction of duty." In Arizona, Democrat Hiral Tipirneni, a physician, is running against Republican Rep. Debbie Lesko after shocking the political world by barely losing an April special election for the seat on a health care platform.

Glen Bolger, a Republican pollster, notes that health care is a perennial Democratic base issue but acknowledges it appears especially potent this year. However, he said, Republicans have a possible counter - pushing back against some Democrats' support for a single-payer system that would require higher taxes.

"That, as a pushback message, tests very well," Bolger said.

Republicans have used it in races where Democratic challengers have backed the policy - such as against Katie Porter, an attorney challenging Republican Rep. Mimi Walters in Southern California, or against social worker Kara Eastman, who's leaned heavily on single payer in her challenge to Rep. Don Bacon in Nebraska. The GOP has even levied the charge against Democrats who haven't supported a single-payer program, like Abigail Spanberger, who's challenging Rep. David Brat in Virginia.

Gonzalez said the GOP responses show they're fighting on Democrats' turf and keeping the GOP from cashing in politically on the growing economy.

"Democrats believe that health care is the antidote to Republican talk about the economy," he said.

The Arizona Senate contest provides a microcosm of the issue. Democrats started hitting McSally on health care with an ad barrage from a dark-money group during the GOP primary and have not let up, accusing her of trying to gut protections for pre-existing conditions and charge older people more for health insurance. Sinema mentions the issue everywhere she goes. In an interview with the Spanish-language Univision network Wednesday, she called it "the centerpiece of my campaign."

At a recent appearance to rally volunteers in Scottsdale, Sinema was introduced by Leslie Foldy, a 64-year-old court reporter. "I've had diabetes since high school. I've been taking insulin shots ... for the past 47 years," Foldy said.

Sinema picked up the theme and ran with it. "We have a chance to elect a United States senator who understands Leslie's struggles to make sure she gets access to the important medication she needs and that she's not discriminated against because of having a pre-existing health condition," she said. It was a dig at the GOP health bill that McSally supported for containing what she calls an "age tax" - a provision allowing insurance companies to charge people ages 50 to 64 who buy insurance on health exchanges rates five times higher than younger consumers. Under the ACA, the limit is three times higher.

In an interview, Sinema described her health care agenda as mainly a fight to preserve popular parts of "Obamacare." She said she didn't like everything about the bill and noted she'd sponsored bills delaying or repealing some of its funding mechanisms - taxes on medical devices and health insurance.

McSally instead focuses on the shortcomings of the law, blaming it for driving up health premiums for small businesses and other consumers and arguing Republicans are just trying to make things better. She bristles at the "age tax" attacks because she wrote an amendment adding $90 billion in subsidies for older consumers to protect against higher insurance rates. Although the GOP health bill did contain provisions that weakened the ACA's protections of pre-existing conditions, McSally calls pre-existing conditions "a line in the sand" that she'll protect.

"We've all got people in our lives who struggle with chronic disease," McSally said. "It's personal for all of us. The Democrats are taking this line of attack because they know health care is personal."
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) - Australia's foreign minister says her country's alliance with the United States has never been more vital in an era of escalating challenges in the Indo-Pacific region.

In her first major policy speech since she took over the foreign ministry in August, Marise Payne told an Australian Institute of International Affairs annual conference on Monday that Australia needs to defend its interests in "a period of strategic uncertainty."

The former defense minister's staunch declaration of support for the United States came after the Chinese Communist Party-owned newspaper China Daily accused Australia and Japan in an editorial last week of "jumping on the U.S. bandwagon to contain China."

Payne says Australians "have no doubt that the U.S. will remain an enduring presence" in the region.
BEIJING (AP) - A look at recent developments in the South China Sea, where China is pitted against smaller neighbors in multiple disputes over islands, coral reefs and lagoons in waters crucial for global commerce and rich in fish and potential oil and gas reserves:

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EDITOR'S NOTE: This is a weekly look at the latest developments in the South China Sea, the location of several territorial conflicts that have raised tensions in the region.

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CHINA DEFENDS SHIP CONFRONTATION

China's ambassador to the United States has defended the Chinese navy's action in a close encounter with a U.S. destroyer in the South China Sea, saying America's warships are "on the offensive" near Chinese territory.

FILE - In this Oct. 13, 2016, file photo provided by the U.S. Navy, guided-missile destroyer USS Decatur (DDG 73) operates in the South China Sea as part of the Bonhomme Richard Expeditionary Strike Group (ESG). China's ambassador to the United States has defended the Chinese navy's action in a close encounter with the U.S. destroyer in the South China Sea, saying America's warships are "on the offensive" near Chinese territory. (Petty Officer 2nd Class Diana Quinlan/U.S. Navy via AP, File)

The U.S. Pacific Fleet said a Chinese destroyer came aggressively close to a U.S. Navy ship in the incident late last month, forcing it to maneuver to prevent a collision.

Ambassador Cui Tiankai said on Fox News Sunday that the confrontation took place "on China's doorstep."

"It's not Chinese warships that are going to the coast of California, or to the Gulf of Mexico. It's so close to the Chinese islands and it's so close to the Chinese coast. So who is on the offensive? Who is on the defensive? This is very clear," Cui said.

U.S. Pacific Fleet Spokesman Lt. Cmdr. Tim Gorman said the Chinese warship approached the USS Decatur in an "unsafe and unprofessional maneuver" near Gaven Reefs in the South China Sea. The reefs lie about 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) south of China's southernmost province of Hainan in the Spratly Island group and are also claimed by Vietnam, the Philippines and Taiwan.

Gorman said the Chinese destroyer approached within 45 yards (41 meters) of the Decatur's bow, forcing it to maneuver. China said the Luoyang, a Chinese missile destroyer, was immediately deployed to identify the U.S. warship and drive it away.

China claims most of the strategic waterway and has built islands on reefs and equipped them with military facilities such as airstrips, radar domes and missile systems.

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MATTIS TO VISIT VIETNAM

U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis is planning to make his second visit of the year to Vietnam, signaling how vigorously the Trump administration is trying to counter China's military assertiveness in the South China Sea by building up relations with smaller nations in the region.

The visit beginning Tuesday also shows the distance U.S.-Vietnamese relations have advanced since the tumultuous years of the Vietnam War.

Mattis, a retired general who entered the Marine Corps during the Vietnam War but did not serve there, visited Hanoi in January.

Three months later, an U.S. Navy aircraft carrier, the USS Carl Vinson, made a port call at Da Nang. It was the first such visit since the war and a reminder to China that the U.S. is intent on strengthening partnerships in the region as a counterweight to China's growing military might.

The Trump administration has sharply criticized China for deploying surface-to-air missiles and other weapons on some of its island outposts. In June, Mattis said the placement of these weapons is "tied directly to military use for the purposes of intimidation and coercion."

The Mattis trip originally was to include a visit to Beijing, but that stop was canceled amid rising tensions over trade and defense issues. China recently rejected a request for a Hong Kong port visit by an American warship, and over the summer Mattis disinvited China from a major maritime exercise in the Pacific. China in September withdrew its navy chief from a Pentagon visit and demanded that Washington cancel an arms sale to Taiwan.

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PHILIPPINES, VIETNAM DISCUSS MARITIME BORDERS

The Philippine president and Vietnam's prime minister have discussed delineating their countries' maritime boundaries in the South China Sea, in what Beijing will likely perceive as another challenge to its claim to virtually the entire strategic waterway.

President Rodrigo Duterte said Friday that he told Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc in a meeting in Indonesia that such boundary talks may take longer because the Philippines is still establishing its continental shelf limit - the country's outermost boundary.

Vietnam initiated the on-and-off talks several years ago.

"Vietnam is our ASEAN brother and they have been supporting us in many ways and we have been supporting them," Philippine Foreign Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano told reporters, referring to the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

Vietnam claims features that fall inside the Philippines' declared exclusive economic zone, the stretch of waters in which a coastal state enjoys internationally recognized rights to exclusively fish and extract oil and gas in the seabed.

Efforts by the two Southeast Asian nations to define their maritime boundaries are significant because ASEAN and China are negotiating a regional code to prevent clashes arising from overlapping claims. China, however, has not clearly defined its sweeping claims.

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Associated Press writers Robert Burns in Washington and Jim Gomez in Manila, Philippines contributed to this report.

FILE - In this Sept. 29, 2016, file photo, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, left, shakes hands with Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc as they meet at the Cabinet Office in Hanoi, Vietnam. President Duterte and Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc have discussed delineating their countries' maritime boundaries in the South China Sea, in what Beijing will likely perceive as another challenge to its claim to virtually the entire strategic waterway. Duterte said Friday, Oct. 12, 2018, without elaborating, that he told Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc in a meeting in Indonesia that such boundary talks may take longer because the Philippines is still establishing its continental shelf limit - the country's outermost boundary. (AP Photo/Hoang Dinh Nam, File)
ISLAMABAD (AP) - Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan's party didn't win as many seats as it expected in special elections held for 35 seats that remained up for grabs after July's parliament elections.

The party of ex-premier Nawaz Sharif won 11 seats in the national and provincial seats, out of 35 contested in Sunday's balloting. Khan's candidates secured 15 seats. Other small parties won the rest.

The vote doesn't change anything but is still a setback for Khan, who in July didn't get an outright majority but had to form a coalition government.

Under Pakistani law, candidates can run for multiple seats and if they secure more than one seat in parliament or provincial assemblies, they have to give up all but one seat. Special elections are then held for the vacated seats.
NORFOLK, Va. (AP) - A former contestant on "American Idol" and "Fear Factor" is accused of distributing heroin.

News outlets report 31-year-old Antonella Barba was arrested Thursday by authorities in Norfolk, Virginia, and charged with distributing more than 100 grams of the drug. She's set to appear in court Monday.

Barba, of New Jersey, reached the top 16 on "American Idol" in 2007 and competed on "Fear Factor" in 2012. She appeared this year on comedian Jimmy Kimmel's show for a segment featuring other Idol alums titled "Where Are They Now?"

She previously has been charged in New York with shoplifting. It's unclear if Barba has a lawyer.
WASHINGTON (AP) - A Treasury Department employee was accused Wednesday of leaking confidential banking reports of suspects charged in special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation, and an unidentified high-ranking colleague was cited in court papers as a co-conspirator but was not charged.

Natalie Mayflower Sours Edwards, a senior official at the department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, also known as FinCEN, is accused of leaking several confidential suspicious activity reports to a journalist, whose name was not disclosed in court papers. But the documents list about a dozen stories published by BuzzFeed News over the past year and a half.

A spokesman for the news organization declined to comment.

According to the government, the material included reports on former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and political consultant Richard Gates, as well as Maria Butina, who is accused of trying to infiltrate U.S. political organizations as a covert Russian agent.

Edwards is currently on administrative leave, FinCen spokesman Steve Hudak said.

Banks must file the suspicious activity reports with the Treasury Department when they spot transactions that raise questions about possible financial misconduct such as money laundering.

This image provided by the Alexandria Sheriff's Department shows a mug shot of Natalie Mayflower Edwards. Natalie Mayflower Sours Edwards, a Treasury Department employee, has been accused of leaking confidential banking reports of suspects charged in special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation. (Alexandria Sheriff's Department via AP)

When federal agents confronted Edwards this week, she described herself as a whistleblower and said she had provided the reports to the reporter for "record-keeping," the court papers said.

Geoffrey Berman, the U.S. attorney in Manhattan, where the criminal complaint was filed, said Edwards "betrayed her position of trust by repeatedly disclosing highly sensitive information."

Edwards is alleged to have taken photographs of the confidential documents and sent them to a reporter using an encrypted messaging app, according to court documents. Edwards also sent the reporter internal Treasury Department emails, investigative memos and intelligence assessments, prosecutors allege.

When she was arrested, Edwards was in possession of a flash drive containing the confidential reports, prosecutors said.

Edwards had worked from 2007 to 2010 in the human resources and professional development office at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, spokeswoman April Langwell said.

She made an initial court appearance Wednesday in Virginia and was released on a $100,000 bond. Her attorney did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

Court papers also list another FinCEN employee as a co-conspirator, noting that this person exchanged more than 300 messages with the reporter via an encrypted messaging application. This person has not been charged and was not named in the court papers and was identified only as an associate director at FinCEN to whom Edwards reported.

According to court papers, federal investigators obtained a court order to monitor the calls to and from the associate director's personal cellphone, and the monitoring captured the frequency of contacts with the reporter via the encrypted messaging application. Court papers do not detail the contents of those messages.

"Protecting sensitive information is one of our most critical responsibilities, and it is a role that we take very seriously," said Sigal Mandelker, the Treasury Department's undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence.

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Associated Press writers Chad Day in Washington and Larry Neumeister in New York contributed to this report.

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Read the criminal complaint: http://apne.ws/JJ110dl
LLANO, Texas (AP) - The Latest on flooding in Texas (all times local):

5 p.m.

Officials say there's a continued threat for flooding in Central Texas as more rain is expected to fall on the already saturated area and dams along the swollen Colorado River release some of the flood downstream.

National Weather Service forecaster Jason Runyen said Wednesday that the area was expected to get an additional 1 to 2 inches (3 to 5 centimeters) of rain Thursday and Friday, with some isolated areas getting as much as 4 inches (10 centimeters) of rain.

The Lower Colorado River Authority has been opening flood gates along the river since Monday. Four floodgates are open on Mansfield Dam at Lake Travis, located northwest of Austin. The river authority says they'll likely need to open four more by midday Thursday for a total of eight - a record number open at the dam.

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The Llano River overflows its banks into neighboring property as the swollen river flows between the washed out Ranch Road 2900 bridge, background, Tuesday, Oct. 16, 2018, in Kingsland, Texas. (Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman via AP)

12:30 a.m.

Authorities say a woman's body has been found at a low-water crossing in a Central Texas city inundated by floodwaters from the Llano River.

Officials say the body was recovered in Llano Tuesday night. Llano County Judge Mary Cunningham says the woman's family has been notified but her that name isn't yet being released.

Water levels on the Llano River are now dropping but had soared above flood stage this week, destroying a bridge, forcing evacuations and leading to water rescues.

Earlier Tuesday, another body was found in Lake Lyndon B. Johnson, about 30 miles (50 kilometers) southeast of Llano. The lake is situated where the Llano River flows into the Colorado River. That body has not been identified.

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6:50 a.m.

Water levels are quickly dropping on a Texas river that soared above flood stage this week, destroying a bridge, forcing evacuations and leading to multiple water rescues.

The Llano River was just below 15 feet (4.5 meters) on Wednesday morning after cresting 24 hours earlier at almost 40 feet (12 meters). Initially, forecasters expected the river to rise to near-record levels Thursday, but modified their forecast to show the river dropping below flood stage instead.

Emergency managers in Llano County, about 65 miles (105 kilometers) northwest of Austin, welcome the forecast but say it's not yet safe for residents to return home.

In Kingsland, video captured a bridge crumbling as it was overrun by floodwaters, while a body was found in nearby Lake Lyndon B. Johnson.

The Llano River flows between the washed out Ranch Road 2900 bridge, Tuesday, Oct. 16, 2018, in Kingsland, Texas. (Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman via AP)

The Llano River flows past one sides of Ranch Road 2900 bridge after the bridge was washed out due to flooding Tuesday, Oct. 16, 2018, in Kingsland, Texas. (Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman via AP)

Joe Mercer and his friend Tonya Grace watch weather reports from their porch as the rising waters from the Colorado River floods their property on Tuesday Oct. 16, 2018, in Marble Falls, Texas. Mercer says they will evacuate their home if the nearby creek gets higher. (Amanda Voisard/Austin American-Statesman via AP)

Water from the Colorado River pours over the Max Starcke Dam, Tuesday Oct. 16, 2018, in Marble Falls, Texas. The Llano and Colorado rivers meet at Kingsland and the National Weather Service said both were experiencing "major flooding." A flash flood warning was in effect. (Amanda Voisard/Austin American-Statesman via AP)

Water from the Colorado River pours over the Max Starcke Dam, Tuesday Oct. 16, 2018, in Marble Falls, Texas. The Llano and Colorado rivers meet at Kingsland and the National Weather Service said both were experiencing "major flooding." A flash flood warning was in effect. (Amanda Voisard/Austin American-Statesman via AP)
VICTORIA, Texas (AP) - A man convicted of torching a South Texas mosque last year has been sentenced to more than 24 years in prison.

Marq Vincent Perez was sentenced Wednesday during a court hearing in Victoria, Texas.

In July, a jury convicted the 26-year-old Perez of federal arson, explosives and hate crime charges.

Mark Di Carlo, Perez's defense attorney, says his client is "disappointed in his lengthy sentence" and will appeal his conviction.

At his trial, prosecutors said that a "rabid hatred" of Muslims led Perez to set fire to an Islamic center in Victoria, destroying the building.

Di Carlo disputed prosecutors' claims, saying that "allegations of (Perez's) religious bias was not established beyond a reasonable doubt."

Perez, who denied involvement in the blaze, could have been sentenced to up to 40 years.
MEXICO CITY (AP) - Experts called on Mexico's government Wednesday to use floating barriers to enclose a small area of the Gulf of California where a half dozen critically endangered vaquita porpoises were spotted in September.

The sightings were an unexpected mix of good and bad news for the world's smallest porpoise, which has been driven to the brink of extinction by nets set illegally to catch totoaba, a fish whose swim bladder is considered a delicacy in China.

One of the porpoises was identified by experts as Ana, a mother that was spotted with her second new calf in two years. Vaquitas usually have only one calf every two years.

"This means the rate of recovery could be double" what was previously thought, said Lorenzo Rojas-Bracho, who has led an international team of scientists working to save the porpoise.

"If we stop killing them, they will recover," he said, noting that other endangered animals like the California condor have been coaxed into recovery from extremely low population numbers.

But a network of acoustic monitoring devices that listen for the "clicks" made by vaquitas to navigate indicate they have essentially disappeared from about 86 percent of their historic range in the Gulf of California.

In this Sept. 2018 handout photo released by El Museo de la Ballena y Ciencias del Mar, a pair of critically endangered vaquita porpoises swim in the Gulf of California. Experts called on Mexico to use floating barriers to enclose a small area of the Gulf of California where a half dozen vaquitas were sighted in September. (Oscar Ortiz/Museo de la Ballena y Ciencias del Mar via AP)

Armando Jaramillo, an expert from the National Ecology Institute who oversees the acoustic program, said 50 percent of all underwater "clicks" detected this year came from just four monitors, out of 46 that once detected them.

"Nowadays we hear very, very few vaquitas," Jaramillo said.

Alejandro Olivera, the Mexico representative for the Center for Biological Diversity, estimated only about 15 porpoises remain, which would be in line with a 30-individual estimate from last year. The species has been collapsing at a rate of almost 50 percent a year.

That might mean the six or seven vaquitas seen from the ship Narval on Sept. 26-28 were about half of all those still alive. Official estimates aren't due out until January.

Jaramillo sees a silver lining - or a last chance - in the fact that most of the remaining vaquitas have been reduced to such a small area, roughly a 12- by 25-mile (20 by 40 kilometer) rectangle.

"Now we have a zone that is relatively smaller and easier to protect," he said.

Diego Ruiz, head of the Baja California Sur-based Museo de la Ballena, has proposed erecting a barrier of buoyant tubes supporting above-water nets that wouldn't restrict the vaquitas' movements but would keep small fishing boats out of what may now be the species' last habitat.

Some experts also are suggesting stationing a navy ship permanently in the middle of the vaquita's last refuge.

"If we don't stop illegal fishing, they could become extinct in a year, or the year after," Jaramillo said.

Because the totoaba bladders are trafficked for big profits in China, efforts by the Mexican navy to prevent illegal fishing have faltered. The illegal fishermen, who are believed linked to drug cartels, use go-fast boats and have resorted to violence - shooting down drones with rifles, running their boats into navy patrols and threatening activists.

Jaramillo says the incoming government of President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who takes office Dec. 1, should also focus more effort on shore patrols to keep illegal fishing boats from setting to sea and to break up the trafficking of totoaba parts on shore.

However, Lopez Obrador has pledged to create jobs in rural areas so Mexicans don't have to migrate, and he is under pressure from fishermen who want to get back to work. The current administration expanded and enforced a widened ban on the use of gillnets that kill vaquitas by drowning them but are also used by fishermen to catch a variety of shrimp and fish beside the totoaba.

Some in the incoming administration seem ready to write off the vaquita.

Josefa Gonzalez, who will head the Environment Department under Lopez Obrador, said in an interview with the newspaper La Cronica earlier this year that a lot of money has already been spent on the endangered porpoise with no results.

"I don't think the vaquita is going extinct; it has already been driven to extinction by negligence and corruption," she said.
HACKENSACK, N.J. (AP) - In deep blue New Jersey, Sen. Bob Menendez is in a brutal political fight against his GOP rival, putting Democrats - who are pouring cash into the race- on the defensive as they seek to hold onto imperiled seats in red states.

Menendez is seeking his third term against wealthy former pharmaceutical CEO Bob Hugin, who has tapped his own wallet for $24 million to finance a TV-ad-heavy campaign in New Jersey, where Democrats have more than 900,000 additional registered voters than Republicans.

Polls show the race has closed from a double-digit lead for Menendez to single digits, and on Tuesday, the Democratic super PAC -Senate Majority PAC- said it was spending $3 million on statewide ads to help Menendez.

"I think it indicates they're taking this challenge seriously," said Montclair State University political science professor Brigid Harrison of Democrats. "If they thought they were in trouble they'd walk away. I think the spending is an indication of the seriousness of the challenge."

A top reason the race is far closer than expected centers on the 2015 corruption indictment against Menendez in which federal prosecutors charged that he accepted lavish gifts from a Florida eye doctor who is his friend in exchange for helping him with a Medicare billing issue. The trial ended in a mistrial in 2017, and prosecutors dropped the charges in 2018.

Hugin, however, has capitalized on the more salacious details in the trial, calling Menendez untrustworthy and highlighted a Senate Ethics Committee admonition letter that took him to task. The ethics panel concluded that Menendez's actions "reflected discredit upon the Senate."

FILE - In this June 5, 2018 file photo, U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., speaks to reporters after casting his vote in the New Jersey primary election at the Harrison Community Center in Harrison, N.J. Menendez held a news conference Wednesday, Oct. 17 to respond to Republican rival Bob Hugin's latest ad that refers to unproven allegations about Menendez using prostitutes in the Dominican Republic. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez, File)

Menendez defends himself by pointing to votes for women's rights and on health care. He also attacks Hugin over his time at Celgene, which settled for $280 million on Hugin's watch in 2017 over allegations it promoted cancer drugs that were not approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

The company didn't admit liability, and Hugin points to the life-saving drugs that the company makes for cancer patients.

The race has gotten uglier, with a new Hugin ad raising old unsubstantiated claims that Menendez patronized underage prostitutes as part of his friendship with the co-defendant in the 2017 trial. Menendez on Wednesday called them "lies."

"This deceitful despicable attack ad tells you everything you need to know about Republican Bob Hugin that he's a slime ball," Menendez said.

Hugin's spokeswoman responded by calling the senator a "hypocrite and a liar."

The Democratic group's expenditure comes as Democrats face at least eight other close races in their uphill fight to capture Senate control.

Democrats and the two independents allied with them are defending 26 seats Nov. 6. That includes 10 Democratic incumbents running in states that President Donald Trump won in 2016.

Republicans are defending just nine seats, mostly in friendly territory.

Asked if Democrats were worried about Menendez, Senate Majority PAC spokesman Chris Hayden said the group is "confident he will win" as soon as New Jersey voters understand who Hugin is.

"It means Democrats are worried that Bob Menendez is in trouble," countered Chris Pack, spokesman for the Senate Leadership Fund, the GOP's giant outside political committee for Senate candidates. "If I'm a red state Democrat fighting for my political life, I'd be very very upset with Bob Menendez" for syphoning money from them.

Hugin has so far loaned his campaign $24 million, making him the fourth-biggest self-funder in the New Jersey's history, according to a tally kept by the state's Election Law Enforcement Commission.

Overall, Hugin hauled in over $26 million, according to the Federal Election Commission, and has $3.5 million cash on hand. Menendez brought in just over $11 million so far, and has $5.6 million cash on hand as the campaign enters its final weeks before Election Day, Nov. 6.

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Associated Press writer Alan Fram in Washington contributed to this article.
WASHINGTON (AP) - A Senate committee is asking executives of auto makers Kia and Hyundai to testify next month about fire risk in their vehicles.

The request comes as a safety group demands the recall of 2.9 million Kia and Hyundai cars and SUVs in the U.S. because of consumer complaints that they can catch fire without being involved in an accident.

The Republican chairman and top Democrat on the Senate Commerce Committee, John Thune of South Dakota and Bill Nelson of Florida, wrote to SeungKyu Yoon, CEO of Kia Motors America, and Kyung Soo Lee, CEO of Hyundai Motors America, inviting them or their designees to a hearing Nov. 14. A committee spokesman said the date of the hearing could change.

The committee made the letters public Wednesday.

A Hyundai spokesman, Michael Stewart, said the company was reviewing the invitation. "Hyundai actively monitors and evaluates potential safety concerns, including non-collision fires, with all of its vehicles and acts swiftly to recall any vehicles with safety-related defects," he said in an emailed statement.

A Kia spokesman said that company also was reviewing the matter.

The Center for Auto Safety says that since 2010, there have been more than 220 complaints to the government about fires and another 200 complaints about melted wires and smoke. The complaints involve the 2011-2014 Kia Sorento and Optima, the 2010-2015 Kia Soul, and the Hyundai Sonata and Santa Fe.

The center's executive director, Jason Levine, said the group was pleased that the committee intended to hold a hearing "to demand answers from these CEOs."
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Trump administration has again decided not to brand China a currency manipulator. But the U.S. is targeting China and five others for special monitoring for what the administration says are practices that are worsening America's trade deficit.

In a report issued Wednesday, the administration says no country meets the criteria to be labeled a currency manipulator. But the report says that six nations - China, Germany, India, Japan, South Korea and Switzerland - will remain on a watch list subjecting them to added U.S. pressure to lower trade surpluses.

The Treasury Department report says the administration will closely monitor the recent depreciation of Beijing's currency, which it said would likely worsen America's trade deficit with China.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said China's lack of transparency and the recent weakness of its currency were of particular concern to the administration.

"These pose major challenges to achieving fairer and more balanced trade and we will continue to monitor and review China's currency practices including through ongoing discussions with the People's Bank of China," Mnuchin said in a statement accompanying the report.

During the 2016 presidential campaign, Donald Trump vowed to name China a currency manipulator as soon as he took office. But so far, the administration has passed up four opportunities to do so in a report that the administration is required by law to deliver to Congress every six months.

Instead, the administration has accused Beijing of various trade infractions and imposed billions of dollars of tariffs on Chinese goods coming into the United States. China has retaliated, sparking a trade war between the world's two biggest economies.

The United States has imposed tariffs on about $250 billion in Chinese goods, and Beijing has responded by targeting about $110 billion in U.S. products.

The Trump administration contends that China is using predatory practices to challenge American technological dominance. These include hacking into U.S. companies' computers to steal trade secrets and forcing American firms to hand over technology to China in exchange for access to the Chinese market.

America incurred a goods deficit of $375.9 billion with China last year, the largest imbalance with any nation. That represented nearly half of America's total global trade deficit in goods of $807.5 billion.

Trump has blamed the huge deficits for the loss of millions of manufacturing jobs and vowed to attack unfair trade practices and renegotiate trade deals on better terms for the United States.

While many economists believe the administration's approach will fail to lower America's huge trade deficits, some critics have faulted the administration for not being tougher by branding the country a currency manipulator.

"One of Trump's most emphatic campaign promises was to declare China a currency manipulator on Day One," said Lori Wallach, director of Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch. "But Trump's Treasury secretary has chosen to rely on criteria created by previous administrations to ensure no action is taken."

No country has been labeled a currency manipulator by the United States since the Clinton administration tagged China in 1994. Such a designation subjects a country to negotiations in an effort to lower the trade gap.

If the U.S. is not satisfied with the trade concessions offered by the targeted country, it can impose punitive tariffs, although the offending country can appeal to the Geneva-based World Trade Organization.

The new report said America's trade deficit has continued to widen this year, partly reflecting stronger growth in the United States than many other nations, but also "persistent trade and investment barriers in many economies, along with sustained undervaluation of many currencies."

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AP Economics Writer Paul Wiseman contributed to this report.
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Latest on a Treasury Department employee charged with leaking confidential reports to a journalist (all times local):

5:35 p.m.

A Treasury Department employee charged with leaking confidential banking reports of suspects in special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation has appeared in court in Virginia.

Forty-year-old Natalie Mayflower Sours Edwards was released on $100,000 bond following an appearance Wednesday afternoon in federal court.

She worked as a senior adviser at the department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.

Prosecutors say Edwards leaked several suspicious activity reports to a journalist. Prosecutors say reports on Paul Manafort, Richard Gates and Maria Butina were among those leaked.

This image provided by the Alexandria Sheriff's Department shows a mug shot of Natalie Mayflower Edwards. Natalie Mayflower Sours Edwards, a Treasury Department employee, has been accused of leaking confidential banking reports of suspects charged in special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation. (Alexandria Sheriff's Department via AP)

Edwards' attorney, Peter Greenspun, did not immediately respond to a call seeking comment.

The reporter wasn't identified in court papers, but the documents listed about a dozen stories published by BuzzFeed News over the past year and a half.

BuzzFeed spokesman Matt Mittenthal declined to comment.

The criminal complaint was filed in Manhattan.

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12:25 p.m.

A Treasury Department employee has been charged with leaking confidential banking reports of suspects charged in special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation.

Federal prosecutors say Natalie Mayflower Sours Edwards is set to appear in court Wednesday in Virginia.

The 40-year-old Edwards is a senior official at the department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. She's accused of leaking the material to a journalist - who's not named in court papers.

Prosecutors say reports on Paul Manafort, Richard Gates and Maria Butina were among those leaked. Prosecutors allege Edwards photographed the confidential documents and sent them to the reporter using an encrypted messaging app.

Authorities say that when Edwards was arrested, she was found with a flash drive containing the confidential reports.

It wasn't immediately clear whether Edwards had an attorney who could comment.
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) - A white Connecticut police officer caught on video warning a group of mostly black and Hispanic young people not to fight or run away because he was "trigger happy" has been fired.

Hartford Police Chief David Rosado announced the termination of Officer Stephen Barone on Wednesday.

"This officer's conduct does not reflect the values of our agency," Rosado said. "I did not make this decision lightly. We hold ourselves to high standards, and when we fall short, we take responsibility for it. After reviewing the findings ... it's clear to me that there's no scenario in which Mr. Barone can return to his duties as a productive member of the Hartford Police Department."

Barone and a police union official declined to comment Wednesday.

The encounter between Barone and the young people during a trespassing call in August was recorded on bystander and police video .

"If anyone wants to fight or run ... I'm a little trigger-happy guys. I'm not gonna lie, and I get paid a ton of money in overtime, if I had to shoot somebody. Don't do anything stupid," Barone said on the video.

Barone was also recorded saying he made the comments because he was outnumbered and needed to keep control.

Barone further told the group that he could lose thousands of dollars if he shot somebody, because he would be under investigation and unable to work overtime. He also said people from the wealthy suburb where he lives only go to Hartford because they're junkies.

Barone, a 10-year veteran of the force, was assigned to desk duty and demoted from sergeant to officer after an internal investigation found that he violated the department's code of conduct.

The video angered members of the black community and religious leaders, who called for Barone to be fired.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - The Latest on a former Virginia high school teacher charged in a hacking scheme that allowed him and others to obtain nude photographs of celebrities and others (all times local):

5:45 p.m.

A former Virginia high school teacher is the fifth person charged in an investigation into the 2014 "celebgate" scandal in which hackers obtained nude photographs and other private information from more than 200 people, including celebrities.

Documents filed in federal court show that Christopher Brannan, a former teacher at Lee-Davis High School, has agreed to plead guilty to charges of aggravated identity theft and unauthorized access to a protected computer.

A hearing is scheduled Monday in Richmond.

Thom Mrozek, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Los Angeles, confirmed that Brennan is charged in the "celebgate" investigation.

Mrozek would not release the names of the celebrities. But at the time, actress Jennifer Lawrence acknowledged that she was a victim of the hack.

Mrozek said prosecutors have linked Brannan to the hacking, but not to the leak of nude photographs in 2014.

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2:43 p.m.

A former Virginia high school teacher has agreed to plead guilty in a hacking scheme that allowed him to obtain nude photographs and other private information from more than 200 people, including celebrities.

Documents filed in federal court show that Christopher Brannan, a former teacher at Lee-Davis High School, was charged in April with aggravated identity theft and unauthorized access to a protected computer.

Brannan has agreed to plead guilty to both counts. Under a plea agreement, Brannan's lawyer and prosecutors will recommend a prison sentence of nearly three years. A hearing is scheduled Monday in Richmond.

Brannan's lawyer did not respond to requests for comment.

Court documents do not include the names of the celebrities. A spokesman for prosecutors said the victims' names will not be released.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - A former Virginia high school teacher is the fifth person charged in an investigation into the 2014 "celebgate" scandal in which hackers obtained nude photographs and other private information from more than 200 people, including celebrities.

Documents filed in federal court show that Christopher Brannan, 30, a former teacher at Lee-Davis High School, has agreed to plead guilty to charges of aggravated identity theft and unauthorized access to a protected computer.

The case was originally filed in Los Angeles, but was transferred to Virginia, where Brannan lives.

Thom Mrozek, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Los Angeles, confirmed Wednesday that Brannan is charged in the "celebgate" investigation.

Mrozek would not release the names of the celebrities. But at the time, actress Jennifer Lawrence acknowledged that she was a victim of the hack.

Mrozek said prosecutors have linked Brannan to the hacking, but not to the leak of nude photographs in 2014.

Lawrence contacted authorities after naked photos of her began appearing online. Actress Mary Elizabeth Winstead also confirmed that nude photos of her were posted online.

Under a plea agreement, Brannan's lawyer and prosecutors will recommend a prison sentence of nearly three years. A hearing is scheduled Monday in Richmond.

A statement of facts filed with Brannan's plea agreement says that between August 2013 and October 2014, in Los Angeles County, Virginia and elsewhere, Brannan hacked into internet and email accounts, including Apple iCloud, Yahoo! and Facebook. He was then able to obtain iCloud backups, photographs and other private information belonging to the victims.

The statement said Brannan would gain access to accounts by researching the social media accounts of victims to learn answers to their security questions to access their email accounts.

Brannan also admitted using fraudulent email addresses designed to look like Apple Inc. security accounts. The emails would ask the victims to provide their usernames and passwords to their internet accounts.

Because the emails appeared to be from Apple, the victims would provide the information. Brannan would then use it to access the victims' email accounts, where he obtained personal information, such as "sensitive and private photographs and videos."

Court documents do not include the names of the victims. A spokesman for prosecutors said the victims' names will not be released.

Brannan could not immediately be reached for comment. His lawyer, Abraham Del Rio III, did not respond to requests for comment.

Joshua Stueve, a spokesman for U.S. Attorney G. Zachary Terwilliger, said prosecutors will not release the names of the victims to protect their privacy.

Chris Whitley, a spokesman for Hanover County Public Schools, said Brannan worked at Lee-Davis High School in Mechanicsville, just outside Richmond, from August 2013 to June 2015.

Whitley told the Richmond Times-Dispatch that Brannan was immediately put on administrative leave in January 2015 after school officials were notified by the FBI of an investigation. He said school officials were not given details about the nature of the investigation.

Court documents say Brannan has also admitted hacking or trying to hack accounts of current and former teachers and students at the high school.
WASHINGTON (AP) - If it's an "America First" presidency, where does that rank human rights?

President Donald Trump's refusal to put public pressure on Saudi Arabia over the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi is raising a question that has dogged his foreign policy. In dealing with Russia, across Asia and, this week, in the Mideast, Trump has often appeared comfortable downplaying concerns about rights abuses and dismissing the importance of U.S. moral leadership. The onetime real estate mogul is as likely to let U.S. financial or security interests guide his choices and his words.

In an Associated Press interview Tuesday, Trump repeated the Saudi royals' denials of any involvement in Khashoggi's apparent killing and suggested he trusted them.

"I spoke to the crown prince, so you have that. He said he and his father knew nothing about it. And that was very important," Trump said. He compared blame directed at the Saudis over Khashoggi, who Turkish officials have said was killed in the Saudis' Istanbul consulate, to the allegations of sexual assault leveled against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh during his confirmation hearing. Both, he suggested, had been considered "guilty until proven innocent."

Not many U.S. leaders would cast Saudi Arabia as innocent. Saudi Arabia is engaged in a bloody civil war in Yemen that has killed thousands of civilians and exacerbated a famine that has killed many more. Domestically, the absolute monarchy strictly regulates speech and dress, and its security services have been accused of torture.

Trump has shown no interest in calling out the kingdom over Khashoggi - or calling out Russian President Vladimir Putin on assassinations or North Korea's Kim Jong Un on political prisoners. Where past presidents in both parties used their office to promote U.S. values and ideals - even when their action didn't align - Trump has rarely seized the chance. Instead, he says what others would not, openly embracing the compromises he justifies as best for the American bottom line.

President Donald Trump listens in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2018, during a meeting with workers. The meeting with workers was on, "Cutting the Red Tape, Unleashing Economic Freedom." (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

"We're not going to walk away from Saudi Arabia. I don't want to do that," he told Fox Business News on Wednesday.

Trump made clear that he was prioritizing the nation's economy, not morality.

"I don't like stopping massive amounts of money that is being poured into our country," Trump said last week. "I know they are talking about different kinds of sanctions, but (the Saudis) are spending $110 billion on military equipment and on things that create jobs for this country. I don't like the concept of stopping an investment of $110 billion into the United States."

White House aides have suggested that while Trump is reluctant to criticize certain world leaders publicly - most notably when he did not upbraid Putin at their Helsinki summit - he has been willing to deliver tough messages behind closed doors. They have pointed to his discipline with Kim and Egypt's Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, two authoritarian leaders who eventually released Americans held in their custody.

Still, Trump's transactional approach isn't sitting well with some of his Republican allies in Congress. His party for years championed the idea that the U.S. had a duty to promote U.S. values and human rights and even to intervene when they are challenged. Some Republicans have urged Trump not to abandon that view.

"I'm open to having Congress sit down with the president if this all turns out to be true, and it looks like it is, ... and saying, 'How can we express our condemnation without blowing up the Middle East?" said Sen. John Kennedy, R-La. "Our foreign policy has to be anchored in values."

Trump dismisses the notion that he buddies up to dictators, but he does not express a sense that U.S. leadership extends beyond the U.S. border.

In an interview with CBS' "60 Minutes" that aired Sunday, he brushed aside his own assessment that Putin was "probably" involved in assassinations and poisonings.

"But I rely on them," he said. "It's not in our country."

Relations between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia are complex. The two nations are entwined on energy, military, economic and intelligence issues. The Trump administration has aggressively courted the Saudis for support of its Middle East agenda to counter Iranian influence, fight extremism and try to forge peace between Israel and the Palestinians.

One key for the U.S. administration has been the bond between two young princes. Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman are frequently in contact, and their relationship played a role in Riyadh being the unlikely first stop on the new American president's maiden international trip in 2017. Trump, despite endorsing a travel ban on many Muslim-majority countries, became the first U.S. president to make his official first trip to an Islamic nation.

The over-the-top greeting Trump received in Riyadh - complete with sword dances, gleaming palaces and images of him on the sides of buildings and highway signs - set the template for how he would be received on future foreign trips, with hosts leaning on flattery and pageantry.

"If you look at Saudi Arabia, they're an ally, and they're a tremendous purchaser of, not only military equipment, but other things," Trump said Wednesday. "When I went there, they committed to purchase $450 billion worth of things and $110 billion worth of military. Those are the biggest orders in the history of this country, probably the history of the world. ... And you remember that day in Saudi Arabia where that commitment was made."
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - The Latest on lawsuits over a $2 billion transit terminal in San Francisco (all times local):

4 p.m.

The agency in charge of a troubled $2 billion San Francisco transit terminal is fighting back against a lawsuit filed by the general contractor that managed the project's construction.

The joint venture of Webcor Builders and Obayashi Corp. filed the lawsuit Tuesday in San Francisco. It claims design and planning mistakes sent construction soaring and led to overruns that cost the joint venture $150 million.

The Transbay Joint Powers Authority, which operates the Salesforce Transit Center, said in response Wednesday that it will hold the contractor "responsible for their contractual commitment to deliver this project."

The authority said it is reviewing the complaint.

FILE - In this Sept. 27, 2018, file photo, people stop to look at the closed Salesforce Transit Center in San Francisco. The general contractor that managed San Francisco's troubled $2.2 billion transit terminal is suing the agency in charge of the project, alleging faulty design and and mismanagement led to construction delays and costs overruns that cost the company $150 million. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg, File)

The terminal closed last month after cracks were found in steel beams.

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3:05 p.m.

The general contractor that managed construction of San Francisco's troubled $2.2 billion transit terminal is suing the agency in charge of the project alleging faulty design and mismanagement.

The joint venture of Webcor Builders and Obayashi Corp. filed the lawsuit Tuesday in San Francisco.

The lawsuit claims design and planning mistakes sent construction soaring and led to costs overruns that cost the joint venture $150 million.

The contractor said it submitted 12,000 requests for information and 1,603 change order requests to officials with the Transbay Joint Powers Authority during construction of the terminal in downtown San Francisco.

The project has been mired in litigation.

The terminal closed last month after cracks were found in steel beams.

Agency spokeswoman Christine Falvey did not immediately return a phone message Wednesday seeking comment.
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - Five Arkansas Supreme Court justices on Wednesday challenged efforts to sanction them over the court's decision to prohibit a judge who participated in an anti-death penalty demonstration from hearing any execution-related cases.

The justices filed a lawsuit with their court challenging the charges related to the decision to disqualify Pulaski County Circuit Judge Wendell Griffen from handling any death penalty cases. Justices disqualified Griffen last year, days after he was photographed on a cot outside the governor's mansion last year wearing an anti-death penalty button and surrounded by people holding signs opposing executions.

Earlier the day of the demonstration, Griffen blocked the state from using a lethal injection drug over claims the company had been misled by the state.

A three-member of the Judicial Discipline and Disability Commission has charged all seven of the court's justices over the move. The panel said the court never gave Griffen notice or an opportunity to be heard over his removal from death penalty cases. The charges are set to go before the full nine-member commission, which could recommend suspending or removing the justices if they're found to have violated judicial rules of conduct.

"The commission has no jurisdiction over decisions of a judge rendering a decision on issues of law," the lawsuit said.

David Sachar, the commission's executive director, said he had not seen the filing and the commission would respond accordingly.

An attorney for the justices said all seven members of the court would recuse from hearing the lawsuit. Gov. Asa Hutchinson will have to name special justices to hear the case.

The lawsuit was filed by Chief Justice Dan Kemp and Justices Jo Hart, Shawn Womack, Karen Baker and Rhonda Wood. Justices Courtney Goodson and Robin Wynne did not join the lawsuit.

The ethics complaint against the justices was filed by Griffen, who was charged earlier this year by the disciplinary panel over the demonstration. Griffen had sued the justices over his disqualification, claiming it violated his constitutional rights, but a federal appeals court dismissed the case. The justices' lawsuit on Wednesday cited that dismissal in seeking an end to the ethics case against them.

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Follow Andrew DeMillo on Twitter at www.twitter.com/ademillo
AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) - Maine's four gubernatorial candidates on Wednesday tried to make their case with voters with weeks to go before the Nov. 6 election.

Independent state treasurer Terry Hayes, independent entrepreneur Alan Caron, Republican businessman Shawn Moody and Democratic Attorney General Janet Mills appeared at a gubernatorial forum in Augusta held by the Maine State Chamber of Commerce. The candidates hope to succeed term-limited Republican Gov. Paul LePage.

The candidates agree that LePage steadied finances in this aging, rural and economically sluggish state. But there's also unanimity that the governor's office needs a change of tone after LePage's combative style and distrust of the press.

"This governor gets an F grade for communication," Caron said.

Outside groups have waged negative ads attacking disfavored candidates this campaign season in Maine, where national Democratic groups are spending millions hoping to flip the governor's mansion and state Senate.

But the candidates themselves have been largely civil in public forums. Still, an exchange over governmental transparency between Moody and Mills drew applause and jeers from the audience Wednesday.

Maine gubernatorial candidate Democrat Janet Mills, far left, speaks during a debate with fellow candidates Independent Alan Caron, second from left, Independent Teresea Hayes, and Republican Shawn Moody, Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2018, at the Augusta Civic Center in Augusta, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

The moderator asked candidates whether they would be more open to communicating to the press and public than LePage has been as governor. "I'll take the door off the hinges, how about that?" Moody said.

Mills then asked Moody to release his tax returns.

Moody is the only candidate to decline to share his tax returns. He defended his decision Wednesday, claiming that doing so would release confidential information about his employer-owned business, Moody's Collision Centers.

Mills said Moody should release tax filings for his real estate company, Real Estate Holdings LLC. "That would be a start," she said.

Moody then chided Mills for having sought an extension on her 2017 tax returns.

The candidates Wednesday also shared details of their policy proposals.

Mills, a long-time LePage foe, wants to fight Republican President Trump's policies alongside other state attorneys general. She reiterated Wednesday her calls for more grants and loans to spur broadband projects. Mills said she'd reverse LePage-era cutbacks to public food assistance.

Moody wants to make more progress on LePage's goals of cutting red tape, bureaucracy and state funding for school administrators. Moody, who has drawn criticism in recent weeks for warning at a gubernatorial forum that "it's important not to overreach" about climate change, pledged support Wednesday for renewable energy companies and voluntary carbon footprint reduction goals.

Hayes said solutions to Maine's pressing issues shouldn't be partisan. She questioned why Maine hasn't spent its federal funding designated for low-income children. Hayes also said a statewide teacher contract could preserve local control while allowing for collective negotiation of wages and benefits.

Caron criticized fellow challengers for pledging to spend more money on problems. He said there must be more focus on growing the economy or shrinking the size of state government.

"This is the easy part of campaigning," Caron said.

Maine gubernatorial candidate Republican Shawn Moody, far right, speaks during a debate with fellow candidates Democrat Janet Mills, far left, Independent Alan Caron, second from left, and Independent Teresea Hayes, and Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2018, at the Augusta Civic Center in Augusta, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

Maine gubernatorial candidate Republican Shawn Moody speaks during a debate, Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2018, at the Augusta Civic Center in Augusta, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

Maine gubernatorial candidate Democrat Janet Mills speaks during a debate, Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2018, at the Augusta Civic Center in Augusta, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

Maine gubernatorial candidate Republican Shawn Moody speaks during a debate, Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2018, at the Augusta Civic Center in Augusta, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) - Republican Kris Kobach promised Wednesday to push for tougher work requirements for welfare and state health coverage recipients in Kansas, building on existing policies that have populist appeal but draw criticism as punitive toward the poor.

Kobach outlined a plan to increase work requirements for able-bodied adults receiving food stamps and cash assistance. It would impose a work requirement - and drug testing - for the state's Medicaid program, which provides health coverage to the needy.

The GOP-controlled Legislature enacted work requirements and tougher rules for food stamps and cash assistance in 2015 and 2016 at former Republican Gov. Sam Brownback's urging. Like him, Kobach argues that such requirements encourage people to work and increase the number moving from government assistance to employment.

Kobach said a strong economy creates an ideal time to pursue further changes. He said with unemployment low - it was 3.3 percent in Kansas in August - employers are struggling to fill jobs.

"There's no excuse for an able-bodied adult to be collecting welfare on the back of hard-working Kansans," Kobach said during a news conference.

President Donald Trump's administration has given states the go-ahead to impose Medicaid work requirements, and Arkansas was the first, this year; a federal judge blocked a requirement in Kentucky. Wisconsin imposed a new work requirement for food stamps this year.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Kris Kobach announces proposals to impose work requirements, drug testing and immigration requirements for participation by Kansans in Medicaid during a press conference Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2018, at the Kansas GOP headquarters in Topeka, Kan. (Chris Neal/The Topeka Capital-Journal via AP)

Kobach is in a dead heat with Democratic nominee Laura Kelly, a veteran state senator from Topeka. She opposed the 2015 and 2016 laws and criticized them during a debate Tuesday.

Advocates for the poor argue that such policies merely deny benefits, and the number of Kansas cash assistance recipients is 75 percent lower than seven years ago. Kelly said the past policies "ruined families."

"None of these policies outlined by Kris Kobach will save money," Kelly said in a statement. "In fact, they will cost the state of Kansas far more."

Independent candidate Greg Orman, a Kansas City-area businessman, said programs should promote "upward mobility and accountability." But he added that Kobach's plan "would have unintended consequences that he clearly hasn't thought through."

Kansas requires able-bodied adults receiving food stamps and cash assistance to work at least 20 hours a week, look for work or enroll in job training.

The 2015 law also tells families that they can't use cash assistance to attend concerts, get tattoos, see a psychic or buy lingerie, with the list of don'ts running to several dozen items. Kobach strongly supports the rule.

His proposal would increase the work requirement for cash assistance and food stamps to 30 hours a week for able-bodied adults without children and impose a 30-hour requirement for Medicaid. He also would impose drug testing for food stamp recipients.

And, he said, he would require the state to verify electronically that recipients of food stamps, cash assistance and Medicaid coverage live in the U.S. legally.

His proposals appealed to Josephine Lemus, a 68-year-old substitute teacher's aide from Topeka and registered Republican. She told Kobach during his news conference that she and her nine brothers and sisters were "raised on welfare" by her mother and, "our self-esteem was so bad."

"She was smart, but she had no confidence," Lemus said.

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Follow John Hanna on Twitter: https://twitter.com/apjdhanna .

Republican gubernatorial candidate Kris Kobach announces proposals to impose work requirements, drug testing and immigration requirements for participation by Kansans in Medicaid during a press conference Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2018, at the Kansas GOP headquarters in Topeka, Kan. (Chris Neal/The Topeka Capital-Journal via AP)
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - The Latest on the first of two general election debates between the candidates competing for South Carolina governor (all times local):

8:15 p.m.

The men vying to be South Carolina's next governor are drawing their final contrasts as voters prepare to decide between them in next month's election.

Republican Gov. Henry McMaster and Democratic state Rep. James Smith met in Florence on Wednesday for the first of two general election debates.

Smith went on the attack early, attempting to portray McMaster as out of touch with South Carolina's needs, like expanded health care choices or infrastructural improvements.

McMaster focused on his economic achievements over nearly two years in office, saying he frequently hears from foreign companies excited to expand in the state, under his leadership.

FILE - In this Wednesday, June 20, 2018 file photo, South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster gives two thumbs up during the gubernatorial debate at Newberry Opera House in Newberry, S.C. With less than three weeks until Election Day, South Carolina voters are getting a chance to see a matchup between the two candidates vying to be their next governor. Gov. Henry McMaster and his Democratic challenger, state Rep. James Smith, meet for a debate on Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2018 at the Francis Marion University Performing Arts Center in Florence. (Andrew Whitaker/The Post And Courier via AP, File)

McMaster and Smith face voters Nov. 6. They meet next week for their final debate.

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7:15 a.m.

With less than three weeks until Election Day, South Carolina voters are getting a chance to see a matchup between the two candidates vying to be their next governor.

Gov. Henry McMaster and his Democratic challenger, state Rep. James Smith, meet for a debate on Wednesday at the Francis Marion University Performing Arts Center in Florence. A week later they will debate again at Greenville Technical College.

The debate series is sponsored by South Carolina ETV and The Post and Courier of Charleston. After a bruising set of primaries, the debates offer both candidates to draw final distinctions between themselves ahead of the Nov. 6 general election.

Their lieutenant governor running mates, Republican business owner Pamela Evette and Democratic state Rep. Mandy Powers Norrell, debate Oct. 29.
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - The son and daughter of a 77-year-old Louisiana woman found in deplorable conditions have pleaded not guilty to manslaughter.

The Advocate reports that Carl and Chira Lewis, ages 56 and 55, entered their pleas Thursday after a grand jury indicted them in the July death of Barbara Lewis-Brown.

The Baton Rouge woman was near death when she was found in her apartment suffering from severely infected bedsores and covered in her own waste, with maggots all over her body.

An autopsy later revealed she was malnourished and dehydrated before she died.

The woman's granddaughters, Chasity Lewis and Carlnessa Butler, also pleaded not guilty to manslaughter.

It's unclear if the accused have lawyers who could comment.

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Information from: The Advocate, http://theadvocate.com
Winning re-election while indicted is a rare feat in U.S. history.

But two Republican congressmen are attempting to do just that in November's midterm elections: Reps. Duncan Hunter of California and Chris Collins of New York.

After pleading not guilty in August to separate federal charges, both congressmen are entering the final weeks of the campaign doing what they can to lay low. They have largely avoided the media and refused to debate their opponents. Both declined repeated requests to comment for this story.

Instead, they have mostly appeared at Republican-friendly events, and run attack ads against their Democratic challengers that some say seek to exploit racial prejudice and xenophobia.

Indictments and even jail time have not always ended political careers. A few have won re-election while facing criminal charges and some ended up exonerated. Others were convicted and later resigned.

But the Collins and Hunter contests are emerging as a fresh test of partisanship in the Trump era. Some voters may look past such a blemish this year to ensure that their preferred party remains in power.

In this Aug. 23, 2018 photo, Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., pulls on his coat as he arrives for an arraignment hearing in San Diego. Winning re-election while indicted is a rare feat in U.S. history. But two congressmen are attempting to do just that in this midterm election: Rep. Duncan Hunter of California and Rep. Chris Collins of New York. The first Republican lawmakers to endorse President Donald Trump are now running low-profile campaigns, avoiding the media and meeting with voters at Republican friendly events. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

"If you look at the question of partisanship, it sort of makes sense to me why Republican voters would prefer a Republican under indictment to a Democrat," said Kyle Kondik, managing editor of Sabato's Crystal Ball, a nonpartisan analytical newsletter at the University of Virginia's Center for Politics. "Two decades ago, partisanship was not as strong, and (they) would have been in more trouble."

Collins, 68, initially suspended his campaign after being charged with insider trading that prosecutors say helped his son and others avert nearly $800,000 in stock losses. But he reversed course over the difficulty in removing his name from the ballot, saying the stakes "are too high" to allow a Democrat to take the congressional seat he has held for three terms.

Democrats are trying to pick up 23 seats nationwide to win control of the House.

Don Lloyd, a 70-year-old retired engineer who lives in Eden, New York, said he'll vote for Collins even though he believes he should not be running.

"But what am I really voting for? I'm voting for a Republican," Lloyd said. "And let's face it, the election isn't about Chris Collins. It's about Trump. ... I'm supporting the Republican Party."

Collins came under fire for a TV ad that showed his Democratic opponent, Nate McMurray, speaking Korean, over a backdrop of ominous music, a portrait of the North Korean dictator and captions falsely implying he was talking about sending American jobs to Asia. McMurray has studied and taught law in South Korea and is married to a woman from South Korea.

In California, Hunter and his wife face a 60-count indictment accusing them of using more than $250,000 in campaign funds for everything from a family trip to Italy to Costco shopping sprees and then trying to hide the illegal spending in government records as donations to charities, including for wounded warriors.

After his last court appearance in San Diego, Hunter was swarmed by protesters, including one wearing a bunny suit in reference to claims that he used campaign funds on airfare for a pet rabbit.

"We're still running, and we're going to win," Hunter told reporters over the chants of "lock him up!"

Polls suggest the race has tightened between the 41-year-old former combat Marine and his opponent, Ammar Campa-Najjar, a 29-year-old first-time candidate who worked in the Obama administration.

Hunter, who is seeking his sixth term, has struck back with a YouTube ad alleging Campa-Najjar, a Latino Arab-American, is working to "infiltrate Congress." It falsely asserts he is supported by the Muslim Brotherhood. It also mentions his Palestinian background. His father served in the Palestine Liberation Organization and his grandfather was a leader of the group that orchestrated the terror attack at the 1972 Munich Olympics that killed 11 Israeli athletes.

Dozens of national security experts have assailed the attacks as racist. Campa-Najjar, who was raised in San Diego by his Mexican-American mother, had little to do with his Palestinian father and his Palestinian grandfather was killed before he was born. The FBI vetted his family before giving him security clearances to work in the Obama administration.

Maria Patton, an independent, said she is still undecided about whom to vote for, but the attacks have turned her off.

"I don't support that kind of mentality," said the 60-year-old retired educator, who lives in La Mesa, east of San Diego. "I find it unfair."

Hunter has stepped up the attacks as donations have poured in for his opponent, who raised $1.4 million in the third quarter compared with $132,000 by the incumbent.

"There's a high premium on truth this election year," Campa-Najjar told The Associated Press.

McMurray, town supervisor of Grand Island, also saw donations triple in the third quarter, when he raised $520,000 compared with $33,000 for Collins.

"Both Democrats and Republicans are starting to support me and there's a reason: Because people want something better," McMurray said.

Like Collins and Hunter, Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey refused to resign after being indicted in 2015 on corruption charges. The case was dismissed after a hung jury. He is now in a tight race with his Republican opponent.

In 2014, Republican Rep. Michael Grimm of New York was re-elected while under indictment, but later resigned after pleading guilty to tax evasion. After serving more than seven months in prison, he ran again in the June primary but lost.

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Watson reported from San Diego. Thompson reported from Buffalo, New York.
MADISON, Wis. (AP) - A fourth former Cabinet secretary in Gov. Scott Walker's administration is slamming the Republican incumbent, releasing a letter Thursday signed by two others calling for the election of Democrat Tony Evers.

Paul Jadin is a former mayor of Green Bay and was the first secretary of Walker's economic development agency. He co-signed an open letter with former Corrections Secretary Ed Wall and former Financial Institutions Secretary Peter Bildsten sharply criticizing Walker and calling for Evers' election.

"Governor Walker has consistently eschewed sound management practices in favor of schemes or coverup and has routinely put his future ahead of the state," Jadin, Wall and Bildsten wrote. "The result is micromanagement, manipulation and mischief. We have all been witness to more than our share of this."

Walker's campaign issued a statement praising the work of the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. since Jadin left in November 2012, without addressing criticisms of the governor laid out in the letter.

Walker and Evers are locked in a tight battle for governor with the election just 19 days away. They were to meet Friday night for the first of a pair of debates.

Jadin, Wall and Bildsten say in the letter they will not vote for Walker because of how he handled education, transportation and safety issues.

This Oct. 9, 2018, photo shows Paul Jadin at his office at MadREP in Madison, Wis. Paul Jadin is a former mayor of Green Bay and was the first secretary of Scott Walker's economic development agency. He co-signed an open letter with former Corrections Secretary Ed Wall and former Financial Institutions Secretary Peter Bildsten sharply criticizing Walker and calling for Evers' election. (Steve Apps/Wisconsin State Journal via AP)

Wall and Bildsten both have spoken out against Walker before and have recorded videos for Evers' campaign. Former Transportation Department Secretary Mark Gottlieb has also been critical of Walker but did not sign the letter and has not publicly endorsed Evers.

Evers' campaign spokeswoman Britt Cudaback said the criticism from Walker's former secretaries speaks for itself.

Jaden, Wall and Bildsten say they began their service in Walker's administration believing in his agenda, but became disillusioned over time. They say during his run for president in 2015, Walker put Wisconsin interests behind being in Iowa and New Hampshire, the first two states to vote in the presidential race.

The Wisconsin State Journal was the first to report on the letter and Jadin's criticism of the governor. Jadin told the State Journal that he quit his $208,000-a-year job at the Madison Regional Economic Partnership on Wednesday so he could speak freely.

Walker and the Republican-controlled Legislature created the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp., a public-private hybrid agency, in 2011. It was plagued with problems under Jadin's leadership, including the loss of several top staff, not following policies and mishandling of loans. It has since been instrumental in negotiating several economic development projects, most notably the Foxconn Technology Group campus that could result in a $10 billion investment.

Bildsten left Walker's Cabinet in February 2015. Wall was corrections secretary from 2012 until 2016 when he returned to work for the Department of Justice before being fired after encouraging Walker's chief of staff to shred a letter in violation of the state's open records law.

Gottlieb was a Republican leader in the state Assembly before joining Walker's administration in 2011. He left in 2015 and recently said Walker was "not truthful" and "increasingly inaccurate" in comments about transportation funding.

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HELSINKI (AP) - Swedish media say Lisbeth Palme, the widow of the slain former Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme and a key witness to his unsolved murder over 32 years ago, has died.

Swedish news agency TT cited her relatives Thursday to report that she had died after a brief illness on an undisclosed date. She was 87.

Her family couldn't be immediately reached for comment.

Lisbeth Palme was married to Olof Palme, a key figure in Swedish postwar politics, from 1956 until 1986.

He was gunned down Feb. 28, 1986 after the couple left a cinema theatre in Stockholm.

She was injured in the attack and later identified the shooter as criminal Christer Pettersson, who was convicted of Palme's murder.

The sentence was later overturned, leaving the murder an unsolved mystery.
NEW YORK (AP) - Another Manhattan building has stripped the big, brassy Trump name from its entrance.

Workers removed the letters spelling "Trump Place" Thursday from the 46-story condominium on the Upper West Side.

Nearly 70 percent of the owners in the 377-unit tower at 200 Riverside Blvd. voted earlier this month for the change, saying they were worried about resale value and security because of its connection to President Donald Trump's name.

A judge ruled in May the Trump Organization was wrong in claiming residents were obliged by contract to keep the name.

It is the latest example that Trump's brand could be losing its luster: Three other neighborhood buildings have previously removed his name, as have hotels in Toronto, Manhattan's SoHo neighborhood and Panama City.

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Men remove the Trump Palace sign from building in Manhattan, New York, Thursday, Oct. 18, 2018. Another Manhattan building has stripped the big, brassy Trump name from its entrance. Workers removed the letters spelling "Trump Palace" on Thursday from the 46-story condominium on Manhattan's Upper West Side. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Information from: The New York Times, http://www.nytimes.com
NEW YORK (AP) - The nation's financial watchdog has opened a formal investigation into writings and comments by Eric Blankenstein, a Republican appointee overseeing the agency's anti-discrimination efforts, which he alleged that most hate crimes were fake and argued that using racial epithets did not mean a person was racist.

Mick Mulvaney, the acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, asked the Federal Reserve's Inspector General Office this week to investigate the writings.

The CFPB does not have its own inspector general's office, and uses the Fed's inspectors when necessary.

Blankenstein is one of a handful of political appointees that joined the CFPB after Mulvaney took over the bureau roughly a year ago.

Blankenstein's official title is policy associate director of the Office of Supervision, Enforcement and Fair Lending, and is in charge of all bureau investigations into possible discrimination by banks and other financial companies. He is also one of the highest paid federal government employees, making more than $250,000 a year.

The controversy over Blankenstein's previous comments started in late September, when The Washington Post published a story on his writings on a blog more than a decade ago. In one post, from 2004, Blankenstein said using a particular racist word to describe a black person did not mean a person was racist, just foolish, he said, using an obscenity to describe a foolish person. In the same post, Blankenstein stated that hate crime hoaxes happen three times more often than actual hate crimes. The posts were written under an online alias, where Blankenstein used his initials.

FILE- In this Aug. 27, 2018, file photo a sign stands at the construction site for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's new headquarters in Washington. The nation's financial watchdog has opened a formal investigation into writings and comments by Eric Blankenstein, a Republican appointee overseeing the agency's anti-discrimination efforts, which he alleged that most hate crimes were fake and argued that using racial epithets did not mean a person was racist. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)

Blankenstein initially dismissed The Washington Post's story, saying little could be gleaned from his writings, when he was 25 years old. However, Blankenstein quickly retreated from that position as outrage grew among CFPB career staff, including from his immediate subordinate.

The president of the union that represents CFPB employees sent a letter last week to Mulvaney and Congress expressing deep concerns about Blankenstein continuing in his current role.

The National Treasury Employees Union "believes that every federal employee should have a workplace where they are confident they are treated fairly and without discrimination," Union President Tony Reardon said. "In speaking with our members at CFPB it is clear to me that those under Eric Blankenstein's leadership do not have this confidence."

Blankenstein has now apologized for his previous statements, saying in an email to CFPB employees, "the tone and framing of my statements reflected poor judgment."

Left-leaning and consumer groups, who have by and large been outraged over Mulvaney's business-friendly changes to the bureau, have pressed hard for Mulvaney to fire Blankenstein.

Mulvaney, for the most part, has backed Blankenstein. At a town hall in Louisiana on Thursday, Mulvaney said Blankenstein's writings were an "internal management and employee issue for us."

"We are handling this internally," Mulvaney said. When asked further by a reporter if he had confidence in Blankenstein, Mulvaney said "Oh, sure."

The latest volley came from Allied Progress, a consumer group that has been sharply critical of Mulvaney's policies, which sent a letter to the Federal Reserve's inspector general's office this week asking him to also investigate an Amazon "wish list" of Blankenstein's. The wish list includes a book called "A Troublesome Inheritance: Genes, Race and Human History," a 2014 book that argues the rise of Western power in the world was possibly due to genetic superiority.

"Consumers have a right to know if Blankenstein, who was hand-picked by Mulvaney to oversee fair lending enforcement at the CFPB, was pining for a book as racially charged and controversial as the blog posts he once wrote," said Karl Frisch, director of Allied Progress, in his letter.

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AP Reporter Melinda Deslatte contributed to this report from Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

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Ken Sweet covers banks and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau for The Associated Press. Follow him on Twitter at @kensweet.
ROANOKE, Va. (AP) - A Virginia store has had 20 right-foot shoes stolen over the course of three break-ins this year.

The Roanoke Times reports Roanoke County police arrested 21-year-old Manuel Carlos Ramirez-Godoy in Sunday's burglary of Clean Soles, seizing seven right-foot Nike Air Jordans and a sweatshirt printed with "Call My Lawyer."

Clean Soles operator Rob Wickham previously said he typically keeps right shoes on display, while their other halves rest behind the counter.

A warrant says police had found a cash register behind the store, along with a backpack containing merchandise worth $5,000 and Ramirez-Godoy's student ID.

Court records show Ramirez-Godoy is charged with grand larceny, destruction of property and other counts.

Despite the sweatshirt's instructions, it's unclear whether Ramirez-Godoy has a lawyer.

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Information from: The Roanoke Times, http://www.roanoke.com
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) - A North Carolina woman has made a unique offer in hopes of finding the person who shot and killed her son on Labor Day.

WBTV in Charlotte reports Lajuana Hill said she and her family will pay to relocate anyone who provides information in the death of Juordan Malik Hill, and will even pay their first month's rent, "whatever you need to get you out of that environment."

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Detective Luke Peden said the suspect fired five shots from more than 30 yards (27 meters) away. Peden said two of those shots hit Juordan Hill, who was visiting with friends in an apartment complex parking lot.

Hill's parents said they believe their son was targeted, but don't know why.

Along with the family's offer, a $6,500 reward is being offered.

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Information from: WBTV-TV, http://www.wbtv.com/
LAUREL, Miss. (AP) - Sheriff's deputies responding to a burglary at a family's home in Mississippi say they found a man hiding in a bathroom shower and that he had ingested some of the residents' prescription medications.

News outlets report Jones County deputies discovered 24-year-old Joel Welch hiding inside the shower in an upstairs bathroom Thursday morning. The sheriff's department says in a Facebook post that deputies were sent to the Calhoun area home after the owners' security system notified them of a man inside.

Deputies say Welch broke into a vehicle on the property and used the garage door opener to gain access to the home.

Welch was jailed on burglary charges. It is unclear if he has a lawyer who could comment.
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) - A former worker at a national laboratory who was fired for shipping weapons-grade plutonium by air instead of ground alleges in a lawsuit that he was made a scapegoat for problems at the New Mexico facility.

The Santa Fe New Mexican reports that the legal action by Juan Montoya cited "root cause systemic failures in processes, procedures, supervision, resources (and) training" at Los Alamos National Security LLC.

Lab spokesman Matt Nerzig denies Montoya was singled out over the incident.

"Los Alamos National Security held accountable those involved from the individual contributor level up the management chain through actions that included terminations, suspensions and compensation consequences," Nerzig said in an email.

The incident followed a series of safety problems at the lab, including a fire in the plutonium facility that was linked to an unlabeled container and the shipment of mislabeled hazardous waste to a facility near Denver.

Montoya worked at the lab for 15 years before he was fired last summer from Los Alamos National Laboratory. Federal regulations require the shipping of plutonium by ground.

Montoya is asking for unspecified compensatory and punitive damages, among other things. Efforts by the newspaper to reach him for comment Wednesday were unsuccessful.

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Information from: The Santa Fe New Mexican, http://www.santafenewmexican.com
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Actor Bruce Dern has been released from the hospital after a fall during his daily jog in Los Angeles.

A representative for the 82-year-old Dern says he was released Friday evening following his fall earlier in the day. The Oscar-nominated actor's representative says he is in good spirits.

No further details were released.

Dern starred in the 2013 film "Nebraska" as the character Woodrow T. "Woody" Grant, earning him an Academy Award nomination for best actor. He also played in films "Coming Home," ''The Hateful Eight," ''Black Sunday" and "White Boy Rick."

His representative says Dern just finished filming Quentin Tarantino's upcoming movie "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood." The actor is currently filming Showtime's upcoming comedy series "Black Monday."
LONDON (AP) - Hundreds of thousands of protesters opposed to Britain's impending exit from the European Union marched through central London on Saturday, demanding a new referendum and to have a say on the government's final Brexit deal with the EU.

Organizers say another public vote is needed because new facts have come out about the costs and complexity of Britain's exit from the bloc since voters chose to leave in 2016.

They estimated that some 700,000 people took part Saturday in the "People's Vote March," which saw 150 buses of marchers pour into the British capital from all across the country. Police did not provide an attendance estimate.

"What's clear is that the only options on the table now from the prime minister are a bad Brexit deal, or no deal whatsoever," London Mayor Sadiq Khan, who joined the march, told the BBC. "That's a million miles away from what was promised 2 1/2 years ago."

Khan said Saturday's protest was a "march for the future" for young Britons, including those who were too young to vote in Britain's 2016 Brexit referendum, when those who favored leaving the EU won narrowly by 52 percent.

The mayor, from the opposition Labour Party, has previously backed mounting calls for a fresh referendum so the public can have a say on whether they accept Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit deal or choose to stay in the EU.

An anti-Brexit campaigners take part in the People's Vote March for the Future in London, a march and rally in support of a second EU referendum, in London, Saturday Oct. 20, 2018. Thousands of protesters gathered in central London on Saturday to call for a second referendum on Britain's exit from the European Union. (Yui Mok/PA via AP)

May, the leader of Britain's Conservatives, has ruled out another public vote on the subject.

That didn't stop the crowds on Saturday from demanding one. Among them was "Lord of the Rings" actor Andy Serkis, who marched with his son and wife. Serkis said he believes there should be a second referendum "now that people are more informed."

Britain is scheduled to leave the EU on March 29, but negotiations over the divorce have been plagued by disagreements, particularly over the future border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. It will be the U.K.'s only land border with the EU after Brexit, for Ireland is part of the EU and Northern Ireland is part of the U.K.

One of the great accomplishments of the 1998 peace deal that ended decades of violence in Northern Ireland was to dismantle the police and military presence at the border with Ireland. Many on both sides do not want a "hard" border again.

There are also growing fears of a "no-deal" British exit, which could create chaos at the borders and in the EU and the British economies.

May, speaking at an inconclusive EU summit in Brussels this week, said she would consider extending a proposed 21-month post-Brexit transition period for the U.K - one that could keep Britain aligned to EU rules for more than two years after its March departure.

The EU has said extending that period would give more time to strike a trade deal that ensures the Irish border remains friction-free. Pro-Brexit politicians in Britain, however, saw it as an attempt to bind the country to the bloc indefinitely.

"This week's fresh chaos and confusion over Brexit negotiations has exposed how even the best deal now available will be a bad one for Britain," said Andrew Adonis, a Labour member of the House of Lords. "Voters will neither forgive nor forget if (lawmakers) allow this miserable Brexit to proceed without people being given the final say."

An anti-Brexit campaigner dressed as Theresa May waves European Union flags during the People's Vote March for the Future in London, a march and rally in support of a second EU referendum, in London, Saturday Oct. 20, 2018. Thousands of protesters gathered in central London on Saturday to call for a second referendum on Britain's exit from the European Union. (Yui Mok/PA via AP)

Anti-Brexit campaigners near to parliament during the People's Vote March in London, calling for a second EU referendum, in London, Saturday Oct. 20, 2018. Some thousands of protesters gathered in central London on Saturday to call for a second referendum on Britain's Brexit exit from the European Union. (Yui Mok/PA via AP)

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, front centre, holds a klaxon horn, as he joins protesters in the People's Vote March for the Future, in London, Saturday Oct. 20, 2018. Some thousands of protesters are marching through central London, Saturday, to demand a new referendum on Britain's Brexit departure from the European Union. (Yui Mok/PA via AP)

Anti-Brexit campaigners take part in the People's Vote March for the Future in London, a march and rally in support of a second EU referendum, in London, Saturday Oct. 20, 2018. Thousands of protesters gathered in central London on Saturday to call for a second referendum on Britain's exit from the European Union. (Yui Mok/PA via AP)

British Members of Parliament Chuka Umunna , left and Vince Cable, right, listen as fellow politician Anna Soubry addresses Anti-Brexit campaigners at a rally after the People's Vote March for the Future in London, a march and rally in support of a second EU referendum, in London, Saturday Oct. 20, 2018. Thousands of protesters gathered in central London on Saturday to call for a second referendum on Britain's exit from the European Union. (Yui Mok/PA via AP)

British Members of Parliament Vince Cable, left, and Anna Soubry address Anti-Brexit campaigners at a rally after the People's Vote March for the Future in London, a march and rally in support of a second EU referendum, in London, Saturday Oct. 20, 2018. Thousands of protesters gathered in central London on Saturday to call for a second referendum on Britain's exit from the European Union. (Yui Mok/PA via AP)

An anti-Brexit campaigner with his face painted in the colours of the European Union flag, during the People's Vote March, in London, Saturday Oct. 20, 2018. Some thousands of protesters are marching through central London, Saturday, to demand a new referendum on Britain's Brexit departure from the European Union. (Yui Mok/PA via AP)
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) - The family of a Sri Lankan man living in Australia says terrorism charges against him have been dropped.

Kamer Nizamdeen, a 25-year-old working at the University of New South Wales, had been under investigation for terrorism since he was arrested by Australian authorities in August. Police said they found in his notebook plans to carry out terrorist acts in Sydney.

Nizamdeen's family, which maintains that the handwriting in the notebook isn't his, said the charges were dropped on Friday.

Nizamdeen was kept in solitary confinement for weeks before he was released on bail late last month.

His family, friends and activists held protests in Colombo, Sri Lanka's capital, urging Australian authorities to speed up the investigation, claiming Nizamdeen could have been framed.

Nizamdeen's attorney Moustafa Kheir said his client would seek legal costs and other compensation from Australian police.

FILE - In this Sept. 18, 2018 file photo, family members and activists hold placards and photographs of Kamer Nizamdeen, demanding a speedy and fair investigation for justice, in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The family of the Sri Lankan man living in Australia says terrorism charges against him have been dropped. The 25-year-old working at the University of New South Wales has been under investigation for terrorism since he was arrested by Australian authorities in August. He was released on Sept. 28. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena, File)

"What the authorities have done to this young man is absolutely unforgivable," he told reporters outside the court. "It's a terrible experience, the young man has done everything right in life."
ISTANBUL (AP) - Friends say Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was a proud Arab who wanted to set up a base in his ancestral homeland of Turkey, contributing to the growing community of exiled Arabs who have taken refuge there.

For Khashoggi, a history lover, the growing Arab community and Turkey's power in the region echoed aspects of the Ottoman empire, when Istanbul was at the center of a rich and multicultural Middle East. With millions of Arab exiles who fled their homes because of wars or oppression, Turkey has become a fertile ground for talent and ideas, a place where Khashoggi could have pursued his own projects, including a pro-democracy group, a media watch group, a forum to translate economic studies and launching online magazines.

Khashoggi was planning to marry his Turkish fiancee on Oct. 3, a day after he walked into the Saudi consulate in Istanbul to get his divorce from a previous marriage confirmed. He had bought a home in Istanbul and friends said he planned to split his time between there and Virginia, where he had owned a condo since 2008.

He never emerged from the consulate. Saudi authorities said Saturday that he died in a brawl involving visiting officials, an account that has drawn widespread skepticism. Turkish pro-government media say a Saudi hit squad traveled to Turkey to kill the columnist for The Washington Post which has called for an investigation led by a U.N.-appointed panel to determine what happened.

Khashoggi's killing sent a chilling message to the many exiled Arabs who have taken refuge in Turkey. Several anti-government Arab TV stations broadcast from Turkey and Istanbul's Arab Media Association has about 800 members. Turkey has also welcomed thousands of members of Egypt's now-outlawed Muslim Brotherhood group, after its then-President member was ousted from power by the military in 2013. Many Syrian groups opposed to President Bashar Assad have also unsurprisingly converged in neighboring Turkey, where nearly 3 million Syrians have fled to escape the war back home.

Eiad Alhaji, a Syrian filmmaker who was working with Khashoggi on a video about an Ottoman military figure central to Arab-Turkish relations, described their time together after work and interviews.

In this image made from an Oct. 18, 2018, video provided by Metafora Production, Eiad Alhaji, left, edits video in his studio as Jamal Khashoggi on a monitor speaks during an interview held in March 2018 at an undisclosed location. Eighteen days after Khashoggi disappeared, Saudi Arabia acknowledged early Saturday, Oct. 20, 2018, that the 59-year-old writer has died in what it said was a "fistfight" inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. (Metafora Production via AP)

"We used to go together to sit and talk, two strangers outside our country and society, about what is happening with the Arabs in Turkey and in America. Me as a Syrian, and him as a Saudi Arabian," said Alhaji.

"He was pained to be living in exile but at the same time, he was glad to be free in his opinion and new life."

Another companion, Fatih Oke, of Istanbul's Arab Media Association, said Khashoggi was an important adviser to the group and "we had plans to establish some projects."

In his last interviews, Khashoggi declared his support for Turkey's policy toward Syria, while criticizing his own government's stance.

Saudi Arabia has grown closer to the U.S. policy in Syria, openly supporting Kurdish-led forces in eastern Syria that Turkey sees as a threat. Khashoggi had criticized his country's rift with Turkey, arguing that an alliance between the two regional powerhouses should come more naturally than a U.S.-Saudi partnership.

Khashoggi, once a Saudi royal family insider, grew critical of the kingdom's rulers following their crackdown on opposition, their war on neighboring Yemen and the severing of ties with the small Gulf state of Qatar.

Khashoggi found a "welcoming place" in Istanbul, said Azzam Tamimi, a British-Palestinian.

"In Istanbul you don't feel like a stranger, the people, the food, the habits," Tamimi said. "Also, Turkey's current political authority has been the closest to Arabs since the fall of the Ottoman Empire a hundred years ago. Erdogan and his party opened up to the Arabs."

Turkey has itself faced criticism for jailing more journalists during a crackdown after an attempted coup in 2016.

Khashoggi's ancestors lived in what is today central Turkey. The family's name means spoon maker and its Turkish spelling is "Kasikci."

Alhaji, the filmmaker, said Khashoggi was an "encyclopedia" of the region's history.

Alhaji worked with Khashoggi on a documentary on the life of Fakhreddine Pasha, the last Ottoman governor and military commander in al-Medina who defended the city in modern day Saudi Arabia against an Arab revolt during World War I.

The siege signaled the fall of the Ottoman Empire and the birth of new Arab states. Khashoggi's family was displaced during the fighting - some fled to Izmir, in modern Turkey, including his father, while others went to Damascus.

The legacy of Fakhreddine, who fought against the birth of new nation states to preserve Ottoman influence, is a deeply divisive issue between Gulf leaders and Turkey.

Last year, Gulf rulers, critical of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, compared the two, accusing Fakhreddine of robbing them of their heritage by taking manuscripts out of al-Madina to Istanbul as he left. Ankara, which sided with Qatar, responded by naming the street in Ankara of the Emirati embassy after Fakhreddine.

"This period is a turning point for the future of all Arab countries and Middle East," said Alhajji on what he believed Khashoggi hoped to convey with their project. "We (should) not be focused on Fakhreddine as a biography but we should deal with the history of this period."
Cake designer Sophie Cabot has said she is honoured to be making the royal wedding cake  which will feature enormous quantities of eggs, butter and flour.

Ms Cabot began baking in earnest in Buckingham Palaces kitchens on Wednesday for Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbanks big day on Friday.

The five-tier red velvet and chocolate cake will contain up to 400 eggs, at least 53 packs of unsalted butter, 15 kilograms of organic self raising flour, and 20 kilos of sugar.

Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank (Jonathan Brady/PA)

Ms Cabot, 33, said she felt very honoured they have selected me, and said about her first meeting with Eugenie and Jack in the summer, when she brought cake samples: The couple were very relaxed, very comfortable. I got the feeling the cake was something they were very excited about.

It was a fun meeting as well because I dont think its every day you have a meeting about cake and you get to try cake.

The baker, whose business is based in Fulham in west London, said about being chosen by the Queens granddaughter and her fiance: Of course I was nervous, but at the same time really, really excited.

The cake will consist of three tiers of red velvet and two of chocolate sponge cake covered with butter cream, white icing and decorated with sugar work with an autumnal theme.

Other ingredients include vanilla essence, vanilla bean paste and red food colouring to give the cake its distinctive hue.

The Couple have asked London-based cake designer Sophie Cabot to make their wedding cake. Miss Cabot, who was discovered by The Couple through @TheDukeOfYork @pitchatpalace, will design a red velvet and chocolate cake, inspired by the rich colours of autumn! #RoyalWedding pic.twitter.com/tADL8KJ0cS  The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) October 6, 2018

Ms Cabot said about the couple: They were very excited about having red velvet, during the tastings red velvet and chocolate came out top.

Its a lovely thing to have at this time of year as well  its a nice rich cake.

Not one cake is ever the same and this was extra because of the time of year and they wanted to keep it so seasonal  it was a real joy.

Ms Cabot was initially invited by the office of Eugenies father, the Duke of York, to meet the couple and discuss their wedding cake in early July  after supplying decorated bespoke biscuits to one of Andrews Pitch@Palace events.

After a number of meetings with the couple to finalise the design, the professional baker began working on the cake in July, creating detailed sugar flowers and foliage, from ivy and acorns to white flowers and maple leaves, which will decorate the five tiers of the cake.

Sophie Cabot at work in the kitchen (Chris Jackson/PA)

With such a big cake, you need to start well in advance  especially with all the sugar work, so it was important to get going quite quickly, she said.

Ms Cabot added: There are a lot of eggs involved and a lot of butter obviously just for the sheer amount of people who hope to have a piece of cake.

She went on to say: Its a lot of ingredients, its a huge scale, its a bit different for me. Im used to baking on a much smaller scale  its a challenge.
The Scotsman and Yorkshire Post owner Johnston Press has put itself up for sale after months of speculation around the companys future.

The group- which has a stable of titles including the i newspaper  said it is seeking offers for a takeover.

The decision comes as a result of a strategic review, which Johnston launched in 2017 to assess options for refinancing 220 million of bonds due for repayment next year.

The company said it is not currently in discussions with any potential buyers.

Speculation that the publisher would be sold has been growing since it announced the strategic review in March 2017.

In August 2018, the companys share price spiked, surging by as much as 70% in afternoon trading amid rumours that a mystery buyer was quietly snapping up more stock.

Johnston Press acquired the i newspaper in 2016 (Anthony Devlin/PA)

Bidders for the business could include activist shareholder Custos Group, which already owns more than 20% of Johnston Press.

Custos Group, which is headed by Norwegian entrepreneur Christen Ager-Hanssen, reportedly said in August that it would be a prospective bidder for the business if it went into administration.

At its most recent trading update, Johnston reported a hit to revenues, mostly due to changes in Google and Facebook algorithms.

Total revenue fell 10% to 93 million for the first half of 2018, despite a boost from the i newspaper.

In the same period, the company swung out of the red with interim pre-tax profits of 6.2 million against losses of 10.2 million a year earlier, although the turnaround was largely thanks to a one-off 8.8 million accounting gain.
A motorcyclist has been killed in a crash in Co Armagh.

The man, in his 20s, died following a collision with a white Ford Focus car in Portadown.

The incident was reported just before 10.30pm on Wednesday.

A motorcyclist in his twenties has died following a collision on Dobbin Road, Portadown last night. Officers from Collision Investigation Unit are appealing for witnesses and dashcam footage. Please call 101.  Police Service NI (@PoliceServiceNI) October 11, 2018

The Police Service of Northern Ireland has appealed for witnesses.

Officers from the Collision Investigation Unit would especially like to hear from anyone who was travelling on the Dobbin Road around the time of the crash and who may have captured dashcam footage.

Please call 101, quoting reference number 1430 10/10/18.
Chelsea want to send racist supporters on trips to Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz instead of imposing banning orders.

The Blues Jewish owner Roman Abramovich is at the forefront of the initiative, designed to combat anti-Semitism at the Stamford Bridge club.

Chelsea want to offer supporters caught in racism storms the chance to attend education courses at the World War Two concentration camp in Poland instead of being banned from attending matches at the Premier League club.

Chairman Bruce Buck wants Chelsea to send racist supporters on trips to Auschwitz (Mike Egerton/PA)

If you just ban people, you will never change their behaviour, Chelsea chairman Bruce Buck told The Sun.

This policy gives them the chance to realise what they have done, to make them want to behave better.

In the past, we would take them from the crowd and ban them, for up to three years.

Now we say You did something wrong. You have the option. We can ban you or you can spend some time with our diversity officers, understanding what you did wrong.

Chelsea want to offer supporters caught in racism storms the chance to attend education courses in Poland ( Nick Potts/PA)

Chelsea publicly criticised a number of their own fans for anti-Semitic chanting against rivals Tottenham in September 2017.

Buck added: It is hard to act when a group of 50 or 100 people are chanting. Thats virtually impossible to deal with or try to drag them out of the stadium.

But if we have individuals that we can identify, we can act.
Town hall chiefs are demanding increased powers on tax from the Scottish Government as they set out their intention of getting the old, powerful local government back.

Alison Evison, the president of the local government body Cosla, said there needed to be a more sophisticated debate about sustainable funding for local government  and insisted that must include local government having the right financial levers.

She made the call in her opening speech to the organisations annual conference, in which she made plain that local government should be seen as an equal partner to central government.

She told the conference, taking place on Thursday and Friday in St Andrews, that Scotlands 32 councils were a vital, equal component part in the democratic decision-making process.

Ms Evison said: We are uniquely placed to take the voice of the communities in which we live and work and to boost its volume, to raise the issues which matter.

To help councils with this she stressed that issues of taxation have to be looked at, not avoided.

Cosla leaders have insisted they are equal partners to national government (Edinburgh City Council/PA)

Ms Evison said her demands on the Scottish Government were similar to those made by Finance Secretary Derek Mackay on the UK Treasury.

Her message to him was: Local government is a legitimate sphere of government in Scotland, not a sub-committee.

Councils across Scotland employ more than 240,000 people  providing nearly 10% of jobs in the country  and together spend almost 19 billion a year on providing local services.

Following on from that, Ms Evison insisted local authorities needed appropriate core funding for essential services, including enough cash to pay staff a fair wage.

Councils also need their funding put on a longer-term basis, she said, going on to call for real flexibility around local taxation and taxation options.

Ms Evison said: We need a more sophisticated debate about sustainable funding for local government and that must include local government having the right financial levers to respond to communities.

While some councils are calling for the powers to introduce a so-called tourist tax, which visitors would pay as part of hotel stays, Holyrood ministers have so far been reluctant to grant them the authority to do this.

But Ms Evison said: Scottish Government cannot get upset or annoyed when we look at raising more of our own finance through things like discretionary local taxation and particularly the transient visitor tax.

She made the case for councils to have more powers over tax as she told the conference that authorities needed to be able to adapt to changing times.

The world is changing and I think we need our agenda to be more about getting the old, powerful local government back, she stated.

A strong powerful local government with a strong agenda could lead to real change for the better right across Scotland.

She insisted Cosla was not just a lobbying organisation, but was a legitimate sphere of government in Scotland.

And while she stressed councils would work in partnership with ministers at Holyrood, she insisted the relationship between them must be one of equals.

As part of this she said councils wanted to see the re-establishment of regular meeting between Cosla and the Scottish Cabinet.

Ms Evison stated: I am not prepared to put other organisations or sectors before local government. Alongside us as partners, yes. As our superiors, no.

We are elected representatives in the governance of the country. You will hear me say this time and time again. This is simply to emphasise how important this is.
Turkeys president has increased his pressure on Saudi Arabia over the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Recep Tayyip Erdogans comments appear aimed at slowly intensifying the criticism while balancing the need to maintain the kingdoms investments in Turkey and relations on other issues.

Meanwhile US President Donald Trump expressed reservations over withholding American arm sales to Saudi Arabia because of the issue.

His comments coming as prominent American lawmakers increasingly criticised the Saudis, a longtime US security ally in the region.

Turkish officials fear Mr Khashoggi was killed by the Saudis after walking into the kingdoms consulate in Istanbul on October 2, though they have not offered any evidence to support that.

The kingdom calls the allegation baseless, but has not offered any evidence to explain why Mr Khashoggi simply walked out of the consulate and disappeared though his fiancee waited outside for him.

Mr Erdogan was quoted by Turkish media on Thursday as telling journalists  flying with him back home from a visit to Hungary  that we cannot remain silent to such an incident.

Recep Tayyip Erdogans comments appear aimed at slowly intensifying the criticism (Presidential Press Service/AP)

Mr Erdogan asked: How is it possible for a consulate, an embassy not to have security camera systems?

Is it possible for the Saudi Arabian consulate where the incident occurred not to have camera systems?

If a bird flew, if a mosquito appeared, these systems would catch them and (I believe) they (the Saudis) would have the most advanced of systems.

Meanwhile, Mr Trump told reporters in the Oval Office he has a call in to Khashoggis fiancee, Hatice Cengiz, who has appealed to the president and first lady Melania Trump for help.

Mr Trump said he had spoken with the Saudis about what he called a bad situation, but he did not disclose details of his conversations.

He also said the US was working very closely with Turkey, and I think well get to the bottom of it.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said national security adviser John Bolton and presidential senior adviser Jared Kushner spoke on Tuesday to Crown Prince Mohammed about Mr Khashoggi.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo then had a follow-up call with the crown prince to reiterate the US request for information and a thorough, transparent investigation.

In an interview later on Wednesday with Fox News, Mr Trump said he wanted to find out what happened to Mr Khashoggi but appeared reluctant to consider blocking arms sales, citing economic reasons.

I think that would be hurting us, he said.

Mr Trump said he wanted to find out what happened to Mr Khashoggi (Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP)

We have jobs, we have a lot of things happening in this country. We have a country thats doing probably better economically than its ever done before.

Part of that is what were doing with our defence systems and everybodys wanting them.

And frankly, I think that that would be a very, very tough pill to swallow for our country. I mean, youre affecting us and, you know, theyre always quick to jump that way.

On his first international trip as president, Mr Trump visited Saudi Arabia and announced 110 billion dollars in proposed arms sales.

The administration also relies on Saudi support for its Middle East agenda to counter Iranian influence, fight extremism and support an expected peace plan between Israel and the Palestinians.

Mr Khashoggi had gone to the consulate in Istanbul on October 2 to get paperwork he needed for his upcoming marriage while his Turkish fiancee waited outside.

The Washington Post reported Wednesday evening that US intelligence intercepts outlined a Saudi plan to detain Mr Khashoggi.

The Post, citing anonymous US officials familiar with the intelligence, said Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered an operation to lure Mr Khashoggi from his home in Virginia, where he lived most recently, to Saudi Arabia and then detain him.
Fish wars could reignite following Brexit, fishermen have said as they lobby for a good deal after the UK leaves the EU.

Skirmishes saw rocks and smoke bombs launched by more than 30 French vessels towards five British boats off the coast of Normandy in August.

The confrontation over access to scallops in the Baie de Seine remains unresolved  and fishermen holding a lobbying event at Parliament said they expected the fights to continue.

Barrie Deas, chief executive of the National Federation of Fishermens Organisations (NFFO), said he did not expect the French fishermens attitude to change.

He said: Normandy has always demonstrated that kind of militant behaviour, so you couldnt discount that.

On the other hand, there are other countries, including the Netherlands, Sweden, Ireland, who we are talking to all the time.

South Western Fish Producers Organisation chief executive Jim Portus, who was involved in the Normandy negotiations, said the disagreement was about market protection and that would not change.

Mr Portus said he had seen plenty of flare-ups over fishing quotas during his 30 years in the industry and expected altercations and friction over fishing rights to continue after Brexit.

What Im confident about post-Brexit is we will still have these issues going on, he said.

Mackerel wars, cod wars  we have had them in the past and Im quite content we will have them in the future.

All the issues are not going to be resolved by Brexit, but neither are we going to descend into anarchy post-Brexit.

Mr Portus said the solution was to resolve issues fisherman to fisherman instead of involving governments or the European Commission.

He said he was currently helping to set up a group bringing scallop fishermen round the table, in the same way that shellfish interests had been brought together in the Mid Channel Potting Conference for the last 40 years.

Some british boats were damaged in the skirmishes off the coast of Normandy in August (PA)

Mr Portus said: Its far better to have these talking shops and try to come to some accord, because scallops are such a valuable commodity.

Conservative MP David Duguid (Banff and Buchan) said the fight was extremely serious and caused partly by potentially criminal actions but partly by EU law.

National regulations allow British ships to fish legally in the area all year round, but French fishermen are banned from taking the molluscs between May 15 and October 1 to conserve stocks.

Mr Duguid said: One side of the argument were out there on the high seas attacking other fishing crews who had a legitimate right to be there.

This is whats difficult about the CFP  the Scottish rules only apply to Scotland, which means the French or the Danish can do what they want.

It would make a lot more sense if each independent coastal state had its own rules and everyone fishing in their waters had to apply those rules  it would avoid the conflict between different rules.
Two astronauts from the US and Russia are making an emergency landing after a booster rocket carrying them to the International Space Station failed after launch.

Nasa astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmoss Alexei Ovchinin lifted off as scheduled at 2.40pm local time from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on a Soyuz booster rocket.

They were to dock at the orbiting outpost six hours later but the booster suffered a failure minutes after the launch.

US astronaut Nick Hague, top, and Russian cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin were due to head to the International Space Station (Yuri Kochetkov/AP)

Russian and US space officials said that the crew is heading for an emergency landing in Kazakhstan. Search and rescue crews are getting ready to reach the expected landing site.
Two astronauts from the US and Russia have made an emergency landing after a booster rocket carrying them to the International Space Station failed after launch.

Nasa astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmoss Alexei Ovchinin were said to be in good condition after landing in Kazakhstan.

The pair lifted off as scheduled at 2.40pm local time from the Baikonur cosmodrome on a Soyuz booster rocket.

US astronaut Nick Hague, top, and Russian cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin were due to head to the International Space Station (Yuri Kochetkov/AP)

They were to dock at the orbiting outpost six hours later but the booster suffered a failure minutes after the launch.

Search and rescue crews were sent to the site of the emergency landing.
A British student has been held in solitary confinement in the UAE after he was detained without explanation five months ago following a research trip, it has been claimed.

Matthew Hedges, a PhD student at Durham University, was reportedly taken into custody at Dubai airport on May 5 after travelling to the UAE to interview sources about the countrys foreign policy and security strategy.

The 31-year-old has been held without charge ever since and his rights are being violated on a daily basis, his wife Daniela Tejada said.

Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt is understood to have personally raised Mr Hedgess case with his UAE counterpart amid concerns over his mental health and wellbeing.

Matthew Hedges with his wife Daniela Tejada (family handout)

British officials have visited Mr Hedges twice, although he is said to have been prevented from discussing his case with them.

Mr Hedgess case was heard by a court in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday, but was adjourned until another hearing on October 24.

Ms Tejada said all she wants is for Matt to come home safely.

We cannot believe this has happened. We have been patient and done everything that has been advised, supposedly in Matts best interest, but we can no longer go on like this.

Matt is a brilliant researcher, a man of integrity, and he has been punished in the most unjust and unfair way. His rights are violated on a daily basis and I am shocked that more has not been done to get him out, she said in a statement.

Matt is a British citizen; he visited the UAE exclusively for academic research purposes and has been detained without charge for over five months in an undisclosed location. This is appalling and more must be done to ensure he is safely brought home.

According to a profile on the Durham University website, Mr Hedgess research includes Middle Eastern politics, the changing nature of war, civil-military relations and tribalism.

Ms Tejada said the UK should review its educational ties with the UAE in light of Mr Hedgess detention, warning academic researchers like him face great risks in the UAE.

She said: All I want is for Matt to come home safely. The longer this goes on, the longer the recovery from this traumatic experience will take.

I am extremely worried about Matts mental health and general wellbeing. I am shocked and confused by the whole situation and will do everything I can to make sure he comes home soon.

A Foreign Office spokesman said: Our staff are supporting a British man following his detention in the UAE. We are assisting his family and remain in close contact with authorities.

The Foreign Secretary has also personally raised his case with his Emirati counterpart.
The Duke of Cambridge has said he is not willing to look his children in the eye and tell them his was the generation that let wildlife such as elephants and tigers go extinct on our watch.

William has told political leaders, businesses and conservation groups at an international conference that the illegal wildlife trade was run by criminal networks who threatened the livelihoods of generations to come, as well as the species that were targeted.

Making the keynote speech to the conference in London, the duke said: I feel it is my duty and our collective responsibility to leave our planet in a stronger position for our children.

 closing down markets

 tackling corruption

 protecting iconic species from extinction



Today we're bringing together global leaders for a landmark conference to tackle the illegal wildlife trade#EndWildlifeCrime pic.twitter.com/QB8NauI7lP  Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (@FCDOGovUK) October 11, 2018

And he said: Its heartbreaking to think that by the time my children, George, Charlotte and Louis are in their 20s, elephants, rhinos and tigers might well be extinct in the wild.

I for one am not willing to look my children in the eye and say we were the generation that let this happen on our watch.

William told the conference that some of rhinos he saw on a recent trip to Africa are so threatened they have more bodyguards than I do.

The Duke of Cambridge gave the keynote speech (PA)

William also told the conference that the illegal wildlife trade which threatens species is an economic crime.

The Duke of Cambridge says that some rhinos he saw on a recent trip to Africa are so threatened "they have more bodyguards than I do" #EndWildlifeCrime pic.twitter.com/nLWfr6fDAn  Emily Beament (@EmilyBeament) October 11, 2018

Wanting to protect nature is not just an emotional issue, it makes economic sense, he told delegates.

And he said: Caring about the environment  our air, water, land and animals  is motivated by something that is simple and universal.

A desire to protect this planet for those who will come after us.

I firmly believe that the natural world is our biggest and most important asset, and the key to our future prosperity.

After making his speech, the Duke and Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt met representatives of organisations engaged in the fight against wildlife crime, including United for Wildlife, a charity which he convened and which is run by the Royal Foundation.
Electronic radio tags have been used for the first time on the UK mainland to help find and destroy a nest of Asian hornets.

University of Exeter scientists joined the hunt after Asian hornets, which prey on honeybees and other pollinators, were spotted feeding on fallen apples south of Brockenhurst in Hampshire last month.

Dr Peter Kennedy, from the University of Exeter, said previous research has shown that tags could be attached to Asian hornets in order to follow them to their nests.

The National Bee Unit and the Animal and Plant Health Agency were already at the site and had narrowed down the search area to a small wood of mature trees, approximately 500 metres from the original sighting, Dr Kennedy said.

The hornet was big enough to be tagged with a transmitter (University of Exeter/PA)

I was asked to join the team to help pinpoint the nest location with radio telemetry.

The first hornet we caught was large  well capable of carrying one of our radio tags  and flew straight into the woodland and disappeared from view.

We were able to use our radio telemetry to follow the hornet and reduced the likely nest location to one of three trees, within a couple of hours.

One of the team of inspectors and local volunteers then quickly spotted the nest in one of these trees.

The nest was only visible from one or two narrow angles due to the height of the nest and the leaf canopy obscuring the view.

The tagged hornet was photographed as it approached its nest (University of Exeter/PA)

Asian hornets have been discovered at several locations in England recently, including Cornwall and Yorkshire.

They are smaller than native European hornets, have a largely dark or black body and yellow-tipped legs, a distinctive orange-yellow stripe near the end of their abdomen, and often a thin orange-yellow line just behind the waist.

Their face is orange, and the back of the head is black, unlike the European hornet in which both the face, back of the head and a lot of the abdomen are yellow.

To humans they are considered no more dangerous than the common wasp but are a real danger to honeybee hives.
Labour under Jeremy Corbyn has moved further to the left than it has ever been before, Tony Blair claimed.

The former prime minister hit out at the perennial virus in left-wing politics that viewed attempts to modernise as a betrayal of values as he defended his own leadership of Labour.

And he warned that it would be really difficult for Britain if Brexit was followed by the unreconstructed programme of a government led by Mr Corbyn.

Jeremy Corbyn addressing Labours annual conference, which Tony Blair said confirmed the party had shifted further to the left (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

Mr Blair, who insisted he was not involved in any movement to establish a new centrist party, acknowledged there was a gap in the middle-ground of British politics, caused by Labours shift under Mr Corbyn and the Conservatives becoming a Brexit party.

At an event in London, Mr Blair gave his assessment of developments at Labours party conference in September.

They tell you that the Labour Party has moved further to the left and the leadership of the Labour Party have consolidated their grip on the Labour Party.

That is further to the left than the Labour Party has ever been.

Some people may say thats a good thing, but it is a fact.

Highlighting Laura Smiths call for a general strike to bring down the Government and Dawn Butlers praise for the Militant-dominated Liverpool council of the 1980s, Mr Blair said: What you always tell about political parties is, what are the applause lines.

Its a very good test  where is your activists soul, if you like.

Mr Blair, an outspoken opponent of Brexit, said that if the UK did leave the European Union it would have to take measures to make itself attractive to business in order to protect its economy  something he suggested would not happen under Mr Corbyn.

The thing that would be really difficult for Britain is if you do Brexit and then you follow it with the unreconstructed programme of a Corbyn government, he warned.

Defending his own record, which saw Labour win three general elections, Mr Blair said the argument after he left was that when the Labour Party modernises, it betrays.

This is the perennial virus that gets into Left politics, where they think when you modernise your way of looking at the world you somehow betray your principles.

That is a classic error and I am afraid it is the error we made.

Mr Blair said the political centre ground was pretty disenfranchised and pretty squeezed in democracies across the West.

With the shift in UK politics, Mr Blair said if the large, empty space in the centre continued someone is going to come along and fill it.
When Princess Eugenies parents married, Britain was in the grip of Fergie Fever.

A worldwide television of 500 million tuned in to watch Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson say their marriage vows in a lavish ceremony in Westminster Abbey.

The Duke of York and his bride the Duchess of York wave to crowds as they leave Westminster Abbey (PA)

Thousands of people lined the streets of London to catch a glimpse of the royal familys newest lovebirds.

Many staked out their places the day before, making the most of the summer sunshine.

A topless Duchess of York, wearing just bikini bottoms, was pictured cavorting with John Bryan  her financial adviser  who was seen kissing the sole of her foot as she reclined on a sun lounger.

Sarah was also staying at Balmoral at the time and the royals came across the pictures as they sat down to read the daily newspapers at the breakfast table.

It paved the way for her exit from life with the Windsors.

I was a non-person in the Family; any future I might have had there was now irrevocably ended, she wrote in her autobiography.

The couple eventually divorced in May 1996.

But they have remained close friends and strong supporters of one another amid repeated rumours they might one day even remarry.

Sarah, Duchess of York and her ex-husband the Duke of York at Ascot in 2015 (Dominic Lipinski/PA)

The duchess has moved back in to Royal Lodge in Windsor Great Park, where Andrew also resides, and has described herself and the duke as being the happiest divorced couple in the world.
Punters are making a last-minute gamble on Suzannah or Stella McCartney being the designer behind Princess Eugenies wedding gown.

Erdem remains the favourite at the bookmakers at 2/1, but Ladbrokes said there has been a flurry of bets for British design brand Suzannah, with odds cut from 9/2 to 3/1.

Meanwhile, Paddy Power has suspended betting on Eugenie wearing Stella McCartney after a flood of bets.

Suzannah was founded by Suzannah Crabb and is known for creating wedding dresses with vintage charm and a modern edge.

McCartney designed the halter neck gown Meghan wore to her evening wedding party.

A Paddy Power spokesman said: Weve seen a lot of action on Stella McCartney to be the designer of Princess Eugenies wedding dress this morning, forcing us to stop taking bets.

The level of wagers could indicate insider knowledge, and the brand seems a good fit for the day with their positive environmental standpoint.

The Duchess of Sussex leaving Windsor Castle in her Stella McCartney dress (PA)

Jenny Packham is at 5/1 with Ladbrokes, Preen is 6/1 and Suzanne Neville is 8/1.

Jessica Bridge of Ladbrokes said: We know Princess Eugenies flying the flag for British designers, and punters are beginning to wonder if an upset could be on the cards for the likes of Suzannah or Preen, leaving Erdem to miss out on the big day.

Eugenie has already revealed she has chosen a British-based designer, and that she was set on the style she wanted from the start of her wedding planning.

(The dress) is the one thing that I was really decisive about, the princess told British Vogue magazine.

As soon as we announced the wedding, I knew the designer, and the look, straight away. I never thought Id be the one who knew exactly what I like, but Ive been pretty on top of it.

Eugenie in Erdem with Jack Brooksbank as they announced their engagement (PA)

Erdem is often Eugenies go-to choice and she wore the brand, founded by Canadian-born London-based designer Erdem Moralioglu, on the day her engagement was announced.

Ralph & Russo, who made the gown for the Duchess of Sussexs official engagement photo, are 14/1 to have been chosen by Eugenie.

Eugenie has told how her wedding will be an environmentally friendly, anti-plastic affair.
Key questions about the Governments Universal Credit scheme, as ex-work and pensions secretary Iain Duncan Smith warned the welfare reform needs an additional 2 billion to operate as planned.

He spoke after former prime minister Sir John Major called for a rethink of the national rollout.

 What is Universal Credit?

UC replaces six existing benefits  Income Support, Income-based Jobseekers Allowance, Income-related Employment and Support Allowance, Housing Benefit, Working Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit  with a single payment.

 When is it being introduced?

UC is being rolled out gradually across the country, starting in pilot areas in 2013. So far, only new benefit claimants have been put onto the system.

But from July 2019, around 2 million people already receiving the old benefits will be moved onto UC, in a managed migration which is not due for completion until 2023.

 Who will be affected?

Among those being moved to UC will be about 1 million working families and 745,000 people unable to work because of long-term illness or disability.

(PA Graphics)

 Will anyone lose out?

The Government has provided a pot of money for transitional protection, which ministers say will ensure that no existing claimants suffer a cut to payments in cash terms unless their circumstances have changed.

 Will there be a wait for payments?

UC is paid in arrears, and the first payment is not made until at least five weeks after a claim is lodged. Claimants can apply for advance payments to avoid hardship while they wait.

 Why is UC being introduced?

Ministers say that the new system is simpler and easier to understand than the old benefits. They believe it creates incentives for claimants to take on temporary work or increase hours.

Work and Pensions Secretary Esther McVey says that when UC is fully rolled out, it will deliver 8 billion of benefits to the UK economy per year.
Westminster terrorist Khalid Masood tried to clear his debts as part of his Muslim faith before launching his murderous attack, an inquest has heard.

Masood, 52, killed four people and seriously injured 29 more after ploughing through pedestrians on Westminster Bridge in a rented 44 before knifing Pc Keith Palmer to death.

His 82-second rampage was brought to an end when he was shot three times by a Cabinet ministers bodyguard outside the Palace of Westminster on March 22 last year.

On Thursday, an inquest into his death heard of Masoods violent criminal past, including two spells in prison, where he converted to Islam.

The jury at the Old Bailey was shown a compilation of CCTV footage which captured his movements in the days leading up to the attack.

The clips included a trip on March 9 to a branch of Tesco near his Birmingham home, where he bought two kitchen knives.

One was used to stab Pc Palmer to death, along with a hunting-style knife, while the other was left in the Hyundai Tucson he crashed into the railings outside the Palace of Westminster.

Detective Chief Inspector Dan Brown described Masoods financial woes before the attack.

He wasnt a man of particularly good means.

However, he appeared to have tried to organise his finances prior to this attack, which we later discovered was part of the Muslim faith to leave no debts, but he was not a man who had particular assets, he said.

The officer said Masood had been struggling to make payments for credit cards and utility bills and had been refused a loan, but it was part of his religion to settle his debts.

As part of his Muslim faith he didnt want to leave anything for his dependants, he added.

Jurors were also told of Masoods last words to his family members as he planned his attack.

He told his mother, Janet Ajao, theyll say Im a terrorist. Im not at the end of a visit to Wales on March 17, while he told his eldest daughter he was planning to go to Morocco, the inquest heard.

Masood sent a Jihad document, which ended with a request to pray for me to 39 apparently random contacts on his mobile phone, including his wife, Rohey Hydara, moments before mowing down pedestrians on Westminster Bridge.

He struck American tourist Kurt Cochran, 54, retired window cleaner Leslie Rhodes, 75, mother-of-two Aysha Frade, 44, and Romanian designer Andreea Cristea, 31, before crashing his car and stabbing Pc Palmer, 48, to death.

Mr Brown said counter-terror police found no evidence to suggest anyone else was involved in the attack or knew about it beforehand.

The chief coroner, Judge Mark Lucraft QC, said he would sum up the evidence to jurors on Friday morning and give written legal directions before they retired to consider their conclusions.
Ryanair has launched 15 new routes despite the worst-summer ever and threats to air service in the case of a no-deal Brexit.

Ryanair launched its Ireland Summer 2019 schedule in Dublin on Thursday with their chief marketing officer Kenny Jacobs warning that no agreement between the UK and EU about the UKs exit from the European Union would make flights to the UK impossible.

Echoing Ryanair chief executive Michael OLearys statement last month, Mr Jacobs said that the risk of a no-deal Brexit grounding flights across Europe is being underestimated.

Brexit we should all be worried about and talking about.

Tourism Ireland chief executive Niall Gibbons, Ryanairs chief marketing officer Kenny Jacobs and Dublin Airport MD Vincent Harrison (Niall Carson/PA)

There is no real progress until the transition agreement is signed and that gives us 20 more months of the status quo, but in the meantime there is a risk that in April next year it will not be possible to fly between the UK and Ireland, he said.

Ryanair have blamed staff shortages and union disputes for 2018s performance as the worst year on record for flight disruptions and cancellations.

Services in Ireland, Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, Italy and Belgium were just some of the areas that saw strikes over the summer in a conflict between the airlines management and staff.

Its not because the skies are too busy, its because of a shortage of staff, particularly at the weekend, Mr Jacobs said.

Summer of 2019 could also be bad, so we will continue to make noise about this because we dont want mistakes to be repeated.

Today we're launching our biggest ever summer schedule in Ireland - with 15 new routes including exciting connections such as Dublin to Gothenburg and Thessaloniki, Cork-Malta and Shannon-Ibiza 



Read the full details here https://t.co/BYO2kk8oVr pic.twitter.com/2oGrLcpbLi  Ryanair (@Ryanair) October 11, 2018

Weve made good progress on union agreements, and were targeting to have more done by Christmas.

Mr Jacobs also warned that weaker airlines are set to go bust, due to additional costs such as air fuel now at $85-6 (64) a barrel, a 50% increase in the price of aviation fuel since this time last year.

Mr Jacobs said: Oil makes up about half the cost base of any airline.

Primerva, a Scandinavian airline have already gone bust. I think its probably fair to say, industrial relations at Ryanair was the news story, in the coming months it will be about fuel and consolidation and which airlines go bust.

Airlines will go out of the market and capacity will be cut, which were already seeing in the industry.

Despite the turbulent industry forecast, Ryanair were keen to stress they are confident in their new summer schedule and passenger growth.

15 new routes were launched, including connections to Gothenburg and Thessaloniki, which will deliver 16.4m customers through Dublin, Cork, Kerry, Knock and Shannon airports, which will grow the companys Irish traffic by 3%.

This passenger growth, if you take that 16.4m in Ryanair in Ireland alone, that would be the worlds 23rd biggest airline, so if Ryanair Ireland was its own separate airline, it would be bigger than Swiss, Thai, its now the same size as Qantas, Mr Jacobs added.

This gives you an idea about the importance of Ireland and the size of Ryanairs Irish operation.

The group now offers 150 routes in total in Ireland, with over 1,000 weekly flights and 12,500 on-site jobs.
Many tourists visiting Windsor ahead of Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbanks wedding had not realised it was taking place  but one family flew in from the US specifically to get a good view.

Debbie Barnes, 46, and her mother Pat Shaw, 72, who travelled from Boston, said they had always been huge fans of the royal family and did not want to miss the big day.

Mrs Barnes said they had wanted to come for Harry and Meghans wedding but thought it would be too crowded to see anything.

Mrs Shaw said: Ever since I was a little girl I always dreamed of being a princess or a queen and living in a wonderful castle  I still do and Im 72.

I just love the royal family. I think theyre great  I think the Queen is remarkable the way she evolved and changed and adapted.

(PA Graphics)

Her daughter added: I did a semester abroad in London when I was in college and I lived in Kensington  across the street from Princess Diana.

I used to wait by her driveway just to see her go past.

She said she had been to Viscount Linleys wedding in 1993 and that the whole family had flown over for the Queens 90th birthday celebrations.

Also present was Mrs Barnes daughter, Emma Barnes, 17, and father Joe Shaw, 75.

One group of French tourists said they did not know the wedding was on, and had never heard of Princess Eugenie.

An Italian couple said they only found out about the wedding yesterday, but were not planning to come back to see it.
Tory Brexiteers are bullying Theresa May and behaving intolerably, Sir John Major has said.

The former prime minister famously branded rebellious Eurosceptics during his premiership bastards, but said those making life difficult for Mrs May were even worse.

It comes as former prime minister Tony Blair also made a fresh Brexit intervention, with a plea to Labour MPs to hold firm against withdrawal.

Mrs May is meeting a small group of senior ministers to update them on progress in the negotiations and Downing Street said there were big issues still to resolve in talks with the EU.

Former PM Sir John Major says the ERG is a party within a party that is bullying the PM. Some in Cabinet are behaving worse than those he dubbed bastards in the 90s he tells my #PoliticalThinking podcast (out later). Hear an extract on @BBCr4today at 8.30 am 2/2  Nick Robinson (@bbcnickrobinson) October 11, 2018

In Brussels, European Commission officials said there had been no breakthrough yet.

The Democratic Unionist Party, which props up the minority government, has piled on the pressure by warning it could vote against the Budget if the PM breaks their red lines.

Sir John Major criticised Conservative MPs who threaten to launch a no-confidence bid in the PM if she refuses to bow to their demands (Dominic Lipinski/PA)

But Mrs May is also battling intense internal Tory divisions as she prepares for next weeks crunch summit in Brussels.

Sir John Major criticised Conservative MPs who threaten to launch a no-confidence bid in the PM if she refuses to bow to their demands.

He told the BBCs Political Thinking podcast: I have great sympathy for her plight and I think the way she is being treated by some of her colleagues is absolutely outrageous.

Another busy day in Brussels. Starting off with @guyverhofstadt as we make the case for NI. We will not accept anything which separates NI from the rest of the UK. pic.twitter.com/GA4GuC3QyS  Arlene Foster #WeWillMeetAgain (@ArleneFosterUK) October 10, 2018

Sir John attacked the bullying of the PM by some in the party.

Asked about the bastards from his era, he replied: Their behaviour was pretty intolerable, but not nearly as intolerable as the way the present Prime Minister is being treated.

Mrs May appealed on Wednesday for MPs to come together in the national interest on Brexit.

#TeamJunckerEU today: state of play of #Article50 negotiations for the withdrawal of United Kingdom; information on ongoing preparedness and contingency work (#Brexit). Progress report on #SecurityUnion. Presentation of the annual report of the Independent European Fiscal Board. pic.twitter.com/MHcvxbfOUi  Margaritis Schinas (@MargSchinas) October 10, 2018

But Mr Blair suggested Labour should vote down whatever deal she brings back to Parliament in the hope of forcing a second referendum.

He said the Prime Minister was caught in a dilemma between a soft Brexit which would not match the hopes of Leave voters or a more decisive break from Brussels which could hit the economy.

I would advise them to hold firm against Brexit because either of these choices are unpalatable, he said at an event in London.

The DUP has said it will not accept a deal that treats Northern Ireland differently from the rest of the UK.

In a move seen by some as a warning shot, its MPs failed to back the Government in voting against a Labour amendment to an Agriculture Bill outlining post-Brexit reforms on Wednesday night.

Despite their abstention, it was still defeated by 59 votes.

This is an important moment. Clearly No10 are negotiating a backstop that makes the UK a permanent EU colony. We cannot escape EU laws & ECJ until they allow us to  which they may never do. Thats not what the biggest majority in our history voted for #NoColonyStatus 1/4  Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) October 10, 2018

The partys Brexit spokesman Sammy Wilson later explicitly warned the Government against doing a deal that kept Northern Ireland in the single market, telling the Telegraph it could not support any deal which includes such economically and constitutionally damaging arrangements.

He added: If the Government decides in the face of EU belligerence to cut and run and leave part of the UK languishing in the stifling embrace of the EU, then that would be totally unacceptable to us and many others in the House of Commons.

It would have implications not just for Brexit legislation  50% of which would not have passed without DUP support  but also for the Budget, welfare reform and other domestic legislation.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said the DUPs warning was a very real threat to the Government and criticised the PM for failing to make progress on the Irish backstop.

Quite simply, there has to be open trade between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland and that has to be the basis of any agreement, he added.
The father of a hero honoured for his actions at the London Bridge terror attack has said he is sorry that his son cannot collect the medal himself.

Ignacio Echeverria, who was killed as he tried to help a woman being attacked, was among those to receive honours at Buckingham Palace on Thursday.

He was posthumously awarded The George Medal for confronting armed terrorists in order to protect others at London Bridge.

Ignacio Echeverria tried to stop the knife-wielding terrorists with only his skateboard (Met Police/PA)

Mr Echeverria, a 39-year-old banker, was among eight people killed and nearly 50 injured as terrorists mowed people down with a car and went on a stabbing rampage before they were shot dead by police on June 3 2017.

He became known in the media as a skateboard hero as he tried to fight off the attackers using his skateboard.

Joaquin Echeverria Alonso, who received the honour on behalf of his son, said the Queen asked him about his bravery on the night of the attack  particularly that he had tried to use his skateboard to fight off the terrorists.

The couple spoke to the Queen through a translator (Yui Mok/PA)

Through a translator Mr Alonso, who had flown to London from Madrid, said the day was a special moment but very emotional for him and his wife Maria Miralles De Imperial Hornedo.

He said: To recognise the courage of my son, he will be remembered. He was a generous man and he helped when it was necessary.
Aer Lingus chief executive Stephen Kavanagh is to step down in January after four years at the helm of the Irish airline.

The carriers owner, International Airlines Group (IAG), said he will be succeeded by Sean Doyle, who is currently director of network, fleet and alliances at fellow IAG-owned group British Airways.

Mr Kavanagh will remain on the airlines board as a non-executive director after handing over the reins on January 1.

Willie Walsh, IAG chief executive and Aer Lingus chairman, said: Stephen has been an exceptional chief executive and has transformed and modernised Aer Lingus.

After a 30-year career, he has decided to step down. We wish him all the very best for the future and heartfelt thanks for all his outstanding achievements.

Mr Kavanagh said: After a 30-year career in Aer Lingus, with the last four years as chief executive, Ive taken the decision to step down to pursue other interests.

Aer Lingus chief executive Stephen Kavanagh will step down in January after four years at the helm of the Irish carrier (Niall Carson/PA)

Incoming boss Mr Doyle, who is originally from Cork, has worked at British Airways since 2003.

His previous roles at the group have spanned financial, strategy, commercial and alliance, before he joined the executive management committee in 2016.

Mr Walsh said Mr Doyle was ideally suited to lead Aer Lingus.

Dublin-based Aer Lingus saw operating profits surge 51% to 104 million euros (91 million) in the first half of 2018.

Aer Lingus was bought by IAG in 2015 for 1.3 billion euros (1.1 billion), which saw low-cost rival Ryanair sell its near 30% stake to the BA owner.

Ryanair had tried and failed three times to buy Aer Lingus.
First lady Melania Trump said she thinks she is the most bullied person in the world based on what people are saying about her.

Mrs Trump also said there are people in the White House that she and President Donald Trump cannot trust but added that some of them dont work there any more.

The Trump administration has dealt with numerous staff departures and an anonymous senior officials newspaper op-ed critical of the president.

First lady Melania Trump recently returned from a trip to Africa (Carolyn Kaster/AP)

Mrs Trump was interviewed during her recent Africa trip by TV network ABC, which aired portions on Good Morning America.

She promoted her Be Best initiative, which tackles online bullying. The president frequently attacks people on Twitter.
The wife of a British academic being held in solitary confinement in the United Arab Emirates has said her husband was not spying and was only there for research purposes.

Matthew Hedges, a PhD student at Durham University, was reportedly taken into custody at Dubai airport on May 5 after travelling to the UAE to interview sources about the countrys foreign policy and security strategy.

The 31-year-old, who lives in Exeter, has been held without charge ever since, and his wife, Daniela Tejada, is calling on UAE officials to admit that theyve made a mistake and release him.

Ms Tejada, 27, said she has not been told what exactly her husband is accused of, but said she would not rule out the prospect of him being accused of spying.

She said reports that he has been accused of spying are highly speculative, adding: But weve been kept in the dark so its impossible to know.

However, the only thing that I do know is that he most certainly wasnt. Not just because he knows the region very well, and he knows that its not a safe thing to do, but because hes a man of integrity.

And he would never do anything to compromise that. And the only reason he went to the UAE was for his academic research.

Speaking to the Press Association, Ms Tejada, from Bogota in Colombia, said: I feel like, above all things, I want everyone to know that Matt was just doing research, and that he should not have faced any of what hes facing for just having a sense of inquiry, and academic curiosity.

She added: Hes just a good person, and a good student, and he has an untouchable record wherever you look at it.

I feel like the fair and just thing for the UAE to do would be to admit that theyve made a mistake and to release him, because he deserve it.

Matthew Hedges with his wife, Daniela Tejada (Family Handout/PA)

Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt is understood to have personally raised Mr Hedgess case with his UAE counterpart amid concerns over his mental health and well-being.

British officials have visited Mr Hedges twice, although he is said to have been prevented from discussing his case with them.

Mr Hedges case was heard by a court in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday, but was adjourned until another hearing on October 24.

Ms Tejada said she is worried about her husband being heavily medicated with anti-depressants, anti-anxiety pills and sleeping pills.

She said he has been vomiting every day for the past three months or so, and was initially only allowed a shower once a fortnight.

Ms Tejada said he was given a mattress about a month ago, but had been sleeping on the floor until then.

The conditions in which hes being kept are appalling, she said.

The fact that after such a prolonged time of being mistreated, every little gesture becomes so meaningful to him that I wouldnt be surprised if hes developing some sort of Stockholm syndrome, and is thus more easy to manipulate, she said.

She has only seen her husband once since he was detained, and described the 45-minute visit as distressing.

Ms Tejada said he described the interrogation period as very intense, adding that he kept asking her if anyone had approached her, making her think he had been threatened with his family.

The couple have been allowed weekly phone calls, monitored and lasting a maximum of five minutes, but have been forbidden from discussing the case.

Radha Stirling, chief executive of Detained In Dubai and a legal expert on the UAE, said: It is alarming that the UAE would accuse him of spying simply for pursuing research.

We are not aware of the specific subject matter of his research in the UAE, but in the past he has studied the Muslim Brotherhoods activities, influence and agenda in the country, and around the region; and it is possible that the UAE authorities disliked what he has written in the past, and suspect him on purely political and ideological grounds.

Ms Stirling said it has been reported in Gulf news that Mr Hedges has been accused of spying, adding: While the official charges have not been confirmed in court, it is almost a certainty that they related to charges of espionage or defaming the government of the UAE.

According to a profile on the Durham University website, Mr Hedges research includes Middle Eastern politics, the changing nature of war, civil-military relations and tribalism.

Durham Universitys Vice-Chancellor, Professor Stuart Corbridge, said: We are seriously concerned about Matts welfare and well-being and we remain in close contact with his family.

Ms Tejada said Mr Hedges is being held in an undisclosed location in Abu Dhabi.
A tribunal investigating allegations that top police officers in Ireland orchestrated a smear campaign has found senior gardai officers had a plan to spread historic claims of sexual abuse about another officer.

The Disclosures Tribunal found former Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan was part of a campaign of calumny against whistleblower Maurice McCabe and he was actively aided by his former press officer Superintendent David Taylor.

The tribunal said it was convinced Superintendent Taylor pursued a scheme that somehow evolved out of his cheek-by-jowl working relationship with Mr Callinan.

The report found Sgt McCabe was a genuine person who at all times has had the interests of the people of Ireland uppermost in his mind.

It found he regarded those interest as superior to any loyalty which he had to the police force of the State.

Neither interest should ever be in conflict, it said.

The Disclosures Tribunal investigated allegations that Garda chiefs orchestrated a smear campaign, including false sex abuse claims, against Sgt McCabe  a scandal which almost brought down Irelands fragile minority government last year.

Superintendent 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.

Garda Sergeant Maurice McCabe (Niall Carson/PA)

The extensive interim report said it did not accept the evidence of Superintendent Taylor that he was given specific instructions by Mr Callinan to spread the false sex allegations and went on to described his evidence as daft.

It also labelled Superintendent Taylor as a witness whose credibility was completely undermined by his own bitterness.

It added: The truth is that Superintendent David Taylor completely understated his own involvement in a campaign of calumny against Maurice McCabe.

He claimed, for the first time, while giving evidence to the tribunal that he was acting under orders. That was not the case.

The tribunal is convinced that he pursued a scheme that somehow evolved out of his cheek-by-jowl working relationship with Commissioner Callinan.

Their plan was that there was to be much nodding and winking and references to a historic claim of sexual abuse while, at the same time, saying that the Director of Public Prosecutions had ruled that even if the central allegation did not have credibility issues, what was described did not amount to an offence of sexual assault or even an assault.

It praised Sgt McCabe for doing a considerable service by bringing the matters of senior gardai manipulating and abusing penalty points to the attention of the public.

He has done so not out of a desire to inflate his public profile, but out of a legitimate drive to ensure that the national police force serves the people through hard work and diligence, it added.

He is an exemplar of that kind of attitude.

Notwithstanding everything that happened to him, he remains an officer of exemplary character and has shown himself in giving evidence to the tribunal as being a person of admirable fortitude.
A tribunal investigating the Irish police force has accused the Irish Health Service Executives Child and Family Agency (Tusla) of astounding inefficiency and instructed them to do a day of work.

A police whistleblower whose malpractice claims almost brought down the Irish Government faced unfounded and false allegations of a sexual assault.

Sergeant Maurice McCabe had accused the force of malpractice including the quashing of penalty points, and later made a complaint against former commissioner Martin Callinan, the head of the Irish police force.

An unfounded allegation was first made against Sgt McCabe in 2006, and by April 2007 the Director of Public Prosecutions decided no offence had been disclosed and social services decided to take no further action.

The Disclosures Tribunal report, published on Thursday, noted: That should have been the end of any allegation that Maurice McCabe had ever sexually assaulted a child.

In 2013, within a counselling organisation, a mistake was made in transcribing an account of rape by a different woman, attributing the accusation to Sgt McCabes alleged complainant.

Maurice McCabe had accused the force of malpractice (Niall Carson/PA)

A mistaken report was then made to the gardai by Tusla in 2014 alleging that Sgt McCabe had been accused of a rape offence.

At a time when there was considerable public interest in Sgt McCabe after he had disclosed bad practice within the gardai, an incorrect report, accusing him of a rape offence, was maintained in Garda Headquarters.

When the Northern Region learned of the inaccuracy of that report, the assistant commissioner did not correct it to Garda Headquarters, the report said.

The false report had an afterlife within Tusla, because of the astounding inefficiency of that organisation and the inertia of its management.

The report also criticised the agency for its reaction to criticism and their senior managements appearance before the tribunal.

The soundness of any organisation may usefully be judged by the reaction it has to the mistakes it makes.

Both the reaction of Tusla and the reaction of An Garda Siochana to mistakes both made are disheartening.

Central to dealing with inefficiencies and with mistakes, as an inevitable part of human life, is the need to face up to them, to report honestly on them and to address them by improvement.

The response from within Tusla, at least, has been for senior officials to appear before the tribunal and to offer withering criticisms of structures, personnel and conduct within the organisation.

It is not for the tribunal to advise on administrative matters; beyond saying that it is clear that management need to wake up and actually do a day of work.

Whatever changes need to be made can be identified from this report and through the exercise of common sense.

The saga surrounding the handling of his disclosure of alleged wrongdoing among police in the Irish border counties of Cavan-Monaghan contributed to the end of the careers of former taoiseach Enda Kenny, two former chiefs of the Garda force and ex-justice minister and later deputy prime minister Frances Fitzgerald.

The Child and Family Agency (Tusla) is the dedicated State agency responsible for improving wellbeing and outcomes for children.
Prosecutors have dropped part of the criminal case against Hollwyood producer Harvey Weinstein.

The development was announced in a New York court with Weinstein looking on.

A judge agreed to dismiss allegations by one of the three accusers in the case, Lucia Evans.

In a story published a year ago, Ms Evans told The New Yorker that Weinstein sexually assaulted her during a meeting at his office in 2004.

Harvey Weinstein denies sex assault allegations (Seth Wenig/AP)

Remaining charges include allegations that Weinstein raped a woman in 2013 and sexually assaulted a different woman in 2006. Weinstein says he is innocent.

His lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, said in court that he believes Ms Evans lied to the grand jury about what happened.
A teenager who stabbed another 15-year-old to death in a Sheffield street fight has been ordered to be detained for two years and eight months by a judge who described it as another senseless death caused by knife crime.

The boy, who was 15 at the time but is now 16, killed Samuel Baker in the Lowedges area of the city in May and pleaded guilty to his manslaughter last week.

Samuels killing was one of a spate of knife-related deaths in Sheffield earlier this year.

The judge at Sheffield Crown Court, Mr Justice Nicklin, was told it was Samuel who brought knife to the scene of the fight.

He said: Samuel Baker was a young man with his life ahead of him. His is another senseless death caused by knife crime.

Sentencing the teenager, who cannot be named for legal reasons, the judge said: Your case represents a story that is too often repeated in cities and towns throughout our country.

The scene in Lowedges Road in Sheffield where the teenager died (Danny Lawson/PA)

Samuel Baker is dead for one simple reason  young men, some still boys, carrying knives.

Without a knife that evening, the two of you may have had a fight but that would have been it.

Instead, what has happened can never be undone.

The judge refused an application by the Sheffield Star newspaper to lift the defendants anonymity.
More than 100 former soldiers are being asked to provide statements to a new inquest into the fatal shooting of 10 people in the Ballymurphy estate in west Belfast in 1971, Belfast Coroners Court has heard.

In total 119 former soldiers are being asked to provide statements to the inquest which is due to formally get under way on Monday November 12.

The evidence from the soldiers is expected to be heard early next year.

Soldiers have long been held responsible for killing 10 people in Ballymurphy between August 9-11 1971, but the accepted narrative became clouded earlier this year when former UVF members came forward to claim their organisation was also involved.

Families of those killed in the Ballymurphy massacre outside the Royal Courts of Justice, Belfast ahead of a preliminary hearing for the inquest into their deaths (Rebecca Black/PA)

The Coroners Office has been examining a database of names of former soldiers it received from the Ministry of Defence (MoD) in August.

It aims to trace those who may have been at Ballymurphy during the shootings to call as witnesses to the inquest.

Sean Doran QC, counsel for the Coroners Service, revealed during a preliminary hearing on Thursday that the initial list of 60 soldiers had been augmented to 76, and now another 43 names have been identified bringing the total number to 119.

Counsel for one of the families raised a concern that the process of tracing former soldiers has been put on the long finger, and asked for a deadline to be set for responses.

He suggested that the soldiers be legally compelled to co-operate if they do not respond by that deadline.

Responding Mr Doran said a timetable will be drafted over the next couple of months for the evidence of military witnesses in the new year.

The Coroners Service is doing everything in its power to ensure proceedings remain on track, he said.

Mr Doran also revealed the Coroners Service has received correspondence from the regimental associations of the Parachute Regiment and Queens Regiment querying whether providing information would be a breach of data protection legislation.

Mr Doran told the hearing that a response has been drafted.

The response on behalf of the Coroner takes issue with that suggestion, he told the hearing.

Coroner Siobhan Keegan put to counsel for the MoD that providing an additional witness to the inquest to explain the context of what was happening in 1971 would be useful.

Kevin Rooney QC, representing the MoD, responded: It is something we will turn our minds to  I can certainly see the logic of that suggestion.

A Catholic priest and a mother-of-eight were among those killed during three days of gunfire involving members of the Parachute Regiment.

Another man died of a heart attack following an alleged violent confrontation with the troops in the west Belfast estate.

Mourners filing past the coffin of Father Hugh Mullan, one of the victims of the Ballymurphy shootings, at Corpus Christi Church in Belfast (PA)

The shootings took place as the Army moved in to republican strongholds to arrest IRA suspects in the wake of the introduction by the Stormont administration of the controversial policy of internment without trial.

The next preliminary hearing date has been scheduled for Wednesday October 17.
A woman has been jailed after she bit off her friends ear in a takeaway shop brawl.

Victoria Burgess, 27, was caught on film attacking her friend Jenna Edwards before pulling part of her victims ear out of her mouth.

The mobile phone footage shows Burgess kneeling over her friend while aiming punches at her head. She then leans over and sinks her teeth into the ear.

Burgess was filmed holding on to Miss Edwards ear for 12 seconds as the victim is heard repeatedly shouting Get off me, Victoria.

Victoria Burgess attacking Jenna Edwards at Yummies Kebab House in Newport (CPS/PA)

Onlookers told Burgess dont bite her before she released her grip and pulled the torn part of the ear out of her mouth.

Miss Edwards is then seen telling the takeaway shops employees to call the police as blood begins pouring from her wound.

The attack happened in Newport city centre in South Wales on April 6 this year at Yummies Kebab House.

Burgess, a former employee of the citys South Wales Argus newspaper, pleaded guilty to wounding with intent before she was sentenced at Newport Crown Court on Wednesday.

Judge Daniel Williams jailed Burgess, from Melfort Road, Newport, to four-and-a-half years in prison.
The air accidents watchdog has launched a probe into how a light aircraft crashed to earth causing the death of two people.

A search was launched on Wednesday evening after reports a plane had come down one mile short of the runway at Beverley Airfield, East Yorkshire, at 7.30pm.

The air ambulance was dispatched, but police said the two people on board suffered fatal injuries in the crash.

We're working with @aaibgovuk after a light aircraft crashed in the Leven area last night. Two people in the plane sadly died. Their families have been informed & are being supported by specialist officers.#AAIB Inspectors will shortly be at the scene to begin their investigation https://t.co/ragZgFMSC6  Humberside Police (@Humberbeat) October 11, 2018

Emergency services, volunteers and local residents scoured the countryside for the wreckage, which was eventually found in the corner of a field.

The Air Accidents Investigation Branch said on Thursday: The AAIB is sending a team to investigate an accident involving a light aircraft that occurred near Beverley, east Yorkshire.

While police initially said the two people on board were safe, it later confirmed the pilot and passenger had died.

Humberside Police are investigating (Yui Mok/PA)

A spokesman said: Information was passed on to us when the incident was first reported to indicate that the passenger and pilot were safe.

As our search began and progressed, it became clear that while this information had been provided with good intention, it was not correct.

The plane had been flying south from the Scottish Borders when it came down near to the approach to the landing strip at Beverley Airfield, police said.

Humberside Police said the families of both victims had been informed and it was supporting the AAIBs investigation.

Police have appealed for witnesses to call 101.
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The UK is carrying out inspections of its stealth fighter fleet and has paused some flying following the crash of a US jet.

Aircraft are being examined to see whether they have a faulty fuel tube after the crash of a US Marine Corps F-35B in September.

The Ministry of Defence said that trials of the F-35 on the Royal Navys aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth were continuing.

A MoD spokesman said: Safety is our paramount concern, therefore the UK has decided to pause some F-35 flying as a precautionary measure while we consider the findings of an ongoing inquiry.

F-35 flight trials from the aircraft carrier, HMS Queen Elizabeth, are continuing and the programme remains on schedule to provide our armed forces with a game-changing capability.

Contrary to reports, all F-35 jets have not been grounded. We have paused some F-35 flying as a precautionary measure while we consider the findings of an ongoing enquiry. Flight trials from @HMSQnlz continue and the programme remains on schedule #F35 @thef35 pic.twitter.com/yOOpSAFxZ0  Ministry of Defence  (@DefenceHQ) October 11, 2018

We will continue to review the situation as further information becomes available.

It is understood that some aircraft have already been inspected and have been cleared to return to flight.
Irelands communications minister has resigned over a controversy surrounding the countrys national broadband plan.

Denis Naughten made a statement in the Irish parliament on Thursday afternoon before leaving the chamber.

Mr Naughten said it had become clear to him that Irelands premier Leo Varadkar had no confidence in him.

The former minister had been due to answer questions from the opposition over his dealings with US businessman David McCourt, who is leading the sole remaining bid for a contract to roll-out high-speed broadband to more than 500,000 homes across the country.

It emerged on Wednesday that the minister had paid for a lunch for the businessman in Leinster house in April and the pair also had a meeting in June.

It follows revelations that Mr Naughten met Mr McCourt at a New York dinner in July.

Denis Naughten was criticised in the Dail on Thursday over his dealings with US businessman David McCourt (PA)

Minutes of the New York meeting showed that a 10-minute discussion took place between officials from the Department of Communications and Mr McCourt.

According to the minutes, Mr McCourt addressed his remarks to a department official and not to the minister.

Mr Naughten said he had been left in an impossible stark position that a political never wanted to find themselves in.

Do I make the decision myself to resign or wait for that decision to be made for me? And what do I do against the backdrop of the opposition not having sought my resignation? he said.

If I was a cynic, which Im not, the outcome is about polls rather than telecoms poles, its more about optics than fibre optics.

He added that meeting telecoms people was part of his role.

Minister @DenisNaughten announces 647 million for Communications, Climate Action & Environment funding which is an 11% increase under Budget 2019https://t.co/uJQAjuSZuq

@SeanKyneTD @merrionstreet #Budget19 pic.twitter.com/wcFAgZcqbl  Dept. Environment, Climate and Communications (@Dept_ECC) October 10, 2018

Thats the context in which I had meetings with Mr McCourt and thats how it should be seen, he said.

He added: Ive given the Taoiseach my resignation. I wish my cabinet colleagues well.

The Roscommon politician said he was absolutely satisfied that there had been no interference in the procurement process.

Mr Naughten said: The political and media frenzy over the last week has been deeply unhelpful. Commentary by those who are not procurement experts that this process is dead in the water and does not have the capacity or capability to roll out the NBP is incorrect and has been deeply damaging.

Speaking on Virgin Media Ones Ireland AM programme on Thursday morning, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said that he had full confidence in the ministers position.

But when pressed about whether he was satisfied with Mr Naughtens explanation of the meetings, Mr Varadkar said: So far, yes.
Search and rescue teams are trying to help survivors after Hurricane Michael wreaked unimaginable destruction on parts of Florida.

Thousands of houses were destroyed by the third-most powerful hurricane on record to hit the continental US.

At least two deaths were blamed on Michael, and though weakened into a tropical storm, it continued to bring heavy rain and blustery winds to the south east as it pushed inland.

Under a blue sky, Florida families emerged tentatively from darkened shelters and hotels to a landscape of shattered homes and shopping centres.

Over 900,000 homes and businesses in Florida, Alabama, Georgia and the Carolinas were without power.

This morning, Floridas Gulf Coast and Panhandle and the Big Bend are waking up to unimaginable destruction, Governor Rick Scott said. So many lives have been changed forever. So many families have lost everything.  This hurricane was an absolute monster.

Im urging residents of impacted areas to continue to stay off the roads and listen to your local authorities so that our first responders and utility crews can do their jobs. Were working diligently to get to everyone as quickly as we can.  Rick Scott (@SenRickScott) October 11, 2018

But the full extent of the damage was only slowly becoming clear, with some of the worst areas difficult to reach. An 80-mile stretch of Interstate 10, the main east-west route along the Panhandle, was closed because of debris.

One of the hardest-hit spots was Mexico Beach, where Michael crashed ashore as a Category 4 monster with 155mph winds. Video from a CNN helicopter revealed widespread devastation across the town of about 1,000 people.

Entire blocks of homes near the beach were washed away, leaving nothing but concrete slabs in the sand. Rows and rows of other homes were reduced to piles of debris or crumpled and slumped at odd angles.

Mr Scott said the National Guard got into Mexico Beach and rescued 20 people who survived the direct hit. The town was under a mandatory evacuation order as the rapidly developing storm closed in but some people were determined to ride it out.

Haley Nelson inspects damage to her home in Panama City (Pedro Portal/AP)

A day later, the beach town remained difficult to reach by land, with roads covered by fallen trees, power lines and other debris.

The governor pleaded with people in Florida not to go home yet.

I know you just want to go home. You want to check on things, and begin the recovery process, Mr Scott said, but we have to make sure things are safe.

Meanwhile, the Coast Guard said it rescued at least 27 people, mostly from homes damaged along the Florida coastline, and searched for more victims.

Among those brought to safety were nine people rescued by helicopter from a bathroom of their Panama City home after their roof collapsed.

Hurricane Michael slammed into the Florida Panhandle with winds of 155 mph (Douglas R Clifford/Tampa Bay Times via AP)

Florida officials also said they were moving patients from damaged health care facilities.

Along the 200-mile Panhandle, Michael washed away white-sand beaches, hammered military bases and destroyed coastal communities, stripping trees to stalks, shredding roofs, toppling trucks and pushing boats into buildings.

Authorities said a falling tree killed a man outside Tallahassee, Florida, and an 11-year-old girl in Georgia was killed when the wind picked up a carport and dropped it on her home. One of the carports legs punctured the roof and hit her on the head.

An Associated Press team drove for miles and encountered extensive destruction around Panama City. Though most homes were still standing, no property was left undamaged.

Downed power lines lay nearly everywhere and roofs had been peeled away and sent airborne.

Hundreds of cars had broken windows and twisted street signs lay on the ground. Pine trees were stripped and snapped off about 20ft high.

John Gouge walks through flood water after Hurricane Michael (Chris OMeara/AP)

More than 375,000 people up and down the Gulf Coast were ordered or urged to evacuate as Michael closed in. But it moved so fast and intensified so quickly that people did not have much time to prepare, and emergency authorities lamented that many ignored the warnings.

Based on its internal barometric pressure, Michael was the third most powerful hurricane to hit the US mainland, behind the unnamed Labor Day storm of 1935 and Camille in 1969.

Based on wind speed, it was the fourth-strongest, behind the Labor Day storm, Camille and Andrew in 1992.

Kaylee OBrian weeps inside her home after several trees fell on it during Hurricane Michael (Gerald Herbert/AP)

After Michael left the Panhandle late on Wednesday, Kaylee OBrien was crying as she sorted through the remains of the apartment she shared with three roommates at Whispering Pines apartments.

Four pine trees had crashed through the roof of her apartment, nearly hitting two people, and her one-year-old Siamese cat, Molly, was missing.

We havent seen her since the tree hit the den. Shes my baby, Ms OBrien said.
Princess Eugenie and fiance Jack Brooksbank have invited members of the public into the grounds of Windsor Castle to join in the celebrations on their wedding day.

They have also invited representatives from charities and organisations they support.

Here is a list of the charities.

 Healthcare and Young People

Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital

The Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust is the largest orthopaedic hospital in the UK that provides a range of neuro-musculoskeletal health care, ranging from spinal injuries to specialist rehabilitation.

Eugenie was diagnosed with scoliosis when she was 12-years-old and was treated at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital.

The princess is also patron of the European School of Osteopathy, a world-renowned provider of undergraduate and postgraduate level osteopathic education.

Teenage Cancer Trust

Eugenie, her sister Princess Beatrice and mother Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, are patrons of the Teenage Cancer Trust, a charity that provides world-class cancer services for young people in the UK.

Princess Eugenie, left, with her mother the Duchess of York Sarah Ferguson during a visit to the Teenage Cancer Trust ward at the Alder Hey Hospital, Liverpool (Peter Byrne/PA)

They have visited and opened Teenage Cancer Trust units across the country, including the Great North Childrens Hospital in Newcastle and specialist units at The Royal Marsden, London and Addenbrookes Hospital, Cambridge.

Street Child

Street Child works to provide children with an education even in the worlds toughest places, based on the belief that achieving universal basic education is the single greatest step that can be taken towards the elimination of global poverty.

In 2018 Street Child merged with Children In Crisis, a charity founded by the duchess and supported by Beatrice and Eugenie.

 Anti-Slavery

The Salvation Army

The Salvation Army is a charity that works in 131 countries, offering practical support, unconditional friendship and help to people of all ages, backgrounds and needs.

In 2018 Eugenie gave her support to the Salvation Armys Campaign to Stop Modern Slavery.

Princess Eugenie during a visit to a Salvation Army safe house (The Salvation Army/PA)

The UN Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women

The UN Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women awards grants to initiatives that work towards addressing issues with and reducing violence against women and girls.

In September, Eugenie visited grantees of the UN Trust Fund, in Belgrade, Serbia.

The princess was introduced to the work of organisations that are changing the lives of survivors of trafficking in human beings for the better, creating safe spaces for recovery and opportunities for socio-economic reintegration.

Key to Freedom

Key to Freedom is an initiative founded by The York Family to support and find a route to market for products made by the Womens Interlink Foundation  a charity that provides vulnerable young women from West Bengal, India, with skills to earn an income.

The young women supported by the Womens Interlink Foundation have been exposed to domestic abuse or trafficked into the sex trade.

The sale of the products allows the women to earn a living wage and regain control of the choices in their lives. Key to Freedom facilitates a route to market for the garments created by the young women through retailers including Topshop and Royal Collection.

As part of a partnership with Key to Freedom, Hobbs recently launched an exclusive collection of silk scarves, including one designed to commemorate the wedding of Eugenie and fiance Jack Brooksbank.

 The Military

Supporting Wounded Veterans

Supporting Wounded Veterans helps wounded campaign soldiers, including those who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan, to rebuild their futures through a unique, specially designed, ski-based development programme.

Jack Brooksbanks father, George Brooksbank, is executive director and Jack also provides support to the charity.

 Animals and Conservation

The Big Cat Sanctuary

Eugenie is patron of the Big Cat Sanctuary in Smarden, Kent. The sanctuary aims to protect big cats from extinction, providing the right conditions for the successful breeding of endangered cats within the European Endangered Species Breeding Programme.

Elephant Family

Elephant Family is a charity dedicated to protecting Asian elephants in their habitat. In recent years the charity has supported over 160 field projects in six elephant range states: India, Thailand, Indonesia (Sumatra), Malaysia (Borneo), Myanmar and Cambodia. Eugenie is patron of Elephant Family.

Project 0

Eugenie has been an ambassador for Project 0 since 2018. The aim is to inspire people to make sustainable choices to stop the ocean from drowning in plastic.

The princesss wedding aims to be plastic free.

charity: water

Eugenie is patron of the organisation charity: water, which works to bring clean, safe drinking water to people in developing countries.

 The Arts

The Print Room at the Coronet

The Print Rooms mission is to stage exciting, undiscovered pieces by great writers, and to provide an opportunity for emerging and talented artists from all fields. Princess Eugenie is a patron of The Print Room.

Tate Young Patrons

Founded in 2007, the Tate Young Patrons are a group of collectors, philanthropists and art enthusiasts who contribute to conserving historic works, acquiring new works for the Tate collection and supporting education and learning programmes. Eugenie is royal patron, reflecting her personal passion for the visual arts, in particular international modern and contemporary art.
A national emergency coordination group met on Thursday for a briefing on the oncoming Storm Callum which could pose a risk to life and property, according to forecasters.

Evelyn Cusack from Met Eireann briefed the group on expected weather and warnings in place until Friday afternoon.

The group, made up of state agencies including the Office of Public Works, Met Eireann, the Department of Defence, the Garda, the Defence Forces and the Coast Guard met to co-ordinate the States response to the storm.

The NECG is well underway here as Evelyn Cusack of @MetEireann briefs the group on what to expect from #StormCallum pic.twitter.com/lAOqNL0Fux  Department of Housing, Local Government & Heritage (@DeptHousingIRL) October 11, 2018

Met Eireann issued Status Orange weather warnings for 13 counties, with high winds coinciding with high tides on Thursday evening.

The warning, forecast from 10pm on Thursday and covers Donegal, Galway, Mayo, Sligo, Clare, Kerry, Dublin, Louth, Wexford, Wicklow, Meath, Cork and Waterford.

Winds are estimated to reach speeds of between 110km/h and 130km/h.

File picture of stormy weather in County Clare (Niall Carson/PA)

Crisis management teams and severe weather alert teams from a number of local authorities across the country were deployed on Thursday afternoon.

Galway City Council installed a 80m portable dam at Spanish Arch and flood gates at various points around Salthill, while 5,000 sandbags were made available for the public.

Likewise in Dublin, council crews distributed sandbags on Thursday to areas along the coast where flooding might occur including Howth and Malahide.

The northwest is expected to be most affected and the warning it to remain in place until midday on Friday.

A Status Yellow warning has been issued for the rest of the country, with winds forecast of up to 110km/h.

There are major risks of coastal flooding in western counties and strong winds could lead to further disruption in Atlantic coastal areas.

Waterways Ireland has issued a warning to boat owners and members of the public as the storm approaches.

They are urging people to be aware of the dangers associated with harbours, jetties and moorings during stormy weather.

The Coast Guard has strongly advised the public to stay away from exposed beaches, piers, harbour walls and promenades along the coast.

The Coast Guard strongly advises the public to stay away from exposed beaches, cliffs and piers, harbour walls and promenades along the coast during storm conditions.



Remember to Stay Back, Stay High and Stay Dry! #StormCallum pic.twitter.com/2uapUAfT92  Irish Coast Guard (@IrishCoastGuard) October 11, 2018

A separate area of low pressure could bring heavy rainfall to the east at the weekend.

The Road Safety Authority has urged road users to exercise caution to expect the unexpected and watch out for debris.

It has also advised pedestrians and cyclists to wear bright clothing and take care during the windy conditions.

Met Eireann says the unsettled weather could continue early into next week.
A high profile rape trial in Belfast gave the public a better understanding of the court system, a senior Public Prosecution Service official has said.

In March, following a trial that dominated the headlines across the UK and Ireland, Ulster rugby players Paddy Jackson and Stuart Olding were cleared of rape.

They both denied raping the same woman in Mr Jacksons house in the early hours of June 28 2016.

Blane McIlroy, who was accused of exposure, and Rory Harrison, who was charged with perverting the course of justice and withholding information, were also found not guilty.

PPS assistant director Marianne OKane said the high levels of interest in the trial ensured a better understanding of the court system.

She was speaking on Thursday as the service revealed statistics for rape and sexual offences in 2017/18 which showed a rise in the number of files it received.

Marianne OKane said the high levels of interest in the trial ensured a better understanding of the court system (Public Prosecution Service/PA)

The Public Prosecution Service (PPS) today published its Statistical Bulletin: Cases Involving Sexual Offences 2017/18 https://t.co/LW6cg7v91x pic.twitter.com/0WZNz8ZMvU  NISRA (@NISRA) October 11, 2018

The PPS received 1,587 files in 2017/18 involving an alleged sexual offence. This was an increase of 21% on 2016/17 (1,312).

There was a rise of 34.2% in the number of files received involving an alleged rape offence, from 395 to 530.

The statistics also showed a drop in the overall conviction rate at the Crown Court in cases involving alleged sexual offences from 73.8% in 2016/17 to 63.8% in 2017/18.

Ms OKane said: What I think that trial did was reveal to the public the mechanics of how a rape trial proceeds and allowed a more informed public discussion about the issues that we encounter in all rape cases.

One of the benefits was that at least the public has a better understanding of how these cases proceed and the complexities in prosecuting and indeed defending those cases.

I do take heart from the fact there is still a consistent increase in the level of reporting of complaints to police over the last year, and thats a trend we see continuing.

I think that is hopefully due in part to the awareness campaigns that we participate in and the public confidence that if they do make a report to the police, they can and they do expect to receive professionalism and empathy.
Scotlands councils will play an essential role in preparing for the extremely serious consequences of Brexit, the First Minister has said.

With the UK due to formally leave the European Union in less than six months, Nicola Sturgeon told senior council figures the Scottish Government is carrying out a significant amount of work to mitigate the impact of the UKs exit.

She stressed local authorities also have a vital role to play, and pledged ministers would support them.

The First Minister made the commitment as she addressed the local government body Coslas annual conference in St Andrews.

Council chiefs, including those in Scotlands largest authority Glasgow City Council, have recently raised concerns about possible food and fuel shortages in the wake of Brexit.

Ms Sturgeon said Brexit, combined with the UK Governments future approach to immigration, would have extremely serious consequences.

The Union Jack, Saltire and European Union flags outside Holyrood (Jane Barlow/PA)

The First Minister said: There is no doubt that the most pressing challenge facing our country at this time comes from Brexit, and the UK Governments approach to post-Brexit immigration will have extremely serious consequences for communities across Scotland.

I know that Cosla is also leading preparations for Brexit, on behalf of its members. For example, you recently rolled out a survey across local authorities to identify the sectors which will be most affected by workforce issues arising from Brexit.

We welcome the leadership that has already been shown. Local government has an essential role to play in preparing for the impact for Brexit and the Scottish Government is ready to support you in your efforts.

The Scottish Government continues to argue for a sensible approach to Brexit, which would see the whole of the UK remaining in the single market and the customs union, if staying in the EU is not possible.

However, we also recognise the need to prepare, as best we can, for other Brexit scenarios. That is why the Scottish Government is undertaking a significant programme of contingency planning.
Learning about the legacy of the British Empire, colonialism and the slave trade makes communities stronger, Jeremy Corbyn has said.

The Labour leader is calling for schools to give pupils a greater awareness of the role played by black Britons in shaping the countrys history.

He has set out plans for an Emancipation Educational Trust aimed at educating future generations about slavery and the struggle to end the trade.

During a visit to Bristol  a city which grew rich off the back of the slave trade  Mr Corbyn said far more should be taught about the subject.

With @DawnButlerBrent and Labour's brilliant candidate to be the next MP for Filton and Bradley Stoke, Mhairi Threlfall.



We're celebrating #BlackHistoryMonth. It's vital that future generations understand the immense contribution Black Britons have made to our country's history. pic.twitter.com/xMd7LHnZI9  Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) October 11, 2018

I think we need to understand the history of empire, the treatment of black people across the empire and the enormous contribution made by the black community to this country, Mr Corbyn said.

The Windrush scandal in a sense has highlighted all of this. I think its important that all our children understand our collective history and that way we actually make communities stronger.

Mr Corbyn met Paul Stephenson, a civil rights activist who played a central role in the Bristol bus boycott in 1963 aimed at overturning a ban on ethnic minorities working on the citys buses.

Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn during his visit to the Alone with Empire exhibition at City Hall in Bristol (Andrew Matthews/PA)

He viewed an installation entitled Alone with Empire at Bristols city hall, where he met Bristol West MP Thangam Debbonaire and councillor Asher Craig, the citys deputy mayor.

The politician called for the British Empire, colonialism and the slave trade to be more centre stage in the curriculum.

When asked how a Labour government would enforce that change, Mr Corbyn replied: Were not keen on enforcing things on curricula, were more keen on encouraging people and promoting it.

Lets understand our history, lets understand the brutality that went with it and lets understand the immense bravery of people that spoke out against the slave trade at a time when the wealthiest in Britain were making a vast amount of money out of that trade and eventually Wilberforces bill was passed in parliament.
Irelands justice minister has said he fully endorses the vindication of police whistleblower Maurice McCabe.

Sergeant McCabe, who faced unfounded and false allegations of a sexual assault, was praised in the Charleton Tribunal report which was published on Thursday.

The Disclosures Tribunal found former Garda commissioner Martin Callinan was part of a campaign of calumny against Sgt McCabe and he was actively aided by his former press officer Superintendent David Taylor.

The tribunal found that Sgt McCabe had exemplified hard work and was repulsively denigrated for being no more than a good citizen and police officer.

In a statement issued following the publication of the report, Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan said: Not only do I accept that description of Sgt McCabe but I fully endorse it.

The report is a lengthy report and it requires, and deserves, careful study.

I and my officials will examine the report to see what actions are required in the light of its contents and conclusions.

I thank Mr Justice Charleton & the Disclosures Tribunal for a most thorough & comprehensive report. https://t.co/oyb6SkfQgZ  Charlie Flanagan (@CharlieFlanagan) October 11, 2018

The expert Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland has just completed a root and branch analysis of policing in Ireland.

The implementation of its report will be fundamental to the transformation of An Garda Siochana.

I will bring an implementation plan to cabinet this term, taking careful account of the conclusions of Mr Justice Charleton.

The report also accepted the evidence by former tanaiste Frances Fitzgerald about her knowledge of the campaign to undermine the reputation of Sgt McCabe.

The former justice minister was forced to resign from her post in November last year ahead of a no-confidence motion.

Former Garda commissioner Martin Callinan (Niall Carson/PA)

Both Fianna Fail and Sinn Fein had called for her resignation and tabled motions of no confidence in her.

Sinn Fein president Mary Lou McDonald said she had no regrets in how she handled the scandal.

At the core of this is man who was professionally vilified and whose personal name was blackened, she said.

I dont regret for a second pursuing the case of Maurice McCabe.

If I had to do it again, I would do it again because it was the right thing to do.

When asked if she had any regrets about the type of language used in relation to Ms Fitzgerald, she said: No regrets, as a public representatives and as people who protect the public interest, we have a duty to test, we have a duty to confront the system where there is public disquiet and where there is a case to be answered.

Maurice McCabe was targeted and this strategy emanated at the heart of Garda Siochana and that is a shocking finding.

Our criticism was one of a public position which said that whistleblowers were to be cherished and protected as against a private position where legal strategy was pursued to discredit Maurice McCabe in a legal sense.

We were critical of that contradiction, I remain critical of that contradiction.
Public transport campaigners have warned that buses are in crisis after new analysis showed journeys are at a 12-year low.

Latest Department for Transport figures show 1.2 billion local bus journeys were made between April and June in Britain.

This represents a 10% decrease since the peak of 1.33 billion between July and September 2008.

Demand for bus travel has not been this low since the beginning of 2006, according to Press Association analysis.

The 10% reduction in journeys since the summer of 2008 has coincided with a 55% increase in average fares.

A recent study by the Campaign for Better Transport (CBT) found that funding for supported buses has almost halved in the last eight years, leaving many areas without public transport.

Bus travel has reached a 12-year low (David Jones/PA)

Local authority bus budgets in England and Wales were slashed by 20.5 million last year  the eighth consecutive annual cut.

CBT chief executive Darren Shirley urged the Government to use its October 29 Budget to halt the trend of cutting support for buses.

He said: The falling number of passengers taking the bus is a consequence of continued cuts in funding to support services.

Nationally and locally this is resulting in fewer services and higher fares.

The statistics back up what our research has been showing for years: that buses are in crisis.

They are vital for the economy and the environment but year-on-year, people  especially in rural areas  are losing their bus service, making it difficult to access jobs, education and other essential public services.

Councillor Martin Tett, the Local Government Associations transport spokesman, said: It is hugely concerning to see such a steady decrease in bus journeys.

Its nearly impossible for councils to keep subsidising free travel while having to find billions of pounds worth of savings and protect other vital services like caring for the elderly, filling potholes and collecting bins.



The way the concessionary travel scheme is funded by Whitehall has not kept up with growing demand and cost. By giving councils control over the Bus Service Operators Grant, and properly funding the free bus pass schemes the Government could help us support and maintain our essential bus services, reduce congestion and protect vital routes.



A Government spokeswoman said: We recognise that buses are vital in connecting people, homes and businesses, and thats why we have given local councils extra powers to work in partnership with bus companies to improve the services passengers expect.

This is on top of the public funding provided to bus operators and councils to fund services.

While local authorities are best placed to decide how to provide supported bus services, we provide around 250 million every year to support bus services and a further 1 billion to support older and disabled people using the free bus pass scheme, benefiting people up and down the country.
Police investigating the murder of a Cornish mother-of-two 20 years ago have developed a partial DNA profile for her killer.

Linda Bryant, 40, was stabbed in her back, neck and chest as she walked her dog in her home village of Ruan High Lanes, near Truro, in October 1998.

The attack is believed to have been sexually motivated, as Mrs Bryants clothing had been disturbed when her body was discovered.

Four months after the murder, Mrs Bryants tortoiseshell glasses were found at the scene, which had been fingertip searched at the time.

Aerial view showing where Mrs Bryants body was discovered (Devon and Cornwall Police/PA)

A number of reviews of the case have taken place, with one in 2015 resulting in the discovery of new forensic evidence.

Retired Detective Inspector Stuart Ellis, senior investigating officer, said: We have found a partial DNA profile.

I am as confident as I can be that that particular DNA would relate to Lyns killer.

Following the murder, DNA samples were taken from 6,000 people but these had to be destroyed in 2013 due to changes in legislation.

Police are now in the process of re-taking DNA samples and comparing them to the partial profile.

So far, hundreds of samples have been taken from across the UK.

The partial DNA profile has also been searched on the National DNA Database but there have not been any matches.

Mrs Bryants car (Devon and Cornwall Police/PA)

Police examined more than 100 exhibits from the scene of Mrs Bryants murder to develop the partial profile, known as a crime stain.

Mr Ellis said: The crime stain that we have now found is significant.

It is frustrating, the fact that it is only now we have the advances in technology that we are able to have it.

The profile was developed from a broad range of samples, including tapings, swabs and clothing from the scene.

Mrs Bryant was local to the remote part of Cornwall where she lived with her husband Peter, who she had been married to for about 19 years.

They had two children, Lee, then aged 21, and Erin, then aged 19.

Lees son Keelan was aged 10 months at the time.

On the day of her murder, October 20, Mrs Bryant cleaned a local house, went to see her parents and then bought groceries from a garage.

A scruffy white van was seen pulling up on the forecourt at the same time as Mrs Bryant arrived in her grey Ford Sierra.

The driver, a bearded man, has not been traced.

Mrs Bryants glasses were discovered four months after her body was found (Devon and Cornwall Police/PA)

She returned home, where she had lunch and watched Emmerdale with daughter Erin.

She then took the familys lurcher dog, Jay, for a walk.

At between 1.45pm and 2pm, Mrs Bryant was seen talking to a clean-shaven man at a junction by Ruan High Lanes Methodist Chapel.

This man has not been identified.

Mr Ellis said: This man is of great significance as he may be the last person to see Lyn alive.

A holidaymaker discovered Mrs Bryants body, lying in the gateway to a field near the chapel, at about 2.30pm.

Around 15 minutes later, a farmer spotted a man walking along a field away from the murder scene.

Mr Ellis said: Lyn had knife wounds to her back, to her neck and the fatal wound was a stab wound to her chest.

There was an injury to her face, perhaps where the attacker tried to put a hand over her mouth.

Her clothing was disturbed. That does lead us to the inevitable conclusion that this was probably a sexually motivated murder.

Lyn Bryant and her daughters Lee and Erin (Devon and Cornwall Police/PA)

There were vivid blue fibres on Mrs Bryants body that were not from her, or anyone connected to her home address.

On February 2 the following year, Mrs Bryants tortoiseshell glasses were discovered where her body had been found.

The crime scene was searched at a fingertip level at the time, Mr Ellis said.

It is pretty unlikely that these spectacles were at the murder scene at the time of the discovery of the body.

They were found by the farmer on that day in February in the gateway where Lyn was found, on top of the mud.

Police believe the glasses may have been returned to the scene by Mrs Bryants killer.

Retired Detective Inspector Stuart Ellis,, the senior investigating officer (Claire Hayhurst/PA)

The weapon used to attack Mrs Bryant has never been found but is thought to be a small knife, about 10cm in length.

The investigation into Mrs Bryants murder was one of the biggest ever conducted by Devon and Cornwall Police.

Detectives are now appealing for any information about the death.

Anybody that has any information that would fit into this complicated jigsaw of a case, however small, it may be the piece of information that we can use to finally provide answers to Lyns family, Mr Ellis said.

Mrs Bryants daughter Lee Taylor, now 41, and grandson Keelan Taylor, now 20, urged anyone with information to come forward.

Mrs Bryants daughter Lee Taylor and her son Keelan Taylor (Claire Hayhurst/PA)

I know its been 20 years and Im sure people think well, what are they going to do now, its so long ago but they do now have some new forensic evidence, Mrs Taylor said.

All they need is a name, any information that could help them in the investigation could make a real difference.

You may be in a different relationship now, you may have suspected someone twenty years ago but couldnt say anything but now actually you can. If you can, please get in touch.

Devon and Cornwall Polices dedicated incident room can be contacted on 0800 096 1233 and people can also give information through the website www.dc.police.uk/lynbryant.

There is a 10,000 reward being offered by Crimestoppers for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Mrs Bryants killer.
Royal Bank of Scotlands chief executive has warned he cannot guarantee that financial scandals at the taxpayer-owned lender will not happen again under his watch.

Ross McEwan stressed that efforts to rethink the business and take customers into consideration in every change we make have reduced the chance that RBS will be hit with further conduct and litigation issues.

However, he stopped short of promising that the bank would have a clean record during his tenure.

Can I say this will never happen again? Im sorry, I cant, he told the Press Association.

Since the financial crisis, RBS has been dogged by several scandals, including the mis-selling of payment protection insurance (PPI), mortgage-backed securities and the mistreatment of small businesses.

We still employ 70,000 people, we still have a very large balance sheet and business and its much simpler. Its not a simple bank like many others, but I think weve put things in place now that we minimise any of those issues, the New Zealander added.

It raises concerns over the chief executives handle on potential scandals which could see senior staff held responsible for any misconduct under the new Senior Managers and Certification Regime (SMCR).

Mr McEwan has been in his post since 2013.

Royal Bank of Scotland has been dogged by several scandals since the 2008 financial crisis (PA)

I think there is a much lesser chance that we will have any of those big issues that weve dealt with like PPI, which is an industry issue, and GRG (Global Restructuring Group). We didnt manage our customers at a time when they needed to be looked after and managed, he admitted.

We did a very bad job.

But today our organisation is very focused on the customer and we did put things in place and had the conversations before we made those changes, and so I think theres a much lesser chance, Mr McEwan said.

The RBS chief was speaking to the Press Association around the 10-year anniversary of the banks 45 billion Government bailout in 2008, contributing to a financial crisis which still haunts the UK financial sector a decade on.

The taxpayer still owns 62% of RBS.

One thing Mr McEwan could guarantee is that another financial crash is coming, but this time banks and regulators will more prepared.

The 2008 crisis was enormous and it was a build-up of probably a decade plus of debts being built up, and bank acquisitions that were poorly funded, and a whole raft of issues.

But I think of course there will be another financial stress in some point in time  be it a crisis or a recession of sorts.

He said banks are now better protected against a full-blown crisis, having been forced by regulators to build up capital cushions to levels that are up to three to four times what they were before the financial crash.

In addition, liquidity levels  which refer to how quickly assets can be bought and sold  are in much better shape.

Its not going to be such an impact on the banks and its customers again, the RBS chief said.

But will it happen again? You can pretty well guarantee it, but what shape or form it comes in, I couldnt guess.
The Prince of Waless milestone 70th birthday is being marked with a special commemorative coin.

An engraved portrait of Charles, who turns 70 on November 14, features on a series of souvenir 5 coins.

The Prince of Waless 70th birthday coin (Royal Mint/PA)

The side profile, surrounded by the words HRH The Prince of Wales  70th Birthday, is by Robert Elderton.

His previous coin designs include the 40th anniversary of the Queens coronation in 1993 and a portrait of Prince Harry on his 21st birthday.

Coins were also struck for Charless 50th and 60th birthdays.

The Prince of Wales, who is 70 next month, at Bramham Park, West Yorkshire (Owen Humphreys/PA)

Nicola Howell, director of consumer coin at the Royal Mint, said: It is an honour for the Royal Mint to mark such a significant birthday for the Prince of Wales and we join the British public in celebrating the occasion.

Its been a truly unforgettable year of royal celebration with the birth of His Royal Highness Prince Louis of Cambridge, the wedding of Their Royal Highnesses the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and the big fifth birthday of HRH Prince George of Cambridge.

Charless depiction is paired with the official portrait of the Queen on the other side.

The Queen on the other side of Charless birthday coin (Royal Mint/PA)

The UK 5 Brilliant Uncirculated Coin costs 13, the 5 Silver Proof Coin is 82.50 and the 5 Silver Proof Piedfort Coin is 155.

A Quarter-Ounce Platinum Proof Coin is 460, while the 5 Gold Proof Coin in 1,950 and the most expensive is the 5 Platinum Proof at 4,000.

The prince is the longest serving heir to the throne in British history.

The eldest child of the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Charles Philip Arthur George was born at Buckingham Palace on November 14 1948, weighing 7lb 6oz.

Eight-month-old Prince Charles with his parents, Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh, in 1949 (PA)

He became heir apparent on the death of his grandfather, King George VI, when his mother succeeded to the throne on February 6 1952, when he was just three years old.

He was created Prince of Wales on July 26 1958, when he was nine.

Charles, who is patron of more than 400 organisations, is the oldest heir to the throne for more than 300 years.

The Duchess of Cornwall, the Prince of Wales, the Duchess of Cambridge, Princess Charlotte, Prince George and the Duke of Cambridge on the Buckingham Palace balcony (Dominic Lipinski/PA)

He is also grandfather to Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis of Cambridge.
A striking shot of shards of ice on a bitterly cold morning in Glencoe has scooped the top prize in this years Landscape Photographer of the Year Award.

Pete Rowbottom, from Wigan, Lancashire, beat thousands of entries to win the 10,000 top prize in the 12th year of the competition for his emotionally strong image of icy water in front of the mountain Buachaille Etive Mor.

He took the winning shot in the Scottish Highlands on a freezing morning in February.

Blizzard in the High Peak, Derbyshire, England, by John Finney, was one of the category winners (John Finney/Landscape Photographer of the Year/PA)

A blizzard on Derbyshires High Peak and a dramatic black and white shot of a fisherman on the rocks at Porth Nanven, Cornwall, were among the category winners in the competition.

An aerial view of terraced houses in Bristol and a delicate close-up of holly leaves in Edinburgh also topped their category.

Fisherman on rocks in strong westerly winds, Porth Nanven, Cornwall, was a category winner for Mick Blakey (Mick Blakey/Landscape Photographer of the Year/PA)

Awards founder and landscape photographer Charlie Waite said: The numerous strong diagonal lines of the ice fractures in Petes image echo the shape of Buachaille Etive Mor in the background and have peaks of their own.

You cant take your eyes away from the relationship between the mountain and the ice; it is visually very strong and has a mathematical precision.

The cold of the mountain and ice together contrast well with the amber of their surroundings.

This is an image where you can hear and feel the landscape, as well as see it, so it is emotionally strong and involves the viewer on multiple levels.

Josef FitzGerald-Patrick won the Young Landscape Photographer of the Year prize for this image at Lands End, Cornwall (Josef FitzGerald-Patrick/Landscape Photographer of the Year/PA)

Josef FitzGerald-Patrick, 17, from near Lands End, Cornwall, won the Young Landscape Photographer of the Year title for his picture of a mountain biker in action on the coast.

His shots of the dramatic coast around Lands End and Porthgwarra also helped him to win two of the four categories for young photographers in addition to scooping the main prize.

Alan Courtney won the Network Rail `Lines in the Landscape Award for his image of Sunset over Holes Bay, Dorset, England (Alan Courtney/Landscape Photographer of the Year/PA)

Special awards were won by shots of a storm wave, atmospheric woodlands in the morning, an ethereal image of Daymark beacon in Devon and heather blooming above Buttermere in the Lake District.

And the Network Rail Lines in the Landscape award was won by Alan Courtney from Wimborne, Dorset, for his sunset shot of a train speeding across Holes Bay in the county.

 A free exhibition of winning entries will be held on the Balcony at London Waterloo station from Monday November 19 for 12 weeks before going on tour to selected stations nationwide.
The fire which devastated Bank Buildings in the heart of Belfast led to a drop in footfall of 30% in the city centre, research has found.

The historic building, which housed Primark, was left a charred shell after the blaze which started on August 28 and took several days to extinguish.

A cordon has been extended around the perimeter leaving 14 businesses unable to trade.

People stop to look at the historic five-storey Bank Buildings in Belfast city centre, where a major blaze broke out in the Primark store on Tuesday. PA/Brian Lawless

Restrictions are expected to be in place until after Christmas, Belfast City Council has said.

The Northern Ireland Retail Consortium (NIRC) said a drastic drop in footfall came directly after the fire.

Footfall fell by 4.6% across Northern Ireland in the five weeks from August 26  September 29 according to the latest figures published by NIRC and Springboard.

Diane Wehrle, marketing and insights director for Springboard, said the change in footfall in Belfast city centre alone is more than minus 30%.

Our CEO @glynrobertsni meeting @NIOgov Secretary of State @Conservatives conference today. We raised the continuing issue of the Primark Fire and the need for a City Centre Rejuvenation Fund for Belfast. pic.twitter.com/dcysVGekFx  RetailNI (@retail_ni) October 2, 2018

A drop in footfall of minus 4.6% in Northern Ireland in September compared with a modest rise of plus 0.5% in footfall in August provides further evidence of the current challenges facing bricks and mortar retail, she said.

Whilst it would be easy to put this down to the shift to online spending, the story is not nearly as cut and dried.

The fire at the Primark store in Belfast which occurred in the first week of the month will have impacted on the monthly result to some degree as Belfast generates the greatest volume of footfall of any destination in Northern Ireland.

This is evidenced by a drop in footfall in Belfast of more than minus 30%, and consequently the sudden downward shift in high street footfall across Northern Ireland in September to minus 6.1% following four months of consecutive rises.

A sign on Castle Street, Belfast stating that it is "Business as usual" (Rebecca Black/PA)

Belfast City Council announced a fund to help the businesses worst affected, with Primark donating 500,000 to the pot.

NIRC director Aodhan Connolly has called on Chancellor Philip Hammond to act to help the retail sector.

Both Primark and Belfast City Council have shown leadership and concern with support for traders and the area, but now we need the Chancellor in his forthcoming budget to make a tangible difference not only to Belfast but to the whole retail industry in this current time of structural change, he said.

Mr Connolly said the effect of the fire has been to split Belfast city centre in two.

Volunteer Paddy Mooney and Tra Walls, manager of the Oxfam shop on Castle Street, Belfast, which has also struggled to trade (Rebecca Black/PA)

This drastic dip in shopper footfall after two good months comes directly on the back of the fire that affected Primarks flagship store in Belfast City Centre, NIs main retail destination, he said.

This sad occurrence has effectively split Belfasts busiest thoroughfare, and the city centre, in two.

This is distressing not only for Primark and the fourteen businesses within the cordon who cannot open, but also those in the locale who are affected by the footfall drop and their suppliers.

Mr Connolly also reiterated the message that Belfast city centre is open for business.

The traders need your support. With the crucial Christmas season fast approaching now more than ever we need you to spend your time and money in our stores, he said.
The first ever campaign targeting the perpetrators of human trafficking and sexual exploitation in Scotland has been launched by police.

Officers said traffickers are making potentially millions of pounds from sexually exploiting victims who are left highly traumatised by the experience.

The 25,000 campaign aims to raise public awareness of what may be going on in plain sight in their communities.

Since January 1 this year 44 women and two men have identified themselves as victims of trafficking for the purposes of sexual exploitation and came forward to seek support.

Of those, seven were girls under the age of 18.

Assistant Chief Constable Gillian MacDonald, crime and protection lead for Police Scotland, said: Sexual exploitation, or prostitution, is highly lucrative for criminal gangs who exploit people and place them at risk of significant harm.

A trafficking victim in a safe house (Dominic Lipinski/PA)

People may reply to an advertisement offering work in Scotland and find themselves forced into prostitution for the financial gain of criminals.

She added: Sexual exploitation takes place behind closed doors.

Premises may be rented out short term from landlords or agencies who have no idea that their properties are being used for this purpose.

Equally, there are landlords who may own numerous properties and who know exactly what is happening in those premises.

People are being trafficked into and around Scotland and it is unacceptable that people are being bought and sold, exploited and abused in this way.

We are asking people to be aware and to report if they believe someone is being trafficked or exploited.

We will target those who control, abuse and exploit others by working collaboratively with partners to ensure that Scotland is and remains a hostile environment to this trade.

One woman, trafficked to Scotland and rescued during a police operation in Glasgow, was forced into prostitution seven days a week, at least eight hours a day and her exploiters were charging 120 per hour.

She had been in Scotland for three months.

In recent operations across Scotland, 12 potential victims of trafficking were identified.

One operation involved Police Scotland working with the Police Service of Northern Ireland and Romanian police.

It resulted in seven people from an eastern European crime gang being arrested in Romania while a number of potential victims were rescued from sexual exploitation in Glasgow.

The campaign urges people to look out for signs of potential trafficking and sexual exploitation such as multiple female foreign nationals living at the same address, occupants rarely being seen outside and occupants changing regularly.

Other signs may include male callers day and night staying for only a short time and details of sexual activity such as cards and advertisements.

Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf said: Human trafficking and exploitation are appalling abuses of human rights, leaving victims highly traumatised and living in fear.

It is completely unacceptable these crimes are taking place in modern Scotland and we are determined to do all we can to support victims and target perpetrators.

Police Scotlands tough and targeted approach to tracking down the criminals profiting from this abuse is reaping results and I am pleased to support their latest campaign focusing on human trafficking and sexual exploitation.

The Trafficking Awareness Raising Alliance (Tara) run by Community Safety Glasgow, is supporting the campaign.
Devon and Cornwall Police have launched an appeal to mark the 20th anniversary of the murder of Cornish grandmother Linda Bryant, known as Lyn.

Here is a timeline of the case:

 October 20, 1998

Morning  Lyn Bryant cleans a local house in Ruan High Lanes, visits her parents and returns home.

12.45pm  Mrs Bryant drives her grey Ford Sierra to Harris Garage in Tregony but there is no fuel there.

1.05pm  Mrs Bryant drives on to Chenoweths garage at Ruan High Lanes, buying fuel, milk and groceries.

Mrs Bryants car (Devon and Cornwall Police/PA)

 A white van driven by an unknown bearded man enters the forecourt at the same time.

 Mrs Bryant returns home and sees daughter Erin, 19. They have lunch and watch Emmerdale.

1.30pm  Mrs Bryant sets out on her regular walk with Jay, the familys lurcher dog.

 Witnesses see Mrs Bryant walking along the main lane towards Ruan High Lanes Methodist Church.

1.45-2pm  A motorist sees Mrs Bryant talking to a clean-shaven man at the junction by the chapel.

2.30pm  Mrs Bryants body is found lying in the gateway to a field on a road between the chapel and Treviles Manor.

Aerial view showing where Mrs Bryants body was discovered (Devon and Cornwall Police/PA)

2.34pm  A 999 call is made and emergency services are quickly sent.

2.50pm  The air ambulance arrives and Mrs Bryant is pronounced dead at the scene.

2.45-3pm  A farmer sees an unknown man walking in a nearby field, away from the murder scene.

 November 4, 1998  Mrs Bryants last movements are re-enacted for BBC Crimewatch.

 February 2, 1999  Mrs Bryants tortoiseshell glasses are found on top of mud where her body was found four months before.

Mrs Bryants glasses were found at the scene four months after her murder (Devon and Cornwall Police/PA)

 April 1999  Police conduct the first investigative review into the case, named Operation Hermitic.

 December 14, 1999  A coroner in Truro rules that Mrs Bryant was unlawfully killed.

 March 2002  The second investigative review, named Operation Hermitic II, takes place.

 2007  A full forensic review is undertaken.

 October 13, 2008  Devon and Cornwall Police launch a 10-year anniversary appeal for Mrs Bryants murder.

 May 2016  A partial DNA profile is developed from a number of samples taken from the scene at the time of Mrs Bryants death.

 October 2016  Officers begin re-taking DNA samples from across the UK.

 October 15, 2018  Devon and Cornwall Police launch a 20-year anniversary appeal.
Theresa Mays leadership and her plans for Brexit are under pressure after a setback in talks with Brussels.

A hastily arranged meeting between Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab and European Union negotiator Michel Barnier failed to produce a breakthrough, leaving the process on a knife-edge ahead of a crunch summit on Wednesday.

The impasse over measures to prevent a hard border with Ireland has thrown the timetable for reaching a Brexit deal into doubt.

Following the meeting in Brussels, Mr Barnier said that despite intense efforts there had been a failure to reach agreement on one of the trickiest aspects of the negotiations.

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. I will debrief the EU27 and @Europarl_EN on the #Brexit negotiations.  Michel Barnier (@MichelBarnier) October 14, 2018

The surprise announcement of the meeting fuelled rumours a deal was set to be done ahead of this weeks summit of EU leaders.

But after talks which lasted a little over an hour, it was clear that major obstacles remained including the so-called backstop measure to prevent a hard border between Ireland and Northern Ireland after Brexit.

Theresa May is under pressure from Tory Eurosceptics and her DUP parliamentary allies (Matt Dunham/PA)

The UK Government said there were still unresolved issues relating to the backstop but it remained committed to making progress at the European Council meeting.

But with Mrs May under siege from Tory Eurosceptics and her DUP parliamentary allies, the Government also has a reason to appear to be taking a tough line.

The Prime Ministers room for manoeuvre is severely restricted, with opposition to both the EUs proposed backstop and concerns about her own alternative.

The EU 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 for a temporary customs arrangement for the whole UK is viewed suspiciously by Brexiteers who fear it becoming an indefinite position which would prevent free trade deals with countries around the world.

Agreeing to such a measure could trigger a Cabinet revolt and the potential resignation of senior ministers.

Writing in the Daily Telegraph, former foreign secretary Boris Johnson said the backstop idea as a whole should be jettisoned.

In presuming to change the constitutional arrangements of the United Kingdom, the EU is treating us with naked contempt, he said.

Like some chess player triumphantly forking our king and our queen, the EU Commission is offering the UK Government what appears to be a binary choice.

It is a choice between the break-up of this country, or the subjugation of this country, between separation or submission.

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.  Department for Exiting the EU (@DExEUgov) October 14, 2018

Irelands ambassador to the UK Adrian ONeill said events in Brussels were a setback and could increase the prospect of a no-deal Brexit.

He told BBC Radio 4s Westminster Hour: Time is running out, there is no doubt about that. In all member states, preparation for all eventualities are ramping up quite significantly.

A special EU summit pencilled in for November to sign off a Brexit agreement could instead end up being used as an emergency meeting to discuss no-deal plans.

Talks will take place on Monday between DUP leader Arlene Foster and Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, while Mrs May will meet Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald in Westminster.

The febrile atmosphere in the Tory ranks has seen former Brexit secretary David Davis emerge as a potential successor to Mrs May.

Tory MP Nadine Dorries publicly suggested he could be the leader to deliver the kind of Brexit sought by Eurosceptics.

The Prime Ministers critics believe the threshold of 48 Tory MPs calling for a no-confidence vote could be passed by Wednesday, depending on events in Brussels.

Allies of Mr Davis said he has been contacted by several Tory MPs urging him to run for the leadership and he is understood to be prepared to take part in a contest.

Ms Dorries backed Mr Davis for the top job, saying: Getting May out and him becoming an interim leader may be the only way to deliver Brexit and FTA (a free-trade agreement).
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have touched down in Australia ahead of their first royal tour as a married couple.

Harry and Meghan arrived into a rainy Sydney on Monday for the start of a 16-day visit to Australia, Fiji, Tonga and New Zealand.

The trip, their first outside the UK and Ireland, will officially begin on Tuesday and will see the couple watch the Invictus Games, visit a Sydney zoo and visit the rural Flying Doctor service.

Fabulous to see The Duke & Duchess of Sussex Fly the Flag for #IG2018 ahead of their trip Down Under! Were looking forward to hosting them at various events during the Games & including the Closing Ceremony.

Tickets are available online https://t.co/7brBq4EK6f

#GameOnDownUnder pic.twitter.com/nUay7RIqnn  Invictus Australia (@invictusaus2021) October 10, 2018

The couple were driven from the airport to Admiralty House, the Sydney residence of Governor General Peter Cosgrove, the representative of the Queen in the country.

Hundreds of people gathered to catch a glimpse of the couple and cheered as their car was driven into the property a short distance from the iconic Sydney Harbour Bridge.

The 76 engagements also include visits to schools, greeting members of the public at the Sydney Opera House, and meeting young leaders and community members at Government House.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will visit to Australia, Fiji, Tonga and New Zealand (PA)

After Australia, the couple will fly to Fiji, where they will be greeted with an arrival ceremony similar to one attended by the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh in 1953.

In Fiji, Harry will pay tribute to Fijian war veterans and the couple will attend a state dinner, before flying to Tonga.

The tour will conclude with a four-day trip to New Zealand, where they will be greeted by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.

The Duke and Duchess will learn about environmental challenges while in Wellington, visit a charity which supports children with parents in prison, and meet members of the public in Auckland and Rotura.

Harry and Meghan will return to London from Auckland on November 1.

Kensington Palace said in a statement: There is a long history of friendship between the royal family and Australia, Fiji, Tonga and New Zealand, and their links with the UK are extensive.

The duke and duchess are very much looking forward to experiencing the unique cultures and customs of those four Commonwealth countries and have asked that this tour allow them opportunities to meet as many Australians, Fijians, Tongans, and New Zealanders as possible.
The Queen became the first reigning monarch of Australia to visit the nation in 1953  but the relationship between Queen and country changed over the following six decades.

The five-dollar note and all denominations of coin feature the portrait of the Queen, her birthday is a public holiday across all states and territories, and many of the countrys institutions  the Air Force, Navy and Mint  carry the prefix Royal.

But there is a thread of republicanism which runs through the country.

The left-wing Labour party has pushed for a vote on the issue, while former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull is also sympathetic to the republican cause.

A referendum has already been held on the issue but has done little to settle the argument.

The Yes campaign  spearheaded by Mr Turnbull  yielded 45.1% of the vote in 1999, with the winning No campaign managing to bring together both those who were not fond of change and those who thought the proposed change did not go far enough.

Australian High Commissioner Philip Flood casts his vote in the referendum (Michael Stephens/PA)

A statement from the Queen following the vote read: I respect and accept this result.

My family and I would, of course, have retained our deep affection for Australia and Australians everywhere, whatever the outcome.

Coinciding with Charless visit to the Gold Coast in April, a Newspoll survey for the Australian newspaper found that one in two Australians back the republican movement.

A total of 41% of 1,639 people asked over four days in April said they would be against scrapping the monarchy and becoming a republic.

This compared to 34% 19 years ago and 38% in August 2017.

Just days before the Prince of Wales arrived in Brisbane for his first official engagement, former prime minister Paul Keating claimed Charles would support Australia cutting ties with the monarchy and becoming a republic.

Mr Keating told the Sunday Times: I have no doubt he believes Australia should be free of the British monarchy and that it should make its own way in the world.
The upcoming audits are outlined in a report on the proposed plan for 2019 that has just been sent to the National Assembly deputies.



According to the report, SAV will reduce the number of audited enterprises compared to 2018 to focus on improving the quality and effectiveness of the inspections.

In 2019, SAV will audit 184 subjects, a decrease of 22 compared to 2018, said General Auditor Ho Duc Phoc.

Regarding State-owned enterprises (SOEs), SAV will appraise the financial statements of large economic groups and corporations to assess their management of State assets in 2018.

It will also evaluate the structuring process of SOEs with a focus on financial management, equitisation and divestment.

This will help evaluate the management capacity of these enterprises and ensure the healthy development of the domestic goods and services market for energy and other essential products.

The Vietnam National Coal and Mineral Industries Group (Vinacomin) and Vietnam Airlines Corporation are among the big corporations subject to SAVs audits next year.

In the financial field, SAVs inspections will focus on activities involving the use of State capital and assets of the State Bank of Vietnam to evaluate the efficiency of monetary management.

The audits will also assess financial market restructuring activities, concentrating on commercial banks and credit institutions to evaluate the ownership, bad debt control and improving credit quality.

For the first time, a number of large-scale projects and programmes high on the press agenda will be selected to carry out independent audits next year. This will ensure efficiency in management and use of public assets.

Some of these programmes are the use of State expenditure for roads and railways for the 2017-18 period, the Da Nang sustainable development project and the task of developing medium cities in Phu Ly city, Ha Nam province.

The bad debt handling pilot project under the implementation of Resolution No 42/2017/QH14 is also among these targets.

In the construction sector, SAV will conduct 38 audits, including on big investment projects such as the Binh Phuoc Ethanol Plant, the Ninh Binh Fetiliser Plant, construction of the Hai Phong international gateway port, the urban transport development project in Hai Phong city and several power plant projects.
German chancellor Angela Merkels conservative allies have lost their absolute majority in Bavarias state parliament by a wide margin in a regional election, a result that could cause more turbulence within the national government.

The Christian Social Union (CSU) took 37.2% of the vote, down from 47.7% five years ago.

It was the partys worst performance since 1950 in a state vote in Bavaria, which it has traditionally dominated.

Constant squabbling in Ms Merkels national government and a power struggle at home have weighed on the CSU.

It is traditionally a touch more right-wing than the chancellors party and has taken a hard-line on migration, clashing with Ms Merkel on the issue.

Horst Seehofer, chairman of the CSU, after his party lost in the Bavarian state election (/Kerstin Joensson/AP)

There were gains for parties to its left and right. The Greens won 17.5% to secure second place, double their support in 2013.

The far-right Alternative for Germany, or AfD, entered the state legislature with 10.2% of the vote.

Meanwhile, the centre-left Social Democrats, Ms Merkels other national coalition partner in Berlin, finished in fifth place with a disastrous 9.7%, less than half what they received in 2013 and their worst in the state since the Second World War.

The CSU has governed Bavaria, the prosperous south-eastern state that is home to some 13 million of Germanys 82 million people, for more than six decades.

Needing coalition partners to govern is itself a major setback for the party, which exists only in Bavaria and held an absolute majority in the state parliament for all but five of the past 56 years.

Of course this isnt an easy day for the CSU, the states governor, Markus Soeder, told supporters in Munich, adding that the party accepted the painful result with humility.

The Greens celebrate in Munich, Germany (Kerstin Joensson/AP)

Pointing to goings-on in Berlin, Mr Soeder said, Its not so easy to uncouple yourself from the national trend completely.

Still, he stressed that the CSU emerged as the states strongest party with a mandate to form the next Bavarian government.

He said his preference was for a centre-right coalition. That would see the CSU partner with the Free Voters, a local conservative rival that made modest gains to win 11.6%.

The Greens, traditionally bitter opponents of the CSU with a more liberal approach to migration and an emphasis on environmental issues, are another possible partner.

A pro-business party, the Free Democrats, scraped into the state legislature with 5.1% support but will not be needed to form a coalition.

The CSU has long leveraged its strength at the state level to punch above its weight in national politics. In Berlin, the party is one of three in Ms Merkels federal coalition government along with its conservative sister, Ms Merkels Christian Democratic Union, and the Social Democrats.

That government has been notable largely for internal squabbling since it took office in March. The CSU leader, interior minister Horst Seehofer, has often played a starring role.

Bavarian governor Markus Soeder (Matthias Schrader/AP)

Back in Bavaria, a long-running CSU power struggle saw the 69-year-old Mr Seehofer give up his job as state governor earlier this year to Mr Soeder, a younger and sometimes bitter rival.

Mr Seehofer has sparred with Ms 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 German-Austrian border, briefly threatening to bring down the national government.

Of course, I as party leader bear a share of responsibility for this result, Mr Seehofer said, adding that he was prepared to discuss consequences for Sundays outcome, but not immediately.

It remains to be seen whether and how the Bavarian result will affect the national governments stability or Ms Merkels long-term future.

Any aftershocks may be delayed because another state election is coming on October 28 in neighbouring Hesse, where conservative Volker Bouffier is defending the 19-year hold of Ms Merkels CDU on the governors office.

Mr Bouffier has criticised the CSU for diminishing peoples trust in Germanys conservatives.

The CDUs general secretary, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, said the party must show discipline and focus on Hesse. She acknowledged that the national governments woes have been unhelpful.

It is totally undisputed that the way we have treated each other in the coalition, and also the way we argued with each other in the summer, was anything but inspiring for the state election in Bavaria, she said.
Climate change experts have been asked to advise the Government on setting a target for achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions from across the economy.

The Committee on Climate Change will also advise on whether the UK needs to review its 2050 target of cutting emissions by at least 80% relative to 1990 levels, to meet international commitments set out in the Paris Agreement.

Prime Minister Theresa May said: On the global stage, the UK is driving forward action on climate change through our work at the UN and with our Commonwealth partners.

To ensure that we continue to lead from the front, we are asking the experts to advise on targets for net zero emissions.

Are we on the #RoadtoZero road transport emissions? The 2050 target requires it.



DfTs strategy wasnt out in time for our 2018 report - yesterday we wrote to @transportgovuk & @beisgovuk



Lots to welcome (esp charging infra) but it wont meet cost effective path to the targets. https://t.co/vK76ppbqcJ  Chris Stark (@ChiefExecCCC) October 12, 2018

The request to the CCC comes after a major UN report said countries must take unprecedented action to slash carbon emissions to zero by 2050 and limit global warming to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels.

Limiting warming to 1.5C is possible but will require fast and far-reaching changes to power generation, industry, transport, buildings and potential shifts in lifestyle such as eating less meat.

The request to the CCC comes after a report said countries must take action to slash carbon emissions to zero by 2050 (PA)

It will also require action to take excess carbon emissions out of the atmosphere, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change said.

The letter to CCC chairman Lord Deben invites his committee to consider what emissions reductions would be needed to make an appropriate contribution to the Paris target of a well below 2C rise or the 1.5C limit urged in the new report.

Energy and clean growth minister Claire Perry said the CCC would give advice on a roadmap to a net zero economy, including how emissions might be reduced and the expected costs and benefits of doing so.

The move comes at the start of the Green GB Week initiative, and the Government claimed that jobs in green industries could reach two million by 2030, generating up to 170 billion in exports.

Ministers will also set out proposals for new laws for smart energy appliances like washing machines and electric heating, with the ambition of making all new buildings smart by 2030.

Environmental campaigners welcomed the Governments net-zero move, but called for a commitment to the 1.5C goal.

Gareth Redmond-King, head of climate at WWF said: Scientists from around the world said we had 12 years to tackle climate change.

Governments can no longer shirk their responsibilities.

Its time to act and, crucially, embrace the opportunities a green economy presents.

Done right, this could be the biggest economic opportunity in history, driving innovation, job creation and better living standards.

By limiting global temperature rise to 1.5C, we could reduce air pollution and save the lives of 153M children, neighbours, and people around the world. What future will you choose? #ClimateChange https://t.co/yA1FjnpK9u pic.twitter.com/wNpgRHj7Li  The Climate Coalition (@TheCCoalition) October 8, 2018

Ed Matthew from The Climate Coalition said: It is not just the target that matters, its how fast we get there.

The CCC must now ensure that this net-zero pathway is compliant with no more than 1.5C of warming.

Shadow business secretary Rebecca Long-Bailey said the announcement came as Government slashes support for small scale renewables, scales back support for electric vehicles  and had been slammed by leading climate scientist James Hansen for its pursuit of fracking.

This gaping contradiction is no accident  it is hypocrisy of the highest order, and an affront to those communities on which this government has forced the fracking industry, she said.

Liberal Democrat environment spokesman Tim Farron claimed the Tories had lurched drastically away from supporting green technologies.
Rescuers have retrieved the bodies of five South Korean climbers and their four Nepalese guides who died in a storm that destroyed their base camp on Gurja Himal mountain.

Two helicopters brought eight of the bodies to Kathmandu from the mountain after the weather cleared.

The body of one of the Nepalese guides was flown to his village.

Family members of the Nepalese guides as bodies of those killed in Gurja Himal mountain arrive at the Teaching hospital in Kathmandu (Niranjan Shrestha/AP)

Grieving family members gathered at the Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital in Nepals capital where the bodies were taken for autopsies before being handed to their families.

The storm swept the camp on Friday night, and word of the destruction got out Saturday morning.

Helicopters were not able to land due to the continuing bad weather, but villagers reached the base camp on Saturday evening and found the bodies.

The climbers were attempting to scale the 23,590ft peak during the autumn climbing season.
Fracking is due to begin in Lancashire on Monday.

Energy firm Cuadrilla had hoped to start work at the site in at Preston New Road, Little Plumpton, near Blackpool, on Saturday but this was delayed by the effects of Storm Callum.

It followed an environmental campaigner failing in a bid to halt the work at the High Court on Friday.

A spokesman for Cuadrilla said on Saturday: Due to the weather conditions yesterday afternoon and this morning, we will now start pumping on Monday.

In high winds we couldnt use the crane to manoeuvre some equipment into place.

At a hearing in London on Friday, Mr Justice Supperstone dismissed Bob Dennetts application for an injunction preventing the company from fracking the UKs first horizontal shale gas well pending his proposed legal challenge.

Workers at the Cuadrilla site in Preston New Road, Little Plumpton, Lancashire (Danny Lawson/PA)

Mr Dennett claimed Lancashire County Councils emergency response planning and procedures at the site were inadequate, but the judge ruled there was not a serious issue to be tried which would justify an interim order.

In a statement after the ruling, Cuadrilla chief executive Francis Egan said: We are delighted to be starting our hydraulic fracturing operations as planned. We are now commencing the final operational phase to evaluate the commercial potential for a new source of indigenous natural gas in Lancashire.

If commercially recoverable, this will displace costly imported gas with lower emissions, significant economic benefit and better security of energy supply for the UK.
Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi disappeared almost two weeks ago while on a visit to the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul.

His disappearance has sparked an international uproar involving the kingdom, Turkey and the United States that remains unresolved.

Mr Khashoggi, a Washington Post contributor, had written columns critical of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdoms war in Yemen and its crackdown on activists and businessmen.

Turkish officials say they fear a team of Saudi agents killed and dismembered Mr Khashoggi, and they have released surveillance footage of the alleged perpetrators and mysterious movements outside the consulate on October 2, the day he entered.

The kingdom says the allegations are baseless but has offered no evidence Mr Khashoggi ever left the consulate.

Here is a look at what we know about the disappearance.

Who is Jamal Khashoggi?

Jamal Khashoggi writes for the Washington Post (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)

Mr Khashoggi is a long-time 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.

Mr 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.

Mr 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, Mr Khashoggi has written extensively about Saudi Arabia, including criticising 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.

What happened to him?

Mr Khashoggi, whose 60th birthday was on Saturday, went to the Saudi Consulate in Istanbuls 4th Levent neighbourhood on September 28 seeking documents so he could be married to his Turkish fiancee, Hatice Cengiz. He was told to return to the consulate on October 2 to pick up those documents, Ms Cengiz says.

Surveillance footage later aired on Turkish state television shows Mr Khashoggi walking into the consulate at 1.14pm on October 2. A little less than two hours later, surveillance footage shows several vehicles with diplomatic licence plates move from the consulate to the consuls home some 1.2 miles away.

Ms Cengiz, who spent hours waiting for Mr Khashoggi outside while holding his mobile phones, says her fiance never walked out of the consulate to meet her. Surveillance footage shows her pacing around outside at 5.33pm, speaking on her phone. No footage made public so far has shown Mr Khashoggi walking out of the consulate.

What is Turkey saying?

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, right, and Saudi Arabias King Salman embrace each other in 2016 (AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici, File)

Turkish officials, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the investigation, say they fear Saudi Arabia killed Mr Khashoggi. They claim they have audio and video recordings of Mr Khashoggi being interrogated, killed and dismembered. However, no such recordings have been released publicly so far.

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 countrys military and security services who are said to have formed an assassination squad sent to target Mr Khashoggi. Turkish officials told The Associated Press (AP) one of those men was a post-mortem 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 Mr Khashoggi disappeared, checking into and out of hotels near the consulate, and then flying out that night.

A Turkish newspaper also claimed that Mr Khashoggis 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 Mr Khashoggis assailants used his finger to unlock it when such watches do not have fingerprint ID scanners.

Turkish officials have not responded to questions from the AP about Mr Khashoggis 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?

It is amazing how the #Saudi narrative has changed. They are not even trying to prove that they are innocent! This is not a priority for them as it seems! Instead, they resorted to threats to face any possible actions/ measures against them in #Khashoggis case. pic.twitter.com/ZVZusy9Mbd  Dr. Ali BAKIR ( ) (@AliBakeer) October 15, 2018

Saudi Arabia has offered no explanation for how the writer could have left the consulate and disappeared into Istanbul as his fiancee stood outside waiting for him.

Early on 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 kingdoms 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 countrys involvement. The Qatar-funded satellite network Al-Jazeera has extensively focused on Mr Khashoggis 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 US saying?

Donald Trump has threatened Saudi Arabia with `severe punishment (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

President Donald Trump has threatened severe punishment if authorities determine Saudi Arabia was behind Mr Khashoggis disappearance. However, he has also said he wants to maintain the arms deals he struck with the kingdom on a trip to Riyadh. Meanwhile, American politicians are threatening to sanction individual Saudi officials if evidence links them to the writers disappearance.

What happens next?

A Saudi team has arrived in Turkey to investigate Mr Khashoggis disappearance. Meanwhile, Turkey has said it will search the Saudi Consulate for evidence, but that has yet to happen. Turkeys foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Saturday that Saudi Arabia had not yet co-operated with Turkey on the search for Mr Khashoggi. That could force Turkeys hand in leaking more information about the case to pressure the kingdom to co-operate.
The Brexit talks have run into a significant problem over the fraught issue of the Northern Ireland border, Government sources have said.

Negotiations are on a knife-edge after a hastily-arranged meeting on Sunday between EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier and Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab broke up without a breakthrough.

Discussions were said to have broken down after EU negotiators demanded a backstop to the backstop to prevent a return of a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic.

Theresa May has proposed the backstop  which would effectively keep Northern Ireland in the single market while a permanent solution is found  should apply to the whole of the UK.

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. I will debrief the EU27 and @Europarl_EN on the #Brexit negotiations.  Michel Barnier (@MichelBarnier) October 14, 2018

However it is understood the EU is insisting it should be backed up by the original Northern Ireland-only backstop as it first proposed.

That could lead to customs checks on goods travelling between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK  effectively imposing a border in the Irish Sea  something Mrs May has said is unacceptable.

Theresa May is under pressure from Tory Eurosceptics and her DUP parliamentary allies (Matt Dunham/PA)

The impasse threatens to throw into disarray carefully choreographed plans which would have seen EU leaders meeting in Brussels on Wednesday give the green light to a special summit in November to finalise the terms of the UKs withdrawal from the bloc.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussexs baby will have a host of relatives he or she is unlikely to see much of, if at all  the Markles.

While Meghan is close to her mother Doria Ragland, the remainder of her family did not attend her star-studded royal wedding.

Since the nuptials, the Markles have slung a barrage of insults at Meghan and the Windsors after being supposedly cut out of the duchesss life.

The Markles were branded by one newspaper a motley collection of individuals who, between them, have a long record of boozing, bust-ups and bankruptcies.

Heres a look at Meghans relatives on the Markle side:

Father  Thomas Markle

Thomas Markle pulled out of walking his daughter down the aisle at the last minute after being caught posing for staged paparazzi photographs and reportedly falling ill.

He went on to sell his story to the press, appearing on Good Morning Britain to reveal how Meghan, whom he calls by the nickname Bean, cried when he said he could not attend her big day.

WORLD EXCLUSIVE ON @ITVs GOOD MORNING BRITAIN LIVE NOW: Thomas Markle, father of Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, gives his first ever interview #GMB pic.twitter.com/yrbYkOk00x  Good Morning Britain (@GMB) June 18, 2018

He also indiscreetly shared conversations he had with Harry about Donald Trump and Brexit, and said he expected Harry and Meghan to have children soon.

Mr Markle, who has yet to meet Harry face to face, gave other interviews with the Mail on Sunday, in which he complained Meghan had cut him off and not contacted him since the wedding.

He declared how it might be easier for his daughter if he died, and said he put the phone down on Harry after a heated discussion about the press.

Thomas Markle reportedly put the phone down on Harry (Steve Parsons/PA)

He has also likened the royal family to a cult.

The former TV lighting director, who is of Dutch and Irish descent, worked on shows such as hit sitcom Married  With Children and popular US drama General Hospital.

He won two Emmys for his teams work on General Hospital and was nominated for countless others.

Meghan is his only child from his second marriage to Doria Ragland. He has two older children from his first marriage to Roslyn Markle.

Before his daughter began dating royalty, he lived a quiet life in Mexico and filed for bankruptcy in 2016 after reports that he failed to pay his debts.

A statement from Ms. Meghan Markle: pic.twitter.com/TjBNarmuBU  The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (@KensingtonRoyal) May 17, 2018

Meghan said she had always cared for Mr Markle after he pulled out of the wedding.

She was previously gushing about her thoughtful, inspiring father.

Writing on her lifestyle blog, she told how he believed in her grand dream of becoming an actress, and paid tribute to the blood, sweat and tears this man invested in my future so that I could grow up to have so much.

She added: Its safe to say I have always been a daddys girl.

Meghan revealed how one Christmas he created a customised Barbie family for her when they were only sold in sets of white dolls or black dolls.

Half Sister  Samantha Markle

Samantha Markle, also known as Samantha Grant, has see-sawed between criticising and praising Meghan on social media.

She vented her fury after the wedding, accusing the duchess on Twitter of hypocrisy and being cold and inhumane in her treatment of her father.

Exclusive: Samantha Markle, the half-sister of the Duchess of Sussex, is pleading with Meghan to speak to her father. They haven't spoken for months over fears he'll leak details of their conversation to the press. pic.twitter.com/yVcq4pmpu2  Good Morning Britain (@GMB) July 23, 2018

But she also later apologised to Meghan on live television during an appearance on Jeremy Vine on 5, saying: I wish things could be different.

"I apologise and I wish things could be different."



Samantha Markle apologises to her half sister after flying to the UK in the hopes of a reconciliation after publicly criticising Meghan and Harry.@TheJeremyVine | @Channel5_tv | #jeremyvine pic.twitter.com/Gq1UhnyOGd  Jeremy Vine On 5 (@JeremyVineOn5) October 1, 2018

While visiting the UK in the hope of a reconciliation, she defended insulting the duchess, saying: We were hoping that private channels would be used. When they failed we went public.

She added: It was also about bringing out a very important point that you dont isolate family.

She is Meghans half-sister from her fathers first marriage.

A one-time actress and model, she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2008 and uses a wheelchair.

Based in Florida, the twice-divorced mother of three is 17 years older than Meghan.

Like her father, she filed for bankruptcy and is estranged from her mother, Roslyn  Thomas Markles first wife  and brother, Thomas Jr.

She claimed she raised Meghan for 12 years while she was growing up in California but her ex-husband, Scott Rasmussen, disputed this.

When news of Meghans relationship with Harry broke, she described Meghan in interviews as a shallow social climber who had shunned her since making it in Hollywood.

She later maintained she never made the critical comments, and described Meghan as very beautiful and conservative, very real, very giving and absolutely lovely.

But ahead of the wedding, she expressed hurt at the lack of wedding invitations for the Markle family.

Since Meghan became a royal, she has hit out at her for being cold, accused her of ignoring her father, branded Harry a wuss, and has gone as far as to say she would blame Meghan should Thomas Markle die.

Half Brother  Thomas Markle Junior

Thomas Markle Jr  Thomas Markles son  has been bankrupt once, divorced twice and faced trial on gun charges before the case was dropped.

The father-of-two lives in Grants Pass, Oregon, and works as a window fitter.

He was arrested and charged in January 2017 for allegedly holding a gun to his girlfriend Darlene Blounts head during a drunken argument.

The charges were later dismissed. He apologised for his actions and said he was seeking help for his drinking problems.

Ms Blount was arrested in July 2018 after a domestic violence call at her house.

Mr Markle Jr is not in contact with his famous half-sister but has given interviews about her and shared family photos with the media.

After not being invited to the wedding, he told the Mirror: Im not bitter, just baffled. Its hurtful given how close we once were.

In May 2018, he wrote an open letter telling Meghan to call off her wedding, calling it a fake fairy tale.

He later backtracked and said he wrote the letter in a moment of madness.

Uncle  Michael Markle

Former US diplomat Michael Markle, who is Thomas Markle Snrs brother, spoke of his hurt at not being invited.

He told the Sunday Mirror how he had always supported Meghan and done more for her over the years than anyone else.

He said his connections helped Meghan bag a prestigious internship at the American embassy in Buenos Aires, Argentina, when she was 20.

Mr Markle said he would have happily walked her down the aisle  a duty which fell in the end to the Prince of Wales.

Michael and Thomas Markle Snrs other brother, Fred, is a bishop in Florida.

Ex-sister-in-law  Tracy Dooley

Meghans former sister-in-law Tracy Dooley and the duchesss nephews Tyler and TJ also spoke to the press, sharing a private family video of Meghan as a youngster.

Ms Dooley, who was married to Meghans half brother Thomas Markle Jr, has not spoken to Meghan for 20 years, but described her as wonderful, creative and vivacious.

Tyler is a legal cannabis farmer in Oregon.

Ms Dooley and Tyler headed to London for the royal wedding despite not being invited, but went sightseeing during their stay and watched the nuptials on TV instead.
Heres a look at the royal baby in numbers:

2  Baby Sussex will have two homes  Nottingham Cottage in Kensington Palace and a country hideaway in the Cotswolds.

Kensington Palace - the Sussexes London base (Andrew Parsons/PA)

2  The Sussexes already have two family pets  Meghans beagle Guy, and a new black labrador called Oz.

3  Babys royal first cousins  Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis.

4  The infant will be the Prince of Waless fourth grandchild.

The Prince of Wales, with the Duchess of Cornwall and the Duchess of Sussex, will be looking forward to the arrival of his fourth grandchild (Dominic Lipinski/PA)

6  Harrys place in line to the throne.

7  The baby will be born seventh in line to the throne.

7  Meghan starred in seven seasons of the US legal drama Suits as paralegal-turned-lawyer Rachel Zane before marrying Harry.

8  The Queens great-grandchildren after the baby is born. Newest additions include Prince Louis and Lena Tindall.

The Queen surrounded by her two youngest grandchildren and her five great-grandchildren #Queenat90 pic.twitter.com/6iprDy0C3j  The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) April 20, 2016

8  The Duke of Yorks position in line to the throne after the babys arrival. Andrew was born second in line in 1960.

34  Harrys age.

37  Meghans age.

41  Royal births are celebrated with a 41-gun salute.

7,500  Cost of a one night stay and delivery package at the private Lindo Wing, where Prince George and his siblings were born, including a suite of two rooms, but excluding consultants fees.

47.4 million  The amount the Queen received from the taxpayer via the Sovereign Grant in 2017-2018  69p for each person in the country.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are expecting a baby in spring 2019, Kensington Palace has announced.

The newly-wed couple arrived in Sydney on Monday ahead of a 16-day tour which will take in Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and Tonga.

In a statement, Kensington Palace said: Their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are very pleased to announce that The Duchess of Sussex is expecting a baby in the Spring of 2019.

Their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are very pleased to announce that The Duchess of Sussex is expecting a baby in the Spring of 2019. pic.twitter.com/Ut9C0RagLk  The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (@KensingtonRoyal) October 15, 2018

Their Royal Highnesses have appreciated all of the support they have received from people around the world since their wedding in May and are delighted to be able to share this happy news with the public.

Harry and Meghan were wed at Windsor Castle in May and the news was announced on the eve of their first tour outside the UK and Ireland.

The Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh, the Prince of Wales, the Duchess of Cornwall and Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are said to be delighted for the couple.
RUC officers were not complicit in the murder of a colleague at a Belfast ice cream parlour, the Police Ombudsman has said.

Constable John Larmour was shot dead by the IRA in October 1988 at the shop on the Lisburn Road and no-one has ever been prosecuted.

Members of the officers family made allegations implicating Special Branch officers and police informants in the killing.

They drew links with a series of other murders and terrorist incidents over a 17-year period.

Ombudsman Dr Michael Maguire said: We found no evidence to suggest that Special Branch, or any other element within the RUC, aided, abetted, counselled or procured John Larmours murder, nor that they could have prevented it.

Similarly, we found no evidence to support allegations that police failed to charge suspects in the murder or that they protected IRA members from being brought to justice.

The Police Ombudsman Dr Michael Maguire has found no evidence that RUC officers were complicit in the murder of a colleague (Paul Faith/PA)

Investigators interviewed more than 40 witnesses, including retired police officers, considered case papers and forensic files and examined intelligence held by police.

They established that one of the weapons used to kill Constable Larmour was likely to have been originally owned by the RUC.

Dr Maguire said PSNI records did not show to whom it was issued and were unable to establish if it was ever lost or stolen.

Many of the allegations were underpinned by a belief that there was a fraught relationship between Special Branch and Constable Larmour and as a consequence some of its officers became complicit in his murder, the watchdogs office explained.

The ombudsman investigation found evidence of a fractious relationship but said the evidence did not support an allegation that a charge of perverting the course of justice made against Constable Larmour was initiated by police to force him from the force.

The ombudsman also did not substantiate an allegation that Constable Larmour intervened to stop a robbery being carried out by police informants, who officers then sought to protect from justice.
According to the Vietnam Administration of Forestry, the products ran a trade surplus of $5.08 billion in the period, with the surplus for wood and wood products $4.74 billion.



The US is the biggest importer of Vietnams timber goods, with import turnover of $2.7 billion in the first nine months of this year, up 15.8 percent compared to the same period of 2017.

It was followed by Japan with $827 million (up 8.1 percent) and China with $812.6 million (up 3.8 percent).

The Republic of Korea, Australia, Canada and France were also large importers of Vietnamese timber and wood products, with respective import value of $699.2 million , $137 million , $115 million and $90 million.

Vietnam aims to earn $9 billion from exporting forestry products in 2018.

The export turnover of wood and timber products is expected to increase in the rest months of this year in line with consumption habits.

In addition, Vietnam and the European Union (EU) are completing procedures to approve the signing of the voluntary partnership agreement on Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade.

By mid-July 2018, the European Commission approved the content of the agreement and agreed to submit it to the EU Council of Ministers for signing.

The Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has submitted the document to the Government for approval.

Nguyen Ton Quyen, General Secretary of the Association of Vietnam Timber and Forest Product, said the Vietnamese forestry sector is also facing many difficulties, including a shortage of raw materials for production and fierce competition with Chinese firms.

Vietnamnews
The Scottish Health Secretary has been urged to expand menopause clinics across the country.

Currently, five of Scotlands 14 health boards have a dedicated menopause clinic and Labour wants all women across Scotland to have equal access.

The partys health spokeswoman Monica Lennon has written to Health Secretary Jeane Freeman, urging her to address the issue.

The Labour MSP also lodged a motion in parliament calling for immediate action from the government to evaluate and improve menopause care across the NHS.

Ms Lennon said: Menopause is a fact of life and women will experience it differently but wherever you are in Scotland, you should have fast access to advice and treatment if you need it.

Only five health boards in Scotland offer a dedicated menopause clinic  Fife, Grampian, Lothian, Tayside and Dumfries and Galloway  and its unclear what support exists in the rest of the country.

Monica Lennon has urged the Scottish Government to take `immediate action to improve menopause care (Mark Runnacles/PA)

The cross party group on Womens Health that I lead in Parliament held a menopause event where issues around stigma, lack of support from employers and inconsistent advice and support from health services were raised.

Many women will experience menopause at the peak of their working lives, often whilst juggling caring responsibilities, and their health and wellbeing is not being taken seriously enough.

On World Menopause Day, Ive written to the Scottish Government asking it to raise its game to ensure wherever they live, women in Scotland have access to high quality menopause care.

Meanwhile, the menopause at the workplace will be one of the subjects under discussion at the worlds only menopause festival will take place in Perth for the second time, next year.

Organisers the Menopause Cafe, behind the movement of discussions across the UK, announced the festival will be held at Perth Theatre on April 26 and 27, 2019.

A Scottish Government spokesman said: We recognise the impact the menopause has on womens lives and the important role which GPs play in providing high-quality menopause care, with specialist referral when needed.

All healthcare professionals receive appropriate training and education on womens health needs. This training and education is informed by professional organisations and approved and overseen by the respective regulators of each profession.

The delivery of local health services is a matter for each NHS Board to determine.
Theresa May is to call for a robust new EU sanctions regime to deter cyber attacks.

Speaking at the European Council summit in Brussels on Thursday, the Prime Minister will call for a proportionate response to those inflicting harm on the economies and democracies of the EU.

And she will tell fellow leaders it was time to impose costs on all those who seek to attack us, regardless of the means they use to do so.

Mrs Mays call comes shortly after the exposure of four suspected spies from Russias GRU military intelligence agency attempting to hack into the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in The Hague.

And it comes amid growing concern at Russias use of internet troll factories to disrupt elections and foment divisions within Western countries.

EU foreign ministers on Monday agreed a new sanctions regime on chemical weapons, tabled by the UK and France in the wake of poison attacks in Salisbury and Syria.

Now Mrs May is calling for the EU to go further and introduce similar sanctions for cyber attacks.

Individual efforts to protect ourselves, and to call out irresponsible behaviour, are not enough, she is expected to say.

Malign cyber activity causes harm to our economies, and undermines our democracies. As well as protecting ourselves against attack, we must impose proportionate consequences on those who would do us harm.

We should accelerate work on EU restrictive measures to respond to and deter cyber attacks, including a robust sanctions regime.

I believe that we have an opportunity to show our collective political leadership.

Theresa May arrives in Brussels for the European Council summit (European Commission Audiovisual Services)

We have demonstrated significant steps forward against other challenging threats. And should today make clear that malicious cyber activities are no different; we will impose costs on all those who seek to attack us, regardless of the means they use to do so.

Mrs May is expected to argue that online attacks have real-life consequences for the security and prosperity of our nations.

I strongly believe that malicious actors too must face the real consequences of their actions, she will say. The UK stands ready to share its experience of work on cyber attacks to support the development of an effective regime.

Mrs May will say that the attempted hacking of the OPCW earlier this year was a stark example of the very real threats that we face but also a clear example of where these attacks can be prevented.
A new report suggests the Scottish economy is in a strong place despite increasing concerns over the UKs post-Brexit future.

A survey by the Scottish Chambers of Commerce found robust financial results across the sectors, although reported declining optimism amongst firms in the third quarter at 21%  up from 15% in the previous period.

Investment expectations for the future are also slowing with the construction, business services, manufacturing and tourism sectors all reporting declining investment levels.

Despite this, 43% of firms surveyed still reported increased overall revenue, with only 17% reporting a decrease.

The manufacturing sector posted its first negative result for optimism and business confidence since 2016, despite a reasonably strong set of financial results, with the rising cost of raw materials cited as a growing pressure.

Neil Amner of Anderson Strathern and chair of the Scottish Chambers of Commerce Economic Advisory Group, welcomed the findings.

Brexit has caused uncertainty across the UK economy (Jane Barlow/PA)

He said: Our survey results for the third quarter of 2018 suggest that the Scottish economy continues to be resilient, but firms are becoming cautious as uncertainty grows around the future trading environment with the European Union.

Findings published by the group indicated 62% of firms across the UK have not conducted a Brexit-related risk assessment.

This figure is higher in Scotland, at 67% of surveyed firms.

It was reported 21% of firms across the UK intend to cut investment levels if a no-deal scenario comes to pass.

Its difficult for firms, especially smaller businesses, to prepare without clarity on future arrangements. It is critical that the UK Government steps up to the plate to provide the certainty that business needs, said Mr Amner.

Business communities need to see the UK Government working constructively with the whole of the UK and our EU partners to deliver certainty for business.

Professor Graeme Roy, director at the University of Strathclydes Fraser of Allander Institute, added: This survey is further clear evidence of the importance of securing a smooth Brexit transition to protect Scotlands economy.

Whether you agree or disagree with the decision to leave the EU, it is essential that we have an orderly transition.

Crashing out of the EU in March next year threatens to severely impact on businesses right across the Scottish economy.
An economist has said the Scottish Government may have underestimated healthcare funding needs by more than 400 million.

Economist John McLaren criticised the governments recent paper on its medium-term financial framework for health and social care, for what he claims is a lack of clarity.

He raised concerns over untenable discrepancies between the governments estimates of its future funding needs for healthcare and those detailed in an independent assessment for the healthcare system in England.

The report states: The best like-for-like comparison suggests that the Scottish Government estimate is for around 3.5% annual, cash terms, funding needs growth over the next five years, as compared to around 6.7% estimated for England.

Such a discrepancy seems untenable. The funding implications differ by over 400 million a year, moving from an extra 455 million being needed at 3.5%, to over 870 million being needed at 7%.

His analysis here is based on a modernisation option for England, which he claims is the best fit for the Scottish aspirations for improvement.

An economist has claimed forecast funding for healthcare in Scotland may be underestimated (Jane Barlow/PA)

Mr McLaren also cast doubt on the forecast efficiency savings in the Scottish Government paper of 1.3%, above what he claims is the best comparison of 0.8% in the English analysis.

However, in this analysis he uses the status quo option for England rather than modernisation, which would put both countries roughly equal at a projected 1.4% for England.

He said: The Scottish Governments recently published medium term financial plans for health and social care do not allow for a clear picture to emerge of future funding needs.

This confusingly presented document appears to suggest that Scottish funding needs in this area are considerably below those estimated for England.

It is difficult to see why this would be the case.

In addition, projected efficiency savings are anticipated to be higher for Scotland than for the UK and heighten the degree of over-optimism that seems to pervade the report.

Much more clarity is needed in this vital area of government funding as well as further analysis than has hitherto been undertaken.

Scottish Labours health spokeswoman Monica Lennon said: This report should be taken seriously by the SNP government.

If such a gap exists, it would raise serious concerns about the funding of our NHS.

The SNP must ensure that the health service has the resources it needs to help staff deliver the care patients deserve.

A Scottish Government spokesman said: Our health spending per head is over 7% higher than the UK as a whole  amounting to over 850 million more spending on health services for Scotland.

Our financial framework, which has been welcomed across the service and by independent experts, outlines both investment in and reform of our health and social care sector.
A new Bill intended to assist senior civil servants who have been left to take decisions in Northern Ireland must ease UK disparity in healthcare workers pay, a trade union has said.

Northern Ireland Secretary Karen Bradley introduced the new Bill to the House of Commons on Thursday.

The Northern Ireland (Executive Formation and Exercise of Functions) Bill is intended to encourage political parties to agree a return to powersharing government.

It also offers guidance to senior civil servants at Northern Ireland departments who have been left to make decisions in the absence of ministers.

The region has been without devolved government since January 2017 following a breakdown of relations between the DUP and Sinn Fein.

Trade union Unite has welcomed the legislation and said it should open the door to movement on healthcare workers pay.

The region has been without devolved government since January 2017 (Lynne Cameron/PA)

Unite regional officer Kevin McAdam said Northern Irelands healthcare workers have been left behind the rest of the UK.

As a direct result of the absence of a functioning Northern Ireland Executive, healthcare workers here have been denied the pay increase that has been agreed and extended to workers in all other parts of the United Kingdom, he said.

NHS workers in England, Scotland and Wales voted to accept a three-year pay deal tied to changes in their terms and conditions. This pay deal was funded by HM Treasury to the tune of 4.2 billion.

Unfortunately political failure in Northern Ireland has left the corresponding funding here tied up. Healthcare workers know the money is waiting for them but cant receive it.

In this context, Unite welcomes this legislation which offers some hope that the logjam on NHS pay can be broken.

We call on the Permanent Secretary for the Department of Health, Richard Pengelly, to open negotiations with the trade unions on pay immediately now that he has the authority to make this decision.
Irish premier Leo Varadkar has warned that businesses in the United Kingdom will soon make decisions that bite after admitting that reaching a Brexit deal could roll into the new year.

The Taoiseach said that while politicians and negotiators can make last-minute decisions on Britains withdrawal deal, firms are already making plans in preparation for Brexit.

While the two-day European Council summit was billed as the deadline for signing off a deal between the European Union and the UK, Brexit negotiating teams are now looking towards the December summit and perhaps beyond to reaching an agreement.

When asked if January was a likely month for a deal, Mr Varadkar admitted he did not know.

There is another summit in December, I really hope we can have it done in November, and if we dont then we will do it in December, but to be honest I just dont know, I really think its in everyones interest that we get an agreement as soon as possible, he said.

Politicians may be able to make late, last night decisions in rooms in the new year or in December but businesses are going to make plans long before that.

Leo Varadkar and Prime Minister Theresa May held a bilateral meeting (Taoiseach Government/PA)

Business, banks, employers, airlines will start making decisions and they will start making decisions that bite, particularly in the United Kingdom but also in Ireland and other places and I think its in the interests of all of our citizens that the politicians and officials get on with this and get it done as soon as possible.

In a press conference at the end of the summit, Mr Varadkar said some progress has been made in the last couple of weeks but said there are still big gaps in terms of the future relationship between the EU and the UK and the backstop.

According to Mr Varadkar, British Prime Minister Theresa May did not attempt to row back on her commitment to the backstop during their bilateral meeting on Wednesday.

The Democratic Unionists, however, have threatened consequences if the British government does anything which could undermine the constitutional integrity of the UK.

It is adamant it will not agree to anything which results in imposition of customs or trade checks between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK, known as a border in the Irish Sea.

Mrs May relies on her DUP allies 10 MPs to prop up her minority government in key votes and there have been suggestions the Northern Irish party could vote against the Budget.

Mr Varadkar told reporters on Thursday that while there was a political context between the DUP and the Conservatives, the Brexit negotiations were between the UK and the EU, and not political parties.

He added: I certainly understand where they (DUP) are coming from. I understand their position, which is that they dont want there to be any differences between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.

I suppose where Im coming from is a slightly different position, in that we have the Good Friday Agreement and if you think about the Good Friday Agreement there are three basic philosophical principles.

He also said there would be huge difficulties within the EU 27 member states to consider making the backstop UK-wide, adding that the EU is willing to make exceptions to treat Northern Ireland as a special case because of its difficult history and unique geography.

He added: It will have a land border with the European Union which is not a land border and so allowances can be made by the European Union for Northern Ireland.

I would feel very strongly about this as well as a European as well as an Irishman, you couldnt a situation whereby the UK had access to the single market which is our market and at the same time was able to undercut us in terms of standards whether it was environmental standards, labour laws, state aid competition and I dont think any country or any union would be asked to accept that.

The Fine Gael leader said that the EU acknowledges the difficulties which Mrs May faces in securing a deal that she can get through Westminster, adding that the EU wants to help her.

We know how divided British politics is at the moment, not just the Government, and the Government party but also Parliament itself.

But we also have to bear in mind the other side of that equation  any agreement also has to be ratified by the European Parliament.

And the European Parliament would not or should not approve a deal that undermines the single market and doesnt give Ireland what we need in relation to the backstop.
Irelands premier has warned there is a real risk of a return to violence in Ireland if a hard border returns.

Leo Varadkar was speaking after he used a newspaper article on an IRA bombing of a customs post as a prop to emphasise the importance of the Irish border issue to EU leaders.

Mr Varadkar brought in a copy of Wednesdays Irish Times, which featured the story of the blast which killed nine people in August 1972, to a summit dinner on Wednesday evening.

Four customs officials, two lorry drivers and three IRA men died in the explosion at Newry customs clearing station in Co Down.

Mr Varadkar said: I just wanted to make sure that there was no sense in the room that in any way anybody in Ireland or in the Irish government was exaggerating the real risk of a return to violence in Ireland.

I pointed out as well that we have gone now for nearly two years without a functioning Executive and Assembly in Northern Ireland.

The two parties representing the two communities in Northern Ireland have been unable to come together to form a coalition government, which they have been able to do for most of the last 20 years.

I met both leaders of the two main parties and they were both in agreement that the uncertainty around Brexit was one of the major reasons why they havent been able to form an Executive, so we can see the uncertainty of Brexit is already having an impact, if we were to have a hard Brexit you can imagine the effects that could potentially follow.

He described the article as a useful prop to demonstrate to all the European leaders the extent to which the concerns about the re-emergence of a hard border and the possibility of a return to violence are very real.

The family of one of the lorry drivers killed said they feared Brexit could spark renewed violence along the border.

Jack McCann, from Co Monaghan, died in the explosion, which was the worst attack on a Northern Ireland customs post during the Troubles.

Mr McCanns daughter Mary Casey, who was 21 when her father died, spoke of her fear of border custom posts returning in the wake of a no-deal Brexit.

She told the newspaper that she believes there will be a hard border.

Leo Varadkar and Theresa May (Irish government/PA)

I dont know how else it is going to work, to be honest. It would be scary. I imagine it is going back to the way it was.

She made the comments ahead of a two-day European Council summit in Brussels where EU leaders are discussing the Irish border issue.

Four customs officials were killed when the bomb exploded prematurely, including Frank Quinn, Patrick Murphy, Michael Joseph Gillesse and Marshall Lawrence.

The three IRA members  Noel Madden, Patrick Hughes and Oliver Rowntree, all from Newry  were also killed.

The two lorry drivers who were killed were waiting for customs clearance when the IRA men entered the building and ordered everyone to leave.

Mrs Casey spoke of how young people may react to a hard border and Brexit.

An awful lot of people around here wouldnt know, she told the Irish Times.

You see if Brexit brings the violence back, they will be younger and they will have no fear because they wont remember.

Mr Quinns brother Artie also spoke of his fears of the possible Brexit outcome.

I would have concerns that the symbolism of checkpoints, queues and lorries having to wait to get checked out  the symbolism of division and disruption  that would not be desirable, he said.

It would bring back memories of a time before, when there was that visible division, and nobody wants to see that again.

If you take a straw poll around Newry, no-one wants to see a return to that kind of violence no matter how romanticised it may be in the eyes of some. Only a minority would go to those lengths.
A high-profile Tory MP has branded the Government a shit show and questioned whether the party still shares his values and ethos.

Ex-British Army officer Johnny Mercer, who was only elected in 2015, said he would not have run in Plymouth Moor View if the situation was like it is now.

In an interview with The House magazine, he warned that if Tory internecine rows over Brexit let in Jeremy Corbyn I dont think wed be forgiven for a generation and we wouldnt deserve to be.

The 37-year-old father of two said that with hindsight his pre-MP self wouldnt vote, adding: Theres no doubt about it that my set of values and ethos, I was comfortable that it was aligned with the Conservative Party.

Im not as comfortable that thats the case any more.

Mr Mercer is an Afghan veteran who served with 29 Commando, part of the Royal Artillery, before becoming an MP.

He took his Devon seat from Labour in 2015 and increased his majority to more than 5,000 last year, but warned the party was being led by technocrats and managers who were exposing it to ridicule over Brexit.

Since being elected he has joined the Defence Select Committee and campaigned for veterans, including those with mental health problems and others facing prosecution for alleged crimes during the Troubles.

He gained notoriety and column inches after being elected when it emerged he had appeared in a shower gel advertisement, in which he was shown soaping himself while half naked.

It is not the first time Mr Mercer has criticised the Conservatives from within.

In November he told the Telegraph the party still seems punch-drunk and was in danger of losing credibility after the snap general election in 2017 which saw the Tories lose their majority in Westminster.

Johnny Mercer campaigning with Theresa May before the 2017 general election (Dylan Martinez/PA)

The Remain supporter, who describes himself as being centre-right, told The House that Theresa Mays Chequers deal was your classic professional politicians answer that pleases no one.

People who pay our wages and vote for us expect us to make decisions and get on with government, not be fixated on us retaining our position, he added, warning that the party had lost this ability to fight, to scrap for what we believe in.

He added: The party will never really change until you have somebody who is leading the party who has won a seat and knows what its like to go out every weekend and advocate for what you just voted for that week.

I sat down with a colleague the other day and I was stunned when [she] told me she had never been canvassing.

A lot of these candidates, these safe seats come up and they just bounce around one to the other. It becomes something I dont really recognise.
To take on the BJP in the upcoming Assembly polls to three states and the 2019 general elections, Congress president Rahul Gandhi might have become a janeudhari and started visiting temples on the double, but the senior leaders of the grand old party are derailing his soft Hindutva approach by making controversial remarks one after the other.

These statements may alienate the Hindu voters, who the Congress is trying to wrestle from the BJP.

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi offered prayers at Dwarkadhish Temple in Gujarat to kick off a three-day Navsarjan Yatra. (Photo: Twitter)

Latest in the list is Congress senior leader and Rajya Sabha MP Ghulam Nabi Azad. He stoked a controversy by saying that Hindu leaders don't call him for campaigning anymore because of the fear of losing votes. The former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister made this statement while addressing a gathering of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) alumni in Lucknow.

Earlier Congress senior leader and MP from Trivandrum Shashi Tharoor embarrassed the party by saying that Hindus will never want to build a temple at a place where another religious site has been destroyed. Distancing itself from Tharoor, the top leadership said that he has given this statement in his personal capacity and what he said is not the official version of the party.

The BJP was quick to corner the soft Hindutva approach adopted by Rahul Gandhi. BJP leaders accused the Congress party of insulting the Hindus.

The developments come at a time when Rahul Gandhi has completed a visit to Kamtanath temple in Chitrakoot and Pitambara Peeth at Datia in Madhya Pradesh.

During a recent visit to his parliamentary constituency Amethi, the Congress chief was welcomed by a group of kanwariyas, who called him Shiv bhakt for completing the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra.

In order to peddle its soft Hindutva image without any hindrance, former Madhya Pradesh CM and senior politician Digvijaya Singh has been completely sidelined from campaigns because he has in the past raised contentious issues like Hindu terror.

However, with the recent alleged anti-Hindu remarks made by senior party leaders and the absence of a clear stand on the Ram Mandir issue, the Congress may find it very difficult to convince the Hindu voters who are largely supporters of BJP, a party with a hardcore Hindutva ideology.

The Ram temple issue is back in the limelight with full vigour with the Assembly elections to Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan drawing close and the big battle of 2019 set to start next year.

Many believe that the Congress Hindutva pitch could anger the minority communities. (File Photo: PTI)

RSS chief Mohan Bhagwats demand for a legislation to build the Ram temple, which has found strong support from BJP leaders, has sent a message across the nation that the Ayodhya issue is going to be a top priority. As opposed to this, apart from Rahul Gandhi's visit to temples, the Congress party has failed to take a strong stand on any issue concerning the Hindu community.

Kapil Sibal , a senior Congress leader and renowned lawyer has already been accused of representing Sunni Waqf Board in the Ayodhya case and allegedly trying to to delay the hearing in Supreme Court.

It is thus very important for the Congress to speak up on the Ram Mandir issue and to beat the BJP at its own game.

On the flip side, many believe that the Congress Hindutva pitch could anger the minority communities which have largely supported the party on the national stage. The Congress thus needs to tread with caution if it wants to avoid a significant harm to its electoral prospects.

Also read: Dussehra speech: Why Mohan Bhagwat is back to raking up mandir, not vikas, ahead of 2019 general elections
afp n

The European Union and Singapore signed a landmark trade deal on Friday on the sidelines of a Europe-Asia summit that Brussels hopes can be a rebuke to protectionism in Washington.

Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong signed the accord in Brussels with European Council President Donald Tusk, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, and Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, whose country currently holds the EU Presidency.

Hailing the Singapore agreement, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said we can make it clear that the world is about creating win-win situations.

These deals make it clear that what benefits one, can also benefit the other, she added as she arrived for an EU-Asia summit where the deal was signed, in a tacit criticism of US President Donald Trump.

The text still needs to be validated by the European Parliament before it enters into force in 2019.

The leaders also signed of the EU-Singapore Investment Protection Agreement, the more controversial aspect of the package as it sets up a special court to decide business conflicts.

After a successful battle spearheaded by environmental activists in Europe, this aspect of the deal must now face ratification by the EUs 28 member states, a process that could take months or years.

It is a very important stepping stone, this is the most ambitious agreement we have ever made with a developing country so it sets the standard ... For whatever we do in the region, EU Trade Commission Cecilia Malmstrom said on Wednesday.

What we have with Singapore is ... Paving the way for a future region-to-region agreement, Malmstrom added.

The deal with Singapore came after the EU suspended effort to strike a bloc deal with the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 2009 amid widespread disagreements, including European concerns over Myanmars human rights record.

The EU has instead pursued deals with individual ASEAN countries and concluded talks in 2015 with Vietnam.
The competition is jointly held by the citys Department of Culture and Sports, the Vietnam Association of Photographic Artists (VAPA), the Department of Fine Arts, Photography and Exhibition (APE), and the Hanoi Association of Photographic Artists.



Photos must capture the beauty of Hanoi and Hanoians and convey messages themed around either Thang Long, Hanoi a thousand years of culture, the Heroic Capital, the city for peace, Hanoi: integration and development, or Hanoi-Green-Clean-Beautiful.

Both amateur and professional photographers in Vietnam and overseas are eligible to submit their works. Each contestant is allowed to send a maximum of two entries which can include either a single photo or a collection of five to eight photos

The organisers will accept submissions on the websites www.tuhaohanoi.com or www.hanoiaspride.com from November 1, 2018 to June 30, 2019.

The award ceremony and exhibition of winning photos will take place in downtown Hanoi in October next year.

Vietnamnews
Mohit Kandhari n

Taking advantage of the absence of mainstream political parties  National Conference and the Peoples Democratic Party  from the poll arena, the BJP on Saturday reaped a bumper crop by winning 97 wards for the first time in urban local bodies election at the grass roots level in Kashmir valley. Twenty-two BJP candidates won in a straight contest, while 75 candidates won unopposed in the absence of opposition. Out of 132 wards spread across four terrorism-infested South Kashmir districts, BJP candidates emerged victorious in 53 wards.

On the other hand, the Congress won 153 wards across Kashmir Valley, 74 in a straight contest and 79 candidates won unopposed, 23 from Budgam and 34 from Anantnag.

In Jammu, the BJP won Jammu Municipal corporation (JMC) with a thumping majority. The BJP won 43 seats in a 75-member House leaving behind its arch rival Congress at a paltry tally of 14 seats. A total number of 18 seats were won by the rebel candidates, mostly from the BJP too.

The BJP, however, failed to open its account in the Ladakh region. Here, the Congress won all the 13 seats in the Ladakh Municipal Committee and five seats in Kargil. Six seats in the region were captured by the Independent candidates. The BJP, however, failed to replicate its performance in the hilly districts of Doda, Ramban and Kishtwar. The party won 14 out of 70 wards in these three districts. In Udhampur, the party won 14 out of 41 wards.

In the overall tally the BJP won 212 wards out of 520 wards across Jammu province while the Congress won 110 seats. Hundred eighty-five seats were won by the Independent candidates while 13 seats went to the National Panthers Party (NPP).

While celebrating the victory of the party here at the State BJP headquarters, State BJP chief Ravinder Raina told reporters, "People of Jammu & Kashmir voted for BJP's landslide victory at the grassroots level in these polls".

He also credited the BJP's grand victory to the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, party chief Amit Shah and thousands of party workers on ground zero.

He said under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi BJP's flag will fly high from Lal Chowk to Lal Qila in New Delhi.

Reacting to the BJP's performance in the municipal polls, BJP national general secretary Ram Madhav tweeted, "The BJP recaptured Jammu corporation winning 43/75 seats. Also secured majority in 14 Municipal bodies in Jammu region. Congrats to State president Ravinder Raina and team Jammu BJP".

In another tweet, he listed the BJP performance in Kashmir Valley. "The BJP won in 97 wards in Kashmir Valley for the first time. Secured maximum wins in Baramulla (25), Anantnag (29) and Shopian (12)", Madhav tweeted.

The Congress won a thumping majority in Dooru municipal committee, the stronghold of JKPCC chief GA Mir. The party bagged 14 of the 17 seats, while the BJP managed to win two seats. One seat remained vacant.

The Congress also won in Kokernag municipal committee, bagging six of the eight seats.

In Chrar-e-Sharief, the Congress won 11 of the 13 seats, while the remaining two seats were vacant. In Chadoora too, the party won six of the eight seats, while there was no candidate for the other five seats. Independents supported by former Minister and Peoples Conference chief Sajad Gani Lone won all the 13 seats in the Handwara municipal committee polls in Kupwara. Among the prominent winners was Junaid Azim Mattu who left the regional National Conference (NC) after he disagreed with the poll boycott decision by the NC.

Prominent among the losers was Asifa Tariq Karra, the wife of senior Congress leader Tariq Hameed Karra.

In Jammu province, the BJP won 34 wards out of 80 in Kathua district, 23 wards out of 63 in Rajouri, 13 out of 26 in Reasi, 49 wards out of 79 across seven municipal committees of Akhnoor, RSPura, Bisnah, Jourian, Arnia, Khour, Gho Manasa in Jammu district. The party workers celebrated party victory by bursting crackers and distributing sweets in the party office.
The CBI has booked its own Special Director Rakesh Asthana for accepting Rs 2 crore bribe to sabotage the probe against controversial meat exporter Moin Qureshi.

The CBIs Anti-Corruption Unit has arrested one Manoj Kumar, the middleman who gave money to settle the case on October 16. Senior CBI officials confirmed this unprecedented development and said the FIR was registered against Asthana on October 15 and Manoj has confessed and recorded his statement before a Magistrate about the bribe.

Manoj admitted to the CBI that he was paying bribe to Asthana on behalf of Qureshi, who is facing many cases from the CBI. The FIR also said RAWs second senior most officer Samant Kumar Goel, was part of the extortion gang in the CBI and tried to facilitate closing of the case against Qureshi.

Currently, Goel, a 1984 batch IPS officer from Punjab cadre, is not made an accused in the FIR, but his role in facilitating bribe to Asthana has been mentioned. Sources said that CBI team has recorded his statement and will soon add his name as an accused in the FIR.

Goel currently holds the rank of Additional Secretary in RaW and looks after West Asia affairs. Goel and Querishi used to meet in Dubai frequently.

It is understood that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and National Security Adviser Ajit Doval were briefed about the developments soon after the CBIs special wing had intercepted the calls of Manoj. CBI Director Alok Verma has moved files to the PMO recommending the suspension of Asthana. RAW chief AK Dhasmana too has moved files regarding the suspension of Goel from service.

Asthana is facing probes in six cases by the CBI, including accepting bribes from controversial Sandesara Group, and jailed journalist-cum-fixer Upendra Rai. The CBI has stated that Asthana was facing probes over these cases and that was the reason he filed cases to CVC against Director Alok Verma and Additional Director AK Sharma.
Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Saturday set a four-week deadline for the completion of enquiry by the Jalandhar Divisional Commissioner into the tragic train accident in Amritsar.

Within hours, the Punjab Home Department issued a notification directing Divisional Commissioner, Jalandhar, Baldeo Purushartha, to conduct an enquiry into the Amritsar tragedy.

The enquiry has been authorised to conduct a thorough probe into the unfortunate incident and to examine acts of omission and commission by an individual or agency, if any, and accordingly fix responsibility. The magisterial enquiry has also been asked to suggest remedial measures to ensure that such unfortunate incident do not reoccur.

Talking to reporters after reviewing the situation on the ground and meeting the injured in three hospitals, besides visiting the spot where the tragedy had occurred, Capt Amarinder said action will be taken against those responsible for the tragedy once the enquiry report comes. The probe will cover all aspects of the tragedy, he added.

At the same time, the Chief Minister urged all political parties to rise above petty politicking to join hands to mitigate the sufferings of the victims and their families.

Asked if there were any lapses on the part of the Railways, the Chief Minister said the probe will look into the matter, and will ascertain whether approvals for holding the function were given or not.

However, this was not the time to play political games on the issue, said the Chief Minister, calling upon all to join hands with the Government to provide relief to the victims.

The 3-member Crisis Management Group, headed by Health Minister Brahm Mohindra, will camp in Amritsar as long as they are needed to monitor and assist in the relief operations, said the Chief Minister.

The Chief Minister said he was at the airport, ready to leave for Tel Aviv, when he heard of the terrible tragedy and had to rush back after postponing his Israel visit when asked about the delay in visiting the site of tragedy.

Capt Amarinder announced that mourning will continue in Amritsar district till Monday and the national flag will fly at half mast and all educational institutions will remain closed in this period.

He later visited Amandeep Hospital, Civil Hospital Amritsar and Guru Nanak Dev Hospital, where he met the injured and directed the doctors to provide the best possible medical treatment. The State Government has already announced free treatment for the injured at all Government and private hospitals in the district, besides Rs 5 lakh as compensation to the families of those killed in the accident that took place during Dussehra celebrations.

In another directive, Capt Amarinder asked Home Secretary NS Kalsi to prepare detailed guidelines for permission to hold religious and social congregations to prevent such tragedies.

The guidelines should clearly define the rules and regulations for holding such events or gatherings in any part of the State on any occasion, as per the directives issued by the Chief Minister.

The Chief Minister also asked the Home Secretary to issue an immediate advisory for sale and storage of crackers for the upcoming Diwali festival, to ensure strict adherence to the safety rules and guidelines for the same.

While the culpability in the tragic incident would be fixed, it was imperative to ensure that such an incident is not repeated, he said.
The Congress party workers have came out openly against what they call as Parachute candidate field by the party for the Arang Assembly seat which goes to polls in second phase of polling in the State.

On Saturday, when AICC In-charge for Chhattisgarh , P L Punia arrived from New Delhi in Raipur , the party workers from Arang staged protest and raised slogans against the party for giving poll ticket to State Congress Working President Shiv Dehriya from Arang seat.

The protesting workers said that those serving the party for years with dedication are being denied party ticket in the name of introducing candidates from outside. They should be given chance to be in election fray.

Shiv Dehriya has been active in Arang assembly constituency for past few days, which has led to the anger among the party workers who feared that the local party leaders would be denied ticket once again.

The Arang party workers proposed three candidates mainly Narayan Kurrey, Piyush Kosare and Vedram Manhar and warned that if party brings parachute candidates', then it may face backlash.

As per party insiders, the Arang Congress workers are all supporters of named candidates and they are not in favour of fielding any candidate from outside their area.

Meanwhile, a similar situation also arose at the Rajiv Bhawan, the State Congress headquarters , after the leaders reached the office, where the Arang region Congress workers and leaders again staged demonstration after which the senior leaders held talks and pacified them.

AICC In-charge for Chhattisgarh, P L Punia having reached Raipur for the preparation of Rahul Gandhi visit to state, said that everyone has the right to free expression and can use it at anytime.

At present, no discussion has taken place for selection of candidate for Arang constituency. Soon, the list of candidates of Congress party would be released for first phase of polling.

On Ajit Jogis U-turn not to contest polls , he said that people understand whatever is happening.
Chief Minister Raghubar Das offered prayer at Deori Mata Temple for the happiness and prosperity of 3.25 crore people of Jharkhand on October 18. During his visit to the historic Temple located in Tamar in Ranchi district, the CM said that I have prayed for the prosperity of the State and with the grace of God, the State government will eliminate the poverty, bringing downtrodden into mainstream. May the light of knowledge spread on each one of us and provide us strength to serve the poor, the CM said.

The Chief Minister on the occasion remembered the late Shahdev Munda. Notably, late Sahadev Munda family has done the work of enriching Indias cultural heritage by donating their land for setting up the temple. The CM said that the statue of late Shahdev Munda will be installed on this premises so that people can take inspiration from them. The Chief Minister also expressed his gratitude towards late Sahadev Mundas wife Sumitra Devi and interacted with the family members.
Haryana Chief Minister, Manohar Lal on Saturday appealed to the representatives and office-bearers of Haryana Roadways Employees Unions to join their duty immediately keeping in view the festival season and also the problems being faced by the general public.

Emphasising that the Government is always ready to hold discussions with them, he appealed to all the Unions office-bearers to come to the office of Director General, State Transport, Haryana located on second floor, 30-bays building, Sector 17-B, Chandigarh at 12 noon on October 21 for discussion with the Director General and officers of the department.

"Their genuine demands would be considered sympathetically and action would be taken to fulfill them," a statement issued by the state government said.

The statement said that the continuous five days strike by Haryana Roadways employees since October 16 has caused inconvenience to the general public in their daily routine work. "It is our Constitutional and moral responsibility that any of our acts should not create problem for the general public. In festival season, on not getting cheap, convenient and reliable travel facility by the Haryana State Transport, public resentment is understandable," the statement added.
Many panic-stricken family members of those killed or wounded in the Amritsar train accident searched frantically from one hospital to another to know about the fate of their loved ones as the festive spirit drowned in sorrow and shock following the tragic incident.

At least 59 people were killed Friday evening after a crowd of Dussehra revellers that had spilled onto railway tracks while watching the burning of the Ravana effigy was run over by a train near Joda Phatak in Amritsar.

My son, Jugu, is missing since the train accident. I went to Civil Hospital and Guru Govind Hospital, but I am unable to find him, Sushila, who lives in a nearby area.

Lakhmeet, another person who was looking for his brother-in-law and found him in a hospital, said: I was shocked when I heard about the train accident. I got a call from home that my brother-in-law Sujeet, who went out to watch Dussehra celebrations last evening, had not come back home.

All family members rushed to Guru Govind Hospital, where I was told Sujeet is admitted at Civil Hospital, he said.

Several other distraught family members of those injured or killed in the accident also had to search from one hospital to another to locate their loved ones.

Most people who were mowed down by the speeding train were migrant workers from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

A senior official in the district administration said most migrant workers from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar work in an industrial area at a stones throw away from the accident site and live nearby.

40 of those killed in Amritsar mishap identified 36 bodies cremated

Forty of the 59 people killed in the train accident near here have been identified so far and the bodies of 36 of were cremated, officials said on Saturday.

The bodies of four other persons, who belonged to Uttar Pradesh, have been sent to their home towns by the district administration, an official said.The 36 bodies were cremated in batches at a ground near Shitla Mata Temple here in the presence of officials of the state government and family members of the deceased.

According to officials, the post-mortem examination on 29 bodies has been done.
A review was done by the Union Steel Ministry for preparation of feasibility report for establishing steel plant in YSR Kadapa district in Andhra Pradesh, as envisaged under Andhra Pradesh Reorganization Act, 2014, a NMDC press release informed here on Saturday.

A High-powered Task Force comprising representatives from Central and State Governments, SAIL, RINL, NMDC, MECON and MSTC is working to evolve a plan and prepare a technical report.

MECON has already submitted a draft report. Further it has finalised all that is required for the preparation of technical report and is waiting for data relating to availability of iron ore, which is essential for the preparation of the feasibility report. This data is to be provided by the State Government which is still awaited.

Union Steel Minister, Chaudhary Birender Singh, while reviewing the implementation of major projects related to steel sector on October 12, 2018, instructed MECON to give its technical report to the Task Force immediately without waiting for any other details that is yet to be provided by the State government.

He further instructed that MECON may continuously follow up with the State government to furnish the details of mining leases and availability of iron ore at the earliest so as to enable the Task Force to evaluate the technical report of the project and its feasibility. It was also decided that the Task Force will study the mode of investment for the proposed steel plant as a Public Sector, Private Sector, a Joint Venture or a combination of any or all these.

In the discussion it was stressed that steel plant in YSR Kadapa district of Andhra Pradesh is a very important project for the overall development of that region and all efforts should be made to take the project to its logical end. Further, as per the Reorganization Act, the need for coordinated efforts by all the stakeholders in a time-bound manner was also underscored.
Prohibitory order under section 144 of CrPC has been imposed at Chando village under Chainpur police station where last night a dispute over immersion procession route caused communal clash between two communities there resulting in the burning of 5 auto rickshaws, one tractor, one four wheeler, two bikes and three houses said SP Palamu Indrajeet Mahatha.

DC Palamu Shantanu Kumar Agrahari said  Damages are being assessed and compensation would be paid to the victims. He appealed for amity and understanding between the two communities.

SP Mahatha further clarified  No damage to the wall of the Chando mosque has been done. A khaprail house adjacent to the mosque was set afire . Fire brigade controlled the fire. All holy scriptures are intact there in the mosque. Traces of fire were noticed in the Madrasa close to the mosque there where arson was committed.

The SP added  On the request of the minority community water was made available from our fire brigade to cleanse the floor of the mosque as the community said it would offer its prayer here. Administration has hailed this decision of the community which will further help restore harmony and peace here.

Sources said Muslims have re started their daily namaaz from today itself in the same Chando mosque which the SP confirmed.

Police opened more than half a dozen round of firing at Chando to curb and control the rampaging mob. Six people have been arrested here.

DC Agrahari said peace and harmony broke down here when immersion processionists took an undecided route that led to resistance and protest from the minority community here. DC and SP camped all night here at Chando. Additional forces have been brought in Palamu from Latehar, Lohardagga, Khunti and Ranchi said SP.

Six were hurt. One of the 6 hurt is an unrelated case and has nothing to do with this communal fracas said SP who said  One Satya Narain Singh was driving a tractor on which was seated the idol for immersion. He hurt himself. It might be due to his own rashness in driving. He first hit a wall of a house then broke down a shouchalaya and finally a tree. He got himself badly injured in all this highly impulsive driving. He was admitted in the sadar hospital Daltonganj where he succumbed to his injuries during treatment.
Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah will visit Lucknow on October 24 and hold review meeting with leaders of partys state organisation and the government, including Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

The meeting, slated to begin in the morning hours, is expected to continue till evening of October 24.

Besides Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh senior functionary Krishna Gopal, state BJP chief Mahendra Nath Pandey and general secretary (organisation) Sunil Bansal will attend the meeting.

The performance of the ministers of Yogi Cabinet and sitting BJP MPs are likely to be on top of the agenda of the review meeting.

The turmoil caused in national politics by the recent statement of RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat asking Prime Minister Narendra Modi to bring a legislation in Parliament for clearing the hurdles in construction of Ram temple at Ayodhya will also top the BJP chiefs agenda.

A senior leader of the BJP said here on Saturday that the Wednesday meeting would be crucial and would accelerate preparations for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls in Uttar Pradesh.

Sources said the meeting could also propose to remove some ministers of the Yogi Council of Ministers who were facing corruption charges.

Besides, the BJP brass would give some pep talk to the state brass to improve its performance on law and order front and step up welfare schemes for the poor and the downtrodden.

Meanwhile, a meeting of BJPs state unit was held in Lucknow on Saturday. It was attended by all district chiefs, district in-charges, district convenors and in-charges of Lok Sabha constituencies and other office-bearers.

General secretary (organisation) Sunil Bansal directed the BJP state office-bearers to start preparations for the 2019 Lok Sabha election.

Bansal said that a Run for Unity would be organised in each district on the occasion of the birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel on October 31. He asked party leaders to ensure participation of maximum number of people in the event.

The BJP general secretary (organisation) said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would unveil the 182-metre statue of Sardar Patel in Gujarat on October 31.
He made the commitment at a meeting with residents related to Thu Thiem new urban area, saying after receiving residents consensus, the city Peoples Committee has built policies to ensure their rights.



On behalf of the city Peoples Committee, HCMC chief inspector Nguyen Long Tuyen informed some conclusions of the Government Inspectorate about Thu Thiem new urban area.

According to the conclusions, the citys decision to withdraw 4.3 hectares of land in Quarter 1, Binh An ward is lack of legal basis and not in line with the plan approved by the Prime Minister.

Hence, the city Peoples Committee should have suitable measures to tackle the issue.

Cadastral Survey-Work Company, Cadastral Department, District 2 Peoples Committee and HCMC Peoples Committee are responsible for violations while implementing the project. The city Peoples Committee will strictly implement conclusions by the Government Inspectorate and settle relevant individuals and organizations before November 30 this year.

Chairman Nguyen Thanh Phong said that after inspection conclusions were made, the city has drawn a plan to implement and establish two working groups to build compensation and assistance policy for residents.

The city Peoples Committee has determined 11 problems in need of settlement with ten of these relating to households in the boundary of Thu Thiem new urban area and one concerning households outside the boundary.

The city is urgent to settle these problems before November 30.

Today, we collect opinions about compensation policies for those locating in the 4.3 hectare area to best solve residents rights, he stressed.

Chairman of District 2 Peoples Committee Nguyen Phuoc Hung, who is head of an interagency team set up to settle complaints of Thu Thiem people, said that the number of households locating in the 4.3 hectare area will be determined after the Department of Natural Resource and Environment fix the boundary.

The interagency team proposes land swop according to Article 74, the Land Law 2013. Residents will receive properties with area same with their old places. Three locations with the total area of 18,000 square meters have been chosen to complete infrastructure to swoop for residents land.

The team has also hired consultants to assess residents properties and invite residents to attend to calculate value difference.

Mr. Hung said that, the 4.3 hectares area has about 300 households. Many of these have received compensation and removed to resettlement sites. If they agree to stay in the sites, the city will recalculate the compensation and pay them the deficiency.

Listening to residents, seeking consensus

Attending the reception was 22 out of the total of 30 invited households whose houses are located in the 4.3 hectare area.

Mr. Nguyen Van Thach said that the area outside the boundary of Thu Thiem New Urban Area must be larger than the 4.3 hectares which have been determined in Binh An ward. So the city should make clear this problem to prevent from futher complaints.

In addition, the city has not determined households locating in and outside the boundary and invited only 30 households to the reception, making uninvited ones angy.

In response, chairman Nguyen Thanh Phong said that the city would organize two receptions, one with those in the boundary and one with those outside the boundary. The second one is scheduled in November 2018.

The city is not afraid of meeting residents, he said. The city Peoples Committee must temporarily divide them in two groups to fully listen to their opinions and seek their consensus.

Sharing the same view with Mr. Thach, Mr. Nguyen Van Lung said that ten years ago, city authorized agencies determined that the 4.3 hectares are outside the boundary of Thu Thiem New Urban Area. However residents properties in the area have still been coerced. That has seriously affected their lives. So how damage which the coercive has caused for residents will be solved, he asked.

Some people have concerned that the city will impose polices to them.

In response, chairman Nguyen Thanh Phong affirmed no imposition, saying that he was willing to listen to residents to seek consensus. After relevant sides agree with solutions, the city will organize implementation.

While carrying out the inspection conclusions, the city has been of the consistent view to ensure rights of residents and investors and handle violators.

Some households suggested to return to their old places because the 4.3 hectares have been determined to lay outside the boundary of the new urban area project.

Mr. Phong said that besides the 4.3 hectare area, there are many other areas outside the boundary in Quarter 1, Binh An Ward. The city Peoples Committee will fully report to the Government Inspectorate to solve.

The Government has sent a working group to coordinate with HCMC Government to implement the conclusions because there are problems beyond the citys jurisdiction, he added.

By KIEU PHONG  Translated by Hai Mien
Creepy playing cards unnerve New York state neighbours

Residents of a New York state neighbourhood said they were unnerved to find playing cards in their mailbox as part of an apparent Halloween prank. Neighbors in the Nevins Road area of Henrietta said they have found Joker playing cards in their mailboxes in recent days bearing what appears to be fake blood and the date 10/31  Halloween.

Is it a sign that theyre going to come back on Halloween and do something to my property? To my dog? resident Michelle Meyer told WHEC-TV. I think the intent was to scare people and I dont understand why this was funny. Meyer said he believes at least six neighbours have found similar cards in their mailboxes. It seems small and I want to hope its a prank but you cant assume its a prank, Meyer said. Not anymore. The Monroe County Sheriffs Office is investigating.

(UPI)

Philadelphia building taken over by tentacles

A sculpture installation in South Philadelphia makes it appear as though a building is being attacked by a many-tentacled sea monster. The sculpture at Building 611 in the Philadelphia Navy Yard features more than a dozen inflatable tentacles protruding from the buildings windows, as though a giant sea monster is attempting to escape.

The installation is a partnership between the Navy Yard and art collective Group X. Earlier this year, Group X pitched us on doing this piece, Jennifer Tran, director of Navy Yard marketing and communications, told the Philadelphia Inquirer. Out of all the designs, this one spoke to us because we thought it was really unique. Its never been seen before in Philadelphia. We thought it really pushed the boundaries. The installation is scheduled to last until November 16.

(UPI)

Oink oink, honk honk: Rogue pig goes hog wild in traffic

It was a classic case of a ham on the lam. Police in Maines capital city are looking for the owner of a 50-pound piglet that wore itself out while dodging traffic Saturday evening after presumably escaping. The Portland Press Herald reports Augusta police went door to door looking for the animals owner without any luck. They say the pig is being cared for by a person familiar with farm animals until the owner can be found. The animal was in good condition other than being tired out from running around.

(AP)

Scuba divers compete in underwater pumpkin carving

Scuba divers in the Florida Keys took their Halloween spirit 30 feet below the surface for an underwater pumpkin carving contest. The contest, organised by the Amoray Dive Resort, saw the divers going 30 feet below the surface at the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary to carve sub-aquatic jack-o-lanterns.

Participants said the task was complicated by the fact that their buoyant pumpkins kept trying to float away mid-carve. Brothers Sebastian and Gabriel Gimeno, ages 16 and 14, were declared the winners with their pumpkin carving, which portrayed a dolphin and a half moon. The Gimeno brothers were awarded a return dive trip with Amoray Dive Resort.

(UPI)

Houston couple creates Good Boy beer for dogs

A pair of Houston bar owners who started brewing beer for their ailing canine a few years ago are now selling Good Boy Dog Beer at more than 20 locations. Megan and Steve Long said they learned how to brew beer for dogs, which does not contain alcohol, when their Rottweiler mix, Rocky, started having digestion problems a few years ago. The brews are called beer because we use a lot of the same equipment a brewery does. We just skip the fermentation process, Megan Long told USA Today. She said the beer contains all natural ingredients, including vegetables, meat and turmeric, a spice known to aid digestion in canines.

The Good Boy Dog Beer company now has products available at more than 20 dog-friendly bars and restaurants in the Houston area and they also ship their products in cans. The beer is available in three varieties: IPA lot in the yard, Session...Squirrel! and Mailman Malt Licker.

(UPI)

Willy Wonka pleads guilty to crimes

The leader of a multistate ATM and vehicle burglary ring known as Willy Wonka or the Chocolate Man has pleaded guilty to 60 charges. The Salem News reports that 47-year-old William Willy Wonka Rodriguez pleaded guilty Thursday to his role in crimes in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Connecticut that netted more than $300,000 in property and currency.

The Lawrence man was one of five people arrested in August during a police investigation dubbed Operation Golden Ticket. Rodriguez remains jailed on $500,000 bail pending sentencing November 7 where he faces up to 12 years in prison.

Authorities say the gang wore black clothing and masks, carried police scanners, two-way radios and power tools. They often stole vehicles, which they used to crash into businesses so they could steal ATMs.

(AP)
The island nation has made significant strides after the LTTEs reign of terror ended in 2009. And for that, the country is obliged to former Lieutenant Colonel in Sri Lankan Army, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, also the younger brother of former President Mahinda. He tells KUMAR CHELLAPPAN how the US and other Western nations played a key role in the 2015 regime change, and how Sri Lanka will never allow its soil to be used by foreign elements to work against India

Once known as the Pearl of Indian Ocean, Sri Lanka has suffered a series of setbacks due to power play and ethnic crisis, which prompted Pope Francis to describe it as the tear drop in the Indian Ocean. Life in Sri Lanka has undergone a major change from the crisis-ridden period of 1975 to 2009, and the tear drop is slowly but steadily on its way to regain the sobriquet of the pearl. The number of people who lost their lives and property during the period of strife runs into lakhs. Several eminent people, both Sinhala and Tamil, were the victims of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), the dreaded terrorist organisation led by Velupillai Prabhakaran.

The remnants of the LTTE days are still visible in the island nation, as people are yet to recover fully from the reign of kidnappings, murders, and mayhem. When there were no healthy men to fight as suicide bombers and terrorists, the LTTE forcefully took away children above the age of six and groomed them as young warriors. Even girls were not spared in this coercive recruitment drive. Adele, wife of the then LTTE strategist Anton Balasingham, played a key role in this ghastly drive. After the end of the conflict in May 2009, human rights organisations have been on the warpath with the Sri Lankan Government with demands to declare the army commanders and political chiefs, who led the country during the civil war, as criminals and prosecute them. Although, they never mention Adele or other LTTE leaders, who wreaked havoc all over South Asia.

If Sri Lanka is breathing easy and on its way to recovery, its majorly because of one man. No, its not Mahinda Rajapaksa, the then President, who led the nation in obliterating the Tamil Tigers who were fighting for secession from the country and demanding a separate Tamil Eelam. The country is obliged to a low-profile former Lieutenant Colonel in Sri Lankan Army, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, the younger brother of Mahinda.

Till Mahinda became the President in 2005, nobody had heard of Gotabhaya, who had retired from the Army. It was in November 2005 that Mahinda appointed Gotabhaya as the Defence Secretary of Sri Lanka with the mandate to obliterate the LTTE. When he assumed office, the LTTE had emerged as heroes among a section of the global community, who saw in Prabhakaran a combination of Che Guevara (the Argentine Marxist revolutionary), Ho Chi Minh (the Vietnamese revolutionary), and Yasser Arafat (the Palestine Liberation Organization chief). But Prabhakaran was the embodiment of all that represented evil. The LTTE fought on land, water, and air; its activists died to kill. Any voice different from that of Prabhakaran was silenced.

The media blitzkrieg unleashed by the LTTE across the world portrayed the Sinhalese as a cruel, unethical, dictatorial, and racist regime. The LTTE media had stakes in the media (especially in Tamil Nadu), which portrayed the Tigers as heroes. Pictures of Sinhalese and Tamil children butchered by the LTTE, the Muslims slaughtered by them in Batticaloa, and thousands of Buddhist monks, who were massacred by suicide assassins were conveniently buried by the pro-LTTE media, as well as human rights organisations across the globe.

Gotabhaya entered the Defence Ministry headquarters at a time when the morale of the forces was at its lowest. The LTTE had outnumbered and outmaneuvered the Sri Lanka Army and taken possession of the Elephant Pass, the wild and narrow link connecting the mainland with Jaffna in the north. The moment he was appointed as the Defence Secretary with the mandate to finish off the LTTE challenge, we knew that Prabhakarans fate was sealed. The question I asked myself was how long it would take for Gota to give us the results, said Siri Fernando, former corporate honcho and a long- time friend of the Rajapaksas.

Siri recounted the day when he and his journalist wife, Hiranthi, called on Gota to extend Christmas greetings. Gota spent considerable time with us that day and spoke to us about his challenges and strategies to lift the morale of the forces. By the time we came out of the meeting, we were sure that Mahinda had appointed the right person for the job, and the mission would be accomplished, said Siri, who is leading a retired life in Colombo. The 78-year-old also recollected how Gotabhaya entrusted officers with the responsibility of speaking to each soldier and find out the problems they faced in the fight against the Tigers. When Gota took charge, he had to deal with some Commanders who he never saw eye to eye with. But Gota was made of different mettle and the LTTE thoroughly underestimated his abilities, added Siri.

Now Gotabhaya, the soldier, has mellowed down. He doesnt speak much because his actions, looks, expressions, and body language are sufficient to make his colleagues understand what is on his mind. Trained in some of the best military establishments in the world, including the Defence Services Staff College at Wellington, Nilgiri, and the Jungle Warfare School in Assam, Gotabhaya is still passionate about his alma mater.

The Sri Lankan forces crushed the LTTE by May 2009, of course, with active and dynamic help from India. The economy of the island nation had been hit severely because of three decades of terrorism. Mahinda, who led the country in its fight against the LTTE, gave a new direction to the economy and development once the civil war came to an end. Massive infrastructure development to make Sri Lanka an El Dorado began in right earnest. The economy gathered pace as the tourism industry flourished in an unprecedented manner. An annual conclave called the Defence Seminar was organised by the Sri Lankan Army to share with friendly nations its experiences in fighting terrorism and the vast knowledge gained by it in counter-insurgency operations. Colombo turned out to be a hub of disseminating skill and knowledge in national development, prosperity, and security in a regional and global context.

But in spite of the excellent leadership he provided to the country in its fight against secessionism, terrorism, and isolation by some of the international bodies, Mahinda lost the 2015 Presidential Elections. He decided to hold early elections to reap the benefits of his good reputation and the image he had gained fighting terrorists and making the country a haven of peace. But he lost, a la Winston Churchill, who was rejected by the people of the United Kingdom in the 1945 General Election. It was the leadership of Churchill which led the Allies to a great victory in World War II, defeating the then evils that included Hitler and Mussolini. (It is another thing that Churchill was called out of retirement in 1951 by the same British people and he served them as the Prime Minister till 1955).

Dont ask me anything about national politics. I am not in politics and wont be able to tell you anything about the recent scenario, were the words with which Gotabhaya welcomed this writer to his house. Tell me about my friend Dr Subramanian Swamy. He is the best friend Sri Lanka has in India. How is he? asked Gota as we settled into his beautifully arranged office-cum-library.

More than the present-day politics in Sri Lanka, what was haunting the mind was the reason behind Mahindas defeat in the 2015 polls. It is something that has to be explained in detail. The result of that election is also an experience we gained in our strides to progress and prosperity, said Gotabhaya before revealing the hitherto untold story. The reasons for Mahindas defeat are as important as the lessons gained by the outside world from the victories registered by the Sri Lankan Army in its war against the LTTE and holds good for all politicians, irrespective of the region, nation, continent, and the part of the world they belong to.

According to Gotabhaya, Mahinda declared the elections well in advance because he was confident of winning. It was a winnable election because of a number of factors. Once the LTTE was wiped out, the country lost no time in ushering in an era of development. Economy was progressing and was in a good condition. The entire country was witnessing developmental activities on a fast rate. We were doing quite well in agriculture; farmers were getting good prices for their crops and were economically well off. All over the country, there was a feel good factor and the general impression was that it was a winnable time and thus the election, explained Gotabhaya.

He pointed out that though there were various forces working against the Mahinda Government, they were a minuscule fraction of the total population. They unleashed a campaign accusing Mahinda and his family of corruption. They alleged that the Government was authoritative and Mahindas family was calling the shots, which were false and blatant lies, he said.

Mahindas other brothers  Chamal, Basil, and Namal  are active in politics and were holding important positions in the Government during his tenure as the President. Basil was in the Government not because he was the brother of the President, but because he was the main strategist and brain of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party.

The Rajapaksas could not be singled out for bringing family members into politics and the Government. The history of Sri Lanka politics is full of the roles played by family members of the leader, whether it is SWRD Bandaranaike, Sirimao Bandaranaike, Junius Richard Jayewardane or Premedasa. Mahinda ruled with an iron hand and had no pretensions about it. Those who stay in glass houses should not throw stones at others, said a retired Army commander, when asked about family members dabbling in politics.

But who were the forces behind the media onslaught and false campaign against the Rajapaksa Government? The answer was shocking as it synchronised well with what we see in India. There were various civil rights groups, leaders of the Opposition, who had a fear psychosis about an impending defeat, and a section of Western countries and groups which worked actively against us, explained Gotabhaya.

This group worked overtime and created a sense of hopelessness and helplessness among a section of the population. Their theme was good governance. But they were sure that the Sinhala population would vote only for Mahinda. Hence, they focused on the minorities and Tamils. They conceived and executed a shrewd plan to keep the Muslims away from Mahinda. They even managed to get the help of some extreme Buddhist organisations, which turned the Muslims against the Government, he added.

He also revealed the role played by urban elites, upper middle class, and a section of the youth in the mission to defeat Mahinda. These are the sections of the population which go by the promise of good governance and spread bogus allegations against the rivals. This resulted in 95 per cent of the Tamils, Muslims, and the urban elites voting against Mahinda, said Gotabhaya, quoting from the analytical report of the 2015 election results.

The day in and day out campaign was centred on allegations of corruption and accusing a democratic Government of being authoritarian. This campaign proved successful. More than the capability of the Opposition parties in Sri Lanka, it was the Western powers which planned and executed it, said Gotabhaya, who uses measured and calculated words and phrases, the stiff upper lip culture developed in the Military Academy, perhaps.

Though he was initially reluctant to name the forces which conspired against the then Sri Lankan Government, Gotabhaya finally put the blame on the Barack Obama administration. The Western nations had a feeling that the Rajapaksa Government was anti-West. The State Department of the Obama administration was dominated by human rights activists. The United States and other Western powers viewed the China factor in Sri Lanka with a different perspective. Our ties with China bothered them, Gotabhaya explained.

The ties between Sri Lanka and China date back to more than six decades. But the US and Western powers felt uncomfortable for reasons best known to them. They have a lot of vested interests, ranging from commerce, trade, the Indian Ocean, strategic locations, and security. The involvement of China in the economic development of Sri Lanka also rattled them, he said. Hence, they wanted the Mahinda Government to go. The Opposition parties  which had lost all hope  the urban elites, human rights and civil rights groups, and minorities joined hands with the Western forces, which resulted in Mahinda losing narrowly, Gotabhaya disclosed. This is the first time that the role of the US and European powers in the 2015 elections has been accepted openly by a powerful person from that administration.

Gotabhaya was an eyesore for those who wanted the division of the island nation. Let them say whatever they want. Thats their freedom and I do not care about it, was his reply when asked about the propaganda against him by the Tamils as well as other Opposition parties.

There were allegations of Indias interference in the 2015 elections in Sri Lanka, and Gotabhaya did not hide his disappointment over them. We had good relations with the Manmohan Singh-led UPA Government, which was in office till May 2014. The then Government of India helped and supported us in our war against the LTTE. Even the DMK in Tamil Nadu had understood the seriousness of the LTTE issue and stood by us during the war. But we did not get much time to establish good ties with the new Indian officials, like National Security Advisor Ajit Doval or the Foreign Secretary, after the change of Government in 2014, said Gotabhaya.

He also referred to the false campaign by the Opposition on Chinas role in boosting Sri Lankan economy and security. Mahinda had launched the Colombo Port City project, which would have played the role of a force multiplier. This was done with Chinese investment but strictly under the control of the Sri Lanka Port Authority. The Opposition and the urban elite claimed that the Hambantota Port had been leased to the Chinese Navy for 99 years, which upset the new Indian Government. The truth was that even in our wildest imagination, we had never thought of such a possibility. But what happened is that the same Opposition, which came to power after the 2015 elections, handed over port to China on a platter, he pointed out.

Mahinda did not make extra efforts to convince the new Government in India about the assurances guaranteed to the UPA administration on the role of China in the island nation. It is well-chronicled by Shivshankar Menon, the then NSA, in his book Choices, said Gotabhaya. In the chapter titled Force Works, Menon wrote: Security was Gotabhayas sole preoccupation, which made him sensitive to Indias concerns, while his brother Mahinda was much more compliant with Chinese demands, having built a political machine on Chinese money. The basic assurances that Gotabhaya and more reluctantly, Mahinda, gave us were that Indias security interests would be respected and that there would be no surprises in Sri Lankas relations with China. I was assured that there would be no permanent Chinese military presence in Sri Lanka and that Sri Lanka would look to India for most of its military training and intelligence needs.

Gotabhaya, a professional security expert, said his country was and is always conscious of the concerns of India, especially in security related issues. We will never allow Sri Lankan soil to be used by any foreign elements to work against India. The Indian Ocean and especially the sea lines of communications must be free for all to use without hindrance. Both countries are united not only by the Indian Ocean, but by common historical and cultural ties, said Gotabhaya.

The world learnt a lot from Sri Lanka in how it succeeded in tackling terrorism of the worst kind. It is the ideal time for India to take note of the fact that a Government, which wiped out the last vestiges of terrorism, lost the next elections. There are a lot of similarities between the game being played in New Delhi and the one staged in Colombo; only the language and characters differ.
Guru: A Long Walk to Success

Author : Narendra Raval

Publisher : Bloomsbury, Rs 499

The sheer humility of the narration in this autobiography of Narendra Raval is impressive, coming as it does from a self-made billionaire and one of the leading private sector lights of Africa, writes Gautam Mukherjee

Forewords to this autobiography of Narendra Raval (nicknamed Guru), one of Kenyas greatest industrialists, include congratulatory letters from Prime Minister Narendra Modi who has long known Raval, and Kenyas President Uhuru Kenyatta, the Amherst educated son of the legendary Jomo Kenyatta. Another is from Lord Raj Loomba of the UK, whose charitable foundation Raval supports. The Loomba Foundation helps widows in India, and at the behest of Raval, in Kenya as well.

This book speaks endearingly and conversationally, in Ravals voice. It is cast in inspirational terms, with a plethora of slogans, pieties and bon mots, with a clear belief in destiny. It descends from time to time into a family and organisational scrap book  without however taking anything away from the impressive tale at its core.

Raval was born in a joint family in the tiny village of Mathak in the Halvad Taluka of Surendranagar district of Gujarat, the gateway to Saurashtra. His father and family were thrown out of the prosperous family home by his grandfather before Raval turned 10. Ravals early years were spent dodging school and book knowledge, not only while in his fathers care, but elsewhere in Gujarat, with his maternal grandparents, and maternal uncles. A key turning point was his induction as a priest into the Swaminarayan sect. It became something of a lifelong association and network for him. It began in his late teens, as a priest, first in Bhuj, and later in Nairobi, when he was sent to a Kenyan temple. It laid down the basis of his freelance priestly work carried out later at Nakuru, a Kenyan hill resort. It also has a good deal to do with his own spiritual outlook and honesty, his caring attitude towards employees and colleagues, animals and birds. All this combined with Narendra Ravals extraordinary abilities in palmistry and astrology that made him much sought after in the Gujarati business circles in Kenya and the UK.

It was at Nakuru where the young Brahmin priest began to be called Guru for the first time. This, both for his priestly and astrological skills, the latter learned initially during his time at the Bhuj Swaminarayan Temple.

It was also at Nakuru where he met President Daniel Arap Moi for the first time in rather mundane circumstances when he had tagged along with technicians who had gone to fix the Presidents TV.

He was invited, soon after, to live in as resident priest and spiritual adviser by the owners of Kenyas most successful steel rolling mills  the Kikuyu Steel Rolling Mills in Nairobi. Raval was thus introduced, in his early twenties, to an opulent business environment by the Dayabhai H Patel family.

He started going to the office with the head of the family, and learnt about the steel rolling business in all its aspects. By the time, not very long after, this family sold up and went their separate ways, to the US, UK, and elsewhere, Raval had his basic grounding in the steel business. He also had a renewable work permit for Kenya.

Next, Raval teamed up with some of his Nakuru friends who ran a hardware business  Delta Hardware, and persuaded them to open a Nairobi branch for wholesaling. Introducing more and more steel items to the mix out of his knowledge at Kikuyu, Raval gradually took the business national, started importing quota regulated items, and grew Delta Harware to the biggest business in its field in Kenya. But Raval was not a shareholder, nor did he work for a salary. The very growth he induced led to the split and closure of Delta by its four partners. By now Raval had also got married to Neeta, a qualified chemist. Though so much had happened, he was only 23 and not yet a Kenyan citizen.

In Ravals life, many turns for the better, it is seen, was always preceded by being sent back to square one. Married and almost penniless, Raval resolved to set up for himself, opening the Steel Centre in the name of Neeta who was a Kenyan citizen already. They rented a warehouse in a new business district of Gikomba in Nairobi, even though it was in a rough neighbourhood.

But in four years, between 1986 and 1990, the business had grown to Kenyan Shillings 1 million. Raval found finance from wealthy friends and friendly bankers, all due to his priestly work of yore and his ongoing astrology that he still dispensed to help many people free-of-charge.

By 1993, Steel Centre in turn was now the largest hardware trading business in Kenya encompassing wholesaling and retail as well. The two existing steel rolling mills in Kenya could not keep up with demand, and so, Raval resolved to set up a steel rolling mill of his own. The Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) was instrumental in both financing Ravals move into manufacturing (Devki Steel Mills Ltd.) and seeing it through to stability by 1996. And meticulous accounting, he says is: The heart and soul of your business. A small error, if not nipped in the bud, can bring down a well established business. Gradually, Narendra Raval expanded, acquired, diversified, and backward integrated, growing his businesses into the one stop manufacturer for all infrastructure products he dreamed of. This, in time, meant Steel, Building Materials, Cement, and spreading out into the countries neighbouring Kenya as well.
The Punjab and Railway Police on Saturday questioned the driver of a train that crushed at least 60 people to death here while they were watching the burning of a Ravana effigy from a railway track.

Punjab Police officials said that the DMU (diesel multiple unit) driver had been detained at the Ludhiana railway station and was being questioned regarding the incident that took place on Friday night at the Jora Phatak near Dhobi Ghat within Amritsar city.

Sources said that the driver claimed that he was given green signal and all clear and had no idea that hundreds of people were standing on the tracks when the train crossed the area.

No action has so far been initiated against the organisers, who are leaders of the ruling Congress in Punjab, of the Dusshera event. Police sources said that the organisers had gone underground.

Railway officials were also gathering information from the railway linemen posted along the tracks near the Jora Phatak area who failed to inform the DMU driver regarding the presence of over 700 people on the railway tracks who were watching the burning of the Ravan and other effigies during Dusshera celebrations.

As the Ravan and other effigies went up in flames with the deafening noise of bursting fire crackers, the people standing on the live railway tracks did not realise that a speeding train was approaching.

Nearly 150 people, most of who were watching the burning of effigies or were recording the event on their mobile phones, were mowed down by the train.

The disaster was over in 10-15 seconds, people at the spot said.

Union Minister of State for Railways Manoj Sinha visited the accident spot late on Friday night.

Sinha said that the incident was being probed and that the tragedy was unfortunate.

Railway authorities here and in New Delhi defended themselves saying that they had not been informed about the Dusshera event at that spot and the local police did not prevent the people from coming on the live and busy railway tracks.
A complex man of contradictions, journalist Jamal Khashoggi went from being a Saudi royal family insider to an outspoken critic of the ultra-conservative kingdom's government, and was ultimately killed inside its consulate in Istanbul.

In his final column for The Washington Post, Khashoggi perhaps presciently pleaded for greater freedom of expression in the Middle East.

"The Arab world is facing its own version of an Iron Curtain, imposed not by external actors but through domestic forces vying for power," he wrote.

"The Arab world needs a modern version of the old transnational media so citizens can be informed about global events. More important, we need to provide a platform for Arab voices," Khashoggi wrote.

Now his voice has been permanently silenced.

The Saudi journalist -- who disappeared after entering his country's consulate in Istanbul on October 2 to obtain marriage papers -- went into self-imposed exile in the United States in 2017 after falling out with Saudi's powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

His disappearance has been shrouded in mystery, and triggered an international crisis for both Riyadh and Washington as Turkish officials accused Saudi Arabia of a state-sponsored killing.

Riyadh, after insisting that Khashoggi left its consulate alive, finally said over two weeks after his disappearance that he died in a fight that arose from a dispute with people he met there.

Khashoggi came from a prominent Saudi family with Turkish origins.

His grandfather, Mohammed Khashoggi, was the personal doctor of Saudi Arabia's founder, King Abdul Aziz al-Saud. His uncle was the notorious arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi.

A friend of a young Osama bin Laden, a Muslim Brotherhood sympathiser, an aide to the Saudi royal family, a critic of the kingdom's regime and a liberal -- such conflicting descriptions were all ascribed to Khashoggi.

After graduating from Indiana State University in 1982, he began working for Saudi dailies, including the Saudi Gazette and Al-Sharq al-Awsat.

When he was sent to cover the conflict in Afghanistan, a picture of a young Khashoggi holding an assault rifle and dressed in Afghan clothing was widely disseminated.

Khashoggi did not fight in the country, but sympathised with the mujahideen in the 1980s war against the Soviet occupation, which was funded by the Saudis and the CIA.

He was known to have been drawn to the Muslim Brotherhood's policies seeking to erase the remnants of Western colonialism from the Arab world.

It was this shared vision that brought him closer to a young Osama bin Laden, who went on to found Al-Qaeda, which carried out the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.

As a young journalist, Khashoggi interviewed bin Laden several times, garnering international attention. But later in the 1990s, he distanced himself from the man who called for violence against the West.

Born in the Saudi holy city of Medina on October 13, 1958, Khashoggi spent his youth studying Islamic ideology and embraced liberal ideas.

But Saudi authorities came to see Khashoggi as too progressive and he was forced to resign as editor-in-chief of the Saudi daily Al-Watan in 2003 after serving just 54 days.

Over the years, he maintained ambiguous ties with Saudi authorities, having held advisory positions in Riyadh and Washington, including to Prince Turki al-Faisal, who ran Saudi Arabia's intelligence agency for more than 20 years.

When Faisal was appointed ambassador to Washington in 2005, Khashoggi went with him.

In 2007, Khashoggi returned to Al-Watan newspaper, lasting almost three years before being fired for "his editorial style, pushing boundaries of discussion and debate within Saudi society," according to Khashoggi's website.

He became close to Saudi billionaire Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal and together they launched in Manama a 24-hour news station, Al-Arab.

However, Bahrain -- a staunch Saudi ally -- shut the station down in 2015, less than 24 hours after it broadcast an interview with an opposition official.

Khashoggi fled Saudi Arabia in September 2017, just months after Prince Mohammed was appointed heir to the region's most powerful throne.

Months later, Prince Al-Waleed and hundreds of officials and businessmen were arrested in November 2017 in what the Saudis called an anti-corruption campaign.

In an article published in the Post last year, Khashoggi, whose 60th birthday was on October 13, said that under Prince Mohammed -- the kingdom's de facto ruler -- Saudi Arabia was entering a new era of "fear, intimidation, arrests and public shaming."

He said he had been banned from writing in the pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat for defending the Muslim Brotherhood, which Riyadh has blacklisted as a terrorist organisation.

And he said Saudi authorities had barred him from using his verified Twitter account after he said the country should be "rightfully nervous about a Trump presidency."

Trump has expressed support for Crown Prince Mohammed, and his son-in-law and advisor Jared Kushner has deliberately cultivated close ties with the prince, known as MBS.

Khashoggi, who was due to marry his Turkish fiancee Hatice Cengiz this month, also criticised Saudi Arabia's role in the Yemen conflict and opposed a Saudi-led boycott of Qatar.
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Accordingly, in the Republic of Austria, VNPT signed an agreement with Rosendahl Nextrom GmbH Company for assembly line and technology transfer regarding glass fiber for optical information. The latter one will then install the highly synchronous and state-of-the-art assembly line in VNPTs glass fiber factory so that it can manufacture global standard materials for domestic and international markets to use for optical information. The factory is supposed to become leading one in both the country and the whole region when applying the new technology.

In the Kingdom of Belgium, VNPT and Nokia co-signed two cooperation agreements regarding the development of telecommunications technology as well as new generation information technology.

As to the first one, both sides will open a research laboratory for technologies, applications, and solutions for the 5G mobile network and Internet of Things (IoT).

As regards the second, the two partners will work together to modernize the VNPT network in accordance with 5G and Cloud technologies. In addition, both companies will closely collaborate to exchange latest research results on new 5G technologies or products. This project is scheduled to be launched in three years worth around $15 million.

Earlier, in February 2017, VNPT officially began the construction of the first-in-Vietnam glass fiber factory for optical information, covering an area of more than 5,000 sq meters and a total investment amount of VND287 billion (approx. $12.291 million), it is expected to have a gross output of 3.2 million km fiber per year, meeting popular international standards. This helps VNPT to completely control the core material source in its optical cable production, rather than depending on imports from other countries.

By TRAN BINH  Translated by Yen Nhi
Premier Gold Mines Limited explores for, develops, and produces gold and silver deposits in Canada, the United States, and Mexico. It principally holds a 100% interest in the Mercedes Mine property located in Sonora, Mexico; a 40% interest in the South Arturo Mine situated in Elko County, Nevada; a 50% interest in the Greenstone Gold Property located in Ontario; a 100% interest in the McCoy-Cove project situated in Nevada; a 44% interest in the Rahil Bonaza project located in Northwestern Ontario; and a 100% interest in the Hasaga Gold project situated in Red Lake Mining District, Ontario. The company was incorporated in 2006 and is headquartered in Thunder Bay, Canada. As of April 7, 2021, Premier Gold Mines Limited operates as a subsidiary of Equinox Gold Corp.

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Enbridge Inc. operates as an energy infrastructure company. The company operates through five segments: Liquids Pipelines, Gas Transmission and Midstream, Gas Distribution and Storage, Renewable Power Generation, and Energy Services. The Liquids Pipelines segment operates pipelines and related terminals to transport various grades of crude oil and other liquid hydrocarbons in Canada and the United States. The Gas Transmission and Midstream segment invests in natural gas pipelines, and gathering and processing facilities in Canada and the United States. The Gas Distribution and Storage segment is involved in natural gas utility operations serving residential, commercial, and industrial customers in Ontario, as well as natural gas distribution and energy transportation activities in Quebec. The Renewable Power Generation segment operates power generating assets, such as wind, solar, geothermal, and waste heat recovery facilities; and transmission assets in North America and Europe. The Energy Services segment provides energy marketing services to refiners, producers, and other customers; and physical commodity marketing and logistical services in Canada and the United States. The company was formerly known as IPL Energy Inc. and changed its name to Enbridge Inc. in October 1998. Enbridge Inc. was founded in 1949 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada.

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Five police officers from the Samoa Police Service (S.P.S.) have been deployed to South Sudan on a one-year peacekeeping mission under the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (U.N.M.I.S.S.).

The officers are Senior Sergeant Misipele Fiatau, Sergeant Mose Lotomau, Corporal Leone Filemu, Corporal Eliu Iakopo and Corporal Ainea Uiese.

During a farewell ceremony, Police Commissioner Fuiava Egon Keil congratulated the officers for making it through the tough selection process.

Fuiava said that they should learn and gain the experience at their deploying destination and reminded them of their roles as ambassadors of Samoa serving under the leadership of the U.N.

Today, these police officers continue to write the S.P.S. proud story of service to our country, Fuiava said in a press statement.

It is a great honour and a privilege for the S.P.S. to take part in the U.N. mission for being those whose service will make South Sudan a better and safer place for their people.

We hope that the words expressed today (yesterday) are but a small down payment on our lifelong debt of gratitude to our deploying officers and to your families.

Fuiava told the officers they are truly the unsung heroes of Samoas national security.

We salute you for your service to Samoa. We look forward to your return to your families and to a warm S.P.S. homecoming. Until then, our prayers will be with you and good Lord our God keep you safe in His loving arms.
MasTec, Inc. engages in the provision of infrastructure construction services. It operates through the following segments: Communications; Oil and Gas; Electrical Transmissions; Clean Energy and Infrastructure; and Other. The Communications segment performs engineering, construction, maintenance and customer fulfillment activities related to communications infrastructure, primarily for wireless and wireline/fiber communications, and install-to-the-home customers. The Oil and Gas segment offers services on oil and natural gas pipelines and processing facilities for the energy, and utilities industries. The Electrical Transmission segment deals with the energy and utility industries. The Clean Energy and Infrastructure segment serves energy, utility and other end-markets through the installation and construction of power generation facilities, including from clean energy and renewable sources such as wind, solar and biomass, as well as various types of heavy civil and industrial infrastructure. The Other segment comprises of equity investees, other small business units that perform construction, and other services for a variety of international end-markets. The company was founded by

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There is not enough analysis data for Mongolia Growth Group.

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Community Sentiment Mongolia Growth Group has received 68.63% outperform votes from our community.

MarketBeat's community ratings are surveys of what our community members think about Mongolia Growth Group and other stocks. Vote Outperform if you believe YAK will outperform the S&P 500 over the long term. Vote Underperform if you believe YAK will underperform the S&P 500 over the long term. You may vote once every thirty days.

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Novan, Inc., a clinical development-stage biotechnology company, provides nitric oxide-based therapies to treat dermatological and oncovirus-mediated diseases. Its clinical stage dermatology drug candidates include SB204, a topical monotherapy for the treatment of acne vulgaris; SB206, a topical anti-viral gel for the treatment of viral skin infections; SB208, a topical broad-spectrum anti-fungal gel for the treatment of fungal infections of the skin and nails, including athlete's foot and fungal nail infections; and SB414, a topical cream-based gel product candidate for the treatment of inflammatory skin diseases. The company also develops SB207, an anti-viral product candidate for the treatment of external genital warts; WH602, a nitric oxide-containing intravaginal gel to treat high-risk human papilloma virus (HPV); WH504, a non-gel formulation product candidate to treat high-risk HPV; and SB019 for the treatment of SARS-CoV-2. Novan, Inc. has a license agreement with Sato Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.; and a strategic alliance with Orion Corporation. The company was incorporated in 2006 and is headquartered in Morrisville, North Carolina.

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Premier African Minerals Limited, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the mining, exploration, evaluation, development, and investment of natural resource properties on the African continent. The company explores for tungsten, lithium, tantalum, fluorspar, xenotime, zinc, nickel, uranium, gold, specialty minerals, limestone, potash and limestone, and rare earth metals. It holds interests in various properties located in Zimbabwe, Togo, Benin, and Mozambique. The company was formerly known as G&B African Resources Limited and changed its name to Premier African Minerals Limited in April 2012. Premier African Minerals Limited was founded in 2007 and is based in Tortola, British Virgin Islands.

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A merica has lost the war in Afghanistan. Washington may not want to admit it, and the U.S. military insists the conflict is a stalemate. But make no mistake: The original 9/11 war has been lost.



On Thursday, the Taliban attacked a meeting between Afghan officials and the top U.S. military commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Austin S. Miller. Americans in attendance were wounded, but Miller was unhurt. At least three Afghan officials, though, were killed, including Gen. Abdul Raziq, a key American ally and powerbroker in southern Afghanistan. The U.S. militarys initial statement on the attack was a good example of its cognitive dissonance. Instead of a full condemnation, Col. Dave Butler, the spokesman for U.S. Forces-Afghanistan, claimed it was merely an Afghan-on-Afghan incident. This is an absurd characterization given that the Taliban quickly claimed responsibility, a crucial anti-Taliban commander was killed, and Americans were wounded, all in the presence of the U.S. general in charge of the war effort.



The U.S. reaction makes more sense when you realize that America isnt trying to defeat the Taliban but desperately searching for a way out, whitewashing the Taliban to justify an exit.



It has been left to Americas diplomats to negotiate a face-saving dealone in which the United States can leave without the appearance of losing. But there are many reasons to think this diplomatic gambit is misguided.



Earlier this month, an American delegation led by Zalmay Khalilzad, who was recently appointed U.S. special representative for Afghanistan reconciliation, met with Taliban representatives in Doha, Qatar. This was not a sitdown between two sides equally committed to winning the war. The Taliban, which contests or controls more than half of Afghanistan, knows the United States is desperate to leave and not even trying to win.



When President Trump announced his strategy for the war in August 2017, he emphasized that the U.S. approach would be based on conditions on the ground, not arbitrary timetables. Trump argued correctly that President Obama had mistakenly declared from the outset that a short-lived surge in troops would end by a definitive date. The Taliban and its allies knew they had to wait just 18 months, after which the American reinforcements sent by Obama would be gone. Theoretically Trumps strategy was going to be more realisticdriven by the progress of the fighting. But the situation on the ground has not improved.



And while Trump preached patience, it was always in short supply. The president has not yet announced a timetable for withdrawal, but that could soon change. Senior U.S. officials tell THE WEEKLY STANDARD that President Trump could announce a drawdown within months. The mercurial president could always change his mind, but administration officials are acting as if time has already run out.



The presidents behavior only reinforces this perception. Trump hasnt visited Afghanistan once since becoming commander in chief, not even after he announced his commitment to win the war last year. During an October 16 interview with the Associated Press, the president was asked why he has avoided visiting the troops under his command in the field. Well, I will do that at some point, but I dont think its overly necessary, Trump responded. Ive been very busy with everything thats taking place here. We have the greatest economy in the history of our country. After changing the subject, he added that no one has been better for the military, but the point remainshe has been disconnected from the war effort in Afghanistan.



Indeed, Trump says little to nothing about the war these days. There are no major speeches, press conferences, or op-eds explaining to the American people why the United States must prevail. In fact, Americas military leaders are arguing just the opposite.



During his farewell speech in early September, General John W. Nicholson Jr., who first oversaw the war effort for Trump, announced: It is time for this war in Afghanistan to end. But wars are not endedthey are won or lost. And the Taliban certainly hasnt been defeated. In many ways, the organization is stronger than at any time since late 2001. Acting as if America can simply end the war is the same approach pursued by President Barack Obama, who claimed to have brought the Iraq war to a responsible end in 2011. Of course, that didnt happen either. The vacuum left by Americas withdrawal, in combination with the war in Syria, created an opportunity for jihadists that mushroomed into a self-declared ISIS caliphate.



The Trump administration wants to believe that the story can have a happier ending in Afghanistan. The Defense and State departments say a political settlement with the Taliban is necessary. But that is not realistic. Consider three basic facts that will likely stymie Khalilzads efforts.



(1) The Taliban seeks to resurrect its Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. When the Taliban confirmed its participation in the Doha talks earlier this month, the group said representatives from the political office of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan had met with the Americans. This may not seem like a big deal, but it was a slap in the face.



The Obama administration, which was also desperate to negotiate, agreed to allow the Taliban to open the Doha office in 2013, under certain conditions. Among them: The Talibans Doha arm wasnt supposed to call itself the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. That is the name of the Talibans totalitarian regime, which ruled over Afghanistan until late 2001. There is no room for an elected government allied with the West in the Talibans emirate. The Obama administration assured the Afghan government that the Taliban wouldnt refer to itself as the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. But that was the first thing they did. When the Taliban opened the Doha office in June 2013, its men unfurled a banner that read, Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, thereby embarrassing the United States and its Afghan allies.



More than five years later, the Taliban is still calling itself the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistanboth in Doha and at home. This simple fact undermines the entire premise of the U.S.-led negotiations. Washington wants the Talibans leadership to reconcile with the Afghan government. But the Taliban has consistently argued that President Ashraf Ghanis government is illegitimate. According to the Taliban, only an Islamic systemmeaning its Islamic Emirateis legitimate. The Taliban has been building up a parallel governance structure for years, with so-called shadow governors overseeing its efforts throughout the country. In August, the Talibans emir, Hibatullah Akhundzada, told his men they should prepare to rule more ground in the near future. The Taliban has also rejected Afghanistans upcoming parliamentary elections, saying it is a religious duty to disrupt them.

None of this is consistent with the idea that the Taliban will reconcile with the Afghan government and participate in a political process. Instead, the Talibans Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan is prepared once more to rule over much of the country, or all of it. It is possible that the Taliban will agree to some sort of temporary partition, but no one should trust that this arrangement would last long.



(2) Pakistan continues to harbor the Talibans senior leadership. The Trump administration has withheld military aid to Pakistan in an attempt to get tough on the putative allys duplicity. For years, Pakistans military and intelligence establishment has harbored the Talibans senior leaders, including members of the so-called Haqqani Network. The Haqqanis remain closely allied with al Qaeda and have gained more power within the Talibans hierarchy over time. The Talibans No. 2 leader and warlord is Siraj Haqqani, who oversees the groups military operations.



In September, the State Department confirmed that the Trump administrations tough love hasnt changed Pakistans behavior. As a result, many of the Talibans leaders are free to direct the Afghan insurgency from across the border. They are under no immediate threat and have no real incentive to order their men to lay down their arms. This makes it even more unlikely that the Taliban will agree to a game-changing deal. We mustnt forget that Pakistan fueled the Talibans initial takeover of Afghanistan in the 1990s. More than two decades later, the Pakistanis could do so once again.

(3) The Taliban hasnt renounced al Qaeda. The U.S. government originally demanded that the Taliban forswear al Qaeda before sitting down for talks. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton jettisoned that demand years ago, after it became clear that it was a non-starter. The Taliban has had more than 17 years to distance itself from al Qaeda and has refused to do so. Al Qaedas leader, Ayman al Zawahiri, remains loyal to the Talibans emir, Hibatullah Akhundzada. Zawahiris men are fighting under the Talibans banner to resurrect its Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. Al Qaeda loyalists around the world will be emboldened if they succeed. Even if the Taliban releases some statement addressing this issue, the devil will be in the details. The Taliban could employ vague language that sounds promising, but is ultimately meaningless. It is highly unlikely that the Taliban will unequivocally renounce al Qaeda now.



The United States is no longer trying to defeat the Taliban. Instead, the Trump administration, like the Obama administration before it, wants out. The Taliban knows this and is more than happy to dictate the terms of Americas withdrawal. Thats what is now being negotiated. The jihadists also know that wars end in victory or defeatand their victory is at hand.



This piece has been updated with new information regarding casualties in the Taliban attack on the meeting between Afghan officials and the U.S. military. We will update further as the situation warrants.


Sandstorm Gold Ltd. operates as a gold royalty company. It focuses on acquiring gold and other metal purchase agreements and royalties from companies that have advanced stage development projects or operating mines. The company offers upfront payments for companies to acquire a gold stream or royalty and receives the right to purchase a percentage of a mine's production for the life of the mine at a fixed price per unit or at a fixed percentage of the spot price. It has a portfolio of 201 streams and royalties. The company has operations in Canada, Mexico, the United States, Mongolia, Burkina Faso, Ecuador, South Africa, Ghana, Botswana, Cote D'Ivoire, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Peru, Paraguay, Egypt, Ethiopia, Guyana, French Guiana, Turkey, Sweden, and Australia. The company was formerly known as Sandstorm Resources Ltd. and changed its name to Sandstorm Gold Ltd. in February 2011. Sandstorm Gold Ltd. was incorporated in 2007 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.

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Rogers Corporation designs, develops, manufactures, and sells engineered materials and components worldwide. It operates in Advanced Connectivity Solutions (ACS), Elastomeric Material Solutions (EMS), Power Electronics Solutions (PES), and Other segments. The ACS segment offers circuit materials and solutions for connectivity applications in wireless infrastructure, automotive, aerospace and defense, connected devices, and wired infrastructure under the RO4000, RO3000, RT/duroid, TMM, AD Series, CuClad, Kappa, DiClad, IsoClad, COOLSPAN, MAGTREX, TC Series, IM Series, 92ML, and CLTE Series names. The EMS segment provides engineered material solutions, including polyurethane and silicone materials used in cushioning, gasketing, sealing, and vibration management applications for general industrial, portable electronics, automotive, mass transit, aerospace and defense, footwear and impact mitigation, and printing markets; customized silicones used in flex heater and semiconductor thermal applications; and polytetrafluoroethylene and ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene materials used in wire and cable, electrical insulation, and automotive applications under the PORON, BISCO, DeWAL, ARLON, Griswold, eSORBA, XRD, HeatSORB, and R/bak names. The PES segment offers ceramic substrate materials, busbars, and cooling solutions under the curamik and ROLINX names. The Other segment provides elastomer components; and elastomer floats for level sensing in fuel tanks, motors, and storage tanks for applications in the general industrial and automotive markets under the ENDUR and NITROPHYL names. Rogers Corporation was founded in 1832 and is headquartered in Chandler, Arizona.

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Crawford & Company provides claims management and outsourcing solutions for carriers, brokers, and corporations in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe, Canada, Australia, and internationally. The company's Crawford Claims Solutions segment offers claims management services to insurance carriers and self-insured entities related to property, casualty, and catastrophe losses caused by physical damage to commercial and residential real properties, as well as personal property and marine losses. It also offers services in the areas of field investigation, catastrophe, evaluation, and resolution of property and casualty insurance claims; and various on-demand inspection, verification, and other task specific field services for businesses and consumers through a mobile platform. Its Crawford TPA Solutions segment provides claims and risk management services for corporations in the self-insured or commercially-insured marketplace; desktop claim adjusting and claims evaluation services; initial loss reporting services for claimants; and loss mitigation and risk management information services, as well as administers loss funds established to pay claims. This segment also offers third party administration for workers' compensation, auto and liability, disability absence and medical management, and accident and health products. The company's Crawford Specialty Solutions segment offers claims management services for insurance companies and self-insured entities related to large and complex losses to commercial property, aviation, forensic accounting, transportation, retail, building and construction, cyber, and energy industries. It also provides customer-centric solutions for various loss types comprising high-frequency and low-complexity claims to large complex repairs; and outsourced contractor management services to personal and commercial insurance carriers and consumer markets. The company was founded in 1941 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.

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Bridgepoint Education, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides postsecondary education services in the United States. Its academic institutions, Ashford University and University of the Rockies, offer associate's, bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degree programs in the disciplines of business, education, psychology, social sciences, and health sciences. The company offers its programs primarily through online; and at its campuses. As of December 31, 2017, its institutions offered approximately 1,200 courses and 80 degree programs; and had 45,730 students enrolled. The company was formerly known as TeleUniversity, Inc. and changed its name to Bridgepoint Education, Inc. in February 2004. Bridgepoint Education, Inc. was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in San Diego, California.

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The following companies are subsidiares of Abbott Laboratories: 3A Nutrition (Vietnam) Company Limited, ABON Biopharm (Hangzhou) Co. Ltd., AGA Medical Belgium, AGA Medical Corporation, AGA Medical Holdings Inc., ALR Holdings, AML Medical LLC, APK Advanced Medical Technologies LLC, ATS Bermuda Holdings Limited, ATS Laboratories Inc., Abbott, Abbott (Jiaxing) Nutrition Co. Ltd., Abbott (UK) Finance Limited, Abbott (UK) Holdings Limited, Abbott AG, Abbott Asia Holdings Limited, Abbott Asia Investments Limited, Abbott Australasia Holdings Limited, Abbott Australasia Pty Ltd, Abbott B.V., Abbott Bahamas Overseas Businesses Corporation, Abbott Belgian Investments, Abbott Bermuda Holding Ltd., Abbott Biologicals B.V., Abbott Biologicals LLC, Abbott Bulgaria Luxembourg S.a r.l., Abbott Capital India Limited, Abbott Cardiovascular Inc., Abbott Cardiovascular Systems Inc., Abbott Delaware LLC, Abbott Diabetes Care Inc., Abbott Diabetes Care Limited, Abbott Diabetes Care Sales Corporation, Abbott Diagnostics GmbH, Abbott Diagnostics International Ltd., Abbott Diagnostics Technologies AS, Abbott Doral Investments S.L., Abbott Equity Holdings Unlimited, Abbott Equity Investments LLC, Abbott Established Products Holdings (Gibraltar) Limited, Abbott Finance Company SA, Abbott Financial Holdings SRL, Abbott France S.A.S., Abbott Fund Tanzania Limited, Abbott Gesellschaft m.b.H., Abbott GmbH & Co. KG, Abbott Health Products LLC, Abbott Healthcare (Puerto Rico) Ltd., Abbott Healthcare B.V., Abbott Healthcare Costa Rica S.A., Abbott Healthcare LLC, Abbott Healthcare Luxembourg S.a r.l., Abbott Healthcare Private Limited, Abbott Healthcare Products B.V., Abbott Healthcare Products Ltd, Abbott Holding (Gibraltar) Limited, Abbott Holding GmbH, Abbott Holding Subsidiary (Gibraltar) Limited, Abbott Holding Subsidiary (Gibraltar) Limited Luxembourg S.C.S., Abbott Holdings B.V., Abbott Holdings LLC, Abbott Holdings Limited, Abbott Holdings Poland Spoka z ograniczona odpowiedzialnoscia, Abbott Hungary Korlatolt Felelossegu Tarsasag, Abbott Iberian Investments (2) Limited, Abbott Iberian Investments Limited, Abbott India Limited, Abbott Informatics Asia Pacific Limited, Abbott Informatics Canada Inc, Abbott Informatics Corporation, Abbott Informatics Europe Limited, Abbott Informatics France, Abbott Informatics Germany GmbH, Abbott Informatics Netherlands B.V., Abbott Informatics Singapore Pte. Limited, Abbott Informatics Spain S.A., Abbott Informatics Technologies Ltd, Abbott International Corporation, Abbott International Enterprises Ltd., Abbott International Holdings Limited, Abbott International LLC, Abbott International Luxembourg S.ar.l., Abbott Investments Luxembourg S.a r.l., Abbott Ireland, Abbott Ireland Financing Designated Activity Company, Abbott Ireland Limited, Abbott Japan Co. Ltd., Abbott Kazakhstan Limited Liability Partnership, Abbott Knoll Investments B.V., Abbott Korea Limited, Abbott Laboratories (Bangladesh) Limited, Abbott Laboratories (Chile) Holdco (Dos) SpA, Abbott Laboratories (Chile) Holdco SpA, Abbott Laboratories (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., Abbott Laboratories (Mozambique) Limitada, Abbott Laboratories (Pakistan) Limited, Abbott Laboratories (Philippines), Abbott Laboratories (Puerto Rico) Incorporated, Abbott Laboratories (Singapore) Private Limited, Abbott Laboratories A/S, Abbott Laboratories Argentina Sociedad Anonima, Abbott Laboratories B.V., Abbott Laboratories C.A., Abbott Laboratories Finance B.V., Abbott Laboratories GmbH, Abbott Laboratories Inc., Abbott Laboratories International LLC, Abbott Laboratories Ireland Limited, Abbott Laboratories Limited, Abbott Laboratories Limited - Laboratoires Abbott Limitee, Abbott Laboratories NZ Limited, Abbott Laboratories Pacific Ltd., Abbott Laboratories Poland Spoka z ograniczona odpowiedzialnoscia, Abbott Laboratories Products B.V., Abbott Laboratories Residential Development Fund Inc., Abbott Laboratories S.A., Abbott Laboratories SA, Abbott Laboratories Services Corp., Abbott Laboratories Slovakia s.r.o., Abbott Laboratories South Africa (Pty) Ltd., Abbott Laboratories Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Abbott Laboratories Trustee Company Limited, Abbott Laboratories Uruguay S.A., Abbott Laboratories Vascular Enterprises, Abbott Laboratories d.o.o., Abbott Laboratories de Chile Limitada, Abbott Laboratories de Colombia S.A., Abbott Laboratories de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Abbott Laboratories druzba za farmacijo in diagnostiko d.o.o., Abbott Laboratories s.r.o., Abbott Laboratories(Hellas) Societe Anonyme, Abbott Laboratorios S.A., Abbott Laboratorios S.A., Abbott Laboratorios del Ecuador Cia. Ltda., Abbott Laboratuarlari Ithalat Ihracat ve Ticaret Ltd.Sti, Abbott Laboratorios Lda, Abbott Laboratorios do Brasil Ltda., Abbott Limited Egypt LLC, Abbott Logistics B.V., Abbott Management GmbH, Abbott Management LLC, Abbott Manufacturing Singapore Private Limited, Abbott Mature Products International Unlimited Company, Abbott Mature Products Management Limited, Abbott Medical (Hong Kong) Limited, Abbott Medical (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., Abbott Medical (Portugal) Distribuicao de Produtos Medicos Lda, Abbott Medical (Schweiz) AG, Abbott Medical (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Abbott Medical (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., Abbott Medical (Thailand) Co. Ltd., Abbott Medical Australia Pty. Ltd., Abbott Medical Austria Ges.m.b.H., Abbott Medical Balkan d.o.o. Beograd (Novi Beograd), Abbott Medical Belgium, Abbott Medical Canada Inc./ Medicale Abbott Canada Inc., Abbott Medical Danmark A/S, Abbott Medical Devices Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Abbott Medical Espana S.A., Abbott Medical Estonia OU, Abbott Medical Finland Oy, Abbott Medical France SAS, Abbott Medical GmbH, Abbott Medical Hellas Limited Liability Trading Company, Abbott Medical Ireland Limited, Abbott Medical Italia S.p.A., Abbott Medical Japan Co. Ltd., Abbott Medical Korea Limited, Abbott Medical Korlatolt Felelossegu Tarsasag, Abbott Medical Laboratories LTD, Abbott Medical Nederland B.V., Abbott Medical New Zealand Limited, Abbott Medical Norway AS, Abbott Medical Overseas Cyprus Limited, Abbott Medical Sweden AB, Abbott Medical Taiwan Co., Abbott Medical U.K. Limited, Abbott Medical spoka z ograniczona odpowiedzialnoscia, Abbott Middle East S.A.R.L., Abbott Molecular Inc., Abbott Morocco SARL, Abbott Nederland C.V., Abbott Nederland Luxembourg S.a r.l., Abbott Netherlands Investments B.V., Abbott Norge AS, Abbott Nutrition Limited, Abbott Nutrition Manufacturing Inc., Abbott Operations Singapore Pte. Ltd., Abbott Operations Uruguay S.R.L., Abbott Overseas Cyprus Limited, Abbott Overseas Luxembourg S.a r.l., Abbott Overseas S.A., Abbott Oy, Abbott Point of Care Canada Limited, Abbott Point of Care Inc., Abbott Poland Luxembourg S.a r.l., Abbott Procurement LLC, Abbott Products (Philippines) Inc., Abbott Products (Spain) S.L., Abbott Products Algerie EURL, Abbott Products B.V., Abbott Products Distribution SAS, Abbott Products Egypt LLC, Abbott Products Limited, Abbott Products Limited Liability Company, Abbott Products Luxembourg S.a r.l., Abbott Products Operations AG, Abbott Products Operations LLC, Abbott Products Romania S.R.L., Abbott Products Tunisie S.A.R.L., Abbott Products Unlimited Company, Abbott Resources Inc., Abbott Resources International Inc., Abbott S.r.l., Abbott Saudi Arabia Trading Company, Abbott Scandinavia Aktiebolag, Abbott Sociedad Anonima de Capital Variable, Abbott South Africa Luxembourg S.a r.l., Abbott Strategic Opportunities Limited, Abbott Trading Company Inc., Abbott Universal LLC, Abbott Vascular Devices (2) Limited, Abbott Vascular Devices Limited, Abbott Vascular Inc., Abbott Vascular Instruments Deutschland GmbH, Abbott Vascular International, Abbott Vascular Japan Co. Ltd, Abbott Vascular Limitada, Abbott Vascular Netherlands B.V., Abbott Vascular Solutions Inc., Abbott Ventures Inc., Abbott West Indies Limited, Abbott drustvo sa ogranicenom odgovornoscu za trgovinu i usluge, Advanced Neuromodulation Systems Inc., Alere, Alere (Shanghai) Diagnostics Co. Ltd., Alere (Shanghai) Healthcare Management Co. Ltd., Alere (Shanghai) Medical Sales Co. Ltd., Alere (Shanghai) Technology Co. Ltd., Alere A/S, Alere AB, Alere AS, Alere AS Holdings Limited, Alere BBI Holdings Limited, Alere Bangladesh Limited, Alere China Co. Ltd., Alere Colombia S.A., Alere Connect LLC, Alere Connected Health Limited, Alere Connected Health Ltd., Alere Diagnostics GmbH, Alere DoA Holding GmbH, Alere GmbH, Alere GmbH (Austria), Alere GmbH (Germany), Alere HK Holdings Ltd., Alere Health B.V., Alere Health BVBA, Alere Health Corp., Alere Health Sdn Bhd, Alere Health Services B.V., Alere Healthcare (Pty) Limited, Alere Healthcare Connections Limited, Alere Healthcare Inc., Alere Healthcare Nigeria Limited, Alere Healthcare S.L., Alere Holdco Inc., Alere Holding GmbH, Alere Holdings Bermuda Limited, Alere Holdings Pty Limited, Alere Home Monitoring Inc., Alere Inc., Alere Informatics Inc., Alere International Holding Corp., Alere International Limited, Alere Lda, Alere Limited, Alere Limited (New Zealand), Alere Medical BVBA, Alere Medical Co. Ltd., Alere Medical Pakistan (Private) Limited, Alere Medical Private Limited, Alere North America LLC, Alere Oy Ab, Alere Philippines Inc., Alere Phoenix ACQ Inc., Alere Pte Ltd, Alere S.A., Alere S.r.l., Alere S/A, Alere SAS, Alere San Diego Inc., Alere Scarborough Inc., Alere Spain S.L., Alere Switzerland GmbH, Alere Technologies GmbH, Alere Technologies Holdings Limited, Alere Technologies Limited, Alere Toxicology AB, Alere Toxicology Inc., Alere Toxicology S.r.l., Alere Toxicology Services Inc., Alere Toxicology plc, Alere UK Holdings Limited, Alere UK Subco Limited, Alere ULC, Alere US Holdings LLC, Alere s.r.o., Alisoc Investment & Co, Amedica Biotech Inc., Ameditech Inc., American Generics S.A.S., American Medical Supplies Inc., American Pharmacist Inc., Antares S.A., Apica Cardiovascular Limited, Aquagestion Capacitacion S.A., Aquagestion S.A., Arriva Medical LLC, Arriva Medical Philippines Inc., Arvis Investments Limited, Atlas Farmaceutica S.A., Avee Laboratories Inc., Axis-Shield AD III AS, Axis-Shield AD IV AS, Axis-Shield AS, Axis-Shield Diagnostics Limited, Axis-Shield Ltd., BBI Animal Health Limited, BBI Diagnostics Group 2 Public Limited Company, Banco de Vida S.A., Bioabsorbable Vascular Solutions Inc., Bioalgae S.A., Biohealth LLC, Biosite Incorporated, Bosque Bonito S.A., Branan Medical Corporation, Brandex Europe C.V., British Colloids Limited, CFR Chile S.A., CFR Interamericas EL Salvador Sociedad Anonima de Capital Variable, CFR Interamericas Nicaragua Sociedad Anonima, CFR Interamericas Panama S.A., CFR Pharmaceuticals, California Property Holdings III LLC, CardioMEMS LLC, Caripharm Inc., Cephea Valve Technologies, Cephea Valve Technologies Inc., Colibri Medical Aktiebolag, Comercializadora y Distribuidora CFR Interamericas Honduras S.A., Concateno South Limited, Concateno UK Limited, Consorcio Tecnologico en Biomedicina Clinico-Molecular S.A., Continuum Services LLC, Cozart Limited, Dextech S.A., Diagnostik Nord GmbH, Distribuciones Uquifa S.A.S., Domesco Medical Import-Export Joint-Stock Corporation, Duphar International Research B.V., Endocardial Solutions, Epocal (US) Inc, Esprit de Vie S.A., European Chemicals & Co, European Drug Testing Service EDTS AB, European Services S.A., Evalve Inc., Evalve International Inc., FARMINDUSTRIA S.A., Fada Pharma Paraguay Sociedad Anonima, Fadapharma del Ecuador S.A., Farmaceutica Mont Blanc S.L., Farmacologia Em Aquicultura Veterinaria Ltda., Farmacologia en Aquacultura Veterinaria FAV Ecuador S.A., Farmacologia en Aquacultura Veterinaria FAV S.A., Fernwood Investment S.A., First Check Diagnostics LLC, Focus Pharmaceutical S.A.S., Forensics Limited, Forestcreek Overseas S.A., Fournier Pharma Corp., Fournier Pharma GmbH, Fournier Pharmaceuticals Limited, Framed B.V., Gabmed GmbH, Garden Hills LLC, Global Analytical Development LLC, Globapharm & CO LP, Glomed Pharmaceutical Company Limited, Golnorth Investments S.A., Gynocare Limited, Gynopharm Sociedad Anonima, Gynopharm de Centroamerica S.A., Gynopharm de Venezuela C.A., Hi-Tronics Designs Inc., IDEV Technologies Inc., IG Innovations Limited, IMTC Finance B.V., IMTC Holdings B.V., IMTC Technologies Inc., Ibis Biosciences LLC, Igloo Zone Chile S.A., Igloo Zone S.L., Inmobiliaria Naknek S.A.C., Innovacon Inc., Instant Tech Subsidiary Acquisition Inc., Instant Technologies Inc., Instituto de Criopreservacion de Chile S.A., Integrated Vascular Systems Inc., Inverness Canadian Acquisition Corporation, Inverness Medical (Beijing) Co. Ltd., Inverness Medical Innovations Australia Pty Ltd., Inverness Medical Innovations Hong Kong Limited, Inverness Medical Innovations SK LLC, Inverness Medical Investments LLC, Inverness Medical LLC, Inverness Medical Shimla Private Limited, Inversiones K2 SpA, Inversiones Komodo S.R.L., Ionian Technologies LLC, Irvine Biomedical Inc., Kalila Medical, Kangshenyunga S.A., Knoll UK Investments Unlimited, LLC VeroInPharm, Laboratoires Fournier S.A.S., Laboratorio Franco Colombiano Lafrancol S.A.S., Laboratorio Franco Colombiano del Ecuador S.A., Laboratorio Internacional Argentino S.A., Laboratorio Synthesis S.A.S., Laboratorios Lafi Limitada, Laboratorios Naturmedik S.A.S., Laboratorios Pauly Pharmaceutical S.A.S., Laboratorios Recalcine S.A., Laboratorios Transpharm S.A., Laboratory Specialists of America Inc., Lafrancol Dominicana S.A.S., Lafrancol Guatemala S.A. Sociedad Anonima, Lafrancol Internacional S.A.S, Lafrancol Peru S.R.L, Lake Forest Investments LLC, Lightlab Imaging Inc., Limited Liability Company Abbott Laboratories, Limited Liability Company Abbott Ukraine, Limited Liability Company VEROPHARM, Lung Fung Hong (China) Limited, Mansbridge Pharmaceuticals Limited, MediGuide LLC, MediGuide Ltd., Medscreen Holdings Limited, Metropolitana Farmaceutica S.A., Midwest Properties LLC, Murex Argentina S.A., Murex Biotech Limited, Murex Biotech South Africa, Murex Diagnostics Inc., Murex Diagnostics International Inc., Natural Supplement Association LLC, Negocios Denia Sociedad Anonima, Neosalud S.A.C., Nether Pharma N.P. C.V., NeuroTherm LLC, Normann Pharma-Handels GmbH, North Shore Properties Inc., Novamedi S.A., Novasalud.com S.A., Nutravida S.A., OJSC Voronezhkhimpharm, Omnilab Iberia Sociedad Limitada, OptiMedica, Orgenics France SAS, Orgenics International Holdings B.V., Orgenics Ltd., PBM-Selfcare LLC, PDD II LLC, PDD LLC, PT Alere Health, PT. Abbott Indonesia, PT. Abbott Products Indonesia, Pacesetter Inc., Pantech (RF) (PTY) LTD, Pembrooke Occupational Health Inc., Penagos S.A., Pharma International Sociedad Anonima, Pharmaceutical Technologies (Pharmatech) S.A., Pharmatech Boliviana S.A., Polygon Labs S.A., Quality Assured Services Inc., RF Medical Holdings LLC, RTL Holdings Inc., Ramses Business Corp., Recben Xenerics Farmaceutica Limitada, Redwood Toxicology Laboratory Inc., Rich Horizons International Limited, SC VEROPHARM, SJ Medical Mexico S de R.L. de C.V., SJM International Inc., SJM Thunder Holding Company, SPDH Inc., Saboya Enterprises Corporation, Salviac Limited, Scanax AS, Sealing Solutions Inc., Selfcare Technology Inc., Shandong Abbott Dairy Product Co. Ltd., Shanghai Abbott Medical Devices Science and Technology Co. Ltd., Shanghai Abbott Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., Shanghai Si Fa Pharmaceutical Company Limited, Sinensix & Co., Spinal Modulation LLC, St. Jude Medical, St. Jude Medical AB, St. Jude Medical ATG Inc., St. Jude Medical Argentina S.A., St. Jude Medical Asia Pacific Holdings GK, St. Jude Medical Atrial Fibrillation Division Inc., St. Jude Medical Brasil Ltda., St. Jude Medical Business Services Inc., St. Jude Medical Cardiology Division Inc., St. Jude Medical Colombia Ltda., St. Jude Medical Coordination Center, St. Jude Medical Costa Rica Limitada, St. Jude Medical Europe Inc., St. Jude Medical Export Ges.m.b.H., St. Jude Medical GVA Sarl, St. Jude Medical Holdings B.V., St. Jude Medical India Private Limited, St. Jude Medical International Holding, St. Jude Medical LLC, St. Jude Medical Luxembourg, St. Jude Medical Luxembourg Holdings II, St. Jude Medical Luxembourg Holdings NT, St. Jude Medical Luxembourg Holdings SMI S.a r.l., St. Jude Medical Luxembourg Holdings TC S.a r.l., St. Jude Medical Mexico Business Services S. de R.L. de C.V., St. Jude Medical Middle East DMCC, St. Jude Medical Operations (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., St. Jude Medical Puerto Rico LLC, St. Jude Medical S.C. Inc., St. Jude Medical Systems AB, St. Jude Medical Turkey Medikal Urunler Ticaret Limited Sirketi, Standard Diagnostics Inc., Standing Stone LLC, Swan-Myers Incorporated, TC1 LLC, Tendyne Holdings Inc., Tendyne Medical Inc., Thoratec Delaware LLC, Thoratec Europe Limited, Thoratec LLC, Thoratec Switzerland GmbH, Tobal Products Incorporated, Topera GmbH in Liquidation, Topera Inc., Tremora S.A., Tuenir S.A., TwistDx, UAB Abbott Laboratories, UAB Abbott Medical Lithuania, Union-Madison Realty Company Inc., Unipath Limited (dba Alere International/aka Cranfield), Unipath Management Limited, Unipath Pension Trustee Limited, Veropharm, Veropharm Limited Liability Partnership, Vida Cell Inversiones S.A., Vida Cell S.A., Vivalsol, W&R Pharma Handels GmbH, Western Pharmaceuticals S.A., X Technologies Inc., Yissum Holding Limited, ZonePerfect Nutrition Company, eScreen Canada ULC, eScreen Inc.,      ( ), and Abbott Laboratories Baltics.
The following companies are subsidiares of General Dynamics: 42SIX LLC, ARMA Global Corporation, Advanced Technical Products, Aeromil (Australia) Pty Ltd, Aeromil Aircraft Engineering Pty Ltd, Aeromil Aviation Services Pty Ltd, Aeromil IT Services Pty Ltd, Aeromil Marine Pty Ltd, Aeromil Pacific Pty Ltd, American Overseas Marine Company LLC, Anteon International Corporation, Applied Physical Sciences, Applied Physical Sciences Corp., Ascend Intelligence, Australian Avionics Pty Ltd, Autonomic Resources LLC, Avion Logistics Limited, Avjet Corporation, AxleTech International, Axsys, BATH IRON WORKS CORPORATION, BP-HP Pte Limited, Bath Iron Works, Bath Iron Works Australia Corporation, Bath Iron Works Canada LLC, Bluefin Robotics Corporation, Blueprint Technologies Inc., Braintree I Maritime Corp., Braintree II Maritime Corp., Braintree III Maritime Corp., Braintree IV Maritime Corp., Braintree V Maritime Corp., Buccaneer Computer Systems & Service Inc., CSC Computer Sciences Venezuela S.A., CSRA, CSRA (Costa Rica) S.A., CSRA (Guyana) Inc., CSRA (Middle East) LLC, CSRA Argentina S.R.L., CSRA BH d.o.o., CSRA Bahamas Limited, CSRA Bahrain S.P.C., CSRA Belgium SPRL, CSRA Bolivia S.R.L., CSRA Brazil Servicos de Tecnologia Ltda., CSRA Canada Inc., CSRA Caribbean Inc., CSRA Chile SpA, CSRA Colombia SAS, CSRA Commerce 2010 LLC, CSRA Consular Services Holding Company LLC, CSRA Consular Services Inc., CSRA France SARL, CSRA Guatemala Solutions Sociedad Anonima, CSRA Honduras Sociedad Anonima, CSRA Inc., CSRA Information Systems LLC, CSRA Information Technology Spain SL, CSRA Ireland Limited, CSRA Italy S.R.L, CSRA Kosovo L.L.C., CSRA LATAM LLC, CSRA LLC, CSRA Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., CSRA Netherlands B.V., CSRA Nicaragua Sociedad Anonima, CSRA Panama Inc., CSRA Peru S.R.L., CSRA Senegal SARL, CSRA South Africa (Pty) Ltd, CSRA State and Local Solutions LLC, CSRA Systems & Solutions LLC, CSRA Trinidad & Tobago Limited, CSRA Turkey Bilisim Teknolojileri Limited Sirketi, CSRA Uruguay S.R.L, CSRA Visa Services Israel Ltd., CSRAIT - Information Services Portugal Unipessoal LDA, Centauri Solutions LLC, Command System, Computing Devices International, Concord I Maritime Corporation, Concord II Maritime Corporation, Concord III Maritime Corporation, Concord IV Maritime Corporation, Concord V Maritime Corporation, Convair Aircraft Corporation, Convair Corporation, Creative Technology, Customer Services Ecuador CSRA S.A., Devcor, Diamond Fortress Technologies, DynPort Vaccine Company LLC, EB Groton Engineering Inc., EBV Explosives Environmental, ELCS-CZ s.r.o., Eagle Enterprise Inc., Earl Industries - Ship Repair and Coatings Division, Ebv Explosives Environmental Company, Electric Boat - Australia LLC, Electric Boat - UK LLC, Electric Boat Canada LLC, Electric Boat Corporation, Electric Boat France LLC, Electrocom Inc., Engineering Technology, Expro Finance Inc., FBD Fahrzeug und Bremsendienst GmbH, FC Business Systems, Fidelis Cybersecurity, Force Protection, Force Protection Europe Limited, Force Protection Inc., ForeSight Technology Services LLC, Freeman United Coal Mining Company LLC, GD Brazil Holdings LLC, GD European Land Systems - Steyr GmbH, GD European Land Systems Holding GmbH, GDOTS Services Corporation, GM GDLS Defense Group L.L.C., GPS Source Inc., GTE Government Systems, GWA-Datatrac FAST LLC, Galaxy Aerospace Company, Gayston Corporation - Defense Operations, General Dynamics - OTS (Global) Inc., General Dynamics AIS Australia Pty Ltd, General Dynamics Canadian Finance Inc., General Dynamics Canadian Holdings Inc., General Dynamics Commercial Cyber Services LLC, General Dynamics European Finance Limited, General Dynamics European Land Systems - Austria GmbH, General Dynamics European Land Systems - Bridge Systems GmbH, General Dynamics European Land Systems - Czech s.r.o., General Dynamics European Land Systems - Denmark ApS, General Dynamics European Land Systems - Deutschland GmbH, General Dynamics European Land Systems - FWW GmbH, General Dynamics European Land Systems - Mowag GmbH, General Dynamics European Land Systems Romania S.R.L., General Dynamics European Land Systems S.L., General Dynamics Global Force LLC, General Dynamics Global Holdings Limited, General Dynamics Global Imaging Technologies Inc., General Dynamics Government Satellite Services LLC, General Dynamics Government Systems Corporation, General Dynamics Government Systems Overseas Corporation, General Dynamics Information Technology Canada Limited, General Dynamics Information Technology Inc., General Dynamics Information Technology Limited, General Dynamics Installation Services LLC, General Dynamics International Corporation, General Dynamics Itronix LLC, General Dynamics Land Systems - Australia Pty. Ltd., General Dynamics Land Systems - Canada Corporation, General Dynamics Land Systems - Canada Services Inc., General Dynamics Land Systems - Canadian Services Limited, General Dynamics Land Systems - Force Protection Inc., General Dynamics Land Systems Customer Service & Support Company, General Dynamics Land Systems Inc., General Dynamics Limited, General Dynamics Marine Systems Inc., General Dynamics Mission Systems Inc., General Dynamics Mission Systems International Limited, General Dynamics Mission Systems Overseas Company LLC, General Dynamics Motion Control LLC, General Dynamics OTS (Aerospace) Inc., General Dynamics OTS (California) Inc., General Dynamics OTS (DRI) Inc., General Dynamics OTS (Niceville) Inc., General Dynamics OTS (Pennsylvania) Inc., General Dynamics One Source LLC, General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems - Canada Inc., General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems - Canada Valleyfield Inc., General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems - Simunition Operations Inc., General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems Inc., General Dynamics Overseas Systems and Services Corporation, General Dynamics Properties Inc., General Dynamics Robotic Systems Inc., General Dynamics SATCOM Technologies Inc., General Dynamics Satcom Technologies Asia Private Limited, General Dynamics Satellite Communication Services LLC, General Dynamics Saudi Holdings S.L., General Dynamics Shared Resources LLC, General Dynamics Support Services Company, General Dynamics Swiss Financial Management Limited, General Dynamics United Kingdom Limited, General Dynamics Worldwide Holdings Inc., General Dynamics-OTS Inc., General Motors Defense, Gulfstream 100 Holdings LLC, Gulfstream Aerospace, Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation (CA), Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation (DE), Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation (GA), Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation (OK), Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation of Texas, Gulfstream Aerospace Hong Kong Limited, Gulfstream Aerospace LLC, Gulfstream Aerospace LP, Gulfstream Aerospace Ltd., Gulfstream Aerospace Services Corporation, Gulfstream Aerospace Sociedad de Responssabilidad Limitada de CapitalVariable (S. de R.L. de C.V.), Gulfstream Do Brasil Servicos De Suporte E Manutencao A Aeronaves Ltda., Gulfstream International Corporation, Gulfstream Leasing LLC, Gulfstream Product Support Corporation, Gulfstream Services Corporation, Gulfstream Tennessee Corporation, Gulfstream-California Inc., Hawker Pacific (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, Hawker Pacific Aircraft Management Pte Ltd, Hawker Pacific Airservices Limited, Hawker Pacific Airservices Pvt Ltd, Hawker Pacific Asia Holdings Pte Ltd, Hawker Pacific Asia Pte Ltd, Hawker Pacific Australia Pty Ltd, Hawker Pacific Aviation Services Pty Ltd, Hawker Pacific NZ Limited, Hawker Pacific Pty Ltd, IPWireless, IPWireless PTE. Limited, Information Services Consulting Limited, Interiores Aereos S.A. de C.V., International Manufacturing Technologies Inc., Itronix, Janteq Australia PTY Limited, Janteq Corp., Jet Aviation, Jet Aviation (Asia Pacific) Pte. Ltd., Jet Aviation (Bermuda) Ltd., Jet Aviation (Hong Kong) Ltd., Jet Aviation (Malaysia) SDN BHD, Jet Aviation 125 Services LLC, Jet Aviation AG, Jet Aviation Brazil Holdings Inc., Jet Aviation Business Jets (Hong Kong) Limited, Jet Aviation Business Jets AG, Jet Aviation Business Jets FZCO, Jet Aviation California LLC, Jet Aviation Dulles LLC, Jet Aviation Flight Services Inc., Jet Aviation France SAS, Jet Aviation Holding GmbH, Jet Aviation Holdings USA Inc., Jet Aviation Houston Inc., Jet Aviation International Inc., Jet Aviation Malaga SA, Jet Aviation Management AG, Jet Aviation Netherlands B.V., Jet Aviation Savannah Holding LLC, Jet Aviation Services GmbH, Jet Aviation St. Louis Inc., Jet Aviation Teterboro LP, Jet Aviation Texas Inc., Jet Aviation of America Inc., Jet Aviation/Palm Beach Inc., Jet Professionals LLC, Kylmar, Longreach Energy LLC, MAYA Viz, Maricom Systems Incorporated, Material Service Resources Company LLC, Matthews Land Company, Mediaware International, Mediaware International Pty Ltd, Metro Machine, Metro Machine co, Midwest Properties Sales LLC, NASSCO, NASSCO Holdings Incorporated, NES Associates LLC, National Steel and Shipbuilding Company, Network Connectivity Solutions Corp., Newberry Holdings LLC, OOO Jet Aviation Vnukovo, Open Kernel Labs, Page Europa Srl, Patriot I Shipping Corp., Patriot II Shipping Corp., Patriot IV Shipping Corp., Plane 79 LLC, Praxis Engineering Technologies LLC, PrimeX Technologies, Prodelin India Private Limited, Proyectos Prohumane Mexico S.A. de C.V., Quincy Maritime Corporation III, Raven Acquisitions LLC, SENTECH INC., SRA International Inc., Saco Defense, Santa Barbara Sistemas S.A., Savannah Air Center LLC, Signal Solutions LLC, Southern Illinois Recovery Inc., Spectrum Astro, St. Marks Powder Inc., Stabilo Pty Ltd, Steyr-Daimler-Puch Spezialfahrzeug AG & Co KG, Sydney Jet Charter Pty Ltd, Tadpole Computer, Tecnologias Internacionales de Manufactura S.A. de C.V., Tenacity Solutions Incorporated, The Depth of Ideas for General Trading LLC, TriPoint Global Communications, Vangent, Vangent Servicios de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Veridian, Vertex Antennentechnik GmbH, ViPS, Vulnerability Research Labs LLC, and Weco LLC.
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.
1. Should LHL step down as PM soon? 2. Is it safe to allow travelers into Singapore under the VTL lanes? Vote in https://tklcloud.com/Crow...
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

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Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA provides dialysis care and related dialysis care services in Germany, North America, and internationally. It offers dialysis treatment and related laboratory and diagnostic services through a network of outpatient dialysis clinics; materials, training, and patient support services comprising clinical monitoring, follow-up assistance, and arranging for delivery of the supplies to the patient's residence; and dialysis services under contract to hospitals in the United States for the hospitalized end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients and for patients suffering from acute kidney failure. The company also develops, manufactures, and distributes dialysis products, including polysulfone dialyzers, hemodialysis machines, peritoneal dialysis cyclers, peritoneal dialysis solutions, hemodialysis concentrates, solutions and granulates, bloodlines, renal pharmaceuticals, and systems for water treatment; and non-dialysis products, such as acute cardiopulmonary and apheresis products. In addition, it develops, acquires, and in-licenses renal pharmaceuticals; offers renal medications and supplies to patients at homes or to dialysis clinics; and provides vascular, cardiovascular, endovascular specialty, vascular care ambulatory surgery center, and physician nephrology and cardiology services. The company sells its products to dialysis clinics, hospitals, and specialized treatment clinics directly, as well as through local sales forces, independent distributors, dealers, and sales agents. As of December 31, 2020, it operated 4,092 outpatient dialysis clinics in approximately 150 countries. Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA was incorporated in 1996 and is headquartered in Bad Homburg, Germany.

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The following companies are subsidiares of BP: 200 PS Overseas Holdings Inc., 563916 Alberta Ltd., ACP (Malaysia) Inc., AE Cedar Creek Holdings LLC, AE Goshen II Holdings LLC, AE Goshen II Wind Farm LLC, AE Power Services LLC, AE Wind PartsCo LLC, AM/PM International Inc., ARCO, ARCO British International, ARCO British Limited, ARCO Coal Australia Inc., ARCO El-Djazair Holdings Inc., ARCO Environmental Remediation L.L.C., ARCO Exploration Inc., ARCO Gaviota Company, ARCO International Investments Inc., ARCO International Services Inc., ARCO Midcon LLC, ARCO Oil Company Nigeria Unlimited, ARCO Oman Inc, ARCO Resources Limited, ARCO Trinidad Exploration and Production Company Limited, ARCO Unimar Holdings LLC, Actomat B.V., Advance Petroleum Holdings Pty Ltd, Advance Petroleum Pty Ltd, Air BP Albania SHA, Air BP Brasil Ltda., Air BP Canada LLC, Air BP Croatia d.o.o., Air BP Finland Oy, Air BP Iceland, Air BP Limited, Air BP Norway AS, Air BP Sales Romania S.R.L., Air BP Sweden AB, Air Refuel Pty Ltd, Allgreen Pty Ltd, AmProp Finance Company, American Oil Company, Amoco (Fiddich) Limited, Amoco (U.K.) Exploration Company LLC., Amoco Bolivia Petroleum Company, Amoco Bolivia Services Company Inc., Amoco Canada International Holdings B.V., Amoco Capline Pipeline Company, Amoco Chemical (Europe) S.A., Amoco Chemicals (FSC) B.V., Amoco Cypress Pipeline Company, Amoco Destin Pipeline Company, Amoco Environmental Services Company, Amoco Exploration Holdings B.V., Amoco Guatemala Petroleum Company, Amoco International Finance Corporation, Amoco International Petroleum Company, Amoco Leasing Corporation, Amoco Louisiana Fractionator Company, Amoco MB Fractionation Company, Amoco MBF Company, Amoco Main Pass Gathering Company, Amoco Marketing Environmental Services Company, Amoco Netherlands Petroleum Company, Amoco Nigeria Exploration Company Limited, Amoco Nigeria Oil Company Limited, Amoco Nigeria Petroleum Company, Amoco Nigeria Petroleum Company Limited, Amoco Norway Oil Company, Amoco Oil Holding Company, Amoco Olefins Corporation, Amoco Overseas Exploration Company, Amoco Pipeline Asset Company, Amoco Pipeline Holding Company, Amoco Properties Incorporated, Amoco Remediation Management Services Corporation, Amoco Research Operating Company, Amoco Rio Grande Pipeline Company, Amoco Somalia Petroleum Company, Amoco Sulfur Recovery Company, Amoco Tri-States NGL Pipeline Company, Amoco Trinidad Gas B.V., Amoco U.K. Petroleum Limited, Amprop Illinois I Limited, Amprop Inc., Anaconda Arizona Inc., Arabian Production And Marketing Lubricants, Aral Aktiengesellschaft, Aral Luxembourg S.A., Aral Services Luxembourg Sarl, Aral Tankstellen Services Sarl, Arco Mediterraneo Inversiones S.L., Areas Noriega S.L., Areas Singulares Reyes S.L., Aspac Lubricants (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., Atlantic 2/3 UK Holdings Limited, Atlantic Richfield Company, Atlantic Richfield Companyd, Autino Holdings Limited, Autino Limited, Auwahi Wind Energy Holdings LLC, B2Mobility GmbH, BASS Management Pty Ltd, BP (Abu Dhabi) Limited, BP (Barbados) Holding SRL, BP (Barbican) Limited, BP (China) Holdings Limited, BP (China) Industrial Lubricants Limited, BP (GTA Mauritania) Finance Limited, BP (GTA Senegal) Finance Limited, BP (Gibraltar) Limited, BP (Guangzhou) Advanced Mobility Limited, BP (Hunan) Petroleum Company Limited, BP (Indian Agencies) Limited, BP (Shandong) Petroleum Co. Ltd, BP (Shanghai) Trading Limited, BP - Castrol (Thailand) Limited, BP AMI Leasing Inc., BP Absheron Limited, BP Advanced Mobility Limited, BP Africa Limited, BP Africa Oil Limited, BP Akaryakit Ortakligi, BP Alaska LNG LLC, BP Alternative Energy Holdings Limited, BP Alternative Energy Investments Limited, BP Alternative Energy North America Inc., BP Alternative Energy Trinidad and Tobago Limited, BP America Chembel Holding LLC, BP America Chemicals Company, BP America Foreign Investments Inc., BP America Inc, BP America Inc., BP America Limited, BP America Production Company, BP Amoco Chemical Company, BP Amoco Chemical Holding Company, BP Amoco Chemical Indonesia Limited, BP Amoco Chemical Malaysia Holding Company, BP Amoco Exploration (Faroes) Limited, BP Amoco Exploration (In Amenas) Limited, BP Andaman II Ltd, BP Angola (Block 18) B.V., BP Argentina Exploration Company, BP Argentina Holdings LLC, BP Aromatics Holdings Limited, BP Aromatics Limited, BP Asia Limited, BP Asia Pacific (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., BP Asia Pacific Holdings Limited, BP Asia Pacific Pte Ltd, BP Australia Capital Markets Limited, BP Australia Employee Share Plan Proprietary Limited, BP Australia Group Pty Ltde, BP Australia Investments Pty Ltd, BP Australia Nominees Proprietary Limited, BP Australia Pty Ltd, BP Australia Shipping Pty Ltd, BP Australia Swaps Management Limited, BP Aviation A/S, BP Benevolent Fund Trustees Limited, BP Berau Ltd., BP Biocombustiveis S.A., BP Bioenergia Campina Verde Ltda., BP Bioenergia Ituiutaba Ltda., BP Bioenergia Itumbiara S.A., BP Bioenergia Tropical S.A., BP Biofuels Advanced Technology Inc., BP Biofuels Brazil Investments Limited, BP Biofuels Louisiana LLC, BP Biofuels North America LLC, BP Biofuels Trading Comercio Exportacao Ltda., BP Bomberai Ltd., BP Brasil Ltda., BP Brazil Tracking L.L.C., BP Bulwer Island Pty Ltd, BP Business Service Centre Asia Sdn Bhd, BP Business Service Centre KFT, BP CIV Pty Ltd, BP Canada Energy Development Company, BP Canada Energy Group ULC, BP Canada Energy Marketing Corp., BP Canada International Holdings B.V., BP Canada Investments Inc., BP Capellen Sarl, BP Capital Markets, BP Capital Markets America, BP Capital Markets America Inc., BP Capital Markets p.l.c., BP Car Fleet Limited, BP Caribbean Company, BP Castrol KK, BP Castrol Lubricants (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., BP Central Pipelines LLC, BP Chembel, BP Chemicals (Korea) Limited, BP Chemicals East China Investments Limited, BP Chemicals Investments Limited, BP Chemicals Limited, BP China Exploration and Production Company, BP Comercializadora de Energia Ltda., BP Commodities Trading Limited, BP Commodity Supply B.V., BP Company North America, BP Company North America Inc., BP Containment Response Limited, BP Containment Response System Holdings LLC, BP Continental Holdings Limited, BP Corporate Holdings, BP Corporate Holdings Limited, BP Corporation North America, BP Corporation North America Inc., BP D-B Pipeline Company LLC, BP D230 Limited, BP Danmark A/S, BP Developments Australia Pty. Ltd., BP Dogal Gaz Ticaret Anonim Sirketi, BP East Kalimantan CBM Limited, BP Eastern Mediterranean Limited, BP Egypt Company, BP Egypt East Delta Marine Corporation, BP Egypt East Tanka B.V., BP Egypt Production B.V., BP Egypt Ras El Barr B.V., BP Egypt West Mediterranean (Block B) B.V., BP Energy Asia Pte. Limited, BP Energy Colombia Limited, BP Energy Company, BP Energy Europe Limited, BP Energy Solutions B.V., BP Energy do Brasil Ltda., BP Energia Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., BP Espana S.A. Unipersonal, BP Estaciones y Servicios Energeticos Sociedad Anonima de Capital Variable, BP Europa SE, BP Exploracion de Venezuela S.A., BP Exploration & Production Inc., BP Exploration (Absheron) Limited, BP Exploration (Alaska), BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc., BP Exploration (Algeria) Limited, BP Exploration (Alpha), BP Exploration (Alpha) Limited, BP Exploration (Angola), BP Exploration (Angola) Limited, BP Exploration (Azerbaijan), BP Exploration (Azerbaijan) Limited, BP Exploration (Canada) Limited, BP Exploration (Caspian Sea), BP Exploration (Caspian Sea) Limited, BP Exploration (D230) Limited, BP Exploration (Delta), BP Exploration (Delta) Limited, BP Exploration (El Djazair) Limited, BP Exploration (Epsilon) Limited, BP Exploration (Gambia) Limited, BP Exploration (Greenland) Limited, BP Exploration (Madagascar) Limited, BP Exploration (Morocco) Limited, BP Exploration (Namibia) Limited, BP Exploration (Nigeria Finance) Limited, BP Exploration (Nigeria) Limited, BP Exploration (Psi) Limited, BP Exploration (STP) Limited, BP Exploration (Shafag-Asiman) Limited, BP Exploration (Shah Deniz) Limited, BP Exploration (South Atlantic) Limited, BP Exploration (Xazar) Pte. Ltd., BP Exploration Angola (Kwanza Benguela) Limited, BP Exploration Argentina Limited, BP Exploration Australia Pty Ltd Level 15, BP Exploration Beta Limited, BP Exploration China Limited, BP Exploration Company (Middle East) Limited, BP Exploration Company Limited, BP Exploration Indonesia Limited, BP Exploration Libya Limited, BP Exploration Mexico Limited, BP Exploration Mexico S.A. De C.V., BP Exploration North Africa Limited, BP Exploration Operating Company, BP Exploration Operating Company Limited, BP Exploration Orinoco Limited, BP Exploration Personnel Company Limited, BP Exploration Peru Limited, BP Express Shopping Limited, BP Finance Australia Pty Ltd, BP Finance p.l.c., BP Foundation Incorporated, BP France, BP Fuels & Lubricants AS, BP Fuels Deutschland GmbH, BP GOM Logistics LLC, BP Gas & Power Investments Limited, BP Gas Europe S.A.U., BP Gas Marketing Limited, BP Gas Supply (Angola) LLC, BP Ghana Limited, BP Global Investments, BP Global Investments Limited, BP Global Investments Salalah & Co LLC, BP Global West Africa Limited, BP Greece Limited, BP Guangdong Limited, BP High Density Polyethylene - France, BP Holdings (Thailand) Limited, BP Holdings B.V., BP Holdings Canada, BP Holdings Canada Limited, BP Holdings International B.V., BP Holdings North America, BP Holdings North America Limited, BP Hong Kong Limited, BP India Private Limited, BP Indonesia Investment Limited, BP International, BP International Limited, BP International Services Company, BP Investment Management Limited, BP Investments Asia Limited, BP Iran Limited, BP Iraq N.V., BP Italia SpA, BP Japan K.K., BP Korea Limited, BP Kuwait Limited, BP LNG Shipping Limited, BP Latin America LLC, BP Latin America Upstream Services Inc., BP Lubricants KK, BP Lubricants USA Inc., BP Luxembourg S.A., BP Malaysia Holdings Sdn. Bhd., BP Management International B.V., BP Management Netherlands B.V., BP Marine Limited, BP Mariner Holding Company LLC, BP Maritime Services (Singapore) Pte. Limited, BP Marketing Egypt LLC, BP Mauritania Investments Limited, BP Mauritius Limited (in liquidation), BP Middle East Enterprises Corporation, BP Middle East LLC, BP Middle East Limited, BP Midstream Partners GP LLC, BP Midstream Partners Holdings LLC, BP Midstream Partners LP, BP Midwest Product Pipelines Holdings LLC, BP Mocambique Limitada, BP Mocambique Limited, BP Muturi Holdings B.V., BP Nederland Holdings BV, BP Netherlands Upstream B.V., BP New Ventures Middle East Limited, BP New Zealand Holdings Limited, BP New Zealand Share Scheme Limited, BP Nutrition Inc., BP Offshore Gathering Systems Inc., BP Offshore Pipelines Company LLC, BP Offshore Response Company LLC, BP Oil (Thailand) Limited, BP Oil Australia Pty Ltd, BP Oil Espana S.A., BP Oil Hellenic S.A., BP Oil International, BP Oil International Limited, BP Oil Kent Refinery Limited (in liquidation), BP Oil Llandarcy Refinery Limited, BP Oil Logistics UK Limited, BP Oil New Zealand Limited, BP Oil Pipeline Company, BP Oil Senegal S.A., BP Oil Shipping Company, BP Oil UK Limited, BP Oil Venezuela Limited, BP Oil Vietnam Limited, BP Oil Yemen Limited, BP Olex Fanal Mineralol GmbH, BP One Pipeline Company LLC, BP Pacific Investments Ltd, BP Pakistan (Badin) Inc., BP Pakistan Exploration and Production Inc., BP Pension Escrow Limited, BP Pension Trustees Limited, BP Pensions (Overseas) Limited, BP Pensions Limited, BP Petrochemicals India Investments Limited, BP Petroleo y Gas S.A., BP Petrolleri Anonim Sirketi, BP Pipelines (Alaska) Inc., BP Pipelines (BTC) Limited, BP Pipelines (North America) Inc., BP Pipelines (SCP) Limited, BP Pipelines (TANAP) Limited, BP Pipelines TAP Limited, BP Polska Services Sp. z o.o. Ul., BP Portugal -Comercio de Combustiveis e Lubrificantes SA, BP Poseidon Limited, BP Products North America, BP Products North America Inc., BP Properties Limited, BP Raffinaderij Rotterdam B.V., BP Refinery (Kwinana) Proprietary Limited, BP Regional Australasia Holdings Pty Ltd, BP River Rouge Pipeline Company LLC, BP Russian Investments Limited, BP Russian Ventures Limited, BP SC Holdings LLC, BP Scale Up Factory Limited, BP Senegal Investments Limited, BP Services International Limited, BP Servicios de Combustibles S.A. de C.V., BP Servicios territoriales S.A., BP Shafag-Asiman Limited, BP Shipping Limited, BP Singapore Pte. Limited, BP Solar Energy North America LLC, BP Solar Espana S.A., BP Solar International Inc., BP Solar Pty Ltd, BP South America Holdings Ltd, BP Southern Africa Proprietary Limited, BP Southern Cone Company, BP Subsea Well Response (Brazil) Limited, BP Subsea Well Response Limited, BP Taiwan Marketing Limited, BP Technology Ventures Inc., BP Technology Ventures Limited, BP Train 2/3 Holding SRL, BP Transportation (Alaska) Inc., BP Trinidad Processing Limited, BP Trinidad and Tobago, BP Trinidad and Tobago LLC, BP Turkey Refining Limited, BP Two Pipeline Company LLC, BP UK Retained Holdings Limited, BP Venezuela Investments B.V., BP West Aru I Limited, BP West Aru II Limited, BP West Papua I Limited, BP West Papua III Limited, BP Wind Energy North America Inc., BP Wiriagar Ltd., BP World-Wide Technical Services Limited, BP Zhuhai Chemical Company Limited, BP+Amoco International Limited, BP-AIOC Exploration (TISA) LLC, BPA Investment Holding Company, BPNE International B.V., BPRY Caribbean Ventures LLC, BPX (Eagle Ford) Gathering LLC, BPX (KCS Resources) LLC, BPX (Karnes) Gathering LLC, BPX (Permian) Gathering LLC, BPX (WSF Operating) Inc., BPX Energy Inc., BPX Midstream LLC, BPX Operating Company, BPX Production Company, BPX Properties (GP) LLC, BPX Properties (LP) LLC, BPX Properties (NA) LP, BTC Pipeline Holding Company Limited, BXL Plastics Limitedv, Bahia de Bizkaia Electridad S.L., Baltimore Ennis Land Company Inc., Black Lake Pipe Line Company, Brian Jasper Nominees Pty Ltd, Britannic Energy Trading Limited, Britannic Investments Iraq Limited, Britannic Marketing Limited, Britannic Strategies Limited, Britannic Trading Limited, Britoil Limited, Burmah Castrol, Burmah Castrol Australia Pty Ltd, Burmah Castrol Holdings Inc., Burmah Castrol PLC, Burmah Castrol South Africa (Pty) Limited, Burmah Chile SpA, Butamax Advanced Biofuels, CASTROL Austria GmbHb, CH-Twenty Inc., CNAA, Cadman DBP Limited, Casitas Pipeline Company, Castrol (China) Limited, Castrol (Ireland) Limited, Castrol (Shanghai) Management Co. Ltd., Castrol (Shenzhen) Company Limited, Castrol (Tianjin) Lubricants Co. Ltd., Castrol (U.K.) Limited, Castrol Australia Pty. Limited, Castrol B.V., Castrol BP Petco Limited Liability Company, Castrol Brasil Ltda., Castrol Caribbean & Central America Inc., Castrol Colombia Ltda., Castrol Del Peru S.A., Castrol Egypt Lubricants S.A.E., Castrol India Limited, Castrol Industrie und Service GmbH, Castrol KK, Castrol Limited, Castrol Lubricants RO S.R.L, Castrol Mexico S.A., Castrol Namibia (Pty) Limited, Castrol Offshore Limited, Castrol Pakistan (Private) Limited, Castrol Philippines Inc., Castrol Servicos Ltda., Castrol Ukraine LLC, Castrol Zimbabwe (Private) Limited, Centrel Pty Ltd, Charge Your Car Limitedc, Chargemaster, Chargemaster (Europe) GmbH, Chargemaster Limited, Charging Solutions Limited, Clarisse Holdings Pty Ltd, Coastwise Trading Company Inc., Consolidada de Energia y Lubricantes (CENERLUB) C.A., Conti Cross Keys Inn Inc., Coro Trading NZ Limited, Cuyama Pipeline Company, DHC Solvent Chemie GmbH, Dermody Developments Pty Ltd, Dermody Holdings Pty Ltd, Dermody Investments Pty Ltd, Dermody Petroleum Pty. Ltd., Dome Beaufort Petroleum Limited, Dome Wallis (1980) Limited Partnership, ECM Markets SA (Pty) Ltd, Elektromotive Limited, Elite Customer Solutions Pty Ltd, Elm Holdings Inc., Energy Global Investments (USA) Inc., Enstar LLC, Estacion de Servicio Alto Campoo S.L., Estacion de Servicio Ganzo 10 S.L., Estacion de Servicio Reocin 9 S.L., Estacion de Servicio Santillana II S.L., Estacion de Servicio Sardinero S.L., Estonian Aviation Fuelling Services, Europa Oil NZ Limited, Exomet Inc., Expandite Contract Services Limited, Exploration (Luderitz Basin) Limited, Exploration Service Company Limited, FWK (2017) Limited, FWK Holdings (2017) LTD, Finite Carbon, Flat Ridge 2 Holdings LLC, Flat Ridge Wind Energy LLC, Foseco Holding Inc., Foseco Holding International B.V., Foseco Inc., Fosroc Expandite Limited, Fotech Solutions Ltd, Fowler Ridge Holdings LLC, Fowler Ridge I Land Investments LLC, Fowler Ridge II Holdings LLC, Fowler Ridge III Wind Farm LLC, FreeBees B.V., Fuel & Retail Aviat ion Sweden AB, Fuelplane- Sociedade Abastecedora De Aeronaves Unipessoal Lda, GOAM 1 C.I S. A .S, Gardena Holdings Inc., Gelsenkirchen Raffinerie Netz GmbH, Grampian Aviation Fuelling Services Limited, Guangdong Investments Limited, Highlands Ethanol LLC, Hosteleria Noriega S.L., IGI Resources Inc., Insight Analytics Solutions Holdings Limited, Insight Analytics Solutions Limited, Insight Analytics Solutions USA Inc., International Bunker Supplies Pty Ltd, Iraq Petroleum Company Limited, Jupiter Insurance Limited, Ken-Chas Reserve Company, Kenilworth Oil Company Limited, Kingbook Inversiones Socimi S.A., Latin Energy Argentina S.A., Lebanese Aviation Technical Services S.A.L., Limited Liability Company BP Toplivnaya Kompania, Limited liability company Setra Lubricants, Lubricants UK Limited, Lytt Limited, Manormaker (Nominee No. 1) Limited, Manormaker (Nominee No. 2) Limited, Manormaker GP Limited (99.90%) 11 Black Horse Lane, Mardi Gras Transportation System Company LLC, Markoil S.A., Masana Petroleum Solutions (Pty) Ltd, Mayaro Initiative for Private Enterprise Development, Mehoopany Holdings LLC, Mes Tecnologia En Servicios Y Energia S.A., Minza Pty. Ltd., Mountain City Remediation LLC, No. 1 Riverside Quay Proprietary Limited, Nordic Lubricants A/S, Nordic Lubricants AB, North America Funding Company, OMD87 Inc., OOO BP STL, Omega Oil Company, OnSight Analytics Solutions India Private Ltd., Orion Delaware Mountain Wind Farm LP, Orion Energy Holdings LLC, Orion Energy L.L.C.b, Orion Post Land Investments LLC, Oyambre 1 S.L., PRODUITS METALLURGIE DOITTAU, PT BP Petrochemicals, PT Castrol Indonesia, PT Castrol Manufacturing Indonesia, PT Jasatama Petroindo, Pacroy (Thailand) Co. Ltd., Peaks America Inc., Pearl River Delta Investments Limited, Petrocorner Retail S.L.U., Phoenix Petroleum Services Limited, Pozuelo 4 S.L., Prospect International C.A. (In liquidation), Puente Arce 4 S.L., Remediation Management Services Company, Richfield Oil Corporation, Rio Corvo 2 S.L., Rolling Thunder I Power Partners LLC, Romax Insight Korea Ltd., Ropemaker Deansgate Limited, Ropemaker Properties Limited, Ruhr Oel GmbH, Rusdene GSS Limited, SOFAST Limited, SRHP, Saturn Insurance Inc., Sherbino I Holdings LLC, Sherbino Mesa I Land Investments LLC, Sociedade de Promocao Imobiliaria Quinta do Loureiro SA, Societe de Gestion de Depots d'Hydrocarbures - GDH, South Texas Shale LLC, Southeast Texas Biofuels LLC, Southern Ridge Pipeline Holding Company, Southern Ridge Pipeline LP LLC, Sp/f Decision3 (GreenSteam) Company, Standard Oil Company, Standard Oil Company Inc., Standard Oil of Ohio, Stryde Limited, Sunrise Oil Sands Partnership, TISA Education Complex LLC, TJKK, Taradadis Pty. Ltd., Telcom General Corporation, Terre de Grace Partnership, The Anaconda Company, The BP Share Plans Trustees Limited, The Burmah Oil Company (Pakistan Trading) Limited, The Standard Oil Company, Toledo Refinery Holding Company LLC, Torrelavega 7 S.L., Union Texas International Corporation, Vastar Pipeline LLC, Veba Oel AG Veba Oel, Verenium, Viceroy Investments Limited, Villacarriedo 8 S.L., Warrenville Development Limited, Water Way Trading and Petroleum Services LLC, Welchem Inc., West Kimberley Fuels Pty Ltd, Westlake Houston Development LLC, Whiting Clean Energy Inc., Windpark Energy Nederland B.V., and Winwell Resources L.L.C.
The South Bay Boardriders Club, a nonprofit dedicated to celebrating the history of South Bay surfing culture, will donate the statue to honor the men and women who paddle 32 miles from Catalina Island to the Manhattan Beach Pier during...
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Sophos Group plc, through its subsidiaries, provides cloud-enabled end-user and network security solutions. The company offers XG Firewall, a next-generation firewall protection for network, users, and applications from new control center; SG UTM, a user interface to protect network and users; Secure Wi-Fi, a wireless access point; Secure Web Gateway for Web security; Secure Email Gateway solutions; and Phish Threat, an email phishing test simulation and training product. It also provides Endpoint Protection, a security solution for users and data; Intercept X, an endpoint security solution; Sophos Mobile, an enterprise mobility management solution; SafeGuard Encryption solution; Server Protection solution; Sophos Home, a protection solution for home computers; and Sophos Central, a synchronized security management solution. In addition, the company offers OEM solutions; professional services; SophosLabs, a threat research and intelligence center; and Public Cloud, a cloud computing solution to provide and deploy IT infrastructure, such as networks, compute capacity, storage, and databases. It serves education, healthcare, retail, finance, and banking industries, as well as governments and public sectors in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia Pacific, and Japan. Sophos Group plc was founded in 1985 and is headquartered in Abingdon, the United Kingdom.

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Shares of iShares Gold Trust reverse split on Monday, May 24th 2021. The 1-2 reverse split was announced on Wednesday, March 3rd 2021. The number of shares owned by shareholders was adjusted after the market closes on Friday, May 21st 2021. An investor that had 100 shares of iShares Gold Trust stock prior to the reverse split would have 50 shares after the split.
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 stock has increased by 69.5% and is now trading at $25.87.

View which stocks have been most impacted by COVID-19.
Deutsche Telekom AG, together with its subsidiaries, provides integrated telecommunication services. The company operates through five segments: Germany, United States, Europe, Systems Solutions, and Group Development. It offers fixed-network services, including voice and data communication services based on fixed-network and broadband technology; and sells terminal equipment and other hardware products, as well as services to resellers. The company also provides mobile voice and data services to consumers and business customers; sells mobile devices and other hardware products; and sells mobile services to resellers and to companies that purchases and markets network services to third parties, such as mobile virtual network operators. In addition, it offers internet services; internet-based TV products and services; and information and communication technology systems for multinational corporations and public sector institutions with an infrastructure of data centers and networks under the T-Systems brand, as well as call center services. The company has 242 million mobile customers and 22 million broadband customers, as well as 27 million fixed-network lines. Deutsche Telekom AG has a collaboration with VMware, Inc. on cloud-based open and intelligent virtual RAN platform to bring agility to radio access networks for existing LTE and future 5G networks; and partnership with Microsoft to deliver high-performance cloud computing experiences. The company was founded in 1995 and is headquartered in Bonn, Germany.

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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..
SociAtA GAnArale SociAtA anonyme provides financial services in Europe, the Americas, Asia, Oceania, Africa, and France. The company offers retail banking services, including deposits and loans, vehicles and asset management, corporate finance, insurance, payments, investment, and online brokerage and financial information services; Internet, mobile, telephone, and service platforms; and online banking to individual and professional customers, businesses, non-profit associations and local authorities under the Societe Generale, CrAdit du Nord, and Boursorama Banque brands. It also provides international retail banking and financial services, comprising of deposit and loan products; consumer finance and car finance; mortgage facilities; corporate and investment banking; infrastructure, renewable energies, and agribusiness financing; life, retirement savings, and personal protection insurance products; vehicle leasing and fleet management services; and vendor and equipment finance services to corporate and individual customers. In addition, the company offers capital market services, such as fixed income and currencies, equities, and securities services; mergers and acquisitions, advisory and other corporate finance advisory services, and corporate banking and investment banking, as well as capital raising solutions for debt or equity, financial engineering, and hedging for issuers; transaction and payment services, comprising of cash management, trade finance, cash clearing and correspondent banking, supply chain finance, and foreign exchange services; and export finance, aircraft finance, shipping finance, real estate finance, and structured solutions and leasing. Further, it provides financial engineering and wealth management solutions; structured products, hedge funds, mutual funds, private equity funds and real estate investment solutions; and asset management solutions. SociAtA GAnArale SociAtA anonyme was founded in 1864 and is headquartered in Paris, France.

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The following companies are subsidiares of Dominion Energy: 96WI 8me LLC, Alamo Solar LLC, Align RNG Arizona LLC, Align RNG Arizona-Snowflake LLC, Align RNG California LLC, Align RNG California-Corcoran LLC, Align RNG Grady Road LLC, Align RNG LLC, Align RNG Magnolia LLC, Align RNG North Carolina LLC, Align RNG North Carolina-Bowdens LLC, Align RNG Utah LLC, Align RNG Utah-Milford LLC, Align RNG Virginia LLC, Align RNG Virginia-Waverly LLC, Atlantic Coast Pipeline LLC, Azalea Solar LLC, BOE Holdings Inc., Blackville Solar Farm LLC, Blue Ocean Energy Marine LLC, BrightSuite Home LLC, BrightSuite Inc., BrightSuite Solar CT Inc., BrightSuite Solar SC Inc., BrightSuite Solar VA Inc., Buckingham Solar I LLC, CEA Americus LLC, CEA CO-Fort Morgan LLC, CEA Clovis LLC, CEA Dairy RNG Colorado LLC, CEA Dairy RNG Georgia LLC, CEA Dairy RNG Idaho LLC, CEA Dairy RNG Nevada LLC, CEA Dairy RNG New Mexico LLC, CEA Dairy RNG Texas LLC, CEA Greely LLC, CEA Mason LLC, CEA TX-Dimmitt LLC, CID Solar LLC, CNG Coal Company, CNG Power Services Corporation, Carolina Gas Transmission Corporation, Catalina Solar 2 LLC, Clean Energy Asset USA LLC, Clean Energy Enterprises Inc., Clipperton Holdings LLC, Consolidated Natural Gas Company, Correctional Solar LLC, Cottonwood Solar LLC, Cove Point LNG LP, Cove Point LNG Limited, DE Arlington Solar LLC, DE Fluvanna Solar LLC, DE Hanover Solar LLC, DE Henrico Solar LLC, DE King William Solar LLC, DE Louisa Solar LLC, DE Newport News Solar LLC, DE Powhatan Solar LLC, DE Virginia Beach Solar LLC, DECP Holdings Inc., Dairy RNG Holdings LLC, Dairy RNG NY LLC, Dairy RNG NY-Curtin LLC, Dairy RNG OH LLC, Denmark Solar LLC, Dominion ACP Holding Inc., Dominion Alternative Energy Holdings Inc., Dominion Atlantic Coast Pipeline LLC, Dominion Capital Inc., Dominion Cogen WV Inc., Dominion Energy Fuel Services Inc., Dominion Energy Gas Distribution LLC, Dominion Energy Generation Marketing Inc., Dominion Energy Inc., Dominion Energy Kewaunee Inc., Dominion Energy Marketplace LLC, Dominion Energy Nuclear Connecticut Inc., Dominion Energy Overthrust Pipeline LLC, Dominion Energy Payroll Company Inc., Dominion Energy Questar Corporation, Dominion Energy Questar Pipeline LLC, Dominion Energy Questar Pipeline Services Inc., Dominion Energy RNG Holdings II Inc., Dominion Energy RNG Holdings Inc., Dominion Energy Services Inc., Dominion Energy Solar CA LLC, Dominion Energy Solutions Inc., Dominion Energy South Carolina Inc., Dominion Energy Southeast Services Inc., Dominion Energy Technical Solutions Inc., Dominion Energy Technologies II Inc., Dominion Energy Technologies Inc., Dominion Energy Terminal Company Inc., Dominion Energy Wexpro Services Company, Dominion Equipment III Inc., Dominion Equipment Inc., Dominion Fairless Hills Inc., Dominion Fowler Ridge Wind LLC, Dominion Gas Projects Company LLC, Dominion Generation Inc., Dominion Greenbrier Inc., Dominion High Voltage Holdings Inc., Dominion High Voltage MidAtlantic Inc., Dominion Investments Inc., Dominion Keystone Pipeline Holdings Inc., Dominion Keystone Pipeline LLC, Dominion MLP Holding Company III Inc., Dominion Mt. Storm Wind LLC, Dominion Nuclear Projects Inc., Dominion Oklahoma Texas Exploration & Production Inc., Dominion Person Inc., Dominion Privatization Florida LLC, Dominion Privatization Georgia LLC, Dominion Privatization Holdings Inc., Dominion Privatization Kentucky LLC, Dominion Privatization Maryland LLC, Dominion Privatization Pennsylvania LLC, Dominion Privatization South Carolina LLC, Dominion Privatization Texas LLC, Dominion Privatization Virginia LLC, Dominion Products and Services Inc., Dominion Projects Services Inc., Dominion Resources Capital Trust III, Dominion Retail Gas Holdings Inc., Dominion Solar Construction and Maintenance LLC, Dominion Solar Gen-Tie LLC, Dominion Solar Holdings I LLC, Dominion Solar Holdings II LLC, Dominion Solar Holdings III LLC, Dominion Solar Holdings IV LLC, Dominion Solar Projects A Inc., Dominion Solar Projects B Inc., Dominion Solar Projects C Inc., Dominion Solar Projects D Inc., Dominion Solar Projects I Inc., Dominion Solar Projects II Inc., Dominion Solar Projects III Inc., Dominion Solar Projects IV Inc., Dominion Solar Projects V Inc., Dominion Solar Projects VI Inc., Dominion Solar Projects VII Inc., Dominion Solar Services Inc., Dominion State Line LLC, Dominion Voltage Inc., Dominion Wholesale Inc., Dominion Wind Development LLC, Dominion Wind Projects Inc., ESCT-SA-Suffield LLC, Eagle Holdco Solar LLC, Eagle Solar LLC, Eastern Shore Solar LLC, Enterprise Solar LLC, Escalante Solar I LLC, Escalante Solar II LLC, Escalante Solar III LLC, Four Brothers Solar LLC, Fremont Farm LLC, Granite Mountain Holdings LLC, Granite Mountain Solar East LLC, Granite Mountain Solar West LLC, Greenbrier Marketing Company LLC, Greenbrier Pipeline Company LLC, Greensville County Solar Project LLC, Hardin Solar Energy LLC, Hecate Energy Cherrydale LLC, Hecate Energy Clarke County LLC, Hope Gas Inc., Imperial Valley Solar Company (IVSC) 2 LLC, Indy Solar Development LLC, Indy Solar I LLC, Indy Solar II LLC, Indy Solar III LLC, Innovative Solar 37 LLC, Iron Springs Holdings LLC, Iron Springs Solar LLC, Louis Dreyfus Natural Gas, Maricopa West Solar PV LLC, Moffett Solar 1 LLC, Moorings Farm 2 LLC, Mulberry Farm LLC, Mustang Solar LLC, PSNC Blue Ridge Corporation, PSNC Cardinal Pipeline Company, Pavant Solar LLC, Phone House, Pikeville Farm LLC, Prairie Fork Wind Farm LLC, Public Service Company of North Carolina Incorporated, QPC Holding Company LLC, Questar Corporation, Questar Energy Services Inc., Questar Field Services LLC, Questar Gas Company, Questar InfoComm Inc., Questar Southern Trails Pipeline Company, Questar White River Hub LLC, RE Adams East LLC, RE Camelot LLC, RE Columbia Two LLC, RE Kansas LLC, RE Kent South LLC, RE Old River One LLC, Richland Solar Center LLC, Ridgeland Solar Farm I LLC, SBL Holdco LLC, SCANA, SCANA Communications Holdings Inc., SCANA Corporate Security Services Inc., SCANA Energy Marketing LLC, SCANA Pharmacy LLC, SRFI LLC, Scana Corporation, Scott-II Solar LLC, Seabrook Solar LLC, Selmer Farm LLC, Siler Solar LLC, Sol Madison Solar LLC, Somers Solar Center LLC, South Carolina Fuel Company Inc., South Carolina Generating Company Inc., Southampton Solar LLC, Summit Farms Solar LLC, Sussex Drive Solar Project LLC, TA - Acacia LLC, TWE Myrtle Solar Project LLC, The East Ohio Gas Company, Trask East Solar LLC, Tredegar Solar Fund I LLC, VP Property Inc., Virginia Electric And Power Company, Virginia Power Fuel Corporation, Virginia Power Nuclear Services Company, Virginia Power Services Energy Corp. Inc., Virginia Power Services LLC, Virginia Solar 201 Projects LLC, Wakefield Solar LLC, Wexpro Company, Wexpro Development Company, Wexpro II Company, Wilkinson Solar LLC, Wrangler Retail Gas Holdings LLC, and Yemassee Solar LLC.
The following companies are subsidiares of Dover: Accelerated Production Systems, Acme Elevator, Advansor A/S, Advansor Dover International (Poland) sp. z o.o, Advansor Germany GmbH, Alfred Fueling Systems Holdco Ltd., Alfred Fueling Systems Inc., Alfred Fueling Systems Intermediate Holdco Ltd., All-Flo Pump Company, Anman LLC, Anthony Equity Holdings Inc., Anthony Holdings Inc., Anthony Inc., Anthony International, Anthony International Foreign Sales Corp., Anthony International Holding Company, Anthony Mexico Holdings LLC, Anthony North Holdco Inc., Anthony Specialty Glass LLC, Anthony TemperBent GP LLC, Auto Glanz Solutions LLC, Automatik Grundstucksverwaltungs GmbH & Co. KG, Automatik Plastics Machinery (Taiwan) Ltd., BSC Filters Limited, Background2 Limited, Belanger, Belanger Inc., Belvac Middle East FZE, Belvac Production Machinery Inc., Blackmer, BlitzRotary GmbH, Butler Engineering and Marketing S.P.A., CDS Visual, CEP Liquidation LLC, CP Formation LLC, CPC Europe Inc., CPI Products Inc., Caldera, Canada Organization & Development LLC, Chief Automotive Technologies (Shanghai) Trading Company Ltd., Chippewa Square Captive Insurance Company, Colder Products Company, Colder Products Company GmbH, Colder Products Company LTD, Cook Compression BV, Cook Compression LLC, Cook Compression Limited, Cook-MFS Inc., DD1 Inc., DDI Properties Inc., DE-STA-CO Benelux B.V., DE-STA-CO FRANCE, DE-STA-CO Shanghai Co. Ltd., DESTACO UK Limited, DFH Corporation, DFS Netherlands B.V., DSR BZ Holdings LLC, Datamax International Corp, De Sta Co (Asia) Company Limited, De-Sta-Co Cylinders Inc., DeStaCo Europe GmbH, Delaware Capital Formation Inc., Delaware Capital Holdings Inc., Dover (China) Investment Co. Ltd., Dover (Schweiz) Holding GmbH, Dover (Shanghai) Industrial Co. Ltd., Dover (Shenzhen) Industrial Equipment Manufacturing Co. Ltd., Dover (Suzhou) Industrial Equipment Manufacturing Co. Ltd., Dover Asia Trading Private Ltd., Dover Australia Holdings Pty Limited, Dover Business Services EMEA Limited, Dover Business Services LLC, Dover Business Services Philippines Corporation, Dover CLP Formation Limited Partnership, Dover CR spol s r.o., Dover Canada Holdings ULC, Dover Canada Operations ULC, Dover Corporation Regional Headquarters, Dover DEI Services Inc., Dover Denmark Holdings ApS, Dover EMEA FZCO, Dover Energy UK Ltd, Dover Engineered Products Segment Inc., Dover Europe Inc., Dover Europe Sarl, Dover Fluids UK Ltd, Dover France Holdings, Dover France Participations, Dover France Technologies, Dover Fueling Solutions Segment Inc., Dover Fueling Solutions UK Limited, Dover Germany GmbH, Dover Global Holdings LLC, Dover Holdings de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Dover Imaging & Identification Segment Inc., Dover India Pvt. Ltd., Dover Intercompany Services UK Limited, Dover International B.V., Dover International Operations Inc., Dover International Ventures Inc., Dover International Ventures Tunisia S.a.r.l., Dover International ithalat ihracat ve Pazarlama Limited Sirketi, Dover Italy Holdings S.r.l., Dover Luxembourg Finance Sarl, Dover Luxembourg Participations Sarl, Dover Luxembourg S.a.r.l., Dover Luxembourg Services Sarl, Dover Operations South Africa (Pty) Ltd, Dover Overseas Ventures Inc., Dover Pumps & Process Solutions Segment Inc., Dover Refrigeration & Food Equipment Segment Inc., Dover Refrigeration & Food Equipment UK Ltd, Dover Resources International de Mexico S. de R.L. C.V., Dover Solutions Colombia SAS, Dover Southeast Asia (Thailand) Ltd., Dover Spain Holdings S.L., Dover UK Pensions Limited, Dover WSCR Holding LLC, Dover WSCR LLC, Dover do Brasil Ltda., Dow-Key Microwave Corporation, Dresser Wayne Data Technology (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Dresser Wayne Fuel Equipment (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., EOA Systems Inc., Ebs-Ray Holdings Pty Ltd, Ebs-Ray Industries Pty. Ltd., Ebs-Ray Pumps Pty. Ltd., Em-tec, Espy, Ettlinger, Ettlinger Kunststoffmaschinen GmbH, Fairbanks Environmental Limited, Fibrelite Composites Limited, Fibresec Holdings Limited, Fibresec Limited, Finder, GAL LLC, GIIER LLC, Gala Industries, Gala Kunststoff-und Kautschukmaschinen GmbH, Guangdong Tokheim LIYUAN Oil Industry Technology Limited Company, Highland Park Insurance Company, Hill PHOENIX Inc., Hill PHOENIX WIC LLC, Hill Phoenix Costa Rica Sociedad De Responsabilidad Limitada, Hill Phoenix El Salvador Limitada de Capital Variable, Hill Phoenix Guatemala Sociedad Anonima, Hill Phoenix Honduras Sociedad Anonima, Hill Phoenix Nicaragua Sociedad Anonima, Hill Phoenix de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Hiltap Fittings Ltd., Hydro Systems Company, Hydro Systems Europe Ltd., Hydronova Australia-NZ Pty Ltd, Industrial Motion Control LLC, Innovative Control Systems, Innovative Control Systems Inc., Inpro/Seal LLC, JK Group, JK Group S.P.A., JK Group USA Inc., K S Boca Inc., K&L Microwave DR Inc., K&L Microwave Inc., KPS (Beijing) Petroleum Equipment Trading Co Ltd., KPS Fueling Solutions Sdn. Bhd., KPS Hong Kong Holding Limited, KPS UK Limited, KS Formation Inc., KS Liquidation Inc., KSLP Liquidation L.P., Kiian Digital (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Knappco LLC, Knowles Electronics, LIQAL, Liquip, Liquip International Pty Limited, MAAG, MARKEM FZ SA, MARKEM-IMAJE Corporation, MIP Holdings Inc., MS Printing Solutions, MS Printing Solutions S.R.L., Maag Automatik GmbH, Maag Automatik Plastics Machinery (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Maag Gala Inc., Maag Italy S.R.L., Maag Pump Systems, Maag Pump Systems (US) Inc., Maag Pump Systems AG, Maag Reduction Inc., Maag Service (Malaysia) Sdn. Bdn., Maag Systems (Thailand) Limited, Marathon Equipment Company (Delaware), Markem Imaje Center of Competencies Spain S.L.U., Markem-Imaje, Markem-Imaje (China) Co. Limited, Markem-Imaje - Unipessoal Lda, Markem-Imaje A/S, Markem-Imaje AB, Markem-Imaje AG, Markem-Imaje AS, Markem-Imaje B.V., Markem-Imaje CSAT GmbH, Markem-Imaje Co. Ltd., Markem-Imaje GmbH, Markem-Imaje Holding, Markem-Imaje Identificacao de Produtos Ltda., Markem-Imaje Inc., Markem-Imaje India Private Limited, Markem-Imaje Industries, Markem-Imaje Industries Limited, Markem-Imaje KK, Markem-Imaje LLC, Markem-Imaje Limited, Markem-Imaje Limited, Markem-Imaje Ltd., Markem-Imaje N.V., Markem-Imaje Oy, Markem-Imaje Philippines Corporation, Markem-Imaje Pty Ltd, Markem-Imaje S.A., Markem-Imaje S.A. de C.V., Markem-Imaje S.r.l., Markem-Imaje SAS, Markem-Imaje Sdn Bhd, Markem-Imaje Singapore Pte. Ltd., Markem-Imaje Spain S.A.U, Markpoint Holding AB, Midland Manufacturing LLC, Mouvex, Northern Lights (Nevada) Inc., Northern Lights Funding LP, Northern Lights Investments LLC, Nova Controls Inc., OK International, OK International (UK) Ltd., OK International Holdings Inc., OK International Inc., OPW Engineered Systems Inc., OPW Fluid Transfer Group Europe B.V., OPW Fluid Transfer Solutions (Jiang Su) Co. Ltd., OPW Fluids Group Inc., OPW France, OPW Fuel Management Systems Inc., OPW Fueling Components (SuZhou) Co. Ltd., OPW Fueling Components LLC, OPW Iberia Sociedad Limitada, OPW Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., OPW Slovakia s.r.o., OPW Sweden AB, Officine Meccaniche Sirio S.R.L., PDQ Manufacturing, PDQ Manufacturing Inc., PISCES by OPW Inc., PSD Codax Holdings Limited, PSD Codax Limited, PSG (Shanghai) Co. Ltd, PSG (Tianjin) Co. Ltd., PSG California LLC, PSG Germany GmbH, Petro Vend Sp. z o.o., Pike Machine Products Inc., Pole/Zero Acquisition Inc., Precision Brasil Equipamentos E Servicos Para Postos De Combustiveis Ltda., Precision Service - Servicos De Manutencao E Instalacao De Postos De Abastecimento De Combustivel Ltda., Production Control Services, Pump Management Services Co. LLC, RAV Equipos Espana S.L., RAV France, Ravaglioli Deutschland GmbH, Ravaglioli S.P.A., Reduction Engineering GmbH, Revod Corporation, Revod Luxembourg S.a.r.l., Revod SAS, Revod Singapore Holdings Pte. Ltd, Revod Sweden AB, Robohand Inc., Rosario, Rosario Handel B.V., Rotary Lift Consolidated (Haimen) Co. Ltd, SE Liquidation LLC, SWEP Germany GmbH, SWEP Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., SWEP North America Inc., SWEP Slovakia s.r.o., SWEP Technology (Suzhou) Co. Ltd., Seabiscuit Motorsports Inc., Simmons Sirvey Corporation, So. Cal. Soft-Pak, So. Cal. Soft-Pak Incorporated, Solaris Laser, Solaris Laser S.A., Somero Enterprises, Sound Solutions, Space S.R.L., Spirit, Start Italiana Petrol Cihazlari Sanayi Ticaret Anonim Sirketi, Start Italiana S.R.L., Swep Energy Oy, Swep International A.B., Swep Japan K.K., Sys-Tech Solutions, Sys-Tech Solutions Inc., Systech GB Limited, Systech Shanghai Consulting Company Limited, TQC Quantium Quality S.A. de C.V., TTSI III Inc., TWG Canada Consolidated Inc., TXHI LLC, Tartan Textile Services Inc., The Heil Co., Tokheim Belgium, Tokheim China Company Limited, Tokheim GmbH, Tokheim Group, Tokheim Hengshan Technologies (Guangzhou) Co. Ltd., Tokheim Holding B.V., Tokheim India Private Limited, Tokheim Sofitam Applications, Trans - Logistic Group S.R.L., Triton Systems, Tulsa Winch Inc., UPCO Inc., US Synthetic, Unattended Payment Solutions LLC, Unified Brands, Unified Brands Inc., Val TemperBent Glass L.P., Vectron Frequency Devices (Shanghai) Co. Ltd, Vehicle Service Group LLC, Vehicle Service Group UK Limited, Vos Food Store Equipment Ltd., WSCR Corp., Warn Automotive LLC, Warn Industries, Waukesha Bearings, Waukesha Bearings Corporation, Waukesha Bearings Limited, Waukesha Bearings Russia LLC, Wayne Fuel Management UK Ltd., Wayne Fueling Systems, Wayne Fueling Systems (Rus) Limited Liability Company, Wayne Fueling Systems Australia Pty Ltd, Wayne Fueling Systems Canada ULC, Wayne Fueling Systems Deutschland GmbH, Wayne Fueling Systems Italia S.R.L., Wayne Fueling Systems LLC, Wayne Fueling Systems Ltd., Wayne Fueling Systems Sweden AB, Wayne Fueling Systems UK Holdco Ltd., Wayne Industria e Comercio Ltda., WellMark, XanTec Steuerungs- und EDV-Technik GmbH, and em-tec GmbH.
DArr Aktiengesellschaft, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a mechanical and plant engineering company worldwide. The company's Paint and Final Assembly Systems segment plans, builds, and modernizes paint shops and final assembly lines for the automotive industry; and supplies products and processes for various process stages in paint shop technology. It also provides supply control and conveyor systems, as well as air supply and exhaust-air systems; consulting services; and assembly and test systems for medical devices. The company's Application Technology segment offers technologies for the automated spray application of primers, and base and clear coats; and systems used for paint supply, quality assurance, and process control and evaluation. It also provides sealing technology for sealing seams, underbody protection, and injecting insulating materials in cars; glueing technology for fitting windows, glass roofs, cockpits, and tanks; and technology for paint application products. The company's Clean Technology Systems segment offers exhaust-air purification for the chemical, pharmaceutical, carbon fiber production, printing/coating, woodworking, mining, energy, oil and gas, and packaging industries, as well as to vehicle and lithium-ion battery manufacturers, automotive suppliers, and decentralized power plant operators. Its Measuring and Process Systems segment provides balancing and diagnostic systems; and systems for the automated filling of refrigerators, air-conditioning systems, and heat pumps with refrigerants. The company's Woodworking Machinery and Systems segment offers woodworking machinery and systems, such as panel cutting systems, through-feed saws and drilling machines, sanders, edge-banding machines, CNC processing centers, and handling and storage systems for use in furniture industry and woodworking trade, and timber house construction. DArr Aktiengesellschaft was founded in 1895 and is headquartered in Bietigheim-Bissingen, Germany.

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Dunelm Group plc engages in the retail of homewares in the United Kingdom. The company offers furniture for bedroom, living room, dining room, and office; sofas and chairs; bean bags; bed frames, mattresses, divan beds and bases, and headboards, as well as kids beds; and bedding products, such as bed linens, duvets, pillows, protectors, and baby and kids beddings. It also provides curtains, and poles and tracks; blinds; rugs, runners, and door mats; mirrors; cushion pads, covers; throws; seat pads; pictures and frames, wallpapers, and accessories; lighting products, including ceiling and wall lights, lamp shades, floor and table lamps, and outdoor lights; kitchen products, such as cooking, dining, utility, and electrical products; and storage products for home, clothes, and kitchen, as well as travel and luggage products. In addition, the company offers towels and bathmats, bathroom accessories, and bathroom furniture; kids accessories and toys, and nursery furniture and products, as well as travel, safety, and wellbeing products; garden furniture and storage, and garden dAcor products; and Christmas trees and lights, wreaths and garlands, baubles and tree decoration, and novelty products. It operates 173 superstores and 2 distribution centers, as well as sells its products through an online store at dunelm.com. Dunelm Group plc was founded in 1979 and is based in Syston, the United Kingdom.

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First American Financial Corp. operates as an insurance company. It provides title insurance and settlement services to the real estate and mortgage industries. The company operates its business through the following segments: Title Insurance & Services and Specialty Insurance. The Title Insurance & Services segment provides title insurance, escrow, closing services and similar or related financial services domestically and internationally in connection with residential and commercial real estate transactions. It also maintains, manages and provides access to title plant records and images and provides banking, trust and investment advisory services. The Specialty Insurance segment issues property & casualty insurance policies and sells home warranty products. It also provides title plant management services, which include title and other real property records and images, valuation products and services, home warranty products, property and casualty insurance and banking, trust and investment advisory services. First American Financial was founded in January, 2008 and is headquartered in Santa Ana, CA.

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Freeport-McMoRan, Inc. engages in the mining of copper, gold and molybdenum. It operates through the following segments: North America Copper Mines, South America Mining; Indonesia Mining, Molybdenum Mines, Rod and Refining, Atlantic Copper Smelting and Refining and Corporate, Other and Eliminations. The North America Copper Mines segment operates open-pit copper mines in Morenci, Bagdad, Safford, Sierrita and Miami in Arizona and Chino and Tyrone in New Mexico. The South America Mining segment includes Cerro Verde in Peru and El Abra in Chile. The Indonesia Mining segment handles the operations of Grasberg minerals district that produces copper concentrate that contains significant quantities of gold and silver. The Molybdenum Mines segment includes the Henderson underground mine and Climax open-pit mine, both in Colorado. The Rod and Refining segment consists of copper conversion facilities located in North America and includes a refinery, rod mills, and a specialty copper products facility. The Atlantic Copper Smelting and Refining segment smelts and refines copper concentrate and markets refined copper and precious metals in slimes. The Corporate, Other and Eliminations segment

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Global Brass and Copper Holdings, Inc. converts, fabricates, processes, and distributes specialized non-ferrous products in the United States, the Asia Pacific, and Mexico. It operates in three segments: Olin Brass, Chase Brass, and A.J. Oster. The Olin Brass segment manufactures, fabricates, and converts specialized copper and brass sheets, strips, foils, tubes, and fabricated products; and rerolls and forms other alloys, such as stainless steel, carbon steel, and aluminum. The Chase Brass segment manufactures and supplies brass rods in round, hexagonal, and other shapes. The A.J. Oster segment processes and distributes copper, brass, and aluminum sheets, strips, and coated products. The company sells its products to the building and housing, automotive, electronics/electrical components, munitions, coinage, transportation, and industrial machinery and equipment markets under the Olin Brass, Chase Brass, A.J. Oster, Green Dot, and Eco Brass brands through its direct mill sales, distribution network, and third-party distributors. Global Brass and Copper Holdings, Inc. was founded in 2007 and is headquartered in Schaumburg, Illinois.

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NovaGold Resources Inc. explores for and develops gold mineral properties in the United States. It primarily owns 50% interest in the Donlin Gold project consisting of 493 mining claims covering an area of 71,420 acres located in the Kuskokwim region of southwestern Alaska. The company was formerly known as NovaCan Mining Resources (1985) Limited and changed its name to NovaGold Resources Inc. in March 1987. NovaGold Resources Inc. was founded in 1984 and is based in Vancouver, Canada.

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Thomson Reuters Corporation provides business information services in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. It operates in five segments: Legal Professionals, Corporates, Tax & Accounting Professionals, Reuters News, and Global Print. The Legal Professionals segment offers research and workflow products focusing on legal research and integrated legal workflow solutions that combine content, tools, and analytics to law firms and governments. The Corporates segment provides a suite of content-enabled technology solutions for legal, tax, regulatory, compliance, and IT professionals. The Tax & Accounting Professionals segment offers research and workflow products focusing on tax offerings and automating tax workflows to tax, accounting, and audit professionals in accounting firms. The Reuters News segment provides business, financial, national, and international news to professionals through desktop terminals, media organizations, and industry events, as well as directly to consumers. The Global Print segment offers legal and tax information primarily in print format to legal and tax professionals, governments, law schools, and corporations. The company was formerly known as The Thomson Corporation and changed its name to Thomson Reuters Corporation in April 2008. The company was founded in 1851 and is headquartered in Toronto, Canada. Thomson Reuters Corporation is a subsidiary of The Woodbridge Company Limited.

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Disha Patani turns down a film with Akshay

Disha Patani's last film Baaghi 2 was a major success and that's the reason that the actress is choosing her films very carefully to maintain a good record. After making her debut with Neeraj Pandey's MS Dhoni: The Untold Story, she featured in Sajid Nadiadwala's Baaghi 2 and now she has Salman Khan's Bharat lined-up. Apparently, the actress is currently in talks with Imtiaz Ali for his next film opposite Kartik Aaryan. Now we got to know that she was offered R Balki's next film, Mangalyaan, opposite Akshay Kumar but she turned down the offer.

As per our sources, the actress was damn excited when she got the offer for R Balki's film.

She is big fan of his work. But when she heard the story in detail, she got to know that there are four girls in the film. And the major role is being played by Vidya Balan.

Disha took some time to think about this film as there was Akshay Kumar in it as well. Later, she decided to let go this film as she was not ready to feature with three other girls in a film and her role was also not that meaty.
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.

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Vedanta Resources plc operates as a diversified natural resources company in India, Zambia, South Africa, Namibia, the United Arab Emirates, Ireland, Australia, and Liberia. It primarily produces zinc, lead, silver, copper, iron ore, and aluminum deposits. The company also explores for, extracts, and processes minerals, as well as oil and gas. In addition, it operates as a power producer with an installed capacity of 8.4 gigawatts of thermal based power generation and 274 megawatts of wind power generation. Further, the company engages in the port operations business in India; mining, smelting, and refining copper, aluminum, zinc, and iron ore; and gold and silver processing activity. Additionally, it provides accommodation and catering services; and leases medical equipment, as well as offers related building and conducting services. The company was founded in 1976 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom. Vedanta Resources plc is a subsidiary of Volcan Investments Limited.

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DowDuPont Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in agriculture, materials science, and specialty products businesses in the United States, Canada, the Asia Pacific, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. The company's Agriculture segment produces, and sells hybrid corn seed and soybean seed varieties; sunflowers, wheat, alfalfa, canola, cotton, rice, and sorghum; silage inoculants; and crop protection products that include weed control, disease control, and insect control. Its Performance Materials & Coatings segment manufactures and sells architectural paints and coatings, and industrial coatings; performance monomers and silicones; standalone silicones; and home and personal care solutions. The company's Industrial Intermediates & Infrastructure segment offers ethylene oxides, propylene oxide derivatives, cellulose ethers, redispersible latex powders, and acrylic emulsions; sustainable solutions; and chlorine and caustic soda. Its Packaging & Specialty Plastics segment provides ethylene, and propylene and aromatic products; and polyolefin elastomers and ethylene propylene diene monomer rubbers. The company's Electronics & Imaging segment offers materials and systems for mobile devices, television monitors, personal computers, and electronics. Its Nutrition & Biosciences segment provides specialty ingredients, as well as cellulosic- and alginates-based pharma excipients; and enzymes, biomaterials, biocides, and antimicrobial solutions and process technologies. The company's Transportation & Advanced Polymers segment offers engineering resins, adhesives, lubricants, and parts for transportation, electronics, healthcare, industrial, and consumer end-markets. Its Safety & Construction segment provides engineered products and integrated systems for construction, worker safety, energy, oil and gas, transportation, medical device, and water purification and separation industries. The company was founded in 1897 and is headquartered in Midland, Michigan.

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Indigenous studies matter for natural sciences students

Joanna Hughes :

For many years, indigenous people and issues were not only disregarded, but also largely invisible in education. However, as the importance of their impact and influence is increasingly asserted, this is rapidly changing. One area were indigenous studies offer unique value? The natural sciences. Here's a closer look at what students in the natural sciences can gain from indigenous studies.

Native Knowledge, New Perspectives

Natural sciences are those that deal with the physical world. In addition to the physical sciences like physics, chemistry, astronomy, and geology, they also include life sciences such as biology, marine science and zoology. Ecology is also a type of natural science, and a very important one at that given our current planetary peril.

As ecologists study the relationship between living things and their environments, they stand to learn a lot from the holistic view of ecosystems offered by people who've adapted to it for millennia. Also known as Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK), the insights of indigenous people are helping scientists understand more about the natural world through their history and culture.

Contend researchers Henry P. Huntington and Nikolai I. Mymrin, "Traditional Ecological Knowledge (or TEK) is a system of understanding one's environment. It is built over generations, as people depend on the land and sea for their food, materials, and culture. TEK is based on observations and experience, evaluated in light of what one has learned from one's elders. People have relied on this detailed knowledge for their survival-they have literally staked their lives on its accuracy and repeatability. TEK is an important source of information and understanding for anyone who is interested in the natural world and the place of people in the environment."

The impact of indigenous people becomes even more evident when you factor in that they currently own or manage at least a quarter of the earth's land surfaces, according to the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). Says Professor Stephen Garnett of these findings, "Understanding the extent of lands over which indigenous people retain traditional connection is critical for several conservation and climate agreements. Not until we pulled together the best available published information on indigenous lands did we really appreciate the extraordinary scale of indigenous peoples' ongoing influence."

And experts say we stand to learn a lot from their stewardship of this land. Asserts researcher John E. Fa, "Where I work in central Africa, indigenous people are synonymous with tropical rainforests in the best condition. But change is happening fast. Empowering indigenous peoples will be key to conserving these forests."

Echoes WCS's James Watson, "We found that about two-thirds of indigenous lands are essentially natural. That is more than double the proportion for other lands."

Opportunities for Diversity

Including indigenous studies can certainly bring new perspectives to higher education, particularly when they're included in the sciences; more importantly, incorporating indigenous studies and cultural awareness into universities can have a positive impact on indigenous students and help to diversify fields of study that have long been dominated by Western thought and Western scientists.

Universities in Canada have begun to require undergraduate students to complete indigenous studies requirements in order to give students a broader understanding of the country's history and culture. And in New Zealand, culturally framed mentoring and support has increased the number of Maori graduates and helped the country's higher education to reach a 'critical mass' of Maori scholars. Other nations, like Australia, are now following New Zealand's lead and investigating how to embed cultural understanding into the higher education system, with the aim of retaining and encouraging Aboriginal enrollments.

Indeed, in Australia, where only one percent of university students identify as indigenous and fewer than half of all indigenous students graduate, science programs aimed at Aboriginal students are particularly effective. Not only do these programs give Aboriginal students the opportunity to explore fields where indigenous students are often underrepresented, they get hands-on experience with indigenous scientists and are able to see, first-hand, how traditional knowledge can be used in conservation and research.

Advocates argue that inclusive programs not only encourage indigenous student success, they improve science and society directly. New Zealand's policies are based on the philosophy that indigenous graduates become policymakers and academics who further the opportunities for others in their communities. One example: Misty Jenkins, a postdoctoral researcher in microbiology and immunology who was also the first Indigenous Australian to attend both Oxford and Cambridge. Jenkins believes that innovation "requires diversity and creative thinking from all backgrounds" and both her research and outreach work are aimed at that goal. Jenkins' research centers on sequencing Aboriginal DNA for a national reference genome, which could improve Aboriginal health outcomes. Currently, DNA sequencing is done in comparison to Caucasian DNA. When she's not sequencing DNA, Jenkins works as an ambassador and mentor, traveling around Australia and meeting with schools and rural communities.

"Multiple Points of Entry" Into Knowledge

At one point not so long ago, Indigenous and Western systems of knowledge were largely viewed as mutually exclusive. However, we now know that there are many ways of knowing, and that in many cases modern "discovery" is in fact a rehashing of Indigenous Knowledge.

One example highlighted by Smithsonian magazine? A team of researchers recently determined that northern Australia's "firehawk" raptors spread wildfires intentionally by carrying burning sticks in their beaks and talons. While this research provided important evidence of non-human tool use, the real surprise is that the region's indigenous people had known about these behaviors for thousands of years.

The takeaway, according to Smithsonian? "The worldwide attention given to the firehawks article provides an opportunity to explore the double standard that exists concerning the acceptance of Traditional Knowledge by practitioners of Western science.

Aboriginal astronomer Karlie Noon, meanwhile, reminds us of the degree to which Indigenous and Western ways can work together. "We've got the science in traditional stories and I'm a huge advocate for science that has a meaning and has a cultural significance. [The scientific content embedded in traditional knowledge] has stayed within cultural circles and with the knowledge-holders, but it's now becoming more accessible to people," she told the Northern Daily Leader.

Indeed, stories just like these are playing out everywhere from boosting climate resilience in Africa to discovering "new" natural bug repellents.

A Call for Inclusion

Yet even as the advantages of multidisciplinary approaches incorporating indigenous points of view are heralded, indigenous voices are still being talked over.

Earlier this summer, for example, Donald Trump issued an Executive Order which replaced Barack Obama's eco-forward National Ocean Policy with one putting economy, security, and energy ahead of ecosystems, thereby essentially removing the wisdom of indigenous voices from the conversation, according to National Geographic.

Says Kelsey Leonard, tribal co-lead of the former Mid-Atlantic Regional Planning Body, of the development, "The people who are on the front lines of climate change are indigenous peoples. So the removal of language that references climate change-not only in this executive order, but throughout this administration-is an affront to tribal sovereignty."

Asks Margaret Spring, chief conservation officer of Monterey Bay Aquarium, of the questions that linger following the policy change, "I think what they say is they'll make decisions on science, but what does that mean to them? And how do they interpret that? And whose science? And how is it reviewed?"

Scientists with open minds and well-rounded perspectives may be uniquely positioned to answer these questions in a way that bridges the gap toward critical balance. At the same time, some indigenous societies are taking matters into their own hands when it comes to preserving their culture and wisdom. Learn more about Colombia's Misak University here.

Thinking about pursuing a degree in indigenous studies, meanwhile? Check out these five reasons to do so.

(Joanna worked in higher education administration for many years at a leading research institution before becoming a full-time freelance writer. She lives in the beautiful White Mountains region of New Hampshire with her family).
DINAJPUR(South): Primary and Mass Education Minister Md Mustafizur Rahman Fizar MP speaking at the inaugural programme of the newly- constructed Fulbari Pourashava building as Chief Guest on Friday.
KALAPARA (Patuakhali): Muktijaddha Sangsad Santan Command, Kalapara Upazila Unit formed a human chain demanding steps to uphold 30% freedom fighters\' quota for job on Thursday.
88,000 Syria rebels killed in Russian attacks

Russian air forces have carried out more than 40,000 bombing missions, hitting about 120,000 targets.

AFP, Moscow :

Russia's defence minister said Saturday that almost 88,000 rebels had been killed in Syria in the three years since Moscow's intervention to back government forces.

"Over the course of the operation, a total of more than 87,500 rebels have been eliminated, 1,411 settlements have been liberated and more than 95 percent of Syria's territory," Shoigu was quoted as saying at a forum in Singapore in a ministry statement.

"Most of the rebels have been liquidated," Shoigu said.

Britain-based war monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says close to 365,000 people have been killed during the seven-year civil war.

Russia launched strikes in support of President Bashar al-Assad's regime in September 2015.

Russian air forces have carried out more than 40,000 bombing missions, hitting about 120,000 targets of "terrorist" infrastructure, Shoigu said.

The defence minister said that "Syrian armed forces currently control territory where more than 90 percent of the population lives."

Meanwhile, the Islamic State group has released six of 27 Druze hostages it seized during a deadly July attack in Syria's Sweida province in exchange for a prisoner swap and ransom, a monitor said Saturday.

"Two women and four children from the province of Sweida were released last night," Rami Abdel Rahman, director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a monitor group, told AFP.

He added that the releases were the "first wave" and part of an agreement sealed with the Syrian government to exchange all the hostages for "60 Islamic State prisoners held by the regime and a ransom of $27 million."

The jihadist group abducted around 30 people - mostly women and children -from Sweida in late July during the deadliest attack on Syria's Druze community of the seven-year civil war.

During the coordinated assaults on July 25, IS waged a series of suicide bombings, shootings and stabbings that left more than 250 people dead across the southwestern province, most of them civilians.

Sweida province is the heartland of the country's Druze minority, which made up around three percent of Syria's pre-war population - or around 700,000 people.

IS executed a 19-year-old male student among the captives in August and then a 25-year-old female captive in early October. The group said a 65-year-old female captive also died from illness.

Families of those kidnapped held protests to demand action by the Syrian government to free them.

Negotiations between the government's Russian ally and the jihadists for the release of the captives had stalled.
Los Angeles: Cate Blanchett has defended the casting of straight actors as LGBTQ characters, saying she will "fight to the death" with people who stop artistes from taking up any kind of roles.

The 49-year-old actor, who played a lesbian woman in her critically-acclaimed film Carol, said at the Rome Film Festival that it is not necessary for an actor to experience what the character feels, and she believes that it defies the whole point of acting.

"It also speaks to something that I'm quite passionate about in storytelling generally, but in film specifically, which is that film can be quite a literal medium. And I will fight to the death for the right to suspend disbelief and play roles beyond my experience. I think reality television and all that that entails had an extraordinary impact, a profound impact on the way we view the creation of character," Blanchett said.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the actor was in a discussion with festival artistic director Antonio Monda.

"I think it provides a lot of opportunity, but the downside of it is that we now, particularly in America, I think, we expect and only expect people to make a profound connection to a character when it's close to their experience," Blanchett said.

Of late, Hollywood has been severely criticised for casting straight actors to play gay, lesbian and trans roles.

In July, actor Scarlett Johansson had to drop out from a project, where she was supposed to play a transgender man, following backlash from the LGBTQ community.
Los Angeles: Disney has delayed the release of Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt-starrer Jungle Cruise by nine months.

The film, being directed by Jaume Collet-Serra, will now hit the theatres on July 24, 2020 instead of previously announced date of October 10, 2019, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The film, a feature adaptation of Disney's theme park ride, follows a boat captain who takes a sister and her brother on a mission to find a tree believed to possess healing powers. Wild animals and a competing German expedition figure into the proceedings.

Johnson, who was most recently seen in Skyscraper, will portray the role of the boat captain, while Blunt and actor Jack Whitehall are playing the sister and the brother.

The film will also feature Edgar Ramirez, as the villain with a conquistador (soldiers and explorers of the Spanish Empire) background, and Paul Giamatti.

Beau Flynn, John Davis and John Fox are producing alongside Johnson and his Seven Bucks Productions partners Dany Garcia and Hiram Garcia. Scott Sheldon will serve as the co-producer.

The film had wrapped shooting in September.
Unhappy Bayern Munich lash out against media coverage

AP, Munich :

Leading figures at German champion Bayern Munich hit out angrily against the media for its reporting of the club's recent loss of form, even threatening to take legal action if necessary.

Bayern's chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, president Uli Hoeness and sport director Hasan Salihamidzic appeared together Friday to speak out against what they consider unfavorable media coverage.

Rummenigge labelled some of the criticism aimed at Bayern "derogatory, slanderous reporting" as he addressed a packed news conference.

After winning the past six titles, the 28-time German champion is sixth in the Bundesliga and has not won its past four matches overall.

"Today is an important day for Bayern Munich because we are telling you we will not put up with it anymore," Rummenigge said.

"Polemic seems to know no boundaries anymore ... This applies to the media, it applies also to experts, and it applies above all to experts who once played football for this club."

Rummenigge even cited Article 1 of Germany's basic law: "The dignity of man is sacrosanct."

The Bayern officials complained against "outrageous" criticism of club stalwarts Manuel Neuer, Jerome Boateng and Mats Hummels following Germany's 3-0 loss to the Netherlands last week.

Former Bayern player Olaf Thon, now a TV pundit, said Boateng and Hummels were playing "old-man football" in the side's central defense. Thon, a skillful midfielder who played for Bayern from 1988-94 stood by his criticism.

Bayern started the season well under new coach Niko Kovac, with seven straight wins in all competitions, has been the subject of critical coverage for its lackluster play in recent games. Kovac's side has appeared flat and labored and was humiliated 3-0 at home by Borussia Moenchengladbach before the international break.

Kovac, a former Bayern midfielder in his first big coaching role, has struggled for answers on how to turn the side's fortunes around, and there was speculation over his future before Rummenigge and Hoeness belatedly backed their coach.

Hoeness also slammed the media for its coverage.
Neither does Karan Thapar dwell long to take credit for his pioneering role as a TV journalist who introduced several innovations to Indian TV news from the British media, where he was rising as a star when India beckoned, nor does he under-project his family background or try to hide an elitist start to life, lest they serve as a platform to attack him for bias in his career. Oblivious to the fusillades of hatred from the troll armies, or barbs likely from quarters closer, Thapar speaks his mind out, for neither is he writing a memoir with calculations of image correction, nor as a harsh mediaperson quipped  is this your 200-page resume applying for a rehabilitation of a job to the Congress Party?. It is an angry outburst of a screed when he feels being cornered into silence.

Dictating his book to his beloved assistant, Santosh (I chuckled thinking the last book I had read where the author had dictated the entire work to a steno and was the Mahabharata), the author lives up to the honesty and answerability of the standards he expected of guests on his shows. He reveals almost as if being shadowed by his fierce alter-self with questions to corner guests at every line, and satisfies the test of truth, transparency and where he breaks notions or values expected of his tribe, like the sacred law of omerta where scribes follow with sources. He is direct, intrepid and argumentatively boisterous enough to become endearing.

LOVED LIMELIGHT

His creed and value-system seldom seems to have digressed, changed or evolved: he loves attention and was always willing to exploit any dimension of reality to get it. If a sunflower thrives in sunlight, Thapar, at whom life seems to have thrown very few bad lemons, sought, and got, perpetual limelight.

BORN TO PRIVILEGE

Born in an aristocratic Thapar family, his father served as Indias Chief of Army Staff during one of the countrys most difficult times, the Indo-China war of 1962, and subsequently as a diplomat, and named serendipitously after the royal scion-turned-politician, Karan Singh. Thapar quickly completes his childhood story  packed off to Doon School by a stern mother, then to Stowe, then Cambridge and Oxford, without much of nostalgia, or a reflect fury a la Catcher in the Rye. From what he almost nonchalantly dubs, my unexpected arrival, his father was almost 50 years when Karan was born, loved by his sisters, to his familys close relationship with the then Indias first family, the Gandhi-Nehrus, with casualness, neither boastful nor apologetic.

EARLY FRIENDSHIPS WITH SCIONS

He has early friendships with Sanjay Gandhi, a political scion brat impressing a young diplo-brat with daredevil aerial acrobatics and vehicular stunts, and a little more formal access to Rajiv Gandhi, who would later as Prime Minister play a role in bringing Karan back to India to help develop TV news in the country years later. Between the two Gandhi brothers, he takes us through his British college years, where he barely hides an infatuation for Benazir Bhutto, and explains how he built a strong bond with Aung San Suu Kyi, three of whom he would go on to interview, the three who headed a country each.

He falls in love with England too, and transforms into an unabashed Anglophile. Almost an archaically Nirad babu types, and with little more than an instinct to lead, he dumps economics for journalism and starts his career in the UK, where a start in print helps him learn the tricks but was almost waiting for his real arena to unfold, and embrace him as much as he embraces it  becoming the relentless intelligent inquisitor of the idiot box.

FOUR PMs

Karan Thapar understands pace; each second on TV has a premium, and he maintains it. How he bagged interviews with Prime Ministers P.V. Narasimha Rao, Chandra Sekhar, V.P. Singh and Atal Behari Vajpayee, and the tales behind his interactions, famous interviews, what went wrong, how they reacted to him are all revealed without ado.

CONTROVERSIES

The more controversial stories, earning the wrath, and a verbal spanking from Ram Jethmalani, the acrimony of an infamous interview with Jayalalithaa, and the tension as they were recording it, as well as the impromptu improvisation of a coup on Amitabh Bachchan about affairs with fellow heroines in front of his family, or pushing Kapil Dev to emotional turmoil, and tears, and keeping him there for as long as the interview lasted  he reveals with a candor rare for any memoir; intrepid, and quite frankly, in the manner of a Rhett Butler in Gone with the Wind, Frankly, my dear, I dont give a damn.

PERSONAL TRAGEDY

The one touching story in the book, and perhaps a tragedy from which man-boy never grew up after from, was the beautiful love he found, and married, and lost  his wife Nisha. For an indulgent sophomore who jokes he loved it that British boys thronged to his first debate at Pembroke, Cambridge, possibly mistaking Karan to be a girl Karen, or says he was told he looked gay, or the one who asked the young and single Ms Bhutto, president of the rival student union, Madam, you are proposing sex before marriage would you care to practice what you preach?, he confesses  She loved both the child and adult in me. I will never find someone who could love me like that again. So he remains single. Unexpectedly, I felt my eyes moist on those few pages.

NARENDRA MODIs REVENGE

Then Narendra Modi takes centrestage. The interview he walks out of, the promise of continued friendship from a man who would go on to become a Prime Minister, the one who would never give Thapar an interview, and after a while, ensured his party spokespersons started boycotting his show. The irony is bizarre: a kind of journalist who cemented a national narrative that made a rapidly rising political party an untouchable returns the gift; and a journalist born into privilege and access, is turned pariah.

Without any remorse, the book reveals towards the end as to how and why Thapar broke the trust of Sambit Patra or Pavan Varma, about how and why the BJP was boycotting him at the behest of Mr Modi, who even tells Prashant Kishor, he will take his revenge.

At the end of the book, I felt as most readers would also feel, that Karan Thapar brought a stern quality evocative of British democracy to our media, where politicians submitted to dissent-packed questioning. He was a pioneer, and a rare breed of a person; part Victorian, part Elizabethian. But above all, his book impresses that there once was a journalist who dared to speak to authority. In an age where TV anchors easily slip into the roleplay of a God, or a judge, or both, we realise and cherish the value of a devils advocate.

Sriram Karri is the author of the bestselling MAN Asian Literary prize longlisted novel, Autobiography of a Mad Nation, and the non-fiction, The Spiritual Supermarket.
At the height of the Kargil crisis in June 1999, Nasim Zehra was one of a handful of journalists who accompanied Pakistans foreign minister Sartaj Aziz when he travelled to Delhi for talks with Indias foreign minister Jaswant Singh and then Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, where the Indian government made it plain that Pakistan must withdraw its troops or face a full-scale retaliation by the Indian Army.

In her recently released book, From Kargil to the Coup: Events That Shook Pakistan, Zehra does what few in Pakistan have had the courage to do  nail the lie that the Pakistan Army attempted to perpetuate to the world some 20 years ago: that it was not behind the hare-brained scheme to capture the Kargil heights.

To my mind, while the book is extremely well-researched, especially when recounting the role played by the Clinton administration in getting India and Pakistan to walk back from the nuclear brink, Zehra has been braver still in nailing the other, equally damaging half-lie that has continued to haunt former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif: that he was fully and completely on board right from the start and worked closely with Kargil mastermind, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, on the undeclared war.

In a dangerously post-nuclear subcontinent, the crossing by Pakistan troops of the Line of Control into India through April 1999, could have easily led to a cataclysmic conflagration that could have annihilated both countries. Of all the ill-conceived wars between these two neighbours in their often brutal 71-year old history, Gen. Musharrafs Kargil misadventure must rank as the most foolhardy.

As Zehra says in this eye-popping tell-all, the briefing by director-general, military operations, Lt. Gen. Tauqir Zia to Mr Sharif on May 17, 1999, well after Pakistani troops, posing as mujahideen had occupied the heights, was kept deliberately ambiguous even by military standards.

Clearly leavened with huge doses of flattery, it was also meant to give Mr Sharif very little room to manoeuvre. Presented with a fait accompli, the Pakistan Army cleverly fed him a back story  that this was not just payback for the Indian Armys occupation of Siachen, but also the re-taking of Kashmir through fair means and foul. To everyone else outside that circle  especially a shocked Sartaj Aziz and the minister for Kashmir Majeed Malik  it was military hubris by a general who lacked the tactical ability to think beyond the immediate. As Zehra notes and as is pretty well known, it was a plan that Gen. Musharraf had even presented to Benazir Bhutto when she had taken over as Prime Minister. Only, she had the sense to shoot it down.

Zehras book lays the blame for Kargil, and rightly so, at Gen. Musharrafs door. But to my mind, for Mr Sharif to endorse an infraction that had happened without his knowledge, but under his watch, is the real story of the book.

As Zehra recounts in one of the books most riveting chapters, Lt. Gen. Tauqir Zia tells Mr Sharif: Sir, as per your desire, we have made a plan to upgrade the freedom movement in Kashmir. It fed into Mr Sharifs pride  a Kashmiri native brought up in Lahore  that it would be under his prime ministerial watch that Pakistan would wrest Kashmir away from India, even if it meant breaking with the Lahore Declaration that he had signed with Vajpayee.

It would be a five-phased operation and the first phase has been completed, he explained. He then proceeded to show on the map scores of positions that had already been taken. However, military maps without any text were used for the briefing. Nothing was written and they only had symbols on them. Normally, even military men receiving briefings on such maps, with only symbols, first require orientation to understand what these maps represent. For example, the LoC was not clearly demarcated on the map. Hence, during the presentation, when Pakistani and Indian positions were pointed out to Prime Minister Sharif, he was unable to fully comprehend the locations of these posts. Instead, for him, the main focus of the briefing was the achievements of the Pakistani troops. There was no mention of Pakistani troops crossing the LoC, nor of the Pakistani troop build-up 5 to 10 km beyond the LoC.

As Zehra tells it: Sartaj Aziz pointedly asked his PM whether the plan, that the Army had made, was not contrary to the undertaking in the Lahore Declaration. Sartaj Aziz Sahib, can we ever take Kashmir through paperwork? We have here an opportunity to take Kashmir, was a relaxed Mr Sharifs response. By contrast, his foreign minister was perturbed. He was clear that this operation would not help Pakistan get international support for Kashmir. The other obviously perturbed man in the room was Mr Sharifs minister for Kashmir and northern areas, Majeed Malik. A retired general, Malik grilled the Commander 10 Corps about the logistics for the forward troops. He questioned how supplies would reach troops under adverse weather conditions and in a hostile environment. He recalled the hazardous terrain he had personally visited.

Lt. Gen. Mahmuds curt response was that times had changed, that our troops are fully covered.

The retired general also asked the DGMO, What if the Indians do not remove their troops from the Valley and instead induct air power in the conflict theatre? Meanwhile, the silent worrier in the room, Mr Sharifs defence secretary, also a retired general, opted to not raise any questions. At the conclusion of the formal meeting, he merely whispered to other military officers, The foreign office will never be able to handle this.

The Kargil clique, as Zehra names them, were in full attendance. From Army Chief Gen. Pervez Musharraf, to the Chief of General Staff Lt. Gen. Aziz Khan, commander 10 corps Lt. Gen. Mahmud Ahmed, and Commander Force Command Northern Areas (FCNA) Brig. Javed Hassan, as well the ISIs top brass  the director-general ISI Lt. Gen. Ziauddin Butt, director, analysis wing, Maj. Gen. Shahid Aziz, and ISIs point man for Afghanistan and Kashmir, Maj. Gen. Jamshed Gulzar.

There were glaring flaws in both the planning and execution of the so-called Operation Koh Paima or Operation KP as it came to be called in Pakistan, Zehra says. The troops  and not the shepherds and mujahideen that the Pakistan Army said were behind the operation  were trapped in high-altitude dugouts, with no food or water, surviving on grass as Indian soldiers retook the heights and forced a surrender. Gen. Musharraf and his Kargil cliques flawed strategy,

Zehra writes, had not factored in the critical problems of logistical stretch.

In the end, though, while Mr Sharif may have been presented with a fait accompli, the question of why, as Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif did not call Gen. Musharrafs bluff and call back the troops goes to the heart of the systemic failure and the inability of one civilian government after another to tackle the Pakistan militarys overreach.

On Kargil  and the coup that was to come when Gen. Musharraf finally overthrew Mr Sharif  Zehra had access to the Armys top brass, including former Chief of General Staff Gen. Ali Kuli Khan and Gen. Musharrafs blue-eyed boy, Lt. Gen. Shahid Aziz. For Pakistan watchers like me, it will be interesting to see if the author and now celebrated television anchor will get the inside story on how the Army plotted the downfall of Mr Sharif in yet another attempt to cut a homegrown political force down to size, in a continuing game of one-upmanship that mars Pakistans fractured polity.
Joyous debut royal tour by the couple was buoyed by news that they are expecting their first baby. (Photo: AP)

Sydney: Prince Harry has paid tribute to Australian service members by opening a new wing of a war memorial before heading to a delayed opening of the Invictus Games as he and wife Meghan continue their visit to Australia and the South Pacific.

A thus-far joyous debut royal tour by the couple, buoyed by news that they are expecting their first baby, turned solemn as the Duke of Sussex opened a long-awaited extension to the Anzac Memorial in downtown Sydney's Hyde Park on Saturday morning.

The former British Army captain and the former Meghan Markle laid a wreath of Australian native flowers at the steps of the memorial, as Prime Minister Scott Morrison, other dignitaries, and service men and women looked on.
Amritsar: Most people who were mowed down by a speeding train in Amritsar during Dussehra celebrations Friday evening were migrant workers from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, an official said here Saturday.

The accident has claimed 61 lives so far out of which 39 bodies have been identified by the authorities. A senior official in the district administration said most migrant workers from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar work in an industrial area at a stone's throw away from the accident site and live nearby.

The Dussehra celebration gathering Friday evening had a good number of people who belonged to these two states as the festival is celebrated with great devotion back in their hometowns, he said.

Also Read: Video: Train mows down revellers in Amritsar Dussehra celebrations

"As per initial reports, most of deceased were migrant workers from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar and were working in the industrial area to earn their livelihood," the official said.

The official, however, did not give an exact breakdown of numbers as 20 bodies were yet to be identified. Jagunandan, a 40-year-old wage labourer from Hardoi in Uttar Pradesh who suffered injuries in the head and leg, said he was not standing near the tracks but was pushed as people started running away from the main stage after the Ravan effigy was set afire.

The father of four was brought to a hospital by a relative, who accompanied him to the event. The district administration is providing all possible help to the family members of deceased in sending bodies to their hometown, another official said.

Also Read: Punjab CM orders magisterial probe in Amritsar train tragedy, visits injured

Since morning, a large number of people have been sitting on railway tracks where the accident took place due to which train services have been suspended on this line. Angry people are raising slogans against the state government, saying that it did nothing to ensure proper security arrangements for the Dusshera event.

The Punjab government has ordered magisterial inquiry to ascertain the reason behind the tragic accident.
Kerala has been witnessing protests against the entry of girls and women of menstrual age into Sabarimala temple since the government had said it would abide by the ruling of the apex court. (Photo: File | PTI)

Chennai: Actor Rajinikanth on Saturday said there should be no "interference" in temple traditions being followed for a long time, in his first response to the recent Supreme Court order on the entry of women of all age groups into the Sabarimala shrine in Kerala and the subsequent protests.

Speaking to reporters here, he said there was no second opinion on equality for women in every sphere. "But when you talk about a temple, every temple has its time-honoured rituals, besides traditions being followed for a long time. My humble opinion is that no one should interfere in that," Rajinikanth said.

Noting that the top court verdict should be "respected", the 67-year-old actor, however, indicated that caution should be exercised when it came to matters of religion and related rituals.

Also Read: 'Will visit again after I turn 50': 9-yr-old girl with placard at Sabarimala

Kerala has been witnessing protests against the entry of girls and women of menstrual age into Sabarimala temple since the government had said it would abide by the ruling of the apex court.

The agitation intensified since the shrine was opened for the five-day monthly pooja on October 17. On September 28, a five-judge Constitution bench of the SC, headed by then chief justice Dipak Misra, lifted the centuries-old ban on the entry of women of menstrual age into the shrine.
59 people were killed and 57 injured in the accident, Punjab CM Amarinder Singh said, adding except nine, most of the bodies have been identified. (Photo: Twitter | ANI)

Amritsar: Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Saturday ordered a magisterial inquiry into the Amritsar train accident after visiting injured and kin of those killed in the tragedy.

The chief minister postponed a trip to Israel and arrived at Amritsar on Saturday morning to assess the damage.

"We are announcing a magisterial probe into the incident," Singh said while talking to media.

He said four weeks have been given to submit the report to find out who was at fault. The divisional commissioner of Jalandhar has been entrusted with the job of holding the inquiry, he said.

At least 59 people were killed on Friday evening after a crowd of Dussehra revellers that had spilled onto railway tracks while watching the burning of a Ravana effigy was run over by a train near Joda Phatak in Amritsar.

At least 300 people were watching the 'Ravana dahan' at a ground adjacent to railway tracks.

He said compensation of Rs 5 lakh each for the families of the deceased had already been announced by the state government. Besides, the government would bear the cost of medical treatments of the injured admitted to different hospitals, he told reporters.

Fifty-nine people were killed and 57 injured in the accident, he said, adding except nine, most of the bodies have been identified.

After landing at the Amritsar airport, Singh reached the accident site. He met senior officials and members of the crisis management group and took stock of the relief work.

Singh was accompanied by Health Minister Brahm Mohindra, Local Bodies Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu, Education Minister O P Soni, Punjab Congress chief Sunil Jakhar, among others.
Rahul Gandhi kicked off the party's campaign for December 7 Telangana Assembly polls at a public meeting in Nirmal district. (Photo: File)

Bhainsa: Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Saturday promised farm loan waiver of up to Rs two lakh at one go if his party wins in Telangana and targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi and TRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao accusing them of making false promises and indulging in corruption.

Kicking off the party's campaign for December 7 Telangana Assembly polls at a public meeting in Nirmal district here, he alleged that KCR, as Rao is popularly known, insulted B R Ambedkar by changing the name of a project named after him.

"Change will come in Telangana. KCR government will go. And in Delhi, Narendra Modi's government will go. I did not come here to make false promises. If you want to listen to false promises, then go to KCR and Modi, they will give you false promises," the Congress president said.

Attacking the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) chief, Rahul alleged that he changed the project designs, inflating its cost from Rs 38,000 crore to Rs one lakh crore.

"Why was it made into Rs one lakh crore (project)? Because the Chief Minister wants to indulge in corruption," he alleged. Rahul said with Rajiv Sagar and Indira Sagar projects too original costs were inflated.

"Wherever you see, CM indulges in corruption and benefits go to his family, relatives. As soon as he became CM, KCR started indulging in corruption, giving all the benefits to his family," the Congress chief alleged.

He also promised that the Congress will implement the Tribal Rights Bill (The Scheduled Tribes and other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act) and Land Acquisition Acts in letter and spirit when it comes to power at the Centre as well as in the state.

"Farmers are committing suicide all over the country. Thousands of farmers committed suicide in Telangana because they didn't get a proper price (for their produce). The Congress party promises that Rs two lakh in farm loan with be waived in one go. Not only that we will also ensure Rs 7,000 per quintal for cotton," the Congress president said and alleged that "neither Modi nor KCR is able to provide farmers' good price for their produce".

"The moment Congress comes into power in Telangana, we will protect tribal lands. We will give Rs 3,000 allowance each to unemployed youth," Gandhi added.

He said the KCR government failed to fulfil promises such as job for every family, three acres of land to every SC and ST family and two bedroom houses for all eligible people. The AICC leader alleged that Rao also failed to implement 12 per cent quota for STs and provide drinking water to every family.

"Similarly, Modi failed to keep up the promised Rs 15 lakh in each and every bank account, two crore jobs for Indian youth every year and fair price for farmers."

"Wherever Modiji and KCR go they make false promises. You watch all my speeches. I am in politics for the past 15 years. We promised to waive their loans (earlier). We waived Rs 70,000 crore worth of farm loans," he said.

Gandhi also accused Modi of spreading hatred and enmity and said: "he pits people of one religion against the other, one region against another, one caste against another, and weakens the country".

The Congress moves forward by taking everybody together, he said. He alleged that the note ban which was implemented during the end of 2016, destroyed the small-scale sector in the country.
The UIDAI had previously informed the apex court that it was not possible to track the Aadhar holder by location.

Hyderabad: In a grave infringement of privacy, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) and Department of Telecommunications (DoT) have announced a proposed process wherein live photographs along with location and time stamp will be captured for the purpose of issuing SIM cards.

On Friday, a joint statement said, In fact, the DoT and UIDAI are in a process to bring out a completely hassle-free and digital procedure for issuing new SIM cards through a mobile app, which will be fully compliant of the Supreme Court judgement in the Aadhaar Case.

In the proposed process, a live photograph of the person with latitude, longitude, and time stamp will be captured. The photo of his/her ID such as Aadhaar card, voter ID, etc will be captured. The SIM card agent will be authenticated through OTP and a SIM card will be issued, the statement read.

Taking the photo ID such as Aadhaar card for offline verification is against the Aadhar Act itself. The UIDAI had previously informed the apex court that it was not possible to track the Aadhar holder by location. Experts have said if this proposal is implemented, it will become a form of mass surveillance.

Ranjit Raj of Swecha FSMI said, The proposal is another form of surveillance by UIDAI. If Aadhar data is leaked, users home locations or enrolment locations data will make them more vulnerable. We already know that the Andhra Pradesh government leaked-list of students who were availing minority scholarship and their GPS locations might help rioters to easily find and attack them. If Aadhar- linked data of pregnant women is leaked, then companies can find locations and use that data to sell their products.

Furthermore, if in future, telecom companies decide to issue SIM cards at home, as part of customer choices, this adds to the mass surveillance by private companies.

Anivar Aravind, an internet researcher said, The proposed solution mentions Aadhar in violation of the Supreme Court verdict again. Why is UIDAI still a part of mobile KYC even after the apex court clearly banned it? The solution has already been proposed by the court. Telecos have to delete the Aadhar data with them. Any new solution is after this point.

However, another expert pointed out that it was too early to speak about the proposal as no circular had been issued and one could not speculate based on press statements and tweets of UIDAI.

Srinivas Kodali, an independent security researcher, said, It is also hypothetical at this stage, there is no circular or order from UIDAI. If the UIDAI wants to build such proposals, people will go to court and get it turned down. We dont know the specifics of it, until the architecture is made public and an official circular is issued.

We should simply assume that UIDAI is figuring out how to get out of the Supreme Court judgment. It may be they have accidentally included that. They could have just said UIDAI doesnt collect the data but telecom companies are allowed to collect, Kodali said. The UIDAI and DOT included the aforesaid proposal in the statement issued on Friday dismissing rumours that if a mobile number is Aadhaar KYC-compliant then it will be disconnected without fresh verification. It said, The SC in its judgment in the Aadhaar case has nowhere directed that the mobile number which has been issued through Aadhaar KYC has to be disconnected.
Hyderabad: Hitting out at the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre, Congress president Rahul Gandhi Saturday alleged fearing attacks, women in the country were now scared of coming out.

Gandhi also alleged that freedom fighter Veer Savarkar, who is worshipped by the BJP party as an icon of patriotism, wrote a letter to the British government to release him when leaders like Mahatma Gandhi were in prison. He said there were currently two ideologies in the country.

"One ideology is hatred and the other is spreading love. There is fight between these two. Wherever you see-Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu all over the country people are scared. Today it is being enquired about the religion, place and language of people. Whether it is Rohit Vemula or Dalit or Adivasi or Muslim, they are being threatened, why because there is some weakness in India now." Turning to women, Gandhi said "Women today in India are scared to come out. They do not know what will happen to them. There is a reason for that. Today Prime Minister for the first time in India tries to divide the country, spreads hatred. Similarly his supporters also spread hatred," he said.

Rahul Gandhi was addressing a gathering on the occasion of 'Rajiv Gandhi Sadbhavana Yatra commemoration day' at Charminar.

He said many leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Patel and Rajiv Gandhi tried to keep the country united and everybody in this country has a right to live peacefully as provided by the Indian constitution.

"Why is MIM (All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul Muslimeen) supporting the PM when he is trying to divide the country.One after another state, MIM is supporting the PM. Because they (both BJP and MIM) think on similar lines. We are fighting with both them," the congress leader said. Attacking Veer Savarkar, Gandhi said "Prime Minister Narendra Modi kept the portrait of Veer Savarkar in Parliament....When Britishers were ruling this country, when all the Congress leaders were in prison, Veer Savarkar wrote a letter to the British. He was not veer (gallant)."

The congress president alleged that Savarkar wrote that he would do anything for them (British).

"I apologise you. I will not indulge in any political activities. Release me from the prison. With folded hands, I will touch your (British) feet. Please release me from the prison. On the other hand, Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Ambedkar and Sardar Patel were fighting for the freedom of the country," Rahul Gandhi said.

Hitting out at the Prime Minister, the congress leader said "Modi insults the nation by saying India was sleeping and there was no development before he came to power."

Unfazed by the congress president's attack, MIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi dared Rahul Gandhi and BJP chief Amit Shah to contest from Hyderabad against him.
The security guard on duty told police that the youth may have entered the church premises by climbing a tree from Old Fort school side and accessed the terrace of the building inside the church.

Bengaluru: An unidentified youth sneaked into a church in V.V. Puram and committed suicide by hanging to an iron railing on Thursday night. The incident took place at St. Lukes church on Pampa Mahakavi Road. The youth is in his mid-20s and had on Thursday made two vain attempts to commit suicide and succeeding in his third.

The security guard on duty told police that the youth may have entered the church premises by climbing a tree from Old Fort school side and accessed the terrace of the building inside the church.

He said he got to know about the incident only after one of the church members saw the body in a room on the second floor of the building.

According to police, the youth was familiar of the churchs structure and directly went to the second floor as the members of the church were holding a meeting on the ground floor. He then took a rope and hanged himself to the ceiling, but the rope broke and he fell down.

He then took a sharp broken window glass and stabbed himself, but in vain. The youth then searched for other things to end his life, but could not find any. He then removed his t-shirt, tore it to make a rope and hung himself, the police said.

While the incident is said to have taken place between 6 pm and 7 pm, it came to light only around 9.30 pm when one of the members saw the body hanging from the iron railings left after concreting.

The church authorities informed the police, who rushed to the spot and shifted the body to Victoria hospital for post-mortem. The police are yet to establish the identity of the deceased and the reason for suicide. They said as per preliminary investigation they didnt find any foul play.
KSA admits Khashoggi died in consulate

Reuters, Istanbul/Washington :

Saudi Arabia said on Saturday that dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi died in a fight inside its Istanbul consulate, its first admission of his death after two weeks of denials that have shaken Western relations with the powerful kingdom.

Riyadh provided no evidence to support its account of the circumstances that led to Khashoggi's death and it was still unclear whether other governments would be satisfied with it.

Turkish officials suspect Khashoggi, a critic of the powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, was tortured and killed inside the consulate by Saudi agents. His body has yet to be found.

Some Western governments and politicians gave guarded or skeptical responses to the Saudi explanation, but Middle Eastern allies closed ranks around the kingdom.

U.S. President Donald Trump, who has forged close ties with the world's top oil exporter and made Prince Mohammed a centerpiece of his foreign policy, said the Saudi account was credible. "I think it's a good first step, it's a big step," Trump said in Arizona. "Saudi Arabia has been a great ally. What happened is unacceptable."

Trump said he would speak with the crown prince, the kingdom's de facto ruler. But Trump again emphasized Riyadh's role in countering regional rival Iran and the importance a lucrative U.S. arms sales to Saudi Arabia for American jobs.

Khashoggi, a U.S. resident and Washington Post columnist, went missing after entering the consulate on Oct. 2 to obtain documents for his upcoming marriage.

Days later, Turkish officials said they believed he was killed in the building and his body cut up, an allegation Saudi Arabia had, until now, strenuously denied.

The Saudi public prosecutor said on Saturday that a fight broke out between Khashoggi and people who met him in the consulate, leading to his death. Eighteen Saudi nationals had been arrested, the prosecutor said in a statement. A Saudi official told Reuters separately: "A group of Saudis had a physical altercation and Jamal died as a result of the chokehold. They were trying to keep him quiet." Turkish investigators, who have been combing a forest and other sites outside Istanbul, are likely to find out what happened to Khashoggi's body "before long", a senior Turkish official told Reuters on Saturday. The state of the body when found, could make it difficult to ascertain whether the Saudi account of the killing is accurate if it has indeed been dismembered. Saudi state media said King Salman had ordered the dismissal of five officials, including Saud al-Qahtani, a royal court adviser seen as the right-hand man to Crown Prince Mohammed, and deputy intelligence chief Ahmed Asiri. Some U.S. lawmakers were unpersuaded by the Saudi account. "To say that I am skeptical of the new Saudi narrative about Mr. Khashoggi is an understatement," Republican U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham said.

Democrat Senator Jack Reed, said the Saudis were still not forthcoming with the truth. "This appears to have been a deliberate, planned act followed by a cover-up," he said.

Turkish sources say the authorities have an audio recording purportedly documenting Khashoggi's murder inside the consulate. Pro-government newspaper Yeni Safak, citing the audio, said his torturers cut off his fingers during an interrogation and later beheaded him.

The crisis prompted the king to intervene, five sources with links to the Saudi royal family told Reuters.

The king also ordered a restructuring of the intelligence, to be led by Prince Mohammed, suggesting the prince still retained wide-ranging authority.

Before the Saudi announcements, Trump had said he might consider sanctions although he has also appeared unwilling to distance himself too much from the Saudi leadership. The White House said it would continue to press for "justice that is timely, transparent, and in accordance with all due process". For other Western allies, a main question will be whether they believe Prince Mohammed, who has painted himself as a reformer, has any culpability. King Salman had handed the day-to-day running of Saudi Arabia to his son. Britian said it was considering its "next steps", while Australia said it pulled out of a planned investment summit in Saudi Arabia in protest at the killing.

Amnesty International said the Saudi explanation appeared to be a whitewash of "an appalling assassination".

The Saudi findings "marks an abysmal new low to Saudi Arabia's human rights record," its Middle East director said.

Regional allies - including Egypt, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates - issued statements in praise of the king.

The dismissed official Qahtani, 40, rose to prominence after latching onto Prince Mohammed, becoming a rare confidante in his inner circle.

Sources say Qahtani would regularly speak on behalf of the crown prince and has given direct orders to senior officials including in the security apparatus.

People close to Khashoggi and the government said Qahtani had tried to lure the journalist back to Saudi Arabia after he moved to Washington a year ago fearing reprisals for his views.

Qahtani wrote on Twitter in August 2017: "Do you think I make decisions without guidance? I am an employee and a faithful executor of the orders of my lord the king and my lord the faithful crown prince."

In a tweet on Saturday, he thanked the king and crown prince for the "big confidence" they had in him.

Asiri joined the Saudi military in 2002, according to Saudi media reports, serving as spokesman for a coalition backing Yemen's ousted president after Prince Mohammed led Saudi Arabia into that country's civil war in 2015. He was named deputy chief of foreign intelligence in April 2017.

The prince had no knowledge of the specific operation that resulted in Khashoggi's death, a Saudi official familiar with the Saudi investigation said.

"There were no orders for them to kill him or even specifically kidnap him," said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity. There was a standing order to bring critics of the kingdom back to the country, he added.

"MbS had no knowledge of this specific operation and certainly did not order a kidnapping or murder of anybody. He will have been aware of the general instruction to tell people to come back," the official said.

The official said the whereabouts of Khashoggi's body were unclear after it was handed over to a local operator but there was no sign of it at the consulate.

"We don't know for certain what happened to the body."

In Saudi Arabia, there was widespread support for the king and the crown prince on Twitter, with hashtags such as "#I am Saudi and I defend it" and "#Saudi kingdom of justice" trending.

For her part, Khashoggi's Turkish fiancee, Hatice Cengiz, tweeted in Arabic: "The heart grieves, the eye tears, and with your separation we are saddened, my dear Jamal," she said, also asking "#where is martyr Khashoggi's body?"




Two major political parties National Conference and Peoples Democratic Party along with the CPM and the BSP stayed away from the exercise.

SRINAGAR: It is mainly the independent candidates who have carried the day as the counting of votes in the Jammu and Kashmir civic polls was completed on Saturday. The elections were held in four phases under tight security earlier this month with separatists boycott call finding many takers in the Kashmir Valley alone.

These elections covered 79 municipal bodies with an electorate of about 1.7 million. Two major political parties National Conference and Peoples Democratic Party along with the CPM and the BSP stayed away from the exercise.

Among the other parties in fray, the BJP has emerged as the largest party in the Jammu division and the Congress has done marginally better in the Kashmir Valley.

As per the results declared by the Chief Electoral Office here, the BJP has won in 100 wards, the Congress in 157, independents in 178 and others in four wards of the Valley.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) emerged as the largest party in Jammu, while the Congress did marginally better in Kashmir Valley as counting of votes in Jammu and Kashmirs civic polls was completed on Saturday. But surprisingly, it was mainly the Independent candidates who carried the day.

As per the results declared by the Chief Electoral Office, the BJP won in 100 wards, the Congress in 157, but Independents emerged as the single largest group by winning 178 and 110 wards in Kashmir and Jammu divisions of the state, respectively.

The boycott call given by several political parties and separatists, coupled with threats by militants, helped both the BJP and the Congress in a major way as 76 and 78 candidates from the respective national parties were elected unopposed.

A total of 75 Independents won the elections uncontested in the Kashmiri Valley where the boycott call was a success. In Srinagar, in fact, a woman candidate was declared a winner after she beat her closest rival by one vote. In all, three votes had been cast in the ward. The National Conference, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) along with the CPM and the BSP had boycotted the elections.

In the Jammu region, which includes the districts of Jammu, Samba, Kathua, Reasi, Doda, Kishtwar, Ramban, Udhampur, Poonch and Rajouri, the BJP candidates won 212 wards, the Congress 110, National Panthers Party 13 and Independents 185. In Leh, the Congress swept the polls winning all the 13 seats, while in Kargil, the Congress won six.
Bhopal: Former Chief Minister Ajit Jogi on Saturday unwittingly earned the unique distinction of heading a 4-member family, enjoying the luxury of representing three major political parties, when his daughter-in-law Richa joined Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).

With this, the Jogi family has now three political parties, Janata Congress Chhattisgarh (JCC), founded by Mr Jogi, Congress and BSP, in its kitty. Ajit Jogis wife is a Congress MLA.

Mr Jogi, the first chief minister of Chhattisgarh carved out of Madhya Pradesh in 2000, broke away from Congress in 2016 to float JCC, after his MLA son Amit was expelled from the grand-old party in the wake of allegations of his involvement in fixing of an assembly by-election in the state then.

Wily Jogi last month sprang a surprise in the national politics by wooing BSP supremo Mayawati away from Congress to forge alliance with JCC for the coming assembly elections in Chhattisgarh, scheduled to be held in two phases on November 12 and 20.

While he along with his son and daughter-in-law have worked hard to build the fledgling party in Chhattisgarh in the past two years, his wife Renu, a sitting Congress MLA from Konta assembly constituency in Chhattisgarhs Bilashpur district, refused to quit her party to join the JCC.

She was hoping to seek re-election from her constituency from Konta seat on a Congress ticket, although, she has been marginalized in the grand-old party in the past couple of years.

Mr Jogi has arranged his bahu the BSP ticket to contest from Akaltara assembly constituency in Janjgir-Champa district in Chhattisgarh in the coming assembly elections.

JCC and BSP are two political parties, but they have one heart since they are allies now, Amit Jogi quipped while trying to justify to get BSP ticket for his wife Richa.

Out of a total 90 Assembly segments in Chhattisgarh, the JCC is contesting a total of 55 seats, while the BSP will be contesting 33 seats.
Hyderabad: The Assembly elections will be a real test for TRS president and caretaker Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao rather than the party candidates.

In several constituencies TRS candidates are facing rough weather from their own party cadres and also from the public.

Despite this, they have put their hope in Mr Raos image and hope it will pull them through. Mr Rao is also very confident that his stature and his schemes would do the magic on December 7.

In several constituencies, people are opposing TRS candidates but not Mr Rao.

A typical statement is, We dont want this candidate, but we want KCR and the TRS.

In some constituencies, people are not allowing TRS candidates to enter their villages. The party leadership is also aware of the dissatisfaction among the public over some of the candidates.

IT minister K.T. Rama Rao accepting this in a recent interview with Deccan Chronicle said, The image of KCR will overshadow the dissatisfaction.

Mr Chandrasekhar Rao remains confident that the TRS will win 100-plus seats. Two days ago, he said the TRS victory was a foregone conclusion, and the party was fighting to cross the 100-seat mark. In the last four and a half years, the TRS government has spent about `2 lakh crore on welfare schemes which have given multiple benefit to most people.

According to government figures, the total beneficiaries of the all the welfare schemes put together add up to about seven crore which is double the population of the state according to the 2011 Census.

The TRS is expecting that at least one crore voters will be positively inclined towards the party and this will help the party win the elections.

The state has 2.73 crore voters, and the voting percentage is usually about 70 per cent.

That means 1.91 crore people would vote, and the TRS wants just a little more than half of this.
Bengaluru: The #MeTooIndia movement is attaining gale force proportions here in the south, searing the Kannada film industry with back to back allegations by three Kannada actresses, with the biggest one of them all, on Saturday coming from actress Sruthi Hariharan, who has accused multilingual star actor Arjun Sarja of sexual harassment during the filming of a bilingual movie, Vismaya in Kannada in 2016.

With a career spanning over three decades, he is known as Action King, and amongst scores of hit movies, his most popular film is Gentleman, which is known for its popular numbers scored by Academy award winning composer A.R. Rahman.

The 29-year-old actress who was one among the first to speak about the existence of a casting couch in the film industry has accused actor Arjun Sarja of inappropriate behaviour on the sets. Sarja, in turn has expressed shock and disbelief over the incident and said he will file a defamation case against her.

Hitting back, the actress has said that she has evidence to back up her charge of sexual harassment.

Sruthi who has been speaking in support of #MeToo movement, is the fourth actress to come out in open in Sandalwood. While naming Arjun Sarja and accusing him of sexual harassment, she has posed a detailed note wherein she describes the incident which she says left her shocked and took a while for her to recover. She also explains why she chose to talk about it now.

In support of her, actress Shraddha Srinath has said that she knew about it since November 2016, when she along with Sruthi attended a talk show together about casting couch and other related topic. Further, in her tweet, Shraddha has said that Sruthi did not take names that day, but off camera she told us what happened.

However, actor Arjun Sarja who has refuted the allegations said that he is in shock and "total disbelief that it is his co-star from the film Vismaya whom he held in great regard for her talent had made such allegations". He has refuted other charges saying that he never called her to any resort, and raised questions on why the actress chose to speak out now.

He goes on say that it was he who had asked for several changes to the script, and to cut down on intimate scenes for him to be a part of the film. Sarja's family and several people in the industry are backing him as he gears up for a legal battle.

In her own version on various social media accounts which has rocked the film industry, Sruthi Hariharan writes: The #metoo movement has made many of us comfortable with sharing our uncomfortable realities! This movement has empowered survivors of sexual violence to come forward and share their stories with the world! I often see individuals refraining from talking about experiences of sexual violence because they feel they dont embody what it means to be a Perfect Victim. Sexual Violence is about power and privilege, every time a perpetrator is called out, its like saving more vulnerable girls from being vilified under their shadows. With the current reckoning happening around the world, #metoo has helped us fervently resist systems of oppression that have been maintaining power for far too long.

On the particular incident of sexual harassment, she shares: "I was shooting for a bilingual film which starred Arjun Sarja. A man whose movies I have grown up watching. I was excited about the opportunity. The first few days seemed normal, I played his wife in the film and that day we were to do a romantic scene where we had to hug each other after a brief dialogue. During the rehearsal, we delivered our lines and Mr. Arjun hugs me. With no forewarning or permission, he runs his hands intimately up and down my back. He pulls me closer with my body taut against his and asks the director if we could use this idea of foreplay in the scene. I was aghast. I am all for depicting realism in cinema, but this felt absolutely wrong. His intent seemed anything but professional. I hated that he did it and angry that I didn't know what to say then
Nellore: In an ambitious move to restore the past glory of the most sought after Nellore Mologolukulu rice variety, Acharya N.G. Ranga Agriculture Research Station in Nellore has been paying special attention to develop the variety further.

It is no hyperbole to state that Nellore became very popular for rice because of the Mologolukulu variety which was cultivated in a big way a few decades back. The reasons for the entire farming community opting for this variety in the past were its quality, taste and nutrition value.

However, the long duration of the crop, requirement of huge quantity of water, and peoples preference for slender varieties of rice pushed Molagolukulu to the backyard over the years. Most of the farming community across the district also opted out of this variety as it became prone to blast disease (aggi tegulu).

In this backdrop, Nellore Agriculture Research Station started developing the variety with focus on eliminating its weak points. They came out with a Molagolukulu variety known as NLR 3186 last year. The scientists are buoyed over the field trials carried out all over the state during the last Kharif season.

The duration of the 3186 crop was brought down to 150 days as against 170 days in the past. Scientists also rectified its lodging nature and made it blast tolerant without tip sterility, unlike previous varieties of Molagolukulu.

"The cooking quality of the medium slender grain culture is as good as its predecessors, said D. Kodandarami Reddy, principal scientist of the Agriculture Research Station. "It is suitable for the Kharif season and farmers got good yields when they raised the variety last year," said Ms. Sri Lakshmi, ARS scientist. She said farmers were also coming forward to raise another rice culture known as NLR 3217 developed in their research station. It is a short duration rice culture with medium slender grain having resistance to blast, tolerance to sheath blight, sheath rot, brown spot and Tungro disease.

Superior varieties fall prey to malpractices by millers

Popular rice varieties developed at the agriculture research station are hit by the malpractices of the rice millers.

Instead of marketing the variety with its number or name christened by the Agriculture Research Station at Nellore, the millers and traders have been mixing them in costly varieties after buying them for a meagre price to make a fast buck.

For instance, an excellent variety developed and released under the name NLR 34449 (Nellore Mashuri) is high yielding, fine grain, blast resistant and responsive to high applied nitrogen and the yields are to the extent of 8 to 10 tonnes/hectare.

The area under this variety is increasing year after year and it is estimated that this variety occupies about 6 lakh hectares in the state.

However, the variety is largely used by traders and millers for mixing with another most sought after rice type, BPT 5204. One of the reasons for this is similarities between the appearance of the grain as well as cost difference.

While the cost of BPT 5204 is around Rs 19,000 for putti (850 kg), the cost of NLR 34449 is around Rs 15,000, which means Rs 4000 is pocketed for every putti without any hassles.

The traders use a steaming process at parboiled rice mills to prevent consumers from identifying the mixing. The technique also helps them to market the recently harvested grains as one or two year old rice.

When contacted, president of Nellore Rice Millers and Traders Association, Nagireddy Subhramanyam Reddy, said some traders and few small time rice millers had been adopting such malpractices because of competition in the market and deceiving the consumers.

He added that those marketing branded rice would not follow such deceptive practices.

"Though everyone concerned is aware of the wrongdoings, no one takes any action because it is very difficult to prove the mixing carried out with the steaming technique" an official of Agriculture Research Station said.
Hyderabad: MIM president Asaduddin Owaisi on Saturday invited Congress chief Mr Rahul Gandhi and BJP president Amit Shah to contest against him from Hyderabad in 2019.

Mr Owaisi was interacting with reporters about an editorial of the Shiv Senas mouthpiece Saamna that questioned if he was an Indian, and Mr Gandhis visit to Charm-inar. He said, I am sure that when he sees this great, historical and beautiful monument of Charminar which belongs to the culture of my ancestors, I can only tell Mr Gandhi that 10 days ago Mr Amit Shah visited my constituency and said that they will ensure that Hyderabad will be Owaisi and Majlis Mukt Hyderabad.

Mr Owaisi said, I am humbly requesting both party chiefs to contest against me and the people of Hyderabad will give a befitting reply to both.

Responding to the Shiv Senas comment asking him to return to Afghani-stan if his ancestors were the descendants of the Mughal emperor Babar, Mr Owaisi said his ancestors were from India and that he is an Indian. Wherever you go, you will find Muslim graveyards, those graveyards are a sign of my loyalty to this great country.

Referring to the proposed ordinance to commence construction of the Ram temple, he said, We will see how you will do it. I challenge them.
HYDERABAD: BJP leader G.V.L. Narasimha Rao on Saturday called AICC president Rahul Gandhi and state Congress working president A. Revanth Reddy as land-grabbers and said that the Congress was home to violators of law. Charging Mr Rahul Gandhi with not asking for an apology from Punjab minister Navjot Singh Sidhu who had insulted south Indian food habits, he said the people of Telangana would never forget the insults heaped on former Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao, who was considered as Telangana Muddu Bidda.

He said Mr Revanth Reddy amassed wealth by acting as a settlement and conciliation arbiter. Terming such acts as the work of a rowdy-sheeter, he said he was dismayed at the enormity of settlement income bagged by Revanth Reddy.

He said KLSR Infratech was a benami organisation of Mr Revanth Reddy, he alleged. Mr Rao said this company had acted as a conduit for siphoning off money including Rs 50 lakh which was caught red handed when it tried to buy off an MLC. He demanded an explanation from the accused Mr Revanth Reddy for Mourya Estates Rs 11 crores income remaining undeclared.

Mr Rao also demanded an apology from Mr president Rahul Gandhi for the ignominy caused to the family of P.V. Narasimha Rao before he sought votes from Telangana. He said the dead body of the late PM was not allowed to be fully burnt on the pyre, hurting the sentiments of his followers. He said it was on the directions of Ms Sonia Gandhi that the proud son of Telangana had lost his place of honour at New Delhi.

He alleged that TD Rajya Sabha MP Mr C.M. Ramesh had evaded tax to the extent of Rs 100 crore. Terming the Congress as Immoral National Corrupt Congress, he accused Mr Rahul Gandhi of land-grabbing by citing the case of National Herald.

He said Telangana Congress president Mr Uttam Kumar Reddy should answer the allegations. He demanded that Rahul take action against Sidhu. With what face Rahul came here? If you love Pakistan, go there, nobody wants you here, said Mr Reddy.

Referring to the police behaviour with a group of women who came to celebrate Bathukamma in old city, he said caretaker CM Mr K. Chandrasekhar Rao and MP K. Kavitha owed an apology to the women. He concluded by saying that Mr Chandrasekhar Rao had no control over the Old City.
HYDERABAD: Rajya Sabha MP C.M. Ramesh reacted strongly to the baseless allegations levelled against his firm Rithvik Projects Private Ltd (RPPL) by BJP leader G.V.L. Narasimha Rao who accused the company of evading Rs 100 crore of tax and said that Mr Rao was spreading crass lies and half-truths.

The speculative allegations would cost Mr Rao dearly if he failed to substantiate them, he said.

Mr Ramesh said Mr Rao was relying on a newspaper report as authenticated information which could prove costly to him. He said the RPPL is a private limited company and no public money was involved in the transactions.

Any dispute between the I-T department and his company was purely one of regulatory compliances and any deviation could be rectified within the framework of law, he said.
Hyderabad: Holding the Congress responsible for stalling development, caretaker minister K.T. Rama Rao denied the charges levelled by Congress president Rahul Gandhi at his three public meeting in the state on Saturday

Mr Rama Rao said, Both the Congress and the BJP are our rivals. As the BJP has no presence in the state, we hold the Congress as a challenger which may come second.

He said the Congress viewed Muslims only as vote-giving machines and had no concern for them. He said there were no curfews in the state since 2014, and said the previous Congress governments were synonymous with curfews.

Regarding Mr Rahul Gandhis allegations of corruption, Mr Rama Rao said the Congress president was ill-informed. Narrating the injustices done to the state, Mr Rama Rao said It was Mr Gandhis grandmother and former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi who had abolished Mulki rules and brought in Article 371 (D) of Constitution that robbed Telangana of jobs.

He said the Congress had no moral responsibility to talk about creating employment in the state. Mr Rao said the finance department had given sanction for filling of 1.09 lakh jobs, of which notification was issued for 87,000. About 32,000 jobs are being at various stages of being filled up, he said. Congress leaders had filed cases in High Court and stalled recruitment of contract lecturers.

He advised Mr Gandhi to speak with full information and added that the charges of the Congress president were full of lies and this did not augur well for his party.

He reiterated that the name of Dr B.R. Ambedkar would continue to be associated with the Pranahita-Chevella project. Mr Rama Rao spoke of the insult meted out to former prime minister P.V. Narasimha Rao even after his death, Mr Rama Rao said it was the Congress which did not give of pride of place for a Telangana bidda by not allotting space for his cremation in New Delhi.

He said there was no truth in the allegations of corruption in irrigation projects. He explained that the project conceived by the Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy government had an initial outlayof Rs 17,000 crore in 2007 which had shot up to Rs 38,200 crore within a year. In 2010, the Congress government revised it to Rs 40,000 crore.

Mr Rama Rao said the Central Water Commission had given final clearance for Rs 80,190 crore, and not Rs 1 lakh crore as alleged by Gandhi. He said the escalation was due to the rehabilitation and resettlement package package due to new land acquisition Act brought in 2013.

He said redesigning was done to bring more benefit to the farmers as the reservoir capacity had gone up 10 times to 160 tmc ft in addition to constructing three barrages.

Mr Rama Rao said the government had brought 25 lakh acres under irrigation in the past four and a half years with 9 lakh acres only in Mahbub-nagar district. He said Karnataka model on farm loan waiver was based on the Telangana state model, and Mr Gandhi to introspect on what he was hinting at.

On farmers suicides, Mr Rama Rao said they were on the decline in the state. He quoted Union minister of state Pursushottam Rupala as telling Parliament that the state had recorded 1,346 deaths in 2014, 1,400 deaths in 2015 and 645 in 2016.
Kakinada: The movement launched by Kakinada Special Economic Zone (KSEZ) farmers to get back their lands has got a shot in the arm with the support of Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan. He said that he will ensure justice to the farmers at his Dowleswaram meeting in this week. Mr Kalyans support has brightened the hopes of the KSEZ farmers and the agitators thanked the Jana Sena chief.

According to sources, KSEZ movement has been a peaceful agitation since the past one decade and all parties, including the present ruling party Telugu Desam while it was in the Opposition, had supported the agitation. But, the farmers feel that after assuming power, Telugu Desam and Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu betrayed them.

The movement has become an ideal model for other agitations and still the agitators are continuing this, though they are struggling to live, due to financial constraints. In 2005, during the regime of late chief minister Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy, the KSEZ had entered into the fields of Thondangi and U. Kothapalli mandals, the Kakinada coast in East Godavari.

The farmers alleged that the then rulers had forcibly acquired the lands from the farmers. In the name of farmers, several organisations also joined hands with the rulers and KSEZ and cheated the farmers. In the process, the government had given notification for nearly 8,500 acres of land, out of which the KSEZ could purchase 4,850 acres of land directly from the farmers and later, the government had issued a notification for land acquisition and passed awards for nearly 3,500 acres, out of which nearly 1,000 farmers only got the compensation, without any scope for them. Remaining farmers did not take any compensation from either the KSEZ or the government.

Meanwhile, Kadali Network, a voluntary organisation led by K. Rajendra, toured in the KSEZ area and explained the adverse environment impact and the miserable livelihood conditions of the farmers, as well as the agricultural labourers, and also the people in the area. Then the people realised this and started the agitation and it gave a boost to the farmers who were reluctant to take the compensation.

Many environmentalists, Civil Rights Organisations, all parties, including the CPI, BJP, CPM, TD and others rendered their support to the farmers and opposed the land acquisition process. However, the farmers felt that Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and the local TD leaders betrayed them drastically.

Chandrababu Naidu made a promise to the farmers for giving back their lands, if the TD assumes power. During the Congress regime, though there were constraints on them, either Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy or N. Kirankumar Reddy did not prevent them from tilling their lands. But, at present, under the TD Governments rule, there is no democratic governance running in KSEZ area. There is military governance in the area (Police Raj), KSEZ Vyathireka Porata Samithi convener Chinta Suryanarayana Murthy said.

He thanked Pawan Kalyan for rendering his support to them. He said that the farmers argument in this issue is legal and valid. B. Narayana Swamy (Pedakapu) said that they never expected such betrayal from Chandrababu Naidu.

Special Economic Zone farmers seeking justice

The farmers of Kakinada Special Economic Zone (KSEZ) have been seeking justice. They strongly believe that their argument is valid and legal and that the KSEZ developers have no right to prevent them from tilling their lands.

The KSEZ Vyathireka Porata Samithi convener Chinta Suryanarayana Murthy said that many of the lands, including his own, were issued notifications in 2005 and the awards passed in 2010. But according to Land Acquisition Act, the government should pay compensation to the farmer concerned within three years time. But now, five years have passed after the government passed the award and it is not legally valid.

He also said that the land acquisition has not been done for peoples purpose and it was aimed for some industrialists benefit. He said that the banks also sanctioned loans for disputed lands without observing the actual condition and position of the lands.

He said that Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan should make efforts to give back their lands on the lines of Singuru in West Bengal. He said that the CPM is rendering its full support for the agitation.
43 pirates surrender to RAB in C'Bazar

Staff Reporter :

At least 43 pirates surrendered to Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) at the Maheshkhali Adarsha High School in Cox's Bazar district on Saturday.

They handed over at least 94 firearms and 7,637 bullets to the Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal in the public gathering around 12:30 pm.

Among those who surrendered, 10 members from Maheshkhali's Anju Bahini surrendered 24 firearms and 345 bullets, two from Romiz Bahini surrendered eight firearms and 120 bullets, six members from Nurul Alam alias Kalaboda Bahini handed over 23 firearms and 333 bullets, 15 members of Jalal Bahini gave up 29 firearms and 6,798 bullets, nine members from Ayub Bahini surrendered nine weapons and 37 bullets, and one from Alauddin Bahini gave up one weapon and four bullets.

Among them were a SMG, one British .34 revolver, two locally-made pistols, 52 locally made pipe guns, two locally-made double-barrel pipe guns, 19 single-shot guns, 15 three quarter and two .22 bore rifles.

Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal said, "Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has given strict instructions to stop drug and weapons trade. Criminals are surrendering in every region of the country."

"We will help these pirates to live a normal life according to the prevailing laws of the country," the minister said.

He said, "There is still time for those who have not surrendered yet. Surrender quickly while there is time. If not, strict measures will be taken."

RAB official sources said, hundreds of armed members of pirate gangs have been conducting robbery, murder and looting in coastal areas of Cox's Bazar. But several gang members of these pirate gangs were trying to return to their normal lives now after surrender. This was the largest surrender of pirates since a similar surrender in the Sundarbans.

Cox's Bazar-2 Constituency MP Asheq Ullah Rafiq, RAB Director General (DG) Benazir Ahmed, Chittagong Range Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Police Khandaker Golam Faruque, Cox's Bazar Deputy Commissioner Md Kamal Hossain, Police Superintendent ABM Masud Hossain, District Awami League Advocate Sirajul Mostofa and General Secretary Mujibur Rahman were present at the rally, among others.
The official acknowledgment by the Saudi authorities early on Saturday  after putting out false stories earlier  that Jamal Khashoggi, the well-known Saudi journalist-critic of Saudi Arabias de factor ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), had indeed been killed at its consulate in Istanbul, can throw power hierarchies in the most significant country of the Islamic world  and a crucially important oil producing nation  in turmoil.

It can also severely strain the Kingdoms relationship with the Western powers. The event has caused anger in the US. It is to be seen, however, if President Donald Trump, who had fashioned his entire West Asia strategy by betting on the success of the young MBS, without whose sanction it appears the murder could not have taken place, would attempt to shield the Crown Prince.

Washington had signed a $115 billion armaments agreement with Riyadh. Mr Trumps instinct would be to save that deal. It is unclear whether he can do so with domestic pressure mounting on him to penalise Riyadh through sanctions.

If sanctions come into play, and the Saudis respond with cutting international oil supplies, the impact of this can be to spread economic uncertainty  including for India. There is likely to be a regional geopolitical realignment as well in the West Asian theatre which could water down the current US resolve to punish and isolate Iran.

That may not necessarily be a bad thing for India, which has always sought to retain a good relationship with mutually hostile Tehran and Riyadh. India, of course, should avoid getting sucked into the power politics of the West.
Confident of the BJP retaining power in Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh where Assembly polls are scheduled, Union minority affairs minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi in an interview to Yojna Gusai says people will reject Congress destructive politics and the Ram Mandir issue should be resolved at the earliest for the national interest.

The election season has begun and many feel that the coming Assembly elections, especially in the Hindi heartland, are the toughest for the BJP this time as the result could impact the partys performance in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

For us every election is important and we fight them seriously. If you see the BJPs performance electorally, it has been on a rise, not just in the number of seats but also the vote and support base. Our party, its leadership and our poll plank  development for all  are the reasons why the BJP has formed the government in so many states and regions. If you see our partys performance in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh in the last Assembly polls, where we were in power for more than two terms, it was clear that the peoples trust and faith in our party remained strong.

In Rajasthan, people ditched the Congress for BJPs good governance and development. No matter what the opinion polls or poll pundits predict, the BJP will not only remain in power in these three states but will also perform exceptionally well in Telangana and Mizoram.

How are you so confident?

Fortunately or unfortunately, in four of the five states that are going to polls, the Congress is our main opponent. In the last four and a half years, this country has witnessed Congress destructive politics and how it tried hard to puncture the development agenda of the Narendra Modi government. Since day one, when the NDA government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi was formed, the Congress and its freelancers have been desperately trying to malign the government and the BJP over non-issues. But the people have trust and faith on Mr Modi and therefore, the BJP has been winning one state after the other since 2014. Every state and every region of the country wants development and not someone who indulges in destructive politics.

You are saying development is your partys main poll plank, but reports suggest that the BJP is worried about the reaction in certain sections regarding the recent legislation to overrule the Supreme Courts order on the Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

It is the Congress and its freelancers who are trying to create confusion among people over the issue for political gains but they have failed in doing so. The Act and the recent amendment to it was to ensure equality for all and constitutional rights for all.

According to you, the Congress plays destructive politics but efforts are on by it to stitch together a grand alliance against the BJP for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

The grand alliance is a dream, which can never turn into reality. How can you even think of stitching an alliance when you have more than half a dozen aspirants for the prime ministerial post and the so-called grand alliance in only in talks? Leaders of these so-called grand alliance come together only for photo sessions but in reality they have more disagreements than agreement. Their only aim is Modi ko hatao aur kursi par baith jao which they have been doing since day one. We all remember how the award wapsi gangs were unleashed by the Congress and its supporters within months of the Modi government coming to power at a time when the Congress-led UPA had left policy paralysis and rampant corruption for it. Not just their supporters in the country, some Congress leaders even approached Pakistan to seek their support to oust Mr Modi. But what they dont know is that people of this country are aware of their aim, which they will never let them achieve.

You talked about more than half a dozen PM aspirants in the Opposition camp. But the Congress asserts that its president, Rahul Gandhi, will be the natural candidate for the post.

Forging an alliance is not in the Congress DNA. The so-called grand alliance is like a bina band baaje ki baraat. The only aim of the Congress is to either rule directly or through its remote control. Even though the BJP got full majority in 2014, our leadership took along every ally. You need a big heart and an open mind to run an alliance, which the Congress does not have.

Why does the Ram Mandir issue get highlighted every time the elections are nearing? Whether it is RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, the VHP or the BJP leadership, the issue, it seems, has become part of the campaign?

Ram Mandir is not a political issue but a sentimental issue. This issue is associated with the sentiments of hundreds and thousands of people of this country and we all believe that the issue should be resolved at the earliest in the national interest.

Another issue is Sabarimala and the recent judgment of the Supreme Court. Your party is facing criticism for politicising it for political gain in Kerala.

The BJP doesnt do politics over such issues.

Both the BJP and the government had to face criticism over the #MeToo campaign involving one of your ministerial colleagues.

Well, the person concerned has not only made his stand clear but also resigned. I dont think there is anything more to say on it.
The Museum, which was originally the residence of Portugals royal family in Brazil. (Photo: CNN)

The skull of Luzia, the oldest known human fossil in the Americas, was found by researchers combing through debris at Brazils National Museum, which burned down in September, the Museum said on Friday.

The skull, though damaged, was protected by a cabinet that fell over the glass box it was encased in, the museums deputy director Cristiana Serejo said. Good news, a miracle, after this tragedy, she said.

Luzia was the star of a collection of 20 million items in the 200-year-old building that also contained Egyptian artefacts, archaeological finds and historical memorabilia.

A fire last month destroyed the vast majority of the collection and triggered an outcry about how Brazils cultural institutions have deteriorated during an era of a weak economy and deep austerity measures.

Discovered in 1975, in the central Brazilian state of Minas Gerais, Luzia was probably 25 when she died, according to the museums website.

The Museum, which was originally the residence of Portugals royal family in Brazil, will be closed for repairs that should last three years and cost 350 million reais, Museum director Alexander Kellner said.

The museum fire fed the anger many Brazilians feel about the governments austerity measures. The museums directors have accused the federal government of years of insufficient funding for one of Latin Americas most important historical repositories.

Brazils federal government has accused Rios federal university of failing to pass on money to the museum.

In a press conference, Dyogo Oliveira, the president of the state-run development bank BNDES, announced a 25 million reais ($6.03 million) plan to fund fire prevention mechanisms at national monuments across the country.

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WhatsApp confirmed that it had blocked Flavio Bolsonaros account for spam behavior in recent days.

Facebook Incs WhatsApp messaging service became the frontline in Brazils bitter presidential campaign on Friday, as front-runner Jair Bolsonaro angrily denied accusations he had encouraged widespread misinformation campaigns on the platform.

On Thursday, newspaper Folha de S.Paulo had reported that supporters of the far-right candidate had funded mass messaging attacks against leftist rival Fernando Haddad.

Bolsonaro said in an online video that he had no knowledge of such activity and called on any supporters doing so to stop.

Haddad and his allies have urged an investigation and threatened a flurry of legal action, as the race that lawmaker Bolsonaro is expected to win by a landslide on Oct. 28 reaches its final stretch.

Later on Friday, Brazils top electoral court TSE approved opening a probe into the case.

The recriminations highlight the outsized political role of WhatsApp in the election in Brazil, where its more than 120 million users rival the reach of Facebooks main platform, in a country with a population of almost 210 million.

The messaging app allows groups of hundreds of users to exchange encrypted texts, photos and video out of the view of authorities or independent fact checkers, enabling the rapid spread of misinformation with no way to track its source or full reach. Digital marketing firms had apparently taken advantage of that opacity to circulate unregistered political propaganda, according to the Folha report.

WhatsApp said on Friday it was taking immediate legal action to stop companies from sending bulk messages, including cease and desist letters to the companies in question.

The day before, WhatsApp said it had banned hundreds of thousands of accounts during the election period, with spam detection technology spotting accounts engaged in automated bot behaviour.

Yet new questions arose on Friday about the effectiveness and consequences of that technology.

The leading presidential candidates son, Senator-elect Flavio Bolsonaro, revealed he had been blocked from using the service, demanding an explanation from the company.

There is no limit to the persecution! Flavio Bolsonaro wrote on Twitter, adding that the ban had since been lifted.

WhatsApp confirmed that it had blocked Flavio Bolsonaros account for spam behaviour in recent days, for reasons unrelated to the Folha report.

Haddads Workers Party has filed an official complaint with electoral courts, asking them to investigate the allegations of illicit financing for misleading propaganda.

It is unclear what effect, if any, the accusations will have on opinion polls. The latest Datafolha survey, taken before the story was published, showed Bolsonaro had 59 per cent of voter support, compared to 41 per cent for Haddad.

Bolsonaro has run as an anti-establishment candidate despite representing Rio de Janeiro state as a federal congressman for nearly three decades. With a career untainted by major corruption investigations, he has rallied voters fed up with years of graft scandals and economic mismanagement while the Workers Party was in power.

The WhatsApp allegations have energized Haddad, who said his party has witnesses saying Bolsonaro asked business leaders for cash to pay for the bulk messaging, which he described as soliciting undeclared campaign contributions.

The Democratic Labor Party (PDT), which supports Haddad, filed an electoral complaint on Friday asking courts to annul the presidential election due to what it called an abuse of economic power.

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The China Consumer Association said in a statement on its website that Apple should not shirk its responsibility and should compensate consumers in full. (Photo: Pixabay)

A Chinese consumer body has criticised iPhone maker Apple Inc over a recent data security issue which impacted a number of consumers in China who said they had suffered financial losses after having their Apple IDs stolen.

Apple said earlier this month that an internal investigation had found that a small number of our users accounts were accessed through phishing scams where two-factor authentication was not enabled.

The US company, which makes and sells huge numbers of its products in China, added the issue had also led to a rise in false and fraudulent refund claims trying to take advantage of this incident.

The China Consumer Association said in a statement on its website that Apple should not shirk its responsibility and should compensate consumers in full.

Apple should not shift the blame, play down its own safety issues and divert consumers attention, the association said. The case was trending in the top 10 most-read topics on Chinas Twitter-like social media platform Weibo on Friday.

The issue is a potential headache for Apple in the worlds second-largest economy, with the US firm already facing a potentially tough balancing act in the country amid a whipsawing trade war between the United States and China.

Chinese mobile payment platform Alipay said last week that hackers had taken an unknown amount of money from user accounts using stolen Apple IDs and the issue remained unresolved despite reaching out to the US firm.

Apple declined to comment further on Friday, referring back to its earlier statement on the matter.

We regret the inconvenience caused to our customers by these phishing scams, the firm said in that statement.

We are proactively identifying suspicious activities and reaching out to affected customers. We strongly advise all users to enable two-factor authentication, which prevents unauthorised access to their accounts.

Apple added it was communicating with relevant consumer agencies and listening to customer feedback about those changes.

Apple was chastised by Chinese state media in July for the amount of spam being sent on iMessage, with media saying with the companys strict stance on privacy was hindering its ability to crack down on illegal behaviour.

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Until now, their regulation has defied global coordination and led to a patchwork of differing approaches by national governments.

The global watchdog for money laundering will set up its first rules on oversight of cryptocurrencies by June, a major step towards creating international standards for an asset currently subject to patchy regulations.

The Paris-based Financial Action Task Force (FATF) said on Friday jurisdictions worldwide will be required to license or regulate cryptocurrency exchanges and some firms providing encrypted wallets, to help stamp out the use of digital money for money laundering, terrorism financing or other crimes.

Firms providing financial services for issuances of new cryptocurrencies - initial coin offerings - must also be subject to the rules, it said.

Cryptocurrencies are digital tokens whose creators say they can be used as money without the backing of any countrys central bank.

Until now, their regulation has defied global coordination and led to a patchwork of differing approaches by national governments.

How countries implement the rules will be subject to periodic reviews by the watchdog, said its President Marshall Billingslea. Countries judged to be falling short could be added to a FATF blacklist that restricts access to the global financial system.

By June, we will issue additional instructions on the standards and how we expect them to be enforced, he said.

The first and most popular cryptocurrency is Bitcoin, which has been followed by hundreds of others.

The price of bitcoin soared 1,300 per cent last year to a record of near USD 20,000 in December but has since plummeted. It was trading at around USD 6,390 on Friday afternoon.

Extreme price volatility, along with regular thefts from exchanges, has vexed regulators. In the absence of global rules, countries have taken contrasting routes to tame the sector.

Japan last year became the first to regulate cryptocurrency exchanges, while China and South Korea clamped down heavily on them.

In Europe, several countries including France, Switzerland and Malta are looking at early-stage supervision by regulating initial coin offerings.

Lawyers specialising in anti-money laundering welcomed the FATF move but warned that challenges remain in tracing the true owner of cryptocurrencies.

You can put any name down for these coin exchanges, and it doesnt have to be the ultimate beneficial owner, said Kyle Phillips at law firm Howard Kennedy in London.

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The number of files accessed in the breach represented a small fraction of consumer records.

The US Centres for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) said on Friday it was responding to a data breach that exposed the files of about 75,000 individuals.

The agency said it detected anomalous activity in the Federally Facilitated Exchanges (FFE) Direct Enrollment pathway for agents and brokers.

The number of files accessed in the breach represented a small fraction of consumer records present on the FFE, the CMS said.

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City Councilor Janet Brekke said this week that she plans to propose new restrictions on the use of all handheld electronics while behind the wheel in the coming months. (Representative Image)

Sioux Falls drivers could be banned from using cell phones and other electronic devices under a proposed ordinance.

City Councilor Janet Brekke said this week that she plans to propose new restrictions on the use of all handheld electronics while behind the wheel in the coming months, the Argus Leader reported.

Sioux Falls already has distracted driving laws that can penalise unsafe driving caused by cell phones, such as texting while driving. But Brekke said those laws have enforcement challenges.

"It feels like our current laws are inadequate to address the issue, and it's clearly a safety issue," Brekke said.

Brekke hasn't formalised the proposal but said it'll ban all handheld electronics from being used by people operating vehicles on public streets. Bluetooth or other hands-free communication devices would be permitted.

A similar measure was proposed in 2015 but didn't advance.

Brekke hopes to discuss her ideas with colleagues before formally introducing a measure.

Some councillors, such as Pat Starr and Theresa Stehly, have said they're inclined to support Brekke's proposal. But Councillor Curt Soehl expressed concern about the potential for government to interfere too far into residents' daily behaviour.

"If we're going to cut down on distracted driving, where do we stop?" Soehl asked. "Do we make it illegal for that person who has their dog on their lap while they're driving too? I haven't formed an opinion on how we should tackle distracted driving."

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'Again, it's early. We haven't finished our review, our investigation. But I think it's a great first step,' Trump said. (Photo: AFP)

Washington: US President Donald Trump said on Saturday that he believed Saudi Arabia's explanation that dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi died in a "fist fight" and termed the arrest of 18 people by the Gulf kingdom "a great first step".

Saudi Arabia on Saturday announced that Khashoggi, 60, died following a "fist fight" at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, without disclosing any details on the whereabouts of his body.

"Preliminary investigations... revealed that the discussions that took place between him and the persons who met him... at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul led to a brawl and a fist fight with the citizen, Jamal Khashoggi, which led to his death, may his soul rest in peace," Saudi Attorney General Sheikh Saud al-Mojeb said in a statement.

The government said that 18 Saudis had been arrested for further investigation while Deputy Director of Saudi Intelligence Ahmed al-Assiri has been dismissed.

"I do. I do," Trump said when asked about his confidence in the Saudi explanation.

"Again, it's early. We haven't finished our review, our investigation. But I think it's a great first step," he said.

Trump said talks with Saudi officials would continue, including raising some questions about their account of events that led to the death of Khashoggi, and that he would work with Congress to develop a response.

"We are saddened to hear confirmation of Khashoggi's death, and we offer our deepest condolences to his family, fiancee and friends," White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said after Saudi Arabia issued the statement.

An investigation in the killing is on.

"The United States acknowledges the announcement from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia that its investigation into the fate of Jamal Khashoggi is progressing and that it has taken action against the suspects it has identified thus far," Sanders said.

"We will continue to closely follow the international investigations into this tragic incident and advocate for justice that is timely, transparent and in accordance with all due process," the White House Press Secretary said.

The Saudi statement confirming the death of Khashoggi in a fist fight did not appear credible to some US lawmakers, who demanded that Riyadh be held accountable for the incident. Senator Lindsay Graham said it was hard to find this latest "explanation" as credible.

"To say that I am sceptical of the new Saudi narrative about Khashoggi is an understatement," he said.

"The claim that Khashoggi was killed while brawling with 15 men dispatched from Saudi Arabia is not at all credible. If he was fighting with those sent to capture or kill him, it was for his life. The kingdom must be held to account. If (the Trump) administration doesn't lead, Congress must," Congressman Adam Schiff said.

House Foreign Affairs Committee Ranking Member Elliott Engel demanded a full account of what happened.

Congressman Jim Costa said that he was appalled by the reports that Saudi officials were involved in the death of Khashoggi.

"As we learn more details of Khashoggi's disappearance, the US must send a clear message that we will not condone such reprehensible behaviour that goes against our American values. We must carefully examine both the facts surrounding Khashoggi's disappearance as well as our relationship with Saudi Arabia, and I call on the President to take strong action in unwavering defence of our values. If the President will not stand up to Saudi Arabia, then we in Congress must stand strong for our nation, our values and journalists throughout the world," Costa said.

"Where is the body?" asked Congressman Eric Swalwell.

"Khashoggi's family deserve immediate custody of the remains as they seek some measure of closure," he added.

Khashoggi, a known critic of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, lived in the US as a legal permanent resident and worked for 'The Washington Post'.

He was last seen on October 2 entering his country's consulate in Istanbul.
Riyadh had to be held to account for the death of Khashoggi and the imprisonment of other journalists, Christophe Deloire, Secretary General of the Paris-based media rights watchdog tweeted. (Photo: File)

Paris: The international community must keep up the pressure on Saudi Arabia after its admission that journalist Jamal Khashoggi died in its Turkish consulate, Reporters without Borders (RSF) said Saturday.

Riyadh had to be held to account for the death of Khashoggi and the imprisonment of other journalists, Christophe Deloire, Secretary General of the Paris-based media rights watchdog tweeted.

"Any attempt to get rid of the pressure on Saudi Arabia and to accept a compromise policy would result in giving a 'license to kill' to a Kingdom that puts in jail, lashes, kidnaps and even kills journalists who dare to investigate and launch debates," he wrote.

"After the recognition of Khashoggi's death, we expect a determined, constant and powerful pressure to be kept on Saudi Arabia in order to get the whole truth on the case and the release of Saudi Arabian journalists (who have) been condemned to crazy and horrible sentences," he added. After earlier denials, Saudi Arabia admitted earlier Saturday that Khashoggi, an insider turned critic of the regime, had been killed inside its Istanbul consulate in what it described as a "brawl".

His disappearance has been shrouded in mystery and tipped Saudi Arabia into one of its worst international crises.

Turkish reports have accused Riyadh of carrying out a state-sponsored killing and dismembering the body. Khashoggi, a contributor to the Washington Post newspaper, had been living in the United States since 2017.

On Friday, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres called for a "prompt, thorough and transparent investigation" into Khashoggi's death.
43 pirates of six gangs from Kutubdia and Maheshkhali areas surrendered to Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan in Cox\'s Bazar along with huge fire arms on Saturday.
Africa's youngest billionaire snatched a week ago off the street outside a luxury hotel in Tanzania, has returned back home safely, the family company that he runs said on Saturday.

Mohammed Dewji, the 43-year-old CEO of the METL Group family conglomerate, was seized as he arrived for a morning workout in Tanzania's commercial capital Dar es Salaam last week. Forbes estimates his net worth as $1.5 billion, making him Africa's 17th richest man and its youngest billionaire.

"I have returned home safely'" METL Group quoted him as saying on its Twitter feed, without providing more details about how he was freed or got away from his captors.

The company also quoted him thanking those who had worked for his release, including the police.

The seizure of Dewji, who has also served as a member of parliament in the past, had caused consternation in the East African nation as he is one of its most prominent business executives.

January Makamba, the country's minister of environment and Dewji's former colleague in parliament, also tweeted on Saturday morning that he had spoken with him and that he was safe.

Makamba said that Dewji had bruises on his hands and feet from being tied up by his kidnappers. He said the kidnappers had freed Dewji by dumping him in a field in the early hours of Saturday morning.

Dewji's family had offered a reward of 1 billion Tanzania shillings ($440,000) for information leading to his release.

METL Group is involved in a diverse range of manufacturing, farming, transport, infrastructure, agroprocessing and telecoms businesses spanning 11 African countries.
Thousands of migrants who forced their way through Guatemala's northwestern border and flooded onto a bridge leading to Mexico, where riot police battled them back, on Saturday waited at the border in the hope of continuing their journey to the United States.

The caravan of mainly Honduran migrants, whose journey has triggered escalating anti-immigrant rhetoric from US President Donald Trump, on Friday surged through a series of police lines and barricades up to the final fence on Mexico's southern border.

There, at the far end of the bridge over the Suchiate River, which forms the western part of the Mexico-Guatemala border -- they hurled rocks and other objects at hundreds of riot police, who responded with rubber bullets and tear gas.

Multiple migrants, federal police and journalists were wounded.

"We're running away from violence, and we arrive here and they just hit us more," sobbed 28-year-old Marta Ornelas Cazares, who was nursing her baby -- but had lost her other two children, aged 10 and 15, in the turmoil.

"I don't know what happened, I thought we were going to cross peacefully and then suddenly there were rocks flying and tear gas," she told AFP.

"We haven't eaten, the soldiers just sent us some water," Marina Alvarado, 48, said.

"We are imprisoned here, like animals. Please, open the door," she pleaded. Mexican authorities insisted the undocumented migrants would have to file asylum claims one at a time in order to enter the country.

They began letting them through in a trickle -- first women and children, who were ushered onto trucks and taken to shelters.

Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto described the situation as "unprecedented."

"Violent entry into the country not only threatens our sovereignty but also puts the migrants themselves at risk," Pena Nieto said in a video published on his social media profiles.

He added Mexico remains willing to support migrants who enter the country and respect its laws.

The migrants are generally fleeing poverty and insecurity in Honduras, where powerful street gangs rule their turf with brutal violence.

With a homicide rate of 43 per 100,000 citizens, Honduras is one of the most violent countries in the world.

"We're staying here until they open this fence," said Adonai Sanchez, 36, who was travelling with his three nephews, aged two, three and 14.

Others returned to the Guatemalan side late Friday, where shelters have been providing them with food and water.

The scene remained tense at the final border barrier, a tall fence of white metal bars.

Chanting "Yes we can!" and "Mexico! Mexico!" migrants earlier climbed or tore down a series of barriers, flooding across the bridge.

The migrants could be seen passing babies overhead through the crowd, as women holding crying children by the hand or pressing their infants to their chests streamed past the broken metal barriers and onto the bridge.

At the front of the caravan, one group briefly broke through the final fence before police forced them back and closed it again.

Some migrants used a rope to jump off the bridge and swim across the river or hitch a ride on the many rafts that cross it regularly.

Various caravans had been travelling by bus or on foot from Honduras, converging in recent days on the town of Tecun Uman, Guatemala, near the border bridge.

Authorities in Ciudad Hidalgo, on the Mexican side, were expecting around 3,000 migrants to arrive in total.

Back in Honduras, hundreds marched in the capital Tegucigalpa in solidarity with their compatriots.

On Thursday, Trump branded the migrant caravan an "onslaught" and an "assault on our country" in a series of typically fiery tweets.

He threatened to cut aid to the region, deploy the military and close the US-Mexican border if authorities did not stop them.

In Mexico City, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said after meeting his Mexican counterpart that migration across the two countries' border is reaching "a moment of crisis" and posing "a challenge for American sovereignty."

Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray insisted Mexico would not cave to pressure to detain the migrants, urging the Trump administration to address the root causes of their northward flight: violent crime and poverty.

"Mexico's migration policy is for Mexico to decide," he said. But Mexico has also been keen to show Trump it is working to slow the stream of migrants.

The Republican billionaire has made curbing undocumented immigration a keystone of his presidency.

Barely a week goes by without him warning about the danger posed by ultra-violent Central American gangs like MS-13, while chants of "build the wall" are a staple of his campaign rallies ahead of next month's US midterm elections.
Saudi Arabia said on Friday that journalist Jamal Khashoggi died in a fight inside its Istanbul consulate and said it had fired two senior officials over the incident, giving an account that U.S. President Donald Trump said was credible.

Saudi Arabia's acknowledgement that Khashoggi died came after two weeks of denials and growing demands from Western allies for an explanation over Khashoggi's disappearance, which galvanized a global outcry and prompted some US lawmakers to call for harsh action against Riyadh.

Saudi state media said King Salman had ordered the dismissal of two senior officials over the incident: Saud al-Qahtani, a royal court advisor seen as the right-hand man to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and deputy intelligence chief Ahmed Asiri, a statement on state media said.

"I think it's a good first step, it's a big step. It's a lot of people, a lot of people involved, and I think it's a great first step," Trump told reporters.

"Saudi Arabia has been a great ally. What happened is unacceptable."

READ: Khashoggi warns in last column of attack on media

Though Trump said Riyadh's account was credible, it drew doubt from some U.S. lawmakers.

Khashoggi, a critic of the crown prince, went missing after entering the consulate on Oct. 2 to obtain documents for his upcoming marriage. Days later, Turkish officials said they believed he was killed in the building, an allegation that Saudi Arabia had, until now, strenuously denied.

In a separate statement on Saturday, the Saudi public prosecutor said a fight broke out between Khashoggi and people who met him in the consulate, leading to his death.

"The investigations are still underway and 18 Saudi nationals have been arrested," the statement said.

The disappearance of Khashoggi, a U.S. resident and Washington Post columnist, had led to mounting pressure from the West on Saudi Arabia to provide convincing answers.

Before the Saudi announcements, Trump said he might consider sanctions, although he has also appeared unwilling to distance himself too much from the Saudis, citing Riyadh's role in countering Iranian influence in the Middle East and lucrative potential arms deals.

The White House said in a statement that it had seen the Saudi announcement and would continue to press for "justice that is timely, transparent, and in accordance with all due process."

But some U.S. lawmakers expressed doubt about the Saudi explanation.

"To say that I am skeptical of the new Saudi narrative about Mr. Khashoggi is an understatement," said Republican U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham, a Trump ally who has been sharply critical of Saudi Arabia over the incident.

Democratic U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal told CNN the Saudi explanation "absolutely defies credibility" and called for an international investigation of Khashoggi's death.

Turkish sources have told Reuters the authorities have an audio recording purportedly documenting Khashoggi's murder inside the consulate. Turkish pro-government newspaper Yeni Safak has published what it said were details from the audio. It said Khashoggi's torturers had severed his fingers during an interrogation and later beheaded and dismembered him.

READ: Murder inside a consulate?

"No Order To Kill Him"

The disappearance of Khashoggi has tarnished Prince Mohammed's reputation and deepened questions about his leadership.

King Salman has handed the day-to-day running of Saudi Arabia to his son, commonly known as MbS. But the growing crisis prompted him to intervene, five sources with links to the Saudi royal family told Reuters.

The king has ordered the formation of a ministerial committee headed by the crown prince to restructure the general intelligence agency, state media said on Friday.

The crown prince had no knowledge of the specific operation that resulted in Khashoggi's death, a Saudi official familiar with the investigation said.

"There were no orders for them to kill him or even specifically kidnap him," said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity and adding that there was a standing order to bring critics of the kingdom back to the country.

"MbS had no knowledge of this specific operation and certainly did not order a kidnapping or murder of anybody. He will have been aware of the general instruction to tell people to come back," the official said.

The official said the whereabouts of Khashoggi's body were unclear after it was handed over to a "local cooperator" but there was no sign of it at the consulate.

In Istanbul, Turkish prosecutors investigating Khashoggi's disappearance questioned Turkish employees of the Saudi consulate on Friday, widening the hunt for clues in a case straining Riyadh's alliance with Western powers.

Turkish police searched a forest on Istanbul's outskirts and a city near the Sea of Marmara for Khashoggi's remains, two senior Turkish officials told Reuters, after tracking the routes of cars that left the consulate and the consul's residence on the day he vanished.

READ: Suspects in Khashoggi case linked to Saudi crown prince

Investigators have recovered samples from searches of both buildings to analyze for traces of Khashoggi's DNA.

Speaking to reporters in Scottsdale, Arizona, ahead of the Saudi announcements, Trump said it was too early to say what the consequences for the incident might be, but that the U.S. Congress would be involved in determining the American response.

Asked whether Saudi sanctions were one of the measures he was considering, Trump said, "Could be, could be," though he provided no details.

"We're going to find out who knew what when and where. And we'll figure it out," Trump added.

Turkey said it had not shared with any country audio recordings purportedly documenting Khashoggi's murder, dismissing reports it had passed them to the United States.

"We will share the results that emerge transparently with the whole world," Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said.
Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday held a series of bilateral meetings with her counterparts from ASEAN nations and US Defence Secretary James Mattis on the sidelines of ASEAN Defence Ministers' Meet here.

Defence Ministers from ASEAN countries and that of Australia, China, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, Russia, and the US have gathered here for the 12th ASEAN Defence Ministers' Meeting (ADMM) and the 5th ADMM-Plus, which is being hosted by Singapore.

The ADMM and ADMM-Plus serves as key Ministerial-level platforms in the regional security architecture, promoting strategic dialogue and practical cooperation between ASEAN and its partners.

"Smt @nsitharaman in a bilateral meeting with #SecDef James Mattis, United States Secretary of Defense on the sidelines of ASEAN Defence Ministers Meet (Plus) in Singapore," the defence minister tweeted.

Sitharaman also met her Malaysian counterpart Mohamad bin Sabu, Australian Defence Minister Christopher Pyne, Philippines' Secretary of National Defense Delfin Lorenzana and Vietnam Defence Minister Ngo Xuan Lich during her fast-paced day-long meetings.

She will also hold a bilateral meeting with her Singapore counterpart Dr Ng Eng Hen.

According to sources, India and Singapore will extend their already comprehensive bilateral defence collaboration.

A new agreement is likely to be signed for the Army-to-Army collaboration as well as bilateral hosting of logistics and furthering supports for exchange visits by of naval vessels of the two countries, the sources said.

Both the countries conduct regular exercises involving the armed forces, navies and air forces.

India and Singapore will also be celebrating 25 years of SINBEX, an annual exercise with a two-week naval exercise programme in the Bay of Bengal in the coming weeks.

Sitharaman arrived here Thursday and will return home on Sunday.
The counting of votes in Jammu and Kashmir civic polls was completed on Saturday with BJP triumphing in Jammu province and Congress doing well in Kashmir valley.

BJP won 212 wards out of the 520 wards in Jammu region, while the Congress emerged winners in 110 and independents secured victory in 185. Out of 75 wards of Jammu Municipal Corporation, BJP won 43, Congress 14 and independents 18 wards.

In Kashmir valley, the Congress won 79 wards, the BJP 75 and independents 71. In 74 wards of Srinagar Municipal Corporation, independents won 49 wards, Congress 12 and BJP just 4. Eight wards in Srinagar had gone uncontested. In Kashmir valley out of total 624 wards, polling was held in just 208 wards, while 231 remained uncontested and in 185 wards not a single candidate filed nominations.

However, the BJP won 53 of the 132 wards in militancy-hit districts of south Kashmir (Anantnag, Kulgam, Pulwama and Shopian), giving it control over at least four of 20 civic bodies.

Among the prominent winners was Junaid Azim Mattu, who left the regional National Conference (NC) after he disagreed with the poll boycott decision by the party. Prominent among the losers was Asifa Tariq Karra, the wife of senior Congress leader Tariq Hameed Karra, who resigned as Lok Sabha member in 2016 and left the regional PDP to join Congress.

In Leh town of cold desert Ladakh region, the Congress swept the polls winning all the 13 seats, while in neighbouring Kargil, the party won six and independents seven wards. The BJP failed to open its account in Ladakh region. The Ladakh Parliament constituency is represented by BJPs Thupstan Chhewang.

Election to the urban local bodies was held from October 8 to 16.

Panchayat polls

Two major regional parties in the state, the NC and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had stayed away from these polls citing challenge to Article 35-A in the Supreme Court as the reason. Separatists had called for boycott of the elections, while Hizb-ul-Mujahideen militant outfit had issued a warning to those participating in the polls to get shrouds along with the election forms.

The urban local bodies (ULB) polls were pending for the last eight years as the last election was conducted in 2005 by then PDP-Congress government, whose term ended in 2010. Elections for Panchayat are scheduled to be held in the state from November 19 to December 11.
Sri Lanka has stalled Chinas bid to spread its tentacles into the island nations war-ravaged Tamil-majority Northern Province, where several reconstruction projects are being funded by India.

Sri Lanka has this week reversed its earlier decision to allow Beijing-based China Railway Engineering Group Company Limited to build 40000 houses in the islands Northern Province with a loan of $ 300 million from Export-Import Bank of China. Colombo has now decided that most of the houses would be built by an Indian company in partnership with two Sri Lankan companies.

New Delhi has been concerned over Chinas bid to expand its geopolitical influence in Sri Lanka, particularly the communist countrys foray into the Indian Ocean nations Tamil-majority Northern and Eastern Province because the region not only shares a historical cultural and ethnic bond with India but also linked to its key security interests.

New Delhi, itself, did its bit for reconstruction of Northern and Eastern provinces of Sri Lanka after the end of the conflict in 2009, supporting several infrastructure projects, including upgrading railway tracks and building houses for people displaced during the ethnic war. Chinas support for development projects in the Indian Ocean nation was confined to its southern region till its proposal to help build houses in Northern Province was cleared by the Sri Lankan Government earlier this year.

Sri Lankas course-correcting move this week to keep China out of its north and east came just before its Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe landed in New Delhi on Thursday for a three-day visit.

Wickremesinghe of late had run-ins with President Maithripala Sirisena over Indias offer of support to infrastructure projects in Sri Lanka, including on the issue of New Delhis proposal to help develop the East Container Terminal of Colombo Port. While Sirisena is not keen on allowing India to play a role in the development of Colombo Port, Wickremesinghe has purportedly been arguing in favour of accepting New Delhis offer of support.

Sirisenas Sri Lanka Freedom Party and Wickremesinghes United National Party currently run a coalition government in the island, but the relation between the two leaders have of late come under stress.

The differences between Sirisena and Wickremesinghe over New Delhis offer of support for the development of East Container Terminal of Colombo Port reportedly came to the fore during a cabinet meeting on Tuesday.

A section of media reported that it was in the same meeting that Sri Lankan President had made a remark alluding to the possibility of Indias external spy agency Research and Analytical Wing hatching a plot to assassinate him.

Sri Lankan Government on Wednesday dismissed the media reports.

Sirisena also called up Modi and stressed that the mischievous and malafide reports had been utterly baseless and false, and seemed intended to create misunderstanding between the two leaders as well as damage the cordial relations between the two friendly neighbours.

Beijing is keen to develop Hambantota in southern Sri Lanka as a hub for its Belt-and-Road initiative. Sri Lanka earlier this year signed a $ 1.1 billion deal to sell a 70% stake of the strategic Hambantota port to China under a 99-year lease agreement. Sirisena's Government in Colombo argued that it had to enter into a deal as the construction of the Hambantota Port by another company of China during the erstwhile regime led by Mahinda Rajapaksa had resulted in a heavy burden of debt on it.

India is keen to take over the Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport in Hambantota on lease in order to make it sure that the coastal city does not go fully under control of China. The airport was built by Rajapaksa Government with a $ 190 million soft-loan extended by the Exim Bank of China.

New Delhi was concerned over Rajapaksa Governments policy to allow China to expand its geo-strategic footprint in Sri Lanka, as it had serious security implications on India. When Sirisena succeeded Rajapaksa in January 2015, he sought to change his predecessors policy. With the next presidential election just little more than a year away, Sirisena, however, is trying to keep his options open, seeking to strike a balance between Sri Lankas relations with India and China.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday stirred a controversy after he asked people to start preparations for the construction of a "grand" Ram Temple at Ayodhya.

This comes even as RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat has made remarks demanding for a law to pave the way for the temple's construction, evoking diametrically opposite reactions in the temple town from Hindu seers and Muslim leaders and clerics.

Adityanath's remarks came while addressing a gathering on the occasion of Dussehra in his home town of Gorakhpur in the presence of seers and saints.

"We should start preparation for the construction of a grand Ram Temple just as we prepare for the enactment of Ramlila (dramatic enactment of deeds of Lord Rama)," he said.

Adityanath's remarks assumed significance as they came barely a day after RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat demanded a law for the Ram Temple construction.

While the Hindu seers and saints welcomed the demand, the Muslim leaders made it clear that they would only accept the Supreme Court verdict in the matter.

"Mohan Bhagwat's remarks reflect the sentiments of the Hindu community... the central government must enact a law for the construction of the Ram Temple," said Ram Janambhoomi Trust chairman Mahant Nritya Gopal Das in Ayodhya.

Mahant Dharam Das, a Hindu plaintiff in the Ram Janambhoomi Babri Masjid title suits, echoed similar sentiments.

Muslim leaders and clerics, however, decried Bhagwat over the remarks saying that it was an attempt to "polarise" people ahead of the next Lok Sabha polls in 2019.

"We will only accept the verdict of the Supreme Court, where the matter is pending... any law for the construction of the Ram Temple will not be accepted to us," Iqbal Ansari, one of the main Muslim plaintiffs in the title suits, said in Ayodhya.

Senior sunni cleric and All India Muslim Personal Law Board member Maulana Khalid Rasheed Firangimahali termed Bhagwat's remarks "politically motivated" and said that all sides must wait for the apex court judgement in the matter.

"It is a deliberate attempt to gain political mileage ahead of the polls... no one should be surprised... elections should be fought on issues and not on religious lines," the cleric said.

One of the lawyers for the Muslim plaintiffs, Zafaryab Jilani, also condemned the remarks by Bhagwat and said that any law for the construction of the Ram Temple at Ayodhya would be "unconstitutional".
Former chief minister Siddaramaiah on Saturday said he had no regret about the decision on according 'religious minority' status to the Lingayat community, rejecting his party colleague DK Shivakumars claim that the decision resulted in the Congress defeat in the recent Assembly polls.

"The unanimous decision of the Cabinet (to accord 'minority' status) and the election results have no connection, Siddaramaiah told reporters here, breaking his silence on Shivakumars recent public admission that the decision was "a big blunder."

In a move fraught with political implications, the Cabinet headed by Siddaramaiah decided in March 2018 - just ahead of the polls - and recommended to the Centre that 'religious minority' tag be granted to the dominant Lingayat and Veerashaiva-Lingayat community.

"It was a unanimous decision of the Cabinet. Even Shivakumar was part of it. When I say unanimous, it means that everybody was in on it," Siddaramaiah said, trashing Shivakumars claim that not everyone in the Cabinet was favoured the move.

ALSO READ: Recommending religion tag for Lingayats a blunder: DKS

Siddaramaiah said raking up the Lingayat religion controversy would have no bearing on the November 3 bypoll. "It was 6-7 months ago that we recommended to the Centre for granting minority status to the Lingayat community, he pointed out.

Lingayats/Veerashaivas are estimated to form 17% of Karnatakas population and considered the BJPs traditional vote base. It is said that the previous Congress government hoped to eat into the BJPs vote base by responding positively to the demand for a separate religion.

In the May 12 polls, the Congress went on to lose badly in the Lingayat-dominated constituencies, with a majority of prominent leaders who were actively involved in the separate Lingayat religion movement facing defeat. The BJP used the controversy to spin a narrative that the Congress was dividing society.

"We have not attempted to divide religion or caste and we never will. Where did we interfere with religion? Weve never entered religious matters. We never have and never will, Siddaramaiah asserted when asked about Shivakumar preaching that politicians should keep away from religious affairs.

Asked if Shivakumar was trying to undermine or target him, he said: "Who can target me? When Im not at all at fault, nobody can target me."
Sandalwood actor Sruthi Hariharan is the latest to join the #MeToo campaign by accusing co-actor and multilingual star Arjun Sarja of misbehaving with her during the shoot of film Vismaya a year ago. In an interview to Sudha magazine, a Kannada weekly published by The Printers Mysore Pvt Ltd, proprietors of DH, Sruthi revealed that she was shocked by Sarjas misbehaviour. However, Sarja has not only refuted the allegations but also said that he would take legal action.

Sruthi said that the incident happened during the rehearsal of the movies romantic scene, where the actor hugged her, pulled her close and without a forewarning, ran his hand up and down her back. I was aghast. I am all for depicting realism in cinema but this felt wrong. The director sensed my discomfort and he said that these additions were not required for the scene. I was shaken and I remember telling the direction department that I would not come for any more rehearsals with the actor, she told DH. She added, Throughout the entire production of the film, I kept myself away from him and had minimal conversations with him.

Legal action

In his response to the allegations, Sarja said that he was shocked by the allegations and will take legal action against the actress.

I am not scared of the allegations, instead I was shocked. She should have opened up on the day the alleged incident happened. Wont it look like a drama to keep quiet all these days and rake up the issue all of sudden? he asked.

Sarja added, We took part in the shoot together only for five days. I just told her that she acts well. Even after the completion of the project, she was speaking to me normally. So far, I have acted with 60-70 female leads. They are all in touch with me even today. I am not cheap to misbehave with a woman.

Film fraternities in a fix

The issue has left the film fraternities in a fix. Versatile actor Rajesh, father-in-law of Arjun Sarja defended his son-in-law by saying this is movement is intended to tarnish his image. My son-in-law is well known across South Indian cinema, there is not even a single black mark in his four decades career, and he is from a reputed family. I knew him very well, he said. Actor Chethan, who is also the member of the Film Industry for Rights and Equity's Internal Complaints Committee has said that he would continue to give a moral and legal support to Shruti to fight against this. I am not judging the allegations are true. But we want the proper and transparent investigation to be made in the issue and let the truth reveal by itself, Chethan told DH. Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce (KFCC) president Chinne Gowda said, I cannot talk about anybodys character. They both are very good actors. Shruti would have raised her voice against this soon after the incident happened. Then KFCC would have looked into the issue.

Read Sruthi's Facebook post:

The #metoo movement has made many of us comfortable with sharing our uncomfortable realities! This movement has empowered survivors of sexual violence to come forward and share their stories with the world! I often see individuals refraining from talking about experiences of sexual violence because they feel they dont embody what it means to be a Perfect Victim. Sexual Violence is about power and privilege, every time a perpetrator is called out, its like saving more vulnerable girls from being vilified under their shadows. With the current reckoning happening around the world, #metoo has helped us fervently resist systems of oppression that have been maintaining power for far too long.

I thus believe that the #metoo movement is one of the most efficient use of social media that will attempt at cleansing our patriarchal, sexist and misogynistic society.

Having said that, it is time to break my silence.

Growing up, I have been sexually harassed multiple number of times. I am pretty sure, most women have. An obscene remark or unwanted sexual advances, in a social or professional setting, have made many of us uncomfortable, uneasy and terrified.

When I first started working on films, I was looking forward to great learning experiences and challenges, all in a professional and conducive environment. But today I write this with immense ignominy towards the industry I belong to! This industry has helped me achieve my dreams, explore my capabilities and inspired me to be versatile. It breaks my heart to share that I have felt unsafe, disturbed and disappointed in far too many situations.

The most common attempt at harassment in the film industry is the Casting Couch which would be presented as a prerequisite for work opportunities. Non-compliance of the couch would result in losing that opportunity. Sometimes they simply say, "compromise, or, someone else will".... the stories get darker.

Honestly, I have been lucky as I have managed to escape physically and mentally scarring situations. However, in late 2016, there was one incident that left me startled and took a while for me to recover.

I was shooting for a bilingual film which starred Arjun Sarja. A man whose movies I have grown up watching. I was excited avout the opportunity. The first few days seemed normal, I played his wife in the film and that day we were to do a romantic scene where we had to hug each other after a brief dialogue. During the rehearsal, we delivered our lines and Mr. Arjun hugs me. With no forewarning or permission, he runs his hands intimately up and down my back. He pulls me closer with my body taut against his and asks the director if we could use this idea of foreplay in the scene. I was aghast. I am all for depicting realism in cinema, but this felt absolutely wrong. His intent seemed anything but professional. I hated that he did it and angry that I didn't know what to say then.

Scenes are rehearsed before we roll camera and begin shooting. It helps understand staging, body language, actor dynamics etc. That's the ideal process. You talk, enact, and finally find the balance in a given scene. As an actor, I am entitled to know/be consulted with, about the details of a scene especially when it involves something intimate. I'd also like to share with you that every actor I worked with before and after him, have never resorted to this kind of "improv". The director sensed my discomfort too. I made sure I let the direction department know that I was not interested to be a part of rehearsals and will come directly for takes. I also shared the incident with my make up team right after.

The incident happened in front of at least 50 people on a shooting set- it happened at my workplace. I wanted nothing but to stay away from him rather than be tolerant and put up with his lewd and completeun professional behavior.

I didn't want to go back, but as a professional, I had to finish what I had signed for. I continued shooting. During the course of production, every smutty innuendo he made, created an unpalatable work environment for me. His salacious invitations to meet him after work appalled me.

Looking back I remember attempting to normalise his behaviour and ignore his comments- lest there be issues in the production of the film in entirety. I maintained a cordial distance. All the while knowing he was wrong and wondering why he never stopped.

I choose to come out now, 'cos henceforth I think Mr. Arjun Sarja needs to make sure he doesn't cross the thin line between two actors and use his position of power to cause another person discomfort or hurt.

I choose to do this publicly - cos this movement is more than you and me and our individual experiences. It is a collective voice to question an existing system of power play and to call a spade for what it is. The point is to be part of a larger battle against years of female oppression and abuse. It is a movement to make sure no man ever takes a woman's personal space for granted, whoever she is to him.

Women have been taught that sexual harassment or anything abusive, is only a part of being woman. Its time we come together and lift each other than push each other down. Its time we change the future for younger women where she can say with conviction Wait, he can not speak to me this way or  He can not touch me that way. It's time we as women understood that sexual harassment is not comparative but subjective. Each case is different, each individual reacts differently. It's time individuals who hold themselves in power, and conduct sexual impropriety, are brought down. Its time we give courage to the survivors, to take their perpetrators name. Its time we create history for the future men and women. Its time we become more powerful than ever.

Its time.

#metoo #metooindia #noitsnotok #noitsnotnormal

ALSO READ:

#MeToo: Ragini 'surprised' over senior actors' silence

Akbar opened door in underwear: Tushita Patel | #MeToo

Singer Raghu Dixit named as #MeToo outs more

(With inputs from Sandesh M S & Tini Sara Anien)
Khashoggi`s brutal murder has brutally damaged image of Saudi Kingdom

The Saudi Kingdom has ultimately confirmed that writer and critic Jamal Ahmad Khashoggi was killed inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul city. Saudi state media reported Khashoggi was killed in "fist-fight" with the Kingdom's officials inside its consulate. The announcement marked a U-turn from the Kingdom, which had previously denied the entire episode.

In fact, the Kingdom had no other option except to confirm the death because of evidence gathered by Turkish officials. The prima facie evidences pointed fingers towards Saudi ruling high-ups, particularly Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman, about their involvement in the murder. No doubt, the uproar sparked by the Khashoggi's killing across the globe has posed the most serious diplomatic crisis for Saudi Arabia in the recent time.

Already the Kingdom has fired several officials, including royal court adviser Saud al-Qahtani and deputy intelligence chief Ahmed Asiri. Besides, 18 Saudi nationals have been arrested. But the Saudi's story was not convincing that the hit squad that had arrived in Istanbul to have a discussion with Khashoggi. The reality is that the Turkish officials were hunting for the severed parts of the body in the bushes and jungle.

US President Donald Trump said Saudi Arabia's announcement confirming Khashoggi's death is a "good first step, a big step". We see in order to maintain relations, Trump is trying to provide the Saudis an exit and way out but diplomatic circles think it very much depends on whether the Turks are going to accept this Saudi story as they may have their own version of what happened on their soil. The Turkish investigators, who used audio recordings of Khashoggi's alleged murder to guide their search, also confirmed that Salah Muhammad al-Tubaigy, an autopsy expert, began cutting up the journalist's body immediately after he was killed.

A string of multinational companies and individuals along with European aerospace giant Airbus have pulled out of Riyadh's Future Investment Initiative conference in the wake of Khashoggi's disappearance. We know, there are many processes that could be applied against any critic or political dissident.

Killing of Khashoggi so brutally with the involvement of Saudi Kingdom has damaged the image brutally not only of the Saudi Kingdom but generally of all Muslim countries. What is most unfortunate is that it was so unnecessary.






SALT LAKE CITY  DeLaney Westfall isnt British, but for more than a year, shes done everything she can to convince people she is.

After spending five months performing as Northampton factory worker Lauren in Broadways Kinky Boots, Utah-native actress Westfall was cast as a 19th-century Londoner named Johanna in the Off-Broadway production of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street  and had a weeklong overlap of performances for one and rehearsals for the other.

I would sometimes just get really confused because during the day, I was doing a standard British accent (for Sweeney Todd), and then at night, Id have to switch it very slightly to this Northampton accent (for Kinky Boots), Westfall said in an interview. You just have to switch your mindset.

That ability to switch characters on a dime isnt foreign territory for the actress, and its a skill she attributes to her training at Brigham Young University and experience in Utahs theater scene  a scene to which she is returning for a short time.

Bringing along all her experience from New York to once again step into Johannas shoes, Westfall will perform the role inPioneer Theatre Companys production of Sweeney Todd, which runs Oct. 26-Nov. 10.

Its like coming home, said Westfall, who is originally from St. George but spent her college years along the Wasatch Front. Its just so nice and comfortable to be back.

Westfall graduated from Brigham Young Universitys music dance theater program in 2013  a major she said is kind of like a triple major due to the rigorous training it provides in all three categories. But in addition to participating in the various performances associated with her education, Westfall also performed in about half a dozen productions between Hale Centre Theatre  then in West Valley  and Hale Center Theater Orem.

I was always doing a show, and that above all else prepared me for the real world  being able to get up and audition and feel confident because I did it so much, she said. Thats how it is in New York with auditions; you just have to be ready for the next thing.

In addition to a few ensemble roles, Westfall performed several lead and supporting roles at both Hale theaters, including Christine Colgate in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady, Kira in Xanadu and Amber in Hairspray.

Im forever indebted to everyone (at HCT and HCTO) for what I gained in terms of training and experience because I honestly think that that is a huge factor to my success thus far, Westfall said.

Among Westfalls successes is her role in Sweeney Todd, both at New Yorks Barrow Street Theatre and at PTC. Westfall dubs 2018 her year of 'Sweeney Todd.'

Its literally the only thing Ive done all year, and thats saying something, she said. Its such a great show and Im absolutely not sick of it.

With music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by Hugh Wheeler, the thriller musical premiered on Broadway in 1979 and won eight Tony Awards, including best musical. Sweeney Todd features a vengeful barber returning to civilization after years of being unjustly exiled. As he takes his bloody route to getting revenge on the judge who sentenced him, Sweeney Todd joins forces with the pie-maker, Mrs. Lovett, who uses the barbers blood lust to add a little something extra to her meat pies.

The premise is macabre  Its definitely a particular show for a particular type of people, Westfall said  but she said she knows people from all walks of life who have enjoyed the show.

Westfall plays the part of Johanna, a fun, quirky, strong-willed young woman that asks a lot of questions and falls in love. The actress said Johanna is often played as the flighty ingenue or just another pretty face, but Westfall has worked to bring more to the role.

I just want to give her depth and to give her relatability and to incorporate a lot of myself into it, she said. I think thats what I was able to do with the Barrow Street version and thats what Im hoping to bring to this production.

In addition to her roles in New Yorks Kinky Boots and Sweeney Todd, Westfalls post-college roles have included understudying for Daisy/Violet in the Broadway revival of Side Show and as Marilyn Wald in the national tour of Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, as well as several regional credits. But no matter where shes performing, Westfall said the rush of a job well-done is the same whether its at BYU or on Broadway.

People will ask what its like to be on Broadway, but it kind of just feels like any other show at any other theater, she said. Its doing the same thing  and the bows at the end feel also really great.

Content advisory:According to PTC, their production of "Sweeny Todd" would be rated PG-13 for mild gore, language and sexual innuendo. They do not recommended the production for children under 10 and "older children should attend at a parents discretion," according to their website.

If you go 

What: Pioneer Theatre Company's production of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

When: Oct. 26-Nov. 10, dates and times vary

Where: Simmons Pioneer Memorial Theatre, 300 S. 400 East

How much: $44-$71

Phone: 801-581-6961

Web: pioneertheatre.org
SANDY  Veterans and military personnel looking for a job are invited to the Hiring Utah's Heroes Benefits and Career Fair on Tuesday, Nov. 6.

The free event at the Mountain American Exposition Center, 9575 S. State, is open to all National Guard and Reserve service members, active duty service members, veterans and military spouses. Doors open at 11 a.m.

More than 90 of the states top employers  all of which are looking to fill positions  will be in attendance. In addition, a select group of veterans service providers will be on hand to answer questions about benefits and resources.

Jobseekers can register at jointservicessupport.org/Reg/52I551.

The event is sponsored by the Utah Department of Veterans and Military Affairs Office, Utah Department of Workforce Services, National Guard Employment Support Program, Utah Department of Labor - VETS, Utah Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve and other local partners.
Three stories consistently dominated headlines this week: Sen. Elizabeth Warren's DNA test, Canada's legalization of marijuana and the disappearance of Saudi journalist and Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi.

As a retaliation against President Donald Trump's mocking, Sen. Elizabeth Warren released the results of a DNA test she took in order to prove her Native American ancestry. According to the report, she is 1/1024 Native American.

The results have sparked criticism, with some saying it only further confuses the definition of what it is to be Native American and others going so far as to say it only perpetuates racism and mocks Native American voices.

Canada legalized recreational marijuana on Wednesday. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was intent on passing the Cannabis Act, claiming it is a solution for keeping kids away from marijuana as well as making it difficult for illegal dealers to reap profits.

Saudi journalist, author and Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi's disappearance has been a major story all week.

Investigations into what exactly happened to him are ongoing but appear to point toward his murder, possibly by Saudi authorities. Khashoggi was highly critical of the Saudi government.

The situation has put the United States in a difficult position, with many debating what the correct course of action is if evidence proves Khashoggi's murder.

Conversation continues about what the outcome of the midterm elections will be, how it will affect the 2020 presidential election and the tactics of Republicans and Democrats to influence voters.

Sears, once the largest retailer in the nation, announced it was filing for bankruptcy this week.
This has been a difficult year for those of us very concerned that our addiction to coal, natural gas and petroleum continues its assault on our local and global environments.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released a special report on how we are failing to meet the goals of the 2015 Paris Agreement. Three days later Hurricane Michael struck Florida, the fourth strongest storm ever to make U.S. landfall. And this year Utah suffered through one of the hottest summers in memory.

These events are both inextricably linked and getting worse. Many people are personally and publicly trying to stop climate change. We should encourage everything they do. But the harsh truth from recent events is the current approach isn't enough. We need funding to accelerate research and development and support creative solutions for new energy sources, requiring new understanding of physics and open minds.

As a concerned citizen, you can lobby and vote for increased government-funded research. We need a new Manhattan Project to avoid a climate Armageddon.

Steve Bannister

Salt Lake City
SALT LAKE CITY  Criminal charges have been filed against a mother and boyfriend accused of beating a 5-year-old boy on multiple occasions, finally taking the boy to the hospital a week ago when he was unconscious.

The boy remained hospitalized Friday, but is not expected to survive, according to Unified police.

Charging documents say as of Oct. 12, the boy "was not expected to survive his injuries, and he showed very little brain function."

John M. Manning, 31, and Jordan Kay Wills, 26, both of Millcreek, are charged in 3rd District Court with four counts of child abuse, a second-degree felony, and obstructing justice, a third-degree felony. Wills faces an additional count of obstructing justice, a third-degree felony.

Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill said the charges will be amended if the boy dies.

Police were called to Primary Children's Hospital on Oct. 10 after a young boy arrived with traumatic brain injuries, a first-degree burn on his right foot, second-degree burns on other parts of his body, a lacerated spleen and a collapsed lung, according to charging documents.

"Doctors reported that the injuries are in different states of healing, indicating that they did not all occur at the same time," the charges state.

Wills is the boy's biological mother and Manning is her fiance. She told police that the boy had fallen, according to the charges.

Police said they later learned that on Oct. 6, the boy's stepmother was with him for 12 hours and noted at that time that the boy "looked as if he had gone through a car windshield" and he "went in and out of consciousness" during the time he was with her.

On Oct. 10, the stepmother contacted a friend and asked her to call police to conduct a welfare check on the boy.

In an interview with the grandparents, they revealed that on July 1, the boy told them that Manning kicked him and hit him with a closed fist for swearing, and "hit him in the back with a bat and broke the bat," the charges state. The grandparents took pictures of the boy's bruises at that time and called police.

When officers interviewed Wills at that time, she said her son had fallen off his bike, according to the charges. Police also noted her cellphone "had been wiped clean."

Wills and Manning left the hospital shortly after the boy was admitted and returned about 12 hours later, according to police. They were later arrested.
SALT LAKE CITY  Utahns are being asked to decide whether the Legislature should be able to bypass the governor to call itself into special session.

Under the Utah Constitution, that power rests solely with the governor. Legislators say they should have that authority in certain circumstances.

The House and Senate overwhelmingly passed a resolution earlier this year calling for a change in the law  Constitutional Amendment C on the Nov. 6 ballot  allowing the Legislature to convene itself in certain situations. Voters must approve amendments to the state constitution.

It just struck me as odd, increasingly odd, that this co-equal branch of government, being the Legislature, had to get permission from another branch of government to do its job.  House Majority Leader Brad Wilson, R-Kaysville

The proposal came in response to Gov. Gary Herbert refusing to call lawmakers into session to set up a special election to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of U.S. Rep. Jason Chaffetz last year.

Legislators were frustrated that the governor wouldn't hold a special session to set up the process to replace the Republican congressman, which they contended was their prerogative.

The amendment would allow the Legislature to call itself into special session if two-thirds of the House and Senate agree that convening is necessary because of a fiscal crisis, war, natural disaster or emergency. It also allows the Legislature to hold a special session outside the Capitol if the building isn't available.

The proposal also requires the governor to reduce state spending or convene the Legislature if state expenses exceed revenue for a fiscal year.

House Majority Leader Brad Wilson, R-Kaysville, sponsored the resolution to get the issue on the ballot.

"It just struck me as odd, increasingly odd, that this co-equal branch of government, being the Legislature, had to get permission from another branch of government to do its job," he said.

Wilson argues that the Legislature is the "voice of the people, and that voice is effectively silenced for more than 10 months of the year. Lawmakers now hold a 45-day annual session and committee meetings during most of the off months.

Sen. Lyle Hillyard, R-Logan, opposes the proposed amendment.

There's more and more pressure for the Legislature to become full time, and "any step toward that, I don't like," he said.

"Jokingly, I say we do enough damage in 45 days," he said.

Wilson said if he believed the amendment would move the Legislature toward full time, he would not have proposed it. He said the proposal includes provisions to prevent that.

Hillyard, a 38-year veteran legislator, said he could only think of one time where lawmakers and the governor disagreed over the need for a special session. And the conflict that arose from the Chaffetz situation isn't enough to change the law, he said.

Wilson said it isn't an issue to say that the Legislature doesn't work well with the governor.

"We work great with Gov. Herbert, and I'm sure we will continue to do that," he said.

Hillyard also argues that special sessions can become "nightmares." Because the sessions are usually called on short notice and last only a day, residents have little time to weigh in and possibly improve proposed legislation.

Wilson said the threshold for lawmakers to call themselves into special session is high.

"I hope that it's very, very rare. I think it will be," he said.
SALT LAKE CITY  During an election year jampacked with several major ballot initiatives and congressional races, it may be easy for Utahns to overlook some of the less-publicized issues, such as two constitutional amendments dealing with property tax exemptions.

Amendment C, which would give the Utah Legislature the power to call special sessions instead of just the governor, has garnered the most attention among constitutional proposals. Less discussed are Amendments A and B, which while technical, could have an impact on taxpayers.

State leaders and tax experts say if the amendments pass, the overall effect on the average Utah taxpayer will be small and likely unnoticeable.

Amendment A, which would adjust requirements allowing a property tax exemption for a person serving in the military, would likely result in a small tax shift to other taxpayers, but the Utah State Tax Commission had difficulty estimating that impact because it would depend on how many people claim the exemption.

Amendment B, which could create a new tax exemption for certain government-leased buildings, could result in a potential tax shift to other taxpayers of an estimated $1.8 million  though state leaders warn that estimate is likely high.

Amendment A

The proposal would change the period of time that a military person must serve out of state on federal active duty in order to qualify for a property tax exemption, allowing the exemption for someone on at least 200 days in a continuous 365-day period, rather than requiring the 200 days to occur in one calendar year.

For example, Amendment A would prevent a military person from missing out on the exemption if the person served 199 days at the end of one calendar year and then had a break in service before serving another 199 days at the beginning of the calendar year, according to the amendment's impartial analysis on the state's election website.

If Amendment A passes, HB258  passed by lawmakers in 2017  will take effect Jan. 1 and implement the new military time requirements for the exemption.

The amendment would allow a member of the military with a residence valued at $250,000 with a 1.35 percent property tax rate to save $1,856 for each year the person qualified for the tax exemption, according to state estimates.

Depending on how many people claim the exemption, other taxpayers within the taxing jurisdiction may experience a slight property tax increase due to truth-in-taxation laws that guarantee governments collect at least the same amount of revenue as the previous year, resulting in an adjusted tax rate when there's a shortfall.

But Utah State Tax Commission Chairman John Valentine said any tax shift from Amendment A will likely be "negligible."

"This one is statistically impossible to isolate," Valentine said. "This is such a narrow category and such a small base (of people), it's almost impossible to statistically measure the few people that would qualify for it."

However, the new exemption could make a big difference for military members who qualify, Valentine noted.

Rep. Val Peterson, R-Orem, and Sen. Curt Bramble, R-Provo, submitted a supporting argument in favor of the amendment, saying it would "increase fairness to all active duty members."

No rebuttal or argument against the amendment was submitted to the state, according to the state's voter information posting.

Amendment B

Under the current Utah Constitution, all tangible property is subject to being taxed, except for property the Constitution explicitly exempts, such as property owned by the state or local governments.

But those entities do not necessarily own all the property they occupy, noted Sen. Dan Hemmert, R-Orem, who sponsored legislation for Amendment B. As a result, sometimes governments must pay property tax when the private owner passes the cost on to the lessee.

What results, Hemmert said, is silly.

"It doesn't make sense to use tax to pay tax," the senator said. "That makes zero sense to me."

"Why in the world does it make sense for that expense to exist just because they're leasing instead of owning?" Hemmert said.

So Hemmert sponsored SB76, which will go into effect if voters pass Amendment B.

The exemption would only be for properties that the government leases in a "triple net lease," or an agreement where the lessee agrees to pay all real estate taxes. It would also only allow an exemption from buildings that are entirely leased by government entities, not partially.

Compared to Amendment A, Amendment B would have a "greater impact on more taxpayers statewide," said Utah State Tax Commission Chairman John Valentine.

But Valentine noted that the estimated $1.8 million tax shift, taken in "isolation" and compared to tax shifts that happen every year for various reasons, will likely be an insignificant change to taxpayers.

Presuming the entire $1.8 million results in a shift in tax liability, an owner of a $250,000 residential home may see a tax hike of 82 cents, while the owner of a $1 million business may see an increase of $5.98, according to SB76's fiscal note.

That $1.8 million estimate could lower to the extent some property owners don't pass along the property tax to government entities, the fiscal note states.

However, Amendment B has its critics.

Salt Lake City Democrats Sen. Gene Davis and Rep. Sandra Hollins wrote arguments against the amendment, arguing it will "result in a tax increase for every other taxpayer in the state."

They questioned why the state should "provide a special handout to those who already benefit from leasing property to the government?"

"Amendment B rewards a few at the expense of all others," the legislators wrote. "Amendment B is a government giveaway to certain property owners who voluntarily lease their property to the government. This is a tax exemption that every other property owner would be expected to pay."

But supporters argue it would not result in a handout because it would only provide an exemption if the government entity is leasing 100 percent of the tax parcel and paying taxes through a triple net lease.

"This is an effort which I think is a continual effort of the Legislature to be good stewards of tax dollars," Hemmert said.
JANE AND EMMA  3 stars  Danielle Deadwyler, Emily Goss, Brad Schmidt; PG (some thematic material); in general release

You is the prophet Joseph Smith. I knew it when I saw you.

Those are the faithful words Jane Elizabeth Manning (Danielle Deadwyler) utters to the first president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints when she meets him for the first time after leading her family from Connecticut to Nauvoo, Illinois. The journey was far from easy  her family walked 800 miles when they were prohibited from boarding a boat in Buffalo, New York.

But despite the difficult setback, Jane, one of the first African-Americans to join the church, is beaming when she meets the man she calls prophet (Brad Schmidt).

We couldnt stay away, she says.

While viewers may want more of that harrowing journey to Nauvoo  and more about Janes family and her personal conversion, for that matter  the film Jane and Emma successfully provides a large window into Janes inspirational character.

Wanting more of Jane's story is a good problem to have. But director Chantelle Squires' film isn't a biopic; instead she focuses on Jane's unwavering faith, portraying it through her reaction to Joseph Smiths martyrdom on June 27, 1844. The start of the film notes this imagining is inspired by a limited record of Manning.

As the film opens, we see Jane, a free black woman, compelled to travel from her home in Iowa to Nauvoo to help Emma Smith (Emily Goss) during this dark time. Jane arrives and finds a grieving widow protecting her husbands body  and unwilling to hand that body over to the public. But, as Jane reminds her, He aint just your husband. Hes the Lords prophet.

When Emma asks Jane why she has returned to Nauvoo, Jane responds after a long pause: Im still figuring that out.

Flashbacks begin to answer that question and explain why she left, taking viewers back nine months and showing Joseph and Emma as they welcome Jane and her family to Nauvoo and into their home with open arms  even when other members of the church do not. At one point, Jane meets criticism from a fellow member of the church when she tells him she has been baptized.

But youre a child of Cain, he says.

Im a child of God, she responds. Just like you.

The film doesnt shy away from tough subjects in church history, using Janes character as a vehicle to show the sting of racism  Joseph tells a member of the church that to curse the negro is to tempt damnation  and even briefly addressing polygamy.

But despite Joseph and Emmas kindness toward Jane, many of the other members in Nauvoo fail to show her that same respect, leading her to eventually make a new home in Iowa. The Saints aint as different from the rest of the world as they think they is, Jane tells Emma.

But Jane never lets these racial or socioeconomic factors stand in the way of her relationship with God. While Goss and Schmidt are compelling in their roles as Emma and Joseph, Deadwylers standout performance as Jane is the films greatest strength  a close second is the music, which provides a moving narrative of its own with soulful renditions of hymns like Guide Us, O Thou Great Jehovah and A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief.

Deadwyler portrays Jane with a powerful combination of steadfastness and vulnerability  she immediately travels to Nauvoo when she feels the Lord is prompting her, but we also see her crying out in prayer for an explanation.

Although much of the narrative, written by Melissa Leilani Larson, focuses on Emmas grief in the aftermath of her husbands death, the intimate setting  two close, unlikely friends keeping each other company during a sorrowful time  also allows viewers to learn more about a lesser-known character in church history. The film is rooted in limited historical record, but it does something remarkable with that limitation: It shows us why Jane's story is one worth telling.

Jane and Emma is rated PG for some thematic material; running time: 90 minutes.
SALT LAKE CITY  Some words have been changed, but a super PAC ad is continuing to air against Rep. Mia Love, R-Utah, even after her attorney asked Utah TV stations to remove what he called a false commercial.

"It sounds like it's still false," Love's attorney, Matt Sanderson, said, noting he had not seen the revised ad. "It could be that they swapped out one false line for another false line, in which case, we will renew our objection."

But Sanderson said the changes are an acknowledgement that there were problems with the original 30-second spot from the Washington, D.C.-based liberal political action committee Patriot Majority.

"If they didn't have reservations now about the accuracy of the ad, why else would they go to the trouble of revising the ad?" he said. "If it was fine as is, if they stood behind the ad as it ran the past week, then they would just leave the ad as it is."

The commercial still refers to what it calls a "scandal" surrounding money Love raised for a primary she didn't have.

Now, instead of saying Love "collected more than $1 million in illegal campaign cash," the ad says the congresswoman "collected hundreds of thousands in illegal contributions," showing the amount of $370,000.

That's money her campaign raised for the primary through the April GOP state convention where Love was officially nominated as the Republican candidate in the 4th Congressional District.

After the Federal Election Commission raised questions about her fundraising, Love's campaign said the $370,000 would be re-designated for the general election and more than $10,000 would be refunded because contribution limits were exceeded.

Sanderson contacted Utah TV stations several times about the ad, including sending copies of emails from the FEC released Thursday by Love's campaign that states no further action was required on the contributions at issue.

Love has said the email clears her campaign of any fundraising wrongdoing, but her Democratic opponent, Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams, said she has not been exonerated since the email only refers to a portion of the money she raised.

A complaint about Love's primary fundraising filed with the FEC by the progressive Alliance for a Better Utah is also still pending.

This isn't the only super PAC commercial running in the hotly contested race that's considered a toss-up. The Congressional Leadership Fund, a U.S. House GOP majority PAC, is expected to spend $1 million on ads against McAdams.

Super PAC commercials are considered independent expenditures and cannot be coordinated with a candidate's campaign.

"We have no idea what outside groups are doing or why," McAdams campaign manager Andrew Roberts said. "What we do know is that Mia Love illegally raised a lot of money and her actions are a serious violation of the public's trust."

Love's campaign issued a news release stating the Patriot Majority was taking down its "defamatory ad" and quoting her campaign manager, Dave Hansen, saying that's "proof Ben McAdams and his liberal allies have been lying all along."

Hansen said he expects McAdams and what he called a "coordinated Democratic attack will keep lying and spreading falsehoods about Congresswoman Love in the future, but we will keep fighting these smears through Election Day."
WASHINGTON  The U.S. accused a Russian woman on Friday of helping oversee the finances of a sweeping, secretive effort to sway American public opinion through social media in the first federal case alleging foreign interference in the 2018 midterm elections.

The criminal complaint against Elena Alekseevna Khusyaynova alleges that Russians are using some of the same techniques to influence U.S. politics as they relied on ahead of the 2016 presidential election, methods laid bare by an investigation from special counsel Robert Mueller into possible coordination between Russia and Donald Trump's campaign.

Justice Department prosecutors claim that Khusyaynova, of St. Petersburg, helped manage the finances of a hidden but powerful Russian social media effort aimed at spreading distrust for American political candidates and causing divisions on hot-button social issues like immigration and gun control.

The Justice Department unsealed the criminal complaint on the same day that U.S. intelligence agencies, in a rare public statement , asserted that Russia, China, Iran and other countries are engaged in continuous efforts to influence American policy and voters in the upcoming elections and beyond. National security adviser John Bolton heads to Russia on Saturday.

The U.S. is concerned about the foreign campaigns "to undermine confidence in democratic institutions and influence public sentiment and government policies," said the statement from national security officials. The statement, which provided no details about any such efforts, said, "These activities also may seek to influence voter perceptions and decision-making in the 2018 and 2020 U.S. elections."

The national security agencies said they currently do not have any evidence that voting systems have been disrupted or compromised in ways that could result in changing vote counts or hampering the ability to tally votes in the midterms, which are 2 weeks away.

"Some state and local governments have reported attempts to access their networks, which often include online voter registration databases, using tactics that are available to state and nonstate cyber actors," they said.

But so far, they said, state and local officials have been able to prevent access or quickly mitigate these attempts.

In the criminal complaint, prosecutors say Khusyaynova worked for the same social media troll farm that was indicted earlier this year by Mueller. The social media effort outlined by prosecutors Friday largely mirrors Mueller's criminal case against three Russian companies, including the Internet Research Agency, and 13 Russians, including one who is a close ally to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Prosecutors say the conduct singled out on Friday runs afoul of criminal laws that bar foreign nationals from attempting to influence American elections or from engaging in political activities without first registering with the attorney general.

Asked about the new accusation against the Russians at an appearance in Arizona, Trump responded that it had "nothing to do with me."

Since at least 2015, the group created thousands of fake social media profiles and email accounts that appeared to be from people inside the U.S. and were aimed to "create and amplify divisive social and political content," including on significant current events, such as deadly shootings in South Carolina and Las Vegas, prosecutors said in court papers.

One fake persona, registered to "Bertha Malone," made over 400 Facebook posts containing inflammatory content. Another fake Facebook account, in the name of "Rachell Edison," made more than 700 posts focused on gun control and the Second Amendment.

The Russian organizers of the conspiracy advised that the posts should reflect various viewpoints, and they gave specific instructions to only share articles from certain news websites to correspond to specific political views, prosecutors said.

After one news article targeting Republican Sen. John McCain appeared online with the headline "McCain Says Thinking a Wall Will Stop Illegal Immigration is 'Crazy,'" members of the group were told to brand him as "an old geezer who has lost it and who long ago belonged in a home for the elderly." They were also told to say that McCain had a "pathological hatred toward Donald Trump and toward all his initiatives."

McCain, a longtime foe of Putin's, died in August of brain cancer.

After another article appeared about Mueller last year, members of the troll farm were told to share the article and say Mueller was a "puppet of the establishment" who had connections to the Democratic Party and "who says things that should either remove him from his position or disband the entire investigation commission."

The new prosecution was brought not by Mueller but by the Justice Department's national security division and prosecutors from the Eastern District of Virginia. There is no allegation in the complaint of coordination with the Trump campaign.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said recently that Russia has no intention of interfering in the midterm elections.

Friday's separate statement about foreign influence in U.S. elections was issued just weeks before the Nov. 6 elections by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the Justice Department, the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security.

Given the breadth of alleged interference by Russia, which includes the hacking of Democratic email accounts ahead of the 2016 presidential election, it was notable that the intelligence community identified two other nations  China and Iran  in the same statement.

Vice President Mike Pence recently blasted China in a speech, saying Russia's influence efforts in America pale in comparison with the covert and overt activities of the Chinese to interfere in the midterms and counter Trump's tough trade policies against Beijing.

But top administration officials have provided little evidence that China's activities are comparable to Russia's massive covert measures spelled out in previous indictments obtained by Mueller.

The officials have cited largely public steps taken by China, such as aiming tariffs at politically important states and pressuring U.S. businesses to speak out against the Trump administration.

Other countries are using social media to amplify divisive issues in American society and sponsor content in English-language media, such as Russia's RT and Sputnik news outlets, the security agencies' statement said. They also distribute propaganda and plant disinformation against political candidates, the departments said.

Intelligence agencies have not publicly released evidence of Iran working to meddle in U.S. elections. In March, however, the Trump administration announced criminal charges and sanctions against Iranians accused in a hacking scheme to pilfer sensitive information from hundreds of universities, private companies and American government agencies.

Lawmakers said the newest criminal complaint is proof that Russian meddling did not stop in 2016.

"Russian disinformation efforts are ongoing and sophisticated, and they are intent on dividing us and weakening our society and political system," said California Rep. Adam Schiff, the ranking Democrat on the House intelligence committee.

Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, the ranking Democrat on the Senate intelligence committee, said Congress needs to set up "much-needed guardrails" on social media.

___

Associated Press writers Michael Balsamo and Colleen Long contributed to this report.
WASHINGTON  The U.S. accused a Russian woman on Friday of helping oversee the finances of a sweeping, secretive effort to sway American public opinion through social media in the first federal case alleging foreign interference in the 2018 midterm elections.

The criminal complaint against Elena Alekseevna Khusyaynova alleges that Russians are using some of the same techniques to influence U.S. politics as they relied on ahead of the 2016 presidential election, methods laid bare by an investigation from special counsel Robert Mueller into possible coordination between Russia and Donald Trump's campaign.

Justice Department prosecutors claim that Khusyaynova, of St. Petersburg, helped manage the finances of a hidden but powerful Russian social media effort aimed at spreading distrust for American political candidates and causing divisions on hot-button social issues like immigration and gun control.

The Justice Department unsealed the criminal complaint on the same day that U.S. intelligence agencies, in a rare public statement , asserted that Russia, China, Iran and other countries are engaged in continuous efforts to influence American policy and voters in the upcoming elections and beyond. National security adviser John Bolton heads to Russia on Saturday.

The U.S. is concerned about the foreign campaigns "to undermine confidence in democratic institutions and influence public sentiment and government policies," said the statement from national security officials. The statement, which provided no details about any such efforts, said, "These activities also may seek to influence voter perceptions and decision-making in the 2018 and 2020 U.S. elections."

The national security agencies said they currently do not have any evidence that voting systems have been disrupted or compromised in ways that could result in changing vote counts or hampering the ability to tally votes in the midterms, which are 2 weeks away.

"Some state and local governments have reported attempts to access their networks, which often include online voter registration databases, using tactics that are available to state and nonstate cyber actors," they said.

But so far, they said, state and local officials have been able to prevent access or quickly mitigate these attempts.

Prosecutors allege that Khusyaynova worked for the same social media troll farm that was indicted earlier this year by Mueller, and the social media effort they outlined Friday largely mirrors the special counsel's criminal case against three Russian companies, including the Internet Research Agency, and 13 Russians  including a close ally to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The conduct singled out Friday runs afoul of criminal laws that bar foreign nationals from attempting to influence American elections or from engaging in political activities without first registering with the attorney general, prosecutors said. The new prosecution was brought not by Mueller but by the Justice Department's national security division and prosecutors from the Eastern District of Virginia. There is no allegation in the complaint of coordination with the Trump campaign.

Asked about the new accusation against the Russians, Trump responded that it had "nothing to do with me."

The court papers pull back the court papers on a Russian effort to use thousands of fake social media profiles, and email accounts that appeared to be from people inside the U.S., to influence American politics. The goal was not necessarily to espouse one political ideology over another, prosecutors say, but rather "create and amplify divisive social and political content" including on significant current events such as deadly shootings in South Carolina and Las Vegas, prosecutors said.

One fake persona, registered to "Bertha Malone," made over 400 Facebook posts containing inflammatory content. One post falsely alleged ties between President Barack Obama and the Muslim Brotherhood. Another fake Facebook account, in the name of "Rachell Edison," made more than 700 posts focused on gun control and the Second Amendment.

The Russian organizers of the conspiracy advised that the posts should reflect various viewpoints, and they gave specific instructions to only share articles from certain news websites to correspond to specific political views, prosecutors said.

"If you write posts in a liberal group...you must not use Breitbart titles," one of the group's members warned, court papers say. "On the contrary, if you write posts in a conservative group, do not use Washington Post or BuzzFeed's titles."

After one news article targeting Republican Sen. John McCain appeared online with the headline "McCain Says Thinking a Wall Will Stop Illegal Immigration is 'Crazy,'" members of the group were told to brand him as "an old geezer who has lost it and who long ago belonged in a home for the elderly." They were also told to say that McCain had a "pathological hatred toward Donald Trump and toward all his initiatives."

McCain, a longtime foe of Putin's, died in August of brain cancer.

After another article appeared about Mueller, members of the troll farm were told to share the article and say Mueller was a "puppet of the establishment" who had connections to the Democratic Party and "who says things that should either remove him from his position or disband the entire investigation commission."

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said recently that Russia has no intention of interfering in the midterm elections.

Friday's separate statement about foreign influence in U.S. elections was issued just weeks before the Nov. 6 elections by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the Justice Department, the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security.

Given the breadth of alleged interference by Russia, which includes the hacking of Democratic email accounts ahead of the 2016 presidential election, it was notable that the intelligence community identified two other nations, China and Iran, in the same statement.

Vice President Mike Pence recently blasted China in a speech, saying Russia's influence efforts in America pale in comparison with the covert and overt activities of the Chinese to interfere in the midterms and counter Trump's tough trade policies against Beijing. But top administration officials have provided little evidence that China's activities are comparable to Russia's massive covert measures spelled out in previous indictments obtained by Mueller.

The officials have cited largely public steps taken by China, such as aiming tariffs at politically important states and pressuring U.S. businesses to speak out against the Trump administration.

Other countries are using social media to amplify divisive issues in American society and sponsor content in English-language media, such as Russia's RT and Sputnik news outlets, the security agencies' statement said. They also distribute propaganda and plant disinformation against political candidates, the departments said.

Intelligence agencies have not publicly released evidence of Iran working to meddle in U.S. elections. In March, however, the Trump administration announced criminal charges and sanctions against Iranians accused in a hacking scheme to pilfer sensitive information from hundreds of universities, private companies and American government agencies.

Lawmakers said the newest criminal complaint is proof that Russian meddling did not stop in 2016.

"Russian disinformation efforts are ongoing and sophisticated, and they are intent on dividing us and weakening our society and political system," said California Rep. Adam Schiff, the ranking Democrat on the House intelligence committee.

___

Associated Press writers Michael Balsamo and Colleen Long contributed to this report.
LIMA, Peru  Two decades ago, President Russell M. Nelson  then of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints  stood at a new missionary training center here and prayed for the land of Peru, a nation preserved through the ages for Thy holy purposes.

Thou hast promised that those who possess this land will be sustained as they are righteous and worship the God of the land, who is Jesus Christ, he prayed in fluent Spanish. Bless the people of Peru to know of this divine destiny of their land.

Today a copy of the dedicatory prayer hangs in the MTC, where some 150 missionaries called to serve in one of 18 missions in Peru and Bolivia receive instruction and training.

President Nelson returned to Peru on Friday, Oct. 19. He is scheduled to address missionaries in the South America Northwest Area and to speak at a devotional that will be broadcast throughout Peru from the Coliseo Mariscal Caceres, an indoor arena with a capacity of 7,000.

Read the full Church News story here.
LIMA, Peru  Peru's president asked President Russell M. Nelson to help his country's children Saturday morning during a historic meeting at the presidential palace here.

On Saturday night, President Nelson spoke in Spanish as he delivered a message to the parents among 5,600 people who gathered to hear him at a full Lima coliseum.

"Please teach your children about the Atonement of Jesus Christ," said the president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. "His Atonement is the most important event in the history of the world and the foundation of our religion. Everything else in our religion is secondary."

In between, President Nelson spoke to nearly one-tenth of the church's missionary force in a broadcast from a packed Lima chapel.

The day began early, with a 40-minute visit with Peruvian President Martin Vizcarra. The two leaders agreed Latter-day Saints are a force for good in the country and discussed the needs of women and children, humanitarian issues and their shared concern about corruption.

"It was an extraordinary privilege for us," President Nelson said. "He was very warm and gracious, welcoming."

President Nelson expressed support for the work of Vizcarra, who has made fighting graft his top priority. A Peruvian Supreme Court justice fled the country earlier this month after police recorded phone conversations describing a criminal network of judges who traded favors with politicians and businessmen, according to Reuters. The fugitive justice was captured Friday in Spain.

"We are concerned with the problems of corruption all over the world," President Nelson said. "This is where (President Vizcarra) is making a great effort. Really, he's loved by the people because he's anti-corruption."

Both men are still relatively new to their positions. President Nelson became the faith's 17th prophet and president in January. Vizcarra took office in March.

President Nelson is making his 10th visit to Peru as the first stop in a tour of five South American countries. He will attend church in Lima on Sunday morning, then fly to Bolivia for a devotional there Sunday night.

He said he was impressed with Peru's progress.

"I've been to Peru many times, and I've seen much improvement over the years," he said.

President Nelson said Vizcarra was familiar with the church and its members.

"We have more than half a million members here, nearly 600,000," President Nelson said. "So it's an important force for good in the country."

Elder Gary E. Stevenson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles joined the meeting with Elder Enrique R. Fallabella, a native Guatemalan and president of the church's South America Northwest Area presidency, Guillermo Estrugo, Area Director of Public Affairs and Mark Woodruff, President Nelson's personal secretary. Also present were Vizcarra's personal secretary and a translator.

"As President Nelson was describing our membership," Elder Stevenson said, "President Vizcarra was nodding his head, 'Yes, yes, I'm very much aware of them,' and of our young members."

The conversation turned to children.

"He was very concerned about the welfare of children," President Nelson said, "and he asked for our help with their children so they won't feel lonely or poverty-stricken."

"President Nelson described what we do and what we teach our children," Elder Stevenson said. "We teach our children to be honest, to be forthright, to follow Jesus Christ and to honor and sustain the laws of the land and support the government."

The two presidents also discussed humanitarian issues, and Elder Fallabella described the church's broad impact in Peru. The church has directly helped nearly 5 million people in this nation of 31 million since 1985.

"He's aware that we are trying to reach the poor people in Peru," Elder Falabella said, "helping them with the things they need."

President Nelson said the church delegation also praised the work of Peru's First Lady, a well-known educator and champion of women and children.

"Particularly, she is a wonderful example of the power of a woman in Peru," he said.

He presented Vizcarra with a miniature Christus statue and a signed copy of one of his books.

"I also told him we'd be praying for him, and he loved it," President Nelson said.

He spoke about the visit during the devotional on Saturday night at the Coliseo Mariscal Caceres.

"He thanked me for the wonderful conduct of you Latter-day Saints," President Nelson said. "He thanked me for your being good citizens. And he thanked us for the help that the Latter-day Saints give in the humanitarian effort, helping the poor, giving wheelchairs to thsoe who are immobile and fresh water to those who are without, and more. We as general authorities of the church must thank you for being such good examples."

Church members were delighted and applauded when he said he would speak in Spanish.

Sister Wendy Nelson also spoke in the meeting along with Elder Stevenson and his wife, Lesa, and Elder Falabella and Sister Carmen Falabella.

"Everything in his church belongs to Jesus Christ," Sister Nelson said. "The covenants are his, the ordinances are his, the priesthood power is his, the apostles are his and the prophet is his prophet, chosen by him and instructed by him.

Elder Stevenson said Latter-day Saints can sustain their prophet by praying for him, studying his words, listening to his conference addresses and following his inspired teachings completely.

"You can share with your friends that we have a prophet on the earth today," he said.

"I felt the influence of the Spirit very strongly," said Sister Karen Coloma, 28, a senior statistical analyst in Lima, where she moved with her family two years ago to escape political and economic problems in Venezuela. The devotional was the first time she has seen a living prophet in person.

"Elder Stevenson and his wife and Sister Nelson all testified that he is a prophet of God and talks to God," Coloma said, "and the experiences they have with him strengthened my testimony that he really is a prophet and was called of God and communicates with him and can help us."

Ana Vasquez, 48, attended the meeting with her husband and three of their children. She couldn't find words to express her feelings during the meeting but said they gave her hope. She said Sister Nelson's description of her husband receiving revelation resonated with her own experiences of personal revelation.

"I loved that she has had that privilege, and that we can have the privilege, too," Vazquez said.

On Saturday afternoon, the Nelsons, Stevensons and Falabellas spoke to several hundred missionaries at the Limatambo chapel. The meeting was broadcast to 5,000 missionaries serving in Peru, Ecuador, Venezuela, Colombia and Bolivia.

President Nelson taught the missionaries from one of his favorite books in the Book of Mormon, 3 Nephi. He said there is a lesson to be found in Jesus Christ only adding himself to his commandment to be perfect like Father in Heaven after Christ was resurrected and appeared in the Americas.

"Theres a lesson in perfection," President Nelson said. "Perfection is not errorless performance. Perfection is being changed from a mortal and fallible person to a person who is immortal, changed and able to dwell in the presence of God. Dont be discouraged if you find yourself making a few flaws in your life. We all make mistakes. Thats how we repent, thanks to the Lord Jesus Christ, there is no mistake we can make for which we cannot repent, with one or two egregious exceptions."

Elder Stevenson invited missionaries to use the Missionary Handbook, scriptures and Preach My Gospel manual as their three main tools. He also instructed them to extend an invitation in every meeting with someone interested in the church's message.

"Every time, after every invitation, you promise a blessing," he added. "I promise you if you promise a blessing, it will bring your investigators toward repentance and baptism. This is the Lords manner of teaching. Every time he extends an invitation, he promises a blessing."

Missionaries said they were motivated by the meeting.

"I loved seeing the prophet and being able to hear everything he had for the missionaries," said Elder Leonardo Albarracin, 19, of Quito, Ecuador, a convert of seven years who has been serving in Lima for four months and called it "incredible" to see a church president for the first time. "I learned about the importance of 'Preach My Gospel' and I'm going to work with a better attitude and bigger smile."

Sister Wara Fernandez, 19 of Cochabamba, Bolivia, has served in the Lima East Mission for three months.

"I couldn't believe it," she said of seeing the prophet she teaches others about in person for the first time. "I was really excited to see him and hear and him and I had another confirmation that he is a prophet of God."

She was grateful the Nelsons taught the missionaries to envision 100 deceased ancestors of each person they meet praying for them along with President and Sister Nelson and 16 million Latter-day Saints.

"I feel really grateful and blessed," she added, "and more excited to work in the work of the Lord."
SALT LAKE CITY  Utah high schoolers' ACT test scores trended upward in 2018, but the state's scores continue to lag behind national averages.

In 2018, more than 42,000 Utah public school students took the ACT college entrance exam, posting an average composite score of 20.3  up one-tenth of a point from 2017.

Nationally, the average public school composite score was 20.8, down from 21.0 in 2017.

According to recent results, 36 percent of Utah test takers met college readiness benchmarks in math and 58 percent in English.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Sydnee Dickson, in a statement, said the Utah State Board of Education "celebrates improvement in the metric of college and career readiness for all students."

While Utah students' ACT scores rose overall, average scores of American Indian, black and students of two or more races fell slightly.

Average scores of Asian students and white students  both 21.4  were higher than the statewide average of 20.3.

Average composite scores of American Indian, black and Pacific Islander students were 16.2, 16.2 and 16.8, respectively. Average composite scores of Latino students were up slightly from the previous year at 17.4, although all ethnic groups aside from white and Asian students were below state averages.

We need to continue to focus on closing achievement gaps and ensuring each student is academically prepared to succeed after post high-school, Dickson said.

Nationally, math readiness fell to its lowest mark in 14 years, according to the latest ACT results. More than a third of 2018 graduates  35 percent  met none of ACT's benchmarks of college readiness. The benchmarks indicate the likelihood that a student would earn a B grade in an entry-level university course.

ACT CEO Marten Roorda said the drop in math readiness is "a red flag for our country" considering the tech-driven U.S. and global job market.

It is vital that we turn this trend around for the next generation and make sure students are learning the math skills they need for success in college and career, Roorda said in a statement.

ACTs report includes specific recommendations to ensure all young people have access to a high-quality, holistic education that prepares them for college and career by the time they graduate from high school.

The recommendations are:

 Give educators the resources they need to help improve educational outcomes.

 Assess student learning and implement improvement strategies starting early in students educational careers.

 Provide equitable resources for underserved students.

 Ensure that students education is holistic and addresses the needs of the whole learner.

 Collect, handle and use assessment data responsibly, with special attention to maintaining its security and quality.
It seems Apple is all set to unveil its next set of new hardware for this year on October 30. The event will take place at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Howard Gilman Opera House in New York City, according to a media invite sent out by the company. The keynote is expected to start by 10:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time. At the unveiling, the Cupertino-based electronics giant is expected to showcase a refreshed lineup of iPads and Macs.

Although the media invite specifies nothing more than, Theres more in the making, its safe to assume that the company is referring to a redesigned version of the iPad Pro. We can expect to see a sizeable upgrade on the new 11-inch and 12.9-inch variants of the popular tablet. The new models may well ditch Touch ID for good and go with Face ID, the screen-unlocking technology the current iPhones boast of. We can expect thinner bezels and fuller screens on the new design. If were lucky, there wont be a notch on the display.

Along with a refreshed iPad Pro lineup, Apple is expected to showcase a new MacBook. Apart from the 12-inch version its also expected to launch a 13-inch version, which could be the successor to the long-standing MacBook Air. The current 12-inch MacBook and the MacBook Pro without a Touch Bar stay the same and have yet to see a refresh. Apple could also showcase a new Mac Mini, which hasnt seen an update in years now. Theres a chance the iMac lineup too will get an update, with features like a True Tone display.

According to a report by 9to5Mac, Apple could also shelve the cylindrical Mac Pro to introduce an iMac Pro. The redesigned Mac Pro was introduced in 2013 at a time when critics thought Apple was no longer capable of innovation. If the iMac Pro does realise, then a standard desktop-like version of the Mac computer, as we knew it, will vanish. Other reports also say that Apple could launch a new version of its stylus, the Apple Pencil, which currently works on the iPad range.
OnePlus has announced that it is rescheduling the launch of the OnePlus 6T in order to avoid clashing with Apples event on the same date. To recall, OnePlus had scheduled to launch the device on October 30 on an event in New York. However, in a post on its official forum, company CEO, Pete Lau announced that the company was changing the date to 11AM, October 29.

A lot has changed in the past 24 hours. When we announced the launch of the OnePlus 6T on October 8, we were convinced our timing would allow us to maximize the amount of people we could reach with our message. That changed when Apple announced they would be hosting their own event on October 30. We know the entire industry and all media will be holding their breath. So, imagine how we felt when we learned the date of their latest event, Lau said.

The company also notes that it will offer a full refund to anyone who is unable to make it for the event. In case anyone is still able to join, the company notes that it will play to move the flight and do the same for any hotel bookings. OnePlus also says that it will be getting in touch with all ticket owners individually in order to help them.

However, this is only for the event in New York. OnePlus notes that the event in India is unaffected and will go ahead as planned.

To know more about what to expect from the OnePlus 6T, click here.

As for Apples event, the company has not yet said what it will unveil. The media invite specifies nothing more than, Theres more in the making, However, it is expected to unveil a redesigned version of the iPad Pro. The company may also ditch Touch ID on the iPad as well and stick with Face ID, similar to what the company did with its iPhones. The company may also reveal a bezel less display design with a notch on top.
A city in the Southwesterns part of China has come with a unique way of lighting its streets at night. Instead of Installing street lights, the People's Daily Online reports that the city of Chengdu plans to launch an artificial moon in 2020. According to the publication, the moon would actually be an illumination satellite which would include large mirrors that would reflect sunlight from space back down to Earth.

Wu Chunfeng, Chairman of the Chengdu Aerospace Science and Technology Microelectronics System Research Co. Ltd told the publication that the satellite is designed to complement the moon at night. Chunfeng also added that the brightness of the moon would be eight times that of the real moon and would be enough to replace street lights.

As per the report, the satellite would be able to light an area of a diameter of 10 to 80 kilometers. The precise range of the illumination can be controlled within a few dozen meters. Chunfeng noted that testing of the illumination satellite started years ago, and now the technology has matured.

While this may seem like a novel idea, there are some environmental concerns. John Barentine, Director of Public Policy at the International Dark-Sky Association, told Forbes that the artificial moon would have the effect of significantly increasing the nighttime brightness of an already light-polluted city. He adds that this would create problems for residents who wont be able to screen out the unwanted light as well as for the urban wildlife population.

This wouldnt be the first time mankind tried such an experiment. Back in the 1990s, Russian scientists and researchers tried something similar with their Znamya project. The first of the satellites managed to deploy and according to reports, it did manage to light up the night sky albeit briefly. The satellite then burned up in orbit. A second satellite was launched, but during deployment, one of the mirrors got snagged in the Mir Space Stations antennae and was ripped. The project was cancelled after that.


The final results from An Garda Siochana's National Slow Down show that 276 vehicles broke the speed limit, one of the speeding violations listed by the gardai was a violation at Drumark, Donegal on the N56.



National Slow Down Day was held over a 24-hour period between 7am Friday 19th and 7am Saturday 20th October 2018. In total, An Garda Siochana and GoSafe checked 164,032 vehicles, detecting 276 vehicles travelling in excess of the applicable speed limit.

An Garda Siochana and the Road Safety Authority would like to thank the drivers who were compliant and drove within the speed limit. We would encourage all drivers to drive safely and respect speed limits.

Some of the notable incidents and detections include:

82km/h in a 50km/h Zone on the N63 Moylough More Moylough Galway

75km/h in a 50km/h Zone on the R810 Mount Brown Dublin8 Dublin

74km/h in a 50km/h Zone on the R390 Gneevestown Loughnavalley Westmeath

74km/h in a 50km/h Zone on the R333 Thomastown Belclare Galway

94km/h in a 60km/h Zone on the N11 Stillorgan Road Stillorgan Dublin

83km/h in a 60km/h Zone on the N25 Cloncoskoran Dungarvan Waterford

104km/h in a 80km/h Zone on the R148 Moyvally Broadford Kildare

100km/h in a 80km/h Zone on the R352 Moymore Tulla Clare

99km/h in a 80km/h Zone on the R690 Killaghy Mullinahone Tipperary

99km/h in a 80km/h Zone on the R445 Morristown Upper Newbridge Kildare

99km/h in a 80km/h Zone on the N56 Drumark Donegal

133km/h in a 100km/h Zone on the N26 Ballynahaglish Ballina Mayo

128km/h in a 100km/h Zone on the N20 Kilmona Grenagh Cork

126km/h in a 100km/h Zone on the R448 Prumpelstown Castledermot Kildare

125km/h in a 100km/h Zone on the N2 Reaghstown Ardee Louth

Chief Superintendent Finbarr Murphy, of the Roads Policing Bureau said "National Slow Down day is about making our roads and our communities safer. When someone decides to speed they put members of their community at risk, including children, older people, cyclists and other motorists.

Chief Superintendent Murphy continued: "I would like to thank the drivers who were monitored and were driving safely within the speed limits. These drivers were behaving responsibly and did not put other road users at risk.

We would appeal to all road users to ALWAYS drive safely and within the speed limit not just on National Slow Down Day.
Five community groups in Donegal have been honoured for their pride in their community at this years Mortas Ceantair Pride of Place Awards Ceremony.

Comhairle Paroiste Chill Chartha, Cill Chartha; Ard McGill Residents Association, Na Gleanntai; Ceol le Cheile Dhun na nGall; Ray Community Centre, Rath Maolain; Amazing Grace Initiative, Bun Cranncha were honoured at a special Pride of Place local celebration award ceremony hosted by Donegal County Council on Monday evening last (8 October) in Letterkenny Public Services Centre.

An Cathaoirleach Seamus O Domhnaill ag bronnadh teastais ar Linda Lyons ar son an ghrupa  Comhairle Paroiste Chill Chartha, Cill Chartha.



Priomhfheidhmeannach (CE) Seamus Neely and the Cathaoirleach, Clr Seamus O Domhnaill chomh maith le fear an ti, Charles Sweeeney welcomed the five community groups and their supporters, elected members and staff to the awards ceremony.

The Pride of Place Competition is hosted by Cooperation Ireland under a Donegal County Council initiative which aims to support and recognise community groups who actively strive to improve their communities and regions.

Groups from all over the county applied to Donegal County Council for the Pride of Place competition and five groups were selected to represent the county at national level.

Each of the groups gave the national Pride of Place judges a very warm cead mile failte during their visit to the county at the beginning of July this year and gave a comprehensive presentation of the work done to date and their aspirations for the future development of their communities.

Fiona Boyle accepts Pride of Place recognition from Cathaoirleach Seamus O Domhnaill on behalf of Ray Community Centre Group.



The winners of the national competition will be announced at a Gala dinner in Cork City Hall on Saturday, 17 November 2018.

Chief Executive, Seamus Neely congratulated all five community groups on winning the local competition and wished them well in the national competition. Duirt se go bhfuil se ag suil go mbeidh ar a laghad cupla duais ar ais go Dun na nGall leo!

The Cathaoirleach Cllr Seamus ODomhnaill praised each of the groups for the tremendous contributions being made by them to their respective communities. He spoke of the pivotal role such community groups play in helping the mental and physical health of community members which he said was particlarly relevant this week as the Councils Social Inclusion programme of events is presently taking place. Mhol se go mor obair na ngrupai seo agus ghui se gach rath orthu sa chomortas naisiunta ag deireadh na bliana.

Presentation of Pride of Place award by Cathaoirleach Seamus O Domhnaill to members of the intergenerational Ceol le Cheile choir.

The Cathaoirleach presented each of the groups with a beautifully framed certificate of recognition which will undoubtedly serve as a reminder of their enduring pride in their place.

Bhi solaisti ar fail agus Bri Carr agus a mac Ben, agus inion, Kayala provided ceol brea briomhar don ocaid.

Cllr Nicholas Crossan receiving Pride of Place recognition from Cathaoirleach Seamus O Domhnaill on behalf of Amazing Grace Initiative, Bun Cranncha.
Former Donegal TD Mary Coughlan has spoken about the pressures of being a government minister at the start of the economic crisis and the relentless focus on the appearance of women in political life.

Coughlan is one of 17 former female government ministers and two former female Presidents of Ireland interviewed by RTEs Political Correspondent Martina Fitzgerald for her new book Madam Politician, which is published this week.

In a fascinating chapter Ms Coughlan also talks about how her advisors told her not to wear brightly coloured clothes, advice which, at the time, she says drover her "scatty".

Author, RTE Political Correspondent Martina Fitzgerald



In the book, the 19 women collectively reveal for the first time the challenges and triumphs of getting to the top table of Irish political life. Fitzgerald said: As a female political correspondent working in Leinster House over the last few years, Ive been very conscious that there are very few women in national politics.

"In writing this book I set out to explore issues such as the enduring focus on womens appearance, overcoming prejudice and sexism and juggling a career and family life.

Coughlan was a TD when regular televised coverage of Dail proceedings started in the early 1990s: "We were all briefed about what was appropriate to wear. I remember somebody saying dont wear dangly earnings, dont be wearing anything too low-cut."

Coughlan found the most significant changes to her dress code came about as her political role changed. In particular, there were new requirements when she was appointed Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment in 2008: "One of the things that drove me scatty was when I was told in no uncertain terms that I could only wear black or grey."

She now accepts this was good advice: "When you are meeting men and they want to take you seriously, you dont dress as flamboyantly."

Following a cabinet reshuffle in 2010, Coughlan moved to the Department of Education. "Minister, you are expected to dress well but you can be as flamboyant and colourful as you want,"one senior civil servant advised.

Overall, only 10% of those who have sat at the cabinet table in Ireland in almost 100 years have been women, totalling just 19 female politicians.

In an interview for Madam Politician Coughlan spoke to Fitzgerald about being a minister in 2008 when the economic crisis hit the country and when she found herself the focus of considerable media commentary.

The three senior government figures  Brian Cowen as Taoiseach, Brian Lenihan as Minister for Finance and Coughlan as Tanaiste  were under huge pressure to deal with the rapidly collapsing Irish economy.

"Brian Cowen would go out and do something. They [the media] would run around then to see what Brian Lenihan was going to say. And then they would run around town and see what I was going to say. The fact that I mightnt have spoken to Brian Lenihan or Brian Cowen about something happening in Finance  that didnt really impact on me. I would be asked, I wouldnt know the answer because I hadnt had bloody time to talk to Brian Lenihan because he hadnt time to talk to me. The herd was desperate.

"Everywhere I went, it didnt matter if I was going to the bathroom, you would have this influx of people running after you. They did the same to the two Brians. It was just desperate."

Calamity Coughlan

The moniker Calamity Coughlan started to appear in newspaper headlines: "It was easy and it stuck. And no matter what I did, if our Lord came off the cross, I was [not] going to change that. So I had to just take it and try to move on." One response to the sustained negative media coverage was a total ban on newspapers in Coughlans house.

1989... An Taoiseach Charles Haughey TD., Minister for the Gaeltacht, pictured with among others Mary Coughlan TD, Siobhan Nic Gabhann, Minister Sean McCarthy, TD., Minister Michael O'Kennedy TD and Tomas O hArrachtain



Along with other women politicians including Mary ORourke and Gemma Hussey, Coughlan also spoke to Fitzgerald about seeking to win a Dail seat, the experience of being a woman in Leinster House. She also spoke about the challenge of being a mother with young children in Irish politics.

In Madam Politician, Martina Fitzgerald writes that, It seems extraordinary that the intervention of the Minister for Finance was required to organise practical arrangements for a mother returning to work, but it is one example of how in that era the political system was unprepared for mothers holding ministerial office.

Fitzgerald works in Leinster House as RTEs Political Correspondent. Earlier this year, she was named as one of the most influential Irish journalists on Twitter. Madam Politician is her first book. In endorsing the book, Emily OReilly, European Ombudsman, said Fitzgerald has written 'A timely and important contribution to the contemporary reflection on women's historic and future place in Irish society and public life.'



The interviewees for the book are: Mary Robinson, Mary McAleese, Maire Geoghegan Quinn, Gemma Hussey, Mary O'Rourke, Nora Owen, Niamh Bhreathnach, Mary Harney, Sile de Valera, Mary Coughlan, Mary Hanafin, Joan Burton, Frances Fitzgerald, Jan O'Sullivan, Heather Humphreys, Mary Mitchell O'Connor, Katherine Zappone, Regina Doherty and Josepha Madigan.

Madam Politician written by Martina Fitzgerald is published by Gill Books this week.

Mary Coughlan pictured her with then President Mary Robinson, who also features in Martina Fitzgerald's book; Also included in this photo is her fellow Donegal South West TD colleague, Pat the Cope Gallagher and veteran Fianna Fail councillor, the late Sean McEniff. INDD 2704 SME 4 MVB
The first product, as confirmed by Rajeev Chaba, President and MD, MG Motor India to DriveSpark, will be a C-Segment SUV in the second quarter of 2019, followed by an all-electric SUV in 2020.

The new SUV will come with dimensions larger than the current generation Hyundai Tucson and the Honda CR-V. This SUV will be offered in both petrol and diesel engine options. For now, these are the only details shared by the company regarding their first product.

The second product however, is confirmed to be an all-electric SUV. Michael Yang, Executive Director of International Business, SAIC, said that MG Motor will launch a globally competitive pure-electric SUV in India. He also said, the upcoming electric SUV will be a breakthrough chapter in the electric vehicle space in India.

For MG Motor, India is a key global market. The company plans to establish themselves in the market first, before looking at volume sales. The Chinese-backed brand is well aware of the challenges faced by many global car brands in India. The Indian market has been a tough market to crack for many auto MNCs.

MG Motor India Production Plans

MG Motor has already taken over the Halol (Gujarat) plant from General Motors in 2017 for their India operations. The company has also invested half a billion dollars towards setting up stage 1 of its production plant in the country.

Apart from the new production plant, MG Motor is also setting up a high-quality vendor base in the form of a global park to ensure the process of manufacturing is sped up. The new vendor base will be set-up using trusted suppliers from China, with a goal of at least 75 per cent localised production.

The Halol plant's current production capacity is 80,000 units annually, which can further be increased to 2,00,000 units by utilising existing free space. The company is also expected to bring in their subsidiary Huayu to India, who will manufacture most of the required components.

MG Motor also announced that all their products will be designed and engineered in UK and China, along with the support of Indian engineers. The products will then be heavily localised at the company's Halol plant, while conforming to global quality standards. Also, before the launch of a new product, Indian engineers will validate and customise the cars to suit Indian roads and driving conditions.

MG Motor India Dealership & Pre-Launch Plans

MG Motor is readying the introduction of 45 dealerships in the country with 100 touch points across India. They recently conducted dealer roadshows across the country to hand-pick the best' dealership names to guarantee the best sales and service experience.

Along with the dealerships, a 24-hour helpline with a response time target of under 10 minutes, will be set up. The company is also working on providing the best end-to-end solutions for the Indian market, with a strong foundation in terms of production, logistics, dealerships and service among others.

MG Motor sees huge potential for growth in the Indian market. With the availability of a large portfolio from their domestic market, the company looks to offer a mix-and-match from their expansive kitty that is wholly dependant on Indian taste buds.

Rajeev Chaba, President & MD of MG Motor India said that the company is ramping up their pre-launch activities. MG Motor will begin with product roadshows in India from November this year. It will be followed by various brand-awareness initiatives to get closer to their prospective customers.

MG Motor History

Morris Garages (MG), is a British automotive marque registered by the now defunct MG Car Company Limited. In 2005, SAIC, a Chinese automaker formerly named Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation acquired the licenses to the Rover 25 and Rover 75 models from the insolvency assets of MG Rover Group.

BMW sold the rights to the Rover name to Ford to protect the Land Rover brand in 2006. As part of Ford's agreement to sell their Jaguar and Land Rover operations to Tata Motors in 2008, the rights to use the Rover brand name was included in the deal. Thus, SAIC now produces Rover under the Roewe nameplate in China.

In 2017, SAIC sold over 7 million vehicles out of which 1.7 million units were through global sales. SAIC is presently the largest automobile conglomerate in China. It currently has five divisions:
Douglas Rates Could Rise Due To Relentless Rise In Govt Costs



Douglas Town Hall

Douglas Borough Council is warning rates could go up due to the relentless rise in costs imposed by central government.

Local authorities will have to pay more in employers national insurance contributions next year, after a Treasury directive ending the contracting-out of the state second pension.

The changes will increase the pressure on budgets according to Council Leader David Christian, who estimates there could be an extra budren of 200,000 on rates.

Douglas Council is starting its budget setting process for the year 2019-2020 and had asked Treasury for compensation to counter the pension change, but was rejected.

Mr Christian says once again local authorities are being forced to comply, with no consultation, with excessive demands from government.

He also points to the impact of a pay award settlement imposed on local authorities by the Public Service Commission, and increases in tipping charges at the Energy from Waste plant as extra financial pressures.

The Council Leader admits the rate-setting process will be challenging ahead of next year.

We must identify how best to deal with this latest raft of financial impositions, without diminishing our ambition to manage public demand for and expectation of Council services.

Ewan Gawne - Local Democracy Reporter
SAN DIEGO, Calif. - By studying the effect of genetic variations on lifespan across the human genome, researchers have devised a way to estimate whether an individual can expect to live longer or shorter than average, and have advanced scientific understanding of the diseases and cellular pathways involved in aging. Their findings were presented at the American Society of Human Genetics (ASHG) 2018 Annual Meeting in San Diego, Calif.

Presenting author Paul Timmers, MRes, a graduate student at the University of Edinburgh, and an international group of collaborators set out to identify key genetic drivers of lifespan. In the largest ever genome-wide association study of lifespan to date, they paired genetic data from more than 500,000 participants in the UK Biobank and other cohorts with data on the lifespan of each participant's parents. Rather than studying the effects of one or more selected genes on lifespan, they looked across the whole genome to answer the question in a more open-ended way and identify new avenues to explore in future work.

Because the effect of any given gene is so small, the large sample size was necessary to identify genes relevant to lifespan with enough statistical power, Mr. Timmers explained. Using this sample, the researchers validated six previously identified associations between genes and aging, such as the APOE gene, which has been tied to risk of neurodegenerative disease. They also discovered 21 new genomic regions that influence lifespan.

They used their results to develop a polygenic risk score for lifespan: a single, personalized genomic score that estimates a person's genetic likelihood of a longer life. Based on weighted contributions from relevant genetic variants, this score allowed the researchers to predict which participants were likely to live longest.

"Using a person's genetic information alone, we can identify the 10 percent of people with the most protective genes, who will live an average of five years longer than the least protected 10 percent," said Mr. Timmers.

The researchers also wanted to know whether genetic variants were affecting the aging process directly or affecting risk of individual diseases that could lead to death. They found that among common variants - variants found in at least 1 in 200 people - those associated with Alzheimer's disease, heart disease, and smoking-related conditions were linked to overall lifespan. Notably, they did not find lifespan associations for other cancers, suggesting that susceptibility to death caused by other cancers is due to rarer genetic variants or the environment.

"This was an interesting result," Mr. Timmers said. "We suspect that the variants we found, such as for smoking and Alzheimer's disease, pertain uniquely to the modern period of human history. For example, a genetic propensity to smoke wasn't harmful before we discovered tobacco, but it is now. Since natural selection has not yet had many generations to act on these variants, the variants are still fairly common," he explained.

In addition, the researchers examined the cell types and protein pathways in which the genetic variants associated with lifespan had the strongest effect. They found that the genes played key roles in fetal brain cells and adult prefrontal cortex cells, with particular effects in pathways related to fat metabolism. Together, Mr. Timmers noted, these findings highlight the brain as an important organ in determining lifespan and present a good opportunity for follow-up studies.

To build on their findings, the researchers plan to investigate how the variants and functional pathways they identified affect lifespan. For example, they plan to study whether these pathways are associated with single diseases that have implications for longevity or a broader spectrum of age-related diseases. By better understanding how these pathways interact with one another, they ultimately hope to identify ways to slow aging and disease onset that will improve the length and quality of life.

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This work was supported by the AXA Research Fund and the UK Medical Research Council.

Presentation: Mr. Timmers will present this research on Saturday, October 20, 2018, from 10:30-10:45 a.m., in Room 6F, Upper Level, San Diego Convention Center.

Press Availability: Mr. Timmers will be available to discuss this research with interested media on Friday, October 19, 2018, from 11:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. in the ASHG 2018 Press Office (Room 22).

Reference: Timmers P et al. (2018 Oct 20). Abstract: Genomic underpinnings of lifespan allow prediction and reveal basis in modern risks.Presented at the American Society of Human Genetics 2018 Annual Meeting. San Diego, California.
SAN DIEGO, Calif. - Geneticists have assembled the largest sets of African genomic data available to date, creating a resource that will help researchers understand the genetic structure of Africa as well as the effects of genetic variation on protein function and disease. The findings underscore the importance of including globally diverse participant cohorts in genetics research, and were presented in a plenary session at the American Society of Human Genetics (ASHG) 2018 Annual Meeting in San Diego, Calif.

The researchers collected and analyzed genome-wide data from 6,400 individuals from rural Uganda, including the whole genome sequences of 1,978 people within that group. They combined this with data from an additional 7,784 individuals from other African countries, in the first genome-wide association study (GWAS) to analyze multiple traits across Africa.

"This study represents one of the largest and most comprehensive efforts to identify genetic associations with disease within African populations, and will provide a roadmap for large-scale GWAS across the region," said Ayesha Motala, MD, FRCP, a leader of the study and professor at the University of KwaZulu-Natal.

"Prior to our work, there were only a few hundred whole genome sequences available from Africa," said Deepti Gurdasani, MD, PhD, from the Wellcome Sanger Institute, who presented the research. "Most of the information we had was from African-American populations, which didn't capture the full diversity of the continent."

After compiling the data, Dr. Gurdasani and her colleagues assessed genetic similarities and differences within the cohort, identifying commonalities among those who migrated to Uganda from the same regions. They also found a complex mixture of similarities between the Ugandan genomes, ancient East African populations, and Eurasian genomes. These findings suggest that modern Ugandan genomes represent the complex history of migration in the region, and that they have been shaped by multiple mixture events over thousands of years, including mixture with genomes resembling those in modern Europe.

In addition, the researchers examined genetic influences on a variety of traits and diseases in the larger GWAS cohort, identifying 10 new associations specific to African populations. For example, they discovered an association between a deletion in the HBA1/HBA2 gene, known to cause the blood disorder alpha thalassemia, and blood bilirubin levels. This deletion is common among Africans, found in approximately 22% of individuals, but rare among previously studied Europeans.

"Although it correlates with disease, this variant has been shown to protect people from severe malaria, which presents a stronger advantage in Africa than in Europe and has enabled the variant to rise in frequency within Africa," Dr. Gurdasani explained.

The study also found an association between HBA1/HBA2 deletion and the blood's level of the protein HbA1c, high levels of which are often used to diagnose diabetes. "The high frequency of thalassemia in some African populations may affect the accuracy of this test, as it can modify HbA1c independently of glucose levels," Dr. Gurdasani said.

Beyond their own analysis, the researchers hope their data will help other scientists better understand the genetic diversity of African populations and develop cost-effective tools to capture genome variation for future studies. Future work will also include detailed mapping of the cause-and-effect relationships between genetic variants through examining functional impact of variants on gene expression.

As next steps, the researchers plan to expand their genomic data set to populations across Africa, by sampling diverse indigenous populations, and expanding the GWAS to about 75,000 individuals.

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Presentation: Dr. Gurdasani will present this research on Saturday, October 20, 2018, from 12:40-1:00 p.m., in Hall C, Ground Level, San Diego Convention Center.

Press Availability: Dr. Gurdasani will be available to discuss this research with interested media on Friday, October 19, 2018, from 10-10:45 a.m. in the ASHG 2018 Press Office (Room 22).

Reference: Gurdasani D et al. (2018 Oct 20). Abstract: Uganda genomes resource enables inferences into population history and genomic discovery in Africa. Presented at the American Society of Human Genetics 2018 Annual Meeting. San Diego, California.
According to a first-of-its-kind international study, a new definition of Pediatric Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (PARDS) results in a more accurate diagnosis of many more children with the rapidly progressive disease than the widely used adult definition.

Findings from the Pediatric ARDS Incidence and Epidemiology Study were published online on Oct. 18 by the leading medical journal, The Lancet Respiratory Medicine.

"PARDS is a major source of illness and death in critically ill patients, yet the disease historically has been underdiagnosed in children," said lead author Robinder G. Khemani, MD, MsCI, associate director of research for the Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine at Children's Hospital Los Angeles.

The study represents the largest-ever international cohort of children with PARDS. A total of 700 patients were studied in 145 pediatric intensive care units (PICU) in 27 countries.

Acute respiratory distress syndrome causes fluid to leak into the lungs, making it very difficult to breathe and leading to low oxygen in the blood, called hypoxemia. Pediatric intensivists have long recognized that the condition manifests differently in children than in adults. However, until recently, there was no pediatric-specific diagnostic criteria.

In 2015, the Pediatric Acute Lung Injury Consensus Conference (PALICC) issued a definition to overcome limitations of existing adult definitions, such as the widely accepted Berlin Definition. "Prior to the PALICC standard, pediatricians had been using adult definitions and applying them to children," said Khemani, who headed the PALICC definition subgroup.

Since then, a handful of single-center or regional studies have supported the PALICC definition but its performance in a large international sample was unknown until now. Working from May 2016 to June 2017, the investigators found that of the 708 pediatric patients who met PALICC criteria, only 32% also met the adult definition, meaning that two-thirds of the children would not have been accurately diagnosed.

In one major difference between the two definitions, pediatric guidelines recommend the use of pulse oximetry, a noninvasive method for monitoring a patient's oxygen saturation, while the adult guidelines call for usage of an invasive arterial blood gas test.

In a key finding, the investigators discovered that, contrary to previous thinking, mild and moderate PARDS have similar mortality rates, between 10 and 15%. However, patients with severe PARDS experience a huge jump in mortality -- to 30%.

Another finding concluded that over 3% of all PICU patients and 6% of patients placed on a ventilator develop PARDS. Internationally, PARDS carries a high mortality rate for children--more than 17% overall.

"The study conclusively shows that the PALICC definition can be used as a framework for future research, to inform clinical decisions and to test new treatment strategies," said Khemani, associate professor of clinical pediatrics at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California

In the future, the investigators plan to release the data for open access, to inspire other studies.

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There were 287 collaborators involved with the study, representing 27 countries. Other authors included: Jeni Kwok, Rica Morzov and Margaret Klein, CHLA; Christopher J.L. Newth, CHLA and USC; Analia Fernandez, Hospital General de Agudos, Argentina; Philippe Jouvet, Sainte Justine Children's Hospital, Canada; Martin C.L. Kneyber, Beatrix Children's Hospital, Netherlands; Jon Lillie, Evelina London Children's Hospital, England; Yolanda M. Lopez-Fernandez, Hospital Universitario Cruces, Spain; Lincoln Smith, University of Washington/Seattle Children's Hospital; Neal J. Thomas, Penn State Children's Hospital; Douglas Willson, Children's Hospital of Richmond, Virginia; and Nadir Yehya, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

The study was supported by the USC Clinical Translational Science Institute, CHLA Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, Sainte Justine Children's Hospital, University of Montreal, Canada; and the Respiratory Health Network of Quebec, Canada.

http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanres/article/PIIS2213-2600(18)30344-8/fulltext

About Children's Hospital Los Angeles

Children's Hospital Los Angeles has been ranked the top children's hospital in California and sixth in the nation for clinical excellence with its selection to the prestigious U.S. News & World Report Honor Roll. CHLA is home to The Saban Research Institute, one of the largest and most productive pediatric research facilities in the United States. Children's Hospital is also one of America's premier teaching hospitals through its affiliation with the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California since 1932. For more information, visit CHLA.org. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn and Instagram, and visit our child health blog (CHLA.org/blog) and our research blog (ResearCHLABlog.org).
Munich, Germany, 21 October 2018 - Young cancer patients at the crossroads of childhood and adulthood seem to be stuck in a treatment impasse. A study (1) to be presented at the ESMO 2018 Congress in Munich, has highlighted the existence of barriers to the inclusion of 12 to 25-year-olds in both adult and paediatric early phase clinical trials, suggesting a need for more tailored approaches to give this patient population better access to therapeutic innovation.

In Europe, the legal minimum age to participate in adult clinical trials is almost universally 18 years. "We know, however, that certain girls will develop genetically driven breast cancers very early in life: there are no paediatric trials for this disease, yet these patients are systematically barred from participating in the relevant adult trials. The situation is similar for some adolescents with lymphomas or sarcomas, whose tumours often resemble those of adults much more closely than those found in children," said study author Dr. Aurore Vozy, from Gustave Roussy Institut de Cancerologie in Villejuif, France.

In rare cases, adults in their early twenties are also diagnosed with tumours most commonly seen in children. Paediatric clinical trials, meanwhile, typically set an upper age limit of 18 or 21 years.

To assess the availability and accessibility of new treatments to young cancer patients, a review was conducted of all phase I and phase II trials opened at Gustave Roussy between 2012 and 2017 for solid tumours or lymphomas. Over a six-year period, 465 trials were open, but only 65 included teenagers between 12 and 17 years of age. "In other words, patients in this age group had access to less than 15% of all the early phase trials at our institute," Vozy noted.

Among the 389 trials that were not open to adolescents, it was found that 55% could have been relevant for underage patients - 28 trials targeted tumour types that are particularly common among teenagers. "This means that patients have been denied access to innovative medicines which were available at the very centre where they were being treated, and to which they may have had a better response than to conventional therapy," said Vozy.

Out of 62 paediatric trials open at the centre over the same period, over half did not recruit patients between 19 and 25 years old - even though 10 of these trials targeted cohorts of tumour types that also occur in this age group. "Raising the age bar in paediatric trials to 25 years would clearly make sense in certain cases," Vozy observed.

She argued, however, that the more pressing issue is the current age limit in adult trials: "We know that the diseases, toxicities and pharmacology seen in 12 to 17-year-olds are similar to what we find in adults, so it would be feasible to include these patients in adult trials at no additional risk to them." This has already been done successfully in the USA, where the minimum age for trial participation has been lowered to 12 years.

An additional measure to consider, Vozy underlined, is creating dedicated trial cohorts for adolescents within adult trials: "In a context where, today, most phase I trials in oncology are launched with multiple study populations for different tumour types, it would be easy to cater to the specific needs of adolescents by including them in cohorts of their own," she explained. "The main constraint is that trials which include underage patients should only be conducted in centres that also have paediatric services onsite: adolescents may be affected by disease similarly to adults, but they still need to be treated and followed up on by paediatric specialists."

Dr. Giannis Mountzios, ESMO Chair of the joint ESMO/SIOPE Working Group on Cancer in Adolescents and Young Adults (AYA), (2) commented: "The report presented by this group of researchers is a testament to their scientific rigour, providing objective data that was direly needed on this very critical issue. It shows that even at a highly specialised cancer centre like Gustave Roussy, these arbitrary age limits, which have no medical or scientific basis, are widely used and prevent young patients from accessing clinical trials that target their tumour type. The situation is certainly even worse in centres that don't have the same expertise and dedicated services for adolescents and young adults. This is why ESMO created the Cancer in AYA Working Group together with the European Society of Paediatric Oncology in 2016, through which we aim to raise awareness and influence authorities and stakeholders to stop imposing these barriers."

"I am happy to report that we are now starting to see clinical trials open for specific tumour types across several age groups: the recent approval, in both the USA and Europe, of CAR T-Cell therapy for leukaemia and certain types of lymphoma in children and young adults up to 25 years has been a big breakthrough in this regard. However, this is just the starting point of what should be a concerted effort to look at and devise appropriate care strategies for all the patient sub-groups - including women, the elderly and patients with particular medical conditions - that are chronically underrepresented in clinical trials," Mountzios stated.

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Notes to Editors

Please make sure to use the official name of the meeting in your reports: ESMO 2018 Congress Official Congress hashtag: #ESMO18

Disclaimer

This press release contains information provided by the authors of the highlighted abstracts and reflects the content of those abstracts. It does not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of ESMO who cannot be held responsible for the accuracy of the data. Commentators quoted in the press release are required to comply with the ESMO Declaration of Interests policy and the ESMO Code of Conduct.

References

1 Abstract 424P_PR 'Inclusion of adolescents in adult early phase trials and young adults in paediatric early phase trials: a reality or a myth?' will be presented by Aurore Vozy during Poster Display Session on Monday, 22 October 2018, 12:45 to 13:45 (CEST) in the Poster Area Networking Hub - Hall A3. Annals of Oncology, Volume 29 Supplement 8 October 2018

2 https://www.esmo.org/About-Us/Who-We-Are/Educational-Committee/Adolescents-and-Young-Adults-Working-Group

About the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO)

ESMO is the leading professional organisation for medical oncology. With 18,000 members representing oncology professionals from over 150 countries worldwide, ESMO is the society of reference for oncology education and information. ESMO is committed to offer the best care to people with cancer, through fostering integrated cancer care, supporting oncologists in their professional development, and advocating for sustainable cancer care worldwide. Visit http://www.esmo.org

424P_PR - Inclusion of adolescents in adult early phase trials and young adults in paediatric early phase trials: A reality or a myth? A. Vozy1, P. Berlanga Charriel2, B. Geoerger2, C. Massard3, N. Gaspar2 1DITEP, Gustave Roussy Institut de Cancerologie, Villejuif, France, 2Department of Pediatric and Adolescent Oncology, Gustave Roussy Cancer Campus Grand Paris, Villejuif, France, 3DITEP, Gustave Roussy Institut de Cancerologie, Villejuif, France

Background: There is mounting evidence that supports the inclusion of adolescents (12-17 years) in adult early phase trials, without requiring preceding specific paediatric trials. However, only few adult early phase trials currently include adolescents. On the other hand, the classical arbitrary upper age limit in paediatric trials (18 or 21 years old), hinders appropriate access to trials to young adults (19-25 years) with paediatric disease types.

Methods: Review of all phase I/II trials opened in our institution for solid tumours/lymphomas, from 01/01/2012 to 31/12/2017. Systematic analysis of each protocol/synopsis by three independent (1 medical, 1 adolescent/young adult, 1 paediatric) oncologists, with the main objective to describe the current inclusion of adolescents in adult trials and young adults in paediatric trials.

Results: During 6years, overall 465 phase 1/2 trials were open. Adolescents (12-17 years) were included in 65 trials (15%): 61/62 (98%) paediatric trials and 4/403 (1%) adult trials. In 11/403 (3%) adult trials, lower age limit was 15/16 years. Concerning the 389 trails that were not open for recruitment of adolescents, this population could have been potentially included in 212/389 (55%) trials. 28/389 (7%) trials targeted tumour types that are frequently found in adolescents such as sarcoma, lymphoma and germ cell tumours. Concerning the inclusion of young adults (19-25 years) in paediatric trials, 36 of the 62 paediatric trials did not recruit this age group (upper age limit 18 years in 22 trials, 21 years in 13 trials), while 10 of these (28%) trials targeted cohorts of tumour types that can be also found in this age group. 552 patients (12-25years) had progressive disease during this period, 290 were 12-17years and 262, 18-25years. 403 were included in an early phase trial.

Conclusions: Our data highlight the significant lack of adapted trials for the adolescent/young adult cancer population. A new lower age limit of 12 years for adult trials and an upper age limit of 25 years for paediatrics trials should be individually discussed taken into account current evidence and international recommendations and would allow to improve the access to innovative treatment for these patients.

Legal entity responsible for the study: Gaspar Nathalie Funding: Has not received any funding Disclosure: C. Massard: Amgen, Astellas, Astra Zeneca, Bayer, Celgene, Genentech, Ipsen, Janssen, Lilly, Novartis, Pfizer, Roche, Sanofi, Orion. All other authors have declared no conflicts of interest.
Munich, Germany, 20 October 2018 - Immunotherapy has been a major breakthrough in oncology, with registered drugs now approved for use in an increasing number of tumour types - but little is known about its safety for HIV-positive cancer patients. A study (1) to be presented at the ESMO 2018 Congress in Munich has now provided data to suggest that treatment with PD-1/PD-L-1 immune checkpoint inhibitors, which target the very system affected by the HIV virus, is feasible in this patient population for whom cancer is currently one of the principal cause of mortality.

According to study author Dr. Aurelien Gobert of Groupe Hospitalier Pitie Salpetrire in Paris, France, there are about two million people living with HIV in Europe today. "These patients are at higher risk for a number of cancers: AIDS-defining forms, the diagnosis of which results in the categorisation of a person as suffering from AIDS, but also various other types that they are two to three times more likely to develop than in the general population, such as anal, skin, head and neck, and lung cancer," he explained. HIV-positive cancer patients are not represented in clinical drug trials, which select candidates with the lowest probability of suffering complications, so their responses to new therapies are not immediately known.

"The point of this study was to look at an HIV-positive patient cohort treated with immunotherapy in conjunction with a close monitoring of their viral load and CD4 lymphocyte count," said Gobert. "Viral load is the quantity of virus found in the bloodstream, and CD4 lymphocytes are the cells of the immune system that HIV targets. Both measures are indicators of the extent to which a person is affected by the virus: patients treated properly with antiretroviral therapy typically have a lymphocyte count of 350-500/mm3 and a viral load that is undetectable."

To assess the effects of the PD-1 inhibitor nivolumab in this population, cases presented in the multidisciplinary meetings of the national Cancer VIH network (2) were evaluated. In addition to CD4 lymphocyte count and viral load, tolerance and efficacy information was retrospectively collected from patients treated with this drug, along with demographic data. "Our study population was demographically homogenous, most patients being males around 60 years old," Gobert reported.

Out of the 20 patients evaluated, one (5%) had metastatic melanoma - the remaining 95% were treated for metastatic non small-cell lung cancer. Median lymphocyte count at diagnosis was 338.5/mm3. Viral load was undetectable in 17 patients, low in two cases and unknown in one person. At the time of the cut-off analysis, median follow-up was almost 11 months, and the median number of nivolumab infusions received was six (ranging from three to 53).

"We didn't see any toxic deaths or immune-related adverse events," Gobert reported. "One patient did experience a rising HIV viral load and decreasing CD4 lymphocyte count, indicating a reactivation of the virus, but this occurred following the interruption of his antiretroviral therapy." Of the 17 individuals in whom response could be assessed, a partial response was observed in four patients, while two had stable disease and the majority (eleven) had disease progression at the first evaluation.

"Although the response data is fairly consistent with results obtained with the same drug among other cancer patients, the size of our sample and the length of follow-up do not allow us to draw any conclusions regarding efficacy," Gobert cautioned. "We know that few patients respond to immunotherapy, but those who do respond for long periods of time and thus have significantly improved survival. This seems to have been the case for the melanoma patient in our cohort, but the study is too recent for us to quantify survival rates at this time."

"Our key insight then, is that the treatment appears to be well tolerated by HIV-positive cancer patients - so long as antiretroviral therapy is continued in parallel," Gobert concluded. "It speaks to the feasibility of immunotherapy in this patient population, which represents a significant proportion of cancer diagnoses, and among whom malignancies accounted for more than a third of deaths in 2010. (3) Going forward, this will need to be confirmed for various tumour types."

Commenting on this study for ESMO, Prof. John Haanen from the Netherlands Cancer Institute in Amsterdam, said: "This is a retrospective analysis of a relatively small cohort, which is nevertheless one of the largest so far presented, of HIV patients on antiretrovirals treated with immunotherapy for metastatic cancer. The results confirm those of other, smaller cohorts in showing that while on antiretroviral therapy, cancer patients living with HIV can safely receive anti-PD-1 treatment. The efficacy data also suggests that the overall response rate of HIV-positive patients seems to be similar to that of other cancer patients. These promising results need to be confirmed in larger studies - ideally, in a prospective clinical trial."

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Notes to Editors Please make sure to use the official name of the meeting in your reports: ESMO 2018 Congress Official Congress hashtag: #ESMO18

Disclaimer This press release contains information provided by the authors of the highlighted abstracts and reflects the content of those abstracts. It does not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of ESMO who cannot be held responsible for the accuracy of the data. Commentators quoted in the press release are required to comply with the ESMO Declaration of Interests policy and the ESMO Code of Conduct.

References

1 Abstract 1213P_PR 'Tolerance and efficacy of immune-checkpoint inhibitors for cancer in people living with HIV (PWHIV)' will be presented by Aurelien Gobert during the Poster Display Session on Saturday, 20 October 2018 12:30 to 13:30 (CEST) in the poster Area - Hall A3. Annals of Oncology, Volume 29 Supplement 8 October 2018

2 Cancer VIH is a French national network that organises bi-monthly multidisciplinary meetings to discuss care and drug therapies for cancer patients living with HIV. Over 500 cases have been presented since its creation in 2015. https://www.cancervih.org/ (in French)

3 A. Gobert et al. HIV and cancer: What's new in 2017? Bulletin du Cancer 2018; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bulcan.2018.02.002

About the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO)

ESMO is the leading professional organisation for medical oncology. With 18,000 members representing oncology professionals from over 150 countries worldwide, ESMO is the society of reference for oncology education and information. ESMO is committed to offer the best care to people with cancer, through fostering integrated cancer care, supporting oncologists in their professional development, and advocating for sustainable cancer care worldwide. Visit http://www.esmo.org

1213P_PR - Tolerance and efficacy of immune-checkpoint inhibitors for cancer in people living with HIV (PWHIV) A. Gobert1, M. Veyri2, A. Lavole;3, H. Montaudite,4, N. Cloarec5, L. Doucet6, V. Gounant7, M-A. Massiani8, C. Helissey9, S. Bregigeon10, C. Chouaid11, C-H. Poulet12, M. Dewolf13, M. Kerjouan14, S. Beaucaire-Danel15, S. Brosseau16, G. Le Garff17, V. Garrait18, A-G. Marcelin19, J-P. Spano20 1Medical Oncology, Groupe Hospitalier Pitie Salpetriere, Paris, France, 2Medical Oncology, Pitie Salpetriere Hospital, Paris, France, 3Pneumology, Hospital Tenon, APHP, Paris, France, 4Department of Dermatology, Nice University Hospital, INSERM, U1065, Centre Mediterraneen de Medecine Moleculaire, Nice, France, 5Hematology and Medical Oncology, CH Avignon, Avignon, France, 6Medical Oncology, Hopital St. Louis, Paris, France, 7Pneumology, Hopital Bichat Claude Bernard, Paris, France, 8Medical Oncology, Institut Curie, Saint-Cloud, France, 9Val de Marne, Begin Military Teaching Hospital, Saint-Mande, France, 10Clinical Immunology and Hematology Center, AP-HM, Marseille, France, 11Chest Department, Centre Hospitalier Intercommunal Creteil, Creteil, France, 12Pneumology, CHU Amiens-Picardie Site Sud, Amiens, France, 13Pneumology, CHU Reims, Reims, France, 14Pneumology, CHU Rennes, Rennes, France, 15Department of Oncology, Institut Curie, Paris, France, 16Pneumlogy, Hopital Bichat Claude Bernard, Paris, France, 17Pneumology, CH Saint Brieuc, Saint Brieuc, France, 18Tropical and Infectious Disease Department, CHIC Creteil, Creteil, France, 19Virology, Groupe Hospitalier Pitie Salpetriere, Paris, France, 20Medical Oncology, Groupe Hospitalier Pitie Salpetriere, Paris, France

Background: Immunotherapy with anti-PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors represents a breakthrough in cancer treatment. Because PWHIV are usually excluded from clinical trials, tolerance and efficacy data are limited in this population. The French national network CANCERVIH is dedicated to the management of cancer in PWHIV with the organization of the national multidisciplinary meetings ONCOVIH. The objective of this study was to evaluate tolerance and efficacy of nivolumab, an anti-PD-1 inhibitors, in this specific population.

Methods: This study was conducted using the CANCERVIH database. Patients presented in national multidisciplinary meetings since May 2014 were evaluated. Demographic, CD4 lymphocyte count, HIV viral load, tolerance and efficacy data were retrospectively collected from patients treated with nivolumab in daily practice.

Results: Since May 2014, 470 patients have been presented in ONCOVIH national multidisciplinary meetings. Immunotherapy has been proposed for 35 patients and 20 were treated in current practice: 19 (95%) for metastatic non-small cell lung cancer and 1 (5%) for metastatic melanoma. The median CD4 lymphocyte count at diagnosis was 338,5/mm3 (241,3 - 490,5). HIV viral load was undetectable in 17 patients, less than 40 copies/mL in 2 patients and unknown in 1 patient. At the cut-off analysis, with a median follow-up of 10,8 months (1,0 - 27,7), the median number of injections was 6 (3 - 53). No toxic deaths or immune related adverse events have been noted. Only one patient experienced a rising HIV viral load and a decreasing CD4 lymphocyte count but after antiretroviral therapy interruption. On the 17 patients evaluable for response, 4 (24%) had partial response, 2 (12%) had stability and 11 (64%) had disease progression at first evaluation.

Conclusions: Based on these preliminary data, treatment with anti-PD-1 inhibitors seems to be feasible in PWHIV. Antiretroviral therapy should not be interrupted. CD4 lymphocyte count and HIV viral load should be monitored during treatment with immune-checkpoint inhibitors and patients should be included in dedicated clinical trials. Data will be updated at the meeting presentation to better determine tolerance and efficacy of anti-PD-1 inhibitors in this population.

Legal entity responsible for the study: Pitie Salpetriere Hospital.

Funding: Has not received any funding.

Disclosure: J.-P. Spano: Advisory board for Gilead, Merck MSD, Roche, BMS, Novartis, PFD, Leopharma, Janssen.

All other authors have declared no conflicts of interest.
Munich, Germany, 20 October 2018 - Chemotherapy is known to have a negative impact on the reproductive potential of young breast cancer patients. Its effects on women's post-treatment fertility, however, are still poorly understood. A study (1) to be presented at the ESMO 2018 Congress in Munich, has confirmed that natural pregnancies are possible after chemotherapy but that survivors' desire to have children decreases greatly after treatment, calling into question the need for systematic recourse to fertility preservation measures.

Fertility preservation today is based on harvesting and freezing eggs or embryos after in vitro fertilisation. It is commonly offered to breast cancer patients under 40 during the first consultations following diagnosis. Globally, women in this age group represent less than 7% of breast cancer diagnoses, (2) and survivors have a 70% lower chance of pregnancy compared with the general population. (3) According to study author, Dr. Jerome Martin-Babau from Centre Armoricain de Radiotherapie, Imagerie Medicale et Oncologie in Plerin, France, "the main barrier to accessing fertility preservation measures for patients in France is that it requires lab facilities and medical expertise that are only available at larger hospitals. Women may have to travel further than their usual cancer centre for the procedure."

The French National Cancer Plan prioritises this solution as a key service to be rolled out nationwide. "We wanted to find out whether the need and demand for it among breast cancer survivors was on a par with the level of investment and organisation called for by the policymakers," Martin-Babau continued.

In the course of the study, 96 eligible patients aged between 18 and 40 years and treated by chemotherapy for non-metastatic breast cancer were identified - 60 agreed to participate in the survey. "We based our questionnaire on existing tools found in the literature and added a dedicated section on the changes in patients' menstrual cycles," Martin-Babau reported.

Participants' median age at diagnosis was 36 years, and the median time between the end of their chemotherapy and participation in the study was 57 months. In over half of cases, the cancer had spread to the lymph nodes at the time of diagnosis, which means it had a higher risk of recurrence. Triple negative tumours (4) were diagnosed in 10 women: their prognosis is worsened by the fact that they cannot receive the anti-hormonal treatment usually prescribed after chemotherapy. All patients, however, were in complete remission by the time of the survey.

The results showed that 83% of participants experienced amenorrhea - a complete absence of menstruation - during their treatment with chemotherapy. "This was an expected finding," said Martin-Babau. "What we didn't expect was that 86% of these patients also reported their menstrual cycle returning to normal within the following year after the end of chemo - an indication that the treatment had not completely damaged their ovaries."

The evolution of patients' desire to bear children over the course of the disease was also assessed: more than one third of women reported having had plans to become pregnant before beginning treatment. By contrast, only one in ten stated that they still had this wish after the end of their chemotherapy.

"Of the six patients who did still want to have children, four women actually managed to get pregnant, although two eventually miscarried," Martin-Babau reported. The assumption that it is difficult to achieve pregnancy naturally after breast cancer was thus belied in this patient cohort.

"Of course, our study was limited to one centre and reflects the activity of just a few doctors - the reality may be quite different elsewhere. In addition, one third of patients we identified didn't respond to the survey, possibly due to frustration with their personal situation. Their participation may have changed our results," Martin-Babau cautioned.

Drawing conclusions from the findings, he observed: "The fact is that most forms of breast cancer are stimulated by hormones. The implantation of in vitro produced embryos requires women to take additional hormones that could potentially play a role in disease recurrence - we currently have limited data to alleviate this concern."

"In a context, then, where it turns out that natural pregnancies are still possible after treatment, and where the actual demand for fertility preservation measures seems to be relatively low, we as clinicians need to think about how to provide the most balanced information possible during the onco-fertility counselling of these young patients," he said.

Commenting on the study for ESMO, Dr. Matteo Lambertini, ESMO fellow at the Institut Jules Bordet in Brussels, Belgium, said: "Previous data (5,6) have shown that only a small proportion of women actually choose to undergo fertility preservation measures at the time of breast cancer diagnosis. The present findings, though based on a small patient cohort, additionally tell us that breast cancer survivors' desire to have children decreases by the time they finish treatment, while simultaneously confirming that natural pregnancies are still possible after chemotherapy. However, this does not mean that oncologists shouldn't talk about fertility preservation measures with their patients, including in cases where their cancer centre doesn't offer fertility services onsite: indeed, the minority of women who are interested will gladly travel to the nearest facility that does."

"As physicians, we must continue to discuss the potential loss of ovarian function and fertility with every one of our breast cancer patients, just like we would do with any other side-effect of treatment: as early and extensively as possible," Lambertini added. "It is important for oncologists to be aware of existing ESMO Clinical Practice Guidelines on the subject (7) and to be attuned to the specific circumstances of each patient. Whilst this study reminds us that the need for fertility preservation measures should not be overestimated, we should also be careful not to exaggerate the risk of such a procedure to women when we offer them these options."

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Notes to Editors

Please make sure to use the official name of the meeting in your reports: ESMO 2018 Congress Official Congress hashtag: #ESMO18

Disclaimer

This press release contains information provided by the authors of the highlighted abstracts and reflects the content of those abstracts. It does not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of ESMO who cannot be held responsible for the accuracy of the data. Commentators quoted in the press release are required to comply with the ESMO Declaration of Interests policy and the ESMO Code of Conduct.

References

1 Abstract 251P_PR 'Pregnancies after breast cancer, is there a real need for fertility preservation? Results from the ARTEMIS cohort of 60 young patients' will be presented by Jerome Martin-Babau during Poster Display Session on Monday, 22 October 2018, 12:45-13:45 (CEST) in the Poster Area Networking Hub - Hall A3. Annals of Oncology, Volume 29 Supplement 8 October 2018

2 "Epidemiology and prognosis of breast cancer in young women", by H. A. Assi et al. Journal of Thoracic Disease. doi: 10.3978/j.issn.2072-1439.2013.05.24

3 "Cancer, Pregnancy and Fertility: ESMO Clinical Practice Guidelines", by F. A. Peccatori et al. Annals of Oncology.

4 Triple negative breast cancer is an uncommon type of tumour whose cells do not have receptors - a kind of protein - for the hormones oestrogen and progesterone, or for a protein known as HER2. This means that it is not sensitive to hormone treatment or to drugs that target the HER2 receptor. https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/breast-cancer/stages-types-grades/types/triple-negative-breast-cancer

5 "Prospective study to optimize care and improve knowledge on ovarian function and/or fertility preservation in young breast cancer patients: Results of the pilot phase of the PREgnancy and FERtility (PREFER) study", by M. Lambertini et al. The Breast. doi: 10.1016/j.breast.2018.06.012

6 "Prospective Study of Fertility Concerns and Preservation Strategies in Young Women With Breast Cancer", by K. J. Ruddy et al. Journal of Clinical Oncology. doi: 10.1200/JCO.2013.52.8877

7 https://www.esmo.org/Guidelines/Supportive-and-Palliative-Care/Cancer-Pregnancy-and-Fertility

About the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO)

ESMO is the leading professional organisation for medical oncology. With 18,000 members representing oncology professionals from over 150 countries worldwide, ESMO is the society of reference for oncology education and information. ESMO is committed to offer the best care to people with cancer, through fostering integrated cancer care, supporting oncologists in their professional development, and advocating for sustainable cancer care worldwide. Visit http://www.esmo.org

251P_PR - Pregnancies after breast cancer, is there a real need for fertility preservation ? Results from the ARTEMIS cohort of 60 young patients

J. Martin-Babau1, F. Toudic-Emily2, A-H. Boivin3, P. Burban-Provost2, B. Vie2, P-L. Etienne1, B. Lamezec2, E. Le Fur2, A. Vincent3, D. Besson1, A-C. Hardy-Bessard1

1Medical Oncology, Centre Armoricain de Radiotherapie Imagerie Medicale et Oncologie, Plerin, France, 2Radiotherapy, Centre Armoricain de Radiotherapie Imagerie Medicale et Oncologie, Plerin, France, 3Bureau de Recherche Clinique des Cotes d'Armor - BEC22, Hopital Prive des Cotes d'Armor, Plerin, France

Background: One of the main problems affecting young women after adjuvant chemotherapy for early breast cancer is the desire for children and the impact of the treatment on this desire and on pregnancy. Many works are ongoing on fertility preservation but what is the real need? Hence a survey to evaluate these issues in young breast cancer survivors was put in place.

Methods: Patients aged between 18 and 40 years old treated by chemotherapy for non-metastatic breast cancer between 2005 and 2017 were retrospectively asked to respond to this survey, after having signed a consent form.

Results: 96 patients were identified, from which 60 agreed and responded to the survey. This high response rate demonstrates the importance of these themes for patients. Median age at diagnosis was 36 years old (34-40). Median time between the end of chemo-/radiotherapy and inclusion was of 57 months. 34 patients had node involvement at diagnosis, 10 patients had triple negative tumors. Adjuvant endocrine therapy was prescribed in 70% of patients from whom 54% were still under treatment at inclusion. Tamoxifen was prescribed in 90% of the cases and complete ovarian suppression for 9.5% of the patients. The mean treatment time was 5 years. The survey showed that anticancer treatments had a major impact on patients: Chemotherapy-induced amenorrhea was experienced by 83% of the patients but 86% recovered normal cycles in the following months. Diagnosis and treatment affected the patients desire for pregnancy: indeed, before diagnosis, 31% were hoping to become pregnant; this desire fell to 10% after treatment. However, of these 6 patients: 2 patients became pregnant and 2 miscarried. Patient's relationships were affected as 20% declared a change of partner directly or indirectly related to the treatment. Sexual quality-of-life was impacted in 61% of patients with long-term side effects.

Conclusions: Treatment of breast cancer impacts strongly the quality of life of young breast cancer survivors. However, definitive amenorrhea related to chemotherapy in these patients occurred in a minority of them and the number of pregnancies reported after treatment is higher than expected if we take into account the desire of pregnancy after treatment.

Clinical trial identification: NCT03470935.

Legal entity responsible for the study: Dr Jerome Martin-Babau.

Funding: Has not received any funding.

Disclosure: All authors have declared no conflicts of interest.
Munich, Germany, 20 October 2018 - Including exercise or sport as part of cancer care can significantly improve symptom management, quality of life and fitness during and after treatment, French researchers have concluded in two presentations to be reported at the ESMO 2018 Congress in Munich. Even among patients at highest risk of poor quality of life, exercise can make a difference.

More than 3,500 patients with cancer already participate in exercise programmes each year at over 80 cancer centres in France, at a cost of approximately 400 per patient, and the number continues to rise, explained Dr. Thierry Bouillet, Medical Oncologist, Ile de France, American Hospital of Paris, Neuilly Sur Seine, France, and author of one of the new studies. (1) Classes are run by trainers with specialist knowledge of cancer and its treatment who can adapt exercise programmes to individual needs.

"We have found that patients get the greatest benefit if they exercise two or three times a week for at least an hour during the six months of their chemotherapy or radiotherapy and then for a further six months so that physical activity becomes a part of their life," said Bouillet.

"With 20 years' experience, we have also seen that patients find it easier to exercise in on-site classes and feel more secure than if we give them exercise information and leave them to do it themselves or go to classes away from the hospital with trainers who do not know about the special needs of patients with cancer," added Bouillet.

In one of the French studies to be presented at ESMO, (1) twice-weekly, 60-minute strength training and aerobic exercise classes significantly reduced pain and fatigue scores at 3 and 6 months in 114 patients undergoing cancer treatment, 83% for breast cancer and 21% with metastatic disease. Fatigue scores fell from 3.3 at baseline to 2.8 (p<0.05) at 3 months and pain scores from 2.8 to 2.3 respectively (p<0.05). In 71 patients with data at baseline and 6 months, fatigue scores fell from 3.1 at baseline to 2.1 at 6 months (p<0.05) and pain scores from 3 to 1.9 respectively (p<0.05).

There were also significant reductions in body fat, while lean body mass remained stable. In the overall group, fat mass fell from 33.9% at baseline to 33.2% at 3 months (p<0.05), while lean body mass remained stable (43.6 and 43.8 kg respectively). In the 71 patients with 6-month data, fat mass fell from 34.3% at baseline to 32.4% at 6 months, while lean mass was 42.8 kg at both time points. In addition, significant improvements were seen in overall fitness in terms of quadriceps endurance, strength of both arms and non-dominant leg balance (p<0.05 for all).

"Patients are often fatigued and have started to lose muscle before they are diagnosed with cancer, so it is essential to start exercise as soon as possible after the first consultation. We should see it as 'emergency treatment' for their initial symptoms and later to help with the side effects of treatment," said Bouillet.

In a second study to be presented at ESMO 2018, (2) researchers not only reported the value of exercise for patients with cancer, but also demonstrated that it is possible to identify patients at greatest risk of poor quality of life during treatment so they can receive extra help.

In the study of 2525 patients with stage I-III breast cancer undergoing adjuvant chemotherapy, those who took 75 minutes of vigorous or 150 minutes of moderate exercise per week had significantly better overall quality of life at six and 12 months after treatment than those who were inactive (Table 1). They also had significantly better physical well-being and less fatigue, pain and breathlessness. Vigorous exercise included activities such as aerobic dance, heavy gardening or fast swimming, while moderate exercise included brisk walking, water aerobics or volleyball.

"Around 60% of patients were physically active before and after chemotherapy and, although their quality of life was adversely affected by chemotherapy, they scored consistently better on a variety of physical, emotional and symptom scales than those who were inactive," explained Dr. Antonio Di Meglio, study author and Medical Oncologist, Institut Gustave Roussy, Villejuif, France.

The study showed that patients who had a mastectomy or additional illnesses, smoked or had a low income were particularly at risk of poor quality of life following chemotherapy for breast cancer, but they too benefited from exercise.

"Using a novel approach, we showed that it is possible to identify breast cancer patients whose quality of life will be worst affected by chemotherapy so we can now target those patients for dedicated interventions including those aimed at increasing physical activity to WHO-recommended levels," (3) added Di Meglio.

Commenting from ESMO, Dr. Gabe Sonke, Medical Oncologist, Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, underlined the importance of the French studies in demonstrating the value of physical therapy in everyday clinical practice, previously seen in clinical trials and supported by current ESMO recommendations for exercise as part of standard care for all cancer survivors. (4)

"The insights from the new studies in patients with metastatic breast cancer are particularly timely as a large study is getting underway from the international PREFERABLE Consortium to further explore the value of exercise in this group of patients," he said.

Sonke pointed out that this and other studies are endeavouring to confirm early signs that physical activity programmes may improve adherence to chemotherapy and radiotherapy and thus improve treatment outcomes so that insurance companies are more encouraged to pay for exercise initiatives.

"Insurers may ask why they should pay for exercise for patients with cancer when they don't pay for it in the general population. But if we can show that there is improved treatment adherence and an added survival benefit for patients with cancer, this will strengthen our case for payment," said Sonke.

He also wants to see more patients routinely asked to participate in exercise programmes, including those who do not normally exercise: "We know that patients who are already active are getting into these exercise programmes, but those who are not active are missing out, particularly those with low income and less healthy lifestyle. The new results must encourage us to focus on how to be more inclusive so that all patients can benefit from exercise in improving quality of life during chemotherapy," he concluded.

###

Notes to Editors

Please make sure to use the official name of the meeting in your reports: ESMO 2018 Congress

Official Congress hashtag: #ESMO18

Disclaimer

This press release contains information provided by the authors of the highlighted abstracts and reflects the content of those abstracts. It does not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of ESMO who cannot be held responsible for the accuracy of the data. Commentators quoted in the press release are required to comply with the ESMO Declaration of Interests policy and the ESMO Code of Conduct.

References

Abstract 1753P_PR 'Benefits of Physical Activity and Sport integrated into the care pathway of oncology patient' will be presented by Laurence Vanlemmens during the Poster Display Session on Monday, 22 October, 12:45 to 13:45 (CEST) in the Poster Area Networking Hub - Hall A3. Annals of Oncology, Volume 29 Supplement 8 October 2018 Abstract 1684PD_PR 'Physical activity (PA) and patterns of quality of life (QOL) after adjuvant chemotherapy (CT) for breast cancer (BC)' will be presented by Antonio Di Meglio during the Poster Discussion Session on Saturday, 20 October, 09:30-10:30 in Room 21 - Hall B3. Annals of Oncology, Volume 29 Supplement 8 October 2018 World Health Organisation. Global recommendations on physical activity for health. Available at: http://www.who.int/dietphysicalactivity/factsheet_recommendations/en/ ESMO Handbook on Rehabilitation Issues During Cancer Treatment and Follow Up. Available at: https://oncologypro.esmo.org/Education-Library/Handbooks/Rehabilitation-Issues-During-Cancer-Treatment-and-Follow-Up

About the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO)

ESMO is the leading professional organisation for medical oncology. With 18,000 members representing oncology professionals from over 150 countries worldwide, ESMO is the society of reference for oncology education and information. ESMO is committed to offer the best care to people with cancer, through fostering integrated cancer care, supporting oncologists in their professional development, and advocating for sustainable cancer care worldwide. Visit http://www.esmo.org

1684PD_PR - Physical activity (PA) and patterns of quality of life (QOL) after adjuvant chemotherapy (CT) for breast cancer (BC)

A. Di Meglio1, M. El-Mouhebb2, S. Michiels3, D. Carene1, S. Everhard4, A.L. Martin5, P.H. Cottu6, F. Lerebours7, C. Coutant8, A. Lesur9, O. Tredan10, P. Soulie11, L. Vanlemmens12, P. Arveux13, S. Delaloge14, P. Ganz15, F. Andre;16, A.H. Partridge17, L. Jones18, I. Vaz-Luis1

1Medical Oncology, Institut Gustave Roussy, Villejuif, France, 2Medical Oncology, Gustave Roussy, Villejuif, France, 3Team Oncostat, CESP, Gustave Roussy, Villejuif, France, 4UCBG, UNICANCER, Paris, France, 5Research & Develpment, UNICANCER, Paris, France, 6Medical Oncology, Institut Curie, Paris, France, 7Medical Oncology, Institut Curie Saint Cloud, Saint Cloud, France, 8Medical Oncology, Centre Georges-Francois Leclerc (Dijon), Dijon, France, 9Medical Oncology, Institut de Cancerologie de Lorraine, Nancy, France, 10Medical Oncology, Centre Leon Berard, Lyon, France, 11Medical Oncology, Centre Paul Papin, Angers, France, 12Medical Oncology, Centre Oscar Lambret, Lille, France, 13Medical Oncology, Centre Georges-Francois Leclerc (Dijon), Dijon, France, 14Medical Oncology, Gustave Roussy, Villejuif, France, 15Medical Oncology, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA, 16Medical Oncology, Gustave Roussy - Cancer Campus, Villejuif, France, 17Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA, 18Exercise Oncology Research Program, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA

Background: We aimed to describe longitudinal patterns of QOL and the interplay between PA and risk of QOL deterioration among BC patients (pts).

Methods: We used a French prospective longitudinal clinical study (CANTO, NCT01993498) to identify 2525 stage I-III BC pts treated with adjuvant CT from 2012-14. PA exposure (GPAQ 16) and QOL (EORTC QLQ C30/B23) were reported by pts before CT, and at 3-6 and 12 months after CT. Pts with levels of PA greater than or equal to 10 MET-hours/week were considered physically active (as per WHO recommendations on PA). Poor QOL was defined by functional scores <60 and symptoms scores greater than or equal to 40 (Giesinger, 2016). We used multivariate mixed models to assess patterns of QOL and group based trajectory models to identify clusters of pts with poor QOL and associated risk factors, adjusting for PA as time dependent covariate.
Toronto, Canada 20 Oct 2018: Heart patients are being advised to move around every 20 minutes in a bid to prolong life following a study presented at the Canadian Cardiovascular Congress (CCC) 2018.

CCC 2018 is being held 20 to 23 October in Toronto, Canada. Visiting experts from the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) will participate in joint scientific sessions with the Canadian Cardiovascular Society (CCS) as part of the ESC Global Activities programme.1

Heart patients spend most of their waking hours sitting, lying down, and watching television.2,3 Previous research has shown that being sedentary for long periods could shorten life but taking breaks to move around may counteract the risk, particularly if it means burning more than 770 kcal a day.4-8 This study investigated how many breaks, and for what duration, are needed to expend 770 kcal.

"Our study shows that heart patients should interrupt sedentary time every 20 minutes with a 7 minute bout of light physical activity," said study author Dr Ailar Ramadi, postdoctoral fellow, Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada. "Simple activities such as standing up and walking at a casual pace will expend more than 770 kcal in a day if done with this frequency and duration."

The study enrolled 132 patients with coronary artery disease. The average age was 63 years and 77% were male. Participants wore an armband activity monitor for an average of 22 hours a day for five days. The activity monitor recorded the amount of energy spent during breaks from inactivity, the amount of inactive time, and the number and duration of breaks during each sedentary hour.

Dr Ramadi said: "There is a lot of evidence now that sitting for long periods is bad for health. Our study suggests that during each hour of sitting time, heart patients should take three breaks which add up to 21 minutes of light physical activity. This will expend 770 kcal a day, an amount associated with a lower risk of premature death."

Regarding limitations of the research, Professor Joep Perk, ESC Prevention Spokesperson, noted that this was a small, observational study with no control group. "A randomised controlled trial is needed before this can become a firm recommendation," he said. "Nevertheless, regular physical activity is key to achieving a healthy life, whether you are a cardiac patient or not."

Dr Michelle M. Graham, Scientific Programme Committee Chair of CCC 2018, said: "We are delighted to have innovative studies such as that by Ramadi and colleagues being presented at CCC. Their novel work has very practical implications, not only for patients with cardiovascular disease, but for improving prevention by altering how people work in sedentary environments."

Professor Jeroen Bax, Past President of the ESC and course director of the ESC programme at CCC 2018, said: "Sedentary lifestyles affect more than half of the world's population. ESC guidelines on the prevention of cardiovascular disease recommend a minimum of 150 minutes of moderate activity or 75 minutes of vigorous activity per week. Any activity is better than none and more activity is better than some."9

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Authors: ESC Press Office

Tel: +33 (0)4 8987 2499

Mobile: +336 (0) 2314 5784

Email: press@escardio.org

Notes to editor

References and notes

1Sessions with ESC faculty will be held on 21 October.

2Karjalainen JJ, Kiviniemi AM, Hautala AJ, et al. Effects of exercise prescription on daily physical activity and maximal exercise capacity in coronary artery disease patients with and without type 2 diabetes. Clin Physiol Funct Imaging. 2012;32:445-454.

3Ramadi A, Stickland MK, Rodgers WM, et al. Impact of supervised exercise rehabilitation on daily physical activity of cardiopulmonary patients. Heart Lung. 2015;44:9-14.

4Healy GN, Matthews CE, Dunstan DW, et al. Sedentary time and cardio-metabolic biomarkers in US adults: NHANES 2003-06. Eur Heart J 2011;32:590-597.

5Healy GN, Dunstan DW, Salmon J, et al. Breaks in sedentary time: beneficial associations with metabolic risk. Diabetes Care.2008;31:661-666.

6Dunstan DW, Kingwell BA, Larsen R, et al. Breaking up prolonged sitting reduces postprandial glucose and insulin responses. Diabetes Care. 2012;35:976-983.

7Judice PB, Silva AM, Sardinha LB. Sedentary bout durations are associated with abdominal obesity in older adults. Journal Nutr Health Aging. 2015;19:798-804.

8Manini TM, Everhart JE, Patel KV, et al. Daily activity energy expenditure and mortality among older adults. JAMA. 2006;296:171-179.

9Piepoli MF, Hoes AW, Agewall S, et al. 2016 European Guidelines on cardiovascular disease prevention in clinical practice. Eur Heart J. 2016;37:2315-2381.

About the European Society of Cardiology

The European Society of Cardiology brings together health care professionals from more than 150 countries, working to advance cardiovascular medicine and help people lead longer, healthier lives.

About ESC Global Activities

ESC Global Activities are extending the ESC mission beyond European borders. ESC Global Affairs is a programme of international ESC educational courses built around a global network of international partnerships.
WHAT: 11th World Stroke Congress brings together leading international stroke experts and an unparalleled scientific program covering epidemiology, prevention, acute care, recovery and rehabilitation in 100s of sessions and oral posters. Congress is attended by stroke professionals, researchers, policy makers, survivors and caregivers from around the world. #worldstroke2018

WHERE: Montreal, Canada, Palais des Congres

WHEN: October 17 - 20, 2018

MEDIA OPPORTUNTIES: Stroke experts and people with lived experience of stroke will be available for interviews.

TODAY'S CONGRESS HIGHLIGHTS

Late-breaking trials

Basilar artery occlusion Endovascular intervention versus Standard medical Treatment (BEST) Trial: Primary results of a multi-centre randomized controlled trial. The BEST trial, a Chinese-government funded multi-centre trial, compares the benefit of endovascular treatment (ET) to standard medical care. Presenters Dr. Raul Nogueira of Emory University and Dr. Xinfeng Liu of Nanjing University (China) will present the study, which found patients treated with ET achieved significantly better outcomes. (11:10 am, Hall B)

Randomized controlled trial of the safety and efficacy of dabigatran etexilate vs. dose-adjusted warfarin in patients with cerebral venous thrombosis (RE-SPECT CVT) (11:30 am, Hall B)

EXtending the time for Thrombolysis in Emergency Neurological Deficits - EXTEND (11:50 am, Hall B)

Sphenopalatine ganglion stimulation to augment collateral perfusion primary in acute ischemic stroke: Primary results of the IMPACT-24B pivotal trial (12:10 pm, Hall B)

HOT TOPIC: Less wealthy countries struggle to meet greater need with far fewer resources

Why are low-and middle-income countries so hard hit by stroke and what can be done about it? This vital question will be discussed today at the World Stroke Congress in Montreal with the presentation of an action plan by Dr. Mayowa Owolabi of Nigeria, who leads the Lancet Neurology Commission on Stroke in Low- and Middle-Income Countries.

"Low- and middle-income countries bear over 80 per cent of the global burden of stroke, but have less than 20 per cent of the global resources to combat it," said Dr. Owolabi.

The aging population and the increases in risk factors such as high blood pressure, obesity and diabetes are driving up stroke rates. Strokes occur, on average, 15 years earlier in low- and middle-income countries than in high-income countries. Dr. Owolabi is championing a prevention and treatment action plan to reduce premature mortality from stroke by one-third by 2030 and fundamentally and substantially improve stroke services across the globe, particularly in low- and middle-income countries.

HOT TOPIC: Building momentum to address sex differences in stroke

Women bear a greater burden of stroke than men and leading stroke experts will look at incidence and mortality rates, the impact of traditional risk factors on women versus men, the quality of care women receive compared to men, and international efforts in Europe and North America to address the challenges. "There's no question that there is an urgent need for worldwide collaborations to develop better understanding about sex and gender differences in stroke incidence, presentation, prevention and treatments," said Dr. Aleksandra Pikula, a stroke neurologist with expertise in stroke in young adults/women at the University Health Network in Toronto. "Only successful collaborations can improve care and recovery, especially for women, who have poorer functional outcomes and lower quality of life than men after stroke."

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11th World Stroke Congress

The 11th World Stroke Congress, being held Oct. 17-20, 2018, at the Palais des Congres in Montreal, Quebec, brings together leading international stroke experts and an unparalleled scientific program covering epidemiology, prevention, acute care and recovery in hundreds of sessions and oral posters. The Congress is attended by stroke professionals, researchers, policy makers and people with lived experience from around the world. This is the first time the biennial Congress has been held in North America in 12 years; the 2016 Congress was held in Hyderabad, India. This year's Congress is jointly organized by the World Stroke Organization (WSO) and the Canadian Stroke Consortium (CSC). Co-presidents are Dr. Werner Hacke, WSO President, and Dr. Mike Sharma, CSC Chair. WorldStrokeCongress.org/2018

ABOUT STROKE

A stroke happens when blood stops flowing to a part of the brain or bleeding occurs in the brain. This interruption in blood flow or bleeding into the brain leads to damage to the surrounding brain cells which cannot be repaired or replaced; 1.9 million brain cells die every minute during a stroke. Stroke can happen at any age. Stroke affects everyone: survivors, family and friends, workplaces and communities.

The effects of a stroke depend on the part of the brain that was damaged and the amount of damage done. Ischemic stroke is the most common form of stroke, caused by a sudden blocked artery (about 85% of all stroke). A transient ischemic attack (TIA) is sometimes called a mini-stroke and is the mildest form of ischemic stroke. A TIA is an ischemic stroke, caused by a briefly blocked artery with rapid spontaneous unblocking of the artery leading to only a short period of brain malfunction. However TIAs are an important warning that a more serious stroke may occur. Hemorrhagic stroke occurs when a blood vessel ruptures, causing bleeding in or around the brain (about 15% of all stroke).

Recovery from stroke starts right away. The quicker the signs are recognized, and the patient is diagnosed and treated, the greater likelihood of a good recovery, with less chance of another stroke, and decreased healthcare costs. The first few hours after stroke are crucial, affecting the recovery journey for years to come.

The impact of stroke around the world

There are over 80 million people currently living with the effects of stroke globally.

Stroke is the second leading cause of death and disability globally.

Five and a half million people die of stroke each year globally.

One person dies of stroke every six seconds globally.

There are 13.7 million strokes around the world each year.

One in four survivors will have another stroke.

Stroke in Canada

Nine in ten Canadians have at least one risk factor for stroke.

There are 62,000 strokes in Canada each year - that is one stroke every nine minutes.

Stroke is the third leading cause of death in Canada and a leading cause of disability.

Each year, more than 13,000 Canadians die from stroke.

More than 400,000 Canadians live with long-term disability from stroke and this will almost double in the next 20 years.

Stroke among people under 65 is increasing and stroke risk factors are increasing for young adults.

World Stroke Organization

The World Stroke Organization (WSO) is the only global organization with a sole focus on fighting stroke. WSO's mission is to reduce the global burden of stroke through prevention, treatment and long term care. WSO provides a strong voice for stroke professionals, survivors and caregivers in global and regional policy. The Organization is a WHO implementing partner and has UN approved consultative status. http://www.world-stroke.org

Canadian Stroke Consortium

The Canadian Stroke Consortium is the professional organization for stroke neurologists and other physicians interested in stroke. Our members are committed to reducing the burden of stroke through the translation of clinical research into routine patient care. Increasing capacity for high quality research, enhancing the capability of stroke services, leading comprehensive knowledge translation programs, and advocating in health policy and systems of care affecting stroke represent the four pillars of CSC's activities. strokeconsortium.ca

Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada

Life. We don't want you to miss it. That's why Heart & Stroke leads the fight against heart disease and stroke. We must generate the next medical breakthroughs, so Canadians don't miss out on precious moments. Together, we are working to prevent disease, save lives and promote recovery through research, health promotion and public policy. heartandstroke.ca

For more information and to set up interviews contact: Diane Hargrave, dhprbks@interlog.com 416-467-9954, ext. 102
Results from a phase 3 clinical trial indicate that patients who have not benefited from standard therapy for ankylosing spondylitis (AS), a chronic inflammatory disease characterized by back pain and sacroiliac-joint damage, may have another treatment option in the biologic drug ixekizumab. The findings will be presented at the American College of Rheumatology's annual meeting in Chicago (October 20-24, 2018) and simultaneously published in the ACR journal, Arthritis & Rheumatology.

Approximately 30 to 40 percent of patients with AS do not achieve adequate disease control or symptom relief from tumor necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitors, the currently recommended treatment for AS. In addition, some patients may not be eligible to receive the recommended treatment due to contraindications. The cytokine IL-17 is thought to play a role in the development of AS, and IL-17 inhibitors are effective in some patients, but they have not been evaluated exclusively in patients who have not experienced symptom relief with TNF inhibitors.

To test the strategy in these patients, Atul Deodhar, MD, of Oregon Health & Science University in Portland, and his colleagues conducted a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase 3 clinical trial of ixekizumab, a high-affinity monoclonal antibody that selectively targets IL-17A, in patients with AS who experienced a previous inadequate response or intolerance to TNF inhibitors. For the trial, 316 patients were randomized 1:1:1 to placebo, ixekizumab every 2 weeks (IXEQ2W), and ixekizumab every 4 weeks (IXEQ4W), with an 80-mg or 160-mg starting dose.

At week 16, 30.6 percent and 25.4 percent of patients in the IXEQ2W and IXEQ4W groups, respectively, demonstrated significant improvements in the signs and symptoms of AS, compared with 12.5 percent of patients in the placebo group. There were statistically significant differences reported as early as week 1 with ixekizumab treatment. Also, significant improvements in disease activity, function, quality of life, and spinal inflammation were observed with 16 weeks of ixekizumab treatment versus placebo. Treatment-related adverse events were more frequent with ixekizumab than with placebo. One death was reported, in the IXEQ2W group.

"Many people with this chronic, debilitating disease are still searching for an effective treatment. These positive results provide support for ixekizumab as a potential treatment option for patients with AS, including those who have had an inadequate response to treatment with TNF inhibitors, a difficult-to-treat population," said Dr. Deodhar.

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Additional Information

The information contained in this release is protected by copyright. Members of the media may sign up for embargoed news or to request a copy of any study please contact:

Dawn Peters (US) +1 781-388-8408

newsroom@wiley.com

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Full Citation: "Efficacy and Safety of Ixekizumab in the Treatment of Radiographic Axial Spondyloarthritis: 16 Week Results of a Phase 3 Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo Controlled Trial in Patients with Prior Inadequate Response or Intolerance to Tumor Necrosis Factor Inhibitors." Atul Deodhar, Denis Poddubnyy, Cesar Pacheco-Tena, Carlo Salvarani, Eric

Lespessailles, Proton Rahman, Pentti Jarvinen, Juan Sanchez Burson, Karl

Gaffney, Eun Bong Lee, Eswar Krishnan, Silvia Santisteban, Xiaoqi Li, Fangyi

Zhao, Hilde Carlier, John D. Reveille, on behalf of the COAST-W study group. Arthritis & Rheumatology; Published Online: Saturday, October 20, 2018 5:30 pm ET; 4:30 pm CT (DOI: 10.1002/art.40753).

URL Upon Publication: http://doi.wiley.com/10.1002/art.40753

Author Contact: OHSU Media Relations, at news@ohsu.edu or +1 503-494-8231.

Disclosures:

AD- Research grants from AbbVie, Eli Lilly and Company, Janssen, Novartis, Pfizer, UCB. Consulting Fees from Abbvie, BMS, Eli Lilly and Company, Janssen, Novartis, Pfizer, UCB

DP - Consulting and/or speaker fees from AbbVie, BMS, Janssen, MSD, Novartis, Pfizer, Roche, and UCB. Research grants from Abbvie, Eli Lilly and Company, MSD, Novartis and Pfizer.

C P-T - Research grants from Eli Lilly and Company.

CS - Research grants from Eli Lilly and Company.

EL - Research grants from Eli Lilly and Company.

PR - Consulting fees from Abbvie, Amgen, BMS, Celgene, Eli Lilly and Company, Janssen, Pfizer, Novartis, Merck, and UCB. Research grants from Janssen and Eli Lilly and Company. Speaker fees from Abbvie, Amgen, BMS, Celgene, Eli Lilly and Company, Janssen, Pfizer, Novartis, Merck, and UCB.

PJ - Research grants from Eli Lilly and Company.

JSB - Research grants from Eli Lilly and Company. KG - Research grants, consultancy and speaker fees from AbbVie, Eli Lilly and Company, Pfizer, Novartis and UCB Pharma.

EBL - Research grant from GC Pharm and Eli Lilly and Company.

EK, SS, XL, FZ, and HC - All employees and shareholders of Eli Lilly and Company

JR - Consulting Fees from Janssen, Eli Lilly and Company, UCB, and Novartis. Research grants from Eli Lilly and Company.

About the Journal

Arthritis Care & Research is an official journal of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR), and the Association of Rheumatology Health Professionals (ARHP), a division of the College. Arthritis Care & Research is a peer-reviewed journal that publishes both original research and review articles that promote excellence in the clinical practice of rheumatology. Relevant to the care of individuals with arthritis and related disorders, major topics are evidence-based practice studies, clinical problems, practice guidelines, health care economics, health care policy, educational, social, and public health issues, and future trends in rheumatology practice. The journal is published by Wiley on behalf of the ACR. For more information, please visit the journal home page at http://wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/acr.

About Wiley

Wiley is a global leader in research and education. Our online scientific, technical, medical, and scholarly journals, and our digital learning, assessment, certification and student-lifecycle services and solutions help universities, academic societies, businesses, governments and individuals to achieve their academic and professional goals. For more than 200 years, we have delivered consistent performance to our stakeholders. The Company's website can be accessed at http://www.wiley.com.
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I am researching an article on the city of Avoca, in the area now called Alamo Heights. I have been searching to find the plat map for Avoca. Given that the city only existed for about 65 years in the 1800s, it has not been successful. Do you have any idea where I can find the map? I know some of the street names and the approximate location, but the plat map seems to be lost.

- Gerald J. Mulvey, Ph.D.

The fabled Lost City of Avoca probably was never a city nor lost. The same might go for the rumored plat map, showing the streets of a townsite planned in the hills near the headwaters of the San Antonio River, a little over 2 miles north of downtown. Real estate speculator William E. Howth acquired 1,475 acres there in 1830 and immediately set to work on reselling parcels of land in the hypothetical community he called Avoca, named for a Meeting of the Waters  the Avonmore and Avonbeg rivers  in County Wicklow, Ireland, similar to the confluence of the San Antonio River and Olmos Creek.

While Avoca is sometimes referred to as an Irish settlement, the name came out of trans-Atlantic popular culture. Sweet vale of Avoca comes from a line in The Meeting of the Waters, a poem by Thomas Moore collected in Irish Melodies, a book first published in 1807 that included the lyrics to The Last Rose of Summer, Believe Me if All These Endearing Young Charms and other enduring classics of popular song.

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READ ALSO: The public housing priest

The romantic name, evocative of Irelands cool, green mountain glen of Avoca was promoted as an elite residential area, but its not clear whether anyone ever lived there during the time it bore that name. What little we know of it comes from real estate transfer records. A land grant document issued by the Republic of Texas puts Howths land on the east bank of the river extending to the land owned by the Zambrano heirs; trees  red oak, hackberry, mesquite and pecan  marking off the remaining boundaries as surveyed by or for Howth.

After the Texas Revolution, he went into partnership with William H. Daingerfield, who served as mayor of San Antonio in 1838. As Howth and Daingerfield, they sold at least a dozen lots in Avoca, promoted as a select residential development, according to a historical article in the San Antonio Light, March 27, 1955. Theres anecdotal evidence in pioneer memoirs of a clubhouse built of native stone and logs, near whats now the Argyle Club, 934 Patterson Ave., where Howth organized hunting parties for possible investors.

Theres no evidence that Avoca, variously described as a village, town and city, was ever recognized with any official status as a municipality. Independent researcher David Haynes, who has done extensive work with 19th-century maps, has found just one on which Avoca appears. Its an 1839 map in the collection of the Texas General Land Office that represents surveys made in Bexar County  not exactly a plat but delineated about as well as the city (of San Antonio) on the same map. There are no street names, only names of property owners, including Howth and Daingerfield. While the GLOs citation lists draftsman H.L. Upshur, William Lindsey  often credited with the Howth survey  is noted as the surveyor.

The only street names ascribed to Avoca come from a single deed record transferring a block that fronts on Milam Avenue and Travis Avenue (not the downtown streets with the same name) on the east side of Courthouse Square, implying that there were plans to turn the settlement into a county seat. Unnamed old-timers quoted in a story about Avoca in the San Antonio Express, Oct. 25, 1925, offer hazy recollections of a plat map with more street names, so lost in the limbo of dead projects that no one knew where to look.

That might be the source of the legend of the Avoca plat map. A student at Incarnate Word College, Carolyn Furman, made both papers looking for it part of a project for her Native American studies major. Furman had found vague references to a town map in the Bexar County records, reported the Express, March 28, 1977, but concludes that the town plat outlining streets might be in someones attic.

READ ALSO: Owner of Texas' first malt house talks about leaving tech for shovels

Sales of Avoca lots seem to have slowed after the early 1840s; land purchases probably were for water rights and use in ranching. A plat with street names is highly unlikely, Haynes said. Avoca was so small that there would hardly be any point to having street names.  The earliest plats I know of in Bexar County are in the mid-1870s, way too late for Avoca. San Antonio street names first show up on the 1855 Thielepape version of the Giraud survey, again too late for Avoca.

Howth and Daingerfield seem to have broken up their partnership as the latter went on to a string of political posts, including a stint as Republic of Texas envoy to the Netherlands. Howth disappears from Bexar County deed transfers after 1847; the former Avoca properties changed hands through the 1850s, and the area was no longer known by that name until the Alamo Heights Development Co. acquired a large chunk of the former townsite and promoted the land by an unsubstantiated association between Avoca and Alamo hero Davy Crockett. The land owned by the development company was only a small part of present-day Alamo Heights, but it was these developers who popularized the identification between Avoca and Alamo Heights.

Anyone with information about a street map or plat of Avoca may contact this column with information. All replies will be forwarded and may be featured in a future column.
Probate Judge Tom Rickhoff is continuing to wage an essentially unfunded campaign to defeat Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff next month, campaign finance reports show.

Rickhoff, a Republican, hasnt reported a single contribution since announcing his candidacy in December. He has spent only about $8,000 on the race  mostly to create a website  and his campaign had roughly $400 on hand as of Sept. 27, according to the most recent report. Wolffs report shows he has spent $223,000 this year on the race and has a war chest of about $467,000.

Wolff, a staple of San Antonio politics, has been county judge since he was appointed to the seat in 2001. A former state senator and San Antonio mayor, Wolff is seeking re-election for a fifth time.

Rickhoff, like Wolff, has been on the Bexar County ballot  and won  since the 1970s, when he was first elected district clerk. He has since served as a judge on district, appellate and probate courts, and he said he is banking on that reputation in November.

Ive been around the courthouse for a long time, hearing cases by the tens of thousands, and many people have come to know me, Rickhoff said. Doing your job well is the best politics.

The Wolff campaign said its spending, which includes more than $50,000 on media and advertising and $40,000 in opposition research and polling, doesnt imply any concern about the race.

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You should never be overconfident, said Wolff, a Democrat. You cant take it for granted any time you have an opponent.

Christian Archer, Wolffs strategist, said the campaign has been trying to ensure people know that Wolff is on the ballot this year.

Were going to continue to spend money, Archer said. People have to be aware that theres a campaign going on.

Walter Wilson, a political science professor at the University of Texas at San Antonio, said Wolff likely will win because of his record, the relationships he has developed with business and development leaders, and the intrinsic advantages Democrats enjoy in Bexar County.

If I were in the business community, Id say that Judge Wolff is a proven commodity, Wilson said. Hes someone I know, and someone I know I can work with.

Its precisely those relationships  and the donations that result from them  that Rickhoff says prompted him to run in the first place. The Republicans campaign has mostly consisted of lambasting the county judge and the Commissioners Court in general for what he calls a pay to play system.

Rickhoff says he wants to restore ethics on the court  he previously said he would drop out if Wolff enacted certain changes  and renew focus on central obligations in the county.

Related: Rickhoff to Wolff: Pass ethics reform and Ill drop out of the county judge race

Rickhoff posts a near-daily series called Questions for Nelson, identifying instances of what he calls greedy misconduct.

One such target is a county contract with law firm Linebarger Goggan Blair & Sampson, which handles delinquent tax collection for the county. Wolffs daughter-in-law Sandi Wolff (Commissioner Kevin Wolffs wife), started working there shortly after the contract was renewed this year. Months later, the firm donated $5,000 to the judges campaign.

Both Wolffs and the firm have denied any improper dealings involving the contract or hiring. Kevin Wolff said the firm didnt gain anything with the county by hiring his wife, especially because he and his father will recuse themselves from future votes involving the firm.

And TJ Mayes, the judges chief of staff, said the firm has had the county contract for at least 25 years, well before Wolff became county judge.

Theres nothing new to say. Its a silly argument, Archer said. When you look at the number of steps for anybody to get a contract, its not like the judge makes that decision.

Related: Rickhoff kicks off county judge race with attacks on Wolff for pay to play

While Rickhoff primarily touts ethics reform, he also has said he wants to rein in wasteful spending and restructure the countys debt.

Wolff said hes confident that his record will lift him over Rickhoff for a fifth term, even as he has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on the contest.

Im concentrating on my job, he said. Ill leave the politics to Mr. Rickhoff.

Wolff pointed to criminal justice reform, workforce development and continuing projects along San Pedro Creek and the San Antonio River as his greatest priorities moving forward if he is re-elected.

Early voting begins Monday and will run through Nov. 2. Election Day is Nov. 6.

Dylan McGuinness covers local politics and the Bexar County government for the Express-News. Read him on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | dylan.mcguinness@express-news.net | Twitter: @DylMcGuinness
Outnumbered in his opposition to an Alamo Plaza makeover plan, Councilman Clayton Perry mentioned something Thursday on the dais that gave Mayor Ron Nirenberg a jolt: the looming election to amend the City Charter.

You know, maybe there needs to be a petition drive on this, Perry said. Well, weve got an election in November here. It would be an easy way to get petitions signed.

A foe of the proposed amendments, the mayor quickly cut off his colleague: Councilman, theres a secondary motion on the floor; so keep your comments to that motion, please.

Perrys aside was particularly jolting considering hed released a statement a week prior that he would personally be voting no on all three charter amendments. Proposition A in particular would make it easier to overturn council decisions by lowering the threshold for signatures on referendum petitions and increasing the amount of time allowed for gathering them.

Perry wasnt the only council member Thursday who seemed to contradict himself on the issue.

District 6 Councilman Greg Brockhouse, in defending his vote for the Alamo plan, unintentionally offered an eloquent pitch on the dais for why voters should reject the charter amendments: The process of public engagement that culminated in his vote, he said, had worked exactly as it should.

In four years, the city held 10 public meetings, nine council briefings and 19 meetings of the Alamo Citizens Advisory Committee on the gestating plan. Through that process, one of its most controversial elements  moving the Cenotaph honoring the defenders who died in the 1836 battle  was amended so that the monument would stay within the plaza, although this compromise did little to assuage the anger of those upset by the plan.

The compromise that did occur was admirable, Brockhouse said on the dais. I want to be very clear to the folks on the Cenotaph.  Youve had a victory. And youve brought it back to where it stays in the plaza.

He added, That thing could very well be parked off Market Street or in a warehouse somewhere. The public engagement is what kept it in the plaza. That is City Hall at work.

Nonetheless, later that same night at a forum on the East Side, Brockhouse argued forcefully for all three charter amendments as measures needed to fix a broken City Hall.

I believe in the power of the community to make a choice, period, Brockhouse told voters gathered at the Beasley Brown Community Center.

It wasnt the first time he had contradicted himself on the amendments. Six months ago, the councilman told me he had serious reservations about Proposition B, which would cap the salary of future city managers and place term limits on them.

My concerns are: Are we going to be able to attract quality talent?  I would want flexibility as an elected official to make the right hire, Brockhouse said then.

On Friday, I asked Brockhouse how he could tout the charter amendments even after praising the process that produced the Alamo plan.

A broken clock is right twice a day, he quipped.

A beat later, he conceded the city had gotten this one right: I think that issue earned peoples vote.

I noted that his support for the plan reflected the compromise reached on the Cenotaph  exactly the sort of compromise that Proposition A could upend by empowering special interests.

Brockhouse conceded the passionate Cenotaph defenders were exactly the type to take advantage of a lower threshold for signatures on a petition. But he argued that gathering 20,000 signatures in 180 days  the parameters proposed in Proposition A  still was too arduous a task for everyday citizens.

The ability to complete the petition? I just dont see it, Brockhouse said.

Why, then, support the amendments?

The simplest explanation is that they were dreamed up by the San Antonio Professional Firefighters Association, Brockhouses closest political ally for whom he once worked as a consultant. It doesnt hurt that passage of the propositions would weaken Nirenberg, whom Brockhouse is expected to challenge in May.

Perrys case is more confounding.

Although the councilman said he plans to vote against the amendments, his statement last week was notably wobbly.

I have made an effort to remain neutral on the November ballot Propositions A, B, and C to not sway voters on their personal views of how City Hall is governed. This vote is theirs, Perry said in the statement, adding, This has nothing to do with choosing sides, this is about what I believe is the best way to move San Antonio forward.

Leadership, though, often is about choosing a side  and staying there.
Sarah Negron was on her lunch break when she spotted the puppy.

Negron, a Toyota employee who moved to San Antonio from Puerto Rico seven years ago, has a history of rescuing stray dogs. She couldnt resist the brown and black boxer blend she saw on Southwest Military Drive, near the intersection with Somerset Road.

The dog was alarmingly skinny and struggling to move. Upon close inspection, Negron realized the puppy had a broken leg, likely the result of being hit by a car.

Negron rescued the puppy after work on Friday, Oct. 12, and took it straight to Animal Care Services, in the hope that the dog could get needed surgery.

When Negron arrived at the ACS office, she spoke with Bethany Colonnese, the departments live release manager. Negron told Colonnese that the dog was in her car and needed help.

Thats when things got complicated.

Negron lives outside the city limits, in an unincorporated part of southwest Bexar County. Even though Negron found the puppy within the city limits, Colonnese told her ACS couldnt accept the dog.

As a Bexar County resident, unfortunately we cant intake, Colonnese told her, as seen in a video that Negron shot at the ACS office. We cant check where you found the dog, but we know where you live.

When Negron said she found the situation ridiculous, Colonnese responded, When you choose to live in the county, you understand that theres going to be less services that are available.

A frustrated Negron left the ACS office with the injured puppy.

The incident has stirred outrage among some local rescue activists, who find it absurd that an injured stray picked up in the city of San Antonio can be turned away by ACS, based on the address of the person who happens to find the dog.

In an Oct. 13 email to Councilman Rey Saldana, whose district includes the area where Negron found the dog, Kelly Reid Walls, who runs Homeward Bound Dog Rescue, wrote, Why does it matter what the address is of the person who found him? If the governor of our state found this puppy instead of the Good Samaritan, would Ms. Colonnese rudely turn him away, too?

As Negron sees it, the issue shouldnt be where she lives, because the dog didnt belong to her and she wasnt seeking help for herself or one of her own pets.

The bureaucratic myopia of the ACS policy is obvious when you consider that after having the puppy turned away, Negron took the stray to Walls  who does live within San Antonios city limits  and when Walls called ACS, and provided her own address, ACS agreed to pick up the dog.

Lisa Norwood, the public relations and outreach manager for ACS, said in a Friday email that it is standard to ask for identification for anyone who does a transaction at ACS including anyone who brings in an animal as the shelter provides animal control services for San Antonio residents only.

Norwood added, Bexar County provides services for their residents at their own animal shelter which they operate jointly with Kirby. Injured animals are among our highest priorities, however, and an officer could have been dispatched to pick up the dog at the location where it was on Military if it had been called in.

As Walls sees it, if a tourist finds an injured dog downtown and takes it to ACS for urgent care, the home address of the rescuer shouldnt make a difference.

While its understandable that ACS, like any municipal department, has limits to its resources and has to be wary of anyone who might try to game the system, there should be room for common sense to prevail.

It should have been obvious that Negrons only motive was to save a suffering dog. In a situation like that, ACS should always err on the side of compassion.

Castros Journey

Former Mayor Julian Castros promotional tour for his new memoir, An Unlikely Journey, kicked into high gear over the last week, most notably with a Wednesday appearance on The Daily Show.

Castros interview with host Trevor Noah found the San Antonio Democrat in relaxed, assured form, most notably in the way Castro handled the joke.

The joke, as anyone familiar with Castro and his identical twin brother, U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, would know, is that Julian describes himself as a minute smarter than Joaquin, while Joaquin says Julian is a minute uglier than him.

On The Daily Show, after Noah mentioned that he once interviewed Joaquin, Julian asked the host if his brother had told the joke.

This question represents a positive step in self-awareness for the Castros, the point at which they no longer tell the same old stale groaner expecting laughs but reference it only to mock its staleness.

Next step: a new joke.

Gilbert Garcia is a columnist covering the San Antonio and Bexar County area. Read him on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | ggarcia@express-news.net | Twitter: @gilgamesh470
BRIDGEPORT  A man previously convicted on weapons charges was again charged last month for threatening a city restaurant owner and security staff at gunpoint, an incident report said.

Shakir Sultan, 39, of Thorme Street in Bridgeport, was charged with carrying a pistol without a permit, failure to safely store a loaded firearm, illegal possession of a weapon in a motor vehicle, carrying a dangerous weapon, criminal possession of a firearm and ammunition and first-degree threatening.

A recently obtained incident report indicated that on Sept. 17, police responded to Paradise Restaurant and Bar at 1725 Barnum Ave. around 1 a.m. for a report of a suspicious man with a gun who fled in a silver car with Florida plates.

Officers that spoke to the owner and security at the bar found out that the man, later identified as Sultan, was asked to leave the bar when he started to become disruptive, the incident report said. The owner told police the man had been a patron of his for some time.

According to the report, Sultan was unhappy that he was asked to leave and said he would be back. And shortly after, the incident report said, Sultan did exactly that.

He was pounding and kicking on the door, the report said. And when the owner and security staff opened the door, he then pulled a firearm out from somewhere on his person, held it in his right hand, and said Now what! You know me now!?

Sultan left, in a Enterprise rental car with a passenger, after the owner ran back inside to call 911.

Officers soon found the suspect vehicle at the Turnid gas station on the corner of East Main and Hamilton streets. Sultan was detained in the store.

Police did a sweep of the vehicle and saw a black firearm sticking out from under the passenger seat, the incident report said. Police said the gun was a .38 caliber Lorcin with seven rounds in the magazine and one in the chamber.

A photo of Sultan was taken to the restaurant owner, who positively identified him as the person who had threatened him and his security at gunpoint.

Court records show Sultans bail was set at $100,000. He was released from custody. His next court date is scheduled for Nov. 14.
Towns across the state are faced with ash trees dying faster than they can remove them due to a tiny invasive insect  and its going to cost millions of dollars across Connecticut.

The emerald ash borer has killed thousands of trees throughout the state, prompting officials to start crafting plans on how to pay for the work, including the possibility of borrowing money or deferring other road work to handle trees.

Some towns hope the federal or state governments will create a way to help with the costs  much like what would happen in a natural emergency

Everybody from this part of Connecticut has this problem, said Redding Public Works Director Jeff Hanson. The emerald ash borer is wreaking havoc.

Redding is grappling with how to remove more than 900 ash trees over the next few years. In an effort to chip away at the growing list, a crew was hired to take down 50 to 60 trees in four weeks beginning last Monday.

These weeks of work will cost $30,000, leaving little left in the towns $50,000 tree removal budget, especially because a portion was needed earlier this year.

Hanson expects the overall work to tackle the full list to cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Other towns are also facing large bills and trying to figure out how to cover the costs.

I dont think any town has their funding in place to take them down, said Thomas Osborne, Washingtons tree warden. He said Washington maxes out its limited tree removal budget every year.

Dead trees are hazardous because they can come down on power lines, block roads and potentially injure or kill someone, especially in these recent storms with powerful winds.

We know we need a plan, Osborne said.

A recent problem

The emerald ash borer was first seen in the U.S. near Detroit in 2002 and in Connecticut in 2012. It was discovered in Fairfield County the following year.

The removal problem is even newer, starting about a year or so ago.

Last year, the state Department of Transportation began a specialized tree removal program focusing on the trees affected by the emerald ash borer and the gypsy moth, said DOT spokesman Kevin Nursick. He added theres been a major uptick the number of compromised, dead or dying trees because of these insects and consecutive years of drought.

Were looking at tens of thousands of trees that need to be removed from Connecticut DOT right of ways, he said.

Right now, the removal is eating through the departments operational funds, but Nursick said they are looking at ways to better fund it and purchasing specialized equipment to efficiently remove trees so they dont have to keep renting the machinery.

He estimates it will cost millions of dollars over the next few years, but hesitates to set an exact timeframe.

This is going to be a challenge for years to come, he said.

He said the departments 12 tree crews are taking down healthy ash trees near infected ash trees because its only a matter of time before those become infected as well.

The infestation

The emerald ash borer has killed tens of millions of ashes from Colorado to New Hampshire and is marching from west to east. Some stands in eastern Connecticut seem relatively healthy, but sooner or later, theyll wither and die, too.

Authorities have set firewood quarantines in a broad swath of the U.S. in an attempt to contain the insect, but because the beetle is an excellent flier, these steps have only delayed the inevitable, experts say.

Before the emerald ash borer hit, ash represented about three percent of the tree population, said Jeffrey Ward, chief scientist of the Department of Forestry & Horticulture at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station. That works out to over 21 million trees with a diameter of over one inch.

That percentage increases to 15 percent when looking at trees with trunks at least 30 inches in diameter. Ashes, like sycamores, are relatively immune to disease once theyre well-established, at least until the emerald ash borer came along. It was one of the species that played a part in the reforestation of the state after farms were abandoned in the 19th and early 20th centuries as agriculture moved west.

It was also considered a good street tree and replaced a bulk of New Havens elm trees a century ago after the Dutch elm disease ravaged the species of trees that gave the city its nickname.

It makes a great street tree - and until the EAB came along, it was about as disease- and pest-resistant as a tree can be, said station entomologist Claire E. Rutledge.

All of the ashes near the experiment station have takedown notices stapled to their trunks, a warning that chain saws and wood chippers will be coming soon. All are suffering from crown die-back, in which leaf growth retreats to the center of the tree.

Itll be a shame to see them all go, Rutledge said as she looked up and down the street, populated with once-healthy ashes.

The aftermath

Once the ashes are removed, theres the cost to get rid of them: Redding will give it free to residents for firewood. Public Works will even deliver it to the end of their driveways.

The larger wood is brought back to the transfer station and chopped up. If no one asks for the firewood, the town has to pay $10,000 to $12,000 to haul it away and clean out the transfer station. The town is looking at long-term solutions to deal with the wood removal, Hanson said.

Washington will leave the wood for the residents if they want, or will take it back to the town dump to chop it up. Theyll offer it as firewood, or if no residents want it theyll pay a company to take the wood to turn into mulch.

The state will destroy the wood and return it to the woods if the area allows, or theyll bring it back to a DOT area. If they collect enough dead wood, theyll bid it out for a company to turn it into mulch.

Nursick said giving the wood away has too many risks of spreading the invaders.
The First Presbyterian Church of Fairfield, 2475 Easton Turnpike, Fairfield, will celebrate its 165th birthday on Oct. 28, beginning at 10 a.m., with a Founders Day Sunday honoring its 81 founding members from the 19th century.

Some of the historical figures who will be remembered include the first minister, Dr. Nathaniel Hewitt, first Elder Captain John Brooks, Jr., Captain Burr Knapp and Mary Bishop.

The special Founders Day Sunday will include a retrospective worship service starting with the early days of the church in Bridgeport in 1953 to its present-day Fairfield location. Guest speakers, music by Fanny Crosby, a Victorian-era tea and a special remembrance drive through Mountain Grove Cemetery will focus on the early days and will recognize founding members.

All are welcome. For information, call the church office, 203-374-6176.

Open house at St. Thomas Aquinas

St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic School invites community members to attend its all-school (pre-K - eighth grade) open house. All interested parents are welcome to visit the classrooms, tour the school, meet the principal, and talk with teachers, parents and students.

The open house will take place Oct. 21 from 10 a.m. to noon at the school, 1719 Post Road, Fairfield.

Halloween on the Green on Oct. 28

The date is set for Fairfields most spirited annual family event, Halloween on the Green. Families are invited to come in costume to the Museum Commons behind the Fairfield Museum & History Center on Oct. 28 from noon to 4 p.m.

This family event, presented by the Fairfield Museum and the Town of Fairfield, will feature trick-or-treating, giveaways, performances, parades, food trucks, bounce houses, games, crafts, activities and more. Elaborate Halloween displays will be set up in the historic buildings on the Museum Commons, and the entire area will be transformed into an enchanting Halloween village.

This marks the third year of the event (formerly known as Trick or Treat on Safety Street).

The response over the past two years has been really exciting, said Christine Jewell, Fairfield Museums director of education and community programs. It is a true community effort, and thousands of people have enjoyed a day full of activities in costume.

Many local businesses are again sponsoring and nonprofit groups are assisting with the event.

Some highlights of the day will include a costume parade at 1 p.m. led by Superintendent of Schools Toni Jones (meet in front of Old Town Hall), performances by local groups, trick-or-treating, a bounce house, hay rides, pumpkin carving in front of St. Pauls Episcopal Church and food trucks. This years food trucks are Hardcore Sweet Cupcakes, The Local Meatball, Little Kernels Kettle Corn, Renos Pizza Truck and Super Duper Weenie.

Chamber offers discounts for residents

The Fairfield Chamber of Commerce is reintroducing its discount savings program (new design and mobile phone accessibility), in the spirit of reinforcing the theme of shopping local.

The Chamber Monday Money-Saver is a weekly e-bulletin offering discounts, special offers and deals from the members of the Fairfield Chamber of Commerce. For example, discounts on car washes, fitness classes, shredding, car leases, eye exams, restaurants, photography, theater tickets and more.

The Money-Saver provides a variety of businesses and restaurants offering special discounts and savings. This is available the general public so that everyone has the opportunity to take advantage of the discounts as well.

If anyone is interested in receiving the Chamber Monday Money-Saver, call the Chamber office at 203-255-1011 or go www.FairfieldCTChamber.com. Scroll down to the blue button that says Join Our Email List.

Art studio reaches 10th anniversary

The Studio, a small business and art studio in Fairfield, is celebrating its 10th anniversary. Co-owned by Fairfield residents Priscilla Igram and Christine Orlando, The Studio offers a wide range of art instruction to students ages 5 to adult in a renovated, vintage barn located at 43 Ruane St.

The Studio began in 2008 when Igram and Orlando recognized a need for more comprehensive art instruction for elementary students in Fairfield, including their own children. Both accomplished artists themselves, the duo initially tested their business in the basement of Orlandos sisters home in the Stratfield section of town. A success from the start, The Studio moved to locations in Stratfield Village and the SportsPlex before settling in at their current home in downtown Fairfield.

Classes for adults are offered weekdays between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., with after-school instruction for children and teens until 6 p.m. Evening offerings include classes in oil painting and pottery, and instruction is offered in other mediums, including drawing, sculpting, and printmaking. Summer camps take place during the months of July and August, and The Studio is available for private parties upon request.

We are thrilled to celebrate our 10th year as a successful small business in Fairfield, Igram said. We enjoy being part of the Fairfield community and we are so pleased to continue to grow and expand with new and creative classes for anyone who wants to learn more about art.

We love what we do, and we continue to study art ourselves and work in our field to keep knowledge and concepts on the cutting edge, Orlando said.
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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.

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The following companies are subsidiares of Exxon Mobil: AKG Marketing Company Limited, Aera Energy LLC, Al-Jubail Petrochemical Company, Ampolex (Cepu) Pte Ltd, Ancon Insurance Company Inc., Barnett Gathering LLC, Barzan Gas Company Limited, Caspian Pipeline Consortium, Celtic Exploration Ltd., Coral FLNG S.A., Cross Timbers Energy LLC, Ellora Energy Inc., Esmeroon Oil Transporta Imperial Oil Limited, Esso (Thailand) Public Company Limited, Esso Australia Resources Pty Ltd, Esso Deutschland GmbH, Esso Erdgas Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH, Esso Exploration Angola (Block 15) Limited, Esso Exploration Angola (Block 17) Limited, Esso Exploration and Production Angola (Overseas) Limited, Esso Exploration and Production Chad Inc., Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited, Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria (Deepwater) Limited, Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria (Offshore East) Limited, Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria Limited, Esso Exploration and Production UK Limited, Esso Global Investments Ltd., Esso Italiana S.r.l., Esso Nederland B.V., Esso Norge AS, Esso Petroleum Company Limited, Esso Raffinage, Esso Societe Anonyme Francaise, Exxo Holdings Inc., Exxon Azerbaijan Limited, Exxon Chemical Arabia Inc., Exxon International Finance Company, Exxon Luxembourg Holdings LLC, Exxon Mobile Bay Limited Partnership, Exxon Neftegas Limited, Exxon Overseas Corporation, Exxon Overseas Investment Corporation, ExxonMobil (China) Investment Co. Ltd., ExxonMobil (Taicang) Petroleum Co. Ltd., ExxonMobil Abu Dhabi Offshore Petroleum Company Limited, ExxonMobil Alaska Production Inc., ExxonMobil Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd., ExxonMobil Australia Pty Ltd, ExxonMobil B Resources Company, ExxonMobil Capital Finance Company, ExxonMobil Capital Netherlands B.V., ExxonMobil Central Europe Holding GmbH, ExxonMobil Cepu Limited, ExxonMobil Chemical France, ExxonMobil Chemical Gulf Coast Investments LLC, ExxonMobil Chemical Holland B.V., ExxonMobil Chemical Services (Shanghai) Co. 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iShares Latin America 40 ETF's stock was trading at $22.49 on March 11th, 2020 when COVID-19 (Coronavirus) reached pandemic status according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Since then, ILF shares have increased by 9.2% and is now trading at $24.57.

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The sextoy market is growing quite rapidly in India right now.

Although it is not a big trend, it is a hot topic on the internet as it is secretly expanding its market.

In this article, we will focus on sextoy and introduce recommended sextoy for Indian beginners of sextoy by gender.

India, the birthplace of the Kama Sutra, is very strict about sex.

Also, premarital sex is basically not allowed. Therefore, there are many people who are sexually restricted.

But what happens when you continue to be sexually restricted?

Frustration may build up and you may end up taking your sexual stress out on your partner.

If you are able to adopt sextoy in a timely manner, you can get rid of those problems.

I want to have more exciting sex than Im having now.

I want more variation in masturbation

I want to get even stronger pleasure than I do on my own.

If you have any of these problems, please stay with me until the end.

What is sex toys for Indian?

Sextoy, as the name implies, is a toy used during sex and masturbation.

It is a generic term for vibrators, Egg-vibrators, Electric massagers, dildo, handcuffs and condoms.

They are used to make regular sex more exciting or to make masturbation more pleasurable.

Because sextoy is very stimulating, it can help you to get rid of the problems and frustrations of being in a rut of sex with your partner for a long time, or if you are unhappy with the lack of pleasure in sex with your partner.

The ability to satisfy your desires with movement, texture, and size, which cannot be done by a normal human being, can help you to be satisfied with sex and, as a result, improve your relationship with your partner.

It is also said to help improve sexual dysfunction (inability to get an erection or ejaculate) and difficulty in feeling during sex (insensitivity), which is attracting more attention than in the past.

In recent years, the demand for sextoy has increased due to the spread of smartphones and the Internet and the increasing number of people using online shopping.

Even those who are concerned about the appearance of sextoy (and find it difficult to purchase) can now easily obtain it by using mail order.

In the case of online shopping, most of the stores have taken steps to ensure that the contents of the products delivered to you are not revealed, so you can purchase them without your family members knowing.

Until a while ago, you had to go to the store where the adult goods were sold to buy them, so it was quite a hurdle to overcome.

Also, many people may have an image that sextoy is somehow embarrassing to own.

But nowadays, some of them are so stylish and cute that you cant believe they are sextoy at a glance.

More and more people are using them for travel and outdoor use because they are not too bulky and are suitable for carrying around.

Sextoy situation in India

Before introducing the recommended sextoy for Indians, lets talk about one of the sextoy situations in India in recent years.

In India, due to the high concentration of population, the following six cities have particularly high sales of sextoy in India.

Mumbai

Kolkata

Bangalore

Delhi

Chennai

Hyderabad

These cities account for roughly 70 percent of sextoy sales in India.

In the future, the percentage of sextoy use will gradually increase in other cities in India as well.

If you never talk about sextoy publicly, that girl in your neighborhood might be a sextoy user too.

If you are interested in sextoy, you dont have to suppress your desire for it.

What are Sextoys for beginner?

Among all sextoys, sextoy for beginners are vibrators, dildo, masturbators, Sex Lubricants, and condoms.

Sex Lubricants and condoms, which are familiar to people who have had sex, are also a great beginners sextoy.

I will explain the details of each toy later, but there are many sextoy products that are painful to use and can only be used after some anal expansion.

I assume that the Indian readers of this article are people who have not had much experience with sextoy.

If such people use professional sextoy suddenly, they are at risk of injury or trauma.

Therefore, to introduce sextoy, you need to start with a beginners version and gradually become familiar with it.

Advantages of using sextoy for Indians

There are three advantages of using sextoy for Indians

You can masturbate in a wide variety of ways.

Can have stimulating sex

Can develop new sexual zones

If you try to masturbate with your own fingers or hands, it tends to be a pattern.

However, with sextoy, you can easily masturbate in a variety of ways.

You will definitely be fascinated by the attraction of new stimulation.

Also, your daily sex life will be more exciting than ever.

There are many things in sextoy that are visually stimulating and give you a strong and intense feeling of pleasure.

This allows you to see your partners promiscuity in a way that you wouldnt normally see it.

When you are in a relationship, sex with your partner may become a pattern, but it can also eliminate these problems.

It can also lead to the development of new sexual zones (which is the training of sexual stimulation to allow you to feel orgasms).

For more information on the development of new sexual zones, see the following articles

[Women's Erogenous Zone]How to find and develop, 7 hidden sexual zones !![In India] In this issue, we will dissect the female erogenous zone! ..." Many of you may be like that. Men, in particular, shou...

Thus, the use of sextoy can only be a good thing for the men and women of India.

Sextoy for beginner men in India

So, lets continue with the recommended goods for Indian sextoy beginners.

For ease of understanding, we will introduce them by gender. Lets start with the men!

The following five goods are recommended for novice Indian sextoy men

Masturbator

Cock rings

Love Doll

Sex Lubricants

Toys for the prostate

Lets check each one in detail.

Masturbator

The masturbator is a sextoy for men that elaborately reproduces a womans vagina, mouth, and anus, and is one of the most popular sextoy products.

It is used by men to masturbate, and it is popular because it provides stronger stimulation and pleasure more easily than using hands.

Most are made of good quality silicone, and their softness is something that cannot be achieved with ones own hands.

They can provide stronger pleasure than a real womans vagina, so be careful not to overuse them. (You wont be able to have an orgasm in a womans vagina anymore.)

Again Male masturbators are a wonderful toy. I do not need any favourite timing, bothersome bargaining. You do not have to worry too much.

Revolutionize your masturbation time! ! !

Made in Japan is a wonderful kinky toy.#sextoysindia #SexToyIndia #Japanhttps://t.co/4k70QGzoTP pic.twitter.com/tRVdxTKPpa   SEXToys India PR  (@SextoysIndia) November 12, 2018

Some of them are disposable, while others can be washed and used over and over again, so its fun to buy a few to use depending on your mood.

If you want to know more about masturbator, please click here

Really pleasant male masturbation and how to do it Are you in a rut with your daily masturbation routine? I'm going to show you five ways men masturbate that you might ...

[For Beginners] How to choose and use a male masturbator without fail Gentlemen.Have you ever used a masturbator? The person who sees this article is probably the one who has not experien...

Cock Ring

A cock ring is literally a ring-shaped sextoy that is worn on a mans penis.

It maintains an erection by binding the penis with a ring of rubber and blocking blood flow.

It is sometimes used as an accessory to be worn on the penis, and may be made of metal or plastic as well as rubber.

In some cases, cock rings have parts or vibrators attached to them that stimulate the vagina, so they kill two birds with one stone, giving a woman pleasure while maintaining an erection.

Cock rings are also sometimes used to treat erectile dysfunction.

It can help with erectile dysfunction, where the penis doesnt get hard when you get an erection or doesnt last long when you try to insert it.

Men who are prone to breakage or who are unsure of the hardness and size of their erections can use a cock ring to increase the size of their penis and maintain an erection for a longer period of time.

Cock rings vary in price from around RS700 to over RS2000 with a vibrator function.

Some of them do not fit your penis, so you should check the size of the cock ring before you buy.

You should know the size of your partners or your own penis when it is erect.

[Penis enlargement] What is a cock ring? Types and usage Cock rings can make your penis bigger and harder. It also makes sex with women more fulfilling and increases your sat...

Love Doll

Love dolls, also known as Dutchwives, are dolls with the appearance of a woman who can experience simulated sex.

There are dolls that look like a woman, but they have no face and only have their breasts and lower torso cut off, and some dolls are so realistic that they can actually be mistaken for real women.

Some expensive dolls can cost more than 1 million yen, and the quality of the doll is easily influenced by the price.

The higher the price, the higher the quality of the doll will be, the closer it will be to the real woman, and the cheaper the doll will be, the less elaborate it will be, making it look like a real doll! Something is wrong! That is also true.

You cant go wrong if you choose a balance between price and taste.

There are stores that allow you to make custom-made love dolls, so you can create a girl of your choice.

You can make a girl of your choice. You can start with inexpensive love dolls at first, and once you get used to it, you can try custom-made love dolls.

If you want to know more about Love doll, please click here

Thorough explanation of the charm of sex dolls! Have you ever heard of sex dolls that are used primarily for pseudo-sex purposes? It is a doll that is quite close to...

Sex lubricants

Sex lubricants are used as a substitute for lubricating fluid during sex or as a lubricant for men to use masturbator rules.

It is not uncommon for women to have difficulty getting wet, depending on their physical condition, or to have difficulty getting wet due to their constitution.

Forcing the penis into the vagina at such times can cause painful intercourse.

There are various types of Sex Lubricants, some with a warming effect, some with a cooling effect, and some with a scent.

Changing the Sex Lubricant used during play is recommended as a good sex accent.

If you want to learn more about Sex Lubricants, click here.

What is sex lubricant?Explain the difference and usage of each ingredient The word "sex toy" may seem like a hurdle to overcome, but lotion is actually one of the most familiar sex toys. Many...

Toys for the Prostate

Another sextoy for men is prostate toys.

The most famous prostate toys include Enemagra, which was originally a prostate massager developed by an American urologist to treat an enlarged prostate line.

Modern prostate toys are imitations of Enemagra that have spread as sextoy for men.

Many people think of prostate toys as being used by gay men, but in fact they are often used by straight men.

What is the prostate?

The prostate is an organ found only in men. It is a walnut-sized organ located deep in the pelvis, just below the bladder, and its primary role is to protect and nourish sperm.

You cannot touch the prostate gland from outside the body, but you can touch it by inserting a finger or sextoy through the anus.

By inserting a finger or sextoy through the anus and touching the prostate and developing it, you can feel intense orgasms.

Orgasms felt in the prostate are mainly dry orgasms, which are orgasms that do not involve ejaculation. (You can also feel orgasms with ejaculation through prostate stimulation.)

The prostate is called the male G-spot, and dry orgasms can be much more intense than ejaculation.

Therefore, men who are able to develop a prostate can become addicted to the pleasure.

sextoy for beinner women in India

The following are the recommended goods for Indian women who are new to sextoy.

The following three are recommended for use by women who are new to sextoy.

Vibrator.

Dildo

Electric Masserger

Lets check out what each one is in detail.

If you want to check out womens toys, click here.

[BEST25]Sex Toys for Women in IndiaThat Can Help You Have an Orgasm There are many women who pretend to feel orgasm during sex. But don't worry, you don't have to pretend to feel orgasm...

Vibrators

A vibrator is a sextoy that vibrates with an Egg-Vibrator to provide stimulation and is often referred to simply as a vibrator.

Some vibrate as well as rotate, and there are many variations of sextoy.

It is quite a popular sextoy, and is well recognized by people who do not know much about sextoy.

Its usage is similar to that of a massager, but it is more compact and easier to carry than a massager, and many of them look as cute as a lipstick or a macaroon, so they are popular among women.

For a while, a famous influencer on twitter said, This is good! You may have heard of the topic of this article by introducing the recommended vibrators.

Vibrators are great for women to use on their own, but they are also recommended for men who have difficulty satisfying women with sex.

Since it is powered by electricity, it is far less tiring than moving your hands by yourself.

This makes it easier to satisfy a woman with sex because you can caress her for longer than usual.

Vibrators are mainly used on the female side, but they can also be used on men.

When used on men, they are used to attack the nipples and glans, and in both cases it is recommended to wear a condom for hygiene reasons.

Introducing how to use the vibrator, its purpose, and how to choose it! Vibrator uses the vibrations caused by the rotation of the motor to provide stimulation. It is one or two of the most...

Dildo

A dildo is a model sextoy made to mimic a male penis.

It can be made of silicone, elastomer (think of it as a material similar to PVC), metal or glass.

A dildo can be used by a man for his female partner during sex, or by a woman for masturbation to get pleasure from it.

They are mainly inserted into women, but some can be used in the male anus as well.

It is sometimes used synonymously with vibrators, but the vibrator is not the same thing as a vibrating device.

A model of a penis that does not vibrate is a dildo.

Some of them have suction cups that can be attached to the floor or wall so that you can enjoy realistic masturbation without using your hands.

For fun, there is a dildo made in the shape of your partners penis.

This one is also popular as a gift, and if youve been together for a long time and are having trouble finding a gift for your partner, you might want to pick one.

To learn more about dildo, please click here.

What is Dildo: Orgasms with Dildos for Men and Women A dildo is a model of a male organ that is used by women for masturbation and by men to stimulate the prostate gland. Th...

Electric Masserger

A Electric Masserger is a hand-held electric massager, also known as a handheld massager, and can usually be purchased at electronics stores.

It was originally designed to relieve stiff shoulders and back pain, so the hurdle of buying one in a physical store is quite low.

Many people may have seen or used it in some form or another, as it is often installed in leisure hotels.

Such a massager is highly recommended for beginners because it is easy for women to get pleasure from it when they use it during masturbation.

It is larger than Egg-Vibrator and vibrations are stronger than those of Egg-Vibrators and vibrators, so even just hitting the clitoris can give you a great deal of pleasure.

For those women who have never had an orgasm during sex with their man, the massager may be a good way to get a feel for what it feels like to have an orgasm.

It looks and feels like an electric massager, so you wont have to feel awkward if your roommate finds out.

If you are in a rut of having sex with your partner, if you want to feel an orgasm through masturbation, or if you are thinking of using a sextoy, why dont you try it from a simple massager?

To learn more about Electric Masserger, click here.

What is a massager? Introducing types, selection methods, and usage Originally, the Magic-wand vibrator and the massage machine were sold as a home massage machine used for the back and th...

How to choose a sextoy for Indian

Now that weve covered the different types of sextoy, heres how to choose one.

Especially if you are trying sextoy for the first time, pay attention to the following three points:  Does the size fit you (the partner)?

Does the size fit you (your partner)?

Is the environment able to produce sound without problems?

Price range

First of all, the choice of size is quite important.

Most sextoy are used against or inserted into the genitals, but the genitals are very delicate organs for both men and women.

For this reason, using an inappropriate size may cause damage.

Secondly, the environment should be able to produce sound without problems.

Some sextoys not only wear, but also rotate and vibrate. Its easier to get pleasure from something that moves than something that doesnt, but the fact that it moves means that the internal rotors make some noise.

If you live in a house with thin walls or if you have roommates, you may not be able to concentrate because of the noise, so it is best to choose one that is silent or has a low noise level.

Especially in India, where many people live with their families, it is very important that you dont have to worry about sound when you use it.

Finally, there is the price range.

The price range of sextoy ranges widely, from around RS500 at the cheapest to RS10,000 or more at the highest.

Its good to consider how much money you can afford and how much you want to buy.

Do you want your family to not find out about sextoy?

I live with my family and want to use sextoy without them finding out! If you are a man, you should buy a camouflage sextoy that does not look like a sextoy at first glance.

For men, there are many masturbators that do not look like a sextoy, and for women, there are vibrators that only look like cosmetics.

If you choose such a type, youll be safe in case your family members find out.

How to buy sextoys in India

The best way to purchase sextoy is through online shopping.

For more information on how to purchase sextoy, please see the article below.

Sextoy is one of them.

Therefore, you can easily get sextoy in India by using online shopping.

SexToysINDIA is a long established and stable sextoy store and you can have sextoy delivered to any place in India.

They also offer cash on delivery, so those who are worried about shopping with a credit card do not have to worry.

Of course, the latest security is in place, so your information will not be taken out when you use your credit card.

To begin with, many people may be concerned about whether they are legally allowed to purchase sextoy.

ikmAs it turns out, its not illegal.

Right now, it is not open to the public because the Indian adult market is still in the development stage, but it will gradually spread from now on.

Take advantage of sextoy and open the door to new pleasures and culture.

Cautions for Indians using sextoy

When using sextoy, keep the following three things in mind

Keep sex toys clean

Watch out for electrical leakage

Beware of the heat generated by the body while using a sex toy

As I mentioned earlier, many sextoy products are used for the delicate zone.

Therefore, it is most important to keep the sextoy itself clean. It is very important to keep the sextoy itself clean, because if a slight scratch is created by friction, bacteria can enter and breed there.

It is safe to wear a condom when using the masturbator, just in case.

In addition, many sextoy devices are powered by a power source, so if they are not waterproof, there is a possibility of electric shock or malfunction due to wetness.

Some may even develop heat during continuous use. If the fever becomes too much, you may get burned, so be careful.

If you get a fever during use, stop driving the sextoy immediately and refrain from using it.

You will enjoy sex more if you keep it safe and use it correctly.

Summary

What did you think?

In this article, we have introduced the recommended sextoy for the beginners of sextoy in India.

The sextoy market is growing rapidly in India and it will continue to grow steadily in the future.

As India is a rather closed-minded country, it can be difficult to be open about ones sexual habits and values.

However, being faithful to ones desires by properly dissolving ones sexual desire is very effective for ones physical and mental health.

If this is your first time to learn about sextoy, or if you are interested in using sextoy, why not give it a try?

Indian Sextoys for ur best! will introduce you to sextoy and other trivia about sextoy, sexuality, and sexuality for men and women.

I want to read more! If you think its a great idea, please bookmark it.
KAZ Minerals PLC, together with its subsidiaries, engages in mining and processing copper and other metals primarily in Kazakhstan, Russia, and Kyrgyzstan. It operates through Bozshakol, Aktogay, East Region and Bozymchak, and Mining Projects segments. The company operates the Aktogay and Bozshakol open pit copper mines in the east region and Pavlodar region of Kazakhstan; three underground mines in the east region of Kazakhstan; and the Bozymchak copper-gold mine in Kyrgyzstan. It also develops greenfield metal deposits; operates Koksay deposit in Kazakhstan, and the Baimskaya licence area in the Chukotka region of Russia; and produces and sells various by-products, such as gold, silver, molybdenum, and zinc. In addition, the company supplies and distributes heat, water, and electricity; and offers construction, project management, financing, management, sales and logistics, and repairs and maintenance services. The company was formerly known as Kazakhmys PLC and changed its name to KAZ Minerals PLC in October 2014. KAZ Minerals PLC was founded in 1930 and is based in London, the United Kingdom.

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The following companies are subsidiares of Molina Healthcare: Aetna & Humana - Medicare Advantage, Affinity Health Plan, AmericanWork Inc., Better Health Network, Camelot Care Centers Inc, Children's Behavioral Health Inc., Choices Group Inc., College Community Services, Dockside Services Inc, Family Preservation Services Inc., Family Preservation Services of Florida Inc., Family Preservation Services of North Carolina Inc., Family Preservation Services of Washington D.C. Inc., Family Preservation Services of West Virginia Inc., Florida NetPASS LLC, Hclb Inc., Magellan Complete Care, Maple Star Nevada Inc., Maple Star Oregon Inc., Mercy CarePlus, Molina Clinical Services LLC, Molina Healthcare Data Center Inc., Molina Healthcare of Arizona Inc., Molina Healthcare of California, Molina Healthcare of Florida Inc., Molina Healthcare of Georgia Inc., Molina Healthcare of Illinois Inc., Molina Healthcare of Iowa Inc., Molina Healthcare of Louisiana Inc., Molina Healthcare of Maryland Inc., Molina Healthcare of Michigan Inc., Molina Healthcare of Mississippi Inc., Molina Healthcare of Nevada Inc., Molina Healthcare of New Mexico Inc., Molina Healthcare of New York Inc., Molina Healthcare of North Carolina Inc., Molina Healthcare of Ohio Inc., Molina Healthcare of Oklahoma Inc., Molina Healthcare of Pennsylvania Inc., Molina Healthcare of Puerto Rico Inc., Molina Healthcare of South Carolina LLC, Molina Healthcare of Texas Inc., Molina Healthcare of Texas Insurance Company, Molina Healthcare of Utah Inc., Molina Healthcare of Virginia Inc., Molina Healthcare of Washington Inc., Molina Healthcare of Wisconsin Inc., Molina Holdings Corporation, Molina Hospital Management LLC, Molina Information Systems LLC dba Molina Medicaid Solutions, Molina Medical Management Inc., Molina Pathways LLC, Molina Pathways of Texas Inc., Molina Youth Academy, NextLevel Health Illinois, Pathways Community Corrections Inc., Pathways Community Services LLC, Pathways Community Support of Texas Inc., Pathways Health and Community Support LLC, Pathways Human Services LLC., Pathways of Arizona Inc., Pathways of Delaware Inc., Pathways of Idaho LLC, Pathways of Maine Inc., Pathways of Massachusetts LLC, Pathways of Oklahoma Inc., Pathways of Washington Inc., Providence Community Services, Providence Human Services, Raystown Developmental Services Inc., The Game of Work LLC, The RedCo Group Inc., Total Care Medicaid plan, Transitional Family Services Inc., Unisys -Health Information Management, and YourCare Health Plan.
The following companies are subsidiares of Quest Diagnostics: AmeriPath, AmeriPath Cincinnati Inc. (OH), AmeriPath Cleveland Inc. (OH), AmeriPath Consolidated Labs Inc. (FL), AmeriPath Florida LLC (DE), AmeriPath Hospital Services Florida LLC (DE), AmeriPath Inc. (DE), AmeriPath Indianapolis PC (IN), AmeriPath Kentucky Inc. (KY), AmeriPath Lubbock 5.01(A) Corporation (TX), AmeriPath New York LLC (DE), AmeriPath Texas Inc. (DE), AmeriPath Tucson Inc. (AZ), American Medical Laboratories, American Medical Laboratories Incorporated (DE), Associated Clinical Laboratories L.P. (PA), Associated Clinical Laboratories of Pennsylvania L.L.C. (PA), Athena Diagnostics, Athena Diagnostics Inc. (DE), Blueprint Genetics, Blueprint Genetics FZ-LLC (UAE), Blueprint Genetics Inc. (DE), Blueprint Genetics Oy (Finland), California Laboratory Associates, Cape Cod Healthcare - Business, Celera, ClearPoint Diagnostic, Clearpoint Diagnostic Laboratories LLC (TX), Cleveland HeartLab, Cleveland HeartLab Inc. (DE), Clinical Laboratory Partners, Colorado Pathology Consultants P.C. (CO), ConVerge Diagnostic Services, Consolidated DermPath Inc. (DE), DFW 5.01(a) Corporation (TX), DGXWMT JV LLC (DE), Dermatopathology of Wisconsin S.C. (WI), Diagnostic Laboratory of Oklahoma LLC (OK), Diagnostic Pathology Services Inc. (OK), Diagnostic Reference Services Inc. (MD), ExamOne Canada Inc. (New Brunswick), ExamOne LLC (DE), ExamOne World Wide Inc. (PA), ExamOne World Wide of NJ Inc. (NJ), Focus Diagnostics, HemoCue, Hoffman M.D. Associated Pathologists Chartered (NV), Institute for Dermatopathology Inc. (PA), Isabella Street Urban Renewal LLC (NJ), Kailash B. Sharma M.D. Inc. (GA), Kilpatrick Pathology P.A. (NC), LabOne, LabOne LLC (MO), LabOne of Ohio Inc. (DE), Laboratorio de Analisis Biomedicos S.A. (Mexico), Lancet Labs, MACL, Med Fusion LLC (TX), Med fusion, MedPlus, Mid America Clinical Laboratories LLC (IN), Nomad Massachusetts Inc. (MA), Nuclear Medicine and Pathology Associates (GA), Ocmulgee Medical Pathology Association Inc. (GA), Pathology Building Partnership (MD) (gen. ptnrshp.), PeaceHealth Laboratories, PhenoPath Laboratories, PhenoPath Laboratories PLLC (WA), Q Squared Solutions Holdings LLC (DE), Q Squared Solutions Holdings Limited (UK), Quest Diagnostics (Shanghai) Co. Ltd. (China), Quest Diagnostics Brasil Holdings Ltd. (UK), Quest Diagnostics Clinical Laboratories, Quest Diagnostics Clinical Laboratories Inc. (DE), Quest Diagnostics Domestic Holder LLC (DE), Quest Diagnostics HTAS India Private Limited (India), Quest Diagnostics Health & Wellness LLC (DE), Quest Diagnostics Holdings Incorporated (DE), Quest Diagnostics Holdings Ltd. (UK), Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (MD), Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NV), Quest Diagnostics India Private Limited (India), Quest Diagnostics Infectious Disease Inc. (DE), Quest Diagnostics International Holdings Limited (UK), Quest Diagnostics International LLC (DE), Quest Diagnostics Investments LLC (DE), Quest Diagnostics Ireland Limited (Ireland), Quest Diagnostics LLC (CT), Quest Diagnostics LLC (IL), Quest Diagnostics LLC (MA), Quest Diagnostics Massachusetts LLC (MA), Quest Diagnostics Mexico Holding Company Trust (Mexico), Quest Diagnostics Mexico S de RL de CV (Mexico), Quest Diagnostics Nichols Institute (CA), Quest Diagnostics Nichols Institute Inc. (VA), Quest Diagnostics Receivables Inc. (DE), Quest Diagnostics Subsidiary Holdings Ltd. (UK), Quest Diagnostics TB LLC (DE), Quest Diagnostics Terracotta LLC (DE), Quest Diagnostics Venture LLC (PA), Quest Diagnostics Ventures LLC (DE), Quest Diagnostics do Brasil Ltda. (Brazil), Quest Diagnostics of Pennsylvania Inc. (DE), Quest Diagnostics of Puerto Rico Inc. (PR), Quest HealthConnect LLC (CA), ReproSource, Reprosource Fertility Diagnostics Inc. (MA), Solstas Lab Partners, Sonora Quest Laboratories LLC (AZ), Specialty Laboratories Inc. (CA), Summit Health, UMass Memorial Medical Center - Anatomic Pathology Outreach Laboratory Business, Unilab Corporation, and Unilab Corporation (DE).
(Updates made Oct. 23, to include additional staff who were let go).



COLUMBUS  Former Ohio Director of Agriculture David Daniels, who was terminated Oct. 19, said he has no regrets over how he served and that the John Kasich administration did not give him an answer for why he was dismissed.

Daniels, who served from 2012 until Friday, said he was called to a meeting at Gov. Kasichs office, where it was explained to Daniels that cabinet members service is at the pleasure of the governor, and that his service was no longer needed.

Assistant Director Tim Derickson has been appointed to serve in directors place.

I was called into a meeting in the governors office, where I was told today would be my last day, Daniels said.

No answer

He asked why, but said he was not given an answer. There were two more months remaining in his term, under the term-limited Kasich administration.

No one from the Kasich administration press office has returned Farm and Dairys calls for comment, including Oct. 22, when Kasich was a featured speaker at the National Conference of the First Amendment, in western Pa.

A spokesperson for the Ohio Department of Agriculture confirmed that two other staff members turned in their resignations the same day as Daniels, Deputy Director Janelle Mead, and Chief Legal Counsel Dustin Calhoun. Both said they were asked to resign, and that they enjoyed their time working for ODA.

The opportunity to work at ODA was a dream come true, and I think we did so many good things in the time that I was there, said Mead, who grew up on a Fayette County farm.

State Veterinarian Tony Forshey will serve as assistant director of ODA, and Fred Shimp, a state natural resources employee, will move to ODA to provide advisory support.

Calhoun said ODA was a state agency where people liked their jobs, and often made careers out of them. He joined the legal staff in 2016.

He said one of the things he especially liked was the ag departments focus on compliance, before enforcement.

Theyre a regulatory agency, but the goal is always compliance before enforcement, he said.

A Cleveland Plain Dealer article suggested the firing stemmed from differences Daniels and Kasich had regarding a recent executive order the governor issued, seeking to declare eight northwestern watersheds in distress, and requiring nutrient management plans on those same farms.

The order was not popular among most farm and conservation leaders, and is still being reviewed by the Ohio Soil and Water Conservation Commission  which must cast their approval if the order is to move forward.

During testimony before the commission, Daniels encouraged them to act on the governors science and approve the executive order.

Multiple concerns

But he told Farm and Dairy that he was also concerned the governors order had too many shortcomings, and that he was trying to communicate those concerns to Kasichs administration.

Daniels said he was concerned there would not be enough technical expertise, and that the cost of a mandatory plan for 2 million acres and 7,000 farmers could be too onerous.

I made my concerns known to the administration and worked to fulfill the direction that the governor wanted to go, Daniels said.

The seven-member commission has been grappling with the order since it was given to them, over issues such as affordability, staff resources and whether the plan, if fully implemented, would obtain the desired reduction in farm nutrient runoff.

Committee members have suggested that perhaps parts of the order could be implemented, or that smaller watersheds could be targeted, to see what works first. Theyve also suggested that more time is needed, because the research into new farming practices and conservation measures is still young and ongoing.

Public service

Aside from Gov. Kasichs executive order, which has dominated headlines from the ag department in recent weeks, Daniels said he is pleased with his service, which included advancing Ohios interstate meat marketing program, and improving and setting livestock care standards for Ohio.

The former director was also an advocate for Ohio 4-H and FFA programs, and served on the Ohio State Fair committee, where he represented the ag department during the Ohio State Fair Sale of Champions.

Daniels said he told his staff farewell yesterday, and hes proud of the departments accomplishments, and is also confident in Tim Dericksons interim leadership.

I have no regrets, Daniels said. Its been my pleasure to serve.

Below is the release from Gov. John Kasichs office, announcing the interim ag director:

COLUMBUS  Tim Derickson was sworn in today as interim director of the Ohio Department of Agriculture. Derickson, who currently serves as assistant director, was named by Ohio Governor John R. Kasich to replace Dave Daniels.

As a farmer, businessperson, member of the Ohio House of Representative and as part of our Administration, Tim has always demonstrated the integrity, loyalty and command of the issues that are the hallmark of a natural leader, said Kasich. Im grateful for his willingness to step up, get us across the finish line and hand-off the Department the right way to the next Administration.

Derickson served seven years in the Ohio House of Representatives where he chaired numerous committees, including serving as vice chair of the Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee. He and his family operated several successful small businesses in southwest Ohio and he is a graduate of Miami University. He and his wife, Kelly, have two children and one grandchild.
A total of 512 exhibitors from 27 participating countries will be showcasing their products and technologies to an audience of more than 18,000 visitors at the Saudi Build, the international trade exhibition for construction materials and building technology, which opens next week in Riyadh.

The exhibition is being held in conjunction with Saudi Stone Tech 2018 and Saudi PMV Series 2018, said the event organiser Riyadh Exhibitions Company (REC).

The 31st edition of Saudi Build kicks off on Monday (October 22) at the Riyadh International Convention and Exhibition Centre.

The Saudi Export Development Authority has signed up as a platinum sponsor, while the National Gas and Industrialization Company (Gasco) has confirmed participation as a community partner.

This sponsorship reflects the Saudi government's keenness to support the ongoing economic and investment activities that drive economic progress in the kingdom.

Saudi Build 2018 complements the progress made by urban and cultural developments in various cities and governorates, thanks to an array of ambitious undertakings in the fields of construction and renovation, which contribute to accelerating the National Transformation Program 2020, in line with the Saudi Vision 2030 aimed at achieving progress and development in the kingdom, said the organisers.

Mohammad Al Sheikh, the head of marketing, REC, said: "The association of Saudi Export Development Authority as a platinum sponsor of the exhibition reflects the full support provided by the Saudi Government for the economic and development sectors, in order to make the kingdom a leading model in all aspects, and to establish a more prosperous and sustainable economy."

Saudi Arabia is keen to encourage domestic and foreign capital to invest locally in many vital sectors related to improving the quality of life and well-being in the kingdom, stated Al Sheikh.

He highlighted the exhibitions success over the past 36 years in attracting thousands of experts, manufacturers, suppliers and businessmen from around the world to discuss the latest technologies and developments in the construction sector, and to explore many current and potential promising projects in the ever-growing building sector in the kingdom, which currently accounts for 45 per cent of the total construction market in the Middle East.

Saudi Arabia is currently developing the ambitious futuristic city of Neom, with a total area of 26,000 sq km.

The Saudi Export Development Authority focuses on developing non-oil exports for Saudi Arabia and works towards opening up to global markets, by utilizing its economic capabilities to promote Saudi products in international market, to leverage competitive quality, and to explore new opportunities, in line with the objectives of the National Transformation Program 2020 and Saudi Vision 2030.

The upcoming Saudi Build will focus on the sustainable building, which is of rising relevance in the kingdom, as part of efforts aimed at diversification of the national economy and ensuring its sustainability.

It will be attended by a wide range of investors and decision-makers from both public and private sectors, to explore current and future projects within the kingdoms thriving construction sector.-TradeArabia News Service
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.
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Rahul Shares His #MeToo Story

Rahul was quoted by Mid-day as saying, "I have been an actor for the past 10 years, and have now been inspired by the women in our acting, film and TV fraternity to come out with my story of harassment by Mushtaq Shiekh."

How Rahul Met Mushtaq?

The actor reveals he met Mushtaq in 2006. He added, "I was the Grasim Mr India model in 2004, when I was 19 years old. A couple of years later, I came in contact with Mushtaq Shiekh. Mushtaq was a very powerful person in Bollywood then. [He was] someone who was on first-name basis with Shahrukh Khan, Salman Khan, Farah Khan and Ekta Kapoor. He seemed to be impressed with me. I was glad because I realised I would get work."

Mushtaq Asked Rahul To Meet Him After Office Hours!

"He told me, 'I have thought about you for one project and want to cast you in it. Meet me after office hours and we will discuss the project'. I did not want to judge him on his sexual preferences, but after the second and third meeting, he started calling me late at night, around 3 or 4 AM."

Rahul Got Scared!

"He was associated with Mukta Arts at the time, and he showed me a Korean film which he said he would remake in Bollywood, casting me. But one night, he called me at 11 PM near his house. I had already been introduced to his sister Najma and his other married sister. He took me to his house, which had a single room, a bed and a lot of film posters. He told me, 'I am going to do something to you which you are going to enjoy. It will be different, but you will like it'. I got scared."

This Is How Rahul Lost A Film At Mukta Arts

"I told him, 'I know your family. I am not against your preferences, but I am your friend and every relationship is not about sex. He said, 'Don't worry, next time you will be ready'. I left, and lost the film at Mukta Arts."

Mushtaq Asked Rahul To Sleep With Him!

"I was chosen for a TV serial called Amber Dhara. I was popular as the first blind hero on national television. Then I got a call from Mushtaq, telling me that he was the one who had chosen me for the role. That destroyed my confidence and self-belief. Then I was signed up for another show called Mata Ki Chowki [also associated with Mushtaq]. He extended his offer again, that I could sleep with him to keep my job, but I refused. My character was written out of the show soon."

Rahul Says

"During another show called Ganesh Leela, Mushtaq's roving eye caught me again. He told me to meet him at night for a drive. We were on a drive in Aarey Milk Colony when he suddenly grabbed my head (towards him) and started unbuttoning me (Rahul's clothes). I got very angry and upset, and told him that I would stop the car and leave him in the middle of the jungle."

Rahul Quit TV Because Of Mushtaq!

He added that he used to earn Rs 3-4 Lakhs per month earlier, and lost his job (had to quit TV) because of Mushtaq. He added that his friend and former roommate Asif Ali (now a film producer) had witnessed his trauma.

Asif Ali Says

Asif was quoted by Mid-day as saying, "When we were roommates, I asked Rahul why he wasn't getting good projects. He told me about the harassment and demands for sexual favours. I read a few of their chats, but I don't remember their (culprit's) names."

Rahul Shares The Story On His Social Media

He shared the article's snapshot and wrote, "So finally I found a voice for all those supressed emotions that I had been feeling all these years...yes I wish now India had her Metoo! Movement earlier...so many dreams and lives that have been wasted could have been prevented.....nevertheless better late than never!" - (sic)

"My successful career on TV cut short because one man got the lust and power equation wrong...I can only imagine how many others must have suffered the same fate as me....its time we all spoke up..a collective effort to end the casting couch menace....bahut sun liya ki yeh sab to industry mein hota hai ans hota rahega! Ab Bas#Time Khatam#its Payback Time! How many of you havent spoken up yet..hope my article gives u the courage# Metoo # we are all in this together...its time to rock their boat since we have all been living in dangerous waters for a long time now...humein toofano se darr nahi lagta! Plz read support." - (sic)
Nexa Resources S.A. ("Nexa Resources" or the "Company") (NYSE: NEXA) (TSX: NEXA) hereby informs its shareholders and the market in general that, after the conclusion of the feasibility study and detailed analysis by the Company's management, the Board of Directors has approved today the start-up of construction of the Aripuana project, an underground polymetallic mine and concentrate processing facility in the state of Mato Grosso, Brazil. The average zinc equivalent production of the Aripuana project is estimated at 120 thousand tonnes per year for 13 years, considering only the mineral reserves estimated in accordance with CIM (2014) Definition Standards as incorporated in National Instrument 43-101 Standards for Disclosure for Minerals Projects ("NI 43-101"). The Aripuana project is expected to be operational by the beginning of 2021, with total investment estimated at approximately US$ 392 million. Nexa Resources owns a 70% stake in the Aripuana project through its subsidiaries.

The Company is also pleased to announce the filing of a technical report (the "Technical Report") for the Aripuana project entitled "Technical Report on the Feasibility Study on the Aripuana Project, State of Mato Grosso, Brazil". The Technical Report, dated October 15, 2018, with an effective date of July 31, 2018, was prepared by Roscoe Postle Associates Inc ("RPA"). The Technical Report summarizes the results of a feasibility study, including first-time public disclosure of mineral reserves calculated in accordance with NI 43-101 (for more details, please refer to the tables on pages 5-7 of this release).

Tito Martins, CEO Message

"The approval of the construction of the Aripuana project reinforces Nexa's commitment to develop our pipeline of greenfield projects. We are proud to develop a world-class project which incorporates high level safety standards, cutting-edge environmental practices including the use of dry stacking for waste material and close to 100% recirculation of water, and which utilizes high levels of automation, among several other innovative initiatives.

Positioned on the second quartile of the normal cash cost curve using Wood Mackenzie's methodology, the final configuration of the project incorporates significant improvements when compared to previous studies, including larger scale and optimized logistics, which will contribute to the returns of the project in a scenario of limited supply coming to the market.

There is a significant increase of the expected average production according to the recent technical report compared to the estimates previously released. This larger scale brought us important efficiencies on capex compared to production in previous scenarios.

In addition, the Aripuana project contributes to Nexa's long-term plan to increase mining production and reduces third-party zinc concentrate supply needs."

Aripuana Project Highlights

The Aripuana zinc polymetallic deposits are typical Volcanogenic Massive Sulphide (VMS) deposits.

The project's zinc process flowsheet has been developed by considering conventional technologies for treatment, including sequential flotation for the recovery of zinc, copper, and lead as separate concentrates.

The deposits are expected to support a production rate of 2.3 million tonnes of ore per year.

The processing plant can treat up to 6,300 tonnes per day of ore.

The concentrate production startup is expected by the beginning of 2021.

Expected zinc equivalent average production of 120 thousand tonnes per year 1 , considering only mineral reserves, including 66.7 thousand tonnes of zinc, which is equivalent to 18% of Nexa's 2017 zinc production of 375.4 thousand tonnes.

, considering only mineral reserves, including 66.7 thousand tonnes of zinc, which is equivalent to 18% of Nexa's 2017 zinc production of 375.4 thousand tonnes. Expected average annual production is: Zinc: 66.7 thousand tonnes; Lead: 23.0 thousand tonnes; Copper: 3.7 thousand tonnes; Silver: 1.87 million ounces (contained in copper and lead concentrates); and Gold: 13.0 thousand ounces (contained in copper and lead concentrates).

Expected Aripuana zinc concentrate average annual production is equivalent to 28% of the volume bought in 2017 from third-party suppliers, contributing to higher mining and smelting integration.

The proven and probable mineral reserves comprise 26.2 million tonnes at grades of 3.7% Zn, 1.4% Pb, 0.2% Cu, 0.3 g/t Au, and 34 g/t Ag.

According to the Technical Report and based on current mineral reserves, the project has an estimated CAPEX of US$392 million, net present value (NPV) of US$129 million (at a discount rate of 9%), internal rate of return (IRR) of 15.8% (both in real terms), average BRL/USD FX rate of 3.90, consensus long-term metal prices 1 and life of mine of 13 years. The IRR and NPV mentioned above consider the after taxes return at the project level.

and life of mine of 13 years. The IRR and NPV mentioned above consider the after taxes return at the project level. There is excellent potential to extend mine life by up to six years at higher grades, based on the significant current inferred mineral resources and Nexa's good track record of conversion to indicated resources.

1 Note: Consolidated mining production in thousand tonnes of zinc equivalent is calculated by converting copper, lead, silver and gold contents to a zinc equivalent grade based on consensus, long-term forecasts from banks, financial institutions, and other sources selected by Nexa. The prices used in the Technical Report and for the zinc equivalent conversion are: Zinc: US$2,232/ton; Copper: US$6,594/ton; Lead: US$1,927/ton; Silver: US$18/oz.; Gold: US$1,216/oz.

About the Aripuana Project

Description: The Aripuana project is owned by Mineracao Dardanelos Ltda., a joint venture among: (i) Nexa Recursos Minerais S.A. (formerly Votorantim Metais Zinco S.A.), a subsidiary of Nexa Resources that holds a 62.3% interest, and which is the operator of the project; (ii) Nexa Resources Peru S.A.A. (formerly Compania Minera Milpo S.A.A.), a subsidiary of Nexa Resources that holds a 7.7% interest; and (iii) Mineracao Rio Aripuana Ltda. (a subsidiary of Karmin Exploration Inc. that holds the remaining 30%).

Nexa Resources is currently fully funding the development of the Aripuana project. Karmin is not required to contribute financially to the project until the completion of a bankable feasibility study. As of October 15, 2018, with the completion of the feasibility study, Karmin has one year to decide whether it will contribute to financing the Aripuana project on a pro-rata basis.

Aripuana is an underground polymetallic project containing zinc, lead, copper, silver and gold. The current project targets three main elongated mineralized zones that have been defined in the central portion of the project. It is currently estimated that the Aripuana project, when and if it is fully developed and begins operation, could produce an annual average of approximately 66.7 thousand tonnes of zinc in concentrate, 23.0 thousand tonnes of lead in concentrate, 3.7 thousand tonnes of copper in concentrate and also 1.87 million ounces of silver and 13.0 thousand ounces of gold contained in the lead and copper concentrates over a 13-year life of mine based on mineral reserves. Production is expected to commence at the beginning of 2021.

Mineral resources and mineral reserves are estimated for three mineralized zones (Arex, Link and Ambrex). Limited exploration has identified additional mineralized bodies including Massaranduba, Boroca, and Mocoto to the southeast and Arpa to the northwest as well as a smaller, deeper zone, Babacu which lies to the southeast of the Ambrex deposit.

Location and logistics: The site is located in the north-west of the state of Mato Grosso, 1,265 kilometers by road from Rondonopolis, an additional 1,264 kilometers by railroad and road to the Tres Marias smelter or 1,566 km to the Juiz de Fora smelter, or an additional 1,395 kilometers by railroad from Rondonopolis to the port of Santos. Zinc produced at Aripuana that may not undergo processing at our own smelters in Brazil can be exported through the port of Santos.

Mine operation and processing plant: The Technical Report summarizes the feasibility plans for the development of an operation capable of processing approximately 5,250 tonnes per day (dry basis) of Stringer material and 6,300 tonnes per day (dry basis) of Stratabound material.

Nexa Resources has selected a combination of mining methods, including longitudinal longhole retreat stoping (bench stoping) for the narrow zones of the deposits and vertical retreat mining (VRM) to mine the thicker zones. Cemented pastefill and uncemented rockfill will be used to backfill stopes.

Three individual ramps are planned to provide access to the ore bodies and ensure operational flexibility.

The current mineral residues management strategy considers dry stack (filtered) tailings disposal on surface and tailings disposal as cemented paste backfill underground. Approximately 50% of the tailings will return to the mines as material for backfill, while waste materials will be disposed on dry stacks.

The processing plant consists of a primary crushing and semi-autogenous grinding, followed by ball milling and a pebble crushing circuit (SAGB), talc pre-flotation and sequential flotation of copper, lead, and zinc.

Infrastructure: The water system is designed to maximize water recovery and effluent treatment, which is based on an engineered wetlands protection concept resulting in 100% process water recirculation, with minimal discharge to the environment.

The project also includes a 69kV Electrical Substation that is connected by 21 kilometers of transmission lines to 230kV Dardanelos Substation, which is located in Aripuana City.

Social legacy: Nexa Resources has outlined a structured socioeconomic integrated plan for the Aripuana project, which aims to minimize impacts and boost positive development in the region. Aligned with the Company's social strategy, the plan has set goals in five main areas:

(i) Economic development;

(ii) Public management and social participation;

(iii) Childhood, youth and vulnerable groups;

(iv) Socioenvironmental safety and health;

(v) Indigenous people.

The Aripuana project expects to contribute to the creation of direct and indirect jobs, and development of the region. The project is expected to create approximately 1,600 jobs during the construction phase and employ approximately 750 employees when operating.

Outlook Update

In addition to the completion of the Technical Report, the Aripuana project was issued its preliminary environmental license in April 2018, and the Company expects to receive the installation license by the end of 2018, which will allow it to proceed with construction. The Company also expects to receive an operation permit, which is also required for it to operate the plant, by the end of 2020.

The Company expects to invest 35% of the total estimated capital expenditures for the Aripuana project in 2019 and 49% in 2020 with residual investments to be made during the start of production in 2021.

Since the start of exploration, the Company has drilled more than 215,000 meters in the project area and surroundings focused on mineral resources conversion and identification of mineralized deposits. Limited exploration has also identified additional mineralized bodies in the region. The Company also owns rights to conduct exploration activities on 65,887 hectares in the region.

Valuation Funding

The Aripuana project is positioned on the second quartile of the zinc normal cost curve considering Wood Mackenzie's methodology, with 2023 C1 zinc cash cost estimated at US$0.14/lb net of byproduct revenue. A long-term zinc price assumption of US$1.01/lb was used for purposes of preparing the Technical Report.

Nexa Resources expects to fund the Aripuana project from its cash balance and operating cash flows.

Mineral Resources and Reserves under NI 43-101

According to the Technical Report, the Aripuana project's proven and probable mineral reserves are comprised of 26.2 million tonnes at grades of 3.7% Zn, 1.4% Pb, 0.2% Cu, 0.3 g/t Au, and 34 g/t Ag, containing 2.1 billion pounds of Zn, 784 million pounds of Pb, 143 million pounds of Cu, 250,000 ounces of Au, and 28.8 million ounces of Ag.

The Aripuana project's measured and indicated mineral resources are comprised of 5.7 million tonnes at 2.3% Zn, 0.7% Pb, 0.4% Cu, 0.5 g/t Au, and 20 g/t Ag, containing 282 million pounds of Zn, 91 million pounds of Pb, 46 million pounds of Cu, 90,000 ounces of Au, and 3.6 million ounces of Ag. Measured and indicated mineral resources are exclusive of mineral reserves. The Aripuana project's inferred mineral resources are comprised of 23 million tonnes at 3.8% Zn, 1.5% Pb, 0.5% Cu, 0.9 g/t Au, and 37 g/t Ag, containing 1.9 billion pounds of Zn, 743 million pounds of Pb, 246 million pounds of Cu, 693,000 ounces of Au, and 28 million ounces of Ag.

The Technical Report complies with NI 43-101 and discloses the following mineral reserves and resources estimates as of July 31, 2018. The report is available at our website: http://ir.nexaresources.com/regulatoryfilings

Please find below tables with the Technical Report mineral reserves and mineral resources summary.

Mineral Reserves July 31, 2018 Aripuana Zinc Project Deposit/Category Tonnes

(000 t) Zn (%) Pb (%) Grade

Cu (%) Au (g/t) Ag (g/t) Arex Proven 4,798 3.0 1.0 0.6 0.4 30.3 Probable 1,015 2.8 0.9 0.6 0.7 22.1 Proven Probable 5,813 2.9 1.0 0.6 0.5 28.9 Link Proven 1,732 4.8 1.8 0.1 0.3 40.0 Probable 6,062 4.0 1.3 0.2 0.3 33.8 Proven Probable 7,794 4.2 1.4 0.2 0.3 35.2 Ambrex Proven 5,272 4.2 1.6 0.1 0.1 38.2 Probable 7,299 3.4 1.4 0.1 0.3 34.7 Proven Probable 12,571 3.8 1.5 0.1 0.2 36.2 Totals Proven 11,803 3.8 1.4 0.3 0.3 35.3 Probable 14,376 3.7 1.3 0.2 0.3 33.5 Proven Probable 26,179 3.7 1.4 0.2 0.3 34.3 Notes: 1. CIM (2014) definitions were followed for Mineral Reserves. 2. Mineral Reserves are estimated at a cut-off value of NSR US$ 40.00 t processed. 3. Mineral Reserves are estimated using an average long-term zinc price of US$1.12 per pound, a long-term lead price of US$0.86 per pound, a long-term copper price of US$2.99 per pound, a long-term silver price of $18.58 per ounce, and a long-term gold price of US$1,187 per ounce and a R$/US$ exchange rate of $3.38. 4. A minimum mining width of 4.0 m was used. 5. Bulk density is 2.70 t/m3. 6. Numbers may not add due to rounding. 7. RPA is not aware of any mining, metallurgical, infrastructure, permitting, or other relevant factors that could materially affect the Mineral Reserve estimate.

Mineral Resource Estimate, July 31, 2018 Aripuana Zinc Project Grade Contained Metal Stratabound Tonnes

(Mt) Zn

Pb

Cu

Au

(g/t) Ag

(g/t) Zn

(Mlb) Pb

(Mlb) Cu

(Mlb) Au

(koz) Ag

(Moz) Measured 1.1 3.8 1.3 0.2 0.1 30.9 95.7 31.8 3.9 5.2 1.1 Indicated 2.5 3.2 1.0 0.1 0.1 22.1 179.1 55.6 4.1 11.4 1.8 Measured and Indicated 3.7 3.4 1.1 0.1 0.1 24.8 274.8 87.5 8.0 16.6 2.9 Inferred 14.1 6.2 2.4 0.2 0.4 53.8 1,917 735.0 51.7 158.3 24.4 Stringer Tonnes

(Mt) Zn

Pb

Cu

Au

(g/t) Ag

(g/t) Zn

(Mlb) Pb

(Mlb) Cu

(Mlb) Au

(koz) Ag

(Moz) Measured 0.7 0.2 0.1 1.1 1.2 12.9 3.0 1.5 16.4 25.1 0.3 Indicated 1.4 0.2 0.1 0.7 1.1 8.9 4.4 1.7 21.9 49.0 0.4 Measured and Indicated 2.0 0.2 0.1 0.9 1.1 10.3 7.5 3.3 38.4 74.1 0.7 Inferred 9.0 0.1 0.0 1.0 1.9 10.6 12.2 8.7 194.8 534.5 3.1 Total Tonnes

(Mt) Zn

Pb

Cu

Au

(g/t) Ag

(g/t) Zn

(Mlb) Pb

(Mlb) Cu

(Mlb) Au

(koz) Ag

(Moz) Measured 1.8 2.5 0.8 0.5 0.52 24.30 98.7 33.4 20.4 30.3 1.4 Indicated 3.9 2.1 0.7 0.3 0.48 17.50 183.6 57.4 26.0 60.4 2.2 Measured and Indicated 5.7 2.3 0.7 0.4 0.49 19.70 282.3 90.8 46.3 90.7 3.6 Inferred 23.1 3.8 1.5 0.5 0.93 37.00 1,929 743.7 246.4 692.8 27.5

Notes: 1. CIM (2014) definitions were followed for Mineral Resources. 2. Mineral Resources are reported using a US$38/t Net Smelter Return (NSR) block cut-off value. 3. The NSR is calculated based on metal prices of US$1.29 per lb Zn, US$0.99 per lb Pb, US$3.43 per lb Cu,

US$1,368 per troy ounce Au, and US$21.37 per troy ounce Ag. 4. Mineral Resources are reported exclusive of Mineral Reserves. 5. Mineral Resources are not Mineral Reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability. 6. Numbers may not add due to rounding. 7. RPA is not aware of any environmental, permitting, legal, title, taxation, socio-economic, marketing, political, or other relevant factors that could materially affect the Mineral Resource estimate.

Please find below a table summarizing key figures over production, cost, capital expenditures and returns.

Aripuana Feasibility Study Summary1 Aripuana project

(on 100% basis) unit 5 Years

Average2 LOM

Average3 LOM

Total4 Plant Throughput '000 tonnes 2,054 1,993 25,909 Head grade5 Zn Grade 4.1% 3.8% 3.8% Pb Grade 1.5% 1.4% 1.4% Cu Grade 0.3% 0.3% 0.3% Ag Grade oz/t 1.22 1.11 1.11 Au Grade oz/t 0.01 0.01 0.01 Contained Metal Zn '000 tonnes 85 75 973 Pb '000 tonnes 30 27 355 Cu '000 tonnes 6 5 65 Ag koz 2,500 2,218 28,836 Au koz 20 19 250 Net Recovery5 Zn Recovery 89.3% 89.1% 89.1% Pb Recovery 84.4% 84.2% 84.2% Cu Recovery 71.0% 74.7% 74.7% Ag Recovery 84.6% 84.2% 84.2% Au Recovery 69.0% 67.6% 67.6% Contained metal in Plant Feed Contained Zn '000 tonnes 76 67 867 Contained Pb '000 tonnes 25 23 299 Contained Cu '000 tonnes 5 4 49 Contained Ag koz 2,214 1,867 24,275 Contained Au koz 14.0 13.0 169.0 Zn equivalent6 kt /year 135 120 1,558 Total Operating Cost7 US$/t milled 35.35 34.75 34.18 C1 Cash cost8 US$/lb 0.09 0.15 0.15 Capital Expenditures Initial capital US$ '000 392,089 Mine development9 US$ '000 9,213 4,670 60,715 Sustaining US$ '000 15,151 10,619 138,420 Economics Project basis (100%) After-tax IRR 15.8% After-Tax NPV at 7% discounting US$ '000 185,023 After-Tax NPV at 9% discounting US$ '000 129,087 After-tax NPV at 11% discounting US$ '000 82,625 Payback (after start-up) years 4.6 Notes: 1. Full Cash Flow available with the Technical Report filed in conjunction with this press release 2. Average calculated over years 2021 to 2025 3. Life-of-mine (LOM) average calculated over years 2021 to 2033 4. Life-of-mine (LOM) total calculated over years 2019 to 2033 5. Grade and recovery are calculated as weighted average 6. The prices used in the Technical Report and for the zinc equivalent conversion are: Zinc: US$2,232/ton; Copper: US$6,594/ton; Lead: US$1,927/ton; Silver: US$18/oz.; Gold: US$1,216/oz. 7. Total operating costs include mining costs, processing costs and on-site G&A 8. C1 Cash cost are reported on US$/lb of paid zinc, net of by-product credits (Pb, Cu, Ag, Au) 9. Capitalized mining development costs

Technical Information

The scientific and technical information contained in this news release has been reviewed, verified and approved by RPA, based on the requirements of NI 43-101. The Technical Report entitled "Technical Report on the Feasibility Study on the Aripuana Project, State of Mato Grosso, Brazil" dated October 15, 2018, with an effective date of July 31, 2018, was prepared by Jason Cox, P.Eng., Sean Horan, P.Geo., Scott Ladd, P.Eng., Avakash Patel, P.Eng. and Stephan Theben, Dipl.-Ing. of RPA Inc., each of whom are "qualified persons" as defined NI 43-101 and has been filed with Canadian securities regulators and is available under the Company's SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com. Such report includes relevant information regarding, among others, the effective dates and the assumptions and parameters relating to mineral reserves and resources cited in this news release, as well as information regarding data verification, exploration procedures and other matters relevant to the scientific and technical disclosure contained in this news release.

About Nexa

Nexa is a large-scale, low-cost integrated zinc producer with over 60 years of experience developing and operating mining and smelting assets in Latin America. The Company currently owns and operates five long-life underground mines, three located in the Central Andes of Peru and two located in the state of Minas Gerais in Brazil. Two of the Company's mines, Cerro Lindo in Peru and Vazante in Brazil, are among the 10 largest zinc mines in the world and combined with the Company's other mining operations, place the Company among the top five producers of mined zinc globally in 2017, according to Wood Mackenzie.

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT ON FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This news release contains certain forward-looking information and forward-looking statements as defined in applicable securities laws (collectively referred to in this News Release as "forward-looking statements"). All statements other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Nexa Resources to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements include (but are not limited to) estimates, forecasts, and statements as to management's expectations with respect to the business and operations of the Company and mining production and its projects.

Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of factors and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by management, are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies. Statements concerning future production costs or volumes are based on numerous assumptions of management regarding operating matters and on assumptions that demand for products develops as anticipated, that customers and other counterparties perform their contractual obligations, that operating and capital plans will not be disrupted by issues such as mechanical failure, unavailability of parts and supplies, labor disturbances, interruption in transportation or utilities, adverse weather conditions, and that there are no material unanticipated variations in the cost of energy or supplies.

We assume no obligation to update forward-looking statements except as required under securities laws. Further information concerning risks and uncertainties associated with these forward-looking statements and our business can be found in our public disclosures filed under our profile on SEDAR (www.sedar.com) and on EDGAR (www.sec.gov).

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181019005615/en/

Contacts:

Nexa Resources S.A.

Leandro Cappa

Head of IR ir@nexaresources.com
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - October 19, 2018) - Abattis Bioceuticals Corp. (CSE: ATT) (OTC Pink: ATTBF) (the "Company" or "Abattis") is pleased to announce the additions of Kent McParland and Cedric Wilson to the Board of Directors (the "Board"). Mr. McParland and Mr. Wilson replace Cameron Paddock and Rene David who have left Abattis to concentrate on other ventures.

Mr. McParland is a Chartered Professional Accountant experienced in multiple industries and geographical locations. As the Company's Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer, Mr. McParland adds considerable financial depth to the Board as the company continues to grow rapidly within the Cannabis space.

Mr. Wilson has over 30 years of financial services experience. In addition to working for a US Fortune 250 insurance company, Mr. Wilson is a serial entrepreneur, managing companies involved in a wide variety of industries ranging from real estate to food and beverage. Mr. Wilson has served as a director of several private and publicly listed companies, including a TSX senior listed company. His financial and entrepreneurial experience will bring considerable value to the board as the company continues to grow via mergers and acquisitions in this rapidly dynamic market.

"We are very excited to have Mr. McParland and Mr. Wilson join our Board of Directors." stated Robert Abenante, President and CEO of Abattis Bioceuticals.

"Mr. McParland strengthens the financial aptitude of the Board, while Mr. Wilson's wealth of experience in mergers and acquisitions will be a strong contribution as we continue to grow our business."

"On behalf of the Company, I would like to thank Cameron Paddock and Rene David for their contributions to our Board of Directors." continued Mr. Abenante. "In addition to being directors, Mr. Paddock was focused on the development of Gabriola Green Farms and Mr. David held several officer positions at Abattis. I wish them both the very best in their future endeavors and look forward to continuing our relationships in the future."

About Abattis Bioceuticals Corp.

Abattis is a life sciences and biotechnology company which aggregates, integrates, and invests in cannabis technologies and biotechnology services for the legal cannabis industry developing in Canada. The Company has successfully developed and licensed natural health products, medicines, extractions, and ingredients for the biological, nutraceutical, bioceutical, and cosmetic markets. The Company is also seeking to acquire exclusive intellectual property rights to agricultural technologies to be employed in extraction and processing of botanical ingredients and compounds. The Company follows strict standard operating protocols and adheres to applicable laws of Canada and foreign jurisdictions.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD,

ABATTIS BIOCEUTICALS CORP,

"Rob Abenante"

Robert Abenante, President & CEO

For more information, please visit the Company's website at: www.abattis.com

For inquiries please contact (808) 650-3007 or at investors@abattis.com. Abattis IR is managed by Canada One Communications Inc.

About Canada One Communications Inc.

Canada One is a full-service Investor Relations and Marketing company that focuses on both private and public sectors within the Canadian markets. Canada One offers timely responses to all investor inquiries over several mediums and effective, thorough market awareness programs that are specifically designed to maximize exposure and bring value to shareholders. Canada One's dedicated and experienced team strives to promote client information to the public and educate potential investors on the various developments of its clients. From basic phone-call and email investor correspondence, to full-scale comprehensive marketing packages which includes industry analysis, website development, corporate videos and other marketing programs, Canada One provides a full suite of services that are fully compliant with Canadian securities regulations. Canada One is driven by an uncompromising dedication to provide publicly listed and private companies with across-the-board investor relations and marketing solutions, directly translating these services into organic growth and increased market value of its valued clients.
Managing partner and founder Andre Pienaar will also join a plenary session during the Forum, a UK Government-sponsored event in New York on the HMS Elizabeth

Artificial intelligence and its role in cyber security will be a key topic during the Forum, which gathered senior members of the UK US Governments and international business leaders

C5 Capital Limited ("C5"), the specialist venture capital firm focused on investing in cloud computing, cyber and artificial intelligence, announces managing partner and founder Andre Pienaar will take part in the inaugural Atlantic Future Forum ("the Forum"), being held on Monday, 22nd October in New York. The Royal Navy's new flagship, the HMS Queen Elizabeth will host the joint drive between the UK and US to outpace adversaries on the cyber battlefield. During the Forum, Andre will also participate in the plenary session 'How artificial intelligence will shape the world of the future.' He will also sign the new Atlantic Future Forum Accord ("the Accord").

The Forum will bring US and UK industry and military together in the face of changing warfare and the fight against growing cyber threats, both at home and abroad. It will combine the brightest minds, innovators and tech entrepreneurs from across government and industry to collaborate on the changing cyber landscape Britain and its allies now face. The Forum will be an opportunity to explore the emerging trends and technologies that will dominate the world ahead and to cement the leading role that the UK and US will jointly play in shaping them. They will be joined by political leaders, policy makers and sector specialists.

Andre will also be a signatory of the Accord, a commitment from the UK and US to work with a new committee of firms in cyber and artificial intelligence to ensure that the 'special relationship' remains the world leading partnership for cyber security, defence and artificial intelligence amid a climate of rapidly changing threats. It will be signed by both Government and industry experts, providing a future framework for cooperation between UK and US industry and military on cyber and artificial intelligence. The committee will form a sub-committee of the UK Board of Trade and will be supported by the UK Department for International Trade. The Accord features a commitment to meet again in a year's time for a follow-up summit, which will become an annual event.

Andre Pienaar, managing partner and founder, C5 Capital said, "The Atlantic Future Forum will be a historic event, bringing together not only the US and UK Governments, but also some of the world's leading technology and cyber security companies. Recent years have seen rapid growth in the percentage of the world's population that is online, and the Forum recognised the need for investment and careful consideration of how we protect internet users. It's crucial that we make the online world as safe as we're making our physical world. We are honoured to be a part of this first meeting and are looking forward to providing our expertise and global reach as we continue to work with some of the world's leading organisations in this crucial area."

General (Ret) Keith Alexander, former Director of the National Security Agency ("NSA") and Chief of the Central Security Service ("CSS"), as well as founder and CEO of C5 portfolio company IronNet Cybersecurity, will also attend the Forum. He will be speaking at a panel session entitled How do we gain decision advantage through cyber security and develop the policies we need?

Gen. Keith Alexander, IronNet Founder, CEO and Chairman of the Board, IronNet said, "Cyber has become an element of National Power. It is important that we employ the latest technologies, rules and procedures to ensure the security of Governments, commercial entities and individuals. This inaugural Forum, which truly is 'hands across the water', is a historic and important occasion for both governments and private business. I'm extremely pleased to be a participant, and to see so many other senior business leaders and government officials discussing topics of such high importance."

The Forum is part of the QNLZ in NYC Expo: a series of themed events designed to showcase the Government's 'Global Britain' agenda and to celebrate the special relationship between the UK and US. The day will include a number of plenary sessions and meetings organised by The UK Department of International Trade.

In addition to the plenary and expert sessions, the Forum will also include keynote addresses from the Rt. Hon Dr. Liam Fox, MP, UK Secretary of State for International Trade; Teresa Carlson, Vice President of Amazon Web Services (AWS), as well as an evening reception hosted by Captain Jerry Kid, Commanding Officer of HMS Queen Elizabeth. Dr. Fox will also present the Board of Trade Awards.

Pictures of the event and videos of the speeches will be available from the Royal Navy following the event.

About C5 Capital

C5 Capital Limited (C5) is a specialist venture capital firm, focused on Innovative Technologies in Cyber Security, Artificial Intelligence and Cloud Computing. Headquartered in London, C5 also has offices in Washington, Munich, Luxembourg and Bahrain.

For more information, visit: www.c5capital.com

About IronNet Cybersecurity

IronNet Cybersecurity's founding mission is to redefine cybersecurity based on next generation technology, cutting edge engineering, and a leadership team with decades of military, intelligence, and commercial experience.

Founded by General (Ret) Keith Alexander and a team of highly experienced strategic, operational, and technical cybersecurity experts, the company's goal is to continue the mission of securing the nation in cyberspace based on the leadership team's experience in conducting full-spectrum cybersecurity operations and building cybersecurity forces.

IronNet provides best-in-class cyber defense using complex behavioral modeling, big-data analytics, and advanced computing capabilities to delivers unprecedented network visibility, early threat detection, and targeted, business-informed mitigation actions and also provides for collective defense by sharing and correlating threat and event data across multiple companies and sectors. IronNet is based in the Washington, DC metropolitan area.

For more information, visit: IronNetCybersecurity.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181020005013/en/

Contacts:

For C5 Capital Limited

John Merva, 0207 796 4133

jmerva@hudsonsandler.com

or

Emily Jones, 0207 796 4133

ejones@hudsonsandler.com
Artprice and Artron have just created an "Art Media Mogul"

After seven years of collaboration, cultural exchange and regular trips between China and Europe, the two founders and presidents of Artron and Artprice, WAN Jie and thierry Ehrmann (who are exactly the same age and share the same commitments), share the same vision of the Global Art Market and the same passion for Art within the context of a loyal and mutually respectful friendship.

This long and infallible relationship has allowed both groups to work extremely quickly without cultural barriers to build an "Art Media Mogul". By analogy, it's exactly as if Baidu and Google were merging their respective knowledge.

Artron is the world's largest printer of art books with more than 60,000 books and auction catalogues and a total publication volume of 300 million a year. Artron.net is the most respected brand in the Chinese art world. Artron is celebrating his 25th anniversary. Established in 1993, Artron Art Group celebrates its 25th anniversary this year.

Artprice is the world leader in Art Market Information since 1987 with 4,500,000 members its databanks with information from 6,300 auctioneers and publishes a constant flow of art market trends for the world's principal news agencies and approximately 7,200 international press publications. Artprice gives access to the world's leading Standardised Marketplace for buying and selling art.

Last Friday, 12 October 2018, at Artprice's head office in Lyon, France, Artron CEO and founder, WAN Jie, along with his staff, and Artprice CEO and founder, thierry Ehrmann, along with his staff, signed a historic agreement between the two groups.

Official video of the Friday 12 October 2018 signing ceremony and talks about the 10 new development agreements at Artprice's head office in France:

https://vimeo.com/296010836

Facebook (450k views)

https://www.facebook.com/228501370495445/posts/2201077099904519

Twitter

https://twitter.com/artpricedotcom/status/1053538253192749056

Chinese:

https://vimeo.com/296008906

A series of development agreements in principle (10, soon to be delivered) was discussed and. They go far beyond the exclusive distribution contract allowing for Artprice subscriptions to be marketed through the Chinese Intranet to millions of Chinese art collectors - via Artron Group's customers - in China.

The scope of the 10 new development agreements discussed on 12 October 2018 will have a structural impact on the Global Art Market and on Art History, according to Art historians, in a way that no-one could have imagined. At the same time, Artprice and Artron are on the verge of an extraordinary evolution during which, from a shareholder perspective, Artprice will change in dimension - economically, financially and historically - as of 2019.

Artron produces all the catalogues of Chinese auction houses and handles the postal or digital mailing of these catalogues to their final customers. It will be possible for Artprice subscriptions, sold exclusively by Artron in China, to directly reach the target audience.

Similarly, Artprice will be featured on the homepage of Artron.Net which, according to many studies, is the most respected brand in the Chinese art world. Artron.net has more than 3 million members and receives more than 9 million online visitors per day (on average) or 270 million visitors per month to their website.

Via Artron, there exists a massive potential demand for Artprice subscriptions, including its unique decision support tools, because these tools allow China's collectors, art professionals and its museum industry to acquire Western artworks with total assurance that they have complete mastery of all the relevant pricing information, the artist's background and their "economic profile'.

Thanks to Artron's expert advice, Artprice fully complies with the specifications and conditions of China's Great Electronic Firewall (Law CL97 (1997) et seq.) and its Golden Shield protocol (1998).

To do so, Artprice has deployed the obligatory Alipay and WeChat Chinese payment platforms (1.8 billion users) for Chinese buyers after developing no less than 54 million pages in Mandarin on its Internet accessible data banks (which took seven years...).

In order to conform to Law CL97, Artprice spent two years rewriting all its data bank code in order to eliminate all US and European corporate source code containing cookies, tags, metadata or backdoor elements (amongst other elements).

In fact, thanks to Artron's assistance and advice, Artprice has managed to achieve what the GAFA's have tried on numerous occasions but failed. It has managed to penetrate the core of the Chinese Intranet.

What was discussed on Friday 12 October 2018 far exceeds what was originally planned. It follows on from a summit meeting held in March 2018 in Beijing between Artprice's and Artron/AMMA's executive teams, and should broaden the two companies' Marketplaces.

Artron is the world's largest printer of art books with more than 60,000 books and auction catalogues and a total publication volume of 300 million.



To understand the power of Artron and its unavoidable position in China, follow the link to this video in English...

http://english.artron.com.cn/about/video/index

Read Artron's official presentation: http://english.artron.com.cn/about/introduction/index

The exclusive contract for the distribution of Artprice subscriptions to Artron's customers and the ten new additional agreements in principle can be implemented rapidly on the basis of the two companies' mutual knowledge resulting from seven years of constant partnership, proving that long-term collaboration, patience and hard work are the keys to success.

In 2018, China accounted for 45% of global online art trade, conducting twelve times more online transactions than the United States. China has a huge advantage over the West because it is building its market economy directly on the Internet. Moreover, no-one doubts that China's Art Market will account for 70% of the global Art Market as of 2020. Artprice, as the world leader in Art Market information, had to be central to its market. It should not be forgotten that France accounted for 4% of H1 2018 results.

For further information regarding the historical background of relations between Artprice and Artron/AMMA and its economic consequences, please refer to Artprice's reference documents and, in particular, to its 2017 registration document filed with the AMF (France's Financial Markets Supervisory Authority) on 1 June 2018 (in accordance with the Article 212-13 of the AMF's General Regulations) and to Artprice's Press Releases.

More details, video clips and photos of the signing and accompanying speeches will be online shortly on Artprice's and Artron's social networks.

About Artprice:

Artprice is listed on the Eurolist by Euronext Paris, SRD long only and Euroclear: 7478 - Bloomberg: PRC - Reuters: ARTF.

Dicover Artprice in video: https://www.artprice.com/video

Artprice is the global leader in art price and art index databanks. It has over 30 million indices and auction results covering more than 700,000 artists. Artprice Images(R) gives unlimited access to the largest Art Market resource in the world: a library of 126 million images or prints of artworks from the year 1700 to the present day, along with comments by Artprice's art historians.

12 Oct. 2018: Artprice and Artron have just created an "Art Media Mogul" :

Video: https://vimeo.com/296010836

Artprice permanently enriches its databanks with information from 6,300 auctioneers and it publishes a constant flow of art market trends for the world's principal news agencies and approximately 7,200 international press publications. For its 4,500,000 members, Artprice gives access to the world's leading Standardised Marketplace for buying and selling art. Artprice is preparing its blockchain for the Art Market. It is BPI-labelled (scientific national French label)Artprice's Global Art Market Annual Report for 2017 published last March 2018: https://www.artprice.com/artprice-reports/the-art-market-in-2017

Artprice's Contemporary Art Market Annual Report for 2017 - free access at: https://www.artprice.com/artprice-reports/the-contemporary-art-market-report-2017

Artprice's press releases:

http://serveur.serveur.com/Press_Release/pressreleaseen.htm

https://twitter.com/artpricedotcom

Artmarket News:

https://twitter.com/artpricedotcom & https://twitter.com/artmarketdotcom

https://www.facebook.com/artpricedotcom & https://plus.google.com/+artpricedotcom/posts

http://artmarketinsight.wordpress.com/

Discover the Alchemy and the universe of Artprice http://web.artprice.com/video , which headquarters are the famous Museum of Contemporary Art, the Abode of Chaos:

http://goo.gl/zJssd

https://vimeo.com/124643720

The Contemporary Art Museum The Abode of Chaos on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/la.demeure.du.chaos.theabodeofchaos999

Contact: ir@artprice.com

------------------------



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Full and original release in PDF format:https://www.actusnews.com/documents_communiques/ACTUS-0-55614-artprice-artron-art-media-mogul-en.pdf
- Tecentriq combination first immunotherapy regimen to demonstrate positive Phase III results in breast cancer -

- Tecentriq and nab-paclitaxel significantly reduced the risk of disease worsening or death in both the intention-to-treat and PD-L1-positive populations -

- Clinically meaningful overall survival improvement in the PD-L1-positive population at this interim analysis -

- Data are being presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2018 Congress, featured in the press program and simultaneously published in the New England Journal of Medicine on October 20, 2018 -

Genentech, a member of the Roche Group (SIX: RO, ROG; OTCQX: RHHBY), today announced positive results from the Phase III IMpassion130 study of Tecentriq (atezolizumab) plus chemotherapy (Abraxane [albumin-bound paclitaxel; nab-paclitaxel]) for the initial (first-line) treatment of unresectable locally advanced or metastatic triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). The Tecentriq and chemotherapy combination significantly reduced the risk of disease worsening or death (progression-free survival; PFS) compared with chemotherapy alone in all randomized patients (intention-to-treat [ITT]) (median PFS=7.2 vs. 5.5 months; hazard ratio [HR]=0.80, 95% CI: 0.69-0.92, p=0.0025) and the PD-L1-positive population (median PFS=7.5 vs. 5.0 months; HR=0.62, 95% CI: 0.49-0.78, p<0.0001), a subgroup determined by PD-L1 biomarker testing. At this interim analysis, statistical significance was not met for overall survival (OS) in the ITT population (median OS=21.3 vs. 17.6 months; HR=0.84, 95% CI: 0.69-1.02, p=0.0840), but showed a clinically meaningful 9.5-month OS improvement in the PD-L1-positive population (median OS=25.0 vs. 15.5 months; HR=0.62, 95% CI: 0.45-0.86). Due to the hierarchical statistical design, results in the PD-L1-positive population were not formally tested. Follow-up will continue until the next planned analysis. Safety in the Tecentriq plus nab-paclitaxel arm appeared consistent with the known safety profiles of the individual medicines, and no new safety signals were identified with the combination.

"These important results in people with metastatic triple-negative breast cancer whose disease expresses the PD-L1 protein are highly encouraging and represent a significant step forward in the treatment of this challenging disease," said Sandra Horning, M.D., chief medical officer and head of Global Product Development. "We have shared the IMpassion130 results with global health authorities with the hope of bringing this Tecentriq combination to people with PD-L1-positive, metastatic triple-negative breast cancer as soon as possible."

These data are being presented today at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2018 Congress Presidential Symposium at 4:30 4:45 p.m. CEST (abstract LBA1_PR) and will also be featured in the official ESMO press program at 8:15 9:00 a.m. CEST. These results will simultaneously be published in the New England Journal of Medicine

Currently, Genentech has seven ongoing Phase III studies investigating Tecentriq in TNBC, including early and advanced stages of the disease.

About the IMpassion130 study

The IMpassion130 study is a Phase III, multicenter, randomized, double-blind study evaluating the efficacy, safety and pharmacokinetics of Tecentriq plus nab-paclitaxel compared with placebo plus nab-paclitaxel in people with unresectable locally advanced or metastatic TNBC who have not received prior systemic therapy for metastatic breast cancer. The study enrolled 902 people who were randomized equally (1:1).

The co-primary endpoints are PFS per investigator assessment (RECIST 1.1) and OS. PFS and OS were assessed in all randomized patients (ITT) and in the PD-L1-positive population. Secondary endpoints include objective response rate (ORR), duration of response and time to deterioration in Global Health Status/Health-Related Quality of Life.

A summary of the key study results is included below:

PD-L1-positive population (programmed death-ligand 1 expression =1% on IC) ITT population (intention-to-treat) Tecentriq +

nab-paclitaxel

n=185 Placebo

nab-paclitaxel

n=184 Tecentriq +

nab-paclitaxel

n=451 Placebo

nab-paclitaxel

n=451 Number of patients 369 (40.9%) 902 PFS (co-primary endpoint) Median (months)

(95% CI) 7.5

(6.7-9.2) 5.0

(3.8-5.6) 7.2

(5.6-7.5) 5.5

(5.3-5.6) Stratified HR (95% CI) 0.62 (0.49-0.78) 0.80 (0.69-0.92) Stratified p-value <0.0001 0.0025 OS (co-primary endpoint) Median (months)

(95% CI) 25.0 (22.6-NE) 15.5 (13.1-19.4) 21.3 (17.3-23.4) 17.6 (15.9-20.0) Stratified HR (95% CI) 0.62 (0.45-0.86) 0.84 (0.69-1.02) Stratified p-value Results were not formally tested 0.0840 ORR (secondary endpoint) Responders 59% 43% 56% 46% 95% CI 51%-66% 35%-50% 51%-61% 41%-51% Stratified p-value 0.0016 Not significant (a=0.001) 0.0021 Not significant (a=0.001) Adverse events The nature and incidence of severe adverse events (SAEs) and Grade 3-4 adverse events (AEs) were consistent with the known safety profile of the individual study drugs or the underlying disease. SAEs were reported in 23 percent of people receiving Tecentriq plus nab -paclitaxel compared to 18 percent of people receiving chemotherapy alone. SAEs occurring in one percent or more of people receiving Tecentriq plus nab -paclitaxel were pneumonia (2 percent), urinary tract infection (1 percent), difficulty breathing (dyspnea, 1 percent) and fever (pyrexia, 1 percent).

-paclitaxel compared to 18 percent of people receiving chemotherapy alone. SAEs occurring in one percent or more of people receiving Tecentriq plus -paclitaxel were pneumonia (2 percent), urinary tract infection (1 percent), difficulty breathing (dyspnea, 1 percent) and fever (pyrexia, 1 percent). Grade 3-4 AEs were reported in 49 percent of people receiving Tecentriq plus nab-paclitaxel compared to 42 percent of people receiving chemotherapy alone. The most common Grade 3-4 AEs in people receiving Tecentriq plus nab-paclitaxel were an abnormal low count of a certain type of white blood cell (neutropenia, 8 percent); decreased neutrophil count (5 percent); numbness, tingling or pain in the hands or feet (peripheral neuropathy, 6 percent); fatigue (4 percent); and decrease in red blood cells (anemia, 3 percent). Peripheral neuropathy was the only Grade 3-4 AE reported with a two percent or higher incidence in people receiving Tecentriq plus nab-paclitaxel compared to people receiving chemotherapy alone (6 percent vs. 3 percent).

About triple-negative breast cancer

Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women worldwide. According to the American Cancer Society, approximately 269,000 people in the United States will be diagnosed with breast cancer, and more than 41,000 will die from the disease in 2018. Breast cancer is not one, but many diseases based on the biology of each tumor. In triple-negative breast cancer, tumor cells lack hormone receptors and do not have excess HER2 protein. Approximately 15 percent of breast cancers are triple-negative based on the results of diagnostic tests. It is an aggressive form of the disease with few treatment options.

About Tecentriq

Tecentriq is a monoclonal antibody designed to bind with a protein called PD-L1 expressed on tumor cells and tumor-infiltrating immune cells, blocking its interactions with both PD-1 and B7.1 receptors. By inhibiting PD-L1, Tecentriq may enable the re-activation of T cells. Tecentriq may also affect normal cells.

Abraxane is a registered trademark of Abraxis Bioscience, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Celgene Corporation.

Tecentriq U.S. Indication (pronounced 'te-SEN-trik')

Tecentriq is a prescription medicine used to treat:

A type of bladder and urinary tract cancer called urothelial carcinoma.

Tecentriq may be used when your bladder cancer: has spread or cannot be removed by surgery, and if you have any one of the following conditions you are not able to take chemotherapy that contains a medicine called cisplatin, and your doctor has tested your cancer and found high levels of a specific protein on your cancer called programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1), as determined by an FDA-approved test, or you are not able to take chemotherapy that contains any platinum regardless of PD-L1 status on your cancer, or you have tried chemotherapy that contains platinum, and it did not work or is no longer working



The approval of Tecentriq in these patients is based on a study that measured response rate and duration of response. There is an ongoing study to confirm clinical benefit.

A type of lung cancer called non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Tecentriq may be used when your lung cancer : has spread or grown, and you have tried chemotherapy that contains platinum, and it did not work or is no longer working

:

If your tumor has an abnormal EGFR or ALK gene, you should have also tried an FDA-approved therapy for tumors with these abnormal genes, and it did not work or is no longer working.

It is not known if Tecentriq is safe and effective in children.

Important Safety Information

What is the most important information about Tecentriq?

Tecentriq can cause the immune system to attack normal organs and tissues and can affect the way they work. These problems can sometimes become serious or life threatening and can lead to death.

Patients should call or see their healthcare provider right away if they get any symptoms of the following problems or these symptoms get worse.

Tecentriq can cause serious side effects, including:

Lung problems (pneumonitis) -signs and symptoms may include new or worsening cough, shortness of breath, and chest pain

-signs and symptoms may include new or worsening cough, shortness of breath, and chest pain Liver problems (hepatitis) -signs and symptoms of hepatitis may include yellowing of the skin or the whites of the eyes, severe nausea or vomiting, pain on the right side of the stomach area (abdomen), drowsiness, dark urine (tea colored), bleeding or bruising more easily than normal, and feeling less hungry than usual

-signs and symptoms of hepatitis may include yellowing of the skin or the whites of the eyes, severe nausea or vomiting, pain on the right side of the stomach area (abdomen), drowsiness, dark urine (tea colored), bleeding or bruising more easily than normal, and feeling less hungry than usual Intestinal problems (colitis) -signs and symptoms of colitis may include diarrhea (loose stools) or more bowel movements than usual, blood or mucous in the stools or dark, tarry, sticky stools, and severe stomach area (abdomen) pain or tenderness

-signs and symptoms of colitis may include diarrhea (loose stools) or more bowel movements than usual, blood or mucous in the stools or dark, tarry, sticky stools, and severe stomach area (abdomen) pain or tenderness Hormone gland problems (especially the thyroid, adrenal glands, pancreas, and pituitary) -signs and symptoms that the hormone glands are not working properly may include headaches that will not go away or unusual headaches, extreme tiredness, weight gain or weight loss, dizziness or fainting, feeling more hungry or thirsty than usual, hair loss, changes in mood or behavior (such as decreased sex drive, irritability, or forgetfulness), feeling cold, constipation, the voice gets deeper, urinating more often than usual, nausea or vomiting, and stomach area (abdomen) pain

-signs and symptoms that the hormone glands are not working properly may include headaches that will not go away or unusual headaches, extreme tiredness, weight gain or weight loss, dizziness or fainting, feeling more hungry or thirsty than usual, hair loss, changes in mood or behavior (such as decreased sex drive, irritability, or forgetfulness), feeling cold, constipation, the voice gets deeper, urinating more often than usual, nausea or vomiting, and stomach area (abdomen) pain Problems in other organs -signs and symptoms may include severe muscle weakness, numbness or tingling in hands or feet, confusion, blurry vision, double vision, or other vision problems, changes in mood or behavior, extreme sensitivity to light, neck stiffness, eye pain or redness, skin blisters or peeling, chest pain, irregular heartbeat, shortness of breath, or swelling of the ankles

-signs and symptoms may include severe muscle weakness, numbness or tingling in hands or feet, confusion, blurry vision, double vision, or other vision problems, changes in mood or behavior, extreme sensitivity to light, neck stiffness, eye pain or redness, skin blisters or peeling, chest pain, irregular heartbeat, shortness of breath, or swelling of the ankles Severe infections -signs and symptoms of infection may include fever, cough, flu-like symptoms, pain when urinating, and frequent urination or back pain

-signs and symptoms of infection may include fever, cough, flu-like symptoms, pain when urinating, and frequent urination or back pain Severe infusion reactions-signs and symptoms of infusion reactions may include chills or shaking, itching or rash, flushing, shortness of breath or wheezing, swelling of the face or lips, dizziness, fever, feeling like passing out, and back or neck pain

Getting medical treatment right away may help keep these problems from becoming more serious. A healthcare provider may treat patients with corticosteroid or hormone replacement medicines. A healthcare provider may delay or completely stop treatment with Tecentriq if patients have severe side effects.

Before receiving Tecentriq, patients should tell their healthcare provider about all of their medical conditions, including if they:

have immune system problems (such as Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, or lupus); have had an organ transplant; have lung or breathing problems; have liver problems; have a condition that affects the nervous system (such as myasthenia gravis or Guillain-Barre syndrome); or are being treated for an infection

are pregnant or plan to become pregnant. Tecentriq can harm an unborn baby. Patients should tell their healthcare provider right away if they become pregnant or think they may be pregnant during treatment with Tecentriq. If patients are able to become pregnant: A healthcare provider should do a pregnancy test before they start treatment with Tecentriq. They should use an effective method of birth control during their treatment and for at least 5 months after the last dose of Tecentriq.

are breastfeeding or plan to breastfeed. It is not known if Tecentriq passes into the breast milk. Do not breastfeed during treatment and for at least 5 months after the last dose of Tecentriq.

Patients should tell their healthcare provider about all the medicines they take, including prescription and over-the-counter medicines, vitamins, and herbal supplements.

The most common side effects of Tecentriq in people with urothelial carcinoma include:

feeling tired

decreased appetite

nausea

constipation

urinary tract infection

diarrhea

fever

The most common side effects of Tecentriq in people with non-small cell lung cancer include:

feeling tired

decreased appetite

muscle pain

cough

shortness of breath

Tecentriq may cause fertility problems in females, which may affect the ability to have children. Patients should talk to their healthcare provider if they have concerns about fertility.

These are not all the possible side effects of Tecentriq. Patients should ask their healthcare provider or pharmacist for more information. Patients should call their doctor for medical advice about side effects.

Report side effects to the FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088 or http://www.fda.gov/medwatch. Report side effects to Genentech at 1-888-835-2555.

Please visit http://www.Tecentriq.com for the Tecentriq full Prescribing Information for additional Important Safety Information.

About Genentech in breast cancer

Genentech has been advancing breast cancer research for more than 30 years with the goal of helping as many people with the disease as possible. Our medicines, along with companion diagnostic tests, have substantially improved outcomes for HER2-positive breast cancer. As our understanding of breast cancer biology rapidly improves, we are working to identify new biomarkers and approaches to treatment for other subtypes of the disease, including triple-negative and hormone receptor-positive.

About Genentech in personalized cancer immunotherapy

For more than 30 years, Genentech has been developing medicines with the goal to redefine treatment in oncology. Today, we're investing more than ever to bring personalized cancer immunotherapy (PCI) to people with cancer. The goal of PCI is to provide each person with a treatment tailored to harness his or her own immune system to fight cancer. Genentech is studying more than 20 investigational medicines, 10 of which are in clinical trials. In every study we are evaluating biomarkers to identify which people may be appropriate candidates for our medicines. For more information visit http://www.gene.com/cancer-immunotherapy.

About Genentech

Founded more than 40 years ago, Genentech is a leading biotechnology company that discovers, develops, manufactures and commercializes medicines to treat patients with serious and life-threatening medical conditions. The company, a member of the Roche Group, has headquarters in South San Francisco, California. For additional information about the company, please visit http://www.gene.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181020005012/en/

Contacts:

Genentech

Media Contact:

Courtney Aberbach, 650-467-6800

or

Advocacy Contact:

Katie Creme Henry, 202-258-8228

or

Investor Contacts:

Loren Kalm, 650-225-3217

Karl Mahler, 011 41 61 687 8503
Dubai's Roads & Transport Authority (RTA), in coordination with Nakheel, has awarded a contract for the construction of three bridges leading to Deira Islands.

These bridges, which link with the existing bridge crossing the water canal, consist of six lanes in each direction and will be built at cost of Dh447 million ($122 million).

Mattar Al Tayer, the director-general and chairman of the board of executive directors of RTA, said: "The project aims to improve the entrances and exits of Deira Islands at the intersection of Al Khaleej and Abu Baker Al Siddique Streets. The bridges span 1.6 km in total. An additional 140-m bridge will be constructed together with a slip road on Deira Islands side."

Nakheel's Deira Island Project is the Dubai's new waterfront. It consists of four man-made islands reclaimed from the Arabian Gulf along the coast of Deira spanning 17 million sq m, rendering it the largest development project in Deira.

The project comprises the construction of hundreds of hotels, furnished flats, mixed-use buildings and marinas. The new project is expected to attract about 250,000 residents as well as 80,000 employees.

"The existing bridge will also undergo improvements including re-pavement, rails, traffic signs, utility lines and street lighting," he stated.

Al Tayer said the project includes a two-lane bridge offering free-flowing traffic from Deira Islands to Al Khaleej Street northward; a three-lane bridge providing free traffic from Deira Islands to Al Khaleej Street southward, and a two-lane bridge offering free traffic from Al Khaleej Street southward to Deira Islands.

Al Khaleej Street flyover allows the construction of two bridges in the direction of Abu Baker Al Siddique Street in the future, added

"The project will enhance the capacity of Al Khaleej Street over a 1.8 km stretch from Abu Hail intersection northward to Al Baraha Hospital southward. Two signalised intersections will be added at the intersection of Al Khaleej Street with both Abu Hail & Abu Baker Al Siddique Streets.

"These improvements are part of future improvements of Shindagha roads network," he added.

Traffic studies indicate that the project will generate about 110,000 journeys during peak hours, which requires a huge infrastructure of roads and public transport networks.

Three bridges will be constructed at the main entrances and exits of the project crossing the water canal, including two entrances at the intersections on Al Khaleej Street with Abu Baker Al-Siddique and Abu Hail streets. The third entrance extends from Al Mina Street parallel to Port Rashid, said the statement from RTA.

The flyovers and ramps to be constructed will ensure direct and free access to the project, it added.-TradeArabia News Service
At least 59 people were killed Friday evening after a crowd of Dussehra revellers that had spilled onto railway tracks while watching the burning of the Ravana effigy was run over by a train near Joda Phatak in Amritsar.

Amritsar: Many panic-stricken family members of those killed or wounded in the Amritsar train accident searched frantically from one hospital to another to know about the fate of their loved ones as the festive spirit drowned in sorrow and shock following the tragic incident. At least 59 people were killed Friday evening after a crowd of Dussehra revellers that had spilled onto railway tracks while watching the burning of the Ravana effigy was run over by a train near Joda Phatak in Amritsar.

"My son, Jugu, is missing since the train accident. I went to Civil Hospital and Guru Govind Hospital, but I am unable to find him," Sushila, who lives in a nearby area, told PTI. Lakhmeet, another person who was looking for his brother-in-law and found him in a hospital, said: "I was shocked when I heard about the train accident. I got a call from home that my brother-in-law Sujeet, who went out to watch Dussehra celebrations last evening, had not come back home.

"All family members rushed to Guru Govind Hospital, where I was told Sujeet is admitted at Civil Hospital," he said. Several other distraught family members of those injured or killed in the accident also had to search from one hospital to another to locate their loved ones. The train was coming from Jalandhar when the accident occurred at Joda Phatak near Amritsar, where at least 300 people were watching 'Ravana dahan' at a ground adjacent to the tracks.

Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh Saturday ordered a magisterial inquiry into the accident after visiting the injured and the kin of those killed in the tragedy. Most people who were mowed down by the speeding train were migrant workers from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. A senior official in the district administration said most migrant workers from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar work in an industrial area at a stone's throw away from the accident site and live nearby.
Unaccounted cash to the tune of Rs 10 crore was seized and two persons arrested in this connection in Telangana's Adilabad district, police said Saturday. The incident occurred Friday evening at Pipparawada toll plaza bordering Maharashtra

Hyderabad: Unaccounted cash to the tune of Rs 10 crore was seized and two persons arrested in this connection in Telangana's Adilabad district, police said Saturday. The incident occurred Friday evening at Pipparawada toll plaza bordering Maharashtra, Adilabad DSP Narasimha Reddy said.

The car in which the cash was being transported was intercepted at the toll plaza as part of the drive to check the use of money and violation of Model Code of Conduct in the run-up to the 7 December assembly elections.

"The vehicle was stopped at the check post. The officials on duty identified five sacks of cash with Rs 2000 and Rs 500 currency notes.

As the duo in the vehicle did not give us convincing replies we seized the cash, which will be produced in the court today," Reddy told PTI.

The official said the accused claim that they were businessmen travelling from Nagpur to some place in Karnataka. He said they are investigating the case and have informed the Income Tax officials also.
The fear is that bureaucratic indifference, political sycophancy and arrogance, poor planning at the venue, a lack of basic safety norms will all be ignored

In the Arabian desert, there are bone dry river beds called wadis. Tourists like to park their vehicles there and take photographs. Every so often, the authorities warn against parking on the bed because flash floods hurtle down, a veritable roaring wall of water that offers no escape and devastates.

Pretty much like the train that scythed through a crowd at Amritsar and marked an obscenity of a tragedy. Now, we can blame the engine driver and the chief guest Navjot Kaur Sidhu for being late to the burning of the Ravana effigy and Chief Minister Amarinder Singh for not reaching Amritsar from Delhi and toss the railway authorities in for good measure. None of it amounts to anything.

The cruel fact is you don't stand on the railroad tracks. The tracks belong to trains. It is appalling that at a function where politicians were present, the police hadn't cared to cordon off the tracks and save the people from themselves. To think that another train had just rolled by on one of the triple tracks and no one said: Whoa, just a minute, Get off the tracks. These are residents of the neighbourhood, who'd know the train schedule forwards and backwards. Why did they congregate on the railway tracks?

And where were the police keeping control of the crowd? They should be the first point of inquiry. Not whether Navjot Kaur arrived late. Surely, we will discover inadequate exits which is par for these ad hoc functions, confusion and general chaos but what is most mystifying is that a train headlight is blindingly powerful coming down a straight track. Did no one see it?

There will be questions asked about the speed of the train. But last I heard, we wanted fast trains. As is customary, the fear is that bureaucratic indifference, political sycophancy and arrogance, poor planning at the venue, a lack of basic safety norms will all be ignored and a scapegoat will be found in the engine driver who was only doing his job.
Amritsar train accident LIVE updates: Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh has announced Rs 5 lakh ex gratia to the kin of those who were killed in the accident.

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'Inquiry will be done; those who need to be punished will be punished,' says Punjab Governor VP Singh Badnore

"How could the administration even give permission to people to be on the tracks, knowing very well that it is a live train line? It is so tragic and horrifying," she said

Speaking to CNN-News18, Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal expressed her sadness over the incident. She said, "this is actually a man-made tragedy where so many people lost their lives. I am too shocked for words, I am too saddened by what has happened."

"People need to be more alert; they must not trespass on railway tracks," he added.

"It would be wrong to say that Railways is responsible for this accident. There are two manned level-crossings on that track, both were closed. It is the main line. There is no speed restriction there. The Railway administration was not informed about the Dussehra celebrations near the mainline. People were watching Dussehra celebrations from railway tracks," Railway Board chairman Ashwani Lohani was quoted as saying by ANI.

Punjab minister Navjot Singh Sidhu has reached the hospital to meet the survivors of the accident CNN-News18 reported.

According to reports, Police Commissioner Amritsar SS Srivastava said that the death toll is at 58, and at least 60 more people have been injured in the train accident.

CNN-News18 quoted the Amritsar Hospital superintendent as saying: "Injuries are big and very serious for those who are in the hospital right now. We are providing all possible services and medical facilities to patients here."

Speaking to CNN-News18, Railway Board chairman Ashwani Lohani said that the Indian Railways will not be launching a probe into the accident, "as it is not an accident as such, this is trespassing on railway tracks.

Railways not launching investigation, says 'it was not accident , it was trespassing."

An eyewitness told CNN-News18: "the nearest checkpost is not too far away. The gateman could very easily have informed authorities of the train's arrival, or could have said anything else about the crowd gathered there in order to stop the train in time. Had he done this, the accident would not have happened."

Punjab minister Navjot Singh Sidhu, while speaking to media at the civil hospital where many survivors are receiving treatment, said: "It was a sad and an unfortunate incident. It is necessary to understand that it was an accident. There has been negligence but it was never intentional or motivated,"

From President Ram Nath Kovind to former Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot, leaders across the Indian political spectrum took to Twitter to express their condolences for victims and survivors.

As per a report from ANI , eight trains have been cancelled, another five trains diverted, ten trains short-terminated following the tragedy. Additionally, five trains short-originated today.

A Northern Railways official told NDTV that the Ravan effigy was being burned less than 100 metres from the railway tracks. "Ravan effigy was being burned 70-80 metres from the gate. When the effigy fell, people present there ran towards the railway track, at the time a train was passing and level crossing there was shut," the official said.

An eyewitness told CNN-News18 that the Raven Dehan was delayed by an hour because of Navjot Kaur Sidhu. It was scheduled for 6 pm but only started around 7, which happened to coincide with the train timings.

58 patients are still admitted at the Civil Hospital Amritsar. 24 bodies at the civil hospital have been identified, while 18 are yet to be identified at the civil hospital.

Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh has begun his trip for Amritsar from New Delhi. He is scheduled to visit the Guru Nanak Dev hospital in Amritsar where many injured have been admitted.

No action has so far been initiated against the organisers of the Dusshera event. Police sources said that the organisers, who are leaders of the ruling Congress in Punjab, had gone underground.

The newspaper quoted sources as saying that the driver claimed that he was given a green signal and all clear, and had no idea that hundreds of people were standing on the tracks when the train crossed the area.

Punjab Police officials told The Times of India that the DMU (diesel multiple unit) driver had been detained at Ludhiana railway station, and was being questioned regarding the accident at the Jora Phatak near Dhobi Ghat within Amritsar.

While 39 bodies have been kept at the Amritsar Civil Hospital, the remaining 20 have been kept at Guru Nanak Hospital, which chief minister Amarinder Singh is scheduled to visit.

Dr Hardeep S Ghai, the civil surgeon at the civil hospital and nodal officer, told The Indian Express that there are 59 casualties till now.

Punjab Police commandos and Rapid Action Force (RAF) personnel have been deployed at the site of a train accident, which claimed 61 lives, to manage the huge crowd that has gathered, PTI reported.

More and more people in Amritsar are flocking to the site of the tragic train accident, where at least 59 people were killed. Meanwhile, Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh is on his way from New Delhi to visit those injured in the incident.

He also blamed Sidhu's wife, who was a chief guest of the event, for inadvertently causing the tragedy. Majithia said that because she came late for the incident, the time was stretched on. He also alleged that Navjot Kaur left the accident site as soon as the incident took place.

Bikram Singh Majithia of the Shiromani Akali Dal said that the blame for the tragedy lay squarely with Navjot Singh Sidhu and his wife Navjot Kaur Sidhu. The SAD leader said that the locals told him that the event took place every year around the same area and the locals had never seen a tragedy befall, especially of this magnitude. He said that the area falls in the constituency of Navjot Singh Sidhu, who also happens to be the urban local bodies minister, had the responsibility to ensure that adequate crowd management was in place and proper permits were sought from the due authorities.

Municipal Corporation Commissioner Sonali Giri said the Dasehra event was held illegally as no permission had been granted for the same at Dhobi Ghat near the railway track. It is very surprising that Dr Navjot Kaur Sidhu presided over this function without verifying this fact, she told The Tribune .

He, however, said there was a "big negligence" and asked his detractors not to do politics over the incident. "It was an unfortunate incident. I talked to few people who told me that some people were standing on the rail track and some were sitting on a stone near the track," the minister told reporters. PTI

Punjab minister and local MLA Navjot Singh Sidhu said the mowing down of 61 Dussehra revellers by a train here was an accident and that nobody had done it intentionally.

Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh has arrived in Amritsar. Singh is being being briefed by the Crisis Management Group on relief and rehabilitation measures taken so far in the massive train tragedy that killed at least 59 people. He is scheduled to visit the Guru Teg Bahadur Singh hospital to mmet the victims shortly.

Railway official says Amritsar tragedy not motorman's fault, claims train was running at normal speed

There is visible anger amid people who have gathered in large numbers at the site of accident ahead of Chief Minister Amarinder Singh's visit. The chief minister is currently at Sri Guru Ram Dass Jee International Airport in Amritsar, where he is being briefed by the officials. He will visit the victims at the local hospital next, and thereafter he will go to visit the site of the accident.

He said that the mtormen are briefed in advance about when to slow down the train, what speed to drive at and when to blow the horn. The driver was only doing his duty.

Speaking to CNN-News18, MoS Railways, Manoj Sinha said that the Amritsar train accident was the most unfortunate tragedy. Answering a question about whether the liability lies with the railways, Sinha said that the site of the accident was outside the crossing guard's and motorman's range of vision, because the tracks curved just ahead of the railway crossing.

Motorman, guard at crossing couldn't have seen mob at track due to curve, says Manoj Sinha

Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh, accompanied by his cabinet colleague Navjot Singh Sidhu, reached at a city hospital, where he met the victims. Singh also took stock of the situation in the city.

Captain Amarinder Singh has reportedly dropped the plan to visit the site of the accident as the security officials advised him against it. Angry people had been gathering at the site of the accident ahead of Singh's visit.

Captain Amarinder Singh drops plan to visit accident site as officials say trip might cause law and order situation

Speaking to ANI, Mr Lohani said that the Railways administration was not informed about the Dussehra celebrations taking place near the main line. He said that the two manned level-crossing on the track, where the accident took place, was closed.

Hours after the Amritsar train accident, Railway Board Chairman Ashwani Lohani on Saturday said it would be wrong to say that the Railways is responsible for the tragic incident, adding that people need to be more alert.

Answering a reporter about why is visit took over 15 hours to take a visit to the site, Captain Amarinder Singh said that he was at the airport to take a flight to Israel for an official visit, when he got the news.

I was at the airport when got news of tragedy, says Amarinder Singh

Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh has said that the state government has ordered a magisterial probe into the mishap. The chief minister has said that he has sought the report within four weeks. Singh refused to blame either the railways or the administration, and added that he would not like to prejudge the findings of the enquiry commitee.

"59 people have been killed and 57 people were injured in the incident. We will try that postmortem of the bodies are done as soon as possible. We have identified most of the bodies except 9," Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh said.

Amarinder Singh informs 9 bodies yet to be identified, says authorities trying hard to ensure dead can be handed over to kin asap

Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh faced a volley of questions as he briefed reporters. From the lack of proper permission for holding the event, to the railways dismissal of any blame on its part, Amarinder was asked about several glaring issues that pointed towards some sort of mismanagement that eventually caused the accident. However, the chief minister said that it will be wrong to prejudge the findings of the enquiry commission and refused to make a comment on the causes of the tragedy.

'Wrong to prejudge proceeds of enquiry': Captain Amarinder Singh refuses to answer questions about reasons of mishap

Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh has announced Rs 5 lakh ex gratia to the kin of those who were killed in the accident. The chief minister also promised free medical treatment for all injured and an additional aide of Rs 50,000 for those who would need prolonged treatment for their injuries.

The statement reported by ANI said, "Gate No. C-27 is a manned level crossing gate and it was closed for road traffic for passing the above DMU train. It is further informed that there is about 2.5 meter high brick wall between the railway track and the Ravan Effigy Dahan site."

The Northern Railway issued a statement Saturday, clarifying that the raillway tracks were not immedately accessible from the ground, adding that there was a wall separating the grounds with the track.

Northern Railways says railway track separated by a boundary wall from public ground at the site of mishap

However, at the time of the tragedy the policemen were present only near the stage where VIP guests, including Navjot Kaur Sidhu were seated, and not near the rear boundary wall or close to the track for crowd management.

Following allegations that the local authorities were not informed about the event, the organisers of the Dussehra event have released a letter that was written to the Amritsar Police seeking security arrangements. In the letter, the organising committee informed the police about the presence of VIP guests and a huge gathering. The deputy commissioner of police had marked the copy of the letter to the ASI of the area.

He said the train movement on the Jalandhar-Amritsar section (including Pathankot) has been suspended following the accident.

The loco pilot of the train had immediately informed the station master at the next station about the incident about the mishap, minutes after the tragedy occured. The Times of India quoted a senior railway official said that the loco pilot's version would also be recorded to ascertain the cause of the accident.

Sources said that the driver claimed that he was given green signal and all clear and had no idea that hundreds of people were standing on the tracks when the train crossed the area. Railway officials were also gathering information from the railway linemen posted along the tracks near the Jora Phatak area who failed to inform the DMU driver regarding the presence of over 700 people on the railway tracks.

The role of train driver, railway officials and local authorities, who gave permission for holding of the event close to the railway tracks, is being probed, police officials said. Punjab Police officials said that the DMU (diesel multiple unit) driver had been detained at the Ludhiana railway station and was being questioned regarding the incident that took place on Friday night at the Jora Phatak near Dhobi Ghat within Amritsar city.

Loco-pilot detained by Amritsar Police, role of lineman at railway crossing being looked into

Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh has said that the state government has ordered a magisterial probe into the mishap. The chief minister has said that he has sought the report within four weeks. Singh refused to blame either the railways or the administration, and added that he would not like to prejudge the findings of the enquiry commitee.

"59 people have been killed and 57 people were injured in the incident. We will try that postmortem of the bodies are done as soon as possible. We have identified most of the bodies except 9," Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh said.

Amarinder Singh informs 9 bodies yet to be identified, says authorities trying hard to ensure dead can be handed over to kin asap

Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh faced a volley of questions as he briefed reporters. From the lack of proper permission for holding the event, to the railways dismissal of any blame on its part, Amarinder was asked about several glaring issues that pointed towards some sort of mismanagement that eventually caused the accident. However, the chief minister said that it will be wrong to prejudge the findings of the enquiry commission and refused to make a comment on the causes of the tragedy.

'Wrong to prejudge proceeds of enquiry': Captain Amarinder Singh refuses to answer questions about reasons of mishap

Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh has announced Rs 5 lakh ex gratia to the kin of those who were killed in the accident. The chief minister also promised free medical treatment for all injured and an additional aide of Rs 50,000 for those who would need prolonged treatment for their injuries.

The statement reported by ANI said, "Gate No. C-27 is a manned level crossing gate and it was closed for road traffic for passing the above DMU train. It is further informed that there is about 2.5 meter high brick wall between the railway track and the Ravan Effigy Dahan site."

The Northern Railway issued a statement Saturday, clarifying that the raillway tracks were not immedately accessible from the ground, adding that there was a wall separating the grounds with the track.

Northern Railways says railway track separated by a boundary wall from public ground at the site of mishap

However, at the time of the tragedy the policemen were present only near the stage where VIP guests, including Navjot Kaur Sidhu were seated, and not near the rear boundary wall or close to the track for crowd management.

Following allegations that the local authorities were not informed about the event, the organisers of the Dussehra event have released a letter that was written to the Amritsar Police seeking security arrangements. In the letter, the organising committee informed the police about the presence of VIP guests and a huge gathering. The deputy commissioner of police had marked the copy of the letter to the ASI of the area.

My thoughts are with everyone who has lost a loved one in the tragic train crash in Amritsar, India. Canadians are keeping you in our hearts tonight & wishing all those injured a full recovery.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also condoled the accident in which 39 of the total 61 people killed have been identified so far.

UN chief Antonio Guterres has expressed his deepest condolences to the families and friends the 59 e who died in a train accident in Amritsar, terming the incident as "tragic". "My heart goes to all in Amritsar following Friday's tragic accident. Earlier this month, I was honoured to visit the Golden Temple and witnessed the warmth and generosity of the people. My deepest condolences to those who have lost family and loved ones," Guterres said in a tweet.

He said the train movement on the Jalandhar-Amritsar section (including Pathankot) has been suspended following the accident.

The loco pilot of the train had immediately informed the station master at the next station about the incident about the mishap, minutes after the tragedy occured. The Times of India quoted a senior railway official said that the loco pilot's version would also be recorded to ascertain the cause of the accident.

Sources said that the driver claimed that he was given green signal and all clear and had no idea that hundreds of people were standing on the tracks when the train crossed the area. Railway officials were also gathering information from the railway linemen posted along the tracks near the Jora Phatak area who failed to inform the DMU driver regarding the presence of over 700 people on the railway tracks.

The role of train driver, railway officials and local authorities, who gave permission for holding of the event close to the railway tracks, is being probed, police officials said. Punjab Police officials said that the DMU (diesel multiple unit) driver had been detained at the Ludhiana railway station and was being questioned regarding the incident that took place on Friday night at the Jora Phatak near Dhobi Ghat within Amritsar city.

Loco-pilot detained by Amritsar Police, role of lineman at railway crossing being looked into

Amritsar train accident LATEST updates: Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh has announced Rs 5 lakh ex gratia to the kin of those who were killed in the accident. The chief minister also promised free medical treatment for all injured and an additional aide of Rs 50,000 for those who would need prolonged treatment for their injuries.

Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh has said that the state government has ordered a magisterial probe into the mishap. The chief minister has said that he has sought the report within four weeks. Singh refused to blame either the railways or the administration, and added that he would not like to prejudge the findings of the enquiry committee

MoS Railways, Manoj Sinha said that the Amritsar train accident was the most unfortunate tragedy. Answering a question about whether the liability lies with the railways, Sinha said that the site of the accident was outside the crossing guard's and motorman's range of vision, because the tracks curved just ahead of the railway crossing.

He said that the mtormen are briefed in advance about when to slow down the train, what speed to drive at and when to blow the horn. The driver was only doing his duty.

Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh has arrived in Amaritser. Singh is being being briefed by the Crisis Management Group on relief and rehabilitation measures taken so far in the massive train tragedy that killed at least 59 people. He is scheduled to visit the Guru Teg Bahadur Singh hospital to mmet the victims shortly.

Defending his wife Navjot Kaur Sidhu, who was accused of leaving the accident site without bothering about the victims, the state culture minister said she was attending to patients at the hospital when allegations were being levelled against her.

Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh is scheduled to visit Guru Nanak Dev hospital in Amritsar to meet the injured in the tragic accident.

Speaking to CNN-News18, Railway Board chairman Ashwani Lohani said that the Indian Railways will not be launching a probe into the accident, "as it is not an accident as such, this is trespassing on railway tracks.

According to reports, Police Commissioner Amritsar SS Srivastava said that the death toll is at 58, and at least 60 more people have been injured in the train accident.

At least 61 people were killed and 72 injured on Friday evening after a crowd of Dussehra revellers that had spilled on to railway tracks while watching burning of Ravana effigy was run over by a train near Amritsar, officials said.

The train was going from Jalandhar to Amritsar when the incident occurred at Joda Phatak where at least 300 people were watching 'Ravana dahan' at a ground adjacent to the tracks.

Sub Divisional Magistrate Amritsar (I) Rajesh Sharma said 58 people have died and at least 72 injured have been admitted to Amritsar hospital.

However, Raveen Thukral, media adviser to Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, put the number of dead at 40, adding the toll could rise.

As the effigy was lit and the fireworks went off, a section of the crowd started retreating towards the tracks where a large number of people were already standing to watch the event, officials said.

However, two trains arrived from the opposite direction at the same time giving little opportunity to people to escape, they said.

Several people were mowed down by one of the trains, they said.

Wails and cries of people filled the air as friends and relatives frantically looked for their near and dear ones. Severed bodies, including of many children, were still lying on the accident site hours after the incident with angry people not allowing authorities to remove them.

It was a heart rending sight as dismembered body parts lay strewn on the blood-soaked ground. Many bodies could not be identified.

People shouted slogans against local MLA Navjot Kaur Sidhu, who was present as chief guest during the event. She later said she rushed to the hospital immediately after the incident.

She said the railways should have ensured that trains slow down near that section of the track during Dussehra celebrations.

"Every year, Dussehra celebrations take place there," she said, adding that she had left the place before the incident took place.

There was shock and disbelief as panic-stricken people recounted the horror.

"I have lost my minor child. I want him back," an inconsolable mother could be heard.

"Several times we have been requesting the authorities and local leaders telling them to take up the issue with railway authorities to slow down the trains near this Phatak during Dussehra, but no one has listened," a local said.

Another said people could not hear the sound of the approaching train due to bursting of fire-crackers.

Amritsar Police Commissioner SS Srivastava said there was a great rush because of the Dussehra celebrations, adding necessary action as per law would be taken.

A state mourning has been announced in Punjab on Saturday.

Amarinder Singh has ordered an inquiry into the incident.

"I am at the moment not aware of the reasons for this Ravana effigy being built next to a railway station. But the administration will look at it and we will check it when I go there tomorrow," he said.

Singh, who was scheduled to leave for Israel this evening, has postponed his trip and will fly to Amritsar Saturday morning.

He announced compensation of Rs five lakh each to the kin of the deceased.

He also directed the Chief Secretary to deploy all the necessary administrative officials to ensure that the injured are immediately shifted to hospitals across Amritsar. All private hospitals have also been asked to stay open, along with government hospitals, to provide urgent free treatment and care to the injured.

Additional police forces, led by the DGP, have been rushed to the spot to control the situation.

The incident sent shock waves across the country. There was an outpouring of grief with President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi condoling the loss of lives.

Modi announced Rs 2 lakh compensation for the family of the dead and Rs 50,000 for the injured. He also directed officials to provide immediate assistance.

"Extremely saddened by the train accident in Amritsar. The tragedy is heart-wrenching," he tweeted.

"My deepest condolences to the families of those who lost their loved ones and I pray that the injured recover quickly. Have asked officials to provide immediate assistance that is required," he said.

"Shocked to hear about the tragedy on rail tracks in Amritsar, Punjab. Understand Indian Railways and local authorities are taking steps to help affected people," Kovind said.

Minister of State for Railways Manoj Sinha, Railway Board chairman Ashwani Lohani and Northern Railway general manager Vishwesh Chaube are rushing to the spot while Railway Minister Piyush Goyal said immediate relief and rescue operations are being conducted.

With inputs from PTI
Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh Saturday ordered a magisterial probe into the Amritsar train accident after visiting injured and kin of those killed in the tragedy even as he urged the Opposition not to politicise the issue.

Amritsar: Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh Saturday ordered a magisterial probe into the Amritsar train accident after visiting injured and kin of those killed in the tragedy even as he urged the Opposition not to politicise the issue. The chief minister postponed a trip to Israel and arrived here this morning to assess the damage.

"We are announcing a magisterial probe into the incident," Singh said while talking to media in Amritsar.

He said four weeks have been given to submit the report to find out who was at fault. The divisional commissioner of Jalandhar has been entrusted with the job of holding the inquiry, he said.

At least 59 people were killed Friday evening after a crowd of Dussehra revellers that had spilled on to railway tracks while watching the burning of a Ravana effigy was run over by a train near Joda Phatak in Amaritsar.

At least 300 people were watching the 'Ravana dahan' at a ground adjacent to the tracks. Singh visited the injured in Amandeep Hospital, Civil Hospital and Guru Nanak Dev Hospital Saturday, where he met the injured and directed the doctors to provide them best possible medical treatment.

He expressed grief at the incident and extended his government's full support to the victims and their families. He observed that two little girls he met at a hospital had lost their entire families in the tragedy, which the whole nation was mourning.

He said this was not the time to play political games on the issue and urged the opposition parties to join hands with the government in providing relief work to the victims.

He said compensation of Rs 5 lakh each for the families of the deceased had already been announced by the state government. Besides, the government would bear the cost of medical treatments of the injured admitted to different hospitals, he told reporters.

Fifty-nine people were killed and 57 injured in the accident, he said, adding except nine, most of the bodies have been identified.

The chief minister said he was at Delhi airport to leave for Tel Aviv when he heard of the tragic incident. He said he had to rush back after postponing his Israel visit.

He said he wanted to visit Amritsar Thursday night itself, but was advised against it by the district authorities who did not want a VIP movement to divert attention from the urgent rescue and relief efforts needed at that hour.

After landing at the Amritsar airport this morning, Singh reached the accident site. He met senior officials and members of a crisis management group to take stock of the relief work.

He was accompanied by Health Minister Brahm Mohindra, Local Bodies Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu, Education Minister O P Soni, Punjab Congress chief Sunil Jakhar, among others. Top police officials have also been asked to stay in Amritsar to provide immediate assistance.
The Amritsar police on Saturday said though they had given a 'no objection' certificate for the Dussehra celebration near Joda Phatak here, the organisers did not take permission from the municipal corporation and the pollution department.

Amritsar: The Amritsar police on Saturday said though they had given a "no objection" certificate for the Dussehra celebration near Joda Phatak here, the organisers did not take permission from the municipal corporation and the pollution department.

According to the permission document, the organisers were given the go-ahead following their assurance that they would follow the directions of the Punjab and Haryana High Court on usage of loud speakers.

They had also assured that traffic movement would not be disrupted and nobody would carry any weapon at the event, it said.

The organiser, Saurabh Madan, who is also the president of Dussehra Committee (East) and husband of Congress Councillor Vijay Madan, had sought permission for the 19 October event. He had also sought security from the police as Cabinet minister Navjot Singh Sidhu and his wife Navjot Kaur Sidhu were supposed to attend the event.

Deputy Commissioner of Police Amrik Singh Powar said the organisers were asked to also seek permission from the municipal corporation and pollution department as well.

"If any of these permissions is not granted, then the permission for holding a Dussehra event cannot be granted," Powar said.

Earlier on Saturday, the Amritsar Municipal Corporation (AMC) said no permission was granted to hold Dussehra celebrations at 'Dhobi ghat' ground in Amritsar.

"Nobody was given permission for organising the Dussehra event. Moreover, nobody had applied for the permission with the Amritsar Municipal Corporation," AMC commissioner Sonali Giri said in Amritsar.

She said the celebrations were held at the 'Dhobi ghat' ground in Amritsar.

Giri said unlike last year, the event was held on a large scale on Friday evening.

Opposition parties, including the Akali Dal, BJP and AAP have demanded strict action against those who gave permission for holding the event. They have also held the Congress-led Punjab government responsible for allowing the Dussehra celebrations near the railway track.

At least 59 people were killed on Friday evening after a crowd of Dussehra revellers that had spilled onto railway tracks while watching the burning of a Ravana effigy was run over by a train near Joda Phatak in .

At the time of the tragic incident, at least 300 people were watching the 'Ravana dahan' at the ground adjacent to the elevated rail tracks.

As the effigy was lit and the fireworks went off, a section of the crowd started retreating towards the tracks where a large number of people were already standing to watch the event, officials had said.

Two trains arrived from the opposite direction at the same time, giving little time to people to escape, they said.
UN chief Antonio Guterres has expressed his deepest condolences to the families and friends of over 60 people who died in a train accident in Amritsar, terming the incident as 'tragic'. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also condoled the accident in which 39 of the total 61 people killed have been identified so far.

United Nations: UN chief Antonio Guterres has expressed his deepest condolences to the families and friends of over 60 people who died in a train accident in Amritsar, terming the incident as "tragic".

At least 61 people were killed and 72 injured on Friday evening after a crowd of Dussehra revellers that had spilled onto railway tracks while watching the burning of a Ravana effigy was run over by a train.

The train was coming from Punjab's Jalandhar city when the accident occurred at Joda Phatak near Amritsar, where at least 300 people were watching 'Ravana dahan' at a ground adjacent to the tracks.

Guterres said in a tweet.

My heart goes to all in Amritsar following Fridays tragic accident. Earlier this month, I was honoured to visit the Golden Temple and witnessed the warmth and generosity of the people. My deepest condolences to those who have lost family and loved ones.  Antonio Guterres (@antonioguterres) October 19, 2018

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also condoled the accident in which 39 of the total 61 people killed have been identified so far.

My thoughts are with everyone who has lost a loved one in the tragic train crash in Amritsar, India. Canadians are keeping you in our hearts tonight & wishing all those injured a full recovery.  Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) October 19, 2018

The Punjab government has announced Rs 5 lakh compensation for the families of the accident victims. A state mourning has been declared for Saturday, and all offices and educational institutions remain closed in the State.

The incident sent shock waves across the country. There was an outpouring of grief with President Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Punjab Governor VP Singh Badnore and several other leaders condoling the loss of lives.
Families of five workers arrested over alleged Maoist links by Maharashtra ATS, have been struggling in anonymity even though the arrest of 10 well-known activists with the same charges and linked to the Bhima Koregaon violence made it to the headlines

Earlier this year, on 12 January, 15-20 people wearing civil dress barged into Rajita Kareras house in Mumbais Ghatkopar area just before midnight. They opened the cupboards, went through the personal belongings, and threw their clothes on the floor. The "search" continued for two hours. They even turned a box of rice upside down while examining the apartment. Even her two sleeping kids aged 12 and 9 did not stop them. "They did not show me any warrant," she says. "I had no idea who they were. I continued to ask what this is about, but they told me to shut up."

It was the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorist Squad. After two hours of search, they detained Rajitas husband Satyanarayan, and said he will be released the next day. "I shouted, and said take me along as well," she says. Nine months on, my husband is still rotting in jail.

The same night, the Maharashtra ATS conducted raids at three other homes as well. The following month in February, another man was arrested. All five of them are migrants from Telangana, living in Mumbai for years, working as labourers with Reliance Energy. They have been detained under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), and are accused of Maoist links.

Ten well-known activists have been arrested so far with the same charges following investigations into the Bhima Koregaon violence. They have made it to the headlines. Families of the workers, however, have been struggling in anonymity.

The day after the arrests, Rajita visited the Vikhroli police station, where she saw her husbands face covered with a black cloth. I wanted to meet him, she says. "But I was asked to stay away. A policeman said they would put me in jail as well if I do not stand away from the police station. When I eventually saw him in the court, he had bruise marks. It clearly looked like he was beaten."

The families have since been mocked at, made fun of, and faced hostility. One of those arrested, Babu Shankar, had rented the place that he lived in with his family. After the arrest, the landlord forcibly evicted the family from the apartment, and they have now gone back to their village in Telangana.

Rajita says the label of being Maoist follows her wherever she goes. "A constable did not let me meet my husband in jail, and told others to be wary of us because we are Maoists," she says.

"When I told the lawyers, he said we denied access because I had not carried my identity card. I am worried about my kids as they grow up among these taunts."

With the workers languishing in jail for over nine months now, families are struggling financially. Rajitas two kids are no longer going to tuition because she could not afford the fees anymore.

"Satyanarayan earned a salary of Rs 12,000," she says. "I used to do embroidery, and I have tried to start over since the arrest. But I cannot afford their fees anymore. I have managed to stay afloat with loans from relatives. How long can I expect them to provide for my family?"

Narendra, brother-in-law of Shankar Gunde, one of the workers arrested on 12 January, says the ATS took away Rs 45,000 they had in their house after the raid. They said we will get it back, he says. But we have not. When we inquired, we were told we would get it back after Shankar is released. The money is detained in courts."

In 2007, Shankar had been arrested over similar charges, and was acquitted two years later. But he had received bail back then, unlike this time around.

Having slapped with UAPA, it gets difficult to get bail, because it is a draconian act, says Advocate Arif Siddiqui, who is representing them. "It was rejected in sessions court, so we have knocked the doors of the high court. Lets see what happens, he says.

Arif says the prosecution claims the workers funded the banned outfit CPI (Maoist). "The charge is that they donated Rs 1.5 lakh to the organisation by cheque, he says, adding, "If I want to pay someone wrongly, why would I do a cheque transaction? The entire charge sheet of over 5,000 pages does not state what crime they were planning to commit."

The police have further said they found Maoist literature in their homes, but families say it was leftist literature, trade union papers, and copies of a Telugu workers magazine.

The police claimed in the court that they are Maoists living with false identities," says Siddiqui. But they have provided no proof. We have submitted documents that show they are regular employees of Reliance Energy, along with being members of a registered trade union. They have been in service for years, and have permanent residential addresses."

Trade union leader N Vasudevan said the police is going to any lengths to prove their concocted theory. "The Mumbai Electric Employees Union (MEEU) leaders met the secretary of the Maharashtra home department immediately after the arrests," he says.

"We asked why they have been arrested. The secretary had no answer. We then met the ATS chief, who said they have been arrested for Maoist links. The union leaders then wrote a letter to chief minister Devendra Fadnavis. But all in vain so far, he added.

Rajita says she still cannot comprehend why Satyanarayan has to live through the misery. Our lives have fallen apart since January, she says. Everybody back home in Telangana is worried. Five days after he was arrested, his mother had an attack and passed away. I still do not know what our crime is.
The charges against RK Pachauri were framed under Sections 354 (outraging the modesty of a woman), 354A (sexual harassment) and 509 (words used to outrage the modesty of a woman).

Delhi's Saket court on Friday framed charges against environmentalist RK Pachauri in a sexual harassment case. Metropolitan Magistrate Charu Gupta put Pachauri on trial for the offence punishable under sections 354 (outraging modesty), 354A (making physical contact, unwelcome and sexually coloured remarks) and 509 (teasing and using vulgar gesture and actions) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

The charges were framed after Pachauri, who was present in the courtroom, pleaded not guilty and claimed trial.

The court has also summoned the complainant to be present on 4 and 5 January for cross-examination and evidence collection, ANI reported.

Meanwhile, RK Pachauri has been asking the court to expedite the matter, citing his old age, ANI reported.

The Delhi Police had first filed a case against Pachauri in 2015 on basis of a complaint filed by a former female junior colleague on charges of sexual harassment in their workplace.

On 13 February, 2015, an FIR was registered against Pachauri and he was granted anticipatory bail in the case on 21 March, 2015.

The former TERI chief had earlier secured an interim order from Additional District Judge making it mandatory for media houses to publish or telecast the coverage of the case with a title that "in any court, the allegations have not been proved and they may not be correct".

This order had also said "when such information is published in any page of a magazine or report, then it should be in middle of the page in bold letters and it should be five times larger than the font in which the article is being published".

Over 1,400-page charge sheet was filed by the Delhi Police on 1 March, 2016, saying there was "sufficient evidence" against Pachauri that he had sexually harassed, stalked and threatened the complainant.

A supplementary charge sheet was filed in March 2017 after the police said it had retrieved several deleted emails and chats exchanged between the accused and the complainant. The final report had said the deleted WhatsApp chats, text messages, retrieved from the cell phones, computer hard disks and other devices, were "not fabricated".

The chargesheet, which was filed a year after the former research analyst of TERI lodged the complaint, had said Pachauri had committed offences under various sections of IPC. Pachauri has denied all the allegations against him.

Pachauri was accused of sexually harassing a female colleague in 2015. He stepped down as the chairperson of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in February 2016 and proceeded on leave from TERI, where he was the director general. The woman researcher who accused him of sexual harassment in November quit her job at TERI, alleging she was treated badly. TERI had denied the charges.

On 8 February, 2016, Pachauri was appointed as executive vice chairman of the organisation. Following severe criticism, he went on indefinite leave from the organisation on 12 February, 2016.

In April 2016, a few months after the charge sheet was filed against him in the alleged sexual harassment case, Pachauri had slapped a civil suit against lawyer-activist Vrinda Grover and another person for allegedly making defamatory statements against him outside the courtroom to the media in connection with the case.

Pachauri has sought damages of Rs 1 crore for "false and frivolous allegations" which, he argues, could prejudice his case.

With inputs from agencies
The Wire on Saturday answered questions about the allegations against Dua and said that it does not agree with Dua's dismissal of the #MeToo movement.

Issuing a fresh statement on the allegations of sexual harassment against senior journalist Vinod Dua, news website The Wire on Saturday answered questions about the allegations against Dua and said that it does not agree with Dua's dismissal of the #MeToo movement.

"The Wires support for the MeToo movement is clear from its continuing reportage and its editorial," the statement said.

The statement also said that even though the #MeToo movement has limitations which should be discussed, "at its core is the struggle by women to give voice to their own experiences of sexual violence and harassment."

Here is the full text of The Wire's statement:

In the wake of the #MeToo movement, which The Wire has vigorously reported on and supported editorially because sexual harassment is one of the major problems of our times, an allegation of sexual harassment was made against one of our consulting editors, Vinod Dua. He has been anchoring the popular video show, Jan Gan ki Baat, four times a week, from Tuesday to Friday, since 2017.

The Wire was founded in 2015. Ms Nishtha Jains allegation pertains to incidents which occurred in 1989.

On the very day her Facebook post appeared, i.e. Sunday, October 14, the chairperson of The Wires internal complaints committee (ICC)  the body tasked by law to investigate allegations of sexual harassment at the workplace  informed other ICC members of the serious nature of the allegation and said the committee should take note of it.

The ICC met the very next day, i.e. Monday, October 15, and decided to request Ms Jain to submit a complaint to the ICC so that its processes could formally commence. Ms Jain said she would do so soon.

On October 17, 2018, i.e. three days after Ms Jain first made her allegation, The Wire announced the formation of an external committee to look into her charges. We had been working on this initiative to obviate issues of the ICCs jurisdiction with regard to an incident that may be seen as beyond its remit. We were also keen to ensure that the proceedings are conducted by persons of unimpeachable integrity and impartiality.

Working quickly, we secured the consent of former Supreme Court judge Aftab Alam, former judge of the Patna high court Justice Anjana Prakash, Prof Neera Chandhoke and former foreign secretary Sujatha Singh to be members of an external committee to investigate/examine Ms Jains complaint in a time-bound manner. The names were shared with her. She requested that a fifth person, also a woman, be added, a suggestion to which we readily agreed. Prof Patricia Uberoi is the fifth member.

Since the members of the committee were putting their other commitments on hold in order to help The Wire address Ms Jains allegation and since she herself had indicated in her Facebook posts that she expected prompt action, we wrote to her on October 17 requesting that she convey her consent and her complaint by October 18. She wrote back asking for time till October 26 to file her complaint, a suggestion we readily agreed to. We did, however request that she at least convey her consent now so that we can confirm with the members of the committee that the process is on. This she did on the evening of October 18.

With all consents in place, The Wire made an announcement about the committees precise composition on October 20. Once her complaint is received, the external committee will decide on the schedule it intends to adhere to.

A number of other questions about The Wires handling of Ms Jains allegation have been put to us by readers, well-wishers, The Wires Public Editor and our own colleagues at The Wire. We believe the most important question  how does The Wire intend to handle Ms Jains allegation against its consulting editor  has been answered above. But there are other questions and concerns which we would like to address below, as they have been put to us over the past few days.

Q1. Why did The Wire not terminate Mr Dua or suspend his show as soon as Ms Jains allegation was made?

A1. The MeToo movement has produced allegations dealing with a range of situations, all of which require a range of responses. Complaints of contemporary sexual harassment at the workplace require immediate changes in work assignment if the complainant and alleged harasser work together or if the latter has a supervisory function. Complaints of older incidents that occurred in a media houses workplace would call for different kinds of steps. Complaints related to older incidents that are completely unconnected to a media houses workplace would require still other responses. Complaints that pertain to allegations of abuse and even violence, especially partner violence, which are unconnected to the media houses workplace, but implicate the character of an employee, require a different set of protocols.

Like other media houses, we too have had to think hard about our options in responding, in this instance, to Ms Jains complaint against Mr Dua which goes back to 1989. There was no roadmap to follow.

The guiding principles in deciding on any interim measures (such as suspension of an individual) is to check first

whether the prevention of continuing or prospective harm requires suspension of the person; whether the continuation of the person may affect people over whom he has a supervisory relationship; whether the continuation of the person may prejudice the outcome of any current investigation; whether the continuation of the person may prejudice the public perception of any current investigation, since there are reputational issues also at stake whether there is a clear road map in terms of making that suspension permanent or revoking it  in the absence of which it would remain indefinite, neither lifted nor converted to a termination.

The answers to 1 and 2 above were clearly negative. Mr Dua is not a supervisor. Nor have there been any complaints about his behaviour while at The Wire. Since no investigation had commenced, the question of 3 and 4 did not arise.

Now that we have a committee in place and Ms Jain has conveyed her consent to its time-bound proceedings, the answer to the fifth question is yes: there is now a concrete roadmap. Thus, Vinod Duas show, which he had voluntarily suspended for a week, will not be aired and will remain suspended till the committee completes its work.

Q2. Why did The Wire give a platform to allow Mr Dua to dismiss all allegations against him?

A2. No investigation against Mr. Dua had commenced at the time he recorded his episode of Jan Gan Man ki Baat. The ICC had reached out to Ms Jain on October 15 and requested a formal complaint so as to commence its proceedings. No complaint was received. The external committee fell into place on October 17 and we received Ms Jains consent to it.

Mr Dua committed himself to making a short statement announcing the suspension of his programme to give The Wire space to look into Ms Jains allegations  which The Wire itself had reported on  and to precede that by saying he rejected her charges, as was his right, as an accused person. Our view was that his dismissal of the charges, from the platform of his show on The Wire or any other media outlet, would have no bearing on any investigation to be conducted against him.

Mr. Dua could possibly have issued a separate statement on the matter, unconnected with his show. However, it was felt that he would need to explain to his viewers  who are a large part of The Wires audience  why he was suspending the show.

Q3. Does The Wire agree with Vinod Duas dismissal of the MeToo movement?

A3. No it does not. The Wires support for the MeToo movement is clear from its continuing reportage and its editorial. The first, detailed account by a journalist of her experience at the Asian Age working under M.J. Akbar was published by The Wire.

Q4. If The Wire supports MeToo, why did it allow Mr Dua to dismiss the allegations?

A4. The Wire is a media platform and in all its coverage of MeToo it has followed two principles: (1) no reporting of anonymous complaints, and (2) reaching out to the persons accused to give them a chance to say whatever they want by way of defence, refutation, dismissal, etc. Like others accused, Mr Dua had the right to dismiss the allegations made against himself. Others accused also have that right.

Q6. Why did Vinod Dua suspend his show and specify he was doing so for a week?

A6. Mr Dua has been conscious of the fact that the allegation against him may hurt The Wire and volunteered to suspend his show to give us time and space to investigate the charge in any way we wished to. He said he would record his show as usual, but also mention to his viewers that an accusation had been made against him, that he denied the accusation completely but that he would suspend his show for a week to give The Wire time to decide how it wished to proceed. He also said that after a week he wold announce whether the show would continue or not. The Wire has since set up an investigation committee. As we have noted, Mr Duas show will remain suspended for the duration of its work.

Q7. Does The Wire endorse Mr Duas statement that keechad (mud) has been flung on him?

A7. Mr Dua is within his rights as a person accused of sexual harassment to say the accusation is false and to characterise it any way he wishes. Others who have faced accusations have also rejected those allegations, some with more finesse and tact. While the MeToo movement is not without its limitations, and these can and should be vigorously debated, at its core is the struggle by women to give voice to their own experiences of sexual violence and harassment both as a means of encouraging other survivors to speak up and to ensure that some accountability or justice prevails.

It would be unfair and inaccurate to suggest this movement in general is about mudslinging. Such a view runs totally counter to The Wires editorial position. His programme went up without any editorial filter and was a major failure of oversight at our end. Some comments he made at the start of the programme about the MeToo movement as a diversion were edited out later, as soon as they were brought to our notice.

Q8. Do you agree with Mr Dua saying the allegations against him do not amount to sexual harassment but just of harassment (pareshaani)?

A8. Without going in to whether the allegation is true or false  and The Wire reiterates that it endorses neither Ms Jains charge nor Mr Duas denial  there is no doubt that it is an allegation of conduct that falls within the broad rubric of sexual harassment. That is why the headline and contents of The Wires report on Ms Jains allegation, Filmmaker Accuses Vinod Dua of Sexually Harassing, Stalking Her in 1989 Incident, make this clear.

The Wires editors unreservedly apologise for the manner in which the allegation was mischaracterised and trivialised in the last episode of Jan Gan Man ki Baat.

Siddharth Varadarajan

Sidharth Bhatia

M.K. Venu

***

The entire text has been reproduced from The Wire's website and has not been edited by Firstpost for clarity or style.

Network 18, of which Firstpost is a part, has received complaints of sexual harassment as well. The complaints which are within the purview of the workplace have been forwarded to our PoSH committee for appropriate action.
The Gulf Industry Fair 2019, a major event being held in Bahrain, will focus on the 4.0 industrial revolution and its relevance to the GCC economic diversification, said its event organisers, Hilal Conferences and Exhibitions (HCE).

The Northern Gulf's leading event dedicated to promoting industrialisation in the GCC, the Gulf Industry Fair 2019 is being held under the patronage of HRH Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, Prime Minister of Bahrain, from February 5 to 7 at the Bahrain International Exhibition and Convention Centre.

Jubran Abdulrahman, the managing director of HCE, said: "The move towards the new era of industry 4.0 will change the way that industrialisation will be perceived. There is a trend towards automation and data exchange in manufacturing technologies."

The Gulf Future Industry Forum will take place during the exhibition and will focus on policy issues, products and services for Future Industry with leading thought discussions, he stated.

The forum will combine presentations of solutions to challenges as well as leading thought discussions. Its dedicated panels will cover Environmental Impact of Industrialisation; Renewable Energy, and a dedicated panel promoting Women in Business In Industry through Skills and Training Capacity Building.

"The Gulf Industry Fair will be providing a platform through the exhibition and the forum to highlight the future of industry which will be a marriage of traditional manufacturing products and supplies with Internet Of Things Technology," said exhibition director Ahmed Suleiman.

The event format features the exhibition and the Gulf Future Industry Forum.

It will feature companies specialising in the aluminium, energy and environment, industrial metals, industrial processes and anufacturing, ports and maritime, industrial facilities and logistics, training for industry and fire and safety sectors.

Gulf Industry Fair 2019 is taking place at a transformative era for the global economy with greater interest in bilateral trade, this is reflected in the country pavilions that we will be hosting at the Fair," remarked Abdulrahman.

"Currently we have groups from Holland and Pakistan confirmed and are in discussions with groups in India, Germany and Turkey," he added.

Supporting organisations for GIF 2019 includes Middle East Solar Association, Trade and Development Authority of Pakistan, Women in Business International AHK Saudi Arabia, Indias PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and Bahrain Industrial Association.-TradeArabia News Service
India has exhibited measures to disrupt and deter the activities of terror groups and their patrons and would not hesitate to do so again if required, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said.

New Delhi: India has exhibited measures to disrupt and deter the activities of terror groups and their patrons and would not hesitate to do so again if required, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Saturday, in a veiled reference to cross-border terrorism from Pakistan.

Sitharaman, speaking at a meeting of ASEAN defence ministers in Singapore, also said that the presence of terrorist infrastructure and support to terrorists in the "immediate neighbourhood" constantly tested India's patience and as a responsible power it exercised "great restraint" in dealing with the menace.

"However, India had exhibited measures to disrupt and deter the activities of terrorist groups and their patrons and would not hesitate to do so again if required in future," she said, according to a statement released by the Defence Ministry in New Delhi.

Sitharaman emphasised India's concern on the grave challenges to international peace and stability due to the threat of terrorism.

Condemning the use of terror as an instrument to further state policies, she said that the interplay between states and non-state actors used as proxies to foment violence had worsened this menace.

Speaking at the Fifth ASEAN Defence Ministers' Meeting-Plus (ADMM-Plus), she reiterated India's view on the Indo-Pacific, as outlined by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as an open, balanced region, connected by open and secure seas, integrated by balanced trade and shaped by a rules-based order, and anchored in ASEAN centrality.

She asserted that India was committed to maintaining a sustained focus of its Act East policy in terms of economic, cultural and developmental engagement of the region.

The theme of this year's dialogue was 'Strengthening Cooperation, Building Resilience'. The dialogue adopted two resolutions on 'Countering the Threat of Terrorism' and 'Practical Confidence Building Measures'.

Sitharaman lauded the ADMM-Plus mechanism for emerging as a credible and effective platform forging practical cooperation among the members of the armed forces.

She informed the partners of India's active participation in all the ADMM-Plus mechanism contributing effectively to their success.

India and Myanmar are the co-chairs for the Expert Working Group for Military Medicine for this cycle and a standalone Field Training Exercise on Military Medicine will be held in Lucknow in March 2019 along with the release of ASEAN Military Medicine Handbook, Sitharaman said.

The defence minister emphasised India's commitment to a rules-based international order that was inclusive and democratic.

She reiterated India's desire to work both bilaterally with ASEAN member states as well as institutionally and welcomed Thailand's taking over the chairmanship of the ADMM-Plus.

On the sidelines of the meeting, Sitharaman also held constructive bilateral discussions with the defence ministers of the US, Australia, Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines, the statement said.

She also attended a meeting with the defence ministers of Russia, China, Thailand, Laos and Myanmar.

Sitharaman also held discussions with the Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore Teo Chee Hean and her Singaporean counterpart Ng Eng Hen.
The man who played the character of demon king Ravana at the Ram Leela at Joda Phatak was among those killed in the train accident.

Amritsar: The man who played the character of demon king Ravana at the Ram Leela at Joda Phatak was among those killed in the train accident.

After he enacted the role of Ravana, Dalbir Singh, in his twenties, was watching the burning of an effigy from the tracks when he, along with 58 others, was run over by a train. Dalbir has an eight-month-old daughter.

Unable to control her emotions, Dalbir Singh's mother said her son was playing different characters in the Ram Leela for the past many years. "My son played the role of Ravana at the Ram Leela, which was held on the ground at Dhobi Ghat adjacent to Joda Phatak...he is no more...He too was run over by the train," the mother said.

Manoj, a friend of Dalbir, said he had been playing the role of Ravana for the past five years at the Ram Leela, which is held at a ground a little distance away from the accident site. His mother says said that Dalbir's body would not be cremated until the family gets compensation from the government.

Seeking job for the widow of Dalbir Singh, his mother said that the state government should give her a government job so that the family could sustain their livelihood.

"We want justice...it is unfortunate that none from the government or any politician has visited the family," she said.

Another friend of Dalbir said that on seeing a speeding train approaching the area, he had rushed towards them to save them.

"Dalbir was able to push 7 to 8 people away from the rail track...but there was something else in store for him as the train ran over him, killing him on the spot," he said.

At least 59 people were killed Friday evening after a crowd of Dussehra revellers that had spilled onto railway tracks while watching the burning of a Ravana effigy was run over by a train near Joda Phatak here.

The incident took place on Friday evening when at least 300 people were watching the 'Ravana dahan' at a ground adjacent to the tracks.

As the effigy was lit and fireworks went off, a section of the crowd started retreating towards the tracks where a large number of people were already standing to watch the event, officials had said.
Minister of State for Railways Manoj Sinha Saturday ruled out any punitive action against the driver of the train that mowed down Dussehra revellers in Amritsar, saying there was no negligence on the part of the national transporter.

New Delhi: Minister of State for Railways Manoj Sinha Saturday ruled out any punitive action against the driver of the train that mowed down Dussehra revellers in Amritsar, saying there was no negligence on the part of the national transporter. He also advised people not to organise such events near railway tracks in future.

The accident has claimed 59 lives so far out of which 39 bodies have been identified by the authorities. The railways has maintained that it was not at fault because it had no intimation about the Dussehra event.

"The incident was not a railways' fault. There was no lapse on our part and no action against the driver will be initiated. People should refrain from organising such events near tracks in future. I think if precaution had been taken, the accident could have been averted," he said, adding wherever such events are held, the district administration concerned gives permission.

The minister said drivers are given specific instructions on where to slow down the train. "There was a curve. The driver couldn't have seen it. What should we order an inquiry about? Trains travel in speed only," said Sinha when he was asked if an inquiry would be ordered against the driver.

Asked about opposition attack on former MLA Navjot Kaur Sidhu, who was the chief guest at the Dussehra function, Sinha said nobody should do politics on this issue. "It is a tragic incident."

Vivek Kumar, the Divisional Railway Manager, Ferozpur, said the driver has been questioned but no lapse could be found at his end. He said that while the train was travelling at a speed of 91 kilometre per hour but after spotting the crowd on the track, it slowed down to 68 kilometre per hour before the first impact.

"People were trespassing the railway lines when the incident took place. Due to darkness and sound of firecrackers, the people could not hear the sound of train. The driver did not see the crowd earlier as there was a curve. The driver tried to apply brakes and minimize the speed to the train running at 90 kilometre per hour but it takes time to stop the train," he said.

During the questioning, the driver also said that he had tried to stop the train but couldn't.

Earlier, Ashwani Lohani, Chairman, Railway Board, had said the mishap occurred at a stretch between two stations  Amritsar and Manawala  and not at a level crossing.

"At midsections, trains run at their assigned speed and people are not expected to be on the tracks. At midsections, there is no railway staff posted. We have staff at level crossings whose job is to regulate traffic," he said, explaining why the railways was not alerted about the congregation by its staff.

He said the gate man was 400 metres away at a level crossing. He also said that if the driver had applied emergency brakes, there could have been a bigger tragedy.

The train was running at its assigned speed and initial reports suggest that the driver applied brakes and the train slowed down, he said. "There was no information and no permission sought from us. The (Dussehra) event took place at a place adjoining the railway land in private property," he said.
His image as a courageous Muslim man hunted by an anti-Muslim state has not been tarnished even after triple charges of domestic violence and attempt to kill his wife for dowry and allegedly raping a female relative. Male activists like him are inevitably elevated to pedestals, where their crimes against lesser mortals become invisible.

Editors note: Firstpost does not publish articles without an author's name attached. We have made an exception to this norm, for the second time, in view of the #MeToo movements urgency. The editors have established that this account is indeed that of the survivor, and the chain of events leading up to the assault, as described by her, are verifiable.

In January 2018, an eight-year old girl child belonging to the Gujjar-Bakarwal community was raped and murdered in Rasana, Kathua. The chargesheet of the police that came out in April stated that the abduction, rape and murder occurred after accused Sanji Ram decided to put a plan to dislodge the Bakarwal Community from Rasana area. The crimes against the girl were bolstered by institutional impunity; BJP Ministers in the J&K government participated in rallies defending the rapists while some members of the Kathua Bar Association tried to prevent the police from filing the chargesheet.

During these months, an activist from Jammu rose to prominence as an anti-rape crusader leading the cause of justice for the Kathua rape victim. Even before the chargesheet was filed and the details of the grisly case had begun to surface on social media, this activist was invited as a speaker on different platforms including student leaders conventions in universities such as JNU, AMU and MANUU. He spoke about not just the rape case, but also the extant vulnerabilities of the Gujjar-Bakarwal community with reference to the Forest Rights Act.

This man came to JNU as an invited speaker on March 27. After that day, he kept in regular touch with some of the students who had invited him. Those of us who were closely following developments in the case were also concerned about his personal safety; due to his activism, he was attacked in Udhampur on April 13. Thereafter, he returned to Delhi in mid-April to get an order ensuring his police protection passed by the Supreme Court. At that time, he also visited JNU campus to meet and talk to his new acquaintances.

I was one of those students who had invited him to JNU campus. But subsequently, in his personal conversations with me, he proved to be very invasive of personal boundaries. He asked me a lot of questions about my family, my research work, and my political beliefs. I would not have minded any of this had he not abruptly asked me one day to do nikaah with him. This was in mid-April, just after his second visit to JNU. I told him that it is a very inappropriate thing to ask me. But he did not stop calling me. Often he would call me late at night; while I enquired about his safety and whether he had been given adequate protection from possible attacks, he would ignore my concerned questions and describe his sexual fantasies about me.

But more was to follow. On 27 April, he messaged me to say that he would be arriving in Delhi that evening and that I should meet him. I did not want to; instead, I went out for dinner with some of my friends. But he called me and insisted that he would come to JNU itself to meet me. I told him that it is not possible to meet him, since there were disturbances on campus as a result of an anti-conversion documentary (In the Name of Love) that was screened by ABVP, after which many of the students had gone to Vasant Kunj police station to register complaints of being attacked by ABVP members. Even while I was at the Vasant Kunj PS with my friends, he kept calling me non-stop, insisting that I should return to campus at once because he was waiting outside the north gate for me. Despite my explaining to him the seriousness of the situation on campus, he persuaded me to leave my friends and see him. He called me 40 times that night (I noted this on my call log the next day).

Eventually, I gave in, and went to meet him, ignoring my own uneasy premonition of danger. I asked a friend to drop me outside the JNU main gate; he was waiting in a rented car a little distance away from the gate. He asked me to get inside the car and I obeyed him. After half an hours drive, at 12:30 AM, we reached a lane in the Batla House locality. My feeling of ominous unease had peaked by now but there was no way I could escape; I found myself in unfamiliar surroundings late at night and the only way forward was in the direction my predator took me.

He ushered me into a one-room flat on the second/third floor of a building. I knew what was going to happen next: he would demand sex from me, I would refuse to give consent, and he would end up raping me. My fears turned out to be right.

That night, mine was NOT a feeble no. I threatened to expose him to all my friends in JNU, I pleaded with him, I even physically wrestled against his brute strength; but my resistance seemed too frail compared to his brutality. I remember crying in pain; but instead, he mocked me, saying Tum bohot naazuk ho. All the while he raped me, he kept insisting that he would do nikaah with me, as if by declaring his intention to marry he would legitimise what he was doing.

I was in great pain after that night; consultation with gynaecologists revealed that I had suffered an anal fissure. The injury remained for at least two weeks; during this time my pain and anger made me muster the courage to confront my rapist and demand that he acknowledge his crime. But his response was typical: he did not INTEND to hurt me, he had made a mistake, and why had I not stopped him then?

It is important to pause and dissect the claim of intention that rapists make. Men steeped in misogyny and rape culture always justify their actions by claiming that the INTENTION behind their action had been correct, that the problem lay merely in not being able to match intention with action, and that they should be judged by intention alone and not action. This is a nonsensical claim, designed to manipulate the rape victim. The man who raped me had one clear intention: to take advantage of me and sexually abuse me. But since the reality of such brutal intention must be camouflaged, he declared that he intended to marry me. His declared intention (of nikaah) was not just to deceive me, it was also intended to assure himself that he is not from the same category of the men who raped and murdered the eight-year old Bakarwal child.

There may be a partial truth to this. What he did to me was not a hate crime; he did not attempt to kill me after raping me. His crime was not conspired to terrorise a marginalised community. But justice for rape victims must not compare greater or lesser crimes; if justice were to turn crimes into measurable quantities and condone those of lesser weight, every criminal would point to another criminal with greater number of crimes to his name and thereby shield himself with pretended innocence.

This is exactly what has happened: in view of the fact that this man has acquired fame and media glory in agitating for justice in the Kathua rape case, his apparent innocence remains unshaken. His image as a courageous Muslim man hunted by an anti-Muslim state has not been tarnished even after triple charges of domestic violence and attempt to kill his wife for dowry and allegedly raping a female relative. Male activists like him are inevitably elevated to pedestals, where their crimes against lesser mortals become invisible.

I am aware of the dangers of speaking up about this celebrity activist raping me. My testimony may be used by those forces which are bent on distorting the facts of the Kathua rape case and letting those rapists off the hook. This is the apprehension which forced me to remain silent for more than five months. Had it not been for the Decolonial Feminist Statement on #metoo in Kashmir, with its caution that those who support the movement for Azadi must be wary of dismissing womens complaints and brushing them under the carpet in the name of protecting the resistance, I may even have swallowed my humiliation and kept my silence for ever.

Just before I wrote this account, this activist was granted bail after two months of being jailed for allegedly raping a female relative. While his release was celebrated by people concerned about him, I received news from some JNU friends that I am not his only victim; there are possibly several others. Therefore, my testimony stands in utmost solidarity with all those nameless survivors who have suffered like I have; all of us happen to be Muslim women.

My courage to speak up in protest to the crime committed against me stems from my suffering. I have suffered from not just bodily injury but also mental trauma; my suffering has led me to believe that I have been abandoned by any source of care and this in turn has led to self-inflicted harm. A week and a half ago, I made more than 20 gashes on my left arm, straining at the blunt knife blade to deepen the cuts. The scars still remain. I hope by the time they heal, I will have regained my sense of self-worth that has been extinguished by a rapist masquerading as an anti-rape figure.

I hope that my testimony against this man will be believed and I will not be condemned in the court of public opinion which lionises him, and that his supporters will imbibe something of the integrity of Malcolm X, when he exposed Elijah Muhammad for sexually exploiting Muslim women. I hope the quam to which I belong will learn to concern itself with justice and rehabilitation of Muslim women who have survived rape, instead of merely defending Muslim men against the state; for without any consistent means of support and solace, rape survivors are forced to fend for themselves while enduring a heavy burden of silent suffering. I also hope that my testimony will protect other women from being similarly exploited by men who assume that they are infallible.
Twitter India is now a veritable warzone. Thank #MeToo for it, of course. We are not just talking about women who are taking to the keyboard.

Twitter India is now a veritable warzone. Thank #MeToo for it, of course. We are not just talking about women who are taking to the keyboard with revelations on how they survived or fell victim to sexual harassment. Were also talking about angry fulminations of a million others  men and women  about how patriarchy has devastated society and why its not in tune with modern civilisation.

The Times of London reported that between 15 and 17 October, 77 percent of all #MeToo tweets in the world came from India.

This was over three days when #MeToo anger peaked in India. Global media intelligence firm Meltwater says that over the past month, India has been most vocal in the global #MeToo movement, with 25 percent of the chatter originating from the country, followed closely by the US, China and Canada.

Twelve years after American activist Tarana Burke coined the phrase Me Too and a year after it transformed into #MeToo that turned Hollywood and American politics upside down, India is right in the front of the campaign to expose and challenge sexual abusers.

But its not the hashtag alone thats the weapon of choice in India. A large number of Twitterati are throwing sickles, hammers and trishuls, not at sexual predators but at each other. Even a random, cursory look at the fusillade of tweets tells us that quite apart from aggrieved women exposing their sexual tormentors, a major war is being fought by the Left and the Right to make points and settle scores.

The 8 October tweet of journalist Priya Ramani, exposing former Union minister MJ Akbar as a sex offender, sparked a Left-versus-Right digital free-for-all.

Ramani, on her part, made no attempt to politicise her expose, but many who supported her turned it into a tirade against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, even taking needless potshots at his Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao scheme. On their part, Modis supporters went on an online rampage, interpreting Ramanis tweet as a slur on him and accusing at least some of the #MeToo campaigners of being politically motivated.

The fact that many female journalists at the forefront of the campaign are known to be biased against Modi did nothing to soothe Rightist tempers.

Akbar himself took the process of politicisation and vilification of #MeToo to an ignominious level by claiming, both in a statement he made and in the defamation case he filed against Ramani, that his women accusers had hatched a diabolical conspiracy in an election year to tar his lily-white image of a chivalrous gentleman.

Then, the naming of left-leaning journalist Vinod Dua by filmmaker Nishtha Jain on 14 October came in handy as a weapon for the Rightists to fire at their Left enemies.

Again, Jain herself didnt paint her revelation with any ideological colour. She said in an interview: It was not easy for me to call him outI was aware that this could be used by the Right wing, who would love something like this...The hypocrisy needs to be called out, and it needs to be said that all men  irrespective of their ideology  can do thisBeing from the Left does not give you an extra allowance.

MeToo turns YouToo

In the process, MeToo became a YouToo of sorts with Twitterati on either side of the ideological divide pointing fingers at each other like children crying over a broken toy and forgetting the very fundamental reason why the whole campaign had begun in the first place. Even some journalists took part in this online Left-Right face-off, stooping to the sordid depths of political trolls.

It goes without saying that Akbar should have lost no time in voluntarily resigning once a few women journalists nailed him. He didnt, even after their number crossed a dozen and 20 others came out to stand by them. Modi showed Akbar the door a week after Ramanis tweet and 24 hours after the minister returned from a foreign tour, but the Left-leaning, Congress-supporting critics made it look as if the prime minister had taken a whole year to do it.

Meanwhile, Modis supporters continue to make covert and clumsy efforts to defend Akbar, while singling out for their vicious attack those named in the campaign who are  or thought to be  critical of BJP. On their part, the champagne and Cadillac communists, who form a sizable lynch mob on Twitter, go on targeting Modi as if he had owned The Telegraph and Sunday and permitted Akbar to indulge in sexual depredations.

The least that the digital ninjas of both the red and saffron varieties can do now is to shut up, sit back and watch #MeToo, which is far too serious and significant for them to turn it into an ideological ding-dong battle.

The right-wingers must not forget that any attempt on their part to hijack the real agenda of this campaign will do more harm than good to Modi, whose vote bank consists of conservative people who have no tolerance for deviant sexual behaviour. Some of them make no secret of their distaste for the campaign which challenges their hidden belief in male supremacy.

The hotheads of the Left must know that the communist dogmas they fight for from the comfort of their drawing rooms or from the crevices of cyberspace dont belong to this century, and that the only revolution they can ever see is that of the ceiling fan above their heads.

Those who are in the know of things tell me that the chances of Akbar withdrawing his defamation suit or the lawyer of Priya Ramani moving the Delhi High Court to quash it are not entirely ruled out at this point of time. But if the case goes on, the media must not allow itself to be deflected by the ensuing courtroom drama to the extent that it overlooks the very raison d'etre of #MeToo which has more to it than an ex-editor who is now also an ex-minister.

And nobody should lose sight of what Tarana Burke, the original inventor of #MeToo, said almost exactly a year ago:

Its beyond a hashtag. Its the start of a larger conversation and a movement for radical community healing. Join us. #metoo  Tarana (@TaranaBurke) October 15, 2017

Author tweets @sprasadindia
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), in a statement, said the two leaders also exchanged views on regional and global issues during their meeting on the third and final day of the Sri Lankan leader's visit.

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Sri Lankan counterpart Ranil Wickremesinghe held talks Saturday on ways to deepen the "historically close" relations between the two countries and reviewed the progress of India-assisted development projects in the island nation. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), in a statement, said the two leaders also exchanged views on regional and global issues during their meeting on the third and final day of the Sri Lankan leader's visit.

During the talks, Modi and Wickremesinghe reviewed the progress in implementation of various decisions taken during the high level exchanges in the recent past, including Modi's visit to Sri Lanka in May 2017. They also discussed the progress of India-assisted development projects in the island nation. "This multi-faceted partnership has been marked by close contacts at the highest political level, growing trade and investment, wide ranging development cooperation, increasing linkages in the fields of education, health, infrastructure, connectivity and capacity building and broadening people to people contacts," the MEA said after delegation level talks between the two leaders.

Both prime ministers discussed the entire gamut of bilateral relations and ways to further deepen the "historically close and friendly relations" between the two countries, it said. "Delighted to meet PM Ranil Wickremesinghe in Delhi today. We had fruitful discussions, reviewing various aspects of India-Sri Lanka cooperation," Modi tweeted after the talks.

Key decisions taken in stepping up bilateral cooperation during Modi's visit to Lanka in May 2017 for the International Vesak Day celebrations, Sri Lankan prime minister's visit to India in April and November last year, and Sri Lankan president Maithripala Sirisena's visit for the International Solar Alliance founding conference in March, were discussed during the meeting. The issue of India taking charge of operating Sri Lanka's loss-making Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport in Hambantota was also understood to have figured in the talks.

Earlier in the day, Home Minister Rajnath Singh, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, also separately called on the visiting Lankan leader. Wickremesinghe and Singh discussed issues related to security and anti-terror cooperation between India and Sri Lanka. In her meeting with the Lankan premier, Swaraj also reviewed the progress of India-assisted development projects in the island nation.

Modi also hosted a luncheon for the visiting dignitary. Wickremesinghe's India visit came in the backdrop of controversial media reports that the Lankan president has accused Indian intelligence agency Research and Analysis Wing of plotting his assassination, a claim firmly rejected as "false" by Colombo. Wickremesinghe was accompanied by his wife, professor Maithree Wickramasinghe, Minister of Development Strategies and International Trade Malik Samarawickrama, Minister of Petroleum Resources Development Arjuna Ranatunga, and senior officials.
National Investigation Agency (NIA) Saturday arrested the key accused, Mohammad Ashraf Khandey in the Nagrota Army Camp attack case. Khandey was arrested from the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi while he was trying to flee to Saudi Arabia via Sri Lanka.

National Investigation Agency (NIA) Saturday arrested Mohammad Ashraf Khandey, the key accused in the Nagrota Army Camp attack case. Khandey was arrested from the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi while he was trying to flee to Saudi Arabia via Sri Lanka.

Khandey's arrest was a key achievement for the investigating agency probing the deadly militant attack on the Indian Army base camp in Jammu and Kashmir's Nagrota, in which seven army personnel were killed in December 2016.

The authorities first arrested an alleged Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) operative Muneer-ul-Hassan Qadri on 26 May, 2018. Qadri, a Nepal returnee, revealed during interrogation that the attack was carried out by the JeM, a banned terror group, in furtherance of a well-planned conspiracy from Pakistan.

The accused claimed to have told the interrogators that he, along with other Valley-based JeM operatives, had been in touch with the JeM leadership in Pakistan and had received a freshly infiltrated group of three Pakistani terrorists from the Samba sector a day before the attack. They subsequently stayed at a hotel in Jammu and then left the attackers outside the army camp in Nagrota late at night, and proceeded to the Valley.

The second arrest came in June when the agency arrested Tariq Ahmad Dar, a Pulwama-based timber dealer and a resident of Chillipura in Shopian district. Dar assisted Pakistani terrorists who carried out the attack, the NIA said.

The third accused, Ashiq Baba from Srinagar was arrested in June, just two days after Dar's arrest. He too was accused of assisting the militants in carrying out the attack.

With inputs from agencies
Rahul Easwar, who was spearheading the protest against women's entry to Sabarimala on Wednesday, was detained along with 18 others by Kerala Police. Easwar is the grandson of the former high priest of the Sabarimala Shrine.

A court in Kerala's Pathanamthitta on Saturday rejected a bail plea filed for activist Rahul Easwar, who was spearheading the protests against women's entry to Sabarimala. The court has asked the police to file a report on the ongoing protests by 22 October, only after which can it consider any new bail applications.

Easwar, the grandson of the former high priest of the Sabarimala shrine, was detained along with 18 others by Kerala Police on Wednesday.

A report from CNN-News18 quoted Easwar's wife Deepa as saying that he was allegedly arrested in a secretive manner, hauled up in a tractor, and that he needs urgent medical attention.

As per The News Minute, she said, Rahul has not eaten for two days. He is on an indefinite hunger strike for Sabarimala. He would have done this fast if he was at Sabarimala also, now that they have moved him to jail he is going to continue it.

Hindustan Times quoted her as saying that doctors told her that he may be shifted to the Government Medical College in Thiruvananthapuram.

Rahul was charged by Pamba police under various sections of the Indian Penal Code including Section 143 (unlawful assembly), 147 (rioting), read with Section 149 (member of unlawful assembly guilty of offence committed in prosecuting of common object of the assembly), and Section 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public serving from discharge of duty).
The question that arises is why President Maithripala Sirisena chose to talk spy stories at a cabinet meeting, building on a series of events which seem to point to thwarted ambitions and unhinged minds rather than any grand design.

Like Alice said when she stepped through the looking glass, this is getting curiouser and curiouser. The usually reliable newspaper, The Hindu, reported that Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena had alleged during a weekly cabinet meeting, that India's external intelligence agency the Research & Analysis Wing was plotting to assassinate him. Though this in itself probably shocked cabinet members, it gets even better from here. The Lankan president exonerated Prime Minister Narendra Modi of any charge, saying that he was probably unaware of the plan. Apparently, R&AW is an agency accustomed to wiping off sundry heads of state, without even a nod from the prime minister or his cabinet. All of this occurring a day before Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was to visit New Delhi.

The series of events that led up to this strange accusation are interesting. A certain Namal Kumara, cited rather grandly as Director (Operations) of an Anti Corruption Task Force  which is actually an outfit made up of social activists working against corruption  held a press conference on 15 September, 2018 where he played some recorded conversations indicating a conspiracy against the head of intelligence and various police officers. The tape seemed to indicate that DIG Nalaka de Silva from Sri Lanaka's Terrorism Investigation Division was involved in an attempt to tarnish the reputations of several senior police officers. What also comes out is that the said DIG didn't like the president at all, or those around him.

Next we hear is that this intrepid anti-corruption activist has alleged that the DIG himself was in a plot to assassinate the president, and a former defence secretary Gotbaya Rajpaksa. He reportedly even recorded some conversations with Nalaka which proved this, but erased it later out of fear. Whether a copy of the tape exists yet is unclear.

Media reports thereafter, placed him as a police informant, and something of a loose cannon, railing against drug use and social ills.

But, theres more to come. In another reported statement he also alleged that a French citizen has been sending money to the country to carry out terrorist activities, with the knowledge of the DIG. Thereafter, nothing more is heard except that the case was transferred to the CID.

There was nothing at all about India or the R&AW, until a few days later when an Indian national Marsili Thomas, is arrested (23 September), apparently when he came to "warn" Namal Kumara that he is going to be framed. Two days later, Finance and Media Minister Mangala Samaraweera said that Thomas had been detained for not divulging information pertaining to plans to commit terror and that he had no association with any assassination plan (which now included the President, as well as former President Rajpaksa and his family members) . In fact Samaraweera clearly stated, "The CID has not, at any time, in either written or verbal submissions to the Magistrates Court, made any statement that could lead to the conclusion or inference that an assassination plot has been established or corroborated, whether through Indian national Marceli Thomas or by any other means." Rather reasonably, he urged journalists to read court transcripts which were freely available till the time.

Four days later came another unexpected development. The Indian High Commission was quoted as saying that after due diligence, they had found that Thomas had a history of mental illness since 2000. The statement seemed unnecessary, particularly after Sri Lankan authorities were bending backwards to make sure that the inflammatory news was being damped down. R&AW was still out of the picture.

A flurry of accusations and counter accusations followed. The Sri Lankan Opposition demanded that Nalaka be arrested to allow impartial investigations into a matter of national security. And very properly, the DIG was first transferred out of his post to the IT cell, and as the clamour climbed, sent on compulsory leave pending an investigation. Some accused him of having connections with the LTTE; yet others claimed that there was a counter plot to kill the DIG to prevent the truth from coming out. Meanwhile the investigations continued.Voice samples were initially confirmed as that of the DIG and the tape itself was available in the media. Later it was said, that the tape would be sent to Singapore for forensic investigation

Then came The Hindu report days before the visit of the Sri Lankan prime minister to India. Clearly the source or sources quoted in the report had no particular desire that India and Sri Lanka relations should be amicable. Notably, he or she linked the discussion on the alleged assassination plot, to the development of the Colombo port and Indian involvement in upgrading the East Container Terminal, and President Sirisenas opposition to it. It is this linking of what are two separate issues into one which is mischievous and shows a clear intent to cause harm.

Since then, statements from various official sources have sought to limit the damage. Cabinet Secretary Abeysinghe denied that the project was even on the agenda, though he remained silent on the assassination issue. The media statement issued by the presidents office, however, says the project was discussed, in which the president "highlighted" the importance of a deep sea port to Sri Lanka. That's two directly opposing statements. Further clarifications by other officials says the Sri Lankan president only referred to secret services of various countries assassinating leaders. Local media reported a "heated discussion" between the prime minister and the president on Indian involvement in the port project, with the former favouring Indian involvement.

Last year, media reports had noted that a consortium made up of Container Corporation of India (Concor) APM Terminals BV, John Keells Holdings and Maersk Line was bidding for the project valued at approximately $550-600 million. The South Terminal is already owned and operated by state-run China Merchant Holdings (International). Colombo Port ranks among the top 35 ports in the world, and given that about 75 percent of the transshipment is meant for India, the assumption is that the deal would be good for both. But it's not that simple.

With The Hindu standing by its story ( or rather its sources) the question that arises is why the president chose to talk spy stories at a cabinet meeting, building on a series of events which seem to point to thwarted ambitions and unhinged minds rather than any grand design. The second aspect is more specific. The president came to power full of sound and fury against Chinese investment in the island country. Yet in July 2018 while inaugurating a Chinese funded hospital in his home constituency, he announced that China had gifted two billion yuan to be used for any project that would delight the president. Surely the president was aware of Sri Lankas debt trap estimated at 77 percent of its GDP, and that Hambantota port had to be given to China in lieu of repayment of loans, for a near free ride for 99 years. Surprisingly, the country continues to turn to Beijing for fresh loans, with the Central Bank of Sri Lanka working with its Chinese counterpart for a $1.25 bn loan aimed at paying off its many creditors.

The Nikkei Asian Review notes that of the accumulated foreign debt estimated at $55 billion. Chinese lenders hold 10 percent of this total, Japan accounts for 12 percent, the Asian Development Bank 14 percent and the World Bank 11 percent. With the Japanese Defence Minister making a ground-breaking trip to Sri Lanka in August, Tokyo is clearly in play in the island. So is India. All that combined investment has to however compete against Chinas two-pronged method of doing business, which is to buy up major political leaders and burying their country in debt. Its a daunting task. And heres the thing. As against what spy thrillers advocate, assassinating a leader or two is not going to fundamentally change the reality of Chinese clout. In the larger picture, President Sirisena is simply not important enough.
Mojo TV journalist Kavitha J, who made it to the Nadapandal in Sabarimala on Friday, speaks to FirstPost about the drama and ordeal she and her crew went through.

One of the women who made it to Nada Pandal, Sabarimala on Friday, was Kavitha J, a news anchor with Mojo TV, based in Telangana.

Speaking to Firstpost before leaving Kochi Airport, after a tiring journey, Kavitha said, I am happy that I could at least reach till the Nada Pandal. I will come back again and visit the temple when I get a chance to do that.

Unflinched by threats, attacks and abuses which she and her team encountered over the last two days, Kavitha said that she decided to return only because children were involved in a tense law and order situation, amidst the so-called protectors of custom, the police and the devotees.

Having their first meal in two days, as they waited to board a flight from Kochi Airport, the team from Mojo TV, reporter Balakrishna, camera persons Narasing and Moinuddin, and Kavitha, seemed a relieved lot now, after facing it all. However, on reaching Hyderabad, they are to face yet another group of RSS-BJP protesters at the airport, who are said to be 'waiting' for them. Telangana Police has been informed and is said to provide protection to the team.

Kavitha recounted her entire experience over the last three days.

They reached Thiruvananthapuram early on Wednesday. "After a tiring journey from Thiruvananthapuram to Nilakkal, we were shocked at the situation there. We were literally helpless as the police were busy attending to the critical law and order situation at Nilakkal base camp."

With no accommodation available in Nilakkal, they were forced to return to Erumely to find a place to stay.

On Thursday morning, while seeking help from the police, they were initially told to take the bus from Nilakkal to Pamba. After Kavitha insisted and pointed towards the incidents in which other reporters were attacked, both men and women, the local police agreed to drop them off at a point approximately 17 km away, which seemed to be in a dense forest area. "They (the local police) said their limit ends there and dropped us, and claimed the police personnel from the next jurisdiction would come in an hour to pick us from there. This did not happen at all," Kavitha said.

After waiting for about four hours at that point, on Thursday afternoon, they came across a media vehicle from Karnataka.

The Kannada media crew helped us reach a point where we could hire a vehicle to Pamba. While doing a live for our channel on reaching Pamba, I was shouted at and told 'why are you here? Leave the place or we will kill you. You can't break our customs..' and so on, she said. Later, after reaching the Pamba base camp and seeking police protection at an aid post around 7 pm, the Inspector General said it would not be safe to trek uphill at night, and assured that the police would offer protection early in the morning, As told by him, I waited there till morning on Friday, Kavitha said.

Early Friday morning, Kavitha and her team, escorted by 100 police personnel, started the uphill trek.

Rahana Fathima, the other woman, joined us only at Pamba. I had not met her the previous night when I sought protection in the police aid post," Kavitha said.

The IG had informed in advance about the situation, and they were asked whether they would like to proceed despite the situation, to which Kavitha replied, I am a believer and I wanted to go and pray, for which I am rightful. I also wanted to do my duty of reporting how the State implemented the SC verdict.

During the trek, after about two kilometres, the team was attacked. Stones were pelted at us and I sustained a mild injury. I was not severely injured, because I wore the police helmet. The cops provided full cover up till we reached Nada Pandal, just a few hundred metres away from the Sannidhanam, she said.

Kavitha added, Here, the protesters, who were sloganeering and shouting in the name of Lord Ayyappa, were sitting with small children in front of them, perhaps to create a tense situation. They knew that the police would not use force when small children were involved.

After speaking to his superiors and ministers, the IG explained the entire scenario. He did not force me to climb down. He only asked me to decide and he was ready to protect me if I still wanted to go further, Kavitha said.

It was left to Kavitha to decide whether to stop and return, considering that the children might get injured in a clash. The police would have to act against the protesters to uphold the implementation of the apex court verdict. I was not scared of the protesters and I did, from my heart, want to make it till Sannidhanam and pray before Lord Ayyappa. It was a do-or-die situation, with roughly 200 policemen and about 1,000 protesters. It was at this point that I decided to return, considering the kids who might be injured in a possible clash, said Kavitha.

While climbing down, she and her team were shouted at and verbally abused. The police offered complete protection and took them to the airport. Protesters had tried to block the vehicles we traveled in at three points. They were sloganeering, shouting and attempting to attack us and damage our vehicles. But the police did not stop considering our safety. So much so, that they did not even stop to buy food.

She stated that there were five police vehicles and multiple policemen, along with four commandos, to ensure their safety. At the airport as well, a policeman was deputed to ensure that they safely boarded the flight.

Kavitha said, I am happy I could inspire the many women who want to go and pray there. I would also return and visit the shrine when I get a chance.

Revathi Pogadadanda, CEO of Mojo TV, had proudly tweeted about her team, which was set to make history in the morning. On realising that her team fell short of just a few metres, she took to Twitter and said, They r (sic) fighting for their right. They are fighting for what the #SupremeCourt said. Dont take this country back to medieval ages! Let the law live."

(Sannidha Hari is a Calicut-based freelance writer and a part of 101Reporters' grassroots network.)
State oil giant Saudi Aramco said it had signed an agreement with a provincial government in China to acquire a stake in the new refinery project of top industrial group Zhejiang Petrochemicals.

The MoU was signed on the sidelines of the second International Petroleum and Natural Gas Enterprises Conference (IPEC) held in the Chinese province of Zhejiang Province.

Abdulaziz Al Judaimi, the Senior VP (Downstream), said: "We are exploring opportunities for new refining and petrochemicals facilities, making further investments in China. Saudi Aramco has recently signed a crude oil supply agreement with Zhejiang Petrochemical (Rongsheng)."

"This increase in customer base is due to our continuous focus and attention to the Chinese market. We are also a major JV partner in a growing portfolio of refining and petrochemical assets in China," he stated.

A leading global integrated energy and chemicals company, Saudi Aramco said the company plays an important part in Chinas energy security.

"Since our first crude delivery to China, we have steadily increased our supply to Chinese oil companies in line with their requirements," remarked Al Judaimi.

Since 2006 to date, no one delivered more oil to China than Saudi Aramco. Helping China meet its critical energy needs shows Aramcos commitment to key global markets," he noted.

Saudi Aramco, he stated, is working to achieve a better balance between its world-class upstream and its growing downstream.

The companys downstream strategy seeks to enhance the value of the hydrocarbon resource base by targeting increased horizontal and vertical integration across the hydrocarbon value chain, he added.

According to him, the successful execution of the downstream strategy would deliver a world leading, strategically integrated downstream network and a robust portfolio that is more resilient to market turbulence.

"Major refining, marketing and petrochemicals joint ventures are being created in such leading consuming nations as China and India, besides Malaysia, in addition to our existing assets in the US, South Korea, and Japan," he added.-TradeArabia News Service
Gitanjali Dang and Khanabadosh curate this series  Invisible Light  under which various themes will be introduced. Jagte Raho is the opening theme. Read an overview of the curatorial concept, here .

Gagan Singh is an artist living in New Delhi. He is interested in drawing and thinking through drawing. His work often pops up when he is either aimlessly walking around in the city or at his daily coffee sessions at cafes. He is a graduate in Fine Arts from Kent Institute of Art and Design, Canterbury, Kent. Follow him on Instagram .

These drawings represent my inner conflict of always failing to understand the outer conflicts of discrimination often on the basis of a surname; something which gives away who you are and where you should be placed in India. This art of placement decides how others will treat you and how you may think of yourself, says Gagan Singh.

Singh draws. Its his thing. He draws to think and thinks to draw. He draws to make sense of the world.

For this sequence of drawings he immersed himself in the unlikely context of online news. Drawing is interpretative i.e. a slow process. In the run up to this post Singh was uncertain and I was jumpy about how drawing, or indeed Infinite Light, would hold up against the velocity at which news and online media circulates.

Singh countered this unease by falling back on the process of drawing, which offers some clues, if not answers.

Singh says, Drawing can be defined as a way to test a thought. A thought could be seen as the stages of thinking, which develop over time. During the stages of this development I access things which interest me. In this case, I got interested in the unending stream of online news dealing with issues of race, caste, religion, law judgments, political statements, speeches etc."

As and when the thought developed, I created a sketch, and that sketch led me to the next sketch. This taught me that drawing is an on-going method of testing the nature of a thought," he adds.

Here the method has been to draw a pausing line. The pauses allowed for the possibility of taking the line anywhere. I worked directly on paper not allowing any alteration to the thought.

Singh attempts to use the time lag inherent to drawing, its after-the-factness to slow down the news to contemplate and make sense of it.

As for the humour, it needs little explanation. It is straight-up, deadpan and more than a touch politically incorrect. And dont be too quick to write off crow wisdom. On average, a crow is as intelligent as a seven-year-old human child. Crows make tools. They are capable of abstract reasoning, complex problem-solving, and group decision-making.
Those who worked with former Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand chief minister ND Tiwari, still recall that his mild-mannerism concealed a tough administrator who would brook no nonsense when it came to taking decisions

History is the ruthless reckoner of facts and more often swayed by circumstances in assessment of individuals. One cannot grudge if ND Tiwari does not find a place even in the footnote of Indian political history. He may be casually referred to as a political philanderer who held chief ministers position in Uttar Pradesh thrice and in Uttarakhand once.

Such an assessment would be a gross injustice to Tiwari whose contribution to society and politics was immense. In his role as the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, Tiwari was perhaps the best administrator that Uttar Pradesh had ever seen. Given the tendency of the congress high command to keep party stalwarts unsettled, Tiwari was never allowed in Uttar Pradesh to remain for longer term. Yet, his vision for development was unique.

Much before development came to the centre-stage of politics, Tiwari projected himself as vikas purus (developmental man) in the countrys largest state. Those who worked with him still recall that his mild-mannerism concealed a tough administrator who would brook no nonsense when it came to taking decision. Let me recount certain instances to bring out Tiwaris administrative acumen.

After Indira Gandhis assassination, anti-Sikh riots broke out in Kanpur where thousands were killed by rampaging mobs. The then district magistrate was apparently guilty of letting the rioters roam freely and killing Sikhs around the metropolis. The district magistrate claimed himself to be close to the Nehru-Gandhi family. After a week, Tiwari sacked him. A delegation of noted industrialist from Kanpur and some eminent citizens rushed to Lucknow to request Tiwari to change his decision. Tiwaris first response was: I will talk about everything except the removal of the official." His tone was so firm and categorical that the delegation did not broach the subject.

In another instance, Tiwari was the chief minister when the foundation laying was done in Ayodhya at the disputed site in 1989. Tiwari was conscious of the fallout of this act and had opposed it but couldnt do anything because of then home minister Buta Singh and Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. How did you allow this to happen? I once asked him. He narrated the story as how Rajiv, along with Singh and an IPS officer went to see Devraha Baba, a much revered spiritual saint in the region, who said, Bachcha, ho jane do (Boy, let it happen).

Aur Bachche ne ho jane diya (And the boy indeed let it happen), he said jokingly. Of course, Tiwari was then distancing himself from Rajivs politics of temple. He made it clear that the foundation laying was ordained by Rajiv not him.

IAS and IPS officers who worked with him still recall his morning phone call to inquire about incidents reported in morning newspapers and the administrations response. He would always begin with respectful appellation like DM Sahab or SSP Sahab which was so soothing to ears, said an IAS officer associated with him for a long time. In Uttar Pradesh, Tiwari gave the concept of developing industrial estates across the state and making industrial hubs which were quite similar to SEZs being developed now. Uttar Pradeshs most promising township Noida was conceptualised and had started taking shape during Tiwaris time.

What was strikingly different in Tiwaris style of functioning with others in Uttar Pradesh was the inculcation of a culture of governance which kept criminals at bay. This was quite a daunting task in Uttar Pradesh as chief ministers right since Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna had begun patronising criminals. Tiwari did follow the pattern but kept his governance largely unaffected by the Mafia culture of the state. For a generation of a bureaucrats inducted in the administration in the nineties, such a situation would be difficult even to imagine in Uttar Pradesh now.

Tiwari slipped on the cusp of history in 1991 to go for precipitous decline after Rajiv's assassination in 1991. Though a front runner for the prime minister, he lost Lok Sabha polls in Nainital and forfeited the chance of becoming the countrys top political executive. Had he not lost the election then, Tiwari would have been remembered differently despite his follies.

In his lifes weaker moments, he surrounded himself with controversies and salacious stories that started defining him. But history would be doing gross injustice if Tiwari is only remembered for that.
Among the 77 candidates announced out of a total of 90 Assembly segments, 14 are women candidates and 14 sitting MLAs have been replaced with new names, Union minister JP Nadda said.

New Delhi: The BJP Saturday released its first list of 77 candidates for the Chhattisgarh Assembly polls, fielding Chief Minister Raman Singh from the Rajnandgaon seat.

Among the 77 candidates announced out of a total of 90 Assembly segments, 14 are women candidates and 14 sitting MLAs have been replaced with new names, Union minister JP Nadda said.

The list was finalised at the BJP's central election committee meeting that was chaired by party president Amit Shah and attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi among others.

Among those fielded by the BJP include former IAS officer OP Chaudhary and tribal leader Ramdayal Uike, who recently left the Congress and joined the BJP.

Chhattisgarh will go to polls in two phases on 12 November and 20 November. The votes will be counted on 11 December.

The BJP also released a list of 38 candidates for the Telangana Assembly polls. There are a total of 119 Assembly candidates in the state.

The party also released a list of 13 candidates for the Assembly polls in Mizoram.
The BJP won the elections to 100 municipal wards in Kashmir in the urban local bodies (ULB) polls.

Srinagar: The BJP won the elections to 100 municipal wards in Kashmir in the urban local bodies (ULB) polls, whose results were declared on Saturday, trouncing the Congress in its bastions as it rode on the support of the Kashmiri Pandit (KP) voters. BJP benefited as its arch rival didnt field candidates in many seats.

As per the results which were declared, the BJP  for the first time in the electoral history of the state  managed to win 100 seats. While it bagged 24 seats through a contest, it won other 76 seats uncontested. BJPs gain came at the expense of Congress, which won a total of 157 seats, including 78 uncontested. The independents won a total of 178 wards and emerged victorious in 103 seats through a contest while there was no contest in 75 other wards.

In south Kashmirs Devsar Municipal Committee (MC), BJP won all the eight wards as its Muslim candidates were elected from the area. Likewise from Qazigund Municipal Committee, four BJP candidates were elected while three seats were vacant. Congress Devsar MLA, Mohammad Amin Bhat, said that the party didnt field candidates in Qazigund and Devsar.

Before the elections, incidents of militancy had stepped up. Due to the security scenario, we didnt field any candidates.

The BJP has largely won the seats by fielding candidates who are not known to people or by making the KPs contest. How can Kashmiri Pandits who are settled in Jammu carry out development in Kashmir? he said.

From Municipal Council Sopore, which is represented by Congress in the Assembly, BJP has won 7 seats. In one ward, an independent candidate was elected while 13 other wards are vacant. Congress' Sopore MLA, Haji Abdul Rasheed, also said that the party didnt field any candidate in Sopore.

Even from the Municipal Committee Dooru, the BJP won two seats while 15 were bagged by the Congress. From Dooru, Congress state president GA Mir had lost the 2014 Assembly elections to PDP by only a thin margin. Likewise from Mattan in Anantang, the saffron party won eight wards while one seat was won by Congress and an independent candidate each. From Municipal Committee Bandipora, from where Congress is represented by its MLA Usman Majeed, BJP has won three wards while in 12 wards, Congress candidates were elected and two have been won by independents.

The BJP candidates even won from the separatist hotbeds of the southern part of Kashmir. All the 17 wards of Municipal Committee Shopian have been won by the BJPs Kashmiri Pandit candidates.

The saffron partys candidates were even declared elected in wards of the Municipal Committee of Tral, hometown of slain Hizbul Mujahideen militant commander, Burhan Muzafar Wani. Out of the 13 wards of the Tral Municipal body, nine wards remained vacant as none filed the nominations while three wards have been won by Kashmiri Pandit (KP) candidates on BJP ticket and one by an independent candidate.

From Municipal Committee Pulwama, a BJP Muslim candidate has won from two wards of Prichoo and Sirnoo. In Municipal Committee Pampore, three wards have been won by BJPs KP candidates, while a woman from a Muslim party has been elected from another ward, and the other was won by an Independent. 12 seats are vacant.

The BJP has even won from the three wards of Municipal Committee Langate, bastion of Awami Ittehad party (AIP) president, Er Rashid. Other 10 wards have been won by the independent candidates.

The contest in Kashmir has been largely between the independents backed by Peoples Conference (PC) chairman, Sajad Gani Lone, Congress and the BJP. Both the NC and PDP have boycotted the polls, claiming that Government of India (GoI) was trying to scrap Article 35-A, which bars outsiders from owning properties in Kashmir.

In the polls which were held in four phases in Kashmir, the turnout was negligible in the range of 3 to 4 percent, which was termed by separatists as a vindication that the Kashmiris are seeking freedom from Indian rule.
A Congress leader, on condition of anonymity, told PTI Saturday that the work of these 42 MLAs who are likely to renominated was found to be satisfactory

Bhopal: While the ruling BJP is thinking of not giving tickets to 70-80 of its sitting MLAs for the forthcoming Assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh, the Opposition Congress is almost ready to renominate 42 out of its 57 legislators. Madhya Pradesh goes to polls on 28 November and counting of votes will be taken up on 11 December. The state has a 230-member House.

A Congress leader, on condition of anonymity, told PTI Saturday that the work of these 42 MLAs who are likely to renominated was found to be satisfactory. "In fact Madhya Pradesh Congress chief Kamal Nath is not in favour of dropping sitting MLAs without a valid reason from the first nomination list of 71 candidates which is going to come out shortly," he said.

He said that a final list of candidates had been prepared and has been submitted to Congress chief Rahul Gandhi who will take a call on it. "There is a strong anti-incumbency wave in MP and we

are going to return to power after 15 years," he said. A senior MP BJP leader had Friday told PTI that the party was thinking of not repeating 70-80 out of 165 MLAs in order to tide over anti-incumbency.
Refuting allegations that he was trying to influence the proceedings in the National Herald case with his tweets, BJP leader Subramanian Swamy on Saturday told a Delhi court that he does not remember the social media posts cited by the Congress.

New Delhi: Refuting allegations that he was trying to influence the proceedings in the National Herald case with his tweets, BJP leader Subramanian Swamy on Saturday told a Delhi court that he does not remember the social media posts cited by the Congress.

Swamy was responding to Congress leader Motilal Vora's application seeking the court's order to restrain him from tweeting about the case in which Vora is an accused along with his party chief Rahul Gandhi and mother Sonia Gandhi.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader told the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal that he was afraid that the tweets cited by Vora may be tampered with, but maintained that he had every right to tweet.

I can't remember the tweets. I made countless tweets and do not know whether those cited by the applicant (Vora) are mine, Swamy said.

The copies of tweets are not admissible under law and do not count as evidence to press on their application. If I do not know what are the evidence, how will I proceed further? I have every right to tweet. But the evidence you claim are not evidence since they are not certified, he added.

He further argued that there was no evidence that his tweets were defamatory and therefore, Vora's application should be "dismissed".

They have not brought anything to show that the tweets, even if true, are defamatory to anyone. This is a case of corruption. it contains public interest. The country is moving to a more open society," Swamy said.

"There is no evidence in this case and this application should be dismissed with a cost, he added.

Senior advocate RS Cheema, representing Vora, said Swamy did not deny the allegations in the written submissions filed by the BJP leader.

This is contempt of court. When we filed application citing tweets, he did not deny them in his written submissions. He is interfering with my work as an advocate, Cheema said, after which the court reserved its order on the application for November 17.

The BJP leader, in a private criminal complaint, had accused the Gandhis and others of conspiring to cheat and misappropriate funds by paying just Rs 50 lakh, through which Young Indian Pvt Ltd (YI) obtained the right to recover Rs 90.25 crore that Associate Journals Ltd owed to the Congress.

Vora had earlier told the court that Swamy was indulging in "character assassination" of the accused persons by tweeting.

"The complainant (Swamy) is also insulting the lawyers appearing for the accused persons and trying to influence the ongoing probe by commenting on the merits of the case," the counsel had said.

Vora, also represented by advocate Tarannum Cheema, had requested the court to pass an injunction order restraining Swamy from tweeting about the case.

In his application, Vora said he has time and again noticed that the complainant (Swamy) has been putting up various posts on social media regarding the daily proceedings of the case to defame the accused and for the vilification of the court process.

Vora also alleged that Swamy had been indulging in "loud and persistent publicity", amounting to an interference with the administration of justice.

The application said, "Before and after every date of hearing he (Swamy) unleashes hostile publicity through tweets, posts on social media or statements to the media."

All the seven accused  the Gandhis, Motilal Vora (All India Congress Committee treasurer), Oscar Fernandes (AICC general secretary), Suman Dubey, Sam Pitroda and YI  have denied the allegations levelled against them in the case.

The court had summoned the accused persons, besides YI, on 26 June, 2014. On 19 December, 2015, it had granted bail to Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Vora, Fernandes and Dubey, who had appeared before it pursuant to summonses.

Pitroda was also granted bail on 20 February, 2016 when he had appeared in the court.

Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Vora, Fernandes, Dubey and Pitroda had been summoned for the alleged offences of misappropriation of property, criminal breach of trust and cheating, read with criminal conspiracy of the Indian Penal Code.
CPM chief Sitaram Yechury accused the BJP and Congress in Kerala of 'duplicity' on Sabarimala issue, adding that both parties reversed their stand after initially welcoming the verdict.

Chennai: CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury on Friday demanded to know why the Centre was not applying the yardstick of equal treatment of women it used on the triple talaq issue to the Sabarimala row, and blamed the BJP for whipping up communal passions for electoral gains.

The top Marxist party leader said roughing up of women journalists and the stir led by groups wearing saffron headbands at Sabarimala indicated a pattern seen during the demolition of Babri Masjid (1992) and blamed the RSS for it.

Women journalists forming part of television crew were roughed up and "it is exactly the pattern, which is also very similar at the time of Babri Masjid demolition...you have the heads of volunteers wearing saffron bands (leading protests)," Yechury said.

Such scenarios unfolded during the Babri protests and a "similar thing is done here; it is an organised thing that the RSS is doing and that will be fought," he said.

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) would "lose the Sabarimala battle," Yechury said.

Asked if his party-led Left Democratic Front government in Kerala will oppose review pleas on Sabarimala issue before the Supreme Court, he said it was for the government to answer.

In a historic judgment last month, the apex court had lifted the ban on entry of girls and women of menstrual age into the hill temple.

Citing the Centre's advisory to Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka to take precautionary measures in view of some Hindu outfits planning protests, he said law and order was being maintained by the Kerala government. "Those disturbing law and order will be dealt with," Yechury told reporters in Chennai.

On triple talaq, he said the Centre recently promulgated an ordinance making it illegal saying the practice was unequal treatment of women, he said. "The government did that saying equality of men and women is fundamental to our constitution and that it should be protected."

"Therefore triple talaq is unequal treatment of women and they brought this ordinance. Why they are not applying the same principle for Sabarimala?" he asked.

His party had taken a stand against triple talaq for its "arbitary use and instant application so we said that needs to be reformed."

The Centre still has the option of going in for a legislation or ordinance to circumvent the apex court verdict on Sabarimala "if they are really interested," the way it did for the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, he said.

However, "the real point here is to whip up communal polarisation with the hope that it will get some political and electoral benefit," he said.

Accusing BJP of playing a "worst form of vote bank politics," he said "they are seeking the consolidation of Hindutva communal vote bank at the expense of destroying our social harmony, unity and integrity of our country and this is very dangerous."

He accused the BJP and Congress in Kerala of "duplicity" on Sabarimala issue, adding that both parties reversed their stand after initially welcoming the verdict.

Yechury said the state-wise electoral strategy (for the Lok Sabha 2019 election) would be worked out as per the recent central committee meet resolve to defeat BJP and its allies, strengthen the CPM and the Left in Parliament and work for an alternate secular government at the Centre.

The Muslim Women -Protection of Rights on Marriage-Ordinance was promulgated last month and a Bill in this regard was passed by Lok Sabha last year which is now pending in the Rajya

Sabha.

Recently, the Parliament passed a Bill to overturn an apex court order covering arrests under the SC/ST Act and to restore the original provisions.
Indo-Asian News Service

An anonymous political campaign on Facebook has reached nearly 10 million voters, asking them via advertisements to oppose British Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit deal, the media reported on 20 October.

According to The Guardian, it was discovered by the digital campaign group 89up, which shared the details with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport's (DCMS) panel into the fake news.

"In adverts micro-targeted to individual constituencies, voters are exhorted to tell your local MP to bin Chequers," said the report.

"This advertising is designed to specifically influence MPs," 89up said.

All that is known about the campaign is what can be found on its website, Twitter and Facebook accounts.

"Going by the name Mainstream Network, the group writes and publishes news stories on its website with an almost exclusively pro-Brexit slant, shared on its social media accounts," the report added.

"Over the last couple of weeks, I received a flood of about 50 emails  some quite abusive  urging me to 'chuck Chequers' and vote for out-and-out Brexit," Labour MP Paul Farrelly was quoted as saying

The news comes at a time when Facebook is reeling under a couple of massive data breaches including the Cambridge Analytica scandal that impacted 87 million users earlier this year.

Facebook says it has set a goal of bringing a transparency feature for political ads  now available in the US and Brazil  to the UK and India by March 2019.

With the new ad architecture in place, people would be able to see who paid for a particular political ad.

Facebook has also set up a War Room to reduce the spread of potentially harmful content.

Facebook faced flak for not doing enough to prevent the spread of misinformation by Russia-linked accounts during the 2016 US presidential election.
Reuters

Alphabet Incs Google will charge hardware firms up to $40 per device to use its apps under a new licensing system to replace one that the European Union this year deemed anti-competitive, a person familiar with the matter said on Friday.

The new fee goes into effect on 29 October for any new smartphone or tablet models launched in the European Economic Area and running Googles Android operating system, the company announced on Tuesday.

The fee can be as low as $2.50 and rises depending on the country and device size, the person said. It is standard across manufacturers, with the majority likely to pay around $20, the person added.

Companies can offset the charge, which applies to a suite of apps including the Google Play app store, Gmail and Google Maps, by agreeing to bundle Googles search and Chrome internet browser and feature them prominently. Under that arrangement, Google would give the device maker a portion of ad revenue it generates through search and Chrome.

Tech news outlet the Verge reported the pricing earlier on Friday, citing confidential documents.

The European Commission in July found Google abused its market dominance in mobile software to essentially force Android partners to pre-install search and Chrome on their gadgets. It levied a record $5-billion fine, which Google has appealed, and threatened additional penalties unless the company ended its illegal practices.

The new system should give Googles rivals such as Microsoft Corp more room to partner with hardware makers to become the default apps for search and browsing, analysts said.

Qwant, a small French search company that has been critical of Google, said in a statement on Friday that it was satisfied that the European Commissions action pushed Google to finally give manufacturers the possibility to offer such choices to consumers.
tech2 News Staff

Samsung has never been one to provide the fastest of software updates to its smartphones. As a matter of fact, when the Galaxy S8 got the Android Oreo update, the OnePlus 3, which was a device launched 7 months before it had gotten the update a long while back. However, it looks that the latest Samsung flagship phones may be getting the Android Pie update in early 2019. Well better late than never.

As per a report by XDA-Developers, in a post on the Samsung+ app the company has listed out a bunch of features which will be available on the Android Pie update. They talk about the Adaptive Battery features, which uses a custom algorithm to limit CPU usage for apps that suck up the battery in the background.

There is also going to be a new App Slice feature which will recommend shortcuts on the basis of your day-to-day usage. Lastly, they talk about all the new emojis. Samsung is releasing 157 new emojis.

Samsung says that the beta builds for the S9 and S9 Plus will be coming out soon while for the Note 9 the time frame has not yet been decided.

In more Samsung related news the South Korean giant, as per a report by GSMArena, held a press conference on 18 October in Shenzen China called the '2018 OLED Forum'.

In this conference, Samsung said that it is working on a new type of technology called as UPS which is said to integrate the front-facing camera and other kinds of sensors under the smartphone's display.
tech2 News Staff

While the size of notches are going smaller and smaller and some smartphone makers are going for mechanical sliders to house the front facing camera, one company is going to the next level. We are talking of course about Samsung and what massive innovation it plans to bring on its upcoming smartphones.

Samsung, as per a report by GSMArena, held a press conference on 18 October in Shenzen China called the '2018 OLED Forum'. In this conference, Samsung said that it is working on a new type of technology called as UPS which is said to integrate the front-facing camera and other kinds of sensors under the smartphone's display.

Great news! Samsung established the direction of mobile phone design in 2019!

On October 18th, Samsung Display invited about 20 customers to hold the "2018 Samsung OLED Forum" at the Shenzhen Marriott Hotel in China. At the meeting, Samsung showed a PPT pic.twitter.com/sYu0ORTd6V  Ice universe (@UniverseIce) October 19, 2018



This means that soon there would be no need for a notch or a mechanical slider on a smartphone to house the front-facing camera and other sensors. It may be the first true step to realising a bezel-less future on smartphones.

In any case, we are not going to see this technology being implemented on the upcoming Galaxy S10 or for any phone next year. Only a few prototypes have been tested with this technology and it is believed that it will not be used on any kind of commercial smartphone until 2020.

In news related to the Galaxy S10, Samsung responded to Google's Pixel 3 'ask us anything' thread with a snarky comment about the phone's admittedly oversized notch.

The #pixel3 is here. What do you want to know? No seriously, were answering Qs in the comments right here. #madebygoogle pic.twitter.com/ZawhVDSUBZ  Made by Google (@madebygoogle) October 9, 2018

Just because Samsung made fun of the Pixel's notch doesn't necessarily mean that the S10 won't have a notch, but Samsung's reaction at least makes that possibility highly unlikely.
Rishika Pardikar

Each place has its peculiar characteristics in terms of geology, ecology and socio-cultural context. My claim is that none of these three things are being accounted for in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands when developmental policies are framed says Pankaj Sekhsaria, a conservationist who has worked extensively in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands for about 20 years and is associated with Kalpavriksh, an NGO which works on environmental and social issues.

Pankaj is also the author of Islands in Flux: The Andaman and Nicobar Story, published on 5 April 2017 by HarperCollins India.

The Andaman and Nicobar islands, in essence, are the peaks of a submerged mountain range and are part of a global biodiversity hotspot. The islands are known for their levels of endemicity owing to years of isolation which has allowed the evolution of species of flora and fauna that are found nowhere else in the world. The isolation, though, also means that the islands support extremely fragile systems and parochial developmental activities could lead to the loss of the products of millions of years of evolution.

The islands are located far away from mainland India, about 1,200 km from all major ports. And islands like these which are far removed from mainland India, along with coastal regions, suffer owing to land-centric developmental policies which dont account for uniqueness, Sekhsaria says.

But such generalisations in economic policies are only a part of the problem. The larger debate surrounds questionable development projects and one such project is currently being proposed by the NITI Aayog.

On 10 August 2018 NITI Aayog unveiled a proposal titled Incredible Islands of India (Holistic Development) aimed at fostering investment opportunities in Andaman, Nicobar and Lakshadweep islands.

Amitabh Kant, the CEO of NITI Aayog, stated that the development potential of the islands has been accorded high priority while noting the constitution of the Island Development Agency (IDA) which has mandated the NITI Aayog to head the Holistic Development of Islands program.

As per latest information, the IDA has reviewed 11 tourism projects of which six are in Andaman and Nicobar islands and a few other infrastructure projects like ferry services, desalination plants, digital connectivity et cetera as part of the holistic development plans.

Conservationists though are concerned  most notably because there are serious questions about the nations capability to oversee such large-scale tourism projects and steer them with the right intent.

In a detailed Project Information Memorandum (PIM), the NITI Aayog notes that 26 islands have been identified as having development potential and overall, 220 luxury resorts, 70 luxury tents for camping activities and 50 tents will be developed.

Questioning the benefits of such high-end, tourism-centric plans to local islanders, a researcher with more than 15 years of experience working in the islands asks for whom is the project? and elaborating on the same he says, These islands definitely need development. The local inhabitants, particularly the settler communities live in difficult conditions and deserve a better, rewarding life. However, the currently proposed development model has not been developed in consultation with local communities or administration and has no clear and direct tangible benefits for the locals.

The local communities need better health, education and connectivity facilities. Not jobs as labourers or doing menial jobs in high-end resorts he adds.

The developmental plans therefore clearly fall short of the title holistic development.

The PIM also states that upfront support in the form of Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) clearances and most of the other clearances will be provided. And elaborating on the same, the researchers note that such statements are not to be seen in isolation and says The draft ICRZ (Island Coastal Regulation Zone) Notification talks about permitting eco-tourism activities without clearly defining what they mean by ecotourism. Such ambiguous terms could open up the earlier inaccessible coastal spaces to multiple kinds of tourism-related activities. This could be disastrous to the ecological and environmental integrity of these fragile islands.

The CRZ notification was issued by the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) under the Environment Protection Act, 1986 in order to protect coastal ecosystems from the developmental pressures.

The NITI Aayog now seeks to provide such approvals upfront with an objective of de-risking the development period substantially.

It can, therefore, be safely concluded that in a battle between local ecology and the upcoming construction activities on the island, the development agenda would definitely have an upper hand.

The sheer size of the proposal too points at concerns and speaking about the same Sekhsaria says among other things, the scale [of such projects] is also really important. Even if the plans are for community or eco-tourism projects, sometimes their scale doesnt allow for certain things.

The fact is that these islands are a tourist destination because of all the other values they have - tropical forests, oceans and coral reefs which encourage dive tourism, the aura of indigenous communities, the researchers says and notes the fallacy in the developmental plans which work like killing the goose which lays the golden eggs.

The narrative being sold on the islands is that this is going to be the next Singapore, he says and adds that Singapore has lost a major portion of its forested lands owing to large-scale developmental activities and is now a tourist destination for reasons other than its scenic beauty.

The other factor worth noting is geology  the islands are categorised as Zone 5 in the mapping of seismic zones in India. Zone 5 covers areas with the highest risk. And excessive focus on developmental activities regardless of their detrimental impact on the land is sure to intensify the effects of natural disasters like earthquakes and tsunamis.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to visit the islands on 30 December 2018 to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the First Flag Hoisting day by Subhash Chandra Bose on Indian soil. During this time, the PM would likely hold meetings with the civil and defence establishments and address public gatherings and also perhaps announce or inaugurate some big projects.

It would pay to closely follow the announcements about infrastructure, defence and tourism projects in the islands that are made in the days leading up to the PMs visit so as to flag concerns before its too late.
Indo-Asian News Service

Using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers have found that violent outbursts, or superflares, from red dwarf stars, could affect the habitability of any planets orbiting it.

Young low-mass stars flare much more frequently and more energetically than old stars and middle-age stars like our Sun, the findings of the study published in the Astrophysical Journal showed.

The findings are based on observations of the flare frequency of 12 red dwarfs.

Hubble is observing such stars through a large programme called HAZMAT  Habitable Zones and M dwarf Activity across Time.

"M dwarf" is the astronomical term for a red dwarf star  the smallest, most abundant and longest-living type of star in our galaxy.

The HAZMAT programme is an ultraviolet survey of red dwarfs at three different ages  young, intermediate, and old.

"The goal of the HAZMAT programme is to help understand the habitability of planets around low-mass stars," explained the programme's principal investigator, Evgenya Shkolnik from Arizona State University.

"These low-mass stars are critically important in understanding planetary atmospheres," Shkolnik added.

Stellar flares from red dwarfs are particularly bright in ultraviolet wavelengths, compared with Sun-like stars.

Hubble's ultraviolet sensitivity makes the telescope very valuable for observing these flares.

The flares are believed to be powered by intense magnetic fields that get tangled by the roiling motions of the stellar atmosphere.

When the tangling gets too intense, the fields break and reconnect, unleashing tremendous amounts of energy.

The team found that the flares from the youngest red dwarfs they surveyed  just about 40 million years old  are 100 to 1,000 times more energetic than when the stars are older.

This younger age is when terrestrial planets are forming around their stars.

About three-quarters of the stars in our Milky Way galaxy are red dwarfs. Most of the galaxy's "habitable zone" planets  planets orbiting their stars at a distance where temperatures are moderate enough for liquid water to exist on their surface  orbit red dwarfs.

In fact, the nearest star to our Sun, a red dwarf named Proxima Centauri, has an Earth-size planet in its habitable zone.

However, red dwarfs  especially young red dwarfs  are active stars, producing flares that could blast out so much energy that it disrupts and possibly strips off the atmospheres of these fledgeling planets.
By Michele Kambas and Angeliki Koutantou ATHENS (Reuters) - Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on Saturday welcomed the approval by Macedonia's parliament of a proposed change to the country's name as a decisive step towards ending decades of discord between the two neighbours.

By Michele Kambas and Angeliki Koutantou

ATHENS (Reuters) - Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on Saturday welcomed the approval by Macedonia's parliament of a proposed change to the country's name as a decisive step towards ending decades of discord between the two neighbours.

Macedonia's parliament approved the proposed new name of Republic of North Macedonia on Friday after a referendum last month failed to reach the minimum participation threshold.

The move could unblock Macedonia's bids to join NATO and the European Union, long blocked by Greece, which argues that "Macedonia" implied territorial claims to a Greek province of the same name.

The proposal still has to jump through further hoops of approval, including passage in Greece's parliament despite the hostility of the Greek defence minister to be formally adopted.

"Today is a symbolic and historic day for our foreign policy after yesterday's decision at the Skopje's parliament which opens the way for the implementation of an historic accord," Tsipras said at a ceremony to take charge of the foreign affairs portfolio.

He said implementation of the accord would also allow the small Balkan state to join international organisations, referring to the European Union and NATO.

Tsipras has taken on the foreign minister role after Nikos Kotzias, Greece's main negotiator in talks that led to the deal, stepped down following a row with Defence Minister Panos Kammenos at a cabinet meeting on Tuesday.

Kammenos is head of the co-ruling right-wing Independent Greeks party, which with Tsipras' leftist Syriza party has a slim majority in Greece's parliament.

He has called the Macedonia deal a national sell-out and has threatened to resign if it comes before the Greek parliament.

In a long dispute with its neighbour, Greece has insisted on the name change because it views the name Macedonia as implying a territorial claim on a northern Greek region of the same name and an attempt to hijack ancient Greek civilization.

In announcing Kotzias' resignation on Wednesday, Tsipras said he would no longer tolerate "double speak" among members of his cabinet, in a barb thought to be directed towards Kammenos.

In a Twitter post on Friday, Kammenos implied backhanders played a role in the Macedonian approval of the name change.

"Who would have thought that in Europe of values and democracy those who do not vote according to instructions are jailed, and those who comply get a 2 million euro bonus in black money," he tweeted after the Macedonian parliament's vote.

Macedonian government spokesman Mile Bosnjakovski tweeted in response that Kammenos' comment was "fake news" which the country's government had already denied.

There has been no reaction from Tsipras.

(Reporting by Michele Kambas and Angeliki Koutantou. Editing by Jane Merriman and Ros Russell)

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By Steve Holland WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump's national security adviser, John Bolton, will visit Moscow next week for talks that may include telling Russian officials that the United States plans to withdraw from the landmark Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. While Bolton will discuss other major topics with Russian officials, including North Korea, Ukraine and Syria, the 1987 accord between the United States and the former Soviet Union is also expected to come up. The INF treaty, negotiated by then-President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and ratified by the U.S

By Steve Holland

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump's national security adviser, John Bolton, will visit Moscow next week for talks that may include telling Russian officials that the United States plans to withdraw from the landmark Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty.

While Bolton will discuss other major topics with Russian officials, including North Korea, Ukraine and Syria, the 1987 accord between the United States and the former Soviet Union is also expected to come up.

The INF treaty, negotiated by then-President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and ratified by the U.S. Senate in 1988, required elimination of short-range and intermediate-range nuclear and conventional missiles by both countries.

The United States believes Russia is in violation of the accord. The New York Times said Bolton would tell Moscow that Washington planned to withdraw from the treaty. White House officials did not deny the report.

A senior Trump administration official said two administrations had tried to bring Russia back into compliance with the treaty.

"Despite our objections, Russia continues to produce and field prohibited cruise missiles and has ignored calls for transparency," the official said.

The Kremlin said Russian President Vladimir Putin planned to meet with Bolton, the RIA news agency reported. Bolton's meetings in Moscow were scheduled for Oct. 22-23, RIA said.

Bolton said on Twitter that he planned to meet with top Russian officials but did not mention Putin.

"Heading to Moscow tomorrow to meet with senior Russian leaders, including Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev, to continue discussions that began in Helsinki between our two countries," Bolton said.

Critics of Trump have accused him of being soft on Russia, and both Republicans and Democrats in the U.S. Congress are pushing for more sanctions on Moscow. Sanctions had been imposed for Russia's suspected meddling in elections in the United States and other countries, the Ukraine crisis, and allegations it was behind a nerve agent attack in Britain.

The Kremlin has denied any election interference or role in the nerve attack.

A senior administration official said Bolton will use the trip to discuss the next meeting between Trump and Putin. The two leaders may see each other in Paris at a Nov. 11 celebration of the 100th anniversary of the end of World War One.

But they may have more substantive talks on the fringes of a G-20 summit in Argentina later in November.

Trump's invitation to Putin to visit Washington still stood, the official said. Trump made the invitation in the aftermath of a summit in Helsinki in which he appeared to accept Putin's denials of interference in the 2016 U.S. election over the word of his own intelligence agencies.

While in Moscow, Bolton will emphasize the importance of maintaining sanctions against North Korea in order to keep pressure on the elimination of Pyongyang's nuclear weapons programme. Russia and China have suggested easing up on sanctions.

Bolton will also travel to Azerbaijan for discussions on a range of regional issues including Iran, before continuing to Armenia and Georgia.

(Reporting by Steve Holland; Additional reporting by Tom Balmforth in Moscow and Susan Heavey in Washington; editing by Richard Chang and Grant McCool)

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Mohammed Dewji, 43-year-old CEO of the METL Group family conglomerate, was seized as he arrived for a morning workout in Tanzanias commercial capital Dar es Salaam last week.

Dar Es Salaam/Nairobi : Africas youngest billionaire, snatched a week ago off the street outside a luxury hotel in Tanzania, has returned home safely, police said on Saturday.

Mohammed Dewji, 43-year-old CEO of the METL Group family conglomerate, was seized as he arrived for a morning workout in Tanzanias commercial capital Dar es Salaam last week. Forbes estimates his net worth as $1.5 billion, making him Africas 17th richest man and its youngest billionaire.

Lazaro Mambosasa, Dar es Salaams police commander, told Reuters that Dewji was abandoned by his kidnappers in the citys Gymkhana area at 2:30 am local time.

Dewji had been detained in a house in an area where police were set to search as part of a house-to-house investigation, he said.

He was tied legs, hands and face therefore he could not see. He could not identify the abductors throughout the period of captivity, Mambosasa said, adding that Dewji was unharmed apart from bruises on his hands and feet where they were tied.

He told us that they treated him very well and gave him food, he said.

Dewjis family had offered a reward of 1 billion Tanzania shillings ($440,000) for information leading to his release, though it was not immediately clear how much the kidnappers had demanded

I have returned home safely, METL Group quoted him as saying on its Twitter feed, without providing more details about how he was freed or got away from his captors.

The company also quoted him thanking those who had worked for his release, including the police.

The seizure of Dewji, who has also served as member of parliament in the past, had caused consternation in the East African nation as he is one of its most prominent business executives.

METL Group is involved in a diverse range of manufacturing, farming, transport, infrastructure, agroprocessing and telecoms businesses spanning 11 African countries
Both Republican and Democrat are watching Trumps moves and flamboyant rhetoric with fascination.

Editor's note: Men like Trump is a series of dispatches that tell of how a reckless president is steering the White House, and the manner in which his actions are fundamentally altering the office he holds. The writer, being a woman political journalist from India, now transplanted to the US, is in a unique position to observe the three aspects that are critical to defining this presidency: chauvinism, gunslinger politics, and immigration.

Two weeks are a long time in a presidents life and US president Donald Trump has been as busy as a bee, tweeting and talking on five different fronts over the past few daysthis, even as he hops from state to state campaigning for the midterm elections to 35 seats in the 100-member Senate and all 435 seats in the House of Representatives (Congress) on 6 Novemberthe killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Nikki Haleys resignation from the post of US ambassador to the United Nations, Senator Elizabeth Warrens Native American ancestry, another fracas with adult film star Stormy Daniels and lastly, healthcare.

Trump has stepped out more than the average American president, by all accounts, to campaign for the Republican candidates for the midterms. Since I have seen the same thing happen in India, where all elections have become about Prime Minister Narendra Modi, I dont find it surprising. But it appears new for the American public, both Republican and Democrat, who are watching Trumps moves and flamboyant rhetoric with fascination.

The Democrats and his opponents within his party are trying to box him in on the issues listed above. But Trump has held his own, stuck to his line and managed to stay at the epicenter of attention with his trademark abusive language and attitude that ensures that nothing else is given importance.

The people I speak to from differing political stances and economic strata, are either horrified or highly amused by Trump. They point out that the US economy is in great shape, unemployment is low and since Obamacare continues despite Trumps best efforts to destroy it, nothing really bad has happened. The ones who are horrified are upset about the belittling of the presidents post, the ones amused feel he has humanised it. Nobody, including the Democrats, are making a clear enough case that tax cuts are hurting the countrys social spend, essentially because everyone, from what I can see, is too preoccupied countering Trumps in-your-face outrageous comments and actions.

Trump wrote a long editorial in USA Today about healthcare, in an effort to clear the air about why Obamacare (officially called the Affordable Care Act) and the Medicare for All promoted by the Democrats were actually detrimental. Trumps effort to torpedo the Act was stymied by a single vote from the late Republican senator John McCain, who died recently of cancer. All through the editorial he tried to say the Democrats, who want a government-controlled centralised health system, wanted to take away free market competition and choice. His supporters extolled it, opponents derided it, with no clear indication that it changed anyones mind.

On Jamal Khashoggi, Trump is being attacked for the perceived closeness of his son-in-law and power centre Jared Kushner, with Saudi crown prince Mohammad bin Salman who is referred to in the US as MBS. Khashoggi has been living in the United States and writing for The Washington Post. He disappeared after entering the Saudi embassy in Istanbul, Turkey, leaving his Turkish fiancee waiting for him outside. The US media has been full of reports that he was allegedly tortured and dismembered for his stand against MBS and Trump has been pushed into the position of having to defend his relations with the Saudis.

Trump initially said he would not jeopardise business relations with the Saudis over the matter, but the American perception that they are the upholders of human rights across the world pushed him into a more defensive position. Saudi Arabia finally said 18 people accused of killing Khashoggi were arrested and Trump, catching the lifeline, said he believed this. His own party leaders like Senator Lindsey Graham have expressed doubts, but the issue has further bolstered the stand of Trump supporters that he has American interests at heart.

The three women Trump had to deal with over the last two weeks have generated more interest in the public mind. American ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley resigned for no apparent reason, leading to a lot of speculation that she is positioning herself to be the Republican nominee for the presidents post in 2020. Haley denied this with Trump sitting next to her at a media conference announcing her resignation. She later made a joke about it and took several digs at Trump at a televised high-profile dinner.

Senator Elizabeth Warren took on Trump with her video stating that DNA evidence proved that she had Cherokee ancestry. This in response to Trump derisively dubbing her Pocahontas, (a native American icon) in an attempt to show the senator as someone who is laying dubious claim to a race ancestry. Warrens video, however, has not got the kind of response she hoped for as the ancestry goes back about six to 10 generations earlier and even has Democrats worried that Trumps slur may now work better.

Adult film star Stormy Daniels lost the defamation case against Trump for his tweet: "A sketch years later about a nonexistent man. A total con job, playing the Fake News Media for Fools (but they know it)!" Daniels claimed that she was being threatened for making public the hush money she was allegedly paid to not talk about her affair with Trump. The above response to her allegation was defamatory, she said. The court ruled that Trumps tweets were protected by his position.

The result? Trump tweeted: Federal Judge throws out Stormy Danials lawsuit versus Trump. Trump is entitled to full legal fees. @FoxNews Great, now I can go after Horseface and her 3rd rate lawyer in the Great State of Texas. She will confirm the letter she signed! She knows nothing about me, a total con!
By Delphine Schrank TECUN UMAN, Guatemala (Reuters) - Hundreds of members of a caravan of migrants who had crossed Guatemala tried to breach the Mexican border on Friday, as the Mexican government vowed to tackle the convoy that U.S. President Donald Trump says must be stopped before it reaches the United States.

By Delphine Schrank

TECUN UMAN, Guatemala (Reuters) - Hundreds of members of a caravan of migrants who had crossed Guatemala tried to breach the Mexican border on Friday, as the Mexican government vowed to tackle the convoy that U.S. President Donald Trump says must be stopped before it reaches the United States.

Central American migrants pushed through Guatemalan border posts and streamed onto a bridge connecting the two countries, only to be halted by dozens of Mexican police dressed in riot gear on the other side, Mexican television footage showed.

Some migrants violently shook fences at the border, the footage showed. A handful jumped into the Suchiate river below to swim for rafts. Others turned back toward Guatemala.

Carrying backpacks and small children, many bedraggled migrants simply sat down on the bridge. Some said that they had been teargassed.

Jose Brian Guerrero, a 24-year-old Honduran travelling with neighbours and his extended family, said he had joined the caravan to escape violent street gangs, and to find work in the north.

"There's nothing for us in our country," said Guerrero, who used to sell beans in Honduras.

A similar caravan of Central Americans that formed in southern Mexico in late March also drew the ire of Trump, who on Thursday threatened to use the military and close the southern border if Mexico did not halt the new march.

Such a move would cause chaos on the crossing, one of the world's busiest, and badly disrupt trade.

Speaking in Scottsdale, Arizona on Friday, Trump said he "appreciated very much" Mexico's efforts to stop the caravan.

"If that doesn't work out, we're calling up the military - not the (National) Guard - we're calling up the military," he told reporters. "They're not coming into this country."

Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala are among the poorest and most violent countries in the Americas. Their emigrants make up the bulk of people now caught trying to enter the United States illegally every year.

Several migrants at the Guatemala-Mexico border spoke of entire neighbourhoods leaving their homes to join the trek after news circulated on social media of a call for a new "caravan" to Mexico six months after the previous one.

U.N. ASSISTANCE

Earlier, Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met in Mexico City and discussed the caravan, which left Honduras last weekend.

"It's a challenge that Mexico is facing, and that's how I expressed it to Secretary Pompeo," Videgaray told a joint news conference.

In contrast to the earlier caravan, which was deep into Mexico before officials began intensive efforts to process the migrants, the Mexican government turned its attention on the new group right on its southern border.

The government has sought assistance from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to help process migrants claiming refugee status, which could allow it to disperse them.

Pompeo said he and Videgaray spoke of the importance of stopping the caravan before it reaches the U.S. border.

On Friday morning, Videgaray said the caravan had close to 4,000 people and that the migrants could individually present their claims to enter Mexico or seek refugee status.

"We haven't had a caravan or group of this size seeking refuge at the same time, that's why we've sought the support of the United Nations," he told Mexican television.

Mexico says the migrants will be processed and that those without a legitimate case to travel onwards or stay in Mexico will be returned to their countries of origin.

POLICE WAITING

Hundreds of Mexican police were sent to guard the border between the Guatemalan town of Tecun Uman and Ciudad Hidalgo in Mexico to prepare for the migrant caravan's arrival.

Manelich Castilla, the head of Mexico's federal police, said at the scene that his officers had restored order after the rush of migrants towards the border, and would begin allowing people to be processed in an orderly fashion.

Six police had been injured, Castilla said.

UNHCR spokesman Charlie Yaxley said the agency was reinforcing capacity in southern Mexico to offer counselling, legal assistance and humanitarian aid to asylum-seekers.

"UNHCR is concerned that the mobilization of such a large number of people in a single group will overwhelm the capacities that exist in the region," he told a news conference.

(Reporting by Delphine Schrank in Tecun Uman; additional reporting by Veronica Gomez, Julia Love and Daina Beth Solomon in Mexico City, Tom Miles in Geneva and Edgard Garrido in Tecun Uman; Writing by Dave Graham; Editing by Alistair Bell and Rosalba O'Brien)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
The 12 fishermen who were arrested by the Pakistan Maritime Security Force and their boat seized on Thursday were presented before a judicial magistrate by the Docks police on Friday.

Karachi: Twelve Indian fishermen have been sent to jail in Karachi, days after being arrested by Pakistani authorities for allegedly fishing illegally in the country's territorial waters in the Arabian Sea.

The 12 fishermen who were arrested by the Pakistan Maritime Security Force and their boat seized on Thursday were presented before a judicial magistrate by the Docks police on Friday.

The magistrate has now sent them to judicial lock-up in the Landhi jail where other Indian fishermen are also serving sentences for some time now.

The Pakistan Maritime Security Force (PMSF) had also arrested 18 Indian fishermen on 12 September and seized two boats for allegedly illegally fishing in Pakistan's territorial waters. The PMSF after arresting the fishermen hands them over to the police which then completes the formalities of sending them to jails in either Landhi or Malir in Karachi.

Before the September arrests, there had been a lull of five months without any incident of Indian fishermen being arrested by Pakistani authorities. The Pakistan government had as a goodwill gesture released 27 Indian fishermen on 14 August on the country's Independence Day.
By Nathan Layne NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. government on Friday charged a Russian national with playing a key financial role in a Kremlin-backed plan to conduct 'information warfare' against the United States, including influencing next month's congressional elections. Elena Alekseevna Khusyaynova, 44, becomes the first person indicted for attempting to interfere in the 2018 U.S

By Nathan Layne

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. government on Friday charged a Russian national with playing a key financial role in a Kremlin-backed plan to conduct "information warfare" against the United States, including influencing next month's congressional elections.

Elena Alekseevna Khusyaynova, 44, becomes the first person indicted for attempting to interfere in the 2018 U.S. elections, according to a government official with knowledge of the investigation.

The complaint said Khusyaynova was the chief accountant for Project Lakhta, an operation started in 2014 and funded by Russian oligarch Evgeny Viktorovich Prigozhin and two companies he controls, Concord Management and Consulting LLC and Concord Catering.

Using social media and other avenues, the conspiracy participants waged "information warfare against the United States," attempting to sow distrust of candidates for U.S. political office and the U.S. political system, according to the complaint.

Prigozhin and the two companies were named in February in indictments from Special Counsel Robert Mueller's separate investigation of alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election to boost eventual winner Donald Trump over his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton.

The Khusyaynova case is not being handled by Mueller because it includes activities related to the 2018 elections, which are not part of his remit, the government official said.

The case against Khusyaynova was unsealed in Alexandria, Virginia, on the same day that U.S. law enforcement and intelligence agencies issued a statement expressing concerns about attempts by Russia, China, Iran and other foreign groups to interfere with Nov. 6 congressional elections, in which Trump's Republicans are trying to maintain majority power in Congress, and national elections in 2020.

That statement was coordinated to coincide with the criminal complaint against Khusyaynova, a second U.S. official familiar with the matter said on condition of anonymity.

The complaint says that in June Khusyaynova submitted to Concord a monthly budget of 114 million Russian roubles, including expenditures for advertisements on Facebook and to pay for "development accounts" on Twitter.

The complaint says it did find any evidence that Khusyaynova or anyone else involved in the conspiracy had any impact on the outcome of any U.S. election.

Khusyaynova is a resident of St. Petersburg, Russia, and is not in U.S. custody.

The complaint indicates that Russia's campaign to sow discord in the United States continued even after Mueller's indictments in February that named Prigozhin, Concord Management and Concord Catering among three entities and 13 Russian individuals.

Prigozhin has been dubbed "Putin's cook" by Russian media because his catering business has organised banquets for Russian President Vladimir Putin and other senior political figures. He has been hit with sanctions by the U.S. government.

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence, Justice Department, FBI and Department of Homeland Security issued a joint statement on Friday saying they did not have any evidence that anyone went far enough to prevent voting or change vote counts. Some state and local governments, which run polling sites, have reported attempts to access their networks, but officials were able to "prevent access or quickly mitigate these attempts," the statement said.

In July, Mueller's office also indicted 12 Russian intelligence officers who were accused of hacking Democratic computer networks as part of Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. election.

(Reporting by Lisa Lambert, Makini Brice, Mark Hosenball and Jonathan Landay in Washington, and Nathan Layne in New York; Editing by Tim Ahmann and Bill Trott)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Saudi Arabia said on Friday that journalist Jamal Khashoggi died in a fight inside its Istanbul consulate and said it had fired two senior officials over the incident, giving an account that US president Donald Trump said was credible

Dubai: Saudi Arabia said on Friday that journalist Jamal Khashoggi died in a fight inside its Istanbul consulate and said it had fired two senior officials over the incident, giving an account that US president Donald Trump said was credible.

Saudi Arabias acknowledgement that Khashoggi died came after two weeks of denials and growing demands from Western allies for an explanation over Khashoggis disappearance, which galvanised a global outcry and prompted some US lawmakers to call for harsh action against Riyadh.

Saudi state media said King Salman had ordered the dismissal of two senior officials over the incident: Saud al-Qahtani, a royal court advisor seen as the right-hand man to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and deputy intelligence chief Ahmed Asiri, a statement on state media said.

I think its a good first step, its a big step. Its a lot of people, a lot of people involved, and I think its a great first step, Trump told reporters.

Saudi Arabia has been a great ally. What happened is unacceptable.

Though Trump said Riyadhs account was credible, it drew doubt from some US lawmakers.

Khashoggi, a critic of the crown prince, went missing after entering the consulate on 2 October to obtain documents for his upcoming marriage. Days later, Turkish officials said they believed he was killed in the building, an allegation that Saudi Arabia had, until now, strenuously denied.

In a separate statement on Saturday, the Saudi public prosecutor said a fight broke out between Khashoggi and people who met him in the consulate, leading to his death.

The investigations are still underway and 18 Saudi nationals have been arrested, the statement said.

The disappearance of Khashoggi, a US resident and Washington Post columnist, had led to mounting pressure from the West on Saudi Arabia to provide convincing answers.

Before the Saudi announcements, Trump said he might consider sanctions, although he has also appeared unwilling to distance himself too much from the Saudis, citing Riyadhs role in countering Iranian influence in the Middle East and lucrative potential arms deals.

The White House said in a statement that it had seen the Saudi announcement and would continue to press for justice that is timely, transparent, and in accordance with all due process.

But some US lawmakers expressed doubt about the Saudi explanation.

To say that I am sceptical of the new Saudi narrative about Khashoggi is an understatement, said Republican US Senator Lindsey Graham, a Trump ally who has been sharply critical of Saudi Arabia over the incident.

Democratic US Senator Richard Blumenthal told CNN the Saudi explanation absolutely defies credibility and called for an international investigation of Khashoggis death.

Turkish sources have told Reuters the authorities have an audio recording purportedly documenting Khashoggis murder inside the consulate. Turkish pro-government newspaper Yeni Safak has published what it said were details from the audio. It said Khashoggis torturers had severed his fingers during an interrogation and later beheaded and dismembered him.

No orders to kill him

The disappearance of Khashoggi has tarnished Prince Mohammeds reputation and deepened questions about his leadership.

King Salman has handed the day-to-day running of Saudi Arabia to his son, commonly known as MbS. But the growing crisis prompted him to intervene, five sources with links to the Saudi royal family told Reuters.

The king has ordered the formation of a ministerial committee headed by the crown prince to restructure the general intelligence agency, state media said on Friday.

The crown prince had no knowledge of the specific operation that resulted in Khashoggis death, a Saudi official familiar with the investigation said.

There were no orders for them to kill him or even specifically kidnap him, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity and adding that there was a standing order to bring critics of the kingdom back to the country.

MbS had no knowledge of this specific operation and certainly did not order a kidnapping or murder of anybody. He will have been aware of the general instruction to tell people to come back, the official said.

The official said the whereabouts of Khashoggis body were unclear after it was handed over to a local cooperator but there was no sign of it at the consulate.

In Istanbul, Turkish prosecutors investigating Khashoggis disappearance questioned Turkish employees of the Saudi consulate on Friday, widening the hunt for clues in a case straining Riyadhs alliance with Western powers.

Turkish police searched a forest on Istanbuls outskirts and a city near the Sea of Marmara for Khashoggis remains, two senior Turkish officials told Reuters, after tracking the routes of cars that left the consulate and the consuls residence on the day he vanished.

Investigators have recovered samples from searches of both buildings to analyse for traces of Khashoggis DNA.

Speaking to reporters in Scottsdale, Arizona, ahead of the Saudi announcements, Trump said it was too early to say what the consequences for the incident might be, but that the US Congress would be involved in determining the American response.

Asked whether Saudi sanctions were one of the measures he was considering, Trump said, Could be, could be, though he provided no details.

Were going to find out who knew what when and where. And well figure it out, Trump added.

Turkey said it had not shared with any country audio recordings purportedly documenting Khashoggis murder, dismissing reports it had passed them to the United States.

We will share the results that emerge transparently with the whole world, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said.
By Alex Dobuzinskis LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The University of Southern California has reached a $215 million proposed settlement with former patients of a gynecologist at the school who was accused of sexual abuse, the president of the university said in a letter on Friday seen by Reuters. The settlement centres on the conduct of George Tyndall, who practiced at USC until he was suspended in 2016 after a complaint from a health worker accusing him of making sexually inappropriate comments to patients. More than 400 women have since accused Tyndall of sexual abuse, some in a federal lawsuit covered by the settlement and others in state lawsuits that are still pending

By Alex Dobuzinskis

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The University of Southern California has reached a $215 million proposed settlement with former patients of a gynecologist at the school who was accused of sexual abuse, the president of the university said in a letter on Friday seen by Reuters.

The settlement centres on the conduct of George Tyndall, who practiced at USC until he was suspended in 2016 after a complaint from a health worker accusing him of making sexually inappropriate comments to patients. More than 400 women have since accused Tyndall of sexual abuse, some in a federal lawsuit covered by the settlement and others in state lawsuits that are still pending.

On Thursday, attorneys representing current and former University of Southern California students filed 93 additional lawsuits against USC in Los Angeles Superior Court, alleging gross sexual misconduct and sexual assault on campus by Tyndall.

Women who received health services from Tyndall will be eligible to receive $2,500, according to the university. Those who provide details on their experiences under his care could receive up to $250,000 more, according to the letter from school President Wanda Austin to the university community. The total potential amount of the settlement is not yet known.

"I regret that any student ever felt uncomfortable, unsafe, or mistreated in any way as a result of the actions of a university employee," Austin wrote.

In August, then USC President C.L. Max Nikias stepped down after an outcry from faculty and students, who said the downtown Los Angeles school was slow to act over complaints against Tyndall.

Tyndall resigned from USC last year and has since lost his licence to practice medicine in California.

Tyndall's attorney, N. Denise Taylor, said her client denies all allegations but agreed to the settlement to avoid the expense of continued litigation.

The settlement was reached in a federal class-action lawsuit brought on behalf of hundreds of current and former students at USC, according to a statement from law firm Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP representing women in the lawsuit.

Tyndall subjected patients to inappropriate touching, unnecessary penetration with his hands, lewd comments and other inappropriate conduct, the law firm said.

Attorney Gloria Allred, who is representing 44 women who have accused the university and Tyndall of misconduct in two lawsuits, said the settlement in the federal case was too small.

"We are continuing to vigorously litigate our state cases for numerous victims and we will insist that each of our clients be properly compensated for what they were forced to endure," she said in an email on Friday.

Allred said she plans to file a third lawsuit to include even more woman that the doctor treated during his 30 years at the school.

(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis in Los Angeles, Additional reporting by Barbara Goldberg and Gabriella Borter in New York; editing by Lisa Shumaker)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Retirees looking for the best dividend stocks should seek out those that offer a sound business model that can back up the reliability of a quarterly payment. From there, they can choose companies that can hopefully grow those payouts and even see capital appreciation added into the equation.

We asked three Motley Fool contributors to pick out a stock that can meet these goals, and they chose Telkom Indonesia (NYSE:TLK), Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE:RDS.A)(NYSE:RDS.B), and Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL).

Quality over quantity is a winning strategy all around the world

Anders Bylund (Telkom Indonesia): This is not your average overseas telecommunications provider. Telkom Indonesia holds a dominant market share in one of the world's largest consumer markets, boasting 178 million cellphone subscribers and a surprisingly lean balance sheet. And it all boils down to a rock-solid dividend policy for the ages.

Telkom's investors have suffered a 25% negative return over the last year as Indonesia's wireless market muddled its way through an intense price war. Management eventually decided to let the low-cost competition win over a few million price-sensitive customers, focusing instead on expanding its 4G network with a view to 5G installations in the near future. Rather than racing to the bottom of an unwinnable pricing battle, Telkom protected its margins in preparation for a more profitable long-term future.

So share prices fell while Telkom boosted its dividend payouts, driving the dividend yield up to 3.9%. The company is poised to turn up the heat on the bottom line, armed with Indonesia's highest-quality wireless network and brand-new hooks into the worldwide internet -- Telkom recently launched another geostationary networking satellite and partnered up on a fast fiber-optic link from Indonesia to California.

And all of this was done without sinking Telkom into the morass of debilitating debt in which most telecommunications giants end up. Where Verizon (NYSE:VZ) has to manage a debt load of 5 times its annual EBITDA profits, Telkom Indonesia's debt-to-EBITDA leverage ratio stops at a lean 2.4.

This company is planning for the long term and preparing to turn a corner. That's the kind of horsepower I want behind the income-generating stocks in my retirement portfolio.

The long and the short of it

John Bromels (Royal Dutch Shell): Whether your retirement is right around the corner or decades away, you'll find something to like about Royal Dutch Shell. That starts with a best-in-class 5.8% dividend yield, which will reward investors quarter in and quarter out. Shell didn't cut its dividend even during the devastating oil price slump of 2014-2017, and it's unlikely to do so in the future unless something catastrophic occurs.

Catastrophe doesn't seem likely in the near term, given Shell's superior performance in its most recently reported quarter, Q2 2018. During the quarter, Shell's net earnings increased by 291% year over year to just over $6 billion. It also posted the best free cash flow it's seen in four years, which it plans to use to start buying back shares, eventually projecting $25 billion in share buybacks by 2020.

If your retirement is a bit farther away, you'll be pleased that Shell has made strategic investments in liquefied natural gas (LNG), even purchasing British gas giant BG Group at a discounted price during the oil price slump. Shell expects the market for LNG to grow even faster than the oil market over the next decade, and natural gas as a heating fuel is less susceptible to disruptive technology than oil-derived automotive gasoline.

With oil prices currently high and moving higher -- Brent Crude is now trading above $80/barrel -- now is an excellent time to make this high-yielding oil and gas giant part of your retirement portfolio.

Cleanup with Colgate-Palmolive

Rich Duprey (Colgate-Palmolive): Retirees don't have to abandon growth, but preservation of capital is more essential. Finding a company that could deliver both would be the best of all worlds, and investors looking for a stock for their retirement years can find that in Colgate-Palmolive, a consistent, steady consumer-goods stalwart.

Few companies have been in consistent operation as long as Colgate (it was founded in 1806), and fewer still have paid investors an uninterrupted stream of dividends longer than the toothpaste company (they began in 1895). That it also belongs to a rarified group called Dividend Kings, or companies that have increased their payout every year for 50 years or more, makes it a unique triple-play (Colgate has raised its dividend every year since 1963).

However, Colgate-Palmolive is more than just toothpaste and dish soap, owning brands like Ajax, Formula 409, Irish Spring soap, Hill's pet food, and Speed Stick deodorant, some of which you probably have in your own cabinet. Millions of others do, too, and that's what gives it its staying power, because it owns brands that consumers return to again and again.

No business is perfect, of course, and there are risks, too. For example, three-quarters of the company's revenue is derived primarily from emerging markets, making it subject to currency exchange rate fluctuations as well as political upheaval. The financial and economic crisis in Venezuela caused it to deconsolidate its operations there in 2015 after 72 years of business in the country.

Still, it has been a steady performer for over 200 years, and it will likely remain such throughout your retirement as well as those of your children -- and maybe even your grandchildren.
Late last year, the Investor Education Centre published a study of retail investors in Hong Kong. The research was based on both quantitative surveys spanning more than a thousand respondents and qualitative interviews with focus group panels.

One of the headlines is that retail investor participation continues to be extremely high. Roughly 3 in 5 Hong Kong adults made an investment in the past year; half of those investments were in the stock market.

To use an extreme contrast, in India, it's been estimated that only 2% of the population invests in stocks.

It's especially good news when considering the returns of various asset classes in Hong Kong over the long term. My colleague Hayes Chan examined the long-run returns of stocks, bonds, cash, and property going back to 1980. Stocks ruled the roost, beating even property.

Period Hong Kong Residential Price Indices Hang Seng Index (INDEX: ^HSI) January 1, 1980 19.9 889 December 31, 2017 352.8 29920 Whole Period Return 1,673% 3,266% Annualized Return 8.08% 9.97% Rental/Dividend yield 2.62% 2.98% Annualized Total Return 10.70% 12.95%

Not all the news was cause for celebration, though. Here are four of the more troubling dynamics at play among retail investors in Hong Kong.

1. Investment holding periods aren't long enough

The returns cited in the chart above are long-term returns, captured by investors who own stocks over decades. Not many Hong Kong investors are putting themselves in such a position now: The IEC report says "investors tend to be quite active in stock trading, with an investment horizon of less than half a year" (emphasis added).

Half a year is almost never enough time for a company to thrive or fail. It is almost never enough time to allow an investment thesis to play out, or not.

Hong Kongers tend to hold blue chips longer -- "an average of 3.3 years" -- which is good, but then the survey also shows that one-fifth of investors sold new IPOs on their very first trading day.

2. The Hong Kong home market bias is worse than reported elsewhere

Almost all stock investors purchase stocks listed on the HKEX main board. About half purchase the more speculative growth stocks on the Growth Enterprise Market, or GEM.

But the home market bias is real: Just 3% of investors buy stocks outside of HK and mainland China.

This figure is dramatically lower than what other published studies have shown in other markets. Vanguard measured this problem for five major markets across the world:

Country Global index weight Domestic equity exposure U.S. 50.9% 79.1% U.K. 7.2% 26.3% Australia 2.4% 66.5% Japan 7.2% 55.2% Canada 3.4% 59%

Looking beyond Hong Kong's borders provides diversification, obviously -- but it also opens up local investors to some of the best companies in the world, trading in other markets. Not all such stocks are easily accessible to Hong Kong investors, but with certain brokerages, many U.S.-listed stocks are readily available.

3. Governance issues are ignored

When you invest in a stock, you become part-owner of that business. J. Paul Getty put it like this: "Stock certificates are deeds of ownership in business enterprises and not betting slips."

Sadly, local investors don't share that sentiment. Just 16% of HK investors have ever voted a proxy in a company they own. Only 1% have voted on three or more occasions.

The reasons why exhibit a profound sense of powerlessness, as well as a lack of understanding.

58% say they don't vote because the "voting power of small shareholders is not enough to make a difference"

40% say they don't know how to vote

35% say they didn't know minority shareholders even had a vote

22% say that "corporate actions are none of my business"

There's plenty of investor education needed on this topic, a void I hope Motley Fool Hong Kong will fill.

4. Hong Kong investors expect average returns of 19%...per year

The Hong Kong investor's expectations of future returns are likely to lead to disappointment, if you go by the maxim that "happiness equals expectations minus reality."

According to the IEC report, local investors self-reported returns of 13% on average. That's quite good compared with long-run average returns from across the globe. Yet even 13% will disappoint when you expect 19% per year.

Close to half -- 44%, to be exact -- of investors who answered the survey expect 20%-plus returns per annum from stocks.

There's more of a disconnect among mutual fund investors. To quote the IEC report, "Despite the perceived medium/low risk level of funds, over 40% of investors expected 20% or more annual returns from their fund investment." (Good luck, HK fund managers!)

Consider again the table above that my colleague Hayes Chan put together. Stocks beat any other asset class over the long term, including property. Stock investors should expect higher returns, but with two crucial facts in mind:

Stocks are riskier than other asset classes.

To capture long-run returns, investors need to hold for the long run.

We've laid out the full case for this in a brand-new Fool.hk report called "The 4 Rules for Winning in the Stock Market: A Foolish Guide for Hong Kong Investors."

I highly encourage you to download a free copy right now -- click here now!

This post first appeared at our sister site, Fool.hk.
Oil prices have bounced around a lot this year, which is par for the course. But black gold has been heading generally higher for the last 12 months. That's led investors to take a more positive view of some companies, including Apache Corporation (NASDAQ:APA) and ExxonMobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM). However, both still appear to offer investors a good buying opportunity. Meanwhile, Newfield Exploration Company (NYSE:NFX) looks like it's being left behind, which should interest value investors searching for deals. Here's a quick look at this trio of top oil stocks worth buying in October.

An insanely cheap oil stock

Matt DiLallo (Newfield Exploration Company): While oil prices have been red-hot, some oil stocks haven't participated in the industrywide rally. One of the biggest underperformers is Newfield Exploration, which has lost 11% of its value this year even though the price of crude in the U.S. has gained another 25%. That underperformance is one reason why Newfield sells at a bottom-of-the-barrel valuation of just 4.6 times cash flow, which is half the level of most peers.

That discount doesn't make any sense because Newfield is right up there with its rivals when it comes to its balance sheet strength and growth prospects. On the financial side, the company's leverage ratio was 1.7 times at the end of the second quarter, which was ahead of its 2018 guidance of 1.8 times due to higher oil prices. Furthermore, it's well within the less than 2.0 times comfort zone of its peer group. The company is on pace to grow its production 18% to 25% this year, which is on par with its fast-growing peers. Even better, the company is delivering that high-octane growth rate while producing excess cash.

Typically, a fast-growing oil stock with a strong balance sheet would sell for a premium valuation. However, with Newfield trading at a huge discount, it suggests the company's stock could have significant upside as its valuation moves closer to the peer group average. While it might take a catalyst such as a needle-moving stock buyback to spark that move, Newfield has a growing cash pile that it could use to jump-start its shares, which is what makes it such a compelling oil stock to consider buying this month.

Finally taking notice

John Bromels (Apache Corporation): Shares of oil and gas driller Apache Corporation recently hit a one-year high, surpassing the $49-per-share mark. The beaten-down driller may be finally seeing some love from the stock market.

Apache has seen its stock bid up twice already this year, only to see the gain ultimately disappoint. After surpassing $48 a share in early February, the market downturn hit and took Apache's stock price with it. Then, in July, shares reached $48.50, just to have a brief downturn in crude oil prices suck them back down to $42 a share.

But there are reasons to think that things may be different this time. WTI Crude prices, which primarily govern Apache's oil holdings in the West Texas Permian Basin, have been trending generally higher all year, recently peaking north of $75 per barrel (though they have since come back down a little). In the meantime, Apache's oil and gas production are continually increasing -- the company recently upped its 2018 guidance from a midpoint of 254,000 barrels of oil equivalents per day (BOE/d) to 260,000 BOE/d. And those production gains should keep on coming: Management projects that Apache's Permian operations will be generating at least 315,000 BOE/d by 2020, about double the 158,000 BOE/d they produced in 2017.

It's good to see the market finally bidding the stock up to reasonable levels, especially since it's lagged so far behind its peers this year. But solid oil prices and continued productions gains suggest Apache's shares still have plenty of room to run, making the company a top stock for October.

There's still time to jump aboard

Reuben Gregg Brewer (ExxonMobil Corporation): Exxon shares haven't performed particularly well over the year-to-date span, hovering near the low end of its peer group. However, over the past six months, the integrated energy giant has handily outdistanced the pack, up 15% compared to the next closest competitor's advance of 8.8%. And despite the performance upturn, Exxon's dividend yield, at around 3.8%, is still the highest it has been since the late 1990s. Its price to tangible book value also remains at levels last witnessed in that same decade.

Although the stock's recent upturn is nice to see, it still looks historically cheap. In fact, there remains a lot of work to be done at Exxon. The company's long-term earnings goals, for example, are geared to 2025, when it expects to double earnings per share if oil prices are in the $60-per-barrel range. If they are around the $80-per-barrel level, Exxon expects earnings to increase by as much as 225%. Those projections are built on big capital spending plans across its entire business (as much as $30 billion a year between 2020 and 2024), including in the oil giant's upstream drilling operations and its downstream chemicals and refining businesses.

Clearly, investors have taken a more positive view of Exxon's future lately, even though 2025 remains a long way off. But these are still early days in the company's efforts to turn the ship. That means that, despite the recent advance, long-term investors should still feel comfortable jumping aboard.
Uprooted Palestinians are at the heart of the conflict in the M.E Palestinians uprooted by force of arms. Yet faced immense difficulties have survived, kept alive their history and culture, passed keys of family homes in occupied Palestine from one generation to the next.
Scandalous footage has emerged showing a raging herd of elephants in Nakabolelwa Conservancy, Namibia charging towards the two armed men after they shoot and kill one of their bull members.

The two callous men are seen shooting 3 times before they realise that they're in danger. Whilst the injured elephant bull stumbles and gives in to his injuries, the panicked and enraged parade of around a dozen of 7-tonne elephants come charging and the bewildered men, as they begin to run and curse at the spectacle.

It is alleged that the video has been filmed around 4 years ago, but only now has surfaced online. Whilst hunting of this nature is hugely frowned upon in Africa, it remains legal under strict regulation.

Crone Kruger, a Namibia-based professional hunter, commented on the incident explaining that, due to an incredibly low quota of African elephants worldwide, hunters "only hunt two elephants a year". Hunting safaris are also offered by several Namibia-based companies, which can be rented by foreign nationals - no licence required.

Whilst there were as many as 3-5 million Africanelephantsroaming the sub-Saharan region throughout the early 20th century, only around 415,000 are left in the world today.
Xiaomi Mi TV 4A with 58-inch 4K HDR display officially launched for Rs 30,000 News oi-Vivek Xiaomi Mi TV 4A 58-inch supports Dolby Audio

Xiaomi has launched yet another smart television in the home market under the Mi TV 4 series. The Xiaomi Mi TV 4A is a 58-inch 4K television with smartphone features at a fantastic price tag.

Price and availability

The Xiaomi Mi TV 4A 58-inch is already available for pre-order Xiaomi official website for 2999 Yuan (Rs 30,000), which makes it the one of the most affordable 4K television from the company. As of now, there is no information on the price or the launch date of the Xiaomi Mi TV 4A 58-inch what so ever.

Xiaomi Mi TV 4A 58-inch specifications and features

As the name suggests, the Xiaomi Mi TV 4A 58-inch comes with a 58-inch IPS LED (3840 x 2160p) screen with a refresh rate of 60Hz and 178 degrees of viewing angle. The television also supports HDR content (HDR 10) with a static contrast ratio of 5000:1. The built-in speakers on the Xiaomi Mi TV 4A do support Dolby Audio and DTS-HD sound. In terms of design, the Mi TV 4A has minimal bezels on all four sides, similar to the Xiaomi Mi TV 4 Pro.

An Amlogic T962 64-bit quad-core processor powers the Xiaomi Mi TV 4A 58-inch with a clock speed of 1.5 GHz, coupled with 2 GB of RAM, and 8 GB of internal storage with an option to expand storage via USB-A port using a hard disc or a pen-drive to store additional content.

With respect to connectivity, the Mi TV 4A comes with a Bluetooth 4.2 and also supports dual channel Wi-Fi (2.4 GHz and 5.0 GHz) for high-speed internet connectivity. The latest smart television from Xiaomi also has a wide selection of I/O with three HDMI port, 2 USB-A ports and an AV port to connect the old-school setup box.

The television runs on Android Open Source OS with Patch Wall UI on top with a Bluetooth remote with support for voice search. The Mi TV 4A 58-inch also comes with features like a dedicated app store, support for miracast, and an S/PDIF port for lossless audio output.

Overall, the Xiaomi Mi TV 4A 58-inch is an excellent television, especially at the asking price of Rs 30,000. We hope that Xiaomi will launch the Mi TV 4A with 58-inch 4K display in India as well.

Source

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This 3D-printed house is cheaper than your smartphone News oi-Vishal Kawadkar The house is made of earth and rice husks.

As we move forward in time, the houses will keep getting better and costlier. And that doesn't seem to change anytime soon, not until we take the newly showcased concept by Italian 3D-printing company WASP (World's Advanced Saving Project) seriously.

The startup has shown a 3D printed a hut structure, dubbed Gaia, using a combination of 3D-printed concrete and a mud-based material. What's the total cost of building the structure you ask? It's just $1,000.

"The material consists of clay earth, rice straw, and rice husk," Massimo Moretti, CEO of WASP, told Digital Trends. "The natural fibers allow [us to minimize] the shrinkage of the dry mixture and confer mechanical strength to the layered wall. By using the wet pan mill, the raw mixture has reached an interesting homogeneous plasticity that permits a good resolution in printed texture."

Additionally, concrete is used for laying the foundation, while timber was used to make the roof of the structure. The 215-square-foot build took around 10 days to complete, although it would take more time to furnish the place. It is also certain, the price would go beyond $1,000 for a commercial build since the current price only includes the material costs and not the labor charge.

"Gaia represents an example of reduced costs, especially if compared on the thermal performances that usually are obtained only with different traditional systems," Moretti continued.

The company claims that structure doesn't need heating or air conditioning and is capable of maintaining consistent temperatures indoors regardless of what time of year it is.

"At the moment, the company is evaluating every possibility to enter the construction market," he said. "Probably the most reliable strategy will be a construction service, with our team involved in the wall construction."

WASP isn't the only group working in this field. Scientists from Estonia's University of Tartu and the Estonian University of Life Sciences have also developed a 3D-printable building. It is built from milled peat, oil shale ash, and silica nanoparticles. The solution claims to reduce the construction cost of private houses up to 10 times.

The composite material that has been created by the researchers possess high thermal conductivity and is strong as well. Despite the fact that peat is used as fuel, the material isn't combustible. Additionally, it hardens within one day of printing, although it remains elastic for a longer time - making it possible to close the air gaps if any.

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Xiaomi Diwali Sale to be hosted for 3 days stating from October 23 News oi-Abhinaya Prabhu Xiaomi Diwali Sale will be hosted from October 23 to October 25.

For the past few days, the online retailers have been offering festive discounts and offers on a wide range of products. And, the sale will again happen in the coming days as Diwali is nearing. During the second phase of sale, Xiaomi will host its Diwali sale offering massive discounts on a range of products including smartphones, LED TVs, accessories and other smart products.

The Chinese company will host the Xiaomi Diwali Sale from October 23 to October 25. During this sale, there will be partner offers such as Rs. 750 instant discount on using an SBI Bank credit card for the purchase but the minimum transaction value should be Rs. 75. There will also be instant discounts and cashback offers on using digital wallets such as Paytm, Amazon Pay and Mobikwik.

The Mi VIP members can avail early access to the Diwali sale along with exclusive deals and free coupons. The deals can be claimed via the VIP rewards section on the Mi website.

Xiaomi smartphones on discount

During this sale, smartphones such as the Redmi Y2, Redmi Note 5 Pro, Poco F1, Redmi 6 series and Mi A2 will be available at discounted pricing. Some devices will also be listed for flash sales. There will be a flat discount of Rs. 2,000 on the Redmi Note 5 Pro, Redmi Y2 and Mi A2 taking their effective cost down to Rs. 12,999, Rs. 10,999 and Rs. 14,999 respectively. Also, the Red color variants of these devices will be available at discount.

Accessories on discount during Xiaomi Diwali Sale

During the upcoming sale, the 10000mAh Mi Power Bank 2i will be priced at Rs. 699 and Rs. 899 for the grey and red color variants respectively. The Mi Band HRX edition will be priced at Rs. 999 after Rs. 300 discount. The Mi Band 3 will be available for Rs. 1,999 and the Mi Compact Bluetooth Speaker 2 is priced at Rs. 799. The Mi Earphones Basic is available at Rs. 349 and the combo of the earphones and Mi casual backpack is priced at Rs. 899.

The Mi Home Security Camera 360 will be priced at Rs. 2,699 and the Mi LED Smart TV 4A 43-inch will be available at a discount of Rs. 1,000 taking it down to Rs. 22,999.

Re. 1 flash sale

What's interesting is that the company will host the Re. 1 flash sale letting buyers grab hold of their favorite devices. Even the other products such as Mi Luggage, Air Purifier 2S and Mi City Backpack will be listed under discount.

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Google to charge Rs 2800 per Android smartphone due to a European law: Report News oi-Vivek Google is yet to respond to this report

European Commission fined Google a whopping $5.1 billion, as Google forced to Android OEMs to Google Chrome and Google Search apps which are against the business ethics, and Google has filed an appeal against the verdict from the EU Commission. In EU Commission rejects the appeal from Google, then the upcoming Android smartphones might not feature Google Search and the Google Chrome apps as a built-in app.

And now, according to a report from The Verge, Google has come up with a backup plan, where the company is planning to charge a license fee of $40 per device (Rs 2800) per device, which could drive the price of entry-level smartphones. This will be applicable for those smartphones that get activated on or after the 1st of February 2019.

Isn't Android an open source OS?

Yes, Android OS or AOSP alone is an open source OS, where smartphone companies can launch devices with Android OS. In this case, Google is charging for Google Services, which is not an open source service.

In fact, smartphone makers (especially in Europe) can still launch smartphones with Android OS without paying a penny to Google. However, in this scenario, those smartphones will miss on Google services like Google Play Store and other services, which is important to run some apps and games.

Having services like Google Play Store will enable faster and seamless app updates without worrying about viruses and malware. Companies can still offer some third-party app stores, which will have a limited number of apps and games compared to the Google Play Store.

Will it affect the Indian smartphone market?

As of now, the licensing strategy is only applicable for Europe, and Google might implement the same in India as well, which will drive up the price of the smartphones, especially the entry-level devices by a considerable margin.

However, as of now, there is no governing committee in India, which could question Google regarding consumer freedom with respect to apps and services that comes pre-installed in smartphones.

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Nokia 8.1 with Snapdragon 710 and Android 9 Pie spotted on Geekbench News oi-Abhinaya Prabhu Nokia 8.1 has hit the rumor mills.

HMD Global has just made a few announcements including the Nokia X7 (aka Nokia 7.1 Plus) and Nokia 7.1. Now, it looks like the company is prepping another smartphone likely dubbed Nokia 8.1. From the moniker, we can infer that could be an upgraded model to the Nokia X7 launched recently in China.

Well, the alleged Nokia 8.1 has been spotted on the Geekbench database. It appears to be a mid-range smartphone, which could be classified as a gaming device. Despite being a mid-range phone, it runs the Android 9.0 Pie, which is quite interesting. It appears to share a few specifications with the Nokia 7.1 Plus.

Nokia 8.1 Plus on Geekbench

According to the benchmark listing spotted by AndroidPure, the upcoming HMD Global smartphone might arrive with the octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 710 SoC clocked at 1.7GHz. It appears to be paired with 4GB RAM and run Android 9 Pie out of the box. There are speculations that the smartphone could be launched in a 6GB RAM variant as well.

When it comes to the benchmark scores, the Nokia 8.1 appears to have scored 1841 points in the single-core test and 5807 points in the multi-core test. Besides these aspects, there is no word regarding what we can expect from this upcoming Nokia smartphone.

Unlikely to be a flagship device

Though the Nokia 8.1 moniker makes us believe that it could be a flagship smartphone as the company already has the Nokia 8 and Nokia 8 Sirocco flagship models, the specifications revealed by Geekbench suggests it will be a mid-ranger. However, it is still intriguing to see that it is fueled by Android 9 Pie out of the box as it is likely a mid-tier smartphone.

Notably, this is the first time that we are coming across leaks and speculations regarding the Nokia 8.1. We can get to know more details only when there are further leaks regarding the device. Until then, we need to take this as a dose of skepticism.

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Samsung wants to put an end to screen notches News oi-Vishal Kawadkar Samsung's new display technology will make notches redundant.

A notch on top of the screens has become a trend after Apple introduced it with its iPhone X. Smartphone makers have started using the notch to place the components which cannot be hidden as yet, but these notches aren't too pleasing to the eyes.

But, Samsung is yet to join the bandwagon of putting notches on its smartphones. It seems that the Korean firm has a new display technology that will do away with the notches. Spotted by Twitter user Ice Universe, Samsung announced a new AMOLED display technology during its OLED Forum conference in China.

The company explained the display could hide several features which used to be placed on the notch. These features include a fingerprint scanner, sound, haptics, and an under panel sensor (UPS).

We've already seen the in-display fingerprint sensor, though they will be a part of the upcoming Galaxy S10. The UPS includes the front-facing camera. Combined with the ability for sound transmitted through the display, Samsung claims that notches would no longer be necessary.

Samsung didn't give away much about other aspects of the display technology. We are unaware whether the sound transmitted through the display would be through bone conduction, or when will the new display will see the light of day.

We might see the new displays coming out in 2019 with the Galaxy S10, though they could also debut on the Galaxy Note 10 later in 2019. We might see the new technology on other smartphones such as Oppo, Xiaomi, and Apple who outsource their display from Samsung.

According to a new report from The Bell, the Galaxy Note 10 might have even bigger screen size at 6.66-inches. Samsung has reportedly ordered 6.66-inches panels for the Galaxy Note 10 form Samsung Display. However, even if these rumors are based on tips from sources close to the matter, everything should be taken with a grain of salt, especially when the device is months away and company can make drastic alterations.

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Norway To Free Russian Spy Suspect

October 19, 2018

Norway is to release a Russian suspected of spying, the country's intelligence agency, the PST, has said, adding that it had withdrawn its appeal against his release.

Mikhail Bochkaryov was detained last month at Oslo airport after participating in an international seminar on digitalization in Norway's parliament, accused of having collected data on the building and its network.

Bochkaryov has denied any wrongdoing.

A Norwegian court ordered his release on October 18, after ruling that investigators had failed to substantiate their case. But Bochkaryov was kept in custody after the PST appealed the decision.

But on October 19 the agency tweeted: "The PST has decided to withdraw its appeal. He is released today."

PST prosecutor Kathrine Tonstad told Norwegian television: "We continue to investigate the case. No decision has been made on whether to file any charges. He is free to go home."

Reports had said Bochkaryov might be used as leverage in efforts to obtain the release of a Norwegian held in Russia on suspicion of spying, but the PST has denied any connection between the two cases.

Norwegian Frode Berg was arrested in April and is still awaiting trial after admitting to having helped Norwegian intelligence by acting as a courier on occasion.

Russia had demanded Oslo throw out "the absurd charges" and release Bochkaryov, whom it identified as a member of staff in the Russian parliament's upper house, the Federation Council.

Based on reporting by AFP, Reuters, and TASS

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/norway-to-free -russian-spy-suspect/29552840.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.

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Electronic warfare: A battlefield on a different wavelength

By Sgt. Lisa Vines October 19, 2018

ZAGAN, Poland -- Soldiers on the ground are now capable of rapidly reacting to electronic and cyber data rather than waiting on their higher echelons.

Soldiers assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, currently deployed in Poland, are among the first brigades supporting Atlantic Resolve to train on a new system that enables a team to forward deploy and respond to enemy frequencies using new electronic warfare, or EW, technology.

Electronic warfare, known as the battle in the electromagnetic spectrum, relies on data and signals to survey, fight and defend. Collecting enemy radio signals, sensing radar of an incoming threat, and utilizing radio waves to confuse or disable an enemy's electronic communication methods are all means in which electronic warfare specialist teams strive to train to perfection.

Team members are learning to better operate and integrate EW capabilities, including the VROD, VMAX and Raven Claw. The VROD and VMAX are part of the backpack system that surveys the field from an electromagnetic perspective and delivers limited electronic assault capabilities such as signal interception and jamming. Raven Claw, a mobile computer system, offers on-the-ground planning and management without any network connection.

"These teams are tied to surveying the battlefield, going out with the scouts and being the lead elements," said Sgt. 1st Class Jerry Wheeler, the noncommissioned officer in charge of the electronic warfare section, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division. "We're using it for real-time information."

Utilizing both dismounted and mounted systems allows forward deployed Soldiers to act on electromagnetic information as they receive it.

"Having it [EW technology] at this level helps a local commander make more EW type decisions," said U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Benjamin Donahue, an electronic warfare noncommissioned officer assigned to 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division. "If you have it at only the high echelons, you're waiting on a report to come down later, versus something you can do right now."

Though Ironhorse Soldiers did not have the opportunity to train on the equipment before their rotational deployment across Europe, they quickly brought themselves up-to-date.

"We never saw it before we came out here," said Wheeler. "We had a month of training at Grafenwoehr, Germany. In the future, you would train before coming out. We've got a good handle on it."

Later this year, Soldiers in the electronic warfare field, in addition to the entire 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, will put their training to the test at Combined Resolve XI, a multinational training exercise at the Joint Multinational Readiness Center, Hohenfels Training Area, Germany.

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U.S. Department of Defense

Press Operations

News Release

No. NR-299-18 October 19, 2018

Readout of Secretary of Defense James N. Mattis' bilateral engagement with India Minister of Defence Nirmala Sitharaman at the 2018 ADMM-Plus

Pentagon Chief Spokesperson Dana W. White provided the following readout:

Secretary of Defense James N. Mattis met with Minister of Defence Nirmala Sitharaman today for the second time in many months, to reaffirm the long-standing defense relationship between the United States and India during the 2018 Association of Southeast Asian Nations Defence Ministers' Meeting (ADMM-Plus).

The leaders discussed a broad range of defense and policy issues, and the secretary thanked Minister Sitharaman for her country's commitment to a prosperous, enduring relationship with the United States.

They agreed to continue expanding cooperation in the Indo-Pacific and South Asia.

http://www.defense.gov/News/News-Releases/News-Release-View/Article/1667082/

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U.S. Department of Defense

Press Operations

News Release

No. NR-298-18 October 19, 2018

Readout of Secretary of Defense James N. Mattis' participation in tri-lateral meeting with Japan and the Republic of Korea.

Pentagon Chief Spokesperson Dana W. White provided the following readout:

Secretary of Defense James N. Mattis met with Defense Ministers Takeshi Iwaya of Japan and Jeong Kyeong-doo of the Republic of Korea, to reaffirm the long-standing defense relationships between the three nations.

The leaders discussed a broad range of defense and policy issues, and the Secretary thanked the Ministers for their country's commitment to a prosperous, enduring relationship with the United States.

They agreed to continue expanding cooperation in the Indo-Pacific and East Asia.

Secretary Mattis acknowledged Japan and South Korea for being staunch allies during turbulent times in the region.

http://www.defense.gov/News/News-Releases/News-Release-View/Article/1667078/

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U.S. Department of Defense

Press Operations

News Release

No. NR-297-18 October 19, 2018

Readout of Secretary Mattis' Meeting with ROK Minister of Defense Jeong Kyeong-doo

Pentagon Chief Spokesperson Dana W. White provided the following readout:

ROK Minister of Defense Jeong Kyeong-doo and the U.S. Secretary of Defense James N. Mattis met for the first time on October 19 on the margins of the 5th ASEAN Defense Minister' Meeting  Plus (ADMM-Plus). They discussed steps to strengthen the Alliance and build confidence and cooperation to enhance regional security.

Minister Jeong and Secretary Mattis look forward to the 50th Security Consultative Meeting (SCM) scheduled on October 31 in Washington D.C., where they will reaffirm the robust ROK  U.S. ironclad Alliance

http://www.defense.gov/News/News-Releases/News-Release-View/Article/1667073/

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U.S. Department of Defense

Press Operations

News Release

No. NR-296-18 October 19, 2018

Readout of Secretary James N. Mattis' meeting with Thailand's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence General Prawit Wongsuwan

Pentagon Chief Spokesperson Dana W. White provided the following readout:

Secretary James N. Mattis met with Thailand's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence General Prawit Wongsuwan to discuss the U.S.-Thailand defense alliance and regional security issues during the 2018 Association of Southeast Asian Nations Defense Ministers' Meeting (ADMM-Plus).

Secretary Mattis highlighted the priority the National Defense Strategy places on working with allies and partners to advance common interests and maintain a free and open Indo-Pacific region. The leaders reflected on the broad range of U.S.-Thai defense cooperation and discussed opportunities to enhance the alliance's strength and contributions to a more stable Indo-Pacific region. Secretary Mattis expressed confidence that the future for the Thai people will be positive as they regain their democratic footing. The leaders expressed support for enhancing maritime security cooperation, multilateral exercises such as COBRA GOLD, and building interoperability through a strong defense trade relationship.

The leaders acknowledged a productive year of multiple senior-level engagements between the United States and our oldest ally in Asia, and reaffirmed their commitment to strengthen the 185-year-old U.S.-Thai alliance.

http://www.defense.gov/News/News-Releases/News-Release-View/Article/1667070/

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U.S. Department of Defense

Press Operations

News Release

No. NR-295-18 October 19, 2018

Readout of Secretary of Defense James N. Mattis' meeting with Japan Minister of Defense Taeshi Iwaya at the 2018 ADMM-Plus.

Pentagon Chief Spokesperson Dana W. White provided the following readout:

Secretary of Defense James N. Mattis met with Japanese Minister of Defense Taeshi Iwaya to reaffirm the long-standing defense relationship between the United States and Japan.

The leaders discussed a broad range of defense and policy issues, and the secretary thanked Minister Iwaya for his country's desire to enhance and enable the cooperation between the U.S. and Japan.

Secretary Mattis thanked the minister for his continued commitment to the partnership between the two countries.

http://www.defense.gov/News/News-Releases/News-Release-View/Article/1667036/

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U.S. Department of Defense

Press Operations

News Release

No. NR-294-18 October 19, 2018

Readout of Secretary Mattis' Meeting with Singaporean Minister of Defence Dr. Ng Eng Hen

Pentagon Chief Spokesperson Dana W. White provided the following readout:

Secretary of Defense James N. Mattis met with the Singapore Minister of Defence Dr. Ng Eng Hen today during the 2018 Association of Southeast Asian Nations Defence Ministers' Meeting (ADMM-Plus).

The two leaders reaffirmed their mutual commitment to the U.S.-Singapore defense relationship and discussed efforts to strengthen cooperation, to include counterterrorism and maritime security. Secretary Mattis thanked Dr. Ng for Singapore's support enabling the United States' presence in the region and reiterated his commitment to exploring training opportunities for the Republic of Singapore Air Force.

Secretary Mattis reaffirmed support for ASEAN centrality and emphasized that the Indo-Pacific strategy looks to deepen existing ASEAN multilateral mechanisms. The secretary thanked Singapore for hosting the 2018 ADMM-Plus.

http://www.defense.gov/News/News-Releases/News-Release-View/Article/1667028/

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24th MEU capabilities on display in Iceland

US Marine Corps News

By Lance Cpl. Margaret Gale | 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit | October 19, 2018

The 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit executed an air assault rehearsal aboard Keflavik Air Base, Iceland Oct. 17. The rehearsal was conducted in Iceland in order for the 24th MEU and Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group to rehearse ship to shore maneuver as an integrated Navy-Marine Corps team prior to executing an amphibious rehearsal in Norway for Exercise Trident Juncture 18.

Activities like the Iceland portion of Trident Juncture 2018 show the United States' commitment and enduring relationship with its NATO Allies and partners.

Iceland, a NATO member, hosted the air assault which saw CH-53E Super Stallions and MV-22B Ospreys transport nearly 100 Marines from the USS Iwo Jima to a landing zone aboard Keflavik Air Base. The intent of the exercise was to increase the proficiency of the air assault force by securing a landing zone which sets the conditions for follow on aircraft.

"Conducting the air assault in Iceland provided the Marines and Sailors of the 24th MEU and Iwo Jima ARG with the opportunity to exercise our amphibious capabilities in a unique environment," said Lt. Col. Misca Geter, the executive officer for the 24th MEU. "In order to increase proficiency, we need to exercise our capabilities in different locations so we can plan for different variables. The weather and terrain of Iceland forced us to plan around those factors.

The Marines with the assault force were from 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment who are currently serving as the Battalion Landing Team for the 24th MEU. The Marines quickly set up security for the landing zone after they exited the aircraft, showcasing the speed and agility of Marines operating from the sea.

"During the air assault we landed on an airfield and immediately set up security which allowed for the aircraft to leave safely. We then conducted a movement to a compound where Marines set up security to allow U.S and Icelandic coordination," said Cpl. Mitchell Edds, a squad leader with 2nd Battalion 2nd Marines. "Conducting the air assault allowed us to rehearse and better prepare for our assault in Norway. The training we conducted today allowed Marines to operate in an environment that we have not had much experience in as a company. It was an amazing to opportunity and experience."

Iceland provides a distinctive cold weather environment which offers more valuable training and experience for the Marines as they were greeted by the frigid Iceland wind and temperatures in the landing zone.

"I think training in Iceland adds value as opposed to training in the U.S. because it's a change in climate we don't usually get to see. The climate Iceland offers allows us to test our gear in colder weather rather than just the heat." Said Cpl. Riley Woods, an MV-22 crew chief with Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 365, currently operating with the 24th MEU. "We are also able to fly with different gear, such as dry suits, which we don't usually have the opportunity to train with. It's an amazing experience working in other countries."

With the air assault rehearsal complete, the Marines and Sailors are now focused on cold weather training before departing for Norway to complete Trident Juncture 2018.

"When it's all said and done, the challenges that we faced with the Iceland portion of Trident Juncture will make us a more capable and lethal Marine Air Ground Task Force in the future. I'd like to thank the government of Iceland for allowing us to conduct this exercise in their beautiful country."

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Harry S. Truman Strike Group Enters Arctic Circle, Prepares for NATO Exercise

Navy News Service

Story Number: NNS181019-03

Release Date: 10/19/2018 8:43:00 AM

From Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group Public Affairs

ARCTIC CIRCLE (NNS) -- For the first time in nearly 30 years, a U.S. aircraft carrier entered the Arctic Circle Oct. 19 to conduct operations in the Norwegian Sea.

Accompanied by select ships from Carrier Strike Group Eight (CSG-8), the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) traveled north to demonstrate the flexibility and toughness of U.S. naval forces through high-end warfare training with regional allies and partners. USS America (CV 66) was the last ship to operate in the area, participating in NATO exercise North Star in September 1991.

"We are unbelievably excited to be operating in the Norwegian Sea," said Harry S. Truman Commanding Officer, Capt. Nick Dienna. "It has been over three decades since carrier aviation has been tested by this environment, and, despite the arduous weather and sea conditions, these men and women are demonstrating this ship can bring a full-spectrum of capabilities to bear anywhere in the world."

The Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group (HSTCSG) will expand its compliment of capabilities off the coast of Norway, performing air, surface and subsurface operations while being confronted by the trio of freezing temperatures, fierce winds, and unpredictable seas. After honing its skills independently, HSTCSG will join 30 NATO allies and partner nations to participate in Trident Juncture 2018.

"Trident Juncture represents the best of NATO  a coalition of allies and partners working toward the shared interests of lasting peace and economic prosperity in the European region," said Carrier Strike Group Eight Commander, Rear Adm. Gene Black. "This exercise is also a fantastic opportunity to learn from our Allies on their home turf."

Trident Juncture will take place in Norway and the surrounding areas of the North Atlantic and the Baltic Sea, including Iceland and the airspace of Finland and Sweden from Oct. 25 to Nov. 23. More than 50,000 participants  including 14,000 U.S. service members  are expected to participate, utilizing approximately 150 aircraft, 65 ships and more than 10,000 vehicles in support of the exercise.

"The combined and bilateral operations we have conducted in the region over the last several months embody the U.S.'s commitment to our NATO allies and partners," added Black. "Together, our maritime partnership creates a global network of navies capable of uniting against any potential threat."

Currently operating in the U.S. Sixth Fleet area of operations, Harry S. Truman will continue to foster cooperation with regional allies and partners, strengthen regional stability, and remain vigilant, agile and dynamic.

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Ronald Reagan Resumes Flight Operations Following Helicopter Crash

Navy News Service

Story Number: NNS181019-02

Release Date: 10/19/2018 7:22:00 AM

From Commander, Task Force 70, Public Affairs

PHILIPPINE SEA (NNS) -- The aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) resumed flight operations after an MH-60R Sea Hawk assigned to the "Saberhawks" of Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 77 made an emergency landing and crashed on the ship's flight deck shortly after takeoff at approximately 9:00 a.m., Oct. 19.

The cause of the mishap is under investigation.

Servicemembers injured in the crash are in stable condition for non-life threatening injuries that ranged from minor abrasions and lacerations to fractures. The most seriously injured were medically evacuated off the ship to a hospital in the Philippines, while remaining injured are under evaluation by Ronald Reagan medical staff.

Families of the injured were notified in accordance with Navy policy.

At the time of the mishap, the Ronald Reagan Strike Group was conducting routine operations in the Philippine Sea.

The Ronald Reagan Strike Group is forward-deployed to the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations in support of security and stability in the Indo-Pacific Region.

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F-35B Finishes Initial Testing aboard HMS Queen Elizabeth

Navy News Service

Story Number: NNS181019-08

Release Date: 10/19/2018 4:47:00 PM

By Jeff Newman, Naval Air Systems Command Public Affairs

NAVAL AIR STATION PATUXENT RIVER, Md. (NNS) -- On Oct. 16, British sailors and members of the F-35 Integrated Test Force (ITF) at Naval Air Station (NAS) Patuxent River, Maryland, completed a successful opening phase of the First of Class Flight Trials (FOCFT) being conducted this fall aboard the United Kingdom's new aircraft carrier, HMS Queen Elizabeth, near the U.S. eastern seaboard.

The first of three such phases to be held on the ship, the developmental testing (DT-1), aimed to generate enough flight test data to certify the F-35B Lightning II as ready for future operational testing aboard the ship.

The two F-35Bs involved were vertically landed aboard HMS Queen Elizabeth for the first time Sept. 25, piloted by Royal Navy Commander Nathan Gray and Royal Air Force Squadron Leader Andy Edgell, both test pilots with the Pax River ITF. By Oct. 8, the ITF had collected enough data to support operational test.

"It has been a superb effort by everyone across the ITF and HMS Queen Elizabeth so far in the UK's F-35B sea trials," said Royal Navy Capt. Jerry Kyd, the ship's commanding officer. "I could not be more pleased with the team spirit and dynamism from all that has delivered a volume of quality data which has put us well ahead of where we expected to be at this stage. I am very grateful to all the ITF folk who have been focused, professional and willing to go the extra mile  more to come!"

Within days of the first landing, Gray, Edgell and two other ITF test pilots on the First of Class Flight Trials (Fixed Wing)  Marine Corps Maj. Michael Lippert and Peter Wilson  qualified for daytime flight operations aboard the carrier. Nighttime flight operations began the next day, and Edgell and Wilson soon became qualified for nighttime operations.

On Oct. 2, with winds over the deck exceeding 40 knots, the test team worked on wind envelope expansion conducting short takeoffs from the carrier's ski jump along with vertical landings on the deck, which comprises a tower for the bridge and a second tower for FLYCO (flight control). The team conducted the same maneuvers nine days later, but with winds on deck above 50 knots.

The first-ever shipborne rolling vertical landing (SRVL) of an F-35B came Oct. 13, a movement the UK plans to use that allows the jets to land onboard with heavier loads, meaning they won't need to jettison fuel or weapons before landing. Vertical landings on the ship were made by the jet coming to a hover to the side of the ship, translating sideways over the deck, and then lowering to land. The SRVL uses a more conventional landing pattern by approaching the ship from the aft end at speed and then using the thrust from the nozzle and lift created by air over the wings to touch down and come to a stop as soon as possible.

Three days after the first SRVL was made, DT-1 testing wrapped up and the aircraft returned to NAS Patuxent River. In all, across 38 total flights, the team conducted 98 short-takeoffs from the ski jump, 96 vertical landings and two SRVLs.

"It is humbling to be involved in setting the foundation operating envelopes that the Lightning will use to operate from the UK carriers for the next 40-plus years," said Royal Navy Commander Stephen Crockatt, team leader of UK personnel embedded within the ITF at both Pax River and Edwards Air Force Base, California. "With this combination, the UK will have a formidable capability with true global reach."

The test team  comprising nearly 175 ITF members aboard the ship  completed several needed parameters during DT-1, including day and night short-takeoffs and vertical landings with minimal deck motion, in varying wind conditions and with and without internal stores.

"I'm very proud of the test accomplishments by the combined team of the 1,500 personnel comprised of the ITF, the carrier strike group and the crew of HMS Queen Elizabeth with her embarked 820 and 845 squadrons," said Andrew Maack, the F-35 Pax River ITF's chief test engineer. "It was impressive to see the excellent teamwork at all levels of the organizations."

Crockatt agreed.

"It was great to see the ship and the ITF working in harmony to efficiently get the best data possible," he said. "Watching the HMS Queen Elizabeth and the Lightning come together as a single capability has been remarkable."

Beyond the completed DT-1 test requirements, which were performed within the same flight envelope as will be used in the first operational test phase, the ITF also conducted about half of the testing that falls under the DT-2 threshold, or the flight envelope needed to reach initial operational capability (maritime).

The ITF returns to the ship in late October for DT-2, which will concentrate on external stores testing, minimum performance short-takeoffs and SRVLs, and night operations.

A third developmental test for First of Class Flight Trials (Fixed Wing), followed by operational testing, is scheduled for 2019. Together, the tests will help the U.K. Ministry of Defence reach F-35B IOC(M) in 2020.

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US, South Korea cancel major military drill: Pentagon

Iran Press TV

Fri Oct 19, 2018 06:13PM

The United States and South Korea have agreed to suspend another major joint military exercise amid ongoing diplomatic negotiations with North Korea.

Over the past months, talks have been under way between Washington and Pyongyang, but the negotiations have achieved little headway

"Secretary of Defense James N. Mattis and Minister of National Defense Jeong Kyeong-doo decided to suspend Exercise Vigilant Ace to give the diplomatic process every opportunity to continue," Pentagon spokesperson Dana White said in a statement on Friday.

She said that the US and South Korean forces remained in coordination with each other and were committed to maintaining their readiness.

"Both ministers are committed to modifying training exercises to ensure the readiness of our forces. They pledged to maintain close coordination and evaluate future exercises," White said.

White added Mattis had also spoken with his Japanese counterpart Takeshi Iwaya on the issue.

US President Donald Trump, who has described US military exercises with South Korea as both "expensive" and "provocative", suspended several major joint military exercises following his landmark summit with North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un in Singapore in June.

Last month, the Pentagon's nominee to be the commander of US forces in South Korea said the decision to suspend some joint exercises between South Korea and the United States was a "prudent risk" but had caused a "slight degradation" in military readiness.

Washington and Seoul both publicly insist they are on the same page about dealing with Pyongyang.

Behind the scenes, however, there is growing tensions between Washington and Seoul as South and North Korea move ahead with independent plans to disarm borders and rebuild economic ties between the two Koreas.

Pentagon is concerned that the improved relations between the two neighbors could be detrimental to the negotiation process aimed to dismantle North Korea's nuclear and missile program.

In its latest move toward its denuclearization, the North agreed to allow international monitors to inspect key nuclear and missile testing sites across the country.

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China to hold first naval drill with ASEAN nations in South China Sea

Iran Press TV

Fri Oct 19, 2018 10:48AM

China is preparing to hold its first joint maritime exercise with the navies of ten South Asian nations next week in an effort to ease rising tensions in the disputed South China Sea, Singapore says.

Singapore Defense Minister Ng Eng Hen announced on Friday that the drill will be jointly held by navies of China and the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), with whom Beijing is involved in maritime disputes in the strategic waters.

China claims sovereignty over nearly all of the South China Sea, which is also claimed by Vietnam, Taiwan, Brunei, Malaysia and the Philippines,

"As we speak, the navies of ASEAN are en route to Zhanjiang in China for the ASEAN-China Maritime Exercise," said Ng, who also added that the drills would help to "build trust, confidence" in the region.

The announcement was made at a gathering of ASEAN defense ministers in Singapore, which is also attended by Chinese Defense Minister Wei Fenghe and US Defense Secretary James Mattis.

The US, which has sides with China's rivals in the dispute and constantly accuses China of militarizing the Sea, has sent several of its warships to the disputed waters to protect what it calls "freedom of navigation" there, but Beijing accuses Washington of interfering in the regional issues and deliberately stirring up tensions.

The upcoming naval exercise, according analysts, is aimed at demonstrating that China and ASEAN are managing well their maritime problems."

Mattis, at the meeting on Friday, once again reiterated Washington's stance saying he was concerned "about the militarization of the features in the South China Sea."

"No single nation can rewrite the international rules of the road, and we expect all nations -- large and small -- to respect those rules," he said.

The Pentagon chief also met the Chinese defense minister on the sidelines of the summit on Thursday, when the two discussed an existing invitation for Wei to visit Washington, according to a report by the Associated Press. No agreement, however, was announced.

A planned meeting between the two was previously called off after the US administration imposed sanctions on Beijing over its purchase of Russian weapons systems.

US bombers flew over South China Sea

Ahead of the meeting on Thursday, Pacific Air Forces said in a statement that two US heavy long-range bombers have flown near China's islands in the South China Sea on Tuesday.

The B-52H Stratofortress bombers departed from the Andersen Air Force Base in Guam and "participated in routine training mission in the vicinity of the South China Sea," it added.

It is not known which islands the bombers flew by, but recent tensions have focused on the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea.

Washington's military presence in the region, halfway around the world, has led to worries about an increasing risk of accidental collisions that could spark a consequential wider conflict.

Earlier this month, the US Pacific Fleet announced that a Chinese warship almost struck an American destroyer that was near the Spratly Islands.

Experts warned that amid an impasse in relations between Beijing and Washington, China may intensify its responses to the United States' "freedom of navigation" patrols in the South China Sea. The two superpowers have already been involved in trade and diplomatic hostilities.

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Russia hopes NATO 'wise enough' to prevent war: Lavrov

Iran Press TV

Fri Oct 19, 2018 02:08AM

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov says the NATO military should be "wise enough" not to start a war with Russia, warning that unintended incidents between the two sides have increased due to a complete lack of dialogue.

"I believe everyone will be wise enough to prevent that," Lavrov told RT France, Paris Match and Le Figaro on Thursday, when asked whether NATO drills in Europe risked a third World War.

"However, we are certainly very much concerned about the total absence of any professional dialogue between the Russian military and NATO," he added.

The Western military alliance severed ties with Moscow in 2014, after the Crimean Peninsula re-integrated with Russia in a referendum.

Accusing Moscow of meddling in the Ukraine crisis, NATO has been sending troops and weapons to Russia's western borders while simulating military confrontations with Russia by staging massive drills in the region.

The next NATO exercise, dubbed Trident Juncture, will be held in Northern Europe from October 25 to November 7.

Some 50,000 troops from 29 NATO members along with Finland and Sweden will partake in the war games, which would also involve over 100 aircraft and dozens of ships, including a US carrier strike group.

Lavrov said Moscow was willing to enhance ties but the last three meetings of the NATO-Russia Council had failed because the alliance only wanted to discuss Ukraine under pressure from the US.

"Attempts were made to use the NATO-Russia Council as another tool to blame all mortal sins on us, and another way of satisfying the whims of our Ukrainian neighbors who dream of sanctions being endlessly perpetuated and want nothing more than Russia to always be subject to intense criticism," the top diplomat explained.

The West has so far imposed several rounds of harsh economic sanctions on Russia over the deadly crisis in Ukraine.

The rejoining of Crimea to Russia came following deep political changes in Kiev where a pro-Western movement staged weeks of street protests that led to the ouster of the pro-Russia government.

People in Crimea and in the industrial eastern territories of Ukraine, areas which are dominated by ethnic Russians, effectively refused to endorse the new administration in Kiev, which is keen on expanding ties with Washington.

Criticizing NATO's reliance on the US for making decisions, Lavrov said the 29-member pact was basically "hostage" of Washington.

"It is clear that no one in NATO does anything without the US," he stressed. "So, look at this situation. I believe it is absurd to remain hostage to US legislators' whims."

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Baby Steps: Young Afghan Candidates Take On Old Guard

Frud Bezhan October 19, 2018

Clad in a bright yellow head scarf and sporting a pen and notebook, Zuhra Nawrozi is unlike many of the candidates competing for a seat in Afghanistan's parliament.

On the campaign trail, the 30-year-old is flanked not by security guards but a young team of campaigners. They walk, rather than ride in bulletproof cars. Nawrozi's modest rented house serves as her campaign headquarters.

"Politicians shouldn't be detached from voters," says the mother of two. She is running for a seat in the capital, Kabul, an overcrowded city of 5 million that is frequently the target of deadly militant attacks. "We go out on the streets to talk and listen to ordinary people. We make a note of all their problems and needs. The streets are where these conversations should begin."

Nawrozi is among hundreds of young first-time independent candidates competing for the 249 seats in the lower house of parliament in the October 20 poll being contested by some 2,500 hopefuls.

Afghanistan's demographics would seemingly favor younger candidates -- around 70 percent of the estimated population of 30 million is below the age of 30. But the political first-timers face a daunting challenge from the old guard, which has long dominated politics through ethnic and tribal networks and deep pockets.

The campaign has been marred by deadly violence and allegations of fraud. The vote is more than three years overdue due to administrative and legal issues, and a last-minute decision for biometric verification of voters has threatened to derail the vote and hope of a credible result.

The vote in the province of Ghazni has been cancelled altogether, and district elections that were supposed to be held the same day have been postponed. And on October 19, the elections in Kandahar Province were delayed a week following the assassination of the powerful provincial police commander the day before.

Even with the odds stacked against them, the wave of young candidates -- many of them reporters, entrepreneurs, and educators -- are on a mission to bring change to the country, where poverty is endemic, government corruption is pervasive, and war has raged for decades. They hope their visibility in the media and promises of change will resonate with a young and deeply disgruntled electorate.

"We want a parliament that gives voice to the people," says Nawrozi, a teacher and news reporter who is campaigning on a platform of empowering women through education and jobs. "We have lawmakers that have been in their positions for years, but have not given even a minute of their time to the people they are meant to represent."

'Generational Transition Of Power'

Many of the young generation came of age after the U.S.-led invasion toppled the Taliban from power in 2001 and have reaped the benefits of greater education, opportunities, and freedoms.

That includes Bilal Sarwary, a 36-year-old who is running for a seat in the province of Kunar in eastern Afghanistan.

"What we need in Afghanistan is a generational transition of power in politics," he says. "I don't see why we can't step up to the plate and be part of the solution."

Sarwary's family left Afghanistan during the devastating civil war in the 1990s and became refugees in neighboring Pakistan, where he grew up selling water on the streets. He was studying English while working as a salesman at the time of the U.S. invasion. He became an "accidental journalist," he says, hired by the BBC first as a translator and then as a producer. Sarwary received a scholarship and studied in the United States before returning home to launch his political career.

"Many members of my family didn't support the idea of me entering politics," says Sarwary, who is campaigning to create jobs and improve infrastructure in Kunar. "Nobody wants to have a family member involved in a venture that is so lethal and unpopular. I know it's a big risk, but we need to bring about change in Afghanistan."

At least 10 candidates have been killed, two abducted, and four wounded both before and after the start of the 20-day campaign on September 28.

'Discontent With The Status Quo'

Ali Adili, a researcher at Afghanistan Analysts Network, an independent think tank in Kabul, notes the presence of young candidates from a wide range of backgrounds, many of whom emerged from protest movements.

"One underlying reason for this might be prevalent discontent with the status quo and an opportunity to effect change through parliament," he says.

Sarwary says parliament is the heart of the Afghan political system and has stopped functioning. "Lawmakers have been too busy fighting amongst themselves and they have paralyzed key government institutions," he says. "Parliament has become a source of ethnic divisions, and many lawmakers see parliament solely as a money-making avenue."

Female candidates also face social and cultural obstacles in this conservative country, where women play a limited role in public affairs despite 25 percent of seats in parliament being reserved for them.

"Socially, culturally, politically, and in terms of security women have more obstacles than men," says Wajda Faisal Azizi, a 26-year-old candidate from the northern province of Baghlan. "Compared to male candidates I have less of an opportunity to campaign, especially in districts [outside the provincial capital]."

"The male candidates are against us," adds Azizi, an Islamic-law graduate who is campaigning to protect the rights of women and children. "They speak against us. They work against us. They even encourage Islamic clerics to tell people in the mosques not to vote for women."

President Ashraf Ghani has attempted to clean up corrupt institutions and has appointed dozens of young, Western-educated Afghans to positions of power in his administration, including in the Security and Finance ministries and as senior advisers. Afghan women are also playing a greater role in government than ever, with 11 female deputy ministers, three female ministers, and five female ambassadors.

Diwa Samad, at 23, became the country's youngest-ever deputy minister when she was appointed to her post in the Public Health Ministry on October 7.

Such changes have not gone over well with some Afghans, who claim Ghani's appointments are purely symbolic and his appointees are inexperienced and lacking the necessary skills.

But Muslim Shirzad, a 28-year-old TV presenter at Tolo TV, the country's largest private television network, says if anyone can bring real change in Afghanistan, it is young people.

"This election is a good opportunity to serve my generation and bring the changes my generation needs," says Shirzad, who is also the chancellor of the private Jahan-e Noor University in Kabul. "The young generation are educated and they want to be involved in bringing change in their communities."

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/baby-steps-young-afghan- candidates-take-on-old-guard/29552623.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.

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Afghan Candidates Killed On The Campaign Trail

Frud Bezhan October 19, 2018

The run-up to Afghanistan's October 20 parliamentary elections is taking its toll on the field.

Ten candidates have been slain, two abducted, and four wounded -- both before and after the 20-day campaign period started on September 28, according to Afghanistan's Independent Election Commission (IEC).

RFE/RL was able to verify the identities of eight of those killed.

The killings have been blamed on the Taliban and Islamic State (IS) extremist group, both of which have called for a boycott of the vote and threatened voters and candidates.

Abdul Jabar Qahraman

This outspoken lawmaker from the southern province of Helmand, a Taliban stronghold, was killed along with four others when a bomb went off inside his campaign office on October 17.

Qahraman was a general in the Soviet-backed Afghan army in the 1980s. He organized the creation of a secret militia trained by Afghan intelligence to infiltrate the Taliban. President Ashraf Ghani sent Qahraman to Helmand as his special envoy in 2016 to help defeat the militant group. Qahraman later resigned. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the bomb blast that killed Qahraman, whom they labeled a "a renowned communist."

Saleh Mohammad Achakzai

Achakzai was killed when a suicide bomber detonated his explosives inside his home in Helmand's provincial capital, Lashkargah. The 32-year-old was holding a meeting at the time of the attack, which also killed seven other people. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, although officials blamed the Taliban. A local businessman and a first-time candidate, he was campaigning on a platform of "positive change."

Nasir Mubarez

Mubarez was shot by gunmen on September 25 in the southern province of Kandahar, the birthplace of the Taliban. He was rushed to the hospital, where he died from his wounds. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack. Mubarez was running as a candidate for the Kuchis, a nomadic Pashtun people. Ten seats in the 249-seat lower house of parliament are reserved for Kuchis.

Anwar Niazi

Niazi was killed in Kabul on September 2 when an improvised bomb struck his vehicle. Two others were wounded. He was a candidate from Parwan Province, just north of the capital. Nobody claimed responsibility for the attack.

Jalal Salehi

Salehi was killed in Kabul's Shakar Dara district on August 25. It was reported that he was inadvertently killed during an antimilitant operation in the area.

Hayatullah Khan Rahmani

Rahmani was killed along with three members of his family when a suicide bomber targeted his vehicle in Nangarhar Province on July 30. Rahmani was a commander of a government-backed militia fighting the Taliban and IS militants in the province.

Sayed Obaidullah Sadat

Sadat was killed by gunmen on July 14 in the southeastern province of Ghazni, a Taliban stronghold near the Pakistani border. He was a former member of the provincial council in Ghazni and served as mayor of Paktika Province. Nobody has claimed responsibility for his killing.

Awtar Singh Khalsa

This longtime leader of the tiny Sikh community was killed on July 1 when a suicide bomber targeted a group of Hindus and Sikhs on their way to meet the country's president in the eastern province of Nangarhar. The attack, claimed by IS militants, killed 16 others and wounded scores more. He was the only Sikh candidate who had voiced an intention to run in the elections. The preliminary list of all candidates had been announced on June 30. Now his son, Narinder Singh, is running as a candidate. One seat in parliament is reserved for the Sikh and Hindu communities.

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/afghan-candidates- killed-on-the-campaign-trail/29553015.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.

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Elections In Afghanistan's Kandahar Province To Be Delayed A Week

RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan October 19, 2018

Parliamentary elections in the southern Afghan province of Kandahar will be delayed by one week following the assassination of the powerful provincial police commander, Afghan officials said.

Hafizullah Hashimi, spokesman of the Independent Election Commission, told RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan that the decision to postpone the October 20 vote does not affect voting in the rest of the country.

The decision was made following an attack earlier this week that killed General Abdul Raziq, the region's top police official. At least two others were killed and 13 were wounded in the October 17 shooting, which was committed by a bodyguard of another top official.

Raziq's killing was a major blow to the western-backed government in Kabul.

The Taliban claimed responsibility, saying, "The brutal police chief of Kandahar has been killed along with several other officials."

"Unfortunately, Afghanistan lost its sons...and it is possible that holding elections will create challenges in Kandahar. So, the Election Commission decided to propose the postponement of the election," Wasima Badghisi, a member of the commission, told Radio Free Afghanistan.

Haroon Chakhansori, a spokesman for Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, also announced the delay on his official Twitter account.

Interior Ministry spokesman Nasrat Rahimi said police had detained three suspects in the provincial capital of Lashkar Gah but did not provide further details.

Afghan officials said the bodyguard opened fire after a high-level security meeting in the governor's compound. The top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, General Scott Miller, was present at the gathering but was unhurt.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a Twitter post that they had targeted Miller, along with Raziq, in the attack, but the U.S. general discounted the claim, and Afghan officials said the militants may have purposely avoided hitting him.

"My assessment is that I was not the target. It was a very close confined space. But I don't assess that I was the target," Miller told Tolo News TV.

"They didn't want repercussions from the U.S. and the international community. It was a pure warning for Miller that they can hit him if they want to," one Afghan official was quoted by Reuters as saying.

Raziq was one of Afghanistan's most powerful commanders, with a fearsome reputation as an enemy of the Taliban.

A close ally of the U.S. military, Raziq has been credited with pacifying large swaths of Kandahar. However, human rights groups have accused him of gross human rights violations, including forcible disappearances, torture, and extrajudicial killings.

Also killed was the provincial intelligence head, Abdul Momin Hassankhail, along with an Afghan journalist.

Around 14,000 U.S. troops are currently in Afghanistan, and Pentagon spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Kone Faulkner told Reuters the attack in Kandahar "will not change U.S. resolve in our South Asia strategy, if anything it makes us more resolute."

Afghanistan remains on high alert ahead of the long-delayed parliamentary elections on October 20 after the Taliban pledged to block the vote.

The run-up to the elections has been marred by deadly militant attacks and targeted killings of candidates, 10 of whom have been killed so far.

More than 2,500 candidates are competing for 249 seats in the lower house of parliament.

With reporting by Reuters and AFP

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/elections -in-afghanistan-s-kandahar-province -to-be-delayed-a-week/29552428.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.

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U.S. Agencies Again Warn Of Foreign Interference In Elections By Russia, Iran, China

RFE/RL October 19, 2018

WASHINGTON -- U.S. intelligence and law-enforcement agencies issued another warning about foreign interference -- by Russia, China, Iran, and others -- in the upcoming congressional elections and other elections in the future.

The statement issued on October 19 came less than three weeks before voters cast ballots to choose members of Congress, as well as state governors, state lawmakers, and other elected officials.

The announcement, which was signed by the director of national intelligence, the Department of Homeland Security, the Justice Department, and the FBI, said that "ongoing campaigns" were aimed at undermining confidence in U.S. democracy.

"We are concerned about ongoing campaigns by Russia, China, and other foreign actors, including Iran, to undermine confidence in democratic institutions and influence public sentiment and government policies," the statement said.

"Elements of these campaigns can take many forms, including using social media to amplify divisive issues, sponsoring specific content in English-language media like RT and Sputnik, seeding disinformation through sympathetic spokespersons regarding political candidates, and disseminating foreign propaganda," it said.

The November 6 vote will determine whether the Republicans continue dominating both the House of Representatives and the Senate, or if Democrats will take control.

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/u-s-agencies- again-warn-of-foreign-interference -in-elections/29553476.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.

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Putin, Mirziyoev Launch Construction Of Nuclear Power Plant In Uzbekistan

RFE/RL's Uzbek Service October 19, 2018

TASHKENT -- Russian President Vladimir Putin and Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoev have launched the construction of a nuclear power plant in Uzbekistan's western region of Navoiy, which Moscow estimates will cost $11 billion.

The two presidents pressed a symbolic button together at a ceremony in a conference hall in Tashkent on October 19 to mark the start of a geological survey to decide a location for what would be Uzbekistan's first nuclear power plant.

Putin said earlier in the day after holding talks with Mirziyoev that the construction of the facility, the first concrete of which Uzbekistan plans to pour by 2020, will create "a new industry in Uzbekistan."

"Two reactors with a capacity of 2.4-megawatts will produce cheap and clean electricity for customers in Uzbekistan and Central Asian countries, which will ensure energetic stability not only for Uzbekistan but for the whole region," Putin said.

The plant is the first of its kind in Central Asia, where attitudes toward nuclear power were influenced by the dramatic consequences of the Soviet-era Semipalatinsk nuclear test site in Kazakhstan's northeast and the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear plant accident in Ukraine.

The trip is Putin's first state visit to Uzbekistan since Mirziyoev took power following the death of his predecessor, Islam Karimov, in 2016.

Mirziyoev said that he and Putin discussed bilateral military technical cooperation and regional security.

"A detailed exchange of opinions has taken place on countering terrorism, extremism, and especially the radicalization of youth," Mirziyoev said.

Putin said that Russia supports Uzbekistan's "active participation" in talks on Afghanistan.

"We consider it important [for Uzbekistan to take part in peace talks in Afghanistan] to curb threats posed by that country linked to the spread of terrorism, drug trafficking, and organized crime," Putin said.

Several documents, including a plan of Russian-Uzbek cooperation for 2019-2024, a memorandum on cooperation in oil and gas sectors, a program on cultural and humanitarian cooperation, and other agreements were signed during Putin's visit.

Mirziyoev has taken some steps to open Uzbekistan to the world since he took over the former Soviet republic in 2016. Uzbekistan is Central Asia's most populous country with 32 million inhabitants

With reporting by Reuters, TASS, and Interfax

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/putin-in-tashkent-for- first-state-visit-under-mirziyoev/29552317.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.

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UN deplores pre-election killings and attacks, urges Afghans to defy terror, and vote

19 October 2018 - With just hours to go before Saturday's parliamentary elections in Afghanistan, the UN has been expressing concern at the uptick in deadly political violence in the country, whilst encouraging Afghans to exercise their right to vote.

In a statement released on Friday, the UN mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) called for the elections to be held in a safe and secure environment, at a time when Taliban extremists have indicated their intention to attack schools used as polling stations. UNAMA urged the militants not to threaten civilians or attack them simply for exercising their right to vote.

Responding to the killing of senior Afghan government officials in Kandahar on Thursday, for which the Taliban reportedly claimed responsibility, the Mission's statement condemned the attack which has "contributed to a feeling of uncertainty and insecurity at a moment when many Afghan citizens were preparing to exercise their constitutional right to elect their representatives."

Following the killings, voting in Kandahar will be postponed for one week.

UNAMA declared that schools, voters and civilians working in polling stations cannot be regarded as military targets, and that international humanitarian law "explicitly prohibits attacks against civilians and acts or threats of violence aimed at terrorizing the civilian population."

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and the members of the Security Council added their own calls for Afghan voters to be protected from political violence.

Mr. Guterres said in a statement that, through the act of voting, Afghans will "contribute to the development of sustainable democratic institutions and creating conditions conducive for a more stable and peaceful Afghanistan," and called on all political leaders to "work together to ensure full respect for the electoral process, in which every voter, in particular women and minority groups, will be able to cast their ballot."

The Security Council statement also condemned "in the strongest terms" the Afghan attacks that have taken place over recent weeks, underscoring the importance of a secure voting environment, and emphasizing that "violence in any form, or the threat thereof, intended to disrupt the elections and democratic process in Afghanistan is unacceptable."

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Mali: UN Peacekeeping chief 'extremely concerned' over insecurity, regrets peace deal delays

19 October 2018 - After commending the "overall peaceful" climate in which the Malian elections were held in July, the United Nations peacekeeping chief said on Friday that he is "extremely concerned" over the increasing number of attacks by armed insurgents, against a backdrop of continued delays in implementing the 2015 peace agreement.

Briefing the Security Council, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, the Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, noted recent positive developments, including the successful presidential vote, which highlighted the "political maturity of the Malian people as well as the commitment of the political leaders to the democratic process".

He regretted however the continued delays in getting interim authorities up and running, advancing the National Reconciliation Charter, implementing key institutional reforms  such as changes in the security sector or the constitution  and moving ahead with the demobilization, disarmament and reintegration process.

Conflict in northern Mali started in 2012, but the security situation remains volatile with an increased number of incidents in 2018, in particular in the central parts of the country. On Thursday again, five peacekeepers from Chad were injured during attacks, and MINUSMA has for many months now, been the most dangerous place in the world to serve as a 'blue helmet'.

"I want to share with the Security Council that I am extremely concerned with the security situation," said Mr. Lacroix, noting that July, August and September were the deadliest months since the peacekeeping operation, MINUSMA, was established in 2013. Close to 300 civilians died in targeted attacks.

In addition to limiting humanitarian access, violence has also worsened the living conditions of millions of women, children and men. According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), about 5.2 million people  one in four Malians  are now estimated to be in dire need of assistance.

As the country prepares for parliamentary elections, Mr. Lacroix said this will be "a new test" to measure the "cohesion of political leaders and Malian society and an important step for the consolidation of democratic institutions."

"I call on the Government and the opposition to engage in constructive political dialogue, based on inclusivity, keeping in mind the national interest," he said, adding that he hopes these upcoming elections will provide an occasion to "build a more representative parliament by promoting candidacies of young people and women".

He commended the composition of the new administration which, in line with Malian law, is composed of 30 per cent women.

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US, South Korea Again Call Off Major Drill

By Carla Babb October 19, 2018

The United States and South Korea have suspended another major military exercise in a continued push for diplomacy, the Pentagon said Friday.

Chief Pentagon spokesperson Dana White said the two militaries would suspend their joint air exercise, dubbed Vigilant Ace, in order to "give the diplomatic process every opportunity to continue."

The decision was announced following trilateral talks among U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and his South Korean and Japanese counterparts. The defense ministers are in Singapore for an Association for Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) defense ministers' meeting.

The suspension of the air exercise follows a number of U.S. military decisions in the past year aimed at persuading North Korea to negotiate a verifiable path to giving up its nuclear weapons.

Earlier exercises delayed, canceled

The United States and South Korea delayed their first large-scale exercise of the year, Foal Eagle, so it would not clash with the Winter Olympics.

Later they canceled Ulchi-Freedom Guardian, their second large-scale joint exercise that had been scheduled for August.

That cancellation came after an unprecedented June summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore, where Trump announced the U.S. would stop what he called "provocative" and "expensive" "war games" with South Korea.

The U.S. military characterizes its joint exercises on the Korean Peninsula as "defensive" in nature rather than "provocative," a term frequently used by China and North Korea to describe the drills.

James Schoff, with the Washington-based research group the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said on Twitter Friday that the latest suspension will make it "difficult to ramp back up" military exercises on the peninsula without provocations from North Korea.

He said the move would give Pyongyang an incentive to "stay calm," but cautioned that the militaries could not suspend exercises indefinitely.

Training, skills are lost

Retired Lt. Gen. Tom Spoehr, a former deputy commander of U.S. forces in Iraq who now works at the conservative Heritage Foundation, criticized the air drill suspension Friday.

He said the U.S. should "not accede to North Korean demands to cancel them unless the north shows more tangible signs of seriousness in seeking peace and stability."

Bruce Bennett, a senior defense analyst at RAND Corp., told VOA's Korean service why the loss of training is important.

"So if we can't do the air defense drills in Korea, could the U.S. do them back in the U.S.? Yes, we could," he said. "But we wouldn't have the terrain. We wouldn't have our allies there. We wouldn't have the air defense environment we would be operating in. So it's a fairly significant loss in terms of the real environment that we would have to operate in a conflict."

Vigilant Ace is an annual exercise that is usually held in December.

Is readiness eroded?

Many smaller-scale military exercises have continued on the peninsula and across the region, but the U.S. general nominated to be the next commander of American forces in South Korea pointed out during his confirmation hearing last month that the major military exercise suspension has caused "slight degradation" to military readiness on the peninsula.

When asked how many large-scale exercises could be skipped before a "significant decline in readiness," Army Gen. Robert Abrams told Senate members it was "hard to judge."

Bruce Bechtol, a retired Marine and former intelligence officer, told VOA Korean that it's too early to tell the effect of the cancellation on troop readiness.

"If you only cancel one or two exercises and then you get back to a regular training schedule, all can be well. But we need to understand a couple of things," he said. "First of all, many of those troops that are over there are on a short tour so they're only there for a year or two at the most.

"The other thing is you know troops rotate there for these exercises often is not out of the United States, so it gets them used to using the logistical system to help units that will have to go over there in case there's a contingency or an actual conflict so all those kinds of things come into play when you're talking about doing exercises."

David Maxwell, a former special forces colonel who is now a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said the cancellation does impact readiness.

"However, the air forces, particularly the U.S. Military Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps can train in other locations and maintain their technical proficiency. So I expect that both the ROK Air Force and the U.S. military will continue to train and maintain technical proficiency. What is lost is the ability to conduct large-scale air operations, and the complex coordination that takes place in these kinds of exercises," Maxwell told VOA's Korean Service.

Christy Lee of VOA's Korean Service contributed to this report.

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Trump Administration Rethinks Foreign Aid With Eye Toward China

By Carol Guensburg, Patsy Widakuswara October 19, 2018

A gleaming new $3.2 billion railway cuts in half the travel time from Kenya's capital, Nairobi, to the coast. Major investments in transportation, energy and maritime infrastructure are turning Pakistan into a major economic corridor. A new industrial zone in Thailand boasts solar, rubber and industrial manufacturing plants and is slated to host 500 companies by 2021.

All are parts of China's ambitious Belt and Road Initiative, featuring billions of dollars in infrastructure investment across Asia, Africa and the Pacific. The global impact is forcing the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump to rethink elements of its plan to cut back on foreign assistance under an "America First" strategy.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, interviewed Friday in Mexico City by VOA contributor Greta van Susteren, said Chinese foreign investment will not overwhelm the U.S.

"We don't have any problem with Chinese commercial investment. That's their right to go compete in the world," he said. "I'm convinced that if we compete with them all over the world we'll do incredibly well."

When "very senior people" in the administration traveled abroad and "saw that China was eating our lunch, they thought to themselves, 'We have to do something,' " said Daniel Runde, an analyst with the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington.

And in a number of quiet moves affecting private investment, humanitarian aid and women's empowerment abroad, the administration and the U.S. Congress have been doing just that.

Major policy reversal

In what is being seen as a major policy reversal, Trump this month signed the so-called BUILD Act, described by the nonpartisan CSIS as "the most important piece of U.S. soft power legislation in more than a decade."

The new law merges and boosts agencies and programs that had once been targeted for deep budget cuts, creating a new entity tasked with providing loans, political-risk insurance and equity stakes to U.S. firms investing in developing countries, from Afghanistan to Zambia.

The agency will be known as the U.S. International Development Finance Corp., or USIDFC, and have a $60 billion budget. It will absorb the existing Overseas Private Investment Corp. (OPIC) and more than double that agency's current budget of $29 billion.

The USIDFC is "a much-needed instrument of commercial diplomacy that the U.S. has been sorely lacking," said Witney Schneidman, a former deputy assistant secretary of state for African affairs, in a recent blog post for the Brookings Institution.

In a follow-up phone interview, Schneidman said he thought the new agency would help "get U.S. companies interested in Africa on its own merit. ... It does put the U.S. on level with the Chinese" by matching Beijing's policy of making equity investments in companies seeking to do business overseas.

Dwarfed by China

Even at $60 billion, the new U.S. program will be dwarfed by Chinese investments in Asia and Africa. But Brookings analyst George Ingram said its impact can be magnified by partnering with other international lending organizations.

"The French, the British, the Scandinavians  they all have similar organizations," Ingram said. "And now that the [USIDFC] has equity authority, this new entity will be able to be a much more effective partner than OPIC could be."

The BUILD Act has its critics, especially among free-market conservatives who believe the government should not get involved in private business decisions.

"The idea of equity participation was kind of sold politically that it was going to be the U.S. responding to China's One Belt, One Road [initiative] and yet there was no mention of China in the legislation at all," James M. Roberts, an editor for the Washington-based Heritage Foundation's annual "Index of Economic Freedom," told VOA in an interview.

By ensuring equity stakes, "that means the government is going to be a shareholder in foreign companies," added Roberts, who has listed a potential for "cronyism and misallocation of capital" among his concerns.

Advocates of the plan include Mark Green, head of the U.S. Agency for International Development, whose Development Credit Authority is being folded into the USIDFC. By encouraging U.S. private investment abroad, he has said, the new enterprise will "spur economic growth in less developed countries and advance the foreign policy interests of the United States."

Interviewed last week for VOA's "Plugged In With Greta Van Susteren," Green, a former Republican congressman who later served as ambassador to Tanzania, said there's a "fundamental difference" between U.S. and Chinese approaches to development abroad.

China favors loans that can include "unsustainable financing that mortgages a country's future," he said. In contrast, USAID expects recipients to implement reforms.

"We ask them to respect certain rights and values. What we want for them is to become eventual trading partners, but equal partners," Green added.

Other measures

The Trump administration has demonstrated a renewed openness to international aid in other ways as well, including a recent five-year extension to an anti-hunger measure known as the Global Food Security Act. It supports USAID programs such as the Feed the Future initiative, which partners with governments, NGOs, private enterprise and others "to strengthen agricultural markets and then entire food systems," said Beth Dunford, who oversees the initiative.

Pending in Congress, meanwhile, is the Women's Entrepreneurship and Economic Empowerment Act, aimed at improving women's access "to economic participation and opportunity."

It calls for supporting women's property and inheritance rights and ending gender-based violence. It also requires that USAID integrate efforts to empower women in all of its programs, and it broadens support for women-run small- and medium-size businesses.

The bill, which enjoys bipartisan backing, is being promoted by first daughter Ivanka Trump. She tweeted her thanks this week to four U.S. senators for advancing the bill.

"Women's economic empowerment doesn't always get a lot of attention in Congress, so this bill is something we're quite excited about," said Nicole Ellis, who manages policy communications for the international relief agency CARE.

Gayatri Patel, CARE's senior policy advocate, said the agency is working closely with legislators, noting they want "practical recommendations and approaches."

That might include endorsing approaches such as the CARE Village Savings and Loan Association program that CARE started in Niger in 1991.

"You get women in a community to save, they give each other loans," Patel said. "It's really an entry point for women for more formal economic endeavors  to start businesses or pay for their children's education, to connect with the market and mentor or be mentored by others in the community."

The goal, she said, is to encourage aid that has "a catalytic effect on women, their families and their communities."

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Inter-Korean Military Pact Leaves Washington Uneasy

By Christy Lee October 19, 2018

A gap is growing between Washington and Seoul over an inter-Korean military pact that Washington worries might weaken South Korea's defenses against a North Korea attack.

South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha said U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo expressed discontent when she spoke to him after Seoul outlined plans to sign a military agreement with Pyongyang at the third inter-Korean summit in September.

Pompeo's concern over Seoul's military agreement with Pyongyang comes as relations cool between South Korea and the United States. The growing distance is the result of inter-Korean ties that seem to be getting warmer and faster than the North is making progress in denuclearization.

According to Bruce Bechtol, a retired Marine and former intelligence officer at the Defense Intelligence Agency, who researches North Korea's military at Angelo State University in Texas, Seoul made concessions in the military deal, while Pyongyang gave up very little.

"(South Korean) President Moon (Jae-in) is rushing into a lot of moves before the North Koreans actually make their own reciprocal moves," Bechtol said. "And I think that that's dangerous."

The agreement includes setting up a no-fly zone, as well as maritime and ground buffer zones around the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), the area that divides the two Koreas. The two also agreed to stop military drills targeting each other near the military demarcation line that runs within the DMZ.

In an effort to create "a peace zone" along the heavily fortified border near the DMZ, Seoul and Pyongyang agreed to clear landmines near the area. The process began Oct. 1.

The United Nations Command (UNC), led by the U.S., oversees the 2.4-kilometer-wide DMZ.

The commander of the U.S. Forces in Korea (USFK) serves as the commander in chief of the UNC and the Combined Forces Command (CFC). South Korea and U.S. forces operate jointly under the CFC to defend the southern half of the Korean Peninsula.

The UNC said in a statement that it had "reviewed and verified the mine clearance work" and added that it "will continue to work closely" with the two Koreas "to synchronize implementation efforts on the way ahead."

Experts worry the agreement could make it harder for South Korean and U.S. forces to fend off a North Korean attack.

Frank Aum, who served as the senior adviser of North Korea in the Office of the Secretary of Defense and is currently a senior expert on North Korea at the U.S. Institute of Peace, is concerned a no-fly zone will blindfold the U.S. and South Korean forces that monitor North Korean activities in the DMZ.

"The scope of the no-fly zone could weaken the alliance's ability to conduct intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance operations, as well as access U.S. bases within the zones," Aum said.

Suspending military drills near the military demarcation line will curtail the ability of South Korean and U.S. forces to guard against potential North Korean aggression, according to David Maxwell, a former Special Forces colonel who served on the UNC, CFC and USFK, and is now a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

"The inability to train, to include live fire training in the vicinity of the DMZ will reduce (the CFC's) readiness to defeat North Korean artillery that (could) initiate hostilities," Maxwell said.

Bechtol said South Korea will become vulnerable to a potential North Korean attack when landmines and guard posts are removed in the DMZ area, which were set up to stall North Korean forces from advancing to the South.

"These are all things that can give the South Korean army early warning and stop an attack if it actually occurs," Bechtol said.

Demining the DMZ, according to Maxwell, gives North Korea a strategic advantage for mounting an offensive.

"The removal of mines in the three major attack corridors, Kaesong-Munsan, Chorwon and the East Coast, provides an advantage to the North, should it choose to attack," he said.

Bruce Bennett, a senior defense analyst at the RAND Corp., said creating a 10-kilometer-wide ground buffer zone and removing guard posts in the DMZ will open a route for the North to undermine Seoul's defenses, as well as its domestic activities.

"If the Demilitarized Zone becomes an open port of access into South Korea, they could be funneling all kinds of agents into the South who would do anything from collection of information to sabotage activities," Bennett said.

"The North has always made the invasion of the South a priority and also subversion of the South a priority. And so a failure to control the border area makes major risks in terms of kinds of actions that the North Koreans could do," Bennett added.

Despite the concerns, General B.B. Bell, commander of the CFC from 2006 to 2008, thinks the alliance bound by the Mutual Defense Treaty, signed between the U.S. and South Korea at the end of the Korean War in 1953, secures Seoul's defense.

"So, that serves (sends) a significant message to any aggressor, including North Korea," Bell said. "And no matter how many steps are taken to reduce tensions by ratcheting down military activities, no matter what happens, that alliance guarantees that should the North attempt some type of military adventurism to either provoke or seriously threaten (South Korea), the United States will go to war with the North with our ally South Korea. Period."

Bell thinks the U.S. and South Korea should maintain readiness, while demanding North Korea remove its conventional offensive capabilities, including its artillery and forward deployed forces directed against the South.

On Tuesday, officers from the UNC and the two Koreas met for the first time since the two Koreas signed the Comprehensive Military Agreement (CMA) and discussed disarming the border village of Panmunjom, also known as the Joint Security Area within the DMZ, as the two Koreas agreed in the inter-Korean pact.

U.S. General Vincent Brooks, who leads the UNC and commands the USFK, said, "I am encouraged by this productive, trilateral dialogue."

The UNC and the two Koreas agreed to continue trilateral military meetings, according to a press release from the USFK, which said "Topics for future meetings will likely include implementing details of such matters as removing guard posts, reducing security personnel, and adjusting surveillance equipment."

U.S. Secretary of State Pompeo, interviewed Friday in Mexico City by VOA contributor Greta Van Susteren, said a second meeting between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is being planned.

"I'm not prepared to tell you when it's going to be, as the date has not yet been set, but the president's committed to doing that," Pompeo said. "We're working on finding dates and times and places that will work for each of the two leaders. I'm very hopeful we'll have senior leader meetings here in the next week and a half or so between myself and my counterpart to continue this discussion."

Pompeo said Kim told him, during their meeting two weeks ago, that "he stands by the commitment he made to President Trump in Singapore on June 12th" for denuclearization.

Trump and Kim met in Singapore in June, and officials have been working on a second summit since then, the official said.

Later Friday, however, Reuters news agency quoted a senior administration official as saying the next summit between the two leaders would not occur until "sometime after the first of the year."

Fern Robinson contributed to this report.

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Pakistan Blasts India Over Purchase of Russian Air Defense System

By Ayaz Gul October 19, 2018

Pakistan has criticized and downplayed rival India's acquisition of the Russian-made S-400 Triumph air defense system, claiming Islamabad can counter the threat.

New Delhi recently signed a $5.4 billion deal with Moscow to purchase what experts believe is the most modern ballistic missile defense (BMS) system available. India has said it needs the missile system that provides high-altitude protection from incoming missiles to bolster its defenses against China and Pakistan.

Pakistan's Foreign Ministry, in an official reaction to the pact Friday, warned the purchase of the system will "further destabilize strategic stability" and lead to a "renewed" arms race in South Asia.

The Russian weapon system, according to reports, can simultaneously engage and destroy 36 targets, including aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) and ballistic as well as cruise missiles within 400 kilometers at an altitude of 30 kilometers.

"Pakistan remains fully confident of its ability to address threats from any kind of destabilizing weapon system," the ministry noted, without further explanation.

In January 2017, Islamabad announced the successful flight testing of a surface-to-surface "Ababeel" ballistic missile that it said was capable of carrying multiple nuclear warheads to hit targets with "high precision" as far as 2,200 kilometers, "defeating the enemy's hostile radars."

U.S. and Western critics maintain that Pakistan has the fastest-growing nuclear arsenal in the world, assertions Islamabad dismisses as "misleading."

The Trump administration on Wednesday reiterated persistent U.S. concerns about Pakistan's development of long- and short-range missile launch capabilities and its growing nuclear stockpile.

"Specifically, we've expressed concern about the increased security challenges that accompany growing stockpiles, particularly battlefield nuclear weapons, as they pose a greater risk from theft and misuse," State Department Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary Henry Ensher told a seminar at the Wilson Center, a Washington-based research institution.

"These weapons also increase the risk that a conventional conflict between India and Pakistan could escalate to use of nuclear weapons," Ensher said.

Pakistani officials dismiss safety-related concerns about the nation's nuclear weapons and cite close defense and nuclear cooperation between the United States and India for reinforcing its nuclear-deterrence capabilities.

Islamabad says its short-range battlefield nuclear weapons are aimed at deterring New Delhi from taking advantage of its massive military power to inflict a surprise limited conventional war on Pakistan.

Possible sanctions

New Delhi is hoping for a waiver from the United States, which passed a law last year placing automatic sanctions on countries dealing with Russia's defense and intelligence sectors.

With an eye on China, New Delhi and Washington have been building a closer partnership. U.S. officials, however, have said there is no guarantee for such a waiver and urged India not to enter into transactions with Russia.

Last month, Washington imposed sanctions on China's military for its purchase of the S-400 missile system from Russia.

Russia's sale of S-400 missiles to India comes as relations between Moscow and Islamabad have significantly improved in areas that include defense, political and economic fields.

Pakistan will host another round of annual joint military drills with Russia starting Sunday.

India and Pakistan have fought three wars since gaining independence from Britain in 1947 and military clashes along their disputed Kashmir border have lately become routine, raising concerns another war between the two countries could escalate into nuclear exchanges.

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Russia: US' anti-JCPOA act violating int'l regulations

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Moscow, Oct 19, IRNA -- Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman says the US' measures against Iran nuclear deal are in violation of the international regulations.

Speaking to reporters, Maria Zakharova said Russia had earlier announced its position on the US withdrawal from Iran nuclear deal.

Russia believes that the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) is not just related to politics but it includes economic and global stability and international relations, she said.

The US is taking destructive measures against international community, which are in contrast with international regulations and the UNSC resolutions, she added.

Moscow has always announced that the JCPOA is not just an agreement between some countries but it is a document which must be implemented and has global nature, Zakharova noted.

Unfortunately, the US has adopted no short- or long-term constructive measures, she said, adding that it will create more tensions in the region.

The JCPOA created a path for improving cooperation in the economic, financial and energy fields by removing political and military concerns, Zakharova reiterated.

European firms started cooperation with Iranian partners, she said, adding, 'We have also maintained cooperation in those areas which were our right.'

During his presidential elections campaign, Donald Trump mentioned withdrawal from Iran deal meaning that it was pre-planned and would bring about destructive effects on international economy, she said.

After Washington's May 8 exit from the historic Iran Deal, the US gave 90- to 180-day wind-down period to other countries before it starts re-imposing oil sanctions on Tehran on November 4.

Part of the US' illegitimate sanctions were imposed on Iran on August 9.

The US President Donald Trump also said he would reinstate the US nuclear sanctions on Iran and impose "the highest level" of economic bans on the Islamic Republic.

9376**1420

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FATF gives Iran 4-month deadline to complete reforms

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Tehran, Oct. 19, IRNA -- The anti-terror Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has in Paris, France, on Friday given Iran a four-month deadline until February to complete reforms.

'The Financial Action Task Force decided at its meeting this week to continue the suspension of counter-measures,' Reuters on Friday quoted sources as saying.

FATF has in its plenary meeting in Paris since Sunday been discussing the safety and security of the global financial system.

FATF website has reported that as many as 800 officials, representing 204 jurisdictions, the IMF, UN, World Bank and others will come to Paris for FATF Week at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

'During six days of meetings, they discussed 140 papers on a range of important issues to protect the integrity of the financial system and contribute to global safety and security,' it said.

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EU, Asia leaders call for lifting sanctions on Iran

Iran Press TV

Fri Oct 19, 2018 04:27PM

Participants in the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) have reaffirmed their "collective support" for a multilateral nuclear agreement Iran signed with major world powers in 2015, saying the lifting of sanctions against Tehran is an essential part of the deal.

In a joint statement issued at the end of their two-day meeting in Brussels on Friday, the European and Asian leaders reiterated their collective support for diplomatic dialogue and the nuclear agreement, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which has been endorsed by the United Nations Security Council Resolution 2231.

They emphasized that the JCPOA is working and delivering on its goal, namely to ensure the exclusively peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear program.

"Leaders recognized that, alongside full and effective implementation by Iran of its nuclear related commitments, the lifting of sanctions including the consequences arising from it constitutes an essential part of the JCPOA," the statement read.

It added that preserving the nuclear accord "is a matter of respecting international agreements, and promoting international security, peace and stability."

The JCPOA had been signed between Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council -- the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China -- plus Germany in 2015.

US President Donald Trump announced in May that Washington was pulling out of the nuclear agreement, which lifted nuclear-related sanctions against Tehran in exchange for restrictions on Tehran's nuclear program.

A first round of American sanctions took effect in August, targeting Iran's access to the US dollar, metals trading, coal, industrial software, and auto sector. A second round, forthcoming on November 4, will be targeting Iran's energy sector and financial transactions.

Speaking upon her arrival to the Asia-Europe Meeting in Brussels, European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said on Thursday that the 28-nation bloc is "working on the concrete establishment of" its plan to set up financial channels to preserve business with Iran and circumvent new US sanctions in place after the United States pulled out of a 2015 nuclear deal in May.

"This is something that we have presented during the [United Nations] General Assembly ministerial week in New York. The Member States of the European Union have decided to put this system in place, so they are now working on the concrete establishment of this. I am confident that they will continue this work in a successful manner in the coming weeks," Mogherini said.

In a joint statement issued in September, remaining parties to the Iran nuclear deal promised to establish a 'special purpose vehicle' to facilitate payments related to Iran's exports as part of efforts to salvage the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action after the US withdrawal.

"Mindful of the urgency and the need for tangible results, the participants welcomed practical proposals to maintain and develop payment channels, notably the initiative to establish a special purpose vehicle to facilitate payments related to Iran's exports, including oil, and imports, which will assist and reassure economic operators pursuing legitimate business with Iran," the statement read.

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Iran hails FATF's decision to extend suspension of its counter-measures

Iran Press TV

Fri Oct 19, 2018 02:07PM

Iran's Foreign Ministry has hailed a decision by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the global anti-money laundering body, to extend the suspension of its counter-measures against Tehran despite Washington's tremendous efforts to get the Islamic Republic back into the body's blacklist.

In a Friday statement, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qassemi said he is pleased that a considerable majority of FATF members were not influenced by the US and some of its allies when voting on the continued suspension of anti-Iran measures.

Qassemi condemned the US delegation's insistence that the body must end the suspension of anti-Iran measures, and described it as a result of Washington's "radical and delusional policies."

He also accused the US of trying to exploit its rotating presidency over the FATF to persuade other member states into getting Iran back to the FATF's blacklist with the help of Saudi Arabia and the Israeli regime.

"The US has shown it is not a trustworthy member of the international community and is seeking to destroy all achievements of multilateralism through its unilateralist moves," Qassemi said, urging FATF member states to take this important issue into account when making future decisions.

He also noted that the FATF's basis for evaluating the countries' conditions has so far been their technical measures. "Therefore, the group's decisions should not be influenced by political pressures of a country that has grown accustomed to bullying and unilateralism on the international arena."

Qassemi's comments came after the FATF on Friday gave Iran four months to implement its commitments after a meeting of its members in Paris.

The international body announced it would continue suspending counter-measures, which can go as far as limiting or even banning transactions with a country.

The FATF said Iran had acted on only nine out of 10 of its guidelines despite pledges to make the grade and warned the country that it could face consequences if it fails to act fast.

"We expect Iran to move swiftly to implement the commitments that it undertook at a high level so long ago," the FATF president Marshall Billingslea said after chairing the meeting.

"In line with that, we expect that it will have adopted all of these measures by February. If by February 2019 Iran has not yet done so, then we will take further steps," he added.

These parts of the FATF statement were criticized by Qassemi, who urged the international watchdog to avoid making politically-motivated statements and just pay attention to technical dimensions.

"According to the technical reports submitted to the body, a majority of the technical measures requested under Iran's action plan have been completely implemented, Qassemi said, adding that the outstanding measures will go into effect once the three remaining bills proposed by the Iranian administration are approved by the Guardian Council and signed into law.

Therefore, he added, the FATF meeting was expected to take into account these realities avoid using negative phrases in its statement.

The proposed reforms have faced strong opposition in Iran from those who believe that joining the body would open the door to foreign meddling.

Late in June, the world's financial watchdog extended a waiver for punitive measures against Iran but set a deadline of October for the country to adopt financial reforms or face consequences.

The FATF is facing US opposition to remove Iran from an economic blacklist despite the steps that Tehran has taken to enact legislation barring terrorist financing and money laundering.

Iran's removal from the blacklist had gained support in European capitals but a flurry of visits by a top US official to France and other European countries thwarted the bid in February.

Earlier this month, the Iranian Parliament passed a bill on combating the financing of terrorism as part of the country's implementation of international standards set by the FATF.

The combating the financing of terrorism (CFT) bill, one of four put forward by the government to meet FATF demands, was passed by 143 votes to 120. But FATF said it could only consider fully enacted legislation.

To become law, however, Iran's oversight Guardian Council should vet the bill for compliance with the Constitution.

The FATF is a non-government organization founded in 1989 to develop policies to tackle money laundering. In 2001, its mandate was expanded to include fight against terror financing.

European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said on Thursday that the 28-nation bloc is "working on the concrete establishment of" its plan to set up financial channels to preserve business with Iran and circumvent new US sanctions in place after the United States pulled out of a 2015 nuclear deal in May.

"This is something that we have presented during the [United Nations] General Assembly ministerial week in New York. The Member States of the European Union have decided to put this system in place, so they are now working on the concrete establishment of this. I am confident that they will continue this work in a successful manner in the coming weeks," Mogherini said upon her arrival to the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) in Brussels.

US President Donald Trump announced in May that Washington was pulling out of the nuclear agreement, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which lifted nuclear-related sanctions against Tehran in exchange for restrictions on Tehran's nuclear program.

The deal had been signed between Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council -- the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China -- plus Germany in 2015.

The US administration reintroduced the previous sanctions while imposing new ones on the Islamic Republic. It also introduced punitive measures  known as secondary sanctions  against third countries doing business with Iran.

A first round of American sanctions took effect in August, targeting Iran's access to the US dollar, metals trading, coal, industrial software, and auto sector. A second round, forthcoming on November 4, will be targeting Iran's energy sector and financial transactions.

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Haley Blasts Iran Over Alleged Use of Child Soldiers

By Mehdi Jedinia, Sirwan Kajjo October 19, 2018

U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley strongly condemned Iran for its alleged recruitment and use of child soldiers in battlefields across the Middle East.

"The use of child soldiers is a moral outrage that every civilized nation rejects while Iran celebrates it," Haley said Thursday during a U.N. Security Council meeting.

Haley's remarks came two days after the U.S.Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control announced new sanctions targeting businesses that provide financial support to the Basij Resistance Force, a paramilitary force under the command of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

"Iran's economy is increasingly devoted to funding Iranian repression at home and aggression abroad," she said. "In this case, Iranian big business and finance are funding the war crime of using child soldiers. This is crony terrorism."

The latest sanctions are part of the U.S. efforts to pressure Iran economically for what the Trump administration has described as Iran's destabilizing role in the Middle East and its sponsorship of terrorism in the region.

The U.S. Treasury Department has listed a network of some 20 companies and economic entities that are believed to be funding the recruitment and training of child soldiers for the IRGC.

"Any company or individual that does business with this Iranian network is complicit in sending children to die on the battlefields of Syria and elsewhere," Haley said.

The network providing financial support to the Basij is known as Bonyad Taavon Basij.

"This vast network provides financial infrastructure to the Basij's efforts to recruit, train and indoctrinate child soldiers who are coerced into combat under the IRGC's direction," U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement earlier this week.

"The international community must understand that business entanglements with the Bonyad Taavon Basij network and IRGC front companies have real-world humanitarian consequences, and help fuel the Iranian regime's violent ambitions across the Middle East," Mnuchin added.

Iran's reaction

Tehran called the U.S. sanctions a violation of international law.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif wrote in a tweet on Wednesday that the latest U.S. sanctions violated two orders by the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

"Utter disregard for rule of law & human rights of an entire people. U.S. outlaw regime's hostility toward Iranians heightened by addiction to sanctions," Zarif said in a tweet.

Bahram Qassemi, a spokesperson for Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said on Thursday it's part of a psychological war waged by the U.S. against Iran.

"Such actions show the spitefulness of the U.S. government towards the Iranian people and are a clear insult to legal and international mechanisms," the state-run IRNA news agency quoted Qassemi as saying.

Measures welcomed

Some Iranian rights activists have welcomed the U.S. move, however, and described it as a positive step to discipline the Iranian government for its actions in the region.

"Any action focused on children's rights is important because it highlights the importance of protecting children's rights and puts the issue of child soldiers under the spotlight," Hamed Farmand, a Virginia-based children's rights activist, told VOA. "Any international action with the purpose of condemning child soldiers is widely appreciated but it needs more action than just financial sanctions on some institutes involved in it."

A 2017 Human Rights Watch report accused Iran of committing war crimes by recruiting and sending Afghan refugee children "as young as 14" to fight in Syria. The New York-based organization also has documented how the IRGC has recruited Afghan immigrant children living in Iran to fight in Syria along Syrian regime troops.

Maryam Nayeb Yazdi, also an Iranian human rights activist, said there should be an effective mechanism to force Iran to improve its human rights record.

"To change the behavior of the Iranian government, the international community needs a human rights-focused approach and must take multiple actions simultaneously," she said during a recent Geneva Summit on Human Rights and Democracy.

Effects of sanctions

But Sadegh Hosseini, a Tehran-based analyst, said U.S. sanctions on the Basij force actually are indirect punishment inflicted on the Iranian people.

"Sanctioning the Basij could affect many Iranians who have voluntarily become members of it or have joined it in the past," he said.

He told VOA "the purpose of this embargo is unclear but many Iranians who have bank accounts with those financial institutes could be affected, since many of them receive their employment salaries only through accounts at those targeted banks."

Other experts say that following the U.S. withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, the U.S. Treasury Department has stepped up its efforts on this front because it is the main pillar that can block Iran's sale of oil and impose banking restrictions on the country.

"The latest move by the [U.S.] Treasury to sanction Iran's Basij Resistance Force is an important part of that campaign," said Farhang Jahanpour, a professor of international law at Oxford University.

"So far, other signatories to the [nuclear deal] have refused to go along with American sanctions on Iran, but many major European companies have cut back or have completely ended their dealings with Iran in fear of U.S. retaliation," Jahanpour added.

Behnam Ben Taleblou, a researcher at the Washington-based Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said the recent designations were different from previous measures "because they focused on the role of select financial institutions in generating revenue that was ultimately used to benefit the Basij."

"The [U.S.] Treasury Department's willingness to go after the entities in the Basij financial support network highlights the challenge of doing due diligence in Iran, as well as signals to the international community that the U.S. is serious about putting the squeeze on all elements of the Iranian economy tied to the IRGC," Taleblou added.

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Pakistan Says Searching For 14 Abducted Iranian Border Guards

RFE/RL's Radio Mashaal October 19, 2018

Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has told his Iranian counterpart that security forces are searching for 14 Iranian border guards who Tehran says were abducted by militants this week.

Qureshi gave this assurance to Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in a phone call, the Pakistani ministry said on October 18.

"Qureshi expressed his serious concern over the incident," Foreign Office spokesman Muhammad Faisal said at a weekly news briefing in Islamabad.

"Qureshi said that such incidents are the handiwork of our common enemies unhappy with the existing close friendly relations between Pakistan and Iran," Faisal said.

Iranian media reported that two of those abducted were members of an elite Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps intelligence unit. The rest reportedly included seven volunteers in the Basij militia, as well as regular Iranian border guards.

The two ministers also discussed an exchange of fire between Afghan and Pakistani security forces on the Chaman border, Faisal said.

Faisal said top army generals of Pakistan and Iran are in close contact to coordinate their search efforts for the missing guards. Those efforts include enhanced air surveillance and troop deployment in the border area where the incident took place.

Tehran says the 14 members of its border force were seized on October 16 near the border with Pakistan.

No one has claimed responsibility, but Iranian media has blamed the abduction on Jaish al-Adl, an Al-Qaeda-linked group.

With reporting by AP

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/pakistan-says-searching-for-14- abducted-iranian-border-guards-qureshi-zarif/29551947.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.

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Russia's Patriarch Kirill Blames Istanbul Orthodox Church For 'Schism'

RFE/RL October 19, 2018

The head of Russia's Orthodox Church has blamed Orthodox leaders in Istanbul for prompting a schism, the worst crisis to face the religion in hundreds of years.

Patriarch Kirill on October 19 blasted church authorities -- known as the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople -- as "schismatic" for a decision earlier this month moving to grant independence to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

The move pushed Moscow to break ties with the Constantinople Patriarchate, widely recognized as the spiritual authority of Orthodoxy.

"The Constantinople Patriarchate identified itself with schismatics," Patriarch Kirill told a conference in Moscow.

"Uncanonically, violating all rules, it invaded our jurisdiction and forgave schismatics," he added.

Ukraine has three Orthodox churches: the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyiv Patriarchate, and the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church.

The Moscow Patriarchate, which has the most believers in Ukraine, remains loyal to the Russian Orthodox Church. The Kyiv Patriarchate declared independence from the Russian church in 1992, but that has never been recognized by the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.

Earlier this month, however, Patriarch Bartholomew, who is considered the "first among equals" leader among Orthodox leaders, endorsed the Kyiv Patriarchate's request for independence from Moscow.The Kyiv Patriarchate has not yet received the formal, final blessing to be autocephalous, or independent.

The move from Bartholomew prompted angry words from not only Russian church leaders, but also government officials.

On October 15, the Russian church announced it had decided to end its relationship with the Constantinople Patriarchate.

Several Orthodox churches in former Soviet republics, many of which are under the direct jurisdiction of the Russian Orthodox Church, also cut ties with the Constantinople Patriarchate.

Bartholomew's move has added to tensions between Kyiv and Moscow, already high since Russia's 2014 seizure of Crimea and the war in eastern Ukraine between government forces and Russia-backed separatists.

Reacting to the Russian Orthodox Church's announcement, the press secretary of the Kyiv Patriarchate said, "Patriarch Kirill has personally been an architect of the schism in the Ukrainian church since 1991" and that his conduct has "pulled all of Orthodox Christianity into conflict."

There are an estimated 300 million Orthodox Christians worldwide, with the Russian church claiming to have the largest number of believers.

With reporting by RFE/RL's Belarus Service, AFP, AP, and The National Catholic Register

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/long-russia-s- patriarch-kirill-blames-istanbul-orthodox- church-for-schism-/29553467.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.

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Trump says Saudi sanctions possible over Khashoggi

Iran Press TV

Fri Oct 19, 2018 10:21PM

US President Donald Trump says imposing sanctions against Saudi Arabia is a possibility if the kingdom is found guilty in the suspected murder of dissident Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Speaking to reporters on Friday, Trump said he would work with Congress to come up with the best response when it becomes clear what happened to Khashoggi, who was last seen entering the Saudi consulate in the Turkish city of Istanbul on October 2.

"Could be, could be," Trump said when asked about sanctions. "We are going to find out who knew what, when and where and we'll figure it out."

"I will very much listen to what Congress has to say. They feel very strongly about it also. So I'll be doing this with Congress," he added.

Many lawmakers on both sides of the US political spectrum have called on Trump to pressure Riyadh until it comes clean.

Turkish and American intelligence reports confirm that Khashoggi was indeed murdered at the Saudi mission by direct order of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Trump, however, has taken a cautious line, pledging to punish the perpetrators without risking strong financial ties with Riyadh.

He has specifically pointed to his $110 billion military deal with the kingdom, warning that harsh reactions would alienate Riyadh and push it towards Russia.

"Saudi Arabia has been a great ally of ours. That's why this is so sad," he said Friday.

"They've been a tremendous investor in the United States. They've invested and the jobs are incredible," he added.

In an interview with The New York Times in the White House on Thursday, Trump stopped short of saying bin Salman ordered the murder, but acknowledged that the allegations of Saudi involvement in the atrocity had created a serious foreign policy crisis for his presidency.

Khashoggi, a US green card holder and a columnist for The Washington Post, used to have close ties with bin Slaman before losing his favor and turning into a firm critic of his policies.

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Turkey says to publicize results of probe into Khashoggi's assassination

Iran Press TV

Fri Oct 19, 2018 07:37AM

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu announced on Friday that his country will share "with the world" the results of its ongoing probe into the alleged murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi once it is over.

"We have certain information and evidence [regarding Khashoggi's disappearance]" and will publicize all materials to the world after the investigation is concluded, Cavusoglu told reporters.

He also dismissed media reports that Turkey has shared audio recordings from Khashoggi's disappearance with US officials, saying Turkey did not give anyone or any country the recording.

"It is out of question for Turkey to give any kind of audio tape to [US Secretary of State Mike] Pompeo or any other US official," he added.

Turkish daily Yeni Safak on October 17 published quotes from audio tapes in which Khashoggi's alleged killers tortured him by cutting his fingers off before his decapitation.

ABC News, quoting a senior Turkish official, reported October 18 that during his visit to Turkey this week Pompeo heard this audio and was shown a transcript of the recording. But Pompeo denied the report.

Turkish police search forest, villa for Khashoggi remains

Turkey's investigation into Khashoggi's murder has led the police forces to comb a forest near Istanbul and a farm house in the seaside city of Yalova to find the dissident's remains.

According to a source inside the investigation, the movements of a suspicious black van belonging to the Saudi diplomatic mission led the Turkish police to the Belgrad forest and woodland in the Gazi neighborhood.

The van was one of the 14 vehicles that came and left the Saudi consulate on October 2, the day when Khashoggi disappeared after entering the building. The movements of the van were monitored by watching footage of more than 150 CCTV cameras across Istanbul.

The footage tracked by the investigators show the black van with green diplomatic plates headed north, past the Gazi woodland and Belgrad forest, and back into town, a source told the Middle East Eye.

The source said the police are now combing the areas, using crime scene investigation teams and sniffer dogs.

A rural location near the city of Yalova, a 90-kilometer drive south of Istanbul adjacent to Marmara Sea, is another geographic focus of the Turkish police's search. A "farm house or villa" in the seaside city may have been used for the disposal of remains, the report added.

Turkish investigators have for a second time searched the Saudi consulate where Khashoggi disappeared, and also searched the consul's residence.

While searching the consul-general's house, investigators combed a small grove nearby, without success, the source said.

However, a high-level Turkish official told the Associated Press on Tuesday that "certain evidence" of Khashoggi's murder was found in the consulate.

Turkey says that areas of the Saudi consulate's interior were repainted in between Khashoggi's disappearance and forensics specialists being allowed into the building 13 days later.

Hours before investigators were allowed into the consulate, cleaners were witnessed entering the building.

Bin Salman's close associate behind Khashoggi murder

A source familiar with the Turkish investigation has told CNN that Saudi intelligence officer and former diplomat Maher Abdulaziz Mutreb played a "pivotal role" in the apparent assassination of Khashoggi.

The source said that Mutreb was fully aware of "the plot" of the operation.

Mutreb, who was the first secretary at the Saudi embassy in London and has been described as a colonel in Saudi intelligence, is closely connected to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

"He was seconded to an elite protection brigade within the Royal Guard to serve as the personal security force of [the crown prince]," a Saudi source told CNN.

Mutreb, one of the 15 assassins sent to Istanbul, appeared in photographs alongside bin Salman during the crown prince's tour of the United States earlier this year.

Bin Salman must go: Saudi clerics

A group of Saudi scholars opposed to the government's "westernization" program of reforms on Thursday called for bin Salman to be removed over the Khashoggi case.

In statements posted on Twitter, the Saudi Scholars Association blamed bin Salman for killing Khashoggi in a "gruesome" way which "goes against human ethics and standards".

The statement said Saudi Arabia faced "crises and problems" because of "injustice and unfair policies that MBS is responsible for," using an acronym for the crown prince.

It cited the arrests of "religious scholars, preachers and writers" and blamed bin Salman for "spreading social and administrative corruption with incompetence, and wasting public money on what is not useful".

"And finally, the injustice he has caused by killing the journalist Jamal Khashoggi," it added.

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UK increased weapons sales to Saudi Arabia by two thirds: Report

Iran Press TV

Fri Oct 19, 2018 02:20AM

UK arms sales to Saudi Arabia had increased in 2017 by two thirds, according to British media reports.

From 2016 to 2017, UK military sales to the Saudis went up by two thirds, Sky News reported on Thursday.

The UK sold at least 450 million more to Saudi Arabia in 2017 than 2016, with the true figure likely to be higher, Sky News said.

Earlier reports said the UK had almost doubled its arms sales from 820 million in 2016 to 1.5 billion in arms licenses in 2017.

Sky News reported that the UK issued 126 licenses relating to military goods in 2017, with a value of 1.129 billion - according to Department of International Trade figures.

This is compared to 103 licenses relating to military goods in 2016, with a value of 679 million, it said.

Reports of UK arms sales to Saudi Arabia come out as business figures pull out of an upcoming investment conference scheduled to be held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on October 23.

The so-called Future Investment Initiative Summit, which has been dubbed Davos in the Desert, has been cancels by governments, executives and chiefs of international companies after the scandalous incident involving the disappearance of Saudi-national Jamal Khashoggi.

Khashoggi, who was a dissident journalist, entered the Saudi embassy in Istanbul and never came out, according to Turkish police.

The incident sparked huge global outcry, resulting in widespread international criticism of the rulers of Saudi Arabia, particularly MBS.

UK trade secretary Liam Fox was among the main international figures who cancelled the Saudi summit over the humiliating Khashoggi incident.

Saudis humiliation in Yemen

Saudi Arabia has also been facing humiliating criticism over its brutal aggression in Yemen. Thousands of innocent civilians, including women and children, have died as a result of the brutal Saudi-led campaign in Yemen.

Campaigners have called on major arms suppliers to Saudi Arabia, the British government included, to stop selling weapons to the kingdom.

"The humanitarian catastrophe in Yemen is the worst in the world. UK-made fighter jets and bombs have played a central role in the destruction," said Andrew Smith of Campaign Against Arms Trade, an organization which works to abolish the international arms trade.

Human rights advocates say the UK is complicit to Saudi Arabia's atrocities against the impoverished Yemeni nation.

"The humanitarian disaster that has been inflicted on Yemen is a man-made one, and the UK government is complicit. It's time for the UK government to end the arms sales and end its uncritical support for the Saudi dictatorship."

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Saudi looking for bin Salman replacement: Report

Iran Press TV

Fri Oct 19, 2018 12:35AM

Having found Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's antics too costly for its already stained reputation, Saudi Arabia's ruling family is looking to replace the young prince with his less ambitious brother, Khalid, a new report suggests.

The report by the French paper Le Figaro on Thursday cited a diplomatic source in Paris as saying that the Saudi Allegiance Council had secretly met to discuss the disappearance of anti-Riyadh journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who is believed to have been killed at the Saudi consulate in Turkey's Istanbul upon an order from MBS.

Khashoggi entered the consulate on October 2 and has never been spotted since. Turkish and American intelligence reports say he was tortured and murdered before his dismembered body was sent back to Riyadh.

US President Donald Trump confirmed Thursday that intelligence led him to believe Khashoggi was killed "unless the miracle of all miracles happens."

The council, which appointed bin Salman as the new crown prince last year by breaking the customary rules of succession, is now planning to appoint Khalid bin Salman, the current Saudi envoy to the US, as deputy crown price.

One Saudi source explained to Le Figaro that if Khalid was appointed, it would mean that MBS will leave his position in the coming years. This way power stays in the Salman family, the report added.

According to the report, Khalid, who is popular both at home and abroad, would gradually take over from his brother and replace him down the road.

Khalid, 28, flew to Riyadh last week, The New York Times reported Monday, adding he will not return to the US as the Saudi envoy. It is not yet clear who would replace KBS.

Le Figaro noted that MBS had already made himself big enemies in the Allegiance Council by breaking an agreement among first-class princes from various branches of the royal family to hand the power to the last king's son.

MBS has also created a great deal of animosity towards himself from inside the Al Saud family, many of whose members he has arrested as part of his crackdown on corruption.

The Saudi National Guard, whose commander, Prince Mutaib bin Abdullah, was fired last year, is not so loyal to the crown prince either.

The young prince also faces strong opposition at home for his bombing of Yemen, siege on Qatar and his closeness with Israel.

One of Khashoggi's 15 suspected killers dies in crash

In related news, one of the fifteen men accused by Turkey of participating in Khashoggi's murder was killed earlier on Thursday in what Turkish media said was a "suspicious" car crash in Riyadh.

Mashal Saad al-Bostani, a 31-year-old lieutenant in the Saudi Royal Air Forces, had been seen in consulate videos as part of the 15-member hit squad that allegedly murdered Khashoggi.

Turkish Daily Hurryiet news site accused bin Salman of trying to destroy the evidence to cover up the murder of Khashoggi.

The website warned that Saudi Consul General Mohammad al-Otaibi could be the next person to be "executed."

Exiled prince says MBS looking for scapegoats

Meanwhile, Prince Khalid bin Farhan Al Saud, who currently lives in exile in Germany, told Deutsche Welle in a fiery interview published Wednesday that bin Salman had indeed ordered Khashoggi's murder.

"It is well known that opposition voices who were kidnapped from Europe had their fates sealed by orders from the king. The more prominent dissidents were personally punished by order of the king. It is the king who gives the orders," he said.

"I could not say that King Salman is directly involved but I believe the decision and the implementation of the killing leads to his son, Mohammed," the prince added.



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Official Source: Kingdom of Saudi Arabia takes necessary measures to clarify truth into case of citizen Jamal Khashoggi, emphasizes to hold all those involved accountable

Saudi Press Agency

Saturday 1440/2/11 - 2018/10/20

Riyadh, Safar 10, 1440, Oct 19, 2018, SPA -- An official source stated the following:

The case of the disappearance of the citizen / Jamal bin Ahmed Khashoggi drew the attention of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia at the highest levels, and due to the circumstances surrounding his disappearance, the Kingdom took the necessary procedures to clarify the truth and began by dispatching a security team to Turkey on 6 October 2018 to investigate and cooperate with counterparts in Turkey.

That was followed by the formation of a joint security team between the Kingdom and the Republic of Turkey, with a permission given to the Turkish security authorities to enter the Consulate of the Kingdom in Istanbul and the residence of the Consul, for the Kingdom's keenness to clarify all the facts, as the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud has issued an order to the Public Prosecutor of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, No. 5709 dated 3/2/1440 H to conduct investigations into the case The Public Prosecutor has already investigated a number of suspects on the basis of information provided by the Turkish authorities to the Joint Security Team to determine whether any of them had any information or relation to what has been happened related where the information that transferred to the security authorities indicated that the citizen Jamal Khashoggi had left the consulate.

In implementation to the directives of the leadership of the need to clearly know the truth and declare it transparently whatever, the preliminary investigations conducted by the Public Prosecution showed that the suspect had travelled to Istanbul to meet with the citizen Jamal Khashoggi as there were indications of the possibility of his returning back to the country.

The results of the preliminary investigations also revealed that the discussions that took place with the citizen / Jamal Khashoggi during his presence in the Consulate of the Kingdom in Istanbul by the suspects did not go as required and developed in a negative way led to a fight and a quarrel between some of them and the citizen / Jamal Khashoggi, yet the brawl aggravated to lead to his death and their attempt to conceal and cover what happened.

The source added that while the investigations are still ongoing into the case with the 18 Saudi detainees, the Kingdom expresses its deep regret at the painful developments that have taken place and stresses the commitment of the authorities in the Kingdom to bring the facts to the public opinion, to hold all those involved accountable and bring them to justice by referring them to the competent courts in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

--SPA

01:46 LOCAL TIME 22:46 GMT

0020

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UN rights experts stand with businesses protesting Saudi journalist's disappearance

19 October 2018 - Independent UN human rights experts are praising business leaders who have decided to pull out of a high-level investment conference taking place next week in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, over concern for the fate of dissident Saudi journalist, Jamal Khashoggi.

In a statement issued on Friday by the UN human rights office (OHCHR), Chair of the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights, Dante Pesce, said the decision by corporations and top executives to withdraw "underlines how companies can use their leverage to address human rights concerns."

Among those who have reportedly pulled out, are the HSBC banking group, ride-share giant Uber, and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Around 30 delegates and firms are said to have withdrawn from the event.

The US Treasury Secretary, and UK International Trade Secretary, have also said they will not be going, though many business sponsors and other companies are still scheduled to attend.

"Business leaders need to take a strong interest in keeping civic space open wherever they operate," said Mr. Pesce. "It is only in an environment where journalists and human rights defenders are able to speak freely that businesses can effectively identify and prevent negative human rights impacts."

Mr. Khashoggi was last seen on 2 October, entering the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, and there is no evidence that he ever left the building.

Other UN rights experts demanded a probe into Mr. Khashoggi's case earlier this week, and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has pressed the Saudi Arabian and Turkish governments to ensure that a prompt, thorough, effective, impartial and transparent investigation takes place.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has repeatedly demanded that the truth be established, and his Spokesperson told reporters on Thursday that the Saudi and Turkish joint investigation needed to play out, before any UN-led international investigation could take place, "if all the parties involved request it, or if there's a legislative mandate from a UN body."

The Working Group on Business and Human Rights presented a report to the UN General Assembly earlier this week, which highlighted practical steps businesses need to take to avoid eroding human rights. These principles are echoed in this year's United Nations Forum on Business and Human Rights, and the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.

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Saudi Arabia Says Journalist Khashoggi Died After Fight in Consulate

By VOA News October 19, 2018

Saudi Arabia says preliminary results from its investigation into the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi shows he died in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul after a fight with people he met there, state media reported.

A statement from the Saudi public prosecutor said 18 Saudi nationals have been arrested so far in connection with Khashoggi's death and said Royal court adviser Saud al-Qahtani and deputy intelligence chief Ahmed Asiri have been fired from their positions.

He said the investigation into Khashoggi's death still under way.

Khashoggi was last seen Oct. 2 after he entered the consulate to retrieve paperwork for his upcoming wedding. Turkey has said it believes Khashoggi was killed minutes after entering the consulate, but Saudi Arabia has denied the allegations.

Earlier Friday, Turkish police said they were questioning employees of the Saudi consulate in their ongoing investigation into Khashoggi's disappearance. Police also were conducting searches for the missing journalist in Belgrad Forest, near Istanbul, and in the city of Yalova, about 90 kilometers south of the city, Turkish officials said.

More than a dozen Turkish employees of the Saudi consulate were interviewed, including the consul general's driver, technicians, accountants and telephone operators, Turkey's state-run Anadolu Agency said.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo discussed Khashoggi's disappearance during an interview Friday with VOA contributor Greta Van Susteren.

President Donald Trump has warned there will be "very severe" consequences if Saudi Arabia is behind the disappearance of the journalist, but Pompeo said, "I'm not going to get into what those responses might be. We'll certainly consider a wide range of potential responses, but I think the important thing to do is that the facts come out."

Pompeo, who traveled to Riyadh earlier this week to speak to King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, told VOA, "I made very clear to them that the United States takes this matter very seriously. That we don't approve of extrajudicial killings. That we don't approve of that kind of activity. That it's not something consistent with American values, and that it is their responsibility, as this incident happened in the consulate.

"It's their responsibility to get to the bottom of this, to put the facts out clearly, accurately, completely, transparently, in a way that the whole world can see," Pompeo said. "And once we've identified the fact set, then they have the responsibility and the first instance to hold accountable those inside the country that may have been involved in any wrongdoing."

Turkish authorities also denied Friday they have shared with U.S. officials an audio recording of the torture and killing of Khashoggi.

Media reports said Pompeo heard the recording earlier in the week when he visited Turkey. But Pompeo, traveling in Mexico, told reporters, "I've seen no tape ... I've heard no tape. I've seen no transcript."

According to Anadolu, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said, "It is out of the question for us to share this or that information with any country."

Asked by reporters Thursday whether Khashoggi was dead, Trump responded it "certainly looks" like he is and that is "very sad."

Upon his return from speaking with Saudi and Turkish leaders, Pompeo briefed Trump at the White House earlier Thursday, asking him to give Saudi Arabia a few more days to complete its investigation of the disappearance of the writer.

Pompeo said there are "a lot of stories out there about what has happened" to Khashoggi, but he declined to speculate on the outcome of investigations in Saudi Arabia and Turkey. The top U.S. diplomat said he believes "a complete picture will emerge" from the probes.

Pro-government Turkish media have published investigators' claims that Saudi agents linked to the crown prince cut off Khashoggi's fingers, decapitated him and then dismembered his body shortly after he arrived at the consulate to pick up documents for his wedding to Turkish national Hatice Cengiz. She waited in vain outside the consulate for Khashoggi's return.

The pro-government Turkish newspaper Sabah identified Saudi security official Maher Abdulaziz Mutreb as the leader of what it said was a 15-member "assassination team" that flew into Istanbul to carry out the execution of Khashoggi.

Khashoggi had been living in self-imposed exile in the United States while writing columns for The Washington Post that criticized the crown prince and the Saudi involvement in the war in Yemen.

The Turkish newspaper said Mutreb, who has been photographed near the crown prince on his foreign travels this year, was spotted on surveillance tapes entering the consulate more than three hours before Khashoggi arrived, then later the same day outside the consul's residence and then again in the evening at the airport as he left Turkey.

Steve Herman contributed to this report.

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Premier blames Interpol rejection on China

ROC Central News Agency

2018/10/19 14:42:45

Taipei, Oct. 19 (CNA) Premier Lai-Ching-te () blamed China on Friday for a decision by the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) rejecting a request from Taiwan to attend as an observer the Interpol general assembly in Dubai next month.

Lai was answering questions from reporters on Interpol's decision, made public the previous day by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), which voiced "strong dissatisfaction and regret."

China was behind the Interpol's rejection of Taiwan's participation, Lai said, urging people to see China's true face and recognize that it will never stop trying to annex Taiwan.

Asked if Taiwan will continue its efforts to secure an invitation to Interpol's 87th general assembly on Nov. 18, Lai declined to answer but said the government has already received Interpol's formal reply.

Lai criticized China's suppression as "making no sense at all" because Taiwan should not be excluded from global efforts to prevent such crimes as human trafficking, drug smuggling and terrorism.

Tsai Tsan-po (), commissioner of the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB), sent a letter to Interpol Secretary General Jurgen Stock in September asking that the CIB be allowed to participate as an observer at the Dubai meeting and play a meaningful role in the organization's activities and operational mechanisms.

(By Wen Kuei-hsiang and Elizabeth Hsu)

Enditem/AW

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Pope Francis declines invitation to visit Taiwan

ROC Central News Agency

2018/10/19 13:58:45

The Vatican, Oct. 18 (CNA) Pope Francis currently has no plans to visit Taiwan, the Holy See said Thursday in response to media inquiries, four days after Taiwan invited the pontiff to visit.

Taiwan's invitation was extended in person by Vice President Chen Chien-jen (), on behalf of President Tsai Ing-wen (), in a meeting with the pope before a canonization ceremony for Pope Paul VI and six others in the Vatican on Oct. 14.

On Chen's return to Taiwan on Tuesday, he told the press that the invitation had received "a cordial and amicable response" from the pope.

However, on Thursday, the press office of the Holy See issued a statement, declining the invitation.

"Such a visit by the Holy Father is not being planned," Greg Burke, director of the press office, said in the statement.

In response, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) spokesman Andrew Lee () said the government will continue to invite the pope to visit so that he can observe in person the freedom of the religion throughout Taiwan.

Meanwhile, Italian Catholic newspaper Avvenire reported Tuesday that two Chinese bishops, Guo Jincai () and Yang Xiaoting (), had recently invited Pope Francis to visit China, but it did not say whether the pontiff had accepted the invitation.

There has been no official response public so far from the Vatican to China's invitation to the pope.

Guo and Yang are representing China at the Synod of Bishops, a regular gathering that is being held Oct. 3-28 at the Vatican to discuss pressing issues facing the Catholic Church. It is the first time Chinese delegates are participating in the meeting.

The Vatican has diplomatic relations with Taiwan but not with China.

However, a landmark provisional agreement signed Sept. 22 between the Vatican and the Chinese government on the appointment of bishops in China has given rise to concerns in some quarters that it would lead to the Vatican switching diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to China.

Responding to Hong Kong reporters' questions about the invitations to the pope by both Taiwan and China, Bishop Emeritus of Hong Kong Joseph Zen Ze-kiun (), said Thursday that communist China would use a visit by Pope Francis for propaganda purposes.

The pope would not be able to meet with those Catholics in China who are caught in the middle between Church and state, Zen said.

According to international media reports, millions of Catholics in China attend government-sanctioned churches, while many others practice their faith in "underground churches" that are loyal to the Vatican and disagree with the Chinese government's restrictions on religion.

In December 2017, Pope Francis told reporters during his return from Myanmar that he had no current plans to visit China.

According MOFA spokesman Lee, any visit by the pope to mainland China would gain high attention in the international community as China has been tightening suppression of religious freedoms.

(By Huang Ya-shih, Elaine Hou and Elizabeth Hsu)

Enditem/pc

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Taiwan calls on China to end hostility, restore peace: MAC chief

ROC Central News Agency

2018/10/19 18:25:46

Taipei, Oct. 19 (CNA) Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chen Ming-tong () on Friday called on China to end its hostility toward Taiwan and help restore peace and prosperity across the Taiwan Strait.

"We hope China can reverse its hostile and confrontational thinking...and join us (Taiwan) in ushering a new era of reform and cross-strait relations," Chen said in his opening speech at an international conference on "Mainland China's Reform and Opening Up, 1978-2018: Prospect and Challenge."

Maintaining the status quo is a joint responsibility, but recently China has been trying to disrupt cross-strait exchanges and upsetting the stable relations between the two sides, he said.

"This has gone beyond the tolerance of all major political parties and people of Taiwan. And it is unacceptable to the international community," he said.

The country will never back down or act rashly to escalate confrontation, because maintaining the status quo is still the greatest common denominator among the Taiwanese people, Chen explained.

Taiwan's most cherished assets are its democratic system and values, and the country will go all out to defend its interests, he said.

Noting that this year is the 40th anniversary of China's launch of market-based economic reforms, the MAC chief hoped that Chinese leaders could replicate their country's economic success with reforms that embrace democracy and abandon totalitarianism and dictatorship.

Taiwan is willing to share its experience of transformation with China to promote mutual advancement and development, Chen said.

(By Miao Zong-han and Ko Lin)

Enditem/ls

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Defence Secretary welcomes Qatari counterpart to UK

The UK and Qatar's Defence relationship is closer than ever, the Defence Secretary has reaffirmed, as production starts on Typhoon fighter jets that will be sold to the Gulf nation.

19 October 2018

Gavin Williamson welcomed his counterpart, His Excellency Khalid bin Mohammad Al Attiyah, to London. They spoke about the future of the defence relationship, underpinned by the recently agreed partnership on a Joint Typhoon Squadron and Qatar's acquisition of the aircraft.

Regional security and the furthering of defence collaboration and dialogue across the Gulf, in the face of mutual threats to security and stability, was also discussed.

Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson said:

"Our two nations enjoy extremely strong links. From the coalition air campaign headquarters in Qatar, we work together to stamp out the threat from Daesh. We trade together, significantly boosting the British economy, and it is vital that we continue to forge this relationship to ensure the mutual safety of our people."

As part of his visit to the UK, the Qatari Defence Minister also visited BAE Systems sites in Warton and Samlesbury to cut steel, officially marking the start of production on the first Typhoon fighter jets. Qatar's acquisition of Typhoon will see the first aircraft will be delivered to the Qatari Amiri Air Force (QAAF) in 2022. Qatar's deal to purchase the Typhoon and Hawk recently achieved contract effectiveness, supporting BAE Systems, its nearly 35,000 employees and the 9,000 companies in its supply chain.

The deal, representing a distinct and tailored package will see the Royal Air Force and QAAF working together in a new Typhoon Joint Squadron. This unique partnership was marked by the visit to the UK by His Highness the Amir of Qatar in July, and his participation in a ceremony marking the reformation of 12 Squadron as the new Joint Squadron.

The joint squadron will initially be based in the UK, comprising of pilots and ground crew, based at RAF Coningsby. This represents a unique initiative, which will allow QAAF to familiarise themselves with the aircraft ahead of delivery. Not since the Battle of Britain has the UK formed a squadron with another nation and this new partnership will help forge lasting bonds between the RAF and their Qatari counterparts.

Qatar is the ninth country to purchase the Typhoon, with the deal sustaining thousands of jobs. The UK is a world-leader in the combat air sector, with a mix of skills and technologies unique in Europe. The sector delivers a turnover of more than 6bn a year and has made up over 80% of defence exports from the UK over the last ten years.

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U.S. Envoy: No Progress Ending Ukraine War As Putin Waits For Kyiv Elections

RFE/RL October 19, 2018

The U.S. special envoy for Ukraine, Kurt Volker, says he does not expect progress anytime soon toward ending the conflict in eastern Ukraine because Russia appears to be waiting for possible changes coming out of the Ukrainian elections.

"I think that Russia has essentially decided to wait out the Ukrainian election, see what happens. Maybe it will be a new opportunity that arises to get a more favorable position for Russia. So I think they intend to play it out," Volker told the Atlantic Council in Washington on October 18.

Volker's remarks came after Russian President Vladimir Putin told the Valdai Club in Sochi that he hoped a government more friendly to Russia emerges from the Ukrainian presidential election, which is due to take place on March 31.

"We need to wait until the internal political cycles are finished, and I really expect that we will be able to build at least some kind of relations and reach some kind of agreement with a new leadership of the country. We're ready for that, we want that," Putin told the gathering of Russian and Western foreign policy experts.

Putin claimed that the current leadership in Kyiv is also waiting for the elections before making any further progress in peace talks aimed at carrying out a road map for peace agreed to in the Belarusian capital in 2015.

"It's obvious to everyone that not only are the incumbent Ukrainian authorities failing to implement the Minsk agreements, but they are also not going to do that today, including because of domestic policy considerations -- I mean the upcoming presidential and then parliamentary elections," he said.

Putin charged that the current government in Kyiv led by President Petro Poroshenko has made its mark by "selling Russophobia and anti-Russian sentiments" to the West.

Volker said Russia appeared more determined than ever to continue backing separatists fighting the government in eastern Ukraine despite extensive efforts by the United States and Western Europe to pressure Russia over its aggression in Ukraine.

"We did not impact the decision-making from President Putin and others in Russia about whether to continue the war. They are determined to continue to do so. And my estimation is that the chances of their changing position now are lower then they were even a year ago," he said.

The best strategy for the West, Volker said, is to maintain pressure on Moscow through the economic sanctions, which were first imposed on Russia in 2014 over its annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula.

"I think we need to keep on track. I believe that sanctions do have an impact and we see evidence of that in Russia. I believe that having a strong position and some resilience and stamina over time is what's necessary to convince Russia that it's not going to get better for them and potentially can get worse," he said.

"This is a shockingly big and important humanitarian catastrophe that no one talks about. We have over 10,000 people killed" so far during the Ukraine conflict, Volker said.

With reporting by Interfax

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/us-envoy-volker- sees-no-progress-ending-ukraine-war-as-putin- waits-for-kyiv-elections/29551948.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.

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21 dead, over 50 injured. Those are the "final results" of Vladislav Roslyakov's massacre.

Calm, but pretty isolated. Raised with love. Kind and helpful. Relatives and friends say those things about him. He's also called "Kerch shooter" by some. Things Roslyakovs relatives say can be understoon, which can't be said about his actions and subsequent suicide. Still, something about what they say is just wrong. Why did someone who was raised with love, who was kind and sympathetic suddenly go graze, set off two explosive devices and shoot people in his educational institution. All of this didn't happen in a moment. In other words, he had time to think about all of this. However, so far nothing is known about his motives. He just blew up one of his "hellish machines", and then began to shoot at fellow school mates, who had no idea who was shooting at them and for what reason. Nickname "Kerch murderer" fits him more than "Kerch shooter".

That's the stigma of our post-soviet society, full of hypocrisy. You can either say something good about dead, or nothing at all. Only for Hitler and his entourage are exception. You can say as much bad things as you want about them. Most of the Bolsheviks also fall under this category. You can't say anything in all other cases. Roslyakov is dead, so you can't talk about him. Even though he took 21 lives with him.

This doesn't allow psychologists and psychiatrists to come up with profile of this criminal. I don't know how can it help to prevent similar crime, if it's planned somewhere in other part of Russia, but if our society knows how was this person raised, in what conditions, and if psychologists can prepare his profile, it will bear some results for sure.

Only one person - his neighbor - described Roslyakov as isolated person, who loved guns since his childhood and who is capable of cruelty: one time he shot at her legs from a self-made air gun with metal bullets. She said he became a very bad person and...

I don't think anyone who loved and used guns - even though it was just an air gun - will grow into a sadist and a murderer, or will think about building special explosive devices every day. Most of kids who had such interests grew up and found another hobby. There are many possibilities. However, Roslyakov went down the worst possible path. And this path resulted in 21 deathes and a suicide.

Anders Breivik, who killed many people in one of Norwegian youth camps, subsequently tried to explain his actions by Nazi heresy. Today he's serving a maximum sentence in Norway - 21 years - but it can be extended. After 6 years, he finally felt guilty for committing this crime. As one of the Norwegian newspapers reported, Breivik wrote a letter to prison authorities. In it, he said that he regrets his actions dated July 22, 2011, and that if it were possible, he wouldn't have done it again. Knowing Western society, it's very likely that Breivik, if he won't forgiven and released early, will not serve more than 21 years in prison.
TDP Leader Attends Yagam For Jagan!

The presence of a senior Telugu Desam Party leader at a Yagam being performed by YSR Congress party MLA from Gudivada Kodali Nani at his residence raised a lot of heat and dust in the political circles on Saturday.

Senior TDP leader, former minister and presently chairman of Andhra Pradesh State Cooperative Bank (APCOB) Pinnamaneni Venkateshwara Rao attended the Satha Chandi Yagam performed by Kodali Nani.

The objective of the yagam, according to Nani, was to seek divine blessings for YSRC president Y S Jaganmohan Reddy so that he could become the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh in the next elections.

Pinnamaneni has been a hard core TDP leader and is said to be very close to TDP president and chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu.

Naturally, his presence at the YSRC MLAs yagam raised many an eyebrow. Though the TDP leader claimed that he had attended the yagam only for religious purposes as he believed in Goddess Durga and asked the party colleagues not to look at it in political angle, they are not convinced.

When Nani has been saying openly that the yagam was intended to make Jagan as the next chief minister, how can Pinnamaneni say he went there to seek Goddess blessings? Surely, it will send wrong signals to the party cadre, a TDP leader said.

They suspect that Pinnamaneni might have entered into some sort of secret deal with the YSRC and might be contemplating joining the opposition party.

What is more suspicious is that Pinnamaneni abstained from the TDP coordination committee meeting convened by party president N Chandrababu Naidu.

So, there is definitely something fishy in his behaviour, the TDP leader said.

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Nouryon (formerly AkzoNobel Specialty Chemicals), Tata Steel and the Port of Amsterdam have joined together to study the feasibility of a large green hydrogen cluster in the Amsterdam region. The three parties consider green hydrogen as vital for reaching climate targets and building a more circular economye.g., by combining it with emissions from steel manufacture to make new products.

As a first step, the parties will study the feasibility of a 100 megawatt water electrolysis facility to produce up to 15,000 tons of hydrogen per year as well as oxygen at Tata Steels IJmuiden site, near Amsterdam.

By using renewable electricity, the initial unit will enable a carbon saving of up to 350,000 tons of CO 2 per year, equivalent to the emissions of more than 40,000 households. A final investment decision is expected in 2021. The partner companies have the ambition to further scale up the technology.

Nouryon will operate the facility, while Tata Steel will use the oxygen to further enhance the sustainability of its production processes. The parties will jointly explore different routes to use hydrogen for turning steel mill emissions into useful chemicals and products.

The Port of Amsterdam will focus on the infrastructure for further distribution of green hydrogen, which will be the basis for the development of new industries and zero-emission transport in the Amsterdam area.

This partnership builds on our existing initiatives to support the development of a sustainable chemical industry. Green hydrogen is a realistic alternative for fossil-based raw materials and enables new forms of green chemistry, such as using steel mill gas, CO 2 , or waste to make plastics and move to new, circular value chains. Knut Schwalenberg, Managing Director Industrial Chemicals at Nouryon

The recently presented Dutch Climate Law sets a CO 2 reduction target of 49% by 2030 compared to 1990. The parties believe that green hydrogen can make a significant contribution towards this target and aim to reach sufficient scale to absorb all emissions from Tata Steels plant in IJmuiden and use it for the production of new materials.

The development of the green hydrogen cluster will also enable emissions-free buses and heavy transport in the entire Amsterdam area.

Nouryon already has 1000 MW of electrolysis capacity installed in various facilities, using three processes: chlor-alkali, sodium chlorate, and water electrolysis.
Last week, a piece entitled How Europe can stop migration was published in POLITICO. Even from the title, migration is presented as a problem to be managed or a threat to be contained, and foreign investment is seen as the perfect panacea to keep African migrants at home. Authors of the article "Migration is not a problem to be managed", Davide Gnes and Fanni Bihari, think differently.

Much of the current migration from developing countries to Europe  when not responding to immediate threats such as conflict, political persecution, famine and instability  is just a symptom, among many, of the massive social and economic gap that exists between certain regions of the world.

It is not by chance that the only explicit reference to migration governance in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals is under the goal of reducing inequalities within and among countries. This aspect is often just paid lip service in current political discussions.

Nowadays, however, relations between the European Union and third countries seem to be driven by our fear of immigration. Current EU investment plans and proposals for EU-Africa alliances on investment and job creation can have a positive impact, but only if they are not simply another way to maintain the European economic grip over African countries. They must instead lead to the creation of sustainable partnerships, decent jobs and long-term sustainable local economies.

Europes obsession with sealing its borders is not likely to reduce migratory pressure; on the contrary, it will even impact African regional mobility negatively, creating long-term problems that will sustain dependence on aid and drive people to flee their homes.

Precious efforts and resources are being diverted from genuine development objectives to migration management and border control, as the last European Council conclusions confirm, said Italian MEP Elly Schlein. The tendency of using development to address in the short term the so-called root causes of migration is not only flawed, but is also jeopardizing the essence of our development policy and the relations with our African partners.

Europe should not try to stop migration from Africa but rather recognize that migrants and diaspora are already contributing to the development of both their countries of origin and the country they move to. A viable alternative would be to regulate movement toward the EU by offering more safe and legal migration routes to ensure the respect of fundamental rights and avoid more deaths at the border.
Moscow Satire Theater was created on October 1, 1924, in the basement floor of a house in the Bolshoi Gnezdnikovsky Lane. This year theater celebrates its 94 anniversary old. Honored Artist of Russia, director of the theater, Mamedali Agayev, discussed history and current state of the Satire theater in an interview with Vestnik Kavkaza.

- Did you celebrate this date, October 1?

- There was no special program for the audience, but our team considers every October 1 a holiday. However, next year, on the 95th anniversary, we will organize special celebration for the audience. In addition, next year marks the 85th anniversary of artistic director of our theater, Alexander Shirvindt.

- Do you think your theater is getting old, or is it getting younger?

- It's getting younger. Unfortunately, when it comes to veterans, only Alexander Anatolyevich Shirvindt and Vera Kuzminichna Vasilyeva, who turned 93 on September 30, are still with us.

- Is there succession of generations? Were you able to maintain this high bar, which your theater has always been known for?

- Thank God, so far we have managed to do it, even though it's hard. There are still people like Vera Kuzminichna and Alexander Anatolyevich, Yuri Vasilyev, Alena Yakovleva. Theater will continue to exist because they are raising young people, future generations.

- Your theater has always been known for a large number of outstanding actors. Can you say that the audience still attends just to see performances of specific actors?

- I'm proud that our theater has always been family theater. We had great artists - Mironov, Papanov, Mishulin, Tkachuk, Vasilyeva, Aroseva, Pelzer. Each artist had his own audience. Now those people are grandmothers or grand-grandmothers, but they still attend our shows, because they remember those artists.

- Theater has moved many times in the course of its existence. It's located in the premises of the Triumphal Square since 1964. Do you plan to move again some time or is there no need for that?

- We have 1200 seats. There are days like Saturday and Sunday, when we show three or four performances. We still have the Attic of Satire, a small stage. Tickets are always sold-out. It's really hard, but, thank God, many people still attend our shows. That's why our current home is enough for us, and we proudly live in it.

- Do you plan any tours?

- Tours are not profitable for theaters. Previously, the Ministry of Culture of the USSR allocated money to each theater so that it could travel. We went to Vladivostok, to Kazakhstan, to Azerbaijan... Now every theater, even if it holds tours, must negotiate with producers, so that they would take on some expenses. Tours are necessary for artists so that they could gain new audience. So we visit America, Israel, and Germany sometimes. We used to visit Ukraine once or twice a month in the past. We visited Azerbaijan five years ago, but I think we will travel to Baku next year at the invitation of President Ilham Aliyev. We really look forward to this tour.

- Is this trip already confirmed?

- Of course. President invited us, so there's no doubt.

- Have you already decided on repertoire?

- It depends on requests of the host country. If they want to see specific artists, then we will bring them there.

- How often do you visit Azerbaijan?

- Twice a year. A week in the winter and 10-15 days in the summer. It's my homeland, my parents' graves are there. I always want to come back to my homeland. When I visit Nakhichevan, I mainly live in the mountains. It's my childhood. Always come back to Moscow with new vigor.

- Your actors always visit Baku not only because of their professional duty...

- It's a tradition. Every year 5-6 theater workers visit Baku. I'm proud that this city has changed so much in the last 10-15 years - Baku can now be compared to Paris. At the same time, Azerbaijanis love guests very much and respect them. If our artists have between visiting America and Baku, they will choose Baku.

- Baku and Azerbaijan as a whole is an authentic place with its own traditions and customs. Did you bring some of them to your theater?

- Our theater has international collective. I haven't changed anything in this family, I just added Azerbaijani tradition.

- What kind of tradition is it?

- Respect for elders, respect for subordinates. I am a member of a team, I never gloat about my position as director, I'm loved and respected regardless of it. Janitor or actress - everyone is equal for me. I was taught, raised that way.

- Still, you have to bear responsibility for keeping this giant theater machine afloat...

- I was lucky - I grew up in theater. It really helps, although theater is a complex organism. But director controls everything in order to find common language with everyone, it does not matter whether it's a mechanic, radio operator or people's artist. If you find common language with everyone, then there will be no problems. When everything is in the right place, then it's easy to work. I have great deputies, professionals who know their work. I can leave in the evening, knowing that these professionals will stay here and that everything is in the right place.

- As for repertoire, did you prepare any new plays?

- Theater can't exist without constantly preparing something new. We perform at least three new plays every year. But we have a shortage of directors. That's why either Alexander Anatolyevich himself acts as director, or we invite directors from St. Petersburg or Minsk.

- There's Azerbaijani studio at the Shchukin School, headed by Mikhail Borisov. Do you follow their work? Are you interested in using them in your shows somehow?

- I can proudly say that Mikhail Borisov and I agreed that next month some of his students will study under Alexander Anatolyevich Shirvindt. They will practice at the Satire Theater's small stage.

- How did your theater managed to stay relevant for such a long time? 94 years is almost a century...

- In over 94 years this theater had five artistic directors and four directors. I'm the fourth. It has its own traditions. Many people work here for a very long time. I never say "our team", I say "family." We cheer for each other, help each other with any problem. That's why we're a family. That's why theater is so great. I'm proud that I have been working here for 39 years. I fell like I'm at home. I only come home to sleep. In other words, this place really is my family.
An analyst of the news agency Vestnik Kavkaza, Ekaterina Vinnik, told Vesti.FM radio channel in the National Question program dedicated to the issue of Lithuanias cultural opposition to Russia, about the genesis of this hostility, explaining it by political succession.



In my opinion, the cultural opposition of the Baltic countries, in particular, Lithuania, should not be surprising in our time, because here we are talking about the political succession. From the very beginning of its inception and development, the Lithuanian state almost never represented an integral structure, but constantly fell under the influence of neighboring states. Thus, at the beginning of the 13th century, the lands of Balts pagans were conquered by the crusader knights. And at that time the prince Mindovg, who united many Lithuanian lands, converted to Christianity, and after a few years disowned it. In this period, the trend of Lithuanian cultural and political inconstancy began, she said.



During the existence of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which lasted for more than five centuries, Slavic lands, many times larger than Lithuanias own in size and population, were annexed by the state. As a result, the Lithuanian princes adopted the Orthodox culture and the Western Russian language, which became the official one, while Lithuanian itself remained unwritten until the 16th century. In the 16th century, a union was concluded with Poland and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was formed. In Lithuania. The political system known as gentry democracy was formed upon the Polish model, the Polish language, culture and identity were also adopted, Ekaterina Vinnik recalled.



In the 18th century, Rzeczpospolita and, accordingly, Lithuania, fell under the influence of the Russian Empire. In every way resisting Russification, the Lithuanian nobility took the side of Napoleon. During World War I, by 1915, all the ethnic lands of Lithuania were controlled by Germany. Lithuanians lost all political rights. After World War I, part of the territory of Lithuania was controlled by Poland, and part by France. Germany also had its own claims to the territory of the state, the analyst of the Vestnik Kavkaza said, drawing attention to the fact that during the Soviet period, Lithuania was under the influence of the Russian language and culture for less than 50 years.



Thus, it is obvious that throughout almost whole its history, Lithuania, being influenced by neighboring states, took over their political and cultural traditions. And at this stage, in the 21st century, the tendency towards Europeanization turned out to be stronger than towards Russification. As a result, we are witnessing the active anti-Russian policy of Lithuania, which may eventually change to the opposite, depending on the political context,  Ekaterina Vinnik concluded.
France condemns the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Saudi Arabias consulate in Istanbul and wants an in-depth investigation of the case, Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on Saturday, Reuters reports.

France condemns this murder in the strongest terms, Le Drian said in a statement. The confirmation of Mr. Jamal Khashoggis death is a first step toward the establishment of the truth. However, many questions remain unanswered, Le Drian added.

Offering his condolences to Khashoggis family, Le Drian said those responsible for his death must be held accountable.
Ten properties sold last week as reported to our local Multiple Listing Service. Totaling $14 million, our average and median sale in this thinner market averaged $1.4 million.

My buy of the week selection was a Hurricane Sandy victim in Riverside that needs a little more than TLC but appealed to a buyer ready to take on the project. Were focused on hurricanes down south now but theyve hit our region too, as we remember well.

My sale of the week selection is a Belle Haven beauty that got buyers attention and flew off the market in just over a month at over-asking price.

Buy of the week

Listed for $2,225,000 five years ago and at $2,050,000 last year, this 1940 expanded Cape Cod home sold last week for two-thirds of its asking price after 489 days on market. What did the buyer get? How about a 3,430-square-foot home on two-thirds of an acre in Riversides private Harbor Point Association?

This three-bedroom, two-and-a-half bath home is at the end of a cul-de-sac with unimpeded water views across a neighbors waterfront parcel. It is known as the Ice House and renovation or reconstruction are two options for the property, which was damaged by Hurricane Sandy and is in need of repairs.

At 54 percent of its tax-appraised full value and given its location in Riverside, it is a bargain for the right buyer and has tremendous upside potential from its $1.35 million selling price.

Closings reported Oct. 1-7 Address Sold for Days on market Percent of original asking price Percent of tax full appraisal 36 Alden Road 2,000,000 181 77% 65% 40 W. Elm St., #4M 624,000 92 85% 77% 40 Glen Road 1,225,000 91 88% 102% 38 Hettiefred Road 912,500 207 69% 88% 1465 E. Putnam Ave., #203 315,000 98 93% 126% 33 W. Putnam Ave., #3E 820,000 29 98% 134% 361 Shore Road 4,200,000 36 105% 120% 48 Spring St., #8 900,000 135 90% 100% 16 Wyngate Road 1,680,000 200 89% 115% Total 14,026,500 Average 1,402,650 156 86% 98% Median 1,068,750 117 89% 101% See More Collapse

Sale of the week

My sale of the week selection went to contract after being exposed to the market for only 36 days. At $4.2 million thats extremely quick and it sold for over-asking and exceeded its tax-appraised value by 20 percent. To be fair, however, this is a 10-year-old center hall colonial with five bedrooms and four-and-a-half baths on the Belle Haven Peninsula. Thats not a tough sell for a Realtor these days.

Yet, the buyer got good value since the previous structure that made way for this home was originally priced at the same amount, $4.2 million, and sold for $3 million back in 2007. If youre not familiar with Belle Haven, Shore Road runs along the eastern side of the peninsula facing Greenwich Harbor. You could walk your dog to the dog park at Grass Island from here.

CT Realtors endorse Stefanowski

The Connecticut Association of Realtors, representing nearly 17,000 members, have endorsed Bob Stefanowski for Governor. The organization joins others including the Connecticut Independent Party, the 14,000 member Independent Electrical Contractors of New England and President Trump in their endorsement of the Republican from Madison.

After interviewing both the Republican and the Democrat candidates for governor of Connecticut, Michael Barbaro, the groups president, said Connecticuts real estate industry and its economic success are inextricably linked. Connecticut needs a leader who can deliver change and we believe Bob Stefanowski is that leader.

Stefanowski, grateful to receive the groups backing, saying for the past eight years weve seen our homes depreciate, as demand for housing in Connecticut has slowed. Dan Malloys tax increases and failed economic policies have resulted in over 80 people a day fleeing Connecticut and Ned Lamont has pledged to keep the state on the same downward spiral.

Stefanowski plans to phase out the corporate income tax and business entity tax over two years and the states personal income tax over eight years. He would also work to eliminate the gift and estate taxes.

He argues the gift and estate taxes drive people to other tax-free states and Connecticut is the only state that has both taxes. About $6 billion of adjusted gross income has left Connecticut for Florida.

Stefanowski said he wants to contract out certain government services, including the DMV and implement zero-based budgeting that would start Connecticuts budget off with a blank piece of paper and add in only necessary services.

Stefanowski also wants to impose a 10-year term limit for state legislators and an 8-year term for governor along with the ability for voters to recall elected state officials.

Edward Miner Ned Lamont, a Greenwichite, is the Democrat candidate for Governor and served as a one-term Greenwich selectman before beating Senator Joe Lieberman in the 2006 Democrat primary. He ultimately lost to Lieberman in 2006 who ran as an independent candidate and retained his seat in the U.S. Senate.

Other candidates on the ballot include Rod Hanscomb, representing the Connecticut Libertarian Party, which will be on the gubernatorial ballot for the first time in 20 years, and Richard Nelson Oz Griebel, the Independent Party candidate who debated with Lamont and Stefanowski on Sept. 26 in Storrs. Connecticut does not have gubernatorial term limits but our incumbent Democrat Governor Dannel Malloy has declined to run again.

A Quinnipiac University poll on Oct. 8 shows Lamont in the lead by 8 percent with a +/- 5.0 percent margin of error. That lead has narrowed from 13 percent in mid-August. The most recent Sacred Heart University poll shows Lamont in the lead by 6 percent with a 4.3 percent margin of error. Oz Griebel is at 11 percent. The respected Cook Political Report currently considers Connecticuts gubernatorial contest a toss-up.

Connecticut is one of 36 states holding gubernatorial elections this Nov. 6. Make sure your voice is heard, or dont complain about the results.

This Weeks Success Quote

Elections have consequences, and at the end of the day, I won.

 Barack Obama

Ken Edwards is the principal Broker for Edwards & Associates Real Estate and has lived in town since 1974. All opinions expressed are entirely his own and not those of this publisher. Comments and questions may be sent to K_W_Edwards@ Yahoo.com or call (203) 918-4444.
And it's happening - Google is forced to charge its OEMs for distributing its GApps in the EU after being fined with 4.3 billion. Sundar Pichai did confirm that the company has to start charging Android manufacturers for pre-installing apps like Play Store, YouTube, Drive, Maps, etc., but Google's search and Chrome will remain free of charge as the company says the last two generate enough revenue on their own.

For the distribution of its apps, Google will start collecting royalties from 28 European countries including Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Lichtenstein based on pixel density. Reportedly, the rates for the most expensive countries are as follows: $40 for each device with a pixel density above 500 ppi, while 400 ppi devices will earn Google $20 each and if the handset is under 400 ppi - $10. Tablets are capped at $20.

Manufacturers that don't place the Chrome app on the home screen or the dock will not receive a cut from the revenue generated from the app itself. This also begs the question - what if a device manufacturer decides to pre-load only Google Play Services and asks the users to download the rest of the GApps using a third-party installation wizard? The way we see it, it's a loophole that will help them cut on royalty costs. If not, the end user will be bound to pay more money for each Android device.

Source
German Chancellor Angela Merkel is demanding further clarity over the death of writer Jamal Khashoggi, after Saudi officials acknowledged Saturday that the Washington Post columnist was killed in a fistfight in its Istanbul consulate, The Washington Post reports.

During a party conference in the eastern state of Thuringia on Saturday, Merkel referred briefly to Saudi Arabia and the terrible events surrounding Khashoggis slaying on Oct. 2 saying still nothing has been cleared up.

She added that of course we are demanding that they be cleared up.




Haiti - FLASH : Haiti in the TOP 5 countries in the world with the most social inequalities





In 2015, 193 heads of state, including Haiti, pledged to reduce social inequality in line with Goal 10 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to eradicate poverty.



"Development Finance International" (DFI) and Oxfam published a couple of days ago the second edition of their 2018 index of states' commitment to closing the gap between the rich and the poor. This index, which is based on a new base of indicators, now covers 157 countries that measure actions taken by States in terms of social spending, taxation and labor law : three areas that are essential in reducing the gap and the eradication of poverty.



According to the recommendations made in this report, all countries must develop national action plans against inequalities in order to achieve SDG 10. These plans should include the establishment of universal, public and free health services. education and a social protection floor. They must be financed by a more progressive taxation and the fight against niches and tax evasion. Countries must respect trade union rights, ensure respect for women's labor rights and raise the minimum wage.



In this latest report, Haiti is very poorly ranked in 155th out of 157 countries.



Ranking of Commitments to Reduce Inequality (CRI) :



Haiti :

Overall CRI ranking: 155th

CRI Ranking by Health, Education and Social Protection Expenditures: 133rd

CRI ranking according to tax policies: 145th

CRI ranking according to labor rights and minimum wage: 156th



Dominican Republic :

Overall ERI ranking: 89th

ERI ranking by health, education and social protection expenditure: 73rd

ERI ranking according to tax policies: 109th

ERI classification according to labor rights and minimum wage: 98th



TOP 5 countries with the least inequality :

1 - Denmark

2 - Germany

3 - Finland

4 - Austria

5 - Norway



TOP 5 countries with the most inequalities :

1 - Nigeria (157th)

2 - Uzbekistan (156th)

3 - Haiti (155th)

4 - Chad (154th)

5 - Sierra Leone (153rd)



Download the full report (PDF in French) : https://www.haitilibre.com/docs/rapport_oxfam_indice_inegalites-2018.pdf



HL/ TB/ HaitiLibre






















Haiti - News : Zapping...





The town hall of Anse-d'Hainault burned

A 17-year-old boy was shot dead in confused circumstances during an anti-drug operation by 4 agents of the Town Hall of Anse-d'Hainault. Following the death of this young man, whom some did not hesitate to describe as execution, the angry population erected a burning barricade of tires in front of the police station and set fire to the town hall...



NOTICE : Opening of the Community Solutions Program registrations

Are you a community leader ? The Office of Public Affairs invites interested Haitian citizens to submit an application for the 2019 Community Solutions Program, a four month professional development program for community leaders working in Transparency & Accountability, Tolerance & Conflict Resolution, Environmental Issues, and Women and Gender Issues.



Deadline to submit application : Wednesday October 31, 2018



The application form and additional information for the 2019 community Solutions Program is available online at: https://goo.gl/ZG8TFF



The Minister of the Interior dismisses the invitation of the deputies

On Friday, Jean Marie Reynaldo Brunet, the Minister of the Interior did not respond to an invitation from the Interior Committee of the Chamber of Deputies. The Minister was to be accompanied by Fednel Monchery, the Director General of the Ministry and Emile Blanchard, the National Coordinator of Borders and explain a scandal of visa traffic to the Ministry and smuggling activities at the border.



PNH : Post Demonstration Arrest

Friday October 19th, following the demonstrations of October 17th, the National Police of Haiti (PNH) proceeded to the arrest of 4 young sympathizers of the radical opposition (Wilto, Evens, Markens, Wilguerre). Me Andre Michel sees these arrests as a bully and demands their release.



PetroCaribe : Dameus invites Lamothe to come explain

In the PetroCaribe case, Me Clame Ocnam Dameus, the Government Commissioner at the Court of First Instance of Port-au-Prince invited former Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe (presently traveling abroad) and Patrice Milfort the boss of General Construction SA to come explain on Tuesday, October 23 on the management and use of funds of the PetroCaribe program.



The PAPDA finds insufficient minimum wage

The Platform of Advocacy for an Alternative Development (PAPDA) putting forward the expectations of the workers, the depreciation of the gourd and the increase of the cost of the life, judges insufficient the minimum wage set at 420 gourdes since October 1st for the workers of the outsourcing sector https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-25766-haiti-flash-all-details-on-new-minimum-wages.html



HL/ HaitiLibre


















Published on 2018/10/20 | Source

A documentary titled "Children Gone To Poland", which will be released on Oct. 31, traces the little-known story of Korean War orphans who wound up in the Eastern European country.

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It is the directorial feature debut of actress Chu Sang-mi, who also appears in the film alongside North Korean defector and actress Lee Song.

The film follows two women from North and South Korea who visit an orphanage in Poland and collect testimonies and data as their mutual understanding gradually deepens.

The 1950-53 Korean War left an estimated 100,000 children orphaned. As the war progressed, North Korea sent orphans from its own side to Eastern Europe, and 1,500 were sent to Poland. Freshly emerging from the ashes of World War II, the Polish cared lovingly for these children.

But when regime founder Kim Il-sung launched his Chollima Movement to promote rapid economic development in the late 1950s, he needed more labor, and the orphans were forcibly returned to North Korea.

Why was Choo attracted to this true story? "It was a coincidence when I found and read novel 'Skrzydo Anioa' meaning 'Angels' Wings' by Polish journalist Jolanta Krysowata", Choo said.

"She was inspired to write it when she found the grave of Kim Ki-dok in a cemetery in Poland. Kim was a war orphan who died there in 1955".

The Polish state broadcaster made a documentary about him in 2006. "If war orphans are the most tragic product of wars, I was moved by the fact that there was someone who embraced them as their own", Choo added.

What prompted her move to directing? "When I was an actress, I was lonely because I was so immersed in the internal workings of the character's mind. But a director has to communicate with the world, so I became much more sensitive to social issues", she says.

"My father used to say a good piece of art stops anger and starts reflection. Maybe it's because of my father's influence, but I'm very interested in whether my work can do good things", she added". I'd be very happy if my work can lead to healing, purifying and awakening of society".

Her father was the stage actor Choo Song-woong.
 VOTER GUIDE: Senate District 48 Q&A

Candidates for Senate District 48 are Democrat Norm Bossert, 67, of Pisgah Forest, and Republican Chuck Edwards, 57, of Flat Rock, the incumbent.

Why are you running for the North Carolina Legislature?





Bossert: A few elections ago, I started to become concerned with the morale of the teachers who worked with me at Black Mountain Elementary. Ill address some of those concerns in a later question. I saw families struggling without health care. Hard working parents working several jobs were unable to keep afloat financially. Homelessness and unchanging free / reduced lunch percentages spoke volumes of an economy that was leaving too many behind. More recently, I was disturbed by a legislature that cuts the budget of our Attorney General and works to consolidate power in themselves, subverting our tri-cameral checks and balances. I was upset by legislative leadership that failed to be transparent and above board.

Edwards: More than ever we need representation that employees compassionate listening, with a broad set of skills and experiences. We need a Senator that understands the requirements for a strong economy, and that it is that economy that enables us to provide for families and fund necessary government services like an education system that effectively serves children. We need a Senator that has the ability, and the courage to seek out wasteful spending, that will insist on government efficiency, and that will challenge the status quo. As a small businessman with a history of community service I have demonstrated these abilities.

There are six constitutional amendments on the ballot. Which ones do you favor and which ones do you oppose and why?

Edwards: The beauty of our legislative process is that our citizens will decide on the terms under which we will be governed. I supported each bill that enabled these amendments to be on the ballot, and I will vote for them each. Voter Photo ID will give our citizens confidence in the integrity of our elections that we are currently lacking. A Bipartisan Board of Ethics and Elections will help ensure a fairness that is missing if either party can control its make-up. I believe crime victims deserve the right to receive notice of their hearings, and their opinion should be considered in plea deals and sentencing. Hunting and Fishing have been fundamental means by which we provided for our families and that heritage should be preserved. Future legislatures should know through the income tax cap that the pockets of taxpayers are not unlimited. I believe that Judicial Vacancies should be filled by a broader body than by one person. I hope that everyone will take the time to evaluate each proposed amendment on its own merits instead of succumbing to the advertising and influence to vote for or against all six. For a more thorough summary of why I supported the legislation that created these amendments, voters can visit NC48.com/6.

Bossert: I favor none of the proposed constitutional amendments. Not one of them has any of the laws that will have to be written to underpin them. In other words, legislative leadership wants to have a blank check from the people. What sort of ID have they in mind for voting? What about the oystermen working the east coast? Victims rights? If they are concerned about that, mightnt leadership undercut North Carolinas already incredibly strong victim rights laws? They even want a lame duck session to write laws to underpin their amendments, without transparency and accountability. They may be doing so against the will of the majority of our citizens!

Are you in favor of or opposed to expanding Medicaid in North Carolina to provide health care to more people? Why?

Bossert: I am in favor of expanding Medicaid. By so doing we would be returning $2,000,000,000 a year to our revenue stream. We would create 23,000 good paying jobs. We would reinvigorate our rural health care facilities. Most important of all, we would be able to provide health care to up to 500,000 of our neighbors living in poverty. Doing so would save lives. Doing so would make it possible for people to get care outside of the emergency room  for which we all pay, raising the cost of health insurance.

Edwards: I agree we should help care for those who indeed cannot help themselves. This Obamacare add-on doesnt accomplish this goal. 82% of new enrollees would be single, able-bodied adults. NC now provides care for our most vulnerable; children, single parents, elderly, and disabled. Since my election weve added 179,000 more citizens to state-funded plans- bringing the total number served to 2.2 million. This means 20% of our population is already covered by a taxpayer-funded plan. I supported budgets that added $917 million for needs over and beyond Medicaid without accepting the baited, one size fits all, inflexible federal option.

The Republican leadership of the Legislature touts its record on teacher pay and smaller class sizes. The average base salary for a teacher in North Carolina increased by $8,700, or nearly 20 percent, since the 2014 school year, Senate leader Phil Berger said on Aug. 30. More than 40,000 teachers  close to half of all public school teachers in the state  will have received at least a $10,000 pay raise by the 2018-19 school year. In fact, over a 30-year career, a teacher will earn $237,200 more on the 2018-19 salary schedule than he or she would have earned under the old Democrat plan. Is the record Berger cites deserving of voters endorsement? Why or why not?

Edwards: Our substantial increased spending on public education is indisputable. But I dont believe we should keep score by how much money can we spend. The meaningful endorsement comes from parents who have a child in school, and how they feel about that childs preparation, cradle to career. For this, one need not look further than Henderson County public schools. Under the same funding formula used statewide, these remarkable teachers, principals, administrators, volunteers, and support staff are continually recognized for exemplary achievements. I hope to help make their jobs easier by reducing testing and bureaucracy, and with adequate, transparent funding.

Bossert: There are their facts, our facts, true facts, fake facts and then there is Phil Berger. Teachers used to get longevity pay . . . gone. They used to be paid for advanced degrees . . . gone. They used to be able to earn annual raises with a ladder that encouraged educators to call teaching a career. Today, at year 15, teachers are pretty much making all they are ever going to get. In fact, from year 25 to 30 there are no longer raises. There is talk that pensions are going away. Health care for retirees is already on the ropes. In short, it has become increasingly difficult for our state to attract people to the profession. Berger doesnt get it! Of course I am running against someone else.

What specifically are your highest priorities in the Legislature for serving your district?

Bossert: In canvassing, I have learned that my priorities arent dissimilar from many of the people I meet. But one of their biggest priorities has nothing to do with legislation at all. People are sick to death of the animosity and anger. They are sick of the lack of transparency in government. They want to know that regardless of party affiliation, their representatives will speak with each other and conduct the business of government in an open fashion. My highest priority will be to renew trust in one another and build good working relationships with my colleagues. I will be transparent and will hold regular Town Halls.

Edwards: The things citizens constantly tell me that are important to them are; a strong economy, good jobs, Pre-K to 12 then post education, protecting tax dollars and using them wisely, and keeping us safe. I intend to keep NC a leading business-friendly state so employers want to be here, earning us an economy that presents job opportunities, and generates a strong tax base. I intend to work with experts to improve our educational systems. I will insist on government spending efficiency. I will continue to support our law enforcement and first responders- and I will continually review school safety measures.

What other major priorities do you have for your district and the state?

Edwards: In addition to the priorities I just mentioned, one of the biggest issues our district faces is to determine how we spend highway dollars that we now get from Raleigh. For decades Henderson County did not get our fair share. Now that we have a reliable highway funding stream we must improve on the STIP process to get more public input earlier in the planning process. Case in point- we spent $1mm before deciding against the Balfour Parkway. I invite everyone to learn more about me, our priorities, my record, and to stay abreast of issues at chuckedwardsnc.com.

Bossert: I will work to fully fund our children and the schools they attend. Another priority will be to work with my colleagues to expand Medicaid. I want to increase the minimum wage and work with communities and colleagues to establish a living wage. I want to restore funding to our Attorney Generals office in order to expedite the delivery of justice in North Carolina. Other priorities would be to restore funding of the Department of Environmental Quality and help them to have real teeth in dealing with pollution.
 VOTER GUIDE: House District 117 Q&A

Candidates for House District 117 are Democrat Gayle Kemp, 63, of Fletcher, and incumbent Chuck McGrady, 65, of Hendersonville, a Republican.

Why are you running for the North Carolina Legislature?

Kemp: I am running because I love North Carolina and I couldnt stand by any longer without working to shift the direction our state has taken. I love our children too much to sit still. New ideas, new blood, and a balanced representation of the people needs to happen before big business and lobbyists control everything we do and all that we stand for. I want a future that is filled with opportunities for all the people of North Carolina, and I want representation in our state house that listens to and reflects the needs of all our citizens.

McGrady: Im running to complete my work on a wide range of issues for the people of Henderson County and Western North Carolina  issues Im proud to say that Ive already made tremendous progress on. And as a House budget chair, Im privileged to be in a unique position to secure funding for projects here in Henderson County, WNC, and all across the state.

There are six constitutional amendments on the ballot. Which ones do you favor and which ones do you oppose and why?

McGrady: Groups on the right are urging voters to vote for all of the amendments, and groups on the far left are urging voters to vote against all of them. I hope my constituents will ignore those calls and consider each proposed amendment on its own merits. I support the proposed Voter ID amendment, which 70% of people across the political spectrum do as well. As for the proposed Rights of Victims of Crime (also known as Marsys Law) and the Right to Hunt, Fish, and Harvest Wildlife amendments, one could support their intentions but also think they need not be included in the text of the state constitution. Ill likely vote for the first but Im still undecided on the second. As far as the proposed Bipartisan State Board of Ethics and Elections Enforcement amendment, a balanced, bipartisan, eight-member board would be a better way to make sure that our elections and ethics systems are administered in a fair manner, so Im supporting this amendment. The proposed amendment for Selection for Judicial Vacancies may be the most controversial; thats because it would fundamentally change the appointments process. My inclination is to vote against this particular amendment.

Kemp: First, I oppose all six amendments. Amending the Constitution should not be done without time for citizens to consider the consequences of their votes. Rushing these amendments onto the ballot is a partisan stunt to get out the vote for the party in power. Second, the amendments are not necessary. Third, the proposed amendments do not tell the voter what the enabling legislation will be. In essence, the voter is signing a blank check. Specifically, I oppose the changes in the appointment process. Even Gov. McCrory joined four other governors to oppose this attack on our system of checks and balances. The party in power has made no bones about stripping executive and judicial power. That is just wrong. Furthermore, I am against requiring photo ID. The legislation passed by the party in power has been tested in the courts and has been soundly rejected. Taxpayers wasted millions of dollars in lawyers fees. The idea that there is a problem with voting that an amendment or legislation would fix is a false narrative. Our elections were audited when Governor McCrory lost and it was proven that there is not a problem that voter ID needs to fix.



Are you in favor of or opposed to expanding Medicaid in North Carolina to provide health care to more people? Why?

Kemp: Im in favor of expanding Medicaid for two reasons. If Medicaid is expanded, its estimated that up to 500,000 more people would have access to healthcare and an estimated 1,000 people per year would not die for lack of it. We are unable to fund care for those addicted to opioids without expansion. Secondly, weve lost millions of North Carolina income tax dollars to other states. Those unclaimed tax dollars couldve been used to not only support our poorer citizens healthcare, but they couldve helped grow well-paying healthcare jobs, increased hospital reimbursements, and supported rural health care facilities.

McGrady: Yes. If I am re-elected, I will co-sponsor legislation next year that improves access to quality healthcare by providing an option to lower-income working residents of North Carolina in a new health insurance product called Carolina Cares. It establishes a program for residents who are not currently eligible for Medicaid and have been left out of Obamacare. The program would not require the use of any existing state funds or impose any new tax increases, using a mix of premium payments and federal funds which the State can draw from to fund coverage for our uninsured population.

The Republican leadership of the Legislature touts its record on teacher pay and smaller class sizes. The average base salary for a teacher in North Carolina increased by $8,700, or nearly 20 percent, since the 2014 school year, Senate leader Phil Berger said on Aug. 30. More than 40,000 teachers  close to half of all public school teachers in the state  will have received at least a $10,000 pay raise by the 2018-19 school year. In fact, over a 30-year career, a teacher will earn $237,200 more on the 2018-19 salary schedule than he or she would have earned under the old Democrat plan. Is the record Berger cites deserving of voters endorsement? Why or why not?

McGrady: Yes. Were in a much better place now than where we were before I was first elected. Weve been able to pay teachers more because we first took strong measures to improve our states economy. Conservative fiscal policies (including tax reform) have led to record revenues, record employment, and record reserves. You cant pay teachers more if you dont have the money; thanks to what weve done, and what we will continue to do, I look forward to doing even more for them. I am very proud of my record on education, and I remain committed to doing even more.

Kemp: I oppose Bergers statement regarding education because it is, at best, misleading. Politifact rated it mostly false. The Legislature has not made up for teacher pay that was frozen during the great recession. Average teacher pay is still not as high as it was before the recession and is $10,000 less than the national average. This state still ranks 37th in teacher pay. Bergers figures include local funding supplements which vary across the state. There has been no pay raise for experienced teachers. Bonuses cannot compensate for the inadequacy of teacher pay.

What specifically are your highest priorities in the Legislature for serving your district?

Kemp: Health care has become a luxury that many cant afford. Insurance premiums in our state are in the top ten highest in the country. I will fight to bring down the cost of health care and to make sure that paying for a health care emergency doesnt lead to bankruptcy for working families. I want to see pre-K through high school public education fully funded, and Im going to fight for additional funding for students who wish to continue in community and technical colleges. Raising teacher pay, providing teacher assistants, and school safety are at the top of the list of priorities.



McGrady: I have and always will put the needs of the people of Henderson County first: I believe my experience as a local elected official and in other leadership roles gives me a special understanding of our areas needs. Some of the projects Ive already secured major funding for will continue to have my attention. These include: 1) The WNC Medical School, 2) upgrading the Farmers Market, 3) improvements to the DuPont State Recreational Forest (which, along with Headwaters Site Forest, I helped make a reality), 4) continued Hemlock restoration efforts, and 5) Muddy Sneakers, an outdoor educational program for children.

What other major priorities do you have for your district and the state?

McGrady: In terms of statewide issues, a few priorities jump to mind. Last year, the legislature included my Raise-the-Age bill in the state budget, and I will continue my work to fully-fund the juvenile justice system. After my initial success in securing insurance coverage for children with autism, I will both push to expand that coverage to apply to a greater number of employers and to lift the annual cap in the states health plan. Im also committed to breaking NCs prohibition-era monopoly on alcohol sales and distribution. And Ill continue to make independent redistricting a priority.

Kemp: Protecting our environment is pivotal. It is also vital to our economy. Corporations that harm the environment should be held accountable. We need to stop giving them a free pass for polluting with toxins such as coal ash, while consumers suffer and pay for the cleanup. I support independent redistricting so that the practice of partisan and illegal racial gerrymandering comes to an end. I would also support laws that encourage citizens to vote rather than whats happening now with various forms of voter suppression like closing polling stations, limiting hours and creating other obstacles such as voter identification.


 VOTER GUIDE: N.C. appellate court judges

Voters will elect one state Supreme Court justice and fill three Court of Appeals seats in the Nov. 6 election.

The state Supreme Court, the states highest court, is comprised of the chief justice and six associate justices, each of whom serves an eight-year term. The Supreme Court has no jury. It considers whether error occurred at trial or in judicial interpretation of the law.

The Court of Appeals is made up of 15 judges who hear cases in panels of three. The Court of Appeals reviews the proceedings that occurred in the trial courts for errors of law or legal procedure.

Here are the candidates on the Nov. 6 ballot:

N.C. Supreme Court



Barbara Jackson, Republican

Justice, NC Supreme Court; Judge, NC Court of Appeals; General Counsel, NC Labor Department; Associate, Private Practice; Associate General Counsel, Governors Advocacy Council (GACPD); Associate General Counsel, Governor Jim Martin; Research Assistant, Justice Burley Mitchell

Candidate statement: Fairness, impartiality, integrity, and a commitment to the rule of law all are essential characteristics of a good judge. Ive worked hard to live up to each of these principles, gaining invaluable first-hand experience, which is why Im seeking re-election. As the only candidate in this race with judicial experience, I understand that this is not an entry level job.

Anita Earls, Democrat

Executive Director, Southern Coalition for Social Justice, 2007-2017; UNC Center for Civil Rights, 2003-2007; Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights, 2000-2003; Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Civil Rights Division, U.S. Justice Department 1998-2000; Ferguson, Stein firm, 1988-1998.

Candidate statement: I have been a civil rights attorney for thirty years, fighting for equal justice and fair representation. As a mother and grandmother, I understand challenges families face and have worked to protect the rights of hard-working people. We must have a fair court that protects everyone no matter their race, gender or how much money they have in their pockets.



Chris Anglin, Republican

Graduate of Wake Forest University and Elon University Law School. A small business owner in solo practice at all levels of civil, criminal and family trial courts in both state and federal courts for 7 years.

Candidate statement: Im running as a Republican to give a voice to the many Constitutional Republicans who are appalled at the assault on the rule of law, and the checks and balances of our Constitutional Republic that is happening every day. Secondly, to point out the mistake of being the only state in 100 years to make our judicial elections partisan.



N.C. Court of Appeals Seat 1

Andrew T. Heath, Republican

Husband, father, and public servant; Superior Court Judge; Served as Chairman of the North Carolina Industrial Commission; As State Budget Director, led the Office of State Budget and Management.

Candidate statement: I am a fair and impartial judge who respects the Constitution and the law, and who values access to justice and equality under the law. It has been an honor to serve North Carolina as a Superior Court Judge, and I look forward to serving on the Court of Appeals.

John S. Arrowood, Democrat

N.C. Court of Appeals, Judge, 2007-2008, 2017-present; James, McElroy & Diehl, P.A., Attorney/Shareholder, 1989-2007, 2009-2017; N.C. Court of Appeals, Research Assistant/Staff Attorney/Senior Staff Attorney, 1983-1989; Wilson, Palmer & Cannon, P.A., Attorney, 1982-1983

Candidate statement: I pledge to administer justice equally and without favoritism to any litigant or to the State. My experience on the Court of Appeals, as a Superior Court Judge together with my over 26 years in private practice, and prior work as a research assistant and staff attorney at the Court of Appeals makes me uniquely qualified to remain on the Court.



N.C. Court of Appeals Seat 2

Jefferson G. Griffin, Republican

District Court Judge, Wake County; JAG Officer (CPT), NC Army National Guard; Assistant District Attorney, Wake County District Attorneys Office; Private Practice, Criminal defense and Civil litigation; North Carolina Central University School of Law.

Candidate statement: North Carolina deserves a Judge who is dedicated to upholding the Rule of Law and our Constitution. My diverse experiences as a Judge, Soldier, prosecutor, and practicing attorney provide a perspective that will benefit all North Carolina citizens when I am on the Court of Appeals.

Tobias Toby Hampson, Democrat

Wyrick, Robbins, Yates & Ponton, LLP, (2007-present) Appellate Attorney; NC State Bar Appellate Specialist since 2011; Patterson, Dilthey, Clay & Bryson, LLP (2004-2007) Attorney; N.C. Court of Appeals (2002-2004) Law Clerk;

Candidate statement: The Court of Appeals needs a judge with the right experience  an appellate specialist. I have 16 years of experience in our appellate courts, starting as a law clerk at the Court of Appeals then strengthening my experience by handling hundreds of appeals in private practice. I will bring a strong work ethic, integrity and appellate expertise to the Court.

Sandra Alice Ray, Republican

Ive got 27 years legal experience including 14 years judicial experience. I have more judicial experience than every N.C. Court of Appeals candidate combined. Im a former Assistant District Attorney and attorney in private practice.

Candidate statement: When any Judge talks to you they should tell you of their love and trust in our United States and North Carolina Constitutions. I believe as our constitution says, in the Sovereignty of the People  not the politicians and bureaucrats. I want to serve on your Court of Appeals to preserve the self-evident rights our Constitution guarantees.



N.C. Court of Appeals Seat 3



Chuck Kitchen, Republican

Licensed as attorney in North Carolina for 38 years, including 30 years as a county attorney. I am currently in private practice representing parties in State and Federal trial and appellate courts.

Candidate statement: In order to make a good appellate judge, you must have extensive experience both trying cases and handling appeals. I am the only candidate who has both, including successfully defending Sheriff Terry Johnson against the US Department of Justice. I have also filed more than 100 briefs and petitions in the appellate courts.

Michael Monaco Sr., Libertarian

2000-2015 Monaco & Roberts, PLLC: A general service law practice that handled a wide spectrum of legal issues for clients.

Candidate statement: The purpose of the court is to be objective and independent; especially in disputes between the branches of government. These good governance cases can present conflicts to the other candidates who are associated with the dominant parties in North Carolina politics. These dominant parties have engaged in partisanship in recent years and we need to be vigilant to keep judiciary independent.

Allegra Katherine Collins, Democrat

Campbell Law Professor of Judicial Writing and Appellate Advocacy; Appellate advocate in NC Court of Appeals and Supreme Court; Appellate Reporter at NC Supreme Court; Clerk on the Court of Appeals to Judge Linda Stephens.

Candidate statement: I have focused my career on appellate law and judicial process in our appellate courts. With my experience, expertise, and dedication to the law, I will be a judge who renders fair and accurate decisions. My experience and expertise mean I will do this job well, my passion for this work means I will continuously strive to do it better.

Sources: N.C. Board of Elections, Common Cause.
Michael D Higgins has admitted he flew to an event in Belfast in May by jet while a car drove from Dublin to pick him up at the airport.

The President blamed the PSNI for not being able to provide security from the Border.

His election rivals have repeatedly questioned his travel arrangements on May 29, suggesting they came at an unwarranted expense to the taxpayers.

Mr Higgins was in Belfast to address the sixth annual Harri Holkeri Lecture, organised by the Senator George J Mitchell Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice.

Issue

He said before trips to Belfast his office consulted the PSNI "about where they will pick me up".

The President acknowledged there was an issue on the day in question but said the "important thing" was to deliver the lecture as there were people from "all sides" of the community present.

Referring to his use of the Government's Learjet for the short trip, he said: "This was the only way I could do it in time."

The PSNI was unable to provide comment as to why it was unable to facilitate the President travelling by road.

The hourly cost of flying the Learjet is estimated to be 3,780.

In the first three months of this year, Mr Higgins used the jet to travel to London, Belfast, Athens and Kerry.
Eric Zhi Ying Xue was born in Ireland and has lived here all his life, but faces being deported to China

Broadcaster George Hook has said a nine-year-old boy who was born in Ireland and has spent his whole life here should be deported.

Speaking to the Herald, Mr Hook said he supported the law which will see Eric Zhi Ying Xue sent to China, a country he has never even visited.

While feeling "terrible" for the Bray primary school student, the Newstalk presenter stood his ground after a controversial comment he made on Twitter, referring to Eric as "a Chinese boy".

The comment took aim at a Twitter post by Health Minister Simon Harris, who expressed his solidarity with Eric.

Terrible

"He should be deported because that's the law," Mr Hook said.

"Everyone seems to think that this boy is Irish, but according to our laws, he's not.

"It's truly a terrible situation, but what will happen if a similar case comes up next week with another child?

"And what would the Government do if 100 or even 1,000 children facing deportation asked to remain in this country?

"At what point do we want the law to change?"

Mr Harris has made representations in an attempt to prevent Eric's deportation.

However, Mr Hook took aim at the minister on Twitter.

"With trolly [sic] numbers at world record levels, Minister Simon Harris, is worried about a Chinese boy!!" he wrote.

There was an immediate backlash to his comments.

"Jesus, George, that's a disgraceful statement. This boy is Irish. He was born here and has never lived anywhere else," one person wrote.

Another said: "It's called 'compassion', George.

"People can care about more than one thing at once and about people other than themselves."

When contacted by the Herald, Mr Hook stood his ground.

He criticised Mr Harris, who he accused of deliberately trying to draw attention away from the trolley crisis.

"More than a decade ago, the Irish people said they didn't want to give automatic citizenship to children born in this country," Mr Hook said.

"[Justice Minister] Charlie Flanagan is in his office saying we're going to deport this boy, but Harris, who is probably the worst minister for health in the history of the State, is saying we can't.

"The only narrative in this is not out of concern for this Chinese boy, but to simply to deflect from the fact that he's doing an appalling job.

"The question at the end of the day is, do we want a country with laws or a country run by Twitter?"

In 2004, a referendum on nationality decreed that children born in Ireland to foreign parents would no longer have a constitutional right to Irish citizenship.

Mr Hook, who was suspended from the station last year following comments he made about a rape case, said he was not concerned about a backlash from his radio station.

"If I'm not allowed to have an opinion about anything or if I appear to be in favour of a country without laws then I don't think my job is worth having," the rugby pundit added.

Mr Harris could not be contacted for comment last night.

Inflammatory

In 2004, Fine Gael was the only opposition party in the Dail to support the vote to remove automatic citizenship in the referendum.

Then-leader Enda Kenny had raised concern over the timing of the referendum on the same day as the local and European elections that year.

He warned there was a probability that during an election campaign "inflammatory comments could be made about this sensitive situation".

However, in coming to the decision to support the vote, it was reported that Fine Gael had received independent legal advice about the potential to abuse Irish citizenship law.
Iran has been supplying Lebanons Hezbollah militant group with components required to turn its rockets into precision-guided missiles, Sputnik reported citing US media.

According to Fox News, flight data suggested a delivery was made earlier this week by a cargo plane which left Tehran on Tuesday and flew back Thursday, with stops in Syria, Lebanon and Qatar.

Intelligence sources told the news channel the plane carried GPS devices and other components needed to build precision weapons at Iranian factories in Lebanon, in addition to plants in Syria and Yemen.
A jury has been hearing the closing speeches in the trial of a woman pleading not guilty by reason of insanity to the attempted murder of a civil servant.

Laura Kenna (35), of no fixed abode, is accused of attempting to murder Fionnuala Bourke on Lower Drumcondra Road, Dublin, on January 3, 2017.

Ms Kenna has also pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to assaulting Ms Bourke, causing serious harm.

Her Central Criminal Court trial has heard that Ms Bourke was walking home from work around 5pm when she was attacked by Ms Kenna with a knife.

Her throat was slit and she suffered severe facial scarring.

The jury was told that the central issue was Ms Kenna's state of mind at the time.

The court has heard from two Central Mental Hospital consultant psychiatrists, who gave conflicting opinions.

Anthony Sammon SC, prosecuting, gave his closing address to the jury yesterday morning.

He said that "the heartland of this case" was Ms Kenna's mental state at the time.

"The prosecution has to prove that this was done by a knowing mind," he said.

"That has been proven by what Ms Kenna said."

She said afterwards that she had a sharp knife to rob somebody and had selected Ms Bourke because "she was only little".

Mr Sammon told the jurors that, depending on their decision, "this becomes either a penal matter or a medical matter".

Probabilities

Barry White SC, defending, explained that the jury was entitled to decide on the balance of probabilities whether his client was legally insane at the time.

"You have to decide which of those two psychiatrists is likely to be correct in relation to her state of mind," he said.

He explained that, if satisfied that the doctor called by the defence was correct, then she was entitled to a special verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity.

He noted that some of the jurors might have concerns for their own safety if Ms Kenna was to be walking the streets of Dublin were they to return the special verdict.

"That would not be the case. You can sleep easy in your bed," he said.

"Ms Kenna will not be released from the care of the Central Mental Hospital until they are satisfied to recommend her release and that's something that will be considered by a High Court judge."

Mr Justice Robert Eagar has charged the jury, which has begun deliberations.
Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy has rejected suggestions that cutting the ribbon on eight new houses was a sign of desperation, given the huge scale of the housing crisis.

The minister officially opened the second phase of a neighbourhood for older people in Malahide, Co Dublin.

The eight new units mean there are now 45 homes in the scheme, spearheaded by St Vincent de Paul, with the help of Government funding.

He defended turning up at the event, insisting: "It's important to be here to acknowledge the community and the fantastic work that people like St Vincent de Paul and the local authority have done."

He said the project was a "large community for the elderly" close to services, family and friends.

Mr Murphy also pointed out that Fingal County Council will deliver more than 640 social homes this year alone in addition to other housing initiatives.

He said the Government would oversee the provision of around 8,000 new social homes by the end of 2018, which he said was "incredibly significant".

He added that overall there would be around 20,000 new homes of all types built this year and this would be ramped up in 2019 due to increased funding in the Budget.

Solutions

Mr Murphy said the Government's priority in housing was "finding solutions and help for people".

The development in Malahide has been acclaimed for the high standard of the homes. The first phase of the estate, St Benedict's, was completed in 2009.

It is built on a plot of land gifted in her will by a local woman, Josephine Denning, to be used for housing for older people.

It is among 875 housing units that have been provided nationwide as a result of St Vincent de Paul initiatives.

Mr Murphy said the history of the development was "very special" because the land was available due to "the generosity of an individual".

He praised the project for the quality of the buildings.

"When we talk about building new homes we have to make sure they're first-class homes, no matter who we're building them for," he said.

"A person's home is their castle and we have to take that approach when we're talking about building private homes, affordable homes and social homes.

"That's something we're committed to doing in government.

"When you come into somewhere like St Benedict's it's quite clear that's what's happened here."

He said "bland" terms like units were used in relation to housing developments, but added: "Really what we're trying to build are communities... that's very much at the centre of everything we're trying to do."
Dean Teeling was twice caught with a phone inside Mountjoy

A serial blade attacker serving a sentence for crimes that include a vicious assault on a French tourist has been given extra jail time for having a mobile phone in his cell.

Dean Teeling (29) was twice caught with a phone when Mountjoy prison guards were carrying out searches.

Dublin District Court heard he was put in solitary confinement for 80 days as a result of having the phones, which he said were to contact his child.

Judge Bryan Smyth jailed him for three months, to run consecutively to one of the jail terms he is already serving.

Teeling, a father-of-one from Cappagh Avenue, Finglas, had pleaded guilty to two counts of unlawful possession of a mobile phone in prison.

The court heard how prison officers searched his cell on May 25 and found a mobile phone.

Disciplined

In another cell search on June 19, he handed over a mobile phone to prison officers.

Teeling was serving consecutive four-year sentences for serious assaults handed down in November 2015.

He had also been convicted of violent disorder in December 2017, receiving a sentence of one year and three months.

Teeling had been disciplined in prison and received two consecutive periods of 40 nights of solitary confinement, defence solicitor Yvonne Bambury said.

He was trying to keep in touch with his child, she added.

Judge Smyth made the three months consecutive to the violent disorder sentence.

Among the offences Teeling is in prison for is an assault on a French tourist on Fleet Street, Temple Bar, on April 24, 2014.

The victim was walking home with friends when his brother bumped into a drunk woman. Teeling then came out of a pub and sliced him across the face with a razor, leaving him needing 19 stitches.
Presidential candidate Peter Casey has accused the Taoiseach of unfairly intervening in the election, saying Leo Varadkar should "shut his trap".

The businessman has withdrawn from public events this weekend "to think carefully about whether to continue in the race".

He is refusing to back down from his view that Travellers should not be considered an ethnic minority.

However, Mr Casey admitted being shaken by the reaction from rival candidates, interest groups and politicians, including Mr Varadkar.

Message

While in Brussels for the crucial EU summit on Brexit, Mr Varadkar urged voters to send Mr Casey "a very clear message" at the ballot box next Friday.

However, Mr Casey believes it was "totally out of order for the Taoiseach to get involved and make statements that impact the presidential election".

He went on to describe the Taoiseach as "being a member of an ethnic community himself" and "being Indian".

Mr Varadkar's father is Indian but he was born in Ireland and has lived here all his life.

A spokesperson for the Taoiseach declined to respond to the comments last night.

Mr Casey has faced widespread calls to drop out of the presidential race following his comments on Independent.ie's Floating Voter podcast.

He has become the most talked about candidate after claiming Travellers are "basically people camping in someone else's land".

Yesterday he denied adopting Trump-like tactics to try to push up his polling figures.

"It disappointed me when he got elected, but I did predict it because when you live there, America is a racist society," he said of Mr Trump.

"I think his behaviour is indefensible, and you can't defend the indefensible and I would certainly not want to."

The Irish-American businessman told Galway Bay FM he is not "in any way racist".

He noted that he grew up in Derry where Catholics were discriminated against in terms of voting rights and jobs.

A decision on whether to withdraw from the race will be announced on Monday - but even if he does quit the race, Mr Casey's name will still appear on the ballot paper.

According to the Department of Local Government, the last date on which a candidate could formally remove their name from the ballot paper was September 26.

Mr Casey said he will not make any decision lightly.

"I haven't said anything that is wrong," he added.

"For the other 'dragons' and other candidates, in particular Michael D, for them to say and suggest that I'm a racist is just so wrong."

Central to Mr Casey's argument has been the case of six unoccupied homes built at a cost 1.7m.

A number of Traveller families are refusing to move in on the basis that they want access to land for their horses.

Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy has now said the dispute in Tipperary can be resolved, and will be resolved.

"We will work to find a resolution. They're fantastic homes," he said.

Mr Murphy added that he had hoped the debate in the presidential election would be focused on "high-minded ideals and values".

"A lot [of] what we've heard today from particular candidates has been of a very low calibre and I think it's very disappointing," he said.
A woman who sustained a severe brain injury when she fell off the side of a Luas on which she was "tram surfing" has settled a High Court action for 550,000.

Eight years ago, when Rebecca Kelly was 13, she and a friend jumped on the outside of the tram, gripping the edge of the doors as it departed Fatima Luas Stop, on the Red Line.

The court heard that she fell back on to the tracks, striking her head, and had to be rescued by her friend.

The friend, with the help of others, pulled her out of the way of an oncoming Luas en route to the city centre.

Counsel for Ms Kelly, Bruce Antoniotti, told the court that his client, who became a mother just two weeks ago, had accepted that the accident was her fault.

Dangerous

She acknowledged she should not have been tram surfing and she knew at the time that it was a dangerous activity.

Counsel said she did not want to blame the driver.

Ms Kelly (20), of Pearse House, Pearse Street, Dublin, sued Luas operators Veolia Transport Dublin Light Rail and Veolia Transport Ireland, of Sir John Rogerson's Quay, Dublin, through her mother, Elizabeth Kelly, as a result of the accident on September 3, 2010.

She claimed there was a failure to have any adequate visual systems employed and activated on the tram.

She also claimed the driver was unable, in the circumstances, to see the non-platform side of the tram before leaving the station.

In addition, Ms Kelly claimed that the tram pulled away from the station without first observing the non-platform side of the tram.

All the claims were denied.

Veolia contended there was contributory negligence on the part of the young girl, as she had allegedly exposed herself to the ri sk of injury by tram surfing with a total disregard for her own safety.

Mr Antoniotti told the court it was a tragic case.

Ms Kelly was with a group of friends at the Fatima Luas Stop on the inbound platform at 9.15pm.

Mr Justice Kevin Cross commented that the activity was similar to something boys used to do in the past by hanging on to the backs of lorries.

Counsel said tram surfing was where young people jumped on to the side door, where there was a small ledge, and put their fingers between the door and the body of the tram and "held on for dear life".

Honesty

There were, he said, 54 instances of tram surfing recorded on Luas trams between the years 2005 and 2010.

The Luas operators had since placed metal strips to prevent gripping between the door and the body of the tram, which had helped deter the practice, he added.

Ms Kelly, he said, jumped on to the side of the Tallaght-bound tram but fell off very quickly and hit her head.

She had never tram surfed before, Mr Antoniotti told the court.

Approving the settlement, Mr Justice Cross said it was not necessary for the court to tell Ms Kelly she did a silly thing, as she knew that.

However, he commended her for her honesty.
Prosecutor David Gumberidze, who is working on the murder of Georgian billionaire Badri Patarkatsishvili, said today that the UK has not been responding to the request of the General Prosecutors Office of Georgia for two years.

I mean audio recordings, as well as other evidence that we received directly on the case of the murder preparation. Also I want to note that in September 2016, the investigation sent a request to the relevant British authorities requesting all the documentation on his case, but we did not receive a reply,  Sputnik-Georgia quotes him as saying.
Among the main events, scheduled for October 25-26 is the Forum of the Regions of Belarus and Ukraine. In Gomel, the parties are planning to sign a large package of documents, agreements and contracts for several tens of millions of dollars. In addition, Alexander Lukashenko was informed about the preparations for the meeting of the Main Group of the Munich Security Conference, TVR.by reports.

The international forum will be held in Minsk on October 30 - November 1, and promises to be very representative including presidents and prime ministers from other countries, the heads of foreign policy departments. The main agenda is regional security issues.
The head of the Moscow Patriarchate department for external church relations, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, said today that Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople was automatically recognized by the Russian Orthodox Church as a schismatic due to his recognition of the autocephaly of Ukrainian schismatics.

By the fact that the Patriarch of Constantinople recognized the schismatics, he himself joined the schism. So are the church canons. Accordingly, for us now the Patriarch of Constantinople is a schismatic,  he explained Russia-24 channel.
For Subscribers Top 25: The best Washington County high school boy athletes since 2001

We have had some great athletes since 2001, so it wasn't an easy job, but here's a break down the best 25 athletes in, Washington County.
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev met Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel on the sidelines of the ASEM summit and discussed implementation of the Nord Stream 2 project with her, TASS reports.

"I had a meeting with Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel. We discussed different issues. Let me frankly say that the Nord Stream was also discussed, certainly. And various statements regarding the Nord Stream that are made overseas," Medvedev said.

The Prime Minister noted that he had presented Russian arguments regarding attractiveness and efficiency of the Nord Stream 2 project for European consumers. "We also discussed certain other points, including development of industrial cooperation and collaboration between German and our companies," he added.

Medvedev said he also had a meeting with Prime Minister of Slovenia, where economic cooperation between two countries was discussed. Matters of "northern interaction," application of law of sea, and environment protection were discussed with the Prime Minister of Norway, he noted.

Meetings were also held with prime ministers of Bulgaria and Cambodia, Medvedev said. "There was also a range of other business contacts," he added.
A wife of the former president of Georgia, the former governor of the Ukrainian Odessa region, Mikhail Saakashvili, Sandra Roelofs, said today that the spouses will soon celebrate a silver wedding anniversary, and they intend to celebrate it in Georgia, which Saakashvili fled shortly before the loss of presidential immunity.

I say, Misha is really determined to come. On November 17, we will have our 25th wedding anniversary, and we want to celebrate this date here in Zugdidi, she said during a meeting with supporters of the United National Movement candidate Grigol Vashadze.
The Star oil refinery will help reduce Turkeys dependence on imports in the petrochemical industry, Turkish Treasury and Finance Minister Berat Albayrak said at the opening ceremony of the Star refinery in Izmir, AzerNews reported.

The minister stressed the importance of the Star refinery for Turkey, noting that the refinery will greatly contribute to the development of the countrys petrochemical industry.

Albayrak reminded that the opening ceremony of the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP), which can be considered a symbol of the brotherhood of Azerbaijan and Turkey in the 21st century, took place four months ago.

The friendship and unity of Azerbaijan and Turkey must become an example for the whole world, he noted.

The minister said that only mutual support, healthy competition and strong cooperation can help protect the interests of the two countries and achieve economic stability.
A 15-year-old boy, who was filling in for his father at their roadside coconut water stall near Rambagh Park on Club Road in northwest Delhis Shalimar Bagh on Friday morning, was shot at when he tried to take on two bike-borne chain snatchers.

Police said the victim, identified as Praveen Kumar Jain, was targeted by the two snatchers when he was at the teenagers coconut water stall. The boys family, fearing for his safety, has requested his name be withheld. Police said the boys condition was stable.

According to investigators, the incident took place between 8.15am and 8.30am. Eyewitnesses have told investigators that a man came to buy coconut water from the boy, who studies in Class 9, around 8.15am.

At that time of incident the boy was talking to the phone with his elder brother.

Two men on a bike, one of them wearing a helmet and the other with his face covered, approached Jain. The pillion rider then attempted to grab at the gold chain that the man was wearing. He, however, instead caught hold of the Jains collar, making him lose his balance and fall. The pillion rider too lost his balance and fell along with the bike, a police officer said.

Seeing this, the teenager reacted quickly and pounced on the pillion rider. As there were morning walkers and joggers around, the two men panicked and the one who was riding pillion whipped out a pistol and shot at the boy. The bullet pierced his right shoulder.

Even as the teenager collapsed, the men fired a second time in the air to scare passersby and sped away from the spot.

Police said that Jain then picked up the boy and rushed him to Fortis Hospital. Meanwhile, another local called the police and informed them about the incident. From Fortis, the boy was referred to Safdurjung hospital, where he was operated upon and his condition was said to be stable.

Deputy commissioner of police (northwest) Aslam Khan said that the two men managed to flee from the spot but the police have leads and they will be arrested soon. We have checked the CCTV footage and are identifying the two men. A case of attempt to murder has been registered, the DCP said.

The teenagers family came to know about the incident from his elder brother who was talking to him and heard the entire incident over the phone. The elder brother, who was on the phone, said, While we were talking, my brother suddenly shouted and went off the line. I kept calling out to him but he did not respond. I did hear two gunshots. I disconnected the call and called him again. A passerby picked up the call and told me the entire episode, he said.
Turkish crime-scene investigators searched the home of the Saudi consul general in Istanbul on Wednesday in the disappearance of Saudi writer Jamal Khashoggi, and a pro-government newspaper published a gruesome account of the journalist's alleged slaying.

As Saudi Arabia's green national flag flapped overhead, forensics teams entered the residence, only 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) from the consulate where Khashoggi vanished Oct. 2 while trying to pick up paperwork to get married. It was the second-such extraordinary search of land considered under international law to be sovereign Saudi soil after investigators spent hours in the consulate earlier this week.

The account published in the Yeni Safak newspaper alleged that Saudi officials cut off Khashoggi's fingers and then decapitated him at the consulate as his fiancee waited outside, NBC reported.
One person was killed and five were injured after a dispute over the route to carry out Durga immersion procession led to clashes in Chando village of Jharkhands Palamu district on Friday evening.

Among those injured are three police personnel, including an assistant sub inspector, while other two are locals, said police. The deceased is identified as 40-year-old Satyanarayan Singh.

Arguments broke out after members of two groups objected to the advancement of the procession for Durga immersion. Even as the security personnel tried to convince the crowd, the mob started pelting stones and indulged in arson.

Police said the irate mob torched five three-wheelers, a tractor, a four-wheeler and two motorcycles, in addition to burning down four houses and three shops. Police had to resort to firing to bring the situation under control.

Palamu deputy commissioner Shantanu Agrahari and superintendent of police Indrajeet Mahatha, in a joint briefing, said, The situation is under control at Chando. Six persons have been arrested. Additional forces have been deployed in the area.

Prohibitory order under Section 144 of the Indian Penal Code has been imposed in area.

Meanwhile, police said two people were arrested after a procession in Palamus Bakoria area also saw clashes between members of two communities.
The Himachal Pradesh government is considering renaming state capital Shimla to Shyamala, a demand made by right-wing Hindu groups as part of efforts to remove symbols of British rule .

Before the British arrived, Shimla was known as Shyamala. My government will seek public opinion on the demand for its renaming, chief minister Jai Ram Thakur said on the sideline of Dussehra festivities at Jakhu temple Friday evening.

The demand for changing Shimlas name gained momentum after the Uttar Pradesh government renamed Allahabad as Prayagraj.

State health minister Vipin Parmar said that there was no harm in changing the name of Shimla, the summer capital of India under the British from 1864 to Independence, and landmarks associated with the British.

The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) had long demanded the government change the towns name. However, in 2016, then chief minister Virbhadra Singh had rejected renaming Shimla, saying it was an internationally-famous tourist destination.

Slavery can either be physical, mental or cultural. Sticking to names given by oppressors is sign of mental slavery. Changing names of town is a small but significant step, VHP state president Aman Puri said, adding The country had done away with several symbols of British rule after independence, but in Himachal, several names remain of the colonial time.

The British could not pronounce Shyamala so they changed the name to Shimla, he alleged.

The VHP has also been seeking the state tourism department-run Hotel Peterhoff be named after sage Valmiki, author of the epic Ramayana. Peterhoff, which was the residence of the governor generals and viceroys of British India, had housed the Punjab high court after independence and was the venue for the trial of Nathu Ram Godse for assassinating Mahatma Gandhi. It had later served the state Raj Bhavan before being gutted in a fire and rebuilt in 1991.

It has also been demanding Dalhousie be renamed after famous revolutionary leader Subhas Chandra Bose and Nurpur town should be named after 1857 war of independence warrior Ram Singh Pathania, instead of Mughal empress Noor Jahan.

The opposition Congress however ridiculed plans to change Shimlas name. Instead of changing name of the town, the government should focus on resolving the problems in the town as well as in the state. It should work for peoples welfare... name change wont help, said Congress state general secretary and chief spokesman Naresh Chauhan.
Even as political leaders made a beeline to the rail tragedy spot in Amritsar that left 61 Dussehra revellers dead, Congress councillor Vijay Madaan and her son Saurabh Madaan Meethu, who organised the event, have gone underground.

The tragic incident took place on Friday evening when a local train ploughed through crowds who were standing on the tracks watching the Ravana effigy burning.

Visibly, the crowd was angry and raised a protest, demanding action against the event organiser, Saurabh.

People close to him said after the accident, victims family members and agitated crowd came to his house but he managed to escape, without giving any clue about his whereabouts.

When the HT team visited the house of the councillor on Saturday, it was locked. Saurabhs father Raman Madaan, his brother and sister-in-law had also left the residence.

Rajiv Sharma Dimpy, a BJP leader, whose wife had unsuccessfully contested against Vijay, said Saurabh shouldnt have absconded like a coward. He said the organiser is at fault and strict action should be taken against Saurabh and other organisers for their mismanagement.

(Saurabh) Meethu and his family share a close relation with the local bodies minister and Amritsar East MLA Navjot Singh Sidhu. Thats why the police are reluctant to take action against him, a local politician said, while requesting anonymity.

However, Chaman Lal, Saurabhs neighbour, said the Madaans have a good reputation in the locality and they always stand by people in bad times.

On being asked why then Saurabh had left his house, Lal said it was due to security.

The agitating crowd had visited the locality, and had he been there, something untoward would have happened. The crowd could have killed them. Even I would have run away in such a scenario, he said.

Lal said crowds were raising slogans against Saurabh till 2am and police was deployed in the locality, due to which violence was averted.

Meanwhile, the agitating crowds and the families of victims have been demanding action against Saurabh and Navjot Kaur Sidhu, who allegedly left the venue after the accident.

But Sidhus husband and minister Navjot Singh Sidhu said she was attending to injured at the hospital when allegations were being levelled against her.

Also read | Entire families have been wiped out: Amritsar train accident eyewitness
The rail tragedy that claimed 61 lives and left many injured during Dussehra festivities in Amritsar on Friday has turned into a political minefield.

Opposition Akali Dal-BJP leaders on Saturday trained their guns on Punjab local government minister Navjot Singh Sidhu, saying his wife, Navjot Kaur, who was chief guest at the function, fled the scene after the accident. They also claimed the organiser Mithu Madan, son of councillor Vijay Madan, a Sidhu loyalist, overlooked security concerns and did not inform local Railway employees about the event, a claim denied by Sidhu loyalists.

Union finance minister Arun Jaitley said initial reports suggested it was an avoidable tragedy. Shiormani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Badal demanded the ministers resignation. Sidhus arch rival, Akali leader Bikram Majithia, also demanded that Sidhu be booked. I demand immediate registration of case against people present on the stage, including Sidhus wife and arrest of those who gave permission for holding function near the rail track, Majithia said.

Sidhu, who accompanied chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh to visit victims in hospitals, refused to react to demands for his resignation. It is not the time to indulge in political blame game..., he said. Both SAD-BJP and Sidhu loyalists posted videos making claims and counter-claims over what happened.

Punjab BJP spokesman Rajesh Honey, who contested against Sidhu from the Amritsar East seat in last years state polls, posted videos of anchor Bawa Ludhianawale telling the crowd from stage in presence of Kaur that 5000 people are standing on rail tracks. They arent worried...500 trains pass from there.

Honey said Kaur fled the ground after the train mowed down people. Had she reached the function on time, the effigy would have been burnt before 7 pm and the tragedy could have been averted, he said.

Denying the allegation Kaur said: When the event anchor said 500 people are standing on rail tracks, I asked the organisers if they had made an announcement to warn them. I had ended my speech and left while the Ravan effigy was burning. I had to attend two more functions and got to know about the accident 15 minutes after I had left.

Sidhu loyalists also circulated permissions taken from police and civil administration on social media and videos of the speeding train and asked how the train driver has been given a clean chit without a probe.

Bawa said there was a time lag of half-an-hour between the two videos. We warned them before the chief guest came..., he said.

Read | Amritsar tragedy was due to trespassing, not railways fault; no action against driver

Punjab BJP spokesman Rajesh Honey, who contested against Sidhu from the Amritsar East seat in last years state polls, posted videos of anchor Bawa Ludhianawale telling the crowd from stage in presence of Kaur that 5000 people are standing on rail tracks. They arent worried...500 trains pass from there.

Honey said Kaur fled the ground after the train mowed down people. Had she reached the function on time, the effigy would have been burnt before 7 pm and the tragedy could have been averted, he said.

Denying the allegation Kaur said: When the event anchor said 500 people are standing on rail tracks, I asked the organisers if they had made an announcement to warn them. I had ended my speech and left while the Ravan effigy was burning. I had to attend two more functions and got to know about the accident 15 minutes after I had left.

Sidhu loyalists also circulated permissions taken from police and civil administration on social media and videos of the speeding train and asked how the train driver has been given a clean chit without a probe.

Bawa said there was a time lag of half-an-hour between the two videos. We warned them before the chief guest came..., he said.
Police had given clearance to the Dussehra organising committee of Amritsar East for burning the effigy of Ravana at dhobi ghat near Joda Phatak railway crossing despite it being too small to accommodate such a huge crowd.

The municipal corporation has allotted the dhobi ghat ground spread over barely an acre to washermen in the residential area along the railway track. The area is congested and local residents said that the Dussehra event was not held at the venue last year in view of this.

DCP Amrik Singh Pawar said the permission was given after the station house officer concerned gave clearance to the site. The organisers are led by Saurabh Mithu Madan, the son of ward number 29 councillor Vijay Madan. The councillor is close to the family of Congress minister and Amritsar East MLA Navjot Singh Sidhu. His wife Navjot Kaur was the chief guest.

Ravanas effigy was put up in the middle of the residential area that is barely 100 feet from the track.

Follow live updates here: 61 killed as train runs over crowd watching Dussehra
Around 7pm on Friday, a huge crowd was watching the Dussehra celebrations at Dhobi Ghat when they were mowed down by a diesel multiple unit (DMU) train, says the first information report (FIR) registered by Balvir Singh, the station house officer (SHO) of Government Railway Police (GRP), Amritsar.

The FIR, registered on the statement of assistant sub-inspector (ASI) Satnam Singh, in-charge of Golden Avenue police post that falls under Mohkampura police station, named unidentified persons for negligence. Nearly 100 policemen, including Mohkampura SHO Sukhinder Singh and A-division SHO Jaspal Singh, were present on Dussehra duty before the incident took place, the ASI said.

Chander Shekhar Luthra, an eyewitness and resident of Joda Phatak, said: There were many policemen at the Dussehra function but they didnt bother to evict people from the rail tracks.

Sharing the sequence of events, Satnam Singh said: I along with other police personnel was deployed at the Dussehra function at Dhobi Ghat near Joda Phatak where a huge crowd had gathered. As soon as the effigy of Ravana caught fire, the whole area resonated with the sound of crackers. In the meantime, DMU-74643, which was coming from Jalandhar to Amritsar station, passed by. We reached the railway track immediately and found there were several bodies, including those of women and children, lying on and along the track. Many people were injured. With the help of the public at the spot, we rushed the injured to the civil hospital. Ambulances and more police were called to the spot.

The FIR says that after the statement of the ASI, GRP SHO Balvir Singh reached the spot and began investigation. The case was registered under Section 304 (punishment for culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 304-A (causing death by negligence), 337 (causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others) and 338 (causing grievous hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others) of the Indian Penal Code against unidentified persons.

Event on big scale

Eyewitnesses and residents of the area said the Dussehra function was held at the Dhobi Ghat for three decades but was not allowed last year after residents opposed it, saying it was unsafe in the congested residential area. Jaskaran Singh, a local resident, said, The ceremony used to be held here but this time it was on a much larger scale. Earlier, the organisers would form a human chain to prevent people for reaching the rail tracks but no such arrangement was made this time. Amritsar municipal corporation (MC) commissioner Sonali Giri confirmed that the function was on a larger scale this time.

Navjot Kaur Sidhu, a former MLA and the wife of Punjab minister Navjot Singh Sidhu, was the chief guest. Maninder Singh, a resident of Mohkampura, said, The function was delayed as the chief guest arrived late. The effigy was burnt when it had become dark. Navjot Kaur said, I left the spot 15 minutes before the incident took place. Mayor Karamjit Singh Rintu said the function was organised by Saurabh Madan, the son of Congress councillor Vijay Madan.

Cops gave permission

Amritsar police admitted that they had given permission for the event after receiving a report from the area station house officer. However, the police and district administration did not inform the railways about the function. Manoj Sinha, the minister of state for railways, said, The event was held near the Amritsar-Delhi rail route but no railway official was informed.

Railway sources said the loco pilot (driver) said he had the green and all clear signal and had no idea that a crowd was gathered on the tracks. Divisional railway manager, Ferozepur, Vivek Kumar said, The railways is not responsible for the accident, which took place due to trespassing on tracks.
Arunachal Pradesh continues to be on high alert after the level of Siang river rose dramatically as water overflowed from an artificial lake in neighbouring Tibet that had formed after a landslide blocked the river upstream where it is called Yarlung Tsangpo.

In East Siang district, many people living near the banks of the Siang river have been evacuated to safer locations as a precautionary measure, officials said.

According to reports, eight teams of the National Disaster Response Force landed at the Advance Landing Ground in Pasighat Saturday morning from Bhubaneswar.

At 9 am, the water levels stood at 151.4 metres at Pasighat in East Siang district and are expected to rise to 155.5 metres  1.5 metres above the danger mark, according to the central water commission.

The water levels of Siang reached to 418.4 metres at midnight in Tuting in the Upper Siang district. Water Level on river #Siang at #Tuting(Monitorimg stn.) in #Upper Siang dist. of #Arunachal Pradesh at 2400 hrs is 418.4 m rising trend which is 2.03m below its HFL420.43m.CWC.ND, the commission said in a tweet.

Deputy Commissioner of Upper Siang, Duly Kamduk said no damage has been reported in the district.

The water level in Siang fell by more than 8 metres by 7 am in Tuting even as it rose in Pasighat.

River Siang at Tuting in Upper Siang Dt Arunachal Pradesh has fallen by more than 8 m by 0700 hrs 20-10-2018 from the peak level attained during midnight on 19-10-2018.Hydrograph is appended, the Commission said in a tweet.

The Siang becomes the Brahmaputra once it enters Assam.

The CWC had cautioned people to avoid river front and river related activities after it lost data communication from the Chinese side.

Department of Disaster Management, Arunachal Pradesh, too, has earlier conveyed to the district administration in East Siang to take precautionary measures to meet any eventualities as the water levels were expected to rise suddenly.

East Siang district administration had issued an alert as it cautioned people not to venture into Siang and peripheral areas to collect driftwood, fishing or swimming apprehending a sudden flash flood in the downstream areas in case the dam bursts and releases the vast quantity of accumulated water.

And also people living in low lying areas (both the right and left bank of Siang River) viz Jarku, Paglek, SS Mission, Jarkong, Banskota, Berung, Jampani, Sigar, Ralling, Borguli, Seram, Kongkul, Namsing, Mer, Gadum, etc to remain alert but without panic for any eventuality that may happen due to above reasons, it said in a statement.

According to an Associated Press report from Beijing, around 6,000 people have been evacuated in Tibet around the area where the lake has formed. China is said to have informed India of the development.

The landslide struck near a village in Menling County and the water in the artificial lake had risen to 131 feet by Thursday, according to Chinese authorities, the AP report said.
Even as Arunachal Pradesh braced for flash floods and the disaster relief agencies were on the standby, there were no reports of damage downstream in either Arunachal Pradesh or Assam.

The high alert was sounded after the level of Siang river rose dramatically as water overflowed from an artificial lake in neighbouring Tibet that had formed after a landslide blocked the river upstream where it is called Yarlung Tsangpo. According to the Central Water Commission (CWC), the water levels of Siang in Pasighat in East Siang district of Arunachal Pradesh peaked to 152.97 metres at 2 pm Saturday, just 1 cm above the warning level. The CWC said the levels started falling from 3 pm.

According to the CWC, the water levels in Dibrugarh district of Assam remained below the warning levels. In East Siang district, many people living near the banks of the Siang river have been evacuated to safer locations as a precautionary measure, officials said. According to reports, eight teams of the NDRF landed at the Advance Landing Ground in Pasighat Saturday morning from Bhubaneswar.

Deputy Commissioner of Upper Siang, Duly Kamduk said no damage has been reported in the district. The water level in Siang fell by more than 8 metres by 7 am in Tuting even as it rose in Pasighat.

The Siang becomes the Brahmaputra once it enters Assam. The CWC had cautioned people to avoid river front and river related activities after it lost data communication from the Chinese side.

State Department of Disaster Management too, had earlier conveyed to the district administration in East Siang to take precautionary measures to meet any eventualities as the water levels were expected to rise suddenly. The district administration had issued an alert as it cautioned people not to venture into Siang and peripheral areas to collect driftwood, fishing or swimming apprehending a sudden flash flood in the downstream areas in case the dam bursts.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday nominated Chhattisgarh chief minister Raman Singh from his present assembly segment Rajnandgaon and denied tickets to 14 sitting legislators, including minister Ramshila Sahu, in the first list of 77 candidates for the state assembly elections to be held in two phases in November.

The candidates for Telangana and Mizoram were also announced at a meeting of the partys central election committee attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, home minister Rajnath Singh and partys national president Amit Shah, among others.

Candidates for the other two BJP ruled states Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan will be announced later.

Among the 77 candidates announced out of a total of 90 assembly segments in Chattisgarh, 14 are women candidates and 14 sitting MLAs have been replaced with new names, Union health minister J P Nadda said.

The minister said partys member of Parliament Vikram Usendi will contest from Antahgarh seat of Bastar region and former Raipur collector OP Chaudhary, who recently joined BJP, will contest from Kharsaiya seat.

The sitting MLAs who were denied ticket are Ramshila Sahu (minister), Yudhveer Singh Judev , Sunita Rathiya, Vidhyaratan Bhasin, Raju Khatriya, Bhojram Nag and Naveen Markandey.

Congress spokesperson RP Singh said that the list reflects that BJP has lost the election even before the contest. From the list it is clear that the BJP will not cross 25-mark in Chhattisgarh, said Singh.

On November 12, 18 seats in the Maoist-affected Bastar region will go for polls for which the BJP announced 17 candidates.

The Congress earlier this week had announced 12 candidates from the region.

The second phase of elections is scheduled on November 20, for which the BJP has announced 60 candidates.

The Congress is yet to announce list for the segments going to polls in second phase.

Votes in all five poll bound states will be counted on December 7.

In 2013, the BJP won 49 seats, Congress 39, BSP and independent one each. The vote difference between the Congress and the BJP was less than one percentage point then.

The Bharatiya Janata Party also released a list of 38 candidates, including five sitting legislators, for the 119 member Telangana assembly, which will go to polls on December 7.

The Telangana list includes names of three women, three scheduled castes and six tribals. Sitting member of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS)Babu Mohan, who joined the BJP recently, has been given ticket from his present constituency Andole.

Hindu seer Swamy Paripoornananda, who joined the BJP on Friday, did not find a place in the first list.

The party also released a list of 13 candidates for the 40 member Mizoram assembly, for which election will be held on November 28.
A Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) municipal councillor in Meerut was arrested Saturday for allegedly beating up a sub-inspector of police and roughing up a woman accompanying him as an argument over delayed service at his restaurant turned violent, police said.

A case of assault and other charges was registered against councillor Manish Panwar and his staff at the Black Pepper restaurant on the womans complaint, a police officer said. Footage of the CCTV camera shows the woman throwing plates in the restaurant and Panwar repeatedly slapping sub-inspector Sukhpal Singh Panwar and abusing him and his staff dragging him on the floor.

The police officer tried to capture the entire incident on his mobile phone, but the staff members snatched it away.

Circle officer, Daurala, Pankaj Singh said that sub-inspector, posted at the Mohiuddinpur post, has been sent to police lines and a departmental probe has also been ordered against him. A case would be registered against the officer if he was found guilty, he added.

BJP city president Mukesh Singhal said he was not aware about the incident as he was in Lucknow and will inquire about it.

The sub-inspector had gone to the restaurant along with a woman on Friday night and an argument broke out between the woman and restaurant staff after a delay in serving food. The restaurant staff accused the woman of using foul language.

In the meantime, Manish Panwar allegedly ordered the staff to close the restaurants doors and thrashed the sub-inspector.

The woman told officials that she had gone to meet the sub-inspector in connection with a case and that the staff misbehaved with her when she raised the issue of delay in their order.

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US Secretary of Defense James Mattis met his Russian counterpart Sergey Shoigu for the first time on Saturday. After shaking hands, the two men briefly talked about the recent horrific school shooting in Kerch, RT reports.

Shoigu and Mattis spoke with each other on the sidelines of a defense and security-themed event in Singapore, the Russian Defense Ministry reported. The officials met while making their way to a conference hall for a planned session with defense ministers of the ASEAN nations.

The Pentagon chief expressed his condolences regarding the recent deadly tech college shooting in the Russian city of Kerch. On Wednesday, an 18-year-old student entered the school premises armed with a hunting shotgun and killed 20 people, most of whom were his teenage schoolmates.

According to the ministry, Mattis said that Americans understand how Russians feel since similar tragedies have happened in the US. Shoigu thanked Mattis for his sympathies, noting that such shootings have become more common, and that the countries need to do all they can to prevent them.
The BJP has, for the first time, managed to win seats in Kashmir councils and committees in the four-phase elections to local bodies, counting for which began early on Saturday amid tight security at various centres.

The Congress won two prominent municipal councils of Kashmir, while most of the independent candidates bagged seats in Srinagar Municipal Corporation. The BJP emerged victorious in the Jammu Municipal Corporation. The elections saw abysmal voter turnout with just over 4 % of them casting their votes in Kashmir while Ladakh and Jammu regions saw good participation.

In Jammu Municipal Corporation, the BJP emerged as a single largest party, signalling that its base in urban Jammu is still intact. However, the BJP candidates could just win four seats in Srinagar Municipal Corporation. Party leaders claim that many independent candidates who emerged victorious in Srinagar Corporation elections are affiliated with party allies.

Of the total 74 wards in the SMC, eight were uncontested. In 66 wards, independents won in 49 wards, Congress won in 12 wards and BJP in four wards. BJP won in 97 wards in d Kashmir Valley for first time and secured maximum wins in Baramulla (25), Anantnag (29) and Shopian (12), tweeted BJP general secretary Ram Madhav. In Baramulla Municipal Council, Congress won 12, while BJP stood second with six seats in 21 member council. In South Kashmirs Anantnag Municipal Council, Congress bagged 20 out of 23 wards while the BJP won in three wards.

In Uri, the Congress won six wards, while independents managed to secure victory in 7 wards in the 13-member committee. BJP couldnt win a single seat there. In Watergam, BJP won eight seats unopposed and one seat was bagged by an independent candidate. In Bandipore Municipal Committee, the Congress bagged 13 seats out of 17 seats. In North Kashmirs Kupwara district, independents affiliated with Sajjad Lones Peoples Conference and Riyaz Ahmad Mir, won most of the seats.

In neighbouring Handwara, all 13 seats were won by independent candidates affiliated with Sajjad Lone. The BJP managed most of the seats in Shopian (12) and Pulwama as no elections were held there. In Leh Municipality, Congress swept all the 13 seats. The party won five wards in Kargil while independents won nine seats. The BJP drew a blank in Leh and Kargil Municipal area. In Devsar municipal committee, the BJP won all the eight seats.

The BJP got a simple majority in Qazigund Municipal Committee, winning four of the seven wards. In Pahalgam municipal committee, the party won seven of the 13 seats uncontested.

Two big mainstream parties NC and the PDP had stayed away from these polls blaming the government for linking the case of Article 35A of the Constitution with the local body and panchayat elections. Separatist groups and militants had asked people to boycott these polls. Kashmir witnessed 4.2 % polling while Ladakh and Jammu recorded 62.1 and 68.7 % polling, respectively.

BJP earned peoples trust: Shah

BJP president Amit Shah said his party had earned the trust of people in J&K with its impressive show in the urban local body polls in the state. These results are a reflection of aspiration of people of Jammu and Kashmir, who want to move away from politics of strife towards PM Modis politics of development. I thank them for their continued support and assure them that the BJP will leave no stone unturned to realise their dreams, he tweeted.
Several districts of Arunachal Pradesh and Assam have been put on flood alert following reports that water of the Yarlung Tsangpo river in China which had been blocked due to landslides, has over flown the block point on Friday afternoon.

An artificial lake had formed on the Yarlung Tsangpo on Wednesday after a cliff fell at Milin section of the river, 70 km from Nuxia Hydrological Station in Tibet, around 100 km from the Indian border.

Due to the formation of the lake, water level of the Siang river in Arunachal Pradesh has gone down and has also led to fears of large scale floods if the dam formed by the landslide breaks.

The Yarlung Tsangpo is called Siang once it enters Arunachal Pradesh from Tibet. The same river is known as Brahmaputra after it reaches Assam.

On Friday, the Indian embassy in Beijing informed authorities in Arunachal Pradesh through video conferencing that the blocked water had over flown the blockade around 2:00 pm and was flowing downstream to Siang.

It was flowing at 18,000 cubic metre/second. As a result, the water level of river Siang in Arunachal Pradesh is likely to rise suddenly tonight (Friday night)/tomorrow (Saturday), said a most urgent notice issued by the disaster management department of Arunachal Pradesh.

The embassy, however, clarified that it was only a case of overflow over the debris of the block point and there was no break of the blockade.

According to Central Water Commission (CWC) in case of a breach at the blockade, the water will rush downstream at the speed of 80,000 cubic metre/second and may cause major damages.

Four districts in Arunachal Pradesh--East Siang, West Siang, Siang, Upper Sianghave been asked to take precautionary measures like alerting people through wide publicity, take evacuation measures in low lying areas, restrain people from venturing to the Siang and undertake constant monitoring.

The water is likely to reach Tuting (Arunachal Pradesh) in 10-14 hrs (around 12 am-4 am IST) and another 8-10 hours (8 am-10 am) Pasighat (Arunachal Pradesh) from the time of overflow over the blockade, it added.

Eight companies of NDRF forces are being airlifted from Bhubaneshwar, Odisha to Pasighat on Saturday and will be positioned at Tuting, Pangin and Pasighat to take part in rescue and relief operations if needed.

Several districts in upper Assam are also on alert to prevent any eventuality if water level on the Brahmaputra rises suddenly.

In 2000, 30 people were killed and nearly 100 went missing in Arunachal Pradesh due to flash floods following breach of a dam on the Yarlung Tsangpo.

On Friday, authorities tried to assuage fears of a repeat of the 2000 incident. Union cabinet secretary Pradeep Kumar Sinha told Arunachal Pradesh Chief Secretary Satya Gopal that Chinese government is sharing information with India in advance for managing a possible disaster.
The Punjab and Railway Police on Saturday questioned the driver of the train that crushed at least 60 people while they were watching the burning of a Ravana effigy from a railway track Friday night in Amritsar.

Punjab Police officials said that the driver, also called loco pilot, had been detained at Ludhiana railway station and was being questioned about the incident in Amritsar, IANS reported.

Earlier on Friday, the driver had informed the station master at Amritsar about the tragedy, officials said.

A railway official said the drivers version will also be recorded to ascertain the cause of the accident.

Sources said that the driver claimed that he was given green signal and all clear and had no idea that hundreds of people were standing on the tracks.

Railway officials were also gathering information from the linemen posted along the tracks near the Jora Phatak area who failed to inform the driver about the presence of hundreds of people on the tracks.

Witnesses and survivors said the deafening noise of fire crackers masked the sound of the approaching train.

Union minister of state for railways Manoj Sinha who visited the accident spot late Friday night, said that the incident was being probed and that the tragedy was unfortunate.

No action has so far been initiated against the organisers, who are leaders of the ruling Congress in Punjab, of the Dussehra event. Police sources said that the organisers had gone underground.
The confrontation between the Haryana government and striking roadways employees over governments decision to induct 700 private buses further intensified on Friday with the latter extending their strike for three more days till October 22.

Calling the governments move a step towards privatisation, the employees had first gone on a two-day strike on October 16 but extended it for two more days after the government stated that the step was in employees and peoples interest and cracked a whip on the employees. In retaliation, the union on Friday announced to extend their strike for three more days.

Meanwhile, hundreds of commuters across Haryana continued to be on the receiving end of the confrontation between the government and roadways staff.

The transport department had on Thursday launched a damage control exercise and roped in buses and drivers from private educational and other institutes to ferry passengers.

Roadways employees leader Sarbat Poonia said they will take the further course of action on Monday and have extended the strike till then.

Additional chief secretary (transport) Dhanpat Singh said that while the department could rope in about 3,000 buses from different institutions on Thursday, the demand lessened on Friday owing to Dussehra. On Friday, the department ran about 2,100 buses700 roadways, 460 school buses and 1,050 from cooperative societies with drivers of different departments as well as police personnel or other persons as its conductors.

Singh, however, said that the Chandigarh depot remained worst hit as against the routine 80 roadways buses, it ran only two. Other hard-hit districts were Fatehabad, Jind, Kurukshetra and Kaithal.

He added that the situation in the remaining districts and Delhi depot was not as bad as roadways and other official agencies could rope in several buses.

He, however, also admitted that the roadways did not ply any of its 100 buses on the inter-state long routes.

In Rohtak, the administration roped in several school buses of private schools to compensate for the roadways buses that went off roads due to employees strike.

The authorities said the schools permission were sought before requesting them to allot their buses as they would be free during holidays for Dussehra. At many places, Haryana Police officials were asked to drive the Haryana Roadways buses

In Karnal, striking roadways employees burnt the effigy of the chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar.

As many as 44 striking employees of Haryana roadways were arrested and 12, including union leaders Virender Singh, were sent to judicial custody, whereas 32 were granted bail.

Union gets political backing

The striking employees were also seen getting support from different political leaders. In Rohtak, Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) leader Abhay Chautala met the striking employees, supported their demand and slammed the government for its failure to handle the issue. Former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda attacked the government over strike and called it a big inconvenience to the public.

In Kurukshetra, the INLD state president Ashok Arora met the protesting employees and extended support to their demands.

He asked the government to resolve the issue to provide relief to the people.
Security forces were on high alert across Madhya Pradesh Saturday as a letter allegedly from Pakistan-based terrorist outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba threatened to blow up several railway stations, bus stands and temples  including the Ujjain Mahakal temple  across the state, Rajasthan and Gujarat on October 20 and November 9.

While there was no report of any incident in any place on Saturday as threatened in the letter, a senior intelligence official said that they are taking all the necessary precautions, and all officials concerned have been alerted.

Alerting them about the threat, the Special Branch of the Madhya Pradesh police asked the deputy inspector generals of police of Indore and Bhopal, all district superintendents of police, and superintendents of police (railway) to increase security at railway stations, bus stands and places of worship.

The handwritten threat letter allegedly from Maulvi Abu Sheikh, area commander of Lashkar-e-Taiba in Pakistans Rawalpindi, was received on September 29 at the office of railway station manager, Jaipur. Threatening revenge for the deaths of all jihadis, it said: This time we will celebrate Dussehra and Diwali with bombs.

Among other places, the terror outfit threatened to blow up the Bhopal, Gwalior, Jabalpur and Katni railway stations in Madhya Pradesh and Jaipur railway station and bus stations at several other places in Rajasthan, on October 20. They also threatened to bomb the Mahakal temple and Sai temple in Ujjain.
In its push to promote Hindi at the world body, India has reiterated its request to the United Nations to conduct tours for visitors to the headquarters in that language.

Saying that the tour is popular with Indians visiting New York, Deepak Misra, a minister in the Indian Mission, made the request while speaking at a meeting on Friday on information issues held by the General Assembly committee dealing with special political matters.

The guided tour has been very popular with Indian tourists to New York and, as highlighted by our delegations last year. We urge the addition of guided tour in Hindi, Indias official language, to facilitate the tourists, he said.

The UN now offers tours in its six official languages  Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish  as well as in German, Italian, Japanese, Korean and Portuguese.

The tours run between 45 minutes and an hour and cost $22 for adults and $15 for students and seniors.

Besides viewing the Security Council and General Assembly Chambers and visiting exhibits, the visitors get an overview from the tour guides of issues important to the UN like disarmament, peace and security, human rights and sustainable development.

Stressing the case for Hindi, Misra said: Genuine multilingualism promotes unity in diversity and international understanding by recognising the importance of communicating to the peoples of the world in their languages by bringing the common goals and ideals closer to the people.

Misra also asked the UN to publish its peacekeeping website in the main languages of the troop contributing countries. He acknowledged that the UN was facing a financial crunch that affected its ability to expand its activities.

Therefore, he said, the Department of Public Information has to look at innovative ways to raise resources through initiatives like raising voluntary contributions to expand its global outreach activities in the widely-spoken non-official languages.

The UN began to incorporate Hindi in its social media outreach by launching a Twitter feed in the language in July.

Last month, the UN advertised for a Hindi Public Information Officer at its headquarters in New York.

The advertisement said that besides monitoring media, the officers responsibilities would include production of news stories and multimedia feature materials on UN activities.
Former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Friday took a dig at INLDs internal feud, saying that it was a diminishing cadre that will not exist till the assembly elections. Addressing a press conference at his residence in Rohtak, Hooda said INLDs workers at grassroots level were approaching the Congress to shift base in view of its downfall.

INLD has been exposed. People have realised that this party has only worked for its personal benefit and never for the residents of the state. I dont want to comment on the partys internal fight but it is clear that it is a diminishing cadre that will not be able to stand even till the upcoming elections, Hooda said.

Reacting to his statement, INLD leader Abhay Chautala said, Hooda is talking nonsense as he is seeing jail in his dreams due to acts of corruption during his tenure. He has no say in the Congress and is only trying to keep himself and his son relevant in his party.

Abhay was in Rohtak on Friday evening to support the striking roadways employees.

Earlier, former CM Hooda also attacked the ruling BJP and called it a pick-and-choose government. Their biases are very clear. They have no uniform policy for anyone. They suspend someone for no reason but shower promotions on those guilty of wrongdoings, said Hooda.

Taking a dig at chief minister (CM) Manohar Lal Khattar, Hooda said the CM might be searching for a new constituency to contest the polls next year because his own constituency will not vote for him.

He further said,  Prime Minister Narendra Modis recent rally in Rohtak did not feel like a rally of a PM. Maybe that is why he cancelled his plans to take part in Haryana Day celebrations on November 1.

Wishing Dussehra to the residents of the state, Hooda said the festival on Friday will mark the end of evil for the residents as the elections were inching closer and they would get rid of the BJP government.
The Congress won two prominent Municipal Councils of Kashmir, while BJP for the first time managed to win few committees in the four-phase elections to local bodies as counting began early Saturday morning amid tight security at various centres.

The elections saw abysmal voter turnout with just four per cent of them casting their votes in Kashmir while Ladakh and Jammu regions saw good participation.

In Baramulla Municipal Council, Congress won 12, while BJP came second with five seats.

In South Kashmirs Anantnag Municipal Council, Congress bagged 20 out of 23 wards while the BJP won in three wards.

In Uri while Congress won six wards, while independents managed to secure 7 wards in the 13-member committee. In Watergam BJP won eight seats unopposed and one seat was bagged by an independent candidate.

In Leh Municipality, Congress swept all 13 seats. The party won five wards in Kargil while independents were declared elected to six wards. The BJP drew a blank in Leh and Kargil.

In Srinagar Municipal Corporation so far Congress has won 2 seats and BJP won a single seat as counting is going on 74 seats.

The BJP won opposed in 12 wards in Shopian while five wards in the district did not have any nominations. In Devsar municipal committee, the party won all the eight seats.

The BJP got a simple majority in Qazigund Municipal Committee, winning four of the seven wards. The other three wards had no candidates.

In Pahalgam municipal committee, the party won seven of the 13 seats uncontested, while there were no candidates for the remaining six seats.

Two big mainstream parties NC and the PDP had stayed away from these polls blaming government for linking the case of Article 35A of the Constitution with the local body and panchayat elections. Separatist groups including the Hurriyat Conference boycotted the elections.

There were no signs of any electioneering in the run up to the polls after militant outfits threatened to target those taking part in the polls.

(With PTI inputs)
Grief, shock and outrage hung in the air a day after around 61 people were killed and 94 injured when a train ploughed through crowds watching Dussehra celebrations in Amritsar on Friday.

While many were shocked and heartbroken at the deaths of their dear ones, several were distraught and inconsolable at not being able to find the bodies or remains of their kindred.

Bodies of four of family untraceable

Bawa Dogra (40) of Jaura Phatak said his sister Ashmina Dogra along her husband Aman Dogra and children Nakul (11) and Kashish (7) had gone to watch the Dussehra celebrations but no one returned home. I am still looking for my sisters body but have been able to find only one arm from Amritsar civil hospitals mortuary.

Bawa said he had told Ashmina not to go there as it was unsafe but she didnt pay any heed. It was the fault of administration which didnt arrange any security despite a Punjab ministers wife being the chief guest. Strict action should be taken against the organisers of the Dussehra function, he demanded.

Niece not told about husband, sons death

Dabbu Mandal, a labourer from Mohkampura area, said, My niece Aarti (23) along with her husband Jatinder (24) and her son Shivam (2) had been living in my house since last two years. On Friday, the three had gone to witness the Dussehra celebration at Jaura Fatak and were hit by the train. Jatinder and Shivam were killed while Aarti suffered injuries and was admitted to Hartej hospital. She has been asking us about her husband and son, but we are not telling about their deaths as she fell unconscious two times since Friday night.

Husband, son killed; wife in coma

Kiran Kumari of Jaura Fatak said, My uncle Dinesh (40), his wife Preeti (38) and their son Abhishek (12) had gone to see the burning Ravana. Hit by the train, Dinesh and Abhishek lost their lives on the spot while Preeti suffered severe head injury and she has been in coma. Their another son Arush (3) is longing for his parents. It is so shocking.

Cousin missing, phone unreachable

Rajan Kumar, who played the role of Hanuman in the Dussehra celebration, said his cousin Munish, a DAV college student, was at the Dussehra celebrations.

Since the train tragedy happened, his phone number has been unreachable. I am sure he was hit by the train, but we are not able to find his body. His family is also trying to find him everywhere but to no avail.

Pictures of severed head appeared on social media, kin look for boys remains

Vijay Kumar, a wholesale dealer of shoes and resident of Dharampur, said his son Manish, who had passed out of Class 12 and was unemployed, had left the house at 5 pm on Friday, but hasnt returned yet.

As we heard about the tragedy, we started searching him, but failed. We visited all the hospitals of the city throughout night, but did not find him. Finally, we saw a picture of a severed head lying on the tracks on social media, he said.

Vijay Kumar believes the picture is that of his 19-year-old son. Manishs younger brother, Ishu said the administration had shown them a leg, but they are not sure whether it is Manishs. He said they did not find the severed head or any other parts of his body.

His uncle Vipan Kumar alleged that the administration is not helping them in finding their loving kin. Seeking the whereabouts of Manish, his family started crying at the emergency ward of Guru Nanak Dev Hospital, few minutes before Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh visited.

More than 10 bodies are beyond recognition

Rajneesh Arora, regional transport officer (RTO) Amritsar, who has been deployed at Amritsar civil hospitals mortuary house, said, There are more than 10 bodies in the mortuary which are beyond recognition because of their severe limbs.

As per the district administration, around 20 bodies are still unidentified.
Most people who were mowed down by a speeding train in Amritsar during Dussehra celebrations Friday evening were migrant workers from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, an official said here Saturday.

The accident has claimed 61 lives so far out of which 39 bodies have been identified by the authorities.

A senior official in the district administration said most migrant workers from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar work in an industrial area at a stones throw away from the accident site and live nearby.

The Dussehra celebration gathering Friday evening had a good number of people who belonged to these two states as the festival is celebrated with great devotion and pomp back in their home towns, he said.

As per initial reports, most of deceased were migrant workers from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar and were working in the industrial area to earn their livelihood, the official said.

The official, however, did not give exact breakdown of numbers as 20 bodies were yet to be identified.

Read: Unsafe venue, yet police gave go-ahead for festivity

Jagunandan, a 40-year-old wage labourer from Hardoi in Uttar Pradesh who suffered injuries in the head and leg, said he was not standing near the tracks but was pushed as people started running away from the main stage after the Ravan effigy was set afire. The father of four was brought to hospital by a relative, who accompanied him to the event. The district administration is providing all possible help to the family members of deceased in sending bodies to their home town, another official said.

Since morning, a large number of people has been sitting on railway tracks where the accident took place due to which train services have been suspended on this line.

Angry people are raising slogans against the state government, saying that it did nothing to ensure proper security arrangements for the Dusshera event. The Punjab goverment has ordered magisterial inquiry to ascertain the reason behind the tragic accident.

Read: Entire families have been wiped out, says Amritsar train accident eyewitness
A mosque in Syria's eastern Deir ez-Zor province held by Daesh and YPG/PKK terrorist groups was destroyed by U.S.-led coalition warplanes Friday, local sources said, Daily Sabah reported.

Reliable sources told Anadolu Agency that immediately after Friday prayers, U.S.-led coalition aircraft had struck a mosque in Deir ez-Zor's Al-Susah district.

Strikes on the village of Sousa killed 18 civilians including seven children late Thursday and 14 more civilians on Friday, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Dozens were wounded and many remained under the rubble in the village in the eastern province of Deir Ezzor near the Iraqi border, Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman said.

A coalition spokesman was not immediately available for comment.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will join freedom fighters and veterans to unfurl the tricolour from the Red Fort on October 21 to commemorate the 75th anniversary of Subhas Chandra Boses Azad Hind (independent India) declaration in what analysts describe as a smart political move to appropriate the legacy of one of the leading lights of Indias freedom movement, and of another Congressman.

On October 21, 1943, Netaji, as Bose is popularly known, announced the formation of the countrys first independent government . Although it was short-lived, some historians consider it an important milestone in Indias journeys to independence.

Modis Bharatiya Janata Party has already staked claim to the legacy of Sardar Patel, a lifelong Congressman and independent Indias first home minister.

A 182-metre-high statue of Patel, the Statue of Unity, is to be unveiled by the Prime Minister downstream of the Sardar Sarovar Dam in Gujarat on October 31.

The BJP has also sought to align itself with Dalit icon BR Ambedkars ideology. In April, Modi inaugurated the Ambedkar National Memorial in Delhi; last month, he invoked Ambedkar at the launch of his governments flagship Ayushman Bharat health insurance scheme. The BJP has also consistently targeted the Congress for belittling the legacy of both leaders.

Bose, whose career in the Congress ended bitterly (he was ousted from the partys leadership in 1939), went on to form his Azad Hind military force. He is coming in for some special attention from the BJP. The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance government unveiled some of the classified files dealing with Bose after coming to power in 2014.

On Sunday, the Prime Minister will also unveil a plaque and launch work on a museum in a special barrack of the Red Fort where Indian National Army soldiers faced trials by British authorities. Netajis great grand nephew Chandra Bose, who fought as a BJP candidate against Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee in the last assembly elections, will also be present .

The celebrations around Bose are certain to involve some Congress-bashing, say analysts; earlier this week, while interacting with party workers, Prime Minister Modi took potshots at the Congress for its treatment of national stalwarts.

History is witness to the fact that they (Congress) had only disrespect for Sardar Patel in their minds. The same happened with Netaji, Acharya (JB) Kripalani and BR Ambedkar. This list is so long, that I will need the entire night to complete, Modi said during his interaction with party workers via video-conferencing earlier this week.

I am honoured to participate in the programme. I know some people will criticize it. Let them do it. Everyone is aware how Netaji gave a challenge to British rulers when he formed his Azad Hind force. One party had ruled Indian for more than 70 years, but it didnt bother to make the files public, the PM added.

The Congress hit back at the PM and the BJP with party spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi saying: For a party with no legacy in Indias freedom struggle, there have been desperate attempts (by the BJP) to appropriate concepts, persons and ideas that are, ironically, antithetical to (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, or RSS, leader MS) Golwalkars philosophy. The RSS is the BJPs ideological parent.

The BJP has never thought of or done anything for pillars of India like Bose. But now it wants to sow its political agenda, especially when the election is due next year, added Singhvi.

Apart from the big event in Delhi, the BJP will also celebrate the historic day at different venues across the country. A government official said on condition of anonymity that Indian veterans of the armed forces, former freedom fighters, and some INA followers and their families will also participate in the events.

On Thursday during his annual Dusshera speech, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat too made a reference to Netaji. He said Netaji, who believed in armed resistance against the British imperial forces, went abroad to set up the Azad Hind Force.

Kapil Kumar, a political analyst who is a professor at the Indira Gandhi National Open Universitys social sciences department, said: The programme has no political colour but I must ask why the Congress doesnt celebrate Netajis legacy. Does the Congress ever celebrate CR Das or Lala Lajpat Rai?
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Sri Lankan counterpart Ranil Wickremesinghe held talks Saturday covering the entire gamut of bilateral relations and discussed ways to deepen the historically close relations between the two countries.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), in a statement, said the two leaders also exchanged views on regional and global issues during their meeting on the third and final day of the Sri Lankan leaders visit here. During the talks, Modi and Wickremesinghe reviewed the progress in implementation of various decisions taken during the high level exchanges in the recent past, including Modis visit to Sri Lanka in May 2017.

They also discussed the progress of India-assisted development projects in the island nation.

This multi-faceted partnership has been marked by close contacts at the highest political level, growing trade and investment, wide ranging development cooperation, increasing linkages in the fields of education, health, infrastructure, connectivity and capacity building and broadening people to people contacts, the MEA said after delegation level talks between the two leaders.

Both prime ministers discussed the entire gamut of bilateral relations and ways to further deepen the historically close and friendly relations between the two countries, it said.

Key decisions taken in stepping up bilateral cooperation during Modis visit to Lanka in May 2017 for the International Vesak Day celebrations , Sri Lankan prime ministers visit to India in April and November last year, and Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisenas visit for the International Solar Alliance founding conference in March this year, were discussed during the meeting.

The issue of India taking charge of operating Sri Lankas loss-making Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport in Hambantota was also understood to have figured in the talks.

Earlier in the day, Home Minister Rajnath Singh, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, also separately called on the visiting Lankan leader.

Wickremesinghe and Singh discussed issues related to security and anti-terror cooperation between India and Sri Lanka.

In her meeting with the Lankan premier, Swaraj also reviewed the progress of India-assisted development projects in the island nation.

Prime Minister Modi also hosted a luncheon for the visiting dignitary.

Wickremesinghes India visit came in the backdrop of controversial media reports that the Lankan President has accused Indian intelligence agency Research and Analysis Wing of plotting his assassination, a claim firmly rejected as false by Colombo.

Wickremesinghe was accompanied by his wife, Prof. Maithree Wickramasinghe, Minister of Development Strategies and International Trade Malik Samarawickrama, Minister of Petroleum Resources Development Arjuna Ranatunga, and senior officials.
Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday vowed to herald a new Telangana that would reflect the dreams and aspirations of all sections of people, if his party is voted to power in the upcoming assembly elections.

Addressing election rallies at Bhainsa in Nirmal district and at Kamareddy district headquarters, Gandhi accused Telangana Rashtra Samithi president K Chandrasekhar Rao of failing the people who had voted for his party in 2014 with a lot of hopes.

Four and a half years ago, the people of Telangana had a dream of a new government in the new state that would supply water to the parched lands, generate wealth that would help develop the state on all fronts and provide employment opportunities to every youth. These were the three issues that formed the basis for the struggle for separate Telangana state. But what they had witnessed in the last four years was a disastrous performance of the TRS government, he said.

The Congress president alleged that the only people who benefitted from the Telangana formation were the family members of KCR.

When the weaker sections were expecting the government to fulfil its promise of providing housing for them, KCR constructed a palace for himself at a cost of Rs 300 crore. When farmers fought for remunerative prices for their produce, he got them arrested and hand-cuffed. More than 4,000 farmers have committed suicide in the last four years, he said.

He accused KCR of indulging in massive corruption in the name of redesigning the irrigation projects already taken up by the previous Congress regime.

He dumped the name of B R Ambedkar from the Pranahita-Chevella project on Godavari river, relocated it to other location in the name of redesigning and escalated the cost from the original Rs 38,000 crore to Rs 1 lakh crore on the project which was renamed as Kaleshwaram, only to loot crores of rupees, he said.

Stating that the KCR government had pushed the state into a debt trap by going in for massive borrowings to the tune of Rs 2 lakh crore, Rahul said that because of the faulty economic policies of the TRS chief, there was a debt burden of Rs 70,000 on every individual in the state.

The Congress president also accused the TRS government of being hand in glove with the BJP government at the Centre. KCR has supported every decision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whether it was demonetisation or GST or other policy decisions. By supporting KCR, the Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) is also indirectly supporting the Modi government, he alleged.

Rahul reminded the people that the Modi government had tried to do away with the Land Acquisition Act 2013 and also tribal land laws, brought in by the previous UPA government which had made land acquisition from famers and tribals difficult without their consent.

When the Congress strongly resisted the move, the Modi government allowed the states to make their own land acquisition laws. In Telangana, the KCR government enacted its own land act seeking to forcibly acquire the land from farmers without paying proper compensation, he alleged.

He said only Congress represented all sections of people, including Dalits, Adivasis, OBCs, women and minorities. We will restore the land rights of Adivasis and the farmers. We will realise your dream of a new Telangana, wherein all sections of people live happily. Let us have a new beginning under the Congress regime, Rahul said.

Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee president N Uttam Kumar Reddy, working presidents M Bhatti Vikramarka and A Revanth Reddy, former Union minister S Jaipal Reddy and others spoke at the meetings.

Describing Rahuls election rallies in Telangana as stand-up comedy shows, Telangana BJP spokesman Krishna Sagar Rao said there were absolutely no takers in any part of the country for his allegations against the Modi government on any issue, whether it is Rafale deal or the land acquisition act.

Rahul has no locus standi to speak against the BJP, which is in power in 19 states. Wherever he is going, he is harping on Rafael deal, hoping that it would fetch political mileage to the Congress, Rao said.

TRS strongly condemned Rahuls allegations on dropping Ambedkars name from the irrigation project on Godavari river. The B R Ambedkar Pranahita Chevella project has not been shelved at all. It will be built as it is, TRS MP B Vinod said and alleged that it was during the Congress regime that there was a massive corruption in the irrigation projects.

On Rahuls allegations on the land acquisition act, Vinod said the state government had only made some changes as per the local requirements and said that farmer suicides were more in Congress-ruled states. In fact, the number of suicides of have come down during the TRS regime, he said.

All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen president Asaduddin Owaisi could not be reached for his comment, but in his tweet on Saturday evening, he defended the TRS government. When K Rosaiah was chief minister in 2010, Hyderabad saw curfews and riots. In the last four years, there hasnt been a single riot..., Owaisi said.
Woman tells Kerala police she is going back

Kerala police say SP Manju has 14 cases against her and that she told them she is going back.

I dont understand devotees stand: Kamal Haasan

It wont be proper to seek an opinion from me on this matter. I will stay in the centre and say about things good for women. I dont understand the (Ayyappa) devotees stand. So it is better not to interfere in that, he told reporters.

When asked about the Supreme Court verdict not being respected by Kerala in this case or by Karnataka in the Cauvery water dispute with Tamil Nadu, Haasan shot back saying one cant say Kerala (government) is not respecting the judgement.

It is a different thing if people dont respect it, he said in an apparent reference to the stiff resistance and protests by Ayyappa devotees at Sabarimala to the entry of women into the shrine.

In Karnataka, the government is not respecting and in this case people are not respecting. There is a difference between the two, he added.

Police reportedly told the woman she could try another day

Police reportedly told SP Manju she could try another day.The temple is open for monthly pooja. It will be close on October 23.

Woman will not be taken to hilltop today

SP Manju will not be taken to the hilltop today. Police cite heavy rains and inclement weather.

Rahul Eswar shifted to hospital

Rahul Eswar, who is on a fast, has been shifted to Thiruvananthapuram Medical College hospital after his condition deteriorated.

Chief priest against entry of women

Kandararu Rajeevar, the chief priest, said on Friday he would close the temple and give the keys to the administrators if women in restricted age group came for darshan (worshipping) of the deity.

Tensions ran high at Sabarimala on Friday

Friday when two women reached the hilltop with heavy police escort, but had to return before reaching the sanctum sanctorum following massive protests by Lord Ayyappa devotees.

Tension was defused after the women agreed to return as the state government made it clear it did not want to take them to the Sannidhanam, the temple complex, by using force against the protesting devotees.

Heavy rains in Sabarimala

Heavy rains lash Sabarimala and surrounding areas, making the polices task more challenging.

No one should interfere in temple traditions: Rajinikanth

When you talk about a temple, every temple has its time honoured rituals, besides traditions being followed for a long time. My humble opinion is that no one should interfere in that: Superstar Rajinikanth, reports PTI.

Police officials hold meeting

High-level police meet in Pambha. ADGP Anil Kanth and IGs Sreejith and Manoj Abraham meet to decide whether to take SP Manju or not.

Pambha tense again

Pambha tense again as protesters gather.

Dalit leader arrives

Kerala Dalit Mahila Federation leader SP Manju, 38, arrives in Pambha for trekking to the hilltop. Police may escort her. She has come in traditional attire carrying irumudi kettu, the mandatory offering of coconut, camphor, incense stick, raw rice and flowers.

Nilakkal tense again

BJP leaders court arrest defying section 144 at Nilakkal. BJP general secretary AN Radhakrishnan and party spokesperson JR Padmakumar have been held. The BJP said imposing section 144 at the Sabarimala base camps were uncalled for. The protesters had sneaked in wearing the traditional black attire of Ayyappa devotees.

Rahul Easwar serious, says wife

Rahul Easwar,who is on fast, is serious, says his wife Deepa. She said doctors told her that he may be shifted to Thiruvananthapuram medical college. She said he was treated badly after arrest and bundled in a tractor and taken to the police station.

Rahul Easwars bail plea rejected

Pathanamthitta court rejects bail plea of activist Rahul Easwar. He was arrested on Thursday for sitting on dharna at Pambha. Earlier his wife Deepa had said he was on fast in jail.

Protest wrong: TDB member

It is not fair to say that the temple will be locked. Moreover, the protest staged on Friday by temple staff and the tantri (chief priest) was wrong and an explanation will be demanded: TDB member KP Shankara Das, reports news agency IANS.

Should follow SC order: TDB member

Its the Supreme Court that has directed that women within the age group of 10 to 50 will be allowed within the shrines sanctum sanctorum. Hence all are duty bound to adhere to it: Travancore Devasom Board (TDB) member KP Shankara Das, reports news agency IANS.

Rumours spread of more women attempting trek

Situation tense after rumours spread that five women are on their way to the temple with police.

Aadhaar comes to rescue

The woman was forced to show her Aadhaar card to prove her age. She could continue with the trek after police assured protection. Later, some devotees were seen apologising for the trouble.

Second visit to Sabarimala, says kin of woman blocked by protesters

The woman has been identified as Latha from Tiruchi in Tamil Nadu. Her husband said she is 52 years old and this is her second visit to the hilltop shrine. Latha is a college teacher by profession.

Protesters admit mistake

It was a mistake to block her, protesters admit.

Woman allowed after protesters convinced of age

Woman devotee moves ahead with police protection as protesters chant nama japam (hymns and mantras).She is allowed after the protesters are convinced that she is above 50.

One more woman attempts hilltop trek

Pambha tense again after a woman started trekking to the hilltop. She told protestors that she is 52 but they insisted that she is not above 50.

Heavy security at Nilakkal

Nine-year-old girl says ready to wait

Kerala:Janani,9-yr-old girl from Madurai,at #SabarimalaTemple with placard reading 'she'll come to temple again after 50 yrs of age.Her father says,"We don't know what SC ordered.Once my daughter completes 10 yrs of age,she'll wait till 50 yrs of age&then she can come to Ayyappa" pic.twitter.com/EziWdfFVta  ANI (@ANI) October 20, 2018

Devotees climb the sacred Pathinettam Padi to offer prayers

Kerala: Devotees climb the sacred Pathinettam Padi at #SabarimalaTemple to offer prayers. pic.twitter.com/Zt9Z6P71cB  ANI (@ANI) October 20, 2018

Devotees throng Sannidhanam to offer prayers

Early morning visuals from Kerala's #SabarimalaTemple : Devotees throng Sannidhanam to offer prayers. pic.twitter.com/N8YSqVjVpV  ANI (@ANI) October 20, 2018
Sabarimala and its two base camps were tense for the fourth consecutive day Saturday as devotees opposing the entry of women of all ages to the hilltop temple stopped a woman from Tamil Nadu to verify her age, while a Dalit woman leader was asked by police to defer her plan after heavy rains in the area and later said she was going back.

A day after two women, protected by police, were forced back from just outside the temple after devotees and temple priests blocked their way while the tantri or chief priest said he would close the temple if they entered, devotees gathered in large numbers at the Valiya Nadapandhal following rumours that a woman aged less then 50 years was on her way up the hill.

Latha Kumar who trekked up with her family was near the temple when some protesting devotees saw her and blocked her way.

She was allowed to enter after she showed her Aadhaar card to prove her age. This is my second pilgrimage to Sabarimala. I came here last year too, said the teacher from Tamil Nadus Trichy. Her husband said he was a regular pilgrim for 25 years while his wife started accompanying him since last year and they never imagined they would face such a situation at their favorite shrine.

Latha, carrying the irumudikkettu (holy bundle containing the mandatory offering of coconut, camphor, incense stick, raw rice and flowers), climbed the 18 holy steps amid security cover to reach the temple and have darshan.

Pathanamthitta District Collector PB Nooh however said there was no tension at the Sannidhanam (the temple complex).

A woman came for darshan. Some news channels followed her...Then a crowd gathered...That was the only issue, he was quoted by PTI as saying.

The collector also dismissed as rumours reports that some young women were planning to trek the hills to reach the shrine.

Later Saturday, Kerala Dalit Mahila Federation leader SP Manju (38), dressed in traditional attire and carrying the irumudikettu, arrived in Pambha. As protesters gathered, additional director general of police Anil Kanth and inspectors-general of police S Sreejith and Manoj Abraham met to decide whether to escort her or not after Fridays backlash over the two women - journalist Kavitha Jakkal and activist Rehana Fathima.

Manju, who has been in the forefront of many Dalit movements in the state, told police that she was an ardent devotee of presiding deity Lord Ayyappa and took 41-day fast for the pilgrimage. They stopped her from proceeding Saturday in view of the rain, but police sources said that since she was insisting on going ahead, they would consider her plea to worship at the temple on Sunday.

Kerala police said that Manju has 14 cases against her and that she told them she is going back.

Meanwhile, Bharatiya Janata Party workers, led by state general secretary AN Radhakrishnan and spokesman J Padmakumar courted arrest at Nilakkal base camp, defying prohibitory orders. Fasting activist Rahul Eswar, the grandson of a former tantri, was shifted to the medical college hospital in Thiruvananthapuram after his condition worsened. He had been arrested on Thursday and sent to two weeks judicial custody.

The states Left Democratic Front government and the Travancore Devasom Board criticised tantri Rajeevaru Kandararu for threatening that he will close the temple if women of menstrual age were allowed to enter. The tantri is showing his feudalist behaviour, said state PWD minister G Sudhakaran warning him not to intimidate the government.

Veteran actor and Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) founder-president Kamal Haasan Saturday refused to be drawn into the Sabarimala controversy, saying it wont be proper to seek an opinion from him on the matter as he has never been to Sabarimala.

It wont be proper to seek an opinion from me on this matter. I will stay in the centre and say about things good for women. I dont understand the (Ayyappa) devotees stand. So it is better not to interfere in that, he told reporters in Chennai.

On the other hand, actor Rajinikanth said there should be no interference in temple traditions being followed for a long time.

Speaking to reporters in Chennai, he said there was no second opinion on equality for women in every sphere. But when you talk about a temple, every temple has its time honoured rituals, besides traditions being followed for a long time. My humble opinion is that no one should interfere in that, Rajinikanth said, reported PTI.

After the Supreme Courts September 28 verdict allowing women of all ages to worship at the temple, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said his government was committed to implement it and promised security to any woman who wished to visit the shrine. The haste in which his government is trying to enforce the verdict is turning a big embarrassment for it but for the opposition BJP it is turning a goldmine, say political analysts.

The drama and tension around the shrine situated in the midst of Periyar Tiger Reserve in Pathanamthitta district is slowly helping a Hindu consolidation and the saffron party is playing its cards well worrying the main opposition Congress, they say.

Despite the governments claims that women would be given security, the first three days saw two women - Madhavi, a devotee from Andhra and New York Times reporter Suhasini Raj - abandoning their trips midway following protests. On Friday, the government found itself in a big embarrassment after a top police officer escorted Fathima to the temple. As her activist credentials started coming out, the government distanced itself, saying it cannot support activists to just prove the power of activism.

Devaswom Minister Kadakampally Surendran later alleged that Fatima had been propped up by Sangh elements to stoke communal trouble in the state.
Advocates associated with the Supreme Court Legal Services Committee (SCLSC) have been going an extra mile to clear the backlog of over 1,000 cases while providing free legal aid to the poor. Over the last six months, lawyers have been reaching out to litigants, visiting their homes to collect case documents and filing them in a time-bound manner to secure justice for the applicants at the earliest.

This turnaround in the functioning of SCLSC came in May this year when the authority launched a new initiative called SAHYOG to accelerate filing of petitions on behalf of applicants.

Twenty-five young lawyers were selected from the SCLSC panel to tackle the mounting arrears. The cases were reassigned to them with an assurance that the task would be completed in a timebound manner. To start with, the authority listed out 1,188 cases, of which 776 were criminal and 412 civil. The oldest four cases pertained to 2005.

In criminal cases, SCLSC took assistance of state legal services authority. Paralegal volunteers were sent to jails to meet inmates who had approached SCLSC for filing their criminal appeals. This was done to reconstruct files as the cases were old and papers could not be retrieved. Lawyers assigned civil cases contacted litigants personally.

According to a report prepared by SCLSC, a copy of which is with HT, a total of 3,800 cases were pending with the authority as on January 2018. SAHYOG helped the authority to bring down the pendency to 2,612. The backlog was further reduced after it was learnt that over 500 case files with SCLSC had become in fructuous.

As of now, 2,144 files with SCLSC are pending. The authority provides free legal services to litigants whose annual income does not exceed `1.25 lakh a year, women, children, senior citizens, differently abled, victims of human trafficking, mass disaster, ethnic violence, caste atrocities, flood, drought, earthquake or industrial disaster, along with members of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. Persons in custody and industrial workmen receive legal assistance irrespective of their financial status. Headed by a Supreme Court Judge (currently Justice Madan B Lokur), the SCLSC has nine members in its executive body.

SAHYOG has received support from the Supreme Court on judicial side. Judges are hearing appeals even though they are being filed much after the limitation period fixed to approach the top court. In one case, the court had condoned the delay of over 3,000 days in approaching it.

Advocate Dushyant Parashar, who took up a 93-year-old womans case under SAHYOG, lauded the effort undertaken by SCLSC. Parashars client wanted the court to direct the illegal occupants, who were evicted on the orders of Allahabad High Court, to compensate her.

The case assigned to me was pending with the SCLSC for almost two years. I personally went to her Ghaziabad residence and got the relevant documents required for filing the case, which was decided on the first day of hearing on May 27. Although the court did not rule in her favour, was satisfied with the endeavor made. Thankfully SAHYOG was able to provide justice to her in her lifetime as she died months later after her case was decided, Parashar said.

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A 27-foot martyr column still stands in the village in the memory of Umakanta Mahato, a leader of a Maoist-backed outfit, who was shot dead in a gunfight with the security forces in August 2010. The paint on the structure has peeled off and the ground is overrun with weeds that have completely hidden four more smaller columns, one of which is in the memory of Sashadhar Mahato, a leader of CPI(Maoist). Villagers had built the memorials in 2010.

Barely 100 feet from the column that was once regularly washed and maintained by villagers, microphones are blaring away at the pandal of the only community Durga Puja in the 10 neighbouring villages that about 10 years ago formed one of core areas that was almost a liberated zone by the Maoists.

Read: Maoists announce Operation Ghamasan against govts Operation Samadhan

After (Maoist leader) Kishenji was killed in end 2011, the locals dont mention the names of the rebels. Now we want lasting peace. So we are organising Durga Puja so that they (Maoists) dont return here, said Debendra Mahato, a villager who is about 70.

Weeds have covered the ground where, in 2010, villagers built five columns in the memory of five leaders of CPI(Maoist) and Peoples Committee Against Police Atrocities, an outfit backed by the rebels, who were killed in gunfights with the security forces. (HT Photo)

This is only the third year that members of Birihandi Udiyaman Tarun Sangha, the local club set up in 1974, is organising Durga Puja.

Though Bengal is now free from the rebels, between 2009 and 2011 they almost had a free run in vast forested swathes of the districts of West Midnapore, Bankura, Purulia and Jhargram. About 500 lives were lost in clashes between the rebels and security forces in Bengal in this period. In addition as many as 148 passengers of the Mumbai-bound express train died after a few bogies got derailed after midnight May 28, 2010 after Umakanto Mahato and his men cut of a part of the tracks.

Read: Maoists look for urban, educated cadres for war zones

We wanted to do something different to announce a decisive break with the past. The villages often used to lament that there is no puja in the area and during a chat three years ago, we decided to organise one in the village, said Jagadish Mahato, secretary of the club.

About 150 families live in the village, where the main economic activity centres around cashew plantation and cultivating fish in local ponds. They pooled in Rs 7 lakh to organise the puja.

Most of the villagers of Birihandi not only supported the Maoists and their outfit Peoples Committee Against Police Atrocities, but also joined hands with them and staged rallies in their support.

Read: What Mamata Banerjee did right to wipe out Maoist violence in West Bengal

The villagers admit that they were imbued with rebel fervour.

Baren Mahato, who runs a small tea and snacks stall, and joined hands with the rebels, said, Later we realised that we made a mistake. Now we do not want to remember those days. Our prayer to the goddess is for peace.

Words like resistance, not to speak of revolution, are no longer heard in these areas.

Earlier what we though and spoke was largely influenced by the rebels. We raised our voice against the police. But now everything has changed, said Madan Mahato, who is in his late sixties.

Last year, the speaker of state assembly, Biman Banerjee, visited the puja pandal in the remote village.

Residents of at least a dozen villages such as Madhupur, Chakua, Baropal, Kurashole, flocked to the puja in Birihandi.

Earlier, villagers had to travel to Jhargram town, about 13 kms away, to see the goddess.
Five years ago, a group of university students in Spains Basque Country decided they wanted to shake up a sector - any sector - but preferably one to do with food or drink.

So Imanol, Inigo, Gorka, Aritz and Taig picked the most traditional of them all - and created blue wine, one of several innovations in a deeply conservative industry.

After two years of research at the University of the Basque Country with the help of in-house, professional chemical engineers and an outside centre for food innovation, they launched their company Gik Live! in 2015.

It sold 30,000 bottles in its first year and close to 500,000 in 2017.

The young company now exports to 21 countries, the United States being its main market... and wine-loving France its second. From five rookie entrepreneurs, the company has grown to 12 employees.

We understand that for many people... wine is something sacred that mustnt be changed, says Irish-Basque co-founder Taig Mac Carthy, standing at a bar in the company office in Portugalete, a northern town near Bilbao.

But we like to change things and were not afraid to try, he adds, as employees type at their computers in the room next door where a drum kit and guitars stand ready for use in true hipster startup tradition.

Blue recipe

One look at a glass of blue wine can be enough to send sommeliers scurrying.

Electric blue in colour, Gik Blue is made in several wineries in Spain following the traditional winemaking process.

As well as being sold online, some bars, restaurants and shops in Spain sell it.

The recipe

Mix a lot of white wine with a smaller amount of red wine, and a tiny bit of must, or freshly-crushed grape juice.

The blue colour is obtained via a mix of nature and technology using two pigments - anthocyanin, found in the skin of red grapes, and indigo carmine. The company wont divulge any more of what they say is their industrial secret.

Gik Live used to use sugar substitutes but now adds dessert wine instead to get a sweet taste.

Other brands have followed suit in Spain including a blue sparkling cava, and the company has created other types. There is red wine infused with Earl Grey tea, white wine infused with Japanese Sencha tea, or spicy red wine named Bastarde.

Prices online range roughly from 11 to 13 euros ($13 to $15) a bottle and clients are usually aged 25 to 45, men and women alike, says the company.

Chinese counterfeit

The reaction to blue wine has been decidedly mixed.

Jean-Michel Deluc, former head sommelier at the Ritz in Paris, labelled it surprising.

Its not what Id drink but still, its not bad, its quite well done, he said in a video posted on the blog of wine-ordering business Le Petit Ballon, which comments on news in the sector.

In an August review, Britains The Daily Telegraph newspaper decided it was sweet. Very sweet. Too sweet, calling it a gimmick.

For Rafael del Rey, director of the Spanish Observatory of the Wine Market, blue wine is one of several innovations in a conservative sector that has been losing consumers, including among the young, women and city dwellers.

Factors such as people having less time for meals, needing lighter products and a trend for slightly sweeter flavours have also had an impact.

Many of them havent found a wine they find attractive, he says.

That demand, he adds, is generating innovative products like blue wine, or wine with low alcohol content.

In Europe, the company has had to label Gik Blue an alcoholic drink as authorities have ruled it isnt wine due to its blue colour.

But other countries, including the United States, allow it to be sold as wine.

We knew from the start that Gik Blue would be a product that would polarise opinion a lot, says 25-year-old Aritz Lopez, another co-founder of Gik Live, speaking as he walks through the rolling vineyards of a winery that makes the blue wine in Zaragoza province.

But hes asked not to reveal the name of the winery, nor the village its in, to protect it from criticism in the sector.

The company says it is on track to make 1.5 million euros in turnover this year.

And in a surefire gauge of popularity, Mac Carthy says he even found counterfeit replicas of Gik Lives blue wine in Spain... that had been made in China.

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A 24-year-old man was arrested by Chakan police for allegedly murdering his eigh-month-old child. It is believed that he threw the child in a water tank over a dispute with his wife. The accused, has been identified as Raju Sunar, a resident of Nanekarwadi, Chakan. Sunar hails from Nepal and has been employed as a labourer in Chakan.

"We have arrested Raju Sunar for the murder of his own baby. He committed this crime on Friday in a fit of anger.On Friday morning, because of dispute between the husband and the wife, Nirmala, wife of Raju left their house. At that time, Raju tried to convince her but she refused. As result, angry Raju threw their baby in water tank and the baby died thereafter, said police inspector Sunil Pawar of the Chakan police station.

The complaint in the matter was filed by Pravin Zunjar, 29, resident of Nanekarwadi who claimed that the eight- month-old Sahil died because of disputes between husband and wife.

A case under Sections 302 (Punishment for murder) associated charge), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt),506 (criminal intimidation) of Indian Penal Code (IPC) was registered against the Raju Sunar at Chakan police station.
Meenakshi Valand, a 27-year-old woman from Gujarat, became the first woman in India to give birth to a baby, via C-section, from a uterus that was transplanted within her. The baby girl was delivered on Thursday, October 18 at 12.12 am, at Galaxy Care hospital, owned by Dr Shailesh Puntambekar.

Susheela ben Valand, Meenakshis 48-year-old mother, donated her uterus to her daughter in 2017, the transplant of which was also performed at Galaxy Care hospital. Meenakshis father is Jayesh bhai Valand and her husband Hitesh Valand owns a parlour. The family has yet to decide on the name of the newborn.

According to the Valand family, they had to pay only  1 lakh as deposit to the hospital as it was the countrys first such treatment and operation.

Five other women have also undergone the same procedure, and post the successful transplant, have started their menses.

With the first uterine transplant birth in India now recorded, Dr Puntambekar reports at least 600 female patients who have registered with the hospital for a uterus transplant.

Dr Puntambekar, who operates as director of the hospital, said, Of these 600 females who have registered with us for a uterus transplant, 50 per cent are suffering from a syndrome known as mayer rokitansky kuster hauser (MKRH), a congenital disorder; 30 per cent from a small uterus or anomaly of the uterus; and 20 per cent from removal of the uterus due to heavy of severe bleeding, post C-section or cancer.

MKRH syndrome is a congenital disorder in which the reproductive system is affected. In this, external genitalia is normal, but the uterus is absent and the female suffering from it can only conceive via a uterus transplant, Dr Puntambekar explained.

Of the 600 registered patients on the waiting list, 90 per cent are from India and 10 per cent are from different parts of the globe, including Pakistan.

Most are in the 25 to 30 age group, Dr Puntambekar said.

Women from the other countries include Ireland, Palestine, Dubai, Oman, UK, Brazil, Argentina and Bangladesh.

Six are from Pakistan and two are from Bangladesh, Dr Puntambekar, who is also past president the National body of society of endoscopist and laparoscopic surgeons of India and is on the board of the American association of gynaec laparoscopy, said.

12 uterus transplant babies in the world

Dr Shailesh Puntambekar of Galaxy Care hospital said, In the world, 12 babies have been born so far out of a uterus transplant, of which nine are from Sweden. The baby that took birth in Pune at our hospital is the 12th in the world and first in the Asia Pacific region.

Now after the first uterus transplant of India, Dr Puntambekar has performed a total of six such transplants of which not a single transplant has failed or was rejected by the recipient. He said, Chances of rejection in uterus transplants are extremely high as women are prone to infections given their anatomic structure, but not only all survived but all have started their menses as well which shows the success of the transplants.

Not only did they get their menses but now of the six, two of them will be getting their embryos transferred this month in the last week, he said.

Giving a break-up of the six transplants done in India, in Pune alone, Dr Puntambekar said, Of the six, one was carried out on Meenakshi who already gave birth now, second was carried out in January this year, two more were performed in April and the last one that is sixth on July 15.

Of the six patients, only one belonged to Maharashtra that is from Solapur and others were from Gujarat, Hyderabad, Bihar and Karnataka, he said.

Success rate in India: 100%

Of the six transplants that were carried out successfully in India in Pune city, five of the patients underwent and opted for the procedure because they suffered from a syndrome known as mayer rokitansky kuster hauser (MRKH) syndrome. It is a congenital disorder where the reproductive system is affected. In this the external genitalia are normal, but the uterus is absent and the female suffering from it can only conceive through uterus transplant, according to Dr Puntambekar.

* Talking about the rejection rate in uterus transplant, Dr Puntambekar said, Sweden has been carrying out uterus transplants since 2010 and did 14 transplants of which four were rejected; whereas the US performed eight of which six have failed, but we in India carried out six and all have been successful so far. Not only did we perform our first uterus transplant in 2017, but we were successful enough to deliver a healthy baby out of the same transplanted uterus which is a foreign body for the recipient. It is a feat for not only Pune but also for the country.

Womb of mother, for daughter

On October 18 this year, a baby has been born out of the same womb that carried the newborns mother 27 years ago. This is the tale of 27-year-old Meenakshi Valand from Gujarat, who underwent Indias first uterine transplant last year in Pune. Meenakshi then successfully began menstruating and also conceived a baby, a girl, who was born on Thursday (October 18) in Pune.

Meenakshi suffered from Asherman syndrome, a rare condition where the uterus is damaged by continuous curettage and other infections that affect the menstruation cycle and pregnancy.

Dr Shailesh Puntambekar, director, Galaxy Care hospital, who performed what was Indias first uterus transplant on Valand, said, The patient received the uterus from her own mother who was then 47. To bring out a baby successfully, that too a full-term baby from a transplanted uterus which is that old, was a task. We were sceptical but after we saw the baby come out, we knew, all is normal.

Minaxi Valand (patient) at Galaxy hospital on Karve road in Pune, India (Pratham Gokhale/HT Photo)

The baby was born on Thursday at 12.12 am and weighed 1,450 grams at 31 weeks. Everybody in the hospital was cheering the birth of the baby girl. It was a double feat as the baby saw the light of day on the same day when it was not only Dussehra, but also my birthday, said an ecstatic Dr Puntambekar, adding, She is Asia Pacifics first baby to be born successfully through a uterine transplant.

Dr Puntambekar was supported by a 12-member team, including Dr Pankaj Kulkarni and Dr Nita Varty.

12 such babies in the world

Dr Shailesh Puntambekar, director, Galaxy Care hospital, who performed Indias first uterus transplant, said, The total cost of the procedure is anywhere around  15 to  20 lakh as the treatment is equal to that of a liver transplant, but we have done all the six uterus transplants for free so far. We plan to carry out the procedures for free for Indian patients because these women face a lot of social stigma and suffer at the hands of society due to lack of just one organ that is a womb. After the success of the transplant surgeries and baby being born, we are sure some philanthropist will come forward and fund the transplants in the near future. Till then we plan to perform the surgeries for free.

Talking about the patients profiles in the waiting list, Dr Puntambekar said there are many who belong to middle class families and some are even IIT engineers and bankers. The stigma associated with the condition and non revelation have driven them to us and we will try to bear as much of the expenses as possible, he said, adding that transplant charges will be set for patients from foreign countries but not Indians.
Punjab Police arrested two members of a Khalistani module allegedly engaged in propagating the Khalistani Referendum 2020 campaign by affixing banners and posters at public places in Amritsar city, on Friday.

Sukhraj Singh and Malik Singh were arrested and materials used in making banners and posters were seized from their possession, the police said.

Initial investigation revealed that they were being funded from overseas as part of the campaign started by Gurpartap Singh Pannu of a New York-based organisation, Sikhs for Justice (SFJ). They were booked for attempts to spread hatred by instigating youngsters and the public through the campaign, according to a police spokesperson.

The spokesperson said information was received from reliable sources about the campaign being carried out to disseminate the message of Khalistan Referendum 2020.

Sukhraj, who had no job or business, informed the police that he had been associated with the SFJ for the past one year and had put up their posters at various places. For this, he had, so far, received Rs 2 lakh.

He usually got the funding from money transfer and Hawala channels and occasionally through accounts of other persons.
Kannada actor Sruthi Hariharan has accused actor Arjun Sarja of sexual harassment on the sets of their 2016 movie, Vismaya. She says ran his hands up her back while they were shooting for a scene and demanded an unplanned foreplay scene between the two.

Sruthi shared a long note on Twitter on Saturday, detailing the incident and the need for women to share their stories of workplace harassment so that others may be warned of the perpetrators actions. #metoo #comingout against all odds. Inspite of the all the comments, backlash and misogyny that will follow, I share my experiences below cos this is about a larger change! Bring it on ! #Speakup men and women . Its time, she wrote in a tweet.

#metoo #comingout against all odds. Inspite of the all the comments, backlash and misogyny that will follow, I share my experiences below cos this is about a larger change! Bring it on ! #Speakup men and women . It's time. pic.twitter.com/xzjA8EnGjR  sruthihariharan (@sruthihariharan) October 20, 2018

In her note, Sruthi wrote about how every woman has been sexually harassed multiple times in her lifetime. While she did talk about workplace harassment, she also gave credit to the film industry for the opportunities it gave her in realising her dreams.

Sruthi talked about casting couch and how its one of the most common forms of harassment. She wrote that it would be presented as a prerequisite for work opportunities and failure to comply would result in getting kicked out of a project.

She then went on to share the incident with Arjun Sarja on the sets of Vismaya in which he touched her inappropriately. During the film rehearsal, the 54-year-old actor, who has appeared in Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam films, had to do a romantic scene with the actress, who played the role of his wife in the film, which she has not named in the post. We delivered our lines and Mr. Arjun hugs me. With no forewarning or permission, he runs his hands intimately up and down my back. He pulls me closer with my body taut against his and asks the director if we could use this idea of foreplay in the scene, the 29-year-old recalled.

She said the films director had sensed her discomfort and that she had shared the incident with her make-up team and informed the direction department that she was not interested to be part of rehearsals. She added that Arjun would make her uncomfortable with his innuendos and invited her to meet him after work.

Sruthi said the #MeToo movement is to make sure no man ever takes a womans personal space for granted, whoever she is to him. Read her entire note here:

The #metoo movement has made many of us comfortable with sharing our uncomfortable realities! This movement has empowered survivors of sexual violence to come forward and share their stories with the world! I often see individuals refraining from talking about experiences of sexual violence because they feel they dont embody what it means to be a Perfect Victim. Sexual Violence is about power and privilege, every time a perpetrator is called out, its like saving more vulnerable girls from being vilified under their shadows. With the current reckoning happening around the world, #metoo has helped us fervently resist systems of oppression that have been maintaining power for far too long.

I thus believe that the #metoo movement is one of the most efficient use of social media that will attempt at cleansing our patriarchal, sexist and misogynistic society.

Having said that, it is time to break my silence.

Growing up, I have been sexually harassed multiple number of times. I am pretty sure, most women have. An obscene remark or unwanted sexual advances, in a social or professional setting, have made many of us uncomfortable, uneasy and terrified.

When I first started working on films, I was looking forward to great learning experiences and challenges, all in a professional and conducive environment. But today I write this with immense ignominy towards the industry I belong to! This industry has helped me achieve my dreams, explore my capabilities and inspired me to be versatile. It breaks my heart to share that I have felt unsafe, disturbed and disappointed in far too many situations.

The most common attempt at harassment in the film industry is the Casting Couch which would be presented as a prerequisite for work opportunities. Non-compliance of the couch would result in losing that opportunity. Sometimes they simply say, compromise, or, someone else will.... the stories get darker.

Honestly, I have been lucky as I have managed to escape physically and mentally scarring situations. However, in late 2016, there was one incident that left me startled and took a while for me to recover.

I was shooting for a bilingual film which starred Arjun Sarja. A man whose movies I have grown up watching. I was excited avout the opportunity. The first few days seemed normal, I played his wife in the film and that day we were to do a romantic scene where we had to hug each other after a brief dialogue. During the rehearsal, we delivered our lines and Mr. Arjun hugs me. With no forewarning or permission, he runs his hands intimately up and down my back. He pulls me closer with my body taut against his and asks the director if we could use this idea of foreplay in the scene. I was aghast. I am all for depicting realism in cinema, but this felt absolutely wrong. His intent seemed anything but professional. I hated that he did it and angry that I didnt know what to say then.

Scenes are rehearsed before we roll camera and begin shooting. It helps understand staging, body language, actor dynamics etc. Thats the ideal process. You talk, enact, and finally find the balance in a given scene. As an actor, I am entitled to know/be consulted with, about the details of a scene especially when it involves something intimate. Id also like to share with you that every actor I worked with before and after him, have never resorted to this kind of improv. The director sensed my discomfort too. I made sure I let the direction department know that I was not interested to be a part of rehearsals and will come directly for takes. I also shared the incident with my make up team right after.

The incident happened in front of at least 50 people on a shooting set- it happened at my workplace. I wanted nothing but to stay away from him rather than be tolerant and put up with his lewd and complete un professional behavior.

I didnt want to go back, but as a professional, I had to finish what I had signed for. I continued shooting. During the course of production, every smutty innuendo he made, created an unpalatable work environment for me. His salacious invitations to meet him after work appalled me. Looking back I remember attempting to normalise his behaviour and ignore his comments- lest there be issues in the production of the film in entirety. I maintained a cordial distance. All the while knowing he was wrong and wondering why he never stopped.

I choose to come out now, cos henceforth I think Mr. Arjun Sarja needs to make sure he doesnt cross the thin line between two actors and use his position of power to cause another person discomfort or hurt.

I choose to do this publicly - cos this movement is more than you and me and our individual experiences. It is a collective voice to question an existing system of power play and to call a spade for what it is. The point is to be part of a larger battle against years of female oppression and abuse. It is a movement to make sure no man ever takes a womans personal space for granted, whoever she is to him.

Women have been taught that sexual harassment or anything abusive, is only a part of being woman. Its time we come together and lift each other than push each other down. Its time we change the future for younger women where she can say with conviction Wait, he can not speak to me this way or  He can not touch me that way. Its time we as women understood that sexual harassment is not comparative but subjective. Each case is different, each individual reacts differently. Its time individuals who hold themselves in power, and conduct sexual impropriety, are brought down. Its time we give courage to the survivors, to take their perpetrators name. Its time we create history for the future men and women. Its time we become more powerful than ever.

Its time.

#metoo #metooindia #noitsnotok #noitsnotnormal

Arjun, popularly known as Action King, has acted in over 150 movies across Tamil, Telugu and Kannada languages. He has dismissed the allegations as false.

The allegations being levelled against me are entirely baseless. I am shocked to hear such false allegations, Arjun told a news channel responding to the sexual harassment allegation.

Follow @htshowbiz for more

ott:10:ht-entertainment_listing-desktop
Saudi Arabia on Saturday admitted that critic Jamal Khashoggi was killed inside its consulate in Istanbul, more than two weeks after his disappearance tipped the kingdom into one of its worst international crises.

The kingdom also sacked deputy intelligence chief Ahmad al-Assiri and royal court media advisor Saud al-Qahtani, both top aides to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman who has faced mounting pressure over the Khashoggi affair.

The admission that Khashoggi died at the hands of Saudi officials after weeks of vehement denials by the Gulf kingdom comes after President Donald Trump said that the United States, which is Saudi Arabias biggest backer, could impose sanctions if it was proved the journalist was killed.

Saudi Attorney General Sheikh Saud al-Mojeb said Khashoggi died after discussions at the consulate devolved into an altercation, without disclosing any details on the whereabouts of his body.

Preliminary investigations... revealed that the discussions that took place between him and the persons who met him... at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul led to a brawl and a fist fight with the citizen, Jamal Khashoggi, which led to his death, may his soul rest in peace, the attorney general said in a statement.

In its first reaction to Khashoggis confirmed death, the White House said it was saddened but made no mention of any possible action against its major ally.

We will continue to closely follow the international investigations into this tragic incident and advocate for justice that is timely, transparent and in accordance with all due process, White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said.

UN chief Antonio Gutterres said he was deeply troubled adding there needed to be full accountability for those responsible.

Shrouded in mystery

Saudi journalist Khashoggi, a critic of the Islamic petro-states powerful crown prince and a Washington Post contributor, was last seen on October 2 entering his countrys consulate in Istanbul.

His disappearance had been shrouded in mystery and triggered an international crisis, with Turkish officials accusing Saudi Arabia of a state-sponsored killing and dismembering his body.

The public prosecutor said 18 people, all Saudi nationals, have been detained in connection to the probe.

The Saudi king also ordered the setting up of ministerial committee under the chairmanship of the crown prince, widely known as MBS, to restructure the kingdoms intelligence agency and define its powers accurately, state media said.

The controversy has put the kingdom  for decades a key Western ally and bulwark against Iran in the Middle East  under unprecedented pressure to offer an explanation to take the heat off its rulers.

It evolved into a major crisis for Prince Mohammed, a Trump administration favourite who has portrayed himself as a modernising Arab reformer, but whose image and even position at home could now be gravely undermined.

Dismissing Saud al-Qahtani and Ahmad al-Assiri is as close to MBS as it is possible to go, said Kristian Ulrichsen, a fellow at Rice Universitys Baker Institute in the United States.

Interesting to see if these moves prove sufficient. If the drip-drip of additional details continue, theres no buffer to shield MBS any longer.

Threat of sanctions

Shortly before Riyadh confirmed that Khashoggi had been killed, Turkeys President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Saudi King Salman agreed in telephone talks to continue cooperation in the investigation into the Khashoggi affair.

Erdogan and Salman emphasised the importance of continuing to work together with complete cooperation, said a Turkish presidential source, who asked not to be named.

The United States warned Friday of a wide range of responses should it determine that Saudi Arabia is behind the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, as Turkey widened its investigation into the scandal.

President Donald Trump said the United States could impose sanctions over the feared murder of Khashoggi while his top diplomat Mike Pompeo told Voice of America Radio: Well certainly consider a wide range of potential responses.

The Trump administration has been notably slow to criticise Saudi Arabia, despite mounting evidence that Khashoggi, a critic of the Islamic petro-states powerful crown prince, vanished after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

The Khashoggi case has presented Trump with one of the most acute foreign policy crises of his nearly two-year-old presidency. Saudi Arabias admission comes after Turkish authorities widened their probe on Friday, searching a forest in Istanbul city.

Fifteen staff, all Turkish nationals, testified at the chief prosecutors office, state-run news agency Anadolu said. It has been reported that Turkish employees were given the day off on October 2, the day Khashoggi disappeared.

Pro-government Turkish media have repeatedly claimed that Khashoggi was tortured and decapitated by a Saudi hit squad inside the diplomatic mission, although Turkey has yet to divulge details about the investigation.
I'll apologize if there's an element of confusion at play here. The "Smoke Boys" are in fact the Section Boyz we grew to love in 2015 when they dropped the inaugural Don't Panic mixtape which featured crossover hits like "Lock Arf" and "Trapping Ain't Dead." Before changing their name, Section Boyz left the UK drill in the capable hands of their younger brethren.

On "Leave the Hood," Smoke Boys are lucky to have AJ Tracey on hand to deliver a simple yet effective chorus. Together they tackle the issue of authenticity. Tracey and the gang choose "leaving the hood and returning with honor" as their chosen path.

The musically-evolved form that Tracey has ably demonstrated here, puts his newfound songwriting acumen to work. It would seem AJ has surpassed the expectations set before him. No one except his core fans expected him to expand his musical repertoire in such a self-assured manner. Enjoy "Leave the Hood" and the rest of Don't Panic II.

Quotable Lyrics:

Only stars on my tracks

Tings and cars we don't lack

Leave the hood and come back

Leave the hood and come back

I did the most with that rack

We been chasing that sack.

-AJ Tracey
Upcoming Florida rapper and XXL's "The Break" feature Icy Narco was arrested earlier this week in Miami, Florida. XXL reports that the Miami Dade Corrections facility confirmed the arrest detailing how Icy has a warrant but wouldn't reveal what it was for. Icy was later released on Wednesday, October 17th, which means more court dates loom ahead.

Icy has previously worked with Ronny J and more recently dropped off "Frozen Soul" featuring Kid Buu.

I never wanna go mainstream," Icy previously stated of his future in the industry. "I wanna have a mainstream following, but I dont wanna ever go mainstream just because I feel like mainstream artists, they dont really have real emotions and real meanings behind their music. But Id rather just make the Icy Narco sound I want to make and take it as far as I could possibly go, and not let a label really try to control my sound.

Read Icy's full XXL profile here.
According to a press release forwarded by the United States Attorney's Office to the state's legislature, Philly rapper Ar-Ab stands accused of leading a gang with a distribution network that covers North Philadelphia. Ar-Ab and the other gang members listed below in the official indictment stand accused of distributing illegal narcotics such as cocaine, crack, methamphetamine, and heroin. Next to each person's name is a listing of their known aliases and nicknames on the streets, according to law enforcement, with Ar-Ab's name at the very top.

Abdul West: "Assault Rifle Ab,"AR-Ab," "El Patron," "the Goon."

Jamaal Blanding: "Bionickhaz," "Khaz," "Deangelo Smith."

Jameel Hickson: "Meliano," "OG."

Richard Chase Hoover: "Boog."

Dontez Stewart: "Taz."

Amir Boyer: "Mulla."

Daryl Baker: "Shotti."

Hans Gadson: "NoBrakes Bras."

Dennis Harmon (no aliases).

Although hard to discern based on law enforcement's discretion on the matter, many YouTube commenters, including this vlogger, seem to think VladTV's extensive coverage of Ar-Ab's meddlings in the streets, may have alerted law enforcement to happenings in the drug trade.

The indictment reads: "The superseding indictment charges a conspiracy to distribute 5 kilograms or more of cocaine, 280 grams or more of crack, 50 grams or more of methamphetamine, and 100 grams or more of heroin." Ar-Ab is a respected member of the local Philly hip-hop scene, and i currently signed to Cash Money, though he has never put a project with him since signing the deal in 2016.
The Toronto Raptors have decided to rest star acquisition Kawhi Leonard this evening after fielding him for heavy minutes in their victory over the Boston Celtics. Tonight, the Toronto Raptors are scheduled to face the Washington Wizards away from home. Besides Leonard, the Raptors will also miss out on combo guard Delon Wright who is still recovering from a left adductor strain he suffered in the preseason.

Kawhi Leonard's 35:52 of playing time in the first of back-to-back games last night, ranked as the highest among Raptors' players. Not to mention, he also played for over 37 minutes in the season-opening contest on Wednesday, against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The decision to rest Kawhi certainly hinges on two factors. One: Kawhi only played 9 games last season as he recovered from a right quad injury. Secondly, the Toronto Raptors don't make the same mistakes San Antonio Spurs' made in alienating their star forward. Hence, the decision to allow Kawhi Leonard some "healing space or time" is something that bodes well for the team's long-term plans.

Without Kawhi in the lineup, Nick Nurse will likely let the offense flow through Kyle Lowry's hands. In yesterday's game, Lowry made several concessions to his game, in order to accommodate Leonard's presence in the lineup. The good money sides with Lowry falling in love with Masai Ujiri's unpopular decision to uproot the roster in the offseason, especially if the wins keep piling up.
WASHINGTON - The Texas Public Policy Foundation has spent the last decade building both its reputation and influence in Austin to the point that lawmakers considering legislation routinely ask, Where is TPPF on this?

Now the conservative think tank is expanding into Washington, looking to repeat the success its success in Austin shaping policy according to its libertarian vision of smaller government, lower taxes and fewer regulations. Since taking office, President Donald Trump has hired or nominated seven former TPPF staffers to high and mid-level positions in the departments of Interior, Energy and State, as well as the Council on Environmental Quality  numbers comparable to well-established Washington think tanks, such as the right-of-center American Enterprise Institute.

Among them is Brooke Rollins, the former president of Texas Public Policy Foundation, whom the White House hired in February as an assistant to the president working in the Office of American Innovation run by Jared Kushner, Trumps son-in-law.

REGULATION: EPA weighs allowing oil companies to pump wastewater into rivers, streams

Since coming into office, the Trump administration  largely rejected by Washingtons Republican establishment  has repeatedly turned to Texas Public Policy Foundation and its decades of experience pushing an anti-tax and deregulatory agenda in Austin. That new influence, meanwhile, is providing a platform for the Texas think tank to build a national brand.

Now is the time to launch, said Matt Mackowiak, a Republican strategist in Austin. Theres a good number of Texans in serious roles in the administration and Texas has a great story to tell.

Charged with leading the expansion is TPPF Executive Director Kevin Roberts. On a recent visit to Washington to meet with donors and a new hire, he stopped in at the groups new office, housed in the basement of building owned by the Conservative Partnership Center, which leases space to other conservative groups.

A taste for politics

With the only sunlight coming from narrow windows near the ceiling, the sparsely decorated office is a long way from the foundations Austin headquarters, which spans more than 40,000 square feet and includes not only a theater, but also a view of the Capitol from the Governor Rick Perry Liberty Balcony. We were looking for cheap office space, Roberts said as he looked around.

Roberts has the polite, jovial demeanor of a teacher, which was what he was in an earlier time. After earning a PhD in history from the University of Texas in 2003, he taught in Texas and New Mexico before ending up leading a small, Catholic college in Wyoming. There, he got a taste for politics when the school drew national attention for refusing federal student loans to avoid complying with federal regulations that the college argued would intrude on its religious freedom.

Roberts joined TPPF in 2016 out of a desire, he said, to enter politics full-time as well as a weariness of organizations more interested in fighting the good fight than bringing change.

I wanted to be part of an institution that was having an impact, he said. TPPF was at the tip of the spear, not just writing white papers, but having a policy impact.

OPEC: As Trump taunts OPEC, Congress weighs anti-trust bill

With its own people housed within the Trump administration, TPPF is seeing the steady movement toward the principles they have long championed, from rolling back federal laws and regulations governing everything from air pollution to what schools are required to teach to the size of the federal government itself.

The foundation already has taken steps to extend its influence. It has staffers in eight state capitals working on a bipartisan campaign to reduce prison population while a newly formed legal unit is sending lawyers to courtrooms across the country to fight what they see as government overreach on issues such as Obamacare and eminent domain.

But cracking Washingtons universe of established think tanks and lobbying firms is likely to prove tricky. To establish a national brand, TPPF will have to compete with conservative groups that have well-established donor networks and track records of winning in Washington.

Peoples eyes are always bigger than their stomachs when it comes to public policy debates in Washington, said Frank Maisano, a partner at the Washington law firm Bracewell. People try to come into the space because theyve been successful regionally. They dont realize the broad swath of objective expertise here.

TPPF was founded in 1989 by James Leninger, a wealthy San Antonio doctor and Republican donor who made a fortune selling hospital beds. Weary of the Democratic majority in the Texas Legislature at the time, he launched TPPF to produce research representing his conservative point of view.

Whos who of corporate donors

With less than a half dozen staff working out of a San Antonio warehouse, the group operated in virtual anonymity for years. But the groups fortunes rose in the 2000s along with the state Republican Party. The hiring of Rollins, the-one time policy director for Perry, now the secretary of Energy, turned the organization into a fundraising juggernaut.

Brooke didnt change the direction [of TPPF], she enhanced their influence, said Thomas Graham, a public relations executive in Austin and friend of Perrys. She has a way about her in making people feel empowered and part of the process.

Rollins declined to be interviewed.

OIL PATCH: How long can the fracking spending spree last?

The organization keeps its donors private, but according to a document accidentally posted online in 2012, the contributors include a whos who of corporate America, including oil companies like Exxon Mobil and Conoco Phillips, and anti-establishment Texas Republicans such as Tim Dunn, co-founder of the Midland oil and gas company CrownQuest Operating, and Jeff Sandefer, the scion of a Texas oil family who has long pushed for market-based education reforms. In 2016, the most recent year for which data is available, TPPFs donations added up to more than $18 million.

[Their principle donors] are all West Texas libertarian conservatives. Not so much pro-business, its much more individualistic, much more libertarian, said Cal Jillson, a political science professor at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. The standard pro-business conservative realizes you need a well-prepared work force, which means education and health care. TPPFs philosophy is youre welcome to educate your kids as much as you like.

To push that message, TPPF employs a staff of close to 100, drawing from diverse backgrounds. Roberts ended up at TPPF after responding to a help-wanted ad. His chief operating officer, Greg Sindelar, worked on internet marketing at the insurer GEICO. The head of the criminal justice reform campaign, John Koufos, is a former criminal attorney who experienced the difficulty inmates have re-entering society first hand after a 17-month prison sentence for crashing into a pedestrian while drunk and then fleeing the scene.

TPPF staffers describe themselves as pragmatists, eager to work on issues they believe have the best chance becoming law. That often means working across the aisle, as they have on their campaign to reduce the national prison population and recidivism rates - something they describe as both good fiscal policy and a humanitarian issue.

With legislation now before Congress, they are forces with everyone from the Koch brothers, among the biggest funders of conservative causes, to Sen. Cory Booker, a New Jersey Democrat and darling of the left.

Lean to the right

We exist in order for our ideas to be implemented, Roberts said. Were very cheerful Texans. We like working with other people, and it's genuine. Theres a track record that shows that.

Luke Metzger, director of the advocacy group Environment Texas, said he disagrees with the group on just about everything, most recently its campaign against local tax breaks for wind farms. But Metzger also said he has worked with TPPF on issues such as blocking an effort by power companies to create a capacity-market, which pays them to keep idle generating plants available for periods of heavy demand.

CARBON TAX: Millions of Texas oil dollars flowing into carbon fee fight in Washington state

To their credit they do a good job of inviting opposing view points, Metzger said. Ive been there [at their headquarters] debating about individual liberty.

More animosity toward TPPF exists within the Texas Republican Party. Moderates argue the group has been instrumental in pushing the party to the right, allowing the rise of extreme view points on not only immigration and guns but government spending, as promoted by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick.

In 2013, TPPF even drew fire from Perry, one of their most strident allies, when using some unusual calculations to show that the state budget was increasing 26 percent, a claim picked up in a Wall Street Journal editorial page lambasting Texas legislators. Perry told reporters TPPF was in need of remedial work.

They are so radical in their thoughts, said Jim Keffer, a former Republican state representative who was a top lieutenant of House Speaker Joe Straus, R-San Antonio. If anything harms them in Washington, its going to be that. [The conservative Heritage Foundation] and those other guys arent going to let them elbow their way into their territory without a fight.

Its still early for TPPF Washington, but the foundation has already had setbacks. Trump withdrew his nomination of Kathleen Hartnett White, a senior fellow at TPPF and former chairman of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, to head the Council on Environmental Quality after controversy arose around her statements questioning climate change research.

Will it travel?

Similar questions are surrounding Bernard McNamee, a former TPPF staffer who Trump nominated to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Despite the foundations stated opposition to government subsidies, McNamee endorsed the administrations plan to increase power rates for struggling coal and nuclear power plants.

I think they figure, Were hot and well respected and lets see if we can export the brand elsewhere, said Bill Miller, an Austin lobbyist. It will be interesting to see how that all works out. We are a very big lobbying firm and everyone says, Do you guys lobby in Washington? I say absolutely not. We know our market..

james.osborne@chron.com

Twitter: @osborneja
Southern Californias coast is so blessed by nature, yet so densely developed, that its only natural to imagine what it must have looked like 150 years ago. Thats when its time to look offshore  namely to the Channel Islands. Call them Bonus California  mirrors of the mainland, with sea cliffs, beaches, rugged canyons thick with scrubby chaparral, profusions of wildflowers  but missing the crush of humanity.

In fact, their human population is effectively zero - just a few park rangers and researchers. Thats all. No towns, no stores, no paved roads. But such natural abundance that theyve been cliched into the moniker Americas Galapagos.

Not that they need the branding help. Five of the eight islands make up Channel Islands National Park, which receives upwards of 380,000 visits per year.

The Channel Islands are rife with wildlife, often in startling profusion. Tiny Anacapa, comprising three islets, has the largest breeding colonies of western gulls and brown pelicans in the world. Out on San Miguel, you can hike across the island to witness a pinniped convention consisting of some 30,000 seals, sea lions, harbor seals and elephant seals. Some easily observed island fauna are exceedingly rare  the island scrub jay is found nowhere in the world but on Santa Cruz Island, while the endemic island fox, back from near extinction, is now so common that island campgrounds have fox boxes to keep the canids out of your picnic basket.

Getting to the islands is easy  boat concessioner Island Packers runs daily tours  and every journey is a wildlife spectacle. Its common to see gray, blue, fin and humpback whales en route, and youre almost certain to be escorted by a dolphin and gull show. Each island has a campground, but most visitors opt for day trips.

Its ironic that you can almost always see the near islands  Santa Cruz (the largest) and Anacapa  from Highway 101 along the coast between Santa Barbara and Ventura, but from out on the islands the mainland recedes to a fuzzy outline. As National Park Service interpretive ranger Derek Lohuis puts it, Youre surrounded by 20 million people, yet you can go an hour offshore and have the whole place to yourself.

1. SANTA CRUZ ISLAND

The largest of the islands, the 6-mile-wide Santa Cruz parallels the mainland for 24 miles, with a serrated interior spine rising over 2,000 feet. But its most dramatic feature is a north-facing coast pocked with the most extensive sea caves in the world.

Kayak concessioner Channel Islands Adventure Company guides visitors through a selection of 100-some caves; 72 are more than 200 feet long. The largest, Painted Cave, features a 130-foot-high arched entrance to its 1,227-foot length.

If you go The park's main visitor center is at 1901 Spinnaker Dr. in Ventura, near the Island Packers landing; nps.gov/chis; 805-658-5730. CAMPING RESERVATIONS: Reservations for all island campgrounds must be made through recreation.gov; 877-444-6777. Campgrounds are open year-round. Only Santa Cruz Island has water. TRANSPORTATION: Island Packers is the boat concessioner for all of the islands in Channel Islands National Park. Trips are from Ventura Harbor and Channel Islands Harbor in Oxnard; island-packers.com; 805-642-1393. Channel Islands Aviation in Camarillo runs flights on demand to Santa Rosa and San Miguel Islands; flycia.com/channel-islands-flights; 805-987-1301. KAYAKING AND SNORKELING: Santa Barbara Adventure Company runs half-day (beginner-friendly) and full-day guided kayak tours of Santa Cruz Island's sea caves, year-round. Tours meet daily at Scorpion Anchorage. Snorkeling gear, including wetsuits, is also available for rent, and guided snorkeling tours are available on weekendsbadventureco.com/adventures/channel-islands; 805-884-9283. See More Collapse

Clear water, kelp forests, purple hydra coral and abundant pelagics enchant paddlers, snorkelers and divers alike. For all that, most visitors opt to hike.

From Scorpion Anchorage  the islands most popular landing  a 4-mile (round-trip) trail to Potato Harbor skirts 400-foot cliffs and offers sweeping views of the islands north coast and beyond. A 25-site campground at Scorpion is the only one in the park with water.

Spring is best for wildflowers, including huge, sunflower-like giant coreopsis that cling to coastal cliffs. But this is SoCal; any time of year is fine for a visit to Santa Cruz Island. The Island Packers boat trip from Ventura to Scorpion takes about an hour; to an alternate landing at Prisoners Harbor, about an hour and 45 minutes.

2. ANACAPA ISLAND

Anacapa may be tiny, but its proximity to shore  just a 12-mile boat trip  and dazzling bird life make it a great choice for a quick taste of the Channel Islands.

Anacapa actually comprises three small islets. The boat landing is on East Anacapa, where a loop hiking trail packs a lot into its 2-mile length. Theres a continual sense of being on an island here: Every bend of the trail serves up 360-degree views as you pass by a breeding colony for western gulls (10,000 of them, May through July), the last lighthouse built on the West Coast (dating to 1932), and in most years a wonderful spring wildflower show.

The protected harbor and clear water make for great snorkeling (wetsuit recommended), and if you dont want to get wet, simply enjoy a noisy show of sea lions and harbor seals. The island has seven primitive campsites, for which you have to bring your own water. The boat trip from Oxnard or Ventura takes about an hour and a half.

3. SANTA ROSA ISLAND

Santa Rosa lies 38 miles and a world away from the mainland, making it an island of choice if you want the feeling of great distance and isolation without the logistical challenges of the more-distant islands (Santa Barbara and San Miguel).

Although theres a cool old ranch house near the landing, Santa Rosa feels primitive. You can easily hike to a stand of pre-Ice Age Torrey pines, surrounded by a vestigial stand of the native bunch-grass that once covered most of our states coastal hills. The standout natural attraction is Lobo Canyon, a sandstone cleft cut by a perennial stream and equally perennial wind. It runs 3 miles from an old ranch road down to the ocean, with a side turn into a true slot canyon. The islands campground has 15 sites, but no water. The boat trip from Ventura takes three hours.

4. SAN MIGUEL ISLAND

San Miguel boasts some of the Channel Islands most intriguing features, but they take some time to reach  starting with a long boat trip (70 miles and 3.5 hours from Ventura), and then a long hike. For that reason, the best way to visit San Miguel is to camp.

The islands nine primitive sites (no water) are in keen demand, though  you need to book six months in advance, and they fill up quickly. The payoff is the opportunity to take a guided, 16-mile (round-trip) hike to Point Bennett, where some 30,000 seals, sea lions, and elephant seals congregate.

On the way, youll see the weird caliche forest  fossilized sand casts of ancient plants that look like forlorn gravestones. Island Packers operates boat trips to San Miguel from July through October.

5. SANTA BARBARA ISLAND

Santa Barbara, the smallest and southernmost island in the national park, condenses much of the best of the Channel Islands into a 1-square-mile footprint ringed by dramatic cliffs  a sea lion rookery, a cove rife with elephant seals, wildflowers that include giant coreopsis, and an abundance of birds.

In addition to the ever-present western gulls and brown pelicans, the island is home to Cassins auklets, pigeon guillemots and one of the worlds largest colonies of Scrippss murrelets. To the delight of biologists, nesting brown boobies have turned up on one of Santa Barbaras offshore islets.

Unfortunately, storm damage to the islands landing has indefinitely eliminated Island Packers boat service. For now, only private boaters are able to visit the island, which is about 55 miles south of Ventura.
RIYADH - The Saudi government acknowledged early Saturday that journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, saying he died during a fistfight, but the new account may do little to ease international demands for the kingdom to be held accountable.

The announcement, which came in a tweet from the Saudi Foreign Ministry, said that an initial investigation by the government's general prosecutor found that the Saudi journalist had been in discussions with people inside the consulate when a quarrel broke out and escalated to a fatal fistfight.

The Saudi government said it fired five top officials and arrested 18 other Saudis as a result of the initial investigation. Those fired included Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's adviser Saud al-Qahtani and deputy intelligence chief Maj. Gen. Ahmed al-Assiri.

The announcement marks the first time that Saudi officials have acknowledged that Khashoggi was killed inside the consulate. Ever since he disappeared on Oct. 2 while visiting the mission, Saudi officials have repeatedly said that he left the consulate alive and that they had no information on his whereabouts or fate. He had gone to the consulate to obtain a document he needed for his upcoming marriage.

The Saudi statement comes as the kingdom is facing unprecedented political and economic pressure to disclose what happened to Khashoggi, a critic of the government and a contributing columnist to The Washington Post. But it is unclear whether the Saudi explanation - which clashes with details provided by Turkish investigators and makes no mention of the crown prince - will be enough to satisfy foreign leaders, global business executives and U.S. lawmakers pressing for the perpetrators to be brought to justice.

Turkish investigators had concluded days ago that Khashoggi was killed and dismembered by a Saudi team dispatched to Istanbul. U.S. officials have said that Turkey has audio and video recordings providing evidence that the journalist was interrogated and killed and his body cut into several pieces.

Khashoggi's body has not been recovered, and the Saudi statement did not address what happened to it.

President Donald Trump said Friday night that the arrests were a "great first step" but that he wanted to talk further to the Saudis about the investigation. He added that if sanctions were imposed on the Saudis over the killing, he would prefer they didn't include arms sales.

According to a list confirmed by Turkish officials, 15 Saudis flew to Istanbul on the morning of Oct. 2, participated in an operation that left Khashoggi dead and then quickly left the country. At least 12 members of that team are connected to Saudi security services, and several have links to Mohammed himself, according to a review of passport records, social media, local media reports and other material.

Those personal connections and U.S. intelligence intercepts of Saudi officials discussing a plan to lure Khashoggi home have contributed to a growing suspicion that the crown prince was personally linked to the incident. But the Saudi statement did not implicate him in the killing.

The preliminary investigation conducted by the prosecutor found that the "suspects" traveled to Istanbul to meet with Khashoggi as he had expressed an interest in returning to Saudi Arabia, the official news agency said. Discussions that took place "developed in a negative way" and "led to a fight and a quarrel between some of them and the citizen," it said. "The brawl aggravated to lead to his death and their attempt to conceal and cover what happened," it said.

Investigations are continuing with the 18 detainees, it said, without naming them.

"The Kingdom expresses its deep regret at the painful developments that have taken place and stresses the commitment of the authorities in the Kingdom to bring the facts to the public," the statement said.

The official Saudi statement said King Salman also ordered the creation of a commission to review and "modernize" the kingdom's intelligence operations and report back within a month.

In addition to Qahtani and Assiri, the Saudi news agency named several other military officers who had been fired. They included Maj. Gen. Mohammed bin Saleh al-Rumaih, assistant head of the General Intelligence Directorate; Maj. Gen. Abdullah bin Khalifa al-Shaya, head of General Intelligence for Human Resources; and Gen. Rashad bin Hamed al-Mohammad, director of the General Directorate of Security and Protection.

Qahtani has been one of Mohammed's closest advisers, serving as a strategist and enforcer. He had been referred to in some quarters as the Saudi Stephen Bannon and had created a "blacklist" of online critics of Saudi Arabia. Qahtani had made overtures to Khashoggi and tried to persuade him to return to Saudi Arabia this summer, when U.S. intelligence officials said there was an attempt to lure him back to the kingdom to detain him.

"Do you think I can act by myself without taking orders/guidance?" Qahtani said last year in a tweet that is being widely shared now after the announcement of his firing. "I am an employee and a trustworthy executive to the orders of the king and the crown prince."

Assiri, who has also been close to the crown prince, served for two years as the public face of Saudi Arabia's military intervention in the war in Yemen before his intelligence posting. Assiri, who speaks fluent French and English, held regular news briefings on the state of the battle that were unusual for the Middle East and appeared designed to promote the professionalism of the Saudi war effort.

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders issued a statement acknowledging the Saudi announcement that the investigation was progressing and that action had been taken against suspects.

"We will continue to closely follow the international investigations into this tragic incident and advocate for justice that is timely, transparent, and in accordance with all due process. We are saddened to hear confirmation of Mr. Khashoggi's death, and we offer our deepest condolences to his family, fiancee, and friends," Sanders said.

Other reaction in Washington was more negative.

"To say that I am skeptical of the new Saudi narrative about Mr. Khashoggi is an understatement," Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said in a Twitter post. "First we were told Mr. Khashoggi supposedly left the consulate and there was blanket denial of any Saudi involvement. Now, a fight breaks out and he's killed in the consulate, all without knowledge of Crown Prince."

Rep. Adam Schiff, Calif., the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, was also dismissive of the Saudi account.

"The announcement that Jamal Khashoggi was killed while brawling with a team of more than a dozen dispatched from Saudi Arabia is not credible," he said. "If Khashoggi was fighting inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, he was fighting for his life with people sent to capture or kill him." Schiff added, "The kingdom and all involved in this brutal murder must be held accountable, and if the Trump administration will not take the lead, Congress must."

A senior U.S. official said the Saudi explanation raised more questions than it answered about Mohammed's knowledge of the incident. The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to give a frank assessment, noted that Assiri and Qahtani are among Mohammed's closest aides and said they could not have acted without orders him.

"It's impossible to blame them for anything without MBS having a direct role," the official said, using Mohammed's initials.

The news of the announcement broke late at night in Riyadh, the Saudi capital. Twitter was immediately filled with mixed reaction, much under the hashtag "jamal is dead." Many tweeters praised the kingdom's action, including one who wrote that "Saudi transparency showed no one is above the law."

Other Saudis saw a potential coverup in the works, one that would ultimately hold Mohammed blameless and eliminate any threat to his leadership.

"A cloud of fear has enveloped the country," one Saudi academic, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, citing his personal safety, said in an interview. "No one can talk in Saudi Arabia for fear of being dragged into a dungeon." The academic said "very few" Saudis would believe the official version of the case. "Coverups on the way; why did they lie for sixteen days?" the academic said.

Earlier Friday, Turkish prosecutors questioned staffers at the Saudi Consulate, state media said, suggesting that attempts were being made to strengthen a possible criminal case with insider details from the last place Khashoggi was seen alive.

An undisclosed number Turkish employees of the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul were interviewed by prosecutors, the semiofficial Anadolu news agency reported, a day after Turkish authorities began combing through wooded areas outside Istanbul in an apparent search for Khashoggi's remains.

Turkish officials say that Khashoggi - a U.S. resident - was killed by a 15-member Saudi hit squad after he entered the consulate on Oct. 2.

The refocus on the consulate employees suggests that investigators are seeking to bolster a possible criminal case. Turkish officials say they also have an audio tape that purports to record Khashoggi's killing, but the tape has not been shared with American or Saudi officials.

The disappearance of Khashoggi has provoked global criticism of the crown prince, Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler, and convulsed the kingdom as it struggles to respond to increasing international pressure to explain the journalist's fate.

Turkish media reports said more than a dozen Turkish staff members of the consulate - including technicians, drivers, telephone operators and accountants - were being interviewed by prosecutors.

Their accounts could provide valuable insights into the movements of Saudi officials at the mission in the hours and days before and after Khashoggi vanished.

It was not clear why the investigators waited more than two weeks to conduct the interviews, but the move came a day after Turkish officials said they were searching two wooded areas outside Istanbul for possible remains.

Until recently, the inquiry has focused on the consulate in Istanbul's Levent district and the nearby residence of the Saudi consul general, Mohammed al-Otaibi, who left Turkey this week.

Earlier Friday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said his country has not provided the audio recording of Khashoggi's alleged killing to U.S. officials but promised that Turkey would "share with the world" the results of its investigation, according to Anadolu.

On Thursday, President Trump said Khashoggi is likely dead and warned of "very severe" measure against Saudi Arabia if the Saudi government is found to be responsible.

- - -

Morris reported from London and El-Ghobashy from Istanbul. The Washington Post's Zakaria Zakaria in Istanbul and Ellen Nakashima in Washington contributed to this report.
Texas, compared to other states, has a notoriously apathetic electorate.

This year, though, there are signs that we might actually bother to turn out for the general election. An additional 1.6 million people have registered to vote in Texas since the last midterm election cycle, in 2014  some 400,000 of them since March, according to the Texas Secretary of State.

That might reflect enthusiasm for Democratic candidates like Beto ORourke, the U.S. Representative from El Paso who is seeking to unseat U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz. ORourke specifically is generating a lot of enthusiasm among Texas voters, but the same is true of many downballot Democratic candidates.

Grieder: Democrat Kulkarni is putting Tom DeLays old House seat in play

Republican candidates are capable of generating enthusiasm too, of course, but most of them arent. And the GOP is playing defense, in this context. There are sleeper races strewn all over the ballot, I suspect. Its just hard to keep track of them all. Theres a copy of Harris Countys sample ballot on my desk, at the moment. Its 18 pages long.

Consider the Congressional races. Texas has 36 seats in the U.S. House, 25 of which are currently held by Republicans, and Democrats are contesting every one of those races. Many of them are strikingly well-qualified. Eight of them outraised their Republican opponents in donations in the third quarter of this year.

What Id like to highlight, though, is that every single one of the candidates for Congress in Texas this year is competing in a district that was drawn by Republicans. The same is true of this years candidates for seats in the Texas House of Representatives. The GOP has overseen the states redistricting process for the past 20 years.

The result is that the states congressional and legislative races are bound to be more competitive than they seem, because the seats that are currently held by Republicans arent actually as red as they appear. They were engineered to favor that outcome. Thats the entire purpose of partisan gerrymandering.

Grieder: Texas Republicans have outkicked their coverage with gerrymandering

Under normal circumstances, though, gerrymandering tends to have a suppressive effect on candidate recruitment. Thats one of the reasons it works. Its also one of the reasons so few of Texass congressional races have been seen as pickup opportunities for Democrats in the midterm elections.

There are three Republican incumbents who represent districts that Hillary Clinton carried in 2016. John Culberson, facing Democratic challenger Lizzie Fletcher in the Houston areas 7th District, is one of them. The others are Pete Sessions of Dallas, facing Democrat Colin Allred in the the 32nd Congressional District, and Will Hurd of San Antonio, facing Democrat Gina Ortiz Jones in the 23rd Congressional District that stretches into West Texas.

In the rest of this years races, though, the empirical evidence is a bit more cryptic. Past election result arent particularly illuminating, and could easily be misleading. Republican Ted Poe, of Atascocita, is retiring at the end of this term representing the 2nd Congressional District, for example. In 2016, he was re-elected easily, beating his Democratic opponent by more than 20 points. But that Democrat, Pat Bryan, didnt exactly have a well-organized campaign, much less a well-funded one.

My impression, which might be wrong, is that Bryan just wanted to give voters an option. As a Texas voter who now lives in that district, I appreciate his commitment to civic participation. But as a journalist, I find that such things necessarily complicate my ability to do political analysis.

Grieder: Could Texas turn blue in 2018? Stranger things have happened

Our Republican leaders insist that Texas is a red state. President Donald Trump will no doubt make that same claim during the rally hes holding in Houston Monday, ostensibly in support of Cruzs campaign. I cant exactly prove that the claim is wrong, using the data at hand.

But Republican leaders are very determined to convince us that Texas is a red state. That wouldnt be necessary if it actually is one, since Texas definitely has that reputation.

Also, if Republican leaders were confident they could rely on the notorious apathy of Texas voters this year, there would be no reason for them to invite Trump to lecture usmuch less join him on stage as he does.

And we havent had competitive elections for a long time, in Texas. That much is known.

I wouldnt be surprised if the apathy was related to that, somehow  or if it turns out that Texans are more likely to vote when we actually have options.

erica.grieder@chron.com
A man was found early Saturday morning after being fatally shot multiple times in the parking lot of a southeast Houston apartment complex near Hobby Airport, officials said.

Police had not immediately identified a witness but planned to search the area for surveillance video, Houston police Sgt. Michael Casso said.
What exactly President Donald Trump will say at a podium is never easy to predict. But when he steps to the microphone at Houstons Toyota Center on Monday night, there is little doubt what his core message will be.

At rallies around the nation for other Republican U.S. Senate and House candidates in midterm elections, Trump has made clear that a vote for candidates such as U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz is, in fact, a vote for Trump himself and his agenda.

Im not on the ballot, but in a certain way, Im on the ballot so please go out and vote, Trump said at a rally earlier this month in Mississippi and since repeated in city after city.

While Trumps policies continue to energize Democrats against him and other Republicans, the White House is in an all-out push to re-energize the presidents base and get those voters to the polls to match the Democratic energy. That applies even to candidates like Cruz who was a determined enemy of Trump just two years ago, but whom the White House absolutely needs to win re-election to protect the GOP majority in the U.S. Senate.

For subscribers: 2018 Houston Chronicle Voter Guide

For subscribers: 2018 San Antonio Express-News Voter Guide

In Montana just days ago, Trump warned thousands of supporters that if Democrats sweep into power in Congress, all of the extraordinary progress hes made as president is in jeopardy.

All they want to do is obstruct, Trump said.

By coming to Texas, Trump will be trying to counter Cruzs opponent, Democrat Beto ORourke, who Thursday again acknowledged in an interview that if he is elected he would vote to impeach the president.

In debates and on the campaign trail, Cruz has made ORourkes stand on impeachment a major talking point. And Trump himself has begun to target ORourke. Days after calling ORourke a flake on Twitter, Trump on Friday launched another attack, calling ORourke a total lightweight compared to Cruz.

Trumps speech at the 18,000-seat Toyota Center begins at 6:30 p.m. Doors for the event open at 3:30 p.m. People wanting to attend are required to register beforehand with Trumps official campaign website: https://www.donaldjtrump.com/.

Trump in some ways is answering a plea from other Republicans in Texas who pushed the White House to focus more on Texas, and on Cruzs re-election. While Cruz acknowledged he talked to Trump about visiting Texas, it was Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick who traveled to the White House during the summer and made a direct pitch to get Trump to Texas to motivate voters.

For subscribers: TED CRUZ AS PEACEMAKER? Senator walks a fine line in embracing Trump

The trip was about making sure they were focusing on Texas as well as every other state, said Patrick, Trumps 2016 Texas campaign chair.

Over the last four weeks, Vice President Mike Pence, the president's son Donald Trump Jr., and his daughter Ivanka Trump have all been in Texas for events with Cruz.

Patrick and Gov. Greg Abbott have both said they will be in Houston for Trumps rally on Monday.

There are risks in bringing Trump to Houston. In 2016, Trump lost Harris County to Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. While Trump could further energize some people on the left, Cruzs campaign thinks Trump can help in key Republican precincts in Houston.

Although ORourke has raised record-shattering amounts of money for his campaign, the Cruz campaign is expressing confidence, and recent polls show Cruz remains ahead in the race.

ORourke himself wont be far from the Toyota Center on Monday as Trump heads to Houston. He has a half dozen Vote with Beto events in and around Houston, including stops in Spring, northeast Houston, Pasadena, West Houston and Rosenberg.

jeremy.wallace@chron.com
Since storming into Texas politics six years ago, Ted Cruz has drawn national attention as a political giant killer, tea party champion, Senate firebrand and Donald Trumps last rival in the battle for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination.

Now, with the approach of the 2018 mid-term elections, the junior senator from Texas is cast in yet another role  that of a threatened incumbent.

In a race that was initially expected to easily return Cruz to another six years in the Senate, he instead finds himself under attack from a popular Democratic challenger who has raised a jaw-dropping $61.7 million in red-state Texas, nearly twice as much as the $35 million raised by Cruz.

The mountain of cash and Beto ORourkes rise have instilled Texas Democrats with the hope that maybe, just maybe, they can win a statewide election for the first time in nearly a quarter of a century.

Though one recent poll has shown Cruz with a 9-point lead, the lingering fear of a Texas upset among Republicans has served as a wake up call to stoke fund-raising and rouse the troops.

Were taking it very seriously, Cruz said Thursday in a 50-minute interview at his campaign headquarters. Im confident were going to win this race, but part of the reason were going to win is that were not taking it for granted.

Signaling the high stakes for the campaign, President Trump will be in Houston on Monday for a Cruz rally at the Toyota Center. The 6:30 p.m. event coincides with Mondays start of early voting in the Nov. 6 election.

For subscribers: 2018 Houston Chronicle Voter Guide

For subscribers: 2018 San Antonio Express-News Voter Guide

Trump and Cruz may have peppered each other with name-calling and personal insults during their fight for the 2016 Republican nomination, but Trump now relies on Cruz as an important Capitol Hill ally in advancing conservative priorities and the presidents agenda.

For Cruz, a victory over ORourke, a three-term congressman from El Paso, is crucial to perpetuating his brand as one of the nations leading conservatives and preserving a political base deemed essential for possibly another run at the presidency in the post-Trump era.

The outcome of the Texas battle could also help determine whether Republicans retain their narrow control of the Senate or surrender the 100-member upper chamber to Democrats.

Delivering for the GOP

As his campaign team manned the phones on the 12th floor of the Phoenix Tower near the Galleria, Cruz, 47, waved off any discussion of a future presidential run and focused on accomplishments in the Senate, his race against O'Rourke, his alliance with the president and other political topics.

My focus is on the U.S. Senate, Cruz responded when asked if he still harbors presidential ambitions. And I feel blessed to have the opportunity to play a real role bringing Republicans together to deliver on our promises.

Cruz is the first Hispanic from Texas to serve in the U.S. Senate. During the first four years of his six-year term, he was often depicted as a troublesome outlier who frequently caused headaches for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Texas Sen. John Cornyn, No.2 in the Senate leadership.

Cruz staged a 21-hour filibuster against Obamacare in 2013, his first year in the Senate, delivering what became known as the Green Eggs and Ham speech after he read a bedtime passage from Dr. Seuss to his two daughters who watched the performance on TV. In a speech on the Senate floor in July of 2015, he accused McConnell of telling a flat-out lie to colleagues.

If you killed Ted Cruz on the floor of the Senate, and the trial was in the Senate, nobody would convict you," said U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who was also a Cruz presidential rival, in 2016. Another fellow Republican, former U.S. House Speaker John Boehner, once described Cruz as Lucifer in the flesh.

But a new version of Cruz has emerged since the Republicans White House punching bag  President Barack Obama  was replaced by Republican Trump in 2017. Senate leaders say Cruz is now a reliable team player who has a productive working relationship with fellow senators as well as the president.

Both Ted and I would admit that our relationship started off a little bumpy obviously when he decided to run for president and he had all the Democrats and President Obama, but also the leadership, in his cross-hairs, Cornyn said in a telephone interview. With the presidential race behind him, Cornyn said, Cruz has refocused his attention on being a good senator and works closely with his Texas colleague as well as the rest of McConnells leadership team.

Hes definitely recalibrated and refocused on Texas, so we get along fine, Cornyn added, noting that they worked together to raise billions of dollars in federal aid for their home state after Hurricane Harvey.

Don Stewart, McConnells deputy chief of staff, describes Cruz as a key member of the team who has resolved his differences with the majority leader. Theyre in a much different place, said Stewart.

Cruz said the trouble-making image from his earlier years in the Senate was never an accurate portrayal. The first several years in the Senate, we saw a lot of media caricatures that painted me as a wild-eyed bomb-thrower, said Cruz. Those caricatures werent true then and theyre not true now.

But he acknowledged that things were very different during his first four years when he considered his mission to be doing whatever I could to stop bad policies from being implemented that would harm the people of Texas.

Cruz backers mobilized to face Beto threat

Even some Republicans acknowledge that the GOP incumbent is not guaranteed a victory in a race that the Cook Political Report deemed a toss-up in mid-September. ORourke, a photogenic former El Paso city council member who comes from a wealthy family, has campaigned in all 254 counties with a progressive message and promises to work with both Republicans and Democrats for the good of Texas.

The tenor of the race has become increasingly acerbic with the approach of early voting. In their second debate last week, ORourke came out swinging and reprised one of Trumps insults against Cruz by calling him Lyin Ted.

Cruz, in turn, has assailed ORourke for liberal beliefs that he calls out-of-step with Texas, and hammering ORourke for saying he favors impeaching the president, which Cruz said would fuel a partisan circus in Washington.

ORourkes mastery at raising money  more than $38 million poured into the campaign in the third quarter  both alarmed and motivated major Cruz donors.

I assumed he would have an easy re-election, said David McIntosh, president of the Washington, D.C.-based Club for Growth, a major conservative organization that helped fuel Cruzs come-from-behind victory over Texas Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst in the 2012 Senate race.

But after an internal poll suggested that Cruz was vulnerable, said McIntosh, the organization rallied with an outpouring of donations that so far have amounted to $254,000 for Cruzs re-election; a separate Club for Growth super political action committee has spent an additional $1 million for pro-Cruz ads.

That kicked us into high gear, said McIntosh, a former Indiana congressman. Honestly, we realized that if Ted Cruz were to lose the Senate race, it would be a huge setback for Club for Growth, to the conservative movement, and that moved it from being an easy win to our No. 1 priority.

Robert Marling, chairman of Woodforest National Bank in The Woodlands, had a similar reaction. A self-made executive who started out as a bank mailroom worker to ultimately head a 700-branch banking network, Marling became one of Cruz pioneer supporters after the two men, accompanied by their wives, met over dinner at Amerigos Grille in The Woodlands before the 2012 Senate race.

Ted was very much a long shot, Marling said in recalling his initial impressions of the young attorney. I was one of those believers before he had a chance.

Like McIntosh, I was hoping I wouldnt have to do much in the re-election campaign, he said, but after donations began flying in to fund Cruzs opponent, Marling went to work to make sure that Texas stays red.

Woodforest executives and employees are the top individual contributors to Cruz, giving more than $163,000 from 2013 to 2018, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, which analyzes donations. Marling also arranged a fund-raiser in Magnolia in early October attended by Donald Trump Jr. and former Fox TV personality Kimberly Ann Guilfoyle.

Trump: From narcissist to ally

Perhaps Cruzs most dramatic conversion  and one Democrats have exploited as a campaign issue  is his rapprochement with the president after Trump, as a candidate, displayed an unflattering picture of Cruzs wife, Heidi, and implied that Cruzs Cuban immigrant father may have had a tie to the Kennedy assassination.

At the time, Cruz was outraged and refused to immediately endorse Trump at the Republican National Convention, drawing boos from delegates. Cruz the candidate regaled Trump with a stream of put-downs: pathological liar, utterly amoral, narcissist, bully, serial philanderer.

But Cruz says their enmity ended shortly after Trump won the presidency. In the week after the election, Cruz recalled, he flew to New York for a four-hour meeting with Trump and his key strategists. I told him I wanted to do everything humanly possible to deliver on our promises, Cruz said.

Cruz also recalls that he spent 45 minutes during a ride on Air Force One trying to convince the president to pull out of the Paris climate accord.

A day after Trump withdrew the United States from the 2015 agreement, Cruz said, he received a call on his cell phone while standing in the cab line at Newark Airport. Well, Ted, I did it, Cruz quoted the president as saying.

For subscribers: Ted Cruz as peacemaker? Senator walks a fine line in embracing Trump

Stewart, McConnells aide, said Trump and Senate leaders relied heavily on the Texas lawyer, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, for helping advance the troubled nomination of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who ultimately won Senate confirmation despite sexual assault allegations from his high school days.

Cruz was also a Senate leader on the presidents tax plan and was instrumental in winning approval for repealing a controversial Obamacare provision requiring most Americans to have health care.

As chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Space, Science and Competitiveness, Cruz has worked with the administration to advance space exploration and protect the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in Houston, which provides more than $2 million a year to the Texas economy. He recently accompanied the presidents daughter and adviser, Ivanka Trump, on a tour of the facility.

The Republican portrayal of Cruz is starkly different from that of Democrats, who are waging a campaign to kick him out of the Senate. The Fire Ted Cruz PAC, chaired by Dallas attorney Marc Stanley, depicts Cruz as a selfish, mean divisive person who isnt someone you want to have a beer with  its someone you want to pour your beer on.

Cruz coziness with the president has provided fodder for Democrats to mock his Tough as Texas campaign theme. Thats a surrendering of dignity, said Democrat Matt Angle, head of the Lone Star Project, which critiques Republican policies.

A social media ad directed by Oscar-nominated Austin filmmaker Richard Linklater depicts an elderly man unloading on Cruzs behavior. "I mean, come on, if somebody called my wife a dog and said my daddy was in on the Kennedy assassination, I wouldn't be kissing their ass," said the actor, wearing a cap and clutching a cup of coffee. "You stick a finger in their chest and give them a few choice words.

Cruz said he would not go down into the gutter to respond to the criticism, which he described as Democratic politics as usual.

Theres no doubt 2016 was a bare-knuckles election, Cruz said. And some hard shots were thrown.

With the 2018 election closing in, many of those who have watched Cruz throughout his rise in politics say they have little doubt that the Texas Senator also has his eye on the more distant future  another run for the Republican presidential nomination.

You think hes going to breathe tomorrow? Of course, hes going to run for president, says Garry Mauro, a longtime Texas Democratic leader who chaired Hillary Clintons presidential campaign in Texas.

But no one expects the Texas senator to run in 2020, when the president would presumably sweep the Republican nomination.

Assuming he is re-elected, I wouldnt be surprised if some of his supporters start talking about 2024, says Mark McKinnon, who was an adviser to former Republican President George W. Bush and cohosts The Circus on Showtime.

Some of his Texas supporters say they are already eager to help Cruz make another lunge for the White house.

If Ted Cruz were in the running after a Trump presidency, he would be at the top of my list for sure, said state Rep. Matt Schaefer, R-Tyler, who has backed Cruz since the outset of his political rise. Schaefer chairs the tea party-aligned Texas Freedom Caucus that frequently rebelled against the moderate leadership of outgoing House Speaker Joe Straus in the state Legislature.

Still a tea party star

Much of Cruzs core support still comes from the grassroots movement that propelled him from less than 2 percent in the polls to his unexpected triumph over the Republican establishment in 2012.

At least 500 supporters, and possibly more, turned out recently for a Cruz rally at a steakhouse and saloon in Montgomery, about 50 miles from Houston. Throngs of Cruz fans pressed their way to the front to pose for pictures with the senator after the speech.

Todd Keller, 52, pastor of the Cowboy Fellowship of Aggie Land in College Station, showed up with his wife and two grown daughters, all proclaiming their intentions to send Cruz to another term in the Senate.

Ive always appreciated his constitutional conservatism and that everything lines up according to the Constitution, said Keller, who wore a beige cowboy hat, jeans and scuffed boots. I think if all our elected officials would pay more attention to the Constitution, wed be in a better situation.

While the tea party helped make Ted Cruz, Ted Cruz also helped make the tea party, a movement built on a contempt for government overreach and for runaway spending. Cruzs victory showered the tea party with more national attention and helped it advance into a potent Texas political force that has racked up a progression of victories over moderate GOP incumbents, shifting the Republican party further to the right.

Both Cruz and Trump have towering approval ratings among Texas Republicans, according to analysts and pollsters. While some grassroots voters, in random interviews, say they are a bit uncomfortable with Trumps tweet-fests and flamboyant unpredictability, they also applaud his success at reducing taxes, reining in regulations and talking tough with foreign leaders.

Julie McCarty of Grapevine, president and founder of the Northeast Tarrant Tea Party in the Fort Worth-Dallas region, said Cruz is still very much a tea party darling. Yes, absolutely, she said, describing how she has been inundated with phone calls asking about getting yard signs or supporting the candidate. I just posted on Facebook a few minutes ago that I cannot take calls all day long for Ted Cruz I mean everybody in the tea party is supporting Ted Cruz.

While the tea party has been an integral part of his political success, it was part of a broader coalition that included young people, Hispanics, police and firefighters, small business owners and workers with callouses on their hands, said Cruz.

What we saw in 2012 was a grassroots army come together, he said. That coalition remains the heart of my base.
A word for young people, people of color and, in particular, young people of color:

The Republicans are scared of you.

Maybe you find that hard to believe. Maybe you wonder how the party can be scared of you  or of anybody  given that it controls all three branches of the federal government and most of the nations state houses. Youre worried about paying your student loans, putting food on the table, getting home without becoming some cops mistake, and the GOP is scared of you?

In a word: Yes.

See, the party knows that if everybody votes, it cant win. Thats simple math. The Republican electorate skews sharply older and white. Polling from The Roper Center at Cornell University says whites went for Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton in 2016 by 57 percent to 37 percent, while people of color strongly supported her, African-Americans giving her 89 percent of their vote. Trump also lost big among young voters, but won big among their elders.

This dependence on older whites is a problem for the GOP, given that the United States is fast moving toward a younger, non-white majority. The Census Bureau predicts that, well before mid-century, America will be a nation where no racial group enjoys a numerical advantage. And the authoritative FiveThirtyEight blog reports that the white median age in this country is 43, while for Asians its 36, for African-Americans, 34 and for Hispanics, 29.

As the trend lines are clear, so is the partys solution: keep you from voting. Thus, as we approach a crucial midterm election, the GOP is embracing voter suppression with a brazenness not seen since Bloody Sunday in 1965.

In Bismarck, N.D., lawmakers have passed a photo ID law that requires residents to show a current street address. And surely its only unfortunate coincidence that many Native Americans live on reservations that dont use street addresses, only P.O. boxes, which the law doesnt recognize.

In Georgia, Secretary of State Brian Kemp, the GOP gubernatorial candidate, is being sued over the states so-called exact match law, in which voter registration applications are flagged if the voters identifying information fails to match state records, down to such picayune matters as missing hyphens and transposed letters. Over 53,000 people are said to have been impacted, most of them people of color.

In Tallahassee in July, a federal judge decried a stark pattern of discrimination against young people in Floridas blocking of early voting at colleges and universities. Across the country, nearly a thousand polling places have been shut down in recent years, many in Southern black communities. In Cuthbert, Ga., in August, the elections board beat back a plan to close seven of the nine polling places in a county that just happens to be majority black. Meantime, Stacey Abrams just happens to be running to become Georgias  and the nations  first black woman governor.

If you are a young person, a person of color or a young person of color, then, you may well face long lines, paperwork and other headaches as you seek to exercise your constitutional rights next month. Please persevere. Thats the only way to elect people who understand that access to the ballot is a fundamental principle of democracy. It is the only way to rescue this country.

Dont let anyone tell you your vote doesnt matter. Ask yourself: If your ballot wasnt important, would Republicans work so hard to keep you from casting it? Of course not. And Ill say it again: They are scared of you.

Please show them that they have reason to be.

Pitts is a columnist for The Miami Herald. Readers may contact at pitts@miamiherald.com.
According to Nancy Pelosi, Republicans in Washington are setting in motion their plan to destroy the Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security that seniors and families rely on. Shes distorting comments by Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell, who actually said that while he would like to see reforms to those programs, they will not happen with Congress and the White House both controlled by Republicans. Republicans arent planning to cut Medicare and Social Security.

The truth is worse: Theyre not planning to do much of anything at all.

Republicans in Washington have no agenda beyond confirming President Trumps judicial nominees, and have not had one for all of this year. In 2017, they tried to make big changes to Obamacare and the tax code. They failed on one and succeeded on the other, and then they just gave up.

At the end of 2017, House Speaker Paul Ryan was pushing Republicans to take up welfare reform. The Trump administration talked up an infrastructure bill. The party compromised by not making a concerted effort on either.

In part, Republican inaction was a consequence of their tenuous hold on the Senate. When Democrat Doug Jones won a special election in Alabama, it knocked the Republican majority down to 51. John McCains illness made it an effective 50 for much of the year.

But Republicans are asking for voters to augment that majority now, and they still have no agenda. Take a look at Republican Senate candidates websites. You will find many who pledge to vote against gun regulations. You wont find much by way of explanation of what legislation they would try to enact if they win their races. They have returned to vague calls to repeal and replace Obamacare. Theyre not touting any infrastructure plans.

Even on immigration, the Republican candidates dont have more than a sentence or two to say. Many of them attack sanctuary cities that refuse to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement. But its not at all clear the federal government can do anything about those local governments. Only a few of the candidates have been willing to endorse the more serious policy of requiring employers to check the legal status of new hires.

Candidates dont always run for office with detailed platforms, of course. The Contract With America, a 1994 campaign manifesto from Republicans, was exceptional in committing almost all Republican congressional candidates to advancing specific pieces of legislation. (And even that commitment was limited: The promise was only to hold votes on them in the first days of the new Congress.)

There are multiple reasons for the empty Republican cupboard. Both the health-care bill and the tax bill have convinced Republican politicians that legislating only gives the Democrats a target. They figure that the noise coming from the Trump White House would drown out any policy agenda. Many Republican voters seem more excited by inchoate cultural grievances than by anything related to public policy.

Then, too, there are the peculiar circumstances that led to the Trump presidency. The president exposed the lack of a political foundation for the old Republican agenda by beating a slew of Republicans who were better associated with it. But he did not replace that agenda with one of his own.

Not many Republican politicians have felt any need to come up with a creative synthesis of the partys pre-Trump principles and its Trumpian impulses. The result has been a party that is unsure of what it stands for even as it wields more formal power than it has in decades.

Republicans might be able to expand their ranks in the Senate without campaigning to do anything in particular. Perhaps they will even hold a slimmed-down majority in the House. But they will find, as they found in early 2017, that it is difficult to get the party working together on an agenda without having built a consensus before the election.

I am tempted to say that there is something, if not anti-democratic, at least contrary to the spirit of good government, in a political party so thoroughly abandoning the notion that it will tell us in advance what it will do if it wins an election. If it did that, voters would be able to judge its program in casting their ballots this time, and next time they would be able to look back and see how much of that program was achieved and with what results.

In the Republicans limited defense, however, they are probably giving us an accurate picture of what they would accomplish legislatively if given the chance in 2019-20. If they win and do nothing, nobody will be able to call them on broken promises.

Ponnuru, a Bloomberg opinion columnist, is a senior editor at National Review, visiting fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and contributor to CBS News. Reach him at at rponnuru@bloomberg.net.
By WestKyStar & MSU Staff Oct. 19, 2018 | 09:17 PM | MURRAY







Murray State University now offers a new pricing model that will support military students in earning their college degrees at little or no out-of-pocket cost.The new initiative is available to service members of the U.S. Armed Forces. Murray State will now waive course fees, provide free textbooks and match remaining tuition costs not covered by the U.S. Department of Defense Military Tuition Assistance program.This opportunity is a small way we can honor the men and women of the Armed Forces, said Murray State Interim President Bob Jackson. Murray State University will lead the way in educating our service men and women with these educational benefits. This new policy will allow them, while still serving our country, to pursue their educational goals with little to no out-of-pocket expense.The new pricing model is offered for military students interested in pursuing both undergraduate or graduate degree programs at the University.Students will have the flexibility of taking courses in the setting of their choice, including on Murray States main campus, on base at Fort Campbell or at any of the Universitys regional campuses in Paducah, Hopkinsville, Madisonville and Henderson. Select degree programs and course offerings are also available entirely online.Murray State is committed to the affordability of higher education opportunities for our service members as well as accessibility through our face-to-face programming at Fort Campbell and our online programs that serve students worldwide, said Dan Lavit, executive director of the Universitys Center for Adult and Regional Education.This new initiative is one of the many steps Murray State has taken to show support for service men and women. Additional offerings include in-state tuition rates, a veterans lounge, the Veteran Student Organization and school certifying officials serving as liaisons to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and the Kentucky Department of Veterans Affairs.Contact Judson Faust, coordinator for Veteran Military Student Success, at 270-809-5343 or jfaust@murraystate.edu for more information about the new tuition discount or to learn more visit murraystate.edu/militaryrate.Murray State University provides an Opportunity Afforded for more than 10,000 students through a high-quality education with experiential learning, academic and personal growth and the ability to secure a lifetime of success. Since 1922, the true value of higher education has been found at Murray State University, where our commitment is to afford endless opportunities for developing leaders in the community, the country and the world. The Universitys main campus is located in Murray, Ky., and includes five regional campuses. For more information about Murray State University, please visit murraystate.edu.
Until the day comes when partisan elections for judges are things of the past, Harris County voters will continue to be called upon to do considerable work before casting their votes in judicial races, if those votes are to be meaningful. To that end, an overview of the states judicial system might be helpful.

An explanation of the federal courts will make it easier to understand Texas court structure. Also, the fact that the United States has two independent court systems often creates confusion, primarily because the two systems share common names for their respective courts.

For example, the federal 10th Circuit Court of Appeals is not the same as Texas 10th Court of Appeals, which is located in Waco. To distinguish the two courts, the federal court is often referred to as the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit.

Our federal courts, were established under the Constitution and by laws enacted by Congress. For the most, these courts handle cases involving federal statutes or constitutional questions. They have no direct connection to state courts, which have their own jurisdictions under each states constitution and statutes.

Rudy Apodaca: Texas would do well to do away with picking judges in partisan elections for this simple reason

Although the Constitution established only the U.S. Supreme court as the third branch of government, it also gave Congress the power to establish the lower-level appellate and trial courts.

The Supreme Court is the nations highest court and consists of nine justices. This court handles appeals from the U.S. Courts of Appeal, as well as special appeals or writs from administrative agencies or the federal trial courts. Sometimes known as SCOTUS, this court, along with the lesser courts of the federal system, have the jurisdiction to declare as unconstitutional any law enacted by Congress or any act of the president.

The next judicial tier consists of 13 federal courts of appeal, which include 12 circuit courts located in 12 sections of the country designated as circuits. These courts handle appeals from rulings or trials originating in the federal trial courts. Theres also the U.S. Federal Circuit Court of Appeals, which stands alone and handles special appeals.

Completing the federal system are 94 trial courts, each designated as a U.S. district court, which scattered around the country in 94 districts, including four in Texas. These courts handle both criminal and civil cases filed by federal criminal prosecutors and by attorneys representing litigants in civil disputes.

Generally, the differences between trial courts and appellate courts under both the federal system and Texas system can be simply stated: Appellate courts dont hold trials but only handle appeals from the lower courts. Trial courts in the federal system, on the other hand, hold trials but dont handle appeals. Texas trial courts hold trials, and in some instances hear appeals from justice of the peace courts, probate courts and municipal courts.

Texas two highest courts are appellate courts. They are the Texas Supreme Court and the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. Because appellate courts dont conduct trials, they dont consider witnesses testimony and exhibits introduced as evidence. Instead, the appeals they hear are based solely on the trial record  written transcripts and exhibits of trial court proceedings. They also hear oral arguments of opposing counsel.

The Texas Supreme Court, made up of nine elected justices, has jurisdiction over all civil cases originating in the lower courts, including appeals from Texas 14 intermediate appellate courts and administrative agencies. In some cases, it addresses extraordinary writs and certain cases directly from the trial courts. Interestingly, this court has no jurisdiction over criminal cases.

In addition, the state supreme court has administrative control over the State Bar of Texas, has sole authority for licensing attorneys, and it appoints the members of the Board of Bar Examiners. The court also promulgates various rules governing civil trials and civil appeals.

At least five of the nine justices are required to render the courts decision. If a vacancy arises outside the time frame of a regular election, the governor appoints a replacement, subject to senate confirmation.

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals is this states highest court for appeals of criminal cases. These include cases initially originating from rulings, decisions or verdicts in the trial courts or from decisions or rulings of Texas 14 intermediate appellate courts.

The courts jurisdiction includes mandatory review of applications for post-conviction habeas corpus relief. It has discretionary review of all decisions made by Texas intermediate appellate courts in criminal cases. The court may also review a lower courts decision on its own motion (the court decides if it wants to review the case) without a party appealing the decision.

In conjunction with the Texas Supreme Court, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals also promulgates rules for criminal cases.

The court consists of nine judges. It decides cases in panels of three judges, two of which must concur in the courts decision. At times, the entire court may decide cases en banc , if the court deems it necessary.

Apodaca, a former chief judge of the New Mexico Court of Appeals, is an Austin attorney and writer. Readers may write to him at www.rudyapodaca.com.
Between the man who is president and the woman who ran against him, there is, for me, no contest; Hillary Clinton would have been a far better president than Donald Trump. But both Trump and Clinton, in their own trademark ways, stepped in it again this week when it comes to women.

Trumps comments  describing Stormy Daniels as Horseface  are the more offensive if for no other reason than that he is the president, and presidential words carry extra weight. Yet Clintons comments  insisting that her husbands affair with Monica Lewinsky did not constitute an abuse of power because Lewinsky, then 22, was an adult  are the more painful because she could have, should have done better.

Trump played to piggish type with his comment about Daniels, the porn actress who was paid $130,000 to keep quiet about a sexual encounter she says she had with Trump. This was not a spur-of-the-moment utterance, it was a tweet about a judges ruling in Trumps favor in a defamation suit filed by Daniels: Great, now I can go after Horseface and her 3rd rate lawyer, Trump wrote.

Horseface now joins the panoply of Trumps greatest sexist hits: Look at that face. Would anyone vote for that? (Carly Fiorina). Face of a pig (Gail Collins). Fat ugly face (Rosie ODonnell). Blood coming out of her wherever (Megyn Kelly). That this is not anywhere near the complete list tells you everything you need to know about Trumps unrelenting offensiveness.

This far into the administration, it is folly to expect some version of presidential Trump to emerge. Indeed, just two days before Horseface, there was Trump on 60 Minutes, behaving in a way that is more subtle but also more chilling. At one point in the interview, Leslie Stahl recounts Christine Blasey Fords searing testimony about the indelible laughter of Brett Kavanaugh and his friend. Trump shrugs it off, literally. His shoulders rise. He tilts his head in one direction, then another. OK fine, he says. Whatever.

I watched you mimic her and thousands of people were laughing at her, Stahl told Trump. She invited regret; the president responded with unadulterated callousness. The way now-Justice Kavanaugh was treated has become a big factor in the midterms. Have you seen whats gone on with the polls? And, the ultimate in Trumpian instrumentalism: It doesnt matter. We won.

Once we scoffed at Bill Clinton for being the feel-your-pain president. Now we have a president who is only capable of feeling the pain of those who are similarly aggrieved.

Speaking of Bill Clinton, there was his wife on CBS Sunday Morning, being asked about workplace conduct in the clarifying light of the #MeToo movement. In retrospect, do you think Bill shouldve resigned in the wake of the Monica Lewinsky scandal? asked correspondent Tony Dokoupil.

Clinton, without hesitation: Absolutely not.

Dokoupil: It wasnt an abuse of power?

Clinton: No, no.

Dokoupil: There are people who look at the incidents of the 90s and they say, a president of the United States cannot have a consensual relationship with an intern, the power imbalance is too great.

Clinton, interjecting mid-sentence: Who was an adult. But let me ask you this, wheres the investigation of the current incumbent against whom numerous allegations have been made and which he dismisses denies and ridicules?

Who was an adult. How can she say that, as if that is relevant in any way? Lewinskys technical adulthood is no defense for Bill Clintons behavior  in the workplace, as her superior (not to mention president), as a man old enough to be her father. And whatever the reasons for Hillary Clintons instinctive defense of her husbands behavior then, her summary dismissal of it now diminishes her claim to feminism.

Would it not be possible for her to choke out something like: Weve all had some time to think about this and, yes, this was unacceptable workplace behavior. I dont think a president who was elected by the country should have resigned over it, but I also think this conduct was seriously wrong.

But this is not, it never has been, in Hillary Clintons emotional repertoire. She does not cede a millimeter; like Trump, she is allergic to apology. Like Trump, she is prone to whataboutism. If what Bill Clinton did was wrong, why does it matter if what Trump has done is wronger, if indeed it was? Whataboutism is an argument for losers, whichever side deploys it.

And so we are left with this depressing juxtaposition: A president who never hesitates to stoop in demeaning women. And a shouldve-been-president who is a champion for women except those mistreated by her husband. If Trump never fails to infuriate, Clinton consistently disappoints.

Marcus email address is ruthmarcus@washpost.com. (c) 2018, Washington Post Writers Group
Harris County voters will soon go to the polls to choose candidates for a large number of public offices. In these few weeks before that Nov. 6 election, Texans should consider whether how we select our judges is the best system  or even a good one.

Trust in the judicial process is built on the integrity of our courts and how well judges dispense justice. If the trust we put in judges to uphold the rule of law falters, it threatens the very strength of our democracy.

Thats why its vital that, as the coming election approaches, we consider how best to ensure that the men and women we place on the bench are the best qualified to perform their duties impartially and with an integrity that includes a rock-solid command of the law. And that is the reason Texans should consider that there are better ways than partisan elections to choose judges.

All but six states, a number that includes Texas, have taken steps to limit the role of politics in the the selection of judges. The oft-cited reason for this shift, according to the National Center for State Courts, is a recognition that an independent judiciary is essential to the maintenance of public trust and confidence in the court system.

Most other states now use a pure merit selection process to fill all or some of their judicial offices, or they select their judges by a process in which the governor of the state makes the appointment.

Once in office, appointed judges run in retention elections in which the incumbent is unopposed and appears on the ballot without a party affiliation. Voters cast a simple retain or do not retain vote.

Texas, meanwhile, holds partisan judicial elections in which candidates must first win a primary contest (running typically as a Democrat or as a Republican) to gain their partys nomination.

They then must win a general election contest (unless there is no opponent from another party to run against) to take a position in a state court.

The question is whether partisan elections afford voters the opportunity to select the most qualified candidates for judicial positions. A look at the sheer number of judicial offices in Harris County for which both Democratic and Republican candidates are running in this Novembers general election strongly suggests the answer is no.

Information from the Harris County Clerks office shows that, except for those who choose a straight party ticket, voters will face nearly 80 judicial contests  from three contested Texas Supreme Court seats near the top of the ballot to the eight precinct-specific races for justice of the peace far, far down the list. In fact, judicial races represent more than half of the total number of offices up for grabs in Harris County. To make an informed choice, the voter is asked to, first, have a basic working knowledge of the functions of the various judicial offices and, then, to know something about each of the judicial candidates.

As for whether this process results in the election of the most qualified person to fill a judicial seat, most other U.S. states have essentially decided that it does not. Its a concern with which I tend to agree.

Its time to acknowledge that most voters simply dont have the time, resources or wherewithal to familiarize themselves with every candidates running for judge. The flaw in Texas judicial selection process is that it doesnt allow voters a fair shot at knowing which candidates are the legal professions best and the brightest.

Its not that Texas does not have some highly capable jurists. But they are there despite our current process, not because of it.

No jurisdiction utilizes a process that guarantees that only the most qualified become judges, but by doing away with partisan elections for judges, Texas would take a large step forward in improving the quality of its judges. If they didnt have to run for judge, more of this states most talented attorneys would seek positions on the bench.

Even when well-qualified lawyers decide to run for judge, it takes an enormous effort for voters to be able to differentiate between the brilliant and the mediocre in these typically low-profile contests. Making it harder still for candidates are ethical standards that preclude their making the kinds of campaign promises that might win voters favor. They may not, for example, pledge to make specific rulings on cases that come before them. Even worse, candidates need money to pay to get out their message and boost their name recognition, but the need to fund-raise further muddies professional requirements that judges remain fair and impartial.

A better system for Texas would be one in which voters selections were based on contenders qualifications, rather than on how much money they have to spend or who their cronies are. Its a given that attempts at reform will meet resistance. Political operatives and special interests will claim that ending election of judges will disenfranchise voters. But that argument holds little sway when voters hardly have a meaningful vote under the current system.

Lets be realistic  no selection process is truly free from politics. But we do have choices. Under a merit selection system, our elected representatives  likely the governor along with a commission  would take on the task of screening, nominating and appointing judges. We should insist on at the very least that our Legislature undertake a serious study of this issue.

Apodaca, a former chief judge of the New Mexico Court of Appeals, is an Austin attorney and writer. Readers may write to him at www.rudyapodaca.com.
Microsoft ha rilasciato nuovi aggiornamenti cumulativi per le versioni di Windows 10 piu vecchie, ma ancora supportate. A ricevere i nuovi update sono Windows 10 1709, 1703 e 1607, quindi Fall Creators update, Creators Update, e Anniversary Update. Con questi nuovi rilasci si conferma una nuova attitudine di Microsoft: durante il Patch Tuesday aggiornamenti con una breve lista di novita, piuttosto mirate, mentre con i rilasci occasionali il changelog diventa piu lungo.

Non c'e niente di nuovo per Windows 10 v1803, April 2018 Update, che e attualmente l'ultima versione ufficialmente disponibile, ne ci sono novita per Windows 10 v1809, October 2018 Update. Microsoft aveva gia rilasciato l'aggiornamento ufficialmente, tuttavia e stata costretta a rimuoverlo per via di un problema insorto per alcuni utenti, con l'installazione della nuova versione che ha provocato l'eliminazione della cartella Documenti per alcuni utenti.

Di seguito riportiamo le liste delle novita: ricordiamo che l'installazione di questi pacchetti avviene automaticamente, secondo le impostazioni di default del sistema operativo. L'utente puo anche forzarla attraverso la schermata Windows Update, dalle Impostazioni.

Su Windows 10 Fall Creators Update (1709) e stato reso disponibile il pacchetto KB446932, che porta la versione della build alla 16299.755. Si puo scaricare qui e porta con se i seguenti fix, cosi come ripresi dal changelog ufficiale rilasciato da Microsoft in lingua inglese:

Addresses the redenomination of local currency that the Central Bank of Venezuela implemented to enter the Bolivar Soberano into circulation.

Addresses an issue in which searching using Microsoft Outlooks Social Connector returns nothing, which causes the People's pane results to always be empty.

Addresses additional issues with updated time zone information.

Addresses an issue that prevents the clock and date flyout from appearing when the region format is Spanish (Spain) and the sorting method is Traditional.

Addresses an issue with navigation from the Decade view in the Japanese calendar. When the user tries to go from the Current era to the next era, navigation does not work properly.

Addresses an issue to support Microsoft Office events in the Limit Enhanced Group Policy setting list.

Addresses an issue in which applications on systems with more than 4 GB of memory receive Access Denied error code 0x5 when calling CreateProcessWithLogonW().

Addresses an issue that makes it impossible to disable TLS 1.0 and TLS 1.1 when the Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) mode is enabled.

Addresses an issue in which the AccountName in the Event Log entry for the Microsoft-Windows-Kerberos-Key-Distribution-Center source and Event ID 7 sometimes appears corrupted.

Addresses an issue in which applications have handle leaks when using client authentication certificates with the TLS protocol. This issue occurs when the FreeCredentialsHandle call occurs before the DeleteSecurityContext call in application code.

Addresses an issue that might cause TCP connections opened for an application running on Windows Container to fail sporadically. This occurs when the container runs on a Network

Address Translation (NAT) Network provided by Windows Network Address Translation (WinNAT). A SYN timeout occurs after reaching the maximum SYN Retransmit count.

Addresses an issue that prevents the deletion of Immediate Tasks when their deletion timer occurs, such as when you configure Group Policy preferences for Immediate Task actions.

Addresses an issue that can cause App-V packages to fail because of a missing file or DLL error.

Addresses an issue that may cause certain applications to stop responding after installation.

Addresses an issue that fails to mount a volume when running Mount-SRDestination to bring a destination volume online as part of the Test Failover feature.

Addresses an issue in which the System.Security.Cryptography.Algorithms reference was not correctly loaded on .NET Framework 4.7.1 after the July 10, 2018 and August 14, 2018 patches.

Addresses an issue that may cause the system to stop working during the shutdown of some Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) apps because of TaskCanceledException. Apps that are vulnerable to this issue perform work involving weak events or data binding after the Application.Run() function returns values.

Addresses a race condition in temporary files and some antivirus scanners that causes .NET Framework applications to stop working. The error message is, "The process cannot access the file ".

Updates the .NET Framework's support for the formatting of Japanese dates for the first year in the eras. When the format pattern is y, the year format will use the symbol  and not use year number 1. Additionally, the .NET Framework will support dates that include .

Updates Venezuela currency information. This will affect the culture of es-VE as follows: The currency symbol is Bs.S. The English currency name is Bolivar Soberano. The local currency name is bolivar soberano. The International Currency Code is VES.

Addresses an issue with a dialog box that may appear with a non-applicable message beginning with the words, Hosted by... when first starting Microsoft Edge. The dialog box only appears if you have turned on Block only third-party cookies in Microsoft Edge and applied certain language packs after installing the October 9, 2018 update.

Addresses an issue that may cause an application that has a child window to stop processing mouse inputs. This issue occurs when a precision touchpad triggers a WM_MOUSEWHEEL event.

Chi invece e ancora su Windows 10 Creators Update, v1703, riceve il pacchetto KB4462939, raggiungendo la build 15063.1418. Sottolineiamo che il supporto per questa versione e previsto solo per le SKU Enterprise ed Education, visto che le altre non sono piu supportate direttamente da Microsoft. Di seguito il changelog:

Addresses the redenomination of local currency that the Central Bank of Venezuela implemented to enter the Bolivar Soberano into circulation.

Addresses additional issues with updated time zone information.

Addresses an issue that may cause the operating system to stop responding when transitioning from Sleep to Hibernation.

Addresses an issue that may cause the operating system to stop responding when transitioning from Sleep to Hibernation. Addresses an issue with navigation from the Decade view in the Japanese calendar. When the user tries to go from the Current era to the next era, navigation does not work properly.

Addresses an issue with cloud authentication performance for accounts that create logon sessions very quickly.

Addresses an issue that makes it impossible to disable TLS 1.0 and TLS 1.1 when the Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) mode is enabled.

Addresses an issue in which applications on systems with more than 4 GB of memory receive Access Denied error code 0x5 when calling CreateProcessWithLogonW().

Addresses an issue in which applications have handle leaks when using client authentication certificates with the TLS protocol. This issue occurs when the FreeCredentialsHandle call occurs before the DeleteSecurityContext call in application code.

Addresses an issue that can cause App-V packages to fail because of a missing file or DLL error.

Addresses an issue in which the System.Security.Cryptography.Algorithms reference was not correctly loaded on .NET Framework 4.7.1 after the July 10, 2018 and August 14, 2018 patches.

Addresses an issue that may cause the system to stop working during the shutdown of some Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) apps because of TaskCanceledException. Apps that are vulnerable to this issue perform work involving weak events or data binding after the Application.Run() function returns values.

Addresses a race condition in temporary files and some antivirus scanners that causes .NET Framework applications to stop working. The error message is, "The process cannot access the file ".

Updates the .NET Framework's support for the formatting of Japanese dates for the first year in the eras. When the format pattern is y, the year format will use the symbol  and not use year number 1. Additionally, the .NET Framework will support dates that include .

Updates Venezuela currency information. This will affect the culture of es-VE as follows: The currency symbol is Bs.S. The English currency name is Bolivar Soberano. The local currency name is bolivar soberano. The International Currency Code is VES.

Addresses an issue with a dialog box that may appear with a non-applicable message beginning with the words, Hosted by... when first starting Microsoft Edge. The dialog box only appears if you have turned on Block only third-party cookies in Microsoft Edge and applied certain language packs after installing the October 9, 2018 update.

Infine, chi e su Windows 10 Anniversary Update (1607) o Windows Server 2016, riceve il pacchetto KB4462928, che porta il SO alla build 14393.2580. Anche in questo caso le novita sono previste per le SKU Educaion ed Enterprise, oltre che per chi fa parte del canale Long-Term Servicing (LTSC). Le novita di seguito:
By West Kentucky Star Staff Oct. 18, 2018 | 09:22 PM | BENTON, KY

Two Marshall County students and a teacher are traveling to Washington, D.C. for a weekend summit on gun violence.Keaton Conner and Claire Harmon are seniors at Marshall County High School, and will join over 100 student leaders from across the country to participate in the Student Gun Violence Summit at Dunbar High School in the nation's capital.Students and teachers are expected to create a national agenda to address gun violence, ignite support for their action plan, encourage young people to vote, and show the world that young people have the power to make change.Teacher Luke Inglish, who will also attend the summit, is in his eleventh year teaching in Marshall County, and serves as president of the Marshall County Education Association.The summit is Saturday, and a live stream will be available for viewing at the link below. Students will then host a press conference on Sunday morning to share their plan.In a press release, 17-year-old Conner said, "Since the shooting at my school on January 23rd, I have been advocating for safer schools, organizing with Students for Student Safety, March for our Lives, and the Prichard Committee Student Voice Team. I and my fellow organizers are working to create safe schools in our area."For more information, visit https://studentgunviolencesummit.com

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Imperial Valley News Center

ICE "Most Wanted" fugitive, child predator captured in Louisiana

New Orleans, Louisiana - U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcements (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) deportation officers arrested one of EROs Most Wanted fugitives Wednesday during a targeted operation in Central Louisiana that resulted in the capture of a convicted child sex offender who is now facing additional felony charges.

Jose Melchor Martinez AKA Jose Luis Martinez-Sanchez, an unlawfully present Mexican national, was arrested Wednesday morning by an ERO New Orleans Special Response Team after executing a federal arrest warrant at a residence in Church Point, Louisiana.

Martinez was convicted on a felony charge of taking indecent liberties with a child in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, in November 2002. After his release from criminal custody, ICE subsequently removed him from the U.S. to Mexico in September 2003.

Martinez illegally re-entered the U.S. after removal, which is a felony act under federal law. Martinez was then encountered by local law enforcement in Acadia Parish who arrested him for DUI. Martinez was convicted of DUI April 30 and sentenced to probation.

ERO subsequently began efforts to locate Martinez after learning of his return to the U.S., which culminated in the agency obtaining a federal arrest warrant in the Western District of Louisiana for illegal re-entry of a previously removed felon.

After completion of ICE processing Wednesday, Martinez was turned over to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service where he remains in custody pending his federal felony prosecution in the Western District of Louisiana.

This case is an excellent example of ICEs ongoing focus to prioritize its enforcement efforts toward unlawfully present foreign nationals who pose the greatest threat to public safety, said ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations New Orleans Acting Field Office Director Trey Lund. Despite attempts by some to confuse the public, ICE does not conduct random or indiscriminate enforcement and the agencys targeted enforcement efforts make communities safer for all persons, whatever their immigration status may be, by removing dangerous criminals from the streets.

Nationally, approximately 90 percent of all persons arrested by ICE during the first three quarters of fiscal year 2018 either had a criminal conviction, a pending criminal charge, or were already subject to a removal order issued by a federal immigration judge.
Imperial Valley News Center

ICE arrests fugitive alien in NC wanted on multiple Maryland rape charges

Baltimore, Maryland - U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) apprehended an unlawfully present Mexican national Friday in Forsyth County, North Carolina, who is a Maryland fugitive wanted on multiple state charges of rape and sexual assault.

In collaboration with officers from ERO Baltimore, an ERO Charlotte Fugitive Operations Team located Alfredo Carreon-Lopez at a Forsyth County business Friday. Carreon is suspected to have fled the Baltimore area following the issuance of a Maryland state arrest warrant on charges of first-degree rape, second-degree rape, sexual abuse of a minor, first and second-degree assault, and multiple additional sexual offense charges.

After Charlotte deportation officers located and arrested Carreon on immigration charges in Forsyth County, ICE contacted the Mecklenburg County Sheriffs Office and booked Carreon into the Mecklenburg County Detention Center where he is now awaiting extradition back to Maryland to face the criminal charges against him.

This case is an excellent example of ICEs ongoing focus to prioritize its immigration enforcement efforts toward unlawfully present foreign nationals who pose a threat to public safety, said ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Atlanta Field Office Director Sean Gallagher. Despite attempts by some to confuse the public, ICE does not conduct any type of random or indiscriminate enforcement and the agencys targeted enforcement efforts make communities safer for all persons whatever their immigration status may be.

Nationally, approximately 90 percent of all persons arrested by ICE during the first three quarters of FY18 either had a criminal conviction, a pending criminal charge, or were already subject to a removal order issued by a federal immigration judge.

However, as ICE has made clear, the agency will not overlook unlawfully present foreign nationals it encounters while conducting targeted enforcement operations and ICE does not exempt classes or categories of removable aliens from potential enforcement. All of those in violation of the immigration laws may be subject to immigration arrest, detention, and if found removable by final order, removal from the United States.

The Charlotte Fugitive Operations Team encountered and arrested six additional unlawfully present foreign nationals while locating and arresting Carreon; five of these six unlawfully present persons have prior criminal convictions. Four of the six unlawfully present foreign nationals were placed into removal proceedings before the federal immigration courts; two of the six already had their day in court and were previously ordered removed from the U.S. by a federal immigration judge. They are presently being processed for removal.
Maryland brothers accused of operating inter-state cigarette trafficking ring

Washington, DC - 21-count indictment charges 3 individuals for distributing more than 1.25 million untaxed cigarettes, evading nearly $430,000 in tax liability.

Attorney General Barbara D. Underwood Thursday announced the indictment and arrest of three individuals for their alleged roles in trafficking significant quantities of untaxed cigarettes from Virginia to Kings County. In a 21-count indictment unsealed today in Kings County Supreme Court, the defendants were charged with various tax- and money laundering-related crimes for their involvement in the cigarette trafficking network.

As we allege, the defendants ran a criminal trafficking ring that funneled over 1.25 million untaxed cigarettes into New York  while cheating New Yorkers out of hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxes, said Attorney General Underwood. These traffickers are charged with sidestepping the law, which put legitimate, law-abiding businesses at a disadvantage. Well continue to work with our partners in law enforcement to hold accountable those who try to game the system and cheat New Yorkers.

Code-named Operation Sidestep, state, federal, and local law enforcement agents concluded a months-long investigation into a network that allegedly evaded New York State and New York City excise and sales taxes by trafficking more than 1,500 cartons of untaxed cigarettes per week from Virginia to be sold in retail shops in Brooklyn. The investigation was led by the New York State Attorney General's Organized Crime Task Force (OCTF) in partnership with the Intelligence Bureau of the New York Police Department (NYPD) and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). It is alleged that a total of approximately 1,255,000 cigarettes were smuggled into Brooklyn, evading a total of $426,700 in tax liability due to New York State and New York City.

Financial fraud victimizes an unknowing and unwilling public for the unabashed gain of a small handful who know full well their gains compromise the widespread safety, security, and economic health of others, said HSI Baltimores Acting Special Agent in Charge Cardell T. Morant. I thank the dedicated investigators involved and commend the invaluably productive and efficient partnerships in place that assure these charges will be faced and answered for.

During the course of the takedown, authorities seized three handguns, one shotgun, three vehicles, and more than $312,000 in cash from the Ramadans home in Maryland, as well as more than 341,000 untaxed cigarettes from a storage location in Brooklyn.

The Attorney General's indictment charges the following three defendants with different crimes, including, but not limited to: Criminal Tax Fraud in the Second Degree (a class C felony), Money Laundering in the Second Degree (a Class C felony), and Conspiracy in the Fourth Degree (class E felony), in relation to their involvement in the cigarette trafficking operation:

Basel Ramadan, 47 years old  Ocean City, MD

Samir Ramadan, 45 years old  Ocean City, MD

Fahd Muthana, a/k/a Ahmed Abdullah, 39 years old  Brooklyn, NY

Basel Ramadan and Samir Ramadan were arraigned today in Kings County Supreme Court before Judge Danny Chun; bail for Samir Ramadan was set at $2 million cash or $500,000 bond. Fahd Muthana was arraigned on October 11, 2018 in Kings County Supreme Court before Judge Chun. All three defendants cases were adjourned to December 19, 2018.

The charges against the defendants are merely accusations and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.

The Attorney Generals investigation was directed by OCTF Investigator Raymond Almovodar, under the supervision of OCTF Supervising Investigator Paul Grzegorski and Deputy Chief Investigator Christopher Vasta. The Investigations Bureau is led by Chief Dominick Zarrella.

The case is being prosecuted by OCTF Assistant Deputy Attorney General Caitlin E. Carroll, under the supervision of Deputy Bureau Chief Diego Hernandez. Nicole Keary is the Deputy Attorney General in charge of OCTF. Margaret Garnett is the Executive Deputy Attorney General for Criminal Justice.

The NYPD portion of the investigation was led by Detective Christopher McDonnell and Sgt. Robert Olson. The HSI portion was run by Agent Kenneth Oland and Regional Agent in Charge Frank McGarvey.
Amazon's year-long saga of choosing its second headquarters city--"HQ2"--should coming to an end soon. The company has promised it will make an announcement by the end of 2018, which means it has just over two months left.

Today, The Wall Street Journal reported that Amazon officials paid return visits to several of the 20 finalists, including New York City, Chicago, and Newark, New Jersey. In New York City, the site under consideration appears to be in the up-and-coming area of Long Island City, in Queens.

Of course, the inside sources who shared this information with the Journal emphasized that the choice has not been narrowed to these three locations and that Amazon will likely check in with some of the other contenders as well. The inside sources even noted that Amazon might (somewhat sadistically) carry out negotiations with several different cities until a deal is all but complete, letting them think they're still in the running just to avoid tipping its hand too soon.

But many expert observers are predicting a different choice, and they have logic on their side. They also have the bookmakers on their side. As The New York Times observed this week, Northern Virginia seems to be the likeliest option. For one thing, Northern Virginia already hosts the largest and fastest-growing offices outside of Seattle for Amazon Web Services (AWS), the company's highly successful cloud-hosting division. Then there's the fact that Jeff Bezos has been talking with with local developer JBG Smith, which owns large portions of a neighborhood called Crystal City, which just happens to be right across the Potomac from Washington, D.C., where Bezos just happens to be spending $12 million to renovate the $23 million mansion he bought two years ago. He also owns The Washington Post. Of course, D.C. itself is one of the 20 finalists as well, but given the congested traffic in the city and the fact that it can provide the space Amazon wants only across multiple locations, most don't see it as a truly serious contender.

The Seattle-based tech site GeekWire just provided another big clue to where HQ2 may wind up. Consider that Amazon has said it will open the first phase of HQ2--at about half a million square feet--sometime in 2019. That's a lot of office space, which suggests Amazon will need people to occupy those offices. A lot of those people will be software engineers, and software engineers are notoriously in high demand and difficult to hire. A smart company, good at looking ahead--which Amazon unquestionably is--might be working on hiring those engineers right now. So GeekWire did something brilliantly simple: It looked at how many engineers Amazon appeared to be hiring in all 20 of the finalist locations (they all have some Amazon presence already). Northern Virginia had the most jobs to fill by a wide margin.

With that in mind, consider something very interesting about Amazon's list of 20 finalists. Nineteen of them are either a specific city or (in the case of Montgomery County, Maryland) a specific county. Only in Northern Virginia's case is a finalist identified as an entire portion of a state. As it turns out, among the 238 proposals the company received, at least two separate pitches came from Northern Virginia--a joint proposal by Fairfax and Loudoun Counties, and another joint proposal by Arlington County and the city of Alexandria. If Amazon had treated those the same way it did all other proposals, it would have identified one pair or the other as a finalist, or perhaps both pairs as two finalists. Does listing Northern Virginia in general as a finalist mean Amazon is considering even more proposals from other counties or towns? Or was it that Amazon didn't want to zero in too quickly on the geography it already favored for HQ2?
John Krasinski has confirmed that he's currently writing a sequel A Quiet Place.

The former US Office actor  who directed, co-wrote and starred in the ambitious horror movie  revealed that other filmmakers were initially approached by the film's studio, Paramount.

"I had this small idea for a sequel, but I didn't think it would go anywhere," he told The Hollywood Reporter. "So, I said to the studio, 'Just go do the movie with somebody else'

"They heard some pitches, and I told Drew [Form, the producer] about this little idea. And he told me to think about it a little longer. And then I thought, 'This might really work'. So, I'm currently writing the sequel."

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

Following A Quiet Place's box-office success, grossing over $300 million from a $21 million budget, Paramount were quick to announced a release date for a sequel:15 May 2020.

Krasinski previously told The Independent that another director could certainly take over the franchise, as it was all "about finding the right story."

"I know Paramount announced it and really want to do one," he said. "I really credit them with allowing us to very gently get in the water; its really nice of them to do because a lot of places would just make it. Were really trying to find a story that feels very connected [to the first one].

Meanwhile, Krasinski will continue to lead Amazon's Jack Ryan TV series, a second season of which was commissioned earlier this year.
Joy, a drama that tackles the vicious cycle of sex trafficking in modern Europe, has been named this year's best film in competition at the BFI London Film Festival.

Directed by Sudabeh Mortezai, the story follows a young Nigerian woman who must work the streets to pay off debts to an exploiter, all while supporting a family in Nigeria.

Jury president and Room director Lenny Abrahamson called the film a provocative and unique film offering a devastating portrait of human resilience in the most inhuman of environments.

The official competition jury also gave a special commendation to Birds Of Passage, directed by Cristina Gallego and Ciro Guerra.

Girl, directed by Lukas Dhont, won the Sutherland award in the first feature competition. The film has been selected as the Belgian entry for the best foreign language film at the Oscars and tells the story of a transgender teenager who dreams of becoming a ballet dancer.

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

What You Gonna Do When The World's On Fire, a documentary by Roberto Minervini that follows a Louisiana community during the summer of 2017, in the aftermath of a string of police shootings of black men, won the Grierson Award in the documentary competition.

Meanwhile Lasting Marks, a short documentary by Charlie Lyne about 16 men put on trial for sadomasochism in the 1980s won the short film award.

Tricia Tuttle, artistic director of the festival, said: The 2018 LFF Awards nominations demonstrate the vibrancy of global filmmaking and I'm delighted for the winning filmmakers who have triumphed at the 62nd BFI London Film Festival.

After much jury deliberation, our wonderful juries have selected four extraordinary films which encourage dialogue and understanding around issues of race, class, gender and sexuality.

Access unlimited streaming of movies and TV shows with Amazon Prime Video Sign up now for a 30-day free trial Sign up

I applaud Sudabeh, Lukas, Roberto and Charlie for their boldly distinctive work and hope that our awards can help focus even more attention from UK and global audiences on their truly deserving films.

For the first time, we've also placed audiences at the very heart of the awards celebration and I'm thrilled to be presenting the winners to packed houses of adventurous filmgoers.

Additional reporting by agencies.
It might be the ultimate parting gift. As Britain prepares to leave the EU, two Bristol-based artists have left hundreds of love songs blaring out across the continent. Tune in to the Oh Europa app, and you might hear a Belgian schoolboy singing Hey Jude, or a Greek couple duetting the first track on a mix tape they made 20 years ago.

For the past six months, Gemma Paintin and James Stenhouse  collectively known as Action Hero  have been driving around Europe, recording love songs en route. Since setting off from Bristol in April, the couple have covered around 32,000km in an adapted camper van that doubles as a recording studio, and have captured more than 600 love songs. Its a journey thats taken in 30 countries, stretching to the very edges of Europe  and all of it, as U2 might put it, in the name of love.

Tonight, their teal mobile home, dotted with a white soundwave design, pulls up outside Bristol Old Vic for a grand homecoming, giving Brexit-weary Brits the chance to tune in to their continental compilation album and, perhaps, lock down a love song of their own.

Oh Europa was conceived four years ago, long before Brexit hove into view. Speaking via Skype from their final stop, in Bucharest, Paintin says theyd become fed up with flying visits on international tours: airport to hotel to theatre. Instead, they envisaged making a show of sorts on the go  a form of slow touring that would allow the duo to do something big. Their work often plays with scale. Early shows shrunk stock westerns and Evil Knievel-style stunts down to size for the stage.

At the time, the refugee crisis was cutting through to the public consciousness. Borders were beginning to harden. Action Hero decided to explore the continent and the possibility of a continental identity  what European countries might have in common. We both felt European, she says. Since the conception of the tour, shifting political sands have only upped the urgency, and not just with EU freedom of movement due to end in Britain. We felt we had to do this now, Paintin adds. It means more than ever.

Gemma Paintlin and James Stenhouse conceived Oh Europa four years ago (Pelagia Karanikola)

The plan was to pitch up in towns and cities across Europe and invite people into the van  their home  to sing a love song of their choosing. When we started, we werent sure anyone would sing, Paintin says. Plenty did  everywhere they went, some with pre-planned songs, some with impromptu numbers. If you offer people a space and say well listen, that invitation is very freeing.

Although it might sound like a gap year trip at the taxpayers expense  the 100,000 project was part financed by the Arts Council  Oh Europa is anything but. Save for three days sitting by a lake in Slovenia, the artists have driven an average of five hours per day, their route determined entirely by the project. The distance covered is equal to three-quarters of the worlds circumference. As art, Oh Europa sits in several traditions at once. Theyve fostered thousands of individual encounters, as people open up about the experiences of Europe and of love, but the whole endeavour is a kind of grand improbable act.

Thats what art should be, Paintin says. I could have stayed home and written an email about Europe and its future, but thats not why Im an artist. For me, the function of art is to connect with people and to make these big propositions of what if? What if you went around an entire continent asking people to sing you a love song? She pauses. Thats why people have responded to it, I think. Its a massive act of hope.

Whats more, Oh Europa will leave a trace. We knew we didnt just want to stick the songs on our website like a Spotify playlist. Instead, Action Hero has dotted the continent with listening stations. At key locations en route, they placed broadcast beacons transmitting an online radio station to the nearby area. The technology uses GPS to play by proximity, like an art gallery audioguide. An app points people in the right direction and, as they approach a hotspot, listeners hear static that gradually gives way to song. The effect is like tuning in to the radio. The love songs are playing 24/7  even if no-ones actually listening.

It means theres a conceptual element to Oh Europa, as well as an experiential one. Action Hero have, in a sense, changed Europe, studding it with love songs at significant points. Each beacons location was carefully chosen  all of them at borders or thresholds of some sort. As Paintin puts it: the places where theyre needed most. She likens the process to acupuncture  injections of love into Europes pressure points.

Action Hero have sought sites of historic and cultural significance for their continental playlist (Pelagia Karanikola)

Their collection has its fair share of classics. They picked up Edith Piafs La Vie En Rose in France, and a giggly rendition of Celine Dions My Heart Will Go On, courtesy of 15 Belgian teenagers. In Hungary, a bride-to-be sang them Frank Sinatras L O V E halfway through her hen do.

But more often than not, people picked songs in their local language, many of them not remotely romantic. People sang about loving the mountains or the trees, says Paintin, or about loving the country they live in. A Romanian mother sang a lullaby to the three-month-old at her breast while in Finland, a woman in her nineties sang an ode to her homeland; the song Finns sing on coming home from abroad. Born in Karelia before it became part of Russia after the Second World War, she wore a Finnish flagpin in her lapel. For Paintin, she seemed the living embodiment of Oh Europa  a personification of the mutability of borders.

In Britain, a beacon sits on Hadrians Wall, others are at the edges of Europe itself, calling to outsiders from the northernmost coast of Norway to the southernmost tip of Spain. Europes history is one of border disputes, and Action Hero see the current crisis as more of the same. Its all about territory, Paintin says. This is our space, this is your space. The beacons broadcast in both directions.

Not all borders are international, however, and none are immutable. Action Hero have sought sites of historic and cultural significance as well. One is in the town of San Rafael, which straddles the border of Catalonia and Valencia. During the Catalan referendum, only half the local population was allowed to vote. Anothers on the Morava River, just at the point where it meets the much larger Danube. At one point, it lay along the Iron Curtain  20 metres of shallow, slow-flowing water separated Slovenia from Austria, East from West. Today, its a beauty spot, but, as Paintin points out, hundreds of people lost their lives there.

Its really important to remember that these thresholds are in flux, and theyre not only manmade, but natural and metaphorical. In Switzerland, she and Stenhouse climbed four hours to reach the Lunghin Pass, 3,000m up  Europes only triple watershed. There, each raindrops landing point determines its destination  be it the Adriatic Ocean or the Black or Red seas.

That symbolises something about all our lives: national identity is, in part, down to chance. With nationalism rising across Europe, Oh Europa feels like a small tonic. Its a cliche to say it but nevertheless its true: love matters to everybody, Paintin points out. Their experience on the ground, for all that the current news cycle feels fraught, has only confirmed that. And while Brexits come up in conversation, its not been as present as you might think. Other countries just arent thinking about it all the time.

Oh Europa is at Bristol Old Vic on 20 October. Tickets here.
FOXBOROUGH -- Rob Gronkowski is officially questionable for the Patriots' Week 7 trip to Chicago, and offensive tackle Marcus Cannon is out after missing all three days of practice this week.

Including Gronkowski and Cannon, New England placed 11 players on its final injury report Friday. Cannon was the only player declared out, while the rest are questionable. Gronkowski, who has been listed with an ankle injury for weeks, is now also listed with a bad back.

The other players are as follows:

WR Julian Edelman (heel)

DT Malcom Brown (knee)

WR Josh Gordon (hamstring)

TE Jacob Hollister (hamstring)

DE Geneo Grissom (ankle)

RB Sony Michel (knee)

CB Eric Rowe (groin)

DE John Simon (shoulder)

DE Deatrich Wise Jr. (ankle/knee)

Edelman said Friday his heel was feeling "pretty good." He, Cannon and Hollister were the only Patriots new to the injury report from last week.

Chicago listed linebacker Khalil Mack (ankle), wide receiver Allen Robinson (groin) and cornerback Bryce Callahan (ankle) as questionable. Cornerback Marcus Cooper Sr. is doubtful with a bad hamstring.

Mack practiced for the first time Friday, while Robinson returned in a limited capacity after sitting out Thursday. Callahan did not participate.

Sunday's kickoff is set for 1 p.m. EST from Soldier Field.
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Cate Blanchett has defended straight actors who play gay characters on screen.

Hollywood has been increasingly criticised over the past few months for giving LGBT+ roles to straight actors, with Scarlett Johansson recently dropping out of playing a transgender character in Rub and Tug following a backlash.

Blanchett, who played a lesbian character in 2015s Carol, said she would fight to the death for the right to suspend disbelief and play characters beyond her own experience.

The Oscar-winning actor said she disagreed with the idea that a performer could only form a deep bond with a character if they had shared experiences, and believed it defies the point of acting.

It also speaks to something that Im quite passionate about in storytelling generally, but in film specifically, which is that film can be quite a literal medium, she told The Hollywood Reporter.

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

And I will fight to the death for the right to suspend disbelief and play roles beyond my experience. I think reality television and all that that entails had an extraordinary impact, a profound impact on the way we view the creation of character.

I think it provides a lot of opportunity, but the downside of it is that now, particularly in America, I think, we expect and only expect people to make a profound connection to a character when its close to their experience.

Johansson previously said, after receiving criticism for accepting a role as a transgender character, that all comments should be directed to Jeffrey Tambor, Jared Leto and Felicity Huffmans reps for comment.

Recommended Cate Blanchett criticises politicians who set Brexit in motion

Trace Lysette, who appeared alongside Tambor in the Amazon series Transparent, said the casting was a symptom of a bigger problem in Hollywood, writing on Twitter: I wouldnt be as upset if I was getting in the same rooms as Jennifer Lawrence and Scarlett for cis roles, but we know thats not the case.

Sir Ian McKellen has also been critical of Hollywoods attitude to gay actors, pointing out that no openly gay man has ever won the Academy Award for best actor, while straight actors have taken home the prize for playing LGBT+ roles.

Examples include Tom Hanks, who won an Oscar for Philadelphia, while Sean Penn scooped it for Milk. In total, 52 straight people have been Oscar-nominated for playing gay characters.
Why protest?

The fundamental reason is that very often the common people, to use an old-fashioned term, have no alternative but to do so. A lot of those attending this weekends March for the Future will feel that way. Many feel as though they were cheated on and lied to during the 2016 EU referendum campaign. Some will have voted Leave, but now feel that they want a Final Say on the terms of Brexit. They see parliament deadlocked and look on as ministers make a mess of the country. They are patriotic. They are anxious. They want to do something. They have a perfect right to protest, and they are going to seize it. They can do no other.

Protesting is also about changing things. It can never guarantee political or cultural reform; but without it, change is always likely to be much more difficult. Time and again, history shows that many of the freedoms and liberties we take for granted today were only won through the commitment and bravery of individuals prepared to make their voices heard  even if the odds seemed stacked against them.
Roelof Pik Botha spent decades at the centre of South Africas political and diplomatic life as the last foreign minister under apartheid rule and who later served in the cabinet of the countrys first black president, Nelson Mandela.

Botha, who died aged 86, joined South Africas foreign service at 21 and held prestigious diplomatic assignments, including simultaneous appointments in the 1970s as ambassador to both the US and the UN.

He occupied an ambivalent place in South African public life, seen by some as a moderate voice in a brutal government and by others as a wily political survivor who was the public face and voice of a racist system clinging to power.

He was way ahead of his political base in the Afrikaner political establishment in his moderate political views and scepticism towards apartheid, Chester Crocker, an American diplomat who worked on South Africas transition to majority-black rule, said in an interview. He was an unforgettable, stunning performer. He was a very colourful guy at the negotiating table.

As early as the 1970s, Botha had publicly admitted that South Africas race-based apartheid policies were unjust and caused hardship, yet he also defended the white regime as it became an international pariah.

With Archbishop Desmond Tutu, in 1997, at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearings in Johannesburg (Getty) (AFP/Getty Images)

In 1974, shortly before South Africa was expelled from the UN General Assembly, Botha pleaded for his country in a speech to the UNs Security Council.

Black Africans need not conduct a freedom struggle against my government, he said. Being an African country, we understand African aspirations. We have stolen land from nobody. We have conquered no people. We threaten no one.

Botha first served in South Africas parliament as a member of the National Party in 1970 and was often seen as a future prime minister, the countrys highest political office at the time. But his comparatively moderate views were increasingly out of step with the conservatism of the partys white Afrikaner base. Some were suspicious of his cosmopolitan ways and openly speculated that he might have been a communist sympathiser or Soviet spy.

At diplomatic receptions, Botha reportedly said, nobody would talk to us and nobody would talk to the Russians, so we ended up always having to talk to each other.

He became foreign minister in 1977, a year after the Soweto student uprising, in which at least 176 protesters were killed by police. Oppressive measures were enacted against the countrys restive black majority, which made up about 70 per cent of South Africas population. International sanctions were tightened, leaving South Africas white government more and more isolated.

War has been declared on us, Botha said in response. We are not retreating.

The then South African foreign minister with Margaret Thatcher in 1989 (Getty)

Alternately charming and hardfisted, Botha had the Gadsen flag in his office  dating back to the 1770s and the American revolution, it is yellow and depicts a coiled rattlesnake with the legend, Dont Tread on Me.

He charged the United States  with its chequered racial history  with moral hypocrisy in its dealings towards South Africa.

Let the United States achieve complete equality before pontificating to me from a high moral forum, he said.

In 1978, Botha was passed over in a bid for prime minister in favour of hardliner PW Botha, to whom he was unrelated. By the mid-Eighties, Pik Botha had become the cabinets most vocal advocate for reform.

I cannot understand, he said in 1987, while the restrictive practices of apartheid were still in place, how you can stand in a lift with a black man with a toolbox in his hand, but when he puts on a suit you want nothing to do with him.

In the mid-1980s, Botha said he could envision South Africa with a black president and that it was time for the government to release Mandela, the leader of the outlawed African National Congress party, who had been held as a political prisoner since 1962.

Right-wing opponents denounced Botha, shouting at rallies, Pik, you are digging the white grave!

Visiting Egypt in 1993 (Getty)

In 1989, PW Botha resigned as prime minister and was replaced by FW de Klerk, who later assumed the new office of president. Pik Botha stayed on as foreign minister during a transitional period in which South Africas apartheid policies were dismantled.

Mandela was released in 1990 and was elected president four years later. Botha served in Mandelas cabinet as energy minister until retiring from public life in 1996.

In a 2013 BBC interview, he marvelled at Mandelas resilient ability to have left prison after so many years without bitterness. I so often experienced his capacity to forgive and his will to improve the country ... Historically, he played a role of a saviour.

Roelof Frederik Botha was born in the early 1930s, in Rustenburg, South Africa. His father was a high school principal.

Because of his youthful penchant for dressing in a suit and tie, Botha acquired his nickname Pik, a diminutive of the Afrikaans word for penguin.

After graduating from the University of Pretoria, he entered the diplomatic service. He had early assignments in Sweden and Germany and joined South Africas delegation to the United Nations in 1966.

He helped negotiate the settlement of conflicts throughout Africa, including a ceasefire between rebels and the government of Mozambique in 1984. He played a key role in the transition of the neighbouring country of Zimbabwe (formerly Rhodesia) from white rule to a majority-black government. He also helped resolve the decades-long dispute over South West Africa, a territory under the authority South Africa that gained independence in 1990 and became Namibia.

In 1997, Botha was the first top official of the National Party to testify before South Africas Truth and Reconciliation Commission, led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Desmond Tutu. Botha asked for Gods forgiveness for failing to prevent the barbarity of the apartheid era.

His wife of 43 years, Helena (nee Bosman), died in 1996. In addition to their four children, survivors include his wife since 1998, Ina Joubert.

During the 1970s, the South African government routinely banned journalists from the country, including Washington Post foreign correspondent Jim Hoagland. In 1976, Botha helped arrange for Hoagland to return to note the positive change in race relations in the country.

Hoagland wrote a multipart series condemning South Africas racial policies, leading to his permanent expulsion from the country.

I later learned, Hoagland wrote in an email, that Pik had fully expected that I would continue to be critical of apartheid and had thought it would be helpful for the cause of change.

Roelof Frederik (Pik) Botha, South African politician, born 27 April 1932, died 12 October 2018

 Washington Post
Amber Rudd has said Home Office officials misled her about illegal deportations when the Windrush scandal was emerging, claiming that those in charge of the governments immigration enforcement didnt know what was going on.

The former home secretary resigned from her post in April, saying she had inadvertently misled MPs over the crisis, which exposed the fact that hundreds of Commonwealth nationals had been wrongly targeted by immigration officials, with some wrongly deported.

Ms Rudd told the BBC she would quite like to be home secretary again because there were a few things [she would] like to do a bit better than last time.

The now backbench politician apologised at the time, but her handling of the crisis was criticised as she sought to defend the wider impact of the governments hostile environment policy, designed to deter illegal immigration.

During one appearance before a Commons committee, Ms Rudd said there were no removals targets for illegal immigrants  a claim that was subsequently contradicted by a 2015 inspection report.

She later admitted local targets for voluntary removals had been set but told the Commons she had not been aware of them. This was subsequently contradicted by a June 2017 memo from an official, which she was sent, that referred to targets.

Speaking on the Political Thinking with Nick Robinson podcast, Ms Rudd said she should have done more to find out what was happening, but that when she started really probing ... it became evident that [officials] didnt know what was going on.

She added: I was told certain things that turned out not to be true  Even at the time when I resigned, I was still being told its unlikely that we have illegally deported anybody.

And a week later, the new home secretary announced we had 64. So they just didnt know what the facts were.

Ms Rudd said it had made her more sceptical about civil servants  but she praised those she worked with on counter-terrorism as fantastic.

She said she was trying to play a part as a backbencher, but added: I would quite like to be home secretary again, if I ever got the opportunity, because theres a few things Id like to do a bit better than last time.

Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK Show all 15 1 /15 Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK The ex-troopship 'Empire Windrush' arriving at Tilbury Docks from Jamaica, with 482 Jamaicans on board, emigrating to Britain. Getty Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK Jamaican immigrants being welcomed by RAF officials from the Colonial Office after the ex-troopship 'Empire Windrush' landed them at Tilbury. PA Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK Alford Gardner who arrived in Britain in 1948 on the first Windrush ship to dock in Tilbury, Essex, speaking at his home in Leeds PA Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK Alford Gardner in Leeds shortly after he arrived in Britain in 1948 on the first Windrush ship to dock in Tilbury, Essex PA Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK Gardner was 22 years old when he boarded the ship in Kingston, Jamaica, with his brother Gladstone before they and hundreds of Caribbean migrants called on to rebuild post-war Britain disembarked the ship in Tilbury Docks PA Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK Alford Gardner (right), during his RAF service in 1947 PA Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK The son of Ruth Williams, a Windrush-generation immigrant, wants to the leave the country after threats of deportation. According to his mother, Mr Haynes applied for British citizenship in 2016 but was rejected, despite Ms Williams having lived in the UK almost permanently since arriving from St Vincent and the Grenadines in 1959. Ruth Williams, 75, said she felt "betrayed" by Britain after the Home Office twice turned down applications for her 35-year-old son, Mozi Haynes, to remain in the country. Ms Williams is understood to have cancer and said she relies heavily on her son for support. PA Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK The British liner 'Empire Windrush' at port in 1954. Getty Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK Ruth Williams, 75, with her British passport. "I feel betrayed and a second class citizen in my own country," she said. "This makes me so sad and the Home Office must show some compassion. "I am unwell and almost 75, I live on my own and I need my son to stay here. I need my family around me and I cant face being alone. He has applied to the Home Office and been refused twice." PA Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK From the top, hopeful Jamaican boxers Charles Smith, Ten Ansel, Essi Reid, John Hazel, Boy Solas and manager Mortimer Martin arrive at Tilbury on the Empire Windrush in the hope of finding work in Britain. Getty Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK Jamaicans reading a newspaper whilst on board the ex-troopship 'Empire Windrush' bound for Tilbury docks in Essex. Getty Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK After half a century in Britain, Anthony Bryan decided it was time to go abroad. But the decision set off a nightmare that saw him lose his job, detained twice and almost deported to Jamaica. AFP/Getty Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK Jamaica-born Anthony Bryan poses outside his home in Edmonton, north London. Now 60 and a grandfather, Bryan thought the issue could be resolved swiftly, as he legally moved to Britain with his family as part of the Windrush generation of Caribbean migrants after World War II. In 1948, the ship Windrush brought the first group of migrants from the West Indies to help rebuild post-war Britain, and many others followed from around the Commonwealth. A 1971 law gave them indefinite leave to remain, but many never formalised their status, often because they were children who came over on their parents' passports and then never applied for their own. AFP/Getty Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK Three Jamaican immigrants (left to right) John Hazel, a 21-year-old boxer, Harold Wilmot, 32, and John Richards, a 22-year-old carpenter, arriving at Tilbury on board the ex-troopship 'Empire Windrush', smartly dressed in zoot suits and trilby hats. Getty Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK Newly arrived Jamaican immigrants on board the 'Empire Windrush' at Tilbury in 1948. Getty

I would like to get immigration enforcement right. I think that there is a problem there and it needs some really careful analysis and a brutal look at whos doing what and whos got what powers where.

Her successor, Sajid Javid, revealed in August that more than 160 Windrush citizens could have been wrongfully detained or deported from the UK.

He vowed to apologise to the families of 18 people most likely to have suffered detriment because their right to be in the UK was not recognised.
The crowds stretched so far back that plenty of people never even made it to the rally.

Masses overflowed through the streets of London for more than a mile, from Hyde Park Corner to Parliament Square, as an estimated 670,000 protesters took their demand for a fresh Brexit referendum right to Theresa Mays doorstep.

They came from every corner of the UK, in what is believed to be the largest demonstration since the Iraq War march in 2003, when more than a million people turned out in the capital to oppose the conflict.

Amid the swathes of EU flags and banners, there was also a growing sense that campaigners, MPs and activists were realising, perhaps for the first time, that this was a battle that could be won.

We were the few, and now we are the many, Tory MP Anna Soubry told the crowds crammed into Parliament Square.

We are winning the argument and we are winning the argument most importantly against those who voted Leave.

She said: We will not walk away. We will take responsibility and sort out this mess with a peoples vote.

Speaking to The Independent beforehand, she said many Tory MPs were privately supportive of a second referendum amid bitter divisions in the party.

Liberal Democrat MP Layla Moran said the sheer scale of the event showed that confidence is growing in the fight for a fresh vote.

To huge cheers, London mayor Sadiq Khan said the march marked a historic moment in our democracy.

He told protestors: Weve heard some complain that a public vote would be undemocratic and unpatriotic. But the opposite is true.

Theres nothing more democratic  nothing more British  than trusting the people to have the final say on our future.

MPs from across the political spectrum addressed the rally, including Green MP Caroline Lucas, Liberal Democrat leader Sir Vince Cable, Labours Chuka Umunna and Tory MP Dr Sarah Wollaston, who drew huge cheers when she compared Brexit to a botched operation.

Christian Broughton, editor of The Independent, told the crowds: Theresa May says that the Final Say referendum will be a politicians vote, not a peoples vote, but we can all remember what some politicians told us in 2016.

We, the people, can all now see whats really coming. And from where Im standing it looks like a peoples vote to me.

He revealed that The Independents petition for a Final Say had achieved more than 940,000 signatures, adding: We have to keep on showing up and signing up.

People did show up in their thousands for the march, which was extremely cheerful, except for a handful of Ukip protestors who screamed Losers at passers-by from outside Downing Street.

An army of students, college pupils and young activists led the march in a sign of the impact of the Brexit vote on the younger generation, some 1.4 million of whom have become eligible to vote since the referendum.

Femi Oluwole, from the youth group Our Future Our Choice, told The Independent: What we are trying to do is bring people together, as nobody has any confidence in what the government is doing.

He said young people were going to be hit hardest by Brexit, both economically and in the opportunities to live and work abroad.

Among the crowds was Piero Passet, a 71-year-old restaurant owner from Turin, said he was marching because he was concerned for the future of the younger generation.

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PA A historic moment: thousands march to demand Final Say on Brexit Final Say campaigners take part in the peoples vote march for the future in London 20/10/2018 Protesters wearing final Say shirts and holding placards Angela Christofilou A historic moment: thousands march to demand Final Say on Brexit Angela Christofilou/The Independent A historic moment: thousands march to demand Final Say on Brexit Angela Christofilou/The Independent A historic moment: thousands march to demand Final Say on Brexit Angela Christofilou/The Independent A historic moment: thousands march to demand Final Say on Brexit MP Chuka Umunna (left) and MP Vince Cable (right) as MP Anna Soubry (centre) addresses Anti-Brexit campaigners at a rally after the People's Vote March for the Future in London, a march and rally in support of a second EU referendum. PA A historic moment: thousands march to demand Final Say on Brexit Angela Christofilou/The Independent A historic moment: thousands march to demand Final Say on Brexit Angela Christofilou/The Independent A historic moment: thousands march to demand Final Say on Brexit A Peoples Vote march attendee calls for a Final Say Angela Christofilou A historic moment: thousands march to demand Final Say on Brexit Demonstrators with banners 'We're with EU' during the People's Vote March for the Future in London, Britain, 20 October 2018. Reports state that the 'March for the Future' is to be led by a column of young people and call for a Peopleas Vote on the Brexit deal. After marching through central London, there will be a rally on stage in Parliament Square, including speeches from Mayor of London Sadiq Khan. EPA A historic moment: thousands march to demand Final Say on Brexit Angela Christofilou/The Independent A historic moment: thousands march to demand Final Say on Brexit Angela Christofilou/The Independent A historic moment: thousands march to demand Final Say on Brexit Angela Christofilou/The Independent A historic moment: thousands march to demand Final Say on Brexit Protesters at Londons march for the future in October The Independent A historic moment: thousands march to demand Final Say on Brexit Editor of The Independent Christian Broughton speaks to demonstrators in Parliament Sqaure after they take part in a march calling for a People's Vote on the final Brexit deal, in central London on October 20, 2018. - Britons dreading life outside Europe gathered from all corners of the UK to London on Saturday to try to stop their country's looming breakup with the EU. AFP/Getty A historic moment: thousands march to demand Final Say on Brexit A poster at the March for the Future in October The Independent A historic moment: thousands march to demand Final Say on Brexit Anti-Brexit campaigners take part in the People's Vote March for the Future in London, a march and rally in support of a second EU referendum. PA A historic moment: thousands march to demand Final Say on Brexit Angela Christofilou/The Independent A historic moment: thousands march to demand Final Say on Brexit Final Say campaigners take part in the peoples vote march for the future in London 20/10/2018 Angela Christofilou A historic moment: thousands march to demand Final Say on Brexit Angela Christofilou/The Independent A historic moment: thousands march to demand Final Say on Brexit Angela Christofilou/The Independent A historic moment: thousands march to demand Final Say on Brexit Anti-Brexit campaigners take part in the People's Vote March for the Future in London, a march and rally in support of a second EU referendum. PA A historic moment: thousands march to demand Final Say on Brexit Angela Christofilou/The Independent A historic moment: thousands march to demand Final Say on Brexit Angela Christofilou/The Independent A historic moment: thousands march to demand Final Say on Brexit Angela Christofilou/The Independent A historic moment: thousands march to demand Final Say on Brexit Angela Christofilou/The Independent A historic moment: thousands march to demand Final Say on Brexit Angela Christofilou/The Independent A historic moment: thousands march to demand Final Say on Brexit Angela Christofilou/The Independent A historic moment: thousands march to demand Final Say on Brexit Angela Christofilou/The Independent A historic moment: thousands march to demand Final Say on Brexit Demonstrators hold placards as they take part in a march calling for a People's Vote on the final Brexit deal, in central London on October 20, 2018. - Britons dreading life outside Europe gathered from all corners of the UK to London on Saturday to try to stop their country's looming breakup with the EU. AFP/Getty A historic moment: thousands march to demand Final Say on Brexit Angela Christofilou/The Independent A historic moment: thousands march to demand Final Say on Brexit Angela Christofilou/The Independent A historic moment: thousands march to demand Final Say on Brexit Angela Christofilou/The Independent A historic moment: thousands march to demand Final Say on Brexit Angela Christofilou/The Independent A historic moment: thousands march to demand Final Say on Brexit Angela Christofilou/The Independent A historic moment: thousands march to demand Final Say on Brexit Angela Christofilou A historic moment: thousands march to demand Final Say on Brexit Angela Christofilou/The Independent A historic moment: thousands march to demand Final Say on Brexit Angela Christofilou/The Independent A historic moment: thousands march to demand Final Say on Brexit Angela Christofilou/The Independent A historic moment: thousands march to demand Final Say on Brexit Angela Christofilou/The Independent A historic moment: thousands march to demand Final Say on Brexit Angela Christofilou/The Independent A historic moment: thousands march to demand Final Say on Brexit Angela Christofilou/The Independent A historic moment: thousands march to demand Final Say on Brexit Angela Christofilou/The Independent A historic moment: thousands march to demand Final Say on Brexit Angela Christofilou/The Independent A historic moment: thousands march to demand Final Say on Brexit Angela Christofilou/The Independent A historic moment: thousands march to demand Final Say on Brexit Angela Christofilou/The Independent A historic moment: thousands march to demand Final Say on Brexit Angela Christofilou/The Independent A historic moment: thousands march to demand Final Say on Brexit Angela Christofilou A historic moment: thousands march to demand Final Say on Brexit Final Say campaigners take part in the peoples vote march for the future in London 20/10/2018 campaigner wrapped in EU flag Angela Christofilou A historic moment: thousands march to demand Final Say on Brexit Angela Christofilou/The Independent A historic moment: thousands march to demand Final Say on Brexit Angela Christofilou/The Independent A historic moment: thousands march to demand Final Say on Brexit Final Say campaigners take part in the peoples vote march for the future in London 20/10/2018 Angela Christofilou A historic moment: thousands march to demand Final Say on Brexit Demonstrators pass Trafalgar Square as they take part in a march calling for a People's Vote on the final Brexit deal, in central London on October 20, 2018. - Britons dreading life outside Europe gathered from all corners of the UK to London on Saturday to try to stop their country's looming breakup with the EU. AFP/Getty A historic moment: thousands march to demand Final Say on Brexit Demonstrators wave Union and European flags and hold up placards as they pass Trafalgar Square, taking part in a march calling for a People's Vote on the final Brexit deal, in central London on October 20, 2018. - Britons dreading life outside Europe gathered from all corners of the UK to London on Saturday to try to stop their country's looming breakup with the EU. AFP/Getty A historic moment: thousands march to demand Final Say on Brexit Demonstrators hold placards as they take part in a march calling for a People's Vote on the final Brexit deal, in central London on October 20, 2018. - Britons dreading life outside Europe gathered from all corners of the UK to London on Saturday to try to stop their country's looming breakup with the EU. AFP/Getty A historic moment: thousands march to demand Final Say on Brexit A demonstrator holds a message during a march calling for a People's Vote on the final Brexit deal, in central London on October 20, 2018. - Britons dreading life outside Europe gathered from all corners of the UK to London on Saturday to try to stop their country's looming breakup with the EU. AFP/Getty A historic moment: thousands march to demand Final Say on Brexit Anti-Brexit campaigners take part in the People's Vote March for the Future in London, a march and rally in support of a second EU referendum. PA A historic moment: thousands march to demand Final Say on Brexit Demonstrators take part in the 'People's Vote March for the Future,' in central London, Britain, 20 October 2018. Reports state that the 'March for the Future' is to be led by a column of young people and call for a Peopleas Vote on the Brexit deal. After marching through central London, there will be a rally on stage in Parliament Square, including speeches from Mayor of London Sadiq Khan EPA A historic moment: thousands march to demand Final Say on Brexit A protester brandishes an Independent t-shirt during the Brexit March Angela Christofilou A historic moment: thousands march to demand Final Say on Brexit Anti-Brexit campaigners take part in the People's Vote March for the Future in London, a march and rally in support of a second EU referendum PA A historic moment: thousands march to demand Final Say on Brexit Tens of thousands of people take part in People's Vote March for the Future in central London. The march organised by the People's Vote campaign is led by young people calling for a People's Vote on the Brexit deal Rex A historic moment: thousands march to demand Final Say on Brexit Anti-Brexit campaigners take part in the People's Vote March for the Future in London, a march and rally in support of a second EU referendum PA

He said: Ive lived in London for 49 years but I am more concerned about my children and my grandchildren.

I still have my Italian passport but I dont want to be stuck at Gatwick airport in long queues.

Mr Passet said he was already struggling to recruit staff, as many eastern European and Spanish workers no longer felt welcome in the UK.

Ruby Savins, 13, had travelled from Brighton with her parents Nick and Celia.

She said: Ive come because of my future. I think Brexit is wrong and I think we should stop it altogether.

We all think that it is wrong and we think we should remain together.

Jo Law, 31, and her partner Phuong La, 23, came to protest about how Brexit was creating a toxic atmosphere.

Ms Law, from south London, said: Im here because of my girlfriend. Trying to get a visa for her is just impossible.

Its all about immigration.

Corinna Lewis, a 37-year-old German student, had travelled from her home in Canterbury to show her support for a Final Say vote, as she was not eligible to vote during the 2016 referendum.

She said: Ive been in England for 10 years but I couldnt vote. I dont think thats fair.

 Editor of the Independent Christian Broughton speaks at the People's Vote march in London

I think there are lots of people who are absolutely engaged but were excluded from the vote.

Also among the crowds was Lord Of The Rings actor Andy Serkis, who described it as one of the most, if not the most important march of a generation.

Other famous faces included Sir Bob Geldof, TV presenter Richard Bacon, Dragons Den star Deborah Meaden, comedian Jenny Eclair and Holby City actors Catherine Russell and Hugh Quarshie.

Ahead of the march, a Downing Street spokeswoman told The Independent that people had a right to speak out, but that the prime minister had made clear her position in regards to a new referendum.

While the protestors gathered, Ms May visited an exhibition in her constituency, entitled Maidenhead And Me, featuring work by local artists.
 Close More than 700,000 protesters march on Westminster calling for a Final Say on Brexit deal

An estimated 700,000 people gathered in central London to call for a second referendum on a final Brexit deal.

MPs from across the political spectrum and a slew of famous names took part in the Peoples Vote march, sponsored by The Independent as part of its Final Say campaign.

Some 1,000 young activists led the so-called march for the future from Park Lane towards a rally in Parliament Square.

There, demonstrators from across the UK heard speeches from household names including television presenter Delia Smith and London mayor Sadiq Khan.

We were the few, and now we are the many, Conservative MP Anna Soubry told the crowds at the largest protest in the UK since the 2003 demonstrations over the Iraq war.

We are winning the argument and we are winning the argument most importantly against those who voted Leave, she added.

Christian Broughton, editor of The Independent, told marchers: Theresa May says that the Final Say referendum will be a politicians vote, not a peoples vote, but we can all remember what some politicians told us in 2016.

We, the people, can all now see whats really coming. And from where Im standing it looks like a peoples vote to me.

Nearly 950,000 people have signed The Independents petition urging Theresa May to call a referendum on the final Brexit deal.

Conservative MP Sarah Wollaston said calls for a Peoples Vote could no longer be ignored and urged Labour Jeremy Corbyn to back the campaign.

If we had the whole of the Labour Party, as well as the SNP, the Liberal Demcorats, and obviously a very significant number of my colleagues, we would get it past it, she said. We need him to come behind it.

London mayor Sadiq Khan, Green Party MP Caroline Lucas, Liberal Democrat leader Vince Cable, and Labour MP Chuka Umunna all addressed the crowd at the march.

In a video message, Nicola Sturgeon, the First Minister of Scotland, said: Let me say this loudly and clearly, if the issue comes before the House of Commons, SNP MPs will support a Peoples Vote which includes the option to remain in the EU.

Read how we covered the march live below.

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Gina Ortiz Jones walks into El Rodeo de Jalisco, a modest Mexican eatery in a San Antonio strip mall serving tacos and comfort food, shortly after 8am. At first glance, she looks just like anyone else ordering breakfast at the small establishment; from the Hispanic family that drinks coffee as they await mole chilaquiles, to the table of workers who appear to be enjoying a hearty meal before a long day.

Her hair is pulled back into a ponytail that hangs off one of her shoulders, as she dons black joggers, sweats and a buttoned vest. The Air Force veteran effortlessly blends in with the residents of San Antonio, dubbed Military City for being home to the largest active and retired military populations in the country.

In fact, the only obvious difference between her and anyone else in Texass geographically and politically diverse 23rd district is that she could soon become its next congresswoman.

I think Im best positioned to represent this district when I look at my life experiences, she tells The Independent. I grew up here in San Antonio, Im a first-generation American, I was raised in a home where English wasnt the only language spoken, I was raised by a single mom and it was a four-year Air Force ROTC scholarship that allowed me to graduate from John Jay high school not too far from here and get a college education. Then I went to serve my country.

Jones is the 23rd districts Democratic candidate for congress; a sprawling region which occupies the majority of the states border with Mexico and spans the southwestern portion of Texas, reaching all the way to western San Antonio.

In a midterm season thats producing a range of firsts, the young candidate checks off many boxes: she will become the first Iraq war veteran, first Filipina and first out lesbian from Texas to serve in congress if elected.

The Democrat currently trails Republican incumbent Will Hurd in the latest polls, giving her the same statistical uphill battle facing Beto ORourke, who has himself launched a unique Democratic campaign for the US Senate in the reliably red Lone Star state.

Both candidates have latched onto a swell of energy among Texas voters  who are frustrated by the status quo in Washington under Donald Trump  by attempting to focus on the issues, rather than their party affiliation.

Jones went on to work at the Office of the US Trade Representative under former president Barack Obama after serving in the Air Force intelligence operations in Iraq. She left shortly after Mr Trump took over the White House, before launching her congressional campaign and securing the Democratic nomination during the Texas primaries.

I know what its like when your voice isnt heard as much as others. As I speak with folks throughout this district, thats a feeling that comes up, time and time again, that they dont feel like theyre heard, they dont feel like theyre represented, she says. And thats in part because they have a representative who says one thing in their district and then does another thing in Washington.

Hurd, her opponent, is another unique candidate. A former undercover CIA officer, hes the first black African American Republican from Texas ever elected to congress. He oversees a majority-Hispanic swing district that narrowly voted for Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election, and he called on the president to drop out of the race at the time.

Hurd recently published a New York Times op-ed titled, Trump is Being Manipulated by Putin. What Should We Do?

And yet, the Republican has voted in line with the presidents position 95 per cent of the time, according to FiveThirtyEights project, Tracking congress in the age of Trump.

With three weeks left until the election, Jones is out-fundraising Hurd nearly two to one. She asked The Independent to extend a message to her opponent, who did not respond to multiple requests for comment: Stop running scared and debate me on TV, she says.

Her campaign has called for six debates across the district in an effort to make the election accessible for voters, after the San Antonio Chamber of Commerce invited the two candidates to debate.

In a letter to Hurd, she wrote, This election must be accessible to all voters in this district, allowing them the chance to hear from the candidates on a variety of important issues facing our district, and not just from the sort of special interests that are already advertising on your behalf.

Hurds campaign manager, Justin Hollis, responded: Were shocked that Ginas boss, Nancy Pelosi, is letting Gina take six days vacation from fundraising in California  Nevertheless, were happy to debate in the fall.

At a recent event, Jones asked Hurd directly, who appeared to agree to a debate.

If given the chance, Jones hopes to spar on her differences with Mr Hurd over perhaps the most fundamental issue facing Texas, the uninsured capital of the United States: her regions lack of health care access.

Asked how she would immediately work to expand access and affordability, she responds: Medicare should be negotiating prescription drug prices  thats something we can work on right out of the gate.

When it comes to her long term plans, the candidate discusses investing in the education system in order to close outcome gaps that leave medical clinics without trained professionals across the districts rural regions.

There are 11 community health clinics in this district; and one in Crystal City has had an opening for a full-time position for three years, she says. These are medically underserved communities, financially underserved as well, educationally underserved, and I think looking at ways in which we can incentivise medical professionals to work in our rural areas is good for all of us.

She adds, We should also invest in the infrastructure of broadband, which helps make something like telemedicine and telepsychiatry a reality.

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In the event that Jones unseats Hurd in the November elections, she could become one of the most important people on Capitol Hill over the next two years, as the president seeks to make good on his own campaign promise of a sprawling wall across the US-Mexico border.

For her, the issue hits home.

When I think of [the wall], I ask myself how else I would want to spend $25bn, she says. I was speaking with a border agent in Alpine recently, and sure, there are parts of the border that could use additional fencing. But is there a better way to spend $25bn than on a wall that would run right through Big Bend, which is a huge source of economic activity in West Texas? It doesnt make sense from an economic standpoint, and it doesnt make sense in terms of reflecting our values as a country.

Families belong together protests over Trump immigration policy Show all 8 1 /8 Families belong together protests over Trump immigration policy Families belong together protests over Trump immigration policy Mishawaka, Indiana AP Families belong together protests over Trump immigration policy Washington DC AFP/Getty Images Families belong together protests over Trump immigration policy New York Mayor Bill De Blasio speaks in Tornillo, Texas alongside the many other US mayors who have called for detained immigrant children to be reunited with their families AP Families belong together protests over Trump immigration policy Albuquerque Mayor Tim Kelle leaves a teddy bear as a gift for detained immigrant children in Tornillo, Texas AP Families belong together protests over Trump immigration policy Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti leave sandals as gifts for detained immigrant children in Tornillo, Texas AP Families belong together protests over Trump immigration policy San Diego, California EPA Families belong together protests over Trump immigration policy US embassy, Mexico City AFP/Getty Images Families belong together protests over Trump immigration policy San Diego, California EPA

Whether Jones is able to secure the votes to win the 23rd district likely relies on strong support from the same key demographics which Democrats like ORourke will need for victories in the upcoming election: typical non-voters and the large Hispanic population across the state, which includes a range of political ideologies.

While younger Texas Hispanics tend to support Democratic candidates, a significant, older faction of the voting bloc was raised in deeply religious communities and espouse conservative stances on issues like abortion and immigration.

But Jones has been able to avoid aligning herself with national Democratic leadership in the eyes of local voters by presenting herself as an independent voice, and one that is willing to put her communitys interests before party.

This race is not about politics for me, this is quite personal  this is about making sure our community is well represented, she says. My story should be possible for someone just as talented, just as hungry and who could use just a little bit of help.
Donald Trump says he will pull the United States out of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty with Russia, claiming that Moscow is violating the deal.

The president said he wanted a new agreement with Russia and China, although he offered no details of how Moscow had violated the 1987 treaty. However, the US has previously accused Russia of breaking the pact in developing a cruise missile.

We are going to terminate the agreement and then we are going to develop the weapons, Mr Trump said  unless a new agreement was forthcoming.

The pact helps protect the US and its allies in Europe and the Far East. It prohibits the United States and Russia from possessing, producing or test-flying ground-launched cruise missiles with ranges between 300 and 3,400 miles.

Mr Trump made the announcement on Saturday after a campaign stop in Elko, Nevada. Meanwhile, National Security Adviser John Bolton was headed to Russia, Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia.

Mr Bolton is said to have been pushing hard to have Washington pull out of the treaty given Moscows development of the new cruise missile, which US officials said broke the treaty. Moscow has denied the charge and alleges that a US missile defence system deployed in eastern Europe against a potential Iranian threat can be adapted to fire medium-range offensive missiles at Russia.

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

The Trump administrations Nuclear Posture Review, released earlier this year, called for research into new US ground-launched medium-range missiles as a way of pressuring Moscow back into compliance.

Earlier this month, the US ambassador to Nato, Kay Bailey Hutchison, warned Russia to stop development of the missile during a briefing to reporters, saying that US counter measures to the weapon  known as 9M729  would be to take it out.

The counter-measures would be to take out the missiles that are in development by Russia in violation of the treaty, the ambassador said. Getting them to withdraw would be our choice, of course. But I think the question was what would you do if this continues to a point where we know that they are capable of delivering. And at that point we would then be looking at a capability to take out a missile that could hit any of our countries in Europe and hit America in Alaska.

Ms Hutchison suggested during that briefing that the US did not want to withdraw from the INF treaty, saying that the goal was for Russia to comply with it.

However, Mr Bolton, who has become increasingly influential in the White House, is looking to push through something he has opposed his whole career. He has previously called such treaties "unilateral disarmament".

Any move to pull the US out the treaty will likely still face stiff opposition from some in the White House and the Pentagon.

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The INF treaty faces a Congress-imposed deadline of early next year over US involvement. An amendment in the 2019 defence spending bill calls on the president to inform Senate by 15 January whether Russia is in material breach of the treaty, and therefore if the INF remains legally binding.

Mr Bolton is said to be using his Russia trip to inform Moscow of the administrations plans to exit the INF agreement, according to The New York Times. Under the terms of the treaty, withdrawal would take six months.

Mr Trump's national security advisor is also said to want to stop an extension to the 2010 New Start treaty with Russia  a deal that limits deployed strategic nuclear warheads and the delivery systems they use. That is due to expire in 2021.
That oft-repeated notion, that a second referendum on Brexit would somehow be an affront to democracy, came to an end on Saturday afternoon. It came to an end beneath the whirring helicopters and the blazing London sun, and above the noble, angry racket of hundreds of thousands of people.

Its not just that what they were doing was a democratic right in itself, which is to protest, its that they came in such large numbers  nearly 700,000, if the organisers own estimates are to be believed. Its that what they made overwhelmingly, unavoidably clear is that they were asking for was the restoration of the most fundamentally important aspect of democracy itself.

Theyve got to be held to account, said Ann Murphy, who had travelled from Coventry with her daughter, Samantha, and was there at Marble Arch at noon, waiting to march. I dont even know if wed win. But when politicians make promises they cant keep, the people have a right to hold them to account for them. If thats gone, then everythings gone.

Spread out before Ann and Samantha was a mile of colour. Blue and yellow, mainly. But red, white and blue as well. And green and red and white. And red and yellow. And black and red and yellow. And red and white.

It was all a lie, said Michael Reimer, one of around 20 Poles, waving their Polish flags, a red oblong beneath a white one. And everybody knew it was a lie. The 350m a week, even the people who voted for that knew it was a lie. It was used as an excuse for a vote against migration.

Well we are here to show that Polish people have always been here in Britain, contributing to Britain, helping to build Britain.

The march hadnt even begun in earnest when Park Lane had to be closed in both directions, not just one. In the build-up to the march, even the organisers of the Peoples Vote had been hesitant to refer to their own estimate at the expected size of the crowd, which had been 100,000. Well that number, certainly, was blown away.

Not everyone waved flags. Most carried banners: David Cameron is a twat  Danny Dyer, 2018 read one.

 Editor of the Independent Christian Broughton speaks at the People's March in London

One gang of late-middle-aged men marched down Piccadilly carrying above their heads the broken promises of Brexiteers. If a democracy cannot change its mind, it ceases to be a democracy  David Davis, 2012. one said. No one is talking about threatening our place in the single market  Daniel Hannan, 2016, said another. That is rather niche.

There will be adequate food  Dominic Raab, 2018. Not technically a broken promise, that one. Not yet, anyway.

Under Admiralty Arch, one man stuck his banner into the ground and stopped for a photograph: Daddy Was Here.

I just want them to know I did what I could, he said to the person who had asked if he could take it.

Another showed a large map of Europe, with the words: Dont Take Away My Free Movement.

A sharp reminder of the fundamental imbalance of the referendum. The Remain campaign did not fight to take anybodys rights away. Only the Leave side did that, and they won. That people will not sit down and accept the diminishing of their lives, their opportunities and their country should not come as any surprise. Not least as theres nothing democratic about it. Its straightforward majoritarianism.

People say, oh, Nobody voted for this mess, dont they? said Dawn Smith, a student in a blue and yellow facepaint, marching with around 30 of her friends. But you dont know do you? Maybe they did. But were not marching for Remain, were marching for a second referendum. People should be able to say, Yes, this is what we voted for. This is what we wanted. All the broken promises, all the lies. If thats what people want they should be given the chance to say so.

By the time they made it to Parliament Square, the marchers were backed up all the way along Whitehall, past the Treasury, past the Foreign Office, past 10 Downing Street.

One woman, with not too bad a voice, had set up a full PA system opposite the gates to 10 Downing Street and was belting a re-worked version of a Phil Collins classic. Ive been talking to Theresa, and she knows Im right.

In the build-up to this march, one of its leaders, Alastair Campbell has been repeatedly asked the same sharp question. In 2003, more than a million people marched past 10 Downing Street, telling Tony Blair not to go to war in Iraq. That advice was not taken.

Mr Campbell has had a sharp answer: that the decision was put the House of Commons and a majority voted for it. Whatever Brexit deal Theresa May gets, such a course of action may very well not be open to her.

But the sharpest answer is a different one: that he should have listened. That, with hindsight, the sheer size of the gathering masses should have been sufficient to persuade them to think again.

Marches this big tend not to be on the wrong side of history. Something for Number 10s current occupant to think about.
The last time I heard the joy and laughter of my classmates was on the morning of 16 December 2014 in Pakistan. It had been a perfectly normal start to the day and my friends and I were joking around in a lesson and having fun. But just after 10.30am, everything changed. Six men  terrorists  broke in to my school and started shooting indiscriminately at my friends and teachers.

I was badly injured. My teacher was burned alive in front of me. I laid there for hours on end, counting the bomb blasts, surrounded by the dead and dying, unable to help or do anything. By the end of the attack 149 people had been murdered. Some of the victims were as young as eight years old.

For my family the worst was yet to come. Fifteen days later, while recovering from my injuries in hospital, I found out that my brother Haris had been killed in the attack. That morning he hadnt wanted to go to school but I had forced him and now he was dead, shot in the head while trying to save someone else. He was only 13, a year younger than me. In that moment, I was suddenly broken into pieces. I was angry. I remember thinking that no one should have to suffer like this. No one should have to see that pain in their parents eyes.

The questions I asked myself after the attack revolved around one word: why? Why us? Why would an adult want to mercilessly kill hundreds of innocent children? It took a long time but eventually I found the answer. What terrifies extremists is not capture or death  it is young people taking a different path, having their voices heard, shaping the future, resisting hatred, embracing knowledge. The terrorists who attacked my school did so because they were terrified of us and everything we represent: the hope and the potential that comes from education.

After the attack, my family and I moved to Birmingham where I could receive the medical care that I needed. We have been through so much  but the hand of friendship extended to us by our neighbours in Britain has made these painful years so much more bearable.

Thats why, four years later, I am telling my story: so that people can understand how hate, division and extremism  wherever it is, whatever form it takes  ruins lives. I have already spoken in more than 100 schools across the country and yesterday I proudly stood in front of the Building a Stronger Britain Together conference in London to share my story and my vision.

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I want to give something back to the people who have given so much to us. My dream is that my story and the memory of my brother Haris will open peoples hearts and minds and encourage them to make the most of the opportunities they have, to turn away from hatred and work together for a better future.

Building a Stronger Britain Together matches what I believe. It brings together government with people and groups from across the country who are working to fight against extremism. Groups like the Anne Frank Trust, who I have worked with in Birmingham, as well as hundreds of others, including causes close to my heart such as helping young people and others who have been opposed to extremist views. We are all lucky to live in a country where there are so many people who do this vital work. Thats why I wanted to get involved  to speak to these groups, to thank, celebrate and encourage them.

I believe that individually we can achieve so much but together we can achieve anything. Thats why Im supporting Building a Stronger Britain Together: to share the message that together we can defeat extremists of all forms, build the stronger communities we all want to live in and shape the future, free of hate and division. A future in which I can still hear the laughter ringing around that classroom: no gunshots, no fear.

The BSBT network includes grassroots campaigns across England and Wales that bring together young people from segregated communities, build resilience to extremism and challenge extremist narratives
Years ago I watched as Windows to Russia was attacked left, right and then straight on. Sued, blocked and death threats were common.it got really rough at times

And a hundred plus more links than above. Everything from death threats to myself, Sveta and our long gone doggy Boza. It has been a very hard many years and I have thought about giving up many times. I had a good break from it all for about a month now. I did a bunch of thinking and came to a bunch of conclusions

I have watched the big boys get what happened to me and watched how it has become important to a lot of people now that they are hitting the big sites

Hard for me to feel sorry for anyone, when I have talked about this very same thing for many years. From being blocked in Ukraine (Ukraine Blocking), attacked by DC (DC Attack), turned off by GoDaddy, Blogger Blogspot tried to stifle me and dozens of others have tried and failed. Granted they sorta won, they pushed me out of my home base and made me relocated finally in Iceland

I have spent many years being destroyed by the status quo and it gets tiring after awhile. I have always walked alone and still post alone after all these years. But everyone (readers and website acquaintances) scatters like rats when Big Gov comes after you.just like everyone will run and hide when ZH gets censoredGet ready for it. I am just a little site that at one time reached millions of unique views monthly and DC destroyed me and burned me to the ground. I am surviving as a site, because I moved the domain to Russia and the hosting to Iceland. That stopped the lawsuits and blocking from guilty until proven innocentI started years and years ago on Blogger Blogspot and got banned there. Had domains on Godaddy and got destroyed there. Had hosting on HostGator and got banned there. I spent a year trying to survive with India hosting and got banned there. French hosting burned my ass. Russian hosting sucks but safe, dont try Canadian hosting and Iceland just saved me and WtR. By the way 1984 hosting is the name and you should understand what the 1984 is aboutI have been posting for over ten years and no one gives a damn, you all run when the shit hits the fan

Source: Ultimately you will all be censored | Windows to Russia

Therefore, I smile and watch the big boys run around and cry.someone has been telling you all about this problem. I told you recently as they shut down my Facebook and Twitter accounts (Facebook, Twitter)

But, after I smile, then I am sad

For no one listened and I am reminded of a saying, just add the appropriate characters

Martin Niemoller is most likely best remembered for the quotation that he varied at times in his talks, as this one

First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak outbecause I was not a (socialist.) Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out because I was not a (trade unionist.) Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak outbecause I was not a (Jew.) Then they came for meand there was no one left to speak for (me.)

Well everyone!

They came for WtR and you all laughed

They threatened me and no one cared

But, now that they are taking out the big guys?

You all whine, yet, still look the other way!

Who will speak out for you? (cnn-bbic-nbc-npr-fox-o-abc-news-nbc-news ???)

That is what I thought

WtR

PS: I do speak out for you and I get beat up all the time. From both sides
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar was branded "vile" by a senior DUP MP amid backlash to his comments about a return to violence if a hard Border re-emerges on the island.

At this week's EU summit, Mr Varadkar spoke about the violence experienced at the Border during the Troubles, and warned the Irish Government was not exaggerating the real risk of violence if a hard Border re-emerges after Brexit.

But DUP MP for East Antrim Sammy Wilson branded the Fine Gael leader "vile Varadkar" and accused the Taoiseach of having "lost any sense of self control" in relation to Brexit.

"However, his latest use of a victim of the IRA who was killed when the republican terrorists blew up a Border post scrapes the bottom of a very deep barrel of threats, deception and rhetoric which he has dipped into in order to persuade ignorant heads of EU states that the EU must insist in detaching NI from the UK in any Brexit deal," he said.

Mr Wilson claimed the latest comments by Mr Varadkar would lead to "Republican madmen" in Northern Ireland using the "false fears he is stirring up" to recruit people.

"His behaviour is despicable, low and rotten," he said.

His criticism was also echoed by DUP deputy leader Nigel Dodds, who said "to use the prospect of violence and terrorism is a disgraceful and dangerous gamble".

"The Irish and others are very quick to lecture everyone else about language but feel very happy to wave about the return of terrorism in their pursuit of their political objectives," he said, before claiming that "one of the reasons there was so much Border violence was the IRA could carry out such attacks and then find sanctuary in the Republic where they were shielded from extradition by successive Irish governments, including those led by his own party".

Meanwhile, the son of a victim of IRA violence has also described the Taoiseach's comments as "ill advised". Rev David Clements' father, reserve police constable William Clements, was one of two men shot at close range at the gates of Ballygawley police station in 1985.

Mr Clements said: "I am deeply troubled by some comments from the Taoiseach.

"To use the emotive argument that a hard Border risks a return to the violence of the past is ill-considered and dangerous."

However, a spokesperson for the Taoiseach defended his comments in Brussels.

"The Taoiseach wanted to ensure that fellow European leaders fully realise what is at stake and the importance of preserving the peace process throughout the Brexit process," he said.

He added the priority of all of those involved in the Brexit negotiations is to "protect the peace process and avoid the return of a hard Border on the island".
Grazing contentedly in the autumn sunshine, within Paul Grace's Pedigree Aubrac herd in Co Wicklow, Nolorgue Papine is undoubtedly oblivious that she has become an international celebrity within the Aubrac breed.

Next year she will celebrate her 20th birthday, but the highly productive cow, which has continued to give birth to a calf each year, is not set for retirement any time soon, such is the interest which she is now generating across the globe.

Of even greater importance to the breed than her longevity, she has now been identified as the last surviving female of a highly valued gene line within the breed in France.

So valued has her gene line become, that Nolorgue Papine is now to be flushed for the first time, in a drive to multiply her offspring and ensure continuity of her breeding line into the future.

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"There is huge interest in her among the breeders in France and they have encouraged me to flush her this year," explained Paul Grace, who farms at Uppertown, Dunlavin keeping a small herd of Aubrac.

Nolorgue Papine is now believed to be the last remaining daughter alive in the world today by the legendary bull, E Ratier Duches.

"He was the sire of Goeland amongst others. An absolutely fantastic pedigree, which is why some of the French breeders have now asked me not to put Nolorgue Papine in-calf again and try and flush her. It seems that she has become a priceless cow," said Paul.

Such is the interest in Nolorgue Papine in Paul's herd that some of the French breeders flew over to see her on the Co Wicklow farm and want to secure the continuation of her breeding line.

The sire, E Ratier Duches was born in January 1985 and has been rated five star for replacement across all breeds in his euro star index.

Paul has become a committed Aubrac breeder impressed by the versatility, performance and easy calving which the breed has delivered on his farm.

"We tried every breed that you can think about and the one that came out on top for us was the Aubrac. That had everything that we were looking for. Within four or five years we sold everything else that we had and never regretted going all Aubrac," said Paul.

"We were looking for an animal that could maintain itself and mind itself with no trouble calving. The calves are relatively small when they are born but they thrive rapidly and make great stock," he added.

Around 1996 he started using an Aubrac sire on dairy animals and very quickly recognised that they were the breed that he sought.

Some of his originals of the breed were purchased from Kildare breeder Kim McCall, of the Calverstown herd, who together with his French-born wife, Mireille, honorary secretary of the Irish Aubrac Breed Society, were among the original importers of the breed into Ireland.

"He gave me great confidence and a lot of advice and I bought two heifers from him and went back and bought more from him later," said Paul.

His 'Dreylands' pedigree Aubrac herd was founded in 1998, coinciding with the founding of the Irish Aubrac Cattle Breed Society Limited and now consists of ten breeding pedigree cows.

"We are concentrating on producing easy calving bulls from dam lines with plenty of milk with a good R grade cow capable of calving and rearing an U/E grade calf while maintaining small birthweight so bulls can be used on dairy cows and heifers with confidence of no calving problems," explains Paul.

His 'Dreylands' herd has been built concentrating on breed lines from two herds in France, the famous Nolorgue herd, and the Causse Herd. Both herds have contributed hugely to the make up of the Dreylands herd as it stands today.

"The current herd sire is a son of Everest who was Paris Show Champion on three occasions, and his dam is a daughter of Narbon, who also won at the Paris Show three times. The Grandam is a sister to Rapine, being by the same sire, E Ratier Duches, as Nolorgue Papine.

"These animals were all in the Nolorgue herd. She (Nolorgue Papine) was purchased from the Nolorgue herd, and remains a firm favourite of the family Nolorgue," says Paul.

"Last year I went to France and bought some of Nolorgue Papine sister's family so my whole herd is now the same breeding," he added.

While still a minority beef breed in Ireland, the Aubrac pedigree breeding herd has been increasing in recent years and currently numbers around 750 pedigree breeding cows mostly owned by part-time farmers aiming for the benefit of easy calving coupled with good beefing qualities.

The first animals were brought into Skibbereen from the UK as embryos (1 heifer - 2 bulls) in 1992. Straws were taken from the best bull and used on dairy and suckler cows, mostly in the West Cork region. The first shipment of in-calf and maiden heifers arrived from France in County Kildare in the autumn of 1996.

The statistics for the breed - as verified by ICBF - are impressive with a calving interval of 354 days compared to a national average of 399 days, mortality of 2.7pc at 28 days compared to a national average of 6.4pc, heifers calved at 22-26 months at 64pc against the national average of 20pc and average euro value of cows (70) at 132, while the national average is 75.

The society believes Aubracs have a place in Ireland as an easy kept mother breed with continental conformation and good temperament.

They stress that the bulls are well suited to produce excellent replacement heifers for the Irish suckler herd producing weanling bulls with shape and quality which are much sought after by Italian finishers.

"The Aubrac can be out-performed on any given trait by another breed but as a complete package is hard to beat," the society claims.
'The report illustrates the extent to which dairying has reduced farmers' dependence on direct payments'. Photo: Stock image

Subsidies accounted for 47.3pc of agricultural incomes in 2017, a CSO study has found.

The publication highlights the continuing importance of subsidies to Irish farmers, and particularly to the regions associated with beef and sheep production.

The importance of direct payments to farm incomes - or what the report terms "the operating surplus of holdings" - varied across the country, the CSO analysis showed, ranging from a low of 33.8pc in the south-west (Kerry and Cork) to a high of 71pc in the midlands (Laois, Offaly, Longford and Westmeath).

The report illustrates the extent to which dairying has reduced farmers' dependence on direct payments.

Along with the south-west, the other dairy heartlands of the southeast (Waterford, Wexford, Kilkenny and Carlow) and the mid-west (Limerick, Clare and Tipperary) had the lowest dependence on direct payments at 40.5pc and 41.5pc of income respectively.

These regions have also seen an overall decrease in their dependence on subsidies since 2015 - although this trend is likely to rebound in 2018 due to the collapse in dairy farmer incomes.

For example, in the southwest subsidies accounted for 38.5pc of operating surplus on farms in 2015, but this fell to 33.8pc in 2017.

A similar trend was seen in Dublin and the mid-east (Kildare, Louth, Meath and Wicklow), with subsidies accounting for almost 46pc of farm incomes in 2015, but just 42.3pc last year.

In contrast, farmers in the west (Galway, Mayo and Roscommon) and border regions (Donegal, Sligo, Leitrim, Cavan and Monaghan) remain largely dependent on subsidies.

In 2015, subsidies accounted for 65.7pc of incomes in the west, but this figure increased to 70.1pc in 2017. Subsidies accounted for 55pc of farm incomes in the border region in 2015, with this figure rising to 58.2pc last year.

The study confirms that the greater southern region - which comprises the south-east, south-west and mid-west - remains the powerhouse of Irish agriculture. This region produced almost 55pc of farm output, 72pc of milk output and used 52pc of inputs.

Total output from agriculture grew from 7.4bn to 8.4bn between 2016 and 2017. Inputs increased from 5bn to 5.25bn in the same period, with the operating surplus jumping from 2.64bn to 3.46bn.
'Ms Justice Caroline Costello was told the liquidators had not sought any power to continue trading - and the order sought was to ensure an orderly wind down' (stock photo)

An Irish firm in The Authentic Food Group company, employing 169 people, is to close.

The UK-based Authentic Food Group Ltd was granted permission to appoint joint provisional liquidators to Dundalk-based TAFC Manufacturing Ireland Ltd.

Ms Justice Caroline Costello was told the liquidators had not sought any power to continue trading - and the order sought was to ensure an orderly wind down.

"Unfortunately, there does not appear to be any alternative", Rossa Fanning SC, for the company, told the judge.

The company produces frozen ready meals and since it was set up in 2014 has had just one profit-making year in 2016-17 when it made 400,000.

Projected losses for year end 2019 are 2.6m and the parent company is no longer prepared to support it, the company's petition to the court states.

TAFC acquired the business and assets of the Kraft Heinz facility in Dundalk in 2014.

Other companies within the group, in the UK and Germany, had reached capacity with a need to increase production and outsource. Dundalk fulfilled overflow orders placed with the UK.

As of this month, the company owes 3.2m to its UK sister and 4.6m to the parent.

Among the difficulties it faced were with a new project with the retailer Iceland in 2015, which highlighted the inflexibility and limitations of the Dundalk facility.

Then, last February, the UK sister company was told a co-packing agreement with Kraft Heinz was to be terminated in February 2019.

In addition to all this, the TAFC owed nearly 500,000 in water rates and despite regular payments to help pay off those arrears, on October 15 last, it was threatened with water disconnection. It also owed 500,000 in gas and electricity charges.

The parent has told TAFC it could no longer continue to fund its ongoing losses.

Ms Justice Costello appointed joint provisional liquidators. The case comes back on November 12.
Planned reforms of the insurance market are "running out of steam", it was alleged after the move to introduce a new register of claims was abandoned.

The charge comes following the Department of Finance producing a report that recommends the scrapping of plans for a claims register. This is despite it being proposed by its own working group on insurance reform.

Insurers have been against the setting up of what is called a claim-by-claim register, which they said would be expensive and deter new entrants to the market.

Now the department has concluded that the setting up of an "insurance claim-by-claim register" should "not be pursued". It said there was no clear need or purpose for such a register. It cited data protection issues and said setting it up would be difficult to justify from a financial and resource point of view.

The Alliance for Insurance Reform said it was "dismayed" at the back-down on the setting up of the register.

The Government's working group on insurance reform recommended in January 2017 the creation of a claim-by-claim register to improve the quality of data to all those with a stake in the insurance sector.

It was argued that the register would provide annual statistics on claims costs and trends and could be used to combat fraud and inform the book of quantum, which is the guide to compensation awards for different injuries.

The idea was that it would have been shared among State bodies only, such as the Garda.

Peter Boland, of the Alliance for Insurance Reform, said his organisation was dismayed at the abandonment.

"This was a key piece of reform which would have added serious insight into trends in insurance claims and allowed the State to actively combat insurance fraud, an issue again highlighted by recent reports of systematic insurance fraud," he said.

"The data it would have produced is not and will not be available anywhere else.

"The abandonment of this initiative is part of a worrying broader trend in the Government's flagship insurance reform initiative, the Cost of Insurance Working Group. It seems to be running out of steam, with key actions either delayed or in this case, abandoned."

A spokesperson for Junior Finance Minister Michael D'Arcy's department said the recommendation of the working group was only to consider the feasibility of establishing a claim-by-claim register, saying D'Arcy "disagrees that there is a trend that the Government is abandoning key actions recommended by the Cost of Insurance Working Group".

The quarterly update of the working group shows that 58 of the 71 deadlines on actions to date have been completed, the spokesperson added.
Brookfield Property Group has sweetened an offer for UK shopping malls-owner Intu Properties to value the company at 2.9bn (3.3bn), as it targets an industry that has been shunned by investors because of online retail's rise.

The bid consortium, that also includes billionaire John Whittaker's Peel Group and Saudi Arabia's Olayan Group, made a revised proposal to pay 215p per Intu share, less any dividends. That's about 44pc more than Intu's share price before news of a potential takeover emerged. The bidders already own almost 30pc of Intu.

Hammerson, which owns the Dundrum Town Centre and Swords Pavilions shopping centres, scrapped a 3.4bn bid for Intu earlier this year.

Mall owners have been the subject of a flurry of deal- making in the past year as the growth of online sales cut the value of their assets. The latest move is another sign of Brookfield's enduring faith in bricks-and-mortar stores, following its $15bn acquisition of US landlord GGP earlier this year.

Intu shares gained as much as 15pc in London, the most since October 5. A day earlier, Brookfield and the other bidders said they were working on an offer. The shares traded at 200.10p at 9.10am in London.

In a statement confirming the level of the offer, Intu said it would give the venture access to its books to undertake due diligence. The 215p offer, tabled a week after an initial 205p approach, would be worth 210.4p a share after revisions for proposed dividends. Intu plans to carry out a new valuation of its portfolio which could result in the bid being cut. The venture has until November 1 to make a firm offer. If the bid succeeds, the new owners could help the debt-laden company to strengthen its balance sheet and modernise its malls.

That would combat the threat of online stores and sluggish consumer spending, which has forced several UK retailers to close stores or file for bankruptcy. Intu owns 17 centres in the UK, including Lakeside in Essex and Manchester's Trafford Centre, and three in Spain.

Bloomberg
Italian bonds and stocks snapped two days of losses after the European Commission struck a more conciliatory tone toward the country's spending plans, easing heightened tensions between the two.

The premium that lenders charge to hold Italian 10-year bonds rather than German bonds, known as the yield spread, had hit the highest level in more than five years.

But the gap closed after European Commissioner for economic affairs, Pierre Moscovici, said that the bloc wouldn't interfere in the new government's economic policies.

It followed a letter on Thursday from the institution that said the proposed spending plans were excessive, though it is still to give a final verdict.

"It's the other way round to the recent pattern," said Christoph Kutt, head of rates strategy and sovereign credit at DZ Bank in Frankfurt.

"First the EU and Italy want to appear very strict and spreads widen, then the EU and Italy play down the issue to prevent spreads from widening any further. Especially when they're north of 300 basis points."

Italy's 10-year yield fell 13 basis points to 3.56pc, having earlier touched 3.81pc, the highest level since May 2014.

The yield spread was at 313 basis points, having earlier widened to 341 basis points, the highest level since April 2013.

Milan's main stock market rose slightly yesterday. The euro rallied 0.4pc to $1.1495 on Commissioner Moscovici's comments.

Even with that recovery, Italy's bonds headed for their fourth weekly loss and were set for a challenging period.

Both S&P Global Ratings and Moody's Investors Service are due to review their credit ratings on the nation before the end of the month.

Both agencies grade the debt just two notches above junk.

Italy is the Euro-area's third biggest economy, and by some way the single currency's biggest debtor.

The rally in Italy also helped ease pressure on other European debt markets, with Spain and Portugal erasing losses.

The two countries had slid in unison with Italy over the past few days, suggesting that investors were growing increasingly concerned about the prospects of a wider crisis in the region.

Unlike the period of the euro crisis, Irish bonds did not move with the weaker periphery.

On the markets, the yield on 10-year Irish government debt was 1.039pc, around half what Portugal would pay to borrow.

Bloomberg
It is not difficult to imagine how awful it must have been to be locked up in Spike Island's Punishment Block.

Many of the small cells are not lit and it is perfectly permissible today to gingerly step into some of them and appreciate the terrifying blackness that would have accompanied the closing of the heavy doors.

It was not uncommon for convicts to be incarcerated alone in these grim windowless, soundless rooms for 23.5 hours of the day, and many, it is said, quickly lost their minds.

Prisoners were first sent here 170 years ago this week and any misdemeanour ensured a stint in Punishment Block. The prison, once the world's largest, would come to be known as 'Ireland's Hell' and even on a bright, but cold October afternoon today, this place in the island-strewn Cork Harbour can send a shiver up the spine.

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Spike Island retains a special place in the popular imagination. Some think of it as the place where young offenders were sent in the 1980s. Others have heard the stories of starving children who wound up here after stealing food during the Great Famine. Those with an appreciation of military history will be familiar about its importance to the British long after independence and others, still, may have learnt about the religious community established here some 1,500 years ago.

Now, the name may well echo far beyond Ireland's shores. Just 16 months after it opened as a tourist attraction, Spike Island has been named as Europe's leading tourist attraction at the World Travel Awards. Remarkably, it beat off competition from Buckingham Palace, the Eiffel Tower and the Colosseum.

Manager John Crotty accepted the award on behalf of Spike Island at these 'travel Oscars' in St Petersburg and says he has already seen a rise in the number of visitors and those making general enquiries.

"It's really brilliant to win it, especially after such a short time," he says, "and it shows just how special this place is. There's nothing like it anywhere else in the world and, for Irish people, it's somewhere that has played a part in our history."

Previous Irish winners include such huge projects as the Guinness Storehouse and Titanic Belfast. But Spike Island is an entirely different proposition. It's not something one can just turn up at and queue outside - there's a 10-minute ferry ride there from Kennedy Quay in Cobh and, at present, boats travel over at noon and 2pm.

Ireland's Alcatraz

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Furthermore, it's a seven-day operation for only six months of the year and it is closed completely from the beginning of November through to the end of February, although groups of 15 or more can be accommodated by prior arrangement during that time.

Despite such limitations, Crotty - formerly a supermarket executive - is anxious to point out just how special the Spike Island experience can be. "It can be seen as Ireland's Alcatraz," he says, referencing the notorious prison in San Francisco Bay that has long been a tourist magnet. "But there's so much more to Spike. The prison is only one aspect of it - there's so many layers of history here. The island has been occupied since at least the 6th century when a monastic settlement was established here."

And, he points out, the island occupies an area roughly 10 times that of Alcatraz.

Visitors typically spend three hours on the island, but it would be very easy to while away an entire day thanks to the sheer scale of the fort, the large number of exhibitions and the abandoned village with its stunning view of Cobh and the strikingly tall steeple of St Colman's Cathedral.

The whereabouts of the monastery has yet to be established although it's hoped that a team of UCC-led archaeologist may be able to shed light on that next summer. Any discovery would give John Flynn yet more to talk about. A hugely knowledgeable and enthusiastic tour guide, he is determined to learn even more about this intriguing place. "We've learnt a lot over the past five years," he says, "but there's still so much detail we don't know."

The tour begins as passengers alight at the pier on the side of the island facing the Haulbowline naval base. Even before you make the steep uphill walk to the former Westmoreland defence fort that was turned into a prison in the mid-19th century, Flynn will have pointed out one of the island's most intriguing landmarks.

Little Nellie

It's the family home of one Ellen Organ, who is popularly known among devout Catholics as Little Nellie of Holy God thanks to the number of 'miracles' attributed to her after her death aged just four.

This daughter of a Waterford military man stationed on Spike Island had expressed considerable religious fervour in her young life and had requested Holy Communion after becoming severely ill. A special dispensation was made and, in Rome, Pope Pius X changed the age rule where Communion could be available for children as young as seven (up to that point, they had to be 12). It's thought the Vatican will soon ratify the process to have her canonised.

But, saintliness is far from your mind as you walk towards the imposing edifice of the former prison at the centre of the island. It was originally established as a defence fort - one of five in Cork Harbour - but was converted into a prison in 1847. Today Mitchel Fort - renamed in the 1950s after one of its most famous inmates, the 19th century nationalist leader John Mitchel - still imparts a sense of foreboding, and that's before you even get to the infamous Punishment Block.

A walk around here is to step back in time to the harsh penal conditions of the 19th century. The prison operated until 1883, when it was taken over by the British army. But it would be used as a prison on certain occasions, not least when more than 1,000 were interned during the War of Independence.

Spike would remain in British hands until 1938, under the terms of the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921. As part of Queenstown [modern Cobh], it was one of three so-called 'Treaty Ports' to be retained by the Crown. They were returned to the State and to Taoiseach Eamon de Valera as part of the settlement of the Anglo-Irish Trade War of the 1930s.

Among the many exhibitions charting the island's history is one commemorating the momentous changeover the year before Ireland formally became a Republic.

Numerous remnants of British rule remain, including a pair of enormous early 20th century canons - guns capable of shooting six-inch diameter missiles up to 12 miles. The one that's accessible to tour groups is built into the thick fort walls and has been painstakingly restored.

Much of Spike Island is exactly as one would have found it more than 150 years ago, but there's a lot, too, that recalls more recent troubles, particularly the eerily vacant shell of Block A. It was set alight by rampaging prisoners in August 1985. They managed to climb on to the roof of a neighbouring building, but surrendered the next day when armed police and the army were mobilised. An RTE television report from the time featured aerial footage that showed the extent of the devastation.

It confirmed what many security experts had suspected: Spike had been hastily chosen earlier that year to house a new breed of criminal, many of whom were incarcerated for the then popular menace of joyriding. It wasn't a purpose-built prison and the riot - which, miraculously, saw no loss of life - was something of an inevitable consequence.

Despite some talk in government about turning the Curragh into a civilian prison, Spike Island remained in use for a further 19 years. And even after the problem faded and cars became more difficult to hot-wire, Spike was still popularly known as the 'Joyriders' prison'.

Martin 'The General' Cahill spent time here and today visitors can see one of the cells that he himself painted. The prison shut in 2004 and the island eventually moved to the control of Cork County Council in 2010, when its potential as a destination for culturally curious tourist was first seriously mooted.

Spike Island's assistant manager, Tom O'Neill, worked here in the prison service between 1989 and 2003 and says few could have conceived of the idea that it would one day be a tourist attraction - a global travel awards winner and the most popular Cork destination on TripAdvisor, displacing Fota Wildlife Park.

"It was a working prison," he says, "so you just couldn't imagine it being anything else. But the tourists that come love it and its greatest attraction is how many attractions are here. People might think it was just a prison, but it's so much more."

Its opening to tourists in June 2016 after a number of years of redevelopment and repair work coincided with Failte Ireland's creation of the Ireland's Ancient East brand, which includes Cork Harbour within its boundaries. Much of the focus has been on this historical naval gateway and the fact that more than 2.5 million Irish people emigrated from Cobh, many of them on 'coffin ships' bound for America, never to return.

The Titanic connection is also a central part of the marketing of Cork Harbour as a tourist destination. The old ticket office of the White Star Line has been converted into Titanic Experience Cobh - 112 people embarked here, although the doomed liner itself was moored at the far side of Spike, in deep water. Another naval tragedy is remembered in the area - just three years after the sinking of the Titanic, another great passenger ship, the Lusitania, was torpedoed by a German submarine and more than 1,000 people lost their lives.

In all, Spike Island has received more than 6m in funding, with 2.5m supplied by Failte Ireland, and the balance from Cork County Council. But much more is needed to fully develop its potential, and some politicians in the area are dismayed that more funding hasn't been earmarked through Failte Ireland's Grants Scheme for Large Tourism Projects.

The chairman of Cobh municipal district council, Padraig O'Sullivan, has called on the tourism body to financially support the next phase of the development to include additional restoration work and new exhibition centres.

Failte Ireland spokesperson Alex Connolly says: "The application from Cork County Council for further work at Spike Island was not deemed eligible as it did not meet the stringent criteria set down.

"These eligibility criteria were applied across all 115 applications that were received and Failte Ireland was equitable in its treatment of all applications and applicants. In the future, as the attraction on Spike Island grows and develops, it may well meet the criteria and qualify for further funding under subsequent schemes."

For now, such development hardly matter to those captivated by John Flynn's tour and the tales of the paranormal that have made Spike Island a destination for special night-time excursions.

"I love the fact that it's not overrun with tourists," says one visitor. "You can lose yourself in this place and feel like you're stepping back in time. In a world where so many tourists end up going to exactly the same places, it's really good to have a different experience."

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The Galway Clinic was established to bring top-class medical care to the west of Ireland. But for its shareholders, the business affairs of the clinic have caused plenty of headaches.

The High Court has this week heard the details of a bitter dispute at boardroom level. On one side is Dr Joseph Sheehan Sr, a Chicago-based Irish medic who came up with the idea for the clinic, and his son Joseph Sheehan Jr. On the other side, Dr James Sheehan, the brother of Joseph Sheehan Sr, and the businessmen Larry Goodman and Brendan McDonald.

The court has heard how, around the year 2000, Joseph Sheehan Sr approached his brother with the idea for the clinic. The men had experience in the sector via their involvement in the Blackrock clinic. James Sheehan said he was reluctant to get involved in a business project with his brother given previous difficulties - but he eventually agreed on the basis that the clinic would be set up as a charity.

The brothers began work on the project but financial difficulties emerged and construction stopped. Property developer Bernard McNamara - who knew James Sheehan from the RCSI where both men had been patrons - made an offer that would have enabled the clinic to go ahead but would have wiped out the Sheehan brothers' shareholdings, and left them on the hook for heavy debts.

Then came a call that James Sheehan said he was very happy to receive. His personal friend Larry Goodman had read about the problems in the newspaper, and asked if he could help. Mr Goodman agreed to inject funding into the project in a manner that would allow the Sheehan brothers to hold 50pc of the business between them.

The court heard that Mr Goodman didn't want to hold 50pc himself, and decided to take 40pc via his vehicle Parma Investments and transfer 10pc to Brendan McDonald, another businessman who had been successful in the electrical sector. Some years later, Mr McDonald became ill with cancer. He decided to transfer his shares to Mr Goodman's Parma Investments.

Joseph Sheehan Sr objected to the manner in which the transfer was done - claiming it violated a shareholders' agreement and that he was being kept in the dark. Relations between both sides were at a low ebb - with a number of connected disputes under way.

Just how bad things got were reflected in an email sent by Joseph Sheehan Jr to Brendan McDonald. The email insulted the parental status of Larry Goodman's children, who are adopted.

To Mr McDonald, it expressed a wish that he would "enjoy the remainder of the time you have left".

Discussing the email, Dr Joseph Sheehan Sr said "we all say things we shouldn't say" and that he did not condone the email.

Throughout the case both sides have accused the other of seeking to do them down from a business point of view. Joseph Sheehan Sr said he was an oppressed minority shareholder being kept in the dark about what was going on in the company.

On the other hand, Brian O'Moore SC, for Parma Investments, said Joseph Sheehan Sr's proceedings were motivated by "a long-standing dispute with Mr Goodman and a desire to hamper him".

This case is one of a number of disputes between Mr Goodman and Joseph Sheehan Sr.

The latter has taken court action against Goodman companies over expansion plans at the Galway clinic, and over efforts by a Goodman company, Breccia, to enforce security over shares owned by Joseph Sheehan Sr in the company behind the Blackrock clinic.

Each side has come in for judicial criticism in disputes surrounding the clinic.

In one case, Mr Justice Michael Twomey said he would be prepared to consider what is known as an 'Isaac Wunder order' against Dr Joseph Sheehan Sr. Such orders are designed to deter vexatious cases, and mean that the recipient has to apply for leave from the court in order to institute fresh proceedings against particular parties. Judge Twomey was critical of the amount of court time being taken up by proceedings relating to the Blackrock clinic.

In a separate case related to Blackrock clinic, Goodman company Breccia was criticised by Mr Justice Robert Haughton, who said it had not come to court with "clean hands" and had displayed a "lack of candour". Judge Haughton later withdrew from the matter, with Breccia having applied for him to recuse himself on foot of the comments.

This week, the Sheehan brothers sat in court, watching as each gave evidence contradicting the other. Dr James Sheehan spoke on Thursday of the "huge upset" a deterioration in relations with his brother has caused him.

The case will continue before Ms Justice Teresa Pilkington in the High Court on Tuesday.
The question the jury had to consider in the killing of elderly farmer John Anthony O'Mahony was "not what had happened, but why", the court had heard.

Michael Ferris (63), a bachelor dairy farmer, was on trial for murdering his neighbour on the morning of April 4, 2017 near to the 1,000-year-old Rattoo Round Tower, outside Ballyduff, Co Kerry. He has been found not guilty of murder, but guilty of manslaughter.

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The facts were accepted. The reason behind the killing had to be determined.

Mr O'Mahony (73), a tillage farmer from Ardoughter, was found dead inside his Peugeot 508, which had been embedded in a hedge.

Gardai described how ditches and hedgerows were torn up either side. The car had large puncture marks on the bonnet and through the windscreen.

The body of Mr O'Mahony was found inside, still strapped into his seatbelt.

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He had "catastrophic injuries" to his upper body, face, skull.

Up the laneway, reversed into the entrance to a milking parlour, was a 60-tonne teleporter. The two prongs of the yellow New Holland machine were covered in blood, glass and human body matter.

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Whatsapp Deadly row: John Anthony O'Mahony (pictured) was killed when a teleporter driven by Michael Ferris smashed into his car near Rattoo Round Tower

Most eerily, there was no one about, "not a soul" as they might say in this part of Kerry. "That was the alarming thing," Garda Pat Naughton replied told Patrick McGrath, SC for the prosecution .

The trial focused on the character of the dead man and how he had provoked his neighbours relentlessly with a crow banger. Acknowledging people would not normally speak ill of the dead, Brendan Grehan SC said he made no apology for this. All of it was done so the jury could appreciate where Ferris was coming from, he said.

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Mr O'Mahony had bought the 100 acres in Rattoo, with his brother Seamus, in the 1980s. He had 200 acres between Rattoo, Aroughter and Causeway. He managed everything about the tillage - spraying, planting, and protecting, from pigeons and crows, with a crow banger. He was "passionate about his crops", his nephew James O'Mahony told the trial.

A picture of a man of routine also emerged. Every morning, from April onwards, on the button he would be in Rattoo, leaving his home at 8.45am, switching on the banger during crop planting time and again before harvest, his nephew said. There were two bangers in Rattoo but only one worked and it was used between the three farms, James O'Mahony said.

Anthony's sister Angela Houlihan, from Clashmealkon Causeway, told how she brought her brother his lunch back in Ardoughter every day for 20 years.

He would smoke a cigarette, read the Irish Independent and go for a rest before heading back to Rattoo. "He loved his paper," she said. He would go back again to take up the banger at 7.30pm or 8pm.

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Whatsapp The dispute was over a crow banger. Photo: RTE

But the prosecution told the jury in its opening address that he was also an "awkward man, a difficult man, a man who had fallen out with the neighbours" in Rattoo.

They were told that for provocation to be accepted, the accused, Michael Ferris, normally a placid and gentle man, would have had to suddenly lose all sense of himself, and lose all control.

However, the picture that was painted for the jury was of the dead man as being the person out of control.

This 73-year-old, who suffered from heart disease, was oppressing the close community in Rattoo where the Ferris brothers would bring eggs to Mairead Walsh and she would bake scones for them and everyone lived in fear of Mr O'Mahony, the jury was told.

He had shot at two members of the local Ballyduff gunclub after they had followed dogs on to the lands at Rattoo in 1987. Six years later, two social welfare officers who came on to his land were told he would get a gun to them. There was no penalty for this and he apologised, saying he was under pressure.

But there were incidents nearer home, the trial was told. Ferris's neighbour Mairead Walsh broke down in tears as she recalled how Mr O'Mahony, standing at his gate, had shot over their heads as she and her husband and child went for a walk towards the tower one evening. She was scared of him, warning her children not to go onto his lands.

In recent years he had moved the crow banger - timed to go off every four minutes and 26 seconds all day long between April and October - from the middle of the 100 acres to within just 120 metres of the Walsh's house.

It was placed against a wall and would echo around their home, the sound following them everywhere.

The court heard there had been a falling out between Mr O'Mahony and Ferris and the two hadn't spoken in years. Ferris, by contrast was a quiet man, an obliging man, a man no one had a bad word for. Brendan Grehan said Ferris was "a good man who did a bad thing". And he was driven to it, Mr Grehan said.

On the morning of April 4, Ferris arrived into the kitchen of Ms Walsh to say: "Mahony is gone. Call the guards." And when the gardai arrived he said: "I'll tell ye what happened." He told Det Sgt Donal Horgan: "Anthony Mahony was going to be coming down the road with a crow banger. There is always a problem with him for years. It would wake the dead. I spoke to him years ago about it.

"Today I blocked the road with a teleporter to stop him coming down. I parked it sideways. He started hooting. I was not in the teleporter. I sat up on the teleporter. I did not talk to him. No good talking to him. The pallet forks I had on it I made for the car and drove into it."

Michael Ferris had never had mental health issues and he was fit to be interviewed.

The only thing Ferris suffered from was high blood pressure.

He was upset but he was calm in the Garda station, the court heard.

Moving his crow banger to near their houses five years ago amounted to oppression, the court heard.

The O'Mahonys, a close knit family, told the court there were crow bangers everywhere in north Kerry.

"There are lots of bangers, they are all over the place," Angela Houlihan said.

Ms Houlihan also said that when she visits her brother's grave in Raheala cemetery she could hear a banger.

"It's very sad my brother had to go the way he did over a banger," she said.
The farmer who was found guilty of the manslaughter of 73-year-old John Anthony O'Mahony showed no reaction to the verdict. He had shown "no remorse" to the victim's family, the trial heard.

Michael Ferris (63) of Rattoo, north Kerry, was found not guilty of murder, but guilty of manslaughter at the Central Criminal Court in Tralee yesterday.

He showed no obvious reaction when the verdict was read out. The victim's family, however, were visibly upset - they broke down in tears and shook their heads.

At least 20 members of his family, including his brother Seamus O'Mahony, sister Angela Houlihan and nephews and nieces, took up two benches in the courtroom.

Prosecutor Patrick McGrath had argued that the actions of Mr Ferris, the accused, were not consistent with a sudden loss of self-control or acting in a fury. "What is remarkable is his behaviour afterwards, the absence of regret, the absence of remorse, the absence of shock," Mr McGrath had told the court.

The jury of seven men and five women had been deliberating for four hours and 31 minutes and returned the verdict last night.

The decision was reached by a majority of 10 to two following the trial, which lasted eight days.

Thanking them, Ms Justice Carmel Stewart said it had not been an easy trial and they were excused from jury duty for 10 years.

Michael Ferris, a dairy farmer, had pleaded not guilty to the murder of John Anthony O'Mahony (73), a bachelor and a tillage farmer of Ardoughter, Ballyduff at Rattoo, at around 8am on April 4, 2017.

Mr O'Mahony suffered "catastrophic injuries" and died from polytrauma, including evulsion of the heart and liver inflicted by the prongs of a teleporter.

His car had been lifted "clear of the ground" by the heavy industrial machine, the trial was told.

The forks at the boom of the teleporter had slid along and pierced the roof of the Peugeot car "like you'd open a can of beans", Garda expert witness James O'Brien said.

A crow banger, a device used to scare away birds, was at the centre of issues between Mr O'Mahony and neighbours.

It was brought into the court while a Garda witness explained how it works.

In interviews with gardai on the morning of the incident, the jury was told Mr Ferris said he had blocked the road with his teleporter.

The court heard he had driven the forks onto the car and also said "it was about the crow banger".

The prosecution had argued the killing had been deliberate and intentional and it was murder.

However, the defence had argued there had been accumulated provocation because of the behaviour.

Brendan Grehan SC had said in his closing speech said he made no apology for speaking ill of the dead, which was not a normal thing to do. But it was necessary to show why Michael Ferris was "a good man who did a bad thing".

Michael Ferris [was] a man who had no previous convictions and for whom everyone had a good word, and was obliging and kind had not become a murderer overnight, Mr Grehan said.

Ms Justice Stewart said she wanted to express her sympathy to Mr O'Mahony's relatives on his death. Sentencing will be at the Central Criminal Court in Dublin on November 26.
'Mr Dwyer said that Wu had believed that what her employees were doing was legal' (stock photo)

A woman running massage parlours in which clients received "manual relief" believed the sensual massages were legal, a court heard.

Nan Wu (37) pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to controlling and directing the actions of prostitution for gain in the Dublin area in 2015.

Sergeant David Bunn told Siobhan Ni Chulachain BL, prosecuting, that a member of the public complained that a high number of male visitors were attending a massage parlour in Olivemount, Windy Arbour, Dublin.

Sgt Bunn called the establishment and was offered prostitution services.

He obtained a search warrant and visited the business on April 17, 2017.

He identified himself as a garda to the woman who opened the door and she showed him to the treatment room which contained a naked woman and man.

The woman got dressed and then provided him with the phone number of her employer, Wu.

Wu was arrested and interviewed by gardai.

She admitted knowledge of her employees providing "sex acts for money" and told gardai about a second massage parlour she owned in which similar acts took place.

Sgt Bunn agreed with James Dwyer SC, defending, that there was no evidence of coercion.

The court heard that one of the woman working at the parlour had told gardai "I am here of my own free will and no one has threatened me".

Mr Dwyer said that there was no sexual intercourse taking place at the massage parlours and that those who visited "could get what might be described as manual relief".

He said Wu had not directed her employees to engage in sex acts, but rather that they learned to do so from her other employees.

She did not directly profit from the acts as her employees kept the money they earned from illegal behaviour.

Mr Dwyer said that Wu had believed that what her employees were doing was legal.

She had once sacked an employee for having sex with a client, the court was told.

He argued that the lack of coercion meant the crime fell on the lower end of the scale regarding offences of this type.

He said that the Criminal Assets Bureau was also bringing proceedings against Wu.

Wu of Brandon Square, Waterville, Blanchardstown, Dublin, has no previous convictions and lives with her two children. She is originally from Dalian in China and has been living in Ireland for 17 years.

Judge Elma Sheahan ordered a probation report and adjourned the matter until January 15, of next year.
A jury has begun deliberating in the trial of a woman pleading not guilty by reason of insanity to the attempted murder of a civil servant who was walking home from work.

Laura Kenna (35), of no fixed abode, is accused of attempting to murder Fionnuala Bourke on Lower Drumcondra Road in Dublin on January 3, 2017.

Ms Kenna has also pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to assaulting Ms Bourke, intending to cause her serious harm.

Her Central Criminal Court trial heard that Ms Bourke was walking home from work around 5pm that day, when she was attacked by Ms Kenna with a knife.

Her throat was slit and she suffered severe facial scarring.

The jury heard that the central issue was Ms Kenna's state of mind at the time. The court heard from two Central Mental Hospital consultant psychiatrists, who gave conflicting opinions.

The prosecution gave its closing address to the jury yesterday.

He said that "the heartland of this case" was Ms Kenna's mental state at the time.

The defence explained that the jury was entitled to decide on the balance of probabilities whether his client was legally insane at the time.

The jury spent less than an hour considering its verdict yesterday and will resume deliberations on Monday.
Newly appointed Education Minister Joe McHugh has promised to slow down the pace of change expected in schools, after warnings of "initiative overload".

He said he was "hearing loud and clear" that people needed to have "freedom and time" to implement changes already rolled out.

Mr McHugh acknowledged the work done by his predecessor Richard Bruton, who set out an Action Plan for Education.

He said it was not his intention to stop the action plan, because he believed in the strategy, but "to take stock of where we are, what is working, what is not working and how we can fit it into three years".

The new minister's words were well received by the more than 500 delegates attending the annual conference of the National Association of Principals and Deputy Principals (NAPD).

NAPD president Mary Keane earlier warned that they were "feeling the grievous burden of initiative overload and deadline mania" and referred to the new-style junior cycle, which required new approaches to teaching and learning as well as practical changes.

Ms Keane said the "biggest crisis" for their schools was a teacher shortage and Mr McHugh said he wanted to explore innovative ways of encouraging Irish teachers working in places like the United Arab Emirates to return home,

Mr McHugh pointed out there were thousands of Irish teachers in the UAE - he was once on of them - and he knew from a previous role as minister for the diaspora that many of them wanted to return home.

Later, he suggested Skype interviews as a way of making the recruitment process easier. But Garrett O'Dowd of the Teach and Explore agency said the UAE was one place where Skype calls were blocked.

Mr McHugh said "there are many innovative ways of reaching out to the diaspora" and the State had a role, through the Department of Foreign Affairs, to "facilitate people in a better way".

The NAPD conference was Mr McHugh's first opportunity in his new role to speak directly to those at the coalface of the education system.
Senior HSE executives discussed downplaying use of the title CervicalCheck because its perceived failures would hinder promoting the benefits of cervical screening.

An internal memo, seen by the Irish Independent, reveals the extent to which the CervicalCheck brand has been damaged.

The memo, written by Dr David Hanlon, national clinical lead adviser in primary care, said the "defence of CervicalCheck" and the "defence of screening" needed to be "disentangled".

The public view of CervicalCheck being responsible for "a major failing" could infect the perception about screening.

He said responses to public and media queries should first emphasise the benefits and limitations of the programme rather than starting off on a defence of CervicalCheck which could be secondary.

The document, written in August, formed part of a discussion on how to manage frequently asked questions in the wake of the scandal which left the screening system engulfed in controversy.

Following a case brought by Limerick mother Vicky Phelan in April, it emerged that CervicalCheck had carried out internal audits on test results given to 221 women who later developed cancer.

They showed the victims received wrong test results but the findings were not passed on to a majority of the women.

"I suggest our brief is more the overall 'defence of screening' and the other important battle of 'defence of CervicalCheck' is slightly separate, because it requires specific answers to specific CervicalCheck issues," said Dr Hanlon.

He suggested a campaign saying CervicalCheck "saved my life" would simply highlight cases where it did not.

Some observers are now questioning if the name CervicalCheck should be changed although there has been no fall-off in screening since the scandal started.

A name-change followed the Hepatitis C crisis which involved the infection of over 1,000 women with the virus after they received the blood product Anti-D.

The title Blood Transfusion Service Board - commonly known as BTSB - became toxic in the public mind. It led to the blood bank being re-named the Irish Blood Transfusion Service (IBTS).

Asked if the HSE was looking at a name change for CervicalCheck, a spokeswoman said yesterday: "This is not under consideration."

Questioned on how much progress had been made in recruiting new senior staff for CervicalCheck, the spokeswoman said the recruitment process to fill the clinical director role at CervicalCheck was being managed through the Public Appointments Service.

She said this was now "nearing completion".

"In addition to the post for clinical director, there is a recruitment process underway for a clinical lead for cytopathology, a clinical lead for HPV primary screening project," she said.

The two positions, which are new, would mean there would be more specialist involvement in the work of laboratories carrying out screening for CervicalCheck, which will move to HPV testing next year.

Meanwhile, it now appears the proposal for a further wider inquiry into the CervicalCheck scandal has been shelved.

Dr Gabriel Scally is to investigate further the use of labs in cities such as Las Vegas which were not authorised.

The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists is also carrying out a review of hundreds of slides of women who developed cancer.
A landlord has spoken out about the challenges of renting saying it has mentally, physically and financially destroyed her.

Mary Dunleavy and her wife Yvonne have been renting four properties in Dublin for the past decade.

Due to the recession, Mary said three of her properties are now in negative equity, which means the value of her properties have fallen below the mortgage.

"I don't know why anybody would want to be a landlord in Dublin today. It's not worth the hassle at all," Mary told Independent.ie.

The retired couple, who have two sons and five grandchildren, had been living in one of their properties in Templeogue, but now have to move out in order to pay off their debts.

"We fell victim to the recession like everyone else and we have been through hell. Yvonne was struck with sepsis last year and almost died so she can't work and I've retired so that I can look after her.

"Our finances have taken a huge hit and our only option is to sell our home, because our other three properties are in negative equity and we can't sell them."

Mary said she was forced to go to the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) after her tenant refused to move out of her property.

"We gave our tenant notice that we would be moving into the property but it has been a massive ordeal trying to get him out of the house.

"We gave him notice last February and he still hasn't moved out. We went to the RTB and it was agreed that our tenant would move out at the end of November but our house is being sold on October 30 so myself and my wife are going to be homeless for four weeks."

Mary said that her only option now is to sleep on a blow-up mattress in her son's dining room.

"The buyers on the house in Templeogue have already had to wait four months before moving in and they're not going to wait any longer. We also have to put our furniture somewhere else and that is going to cost a fortune.

"The house is our property. We're paying the mortgage on it. But now we're going to be homeless for five weeks. If we had the money, we would have gone to court but that would take another few months at least.

"We're very grateful that we do have a place to go eventually. There are a lot of homeless people who have no options."

Mary said that there is no protection for landlords and that legislation is centred around the tenant.

"The RTB is disproportionately unfair. It is aimed towards protecting tenants and I agree with that, but landlords shouldn't be excluded altogether.

"There's a hatred towards landlords at the moment. We're portrayed as being evil and money grabbers. We're trying to make a living too. It's not worth it being a landlord in Dublin anymore."

The retired social worker said that over the past ten years she has had many problems with tenants.

"We had one tenant and the house was left in very poor condition. Even the windows were broken. We took a case to the RTB and I was awarded 7,000 but sure I never got a penny.

"Landlords are left to pursue the award or bring it to court which we couldn't afford. I'll never get that money. It cost me nearly 10,000 to fix the house up after.

"Once the other houses are out of negative equity I'm going to sell them off too. I don't want to be a landlord anymore. It's just not worth the hassle."

Margaret McCormack, a spokesperson for the Irish Property Owners Association told Independent.ie that more needs to be done to protect landlords.

"While the RTB is neutral, the legislation is very complex and difficult and it's very time-consuming and frustrating for both parties.

"Another option is to go through the courts but it's very costly and you might not get a penny at the end of it. Most landlords are in debt because it's normal to borrow to purchase a property."

Ms McCormack said that landlords are portrayed as being villains in today's housing market.

"We dealt with the case of an elderly landlord whose wife became ill and they needed money to adapt their home to suit their needs. He told the tenant that they were going to sell the property so they could use that money to fix their home and his wife could come home but the tenant refused. It took a long time and meanwhile he couldn't bring his wife home and she was very upset because she wanted to be at home.

"It was very sad."

Ms McCormack called for more protection for landlords.

"Landlords are losing properties every day because of rent arrears. They need more help in today's housing market."

In a statement to Independent.ie the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) said they do not comment on individual cases.

However, they said they provide a range of services to landlords.

"Our role is to be fair and impartial in the handling of all cases. We cannot be on the side of either tenants or landlords and we enforce the law with regard to tenancies while offering a much better value, and more efficient alternative, to court action for both landlords and tenants to resolve disputes.

"In 2017, we dealt with 170,000 calls, with 66pc of these from landlords. We received nearly 6,000 applications for dispute resolution services. In addition, 35pc of cases taken were by landlords and in cases where there were damages awarded, in 53pc these were awarded to the landlord and 47pc to tenants.

"The average waiting time for an adjudication in 2017 was 14 weeks . As mentioned above, the RTB offer a free mediation service and the average waiting time for this service was 8 weeks in 2017."
A young Irish woman who was recently declared cancer free has spoken about how she planned her own funeral when she was told her cancer had spread.

Shauntelle Tynan (20) returned home from Texas this week where she underwent pioneering treatment for a rare form of cancer called Histiocytosis X.

After being diagnosed with the disease in 2015, Shauntelle moved to Houston, Texas for treatment after raising 700,000 from public donations.

Shauntelle's mum Leona said it was "surreal" to finally have her daughter back home in Ireland.

"I never stopped crying all day yesterday, it was so emotional to finally be bringing her home," she said on RTE's Late Late show.

"I always believed that we would bring her home but to get to that stage, to get on the plane and everything- it's surreal, Im still pinching myself.

"I get to wake up with my three kids. Theres no better feeling in the world than to have your family where theyre supposed to be. Home is where youre supposed to be."

While Shauntelle got to ring the ceremonial hospital bell to mark being cancer free, she admitted that she had started planning her own funeral at one stage during her treatment.

"It wasnt dying that I was scared of, I just didnt want to die, but I was there talking to my counsellor one day and she said maybe this is the best thing to do for you, so you can be at ease if anything was to happen to you," Shauntelle said.

"I was so scared at this point of when I die, whats going to happen to my family. I just wanted to make it the best funeral and goodbye possible because thats all I could think about."

The Carlow woman said she had organised the flowers and music, and had even decided who all her belongings should go to- including her beloved makeup collection.

"I wrote down that I wanted flowers upon flowers, I wanted all of my friends to have a huge part in some way.

"I even wrote who my makeup would go to, it's crazy the things that you think about. For music I had Footprints in the Sand by Leona Lewis."

Mum Leona said she didn't "entertain" Shauntelle's funeral plans but admitted it's something the family can look at lightly now.

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"You laugh because youre going to cry your eyes out otherwise, I wouldnt entertain any of that when she would discuss it, and that was my way of coping. I refused to ever give up," she said.

Shauntelle said she has plenty of plans for the future, from catching up on the Irish food she missed while she was away, and going to college.

"I missed the food. The bread, spicebags," she said.

"I want to learn how to drive, I want to get a job, to go to college. I also want to advocate this cancer and get it out there because its so rare."
The Labour party has announced it plans to bring forward legislation to provide for citizenship of children born in Ireland to non-nationals.

The decision follows the threatened deportation of 9-year-old Eric Zhi Ying Xue.

On Tuesday, a petition was started by St Cronan's Boys National School in Bray, Co Wicklow, asking Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan to revoke the deportation order for the fourth-class pupil.

Labour Party Leader Brendan Howlin described the cases of Eric and others in similar situation as not "just or fair".

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"The 2004 citizenship referendum, brought forward by Fianna Fail and supported by Fine Gael removed the constitutional right to birthright citizenship as provided for under constitutional amendments following the Good Friday Agreement. The Labour Party campaigned for a No vote in this referendum," Mr Howlin said.

"Children born here, and those who have spent most of their lives here, should not be deported and the current situation where young people have to rely on having a Government Minister in their constituency to lobby on their behalf, to stay in their own country, is not tenable, just or fair."

Mr Howlin said the party aim to bring forward legislation in the near future.

"It is a sad day for Ireland when local campaigns are required to ensure children can stay in our country.

"That is why the Labour Party will bring forward legislation to ensure children born in Ireland can become Irish citizens after a period of time, and can remain here.

"It is hypocrisy of the highest order that the Taoiseach has an envoy in the United States seeking rights for undocumented Irish, while in our own country children are threatened with deportation," he added.

Earlier this week, Health Minister Simon Harris, who lives in Eric's constituency, said he stands with the young boy and that representations have been made on his behalf.

"I have made representations to the Department of Justice and Equality in relation to Eric's situation," he said in a statement to Independent.ie.

"I have appealed for Eric to remain in Ireland on humanitarian grounds. Quite frankly, Eric is Irish.

"He was born here, goes to school here and has never lived anywhere else. This is his home. This is his country. I really hope common sense can prevail."
President Michael D Higgins is facing calls to clarify his claim that he was forced to use the Governments Learjet to travel to Belfast for security reasons.

During a televised presidential debate last Wednesday, Mr Higgins said he flew to Belfast while his car was driven to an airport in the city to pick him up due to security advice he received.

He subsequently told the Irish Independent on the campaign trail that the PSNI was not able to provide security for his trip to Belfast.

However, the BBC is tonight reporting comments from PSNI sources who dismissed the Presidents public comment.

"It would be inconceivable that the President of Ireland would not have been afforded security if it had been requested," a PSNI source told the BBC.

Another source told the BBC there is anger within the PSNI at the suggestion that it did not have sufficient resources to escort Mr Higgins from the border to Belfast.

Responding to the BBC story, the Presidents spokesperson said for logistical reasons and on security advice the President flew by Government jet to Belfast in May to deliver the Harri Holkeri lecture.

The President has made many visits to Northern Ireland by car and is grateful for the support received from the security services. It would not be appropriate to further comment on the detail of security arrangements, he added.

The spokesman refused to say who provided the security advice.

In a statement issued tonight, Sinn Fein presidential candidate Liadh Ni Riada called on Mr Higgins to come clean on his reasons for travelling to Belfast on the Lear jet.

He flew to Belfast in a Lear Jet, funded by the taxpayer, while his car was driven from Dublin to Belfast to pick him up at the airport, she said.

That claim has now been directly disputed by the PSNI. They reject this security claim who say it would be inconceivable that the President of Ireland would not have been afforded security if it had been requested.

It is clear now that Michael D Higgins claim has caused considerable anger within the PSNI.

Michael D. Higgins must make a public statement on this matter immediately. This is very serious. He must come clean.

The hourly cost of flying the Learjet is estimated by the Department of Defence to be 3,780 per hour.

Records show that in the first three months of this year, Mr Higgins used the jet to travel to London, Belfast, Athens and Kerry.

The total flight time cost was close to 50,000 for these trips.
The Government has dismissed calls to widen the scope of the review of the National Broadband Plan (NBP) after it emerged then finance minister Michael Noonan met with senior Enet executives in 2016.

The disclosure of the meeting comes after Denis Naughten resigned as communications minister over a series of private meetings with businessman David McCourt.

Mr McCourt is the lead figure in the sole remaining bidder for the 1bn broadband contract and a minority shareholder in Enet.

The meeting between Mr Noonan and Enet executives took place in December 2016 to discuss, among other issues, the company's management, maintenance and operation of 94 State-owned Metropolitan Area Networks (MANs).

Social Democrats TD Catherine Murphy claimed that the meetings disclosed in recent weeks show there "was almost an open-door policy in Government buildings for Enet and/or David McCourt".

"We need to understand the rationale for the former minister's decision to extend the MANs contract when he did," she said. Ms Murphy also said it was important to understand if that extension materially affected the price paid for the Enet stake in 2017.

The State-backed Irish Infrastructure Fund (IIF) bought a 78pc share in Enet last year and is set to acquire the remaining 22pc, subject to approval, buying out Granahan McCourt.

Ms Murphy called for the Smyth review of the NBP to be widened to include the extension of the MANs contract, but the Government has said this would not be appropriate "as the process auditor role only relates to NBP procurement".

The 2016 meeting was attended by Conal Henry, then chief executive of Enet, and was one of a number of meetings held with Limerick TDs, according to Enet. The NBP was not discussed, nor was the extension of the MANs contract.

The Department of Finance said ministers meet regularly with businesses as part of their role. A spokesman for Enet said the original contract included a built-in extension mechanism and "an extension was granted following a negotiation which included the normal and proper contractual steps being followed".

The spokesman said access to Government "is within the normal course of business and typical for organisations operating significant State-owned infrastructure".

Mr Noonan did not respond to queries. A spokesman for Mr McCourt said Granahan McCourt was not in a position to comment.
President Michael D Higgins has admitted he flew to an event in Belfast last May while a car drove from Dublin to pick him up at the airport.

He blamed the PSNI for not being able to provide security from the Border.

His election rivals have repeatedly questioned his travel arrangements on May 29 last, suggesting they came to an unwarranted expense to the taxpayers.

Mr Higgins was in Belfast to address the Sixth Annual Harri Holkeri Lecture, which is organised by the Senator George J Mitchell Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice.

He said that ahead of trips to Belfast his office take part in consultations with the PSNI "about where they will pick me up".

The President acknowledged there was an issue on the day in question but the "important thing" was to give the lecture as there were people from "all sides" of the community present.

Referring to his use of the Government's Learjet for the short trip, he said: "This was in fact the only way I could do it in time."

The hourly cost of flying the Learjet is estimated by the Department of Defence to be 3,780 per hour.

Records show that in the first three months of this year, Mr Higgins used the jet to travel to London, Belfast, Athens and Kerry.

The total flight time cost was close to 50,000 for these trips.

Assistant Chief Constable Alan Todd said: It is a long established policy of the Police Service of Northern Ireland not to comment on the security arrangements made for individuals. The Police Service of Northern Ireland routinely work with visiting Heads of State and other key figures visiting Northern Ireland and make full provisions for their safety in line with their requirements.
President Michael D Higgins is still on course to win a second term in office, according to latest opinion poll.

Mr Higgins holds a massive 69pc of the vote and is significantly ahead of his nearest rival, Sean Gallagher, who is on 11pc.

Controversial businessman Peter Casey is floundering on 2pc after a week of controversy over his comments about members of the traveling community.

However, the opinion poll was completed last Tuesday  the same day Mr Caseys comment on Independent.ies Floating Voter podcast were published.

This means the poll does not gauge the publics reaction to the entire week of controversy surrounding Mr Casey.

During the podcast, Mr Casey said travellers should not be recognised as an ethnic minority because they are "basically people camping in someone else's land".

The businessman also launched an attack on the community, saying: "They are not paying their fair share of taxes in society."

Since his comments, he has said he is considering pulling out of the race.

Meanwhile, Sinn Fein presidential candidate Liadh Ni Riada is on 7pc, Pieta House founder Joan Freeman is on 6pc and Dragons Den panelist Gavan Duffy is on 4pc.
Presidential candidate Peter Casey has accused the Taoiseach of unfairly intervening in the election, saying Leo Varadkar should "shut his trap".

The businessman has withdrawn from public events this weekend "to think carefully about whether to continue in the race".

He is refusing to back down from his view that Travellers should not be considered an ethnic minority.

But Mr Casey admitted to being shaken by the reaction from rival candidates, interest groups and politicians.

While in Brussels for the crucial EU summit on Brexit, Mr Varadkar urged voters to send Mr Casey "a very clear message" at the ballot box next Friday.

However, Mr Casey believes it was "totally out of order for the Taoiseach to get involved and make statements that impact the presidential election".

He went on to described the Taoiseach as "being a member of an ethnic community himself" and "being Indian".

Mr Varadkar's father is Indian, but he was born in Ireland and has lived here all his life. A spokesperson for the Taoiseach declined to respond.

Mr Casey has faced widespread calls to drop out of the presidential race following his comments about Travellers on Independent.ie's 'Floating Voter' podcast.

He has become the most-talked about candidate after claiming Travellers are "basically people camping in someone else's land".

Yesterday he denied adopting Trump-like tactics to try push up his polling figures.

"It disappointed me when he got elected, but I did predict it because when you live there, America is a racist society," he said of Mr Trump.

"I think his behaviour is indefensible."

The Irish-American businessman told Galway Bay FM he is not "in any way racist".

He noted that he grew up in Derry where Catholics were discriminated against in terms of voting rights and jobs.

A decision on whether to withdraw from the race will be announced on Monday - but even if he does quit the race, Mr Casey's name will still appear on the ballot paper.

According to the Department of Local Government the last date on which a candidate can formally removing their name was September 26.

Mr Casey said he will not make any decision lightly.

"I haven't said anything that is wrong," he said, adding: "For the other Dragons and other candidates, in particular Michael D, for them to say and suggest that I'm a racist is just so wrong. They look to themselves in the mirror."

Central to Mr Casey's argument has been the case of six unoccupied homes built at a cost 1.7m. A number of Traveller families are refusing to move in on the basis that they want access to land for their horses.

Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy has now said that the dispute in Tipperary "can be resolved and will be resolved".

"We will work to finding a resolution. They're fantastic homes," he said.
Peter Casey with his wife Helen at the controversial homes in Co Tipperary. Photo: Mark Condren

The race to the Aras - particularly the nomination process, often as hilarious as it was perplexing - has been dubbed the "wacky races" because some runners were or are a few cents short of a euro.

By this stage, presidential candidate Peter Casey doesn't even have a metaphorical euro to his name and will be remembered as the wackiest of them all.

Casey is a successful and very wealthy businessman, a classic example of a resilient, self-made man who fought his way to the top, an exemplar for the young and ambitious that their dreams are achievable.

That is why inflammatory comments about Travellers - who form a minority of less than 1pc of our population - are highly inappropriate for someone who in a position of influence in society.

But let's face the unpalatable truth: Peter Casey articulated a widely held prejudice that a significant proportion of the settled population share in private.

For a moment, let's park the issue that this controversy has focused on - the wider implications of the complex and challenging cultural differences that exist between the Traveller and settled communities - and assess the ramifications of Casey's outspokenness.

Deploying a propaganda strategy chillingly redolent of that preferred by Donald Trump will disturb the majority of Irish people, including the large number who harbour deep prejudices and resentment towards Travellers, some of it justified, more of it not.

It is repugnant to all right-thinking people that a potential president would seek to exploit and deepen the social divide and mutual suspicions between the Traveller and settled communities.

Languishing at the bottom of the polls at 2pc, Peter Casey has gone rummaging around for a lift in the darkest recesses of our collective national psyche - a vote for him now will be perceived as a vote for division and marginalisation.

Bigger than expected support for Casey would be greeted as a vindication for intolerance towards and stereotyping of Travellers, while reinforcing and deepening the sense of marginalisation that already looms over their community.

In the end, no one will benefit, and bridges won't be built between the Travelling community and the rest of the society.

But if there is anything to be taken from this presidential election storm, it is that it has served to shine a light on an issue that is long overdue, a meaningful societal debate about the relationships between settled folk and Travellers.

Peter Casey facilitated that by pulling at the scab on the wound of Traveller marginalisation that has existed in our society for decades.

Something must be done to bridge the chasm that exists, and it must be constructed with the solutions coming from both sides.

For one, reconciliation can not be achieved between the communities if self-appointed spokespeople for Travellers like actor John Connor continue with ill-tempered public rants where he smears gardai as "scum".

The Travelling community produces some very alarming statistical facts which have been ignored by a largely indifferent and inert State.

The high levels of depression, especially among men, have led to disproportionate numbers of psychological disabilities, drug addiction, alcoholism and suicide.

Such dysfunctionality can be attributed to proportionately high levels of domestic abuse suffered by women within the Travelling community.

Travellers tend to drop out of school earlier, suffer more ill health and die younger.

The optics of bitter family feuds erupting with the use of machetes and shotguns at funerals and the disproportionately high numbers of Travellers who are in prison do little to ameliorate the settled community.

Some of the biggest crime gangs in the country are from Traveller backgrounds, and a considerable number of Travellers have been jailed for burgling homes across rural Ireland.

However, the reality is that, like all communities, there will always be bad elements, but they are always in the minority.

It is facile and lazy to tar all Travellers with the same brush because of the activities of the criminals who are doing more damage to their own people than they are to the wider society.

Perhaps it would be a gesture worthy of a real president of the people if he or she facilitated and headed up a process whereby genuine efforts were made to ameliorate the Traveller community, an ethnic minority, with their neighbours on this island.

Create a dialogue where the Travellers no longer feel marginalised and have the confidence that they are equal citizens - where they will no longer feel like outsiders.

But a huge effort towards a cultural shift must come from the Travelling community itself with an emphasis on education of its young generation as the most effective route to gaining self esteem, confidence and a sense of status in their society.

Paul Williams also co-hosts the 'Newstalk Breakfast' show
Tony Ward (40) pleaded guilty to charges of endangerment, dangerous driving, assault causing harm, and the unlawful seizure of a vehicle (stock photo)

A 15-year-old boy remains in a critical condition following a serious road traffic collision involving a truck in Co Laois.

The incident occurred on the M7 motorway northbound junction on Monday.

Gardai reported the collision occurred at around 6pm when the young male pedestrian was struck by the vehicle.

The teenager was rushed to Tallaght Hospital where he remains in a critical condition. The male driver of the truck was uninjured.

Gardai in Portlaoise are appealing for witnesses to the incident and have asked any drivers or taxi drivers who may have 'dashcam footage' to come forward.

"We are appealing for any witnesses who were in the area of the M7 motorway at junction 17 at 6pm and also any persons travelling on the Abbeyleix Road, Portlaoise between 5pm and 6pm on Monday evening to contact Portlaoise garda station at 057 8674100, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111 or any Garda station," they stated.
I dont think you can prepare yourself really for seeing poverty of this scale.

If youre born a girl in a developing country, youre more likely to be married off as a child, to not go to school, to live in poverty, to suffer violence or abuse simply because youre a girl.

I consider myself to be a feminist and Im a mum as well.

One of the most shocking things on my recent visit to Guinea Bissau was hearing a father tell me that his 14-year-old daughter was married off to a 30-year-old man.

Theres no running water and no electricity in homes outside the capital. We visited one village with 6,000 people. There was one well to serve the entire village. That water is to be used for everything from cleaning to cooking to consuming.

We met with a number of families. One family explained how the households are run. For young girls, its not safe for them to travel to go to secondary school. The school could be miles and miles away. If families want to send their girl to school she has to leave home and live beside the school. From a safety point of view, its just not safe.

A really shocking thing I couldnt wrap my head around was that quite a number of the secondary school teachers are males, and male teachers raping their students is a big problem. You read these things but to hear it anecdotally that this is a problem was shocking.

We visited a school that Plan International had built and were working with and there were over one thousand students attending this secondary school. Just over 50pc of the secondary school students were girls. This gave me so much heart to see that it could be done - that a girl could go to school and feel safe.

There was a very good ratio of male/female teachers too. Plan are providing teacher training in this school and also providing a youth group facility, which gives students a voice in their education and the opportunity to give their suggestions in how the school should be run.

It was incredible to sit with the youth group and listen to what was important to them and hear the young girls say they had ambitions of going to college. The prime minister of the group said she wanted to be a nurse. It was incredible to see the difference that Plan are making in this school.

In that same village we visited the governor of the town and we sat down and spoke to him and it was wonderful to hear how important he thought that Plan was to the community and that gender equality was a priority for him as well.

One additional year of school for a young girl equates to a 20pc increase in income in later life for that girl. That was fantastic to hear.

We also visited a village where Plan had built a kindergarten. We met the head teacher who had been trained by Plan and who had five teachers under her who had been trained too. They had 90 kindergarteners in the school and there was a good mix of boys and girls. There was one teacher per 15 students and they were singing songs, playing games it was incredible.

It was also hard to get my head around polygamy. In most of the villages we visited, the men had a number of wives. That was a little bit shocking.

It was a culture shock.

Plan also have a Village Saving and Loan Associations (VSLA) scheme. We visited a village where the scheme, which is almost like a credit union, was implemented. The women have to get their husbands permission to join, but the access to finance for these women  its impossible for them to get a loan from a bank - it gives them so much opportunity.

I met a lady called Sona who was in her early 30s and worked three jobs. Shes a kindergarten teacher, has her own crops on a small piece of land and also runs her own shop from her house. Shes using the VSLA to borrow money to bulk-buy stock for her shop so she can get a discount.

I sat down with Sona after the group discussion and I asked her what was the best part about running her own business, and she said it meant that she never had to ask her husband for money. That was so powerful. I dont think Ill ever forget that conversation. The independence and the freedom and the empowerment that the VSLA gave Sona is incredible. Its life-changing.

I asked her if she had a role model, another woman that she looked up to or inspired her. She told me that when she moved from the city to that village and married her husband, there was another older lady in the village who owned her own shop, who took Sona in and showed her how to run a business.

Sona has two daughters and one son, and I asked her if she considers herself to be a role model. She got really embarrassed because she was so humble, and shyly admitted that she hopes that she will inspire young girls who want to run their own business. It was wonderful to hear that she sees herself as a role model. I do think its important that little girls have women they can look up to and see whats possible. Plan International is helping create role models in the community.

Some people are using the VSLA for consumption, if they got sick, to pay for medication, but most are using it for business. That was just incredible.

I dont think I was prepared for just how sick the people that I would meet would be, and their families. We sat down in one village with the chief of the village, who Id imagine is the most prosperous. I asked him if anyone in his family had malaria or cholera at the moment and he said that theres always two or three people in his family that have malaria or cholera at any one time.

The average life expectancy in Guinea Bissau is 55 years of age. I cant imagine my life expectancy being so low that I wouldnt be able to enjoy my grandchildren. When you become a mother it makes you a lot more emphatic towards other mothers and children.

I met one of the head kindergarten teachers, Alla. I also met her mother and her husbands other wife and her children and Allas children. I met her little boy, who was around the same age as my little girl. She also had a little baby girl.

Her mum told me how proud she was of Alla being a teacher in her community and I found it very emotional. What struck me was that regardless of who we are or where we are in the world, human emotions are the same.

We feel the same hunger, pride and humility. We feel the same things. We all want the same things for our children.

Alla wants her child to be safe, warm, fed and to have opportunities. Allas mum was so proud of her and what she had achieved and Alla wanted the same opportunities for her children, which is why shes working and teaching young children.

Over 5,000 people in Ireland sponsor people around the world through Plan International. Almost 2,000 children in Guinea Bissau are being sponsored by people in Ireland.
It's hard to imagine that last Friday night was the 30th anniversary of Ridleys nightclub opening its doors for the very first time and easily one of Dundalk's most popular club decided to have a reunion in the Rum House to mark the occasion.

I was only in the door when I met up with three ladies who were far, far, far too young to remember the crazy days of Ridleys (even too young for the Teen Disco, I thought) Alison Murphy from Blackrock, Joanne Duffy from Oaklawns and Sinead Duffy from Knockbridge who were looking exceptionally well and were up for making it a real night to remember.

After this I got a word with ex staff member Finbar Gethins from Knockbridge and staff member Fintan Sheridan from Ard Easmuinn who told me he started working there 1994 and to date has been called in to work for 24 New Year's Eves, but it was a bit of a busman's holiday and the lads were definitely there to party.

Taking a break from their Order Of Malta duties were Catriona Clarke from Parnell Park and Thomas Traynor from Seatown who admitted to remembering the early days and the now infamous spiral staircase which he fondly remembers wrestling with on a number of occasions, me I remember falling up it for some strange reason.

I then headed over for a word with Damiel Michael who told me he's a student at the DkIT and had no idea the celebration was taking place, he was definitely in for a good night, I thought.

I then caught up with Colette and Martin Clerkin from Braganstown who said they were really looking forward to the celebrations.

Not too far away I got a word with Conor Kearns and Katie McCurtin both from Dublin who had absolutely no idea what major celebrations were about to happen so it was going to be a good night for them too.

One man who would certainly have remembered the heady days was David O'Hagan from Long Walk and he was with his daughters Jade and Leah O'Hagan from Bay Estate and Daniel Suhoruchenkov from Kilcurry and David admitted he was far too young for the popular club.

After this I had the pleasure of talking to Joanne Loye and Tara Coyle both from Crossmaglen who were looking extremely well and yes, they were far too young to even know about Ridleys in its heyday, but didn't care because they were up for the celebrations.

I then headed over for a quick word with Renee Duffy from Littlemills who was with her delightful daughters Michelle and Susan. The ladies had been in Dublin all day and when they got home on the train, it was into Kennedys for a swifty before the girls encouraged their mum to keep the party going in the Rum House

Ironically, I then headed for a table where a special 30th birthday party was being held for Mark Hoey from Knockbridge who was with his lovely wife Michelle and members of staff from Tullyallen NS who were there to help him celebrate and they included Brendan Winters from Tullyallen, Mags Brennan from Termonfeckon, Brid Fogarty originally from Tipperary and now from Drogheda (who thought the place was savage), Marietta Reynolds from Termonfeckon, Ailis Hughes from Carlingford, Lyndsey Smyth from Monasterboice, Ruth Clarke from Collon, Andrew and Neoma O'Connor-Brady from Baltray, Megan Kelly from Monasterboice, Jessica Smith from Kingscourt, Gary Sheehan from Limerick and Michelle O'Brien from Galway who were all in party mode and wanted to wish Mark a happy 30th on the 30th anniversary of Ridleys!
There was reason to celebrate at Dundalk Order of Malta recently as one member of the unit took home top prize in her category from the National Competitions held in Limerick.

Cpl. Michelle McCabe placed first in the individual E.M.T category.

That was not it for Michelle as she was also on the Drogheda team who won 3rd place in the Ambulance test and first place in the overall competition.

All this shows what can be achieved when joining the Order of Malta!

Michelle joined the unit a number of years ago with little or no first aid experience and had worked her way up to the level of E.M.T and the rank of Corporal with the support of the unit.

All at Dundalk unit would like to congratulate Michelle and the other members on their success.

As one of Ireland's largest voluntary organisations, the Order of Malta make a positive contribution to hundreds of local communities across the country.

With nearly 4,000 members nationally volunteering their time to provide first-aid medical services at national and local community events, the Order of Malta also provides training in life-saving skills and delivers community care initiatives.

For further information, or if you would like to volunteer, contact dundalk@orderofmalta.ie or check out their Facebook page.
An internal garda review into the murder of farmer Tom Oliver, who was abducted, tortured and murdered by the IRA in July 1991, has uncovered failings in the original police investigation.

Oliver's death, one of the most controversial murders of the Troubles, was examined by the force's cold case unit, a branch of the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation.

The review established that the father of seven reported to local gardai that he had uncovered a plastic barrel containing guns while digging a drain in 1989. The barrel contained weapons hidden by the Armagh/Louth brigade of the IRA.

Gardai involved in the review have concluded more care should have been taken to protect Oliver, who had done his civic duty by reporting the discovery.

The review also identified issues with how gardai gathered evidence during the inquiry and identified lines of investigation that were not pursued or missed.

Oliver was abducted by members of the IRA near the border on July 18. His family had reported him missing after he failed to return home from going to check on a cow that was calving.

The father of seven is said to have been tortured by the IRA. It is understood that his captors broke his bones while he was strapped to a chair. he was shot several times in the head before his body as dumped on a road north of the border near Belleeks in Co Armagh.

The IRA late admitted responsibility for the murder and claimed the farmer had acted as a garda informer. The IRA released a 'tape recording' of a confession that Oliver allegedly made.

Gardai believe Oliver's abduction was approved by a senior IRA terrorist from Belfast, who authorised the kiling on behalf of the group's army council. The suspect is believed to have travelled to the area where he was consulted on the confession which had been extracted from Oliver after he was tortured. It is believed that Gardia have no plans to arrest and question the suspect as yet.

Drew Harris, the Garda Commisioner, provided the name of the suspect to Peter Smithwick, the judge who led a tribunal into allegations of garda collusion in the 1989 murder of two RUC officers Chief Supt Harry Breen and Supt Bob Buchanan who were ambushed by members of the IRA after meetings officers in Dundalk Garda station.

Harris wrote the name of the suspect on a piece of paper which he handed to Smithwick. He was in charge of intelligence in Northern Ireland while an assistant chief constable of the PSNI between 2006 and 2014. It is thought the information he provided was based on evidence from an IRA informer.
The Glyde Inn, Annagassan was named the Best Food Pub in the North East at the National Pub Awards last week

The popular mid Louth bar and restaurant will now go forward to the final of the National Pub Awards at the RDS Concert Hall on Wednesday 21st November.

The Irish Pub Awards are jointly presented by the Vintners Federation of Ireland (VFI) and the Licenced Vintners Association of Ireland (LVA).

Speaking at the Awards Ceremony, President of Vintner's Federation of Ireland (VFI), Padraic McCann said: 'The Awards were developed as part of our strategy to raise the profile of VFI member pubs around the country. The Irish Pub is at the heart of every town and village and it is where locals gather, and where tourists meet locals and enjoy Irish hospitality at its best.

Irish Pubs are also a major provider of employment in our regions.'
People keen to liaise with gardai in the Louth area will have the chance to do that via social media shortly.

The Louth Division is planning to launch a Facebook page in a bid to help the community.

'We will have everything on it, all events that are taking place, etc,' Supt Andrew Watters stated.

'Members of the public can also contribute on it,' he added.

Addressing the Joint Policing Meeting for the area, he also said the Text Alert system, used by communities, was also an invaluable tool against crime.

It was also revealed by Chief Supt Christy Mangan that he is fighting for more resources - and patrol cars.

Drogheda was due to get a new car last week.

'We need more cars as they are used 24/7,' he stated. 'I canvass for a bigger budget because this year we had three murders and you have to put in the proper resources.'

Cllr Pio Smith said that Drogheda - the largest town in the country - needed the same resources as Dundalk .

'There are better facilities in Dundalk than Drogheda and I would ask the minister to bring it up to the same standard,' he remarked. Cllr Richie Culhane agreed that a letter should be sent.

At the Mid Louth JPC meeting, Cllr Colm Markey said he believed a lot of crime went unreported, sparking Chief Supt Christy Mangan to state that all crimes needed to be reported as it built up a proper statistics table and then allowed him to seek extra resources.

With the events of the past number of months, he had 'exhausted' his budget and 'hadn't a cent left'. He added, 'if I was a company, I'd be gone.'

Deputy Imelda Munster also said that people in rural areas were concerned about the lack of patrols and she raised it with the minister that Drogheda had just two cars.
A third man was arrested last week in connection with the attack on Irish Liverpool fan, Sean Cox, in April this year.

Sean Cox, who works at Precision Engineering in Dundalk, was left in a critical condition after being assaulted outside a pub in Liverpool before the first leg of the Champions League tie.

The 53-year-old sustained serious head injuries and was in a coma for three months following the attack, which took place on April 25th.

He began rehabilitation treatment at the National Rehabilitation Hospital in Dun Laoghaire last week.

Two men had already been charged in relation to the incident, but Merseyside police in Liverpool have now confirmed another man has been arrested in Rome. In the last few days, it was confirmed police in Rome, in co-operation with Merseyside Police, arrested a 30-year-old man from the city on a European arrest warrant on suspicion of assault. The man will now face an extradition hearing.

One man, an Italian national, has already been jailed for two-and-a-half years having admitted to violent disorder. A second man is set to stand trial.

Meanwhile, St. Peter's GAA club Dunboyne paid tribute to their former chairman Sean Cox when they picked up the county title last weekend.

Team captain, Cathal Finn praised Sean Cox in the club's acceptance speech, describing the former chairman as 'inspirational' in his battle back to recovery.

The club have also launched a GoFundMe campaign to fundraise for Sean's long term term rehabilitation. To donate log on to www.gofundme/SupportSeanCox
With her infectious smile little Zoe Murphy looks like a typical toddler but life for the two and a half year is anything but typical.

Her smile covers the fact that she often wakes during the night with pain due to spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy but her parents hope that pioneering surgery in the United States will help her live a normal life.

Zoe was born 'a perfectly healthy baby' recalls mum Lynda Barron, who began to have concerns that her daughter was not reaching development milestones when, at six months, she couldn't sit up or lift her head.

Her constant crying was put down to colic and, as Zoe continued to fail to meet milestones, she was eventually diagnosed with hip dysplasia and placed in a full body cast.

Zoe spent her first birthday in the cast and, with a mother's intuition, Lynda pushed for further medical investigations to see why her little girl wasn't thriving.

Eventually, when Zoe was 18 months old, an MRI brought the news which her parents had feared as she was diagnosed with spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy.

'It was heartbreaking,' says Lynda. 'We were told that she wouldn't walk, wouldn't talk. We went through a huge amount of grief.'

'It was devastating. She's got three older sisters. They are all dancers and gymnasts and to think that she would never be up dancing with them was heartbreaking.'

However, Lynda and her partner Eamon Murphy were not prepared to give up on their daughter.

They began researching cerebral palsy and made contact with other parents through Facebook.

The family engaged a private physiotherapist with extensive experience of working with children with cerebral palsy, and slowly but surely Zoe began to develop more than the doctors had expected.

The next step saw her parents making the decision to give Zoe CBD oil, after Lynda had tested it herself, and again they saw her making improvements.

'She started to talk and to sit up and was developing so well that the doctors were shocked,' recalls Lynda. 'She is coming on so much and is really coming out of herself.'

Her adoring big sisters have played their part in Zoe's progress as Kayleigh, Brook and Teagan spend an enormous about of time interacting with her and encouraging her to talk.

As Zoe started to take her first steps with the help of a walking frame, her parents were determined to explore all the treatment options for their daughter.

They discovered that Zoe would benefit from Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy (SDR) surgery and were fortunate enough to meet the American surgeon who has pioneered this procedure when he visited Dublin last April.

'We sent off Zoe's MRIs to Dr T S Park and he agreed that she is an excellent candidate for the surgery,' says Lynda.

Dr T S Park is a paediatric neurosurgeon at Saint Louis Children's Hospital, Missouri, who has performed SDR surgery on more than 3,600 patients from around the world over the past 30 years, including a number of Irish children.

He told Lynda and Eamon that Zoe is an ideal candidate for SDR and that he believes she will be walk independently if she gets that surgery.

And more importantly, it would bring an end to the muscle cramps and spasms which cause her to wake up crying from pain during the night.

'It's really heartbreaking when she wakes during the night, crying and asking me to rub her legs because of the pain,' says Lynda, who is dreading the approach of winter as the cold weather affects Zoe.

'It also takes about 20 minutes in the morning before we can get her dressed as she needs to be straightened out.

However, for the surgery to be most effective, it needs to be carried out when Zoe is between two and four years of age.

Her parents have been preparing her for the surgery, helping her to build up her strength and muscles through physiotherapy.

Their plan is for Zoe to travel to Saint Louis for the surgery next year. And once she has had the operation, she will have to spend five weeks receiving intense physiotherapy to rebuild her strength before she comes home.

While the surgery won't cure Zoe's cerebral palsy, it will make a huge difference to her life, allowing her to walk and maybe even dance, instead of having to use a wheelchair.

However, for this dream to come true, Zoe's parents need to raise 100,000.

It's a huge amount of money but they are throwing all their energies into organising fund raising events so that they will be able to bring Zoe to the United States next Spring.

They have set up a Go Fund Me page and have planned a number of fundraising events for the coming months.

These include an 80s/90s fancy dress night organised by DJ Karl Collins in Toales on Friday October 26, table quiz in the Lisdoo on Friday November 2, and a New Year's Party with four tribute bands in the Lisdoo.

Lynda and Eamon have been overwhelmed by the support they have received so far.

'We can't believe how all of Dundalk have come behind us,' says Lynda. 'It's really amazing how supportive people are. It's brilliant and this positivity is helping us.'

A bucket collection outside Oriel Park raised 2,100, the most ever, perhaps not surprising given Zoe's grandfather Jim Murphy's long association with Dundalk FC.

And Dundalk fans get the chance to lend their support to the fundraising appeal by buying a specially designed poster featuring the club's kits, down the years is now on sale. The poster, costing just 10, is available from Oriel Park, The Marshes, Goldstar Jewellers and The County Museum.

Her parents are also grateful to all the local shops and businesses who are taking collection boxes for Zoe's Appeal.

Their fundraising campaign has even got the support of English comedian Matt Lucas of 'Little Britain' fame, who shared it on his twitter account.

Anyone who would like to help out with organising a fund raising event can get it touch with the Zoe Murphy Appeal through Facebook or make a donation on the GoFundMe page.
Keisha, Shen and Sofi-Mei Lally present the cheque for over 1,200 to Christina Noble.

Local girl Shen Lally made the generous decision to cut her long hair for the Rapunzel Foundation, while raising money for the Christina Noble Children's Foundation.

Christina herself paid a visit to St Patrick's School recently, on the date of Shen's 11th birthday, to accept the cheque.

Shen was joined by two of her sisters, Keisha and Sofi-Mei, for the handover. Christina was very grateful for the funds Shen and her friends and family raised.

Shen and all of her teachers were delighted to meet Christina who gave the schoolgirl her signed book a hoodie and tee shirt.

Christina held the cake while the girls sang happy birthday to her.

The Christina Noble Children's Foundation is dedicated to serving vulnerable children in Vietnam and Mongolia, who are in need of medical care, nutritional rehabilitation, educational opportunities, vocational training and job placement.

The Rapunzel Foundation will use Shen's hair to make a wig for someone suffering hair loss through cancer treatment.
Anne Gregory is part of the Newtownmountkennedy and Kilcoole Educate Together Campaign

Educate Together are upping their campaign to get patronage of the new primary school serving Newtownmountkennedy and Kilcoole.

The Department of Education is expected to start the patronage process later this month for the eight-classroom school which is due to open in 2019.

According to the last Census, Newtownmountkennedy is the fastest growing town in the county, experiencing a 17.6 per cent growth in population between 2011 and 2016. Population figures are due to again grow dramatically over the coming years with planning for close to 1,000 houses in the immediate area.

'I think that bringing at Educate Together national school to Newtownmountkennedy and Kilcoole will serve the area well,' said Anne Gregory, volunteer with the Newtownmountkennedy and Kilcoole Educate Together Campaign,

'The towns are changing and becoming more diverse and we need a school to reflect that and to give families a true choice in the type of school they send their children. The Educate Together model welcomes everyone, no matter what religion and background they come from and the ethos of the schools helps children be accepting and feel accepted. I would urge the parents of Newtownmountkennedy and Kilcoole that want this model of education to check out the Educate Together website or find our campaign on Facebook'.

This month the Department of Education will launch an online survey (Online Patronage Process System) asking parents to choose their preferred school patron.

An Foras Patrunachta has also announced that it plans to apply for patronage of the 13 new primary announced back in April, including the school in Kilcoole/ Newtownmountkennedy.
Up to 30 people attended a protest outside the entrance to Luggala Estate on Sunday in opposition to the closure of a pedestrian gate each day at 5.30 p.m.

The protest was organised by Roger Garland of Keep Ireland Open, who fears the closure of the gate will have health and safety implications for people using the route to climb Fancy Mountain or Knocknacloghoge if they receive an injury.

'The problem is people often get lost in the mountains or might sprain an ankle. They struggle to get back to the gate and finally arrive at 6 p.m. only to find out it has been closed,' said Mr Garland. 'Walkers could also lose their way in the mist or fall ill and fail to meet the 5.30 p.m. deadline. It is an accident waiting to happen'.

Labour Party Chairperson and election candidate for Wicklow, Jack O'Connor addressed the protest.

He said: 'We all came together to insist that access to this beautiful place, which has always been respected, would continue to be preserved. It is part of our heritage as citizens of Ireland and we want to ensure that visitors would continue can enjoy the stunning scenery as guests of the nation and would continue to get access, through our lifetime, our children's lifetime and their children's lifetime. It is an area of real outstanding scenic beauty'.

Both Mr Garland and Mr O'Connor would like to see the State acquire the relevant part of the property, as recommended by the National Parks and Wildlife Service.

'People are concerned that it might be closed off permanently,' said Mr Garland. 'I really think it should be in State ownership and the National Parks and Wildlife Service have recommended exactly that. The house and the land around it are strictly private and should be treated as so. We don't want to disturb that and people are entitled to their privacy but the rest of the land is perfect and ready for recreational use'.

Mr O'Connor said: 'It shouldn't be allowed to fall into the hands of any private corporation, not least one from outside of the country. The Government needs to take the necessary moves to ensure access is maintained, even if that means taking it into public ownership. The Government should certainly be more assertive and robust in their engagement and should consider legislation which would maintain our right of ways and take the whole estate into public ownership and develop it.'

The Guinness Trust, which owns the Luggala Estate, has said that the signs don't change public access to certain areas within the grounds.

'There are no public rights of way or rights of access to any of the estate' said a statement issued on behalf of Barbican International Corporation. 'However, successive owners over recent years permitted public access to certain parts of the estate via the present pedestrian access gate. The terrain at Luggala is mountainous and there are many exceptionally steep and unsafe sections. The owners have a duty of care regarding the estate and, as a result, a decision was taken to erect signage confirming that Luggala is private property and that the pedestrian access gate beside the public road would be closed from 5.30pm each day, a common practice in similar settings over privately owned land'.

Luggala Estate was the former home of Garech Browne, who passed away this year.
2018 was another great success for Tidy Town groups throughout the County of Cork. Ballincollig finished top of the pile in Cork, and had the national honour of winning Irelands Tidiest Large Urban Centre, finishing in the top 3 of the 883 entries this year. Pictured with members of Ballincollig Tidy Towns Committee at the Awards Night was Mayor of the County of Cork Cllr. Patrick Gerard Murphy and Deputy Lord Mayor of Cork City Cllr Fergal Dennehy

Heritage-rich Baile-Mhuirne is where the second annual Creative Ireland Conference will be held next month

Creative Ireland is a five year national programme that seeks to put culture at the heart of who we are and what we do as a people.

The Programme is in recognition of the exceptional role that people and groups have been playing with regards to preserving and promoting culture locally and provides a myriad of supports to encourage continued belief in this culture and creativity in its expression.

As part of the Creative Ireland Programme in County Cork, a five-year Culture and Creativity Strategy has been undertaken and within this are six key priorities for action with regard to culture and creativity within the county.

One of these is the Irish Language, and with 2018 being celebrated as Bliain na Gaeilge, it was deemed an ideal opportunity to have this as the main theme of the second annual Creative Ireland County Cork Conference, taking place in Baile Mhuirne on Friday, November 9 and Saturday, November 10.

It is at this conference that the County Cork Culture and Creativity Strategy 2018 - 2022 will be launched by Mayor of the County of Cork, Cllr Patrick Gerard Murphy who noted, "As Mayor of the County of Cork, I commend the already excellent cultural involvement by people across the county and warmly welcome the County Cork Culture and Creativity Strategy 2018-2022 - a great opportunity for increased collaboration, participation and engagement in strengthening the role of the very culture that we love".

The Creative Ireland Programme seeks to put culture at the heart of everything we do, and provides the county a great opportunity to enhance and further promote and encourage cultural undertakings. The upcoming conference has relevance for all people and groups concerned with local culture and not least those with an interest in the Irish Language. Community groups throughout the county are encouraged to attend.

The conference will get under way in the Abbey Hotel on the Friday morning, November 9, in the culture-steeped village of Baile Mhuirne, beginning with talks by members of Cork County Council's Culture Team (with representation across the Arts, Library, Heritage, Tourism and Irish sections of the Council) to indicate the various supports and initiatives currently in place for promotion of culture.

The afternoon will feature talks by key people synonymous with the Irish Language including Peadar O Riada of Cuil Aodha and Mairtin O Mealoid of Oilean Chleire. Cork County Council's Irish Officer Aileen Loughrey noted that 'this afternoon session will be a wonderful opportunity to get a real sense of the value of Irish within the county and to examine possibilities for its future encouragement and development as we move forward le cheile.

There will be much activity taking place in and around Baile Mhuirne for the conference and attendees will also be able to avail of designated free tours of nearby sites, which will also be run over the two days. The conference is open to all and free of charge. To attend email creativeireland@corkcoco.ie. More information on the Creative Ireland Programme in the County of Cork is available on www.corkcoco.ie/creative-ireland.

The Creative Ireland Programme has added significantly to overall investment in heritage and culture, particularly here in the County of Cork.

Last week's national budget signalled further good news for the Culture and Heritage across the country, including the Gaeltachts, with a 12 per cent increase on 2018 levels now budgeted for 2019.

This increase in funding for the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht amounts to 36 million resulting in an overall budget of 339 million for 2019.

Within the increases Built and Natural Heritage funding is to increase by over 7.1m and funding for the Arts Council is increasing by 10 per cent to 75m.

Funding for the Gaeltachts, Irish Language and the Islands is increasing by 5m including an additional 2m in funding for Udaras na Gaeltachta to support the maintenance and creation of jobs in Gaeltacht areas and increase supports for Gaeltacht co-operatives, and an additional 600k to continue the implementation phase of the language planning process.

Speaking after the Budget 2019 announcement, Minister Madigan said: "This increased funding is tangible evidence of the importance attached to our cultural and creative heritage under Project Ireland 2040 and clearly demonstrates this Government's commitment to increase spending in the arts and culture sector on a trajectory that will see funding doubled by 2025."

Minister Madigan added: "The increased funding will facilitate further work in terms of the planning and early stage implementation of the Department's 10-year Capital Plan 'Investing in our Culture, Language & Heritage 2018-2027' across all programme areas - together with increased support for arts and artists via the Arts Council and Creative Ireland."

As we turn our attention to upcoming heritage events we can see that more and more is happening in the County of Cork. This weekend the inaugural Terence MacSwiney Weekend takes place in Kilmurry Independence Museum, the opening of which takes place on Friday, October 19, at 7.30pm with a special presentation by Cathal Brugha MacSwiney. Gabriel Doherty will give a presentation on the Saturday morning, a morning, which will also see a session on Terence MacSwiney's poetry by Dr Mary Breen.

The weekend will also feature a tour of local sites associated with Terence MacSwiney and a special Mass on the Sunday which will feature specially commissioned music performed by Peadar O Riada.

The event is being supported by Cork County Council through the Creative Ireland Programme and for further information visit www.kilmurrymuseum.ie.

Saturday, October 20, sees two further events that will be of interest to many heritage enthusiasts. In the Nano Nagle Centre in Kilavullen, North Cork, there will be a daylong event celebrating the heritage of Nano Nagle in the tercentenary year of her birth. The day commences at 10am and will see a range of top speakers including Maurice Bric; Charles Lysaght and Declan Downey speaking about the 'Catholic Interest in the late 18th century in Ireland'; Nano Nagle's Mathew Mother's Home and Nano Nagle's Jacobite Heritage and her family's continental networks. For more information on the event visit www.nanonaglebirthplace.ie.

Meanwhile in Cork City, at the Cork Folklore Project Centre, a training course will take place. Titled 'An Introduction to Oral History - the Life Cycle Approach', it is a one-day workshop that will offer a basic introduction to all aspects in the life cycle of an oral history project including commissioning, interviewing, disseminating and archiving oral history. It will introduce concepts of best practice in terms of ethical and legal considerations and provide an opportunity for participants to raise questions and discuss issues relating to their own projects. Reduced rates are available for members. For full details and to register visit: http://www.oralhistorynetworkireland.ie/training-courses/ohni-training-life-cycle-approach/.

A few days later on Tuesday 23rd October in the Grand Hotel, Fermoy, there will be a workshop taking place for local people and groups looking to get involved in the conservation of local historic ruins. The workshops, supported by Cork County Council's Historic Monuments Advisory Committee, will provide an opportunity to learn how best to deal with such buildings and will address conservation issues, best practice, legislation and procedure. They will highlight practical examples of successful projects.

The workshops will start at 10:00 a.m. involving a series of lectures in the morning followed after lunch by a short afternoon session which will conclude with a discussion and Qs & As. Individuals and/or groups are welcome to attend but spaces are limited and will be allocated on a first-come basis.

The workshops are free of charge and to reserve a place email mary.sleeman@corkcoco.ie or phone 0866039773.
A senior Cork County Council official has warned that it may not be possible to avoid closing a section of the busy N72 Mallow-Fermoy road and put diversions in place during a major works project next year.

In his report to the council's northern area committee the council's acting head of road services, Aidan Weir, wrote that tenders for pavement and resurfacing works along the N72 at Grange east and west will issued next month.

He wrote that, subject to approval from Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII), construction would begin in 2019 and that a road closure "will be required".

However, local councillors have urged the authority to avoid closing the N72 to traffic, warning that it would have a devastating impact on villages along the road, which is one of the busiest in Cork.

Cllr Noel McCarthy (FG) urged Mr Weir to look at alternatives to a road closure, saying the issue was causing "serious concern" to locals and businesses in the area.

"We only have to look back a couple of years when sections of the N72 between Fermoy and Mallow were closed for months to facilitate works. While it was a fantastic job, it caused huge problems for people," said Cllr McCarthy.

"Even the roads that were used for diversions had to undergo repair works afterwards due to the volume of traffic using them," he added.

Both he and his party colleague, Cllr Kay Dawson, pointed out that businesses in Ballyhooly and Castletownroche were severely impacted by the previous road closure, with Cllr Deirdre O'Brien (FF) pointing out that many of them never fully recovered from the loss of trade experienced.

Cllr McCarthy called on the council to do all it could to "keep traffic moving" during the works, even if this meant doing the bulk of work at night to minimise the impact of closing the road to traffic.

Mr Weir said he understood the sentiments behind the councillors comments and the "angst" felt by local communities following the previous road closure.

"However, from a health and safety point of view, it will be very difficult to undertake works on a narrow road like the N72 without some road closures," said Mr Weir.

"The project will not go to construction until the end of next year. In the meantime we will look at what can be done to minimise their impact, but it may not be possible to avoid closing the road," he warned.
In the run up to the October bank holiday weekend Cork County Council are hosting the RSA Shuttle & Roll Over Simulator in the Bowling Green Car Park in Mallow on Saturday the 27th of October in an attempt to further education the public about killer driver behaviours.

The RSA shuttle is an interactive unit - an educational experience demonstrating killer driving behaviours, such as Driver Distraction (use of mobile phones, passenger behaviour, fatigue), Driving at excessive speed, and more.

Its main objective is to provide the general public and other target audiences with the chance to interact with various road safety campaigns and to spread the message about the importance of road safety.

The Shuttle will operate from 10am to 5pm on Saturday the 27th of October & Cork County Council are appealing to the public to come along and experience this interactive road safety education service - It could save your life!

The Roll Over simulator also accompanies the Shuttle and highlights the importance of wearing your seat belt correctly.

The Roll Over simulator is fitted to a hydraulic platform which can simulate a 90 degree and 180 degree roll-over which demonstrates how it would feel if you were a driver or passenger involved in a less than desirable incident.

It will show visitors the effects of being suspended by your seat belt. After this demonstration, people will never travel in a car without wearing a seat belt, say the demonstrators.
Louth Libraries will host a Festival of History taking place from Tuesday 30 October to Saturday 3 November in all five branch libraries.

Bringing together historians from across the country, this festival will address the centenary of significant events in 1918 such as the end of the Great War, the Representation of the People Act, the rise of nationalism and threats to unionism, the decline of John Redmond and the Irish Parliamentary Party's prominence.

Attendance is free but booking essential.

The week kicks off in Dunleer at 6pm on October 30th with a talk on Unionism in 1918 and also at the same time in Drogheda library, women in the IRA and in employment.

Ardee library hosts John Redmond's story on November 3 at 2.30pm.

For full festival details please consult the library website: www.louthcoco.ie/libraries and for bookings please phone the relevant branch library. Drogheda library 041-9876162 , Dundalk library 042- 9353190 . Ardee Library 041-6859023, Dunleer Library 041-6859016,
The Boyne Fishermen's Rescue and Recovery Service will be holding a charity fire walk on Saturday 20th October at the boathouse on the Marsh Road Drogheda.

Registration is at 6.30pm and if anyone is interested in doing it ( there will be a donation fee) or want to watch it, come along.

Irish group meet in Ardee

The Irish language conversation group which meets in Full of Beans Cafe, Ashwalk, Ardee (opposite Super Valu) is inviting new members to join them every Thursday morning at 10.45 a.m. to practise speaking Irish in an informal setting. Phone Tom on 087-9895542 for more information.
A small group gathered in Ardcath cemetery recently to pay tribute to Flying Officer Christopher Domegan, who drowned in the sinking of the Leinster ship one hundred years ago last week.

Christopher Domegan's family were originally from Ardcath but his parents had moved to Dublin and Christopher was reared in King Street, Dublin. His mother ran a boarding house and his father was a tram-driver.

A bright boy, Christopher was commissioned into the Royal Irish Fusiliers where he served as a 2nd Lieutenant. He then transferred into the Royal Flying Corps. By 1918, he was an experienced soldier and a Lieutenant in The Royal Air Force. On the tenth of October 1918, after being home for a short leave, Christy Domegan joined hundreds of military personnel making their way to Britain on the RMS Leinster.

The RMS Leinster served as the Kingstown-Holyhead mail boat and was owned by the City of Dublin Steam Packet Company. The ship set out from Dun Laoghaire at about nine o'clock in the morning for the short crossing to Holyhead with 771 people aboard, 77 crew, 180 civilians, 22 postal sorters and around 500 military personnel. Although the weather was fine the sea was quite rough. Shortly before 10 a.m., about sixteen miles out to sea, the ship was attacked by a submarine just four miles east of the Kish lighthouse.

The first torpedo narrowly missed the ship but the second struck the ship on the port side where the postal sorting office was situated. The torpedo travelled onwards across the ship blowing a hole in the other side also. Most of the unfortunate postal workers, who were busy sorting the mail, perished in this explosion.

The ship, commanded by Captain William Birch, immediately turned and began to limp back towards Dun Laoghaire sinking slowly as it went. Lifeboats were in the process of being launched when another torpedo struck the ship on its starboard side.

This effectively blew the ship to pieces and it sank almost immediately. Many died at this time. Others who were already in lifeboats struggled in the rough seas and many died in the water while waiting to be rescued by the ships dispatched from Dun Laoghaire. Christopher Domegan, aged 22, was among the 565 people who perished in this shipping disaster.

Christy Domegan's remains were buried in Ardcath cemetery and today a large Celtic cross there commemorates his short life.

On the day, members of the local Ardcath and Bellewstown heritage groups and neighbours of the Domegan family came together to commemorate this local hero who died so tragically one hundred years ago.

Frances Lee Gargan spoke about what was known of the Domegan family in the Ardcath area. Fiona Ahern, co-author of Bellewstown's Forgotten Heroes, described the sinking of the Leinster mail ship and prayers were read by members of the heritage groups led by Fr Brendan Ferris, P.P. A poppy wreath was placed on the grave by Paul Black of Bellewstown, whose father and uncle both fought in World War One.
Cake sales and Disney and pyjama fancy dress themes, it's that time of year again at Peter Mark! The annual Petermarkathon fundraiser is back and coming to Peter Mark Marshes Shopping Centre in Dundalk, and Peter Mark Scotchall Shopping Centre Drogheda from Friday 26th - Sunday 28th October 2018.

This year the Peter Mark team will be raising vital funds for the Irish Cancer Society to help support its Cancer Nurseline a free helpline staffed by trained cancer nurses, to offer a listening ear and practical advice to anyone who has concerns or questions about cancer.

The Peter Mark salons in Louth are tasked with coming up with their own unique way to raise money, so visitors to their local Peter Mark Louth salons can expect cake sales, spot prizes, unique fancy dress themes and lots of other fun events over the weekend!

The line up is: Friday: Disney fancy dress theme. Saturday: Pyjama day. Sunday: Sponsored 10K walk. Monday: Bake sale. All weekend: Raffle & spot prizes.

Commenting on the launch, Peter O'Rourke, CEO, Peter Mark said, "Our annual Petermarkathon is a key event in our calendar and one we as a team very much look forward to. Over the years we have raised hundreds of thousands of Euros for charities across Ireland. Each year we select a new charity to raise money for and we are delighted to partner this year with The Irish Cancer Society. In particular, we will be raising money to support the wonderful work of the Cancer Nurseline."

Averil Power, CEO of Irish Cancer Society said: "We are delighted to be the beneficiary of the Petermarkathon which will raise vital funds for our Cancer Nurseline service. This year over 40,000 people will get a cancer diagnosis in Ireland. That diagnosis can be frightening and overwhelming. That's why our Cancer Nurses are available on the Freephone Cancer Nurseline to offer emotional support and advice to anyone concerned about any aspect of cancer.

This service is reliant on donations, so we are very grateful to salons across Ireland who will participate in the Petermarkathon and ensure those facing cancer get the support they need. We wish you the best of luck with your fundraising activities and hope the event is a huge success!"
County Wexford food producers were the cream of the crop nationally at the Blas na hEireann awards, winning the most awards per capita in the country.

The Model County businesses set the standard in the celebrated Irish food awards, with 27 awards being won by 12 different food producers.

The bronze, silver and gold winners from Wexford across a range of different categories are: Irish Country Meats, Macamore Buffalo Ltd, Killowen (which also won Best in County), Glanbia Plc (Wexford Cheddar), Zanna Cookhouse Ltd, Cooney's Bakery, Staffords Bakery, Atlantis Seafoods, Zaeire Artisan Chocolates, Wexford Home Preserves, Naturally Cordial and Wild About, which also won Best in Farmers Market for Wexford.

Per capita, County Wexford out-performed all other counties in Ireland. Only Dublin with 70 and Cork with 80 had more awards but when compared to the populations of these counties, Wexford did better. This year there were a total of 49 Wexford products that made it to the final of these prestigious awards from 18 different Wexford makers - the strongest year yet for Wexford.

Other finalists include Atlantis Seafoods, Ballycross Apple Farm, Ciara's Artisan Foods, O'Neill's Dry Cure Bacon Co., Scup Gelato and Tasty Parlour.

Staffords Bakeries, based in Clonattin, scooped an amazing 12 awards at competition. They fought hard off competition and managed to bring home five gold, four silver and three bronze awards for a variety of baked products.

Sean Stafford of Staffords Bakeries said: 'A big thank you yo all our incredible hard-working staff. Here at Stafford Bakeries it validates our commitment and passion for developing unique products, such as our Christmas pudding, Halloween brack and mince pies.'

The company won five golds, four silver and three bronzes.

Paula Ronan of Wexford Food Family said: 'The Food Family congratulates all of our Wexford finalists and winners and encourages all residents of and visitors to Wexford to seek out the produce of our wonderful, world class producers which are available in the best shops, restaurants and hotels. Thanks to the Local Enterprise Office Wexford for their support in facilitating the Best in County and Best in Farmers Market awards.'

The Blas na hEireann awards constitute the biggest blind tasting of produce in the country in one event, and the criteria on which the product is judged - as well as the judging system itself which was developed by Blas na hEireann with the Food Science Dept of UCC - are recognised as an international industry standard.

During the first round of judging, which took place over the course of four weeks in June and July, over 2,500 entries were judged in UCC & The Baking Academy, bringing the total number of finalists in each category down to just five. Those five winners in each of 140 categories were submitted to the judging day in Dingle, where all 350 producer finalists had their food products tasted, compared, savoured and judged at the final of Blas na Eireann 2018 on October 4, with over 4,000 samples tasted over the judging day by over 100 judges.

Judges come from all backgrounds, including chefs, academics, trade, buyers and home cooks. The few days around the judging process in Dingle were also an opportunity for the producers and the general public to mingle, taste and enjoy some of the most exciting and interesting Irish food products, to meet and hear the fascinating stories of some of the country's most intriguing new, best loved and long-established producers and entrepreneurs, and to celebrate the winners and participants in this year's Blas na hEireann awards.
Following a number of incidents which have seen huge numbers of migrating fish trapped at the Mill Race in Clohamon, Inland Fisheries Ireland have announced that they are to support a new project on the River Slaney which will see the construction of a fish barrier to support fish migration.

The project will be managed by the Slaney River Trust, who have been extremely vocal on the depletion of salmon and trout stocks on the river as a result of them becoming trapped behind the screen at the Mill Race.

It will be funded under the National Strategy for Angling Development Salmon Conservation Fund. A total of 15,000 will be invested by Inland Fisheries Ireland and it is hoped it will have a major impact on protecting fish stocks in the area.

Slaney River Trust will now engage a consultant engineering company to design and construct a suitable fish barrier at Clohamon Weir to help preserve river connectivity for migrating species.

Suzanne Campion, Head of Business Development said: 'The initiative in Wexford will see the construction of a fish barrier at Clohamon Weir which will help fish who are struggling to migrate naturally on the River Slaney.

'The conservation of our indigenous fish populations is crucial if we are to ensure the sustainability of our fisheries resource in the long term. We look forward to supporting the delivery of this project in Wexford this year.'
Cheque presentation to Ballyfad Community Hall of 600 from Jim Carton Memorial Run. Front (from left) Siobhan O Sullivan, Mary DArcy and Bernadette Cullen. Back (from left) Pat O Connor, Mick Byrne and Pat Cullen

The Jim Carton annual memorial run has raised 600 towards the development of Ballyfad Community Hall.

Committee member Siobhan O'Sullivan, along with other members, presented the cheque last week to Chairperson of Ballyfad Community Hall Mary D'Arcy and committee member Bernadette Cullen.

This was the fifth Jim Carton memorial run. Other years, money was donated to local causes such as North Wexford Hospice Homecare, Hope Centre in Enniscorthy, Talk to Tom, Retired Military and East Coast Samaritans.

The course slightly changed this year for runners, making the trail slightly easier to appeal to locals. Participants could choose from one of three routes - family fun 5K walk, fairy woods 5K walk and the 7K run.

Jim was a native of Ballyfad parish. He joined the Irish Army and served as a UN Special Forces soldier with three overseas tours of duty. He also became a Commander of the Elite Rangers.

He retired in 1985, and on his return to North Wexford, he lent his considerable physical training abilities to Kilanerin Ballyfad GAA Club and other districts.
A great number of people gathered at St Senan's Church recently to bid a fond farewell to Michael 'Mick' O'Neill of Aughnagally, Enniscorthy. A native of Tombrack in Ferns, Michael was well-known to many having put in 43 years of service with the ESB.

Michael was one of seven children born to parents Sylvester and Catherine O'Neill. He enjoyed many happy days in his youth and attended Tombrack National School and the Vocational School in Bunclody before heading out into his working life. In 1953 he started off working as a linesman for the ESB. He left for a brief period between 1957 and 1963 when he worked at Bolgers in Ferns, but bar that he spent his whole working life with the ESB.

In the early days, Michael worked on the rural electrification scheme, bringing electricity to rural homes and farmhouses across county Wexford. While it was hard work, at a time when there was very little in the way of machinery, he really enjoyed his work and met a great many people in the course of his daily routine. Son Syl said that there wasn't a parish or road in the county that he didn't know or travel on over his years with the ESB. In 1987, he was promoted to supervisor with the ESB before retiring in 2000. However, not one to rest on his laurels, Michael embarked on another adventure, travelling to Guyana in South America where he oversaw a similar rural electrification scheme to what he had been involved in in his early working years in Ireland.

While it provided one hell of an adventure and gave Michael more than a couple of stories to tell, he was a real home-bird and was anxious to return home to Enniscorthy having served six months in South America, despite pleas for him to stay on for longer.

Aside from his working life, Michael was a real family man. He met his beloved wife Bridget in 1954 and, as with many romances in that era, their relationship blossomed at the dance hall. The pair were married in 1956 and lived in Ballymorgan, near Tombrack for a time, before moving to Aughnagally where Michael inherited a small farm. Between them, they raised their children - Syl, Marie, Patricia and Pat and Michael was a devoted father. As time went on, he also became a doting grandfather to 13 and a great grandfather to four, and all of his grandchildren simply loved spending time with him.

As well as his work with the ESB, Michael loved his bit of farming and was mainly involved in livestock and tillage. An extremely active man, he worked very hard to provide for his family. When he wasn't working, he had a great love of GAA and loved to go to Wexford Park to cheer Wexford on at any opportunity and attending finals in Dublin, whenever the occasion arose. In his younger days, he loved throwing horseshoes, while throughout his life he always enjoyed a game of cards with friends.

Following his passing, Michael was waked at home and a huge crowd came to pay their respects both at the house and at St Senan's Church. His colleagues from the ESB provided him with a guard of honour on his final journey and he was laid to rest in St Aidan's Cemetery in Ferns.

He is sadly missed by his loving wife, sons, daughters, sons-in-law, daughters-in-law, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, nieces, nephews, relatives and a large circle of friends. May he rest in peace.
A young Gorey man has received the 'Woman's Way/Pharmaton Children's Young Entrepreneur of the Year' award.

Ben Handrick (16) from Tinahely was presented the award from renowned Irish businesswoman and former dragon on Dragons Den Norah Casey for his mini-company 'Fridge Therapy' at a ceremony held last week in Airfield House.

The Children's Awards recognises young people who have shown great resilience, strength, talent and courage in overcoming obstacles and tackling very serious issues.

Ben, who is a student in Creagh College, created Fridge Therapy which is an innovative idea to help people communicate emotions and feelings through words. It is a tin that consists of 220 individual fridge word magnets that allow people to leave messages on the fridge to convey their state of mind to those around them. Messages such as 'I need help', 'being bullied' or simply 'I love you' can be constructed from the word magnets.

The inspiration came from Ben's own experience of being bullied in primary school. He was lucky as he could talk openly with his parents, but he thought what if he couldn't? Ben said it sometimes can be hard to find the right words to express yourself.

'Fridge Therapy makes these words available in a simple easily usable format,' said Ben. 'The kitchen is the heart of most households, a place we go for nourishment and comfort.'

If Fridge Therapy helps anyone cope better or be heard then Ben has succeeded.

'If a child, teenager or indeed an adult goes to the bother of physically constructing a sentence to leave as a message it holds weight,' said Ben.

A minimum of 1 from every tin of magnets sold is donated to ISPCC. Fridge Therapy can be purchased directly through Ben's website, www.littleelephantmagnets.com

Fridge Therapy previously won a Merit Award at the 2018 National Student Enterprise Awards in the Senior Category.
Many people dressed to impress for this year's Bunscoil Loreto Gorey annual 5K family fun run which was held last weekend.

From teddy bears to clowns and scary pirates to wicked witches, everyone who came along to the run made a great effort to come in fancy dress.

A special spread of healthy foods were kindly donated by local businesses, followed by some delicious homemade buns and cakes brought by some parents.

The total amount of money raised, which will be announced at a later date, will go towards Bunscoil Loreto Primary School.

The primary school, situated on St Michael's Road, gave a heartfelt thanks to Pettitt's SuperValu Gorey, Cullens Fruit and Veg, Tesco Gorey, Glanbia, Loch Garman Arms, Cash 'n' Carry, and Staffords Bakery for the wonderful food and drinks. Also, the Amber Springs Hotel for donating prizes for the raffle and run.
Marie Byrne from Askamore at the launch of Chinnery Gin, a Dublin Dry Gin with Osmanthus and Oolong, by Chinnery Spirits

An Askamore native made a trip halfway around the world to Hong Kong in an effort to get the right exotic ingredients for her new gin creation - and the results are simply spectacular.

Marie Byrne, along with business partner David Havelin, of Chinnery Spirits based in Dublin travelled across the world to the tea markets of Canton, or Guangzhou as it's now known, in search of eastern Asia osmanthus flower and traditional Chinese oolong tea, two of ten botanicals in a bottle of Chinnery Gin.

Growing up on a farm in Askamore with parents Mary and Murt Byrne, Marie believes her strong farming background played a big part in producing this 19th century inspired gin.

'The taste just takes you to another world,' said Marie. 'The inspiration came from the old China trade that delivered silk, spices, tea and porcelain to Europe in the 19th century. It draws on a colourful history.'

Marie explained the Dublin Dry Gin featured botanical of osmanthus and oolong are distilled individually at Chinnery Spirits in Dublin.

'These distillers are then blended with a gin base,' said Marie. 'The base is infused with eight botanical including cassia bark, juniper, coriander seed, liquorice root, orange peel, grains, angelica root and orris root.'

This is the first spirit to be produced by Chinnery Spirits as they worked on various consultancy projects first. 'The longest part of the process was perfecting the recipe,' added Marie.

The company are very proud of the branding as it features a Georgian Dublin town house facade. The sash windows on the front label and colourful images of the Far East reveal a lively spirit.

A former pupil of Ballyellis National School and student of FCJ Bunclody, Marie graduated from University of College Dublin and obtained a degree in Science.

'I currently lecture in Dublin Institute of Technology in food science,' added Marie, who is expecting her first child with partner Dr Damian Connolly.

Chinnery Spirits was founded in 2016 after Marie and David sold their Dublin Whiskey Company to a business in the UK in 2015.

'Before the drinks industry, I worked in manufacturing, healthcare finance company, Aviva Insurance,' said Marie. 'I have finally found a home in the drinks industry. It compliments what I have done in the past.'

Chinnery Gin will be made available in county Wexford in the next couple of months, but for now it is in Celtic Whiskey Shop, Mitchell & Son, Molloy's Off Licence and other independent licenses.

Marie advised that the sweet tasting gin is best served over ice with slimline tonic and a slice of grapefruit.
Tesco Ireland has launched a new initiative offering free deliveries for over 65s when they shop online, the first retailer in the country to provide this kind of service.

The initiative was launched to coincide with International Day of Older Persons, which seeks to support full and effective participation of older persons in the community. It was supported by the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation and Age Action Ireland.

Tesco Ireland has three participating stores in county Wexford - Wexford town, Gorey and New Ross. The deliveries will operate across Wexford six days a week from 3 p.m., until 7 p.m., from Monday, until Saturday, subject to a minimum spend of 50.

Speaking in support of the initiative, Minister for Business Heather Humphreys TD said the Government welcomes innovation in the retail sector and this is a good example of combining technology with social good. 'It is positive to see an age-friendly initiative that aims to assist older people,' added Minister Humphreys.
There will be a feast of drama at St Mogue's Hall in Inch later this month for Coolgreany Drama's 2018 One-Act Drama Festival.

The festival will take place on Friday, October 26, until Sunday, October 28, featuring nine plays from groups from different parts of the country.

The festival committee has assembled a top-class line up of plays performed by talented groups from county Wexford, Wicklow and further afield. The Coolgreany Festival is an affiliated Drama League of Ireland competition, with each group battling for points to qualify for the All Ireland One Act Finals that will be held in Kilmuckridge in December.

Coolgreany Drama is delighted to have this year well-known professional theatre director and actor Geoff O'Keeffe as festival adjudicator. Geoff will deliver his adjudications on the plays presented on each night of the festival, and will announce the award winners following a prosecco and wine reception after the performances on the Sunday night.

The line-up is as follows: Friday, October 26 - 'Specter' by Don Nigro, New Ross Drama Workshop; 'Lucy in the Sky' by Tony Layton, Seamus O'Kelly Players; 'After the Picnic' by David Foxton, Bridge Drama; Saturday, October 27 - 'Riders to the Sea' by JM Synge, Wayside Players; 'After Renvyle' by Ken Moroney, Bridgewater Theatre Group; 'Wanda's Visit' by Christopher Durang, Blue Hat Players; Sunday, October 28 - 'Smile Handsome' by Liz O'Hanlon, Bailieborough Drama Group; 'The Long Wet Grass' by Seamus Scanlon, Sillan Players; 'The Giant Killers' by Eve and Andrew Pearson Wright, Balally Players.

Performances start at 8 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and at an earlier time of 7.30 p.m. on Sunday. For advance booking, call 087 2393651.

Following the Festival, Coolgreany Drama will be competing on the one-act All Ireland drama competition circuit at festivals around the country with their production of 'Mr Foot' by Michael Frayn, directed by Sally Stevens and featuring Maggie Murphy and Niall Hunter.
More than 200 pupils from six local primary schools visited a Ballywilliam farm over the course of National Potato Day, helping to dig up potatoes and enjoying crisps afterwards for their efforts.

Divided into three different visits, the pupils came from the following schools: Rathnure NS, Donard NS, Rathgarogue NS, Newtown NS, Glynn NS and Drummond NS. They were given the full story of the spud on a crisp autumn day.

Farmer Sean Ryan explained at his Ballindoney farm about how the potato crop is grown, starting with showing them some soil samples. He described how soil is prepared for planting. The pupils were then shown all the machinery involved in all stages of planting and were given a demonstration of dry-matter testing were then brought to see the grading shed and were told about and shown how cold storage, grading, washing, bagging and stitching takes place.

Afterwards the pupils were brought by tractor and trailer (sitting on comfy bales of straw) to a potato field where they watched potato harvesting taking place and were delighted to be given the opportunity to pick some potatoes themselves. They were then brought to Sean's farm shop for the final part of the 'story of the spud'. Sean has a self-service shop. People come in, get what they want, write the list of what they got and the total worth of it on an envelope, put the money in the envelope and drop it in a safe at the counter and the children and their teachers loved this idea.

Before they left all the visitors were served with baked potatoes and beans and drinks. They also got a bags of crisps each, which were very kindly donated by Kehoe's Crisps.

As they left to go home, each visitor was given a bag of potatoes to bring with them. The day was a wonderful success with many of the children commenting that it was one of the best tours they had been on.
A call was made for two men killed in a German submarine attack in 1918 to be commemorated one hundred years on from their deaths.

Cllr Jim Moore said: 'More than 500 people lost their lives. It was within a month and a day of the end of World War I.'

Following the sinking of the 'Lusitania' by a German U-Boat off the Old Head of Kinsale, with great loss of life, including several people from County Wexford, on May 7, 1915, a similar fate befell the City of Dublin Steam Packet Company's mail-boat 'Leinster' before World War One came to an end.

The RMS Leinster was torpedoed by a German submarine on October 10, 1918, a month before the armistice which ended the war as she sailed from Kingstown (Dun Laoghaire) to Holyhead. Two prominent County Wexford businessmen were among the more than 600 people who lost their lives - John S. Hearn from New Ross and Thomas L. Esmonde from Ballycourcey, Enniscorthy.

Cllr Moore said: 'I think it would be appropriate that we would remember the tragedy as part of our WWI commemoration programme.'
Wexford County Council is well ahead of its target for social house building for 2018 as it moves from buying houses in the private market.

Nine new builds were built in the county by the local authority last year compared to 23 this year. 23 homes were due to be built this year, but 51 are now expected to be built by year's end, while 95 houses are due to be built next year.

123 houses were acquired by Wexford County Council last year compared to 90 this year when 30 were due to be bought. It is estimated that a further 30 houses will be bought by the local authority next year. By far the largest number of houses the council has is 600 on the HAP scheme, compared to its target of 384.

Senior housing officer Padraig O'Gorman said the council may build as many as 100 houses in the county next year. 'We have reduced our second hand sector acquisitions which have been a very important area in recent years but we have been the withdrawing from them. Private development is starting and we are getting our 10 per cent of Part V. We are on target to get our leasing numbers.'

Cllr Malcolm Byrne said a local authority buying houses doesn't contribute to society as it means the council is competing with first time buyers. 'I have a concern as while we have ramped up (our building) we are still very reliant on private housing bodies. I would prefer if we were building and maintaining our own.'

Cllr Ger Carthy congratulated the housing team on improving the social housing programme from 'a low base'. Expressing concern that no single houses will be built in rural County Wexford unless they are connected to an Irish Water treatment system, he said single houses are needed in rural areas for people who want to live in the countryside.

Director of Services for Economic Development Tony Larkin said: 'It's a sewerage issue. If it's part a scheme that already has a satisfactory arrangement the answer would be larger sites. There is no reason why you couldn't have three or four houses each with their own separate treatment systems.'

Cllr Carthy said that would not be appropriate. Mr O'Gorman said the council has to reduce its house acquisitions to an average of 13 per cent. 'We had 123 last year, the second highest in the country, and we have 80 this year. The plan is to get down to 20 to 25 by 2021.'

Cllr Carthy called for a rural Wexford social housing policy or to continue with acquiring houses as people need to be accommodated in rural County Wexford.

'We are being governed by Irish Water,' Cllr Paddy Kavanagh warned. 'Some villages are growing too big while several others are growing too small,' he said, adding that this is leading to an imbalance in communities affecting GAA clubs and communities. Cllr David Hynes said County Wexford is one of the most proactive nationally at building social houses. He called on the council to address the number of derelict houses across the county, saying they could be CPO'd. 'A lot of people can't get HAP because of the rent increases. Some of the people have ended up in emergency accommodation.'

Mr Larkin said he has met with the staff and the councils trying to target specific houses with a view to bringing them back as social houses. 'We have done three or four and we have another range of them before Christmas. We will prioritise this for every district.'

Mr O'Gorman said the council will be looking to Respond for the vacant units in Westlands, where seven housing units have become available. 'They could come no stream quite quickly,' he said.

Cllr Michael Sheehan said some houses are being left idle for over 50 weeks once the council has bought them, asking for a full report.

Cllr George Lawlor said the council spends tens of thousands of euros repairing its social houses. 'I really do think we are going over the top in terms of the amount we spend on refurbishment of the houses. Contrast this to when we lease houses from a landlord. The onus appears to go onto the new tenant to make sure that everything is in order.'

Giving an example about a 20-year leased house, he said the conduct of the landlord has been 'awful'.

'The tenants found a toilet in the back yard and four full bins. When they contacted the landlord they were told to get rid of it themselves. A cat had been trapped in the house had destroyed the furniture and there was a plate of food in the fridge. We are spending ten of thousands of euros (on these houses).'

Cllr Johnny Mythen said there are a large number of people who need affordable housing,

CEO Tom Enright said there have been issues in taking over houses in rural areas. 'When you have an empty house in a town or village when its brought back as a house there aren't any issues with water services and we have to use that to our advantage. We should use the existing housing stock as these houses are already connected to the existing system.'
Plans in the new Traveller Accommodation Programme were criticised by councillors.

Cllr Paddy Kavanagh drew members' attentions to a headline in the day's papers concerning how Traveller families in Thurles had refused houses on the grounds that they did not take into account Traveller culture. The families sought stables or paddocks for horses owned by members of the extended Traveller family who were due to move into a new 1.7 million housing development. Cllr Kavanagh said: 'I think we need to get a grip in this country. We have just spent half an hour talking about the shortage in social housing in urban areas in our county.

'The Minister for Education has said Traveller culture should be on the curriculum in schools.

'I was thinking of setting up my own consultancy business and I could give some lectures myself. The issue we have is solving the accommodation needs of people not animals.'

Cllr Malcolm Byrne said there was a serious issue with two large encampments of Travellers in Gorey and Courtown in August.

'It caused hell for businesses and for people living and working in the area. We had a situation where people were defecating in public and rubbish was left behind. It's just not acceptable and we don't care who is involved. Along with rights comes responsibilities. As part of this programme we have responsibility for accommodating people but we have to look at dealing with encampments at the height of our tourist season.'

He said Courtown was blocked off for a time.

Cllr Robbie Ireton said: 'We are the sufferers of this. We pay our fair share of rates and we seem to be on our own when we get an influx of 22 campers with no water, no toilets and no facilities in one of the most scenic areas of Courtown with the heat we had. Fires were supposed to be restricted to one and I counted five. There was no law and order.'

'Apart from the settled community I find it extraordinary in this day and age that there is such segregation from the ordinary community and the settled community. It's not on! We have no problem respecting anyone who respects us.'

Cllr David Hynes said anti-social behaviour is not confined to Travellers, saying that they become a target in discussions like this.

'We have seen statistics about their lower death rate and their health problems. At the same time I agree that there should be one law for all.'

Cllr Ireton said: 'We spend a fortune in this county trying to bring tourists in and the entire area was covered in excrement for tourists to see.'

Cllr Tony Walsh said suicide is a major problem within the Traveller community, adding that they are in a transition period. 'We have to look at doing things now to bring about change for them.'

Cllr Fionntain O Suilleabhain said Cllr Kavanagh's remarks were insensitive. 'We have to look at the broader context. All parts of our culture have to be taught. It doesn't mean you condone horrendous anti-social behaviour happening in Courtown and Gorey. It's a very easy target.'
Emy Rawson from Bosheen celebrating her 80th birthday in the Kennedy Boutique Hotel with her husband Paddy, grandchildren and great-grandchildren

Family and friends gathered in the Kennedy Boutique Hotel in New Ross to celebrate the 80th birthday of one of the town's most respected and well-known residents.

Emy Rawson, from the Bosheen, was joined by her husband Paddy and her children, 20 grandchildren, and 13 great-grandchildren for a family get-together in the hotel on Saturday, October 6.

Having enjoyed a lovely meal in the hotel the family group then went up to Corcoran's in the Irishtown where Emy was greeted by members of her extended family, neighbours and friends from the Bosheen.

While she knew about the party in the hotel she didn't expect anyone to be waiting for her in Corcoran's so it was a great surprise for her when she went in.

Speaking to this newspaper about the night a relative said: 'She didn't expect anyone up there. She knew the family was going to the Kennedy Boutique Hotel but the crowd up in Corcoran's was a surprise.'

Emy is very popular around the town and that fact was highlighted by the expressions of goodwill extended to her in the run up to her birthday.

She is well known through her time working in Nolan's on South Street which was a job she left to raise her family.

The hotel meal and the party in Corcoran's actually marked the third day that her birthday was celebrated. The previous Wednesday the milestone event was acknowledged among her friends in the New Ross Old Folks Club and the following day she had a little party in the Bosheen specifically for her grandchildren.

'She had three cakes to celebrate,' said a family member.

Emy also had a mini celebration recently with her brother, who was home from America with her niece and two nephews.

It all made her birthday one to remember.
County Wexford food producers were the cream of the crop nationally at the Blas na hEireann awards, winning the most awards per capita in the country.

The Model County businesses set the standard in the celebrated Irish food awards, with 27 awards being won by 12 different food producers.

The bronze, silver and gold winners from Wexford across a range of different categories are: Irish Country Meats, Macamore Buffalo Ltd, Killowen (which also won Best in County), Glanbia Plc (Wexford Cheddar), Zanna Cookhouse Ltd, Cooney's Bakery, Staffords Bakery, Atlantis Seafoods, Zaeire Artisan Chocolates, Wexford Home Preserves, Naturally Cordial and Wild About, which also won Best in Farmers Market for Wexford.

Per capita, County Wexford out-performed all other counties in Ireland. Only Dublin with 70 and Cork with 80 had more awards but when compared to the populations of these counties, Wexford did better. This year there were a total of 49 Wexford products that made it to the final of these prestigious awards from 18 different Wexford makers - the strongest year yet for Wexford.

Other finalists include Atlantis Seafoods, Ballycross Apple Farm, Ciara's Artisan Foods, O'Neill's Dry Cure Bacon Co., Scup Gelato and Tasty Parlour.

Staffords Bakeries, based in Clonattin, scooped an amazing 12 awards at competition. They fought hard off competition and managed to bring home five gold, four silver and three bronze awards for a variety of baked products.

Sean Stafford of Staffords Bakeries said: 'A big thank you yo all our incredible hard-working staff. Here at Stafford Bakeries it validates our commitment and passion for developing unique products, such as our Christmas pudding, Halloween brack and mince pies.'

The company won five golds, four silver and three bronzes.

Paula Ronan of Wexford Food Family said: 'The Food Family congratulates all of our Wexford finalists and winners and encourages all residents of and visitors to Wexford to seek out the produce of our wonderful, world class producers which are available in the best shops, restaurants and hotels. Thanks to the Local Enterprise Office Wexford for their support in facilitating the Best in County and Best in Farmers Market awards.' The Blas na hEireann awards constitute the biggest blind tasting of produce in the country in one event, and the criteria on which the product is judged - as well as the judging system itself which was developed by Blas na hEireann with the Food Science Dept of UCC - are recognised as an international industry standard.

During the first round of judging, which took place over the course of four weeks in June and July, over 2,500 entries were judged in UCC & The Baking Academy, bringing the total number of finalists in each category down to just five. Those five winners in each of 140 categories were submitted to the judging day in Dingle, where all 350 producer finalists had their food products tasted, compared, savoured and judged at the final of Blas na Eireann 2018 on October 4, with over 4,000 samples tasted over the judging day by over 100 judges.

Judges come from all backgrounds, including chefs, academics, trade, buyers and home cooks. The few days around the judging process in Dingle were also an opportunity for the producers and the general public to mingle, taste and enjoy some of the most exciting and interesting Irish food products, to meet and hear the fascinating stories of some of the country's most intriguing new, best loved and long-established producers and entrepreneurs, and to celebrate the winners and participants in this year's Blas na hEireann awards.
A motion calling for a debate on the certification of the Loreto schools buildings was given short shrift.

Cllr Tom Forde said: 'In light of the concerns raised by the Construction Industry Federation (CIF) and many unpaid subcontractors I request that a representative of Wexford's building compliance section is present at the next meeting of Wexford County Council to explain the council's role in the process and that an invitation is also extended to Sean Downey, director of specialist contracting with the CIF, to hear the very serious concerns that he has raised regarding the certification of buildings.'

Cllr Forde said he is delighted the students and staff are very settled.

Director of Services for Economic Development Tony Larkin said all of the correct procedures were followed, adding that the council is satisfied that the building was completed in compliance with the standards required. He said the CIF has raised no instances.

Cllr Willie Fitzharris said: 'There is a myth out there that Wexford County Council is the inspectorate for buildings but it's different to the UK. We have Irish and UK contractors and the perception is that Wexford County Council signed off on everything but it didn't.'

Mr Larkin said if people have concerns they can coordinate with CIF officials and a meeting can be arranged with a county council representative.

'We will meet with them. The building is in use with more than 700 kids. We have nothing to suggest there is anything wrong with the building. We have seen some statements from the CIF but they are generic. We asked for specifics but we haven't gotten anything back,' he said.
Wexford County Council is advancing plans for the Oylegate to Rosslare Harbour motorway, which could be speeded up due to Brexit.

Speaking at the monthly meeting of Wexford County Council meeting, Cllr Lisa McDonald called for the motorway to be included in the National Planning Framework 2040.

Cllr McDonald said: 'In light of Brexit it's absolutely vital we get this included, particularly in the context of us seemingly hurtling towards some form of chaos.'

She said there have been accidents at Kyle Cross. 'That problem probably continues all the way as far as Rosslare Europort to a greater or lesser extent.'

Cllr McDonald said there are also problems at the ring roads outside Wexford town and particularly at the bridge at Ferrycarrig.

Cllr George Lawlor seconded the motion, saying there is no mention of any infrastructural project for County Wexford in the plan, apart from the New Ross and Enniscorthy bypasses. 'The port is of vital economic importance to this county and I believe the construction of the Oylegate to Rosslare motorway would be a terrific enhancement for the economy of this county.'

Cllr Pip Breen said the framework is only a discussion document, adding that Tipperary, Limerick, West Cork and Kerry county councils have all objected to it.

Director of Services for Roads Eamonn Hore said it has been stressed to Transport Infrastructure Ireland that the county is not getting its fair share.

Cllr Paddy Kavanagh said the Oylegate section was meant to be added on to the bypass.

'I think it's unfortunate that the Enniscorthy motorway didn't bypass Oyelgate. The traffic outside Willie Kavanagh's door will be nothing short of horrendous. If the road is not finished to Rosslare it won't be fit for purpose. We have a strong case to object.'

Cllr Kavanagh said the road will be eight to ten years down the line. He asked what plan Wexford County Council has for junctions at Kyle Cross and Oylegate, saying the former is deadly.

Mr Hore said the council received funding last year for the first phase of the motorway to Rosslare.

'We will receive funding next year to bring it up to stage four for final design. After that we may be able to do individual bits without comprising the whole design.'

The council will progress reducing the route corridor from 200m to 75m. Mr Hore said this means the council cannot do 'little bits' now along the N11 at Kyle Cross, as works have to be designed to Transport Infrastructure Ireland standards.

He has presented the case to the organisation for the motorway and the Transport Infrastructure Ireland official committed to advancing it to the design stage.

Mr Hore said the section of the middle of the proposed motorway does not meet the cost benefit analysis.

'There are inter-government departments meeting over Rosslare regarding Brexit as the road in to Rosslare will become critical for agricultural checks and customs so they will be factoring in how to orientate that so that section of road could be done much earlier. There is a commitment there to advance this project to go through the processes.'

Cllr McDonald said: 'Pressure needs to be brought to bear.'

The motion was unanimously supported.
The findings of the Charleton Tribunal are damning but for those who remember the Morris Tribunal the report makes for depressingly, familiar reading.

Ten years ago - in October 2008 - Justice Frederick Morris released his final report on a tribunal enquiry into allegations of corrupt and dishonest policing in Donegal in the 1990s and early 2000s.

His findings were scathing.

Mr Justice Morris found that An Garda Siochana - as an organisation - had poor discipline; little oversight; low morale and a culture of silence aimed at protecting their own.

The Morris report rocked the gardai to the core and, in its wake, the force and the Government of the day pledged that action would be taken to reform An Garda Siochana from the ground up.

Amid his excoriating rulings on former Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan; former Garda Press Officer Dave Taylor and the "astounding inefficiency" of child protection agency Tusla, Justice Charleton delivered a savage indictment of efforts to reform the Gardai in the wake of the Morris Tribunal.

Justice Charleton said he remains "deeply concerned" at the gradual erosion of Garda discipline, as identified by the Morris Tribunal over a decade ago, adding that as Justice Morris commented 12 or more years ago, it was "far too difficult" to dispense with gardai who are unsuited to police work

"This inescapably demonstrates what Mr Justice Frederick Morris said in the reports of the Morris Tribunal: the system of garda discipline is not fit for purpose," Justice Charleton writes.

Amidst all the shocking findings in the report, this remark should stand out.

In the 10 years since the Morris Tribunal, it is clear that nothing of substance has been done to reform a force that two separate tribunals have found to be dysfunctional.

What will happen now? Moreover, will anything be different this time around?

The appointment of a new Garda Commissioner - from outside the jurisdiction and with no ties to the old guard - is welcome but the reform of the force will require a complete cultural shift in the organisation.

The reputation of the Gardai has been badly damaged by the McCabe affair and there must be accountability for what was done to him.

This time around - unlike the aftermath of the Morris enquiry - the tribunal's findings must be acted on and the serious issues identified in the force must be dealt with.

In his report, Justice Charleton also slams the culture of spin that now permeates Ireland's public sector and which he called "a hideous development in Irish public life".

He is absolutely correct and it would be tragically ironic if the Gardai and the Government are allowed to shirk their responsibility to act on the tribunal report by hiding behind a wall of spin.

Sadly, based on past experience, one fears that is exactly what will happen.
Carrigbyrne Hill provided the venue for a charity walk that saw people gather to raise money for the Jack & Jill Children's Foundation.

The event coincided with walks at 10 hills across the country with 'the rock' in Carrigbyrne being the only nominated hill for the walk in Co Wexford.

The foundation provides nursing and respite care for up to 300 families with children up to four years of age, affected by severe disability as a result of brain damage.

The foundation also provides end-of-life care. The organisers of the Carrigbyrne walk were very appreciative of the show of support from within the local community.

They thanked everyone who turned up on the day and those who donated money for the foundation through the online registration process.

Bank of Ireland pledged to donate 4 per registration valued at 16 or more and the organisers said that will mean an increase in the overall amount of money raised.
Hundreds of people enjoyed the works of Eugene O'Neill, including the screening of the 1913 film The Count of Monte Cristo starring his father James, in New Ross over a wonderfully dramatic four days in New Ross.

Speaking before a special screening of The Count of Monte Cristo, a film shot in 1913 Alice O'Neill McLoughlin, one of the closest relatives of James O'Neill, spoke about how he left New Ross 167 years ago. 'Tonight he is back home,' she said to a loud round of applause.

Alice gave a detailed outline of the history of the O'Neill family.

Alice said the festival was only the beginning of many connections to come between New Ross and America.

The silent film was brilliantly scored live by WIT lecturer and performer Phil Collins.

On Thursday night Hughie, the tale of two lonely strangers grappling to make sense of their lives was performed in front of crowd. There was also a playful presentation of some of O'Neill's greatest stage directions.

One of O'Neill's most remarkable plays, Mourning Becomes Electra, was performed on Saturday over several hours, The story of betrayal, lust, murder and retribution set against the backdrop of the end of the American Civil War, it was directed by Ben Barnes, from Saltmills, and was staged in two parts, featuring music composed and performed by Eleanor McEvoy and Irish soprano, from Palace West Clodagh Kinsella.

There were two well attended lunchtime talks at New Ross Library on Eugene O'Neill and the Graves Shipping company.

A crowd attended My real Life, an autobiographical play starring Don Wycherley which was written by Eoin Colfer from the Hook Peninsula, concluding the festival on Sunday night.

Over the weekend hundreds of people attended the performances.

Festival director Sean Reidy said he was delighted with the good attendances at the performances, adding that the reactions by audience members were 'more than positive'.
A Sligo born priest who spent 50 serving abroad has died in Brazil at the age of 85.

Fr. Eamonn McMahon, a Spiritan (Holy Ghost) missionary, was born in Sligo where his father, Edward, was a Garda, and he grew up in Dromahair.

He attended Shivdillagh National School in Drumkeeran where his mother, Mary Anne (nee McHugh) was a teacher. From there he moved as a boarder to St. Patrick's College in Cavan.

While in fourth year, Eamonn was captivated by the visit of a 'Holy Ghost Father' who talked of "the missions" particularly in Nigeria, and he signed up to do a 'look and see' visit to the Congregation's Novitiate in Co. Tipperary. Within a couple of short years, he was himself a novice there, moving on after profession to Kimmage Manor seminary in Dublin. He completed a BA in English & Philosophy in UCD, and 'prefected' for a year in Blackrock College, one of several Spiritan schools in Ireland. It was only later that he realised how undiagnosed dyslexia had made all his studies so much harder.

With over 20 other Spiritans, Fr. Eamonn was ordained in 1960 and he was part of a group who went to Nigeria the next year. Having initially assisted in a parish in Owerri diocese, he taught Scripture, Latin and English in one school before becoming principal of a new school where co-ordinating a building programme was part of his brief. When civil war ('The Biafran War') forced all schools in the region to close, he was involved in humanitarian relief work before he was - along with many others - placed under house arrest, accused of illegal entry to Nigeria, charged with subversion, fined 100, briefly imprisoned, then deported, but with the 100 fine refunded.

Unexpectedly back in Ireland after the war and now one of hundreds of deported Spiritans needing a new overseas mission, he and some others enrolled on a Spanish course with a view to going to Guatemala.

Ultimately, it was to Portuguese-speaking Brazil that he was appointed, arriving there in mid-1971 and in part learning the language 'on the job' through bible-study with families. He served in parish ministry in the Sao Paulo area for just under 40 years and was active in the Legion of Mary.

He was also heavily involved in founding and promoting Child Development & Learning Centres; a creche named after his mother Mary Anne, a big supporter of his work, was a great source of joy.

His Funeral Mass was held on Saturday 6th October in Sao Paulo's Church of Getsemani, and he was buried in the Spiritan plot in the adjoining cemetery.

A letter from Dom Pedro Luiz Stringhini (Bishop of Mogi das Cruzes) praised the substantial contribution over the years of 'Padre Eduardo', as he was known in Brazil where he spent more than half his life. He will be remembered in Memorial Masses in Kimmage Manor on Saturday 27th October and in Dromahair on Saturday 17th November.

Fr. Eamonn is survived by his siblings Bernard, Camilla (Barrett), Liam, Margaret (Herriott), Marie Celine (Bradshaw), Noel and Peter, the extended McMahon family, and his fellow Spiritans.
Is anyone else suffering from election fatigue?

We still have two weeks to go and it feels like being a hamster on a wheel listening to the same arguments from the candidates.

The incumbent Michael D Higgins continues to wipe the floor with his competition and yet the other five hopefuls are still slating him for deciding to seek re-election and for sympathising with the people of Cuba on the death of Fidel Castro.

If this is all that can be said of President Higgins's performance over the past seven years by his detractors, then it looks like he shouldn't start packing just yet. What comes up in every presidential race is a lot political debate which in reality Uachtaran na hEireann is prohibited from discussing once elected.

Whoever is elected will have to park their political views at the door and represent all of the Irish people.

I haven't really heard much from any candidate about what they hope might be their lasting impact on the office and how they intend to serve the country.

I agree with Liadh Ni Riada however, when she says that the President should have relevant political experience as, while they cannot share a view on any one issue, they must be au fait with the intricate workings of Government and have the necessary legal knowledge.

I still feel that money and business experience is not qualification enough for any president and that if we start to view it as such, we will end up with celebrity politicians being elected simply because they have a public profile.

The live media debates are a great way for candidates to flex their muscles and to remove the pre-existing opinions the public may have of them, especially if they are well known outside of the political sphere. It was disappointing that Sean Gallagher refused to partake in the first televised debate simply because Michael D was unavailable. By excluding himself on that basis, it suggests that he sees himself equal to the current President and even superior to his fellow candidates.

In fact, he has fact he has far more voters to win over than Michael D, and can use all the exposure and air time he can get. There are only a handful of group debates taking place in the coming weeks, and surely each candidate owes it to the electorate to take part in them all.
When a car was stopped and searched by Gardai a weighing scales was found along with plastic bags, Sligo District Court was told.

Before the court was Thomas McLoughlin of Rinbane, Ballinacarrow who admitted a charge of possession of cannabis at the Green Road, Cairn's Hill on October 28th 2016.

Inspector Paul Kilcoyne said while the amount was small, a weighing scales and plastic bags were found in the car and there was evidence of drug dealing when a phone belonging to the defendant was analysed.

Mr Tom MacSharry, solicitor (defending) pleaded that the offence occurred when the defendant was addicted to cannabis and when he wasn't working,.

He was trying to source the drug from the Netherlands.

Mr MacSharry added that it was a small operation for the defendant and his friends and he was trying to fund it.

He was now clean and sober.

Judge Kilrane fined the defendant 300.
The Teeling Centre in Collooney will pay tribute to Project leaders as a programme established 20 years ago finally comes to a close.

The Yeats Country and Tourism with IT course has been making huge contributions to the Collooney community since it was set up in 1998 as a project to mark the Centenary of the Year of the French and the Battle of Collooney 1798.

Project Leader Attracta Brown-Lee and her team have put 450 trainees through the programme over the past two decades.

"We've done community activities, heritage research, exhibitions, food festivals, public lectures, booklets on the history of Collooney and interviewed residents about their memories on tape," she told this newspaper.

Teeling Centre Manager John Banks will make a presentation to the team at 8pm in the centre this Tuesday (16th).
Traveller women are survivors and they "have to be". That's according to Bridget Kelly from the National Traveller Women's Forum who spoke to a packed room at the Riverside Hotel last Wednesday for World Mental Health Day.

She spoke about the multiple levels of inequality women in the community feel as Travellers and as Traveller women.

On describing the circumstances of Traveller women Bridget said "We are survivors and we have to be".

The event was hosted by Sligo Traveller Support Group and saw a wide range of speakers address the issue of mental health and suicide within the Traveller community.

Manager of Sligo Traveller Support Group Bernadette Maughan addressed the issue of mental health on a national level while Martin Jones, manager of the HSE Alcohol and Substance Misuse Counselling Service highlighted some of the supports that are available within the HSE and how to access them.

Allyson Coogan from Exchange House Ireland spoke about the need for Traveller-focused mental health services who are more aware and tuned in to issues that may occur in the community.

Accommodation worker with the Irish Traveller Movement T.J Hogan talked about the various relatives he had tragically lost to suicide. T.J also spent time explaining the impact that poor, inadequate and inappropriate accommodation has a severe impact on the mental well-being of the community.

Traveller activist and community development worker Eileen Flynn said that while caravans were where many Travellers wish to live, they couldn't be considered homes without the basic services such as access to water, electricity and heat. Eileen said that it was vital to support the Travellers that choose "education, marry outside the community, or are gay Travellers".

Sligo Rovers striker Mikey Drennan spoke with moving honesty about his own battles with depression.
Think city break and you think of the cobblestoned, croissant-scented streets of Paris. Or the meandering, gondola-filled waterways of Venice. Or perhaps the neon-flooded, yellow cab-lined blocks of New York.

These are big, international cities that beckon with historical sights, gastronomic cuisine and shopping opportunities. They are the perfect destination for a romantic interlude - but for a holiday with a fussy three-year-old or a seven-year-old who likes to run off in crowds? Not so much.

Taking kids on a city break changes everything. You dont want a lengthy flight. Or too much trudging around monuments. You dont want a city that never sleeps. You just want your little ones to sleep through the night.

So forget the bright lights of big places (well, until your children are older at least) and look a little closer to home. It is possible to do a city break that wont involve you tearing your hair out or your child sulking.

Derry, Belfast and Dublin have lots to keep kids (of all ages) amused. Plus, theyre compact enough for little legs to explore. And the best part? There are kid-friendly Maldron Hotels in each of these centres, so you can end a day of activity with a comfy bed and delicious food. Perfect.

Here are some of our top picks for an Irish city getaway.

1. Derry

The second-largest city in Northern Ireland, Derry is renowned for its friendly people and for playing host to one of the largest Halloween festivals in the world. Here are a few things to check out on your stay in this beautiful walled city.

Ulster American Folk Park

Just a 40-minute drive from Derry youll find the Ulster American Folk Park. This open air museum really brings history to life for the little ones and uncovers the story of three centuries of Irish emigration. See the thatched cottages, clamber aboard a full-scale emigrant sail ship and journey to the log cabins on the American frontier. The park guides are all in authentic costume making this an immersive  and informative  experience for visitors.

Hop on, hop off sightseeing bus

Hop on, hop off buses are a great way of getting your bearings in a city. Theyre especially great for children. Hop off when theyre tired, bored or hungry. And hop back on again to take in some more sights. In Derry, this sightseeing bus gives a wonderful overview of the citys history. Not to mention panoramic views from the upper deck.

2. Belfast

Belfast is Northern Irelands capital city. It has enjoyed a recent resurgence in tourism and boasts fantastic food, pretty streets and cultural attractions children will love  like the statues that pay homage to the chronicles of Narnia. Dont miss the following:

Titanic Belfast

The ill-fated Titanic was built in Belfast at the height of the citys booming ship industry. Delve into Belfasts maritime history and learn about Titanic at this heritage attraction on the site of the former Harland & Wolff shipyard in the city's Titanic Quarter.

Aunt Sandra's Candy Factory

One of Belfasts oldest sweet shops, Aunt Sandras is a wonderland of fudge, chocolate, lollipops and sugary, colourful treats of all shapes and sizes. They host tours and candy-making workshops for kids who want a Charlie and the Chocolate Factory-esque glimpse into the world of sweets.

3. Dublin

The countrys capital is a vibrant, fun-filled city framed by mountains and the Irish sea. There is no shortage of things to do here, and plenty that your mini-me will enjoy.

Viking Splash Tour

For sheer fun, the Viking Splash Tour is hard to beat. Wed even wager it will be the highlight of your childs trip. A sightseeing tour with a difference, youll whizz through the main sights of Dublin city by land  and then plunge into the River Liffey to continue the tour by water! Unsurprisingly, given the name, the focus is on vikings. Youll don viking helmets throughout and even roar at passers-by.

Leprechaun museum Dublin

Children will love getting a leprechauns eye view of Irish culture and mythology at this very special museum. Expect oversized furniture (so you can see the world as a leprechaun would), imaginative storytelling and lots of fun. Who knows - maybe youll even find that pot of gold at the rainbows end.

Wherever you journey to in Ireland, with Maldron Hotels youre bound to have the perfect, family-friendly city break. You can now save 10 per room, per night with Make it Maldron.

Maldron Hotels have 16 hotels across eight locations throughout Ireland. For more information about their hotels and their other amazing autumn offers, check out the website.

Sponsored by:
Carol Vorderman attends The Sun Military Awards at The Guildhall on December 14, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by Tim P. Whitby/Getty Images)

Carol Vorderman arriving at the National Television Awards 2017, held at The O2 Arena, London. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: 25th January, 2017. See PA Story SHOWBIZ NTAs. Photo credit should read: Ian West/PA Wire

Carol Vorderman attends the QIPCO British Champions Day at Ascot Racecourse on October 21, 2017 in Ascot, United Kingdom. (Photo by Eamonn M. McCormack/Getty Images for Ascot)

Carol Vorderman attends the Pride Of Britain Awards at Grosvenor House, on October 30, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Mike Marsland/Mike Marsland/WireImage)

Carol Vorderman is well and truly living her best life in her "best decade yet".

At 57, the former Countdown star is enjoying a renewed vigour in all aspects of her life, whether it's family, work or relationships as she is enjoying having some "me time" after spending her life focusing on others.

"Life now that my two children are grown up is about working hard and volunteering. I volunteer for some amazing organisations," she told Lorraine on ITV.

"The rest of the time I give lots of parties. I party hard. I love my life. I get up to lots of mischief."

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The mother-of-two is enjoying her single status, saying she's relieved to not have to care for someone else.

"A lot of single women in their 50s dont want to settle down. Weve brought up children and looked after elderly parents," she said.

"The men we married in our 20s were largely men who wanted to be looked after, thats specifically men from my generation, so the last thing we want is to be saddled with a bloke to look after.

"Its like, "Hang on! Ive done so much caring all my life, I just want a little bit of time to do what I want to do". A bit of me time."

Vordereman's candid manner often makes headlines - earlier this year, she said she enjoys being single because it allows her the freedom to pursue her personal desires without having to "compromise".

"I love being single. It means I never have to compromise  if I want to move to a new city, thats up to me and I dont have to consider anyone else. Its how I like to be. I dont need a man to look after me financially, thank you very much," she said.

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"And Im never lonely because I have many friends who love mischief as much as me and everyone knows Im a party animal.

"People think if youre not in a relationship, youre at home knitting. Thats certainly not the case for me.

"Being single, in my mind, means I have lots of boyfriends at the same time and no commitment to any of them.

"Perfect. I havent had a committed thing for years out of choice. I dont want it."
Kim Kardashian arrives for the 2018 Met Gala on May 7, 2018, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York

Kim Kardashian has given new insight into how she coped with her infamous 2007 being leaked publicly.

The reality tv star (37) was 26 when the tape was recorded with ex-boyfriend Ray J and she successfully turned her notoriety into a business empire 11 years later, making her entire family multi-millionaires along with her. Thanks to a booming beauty business, a string of successful reality shows and Instagram influencing on a an incomparable level, Kim's sex tape has long been in her past, but she touched on the immediate effect of it in a new interview with Richardson magazine.

"I thought that for Paris [Hilton, whose own sex tape was released in 2004], it was explosive and a super lot of attention for her too, in a positive way," she told Bret Easton Ellis. "But once you go through it and you have those conversations with your parents and grandparents and everyone that you'd be really embarrassed about it with, I think you get to a point where you're like, 'Okay, we're dealing with this legally, and it's time to move on.'"

"Everyone deals with things differently and I seem to deal with things  whether the sex tape, the robbery, even the death of my dad, who was the most important person in my life  I push to just overcome it."

The sit-down, which accompanies a spread in which she is nude in nearly every photo, touches on her relationship with her sexuality, as she says is more conservative than most people think.

"It's actually funny, at home I'm much more conservative than my public persona is. My public persona is wild, sexual. But I'm actually uncomfortable when I talk about sex, and I'm more conservative when it comes to that," she said.

"But I'm vain like that. I can go on a set and be fully naked in front of 50 people doing a shoot, but if I'm one on one, intimate in bed, I'm like shy and insecure."

She went on to say that parenthood and marriage to Kanye West has made her feel more confident in herself an

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"I absolutely think you can [be both a mother and sexy]. I was somebody who gained 60 or 70 pounds in my pregnancies and felt so unlike myself and so unsexy," she added. Literally, at the end, when you can't even have sex, I thought, 'I'm never going to have sex again in my life!' I just felt so bad about myself in my soul.

"I didn't lose weight that quickly. But I'd say eight months later, I had probably my best body ever. I felt like, 'I did this. I lost all this weight on my own. I feel better than ever!' I just put my body through that, and so it was empowering when I did a nude shoot.

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"I definitely have two different personalities like that. But I think motherhood has actually made me more confident about being publicly sexy."
Tolley has been told he cannot enter any pub, bar or nightclub in Greater London, or Wiltshire, where he lives, for a year (stock photo)

A city worker has been banned from every pub in London after a judge ruled he cannot handle his drink.

Robert Tolley, a father of two who works as a divisional director at EC3 Brokers, had been drinking for six hours at a lunchtime leaving party before he launched an unprovoked racist attack on two members of the public.

A court heard he bumped into Sheikh Ahmed and Sayema Khanom at Liverpool Street Station. While on an escalator, he pushed Mr Ahmed and apparently threw a punch in his direction and made racist comments.

District Judge Snow said: "Since you cannot control yourself while you are drinking, we are going to try and curb your drinking."

Tolley has been told he cannot enter any pub, bar or nightclub in Greater London, or Wiltshire, where he lives, for a year. The Campaign for Real Ale says there are 3,823 pubs in Greater London.
Wellbeing: Harry and Meghan talk to members of OneWave at South Bondi Beach. Photo: Reuters

Meghan Markle has delighted royal watchers with a hint of a baby bump as she visited Bondi Beach with her husband Prince Harry.

Kensington Palace announced on Monday that the couple are expecting their first child, as they embarked on a royal tour of Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and Tonga. As she visited Sydney's Bondi Beach with her husband, the Duchess of Sussex opted for a loose-fitting striped maxi-dress by Martin Grant, with a pair of espadrille wedges by Castaner.

The British royal couple both wore leis which were gifted to them by a local surfing community.

Harry and Meghan, who are both passionate about mental health, particularly among youths, met with OneWave members, a community group raising awareness for mental health and wellbeing in Sydney.

The couple arrived hand in hand and kicked off their shoes as they sat in the sand with the surf group.
Anjem Choudary - described as one of the most dangerous Islamist preachers in Britain - has been released from prison.

The notorious hate preacher was released from Belmarsh prison in south east London midway through his five-and-a-half-year sentence.

Choudary had been held at Frankland high security prison in Durham, but was moved back to the British capital ahead of his release.

He was driven out of Belmarsh prison at high speed shortly after dawn and was spotted arriving at a probation hostel in north London at 6.29am yesterday.

Wearing blue Adidas trainers, a grey cardigan over a long white robe and sporting his recognisable long grey beard, Choudary was accompanied by as he walked up the front steps to the six-storey probation hostel. Five other unmarked police cars were parked in the surrounding area.

Choudary (51) was jailed in 2016 after being caught swearing an oath of allegiance to Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil).

He was given five and a half years in jail, but under sentencing rules became eligible for release under licence after serving half of that term.

His release has sparked condemnation as UK ministers have admitted he remains "genuinely dangerous".

Half an hour after he entered the hostel, a plain-clothes police officer removed three black bags containing Choudary's belongings from the boot of an unmarked car. Three hours later, plain-clothes officers left the hostel after briefing Choudary on his new arrangements.

Shortly before 1pm, Choudary held a staged photo call outside the hostel, stepping onto the front steps to pose for just over a minute for the dozen photographers who had been waiting in the street.

In an indication he had obtained the co-operation of the hostel management, four "community security officers" in high-visibility vests lined up across the main entrance shortly before its most famous resident emerged.

Wearing a benign smile, Choudary came out to wave briefly to the cameras.

But he said nothing, mindful not to breach his licence conditions which prevent him talking to the media.

Parents taking their children to a nearby school expressed their concern at Choudary's presence. "He's not the kind of person you want living here," said one. "I hope they keep a close eye on him to stop him exerting any sort of influence on the community."

Choudary faces 25 strict conditions, including a ban on talking to children and using the internet. He will also be required to report to supervisors throughout the day to prevent him travelling out of London.
Controversy: Jaroslaw Kaczynski, leader of the ruling Law and Justice party (PiS), delivers a speech in Warsaw, Poland. Photo: Reuters

The European Court of Justice yesterday ordered the Polish government to suspend a controversial overhaul of the country's supreme court in a move that puts further pressure on the strained ties between Brussels and Warsaw.

The court demanded that Poland reinstates its judges who were removed by a law introducing compulsory retirement for those aged 65 or over.

The law was seen as an attack on the independence of the judicial system, with new judges being appointed by the government.

A failure to comply with the European Union's demands could result in fines against Poland.

Yesterday's decision, which is only an interim measure pending a formal ruling, is likely to worsen a long-running feud between the EU and Poland over judicial reform that triggered widespread protests in Warsaw.

Last year, for the first time, the EU initiated Article 7 proceedings against Poland over concerns about the state of the rule of law, which could result in the country losing its voting rights.

Shake-up

Reacting to the move, Mateusz Morawiecki, the Polish prime minister, said: "We will see what EU institutions propose and then we'll take them into consideration and analyse our options."

In the past, the government has indicated that Warsaw will abide by the decisions of the EU, but the shake-up of the supreme court is a flagship project of Law and Justice, the ruling party.

It argued it was necessary to weed out judges with links to the Communist past and to improve court efficiency.

Malgorzata Gersdorf, the head of the supreme court and one of the judges in line for retirement, welcomed the decision by the European court.

"I'm pleased that someone has taken our case into account," she said.

"I am only disappointed that the government of my country did not do this earlier and that we had to go to the EU court."
When veteran Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi sat down last month to write what would be his last column for the 'Washington Post', he chose to return to a subject close to his heart: press freedom in the Middle East and North Africa.

Khashoggi knew only too well that journalists are under increasing threat from a new authoritarianism sweeping the region. Driven by autocrats new and old, the crackdown on journalists as well as activists and dissidents springs from a determination to prevent any repeat of the popular uprisings that collectively became known as the Arab Spring in 2011.

Khashoggi noted that only one country in the region - Tunisia - is considered "free", according to a 2018 survey. He called for the establishment of a media "platform for Arab voices" free from government censorship. He did not live to see it. Khashoggi was last seen entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2 to get papers required for his impending marriage. Turkish authorities believe he was murdered on the premises as his fiancee waited outside. The Saudis last night admitted that he died there.

Khashoggi's apparent fate has not only greatly disturbed journalists in the Middle East, it is also a reminder of how press freedom across the world is increasingly threatened, with reporters working often in fear of their lives.

No longer is this limited to authoritarian states and conflict zones, open hostility towards the media is now a key part of public discourse in European democracies where various shades of right-wing populism is on the rise and also in the US, where President Donald Trump has repeatedly denounced journalists as "the enemy of the people".

This month has been particularly grim. Khashoggi's disappearance made headlines at the same time Viktoria Marinova, a Bulgarian investigative reporter, was raped and killed. Bulgarian authorities have said they do not know if her murder was related to her work as a journalist.

Marinova had been investigating alleged corruption related to EU funds in Bulgaria and the European Commission has demanded a full investigation. She is the third journalist murdered in the EU over the past year.

This month marks the anniversary of the car bombing that killed Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia just outside her home. The attack is widely believed to be related to her reporting on corruption in Malta.

On a recent visit, I observed scores of people take part in a demonstration in her memory in central Valletta. They chanted slogans demanding justice, a demand also made in graffiti seen on walls around the island.

In February this year, Slovakian journalist Jan Kuciak and his fiancee Martina Kusnirova were shot to death as Kuciak probed ties between Slovakian officials and elements of the Italian mafia.

Beyond Europe, high-profile journalists in India, Mexico, Syria, Afghanistan, Turkey, Brazil and Nicaragua have been assassinated this year.

According to advocacy organisation Reporters Without Borders (RSF), at least 66 accredited or citizen journalists have been killed around the globe this year.

Hundreds more have been jailed because of their work. One case in particular has made headlines, that of Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, two Reuters journalists who were detained in Myanmar (Burma) in late 2017 because of their investigation into the killing of 10 Rohingya Muslim men and boys.

The UN has accused the Myanmar army of genocide and war crimes in their ongoing persecution of the country's Rohingya minority.

The Myanmar authorities, including de facto leader and Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, have rejected the accusations. In September Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo were sentenced to seven years in jail for breaching the Official Secrets Act, yet another damning stain on Suu Kyi's record.

The fight to maintain freedom of the press in the face of growing authoritarianism and populism has intensified across the world but the situation in Europe, in particular, should give us pause for thought.

Earlier this year, RSF in its annual World Press Freedom Index, found that Europe - despite still being described as "the region where press freedom is the safest" - had experienced the steepest decline from the previous year.

The rise of so-called "illiberal democracies" - as Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban puts it - on the continent has endangered press freedom more than at any point since the fall of the Iron Curtain. Tactics used by Orban and his fellow travellers to silence the media have included takeovers of media outlets to turn them into instruments of the state. The day after he won election again in April, he shut down the country's largest opposition paper while a pro-government outlet published a list of 200 Orban critics, including journalists.

Chilling times indeed.
Journalist Jamal Khashoggi has died, and Saudi Arabia said it fired two senior officials over the incident that has provoked an international outcry and strained relations between Riyadh and the West.

A statement from the Saudi public prosecutor said a fight broke out between Khashoggi and people who met him in the consulate and led to his death.

The investigations are still underway and 18 Saudi nationals have been arrested, the statement on state media said, adding that royal court adviser Saud al-Qahtani and deputy intelligence chief Ahmed Asiri have been fired from their positions.

Khashoggi, a critic of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, went missing after entering the consulate on October 2 to obtain documents for his upcoming marriage.

Saturdays comments marked the first time since Khashoggi went missing that the Saudis admitted to his death.

Turkish officials had said they believed he was killed in the building. Saudi Arabia had previously denied the allegations and said Khashoggi had left the building shortly after.

King Salman also ordered the formation of a ministerial committee headed by the crown prince to restructure the general intelligence agency, state media said.

The disappearance of Khashoggi, a U.S. resident and Washington Post columnist, strained relations between Saudi Arabia and Western allies. Arab allies have rallied to Riyadhs support, but Western pressure has intensified on Saudi Arabia to provide convincing answers.

Before the Saudi announcements, U.S. President Donald Trump said he might consider sanctions against Saudi Arabia over the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, while emphasizing the importance of the U.S.-Saudi relationship.

In Istanbul, Turkish prosecutors investigating Khashoggis disappearance questioned Turkish employees of the Saudi consulate on Friday, widening the hunt for clues in a case straining Riyadhs alliance with Western powers.

Turkish police searched a forest on Istanbuls outskirts and a city near the Sea of Marmara for Khashoggis remains, two senior Turkish officials told Reuters, after tracking the routes of cars that left the consulate and the consuls residence on the day he vanished.

Investigators have recovered samples from searches of both buildings to analyze for traces of Khashoggis DNA.

Speaking to reporters in Scottsdale, Arizona, Trump said it was too early to say what the consequences for the incident might be, but that the U.S. Congress would be involved in determining the American response.

Asked whether Saudi sanctions were one of the measures he was considering, Trump said, Could be, could be, though he provided no details.

Were going to find out who knew what when and where. And well figure it out, Trump added.

The U.S. Congress is controlled by Trumps fellow Republicans, some of whom have called for tough action against Saudi Arabia.

I will very much listen to what Congress has to say. They feel very strongly about it also, Trump said.

Trump, who said on Thursday he believes Khashoggi is likely dead and has warned of a potential very severe response, has appeared unwilling to distance himself too much from the Saudis, citing Riyadhs role in countering Iranian influence in the Middle East and lucrative potential arms deals.

Saudi Arabia has been a great ally, theyve been a tremendous investor in the United States, Trump said, adding, Thats why this is so sad.

They agreed to spend $450 billion on buying in and investing in the United States, so I hope we can keep that open. ... There are plenty of other things we can do, he said, adding, I might know a lot by Monday. I know a lot already.

State-run Anadolu news agency said the Turkish prosecutors office had obtained testimony from 20 consulate employees, and 25 more people including foreign nationals would be questioned.

The consulate employees questioned included accountants, technicians and a driver, Anadolu said. The investigation is being conducted by the prosecutors terrorism and organized crime bureau, it added.

Turkey said it had not shared with any country audio recordings purportedly documenting Khashoggis murder inside the consulate, dismissing reports it had passed them to the United States.

We will share the results that emerge transparently with the whole world, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said.

Turkish pro-government newspaper Yeni Safak has published what it said were details from the audio, including that his torturers severed Khashoggis fingers during an interrogation and later beheaded and dismembered him.

Khashoggis disappearance has tarnished the crown princes reputation and deepened questions about his leadership, prompting Saudi King Salman to intervene, five sources with links to the Saudi royal family told Reuters.

The crown prince has painted himself as the face of a vibrant new kingdom, diversifying its economy away from oil and introducing some social changes. Other moves have faced criticism, including involvement in Yemens war, the arrest of women activists and a diplomatic dispute with Canada.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and senior ministers from France, Britain and the Netherlands have abandoned plans to attend an Oct. 23-25 investor conference in Riyadh.

On Friday, the CEOs of Deutsche Bank (DBKGn.DE) and ABB (ABBN.S), plus Airbus (AIR.PA) defense chief and energy historian Daniel Yergin, joined a list of Western business executives who have withdrawn.

Pakistans prime minister and a delegation led by Russian Direct Investment Fund head Kirill Dmitriev plan to participate. Britains BAE Systems (BAES.L) is sending senior representatives.

A conference spokesperson confirmed the conference would proceed with an updated program that includes heads of state from the Arab world, Africa and Asia.
Journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed in a "fistfight" in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, the kingdom has said as it admitted the writer had been slain at the diplomatic post for the first time.

Authorities said 18 Saudi suspects were in custody for his killing and intelligence officials had been fired.

The overnight announcements in Saudi state media came more than two weeks after Mr Khashoggi, 59, entered the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul for paperwork required to marry his Turkish fiancee, and never came out.

Since his disappearance, the kingdom had rejected Turkish fears he was killed and dismembered there as "baseless".

However growing international pressure and comments by US officials up to Donald Trump appears to have forced the kingdom to acknowledge the slaying.

While it fired officials close to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom stopped short of implicating the heir-apparent of the world's largest oil exporter.

King Salman, his father, appointed him to lead a committee that will restructure the kingdom's intelligence services after Mr Khashoggi's slaying.

No major decisions in Saudi Arabia are made outside of the ultraconservative kingdom's ruling Al Saud family.

It also offered a far different version of events than those given by Turkish officials, who have said an "assassination squad" from the kingdom including an official from Prince Mohammed's entourage and an "autopsy expert" flew in ahead of time and laid in wait for Mr Khashoggi at the consulate.

Beyond its statements attributed to anonymous officials, Saudi Arabia offered no evidence to support its claims.

In a statement Friday night, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the US will closely follow international investigations into Mr Khashoggi's death and will advocate for justice that is "timely, transparent and in accordance with all due process".

Mr Trump meanwhile called the Saudi announcement a "good first step", but said what happened Mr Khashoggi was "unacceptable".

He also said that he wanted to speak to the kingdom's crown prince before any steps are taken.

The announcements came in a flurry of statements carried by the state-run Saudi Press Agency early Saturday morning.

"Preliminary investigations conducted by the Public Prosecution showed that the suspects had travelled to Istanbul to meet with the citizen Jamal Khashoggi as there were indications of the possibility of his returning back to the country," the statement rea.

There has been no indication Mr Khashoggi had immediate plans to return to the kingdom.

"Discussions took place with the citizen Jamal Khashoggi during his presence in the consulate of the kingdom in Istanbul by the suspects (that) did not go as required and developed in a negative way, leading to a fistfight... The brawl led to his death and their attempt to conceal and hide what happened."

The Saudi statements did not identify the 18 Saudis being held by authorities.

"The kingdom expresses its deep regret at the painful developments that have taken place and stresses the commitment of the authorities in the kingdom to bring the facts to the public opinion, to hold all those involved accountable and bring them to justice," the statement said.

In statements that followed, the kingdom announced the firing of four top intelligence officials, including Major General Ahmed bin Hassan Assiri, a one-time spokesman for the Saudi military's campaign in Yemen who later became a confidant of Prince Mohammed.

Separately fired was Saud Qahtani, a powerful adviser to Prince Mohammed who led Saudi efforts to isolate Qatar amid a boycott of the country by the kingdom and three other Arab nations as part of a political dispute.

On Twitter, where Mr Qahtani had launched vitriolic attacks against those he saw as the kingdom's enemies, he thanked the Saudi government for the "great opportunity they gave me to serve my country all those years".

"I will remain a loyal servant to my country for all times," he wrote.

Mr Assiri had no immediate comment.

On Wednesday, the Turkish pro-government newspaper Yeni Safak, citing what it described as an audio recording of Mr Khashoggi's slaying, said the squad immediately accosted the journalist after he entered the consulate, cutting off his fingers and later decapitating him.

On Thursday, a leaked surveillance photo put Maher Abdulaziz Mutreb, a member of Prince Mohammed's entourage on trips to the US, France and Spain this year, at the consulate just ahead of Mr Khashoggi's arrival.

Turkish crime scene investigators this week searched the Saudi Consulate building in Istanbul and the nearby residence of the Saudi consul general, and came out carrying bags and boxes.

On Friday, investigators questioned staff and explored whether his remains could have been dumped outside Istanbul after his suspected killing, Turkish media and a security official said.

Mr Khashoggi, a prominent journalist and royal court insider for decades in Saudi Arabia, had written columns critical of Prince Mohammed and the kingdom's direction while living in self-imposed exile in the US.

Mr Trump has said that the consequences for the Saudis "will have to be very severe" if they are found to have killed him, but has insisted that more facts must be known before making any judgements.
Remarks: US President Donald Trump at the rally in Montana

US President Donald Trump has praised a Republican Congressman's violent assault on a reporter.

At a rally in May 2017, Montana representative Greg Gianforte attacked the journalist on the eve of a special election he went on to win.

He pleaded guilty to assaulting the 'Guardian' reporter but avoided jail and instead was ordered to undergo community service, anger management therapy and pay a fine.

Referring to the incident in front of a crowd in Missoula, Montana, on Thursday evening, Mr Trump said: "I had heard he bodyslammed a reporter," adding that he was initially concerned that the attack would lead to Mr Gianforte losing the vote.

"I said, 'Wait a minute. I know Montana pretty well; I think it might help him.' And it did," he said.

"Anybody that can do a body slam," the president added, "that's my kind of guy."

Mr Trump also jokingly warned the crowd to "never wrestle" the congressman.

At the time, Mr Gianforte pleaded guilty to the misdemeanour assault on Ben Jacobs and was given a 180-day suspended sentence, was required to do community service, pay a fine and attend anger management classes.

A 2017 investigation into the assault included interviews with members of a Fox news crew who said Mr Gianforte had been angry with Mr Jacobs over what he perceived as biased coverage.

Witnesses said that the politician then bodyslammed Mr Jacobs onto the ground before punching him.

Mr Trump made no mention during the rally of Jamal Khashoggi, the dissident Saudi Arabian journalist who disappeared earlier this month and who Saudi Arabia last night admitted died in its consulate in Istanbul.

"To celebrate an attack on a journalist who was simply doing his job is an attack on the First Amendment by someone who has taken an oath to defend it," said John Mulholland, the editor of the 'Guardian US', in a statement issued on Thursday night, after Mr Trump had finished speaking.

"In the aftermath of the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, it runs the risk of inviting other assaults on journalists, both here and across the world where they often face far greater threats."
Saudi Arabia's announcement that suspects are in custody over the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi is a "good first step", Donald Trump has said, adding that he would work with Congress on a US response.

The president was speaking at a defence roundtable event in Arizona hours after Saudi Arabia claimed that Mr Khashoggi, a Washington Post contributor who was last seen on October 2, was killed in a "fistfight" at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey.

The kingdom also said 18 suspects were in custody and that intelligence officials had been fired.

Asked by a reporter whether he thought Saudi Arabia's explanation for Mr Khashoggi's death was credible, Mr Trump said "I do. I do."

But he said that, before he decided what to do next, he wanted to talk to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

"Saudi Arabia has been a great ally, but what happened is unacceptable," the president said.

Of the Saudi arrests, he added: "It's a big first step. It's only a first step, but it's a big first step."

On Capitol Hill, politicians including Trump ally Senator Lindsey Graham expressed scepticism about the Saudi account, which was vastly different from that given by Turkish officials, who said an "assassination squad" sent by the kingdom had killed and dismembered Mr Khashoggi.

"First we were told Mr Khashoggi supposedly left the consulate and there was blanket denial of any Saudi involvement," Mr Graham tweeted on Friday. "Now, a fight breaks out and he's killed in the consulate, all without knowledge of Crown Prince."

Mr Khashoggi, a prominent journalist and royal court insider for decades in Saudi Arabia, had written columns critical of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and the kingdom's direction while living in self-imposed exile in the US. He went to the Saudi consulate to obtain paperwork for his forthcoming marriage.

"The Saudi 'explanation' for murdering journalist and Virginia resident Jamal Khashoggi in a consulate - a fistfight gone wrong - is insulting," tweeted Senator Tim Kaine, the 2016 Democratic vice presidential nominee. "Since the Trump Administration won't stand up against atrocity, Congress must."

Democratic Representative Adam Schiff of California said Saudi Arabia's claim that Mr Khashoggi died in a brawl was not credible.

"If Khashoggi was fighting inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, he was fighting for his life with people sent to capture or kill him," said Mr Schiff, the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee.

"The kingdom and all involved in this brutal murder must be held accountable, and if the Trump Administration will not take the lead, Congress must," he said.

In a statement on Friday night, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the US will closely follow international investigations into Mr Khashoggi's death and will advocate for justice that is "timely, transparent and in accordance with all due process".

Earlier on Friday, Ms Sanders said Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had spoken to the Crown Prince and briefed the president and John Bolton, Mr Trump's national security adviser.

Mr Trump dispatched Mr Pompeo to Saudi Arabia and Turkey earlier in the week to speak to officials about the case.

Meanwhile, the deputy head of Turkey's ruling party said his country would "never allow a cover-up" over the killing of Mr Khashoggi.

Numan Kurtulmus, of the ruling Justice and Development Party, also said on Saturday that Turkey would share its evidence with the world and that a "conclusive result" of the investigation is close.

He added that he thinks "it's not possible for the Saudi administration to wiggle itself out of this crime if it's confirmed".
Weird kiss: Kristen Bell warned her two daughters about the prince character in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

'Snow White' has become the latest target of the #MeToo movement amid claims the Disney version of the fairy tale encourages men to kiss women without consent.

Actress Kristen Bell, who voices Princess Anna in another Disney blockbuster 'Frozen', said she had warned her two daughters about the male character's behaviour.

Bell (38) told 'Parents' magazine: "Don't you think it's weird the prince kisses Snow White without her permission? Because you cannot kiss someone if they're sleeping!"

In 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs', Disney's 1937 animated film, which differs in part from the 19th century Brothers Grimm fairy tale, a prince kisses the unconscious Snow White and she wakes up.

James Woods, the conservative Hollywood actor, criticised Bell for her comments.

He asked if she was referring to "the Snow White in a coma, who can only be awakened by the kiss of her one true love? That Snow White? Or the loony feminist Snow White?"
Saudi Arabias announcement that suspects are in custody over the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi is a good first step, Donald Trump has said, adding that he would work with Congress on a US response.

The president was speaking at a defence roundtable event in Arizona hours after Saudi Arabia claimed that Mr Khashoggi, a Washington Post contributor who was last seen on October 2, was killed in a fistfight at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey.

The kingdom also said 18 suspects were in custody and that intelligence officials had been fired.

Asked by a reporter whether he thought Saudi Arabias explanation for Mr Khashoggis death was credible, Mr Trump said I do. I do.

Expand Close Barriers block the road leading to Saudi Arabias consulate in Istanbul (Lefteris Pitarakis/AP) / Facebook

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Whatsapp Barriers block the road leading to Saudi Arabias consulate in Istanbul (Lefteris Pitarakis/AP)

But he said that, before he decided what to do next, he wanted to talk to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Saudi Arabia has been a great ally, but what happened is unacceptable, the president said.

Of the Saudi arrests, he added: Its a big first step. Its only a first step, but its a big first step.

Expand Close A security guard stands at the entrance to Saudi Arabias consulate in Istanbul (Lefteris Pitarakis/AP) / Facebook

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Whatsapp A security guard stands at the entrance to Saudi Arabias consulate in Istanbul (Lefteris Pitarakis/AP)

On Capitol Hill, politicians including Trump ally Senator Lindsey Graham expressed scepticism about the Saudi account, which was vastly different from that given by Turkish officials, who said an assassination squad sent by the kingdom had killed and dismembered Mr Khashoggi.

First we were told Mr Khashoggi supposedly left the consulate and there was blanket denial of any Saudi involvement, Mr Graham tweeted on Friday. Now, a fight breaks out and hes killed in the consulate, all without knowledge of Crown Prince.

Its hard to find this latest explanation as credible.  Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) October 19, 2018

Mr Khashoggi, a prominent journalist and royal court insider for decades in Saudi Arabia, had written columns critical of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and the kingdoms direction while living in self-imposed exile in the US. He went to the Saudi consulate to obtain paperwork for his forthcoming marriage.

The Saudi explanation for murdering journalist and Virginia resident Jamal Khashoggi in a consulate  a fistfight gone wrong  is insulting, tweeted Senator Tim Kaine, the 2016 Democratic vice presidential nominee. Since the Trump Administration wont stand up against atrocity, Congress must.

The Saudi explanation for murdering journalist and Virginia resident Jamal Khashoggi in a consulatea fistfight gone wrongis insulting.



Since the Trump Administration wont stand up against atrocity, Congress must.  Tim Kaine (@timkaine) October 20, 2018

Democratic Representative Adam Schiff of California said Saudi Arabias claim that Mr Khashoggi died in a brawl was not credible.

If Khashoggi was fighting inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, he was fighting for his life with people sent to capture or kill him, said Mr Schiff, the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee.

The kingdom and all involved in this brutal murder must be held accountable, and if the Trump Administration will not take the lead, Congress must, he said.

In a statement on Friday night, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the US will closely follow international investigations into Mr Khashoggis death and will advocate for justice that is timely, transparent and in accordance with all due process.

Earlier on Friday, Ms Sanders said Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had spoken to the Crown Prince and briefed the president and John Bolton, Mr Trumps national security adviser.

Mr Trump dispatched Mr Pompeo to Saudi Arabia and Turkey earlier in the week to speak to officials about the case.

Meanwhile, the deputy head of Turkeys ruling party said his country would never allow a cover-up over the killing of Mr Khashoggi.

Numan Kurtulmus, of the ruling Justice and Development Party, also said on Saturday that Turkey would share its evidence with the world and that a conclusive result of the investigation is close.

He added that he thinks its not possible for the Saudi administration to wiggle itself out of this crime if its confirmed.
President Donald Trump says he will pull the United States from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty because Russia has violated the agreement.

The 1987 pact, which helps protect the security of the US and its allies in Europe and the Far East, prohibits the United States and Russia from possessing, producing or test-flying a ground-launched cruise missile with a range of 300 to 3,400 miles.

Russia has violated the agreement. They have been violating it for many years, President Trump said after a rally in Elko, Nevada.

And were not going to let them violate a nuclear agreement and go out and do weapons and were not allowed to.

The agreement has constrained the US from developing new weapons, but America will begin developing them unless Russia and China agree not to possess or develop the weapons, President Trump said.

China is not currently party to the pact.

Well have to develop those weapons, unless Russia comes to us and China comes to us and they all come to us and say lets really get smart and lets none of us develop those weapons, but if Russias doing it and if Chinas doing it, and were adhering to the agreement, thats unacceptable, he said.

National Security Adviser John Bolton is heading to Russia, Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia.

His first stop is Moscow to meet with senior Russian officials at a time when Moscow-Washington relations remain frosty over the Ukrainian crisis, the war in Syria and allegations of Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential race and upcoming US midterm elections.

US officials have previously alleged that Russia violated the treaty by deliberately deploying a land-based cruise missile in order to pose a threat to Nato.

Russia has claimed that US missile defences violate the pact.

In the past, the Obama administration worked to convince Moscow to respect the INF treaty but made little progress.

If they get smart and if others get smart and they say lets not develop these horrible nuclear weapons, I would be extremely happy with that, but as long as somebodys violating the agreement, were not going to be the only ones to adhere to it, President Trump said.
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Historic week begins and ends at Native events

By Kevin Abourezk

ANCHORAGE, Alaska  A week of political intrigue that began with the abrupt resignation of Alaskas lieutenant governor on Tuesday culminated Friday with Gov. Bill Walkers surprise announcement before his states largest Native organization that he would be suspending his campaign for re-election.

The political bombshell came after a week of speculation following Tuesdays resignation of Lt. Gov. Byron Mallott and the disclosure that Mallott, who is Tlingit, had made inappropriate comments to a woman. Neither Walker nor Mallott have offered any further details about what Mallott had said or to whom he had said it.

However, at least one Alaskan publication, Must Read Alaska, said in a story published Tuesday that Mallott had made an inappropriate overture to the 16-year-old daughter of a close associate during the First Alaskans Institute Elders and Youth Conference, an event associated with and held in the same building as the Alaska Federation of Natives convention. When the teenagers mother learned of the interaction, she confronted Mallott in a scene that made its way back to Walkers chief of staff.

The same day Mallott resigned, Walker announced his decision to appoint his director of Health and Human Services, Valerie Nurraraaluk Davidson, as his lieutenant governor, making her the first Native woman to serve in that post.

Victor Joseph, president and chairman of the Tanana Chiefs Conference, thanks Alaska Gov. Bill Walker (I) for his service during the annual convention of the Alaska Federation of Natives in Anchorage on October 19, 2018. Photo by Kevin Abourezk

With less than three weeks until Alaskas general election, Walker had faced an uphill battle against his opponents, Democrat Mark Begich and Republican Mike Dunleavy, and some had questioned whether the Independent politicians campaign could survive the political fallout of losing his running mate.

After announcing the end of his political career Friday, Walker effectively endorsed Begich, saying the Democrats platform was more closely aligned with his own than that of Dunleavy.

Despite my many differences with Mark Begich, his stance on important issues that I have listed are more closely aligned with my priorities for Alaska, Walker said.

He said Dunleavy has promised to eliminate Medicaid expansion, an initiative Walker had championed and one he said has provided access to health care for 44,000 Alaskans, created jobs and generated $1 billion in new federal funding for Alaskas economy.

He said Dunleavy also has promised to make $1 billion in cuts to education, rural Alaska programs and health care.

And Walker said he feared the Republican would undo the work he has done to help Alaska Natives.

My administration has worked tirelessly to improve the relationship between tribes and the state and restore respect for Alaskas first people in state government, he said. (Dunleavy) will cause our most vulnerable to suffer.

Indianz.Com Video by Kevin Abourezk: Apology to Native peoples

On Thursday before the Alaska Federation of Natives, Walker had offered a rare apology to his states indigenous people for the historical wrongs committed against them.

As the 11th governor for the state of Alaska, I apologize to you for the wrongs you have endured for generations, he said. For being forced into boarding schools, I apologize. For being forced to abandon your Native language and adopt a foreign one, I apologize. For erasing your history, I apologize.

After Walkers announcement Friday, dozens of Native village and tribal leaders stood together on the stage at the Alaska Federation of Natives conference and sang a song for Walker. A long line of tribal leaders then stood to hug and shakes hands with Walker.

Several tribal leaders thanked him for the work he has done to help Alaska Natives.

I have never seen such a selfless, courageous action by a sitting politician, and I just want to thank the governor for his service, said Will Mayo, co-chair of the Alaska Federation of Natives.

Honor song for Governor Bill Walker after he ended his re-election campaign at the Alaska Federation of Natives conference in Anchorage. #2018AFN pic.twitter.com/VbKURNwGmj  indianz.com (@indianz) October 19, 2018

A federation delegate called for a motion to accept Walkers apology to Alaska Natives, a motion the organizations delegates approved unanimously.

You are a very strong man who kept his word, who was so honorable, said Victor Joseph, president and chairman of the Tanana Chiefs Conference. You didnt have to doubt what he meant because what he said he meant.

Ralph Andersen, who is Yup'ik and the founding chairman of Walkers Tribal Advisory Council, said Walker demonstrated his respect for Native people by creating the council and being willing to listen to them.

Youve made some very, very heartbreaking, difficult decisions in the past couple of days, and youve proven youre a very strong leader for doing that, he said.

Alaska Gov. Bill Walker (I) listens as a song is performed in his honor at the annual convention of the Alaska Federation of Natives in Anchorage on October 19, 2018. Photo by Kevin Abourezk

Several tribal leaders gave gifts of regalia to Walker, and another delegate sang an honoring song for him before the entire audience.

The outpouring of emotion and accolades to Walker was indicative of the work the governor has done to reach out to his states first people, work that has included signing the Alaska Tribal Child Welfare Compact last December with 18 tribes and tribal organizations.

The compact has led to more than 90 tribes now regularly being allowed to intervene in the lives of struggling Native families well before the state takes formal action against those families.

Alaska Federation of Natives

Indianz.Com Video by Kevin Abourezk: Newly appointed Alaska lieutenant governor kicks off Alaska Federation of Natives

Indianz.Com Video by Kevin Abourezk: Jacqueline Pata of National Congress of American Indians addresses the Alaska Federation of Natives

First Alaskans Institute Elders and Youth Conference

Earlier in the week, more than 1,200 elders and youth met in Anchorage for the 35th Annual First Alaskans Institute Elders and Youth Conference.

Indianz.Com Video by Kevin Abourezk: Speaking on the strengths of Alaska Natives

Indianz.Com Video by Kevin Abourezk: Alaska Natives celebrate cultural reawakening

Indianz.Com Video by Kevin Abourezk: 35th Annual First Alaskans Institute Elders and Youth Conference

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He must have made a film on woman empowerment but irony died a brutal death when a woman accused Queen director of sexually harassing her. Sharing her #MeToo, the woman reported how Vikas came to her room and later passed out on her bed pretending to be drunk.

In her allegations, she added that Vikas Bahl then masturbated on her. After these allegations and amid #MeToo movement picking up like wildfire in India, he was suspended from Super 30 and had to let go of a project with Amazon.

After the accusations, Anurag Kashyap tweeted on social media how they're now dissolving their production company Phantom films. Vikas Bahl filed a defamation suit worth Rs 10 crores against his former partners Vikramaditya Motwane, Madhu Mantena and Anurag Kashyap for running an orchestrated smear campaign against him.

While the case was being held in the Court, the woman who accused Bahal has reportedly refused to depose before the Judge.

Agency reports claim that her lawyer read out a statement that said,

"I have had enough and I am still suffering at the hands of this man even after three years. I do not want to be involved in litigation so will not file an affidavit. Will only put out a statement."

But the woman admitted that whatever was reported in the Huffington Post was true. SJ Kathawalla presided over the hearing. Navroz Seervai, the victim's counsel said she did not wish to take the legal route against Vikas. Bahl is yet to make a statement on this.
Former TERI Chief and environmentalist accused of sexual molestation of a former colleague made headlines after a Delhi court on Saturday framed charges against him.

Pachauri pleaded not guilty and claimed trial after which Metropolitan Magistrate Charu Gupta has put Pachauri on trial for the offence punishable under sections 354 (outraging modesty), 354 A (making physical contact, unwelcome and sexually coloured remarks) and 509 (teasing and using vulgar gesture and actions) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

PTI

Advocate Ashish Dixit, appearing for the accused, sought a speedy trial after which the court put up the matter for further proceedings on January 4, 2019. News agency ANI reported that Pachauri sought a speedy trial saying, my age is 78 years, please expedite matter.

On February 13, 2015, an FIR was registered against Pachauri and he was granted anticipatory bail in the case on March 21, 2015.

The former TERI chief had earlier secured an interim order from Additional District Judge making it mandatory for media houses to publish or telecast the coverage of the case with a title that in any court, the allegations have not been proved and they may not be correct.

This order had also said, when such information is published in any page of a magazine or report, then it should be in the middle of the page in bold letters and it should be five times larger than the font in which the article is being published. Over 1,400-page charge sheet was filed by the Delhi Police on March 1, 2016, saying there was sufficient evidence against Pachauri that he had sexually harassed, stalked and threatened the complainant.

A supplementary charge sheet was filed in March 2017 after the police said it had retrieved several deleted e-mails and chats exchanged between the accused and the complainant.

The final report had said the deleted WhatsApp chats, text messages, retrieved from the cell phones, computer hard disks and other devices, were not fabricated.

The charge sheet, which was filed a year after the former research analyst of TERI lodged the complaint, had said Pachauri had committed offences under various sections of IPC. Pachauri has denied all the allegations against him.
Several residents of Tukpen village in West Kameng, Arunachal have become crorepati after the government compensate them for the acquisition of their land.

They had given their lands to the Indian Army around five decades ago after the Indo-China war.

Pema Khandu/ Twitter

And on Friday, Arunachal Pradesh Chief minister Pema Khandu handed over the compensation to the villagers, making quite a few of them crorepatis.

The CM said cheque worth a total of Rs 13.17 crore have been distributed to beneficiaries.

Pema Khandu

This is not the first time Arunachal villagers have become overnight milliners. In February this year, residents in Bomja village in Tawang had become crorepati overnight, after 200.056 acres of land belonging to 31 households in the village was acquired by the Indian Army about five years ago to set up key location plan units of its Tawang Garrison.
The tragic accident that killed over 60 people on Friday evening when they were busy celebrating Dussehra by burning Ravana effigy near a railway track in Amritsar has marred the whole countrys festive mood.

The tragedy has left everyone grieving for the loss of life and an enquiry has already been ordered by Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh to find out the causes of the accident as well as the response with which the tragedy was addressed.

Meanwhile, the driver of the train which crushed over 60 people to death has claimed innocence. According to IANS, Punjab Police officials said that the DMU (diesel multiple unit) driver had been detained at the Ludhiana railway station and was being questioned regarding the incident that took place on Friday night at the Jora Phatak near Dhobi Ghat within Amritsar city.

Sources said that the driver claimed that he was given a green signal and had no idea that hundreds of people were standing on the tracks when the train crossed the area.

No action has so far been initiated against the organisers, who are leaders of the ruling Congress in Punjab, of the Dusshera event. Police sources said that the organisers had gone underground.

Railway officials were also gathering information from the railway linemen posted along the tracks near the Jora Phatak area who failed to inform the DMU driver regarding the presence of over 700 people on the railway tracks who were watching the burning of the Ravan and other effigies during Dussehra celebrations.

As the Ravan and other effigies went up in flames with the deafening noise of bursting firecrackers, the people standing on the live railway tracks did not realise that a speeding train was approaching.

Nearly 150 people, most of who were watching the burning of effigies or were recording the event on their mobile phones, were mowed down by the train.
China has come up with a unique plan to replace streetlights. The country is planning to launch three artificial moons, which will be bright enough to replace streetlights. The three artificial moons will be launched in space in 2022.

The verification of launch, orbit injection, unfolding, illumination, adjust and control of the man-made moon will be completed by 2020, the daily reported, quoting Wu Chunfeng, head of Tianfu New District System Science Research Institute in Chengdu in China's southwest Sichuan province. The brightness of the artificial moon would be bright enough to replace streetlights, another state-run media outlet, Xinhua, quoted Wu as saying.

These man-made moons will be launched in 2022, it said. "By then, the three huge mirrors will divide the 360-degree orbital plane, realising illuminating an area for 24 hours continuously," Wu said.

The reflected sunlight can cover an area of 3,600 sq km to 6,400 sq km, and the illumination intensity is expected to be eight times of the moonlight, he said.

The moon orbits the Earth about 380,000 km from the Earth, while the man-made moon is expected to be put on an orbit within 500 km from the Earth, the state-run China Daily reported.

About concerns that the man-made moonlight will interrupt the normal day-night cycle of animals and plants, Wu said the light intensity and illumination time can be adjusted and the accuracy of illumination can be controlled within scores of meters. When a man-made moon is orbiting, people can only see a bright star in the sky.

The man-made moon is especially useful in the civil area.

"Using man-made moon to illuminate an area 50 sq km can save 1.2 billion yuan of electric charge," Wu said. "It can also illuminate blackout areas when natural disasters such as earthquake happen."

The US and Russia have explored the man-made moon, hoping it can bring convenience to night-time activities.

In the 1990s, Russia carried out an experiment called Banner, testing the idea of using a mirror to reflect the sunlight to Earth. The mirror failed to unfold in space and the experiment was halted.

"China, Russia, the US, Japan and the EU are all striving to make technological breakthroughs on space energy application," Wu said.
Mark Zuckerberg thought his year couldn't get any worse, after the whole Cambridge Analytica scandal and then a major hack decimated public trust. He thought wrong.

It appears now he's also lost investor faith, as they look to oust him from Facebook's board.

Images courtesy: Reuters

On Wednesday, a group of Facebook's largest investors issued a statement backing a move to remove the founder from his position as chairman of the board. Apparently, between the innumerable scandals, stock price drops, and general collection of bad ideas, they've had just about enough of Zuckerberg and his robot-faced apologies.

The signees on the statement want investors to vote on removing Zuckerberg and replacing him with an independent chairman. To prove the idea works, they've pointed at the 59 percent of companies on the S&P 1500 Index with different people filling CEO and chairman roles. They think this is exactly what Facebook needs, given the "number of severe controversies it's found itself embroiled recently.

Heck, they were annoyed enough to provide a list. These include:

- Russia "meddling in U.S. elections" on Facebook

- The "sharing personal data of 87 million users" that later found its way to Cambridge Analytica

- "Data-sharing with device manufacturers, including Huawei," which U.S. intelligence has identified (with little public evidence) as a threat to national security

- The proliferation of "fake news" on its platform

- The propagation of posts on its platform that fueled violence in Myanmar, India, and South Sudan

- "Depression and other mental health issues, including stress and addiction," that may result from using Facebook

- "Allowing advertisers to exclude black, Hispanic, and other 'ethnic affinities' from seeing ads"

Of course, they missed the news of Facebook allegedly inflating video metrics (to deceive advertisers) by a few hours, or that could have been another entry.

This is just a proposal at the end of the day, and it's up to investors to actually initiate this kind of vote. However, that would still make no difference. As explained by Gizmodo, because of the company's structure, Zuckerberg's vote counts ten times more than shareholders. On top of that, he also controls 60 percent of voting shares in the company.

Basically, no one can oust Zuckerberg, not without criminal accusations perhaps. It's possible he'll maybe step down if faced with major discontent among shareholders, but it's not likely.

Maybe instead he'll just decide to launch a new set of stickers for Messenger and call it even.
Move over Kiki Challenge, now the Falling Stars Challenge has taken over the Internet and the bizarre quotient is pretty high.

The pictures show people lying on the ground as if they have just tripped, but on wads of cash or luxury items.

According to South China Morning Post, the challenge originated in Russia and is known as the flaunt your wealth challenge in Mandarin.

People nominate their friends or followers to do the same, so it's an endless circle of people falling flat on their faces.

According to Shanghaiist, the challenge has also landed a woman in Shanghai into trouble. The woman was fined for a traffic violation after falling face first on the ground on a road.

China

A witness took a photo of the scene and uploaded it online. The image caught the attention of the authorities, who then summoned Yu to a police station in Shanghai.

Be it violating rules or just looking plain stupid, when it comes to viral Internet challenges, it's serious business and everyone has to do it! Take a look at the ridiculous falling stars challenge. pictures:

#1

#2

#3

#4

Insanity is an understatement!
Police escort a woman to the Lord Ayyappa temple in Sabarimala, Kerala Oct. 19. Two women, Kavitha and Rehna Fathima, made it just 500 meters shy of the temples sanctum before being forced back by a wall of male devotees and priests who blocked their way. (IANS photo)
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The average stock market return over the past 100 years is around 10%. Thats why its important to not only have a robust investment portfolio but also manage it well. Reading a good investing book can help you make the right financial moves.

Whether youre a finance professional looking to up your game or an amateur investor who prefers to be more hands-on with your investments, weve got you covered with our list of bestsellers. Here are the best investing books from respected industry professionals, as well as the occasional beginners guides to get you started on the right track.
The Standard & Poor's 500 Index, or simply S&P 500, is a market-capitalization-weighted index of 500 large-cap U.S. companies that make up 80% of U.S. equity by market cap. It is widely regarded as the best gauge of large-cap U.S. equities and often referred to as the market because it is comprised of stocks that span all market sectors. Some of the S&P 500's largest components include Microsoft Corp. (MSFT), Apple Inc. (AAPL), Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN), Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL), and Facebook Inc. (FB).

There are many funds whose portfolio of stocks are designed to track those of the S&P 500 due to its popularity as a barometer of U.S. equity markets, including both mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs). The latter type of fund differs from traditional mutual funds in that they are listed on exchanges and trade throughout the day like ordinary stock.

Below we look at the top S&P 500 index funds, one with the lowest fees and the other with the highest liquidity. All data below is as of July 3, 2021.

Key Takeaways Index investing has been gaining momentum over the past decade, with passive funds often outperforming their active counterparts for lower cost.

Among index investors, the S&P 500 has been the most widely watched benchmark index to track.

Here we look at a few of the most highly rated, low-cost S&P 500 index funds.

Lowest Cost S&P 500 Index Fund: Fidelity 500 Index Fund (FXAIX)

FXAIX is a mutual fund. Because index-tracking funds will follow the performance of the index, one of, if not the, biggest determinant of long-term returns is how much it charges in fees.

Expense Ratio: 0.015%

2020 Return: 18.4%

Yield: 1.31%

Assets Under Management: $343.3 billion

Minimum Investment: $0

Inception Date: Feb. 17, 1988 (Share Class Inception Date: May 4, 2011)

Issuing Company: Fidelity

Lowest Cost Runner Up: Schwab S&P 500 Index Fund (SWPPX)

Schwab's S&P 500 index fund seeks to track the total return of the S&P 500 Index. The fund generally invests at least 80% of its net assets (including, for this purpose, any borrowings for investment purposes) in these stocks; typically, the actual percentage is considerably higher. It generally will seek to replicate the performance of the index by giving the same weight to a given stock as the index does.

Expense Ratio: 0.02%

2020 Return: 18.39%

Yield: 1.57%

Assets Under Management: $62.2 billion

Minimum Investment: $0

Inception Date: May 19, 1997

Issuing Company: Charles Schwab

Lowest Cost Runner Up: Vanguard 500 Index Fund Admiral Shares (VFIAX)

Vanguard was the original index fund and still has the largest assets under management, with over $700 billion in its Vanguard 500 Index Fund Admiral Shares, as of July 2021. The investment seeks to track the performance of a benchmark index that measures the investment return of large-capitalization stocks. The fund employs an indexing investment approach designed to track the performance of the Standard & Poor's 500 Index.

Expense Ratio: 0.04%

2020 Return: 18.25%

Yield: 1.33%

Assets Under Management: $739.5 billion

Minimum Investment: $3,000

Inception Date: Nov. 13, 2000

Issuing Company: Vanguard

Lowest Cost Runner Up: State Street S&P 500 Index Fund Class N (SVSPX)

Also in the running is State Street's offering, which also closely tracks the S&P 500 Index. This fund, however, requires a minimum of $10,000 invested.

Expense Ratio: 0.16%

2020 Return: 18.59%

Yield: 0.94%

Assets Under Management: $1.6 billion

Minimum Investment: $10,000

Inception Date: Dec. 30, 1992

Issuing Company: State Street

Most Liquid S&P 500 Index Fund: SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY)

SPY is an ETF, not a mutual fund, and it's not even the lowest-cost S&P 500 ETF. It is, however, the most liquid S&P 500 fund. Liquidity indicates how easy it will be to trade an ETF, with higher liquidity generally meaning lower trading costs. Trading costs are not a big concern to people who want to hold ETFs long-term, but if youre interested in trading ETFs frequently, then its important to look for high liquidity funds to minimize trading costs.

2020 Return: 18.23%

Expense Ratio: 0.095%

Annual Dividend Yield: 1.3%

Assets Under Management: $378.7 billion

Inception Date: Jan. 22, 1993

Issuing Company: State Street

The comments, opinions and analyses expressed herein are for informational purposes only and should not be considered individual investment advice or recommendations to invest in any security or to adopt any investment strategy. While we believe the information provided herein is reliable, we do not warrant its accuracy or completeness. The views and strategies described on our content may not be suitable for all investors. Because market and economic conditions are subject to rapid change, all comments, opinions, and analyses contained within our content are rendered as of the date of the posting and may change without notice. The material is not intended as a complete analysis of every material fact regarding any country, region, market, industry, investment, or strategy.
Crude oil, or black gold, is one of the world's most precious commodities. Price changes in the commodity can affect the economic ecosystem at every level, from family budgets to corporate earnings to the nation's GDP. Indeed, sudden price drops or unexpected spikes can send global financial markets into a tizzy.

Crude oil prices change quickly in response to news cycles, policy changes, and fluctuations in the world's markets. Since 2014, oil prices have experienced a downward journey, falling from highs of around $115 per barrel. In February and March of 2020, crude prices accelerated their decline in reaction to the coronavirus pandemic and an expected sharp drop in demand for oil. In addition, major oil producers failed to come to an agreement on production cuts, exacerbating the problem. By mid-March 2020, the price of U.S. crude oil was fluctuating just around $19 per barrel. So, what causes these dramatic swings in the price of oil, and what can we expect going forward?

In the Spring of 2020, oil prices collapsed amid the COVID-19 pandemic and economic slowdown. OPEC and its allies agreed to historic production cuts to stabilize prices, but they dropped to 20-year lows.

Supply

For several decades, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has been the elephant on the world's trading floors, with its oil-producing member nations working together to determine prices by boosting or reducing crude oil production. While OPEC's grip on the market has loosened some in past years, its decisions continue to play a dominant role. OPEC's every move is watched closely by governments, oil companies, speculators, hedgers, investors, traders, policymakers, and consumers.

Key Takeaways Crude oil prices can vary greatly, with a price near $115 per barrel in 2014 and $19 in 2020.  

 Crude oil prices react to many variables, including economic news, overall supplies, and consumer demand.

OPEC is an international oil producing cartel that plays an important role in determining global oil supplies.

Economic growth and increased industrial production can drive up the demand for crude oil.

Key reports that affect crude oil prices in the short term are weekly inventory statistics from the American Petroleum Institute and U.S. Energy Information Administration.

OPEC's policies are affected, in turn, by geopolitical developments. Some of the world's top oil producers are politically unstable or at odds with the West (issues pertaining to terrorism or compliance with international laws, in particular, have been problematic). Some have faced sanctions by the U.S. and the United Nations. 

In the past, supply disruptions triggered by political events have caused oil prices to shift drastically; the Iranian revolution, Iran-Iraq war, Arab oil embargo, and Persian Gulf wars have been especially notable. The Asian financial crisis and the global economic crisis of 2007-2008 also caused fluctuations.

The supply crude oil is also determined by external factors, which might include weather patterns, exploration and production (E&P) costs, investments, and innovations. For example, thanks to advances in technology that allow companies to extract oil from rockso-called shale oilthe United States became the world's largest producer of oil in 2018 and a major source of global oil supplies.

Demand

Strong economic growth and industrial production tend to boost the demand for oilas reflected in changing demand patterns by non-OECD nations, which have grown rapidly in recent years. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration,

Oil consumption in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries declined between 2000 and 2010, [while] non-OECD oil consumption increased more than 40%. China, India, and Saudi Arabia had the largest growth in oil consumption among the countries in the non-OECD during this period.  

Other important factors that affect demand for oil include transportation (both commercial and personal), population growth, and seasonal changes. For instance, oil use increases during busy summer travel seasons and in the winters, when more heating fuel is consumed.

Derivatives and Reports

More and more, market participants are buying and selling crude oil, not in its physical form, but in the form of contracts. For example, airlines and oil producers use derivatives, like futures and options, to a hedge against swings in the price of oil, while speculators drive those prices upwards or downwards when there are waves of buying or selling amid incoming news.

Reports on production figures, spare capacity, target pricing, and investments can be a crucial factor in the setting of crude oil prices. Some of the most keenly followed reports are OPEC's monthly oil report, International Energy Agency (IEA) oil market report, and weekly inventory data from both the American Petroleum Institute (API) and the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).

The Bottom Line

Oil has long been the engine of the world's economy, and even todayas the search for alternative energy sources gains groundlife without crude oil is hard to imagine. Carbon-based fuels are used in heavy and light manufacturing, in the production process (chemicals, textiles, detergents, and medicines), and in every sector of our transportation industries. For now, at least, oil companies and oil-rich nations will surely weather dips, deeper plunges, and sudden spikes in crude oil prices.
Panama has become a popular destination for foreign investment due to its stable political environment, pro-business government, rising real estate market, and growing economy. There are several ways to invest in Panama, including stock, American depository receipts, real estate, and starting a business.

Key Takeaways There are several ways to invest in Panama, including through the country's stock exchange, purchasing American depository receipts, investing in real estate, and starting a business.

Panamas stock market exchange is called the Bolsa de Valores de Panama; it trades stock, corporate debt, and government securities.

As of June 21, 2020, there were two available Panama ADRs on U.S. exchanges: Banco Latinoamericano de Exportaciones y Importaciones, S.A (BLX) and CopaHoldings S.A. (CPA).

Panama offers a retirement incentive that includes the import of tax-free household goods and many discounts on hotels, restaurants, movies, and other professional services.

Invest in Panamanian Stock

Panamas stock market exchange is called the Bolsa de Valores de Panama. This exchange trades stock, corporate debt, and government securities. Although relatively new and smaller in size, the Bolsa de Valores de Panama is attracting more companies to list their stocks. For example, one of the more heavily traded stocks on the exchange is Grupo ASSA, S.A., a large Panamanian insurance company that services clients in Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and El Salvador.

Purchase a Panamanian American Depository Receipt

Typically, one of the simplest ways to gain exposure to an individual country is to invest in an exchange-traded fund (ETF) that either specializes or has high exposure to that country. However, Panama does not have a suitable ETF that completely fits this mold. As of Nov. 28, 2020, the iShares MSCI Turkey ETF has the highest exposure to Panama, with 4.49%.

Investors looking to gain exposure can seek other ties to Panama by investing in an American depository receipt, or ADR. As of June 21, 2020, there were two available Panama ADRs on U.S. exchanges: Banco Latinoamericano de Exportaciones y Importaciones, S.A (BLX) and CopaHoldings S.A. (CPA).

Invest in the Real Estate Market

Panamas real estate recovered from the global financial crisis of 2008 faster than most other Central American countries.

Much of the real estate recovery has been attributed to the growth of retirees moving to the area and the milder tropical weather. Panama offers a retirement incentive that includes the import of tax-free household goods and many discounts on hotels, restaurants, movies, and other professional services.

The country has many different real estate companies that can help foreign investors choose the right property. Knowing Spanish is not a necessity, as many of the real estate firms are accustomed to English-speaking investors.

Panama also has several incentives for construction projects. New residential construction valued up to $120,000 gets 20 years of property tax exoneration on the improvements. Construction ranging from $120,000 to $300,000 gets 10 years of property tax exoneration, and anything above $300,000 gets five years.

Invest in the Panama Pacifico Special Economic Area

The Panama Pacifico Special Economic Area is assigned to the production of goods and services that add value to Panamas economy. It's located at the former Howard Air force base and provides foreign investors with several incentives.

Panama encourages international trade, corporate offices, call centers, aviation services, film production, and more in this special zone. Some fiscal incentives include exemption from certain import, levy, real estate, stamp, commercial and industrial taxes. Panama also offers several labor incentives, such as fixed rates for overtime and holiday hours for employees, and exemptions for hiring foreign laborers.

Open a Business

Panama allows foreign investors to establish their businesses in the country as one of three structures: sole proprietor, partnership, or corporation. To begin the process, you must file a registro fiscal, or income tax registry, with the government. Then, you need to obtain a commercial license and a social security number. Finally, you must pay all municipal taxes, along with any necessary permits that coincide with the type of business that is being run.

Panama is a very popular place for companies to establish as their home country, due to the favorable tax laws and financial privacy. Offshore companies and their owners are exempt from corporate, withholding, income, capital gains, and estate taxes. Panama also maintains strict financial privacy laws that allow a corporation and its members to remain completely anonymous if need be. Additionally, Panama has few tax treaties with other countries, so offshore banking has little to no reporting requirements associated with it.

When opening a business in Panama, knowing Spanish is useful but not required. What is highly recommended is a good business attorney to help ensure that the business is going through the correct process with both the national and local governments.
The Childrens Ombudsman has criticised delays in providing services to deal with the hundreds of cases of child sexual abuse carried out by children every year.

Niall Muldoon said Ireland is way behind the curve in tackling a problem which a conference heard is causing devastation in many families.

More than 2,500 sexual abuses against children are confirmed in an average year, with an estimated one in three carried out by U18s. A review of treatment services for sex abusers, which followed the 2005 Ferns report, recommended the provision of therapeutic interventions specifically for juveniles.

That was in 2007, noted Mr Muldoon. From 2008 to 2010 we had 1m set aside in the budget to create this service. It didnt happen. Thats to our shame.

In August 2016, the National Inter-Agency Prevention Programme (NIAPP) was set up but with just four full-time staff. Its fantastic but its the guts of a decade after it was promised, agreed, and funded, and Im guessing that the budget hasnt reached 1m yet so were way behind the curve here, he said.

NIAPP can call on about 30 Tusla staff to work on various cases but they can only give on average one day a week to the service.

A child needs to have certainty. They need to know youre going to be here six months from now. Its like working with a bungee cord. Youre not quite sure when youre going to be pulled back. Thats not the best way forward, said Mr Muldoon.

He said some people might question why resources should be put into children who carry out abuse.

Were doing it because theyre children. Theres no other rationale needed.

These children deserve as much help as any other child and just because they did something that may be criminal or may be difficult for us to understand, and is definitely abhorrent in many ways, we still need to work with those children and give them the opportunities that every child deserves.

He added: We know that children who carry out abuse now could end up doing something more in the future. Investment now is going to be paid back 50 times because they dont carry on reoffending as adults.

Im saying this to the minister for children and youth affairs that she really needs to put her back into this one and make sure that we provide enough resources and a proper system.

Aidan Waterstone, senior manager with Tusla, the child and family agency, said he is aware of the need for more personnel. We would like to see that number increase, he said.

Its about resources, but certainly Tusla is very actively seeking additional resources.

Judy McCarthy, one of the four full-time NIAPP staff, said the number of children with sexually harmful behaviour is significant: People dont think about sexual abuse as something that children carry out. Its very difficult for families but very often the help they need is available, they just need to know they can ask for it.

Mr Muldoon criticised the way relationships and sexuality education is delivered in schools, saying it is not fit for purpose. Good education is essential in helping to prevent sexual abuse, he said.

He also pleaded for a proper counselling service for child victims of sex abuse. There remains no public national counselling service dedicated to the needs of child victims of sexual abuse which means that children are not guaranteed appropriate long-term counselling after such life-altering events.

We have a national counselling service for the adults who suffered abuse in the past so a child of 17 who has suffered abuse has to wait until they become 18 to get free accessible service. Thats not right.
The Labour Party has agreed on plans to bring forward legislation to provide for citizenship of children born in Ireland to non-nationals.

The decision was made at a meeting of the party's Executive Board today following the threatened deportation of nine-year-old Eric Zhi Ying Xue from Bray.

Eric Zhi Ying Xue

Party leader Brendan Howlin it was not "tenable, just or fair" that children who were born in Ireland have to rely on a minister in their constituency to lobby on their behalf to stay in this country.

"The 2004 citizenship referendum, brought forward by Fianna Fail and supported by Fine Gael removed the constitutional right to birthright citizenship as provided for under constitutional amendments following the Good Friday Agreement," he said.

Labour had campaigned for a No vote in this referendum.

"Children born here, and those who have spent most of their lives here, should not be deported and the current situation where young people have to rely on having a Government Minister in their constituency to lobby on their behalf, to stay in their own country, is not tenable, just or fair.

It is a sad day for Ireland when local campaigns are required to ensure children can stay in our country.

"That is why the Labour Party will bring forward legislation to ensure children born in Ireland can become Irish citizens after a period of time, and can remain here.

"It is hypocrisy of the highest order that the Taoiseach has an envoy in the United States seeking rights for undocumented Irish, while in our own country children are threatened with deportation," he said.

Labour Party Chairperson and candidate for Wicklow, Jack O'Connor said: "I am proud that the Labour Party opposed this referendum in 2004, but we are now seeing the direct result of it. It is clear that FG Ministers are speaking out of both sides of their mouth on this issue.

"It's all very well for these Ministers to put themselves on the side of the angels in a specific case in their own constituency but this barbaric deportation of Irish children is the logical consequence of their previous populist posturing.

"I want to thank the many members of the public, and Labour Party who have asked for action on this, and all those who have campaigned for Eric to stay in Ireland," he said.

Digital Desk
By Niall Murray, Education Correspondent

The Valuation Office has said land values around the Harolds Cross greyhound stadium have increased in the 18 months since it suggested the Department of Education pay 23m for the Dublin site.

The Irish Greyhound Board (IGB) cleared its debt, after completion of the sale in May, a year after the Department of Education offered 23m for the property. Racing ended there early last year. The figure, suggested in an April 2017 valuation from the Valuation Office, matched the boards long-standing bank debt. The coincidence drew renewed controversy, since it emerged, last week, that the boards own, independent valuers had suggested a value of 12m if used for housing, but as little as 6m if restricted to recreation.

Subsequent to acceptance of its offer in May, 2017, the Department of Education secured Dublin City Council rezoning of the land in September 2017 to allow construction of schools there.

In the Dail on Thursday, new Education Minister Joe McHugh acknowledged the 3.8m per acre paid by his department was big money. He committed to publish both the April, 2017, Valuation Office report and a more recent update, provided in light of the controversy around the IGBs much lower valuation.

The update received earlier this week, from the Valuation Office, was also referred to on Thursday by Department of Education secretary general, Sean O Foghlu, at the Dail Public Accounts Committee (PAC).

Fianna Fail TD Marc MacSharry suggested last year based on his experience as an auctioneer, that the value of the Harolds Cross site was more likely to be 9m, if appropriate zoning was secured.

He raised it again at a PAC meeting with Department of Education officials on Thursday, but Mr O Foghlu defended the figure paid. The secretary general said the department was bound to go with the figure from an independent valuation by the Valuation Office.

Since then, we asked them to do a market check and they have come back and said that prices have gone up since, he said.

It would have been great if we could go with your valuation, but thats the valuation that came through, he told Mr MacSharry.

The Valuation Office update, posted on the Department of Education website, said housing-market pressures have continued to force up the value of, and prices paid for, land with development potential, since April, 2017.

The Valuation Office is aware of a number of transactions that have taken place in the last year in the Dublin 6 and Dublin 8 areas, for in excess of 6m per acre, it wrote.
By Olivia Kelleher

The mother of a suicidal 10-year-old boy who is on the autistic spectrum has written an open letter to Health Minister Simon Harris asking him to allocate urgent counselling for her son so she can go to bed at night without being afraid of waking up to a tragedy.

The Cork mother says her son threw himself in front of a car two weeks ago, narrowly escaping injury. He has also threatened to jump out the bedroom window.

He was diagnosed with ASD when he was six and has been talking about suicide for a number of months.

She said he is in the system with the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services CAHMS service and is in a mainstream school, but that his behaviour is escalating. He lashes out physically in the home arising out of his frustration and suffers from insomnia that often sees him go to school on less than two hours sleep.

The woman has appealed to Mr Harris to intervene immediately to provide counselling for her son as she says he does not understand the finality of suicide.

I cant go to sleep at night until he is asleep because I am afraid of what I will wake up to in the morning, she said.

He does self-harm. He is vocal about what he wants to do and how he wants to do it. He bangs his head off a wall. He breaks things in his room. Thats OK. They can be replaced. But my son cant be replaced.

The 29-year-old says when the boy was younger, she was able to promise him that Mammy can make things OK.

Now, though, she says she feels powerless.

I cant make it OK any more, she said. I am powerless as a safety net. There is no counselling being provided. The school are taking it seriously. Everyone is doing the best they can.

The desperate mother has sent the open letter to Mr Harris and has also posted it on her Facebook page. She has implored other parents in similar situations to come forward in solidarity with her.

I am hoping that other mothers will voice their life., she said. If people can protest for water why cant we protest for our children?

I am not the only mother up crying because my son doesnt want to be here.

She fears her son will be used as the example of what happens when things are left too late and has called on the Department of Health to pull the finger out now to avoid causing her family irreparable harm. She also spoke to the Neil Prendeville show on Corks Red FM.

In a statement, the Department of Health said a number of initiatives are being undertaken to address the waiting times for children and young people with disabilities to access services and assessment.

The statement said disability services are engaged in a major reconfiguration of therapy resources for children with disabilities into multi-disciplinary geographically-based teams. The statement added that funding for additional therapy posts was secured as part of Budget 2019.

These additional posts, along with the reconfiguration of services and other innovative approaches will have a significant positive impact on waiting times for assessment and therapy service delivery over the course of the next year.
Peter Casey will announce this weekend whether he will remain in the presidential race after talking to family and supporters.

The former Dragons Den star sparked controversy this week over remarks he made about the Travelling community.

Mr Casey said Travellers are basically people camping on other peoples land. He said he does not recognise Travellers as a distinct ethnic minority.

Despite getting a strong positive feedback for the remarks, as well as a backlash, the candidate said he does not want people to elect him as president of Ireland based on one statement and admitted that he is surprised beyond belief by the reaction to his remarks.

I promised my mother that I would stand years ago for the presidency of Ireland and she would not want me to stand if I was going to get elected on this platform, he told RTE News at One.

Mr Casey will take the weekend off from campaigning to think carefully about whether to continue in the race and will make his decision known on Monday. If he does decide to step away from campaigning, he said he would ask people not to vote for him and said his preferred candidate would be senator Joan Freeman.

Mr Caseys name will remain on the ballot paper regardless of whether he halts his campaign, as the last day for withdrawing from the race was September 26.

Reacting to Mr Caseys statement, President Michael D Higgins said: I think reflection is very good and I do wish him well. It would be very cynical to take one of the most vulnerable communities and use them as an opportunity to kick up your ratings in the polls.

Mr Higgins said he thinks Mr Caseys comments on the Travelling community were appalling.

Separately, Mr Higgins defended the unvouched 317,000 allowance the President receives, claiming that the money enables the President to take some independent action without having to seek the permission of the Government.

It was to allow the incumbent of the office to have some independence in putting the stamp on their presidency and thats what happened, thats how it has come to be that, in the present circumstances, you have 20,000 people coming through the rooms, you have all of the different groups who are being received.

He gave the example of holding receptions for those involved in the Special Olympics and people who responded to the flooding emergency last year.

Mr Higgins said he is thinking of proposing an independent audit committee that would look at how the 317,000 is spent.

He said this committee would be involved in a continuous audit which would include visiting the Aras three or four times a year.

He said it would be up to the committee to decide whether full details of its audit would be published.

Mr Higgins said he expects the cost of his campaign will come in somewhere between 360,000 and 390,000.
By Dan Buckley

Seven members of An Garda Siochana have been recognised at an awards ceremony in Dublin for their courage in the line of duty.

They were among 21 individuals presented with National Bravery Awards by Dail Ceann Comhairle Sean O Fearghail.

Four of them  gardai Thomas OGriofa, David Hannon, Patrick Gallagher, and Sergeant Gerard Mullaney  were awarded certificates of bravery for rescuing a man from a smoke-filled house in Sligo.

Gardai David Hannon, Stephen Fahy, Thomas OGriofa, and Patrick Gallagher, awarded a certificate for bravery during a house fire.

Other members of the force who risked their own lives to aid others in peril include Garda Stephen Fahy, who, with civilian Adam McGoldrick, rescued a man from the Garavogue River in Sligo; and Reserve Garda Alan Burke and Garda Maria Freeley, who helped rescue a man from the River Corrib in Galway.

Of the examples of exceptional bravery, many involved river or sea rescues.

A bronze medal was awarded to Clodagh Hayes who, at the age of 14, saved a young boy from drowning in the River Lee in Cork.

Clodagh Hayes and her father Ray after she was awarded a bronze medal for saving a young boy in difficulty in the River Lee.

Clodagh had just finished training at the Lee Rowing Club on the River Lee Marina and was with her father, when she saw a young boy in difficulty in the water. Even though the weather had been warm, the water conditions were treacherous due to a high tide, strong current, and cold temperature.

Michelle Cremin and Drew Kearney were awarded certificates of bravery for a rescue at Inch beach, Whitegate, Co Cork.

A life buoy had been thrown to the boy but, due to the tide, he was unable to grab hold of it and began to go under the water. Clodagh entered the water and swam over to the boy with a life buoy. He was brought to safety and subsequently made a full recovery.

In other citations, bronze medals were also awarded to Andrew Johnston, who rescued a woman from a car that had entered a river at Carrickmore, Saint Johnston, Co Donegal; and to Paul McInerney and Eugene Duff, who sought to save a man from drowning after he had a heart attack and fell into the sea at Kilmuckride, Co Wexford. They performed CPR on the man, but he died.

Another bronze medal winner, Martin Cullinane, saved the lives of two young boys who had fallen into the sea at Mariners Quay in Passage West, Co Cork.

Martin Cullinane is awarded a bronze medal for his actions on April, 14 this year when he dived in and helped save the lives of two boys, aged 6 and 7, who had fallen into the sea at Mariners Quay, Passage West, Cork.

The ceremony at Farmleigh House in the Phoenix Park, Dublin, brought recipients together to receive certificates of bravery and, for five of them, bronze medals of bravery as well.

The presentation of the National Bravery Awards is an opportunity to celebrate the courage of ordinary people who risk their own safety to protect their fellow citizens, said the Ceann Comhairle. In a world often dominated by bad news, it is important to recognise the sacrifices made by good people, whose selflessness can serve to remind us of our duty of care to one another. It is an honour to present awards to 21 deserving recipients and I thank them for their courage.
Visitors can get up close and personal with Meghan Markles wedding dress as a new exhibition opens at Windsor Castle. Rachel Marie Walsh meets the curator.

VISITORS to Windsor Castle this autumn can get closer to the Englands Duke and Duchess of Sussexs wedding clothes than any of the public were in May. A new exhibition to benefit the Royal Collection Trust, a registered charity, displays the couples outfits and accessories from the main event.

The mystery of Meghan Markles dress had many rabbit trails. Betfair and Paddy Powers, fearing insider leaks, suspended punts on Alexander McQueen after they were inundated with requests for the British designer in February. US outlets published expectant profiles of Erdem Moralioglu, another favourite of the Duchess of Cambridge. An image of Ralph & Russos Haute Couture Atelier team viewing hand embroidery by Royal School of Needlework students posted on the schools Instagram had the fashion crowd certain the brand was favoured.

Claire Waight Keller, the Birmingham-born artistic head at Givenchy, was revealed to the world (including her family) as the chosen one as the bride stepped from the Queens Rolls Royce at Windsor. You didnt need to lip-read well to clock the groom telling her you look amazing at the altar.

It is fantastic to be able to capture that wonderful wedding moment, with both the Duke and Duchess represented through what they wore, says Caroline de Guinaut, senior curator at Royal Collection Trust, who has been working with the couple since before the big day.

Obviously the wedding took place in Windsor Castle so it is very special to show them in the State Apartments where they were worn.

Givenchy, never the frontrunner among predictions, seems an increasingly natural choice in light of Markles newlywed style. Though the house has its fans among modern celebrity it is forever linked with Old Hollywood princess Audrey Hepburn. Hubert de Givenchys work with his long-term muse forms part of the houses codes, of which Waight Keller remains mindful. Elle, Harpers Bazaar, Vogue and other outlets have all noted the Hepburn-esque nature of Meghan Markles looks this year.

In a 2016 interview for Glamour, Markle described her personal taste as simple and pared-back when asked about her Suits characters wedding dress. She also favours balletic silhouettes, as Hepburn did, so brand and bride were a perfect match.

The wedding dress of Meghan Markle, created by the British designer Clare Waight Keller, artistic director at the historic French fashion house Givenchy.

The dress is made from an exclusive double-bonded silk cady, developed by Ms Waight Keller following extensive research in fabric mills around Europe. Its elegant lines were achieved using six meticulously-placed seams. They extend towards the back of the dress, where the train flows in soft round folds cushioned by an underskirt in triple-silk organza. The boat-neckline bodice is just as lovely.

In Queen of the World, an ITV documentary aired on September 23, Meghan mentions the gowns lining is stitched with her something blue: a piece of fabric from the dress she wore on her first date with the Duke.

Royal wedding gowns always set trends but Ms Markles is especially easy to emulate, making it a fashion catalyst at every price-point. With its uniform texture and clean lines, similar versions are easier to turn out at department store-prices than her sister-in-laws more detailed Alexander McQueen.

The five-metre-long veil is made from silk-tulle and embroidered with the flora of the 53 countries of the British Commonwealth.

Despite the drama surrounding the dress, the veil may be a bigger attraction, especially for visitors with Commonwealth ties. Designed to flow beautifully with the dress, it tells a story through embroidery. The national flower of each country as well as Californias state poppy and Wintersweet, which grows in the grounds of Kensington Palace, are represented in silk and organza. It was important for me, especially now being a part of the royal family, to have all 53 Commonwealth countries incorporated, Meghan said in the ITV documentary. Her husband is his grandmothers personal pick as a Commonwealth Youth Ambassador.

You can also cast a magpie-eye over the diamond and platinum bandeau tiara, lent to the bride by his granny. On public display for the first time, the tiara is formed as a flexible band of 11 sections, pave set with large and small brilliant diamonds in a geometric shape. The centre is set with a detachable brooch of 10 diamonds. The bandeau was made in 1932 for the Queens grandmother, Queen Mary. The brooch was given to the then Princess Mary in 1893 by the County of Lincoln on her marriage to Prince George, (Englands future King George V). The bandeau and the brooch were bequeathed to the present queen in 1953.

The diamond and platinum bandeau tiara lent to Meghan by her grandmother-in-law.

For those of us more interested in Harry, he did not disappoint (disregarding his decision to keep the beard, maybe). His outfit included a blue doeskin frockcoat, white gloves, a white buckskin belt with sword slings, and black trousers with a red stripe down the side.

This is the military uniform of the Blues and Royals, a regiment of the cavalry formed in 1969, and was commissioned from Savile Row tailors Dege & Skinner. The Queen is the colonel-in-chief of this regiment and granted Prince Harry permission to wear it.

The Duke has loaned an identical uniform to go on display. The coat bears the figured braiding of Regimental pattern on the stand-up collar and sleeves. It is ranked to Major with large gold embroidered crowns on the epaulettes.

This exhibition is a chance to enjoy the most-analysed outfits from the most-watched royal nuptials in history. The couture is clearly the biggest draw but military influence on fashion is endless  from structure and embellishments to footwear and accessories  so it is also a must-see event for students and wannabe designers.

- A Royal Wedding: The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will be at Windsor Castle from 26 October 26 to January 6.
By Phil Casey

Englands Ashley Chesters remained the man to catch in the Andalucia Masters, despite not hitting a single shot on a second weather-affected day at Valderrama.

After four hours were lost to stormy conditions on Thursday, two delays yesterday meant half the field, including Chesters and defending champion Sergio Garcia, had yet to begin their second rounds.

Play was due to resume at 9.10am local time today but with more bad weather forecast, the tournament could be extended until Monday or reduced to 54 holes. The European Tour will be keen to complete as many rounds as possible as the event is the last chance for players to reach the top 116 on the Race to Dubai and secure full playing privileges for next season.

Scotlands Marc Warren, who began the week 144th on the money list, is a shot off the lead after playing the first nine holes of his second round in two under par, with Frances Gregory Bourdy alongside Warren on four under after an opening 67.

Home favourite Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano is part of a five-strong group on three under after seven holes of his second round, but the 38-year-old will return to an eagle putt on the par-five 17th when play resumes.

Spaniard Alvaro Quiros and Welshman Oliver Farr were also on three under in the early stages of their second rounds, alongside Garcia and Australian Jason Scrivener, who were due to start their second rounds on Saturday.

Meanwhile Leona Maguire missed out on making it to second stage of LPGA qualifying school by one shot in Florida, therefore ending her chances of securing a card on the main tour for 2019. Her level par round of 72 left her an agonising one shot outside the cut mark.

Maguire needed a birdie at her final hole to sneak in but she could only manage a par.

That left her in a tie for 42nd with 33 players on one under or better qualifying automatically and they were joined by nine additional players who finished one shot outside the top 25 on level par.
Between school runs, correcting homework, saving for Christmas, and batch-cooking a weeks supply of spaghetti bolognese, have you had time to engage in the presidential debate, asks Joyce Fegan

BY THIS time next week we will have elected our new president. Will it be the incumbent Michael D Higgins? Will it be Peter Casey, the man no one has really heard of but who peddles lies about dog grooming bills?

Will it be Joan Freeman of Pieta House, who voted no in the referendum on the Eighth Amendment, but who voted yes in the marriage equality one?

Or will Sinn Fein, in the form of Liadh Ni Riada, be taking up residence in Phoenix Park until 2025?

It could also be either Sean Gallagher or Gavin Duffy, the reality TV stars you might remember from Dragons Den.

Either way, its a presidential race of six candidates that has seemed pointless at times and damaging at others.

People in Ireland are very busy. Unemployment is now at 6%. In the past year alone, the number of unemployed people dropped by 10%. Our population is growing too, in almost every county in Ireland; there are double the amount of births to deaths, if not higher.

In Cork, for example, in 2017, there were 5,472 births to 2,624 deaths. In Cork the average age is 37-and-a-half. In South Dublin, in 2017, there were 4,000 births to 1,278 deaths and the average age is 36.8.

All of this points to busy people, busy people who are running households, having babies, holding down jobs, minding children, and taking care of ageing parents.

If you fit in to this busy category, let me ask, between school runs, correcting homework, saving for Christmas and batch-cooking a weeks supply of spaghetti bolognese, have you had time to engage in the presidential election debate? Aside from Michael D Higgins, can you name the other five candidates?

If you can hazard a guess as to one or two of their names, do you know anything about their ideological or business backgrounds? Who they have worked for in the past and who gave them money to fund their campaign? This is not a test, this is an exercise to see how busy, preoccupied, and otherwise engaged you are.

Most people I talk to see the next president of Ireland as a foregone conclusion and have totally disengaged from the debate. In this sense the race has been pointless. But in terms of democracy, and giving the public a vote on whether Higgins deserves another term or if he should be replaced, the campaign has been important.

But it has also been damaging.

Headlines have been chock-a-block with insults and slurs, falsehoods, and low-blows. In a country known for

having a tolerant disposition, the campaign trail and its TV debates have let us down as a nation.

We wont rehash them here to prevent further oxygenation, save for one  the lie about who pays for Higgins dogs to be groomed. Peter Casey, one of the other five candidates, the one who talks about money, a lot, said the following to Higgins: Your rent [in Aras an Uachtarain, where every president lives] is paid, your drivers paid, everything is paid for. Your foods paid for, your nice suits are paid for. What do you spend your money on? Why do you need 250,000? Even your dog-grooming bills are paid for.

A spokesman responding on behalf of Higgins described the dog-grooming claims as false and ludicrous.

Adding that all the costs of the dogs upkeep are met from the Presidents own funds.

In a country with 10,000 people living in emergency accommodation and way behind our climate change goals, it is beyond embarrassing that the debate has come to this. No wonder all the busy people with their jobs and children and ageing parents have switched off.

But a more serious note on Higgins Bernese mountain dogs Brod and Sioda. During the summer, several hundred women, who had spent time in industrial schools and Magdalene laundries, attended an event in the Aras, where they were given an apology by the President on behalf of the people.

During the speech, one of the women became visibly upset and left the marquee to be alone on a bench outside. When you looked out the window, all you saw was the elderly lady sitting alone, being consoled by the two dogs at her feet. Pets and animals might not be important to some, but to others, theyre fundamental to their wellbeing.

Moving on, the difference between this presidential election and the last in 2011 is that there was no incumbent then. Mary McAleese was leaving office after two terms and was not allowed stay for another. So we were voting on a brand new president and we elected Michael D Higgins.

Seven years later, he is allowed to run for a second term, which he has pursued. If no one else had decided to run, he would have gone uncontested and we would not be having a vote next Friday.

However, lots of people came out of the woodwork and five received enough political backing to get their name on your ballot paper.

Their names again, in alphabetical order are: Peter Casey (reality TV star and businessman), Gavin Duffy (reality TV star and businessman), Joan Freeman (founder of Pieta House), Sean Gallagher (reality TV star and businessman), and Liadh Ni Riada (a member of the European Parliament for Sinn Fein).

There is also another difference between 2011 and 2018  insults and slurs have become accepted practice in political discourse and public conversation. With Donald Trump in the White House, his combative style of engagement has emboldened many, but it is not particularly becoming of the Irish temperament.

One last thing, and this is said in spite of the adage that what goes on tour stays on tour. In 2013 Higgins visited Mexico, Costa Rica, and El Salvador with diplomats from our Department of Foreign Affairs. Several important trade and bilateral agreements were signed and key human rights issued were raised. Unfortunately a bug, gastrointestinal in nature, made its way around the Irish delegation, with journalists and aides alike being struck down. However, there was one person whose constitution was such that he never caught the bug. By this day next week, he could still be your president.
Saturday, October 20th, 2018 (12:01 am) - Score 4,330

Alternative rural UK ISP Gigaclear is still reeling from the embarrassment of having to make a public apology for the significant delays to their roll-out of full fibre (FTTP) ultrafast broadband in Devon and Somerset (here). Now theyve also had to do the same for Northamptonshire.

Last weeks announcement noted that the delays had emerged because fundamental issues existed including management of subcontractors, build methodology and capacity within the team (e.g. its been difficult to find enough skilled engineers, which is a general industry issue that weve highlighted a few times before).

At the time the Connecting Devon and Somerset (CDS) noted that Gigaclear was experiencing delivery challenges in a number of other areas, however none of the other areas are subject to the delays which the CDS programme has experienced. Weve yet to see the new plan for CDS and so its a little hard to judge, but some people in other areas are now saying that the delays could be just as bad elsewhere.

Since last weeks update various complaints have reached our inbox and most of those tend to focus on delays in parts of Herefordshire, Gloucestershire (they have a 90m deal with Complete Utilities to reach 70,000 premises in those two), which we covered on Thursday (here). However locals in Northamptonshire have since suggested that the delays theyre seeing may be even worse.

The Northamptonshire Project

So far Gigaclear has won two contracts with the County Council to deliver part of Stage 3 under the Superfast Northamptonshire project. Both were signed in January 2017 (here) and according to the schemes website they currently aim to provide broadband speeds of up to 1Gbps to over 6,336 premises by the end of March 2019 (the original Jan 2017 announcement pegged completion even earlier, at December 2018).

A total of 6.58m of public money is being invested in Stage 3 (4.9m from the county council and 1.68m the Governments Broadband Delivery UK programme), while Gigaclear will be investing 3.65m. We should point out that the operator also has a big commercial deployment on-going in the area, which should take their total coverage to around 25,000 premises.

Fast forward a little bit and in November 2017 Gigaclear signed a new deal with civil engineering company the John Henry Group to help them deliver on 21,000 of the planned premises. Unfortunately since then the progress has been flaky, as illustrated by this useful comparison of how Gigaclears LOT 2 roll-out plan (live plan) has changed from February 2018 to October 2018 (Credit to Jason for helping us with this).

A lot of areas now appear to be suffering from delays and these seem to range from around 3-6 months to the dizzy heights of c.21 months. For example, at the start of this year building was supposed to complete in Chacomb by Q3 2018 but it will not now complete until Q2 2020 and some locals fear further delays. As one of those affected residents told us (Jason), I have no confidence work will start as planned.

Interestingly we took a long look at various council meeting documents between June and October 2018 but none of them, including those that were intended to deliver an update on the Superfast Northamptonshire project, alluded to any clear delays (note: this wont cover Gigaclears commercial deployments).

Mind you this recent cabinet update did note a 1.6m reduction in forecast expenditure on Superfast Broadband, which occurred because suppliers have revised milestone dates targets resulting in payments slipping into 2019-20 (Gigaclear isnt mentioned in the context, so it could just as easily apply to Openreach). Thankfully Gigaclear has been kind enough to furnish us with a statement.

Mike Surrey, CEO Gigaclear, told ISPreview.co.uk: Gigaclear has worked collaboratively with Northamptonshire County Council on the Stage 3 programme to bring full fibre, high speed broadband to rural Northamptonshire and significant progress has been made to date. However, due to a supplier unfortunately pulling out of the project, some communities have experienced a delay whilst a new contractor was appointed. We are now working hard on the delivery of a revised deployment plan which will be submitted to Northamptonshire County Council in November to ensure the rollout programme is accelerated and delivered against the new schedule. We will be increasing resources across the region as part of this revised plan. We would like to extend our apologies for this delay and to reassure residents that we are committed to delivering fast broadband services as part of the Superfast Northamptonshire project.

As usual we should stress that delays with major broadband projects do happen and with different operators too (weve reported on plenty of problems with Openreach and Virgin Media etc. in the past), particularly so when it involves the heavy civil engineering required for deploying Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) technology. Never let it be said that doing full fibre is easy or cheap.

Meanwhile it seems that one of Gigaclears biggest challenges has stemmed from having to rapidly scale-up their FTTP deployments in a market where many other operators are trying to do the same thing. On top of that theres already a shortage of skilled telecoms engineers, which adds a further complication.

Hopefully going forward the ISP will be able to keep to their revised dates, once published. One positive aspect is that they do appear to have enough financial backing to carry their various contracts through to completion and all credit to them for apologising.
WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange has filed a lawsuit against Ecuador, accusing the government of violating his fundamental rights and freedoms.

Assange, who has been taking refuge in the Ecuadorian embassy in London since June 2012, said in a statement issued by WikiLeaks on Friday that his lawyers would challenge a "protocol" put in place by Ecuador that made it mandatory for his lawyers to hand over personal details before being allowed to see him.

The case was launched in Quito by WikiLeaks general counsel Balthazar Garcon who arrived in the Ecuadorian capital on Thursday.

The statement said: "The move comes almost seven months after Ecuador threatened to remove his protection and summarily cut off his access to the outside world, including by refusing to allow journalists and human rights organisations to see him, and installing three signal jammers in the embassy to prevent his phone calls and Internet access.

Ecuador cut off Assange's Internet access and phone lines in March, but said recently it would restore them if he adhered to some conditions.

Assange has said that he fears being extradited to the US if he leaves the embassy in London. Last year US officials said arresting him was a top priority.

The WikiLeaks statement said: The US case against Julian Assange dates back to the Obama administration 2010, but has been expanded under Trump to include the biggest leak in CIA history, Vault 7."

The statement said pressure had been increasing on Ecuador to hand Assange over to the UK, especially since US President Mike Pence's visit in June during which Ecuador President Lenin Moreno and Pence "agreed to remain in close co-ordination" in relation to Assange.

"Last week, Ecuador's former President Rafael Correa, under whose administration Assange obtained political asylum, said that the current administration is 'trying to break him psychologically' and that a deal had been struck during Pence's visit to Ecuador earlier this year," the statement claimed.

The protocol referred to earlier makes Assange's political asylum contingent on censoring his freedom of opinion, speech and association.

"The protocol also requires journalists, his lawyers and anyone else seeking to see Assange to disclose private or political details such as their social media usernames, the serial numbers and IMEI codes of their phones and tablets. The protocol says the government may share these details with other agencies. The protocol claims the embassy may seize Assange's property or his visitors, and, without a warrant, hand it over to UK authorities," the statement said.
The latest fiasco to befall Windows 10 - Microsoft two weeks ago pulled the fall feature upgrade from distribution and urged those already with a copy not to install it - has triggered calls for the company to get its act together.

"Microsoft really needs to get a handle on this. They're running out of time," said Chris Goettl, product manager with client security and management vendor Ivanti, when asked his reaction to the show-stopping problem of deleted user files. "If Microsoft wants to continue down this track of the Windows 10 [rapid release] model, its upgrades and updates must be of better quality than they have been."

Four days after releasing Windows 10 October 2018 Update - also known as 1809 in Microsoft's yymm numeric format - the firm shut down access to the feature upgrade. The problem: On some PCs, the upgrade process erased all the files in the Documents, Pictures, Music and Videos folders.

Although Microsoft restarted testing of 1809 with its Insider beta program participants on Oct. 9, it has not yet restored access to the upgrade for manual download nor begun to deliver it to customers via Windows Update or WSUS (Windows Server Update Services), the default consumer- and commercial-grade distribution networks. The Redmond, Wash. company has not set a date when the upgrade process would resume.

The debacle was the biggest yet in Windows 10's short history. "That's an extremely unwelcome first for Microsoft, and it raises the question of whether the company is moving too fast and breaking too many things in the process," said long-time Windows-watcher Ed Bott of the decision to shut down 1809's dissemination. Bott also called Microsoft's move "unprecedented."

Although commentary varied about the retraction - and what it meant to Microsoft and customers - there were general themes, none of them really new to the debate over Windows 10 and its maker's OS strategy. It was the tenor of the critiques that seemed different.

Quality? What quality?

Calls for Microsoft to improve the quality of its upgrades and updates have been building for some time. Triggered by long stretches of problem-causing monthly updates - ironically, Microsoft dubs these, including the famous "Patch Tuesday" security releases, "quality" updates - commercial customers have been demanding that Redmond do better.

In July, patch expert Susan Bradley, a computer network and security consultant who also moderates the PatchMangement.org mailing list, implored Microsoft's senior executives to read the findings of a survey of IT professionals she conducted. That survey outlined how dissatisfied IT personnel were with the Windows patching process, in particular the updates' quality.

"Your customers who are in charge of patching and maintaining systems are not happy with the quality of updates ... and feel that it cannot go on as is," Bradley wrote in an open letter to Microsoft's leaders, including CEO Satya Nadella. Of the more than 1,000 respondents to her questionnaire, 64% were either "very much not satisfied" or "not satisfied" with the quality of Windows' updates.

Those opinions were only reinforced by 1809's stumble.

"Between quality releases and feature releases, they are falling down on quality across the board," Bradley maintained in an email reply to questions this week. "I keep saying that Surface devices should have the absolute best patching experience and look, again this time 1809 is blocked on some of the Surface devices as they need an Intel driver."

Goettl agreed and ran through a string of buggy updates going back more than a year, ticking off Windows 10's Creators Update, aka 1703, Windows 7, and Windows 10 1803 - the April 2018 Update - as examples of editions with recent flaws. "But losing customer data, that's pretty severe," he said of 1809's deleted files.

Concerns over quality - or the lack of it - in Windows' updates generate more than the immediate impact of crippled PCs or time wasted deploying re-releases. Low-quality updates spook customers, particularly commercial customers, who become leery of immediately installing security patches or look for ways to skip as many feature upgrades as possible.

"Many users and enterprises have lost trust in the entire updating process," argued Bradley, who also writes for Askwoody.com, the Windows-centric website run by Woody Leonard, a columnist for Computerworld. "No business that I personally know of installs updates immediately."

What happened to testing?

When the talk turns to Windows and the quality of its updates, users inevitably ask about testing. Why didn't testing uncover this bug or that flaw? What's going on with testing? Is Microsoft testing its updates at all?

To many, there is a straight line between Microsoft's 2014 dismissal of a large number of internal testers and the decline in quality. In response, Microsoft points to Windows Insider, the program that previews feature upgrades - but not the monthly security and non-security updates - to a large pool of Windows 10 volunteers. The 15 million Insiders, the plan goes, report problems, which Microsoft engineers fix before the code reaches production PCs.

While file deletions were reported by some Insiders befroe 1809 was given a green light, Microsoft implied they were passed over because the company had no inkling of their severity. "To help us better detect issues like this ... we have added an ability for users to also provide an indication of impact and severity when filing User Initiated Feedback," said John Cable, director of program management in the Windows servicing and delivery group, in an Oct. 9 blog post._

Outsiders were simultaneously aghast that Insider failed to produce a fix and critical of the very concept behind the program.

"This had to come up by the Insiders," Goettl said. "How did [1809] not get held up, how did Microsoft not pause it?"

"The Insider program is a great marketing program, [but] it's not a beta testing program," Bradley charged. "Many, many feedback items have no details, no context, no good bug information, [so] there's no way that Microsoft can take any other action other than to blow them off. Currently, the Insider program from this side of the wall looks like [a] hurricane-force firehose that for the most part is a waste of an engineer's resources to cull through.

"I am seeing too many good former beta testers say they no longer do the Insider builds because of the fanboy noise and lack of true beta interaction," she concluded.

Can Microsoft fix this?

It's unclear whether complaints about Windows 10's update strategy have reached a tipping point - that seems unlikely for practical reasons, since enterprises really have no alternative to Windows. But the volume of voices calling for change has certainly increased.

"After the debacle around the Windows 10 October Update/1809, the perception that Microsoft has lost control of its Windows 10 update strategy is even more apparent," wrote Mary Jo Foley, like Bott a long-time Microsoft observer who writes for ZDNet.

Foley's advice to Microsoft: Take a break from larding Windows 10 with new features. "It's time for the company to release at least one - and maybe more - Windows 10 feature updates that focus exclusively on reliability/fundamentals and not on features," Foley urged.

Others had different ideas. "Something like [1809] is going to happen again," said Goettl. "Microsoft needs a better break-glass scenario." By that, he meant the company should have a quick-response plan in place "to get these [systems] back in service" as quickly as possible.

For her part, Bradley suggested Microsoft turn back the clock. "[Microsoft needs] a SUVP external testing program that pulls in more enterprises," she said, referring to the former Software Update Validation Program, which previewed security updates to a small group of invite-only organizations, including enterprises, to test patches before they were issued to the public. "Insider is great for asking 'So what do you think about this?', [but] it's not good for finding these release bugs."

Goettl knew only that things couldn't continue as they have. "If we stay on the track we're on, it's going to be more painful in the future," he said, predicting more 1809-esque problems to come.
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - October 19, 2018) - Roscan Gold Corporation (TSXV: ROS) ("Roscan" or the "Company") has retained Michael Poulin to provide investor relations for the Company. Mr. Poulin will assist Roscan in expanding its visibility through marketing endeavours directed towards new and existing shareholders and investors.

Under the terms of the agreement, Mr. Poulin will provide investor relation services for an initial six-month term, commencing September 16, 2018, at a cost of $3,500 per month. The agreement is subject to acceptance by the TSX Venture Exchange.

Mr. Poulin has worked as an investor relations consultant and/or employee for approximately 12 years with various public companies in Canada, focusing on small cap companies trading on North American stock exchanges, including Golden Dawn Minerals Inc., who he has worked with for the last 8 years. Mr. Poulin received a Bachelor of Arts Degree with an Economics major and Business minor from the University of British Columbia in 1991 and completed the Canadian Securities Course in 1993.

ABOUT ROSCAN

Roscan Gold Corporation is a Canadian gold exploration company focused on the acquisition and exploration of gold properties in West Africa. The Company has assembled a significant land position of 100%-owned permits in an area of large gold deposits for its Kandiole Project in west Mali.

For further information, please contact:

Greg Isenor

President and Chief Executive Officer

Tel: (902) 832-5555 or (416) 293-8437

Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Forward Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking information which is not comprised of historical facts. Forward-looking information is characterized by words such as "plan", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate" and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. Forward-looking information involves risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events, results, and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from such forward-looking information include, but are not limited to, changes in the state of equity and debt markets, fluctuations in commodity prices, delays in obtaining required regulatory or governmental approvals, and other risks involved in the mineral exploration and development industry, including those risks set out in the Company's management's discussion and analysis as filed under the Company's profile at www.sedar.com. Forward-looking information in this news release is based on the opinions and assumptions of management considered reasonable as of the date hereof, including that all necessary governmental and regulatory approvals will be received as and when expected. Although the Company believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing the forward-looking information in this news release are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on such information. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, other than as required by applicable securities laws.

-30-
ROGUE RIVER, Ore. UPDATE (5:57 p.m.) Rose Spiers has been found safe. A person familiar with the are joined search and rescue crews.

That person found Spiers about three miles from where she was last seen.

Spiers and her dogs were not injured.

A woman visiting relatives north of Rogue River took her dogs for a walk this morning and never returned, according to the Jackson County Sheriff's Office (JCSO). Deputies and search & rescue (SAR) teams are trying to find her whereabouts.

62-year-old Rosie Spiers reportedly left a relative's home in the 4500-block of East Evans Creek Road around 11:15 a.m. on Friday morning to take her dogs out for a walk. The dogs are described as a German wirehair pointer and a white West Highland Terrier.

Spiers' relative reported her missing at 1:43 p.m.

JCSO said that Spiers is just visiting and is unfamiliar with the area. Spiers is described as a white woman with blond hair  about four feet, eleven inches tall with a thin build.

A resident of Forest Hills Drive reported seeing a woman matching Spiers description around 12:15 p.m. on Friday afternoon. The location at which they claimed to see her is about one mile from where Spiers began her walk.

The surrounding area includes private property and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land.

Anyone who may have seen Spiers today is asked to call dispatch at (541) 776-7206. Refer to case #18-22190.
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) - One of 15 former priests found to have been credibly accused of sexually abusing children within a Northern California diocese is facing new allegations of molesting girls.

The San Francisco Chronicle reports that 90-year-old Hernan Toro is currently jailed on accusations of molesting two girls between 2011 and 2015.

San Jose Bishop Patrick McGrath released the priests' names Thursday as part of an effort to reassure parishioners following a stunning August report by Pennsylvania authorities.

The diocese report says Toro was convicted of sexual misconduct with a child 35 years ago in Santa Clara and listed his whereabout as San Leandro. But records show he's been in a San Jose jail since October 2017.

Diocese spokeswoman Liz Sullivan says the church wasn't aware of the current allegations against Toro.

(Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
UPDATE: The U.S. Supreme Court has temporarily blocked a high-profile climate change lawsuit that 21 young activists brought against the federal government.

The order issued Friday by Chief Justice John Roberts freezes trial proceedings in U.S. District Court in Oregon until lawyers for the young people provide a response and until another court order.

Justice Department lawyers had asked the high court Thursday to dismiss the case before it went to trial Oct. 29.

The lawsuit alleges the federal government has violated young people's constitutional rights through policies that have caused a dangerous climate.

They have said their generation bears the brunt of climate change and that the government has an obligation to protect natural resources for present and future generations.

The young activists have until Wednesday to provide a response.

Julia Olson, the co-counsel for the youth plaintiffs, said they are confident the trial will proceed when the court receives that response, and that the case has been mischaracterized by the federal government.

"This case is about already recognized fundamental rights and children's rights of equal protection under the law," Olson said.

_____________________________________________________

SEATTLE (AP) -- The U.S. government is trying again to stop a high-profile climate change lawsuit days before young activists are set to argue at trial that the government has violated their constitutional rights through policies that have caused a dangerous climate.

Justice Department lawyers on Thursday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to dismiss the case, saying the lawsuit attempts to redirect federal environmental policies through the courts rather than through the political process.

The court in July denied the government's previous request to dismiss the case as premature.

A group of 21 young activists sued in federal court in 2015 claiming government officials have known for decades that carbon pollution from fossil fuels was causing climate change and have taken actions that deprive them of a safe climate.
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LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Theresa May told business leaders during a teleconference on Friday that EU politicians are committed to reaching an agreement this autumn, striking what one source told Reuters was an upbeat tone.

London and Brussels are racing to strike a deal by the end of the year and firms are worried that without one, there could be widespread disruption of everything from supply chains to flights and the movement of food and livestock.

May briefed around 120 business leaders to update them on the progress of the talks after discussions in Brussels earlier this week.

The Prime Minister spoke for about 10 minutes and the tone of her message was quite optimistic, a source familiar with the content of the call told Reuters.

Mays office said the prime minister had acknowledged that there were a few significant issues still outstanding but that progress was being made.

The very real sense she had from leaders around the table at the Council was that they wanted to reach a deal as soon as possible this autumn, Mays office said.

She said that her aim was to wrap this up in November, one of the business people listening to the call said.

May was told by some that time is pressing and heard concerns over contingency measures which may be irreversible, the source added.

She was also asked what business could do to help on Brexit, to which she suggested firms write to lawmakers in Britain and elsewhere in Europe, to make sure leaders were aware that business needed a resolution.

Separately, Bloomberg reported that May was willing to give ground on one of the key sticking areas of the talks concerning the land border between the United Kingdom and Ireland.

Sterling gained on the report that Britain would allow the Northern Ireland backstop, or fallback arrangement in case of failure to agree a broader deal, to have no fixed time limit.

Britains Brexit minister, Dominic Raab, said just a week ago that the so-called backstop designed to prevent a hard border between the British province of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, must be finite, short and time-limited.

Brexit supporters in Mays government are concerned any temporary arrangements with the EU that lack a clear time limit may become permanent solutions over time.

Mays office had no immediate comment on the Bloomberg report. Earlier on Friday she told businesses that she expected any backstop arrangement to be temporary.
Stuff reported:

New Zealand womens apathy towards to the dangers of drinking during pregnancy is strengthening calls from health professionals for mandatory labelling on alcoholic drinks. Research published in the New Zealand Medical Journal earlier this year found almost a quarter of women involved in a cohort study continued to drink in their first trimester despite knowing they were pregnant. The Australia and New Zealand Ministerial Forum on Food Regulation, made up of health and primary industry ministers representing the Commonwealth, Australia, and New Zealand, will meet on Thursday to vote on a proposal to make danger stickers mandatory on booze.  But Brewers Association of New Zealand executive director Dylan Firth said the proposal seemed odd, given most alcohol companies already displayed warning labels on their products. The association, whose members DB Breweries and Lion produce more than 80 per cent of New Zealand-brewed beer, made changes to labelling a few years ago warning of the dangers of drinking during pregnancy.

I havent got a problem with pregnancy warnings on alcohol. I note they are very common already.

But I am far from convinced they have any beneficial impact.

First youd have to believe that there is a knowledge gap, in that pregnant women dont already know they shouldnt drink while pregnant. Considering this is hammered home in almost every pregnancy publication there is, Id say it is very well known.

Second youd have to believe that having a small pictogram on a bottle will cause a woman to suddenly realise she shouldnt be drinking, and stop.

The Ministry of Health estimates that one in 100 babies is born with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) and thats caused by exposure to alcohol in the womb. We think its ridiculous to argue that warnings are unnecessary or that the tiny warnings currently on the back of less than half of all alcohol products are sufficient.

It is tragic when babies are born with FASD. But Im not sure the issue if the mother doesnt know she shouldnt drink, more she doesnt care.

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Catholic leader shows interest in visiting Pyongyang



President Moon Jae-in's visit to the Vatican, the highlight of his nine-day European tour that began in France earlier this week, concluded Thursday with some impressive results.



Moon's visit to the Vatican started with a unique mass at the St. Peter's Basilica for peace on the Korean Peninsula, which was introduced in Korean. After the mass, Moon spoke to the congregation for about 10 minutes, which was also out of the ordinary.



During the speech, Moon recounted the amazing developments on the peninsula this year owing to his peace initiative and thanked the Pope Francis for his staunch support. "The U.S. and North Korea sat down together to end 70 years of hostility," Moon said. "As his holiness prayed ahead of the U.S.-North Korea summit, we are paving the way for the future of peace on the peninsula and around the world."



The Vatican visit drew keen attention because Moon was expected to relay North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's intention to invite the Catholic leader to Pyongyang. During an inter-Korean summit in the North Korean capital last month, Kim reportedly told Moon that he would wholeheartedly welcome a visit by the pope.



Many Koreans have been wondering how the pope would react to the invitation. During his audience with Moon, he reportedly said he would be "available" to travel to Pyongyang. If realized, it will be the first time for the head of the Catholic Church to visit North Korea, which is notorious for its religious oppression.



Pope Francis spent 55 minutes talking with Moon, which is much longer than the 30 minutes he spent with U.S. President Donald Trump last year. This reflects his special interest in Korea, which has been evident since the beginning of his papacy in 2013. He launched his first Asian tour in Korea in August 2014, travelling to various parts of the country.



If an official invitation arrives and the pope accepts, the visit is likely take place during his tour of East Asia early next year. Pope Francis has expressed his wish to visit Japan, and China has also invited him.



It is too early to get excited because there will be many hurdles to overcome before the visit is realized. The pope's visit to Pyongyang would be a great blessing for the peninsula. But for the peace-making efforts to bear fruit, North Korea must fully commit to the denuclearization process.




The statement said that DoT and UIDAI are in a process to bring out a hassle-free process for issuing SIMs via mobile app.

The joint statement said that what Supreme Court has done is that it has prohibited issue of new SIM cards through Aadhaar eKYC authentication process due to lack of a law. (Representational image)

New Delhi: Consumers who had verified their credentials through Aadhaar biometrics while buying mobile SIM dont need to provide fresh documents after Supreme Court judgement. Centre has said that such mobile phones dont face any disconnection threat after the Supreme Courts judgement on Aadhaar.

Telecom department and UIDAI in a statement clarified that the Supreme Court in its judgement in Aadhaar case has nowhere directed that the mobile number which has been issued through Aadhaar eKYC has to be disconnected. It said that the apex court has also not asked to delete all the eKYC data of telecom customers after six months.

The statement said that what the apex court has asked that UIDAI should not keep authentication log for more than six months. It said that restriction is on UIDAI and not on the telecom companies.

Therefore, there is no need for telecomcompanies to delete authentication logs, it said.

The joint statement said that what Supreme Court has done is that it has prohibited issue of new SIM cards through Aadhaar eKYC authentication process due to lack of a law.

There is no direction to deactivate the old mobile phones, the statement said. So in the light of the verdict if anybody wishes to get her/his Aadhaar eKYC replaced by the fresh KYC, he/she may request the service provider for delinking of her/his Aadhaar by submitting fresh officially valid documents (OVDs) as per earlier telecom department circulars on mobile KYC. But in any case his mobile number will not be disconnected, said the statement.
The BJP in UP has been postponing the cabinet reshuffle due to the apprehension of resentment among party legislators.

Lucknow: The Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) in Uttar Pradesh is likely to witness strategical changes in the party and the government after party president Amit Shahs visit to Lucknow next week.

Mr Shah will be holding detailed discussions on the partys strategy for the Lok Sabha elections, possibility of new alliances, changes in the cabinet and coordination with the RSS.

According to sources, the BJP plans to reach out to 47, 000 villages in the state and establish a contact with families that have benefited from the welfare schemes of the Modi and Yogi governments. The party will hold chaupals in these villages and try to bring families into the party fold and take their help in reaching out to other marginalized families.

The party is also likely to give major organisational responsibilities to two UP ministers, Swatantra Dev Singh and Dr Mahendra Singh, both of whom are known for their exceptional organizational skills

Mr Shah, during his visit, will also discuss the possibilities of forging new alliances with smaller parties, particularly those with a pro-Dalit posture. The BJP is apparently uncomfortable with the Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP) president and UP minister Om Prakash who has been attacking the Yogi government with an alarming frequency and even threatening to walk out of the alliance.

The party feels that an alliance with parties like SBSP will not yield gains in the Lok Sabha elections. We will look for new alliances that will bring us greater social acceptability, said a party functionary.

The BJP in UP has been postponing the cabinet reshuffle due to the apprehension of resentment among party legislators.

Mr Shah is expected to discuss the issue in detail with the party and Sangh leaders and could give the green signal for the cabinet reshuffle.

The party leadership, according to sources, is keen to increase the representation of Dalits in the cabinet. At present, the 47-member council of ministers in UP has five Dalit ministers and the party wants to add on four more.

The names doing roun-ds for inclusion in the cabinet include Vidyasa-gar Sonkar, Ashok Katah-ria, Dr G S Dharmesh and Deenanath Bhaskar.

To assuage the feelings of upper castes, particularly Brahmins, who are agitated over the amendment in the SC/ST Act and the proposed reservation in promotion issue, the BJP is expected to include Brahmin leaders in the council of minister. The probable names include Dr Laxmikant Bajpai from western UP and Vijay Pathak from eastern UP.

The party president will also emphasize on the need for better coordination with RSS leadership that is believed to be upset over the complaints about bureaucracy going out of control in the state.
Some said people could not hear the sound of the approaching train due to bursting of fire-crackers.

An angry crowd shout slogans as they sit by bodies of victims of the train accident in Amritsar on Friday. (Photo: AP)

Amritsar: In a horrific tragedy that could have been avoided, at least 58 people were killed and 72 injured Friday evening after a 300-strong crowd of Dussehra revellers, who had spilled onto railway tracks while watching burning of Ravan effigy, was run over by a train near here.

The train was going from Jalandhar to Amritsar when the incident occurred at Joda Phatak where, officials said, at least 300 people were watching Ravan dahan at a ground adjacent to the tracks.

Sub-divisional magistrate Amritsar (I) Rajesh Sharma said 58 people have died and at least 72 injured have been admitted to Amritsar hospital. However, Raveen Thukral, media advisor to chief minister Amarinder Singh, put the number of dead at 40, adding the toll could rise.

As the effigy was lit and fireworks went off, a section of the crowd started retreating towards the tracks where a large nu-mber of people were alre-ady standing to watch the event, officials said.

However, two trains arrived from the opposite direction at the same time, giving little opportunity to people to escape, they said.

Several people were mowed down by one of the trains, they said. Some said people could not hear the sound of the approaching train due to bursting of fire-crackers.

Wails and cries of people filled the air as friends and relatives frantically looked for their near and dear ones. Severed bodies, including of many children, were still lying on the accident site hours after the incident with angry people not allowing authorities to remove them.

It was heart-rending sight as the dismembered body parts laid strewn on the blood-soaked ground. Many bodies could not be identified.

People shouted slogans against local MLA Navjot Kaur Sidhu, who was present as chief guest during the event. She later said she rushed to the hospital immediately after the incident. She said the railways should have ensured that trains slow down near that section of the track during Dussehra celebrations.

Every year, Dussehra celebrations take place there, she said, adding she had left the place before the incident took place. There was shock and disbelief as panic-stricken people recounted the horror.

I have lost my minor child. I want him back, an inconsolable mother could be heard.

Several times we have been requesting the authorities and local leaders telling them to take up the issue with railway authorities to slow down the trains near this phatak during Dussehra, but no one has listened, a local said.

Amritsar police commissioner S.S. Srivastava said there was a great rush because of the Dussehra celebrations, adding necessary action as per law would be taken.

A state mourning has been announced in Punjab on Saturday, and Amarinder Singh has ordered an inquiry into the incident.

I am at the moment not aware of the reasons for this Ravan effigy being built next to a railway station. But the administration will look at it and we will check it when I go there tomorrow, he said.

Mr Singh, who was scheduled to leave for Israel this evening, has postponed his trip and will fly to Amritsar Saturday morning. He announced compensation of Rs 5 lakh each to the kin of the deceased.

He also directed the chief secretary to deploy all the necessary administrative officials to ensure that the injured are immediately shifted to hospitals across Amritsar. All private hospitals have also been asked to stay open, along with government hospitals, to provide urgent free treatment and care to the injured.

Additional police forces, led by the DGP, have been rushed to the spot to control the situation.

The incident sent shock waves across the country. There was an outpouring of grief with President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi condoling the loss of lives.

Mr Modi announced Rs 2 lakh compensation for the family of the dead and Rs 50,000 for the injured. He also directed officials to provide immediate assistance.

Extremely saddened by the train accident in Amritsar. The tragedy is heart-wrenching, he tweeted.

My deepest condolences to the families of those who lost their loved ones and I pray that the injured recover quickly. Have asked officials to provide immediate assistance that is required, he said.

Shocked to hear about the tragedy on rail tracks in Amritsar, Punjab. Understand Indian Railways and local authorities are taking steps to help affected people, Mr Kovind said.

Minister of state for railways Manoj Sinha, Railway Board chairman Ashwani Lohani and Northern Railway general manager Vishwesh Chaube are rushing to the spot while railway minister Piyush Goyal said immediate relief and rescue operations are being conducted.
New Delhi, October 20: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Saturday arrested Mohammed Ashraf Khandey, a key accused in the 2016 Nagrota Army Camp attack case. Khandey was apprehended at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International airport, from where he was scheduled to board a flight for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Khandey, on the radar of probing agencies since 2016, had boarded a flight from Sri Lanka, which took a halt in Delhi and was scheduled to fly to Riyadh. According to the preliminary reports, he had planned to travel to Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, after successfully reaching Saudi Arabia. Two Suspected Islamic State Terrorists Arrested by Delhi Police Near Red Fort.

Khandey masterminded the attack on Nagrota Army Camp base, which claimed the lives of four Indian security officials. Three militants were also gunned down in the encounter. The attack came shortly after 18 Indian soldiers were killed in a cross-border terror assault on the Army base in Uri.

National Investigation Agency (NIA) today arrested key accused Mohd. Ashraf Khandey, who was absconding in the Nagrota Army Camp attack case. He was arrested from the Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi while he was trying to flee to Saudi Arabia via Sri Lanka.  ANI (@ANI) October 20, 2018

The NIA is likely to produce him before a magistrate on Monday and seek his custody. While the agency is yet to issue a statement, reports said Khandey could be involved in planning more terror attacks on the Indian soil.

Khandey, a resident of Jammu & Kashmir's Pulwama, is allegedly linked to the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Muhammad, headed by terrorist Masood Azhar.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 20, 2018 06:47 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
Kochi, October 20: Rahul Easwar, the President of the Ayyappa Dharma Sena, will remain in jail as a Kerala court rejected his bail plea. Rahul Easwar was arrested in connection with protest against the Supreme Court's verdict allowing entry of women of all age group to Sabarimala temple. He was taken into custory from Nilakkal base camp.

Rahul Easwar is on an indefinite hunger strike at the Kottarakara Sub-Jail where he has been lodged following his arrest. He resorted to the hunger strike reportedly against the police move to take him in a tractor after covering him with tarpaulin sheet. He has not made any demand so far. His wife Deepa alleged the police framed her husband.

Rahul Easwar was arrested for allegedly blocking Madhavi, a woman from Andhra Pradesh who had come to visit Sabarimala. In a video message, however, Deepa claimed Madhavi was blocked at Marakkoottam while Rahul was at Sannidhanam at the time. Sabrimala Verdict: Activists, Temple Board Unhappy, to File Review Petition.

Rahul Easwar has been booked under various charges including sections 144 (unlawful assembly), 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public serving from the discharge of duty), and 147 (rioting) of the Indian Penal Code.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 20, 2018 02:08 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
Srinagar, October 20: The Jammu and Kashmir Municipal Elections 2018 Results will be declared today. The counting of votes began at 9 AM and the final results are likely to be out by afternoon. Voting had taken place for the Jammu and Kashmir civic polls in four phases on October 8, 10, 13 and 16 for the 52 municipal corporations in the Jammu and Kashmir divisions. A dismal voter turnout was recorded in the four phases collectively with many having boycotted the polls. Catch the Live updates on Jammu and Kashmir Municipal Elections 2018 Results here.

A total voter turnout of 35.1 percent was recorded in the four phases of Jammu and Kashmir urban local body polls. The PDP, as well as the National Conference, had boycotted the civic body polls in Jammu and Kashmir. The CPI-M had also stayed away from the polls. Those contesting the polls included the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Congress and Independent candidates. Kashmir Municipal Elections 2018 Results Live News Updates

The winners' list of the J&K Municipal elections 2018 can be checked on the official website of the Jammu and Kashmir Chief Electoral Officer (CEO). Here is how to check the list of winners online:

How to Check Winners List Online

Go to ceojammukashmir.nic.in

Click on the yellow colour tab of Municipal Elections 2018 on the left-hand side of the page.

On this page, click on 'Municipal Election 2018 - Result' tab.

You can click on 'Jammu Division' or 'Kashmir division' tab to check the respective results and winners of respective local bodies.

A total of 1145 wards in Jammu and Kashmir zones had gone to polls in four phases. Voting took place via Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs). The maximum voter turnout was recorded in the first phase in Jammu and Kashmir (56.7 percent), while least voter turnout was registered during the fourth phase (4.2 percent) and most voting was recorded in Jammu.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 20, 2018 05:02 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
A mother and her son were reportedly killed in a knife attack in Germany. According to media reports, two policemen were also injured while trying to prevent the attacker from causing further damage.

Police have been deployed in the area and according to initial reports, the attacker is reportedly mentally unstable. Further details are awaited. Catch the Tweet Below:

Zwei Tote und zwei schwer verletzte Polizeibeamte.bei Schieerei in Kirchheim an der Weinstrae pic.twitter.com/WevjgkVhKJ  Marco Hanna (@Crash24h) October 19, 2018

In July, several people were injured in northern Germany bus assault. At least 14 people received injuries in the suspected knife attack, according to the witness. The place of the incident was Lubeck. In May, Police said one man had been killed and two people were injured in a knife attack on a train in the northern German city of Flensburg.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 19, 2018 05:33 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
The river, originating in the Tibetan plateau, is the source of Indias mighty Brahmaputra river which is the lifeline of the Northeast.

New Delhi/Guwahati: The authorities of Arunachal Pradesh have issued an alert warning villagers in the East Siang district, the area bordering Chinas Tibet region, not to venture near the Yarlung Tsangpo river. The warning has been issued after Chinese emergency services on Thursday evacuated about 6,000 people after a landslide in Tibet, which has blocked the flow of one of the regions key rivers, created a barrier lake that could endanger downstream areas in India. The district magistrate of Arunachals East Siang district Tamiyo Tatak told reporters that water levels in the river had fallen drastically due to blockage and once it (the blockage) collapses or is cleared in China, water might suddenly rush downstream, causing a disaster in Indias Northeast.

In a statement issued from its embassy in New Delhi, China said it was working closely with India in sharing hydrological inputs under the emergency information sharing mechanism. Be-ijing said the positive gesture was part of the Wuhan Consensus, a reference to the informal summit at Wuhan in China between Chine-se President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The river, originating in the Tibetan plateau, is the source of Indias mighty Brahmaputra river which is the lifeline of the Northeast. Yarlung Tsangpo becomes phenomenally wider and is called the Siang downstream from Arunachal Pradesh. After reaching Assam, the river is known as Brahmaputra.

In a statement on the landslide, Chinese embassy spokesperson and counsellor Ji Rong said, On the early morning of October 17, a landslide took place near Jiala Village in Milin County in the lower ranges of Yaluzangbu River (Chinese name of the Yarlung Tsangpo) in Tibet Autonomous Region of China The Chinese side will closely monitor situation of the barrier lake, and continue to notify the Indian side the follow-up developments through bilaterally agreed channels timely. The Chinese side has been keeping close communication with the Indian side on Yaluzangbu River hydrological information this time, reflecting another positive gesture of implementing the Wuhan consensus between our two leaders.

The collapse on Wednesday morning of a cliff in the deep valley through which the river flows created a dam-like barrier on the Yarlung Tsangpo, the local emergency response bureau said in a report carried by the state media of China.

In June, 2000, a sudden high discharge of water from the Yarlung Tsangpo had caused extensive damage in Arunachal Pradesh and other downstream areas in India. Arunachal East MP Ninong Ering has alleged that landslides in China, which have blocked the Milin section of the Yarlung Tsangpo river (sometimes called Yarlung Zangbo), since the intervening night of Tuesday and Wednesday may have an impact on the lower reaches of the river in India.

In a letter written to external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj and MoS water resources Arun Ram Meghwal, Mr Ering apprised them of the current situation and said that the Chinese side is closely monitoring the situation. He also asked the Central government to proactively engage with the Chinese authorities over the matter.

The Chinese Embassy Spokesperson meanwhile said, In April this year, President Xi Jinping and PM Modi reached important consensus on promoting China-India all-round cooperation during the informal summit in Wuhan. In June, the two leaders met on the sidelines of SCO Qingdao Summit, and witnessed the signing of the MoU concerning cross-border river cooperation. I believe, with the joint efforts of both sides, China and India will carry out more positive and pragmatic cooperation in more fields and continuously push forward the healthy and stable development of bilateral relations.
After days of conjecture, reports and 24 hours since U.S. President Donald Trump said certainly looks like Khashoggi is dead, Saudi Arabia has confirmed this fact.

In a late night news broadcast on Saudis state-run news channel, Saudi Arabia's public prosecutor said on Saturday that preliminary results of investigations showed that Jamal Khashoggi died in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul after a fight with people he met there (Saudi officials), state media reported.

"The investigations are still underway and 18 Saudi nationals have been arrested," a statement from the Saudi public prosecutor said, adding Saud al-Qahtani, senior aide to Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, and deputy intelligence chief Ahmed Asiri have been sacked from their positions.

However, a CNN reporter clarified that her sources mentioned that Khashoggi had died after he was put in a choke-hold during interrogation in the Saudi consulate.

Khashoggi went missing on October 2 after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul to obtain documents needed for his upcoming marriage. He hadn't been seen since.

This is the first time the kingdom has admitted Khashoggi has died after repeatedly denying any knowledge of his fate.

Saudi King Salman has also reportedly ordered the formation of a ministerial committee, headed by Crown Prince Mohammed, which will have one month to release a report on the facts of the case, according to state TV.

However this short statement which has come after weeks of intense media and governmental pressure across the globe, leaves many questions un-answered:

Now that Saudi Arabia has confirmed that Khashoggi is dead, where is the journalist's body?

How can the Crown Prince head the investigation since he himself is accused of ordering the killing of Jamal Khashoggi?

On what basis has the blame been put on the 18 Saudi nationals who have been detained  what is the evidence against them?

Why did a top Saudi Forensics official come to Turkey and carried with him a bone saw, if all that Saudi Officials wanted to do was to interrogate Khashoggi?

What role did Saud al-Qahtani, who has publicly stated that he does not even tweet without the Crown Princes approval, play and what drove him to carry out this heinous murder?

Where is the evidence that has been repeatedly referred to by the Turkish authorities?

And will the U.S. government believe this explanation of the chain of events, which raises more questions and looks like an attempt to separate the Saudi royals from this crime?

Even the Saudi version of events show that Khashoggis murder has clear links to the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman through his key aides and hence the days ahead are crucial to show if Saudi Arabia embraces him and risks the coming sanctions.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 20, 2018 04:34 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
An author whose main characters have ties to the Lehigh Valley will be appearing Sunday at Barnes & Noble in Bethlehem Township for a book signing of her latest winter novel.

New York Times bestselling author Elin Hilderbrand is scheduled to appear at Barnes & Noble in the Southmont Shopping Center at 2 p.m. She will be discussing "Winter in Paradise," the first book in the new "Paradise" trilogy series.

The latest novel is set on St. John Island, a tropical paradise far removed from the main character's suburban life. The plot focuses on main character, Irene Steele, who receives a horrifying phone call in the middle of the night that her beloved husband has died while traveling on business to the Caribbean. When Steele travels to St. John, she discovers her husband had been leading a secret life.

The book is published by Little, Brown and Company and retails for $16.80 on Barnes & Noble's website.

Lehigh Valley Connection

Hilderbrand published another book this past June that likely surprised fans from the Lehigh Valley.

The New York Times best seller, "The Perfect Couple," set on Nantucket Island was the author's first murder mystery. Her past books have focused more on romance and fashion.

The plot revolves around the death of a bride-to-be's maid of honor and the entire wedding party are suspects. Hilderbrand's main character and bride-to-be, Celeste Otis, is a native of the Easton area, and Otis' parents, Karen and Bruce Otis, in the novel are Easton Area High School sweethearts living along Derhammer Street in Forks Township.

Hilderbrand carefully throughout the beach read continues to weave in real Lehigh Valley landmark details -- The Crayola Experience, Diner 248 in Lower Nazareth Township (a copy of her book recently was by the diner's cash register), and The Peace Candle in Centre Square. She also mentioned the Palmer Township Community Pool and some newer restaurants, such as Mesa Modern Mexican and 3rd & Ferry Fish Market in Downtown Easton.

Hilderbrand said it was easy to connect the Lehigh Valley to Celeste's upbringing because Hilderbrand's boyfriend, Timothy Field, lives in Palmer Township. The grown up Celeste character now worked at the Bronx Zoo in New York and she needed her hometown to be within driving distance, Hilderbrand said.

"I wanted Celeste to be from a real place that I knew pretty well and that wasn't too far from New York City. Easton fit the bill," Hilderbrand said. "I tried to add all the details about Easton that make it unique."

'Queen of the Beach Read'

Winter in Paradise will be Hilderbrand's 22nd novel. Several of her others novels also have made the New York Times Bestseller list and those reviewing her books have dubbed her the "Queen of the Beach Reads."

Hilderbrand first visited Nantucket in 1993 and moved there full time to write in 1998. By 2000, she started her first romance novel, "The Beach Club,"while in graduate school at The University of Iowa Writers' Workshop.

All of her books are set on Nantucket Island with the exception of "Winter in Paradise."

Hilderbrand is a mother of three teenagers. She graduated from Johns Hopkins University, as well as the Iowa Writer's Workshop. Aside from writing, she is an aspiring fashionista, a dedicated jogger, a world explorer, an enthusiastic foodie and a "grateful" three-year breast cancer survivor, according to her bio.

Pamela Sroka-Holzmann may be reached at pholzmann@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @pamholzmann. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
Lafayette College reaffirmed its commitment to enriching the Easton community at a ceremony Friday unveiling an new joint initiative.

The event marked the merger between the college's Landis Community Outreach Center and its Center for Community Engagement, according to a news release. Historically, Landis was focused on developing active citizens and student leaders while the other initiative was focused on community-based learning and research.

Easton Mayor Sal Panto Jr. proclaimed Oct. 19 as Landis Day in honor of Lafayette's commitment to the community, the release states.

As part of the ceremony, fifth-graders from the three Easton Area School District elementary schools in Easton worked with Lafayette students to make care packages for mothers in the St. Luke's Nurse Family Partnership, a program that works with first-time low-income mothers.

The children from Paxinosa, March and Cheston elementary schools broke tiles for what will become a framed mosaic symbolizing the connections between the college, school district and community through Landis projects.

Rudy Miller may be reached at rmiller@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @RudyMillerLV. Find Easton area news on Facebook.
A 31-year-old man drove his car into oncoming traffic, causing a head-on collision that left him and two teens in the other car dead, according to Pennsylvania State Police.

The crash occurred a little after 4 a.m. Saturday on Route 209 in Reilly Township, Schuylkill County, state police at Schuylkill Haven said

A third passenger in the car that was hit was critically injured, police said.

Brandon M. Stephens, of Pottsville, Pennsylvania, was driving south when his 2008 Pontiac G6 crossed the center line and collided head-on with a northbound 2004 Toyota Corolla, Trooper Thomas Finn wrote in a news release.

Authorities arrived to find Stephens and both the driver and front-seat passenger in the Toyota dead, according to police.

The driver of the Toyota was Jayden J. Klemas, 19. Police did not release the name of the passenger who was killed, listing him as a 17-year-old male. Both were from Tremont, Pennsylvania.

The rear passenger in the Toyota, 20-year-old Colin J. Knoll, of Pine Grove, Pennsylvania, was freed from the wreckage by fire personnel and taken for treatment at Hershey Medical Center, police said.

Of the four motorists involved in the crash, only Klemas wore a seat belt, police determined.

Police could not immediately say why Stephens crossed into the opposing, northbound lane, where both vehicles came to rest.

Route 209 was closed for about five hours while investigators reconstructed the crash.

The crash came about a little more than a week after another triple-fatal crash in the central-Pennsylvania region. That one occurred Oct. 12 on Interstate 83 near Harrisburg, when a tractor-trailer driver failed to stop for slowing traffic. The resulting collision killed Zachary Lybrand, 24, of Middletown, Pennsylvania, and his 18-month-old daughter, Elliana, along with 22-year-old Messiah College student Ethan VanBochoven, of Pompton Plains, New Jersey.

The truck driver is charged with homicide by vehicle and drunken driving in the wreck, which injured six other motorists.

Saturday's crash also occurred about 12 hours after a fatal crash in neighboring Berks County.

The Berks crash occurred about 4:15 p.m. Friday on Route 61 North in Shoemakersville, according to state police at Hamburg.

Dennis H. Keffer, 75, of Shillington, Pennsylvania, failed to stop for traffic slowing ahead of him at a traffic light and crashed his 2011 Chevrolet Cruze into the rear of a 2004 Ford van, Trooper William Spayd said.

The Chevrolet careened across the Routes 61/222 intersection and into the parking lot of Dee Dee's Diner, where it struck an advertisement pole, police said.

Keffer's front-seat passenger, 73-year-old Joyce M. Keffer, also of Shillington, was pronounced dead at the scene, police said. Dennis Keffer was taken by ambulance to Reading Hospital with severe injuries. The Keffers were married, The Reading Eagle reports.

Neither wore a seat belt, police said.

One of two passengers in the Ford suffered a possible injury and was taken to Reading Hospital, while the driver and another passenger were uninjured, police said.

Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @KurtBresswein and Facebook. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
One of Met Eireann's most famous and popular weather forecasters is set to be one of the big attractions of the Midlands Science Festival 2018 which is working with libraries for the first time this year to promote the sciences.

The week-long event takes place across the region for people of all ages from November 11  18. It includes events, workshops and performances about cutting-edge science from world-leading speakers and academics. The organisers, the Midlands Science team, say there be lots of fun for people of all ages throughout the festival week.

The recently retired head of Met Eireann, Gerald Fleming, is sure to be one of the highlights. Apart from his accurate forecasting Mr Fleming was popular for his friendly wink to viewers at the end of one of his many RTE weather bulletins.

The meteorologist will speak on the science of forecasting and weather on Tuesday, November 13 in the Midlands Park Hotel.

"I am delighted to be partaking in this years Midlands Science Festival and I look forward to coming to Laois to discuss something which is so universal to us all. My talk will explore a background to the science of climate change and will detail the work done in recent decades both to refine the science and to provide adequate, understandable summaries of the key issues to help society decide on appropriate policies and actions.

"We will examine key questions as to whether we can enjoy a sustainable lifestyle while protecting our atmosphere. Events like Science Week are a wonderful opportunity to take a closer look at so many different issues that affect us in day-to-day life and the weather is certainly one which has begun to spark more and more interest, particularly when we reflect on the year which has just passed. I look forward to debate and discussion on the night and hopefully plenty of questions and curiosity about the science of weather," said Mr Fleming.

Midlands Science Festival Director Jackie Gorman looked forward to the forecaster's talk and other science week events.

"We are delighted to bring a whole range of science events to Laois and this particular talk which is open to the public is one which promises to be both informative and entertaining. Known for his engaging style of presenting, trademark wink and sign-off, Gerald recently retired from Met Eireann, where he had served as head of forecasting for many years. He has been involved in weather forecasting and public engagement with forecasts for many serious weather events in Ireland over the years.

"Weather is a pretty safe topic of conversation especially here in Ireland. It's too hot or it's too cold, it can affect whether schools or transport networks run and it can influence the decision of wedding dates and potential holiday-makers year on year. The science behind the natural forces that cause the weather is extremely interesting and this event will explore views on how we can engage with the challenges presented by climate change and extreme weather events, so do come along and hear all about it on the night," she said.

This evening will also include students from Timahoe National School presenting findings from their school weather station.

There are 120 events organised during the Festival.

The public can look forward to a unique new event called Drawing With Light - The Science of Photography in Stradbally Library on the evening of November 15.

This event with Midlands photographer Veronica Nicholson will involve a walk to explore the practice of photography and the impact of light. This workshop is for adults and all participants are encouraged to bring their cameras on the night.

The Rediscovery workshops will also be back in the Midlands during Science Week, this time in Mountmellick Library on November 16th.

In a 90 minute hands-on and fun workshop with the team from The Rediscovery Centre, children will learn about a whole range of science and environmental topics. This fun and engaging workshop is being provided by the Rediscovery Centre who is focussed on the science of sustainability in our communities.

A unique poetry reading by the writer, Eleanor Hooker and a discussion with the journalist, Claire OBrien on poetry and how it describes the natural world as compared to science, how the arts and humanities relate to each other takes place in Portlaoise Library on Friday, November 16th.

This promises to be a wide-ranging and interesting dialogue about the conflicts and connections between the arts and science. We will be celebrating science in schools and campuses, in libraries and outdoors and we want as many people as people to come along and see that science is not just for academics and lab coats-it is everywhere and there for us all to enjoy.

Simon Close from Wriggle Learning will be working with teachers during the festival.

"Wriggle Learning is delighted to be providing exciting training for primary and secondary school teachers during this years ScienceWeek in the Midlands. Our continuous professional development (CPD) model strives to work with educators throughout Ireland to develop their skills and maximise the use of technology in the classroom.

"The teacher is never going to be replaced by technology, but we need to be future ready. It can be a challenge to select the most effective tools while not losing sight of your goals and intentions for student learning and that's why we are here to help. We look forward to participating in this year's Midlands Science Festival and in helping to drive the digital journey of local schools in a collaborative and interactive way," he said.

This is the sixth year that a dedicated programme of free science events is being rolled out in the counties of Laois, Offaly, Westmeath and Longford. It brings together a large number of interested participants including science communicators, performers and researchers, science and technology speakers, science and TY students, mini scientists and the general public from all over the Midlands and beyond.

The Festival Director said the festival and this year will be different from previous festivals as it is being co-hosted with our partners in the Midlands libraries and will take place in county library venues all over the region.

"Attendees should expect to find a range of speaking events, workshops and performances about cutting-edge science from world-leading speakers and academics," she said.

Science Week, which is managed by SFI Discover the education and public engagement programme of Science Foundation Ireland, will take science out of the lab and into libraries, theatres and primary school halls, giving people a variety of fun ways to explore and open up a multitude of ideas for a potential future career in science, technology, engineering and maths.

See www.midlandsscience.ie for more event details.
w Anand Sharma was also part of the Congress delegation that met the Sri Lankan PM.

New Delhi: Visiting Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe met UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Congress president Rahul Gandhi and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday, ahead of talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday. Senior Congress leader Anand Sharma was also part of the Congress delegation that met the Sri Lankan PM.

Mr Wickremesinghe will also meet external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj on Saturday.

The entire gamut of Indo-Sri Lankan ties is expected to be discussed at the meeting between the Sri Lankan PM and PM Modi on Saturday in the backdrop of growing Chinese economic influence in the island nation. China has already made huge investments in projects in Indias southern maritime neighbour.

The visit is taking place right after Sri Lanka earlier this week denied media reports from Colo-mbo that its President Maithripala Sirisena had accused an Indian intelligence agency of bei-ng involved in a plot to assassinate him.

Speculation is rife in Sri Lanka of a turf war between its President Sirisena and its Prime Minister Wickremesing-he. Mr Sirisena had also called up Mr Modi to personally deny the reports. Mr Sirisena told Mr Modi that the mischievous and mala fide reports were utterly baseless and false, and seemed intended to create misunderstanding between the two leaders as well as damage the cordial relations between the two friendly neighbours.

It may be recalled that last year, India and Sri Lanka had welcomed signing of the Memo-randum of Underst-anding for Cooperation in Economic Projects, which outlined the agenda for bilateral economic cooperation in the foreseeable future. The proposed projects under this included a regasified Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) fired 500 MW capacity LNG Power Plant, an LNG Term-inal /Floating Storage Regasification Unit (FSRU) in Colombo/Kera-walapitiya, a 50 MW Solar Power Plant in Sampur, an Upper Tank Farm in Trincomalee and a Container Terminal in Colombo Port that will be jointly developed by India and Sri Lanka.

A port, petroleum refinery and other industries in Trincomalee (in eastern Sri Lanka) are also proposed, for which a Joint Working Group will be set up to further discuss and flesh out details, the MEA had said in April last year.

Other proposed projects had included industrial Zones/Special Economic Zones in identified locations in Sri Lanka, important road segments Mannar-Jaffna, Mannar-Trincomalee and Dambulla-Trincomale Expressway under Indian investments, railway sector development in Sri Lanka including new projects for track upgradation and purchase of rolling stock, and Agricultural sector and livestock development in Sri Lanka.

In the wake of media reports for the past several months that India may be interested in operating Sri Lankas loss-making Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport in Hambantota, it remains to be seen if this figures in talks between the two leaders. The US$ 210 million facility, 241km south-east of Sri Lankas capital city, Colombo, has been dubbed the worlds emptiest airport due to a lack of flights. Reports have pointed out that in the Hambantota area, China has built a seaport and is in discussions to build an investment zone and a refinery. The town of Hambantota sits near one of the worlds busiest shipping lanes and is an important part of Chinas Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), aimed at building trade and transport links across Asia and beyond to Europe. According to reports, China runs the seaport with a 99-year lease.
Criminalising people who speak sacrilegiously about God or sacred things is not consistent with freedom of belief and expression which are important values in a democratic society, according to Laois TD and Minister for Justice and Equality Charlie Flanagan.

The Fine Gael Minister said blasphemy has no place in the modern Constitution of a democratic society has called on the people to vote yes to remove the crime of blasphemy from our Constitution next week.

Fine Gael wants the crime of blasphemy removed from our Constitution. It is time for this to be changed with a Yes vote.

We believe that freedom of belief and expression are important values in a democratic society. Criminalising blasphemy is not consistent with these values.

Ireland is a country that respects religious diversity and religious freedom at home and around the world. We speak out when countries sentence blasphemers to death, violent punishment or imprisonment.

Our voice will be stronger if we remove blasphemy from our Constitution. Blasphemy has no place in the modern Constitution of a democratic society," he said.

He said recent polls show there is no room for complacency and every vote will be important.

My message to anyone who believes the crime of blasphemy doesnt belong in our Constitution is please vote. Dont assume others will get this referendum proposal passed for you. Have your voice heard on October 26th and vote Yes vote, yes to remove blasphemy from our Constitution, Minister Flanagan concluded.
Four new Irish Heart Foundation Sli na Slainte walking routes in Portlaoise developed by Laois County Council are set to be launched.

Sli na Slainte (Path to Health) is a unique Health Promotion initiative of the Irish Heart Foundation designed to encourage people to walk for health and leisure by creating mapped measured walking routes in workplaces, communities and schools. To date over 400 routes have been developed nationally.

The Portlaoise Sli na Slainte promotes the use of mapped, signposted walks around the main urban walking routes used by the community. When planning the routes every effort was made to ensure that the routes passed by Portlaoise schools and large workplaces to encourage participation.

Tara Curran is Sli na Slainte Coordinator with the Irish Heart Foundation.

We hope that the school pupils, workers and the local community in Portlaoise will get great enjoyment and benefit from their new Sli na Slainte routes. Getting active makes such a big difference to your heart and overall health, helping to reduce stress, ease back pain and reduce the risk of heart disease.

"For heart health, adults need at least 30 minutes of physical activity, such as brisk walking, five days a week. Children and young people need at least 60 minutes of physical activity every day of the week. By having a clearly marked and safe walking route, we aim is to make it easier for people to include physical activity as part of their day, she said.

Laois County Councils Sport & Leisure Officer, Ann Marie Maher said that there are three Sli na Slainte routes in Co Laois located in Emo & Graiguecullen & Ballyroan with two further routes launching in November in Mountmellick and Portarlington.

Additional Sli na Slaintes are planned for Mountrath and Stradbally in 2019.

The new route will be launched on Thursday, October 25 at 11.30 am at the Portlaoise Parish Centre by An Cathaoirleach of Laois County Council, Cllr John King MCC, with the unveiling of one of the new map boards following a walk of the route by local walkers and school groups.






To mark its 12th annual call for applications, the Pramerica Spirit of Community Awards #GetOutThere2019, is calling on Laois students, teachers and principals to acknowledge and honour young volunteers.

Students are eligible for the 2019 awards if they are under the age of 16 on January 1, 2019, for the Junior Category or under the age of 19 on the 1st of January 2019 for the Senior category. A principal can then nominate two students maximum per school.

Although most volunteers fall into the 25-35 age group, the 15-24 age group has the lowest participation rate. That is why Pramerica encourages students to volunteer in their communities.

To date, it is estimated that over 3000 students, from 300 schools across Ireland, have been honoured by the Pramerica Spirit of the Community awards for their volunteering.

Andrea McBride, VP of Systems at Pramerica Systems Ireland said: The Spirit of Community Awards programme was designed not only to identify great youth volunteers but also to give schools an effective way to commend deserving young volunteers and to hold them up as role models for other young people.

At Pramerica we believe an interest in volunteering must be fostered from a young age. That is why we continue to engage with schools across the island of Ireland to encourage them to realise its value to society and praise their students who are already going above and beyond, she said.

These awards are the only All-Ireland initiative seeking to celebrate and honour second level students for volunteer work. The awards have elicited praise from educators, parents and elected officials for communicating to young people the importance of volunteer contribution in society.

The closing date for nominations is 25 October, and the awards ceremony will take place in the Aviva Stadium, Dublin in March 2019.

For further information about the Awards and how to apply go to www.spirit.pramerica.ie or keep up to date with news and updates across social feeds  Facebook, Instagram and Twitter
A bypassed Laois village on the Tipperary border is on the verge of a new dawn and the seeds have already been sown with the securing of funding and agreement on a deal to lease a vacated premises for the community's use.

The Borris-in-Ossory Community Development Association is launching a new five-year development plan for the village this weekend. The village is in transition since by bypassed due to the opening of the M7 Dublin Limerick motorway.

While the plan is complete, concrete steps have already been taken. The Convent of Mercy has been given to the community on a 10-year lease. It will be developed as a facility for the community over the next 12 months. Part of the convent is already being developed as a Mens Shed.

A total of 40,000 has been secured under the Town & Village scheme 2018 to fund a 3.4km walking trail and a community park. A community play area will be developed.

The Development Associaton says this is the first major investment in the village in the last number of years.

The association says the plan's launch is the culmination of a lot of hard work by local residents and volunteers supported by Laois Partnership under the LEADER programme.

Local dignitaries from Laois County Council and Laois Partnership will be among the speakers at the launch on Saturday 20th October at 8.30pm in Rosie O'Gradys pub, Borris-In-Ossory.
Kildare County Council is being urged to allocate a portion of land to facilitate the development and possible opening of the historic Jigginstown Castle to the public.

Local historian and councillor Seamie Moore has asked KCC if it has provided land for an on-site workshop, car parking and a public information office.

He also wants to know what progress has been made by the Office of Public Works on restoring the castle this year.

A full restoration of the castle on the Newbridge side of Naas, was ruled out by the Office of Public Works about three years ago.

Completed in 1637 at a cost of six thousand pounds, it was the brainchild of then Lord Deputy of Ireland Thomas Wentworth, who was executed in London in 1641.

According to the OPW the restoration project thats taking place will stabilise and consolidate the brickwork there and the best that can be hoped for is to maintain the castle as a stable ruin.

Ana Dolan a senior architect with the OPW told a KCC meeting at that time that the restoration work, which could eventually see it opened to the public, has been delayed by Government spending cuts.

She said the castle was built with the intention of becoming a royal palace prior to Wentworth being charged with treason.

Jigginstown Castle was never lived in and fell into decay.

By 1726 it was very ruinous, as images from the time show. The castle is almost 100 metres long and has a series of cellars. The building has a first floor and two corridors.

As far as possible the OPW aims to make the building presentable and accessible to visitors.

The castle was built in a relatively short space and Ms Dolan said no expense was spared.
A JUDGE has expressed concerns in relation to a garda application to disqualify a German man who drove at speed into an oncoming car in Limerick, killing the elderly driver.

Following a three-day trial in January, Hans Schnottalla, aged 51, who has an address at Ballycarney, Clarina, was found not guilty by reason of insanity of dangerous driving causing the death of Patrick Sonny OReilly more than three years ago.

The fatal collision happened shortly before 9am on February 24, 2015 - minutes after Mr OReilly had dropped two of his grandchildren to Ballybrown National School.

The 73-year-old, a native of Ferrybridge, was returning home when his Ford Focus was struck by a Skoda Yeti being driven by Mr Schnottalla.

During the three day trial at Limerick Circuit Court, consultant forensic psychiatrist, Dr Paul OConnell said having assessed the defendant last year he was satisfied he suffers from a chronic mental disorder - namely paranoid schizophrenia.

He said Mr Schnottalla was not adhering to his medication regime and that he believed he had suffered an acute psychotic breakdown around the time of the incident.

Following the special verdict, which was one of the first of its kind in Ireland, Judge Tom ODonnell directed Mr Schnottalla be committed to the Central Mental Hospital under the provisions of the Criminal Law (Insanity) Act.

At Limerick District Court this week, gardai formally moved an application for a special disqualification which would see Mr Schnottalla being banned from driving for life.

Inspector Paul Reidy told Judge John King the respondent remains at the Central Mental Hospital and he confirmed he was not present in court and that his attitude to the application was not known.

Solicitor Ted McCarthy told the court he had represented Mr Schnottalla during the criminal trial and he expressed concern there is no mechanism for the State to pay for his client to be legally represented when dealing with the application before the court.

If we are to continue to be involved in this matter, we need to be paid for it, he said.

Insp Reidy said he had consulted with the DPP who confirmed there is no provision in law which allows for the awarding of costs or the granting of legal aid in such cases.

Despite this, he indicated he wished to proceed with the application before the court.

Judge King noted Mr Schnottalla was not present in court and that he may not be in a position to challenge whatever evidence is produced in support of the application.

The judge said any licence holder is entitled to defend their right to hold that licence and he commented that what was being proposed by the State appeared to be a fundamental breach of natural justice.

Judge King adjourned the matter to next month to allow gardai to get further instructions in the matter.

One possible option, he noted, would be to make Mr Schnottalla a Ward of Court.

This would enable the appointment of a committee to deal with his personal affairs.
ATHEA has lost its campaign to retain a post office service in the village, despite the robust and detailed submission the community made to the An Post review board.

The letter telling them their appeal had failed came just days after the doors closed on the post office in Athea for the last time.

There was a good campaign and we made a great effort, said Donal de Barra, chairman of the Athea Community Council which spearheaded the campaign.

We called a public meeting and we put in the appeal but by the time the appeal was refused the post office had closed.

We were beaten on the population issue, he said.

An Post had made a commitment to retain a post office in villages with populations of 500. Athea, while a parish of 2,000, technically has a village population of 369.

We also came within 15km of the next nearest post office, Mr de Barra said.

Ultimately though, he said: The writing was on the wall. The reality is business at post offices is going down because of online business. It is the way things are going. It is sad for the older people, many of whom dont have bank accounts or dont know how to work the internet.

A big part of the argument put forward in the Athea appeal was that the closure of the post office would lead to a decrease in footfall and a fall-off in trade for the other businesses in the village. Fortunately, however, Mr de Barra pointed out, Collins shop has a post point where people can continue to pay bills and an ATM has now been installed there.

Athea was one of seven post offices in Limerick which have closed or are due to close this year due to the retirement of the postmaster or postmistress. The others are Knocklong, Ballyagran, Dromkeen, Kilbehenny, Lisnagry and Mungret.

They were among 159 nationally to accept a retirement package agreed earlier this year between An Post and the Irish Postmasters Union.

A number of communities where closure was imminent applied for a review but just two to date have been successful.
DRINK driving charges brought against a motorist who was more than four times over the legal limit were dismissed after a judge ruled the use of handcuffs by gardai was unacceptable.

Miroslaw Tyndyk, aged 45, who has an address at Laurel Ridge, Shanakeil, Cork, was prosecuted in relation to an incident which happened in the car park of University Hospital Limerick at around 2.15am on May 1, 2016.

Gardai Darren Twomey told Limerick District Court that having been alerted to a vehicle being driven erratically he attended UHL where he observed the Ford Focus car for a few minutes.

He said he observed the vehicle being driven around 100 metres across the car park and rolling back after Mr Tyndyk  a Polish national - attempted to park in a space.

Judge John King was told there were a number of other people in the car at the time and that Garda Twomey placed handcuffs on the defendant following his arrest.

Mr Tyndyk was taken to Henry Street garda station where he later provided a blood sample to a doctor which showed a concentration of alcohol of 203 milligrammes per 100 milliliters of blood  the legal limit is 50mg.

Being questioned about his decision to use handcuffs, Garda Twomey told solicitor Ted McCarthy that he had carried out a quick risk assessment before doing so.

He was highly intoxicated, I was unaware of his strengths and weaknesses, he said.

I had never met him before, he might have had a propensity for violence, I took precautions, he added.

When Mr McCarthy put it to the witness that the criteria outlined could have applied to everyone, Garda Twomey accepted he would not have handcuffed a grandmother who was aged in her 70s or 80s.

The garda agreed he was accompanied by a colleague on the night and that Mr Tyndyk was not aggressive and fully cooperated with gardai  both at UHL and at Henry Street garda station.

You cant just make a decision for convenience sake, it has to be based on something substantial, said Mr McCarthy, who submitted the use of handcuffs had been unnecessary and unlawful.

Citing a recent Supreme Court decision, Mr McCarthy said there was absolutely no reason to make a decision to place cuffs on his client on the night.

Inspector Paul Reidy submitted Garda Twomeys actions were lawful and that he had acted correctly.

He said Mr Tyndyk is a reasonably young and fit person and that the garda was entitled to take precautions for his safety and for the safety of his colleague.

Anything could have happened, one minute there is extreme calm, the next time it turns violent, he said.

Dismissing the case, Judge John King said it appeared from Garda Twomeys evidence that he would decide to place handcuffs on healthy males as a matter of routine and not on a case-by-case basis.

It appears he has decided if you are a male and healthy, then I am going to apply cuffs, he said.

On that basis, the judge said he was satisfied the arrest was unlawful and dismissed the charge.
ALMOST a year after the University of Limerick first lifted the suspensions of two staff members who raised concerns about financial practices, the employees known as Persons B and C have yet to return to work.

More than three years ago, the two employees were suspended with pay from the university after being accused of making a malicious complaint against a colleague, a charge they robustly denied.

Shortly before they were suspended, Persons B and C had declined an offer of nearly 60,000 each to leave their jobs. That offer was conditional on a confidentiality clause.

Next month, they will be put on half-pay by UL, unless there is a resolution to their situation.

Speaking to the Limerick Leader this week, Persons B and C described the prospect of being put on half-pay as cruel and unfair, and said their continuing absence from the workplace is through no fault of their own.

In response to this, a UL spokesperson said: There are clear rules in relation to pay to employees who are not attending the workplace. UL is seeking to abide by the procedures at national level and hopes that the employees in question return to work where the university has committed to being as supportive to them and their colleagues, as is possible.

Persons B and C say that the process to facilitate their return to work was abruptly terminated in July by UL.

At that point they were instructed to return to their former roles, a prospect which filled them with dread, as they do not believe they would be welcomed back by their former colleagues. In any case, UL has long since replaced them and new employees are carrying out their former responsibilities.

We should not be put on half-pay because of a situation the university has caused, Person C said.

It is scary to be facing half-pay. We have financial responsibilities, Person B said. We are the ones who are still suffering, we are the ones who cant move on.

We want mediation talks to be reopened, Person C added. As far as we were concerned, we were still open to various discussions and the process was closed very abruptly. Offers that were put to us, we didnt reject. UL took those offers away. It was cruel in how it was done.

We would like to go back into a process where we can try to have discussions around all of this and we just want the Minister and the Higher Education Authority to intervene.

Two local Fianna Fail TDs who highlighted the whistleblowers case in the Dail chamber as far back as October 2015 have supported their calls for the Minister to intervene.

I would be fully supportive of that, Deputy Niall Collins said.

It is disappointing that they feel they havent received proper closure through the process to the date and I would call on the new Minister for Education Joe McHugh to familiarise himself with the circumstances and make himself available to meet with Persons B and C.

Fianna Fail Deputy Willie ODea also said he supports these calls.

The university seem to be very unreasonably in how they are handling this and it doesnt seem to me that they are acting in good faith."

A UL spokesperson said the university continues to work through the procedures and processes laid down for resolving human resource issues that arise in public sector organisations.

The staff who were previously suspended from the workplace have been encouraged to return to the workplace. This process of mediation and due process began last November, 2017, when UL lifted a suspension on two employees.

In November 2017, the universitys new president, Dr Des Fitzgerald, enlisted Kieran Mulvey, the former head of the Workplace Relations Commission, to head up a mediation process with employees unhappy with their treatment by UL.

The move coincided with the publication of the Thorn Report, a wide-ranging investigation into UL finance, human resources and governance policies. The suspensions of Persons B and C were lifted at the same time.

However, Mr Mulvey only met with Persons B and C once. Subsequent contact with the employees was through Sean ODriscoll, a HR consultant who has also been leading the restructuring of the human resources department. Both B and C feel that outside intervention is needed if they are to be able to move on with their lives and careers, either at UL or within the public sector outside the university.

This Wednesday morning, Person C received a letter by email from the office of the president, Dr Des Fitzgerald, informing her that the university had identified a redeployment opportunity for her.

The letter included a job description for an administrative role in a different department. The email proposed that she be redeployed on a secondment basis from November 1.

Person C said the letter made no reference to the numerous issues that remain unresolved between her and UL and she found it upsetting and insulting that the university had made no attempt to sit down and discuss things before they act.

The letter, she said, made no mention of offering her support in readjusting to the workplace at UL, and included no acknowledgment of the difficulties she and Person B had endured.

To me it reads like they just pulled this job off the website and offered it to me so that they could tell people that they were making efforts to redeploy me. I dont think they have any understanding of what me and Person B have been through for more than three years, or the effect this has had on our mental health, she said.

Both Persons B and C have spent their time away from the university completing a series of courses. They say the long-running saga has been immensely stressful, but that they are still standing and desperate to move on from the stressful situation.

Person C said that while her experience has been very difficult, it has also been character-forming. She now wishes to use her experience for the betterment of others.

Were trying to heal from a lot of suffering and thats not something thats going to happen overnight, Person C said. Were entitled to look after our health and our wellbeing. Were not getting a chance to really do that when the situation is how it is right now. Theres no space to give us time to heal. Its been battle, after battle, after battle.
COMEDIAN Karl Spain is to host a brand new weekly comedy club at Dolans Warehouse.

The top Limerick funnyman has been announced as the host of the Karlnival Comedy Club at the venue, starting on Wednesday, October 24.

The inaugural event will feature special guests Phil Nichol, Tom OMahony and Margaret McHugh.

Karlnival Comedy Club is an opportunity to attract the very best names on the comedy circuit to Limerick on a weekly basis. We have teamed up with Karl Spain and together hope to realise our ambition to develop one of the best comedy clubs in the country, said Mick Dolan.

Spain said he had been working on the comedy night with Dolans for some time and was particularly excited about the opportunities it would bring.

Throughout my career I have loved performing in front of Limerick audiences and always believed there is room for a regular, dedicated comedy club. We look forward to welcoming the very best acts from both the Irish and International comedy scene over the coming months, he

said.

See www.dolans.ie for more.
The court said that while it was appreciative of the #MeToo campaign, at the same time it should not be misused.

Mumbai: The Bombay high court on Friday observed that the #MeToo campaign was only for victims and that it should not be misused by anyone to manipulate a victim to level allegations of sexual harassment against anybody to settle their own scores. The court said that while it was appreciative of the #MeToo campaign, at the same time it should not be misused.

The courts observation came while hearing a plea filed by Bollywood director Vikas Bahl seeking a direction to his former partners, directors Anurag Kashyap, Vikramaditya Motwane and producer Madhu Mantena, to refrain from speaking to the media or posting on social media about the case in which a woman employee has claimed that Bahl allegedly sexually assaulted her in 2015 in Goa during a promotional tour for the movie Bombay Velvet.

On Friday, senior counsel Navroz Serwai appeared before the court on behalf of the lady, who has alleged sexual harassment at the hands of Bahl. Advocate Serwai however, told the court that the lady was not desirous of being a part of the litigation.

Following this Justice SJ Kathawalla said that if the woman is not willing to pursue the case, then no one should speak about it. We do not want anybody to manipulate the woman to settle their own scores, said the judge, adding that the #MeToo campaign was only for the victims and should not be misused by anyone to settle their own scores.

The court has directed the woman to submit a signed statement on October 23 stating that she does not wish to pursue the case.
The FBI is asking for the community's assistance to find a Laredo high school student who crossed into Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, about a month ago.

On Friday, federal authorities also released the identity of two men who may have information on the whereabouts of Jose de Luna, 17, a student at Nixon High School.

READ MORE: Six men arrested after stolen Xbox leads to altercation in south Laredo

FBI officials identified the two individuals as Joshua "Jay" Hernandez, 19, and Yoshio Yammil Ordaz Garcia, 33, both from Laredo. Hernandez was reported missing by his mother on Sept. 28, according to Laredo police.

"We are at the point where we're asking for the public's help," said Special Agent Michelle Lee, FBI spokeswoman. "Investigators working this case believe that the other two individuals have information that can help us understand better where de Luna may be or what happened to him."

Lee added that de Luna, Hernandez and Ordaz Garcia have been seen together at various times. Authorities also said they had been in contact with each other.

De Luna was last seen Sept. 22 crossing into Nuevo Laredo on foot. He was wearing red shorts and a black shirt. Family members were concerned after de Luna did not return home and did not answer his cellphone, the FBI said.

De Luna is 5 feet 6 inches and weighs about 140 pounds. He has short, black hair and brown eyes.

"We are concerned for his safety. He's been missing for over a month," Lee said.

Authorities also need to locate Ordaz Garcia and Hernandez because they may have information on de Luna's disappearance.

READ MORE: Here's how ex-Laredo beauty queen, Astros star are spending time before their wedding

Ordaz Garcia is approximately 5 feet 6 inches and weighs about 180 pounds. He has short, black hair and brown eyes. He is a Mexican citizen who lives and works as a mechanic in Laredo.

Ordaz Garcia may be driving a black 2008 Chrysler 300 or a purple 2005 Jeep Liberty, according to authorities.

Hernandez is about 5 feet 11 inches and weighs 170 pounds. He has short, black hair and brown eyes. Authorities said Hernandez has a tattoo on his right leg, which says "Genaro."

People with information on the whereabouts of de Luna, Ordaz Garcia and Hernandez may call the FBI San Antonio Division at 210-225-6741 with any information.

Tips can also be submitted online at https://tips.fbi.gov. Callers may remain anonymous.

Hernandez missing

Laredo police records show Hernandez was recently reported missing. Investigators have an open case on his disappearance.

An LPD officer responded to a missing person report on Sept. 28 in the 100 block of South Meadow Avenue.

READ MORE: Ex-county commissioner, ex-city councilman face up to five years in prison

A woman reported that her son, Hernandez, had been missing since Sept. 26. She had not heard from him since that day, according to police.

Hernandez was last seen wearing a red T-shirt, blue jeans and brown Red Wing boots. He was last seen driving a white Honda Accord and was planning to visit his father in San Antonio, according to a police report.

To report his whereabouts, call police at 795-2800.
Laredo police are asking the community's assistance in tracking down a suspected burglar.

LPD identified him as Jose Luis Martinez Jr., 35. He has an active arrest warrant for burglary of a building and theft.

READ MORE: Six men arrested after stolen Xbox leads to altercation in south Laredo

Martinez is about 5 feet 5 inches and weighs about 150 pounds. His last known address was in the 2000 block of Cross Street.

To report his whereabouts, call Laredo Crime Stoppers at 727-TIPS (8477). Callers will remain anonymous. Information leading to an arrest may be rewarded with up to $1,000.
Lawyer tells court that Mukerjea is ready to bear the expenses.

Mumbai: Former media baron Peter Mukerjea has made an application in the special CBI court seeking to install a second (computer) monitor in the court to enable the lawyers to see what was being recorded by the judge as the judge speaks softly and dictation of the court is not audible to lawyers, making it impossible to ascertain the evidence recorded by the court.

Peters lawyer also told the court that his client is ready to bear the expenses of installing the monitor.

In his application, he said, The copies of evidence given are the correction of evidence carried out by the prosecution. Great inconvenience is being caused to the accused and to the court. At many times the advocate is required to request the court to repeat some part of the evidence recorded.

The application moved through advocate Shrikant Shivde further stated that additional monitors are needed in parallel line with the monitor of the court in all courts in Goa and same practice is also followed in Delhi. The said practice is extremely healthy as the accused and prosecution gets the opportunity to see the evidence while being recorded. This practice is consistent with the principle of fairness, read the application.

The lawyer explained to judge J.C. Jagdale that the monitor is an output device and it is not possible to alter the contents of the evidence in any manner. It only facilitates the viewing of the evidence while it is being recorded.

The recording of evidence could not take place on Friday because the accused were not brought to the court as the policemen who escort them were sent to Shirdi for Prime Minister Narendra Modis security.

In the meantime Peters lawyer also moved an application before the court seeking some correction in Indranis biological son, from her first relationship, Mekhail Boras statement, which was examined as prosecution witness.
In September 2015, an engineering firm employee gave Webb County Commissioner Jaime Canales proposed wording of a bid for services for a road project, according to a recently filed indictment that charged the former public official with bribery.

The bid would involve the Webb County purchasing department seeking a request for qualifications, or RFQ, for engineering consultant services on a road construction project. The employee, a lead project manager for the firm, then instructed Canales to advertise the bid, the indictment alleges.

Typically, only those who respond to an RFQ and meet the qualification criteria can get the contract.

The indictment states that Canales used his position as commissioner to place the RFQ on the Commissioners Court agenda for their meeting on Oct. 26, 2015. At the meeting, Canales voted to authorize the county's purchasing department to issue the RFQ for preliminary engineering services for the Hachar-Reuthinger project, which involves building a road to connect Mines Road to Interstate 35, north of Loop 20. The city is paying for the Hachar portion; the county the Reuthinger portion.

READ MORE: Six men arrested after stolen Xbox leads to altercation in south Laredo

That same day, on Oct. 26, 2015, the project manager for the engineering firm gave Canales a $5,000 check, which he accepted, according to the indictment. This was disguised in the form a contribution to Canales' re-election campaign, the document states.

On Aug. 4, 2016, the project manager allegedly gave Canales another $5,000 check made out to his campaign. Later that month, the county's purchasing department issued the RFQ.

Then, on Sept. 2, 2016, Canales allegedly asked the project manager for additional funds. He also asked him if his South Padre Island condominium was available that weekend, the indictment states.

On Sept. 26, 2016, Canales and the rest of the Commissioners Court voted to award the Reuthinger road project contract to "Corporation A."

This corporation is not named in the indictment. The indictment only describes it as a civil engineering firm headquartered in Houston with satellite offices in Laredo, McAllen, San Antonio, Austin and Dallas. But agenda minutes and video of the meeting show that the firm that received the $300,000 contract from the county was Dannenbaum Engineering. Dannenbaum was also the only firm to respond to the bid, or request for qualifications. The county was eligible for $240,000 of this contract to be reimbursed to them by the Texas Department of Transportation.

The project manager for the engineering firm is also not named in the indictment. He is only referred to as "Co-Conspirator A." The indictment says he is a McAllen resident and served as the lead project manager on most of the engineering firm's South Texas work.

In campaign finance report documents previously requested by Laredo Morning Times, Canales noted receiving a $5,000 check from a Dannenbaum employee, marked as received in October 2015. The address the employee lists for himself is Dannenbaum's main office in Houston.

No one else donated $5,000 to Canales in that time frame.

READ MORE: FBI agents raid offices, government buildings across Texas in statewide probe

Also in 2016, Canales served on the Metropolitan Planning Organization, or MPO, which is made up of TxDOT, city and county officials, and makes decisions on transportation projects in Laredo and Webb County.

On Oct. 13, 2016 there was purportedly a pending issue with the engineering firm's project manager and the MPO.

When he sent Canales a text asking him for help with the issue, Canales replied, "Yes ... no worries my friend," according to the indictment.

At the MPO meeting on Oct. 17, 2016, Canales voted to approve several revisions to their Transportation Improvement Program, or TIP, "which approved the plan and secured the funds for a $4.6 million contract modification, which would ultimately benefit Corporation A," the indictment states.

This action added a project to the TIP to develop the plans for the construction of Loop 20 overpasses at Jacaman Road and Airport Boulevard. It was funded for $4,641,030, according to the agenda item.

That Saturday, on Oct. 22, 2016, Canales again contacted the corporation's co-conspirator asking for additional payment, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.

On Oct. 25, 2016, he provided Canales a $5,500 check to his campaign, which Canales deposited but did not report on his campaign finance forms, prosecutors allege.

He also allegedly provided Canales with two $1,000 checks for his campaign in January 2017 from two Corporation A employees, according to the indictment.

When Laredo Morning Times reached out to Dannenbaum to comment on this story, their spokesman, Bill Miller, said, "We do not comment on other people's misfortunes and, as such, will have no comment."

Community reaction

On Thursday, the U.S. Attorney's Office announced that Canales and former Laredo City Councilman Johnny Amaya had pleaded guilty that day to conspiracy to commit bribery in a federal court in Houston.

Amaya's indictment was sealed, and therefore the details of his case are restricted to what the U.S. Attorney's Office included in their news release.

Amaya owned JAUC Service Inc., and he was employed by an unnamed co-conspirator as a consultant for Corporation A, according to the news release.

READ MORE: San Antonio's legendary ghost tracks to lose their mystique with upcoming upgrade

"In this role, Amaya met and spoke with various Webb County and City of Laredo officials to direct them to take actions that benefited the co-conspirator and corporation. Amaya maintained close contact with officials who could help the conspirator and corporation by setting up meetings and passing messages to and from the conspirator," the release states. "Amaya admitted he acted as a middleman between the conspirator and public officials.

"Amaya also supported specific candidates in the November 2016 election cycle by providing rental cars, drivers and gas cards for those rental vehicles to transport voters to the polls, all for which the corporation paid."

Both Amaya and Canales are out on bond, with sentencing hearings set for Feb. 14. They face up to five years in federal prison.

This news seemed to take wings quickly. The FBI raided City Hall, the Webb County Courthouse and Dannenbaum offices across the state in April 2017. But until Thursday's announcement, no charges had been filed in connection with the raids.

Webb County Judge Tano Tijerina issued a statement Friday morning, pledging to do his part to end corruption. He was Canales' colleague on Commissioners Court for almost four years.

"Most, if not all, elected positions have a certain level of power," Tijerina said. "While many candidates focus a lot of time, money, and energy trying to win that position of power; some don't know how to handle the position once they are elected. They forget that the position also carries with it a very high level of trust. It's unfortunate to hear that one of our colleagues gave into temptation and succumbed to the offers of private financial gain. Sadly, in doing so, he also violated the same trust that the voters gave him when he was elected. I hope this serves as a reminder to all elected officials to not use your trusted position for private gain.

"It is finally time to end the corruption that lurks in shadows of Webb County Government. This is a clear victory for Webb County and serves as a warning that things done in darkness will be brought into the light. This is the time, more than ever, for our community to come together in unity and pray for our leaders, to hold them accountable, and to rise above our past and look forward to a future of better government."

Canales resigned from Commissioners Court effective immediately on Thursday morning.

On Friday, one of his attorneys submitted his letter of resignation to United ISD, where he was employed as student relations coordinator in the Department of Student Relations/Discipline Management. He had been employed by the district for 14 years, according to the letter.

The FBI raids in 2017 have been a refrain in Laredo Mayor Pete Saenz's re-election campaign.

A statement released through his campaign on Friday addressed the news of the guilty pleas.

"Four years ago, I ran for Mayor to clean up our City," Saenz said. "I along with many of our community had strong suspicions that local corruption was rampant, and now such suspicions have been confirmed. Finally! We are beginning to see the results (arrests and guilty pleas) from the April 2017 FBI raids. I will continue to expose any wrongdoing to law enforcement and encourage you to do the same.

READ MORE: Despite FBI probe, contract awarded to Dannenbaum

"I have no further information on whether others will be arrested. I encourage the community to refrain from further speculation in fairness to those that are not implicated by these investigations at this time.

"We are a strong community! We have set higher standards. We must elect people that rise to our new standards. We will not go back to the arrogance and corruption of the past."

Julia Wallace may be reached at 956-728-2543 or jwallace@lmtonline.com
On Oct. 10, Katy Area Retired Educators held its monthly meeting and hosted a political forum.

KARE members had an opportunity to hear from candidates, who represent the areas where most members live, for lieutenant governor, Senate District 17, House District 28 and House District 132.

KAREs next meeting will be held on Nov. 7 and will feature Yvonne Streit, founder of Brookwood.

All public school employees who retired under the Teacher Retirement System are welcome to attend and bring a retired educator, friend or neighbor who is not a current member. KARE represents anyone who has worked in a school district and retired through TRS. This includes all employees from custodian to superintendent.

Others interested in supporting the goals of the Texas Retired Teachers Association are welcome to join as associate members. Reservations are required. Call Lee Ann Nuckles at 832-594-7533.

KARE meetings are held at 11:30 a.m. at the Leonard E. Merrell Center, Room 144, located at the West Entrance. For more information about the Katy Area Retired Educators check out its website at www.localunits.org/KARE.
MEXICO CITY - As thousands of Central American migrants inched closer to Mexico's southern border, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with top officials here, hoping to avert the caravan before it reaches the United States.

By Friday morning, at least a thousand migrants had arrived in the city of Tecun Uman, in northern Guatemala, and by early afternoon, they began walking across a bridge connecting the two countries, even as Mexico deployed additional police along the border. A huge group waited to be processed by Mexican authorities, punctuated by moments of disorder, as police fired tear gas into the crowd.

"We are quickly reaching a point which appears to be a moment of crisis" with the flow of Central American migrants, Pompeo said in a joint appearance with Mexico's foreign minister, Luis Videgaray.

Mexican authorities, in search of a way both to satisfy President Donald Trump's demand that they deter the migrants and to avoid violating international law, have asked the United Nations to set up a migrant processing center near their southern border. Pompeo said in a statement that he welcomed that plan.

During the joint appearance Friday, he added: "The way you will handle this is your sovereign decision."

But as Trump said at a rally on Thursday that the midterm elections would hinge in part on the caravan, it was clear that U.S. pressure on Mexico would continue.

The members of the caravan appeared unlikely to wait for the United Nations. On Friday, many migrants approached border crossings where Guatemalan police officers appeared prepared to block their passage, but by the early afternoon they broke through a fence on the Guatemalan side, forcing their way to the Mexican side of the bridge. Mexican authorities used riot gear to dispel some of the migrants, telling them to be prepared to wait for processing.

Before leaving by plane, Pompeo said four policemen had been injured, and he blamed the caravan for using women and children as shields. In response to the deployment of Mexican police, Trump tweeted, "Thank you Mexico," on Thursday, just hours after threatening to deploy the U.S. military and "close our southern border" - potentially upending a recent trade deal with Mexico and Canada.

His threats have kept pace with the migrants' journey. As they were passing though Guatemala, he threatened to withdraw aid from Central American nations if they did not stop the migrants. Paradoxically, much of that aid is used in programs aimed at deterring migration.

Speaking at the joint news conference, Videgaray said the Mexican government would enforce the country's immigration laws, "in a humanitarian form, thinking first of the interest of the migrant."

Videgaray also emphasized the need for the United States to promote anti-poverty programs in Central America, calling a lack of economic development among the "major reasons for migration."

Even with additional border security personnel, it is unlikely that Mexico could detain the thousands of migrants who appear likely to cross into the country in the coming days. Typically, migrants use rafts to float across informal border crossings.

Mexican officials will have to decide how to handle the migrants who continue traveling by foot and in vehicles toward the southern border, a journey that could take weeks. Earlier this year, during a previous migrant caravan, Mexico ultimately registered the migrants and gave them permits of up to 30 days to leave the country or apply for asylum.

The migrant caravans have been occurring for years, offering a safe way for migrants to make their way north, while also intending to draw attention to the plight of the region's more desperate people. But before the Trump Administration, they attracted little attention. Although there might be as many as 3,000 or 4,000 people in the current caravan, that number is dwarfed by the more than 450,000 people who have been apprehended along the U.S.-Mexico border this year.

Immigration advocates and experts on international refugee law say that providing transit documents to those in search of protection would be the reasonable and humane response. But that would probably enrage Trump, who appears to see it as Mexico's responsibility to stop the migrants from reaching the U.S. border by any means.

Pompeo's trip to Mexico was planned before the caravan, but on Friday he referred to it as "the largest issue that we face today," now that the trade deal with Mexico has been hammered out.

Some immigrant advocates said they were pleased by Mexico's call to involve the United Nations in the processing of asylum seekers.

"It tells me that Mexico recognizes the protection dimension here as well as its own incapacity to process" members of the caravan, said Bill Frelick, director of the refugee rights program at Human Rights Watch.

But Mexican officials have not said what role they would like the United Nations to play.

"Specific information on the support provided by the UNHCR regarding the processing of refugee applications and support for the applicants during their stay in Mexico will be made public as soon as a formal response is received," Mexico's foreign ministry said in a Thursday statement.
Istanbul

Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed in a "fistfight" in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, the kingdom said early Saturday, acknowledging the writer's death for the first time. Authorities said 18 Saudi suspects were in custody for his slaying and intelligence officials had been fired.

The overnight announcements in Saudi state media came more than two weeks after Khashoggi entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul for paperwork required to marry his Turkish fiancee, and never came out. Since his disappearance, the kingdom had rejected Turkish fears he was killed and dismembered there as "baseless," but growing international pressure and comments by U.S. officials up to President Donald Trump appears to have forced the kingdom to acknowledge the slaying.

While it fired officials close to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom stopped short of implicating the heir-apparent of the world's largest oil exporter. King Salman, his father, appointed him to the committee that will restructure the kingdom's intelligence services after Khashoggi's slaying. No major decisions in Saudi Arabia are made outside of the kingdom's ruling Al Saud family.

It also appeared to downplay the fact that Turkish officials say an "assassination squad" from the kingdom including an official from Prince Mohammed's entourage and an "autopsy expert" flew in ahead of time and laid in wait for Khashoggi at the consulate.

In a statement Friday, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the U.S. will closely follow international investigations into Khashoggi's death and will advocate for justice that is "timely, transparent and in accordance with all due process."

The announcements came in a flurry of statements carried by the state-run Saudi Press Agency early Saturday morning.

"Preliminary investigations conducted by the Public Prosecution showed that the suspects had travelled to Istanbul to meet with the citizen Jamal Khashoggi as there were indications of the possibility of his returning back to the country," the statement read. "Discussions took place with the citizen Jamal Khashoggi during his presence in the consulate of the kingdom in Istanbul by the suspects (that) did not go as required and developed in a negative way, leading to a fight and a quarrel. The brawl led to his death and their attempt to conceal and hide what happened."

The Saudi statements did not identify the 18 Saudis being held.

"The kingdom expresses its deep regret at the painful developments that have taken place and stresses the commitment of the authorities in the kingdom to bring the facts to the public opinion, to hold all those involved accountable and bring them to justice," the statement said.

On Wednesday, the Turkish pro-government newspaper Yeni Safak, citing what it described as an audio recording of Khashoggi's slaying, said the squad immediately accosted the journalist after he entered the consulate, cutting off his fingers and later decapitating him.

Turkish crime scene investigators this week searched the Saudi Consulate building in Istanbul and the nearby residence of the Saudi consul general, and came out carrying bags and boxes. On Friday, investigators questioned staff and explored whether his remains could have been dumped outside Istanbul after his suspected killing, Turkish media and a security official said.

The journalist had written columns critical of the Saudi government while living in self-imposed exile in the U.S.

Trump has said the consequences for the Saudis "will have to be very severe" if they are found to have killed him, but has insisted that more facts must be known before making any judgements.

Trump's previous warnings over the case drew an angry response Sunday from Saudi Arabia and its state-linked media, including a suggestion that Riyadh could wield its oil production as a weapon. The U.S. president wants King Salman and OPEC to boost production to drive down high oil prices, caused in part by the coming re-imposition of oil sanctions on Iran in November.
Meenakshis uterus had become non-functional and so she underwent uterus transplant from her mother.

Mumbai: In a first for the country, a woman delivered a baby girl after getting a womb transplant from her mother in a Pune hospital. Seventeen months after getting her mothers womb, a woman delivered a baby girl at privately-run Galaxy Care Hospital, Pune, on Dussehra.

Meenakshi Valand (28), a resident of Vadodara in Gujarat, underwent a uterus transplant in May 2017. Meenakshis mother donated her uterus to her daughter, whose uterus had become non-functional following miscarriages.

Ms Meenakshi was kept under observation for a few months after the transplant. She was sent back home after her health showed improvement. When she experienced her first menstrual cycle, she returned to Pune. In March this year, the embryo was transferred to her new uterus. After 31 weeks and five days (over seven months), Ms Meenakshi prematurely underwent a caesarean section.

Dr Shailesh Puntambekar spoke to this newspaper after performing the C-section. This is the first baby in India and twelfth in the world to be born through a uterus transplant. Nine such babies were born in Sweden, two in the United States, and now this is the first one in all of Asia, he said.

Apparently, he did not charge a penny for the complete procedure which costs crores of rupees. He reiterated that India made it happen. Today, the eyes of the whole worlds medical fraternity are peeled on this case and Dr Puntambekar, who made India and Asia proud.
We asked the sides for and against the San Antonio charter amendments to answer some questions about the measures. Reinette King, a spokeswoman for the San Antonio Professional Firefighters Association, answers for the pro-amendments side. Answering for the Go Vote No campaign is Mayor Ron Nirenberg. We hope this helps you decide. Early voting begins Monday. The election is Nov. 6.

Q. What is the harm/good in lowering the number of petition signatures required to bring a council decision to a referendum? This is what Proposition A proposes.

Nirenberg: Lowering the petition threshold creates numerous problems for citizens. For starters, it means nearly constant paralysis, as every decision made by the council is in limbo for six months while someone tries to gather signatures for a referendum. And it allows even the narrowest of special interests with enough money ($2 per signature is what the union paid) to buy their way onto the ballot. This takes power away from the people by end-running their elected representatives in favor of monied interests who can buy the outcome they want.

King: Proposition A would require fewer signatures to give the people a voice on issues and how their money is spent when City Hall acts and spends recklessly while ignoring or failing in their fiduciary duty. The other side, in its quest for taxpayer dollars, enjoys almost exclusive access to our council, mayor and the city manager. Citizens need the right of refusal to force the other side to defend and justify a questionable project, issue or its costs. Both our country and city rely on checks and balances to keep power in check. A referendum enables debate on the pros and cons of an issue to inform the people before they vote.

Citizens are too busy making a living to micromanage City Hall; so historically, there have been few referendums unless they were high cost issues and controversial, like the dome, term limits, salaries for council and one requiring a referendum on rail.

Q. If you know, what do other Texas cities with this petition ability require?

Nirenberg: There is no major city in Texas that sets a petition threshold this low, while also extending the time period to six months for collecting them. The closest any city comes is Austin, which has a number of restrictions on what can be placed on a ballot by petition and a population that is half a million people fewer than San Antonio. Austin is also voting to raise taxes this fall.

King: Since 2012 when Austin voted to lower petition signatures to 20,000 and increased the number of days to 180 days to collect them, there has been no abuse. Issues should pass or fail on merit, and being compared to California is not only insulting, but not valid. If the peoples vote elects council, shouldnt that same vote be the last word when it comes to projects that are controversial?

Q. These charter amendments have spawned a particularly heated debate, often bordering on personal. How did we get to this state?

Nirenberg: The fire union presidents personal rancor and political attacks on city leadership for the last four years, coupled with his outright refusal to negotiate a taxpayer-funded collective bargaining contract for firefighters, have fueled this entire process and that unfortunately has come at the cost of civility and an honest conversation about the issues.

King: These amendments have the other side panicked and they fear losing control of City Hall and will spend any amount to keep it. The people are waking up and feel violated and taken advantage of. Then you have City Manager Sheryl Sculley, who is stubborn and who would rather litigate than negotiate. Sculley has used bully tactics and a lawsuit against the firefighters, causing a five-year stalemate. Then she artfully and unfairly blames the firefighters, hurting their image and purposely pitting the citizens against their protectors. What kind of management is this?

After five years with no success at the bargaining table and the citys waste of more than $1 million on lawyers, only to lose, the firefighters had no recourse but binding arbitration as a last resort. Maybe Sculley does not want a solution? Propositions A, B and C are not for the firefighters; they are for the citizens to have a voice and the last word on how their money is spent.

Q. For King mostly, but, mayor, too, if you want: Why doesnt firefighters association head Chris Steele debate the mayor on this issue? Why have you and David Van Os been designated as spokespersons?

King: For the same reason that Sheryl Sculley and the mayor have left most of the talking to Christian Archer, a paid consultant. President Chris Steele cannot fight all of the peoples battles and realizes there is a leadership gap in this city. We consider ourselves citizen first responders. Steeles job is protecting his people who are on the front line of life-or-death emergencies like fires, heart attacks and natural disasters, not politics. It is past time for all of us as citizens to take a stand, demanding respect and accountable decisions from the government we finance. Turns out it is a full-time job requiring constant vigilance. We are grateful that the firefighters stepped in to help us get a vote on the streetcar, and now it is time for others, not just us, to take the baton. Our leaders have proven that they do not always choose wisely or do the right thing by us. Sometimes, we need to take back the checkbook and demand project reviews. Havent you noticed that when an opposing side has no facts, they must resort to personal attacks?

Nirenberg: Chris Steele should debate the mayor one-on-one about this issue. As much as he likes to pretend these issues rise from popular sentiment, that simply isnt true. Chris Steele drew up these petitions. Chris Steele hiked dues on rank-and-file firefighters to hire political operatives from Buda to gather petition signatures. And Chris Steele is writing union checks to exclusively fund the Yes side of the campaign. He owes the taxpayers who pay his nearly $200,000 salary an explanation for why he is doing this to our city.

Q. For the mayor only, but contribute, too, if you want, Ms. King: Apparently part of what sparked this petition drive is the citys lawsuit to overturn the evergreen clause. Why did the city sue (only to lose)? Was this not the kind of bare-knuckle tactic the union is now being accused of?

Nirenberg: There were legitimate questions as to the legality and constitutionality of the evergreen clause that needed to be answered. Neither that clause nor the ensuing lawsuit were instituted by me. And the evergreen clause, as we clearly see, incentivizes the union not to come to the negotiating table. Numerous times before and since the lawsuit has ended, I have invited the union leaders to negotiate in good faith, and they have refused.

King: Im asking, What is Sculleys motive? She finds dollars for unpopular projects but refuses to resolve the firefighters contract. What other option did the firefighters have but binding arbitration to force Sculley to negotiate? Proposition C is needed to break the stalemate. If not, where do we go from there?

Q. On Proposition B, tell us the harm/good in capping city manager pay and length of service, particularly since this doesnt affect the current salary and tenure of City Manager Sheryl Sculley, who seems to have particularly riled some?

Nirenberg: Plain and simple, Prop. B hamstrings the citys ability to attract top talent for the person who manages $2.8 billion of your tax dollars and manages over 12,000 employees delivering the essential services you depend on. It makes an immediate lame duck of anyone who takes the job, and it will give any qualified administrator pause about coming to work for San Antonio.

King: I guess that 13 years of Sculleys mismanagement has taken its toll and caused frustration as she is out of touch with the peoples needs. The mayor (and council) make it seem like he is in her pocket by paying her more than the governor and president. Its time to manage the manager, demand a performance review and look at her contract as well. San Antonio ranks 99 out of the 150 largest U.S. cities in WalletHub.coms ranking of best and worst cities. For what we are paying Sculley, shouldnt we be No. 1, or at least in the top 10? Where do our tax dollars go? Maybe it is time to audit all bond issues.

Q. How does Sculleys pay compare to city managers of similarly sized communities?

Nirenberg: The median salary for Texas city managers in large cities is $375,000. San Antonios manager has 30 years experience in the two largest council-manager cities in the country. With her as manager, San Antonio attained a coveted AAA bond rating from all three financial rating agencies and continues to be the only large city in America with ratings that high.

King: Sculleys salary is one of the highest in the nation. She has ruled with an iron fist building her own power base with a fiscal year 2019 office budget of $4.06 million, including salaries and other items. Her support staff includes two deputy managers making over $250,000 each. Austin pays its manager nearly $330,000 to manage the city and its utilities. Dallas pays its manager $375,000 to manage twice the number of employees as San Antonio. Houston has no city manager.

Q. One allegation is that Sculley is, in effect, an unelected policymaker who must be checked for the sake of representative democracy. Cite examples of how this is or isnt true.

Nirenberg: The council-manager form of government ensures professional delivery of services with as little political influence as possible. The city manager does not make policy  she implements the policies adopted by the mayor and the council. The city manager serves as the CEO, the mayor serves as the chairman of the board, and the council serves as the citys board of directors. Voters can and do change the direction of policy, as they did in 2017, when they elected a new mayor and six new council members. When the operations of the city are not performing well, the council replaces the management, which has also happened numerous times before. Weak management and weak elected representatives they can manipulate for their own gain is precisely what the union and special interests want and exactly what is wrong with these proposals.

King: Sculley has usurped so much control and surrounded herself with monied interests that the mayor and council seem afraid to challenge her. While streets go unrepaired, public safety needs are ignored, sidewalks collapse underfoot downtown and controversial issues keep our city divided, she demands and gets paid her asking price. Most are afraid to question anything she does. The council-manager form of government replaced a strong mayor government back in the 50s. The mayor was playing fast and loose with his power and, like Sculley, seemed to cater to his favorite political insiders. Maybe it is human nature and after 13 years, she cannot help herself. She is the puppet master and the council has become her puppets. Does her contract call for a performance review, and how she manages/juggles our money? Proposition B is a start to correct this and should help with leverage in future negotiations.

Q. For King mostly: This effort has been characterized by the Vote No camp as simply a power grab by the firefighters association. Proposition C, which gives the union unilateral authority to bring the city to arbitrary arbitration, is cited as exhibit A. Briefly explain the origin of this measure and why should voters give solely the firefighters association this authority and not others. Since you won the evergreen suit, why not simply return to the bargaining table?

King: The firefighters have been more than patient. It has been five years, so this is not a power grab but the last resort left open to them. They are anxious to break the stalemate that has existed for these five years and want their contract resolved. Again, why wont Sculley work to get this settled? Why the delay? Why file a lawsuit that enriches the lawyers? Why is she so stubborn? Not by choice, firefighters have spent more time in court being sued by Sculley than at the negotiating table. Where is Sculleys good faith? The citizens need their firefighting team and count on them when they need them the most. If the firefighters werent willing to be reasonable, they wouldnt risk binding arbitration by an impartial panel to evaluate the facts on both sides in order to finalize the contract. How can binding arbitration be more expensive than the lawsuits filed by Sculley? Also, it is not our business to speak for other agencies who service the city. Proposition C is required. Too much time has passed with no results and no deadline.

Nirenberg: It would be wrong for the firefighters union to have special rights and be on unequal footing with other public safety employees. And it would be wrong to have one of the largest expenditures of their tax dollars decided by a third party arbitrator with no input on their behalf by the people who represent them.

Q. Who and what organizations are sponsoring the campaigns for and against? What can voters deduce from this list?

Nirenberg: The Go Vote No campaign is supported by a broad cross section of our community. Working men and women, small-business owners, large-business owners, Republicans, Democrats, independents, neighborhood groups, chambers of commerce, business leaders, and civic activists and volunteers all have contributed time, money and effort to opposing these amendments. The Yes campaign is funded exclusively by the union. If there was ever a clear example of a single special interest trying to force its will on the community, this is it.

King: Our impression is that there is an unelected private and special club in town that works with our unelected city manager to decide what the city needs and where to spend the peoples money. For all practical purposes, they are the 12th man on the council, who can also pay for access. If you compare all contested issues brought to a vote, the same names, corporations and businesses appear. Sadly, many contributors, while well-intentioned, do no homework and rely on misrepresentations by their social and business counterparts who have made control of City Hall their business. If they truly understood the facts, they probably would save their money, or be on the other side.

VOTE NO is funded by PACS whose contributions come from major contributors like USAA, Gordon Hartman, banks, developers, individual insiders and corporate donors. It is also interesting to note that Gordon Hartman, treasurer for VOTE NO, received $18 million, split between the county and the city, to buy his land. This is routine at City Hall and goes consistently unchecked. The San Antonio First PAC is funded by the San Antonio Professional Firefighters Association to help counter the expensive media buys and campaign, etc., of the other side while inviting citizen volunteers to participate in the democratic process.

Q. There has been the claim that these measures  particularly Proposition A  will jeopardize the city of San Antonios AAA rating. Tell us why this is or isnt true.

Nirenberg: It is unquestionably true because the ratings agencies told us so. This newspaper and others reported on July 27 that when reaffirming our AAA bond rating, two of the agencies said passage of the amendments would result in lower ratings for San Antonio. Anyone who says we wont suffer a downgrade is lying.

King: Many things affect this citys bond rating, and they have nothing to do with this election. In fact, if we could control councils runaway spending and be managed more effectively, we could limit our risk of the bond rating being downgraded. For decades San Antonio has achieved excellent bond ratings and had a AAA bond rating before Sculley was hired.

Based on the citys low rating nationally on other items, its time to review Sculleys job performance to justify the big bucks she demands.

The other sides media attacks using scare tactics reveal how desperate they are to retain control over the city manager, the mayor, the City Council and, most importantly, the peoples money. Nothing is going away. Council is charged with delivering a safe and functional city. Thats what we pay for. In truth, passage of these propositions will help secure our financial future.

Q. Ms. King, what is the basis of the associations claim that Proposition A wont affect taxes and services.?

King: Proposition A simply gives citizens the right to petition to redress grievances or challenge, if necessary, an issue or expenditure they feel is not right for our city. If the city is being managed effectively and efficiently, tax dollars should provide the basic services first and let special interests fund themselves.

Q. Mayor, what is the basis of your claim that it will?

Nirenberg: For starters, the downgrade in our credit rating means more of the budget will go to interest payments to banks, leaving less for public safety, streets and infrastructure. We will have to choose between raising taxes and cutting services. Additionally, the uncertainty created by passage of these amendments will mean less economic growth, less job creation and a smaller tax base, putting more of a burden on the citizens and businesses who are here today.

Q. Briefly, wrap up with your best (and most succinct) arguments to vote yes or no on these propositions.

Nirenberg: Plain and simple, these amendments are a power grab for one single special interest. The union leader foisting this on the citizens has admitted that. These propositions will raise our taxes, slash city services and rig the system in favor of special interests who can buy their way on to the ballot. The future of San Antonio depends on all of us voting NO on Nov. 6.

King: Basically, this is a referendum on the city manager and the mayor. Special interest players are in a panic. How dare the people challenge their projects and control over City Hall? Look at the money they are raising. Why are they afraid to have citizen input? Why does a level playing field scare them? Vote YES on Propositions A, B and C if you think the city is out of control and that the mayor and city manager are the king and queen of debt. These propositions are not for the firefighters, who are there when we need them the most; they are for the people of San Antonio. Now its up to us to save our tax dollars and voice.
The powerful need to have their egos massaged, and the supplicants must outdo each other in the most abject display of sycophancy.

On May 7th, 2016, Rocky Yadav, alias Rakesh Ranjan, son of JD(U) lawmaker Manorama Ranjan, was on his way from Bodh Gaya to Gaya. He was enraged that the car in front of him was not giving him way. That car was being driven by a young class 12 student, Aditya Sachdeva. When Rocky finally overtook the erring car, he drew his gun and shot Aditya dead. Fortunately, it made little difference to chief minister Nitish Kumar that the criminal was his own party leaders son. The case against Yadav was pursued relentlessly. In spite of key witnesses turning hostile, Rocky, his cousin, and the gun-toting guard allotted to his mother  all with him in his car  were convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment. Rockys father, who tried to hide his son when police was looking for him, got five years in jail.

This kind of VVIP lawlessness was again on display last week by the pistol-brandishing shenanigans of Ashish Pandey, son of a former MP of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). This time the incident took place in New Delhi, in the premises of the five star Hyatt Regency, on the night  or the early hours of the morning  of 16th October.

Ashish Pandey, accompanied by some friends, including three UK-based women, had an altercation with Gaurav and his friend, Hina. When they were out in the porch of the hotel, Pandey pulled out a pistol from his car. Expletives flew fast and thick. A finger pressed on the trigger of the menacing gun was all it required for another Rocky Yadav-type tragedy. Fortunately, the hotel staff managed to separate the warring group. The entire unsavoury incident was captured on video, and has gone viral, replete with the most foul language used by all the participants  including the women. Last heard, Ashish Pandey surrendered to the police. His pistol and his abandoned BMW car have been recovered.

Why do so many progeny of the powerful in our country behave so outrageously? The answer is blunt: They believe they have the ordained right to do so. This feeling of being above the law is their prime inheritance. They have grown up in an immoral cesspool where the primacy of law but rarely intrudes. In our country  with few exceptions  politics corrupts; successful politics corrupts absolutely. Rocky and Ashish Pandey would most likely have grown up in an atmosphere where electoral winnability finesses ethics, and the race to power asphyxiates morality. They would have also seen how law-enforcing authorities  including the police  kowtow before the open misuse of power. Their brashness stems from a nurtured conviction that they are inherently above the law. In fact, they are encouraged to believe that they are a law unto themselves. Those who question them are labelled as self-righteous nobodies. Far from doing the right thing, they are idiotic enough to understand that might alone is right.

Ethical depravity is reinforced by visible money power. Such brats flaunt their affluence: expensive cars, designer clothes, lavish lifestyles, women as accessories, and limitless money to spend. Their parents believe that their ill-begotten money, earned through milking public office, must be used to spoil their children silly. Anything asked for must be made available. Conventional pursuits, such as doing well in school or college, are scoffed at as priorities of the less privileged. Not surprisingly, many of such children are school drop-outs, or have not made it to college. Those who do go to college acquire a degree through devious means. Cheating in exams is hardly a major offence when they have seen their influential parent buying an MLA or MP ticket, spending huge amounts beyond the electoral limit set by the Election Commission, and conspiring to bump off irksome political opponents.

The disgusting thing is that such brats are never short of hanger-ons. I have often said that in India there is only one real definition of an orphan: someone who has neither power nor money. The Rockys and Ashish Pandeys of this world have both. Hence, they are surrounded by those who encourage their dissolute debauchery. In India, it appears that to genuflect before the powerful is a socially acceptable goal unfettered by notions of rectitude. The powerful need to have their egos massaged, and the supplicants must outdo each other in the most abject display of sycophancy. In his path-breaking study of a village in Karnataka, M.N. Srinivas, the noted sociologist, says that individuals who were economically and socially inferior seemed only too ready to agree with their superior, and flatter him when an opportunity presented itself.

Sycophancy comes with an in-built antenna to understand the locus of power, and where benefit lies. Those who seek to benefit by enhancing their proximity to power must always say the right thing at the right time with the right degree of exaggeration and deference, so as to leave no doubt about their absolute loyalty and the unquestioned primacy of their benefactor. There is no conflict of morality here. As Tulsidasa aptly says: Samaratha kar nahin dosha gusain, ravi paavak sursari ki nahin: (The powerful can have no faults; they remain as pure as the sun, the fire and the Ganga).

When Manu Sharma shot dead Jessica Lal, or when Rocky Yadav put a bullet through the head of Aditya Sachdeva, or when Ashish Pandey brandished a gun at the Hyatt Regency, they were confident that their power, their influence, their money and their band of chamchas would see them through their act of criminality. What is truly worrying is that many of these brats will join politics to follow in the footsteps of their parent. It is a vicious cycle of depravity, legitimised by the unethical landscape that all of us  in some measure or the other  have conspired to concur with. The time has come to put a stop to this criminality, and this can only happen when the common man says: enough is enough.
Two people charged in connection with a growhouse in Longford town appeared before last weeks sitting of Longford Circuit Court where one will be monitored by the court for the next 12 months and the other was handed a suspended prison sentence.

Gabriele Vysnaiauskaite (23) with an address in the UK and Aivaras Blekahas (30), now living in Co Westmeath appeared before Judge Keenan Johnson charged with the offence at Dun Darragh, Longford on April 5, 2016.

Outlining the evidence to the court, Garda Cunniffe said that he entered the home where both defendants lived on foot of a search warrant on the date in question.

The Garda added, On arrival at the premises I got a strong smell of cannabis.

Meanwhile, the court heard that Garda Foley and Garda Scanlon who accompanied Garda Cunniffe made their way to the upstairs of the house, while he entered the kitchen area with Ms Vysnaiauskaite, the lady of the house.

Aivaras Blekahas was there and told me that he lived in the house, Garda Cunniffe continued.

There was evidence upstairs that the house was being used for the harvesting and cultivation of cannabis plants.

The court then heard that cannabis seedlings were also discovered and was good quality cannabis in jars.

The value of the discovery, the court heard was approximately 120,000 and over 2,000 in cash was also found at the property.

Garda Cunniffe told the court that after investigating the matter further, he discovered that the letting agreement for the property was signed by both defendants, and the landlord.

In mitigation, Counsel for Mr Blekahas, Ms Dara Foynes said her client had a leg amputated in 2010 after suffering a very serious assault.

Mr Blekahas and Ms Vysnaiauskaite were in a relationship at the time and it was this that brought them to Ireland in the first instance, she continued, before pointing out that they had friends living in Co Westmeath who encouraged them to move to this country.

Mr Blekahas has taken prime responsibility for the cannabis growth.

Meanwhile, in his direct evidence to the court, Mr Blekahas said he had been growing the cannabis for his own personal use because of the pain he now suffered as a direct result of the assault.

In 2010 I was trying to protect a girl from a drunk person and he stabbed me several times with a knife, the defendant continued.

I lost my leg as a result.

The court then heard that Mr Blekahas was very well educated, had qualified as an accountant and secured a very good job thereafter.

He met Ms Vysnaiauskaite, he added, and the couple moved to the UK.

I left a good job and everything we had to come to Ireland, he said.

There was no jobs when we got here.

The court was told that Mr Blekahas started taking cannabis after the assault.

There is no medication that helps with the pain like cannabis does, he told Judge Johnson.

I came here and got greedy; I decided to grow it myself and now I am in big trouble.

I really apologise for my crime; I did it for myself, for my pains.

Delivering judgement in the case, Judge Johnson said it was clear to the court that Mr Blekahas had grown the cannabis for his own personal use because of the pain he suffered.

The Judge also said he was impressed by the defendants evidence.

I took him to be a reasonably decent individual; he is in constant pain and did find cannabis to be a relief from that, the Judge continued.

However the law is clear here and people are not allowed to grow cannabis in this country.

It is also clear that the house was used by both parties and that both individuals have no previous convictions.

This appears to be a misguided endeavour by Mr Blekahas.

The Judge subsequently sentenced Mr Blekahas to 18 months in prison but suspended it for five years on the grounds he keep the peace and be of good behavior.

Judge Johnson then adjourned Ms Vysnaiauskaites case for one year and pointed out that if she did not come to the adverse notice of the Gardai in the interim, he would dismiss the case against her.
With elections around the corner, it is open season for political rivals to circulate stories and rumours about each other.

Faced with a spate of allegations of sexual harassment by women journalists, editor-turned-politician M.J. Akbar eventually stepped down from his post as minister of state of external affairs last week. Predictably, Mr Akbars resignation came as a big relief for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party as its spokespersons were finding it increasingly difficult to fend off questions about the charges against Mr Akbar and his continuation in the government. But shortly after Mr Akbar put in his papers, the BJPs Madhya Pradesh unit sent word that the next logical step now would be to ask the former minister to resign his Rajya Sabha seat. Mr Akbar was elected to the Rajya Sabha from Madhya Pradesh two years ago. BJP leaders have not gone public with their demand, but they have made it clear that they will impress upon the party leadership that Mr Akbar should not be allowed to continue as a member of the Upper House given the serious allegations of sexual misconduct against him. The BJPs Madhya Pradesh unit has constantly complained about the party leaderships growing tendency to accommodate outsiders from their quota of seats. The latest controversy involving Mr Akbar has provided a fresh trigger to air their grievances. Besides Mr Akbar, petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan is also a member of the Upper House from Madhya Pradesh.

First, there were reports about controversies surrounding Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhans controversial wife Sadhna Singh. And now there is a buzz that her namesake Sadhna Thakur, the doctor wife of Himachal Pradesh chief minister Jai Ram Thakur, is also in the eye of a storm. Though the soft-spoken Mr Thakur is personally quite popular, he finds himself in a spot following innumerable complaints from his colleagues and party workers about his wifes overbearing behaviour. Ms Thakur comes from a political family, was active in the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, the BJPs students wing, and has been conducting blood donation and medical camps in her capacity as a doctor and activist. However, she is said to be taking a far greater interest in politics after Mr Thakur took over as chief minister last year. She has upset party workers after she denied them access to the chief ministers residence on the plea that the grounds are out of bounds because the place had to be kept free for her pet dogs. She is also learned to be interfering in the functioning of the health ministry while her posting at the clinic attached to the state Assembly provides her ample opportunity to foray into her husbands domain, which has led to considerable resentment in the government and the party.

Young Bharatiya Janata Party leaders in Uttarakhand are a worried lot these days. They are feeling threatened after media reports have suggested that national security adviser Ajit Dovals son Shaurya Doval is keen to join politics and may contest elections from the state sometime in the future. Mr Shaurya Doval, who runs the BJPs high-profile think tank, India Foundation, has been attending party meetings in the state and even launched a project  Bemisal Garhwal as part of the Buland Uttarakhand campaign. Though this programme is focused on development issues, it is widely seen by BJP circles as a launchpad for young Dovals political career. Mr Shaurya Doval has denied that he plans to pursue a career in politics but BJP members in Uttarakhand are feeling insecure as Mr Shaurya Doval is well-connected, adept at using technology and has greater access to the BJP top brass. The state leaders complain that while they have been working at the grassroots for years, they are invariably ignored in favour of outsiders when it comes to the selection of candidates for elections.

With elections around the corner, it is open season for political rivals to circulate stories and rumours about each other. Congress president Rahul Gandhi is a prime target of the BJP. This is particularly so each time he visits a temple or any other religious shrine. When the Nehru-Gandhi scion offered prayers at the Somnath temple, the BJP said he had admitted in the visitors book that he was not a Hindu. Similarly, when he undertook a pilgrimage to Kailash Mansarovar, BJP functionaries said Mr Gandhi had consumed non-vegetarian food on the eve of his trek. And now it is being said that when the Congress president went to a gurdwara in Madhya Pradesh recently, he was set to put money in the shrines donation box but was cautioned against it by former minister Jyotiraditya Scindia as it could be misconstrued as a violation of the model code of conduct. This has become a laughing matter in the state as this action is being attributed to Mr Gandhis poor understanding since it suggests that offerings made to the gods during elections are bribes. Others took potshots at Mr Scindia, saying his advice may have something to do with the fact that he is reputed to be careful with money.
Associated Industries of Massachusetts has honored Six Flags New England, of Agawam, and United Personnel, of Springfield, with its Next Century Award.

AIM, a statewide employers group, has also honored brush manufacturer Sanderson-MacLeod, of Palmer, with its the 2018 Sustainability Award.

Next Century awards honor employers, community organizations and individuals who have made seminal contributions to the Massachusetts economy and the well-being of residents, according to AIM. The Sustainability Award recognizes excellence in environmental stewardship, promotion of social well-being and contributions to economic prosperity.

Six Flags New England

Six Flags is the region's largest seasonal employer, hiring more than 3,000 people each year during a nine-month season that stretches from the spring through the end-of-year holidays.

United Personnel

United Personnel connects more than 700 people each day to jobs throughout Massachusetts and Connecticut.

The 35-year-old company recently created a scholarship fund in the company's name that will help deserving students from the Gateway cities of the Pioneer Valley continue their educations. The fund will be administered by the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts.

Sanderson MacLeod

Sanderson MacLeod, which manufactures twisted wire brushes and created the first twisted wire brush for applying mascara, initiated a continuous improvement effort while establishing a LEAN culture under which employee teams identified waste. Sanderson-MacLeod says involving the workforce in improving the company created a rewarding experience.

Employment has increase 23 percent since the process began. The company employs approximately 120 people and operates a modern 137,000-square-foot facility in Palmer, according to its website.
Bostonians John and Betty Finnegan marveled at their good fortune as they stood at the edge of the Cabot Trail on Cape Breton Island.



"Just look at this view," Betty said as she gestured toward the edge of their property on the western shore of Bras d'Or Lake. "I never get tired of this."



The Finnegans came to Nova Scotia two decades ago as they researched retirement.



"I wanted a summer place near water," Betty said; "a house with a big wrap-around porch." Betty didn't get the porch but the property is exactly what she and John were looking for.



The site was occupied by a derelict campground and "was so overgrown we couldn't see the water," John said. Since 2000, the Finnegans have put their hearts and a great deal of money into developing Bras d'Or Lakes Campground & Cottages south of the village of Baddeck. Today, the campground is rated by international camping and RV organizations as one of the finest RV parks in North America.



John clearly and proudly states that he is 80 years old. He neither looks nor acts his age. He stands ramrod-straight and moves with ease. His speech is measured, clear, concise, yea, even eloquent; what one might expect from a man who spent his career practicing business law in Boston.



Getting an accurate reading from Betty is less successful. "I'm 21," she stated without equivocation. Further inquiry, it was evident, would be ill-advised.



John just smiled. "We've been married 55 years, partly because I know when to say nothing."



Despite her youth, Betty is a no-nonsense businesswoman with little time for small talk. She spent 25 years nursing in the Boston area, was executive director of the140-member Massachusetts Association of Campground Owners and became a successful real-estate agent in Naples, Florida.



Both were raised in Boston. When it came time for college, Betty went to City Hospital School of Nursing in Boston, then earned a degree in political science and got a master's degree in business administration.



John came west to the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. He planned to major in engineering but said he altered course when he met calculus. He was graduated in 1961 with a liberal-arts degree. In his sophomore year, John recalled, UMass tuition doubled to $200 a semester and fees went from $27 to $83.



"I could no longer afford college," John said. "I was sitting in the Student Union wondering how I was going to come up with the money for next semester.



"This guy sits down across from me and starts talking about starting a business on campus," John said. The "guy" was Howard "Howie" Wilson, a fellow undergrad who was "full of ideas and enthusiasm," John said. Each put $250 into the partnership that became Campus Cleaners, a dry-cleaning service that grew to involve 78 independent contractors, all students at UMass.



John was the "marketing guy" for the business and came up with the slogan "Why pay more?"



"We should have copyrighted that phrase," John lamented. "Remember Lechmere? They used the phrase and made a fortune from it."



John and Howie slept in the back of a two-car garage in which they operated Campus Cleaners. "We were fat, happy and stupid," John said. "It was a rumble, stumble and fumble operation; many mistakes were made but we learned to operate a business." And business, he said, "is the only way to turn a nickel into a dime."



When both graduated, the dry-cleaning service was sold to a group of investors and the partners lost touch. John taught school in Boston for a year then attended New England School of Law in the Hub. He formed a partnership with his brother and practiced business law in the Boston area more than 40 years.



He also was elected to seven terms in the Massachusetts legislature representing Dorchester and part of South Boston. He spent six years as chairman of the House Ways & Means Committee, succeeding the recently retired Anthony M. Scibelli of Springfield. A special legislative action rendered John's appointment to fill the unexpired term of the state auditor, then he was elected to a full four-year term. He retired after more than 20 years of public service.



When they married, John and Betty agreed that John would make the decisions for the first 25 years, then Betty could do the same for the next 25 years. "At our 25th anniversary party," John recalled, "Betty stood up and told everybody we were moving to Florida." John was stunned. Betty reminded him of their bargain saying, "This is my 25 years."



They moved to Naples, Florida, where Betty established a successful real-estate business. "Call Betty from Boston," another of John's catchy phrases, has kept her real-estate connections active even today.



It was Betty who first suggested traveling in an RV, John said. The Finnegans have traveled across the United States and Canada "six times, six different directions," he said.



They bought their first RV, a travel trailer, in 1962. Their initial RV trip, John said, involved "three days driving to Fort Myers Beach, Florida; a week there and three days driving home. The kids loved it." The Finnegans owned a series of RVs until settling on what John calls "the big one," a 40-foot diesel-powered motorhome that serves as their winter home at a resort in Naples.



The Finnegans depart Florida late April, Betty said. They spend several days at their home in Plymouth, then head to Baddeck to open the campground by mid-June. Campers begin arriving soon after and continue to fill the 93 RV and tent sites. Other visitors arrive by car to spend a few days in one of the campground's half-dozen cabins. The RV park is open through September.



"Baddeck's year-round population is something like 830," Betty said, "but it swells to around 5,000 during the tourist season."



"The weather is great here," John added and described Baddeck as being, "Like the Cape (Cod) used to be in the old days." The RV park is an important economic factor in the community, John said, because the campground provides jobs to local residents and campers spend time and money at local tourist attractions, businesses and downtown restaurants.



Brochures from the local visitor center state that Baddeck is the "Heart of Cape Breton Island" at the "beginning and the end" of the Cabot Trail, the 185-mile loop said to be one of the most popular scenic drives on the continent.



The town's name is pronounced "Buh-DECK." The lake, considered an inland sea, is part of a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Biosphere Reserve.



History was made here. After inventing the telephone, Alexander Graham Bell built a summer estate, Beinn Bhreagh ("Beautiful Mountain" in Gaelic), overlooking the Canadian village. Inspired by the exploits of the Wright Brothers six years earlier, Bell organized the first Canadian aircraft company, which built and flew the Silver Dart, the first powered, heavier-than-air craft to fly in Canada. The plane took off from and landed on the ice that covered Bras d'Or Lake Feb. 23, 1909.



MORE INFORMATION

What: Bras d'Or Lakes Campground

On the Web: www.brasdorlakescampground.ca/

Contact: e-mail: info@brasdorlakescampground.com

Norm Roy, a retired copy editor for The Republican, lives and travels in a motorhome. He is eager to hear from readers about their own travel adventures. His e-mail address is: lollygaggeratlarge@gmail.com
SPRINGFIELD -- Convicted earlier this month in a domestic abuse case, a city man will now have his jail sentence extended by two years thanks to a probation violation.

Alvin Paige Jr., 49, was found guilty by a Hampden Superior Court jury of assault on a household member. Judge David Ricciardone sentenced him Oct. 3 to two and a half years in the Hampden County Correctional Center in Ludlow. That was the maximum sentence for his conviction.

Paige was back in the same court Friday, this time before Judge John S. Ferrara, to face a violation of probation charge. Paige was on probation from a 2014 domestic violence case at the time he committed the assault for which he was convicted earlier this month. The newer charge constituted the violation of probation.

Ferrara sentenced Paige to two years in the Hampden County Correctional Center, to be served after the sentence he is already serving. The judge also extended his probationary period to 2023.

Assistant District Attorney Robert A. Schmidt said the victim of the 2014 case was willing to testify if Paige had not admitted he violated probation. She wrote in an impact statement she did everything she could -- by going through the court system and getting a permanent restraining order -- to see that Paige would not carry out any more violent acts.

"I'm so sorry another woman was victimized. It breaks my heart," she wrote.

Schmidt said Paige has had 11 restraining orders taken out against him by nine victims.

Jared Olanoff, Paige's lawyer, said Paige has been working very hard to combat the issues that have driven him to commit acts that put him in trouble with the law.

He asked that Paige not be given any additional jail time on the probation violation.
AMHERST - At a joint meeting scheduled for Monday, the School Committee and Select Board will discuss the results of a consultant's report detailing the impact on municipal finance of public school students whose parents reside in tax-exempt University of Massachusetts housing.

That group makes up 52 students in pre-kindergarten through grade 12 -- 2 percent of the total student body of 2,489 in Amherst and Amherst-Pelham schools. Most are in elementary school.

Most are children of graduate students living in the North Village Apartments, according to the report.

The UMass Donahue Institute compiled the research in a 16-page paper.

The report says 35 percent of students in Amherst public schools are eligible for free and reduced-cost lunch, compared to the statewide average of 34 percent. The percentage for students whose parents attend the University of Massachusetts in tax-exempt housing eligible for reduced lunch is 75 percent.

Those students are "more likely to be high need because they are more likely to need English language instruction or because they are more likely to be defined as low income," the report says.

The report says UMass pays the town $120,000 annually "for general services provided by the town that are used by students, faculty and staff. UMass also pays for its use of town emergency services such as ambulance coverage. Additionally, occupancy fees are paid on stays at the UMass hotel."

The report breaks down the cost of educating students who come from homes that do not generate tax revenue for the town:

"In FY2018, if not exempt, Amherst's North Village Apartments would be assessed approximately $235,000 in property tax which equates to an average tax of $1,237 per unit. With 52 students living on campus and the average per-pupil expenditure in Amherst being over $20,000 dollars, simply taking the property tax for the entirety of North Village would come up nearly three-quarters of a million dollars short of the probable cost of educating the students living on campus.

"This finding highlights the fact that few households in Amherst (or in other towns) pay the full cost of educating a child. Rather, school funding relies on all taxpayers contributing to the general fund and thus toward education regardless of whether the taxpayer has children in the public schools. Additionally, a part of school funding is not derived from local revenues but rather is paid for by Chapter 70 state aid," the report says.

The report said quantifying the true cost is not an exact science.

"Defining the fair contribution toward the education of each student from the UMass campus is largely subjective. This analysis does not claim to provide the 'number.' Rather it aims to provide a selection of approaches that will provide an objective look at the cost of educating a child in Amherst and the actual contribution of community members toward these costs. For this reason several scenarios are defined that can provide the starting point for ongoing conversations between the Town of Amherst and UMass," the report says.

According to the state Department of Revenue, the university owns 851 acres in Amherst on 152 lots with a valuation of $14,973,700. The main campus, with 129 acres, is valued at $12.5 million.

By comparison, the portion of Mount Holyoke Range in town, with 966 acres, is valued at nearly $5 million.

Amherst's fiscal 2018 budget showed revenue from state-owned land at $164,892. Payment in lieu of taxes or PILOT revenue was shown at $948,476, compared to $947,025 in 2014.

A report from the state auditor in 1994 said "the reasoning behind state PILOT payments to cities and towns is equity. ... Without adequate PILOT funding, the state's property tax exemption and demand for services puts upward pressure on local property taxes."

A strategic partnership agreement signed by Amherst and UMass in 2015 obligates the university to pay the town $120,000 per year "in recognition of ... educating K-12 students who live in tax-exempt housing." That agreement expires on June 30, 2019.

The planned 45-minute discussion of the Donahue Institute report begins at 6 p.m. Monday at Town Hall, 4 Boltwood Avenue.

Amherst Tax-Exempt Housing and Public School District Funding by The Republican/MassLive.com on Scribd
A knife-wielding man was shot by Brockton police on Friday afternoon after advancing toward two officers, the Plymouth County District Attorney's Office said.

Around 12:19 p.m., two officers in separate cruisers responded to a 911 report of a man with a knife near a Court Street home.

"They encountered a male with a knife. The man advanced at the officers and shots were fired," the Plymouth DA's Office said.

The man, who is in his mid-20s, was taken to Good Samaritan Hospital in Brockton where he is still receiving treatment.

A witness to the shooting to the Brockton Enterprise the man ignored orders to drop the knife and came at one of the officers, who stepped back and fired his weapon.

Police scanner audio posted by the Enterprise describes a tall white man "flailing a knife in his arms" before officers arrived. A dispatcher can be heard requesting that any officers with a Taser respond to the scene.

No officers were injured in the incident, the Enterprise reported. Sources told the Enterprise that the officers were responding to a behavioral health issue.

State Police detectives attached to the Plymouth DA's Office have launched an investigation, which is ongoing.
SPRINGFIELD -- A 35-year-old Ontario man was sentenced Friday to serve 15 years in federal prison after he was found guilty of enticing two Hampshire County girls into taking and sending explicit nude photographs of themselves. The girls were 10 and 8 years old at the time.

Justin Carl Wong was extradited from Canada in 2017, and he has been held in detention since.

Authorities did not identify the Hampshire County town in which the girls lived.

Wong struck up an online relationship with the 10-year-old in December 2012, according to a press release from the office of U.S. Attorney Andrew E. Lelling. Wong offered himself as a "pretend boyfriend" until such time as she found a boyfriend in "real life."

Wong enticed the girl into sending him explicit nude photographs of herself as well as others with the 8-year-old girl on Dec. 19, 2012, prosecutors said. On the day the photos were sent, Wong communicated with the 8-year-old and demanded more nude photographs of her, which she sent.

In 2014, Wong was indicted on criminal charges, and in 2017 he was extradited to the United States.

In July of this year, Wong pleaded guilty to 10 counts of sexual exploitation of a minor.

On Friday, Judge Mark Mastroianni handed down the 15-year sentence to be followed by 10 years of supervised release.
Update: The body of the diver has been found.

Emergency response agencies are searching for a diver who went missing off the coast of Nahant.

The U.S. Coast Guard, the Massachusetts State Police Marine Unit and Dive Team and the Nahant Police and Fire Departments are all participating in the search.

Coast Guard aircraft are also supporting the effort.

The diver was reported missing around 10 a.m. about a mile south of Nahant, state police and the Coast Guard said.

This is a developing story.
James McGinn, who was fired Friday as the head of the Massachusetts Environmental Police, installed cameras to spy on officers at a Westborough facility, according to an internal agency report.

The report, which also delves into allegations of ticket-fixing, notes McGinn refused to be interviewed.

Before his appointment as head of the Environmental Police, McGinn served as a sergeant in the State Police before retiring and as Gov. Charlie Baker's campaign driver during the 2014 election.

The report, and notification to the media of McGinn's firing, came on a Friday afternoon, a timeframe sometimes used by both Democratic and Republican administrations to dump bad news.

But the agency's finance director told state investigators that McGinn had asked for four cameras, and the director later discovered they'd been installed in Westborough without any discussion or notice to the employees who report to that location.

The finance director also told investigators that Col. McGinn hired a private investigation firm to observe and videotape an officer in August and September 2018. The hiring was allegedly to see if the times the officer was reporting for duty lined up with records, and the finance director learned of it through an invoice.

The internal agency report notes that any surveillance of an employee would have required legal approval, among other sign-offs.

"This second incident indicates a pattern of 'covert' surveillance activities conducted by the Colonel without providing notice to EEA leadership or obtaining required approvals," the report says, referring to Gov. Charlie Baker's Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA). The office oversees the Environmental Police.

The cameras have since been removed.

The total charges for the incidents exceeded $5,000, the report says.

McGinn "acted unilaterally outside any approved security plan," according to the report.

McGinn admitted to a lieutenant colonel that "the cameras [were] installed in order to conduct surveillance based on suspicions that employees were improperly reporting work hours," the report says.

The report concludes, "The Colonel exercised poor judgment and acted irresponsibly in engaging in covert surveillance activity without proper justification or notice to employees, thereby undermining employee morale and the integrity of his own leadership of the environmental police force."

McGinn was terminated on Friday, Oct. 19, according to a spokesman for the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs.
An 18-year-old Manchester, New Hampshire, man will be facing multiple charges following an alleged carjacking, police pursuit and stabbing of a state trooper in New Salem, Massachusetts.

The suspect, who hasn't been named, was first reported as an erratic driver in Hillsborough, New Hampshire, according to State Police.

The man allegedly crashed into another vehicle in Walpole, New Hampshire, carjacked the owner of that vehicle and led police on a chase that went through Vermont and into Massachusetts.

When the pursuit reached New Salem, the suspect crashed, stabbed a State Police trooper in the head and was shot in the stomach, authorities said.

Both the 47-year-old trooper and suspect are expected to survive.

The incident remains under investigation.
Cement is responsible for seven percent of total global CO2 emissions, according to International Energy Agency estimates.

The carrot particles are provided by CelluComp, a Scottish-based company who work on the development of sustainable materials. (Photo: Pixabay)

Crunchy and tasty, yes, but could carrots also strengthen cement and cut carbon dioxide emissions for the building industry?

A group of researchers at Britains Lancaster University has been using a household food blender to mix particles from the root vegetable with concrete to see if they can produce a stronger and more environmentally sound product.

We found out you could increase the strength of concrete by 80 per cent by using a small amount of this new material, lead researcher Mohamed Saafi told Reuters.

The addition of carrots prevent any cracks in the concrete, the team said. It also means less cement is required, therefore lowering the global carbon dioxide (CO2) output.

Cement is responsible for seven per cent of total global CO2 emissions, according to International Energy Agency estimates.

The carrot particles are provided by CelluComp, a Scottish-based company who work on the development of sustainable materials.

CelluComp CEO Christian Kemp-Griffin explained that a carrot is made up nearly entirely of water but still stays rigid and crunchy because of cellulose, a fibrous substance found in all plants.

Those fibres have strength characteristics in them. Its the building blocks of the strength of a vegetable, he told Reuters.

Cellulose is also found in wood but is easier to extract from vegetables. With large amounts of vegetable waste available as a byproduct of agriculture, it is a cheap and environmentally friendly source of the fibres.

You can just pop a few of these fibres into other materials and it becomes an additive that gives performance characteristics, he said.

Only a tiny amount of cellulose is needed to alter the properties of cement because it changes the way water behaves during the process when cement hardens.

Its not the physical fibre thats causing the strength. Its the way it holds water. Our material loves to hold onto water. There is a chemical reaction happening between the fibres and the cement.

Saafis team will continue to test their mixtures, with sugar beets also being used as CelluComp can get large amounts of inexpensive beet pulp left over after sugar production.

(Source)
LONGMEADOW -- Three months after a safety review determined lights and gates should be installed at the railroad crossing where a plow driver was killed in a collision with a train, the ball was still in Amtrak's court.



The Federal Railroad Administration requested the review after Warren P. Cowles, who worked for the town's Department of Public Works for nearly 30 years, backed his plow truck onto the tracks and into the path of a northbound Amtrak train during a snow storm March 14, 2017. His death was the fifth at the Birnie Road and Tina Lane crossing since 1975.

Guy Bresnahan -- then a manager in the rail and transit division at the state Department of Transportation -- wrote to Paul O'Mara, then the deputy general manager for Amtrak's Northeast Division, on June 29, 2017, asking to "initiate a dialogue" with the railroad about the proposed work.



He followed up a month later, noting in a July 25 email to O'Mara and another Amtrak official, "there has been no movement and the Town of Longmeadow has asked me for your phone number."



"Any help you can provide in getting this unstuck would be appreciated," Bresnahan wrote.



Under an agreement with Amtrak announced this week, MassDOT will pay $700,000 toward the installation of lights, gates and other infrastructure at the crossing, which has been closed to vehicles since the crash. The railroad will pay the remaining 10 percent of the project's cost. The work is expected to begin next year.



Reaching the accord on the improvements -- which town officials have sought since the early 1980s -- was the product of steady pressure by local, state and federal officials, as well as Cowles' family, according to interviews and to documents obtained by The Republican through public records requests.

'A funding source of last resort'



MassDOT's $700,000 commitment to the work comes from a pool of money the state receives through the Federal Highway Administration's Section 130 program. The federal fund was established in 1987 for "the elimination of hazards at railway-highway crossings."



The program -- credited with helping drop fatalities at highway rail crossings 57 percent since it began -- pays 90 percent of a project's cost. In federal fiscal 2019, which began Oct. 1, the program's total allocation is $240 million.



In an email summarizing a site visit May 5, 2017, Bresnahan staked out MassDOT's position on paying for the work by dipping into its Section 130 money.



"I clearly stated that MassDOT's Section 130 resources would only be considered as a funding source of last resort and that until such time as we hear from Amtrak regarding its plans for the crossing, we can't confirm funding options for recommended improvements," he wrote to several colleagues in the department.



But the last resort became the best option for getting the work done.



MassDOT included the project in its Section 130 Work Program for the state's 2018 fiscal year, documents show. A project agreement, meanwhile, shows the Federal Highway Administration originally approved a $738,000 award to MassDOT through the Section 130 program on Sept. 18, 2017.



In the year since, MassDOT spokeswoman Jaquelyn Goddard said Friday, "conversations have been occurring to finalize the cost of the improvements, to finalize the scope of the work to be done, and to reach agreement with Amtrak" regarding the railroad's share of the cost.



Goddard said MassDOT received the signed agreement from Amtrak this week.



"We are pleased to have reached this agreement with Amtrak and have appreciated the involvement in discussions from federal, state and local leaders," she said.





A senator steps in



After the May 5 site visit, the back-and-forth among local, state, federal and railroad officials continued through the summer.



Despite the earlier messages from MassDOT to Amtrak, Michael Stern, the railroad's deputy general counsel, emailed Longmeadow Town Manager Stephen J. Crane on Sept. 11, 2017: "We've had an internal call here on this potential project, and we are unsure if we've seen what you referred to in your call with me as the 'diagnostic analysis' of the crossing."



Crane forwarded the document seven minutes later.



State Sen. Eric Lesser, D-Longmeadow, said U.S. Sen. Edward Markey was "instrumental in helping to break the log jam."



According to the documents The Republican obtained, Markey staffer Daniel Greene emailed David Garriepy, Gov. Charlie Baker's director of federal-state relations, on Oct. 2, 2017.



"We are hearing concerns in Massachusetts regarding the Tina Lane crossing in Longmeadow," Greene wrote. "I'd like to follow up with Amtrak and DOT on the matter to see where this issue stands."



Giselle Barry, Markey's director of communications, said members of Markey's staff attended a briefing with Amtrak and MassDOT later that month.



On Oct. 31, Markey sent a letter -- also signed by U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren and U.S. Rep. Richard E. Neal -- to Amtrak's president and CEO, urging the railroad to work with the town and state to get the project done.



At a Commerce Committee nomination hearing same day, Markey mentioned the crossing as he questioned Leon A. Westmoreland, who was later confirmed as a member of the Amtrak board of directors. "Congressman Westmoreland, if confirmed, how will you address these types of safety issues, where the local community wants to have action taken?" the senator asked.



Markey raised the issue again at the July 26, 2018, hearing for Amtrak board of directors nominee Rick A. Dearborn.



"After five tragic deaths at the Tina Lane and Birnie Road rail crossing, it was past time to give Amtrak the tools and resources needed to enhance safety measures at rail crossings," Markey said Friday. "I'm proud to have helped secure vital federal funding for Longmeadow. It is critical that we hastened the project's approval to ensure we make lifesaving improvements to this crossing as quickly as possible."

Unsung heroes



At a press conference a stone's throw from the crossing Friday morning, Select Board member Marie Angelides said she wanted to recognize those who worked behind the scenes to move the project forward.



"I want to talk about our unsung heroes -- our employees that quietly have been working really hard to coordinate, to work together with the family, to try to make this happen," she said.



Town records from earlier this year offered glimpses at the project inching along.



In a March report for a Select Board meeting, Crane wrote: "While the design and construction agreement between MassDOT and Amtrak has not been finalized, both agencies have been working together to advance the project."



"Compel State and Federal agencies to address Tina Lane crossing," reads a list of goals included in an April 2 meeting packet.



In their annual evaluations of Crane's performance, Angelides and board member Tom Lachiusa cited his work on the issue.



"Successfully working with numerous agencies to make improvements at the rail crossing," Angelides wrote.



"The Amtrak railroad crossing improvement is getting closer to getting funded and constructed," Lachiusa wrote. "This project has required the Town Manager to work with a number of governmental units and legislators."



Lesser also pointed to the community's role in the effort.



"What really made the difference here was the community stepping up and not taking no for an answer," he said. "That's really what gave us the fuel we needed to make our advocacy effective."



Crane and other officials said Friday that Warren Cowles' sister, Cindy J. Cowles, spurred them throughout the process.



"We miss Cowlsie, but she has done right by her brother," Crane said.



"I've waited a long time for this day, even though I kept being told it's going to be longer," Cindy Cowles, of Springfield, said Friday morning. She had a visit to her 89-year-old mother in Florida planned for Saturday, and was pleased that she'd bring her good news.



"It's long overdue -- something that should have been done," she said. "My brother would probably still be here today if this was done the last -- maybe, say, the second, the third, the fourth death. To have a fifth is kind of a shame. It's kind of a shame."
A man living in the country illegally has pleaded guilty to firearms and immigration charges in Springfield federal court, prosecutors said.

Manreal Altamirano-Navarro was living illegally in Springfield on Dec. 20, 2017, when he pulled out a Ruger .22-caliber handgun and fired into the air as he walked on Calhoun Street in the city's North End.

According to prosecutors, a law enforcement officer witnessed Altamirano-Navarro fire the weapon and notified Springfield police, who took the suspect into custody.

Once he was detained, police discovered not only the firearm but a fraudulent permanent resident card and a fraudulent resident alien card, both bearing Altamirano-Navarro's photograph.

Judge Mark Mastroianni scheduled sentencing for Jan. 18. Altamirano-Navarro faces a potential 30 years in federal prison, nine years of supervised released and up to $700,000 in fines.
"I think we're living in two different worlds," Geoff Diehl, Sen. Elizabeth Warren's GOP challenger, said early on in the first of three televised debates.

In both those worlds, though, Donald Trump is in the White House, and he was the focus of a contentious Friday night match-up between Diehl and Warren as the incumbent repeatedly sought to tie Diehl to a president who remains deeply unpopular in Massachusetts.

Warren, a Cambridge Democrat who was first elected in 2012, is running for a second six-year term while considering a 2020 run for president.

Diehl, a Whitman Republican who co-chaired Trump's presidential campaign in Massachusetts, pointed to areas of disagreement, saying he opposed elements of the Trump administration's tax code rewrite that he viewed as harmful to Massachusetts and an increase in the federal-level gas tax. But he also added that the rewritten tax code has boosted the US economy.

"You're going to hear a lot about Donald Trump in this debate because Senator Warren clearly wants to run against him in the 2020 elections, "Diehl said.

The hour-long WBZ-TV debate was moderated by political analyst Jon Keller. Diehl and Warren face off next on Sunday, Oct. 21, at a debate put together by a consortium of Western Massachusetts outlets. MassLive is a co-sponsor.

"I am not going to be voting 100 percent of the time, as you erroneously claim, with the president," Diehl said, addressing Warren.

That prompted Warren read a quote from Diehl at a Worcester event earlier this year: "We need someone that's gonna have his back and I promise you I will have his back 100 percent."

"Absolutely, it doesn't mean you have to vote exactly how he tells you to vote," Diehl said in response to Warren.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's name came up during the debate, too.

"I am not a Mitch McConnell Republican," Diehl said about the Kentucky Republican. "I am a Massachusetts Republican that has worked with Democrats and Republicans to --"

Warren cut in. "I'm sorry so when was it exactly that you called out Mitch McConnell on this and said you were opposed to a trillion and a half dollars in tax cuts for billionaires?"

"I think I'm doing it right now," Diehl said. " I think I'm doing it right now, senator."

"Oh, you waited until tonight to do it?" Warren said.

Keller, the moderator, asked about Saudi Arabia admitting writer Jamal Khashoggi was killed inside their Istanbul consulate.

Warren called Khashoggi's death "an attack on democracy," and then said Trump should be offering a more aggressive response. "Does he owe money to the Saudis?" Warren said. "Nobody knows because Donald Trump has kept all that secret."

"Yeah, we've got to protect freedom of the press around the world," Diehl said, while calling Saudi Arabia is a "strong ally" for the US in the Middle East and working to keep terrorism in check.

"The fact of the matter is though the Middle East is still unsafe and it's good to have, in the long haul, an ally like Saudi Arabia," he said.

The US should hold allies like Saudi Arabia "accountable when atrocities like this happen," Diehl added.

"So I think we just heard what it means to have Donald Trump's back 100 percent of the time," Warren said in her rebuttal. "He gives a limp response when someone from the press has been brutally murdered, and Geoff Diehl's there to help him out."

Independent candidate Shiva Ayyadurai, who is on the ballot but did not meet WBZ's eligibility rules for participating in the debate, protested his exclusion by sitting down in front of Warren's SUV, Statehouse News reporter Matthew Murphy tweeted. He was then removed by police.

The general election is set for Tuesday, Nov. 6.
ISTANBUL -- The Saudi government acknowledged early Saturday that journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed while visiting the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, saying he died during a fist fight.

The announcement, which came in a tweet from the Saudi foreign ministry, said that an initial investigation by the government's general prosecutor found that Khashoggi been in discussions with people inside the consulate when a quarrel broke out, escalating to a fatal fist fight.

#STATEMENT | The investigation showed the death of Jamal Khashoggi during a fight in the Consulate  Foreign Ministry  (@KSAmofaEN) October 19, 2018

The Saudi government said it had fired five top officials and arrested 18 other Saudis as a result of the initial investigation. Those fired included Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's adviser Saud al-Qahtani and deputy intelligence chief Maj. Gen. Ahmed al-Assiri.

The announcement marks the first time that Saudi officials have acknowledged that Kashoggi was killed inside the consulate. Ever since he disappeared on Oct. 2 while visiting the mission, Saudi officials have repeatedly said that he left the consulate alive and that they had no information about his whereabouts or fate.

Turkish investigators had concluded days ago that Khashoggi, a contributing columnist to The Washington Post, was killed and dismembered by a Saudi team dispatched to Istanbul.

Earlier Friday, Turkish prosecutors questioned staff at the Saudi Consulate, state media said, suggesting attempts to strengthen a possible criminal case with insider details from the last place journalist Jamal Khashoggi was seen alive.

An undisclosed number consulate employees in Istanbul were interviewed by prosecutors, the semiofficial Anadolu news agency reported, a day after Turkish authorities began combing through wooded areas outside Istanbul in an apparent search for Khashoggi's remains.

Turkish officials say that Khashoggi -- a U.S. resident -- was killed by a 15-member Saudi hit squad after he entered the consulate on Oct. 2.

The refocus on the consulate employees suggests that investigators are seeking to bolster a possible criminal case. Turkish officials say they also have an audio tape that purports to record Khashoggi's killing, but the tape has not been shared with American or Saudi officials.

The disappearance of Khashoggi has provoked global criticism of Saudi Arabia's de-facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and convulsed the kingdom as it struggles to respond to increasing international pressure to explain the journalist's fate.

Turkish media reports said more than a dozen Turkish staff members of the consulate -- including technicians, drivers, telephone operators and accountants - were being interviewed by prosecutors.

Their accounts could provide valuable insights into the movements of Saudi officials at the mission in the hours and days before and after Khashoggi vanished.

It was not clear why the investigators waited more than two weeks to conduct the interviews, but the move comes a day after Turkish officials said they are searching two wooded areas just outside Istanbul for possible remains.

Until recently, the inquiry has focused on the consulate in Istanbul's Levent district and the nearby residence of the Saudi consul general, Mohammed al-Otaibi, who left Turkey this week.

Earlier Friday, Turkey's foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said his country has not provided the audio recording of Khashoggi's alleged killing to American officials but promised that Turkey would "share with the world" the results of its investigation, according to Anadolu.

On Thursday, President Donald Trump said Khashoggi is likely dead and warned of "very severe" measure against Saudi Arabia if they are found to be responsible.

Several of the 15 Saudi suspects who were in Istanbul when Khashoggi went missing have close links to Saudi Arabia's security forces. Some had social media posts self-identifying as being members of Mohammed's Royal Guard -- raising questions about whether the crown prince had any knowledge of a plan to target Khashoggi.

A person close to the White House said on Thursday Saudi officials are considering a plan to shield Mohammed from scrutiny and culpability by blaming Khashoggi's apparent death on an operation ordered by on Maj. Gen. Ahmed al-Assiri, the deputy head of Saudi intelligence and a close adviser to the crown prince.

The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak on behalf of the administration or the Saudi government.

(c) 2018, The Washington Post, by Tamer El-Ghobashy
Mixed martial artist Conor McGregor was in a giving mood when he visited a Boston firehouse on Friday.

McGregor, a former UFC featherweight champion, gave 10 firefighters in the Back Bay fire station tickets to see the Boston Red Sox in the first game of the World Series, TMZ reported.

He also shared some of his Proper No. Twelve Irish whiskey, a brand he launched last month, TMZ reported. He and the firefighters raised a toast to the Red Sox.

McGregor, a native of Ireland, has previously voiced enthusiasm for Boston and its brand of Irish pride.

"The people are phenomenal out there," McGregor told Vice in 2015. "It's a true Irish town. It was crazy going out there the first time, it really was a crazy experience for me because you always hear about the Irish Americans, even when I'm in America it's like everyone is Irish."
Sen. Elizabeth Warren's DNA test showing Native American ancestry came up during the first debate with her GOP challenger, Geoff Diehl.

Warren released the test and a campaign-style video this week as part of an effort to push back on President Donald Trump as he repeatedly calls her "Pocahontas."

"I don't care, Senator Warren, about what your Native American heritage is or isn't," said Diehl, a Whitman Republican who co-chaired Trump's 2016 presidential campaign in Massachusetts.

But Warren had previously listed herself in a national directory as Native American, Diehl added. Maybe that was "inappropriate," according to Diehl, since she may have been "taking a minority hire position" away from somebody else.

Warren noted that she has released personnel records and ten years of taxes, and her claim of Native American heritage did not make a difference in the hiring process for jobs she's held.

"I am an open book," said Warren, a Cambridge Democrat first elected to the Senate seat in 2012. Diehl hasn't released his tax forms, she added.

Diehl and Warren appeared together in the first of three debates. WBZ-TV political analyst Jon Keller moderated the debate, which aired on WSBK.

During the debate, Warren said she has also noted that she is not a citizen of any tribal nation because only tribes can determine citizenship.

"The reason he raises this is because he's just trying to do Donald Trump's bidding," she said of Diehl.

They also clashed over Question 3, a ballot initiative on the state's 2016 transgender protection law. A "yes" vote upholds the law and a "no" vote repeals the law.

Diehl said he plans to vote "no," saying protections already existed before the law, and the law's passage created a loophole in which a sexual predator could go into an "inappropriate area and potentially cause a problem for underage people."

Warren said she is voting "yes" to uphold the law, adding that Trump and Vice President Mike Pence back discrimination measures against the LGBTQ community. "It's what Donald Trump does, it's what Vice President Pence does, and this is what the person who wants to be the next senator from Massachusetts does," she said.

"Senator Warren continues to talk about Donald Trump and Vice President Trump because this is what she's all about," Diehl said in response. "Making sure that everybody knows she wants to go to the White House. She doesn't care about your house, she cares about the White House."

Warren, who is running for a second six-year term, has said she plans to take a "hard look" at a White House run after the Nov. 6 election.

"This is just ugly," Warren said. "Donald Trump is ugly on this topic. The vice president is ugly on this topic. And Geoff Diehl's ugly on this topic."
The appointment makes Clegg the most senior European politician ever in a leadership role in Silicon Valley.

Facebook said Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg and Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg were closely involved in the hiring process, and started talking to Clegg over the summer. (Photo: Nick Clegg via Twitter)

Facebook Inc has hired former British Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg to lead its global affairs and communications team, as the social network deals with a number of scandals related to privacy, fake news and election meddling. The appointment makes Clegg, former leader of Britains Liberal Democrats and deputy to David Cameron in the 2010-2015 coalition government, the most senior European politician ever in a leadership role in Silicon Valley.

Facebook said Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg and Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg were closely involved in the hiring process, and started talking to Clegg over the summer.

Our company is on a critical journey. The challenges we face are serious and clear and now more than ever we need new perspectives to help us though this time of change, Sandberg said on a Facebook post congratulating Clegg.

Clegg, 51, succeeds Elliot Schrage and will report to Sandberg beginning on Monday. He will move to California with his family in the new year.

He was ousted as deputy prime minister after the Conservatives won a majority in 2015 in an election that saw his Liberal Democrats suffer a significant loss of support.

Clegg, whose appeal to younger voters was critically damaged when he broke a promise not to raise student tuition fees, lost his own seat in Britains parliament in an election last year.

He apologized in 2012 for breaking his promise on student charges, saying I will never again make a pledge unless as a party we are absolutely clear about how we can keep it.

Clegg is joining a company that has apologized for its mistakes and has promised to do better on many occasions, for example for breaching its users trust.

Throughout my public life I have relished grappling with difficult and controversial issues and seeking to communicate them to others, Clegg said in a Facebook post.

I hope to use some of those skills in my new role

Clegg, a strong advocate of Britains membership of the European Union, said it was a wrench to be leaving the public debate at a crucial time in Brexit, but added that key decisions would pass to parliament, of which he was no longer a member.

He will join his Liberal Democrat colleague Richard Allan at the social network.

Allan, a member of parliament between 1997 and 2005 who now sits in the upper house, is Facebooks vice president of public policy for Europe, Middle East and Africa.

Clegg has discussed online security and privacy, both when in office and more recently in newspaper articles.

Im not especially bedazzled by Facebook, he said in an article in the London Evening Standard in 2016.

While I have good friends who work at the company, I actually find the messianic Californian new-worldy-touchy-feely culture of Facebook a little grating.

He also said he was not sure that companies such as Facebook really pay all the tax they could, although he added that was as much the fault of governments that still hadnt got their tax act together.

Schrage, who led the social networks response to its several scandals, stepped down from the role in June after a decade with the company. Schrage will stay as an adviser, Facebook said.

Facebook has faced a barrage of criticism from users and lawmakers after it said last year that Russian agents used its platform to spread disinformation before and after the 2016 U.S. presidential election, an accusation Moscow denies.

In March, the company faced new scrutiny over how it protects personal information after acknowledging that the data of up to 87 million people ended up in the hands of political consultancy Cambridge Analytica.
  ,     Mediapool.bg,         ,     -  .

   - ,       .           18:00 .
by Sara Guaglione , October 19, 2018



Lenny Letter, the website and newsletter created by actress Lena Dunham and producer Jenni Konner, is shutting down after a three-year run.

The end of the popular feminist media brand comes three months after Dunham and Konner announced they were splitting as producers.

Dunham is known as the creator of the HBO series Girls, which ended last year after six seasons. Konner was an executive producer and showrunner of Girls. The duo were also the creators of the HBO show Camping.

Lenny Letter was a newsletter that published twice a week, with 500,000 subscribers at its peak. The New York Times reports that number had dropped to about 350,000 subscribers.

Lenny Letter once had an advertising partnership with Hearst, but was poached by Conde Nast last year to join the publisher's new Next Gen Network. Conde Nast was to manage the brands products, ad sales and events. It is unclear if the partnership was ever activated.

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A letter to subscribers from Dunham, Konner and Molly Elizalde, the editorial and creative director of Lenny Letter, said there was no one reason for our closure.

This change allows for growth and a shift in perspectives  ours and yours," they wrote. "But can we ask one favor? Please continue to push forward the voices that need a platform, the untold stories that deserve to be heard, the diversity the publishing industry claims to value, but has never mastered."

TheNew York Times reports that lawyers representing Lenny Letter had recently approached potential investors to keep the media company running through the 2020 election.

Lenny Letter had expanded to its own website, two podcasts and video content. It had a team of three full-time editors and one part-time editor.
A senior administration official told White House reporters on Friday that a meeting is 'likely sometime after the first of the year'.

The two leaders' meeting in June in Singapore produced a vague agreement on denuclearisation with few, specifics. (Photo: AFP)

Washington: President Donald Trump will likely have his second meeting with Kim Jong Un early next year to continue charting a way for the North Korean leader to give up his nuclear weapons in a verifiable way.

A senior administration official told White House reporters on Friday that a meeting is "likely sometime after the first of the year."

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because details of the meeting have not been finalised.

Earlier this month, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made his fourth visit to North Korea, and he is coordinating with allies Japan and South Korea to arrange a second summit between Trump and Kim.

The two leaders' meeting in June in Singapore produced a vague agreement on denuclearisation with few, if any, specifics.
by Wendy Davis @wendyndavis, October 19, 2018

The Department of Justice has brought criminal charges against a Russian woman who allegedly conspired to use social media platforms and email accounts to interfere in U.S. elections, including the upcoming midterms.

Elena Khusyaynova, 44, a resident of St. Petersburg, managed the finances of Project Lakhta, which aims to sow division and discord in the U.S. political system, the DOJ alleges in a criminal complaint filed in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia. The charges include conspiracy to obstruct the DOJ and Federal Election Commission.

Project Lakhta operated through various troll farms, including the Internet Research Agency, the DOJ alleges. The initiative was funded by Concord Management, which itself is controlled by Russian oligarch Yevgeniy Victorovich Prigozhin, also known as Putin's chef," according to the complaint.

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The Conspiracy has sought to conduct what it called internally 'information warfare against the United States of America through fictitious U.S. personals on social media platforms and other Internet-based media, the DOJ alleges.

Since at least in or around 2015, the conspiracy used social media platforms to create thousands of social media and email accounts that appeared to be operated by U.S. persons and used them to create and amplify divisive social and political content targeting a U.S. audience, the government adds. These accounts were also used to advocate for the election or electoral defeat of particular candidates in the 2016 and 2018 U.S. elections, to post derogatory information about a number of candidates, and, on occasion, to promote political donations against particular candidates.

In the first six months of this year alone, Khusyaynova allegedly managed a budget that included expenditures of more than $60,000 for Facebook ads, and more than $6,000 for Instagram ads. She also allegedly managed expenditures of more than $18,000 for bloggers, and to develop accounts on Twitter, according to the criminal complaint.

Social media posts for the initiative focused on high-profile issues like gun control, immigration, and Robert Mueller's ongoing investigation. Some posts were aimed at liberal audiences, while others were aimed at conservatives, according to the complaint.

Members of the conspiracy took advantage of specific events in the United States to anchor their themes, including the shootings of church members in Charleston, South Carolina, and concert attendees in Las Vegas, Nevada; the Charlottesville 'Unite the Right' rally and associated violence; police shootings of African-American men; as well as the personnel and policy decisions of the current U.S. administration, the complaint reads.

One example offered by prosecutors centers on a Facebook account registered under the fake name Bertha Malone.

Khusyaynova and others allegedly used that account to create a Facebook page for the anti-immigration group Stop A.I. -- shorthand for Stop All Invaders.

From December 2016 through August 2017, that page created more than 400 Facebook inflammatory Facebook posts, the DOJ alleges. In one week during July 2017, the page reached more than 1,3 million people; by July 23, 2017 the page received around 194,000 likes.

Khusyaynova and the other conspirators also used Berth Malone to recruit at least one person in the U.S. to help with the initiative by posting content to the Stop A.I. page.

Members of the conspiracy also used the Stop A.I. page to accept money in order to post ads on the group page, the DOJ alleges.
Dr. Nalinikanth Kotagiri of the Cincinnati Cancer Center in Ohio has just received the Department of Defense Breast Cancer Breakthrough Award to study the use of light to target cancer cells in late-stage breast cancer. The researcher explains the benefits of light therapy for metastatic breast cancer.

Share on Pinterest A new form of light therapy could drastically improve the outlook for people with an advanced form of breast cancer.

Due to modern advances in medicine and the spread of public awareness campaigns, the outlook for people who develop breast cancer is currently very promising.

According to the American Cancer Society (ACS), the 5-year survival rate for people with stage 0 or stage I breast cancer is almost 100 percent, and for those with stage II breast cancer, it is approximately 93 percent.

However, the outlook is less favorable for people with breast cancer whose tumors have spread to other parts of the body. Specifically, the ACS estimate that the 5-year survival rate for people who have metastatic breast cancer is about 22 percent.

The three main ways of tackling cancer are surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy. However, the side effects of these therapies are significant, and when the tumors have spread, the risk of toxicity is even higher.

For these reasons, scientists have been hard at work devising novel, non-toxic therapies. One such form of treatment uses light to activate cancer-fighting drugs.

Dr. Nalinikanth Kotagiri, assistant professor in the James L. Winkle College of Pharmacy and a cluster hire for the Cincinnati Cancer Center in Ohio, set out to investigate ways in which light could be used to activate photosensitive drugs that could kill off cancer cells, leaving healthy cells intact.

Dr. Kotagiri has just received the Department of Defense Breast Cancer Breakthrough Award, which offers more than $600,000 for 3 years of research.
by Vladimir Rozanskij

Metropolitan Hilarion, in Rome as a guest of the Youth Synod, met Pope Francis on Friday and Card Koch on Thursday, presenting the reasons for the break-up of the communion between Moscow and Constantinople.

Moscow (AsiaNews)  Pope Francis received yesterday in the Vatican a Russian Orthodox delegation led by Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeyev), head of the Department for Foreign Affairs of the Moscow Patriarchate. The meeting was held behind closed doors, and the Vatican Press Office did not release any official information concerning the content of the meeting.

According to the statements on the eve, the Russian metropolitan came to see the Pope in order to explain the decisions of the Synod of the Moscow Patriarchate, which during its meeting on Monday in Minsk decided to suspend Eucharistic communion with the Patriarchate of Constantinople after the latter re-admitted Ukrainian bishops excommunicated by Moscow (Filaret Denysenko and Makarij Maletic).

The Holy See has repeatedly stated that the question of the creation of a single autocephalous Ukrainian Orthodox Church is an internal Orthodox matter, which the Pope does not wish to assess. In his previous meeting with Hilarion in the Vatican on 2 June, Pope Francis had said that the Catholic Church would recognise only the Moscow Patriarchate in traditional Russian lands. This declaration was private, but websites close to the Russian Patriarchate made it public.

Officially, Metropolitan Hiarion is in Rome on the invitation of the Synod of Bishops on Young People. However, on Thursday he met with Card Kurt Koch, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, and gave him the text of the Synodal decisions at Minsk. At the meeting, the two Church leaders formally discussed cultural collaboration between the Moscow Patriarchate and the Holy See.

Since his arrival in Rome, the Metropolitan gave several interviews to the Italian press, defending Moscows positions vis-a-vis the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. A concert was held in the Church of the Twelve Holy Apostles as part of the series The Russian Seasons, during which pieces composed by the Metropolitan Hilarion himself were performed.

Speaking at the Synod of Bishops, Hilarion greeted the members gathered in plenary assembly on behalf of the Patriarch of Moscow Kirill (Gundyayev) and the entire Russian Orthodox Church. He also told them that the faith of the young and their vocation to Church service is today one of the most topical issues for all Christian denominations.

Hilarion expressed the wish that the collaboration between Orthodox and Catholics would continue, citing the various initiatives of recent months, such as the "summer course" that for some years has seen priests and students from the two Churches take part in study sessions.
Chattanooga Police have arrested Charles Dijon Pipkens and Lajeromeney Brown in connection with a series of violent home invasions in which the suspects told their victims they were Chattanooga Police officers..

Pipkens, 27, was charged in an Aug. 11 case and Brown, 40, in an incident on Sept. 19.

Pipkens, of 434 N. Hickory St., is charged with two counts of aggravated kidnapping, two counts of aggravated robbery, aggravated burglary, unlawfully carrying a weapon, use of a weapon during the commission of a felony, and criminal impersonation.

Police said on Aug. 11 after 2 a.m. that a couple returned home on Acuff Street after eating at a Waffle House. The man went inside the residence, while the woman fell asleep in the car. The man then went back out and woke her up.

As the woman was walking toward the house, two black males came up from behind the residence wearing all black and ski masks. They put a gun to her back and told her they were police and not to scream or make any noise.

When they entered the residence, they zip tied her hands behind her back. After 3-4 minutes a third black male came inside the house and told her she had better cooperate or she would get hurt.

They located the man, pepper sprayed him and also zip tied his hands.

The trio then ransacked the house, while appearing to be looking for something. They took $500 cash, several pairs of Jordan sneakers and the man's drugs. They tried to take out a large bin of Jordan sneakers, but were unable to get it.

After they left, the woman was able to get her hands free. She then helped the man get untied.

Police said since that incident there have been at least four more home invasions with the same MO. Police have developed several suspects.

A photo lineup was shown and Pipkens was identified as one of the suspects. The witness could not identify a second suspect.

Pipkens has several prior felony convictions.

He is in jail on bonds totaling $419,000.

The case in which Brown is charged happened on Eastwood Drive.





The reporting party stated to police while attempting to enter her home she was approached by four black males identifying themselves as "Chattanooga Police Officers." One of whom was pointing a gun at her. The suspects held her and another person against their will while they stole electronics, cash, and a vehicle.





Brown is already incarcerated at the Hamilton County Jail for charges stemming from a home invasion that occurred on Aug. 15. Brown could face more charges as the investigation continues, police said.

He is charged with two counts of aggravated robbery, two counts of aggravated kidnapping, especially aggravated kidnapping, aggravated burglary, criminal impersonation of a police officer and carjacking.
by Bernardo Cervellera

Making an appeal for support to the mission to every people that does not know Jesus Christ, we can be a "bridge" between generations, helping to discover ones task, vocation and missionary consecration in the world. AsiaNews is part of this service to the mission, for young people and others.

Rome (AsiaNews)  Pope Franciss Message on the 92nd World Mission Day  which this year is celebrated on October 21st  is aimed directly at young people, like a letter. It is also aimed at the Synod that begun on 3 October, which has young people as its main theme and players.

The Pope wants young people to understand that "life is a mission" in which "To live out joyfully our responsibility for the world". The heart of the mission is also the proclamation of Jesus Christ. He "fills life with joy", allows us to challenge evil, makes us discover the "divine logic of self-sacrifice". Young people should not be afraid of either Christ or Church.

The mission is communicated "to the ends of the earth", person to person, through the "contagion" of love and the creation of bridges between generations, between young and old, by not becoming indifferent to the world around us, which we seem to know through all the digital contacts of which we are full, yet lacking the sincere gift of our lives, we could well have countless contacts but never share in a true communion of life."

Francis also invites us to experience periods of missionary service, even if only temporarily. These ecclesial experiences, he writes, educate and train young people not only for professional success, but also for developing and fostering their God-given gifts in order better to serve others. These praiseworthy forms of temporary missionary service are a fruitful beginning and, through vocational discernment, they can help you to decide to make a complete gift of yourselves as missionaries.

In fact, if I look at my own vocation, my decision to become and grow as PIME missionary priest stems from the encounter with priests who, giving their lives for Jesus Christ, had accepted to approach and mingle with the peoples to whom they were sent, studying their language, customs, supporting their miseries. Some of them, like some Chinese missionaries, spoke about their love for that country and that people, despite imprisonment, torture, expulsion.

The stories of the more senior missionaries, old in age but young at heart and in enthusiasm, built precisely those bridges between generations the Pope mentions in his Message.

Even AsiaNews, the service in which we are involved, wants to be a "bridge" between the missionaries and their Churches in Asia and you, our friends and readers. The service that AsiaNews provides is also a tool to perceive the richness of truth and love that has been entrusted to us, showing the way in which the Christian faith is affecting and changing the lives of the peoples of Asia, making them greater players, despite many signs of persecution.

Dear friends, the service that AsiaNews provides is useful for embracing the world, for feeling close to it, for feeling responsible, something that young people are rediscovering. Some time ago, a woman on a radio show told me that her 16-year-old nephew reads our magazine with care and passion, as soon as it comes by post, the more so, our online news, which is offered to millions of readers everywhere in the world.

Dear friends, AsiaNews needs help from all of you. This is why we are not ashamed to ask you for financial support, however big or small it may be, to enable us to continue our work. You can help us via:

Italian Postal Account n. 45443009 payable to Pontificio Istituto Missioni Estere, under causale AsiaNews

Bank transfer to the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions (P.I.M.E.)  AsiaNews  C/C 05000/1000/00118726

at BANCA PROSSIMA S.p.a. for social enterprises and Gruppo Intesa Sanpaolo MILAN BRANCH

Address: PIAZZA PAOLO FERRARI, 10 20121 MILAN0 (MI) ITALY

Bank details/IBAN: IT98G0335901600100000118726

Swift Code: BCITITMX

Causale (payment for) AsiaNews

Thank you from all of us and the many friends who work, suffer and bear witness to the faith in Asia.
Chamber sets awards breakfast

ORANGE  The Orange Chamber of Commerce will hold its 2018 Awards Breakfast at 7:30 a.m. Oct. 25 at Grassy Hill Country Club, according to a release. The event is sponsored by Coldwell Banker.

The event celebrates businesses and individuals who contribute to the community and economic well-being of the Town of Orange, the release said.

According to the release, restaurant chain TGI Fridays will be honored with the Notable Newcomer award; the Chamber Service Award will go to two recipients, the Town of Orange and Elis Orange; the Community Service Award is being given to Avangrid; the Milestone award will go to Eagle Leasing; Business of the Year will go to Coldwell Banker; and the Business Person of the Year award will be presented to Vincent Marino of Cohen & Wolf Attorneys at Law.

Guest speaker will be forensic scientist Henry C. Lee, currently director of Forensic Research and Training Center and Distinguished Professor in Forensic Science of the University of New Haven.

Tickets are $25 per person and must be purchased in advance. Call 203-795-3328 or email director@orangectchamber.com.

Financial Planning for Families With Special Needs Members workshop

ORANGE  A free workshop, Financial Planning for Families With Special Needs Members, will be held from 6:30-8 p.m. Oct. 25 at Milestones School, 339 Boston Post Road.

The event, offered by the nonprofit Milestones Behavioral Services, will feature John Corraro of Barnum Financial Group, James D. Funnell Jr. of Hermenze & Marcantonio Law Firm, Suzanne Letso, co-founder/CEO of Milestones, and Paul Piasecki of Piasecki & Co. CPAs.

The workshop is free and open to the public. To RSVP, call 203-799-4110, ext. 660.

Time management and networking

EAST HAVEN  The East Haven Chamber of Commerce and Empower Business Connection are offering Empower Networking at East Haven from 5:30-7:30 p.m. Oct. 25 at Village at Mariners Point, 111 S. Shore Drive.

Event will feature Eric Lopkin, who will speak on time management.

Cost is free for Chamber members, $20 for nonmembers. To attend, email Jenn at easthavenchamber01@gmail.com.

Networking in Milford

MILFORD  The Milford Regional Chamber of Commerce will hold a Business After Hours networking event from 5-7 p.m. Oct. 24 at Peoples United Bank, 1636 Boston Post Road.

Beverages will be provided by Wines and More! and food by Plan B Burger Bar.

Cost is $15 pre-registration, $20 members at the door and $25 for prospective members. To register or for information, call 203-878-0681 or visit www.milfordct.com.

2nd annual DevFest coming to SCSU Oct. 27

NEW HAVEN  The second annual GDG DevFest will be held at Southern Connecticut State University Oct. 27, according to a release from Checkmate Digital, a design and development studio in the city.

Described as the biggest Google tech conference in New Haven, the event will feature developers, studnets, teachers and tech companies. Speakers will focus on Google technologies as well as Android, Flutter, Firebase and more.

The developer community here in New Haven is only getting stronger, Tom Nassr, CEO of Checkmate, said in the release. Over the last year, weve seen New Haven companies grow and meetups like New Haven IO and DappDevs flourish. Were so excited to help organize this event at SCSU, and we look forward to seeing the developer ecosystem continue to grow.

Ticket includes talks from industry experts, codelabs and workshops, skill-building sessions, gifts and lunch, according to the release. For tickets or more information, including a schedule of events, visit https://devfestnh.com.

Hamden resident honored by State Conference of NAACP Branches

NEW HAVEN  LaKisha Jordan of Hamden KeyBanks corporate responsibility Officer for its Connecticut and western Massachusetts markets, has been named one of the 100 Most Influential Blacks in Connecticut for 2018 by the State Conference of NAACP Branches, according to a news release.

I am honored to be selected by the NAACP for this award, and to be involved in KeyBanks community initiatives, Jordan said in the release. I am proud of the results we have achieved to date, and look forward to continuing these efforts alongside our dedicated team leaders, volunteers and mentors.

In her KeyBank role, Jordan oversees community engagement strategy and leads KeyBanks Community Reinvestment Act in the region. The CRA oversees initiatives to give back and fulfill the needs of impoverished areas, the release said, and among projects led by Jordan is the James Hillhouse High School mentoring program, which provides students with leadership training, banking knowledge, and overall preparation to succeed in a professional work environment.
As local restaurants are learning, delivery service can be difficult and expensive. But they might not be able to afford to go without it.

Outfits with national reach like UberEats and Grubhub continue to mark their territory in the industry, and giants like Milford-based Subway are getting involved, announcing last week it would be partnering with four providers in its latest initiative to drive up sales.

Its clear that consumers want delivery options, and brands, including Subway, are responding, said Michael Lang, senior director of global convenience for Subway. Todays guests are more connected than ever, and they are thinking about what they want to consume and order hours before they consider a brand or enter a Subway restaurant.

Food delivery is staking a greater claim in the of the $800 billion restaurant industry as customer channel their dining habits through apps. According to a survey provided by Subway from Technomic, the delivery service is expected to grow 12 percent in the next five years.

But while international chains can be well suited to reap the benefits of the shifting market, local business owners may find it harder.

Give and take

When Victor Mathieu and his team at Stamfords Fiesta on Main began using UberEats, he said they were able to increase to-go business, but there were other issues, including quality control.

The Uber drivers and delivery werent able to get into our location, he said. By the time they were able to deliver it to the customers, it was cold or wasnt fresh the way that we would want someone to have.

While the service offered exposure, Mathieu said the restaurant couldnt control how their customers were receiving their orders through a third-party delivery. The only way to ensure that would be to provide delivery themselves  something that would cost much more than partnering with a service.

Were kind of in this halfway space, of when its on Uber or GrubHub, we have enough business to support delivery, but when we are trying to do it ourselves business just isnt there to support having a sole delivery driver, he said.

With customers demand for delivery services growing, local owners face the need to meet that demand at the potential cost to their bottom line.

Along with monthly payments, delivery services take a cut of the profits of orders ranging anywhere between 10 and 30 percent of delivery service fees. For Sandra Williams at La Signature Cheesecake in Bridgeport, UberEats takes 30 percent.

Thats a lot, and thats why I am reconsidering, she said.

Unsustainable

Some industry observers said they dont view delivery services as a sustainable option in the long run.

The margin is really slim in the food industry to begin with, so for a small restaurant what its doing is slowly eating away at their profit margin, said professor Tuvana Rua of Sacred Heart University.

While the idea is that a local spot would draw in business by piquing interest from customers ordering from home, Rua said that interest most likely wouldnt transfer into a future trip to the restaurant, where real profits can be made.

That same can be said for large fast food chains. The decision to partner with food delivery services could be an effort to regain customers that have been choosing other restaurants featured online, Rua said.

Its helping with exposure, but at the same time, if I experience a place through delivery that doesnt meant I have that place in mind next time I want to go out and eat, she said.

Just another tool

As competition to attract customers grows, experts dont expect delivery services to overtake the in-house experience that restaurants still offer, but rather see it as a tool of the evolving landscape.

Its just nature of the world we live in today, said Scott Dolch, chairman of the Connecticut Restaurant Association, adding that accessibility remains a key component in most industries.

Many businesses including the food sector are looking to bolster convenience for their customers, and much of that is focused online.

Its just another new thing, technology, that people are looking for an opportunity to get something without having to spend the time to drive to even a Subway, but having it brought to them, he added.

Jordan.grice@hearstmediact.com
The Anne Frank that Eva Schloss remembers was filled with pre-adolescent hope for the future.

How much of that spirit Frank would have held onto  had more than her diary survived the Holocaust  Schloss is uncertain about.

At the time, she still believed in the goodness of mankind, Schloss said of the playmate she knew before both went into hiding in 1942. If Anne would have survived, she would have experienced life in the camp and the unbelievable cruelty of those young Nazis. She might still have wanted to publish it. But she probably would have changed quite a lot.

It took Schloss four decades to recover enough from her own experience in Auschwitz to start talking about it. Since then, she has not stopped.

I dont walk too well, but my mind is still OK, Schloss said in a phone interview, pausing after a delayed flight from Chicago to Nashville, where she had an appearance scheduled the next day. As long as I can, I would like to carry on with my message.

Frank died before Schloss became her step-sister. In 1953, Schloss mother, Fritzi, married Otto Frank, Annes father.

Approaching 90, Schloss is on a 13-city American speaking tour. She is set to bring her message to the Klein Memorial Auditorium in Bridgeport at 5 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 28. The appearance is sponsored by Chabad of Fairfield, to commemorate the 80th anniversary of Kristallnacht.

Eva Schloss at the Klein Sunday, Oct. 28 at 5 p.m., followed by VIP reception Klein Memorial Auditorium, 910 Fairfield Ave. Bridgeport Admission is $25 for adults, $10 for students, available by visiting, www.ChabadFF.com/4108700 See More Collapse

Sometimes referred to as the Night of Broken Glass, Kristallnacht marked a large wave of violence against Jews that broke out in Germany and Austria on Nov. 9 and 10 of 1938.

It will be Schloss first trip to Connecticut, she said.

Rabbi Shalme Landa said it would be an honor to host Schloss.

Eva is a courageous individual who works tirelessly to end the violence and bigotry that continues to plague our world, Landa said. We are honored and excited to play host to this great person.

Schloss will tell you she was just a rather shy, tomboy whose survival is rooted in stubbornness and a great deal of luck.

I was not ready to die, she said. And there were incidents that occurred that gave me a chance to live another day.

Schloss  then Eva Geiringer  was an 11-year-old-school girl whose family had relocated from Austria and Belgium to Amsterdam when she came to know a girl on her block named Anne, who was a month older and much more sophisticated.

I was withdrawn and she wasnt, Schloss recalls. She was quite sure of herself. She wanted all of the attention.

Schloss said Anne was a real little girl  interested in hair styles, in clothes and in boys.

Though not best friends, Schloss said that like all children in the neighborhood, they played together.

It was 1942 when both girls and their families separately went into hiding. The Geiringer family split up. Eva went with her mother; her older brother Heinz went with her father. Two years and several hiding places later, the Geiringers were captured. It was Evas 15th birthday.

She would end up in Auschwitz, where she faced brutality and starvation until she and her mother were liberated by the Russian army in January 1945.

They would reconnect with Otto Frank soon after. He had found Annes diary, but wasnt sure he should publish it.

A diary is really personal, Schloss said. But he was very, very proud of her. 

Schloss would not read it until it was published in Dutch in 1947.

I must admit, at the time I was still full of my own loss and my own suffering. Schloss said. I lost my family ... Later, when my emotions had calmed down, I realized that it was more than about hiding. It was about the messages she gave the world about accepting each other. That is what is so wonderful about her diary.

It is a message she said still needs to be told. Some of the same atrocities that occurred then, she said, are occurring now. Antisemitism is on the rise.

You read every day (about) racial attacks, she said. It is happening. Smaller scale, but we have to stop that. I was a refugee myself. I suffered. When there are wars and refugees and families persecuted  such as in Syria  we need to accommodate those people. We just cant turn a blind eye.

After the war, Schloss married and moved to England. She had three daughters and five grandchildren, all of whom, she said, want to change the world. Her husband of 62 years died in 2016.

The author of three books, Schloss travels often to tell her story. She was interviewed by the Steven Spielberg-founded Shoah Foundation project and participated in a hologram project sponsored by the Institute for Creative Technologies at the University of Southern California. The holograms answer questions posed to them.

As more and more Holocaust survivors pass away, Schloss calls her efforts important.

I am one of the younger ones (who survived), Schloss said. Every day we lose some of them. It is important for me to carry on.

lclambeck@ctpost.com; twitter/lclambeck
WASHINGTON  The future of health care in America is among the top campaign-season issues nationwide and nowhere is it more in evidence than the congressional races in Connecticut.

The Democrats, Rep. Jim Himes and Rep. Elizabeth Estys prospective replacement, Jahana Hayes, are both ahead of their Republican opponents. But the debate over health care has been vigorous nonetheless.

Access Health CT, the states exchange for individual-market health insurance plans under the Affordable Care Act Obamacare  has been a relative success. It enrolled 114,134 in the most recent sign-up period, a 2.3 percent increase over the previous year.

But for those of modest means who earn too much for federal tax credits, premiums on the individual market have been on the rise in recent years even though this years average increase of 12.3 percent is substantially lower than last years 25.5 percent.

Despite Republican attempts to overturn and undermine it, the Affordable Care Act remains the law of the land. Himes said he would look for tweaks and alternatives such as a public option, which would give health-insurance shoppers a chance to enroll in Medicare instead of purchasing private policies.

Our concentration in the next Congress should be on protecting Americans with pre-existing conditions, working to reduce premium increases and ensuring all Americans have access to affordable health care, Himes said. That includes seriously examining a public option for cost, feasibility and competitiveness.

Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., running for his second term this year, also is a supporter of the public option.

Himes opponent, Harry Arora, favors creation of a risk pool that separates out sicker policyholders from healthier ones. The result, he said in an interview, would be to lower rates for the healthy while focusing subsidies on those most in need.

Im a believer in more options, said Arora, an investment manager who emigrated from India 25 years ago and now lives in Greenwich. Younger, healthier individuals without insurance could be attracted by stripped-down policies offering fewer benefits than those mandated under Obamacare, he said.

We believe that we need to offer options, even if they are not perfect options, he said. If the choice is a limited policy or no policy, the better choice is the limited one.

Prior to the Affordable Care Act, Connecticut tried a state-financed high-risk pool and it did not work, said Ellen Andrews, a health policy expert who runs New Haven-based Connecticut Health Policy Project.

It was outrageously unaffordable, she said.

The sharp debate on health care offers voters a chance to judge the candidates on substance, not just imagery. However, as a system costing $3.2 trillion, with 294 million insured and 28 million uninsured, the complexity of health care in America is way beyond a sound bite or bumper sticker, as Karen Pollitz, health policy expert at the non-partisan Kaiser Family Foundation, put it.

Nationally as well as locally, both Democrats and Republicans support protections in the Affordable Care Act enabling those with pre-existing conditions to obtain affordable health insurance.

"All Republicans support people with pre-existing conditions, and if they don't, they will after I speak to them, President Donald Trump said last week. I am in total support.

Connecticut Republicans say they, too, support protections for those with pre-existing conditions  about 522,000 in the state.

Earlier this year, Democratic Gov. Dannel P. Malloy signed legislation stating protection for people with pre-existing conditions would remain in state law in the event it disappears at the federal level.

But healthcare experts question whether such a guarantee could remain viable if Congress cancels out features of the Affordable Care Act such as subsidies to make insurance affordable.

Once you start pulling on a thread, the whole market unravels, said Pollitz.

In questioning Republican commitment to pre-existing-condition protection, Himes and other Connecticut Democrats point to last years House approval of the American Health Care Act. It was to be the Republican replacement for Obamacare, but it ultimately fell short in the Senate when the late Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., gave his famous thumb-down no.

The bill would have created a waiver for states to allow basing insurance rates on health status if a person has not maintained continuous coverage.

The aim was to prevent adverse selection  individuals only buying insurance when they get sick, which blows up the risk pool idea of healthy and unhealthy keeping premiums down. The legislation also required states to set up risk pools.

Democrats said the bill would have allowed a back-door way of discriminating against those with pre-existing conditions, who, they say, would face exorbitant insurance rates without specific protections in law.

Republicans included an amendment that would have targeted $8 billion over five years to counteract the potential negative consequences.

Andrews said $8 billion would not even be close to covering pre-existing conditions.

A Kaiser Family Foundation study showed that the 35 states with high-risk pools for sicker individuals (including Connecticut) spent $1.2 billion a year for 226,615 people just prior to the implementation of Obamacare.

In the race to replace departing Rep. Elizabeth Esty, Haynes support of Medicare-for-all, a single-payer system championed by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., drew skepticism from Republican Manny Santos in a debate last week.

Its not the utopia that many are believing it will be, said Santos, former one-term mayor of Meriden, who added it would be overly expensive and inefficient.

Arora, too, opposes a single-payer system, saying it would ration health care in a way that puts senior citizens currently on Medicare at the back of the line.

Andrews acknowledged there would be a lot of moving parts, but that such a system has actually worked in Canada, Great Britain and elsewhere in Europe.

Administrative costs would go down; hospitals wouldnt need all those billing people since thered be only one place to bill, she said. A lot of waste would go away quickly.

Most healthcare experts agree federal taxes would rise dramatically in a Medicare-for-all single-payer system. But the extra cost might be offset by elimination of state and federal taxes for Medicaid, as well as premiums for employer-provided insurance.

dan@hearstdc.com
NESCONSET, N.Y. -- Police on Long Island say a retiree concerned about his property values was arrested after he cut at least 12 cables at a cell tower construction site.

Suffolk County Detective Sgt. John Twiname says the phone company, Metro PCS, estimates damages at $100,000.
This article by Jeff Schogol originally appeared on Task & Purpose, a digital news and culture publication dedicated to military and veterans issues.

A Navy SEAL accused of using a knife to execute a wounded ISIS fighter in 2017 will face an Article 32 hearing next month, one of his attorneys told Task & Purpose.

Chief Petty Officer Edward Gallagher is accused of killing an ISIS fighter in Mosul after the SEALs treated the wounded man for his injuries, said Phillip Stackhouse, a civilian attorney who represents him. Neither the charges or the SEALs name and rank have been previously reported.

There are members of his unit that are making the allegation that he pulled out a knife and stabbed him in the neck and body, Stackhouse told Task & Purpose on Friday.

Stackhouse contends the ISIS fighter actually died of combat wounds, but he declined to describe those wounds or what might have caused them.

Gallagher currently faces charges of premeditated murder and aggravated assaults  the latter for allegedly shooting people in Iraq, Stackhouse said.

They say theyre non-combatants; we say that he shot combatants, Stackhouse said.

The Navy SEAL has been held at the Naval Consolidated Brig Miramar in San Diego since Sept. 11, when he was taken into custody while being treated for traumatic brain injuries at the Camp Pendleton Intrepid Spirit Center, according to Stackhouse.

Gallaghers hearing is slated for Nov. 14 in San Diego. Under military law, this preliminary hearing determines whether there is enough evidence to send the case on to court-martial.

Neither Stackhouse nor Naval Special Warfare Command would provide Task & Purpose with Gallaghers charge sheet. Stackhouse said the commander of Naval Special Warfare Group 1 has issued a protective order that potentially prevents the document from being released to the public.

Gallagher joined the Navy in 1999 and initially served as a corpsman from 2000 until 2004, when he joined the special warfare community, his official biography says. His awards include two Bronze Stars with V device for valor; three Navy/Marine Corps Commendation Medals, including one with combat V; Army Commendation Medal; two Navy/Marine Corps Achievement Medals; Combat Action Ribbon; Presidential Unit Citation; Meritorious Unit Commendation; Good Conduct Medal; National Defense Service Medal; and the Sea Service Deployment Ribbon.

A spokeswoman for Naval Special Warfare Command declined to comment on the specifics of the case.

A service member currently assigned to a Naval Special Warfare unit is under investigation by NCIS for professional misconduct while deployed to Iraq in 2017, Cmdr. Tamara Lawrence said in an email. We take all allegations of misconduct seriously and will cooperate fully with investigative authorities.

All members of Naval Special Warfare are required to comply with the Laws of Armed Conflict and U.S. law and regulations in the conduct of military operations.

Gallaghers wife Andrea told Task & Purpose that her husband was first detained in June when more than 20 Naval Criminal Investigative Service agents raided their house and traumatized their two sons by pulling them Into the street in their underwear at gunpoint.

She condemned authorities for arresting her husband while he was at the Camp Pendleton Intrepid Spirit Center pending his retirement date next year.

My husband was receiving holistic care and treatment from a program we waited a year to get into and was ripped out without warning  shackled like a common criminal, and held in solitary confinement for 72 hours. He has now been in jail for nearly six weeks pretrial confinement, Andrea Gallagher said on Friday.

Calling the allegations against her husband malicious and shameless, she vowed to stand by him until he is proven to be innocent.

His family, friends, and SEALs, former Marine and Scout Sniper colleagues all stand beside Eddie, Andrea Gallagher said. Eddie is a hero and we are patiently awaiting the restoration of his good name and reputation.

This article originally appeared at Task & Purpose. Follow Task & Purpose on Twitter.

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New Graphic Novel Series Recounts The Heroics Of Legendary Army Medal Of Honor Recipients

Video Shows Ukrainian Fighter Pulling Off An Insanely-Low Flyby

Remembering The 2 Army Rangers Who Were The First Combat-Related Deaths Of The Afghan War
China's Sub Force Is Growing More Powerful. This Is What the US Navy Needs to Do to Stay Ahead
The U.S. Air Force in recent weeks announced plans to ramp up its pilot training to produce 1,500 pilots a year by fiscal 2022. Now, Air Education and Training Command (AETC) has divulged preliminary blueprints on how it anticipates accomplishing the task.

Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson said before a Senate Armed Services readiness and management support subcommittee hearing Oct. 10 that the service will increase its current 1,160 pilot training slots to 1,311 in fiscal 2019, aiming for 1,500 every year shortly thereafter.

The moves come as the service faces a shortage of roughly 2,000 pilots overall.

"AETC has been tasked to produce about 1,500 pilots per year  That number includes active-duty Air Force, Air Force Reserves, Air National Guard and international students," command spokeswoman Marilyn Holliday told Military.com this week.

Related content:

While the undertaking is in its initial stages, the command will use programs such as the experimental Pilot Training Next -- paired with Pilot Instructor Training Next -- to improve how teachers and incoming students work together.

AETC is also updating its Undergraduate Pilot Training (UPT) curriculum to streamline how quickly the Air Force can produce new pilots, Holliday said.

"The final touches to the new Undergraduate Pilot Training syllabi were adjudicated and are now in the initial stages of execution," she said.

Revising pilot training

The curriculum's redesign gives squadron commanders the ability to refine training to better meet the needs of individual students, AETC said in a recent release.

Previously, students went back and forth between simulators and the flight line. The new syllabus moves "11 simulators that had been previously spread out over a three- to four-month time frame, into a single block of training prior to the first flight in the aircraft," Holliday said.

It's also a blended learning model, she said, that incorporates several best practices from "advanced military flight training and civilian flight training."

Students will cut their training time from 54 to 49 weeks once the changes are fully implemented.

"We are still in the early phase of executing the syllabus redesign, but initial performance from students indicates increased pilot performance," Holliday said.

Students will advance at their own pace. Previously, they had to wait until the entire class completed stages or assignments before moving on to the next. AETC will now allow for individual students to complete courses faster or slower as needed, officials said.

Holliday said this will not alter the official course length, but the time a given student spends in the course could change. The first UPT students to use the adjusted curriculum will graduate in spring 2019, she said.

Pilot Training Next

Thirteen students graduated from the first, experimental Pilot Training Next (PTN) class in August after six months of learning to fly in virtual-reality simulators. The program ran 24 weeks and "included 184 academic hours, with approximately 70 to 80 flight hours in the T-6 Texan II, as well as approximately 80 to 90 hours of formal flight training in the simulator," Holliday said. Students also trained on their own time in the simulators.

"We want to learn as fast as possible," said 2nd Lt. Christofer Ahn, a student pilot, in an interview before graduating. "Being able to use the simulators is a huge step in allowing us to accelerate through our training."

The service recently announced there will be a second class to test Pilot Training Next before the results are briefed to Wilson and Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein, who will decide whether the program will be incorporated into formal pilot training. The second class will begin training in January.

Holliday said that lessons learned from PTN have already been incorporated into traditional Undergraduate Pilot Training, as well as Pilot Instructor Training.

Instructors are also refining the ways they connect with students through innovation and simulation training. With a program called Pilot Instructor Next, they are looking for ways to develop what AETC calls the "Mach-21" airman, or the next generation of 21st century pilots.

Lt. Gen. Steven Kwast, the AETC commander, coined the term to describe what the Air Force wants in its new pilots.

"This is an airman who can learn faster than their competition, can adapt when things are not working, and they can innovate faster than any opposition to create an advantage as a kind of lethality that allows our nation to defend its freedoms," he said in May after taking the helm of AETC.

In a news release, he expanded on his vision.

"A Mach-21 Air Force essentially is comprised of airmen who learn faster, adapt faster and strategically out-think the enemy, because they are moving at Mach-21 speed," he said.

To produce such high-quality and sought-after pilots, instructors need to up their game.

"Through Pilot Instructor Training Next, AETC flying squadrons have been equipped with virtual-reality simulators and 360-degree video headsets to integrate into syllabi," Holliday said. "Since implemented, there have been measurable benefits from the addition of technology, and 10 instructor pilots are slated to graduate from the PIT Next program each month."

The program applies to members of the 560th Flying Training Squadron and the 99th Flying Training Squadron at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, Texas.

Its biggest advantage, AETC says, is the ability to test students in high-stress environments in the safe space of a simulator.

"Virtually, instructors can put students in any situation to determine if they would recognize the danger and whether or not they take the right course of action," Holliday said. "Students also have the opportunity to take home mobile-video headsets, which connect to the pilot's smartphone and allow for on-command and on-demand training, which has also been helpful."

She added, "Incorporating this level of technology and deep-repetition learning allows these students to see the flight environment so many more times than they would have in the past."

Aircrew Crisis Task Force

AETC is also coordinating with the Aircrew Crisis Task Force -- set up in 2016 by the Pentagon -- building on its "holistic plan to ensure the Air Force's pilot requirements are met through retention of currently trained pilots as well as through the production pipeline."

At the Oct. 10 hearing, Wilson said the Air Force is placing an emphasis on addressing the national aircrew shortage by focusing on pilot quality of service and quality-of-life issues.

The task force has looked at ways of giving fighter pilots and aircrew the ability to stay in rotations longer at select commands and bases in an effort to create stability for airmen affected by the service's growing pilot shortage.

It has also included increasing financial incentives such as bonuses and providing more control over assignments and career paths, Wilson said.

"We continue to work with the Aircrew Crisis Task Force to ensure our pilot production planning encompasses an airman from commissioning through training and then to their operational flying units," Holliday said.

-- Oriana Pawlyk can be reached at oriana.pawlyk@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @Oriana0214.
Army weapons officials want defense firms to design a new machine-gun optic to help gunners hit enemy targets faster and with more accuracy than ever before.

Project Manager Soldier Weapons on Friday issued a request for proposal for a new Mounted Machine Gun Optic, or MMO, on the government contracting website FedBizOpps.

"The MMO is required to achieve faster target acquisition times and increased first-burst probability of hit ... for machine gunners firing from vehicle-mounted platforms with the M240B, M2/M2A1, and Mk19 Machine Guns," the solicitation states.

This will be a full and open competition to award up to three contracts with options per weapon platform. Each contract will be issued a minimum delivery order of 35 MMOs that will then "undergo Lab and Live Fire Testing," according to the solicitation.

"The data generated will be one factor in the government's decision of which contract(s) to exercise the Full-Rate Production option for each weapon platform," the solicitation states. "Awards are anticipated to be made in 2nd quarter of Fiscal Year 2019."

The RFP did not give production estimates, but the June 26 pre-solicitation stated that the Army planned to order up to 11,450 MMOs.

The MMO is intended to address the Joint Operations Concepts key characteristics through rapid, lethal, precision engagements in adverse conditions, according to the solicitation.

Ultimately, the Army wants a "solution that will enable warfighters to scan with both eyes open, then rapidly slew the weapon on target, and engage with a higher confidence of getting the first burst on target," the solicitation states.

Companies have until Nov. 19 to respond to the RFP.

The solicitation allows companies to submit third party-generated objective test data about their proposed designs, the solicitation states. "Test data related to magnification, weapon shock ruggedization, zero retention, parallax, and high temperature performance, will be of particular importance."

-- Matthew Cox can be reached at matthew.cox@military.com.
How to use the mindat.org media viewer

Click/touch this help panel to close it.

Welcome to the mindat.org media viewer. Here is a quick guide to some of the options available to you. Different controls are available depending on the type of media being shown (photo, video, animation, 3d image)

Controls - all media types

Zoom in and out of media using your mousewheel or with a two-finger 'resize' action on a touch device.

Use the mouse or your finger to drag the image or the view area of the image around the screen.

< and > at the left and right hand side of the screen move forwards and backwards for the other images associated with the media you selected. Usually this is used for previous/next photo in a gallery, in an article or in search results. Keyboard shortcuts: use shift + the left and right arrow keys.

< and > in the bottom center are used for switching between the photos of the same specimen. Keyboard shortcuts: use the left and right arrow keys.

> in the bottom center, raises the information box giving details and further options for the media, < at the top of this box then hides it. Keyboard shortcuts: use the up and down arrow keys.

? opens this help window. Keyboard shortcuts: use the H key or the ? key.

Other keyboard shortcuts:

1 Fit image to screen 2 Fill screen with image 5 Display at full resolution < Make background darker > Make background lighter space Hide/dim titles and buttons

Scalebar

If the field of view (FOV) is specified for the photo, the scalebar appears in the left bottom corner of the viewer. The scalebar is draggable and resizeable. Drag the right edge to resize it. Double click will reset the scalebar to it's default size and position. If the scalebar is in default position, double click will make it circular.

Controls - Video

Video files have a standard set of video controls: - Reset to start, - Skip back, - Play, - Pause, - Skip forwards. Keyboard shortcuts: You can stop/start video play with the P key.

Controls - Animation (Spin Rotation)

Animation (usually 360 degree spin rotations) have their own controls: - enable spin mode. Note that while images are loading this option will not be available but will be automatically activated when the animation has loaded. Once active you can spin the image/change the animation by moving your mouse or finger on the image left/right or by pressing the [ or ] keys.

The button switches to move mode so that you can use your mouse/fingers to move the image around the screen as with other media types.

The button, or the P key will start playing the animation directly, you can interrupt this by using the mouse or finger on the image to regain manual movement control.

Controls - 3D Stereoscopic images

If a stereoscopic 3D image is opened in the viewer, the 3D button appears in the bottom right corner giving access to "3D settings" menu. The 3D images can be viewed in several ways:

- without any special equipment using cross-eyed or parallel-eyed method

- with stereoscope

- with anaglyph glasses.

- on a suitable 3D TV or monitor (passive 3D system)

For details about 3D refer to: Mindat manuals: Mindat Media Viewer: 3D

To enable/disable 3D stereo display of a compatible stereo pair image press the 3 key. If the left/right images are reversed on your display (this often happens in full-screen mode) press the 4 key to reverse them.

Controls - photo comparison mode

If a photo with activated comparison mode is opened in the viewer, the button appears in the bottom right corner giving access to "Comparison mode settings" menu.

Several layouts are supported: slider and side by-side comparison with up to 6 photos shown synchronously on the screen. On each of the compared photos a view selector is placed, e.g.: Longwave UV . It shows the name of currently selected view and allows to select a view for each placeholder.

Summary of all keyboard shortcuts
Justin Verlander doesnt plan on shutting it down any time soon, it seems. Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle quotes Verlander in a tweet: Im going to play until the wheels fall off. In 2018, Verlander surpassed 200 innings and 200 strikeouts for the third straight season while accumulating 6.8 fWAR and achieving a career-best 3.03 xFIP. In other words, the wheels are secure. Verlanders current deal runs one more season in Houston at $28MM, after which he will become a free agent in advance of his age-37 season.

More from around the American League
ANN ARBOR, MI - A former Michigan Department of Corrections officer will avoid trial in the 2015 suicide of an inmate.

Dianna Callahan, 49, of Flint, was expected to go to trial Monday, Oct. 22 in the death of 25-year-old Janika Edmond, but instead pleaded no contest Friday, Oct. 19 to a charge of involuntary manslaughter, Chief Assistant Washtenaw County Prosecutor Steve Hiller confirmed in an email.

Through an agreement with prosecutors, a second charge of willful neglect of duty will be dismissed, Hiller said.

Involuntary manslaughter is a felony punishable by up to 15 years in prison, but through a so-called "Cobbs agreement" with the judge, Callahan will receive a probationary sentence including no more than six months in jail, Hiller said.

The news comes as the Michigan Department of Corrections seeks to settle a federal lawsuit filed by the representative for Edmond's estate.

A settlement notice filed Oct. 10 in federal court shows attorneys representing the department and 10 employees are finalizing a resolution in the case.

Callahan and another former employee, Kory Moore, are also accused in the lawsuit, but are not represented by the Michigan Department of Attorney General. A warden and two deputy wardens were initially named in the lawsuit, but were later removed while another employee was added.

Court records indicate a related lawsuit in Washtenaw County has been stayed.

Edmond was found injured after a suicide attempt in the segregation shower unit of the Women's Huron Valley Correctional Facility on Nov. 2, 2015. She was pronounced dead at a hospital days later.

Callahan and Moore were fired in March 2016 after MDOC's internal investigation into the death. Moore was reinstated after arbitration, but later left her position.

Testimony at a preliminary examination by inmates from the time showed Edmond expressed suicidal ideations and asked for a suicide-prevention vest ahead of her death. Callahan said "somebody owes me lunch" in apparent response to Edmond's statements, according to the testimony.

Edmond family attorney, David Steingold, has alleged that Callahan made a bet as to whether Edmond would ask for such a vest.

An attorney for Callahan could not immediately be reached for comment.
GRAND RAPIDS, MI - A former teacher and small business owner is battling four-time incumbent Republican Rep. Justin Amash, R-Cascade Township, for his 3rd Congressional District seat in the Nov. 6 general election.

With just a couple weeks remaining before ballots are cast, Democrat Cathy Albro, 65, of Middleville, and Amash, 38, both say they feel good about the race.

The district is comprised of Kent, Barry, Ionia, Montcalm and Calhoun counties.

"I have always been a very independent member of Congress and I think its worked to my benefit,'' said Amash, about being able to forge relationships and alliances on both sides of the aisle.

"I am still a constitutional conservative and a libertarian, but I am willing to work with Democrats and others on issues they care about too. I think this district likes having independent representation, likes the consistency, and the fact that I don't engage in the same partisan rhetoric other members are engaged in.''

Albro said she rarely talks about Amash on the campaign trail, rather her views on the issues, time as a teacher and experience running an Early Childhood Center and toy store for 15 and 30 years, respectively.

"I just believe my life experiences have prepared me to be a leader, to listen, and to use what I've heard to form my opinion and my policy decisions,'' said Albro, who won her primary decisively.

"My main goal is to help solve our problems in this country and the district. I care about the issues and believe that I can connect with people in this district and be accountable to them.''

The most recent campaign finance reports show Amash has significantly more cash with $586,829 in total receipts compared to Albro's $128,609. However, reports covering the last full quarter before the election show Albro collected $66,648 compared to Amash's $30,596.

This year, MLive Media Group partnered with the League of Women Voters of Michigan Education Fund to provide candidate information for readers. Albro and Amash were interviewed as well as completed questions on a voter guide about their stances on public policy issues, education and experience. Theodore Gerrard is also a candidate for the U.S. Taxpayers Party.

Information on all state and federal races and many of Michigan's county and local races will be available at Vote411.org, an online voter guide created by the League of Women Voters

Here's a look at how the candidates responded to various questions about their top legislative priorities, healthcare and immigration.

What are your concerns and plans regarding U.S. health care policies and programs?

Albro

"The debate should be over. Health care is a human right.

Most other developed countries have health care systems that are more efficient and much less costly than ours.

"We must study their best-practices and develop, with urgency, building on the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and the Medicare model.''

"While we are figuring out the best solutions for health care, we need to restore a functional ACA right away,'' Albro told MLive, noting the Trump administration's steps to undermine the law, including repealing the individual mandate.

"The costs have gone us way to high I am for a single payer system, but I am open to other solutions including hybrid that would include single payer.''

In the voter guide, she also said that "New mothers and their babies are much more likely to die in the U.S. than most other wealthy nations and black mothers and children fare much worse.

"We must ensure researchers and providers address all the critical issues for healthy pregnancies and births, including family planning and comprehensive sex ed.''

Amash

"The current approach to health insurance causes higher premiums and fewer choices. We need reforms that will reduce the real costs of health care.''

Amash told MLive he thinks more of a hybrid system would work and be appealing to a broad set of the public.

"A hybrid system where you have mostly a free market system in health care where people can make choices and speak to their doctor and where there would be a lot of competition, and then you'd have backstop for people who are poor or low-income, have pre-exisiting conditions or disabilities,'' he said.

"The backstop could be provided by government preferably at the state level, and it would be provided as a benefit, rather than our current system under Obamacare (Affordable Care Act), where we have basically modified the entire insurance system to account for a subset of the population.''

Amash said we should allow the marketplace and insurance system to work properly and then account for that subset by providing benefits directly rather than changing the entire insurance system to assist those people.

In the voter guide, he also said that "sustainable health care system requires patients and doctors to consider the costs and benefits of each decision and work together to choose the right treatment.''

"It also must provide adequate care for those with low incomes or pre-existing conditions. I support permitting individuals to claim the same health care tax credit provided to employers, and innovative programs that improve care and reduce costs by aligning the incentives of patients, doctors, and hospitals,'' he said.

What are your concerns and plans regarding U.S. immigration?

Albro

"Except for the Indigenous People, we're all immigrants or descendants of immigrants. My immigration reform plans include:

Ending the inhumane ICE detention and deportation policies, legislating a fair policy to keep immigrant families together and children safe.

A quick path to citizenship for DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) people.

Modernizing border security and ending militarization of our southern border.

Legislating new fair and humane immigration policies; addressing family-based worker visas, expanding legal rights of immigrant workers, strengthening support for refugees and asylum-seekers, and upholding the Diversity Visa program.''

Albro told MLive if there is no change in the current "dysfunctional Congress," there likely will be no comprehensive immigration form or resolution to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) issue.

"I do believe in a secure border, but we don't need a wall when we have technology,'' she said.

"We need a more humane perspective and approach.''

Amash

"Immigrants are an important part of our community and workforce, and they should not be discouraged from seeking a life and job here; however, it is important for them to do so legally.

"We need to secure the border, enforce visa overstays, and improve the legal immigration system.

"In enforcing our immigration laws, we must act consistent with our principles as Americans.

"That means not forcibly and unnecessarily separating children from their parents. It also means treating with compassion refugees and others seeking asylum in the United States.''

Prior to this Congress, Amash told MLive he was optimistic about being able to improve the legal immigration system but says he's been pessimistic this term because he sees more interest in reducing immigration overall.

"I am concerned about that,'' he said. "I am very supportive of immigration reform and doing something to address those who are part of DACA."

"The most important thing we can do is improve the legal immigration system, so it is not so complicated for someone to come here legally,'' he said.

"A lot of illegal immigration stems from the fact that people found that they couldn't get here legally.''

What are your top three national legislative priorities and how would you address them?

Albro

"The top three priorities on my agenda are: a public education system that prepares ALL children for success in life, health care for all, and an economy where everyone has the opportunity to thrive, not just survive.

As a teacher, I know that we could be doing so much more to invest in our children, and the Department of Education must hold states accountable to provide the highest quality free education from birth through career.

I will work for a single-payer health care system that focuses on wellness, costs less and is more efficient.

Everyone who works 40 hours per week must make a livable wage.''

"We have two economies - an investor class with enough to invest and are making money and an economy of people living pay check to pay check,'' Albro told MLive.

"We have to help those people become part of the economy that's succeeding.''

Amash

"Defending liberty and economic prosperity and eliminating corporate welfare.

I've been a leader in defense of our constitutionally secured rights to due process and against unreasonable searches and seizures. I oppose warrantless spying on Americans and unconstitutional civil asset forfeiture. I support criminal justice reform."

Working in a bipartisan fashion, Amash told Mlive he has been effective at bringing people together on issues regarding foreign policy, civil liberties, privacy, transparency and accountability.

"These are areas that haven't had a real voice in Congress for a long time and I've been able to fill that void,'' he said.

"I support reducing taxes and unnecessary regulations."

Amash told MLive that lawmakers missed the opportunity with the recent tax legislation to simplify the tax code.

"I think that there is lot of focus on tax cuts and increases but really what hurts a lot of people is that the tax code is too complicated, and it is actually structured in such a way that you need a lot of personal resources or wealth to figure it out,'' he said.

"The recent tax legislation did cut taxes for almost everyone, but it didn't do enough to reform the tax code to restructure it so that it is less complicated for people. We only did half the job.''

Amash said there are too many federal regulations. He said it is concerning that the federal government gets more and more involved in the day-to-day activities on the regulatory level, and he'd like to pull back from some of it.

In the voter guide, he said "We also must address the biggest debt drivers--mandatory spending programs and military spending.''

I'll continue fighting corporate welfare that confiscates resources from hardworking Americans to give favors to the politically connected."

What policies do you support to meet U.S. Energy needs while protecting our water, air and land for current and future generations? Explain how those actions or policies would affect the future of the Great Lakes. What are your thoughts on PFAS?

Albro

"I support funding for renewable energy research and development, not subsidizing fossil fuel companies. Our infrastructure investment must include an updated energy transmission grid and support for energy efficiency.

We must have stronger protections against pollution and hold polluters accountable for the full cost of toxin mitigation and require all states to be accountable for those high standards. Natural resources are shared between states, and must be federally protected.

Our Great Lakes and other Michigan watersheds must continue to be protected by the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative and other policies.''

On the PFAS contamination environmental issue, Albro told MLive that the federal government needs to make sure that scientists are part of the Environmental Protection Agency committees and that there is good research for making decisions.

"We need strong EPA protections,'' she said. "I really want to start looking at corporations who pollute and make sure that they are being held accountable to pay full price for the damage they create.''

Amash

"All forms of energy should be allowed; none should get special benefits. We should cut unnecessary or overly burdensome regulations and rein in overzealous regulatory agencies.

The best way to protect the environment is through strict enforcement of property rights, which encourages conservation and produces innovations to keep the world clean and safe.

Government should punish those who pollute others' land, water, or air, but it shouldn't micromanage environmental protection through economic incentives. Such efforts harm the economy in the long run and hamper development of environmentally friendly technologies.

Amash also told MLive that PFAS contamination is something the federal government really needs to focus on and work with the state governments. He said we need to have the best minds working on this issue to make sure peoples drinking water is safe.

"I think the federal government has to do a lot more,'' he said.

"This is an issue that is nationwide in scope. Unfortunately, we are still in the stage where we are learning more and more about it."

Amash said it is a problem that has existed for a long time but most people were unaware of it, including members of Congress.

In addition to residential communities, he said it affects a lot of federal properties, including military bases and airports where the federal government has jurisdiction.

"Hopefully, this will start to permeate the national discussion and we will have a better understanding of the dangers of it,'' he said.

If the dangers are found to be serious throughout the country, of course, it merits a federal response working with state governments.''

What federal policies do you support to help members of all strata of the American public improve their economic positions?

Albro

"Raise the minimum wage to a livable wage and add earned paid time off. Strengthen employee bargaining rights, including unions.

Invest in infrastructure that not only fixes our roads and bridges but provides efficient mass transit, affordable housing, and updated water and sewer systems. These moves reduce burdens on low-income families. A large investment in infrastructure will also add many good paying jobs to our economy.

An investment in healthy communities, including community-based decision-making.

Amash

"The federal government can best help the economy and reduce unemployment by making regulations predictable and uncomplicated, simplifying the tax code, and letting businesses stand or fail on their own merit. I will continue to oppose and vote against corporate welfare."

Amash told MLive that reforming health care and restructuring the tax code to simplify it would have a "big impact'' on the economy.

"We need to totally rethink the way our health care system works, or it is going to consume a huge amount of our income every year,'' he said, noting that health care is the most significant burden.

"Health care costs are going to keep going up whether you have the ACA (Affordable Care Act) or don't have the ACA.''

All responses in the voter guide were submitted directly by the candidate and have not been edited by the League of Women Voters, except for necessary cut if a reply exceeded character limitations. Spelling and grammar were not corrected. Publication of candidate statements and opinions is solely in the interest of public service and should not be considered as an endorsement. The League never supports or opposes any candidates or political parties.
HOLLAND, MI -- Police are looking for a man who grabbed a Hope College student walking along a street, then forcibly touched her before she escaped.

Holland Department of Public Safety officers said the 21-year-old woman was walking along 14th Street near College Avenue with another 21-year-old female student when the assault happened about 2 a.m. Oct. 20

The victim was walking a short distance behind the other student when a man approached her from behind, then "grabbed her and began to forcibly touch her.'

The other student further ahead heard the commotion and began yelling at the man.

Police said the man then released his hold and the two women ran away.

The students said the man was wearing a Lions jersey with a gray hooded sweatshirt underneath.

Police obtained surveillance video of a possible suspect form a nearby business.

Anyone with information about the man can call the Holland Department of Public Safety at 616-355-1150 or email investigators at policetips@cityofholland.com. They can also contact Silent Observer at 1-877-887-4536, texting OCMTIP and your message to 274637 or submitting an online tip using a form at www.mosotips.com

Police say it's unclear if the assault is related to another incident that happened about 11:30 p.m. Oct. 13, also involving a student.

In that case, a 19-year-old female student was walking along 14th Street near Lincoln Avenue when three males got out of an SUV and two of them threatened her and told her to get in the vehicle. They tried to grab her arm but she was able to flee to her student housing.

Police said the suspect descriptions are different for the two cases.
GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- A worker has died after an accident at a downtown Grand Rapids construction site.

The accident happened at about 2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 20 near a courtyard space between 37 Ottawa NW and 50 Monroe Avenue NW.

Grand Rapids police said the man, 48 , of Grand Rapids, was struck by a large piece of timber that fell from above.

The timber was described as piece of wood about 20 feet long, 12-inches wide and 2-inches deep.

Grand Rapids firefighters responded to the scene and the man was rushed to a local hospital. But police later were notified he died from the injury.

"They don't know where the board came from," Grand Rapids police Lt. Pat Merrill said.

He was told the board struck the man in the back and shoulders.

Another worker standing close to the fatally injured man escaped any contact with the board.

Grand Rapids police were investigating the accident Saturday. Officials with the Michigan Occupational Safety and Health agency also were expected to respond to the site.

Merrill said the workers were believed to be involved in demolition at the site.

The two buildings are being renovated for a 130-room hotel and office space.

Owen-Ames-Kimball has a construction trailer at the site but the employer of the deceased worker was not known.
ANN ARBOR, MI -- There was a clear message among several fiery speeches at a Democratic rally for gubernatorial candidate Gretchen Whitmer in Ann Arbor Friday night: the party's success relies on voter turnout.

Whitmer's campaign was given a boost in the college town by U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, who railed against President Donald Trump, Wall Street and the Koch brothers.

The 2016 presidential candidate who won Michigan in the Democratic primary was on hand to energize the crowd filling the 1,100-seat Rackham Auditorium on the University of Michigan's campus. It included hundreds of students, who Sanders pointed out didn't have a high turnout in the last midterm elections.

"We are going, with your help, to have the highest voter turnout," he said. "Now is the time to stand up, fight back and vote. We have 18 days of hard work ahead of us to elect Gretchen Whitmer as the next governor."

Sanders initially supported Whitmer's opponent in the Democratic primary, Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, but has since thrown his support behind the former state senator.

Sanders' fiery oration prompted several standing ovations throughout his speech. He said Trump and the Republicans will continue to cut taxes for billionaires, cut social programs and ignore climate change.

Still, Sanders told the crowd he understands why so many people in Michigan voted for Trump. Michigan has seen the decline of the middle class more than any other state, he said.

But Trump fibbed when he promised to bring places like Michigan back economically, according to Sanders.

"In Donald Trump, we have a president that is a pathological liar," he said.

Sanders also talked about visiting Flint and having a heartbreaking meeting with children affected by the water crisis.

"It's not a radical, socialist idea to think that the water we drink should not be poisoned," he said.

Sanders' speech capped off a two-plus hour cavalcade of Michigan Democratic stars, many of whom gave equally fiery speeches. On hand were Whitmer, Lt. Governor candidate Garlin Gilchrist, U.S. Sen. Gary Peters, U.S. Rep. Debbie Dignell, Secretary of State candidate Jocelyn Benson and Attorney General candidate Dana Nessel.

Nessel said an attack ad has dubbed her "Dangerous Dana." Instead of fighting against the appellation, she's embracing it.

"I am going to be dangerous to the Trump administration," she said. "I am going to be dangerous to bigots, I will be dangerous to homophobes."

Dingell was shouting so loud her voice was hoarse.

"I am tired of the hate and fear that this man is sowing," she said about Trump.

Dingell ripped Trump and Republicans on immigration, gun control and healthcare.

"Every child should be able to go to school and feel safe," she said. "We need to do something in this country so people who shouldn't have guns don't have guns."

Like Sanders, Whitmer stressed the importance of turning out the vote on Election Day.

"We have work to do," she said. "The Republicans are counting on us not to show up. They're counting on us to be demoralized."

Whitmer said she choose the Mackinac Bridge as the symbol of her campaign because, unlike Trump who wants to build walls, she wants to build bridges.

"This year, the day after the election ... we're all going to wake up happy with the results," she said.
Libertarian Lisa Lane Gioia wants to bring her party's principles of economic and personal freedom to the office of Michigan Attorney General.

Gioia, who runs her own business, doesn't see her lack of a law degree as a drawback. The position, she said, is more administrative than legal.

"What you need in that position is an administrator and a policymaker who's going to set the course and set the direction ... to make sure that it's being done efficiently, and that it's being done in a principled manner, which means not being biased to the far left or the far right, and means deferring to and referring to the Constitution and the Bill of Rights and setting all of the policies going on in this office," she said.

Gioia is running for attorney general against Republican Tom Leonard, Democrat Dana Nessel and Independent Chris Graveline. The election takes place on Nov. 6.

MLive has partnered with the League of Women Voters Education Fund to provide information and resources in the 2018 election. More information can be found at Vote411.org.

Found in translation

Gioia was born and raised in metro Detroit. She attended the University of Michigan where she majored in economics and Japanese. She went to Japan to finish up a school program and ending up staying for 11 years after landing a job in translation.

Gioia may not have a law degree, but she's been around the legal profession for all of her career. She was hired at the Taiyo, Nakajima and Kato law firm, which specializes in intellectual property law.

In ten years, she rose from an editor to director of the translation department.

"That means I can go into any situation and I can get stuff done," she said.

Gioia moved back to Michigan in 2002 and started her own translation business which has one client: her former employer. She has essentially been with the company for 27 years, she said. Her time with the firm, she said, has given her insight into how government should run.

"I came of age as a businesswoman in Japan where you put your company and you put your client needs first," she said. "That's what government should be doing, putting the citizens' rights first, not just going in there and playing musical chairs like they are in Lansing."

Back in America

After coming back to America, Gioia was compelled to get involved politically. She was excited to follow elections and vote. But she found the major party options lacking.

According to Gioia, Republicans aren't as fiscally conservative as they claim and Democrats aren't as socially accepting as they claim.

"Both of the two parties are all for maintaining their power," she said.

Gioia didn't feel comfortable voting for either party. Then she ran across the Libertarian Party and their principles of personal and economic freedom.

"When I first read it ... my mouth dropped open," she said. "This just makes too much sense."

In 2014, she joined the national Libertarian Party. In 2016, she started attending party events in Oakland County. She was enthralled and emboldened after attending the events.

"I went home and I had to take a Valium," she said. "There's intelligent life out there. There are other people who understand that the system is so broken and that we have to do something to change it."

Gioia feels many people are Libertarians - even if they don't yet know it. At its core, the party believes in lower taxes, if not eliminating them altogether, and allowing people to make their own choices as long as it doesn't infringe on the freedoms of others.

"People are desperate for common sense solutions and we have those that cover both economic freedom and personal freedom," she said. "When you come down to it, and when each and every individual looks at themselves, I'd say, for the most part, most people are Libertarians, they just don't know it yet."

Priorities

Gioia hopes to bring these principles to the attorney general's office, which she defines as the last line of defense for the people.

"We have to hold this line of defense, but we have to hold it in a principled manner," she said.

Gioia stresses that, if elected, she would study each issue carefully before making any decisions. She said Democratic opponent Dana Nessel's call to shut down the Line 5 pipeline before studying it more closely is ill advised.

"You don't go into every issue with an all or nothing (attitude)," she said.

Gioia hopes to look at cannabis laws if elected.

"Let's hope that the cannabis proposal passes," she said. "If that passes, then we what we have to do is enter a smooth transition for these laws."

Gioia said she would free everyone from jails or prisons being held for non-violent marijuana-related offenses if the proposal passed.

Gioia said she would create a group within the AG's office to tackle abuses of power in government and allow for officials to come forward anonymously. Current Attorney General Bill Schuette has in place something similar called the Public Integrity Unity.

Gioia would also create a channel to funnel information about the cases to the governor's office and Legislature so those elected officials can remain accountable on big investigations.

"You want an AG who is non-biased, who is not paid for by special interests, who can lead that team at the AG office that's working to prioritize citizen's rights, who will run the office less like politics as usual and more like a business that's serving the citizens of Michigan," she said.
JACKSON, MI - Students learned about the medical profession first-hand from a practicing physician during a recent Medical Pathway Panel Discussion at Jackson Preparatory & Early College.

Dr. Malcolm Trimble, Henry Ford Allegiance Health oncologist/hematologist, participated on the panel, comprised of early college and dual-enrolled medical pathway students Madelyn Schmidt, NaRyia Robinson, Andrew Mason, Kaylee Johnston, and Daniel Casey.

The presentation, in Jackson College's Bert Walker Hall, was attended by 42 JPEC students. Questions from the panelists ranged from, "What was your most challenging aspects about your education?" to "Why did you leave Canada to pursue a position in the United States?"

Trimble hails from Queen's University Medical School in Ontario, Canada and shared his experiences with the stark difference in health care between Canada and the United States. Audience members were allotted time to ask questions.

Casey is seeking to become an ophthalmologist, Robinson a pediatric nephrologist, Schmidt a physician assistant, Johnston a midwife and Mason a fire/EMT.
MUSKEGON HEIGHTS, MI - Muskegon Heights Public School Academy finished its 2017-18 budget year in better financial shape than expected.

Due to an influx of grants, the charter district expects to finish the year with a deficit of $112,980, which would be drawn from its fund balance (savings account), according to a news release issued by Muskegon Area Intermediate School District (MAISD) on behalf of the academy.

That finish is about $841,000 better than what was estimated in June.

An audit presentation is expected during the next board meeting on Monday, Nov. 19, at Muskegon Heights High School, 2441 Sanford St. in Muskegon Heights.

"Preliminary indication informally is that we're financially in good standing," said academy Trustee Stephen Parker, during a recent meeting.

The academy started 2017-18 with a fund balance of $1,225,247, according to transparency reporting. With the $112,980 deficit, the year-end fund balance would be $1,112,267.

The ending fund balance is equal to about 14 percent of 2017-18 expenditures, according to the release.

The state guideline is to have at least 5 percent of expenditures held in the fund balance.

"We are proud of the academic and financial progress in Muskegon Heights and are confident that Superintendent (Rane) Garcia and her team will continue to go above and beyond to ensure greater academic growth for our students," said academy board President Garland Kilgore.

The $841,000 swing in the budget is due to multiple grants, Garcia said. She listed three of the largest grants:

Partnership 21H: $234,534

High Impact Leadership: $34,597

Early Literacy: $16,590

"The biggest areas of focus with this funding are instructional support for teachers and leadership, system support and recruitment and retention of staff," Garcia said of the Partnership 21H grant from the Michigan Department of Education.

The High Impact Leadership grant focuses on leadership in literacy, she said. The grant will support Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Elementary School students in second through sixth grades.

The early literacy grant is to support instruction in literacy for kindergarten through third grade.

As a charter, the district's only public revenue is per-pupil state funding, and 3 percent of that goes to Muskegon Heights Public Schools because it oversees the charter.

Muskegon Heights Public Schools and the academy remain under the supervision of a Receivership Transitional Advisory Board appointed by the Michigan Department of Treasury. The RTAB was established after the district was taken out of emergency management in October 2016.

It had been under emergency management since 2012 when it was $12 million in debt. The emergency manager established the charter academy district to educate students while Muskegon Heights Public Schools worked to pay off debts, using non-per pupil funding such as local millages.

"We don't get any of our community's taxes - they go to Muskegon Heights Public Schools to pay off the debt," Garcia said previously, adding that the situation makes the budget tighter than at other schools.

In its original budget, the academy included a deficit of about $540,000, according to transparency reporting. An amended budget approved by the academy board of education in June included a deficit of about $954,000.

The deficit increased throughout the year, partially due to an unanticipated nearly $200,000 increase in the price of special education programming through the Muskegon Area Intermediate School District, Garcia said.

Adding to the financial burden in 2017-18 was the one-time purchase of English language arts and math curriculum for grades K-12. The cost was around $150,000 to $200,000, she said.

Garcia declined to provide the total revenues and expenditures for 2017-18 when asked earlier this week. She said the numbers would be available when the audit becomes public.

A look at 2018-19

The charter academy plans to add some money back to its fund balance during the 2018-19 fiscal year with an expected surplus of $198,741.

With a $240 increase in state per-pupil funding, the academy expects revenue of about $8,354,668 and planned expenditures of $8,155,927.

The academy expects to receive $7,635 per student (97 percent of the $7,871 per pupil foundation grant). Some grant funding is also expected.
Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw | Company: Chairperson, Biocon | Net worth: $4.6 billion | She added $2.22 billion to her wealth, taking her net worth to $4.6 billion in 2020, from $2.38 billion in 2019. It marked the highest gain in percentage terms at 93.28 percent among India's 100 richest persons. (Image: Reuters)

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Biocon and its partner Mylan announced that the European Medicines Agency (EMA) Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) has issued a positive opinion recommending approval of their breast cancer biosimilar Trastuzumab.

The CHMPs recommendation will be considered by European Union drug regulator before it takes a decision on approval. EMAs decision on approval is expected by year-end.

Trastuzumab, the biosimilar version of Swiss drug maker Roches Herceptin, had brand sales of $1.9 billion in Europe for the 12 months ended July 31, according to IQVIA.

Biocon-Mylans Trastuzumab or Ogivri was approved by the USFDA in December 2017 and is the first USFDA-approved biosimilar for Herceptin in the US. The drug is yet to be launched in US due to settlement between Mylan and Roche.

The terms of the deal or launch date are not public. Some commentators have indicated that an entry of Biocon-Mylans Trastuzumab biosimilar in second half of 2019.

If EMA gives its nod, it will be third biosimilar approval for Biocon in EU. The company earlier received approvals and launched biosimilars Pegfilgrastim and insulin glargine.

"We shall continue to execute on our biosimilars strategy of expanding affordable access to high quality products targeting critical illnesses like cancer, said Biocon Chief Executive Officer & Joint Managing Director, Arun Chandavarkar.

Biocon earlier guided $200 million revenue in FY19 from its biosimilar portfolio.

Mylan and Biocon are exclusive partners on a broad portfolio of biosimilar and insulin products.

Neulasta is one of 11 biologic and insulin products co-developed by Mylan and Biocon for the global marketplace.

Mylan has exclusive commercialization rights for the product in the US, Canada, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and in the European Union and European Free Trade Association countries. Biocon has co-exclusive commercialisation rights with Mylan for the product in the rest of the world.

While Biocon develops and manufactures the drug, Mylan takes care of regulatory approvals and marketing.
economy Macro@Moneycontrol I RBI's data localisation mandate Moneycontrols Sakshi Batra in conversation with Gaurav Choudhury, Deputy Executive Editor, Moneycontrol finds out what could be the implications on companies that have missed the RBI deadline.
JPMorgan Chase & Co said on Friday that it was building a new "fintech campus" in Silicon Valley for more than 1,000 employees, as it pushes to keep abreast of changes in digital payments.

The building is set to open in Palo Alto, California in 2020, the bank said in a statement and interviews. Most of the employees at the site will work for JPMorgan's Chase Merchant Services division, which is the second-biggest US processor of card payments for merchants.

The division last year bought WePay, a young Silicon Valley-based firm that specializes in connecting payment software with bank networks. WePay now has about 275 employees, who will move to the new building. WePay's co-founder Bill Clerico said the bank will also hire hundreds of people for new jobs at the site.

This year, JPMorgan made its digital products strategy a major theme of its annual February conference for investors and stock analysts.

The bank, the largest in the US by assets, has said it believes that handling more payments for consumers and companies will bring it more of their deposit and loan business.

Matt Kane, chief executive of JPMorgan's merchant services division, said the bank was prepared to pay the high costs of operating in Silicon Valley for the chance to hire local software engineers. They are intended to complement payments industry specialists that JPMorgan employs now, largely in Plano, Texas and Tampa, Florida.

Chase Merchant Services ranks second to Atlanta-based First Data Corp in processing card transactions for merchants.
Operating profit is the amount realized from a business's ongoing operations. It serves as a highly accurate indicator of the business's potential profitability because it excludes all extra factors. Moneycontrol analysis showed there are 7 companies from the BSE universe that have given at least 15 percent operating profit growth in FY20 compared to the previous fiscal year (FY19). We considered only companies where FIIs and MFs, both, increased stake in the first two quarters of FY21. Interestingly, in FY21 so far, all of them have been trading in the green and have gained between 20 percent and 190 percent. (Data Source: ACE Equity)

Mazhar Mohammad

Of late investors have been unable to fathom the kind of market in which they are operating with back to back sharp corrections witnessed in the

year 2018 which eroded the substantial wealth of financial markets especially in the emerging economies.

India looked like an oasis in the growth-starved world appears to have caught up with macro issues with widening current accountdeficit (CAD), a weak currency and its soaring cost of capital which is looking like a lethal combination to hijack the growth story of the

country.

As a result, foreign investors (FPI/FIIs) have pulled out Rs 93,392 crore since January 2018 out of which Rs 33,343 crore are from equities

(source: NSDL, as on October 17) and it seems that India no longer appears to be the darling of emerging market world.

The result is Nifty is down by around 13 percent from the recent highs of 11,760 levels. While the index is down by only 13 percent

substantial value erosion was seen in the broader markets.

The mid and small-cap space which is reeling with a cut of more than 40-50 percent leaving investors licking their wounds since January 2018.

This has led to the confusion in their minds about their investments which cropped up some difficult questions like  is this the end of a bull

market? Are we in a bear market?

Unfortunately, there are no straightforward answers to these questions. While bull markets can be relatively identified at an earlier stage itnot only becomes difficult to identify a bear market but also very difficult to accept the fact that the bear market dawned upon us as greed

prevent investors from doing so due to the investment-related behavioral trait called FOMA  Fear of Missing Opportunity.

While developed economies quantified a bear market measure with a definition of 20 percent fall from the top the same rule cant be applied

to the economies of the emerging world whose stock markets are relatively more volatile.

For instance, in India, we have seen multiple corrections of around 30 percent in the erstwhile bull market of 2003-2007.

If someone applied the definition of the developed world then many would have missed the mighty opportunity in 2004 when the then

first bull market correction lasted for 4 months from January 2004 with a cut of 35 percent from the respective top on Nifty.

Similarly in the current bull market, which is in progress from the lows of 2013, already had a major setback which has seen more than 20

percent value erosion on the Nifty. In March 2015, Nifty was down with a cut of 25 percent from 9119  6825 which lasted for 11 months.

If you presume that bull market was in progress from the year 2009 lows then in November 2010 Nifty took a hit of 28 percent from the

highs of 6,338  4,531.

So these kind of big corrections inside bull market are quite common in Indian markets and may last for a couple of more quarters. Indian

investors can easily reject this 20 percent rule for identifying bear markets.

What does market internals suggest?

In bear markets typically large-caps remain outperformers and small and mid-caps continue to underperform. By this logic, we can concludethat market behaviour since 2018 somewhat resembles a bear market as a handful of large caps remain outperformers whereas mid and small

caps continued to underperform which resulted in the collapse of market breadth on rallies.

This can also be gauged by looking into Niftys behaviour which went on to make new lifetime highs from March 2018 lows of 9,950 on theback of few large-cap stocks whereas mid and small-cap indices made lower tops and continued to remain under pressure since January 2018

highs.

On 28th of August when Nifty50 registered a new lifetime high of 11,760 than from NSE universe of stocks around 1301 (69%) were tradingbelow their 200-days moving averages whereas 1274 stocks were found to have registered death cross meaning whose 50-days moving

average was below 200-day moving average suggesting strong downtrend.

Bull markets often end with scams:

Often bull market obituary is written when scandals start raising their ugly heads. In April of 1992 big bull Harshad Mehta was exposed how

he was fraudulently dipping into banking channels to finance his activities which lead to the big crash of the then bull market.

Similarly, when Ketan Parekh was exposed in 2001 it leads to the demise of the 1998  2001 bull market. These two scandals surfaced at the

top of the bull markets. Though the famous bull market of 2008 was ended for global reasons it was not completely free of scams.

On 7th of January 2009, founder of Satyam Computers made a confession about a massive accounting fraud in his company to the tune of Rs

14,000 crores.

As Mark Twain famously said History doesnt repeat itself it often rhymes scams and frauds started dominating the headline in the current

bull market.

On 29th January of this year, Punjab National Bank filed a complaint with CBI about 260 crore LoU scam which latter on turned out to be a

mammoth Rs 13,000 crore fraud involving diamantaire Nirav Modi.

Interestingly, the date of complaint coincides with the Nifty top of 11,171 which triggered a massive correction in the broader markets. As ifPNB scandal is not sufficient we got IL&FS fiasco which is dominating the headlines as this infrastructure lender which amassed a total debt of

Rs 96000 crores started defaulting its dues on piece meal system threatening to pose systemic risk in the economy.

Chart Check Why Nifty should head below 10,000

Our long-term trend studies are pointing to major breakdowns in the trend and as we have been pointing out in these columns since the

beginning of September.

The Nifty is in an intermediate downtrend which should last for a couple of months. As things are becoming crystal clear with more visiblepatterns on the charts it appears that market triggered its corrective structure from January 2018 itself when Nifty registered a high of

11,171 levels but not at the absolute top of 11,760 recorded in August.

In Elliot Wave parlance the structure on Nifty is looking like an Expanded Flat in which counter-trend rally with three legs in the form of Wave

B shall move above the top of Wave A.

In this case rally from the lows of 9,950  11,760 (Wave B) and when B ends it leads to disastrous C leg. And the correction from 11760 is as

disastrous as required by the nature of Wave C. Expanded Flat ends below the point from where Wave B originated.

In this case, it is 9950 from where Wave B commenced its journey. This is the reason why we have been highlighting from the beginning that

this corrective structure shall end below 9,950 levels.

When we read this corrective pattern with other conventional technical tools then we are arriving at a target of 9700 where Nifty shall ideallybottom out. While this remains our preferred view our alternative count suggests that in case Nifty held on to 9950 then it should pave the

way for a prolonged sideways correction in the form of a multi-month triangular structure with lower tops but with higher bottoms.

Time wise we are expecting this correction to last till February/ March 2019 (in all situations) after which a sustainable multi-month up movecan be expected. However, as this time cycle is coinciding with the major political event as the country is heading for a Parliament election

this correction can get extended by another 2  3 months.

Disclaimer: The author is a Chief Strategist  Technical Research & Trading Advisory, Chartviewindia.in. The views and investment tipsexpressed by investment expert on Moneycontrol.com are his own and not that of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.
A judge in Broward County, Florida has ruled that the Hollywood Police Department ruined the lives of ten gay men for no reason at all when they raided the Pleasure Emporium in July of 2018 and release the names and photos of the men to news media outlets. The judge ruled that the men were, in fact, in a private space, and the men should not have been charged for exposing their genitals in public.

Broward County Judge Ginger Lerner-Wren found that the Pleasure Emporium is not a public space under [Florida Statute] 800.03, Lerner-Wren wrote. The patrons who access the private viewing theaters where consensual activity occurs in the presence of other consenting adults objectively and subjectively possess a reasonable expectation of privacy.

In August, Hollywood PD adamantly defended its decision to raid a gay-cruising destination. HPD spokesperson Miranda Grossman  who, is a former reporter for the progressive news outlet Fusion  stated that the Pleasure Emporium was not private, but open to the public.

She then added, As a reporter, I am sure you can understand releasing information related to criminal activity is in the publics best interest.

It turns out the men were not actually committing a crime, according to Lerner-Wren. Via email, Grossman said HPD still believes it was in the right.

After the arrest, many media outlets published mug shots of the men. WPLG went so far as to provide a bulleted list of every mans name and hometown.

One man who was arrested according to his lawyer was suicidal after the arrest and had fled Cuba because he thought America would be more accepting of of gay men. Instead he was outed and fired from his job due to the actions of Miranda Grossman and the Hollywood Police Department.

Rhonda Gelfman, an attorney lawyer for many of the accused men, says she plans to help the few who pleaded guilty to the charges before the judge ruled the raid was wrong.

Im happy with the judges well-reasoned opinion and that justice was served, she said through a spokesperson. I plan to now spend time assisting the others who had pleaded guilty to this case when they should not have.

Hopefully that will include lawsuits against the media outlets who published the mens names and photos, the Hollywood Police department and Miranda Grossman.
Rana Kapoor, Founder - Yes Bank

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The uncertainty looming over the appointment of Yes Banks managing director and the chief executive officer has forced fund houses to pare stake in the underlined private sector bank.

According to the September portfolio of mutual funds, AMCs have cut down stake in Yes Bank by nearly 100 basis points in Jul-Sep to 10.55 percent, adding to the selling pressure.

Recently, the Reserve Bank of India turned down Yes Bank's request to extend its chief executive Rana Kapoor's term up to April 2019. The regulator has asked the bank to appoint a new CEO by February 1, 2019.

Not only have mutual funds, foreign institutional investors too cut their exposure in Yes Bank by more than 400 basis points in the last month. Currently, FIIs hold nearly 39.5 percent stake in the private sector lender.

After the September 25 board meeting, the bank said it would seek an extension for Kapoor till April 30 for finalisation of financial statements for the year ending March 2018. And thereafter, a further extension till September 30 for completing the annual general meeting process.

Also Read: Yes Bank CEO Rana Kapoor meets Madhu Kapur, proposes joint promoter group: Report

Kapoor, who has been the founding CEO of the mid-sized private bank since 2004, was asked to step down from January 31, 2019, by the RBI. This was against the board and shareholders' proposal to extend his term by three years after his term ended on August 31 this year.

After the RBI's reaffirmed directive, Yes Bank said its 'Search & Selection Committee' is targeting to complete this recruitment process latest by mid-December 2018.

As communicated by the Bank on September 24, 2018, the MD & CEO will be fully guided by its Board of Directors, the RBI and other relevant stakeholders, the bank said in the exchange filing.

On October 11, Yes Bank announced the appointment of global firm Korn Ferry mandated by the 'Search & Selection Committee' to assist in evaluating both internal and external candidates and make suitable recommendations to the Board of Directors within stipulated timelines for RBI' s final approval.

The stock of Yes Bank has been hammered since the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) curtailed the term of its current promoter- CEO, Rana Kapoor. The damage control exercise has started with vigour and the management in a recent communication highlighted the roadmap of the 'Search & Selection Committee within the bank to find Kapoors succession within the stipulated time period.

The RBI's decision to curtail Kapoor's extension led to a 46 percent plunge in the Yes Banks during July-September period.

The management is portraying business as usual. In an exchange filing, it has detailed the robust business growth in the quarter gone by. The bank reported 41 percent growth in deposits year-on-year (YoY), 65 percent growth in advances and pristine asset quality at 1.35 percent of advances.

Subsequently, several brokerage firms have cut their ratings on shares of YES Bank, with most of the firms claiming that loan growth is likely to slow down until a new CEO takes charge and details a and a new strategy.
Scores of people on October 20 staged a sit-in on the railway tracks where 61 people were mowed down by a train during a Dussehra event. The protesters raised slogans against the state government and demanded action against the train driver. (Image: Reuters)

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh met visiting Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on October 20 and discussed with him issues related to security and anti-terror cooperation between India and the island nation. (Image: PTI)

An Afghan woman inks her finger during the Parliamentary elections in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Saturday. Tens of thousands of Afghan forces fanned out across the country as voting began in the elections that followed a campaign marred by relentless violence. (Image: AP)

A Delhi court Saturday framed molestation charges against former TERI (The Energy and Resources Institute) chief RK Pachauri in a case of alleged sexual harassment lodged by his former colleague. (Image: PopTech)

Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi died in a "fistfight" in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, the kingdom claimed early Saturday, finally admitting that the writer had been slain at its diplomatic post. (Image: AP)

The US accused a Russian woman on Friday of helping oversee the finances of a sweeping, secretive effort to sway American public opinion through social media in the first federal case alleging foreign interference in the 2018 midterm elections.
Union Minister Nitin Gadkari

The shipping ministry is planning to undertake works worth Rs 2.35 lakh crore under the Sagarmala project in Maharashtra, Union minister Nitin Gadkari said on Saturday.

He said projects worth over Rs 1.50 lakh crore are in various stages of implementation, while the work on remaining Rs 85,000 crore-worth projects is yet to begin.

Work on these remaining projects, starting with the preparation of detailed project reports, will be initiated soon, he said.

Gadkari was speaking here at the inauguration of a premium passenger ship service to Goa, which is being restarted after a gap of nearly three decades.

Overall, departments under him including shipping, ports, roads and waterways will be spending Rs 7.5 lakh crore in Maharashtra, he said.

Gadkari said initially the estimates of expenditure on various projects in his home state were in the range of Rs 5 lakh crore, which has now gone up to Rs 7.5 lakh crore.

Eight projects entailing an investment of Rs 5,384 crore have already been completed, while 45 others involving an investment of Rs 27,000 crore are in various stages of implementation, he said.

The minister did not offer details of all the works being undertaken, but said the figure includes Rs 1 lakh crore for waterways development.

At least five rivers in the state feature in the list of over 100 rivers where water transport potential will be exploited, he said.

Gadkari also said that he had a meeting with a Russian deputy prime minister who assured India to deploy ethanol-powered "watercrafts" in the Ganga river.

An Indian company has forged a joint venture with Russian firm United Ship Builders for this, he said.
Forty of the 59 people killed in the train accident in Amritsar have been identified so far and the bodies of 36 have been cremated, officials said on Saturday.

The bodies of four other persons, who belonged to Uttar Pradesh, have been sent to their hometowns by the district administration, an official said.

The 36 bodies were cremated in batches at a ground near Shitla Mata Temple here in the presence of officials of the state government and family members of the deceased.

According to officials, the post-mortem examination on 29 bodies has been done.

At least 59 people were killed and 72 injured on Friday evening after a crowd of Dussehra revellers that had spilled onto railway tracks while watching burning of Ravana effigy was run over by a train near here.

The injured have been admitted to seven hospitals, the officials said.

The train was coming from Jalandhar when the accident occurred at Joda Phatak near Amritsar, where at least 300 people were watching 'Ravana dahan' at a ground adjacent to the tracks.
A haze engulfed the national capital as the air quality nosedived to "very poor" category with several areas inching towards "severe" pollution levels, authorities said Saturday. The overall Air Quality Index (AQI) of Delhi was recorded at 337, which falls in the 'very poor' category and is the highest of this season, creating hazy conditions, said data from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).

About 31 areas in Delhi recorded 'very poor' air quality while two areas showed 'severe' air quality levels, it said.

CRRU Mathura Road and Dwarka Sector 8 witnessed 'severe' level of pollution at 414 and 402, respectively, the data said.

Anand Vihar, DTU, Mundka, Narela, Nehru Nagar and Rohini all showed 'very poor' air quality, it said.

An AQI between 0 and 50 is considered "good", 51 and 100 "satisfactory", 101 and 200 "moderate", 201 and 300 "poor", 301 and 400 "very poor", and 401 and 500 "severe".

The deterioration of air quality comes a day after fire crackers were burst on the occasion of Dusshera even after repeated appeals by authorities to go for eco-friendly celebrations.

On Wednesday and Thursday, the air quality had deteriorated to the 'very poor' category, alarming authorities who were planning to roll out more stringent measures to combat pollution.

The air quality temporarily improved on Friday after rainfall, but it worsened again.

An official warned that the PM2.5 was reaching dangerous levels.

The Supreme Court appointed Environment Protection Control Authority (EPCA) had on Friday held a meeting with state governments and Delhi government officials to discuss the pollution situation in the national capital.

An EPCA member said stock of the situation was taken and it was decided that special attention would be given to vulnerable hotspots where 'poor' or 'very poor' air quality is observed.

On Saturday, the PM2.5 (presence of particles in the air with a diameter of less than 2.5 micrometres) touched a new high at 158. The PM2.5, also called "fine particulates", can be a matter of more serious health concern than PM10.

The PM10 level (presence of particles in the air with a diameter of less than 10 micrometres) in Delhi stood at 270 and the PM 2.5 level was recorded at 125, according to the data from the Centre-run System of Air Quality Forecasting and Research (SAFAR).

A CPCB official said a number of factors were responsible for the deteriorating air quality, including vehicular pollution, construction activities and meteorological factors like the direction of wind which is now flowing from stubble burning areas.

Images by NASA showed rampant stubble burning in Punjab and Haryana in the last two weeks.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had Friday warned that the city would become a "gas chamber soon" as the Centre, Punjab and Haryana governments did "absolutely nothing" for farmers involved in stubble burning.

"V sad that Central, Punjab and Haryana Govts did absolutely nothing for the farmers. As a result, the farmers will suffer on one hand and Delhi will become a gas chamber soon (sic)," he tweeted.

Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia Thursday appealed to the Centre and the governments of Haryana and Punjab to initiate measures in the wake of the deteriorating air quality in north India, including Delhi.
Training guns on the Congress, Union Minister Prakash Javadekar said on Saturday that the party eliminated the poor instead of poverty and there was strong resentment against it.

"There is strong resentment against the party and it has lost its attraction among people. It is supporting infiltrators and encouraging divisive powers," he alleged.

"It is this party which eliminated the poor instead of poverty," Javadekar said here while addressing a meeting of BJP workers from 36 Assembly constituencies of seven districts.

He alleged that the Congress in the times of Mahatma Gandhi was different from the party of present times as now it was surviving only on lies.

Referring to the Rafale aircraft deal, the minister said only the Congress and Pakistan were protesting against the deal.

Javadekar, who is also the BJP's Rajasthan election in-charge, said party workers were upbeat and exuded confidence that the lotus will bloom once again in the desert state in the upcoming polls.

BJP's joint general secretary V Satish said if the party workers fight the polls unitedly, nobody can stop the BJP from coming to power again.

Rajasthan BJP president Madan Lal Saini said there was no reason for the Centre and state government to feel ashamed as people of the country were appreciating schemes of both the governments.

During the three-day meeting being held in Jaipur, the party will take suggestions from workers of 98 assembly constituencies.

Earlier, the BJP had taken feedback from workers of 102 Assembly constituencies in Ranakpur of Pali district.
Infosys, Mindtree Q2 results, data localisation dominate IT this week

IT earnings for the September quarter continued, while data localisation continued to be in the limelight past the banking regulator's deadline to payment firms

Neha Alawadhi October 20, 2018 / 03:57 PM IST











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This week saw IT major Infosys and its smaller peer Mindtree report their Q2 FY19 earnings. Data localisation continued to hog the limelight as the banking regulator's deadline to payment firms ended.

On October 16, Infosys' second quarter results came in above analysts' estimates, helped by a strong deal pipeline and an imminent recovery in the financial services sector.

The surprise though was that Infosys retained its forecast of 6-8 percent revenue growth and 22-24 percent margin for FY19, indicating that its investments in new business will continue to impact earnings for the rest of the fiscal.

It will also take some time to catch up with larger rival Tata Consultancy Services ( TCS ).

A day after Infosys, midcap Mindtree reported robust numbers , but failed to impress the street.

A big concern with investors has always been Mindtree's dependence on its biggest client, which accounts for over 20 percent of revenue. The stock plunged as much as 17 percent on October 19 on these concerns and cautious management commentary.

Given the uncertainty around Brexit, customers are seen engaging in short term extensions of existing contracts rather than longer term programmes, said Motilal Oswal in a note to clients on Friday.

Another thing to look at going forward is the non-linearity story and how IT firms are looking to delink revenue from headcount.

Read: Indian IT sector on non-linear growth path; employee addition per $1 billion declines According to data from the National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom), the industry hired 9,470 employees against $1 billion revenue earned in IT and business process management (BPM) in FY18.

On Monday, the Reserve Bank of India's deadline to payment firms to comply with data localisation, or storing a copy of financial transactions only in India, expired.

Read: Data localisation: Payments firms that failed to comply with RBI norms being monitored, may escape penalty While the regulator has not specified a penalty yet, most analysts and industry watchers Moneycontrol spoke to were of the view that it will be on a wait-and-watch mode for the next few months.
Julian Assange

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange is taking legal action against Ecuador, the South American nation that continues to provide him asylum, for allegedly violating his "fundamental rights and freedoms".

The 47-year-old Australian national, who has been holed up in a back room of the Ecuadorean embassy in central London for over six years, was placed under a new set of house rules after he was allowed limited internet access recently after a seven-month hiatus.

The WikiLeaks said Ecuador had threatened to remove the protection Assange has had since being granted political asylum in 2012, and added that his access to the outside world had been "summarily cut off".

WikiLeaks lawyer Baltasar Garzon is now in Quito, the capital of Ecuador, to launch the case, which is set to be heard in a domestic court next week, according to UK media reports.

"Ecuador's measures against Julian Assange have been widely condemned by the human rights community," a Wikileaks statement said.

Assange's lawyers said they are also challenging the legality of the Ecuadorian government's "special protocol", which makes his political asylum contingent on "censoring" his freedom of opinion, speech and association.

The protocol also requires journalists, lawyers and anyone else seeking to see Assange discloses their private or political details, such as social media usernames and the serial numbers and codes of their phones and tablets, with Ecuador  which the protocol says the government may "share with other agencies".

The protocol claims the embassy may seize the property of Assange or his visitors and, without a warrant, hand it over to UK authorities, notes the Wikileaks statement.

Assange sought refuge at the Ecuador Embassy in Knightsbridge in June 2012, having lost an appeal against extradition to Sweden for questioning on allegations of rape and sexual assault that went to the Supreme Court.

While the Swedish case has since been dropped, Assange is still wanted by the Scotland Yard for breach of bail and faces arrest the moment he steps out of the diplomatically immune territory.

Assange had been granted asylum six years ago on the grounds that he feared extradition to America, where he faced a possible death sentence or torture for Wikileaks' alleged leak of secrets.
Nuke War! | 10) North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un just stated that the Nuclear Button is on his desk at all times. Will someone from his depleted and food starved regime please inform him that I too have a Nuclear Button, but it is a much bigger & more powerful one than his, and my Button works!

The next summit meeting between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is likely to happen early next year, a senior administration official said on October 19.

The two sides have been engaged in talks on the leaders' second meeting after the first, unprecedented, one in Singapore in June.

"A meeting is likely sometime after the first of the year," the U.S. official told a small group of reporters.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on October 19 he hopes to meet his North Korean counterpart soon to lay the groundwork for a "big step forward" on denuclearisation during the next summit.

Pompeo, in an interview with Voice of America on a trip to Mexico City, said Kim told him two weeks ago he was committed to the promises he had made to Trump during their first summit.

"I am very hopeful we'll have senior leader meetings here in the next week and a half or so between myself and my counterpart to continue this discussion so that when the two of them get together there is real opportunity to make another big step forward on denuclearisation," he told VOA.

Pompeo met North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho at the United Nations General Assembly in New York in September.

A State Department spokeswoman declined to clarify if Pompeo meant he would meet his counterpart in Washington, saying she had no meetings to announce.

The United States and South Korea on Friday said they had suspended upcoming joint air defence drills in a bid to ensure diplomatic efforts with North Korea continue.

The two Koreas have held three summits this year.
Saudi Arabia on October 20 admitted that dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed inside its consulate in Istanbul, state media said, two weeks after his disappearance sparked a global furore.

The kingdom also announced the sacking of a top intelligence official Ahmad al-Assiri and royal court media advisor Saud al-Qahtani, both top aides to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman who has faced mounting pressure over the Khashoggi affair.

Saudi journalist Khashoggi, a critic of the kingdom's leadership and a Washington Post contributor, was last seen on October 2 entering his country's consulate in Istanbul.

His disappearance had been shrouded in mystery and triggered an international crisis, with Turkish officials accusing Saudi Arabia of a state-sponsored killing.

"The discussions between Jamal Khashoggi and those he met at the kingdom's consulate in Istanbul... devolved into a fistfight, leading to his death," the Saudi Press Agency said, citing the public prosecutor.

The kingdom announced that 18 people had been arrested in the ongoing probe.

The Saudi king also ordered the setting up of a ministerial committee under the chairmanship of the crown prince to restructure the kingdom's intelligence agency and "define its powers accurately", state media said.

Shortly before Riyadh confirmed that Khashoggi had been killed, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Saudi King Salman agreed in telephone talks to continue cooperation in the investigation into the Khashoggi affair.

Erdogan and Salman "emphasised the importance of continuing to work together with complete cooperation", said a Turkish presidential source, who asked not to be named.

The United States warned on October 19 of a "wide range" of responses should it determine that Saudi Arabia is behind the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, as Turkey widened its investigation into the scandal.

President Donald Trump said the United States, which is Saudi Arabia's biggest backer, could impose sanctions over the feared murder of Khashoggi.

His top diplomat Mike Pompeo told Voice of America Radio: "We'll certainly consider a wide range of potential responses." The Trump administration has been notably slow to criticise Saudi Arabia, despite mounting evidence that Khashoggi, a critic of the Islamic petro-state's powerful crown prince, vanished after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

The Khashoggi case has presented Trump with one of the most acute foreign policy crises of his nearly two-year-old presidency.

Pro-government Turkish media have repeatedly claimed that Khashoggi was tortured and decapitated by a Saudi hit squad inside the diplomatic mission, although Turkey has yet to divulge details about the investigation.
Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi died in a "fistfight" in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, the kingdom claimed early Saturday, finally admitting that the writer had been slain at its diplomatic post. (Image: AP)

Turkey vowed on Saturday to reveal all details of the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi after Saudi Arabia admitted he was killed at its Istanbul consulate, state media reported.

"Turkey will reveal whatever had happened. Nobody should ever doubt about it," said Omer Celik, spokesman for the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), the Anadolu news agency reported.

Khashoggi, a Washington Post contributor and critic of the Islamic petro-state's powerful crown prince, was last seen on October 2 entering his country's consulate in Istanbul.

Riyadh's admission came after persistent claims by the Saudi authorities that the journalist had left the consulate alive.

Turkish police and prosecutors this week searched both the consulate as well as the consul's residence in Istanbul.

Celik said it was Turkey's "debt of honour" to reveal what happened.

"We are not accusing anyone in advance but we don't accept anything to remain covered (up)," he said.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday night spoke with Saudi King Salman and the two agreed to continue cooperation in the probe.

In public, Erdogan and top government figures have remained extremely cautious, often referring to a prosecutors' investigation and stopping short of pinning the blame on Saudi Arabia.

Staff members of the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul testified to prosecutors on Friday as part of the probe.
The United States is considering a new operation to send warships through the Taiwan Strait, US officials tell Reuters, a mission aimed at ensuring free passage through the strategic waterway but which risks heightening tensions with China.

The US Navy conducted a similar mission in the strait's international waters in July and any repeat would be seen in self-ruled Taiwan as a fresh expression of support by President Donald Trump's government.

The US military declined to comment and US officials who discussed the deliberations, which have not been previously reported, did so on condition of anonymity. They did not discuss the potential timing for any fresh passage through the strait.

China views Taiwan as a wayward province and has been ramping up the pressure to assert its sovereignty over the island. It raised concerns over US policy toward Taiwan in talks this week with US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis in Singapore.

Even as Washington mulls ordering a fresh passage through the strait, it has been trying to explain to Beijing that its policies toward Taiwan are unchanged.

Mattis delivered that message to China's Defence Minister Wei Fenghe personally on Thursday, on the sidelines of an Asian security forum.

"Minister Wei raised Taiwan and concerns about our policy. The Secretary reassured Minister Wei that we haven't changed our Taiwan policy, our one China policy," said Randall Schriver, a U.S. assistant secretary of defense who helps guide Pentagon policy in Asia.

"So it was, I think, a familiar exchange."

Washington has no formal ties with Taiwan but is bound by law to help it defend itself and is the island's main source of arms. The Pentagon says Washington has sold Taiwan more than $15 billion in weaponry since 2010.

US-CHINA FLASHPOINTS

Taiwan is only one of a growing number of flashpoints in the US-China relationship, which also include a bitter trade war, US sanctions and China's increasingly muscular military posture in the South China Sea.

Mattis told Wei on Thursday that the world's two largest economies needed to deepen high-level military ties so as to navigate tension and rein in the risk of inadvertent conflict.

Some current and former US officials say US warship passages in the Taiwan Strait are still too infrequent, and note that a US aircraft carrier hasn't transited the Taiwan Strait since 2007, during the administration of George W Bush.

When the last two US warships, both destroyers, sailed through the Taiwan Strait in July, it was the first such operation in about a year.

Beijing, which has never renounced the use of force to bring Taiwan under its control, responded to the July passage with a warning to the United States to avoid jeopardizing "peace and stability" in the strategic waterway.

It has also viewed US overtures towards Taiwan with alarm, including its unveiling a new de facto embassy in Taiwan and passage of the Taiwan Travel Act, which encourages U.S. officials to visit the island.

Military experts say the balance of power between Taiwan and China has shifted decisively in China's favor in recent years, and China could easily overwhelm the island unless US forces came quickly to Taiwan's aid.

China has also alarmed Taiwan by ramping up military exercises this year, including flying bombers and other military aircraft around the island and sending its aircraft carrier through the narrow Taiwan Strait separating it from Taiwan.

Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen said last week the island will increase its defense budget every year to ensure it can defend its sovereignty, including resuming domestic development of advanced training aircraft and submarines.

"At this time, China's intimidation and diplomatic pressure not only hurts relations between both sides, but seriously challenges the peaceful stability in the Taiwan Strait," she said in a National Day speech in Taipei on October 10.

Her remarks came ahead of island-wide local elections in late November that are seen as a bellwether for her ruling party's performance in presidential elections due in 2020.
A human rights activist holds picture of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi during a protest outside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, Turkey October 9, 2018. REUTERS/Osman Orsal

The White House said on October 20 it was "saddened" to hear the confirmation of Saudi Arabia's dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi's death, but made no mention of action against the major US ally.

Saudi Arabia on October 20 said Khashoggi, 60, was killed inside its consulate in Istanbul after "discussions" at the consulate devolved into an altercation, without disclosing any details on the whereabouts of his body.

Read  Saudi Arabia admits Khashoggi killed in Istanbul consulate: Report

"We are saddened to hear confirmation of Khashoggi's death, and we offer our deepest condolences to his family, fiancee, and friends," White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said after Saudi Arabia issued a statement saying the journalist was killed in a fist fight with unidentified men inside the consulate.

President Donald Trump said he doesn't think he was lied to by Saudi leaders over the death of Khashoggi.

"I think it's a great first step," Trump said on Saudi Arabia's statement which he says he considers credible.

As many as 18 people have been taken into custody, according to Saudi officials.

An investigation in this regard is on.

"The United States acknowledges the announcement from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia that its investigation into the fate of Jamal Khashoggi is progressing and that it has taken action against the suspects it has identified thus far," Sanders said.

"We will continue to closely follow the international investigations into this tragic incident and advocate for justice that is timely, transparent and in accordance with all due process," the White House Press Secretary said.

The Saudi statement confirming the death of Khashoggi in a fist fight did not appear to be credible for some US lawmakers, who demanded that Riyadh be held accountable for the incident.

Senator Lindsay Graham said it's hard to find this latest "explanation" as credible.

"To say that I am skeptical of the new Saudi narrative about Khashoggi is an understatement," he said.

"The claim that Khashoggi was killed while brawling with 15 men dispatched from Saudi Arabia is not at all credible. If he was fighting with those sent to capture or kill him, it was for his life. The kingdom must be held to account. If (the Trump) administration doesn't lead, Congress must," Congressman Adam Schiff said.

House Foreign Affairs Committee Ranking Member Elliott Engel demanded a full account of what happened.

Congressman Jim Costa said that he is appalled by the reports that Saudi officials were involved in the death of Khashoggi.

"As we learn more details of Khashoggi's disappearance, the US must send a clear message that we will not condone such reprehensible behaviour that goes against our American values.

"We must carefully examine both the facts surrounding Khashoggi's disappearance as well as our relationship with Saudi Arabia, and I call on the President to take strong action in unwavering defence of our values. If the President will not stand up to Saudi Arabia, then we in Congress must stand strong for our nation, our values and journalists throughout the world," Costa said.

"Where is the body?" asked Congressman Eric Swalwell.

"Khashoggi's family deserve immediate custody of the remains as they seek some measure of closure," he added.

Khashoggi, who lived in the US as a legal permanent resident and worked for 'The Washington Post', was last seen on October 2 entering his country's consulate in Istanbul.
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has filed a lawsuit in Ecuador against new terms of asylum in the Andean country's London embassy that require him to pay for medical bills and phone calls and clean up after his pet cat, his lawyer said on Friday.

Ecuador this month created the new protocol governing his stay at the embassy. Lawyer Baltasar Garzon told a press conference in Quito that the rules were drawn up without consulting the Australian national, who has sued Foreign Minister Jose Valencia in a Quito court to have them changed.

Assange has not had access to the internet since it was cut off in March, Garzon added, despite a WikiLeaks statement this week that it had been restored.

"He has been held in inhuman conditions for more than six years," Garzon said. "Even people who are imprisoned have phone calls paid for by the state," he added, describing the obligations regarding the cat as "denigrating."

Garzon said Valencia was named in the lawsuit because he serves as the intermediary between Assange and the Ecuadorean government.

Valencia said the government "will respond in an appropriate manner."

"The protocol is in line with international standards and Ecuadorean law," he told reporters in the Ecuadorean city of Daule on Friday.

Assange's stay has become an increasing annoyance for Ecuadorean President Lenin Moreno, who has said the asylum cannot be eternal but has been reluctant to push him out of the embassy on concern for his human rights.

Assange believes he would be handed over to the United States to face prosecution over WikiLeaks' publication of hundreds of thousands of classified military and diplomatic documents.

Former Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa in 2012 granted Assange asylum as he sought to avoid extradition to Sweden for interrogation on alleged sexual assault crimes.

Sweden later dropped its investigation of Assange, but Britain says he will be arrested for violating the terms of his bail if he leaves the embassy.

Ecuador in 2017 gave Assange citizenship and named him to a diplomatic post in Russia, but rescinded the latter after Britain refused to give him diplomatic immunity, according to an Ecuadorean government document seen by Reuters.
The world's longest sea bridge Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge will be thrown open for traffic on October 24, the authorities said on October 20.

The 55-kilometer-long bridge, situated in the Lingdingyang waters of the Pearl River Estuary, will be the world's longest sea bridge, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

The construction of the multibillion-dollar bridge had begun in December 2009.

It will slash the travel time between Hong Kong and Zhuhai from three hours to just 30 minutes, further integrating the cities in the Pearl River Delta.

The bridge will be opened for traffic on October 24, the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge Authority said.

Earlier, lawmakers in Hong Kong warned that the bridge, which provides a direct link to Hong Kong International Airport, could bring extra traffic to Lantau Island, and cause congestion, South China Morning Post said in a report.

The Transport Department has already capped the number of permits for cross-border private cars at 5,000, it said.

A government-commissioned study from 2016 estimated that 29,100 vehicles would use the bridge daily, by 2030, which was 12 percent down from a report written in 2008.
October 20, 2018 Saudis Admit Khashoggi Murder - Offer Weak Cover-Up The Saudi King Salman was told to keep his son, Mohammad bin Salman, in the position of clown prince. It is widely assumed that MbS, the clown prince, ordered to kill Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. The Saudis now admit that Khashoggi was murdered. Two of the clown prince's bootlickers are offered as sacrificial pawns.

Flag of Saudi Arabia - Old Style After seventeen days of claiming that Khashoggi left the consulate alive, the Saudis acknowledge that he was killed there. But they keep lying about what actually happened: In a statement issued early Saturday morning in Riyadh, the Saudi capital, the Saudis claimed that some number of unnamed suspects had traveled to the consulate to meet with Khashoggi, as there were indications of the possibility of his returning to Saudi Arabia. ... The discussions that took place . . . did not go as required and developed in a negative way, the statement continued, leading to a fight and a quarrel and a brawl that led to Khashoggis death. The unnamed suspects then attempted to conceal and cover what happened, the Saudi government claimed, without elaborating. "Khashoggi started a tussle with the fifteen men we sent to kindly ask him to come home. Unfortunately he stumbled, fell onto the chainsaw and severed his head." The clown prince himself knew of course nothing about this, claim Saudi sources: There were no orders for them to kill him or even specifically kidnap him, said the source, speaking on condition of anonymity and adding that there was a standing order to bring critics of the kingdom back to the country. MbS had no knowledge of this specific operation and certainly did not order a kidnapping or murder of anybody. He will have been aware of the general instruction to tell people to come back, the source said, using the initials of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The source said the whereabouts of Khashoggis body were unclear after it was handed over to a local cooperator but there was no sign of it at the consulate. Well - nobody said that the body is at the consulate. It was suspected to be at the residency of the consul which is a different building the Turkish police was not allowed to search. Where was it buried? Two advisors to the Saudi clown prince have been named as fall guys. They will be generously compensated. One is his media advisor Saud al Qahtani, the Steve Bannon at the crown prince's court; SaadAbedine @SaadAbedine - 21:30 utc - 19 Oct 2018

#MBS very influential adviser in Royal Court, Saud Al Qahtani reacts to his ousting over @JKhashoggis murder with 2 tweets that look like an Academy Award acceptance speech .... I extend my heartfelt thanks & gratitude to the #Saudi King & Crown Prince" The other dude to find himself in a new villa is the deputy chief of intelligence, Major General Ahmad al-Assiri. A report on Friday in the New York Times had already named him as a likely fall guy. There are also some peripheral casualties: The Saudi government announced that it had detained 18 unnamed individuals and fired two top officials suspected of being involved in the operation.

...

The Saudi government said it would take another month to complete a full investigation, which would be overseen by Mohammed. Mohammad will find that Mohammad had nothing to do with the issue. Does he really expect to get away with this? A lot depends on the Turkish president Erdogan. Professor Abukhalil suspects that a deal has been made: asad abukhalil    @asadabukhalil 4:21 utc - 20 Oct 2018

Suddenly, lo and behold, there is an unmistakable positive tone toward Turkey in Saudi regime media. A deal has been struck. That is not for sure though and would be uncharacteristic for Erdogan. He likes to haggle and tries to draw out any deal as long as possible. We will know for sure in a few days. If the offered deal was insufficient the leaks from the Turkish side will restart. What are the Saudis and the U.S. willing to give to him? It was the U.S. position that led the Saudis to change their story. On Thursday Trump's tone about the case had changed. He earlier had publicly doubted that anything had happened at all. After his meeting with Secretary of State Pompeo, who had just came back from Turkey and Saudi Arabia, Trump said he believed that Khashoggi was indeed dead. The Turks must have played the audio tape of the killing to Pompeo or to someone in his entourage. The Post reports: CIA officials have listened to an audio recording that Turkish officials say proves the journalist was killed and dismembered by a team of Saudi agents inside the consulate, according to people familiar with the matter. If verified, the recording would make it difficult for the White House to accept the Saudi version that Khashoggis death was effectively an accident. The 'deep state' in the U.S. and the Washington Post, where Khashoggi wrote his columns, will not be satisfied with the now offered cover up. They want to see MbS (and his friend Jared Kushner) go. The Zionist lobby and President Trump will want both to stay. But the public and Congress may not let go of the issue: Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, an influential Trump ally, said he doubted the latest admission from Saudi authorities. "To say that I am sceptical of the new Saudi narrative about Mr Khashoggi is an understatement," he tweeted. Bob Menendez, the top US Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, called for sanctions, saying "we need to keep up international pressure" on the kingdom. The Saudis still need to come up with a better narrative. The current one is not sufficient. The most important question that should have been answered by now is: Where is the dismembered body? Complicating the official narrative, Ali Shihabi, head of pro-Saudi think tank Arabia Foundation which is said to be close to the government, tweeted that "Khashoggi died from a chokehold during a physical altercation, not a fist fight", citing a senior Saudi source. But pro-government Turkish media have repeatedly claimed that Khashoggi was tortured and decapitated by a Saudi hit squad inside the diplomatic mission, although Turkey has yet to divulge details of its investigation. "Each successive narrative put out by the Saudis to explain what happened to Khashoggi has strained credulity," Kristian Ulrichsen, a fellow at Rice University's Baker Institute in the United States, told AFP. "Especially because the Saudis are still unable or unwilling to produce the one piece of evidence -- a body -- that could provide a definitive answer one way or the other." It is doubtful that today's developments are the end of this saga. MbS is damaged goods. He will never again be seen as the 'reformer'. Western politicians and companies will try to avoid any association with him. Mohammad bin Salman may have been modernized the Saudi flag. But the evil of the Saudi rulers is still in full view.

Flag of Saudi Arabia - New Style Posted by b on October 20, 2018 at 8:31 UTC | Permalink Comments next page  next page 
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang pledged on Friday joint efforts between his country and Greece to push for new achievements in practical cooperation marked by port projects in Piraeus.

Li made the remarks when meeting with his Greek counterpart, Alexis Tsipras, on the sidelines of the 12th Asia-Europe Meeting Summit in Brussels.



Premier Li Keqiang meets with his Greek counterpart, Alexis Tsipras on the sidelines of the 12th Asia-Europe Meeting Summit in Brussels, on October 19, 2018. [Photo: Xinhua]

Li called Greece a reliable friend and partner of China and said China has attached great importance to its relations with Greece.

He said the Chinese side is happy to see the end of Greece's bailout program and that the country has opened a new chapter in socio-economic development.

China is ready to join efforts with Greece to intensify high-level exchanges, deepen mutually beneficial cooperation, and achieve mutually beneficial and win-win results, so as to lift their comprehensive strategic partnership to a new level, he said.

The Chinese side is willing to work with Greece to implement the cooperation agreement on the construction of the Belt and Road, Li said.

China, Li pledged, will encourage its capable enterprises to invest and develop in Greece, increase imports of Greece's competitive agro-products and deepen financial cooperation with the country based on the principles of commercialization and sustainability.

As countries with ancient civilizations, China and Greece should continue to enhance dialogue between different civilizations, blaze the trail for the diversified development of human civilization, and create a lasting impetus for mutual understanding and common development between the two countries, Li said.

Tsipras said the dialogue and cooperation between Greece and China are far-reaching, as both are countries with ancient civilizations that have made significant contributions to oriental and western civilizations.

China has stood together with Greece in times of difficulty, he said, adding that his country is now striving to advance socio-economic development, which produces vast room for Greek and China to carry out mutually beneficial cooperation.

The Greek side believes that the port projects in Piraeus will drive Greece-China cooperation in logistics and connectivity, and is ready to take this opportunity to strengthen bilateral cooperation and exchanges in economy, trade and investment within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative, to achieve common prosperity, he said.
Cloud-free conditions should give Jacksonville and west-central Illinois residents some of the best chances to see this weekends Orionid meteor shower, the first major shower of the fall.

According to weather forecasters at AccuWeather, visibility will be good when the Orionids peak on Sunday night and into early Monday morning. Stargazers also should be able to see some meteors tonight leading up to the showers peak, weather permitting.

Activity is expected to be a little higher this year than in years past, with 20 to 25 meteors per hour, but bright moonlight will be an issue, AccuWeather astronomy blogger Dave Samuhel said.

The nearly full moon will be shining brightly in the sky for most of the night, making it harder to see some of the dimmer meteors, but it will not completely ruin the celestial show.

Many people heading out to spot some shooting stars this weekend are in luck as mainly clear conditions are on tap Sunday night for a large area of North America.

Those who live in larger cities may want to head out to a darker area, because light pollution from the city will greatly reduce the number of meteors visible to the naked eye.

Meanwhile, those in the Midwest and south-central U.S. will face cloudy conditions Sunday night that obscure the shower for most of the night.

Mostly cloudy weather also will lead to poor viewing conditions across much of Alaska as a large storm system spins over the region, while partly cloudy weather is expected in Hawaii.

The meteor shower will be visible across the globe with mainly clear skies expected across much of Europe, while clouds interfere with viewing over much of Asia.
Saina, ranked 10th, recovered after the losing the first game to beat familiar foe and world number seven Okuhura of Japan 17-21, 21-16, 21-12 in the quarterfinal lasting 58 minutes on Friday night (October 19).

Japanese defence decoded!@NSaina leaves @nozomi_o11 wanting on all fronts as she pulls off her 4th win in eight encounters; Saina stroms into the semis, coming back from a game behind to win the next two 17-21;21-16;21-12 in a dominating fashion at the #DenmarkOpenSuper750 pic.twitter.com/LhthR5ipEu  BAI Media (@BAI_Media) October 19, 2018

The final point of the match was a long rally which ended with the Japanese finding the net. It was a morale boosting for the Indian star, having lost her previous three meetings to Okuhara including the most recent one in Korea last month.

Saina had also lost to the 2017 World Champion during the team event at the Asian Games in August.

Overall, their head-to-head record stands at 7-4 in the Indian's favour. Saina next faces world number 19 Gregoria Mariska Tunjung of Indonesia.

Unstoppable Srikanth!



Incredible display of grit & determination by both @srikidambi & @sameerv2210 in their 1st ever face off. #SameerVerma went down 20-22;21-19;21-23 after putting up a nail bitting finish in the QF.Srikanth sets SF date with KentoMomota. #IndiaontheRise pic.twitter.com/zCv65VgGwC  BAI Media (@BAI_Media) October 19, 2018

Fellow Indian Srikanth too had to dig deep against countryman Verma with little separating the two in an intense men's singles quarterfinal. In the end, world number six Srikanth prevailed over the 23-ranked Indian in an epic battle lasting an hour and 18 minutes with the final scoreline reading 22-20, 19-21, 23-21.

The two Indians had not played each prior the quarterfinal and their first meeting turned out to be a slugfest. Verma was leading for the major part of the third and deciding game where he even had a 17-13 lead before Srikanth scripted a remarkable fightback to scrape through.

Srikanth plays second seed and world number one Kento Momota of Japan in the semifinal to be held later on Saturday. The formidable Japanese enjoys an 8-3 career record over Srikanth and has not lost to the Indian in their last five meetings.

In the women's doubles, Ashwini Ponnappa and N. Sikki Reddy's spirited campaign came to an end with a loss to top seeds, Yuki Fukushima and Sayaka Hirota, in the quarterfinals.
Apartment fire at Mark Twain Apartments on Fairview Lane in Sonora View Photos

Update at 7:20 p.m.: Sonora Fire Department officials report that the flames broke out in a single unit of the Mark Twain Apartments located in the 300 block of Fairview Lane, off of Stockton Road in Sonora. Although the fire has been extinguished in that apartment, fire officials detail that firefighters are currently checking to make sure the flames did not spread to connecting apartments. Crews will remain on scene mopping up for a couple of hours. There is no word on damage to the structure at this time. Further details on the blaze is below.

Update at 7:10 p.m.: CAL Fire reports that crews have knocked down the flames the broke out in a building at the Mark Twain Apartments in the 300 block of Fairview Lane, off of Stockton Road in Sonora. All incoming resources have been called off the scene. CAL Fire reports that investigators are on scene and actively trying to determine what ignited the fire. It is still unclear as to exactly where the flames broke out or whether any there were any evacuations.

Original post at 6:50 p.m.: Sonora, CA  Fire resources are on the scene of a blaze at an apartment building in Sonora.

CAL Fire report that when firefighters arrived around 6:30 p.m. smoke was coming out of one of the buildings at the Mark Twain Apartments in the 300 block of Fairview Lane, off of Stockton Road in Sonora, near the Tuolumne County Superintendent of Schools building. CAL Fire could not confirm whether any residents had been forced to evacuate. We will bring you more details as soon as they come into the news center.
A man who fled from police, shot at law enforcement and led them through a multi-county chase now faces prison time.

On Sept. 17, Danny Joe Geer, Jr., 41, pled guilty to attempt to commit capital murder of a peace officer, and was convicted of evading arrest/detention with a vehicle and aggravated assault of a public servant. Another charge of both evading arrest/detention with a vehicle and aggravated assault of a public servant were dismissed along with a charge of unauthorized use of a vehicle.

The indictments were included in a list of other indictments for September from the 242nd District Court.

Hale County District Attorney Wally Hatch said each of Geer's charges stemmed from the same incident that happened on Nov. 9, 2017.

According to Hatch, Geer - who has an extensive criminal history - engaged Plainview area law enforcement in a pursuit. Geer was travelling from Amarillo with a younger girl in a pickup.

He'd been stopped in Tulia and was released by a different law enforcement agency before the pursuit began in Plainview, Hatch said.

Officers noticed Geer acting strangely and suspected that the pickup might have been stolen.

The chase began just outside Plainview city limts and ended in Petersburg where both Geer and the female he was with fled on foot and tried to take cover around some abandoned farm equipment, Hatch said.

Geer was armed with a shotgun that he fired at law enforcement.

He fired at a sheriffs deputy who was chasing him and disabled the vehicle of another deputy who joined in the pursuit.

Hatch said the woman with Geer surrendered.

According to a story on the chase published by the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, Geer was injured and treated at a hospital. The incident ended with the arrest of both Geer and the female.

Geer faces 35 years in prison for the attempted capital murder charge, and 10 years for evading arrest.

"This was a long, drawn out deal," Hatch said.
Ellysa Harris/Plainview Herald

The Plainview Professional Firefighters Association presented a check to the Muscular Dystrophy Association for $6,500 collected during the union's annual Fill The Boot campaign that happened in August.

Harrison Hart, vice president of the Plainview Professional Firefighters Association, said about 20 local firefighters and their families gave their time during every weekend of August to hold boots in the middle of traffic to ask motorists to give to their cause.
Earlier this year, the Farmers Almanac excited San Antonio by announcing that Texas and several other states could expect stinging cold and normal precipitation. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration just predicted the opposite: warmer-than-average temperatures and above-average precipitation in Texas this winter.

Maps released by the administration show between 33 and 40 percent chances that temperatures across most of Texas will be warmer than usual, and 40 to 50 percent chances that South Texas will see more rain than usual between December and February.
3 1 of 3 Chuck Blount /Staff Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Chuck Blount /Staff Show More Show Less 3 of 3





As the Dorcol Distilling + Brewing Co. counts down the days to its fifth anniversary, the buildup to making it a December to remember is a delicious, slow-sipping process for beer enthusiasts.

Dorcol, with its HighWheel line of beers, is expanding its tap line to 10 varieties and releasing products at a feverish rate. The first new beer, a black Kolsch, debuted on Sept. 1, followed by a Dunkelweizen wheat ale Sept. 22. On Saturday, a new Irish red ale will be welcomed with a launch party that begins at 5 p.m.
As sexual assault survivors continue to share their stories, sparking a worldwide #MeToo reckoning, actress Kristen Bell is publicly expressing concern about "Snow White" and the prince who kissed her without consent.

Bell, who provided the voice of Princess Anna in Disney's animated film "Frozen," told Parents magazine that when she reads "Snow White" to her two young daughters, she poses a question: "Don't you think that it's weird that the prince kisses Snow White without her permission? Because you cannot kiss someone if they're sleeping!"

She told the magazine she also warns her 3- and 5-year-old daughters not to take apples - or anything else - from strangers.

"Every time we close Snow White I look at my girls and ask: 'Don't you think it's weird that Snow White didn't ask the old witch why she needed to eat the apple? Or where she got the apple?'" Bell told Parents. "I say, 'I would never take food from a stranger, would you?' And my kids are like, 'No!' And I'm like, 'OK, I'm doing something right.'"

Scholars, activists and other parents have made similar arguments about the "Snow White" kissing scene - saying that Disney's adaptation of the German fairy tale fosters the wrong ideas about sexual encounters and consent.

In Disney's 1937 "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs," Prince Charming rushes to see Snow White, only to realize he has interrupted the princess's funeral.

He tells the dwarves to open her casket so he can tell her goodbye. Then he leans over and kisses her lips, prompting the princess to wake up from her slumber.

Kazue Muta, a sociology professor at Osaka University in Japan, wrote on Twitter late last year that children's stories such as "Snow White" promote sexual violence.

"When you think rationally about 'Snow White' and 'Sleeping Beauty,' that tell of a 'princess being woken up by the kiss of a prince,' they are describing sexual assault on an unconscious person," she wrote in Japanese, according to Fox News. "You might think I'm ruining the fantasy of it all, but these stories are promoting sexual violence, and I would like everyone to be aware of it."

More for you The Sexual Harassment Defense Industrial Complex is growing in the #MeToo era

Earlier this year, Amnesty International Canada posted a rendition of the children's classic titled "No Consent = No Fairy Tale," showing Prince Charming kiss an unconscious Snow White before groping the princess between her legs. A nearby owl interrupts the apparent sexual assault, shouting an expletive and throwing a nut at the prince's head.

"No, it's cool," the prince says in the video. "I'm a prince; she's a princess. We were going to - you know. We messed around at the party, so we're just picking up where we left off."

"But is she into it now?" a frog interrupts.

"What? We should have made a contract or something?" the prince replies.

The video then warns viewers: "Don't have sex without mutual consent."

Bell was not the only celebrity mother to express recent concerns about Disney princesses.

Keira Knightley said earlier this week on "The Ellen Show" that her 3-year-old daughter is banned from watching certain children's movies because they send the wrong message.

" 'Cinderella' - banned," said Knightley, who played Robin Hood's daughter in Disney's "Princess of Thieves."

"Because, you know, she waits around for a rich guy to rescue her. Don't. Rescue yourself, obviously."

"And," she added, "this is the one that I'm quite annoyed about because I really like the film but 'Little Mermaid.' I mean, the songs are great but do not give your voice up for a man. Hello."

Read more:

Why Disney princesses and 'princess culture' are bad for girls

Learning to accept my daughter's obsession with Disney princesses

5 ways parents can help kids understand consent and prevent sexual assault
Several events will commemorate the 100 years since the Armistice ending World War I went into effect Nov. 11, 1918. Here are some:

Bethlehem Public Library

Movie: "The African Queen" 2:30 p.m. Oct. 28.

Talk: The Empire State and War of the Empires, by UAlbany Professor Richard Fogarty, 2 p.m. Nov. 4.

Discussion: "The Sun Also Rises," by Ernest Hemingway, 1:30 p.m. Nov. (or Nov. 12)

Movie: "Gallipoli" 2:30 p.m. Nov. 9.

Songs: Music with Linda Russell and trio, 2 p.m. Nov. 11.

After Dinner Books: "Stella Bain," 7 p.m. Nov. 14.

Talk: Sammy Doughboy Remember, 2 p.m. Nov. 18.

Discussion: "Dead Wake" by Eric Larson, 7 p.m. Dec. 11.

Movie: "All Quiet on the Western Front," 2:30 p.m. Dec. 14.

More Information Organizations with World War I-related exhibits or events are welcome to send their information to tblydenburgh@timesunion.com for future publication. See More Collapse

Irish-American Heritage Museum, Broadway, Albany

Upcoming exhibition: American experience of war, including the Irish- and German-American response to it and efforts to remain neutral, Irish American (launching in November).

Wreath-laying: At 11 a.m. Nov. 11 museum officials will lay a wreath of remembrance at the World War I monument at New Scotland and South Lake avenues, followed by light breakfast at museum, then lecture from Elizabeth Stack, Ph.D, on the American response to the war, and Albany's response, including a brief talk about Henry Johnson. Granddaughters of two veterans will present extracts from their grandfather's diaries and letters home.

Proctors, Schenectady

Exhibit: The second installation of "Together Until the End Schenectady in World War I" : The exhibit runs until Nov. 11, Proctors theater, Schenectady.

From the Battlefield: Music by Soldiers in WWI: From 3 to 5 p.m. Oct. 24. Free. Reservations required. Fenimore Gallery. Performance by the Lost Radio Rounders and lecture by the State Museum's Aaron Noble.

Lecture: Altered Landscapes: the Great War and the World Remade, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Nov. 1. Reservations required. Fenimore Gallery.

Movie: "The Big Parade:" Proctors 7 to 10:30 p.m. Nov. 5. $10. Buy tickets at proctors.org or 518-346-6204.

Movie: "All Quiet on the Western Front," 11 a.m. Nov. 10, Proctors. Buy tickets at proctors.org or 518-346-6204.

Concert: Britten's War Requiem, David Alan Miller conducting, Albany Pro Musica, Cathedral of All Saints Boys choir chorus, 7:30 to 10 p.m. Nov. 10, Proctors. Tickets start at $19.

Other events

Roundtable: Britten's War Requiem: Its History, Music and Poetry, 7 p.m. Nov. 5, the Cathedral of All Saints, Albany. Free.

Movie: "Under Four Flags," noon Nov. 7. Free. Schenectady County Community College.

Concert: To a Soldier: A Great Life Lost, by Musicians of Ma'alwyck, 2:30 to 4:30 p.m., Nov. 10, First Reformed Church, Schenectady. $25 adults, $10 students. Honors violinist David Hochstein, killed October 1918.

Reading: Roe Jan Community Library in Copake hosts a free reading and discussion on World War I led by State Museum curator Aaron Noble at 6:30 p.m. Thursdays, Oct. 25, Nov. 8 and 29. Advance sign-up is required: 518-325-4101.
The Trump administration has just announced the formation of a working group at the Food and Drug Administration to study legalizing the importation of foreign-made drugs. Although the study is limited to a narrow set of circumstances in which imports might be allowed, it sets us on a path we shouldnt step on.

The goal is to lower costs and prevent price-gouging by drug makers who find themselves with monopoly power over a particular treatment  say, an out-of-patent medication for a rare disease with only a single generic manufacturer in the market. But proponents of imports are only starting with the narrow case. Their real goal is to allow foreign imports on a massive scale.

Unfortunately, their efforts are based on a mistaken premise. Legalizing drug importation would not generate substantial savings. Worse, it could expose millions of Americans to dangerous counterfeit drugs.

Several states have tried importation schemes in the past. Theyve all failed. Illinois, for instance, spent $1 million in taxpayer dollars launching its I-Save-Rx program. After much fanfare, only 0.02 percent of the population took advantage of the program during its first year and a half. The state ended the program shortly thereafter.

A similar program in Minnesota filled under 140 prescriptions per month, while one in Boston had just a couple dozen takers. Vermonts attempt never even got off the ground.

If Canadian drugs were really as cheap as importation advocates claim, why have all these small-scale importation experiments failed? Why havent patients flocked to them?

Because the price disparity isnt nearly as great as importation advocates claim. In fact, about 85 percent of all medicines consumed in the United States are actually less expensive than those in Canada or Europe.

Consider Lipitor. A 30-day supply of the popular cholesterol medication can cost more than $200. But the same supply of the generic version can cost as little as $4. Buy the same generic supply from CanadaPharmacyOnline.com, and itll cost more than $14. Thats a cost 250 percent higher.

The savings from bringing Canadian drugs stateside are small to nonexistent. In fact, the Department of Health and Human Services estimates that legalizing importation for the entire nation would drop total American drug spending by less than one percent.

Patients may also be leery of foreign drugs for safety reasons  and rightly so. The production standards and quality controls are much weaker in foreign nations.

Most drugs coming in from Canada arent actually Canadian in origin. According to the FDA, 85 percent actually come from other, less developed, countries. And Canadian authorities offer no guarantees of authenticity and safety.

The world is awash in counterfeit drugs. In just one week last summer, international agents seized 25 million illicit and counterfeit drugs worldwide.

From the standpoint of reducing costs, foreign drug importation is a bad idea. From a safety standpoint, its even worse. The FDA working group has been asked how the import process can be made safe. Even under the narrow circumstances the FDA is considering, the honest answer is that it cant be.

Peter J. Pitts, a former FDA associate commissioner, is president of the Center for Medicine in the Public Interest.
Maryland Republicans have mounted an unprecedented effort to break Democrats' supermajority in the state senate, hoping to capitalize on the popularity of Republican Gov. Larry Hogan at a time when much of the nation is focused on a possible blue wave.

Republicans, who lag in voter registration in Maryland by a margin of more than 2-to-1,must flip five seats to break the veto-proof majority that Democrats have held for nearly 50 years. The state GOP has poured more than $100,000 into mailers and Facebook ads for candidates in the main targeted races, all of which are in districts Hogan won in 2014.

The districts split in the 2016 presidential election, however, and most Maryland voters are turned off by President Donald Trump's bellicose rhetoric. Still, with Hogan's approval ratings at record highs, and Democratic nominee Ben Jealous trailing him by double digits, Republican leaders think they can win if they mimic the governor's focus on centrist, pocketbook issues.

"We're telling our candidates to focus on what people care about and don't go to the extremes," said Patrick O'Keefe, the party's executive director.

In bellwether Baltimore County, a Republican first-term delegate who is challenging a four-term Democratic senator appeared last week with first lady Yumi Hogan, grinning as dozens of supporters lined up for photos. In Anne Arundel, a Republican who lost the 2014 gubernatorial primary to Hogan now has his support as he battles a progressive activist for an open senate seat. And inincreasingly red Worcester County, on Maryland's Eastern Shore, a Republican delegate is hoping to oust a two-term Democratic incumbent who was mayor of Ocean City for a decade.

If the Republicans pick up five seats, and Hogan wins a second term, the governor will open the 2019 legislative session with a much stronger veto pen, even though he won't be close to the majorities he'd need to push through his legislative agenda.

The General Assembly overrode 15 Hogan vetos during his first term, including on bills to restore voting rights to felons and require businesses to give paid sick leave. Reversing a veto requires a three-fifths vote in each chamber; currently, Democrats hold 33 of 47 senate seats, and 91 of 141 seats in the House of Delegates.

Losing the super-majority would mean "a fundamentally different direction for the state," said Sen. Bill Ferguson, D-Baltimore City, a sponsor of the paid sick leave legislation. "This is a fight about a philosophy of opportunity versus cutting government."

The main targeted senate seats have all been held by Democrats for at least two terms, and Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr., D-Calvert, said he is "confident in our candidates' ability to win their elections."

Hogan, who needs Democratic voters to achieve his goal of becoming the first GOP governor of Maryland reelected since 1954, has campaigned for several of the Republican hopefuls, but has not injected himself squarely into what the party is calling the "Drive for Five."

"I don't think there should be a two-thirds majority of either party," Hogan said, adding that he would "of course" want to have a more friendly legislature.

But the governor has not contributed funds from his $9 million war chest, and his campaign said it could not provide a list of events where Hogan had appeared in support of the candidates.

Goucher political science professor Mileah Kromer noted that Hogan has "positioned himself as someone who is independent."

"I don't know if his coattails stretch far enough," she said.

- - -

Hogan, Miller and House Speaker Michael Busch, D-Anne Arundel, like to say bipartisanship characterized this year's legislative session, in which the General Assembly passed laws to increase school safety and prevent health insurance premiums from skyrocketing.

But there were also some very public spats.

O'Keefe said the "most telling" example of why Republicans are fighting to break the supermajority was the vote to override Hogan's veto of a law that stripped the governor, comptroller and state treasurer of their role in approving school construction projects.

The bill originated out of a dispute over air conditioning in classrooms. Hogan called it a "personal vendetta" against his ally, Comptroller Peter Franchot, a Democrat.

"That was the best example of something where you look at it and say, 'This is an abuse of power,' " O'Keefe said.

Sen. Steve Hershey, R-Queen Anne's, said the Republican effort "is not about far-right ideas . . . this is about legislating from the middle." He said he is worried about the policies that will come with a cohort of progressive Democrats who ousted more moderate incumbents in the June primary.

"If we've got the ability to sustain vetoes, then everything becomes a negotiation to get buy-in from both parties," Hershey said. "You get legislation that is more in the center - that's what people want."

In addition to the five seats originally targeted by the GOP, the party has recently provided funds to Republicans trying to win seats being vacated by retiring longtime Sens. Ed Kasemeyer, D-Baltimore County, and Ed DeGrange, D-Anne Arundel. It is also supporting Republican nomine Bill Dotson in Charles County, where GOP officials believe progressive Democrat Arthur Ellis, who beat moderate longtime Sen. Thomas Middleton in a bitter primary, could be vulnerable in a normally blue district. Some Democratic operatives say they are hoping to capitalize on anger at Trump to flip two seats held by Republicans and Hartford counties, but that could be an uphill battle given the large margins by which Hogan won them.

Some centrist Democrats, including Miller, seemed sanguine about the prospect of losing their veto-proof majority.

Miller said he is "making certain our candidates have the tools they need so they can fairly compete" but "will be satisfied with whatever results our electorate produces on Election Day." His office wouldn't say how much money from the slate he controls has gone toward defending the targeted seats.

State Sen. Robert Zirkin, D-Baltimore County, who chairs the Judicial Proceedings committee and is unopposed for re-election, declined to comment on possible changes if Republicans win five seats. Instead, he talked about both sides' "proud record of working together" on issues including fracking, criminal justice reforms and gun laws.

But incoming senator Cory McCray, the lead sponsor in the House of the bill to restore voting rights to felons, said losing the Democratic supermajority would be "very impactful."

"Forty thousand people would not have had their voting rights restored," said McCray, a progressive state delegate from Baltimore City who ousted Senate President Pro Tem Nathaniel J. McFadden in the primary and is unopposed in the general election. "These are some competitive races . . . we're all out here working hard."

The Republican State Leadership Committee, a national group dedicated to electing down-ballot Republicans, has spent $90,000 on mailers opposing Democratic candidates for the House of Delegates. Spokesman David James called it"an initial investment" in Maryland and declined to say whether the group planned to put money into the senate races in the final weeks.

Alexandra Hughes, a spokeswoman for Busch, said there are eight competitive House seats, but those are not the ones targeted by the RSLC. "It seems like there's little rhyme or reason," she said.

- - -

Ahead of the Nov. 6 election, candidates in states from Georgia to Florida to Virginia have portrayed themselves as either acolytes of the president or champions of the resistance.

The down-ballot races in Maryland, where Hogan has thrived by repeatedly distancing himself from Trump, have been different.

None of the five Republican candidates in the main targeted districts - in Baltimore, Frederick, Howard, Anne Arundel and Worcester Counties - mention the president on their websites. All have pictures of Hogan.

In Baltimore County, neither Democratic Sen. Kathy Klausmeier nor her Republican challenger, Del. Christian Miele, bring up national politics on the campaign trail.

Instead, they talk about local issues, including school overcrowding and the opioid epidemic. Hogan carried the district by 36 points four years ago; Clinton won it by less than one percent.

"If I'm trying to bring people together, then why would I want to bring that into it?" Miele, 37, said when asked about Trump.

"When I knock on a door and someone tells me, 'I'm a Republican,' then I say 'so?'" said Klausmeier, 68.

In some cases, the Democrats in the targeted districts also appeared to be cozying up to the governor - or at least distancing themselves from Jealous, a progressive who is pushing universal healthcare, a $15 minimum wage and other liberal proposals.

In the race to succeed longtime Sen. John Astle, D-Anne Arundel, former Republican state delegate Ron George denounced Democrat Sarah Elfreth as being too close with Jealous. She refuted the critique, saying her campaign is focused on local issues and completely independent.

Miele criticized Klausmeier when the Democratic Senate Caucus Committee, a political slate controlled by Miller, sent out fliers with pictures of Klausmeier and Hogan together, saying they had the "same goal."

Del. Mary Beth Carozza, R-Worcester, who has been endorsed by Hogan, reprimanded her opponent Sen. James Mathias, D-Worcester - the former Ocean City mayor - for remarks in which he complimented Hogan, saying she will "stand with" the governor "when it counts, not just when it's politically convenient."

On her website, Carozza has a picture of herself posing with Hogan, next to a photograph of Mathias and Jealous.

"Maryland's Eastern Shore has a clear choice this November," reads the caption. "You pick the team!"

- - -

The Washington Post's Erin Cox contributed to this story.
When he began his self-imposed exile to Washington last year, Jamal Khashoggi described himself simply as one "independent journalist using his pen for the good of his country." With his brutal killing in Turkey this month, the Saudi journalist became much more: the Arab world's loudest dissenter and an international symbol for the cause of free expression.

In their effort to silence the 59-year-old writer, Saudi officials eliminated a domestic nuisance who had angered the country's de factor ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. In the process, however, they touched off a temblor of global outrage that would shake the kingdom and strain relations with its most important allies.

After two weeks of denials, the Saudi government acknowledged early Saturday that Khashoggi had died violently inside the country's diplomatic consulate in Istanbul, while claiming that the death resulted from an argument and fistfight. A government statement announced the arrests of 18 Saudis, the firing of five top officials and a plan to overhaul the country's intelligence agencies - to be overseen by Mohammed.

Yet, if anything, the admission appeared only to further amplify Khashoggi's criticisms of the Saudi government. Senior U.S. lawmakers of both political parties expressed skepticism Saturday over the Saudi explanation for his killing, and Rep. Adam Schiff, Calif., the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, demanded in a Twitter post that "The Kingdom must be held to account." Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., tweeted, "To say that I am skeptical of the new Saudi narrative about Mr. Khashoggi is an understatement . . . It's hard to find this latest 'explanation' as credible."

Ironically, Khashoggi had never sought to be a disrupter and instead, as a lifelong member of the Saudi political establishment, had been an advocate for modest reform within the system. Refusing to be labeled a "dissident," he argued simply that his fellow Arabs deserved the "right to speak their minds without fear of imprisonment," as he wrote in a Washington Post column in April.

Up until his death, he firmly believed that such reforms were within reach, even in Saudi Arabia, friends and former colleagues said.

"This was Jamal: He had a never-ending hope that changes could happen, and that Arabs could lead the way," said Maggie Mitchell Salem, a former State Department official and Middle East specialist who became a lifelong friend.

"In killing him, it's like they killed more than a man," she said. "They killed a vision of what Arab media and society could be like."

- - -

Khashoggi spent his life straddling uncomfortable boundaries between occupations and interests that often seemed in conflict.

He was a lifelong journalist who also moved easily within the highest circles of Saudi politics, and sometimes served as a spokesman and adviser to senior government officials. He was a supporter of political Islam who at times sympathized with the Muslim Brotherhood, the transnational Sunni Muslim movement that is now outlawed in Saudi Arabia. Yet he was a strident critic of Islamist extremism, and he spent his later years championing liberal causes such as women's rights and freedom of expression in Muslim societies.

Early in his journalistic career, in the 1980s and 1990s, he became famous for his repeated interviews with Osama bin Laden, and he wrote admiringly in those days about the wealthy Saudi whose U.S.-backed mujahideen militia was fighting the communist government of Afghanistan. But he later broke sharply with bin Laden over his embrace of terrorism, and he became one of the Arab world's most vociferous critics of al-Qaida after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

"The most pressing issue now," he wrote in a 2002 essay, "is to ensure that our children can never be influenced by extremist ideas, like those 15 Saudis who were misled into hijacking four planes that fine September day, piloting them, and us, straight into the jaws of hell."

He considered himself to be a fierce Saudi patriot, friends say, though he embraced the West and was frequently critical of his country's rulers and policies. He met freely with officials and operatives from foreign intelligence agencies, including those of the United States and other Western countries, but sought no favors and "carefully avoided compromising his journalistic integrity," according to a former U.S. intelligence official who met frequently with him over two decades.

"He believed in working within legal parameters" to improve conditions in his country, said the official, who insisted on anonymity in describing his agency's information-collection efforts. "He also believed that the United States could be a force for good in Saudi Arabia."

His seemingly contradictory stances earned Khashoggi legions of opponents and critics. Some Arab dissidents distrusted him because of his close ties with senior government officials, such as Turki al-Faisal, the Saudi prince and former ambassador to Washington, for whom Khashoggi once worked as a media adviser. But over time, it was the Saudi establishment that turned on the journalist, moving first to shut down his publishing platforms in the Arab peninsula, and then to crush him.

His chief offense: speaking out boldly about the problems he saw at home, said Hisham Melhem, a columnist for the Lebanese newspaper An-Nahar and longtime acquaintance of Khashoggi.

"He was offended by the corruption he saw, and he pushed for a degree of political empowerment for Saudi citizens," Melhem said. For Saudi Arabia's leaders, "that put Khashoggi in the category of misfits and troublemakers."

- - -

Born in the Saudi holy city of Medina, Khashoggi grew up without wealth in a middle-class Saudi family with Turkish ancestry. He did have numerous important familial connections to the upper echelons of Saudi society. His grandfather was a physician to the royal court. His uncle, Adnan Khashoggi, was an international arms dealer who briefly became a figure in the Iran-contra scandal of the 1980s. He was a first cousin of Dodi Fayed, the Egyptian film producer who was dating Britain's Diana, Princess of Wales, at the time of her fatal car crash in Paris in 1997.

Khashoggi studied business administration at Indiana State University and managed bookstores in Saudi Arabia before venturing into journalism. He covered conflicts in Afghanistan, Algeria and Sudan for the Saudi Gazette and later would rise to the top ranks of Saudi newspaper writers and opinion-makers. But it was his advocacy of democratic reforms - most notably in the wake of the Arab Spring uprisings - that won him notoriety abroad and deep distrust within the inner circles of the Saudi elite.

"He was always drawing my attention," said Yasin Aktay, an adviser to Turkey's ruling AKP party who frequently engaged with Khashoggi during panels and conferences. "After the Arab Spring, he was very prominent in discussions, because, while his country was anti-Arab Spring, he was pro-Arab Spring, and promoting democratization movements. He thought the Arab Spring was a historical chance for the Arab world."

Friends say Khashoggi had complex view of the Muslim Brotherhood and other political Islamists, particularly in his later years. He believed that democracy in the Middle East was impossible unless moderate Islamists were allowed a voice, acquaintances said, but also he disdained extremism, and his social leanings were decidedly secularist.

"His idea was that we shouldn't be an enemy to them," said a Saudi friend who requested anonymity because of the risk of official retaliation. "It's wasn't his mentality. He was more liberal, more Western."

In part because of his deep connections to Turki, the former ambassador, and to billionaire Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, Khashoggi managed to rise to increasingly prominent positions in the Arab media world, only to find his path blocked by more conservative Saudi officials who objected to his political views. He was twice appointed as editor of the influential Saudi daily al-Watan but was quickly fired both times - once after just three months on the job.

In 2015, he was named founding director of a new all-Arab satellite news channel, al-Arab, bankrolled by bin Talal. After four years of preparations, the broadcaster went on the air on Feb. 1, 2015, from a lavish studio in the World Trade Center in Manama, Bahrain. But the station quickly ran into trouble when it aired, during one of its first shows, a segment that featured a Shiite dissident critical of Bahrain's violent crackdown on Arab Spring protesters four years earlier.

Bahraini officials halted all programming that same day, citing technical difficulties. Al-Arab would never come back.

Afterward, the man who was twice fired from newspaper jobs for allowing the expression of dissenting views seemed genuinely surprised that the TV project was shut down, said Salem, his Washington friend.

"His goal was to create a first-rate media outlet with the highest standards, in Arabic, because it was important to him that Arabs could access this kind of information," she said. "He felt that the people in power would keep their word. He said, 'They told me it would be protected.' "

- - -

For some of Khashoggi's friends and colleagues, the question that has reverberated since his disappearance and killing inside a Saudi consulate is simply: Why? Why should the mild criticisms of a gregarious, well-connected Saudi citizen so enrage the country's crown prince?

"That's the question," the Saudi friend said. "You have four or five people in London that were far more dangerous for the government than Jamal. From the beginning, I was really surprised."

One obvious contributing factor, some say, was the dramatic power shift in Saudi Arabia since Mohammed's assent to power. Previously, Khashoggi's main patrons in the government were members of the al-Faisal branch of the royal family, including Turki and Prince Khalid al-Faisal, who was the journalist's boss while he served as editor at al-Watan. But over the last two years, many of his backers were sidelined, and some were arrested by the crown prince, who has cracked down on all forms of dissent while also liberalizing certain aspects of Saudi society and culture.

After Khashoggi was barred last year from writing his weekly column in Al-Hayat, a Saudi-owned newspaper based in London, the pressure inside his own country became unbearable, friends say. His wife - his second - sued for divorce, citing the increasing risk to his adult children - two daughters and two sons - and Khashoggi moved into a condo in McLean, Virginia, in the Washington suburbs. Soon afterward, he accepted an offer to become a regular contributor to The Post's "Global Opinions" column.

"I'm under so much pressure from family members and friends to stay silent. But this isn't right," he explained in a text message to Karen Attiah, the section editor who recruited him. "We have enough Arab failing states. I don't want my country to be one, too."

His Post columns, translated into English, gave Khashoggi a powerful new platform and a vastly larger global audience. Yet many Saudi dissidents remained suspicious, and some resisted his efforts to recruit them for a new pro-democracy foundation he talked of launching.

"Jamal used to work for the government for the last 30 or 35 years, and because of that, he was away from dissidents," said Omar Abdulaziz, a 27-year-old Saudi activist in Canada who runs a popular YouTube channel. "When he left the country and decided to criticize the Saudi government, the majority of them were saying, 'You know what? Maybe Jamal is a spy.' "

Yahya Assiri, a London-based activist who runs the ALQST human rights organization, said he also was skeptical when Khashoggi phoned him one day to see if he was willing to help.

"You used to be pro-government, and now you want to work with us," Assiri recalled telling Khashoggi. The journalist replied that he had been supportive all along but had sought to work within the system - an option that was no longer tenable for him.

"I completely support your demands, when you demand democracy, when you demand human rights," he quoted Khashoggi as saying. "But I was trying to do this reform from inside the country, from inside the regime."

While writing his Post column, Khashoggi continued to lobby friends to help him launch his new foundation, which he had tentatively decided to call Democracy in the Arab World Now, or DAWN, to be jointly based in the United States and Turkey. He also turned his efforts to online activism, funding a project to build what he called a "bee army" to counter pro-government trolls on social-media platforms such as Twitter. He put up $5,000 of his own money to help buy foreign SIM cards for mobile phones, to be assigned to users in Saudi Arabia who were critical of the government but afraid to link their Saudi numbers to their Twitter accounts, activists said. About 200 SIM cards have already been assigned.

In late September, he met friends in London to discuss his various plans. Then he flew to Istanbul to deal with a bit of unfinished personal business: obtaining paperwork from Saudi Arabia that would allow him to marry his fiancee, Turkish doctoral student Hatice Cengiz.

On Oct. 2, he entered the Saudi Consulate to pick the document up in advance of the couple's marriage, planned for the following day. He was never seen again.

His death would become a global media sensation, in part because of the brutal fashion in which he was killed, according to accounts leaked over the following days by Turkish officials, who said he was tortured and dismembered inside the consulate.

For Arab colleagues, the gruesome details bore echoes of previous slayings of writers and dissidents whose hands and fingers were mutilated to send a warning to others who might dare to pick up a pen to criticize the powerful.

"The symbolism is deliberate: If you write with your right hand, your right fingers would be cut off, or burned in acid," said Melhem, the Lebanese journalist.

"For us, Jamal is the last in a long train of journalists, artists and scholars to be killed in the Arab world," he said. "It has been done mostly with impunity - until now."
Authorities have identified a body found in Lake Lyndon B. Johnson as Charlotte Moye, an Alabama woman who went missing after floodwaters swept through an RV park in Junction last week.

Moye's body was found in the 700 block of Circle Drive near Kingsland shortly before noon Tuesday, the Burnet County Sheriff's Office said in a post on Facebook Saturday.

RELATED: Before and after photos show flooding in Central Texas

She was taken to the Travis County Medical Examiner's Office for an autopsy where she was identified using dental records sent by the Kimble County Sheriff's Office, according to the post.

Moye went missing Oct. 8. She was the fourth and final victim of the recent Junction flooding, the Junction Police Department reported over social media.

Kimble County Sheriff Hilario Cantu thanked those who helped with rescue efforts and said damages from the flooding are still being assessed across the county.

"Junction is still recovering from the river's effects upon us all, and we are beginning to bring things in the area back to some sense of order," Cantu said in the post. "Although this was a terrible disaster, we are thankful that deaths and injuries weren't greater."

In a text Saturday, Cantu identified the other three victims as Joseph "Joey" Huss Jr., 55; Michael "Mike" McGee, 65; and Darin Hartman, 51. Huss and McGee were from Flomaton, Alabama, and Hartman was a San Angelo resident.

RELATED: Missing driver recovered from Sabinal River identified

Moye's brother, Steve Turner, told the San Antonio Express-News last week that Moye and two of his best friends, Huss and McGee, had been staying at a local RV park when the flooding occurred. They were working on a pipeline project, Turner said.

"We travel all over the place and you'd never think of something like this happening," he said on Oct. 9, referring to pipeline workers. "It's been pretty tough."
U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-San Antonio, asserted during a CNN interview Friday that Jared Kushner, the presidents son-in-law and senior advisor, may have delivered a hit list to Saudi Arabia that resulted in the disappearance of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi.

Castro, a member of the House Intelligence Committee said he had seen reporting that Jared Kushner may have, with U.S. intelligence, delivered a hit list, an enemies list, to the crown prince, to MBS (Mohammed bin Salman), in Saudi Arabia and that the prince may have acted on that, and one of the people he took action against is Mr. Khashoggi.

Kushner, senior White House adviser for Middle East Affairs, has a close personal relationship with the Saudi crown prince. But he has not been implicated in Khashoggis presumed killing in Turkey in coverage by major news organizations and has remained out of the spotlight during the recent diplomatic furor.

Related: Turkey probes whether Khashoggis remains were taken from consulate

Castro later said in a statement that he did not intend to accuse Jared Kushner of orchestrating the killing of Jamal Khashoggi. But based on several press reports, the close relationship between Kushner and Mohammed bin Salman is a source of concern for the US intelligence community and those of us who want a transparent American foreign policy.

He added: This is especially problematic given the president and his familys business enterprises and the possibility that they profit from these foreign entities. For these reasons, Congress should open an investigation to see whether Jared or any other administration official shared any U.S. intelligence with the Saudis that led to any political persecution, including the killing of Jamal Khashoggi.

Castro also tweeted a series of news articles showing the close relationship between Kushner and the Saudi leader, among them a story last March in the Intercept, citing unnamed sources, reporting that in a meeting between the two, Kushner had discussed the names of Saudis disloyal to the crown prince.

A spokesman for Kushner labeled the report false and ridiculous.

Castro, who is serving his third term in Congress, has become increasingly outspoken from his positions on the Intelligence and Foreign Affairs committees.

When President Donald Trump observed recently that Saudi Arabian leaders denied knowledge of what happened to Khashoggi, Castro tweeted: People dont usually admit to murder the first time you ask them.

None of Castros colleagues on the Intelligence panel immediately joined him in calling for the investigation. The House is not in session.

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders lambasted Castro on Twitter, labeling his remarks an outrageous slanderous lie without a shred of proof. Its reprehensible for a sitting congressman and supposed news outlets to continue citing an article that used unnamed sources and was completely debunked.
Just a few weeks ago, analysts thought that control of the U.S. Senate was in play this November and that momentum was shifting to the Democrats. Thanks to their brutal campaign of character assassination against now-Justice Brett Kavanaugh, those chances appear to be slipping away.

Case in point is Tennessee, where Republican Rep. Marsha Blackburn was struggling in her Senate race against popular former Democratic Gov. Phil Bredesen. In mid-September  after the first Kavanaugh confirmation hearings  a CNN poll showed Blackburn trailing by five points (in a state Donald Trump won by 26 points). But as the ferocity of the attacks on Kavanaugh grew, so did Blackburns poll numbers. By early October  after Christine Blasey Ford testified and Kavanaugh was accused of exposing himself to a college classmate and participating in high school gang rapes  a CBS News poll showed that Blackburn had pulled ahead by eight points. And after Kavanaugh was finally confirmed amid scenes of angry protesters banging on the doors of the Supreme Court, a New York Times poll showed Blackburn leading by 14 points. That is a shift of 19 points in one month.

In other words, the Democrats smear campaign of uncorroborated sexual misconduct allegations against Kavanaugh has united Tennessee Republicans behind Blackburn and poured cold water on Democrats chances in the Volunteer State. And rightly so. It probably didnt help with Tennessee voters that Democrats excoriated Kavanaugh for his high school drinking and for inside jokes in his high school yearbook  as if being a beer-drinking jock was some sort of crime.

Worse, Kavanaugh was publicly branded a sex offender for accusations decades old and uncorroborated by any witnesses or evidence. A mans good name was being destroyed. The treatment of Kavanaugh wasnt fair, just or right. And it backfired. Politico reports that retiring Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., told Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., that Democrats attacks on Kavanaugh hurt Bredesen badly. Bredesen clearly saw the impact the Kavanaugh fiasco was having on his support among Republican voters he needed to win, because he tried to cauterize the bleeding by coming out at the last moment in support of Kavanaughs confirmation.

But while his endorsement did not mollify angry Republicans, it enraged many of his Democratic supporters. The super PAC Priorities USA said it would not support Bredesen, while MoveOn announced, Were canceling a planned six-figure digital video ad expenditure for Phil Bredesen in Tennessee due to his Kavanaugh position. Campaign volunteers have reportedly been bolting from his campaign.

The Kavanaugh fiasco crystallized the stakes for Tennessee Republicans, reminding them while they may like Bredesen, a vote for the Democrat is a vote to make Schumer majority leader. A Democratic takeover would be a game-changer, giving Schumer the power to block any more Trump Supreme Court nominees and put a halt to the presidents transformation of the federal appeals courts.

In the wake of the Kavanaugh fiasco, 58 percent of Tennessee voters say they want Republicans running the Senate. So, Democrats may have blown a chance to pick up a seat in a deep-red state thanks to the blowback over their efforts to destroy Kavanaugh. As Sen. Lindsey O. Graham, R-S.C., so poignantly told Senate Democrats at the Kavanaugh hearing, Boy, yall want power. God, I hope you never get it. I hope the American people can see through this sham. It appears that the American people have.

With Tennessee slipping out of their grasp, the Democrats chances of a Senate takeover are slipping as well. Among vulnerable Democrats, it looks as if Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., is a goner. After the Kavanaugh hearings, her Republican opponents lead expanded from four to 12 points. If she goes down, Democrats will need to pick up three GOP-held seats to win the majority. That does not appear to be happening, as races have shifted toward Republicans in Texas, Nevada and Arizona  the states other than Tennessee where Democrats have pinned their hopes for flipping GOP-held seats.

There are more than two weeks to Election Day, so a lot could still happen. But if Democrats fail to take the Senate, they can thank their horrific treatment of Kavanaugh for what would amount to a double defeat  securing a conservative majority not only on the Supreme Court but in the Senate as well. If so, they richly deserve it. And hopefully they learn the right lesson: When you drag your party and your country down into the depths of political depravity, Americans will not reward you at the polls.
Hillary Clinton won the political battle over Bill Clintons sexual misadventures in the 1990s, at the cost of having to litigate them forevermore.

In the era of #MeToo, her defenses and rationalizations for Bill are especially tinny and embarrassing. But she cant show any weakness  any more than she could in 1998, when she helped rally the White House  lest she implicitly admit that providing cover for her husbands misconduct for years was a mistake or, at least, a significant compromise of her feminism.

Advocating for believing women when your husband and political partner has had so many accusers is a test of audacity that Hillary remains determined to pass, as she demonstrated when two recent interviewers brought up the Monica Lewinsky scandal.

CBS News correspondent Tony Dokoupil wanted to know if a 49-year-old President Clinton carrying on with a 22-year-old intern was an abuse of power. Hillary rejected the notion out of hand. How, Dokoupil followed up, could an intern really consent, given the vast power dynamic? She was an adult, Hillary shot back.

About this she is obviously correct. Monica Lewinsky may have acted immaturely and foolishly, but theres no doubt that she acted willingly, no matter how much she may  understandably  regret it now.

Bill Clintons role was blameworthy nonetheless. It doesnt take a fourth-wave feminist to realize that a president of the United States having an intern he barely knows perform oral sex on him while he talks on the phone in the Oval Office is grossly exploitative. If this had been a movie director or a media executive, everyone would recognize it as an appalling abuse of power, even Hillary Clinton.

When Christiane Amanpour also asked Hillary about 1998 and what the difference is between what Clinton did and Donald Trump is accused of, Hillary replied, the intense, long-lasting, partisan investigation in the 90s.

The investigation doesnt make the underlying conduct any better, though. Clinton should have been fully aware of the potential political and legal consequences of his actions. That he initiated a sexual relationship with a White House intern while former Arkansas state employee Paula Jones pursued a sexual-harassment lawsuit was practically an invitation to get asked about Lewinsky under oath. Of course, when he did, he lied, and the rest is history.

Beneath Hillarys answers in both interviews  and whenever Bill is asked about the scandal  theres clearly a simmering anger. Both of them are still infuriated that he got caught and paid a price, and that it keeps coming up.

Usually, they are only asked about Lewinsky. But Clintons White House misadventure wasnt a one-time lapse. In keeping with the most compelling #MeToo cases, there was a pattern of conduct going back decades. Clinton used Arkansas state troopers to procure women for him. Most troubling, Juanita Broaddrick accuses Clinton of raping her in the 1970s, an allegation that liberal journalists Chris Hayes, Michelle Goldberg and Ezra Klein now say they find credible.

If Hillary doesnt want to spend her time relitigating 20-year-old scandals  as well as her loss in 2016  she could simply step out of the public eye. Its not as though her own side gains anything from her constant presence. Nor will the 2020 Democratic field lack for women candidates. All those candidates will presumably be less conflicted talking about #MeToo, because theyve never mounted bare-knuckled political defenses of their powerful, scandal-plagued husbands.

But Hillary isnt going anywhere. She and Bill are about to embark on a nationwide speaking tour. Their prominence will serve as a reminder that no matter what progressives say now, when push came to shove and they had to decide between protecting one of their own in high office and their feminist principles, it wasnt even a close call.

This is a public service of a sort, although one that no Democrat should welcome.

comments.lowry@nationalreview.com
When the United States does not stand up for human rights and freedom of expression, there are tragic consequences. The apparent torture and murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi is one of them.

From the beginning, President Trump and his advisers have given Saudi Arabias de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, a green light to do whatever he wants. Trump (now acknowledging Khashoggi is dead and severe consequences) complained, against all evidence and logic, that the prince is unfairly being judged guilty until proven innocent of Khashoggis disappearance and almost certain demise. There have been more shameful episodes in American foreign policy, but not in a long, long time.

It is true that Saudi Arabias corrupt ruling family has never respected its citizens basic human rights. It is also true that the oil-rich kingdom is a longstanding U.S. ally  and that any president, faced with an incident such as Khashoggis apparent killing, would have the tough job of balancing competing geopolitical interests.

But I have to wonder if Salman would not have ordered the hit job  and it is utterly implausible that Khashoggi was accosted without Salmans go-ahead  unless he had confidence that the Trump administration would let him get away with it.

There has been hardly a peep out of Washington about the brutal war Salman is conducting in Yemen, with U.S. assistance  and with no apparent qualms about civilian casualties. In August, a Saudi air strike killed at least 40 children.

The Trump administration also offered no real objection when Salman orchestrated a punishing diplomatic and economic embargo against Qatar, which is also a U.S. ally and hosts thousands of American troops. One of the Saudi regimes complaints was about aggressive news coverage by the Al Jazeera network, which is based in Qatar and funded by the nations rulers  and which seeks, as Khashoggi did, to hold governments accountable.

On the plus side, Salman has made it possible for Saudi women to drive automobiles for the first time. On the minus side, he has jailed several prominent advocates for womens rights.

There is a strategy behind the administrations see-no-evil indulgence. Trump and his aides want a rich, powerful, well-armed Saudi Arabia to lead a coalition of Arab nations in confronting and constraining Iran and forging new, less hostile relationships with Israel. Trump is also fixated on the benefit to U.S. industry of increased arms purchases by the Saudis.

But, the Saudis are throwing their weight around in ways that make the region more unstable, not less. Salman has done nothing to make it politically feasible for other Arab governments to publicly come to terms with Israel. And the $110 billion in arms sales that Trump boasts about is largely a mirage.

Worst of all, Trump has abdicated moral leadership on what should be core issues for any U.S. administration. For at least a century, we have  at least publicly  stood for universal human rights. We have stood for democracy. We have stood for freedom of expression and freedom of the press.

We have not always lived up to those ideals  I covered Chile under dictator Augusto Pinochet, who took power in a U.S.-backed coup  but no president has refused to even pay lip service to human rights principles, as Trump does. And when governments have killed innocent civilians or imprisoned dissidents or squelched independent media voices, U.S. administrations have reacted forcefully with both words and deeds.

The United States is more than a set of national interests. It is a set of ideas that have inspired seekers of freedom throughout the world. Ronald Reagan made a difference when he went to Berlin and demanded that Mikhail Gorbachev tear down this wall. Trump, apparently, would have offered to sell the Soviet leader more concrete and barbed wire.

Trumps reaction to Khashoggis apparent assassination has been stomach-turning and disgraceful, but we have heard admirably honest and tough words from Republican senators such as Bob Corker of Tennessee, Marco Rubio of Florida and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. Now well see if they  for once  take any meaningful action to uphold American ideals.

I dont know if the president could have said or done anything that would have kept the Saudis from horrifically taking Jamal Khashoggis life. But I do know that Trump didnt even try.

eugenerobinson@washpost.com
Mike Collier has real plans to tackle the real issues facing Texas. Incumbent Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick last session gave us the highly distracting, divisive and wholly unnecessary bathroom bill. As if that alone is not disqualifying, he effectively torpedoed desperately needed additional financing for public schools by injecting the poison pill of school vouchers.

Public school financing is among the top issues facing this state if it is to have the workforce it needs to remain economically competitive.

This Editorial Board recommends Democrat Mike Collier  who Patrick so far has refused to debate  for lieutenant governor.

This is among the most powerful positions in Texas government. That person, president of the Texas Senate, often sets the states agenda. Too often in Patricks tenure, that agenda has involved issues designed more to ignite culture war  as in the bathroom bill, vouchers, so-called sanctuary city legislation and redirected state resources to secure the border  than to solve genuine problems.

Collier, with rich corporate accounting experience, proposes a different approach.

It is incontrovertible  despite past Patrick assertions of adequate, if not generous, state funding  that state financing for public schools in Texas is a mess. Though the Texas Supreme Court puzzlingly said the system was constitutional, it pretty much described the current state of affairs as abysmal.

The states share as a percentage of public school financing has dipped considerably and is now estimated to be about 38 percent. Texans increased property tax bills are a direct outcome, as local school districts have raised taxes to try to balance the scales. And for property tax-poor districts  which is to say many of Texas low-income districts  recapture, aka Robin Hood, has not reduced funding inequities.

Collier cites language in the biennial budget that reveals the Legislatures duplicity  bemoaning property tax hikes but making them possible: Property values and the taxes on which they are based shall be increased 7.04% in school year 2017 and 6.77% in school year 2018. At the same time, however, Patrick proposes a limit of 4 percent increases on property taxes without voter approval.

Colliers plan is to close the equal and uniform loophole for large commercial and industrial properties, whose owners challenge their property valuations to get them lowered. This leaves a big burden on homeowners and small-business owners. Collier says this will raise as much as $5 billion. Patrick is proud of lowering the states business tax while needs go unmet.

Simply, Texas needs to become a sales price disclosure state so that local taxing authorities know the actual fair market value for commercial properties. Hint: It isnt what their lawyers say it is.

Also among Colliers innovative ideas: seeking a constitutional amendment to create an Audit, Performance and Integrity Commission to guard taxpayers against corruption and waste. Youll recall that then-Gov. Rick Perry defunded the states Public Integrity Unit in Travis County, and the states Ethics Commission is not renowned for its sharp teeth.

Collier decries gerrymandering and calls for a constitutional amendment to create an independent redistricting commission, as a few other states have. Patrick seems just fine with the status quo.

On immigration, Collier questions the value of redirecting Department of Public Safety resources to South Texas to allegedly enhance border security. And he correctly notes that the Legislatures sanctuary cities bill, which penalizes local jurisdictions whose law enforcement supposedly doesnt cooperate with immigration authorities, is unneeded and sows distrust of the police in immigrant communities. Patrick supported both these measures.

Colliers solution to the state having the highest number of uninsured in the nation, partly, is expanding Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. Patrick opposes this. And we note that while GOP leadership generally opposes the ACA  with the attorney general actively trying to derail pre-existing condition protections and other provisions  it has failed to come up with any meaningful solution of its own.

Collier has ideas. Patricks tenure has been marked by divisiveness and punting  particularly on school finance. We recommend Collier. And, as in other races, we find the incumbents refusal to debate troubling  and telling.
There are many reasons we cannot recommend Ted Cruz for a second term as Texas junior U.S. senator. But heres the big one  he led the fight to shut down the federal government in 2013 in order to delay or defund the Affordable Care Act.

Simply, there is never a good reason to shut down the federal government and a leader in that effort should not be rewarded even if it is five years later. We recommend Democrat Rep. Beto ORourke of El Paso for the U.S. Senate.

Asked if he had any regrets about the shutdown, Cruz told the Editorial Board on Wednesday, that he is proud of having led the fight on Obamacare.

But Cruz also rationalized that Democrats caused the shutdown because there were votes to reopen the government. But, even as he explains it, this meant voting to reopen and fund individual agencies. And this misses the point. There is never a good reason to put a gun to the other partys head  and that of voters  via government shutdown to get what cannot otherwise be achieved. Thats called extortion, not democracy.

Cruz complains that there exists a caricature of him as a bomb thrower. But, senator, it can take just one bomb to be a bomb thrower if that bomb is nuclear. And it was clear from his first term that even those in his own party have not exactly taken a shine to him. Trump bested him in the presidential race.

Fortunately, for every good reason not to vote for Cruz, there are good reasons to vote for ORourke.

Cruz has gone all out to characterize ORourkes views as too extreme for Texas. Untrue. The senator has to ignore plenty of nuance to get there.

ORourke, mindful that Texas leads the nation in the number of uninsured, wants some form of universal health care that might include a choice for people, even those in employer-provided plans, to opt into Medicare even if theyre not yet 65.

Cruz says this will bust the budget, but this come from a senator who says he led the fight to pass the recent GOP tax bill that will balloon the debt and deficit according to credible experts. Cruz simply denies this will happen.

Cruz says he is for protecting pre-existing conditions but has voted to repeal this along with all of the ACA and we have not discerned a credible replacement.

Cruz complains that ORourke voted for a $10 a barrel tax on oil  a mainstay of Texas economy. But ORourke actually voted against a concurrent resolution that symbolically opposed an Obama proposal that never became law. He never voted for that tax, much less a 24 cent a gallon price hike.

ORourke believes climate change is real. Its much too difficult to pin Cruz down on what amounts to an existential threat for Texas, the nation and the world. ORourke rejects the false choice of having to choose between damaging the oil industry and growing alternative energy.

Some slam ORourke for a DWI and another minor charge in his past. But he takes responsibility and has successfully recast his life. This is admirable, even if the offenses arent.

ORourke for U.S. Senate.
Finance minister Mthuli Ncube has urged the government to be receptive to the reform demands of the opposition and Western powers  as this will enable Zimbabwe to access help from overseas companies and multilateral institutions such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with the Daily News yesterday, Ncube  who has come under heavy fire for his economic stabilisation programme  also said the new two percent tax that he recently imposed on every dollar transacted was reasonable compared to similar taxes in the region.

There is also the issue about Zidera (the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act) by the United States, which in my view  as Zimbabweans and government, we should embrace its principles in the sense that if its about opening up democratic space  which is what this is about  that should be a natural progression for Zimbabwe as we move to the club of upper-middle income countries by year 2030.

So the issue now is also about the financial impact. Zidera has a financial impact which restricts US companies and banks from extending lines of credit to Zimbabwe.

But the principles of it are not an issue as far as I am concerned. These are the things we should be doing for ourselves without anybody telling us  whether this relates to Posa (the Public Order and Security Act) and Aippa (the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act), the well-regarded former banker said.

Those are the things that will eventually be reviewed and then the electoral reforms will also be dealt with, and so forth. I am talking about the political issues which link to the current (economic) environment, he added.

This comes as the United States government has been giving President Emmerson Mnangagwas administration some encouragement  indicating very strongly that it is willing to end more than 15 years of Zimbabwes international isolation if the country implements key political and electoral reforms.

Prominent US senators, Jeff Flake and Chris Coons  who are both members of Washingtons Senate Foreign Relations Committee  met Mnangagwa in Harare to convey this sentiment ahead of the July 30 elections.

The two men are behind a new sanctions bill that amended Zidera  which introduced punitive measures against former president Robert Mugabe personally, as well as many of his senior officials and State entities.

The successor law, the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Amendment Act of 2018, contains conditions which are specific to Mnangagwas new dispensation.

If Harare meets these conditions, President Donald Trumps administration has promised to scrap the sanctions and normalise relations with Zimbabwe which have been frosty for more than 16 years.

In yesterdays interview with the Daily News, Ncube said the negative reaction by many Zimbabweans to his new tax policy was normal, as was usually the case with any new such policies.

He said the new tax was a desperate attempt by the government to contain Zimbabwes large budget deficit, as the country had been spending far more than it was producing.

So the solution to containing the budget deficit is two-fold. There is the revenue expansion side and then there is the cost containment of expenditure.

It also happens that the Zimbabwe economy has become more informalised, while more people are also on electronic platforms.

So, we felt that the best way to get everyone to pay their taxes, to have an inclusive tax regime, is to target electronic transactions, Ncube said.

And by the way, our rates are not even the highest on the continent. There are some countries  I dont want to name these countries  which take 10 percent, 12 percent and so forth. So, two percent is not the highest, he added.

Following Ncubes pronouncement of the new tax regime, some Cabinet ministers also openly expressed their unhappiness over it.

However, the affable Finance minister said the new tax was not just the perfect instrument to mitigate the current situation, it had also been effected after thorough research.

Ncube further said as a way of containing its costs, the government would look at reducing waste  including re-looking the issue of motor vehicles for ministers and members of Parliament  which has currently been suspended as the government seeks an equitable solution.

We are putting together a policy that we think is equitable, that will help us to manage expenditure, including on things such as vehicles and the wage bill.

While those things are being negotiated, we are writing papers. Before any policy is pronounced, we actually do research on it, he said.

Meanwhile, labour unions and civic society organisations have savaged the countrys new tax regime, which came into effect on October 13. They are also threatening to

take to the streets over the issue.

Civil society activist Mfundo Mlilo has also since approached the High Court  challenging the tax regime which he says is illegal.

Turning to the rampaging foreign currency parallel market  which has led to price hikes and commodity shortages  Ncube said he had no control over this, arguing further that this was not being caused by his new two percent tax.

He also said that there was no justification by retailers to increase the prices of commodities based on the new tax regime.

 DailyNews

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Ballydine plant MSD was honoured as the Best Business of the Year at a glittering ceremony in Clonmel on Friday night.

The pharmaceutical giant took the top accolade at the second County Tipperary Business Awards in the Clonmel Park Hotel.

It had earlier taken the top prize in the Best CSR or Contribution to the Community category.

Fashion designer Louise Kennedy accepts her award.

It was a special night too for Tipperary fashion designer Louise Kennedy who won the prestigious President's Award.

Described by chamber president TJ Kinsella as the 'queen of Irish fashion', the Thurles native has been at the top of the Irish and international fashion trade for thirty five years.

She has designed for presidents and royalty, designed the Aer Lingus uniforms and has been recognised with a special stamp by An Post.

She said she was absolutely thrilled to win the award and to be honoured by the Tipperary business community.

Wherever I go in the world, I am always Tipperary first, she told the audience of over 250 at the gathering.

Mr Kinsella had said that the ceremony was a celebration of all that's great and good about Tipperary  a great place to live and a great place to do business.

He congratulated all the winners and nominees and remarked that between them all gathered in the room that evening, they employed over five thousand people.

The winners were -

Best Business of the Year  MSD Ballydine

Best Small or Medium Enterprise  Ryans Cleaning

Sports Art and Culture Setanta College

Best CSR or Contribution to the Community  MSD

Best Employer (Talent Development, Training and Wellness)  Metis Ireland

Best Start up or Emerging New Business  Horan Automation and Consulting

Best Use of Social Media  Acorn Regulatory

Best Large Business  Boston Scientific

Best Family Business  Cantwell Electrical Engineering

Tourism and Hospitality  The Cottage Loughmore

Food and Agriculture  Blanco Nino

Best Services Provider  Eishtec

Best in Retail  Shanahans Centre, Borrisoleigh

Best Social Enterprise  Knockanrawley Resource Centre, Tipperary town
A man who says he was sexually abused by a San Jose priest said hes speaking out for the first time after the priest dismissed those allegations on the news Thursday night as a misunderstanding.

That priest is Father Phil Sunseri, a Jesuit priest dismissed from the Society of Jesus in the late 1980s after he was accused of sexual misconduct. He was one of 15 priests the San Jose Diocese said Thursday have been credibly accused of sexual abuse in the South Bay. One of Sunseri's accusers said he's now telling his story publicly for the first time to encourage other victims to report abuse.

Timothy, who asked that NBC Bay Area not reveal his last name, said he grew up in San Jose in the 1980s as a staunch Catholic, attending St. Christophers and serving as an altar boy. Thats where, at 14-years-old, Timothy met Father Sunseri.

Here I was at 14, I was assigned to serve a mass with Father Phil, and almost immediately, and I definitely felt this was odd, I could tell that he was taking an unusual interest in me, Timothy said

It was the summer of 1986 and Timothy said Sunseri invited him to sleep over at his house after seeing a movie together. Timothy still remembers the movie  Ruthless People  and recalls thinking it was strange that a priest would take him to an R-rated movie. But when they got to Sunseris mothers house, where the priest was living, and still lives to this day, Timothy says Sunseri asked him for a massage.

In the news last evening [Sunseri] was talking about how it was just a back massage, Timothy said. There was no back massaging at all involved in it. The only way I know how to describe it is it was this weird other sort of massage that was much more intimate.

Timothy says he and the priest simultaneously massaged each other, naked except for their underwear.

I woke up that morning to him  he was rubbing my arm just kind of staring at me, Timothy said. That was the most vivid, unsettling memory of it all.

Timothy says he knew it was strange and wrong, and avoided the priest after that. He says he even told his mom he didnt want to see Father Phil anymore. Timothy doesnt recall Father Sunseris exact age at the time, but believes he was in his late 30s.

Weeks later, the priest sent Timothy a letter asking if he wanted to go to the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk together.

[[PHOTO OF LETTER]]

NBC Bay Area caught up with Father Sunseri at his San Jose home yesterday, the same home where Timothy says the abuse occurred. But Sunseri called the accusations against him a misunderstanding and said he was surprised he was included on the Dioceses list of priests credibly accused of sexual misconduct. He told another news outlet that he was on the list because of back massages he gave to two high school students. Sunseri said he retired from the priesthood to take care of his ailing mother, and said he didnt know hed been dismissed as a priest.

Thats when Timothy decided he needed to share his story  to set the record straight and encourage other abuse survivors to come forward.

I fear when he gets on the news and talks about this as if it was a non-sexual experience, those men who have not come forward are going to be discouraged from coming forward because their experience has been diminished, has been mischaracterized by him.

And although the Diocese report only lists two accusers for Father Sunseri, Timothy says hes learned of at least three more victims.

He also said in his report it happened with a couple of boys and that is something I know to be untrue, he said. There are only two boys who have come forward. I know personally there are others who have not come forward, yet.

Sunseri was dismissed as a priest after the first allegation against him in 1986, according to a spokesperson for the Jesuits. Timothy confronted Father Sunseri in 1998 at the priests home, but only decided to report the incident to the church last year after seeing how women who reported being sexually abused at San Joses Presentation High School were being treated by the community.

The community will never heal if survivors are not given their opportunity to come forward without fear that the community, the Catholic community, will seek some sort of retribution.

Timothy says the Diocese referred him to the Jesuits because of Father Sunseris affiliation with the order. He says the reporting process has helped him heal.

Theyre helping me work through my experience in a very positive way, and so I encourage everyone who has gone through [abuse] to go through the process of reporting.
You lose a lot when serving time in Californias county jails, but not necessarily your right to vote.

Alameda County public defenders are handing out voter registration forms to their clients, letting jail inmates know that even though theyre behind bars, they might be eligible to vote.

I got arrested like two days ago in Napa County over some petty theft, something stupid, said Rashon Davis of Oakland.

While Davis was sitting in jail, he heard the pitch.

They came in and they gave us papers talking about if you guys want to vote, you dont have to, you have a choice to, he said.

Davis, whos never voted before, was stunned that he could register to vote while behind bars.

Thats my first time I ever seen something like that I didnt even know they could do that, he said.

In California, federal and state prison inmates and parolees cannot vote. But if youre serving time in a county jail or awaiting trial in jail, you can cast a ballot. The same applies for convicted felons who have completed their parole.

Thats good, thats good you know what I mean! I always wanted to vote, said Willy Villanova of Oakland.

Willy Villanova says he spent more than four years in federal prison for smuggling North Koreans into the US.

I finish my probation, halfway house all my programs, Villanova said.

He didnt know that he could vote until we told him.

If I get my voice out there heard, Im pretty sure my vote will count. Villanova said.

Thanks to the Alameda County Public Defenders voter outreach program, 425 inmates can have their voices heard on Election Day.

You have this power, it has not been taken away from you, you should exercise it, said Brendon Woods, Alameda County Public Defender.

The last day to register to vote here in California is October 22.
Over a thousand hotel workers took to the streets of San Francisco again Saturday, following over two weeks of protest to demand better pay from Marriott.

Employees from multiple Marriott-affiliated hotels marched down Market Street and waved signs that read "One job is not enough." They said Marriott employees arent making enough money to keep up with the rising cost of living in San Francisco.

Seven downtown hotels in San Francisco are owned by Marriott: Marriottt Marquie, Marriott Union Square, Courtyard by Marriott Downtown, Westin Saint Francis, Saint Regis, the W Hotel and The Palace Hotel.

More demonstrations were followed in Oakland at 2 p.m. and in San Jose at 4:30 p.m., according to Unite Here union organizers.

They're among nearly 8,000 workers that have walked off jobs at Marriotts from Boston to Honolulu. Marriott is the world's largest hotel operator.

Marriott issued a new statement about the strikes Saturday, which echoed a similar statement made on Oct. 13, saying: "While we respect our associates rights to voice their opinions and participate in demonstrations and this work stoppage, we are disappointed that Unite Here has chosen to resort to a strike.

"We continue to believe that the best place to resolve these issues is at the bargaining table. We remain committed to negotiating in good faith to reach a fair contract for all parties. We will welcome any associate who chooses to continue to work," the statement continued.

The union says workers are seeking better compensation to keep up with soaring housing and living costs. They're also concerned about new technologies that may replace their jobs.

Dozens of protesters have been arrested since the protests began on Oct. 4. Last week, 40 people were arrested in San Francisco, according to police.

In Hawaii, tourism officials say a union strike, especially a protracted one, would add to a dampening in tourism.

Guests staying at properties where workers are striking have been dealing with long check-in lines, restaurant closures and cutbacks to valet parking, housekeeping and other services.

A Marriott International spokesperson said the company has activated a contingency plans to ensure the chain will continue to operate. It didn't clarify what those plans are.

"Were proud of our staff at these hotels for their dedication and commitment to continuing to serve our guests and were grateful to our guests for their patience during this period," the spokesperson said.

Kiki Intarasuwan contributed to this report.
The BART Plaza in downtown Berkeley reopened Thursday with a rousing celebration that included speeches by elected officials and music by the Berkeley Symphony Orchestra and other musicians.

The $13 million, 15-month renovation replaced the square's brick rotunda with a sleek glass awning.

Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguin told about 100 people who attended the celebration that, "Downtown is the heart of our city and this plaza is like our town square."

Arreguin said the plaza is now "a major regional transit hub" because it includes stops for Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District buses at the street level in addition to the BART stop below ground.

He said the plaza is "pedestrian-friendly and is a more welcoming environment" than the previous plaza.

BART Director Rebecca Saltzman, whose district includes part of Berkeley, said the renovation was important because the former space "needed a little bit of love."

Berkeley City Councilwoman Kate Harrison said the plaza is "a huge step forward" for the city.

After Arreguin and other dignitaries cut the ribbon across the steel and glass canopy that forms the main entrance to BART at Shattuck Avenue and Center Street, the Berkeley Symphony emerged up the steps from the station and performed Joan Tower's "Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman."

In addition, Michael Christian's 14-foot "Home" globe sculpture was unveiled in the plaza.

Later, Chris Brown's "Flow in Place" sound art installation, a combination of field recordings of nature, street sounds collected around the world, and music, was switched on.

Additional performances at the soundstage at the plaza are scheduled for Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Authorities say a ground search has turned up nothing useful as investigators look for a 13-year-old girl who went missing after her parents were found dead in Wisconsin.

Deputies found Jayme Closs' parents shot to death in the family's home in rural Barron early Monday. The girl was nowhere to be found. Investigators say the girl is in danger and is not suspected in her parents' deaths.

Barron County Sheriff Chris Fitzgerald says the ground search won't resume Friday. His office coordinated a ground search Thursday using 100 volunteers to comb fields and ditches, but he says the search turned up nothing of evidentiary value.

Fitzgerald says his office hasn't received any tips that would lead deputies to continue the ground search.

Investigators say they'll outline their plans later Friday.
Three northwest Indiana residents have been indicted on federal gun and drug trafficking charges.

The U.S. Attorneys Office for the Northern District of Indiana announced the 14-count indictment Friday against 30-year-old Aaron Baxter of Michigan City, 34-year-old Joseph Taylor of Gary and 36-year-old Susanne Tincher of Michigan City.

All three of them are charged with conspiracy to buy firearms from a federally licensed seller through misrepresentation, prosecutors said. Tincher is accused of making at least four gun purchases with the knowledge that she was buying firearms for people who could not legally purchase them for themselves.

In one instance, Tincher bought guns from a store and Taylor  under Baxters direction  sold two of them the same day to undercover officers, according to prosecutors.

The indictment also charges Baxter and Taylor with dealing highly pure methamphetamine and Taylor with dealing cocaine, according to the U.S. attorneys office. Both men were also charged with possession of firearms by felons.
Officials in Georgia had to call in the cavalry Monday after dozens of cows escaped when a tractor-trailer transporting them overturned on a busy junction north of Atlanta.

The truck carrying 89 cows overturned around 3 a.m. on the cloverleaf of Interstate 75 and I-285. Many of the cows scattered, causing wrecks and clogging rush-hour traffic.

"We're wrangling some cows, that's what we're doing," Sandy Springs Police Sgt. Sam Worsham said Monday.

The effort to round up the herd included real cowboys, the Georgia Department of Transportation said.

Cobb County Police Sgt. Wayne Delk said 87 of the 89 cows had been accounted for by Monday afternoon. Ten cows were killed, and two were still missing.

"We don't know where they are," Worsham said. "We're waiting for people to call and tell us there's a cow in the backyard."

Some roads in the area were closed for a time but had reopened late Monday morning.

Sandy Springs police worked four wrecks caused by the wandering cows, Worsham said. No one was injured in any of those accidents, although several cows were hurt and some had to be tranquilized as officers tried to corral them.

Cobb County animal control brought a horse trailer to the area. Officials hastily erected metal barriers to corral the cows and then guide them into the trailer.

Delk said the captured cows were being prepared to be shipped to a facility in Calhoun.

Delk said investigators do not think speed was a factor in the crash. The driver of the tractor-trailer that was carrying the cattle was taken to a hospital with injuries. The driver's name has not been released.

It's the third such accident this year outside Atlanta, and the biggest yet. Smaller herds spilled onto Interstate 75 in May and Interstate 285 in June.
A dozen of Indonesian journalists hold posters with .s of Saudi writer Jamal Khashoggi during a protest outside Saudi Arabian Embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia, Friday, Oct. 19, 2018. [Photo:IC]

Saudi Arabia said on Saturday that 18 people were arrested over the death of the missing Saudi Journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.

The initial investigations by the Public Prosecution revealed that Khashoggi had a physical fight with those he met at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, which led to his death, SPA said.

The Public Prosecution confirmed that the investigation over the case will continue, saying all involved in the case will be held accountable.

Saudi Arabia previously repeatedly denied allegations that the kingdom had murdered or arrested Khashoggi.
It has been a long journey for dozens of newly naturalized American citizens.

Carlos Daza came to the United States from Bolivia when he was just 3 years old.

Its an honor to be at the ceremony today especially among veterans its been a long process, Daza said.

Daza has been a member of the Connecticut National Guard for the past two years.

On Friday he took an oath, got his certificate and pin becoming a citizen of the United States. Its a dream hes had since he was a kid.

Ive always wanted to be a citizen first of all, but most importantly serve my country, he said. The army gave me that opportunity.

The ceremony was hosted by members of the Elks Club in Middletown.

Im a veteran, and you see all the other veterans here. It means a lot to them knowing that they would choose to be part of our military service I want to become citizens, said William Currlin, chairman of Veterans Committee for the Elks Club. Every time I think about it, I get a tear in my eye.

It was not just veterans becoming Americans. There are people from places like Albania, Uganda, and Vietnam. More than 50 people from nearly 30 different countries were sworn in as citizens.

This is a very special day for me, I really feel like I am part of the country today.

Anna Kiernozek, who is originally from Poland, said shell cast her first ballot in a few weeks on Election Day.

I have a responsibility to vote and I would really like to vote, she said.
This weekend a big pet adoption event is aiming to find homes for many animals, including some displaced after Hurricane Florence in the Carolinas.

Some of these dogs have come thousands of miles in search of loving homes.

Dogs have been arriving at the Paws Pet Resort and Spa in Cheshire by the truckload.

We donated the space instantly. She came down and looked at it. It was just the ideal situation. We have plenty of space, plenty of parking, bedrooms for the dogs. Its a home run, explained owner Joe Whitright.

The business is working with Dogs Days, a non-profit rescue organization based in Connecticut.

We are an umbrella for a bunch of different rescues. We pull dogs from Georgia, Tennessee and North Carolina, explained Dog Days worker Michele Fredericks.

Theyre hoping to find homes for about 50 dogs. Theres a greater need this year, after the devastation in the Carolinas from Hurricane Florence last month.

Its overwhelming. We cant take all the dogs weve gotten calls for. Ive never seen this many calls for this many dogs without having a home to go to. We would love to take everybody, Fredericks said.

Dog Days relies heavily on fundraising and donations.

Volunteers work hard to bring in the funds needed.

From the Hamburg fair fundraiser and the can drive fundraiser it was $3,505, explained volunteer Hannah Morrison.

Dog Days does screenings before pet adoption, to make sure theyre always finding the right fit for families and the pets.

Its a big commitment, number one. You have to have the right time of home and not every dog suits you, Fredericks said.

The adoption event runs Saturday and Sunday 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 312 East Johnson Ave. in Cheshire. For more information, visit the Dog Days website.

NBC Connecticut is always working to help animals find their forever homes through our Clear the Shelters initiative.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on Friday released the findings of a year-long study making short and long-term recommendations on the crumbling foundations issue that has affected hundreds of homeowners in Connecticut.

The issue was brought to light by NBC Connecticut Investigates several years ago.

Gov. Dannel Malloy asked the US Army Corps Of Engineers to study low-cost testing options for homeowners, creating standards for quarry testing and recommendations for homeowners with crumbling basements.

They recommend the legislature implement regulations that more than one percent of sulfur be rejected from any concrete aggregate. They also advise regulating our state quarries, and creating standardized testing so data is consistent from labs across the board.

A state investigation found a quarry in Willington contained pyrrhotite, which experts believe can cause concrete basements to crack when exposed to air and water. The agency also suggested newer tests for homeowners too.

Theres nobody looking at how wed go about repairing these homes and weve got to get a grasp on that, said Christopher M. Moore of the U.S. Army Corps Of Engineers. What wed like to say is for every 25,000 tons of material that leave the quarry it should be tested.

Without standards people could test all kinds of things or doing tests in different ways that might drive the costs up," Malloy said.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal also attended the meeting Friday and threw his support behind homeowners.

"These national standards will give us evidence-based, science-supported standards we need to make our case in Washington to show these homeowners in Connecticut need relief now, either from FEMA or other federal agencies or insurance companies that have still left homeowners in lurch," he said.

Homeowners were pleased to hear the recommendations but are looking for more immediate solutions to their crumbling foundations.

This will help people down the road in the future, but I dont understand the immediate fix for those of us in the midst of the problem, said Cynthia Estancia, whose Manchester home has a crumbling basement.

These recommendations would still have to be adopted by lawmakers.
Alaska Gov. Bill Walker dropped his re-election bid shortly after the sudden resignation of his lieutenant governor over what Walker described as an inappropriate overture toward a woman.

Walker's announcement, made Friday at the Alaska Federation of Natives conference in Anchorage right before he was to participate in a debate, was met with gasps and cries of "No!" from the audience.

"'Alaska First' is and cannot be just a campaign slogan," he said. With less than three weeks until the election, Walker, an independent, said it became clear he could not win a three-way race against Republican former state Sen. Mike Dunleavy and Democratic former U.S. Sen. Mark Begich.

Alaskans deserve a competitive race, "and Alaskans deserve a choice other than Mike Dunleavy," he said.

Walker, a former Republican and the only independent governor in the country, told reporters he doesn't agree with Begich on a lot of things. But he said Begich would be better for Alaska than Dunleavy.

On Friday night, Brett Huber, Dunleavy's campaign manager, issued a statement blasting Walker. "Governor Walker could have chosen a dignified, graceful exit to his campaign. Instead, he opted to bow out with a bitter, partisan attack on Mike Dunleavy. It's too bad  Alaskans deserve better," Huber said.

Walker was showered with praise and hugs by conference attendees after his announcement. The debate went on without him. Begich called Walker's action courageous. Dunleavy did not acknowledge it in his opening statements.

Walker's campaign was rocked Tuesday by the resignation of Lt. Gov. Byron Mallott, a Democrat who was replaced by former state health commissioner Valerie Davidson.

Throughout the campaign, some Democrats and independents worried that Walker and Begich would split the vote, giving the election to Dunleavy. Walker was elected in 2014 with Democratic support.

Walker's campaign manager earlier this week said Walker and Begich had been in talks about a "path forward for Alaska" but would not elaborate. On Thursday, they both sought to downplay any suggestions of a potential deal ahead of the Nov. 6 election.

A Division of Elections spokeswoman said ballots have already been printed. Early voting in the state starts Monday.

Casey Steinau, chairwoman of the state Democratic party, lauded Walker for "stepping aside for the greater good."

Mallott, in a resignation letter, apologized for "inappropriate comments I made that placed a person whom I respect and revere in a position of vulnerability."

Few details have been released because Walker said he is honoring the wishes of the woman involved.

The partnership of Walker and Mallott  and blurring of partisan lines  was a central theme of their administration and campaign. Walker said he considers Mallott his closest friend and "soul mate."

In 2014, Walker and Mallott were each running for governor, trying to unseat Republican Gov. Sean Parnell. Walker was a Republican mounting an outsider bid. Mallott was the Democratic candidate and an Alaska Native leader.

With the support of the Democratic party, the two men, who had developed a friendship, combined their campaigns and defeated Parnell. Walker changed his affiliation from Republican to undeclared, and Mallott became Walker's running mate.

This year, their desire to run together helped seal what some had already seen as an uphill battle for Walker because of the three-way race. Though Democrats now allow independents to run in their primaries, Walker opted against that when it appeared Begich would run. He instead gathered signatures to appear on the general election ballot, which ensured that he and Mallott could run together. Libertarian Billy Toien also is running for governor.

Walker, 67, is no stranger to the underdog role and embraced it through much of the campaign. He often speaks of the emotional and financial toll of rebuilding his hometown of Valdez after a devastating 1964 earthquake. As a kid, he worked odd jobs to help make ends meet and helped his father with his construction business. He said the quake changed him  teaching him lessons about faith, perseverance and working together.

In 2014, oil prices, which had reached around $110 a barrel, began a freefall, bottoming out at $26 a barrel in early 2016. For a state heavily reliant on oil, the impact was severe, creating a multibillion-dollar budget deficit. Alaska fell into a recession.

As governor, Walker faced criticism for halving the size of the check Alaskans received from the state's oil-wealth fund in 2016. He defends his decision as proper; it came amid legislative gridlock over how to address the deficit. But critics labeled him a thief.

"I ran for the job to do the job, not to keep the job," he said in a recent interview, describing that and other difficult decisions.
To help make sure you stay informed on the most shared and talked about stories across North Texas, each Saturday and Sunday we'll revisit 5 stories from the previous week and capsulize them in this digest with the most recent updates.

In our 5+5 format, we'll publish the first 5 on Saturday morning and the second 5 on Sunday.

Arlington Buys Out Flood Damaged Residents

As homeowners across North Texas clean up from flooding caused by record setting rainfall and prepare for the next round, the City of Arlington is looking to buy the homes that have sustained the most damage. Its part of the citys Voluntary Flood Mitigation Buyout Program which targets homes within the city that have been significantly damaged by flood water or those that continue to flood time and time again. To read more about this story, click here.

The City of Arlington has a possible solution for residents living in flood plains. The city is buying homes and has already helped more than 400 homeowners.

Drivers Say GM Refuses to Replace Defective Airbags

Drivers tell NBC 5 Responds that GM refuses to replace their Takata airbags saying no fix is available for customers like him, because General Motors is petitioning the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to exempt many of their vehicles from this recall, claiming the airbags in certain trucks and SUVs do not pose "an unreasonable risk to safety." To read more about this story, click here.

Drivers tell NBC 5 that General Motors is refusing to remove defective airbags from their vehicles.

Shingles Vaccine in High Demand

NBC 5 has received several viewer emails from patients frustrated that theyre not able to find the shingles vaccine at their local pharmacies. Some of the patients indicated that theyre in need of their second dose and say they continue to call several pharmacies at a time, with no luck. Shingles is a painful skin rash caused by reactivation of the varicella zoster virus, the same virus that causes chickenpox. The maker of vaccine Shingrix says the vaccine has been met with an unprecedented level of demand from patients and health care professionals.body here. To read more about this story, click here.

NBC 5 has received several viewer emails from patients frustrated that theyre not able to find the shingles vaccine at their local pharmacies.

$76 Million Klyde Warren Park Expansion Plans Revealed

Dallas' well-known deck park is about to expand in a major way with a pavilion, parking garage and more green space. The Woodall Rodgers Park Foundation and VisitDallas announced Friday plans to complete the original vision of Dallas' Klyde Warren Park -- a $76 million project that will add 1.2 acres of space over Woodall Rodgers Freeway west of St. Paul Street. To read more about this story, click here.

Dallas' well-known deck park is about to expand in a major way with a pavilion, parking garage and more green space. Design and construction of the project are scheduled to begin in 2019, with completion anticipated as early as 2022.

Dallas Leaders Like Plan to Put Robotic Delivery Vehicles on Streets

Dallas City Council members had good things to say Wednesday about plans to test robotic delivery vehicles on city sidewalks. A company called Marble, based in San Francisco, intends to put as many as 20 robotic vehicles in Dallas to begin to map sidewalks for automated delivery service. The vehicles would have a human escort at first before starting to operate independently. To read more about this story, click here.

Dallas City Council members had good things to say Wednesday about plans to test robotic delivery vehicles on city sidewalks as soon as this month. Some traditional delivery people are not sold on the plan.

Check back and look for 5 more stories on Sunday.
What to Know Turkish officials said "it's not possible for the Saudi administration" to get away with this crime

Capitol Hill lawmakers condemned Saudi Arabia for its explanation of what happened to Jamal Khashoggi

President Donald Trump said it is "unacceptable" what happened to the journalist

Turkey will "never allow a cover-up" of the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Saudi Arabia's consulate in Istanbul, a senior official in Turkey's ruling party said Saturday, reflecting international skepticism over the Saudi account that the writer died during a "fistfight."

The comment was one of many critical reactions to Saudi Arabia's announcement of the writer's violent death, indicating the kingdom's efforts to defuse a scandal that has gripped the world were falling short. U.S. President Donald Trump, however, was an exception. Asked whether he thought the Saudi explanation was credible, he replied: "I do. I do."

"Saudi Arabia has been a great ally, but what happened is unacceptable," Trump said. Regarding the Saudi arrests, he said, "It's a big first step. It's only a first step, but it's a big first step."

Despite widespread outrage over the killing of the columnist for The Washington Post, it is unclear to what extent the top leadership of Saudi Arabia, a key U.S. ally and a powerful player in a volatile region, would be held accountable for what human rights activists describe as an extrajudicial killing by Saudi agents.

The only way to find out what happened would be through an international investigation led by a U.N.-appointed panel, the editorial board of The Washington Post said.

Saudi Arabia's latest version asks us to believe that "Mr. Khashoggi died after becoming engaged in a 'brawl' with officials who had been sent to meet him." His body, Saudi officials told several journalists, was handed over to a "local collaborator for disposal," it said, while also criticizing Trump for allegedly trying to help top Saudi leaders escape "meaningful accountability."

Saudi Arabia said 18 Saudi suspects were in custody and intelligence officials had been fired. But critics believe the complex scheme that led to Khashoggi's death could not have occurred without the knowledge of Mohammed bin Salman, the 33-year-old crown prince whose early promises of sweeping reform are being eclipsed by concerns that he is an impulsive, even sinister figure.

The Saudi narrative of Khashoggi's death, alleged to have occurred in a brawl following discussions with visiting officials in the consulate, contrasts with Turkish pro-government media reports that a Saudi hit squad, including an autopsy expert, traveled to Istanbul to kill Khashoggi and dispose of his body, which has not yet been found.

The overnight statement, released by the state-run Saudi Press Agency, that the writer died in the consulate also came more than two weeks after Khashoggi, 59, entered the building for paperwork required to marry his Turkish fiancee and never came out. Saudi Arabia initially denied any knowledge of his disappearance.

The kingdom has described assertions in Turkish media leaks, based on purported audio recordings that Khashoggi was tortured, killed and dismembered inside the consulate, as "baseless." Turkish politicians pushed back Saturday.

"It's not possible for the Saudi administration to wiggle itself out of this crime if it's confirmed," said Numan Kurtulmus, deputy head of Turkey's Justice and Development Party. He also said Turkey would share its evidence of Khashoggi's killing with the world and that a "conclusive result" of the investigation is close.

Another Turkish ruling party official also criticized Saudi Arabia, saying the kingdom should have given its explanation "before the situation reached this point."

The official, Leyla Sahin Usta, said it would have been "more valuable" if Saudi officials had earlier admitted that Khashoggi was killed in its diplomatic post.

On Capitol Hill, lawmakers including Trump ally Sen. Lindsey Graham expressed skepticism of the Saudi account, which was vastly different than that given by Turkish officials, who had said an "assassination squad" sent by the kingdom had killed and dismembered Khashoggi.

"First we were told Mr. Khashoggi supposedly left the consulate and there was blanket denial of any Saudi involvement," Graham, R-S.C., tweeted Friday. "Now, a fight breaks out and he's killed in the consulate, all without knowledge of Crown Prince."

"The Saudi 'explanation' for murdering journalist and Virginia resident Jamal Khashoggi in a consulate_a fistfight gone wrong_is insulting," tweeted Sen. Tim Kaine, the 2016 Democratic vice presidential nominee. "Since the Trump Administration won't stand up against atrocity, Congress must."

Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff of California said Saudi Arabia's claim that Khashoggi died in a brawl wasn't credible.

"If Khashoggi was fighting inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, he was fighting for his life with people sent to capture or kill him," said Schiff, the ranking member of the House intelligence committee.

"The Kingdom and all involved in this brutal murder must be held accountable, and if the Trump Administration will not take the lead, Congress must," Schiff said.

In a statement Friday night, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the U.S. will closely follow international investigations into Khashoggi's death and will advocate for justice that is "timely, transparent and in accordance with all due process."

Khashoggi, a prominent journalist and royal court insider for decades in Saudi Arabia, had written columns critical of Prince Mohammed and the kingdom's direction while living in self-imposed exile in the U.S.

"God have mercy on you my love Jamal, and may you rest in Paradise," Khashoggi's fiancee, Hatice Cengiz, tweeted following the Saudi announcements.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres "stresses the need for a prompt, thorough and transparent investigation into the circumstances of Mr. Khashoggi's death and full accountability for those responsible," spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.

Standing outside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, the head of a media group said the "authority that gave the orders" in the killing of Khashoggi should be punished.

Turan Kislakci, president of the Turkish Arab Media Association, said Khashoggi was "slaughtered by bloody murderers" and that his group wants "true justice" for its slain colleague.

The Saudi announcements about Khashoggi came in statements carried by the state-run Saudi Press Agency early Saturday.

"Preliminary investigations conducted by the Public Prosecution showed that the suspects had traveled to Istanbul to meet with the citizen Jamal Khashoggi as there were indications of the possibility of his returning back to the country," the statement read. "Discussions took place with the citizen Jamal Khashoggi during his presence in the consulate of the kingdom in Istanbul by the suspects (that) did not go as required and developed in a negative way, leading to a fistfight. The brawl led to his death and their attempt to conceal and hide what happened."

There's been no indication Khashoggi had any immediate plans to return to the kingdom.

The Saudi statements, which expressed regret and promised accountability, did not identify the 18 Saudis being held by authorities and did not explain how so many people could have been involved in a fistfight.

The kingdom at the same time announced the firing of four top intelligence officials, including Maj. Gen. Ahmed bin Hassan Assiri, a one-time spokesman for the Saudi military's campaign in Yemen who later became a confidant of Prince Mohammed.

Saud Qahtani, a powerful adviser to the prince, also was fired. Qahtani had led Saudi efforts to isolate Qatar amid a boycott of the country by the kingdom and three other Arab nations as part of a political dispute.

On Twitter, where Qahtani had launched vitriolic attacks against those he saw as the kingdom's enemies, he thanked the Saudi government for the opportunity to serve.

"I will remain a loyal servant to my country for all times," he wrote.

In firing officials close to Prince Mohammed, Saudi Arabia stopped short of implicating the heir-apparent of the world's largest oil exporter. King Salman, his father, appointed him to lead a committee that will restructure the kingdom's intelligence services after Khashoggi's slaying. No major decisions in Saudi Arabia are made outside of the ultraconservative kingdom's ruling Al Saud family.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi's spokesman has called on Republicans to condemn "reckless and dangerous rhetoric" after Pelosi was confronted by an "angry mob" of far-right protesters in South Florida.

Pelosi, D-Calif., made an appearance on Wednesday at a Coral Gables campaign event for Donna Shalala, the Democratic candidate who hopes to fill the District 27 U.S. House seat vacated by retiring Republican Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen.

As Pelosi and her team entered the building through a back walkway for the event, a group of protesters approached and began hurling insults at Pelosi  calling her everything from a "piece of s---" to a "f------ communist."

"Open up! Its the Proud Boys in here," one of the protesters is heard saying in a video posted to YouTube.

The Proud Boys is a men-only, far-right organization founded in 2016 by Vice Media co-founder Gavin McInnes. The Southern Poverty Law Center has designated the Proud Boys as an extremist hate group.

A Proud Boys flag was waved during the demonstration in which some protesters were seen wearing Proud Boys gear.

The Proud Boys, called a hate group by the SPLC, joined the Miami Dade GOPs protest of Shalalas office event with Pelosi yesterday



Story (not about Proud Boys) is here: https://t.co/tYUhhc85sS pic.twitter.com/qpS4k2BkEZ  Marc Caputo (@MarcACaputo) October 18, 2018

In response on Friday, Drew Hammill, Pelosi's spokesman, blamed President Donald Trump and Republican congress members for stoking the "flames of incivility, intolerance and aggression."

"It is deeply sad but unsurprising that we now see that ugliness rearing its head. It is stunning that Republicans have the gall to call courageous survivors of sexual assault a mob, at the same time they incite and condone violent actions like this," Hammill said in a statement. "Republicans must condemn this vile and dangerous conduct, and stop the reckless and dangerous rhetoric that encourages it.

The Washington Post reports that the protest appears to have been organized by Miami-Dade County Republican Party Chairman Nelson Diaz, citing emails posted online.

In a statement, Diaz apologized for letting his "emotions get the best of me" during the demonstration and distanced himself from other protesters who "came with a different agenda."

"I unequivocally denounce their actions. I denounce all hate," Diaz wrote. "I and the Miami-Dade GOP share no affiliation whatsoever with those individuals and believe there is no place in our society for hateful language, or violence against any person or group regardless of their views."

The Florida Democratic Party on Saturday called for Diaz to resign.

"The Proud Boys' hate has no place in our nation, and their violent tactics certainly have no place in our politics," FDP chairwoman Terrie Rizzo said in a statement. "It is appalling that the Miami Dade GOP Chairman, Nelson Diaz, would campaign alongside a known hate group and welcome its members within his party. He should resign immediately and take anyone who espouses the Proud Boys' ideas out the door with him."

U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., also denounced the protesters' actions.

"You are not helping the cause of anti-communism if you behave like the repudiation mobs Castro has long used in Cuba. Not sure who was behind this behavior but you should have protested Pelosi campaign stop without borrowing the tactics of left wing mobs," Rubio wrote on Twitter.

Hammill replied to Rubio's Twitter post.

"These weren't anti-communism protestors. These were GOP operatives, including the Chairman of the Republican Party in Miami Dade County, working hand in hand with Proud Boys," Hammill wrote.

Proud Boys members have been arrested in connection to a New York City street brawl after a speech McInnes gave last weekend.
Outdoor clothing giant Patagonia jumped into two competitive Senate races Friday, endorsing Democrats Jon Tester of Montana and Jacky Rosen of Nevada in what the company called its first foray into elective politics.

The company described Tester and Rosen as champions of public lands and the outdoor industry. Tester is seeking a third term in the Senate while Rosen is a freshman House member who is challenging incumbent Republican Sen. Dean Heller.

The move follows a lawsuit the California-based company filed last year challenging President Donald Trump's decision to drastically shrink Bears Ears National Monument in Utah.

The company also sparred with Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, who accused Patagonia of lying after it claimed on its website that Trump "stole" public lands by shrinking Bears Ears and another monument in Utah.

Patagonia said in a statement that it has fought for the protection of wild places since its founding and has been encouraging its customers and employees to vote "with the planet in mind" since 2004.

The company is endorsing Senate candidates for the first time "because of the urgent and unprecedented threats to our public lands and waters," said spokeswoman Corley Kenna. Nevada and Montana are two states where Patagonia has significant history and a long record of conservation accomplishments, Kenna said.

Patagonia's action is highly unusual. Many corporations, including Patagonia, have established political action committees that take donations and contribute to political campaigns, but the companies themselves usually stay out of politics.

Tester's campaign spokesman Chris Meagher said there's a stark contrast between Tester and Rosendale on public lands. "Jon Tester has worked tirelessly to defend our state's way of life and make sure our public lands stay in public hands. Matt Rosendale talks a big game, but he wanted to transfer public lands, and has voted against protecting and expanding access to land for Montana's hunters and anglers," Meagher said.

Rosen spokeswoman Molly Foley said the campaign was thrilled to have Patagonia's support, and said Rosen would fight to keep public lands in public hands.

A spokesman for Heller said simply, "Dean Heller is a Carhartt guy," referring to another company known for its work clothes and jackets.

Patagonia operates a global distribution center in Reno, Nevada, with more than 650 employees. Its retail operations in in Montana go back three decades.

Patagonia CEO and President Rose Marcario said Rosen has a strong record of defending public lands in Congress and protecting access to clean air and clean water.

"We need her leadership to protect Nevada's economy and the basic health of its people, so the business community can thrive and so Nevadans can prosper," she said.

Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard said Patagonia was backing Tester "because he gives a damn about protecting public lands  and like us he's committed to fight back against anyone who doesn't."

Tester is running against Republican Matt Rosendale, the state auditor. Trump campaigned for Rosendale at a raucous rally Thursday night in Missoula, Montana. Trump said Tester has been a "disaster for Montana."
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz was forced out of a Washington, D.C., restaurant Monday night by a group protesting embattled Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.

Cruz and his wife, Heidi, were eating at Fiola, an upscale Italian restaurant on Pennsylvania Avenue, when a group of protesters approached them.

In a video posted on Twitter by Smash Racism DC, the group can be heard chanting, "We believe survivors," as Cruz and his wife sit down at a table.

One protester told Cruz that she is a survivor of sexual assault and asked him how he will vote on Kavanaugh's confirmation.

"God bless you, ma'am," Cruz replied.

The group continued to chant until Cruz and his wife got up and left the restaurant.

"Ted Cruz and Brett Kavanaugh are best friends," one protester yelled, as the couple exited.

Beto O'Rourke, who is challenging Cruz for his Senate seat, called for Cruz to be treated with respect.

"Not right that Senator Cruz and his wife Heidi were surrounded and forced to leave a restaurant last night because of protesters. The Cruz family should be treated with respect," O'Rourke tweeted Tuesday morning.

Two women have accused Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct.

Christine Blasey Ford has accused Kavanaugh of assaulting her at a party when they were teenagers. But Kavanaugh denies he was "at any such party." In an interview with Fox News, he said he's "never sexually assaulted anyone."

The second woman, Deborah Ramirez, accused Kavanaugh of exposing himself to her at a Yale University dormitory party, putting his penis in her face and causing her to touch it without her consent as she pushed him away. Kavanaugh also has denied that allegation.

President Donald Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell say they are determined to get Kavanaugh on the court, calling the allegations against him false and politically motivated. Kavanaugh has been defiant as well.

Ford and Kavanaugh are set to testify Thursday before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

"I'm not going to let false accusations drive us out of this process," Kavanaugh said.
He's the face behind the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. His pictures on Instagram allowed him to make a connection with a girl in Washington, who detectives learned he talked to often in the months before the Feb. 14 massacre.

Although she never met him in person, 14-year-old Mia Hoff considered Nikolas Cruz as a friend. She met him through Instagram last October when she was 13 years old. Eventually, they started texting and talking on the phone.

Its disappointing and sad to know someone you knew did something so bad to people, Hoff told NBC 6 through a video call.

She said Cruz was having a hard time and would talk to Hoff about school and about being bullied.

He said that people used to beat him up," Hoff said. "...He said he wanted to overdose and cut himself, which was big because I was going through a lot and he was going through a lot and we talked about it.

Detectives contacted Hoff after the shooting and interviewed her during the investigation.

When I found all of this out, I was crying so much," she said. "I cared for him so much and didnt think he would do that ... I didnt think he would hurt someone ... I was really depressed.

It wasn't until then her mother learned that her daughter knew Cruz.

"I didn't believe it until (the detective) told me Mia's number was one of the last numbers he had called besides family," Lisa Srsen told NBC 6.

Hoff recalls the last time she talked to Cruz was about a week before the massacre that killed 17 people.

"All I could remember is that he said he loved me and we never talked after that," she said.
What to Know NYPD says two arrests were made in connection with a street brawl after a speech last week by the founder of a right-wing group

John Kinsman, 39, and Geoffrey Young, 38, were arrested; It's unclear if they are associated with the group Proud Boys

The NYPD has said it's looking to arrest nine Proud Boys members and three protesters

The founder of a far-right group said Friday he was arranging the surrender of members wanted by police in connection with a New York City street brawl after a speech he gave last week.

Proud Boys founder Gavin McInnes told The New York Times said he expects the rest of the group's wanted members to be in police custody by Friday night following two arrests in the case in recent days.

Police told News 4 on Friday afternoon they didn't bthink anyone else was scheduled to turn themselves in in the fight.

Geoffrey Young, 38, of New City, New York, and John Kinsman were arraigned Friday on charges of riot and attempted assault. Kinsman, 39, of Morristown, New Jersey, is also charged with attempted gang assault and possession of a weapon.

Court records didn't list lawyers who could speak on their behalf.

Police made the arrests after combing through photos and videos posted on YouTube that showed the violent clash a week ago after McInnes' speech at a Republican club in Manhattan. The fight started when a masked protester threw a bottle, leading to the Proud Boys and groups that were protesting McInnes' speech kicking and punching each other on the sidewalk.

No serious injuries were reported.

After arresting three protesters the night of the brawl, the NYPD said it was looking for a dozen more suspects - nine Proud Boys members and three protesters.

The department said it is also looking into the Proud Boys group itself. Deputy Commissioner John Miller told the Times the NYPD has opened a criminal investigation into the organization.

The male-only Proud Boys describe themselves as "western chauvinists." The Southern Poverty Law Center has designated them as a hate group.

McInnes, who is also a co-founder of Vice Media, didn't immediately respond to messages from the Associated Press.

The Republican club was vandalized ahead of McInnes' appearance. 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."
What to Know A New York man has been charged with threatening to kill two senators for supporting Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation to U.S. Supreme Court

Ronald Derisi, of Smithtown, was scheduled to appear Friday at a federal court on Long Island. He is 74

Capitol Police say he called the senators from a pre-paid cellphone and left threatening voicemails before, after Kavanaugh's confirmation

A New York man has been charged with threatening to kill two U.S. senators for supporting Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Ronald Derisi, of Smithtown, was scheduled to appear Friday at a federal court on Long Island. He is 74.

Federal prosecutors are not naming the senators who received the threatening messages.

The Associated Press reports that a call to Derisi's residence seeking comment rang unanswered.

It wasn't immediately clear whether he had an attorney.

Capitol Police say Derisi called the senators from a pre-paid cellphone and left threatening voicemails before and after Kavanaugh's contentious confirmation this month.

According to the complaint, during recorded messages, a male caller who did not identify himself threatened one of the senators, who was only identified as "Senator 1" in court documents, with a nine millemeter weapon.

Additionally, according to court documents, the male caller also contacted "Senator 2," making harrassing calls as well as threatening they will "be in touch soon" after Kavanaugh's confirmation.

Court documents state that the telephone calls made by the male caller resulted in 10 voice messages to "Senator 2."

Investigators say they traced the calls to Derisi using cellphone records and "location information" from the cellphone provider.

Derisi has previously pleaded guilty to making other harassing calls. Around February 2015, he made threatening calls and plead guilty in Nassau County First District Court to one count of aggravated harrassment in the second degree in connection to repeatedly calling a victim's home and office more than 15 times and leaving voice messages, documents say.
Former patients of a well-known Upper East Side pediatrician are detailing decades-old allegations of abuse.

The late Dr. Reginald Archibald worked at Rockefeller University Hospital from the 1940s until his retirement in 1982. Archibald studied childhood growth and many alleged victims, mostly boys, said they participated in a free growth study. He died in 2007.

Two attorneys represent more than 100 alleged victims and said they believe there are hundreds of victims in total.

Two of the alleged victims talked to NsBC 4 New York. They said their visits to Archibald started with the doctor asking them to get naked, then he would lock the door.

Mitchell Scher, who took part in a growth study in the 1960s, said the doctor would have him sit in his lap.

"He fondled me," Scher said. "He would play with genitals and stuff."

Another man, who asked to remain anonymous, described a secretary knocking on the door while he was sitting on Archibald's lap. The doctor quickly had him stand up and unlock the door, then whispered to the secretary.

Both men said the doctor took photos of them naked. The attorneys for both men said they want to know where those photos are, but the hospital hasn't provided information.

The hospital said it learned of allegations in 2004. In the last two weeks, it sent a letter to patients to inform them.

"We are appalled to hear those accounts of Dr. Archibald's behavior," the hospital said in a statement. "We deeply regret pain and suffering caused to any of Dr. Archibald's former patients."

But an attorney for dozens of the victims said the hospital should have done more.

"I think they had enough information they could've stopped it in its course," attorney Jennifer Freeman said.

The hospital didn't respond to questions about why it took so long to inform former patients about the allegations against Archibald.

Rockefeller University Hospital has offered to pay for counseling and started a victim therapy fund.
What to Know A small airplane ended up on a Long Island road after authorities say it ran off the runway at a nearby airfield

There are no immediate reports of any injuries

It happened around 12:30 p.m. Saturday by Lufker Airport in East Moriches

A small plane ended up on a Long Island road after running off a runway Saturday, leaving the aircraft damaged but no one injured, authorities said.

After taking off from Republic Airport in Farmingdale, pilot Nedie Seidu flew about 40 miles east and tried to land at the small Lufker Airport in East Moriches around 12:30 p.m., the Suffolk County Police Department said.

But Seidu wasn't able to stop before rolling off the runway onto Montauk Highway, authorities said.

The single-engine Piper PA-28 crossed the two-lane road and hit a sign, damaging the plane's propeller and a wing before it came to rest in front of a commercial strip, police said.

No contact information for Seidu, 30, of Manhattan, could immediately be found.

The pilot was bringing the plane in for maintenance at a repair show at Lufker Airport, which has a 2,300-foot-long (701-meter-long) grass runway, said manager Ron DeLalio.

"He just overshot the field, came in a little too hot," said DeLalio, who wasn't acquainted with the pilot.

The Federal Aviation Administration said there was a second person aboard. That person's name wasn't immediately released.

Federal Aviation Administration records show the plane is owned by a Delaware company with the same name as a Farmingdale flight school and airplane rental company. A man who answered its phone declined to comment and hung up.

The FAA is investigating.
What to Know Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman initially said, "We have nothing to hide"

Saudi Arabia describes claims in the media that there were "orders to kill (Khashoggi)" as "lies and baseless allegations

Saudi Arabia then said preliminary investigations show an "altercation" and "fistfight" led to Khashoggi's death at the consulate

The official Saudi statements on the fate of journalist Jamal Khashoggi have changed several times since he mysteriously disappeared after entering his country's consulate in Istanbul earlier this month.

The latest announcement on Saturday, declaring that Khashoggi had died in a "fistfight" with officials that came to see him there, increased criticism over Saudi's handling of the case and concern over the kingdom's possible complicity in the killing of the prominent Washington Post columnist.

Here is a look at the Saudi narrative regarding Khashoggi, as it developed.

___

Oct. 2: Khashoggi enters the Saudi consulate in a leafy neighborhood in Istanbul at 1.14 p.m. on Tuesday. He had left his mobile phones with his Turkish fiance, who waited for him outside the consulate. She calls friends hours later to tell them that Khashoggi never emerged from the consulate.

Oct. 3: In a wide-ranging interview, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman tells Bloomberg he understands that Khashoggi left the consulate after "a few minutes or one hour." Bin Salman says his kingdom's authorities are in talks with the Turkish government to determine what happened. He insists Khashoggi is no longer inside the consulate and says Turkish authorities are welcome to search the diplomatic mission. "We have nothing to hide," says the crown prince.

Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist and Washington Post contributor, is feared dead after he entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul last week and has not been seen since. Khashoggi has been a vocal critic of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman. Khashoggi went to the consulate to pick up paperwork in order to marry his fiancee.

Oct. 4: On Twitter, the Saudi consulate in Istanbul says it is following up on media reports of Khashoggi's disappearance "after he left the building" of the consulate.

Oct. 4: Turkey summons the Saudi ambassador.

Oct. 6: Saudi Arabia says it has dispatched a team to "investigate and cooperate" with Turkish officials over Khashoggi's case.

Oct. 7: Turkish officials say Khashoggi has been killed at the consulate. A Saudi government statement describes the Turkish allegations as "baseless."

Oct. 9: Turkey says it will search the consulate.

Oct. 11: Turkey says it has agreed with Saudi Arabia to form a joint group to shed light on the disappeared journalist's fate. The Saudi team arrives in Istanbul a day later.

Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist and Washington Post contributor, is missing and feared dead after he entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul last week. President Donald Trump says he wants to learn more about the incident but does not want to place sanctions on Saudi Arabia.

Oct. 13: Saudi Arabia's interior minister describes claims in the media that there were "orders to kill (Khashoggi)" as "lies and baseless allegations." Turkish media quote officials as saying Khashoggi has been killed and dismembered inside the consulate.

Oct. 14: Turkey's Foreign Ministry renews calls on Saudi Arabia to allow investigators to search the consulate.

Oct. 15: Nearly two weeks after Khashoggi's disappearance, teams of Turkish investigators enter the consulate to start their search.

Oct. 15: A Saudi-owned satellite news channel says the 15-member team referred to by Turkish media as Khashoggi's "hit squad" were "tourists" visiting Turkey.

Oct. 16: Without warning, the Saudi consul in Istanbul, a key witness in the case, leaves Turkey to Saudi Arabia.

Some members of Congress say the U.S. must act against Saudi Arabia if the country's leaders are responsible for the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, but they differ on exactly what that action would entail.

Oct. 17: Turkish authorities begin searching the consul's residence in Istanbul.

Oct. 19: In a late-night announcement, Saudi Arabia's public prosecutor says preliminary investigations show an "altercation" and "fistfight" led to Khashoggi's death shortly after he arrived at the consulate. He adds that 18 Saudi nationals were detained. A Saudi foreign ministry official says the kingdom is investigating the "regrettable and painful incident of Jamal Khashoggi's death" and forming a committee to hold those responsible accountable.
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What to Know Wells Fargo & Co. is relocating from its South Broad Street location.

The bank has signed a long-term lease on four floors totaling 84,588 square feet at Two Logan Square.

A branch and the Wells Fargo History Museum will remain at 123 S. Broad St.

Wells Fargo & Co.  after spending at least two decades on South Broad Street and for many years as one of Philadelphias biggest tenants  is relocating to a new building and neighborhood.

The bank, which has shed office space in recent years, has signed a long-term lease on four floors totaling 84,588 square feet at Two Logan Square. The space at Two Logan is being vacated by Comcast Corp., which is moving into its newly constructed Comcast Technology Center. The relocation of its offices will mean the bank will diminish its presence on South Broad Street.

Two Logan is a 35-story office building at 100 N. 18th St. owned by Brandywine Realty Trust. When asked, Wells Fargo did not elaborate on why it selected the building to consolidate its Center City offices.

Philadelphia is a key market for us and we are excited to be moving team members to Two Logan Square in September 2020, said Crystal Dundas, a Wells Fargo spokeswoman, said in a statement. When completed, this will bring approximately 400 employees currently working at 123 S. Broad St., One South Broad Street and 1500 Market St. together into one central hub.

A branch and the Wells Fargo History Museum will remain at 123 S. Broad St., Dundas said.

Comcast is the parent company of NBC10.

For more on Wells Fargo's office move, click here.

Stay in the know on all things business with the Philadelphia Business Journal.
Authorities say the 18 people in a limousine and two pedestrians who were killed when the vehicle crashed off a rural upstate New York road earlier this month all died from the impact of the accident.

New York State Police say Friday that results of autopsies conducted at Albany Medical Center confirmed all 20 victims in the Oct. 6 crash in Schoharie died from "multiple severe traumatic blunt force injuries."

State police say they're still awaiting the results of toxicology tests, including for the driver, 53-year-old Scott Lisinicchia. Officials have said he wasn't properly licensed to drive the vehicle, which state police said was "unserviceable" at the time of the crash.

The investigation into the crash is continuing.

The limo company's operator has been charged with criminally negligent homicide.
California moved a step closer Friday to allowing marijuana deliveries in communities that have banned retail sales of the drug as regulators rebuffed cities and police chiefs opposed the rule.

The proposal is a major issue that could ultimately end up in court as the state continues to assemble pieces in the pot regulatory puzzle since recreational sales became legal Jan. 1.

Cities have been able to ban retail sales, but state law says local governments cannot prevent cannabis deliveries on public roads so the state  at this point  rejected the plea from opponents who said it would increase crime and cause other problems.

California police chiefs, the League of Cities and other groups launched an online petition this summer opposed to the proposal that showed wide-eyed children gesturing toward a pot delivery van outside a school.

Regulators received thousands of comments about a raft of proposed regulations, but half of those were aimed at the delivery issue, said Alex Traverso, spokesman for the Bureau of Cannabis Control.

There was a lot on both sides of the dial, but the determination was to leave statewide delivery as it was, he said.

The proposed delivery rule and changes in other draft regulations now face a 15-day public comment period. The rules are expected to be finalized in December.
Some 3,000 Central American migrants stormed into Mexico from Guatemala on Friday with hopes of eventually arriving to the United States. Busloads of Mexican federal police were gathering in Ciudad Hidalgo and a Mexican military helicopter flew along the river in anticipation.

Here is a look at the differences between the Guatemala-Mexico border and the U.S.-Mexico border between Tijuana and San Diego where members of a migrant caravan arrived last spring.

WHAT'S THE GUATEMALA-MEXICO BORDER LIKE?

The official border crossing is a bridge connecting the cities of Tecun Uman, Guatemala and Ciudad Hidalgo, Mexico. A gate onto the bridge on the Guatemalan side was closed Friday and blocked by police. But rafts also cross the swift-moving Suchiate River, moving cargo and people between the two countries day and night, typically without much government interference. Locals said they had been warned by Mexican authorities not to carry people. At times Mexico has stepped up its immigration patrols along the border, but it has had more success patrolling the roads leading away from the crossing where migrants catch rides or walk along the roadside.

WHAT'S THE U.S.-MEXICO BORDER LIKE?

The U.S.-Mexico border between Tijuana and San Diego is the world's busiest land border crossing. It is also the most heavily fortified segment between both countries and now sees comparatively few illegal crossings. In some places in the area, the U.S. has installed three layers of walls and fencing. There is also bright lighting, roads patrolled by the Border Patrol and surveillance technology.
For the past 10 years, the United African American Ministerial Action Council has hosted a gun buyback program in Encanto in honor of two teens who were killed as a result of gun violence.

On Saturday, the Council once again co-hosted the event with the San Diego Police Department, San Diego County Sheriffs Department and the San Diego County District Attorneys Office.

It started because of the death of Michael Taylor and Monique Palmer, the Rev. Gerald Brown said. We continued this event in their memory to keep out street, community, city and county safe.

Taylor, 15, and Palmer, 17, were leaving a house party in Valencia Park in December 2008 when they were gunned down by Frederick Garcia Cruz, a gang member. Both Taylor and Palmer have no gang connection.

Cruz was sentenced to 50 years to life for their murder in March 2011.

Participating in this program could very well save someone's life by preventing guns from getting into the wrong hands  or a child's hands, San Diego police Chief David Nisleit said in a statement.

In addition to removing unwanted guns off the streets, the event also honors all victims of gun violence, organizers said.

"It is our hope people will honor not only these two young people, who lost their lives so senselessly but all people who have died due to gun violence," San Diego Sheriff Bill Gore said in a statement.

Nearly 900 guns were removed from the street in the past three years through this event. Roughly 300 guns were collected each year, Brown said.

This is the best show of law enforcement, community and church coming together for one purpose: to make San Diego the safest city to work, play and worship, he said.

On Saturday, 249 guns were turned in, 121 of which were handguns. People who turn in their guns got a gift card or a skateboard in return. The cards were worth $100 to $200 depending on the weapons.

One man brought in a 19th century U.S. cavalry gun, valued at over $3,000, said San Diego police Capt. Gerry Hara.

Less number of guns that there are, less gun violence that theres going to be," Hara said. "So were here working with a lot of community partners as well as the sheriffs department the DAs office and City Council to just buy back all those guns and lets get all those guns off the street.

All guns collected will be destroyed.
A week ago, firefighters in Conway went to a neighborhood and told surprised residents their houses would flood from Hurricane Florence even though they had never had water in them before.

On Monday and Tuesday, those same firefighters checked on those same South Carolina neighborhoods with maps that detailed each of the nearly 1,000 homes that could expect to be inundated.

"It's kind of playing out exactly like we forecast," Conway Fire Chief Le Hendrick said.

Twelve days after the once-fierce hurricane arrived on the coast, and more than a week after it blew north and dissipated, rivers swollen by its relentless rains are still flooding homes and businesses in their paths as they make their way to the sea.

The slow-moving disaster has allowed forecasters to pinpoint exactly who will flood. There have been few rescues or surprises in South Carolina  just black, reeking water slowly seeping in and even more slowly receding.

"You find yourself sitting around a lot and thinking, 'What if,' or, 'I wonder what things are like right now,'" said Vivian Chestnut, who left her home in Conway a week ago and might not get back until well into October. "And wondering what you are going to find when you finally get back."

The Waccamaw River, which flows through the city of 23,000, was expected to crest on Wednesday at 21.7 feet (6.6 meters). It surpassed the previous record high of 17.9 feet (5.5 meters) set in 2016 by Hurricane Matthew on Friday.

The waterway was not expected to drop below 18 feet (5.5 meters) or so until sometime next week. The river floods at 11 feet (3.4 meters).

All that water is making its way to Georgetown, where five different rivers reach the sea. Officials there said the worst of the flooding would start Wednesday and last until Thursday, likely leaving only one highway into the city.

And if that weren't bad enough, more weather was forming off the coast in a hurricane season that still has two months to go. National Hurricane Center forecasters watching a low pressure area about 200 miles (320 kilometers) south of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, said it could become a tropical depression as it approaches the coast before moving quickly to the north.

While it will likely dump some additional rain on the Florence-battered city of Wilmington, it wasn't expected to be significant enough to worsen the flooding.

"It shouldn't put much of a dent in the rivers," said Reid Hawkins, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Wilmington.

Officials at South Carolina's state-owned utility were still warily monitoring two coal-ash ponds near Conway. Santee Cooper officials said floodwater from the Waccamaw River had already made it into one pond, but most of the ash had already been removed from it during an earlier cleanup project.

The river is likely to flood the second pond soon, but the utility promised it has taken steps to lessen the environmental impact, such as installing silt fencing and a floating environmental containment boom.

Not far from the ash ponds, engineers are keeping an eye on U.S. Highway 501, the main link to Myrtle Beach. Water is now touching a temporary barrier of sand and plastic that has been erected to keep water off the bridge. Called the Lifeline, the temporary wall will remain effective if the water doesn't rise more than an additional 5 feet (1.5 meters) from its current level, according to the state Department of Transportation.

In North Carolina the rivers have stopped rising, but the recovery process is really just beginning. In rural Jones County, between Kinston and New Bern, two of the county's six schools will have to be demolished after floodwaters left mold and mildew in their wake, School Superintendent Michael Bracy said..

Associated Press writers Jonathan Drew, Gary D. Robertson, Alex Derosier, Meg Kinnard and AP Science Writer Seth Borenstein contributed to this report.
A man was killed in Temple Hills, Maryland, after a resident shot him because he believed he had broken in to his home, police say.

David William Taylor Sr., of Temple Hills, was found dead in the 4300 block of 23rd Place on Wednesday morning, Prince George's County police said Friday. Taylor was 55.

According to a preliminary investigation, the resident shot Taylor after suspecting his house had been burglarized. After being shot, Taylor appears to have fled and collapsed in a backyard a few houses away.

Someone saw Taylor unresponsive and called police. Officers responded about 8 a.m. and pronounced him dead.

Detectives interviewed the resident and are consulting with prosecutors about whether criminal charges will be filed against him.

Sources told News4 earlier this week that the resident told police he opened fire overnight and went to sleep. He said that in the morning he learned he had hit someone.

Officers worked in the neighborhood, which is ordinarily quiet, for hours on Wednesday.

Anyone with information for police is asked to call 301-772-4925.
A state attorney said Friday that a city commissioner in central Florida was indicted on the charge of second-degree murder in the death of a suspected shoplifter at his military surplus store earlier this month, NBC News reported.

The Oct. 3 shooting was captured on store surveillance and showed Lakeland City Commissioner Michael Dunn firing at Christobal Lopez, 50, at the front door of Dunn's Vets Army & Navy Surplus.

Dunn could be seen grabbing Lopez, an agricultural laborer, as he tried to leave, then firing a semiautomatic Glock at him. Lopez was holding a hatchet in his right hand that belonged to the store, police said, but wasn't seen in the video physically threatening Dunn.

Dunn, who was booked into Polk County Jail, has not commented about the incident, which has drawn renewed attention to Florida's "stand your ground" law, enacted in 2005 with support from gun lobbyists. His attorney has previously said they haven't decided whether they would want to invoke the statute.
What to Know A newly identified snake with lengthwise brown and creamy yellow stripes, is called Pseudalsophis thomasi, after Professor Robert Thomas

Another is Pseudalsophis hephaestus, for the Galapagos Islands' volcanic origins

and Pseudalsophis darwini is for the scientist Charles Darwin, whose theory of evolution grew out of a voyage through the Galapagos

A Louisiana professor is in heady company, honored by having one of three newly identified species of snakes from the Galapagos Islands named after him.

"They named one after Charles Darwin  that's a no-brainer  and one after the Greek god of fire, and one after me, of all people," said Robert A. Thomas, an environmental biologist and head of head of the Center for Environmental Communication at Loyola University New Orleans.

The snake in question, a handsome critter with lengthwise brown and creamy yellow stripes, is called Pseudalsophis thomasi.

"I've got a picture of it taped up here in the office, and it makes me smile every time I look at it," Thomas said.

He's been studying snakes since the 1970s and began studying those in the Galapagos Islands in 1984. In 1997, he published an overview of Galapagos snakes based on features such as scale counts, patterns and other shapes and forms.

A team of Brazilian and Ecuadorian biologists led by Dr. Hussam Zaher of the Universidad de Sao Paolo used genetic analysis to restudy the snakes and work out their evolutionary route through the chain of islands. That study identified the three new species. In addition to Pseudalsophis thomasi, they are Pseudalsophis hephaestus, for the island chain's volcanic origins; and Pseudalsophis darwini, for the scientist whose theory of evolution grew out of a voyage through the Galapagos.

Their findings were published online Aug. 22 by the journal Systematics and Biodiversity, and on Sept. 3 in the Brazilian journal Pesquisa.

The scientists invited Thomas to join the team five years ago. He shared the information he had collected and got more from U.S. museums. Then the others told him they wanted to name one of the new species after him, to honor his work studying the islands' snakes.

"I had to drop off the paper. The rules are that you cannot be an author on a paper where something is named after you," Thomas said. "I thought about it deeply and decided there are just some fun honors you shouldn't pass up in life. This is one of them."

Thomas said the species is mildly venomous but not dangerous to people  only to lizards and other small animals. The one used for the species' formal description was 726 millimeters (about 28.6 inches) long and weighed 105 grams (3.7 ounces).

Thomas said he has photos of the snake that he took in 1984, not knowing it was a different species. They weren't very good, he said, because the snake was wriggling, but they did let him describe the belly scales and back pattern.

"A friend could have named a bacterium after me from Outer Slobovia and that would have been a real honor. ... But this is a snake that I've worked on, so it's very meaningful to me," he said. "I'm very honored."
A top Russian diplomat says the U.S. allegation that a Russian woman helped oversee a social media effort to influence the 2018 U.S. midterm elections is shameful.

Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov made the comments in a statement Saturday, a day after U.S. prosecutors filed a criminal complaint against Elena Khusyaynova. The complaint says she helped oversee the finances at a so-called troll farm aiming to influence U.S. politics through social media postings.

The operation is one of those also named in an indictment this year for allegedly interfering in the 2016 U.S. election.

"Washington, having spread shameless lies about the mythical 'hand of Moscow' for more than two years, is now trying to play the same card ahead of the approaching U.S. Election Day," Ryabkov said in the statement.

The troll farm, the Internet Research Agency, is one of a web of companies allegedly controlled by Yevgeny Prigozhin, who has reported ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The internet news site Federal News Agency, reportedly also linked to Prigozhin, said in a story Friday that Khusyaynova was its head bookkeeper and had worked with the company since its inception in 2014. But it dismissed the allegation of her involvement in election meddling, saying "probably a closer look should be taken at the cleaners and the pizza deliverer."

Other than her employment, little was publicly known about the 44-year-old Khusyaynova.

According to the Russian bailiffs' database, Khusaynova owes about 10 million rubles ($167,000) for bailiff fees in debt-recovery cases from recent years. How she incurred the debts or their total amount was not stated.

The independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta reported that a bank in 2015 filed to recover 7.8 million rubles in debt and a court ordered foreclosure on a residence she owned in the Russian city of St. Petersburg.

The newspaper also reported that her son, Timur, had a channel on YouTube that he used to post videos critical of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny. The videos suspiciously received thousands of "likes" within minutes of being posted, according to the newspaper.

After YouTube shut down the channel, he established a presence on Vkontakte, a social media site similar to Facebook, the newspaper said.
The owner of a Dunkin' franchise in Portland, Maine, has apologized to a woman who said she was banned from the store for speaking Somali with her family this week, NBC News reported.

Hamdia Ahmed, a 20-year-old refugee from Somalia and local college student, said she and her family were speaking in Somali while waiting in the drive-thru at the Dunkin' on Monday when the employee asked them to stop yelling, which she said they weren't doing.

"You're going to disrespect me cause I speak a different language than you. Is that what it is?" Ahmed said in a video she posted to Twitter.

The employee threatened to call the police, which she did after Ahmed went inside to resolve the issue. Officers gave her a notice barring her from the premises for a year.

But Ahmed said it was rescinded after the store's owner apologized.
A Massachusetts State Trooper is recovering from surgery after being stabbed multiple times during a pursuit of a suspect in New Salem on Friday.

The 47-year-old trooper was stabbed in the head, neck, shoulders and arm while trying to apprehend an 18-year-old man who had led police on car chase through several states.

Authorities say the chase began when the suspect -- whose name has not yet been released -- carjacked a vehicle he crashed into in Walpole, New Hampshire, around noon on Friday. According to police, he drove through Vermont and down Interstate 91 into Massachusetts.

The chase ended on Fay and Orange Road in New Salem.

Hannah Hunting, who was driving nearby, says she witnessed the suspect get out of the car he was driving and attack the trooper.

The suspect jumped out of his car, and I saw him with his hand in his pocket, so I immediately yelled at my kids to get into the van and get their heads down, Hunting told NBC 10 Boston.

The suspect ran to the police car and opened the door. I was watching from the van, and I thought they were just punching, but I realized after that he was stabbing the police officer, Hunting said.

Police say the suspect was shot during the attack.

The trooper and the suspect were taken to UMass Medical Center in Worcester, where they are both recovering. The suspect is facing several vehicle-related and assault charges.

Authorities have not released the name of the trooper, but say he is a 12-year veteran of the force.

The incident remains under investigation.
MORE than 100 visitors braved the weather to attend the annual Kingsclere Photo Club exhibition at the weekend.

Nearly 100 pictures were exhibited in the village hall, George Street, by 19 members of the club and visitors were encouraged to vote for their favourite.

There were also a further 22 pictures from seven members from FocalIcy  the camera club of Cormicy, Kingscleres twin village in France.

The winner of the public vote for favourite photo was the Chapter House (Wells Cathedral) taken by Chris Brown.

The members vote for the best panel went to Mary Fergusons Light & Dark still life panel.

Treasurer and membership secretary Gareth Martin said: We had a good show, despite the weather, with a steady stream of visitors both days.

Andy Bates won the raffle for a portrait session, donated by MOL Photography, George Street, Kingsclere.


A day earlier, the Sabarimala temple complex witnessed high drama and tense moments when two women reached the hilltop with heavy police escort, but had to return before reaching the sanctum sanctorum following massive protests by Lord Ayyappa devotees.



As the two were returning, a 46-year-old woman also made an attempt to trek the forest path from downhill Pamba to the temple complex five km away, but retracted following protests from devotees.



In a significant development, the Travancore Devaswom Board, that manages the shrine, said on Friday it would approach the Supreme Court to defuse the tense situation prevailing in the state after the government decided to implement the apex court order on entry of women of all age groups into the shrine.



In an advisory, the Union Home Ministry has asked asked Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka to tighten security in view of the continuing protests against the SC verdict.



Earlier in the day, when the two women, one identified as a Hyderabad based reporter in her late 20s, and a Kochi based activist reached the hilltop, a large number of devotees blocked them at Valiya Nadappandhal, the queue complex located a few metres away from the holy 'pathinettam padi' (the 18 sacred steps), leading to the sanctum sanctorum.



The devotees, including senior citizens and children chanting Ayyappa mantras, protested the entry of women of menstrual age group into the shrine.



Tension was defused after the women agreed to return as the state government made it clear it did not want to take them to the Sannidhanam, the temple complex, by using force against the protesting devotees.



The firm stand taken by the 'tantri' (head priest) that he would close the temple if the women were escorted into the sanctum sanctorum also persuaded them to return as per instructions of the police. Though the women had earlier insisted they should reach the shrine, police later convinced them about the gravity of the situation and conveyed the stand taken by the government and the head priest.



If they had reached the shrine, they would have been the first women from the menstruating age group to visit the Lord Ayyappa temple at Sabarimala after the apex court order permitting women of all age groups to enter the shrine. Inspector General S Sreejith, who led the police team escorting the women, later told reporters the women expressed their willingness to go back.



"The tantri has informed me that he will close the temple and go if the women enter the shrine complex. It was conveyed to the women and they have expressed their willingness to go back. We will give them protection in the same manner to climb down the hills," he said.



State Devaswom Minister Kadakampally Surendran, who was in Thiruvanathapuram, said the government was not ready to use force and hurt the sentiments of devotees. He also said one of the women was later identified as an activist and holy Sabarimala was not a place to show their strength and activism.



"The government has the duty and responsibility to implement the Supreme Court order and give protection to devotees but not for activists," Surendran said. "Police should have examined the veracity and background of the women who came to trek to the shrine," he added. With the protests at Sabarimala intensifying, the state police chief Loknath Behera called on the governor P Sathasivam and updated him about the situation.
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New Delhi:

Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Saturday launch the partys election campaign in Telangana and promised farmers in the state farm loan waiver of up to Rs 2 lakh at one go if his party wins in the coming state Assembly elections scheduled on December 7.



Farmers are committing suicide all over the country. Thousands of farmers committed suicide in Telangana because they didnt get proper price (for their produce)  The Congress party promises that Rs 2 lakh in farm loan will be waived in one go. Not only that we will also ensure Rs 7,000 per quintal for cotton, the Congress president said at a public meeting in Bhainsa.



ALSO READ | Rahul Gandhi to visit poll-bound Telangana today



Rahul accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) chief K Chandrasekhar Rao of making false promises to people. He also alleged that KCR insulted B R Ambedkar by changing the name of a project named after him.

Change will come in Telangana. The KCR government will go. And in Delhi, Narendra Modis government will go. I did not come here to make false promises. If you want to listen to false promises, then go to KCR and Modi, they will give you false promises, Rahul said.



KCR changed the project designs, raising its cost from Rs 38,000 crore to Rs one lakh crore, the Congress president said, adding that with Rajiv Sagar and Indira Sagar projects too original costs were inflated.



Wherever you see, CM indulges in corruption and benefits go to his family, relatives. As soon as he became CM, KCR started indulging in corruption, giving all the benefits to his family, Rahul said in his speech.



If voted to power at the Centre as well as in the state, the Congress will implement the Tribal Rights Bill (The Scheduled Tribes and other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act) and Land Acquisition Acts in letter and spirit, Rahul said.



The moment Congress comes into power in Telangana, we will protect tribal lands. We will give Rs 3,000 allowance each to unemployed youth, he said.



Rahul said that the KCR government failed to fulfil promises such as job for every family, three acres of land to every SC and ST family and two-bedroom houses for all eligible people. Rao also failed to implement 12 per cent quota for STs and provide drinking water to every family, he said.



ALSO READ | Chhattisgarh Elections: Congress releases first list of candidates

Wherever Modiji and KCR go they make false promises. You watch all my speeches. I am in politics for the past 15 years. We promised to waive their loans (earlier). We waived Rs 70,000 crore worth of farm loans, he said.



Continuing to attack Modi, Rahul said, He pits people of one religion against the other, one region against another, one caste against another, and weakens the country. The note ban also destroyed the small-scale sector in the country, he alleged.

On the Rafale deal, Rahul said Modi owes answers to the nation.
New Delhi:

After China alerted India on possible flash floods in Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border areas, people residing along the banks of Siang river in Arunachal Pradesh have been moved to safety.

China on Wednesday alerted India about possible flash floods in the area due to formation of an artificial lake in Tibet following a landslide, officials said Saturday.



The first rush of water reached Pasihgat, the headquarters of East Siang district in Arunachal Pradesh, at around 7.30 am Saturday, said Water Resources department, superintending engineer (Hqs), Getom Borang. He told PTI over phone that the water flow was under control and below the danger level at 11 am.

Also Read | Amritsar train tragedy survivors, families recall night of horror



Meanwhile, the National Disaster Response Force (NERF) team has arrived and East Siang district Deputy Commissioner Duly Kamduk and officials of the Water Resources department are constantly monitoring the flow of the Siang river, officials said.



Arunchal Pradesh Health and Family Welfare Minister Alo Libang, who is also the MLA of Yingkiong constituency in East Siang district, said the water level of the Siang river had risen at around 11 pm Friday night, but started receding after some time. The officials were constantly monitoring the water level of the river, he said.

Also Read | Chhattisgarh Elections: Ajit Jogi not to contest, to focus on campaign



Chinese Embassy spokesperson Counselor Ji Rong had said that his country had activated the Emergency Information Sharing Mechanism with India following the landslide on Wednesdaymorning near Jiala village in Milin County in the lower ranges of Yaluzangbu river in Tibet.



Ji said the Hydrological Bureau of Tibet Autonomous Region has begun to share with the Indian side hydrological information every hour, such as the water level and flow rate at the Nuxia hydrological station and the temporary hydrological station downstream of the barrier lake.

The Yaluzangbu river in Arunachal Pradesh region is called Siang and Brahmaputra in Assam.
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New Delhi :

The driver of the Amritsar diesel multiple unit (DMU) train that ploughed through Dussehra revellers watching the effigy of Ravana burn has been detained by the Punjab and railway police from Amritsar railway station.

The driver told the police that he got the green signal to move ahead and that he had no idea that there were hundreds of people standing on the tracks. However, the organisers of the Dussehra event could not be traced.

The Railways officials were also questioning the lineman who gave the train green signal and reportedly didnt inform the driver about the presence of a crow on the tracks.

Also Read | Amritsar Train Tragedy: 61 dead, Railways says clear case of trespassing

As many as 59 people were killed while watching the effigy of demon king Ravana burn after the DMU train ran over them. The eyewitnesses said that the speeding train came suddenly and before they could release it ran them over, leaving bodies and bloody tracks.

Railways Minister Piyush Goyal, who is on a foreign tour said that he will return immediately while his junior Minister of State for Railways Manoj Sinha visited the site on Friday night.

Railway officials said that they were not informed about the event and termed the accident a clear case of trespassing.

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New Delhi:

Minister of State for Railways Manoj Sinha Saturday said no punitive action would be taken against the driver of the train that mowed down 59 people when it sped over a spillover of crowd celebrating Dussehra in Amritsar on Friday night. He said there was no negligence on the part of the national transporter and advised people not to hold such events near railway tracks.



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So far, the tragic accident toll has risen to 59. Of it, 39 bodies have been identified. And 57 others who suffered injuries are being treated in Amritsar hospital.

The railways claimed that it was not a fault since it was not informed about the Dussehra event that was held near the Amritsar Railway Station on the occasion on the fateful night.

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The incident was not a railways fault. There was no lapse on our part and no action against the driver will be initiated. People should refrain from organising such events near tracks in future. I think if precaution had been taken, the accident could have been averted, he said.

The minister also said that drivers are given specific instructions on where to slow down the train.

There was a curve. The driver couldnt have seen it. What should we order an inquiry about? Trains travel in speed only, said Sinha when asked if an inquiry would be ordered against the driver.

READ |Namaste England vs Badhai Ho: Box-office clash this week

Ferozpur Divisional Railway Manager Vivek Kumar also said that the driver had been questioned but no lapse could be found at his end. He said that while the train was travelling at a speed of 91 km/hr but after spotting the crowd on the track, it slowed down to 68 km/hr before the first impact.

People were trespassing the railway lines when the incident took place. Due to darkness and sound of firecrackers, the people could not hear the sound of train. The driver did not see the crowd earlier as there was a curve. The driver tried to apply brakes and minimize the speed to the train running at 90 Km/hour but it takes time to stop the train, he said.

Railway Board Borad chairman Ashwani Lohani had said the accident took place at a railway stretch between two stationsAmritsar and Manawalaand not at a level crossing.

At midsections, trains run at their assigned speed and people are not expected to be on the tracks. At midsections, there is no railway staff posted. We have staff at level crossings whose job is to regulate traffic, he said. He said the gate man was 400 metres away at a level crossing. He also said that if the driver had applied emergency brakes, there could have been a bigger tragedy.

The train was running at its assigned speed and initial reports suggest that the driver applied brakes and the train slowed down, he said.

There was no information and no permission sought from us. The (Dussehra) event took place at a place adjoining the railway land in private property, Lohani said.

However, the statutory inquiry by the Commission of Railway Safety that works under the administrative control of the Civil Aviation Ministry will be carried out as per the norms, Sinha said.

(With PTI inputs)





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New Delhi :

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh Saturday ordered a magisterial inquiry into the Amritsar train accident and said his government will extend all possible help to the accident victims and their families. Relief operations were in full swing, he added.

We are ordering a magisterial inquiry into the incident under the police commissioner who will submit a report in four weeks, Singh said while speaking to reporters after meeting the injured at a hospital in Amritsar.

Also Read | Amritsar train driver detained by police, says he got 'all-clear' to move on

The Punjab CM ordered the immediate release of Rs 3 crore to District Collector Amritsar for the payment of ex-gratia to the families of the deceased. He also promised to punish the culprits of the tragedy that left 61 people dead and 72 others seriously injured.

Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh visits Civil Hospital in Amritsar where injured have been admitted after the #AmritsarTrainAccident yesterday. pic.twitter.com/1E4hMvQEmx  ANI (@ANI) October 20, 2018

As many as 59 people died on the spot and 57 sustained serious injuries as a speeding train mowed them down while they were watching the effigy of Ravana burn at a festival event near the Amritsar railway station.

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New Delhi :

The second summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is likely to take place early next year. Speaking on the condition of anonymity, a senior Trump administration on Friday told reporters that a meeting (between Trump and Kim) was likely sometime after the first of the year (2019).

However, details of the meeting had not been finalised yet but speculations were rife that the second Trump-Kim summit may take place in the US, unlike their first meeting which was held at a neutral venue Singapore.

Earlier this month, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made his fourth visit to North Korea, and he is coordinating with allies Japan and South Korea to arrange a second summit between the two leaders.

Also Read | Amritsar Train Tragedy: 61 dead, Railways says clear case of trespassing

Earlier this month, Trump and Kim, foe-turned-friends, ended a long spell of stalemate over North Koreas nuclear program and met for the first time in Singapore.

The Singapore summit had produced a vague agreement on the complete denuclearisation of North Korea. The meeting turned into a historic moment with both leaders praising each other for their efforts to ensure world peace.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
New Delhi:

With India tightening screws on data regulation, US payment companies which used their countrys law makers to lobby with New Delhi for softening its stand on the issue, have now begun to realise that they have met with dead wall in the form of the Reserve Bank of India as it has refused to budge.

After all, why Indias central banking institution is so rigid in its call on the multinational companies that they have to abide by its directive on setting up data storage centres in the country?

In April, the RBI issued a directive to companies that all data related to payments must be stored in India by October 15. It was issued keeping in mind several factors, including monitoring of end-to-end data related to payment system operated by companies like Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Amazon, Alibaba, Whatsapp, Google Pay, PhonePe and Paytm.

Also Read | PM Narendra Modi launches India Post Payments Bank; know all about it

Except for Paytm and Phonepe, which are domestic payment companies, the rest is American payment system providers.

While domestic payment players have readily agreed to follow the RBI directives, some of foreign players are digging their heels in on the issue of keeping their servers in India. They say the RBI move is against free flow of data. Some American Senators go to the extent of terming the data localisation policy as a move that will adversely affect the US business in India. Despite this, the countrys central banking institution is unmoved.

The government of the day is also backing the RBI in its initiative, which is full of dividends, largely on security and economic fronts. According to a conservative understanding, it will help bring more Indians who still buy and sell things using cash, into the formal online economy.

Read | Hindutva Rhetoric: Exploiting temple emotions with eye on polls

The move will also help create new jobs in the market as storing data in India means hiring analysts and data specialists to process the data. That means more investment in digital infrastructure. And it is here, US companies fear that they will have to open extra-large purse to build date storage system with all attendant security system in India.

To escape from this burden, they say they will place a data mirror system (a duplicate of main data server) in India. But they appear to be insular in their understanding. They forget that in the fight against money laundering and terrorism, close supervision of monetary channels is essential.

Read | Sabarimala Temple Row: How holy traditions trample womens right

With bandwidth of digital economy in the country growing day by day, there are chances servers kept in offshore destinations dont help Indian authorities in keeping track of moneys movement. A countrys sovereign rules apply on an asset if it lies in its geographical boundary.

Since Indian data is stored by big digital companies in the US, it means that data is subject to the US rules and regulation.

No Indian official can lay hands on a particular data without permission from the US authorities. And this is seen as barrier in the smooth supervisory mechanism. At the time when many crooks try to evade Indian authorities eye by channelising money through complex digital gateways, it is imperative that all offshore digital payment facilitators do what suits Indias interests.

If they can keep their servers in Europe, what is the harm in keeping in data storage system in India? They should bear in mind that payment data is a very sensitive issue and as such regulators requirement needs to be prioritised, instead of subjecting it to politicization. The US companies are lobbying with their Senators and officials of the Trump administration to take up the localisation issue with the Indian Government. But how hard they may try the determined central bank institution is in no mood to compromise with its directive on the localisation of payment data server. This is a welcome development.

The Justice B N Srikrishna Committee has also emphasised on the localisation of data storage system in the country. Although deadline for setting up payment storage systems in India expired on October 15, yet the good thing is that over 80 per cent companies, including American ones, have complied with the RBI directive. Rest of them will also follow suit soon, but the larger question is: Whether the central banking institutions move is aimed at fixing American companies responsibility on the payment data issue?
DANBURY  Plans to turn the Matrix Corporate Center into a massive mixed-use development better include an entirely new elementary school  or else the proposal will grind to a halt, Mayor Mark Boughton warned this week.

The mayors ultimatum casts a pall over the much-anticipated $17 million sale of the long under-used complex on the citys west side.

Southport-based Summit Development closed on the purchase late Tuesday and announced its intention to re-imagine the 1.2 million-square-foot building with mostly office and conference space, plus 400,000 square feet for new residential apartments.

But that has thrust the project to the center of the ongoing debate about skyrocketing enrollment at Danburys public schools, which already are nearing capacity without the hundreds of new residents.

This project, as presented, would only stoke that fire and cost the city tens of millions of dollars that it does not have, Boughton argued.

Im adamant and putting every ounce of political capital I have into making sure any agreement on this particular plan includes either them paying for us to build a new school or having them build a new school for us in the new facility, he said. Staffing is always going to be an expensive issue.

We all know the retail portion there, and corporate portion there, is really just a Trojan horse for the apartments, he continued. Thats where you make the real money. If you want to make money in Danbury  I want you to make money, too  but I dont want you to do it on the back of taxpayers.

Out of land

The likelihood that Danbury will need to build another elementary school has captivated district leaders this summer and fall.

This week, the school board will convene a Sites and Facilities Committee to start a new study of its enrollment trends and literally how much physical room is left on its school campuses, either within existing classrooms to add new modular rooms.

The district has hired Friar Associates to complete the study, district finance director Joe Martino said.

Your challenge with your schools is that there are few schools that are virtually out of land, Martino has said. Some of those schools have no usable grass left to take, but theres a few were going to study. That would look at current facilities but also options on renovations.

Friar Associates helped the district plan its $53 million expansion at Danbury High School, which opened this year to accommodate even more growth at what is already the largest high school in the state with almost 3,200 students.

The district is also finishing eight new modular classrooms at the Westside Middle School Academy to eventually increase its capacity by 150 students to 750 total.

Although enrollment stayed relatively flat this year over last, it is still growing on the west side of the city with more than 70 new students at Mill Ridge Primary and Westside Middle School this fall, according to district data.

To add several hundred more units at the Matrix would potentially overflow those schools, school leaders warned.

Wed need an elementary school, he said. I dont think thats any great secret, if that truly happened, for a building ultimately like that.

An economic engine

Summit Developments initial discussions with city leaders this summer included the possibility of 250 to 300 condominiums in the Matrix itself and another 200 or more in a standalone building to be constructed on the property, Boughton said last week.

The company has not yet submitted a formal zoning or development application for the project  which it will call The Ridge at Danbury  and attempts to reach Summit President Felix Charney about more specifics late last week were unsuccessful.

Charney did tell Hearst Connecticut Media last week that he plans to meet with city officials in the next month.

You always run into zoning issues, but I believe the city very much wants this asset to return to its position of prominence and be an economic engine, he said.

Boughton strongly challenged the companys initial plan, though, suggesting it is dead on arrival as is.

City staff have expressed some concerns to the company already about the plan, but they will provide more feedback at the official pre-application meeting when the company submits its formal plan, he said.

The City of Danbury is not going to be bullied into changing our zoning, Boughton said. Weve accounted for every approved project out there in our current enrollment figures. Now if you throw in another 1,000 units, plus the background enrollment? Forget about it, wed need two new schools.

Officials have floated the idea that the company restrict its residential units to 55 years old and older, in an attempt to limit the number of possible children entering the school system, but the company did not seem interested, Boughton said.

Although the city does want to see the former corporate headquarters of Union Carbide redeveloped, local leaders are worried that many additional residential units would simply overwhelm the system  from the schools to Interstate 84.

Bring me a plan that has businesses in there, bring me corporate, retail and senior housing, he said. This is about your pocket. Its going to be a net loss for the city.

zach.murdock@hearstmediact.com
KENT  Drawing and keeping people in the states northwest corner, closing the deficit and tolls are all issues the candidates hope to tackle if elected to the state House 64th district.

Rep. Brian Ohler, 34, a Republican from Canaan, just finished his first term and is facing off against Democrat Maria Horn, 54, of Salisbury.

The 64th district includes Kent, Canaan, Cornwall, Goshen, Norfolk, North Canaan, Salisbury, Sharon and Torrington.

Both see creating jobs that offer higher wages as the biggest issue, especially as a way to draw or keep people in the northwest corner, though they differ slightly on how to tackle it.

Ohler said he wants the state to offer incentives to small businesses who hire Connecticut residents and new graduates from the states high schools and community colleges. He said if the manufacturing companies go into these schools and let students know their options and about job training, theyll stay. He said there also needs to be more of an emphasis on vocational training at schools across the board in the state because those jobs pay well.

Streamlining regulations for planning and zoning boards and regulations at the state level to make it easier for businesses to come will also help create these mid-salary range jobs, he said.

Horn said the state needs to make funding education a priority from the K-12 level up through the state colleges so that colleges can be accessible and affordable. She said its also important to make sure theres job training at the community colleges and offer apprenticeships to connect students to the community.

She also said small business owners have a lot of expenses and the state should help offset those, including health care, so they can increase their employees wages. One option is allowing families to buy back into HUSKY B, she said.

Both candidates come to the race with finance board experience.

Horn has spent years leading nonprofits, which she said relies on partnerships with the government either with policies or funding. After seeing the states budget crisis, she began to doubt that partnership and decided to run. She joined the Salisbury finance board and is now looking to apply some of those same practices at the state level.

Ohler joined the North Canaan finance board after returning from 12 years in the military and discovering others in his generation were leaving by the busload for more affordable locations. During his time on the board he discovered the problems were at the state level and decided to run for state representative.

Both Ohler and Horn said the state cant close the projected deficit without growth, though they disagree on whether tolls should be used to increase revenue.

Ohler said its obvious tolls would bring revenue into the state but it would come at the cost of losing federal infrastructure funding and so only translate to a gain of about $200,000. He said that money is also restricted to the roads the tolls are on and so the northwest corner wouldnt see the benefits, yet will probably pay the tolls. He said if the plan only targets trucks, then shipping costs will increase for customers.

Horn opposed a $10 million study, but supports tolls as a set revenue source for much needed road repairs.

Our physical infrastructure is dragging our economy down, she said.
The October debates represented Manny Santos best chance to close ground on front-runner Jahana Hayes by showing 5th District voters that he too had an inspiring personal story of success from humble origins.

In fact, going into the debates, Santos lamented that his story of Marine service and business achievement as the son of poor immigrant farmers from Portugal was not getting anywhere near the national attention being paid Hayes  who went from being a pregnant high school dropout to the 2016 National Teacher of the Year.

How well the GOPs Santos shared his story during three debates this month for Connecticuts only competitive Congressional district may not be answered until Nov. 6, when voters in central and northwest Connecticut decide who will replace three-term Democrat Elizabeth Esty.

But if Santos fell short, one reason may be because he didnt make the personal universal.

I dont know how Jahana Hayes has been able to make her personal story everyones story, said Scott McLean, a professor of political science at Quinnipiac University in Hamden. But Manny Santos hasnt been able to make his story everybodys story.

For Santos, a one-term mayor of Meriden who is running as a Trump Republican, the need to get his story out to voters is pronounced because he cannot match Hayes in campaign momentum or in fundraising.

In fact, Hayes has piled on her lead over Santos, raising $830,000 in the most recent five-week reporting period to Santos $29,000, and spending $580,000 to Santos $18,000. Hayes ran her first 30-second television ad last week.

The challenge for Manny has not changed - he needs to get on the air with something, and to do that, he has to be able to raise the money, said Mark Boughton, Danburys longtime GOP mayor who lost the Republican primary for governor in August. There is still time, but the window is closing.

Hayes, a Democrat making her first run for office, is part of a national wave of minority female candidates running as progressives. She raised her profile by sharing her struggles growing up in a Waterbury project with her grandmother, because her mother was a drug addict, and getting her degrees while working as a single mom and incurring huge student debt.

Hayes has made her personal plight relatable in part with social media videos that use visual storytelling techniques to make emotional connections. For example, her Truth to Power video got 10 million hits and brought in $300,000 in contributions, her campaign said.

The video was remarkable not only for its reach but for its message, a key Hayes supporter said.

In that video she says, When Congress starts to look like us, no one can stop us, and Manny Santos accused her of playing identity politics, said Ken Curran, the Waterbury Democratic Party chairman. But what he is missing is she is identifying with everybody.

Personal appeal

Observers say both candidates have personal appeal, even if their personalities are distinct.

But in Hayes story there is more continuity between the vulnerability she experienced as a poor minority child and her progressive principles for constituents in need than there is continuity in Santos story between the vulnerability he experienced as a poor immigrant child and his conservative principles of law-and-order and personal responsibility for constituents in need.

The difference may be that Hayes is willing to share the trials that shaped her character while Santos is more comfortable sharing the conservative principles that guide him.

For example, Santos drew the only boos of the debate season on Wednesday when he told a crowd at Central Connecticut State University in New Britain The student debt issue is something that frankly a lot of students bring on themselves.

A political observer said Santos hard line on illegal immigration, repealing Obamacare and opposing gay marriage could be a barrier for Democrats and unaffiliated voters trying to identify with his story.

While there is a portion of voters in the 5th District who would agree with Santos on those issues, his messaging has been very difficult to locate in this campaign, said Gary Rose, a political science professor and the chair of the Government, Politics and Global Studies department at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield. I dont think these debates elevated his campaign very much.

rryser@newstimes.com 203-731-3342
WEST HAVEN  An activist group has called on University of New Haven to reassess its relationship with Saudi Arabia after Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who lived in the U.S., was allegedly tortured and killed in the Saudi consulate in Turkey.

In a written statement, Stanley Heller of the Middle East Crisis Committee also called on the directors of the Abdallah S. Kamel Center for the Study of Islamic Law at Yale Law School to speak out in the wake of the latest news.

The Middle East Crisis Committee believes Connecticut institutions with relationships with Saudi Arabia must take action to protest the Khashoggi murder, Heller wrote this week.

In view of the Khashoggi murder we call on the University of New Haven, which has a security studies program at the police college of Saudi Arabia and is apparently teaching forensic skills there, to immediately suspend all cooperation with that college and to publicly explain what it is doing in Saudi Arabia, Heller wrote.

The college is the King Fahd Security College in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, he said.

Heller initially said that Salah Muhammed al-Tubaigy, head of forensics at the Saudi General Security Department  who some media have reported murdered Khashoggi and cut off parts of his body  is on the board of directors of King Fahd Security College.

But University of New Haven spokeswoman Lyn Chamberlin said thats not the case  and in fact, King Fahd Security College doesnt have a board of directors.

A Google translation of a page on the King Fahd Security College website lists a board of directors that includes someone by a similar name as a member. But that board appears to be for the Saudi Society for Forensic Medicine, according to a heading on that page.

More News New Haven group protests 40 children killed in Saudi bombing of Yemeni bus

The web pages address url refers to the board as a governing council.

UNH has been told that the Dr. Salah Mohammed Al-Tabaiqi listed on the website is not the same person as the Dr. Salah Muhammed al-Tubaigy who has been in the news, Chamberlin said.

It is was not immediately clear what direct connection, if any, there might be between the Saudi Society for Forensic Medicine and King Fahd Security College.

Heller later said by phone that at University of New Haven, They are training Saudi police ... in forensic techniques and helping them spy on their people ... They may have had polite meetings with the board, and this person ... sitting at the meetings.

But Chamberlin, the universitys vice president of marketing and communications, said thats not true and that the director of the college has said its not true.

Weve never had any interactions with this guy... Chamberlin said. Whats more, weve never taught forensic sciences to a single cohort there ... Were advising the King Fahd College on the degree program there.

Heller has never taken the time to talk to anyone here ... about forensic science or the program, she said.

Heller pointed out in the release that the Middle East Crisis Committee has called in the past for UNH President Steven H. Kaplan and Mario Gaboury, dean of UNHs Henry C. Lee College of Criminal Justice and Forensic Sciences to explain what they are teaching at the King Fahd Security College in Riyadh, to no avail.

We have asked how they can justify doing work with a police college in a country with an absolute monarchy and a justice system known for prosecuting activists calling for democratic rights and full equality for women, one where suspects are tortured, he wrote. Weve been met only with silence...

This murder of Khashoggi is an outrageous violation of any legal precept and demands condemnation, Heller wrote.

It would be extremely beneficial if the Kamel Center hosted an emergency public conference of Islamic law scholars to examine the woeful state of the Saudi system of justice in a country that claims to strictly follow Islamic law, he said.

mark.zaretsky@hearstmediact.com


The remains of Francisco Franco may soon be moved from the Valley of the Fallen. (Pablo Blazquez Dominguez/Getty Images)

On the jagged edge of a mountain outside the Spanish capital, a dictator lies in eternal repose, guarded by statues of militant angels beneath a soaring granite cross. But soon Francisco Franco may be roused from his slumber and his posthumous reign may end.

Spains new minority government, headed by Pedro Sanchez, a 46-year-old Socialist who was 3 when Franco died, has ordered the exhumation of the dictators bones. Some Spaniards see the move as long overdue, others as post facto revenge. Either way, the Sanchez government risks reviving divisions in a nation that, while generally untroubled by nostalgia for its authoritarian past, has never achieved consensus about its bloody civil war and decades of dictatorship.

The government is adamant that removing Franco from the Valley of the Fallen, a sprawling state-funded monument, is essential to dignify Spanish democracy.

In a democratic society, there cannot be a dictator who is the subject of homages, or whose tomb is a site of fascist pilgrimage, or who has a monument in his honor, said Fernando Martinez, the first Justice Ministry official assigned to handle historical memory issues.

But in some ways, after Franco died in 1975, Spains transition to democracy relied on a decision to leave the past alone. An amnesty law passed in 1977 forbid the prosecution of any war criminals or Francoist officials.

There is no one-size-fits-all for democratic transitions, and nor is there a consensus on what coming to terms with the past entails, said William Chislett of the Elcano Royal Institute, a Madrid think tank. Spain took a pragmatic approach, and it worked. This, he said, is the ultimate rejoinder to Franco.

Even as Spain began to assess its history  passing a Historical Memory Law in 2007 that condemned the Franco regime and called for the removal of Francoist symbols  the Valley of the Fallen largely remained outside the reappraisal.

And the governments latest plan to dig up the past is fairly unpopular.

In a July poll conducted by Sigma Dos for the Spanish daily El Mundo, only 41 percent of Spaniards agreed with moving Francos remains. Separately, 54 percent said now was not the right time to address the issue.

Parliament approved the exhumation plan last month with 172 votes in favor  but with 164 abstentions from Spains two center-right parties, which do not see it as a priority. Many Spaniards have mixed feeling about Franco  they credit him with saving Spain from communism and steering the country through postwar poverty and division.



In Madrid in August, a protester displays pictures of people who went missing during Francisco Francos reign. (Pacific Press/LightRocket /Getty Images)

People opposed to moving Francos remains rally at the Valley of the Fallen in July and perform fascist salutes. (Javier Soriano/AFP/Getty Images)

For some on the right, the Valley of the Fallen is a monument to national unity, where 33,700 people from both sides of the Spanish Civil War are interred. The war, waged between 1936 and 1939, saw the country divided between Republicans, a leftist democratic faction, and Nationalists, the right-wing aristocratic contingent headed by Franco that ultimately prevailed.

The Valle de los Caidos was built by Franco as a reconciliation after the civil war, said Juan Chicharro Ortega, 68, a former army general and now head of the Francisco Franco National Foundation.



Francisco Franco is seen second from left in this photograph from 1936. (AP)

But the monument is not neutral. It was built in part by political prisoners Franco took from the ranks of his Republican enemies. And at least 12,410 Republican corpses were moved from mass graves elsewhere in Spain and buried there without the consent or awareness of the families, Martinez said. Their anonymity stands in marked contrast to the veneration bestowed upon Franco and, alongside him in the basilica, Jose Antonio Primo de Rivera, founder of the fascist Falange party that formed a core part of Francos coalition during the civil war.

Its a place of remembrance that needs to be explained, Martinez said. How was it built? Who built it?

Nicolas Sanchez-Albornoz, 92, knows how. The son of a prominent Republican leader, he was a 20-year-old student activist when he was captured and forced into construction of the mountain road leading to the monument, which he remembers working on in stultifying summer heat.

From his apartment on the top floor of a Madrid high-rise, its possible to make out the hills where the ascent to Francos mausoleum begins. But Sanchez-Albornoz said he has refused to return to the site since his escape from the labor camp there on July 8, 1945.

The exhumation is only one part of the question, he said, when asked about the governments plans. He noted that many private properties requisitioned by the Francoists  including those belonging to his own family  were never returned, and no one involved in the regime was ever brought to justice. Unfortunately, I think its too late, because all the people who should have been brought to trial are dead.

But yes, he said, chuckling. Lets start with the symbols.

Beyond moving Franco  to a site yet to be disclosed, although the Franco family has pushed for the Madrid cathedral  the government aspires to locate and honor those buried in unmarked graves throughout Spain.

As far as possible, we want to be able to exhume and hand over the remains to the families for a dignified burial, Martinez said.



An volunteer works on mass grave No. 112 at the cemetery of Paterna, Spain, where local authorities say 2,238 victims of Francisco Franco's regime were buried after being executed. (David Ramos/Getty Images)

For the thousands of Spanish families who have sought to reclaim the remains of relatives, the process has often required a combination of luck and persistence.

in 2000, Emilio Silva was visiting family in Priaranza de Bierzo, not far from where his grandfather was killed in 1936, when an elderly acquaintance said, cryptically: I know where your grandfather is buried. They drove down a country road to a spot about a half-hour outside of town. Then the acquaintance stopped the car and pointed to a copse in the distance.

Nearly three years later, after a privately funded excavation, DNA evidence confirmed that Silvas grandfather was among the bodies discarded there.

Silva, a former journalist, now helps others locate missing relatives. His Association for the Recovery of Historical Memory has recovered the remains of about 8,000 people and documented an additional 114,226 missing person cases. All were victims of the Nationalists during the Civil War or of the Franco regime in the years that followed.

Our state created a big machine during the transition to manufacture ignorance, Silva said. His goal is to remove that void.

Although Silva regularly equates his cause with Germanys postwar campaign to critically engage with the extent of Nazi atrocities, there is a key difference. The Spanish Civil War, after all, was a civil war, and Silva and his allies do not have an absolute monopoly on victimhood, nor on the narrative of the past.



A detachment of Francisco Franco's Nationalist soldiers pause for a meal after a battle in the suburbs of Madrid in 1936. (AP)

Roughly 500,000 people were killed in the conflict. Historians estimate that outside of combat, the Nationalists killed 150,000 of their opponents extrajudicially or under flimsy legal circumstances between 1936 and 1939, and Francos regime executed another 20,000 people after coming to power. But the Republicans also committed their share of atrocities, killing about 49,000 people.

They say they want to restore the dignity of those who died on the Republican side. I cant be against that, said Chicharro of the Franco Foundation. But, for instance, myself, I dont know where my grandfather is. Or three brothers of my father. But we have forgotten and forgiven.

Chicharros family, like many others, included people on both sides of the war. His grandfather was a captain in Francos army. But he also had a Catalonian great-grandfather who fought for the Republicans and spent the rest of his life in exile in Mexico. He was an honest man who defended his ideas, Chicharro said, noting that they met only once, in Mexico, when he was 12.

Critics have questioned why Spains government is seeking to dig up the past now.



People in Barcelona form a human chain to remove rubble during efforts to rescue the living and recover bodies after a Nationalist air raid in 1938. (AP)

With the possible exception of Nov. 20, the day of Francos death, the Valley of the Fallen is not a site that attracts far-right gatherings. In fact, there is no powerful far-right faction in Spain that comes close to mirroring those in Italy, France or Germany, let alone Poland or Hungary. Even in the face of a staggeringly high unemployment rate  16 percent  and a recent uptick in migrant arrivals, Spain seems strangely immune from populist rancor . In short, Franco is not a rallying cry, and there is no real nostalgia for the political order he built.

Younger generations are especially indifferent on the question of historical memory.

The majority wouldnt know how to situate the civil war chronologically  in what years, said Luis Montes, who teaches high school history in Madrid. Franco, he said, does not loom large in their imaginations. Its a name that gets lost.

Some political analysts worry that exhuming a dead dictator will suggest that Spains democratic transition was less successful than it has been.

Others say making amends with the past would help address enduring fragmentation in Spain, which last year experienced a political crisis over Catalonias independence referendum and which is now governed by a shaky coalition of four political parties.



A memorial at the cemetery in Paterna, Spain, pays tribute to people executed by the Franco regime. (David Ramos/Getty Images)

What the Spanish case shows globally is you cannot sweep these things under the rug, said Francisco Ferrandiz, an anthropologist who helped draft a report that advocated moving Francos remains in 2011, during a previous Socialist government.

If we want to improve the quality of our democracy, this is key, Ferrandiz said. We have to recover these abandoned bodies and these abandoned stories and these humiliated people. And bring them back. Give them space to speak. Give them legitimacy for their suffering.

The current government agrees.

In this country, the right says, you have to turn the page, said Martinez, the Justice Ministry official. But before you turn the page, you have to read it.
Air France-KLM Chief Executive Officer Ben Smith marked an early victory just weeks after taking the top job by reaching a pay deal with French unions that had eluded his predecessor.

The accord includes a wage increase of 2 percent retroactive to Jan. 1 and another 2 percent to take effect in 2019, according to a statement Friday. The agreement came after an acrimonious labor dispute that culminated in the resignation of former CEO Jean-Marc Janaillac after his wage proposal was rejected.

Shares in the Paris-based carrier fell 3 percent, taking losses to 39 percent since the start of the year, as investors digested the costs of the salary increases. The standoff between management and unions, and 15 days of strikes earlier this year had rocked shareholder and customer confidence and cost the airline 335 million euros ($386 million).

The pay deal was signed by a majority of unions, which the airline said represented 76 percent of employees, but missing among the signatories was the pilots' union, SNPL. Negotiations between that group and management aren't over, SNPL spokesman Philippe Evain was quoted as saying by AFP on Friday.

Air France-KLM isn't the only airline in Europe that has faced labor strife this year, with discount carrier Ryanair Holdings Plc also locked in disputes with its employees in countries around the region. The sector is also feeling the brunt of intensifying competition from upstart and low-cost carriers and rising costs due to higher oil prices.

Smith, who as a Canadian is the first foreigner to lead the state-backed airline, came from Air Canada and even before his first day on the job was under pressure from French unions. They objected to his annual pay of up to 4.25 million euros ($4.9 million) - about quadruple what Janaillac made.

The new CEO also stumbled out of the block with the French government, getting his knuckles rapped by Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire last month for his reported comments about what the state planned to do with its 14 percent stake.
HAMDEN  Local veterans will be able to gather for a free meal this Veterans Day, as Hamden businessman Zafar Farooqui continues an annual tradition in the community.

Farooqui, the owner of Villa Fleur Imported & Domestic Fragrance Outlet on Dixwell Avenue, said Friday that this was the third such event.

He purchases the food himself, he said  its a way to give back to a place he has been a part of for more than 20 years.

Its something I can do for the community, said Farooqui.

He said the menu will include pizza, fried chicken, stuffed bread, and more, including a chicken dish he plans to make himself.

The event was held at American Legion Post 88 in recent years, but was moved this year to the Elks Lodge at 175 School St. to take advantage of the additional space and parking, he said.

The dinner will be held on Veterans Day, Sun., Nov. 11, from 4:30 to 6 p.m., according to a flier for the event.

For non-veterans, the cost of the meal will be $10, according to the flier.

Those proceeds will go to benefit the Elks Veterans Fund, according to JoAnn Corder of the American Legion Womens Auxiliary.

william.lambert@hearstmediact.com
NEW HAVEN  Two musically minded Ninth Square entrepreneurs, Slate Ballard and Carlos Wells, have revived a long-dormant downtown space into a 250-person capacity performance center  The State House  that aims to book acts that would otherwise pass New Haven by.

If you are under a certain age, you can be forgiven if you cant immediately identify the location from a verbal description: The former warehouse backs up to Ballards former co-working business, The Grove, in a block bounded by State, Chapel, Orange and Crown streets.

But if youve been around New Haven awhile, you know that the Horowitz Brothers fabric store was closed in 2004.

Since then, it has been one of those nondescript brick buildings that you could see as the backdrop of a State Street parking lot, without any indication of what was within the walls.

But, for the past few weeks since its oft-delayed soft opening on Aug. 16, The State House has been quietly bringing in some world music: hip-hop, hard care and avant-garde acts that chances are you wont see anywhere else around here.

Local entrepreneur Rick Omonte, who formerly booked shows at BAR, is on board as the talent booker and they also have worked with some independent produces, including Fernando Pinto Presents and Tiny Box Booking. You also can expect to see poetry slams and other events in the months to come.

Several early shows had to be moved to The Grove and other venues because work on The State House  which originally was to have opened June 12  wasnt quite finished enough to satisfy city inspectors.

But this past week, The State House held its grand opening, with a grand opening show on Friday featuring The Let Loose and The Quest Presents. With liquor permit in hand, they are open for business.

We want to try to tap into that market thats currently being overlooked, said Wells, owner of Safety Meeting Records, who spent years managing the bar at Firehouse 12 on Crown Street and previously worked at Cafe Nine and the old Rudys.

We want to bring some more world music into this space, do a little hip-hop, Wells said during a conversation inside The State House one afternoon last week.

Theyre even going to try out some comedy, which is being brought in by Between Two Rocks.

The idea to open The State House came a couple of years ago while Ballard, who sold The Grove a couple of months ago, was still involved there. The A Broken Umbrella Theatre Company asked the former owner about using it for a pop-up theater to present the play, Freewheelers.

I stumbled across this space because I was in the building,  said Ballard, a native of Fayetteville, Ark., who lived in New Haven for year and now lives in Hamden. So we started talking about it. Obviously, the building was not in good shape so it couldnt happen without some serious work being done.

Then the building changed hands and the idea was put on hold, but after the new owners got settled and Ballard established a relationship with them, we started talking again, said Ballard, who said he and Wells are both longtime Ninth Square folks.

This is Ballards first venture into arts and culture, but I personally have a huge passion for the arts ... and what that does for the vibrancy of a community. He said he was ready to move on from The Grove because I had achieved my mission.

I am a cultivator ... and it was time to do something else, he said. Were just excited.

While The State Houses role in Connecticut music is still unfolding, What we wanted this to be was not just a set music venue but a multi-use event space, said Wells.

One of the appeals, said Ballard, is that there wasnt anywhere else doing what The State House is doing.

Acts so far have included Mokoomba from Zimbabwe, West African griot Cheick Hamala Diabate, 11-piece Puerto Rican salsa band Orchesta del Macabeo, Anbessa Orchestra, Ethers and Vapors of Morphine.

The State House generally is open Wednesday through Saturdays right now, and sometimes Sundays if theres shows, said Wells, who grew up in Bridgeport, moved to New Haven in 1996 and ultimately moved to North Haven about two years ago.

Wells and Ballard are still doing work in areas of The State House that most audience members dont see  setting up stockrooms and other out-of-the-way space. This past week, a contractor came in to finally install some tap lines.

But with a great PA installed, complete with a 32-channel Midas digital soundboard capable of recording a live album, theyre all ready out front.

The most important thing is, the doors are open, weve got drinks for you  and weve got working bathrooms, said Wells.

mark.zaretsky@hearst mediact.com
3 1 of 3 Chris Volpe / Hearst Connecticut Media file Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Chris Volpe / Hearst Connecticut Media file Show More Show Less 3 of 3





Special days are important, arent they? We usually associate them with holidays and celebrations, though sometimes they come along just because. I still remember a day after a winter snowfall when sunshine lit up the glistening snow and a whole bunch of us neighborhood folk happened to step outside to take first steps in the winter wonderland. Childrens excited voices pierced the air, people raised brightly colored gloved hands in greeting and the crunch and scuffle of feet breaking through the snow added percussive drumbeats to it all. There was shared, fun, wonder, discovery, spontaneity and total delight wrapped in that special wintry day.

The word special frequently makes its way into advertising. Make someone or even yourself feel special by purchasing flowers, candy, wine, this card, that new shirt, and so it goes. Make reservations to see this special exhibit. Travel on this specially planned adventure. Actually, I love all the thought of something being special for it raises my expectations and encourages my imagination. To be special is to be important, perhaps even stand out like when we draw a simple circle but then add lines radiating out from it and color it yellow, making it a glittering shining one and only special ball of fire in the sky.
A Newark man was arrested this week and charged with the murder of a South Jersey resident.

Lonnie Arrington, 48, of Newark Credit: Essex County Prosecutor's Office

Lonnie Arrington, 48, was arrested on Tuesday at Penn Station by New Jersey Transit Police for the murder of Michael Shendock, 38, of Voorhees, according to a release from the Essex County Prosecutor's Office.

Shendock was shot and killed on Sept. 23 in front of 7 South St. in Newark, officials said.

Another man was shot at the same location, but he survived.

Arrington was also charged with aggravated assault in connection with the shooting of the second victim and other weapons offenses, according to the release.

The prosecutor's office said the investigation of the shooting is still "active and ongoing."

Chris Sheldon may be reached at csheldon@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @chrisrsheldon Find NJ.com on Facebook.
A medical emergency on the Royal Caribbean cruise ship "Anthem of the Seas" required assistance from the Coast Guard off the Jersey shore.

Around 6:30 p.m. on October 18 an incident occurred causing a 34-year-old male passenger to experience "severe leg pain," and Coast Guard watchstanders at a command center in Boston were notified, according to a statement from the agency.

A Coast Guard Cutter "Shrike," an 87-foot patrol boat, was dispatched from Bayonne to meet with the ship and transfer the individual aboard.

The patient was taken aboard the "Shrike" at 8:30 p.m. and a boat crew aboard a 45-foot Response Boat-Medium from Station Jones Beach then met with the "Shrike."

The man was safely moved to the smaller boat to expedite the transit to shore, the statement read.

At 11:30 p.m., the man was transferred to awaiting emergency medical services back at Station Jones Beach. EMS took the patient to Nassau University Medical Center in East Meadow, New York, according to the statement.

The individual's current condition is unknown.

Olivia Rizzo may be reached at orizzo@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @LivRizz. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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Yea or nay?

Jersey City may bring back police horses for the first time in 46 years.

The City Council will hear a measure next week that would authorize the city to use 605 Monmouth St. as the site of stables for police horses.

The city got rid of its mounted unit in 1972, calling it "a luxury the city cannot afford" and re-assigning its 12 officers to the motorcycle squad.

Mayor Steve Fulop said on Twitter that the unit will be useful during festivals and large events.

Councilman Rich Boggiano, a retired police detective, has used his Facebook page to wax nostalgic about the city's police horses.

Boggiano, reached by phone, initiated the conversation by neighing, then said he will vote against the plan.

"How about bringing back the motorcycles? How about bringing back the police academy? Then we can bring back the horses," Boggiano said. "How about straightening out the police department?"

Jersey City disbanded the motorcycle squad three years ago.

City spokeswoman Kimberly Wallace-Scalcione pointed to the recent reduction in shootings and homicides in the city, saying, "All residents see the progress and we will continue to add resources to the JCPD as needed to expand a world class department."

It is not clear how much the unit will cost, but Fulop says it has been budgeted.

Do you think Jersey City should bring back the police horse unit?

Vote in our informal and unscientific poll and tell us why in the comments.
UPDATE: Three are charged in Friday night shooting

JERSEY CITY -- Two people were shot Friday night, the fourth and fifth reported shooting victims on the streets of Jersey City in less than 36 hours.

The victims were shot on Union Street, between Ocean Avenue and Martin Luther King Drive, Jersey City spokeswoman Kimberly Wallace-Scalcione said.

After a short foot chase on Virginia Ave, police took three people into custody after the SUV they were in crashed into three parked vehicles, according to police radio transmissions. A gun was recovered, police said in radio transmissions.

On Thursday, a man was shot on Bramhall Avenue, between Sackett and Seidler streets, at roughly 1 p.m. Jersey City officials confirmed the shooting, but did not provide any details.

Early Friday morning, two people were shot in the area of Myrtle Avenue and Martin Luther King Drive, 1010 WINS reported. Jersey City officials confirmed that a shooting incident is under investigation, but declined to say if anyone was shot.

According to police radio transmissions, two shooting victims -- believed to be shot on Myrtle Avenue -- showed up at the Jersey City Medical Center a short time later.

And there was possibly a sixth person shot in the 36-hour span.

Friday just before noon, police responded to a reported shooting incident in the area of Jewett and Monticello avenues, according to police radio transmissions. In those transmissions, police said one person was struck. Jersey City officials have not provided information on that incident.

This report was updated with new information at 6:15 p.m.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Interested in the marijuana business industry? NJ Cannabis Insider is a new premium intelligence briefing that features exclusive weekly content geared toward entrepreneurs, lawyers and realtors. View a sample issue.

It's mid-October, and one of the priorities since January for Gov. Phil Murphy and state Senate President Stephen Sweeney -- passing a law legalizing marijuana use for people 21 and older in New Jersey -- is still the subject of painstaking private negotiations.

This week, Sweeney, D-Gloucester, and Murphy, a fellow Democrat, engaged in some trans-Atlantic finger-pointing over who is responsible for the delay.

Sweeney told NJ Advance Media he still does not have the necessary 21 votes to pass the legislation in the 40-member Senate, and some of the holdouts are members of his own party.

"The governor needs to help. It's time for him to try pushing votes, too," Sweeney said. "He has influence over a handful of senators who are strongly opposing this at this point."

Asked to respond to Sweeney's remarks during a trade mission to Germany on Friday, Murphy replied that he was waiting on Sweeney for some direction.

"He and I had a very good conversation on this a week -- eight days ago -- and he said 'I need you to help me whip some votes, we're not there yet.' And I said, 'You give me the list and I'm all in,'" Murphy said.

"I've not gotten any list, but I'm really happy to do that," the governor said. "We are basically two guys who share a common objective trying to get it over the goal line."

Sweeney said he told the governor who he thought the no-votes were.

"But if he wants a list, I'll write it down for him," he said.

Democrats and marijuana industry sources privately say the no votes who potentially could be persuaded include Sens. Nia Gill, D-Essex, Shirley Turner, D-Mercer, Richard Codey, D-Essex, and Nicholas Sacco, D-Hudson.

Sweeney also acknowledged part of the problem is there are two unresolved issues with the legislation, sponsored by Sen. Nicholas Scutari, D-Union, and he's loathe to move ahead with hearings until a compromise is reached with the Murphy administration. He declined to discuss the sticking points.

But three sources who are familiar with the negotiations said Sweeney will not agree to set a sales tax rate higher than 12 percent to encourage people to stop buying marijuana illegally. Murphy wants a higher tax rate, but he has not publicly said what he is willing to accept.

The two sides also differ on the level of power that would be given to a newly created cannabis commission to control the issuance of licenses and other aspects of the new industry, the sources said.

Sweeney said he remains optimistic the negotiations will happen.

"If all three branches of government (administration, the Senate and the Assembly) weigh in, we will get the votes."

Susan K. Livio may be reached at slivio@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @SusanKLivio. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.
Rabbi Eric B. Wisnia, the senior rabbi at Congregation Beth Chaim in West Windsor, will retire early next year after 42 years of service.

Wisnia recently announced that he plans to resign from leading the congregation on Jan. 31, 2019.

Wisnia joined Congregation Beth Chaim in 1977, and has led the synagogue through substantial growth, by presiding over more than 4,000 "life cycle" events.

Eric B. Wisnia (Bill Tompkins photo)

One of his most recent events was his mother's funeral a few months ago.

"My congregants were here to support me, just as I have supported them all these years," Wisnia said.

A powerful voice for religious liberty, he believes: "We are all brothers and sisters, and when any of our rights are diminished, all of our rights are diminished."

The community heard Wisnia's voice when he advocated for the building of the Muslim Center of Greater Princeton, in West Windsor. This led the mosque to honor him with a Community Service Award in December 2014.

He said he supported the building because his religion teaches him that we are our brothers' keepers. "My torah tells me to love the 'stranger," he said.

It's one of many accolades he's received over the years.

In September, the Jewish Federation of Princeton Mercer-Bucks also honored Wisnia for his dedicated service to the community.

Several times, he served as president for Windsor-Hightstown Area Ministerium, where the community's clergy meet to address community issues such as feeding the homeless at the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen and Homefront, and participating in the CROP Hunger Walk with Church World Service.

Wisnia's service also includes being on the Jewish Committee on Scouting for the Central New Jersey Council Boy Scouts of America.

His other affiliations include: serving on the Institutional Review Board for Medical Ethics of the Medical Center at Princeton; chairman of the Committee on Religious Ministries at the Medical Center for many years; chairman of the Board of Directors of the Family Service Agency of Princeton; and was active with the New Jersey West Hudson Valley Area Reform Rabbis, where he was president.

After all this, the rabbi says he is looking forward to life after service.

He jokes that after retirement he will be a bum, annoy his wife and children, play war games on the computer, and, seriously, is planning write a book that will take a fresh Jewish look at slavery, racism and the Civil War.

Congregation Beth Chaim will celebrate Wisnia's role in the synagogue and the community by hosting a benefit gala on November 3. Information about tickets and other information is available at www.bethchaim.org/benefit.

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Kentucky authorities say they believe they saved lives by arresting a heavily armed man who allegedly threatened multiple schools, had a "detailed plan of attack" and was stopped while pulling out of his driveway shortly before the school day ended Thursday.

The suspect, Dylan Jarrell, who lives close to Anderson County High School in Lawrenceburg, possessed a firearm, more than 200 rounds of ammunition, a bulletproof vest and a 100-round high-capacity magazine, Kentucky State Police Sgt. Josh Lawson said Friday. Jarrell, 20, later was arrested on charges that included terroristic threatening.

"There's no doubt in my mind that as a result of this investigation, we saved lives," state police Commissioner Rick Sanders said at a press conference in Frankfort. "This young man had it in his mind to go to schools and create havoc."

The investigation by Kentucky authorities began after they received a complaint that the man had sent harassing Facebook messages to a New Jersey woman. During questioning, an FBI agent asked Jarrell about a past school shooting threat in which Jarrell had been a suspect, according to his arrest citation. Jarrell admitted to making the threats and consented to a police examination of his phone, the court record said.

Sanders added that Jarrell "was caught backing out of his driveway with the tools he needed to commit this heinous act."

"He had the tools necessary, the intent necessary. And the only thing that stood between him and evil ... is law enforcement," Sanders said.

Evidence suggested Jarrell might have been headed to a school when he was stopped, state police said.

Jarrell was stopped by authorities about 2:30 p.m. Thursday, state police said. That was shortly before students, parents and teachers would have been clustered outside at the end of the school day. Anderson County schools end classes between 2:45 p.m. and 3:05 p.m., local schools Superintendent Sheila Mitchell said.

Officials did not reveal what kind of gun he had.

Mitchell praised the work of law enforcement on Friday, saying in a phone interview: "We're very blessed. I do think their efforts did avoid a disaster."

State police, who worked with local and federal authorities, said they considered it a "credible and imminent threat" against schools in Anderson and neighboring Shelby counties.

As a precautionary measure, Anderson County public school officials canceled classes districtwide Friday.

In Shelby County, the school system suspended activities at Shelby County High School. The district was on fall break so regular classes were not in session. Both school districts later said after-school activities would go on as planned Friday.

Jarrell formerly attended Shelby County schools, and he had taken classes in Anderson County to obtain his GED diploma, officials in both districts said Friday.

Jarrell had been questioned by the FBI in May over social media threats to a school in Tennessee, Kentucky authorities said.

The review following the New Jersey woman's complaint found information pertaining to "threats of bodily harm against multiple persons at a school," it said.

A search of Jarrell's home turned up evidence "corroborating the information that a threat was valid and imminent," the citation said. It did not specify which school was threatened.

The search also turned up "an Internet search history on how to successfully conduct a school shooting," Lawson said. Jarrell was the only suspect in the case, he said.

Jarrell was charged with two counts of second-degree terroristic threatening and one count of harassing communications, state police said. He was being held in the Shelby County Detention Center. Jarrell's arraignment was set for Monday in Anderson County District Court in Lawrenceburg. Court records did not list an attorney for Jarrell.

Sanders praised the teamwork of state, federal and local law enforcement but singled out the work of state police Trooper Josh Satterly, who responded to the initial report of a threat against the woman in New Jersey.
Gov. Phil Murphy has brought on former state Attorney General Christopher Porrino as his administration deals with allegations that a senior staffer raped a woman during the governor's campaign last year, NJ Advance Media has learned.

The controversy, which has rocked Murphy's administration since news broke earlier this week, has sparked investigations from both houses of New Jersey's Democrat-controlled state Legislature. Murphy, a fellow Democrat, also called his own independent investigation into how staffers handled the allegations.

In a statement Saturday, Porrino said, "I have been asked by the Office of the Governor to assist it in responding to requests for information including requests regarding the (Albert) Alvarez matter, and I look forward to providing that assistance."

Porrino came on as chief counsel for then-Gov. Chris Christie in January of 2014, just as news broke of Bridgegate, a scandal the dogged Christie's administration.

Porrino had been a relative outsider, only being brought in to the Republican governor's inner circle after Bridgegate but quickly became a trusted adviser to Christie.

Porrino served as state attorney general for 18 months. He is currently a partner at Lowenstein Sandler LLP and, according to the governor's office, is charging a blended rate of $350 per hour.

Katie Brennan, who volunteered on the campaign and currently serves as chief of staff of the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency, publicly accused Alvarez, the former chief of staff of the New Jersey Schools Development Authority, of raping her in April 2017.

Alvarez, 44, of Wood-Ridge, was never charged with a crime and denies the allegations. He remained on the job until Oct. 2 when the Wall Street Journal, which first reported Brennan's allegations, had contacted him to comment on the article.

Brennan has called out the Murphy administration to change its policies. She said she told people on the governor's team three times since last year.

"I have pursued every form of justice available," Brennan, 31, of Jersey City, said previously. "But it has become clear that this system is not built for survivors."

The Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office is currently reviewing how the case was handled.

Murphy said his administration followed protocol but that Alvarez should not have been given a job.

State lawmakers announced Wednesday that they had hired Michael Critchley, a prominent defense attorney who was involved in the Bridgegate case, to work on the state Senate investigation into the allegations. Members of the State Assembly will also look into the controversy as part of a special, bipartisan legislative committee.

NJ Advance Media staff writer Matt Arco contributed to this report.
Hundreds of friends, family, police officials and community members filed into the the pews of St. Catherine's Catholic Church in Hillside Saturday morning to honor the life of fallen police officer Giovanni Esposito.

A new graduate of the Essex Police Academy, Esposito was killed in a car accident on Route 1 on Oct. 15 when his car collided with a tractor-trailer cab at Pleasant Street, Linden police said.

Esposito, 30, was hired by the Hillside Police Department in November 2017 after graduating at the top of his class and serving as the class commander, Hillside Police Chief Vincent Ricciardi told the crowd.

Before Esposito took his police exam, a family member encouraged him to join the fire department, Ricciardi said during the brief ceremony. Esposito ultimately decided he wanted to stick with the police,

"He had made up his mind," Ricciardi said. "He decided wanted to protect others from harm and keep our streets safe.

"That heart of gold was obvious to the entire police department. The love of being a police officer that he communicated to his family was obvious to all of us by his enthusiasm diligence and compassion he displayed on duty. "

Friends and family gathered for the somber ceremony at the Catholic church sang traditional songs such as 'Precious Lord' and 'Amazing Grace' in Esposito's memory.

A priest were reassured Esposito's weeping mourners "the soul of the just are in the hands of God, and he was the soul of the just."

Representatives from Hillside police department, city council and fire department, the Union County Sheriff's Office, Kearny Police Department, Newark Police Department, Edison Police Department and New Jersey State Police all attended the funeral.

Hillside's Mayor Dahlia Vertreese also spoke during the ceremony saying Hillside's elected officials enacted a proclamation in Esposito's name.

"In Hillside we look forward to seeing our police officers because they give us that safety, responsibility trust," Hillside Mayor Dahlia Vertreese told the crowd. "They give us their soul.

"Be prepared for the time after the ceremony where you are all by yourself and realize that is your mind lying to you because you will never be by yourself. His memory, his life, God lives in each and everyone of us and it is our responsibility that we continue to live our life in a manner that Giovanni would be proud of."

As the pianist filled the room with the church's organ one last time, officers and civilians and about a dozen pall bearers filed out of the church for the final time as they headed to Linden's Rosehill cemetery.

The fatal accident occurred when a vehicle collided with a truck on Routes 1&9 early Monday, according to Linden police.

Taylor Tiamoyo Harris may be reached at tharris@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @ladytiamoyo.

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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: philanthropist and arts patron Sunny Norman.

The icon: Sunny Norman.

The legacy: Her real name was Mildred Gould Norman, but nobody ever called her that. To everyone in the vast network among which she circulated -- made up of artists, public officials, gallery owners and museum operators -- she was just Sunny. A diminutive dynamo, she was not only a big-league, big-hearted philanthropist but she also knew how to make things happen, whether it was organizing a WYES-TV auction or securing the loan of a Degas painting from Harvard's Fogg Museum for a New Orleans Museum of Art exhibit. "I make connections," she said in an interview. "I just like to see things happen." For her ability to make things happen, Norman received The Times-Picayune Loving Cup for 1998, which she described as "a wonderful and unexpected reward for doing what I enjoy."

The artist: D. Lammie-Hanson

The quote: "She leads. She puts people together. She has a vision, and she'll lead you there. She'll listen and then subtly give you the idea and -- bingo!" -- Dot Shushan, an arts leader and longtime friend, describing Sunny Norman's style in a 1999 Times-Picayune interview

Explore more of Lammie-Hanson's work online at WhereYart.net and in person at the Where Y'Art gallery, 1901 Royal St.

She acquired the nickname by which everyone knew her when she was an 11-year-old in summer camp.

By John Pope, contributing writer

Source: The Times-Picayune archives; staff research

More on 300 for 300:
The climate kids lawsuit filed by a Louisiana teenager and 20 other young people against the federal government has been interrupted by the U.S. Supreme Court 10 days before it was set to go to trial, E&E News reports. Chief Justice John Roberts' order on Friday (Oct. 19) gave the Trump administration a temporary victory in its long-running effort to throw the case out of court.

Roberts froze further discovery and trial in federal court in Eugene, Ore., pending more information from the plaintiffs. according to The Register-Guard. Among them are Rayne resident Jayden Foytlin, who was 14 when she joined the Our Childrens Trust suit against the Obama administration in 2015.

The plaintiffs allege that the federal government has long ignored the risk of burning fossil fuels, which they say disrupts natural climate trends. The government says the issue is a political matter inappropriate for the courts to decide.

Meet the Louisiana teen who is suing the federal government over climate change

. . . . . . .

Drew Broach covers Jefferson Parish politics and education, plus other odds and ends, for NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune. Email: dbroach@nola.com. Facebook: Drew Broach TP. Twitter: drewbroach1. Google+: Drew Broach.
A man was shot and killed in the 100 block of Carondelet Street, just off a busy stretch of Canal Street late Friday (Oct. 19), New Orleans police reported.

The victim, who was shot more than once, was found lying on his back in the street and pronounced dead at the scene, police said.

NOPD officers discovered the fatally wounded man about 10:30 p.m. while responding to a call of shots fired.

A shield used to conceal bodies from public view had been set up in the roadway about a half block from Canal Street, near an oyster restaurant and a nearby eatery.

Police on horseback were pushing back onlookers, who had come outside of neighboring bars and stores and were crowding near the yellow police tape.

A woman standing near the police tape said she is staying in a nearby hotel and heard four to five gunshots from her hotel room.

Police cordoned off Carondelet Street from Common Street to a point near Canal Street, and onlookers crowded near both ends of the crime scene.

Investigators placed at least eight lime-green evidence cones, many of them grouped near the body shield.

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What happened? a woman asked, startled to discover that she was staring at the aftermath of a fatal shooting. Oh my god.

As officers kept crowds back with tape and horses, passersby, some wearing Mardi Gras beads and toting shopping bags, stopped near the scene to ask about the police presence. Near the police tape at Canal and Carondelet streets, a the crowd grew, with several onlookers holding up phones to video the scene.

Crime-scene techs squeezed through the crowd to access the scene.

Is this a crime scene or a movie? a woman asked, approaching the onlookers.

A crime scene, replied a woman near the tape.

About 11:30 p.m., a coroners van rolled up Canal Street to Carondelet Street.

Just behind the tape, a woman embraced another woman as she sobbed.

NOPD Homicide Detective Eric Illarmo is leading the ongoing investigation and can be reached at 504-658-5300 with any information on the shooting. Anonymous tips can be submitted by calling Crimestoppers at 504-822-1111 or toll-free at 1-877-903-STOP.
The former leader of the New Orleans Police Departments homicide unit has received a demotion and suspension after an internal investigation revealed shocking and vulgar behavior that violated departmental policies against sexual harassment and discrimination, the NOPD confirmed Friday (Oct. 19).

Jimmie Turner, formerly a lieutenant, has been demoted to the rank of sergeant and will be suspended for 25 days, said NOPD spokesman Gary Scheets.

An NOPD panel determined Turners penalty, enacted after NOPD Superintendent Michael Harrison reviewed and opted to concur with the panels decision.

Turner commanded the NOPDs homicide unit for nearly three years before he was reassigned this April to the NOPDs 7th District, which polices New Orleans East. He has since been reassigned to serve as a supervisor in the 3rd District, which polices Gentilly, Lakeview and West End.

The internal investigation into Turner, completed in April, found that he displayed inappropriate behavior as commander on six occasions and discriminatory behavior on two occasions.

NOPD internal report reveals racial tension in homicide unit, 'fraternity' culture

Investigators said they found evidence to determine the following allegations against Turner were sustained:

Repeated remarks implying two close male friends in the unit were gay lovers, including asking which of them was "the big spoon" and "the little spoon."

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Two sustained discrimination violations were as follows, according to the report: inquiring whether a female detective was sleeping with a person she mentioned during a discussion about a case; and asking a white civilian employee if she only allowed an officer from a different unit to use equipment in the homicide office because he was white.

Turner told internal investigators that those incidents never occurred.

In the report, the sergeant who initiated the investigation into Turner said the former commander "created an environment of threats, fear and subtle domination.

Several detectives and sergeants, including both African-American and white officers, described a racially divisive atmosphere among the homicide unit, though others disagreed.

Turner, represented by attorney Frank DeSalvo, has denied the accusations, alleging that efforts to oust him from the unit may have occurred because he was its first black commander. Turner also alleged the accusations were made in retaliation for a 2016 internal investigation initiated by Turner that resulted in the suspension of another NOPD employee.

Turner was replaced as homicide commander by Lt. Ryan Labrano, who was previously assistant commander in the 7th District.

NOPD's internal probe into former homicide commander finds 8 violations

NOLA.com | The Times-Picayunes Emily Lane contributed to this report.
Parent complaints about early pick-ups in New Orleans have spurred the citys public school policymakers to revise the rules governing school bus transportation.

Last week, the Orleans Parish School Board approved an amendment to its transportation policy to require yellow school buses to pick up student no earlier than 6:05 a.m. beginning in the 2019-2020 school year. Transportation concerns shared by parents prompted the OPSB work with school operators and the Superintendents Parent Advisory Council on potential updates to the transportation policy.

The district also released an online survey in August to gather feedback on the proposed policy change. At the meeting, Algiers resident Octavia Bolds thanked the board for listening to the advisory councils pick-up recommendations.

Transportation is a key part of most students' days: In August, an audit of the districts enrollment system found most students this year will attend a public school outside of their neighborhood. A month later, an analysis of bus routes from 17 charter and district-run schools found that 1 in 4 students ride New Orleans buses for at least 50 minutes, according to Tulane Universitys Education Research Alliance for New Orleans.

The studys researchers stated the citys transportation model reflects the structure of the citys school system, which is highly decentralized and unprecedented in the history of U.S. public education. More than 90 percent of public students citywide attend schools managed by more than 40 nongovernmental nonprofits allowed to make their own transportation decisions.

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There is no district-level funding for transportation, so schools fund their transportation offerings with their per pupil funds or other sources. Researchers stated most schools in the city don't publish bus routes in advance, making it harder for parents to discern how far their child will have to travel to certain schools.

OPSB planning director Thomas Lambert told the district in September that most school operators claim they aren't picking students up before 6 a.m. Even so, Lambert said some schools might have to make "some fiscal adjustments" depending on the number of students they're picking up under the new policy.

Those school operators also told Lambert they might have to spend anywhere in a range of $50,000 to $156,000 for an additional bus if the proposed policy prohibited pick up times before 6:10 a.m. Lambert said an additional bus can cost as much as $70,000.

1 in 4 public school students ride New Orleans buses for at least 50 minutes, study says

Wilborn P. Nobles III is an education reporter based in New Orleans. He can be reached at wnobles@nola.com or on Twitter at @WilNobles.
The 2018 New Orleans Film Festival is underway, offering a feast of viewing options for local cinephiles. But with more than 220 screenings scheduled to play out over nine days at venues across town, sifting through the schedule can be an onerous task. Lucky for you, weve done the heavy lifting. Below, you can find out all thats happening on Day 4 of the festival (Saturday, Oct. 20), including a best bet for those who want to get right to the good stuff, as well as appearance by actors Tim Blake Nelson and Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

Todays best bet: The True Don Quixote (dir. Chris Poche; 1 hour 25 minutes)

You can be forgiven for thinking writer-director Chris Poche and his band of St. Bernard bards were tilting at windmills when they announced their intentions to film an independent adaptation of Don Quixote. Cervantes enduring work isnt merely a beloved piece of literature, after all. It is revered. It is iconic. It is said to be the second-most translated book in the world, after the Bible.

Thats intimidating stuff -- and its probably why Don Quixote has been so resistant to adaptation for English-language audiences over the years. Terry Gilliams famously troubled three-decade effort to produce his own version, The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, finally ended when his film closed the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year. It received lukewarm reviews.

All that makes Poches The True Don Quixote feel that much more triumphant. Not only did it defy the odds simply by making its way to the screen, but it also arrives as a deftly directed and emotionally resonant film that updates Cervantes tale for modern audiences. Perhaps most importantly, Poche and company never lose grip of the comedy and humanity that makes it all so magical to begin with.

9 must-see movies at the 2018 New Orleans Film Festival

Following the narrative lead of Cervantes original story, Poches film chronicles the adventures of Danny Kehoe, a mentally troubled librarian living in present-day St. Bernard Parish who, feeling crushed by the weight of the modern world, retreats into the books that have become his all-consuming passion -- tales of yore, of knights and chivalry. Alas, Danny retreats a bit too far. He ends up suffering from the delusion that he, too, is a knight errant and that he must embark on heroic missions to win the hearts of the people.

Actor Tim Blake Nelson (who is expected to be in attendance at Saturdays screening), is perfectly cast as Danny, with Jacob Batalon (Spider-Man: Homecoming) serving as his reluctant sidekick, Sancho. Together they scour the countryside, searching for adventure and glory -- but, for the most part, collecting only scrapes and bruises.

They are accompanied on their journey by expertly intoned narration from Roy Blount Jr., as well as a beautifully realized score -- rich and whimsical -- penned by Poche with local composer Jay Weigl.

Perhaps the most impressive thing about Poches True Don Quixote is, indeed, how true it is to Cervantes work, both in plot and in tone. Yes, its set in the modern world, and while that has tripped up many a previous literary adaptation, it ends up being entirely immaterial in this case.

Consider: When Cervantes two-part tale was first published in 1605 and 1615, knights were already a thing of the past, and so much of its humor was derived from the fact that its delusional title character was a man out of time. Well, knights are still a thing of the past, and so the absurdity of Don Quixotes adventures is still fully intact, even 400-plus years later.

By necessity, Poche makes a few tweaks here and there, but they work surprisingly well. Don Quixotes faithful steed, Rocinante, is replaced here by a hot-pink motor scooter -- dubbed Rosacea. His original lady love from Cervantes work, the lovely Dulcinea del Tobosco, is supplanted here by the cashier who sells him ice cream at the local Quickie Mart. He calls her Dulce de Leche de Tabasco.

As for the Louisiana windmill he encounters, I wont spoil the fun of that.

I will say this, however: Poche and his largely local cast and crew deserve an enormous amount of credit for what theyve accomplished -- and, make no mistake, it is an accomplishment. Their True Don Quixote is an impressive display of filmmaking, one that promises to entertain its audience, to honor Cervantes original work and, perhaps best of all, to showcase the depth of Louisianas native filmmaking talent.

Screening info: 6:15 p.m. Saturday (Oct. 20) at the Contemporary Arts Center Main NOFF Theater; with an encore performance scheduled for 11 a.m. Thursday (Oct. 25) at the Ranch Theater at the Contemporary Arts Center (900 Camp St.).

Plan B pick: The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (dir. Joel and Ethan Coen; 2 hours 12 minutes). Fest-goers get a double dose of Tim Blake Nelson, who, after walking the red carpet for the world premiere of The True Don Quixote, will stick around for this latest Coen brothers film, a violent, six-part anthology Western in which he also stars -- and which won the screenplay award at this years Venice Film Festival. Screening info: 8:15 p.m. Saturday (Oct. 20) at the Contemporary Arts Center main theater.

Plan B pick: hitRECord Shorts Showcase (shorts program; free event). Actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt is in the house to host this free program of short films, animations, and sketches created and curated by the hitRECord global community. For those unable to attend, the event will be live-streamed through Gordon-Levitts Facebook page. Event info: 3 p.m. Saturday (Oct. 20) at the Music Video Lounge within the Festival Hub at the Contemporary Arts Center.

If-Youre-Lucky-Enough-to-Score-a-Ticket pick: Widows (dir. Steve McQueen, 2 hours 9 minutes). Steve McQueen (12 Years a Slave) directs a thriller starring Viola Davis, Michelle Rodriguez, Liam Neeson, Colin Farrell and Robert Duvall in the story of four widowed women who set out to finish the heist that claimed the lives of their husbands. Screening info: 2:45 p.m. Saturday (Oct. 20) at the Prytania.

Full schedule for Saturday (Oct. 20)

10:30 a.m.: This Little Light (documentary features; Changemakers series), at The Ranch Theater at the Contemporary Arts Center

Oscar contender "Green Book" gets N.O. Film Fest off to a flashy start
President Donald Trump's approval rating among members of the military has slipped slightly since he took office two years ago, according to a poll by Military Times.

Trump's most recent overall approval rating was 43.8 percent, down from 46.1 percent in 2016. His disapproval rating was 43.1 percent, up from 37 percent two years ago.

Troops overwhelmingly support Trump's handling of military issues over that of former President Barack Obama, however. More than 60 percent said they believe the military is in better shape now than under Obama and nearly the same number have a favorable view of Trump's handling of the military, the poll showed.

Only 13 percent believed the military was in better shape under Obama than Trump.

Trump's approval rating was highest among members of the Marine Corps, with almost 66 percent saying they have either a favorable or very favorable view of the president. The overall favorability rating among the other branches were:

Navy - 49 percent

Air Force - 36.4 percent

Army - 38.1 percent

Men in the military were more likely to have a favorable view of Trump - 47 percent - compared to women - 26 percent.

Military backing remains high for Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis, a retired Marine Corps general. Almost 84 percent of active-duty personnel said they support Mattis, including 89 percent of officers.

The poll was conducted between Sept. 20 and Oct. 2 with responses from 829 active-duty troops.
Police arrested a wanted man after he allegedly opened fire at a bounty hunter in a coffee shop parking lot in the Lake Oaks area Thursday afternoon (Oct. 18).

Malik London, 22, was booked on a charge of attempted second-degree murder Friday afternoon (Oct. 19), according to court documents.

London was wanted for failing to appear in court in a domestic case and on Thursday, he was met in the parking lot of PJs Coffee shop at 6600 Franklin Avenue, near the intersection of Franklin Avenue and Leon C. Simon Drive, by bondsmen from A1 Unlimited Bail Bonds in New Orleans.

According to the arrest warrant, London was parked in a parking space when one bondsman, driving a black Dodge Charger, pulled up next to the drivers side of Londons car. As London tried to back up, he noticed another bondsmans car behind him.

The bondsman exited his Dodge Charger, according to the warrant, and began to walk toward Londons car. London then rolled down the drivers side window and started to shoot at the bondsman who was approaching him.

The bondsman fell to the ground and his partner began to shoot at Londons car as he fled the scene, court documents show. Malik fled off in a blue-green Chevorlet Silverado, NOPD public information officer Danielle Miller said.

Londons defense attorney, Jerry Settle claimed that London never had a gun and that the bondsman was hit in the crossfire from his partners, according to The Advocate. Settle also said that London was lured to the cafe after he was promised sex from a woman, whom he had never met, after he received erotic messages on social media from whom London thought was the woman. Instead, the bondsmen showed up in attempt to corner him, using a tactic known as catfishing, Settle said, according to The Advocate.

The bondsman wore a black polo with a white badge with the words fugitive recovery agent, documents show.

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Man shot in Lake Oaks neighborhood: NOPD

According to police, the bondsman was shot in the hand and shoulder and was grazed twice in the head. His medical condition was unclear as of Friday afternoon (Oct. 19).

Police at the scene could be seen removing an assault rifle from a nearby Jeep Cherokee, which police said was owned by another agent.

London was facing charges of battery upon a dating partner and battery on a dating partner involving strangulation, according to court documents.

He was also booked on forgery charges back in 2016.

Bond was set for $200,000. Settle could not be reached for comment.

An earlier version of this story reported the incorrect bail bond bonds firm. The bondsmen worked for A1 Unlimited Bail Bonds in New Orleans.
The European Union (EU) has been planning legislation to curb the at-least perceived tax-dodging practices of big tech firms with bases within the union. It involves taxing revenues from online ads at the per-EU point of target. This, as politicians such as Bruno Le Maire assert, will ensure that companies such as Apple pay a more proportionate tax burden.

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Enough of talking. Enough words. Enough excuses! These words were used by the finance minister of France, Bruno Le Maire, in order to re-ignite the discussion over the 'digital tax' currently proposed by the European Union as a new model to tax online revenue garnered by technology companies in the bloc. Maire did this in the course of an interview broadcast on the French public channel Public Senat TV.

These proposals involve charging taxes on 'digital' earnings made by companies who make 50 million (about US$58 million) in the EU (or 750 ($845) million in general) per year. These revenues are those made by targeting EU internet users with tools such as online ads. This criterion appears to target the 'big four' (i.e. Google, Apple, Amazon and Facebook) in particular, although the European Economics Commission (EEC) insists that about 150 more companies would be subject to it as well.

The general idea of this possible legislation, first broached in March 2018, may be to ensure that the companies in question pay tax on their earnings from operations in EU countries. The EEC estimates that they could garner about $5 billion for the bloc. On the other hand, they could have inadvertent negative effects should they become part of EU legislature. They may include these charges being passed on to parties such as affiliates.
Somewhere close to midnight last Sunday, the rapper Yasiin Bey tossed his hoodie over a mic stand and hunkered down into a shimmy, tilting forward and leaping back across the tight Blue Note stage, his eyes locked on Chris Daves snare drum.

The night marked the halfway point of Robert Glaspers residency at the West Village club, continuing through Oct. 28. The pianist was perched on a stool, holding the energy just below a boil as he dotted the bands high-friction groove with chords from one of his three keyboards. The D.J., Jahi Sundance, dropped samples over Mr. Daves drums and Derrick Hodge let wide, dark tones resound on the electric bass.

Mr. Glasper is just the fourth musician to do a full month at the Blue Note. (The others have been Dizzy Gillespie, Chick Corea and, for the past 13 Decembers, Chris Botti.) The residency is yet another reminder that Mr. Glasper, who turned 40 in April, is probably the most prominent jazz musician of his generation. Hes gotten there by playing within and without jazz, and pushing the music to reconsider its boundaries.

Hes known in particular for his Robert Glasper Experiment, an electric fusion quartet that has helped define a possible mainstream future for jazz, and his guest work with rappers like Mr. Bey (more widely known as Mos Def), Common and Kendrick Lamar.
LOS ANGELES  Californias aggressive pursuit of an electric grid fully powered by renewable energy sources is heading in a new direction: offshore.

On Friday, the federal Interior Department took the first steps to enable companies to lease waters in Central and Northern California for wind projects. If all goes as the states regulators and utilities expect, floating windmills could begin producing power within six years.

Such ambitions were precluded until now because of the depths of the Pacific near its shore, which made it difficult to anchor the huge towers that support massive wind turbines. They would be in much deeper water than anything that has been built in the world so far, said Karen Douglas, a member of the California Energy Commission.

Several contenders are expected to enter the bidding, equipped with new technology that has already been tested in Europe.
We all know that feeling, says Charlie Warzel, a reporter at BuzzFeed whos written about everything from viral misinformation on Twitter to exploitative child content on YouTube. You flag a flagrant violation of terms of service and send out a request for comment. And youre just sitting there refreshing, and then you see it come down  and afterward you get this boilerplate reply via email. Mr. Warzel says his inbox is full of messages from people begging him to intercede with the platforms on their behalf  sometimes because they have been censored unfairly, sometimes because they want to point to disturbing content they believe should be taken offline.

Journalists are not in the business of resolving disputes for Facebook and Twitter. But disgruntled users might feel that they have a better chance of being listened to by a reporter than by someone who is actually paid to resolve user complaints.

Of course, it would be far worse if a company refused to patch a problem that journalists have uncovered. But at the same time, muckraking isnt meant to fix the system one isolated instance at a time. Imagine if Nellie Bly had to infiltrate the same asylum over and over again, with each investigation prompting a single incremental change, like the removal of one abusive nurse.

The work of journalists is taken for granted, both implicitly and explicitly. In August, the Twitter CEO, Jack Dorsey, took to his own platform to defend his companys decision to keep Alex Jones online. Accounts like Jones can often sensationalize issues and spread unsubstantiated rumors, so its critical journalists document, validate, and refute such information directly so people can form their own opinions, he said. This is what serves the public conversation best. But journalists and outside researchers do not have access to the wealth of data available internally to companies like Twitter and Facebook.

The companies have all the tools at their disposal and a profound responsibility to find exactly what journalists find  and yet, clearly, they dont. The role that outsiders currently play, as consumer advocates and content screeners, can easily be filled in-house. And unlike journalists, companies have the power to change the very incentives that keep producing these troubling online phenomena.

The reliance on journalists time is particularly paradoxical given the damage that the tech companies are doing to the media industry. Small changes to how Facebook organizes its News Feed can radically change a news organizations bottom line  layoffs and hiring sprees are spurred on by the whims of the algorithm. Even as the companies draw on journalistic resources to make their products better, the hegemony of Google and Facebook over digital advertising  estimated by some to be a combined 85 percent of the market  is strangling journalism.

But throwing light on the coordinated misinformation campaigns flaring up all around us is a matter that is much bigger than the death of print  its essential to democracy. It can change the course of elections and genocides. Social media platforms are doing society no favors by relying on journalists to leach the poison from their sites. Because none of this is sustainable  and we definitely dont want to find out what happens when the merry-go-round stops working.
Of all the names Ive been called in life, including the usual anti-Semitic slurs, none has more sting than affirmative action hire.

I got that a lot on social media after I joined The Times. The meaning was clear: I was a quota-filler who had taken the place of somebody more deserving. Whatever I had accomplished, through talent or hard work, wasnt enough. I was just fulfilling a misbegotten mandate for ideological diversity  and doing even that poorly, since, like every other columnist here, Im also a Trump opponent.

The accusation always came from the left, and it contained an implicit admission. The very people who ordinarily championed affirmative action as a cornerstone of a decent society  for giving a needed leg up to the systemically disadvantaged  had no trouble understanding the other dimension of the policy  an unfair preference for the unqualified. They knew that affirmative action, whatever its benefits as a form of social engineering, was a synonym for mediocrity.

They also knew the insults insidious psychological power to wound. To be told that you are an affirmative action hire shakes the ground under your feet. Am I being humored? Have I always been? Is coming to The Times a mark of professional merit, or is my job a polite fiction, one that everyone but me sees through?
Saudi Arabia even announced that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who almost everybody believes must have approved this operation  his initials, M.B.S., are now said to stand for Mr. Bone Saw  will lead an investigation into what happened. Thats like appointing O.J. Simpson to investigate the murder of Nicole Brown Simpson.

These lies are so blatant and implausible that they underscore how out of touch M.B.S. is, and also suggest M.B.S. believes that he will have the backing of the United States in this cover-up. Thats a good bet, since Trump has lately celebrated the assault on a journalist by a Montana congressman and previously suggested that maybe a rogue killer was responsible for killing Jamal.

But M.B.S. has already gotten away with kidnapping Lebanons prime minister and starving eight million Yemenis; if he also gets away with murdering Jamal, who was an American resident and Washington Post columnist, as many believe happened, then thats a green light to him and any other autocrat who wants to make a troublesome journalist disappear. Journalists and democracy activists all over the world will have targets on their backs.

So what we really have now is a test of Trump and of America itself. Will Trump go along with the cover-up, or will he attempt to uphold Americas honor and dignity in this instance? Heres what he should do:

1. Since this happened in a NATO country, the NATO nations should jointly seek a United Nations-backed international investigation of the murder. This could be ordered by the United Nations Security Council, the General Assembly or the Human Rights Council.

2. The NATO countries should, in coordination, expel all Saudi ambassadors.

3. NATO countries should suspend all weapons sales, including of spare parts for aircraft, to Saudi Arabia. This would put substantial pressure on Saudi Arabia, which depends on the United States for its security.
Gov. Bill Walker of Alaska, a political independent who has been fighting an uphill battle for a second term, suspended his campaign on Friday and announced he was throwing his support behind his Democratic challenger. With only a few weeks before the election, the announcement upended the race, which until now had three candidates.

I believe we cannot win a three-way race, said Mr. Walker, a former Republican who left his party to win election as an independent in 2014. Mr. Walker said he had concluded that former United States Senator Mark Begich, a Democrat, has a better chance of running a competitive race against their Republican opponent, Mike J. Dunleavy, a well-financed Republican former state senator.

Alaskans deserve a choice other than Mike Dunleavy, Mr. Walker said. He urged his followers to vote for Mr. Begich even though his own name will still be on the ballot.

The announcement, which came as a shock to many, added chaos to a race in a pivotal time for the state. Alaska has struggled for years with a financial crisis in the capital, Juneau, and the next governor will face significant challenges. A recession has erased thousands of jobs as the oil industry, crucial to the economy, has slumped. Rising crime and homelessness have become major issues especially in Anchorage, the states largest city.
WASHINGTON  Should Americans be shocked that President Trump called a woman Horseface this week?

Not if they know anything about Mr. Trumps words and behavior over the past four decades, according to a growing subgenre of books that have chronicled in wincing detail the presidents relationships with the women in his life.

The books  written by authors from Ivana Trump, the presidents first wife, to Michael Wolff  have unearthed and chronicled the disparaging comments Mr. Trump has made to the women around him about their appearances and behavior and his often-expressed belief that women cant be trusted.

The latest entry, Golden Handcuffs: The Secret History of Trumps Women, by the journalist Nina Burleigh, traces how the consequence-free (so far) comments about women continue a running theme that started early in Mr. Trumps life. Ms. Burleigh details his relationships with women, from the austere German grandmother who left her workhorse imprint on the Trump family to the presidents two adversarial former wives.

Does he like women?

Ms. Burleigh pondered the question in an interview on Friday.

Of course he likes some women, Ms. Burleigh said, and some women like him.
The Issues That Russian Operatives Used to Divide Americans, in Their Own Words

A criminal complaint offered a rare view into how Russian operatives tried to disrupt the American political process, including the midterm elections.













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Among the memes that Russian operatives tried to spread ahead of the midterm elections, prosecutors said, was a false narrative that the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, had a history of scandal. Credit... Andrew Harnik/Associated Press
WASHINGTON  President Trump broke with his own intelligence agencies on Friday, appearing to accept Saudi Arabias explanation that the journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed by accident during a fistfight, while the United States spy agencies are increasingly convinced that he was assassinated on high-level orders from the Saudi royal court.

Mr. Trump, who has cultivated Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and made Saudi Arabia the linchpin of his Middle East strategy, has been deeply reluctant to point a finger at the prince, despite evidence linking him to Saudi operatives who entered the countrys consulate in Istanbul the same day that Mr. Khashoggi disappeared there.

Asked during a visit to an Air Force base in Arizona whether he viewed the Saudi explanation as credible, Mr. Trump said, I do.

[Jamal Khashoggi is dead. Here is everything we know so far.]

The president said he still had questions for Prince Mohammed, and he called the killing of Mr. Khashoggi unacceptable. Mr. Trump also raised the possibility of sanctions against Saudi Arabia, but said that he hoped that Congress would not try to block billions of dollars in weapons sales to the kingdom, which he has held up as proof of the fruits of the alliance.
A 74-year-old Long Island man was arrested Friday on charges that he made death threats against two United States senators in retaliation for their support of Brett M. Kavanaughs nomination to the Supreme Court.

The man, Ronald DeRisi, threatened to murder and assault the senators  who were not named  in more than 10 voice mail messages left to their offices, according to a complaint prepared by the United States Capitol Police.

In the voice mail messages, Mr. DeRisi, who is from Smithtown, N.Y., used threats of bodily harm laced with expletives to discourage the senators from voting to approve Judge Kavanaughs nomination and then admonished one for doing so, the complaint said.

Mr. DeRisi was ordered by a federal judge on Friday to be detained because he could pose a danger to the community, said John Marzulli, a spokesman for the United States Attorneys Office for the Eastern District of New York. The judge also ordered a psychological evaluation.
When I went to the Jeffrey Mine in Asbestos on assignment seven years ago, it was operating sporadically, with a skeleton staff. (During my visit, the owner of the mine proudly pointed out that most materials used in its office building, including the wall boards, were made from asbestos.) While seemingly on life support, the mine still had enough political sway to get a $58 million loan guarantee from the province. But a plan to finish construction of an underground mine to replace Jeffreys vast open pit didnt work out, and asbestos mining ended in Canada in 2012.

Canadas new ban has some exceptions. Companies will still be allowed to process the mountains of tailings from Quebecs mines to extract magnesium, even though about 40 percent of those leftovers contain asbestos. And some highly specialized products containing asbestos, including fittings for nuclear power plants, will remain on the market. Ms. de Leon would like to see those phased out promptly.

More broadly, she said, much work remains to ensure that the asbestos Canadians remove from schools, hospitals, offices, factories and houses is properly disposed of. Ms. de Leon, along with the Canadian Cancer Society, wants Canada to create a national registry of buildings containing asbestos  and an agency to deal with the deadly legacy.

Devastation from last months tornadoes in Ontario and Quebec hinted at the challenge ahead. Beyond the destruction of property, there was another concern: possible asbestos exposure from the damaged homes and apartments.

Marijuana in the Mainstream

As readers of this newsletter who live in Canada know well, Wednesday was the first day of legal recreational marijuana sales in the country. We put together a special edition of the Canada Letter to gather up our coverage to that point. Heres a link in case you missed it:

[Read: The Legal Cannabis Experiment Begins: The Canada Letter]

More in-depth looks at issues surrounding legalization will appear over the next few days. Until then, be sure to watch our short video about Day 1.
Outright denials. Botched interrogations. Fistfights. Ever since Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi disappeared after entering the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, the Kingdom has given all kinds of explanations about what happened and who is responsible. And then, in an early Saturday morning announcement, Saudi Arabia confirmed for the first time that Khashoggi is dead. They say he died after an argument and fistfight with unidentified men in the consulate. Its the latest in a series of changing narratives from Saudi authorities. First, Saudi Arabia said Khashoggi left the consulate and expressed concern about his well-being. Government-aligned Turkish media said he was brutally murdered by 15 Saudi hitmen. They even released their names and images. Saudi Arabia then started pushing back. In two statements, it denounced baseless allegations and called them lies. As the accusations and evidence mounted, the Saudis started getting more forceful in their denials. And their messages took on a threatening tone. Like in this tweet from the Foreign Ministry, saying, Demise is the outcome of these weak endeavors. The tweet was mysteriously deleted the next day. As of this moment, they deny it. When Trump said there would be  And there will be severe punishment. Saudi Arabia lashed out, saying it rejected threats. More reports continued to come out. Some of them were grisly. On the recordings, you can hear Khashoggi was detained when he entered, killed and dismembered. One official saying, You can hear how he was interrogated, tortured and murdered. Thats when the Saudis seemed to be testing out an eyebrow-raising theory, and using President Trump to help sell it. It sounded to me like maybe these could have been rogue killers  who knows? Then, yet another twist. Sources close to Saudi Arabia started teasing the idea that, yes, Khashoggi was dead, but it was because of an interrogation gone wrong. But they also continued to maintain the king and crown prince had no knowledge of it. The Saudis say theyre investigating. And when Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrived in Saudi Arabia, there were smiles and pleasantries. It looked like business as usual. But after the head-spinning stories about a suspected gory murder by a key U.S. ally, it was anything but.
Peter Dinklage stars in the new HBO drama My Dinner with Herve. And The Illusionist arrives on Amazon Prime.

Whats on TV

MY DINNER WITH HERVE (2018) 8 p.m. on HBO; also on HBO streaming platforms. In the summer of 1993, the journalist Sacha Gervasi flew to Los Angeles to interview the French actor Herve Villechaize, who had starred in Fantasy Island and appeared in The Man With the Golden Gun. Their conversation began as any other, then took a wild turn when Villechaize pulled a knife on Gervasi and asked him, Would you like to hear the real story of my life? That story was told over a raucous night out, and a week later, Villechaize committed suicide. This new drama  which has been 15 years in the making  revisits that surreal interview with moving performances by Jamie Dornan and Peter Dinklage.

KILLER HIGH (2018) 9 p.m. on Syfy. There are plenty of reasons people dread high school reunions: awkward catch-ups, lost connections, the realization that not much has changed in 10 years. In this new horror comedy, a meticulously planned reunion offers all those delights but turns into a true nightmare when a murderous monster hunts down the guests.

WOLVES AND WARRIORS 10 p.m. on Animal Planet. The first season of this series, which pairs combat veterans with wolves and wolf dogs that need rescuing, comes to a close. The host and Navy veteran Matt Simmons travels to Oklahoma to save 26 wolves who were secretly moved from a wildlife exhibition and fur-harvesting facility to a zoo.
I think that a healthy debate is healthy and I think its actually good for start-ups. Having the open debate has changed the way the conversation goes with start-ups.

Early-stage founders used to not proactively bring up these issues and now they do. So Im really happy for the open debate. As part of our due diligence process, we have a step called a brainstorm. We were already bringing up these issues as part of the brainstorming process and now Im pleased that the founders are bringing up the issue.

You spent time as vice president of engineering for A.I. at Google. Did it surprise you when Google employees protested the companys work with the Pentagon?

Im happy that I work at a company where people can have the internal debates and Im happy that Google published our A.I. principles (in June). And those are principles that, at Gradient, we were already adhering to.

That kind of outcry has gotten a little louder in the last year and not just from Google employees, but other companies as well. Has that changed your investment philosophy or strategy in any way?

We have passed on companies that we felt were crossing those lines. For instance, we saw an A.I. camera company and it integrated facial recognition and maybe mall traffic and maybe even your purchases, and we felt that if you were to do a brainstorm with them of where this could go in the future, it might make great sense on (return-on-investment) grounds, and they are getting contracts, but we did not invest because of ethical concerns.

Have you noticed a desire to shy away from some of those investments in the broader venture market?

They were successful in their raise. But the vast majority, were talking 99.9 percent of companies, their only desire is to have applications that help people and theyre all positive.
Viktoria Bedo and Jonah Chaim Fisher were married Oct. 18 at the Manhattan Marriage Bureau. Angel L. Lopez, a staff member of the New York City Clerks Office, officiated.

On Aug. 30, Rabbi Seth Braunstein led a Jewish ceremony at Mad Synagogue in Mad, Hungary. The wedding ceremony at the synagogue was the first since 1944, according to Mariann Frank, a caretaker of the historical site.

Ms. Bedo, 28, is a third-year rabbinical student and Wexner Graduate fellow at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America in New York, and has fellowship through Hillel Internationals Office of Innovation. She graduated magna cum laude from Brandeis. She is the daughter of Eleonora Bedo and Erik V. Bedo of Budapest.

Mr. Fisher, 29, works in New York as the director of Gather, a Seeds of Peace program in which he trains and supports entrepreneurs in conflict zones focusing on the Middle East. He graduated from Brown. From 2012-13, through a Dorot fellowship, he studied Arabic in Jerusalem and taught English and Hebrew to Sudanese asylum seekers. He is a son of Pearl Beck and David F. Fisher of New York.
On the last day, Ms. Dimenstein ordered a round of drinks for a group of colleagues at a bar. Mr. Berman took this as his chance to make a move. I said, I want to buy you a drink when we go back to D.C. Later, on the plane home, when they were unexpectedly placed in seats next to each other, enjoying glasses of Champagne in international business class, he asked her out again.

She said yes to Saturday, the day after they arrived back in Washington.

Both jet-lagged, they had their first date at the Dickson Wine Bar and, as the night progressed, they moved to El Rey, a Mexican restaurant, next door. Over tacos, they bonded over the importance of family, growing up in the Midwest and acceptance of other cultures.

We share a lot of the same values and find a lot of the same things important, Ms. Dimenstein said.

Ms. Dimenstein came to the United States from Belarus with her family as a refugee when she was 3; Mr. Bermans mother emigrated from Jamaica when she was 10. The couple said they both see the United States as a land of opportunity.

It was absolutely clear we were going to keep on dating, Mr. Berman said.

As their relationship progressed, they dealt with the implications of being a bipartisan couple both working in government positions in Washington, which is not very common but also not unheard-of, Ms. Dimenstein said.

He is the most stable and caring, steady person, Ms. Dimenstein said. Everyday that Im with him, it feels like were going to get through everything.
The new study is a big deal and has been the buzz of the breast cancer research world, said Dr. Larry Norton of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in an email. He was not involved in the study, although he said he had done paid consulting work for the past two years for the maker of Abraxane.

Beyond changing treatment practices, he said the research opens the door to new approaches to harness the immune system to fight breast cancer, and there is every reason to expect major advances there.

He cautioned that the combined treatment would have to be studied further, to assess side effects.

Dr. Kevin Kalinsky, a breast cancer specialist at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center, suggested that patients like those in the study should talk to their doctors about whether it is possible for them to get access to the medication while were waiting for F.D.A. approval.

He did not take part in this study. He said he has received consulting fees from about 10 drug companies, including Genentech.

The women in the study had triple-negative breast cancer that had been newly diagnosed and had become metastatic, meaning it had begun to spread. Once that occurs, the outlook is grim, with many patients surviving 18 months or less.

Half received chemo alone, and half were given chemo plus immunotherapy.

Among those who received the combination, the median survival was 21.3 months, compared with 17.6 months for those who received chemo alone. The difference was not statistically significant.
In reality, Ms Abrams could not expand Medicaid on Day 1, as she likes to say  and likely not even during her first year in office. The state legislature, which has to agree to it, will almost certainly remain under Republican control. And the leadership will likely remain resistant even though a number of rank-and-file members, especially in rural areas whose hospitals are in jeopardy, could start voicing more support.

But Ms. Abrams, who until last year served as minority leader of the Georgia House of Representatives, insists the legislature will have no choice but to accept Medicaid expansion before long.

Most of the hospital closures are in Republican districts and they know there has to be a solution, she said in an interview. I think there are real political consequences, as well as the moral and physical consequences that have been in place for so long. They can read polls as well as I can.

Since 2014, the Affordable Care Act has allowed states to provide Medicaid coverage to adults with incomes up to 138 percent of the poverty level, or $16,642 for a single person. Currently, adults who arent elderly or disabled cannot qualify for Medicaid in Georgia unless they have small children and minute incomes  $7,480 a year for a family of three, for example. The state has more uninsured people  nearly 500,000, according to one estimate  who would become eligible for Medicaid under expansion than any but Texas and Florida.

Mr. Kemp, Georgias secretary of state, has echoed the outgoing governor, Nathan Deal, also a Republican, in dismissing Medicaid expansion as too expensive.

Ms Abrams puts the eventual cost to Georgia at nearly $300 million a year, though offset by savings in charity care and other areas; Republicans say it could be above $450 million. For some rural voters, Mr. Kemps message resonates more.
Ray would head to the impoverished island of Leukas and write a feature about its residents hope that the wedding on nearby Skorpios would be a boon to tourism.

Access to the wedding site was restricted. Mrs. Kennedy did not want reporters in the chapel and allegedly tried to convince the groom to drastically limit their presence on the island.

Nonetheless, the few reporters allowed outside the chapel were soon joined by a cluster of others whose small boat had capsized along the shore. Soaking, they climbed rocks in search of the wedding.

The Times lucked out. The elegant Mario Modiano, our stringer in Athens, knew everyone in Greece  from chefs in the Plaka, to sponge divers, to Onassis himself, who was a friend.

Mario was invited to the wedding.

He accepted, attended and returned to the office after the vows around midnight  truly a Greek bearing news. We sat down and went over his notes.

Yes, Mrs. Kennedys two children  Caroline, 10, and John, 7  were beside the couple, holding slim white candles. And yes, she wore a beige chiffon and lace dress with a pleated knee-length skirt, designed by Valentino.

Mario had details, so the news desk in New York suggested we put together a brief sidebar with some of the color.
I promise no voter in New York is saying, I wish more campaign ads were on the air, said Glen Caplin, an adviser to Ms. Gillibrand, adding that the campaign was continuously evaluating the state of the race. Her campaign has taped a television ad in case it is needed.

Were trying to do it a little differently, Ms. Gillibrand explained. What that looks like is Ive done 16 town halls; Ive been to all 62 counties; Im trying to really create a grass-roots-oriented campaign and a modern campaign.

Some of Ms. Gillibrands limited spending has been geared to an audience far beyond New York.

In recent weeks, she has bought Facebook ads nationally to raise money for Democratic senators and Senate candidates, including Kyrsten Sinema in Arizona, Claire McCaskill in Missouri and Jacky Rosen in Nevada. (Donations are split between Ms. Gillibrands campaign and the candidates, while her campaign harvests valuable new donor contacts.)

She is running other ad programs to expand her database of supporters: In late September, a series of Facebook ads, which also ran nationally, featured a one-question survey: Do you approve of President Trump? Pathmatics said she spent $183,000 on one such ad.

A study by academics of Facebook ad data compiled by Pathmatics showed that Ms. Gillibrand spent $1.5 million on Facebook ads through August, but only 9 percent of it in New York. In contrast, 82 percent of spending on Facebook ads by Senator Amy Klobuchar, a Minnesota Democrat who is also up for re-election, was within her state.

Senator Bernie Sanders, who is also on the ballot this year, spent only 1 percent for ads in his home state, Vermont, the study showed. The heavily favored Mr. Sanders has also spent little on his re-election, ending September with $8.8 million in his campaign account, though he is not expected to face the same financial pressures as other candidates if he runs again for president, because he already has an expansive donor base. His 2016 campaign was powered by more than $230 million in mostly small contributions.

Ms. Gillibrand, Ms. Warren and Mr. Sanders would all enjoy one other financial advantage if they run right after getting re-elected: Not only can they transfer everything left over from their Senate campaign to a presidential committee, they can also tap again every past donor, even those who have given the legal maximum of $5,400 in the 2018 cycle, because it would be a new campaign.
As a pro-natalist, I am in full sympathy with the Macron-tweaking mothers, but as a descriptive matter the French president is basically correct. Its a law of modern Western and East Asian history (well call it Macrons Law hereafter) that with wealth and education birthrates fall  and fall, and fall. The existence of occasional exceptions only highlights how exceptional they are.

This plunge has happened without population-control interventions as well as with them, and because Western-supported population control efforts in the developing world tended to be inhumane and not-so-mildly racist, over the last couple of decades they have fallen somewhat out of fashion, with Gatesian philanthropists and politicians alike.

So why are they creeping back into the discussion? For three reasons: Because African birthrates havent slowed as fast as Western experts once expected, because European demographics are following Macrons Law toward the grave, and because European leaders are no longer nearly so optimistic about assimilating immigrants as even a few short years ago.

In 2004, the U.N. projected that Africas population would level off by 2100 around two billion. Today it projects that it will reach 4.5 billion instead. This change in the expected trend is more likely a result of sluggish economic growth than proof of an African exception to Macrons Law  though it holds open the possibility that Africa could be such an exception. But whatever the explanation, by centurys end two in five human beings could be African.

This trend would have revived a certain kind of population-bomb anxiety no matter what, but the anxiety in Europe is a little more specific than that  because over the same period, Europes population is likely to drop by about one hundred million. (Western Europes leaders are a vanguard here: Neither Macron nor Angela Merkel nor Theresa May have any biological children.) In the late 1990s Europe and Africa had about the same population; a hundred years later there could be seven Africans for every European. And the experience of recent refugee crises has demonstrated to European leaders both how easily populations can move northward, and how much harder assimilation may be than they once hoped.
The question now is not whether the Saudis latest explanation for Jamal Khashoggis death is credible, but whom do they think theyre fooling. In the autocratic world of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, what common people think is irrelevant; what matters is whether throwing his hit men under the bus is enough to satisfy President Trump.

Mr. Trump has been longing for some way to hang on to his soul mate Prince Mohammed and lucrative Saudi arms deals from Day 1, and he seemed to breathe a sigh of relief over the story the Saudis concocted after more than two weeks of lies and evasions. It was a good first step and a big step, Mr. Trump said Friday night. Asked whether he found it credible, he replied, I do.

He is in a distinct minority. The Saudi story has been widely dismissed as a pathetic attempt to acknowledge what has become undeniable  that a band of 15 Saudi agents flew in to Istanbul on the day Mr. Khashoggi was expected at the Saudi Consulate and killed him there. It also insulates Prince Mohammed, the wielder of real power in Saudi Arabia, from any responsibility.

In this narrative, there went out a general order to round up dissidents living abroad, but somehow it got garbled in transmission, so when the Saudis learned of Mr. Khashoggis plans, the deputy director of intelligence, Maj. Gen. Ahmed al-Assiri, dispatched a team to pick him up. According to this version of the tale, Mr. Khashoggi put up a fight and got killed, and a local collaborator was given the body to dispose of, perhaps in pieces and in suitcases.
Every year I give a lecture on the history of retail in which Sears, central to American shopping for a century, plays a starring role. On Monday, when Sears filed for bankruptcy protection, I got a little wistful  not because I was particularly attached to the company, but because of the largely unsung role of its iconic catalog in helping African-Americans evade the injustices and humiliations of the Jim Crow era.

Historians typically date the Jim Crow era to the Mississippi Plan of 1890, which amended Mississippis Constitution to allow the disenfranchisement of African-Americans. But the true onset of this era came earlier, and it started with shopping. In 1883, the Supreme Court voided the Civil Rights Act of 1875, which had banned discrimination in public businesses like theaters, restaurants, trains and shops. The loss of political rights, then, followed the loss of consumer rights. Jim Crow was active white resistance to black peoples freedom both at the ballot box and at the local shop.

Every time black Southerners went to a local store, they were forced to wait as white customers were served first. Serving white customers before black ones might seem a relatively small insult, but behind that racial ordering was an omnipresent threat of violence. Products in these stores reminded black shoppers that whites did not consider them deserving of human dignity: Grotesque caricatures of black faces were used as a humorous way to sell toothpaste, soap and nearly anything else; far more harrowing, with the rise of public spectacle lynching in the 1890s, black people could find the charred remains of lynching victims for sale alongside postcards commemorating the event.

Waiting for service was not mere discrimination. It was part of a larger world of white violence.

Then there was the matter of buying items on credit. Farmers, white and black, depended on credit to survive until the harvest. Credit came through small general stores, where the (white) shopkeeper would decide what you were allowed to buy. Black sharecroppers would often be in perpetual debt to a store, which was often owned by their landlord and employer. The credit price for goods, higher than the cash price, always managed to leave sharecroppers a little in the red even after they were paid for their crops. This debt system bound black farmers to the land in an almost feudal fashion. Adding insult to injury, black people were often even not allowed to purchase the same quality clothes as white people.
But none of these kinds of correlations reliably sort the true from the false. In the end, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie did get divorced. Keyword associations that might help you one day can fool you the next.

To get a handle on what automated fake-news detection would require, consider an article posted in May on the far-right website WorldNetDaily, or WND. The article reported that a decision to admit girls, gays and lesbians to the Boy Scouts had led to a requirement that condoms be available at its global gathering. A key passage consists of the following four sentences:

The Boy Scouts have decided to accept people who identify as gay and lesbian among their ranks. And girls are welcome now, too, into the iconic organization, which has renamed itself Scouts BSA. So whats next? A mandate that condoms be made available to all participants of its global gathering.

Was this account true or false? Investigators at the fact-checking site Snopes determined that the report was mostly false. But determining how it went afoul is a subtle business beyond the dreams of even the best current A.I.

First of all, there is no telltale set of phrases. Boy Scouts and gay and lesbian, for example, have appeared together in many true reports before. Then there is the source: WND, though notorious for promoting conspiracy theories, publishes and aggregates legitimate news as well. Finally, sentence by sentence, there are a lot of true facts in the passage: Condoms have indeed been available at the global gathering that scouts attend, and the Boy Scouts organization has indeed come to accept girls as well as gays and lesbians into its ranks.

What makes the article mostly false is that it implies a causal connection that doesnt exist. It strongly suggests that the inclusion of gays and lesbians and girls led to the condom policy (So whats next?). But in truth, the condom policy originated in 1992 (or even earlier) and so had nothing to do with the inclusion of gays, lesbians or girls, which happened over just the past few years.

Causal relationships are where contemporary machine learning techniques start to stumble. In order to flag the WND article as deceptive, an A.I. program would have to understand the causal implication of whats next?, recognize that the account implies that the condom policy was changed recently and know to search for information that is not supplied about when the various policies were introduced.
UNALAKLEET, Alaska  Its October and we havent yet had a frost. The ground is still soft. When my grandpa was little, ice anchored to the shore would begin to form at this time of year. But last year that didnt happen until around March and it melted soon after.

We are Inupiat , northern indigenous people with communities from Alaska to Greenland. I had always thought the cold was necessary for the ways we relate to this earth. But we may have to learn to live without it. Last winter, there was less ice in the Bering Sea than any winter since the start of record-keeping in 1850.

Scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration conducted a bottom-trawl survey in the summer and found that a large cold pool of water that has historically formed southwest of the fishing community I call home was gone. Sandwiched between Russia and Alaska, the cold-water pool, or curtain, is created when the sea ice melts during the summer, making a natural barrier in the Bering Sea .

The creatures in the part of the sea north of the barrier are usually cold-water fish like small cod and the mammals that eat them. Larger Pacific cod and pollock and creatures like sea lions typically remain in the south. Without the cold-water barrier, these southern fish appear to be moving farther and farther north.
Just as deer populations need wolves or cougars to keep them healthy, Democrats benefit from predatory Republicans.

America needs a robust center-right party to hold progressives like me accountable. Cities and states run by a single party slide toward poor governance, and conservatives are essential to push back at flabby thinking on the left  like Californias Proposition 10, a populist rent control proposal that might backfire and magnify homelessness.

Unfortunately, the principled version of the Republican Party in Congress has virtually collapsed, a crisis compounded by the death of Senator John McCain. Republican leaders in Congress actively resist providing congressional oversight and are no more than the presidents poodles.

Sure, there are still many principled individuals within the party, but as a national institution the Republican Party is hollow. It is no longer about an ideology; its about shining President Trumps shoes. And that is the fundamental issue hanging over the midterm elections.
Was there much attention to that? Nah. It was expected, familiar, another artless evasion atop an ever-growing Matterhorn of lies. Political observers wondered more about how her bungle squared with her presidential ambitions than about how his bogusness squared with the presidency itself. They fretted over her flaws because they  and more crucially, many American voters  long ago resigned themselves to his. Hers are quantifiable, definable. His have no bounds.

Thats Trumps edge over everybody. Thats his gift. He can do no wrong because hes all wrong. He never really shocks because hes a perpetual shock.

When someone frolics at the nadir for as long as he has, theres nowhere to go but sideways.

He reminds me of a long-held fantasy of mine: that someday, to head the media off at the pass, a candidate would begin his or her campaign by holding a news conference and telling reporters: Let me save you a lot of time and me a lot of grief. I hereby introduce all the skeletons in my closet: this drug, that dalliance, some naked greed here, several suspicious tax maneuvers there and, oh, I once adopted a dog from the pound and returned it the next day. Decide if Im disqualified. Then we can move on to a conversation about how to slow the warming of the globe.

Except for the global-warming part, Trump essentially did that  not when he glided down that escalator in Trump Tower but by living the life that he had lived, under the glare that he had invited, until then. He hadnt concealed his sexual infidelity; hed crowed about it. He couldnt pantomime Puritanism; hed emblazoned his name on casinos and the Miss Universe pageant.

It was clear that he had amassed his fortune through convenient bankruptcies, unsavory alliances and stiffed creditors.
Liuba Grechen Shirley, a Democratic activist challenging a longtime Republican incumbent, Representative Peter King, is among the wave of women inspired to run by the election of Donald Trump. She previously helped galvanize Democrats and women in the district by starting an organization to oppose the Trump agenda, particularly the attempted repeal of the Affordable Care Act. When Mr. King voted to end that law, she first protested as a constituent, then decided to run against him.

Ms. Grechen Shirley has a professional background in global development, working for the United Nations Foundation. That she is also a mother of two young children won her national attention this year when she persuaded the Federal Election Commission to let her spend campaign funds on child care, making her the first woman to do so.

She supports Medicare for All, a federal minimum wage of $15 per hour and expanded funding for prekindergarten programs. She would also extend Temporary Protected Status to immigrants who fled disaster at home. That more welcoming approach would be a much needed change from Mr. King, who supported Mr. Trumps so-called Muslim travel ban. Mr. King has also stirred anti-immigrant sentiment more generally, in his district and nationally. Asked about the separation of children from parents at the border, he told one news outlet: Americans care more about Americans.

Mr. King has served in Congress since 1993, but, with Democrats energized, Ms. Grechen Shirley has a path to victory.

New Yorks First District, Long Island.

Image

Like most campaigns this fall, this one has focused on what Congress can do, not what the White House has done. Perry Gershon, the Democrat, supports Medicare for All and has backed the Affordable Care Act, which the Republican incumbent, Representative Lee Zeldin, voted to gut. Mr. Gershon, who wants to discuss sensible restrictions on immigration, has backed protection for Dreamers without other stipulations, unlike Mr. Zeldin. Mr. Zeldin supports withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement, which could have dire consequences for district with miles of coastline.

But the president has had a cameo part in the race. Mr. Gershon has provocatively said he was inspired to run by seeing parallels between Hitlers rise and Mr. Trumps rise while visiting the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington. Mr. Zeldin, who has enthusiastically backed Mr. Trump, kicked off his re-election campaign at an event with Sebastian Gorka, a far-right former Trump aide who has worn a pin from a Hungarian group founded by Nazis. That group has claimed Mr. Gorka as a member, although he denies it. Mr. Zeldin has also had a fund-raiser with Steve Bannon, another former Trump aide, who has been connected with some of the most extreme right-wing groups in Europe and the United States.
All of which stopped me cold.

I thought I was inured to social media abuse. But this was something new: a calm public discussion about how to find me and what to do to me. No one deleted the comment by gnomish. The conversation just kept spiraling along.

Opinion Conversation The climate, and the world, are changing. What challenges will the future bring, and how should we respond to them? What should our leaders be doing?

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In Sept. 2020, Michael Benson studied detailed satellite imagery. Here's the earth that he saw  and the one he wants to see.

I know that this is much worse for women; I shudder to think what Christine Blasey Fords email has been like lately. I know enough American history to understand that for people of color the deed has followed the threat with chilling regularity. I know that its worse in other places  207 environmentalists or defenders were killed last year around the world. I have no idea if these people actually wish to murder me, though its disconcerting to imagine who among those millions of visitors to the site will read the comments and decide to drive to my house.

But aside from my own fear  and Im now installing surveillance cameras, because it turns out that public death threats slash through some of the psychic insulation privilege provides  what really bothered me was the matter-of-factness of it all. What does it say about a society when people just routinely call for the killing of those they disagree with? Youll note that gnomish abbreviated his profane phrase, because curse words are banned on this website. But its moderators apparently just read right past the death threat.

Threatening to kill or rape someone shouldnt be banal. It should shock everyone who comes across such a threat. And that should go without saying, except that increasingly it doesnt, not in a world where the president has said that he longed for the days when disruptive protesters were carried away from the scene on a stretcher.  Its perversely heartening to see that the apparent murder of the Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi seems to have temporarily interrupted business as usual. Such shock and outrage is crucial, because in a world where dissenters are dismembered, theres no hope for change. The prospect that youll be killed for what you say makes discussion essentially impossible. A society in which critics fear death is a society with fewer critics, and hence with fewer chances for change.

I count nonviolence as perhaps the greatest invention of the 20th century, above all because it opens up the possibility for conversion, not domination. That was the point of my op-ed essay, the one that garnered me the death threat. But we should practice nonviolence in ways small as well as large, prosaic as well as dramatic.

In the case of Watts Up With That, Id made the effort at de-escalation myself. A few years ago, I was scheduled to give an organizing talk in the small California town where the websites proprietor, Anthony Watts, lived. So I contacted him and invited him out for a beer. I knew I wouldnt change his mind on climate change, and he knew I would continue to think his work involved wrecking the planet. But it always seems like a human idea to reach out.

And it was fine. We had a couple of beers, he wrote up an account of our conversation for his website, and even most of the commenters saluted us for sitting down and talking. (It was odd enough that it even got covered in The Times). But given the political world in which we live, a world in which tribes divide up and then beat their chests, it wasnt long before things were back to new ugly normal.

I dont want this website shut down; I dont want the people who write on it prosecuted. I definitely dont want them murdered. I just want  as the very beginning of some kind of return to the gentler old normalcy  for people to stop making death threats. That seems to me the least we can ask of one another.

Bill McKibben, a founder of 350.org, teaches environmental studies at Middlebury College and is the author of the forthcoming book Falter: Has the Human Game Begun to Play Itself Out?

Follow The New York Times Opinion section on Facebook, Twitter (@NYTopinion) and Instagram.
Despite Mr. Trumps campaign rhetoric vilifying Mexicans and focusing on a border wall, embassy officials and our Mexican partners felt after his inauguration that we would be able to continue working well together. But it quickly became impossible to know how to influence the mess in Washington.

On that April afternoon in 2017, I knew that Rex Tillerson, the secretary of state, didnt want to get involved in Nafta talks and rarely took calls from even a senior ambassador. So I talked to senior career colleagues from the Office of the United States Trade Representative and the Commerce Department, but they knew little more than I did.

As President Pena Nieto joined diplomats and government and military officials on the reviewing stand, he paused to greet me and emphasized that it was imperative that we talk later. When we finally sat down alone, the president, unfailingly polite, was blunt: What the hell was going on? Your president is going to pull out of Nafta before weve even had a chance to sit down and work on this? he said to me. This would be a disaster  economically, politically.

He was right. Nafta, while never a panacea, had helped trade nearly quadruple among the United States, Mexico and Canada; made countless American industries more competitive; and perhaps most important, cemented a shift in our relations with Mexico to the benefit of the United States. Mexicans opened up to the world with Nafta, not just in trade but also politically, with democracy advancing, albeit in fits and starts. Mexican governments became our partners on security, migration and foreign policy, including on terrorism. Pulling out would threaten more than just a productive trade relationship.

All I could tell him was that I was continuing to speak with the White House and hoped cooler heads would prevail. I noted that this was coming just after a spate of negative articles about the first 100 days of the Trump administration. I was learning that critical news reports almost inevitably led the president to fall back on his standard refrains: Build the wall, or Nafta is the worst deal ever.

The draft document to pull out of Nafta was never sent. Why? Were not really sure. Perhaps because the Mexican foreign minister, Luis Videgaray, engineered a phone call between Presidents Trump and Pena Nieto. Perhaps Mr. Trumps secretary of agriculture showed him evidence that his rural, agricultural base would be hurt. Or because powerful Republicans in Congress weighed in against ruining an important trading relationship.
The Saudis blithely assume abhorrence at their inhumane behavior  from beheadings to forcing teenage girls without head scarves back into a burning school to die, as the religious police did in Mecca in 2002, to the brazen murder of Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist  can be lubricated away with oil and money.

And why shouldnt they?

Our alliance with the Saudis has always been poisoned by cynical bargains.

After the oil boom of the late 70s, Islamic clerics were enraged at the hedonistic behavior of the royals. In order to continue with their hypocritical lifestyle, the royals offered cultural freedom and womens rights as a sop to the fundamentalists, allowing anti-Western clerics and madrasas to flourish and giving a free pass to those who bankrolled terrorism.

Even as we hailed the Saudis as our partners in fighting terrorism, they were nurturing the monsters who would come for us. Seventeen years before the psychotic Saudi hit squad traveled to Istanbul to dismember Khashoggi while he was still alive, another psychotic Saudi hit squad traveled to America to turn planes packed with passengers into bombs.

Osama bin Laden and 15 of the 19 hijackers on 9/11 were Saudis. The Saudi royals repeatedly stymied American efforts to crack down on Al Qaeda in the years before 9/11.

But they remained our dear friends. W.s White House allowed Prince Bandar  the dean of the Washington diplomatic corps was so close to the Bush family that his nickname was Bandar Bush  to spirit Bin Ladens family members and other wealthy Saudis out of America on jets after the twin towers fell. Bandar entertained and influenced pols and journalists with cigars and cognac in the reassembled British pub he had transported to his $135 million Aspen mansion, and with hunting jaunts at his estate in Englands Wychwood.

Even Barack Obama, who had no love lost for the Saudis, refused for eight years to release a classified document from 2002 detailing contacts between Saudi officials and some of the 9/11 hijackers, including checks from Saudi royals to operatives in contact with the hijackers and a connection between a Bandar employee and a Qaeda militant. (Bandars wife, Princess Haifa, wrote charitable checks that ended up in the hands of two hijackers.)
There are also social overtones. Sabrina invokes witches as a metaphor for womanhood, and the challenges that girls and women face in a male-dominated world. I loved the feminist quality of it, Ms. Shipka said.

Witches are such a thing right now, arent they? she added. I think its interesting how we keep returning to them time and time again. This feels like a very current take on the whole idea. What I like about the show is that it simultaneously feels like an escape but also a commentary.

The role of Sabrina, with all its layers and contradictions, was also an exciting challenge. The way that her character is so multidimensional and still so young, but driven and smart, brave and selfless at the same time, Ms. Shipka said. That was really fascinating to me.

Ms. Shipka could have been talking about herself. With her wavy blond bob, sleeveless white Miu Miu shirt, slim black pants and velvet fanny pack, she cut a professional yet playful look.

Young people deserve to be portrayed with depth, she said.

She would know. After all, Ms. Shipka first came to fame on Mad Men, as Don Drapers deeply complicated daughter, Sally, a role she played from ages 6 to 15. I still remember my first day on set, she said. I was so giddy.
The start-ups working toward this goal are applying blockchains in a number of ways. At the most basic level, just as the blockchain allows money to be moved around without any bank or central authority in the middle, artificial intelligence experts are hoping that a blockchain can allow artificial intelligence networks to access large stores of data without any big company in control of the data or the algorithms.

Several start-ups are setting up blockchain-based marketplaces, where people can buy and sell data.

Ocean Protocol, a project based in Berlin, is building the infrastructure so that anyone can set up a marketplace for any kind of data, with the users of data paying the sources with digital tokens.

Unlike Google and Facebook, which store the data they get from users, the marketplaces built on Ocean Protocol will not have the data themselves; they will just be places for people with data to meet, ensuring that no central player can access or exploit the data.

Blockchains are incentive machines  you can get people to do stuff by paying them, said Trent McConaghy, one of the founders of Ocean Protocol, who has been working in artificial intelligence since the 1990s.

The goal, Mr. McConaghy said, is to decentralize access to data before its too late.

Ocean is working with several automakers to collect data from cars to help create the artificial intelligence of autonomous cars. All the automakers are expected to share data so none of them have a monopoly over it.

Another start-up, Revel, will pay people to collect the data that companies are looking for, like pictures of taxis or recordings of a particular language. Users can also let their phones and computers be used to process and categorize the images and sounds  all in exchange for digital tokens. Over a thousand people already have put their computers to work.

These sorts of marketplaces are only the outer layer of the blockchain-based systems that are being built to handle artificial intelligence data.
Democratic candidates have also used consumer-facing apps to promote their political campaigns and advocacy. But the main election apps currently used on the left  such as MiniVAN, built by NGP VAN, a leading technology provider to Democrats  are geared more narrowly for campaign volunteers engaging in door-to-door canvassing, an activity where they can woo and record details on individual voters. Many are not designed to create lasting social communities.

This year, Democratic campaigns are also embracing peer-to-peer text messaging, a technology that may engage younger voters more than stand-alone candidate apps do. Not to be outdone, uCampaign recently started its own peer-to-peer texting platform, RumbleUp, for conservative campaigns.

Mr. Peters, a Catholic blogger and former web developer, said he hadnt set out to become the go-to app maker for conservatives. In 2012, he was working as a conservative activist in Washington and grew frustrated with the success of the Obama campaigns digital outreach efforts.

The Obama campaign had a smartphone app that supporters could use to follow campaign news, volunteer, canvas voters and promote campaign messages on social media. Mitt Romney, the Republican challenger, had an app whose central feature was a photo filter allowing supporters to take selfies with the slogan Im with Mitt. Mr. Peters was not impressed.

It did not do the one thing I wanted it to do, he said, which was to help win the election for Mitt Romney by asking me to donate money to them, to post things to social media, to invite my friends and family to register to vote  to do all of the things, basically, that the Obama app did.
rgbspace/iStock/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) -- The New York Stock Exchange is about to get greener. Canada-based Aurora Cannabis plans to start trading on the NYSE on Oct. 23, the company announced Thursday.



The move comes in spite of the fact U.S. financial institutions are still barred from doing business with marijuana companies, be it financing the businesses or accepting deposits or allowing employees to open personal bank accounts.



Aurora Cannabis is allowed to be listed in the U.S. because it's not an American firm. A weed company in, say, Colorado wouldn't be permitted to list shares because of federal law.



"The Exchange has broad discretion regarding the listing of a company," Lisette Kwong, a spokeswoman for the NYSE, wrote in an email to ABC News.



Canopy, based in Ontario, became the first weed producer listed on the NYSE earlier this year under the ticker CGC. It also trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange as WEED.



Canada legalized recreational marijuana use for adults this week. It remains illegal in the U.S. under federal law, although many states have decriminalized it in some form.



Because the U.S. federal government still classifies pot as an illegal controlled substance, U.S. banks cannot technically accept deposits from marijuana businesses and are subject to money-laundering rules. However, a growing number of state-chartered banks and credit unions are experimenting with cannabis businesses.



Experts have said Canada's legalization may spur more investment into the cannabis industry as a whole.



"U.S. institutional investors who have not understood the industry, or had concerns about the regulations, now that we're ready to go, you might see more institutional investors, whether in the U.S. or elsewhere in the world, start to allocate money or capital into the sector," said Jesse Pytlak, an analyst with Cormack Securities.



As a result of U.S. federal law, most marijuana is purchased with cash, not credit cards, causing a problem for dispensaries that end up hoarding greenbacks until massive deposits can be made.



"Previously, these businesses have literally laundered their money, whether it's using a product like Febreze or some other scent-covering agent to try to deposit these large sums of cash," Amanda Avret, a spokeswoman for the Colorado Bankers Association, said. "Tellers have stopped those deposits by literally smelling the money."



Copyright  2018, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
The Bathroom

The roomy bath had sand-colored walls and floors, a large dark-wood vanity with lots of counter space for our toiletries, and a large shower (there was no tub). The robes were from Frette, and we hoarded the eucalyptus-sage- scented toiletries from the holistic line American Medicinal Arts.

Amenities

There are five dining and drinking spots: Brothers and Sisters; The Cup We All Race 4; an all-day restaurant, A Rakes Progress, from Baltimore chef Spike Gjerde; an Asian-inspired restaurant and bar, Spoken English, that only has standing tables; and a bar that focuses on local distillers and brewers, A Rakes Bar. The Line also has a 24-hour gym and, most unusually, a radio station, Full Service Radio, that broadcasts live from a lounge in the lobby. The station, which streams online, plays music and conducts interviews and round table discussions with local and visiting artists, musicians and other notables.

Dining

We drank a delicious gin and tonic and a refreshing tequila muddled with lime before heading out for dinner, and it was hard not to go overboard with the morning baked goods, all made in-house: perfectly flaky and buttery croissants, blueberry-oat crumb muffins and cakes like the Budapest, a rich gluten-free hazelnut and chocolate confection.

The Bottom Line

Washington has its fair share of traditional mid-tier and luxury hotels, and The Line, a four-star property, is a refreshing addition to the familiar scene. Its a cool spot with a friendly and eager-to-please staff. Sometimes, the service can miss the mark  we had to ask three times, for example, for slippers and toothbrushes to be delivered to our room  but its easy to overlook the slip-ups because the Line DC is such fun.

1770 Euclid St. NW, 202-588-0525, The Line DC
The statement from the funeral homes lawyer said Perry was not involved with the body donation program.

Perry Funeral Home received these remains from local hospitals who had indicated to Perry that the remains were unclaimed by the parents, it said. In other words, the hospitals had informed Perry that the hospitals had reached out to the parents by certified mail and/or by phone, and the families did not respond. We do not believe that any of these remains involve families that paid Perry for funeral services.

In a statement emailed on Friday, Wayne State University said it had become aware of the lawsuit only recently. Without offering an opinion on the lawsuit itself, we believe the claim against the university is baseless and we will be moving soon to dismiss it, it added.

A spokeswoman for the Detroit Medical Center, where Alayah was born, could not immediately be reached for comment on Friday but told The Detroit News that it was against its policy to discuss pending litigation.

On Oct. 12, news broke that infants remains had been found hidden in the ceiling of another funeral home  the Cantrell Funeral Home, which had been shuttered in April. The news reached Alayahs family, which encouraged Mr. Parks to share their concerns about Perry Funeral Home with the police, which he did.

In a news conference on Friday, Chief James Craig of the Detroit Police Department said the two funeral homes did not appear to be connected, and that officials may form a task force to investigate how human remains are stored and documented in the area. This is larger than we might know, he said.

Daniel W. Cieslak, another lawyer representing Alayahs mother, said in an interview on Friday that based on documents he had seen while investigating this case, there could be hundreds of fetuses remains in the custody of Perry Funeral Home.
A city commissioner in Florida was charged on Friday with second-degree murder after fatally shooting a man he suspected of stealing a hatchet from his shop.

The grand jury indictment came about two weeks after the commissioner, Michael Dunn, 47, of Lakeland, Fla., confronted a man and then shot him with a handgun as the man was leaving the store. The man, Christobal Lopez, 50, died at the scene.

Brian Haas, the state attorney for the 10th Judicial Circuit, said in a statement that Mr. Dunns actions fell outside the protection of Floridas Stand Your Ground law, which can make it challenging to prosecute people who maintain they killed someone in self-defense.

Mr. Dunn is a co-owner of an Army-Navy surplus store, which carries a selection of firearms, military surplus and public safety supplies. He began serving a four-year term as an elected city commissioner in January in Lakeland, which is about 35 miles east of Tampa, Fla.
As Election Day draws near, a growing amount of disinformation is getting published online to confuse, inflame or distract potential voters.

To help readers better understand the information landscape, journalists at The Times have collected five examples of active disinformation campaigns that were reported on or took place this week.

[If you see a suspicious post or text, please take a screenshot and share it with us.]

Twitter took down a bot network supporting the Saudi Arabian government.

On Thursday, Twitter suspended a network of suspected Twitter bots that were sending pro-Saudi Arabian government talking points about the disappearance of the Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

NBC News, which first reported the suspicious activity, says the accounts were taken down after Twitter was presented with a spreadsheet of hundreds of accounts that tweeted and retweeted the same talking points, like #unfollow_enemies_of_the_nation and #We_all_trust_Mohammad_Bin_Salman.
From the killing of a Washington Post columnist to developments in the midterm elections, its been a busy week in American politics. Here are some of the biggest stories you might have missed (and some links if you want to read further).

_____________________

Jamal Khashoggi is dead, said Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabias government said on Friday that Jamal Khashoggi, the missing Saudi dissident who was a columnist for the Washington Post, was strangled during a fistfight with its agents inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul. [Read the story]

The claim was the latest in two weeks of shifting, contradicting stories from the Saudi government, which initially said Mr. Khashoggi had left the consulate alive on Oct. 2. President Trump appeared to accept Saudi Arabias explanation on Friday. [Read the story]

American intelligence officials, however, are increasingly convinced that Mr. Khashoggi was the victim of a planned killing and that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is culpable. [Read the story]
Republicans are also focusing on winning battlegrounds like Wisconsin, Florida and Ohio, where their nominees for governor are running more evenly against Democrats. But even in Wisconsin, where Gov. Scott Walker, the G.O.P. incumbent, is battling for a third term, President Trump is coming Wednesday to try to shore up the partys ticket, including its struggling Senate candidate, Leah Vukmir.

Governors races lead the off-year ticket so they work like a big snowplow, clearing the way for the party offices below them, said Mike Murphy, a Republican strategist. If you have a weak snowplow, a lot less gets through behind you

As the G.O.P. struggles particularly in the Midwest, which President Trump sees as perhaps the most crucial part of his base, Michigan offers a vivid illustration of a crucial political dynamic: While control of Congress and the midterm implications for Mr. Trump consume attention, it is the coattails of Democrats at the top of state tickets that could dramatically reshape American politics after 2018.

In Michigan, which the president narrowly carried in 2016, the Democratic nominee for governor, Gretchen Whitmer, has become one of the years breakout sensations after cruising in an easier-than-expected primary and establishing a commanding general election lead. On Friday night, she campaigned in this college town with Senator Bernie Sanders to rally young voters  not because she needed help, but because Michigan Democrats now think they could flip as many as four House seats in the state and win other races to loosen the Republicans grip on power here.

Polling by The New York Times Upshot and Siena College found that the Democratic nominee had a lead in one of those House races, while another was effectively tied.
Each morning, Jamal Khashoggi would check his phone to discover what fresh hell had been unleashed while he was sleeping.

He would see the work of an army of Twitter trolls, ordered to attack him and other influential Saudis who had criticized the kingdoms leaders. He sometimes took the attacks personally, so friends made a point of calling frequently to check on his mental state.

[Update: Former Twitter employees charged with spying for Saudi Arabia.]

The mornings were the worst for him because he would wake up to the equivalent of sustained gunfire online, said Maggie Mitchell Salem, a friend of Mr. Khashoggis for more than 15 years.

Mr. Khashoggis online attackers were part of a broad effort dictated by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and his close advisers to silence critics both inside Saudi Arabia and abroad. Hundreds of people work at a so-called troll farm in Riyadh to smother the voices of dissidents like Mr. Khashoggi. The vigorous push also appears to include the grooming  not previously reported  of a Saudi employee at Twitter whom Western intelligence officials suspected of spying on user accounts to help the Saudi leadership.
MESA, Ariz.  President Trump blasted immigration laws and border security at a boisterous rally here on Friday, all while playing up his support among Hispanic voters.

He distorted the current immigration system and the migrant caravan nearing the United States and deployed the inflammatory language of his 2016 campaign, even resurrecting the phrase bad hombre, a term he coined as a presidential candidate.

Youve got some bad people in those groups, he said. Ill tell you what, this country doesnt want them.

But even as chants of build the wall erupted repeatedly throughout the night, Mr. Trump described his prevailing popularity with Hispanic voters, polling the crowd to see how many were in attendance. The response was lukewarm.
The caravan has the components that make it a blockbuster in conservative media  and irresistible for Mr. Trump. It features striking visual elements: images of thousands of Latin American men, women and children in a procession so large it sometimes fills the width of a city street. Though reports often suggest that the migrants are headed to the United States to declare asylum, many remain in Mexico.

The migrants cite various reasons for their journey. Some say they are fleeing gangs that terrorize their neighborhoods. Others cite searching for work and more stability for their families. Advocacy groups have, in the past, used caravans to draw attention to the desperate situation in countries like Honduras and push the United States to relax its immigration laws.

Coverage of the caravan has become a vehicle for other conspiratorial story lines that are popular on the right. Sometimes they spread with the help of the president.

Last week, for example, Mr. Trump posted video of a large crowd of Spanish-speaking people in lines being handed cash  presumably the payments he was referring to in Montana.

Can you believe this, and what Democrats are allowing to be done to our Country? the president said on Twitter.

But before Mr. Trump sent out his tweet, Representative Matt Gaetz, a Florida Republican who is an outspoken ally of the presidents, circulated the video, hinting that it revealed a Democratic plot funded by George Soros, the billionaire progressive philanthropist and donor, to overrun the country with immigrants weeks before the elections. In right-wing media outlets, Mr. Soros is often the caravans hidden architect. There is no evidence he has played any role in financing the caravans.

Most Republicans are not unhappy with legal immigration, polling shows. An independent Grinnell College survey conducted in late August and early September found that just 21 percent of Republicans said the country had too many legal immigrants, compared with 12 percent of Democrats.
WASHINGTON  His Democratic opponents do not believe it. His Republican allies dont buy it. Even President Trump has ample reason, based on the intelligence reports he has seen, to doubt Saudi Arabias account of what happened to Jamal Khashoggi.

But Mr. Trumps ready acceptance of the Saudi explanation that Mr. Khashoggi was killed accidentally in a fistfight  rather than in an orchestrated hit ordered by the Saudi royal court  suggests how he plans to ride out the most acute foreign policy crisis of his presidency.

With the midterm elections less than three weeks away and a political base more focused on jobs and the confirmation of Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh, Mr. Trump is betting he can stand by his Saudi allies and not suffer any significant damage with voters, allies and analysts said.

I think were getting close to solving a big problem, Mr. Trump said Friday when he was asked about the Saudi confirmation of Mr. Khashoggis death and a shake-up of its intelligence services, to be carried out by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Newsline for October 19, 2018 October 19, 2018

NEWS 1) Brethren Disaster Ministries responds to Hurricane Michael, other needs 2) Atlantic Northeast District rejects Policy on Same-Sex Marriage 3) On Earth Peace board meets, addresses anti-racism initiatives 4) Bethany welcomes nine new students this fall PERSONNEL 5) Church of the Brethren seeks Mission Advancement Advocate UPCOMING EVENTS 6) Mission and Ministry Board gathers for fall meeting 7) Brethren bits: Remembrances, BVS project need, congregational and district news and events, Clergy Womens Retreat, tax seminar, and more. Quote of the week: Has it ever occurred to you that one hundred pianos all tuned to the same fork are automatically tuned to each other? They are of one accord by being tuned, not to each other, but to another standard to which each one must individually bow. So one hundred worshipers met together, each one looking away to Christ, are in heart nearer to each other than they could possibly be, were they to become unity conscious and turn their eyes away from God to strive for closer fellowship.

 20th century pastor and author A.W. Tozer, in The Pursuit of God: The Human Thirst for the Divine. 1) Brethren Disaster Ministries responds to Hurricane Michael, other needs Staff from Brethren Disaster Ministries (BDM) and its Childrens Disaster Services (CDS) program carefully monitored Hurricane Michael as it made landfall as a strong Category 4 storm along the Florida panhandle on Oct. 10 before moving inland. CDS deployed a project manager to Florida five days after landfall to meet with Red Cross and emergency shelter staff to establish locations where CDS teams could best serve children in the area. As of Oct. 16, two teams had arrived in Panama City, Fla., and began working at two large shelters in one of the areas hardest hit by Michael. Facing no power, no cell phones, and limited resources, these teams were eager to step in and go to help all the families affected despite the challenges ahead, CDS director Lisa Crouch said. Meanwhile, the CDS response to Hurricane Florence in North Carolina wrapped up on Oct. 11 with a total of 550 children contacts over the course of 24 days despite challenges posed by secondary flooding, which affected the teams mobility in getting to shelters. Thirty-two volunteers served over the course of the response. Crouch shared a note that a family posted to the CDS Facebook page, which said, The children and parents REALLY needed you. Thank you for what you do! Other BDM work continues in the region, with teams currently working again in both North and South Carolina. The teams are helping with clean-up and debris removal from Florence and still repairing homes damaged by Hurricane Matthew in 2016. Some Brethren communities have also been affected. Virlina District executive David Shumate wrote this week that the remnants of Michael had been much more devastating to our area than Florence. The Red Hill Church of the Brethren in Roanoke, Va., had water damage to both the church and parsonage, he said, and the parsonage garage was washed away and destroyed. The Clearbrook area south of Roanoke suffered severe flash flooding and landslides, Shumate added. BDM will continue to assess needs in all the affected areas. Volunteers are currently being sought for projects in the Carolinas, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands. Those wishing to support BDM work financially can donate to the denominations Emergency Disaster Fund (EDF). A number of congregations and districts are already doing special offerings. Elsewhere in disaster relief work: Earthquake damage in Haiti, 2018. Photo by Romy Telfort. [/caption] Earthquake damage in Haiti, 2018. Photo by Romy Telfort. [/caption]

A 5.9-magnitude earthquake struck just off the coast of northwest Haiti on Oct. 6, injuring 427 people and causing at least 18 deaths. It was Haitis strongest earthquake since 2010. The United Nations has reported damage to homes and other structures along the coast. The Eglises des Freres dHaiti (Church of the Brethren of Haiti) has a congregation in St. Louis du Nord impacted by the earthquake.

An initial assessment by local leadership found dozens of members injured, damaged homes, one destroyed home, and damage to the New Covenant School. Miami (Fla.) Haitian pastor and former mission staff Ilexene Alphonse traveled to Haiti on Oct. 15 to represent BDM and provide additional damage assessment while beginning response planning with the Haitian Church.

BDM is also supporting four mobile clinics provided by the Haiti Medical Project. As the needs assessments are completed, a response plan will be created. Rebuilding of homes affected by Hurricane Matthew also continues in Haiti. The last of the home repairs and construction is expected to be completed by the end of the year.

A CDS presence continues along the Texas-Mexico border, responding to the refugee crisis there. A team of four was deployed to McAllen, Texas, on Oct. 8 to continue support of children at the border coming through the Humanitarian Respite Center. The team had seen 873 children over a seven-day period as of earlier this week. Their little faces just light up when they enter the designated play area, and they see the toys and smiling faces welcoming them to the center, a CDS report said. The team planned to remain at the center through Sunday, Oct. 21. Another CDS team is scheduled for a 14-day deployment to the center in November to continue the response.

And in Puerto Rico, BDM work continues as a response to last years devastating Hurricane Maria, with volunteers based at Castaner Church of the Brethren. The project looks very different from any other BDM site, with some struggles such as unreliable water and electricity, volunteer manager Carrie Miller wrote. We cannot be as independent as we like, but we are thankful for our Puerto Rican brothers and sisters here who go out of their way to make sure we have exactly what we need. Blue tarps still cover many rooftops, they added, and many homes have mold damage, which is affecting health.

2) Atlantic Northeast District rejects Policy on Same-Sex Marriage

A proposed Policy on Same-Sex Marriage in Atlantic Northeast District did not receive the two-thirds majority necessary to pass as delegates met at Elizabethtown (Pa.) College Oct. 5-6. The policy would have established penalties, including termination of ministry credentials, for a pastor who officiated at a same-sex marriage ceremony.

Before the final vote on the item, delegates accepted an amendment from the Chiques Church of the Brethren (Manheim, Pa.) official board to strengthen the language of the proposed policy by recommending sanctions for any minister who promotes and accepts the practice of homosexuality as a lifestyle that is approved by God. The amendment required only a simple majority vote, but the overall policyas a change in polity with significant implications for the districtrequired the higher threshold, and it fell short.

A local LNP (Lancaster, Pa.) newspaper online report initially reported incorrectly that the district already had a policy for removal of credentials in place, and that only the amendment had failed. The error was later corrected for online and print editions.

There is no policy that we have now in the district since that (proposed policy) failed, Atlantic Northeast District executive Pete Kontra said. We sent an email to all district ministers to clarify that now that the district body has said No, were not going to terminate credentials. He added, however, that its not a green light now for pastors to officiate same-sex weddings, citing past district and denominational statements that speak against promoting homosexuality.

The Elizabethtown (Pa.) and Ambler (Pa.) congregations had requested in advance of the conference that the district withdraw the item from consideration, citing concerns over its implications for church life and its lack of a spirit of forbearance.

Elizabethtown pastor Greg Davidson-Laszakovits said the congregation was relieved after the policy failed.

The amendment that got added would have really put us and many other congregations in difficult positions, Davidson-Laszakovits said. If that policy would have passed, we would have faced immediate consequences, Im guessing, in terms of credentialing.

Davidson-Laszakovits said he was impressed with the respect and good tone of the conversation at the conference, despite the divisive issuesomething he said hasnt always happened in denominational debate on the topic. He said many people offered encouraging words, both publicly and privately.

There are a lot of people who I think are supportive of where Elizabethtown and a number of congregations are on this, he said. Were glad to be able to be a voice for the voiceless.

He and Kontra both credited moderator Misty Wintsch for doing a good job in her role and making sure everyone was heard. A series of regional district meetings held in advance of the conference also helped to proactively answer many questions and provide information.

Wintsch, for her part, said she felt both she and the conference were bathed in prayer from all over our district and our denomination. I knew people needed to feel heard, and I wanted them to be able to express themselves, she said. With grace, love, and peace, that is exactly what happened.

Now, all parties will endeavor to find their way forward. Davidson-Laszakovits said Elizabethtown remains committed to the district and to finding a way forward together.

I think a number of congregations have threatened to or are already withholding funds, he said. Elizabethtown has not done that. Were looking for a way that we can all focus on the ministries we do, even in a district thats very diverse theologically.

Kontra said he has already had good conversations with some congregations, including Elizabethtown, and the district ministry commission was working on a letter outlining the current situation and inviting ongoing dialogue to determine next steps. In the meantime, he said, the districts ministry goes on.

We continue to communicate to the district that there is much good that God is still doing, Kontra said. We tend to focus on these issues, but theres so much good that God is doing in the church and in the district, and we really want to go back to focusing on that.  As difficult and challenging as this was, were still ready to move on and work together.

3) On Earth Peace board meets, addresses anti-racism initiatives

By Melisa Leiter-Grandison and Irvin Heishman

The On Earth Peace board held its fall meeting Oct. 4-6 at First Church of the Brethren in Harrisburg, Pa. The generous hospitality of this vibrant urban congregation was deeply appreciated. It enabled the board to continue its commitment to meet in people of color majority communities.

Most board members were able to be present for the meetings, while others participated through Zoom video connections. Russ Matteson represented and reported on behalf of the Council of District Executives.

The meeting marked the three-and-a-half-year anniversary of the official launch of the boards Anti-Racism Transformation Team (ARTT). This racially diverse, nine-member team guides the On Earth Peace board in meeting its commitment to become a multicultural beloved community of Jesus focused on overcoming conflicts rooted in racism and oppression. Carla Gillespie, who serves as co-chair of ARTT along with Heidi Gross, presented the report.

The anti-racist transformation the board is seeking began to take shape, with several recommendations approved at the meeting. A new calling process and leadership structure was approved. The new structure allows for possibilities seen in a previous experiment with a co-chair model. The hope was that the organization might be led by an interracial team. Toward that end, a careful calling process was approved utilizing white and people of color caucusing groups. Each separately discussed how internalized racial superiority and oppression shape and mis-shape questions and images of leadership. Then each caucus separately prepared slates to present to the full board. Remarkably, both groups independently came up with the same slate, calling Melisa Leiter-Grandison and Irvin Heishman to serve as co-chairs of the board for the next two years. The slate was then affirmed through the boards values-based consensus process, which is used for all board decisions.

The board also called new leaders for its executive committee. Jordan Bles will chair the finance committee. The nominating committee will be chaired by Caitlin Haynes. Beverly Eikenberry will chair the advancement and personnel committees. The latter groups were asked to work together on a new overall board committee design that will better serve the boards governance responsibilities given its new commitments and challenges.

The board expressed thanks to several members who have completed their service with the board, including Erin Gratz, Barbara Avant, and Cheryl Thomas. Christy Crouse, who has stepped down to pursue studies at the University of Chicago Law School, interacted with the board by Zoom to share about her year of teaching English in Colombia.

The finance committee reported adequate income for 2018 for organizational program expenses including significant one-time bequests. These generous gifts from legacy donors are playing a critical role in this time of transition in our work and finances and are deeply appreciated. However, the finance committee and board are carefully monitoring three-year goals toward long-term sustainability. Confirmation of a 2019 budget will be considered in January following year-end actual reports.

Following the meeting, several board members and staff journeyed to the Atlantic Northeast District conference. As representatives of OEP, they sought to provide a supportive presence for persons distressed by proposals that would have revoked the ordination of pastors offering pastoral services to LGBTQ+ persons.

The board concluded its meeting with a two-hour conversation led by OEPs executive director, Bill Scheurer. Formatted as a Jeopardy game, the board responded with answers to what the most important questions are for On Earth Peace at this time. The answers, in the form of questions, will be the basis of conversations that will be continued at the spring meeting.

4) Bethany welcomes nine new students this fall

By Jenny Williams

When fall semester classes at Bethany Theological Seminary (Richmond, Ind.) began on Aug. 30, nine new students joined the seminary community. Four are entering the Master of Divinity program, two are entering the Master of Arts program, and three are pursuing a Certificate in Theopoetics and Theological Imagination.

The students come from the Atlantic Northeast, Southern Pennsylvania, and Illinois-Wisconsin Districts as well as Ekklesiyar Yanuwa a Nigeria (EYN, the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria) and from the Universalist Unitarian, Episcopalian, Mennonite, and nondenominational traditions.

The second year of Bethanys Pillars and Pathways Residency Scholarship also began this fall. A cooperative effort between the student and the seminary, the scholarship gives recipients the opportunity to complete their seminary studies without incurring additional educational or consumer debt. In addition to maintaining eligibility for the Academic Excellence Scholarship, the recipients commit to living in the Bethany Neighborhood, engaging in group reflection and campus activities, volunteering in the Richmond area, earning a set amount through employment and/or work study, and living within their means.

Karen Duhai, director of student development, notes that Bethany has six Resident Scholars this fall. The recipients are working at building community both within and outside of the Bethany Neighborhood, she said. From our Monday morning breakfasts when we eat and fellowship together to their weekly volunteer placements, these first weeks of the semester are a time to explore what it means to be in community and to begin to create the kind of neighborhood they want to be a part of.

5) Church of the Brethren seeks Mission Advancement Advocate

The Church of the Brethren is seeking a Mission Advancement Advocate. The full-time, salaried position has a flexible location, but willingness to travel to the General Offices in Elgin, Ill., for meetings is required.

Major responsibilities include strengthening and nurturing the individual and congregational stewardship, direct gift, planned-giving, and enlistment programs of the Church of the Brethren through face-to-face visits with individuals and congregations and individuals. The primary focus will be on positively impacting individual giving in support of denominational ministries.

Applicants should be well-grounded in Church of the Brethren heritage, theology, and polity and able to operate out of that vision; have at least three years of experience in planned/deferred giving and/or five years of experience in development-related activities in the not-for-profit sector or comparable experience; be able to interact and relate with individuals and groups; and have basic computer skills. A bachelors degree or equivalent work experience is required.

Applicants will be reviewed on an ongoing basis until the position is filled. Interested and qualified applicants should send a resume to COBApply@brethren.org.

6) Mission and Ministry Board gathers for fall meeting

The Church of the Brethren Mission and Ministry Board (MMB) holds its fall meeting in Elgin, Ill., this weekend. Events began yesterday with new board member orientation, and meetings will continue through Monday, Oct. 22.

Much of todays meeting is a closed session, first for the executive committee and then for the full board and general secretary David Steele. Most of the Saturday through Monday meeting sessions are open, and board members and staff will worship in local congregations Sunday morning.

Items on the agenda include reports, a financial update, participation in the denominations Compelling Vision process, presentation of the proposed 2019 budget, and an update on a possible future proposal to install solar panels on the roof of the General Offices. Annual Conference officers will give a response to proposed changes in the MMBs structure and format, and the board will spend time hearing from a delegation from the Supportive Communities Network.

Connie Burk Davis of Westminster, Md., chairs the board, which includes 17 voting members from across the denomination and a number of Leadership Team members and other ex officio members.

In related news, LaDonna Sanders Nkosi of Chicago has resigned from membership on the MMB, recognizing that other obligations will prevent her from fulfilling MMB responsibilities as she had hoped. The Annual Conference Standing Committee Nominating Committee has appointed Paul Schrock, of Northview Church of the Brethren (Indianapolis), South/Central Indiana District, to fill her term. Schrock was the other candidate on the 2018 ballot for the Area 2 position. He will begin serving immediately.

7) Brethren bits

In this issue: Remembrances, BVS project need, congregational and district news and events, Clergy Womens Retreat, tax seminar, and more.

Robert (Bob) Pittman, 88, of Astoria, Ill., died Oct. 12. An alumnus of McPherson (Kan.) College and the University of Illinois, he was a long-time project director for Brethren Disaster Ministries (BDM) after a career in teaching. An email from BDM said, He was a faithful disciple, embodying gentle strength, servant leadership, and above all unconditional love. Pittman also trained many project directors for the denomination, and he and his wife, Marianne, served as interim directors of BDM from January to June 1999. Their daughter, Rhonda Pittman Gingrich, currently serves as convener for the Compelling Vision Process Team. A celebration of life service was held Oct. 17 in Astoria.

Ruby Mae Bollinger, 95, died Oct. 7 at Carroll Hospice Dove House in Westminster, Md. A long-time employee of the Brethren Service Center in New Windsor, Md., Bollinger served as head cook for 33 years until her retirement in 1989. A memorial service was held Oct. 12.

Sunnybrook Church of the Brethren (Bristol, Tenn.) on Oct. 7 premiered a national television program called Sunday at Sunnybrook. The weekly 30-minute program, an abbreviated version of the Sunday morning worship service, airs on the YouToo America network. The church celebrated the launch with a special love feast service. Senior pastor Jamie Osborne said Sunnybrook plans to use the video distribution platforms as a means of launching what the church hopes will eventually be hundreds of local missional communities. 

This years Floyd County (Va.) Historical Society calendar is featuring the countys churches, and among the congregations featured with full spreads are Topeco Church of the Brethren, Pleasant Valley Church of the Brethren, Burks Fork Church of the Brethren, and Copper Hill Church of the Brethren. Several other Brethren congregations are also featured among the 38 images.

Delegates at Mid-Atlantic District conference, held Oct. 12-13 in Manassas, Va., approved the creation of a new half-time Manager of District Operations position for a three-year period, with continuance dependent on ongoing funding. The position will assist district executive Gene Hagenberger by overseeing administrative and fundraising functions for the district.

Districts holding conferences this weekend include Southern Ohio/Kentucky at Salem Church of the Brethren, Englewood, Ohio; and Western Pennsylvania at Camp Harmony, Hooversville, Pa. Next up are Illinois/Wisconsin, meeting Nov. 2-3 at Cerro Gordo (Ill.) Church of the Brethren; Shenandoah, Nov. 2-3 at Antioch Church of the Brethren, Woodstock, Va.; and Atlantic Southeast, Nov. 3 at Saving Grace Church of the Brethren, North Fort Myers, Fla.

Pacific Southwest District will hold its conference Nov. 9-11 in La Verne, Calif. Items of business will include formally adding Nevada as part of the district (which currently includes California and Arizona) and disorganization of the New Harvest Lindsay (Calif.) congregation.

The Camp Eder (Fairfield, Pa.) Fall Festival takes place this Saturday, Oct. 20. The major annual fundraiser includes live and silent auctions, kids activities, a pig roast and turkey feast, a bake sale and food concessions, music, and more.

Mount Aloysius College (Cresson, Pa.) partnered with Western Pennsylvania District to collect more than 2,500 pairs of shoes for a project to benefit nonprofit Funds2orgs, which works with children in developing countries, according to a report in the Clarion (Pa.) News.

Ekklesiyar Yanuwa a Nigeria (EYN, the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria) leader Samuel Dali will be visiting congregations in Roanoke, Va., Nov. 3-4. He will speak about the recent struggles of EYN at 7 p.m. Nov. 3 at Roanoke Central and preach at the morning worship at Oak Grove on Nov. 4.

Brethren Volunteer Service (BVS) is urgently seeking an immediate volunteer, ages 21-30s, for its project at Quaker Cottage in Belfast, Northern Ireland. BVS is offering a special fast-track process for this placement. For more information, visit www.brethren.org/bvs/projects/113.html or contact the BVS office at bvs@brethren.org or 847-429-4396.

The Church of the Brethren Office of Ministry has announced Jan. 6-9, 2020, as the dates for the next Clergy Womens Retreat, at the Franciscan Renewal Center in Scottsdale, Ariz. Mandy Smith, lead pastor of University Christian Church in Cincinnati, will be the presenter. A brochure is available at www.brethren.org/ministryoffice.

The Brethren Academy for Ministerial Leadership will again offer a Clergy Tax Seminar on Jan. 19, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., with a lunch break. Deb Oskin will provide leadership. Participants can attend in person at Bethany Theological Seminary in Richmond, Ind., or online. Cost is $30 except for current Bethany or TRIM/EFSM/SeBAH students. Registration deadline is Jan. 10. Details are at https://bethanyseminary.edu/brethren-academy/clergy-tax-seminar.

Ekklesiyar Yanuwa a Nigeria (EYN, the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria) has announced it continues establishing new congregations in the face of rebuilding and coping in the wake of violence over the past several years. The EYN Leadership Team recently granted certificates of autonomy to the Kofare congregation, in Jimeta Yola, and Tsamiya, in Garkida (EYNs birthplace), both in Adawama State. EYNs Theological Education by Extension program also recently awarded diplomas to 51 new graduates. US representatives Galen and Doris Heckman attended.

Foods Resource Bank, which had planned to change its name to Growing Hope Worldwide, is instead becoming Growing Hope Globally. This adjustment was necessary to ensure we have a strong position in a very crowded space where many non-profit organizations use a combination of hope and worldwide in their name, a statement from CEO Max Finberg said. The organization officially celebrated the change to the new name on Oct. 16, World Food Day.

Richard L. Bowman of Harrisonburg, Va., former professor at Bridgewater (Va.) College and Elizabethtown (Pa.) College and a former member of BCA (formerly Brethren Colleges Abroad) in Kochi, India, is among five new members recently elected to the steering committee of the Anabaptist Center for Religion and Society at Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg.

Newsline is the email news service of the Church of the Brethren. Newsline stories may be reprinted if Newsline is cited as the source. Contributors to this issue included guest editor Walt Wiltschek, Roy Winter, Lisa Crouch, Melisa Leiter-Grandison, Irvin Heishman, Jenny Williams, Nancy Sollenberger Heishman, Nancy Miner, Kim McDowell, Emily Tyler, Kristin Flory, Zakariya Musa, Joe Vecchio, and Newsline editor Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford, director of News Services for the Church of the Brethren. Please send news tips and submissions to the editor at cobnews@brethren.org. Find the Newsline archive at www.brethren.org/news. Sign up for Newsline and other Church of the Brethren emails, or make changes to your subscription at www.brethren.org/intouch.
DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania  Africas youngest billionaire, who was abducted over a week ago outside a luxury hotel in Tanzania, has returned home safely, the family conglomerate that he runs said on Twitter on Saturday.

The billionaire, Mohammed Dewji, 43, who is chief executive of METL Group, was seized as he arrived for a morning workout in the commercial capital, Dar es Salaam, last week.

I have returned home safely, the METL Group Twitter account posted. The company also quoted him as thanking those who had worked for his release, including the police.
MEXICO CITY  Winning Mexicos presidency this summer did not slow down Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador: Three months into his transition, he is traveling across the country to thank voters, replay his campaign promises and pledge, I will not fail you.

But now theres often an asterisk: We wish we could give more.

Mr. Lopez Obrador was elected by a landslide in July on a mandate to battle corruption, reduce soaring violence and tackle the countrys entrenched inequality. Now those promises are colliding against a reality too complex to be reduced to a stump speech.

As a result, a new note has crept into his speeches. He has backtracked on many of his signature issues and hedged on his commitments, trying to whittle down his supporters outsize expectations.

At stops around the country, he is renewing his pledges to provide cash grants for young people, higher pensions for retirees, price supports for farmers and loans for small business. Only now he adds, We are not going to spend more than what comes in, as he told a rally recently.
KABUL, Afghanistan  Voting under threat of Taliban violence, Afghans across the country cast ballots in parliamentary elections held during one of the most fragile moments in 17 years of the war.

It was an election that was supposed to happen three years ago, delayed time and again by widening political schisms and worsening security. And where voting did go ahead on Saturday it did so under the shadow of a Taliban vow to punish those who took part. There was no voting at all in two critical provinces, and the government said ahead of the vote that only two-thirds of polling stations would open because of security issues.

The insurgents carried through on their threat, but security forces prevented the dramatic attacks that many feared. Still, officials said there was widespread violence across the country, with the Taliban attacking districts and polling centers, firing mortar shells and exploding bombs in cities.

A rough tally from security and health officials after polls closed showed that at least 78 people, including 28 members of the security forces, were killed and least 470, mostly civilians, were wounded in smaller attacks targeting dozens of districts. In Kabul alone, more than a dozen explosions were reported by officials.
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SYDNEY, Australia  The district of Wentworth in suburban Sydney has been a conservative bastion for the governing Liberal Party and its predecessors for more than a century. Its representatives in Parliament have gone on to become attorneys general, opposition leaders and, most recently, prime minister.

But on Saturday, those decades of tradition came to an abrupt halt when an independent candidate, Dr. Kerryn Phelps, won victory in the by-election called to fill the void left by former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, according to election analysts. Mr. Turnbull quit Parliament after being ousted from the leadership in a Liberal Party back-room coup in August.

The upset has cost the current prime minister, Scott Morrison, his single-seat majority in Parliament. Now he will have to negotiate with independents and the opposition to pass every piece of legislation between now and the next federal election, which is expected in May, though Mr. Morrison can call one sooner.
MOSCOW  Moscow officials have abruptly withdrawn permission for the annual commemoration of the victims of Stalinist repression that has been held at a memorial stone near the headquarters of the Russian intelligence services since 2007.

The human rights organization that organizes the event said on Friday that city officials had revoked permission, citing repair and construction work that is threatening to daily life activities at the site.

Descendants of the victims of Joseph Stalins Great Terror and opponents of Soviet repression usually gather for a stark ceremony on Oct. 29, during which they hold votive candles and read aloud the names, ages and professions of those who were killed. In 2017, 5,000 people attended the memorial, which lasted nearly 12 hours, according to news reports.

The event, called Return of the Names, has been held near the headquarters of the Federal Security Service on Lubyanka Square, with a microphone set up in front of the Solovetsky Stone from Solovki, one of the first Soviet concentration camps, which was a model for the Gulag prison system.
STOCKHOLM  Swedish prosecutors have indicted a woman who in July staged a standoff to prevent the deportation of a rejected asylum seeker to Afghanistan by refusing to take her seat on the flight.

The woman, Elin Ersson, was a volunteer with an organization that fights the forced return of Afghan asylum seekers whose applications have been rejected. Ms. Ersson, 21, filmed herself in a standoff on July 23 with the cabin crew of a Turkish Airlines flight at Landvetter Airport in Gothenburg.

The indictment, issued on Friday in a district court in Gothenburg, said Ms. Ersson had violated the Swedish aviation act by remaining standing when the plane was set to take off. Crimes against the act carry fines or a prison sentence of up to six months on conviction.

She did so with the intention of preventing the plane from departing, a prosecutor, James von Reis, told the Swedish newspaper Svenska Dagbladet on Friday.
Demonstrators carried signs with slogans such as: Brexit: Ugly word, ugly idea.

Andrew Adonis, a Labour member of the House of Lords, said on Saturday that voters will neither forgive nor forget if lawmakers allowed this miserable Brexit to proceed without people being given the final say.

Britons voted to leave the trade bloc by a narrow margin in a 2016 referendum. Prime Minister Theresa May has ruled out another public vote on the subject.

Britain is scheduled to leave the bloc on March 29, but negotiations have been plagued by disagreements, particularly over the issue of the border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, which will be the United Kingdoms only land frontier with the European Union after the process known as Brexit.

There are growing fears of a no deal exit, which could create chaos at the borders and in the economy.

Mrs. May said at a summit meeting in Brussels this past week that she would consider a longer post-Brexit transition period  one that could keep Britain aligned to European Union rules and obligations for more than two years after its departure. Pro-Brexit politicians in Britain saw it as an attempt to bind the country to the bloc indefinitely.
Saudi Arabias explanation on Saturday only added to the international uproar over the killing of the dissident Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul. President Trump appeared to step back from an earlier expression of confidence in this new description of events that Mr. Khashoggi was strangled after a fistfight  skeptics focused on apparent gaps in the narrative and Turkey threatened to undermine the already shaky Saudi account with its own rival investigation.

Doubters questioned why it took 18 days after Mr. Khashoggi disappeared in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul for the royal court to admit knowledge of his fate  after insisting for two weeks that he had left the consulate freely after a brief visit. Nor did the Saudis explain why Mr. Khashoggi, a 60-year-old writer, sought to resist in a fight against multiple Saudi security agents.

Although the Saudis say that the mission in Turkey was carried out without the specific authorization or awareness of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, 33, the emerging account failed to explain the apparent connections of at least four suspects to the princes security detail. The Saudis also offered no explanation for why a doctor specializing in autopsies was sent on the mission, rather than one who treats live patients or manages forensic evidence.

But the most decisive blow to the credibility of the Saudi account could come from Turkey. Turkish officials say they have audio recordings and other evidence that could severely discredit the Saudi narrative and the crown prince by showing that the team executed a deliberate plan to assassinate and dismember Mr. Khashoggi in the consulate.
Some have speculated that the introduction of this unknown person could allow the Saudis to duck responsibility for the state of Mr. Khashoggis corpse if and when it is found. The Saudis could argue they werent involved.

Turkish officials said Saturday that they expected to find the body soon.

What is the evidence?

Little concrete evidence has been made public by either side, although the Turks have provided much more detail to back up their narrative than the Saudis have.

The Turkish information included names of the members of the Saudi team and photos of them at the airport, in their hotels and near the consulate. Many of the men have ties to the Saudi military and security services.

The New York Times was able to corroborate the identities of most of the men on the team and to establish that at least four had frequently traveled abroad with the countrys de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, as part of his security detail.

They included Gen. Maher Abdulaziz Mutreb, an intelligence officer who had been photographed near the crown prince during visits to Paris, Madrid, Houston, Boston and the United Nations.

Another suspect, Salah al-Tubaigy, is a renowned Saudi autopsy specialist with ties to the security forces.

The Saudi official confirmed that both were part of the 15-man team, but said that Dr. Tubaigy was tapped not for his expertise in dealing with dead bodies, but rather for his experience in forensics and his skill in removing evidence from crime scenes.
In a stretch of desert in southern Syria on the border with Jordan, a sandstorm battered the shelters of some 50,000 displaced people in a makeshift camp already running low on food, clean water and medical care.

The weather is only one of many concerns for the increasingly desperate families in Rukban camp. The United Nations warned that humanitarian conditions have reached a critical level and aid groups are scrambling to reach the area.

A convoy is scheduled to reach Rukban on Thursday after receiving clearance from the Syrian government. But a long-term plan for relief remains elusive.

The camp sprang up in a demilitarized zone between the two countries as tens of thousands of people fled the devastation of war in Syria  many from areas where Russian- and American-backed forces were fighting the Islamic State. They found themselves blocked from entering Jordan.
A battlewagon roars through the gates of a beach villa on Yemens Red Sea coast, a luxury property with a 20-foot chandelier and indoor pool, now repurposed as a busy field hospital. Young fighters, drenched in the sweat of the battle, leap from the pickup and hoist a wounded comrade, blood streaming down his face, into the emergency ward.

A piece of shrapnel had sliced his nose and lodged in his right eye. The fighter, a portly young man named Ibrahim Awad, groans. Please, Hameed he calls to a fellow fighter, a glint of panic in his one good eye. My head feels heavy.

The Saudi-led war in Yemen has ground on for more than three years, killing thousands of civilians and creating what the United Nations calls the worlds worst humanitarian crisis. But it took the crisis over the apparent murder of the dissident Jamal Khashoggi in a Saudi consulate two weeks ago for the world to take notice.

Saudi Arabias brash young crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, under scrutiny over the Khashoggi case, now faces a fresh reckoning for his ruthless prosecution of the war in Yemen  yet another foreign policy debacle for Saudi Arabia, and a catastrophe for the Arab worlds poorest country.

Outside Yemen, the catastrophic war has been largely overlooked.

The Saudis barred foreign journalists from northern Yemen, scene of the biggest airstrike atrocities and the deepest hunger. The conflict is mostly unknown to Americans, whose military has backed the Saudi-led coalitions campaign with intelligence, bombs and refueling, leading to accusations of complicity in possible war crimes.

SAUDI ARABIA OMAN Red Sea Midi ERITREA Tarim Ghaydah YEMEN Sana Hudaydah Mukalla Taiz Mokha Gulf of Aden Aden ETHIOPIA Arabian Sea SAUDI ARABIA Red Sea Midi Tarim Ghaydah Sana YEMEN Hudaydah Mukalla Taiz Mokha Gulf of Aden Aden ETHIOPIA Arabian Sea SAUDI ARABIA Red Sea Midi Tarim Sana YEMEN Hudaydah Mukalla Taiz Mokha Gulf of Aden Aden ETHIOPIA SAUDI ARABIA Red Sea Midi Sana YEMEN Hudaydah Mukalla Taiz Mokha Gulf of Aden Aden ETHIOPIA SAUDI ARABIA Red Sea Midi Sana Hudaydah YEMEN Taiz Mokha Gulf of Aden Aden ETHIOPIA

Since June, the war has centered on the Red Sea port of Hudaydah. After a tense journey along a coastal highway prone to bombs and ambushes, we made a rare visit this month to the chaotic battlefield at the city gates.

There we saw what Prince Mohammeds war looks like up close, from one side, among those Yemenis who are fighting and dying in it.

In 2015, Prince Mohammed sent Saudi warplanes to bomb Houthi rebels who had seized control of western Yemen and who he saw as a proxy for Saudi Arabias regional rival, Iran.

Originally a movement of Shiite guerrillas from the mountainous northwest, the Houthis rose to power in the turmoil that followed the Arab Spring in 2011. After capturing the capital, Sana, in 2014, they soon controlled Yemens three largest cities. Iran aided their advance with supplies of military equipment, including missiles.

Since 2015, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have led a military coalition in a war aimed at ousting the Houthis and restoring an internationally recognized government. But early promises of a swift victory have given way to a bloody stalemate, while the war has inflicted a catastrophic toll on Yemenis, including widespread hunger and the worst cholera epidemic in history.

In Hudaydah, the war has settled into a kind of desultory rhythm. The fighting crests at dawn and dusk, when fighters on both sides rain mortar shells across the front line.

Within minutes, pickup trucks screech to a halt outside the field hospital, off-loading wounded fighters  men smeared in dirt and blood, peppered with shrapnel or felled by a snipers bullet.

Civilians soon follow: mothers hit by falling mortar shells, badly malnourished children suffering from acute diarrhea, elderly people with legs blown off by land mines.

Yemeni medics established the field hospital at Durayhimy, on the southern edge of Hudaydah, in June, when they landed on the beach outside the villa as mortar shells landed around them, and waded ashore.

Now financed by the Emirati Red Crescent, the hospital has an air of quirky, controlled chaos.

It has no restrictions on guns or drugs: Young fighters slinging Kalashnikovs crowd the emergency room, standing anxiously over medics working to save their wounded comrades.

Some nurses chew khat, the narcotic leaf beloved by Yemenis. At night, they gather in crowded dormitories to swap stories and gallows humor, and avoid enemy fire.

Just before we arrived, they said, a Houthi drone had exploded over their rooms. Dr. Hazza Abdullah, 34, the doctor on duty, told of going for a swim in the sea during a lull in the fighting, only to be confronted with a spiky sea mine floating toward him. I got out very quickly, he said.

Back in 2011, when the Arab Spring protests swept Yemen and other Arab countries, Dr. Abdullah embraced the promise of change.

I thought it would be like the French Revolution, that it would open doors," he said. "Instead we are going through hell.

The battleground arcs across a sandy wasteland of deserted farmhouses on the southern edge of Hudaydah, between the city's land-mine-infested airport and a strategic junction called Kilo 16.

There, we saw pickups loaded with fighters racing through the desert, wheels spinning and engines revving, dodging sniper fire and enemy mortars. Closer to the front line, fighters in sarongs hunkered behind sandy berms or clustered under trees. Warplanes whizzed overhead.

A pair of cows, caught in the crossfire, lay rotting in the dust.

We joined a group of jihadist fighters for lunch at their flophouse near the front line. Mortar tubes, surrounded by the refuse of emptied packaging tubes, were positioned outside the gate. Inside, fighters scooped up handfuls of rice and chicken, led by a cheery commander with a large bandage on his forehead where he had been grazed by a snipers bullet.

Boxes of Russian anti-tank missiles, stacked in a corner, bore markings that identified their Emirati purchasers.

A fighter whipped out his phone.

Look at this, he said gleefully, playing a video of a missile curling toward five Houthi fighters gathered under a tree. The video ended when they vanished into a ball of fire.

Later, as darkness fell, the fighters returned to their positions.

In seeking to capture Hudaydahs port, the coalition hopes to deprive the Houthis of millions of dollars in monthly tax revenues and force them to the negotiating table. But Hudaydah is also the gateway to a starving nation: Three-quarters of Yemens 28 million people rely on some form of relief aid, and the vast majority of it passes through the port.

Under intense international pressure, the coalition promised Western officials they would not fight in the city or the port, and would instead seek to encircle it. Now both sides are dug into positions on the citys fringes, exchanging fire but gaining little territory.

A secondary front extends for about 80 miles to the south, parallel to the coalition-controlled coastal highway, where the fight takes place in remote villages and small towns, as both sides try to cut off each others supply lines.

Sana YEMEN PORT Hudaydah FRONT LINE Dhamar FIELD HOSPITAL Red Sea Houthi controlled road Coalition controlled road Hays Khokha HOUTHI CONTROL AREA ERITREA Taiz COALITION CONTROL AREA Mokha Aden ETHIOPIA Gulf of Aden Sana YEMEN PORT Hudaydah FRONT LINE Dhamar FIELD HOSPITAL Red Sea Houthi controlled road Coalition controlled road Hays Khokha HOUTHI CONTROL AREA Taiz COALITION CONTROL AREA ERITREA Mokha Sana Red Sea FRONT LINE Hudaydah YEMEN Houthi controlled road Coalition controlled road HOUTHI CONTROL AREA Hays Khokha Taiz Mokha COALITION CONTROL AREA ERITREA Gulf of Aden Sana FRONT LINE Hudaydah YEMEN Houthi controlled road Coalition controlled road HOUTHI CONTROL AREA Hays Red Sea Khokha Taiz Mokha COALITION CONTROL AREA ERITREA Sana YEMEN FRONT LINE Hudaydah Houthi controlled road Coalition controlled road HOUTHI CONTROL AREA Hays Khokha Taiz Mokha COALITION CONTROL AREA Gulf of Aden

The United Nations says this secondary front is the deadliest area for civilians. At least 500,000 people have fled their homes, many forced to shelter in squalid refugee camps in towns further down the coast like Mokha, a small port once famous for its coffee exports, and nearby Khokha.

Once a sleepy fishing town, Khokha buzzes with a lawless air, a melting pot of the war. Fighters mill about in the town center, chewing khat. The main drag is often jammed with military convoys headed for the front. Refugees, soldiers and Houthi spies mingle in the town bazaar.

Gunfire erupts at night, though usually its celebratory from weddings. The United Nations and most Western relief agencies have deemed the area too unsafe to serve. A notable exception is Doctors Without Borders, which recently opened a hospital in Mokha.

For most refugees, the main worry is their next meal. At the city dump in Mokha, Thabet Bagash rummaged for glass bottles and tin cans.

Before fighters ejected him from his home, he was a farmer. Now, he said, he was reduced to this. His face wrinkled with disdain. If he collected a bagful of cans, he might earn $1.40  enough to feed his five children for a few days.

Just 80 miles from the garbage dump, two upstairs rooms at the field hospital might as well be on another planet. In one, the Emirati Red Crescent has installed a gleaming new operating theater, in the other a six-bed intensive care unit.

But the expensive and much needed medical equipment is pristine and untouched. The authorities couldnt find medical staff to work there  Yemeni or Emirati.

That seemed emblematic of the Emirati way of war. The United Arab Emirates pays wages for fighters, and equips them with rockets and million-dollar armored vehicles.

But Emirati generals direct the fight from the relative safety of Aden, the main city in southern Yemen, where the bulk of the estimated 5,000 Emirati soldiers in Yemen are based. Emirati warplanes and naval boats pummel targets in Hudaydah from the air and sea.

Saudi naval boats also patrol the waters off Hudaydah.

But on the front line, Emirati and Saudi soldiers are hard to find. Coalition bases along the coastal highway are guarded by Sudanese recruits, many from Darfur.

At the field hospital, the dead and wounded we saw were Yemeni.

It was probably too late for Mohammed Kulaib by the time his friends rushed him to the hospital at 7:30 on a Sunday morning. The 20-year-old had been shot in the chest during a skirmish at Hudaydah airport. After a brief attempt to resuscitate the fighter, a medic declared him dead.

Mr. Kulaib's brother, Yahya, stood over the body in the emergency room. "The Houthis hit us suddenly," he said. "The mortars were so intense, it was hard to even retrieve his body."

The brothers were part of the Tihama Resistance, whose fighters come from the coast  one of at least a dozen Yemeni militias, with widely divergent ideas, that fight under the coalition banner.

In a corner of the emergency room, when the medics were gone, Yahya Kulaib leaned over his dead brother. He kissed him on the forehead, pulled a gray blanket across his face, then gently tied a knot in his shroud.

The sight of long convoys, laden with troops and ammunition, as well as a sharp uptick in airstrikes, have stoked reports in recent weeks that the coalition is preparing to make a new push on Hudaydah. But even if they capture the city, experts are skeptical it will turn the tide of the war.

Despite over 18,000 coalition airstrikes since 2015, the front lines remain largely unchanged. Around Hudaydah, the Houthis have seeded vast tracts of land with mines, on a scale second only to that of the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, according to Conflict Armament Research.

United Nations-led efforts to broker a peace have repeatedly failed  largely because sides feel they have more to gain from fighting, said Gregory D. Johnsen, a scholar on Yemen at the Arabia Foundation.

Years of airstrikes failed to dislodge the Houthis, and their leaders now feel secure, Mr. Johnsen said. They think they can wait out the Saudis.

In the meantime, a humanitarian catastrophe looms. A war-induced plunge in the value of Yemens currency last month has hastened a steep economic collapse. The United Nations humanitarian coordinator, Lise Grande, warns that 14 million Yemenis risk starvation in the coming months.

For Crown Prince Mohammed, the war ranks as a calamitous blunder, alongside the failed embargo he led against Qatar, the kidnapping of the Lebanese prime minister and now, as mounting evidence suggests, the officially sanctioned operation that led to the death of Mr. Khashoggi in Istanbul.

But for Yemenis, this is their home. The fight for Hudaydah is shaping up to be the most destructive chapter of the war that has shattered their country.
Emirates Global Aluminium, one of the five largest aluminum producers in the world, has retained government affairs and consulting firm American Continental Group to provide advice and counsel as well as to assist the Abu Dhabi-based conglomerate in future talks with U.S. government officials.

EGA is the biggest industrial company in the United Arab Emirates that doesnt produce oil and gas. The conglomerate is jointly owned by two state-owned holding companies: Abu Dhabi government investment vehicle the Mubadala Investment Company; and Dubais sovereign wealth fund Investment Corporation of Dubai.

ACG will provide counsel and advice to EGA regarding interactions with United States government officials regarding potential investments in the U.S., according to Foreign Agents Registration Acts documents filed in October. The firm will also assist EGA with a license request to the United States Department of the Treasury, Office of Foreign Assets Control on behalf of mining company Guinea Alumina Corporation, an EGA subsidiary.

The pact, which was signed in October, fetches ACG $50,000 a month.
Laois-Offaly gardai conduct more drink and drug driving tests than all but one other Garda Division in the country, new figures reveal.

The figures were revealed through a parliamentary question from Dublin TD Tommy Broughan who asked the Minister for Justice and Equality Charlie Flanagan to provide the number of mandatory intoxicant tests per county in 2017 and to date in 2018, as well as the number of positive tests and the types of drugs detected.

The figures provided are 'operational,' according to gardai and therefore liable to change, and are valid for the period from April 13, 2017 to October 12, 2018. The types of drugs detected in each test were not provided because "such an exercise would necessitate a manual trawl of all relevant incidents recorded on PULSE to collate same, which would require a disproportionate expenditure of Garda time and resources," according to Minister Charlie Flanagan.

Gardai have the technology to test for cannabis, cocaine, opiates, heroin, morphine and benzodiazepines such as valium at the roadside.

The figures show that the Laois-Offaly Garda Division has set up 3,332 mandatory intoxicant checkpoints in that period. At those checkpoints, they have conducted 29,355 drink-driving breath tests, 111 of which were positive, and 120 oral fluid tests to check for the presence of the above drugs. 16 of those tests were positive in that timeframe.

The Laois-Offaly Division is second only to Kildare in the combined number of drink and drug tests carried out. The Kildare Division conducted almost 4,000 checkpoints, 44,364 drink-driving breath tests and 268 roadside drugs tests. 272 of the breath tests were positive while 32 drug tests showed a positive reading.

In terms of the relatively new drug testing, Laois-Offaly gardai have carried out the sixth highest number of roadside tests. Kildare carried out the highest at 268, while Clare have conducted 177 such tests since April 2017. Laois-Offaly have uncovered more drug drivers than any of the Dublin or other city Garda Divisions. 16 positive tests were registered between both counties, while the highest in Dublin came in the DMR North Central Division. Limerick gardai detected just seven drug drivers in that time.

An Garda Siochana has conducted a total of 101,965 MIT checkpoints nationally since April 2017, but a number of Dail deputies recently questioned Minister Flanagan on the strength of resources. Deputy Broughan said he had been asking for a checkpoint breakdown since 2017 and said that despite a decrease, 2018 has still seen "a significant number of road deaths."

In response, Minister Flanagan acknowledged Deputy Broughan's ongoing commitment to road safety, while also welcoming an increased Garda budget for next year.

"I was particularly pleased last week in the context of the budget and the Financial Statement of the Minister for Finance, Deputy Paschal Donohoe, that he had acknowledged the need for further resources and indicated that the Garda Vote for next year would be of the order of 1.7 billion, an increase on this year's allocation of 110 million. That will allow for some of the resource-based improvements sought by the Deputy [Broughan]," the Minister remarked.

Minister Flanagan went on to say that the recently published Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland report "recommends that policing must be information led and that data should be seen as a strategic asset and a key factor in determining policing decisions."

"My Department is currently analysing the report and my officials are currently engaging in consultations with An Garda Siochana, the policing oversight bodies and the relevant Departments in order to inform my substantive response and the high-level implementation plan and project structure that I intend to bring to Government by December," he said.
7th Pay Commission latest news: Govt fixes new fitment factor

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Oct 20: Wait till the elections in the five states are over and then there will be some positive news regarding the 7th Pay Commission.

The government is learnt to have fixed the new fitment factor, but would make an announcement only after the elections are over. This would mean that the earlier announcement slated for November has now been postponed.

Reports said that the announcement would come in January. However the exact date in January is not clear as yet. In the run up to January, there would be some more talks to finalise a few issues.

7th Pay Commission: Good news and what the hike in GPF rate means to CG employees

The government wants to be doubly sure of everything before it announces anything. It is a sensitive issue and the patience of the Central Government employees has been running out. Hence the government wants no confusion what so ever before it makes this major announcement.

The 7th Pay Commission had hiked the salaries of Central Government employees. It had fixed the basic minimum pay at Rs 18,000 with the fitment factor at 2.57 times. However the CG employees have been demanding a salary hike of up to Rs 26,000 with the fitment factor at 3.68 times.

Sources say that the government would not agree to hike the salary to Rs 26,000 with the fitment factor at 3.68 times. The more realistic option and what the Central Government employees would get is a hike of Rs 21,000, which is Rs 3,000 above what the 7th Pay Commission had recommended.

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Story first published: Saturday, October 20, 2018, 7:14 [IST]
Didnt think twice before getting into bed with Shiv Sena: Captain hits out at Congress

Amritsar tragedy: Amarinder visits injured, orders immediate release of Rs. 3 Cr

India

oi-Vikas SV

Amritsar, Oct 20: Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Saturday (October 20) visited Civil Hospital in Amritsar and met those injured in the train accident which left 59 people dead. Singh ordered the District Commissioner of Amritsar to immeditely release Rs 3 crore for payment of ex-gratia to the families of the deceased.

Captain Amarinder Singh on Friday announced compensation for the kin of those deceased in the tragedy. He said Punjab government will give Rs 5 lakh to kin of each deceased and free treatment to injured in government and private hospitals.

Amritsar train accident: Sidhu visits injured hospital, says 'train did not blow the horn'

Hundereds of people had gathered at Joda Phatak in Amritsar for Dussehra celebrations on Friday (October 19) evening when a train coming from Jalandhar ran over a crowd standing on the tracks.

"When a tragedy occurs the entire administration gets involved. We have come here as soon as we could come. Today, the entire cabinet of Punjab is here...59 people killed and 57 people were injured in the incident. We will try that postmortem of the bodies are done as soon as possible. We have identified most of the bodies except 9," Singh told media on Saturday after meeting the injured.

Amritsar Train accident: 7 of the injured in critical condition, many deceased yet to be identified

"We are ordering a magisterial inquiry into the incident under the police commissioner who will submit a report in 4 weeks," he added.

The Indian Railways said that the Amritsar mishap happened because of trespassing, adding that the trains move on those track regularly. Railway Board Chairman Ashwani Lohani said the driver of the train blew the horn and tried to apply the brakes.

"58 people died and 48 were injured in Amritsar Train Accident yesterday. It does not appear that the loco driver was at fault in the incident. Amritsar-Howrah Mail had passed the same spot two minutes before the accident occurred," Deepak Kumar, CPRO, Northern Railway, told ANI.

Sidhu defends wife, says she attended to patients in hospital

"Currently, train services are suspended between Amrtisar-Manawala railway section. We will hold a review at noon and a decision will be taken in this regard," he added.

The Chief Minister, who was scheduled to leave for Israel, postponed his trip and flew to Amritsar in this morning to personally take stock of the situation.

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Story first published: Saturday, October 20, 2018, 13:58 [IST]
India's first canine training centre comes up at Attari; Dogs to be trained on narcotics detection

Amritsar train accident: Sidhu visits injured hospital, says 'train did not blow the horn'

India

oi-Vikas SV

Amritsar Train Dussehra Tragedy: Navjot Singh Sidhu meets victims at Hospital | Oneindia News

Amritsar, Oct 20: Congress leader and Punjab Minsiter Navjot Singh Sidhu on Saturday (October 20) visited those injured in the Amritsar train accident. Sidhu, who visited Civil Hospital in Amritsar, said "the train did not blow the horn".

Railway Board Chairman Ashwani Lohani had earlier said the driver blew the horn and tried to apply the brakes

Hundreds of people had gathered at Joda Phatak in Amritsar for Dussehra celebrations on Friday evening when a train coming from Jalandhar ran over a crowd standing on the tracks.

61 people were killed and over 50 were injured.

"The accident occurred within a matter minutes when the train came at a high speed. The train did not blow the horn. CM has ordered an investigation into the incident," Sidhu said.

"It was a sad and an unfortunate incident. It is necessary to understand that it was an accident. There has been negligence but it was never intentional or motivated," he added.

The Indian Railways has said that the Amritsar mishap happened because of trespassing, adding that the trains move on those track regularly. Railway Board Chairman Ashwani Lohani said the driver of the train, which mowed down 61 people, blew the horn and tried to apply the brakes, but the train needs 625 metres to come to a halt .

[Amritsar train accident: Clear case of trespassing say Railway officials]

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh Friday ordered an inquiry into the tragic Amritsar train accident.

All services on Jalandhar-Amritsar route remained suspended three hours after Dussehra revellers standing across railway tracks were mowed down by a train near Amritsar Friday evening, a railway official said. While some trains are being diverted, many are stationed near Jalandhar, he said, as per PTI report.

[Bloody Friday: How the horrific Amritsar train accident that killed 61 take place]

Eighttrains have been cancelled, 5 trains diverted, 10 trains short-terminated and 5 trains short-originated today following Amritsar Train Accident between Amritsar & Manawala, reported ANI.

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Story first published: Saturday, October 20, 2018, 9:29 [IST]
Can a monkey be booked for murder? Cops in a fix

India

oi-Madhuri Adnal

Meerut, Oct 20: Can the police book a monkey for murder. The police are in a fix after the family of a person stoned to death by monkeys want an FIR registered against the animals.

A 72 year old man in Tikri village in Uttar Pradesh was stoned to death by a bunch of monkeys when he gone to collect wood. Dharmapal Singh was collecting dry wood, when the monkeys rained bricks on him from a treetop.

Karnataka state bus driver allows monkey to drive vehicle; social media goes berserk

The man who was hit on the head and chest died at hospital later. The family then went to the police and lodged a formal complaint against the monkeys. The police who had registered the case as an accident are currently in a fix about what to do of the complaint filed by the family members.

The villagers of the area have been complaining about these monkeys who have made life difficult for them. They want the monkeys to pay and feel that this death case could pave the way to solve the problem.

Mom monkey has a funny way of parenting her naughty kid

The police however say that they cannot register an FIR against the monkeys. First and foremost there is no such provision to book an animal under the Indian Penal Code. If a case has to be registered for murder then it would be under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code.

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Story first published: Saturday, October 20, 2018, 13:54 [IST]
Uttar Pradesh opinion poll: Who will win next elections? ABP-CVoter survey results are here

UP BJP chief to workers: Have tea with Dalits, make them understand votes are cast on nationalism, not caste

Assembly elections: BJP announces candidates for Chhattisgarh, Telangana, Mizoram polls

India

oi-Deepika S

Raipur, Oct 20: The Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday announced 77 candidates for the upcoming election to Chhattisgarh's 90-member Assembly.

Senior BJP leader JP Nadda, who announced the list of after the party's CEC-its highest decision-making body-held a meeting, said his party had made "an effort to include people from all background."

Chhattisgarh: A state where BJP turned the tables on Congress since mid-1990s

Among the 77 candidates announced out of a total of 90 Assembly segments, 14 are women candidates and 14 sitting MLAs have been replaced with new names, Nadda said.

The list was finalised at the BJP's central election committee meeting that was chaired by party president Amit Shah and attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi among others.

Chhattisgarh Assembly elections: Blow to Congress as its MLA Ram Dayal Uike joins BJP

Former IAS officer OP Chaudhary will be contesting from Chhattisgarh's Kharsia constituency, while Chief Minister Raman Singh will be contesting from Rajnandgaon.

The BJP had won 49 seats in the previous assembly polls in 2013, Congress 39, BSP and Independent one each in the 90-member House. Chhattisgarh will go to polls in two phases on November 12 and November 20.

Telangana and Mizoram

Nadda also released a list of 38 candidates for Telangana Assembly elections and 13 candidates for Mizoram Assembly elections.The 40-seat Mizoram Assembly will go to poll in a single phase on November 28.

Elections in Telangana will be held in a single-phase on December 7.

The counting of votes for the above-mentioned states will be held on December 11.

Earlier in the day, Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party had also released its second list of 12 candidates. The party has forged an alliance with former chief minister Ajit Jogi's Janata Congress Chhattisgarh (J) and the Communist Party of India, and will contest 33 Assembly seats.
He is lying says Bedi on Pondy CMs allegations on CSR funds

India

oi-Madhuri Adnal

Puducherry, Oct 20: Denying allegations of Puducherry chief minister that there was financial transaction in her office on implementation of projects for desilting water bodies, Lt Governor Kiran Bedi Friday said V Narayanasamy was "telling lies to mislead people".

Earlier, the chief minister said he has written to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh seeking a probe into "unauthorised" mobilisation of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funds by Bedi for desilting lakes.

The Kiran Bedi saga: What makes Governors and Lt Governors so controversial?

Though it was not wrong to appeal to the private organisations for funds under the CSR, it was "highly objectionable" that the office of Lt Governor was receiving the funds for the projects without knowledge of the PWD minister, he told reporters here on Friday.

Denying the allegations, Lt Governor said in a release "The chief minister continues to tell lies to people that there is financial transaction at her office to implement projects to desilt water bodies.We have received no no cheque at all."

The release said that that by associating support of the community the government had saved more than Rs 20 crores and also ensured people of Puducherry get water.

The release said that Raj Nivas is acting as a facilitator, linking industrial houses and educational institutions, donating funds under CSR to the contractors to take up works for desilting water bodies .

'People of Pondicherry proud of French heritage': Kiran Bedi on being trolled over WC tweet

Asking the chief minister "to rejoice instead of sulking" the former IPS officer said that "it is your (CM's) Puducherry. Your are an equal beneficiary. We have saved and not lost. We have gained water which cannot be bought with money".

Bedi contended that "by this combined efforts the poor would get water through their ponds, tanks and pumps for cultivation, sanitation and plantations".

She also wanted to know what Narayanasamy had done to raise public support for such community work.

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Story first published: Saturday, October 20, 2018, 9:56 [IST]
From plotting a hijack to creating the JeM, why Pakistan guards Masood Azhar so much

What does the meeting between Taliban and Jaish-e-Mohammad mean for India

Jaish terrorist arrested while trying to flee to Saudi Arabia

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

Srinagar, Oct 20: The National Investigation Agency has arrested one person in connection with the Nagrota attack. The person has been identified as Mohammad Ashraf Khandey, a resident of Pulwama in Jammu and Kashmir.

He was arrested from the Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi while he was trying to flee to Saudi Arabia via Sri Lanka.

He was a co-conspirator in facilitating, harboring and transporting a group of three heavily armed Pakistani terrorists belonging to the proscribed terrorist organisation Jaish-e-Mohammad who had infiltrated into India from Kathua-Samba sector of Jammu and Kashmir in the intervening night of 27/28th November 2016 and carried out an attack on 166 Medium Regiment Camp, Nagrota, Jammu in the early hours of 29th November 2016. In the retaliatory action by Army, three Pakistani terrorists were neutralized.

Jaish terrorists killed at Baramulla were Pakistan nationals

During investigation, a well planned conspiracy was unearthed and a network of Over Ground Workers of Jaish-e-Mohammad was busted which was responsible in facilitating this attack. Three accused namely Sayeed Munir-ul-Hassan Qadri, Tariq Ahmed Dar and Mohd. Ashiq Baba have already been arrested in the case and at present they are lodged in judicial custody.

Jammu and Kashmir: 3 militants killed, 1 police martyred in encounter

Investigation has established the role of all the accused in providing shelter and transportation to the terrorists on the directions of leaders/handlers of Jaish-e-Mohammad based in Pakistan for carrying out the terrorist attack.

Investigation of the case is in final stages and a charge-sheet will be filed in the court in the coming days, NIA officials said.

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Story first published: Saturday, October 20, 2018, 17:54 [IST]
Just a matter of time for 9 day encounter in Rajouri-Poonch jungles to end

Guided by ex-Pak army officials, operating in buddy pairs: Why the Poonch encounter has dragged so much

Tire, track eliminate: Why has the Poonch encounter dragged on for so long

Jaish terrorists killed at Baramulla were Pakistan nationals

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

Srinagar, Oct 20: In a successful encounter, the security forces gunned down two top terrorists of the Jaish-e-Mohammad at Baramulla in Jammu and Kashmir.

The two terrorists to be killed were from Pakistan and have been identified as Faizan and Wahab. However the police that these were their code names and more details relating to the terrorists are being ascertained.

Jammu and Kashmir: 3 militants killed, 1 police martyred in encounter

In an official note the police said that on Friday at about 1330 hours one Scorpio vehicle bearing Registration Number JK 01 L5792 coming from Srinagar side was signalled to stop at Naka near Kralhar,Baramulla manned by Police and Security forces.

While being checked two terrorists boarding the vehicle fired upon police and security forces. In the brief exchange of fire both the terrorists got killed and one police man received minor injuries.

PhD scholar turned terrorist killed: A thrill that drives the educated youth of Kashmir

The following Arms ammunition was recovered from the possession of killed terrorists.

AK Series Rife 01 No

AK Magzine 01 No

UBGL 01 No

Pistol (Chinese) 02 Nos

Pistol Magzines 06 Nos

AK rounds. 19 Nos

Pistol rounds 52

Grenade 03 Nos

UBGL Grenade -02 Nos

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Story first published: Saturday, October 20, 2018, 14:57 [IST]
I visit temples as I'm Hindu, no one must have objections, says Kejriwal

Kejriwal to launch AAP's door-to-door campaign for 2019 polls on Sunday

India

oi-PTI

New Delhi, Oct 20: Aam Aadmi Party chief and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will launch a campaign on Sunday to seek votes and donations from residents of his New Delhi Assembly constituency for the 2019 Lok Sabha election.

In the door-to-door campaign, Kejriwal will visit the New Delhi constituency areas, the AAP said in a statement.

"Huge door-to-door campaign starts tomo. We will reach every voter n explain why they shud vote AAP n not BJP, how voting for Cong in Del will mean voting for BJP. We will also ask for donations from each voter (sic)," Kejriwal tweeted.

The AAP leaders and workers, including Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, will also approach people for votes and donations across the city in the campaign that will continue till announcement of the Lok Sabha election next year.

The party will endeavour to convince the voters to support AAP by explaining them the "failures" of the sitting BJP members of Parliament in Delhi and the achievements of the party government, it said.

Kejriwal had launched the party's donation campaign "Aap Ka Daan, Rashtra Ka Nirman," at Talkatora stadium in the capital on Monday.

The party has announced its in-charges for Lok Sabha polls for all the seven parliamentary seats currently held by BJP MPs in Delhi.

"An important element of the campaign will be to inform the voters that seven Lok Sabha MPs should be those who can strengthen the hands of the Kejriwal government. What is important is who thinks about the welfare of Delhi and not who will be the Prime Minister of the country," it said.

Party volunteers will ask people to compare the performance of seven BJP MPs with that of the Arvind Kejriwal government during the campaign.

They will inform people about "cheap" electricity in Delhi, free water, major improvement in Delhi government schools, free treatment, reining in of fee hike by private schools and mohalla clinics.

The AAP will also "strongly" raise the issue of Metro fare hike and sealing drive, during the Lok Sabha election campaign and will "expose the silence" of BJP MPs on these important issues, it said.

PTI

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Story first published: Saturday, October 20, 2018, 20:20 [IST]
India's first canine training centre comes up at Attari; Dogs to be trained on narcotics detection

Man who essayed character of Ravan died saving people at Amritsar

India

oi-Madhuri Adnal

Amritsar, Oct 20: The man who played the character of demon king Ravan at the Ram Leela at Joda Phatak was among those killed in the train accident.

After he enacted the role of Ravana, Dalbir Singh in his twenties, was watching the burning of an effigy from the tracks when he, along with 58 others, was run over by a train.

Amritsar: Did political clout lead to clearance to hold event at unsafe venue

Dalbir has an eight-month-old daughter.

Unable to control her emotions, Dalbir Singh's mother said her son was playing different characters in the Ram Leela for the past many years.

"My son played the role of Ravana at the Ram Leela, which was held on the ground at Dhobi Ghat adjacent to Joda Phatak...he is no more...He too was run over by the train," the mother said.

Manoj, a friend of Dalbir, said he had been playing the role of Ravana for the past five years at the Ram Leela, which is held at a ground a little distance away from the accident site.

His mother says said that Dalbir's body would not be cremated until the family gets compensation from the government.

Seeking job for the widow of Dalbir Singh, his mother said that the state government should give her a government job so that the family could sustain their livelihood.

"We want justice...it is unfortunate that none from the government or any politician has visited the family," she said.

Another friend of Dalbir said that on seeing a speeding train approaching the area, he had rushed towards them to save them.

"Dalbir was able to push 7 to 8 people away from the rail track...but there was something else in store for him as the train ran over him, killing him on the spot," he said.

Amritsar tragedy: Amarinder visits injured, orders immediate release of Rs. 3 Cr

At least 59 people were killed Friday evening after a crowd of Dussehra revellers that had spilled onto railway tracks while watching the burning of a Ravana effigy was run over by a train near Joda Phatak here.

The incident took place on Friday evening when at least 300 people were watching the 'Ravana dahan' at a ground adjacent to the tracks.

As the effigy was lit and fireworks went off, a section of the crowd started retreating towards the tracks where a large number of people were already standing to watch the event, officials had said.

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Story first published: Saturday, October 20, 2018, 15:45 [IST]
Modi and Wickremesinghe meet to discuss bilateral issue during laters visit to India

India

oi-Vinod Kumar Shukla

New Delhi, Oct 20: Amid some allegations and later clarifications, Prime Minister of Sri Lanka Ranil Wickremesinghe has met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi to discuss bilateral issues.

Both the leaders have also reviewed the progress in implementation of various decisions taken during high level exchanges in the recent past. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Minister of Home Affairs Rajnath Singh and National Security Advisor Ajit Dobhal called on the visiting dignitary.

Lanka govt rejects reports on President Sirisena's assassination plot by India's R&AW

The ministry of external affairs said, "The visit is part of our continuing engagement with the government of Sri Lanka at the highest level. This multi-faceted partnership has been marked by close contacts at the highest political level, growing trade and investment, wide ranging development cooperation, increasing linkages in the fields of education, health, infrastructure, connectivity and capacity building and broadening people to people contacts."

The ministry said that both the Prime Ministers discussed the entire gamut of bilateral relations and ways to further deepen the historically close and friendly relations between the two countries. The leaders exchanged views on regional and global issues.

India's R&AW trying to kill me says Sri Lankan President Sirisena

They also reviewed the progress in implementation of various decisions taken during high level exchanges in the recent past, including the visit of Sri Lankan Prime Minister in April and November 2017, Prime Minister's visit to Sri Lanka in May 2017 during the International Vesak Day Celebrations and the visit of Sri Lankan President for the International Solar Alliance Founding Conference in March 2018.

Wickremesinghe was on his official visit to India from 18-20 October 2018. He was accompanied by his wife Prof.

Maithree Wickramasinghe, Minister of Development Strategies and International Trade, Malik Samarawickrama, Minister of Petroleum Resources Development Arjuna Ranatunga, Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister and Minister of Youth Affairs, Project Management and Southern Development Sagala Ratnayake and senior officials from Government of Sri Lanka. Prime Minister of Sri Lanka held delegation level talks with the Prime Minister.

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Story first published: Saturday, October 20, 2018, 22:14 [IST]
Modi govt schemes ushering India into new age

India

oi-Vikas SV

New Delhi, Oct 20: The BJP government at Centre under Prime Minister Narendra Modi has launched several schemes and taken many initiatives to ensuring good governance, whoch was one of the key promises made in 2014. Weather it is Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojna or the Ujala scheme, the progress looks promising. The government has used the online media effectively to communicate about its shemes to the public. The emphasis on digital India seems to be paying dividends as cash transactions, atleast in the urban areas, has come down.

Indian Railways now offers free public WiFi service at more than 700 stations across India and it covers around 8 million people every month. The service is being offered in collaboration with tech giant Google.

The Narendra Modi-led NDA government's Digital India push has brought about a significant change in the way financial transactions happen in the country. The cash transactions have come down and this has paved way for a range of new modes of payments.

The emphasis on digital transactions, which the government is promoting with great enthusiasm, will allow the government to monitor money flow and nab those evading the taxes. The logic is simple, more the number of people in tax bracket, more money the government will have to spend on welfare schemes.

Launched under Modi government's flagship 'Digital India' campaign, DigiLocker is a digital locker service that enables users to store their certain official documents on the cloud. Available for the Indian citizens, the cloud-based platform allows 10MB of free space to store documents issued by government agencies and minimise the usage of physical documents. The users can easily upload and share the documents with any registered agency or department.

UMANG or Unified Mobile Application for New-age Governance is an app launched by the Government of India to provide access to various government services at one place. Launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in November last year, UMANG app is a common platform for various government services such as gas booking, Aadhaar, crop insurance, EPF and National Pension System.
The war has just begun, let us not let the lockdown go waste: PM to Chief Ministers

MP CM reaching Delhi to attend CEC meeting; first list likely today

India

oi-Vinod Kumar Shukla

New Delhi, Oct 20: The meeting of Central Election Committee (CEC) will take place at 5 in the evening today to discuss candidates for the forthcoming elections in the five states.

Madhya Pradesh chief minister who is also the member of the CEC is reaching Delhi to attend the meeting whose state too is undergoing elections while Chhattisgarh chief minister is already in Delhi.

Some MPs demanding Assembly tickets while BJP wants to field some of them in Madhya Pradesh

The CEC is likely to discuss names of candidates from other states but in all likelihood names of candidates from Chhattisgarh will be announced today. However, sources said that such names which are certain and there is no doubt and objection about them may also be declared from other states. Deliberations with leaders from different states is continuing from yesterday.

Announcement of names for 18 seats of Chhattisgarh becomes important in view of October 23 being the last day for the nomination in the first phase of elections in the state where elections are scheduled in two phases. The meeting will be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, party president Amit Shah besides 12 other members.

Assembly tickets in MP may get delayed as BJP conducting internal voting on candidates

There are total 14 member in the CEC that included besides the PM and party president, Union home minister Rajnath Singh, Union external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj, Union finance minister Arun Jaitley, Union minister for road transport and highways Nitin Gadkari, Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Minister of social justice and empowerment Thavar Chandra Gehlot, Union minister for chemicals and fertilizers Anant Kumar, general secretary (organisation) Ram Lal, party spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain, Union health minister J P Nadda, Union tribal welfare minister Jual Oram and Mahila Morcha chief being the ex officio member Vijaya Rahatkar will be attending the meeting.
Naxals threatening villagers in tribal areas of Chhattisgarh to boycott elections

India

oi-Vinod Kumar Shukla

New Delhi, Oct 20: Naxals in the tribal and remote areas of Chhattisgarh are thronging villages in groups of 10-20 people to motivate villagers to boycott elections of the state and in case of any resistance they are threatening them of dire consequences but the big group of 20-25 people is attacking police presence in the village which is getting ready to conduct polls.

The entire Bastar region is naxal-infested but Sukma, Bijapur, Dantewada and Narayanpur districts are the regions where maximum movement of naxals is taking place. But Sukma is the most sensitive district and maximum movement is taking place there only. However, villagers are putting brave face and are ready to vote as earlier also such threat was issued by these naxals. Actually the district administration had run a campaign for the Assembly elections in the naxal-infested areas by convening people of 8-10 villages at one place to tell them that the government is with them. There is no need to afraid of anyone.

Chhattisgarh Assembly elections: Congress releases first list of 12 candidates

Sources in the security forces said that naxals in a group of 10 and 20 men penetrated among villagers. The group of 10 people is motivating villagers not to participate in the election process as it is not in their interest while group of 20-25 are frightening people with gun by attacking police forces present in the villages or in camps outside villages. Problem is that local people too are in the group of naxals. But these groups are mostly let by Telugu-speaking naxals but they take along Gond speaking naxals to motivate villagers.

Actually Public Distribution System (PDS), health, schools and other schemes of the government has failed to reach remote areas of the state due to presence of naxals in these areas. Roads have been built but people of the area need food. Still wherever the schools have been built by the government and assistance provided to them are helping them to come out of remote area for higher education and some of them are doing well like competing in institutions like IITs and medical colleges. This is a big achievement for the people living in the remote areas of the state.

BJP Central Election Committee to meet on October 20 to announce first list of Chhattisgarh

An activist working in these remote area said that this is what naxals don't want to happen in the area. So if there is no development only then they will be heard by villagers. Things will change from October 23 when large number of nomination start.

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Story first published: Saturday, October 20, 2018, 14:25 [IST]
Want to hear lies? Listen to KCR, PM Modi: Rahul Gandhi in Telangana

India

oi-PTI

Bhainsa, Oct 20: Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Saturday promised farm loan waiver of up to Rs two lakh at one go if his party wins in Telangana and targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi and TRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao accusing them of making false promises and indulging in corruption.

Kicking off the party's campaign for December 7 Telangana Assembly polls at a public meeting in Nirmal district here, he alleged that KCR, as Rao is popularly known, insulted B R Ambedkar by changing the name of a project named after him.

Telangana elections: Will there be a change of guard in the TRS?

"Change will come in Telangana. KCR government will go. And in Delhi, Narendra Modi's government will go. I did not come here to make false promises. If you want to listen to false promises, then go to KCR and Modi, they will give you false promises," the Congress president said.

Attacking the Telangana Rashtra Samithi chief, Gandhi alleged that he changed the project designs, inflating its cost from Rs 38,000 crore to Rs one lakh crore. "Why was it made into Rs one lakh crore (project)? Because the Chief Minister wants to indulge in corruption," he alleged.

Telangana elections 2018: BJP's manifesto in one week's time

Gandhi said with Rajiv Sagar and Indira Sagar projects too original costs were inflated. "Wherever you see, CM indulges in corruption and benefits go to his family, relatives. As soon as he became CM, KCR started indulging in corruption, giving all the benefits to his family," Gandhi alleged.

He also promised that the Congress will implement the Tribal Rights Bill (The Scheduled Tribes and other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act) and Land Acquisition Acts in letter and spirit when it comes to power at the Centre as well as in the state.

"Farmers are committing suicide all over the country. Thousands of farmers committed suicide in Telangana because they didn't get proper price (for their produce). "The Congress party promises that Rs two lakh in farm loan with be waived in one go. Not only that we will also ensure Rs 7,000 per quintal for cotton," the Congress president said and alleged that "neither Modi nor KCR is able to provide farmers' good price for their produce".

"The moment Congress comes into power in Telangana, we will protect tribal lands. We will give Rs 3,000 allowance each to unemployed youth," Gandhi added. He said the KCR government failed to fulfil promises such as job for every family, three acres of land to every SC and ST family and two bedroom houses for all eligible people. The AICC leader alleged that Rao also failed to implement 12 per cent quota for STs and provide drinking water to every family.

"Similarly, Modi failed to keep up the promised Rs 15 lakh in each and every bank account, two crore jobs for Indian youth every year and fair price for farmers. "Wherever Modiji and KCR go they make false promises. You watch all my speeches. I am in politics for the past 15 years. We promised to waive their loans (earlier). We waived Rs 70,000 crore worth of farm loans," he said.

Gandhi also accused Modi of spreading hatred and enmity and said "he pits people of one religion against the other, one region against another, one caste against another, and weakens the country". The Congress moves forward by taking everybody together, he said. He alleged that the the note ban which was implemented during the end of 2016, destroyed the small-scale sector in the country.

Firing salvos at Modi on the Rafale deal, Gandhi said the PM owes answers to the nation. He alleged that Modi who calls himself the "watchman" of the country "has turned out to be a thief" by "helping his friend" Anil Ambani to get a Rs 30,000 crore contract in the Rafale deal.

Rahul Gandhi and his Congress party have been attacking the government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the Rafale deal, alleging corruption and favouritism. The government has dismissed Rahul Gandhi's allegations, while the BJP has accused him of spreading lies on the issue Anil Ambani-led Reliance Group too has denied the Congress' allegations.

PTI

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Story first published: Saturday, October 20, 2018, 19:45 [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: BJP-Cong unite to hit out at Left for encouraging activists

India

oi-Madhuri Adnal

Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 20: The opposition Congress and BJP hit out at the Left government in Kerala for allegedly extending support to bring women activists to Sabarimala temple, hurting the sentiments of devotees.

They also alleged the police gave one of the women, who climbed to the hill shrine amid heavy security, their official uniform and helmet.

The two women, identified as a journalist from Hyderabad and a Kochi-based activist, trekked Sabarimala and reached a few metres away from the holy 18 steps with police escort but had to return due to massive protest by devotees.

"How do i prove my devotion", asks activist who was not allowed to enter Sabarimala temple

Attacking the CPI(M)-led LDF government on the issue, Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala asked whether the police gave security to the real devotees.

"Has the government taken to the shrine the real devotees? Is the entry of women into the shrine a commando operation? Is this the supreme court order?" he asked.

"The government has extended support to bring activists to Sabarimala, hurting the sentiments of Lord Ayyappa devotees," Chennithala said.

Earlier in the day, Devaswom Minister Kadakampally Surendran admitted that one of the women who trekked to the shrine was an activist and made it clear that holy Sabarimala was not a place to show their strength and activism.

Referring to the massive protest at the temple complex by the devotees and the 'parikarmies', the assistants of the priests, Chennithala said the "illogical" steps taken by the government on the Sabarimala women entry issue had led to this situation.

He also reiterated the UDF stand that the Pinarayi Vijayan government showed "over-enthusiasm" and "hurry" to implement the apex court order permitting women of all age groups into the Lord Ayyappa temple.

The government unilaterally moved forward on the matter without trying for a consensus among stakeholders, he said.

Sabarimala: Head priest's threat to shut down temple forces women to return without entering temple

Chennithala also alleged that the BJP-RSS combine was trying to inflame communal passion over the matter.

Hitting out at the LDF government, BJP state president P S Sreedharan Pillai said the state authorities were trying to make Sabarimala a "clash zone".

The police escorted two women to the shrine by making one of them wear police uniform and a helmet, without considering the sentiments of the devotees, he alleged.

A large number of devotees blocked the young women and police team escorting them at Valiya Nadappandhal, the queue complex located a few metres away from the holy 'pathinettam padi' (the 18 sacred steps), leading to the sanctum sanctorum.

Tension was defused after the women agreed to return as the state government made it clear it did not want to take them to the Sannidhanam, the temple complex, by using force against the protesting devotees.

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Story first published: Saturday, October 20, 2018, 6:36 [IST]
Sabarimala: Board disagrees with the agenda to demonstrate

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Oct 20: The Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) which manages the Sabarimala Temple would file a detailed report in the Supreme Court explaining how grave the situation is.

Agitations have shown no signs of coming down ever since the Supreme Court ordered that there shall be no bar on the entry of women in the age group of 10 and 50. The agitations have intensified ever since the temple opened up to the public on Wednesday.

Sabarimala row: Activist Rahul Easwar's bail plea rejected

Two women, a journalist and activist were escorted and turned back after the temple priest threatened that he would close the temple.

The board has decided not to file a review in the SC. There are already 25 review petitions in the Supreme Court and the board is a respondent in all of them. The board which would present its side would furnish a report narrating the grave situation in the wake of the SC verdict.

TDP President, A Pamakumar said that the board would be represented by senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi. He said that Singhvi and other advocates would be consulted before the next course of action is taken.

Yechury likens Sabarimala protests to Babri demolition, blames RSS for it

The board says that the existing situation is causing the pilgrims trouble. On one hand the board is responsible for implementing the SC order and on the other hand has to ensure that the pilgrims are protected. However it does not agree with those who go up the temple with an agenda to demonstrate. It cannot become a conflict zone, Padmakumar says.

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Story first published: Saturday, October 20, 2018, 14:50 [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 row: Activist Rahul Easwars bail plea rejected

India

oi-Vikas SV

Kerala's Pathanamthitta court on Saturday rejected the bail plea of activist Rahul Easwar, who was arrested on Thursday amid protests over the entry of women into the Sabarimala Temple.

Easwar, who spearheaded a section of the protest in Sabarimala on Wednesday was earlier sent to 14 days judicial custody. He was arrested on October 17.

Yechury likens Sabarimala protests to Babri demolition, blames RSS for it

Rahul Easwar is currently lodged in Kottarakkara sub jail. He, along with 20 other protestors, were arrested on Wednesday from Nilakkal base camp at Sabarimala hill.

Rahul Easwar has been charged by Pamba police under various sections of the Indian Penal Code including section 143 (unlawful assembly), 147 (rioting), read with 149 (member of unlawful assembly guilty of offence committed in prosecuting of common object of the assembly), and 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public serving from discharge of duty).

"How do i prove my devotion", asks activist who was not allowed to enter Sabarimala temple

Easwar is against the entry of women between the age of 10-50 to the Sabarimala Temple. This practice has been in place for centuries, but the Supreme Court had in September scrapped this.

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Story first published: Saturday, October 20, 2018, 14:43 [IST]
Tourists advised not to travel to Shimla, Manali as heavy snowfall led to over 250 roads block

Will Shimla get a new name? Himachal govt wants to call it Shyamala

India

oi-Deepika S

Shimla, Oct 20: Days after the Uttar Pradesh government renamed the renowned town of Allahabad as 'Prayagraj', the Himachal Pradesh government is considering renaming state capital. The government is considering renaming Shimla to Shyamala, after the demand for changing the state capital's name gained momentum.

"Before the British arrived, Shimla was known as Shyamala. My government will seek public opinion on the demand for its renaming," chief minister Jai Ram Thakur said on the sideline of Dussehra festivities at Jakhu temple Friday evening.

State health minister Vipin Parmar said that "there was no harm" in changing the name of Shimla, the summer capital of India under the British from 1864 to Independence, and landmarks associated with the British.

The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) had long demanded the government change the town's name. However, in 2016, then chief minister Virbhadra Singh had rejected renaming Shimla, saying it was an internationally-famous tourist destination.

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Story first published: Saturday, October 20, 2018, 21:36 [IST]
Dawood henchman to stand trial for money laundering, extortion in UK

International

pti-PTI

London, Oct 19: A "top lieutenant" of the D-Company  Dawood Ibrahim's organised crime and terror network - will stand trial in Britain in February 2019 in his extradition case brought by US authorities, a court here said on Friday. Jabir Moti, alias Jabir Motiwala, was remanded in custody to appear for a case management hearing on November 12, before a three-day trial scheduled between February 25 and 27 next year.

Pakistan govt vouches for Dawood aide Jabir Moti's 'good character' in UK Court

Moti, who appeared before Westminster Magistrates' Court via live video link from Wandsworth prison in south-west London on Friday, is facing extradition to the US on money laundering and extortion charges. The 51-year-old had been denied bail during previous hearings and did not make any further application for bail on Friday.

"As there is no bail application, I am remanding you in custody until November 12," Judge Tan Ikram said. Moti's defence lawyer, Toby Cadman of Guernica law firm, told the court that his client had made an application in court to have his name changed on the case documents to Jabir Siddiq. He also indicated that Moti's defence intends to depose a number of legal experts as witnesses in the case, with the key issues being "abuse of process and entrapment" by the authorities. Moti, who was arrested by British police in August, is believed to be a top henchman of Ibrahim, a key accused in the 1993 Mumbai blasts case. He was repeatedly denied bail at previous hearings, with his defence team even presenting a letter from the Pakistani High Commissioner among the many sureties that he would not jump bail and abscond.

FIF module busted: The hawala headache in Chandini Chowk

At the last hearing in September, the Pakistan government had vouched for Moti's "good character", which was termed as "pretty unusual and unequivocal support" by his counsel. However, Judge Emma Arbuthnot, who presided over that hearing, was unconvinced that Moti did not pose a "flight risk" and denied him bail. The US extradition request follows an FBI investigation dating back to 2005 and Moti was arrested by Scotland Yard from a London hotel on August 17, having arrived in the UK on business on a 10-year visa.

The London court has been told that Moti had been under investigation by the FBI as a key aide of the D-Company, "named after the leader of the company based in Pakistan (Ibrahim)", associated with trafficking and money laundering through international smuggling routes across South Asia that were also linked to terrorist funding. "For a fee, D-Company uses the power of violence for debt collection and has a reputation of intimidating members of the family of its debtors in India and Pakistan," the prosecution had said in its case summary.

In his interactions with undercover agents in the US and Pakistan, Moti allegedly admitted to being involved with narcotics and dealing with large amounts of cash and the court was told that it is believed he is behind nearly USD 1.4 million laundered to date. Moti's defence team has disputed allegations of him being a key aide of the D-Company as "obvious nonsense", describing their client as a "man of exemplary character" who was a tax paying, prominent businessman based in Karachi and accredited as a stockbroker, with a family stockbroking business dating back to the 1950s in Pakistan.

PTI
Afghan foreign minister in Pak, likely to meet special reps attending Troika Plus meet

In our better interest: Taliban on NSA level meet on Afghanistan convened by India

US Congress report says Pakistan playing active and disruptive role in Afghanistan

Nearly 170 casualties as violence rocks chaotic Afghan elections

International

pti-PTI

Kabul, Oct 20: Nearly 170 Afghans were killed or wounded in poll-related violence on Saturday, officials said, as the legislative election turned chaotic with many polling centres opening hours late - or not at all - due to technical glitches and lack of staff.

In the latest attack, a suicide bomber blew himself up inside a Kabul polling centre, killing at least 15 people and wounding 20, police said, taking the number of casualties across the Afghan capital to 19 dead and nearly 100 wounded.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast, but the Taliban said earlier it had carried out more than 300 attacks on the "fake election" across the war-torn country.

Violence also disrupted voting in the northern city of Kunduz where a health official said three people died and 39 were wounded after more than 20 rockets rained down on the provincial capital.

An Independent Election Commission (IEC) employee was killed and seven others were missing after the Taliban attacked a polling centre several kilometres from Kunduz city, destroying ballot boxes, provincial IEC director Mohammad Rasoul Omar said.

Eight explosions were recorded in the eastern province of Nangarhar, with two people killed and five wounded, the provincial governor's spokesman said.

Initial figures showed at least 1.5 million voters turned up at polling centres in 27 provinces, election organisers said - a fraction of the nearly nine million voter registrations. Many voters waited hours for the doors to open.

Most polling sites opened late after teachers employed to handle the voting process failed to show up on time, said the IEC.

The election commission, which has been skewered over its shambolic preparations for the long-delayed ballot, said they would extend voting until Sunday for 371 polling centres after hiccups with voter registration lists, biometric verification devices and staffing.

University student Mohammad Alem said he felt "frustrated" after spending more than three hours trying to vote in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif, only to discover his name was not on the registration list.

"There also were some problems with the biometric devices because they were already running out of charge," he said.

After waiting four hours at a polling centre, Tabish Forugh tweeted he had not seen "even remotely similar... chaos" at previous elections.

- Taliban threats -

The parliamentary election is more than three years late and only the third since the fall of the Taliban in 2001.

Turnout was likely affected after the Taliban issued several warnings in the days leading up to the poll calling on candidates to withdraw from the race and for voters to stay home.

Hundreds of people were killed or wounded in the months before the poll.

The killing of a powerful police chief in the southern province of Kandahar on Thursday further eroded confidence in the ability of security forces to protect voters.

Voting in Kandahar has been delayed by a week following the attack.

Despite the risks, President Ashraf Ghani urged "every Aghan, young and old, women and men" to exercise their right to vote, after casting his ballot in Kabul.

Photos posted on social media showed scores of men and women clutching their identification documents lining up outside voting centres amid a heavy security presence.

A woman dressed in a burqa leaving a polling centre in Mazar-i-Sharif told AFP she had been worried about "security incidents", but decided to vote anyway.

"We have to defy the violence," Hafiza, 57, said. "In previous years we were not happy with the elections, our votes were sold out." 

PTI
India's first canine training centre comes up at Attari; Dogs to be trained on narcotics detection

Punjab man travelling from Malaysia declared dead after his flight landed in Amritsar

We Dont Only Read Books  We Celebrate Them!

With just 1 passenger, Air India plane flies to Dubai from Amritsar

Putin condoles loss of lives in Amritsar train accident, wishes for soonest recovery of injured

International

oi-Vikas SV

Moscow, Oct 20: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday expressed grief over the loss of live in Amritsar train accident which left 58 people dead.

"I offer my deepest sympathies over tragic consequences of an accident on railways in Punjab. I ask to convey my words of sympathy and support to families & friends of killed people & to wish soonest recovery to those injured," Putin said in a statement.

Amritsar train accident: 61 dead as speeding train runs over crowd at Dussehra celebration

Putin offered condolences to President of India Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Hundereds of people had gathered at Joda Phatak in Amritsar for Dussehra celebrations on Friday evening when a train coming from Jalandhar ran over a crowd standing on the tracks.

The Indian Railways said that the Amritsar mishap happened because of trespassing, adding that the trains move on those track regularly. Railway Board Chairman Ashwani Lohani said the driver of the train blew the horn and tried to apply the brakes.

Bloody Friday: How the horrific Amritsar train accident that killed 61 take place

"58 people died and 48 were injured in Amritsar Train Accident yesterday. It does not appear that the loco driver was at fault in the incident. Amritsar-Howrah Mail had passed the same spot two minutes before the accident occurred," Deepak Kumar, CPRO, Northern Railway, told ANI.

"Currently, train services are suspended between Amrtisar-Manawala railway section. We will hold a review at noon and a decision will be taken in this regard," he added.

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Story first published: Saturday, October 20, 2018, 11:59 [IST]
After skipping India's security dialogue on Afghanistan, China to attend Paks Troika Plus meet

US Congress report says Pakistan playing active and disruptive role in Afghanistan

Pakistan hit my mysterious viral fever: All you need to know

US designates Pakistan, China as countries of particular concern for religious freedom violation

Pakistan gives Kulbhushan Jadhav right to appeal against death sentence

Pakistan says S-400 deal has provoked it to develop missiles that can beat India's BMD system

International

oi-Vikas SV

Islamabad, Oct 20: Pakistan has said that India's puchase on S-400 Triumf air defence missiles from Russia has forced Pakistan to work towards "capabilities" to penetrate India's Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) System. Paksitan Foreign office statement said Pakistan had proposed a Strategic Restraint Regime in the region, advocating against the acquisition of BMD systems due to their destabilizing effect.

"Pakistan had proposed a Strategic Restraint Regime in the region, advocating against the acquisition of BMD systems due to their destabilizing effect," FO statement said.

Akash, PAD, AAD and now S-400 triumf air defence missile system

"This (S-400 deal) will further destabilise strategic stability in South Asia, besides leading to a renewed arms race," it added.

A Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) is a system that is designed to intercept and destroy an incoming ballistic missile on its trajectory much before it approaches the target. India's ballistic missile defence system provides a two-layered shield - 'exo' and 'endo'. What this effectively means is that the system provides protection both against ballistic missiles that are outside (exo) as well as inside (endo) the earth's atmosphere.

Pakistan said Indian purchase was part of its efforts to acquire a Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) System through multiple sources, as per a PTI report.

Patriot missile losing market to S-400: Is that the real worry of US?

India, ijn September, signed a deal woth Russia to acquire S-400 Triumf air defence missile systems. S-400 Triumf is one of the world's most advanced air defence systems that can simultaneously track numerous incoming objects - all kinds of aircraft, missiles and UAVs - in a radius of a few hundred kilometres and launch appropriate missiles to neutralise them.

The S-400 Triumph air defence system integrates a multifunction radar, autonomous detection and targeting systems, anti-aircraft missile systems, launchers, and command and control centre.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, October 20)  President Rodrigo Duterte again called on communist rebels to lay down their arms, offering them benefits in return  including a chance to enter politics.

"Set down your arms and we will not have a problem. If you wish to join politics, okay lang (that's okay)," Duterte said in Bisaya during a speech at the launching of a mall in Davao City Friday night.

Duterte, a self-described left-leaning leader, appointed leftist officials to the Cabinet as he reached out to communist groups to talk peace at the start of his term. But peace negotiations have been called off and officials identified with the Left have either been fired, rejected by the Commission on Appointments, or have resigned.

The Duterte government is the sixth administration to try to end the five-decade insurgency waged by the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and its armed wing, New People's Army (NPA).

Duterte reiterated that he and CPP founder Jose Maria Sison "will no longer talk," but urged "other communists" to talk peace with local government officials.

"If you don't want Sison to talk to me, 'di kausapin niyo si konsehal (talk to your councilor)," Duterte said.

The Duterte administration has pushed for localized peace talks amid the impasse in negotiations with the National Democratic Front of the Philippines, which serves as the CPP's political wing and representative in peace talks. As early as July this year, Malacanang said the President would sign an executive order spelling out the guidelines for localized talks, but this has not been released.

READ: CPP rejects localized peace talks, says Duterte 'pretending to want peace'

Duterte assured the communists they will be given free housing the moment they turn themselves in.

"Surrender. The government has a program. You'll be given a house automatically," Duterte said.

He added that in Davao City, presidential daughter Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio has built 5,000 houses for those who would turn their backs on the armed struggle.

Duterte also reiterated his promise to give away idle government lands to the poor and members of the NPA.

"I will give away all government-owned lands that are of no use to us. I ordered the Secretary of Agrarian Reform to distribute government-owned lands to the people and even the NPAs," he said.

The distribution of free land is among the social and economic reforms the rebels demand from the government.

Duterte has said he would push for land reform "with or without talks with the communists," but an executive order to this effect has not yet been signed.
Gorman Brothers lumber has lost the last of its founding sons; Ross Gorman passed away Friday at the age of 93.

He and brother John founded the company in 1953 when they opened up a small sawmill operation to supplement their orchard business, which had taken a hit due to heavy frost one year.

Photo: Contributed - Gorman Bros. Lumber Ltd. Ross Gorman is shown here in this undated photo.

The pair began building fruit boxes and durable packaging bins, and soon opened up a distribution plant in Oroville, Washington.

After a large electrical fire wiped out the mill in 1969, they simply rebuilt a more modern facility.

John retired from the business in 1996 and passed away six years later, but Ross would continue working until the age of 92.

The Council of Forest Industries issued a statement on the passing, with president James Gorman (no relation) saying Rosss legacy will be remembered.

Ross was committed to the company he and his brother built from the day they fired up their first sawmill to the very end, visiting the mill in West Kelowna almost every day for the past 60 years, he said.

Ross, along with his brother John, was a pioneer in the industry whose legacy will be one of community, loyalty and value.

The mill was threatened by a large forest fire in 2009, but was held at bay with the help of numerous employees who showed up to help forest fire fighters attack the blaze.

The company still employs hundreds of workers at mills in Revelstoke, Salmon Arm, Lumby, and Oroville, but the West Kelowna location is still its main operation.

A memorial service will be held Oct. 25 at the Trinity Baptist Church, it is open to the public.
Photo: Contributed

B.C. needs nearly 3,000 health-care aides by 2023, so a local college with campuses in the Central Okanagan is doing what it can to produce as many as possible.

First College, which is based in West Kelowna, is expanding to downtown Kelowna in January with a campus on St. Paul Street. Three new health-care assistant diploma program classes will begin in early January to coincide with the opening.

Were at about a 95 per cent success rate where theyre getting (job) offers before theyve even finished (the course), First College marketing co-ordinator Megann Robb said. So make sure youre getting your appropriate designations and youve got a job.

Thursday was Healthcare Aide Day in B.C., so First College threw a party on Thursday night at Kelownas Ramada Hotel. It invited health-care workers from around the region, including alumni, to celebrate those who are on the front lines. Kelowna city councillor Maxine DeHart was also on hand.

Its important to appreciate the people that are already in this career field, Robb said, and its also important to let others know that this is a possibility for not just a job, but a career.

For more on this story visit Okanagan Edge.
Photo: The Canadian Press Conservative MP Marilyn Gladu

Scroll through Ontario's online cannabis shop and you'll see strains of marijuana called Banana Split and Tangerine Dream.

There are others with the far-out monikers Dreamweaver, Super Sonic and Pink Kush.

The names appear on packages even though the federal Cannabis Act is meant to discourage kids from using pot by prohibiting products that appeal to youth.

The law also forbids packaging or labelling cannabis in a way that is attractive to the demographic.

Thierry Belair, a spokesman for Health Minister Ginette Petitpas Taylor, said the department will continue to monitor the market and enforce the rules on a case-by-case basis now that recreational cannabis use is legal.

"The law clearly prohibits promotions that associate cannabis with a particular way of life such as glamour, recreation, excitement or vitality, and that includes cannabis strains descriptions," said Belair.

The government expects all participants, including provinces, territories and those in the cannabis industry, to follow the law, he added.

It means that not every bit of branding will necessarily stick, because if someone complains about a name Health Canada could ask the licensed producer to change it.

But for now the names are not sitting will with Conservative health critic Marilyn Gladu.

Gladu says the Liberal government needs to do more to ensure cannabis products available online are not enticing to kids.

"The sprit of the regulation was that they did not want the packaging in any way to be attractive to young people," she said.

"The government keeps saying they wanted to keep this out of the hands of youth."

David Hammond, a professor in the school of public health at the University of Waterloo, said dessert-oriented names like Banana Split are going to appeal to young people.

"There are so many different options out there for describing your brand," he said. "Surely the industry is more creative that they don't need to either skirt or cross the boundaries for things like naming it with dessert names."
Photo: Madison Erhardt

Today is election day across the Central Okanagan, as residents determine who will sit on city councils, boards of education and who will serve as regional district directors.

While numerous votes have already been cast in advance polls, most eligible voters have yet to make their decisions.

Polling stations will be open from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m. today at various locations.

In Kelowna, voters have a choice of 12 polling stations, including:

City Hall, 1435 Water Street

Capital News Centre, 4105 Gordon Drive

Dr. Knox Middle School, 121 Drysdale Boulevard

East Kelowna Hall, 2704 East Kelowna Road

Evangel Church, 3261 Gordon Drive

Hollywood Education Centre, 1040 Hollywood Road

Okanagan Mission Hall, 4409 Lakeshore Road

Orchard Park Mall, Pear Court, 2271 Harvey Avenue (*poll closes at 6.p.m.)

Parkinson Recreation Centre, 1800 Parkinson Way

Rutland Senior Secondary, 705 Rutland Road

Springvalley Middle School, 350 Ziprick Road

Watson Road Elementary, 475 Yates Road

In West Kelowna, four polling stations have been set up:

Westbank Lions Community Centre, 2466 Main Street

Constable Neil Bruce Middle School, 2010 Daimler Drive

Mar Jok Elementary School, 2101 McDougall Road

Glenrosa Middle School, 3565 McIver Road

In Peachland, votes can be cast at the Peachland Community Centre.

In Lake Country, voting is available in the community gym at George Elliot Secondary School.

In the regional district, there are two voting locations in Central Okanagan West, at Const. Neil Bruce Middle School and the Killiney Beach Community Hall. Those who live on Westbank First Nation Reserves #9 and #10 are eligible to vote in the Central Okanagan West elections for both Zone 2 school trustee and RDCO director.

Voters in the Central Okanagan East electoral area may vote for their school trustee at the Ellison Community Hall, Joe Rich Community Hall or the Goudie Road fire hall (6550 Goudie Road).

To be eligible to vote, you must have lived in the community for at least 30 days and B.C. for six months, be 18 years or older and a Canadian citizen.

Voter registration is done at the voting location where you decide to vote. You will need to bring two pieces of ID that prove your identity and residency. One must have your signature and one with your address.
Photo: Marcia Kozak

An arborist and local crane truck service joined forces this afternoon to pluck a cat from the top of a Summerland tree, ending a three-day ordeal for the feline and its owner.

Marcia Kozak said her cat, Baby Doll, ran up a tall conifer on Cartwright Avenue  potentially spooked by wildlife  three days ago.

After a public plea for help Thursday, Bartlett Tree Experts visited the site, but determined they would need help reaching the cat.

They suggested the crane company but its like $500 an hour, Kozak said, explaining she used to attend school with the local manager of Bartlett, Thorsten Clausen.

Clausen called in a favour, and convinced the crane company to donate its time. Big Lift Crane Services, a Summerland firm, agreed.

Both companies met up for the rescue operation Friday afternoon, and by 1 p.m., Baby Doll was out of the tree.

I was ecstatic, Kozak said. When she came down I was crying.

The cat was hungry and thirsty but otherwise in good condition.

I just wanted to thank everyone. I got so many phone calls and so much encouragement, Kozak said. I got calls from as far away as Vernon.
Colton Davies

One of the world's top climate scientists was in Penticton on Friday to talk about where the planet is heading with climate change.

SFU professor Kirsten Zickfeld met with local planners from around the Okanagan before doing a presentation to residents at the Shatford Centre.

Zickfeld was one of 90 scientists worldwide  and one of two from Canada  who authored the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which was released this week.

The IPCC said the earths temperature has risen 1.1 degrees celsius since the start of the industrial era, and outlines the consequences of global warming reaching 1.5 C above.

"We're already seeing a lot of impacts from that. We're seeing an increase in heat waves, flooding, heavy rainfall, we're seeing damage to ecosystems.

"Just for a little bit of context, on a 'business as usual' trajectory we're headed to 4 C warming above pre-industrial by 2100. And 4 C globally means 6-8 C in the Arctic and probably around 6 C in Canada. So this would be huge changes with catastrophic impacts."

Zickfeld says one main issue she heard from planners in the Okanagan was on transportation, specifically a lack of transit options and choices other than vehicles.

"And most households owning two cars, sort of a very car-centred culture. So some ideas of how this could be changed and what we've been thinking about is how to give people alternatives," she said. "So if there's transit that takes them from A to B and works relatively fast... is there a chance people would actually leave their cars?"

She said urban planning was another widely-discussed topic, mainly with Kelowna planners who said they expect the city to grow by close to 80,000 people in the next 20 years.

"The question is how are people going to live? Does it mean more dense communities... Does it mean more sprawling communities, which means a greater greenhouse gas emission footprint? And also less nature, and less of the things that actually drive people to the region. So this is sort of actually a crucial moment that sets a path to where the region is going."

Zickfelds lecture on Friday, called Keeping Climate Warming Below 1.5C, focused on climate change effects currently being felt, what can be expected this century if climate targets arent met globally and what people can do in their daily lives to be greener.

The lecture was sponsored by First Things First Okanagan, a non-profit group that promotes climate change awareness. Admission was by donation.
Autism Disorder and Treatment Market Detail Analysis | Focusing on Leading Vendors as Pfizer, Eli Lilly and Company, Allergan, Merck & CO, etc

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This MRFR Market Perspective Examines the Historical Trends and Current Scenario of the Global Autism Disorder and Treatment Market to Deliver a Highly Pertinent Growth Forecast. And Registering 4.37% CAGR Along with Top Companies and Mega Trends.The market for autism disorder and treatment is segmented by treatment type, type, and drugs. By treatment type, it is segmented into ABA (applied behavioral analysis), hyperbaric oxygen therapy, chelation therapy, oxytocin therapy, and others.By type, the market is segmented into Pervasive Developmental Disorder, Asperger Syndrome, and others. By drug, it is segmented into anti-convulsant, SSRIs, anti-psychotic stimulants. Anti-psychotics are further segmented into Risperidone and Abilify (aripiprazole).Request for Sample Report atAutism Disorder and Treatment Market  SynopsisIncreasing mutations of genetic and environmental influences are fuelling the detection of autism cases. Market reports associated with the healthcare sector made accessible by Market Research Future along with published reports on other sectors have been lately put out along with a report on this industry.The market is anticipated to expand with a CAGR of 4.37% over the forecast period.Factors responsible for market growth are enlargement of diagnostic criteria, improved diagnostic tools, and better awareness and improved reporting. Environmental and genetic factors are also increasingly attributed with the rise of the cases globally. The markets growth is expected to be buoyed by the likely approvals of many off-label treatments in the upcoming years.Industry Updates:Aug 2018 Epidiolex which has been approved by The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency for the first time. It is a compound that is derived from marijuana to treat certain types of epilepsy which may spell good news for autism research.The amendment in the classification of marijuana compounds to Schedule 1 drugs would ease the path for researchers investigating whether marijuana can alleviate autism traits.Top vendors:Eli Lilly and CompanyPfizer Inc.AllerganTeva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.Merck & CO Inc.Novartis AGIntra-Cellular Therapies Inc.And few others.Ask Any Question atCompetitive Analysis:The core success factors and competitors inclinations are progressively inclined to the strategies being used by market companies. The external factors are determining the markets course which is dependent on the practices and the strategic roadmaps that are used by the market players. The pioneering innovations in products and services are the chief factor contributing to the market's success and influencing the trends that have gained importance in the market. The availability of a proficient labor force along with resources is increasing the overall market development. The market is relatively well defined in terms of its volume and value.Detailed Regional Analysis:The autism disorder & treatment market consists of regions such as Europe, Americas, Asia Pacific, the Middle East and Africa, with Americas controlling the major market share trailed by the European region. In the Americas, the North American region is responsible for the major market due to the growing detection of autism cases in this region. Besides, the approval and likely introduction of the atypical anti-psychotic such as Namenda and Latuda is anticipated to generate amplified sales in the U.S. post-approval. The Asia Pacific is anticipated to be the fastest rising market while the Middle East & Africa are displaying stable growth during the forecast period.Major TOC of Autism Disorder and Treatment Market Research Report - Forecast to 2023:1 Report Prologue2 Market Introduction3 Research Methodology4 Market Dynamics5 Market Factor Analysis6 Global Autism Disorder & Treatment Market, By Type7 Global Autism Disorder & Treatment Market, By Treatment Type8 Global Autism Disorder & Treatment Market, By DrugsTOC CONTINUED.Check Discount atAbout Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.ContactMarket Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune  411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.com
Stun Gun Market Worldwide Top Players Revenue Analysis of Euro Security Products, MARCH, Nova Security, Shyh Sing Enterprise, TASER International, and Jiun An Technology

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Stun guns market refers to the business generated by the non-lethal conducted electrical weapons (CEWs) that are primarily utilized for the self-defense and law enforcement agencies. Ability to incapacitate the potential suspect through the delivery of high voltage electric shocks, with the prime motive of disrupting the muscle functions for small amount of time without causing substantial damage is expected to remain the primary growth driver of the industry over the forecast period.Download PDF Brochure of Research Report:Increasing concerns and requirement of preparedness to counter the proliferating threats to womens safety and irregular upsurge of civil riots are expected to drive the industry growthNumber of criminal and rape incidents, in most economies is among the primary concern of the government agencies. Some of the major economies that include Australia, U.S., New Zealand, Norway and France are among the developed economies that have the highest reported incidents per 100,000 citizens. According to the Nations Master crime and rape rate statistics, these countries had over 15 rapes per 100,000 inhabitants. Moreover, usage of lethal weapons is substantially discouraged for the personal protection and are significantly difficult to afford. Requirement of preparedness in case of threat to personal safety are expected to drive the overall industry growth through the next few years.Irregular possibilities of civil unrest and requirement to maintain the law and order without critical damage to the civilians will present considerable growth prospectsFrance, Argentina, Myanmar, Mexico, Bangladesh, and India are among the most civil unrest prone regions, owing to substantial number of news headlines associated with the civil riots. Moreover, some riots in these countries past have witnessed requirements of military interventions to ensure the peace. Recurring surfacing of such incidences are expected to be the most prominent stun gun market growth driver over the forecast period.Advent of CEWs that can monitor heart rates rhythms with featuring over 99.75% human life safety are gaining significant tractionIn August 2016, Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center researchers successfully developed stun guns that was capable of recording the subject individuals heart rhythm and rates and capability to avoid serious injuries and fatalities. Increasing incidences of the serious incidents owing to pre-medical conditions, when using these devices are doing the rounds in media.Law enforcement agencies are anticipated to continue the industry dominance through the forecast periodMajor factors driving the segment growth are the increasing adoption of stun guns by special police forces and law enforcement agencies in major countries such as the US, Australia, and Canada. Moreover, increased awareness in the developing and underdeveloped economies about the benefits of these devices will drive the overall product demands through the forecast period.U.S. accounted for the major global stun gun market share in 2016High utilization of these devices in both the civil and law enforcement agencies was the primary growth contributor in the region. However, the country has witnessed significant increase in the malpractices of these equipment in domestic violence and fatal incidences due to inappropriate usage on pregnant women and child abuse will drive present considerable growth challenges to the industry growthkey players in the stun gun market include Euro Security Products, MARCH, Nova Security, Shyh Sing Enterprise, TASER International, and Jiun An Technology.Request for Customization of Research Report:Stun Gun Market TaxonomyOn the basis of product types, the global stun gun market is classified into: Compact Heavy Duty Stun Gun Flashlight / Taser Flashlight Stun Baton Other forms (wands, batons, electrified brass knuckles, "iPhones", or other concealed objects)On the basis of end users, the global stun gun market is classified into: Civilians Military and Law enforcementAbout Coherent Market Insights:Coherent Market Insights is a prominent market research and consulting firm offering action-ready syndicated research reports, custom market analysis, consulting services, and competitive analysis through various recommendations related to emerging market trends, technologies, and potential absolute dollar opportunity.Contact Us:Mr. ShahCoherent Market Insights1001 4th Ave,#3200Seattle, WA 98154Tel: +1-206-701-6702Email: sales@coherentmarketinsights.com
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Voters across British Columbia head to the polls today for municipal elections.

Kelowna has four candidates running for mayor, with three challengers trying to unseat incumbent Colin Basran.

West Kelowna will elect a new mayor, as will Vernon, where past mayor Akbal Mund is now running for a councillor position.

In Penticton five candidates are running against incumbent Andrew Jakubeit.

In Vancouver, 21 candidates are running to fill a void left by Mayor Gregor Robertson, who is not seeking re-election.

Among those leading the race for the top spot are former NDP MP Kennedy Stewart, local business owner Ken Sim and independent candidate Shauna Sylvester.

Meantime, Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps is facing nine challengers.

And Nanaimo's election could trigger a provincial byelection if NDP legislator Leonard Krog wins the race for mayor and gives up his seat at the provincial legislature.

It wouldn't be enough to tip the balance of power to the Liberals' favour against an NDP minority government that's propped up by the Greens, but it would bring it to the brink.

Check back for Castanet's coverage of races in the Okanagan after polls close at 8 p.m.

 with files from The Canadian Press
Optical Coherence Tomography Market 2018-2023: Growing with Abbott Laboratories, KONINKLIJKE PHILIPS N.V, Boston Scientific Co. etc.

Optical Coherence Tomography Market

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Industry/Innovation/Related News:June 27, 2018 - Axsun Technologies, Inc. (US), one of the leading manufacturers of Swept Source Optical Coherence Tomography (SSOCT) engines, announced that it has shipped over 15,000 swept lasers for OCT imaging applications worldwide from the beginning of the year. The company further also stated that continuing expansion of its portfolio of Swept Laser Engines, it has added 140nm tuning bandwidth to its wide bandwidth 1060nm Swept laser. The new Swept Laser enables 3.5um axial resolution with superior speed and imaging depth over legacy OCT technologies.Get Sample Report @Optical Coherence Tomography Market  HighlightsAcknowledging the exponential growth, the market perceives currently; Market Research Future (MRFR) in its recently published study report asserts that the Global Optical Coherence Tomography Market is estimated to witness an outstanding growth.The Global Optical Coherence Tomography Market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 8.9% during the forecast period 2017-2023.Optical Coherence Tomography Technology has been evolved as one of the most important imaging techniques in various medical applications. Over the years, the clinical applications of OCT have been exceeded to cardiology, gastroenterology, dentistry, dermatology, oncology, and many others. In the last few years, the demand for more precise information about coronary artery disease to achieve optimal treatment is boosting intravascular imaging. The OCT technology in this area has grown and is spreading, as it benefits both therapeutic and research purposes.Optical Coherence Tomography Market - Key PlayersSome of the fervent players operating in the market and profiled in MRFR analysis are Abbott Laboratories, Alcon, Carl Zeiss AG, B. Braun Melsungen AG, Terumo Corporation, Koninklijke Philips N.V, NIDEK Co., Ltd, Boston Scientific Corporation, Topcon Corporation, Heidelberg Engineering GmbH, Novacam Technologies Inc., OPTOPOL Technology S.A, Agfa Healthcare, Imalux Corporation, Thorlabs Inc., and Michelson Diagnostics. Profiling them in its analysis, MRFR finds out their strategies keeping them at the forefront of competition.Optical Coherence Tomography Market - SegmentationThe Optical Coherence Tomography Market can be segmented into four key dynamics;By Technologies: Spectral-Domain OCT (SD-OCT), Swept-Source OCT and others.By Applications: Ophthalmology, Dermatology, Cardiology, and others.By Type of Devices: Table-top, Handheld, Catheter-Based OCT Devices and others.By Regions: North America, Europe, APAC, and Rest-of-the-World (RoW).Get Discount on Report @The SD-OCT segment by technologies is estimated to acquire over 60% of the market share during the review period.The Swept-source -OCT segment will witness over 9% CAGR during the assessment period.The Ophthalmology segment, by applications, will command over 53% of the market share during the forecast period.The Dermatology segment, by applications, will perceive more than 9% CAGR during the said period.Optical Coherence Tomography Market - Regional AnalysisGlobally, North America region is expected to lead the Optical Coherence Tomography market accounting for a significant market share. Factors substantiating the market growth of this region include growing demand for the diabetic retinopathy, supported by the growing number of patients suffering from the chronic diseases such as diabetes, neurovascular and other eye diseases.Simultaneously, augmenting demand for the minimally invasive procedures and technologically advanced treatments backed by the rising healthcare expenditures and government support are expected to drive the market growth in the region commutatively. Furthermore, the presence of the leading players is one of the key factors fostering the market growth in the region.Whereas the worlds second-largest market for OCT- Europe is expected to demonstrate a healthy growth during the review period. Factors such as the well-proliferated healthcare sector, witnessing the growing number of advanced treatment facilities fuelled by the growing demand for better healthcare infrastructure and increasing healthcare expenditures are driving the growth in the Europe market.The Asia-Pacific market is emerging as a lucrative market for OCT owing to the rising number of diabetic retinopathy and other eye diseases coupled with the growing population that is increasingly adopting the sedentary lifestyle. Increasing funding support from the private and public bodies are paying off well, increasing R&D activities, and eventually are supporting the market growth in the region. Owing to the availability of new treatment methods that are increasingly meeting the growing demand for the treatments of prevailing optical diseases the APAC region is expected to become the fastest growing market for Optical Coherence Tomography.To Know More Enquire @The Middle East & Africa region perceive a moderate growth in the global Optical Coherence Tomography market. The contributions from the African region are negligible due to the low per capita healthcare expenditure and stringent government policies.On the other hand, the Middle East market of OCT is growing leaps and bounds attributing to the spurting healthcare developments. Substantial investments coupled with the favorable governmental policies and initiatives are playing an integral role in ascending the market growth.Major Table of ContentChapter 1. Report PrologueChapter 2. Market Introduction2.1 Definition2.2 Scope of the Study2.2.1 Research Objective2.2.2 Assumptions2.2.3 LimitationsChapter 3. Research Methodology3.1 Introduction3.2 Primary Research3.3 Secondary Research3.4 Market Size EstimationChapter 4. Market DynamicsContinued.About Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.In order to stay updated with technology and work process of the industry, MRFR often plans & conducts meet with the industry experts and industrial visits for its research analyst members.Contact:Market Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune  411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: salesteam@marketresearchfuture.com
Global Educational Software Market Revenue, Sales by Key Countries (United States, EU, Japan, China, India) and Major Players (Microsoft, Amazon, Neusoft, Google)

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The Growing adoption of E-Learning is one of the major factor to drive the Global Educational Software Market Growth and it creates new opportunity for the new comers. The primary propose of this software is for teaching and learning. With the heavy use of computers, laptops, mobile phones, internet are the major factors for growing.Global Educational Software Market, a new research report that evaluates its current value, size, performance and statistics. The report is an in-depth study of the important dynamics of the market and gives a gist of the types, the process, and value chain that has been included in the report. This industry is one of the highly competitive markets in the world and is highly capital concentrated and requires strong government support and political stability.Get a Sample Report: @Geographically this market is widely spread in different regions but still United States plays a major role in the market and we cannot ignore this. In coming years the Asia Pacific countries will hold more shares of Educational Software Market especially China. There will be fastest growing market in India and Southeast Asia.Market Segmentation by its Application Examination-oriented Education Software, Quality-oriented Education SoftwareMarket Segment by Type: K-12 Educational Software, Elderly Education Software, University Education Software, Adult Education SoftwareThe major key players of this market are widely spread all over the world. Microsoft, Amazon, Neusoft, Google, Apple, Hongen, Guangdong Dongtian Digital Technology, Wisedu, Jucheng, Kingsun, Zhengfang Software, Kingosoft, Beijing China Education Star Technology, IntelHouse TechnologyGet a Discount: @The report clarifies the Global Educational Software Market status, trends, concentration rate, product and ICT difference, new comers, the technological changes in future. It briefly describes the market value in different regions. Here the report provides the complete vision of the market through its key players.The report includes the following contents.Table of Contents:Chapter 1: Educational Software Market OverviewChapter 2: Competition Analysis by PlayersChapter 3: Company (Top Players) ProfilesChapter 4: Market Size by Type and Application (2012-2018)Chapter 5: United States Educational Software Market Development Status and OutlookChapter 6: EU Market Development Status and OutlookChapter 7: Japan Market Development Status and OutlookChapter 8: China Market Development Status and OutlookChapter 9: India Market Development Status and OutlookChapter 10: Southeast Market OutlookChapter 11: Asia Educational Software Market Forecast by Region, Type and Application (2018-2023)Chapter 12: Market DynamicsChapter 13: Market Effect Factors AnalysisChapter 14: Research Findings and ConclusionChapter 15: AppendixEnquiry before Buying: @If you need anything more than these then let us know and we will prepare the report according to your requirement.About Company:Report Consultant, The Global Ruler in Analytic, Research and Advisory which will encourage you to renovate your business and reshape your approach. With us you can take courageous decision for your business. Using variety of methods and experienced skills we provide you the appropriate analysis figures.You will have a great experience of innovative solutions and outcomes with our Reports. Our Business is spreading all over the world with our Market Research reports and Digital Transformation skills. Thus, we provide greater value for clients by presenting advanced opportunities in the Global Market.Contact us:Rebecca Parker(Report Consultant)Akasaka biz tower,5-3-1 akasaka minato-ku,Tokyo, JapanContact No- +81-368444299sales@reportconsultant.com
Protein Engineering Market 2023 Top Key Players are Agilent Technologies, AB-Sciex, Bio-Rad Laboratories, GE Healthcare, Perkin Elmer and More

Protein Engineering Market

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Market Research Future has recently added another market study to its extensive research portfolio, titled Protein Engineering Market Research Report - Forecast to 2024. The report offers intelligent insights and uses thorough examination of market factors to gauge market size and development.Global Protein Engineering Market is expected to grow at a CAGR of approximately 6.2% during the forecast period 20172023.Key Players:Agilent Technologies (U.S.), AB-Sciex (U.S.), Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (U.S.), Bruker Corp. (U.S.), GE Healthcare (U.K.), Perkin Elmer (U.S.), Sigma-Aldrich Corp. (U.S.), Thermo Fisher Scientific (U.S.), and Waters Corp. (U.S).Get Sample Copy @Market Scenario:Proteins, the building blocks of the body, are large biomolecules made up of amino acids. They perform various functions such as DNA replication, catalyzing metabolic reactions, transporting molecules from one location to another, and responding to stimuli. Furthermore, proteins also have a wide range of applications in the diagnosis of disease and treatment development. Protein engineering involves designing and constructing new proteins by modifying amino acid sequences to produce enzymes and desired properties and the synthesis of proteins with a particular structure. This technology helps us to understand the basics of how enzymes function and have evolved, and it is the key method of improving enzyme properties for applications in pharmaceuticals, green chemistry, and biofuels.The major objective of protein engineering is to produce biological compounds which include a synthetic peptide, storage protein, and synthetic drugs which will be superior to a normal one and create an enzyme which is superior in its properties to produce high-value chemicals in large quantities.The global protein engineering market is driven by the increasing demand for new technologies having their application in healthcare and by the growth in research and development activities for improving health outcomes using novel technologies. Furthermore, the emergence of trends in protein identification and tracking and the increasing use of protein studies in research activities drive the growth of this market. However, there are various factors that may hinder the growth of the market such as expensive instruments used in protein engineering that require huge maintenance and lack of trained personnel.Segmentation:The Global Protein Engineering Market is segmented to the basis of type, method, application, and end-users.On the basis of type, the market is segmented into instrument, reagents, and services and software.On the basis of method, the market is segmented into rational protein design and directed evolution.On the basis of application, the market is segmented into food and detergent industries, environment applications, medical applications, biopolymer production, and nanobiotechnology.On the basis of end-user, the market is segmented into academic research institutes, pharmaceuticals and biotechnology companies, and contract engineering organizations.Apply for Standard Discount @Regional Analysis:Globally, protein engineering market consists of four regions, namely, Americas, Europe, Asia Pacific, and the Middle East and Africa. North America is the largest market owing to the concentration of major market players and increase in a number of biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies. The U.S. is the largest market in North America followed by Canada. In the U.S., extensive protein engineering technologies and methods and availability of technologically-advanced devices and instruments for research also drive the growth of the market.Europe is the second largest market for protein engineering which is majorly driven by the increasing demand for protein engineering methods and technologies and the overall growth of research and development sector in major countries such as Germany, the U.K., and France. Furthermore, the growth in funding for protein engineering and emphasis on drug discovery are other factors expected to drive the growth of the market during the review period.Asia Pacific shows the fastest growth which is driven by the rising prevalence of lifestyle diseases such as heart diseases, diabetes, obesity, and others and need for new technologies with their application in healthcare.The Middle East and Africa shows a steady but positive growth with an increase in the demand for new drugs and devices for diagnosis and the treatment of diseases and improvement in healthcare infrastructure.Table of Content1 Report Prologue2 Market Introduction2.1 Definition2.2 Scope of the Study2.2.1 Research Objective2.2.2 Assumptions2.2.3 Limitations3 Research Type Ology3.1 Introduction3.2 Primary Research3.3 Secondary Research3.4 Market Size Estimation4 Market Dynamics4.1 Drivers4.2 Restraints4.3 Opportunities4.4 Challenges4.5 Macroeconomic Indicators4.6 Technology Trends & Assessment Continued!Report Enquiry @Market Research Future (MRFR), enable customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.Market Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, IndiaPhone: +1 646 845 9312Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.com
Zika Virus Testing Market 2023 Top Key Players are Luminex Corporation, ARUP Laboratories, Roche Molecular Systems, Hologic, and Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics

Zika Virus Testing Market

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Namely Zika Virus Testing Market Report has Been Published by Market Research Future Which Covers All the Geographical Locations with Demand, Trend Analysis with near about Forecasted results and Also Covers the Market Expectations.Overview:The daunting sway zika virus had held over the populace in recent past has a far-reaching impact on governments in terms of initiatives undertaken. FDA had recently made it mandatory for zika virus testing of all the blood testing done across the U.S. in hospitals and laboratories just to keep the virus at bay. Borne by Aedes genus of mosquitoes, this disease can be easily transmitted to another person even via sexual intercourse and pregnant women, if affected, can forward that to her newborn child as well.Get Premium Sample Copy @These initiatives have resulted in the growth of zika virus testing market, and the market is all set to witness a considerable hike during the forecast period (2017-2023), asserts Market Research Future (MRFR) in an extensively analyzed report. FDA and the U.S. government have taken considerable steps to outclass this disease by having it properly tested and developing drugs that can contain the virus. The outcome is quite overwhelming. The World Health Organization (WHO) is also quite aware of the impacts of the virus and has taken steps accordingly. For instance, in 2016, it had declared a health emergency in the Americas, where the disease was spreading its wings. Subsequently, testing kits for the disease found a significant market and started growing in leaps and bounds. These precautionary decisions can act like a global market booster for the zika virus testing.Top Vendor Analysis:Prominent companies playing a significant role in the zika virus testing market are Luminex Corporation, ARUP Laboratories, Roche Molecular Systems, Hologic, and Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics.Segmentation:The global zika virus testing market can be segmented by tests and end-users.By tests, the market can be further sub-segmented into serological/Zika virus antibody and molecular/nucleic acid amplification. The latter is the most commonly used test for zika virus detection.Based on end-users the market includes diagnostic units, hospitals, pathology labs, and others.Get Quality Discount @Industry Trend:Researchers from Brigham and Womens hospital have recently come out with their discovery where they have used nanotechnology and digital health systems to detect zika virus. In the process. They have involved smartphones as necessary equipment for the testing. The method is known as nanomotor-based bead-motion cellphone (NBC) system, which can have considerable impacts in afflicted regions.Technology firm Inovatech, in collaboration with the Sao Paulo Research Foundation, developed a test at the Butantan Institute that can detect antibodies against zika virus in samples with great precision to declare infection, if any, caused by the virus previously.Regional Analysis:Region-specific analysis of the global market has regions Asia Pacific (APAC), Europe, Americas, and the Middle East and Africa (MEA) under its coverage.The Americas are in-charge of the market and Latin American countries, where the outbreak of the disease hit massively, are contributing more than the regions far in the distance. Projects initiated by Health and Human Services (HHS), and Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) to deter the disease from further growth and cure the affected populace can be seen as a market influencer. Brazils National Development Bank (BNDES) has also infused USD 136.6 million for further researches that can help the market grow considerably.Reports Enquiry @Continued!Market Research Future (MRFR), enable customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.Market Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, IndiaPhone: +1 646 845 9312Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.com
Smart Medical Devices Market to experience significant growth| Key Players: Apple, Fitbit, Abbott, Dexcom, F. Hoffmann-La Roche, Zephyr, Medtronic, and Johnson & Johnson

Smart Medical Devices Market

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Smart Medical Devices Market size is projected to experience significant growth from 2017 to 2024. Smart medical devices market size is likely to witness momentous growth owing to soaring adoption of smartphones across the globe, surging demand for smartphone-compatible and wireless medical devices, rising awareness and focus on health and fitness. Moreover, steep rise in health concerns worldwide, mounting preponderance of chronic diseases, strengthening expenditure on healthcare and the high-pitched demand for wearable devices will impel the smart medical devices growth exponentially. Companies such as Fitbit, Apple and Medtronic have been launching ingenious products, which will in turn accelerate the business growth. Smart blood pressure monitors and smart clothing will help garner a momentous market share over the forecast period.Inquiry before buying :Spiraling technological advancements, owing to whooping investments in the field of smart medical devices, smart and digitally accessed medical devices coupled with intensifying awareness among patients to manage their health conditions efficiently will drive the smart medical devices market growth. For instance, Googles smart contact lenses for diabetes patients wearing glasses. The novel technology originates from the fact that an individuals glucose level can be measured through their tears fluidal composition.Insulog launched a campaign for a connected insulin tracker for diabetic patients using insulin pens. Aim of this campaign was to meet the needs of the patients, still using manual data entry or pen-paper to manage their diseases. Prohibitive costs pertaining to the technological advancements coupled with limited reimbursement policies can impede the smart medical devices market growth over the forecast period.The diagnostic & monitoring segment directed the industry in 2016 with a substantial revenue share, but noted a moderately lower growth rate comparing to the therapeutic segment. The paramount factors attributable to the business growth includes elevating awareness, rising healthcare spending, and supporting initiatives by the government relating to the improvement in patient care.Online channel is the sturdiest growing segment be indebted to rising inclination towards online purchasing through smartphones, increased flexibility and availability of a wide range of products. Hospitals segment is envisaged to grow at fastest rate owing to elevated utilization of digital therapeutic applications for delivering affordable emergency care to patients. By the emergence and usage of mobile care facilities, hospitals can help patients browse healthcare services and reduce stress.North America held the largest revenue share in 2016 due to cognizance of advanced technologies and presence of a well-proportioned healthcare sector. The regional market has benefitted greatly owing to growing per capita income, favorable economic conditions and improved standard of living.Europe smart medical devices market is foreseen to gain significant industry revenue share over the forecast period. As per the Reflection and Orientation Paper, in 2016 European Union contributed USD 43.5 million for the innovation of wearable medical devices, hence, driving the business growth. Asia Pacific is the fastest growing region due to soaring population, improvement in standard of living, owing to waxing disposable income and the demand for novel products which positively impacts the demand for smart medical devices in the region.Request TOC of this Report :Key Players are:Key industry players include Apple, Fitbit, Abbott, Dexcom, F. Hoffmann-La Roche, Zephyr, Medtronic, and Johnson & Johnson. The major players focus on innovative product launch and strategic alliances with an aim to expand their business portfolio as main strategies. In January 2015, Medtronic announced the acquisition of Covidien. This acquisition will increase the market penetration by expanding its product portfolio and lessen the production cost.Global Market Insights Inc. is a global market research and management consulting company catering to leading corporations, non-profit organizations, universities and government institutions. Our main goal is to assist and partner organizations to make lasting strategic improvements and realize growth targets. Our industry research reports are designed to provide granular quantitative information, combined with key industry insights, aimed at assisting sustainable organizational development.Global Market Insights, Inc.4 North Main StreetSelbyville, Delaware 19975 USAPhone: 1-302-846-7766Toll Free: 1-888-689-0688Email:sales@gminsights.com
Deep Insight Report on Global Social Media Platform Market 2022: Covered Major Key Players Like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube, LinkedIn, Blab, Hi5, Meerkat

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Research N Reports has added a new report Global Social Media Platform Market, which has shown the developmental cycle of the additionally examined causes leading to improved development through drivers, restraints, and opportunities made available for the firms aiming to grow their standing in the market. The industry patterns are carefully examined by understanding the upcoming trends and how will they affect the products demand in the future. Industry verticals, a threat of substitutes, an intensity of competitive rivalry, opportunities for new entrants to prosper, regional market share, etc. have been analyzed and provided in the report.Ask for sample copy of this report atThis surveyed report accumulates a wide-ranging statistic acquired by proving the research methods and getting the information from trusted sources within the businesses. It also consists of expert estimations to provide readers a much stronger point of view in terms of the Social Media Platform global market.Major key players are covered in this report:Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube, LinkedIn, Blab, Hi5, Meerkat, MyLife, Plaxo etc.Key points of this market research report: This report provides pin-point analysis for changing competitive dynamics It provides a forward-looking perspective on different factors driving or restraining market growth It provides five-year forecast assessed on the basis of how the market is predicted to grow It helps in understanding the key product segments and their future It provides pin point analysis of changing competition dynamics and keeps you ahead of competitors It helps in making informed business decisions by having complete insights of market and by making in-depth analysis of market segmentsAsk for discount on this report atAccording to the research report, the global market for Social Media Platform is witnessing a continual rise in its valuation with the advancement in technologies, which is impacting the consumer behavior and, accordingly, their purchasing patterns to a great extent. In addition to this, the rising penetration of internet and the surge in mobile surfing are anticipated to boost the demand for network management software across the world, states the research report.This statistical surveying research study presents an all-inclusive evaluation of the worldwide market for Social Media Platform, taking various industry parameters, such as the capacity of production, product pricing, demand, supply, and sales dynamics, returns on investments, and the growth rate of the overall market into consideration.The prime objective of this research report is to provide a deep insight into the global market for Social Media Platform to the key market participants and assist them in making rewarding strategies to gain an edge over competitors.Table of ContentsGlobal Social Media Platform Market Research ReportChapter 1 Global Social Media Platform Market OverviewChapter 2 Global Economic Impact on IndustryChapter 3 Global Market Competition by ManufacturersChapter 4 Global Production, Revenue (Value) by RegionChapter 5 Global Supply (Production), Consumption, ExportChapter 6 Production, Revenue (Value), Price Trend by TypeChapter 7 Market Analysis by ApplicationChapter 8 Manufacturing Cost AnalysisChapter 9 Industrial Chain, Sourcing Strategy and Downstream BuyersChapter 10 Marketing Strategy Analysis, Distributors/TradersChapter 11 Market Effect Factors AnalysisChapter 12 Market ForecastAbout Research N Reports:Research N Reports is a new age market research firm where we focus on providing information that can be effectively applied. Today being a consumer driven market, companies require information to deal with the complex and dynamic world of choices. Where relying on a sound board firm for your decisions becomes crucial. Research N Reports specializes in industry analysis, market forecasts and as a result getting quality reports covering all verticals, whether be it gaining perspective on current market conditions or being ahead in the cut throat Global competition. Since we excel at business research to help businesses grow, we also offer consulting as an extended arm to our services which only helps us gain more insight into current trends and problems. Consequently, we keep evolving as an all-rounder provider of viable information under one roof.Contact:Sunny Denis(Sales Manager),(Research N Reports)10916, Gold Point Dr,Houston, TX, Pin  77064,+1-8886316977,sales@researchnreports.com,
Future outlook of IoT In Warehouse Management Market Growth with Trends, Analysis by Regions, Type, Application, Market Drivers, and Top Key Players like IBM Corporation, Zebra Technologies, Software AG, Tecsys

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Telematics plays a major role in developing innovative solutions for fleet management. The increasing use of fleet management services by transport operators is anticipated to propel the telematics market demand. The adoption of telematics systems is expected to aid companies in reducing their fuel expenses and number of empty of runs.Get Sample Copy of this Report@:This new market research report gives an in-depth idea about the global IoT In Warehouse Management market. It highlights the recent market scenario, growth in the past few years, and opportunities present for manufacturers in the future. In this research for the completion of both primary and secondary details, methods and tools are used. Also, investments instigated by organizations, government, non-government bodies, and institutions are projected in details for better understanding about the market.The growing automation in warehouse is changing the traditional industry operations, enabling companies to maximize their throughput. Order accuracy can beachieved through automated Materials Handling (MH) equipment, robotics applications, and high-speed conveyor systems.Top Companies Profiled in this Report includes, IBM Corporation (U.S.), Zebra Technologies (U.S.), Software AG (Germany), Tecsys Inc. (U.S.)After studying key companies, the report focuses on the startups contributing towards the growth of the market. Possible mergers and acquisitions among the startups and key organizations are identified by the report's authors in the study. As leading companies take efforts to maintain their dominance in the global IoT In Warehouse Management market, the right way to do so is by adopting new technologies and strategies. The report highlights major technological developments and changing trends adopted by key companies over a period of time. For a stronger and more stable business outlook, the report on the global market carries key projections that can be practically studied.Get Reasonable Discount on this Premium Report @:This report on global IoT In Warehouse Management market is a detailed research study that helps provides answers and pertinent questions with respect to the emerging trends and growth opportunities in this particular industry. It helps identify each of the prominent barriers to growth, apart from identifying the trends within various application segments of the global market for IoT In Warehouse Management. Collecting historical and recent data from various authentic resources, and depending on all the factors and trends, the report presents a figurative estimate of the future market condition, along with compound annual growth rate (CAGR).Table of ContentsGlobal IoT In Warehouse Management Market Research ReportChapter 1 IoT In Warehouse Management Market OverviewChapter 2 Global Economic Impact on IndustryChapter 3 Global Market Competition by ManufacturersChapter 4 Global Production, Revenue (Value) by RegionChapter 5 Global Supply (Production), Consumption, Export, Import by RegionsChapter 6 Global Production, Revenue (Value), Price Trend by TypeChapter 7 Global Market Analysis by ApplicationChapter 8 Manufacturing Cost AnalysisChapter 9 Industrial Chain, Sourcing Strategy and Downstream BuyersChapter 10 Marketing Strategy Analysis, Distributors/TradersChapter 11 Market Effect Factors AnalysisChapter 12 Global IoT In Warehouse Management Market ForecastFor More Information:If you have any special requirements, please let us know and we will offer you the report as you want.About Research N Reports:Research N Reports is a new age market research firm where we focus on providing information that can be effectively applied. Today being a consumer driven market, companies require information to deal with the complex and dynamic world of choices. Where relying on a sound board firm for your decisions becomes crucial. Research N Reports specializes in industry analysis, market forecasts and as a result getting quality reports covering all verticals, whether be it gaining perspective on current market conditions or being ahead in the cut throat Europe competition. Since we excel at business research to help businesses grow, we also offer consulting as an extended arm to our services which only helps us gain more insight into current trends and problems. Consequently we keep evolving as an all-rounder provider of viable information under one roof.Contact:Sunny Denis(Sales Manager),(Research N Reports)10916, Gold Point Dr,Houston, TX, Pin  77064,sales@researchnreports.com,
The good news in the heated race to fill longtime Portland City Commissioner Dan Saltzman's seat is no matter which candidate wins, Portland will finally have an African American woman on the council.

It's an historic achievement that is long overdue, and Jo Ann Hardesty is the committed community leader best suited to take on the role.

Hardesty, 61, came into the race strong after winning more than 40 percent of the vote in the May primary, followed by Multnomah County Commissioner Loretta Smith with 23 percent. Yet last month, Oregon Public Broadcasting uncovered troubling information about Hardesty's management skills and her failure to report income to the IRS.

Despite the concerning information, Hardesty remains the best candidate for the job. The Northeast Portland resident has worked for years to further various social justice, youth, health and criminal justice causes. She's served on numerous task forces and school committees, and nonprofit and community organization boards. And she has solid public policy experience, having been elected three times to Oregon's House of Representatives.

Portlanders need that breadth of knowledge as the council seeks to balance safety and livability concerns of both residents and business owners. City leaders have struggled to humanely address Portland's homeless crisis, which is made worse by a lack of mental health and addiction services or affordable housing. Portland needs a transportation overhaul that goes beyond electrified scooters, and a public safety solution that will more consistently help our citizens feel safe.

Hardesty brings valuable insight into these issues. But she can only help solve them by transitioning from an issue-oriented activist into a leader who considers the broader base of constituents with varied values and needs. She says she appreciates deep data, trends and audit reports. Hopefully her work will be guided and balanced by such analyses, even when they counter more populist policies that her core supporters may embrace.

In setting down her megaphone and moving back to the other side of the dais, we hope for Hardesty to truly listen to those who come before her with opposing views. There will be many. Her scoffing reaction, peppered with eye rolls and chortles, during our joint conversation with Hardesty and Smith fell flat.

Hopefully that will end with the campaign.

Indeed, Smith has been a formidable opponent who has lobbed her own barbs throughout. The commissioner, who has been dogged by leadership and accounting controversies of her own, has pushed steadily forward over the past five months. She has wisely responded to citizens' livability concerns with calls to expand the police force, subsidize more private affordable housing construction on unused land and open the Wapato Jail as a shelter.

And as Smith gained strength, Hardesty stumbled. Last month, Oregon Public Broadcasting reported a number of serious accounting issues during Hardesty's time in a volunteer role leading the Portland NAACP. The issues are concerning, especially considering that the winner of this race will assume management of Saltzman's three bureaus and their combined budgets totaling more than $300 million.

As OPB reported, Hardesty failed to file key reports with state and federal agencies, most notably the $13,000 she was paid by the nonprofit. To her credit, Hardesty provided the reporter with requested documents, sat down for two interviews and admitted her mistakes. While her explanation for the sloppy accounting was lame, Hardesty has promised to correct the errors and update tax filings that she said were complicated by her divorce.

The reporting shows a hole in Hardesty's organizational skills that she must address in her new role.

Our bigger concern was a pattern of behavior Smith showed during her time on the county board. In her two terms, Smith cycled through eight chiefs of staff in eight years. Employees complained about her rude comments and name calling, some centered on people's appearance, race or religion. Smith denied the allegations and demanded an investigation. When the county commissioned one, Smith threatened to sue.

Once the investigation was complete, Smith falsely claimed that it cleared her name. Only during this campaign cycle has she admitted that others may have misinterpreted "her passion."

Smith, who worked for two decades as a staffer for U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, is skilled at securing federal grants. And her creation of a successful summer job program has truly benefited multitudes of county youth. Yet she lacks a track record of collaboration on the commission that we feel will be necessary on Portland City Council.

Hardesty has spent decades in Portland and in Salem working side by side with neighbors, church leaders, community members and lawmakers to address some our most pressing problems. We need Hardesty's experience -- coupled with respect and reason - to tackle these core issues that threaten to further divide our city.

-- Laura Gunderson 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,

or a

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If you have questions about the opinion section,

, editorial pages editor, or call 503-221-8378.
The many needs in Portland far outstrip the money the city has to invest in solutions. So it's not surprising that advocacy groups would develop Measure 26-201, a Portland ballot measure that aims to impose a gross receipts tax on big businesses to fund clean-energy initiatives and job-training for low-income Portlanders and communities of color.

But in evaluating any new tax proposal, Portlanders should consider whether it's well-structured, minimizes negative impacts and if it's a top priority for which the local government should create a new tax. Unfortunately, on all these fronts, Measure 26-201 fails the test. Portlanders should vote no.

First, there's the question of how well it's structured. The measure calls for imposing a 1 percent tax on the Portland sales of companies that ring up more than $500,000 in revenue in Portland and more than $1 billion nationally. Groceries, medicine, health care services would be exempt but other "retail" operations such as banks would not be.

But, like other ballot measures that attempt to tackle tax policy, the measure is so vague that no one really knows how many and which companies will be affected. In evaluating an earlier version of the proposal, the city revenue bureau said the tax could affect anywhere from about 115 companies to more than 700. A report by ECONorthwest, which was commissioned by opponents, estimates the tax could raise between $43 million and $79 million a year. And the definition of "retail" is so unspecific, that companies aren't even sure whether they would be included or not. (As a matter of disclosure: It is not presently known whether the Oregonian Media Group, which runs The Oregonian/OregonLive and is owned by Advance Local Media, would be subject to the tax.)

Second, this tax will hit Portlanders, and low-income residents will likely feel it the most. Proponents dismiss the idea that national companies would bother to change pricing in stores or otherwise seek to pass the tax on to consumers. Economists and the city's revenue bureau, however, tell us differently, warning that some, if not all, of the burden will likely be passed down to consumers.

Even if Portlanders don't trust economists or the city, they should look to their own common sense. Consider banks, which are explicitly included as companies that will have to pay this tax. Banks excel at creating, imposing and collecting a wide range of fees on individual customers. Why would voters believe that banks would refrain from passing on that tax burden to its Portland customers?

And finally, if Portlanders bless the creation of a new tax in the city, is this the right priority, especially as the state looks to similarly address this need?

The backers are right to highlight the importance of climate change, as well as its disproportionate impact on low-income residents and communities of color. But state lawmakers are also looking at creating "clean energy jobs" legislation that takes aim at many of the same goals. The Legislature - not a ballot measure - is the appropriate place to work out the complicated interests and impacts of such a policy.

In addition, the state already collects money from Oregonians for energy retrofits and other programs administered by the Energy Trust of Oregon. It would be far more efficient to revise the agency's focus to ensure low-income homeowners or renters benefit from those dollars rather than create a tax that will cost all Portlanders even more.

Politically, the measure is brilliant. It draws on Portlanders' frustration with the state's flawed corporate-tax system, combines it with Portlanders' concern for climate change and seals the deal with a promise to use the proceeds to help those left behind amid the region's recovery. Those are laudable goals that deserve more attention.

But economically and pragmatically, those battles are best waged by the state. As much as the measure may speak to Portlanders' hearts, they should vote "no" and place their faith on a statewide solution.

- 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.
Measure 26-200, which seeks to impose limits on campaign contributions in Portland city elections, is all about the long game.

The measure would bar companies and unions from donating to candidates, limit individual or political committee donations to $500 for candidates and levy other restrictions on spending. And yet those key parts of the proposal aren't even constitutional under Oregon Supreme Court and U.S. Supreme Court decisions. A similar measure passed by Multnomah County voters has already been partially invalidated by a Multnomah County court and is on appeal.

But the measure is part of a larger strategy unfolding on multiple fronts. The proponents hope that legal challenges eventually lead to the Oregon Supreme Court overturning the decades-old ruling that bars limits on campaign contributions. They aim to put a constitutional amendment on the 2020 ballot to specifically allow for contribution limits. And they hope that approval of the measure will persuade candidates to voluntarily abide by campaign limits. Portland voters should support the effort and vote "yes" for the measure.

As it is now, wealthy individuals, labor unions and corporations are the driving forces behind state, county and local elections, drowning out the smaller contributions from average Oregonians. But proponents argue that a vote for the measure will help show public support for campaign finance reform, perhaps persuading some candidates to adopt the limits in their own campaigns. In addition, the measure includes disclosure provisions that don't face the same legal hurdles as the campaign limits. The proposal requires candidates to list their five largest contributors of donations exceeding $500 on political ads, a step toward greater transparency in a process that has too little of it.

The measure, which would amend the city charter, isn't perfect. It gives the responsibility of administering the program to the City Auditor's office. It would likely be a better fit in the office developing the city's publicly-funded elections program. But it plants the flag of campaign finance as an issue that voters want to see in Oregon. That's a message that both political parties should hear.

- 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.
Photo: Telus

Telus Corp. is donating $120 million to launch a foundation that helps vulnerable youth.

Telus president Darren Entwistle says the foundation will give grassroots charities grants that can be used to help youth build digital literacy skills, provide basic health care and mental health support to the homeless, and open up educational opportunities.

The Telus Friendly Future Foundation complements other social initiatives by the company, including Mobility for Good, which offers a free cellphone and data plan to youth aging out of foster care in B.C., Ontario, and Quebec.

It also has a program that gives nearly 30,000 low-income families in B.C. and Alberta access to a computer and low-cost, high-speed internet.

And another initiative sends mobile health clinics to communities where front-line care is urgently needed.

Entwistle says in the last two decades, the company, its team members and retirees have contributed more than $1 billion in financial support and volunteer hours but there is more to be done.
Just three of the more than 120 immigrants who were detained at the federal prison in Sheridan in late May remain in custody.

Eighty of the men successfully demonstrated that they had fled their home countries due to a credible fear of persecution, said Stephen W. Manning, executive director of the Innovation Lab, a nonprofit law group that represented them.

That halted removal proceedings and made the civil detainees eligible for release with hearings before an immigration judge, Manning said.

The three who remain in custody await removal hearings, according to court records filed Friday. Others either agreed to voluntarily return to their countries or secured private lawyers.

On May 31, the government sent 124 men from 16 different countries to Sheridan after other holding facilities became overloaded because of the Trump administration's zero tolerance policy against people entering the country illegally. They had been apprehended at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Soon after, the law lab sued the government, challenging the conditions of the immigrants' confinement and their inability to access lawyers. A federal judge granted a preliminary injunction in July, and ordered the government to allow regular visits with attorneys.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security now says the government has met the law lab's demands, providing the men access to phones, lawyers and visits with legal counsel. The agency wants the law lab's lawsuit and preliminary injunction dismissed.

"Plaintiffs' claims in their complaint have been satisfied and are moot,'' wrote Ubaid ul-Haq, a trial attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice.

The law lab responded that Homeland Security and the federal Bureau of Prisons could return to past practices without safeguards in place, pointing to their attempts as recently as last week to transfer some of the detainees from Sheridan to a detention center in Tacoma.

The court's preliminary injunction barred such transfers without the consent of the men's lawyers.

"Transfers can make it really difficult to represent someone, and would cause a delay in people getting released,'' said Victoria Bejarano Muirhead, development director for the Innovation Law Lab.

Nadia H. Dahab, another attorney for the men, cited a recent ruling by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to bolster their argument that the lawsuit isn't moot.

Dahab pointed to a civil case in Portland brought by Yonas Fikre, who challenged the constitutionality of the government's no-fly list, even though the government told him that he'd been removed from the list as the case was pending.

The appeals court ruled that Fikre's removal from the list didn't "completely and irrevocably eradicate the effects of the alleged violation(s).''

"Fikre compels the same conclusion here,'' Dahab wrote to the court, "where the actions defendants have taken are tethered only to this court's orders, not to any particular explanation or verifiable change in agency policy.''

Muirhead said the lab's staff mobilized once they learned of the immigrants behind bars.

"It was an incredible amount of work,'' she said. "Ever since we got the call about immigrants in prison, our staff worked every day consecutively for two months.''

The lab set up two 20-person volunteer teams to help translate documents, conduct investigations of each detainee's history and help prepare for their release.

Since June 25, the lab provided "Know Your Rights'' orientations to 144 immigrant men in nine languages, held 419 legal conferences with clients and attended about 130 hearings before the Portland immigration court, according to court records.

Nearly 200 community members, volunteers and interpreters also created a post-detention Respite Network in Salem, Newberg, Portland and Vancouver, with churches and mosques offering food, shelter and travel assistance to newly freed immigrants.

-- Maxine Bernstein

mbernstein@oregonian.com

503-221-8212

@maxoregonian
The Multnomah County Health Department is advising residents to avoid burning wood as air quality across the region has dipped due to trapped pollutants in the stagnant air.

The agency issued a code yellow advisory Saturday that continues into Sunday. If necessary, Multnomah County residents are asked to only burn dry, seasoned wood that's been split, stacked, covered and stored.

The advisory doesn't apply to cooking.

The health department also said wood should be tested with a moisture meter to ensure the wood contains 20 percent moisture or less. Officials also advise using gas or wood stoves certified by the Department of Environmental Quality or Environmental Protection Agency.

Air quality levels across much of Oregon and Washington are currently listed as moderate by AirNow.gov, which pulls data from the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality and the Washington Department of Ecology.

This means folks who are unusually sensitive to particle pollution should consider reducing outdoor activities. But it's not as severe as the "Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups" or "Unhealthy" designations, which dominated stretches of August as wildfires raged across the region.

--Eder Campuzano | 503.221.4344

ecampuzano@oregonian.com
Springfield police on Friday said they've been told of two cougar sightings near a park west of the McKenzie River.

The sightings took place on Wayside Loop, a street circling Robin Park in a densely populated neighborhood, at 7:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m., the agency said. Police said a lone cougar was seen in both instances.

These are the third and fourth such sightings of the big cats in or near the Lane County city this month.

On Oct. 2, a man told police his dog alerted him to a cougar sitting in the bed of his pickup truck. The next day, the presence of a big cat was reported in a large field between Mt. Vernon Elementary School and the Relief Nursery Robin Jacqua Child and Family Center.

Back in July, teenagers told police they saw a cougar try to scale a fence as they swam in a backyard pool. Police shot and killed that animal after tracking it with the help of a hound.

And in May, police said a juvenile cougar was seen near "populated areas and schools." Several cougar sightings were also reported in the Portland metro area in the following months, while a woman in Ashland reported using telepathy to run one of the full-sized felines out of her living room in July.

Police urged Springfield residents to report cougar sightings Friday and issued a notification to the neighborhood around Robin Park.

"Predatory cats can be attracted to the sounds of children at play and police are again renewing their warning for parents and play area supervisors to be vigilant to the presence of cougars in the area and to report cougar sightings," the agency said in a release.

Cougar sightings in Springfield have not been followed by reports of injuries or death. But at least two deaths in the Pacific Northwest this year have been attributed to the big cats.

A hiker near Mount Hood was killed by a cougar, as was a cyclist in Washington.

--Eder Campuzano | 503.221.4344

ecampuzano@oregonian.com
When Antoinette Riley was arraigned Friday on charges that she carried a loaded gun into the cafeteria of Jason Lee Elementary School, the mother of a child who goes to the school was watching from the courtroom gallery.

Jenny Stine said she knows Riley looked over and recognized her. Stine wanted Riley to know that what shes accused of doing is a big deal for the entire school community.

Stine's 10-year-old daughter wasn't one of at least 50 students in the cafeteria when the gun suddenly went off during an after-school program Oct. 4, but she was in the building.

My rose-colored glasses have been taken off, Stine said. This is not some stranger who just came in. It was a parent. It was someone whos allowed to be in the school. Its shaken me up.

It also rattled her daughter, who was bawling when Stine arrived to pick her up that afternoon, she said.

I hugged her, Stine said.

Her daughter told her that although she was in another room of the school, she later saw the bullets damage to the table and bench.

Antoinette Riley charged after gun goes off in school cafeteria, police say 4 Gallery: Antoinette Riley charged after gun goes off in school cafeteria, police say

Riley pleaded not guilty to an indictment that accuses her of possession of a firearm in a public building, unlawful possession of a firearm and possession of a loaded firearm in public.

Oregon law allows adults, including parents or teachers, to bring guns into schools -- but not without a concealed weapons permit. Based on the charges against Riley, she apparently didnt have one.

Riley has declined to comment to The Oregonian/OregonLive on several occasions, including after Friday's arraignment. Her attorney, Jason Steen, didnt attend the hearing. He couldnt be reached for comment.

But in a probable cause affidavit, police say Riley was at the school to pick up her children and she had been sitting at the table and bench where the bullet struck. The manager of the after-school program said Riley had the gun in her bag.

The affidavit says Riley immediately left the cafeteria but police who tracked her down found a bullet hole in the fabric of her bag and Riley said shed been shot in the buttocks.

Police werent able to recover the gun.

Riley was booked into Multnomah County jail and released later that night.

On Oct. 5, KPTV reported that Riley told the TV station she didnt bring a gun to the school and police arrested the wrong person.

I did not do it. I didnt do it, KPTV reported Riley as saying. Why would I harm a student? Or even harm anybody at all? My kids, they literally go to school there, so Im just like, this is stupid.

Court papers state Riley, a mother of five, lives near the school. It's at 2222 N.E. 92nd Ave.

Jason Lee Elementarys assistant principal, Blake Robertson, sent a letter home the evening of the shooting.

This is an alarming incident and we are thankful that no one was hurt, Robertson wrote. Keeping our students safe is a responsibility we take very seriously. ...We are working to ensure we have counselors and other support staff at school in the morning to provide assistance to students and staff.

Stine, the mother who showed up at the Multnomah County Circuit Court arraignment, wore a Jason Lee Elementary T-shirt to show her school pride. She said shes talked to other parents about how they all dont want this one event to define the school.

We have such a great community at Jason Lee, Stine said. It doesnt represent our school community.

Riley's trial date has not yet been set.

-- Aimee Green
A man was shot twice in a shootout with Portland police and Clackamas County deputies during a chase that began late Friday near a Fred Meyer as officers saw two people sitting in a car reported stolen.

The man is expected to survive, authorities said Saturday. They didn't identify him or say who shot him. Police didn't say how many shots officers and the suspect fired or what kind of gun the man had.

A Portland officer was also injured when a Clackamas County police dog bit him during the chase, the agencies said.

The confrontation started when Clackamas deputies saw two people in the stolen car near the Fred Meyer at Johnson Creek Boulevard and 82nd Avenue in Happy Valley. The car sped off as deputies approached, and they gave chase.

Portland police joined the chase when the cars crossed into city limits, said police spokesman Sgt. Pete Simpson.

The stolen car crashed at Southeast 89th Avenue and Gray Street. The man, who was driving, fled on foot. The passenger, a woman, remained in her seat.

Both Portland police and Clackamas deputies brought police dogs to help find the man.

A few blocks from the crash, officers from both agencies exchanged fire with the man near Southeast 89th Avenue and Harney Street. He was hit twice, said Clackamas County Sheriff's Sgt. Brian Jensen.

Jensen didn't say where the man was shot but noted the wounds weren't life-threatening. No officer was shot, but the Portland officer who was bitten was also treated at a hospital. Jensen did not describe the officer's wounds.

The incident was the third officer-involved shooting in city limits since late September.

On Sept. 30, Portland police shot and killed a man in downtown Portland while responding to a shootout that left two other men wounded. And on Oct. 11, Portland police shot and killed a man in Southeast Portland who had taken a woman hostage in a motel.

--Eder Campuzano | 503.221.4344

ecampuzano@oregonian.com
The city of West Linn will pay $120,000 in lost wages to the police officer fired last year for publishing racist posts on Facebook after losing an appeal against the award earlier this month.

In a news release, City Manager Eileen Stein said nobody involved in the original investigation of now-former West Linn police officer Tom Newberry's social media activity remains at the agency.

"It is now time to bring this matter to a close," she wrote.

An arbitrator ordered the city to pay Newberry at least $100,000 in August. Attorney Eric Lindauer said that although the police department was justified in firing the former officer, his behavior was known among the agency yet action wasn't taken until local media began reporting on the posts.

Many of Newberry's comments on Facebook endorsed violence against the Black Lives Matter movement and other progressive activists. When students at Portland State University staged a "die-in" to block traffic, Newberry shared an article about the protest and said, "Where's a pissed off redneck in a Kenworth when you need one?"

At various points, he also referred to African Americans and Black Lives Matter supporters as "ghetto rats," "cockroaches" and "morons," among other insults.

Newberry was employed by the West Linn Police Department for at least seven years and worked for the Portland Police Bureau before that.

He was fired in February 2017. West Linn police officials reviewed 131 posts Newberry published, which they said showed racial bias against African Americans and other minority groups. The Clackamas County Peace Officers' Association, a police union, filed an appeal the following month.

In August of 2018, Lindauer reviewed the same social media posts to make his decision and ruled the City of West Linn owed Newberry 17 months of back pay. Newberry earned an annual salary of $82,840 while he was employed by the police department.

The city pushed back against the ruling, saying the paying of back wages wasn't one of the discussed outcomes of Lindauer's review of the case.

--Eder Campuzano | 503.221.4344

ecampuzano@oregonian.com
A jam-packed room in the MCTV studios at the Grace A. Dow Memorial Library witnessed a forum between the two candidates for the 98th State House District. Republican Annette Glenn and Democrat Sarah Schulz answered questions Tuesday brought forth by the League of Women Voters of the Midland Area. Below are Schulz's answers.

The 98th District seat represents the city of Midland, six townships in Midland County, and seven townships in Bay County. Election day is Nov. 6.

Biography

Schulz has spent her entire career working in the non-profit sector.

"I have always worked in organizations that give voice to those who are voiceless and power to those who are powerless," she said.

Currently, she is the vice president of human resources for one of the largest education-based non-profits in the country, which employs more than 5,000 people in 28 urban locations. Schulz manages a budget of more than $100 million.

"I'm a local mom who has children in Midland Public Schools. I'm also the the wife of a teacher in Bay County and the daughter, granddaughter and great-granddaughter of UAW auto workers," she added.

Schulz stated she would bring a bi-partisan approach to Lansing.

"My specialty is bringing people together from different perspectives to solve problems and I know these skills will benefit me well in Lansing," she said.

Born in Flint and raised in mid-Michigan, Schulz earned a bachelor's degree in political science from Michigan State University and a master's degree in human resources and labor relations, also from MSU.

She has been endorsed by the Michigan Education Association and is a founding member of Women of Michigan Action Network (WOMAN).

Biggest concerns

"Education, good jobs and health care."

Schulz also shared concerns about auto insurance and third grade literacy. But, believes that the education problem is much greater than just third grade reading.

"Michigan is last on every measure of education when you compare other Midwestern states," she said. "I think that education is a multi-faceted problem that we need to solve by speaking with the educators that are on the front lines."

Pre-K to grade 12

Both candidates would like to see revenues from the Michigan School Aid Fund be devoted entirely to K-12 instead of being diverted to higher education.

Schulz's reply centered around the word "equitable." She compared the fact that Midland Public students receive a laptop their first week of school. But, in the Bay County school district where her husband works, Schulz stated "they have one set of classroom laptops for the whole set of kids at the school. ..."

Calling for-profit charter schools an "absolute conflict of interest," Schulz would work to close those schools.

"Nobody should become wealthy from funding that should go to public schools," she said. "I think we need to hold the rest of the charter schools accountable to the same standards as public schools."

Funding public/private education

"I am not in favor of diverting tax dollars to fund private schools, especially for-profit schools," Schulz said. "Focusing first on strong public schools with strong teachers should be our first priority."

Health care priorities

Stating that health care is one of the main issues we need to resolve in our state and country, Schulz is a "huge supporter of women's health."

"We have to put some real effort into solving (the health care problem) in a bipartisan way," she said. "The cost of health care in the U.S. Is out of control."

Proposal 1 - Recreational marijuana

"It is probably going to pass. We should be spending our time and energy figuring out those questions when it passes, like: How do we handle drugged driving? How do we handle employers concerns? How do we handle people who are in prison right now?

Proposal 2 - Redistricting

"I'm a strong supporter of Proposal 2. Michigan has some of the most gerrymandered districts in our country and we end up with more polarization."

Proposal 3 - Voters' rights

"I am in strong favor of Proposal 3."

For more information on Schulz's candidacy, visit: www.sarah4mi.org

The League of Women Voters of the Midland Area can be found at: www.lwv-midland.org/
Photo: The Canadian Press A photograph of Lise Payette is shown during a memorial service in her honour at City Hall in Montreal, Saturday, October 20, 2018.

Mourners will gather to remember former Parti Quebecois cabinet minister Lise Payette at a ceremony in Montreal today.

Quebec Premier Francois Legault is among those expected to attend an official memorial organized by the Quebec government.

It is set to begin at 3 p.m.

The public is also invited to pay their respects by signing a book of condolences at City Hall.

The Quebec feminist, author, journalist, politician and television personality died in September at the age of 87.

There will be no religious element to today's service in accordance with Payette's wishes.
EDITOR'S NOTE  OWI means operating while intoxicated. DWLS means driving while license suspended. (MC) is for Judge Michael D. Carpenter. (L) is for Magistrate Gerald Ladwig. (B) is for Circuit Judge Michael J. Beale. (SC) is for Circuit Judge Stephen P. Carras. Sentences may vary based on previous offenses committed by the defendant. Some sentencings include other fees imposed by the state. Compiled by reporter John Kennett.

Breckenridge

Kelly Lee Smith, 20, malicious destruction of property-less than $200 on May 15, 93 days in jail with credit for 63 days, $255 restitution. (MC)

Coleman

Troy Devan Cichosz, 57, DWLS and alcohol-open container in vehicle on Sept. 10, $600 in fines and costs. (MC)

Chad Allen Konopnicki, 46, domestic violence-1st offense on May 6, $975 fines and costs, nine months of probation, pay all program fees, counseling as directed, not to be involved in any assaulting, threatening, intimidating, violent aggressive, disorderly or abusive behavior towards any person, may not use/possess alcohol or illegal controlled substances and subject to random drug/alcohol screening. (MC)

Benjamen Lee Loar, 44, operating a vehicle while impaired on April 9, 93 days in jail with credit for zero days, $775 fines and costs, six months probation, pay all program fees, counseling as directed, may not use/possess alcohol or illegal controlled substances, subject to random drug/alcohol screening and may not enter bars. (MC)

Detroit

Charles Edward Moultrie, 23, failure to maintain secure distance on Aug. 29, $400 fines and costs. (MC)

Flint

Johnathan William Dagan, 27, operating a vehicle while intoxicated, DWLS on June 3, 30 days in jail with credit for one day, must turn in all SoberLink equipment. (MC)

Freeland

Ashle Marie Ecker, 21, operating a vehicle while impaired on July 14, 93 days in jail with credit for one day, $600 fines and costs, nine months of probation, 40 hours of community service, pay all program fees, counseling as directed, may not use/possess alcohol or illegal controlled substances, subject to random drug/alcohol screening and may not enter bars. (MC)

Gladwin

Zachary Mathew Schulz, 26, domestic violence on July 23, 15 days in jail with credit for one day. (MC)

Anthony David Strong, 40, allowing DWLS on Aug. 10, two days in jail with credit for two days. (MC)

Hope

Barbara Jean Huckins, 55, retail fraud-3rd degree on May 29, $500 in fines and costs, restitution of $21.90, six months probation, pay all program fees and counseling as directed. (MC)

Daniel Joseph Snear, 26, attempted assaulting/resisting/obstructing a police officer on Sept. 19, 2012, $500 fines and costs, 50 days in jail with credit for 50 days. (SC)

Lapeer

Heather Mildred Gray, 31, attempted retail fraud-3rd degree on Aug. 4, 93 days in jail with credit for one day, $550 in fines and costs, three months probation, pay all program fees, counseling as directed, may not use/possess alcohol or illegal controlled substances and subject to random drug/alcohol screening and may not enter bars. (MC)

Midland

Karen Ann Barnt, 26, East St. Andrews Road, operating a vehicle while intoxicated on April 15, $600 in fines and costs and must be fingerprinted within seven days. (MC)

Cortez Jamall Beaver, 26, Abbott Road, disorderly conduct on Sept. 7, $300 in fines and costs. (MC)

Karen Blamoun, 46, allowing DWLS on May 25, $450 fines and costs. (MC)

Paula Marie Brown, 50, disorderly person-jostling on March 3, two days in jail, $200 fines and costs, (MC)

Levi Anthony Dykstra, 23, Eastlawn Drive, unlawful use of license plate on Sept. 18, $225 in fines and costs. (MC)

Jessica Leigh Eastman, 26, West Isabella Road, retail fraud-3rd degree, 30 days in jail with credit for 30 days, $200 in fines and costs. (MC)

Jeremy Gaylord Faylor, 30, Bay City Road, disorderly conduct on Sept. 7, $300 in fines and costs. (MC)

Paul Edward Gillette, 40, Eastlawn Drive, no proof of insurance on Sept. 24, $210 in costs. (MC)

Kimberly Anne Hospodar, 50, Jay Street, allowing DWLS on July 25, $250 in fines and costs. (MC)

Amanda Kay Kloha, 31, Jefferson Avenue, allowing DWLS on Sept. 24. (MC)

Ricky Leroy Laughton, 44, Sturgeon Road, disorderly person-jostling on June 24, $200 in fines and costs, 30 days in jail with credit for one day. All but 10 days suspended. (MC)

Jenny Marie Maier, 47, Bay City Road, drunk and disorderly on Sept. 16, 90 days in jail with credit for two days, $300 in fines and costs. (MC)

Jordan Marie Middleton, 21, Frantz Drive, failure to stop or identify after accident on July 29, $100 in fines. (MC)

Joshua James Peplinski, 26, Swede Avenue, DWLS on July 26, and operating a vehicle while intoxicated and use of a controlled substance on Aug. 4, 93 days in jail with credit for six days, submit to AIDS/hepatitis testing in accordance with the law, may do work release. (MC)

Timothy Brian Sasse, 54, East Harry Lane, malicious destruction of property over $200 but under $1,000 and driving recklessly on Jan. 11 and domestic violence-2nd offense on May 12, one year in jail with credit for 16 days, $125 in fines and costs. (MC)

Andre Raphael Till, 28, Hedgewood Drive, domestic violence-2nd offense on Aug. 24, 32 days in jail with credit for four days. (MC)

Rodney Richard Turrell, 53, South Kellogg Drive, DWLS-2nd offense on June 21, 30 days in jail with credit for one day. (MC)

Mount Pleasant

Ryan James Kendall, 23, failure to report accident on July 26, $200 in fines and costs. (MC)

Angela Rose Nieto, 25, failure to stop after collision on Dec. 21, 2017, 13 days in jail with credit for 13 days, restitution of $6,238.62 to insurance company and $519.40 to victim. (MC)

Saginaw

Christopher Alan Lorenz, 29, DWLS on Nov. 1, 2017, 14 days in jail with credit of 14 days, $375 fines and costs. (MC)

Eddie Lee Randle, 49, allowing DWLS on Oct. 27, 2017. $250 fines and costs. (MC)

Sanford

Christian Alexander Johnson, 21, possession of marijuana on May 17, one year in jail with credit for one day, $200 in fines and costs, 18 months of probation, license suspended for one year, pay all program fees, counseling as directed, may not use/possess alcohol or illegal controlled substances, subject to random drug/alcohol screening and may not enter bars. (MC)

Kyle Lee Kenyon, 33, DWLS, failure to stop after accident on June 27, restitution of $3,533.18 to victim. (MC)

Thomas Charles Pnacek II, 36, no proof of insurance on Aug. 13, $210 in costs. (MC)

Traverse City

Jacob Marek Redmond, 23, allowing DWLS on Sept. 23, $250 in fines and costs. (MC)Breckenridge

Kelly Lee Smith, 20, malicious destruction of property-less than $200 on May 15, 93 days in jail with credit for 63 days, $255 restitution. (MC)
Photo: The Canadian Press The entrance to the Belgrade Forest on the outskirts of Istanbul, Saturday, Oct. 20, 2018. A Turkish official told AP that investigators are looking into the possibility that KhashoggiAos remains may have been taken outside Istanbul.

Turkey will "never allow a coverup" of the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Saudi Arabia's consulate in Istanbul, a senior official in Turkey's ruling party said Saturday, reflecting international skepticism over the Saudi account that the writer died during a "fistfight."

The comment was one of many critical reactions to the Saudi Arabia's announcement of the writer's violent death, indicating the kingdom's efforts to defuse a scandal that has gripped the world were falling short. U.S. President Donald Trump, however, was an exception. Asked whether he thought the Saudi explanation was credible, he replied: "I do. I do."

Despite widespread outrage over the killing of the columnist for The Washington Post, it is unclear to what extent the top leadership of Saudi Arabia, a key U.S. ally and a powerful player in a volatile region, would be held accountable for what human rights activists describe as an extrajudicial killing by Saudi agents.

The only way to find out what happened would be through an international investigation led by a U.N.-appointed panel, the editorial board of The Washington Post said.

Saudi Arabia's "latest version asks us to believe that Mr. Khashoggi died after becoming engaged in a "brawl" with officials who had been sent to meet him. His body, Saudi officials told several journalists, was handed over to a "local collaborator" for disposal," it said, while also criticizing Trump for allegedly trying to help top Saudi leaders escape "meaningful accountability."

Saudi Arabia said 18 Saudi suspects were in custody and intelligence officials had been fired. But critics believe the complex scheme that led to Khashoggi's death could not have occurred without the knowledge of Mohammed bin Salman, the 33-year-old crown prince whose early promises of sweeping reform are being eclipsed by concerns that he is an impulsive, even sinister figure.

The Saudi narrative of Khashoggi's death, alleged to have occurred in a brawl following discussions with visiting officials in the consulate, contrasts with Turkish pro-government media reports that a Saudi hit squad, including an autopsy expert, travelled to Istanbul to kill Khashoggi and dispose of his body, which has not yet been found.

"It's not possible for the Saudi administration to wiggle itself out of this crime if it's confirmed," said Numan Kurtulmus, deputy head of Turkey's Justice and Development Party. He also said Turkey would share its evidence of Khashoggi's killing with the world and that a "conclusive result" of the investigation is close.

Another Turkish ruling party official also criticized Saudi Arabia, saying the kingdom should have given its explanation "before the situation reached this point."

The official, Leyla Sahin Usta, said it would have been "more valuable" if Saudi officials had earlier admitted that Khashoggi was killed in its diplomatic post.

Saudi Arabia initially denied any knowledge of the disappearance of Khashoggi, who disappeared after entering its consulate.
Friedman is an admirer of Muhammad bin Salman who apparently ordered the murder of the Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi (who was dismembered alive by a 15-member hit squad).

Wikipedia entry for Thomas Friedman, as of 10-17-18, 10:15 PM EST.

Jamal Khashoggi, the Saudi Arabian journalist, is probably dead. It seems likely that he was butchered by his own government. Columnist Tom Friedman was a colleague of Khashoggisand a prominent defender of the Saudi regime. He has a lot to answer for.

Friedmans paper, the New York Times, tells the tale:

Saudi agents were waiting when Jamal Khashoggi walked into their countrys consulate in Istanbul two weeks ago. Mr. Khashoggi was dead within minutes, beheaded, dismembered, his fingers severed, and within two hours the killers were gone, according to details from audio recordings described by a senior Turkish official on Wednesday. ... Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited Ankara, in an escalation of pressure on both Saudi Arabia and the United States for answers about Mr. Khashoggi, a prominent Saudi dissident journalist who lived in Virginia and wrote for The Washington Post.

Friedman has no culpability in this crime. But the likely death of Khashoggi demonstrates the callous, thoughtless nature of Friedmanand all the Friedmans in media. His influence is great, and so is his portion of the blame.

In his career, Friedman has given blank checks to the worst people on earth. Including the Saudi elites who probably killed Khashoggi. His death is a personal tragedy with international consequences. It also illustrates Friedmans gullibility, intellectual laziness, and professional incompetence. The columnist is so unapologetic about his errors, and so incurious about his subject, that it amounts to journalistic malpractice on a vast scale.

WHAT FRIEDMAN DID

Friedman defended the Saudi regime last year. The praise was embarrassing. He wrote: I never thought Id live long enough to write this sentence: The most significant reform process underway anywhere in the Middle East today is in Saudi Arabia.

Mohammed bin Salman, MBS for short, is the Crown Prince and de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia. In 2017, the thirty-two-year-old was consolidating his authority in the Kingdom. Strongmen often use the cause of fighting corruption to purge their political rivals. Thats the reform process Friedman mentions.

External Saudi security depends on American approval. MBS ambition required the Wests blessing. The crown prince did a song-and-dance for Friedman. In November 2017, the columnist wrote what amounted to a PR release for the House of Saud. The Love Song of Thomas L. Friedman was a bit much:

But can M.B.S. and his team see this through? Again, I make no predictions. He has his flaws that he will have to control, insiders here tell me. They include relying on a very tight circle of advisers who dont always challenge him sufficiently, and a tendency to start too many things that dont get finished. Theres a whole list. But guess what? Perfect is not on the menu here. Someone had to do this job  wrench Saudi Arabia into the 21st century  and M.B.S. stepped up. I, for one, am rooting for him to succeed in his reform efforts.

When those words were published, heres what Friedmans imperfect menu amounted to: the Saudi and American governments were working together to kill the people of Yemen. During that same November, the site Relief Web stated: Because of the ongoing armed conflict, an estimated 20.7 million people  three quarters of the population  require humanitarian assistance. At least 7 million people are also at risk of famine, calling it the largest humanitarian crisis in the world.

So matters stood with Thomas Friedman and the Saudis. Mutual admiration. Then Khashoggi disappeared in October. There were unpleasant rumors. A pregnant hush filled the air. What would Friedman do?

On Oct. 8, the pundit wrote the first of two nauseating columns. In Praying for Jamal Khashoggi, Friedman noted Saudi Arabia stands accused of killing him. If it did, it will be a disaster for the regime of Mohammed bin Salman.

A disaster for who? Listen to how Friedman phrases that: A disaster. For. The. Regime. Not for the man who was supposedly disemboweled while still living. Just the regime.

Also, Friedman speaks of the regime and MBS, as if they were separate entities. Taken altogether, Praying is a shabby little exercise in blame-shifting. Friedmans list of worries for the Kingdom: Investors will be driven out; MBS dark side is taking over; Saudi Arabia is not Denmark.

On Oct. 16, Friedman wrote a column titled Americas Dilemma: Censuring M.B.S. and Not Halting Saudi Reforms: We have a national interest in Jamal Khashoggis saga. By this point, things had become bleaker, so Friedman was more contrite.

After remembering Jamal as a big teddy bear of a man and describing Khashoggis likely murder as an exercise in depravity and cowardice, Friedman wrote:

And therefore, not as a journalist but as an American citizen, I am sickened to watch my own president and his secretary of state partnering with Saudi officials to concoct a cover story. The long-term ramifications of that for every journalist  or political critic in exile anywhere  are chilling. By the way, I dont think they will get away with it.

Friedman, why are you sickened that Trump and Pompeo are concocting a cover story? Is it because theyre doing your job for you? Trump-Pompeo are borrowing the shtick you used during the Iraq War. Theyre defending violent action against Middle Eastern citizens.

In 2012, after the Iraq War was responsible for a half-million to a million deaths, Friedman was still jazzed about it:

You cant go from Saddam to Switzerland without getting stuck in Hobbes  a war of all against all  unless you have a well-armed external midwife, whom everyone on the ground both fears and trusts to manage the transition. In Iraq, that was America.

And in 2003:

The failure of the Bush team to produce any weapons of mass destruction (W.M.D.s) in Iraq is becoming a big, big story. But is it the real story we should be concerned with? No. It was the wrong issue before the war, and its the wrong issue now. ... The only way to puncture that bubble was for American soldiers, men and women, to go into the heart of the Arab-Muslim world, house to house, and make clear that we are ready to kill, and to die, to prevent our open society from being undermined by this terrorism bubble. Smashing Saudi Arabia or Syria would have been fine. But we hit Saddam for one simple reason: because we could, and because he deserved it and because he was right in the heart of that world.

Smashing Saudi Arabia or Syria would have been fine.

Tom, if smashing them would have been fine, then whats the harm in smashing one man? You were willing to let us be a well-armed external midwife for a better Iraq, after all. Didnt you praise MBS as a reformer a year ago? Isnt he a midwife too, Tom? When the Crown Prince allegedly orders a team of professional murderers to disembowel a regime critic, isnt he following your suggestion, Tom? Isnt MBS acting as a well-armed midwife, whom everyone on the ground both fears and trusts to manage the transition?

Friedman has no shame cheerleading for mass slaughters. Its what hes doing with Yemen. Its what he did last year for MBS. Its what hell do in the future.

Writing for Mondoweiss, Donald Johnson noted:

To Friedman, the war crimes committed by the Saudis are still possible war crimes, not certainties. ... That is Friedmans real value  he is so wrapped up in himself he just blurts these things out, showing how people in our elite class actually think, with the veil ripped away.

He really thinks murdering a friend of his is worse than a genocidal war.

Speaking of blurting, here is Friedman, struggling to extricate himself from the MBS fan club:

I always knew that M.B.S.s reform agenda was a long shot to succeed, but I was rooting for its success  while urging the Trump administration to draw redlines around his dark side  for a very specific reason. It had nothing to do with M.B.S. personally. Personally, I dont care if Saudi Arabia is ruled by M.B.S., S.O.S. or K.F.C.

Friedman brings up all the American imperial ambitions of the last twenty years. All of which he supported. Then he has the temerity to write We have spent thousands of lives and some $2 trillion trying to defuse the threat of Muslim extremists  from Al Qaeda to ISIS  dollars that could have gone to so many other needs in our society.

What our society needs is an honest accounting.

Its weird. Dick Cheney is responsible for God knows how many deaths, and a multitude of gross indecencies. But what crime of his do we remember? That he shot his hunting buddy. Thats the way it goes. Nixon bombed the hell out of Cambodia. He prolonged the Vietnam War to win an election. What sticks in our heads, though? A third-rate break-in. Friedman defends every gruesome elite idea for three decades. He backs a war that destroys a county. He keeps his job.

And then this happens, and theres no dodge for him.

Whether its supporting the Iraq War, advocating for the endless brutality of global capital, or advising us to keep rootin for Putin, Friedman will always support whatever American elites want. He doesnt do so out of malice. Rather, Friedman is legitimately a gullible man, a sucker for tech CEOs and strongmen with PowerPoint skills. If Prince Joffrey and the Iron Throne were real, Tom Friedman would have filed a column talking about the wintry winds of change blowing into Kings Landing. No man has more bendable knees, or is easier to swindle. There are men sitting on Ozark porches with a deeper curiosity about the world than Pulitzer victor Tom Friedman.

This is one of the very few instances in life where Thomas Friedman does not deserve the courtesy of a condescending laugh. Without the Friedmans of the world, the Crown Princes of the world would not be possible.

If I sound angry, I mean every word. I take this matter personally. I have been a newspaperman, in one form or another, for much of my life. Khashoggi was doing what journalists should be doing: fearlessly questioning the unjust and powerful. Hes what journalists should be.

Friedman is what most journalists are.

I want to be as clear as possible:

Tom. Youre a naive foolthe patron saint of the comfortably housed and the easily duped. I hope you remember this for the rest of your life. Youre a disgrace to this profession. You ought to be ashamed of yourself. Stop playing handmaiden for the hacksaw brigade. Return your awards and leave the Times. Mustache, resign.
On October 4th Patently Apple posted a report titled "Apple Denies Explosive Report about Spy Chips from China infiltrating their Servers." Later that day China responded to the Bloomberg report. By the end of the day Apple had published an official press release debunking "The Big Hack" Bloomberg report in no uncertain terms.

Since that time the story continued to make headlines. We posted yet another story on October 8th on the coverage the story was getting in Taiwan and South Korea in addtion to posting a statement by Homeland Security.

But in all honesty, Homeland Securities statement was very weak: "The Department of Homeland Security is aware of the media reports of a technology supply chain compromise. Like our partners in the UK, the National Cyber Security Centre, at this time we have no reason to doubt the statements from the companies named in the story." Does that mean that at "another time" they'll have reason to doubt the companies denying it?

It's not in the interest of any security agency for this story to be real because it would mean that Chinese spys have outsmarted those in the Five Eyes. The UK's National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) are asking people to step forward with credible intelligence because they have nothing. Having nothing isn't the same thing as knowing with certainty.

So it's understandable why Apple's CEO is now stepped up and demaNding that Bloomberg retract their story because the vague statements made by security agencies don't sound all that convincing.

Even BuzzFeed, who published their phone interview with Apple's CEO today, thought that it was an unprecedented move by Apple to go to that extreme of demanding a retraction. Cook told BuzzFeed that "There is no truth in their story about Apple. They need to do the right thing and retract it."

Cook added: "I was involved in our response to this story from the beginning. I personally talked to the Bloomberg reporters along with Bruce Sewell, who was then our general counsel. We were very clear with them that this did not happen, and answered all their questions. Each time they brought this up to us, the story changed, and each time we investigated we found nothing."

Yet Bloomberg was equally quick to respond to Cook's latest statement by saying "Bloomberg Businessweek's investigation is the result of more than a year of reporting, during which we conducted more than 100 interviews. Seventeen individual sources, including government officials and insiders at the companies, confirmed the manipulation of hardware and other elements of the attacks. We also published three companies' full statements, as well as a statement from China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. We stand by our story and are confident in our reporting and sources."

One Fortune 500 company that BuzzFeed spoke to admitted that they had investigated the matter and found nothing. One executive told BuzzFeed:

"Please leave us out of this. We weren't mentioned and I don't want us to be. I don't know what the fuck is going on here."

For more on this, read the full BuzzFeed report by John Paczkowski and Joseph Bernstein here.

Other than claiming that the story has no merit and calling for Bloomberg to retract their story, what can Apple do? Will they challenge the first amendment regarding Freedom of Expression? Likely not, but on that point Wikipedia notes that "freedom of the press in the United States is subject to certain restrictions, such as defamation law."

Will Apple go that route to sue Bloomberg into submission? Did the Chinese Government ask Cook to demand the retraction when he met with Chinese officials last week? At the moment there are more questions than answers.



While we await Apple's next possible move on the board, Apple fans are looking forward to the October 30th event in New York for great new products and as little to do with politics as humanly possible.






BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Federal investigators looking into clergy sexual misconduct collected documents from the Diocese of Buffalo in June but have not been in contact since then, the diocese said.

The diocese acknowledged the federal inquiry late Thursday amid reports the Justice Department has opened investigations across neighboring Pennsylvania into the Roman Catholic Church's handling of child sex-abuse allegations against priests.

There is no evidence the two investigations are related.

Buffalo Bishop Richard Malone has been under increasing pressure to resign over his handling of complaints against priests accused of misconduct with children and adults. Malone publicly apologized in September for "any of my own failures in adequately addressing that abuse," but said he would not step down.

READ MORE: Federal prosecutors could tap several powerful laws to investigate clergy sex abuse in Pa.

The interest by federal investigators pre-dates the launch of a separate statewide civil investigation by New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood. New York was among several states that started such inquiries following a shocking Pennsylvania grand jury report in August that found about 300 Catholic priests had abused more than 1,000 children statewide since the 1940s.

"Several months ago, we received a call from the local U.S. Attorney's office with a request to review documents. A subpoena was provided and after some discussion, an agreement was reached to produce documents," the Diocese of Buffalo said in a statement late Thursday. "We have heard nothing since early June."

U.S. Attorney James Kennedy Jr., through a spokeswoman, said the office neither confirms nor denies investigations and declined further comment.

A Buffalo television station reported internal church emails reference the subpoena and discussions with federal prosecutors that resulted in an agreement to limit the production of materials to living priests.

In a June 13 exchange obtained by WKBW, diocesan Chancellor Regina Murphy told Malone and Auxiliary Bishop Edward Grosz a diocesan lawyer had helped gather information and left "with a relatively small amount of documentation from 16 files."

"If any prosecutions result, it would probably be only a few," Murphy wrote.

READ MORE: Federal prosecutors open probe into clergy sex abuse in Pennsylvania

Later that evening, an email from an attorney for the diocese, Terrence Connors, said: "Our judgment is that there may be two or three cases that will interest (a federal prosecutor) and he will review to see if they are prosecutable."

The bishop responded, "I hope the ones that may be prosecutable are all men removed from ministry," according to WKBW.

A spokeswoman for the diocese did not immediately return calls seeking comment Friday.

Boston attorney Mitchell Garabedian, who represents clergy abuse victims, said in a statement "the time for transparency has arrived."

"Pope Francis has to be deeply concerned about what the federal investigation will reveal within the Diocese of Buffalo. The federal investigation represents hope for clergy sexual abuse victims in all of Buffalo and also worldwide," Garabedian said.

The attorney general's office said a statewide clergy abuse hotline received about 400 calls or online submissions since it was established in early September. Underwood said her office would work with district attorneys to prosecute individuals whose alleged misconduct occurred within the allowable time limits.

--

Carolyn Thompson of the Associated Press wrote this story
The Catholic Church has historically responded to the crisis of the sexual abuse of children by priests as a pastoral challenge.

Victim after victim has been offered counseling and therapeutic services. Priests too were sent off to counseling and, in time, returned to ministry.

To this day, hundreds of victims have letters from bishops expressing regrets over the moral failings of priests. Indeed, few clerics or church officials in the U.S. Catholic Church have met with adjudication or criminal convictions.

Much has changed.

Ever since the Boston Globe in 2002 catapulted the clergy sex abuse crisis on to the national arena, the transgressions and failures of the Catholic Church have garnered growing global awareness.

Now as the latest chapter unfolds in Pennsylvania, the church no longer is able to slide by with commitments to counsel wounded victims, pay for their therapy and compensate them with a financial settlement.

The Pennsylvania Senate this week failed to advance the latest effort to reform the state's child sex crimes laws, a development that many interpreted as a powerful church, once again, getting off the hook.

Following the fourth major investigation into the church in the state, the failure to change state law provided yet another disappointment to the victims' community.

But the legislative failure seems a footnote amid the latest news that the U.S. Department of Justice has launched its own investigation into the church and its role in potential federal crimes against minors. Catholic dioceses across Pennsylvania, including the Diocese of Harrisburg, have received subpoenas.

The federal probe confirms that the long-festering clergy sex abuse scandal, which has generated few convictions of guilty church clerics or officials and left untold victims despondent in helplessness and devastated lives, is now under a greater scrutiny and weight of the law.

"The American church is at the forefront of that shift," said Stephen White, a fellow in Catholic Studies at the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington. "That shift is done better here than anywhere else."

Indeed, the horrors of legions of boys and girls being raped by priests in churches, schools and rectories have been documented across scores of dioceses across the country.

But the vast majority - as is the case documented by the latest grand jury report in Pennsylvania - happened years ago. Few of them are recent.

"That suggests that the first step in recognizing the problem, that first, step has been taken," White said.

The ongoing lack of accountability on the part of the church, however, has morphed into outrage. And not just here.

The Buffalo, New York, Diocese acknowledged late Thursday that a federal inquiry has been under way there since June, when it turned over documents to investigators.

In Chile, police have raided offices and seized church documents as more than 100 Catholic clergy are investigated amid allegations of child sex crimes and the concealment of crimes. Pope Francis has stripped two bishops of their duties; 34 bishops in total have offered their resignations.

In Australia, Ireland and elsewhere, federal governments have launched inquiries and arrested priests and bishops.

"Without losing sight of the importance of victims, there is in the summer's round of crisis a different tone in outrage from the average Catholic," White said. "The anger is directed more at bishops."

Here in the U.S., the clergy sex abuse crisis, White says, has become a crisis of confidence in the leadership of church.

"This summer focused mostly, not on the abuser priests..most of them are dead... but much more on bishops," White said.

Pope Francis last week accepted the resignation of Cardinal Donald W. Wuerl, who came under vigorous scrutiny in the wake of this summer's grand jury report.

Prior to being named archbishop of Washington, Wuerl served as bishop in Pittsburgh from 1988 until 2006. The grand jury report cast Wuerl as inadequate, irresponsible and a complicit player in the abuse of children in the Diocese of Pittsburgh.

In a letter to the 77-year-old cardinal, Pope Francis said: "You have sufficient elements to 'justify' your actions and distinguish between what it means to cover up crimes or not to deal with problems, and to commit some mistakes. However, your nobility has led you not to choose this way of defense. Of this, I am proud and thank you."

Bishops up to now may have endeavored to protect their reputations, but that is proving to be an anemic defense in the face of a growing crisis of confidence in church leadership.

"The crisis now has morphed from a crisis of abuse into a related crisis - one built on that - but now a crisis of confidence in leadership," White said.

The church in recent years has seen its membership numbers decline amid the ongoing crisis. But even devout and steadfast Catholics are grappling with a crisis in confidence in their spiritual leaders.

"The priests who commit these crimes are criminals and sick, but the bishops who moved them around committed the bigger crime by exposing more and more children to abuse," said Mary Pat Fox, president of Voice of the Faithful, a Massachusetts-based advocacy group for Catholics. "They must be held accountable. The actions of the hierarchy not only caused additional harm to children, but also cast shadows on good priests doing good work and on Catholics everywhere."

Fox said few Catholics have confidence that the church can police itself.

"Instead we must rely on civil authorities to accomplish what the church should have done decades, if not centuries, ago: act first to protect the faithful rather than to hide their crimes," she said.

The history of the Roman Catholic Church is varied and diverse from country to country. In some countries the distinction of church and state is itself a novel thing, White explained.

The federal government's intervention into Pennsylvania's clergy sex abuse scandal comes on the heels of a statewide investigation by the Office of Attorney General. It bears evidence that state policing powers - and not simply the might of state or local authorities - are need to investigate the church's abuse of children or its mishandling of abusive clerics is a novel thing indeed.

"I think the festering nature of this crisis has just sapped people's willingness to say, 'The church is going to have to deal with this on its own,'" White said.

He is not at all surprised that the federal government is now investigating the dioceses across Pennsylvania.

"Likely we will see more of this," he said.
A 16-year-old crashed into a utility pole in Snyder County Friday after a spider dropped down on his face while he was driving.

The spider's surprise appearance caused the teen "to become distracted," according to a state police report released Saturday.

The teen from Beavertown had been westbound on Paxtonville Road in Franklin Township about 3:09 p.m. when the spider reportedly fell on his face. The teen then veered off the right side of the road into a PPL pole.

The teenager was not injured. His 1993 GM Sierra sustained disabling damage and had to be towed away from the scene.

There was no word on the condition of the spider. Police cited the teen for careless driving.

It wasn't the first time a spider was blamed for causing a crash.

A driver in Ephrata Township in April 2017 crashed his car into a pole after he was startled by what he thought was a spider in his lap. The driver was not hurt but his car had to be towed.

A driver in Massachusetts caused a rollover crash in July after she noticed a spider on her leg and got scared. In her panic, she clipped two parked cars, which caused her car to flip onto its roof, according to MassLive.

A spider also reportedly caused a rollover in Oregon in 2016 by suddenly dropping from the rearview mirror. The driver suffered a minor scratch on her hand when her car rolled over, according to KATU news.
By Eugene Robinson

When the United States does not stand up for human rights and freedom of expression, there are tragic consequences. The apparent torture and murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi is one of them.

Eugene Robinson (PennLive file)

From the beginning, President Trump and his advisers have given Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, a green light to do whatever he wants. Now Trump complains, against all evidence and logic, that the prince is unfairly being judged "guilty until proven innocent" of Khashoggi's disappearance and almost certain demise. There have been more shameful episodes in American foreign policy but not in a long, long time.

It is true that Saudi Arabia's corrupt ruling family has never respected its citizens' basic human rights. It is also true that the oil-rich kingdom is a longstanding U.S. ally -- and that any president, faced with an incident such as Khashoggi's apparent killing, would have the tough job of balancing competing geopolitical interests.

But I have to wonder if Mohammed would not have ordered the hit job -- and it is utterly implausible that Khashoggi was accosted without the crown prince's go-ahead -- unless he had confidence that the Trump administration would let him get away with it.

And why would he think otherwise?

There has been hardly a peep out of Washington about the brutal war Mohammed is conducting in Yemen, with U.S. assistance -- and with no apparent qualms about civilian casualties. In August, a Saudi airstrike killed at least 40 children. The Pentagon sent a fact-finding mission, and then the facts -- dead children -- were ignored.

The Trump administration also offered no real objection when the crown prince orchestrated a punishing diplomatic and economic embargo against Qatar, which is also a U.S. ally and hosts thousands of American troops. One of the Saudi regime's complaints was about aggressive news coverage by the Al Jazeera network, which is based in Qatar and funded by the nation's rulers -- and which seeks, as Khashoggi did, to hold governments accountable.

On the plus side, Mohammed has made it possible for Saudi women to drive automobiles for the first time. On the minus side, he has jailed several prominent advocates for women's rights. He wants to be seen as a brash reformer, but he also acts like a goonish thug.

There is a strategy behind the administration's see-no-evil indulgence. Trump and his aides want a rich, powerful, well-armed Saudi Arabia to lead a coalition of Arab nations in confronting and constraining Iran and forging new, less hostile relationships with Israel. Trump is also fixated on the benefit to U.S. industry of increased arms purchases by the Saudis.

These reasonable-sounding goals have been shown to be naive and unrealistic. The Saudis are throwing their weight around in ways that make the region more unstable, not less. Mohammed has done nothing to make it politically feasible for other Arab governments to publicly come to terms with Israel. And the "$110 billion" in arms sales that Trump boasts about is largely a mirage.

Worst of all, Trump has abdicated moral leadership on what should be core issues for any U.S. administration. For at least a century, we have -- at least publicly -- stood for universal human rights. We have stood for democracy. We have stood for freedom of expression and freedom of the press.

We have not always lived up to those ideals -- I covered Chile under dictator Augusto Pinochet, who took power in a U.S.-backed coup -- but no president has refused to even pay lip service to human rights principles, as Trump does. And when governments have killed innocent civilians or imprisoned dissidents or squelched independent media voices, U.S. administrations have reacted forcefully with both words and deeds.

The United States is more than a set of national interests. It is a set of ideas that have inspired seekers of freedom throughout the world. President Ronald Reagan made a difference when he went to Berlin and demanded that Mikhail Gorbachev "tear down this wall." Trump, apparently, would have offered to sell the Soviet leader more concrete and barbed wire.

Trump's reaction to Khashoggi's apparent assassination has been stomach-turning and disgraceful, but we have heard admirably honest and tough words from Republican senators such as Bob Corker of Tennessee, Marco Rubio of Florida and Lindsey O. Graham of South Carolina. Now we'll see if they -- for once -- take any meaningful action to uphold American ideals. I'm not holding my breath.

I don't know if the president could have said or done anything that would have kept the Saudis from reportedly horrifically taking Khashoggi's life. But I do know that Trump didn't even try.

Eugene Robinson is a columnist for The Washington Post. His work appears on Saturdays on PennLive.
(*Update: The post has since been removed from the county party's page)

The slogan on the Mifflin County Republicans' official Facebook page reads "Never apologize for being right."

Now might be an excellent time for an apology.

On Friday morning, the county committee shared a post, featuring an image of a fox with bloody chicken in its mouth, that reads, "If a fox came to your home, would you put him in a chicken coop hoping he would integrate? Didn't think so. Stop the invasion of Islam to the free world."

The image, shared from the account of a Facebook user identified as Theron Redfearn, whose profile says he's from Fort Worth Texas, was originally posted on Oct. 14. As of midday Saturday, the image had 255 responses, and had been shared more than 15,000 times.

None of the eight comments attached to the post are critical.

The rest of the county GOP's Facebook page features images of such prominent central Pennsylvania politicians as U.S. Rep. Tom Marino, R-Pa., and Senate Majority Leader Jake Corman, R-Centre, whose district includes Mifflin County.

On Thursday, Republican lieutenant governor candidate Jeffrey Bartos, of Montgomery County, keynoted the county party's fall banquet, according to an account by the Lewistown Sentinel.

Andrew Romeo, a spokesman for Pennsylvania Republican governor nominee Scott Wagner, said the campaign does not share or endorse the post on the Mifflin County GOP's Facebook page. Bartos is Wagner's running-mate on the fall ballot.

Mike Mikus, a spokesman for Pennsylvania Democrats, condemned the post.

"The post by the Mifflin County GOP is appalling. There is no place for bigotry and hatred in the public discourse."

But, he added that, given Wagner's past record of incendiary remarks, "it's not shocking when other Republicans follow his example."

The post comes amid escalating tension between the United States and the government of Saudi Arabia over the death of Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi-born journalist for The Washington Post, who was a permanent, legal resident of the United States.

On Friday, the Saudi government publicly acknowledged Khashoggi's death, announced the arrest of 18 people, and said the journalist had died in a fistfight at the Saudi mission in Turkey.

Officials from the Mifflin County GOP and the Pennsylvania Republican Party could not immediately be reached for comment.

But in August 2017, in the wake of the racial violence in Charlottesville, Pennsylvania Republican Chairman Val DiGiorgio said "anyone who promotes bigotry is not welcome in the Republican Party of Pennsylvania."

"Bigotry -- whether religious or racial -- is vile. Let me be very clear: anyone who promotes bigotry is not welcome in the Republican Party of Pennsylvania, and we disavow them in the strongest terms," DiGiorgio said in a statement. "We do not want or need their support and the cowards that perpetrate violence should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. It is time for Americans of all backgrounds, races, and creeds to unite as one nation."
Photo: CTV Vancouver Kim Moran and her newly adopted son, Ayo

An Abbotsford family says they are stuck in Africa with thier newly adopted son because the Canadian government is dragging its feet on the documents that would allow them to return home.

Kim and Clark Moran recently adopted a young boy named Ayo from Nigeria, reports CTV Vancouver. The couple is now in Ghana, waiting on the Canadian government to allow Ayo into the country.

The couple have now been in Ghana for four weeks, after being told they should not have to wait much more than seven days.

But its now been a month, without any updates.

"We've submitted a file and it's sitting in some proverbial queue It's yet to be processed," Clark told CTV. "This isn't an African issue This is all on Canada."

Compounding the problem, Kim has multiple sclerosis and has missed several check-ups in Canada.

"We're at the point now where our strength iswe're just about out of it and now we need somebody to step in for us," Clark said.

The federal government has not provided CTV any sort of timeline of when the case will be resolved.

with files from CTV Vancouver
PRESS RELEASE: Bootleg Canyon Gravity & Demo Fest

The Bootleg Canyon Gravity & Demo Fest will once again take over the Bootleg Canyon Mountain Bike Park in Boulder City, Nevada, on November 16-18, 2018. We are expecting many new riders to the area, so this year a few nice additions have been included with the usual Gravity Fest activities. Weve put together a fun crew to help you explore the many DH trails, XC trails and even offer you some riding tips if you want them. If you havent done it, youve got to take the Historic 6 mile Gravel Ride that takes you downhill to some flats, through the historic tunnels and to the dam for some amazing views. A shuttle will be waiting to bring you back up!Weve made all the arrangements for you to come out and challenge yourself on some new dirt and trails not far from home. Our goal is to accommodate all riders and try our hardest to make your next adventure a great one!We think Bootleg Canyon is beautiful on a bike and want you and your friends/family to experience it too.The Bootleg Fest includes unlimited shuttles, free camping, bike demos, group rides for all levels, product demonstrations, sponsor raffles and a Happy Hour on Friday and Saturday.As a longtime supporter of the Bootleg Canyon Mountain Bike Park, DVO Suspension will be present and offering demo bikes, showing off 2019 products and their usual shenanigans. If you are considering upgrading your suspension, have questions on your current set up, or just want to hang out please visit these guys.Alchemy Bicycles will be making the journey to Bootleg Canyon from their factory in Denver, Colorado to show off and let you try their hand-crafted bikes. Factory rider and all-around nice guy, Cody Kelley will be easy to find and will be looking for riders to take some laps with. Come by the Alchemy booth, make some friends, grab an Arktos and take a run with us.If you are still using tubes, riding with high tire pressure, or flatting, be sure to catch the Trucker Co "How to Go Tubeless" demonstrations on Friday and Saturday at 11:00 am.On Saturday at 12 noon we will feature the Huck-Off contest. This is very spectator friendly and open to all that dare to get this much air. Please follow us on Facebook and/or our website for sponsors and prizes.Imagine riding downhill for 5 miles on the paved River Mountain trail until you reach the flat gravel section through the 5 tunnels right next to Lake Mead. Then having us pick you up at Hoover Dam, so you do not have to pedal back up. Gravel Grinder tours provided by All Mountain Cyclery. Guided tours at 1:00 pm on Friday and Saturday. Expect to be back at the venue by 3:30 with a memory and stories to tell. Ebikes are welcome but may have to pedal back up to the venue. This unique tour starts and end right at the venue and is also included with your ticket. TICKETS With the free camping, food, restrooms and showers, you can stay at the venue all 3 days! However, going into Historic Boulder City is just a few-minute ride away. Expect local deals on lodging and some after festival parties both in the camping areas and some local establishments. Please visit the event website for details: http://www.trailsocial.com/bootleg-canyon/ Register online HERE A huge thanks goes out to the late Brent Thomson for having the vision, passion, strength and friends for making these mountain bike trails. Also, not possible without the Boulder City Parks Department and our loyal supporters.
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Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) had three words that shut down Trumps projection that Democrats are an angry mob.

Durbin was asked on CNNs The Lead with Jake Tapper about Trumps new attack on Democrats, and he said, I listened to the presidents plea at these rallies, and rallies are kind of standard fare as we get close to an election. I cant believe this mob rule charge. I have three words for the president. Lock her up. Rally after rally, his supporters are out there screaming lock her up, every time he mentions a Democrat, particularly if its a Democratic woman. And here we have a situation where the president goes to Montana and praises, again, a Republican congressman for body-slamming a reporter and were supposed to be the mob? Give me a break.

Video:

Trump is playing on the Republican persecution complex

Trump knows that Republicans will only to show up to vote if they feel threatened, which is why he cooked up this allegation that Democratic mobs are coming to get Republicans. Democrats arent mobs. They dont use violence or threaten violence against Republicans. When Donald Trump and his followers chant lock her up or punch protests, no one calls the old white men in Trumps audience a mob. To Trump, only minorities and women are capable of being mobs.

The only thing more absurd than Trumps claim is the mainstream media tying themselves in knots trying to explain how it might work.
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The Russian disinformation campaign that resulted in a criminal indictment had been pushing articles from Fox News and other conservative websites.

Jon Swaine of The Guardian tweeted:

The Russian influence campaign allegedly pushed articles published by pro-Trump all-stars: InfoWars, Breitbart News, WND, Fox News, True Pundit  and vote fraud research by Judicial Watch https://t.co/KRNRWcMQNV  Jon Swaine (@jonswaine) October 19, 2018

Sure enough, if you read the complaint, the Russians were pushing conservative articles and modeling their disinformation targeting Republicans on Fox News, Breitbart, and others:

Interestingly, Facebook has claimed that they are getting a better handle on the Russian fake news issue, but they still sold $60,000 in Facebook ads to the Russians, and $6,000 in Instagram ads, which suggests that despite their crackdown on political traffic, Facebook is still failing at handling the disinformation threat. The answer for Facebook has always been the same. Manually, verify publisher with actual human beings, and only let verified publishers into Newsfeed. The AI isnt working. It is discouraging legitimate political traffic, while the Russians and others still get through.

The Russians/Trump/Fox News axis of fake news is going strong. The Russians have deeply embedded themselves into conservative media. They are pushing Fox News stories because Fox and Russia share the same goal of propping up Donald Trump. Much of conservative media stopped worrying about facts years ago. The change in conservative media mirrored the Republican Party. As Republicans substituted belief for fact, their media followed along.

The result is an easy to manipulate environment that is ripe for the Russians to dupe those flag-waving red hat wearing self-described patriots into betraying their own country.

For the latest election news, join our Blue Wave 2018 group.

For more discussion about this story join our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group.

Follow Jason Easley on Facebook.
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By Aziz El Yaakoubi

DUBAI (Reuters)   Saudi Arabia said on Saturday that Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi has died, and said it fired two senior officials over the incident that has provoked an international outcry and strained relations between Riyadh and the West.

A statement from the Saudi public prosecutor said a fight broke out between Khashoggi and people who met him in the consulate and led to his death.

The investigations are still underway and 18 Saudi nationals have been arrested, the statement on state media said, adding that royal court adviser Saud al-Qahtani and deputy intelligence chief Ahmed Asiri have been fired from their positions.

Khashoggi, a critic of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, went missing after entering the consulate on Oct. 2 to obtain documents for his upcoming marriage.

Saturdays comments marked the first time since Khashoggi went missing that the Saudis admitted to his death.

Turkish officials had said they believed he was killed in the building. Saudi Arabia had previously denied the allegations and said Khashoggi had left the building shortly after.

King Salman also ordered the formation of a ministerial committee headed by the crown prince to restructure the general intelligence agency, state media said.

The disappearance of Khashoggi, a U.S. resident and Washington Post columnist, strained relations between Saudi Arabia and Western allies. Arab allies have rallied to Riyadhs support, but Western pressure has intensified on Saudi Arabia to provide convincing answers.

Before the Saudi announcements, U.S. President Donald Trump said he might consider sanctions against Saudi Arabia over the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, while emphasizing the importance of the U.S.-Saudi relationship.

In Istanbul, Turkish prosecutors investigating Khashoggis disappearance questioned Turkish employees of the Saudi consulate on Friday, widening the hunt for clues in a case straining Riyadhs alliance with Western powers.

Turkish police searched a forest on Istanbuls outskirts and a city near the Sea of Marmara for Khashoggis remains, two senior Turkish officials told Reuters, after tracking the routes of cars that left the consulate and the consuls residence on the day he vanished.

Investigators have recovered samples from searches of both buildings to analyze for traces of Khashoggis DNA.

Speaking to reporters in Scottsdale, Arizona, Trump said it was too early to say what the consequences for the incident might be, but that the U.S. Congress would be involved in determining the American response.

Asked whether Saudi sanctions were one of the measures he was considering, Trump said, Could be, could be, though he provided no details.

Were going to find out who knew what when and where. And well figure it out, Trump added.

The U.S. Congress is controlled by Trumps fellow Republicans, some of whom have called for tough action against Saudi Arabia.

I will very much listen to what Congress has to say. They feel very strongly about it also, Trump said.

Trump, who said on Thursday he believes Khashoggi is likely dead and has warned of a potential very severe response, has appeared unwilling to distance himself too much from the Saudis, citing Riyadhs role in countering Iranian influence in the Middle East and lucrative potential arms deals.

Saudi Arabia has been a great ally, theyve been a tremendous investor in the United States, Trump said, adding, Thats why this is so sad.

They agreed to spend $450 billion on buying in and investing in the United States, so I hope we can keep that open.  There are plenty of other things we can do, he said, adding, I might know a lot by Monday. I know a lot already.

State-run Anadolu news agency said the Turkish prosecutors office had obtained testimony from 20 consulate employees, and 25 more people including foreign nationals would be questioned.

The consulate employees questioned included accountants, technicians and a driver, Anadolu said. The investigation is being conducted by the prosecutors terrorism and organized crime bureau, it added.

Turkey said it had not shared with any country audio recordings purportedly documenting Khashoggis murder inside the consulate, dismissing reports it had passed them to the United States.

We will share the results that emerge transparently with the whole world, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said.

Turkish pro-government newspaper Yeni Safak has published what it said were details from the audio, including that his torturers severed Khashoggis fingers during an interrogation and later beheaded and dismembered him.

Khashoggis disappearance has tarnished the crown princes reputation and deepened questions about his leadership, prompting Saudi King Salman to intervene, five sources with links to the Saudi royal family told Reuters.

The crown prince has painted himself as the face of a vibrant new kingdom, diversifying its economy away from oil and introducing some social changes. Other moves have faced criticism, including involvement in Yemens war, the arrest of women activists and a diplomatic dispute with Canada.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and senior ministers from France, Britain and the Netherlands have abandoned plans to attend an Oct. 23-25 investor conference in Riyadh.

On Friday, the CEOs of Deutsche Bank <DBKGn.DE> and ABB <ABBN.S>, plus Airbus <AIR.PA> defense chief and energy historian Daniel Yergin, joined a list of Western business executives who have withdrawn.

Pakistans prime minister and a delegation led by Russian Direct Investment Fund head Kirill Dmitriev plan to participate. Britains BAE Systems <BAES.L> is sending senior representatives.

A conference spokesperson confirmed the conference would proceed with an updated program that includes heads of state from the Arab world, Africa and Asia.

(Additional reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu in Ankara, Brendan OBrien and Mohammed Zargham in Washington, Andrea Shalal and Maria Sheahan in Berlin, Aziz El Yaakoubi in Dubai, John Revill in Zurich, Katie Paul in Dubai; Writing by Yara Bayoumy; Editing by William Maclean, Alistair Bell and Will Dunham)

By Aziz El Yaakoubi

DUBAI (Reuters)   Saudi Arabia said on Saturday that Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi has died, and said it fired two senior officials over the incident that has provoked an international outcry and strained relations between Riyadh and the West.

A statement from the Saudi public prosecutor said a fight broke out between Khashoggi and people who met him in the consulate and led to his death.

The investigations are still underway and 18 Saudi nationals have been arrested, the statement on state media said, adding that royal court adviser Saud al-Qahtani and deputy intelligence chief Ahmed Asiri have been fired from their positions.

Khashoggi, a critic of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, went missing after entering the consulate on Oct. 2 to obtain documents for his upcoming marriage.

Saturdays comments marked the first time since Khashoggi went missing that the Saudis admitted to his death.

Turkish officials had said they believed he was killed in the building. Saudi Arabia had previously denied the allegations and said Khashoggi had left the building shortly after.

King Salman also ordered the formation of a ministerial committee headed by the crown prince to restructure the general intelligence agency, state media said.

The disappearance of Khashoggi, a U.S. resident and Washington Post columnist, strained relations between Saudi Arabia and Western allies. Arab allies have rallied to Riyadhs support, but Western pressure has intensified on Saudi Arabia to provide convincing answers.

Before the Saudi announcements, U.S. President Donald Trump said he might consider sanctions against Saudi Arabia over the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, while emphasizing the importance of the U.S.-Saudi relationship.

In Istanbul, Turkish prosecutors investigating Khashoggis disappearance questioned Turkish employees of the Saudi consulate on Friday, widening the hunt for clues in a case straining Riyadhs alliance with Western powers.

Turkish police searched a forest on Istanbuls outskirts and a city near the Sea of Marmara for Khashoggis remains, two senior Turkish officials told Reuters, after tracking the routes of cars that left the consulate and the consuls residence on the day he vanished.

Investigators have recovered samples from searches of both buildings to analyze for traces of Khashoggis DNA.

Speaking to reporters in Scottsdale, Arizona, Trump said it was too early to say what the consequences for the incident might be, but that the U.S. Congress would be involved in determining the American response.

Asked whether Saudi sanctions were one of the measures he was considering, Trump said, Could be, could be, though he provided no details.

Were going to find out who knew what when and where. And well figure it out, Trump added.

The U.S. Congress is controlled by Trumps fellow Republicans, some of whom have called for tough action against Saudi Arabia.

I will very much listen to what Congress has to say. They feel very strongly about it also, Trump said.

Trump, who said on Thursday he believes Khashoggi is likely dead and has warned of a potential very severe response, has appeared unwilling to distance himself too much from the Saudis, citing Riyadhs role in countering Iranian influence in the Middle East and lucrative potential arms deals.

Saudi Arabia has been a great ally, theyve been a tremendous investor in the United States, Trump said, adding, Thats why this is so sad.

They agreed to spend $450 billion on buying in and investing in the United States, so I hope we can keep that open.  There are plenty of other things we can do, he said, adding, I might know a lot by Monday. I know a lot already.

State-run Anadolu news agency said the Turkish prosecutors office had obtained testimony from 20 consulate employees, and 25 more people including foreign nationals would be questioned.

The consulate employees questioned included accountants, technicians and a driver, Anadolu said. The investigation is being conducted by the prosecutors terrorism and organized crime bureau, it added.

Turkey said it had not shared with any country audio recordings purportedly documenting Khashoggis murder inside the consulate, dismissing reports it had passed them to the United States.

We will share the results that emerge transparently with the whole world, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said.

Turkish pro-government newspaper Yeni Safak has published what it said were details from the audio, including that his torturers severed Khashoggis fingers during an interrogation and later beheaded and dismembered him.

Khashoggis disappearance has tarnished the crown princes reputation and deepened questions about his leadership, prompting Saudi King Salman to intervene, five sources with links to the Saudi royal family told Reuters.

The crown prince has painted himself as the face of a vibrant new kingdom, diversifying its economy away from oil and introducing some social changes. Other moves have faced criticism, including involvement in Yemens war, the arrest of women activists and a diplomatic dispute with Canada.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and senior ministers from France, Britain and the Netherlands have abandoned plans to attend an Oct. 23-25 investor conference in Riyadh.

On Friday, the CEOs of Deutsche Bank <DBKGn.DE> and ABB <ABBN.S>, plus Airbus <AIR.PA> defense chief and energy historian Daniel Yergin, joined a list of Western business executives who have withdrawn.

Pakistans prime minister and a delegation led by Russian Direct Investment Fund head Kirill Dmitriev plan to participate. Britains BAE Systems <BAES.L> is sending senior representatives.

A conference spokesperson confirmed the conference would proceed with an updated program that includes heads of state from the Arab world, Africa and Asia.

(Additional reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu in Ankara, Brendan OBrien and Mohammed Zargham in Washington, Andrea Shalal and Maria Sheahan in Berlin, Aziz El Yaakoubi in Dubai, John Revill in Zurich, Katie Paul in Dubai; Writing by Yara Bayoumy; Editing by William Maclean, Alistair Bell and Will Dunham)
Photo: Twitter @bravemmaf

A Kamloops mixed martial arts fighter has been charged with multiple counts of domestic assault.

Matt Baker, 34, is due in court Nov. 1 on four counts of assault, uttering threats and mischief.

Known as The Riotmaker, Baker is ranked as the eighth-best MMA fighter in Canada.

The four assaults are alleged to have occurred Dec. 31, 2017, May. 1, 2018, May 15 and June 18 in Kamloops. The Vancouver Sun is reporting the incidents involve his spouse.

Baker is billed as 6-foot-1 and more than 200 pounds, competing in the middleweight and light-heavyweight categories.
Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders was in campaign mode Friday night in Bloomington, Indiana where thousands of people heard him direct some harsh words toward the current occupant of the White House.

Now Trump, hes a very, very tough guy, Sanders told his audience of over 3,000 people. Hes a very, very strong guy when he tears little children at the border from the arms of their mothers. What a tough guy. But he aint such a tough guy when he has to deal with Putin  He is not such a tough guy when he has to deal with his billionaire friends in Saudi Arabia, who just tortured and murdered a courageous journalist.

Sanders kicked off his nine-state campaign blitz which he timed to preceed the midterm elections which are slightly more than two weeks away.

Many in attendance at the rally wore T-shirts from Sanders 2016 campaign, and they were wildly enthusiastic about everything he said. They cheered when he repeated his standard proposals on student debt, health care and the minimum wage. And they jeered whenever the senator criticized Trump in mocking tones.

Could this be the beginning of another presidential campaign for Sanders?

There is no question that in many ways the 2016 campaign was very successful for the Vermont senator and he now owns one of the largest and most coveted email lists of progressive voters and donors in the country.

He also has a national profile with name recognition that most of his potential 2020 rivals do not have. And if Fridays rally is any indication, he can still draw big crowds of his progressive followers.

In his pre-midterm blitz Sanders has appearances scheduled in the early 2020 nominating states of Iowa, Nevada and South Carolina. Thus many people think this tour is a way for him to jumpstart his next presidential campaign.

His appearances in Indiana and California are also significant since Sanders won the Indiana primary in an upset in 2016, and California has more delegates than any other state.

Sanders 2016 campaign manager Jeff Weaver, who is still his closest political adviser, has said that even he does not know for sure whether the senator will run again in 2020.

But Weaver was there Friday night and, seeing the large crowd of enthusiastic supporters, said, From my perspective, this is an auspicious start.

Since the 2016 election Sanders has visited over 30 states and raised almost $2 million for Democratic candidates.

Back in the 2016 primaries, just prior to that, people almost thought we were conspiracy theorists, said Laurie Cestnick, a former Sanders campaign volunteer and founder of Occupy DNC Convention, which held dozens of protests during the 2016 Democratic National Convention.

Now, she said, I think the awareness of Sanders is just there, where it wasnt before  I think he has a far greater chance.

Since Sanders ran in 2016 the Democratic Party has shifted to the left, which is probably due to his influence. If he runs in 2020 however, he will face many more competitors than just Hillary Clinton. Some people estimate there could be 12  15 Democrats who run for president in the next primary season. And there is no guarantee that even far-left progressives within the party will choose Sanders over other rivals.

Charles Chamberlain, Democracy for Americas current executive director, said his members support for Sanders is definitely strong, he added, Will he be the choice of our membership for the presidential race? I think thats an open question.
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In a close election, even a single vote has the potential to swing the results in one direction or another. In Georgia, hundreds of thousands of voters will have their voices silenced next month as part of a massive Republican rigging effort that gets worse by the day.

According to investigative journalist Greg Palast, who appeared on MSNBCs AM Joy on Saturday, Brian Kemp  Georgia secretary of state and Republican nominee for governor  purged more than 500,000 voter registrations in Georgia, claiming these residents either moved or passed away.

But after analyzing the half a million purged voter registrations, Palast found that a stunning 340,134 of them did not move or die  they simply got removed from the voter rolls without any notice.

While these individuals may get to cast a provisional ballot on Nov. 6, the investigative journalist reminded us that it will be Kemp who is responsible for counting them.

Youll think you have voted, Palast said. Youre going to have a massive number of provisional ballots and Brian Kemp is the guy as secretary of state who gets to count those ballots.

Video:

Investigative journalist Greg Palast tells #amjoy about the massive vote rigging scheme going on in Georgia. #ctl #p2 pic.twitter.com/5Rx7jh0Jas  PoliticusUSA (@politicususa) October 20, 2018

Investigative journalist Greg Palast explained on Saturday:

Yesterday, I sued Brian Kemp in a federal court. The reason is, I looked at the data, on the threat of a federal suit, he gave me his voter files. I looked through them. They canceled 550,000 voter registrations in Georgia. Thats Brian Kemp, hes running for governor, he cancels half a million people off the voter rolls. And the reason is, they left the state, a few died, 19,000. But I had computer experts, the best people in the nation, who check peoples addresses. The guys hunting you down to make your pay your bills or send you catalogs. They went through name by name. Kemp didnt realize I was going to do this. They went through name by name, 340,134 Georgians did not move from their registration addresses. They got removed. Theyve been given no notice, Joy, no notice that theyve been removed.  Are you ready for this? Brian Kemp. Theyll be given provisional ballots.  In this case, you still wont be able to vote. Youll think you have voted. Youre going to have a massive number of provisional ballots and Brian Kemp is the guy as secretary of state who gets to count those ballots.

Kemps suppression effort just got Trumps blessing

In the midst of this transparent effort to suppress the vote in Georgia, Trump gave a glowing endorsement of Brian Kemp, the man who is both overseeing and running in the states race for governor against Democratic challenger Stacey Abrams.

Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp will be a great governor. He has been successful at whatever he has done, and has prepared for this very difficult and complex job for many years. He has my Strong Endorsement. His opponent is totally unqualified. Would destroy a great state!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 20, 2018

What Kemp has been very successful at is conducting an election in Georgia that has the potential to limit hundreds of thousands of citizens that may vote for his opponent.

As PoliticusUSAs Jason Easley noted on Friday, another analysis found that over 100,000 voters in Georgia were purged from the rolls in a single day in 2017.

It remains to be seen whether these efforts will be successful in flipping elections, but all across the country  from Georgia to Texas to North Dakota and beyond  Republicans are working their tails off to rig the vote.

Follow Sean Colarossi on Facebook.
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Washington Post Global Opinions Editor Karen Attiah was totally and righteously enraged after she read the bogus claims from the Saudi Arabian government that the assassination of her writer Jamal Khashoggi was nothing more than an accident from a fistfight.

In an impassioned series of tweets, Attiah expressed her anger and frustration after hearing the Saudi lies.

Utter bullsh*t, she had written at the beginning of her comments, but she later deleted those two words. Her first tweet then read:

Khashoggi was a 60-year-old man. What sort of equal fight would he have had against 15 other men? And who brings a bone saw to a discussion?! The stupidity of the Saudi explanation is mind-boggling.

#Khashoggi was a 60 year old man. What sort of equal fight" would he have had against 15 other men? And who brings a bone saw to a discussion?! The stupidity of the Saudi explanation is mind boggling.  Karen Attiah (@KarenAttiah) October 20, 2018

Saudi state television explained that a member of Mohammed bin Salmans inner circle was the one who actually killed the journalist. The government explained that the man has been dismissed, but Attiah found any denials from the crown prince absurd.

In her second tweet the Washington Post editor asked:

And we are supposed to believe, that Mohammed Bin Salman had no knowledge of this, even though his right-hand man has been implicated, and a team of 15 men flew in on private planes entered a consulate on foreign soil to carry this out?

And we are supposed to believe, that Mohammed Bin Salman had no knowledge of this, even though his right hand man has been implicated, and a team of 15 men flew in on private planes entered a consulate on foreign soil to carry this out? #Khashoggi  Karen Attiah (@KarenAttiah) October 20, 2018

In her third tweet Attiah took issue with the implication that her journalists death was an accident.

What I hate about the statement is the use of the passive construction to imply this was an accident. Jamal didnt just die during a struggle. Khashoggi was killed. By Saudi men. In a consulate. His life was taken from him.

What I hate about the statement is the use of the passive construction to imply this was an accident. Jamal didnt just die during a struggle. #Khashoggi was killed. By Saudi men. In a consulate. His life was taken from him.  Karen Attiah (@KarenAttiah) October 20, 2018

Another person on Twitter named Susan Foster Quintana quoted Mohammed bin Salmans close associate from another interview, where he made very clear that the crown prince (referred to as MBS) knows and sees all, and nothing happens without his direction.

Do you think I can act by myself without taking orders/guidance? said MSBs now-fired very close adviser Saud al-Qahtani in a tweet last year. I am an employee and a trustworthy executive to the orders of the king and the crown prince.

Do you think I can act by myself without taking orders/guidance? said MSB's now-fired very close adviser Saud al-Qahtani in a tweet last year. I am an employee and a trustworthy executive to the orders of the king and the crown prince.  Susan FosterQuintana (@sfqlovesrqf) October 20, 2018

We should thank Karen Attiah and the Washington Post for standing up for their murdered writer, Jamal Khashoggi. His death must not be swept under the carpet as if his life didnt mean anything. All human life is precious, and journalists lives must be protected because of the additional danger they are in. The free press is under attack by authoritarian regimes throughout the world, including by Donald Trump in the United States.

We need to remember the life of Khashoggi, and remember not only his courage but what he stood for. The freedom of all humanity depends on freedom of the press, and the more it is under attack the more we must protect it and hold it dear.
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Yesterday the Wall Street Journal published a long article summarizing Robert Muellers investigation into Roger Stone and other conservative activists who have been closely associated with Stone through the years. The focus seems to be their interactions with WikiLeaks and its founder Julian Assange.

According to the Journal:

Special counsel Robert Muellers investigation is scrutinizing how a collection of activists and pundits intersected with WikiLeaks, the website that U.S. officials say was the primary conduit for publishing materials stolen by Russia, according to people familiar with the matter.

Although the main thrust of the investigation seems to be how Stone interacted with WikiLeaks, it is possible that Mueller has also found wrongdoing by other conservatives within Stones orbit.

According to the article, Mueller has recently questioned many of his witnesses about Stones contacts with Wikileaks. It also said that Mueller has acquired his phone records which would shed more light on the communications that took place.

The special counsels investigators also have evidence that GOP activist Peter W. Smith, who died in May 2017 under mysterious circumstances, may have had advance knowledge of details about the release of emails from a top Hillary Clinton campaign official by WikiLeaks.

Jerome Corsi, a right-wing pundit, was also questioned by Muellers team over his interactions with Stone and WikiLeaks, a source close to the matter told the Journal.

Former Trump campaign staffer Sam Nunberg and New York radio host Randy Credico previously said theyd been contacted by the special counsels investigators about Stone and WikiLeaks.

Mueller has long been curious whether or not Roger Stone had advance knowledge of WikiLeaks release of Hillary Clintons hacked campaign emails. Rumors of a Stone indictment and arrest have been floating around for months now. In September we reported that Stone might get arrested for lying under oath about his WikiLeaks contacts.

We know that Stone publicly predicted the Clinton email leaks. He also admitted that he had been communicating with the hacker of the emails, Guccifer 2.0, who was later revealed to be a Russian military intelligence officer.

The fact that the Wall Street Journal is now publishing a summary of everything known about Stone, his associates, and their contacts with WikiLeaks is leading to speculation that Mueller is about ready to break some big news. He has been investigating this for years so we know that he knows a lot more than he has made public.

Its possible that Robert Mueller is about to move on Roger Stone and the Journal found out about it in advance. If so, this could be the final move by Mueller before he starts indicting and arresting members of Donald Trumps own family.
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By Delphine Schrank

TECUN UMAN, Guatemala (Reuters)  Hundreds of Central Americans in a U.S.-bound migrant caravan were stuck on Guatemalas border with Mexico on Saturday as efforts began, under pressure from Washington, to send some home and stop their journey northward.

Many of the migrants, the overwhelming majority fleeing violence and poverty in Honduras, had slept through heavy rain overnight on a bridge connecting Guatemala to Mexico, as dozens crammed against a metal border gate guarded by Mexican police.

In the early morning hours, Guatemalan police said they had transported 62 Hondurans in two buses, among the first such efforts to remove migrants from the tense border crossing on the Suchiate River.

Slideshow gallery:

For days U.S. President Donald Trump has warned the Central American caravan must be stopped. He has made it a political issue in the Nov. 6 midterm U.S. congressional election, threatened to cut off regional aid, close the U.S.-Mexico border and deploy troops there if Mexico failed to halt the migrants.

Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez was due to meet his Guatemalan counterpart Jimmy Morales in the Guatemalan capital on Saturday for talks on implementing a strategy for returning the Honduran migrants.

Organizers said the caravan included around 4,000 migrants on Friday but there has been no official estimate of the sprawling number of men, women and children traveling north on foot and in vehicles.

The (U.S.) tone is one of worry and they told us that we should act like allies, a senior aide to Guatemalas president told Reuters, requesting anonymity as he was not authorized to speak publicly.

Its really a very delicate situation because this could generate more caravans, he said.

On Friday, hundreds of migrants at the head of the caravan had poured through Guatemalan border posts and onto the bridge, but were repelled by dozens of shield-bearing Mexican police. Several complained they had been teargassed.

Drained from days of walking and frustrated, many spent the night in the open. Some stretched towels and garbage bags along the bridge walls, others lay down on backpacks, while a man applied lotion to his tired feet.

Mexicos government, which says it will process migrants claims for asylum individually, vowed to tackle the caravan as U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met top officials in Mexico City. Pompeo urged Mexico to ensure the procession did not reach the United States.

Most of the migrants Reuters spoke to said their ultimate destination was the United States. Some said they hoped to stay in Mexico, but they had no idea how to get the documentation needed to do so.

Still, many were determined to try.

No, Ill fight. Ill try again, said Honduran Hilda Rosa as her four teenage children sat upright, beaming as she pumped the air with her fist.

The native of Tegucigalpa told a familiar tale when asked why she had left Honduras: You know why: no work, violence.

SOME TURNING BACK

Most of the people now caught trying to enter the United States illegally hail from Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala, among the poorest and most violent countries in the Americas.

The caravan members ranged from farmers and bakers to housewives and students, and included a whole block of friends and family from the Honduran city of El Progreso, some of whom said they would start going back to where they came from on Saturday.

Jose Ramon Rodriguez, 45, a construction worker from El Progreso, sat on the Guatemalan end of the bridge late on Friday with his head hanging low, his 9-year-old son tucked against him.

Tomorrow we go home, he said. His companions nodded.

Among them was Osman Melgar, who nursed a bleeding gash on his shin, suffered when he fell as dozens of people packed on the bridge began fleeing when police, according to several eyewitnesses, used tear gas.

Some, including 40-year-old Adriana Consuelo, went under the bridge, paying raftsmen 25 pesos ($1.30) to ferry them across the river on vessels made of giant rubber tires.

After making it to the muddy banks of Mexico, she said, No one checked my documents, as Consuelo headed to a taco restaurant.

But Mexico had stepped up its efforts to stop the flow of people, migration experts said.

Every time theres a (migrant) caravan there are police sent to the southern border  but weve never seen anything as dramatic as were seeing today, said Eunice Rendon, coordinator of migrant advocacy group Agenda Migrante.

This has everything to do with Trump, she added.

(Reporting by Delphine Schrank; Additional reporting by Sofia Menchu in Guatemala City and Anthony Esposito in Mexico City; Editing by Dave Graham, Simon Cameron-Moore and Tom Brown)
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Vladimir Putins hand-picked president is on the verge of making another move to please the Russians.

According to The New York Times, The Trump administration is preparing to tell Russian leaders next week that it is planning to exit the landmark Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty.

As The Hill noted on Saturday, The 1987 pact bans all land-based missile with ranges of 310 to 3,420 miles and includes missiles carrying both nuclear and conventional warheads. The original ban between Moscow and Washington resulted in 2,692 missiles being destroyed.

The treaty worked well for years, despite recent Russian violations. Killing it would remove any incentive for Moscow to even pretend they care about the limits the treaty imposed.

Not only could Russia use cruise and intermediate-range ballistic missiles to its hearts desire, but the United States currently doesnt have any weapon to match what Moscow has.

The Brookings Institution explains:

[O]nce the United States withdraws from the treaty, there is no reason for Russia to even pretend it is observing the limits. Moscow will be free to deploy the 9M729 cruise missile, and an intermediate-range ballistic missile if it wants, without any restraint.  [T]he United States currently has no missile that it could quickly deploy to match the Russians. The integrated strategy included a treaty-compliant research and development program for a U.S. intermediate-range missile (development is allowed short of flight-testing), but it provided little money.  U.S. withdrawal from the INF Treaty is a loser all around. Russian officials probably are celebrating the news.

Trump has been Putins dream

When Hillary Clinton said Donald Trump would be a puppet for Vladimir Putin, she couldnt have been more right. That culminated over the summer when Trump stood before the world and sided with Russia over the United States.

Throughout his presidency, he has threatened our NATO alliances and isolated the United States from some of our closest allies, all while holding brutal dictators and autocrats close  from Russia to North Korea to Saudi Arabia.

Donald Trump is being played by some of Americas most dangerous adversaries, and it could have devastating consequences.

Follow Sean Colarossi on Facebook.
On Friday President Trump called Rep. Greg Gianforte (R-Mont.) a tough cookie because of his assault last year on Ben Jacobs, a reporter for The Guardian.

Jacobs, however, has a different opinion of the Montana Congressman. He said that Gianfortes violent actions actually made him a coward instead of tough.

A tough cookie doesnt attack someone out of nowhere without provocation, for asking a question about health care policy, Jacobs said on CNN, a day after Trump praised Gianforte for physically accosting him in Montana on the day before a special congressional election in May of 2017.

Jacobs also said Gianforte lied about exactly what happened during their meeting, and only told the truth after he became aware that there were audio recordings and eyewitnesses of their encounter.

The Guardian reported in November 2017 that the congressman had originally maintained that Jacobs was the one who had initiated the contact. This information was in fact reported in a police incident report filed at the time. That claim, however, was later contradicted by several journalists who witnessed the incident and told their stories.

The police actually asked me afterwards, was there anything about the congressional budget office that might set him off, and then lie about it, he added. Thats not the action of a tough cookie, thats the action of a coward.

President Trump was in Montana for a rally on Thursday and praised Gianforte as his kind of guy. He also said that the physical assault of a journalist probably helped the Republican win the special election and made him more popular with Montana voters.

Never wrestle him. Never. Any guy that can do a body slam, hes my kind of  hes my guy, Trump said . during the rally in MissoulaWe endorsed Greg really early, but I heard that he had body-slammed a reporter. And he was way up  and I said, Oh, this is terrible, hes going to lose the election. But then I said, Well, wait a minute, I know Montana pretty well, I think it might help him, and it did.

Hes a great guy and a tough cookie, Trump later added.

Trumps comments have been widely condemned in the media. The U.S. editor of The Guardian strongly criticized the president shortly after his rally remarks became widely reported. He said that celebrating the attack of a journalist is an attack on the First Amendment.

At the time of the incident many people believed that it was in fact Trumps violent rhetoric that motivated Gianforte to take violent action against a reporter.

After the incident, Gianforte pled guilty to a misdemeanor charge of assault in June 2017 and was sentenced to a 180-day deferred sentence, 40 hours of community service, 20 hours of anger management and a $300 fine along with an $85 court fee.

Despite assaulting the reporter he won Montanas at-large congressional seat by 6 points on May 25, 2017.
Speaking at the Valdai Discussion Club on October 18, Russian President Vladimir Putin said various countries accuse Russia of transgressions without presenting evidence. He did not specify which accusations, describing them only in general terms such as we did this or that, intervened here, did something there.

Although Putin does not detail the accusations against Russia, Polygraph.info has compiled a list of the most infamous ones, and the evidence for each.



At the top of the list is Putins invasion of Ukraine and annexation of that countrys Crimean peninsula. While Putin and his government claim this was a matter of self-determination decided by a peaceful referendum, the annexation was carried out by military force and the referendum had a low turnout. Most of the world regards Crimea as part of Ukraine under Russian occupation.

Besides annexing Crimea, undeclared Russian forces also invaded and occupied part of eastern Ukraine. Here, Russia generally denies all involvement, although Putin once admitted to having some military personnel in the Donbas. Once again, Polygraph.info has conducted several fact checks on this claim and debunked the official Russian position that the conflict in eastern Ukraine is just a civil war.

Another result of that war was the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine on July 17, 2014, which killed all 298 civilians aboard. To date, international investigations have pointed to a Buk-TELAR surface-to-air missile system, tied directly to a Russian military unit, as having brought the airliner down. However, Russia has produced many alternative explanations, some of them contradictory or physically impossible. Polygraph.info evaluated a sampling of these theories to compare them with the work of the international Joint Investigative Team.

In Syria, Russia has been accused of complicity in war crimes -- both directly, because of indiscriminate aerial bombing of cities, and indirectly, for supporting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The Assad regime has been repeatedly accused of using chemical weapons, and while such weapons were deployed by his own forces, Russia has routinely spread propaganda denying their use. Russia used its UN Security Council veto to hamper efforts to investigate chemical weapons incidents.

The most recent long-running scandal was the failed attempt to assassinate ex-Russian spy Sergei Skripal using a deadly chemical agent known as Novichok. Initially, Russian authorities and state media responded with a flurry of alternative explanations, much like the MH17 case. British authorities subsequently released photographs of the two suspects in the case. The two suspects were interviewed by RT editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan, but their cover stories fell apart under international scrutiny. Instead of answering the allegations, Russian officials have tried to discredit Bellingcat, the organization that helped uncover the identity of the two suspects, claiming it receives information from Western intelligence agencies.

These are among the most conspicuous of the accusations that Vladimir Putins comment could encompass, which his accusers backed up with evidence for their claims. A number of others could be cited.

Additionally, Puts comments at the Valdai Discussion Club included a number of false or misleading claims, which Polygraph.info has covered or is now fact checking.

Among them:



Putins repetition of his oft-stated false claim that Crimea is ours.



Putins remark that, we dont create tensions in international relations.



Putins premature suggestion that Chinas economy has grown larger than the U .S. economy, expected in the future but not yet.




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President Donald Trump said Saturday he will exit a landmark arms control agreement the United States signed with the former Soviet Union, saying that Russia is violating the pact and it's preventing the U.S. from developing new weapons.

The 1987 pact, which helps protect the security of the U.S. and its allies in Europe and the Far East, prohibits the United States and Russia from possessing, producing or test-flying a ground-launched cruise missile with a range of 300 to 3,400 miles.

"Russia has violated the agreement. They have been violating it for many years," Trump said after a rally in Elko, Nevada. "And we're not going to let them violate a nuclear agreement and go out and do weapons and we're not allowed to."

The agreement has constrained the U.S. from developing new weapons, but America will begin developing them unless Russia and China agree not to possess or develop the weapons, Trump said. China is not currently party to the pact.

"We'll have to develop those weapons, unless Russia comes to us and China comes to us and they all come to us and say let's really get smart and let's none of us develop those weapons, but if Russia's doing it and if China's doing it, and we're adhering to the agreement, that's unacceptable," he said.

National Security Adviser John Bolton was headed Saturday to Russia, Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia. His first stop is Moscow, where he'll meet with Russian leaders, including Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev. His visit comes at a time when Moscow-Washington relations also remain frosty over the Ukrainian crisis, the war in Syria and allegations of Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential race and upcoming U.S. midterm elections.

There was no immediate comment from the Kremlin or the Russian Foreign Ministry on Trump's announcement.

Trump didn't provide details about violations, but in 2017, White House national security officials said Russia had deployed a cruise missile in violation of the treaty. Earlier, the Obama administration accused the Russians of violating the pact by developing and testing a prohibited cruise missile. Russia has repeatedly denied that it has violated the treaty and has accused the United States of not being in compliance.

Defence Secretary James Mattis has previously suggested that a Trump administration proposal to add a sea-launched cruise missile to America's nuclear arsenal could provide the U.S. with leverage to try to convince Russia to come back in line on the arms treaty.

Russia's Foreign Ministry said in February that the country would only consider using nuclear weapons in response to an attack involving nuclear or other weapons of mass destruction, or in response to a non-nuclear assault that endangered the survival of the Russian nation.

"We are slowly slipping back to the situation of cold war as it was at the end of the Soviet Union, with quite similar consequences, but now it could be worse because (Russian President Vladimir) Putin belongs to a generation that had no war under its belt," said Dmitry Oreshkin, an independent Russian political analyst. "These people aren't as much fearful of a war as people of Brezhnev's epoch. They think if they threaten the West properly, it gets scared."
Adam Parker has covered many beats and topics for The Post and Courier, including race and history, religion, and the arts. He is the author of "Outside Agitator: The Civil Rights Struggle of Cleveland Sellers Jr.," published by Hub City Press.
Gregory Yee covers the city of Charleston. He's a native Angeleno and previously covered crime and courts for the Press-Telegram in Long Beach, CA. He studied journalism and Spanish literature at the University of California, Irvine.
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.
Columbia/Myrtle Beach Managing Editor

Andy Shain runs The Post and Courier's newsrooms based in Columbia and Myrtle Beach. He was editor of Free Times and has been a reporter and editor for newspapers in Charlotte, Columbia and Myrtle Beach.
Political Editor

Schuyler Kropf is The Post and Courier political editor. He has covered every major political race in South Carolina dating to 1988, including for U.S. Senate, governorship, the Statehouse and Republican and Democratic presidential primaries.
Earlier this month, Justin and I traveled there for the wedding of dear friends. We savored time with the wedding crew and then explored the city of Asheville for a couple days. After that, we headed out to the mountains near Pisgah National Forest and Great Smokey Mountain National Park.

The trip was a dream come true, and we both found ourselves enamored by the weather, culture, history and landscape of the region.

A special highlight for me was the time we spent in the mountains near Hot Springs, N.C. We stayed in a small cabin that backed up to 100 acres of forest. The land was available to cabin guests for hiking and exploration and included a waterfall, mineral spring, two labyrinths, a whimsical "Mermaid Lodge," and an immense array of walkable trails. The lush greenery and fresh, higher-altitude air were refreshing.

Heavy rains passed through while we were at the cabin and lasted for a day. A few hours after the storm passed, we headed out for a hike.

Just over an hour into the expedition, we walked through an open field of tall grass. As we reentered the wooded forest, I looked up to see blue sky peering through the clouds. A few moments after that, the brilliant sun broke through for about a minute. Without a conscious thought, I reflexively turned toward the sun and stretched my arms wide as I stood in the rays. In those moments, I experienced a tiny, mysterious eternity  a stretch of time packed with limitless bliss and a sense of immense gratitude. I felt free and peaceful, connected and aware.

Unbeknownst to me, Justin was standing behind me at the time, and he captured the moment on his cell phone camera. Im thankful to have photographic evidence of such a brief, impactful experience.

Gods radiant peace, love, and glory often shine into life unexpectedly. When those special occasions arise, what more can we do but turn toward them with open arms ready to revel in the wonder?

Many worship services conclude with a final blessing thats something along the lines of: "May the Lord bless and keep you, may the Lords face shine on you and be gracious to you, may the Lord look upon you with favor and give you peace" (a variation of Numbers 4:24-26).

Those familiar words now have an added layer of meaning for me. As the sun peeked through the clouds on a mountain on the North Carolina/Tennessee border, I felt a glimpse of the face of a loving Creator shining upon the world. It was a powerful physical experience of a blessing Ive heard recited hundreds of times.

I will be on the lookout for more tiny eternities, and when they occur, I pray for the awareness to turn toward them with an open heart and arms stretched wide.
Defence Minister Nimala Sitharaman met Singapore's Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean on the sidelines of the ASEAN Defence Ministers' Meet here on Saturday.

The 12th ASEAN Defence Ministers' Meeting (ADMM) and the 5th ADMM-Plus are being held in Singapore and attended by the defence ministers from the ASEAN countries.

The two day conference which began on Friday is also attended by defence ministers from Australia, China, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, Russia, and the US.

"Smt Sitharaman in a courtesy meeting with Mr Teo Chee Hean, Deputy PM of Singapore on the sidelines of ASEAN Defence Ministers' Meet (Plus) in Singapore," Office of Defence Minister said in a tweet along with the pictures.

Sitharaman is scheduled to meet her Singaporean counterpart Ng Eng Heng later in the day.

Earlier, she spoke on terrorism at the Fifth ASEAN Defence Ministers' Meeting-Plus (ADMM-Plus).

"We condemn terrorism in all its forms and manifestations given that it constitutes one of the most serious threats to international peace and security," said a joint statement by the ADMM-Plus Defence Ministers on 'Preventing and Countering the Threat of Terrorism'.

"We reaffirm that any acts of terrorism are criminal and unjustifiable regardless of their motivations, whenever, wherever, and by whomsoever committed, and remain determined to contribute further to enhancing the effectiveness of the overall effort to fight this scourge on a global level," it said.

The ministers emphasised the importance of cooperation between states and their competent bodies who bear the primary responsibility in preventing and combatting terrorism.

"We call upon all states to fulfil their international counter-terrorism obligations, including taking lawful steps to prevent the commission of terrorist acts, eliminating the financing of terrorism and other material support there to, suppressing the flow of foreign terrorist fighters, and preventing the recruitment and movement of terrorists,"it said.

The ADMM-Plus Ministers also reaffirmed the grouping as a key component of a robust, effective and open regional security architecture that promotes mutual trust and confidence among the defence establishments.

This is the second time that Singapore is chairing the ADMM since its establishment in 2006 and the first time to chair the ADMM-Plus since its establishment in 2010.

ASEAN is a regional intergovernmental organisation comprising comprising 10 Southeast Asian countries, which promotes international cooperation and facilitates economic, political, security, military, educational, and sociocultural integration.

-PTI
Three weeks ago I wrote about being inundated with nonnative house sparrows and house finches at my backyard feeders. Word must have gotten out somehow in the bird world, because since then I have seen dozens of a migrating native sparrow species scrounging for food in my backyard.

White-throated sparrows can be easily mistaken for the nonnative house sparrows, which are not in the sparrow family. However, a good head-on look will reveal the significant white patch on the throat of the sparrow, along with a yellow patch and some white bars on the head, giving away its true identity.

During their fall and spring migrations, there are a few days, sometimes a couple weeks, when white-throated sparrows are the dominant birds seen in the woods and around feeders, especially those with nearby cover. I cant even guess how many of these tiny birds must be on the move throughout the state during those times, but I believe it would certainly number in the millions.

Although often seen near feeding stations, from my observations, these always seemingly-active sparrows seem to prefer feeding on the ground, scratching away at the grass and soil seeking out seeds that may have fallen from a feeder, or just finding seeds naturally deposited there. Some will venture onto platform feeders, the closer to the ground the better, and I cant recall seeing any of them on my hanging sunflower seed feeder. Bird-watchers who want to encourage these birds often will spread some of the seeds on the ground to entice them to stay and eat.

Over the years, especially at Quarry Hill, I probably caught hundreds, perhaps a few thousand, white-throated sparrows, more often in the nets we set up near feeding stations, rather than the traps we would put directly on the feeders. When they were into full migration, we would say it was a "wave" of white-throats moving through.

I recall significant color variations in the white-throats I would catch, often due to age or sex of the bird, although my banding bible would not let me call a brilliantly colored white-throat, with a bright yellow patch by each eye, a mature male.

Instead, I would need to carefully measure the wing chord of each bird to try to determine its sex, as researchers had concluded males are slightly bigger than females. This is opposite the saw-whet owls I catch, or, in fact, most all raptors, where females are larger.

To measure the white-throats wing chord, holding it with one hand I would carefully use my thumb and index finger to spread open the wing enough to expose the wing tips and the bend in the wing. With my other hand I would place a small metric ruler under the wing and note the length of the wing chord. If it measured 67 millimeters or less I could be fairly confident it was a female, and 72 or more a male. In between those numbers I would have to put down a U for unknown.

While white-throat sparrows are quite common during these spring and fall migrations, a similar looking sparrow, the white-crowned sparrow, is not. The white-crowned has more pronounced and brighter white stripes on its head, with just a dull white patch on its throat.

I suspect in a good year I might see a half dozen white-crowned sparrows, compared to dozens or hundreds of the white-throats. We are on the edge of the white-crowned sparrows range, while right in the middle of the migration route for the white-throats, which breed mostly in Canada and winter in the southern U.S. and beyond.

The dominant call of the white-throated sparrow, which I usually hear in the spring, begins for me at least to sound like the call of the chickadee, with three high-pitched notes, but it is then followed by three more different three-note sequences. People who like to put words to birds sounds use "O-oh sweet Canada, Canada, Canada" for the white-throats main call.

I hope some of you have been seeing these little white-throated sparrows around, as they will soon disappear, heading for better climes further south. If not, keep an eye open for them next spring.
Rochester violin teacher DeAnn Spencer was honored earlier this month with the Southeastern Minnesota Youth Orchestras Bravura Award for Inspiring Student Excellence through Music Education.

DeAnn, who came to Rochester more 40 years ago, grew up in Utah surrounded by the arts. Her father, a college professor, enjoyed playing the piano, and her mother was a prima ballerina. When orchestra began in fifth grade, DeAnns parents signed her up to play the violin.

DeAnn credits her own violin teacher, Ray Haslam, for "everything I am. He loved his students and brought out the best in them."

Whenever she returned home to Utah to visit family, rather than taking along her own instrument, she always borrowed Rays violin. When he died, he left instructions that DeAnn was to play his violin at his funeral service.

Today DeAnn has 45 violin students, ranging in age from 3 to 18. In addition to her violin instruction, she also performs herself, frequently playing at weddings and other events.

She is passionate about exposing her students to all varieties of music, not just classical. Her student recitals during the year may showcase music from movies or a collection of love songs or other themes.

Learning she had received the teaching award, DeAnn was "just floored," she said. "It came out of the blue."

Opting not to give an acceptance speech for the award, DeAnn asked to have some of her students perform instead. She said, "Its all about them."

DeAnns love of music is evident, as she shared, "So many things divide us, but music unites us."

This story has a hook

Last month Owen Jensenwoke up on his 11th birthday, opened presents (including a fishing hat that his grammy made for him), and headed off to fifth grade at Riverside Elementary, sporting his new fishing hat. Owens favorite activity is fishing. He loves to fish up north in the summertime and ice fish in the wintertime.

Upon arrival at school, Riverside principal Matt Ruzeksaw Owen and his "Grumpy Old Men fishing hat."

"We capitalize on moments here at Riverside," Matt said. "We dont ask, Should we? Instead, we ask How can we? And my great teachers just do it."

With a river in the schools backyard, Matts past experience partnering with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and a classroom set of fishing poles previously donated by Scheels on hand, it was a moment that was meant to be seized.

And so, Matt called Owen out of class. "We walked across the parking lot and down to the river. He caught four fish with four casts," Matt said. Owen released them all.

Upon returning to class, Owen gleefully exclaimed to his classmates, "Guess what? I went fishing!"

They all shouted, "No way!"

Owens mom, Stacy Jensen, is thrilled with Matt, describing him as "friendly" and "wonderful." After Owens birthday fishing trip, she said of Matt, "I just wanted to shake his hand."
Raymond A. (Ray) Lundquist, of Rochester, died Oct. 16, 2018, at Madonna Towers care facility after a brief illness.

Ray was born Oct. 6, 1927, and raised in Rush City, Minn., to Aaron W. and Florence Norris Lundquist. After high school, he was drafted in the Army and served in the Pacific theater during World War II as part of the occupation forces in Tokyo.

After leaving the Army, Ray attended the University of Minnesota, then pursued a career in the printing business and worked for newspapers in Wisconsin and Minnesota. The last 22 years of his career were at the Rochester Post Bulletin.

Music, drama and genealogy interested Ray. He sang in the choirs at church, the Army and the university. He was a member of the Mesabi Choralaires and the Rochester Male Chorus. At Our Saviors Lutheran church, he was a longtime choir member and directed Lenten dramas annually and also taught Sunday school. As the family historian, he traced all branches of the family tree up to eight generations.

Living in the north country, Ray was an active outdoorsman and annual camping trips across the country instilled the love of the outdoors in his children. After the children were grown, their travels took them overseas. Their trips included Europe, China, Africa, Australia, the south Pacific and New Zealand.

Besides raising their own children, Ray and Myrna were very much involved in caring for children in need, from newborns to teenage and handicapped youth through foster care for more than 30 years. In addition, foreign exchange students made Ray and Myrnas home their home during their visits to the United States.

Volunteering was important to Ray. Ray served his community in the Boy Scouts, 4-H, church youth and in the schools as well as a volunteer and educator at Quarry Hill Nature Center. He was a charter member of the Rochester 76 Lions Club, worked with Special Olympics, Retired and Senior Volunteer Program, Rochester Civic Music and the Rochester Male Chorus.

Ray is survived by his wife, Myrna; children, Rae Ellen (Keith) Lundquist of Minneapolis, Robyn (Michael) Sloan of Lyons, Colorado, Valeria (Ricky) Janka of Lake City, Minn. and Erik (Carol) Lundquist of Juneau, Alaska; 10 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren.

As per his wishes, his body has been donated to the Mayo Medical School in Rochester for educational purposes. Interment of his remains will be at the family cemetery in Rush City at a later date.

Memorial services will be held on Oct. 27 at 2 p.m. at Our Saviors Lutheran Church, 2124 Viola Road NE, Rochester. Visitation will be held one hour before the service.

In lieu of flowers, gifts can be made to Quarry Hill Nature Center and Our Saviors Lutheran Church in his name.
The horrors of mass shootings, appalling allegations of sex abuse, and the protests and divisiveness in our nation make the headlines and lead the news.

Folks shake their heads in disbelief, saddened but relieved that the violence and the sexual assaults are somewhere else. These tragedies are not in my neighborhood, not in my town.

While those devastating single acts are not local, another insidious threat exists within our communities: Domestic violence.

Gun violence, threats, rape and sex assault as weapons to control women and men and children are in every neighborhood. Domestic violence goes on behind closed doors as crimes that include rape of a partner, physical and sexual abuse of children, and violence by one family member against another. Violence can escalate without anyone outside the family knowing it exists.

Indeed, the #metoo movement to raise awareness of rape crimes did not start with a tweet by actress Alyssa Milano urging people to speak out and produce a sense of the magnitude of the problem. It started with activist Tarana Burke as a movement to draw attention to rape crimes, inspired by a childs story of domestic sexual assault by her mothers live-in boyfriend.

Ask any local police department: Domestic violence calls are among the worst they witness and at the top of the list for situations that put police at risk.

The numbers are staggering:

 More than 1 in 3 women have experienced rape, physical violence or stalking by an intimate partner in their lifetime.

 About 7 million women are raped or physically assaulted by a current or former intimate partner each year.

 One in five women and one in 77 men has experienced rape in his or her lifetime.

Nationwide, an average of three women are killed by a current or former intimate partner every day. In three weeks time, that amounts to a greater death toll than the Las Vegas shooting in 2017.

Those statistics are from the National Network to End Domestic Violence, which is a sponsor of Domestic Violence Awareness Month every October.

The purpose of setting aside this month is to raise awareness of the crimes, often against women and children, that go on within families and in dating relationships.

Children are particularly vulnerable as both victims of and witnesses to domestic violence, with approximately 15.5 million children exposed to domestic violence every year, according to information on the Network website. The costs  to employers, law enforcement, victims services providers and entire communities  is astronomical.

Awareness can not only help prevent crimes from escalating by reporting them but can also boost services to the victims and witnesses of domestic violence.

Locally, the response by law enforcement and courts is exemplary.

Many police departments in this region are trained in intervention. Victim services providers such as the Womens Center of Montgomery, The Crime Victims Center of Chester County, Laurel House, and Mission Kids Child Advocacy Center offer support to victims.

In a ceremony last year in Norristown, Commissioners Chairwoman Dr. Val Arkoosh said, I wish that there was not a need for this effort to exist, but we know that domestic violence has been with us forever and will probably, sadly, continue to be with us for the foreseeable future.

While we worry about the next mass shooting or the next public figures transgressions, violence continues to claim victims in our own communities.

Domestic Violence Awareness Month is a movement to open closed doors.

 Domestic violence does not occur in one horrific tragedy, Montgomery County Judge Kelly Wall said at the 2017 ceremony, it occurs victim by victim on a daily basis.

Stopping it begins with awareness.

Ignoring it would be the real tragedy of our times.
We await the arrival of the latest caravan of aliens from Central America proclaiming their intention of entering the United States unlawfully via our southern border. I believe but do not know that this would be what is known as an invasion under Section 9, Article 1 of the Constitution: The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it.

President Trump complains justifiably about the Democrats lack of enthusiasm for border enforcement. It is not entirely clear what the Constitution means by an invasion. See Seth Lipskys related discussion here. Regarding the presidents authority to suspend habeas corpus, see James A. Dueholm, Lincolns Suspension of the Writ of Habeas Corpus: An Historical and Constitutional Analysis. I wonder whether anyone has brought to the presidents attention the possible application of his power to suspend the writ of habeas corpus.

In his Life of Johnson, James Boswell quotes Samuel Johnsons memorable adage: Depend upon it, sir, when a man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it concentrates his mind wonderfully. Drawing attention to the presidents power to suspend the writ, if I am not mistaken, would have the added advantage of wonderfully concentrating the public mind.

UPDATE: I see I am thinking along the same lines as Newt Gingrich in The caravan is an attack on America  Stop the caravan now.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is apparently unschooled in the arts of scandal management. Having now conceded for the first time that Jamal Khashoggi died in the kingdoms consulate in Istanbul earlier this month, the kingdom claims that claiming that Khashoggis death came after an argument and a fistfight with men in the facility. According to Politicos story, the kingdom has arrested 18 Saudi nationals suspected of involvement in Khashoggis death, according to its Foreign Ministry. Four senior intelligence officials and a top royal adviser have been fired, apparently for their alleged connection to the episode. No word as yet on who landed the haymaker.

I gather that approximately no one is buying the fistfight part of the story. From the perspective of the kingdom, the truth cant be told, but it will come out eventually. Its hard to imagine how the fist fight story can mitigate the public relations problem the kingdom now faces.

Someone needs to remind us how to maintain an alliance with unsavory regimes. It really wont do to be force-fed lessons in morality and statesmanship by Democrats who have supported the alignment of the United States with the vile regime of Iran. The Iranian regime is tyrannical and murderous, of course, but this is no great distinction in the Middle East. The mullahs lavishly support terrorist groups of the Islamic persuasion. They are an avowed enemy of the United States about which Democratic solons now calling out Saudi Arabia have approximately nothing to say.

In Why Is Khashoggi Being Made The Defining Issue Of U.S. Foreign Policy?, noted here by Paul, Ben Weingarten comments on the insane outburst of moralism among the Democrats. [Their] concerns were evidently subordinated when the Obama administration was consummating the Iran Deal, he writes, supporting the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and all manner of jihadists in Libya, and engaging in the Russian reset. Certainly the hundreds of thousands dead in Iran-backed Syria, where Americas chief contributions included arming ISIS and ceding control to Russia, are a testament to the establishments comfort with setting aside values when pursuing its interests. Dont miss Weingartens column.
In a nearby post John comments on Republican state senator Karin Housleys race against appointed incumbent and metro liberal nullity Tina Smith. I have no sense of how that race is going, but it is only one of two Senate races on the ballot. Incumbent Democrat Amy Klobuchar is running for reelection against Republican Jim Newberger. I do have a sense of how that race is going. Running a campaign of characteristically misleading vacuity, Senator Klobuchar holds a prohibitive lead. Newberger is a state representative and a worthy candidate. This race is nevertheless mission impossible. Senator Klobuchar has the people of Minnesota thinking she is the greatest things since yellow margarine. Everyone except her former employees and members of the press who have had to deal with her thinks she is nice. She may be a near exception to the proposition that you cant fool all the people all the time. She even has some of her Republican colleagues in the Senate drinking her Kool-Aid.

Its enough to make one think Minnesota is a lost cause. In the House races, however, Minnesota has presented the GOP with its best pickup opportunity in the country. Running for the open Eighth District seat north of the Twin Cities  the huge district runs from the area north of the Twin Cities up to Hibbing (where Bob Dylan grew up), Duluth and the rest of the Iron Range  Republican Pete Stauber is going to defeat Democrat Joe Radinovich. Im not in the prediction business, but I can read the tea leaves. The DCCC has pulled out of this race. Formerly a Democratic stronghold, the Eighth District has become Trump country.

The First District (southern Minnesota including Rochester) also features a contest for an open seat. Republican Jim Hagedorn has a good chance to prevail over Democrat Dan Feehan. He seems to hold a small lead, though Feehan inarguably leads in the fundraising department.

Republicans could therefore flip two of Minnesotas eight House seats. By the same token, however, Democrats threaten to flip two Twin Cities suburban districts with incumbent Republican congressmen. These districts reflect President Trumps poor favorability in such districts nationwide. Breitbart accurately covers these races here. Disclosure and personal note: My cousin Dean Phillips is the Democratic challenger to Erik Paulsen in the Third District race. I love Dean and his family. I havent covered the race because of the personal conflict and have also asked John to refrain.

All four of Minnesotas constitutional offices  governor, attorney general, secretary of state and auditor  are also on the ballot. All four of the Republican candidates appeared at our packed meeting of the Twin Cities Republican Jewish Coalition at the Sabes Jewish Community Center in St. Louis Park this past Sunday. I was blown away by the quality of the candidates. They made me proud to be a Republican. Chapter president Mark Miller presided with his usual enthusiasm, in this case richly justified. Each of these candidates deserves to win his or her race. Here I want to note them and encourage Minnesota readers to give it up and contribute to them:

For governor: Jeff Johnson. Jeff is a solid conservative. In 2014 Jeff ran a strong uphill race against incumbent Mark Dayton, losing 50-44. Jeff is a Hennepin County Commissioner, but he has a lot of goodwill among Republicans around the state. Heavily outspent, he nevertheless defeated Tim Pawlenty in virtually every precinct in the Republican primary. He would be a great improvement over Dayton and Dayton Democratic wannabe successor Tim Walz. Walz is a phony moderate who buys the radical Democratic agenda in every jot and tittle. Contribute to Jeffs campaign here.

For attorney general: Democratic candidate Keith Ellison is a national disgrace. Has any statewide candidate even been sighted with him yet? Ellisons hustle should come to an end right here, right now. Republican Doug Wardlow is an excellent candidate. Although no Republican has won this office since the election of 1966, this is a winnable race. Contribute to Dougs campaign here.

For secretary of state: John Howe. John is the former mayor of Red Wing with an impressive background in business. He is a public spirited man. His motto is Integrity Counts. John is running against incumbent Democrat Steve Simon. Four years ago, the secretary of state race was the closest of all the statewide races, with Simon winning by just 22,400 votes out of 1.8 million or so cast. And he did that while Dayton was beating Jeff Johnson by 5.5 points and Al Franken was burying Mike McFadden by double digits. Since then, most of Simons publicity has been negative  defying a court order to turn over information on ineligible voters. Footnote: Johns son was accepted for admission to all five service academies. Contribute to Johns campaign here.

For state auditor: Pam Myhra. Pam had me laughing Sunday night. She emphasizes that she is actually qualified for the job. She is a CPA with work experience as a KPMG audit manager. Not unreasonably, her motto is An Auditor for State Auditor. This isnt her first go-round in electoral politics either; she also served two terms in the Minnesota House of Representatives. Pams superiority over her DFL opponent is almost comical. Her opponent is a middle school math teacher who has served on a Dayton task force seeking to raise taxes. She even brags about it. Contribute to Pams campaign here.
What will happen on November 6? I have no idea. But heres the point: no one else has any idea, either.

Sometimes, the choice is between polls and common sense. Or, as Groucho used to say, who you gonna believe, me or your lying eyes? I go with my lying eyes every time.

So, for instance, the polls have generally shown Arizonas Senate race between fighter pilot Martha McSally and bizarre leftist Kyrsten Simena to be close, with Simena often in the lead. This is ridiculous. Simena is not just a nut, she is an anti-Arizona nut. At least four or five videos have been released in which she describes her own state as the meth lab of democracy and says that Arizonans are crazy. Repeatedly. Over and over. And Simena has a long history as a far leftist. She denounced American soldiers and protested the Iraq war in a pink tutu. If she were running for President of Code Pink, she would be a strong candidate. As a candidate for the United States Senate, she is hopeless.

This is just one of her disqualifying, far-left ventures: organizing protests against the George W. Bush administration in which she made a series of assertions that are more or less insane. Click to enlarge:

Bad news for Ms. Sinema: George W. Bush carried Arizona by 10 points in 2004.

The latest Arizona poll, according to Real Clear Politics, shows McSally pulling away with a six-point lead. That probably understates her ultimate margin of victory, but at least it is directionally accurate. Meanwhile, many have fretted over polls that showed Simena actually winning.

Here is another example: Real Clear Politics reports NBC News/Marist polls in Minnesota, in which the DemocratsTim Walz for governor and the faceless Tina Smith for senatorare leading their GOP opponents, Jeff Johnson and Karin Housley, by 17 points and 16 points, respectively. Those numbers are absurd. No knowledgeable person in Minnesota believes them. Other polls show Johnson and Housley both within three points and closing rapidly. I have access to private polling that does not suffer from the bias that must infect the NBCs surveythere is no other explanation for its being so far off in favor of the Democratsand those polls are consistent with the three-point margins that have been publicly reported. I have long predicted that Housley will win, and Johnson has a good shot, although he could fall slightly short. This is not based on poll data as much as the observations of my own lying eyes.

I think close observers in any given state have a better feel for what is happening than conventional pollsters. Another instance: my sense is that knowledgeable people on the ground in Tennessee believe that Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn is pulling away from former governor Phil Bredesen. What do the polls say? The New York Times poll has Blackburn up by 14 points, while Vanderbilt has Bredesen up by one. The Times survey may be unduly optimistic, by my standards, but I think Blackburn will win because of what I hear from people on the ground in Tennessee, not what I hear from pollsters.

All of which is to say, the polls probably will tell you whatever you want to hear. Given the experience of 2016, and the fact that pollsters have to make more and more calls to find, say, 500 voters who are willing to talk with them, their findings become less reliable all the time. The bottom line is that no one knows what will happen in November. Therefore: 1) Vote! and 2) Its not too late to volunteer for a local campaign. The wheel is very much in spin, and many voters are still making up their minds.
Arise and take our stand for freedom as in the olden time. Winston Churchill

Proclaim Liberty throughout All the land unto All the Inhabitants Thereof. Inscription on the Liberty Bell
To figure how not to think about events in the Middle East, its often useful to consult Tom Friedman. Yesterday, Friedman appeared on PBS with Christiane Amanpour to discuss the murder of Jamal Khashoggi.

Friedman looks like a fool in the wake of the murder because last year he wrote a gushing column praising Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), Saudi Arabias powerful crown prince, for implementing a top-down Arab spring. Friedman later went so far as to direct profanity at those who criticized him for this stance.

Amanpour asked Friedman about his praise of MBS in view of the crown princes probable involvement in the murder of Khashoggi. Friedman prefaced his answer by saying he wanted to address this on Amanpours program, as opposed (I assume) to a regular cable news show, because the question requires time to answer.

Friedman is right that theres no short explanation for his failure to get MBS right. As it turned out, though, theres no coherent satisfactory long explanation, either. Friedman said he always knew there was a big upside and big downside to Khashoggi. He hoped the big upside would prevail. That it hasnt is due, according to Friedman, to dark forces that, behind closed doors, managed to gain sway over MBS.

Dark forces influencing Saudi policy? Who could have foreseen that?

But how, Amanpour wanted to know, should the U.S. proceed if MBS had Khashoggi killed? Friedman proposed that we should no longer support the Saudis in their struggle against Iran.

Does this mean we should support Iran? Not at all. Instead, Friedman says, the U.S. should mediate the dispute between Saudi Arabia and Iran, so as to prevent these powers and their allies from destroying the Middle East.

Thats a great idea  simplicity itself  but why stop there? Why not usher in an era of good feeling between Iran and Israel too?

Friedmans praise for MBS was naive. His belief in Americas ability successfully to mediate disputes between the most bitter of enemies is stupid.

How is the Trump administration supposed to get the Iranian mullahs  the death to America crew  to accept the U.S. as a mediator. The Obama administration couldnt gain the mullahs good will through the nuclear deal and the bribery associated with it.

Without giving the Trump administration any credit  we cant have that  Friedman suggested that Iran might now be willing to talk with the U.S. Thats conceivable, given the pain Trump is inflicting on it.

But talking to the U.S., if it happens, is a far cry from allowing us to broker an Iran-Saudi Arabia deal. If talks occur, our objectives should be to strengthen the nuclear deal and to stop Irans use of force in the region. It should not be the pie-in-the-sky of bringing Iran and Saudis together.

Nor, for that matter, did Friedman attempt to explain why the Saudis would accept Trumps good offices were he to try to mediate between Saudi Arabia and Iran. Indeed, Friedmans explanation for why his high hopes for MBS were dashed  the dark forces theory  undercuts his prescription.

On Amanpours program, Friedman claimed that the Saudi leadership is now driven by deep and wildly implausible conspiracy theories. If so, it isnt going to be wanting the U.S. to broker a reconciliation with Iran, and our efforts to do so would only reinforce the conspiracy theory crowd. Indeed, one need not be a Saudi conspiracy theorist to understand that the Iranians are hell-bent on destroying the Saudi regime.

Friedman seems prone to magical thinking, both in his explanation for MSBs behavior (black magic, in effect) and in his prescription for Americas Saudi policy. Apparently, Friedman prefers magical thinking to choosing between the two realistic options we have: (1) remaining on the Saudis side even now that MBSs true nature is there for all to see and (2) turning neutral, and thus being sidelined, in a momentous dispute between a pro-American regime and an anti-American one.

Failing to recognize that these are the options is how not to think about the Middle East.
According to Goldstein Research, major driver in global autosamplers market is huge growth in food and beverage industry

Autosamplers Market

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According to Goldstein Research, major driver in global autosamplers market is huge growth in food and beverage industry. In the world of stringent norms for production quality and to ensure longer shelf life of the product, autosamplers plays an important role to measure the threats including microbial and chemical contamination. Market players are providing specially tailored products for the food industry customers to expand their business across the industry. Global autosamplers market Outlook also includes product development, marketing strategy and investment strategies adopted by major market players in order to expand their business across the globe. Further, growing healthcare and food industries has significantly augmented the demand for autosamplers in their testing and R&D facilities, owing to which market is witnessing considerable growth.Browse Full Report:Market SegmentationOn the basis of our in-depth analysis, global autosamplers market can be segmented as follows:By Product Type Autosampler Systems LC Autosamplers GC Autosamplers Liquid Autosamplers Headspace Autosamplers All-in-one Autosamplers Autosamplers Accessories Syringes and Needles Vials SeptumBy End Users Healthcare Sector Oil & Gas Sector Food & Beverage Industry Environmental Testing Industry Others (Chemical Industry etc.)Based on Geography North America (U.S. & Canada) Autosamplers Market {Market Share (%), Market Size(USD Billion)} Latin America (Brazil, Mexico, Argentina & Rest of Latin America) Autosamplers Market {Market Share (%), Market Size(USD Billion)} Europe (The U.K., Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Poland, Sweden &RoE) Autosamplers Market {Market Share (%), Market Size(USD Billion)} Asia-Pacific (China, India, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Rest of Asia) Autosamplers Market {Market Share (%), Market Size(USD Billion)} Middle East & Africa (GCC, South Africa, North Africa, RoMEA) Autosamplers Market {Market Share (%), Market Size(USD Billion)}Download Exclusive Sample Report:Global Autosamplers Market Outlook 2024 contains a detailed overview of the global autosamplers market. On the basis of our in-depth analysis, market can be segmented in terms of market segmentation by product type and by end users.Further, for the in-depth analysis, Global Autosamplers Market Report encompasses the industry growth drivers, market challenges, risk analysis, market attractiveness, BPS (Base Point Scale) analysis, Porters five force model and SWOT analysis. This market report also includes competitive outlook of some of the major players profiling of companies such as Agilent, Bio-Rad, Falcon, Ge Healthcare, Gilson, HTA Srl, Jasco, Leco, Merck, Perkinelmer, Restek, Scion. The company profiles include business strategy, geographical revenue distribution, major information of the companies which encompasses business outlook, products, services and industries catered, financial analysis of the company and recent developments. Overall, the report represents the global autosamplers market trends along with market forecast that will help industry consultants, technology providers, existing players searching for expansion opportunities, new players examining possibilities and other stakeholders to bring into line their market-centric approaches according to the ongoing and expected trends in the future.Key queries countered in this global autosamplers market report What is the global autosamplers market size by 2024 and what would be the expected growth rate of sales? What are the autosamplers market trends? What are the dynamics which are driving this market? What are the major barriers to autosamplers market growth? Who are the prominent vendors in this market space? What are the market prospects for the current and entry-level players?Browse Similar Report:Browse Similar Report on Sterility Testing Market published by "Goldstein Research". The Global sterility testing market is anticipated to reach USD 1.3 billion, with a CAGR of 12.1% during the forecast period of 2017-2025. The report shows market size, trends, industry analysis, regional outlook, demand and growth assessment by product, test, application, geography
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Being one of the premier institutions in the country, the name IIPM needs no introduction. The institute has built up its outstanding reputation for nearly 45 years and has recently added another feather to its cap in the form of the Economic Times B-School Ranking 2018 where IIPM has bagged top rankings under various categories.The Economic Times recently carried out an initiative to rank various business schools throughout the country on the basis of responses from Indias leading 500 corporations. Functional heads from the IT, HR, Finance, Marketing and Production departments belonging to companies listed in the ET 500 list were asked to rank B-schools across the nation.The results of this B-school ranking came as a proud moment for IIPM. While IIPM has received an overall ranking of 26 across India, Marketing and IT functional professionals have bestowed the ranks of 20 and 16 respectively to the illustrious institute.According to Dr. Arindam Chaudhuri, Honorary Director of the IIPM Think Tank at IIPM, this is a reaffirmation of the exemplary positioning that the institute holds within India Inc., purely because of the relentless focus the institute has maintained on providing world-class education, global exposure and industry interface. No wonder, in the past too, IIPM has been regularly ranked amongst Indias topmost B-Schools in these very categories.The ET B-School 2018 rankings also show the high reverence Indias leading companies have for IIPMs brand of entrepreneurship education, which matches global standards of some of the worlds leading universities and institutions. The fact that the institute fares well in this industry-led rankings report is a mirror of the importance given to IIPM by renowned companies in their recruitment drive. Truly, existing and future students have much to rejoice about this feat achieved by their institute.The ET B-School ranking reaffirms this commitment of the institution and are in the series of continuing accolades that have been received by IIPM time and again over the years. With continued efforts, as mentioned by Dr. Chaudhuri, the rankings of IIPM in all such significant surveys are sure to go even higher up.
The management of Lower Niger River Basin Development Authority (LNRBDA) failed to provide credible evidence of financial expenses amounting to N1.3 billion, an audit report shows.

The monies were used to buy non-existent vehicles, pay for uncompleted and abandoned projected and spent on other controversial purchases.

This was contained in the 2016 annual audit report released by the Auditor General of the Federation. The audit report revealed how financial mismanagement took place and how some of the projects funded were discovered to have been uncompleted, poorly executed and abandoned.

The report, released this year, also noted how the agency failed to provide receipts, vouchers or contract documents for the transactions made in 2016.

Poorly Executed Projects, Yet Fully Funded

According to the audit report, in January 2016, N29 million was paid to a company for the construction of erosion and flood control structures at Kuchita Area of Kwara North Senatorial District. This amount represents 85 per cent of the total contract sum of N33.9 million.

While the first phase of the contract was yet to be fully completed, the contractor was re-awarded the same contract for N160 million in October 2016 as Phase 2, for which the sum of N10 million was paid as mobilisation fee.

After visiting the site on a physical inspection tour, the Auditor General of the Federation (AuGF), Anthony Ayine, described the contract as poorly executed.

The auditor noted that the two drainages claimed to have been constructed under Phase 1 of the project had already collapsed few weeks after construction.

He also reported that the contract was poorly executed, grossly overpriced at N194 million and no value-for-money was derived from the N39 million already expended in Phase 1 of the contract.

The Managing Director of Lower Niger, Dr Adeniyi Saheed Aremu, however, has been directed to stop further payment to the contractor, recover and refund to the treasury, the sum of N39 million paid for work not properly executed and terminate the Phase 2 contract on grounds of non-performance to ensure value-for-money, the report stated.

Another contract, fencing of Okene Water Works, was awarded to a company for the sum of N51 million, and full payment was made on the project, according to the report.

However, during the auditor s physical inspection of the project site, he discovered that the fence was yet to be completed, a development that is a gross violation of Financial Regulation which sanctions any public officer who fraudulently pays money to a contractor for a job not executed.

Anyone who violates this regulation shall refund, in full, the amount wrongly paid and shall be removed from that schedule and the matter shall be referred to EFCC for prosecution, the auditor said.

A condition similar to the previous projects was also observed by the auditor on the project for theconstruction and grading of Malete Water Works, Ilorin awarded to a company in October 2013 for N1 billion.

A complete payment was made for the project but when the AuGF visited the site, he noted that theproject on the ground was not commensurate with the funds deployed.

While full payment had been made to the contractor, there were some portions of the project poorly executed. For instance, the embankment constructed at the edge of the spillway is already being threatened by erosion, the AUGF pointed out.

Lack Of Accountability

Aside from failure to fully execute contracts that were paid for, the audit report also revealedunaccounted expenditures lumped under items such as, contingencies, manpower development/training, and nine project vehicles.

For instance, N37 million claimed to have been expended from capital vote on sundry recurrent items by the agency, were not properly recorded. In accounting and bookkeeping, sundry expenses are expenses that are small in amount and do not occur often and are usually insignificant.

The report noted that this act is a violation of financial regulations.

The agency also failed to provide receipts for the expenditure of N55 million.

Mr Ayine noted that the managing director, had been requested to present an exclusive report in June 2016, but he was yet to do so as at 2018 when the audit report was released.

Lower Niger River Basin Development Authority (LNRBDA)

This, according to him, contravenes financial regulations that stipulate that evidence of expenditure through receipts, bills, and invoices are required to be presented to the auditor general of the Federation for review.

Expenditure shall strictly be classified in accordance with the estimates, and votes must be applied only to the purpose for which the money is provided. Expenditure incorrectly charged to a vote shall be disallowed, the Managing Director should recover and refund to the treasury, in line with Financial Regulation, the sum of N37 million, the auditor noted.

The report also indicted the management of the agency for failing to account for N78 million. Nine project vehicles supposedly procured at the sum of N78 million in the course of execution of various projects were observed to have been missing in the Authoritys Assets Register. These vehicles were also not presented for audit inspection, despite several requests.

The inability of the Authority to present both the vehicle papers and the vehicles for audit inspection presupposes that these vehicles which cost N78 million were not procured, the AUGF said.

The managing director should produce the nine vehicles for verification, or refund to the treasury, the sum of N78 million and forward recovery particulars for verification, the auditor noted.

Abandoned Project

The Auditor General also decried the state of Weru Bridge, which had been awarded to a company at a sum of N98 million in November 2015 but left to lie in ruins.

He noted that during the physical inspection of the site in 2017, it was discovered that the contractor had abandoned the site, and the reasons for the abandonment were not disclosed.

Meanwhile, the sum of N26 million, representing 27 per cent of the contract sum had already been paid as mobilisation fee contrary to financial regulations that state only 15 per cent is expected to be paid.

Notwithstanding this gross violation, another N16 million was cited as preliminary expenses, including N2 million without proof of expenditure.

In my opinion, the total of N43 million committed to this project is not commensurate with the work done, the auditor said.

Repeated efforts to get reactions from the spokesperson of the agency, Lanre Obalowu, were not successful as calls placed to his known telephone lines did not connect.

The mismanagement of funds discovered by the AuGF is not peculiar to the LNRBDA. PREMIUM TIMES has reported on similiar indictments of other government agencies by the auditor general in his latest report as well as previous ones.

Some of the other agencies or departments indicted by the auditor-general include the Ogun Osun River Basin Development Agency and the Cross River Basin Development Authority.

The auditor-general, however, has no prosecutorial powers and simply submits his reports to relevant government organs who more often than not do not proceed to ensure indicted persons are held to account.
The senator representing Kaduna Central, Shehu Sani, has left the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), PREMIUM TIMES can authoritatively report.

His decision comes few days after the national body of the APC submitted the name of Governor Nasir El-Rufais political adviser, Uba Sani, as the candidate for that senatorial district.

Mr Sani made his resignation known in a letter to the party chairman of the APC in ward 6, Tudun wada north, Kaduna.

He confirmed the letter and its content to PREMIUM TIMES via phone Saturday afternoon.

The letter reads, I present to you my highest compliments and wish by this communication to formally offer to you my resignation from the All Progressives Congress (APC).

l had joined the APC and remained with it against all odds in the belief that it will constitute a veritable platform for the realization of those democratic ideals which I hold very dear, that honor and integrity will be the ultimate ethos of the patty and, most importantly, that internal party democracy will always be the norm. However, only posterity can affirm the extent to which the APC has committed to and reflected these values.

As I exit the APC at this point in time. I wish to formally thank the party for availing me the platform upon which I am currently serving this country in the honoured capacity of Senator of the Federal Republic.

I wish the party well in all her future endeavors and ask sir, that you please accept the assurance of my highest considerations.

Controversies had trailed the decision of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to grant automatic return ticket to the senator and others.

Days after the APC headquarters announced Mr Sani as its only candidate cleared to contest the Kaduna Central senatorial seat, the Kaduna State Government and its officials continue to condemn the decision, claiming it had been reversed.

Mr Sani and Mr El-Rufai have been at daggers drawn shortly after both men were elected senator and governor respectively in 2015.

Despite being of the same party, they have both attacked and cursed each other publicly including using uncouth language.

At the peak of party defections and due to the lingering crisis with his state governor, many had expected the senator to leave the APC but he was persuaded by national leaders of the party including Mr Oshiomhole not to do so.

See a copy of the letter below:

Copy of Senator Shehu Sanis letter to the APC
Former Interim National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Chief Bisi Akande, has carpeted successive military governments that ruled Nigeria for 29 years since independence, saying they created states and local governments by fiat for selfish reasons rather than through any scientific political reasoning.

This, according to him, has necessitated a restructuring of the country.

He lamented that the military might have inequitably created more local governments per population per state in the North than in the South, thereby giving the North an unfair advantage in revenue allocation from the national treasury.

Mr Akande, who is also a former governor of Osun State, made the assertion in a paper on Devolution of Powers and National Restructuring he delivered at the weekend at the APC-USA second annual convention in Washington DC, USA, where he was special guest of honour.

He therefore called for restructuring, which he described as equitable rearrangement and redistribution of the existing states and local governments per population within the various ethnic nationalities.

Appropriate amendments to the countrys constitution, according to him, will be required to accommodate the various rearrangements and redistributions.

The former APC chairman, however, admitted it would be politically unwise to define the word equitable in such a way that it would (not) be easy to convince those enjoying the unfair advantage at present to surrender such.

He said restructuring was a herculean task for all Nigerians compared to the political change of power for which the APC was put together.

Mr Akande said: The North is a largely Hausa-speaking people traditionally mix-bred and assimilated with and governed by minority Fulani rulers through Islamic emirate system since two centuries ago. The North has been amalgamated with the South in-law and in fact since a century ago. And, presumably, the Fulani has been perceived to be manipulating the North to rule Nigeria since independence.

Even if one does not like the minority Fulani rulers of the North for being hegemonic in characteristics, can one separate them from the original majority Hausa-speaking people of the same North? Unless one was ready for another civil war, could one ostracise the whole North in the political considerations of the country.

He said it was within that context that some of them who were not ready to wait for another civil war to effect a geopolitical restructuring of the country decided to go ahead with the APC arrangement, while our opponents are left behind to assume a loud coarse noise on mere sloganeering-restructuring- without any clear definition or a peaceful workable strategy.

The former APC chairman also said constitutional amendments or not, Nigerians have begun to see themselves as belonging to geo-political zones-North-western, North-eastern, North-central, South-western, South-eastern and South-southern zones-.

He said the South-west, on its own, had moved further to create a Development Agenda Commission for Western Nigeria, DAWN Commission, to conduct research to generate pieces of advisory information for the benefit of the each of the South-western state governments on integrated development programmes.

According to him, as a first step, the people of these South-western states are trying to key into the APC to back up the possibility of their governments to speak with one political voice, using one manifesto under one political party.

He recommended this initiative to other geo-political zones, saying it is an experiment worthy of encourageme
The opacity in government spending during every election season is to have resources to conduct polls with pre-determined outcomes, Chidi Odinkalu, a former chairman of the National Human Rights Commission, has said.

Speaking at the annual conference of the Guild of Corporate Online Publishers in Lagos Friday, Mr Odinkalu, a professor of Law, said irregular money movement always takes place in the period immediately preceding major elections.

In 2006, for instance, the Excess Crude Account (ECA) had a net inflow of $29.614 billion, Mr Odinkalu, the guest speaker at the event, said while speaking on the topic Fostering a Sustainable Economy, Credible Elections and Security in Nigeria  What Role for the Online Publisher?

In the same year, President Obasanjo inexplicably authorised withdrawals from the account totaling the sum of $29.799 billion, resulting in a net negative balance of $184.404 million.

Among the many withdrawals from the fund were unusual payments totaling N12.176 billion, reportedly to fund the Niger Delta Power Plants and the National Independent Power Project (NIPP), sums that were never properly accounted for.

In 2011, just ahead of the elections, Shell and Eni paid the $1.1 billion to the government for the rights to the massive OPL 245. Nearly all of this amount quickly left government accounts.

Also, in the period between 2009 to 2011, Mr Odinkalu said, Nigeria consumed 35 million litres of fuel daily but was billed for the daily import of 59 million litres.

In three years from 2008 to 2011, the number of companies importing fuel rose from 19 in 2008 to 140 in 2011, with the result that in the year before the 2011 elections, the country paid out an estimated $16.5 billion in petrol subsidy, more than half of the federal appropriations.

The period before the 2015 elections was also a time of many shady money movements, many of which remain the subject of ongoing legal proceedings about which it is prudent at this time to say little.

As the 2019 elections approach, there are suddenly stories about approvals for withdrawals from the ECA and draw-downs from of LNG dividends. Its all so familiar.

The GOCOP conference, themed Online Publishers Role Towards a Sustainable Economy, Credible Election and Security in Nigeria, was attended by online journalists, editors, and publishers across Nigeria.

Mr Odinkalu said responsibility and good reportage should be part of the guiding principles of any corporate online publisher.

One of the major issues that we will surely confront in the 2019 elections is violence and its consequences. With the armed forces now leading in security provisioning and deployed in all states of the country, security institutions are likely to be stretched very thin ahead of the 2019 elections.

Ralph Akinfeleye, a professor in the Department of Mass Communication, University of Lagos, who was a discussant at the conference stated that online publishers/journalists are not information traffickers, they operate in a technological and internet based environment, so, they should adhere strictly to explaining issues to the readers.

Mr Akinfeleye said online publishers need to use the global market at their disposal to address concrete issues in the country.

Picture from the event by Guild of Corporate Online Publishers in Lagos

Media literacy, adherence to journalistic ethics, promotion and protection of the code of ethics are key points that online publishers should pay attention to, he said.

Online publishers need to coexist with offline publishers to guard against premature results of elections in 2019 elections.

Leonard Shilgba, a professor of mathematics, saId although more than 50 per cent of Nigerians have access to the internet and online news, many people are ignorant of the provisions of the Constitution.

We cannot build a country out of a horrible background of ignorance, online publishers have roles to play in provoking the nation towards building citizens that can become leaders, he said.

The chairman at the conference, Olusegun Osoba, a former governor of Ogun State through a representative, Lanre Idowu, opined that the theme of the conference deserves serious consideration at a very important period in our national life.
The United Nations and the United States have expressed shock at Saudi Arabias confirmation that journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed inside its Consulate in Istanbul after a fight.

In a statement released by his Spokesperson in New York, the UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, said he was deeply troubled by the Saudi Arabias confirmation.

After weeks of denials, Saudi Arabia has for the first time confirmed that Khashoggi was killed in a fistfight inside its consulate in the Turkish city of Istanbul.

A tweet posted by the Saudi Foreign Ministry on Friday stated that the missing Saudi journalist, a columnist with the Washington Post newspaper, was killed, claims reportedly echoed on Saudi State Television and news agency.

The tweet said that discussions that took place with the citizen Jamal Khashoggi during his presence in the Consulate of the Kingdom in Istanbuldid not go as required and escalated negatively which led to a fightwhich aggregated the situation and led to his death.

The Secretary-General said he was deeply troubled by the confirmation of the death of Jamal Khashoggi and extends his condolences to Mr Khashoggis family and friends.

Guterres stressed the need for a prompt, thorough and transparent investigation into the circumstances of Khashoggis death and full accountability for those responsible.

Saudi public prosecutor also announced on state television that a primary investigation into high-profile journalist Jamal Khashoggis disappearance had confirmed he was dead.

The public prosecutor said: The discussions between Jamal Khashoggi and those he met at the kingdoms consulate in Istanbul  devolved into a fistfight, leading to his death.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia expresses deep regret at the painful developments that have taken place in this case and affirms the commitment of the authorities in the Kingdom to bring the facts to the attention of the public and to hold accountable all those involved.

Guterress comments were the latest in a chorus of concern and condemnation over Khashoggis disappearance from UN officials and independent UN human rights experts.

Over the last few days, statements regarding the Khashoggi disappearance had been released by the offices of UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet, the Chair of the UN Working Group on Enforced Disappearances, Bernard Duhaime, and the Chair of the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights, Dante Pesce.

Earlier, White House Spokesperson Sarah Sanders said in a statement that Washington acknowledged Saudi Arabias announcement and was closely following the developments.

We will continue to closely follow the international investigations into this tragic incident and advocate for justice that is timely, transparent, and in accordance with all due process.

We are saddened to hear confirmation of Mr Khashoggis death, and we offer our deepest condolences to his family, fiancee, and friends, Sanders said.

U.S. President Donald Trump at Luke Air Force Base in Arizona said that Saudi Arabias explanation for how Khashoggi was killed was credible, adding that what happened at the consulate is unacceptable.

Trump said Khashoggis death was a horrible event that has not gone unnoticed but noted that the announcement on the circumstances of the journalists death was a good first step.

Saudi Arabia has been a great ally, but what happened is unacceptable, Trump said, adding he prefers that any sanctions against Riyadh does not include cancelling big defence orders.

The Saudi government said it arrested 18 Saudis as a result of the initial investigation and fired five top officials, including Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salmans adviser Saud al-Qahtani and deputy intelligence chief Maj.-Gen. Ahmed al-Assiri.

Khashoggi, a critic of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, went missing on Oct. 2 after entering the consulate in Istanbul to obtain documents needed for his upcoming marriage.

Saudi officials had previously denied Khashoggi had been killed and dismembered inside the diplomatic facility, insisting the journalist left the consulate before disappearing. (NAN)
The senator representing Kogi West at the senate, Dino Melaye, has reacted to the resignation of his colleague, Shehu Sani, from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

Mr Melaye responded on Saturday, via his Twitter handle @dino_melaye, thanking God he had left the party before the same treatment would have been meted on him.

Sen Shehu Sani has just dumped the APC. People who did not like you in the morning & afternoon but claim to like you at night.

I beg borrow urself some brain. Baba God, I thank you say i=I no become suya in the hands of cash & carry party. (APC) Aboki accept my condolence, Mr Dino said.

Sen Shehu Sani has just dumped D APC. People who did not like you in the morning & afternoon but claim to like you at night,i beg borrow urself some brain. Baba God i thank you say i no become suya in the hands of cash & carry party. (APC) Aboki accept my condolence.. oh my home  Senator Dino Melaye. (SDM) (@dino_melaye) October 20, 2018

The Kaduna Central senators decision came a few days after the national body of the APC submitted the name of the governor, Nasir El-Rufais political adviser, Uba Sani, as the candidate for that senatorial district.

Mr Sani made his resignation known in a letter to the party chairman of the APC in ward 6, Tudun Wada North, Kaduna.
President Muhammadu Buharis wife, Aisha, has urged Nigerians to speak well of the country.

She made the call during the 2018 Episcopal Harvest of the Anglican Communion at the Cathedral of Holy Trinity, Gwagwalada, Abuja, on Saturday.

Mrs. Buhari, who was honoured with Deborah Award, was represented by Grace Chamah, wife of the former military Governor of Katsina and Kebbi states.

Mrs. Buhari observed that there is power in the spoken word, the power of life and death, Nigerians should therefore make positive declarations about their country. She enjoined them to pray for the nations leaders, to enable them make the right decisions for the betterment of our country.

As prayers heal the land, so do bad declarations bring hardship she said, imploring Nigerians to embrace peace so that stability and prosperity will prevail.

She thanked the Diocese for recognising her with the award, saying as a mother of the nation, she has a duty to impart her humanity on those that are less fortunate with her humanitarian activities.

Speaking earlier, the Right Rev. Moses Bukpe Tabwaye, Bishop of the Gwagwalada Diocese and host of the event, said Mrs. Buhari has impacted in many areas that affect the less privileged, especially women and children and that her hands of mercy have reached all Nigerians, irrespective of faith or ethnicity. He urged her to continue the good work she is doing.

Grace Chamah, wife of the former military Governor of Katsina and Kebbi states, represents Aisha Buhari at the 2018 Episcopal Harvest of the Anglican Communion at the Cathedral of Holy Trinity, Gwagwalada, Abuja. Grace Chamah, wife of the former military Governor of Katsina and Kebbi states, represents Aisha Buhari at the 2018 Episcopal Harvest of the Anglican Communion at the Cathedral of Holy Trinity, Gwagwalada, Abuja. Congregation at the 2018 Episcopal Harvest of the Anglican Communion at the Cathedral of Holy Trinity, Gwagwalada, Abuja.

He commended Mrs. Buhari and hoped other well-meaning Nigerians will take a cue from her.

Deborah Award is named after the prophetess Deborah, who is noted for her courage, wisdom and leadership.
President Muhammadu Buhari has expressed regret over the unnecessary loss of lives and property as a result of the pipeline explosion in the Osisioma Ngwa community of Abia State Friday morning.

The president also sympathised with those who lost loved ones.

In a statement signed by Garba Shehu, senior special assistant to the president, media and publicity, which was made available to PREMIUM TIMES on Saturday, the presidency said the incident was not an accidental explosion.

Preliminary reports by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) show that the incident was not an accidental explosion, but a result of vandals who pilloried the pipelines to scoop the products.

Despite repeated warnings, these unscrupulous people have vandalised that particular pipeline 684 times in the last six months alone. Each time the pipeline is repaired, they resume their activities, even collaborating with security agents, who are reported to have set up toll gates collecting fees from the vandals.

A fight broke out as a heist was going on and there was shooting, which is believed to have ignited Friday mornings explosion, during which three security personnel also lost their lives.

President Buhari urges communities and state governments that host oil pipelines to be more vigilant and rise to combat the challenge posed by pipeline vandalism. The Enugu depot of the NNPC has been repaired and ready to function, but remains idle today because of the vandals.

The President also appeals to host communities to collaborate with the NNPC to tame oil pipeline vandalism in their areas, the statement highlighted.
The National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) has asked all the 36 states, FCT and other Muslim pilgrims welfare boards/agencies to begin online registration of intending pilgrims for Hajj 2019.

The decision is part of several decisions taken by the commission at a joint meeting with officials from the states.

The meeting, which held Thursday in Abuja, also reviewed Nigerias performance during Hajj 2017.

A statement by NAHCON spokesperson, Fatima Usara, said the decision to commence early registration was adopted after it was discovered that late registration of pilgrims was a major setback in the success of Hajj operations.

The meeting agreed to tentatively peg the Hajj fare at N1.5 million pending final calculations, Mrs Usara said.

She also said the meeting agreed that if the fare is deposited by installments, all payment should be concluded by February 2019.

NAHCON said intending pilgrims are to note that Hajj registration is to be done online at the cost of N500 only.

She said the charges are already included in the total Hajj fare.

No extra amount is to be charged for purchase of Hajj forms because Hajj form is obsolete, she said.

The NAHCON spokesperson said the meeting also resolved that as part of measures to safeguard timely planning, state welfare boards are to henceforth propose a tentative date for airlift of their pilgrims and submit such resolutions to the commission within 30 days from the date of the meeting.

State chief executives who spoke on accommodation challenges commended the Madinah pilgrims accommodation and appealed to NAHCON to sustain the feat.

It was therefore accepted that standard of accommodation in Madinah shall not be lowered, she said.

She also said as for Makkah accommodation, which is the responsibility of states, a committee comprising two representatives from each geopolitical zone was set-up to review the possibility of securing large buildings as unified accommodation for Nigerian pilgrims.

Feeding

On the issue of catering services, the meeting suggested that each state should negotiate feeding of its pilgrims directly with the caterers and bypass any intermediary in the name of agents.

They were also counseled to look at the possibility of exporting/supplying the caterers with Nigerian variety of foodstuff to be used in preparing Nigerian pilgrims meals. Doing this will form part of revenue generation avenue for the states, she said.

However, such export, she said, must be done strictly under Saudi Arabian guidelines and permit.

In respect of discussions on income generation to the state boards and agencies, the meeting observed challenges faced by state pilgrims boards and agencies in getting financial support from state governors, therefore the need to look outwards for supplementary income so that they can operate irrespective of government funding.

In view of this, state welfare boards that are classified under category A will gain permit to commence organising Umrah services, she said.

Missing Luggages, Absconding

Mrs Usara said there was no report of missing pilgrims luggage or Zamzam water recorded for Hajj 2018.

She however said the meeting resolved that all state boards cooperate with NAHCON and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in ending cases of pilgrims absconding during Hajj and Umrah.

She said the rate of absconding by Nigerian pilgrims has been on the decline in recent years. She said NAHCON will ensure that all Umrah and Hajj applicants return within the stipulated time in their visas.

She said present at the meeting were most state executives or their representatives and it was agreed that preparations for 2019 Hajj begin in earnest.

NAHCON Chairman, Abdullahi Muhammad told the gathering that consistent planning and constant reviews are mechanisms needed for successful Hajj outing.

Consequently, failure in training and retraining of staff, research, consultations, persistent monitoring and evaluation, strict compliance and evaluation are recipes for total Hajj operational failure which all stakeholders must work against.

Therefore all stakeholders were urged to start planning as if Arafat would be taking place soonest, Mrs Usara said.
The Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, has said he was questioned by international media organisations he engaged with recently on the irony of the Buhari administrations anti-corruption effort, and the emergence of Atiku Abubakar as the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party.

He said this happened in London during three days of engagements with major media networks and think tanks.

Giving a wrap up of the engagements on Saturday in London, the minister said the media houses he visited raised questions as to why Mr Abubakar could emerge as presidential candidate, considering the anti-corruption stance of President Muhammadu Buharis administration.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the minister engaged with media organisations including Reuters, Aljazeera, the Economist, AP, New African, African Business and African Review Magazines.

The minister said: One curious issue that kept occurring was that anytime I spoke about how we have waged war against corruption, the journalists kept asking me a question.

They asked me: How can you claim to have succeeded in waging war against corruption, when one of the major contestants in the 2019 general elections is actually a man with stupendous wealth but cannot explain the source of his wealth?

That baffled me a lot, because it means that we are still being perceived as a country where corruption thrives.

It was difficult for me to explain to them that yes, we are fighting corruption but these are the same people who have put this country where we are today and who are also trying to come back to power.

The minister said he assured the media organisations that this will however define the task of choice for Nigerians.

The choice for Nigerians today is either they go back to the corrupt past where our commonwealth was shared by a few elites or move forward and continue with this new trajectory where the national resources are used for the benefit of all Nigerians, he said.

I explained to them that the 2019 elections have been defined, and the choice have been made easy.

We are sure that Nigerians will choose rightly.

NAN reports that the minister during the visit also delivered lecture at Chatham House, UK based Royal Institute of International Affairs on the topic, Nigerias National Unity: Towards Participation and Shared Values

President Muhammadu Buhari

Mr Mohammed also engaged with foreign and Commonwealth Office, All Party Parliamentary Group and Royal African Society, a body founded in 1990 to promote relations between the UK and Africa.

On his general assessment of the trip, the minister said it was exciting and fruitful.

We set out from home to engage the major media networks and the major think tanks and stakeholders here, he said.

The Chatham House platform gave me the opportunity to explain the role of my Ministry in enhancing national unity, participation and share values.

We have in attendance many stakeholders, including the High Commissioners of Nigeria and that of Cyprus to the UK and many people in the Diaspora.

He said the parliamentary visits afforded him the opportunity to explain issues on Boko Haram, the abducted girls and those who were executed.

The minister said he gave insight and government position on farmers/herdsmen clashes, the role of the media and the efforts of the government in revamping the economy.

At every occasion, we were able to bring to fore the good narratives on the country and what the government had achieved in the last three and half years.

The kennel of the visit is that we were able to tell the whole world that we do not need to do anything extra because we have delivered on all our promises and Nigerians are quite happy and satisfy with the government, he said.

Mr Mohammed said the government was aware of the conspiracy by disgruntled elements to bring down the administration at all cost.

This government has actually adversely affected the fortunes of many people who were simply parasite, people who sucked the blood of the nation doing nothing.

Atiku Abubakar

These are people who amassed unexplained wealth just by being agents or consultants to none existence projects.

We are not surprised by the kind of bitterness and hatred such people has for the government, but they will not succeed, he said.

The minister stressed that the administration will never be distracted in its policy of zero tolerance for corruption to move the nation forward. (NAN)
President Muhammadu Buhari has condemned the latest communal violence in Kasuwan Magani in Kaduna State which claimed 55 lives.

Reacting to the violent clashes, Mr Buhari said the frequent resort to bloodshed by Nigerians over misunderstandings that can be resolved peacefully, is worrisome.

According to him, No culture and religion support the disregard for the sanctity of life, adding that peaceful coexistence is necessary for the progress of any society and its wellbeing.

He noted that without communal harmony, the environment for the conduct of our everyday businesses would be impossible to achieve.

President Buhari explained that violence cannot be an alternative to peace. On the contrary, reliance on violence leads to ultimate self-destruction. Violence is an ill wind that blows nobody any good. Embracing peace is a necessity.

In commending the Kaduna State government for its rapid response to the crisis, the President appealed to community leaders to engage in regular dialogue to nip imminent crises in the bud, while admonishing the people to develop the spirit of tolerance and patience at all times.

The president did not say what steps were being taken to bring the culprits to justice.
Gunmen on Friday kidnapped Maiwada Galadima, the paramount chief of Adara Chiefdom in Kachia Local Government Area of Kaduna State and his wife along Kaduna/Kachia road.

Ibrahim Yakubu, a son in-law to the Chief, disclosed this to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), adding that the police orderly to the paramount ruler was killed in the process.

Mr Yakubu explained that the chief and his wife were taken away while returning to Kachia from Kaduna.

The kidnappers stopped the chiefs vehicle at the military check point at Idon and shot his police orderly.

Immediately, they took the chief and his wife into the bush leaving behind two of his drivers, his daughter and a granddaughter, he said.

Efforts to get police confirmation proved abortive as Yakubu Sabo, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) of the Kaduna Police Command was yet to pick telephone calls. (NAN)
The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Akwa Ibom State has accused the state government of planning to mobilise the youth to embark on a street protest against President Muhammadu Buhari and the federal government.

But the state government has, however, denied the existence of such plan.

The state chairman of the APC National Youth Caucus, Iniobong John, said this on Friday during a press conference in Uyo.

Mr Iniobong said, As we speak, mobilisation has been done. Buses to convey PDP goons and thugs across the state have been mobilised. Funds have been disbursed to the different groups and individuals for mobilisation. T-shirts and other logistics have been arranged.

A meeting is ongoing now at the Government House to fine tune the plans.

Mr John said the plan is for protesters to march from Ibom Plaza to the Government House, Uyo, where they would be addressed by the state governor, Udom Emmanuel.

He said the press conference was meant to alert security agencies and the general public on the alleged plan.

The governor has shown that he is deceitful, unreliable and desperate. Just yesterday, he was summoned to the Presidential Villa to explain his governments actions against the APCs billboards in the state. And he apologised and begged for a lifeline from the president.

Such mischievous and wicked plots by the state government are capable of triggering crisis, tension and in the extreme case, breakdown of law and order in the state. The failed PDP government must learn to manage its frustrations, he said.

Continuing, Mr John said, We insist the governor must campaign for reelection on his scorecard and not on sentiments and campaigns of calumny against Mr President and the APC federal government.

As a people, we dont deserve this and we never bargained for this.

If the state government dont desist from this mischievous street protest against our president and party, well be left with no other option than to also plan a mass action against the failed, inept, clueless, rudderless and directionless government in the state.

The Akwa Ibom government, in its reaction, described the accusation as the usual blatant lies of the APC in the state.

For three years of Governor Udom Emmanuels leadership in the state has witnessed peace and tranquility in all sectors. The antecedents of todays government has painted an unambiguous picture of civilised leadership focused on sustainable development and not indulging on mudslinging, the Commissioner for Information in the state, Charles Udoh, told PREMIUM TIMES.

The spokesperson of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state, Ini Ememobong, corroborated the commissioners position.

Theres no precedent of such in our clime and I can state that there is no such plan. Why undertake a violent protest in Uyo against the president? Whats the rationale?

Such an alarmist outburst is a product of the authors comical mindset, Mr Ememobong told PREMIUM TIMES.
ROUND ROCK, Texas, Oct. 19, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Dell Technologies Inc. (NYSE: DVMT) is announcing the scheduled time and location of a special meeting of stockholders to vote on the proposed Class V common stock transaction and related matters. The company also filed definitive proxy materials and prospectus with the Securities and Exchange Commission in connection with the transaction.

The special meeting will be held on Dec. 11, 2018, at 8:00 a.m. Central Time at 501 Dell Way (Building 2-East), Round Rock, Texas. All Dell Technologies stockholders as of the close of business on Oct. 18, 2018, are entitled to vote their shares, in person or by proxy, at the Dec. 11 meeting. Dell Technologies will begin mailing the proxy statement/prospectus to Dell Technologies stockholders on Oct. 23, 2018. The transaction is subject to approval by the majority of the outstanding shares of Class V Common Stock, excluding those shares held by affiliates of Dell Technologies.

The proposed exchange of shares of Dell Technologies' Class V common stock for shares of its Class C common stock or cash offers Class V stockholders a significant and immediate premium as well as the opportunity to participate in the future upside of Dell Technologies through their ownership of Class C common stock.

The Special Committee of Dell Technologies' board of directors representing the interests of Class V stockholders unanimously recommend that Class V stockholders vote "FOR" the proposed transaction. The Dell Technologies board of directors unanimously recommend that all stockholders vote "FOR" the proposed transaction.

Dell Technologies will conduct a conference call on Thurs., Dec. 6 at 7:00 a.m. Central Time to discuss its Fiscal 2019 third quarter financial results. The conference will be available to the public as a live, audio-only webcast on Dell Technologies' website at investors.delltechnologies.com; an archived version will be available at the same location.

About Dell Technologies

Dell Technologies is a unique family of businesses that provides the essential infrastructure for organizations to build their digital future, transform IT and protect their most important asset, information. The company services customers of all sizes across 180 countries  ranging from 99 percent of the Fortune 500 to individual consumers  with the industry's most comprehensive and innovative portfolio from the edge to the core to the cloud.

No Offer or Solicitation:

This communication does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities or a solicitation of any vote or approval, nor shall there be any sale of securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction. No offering of securities shall be made except by means of a prospectus meeting the requirements of Section 10 of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), and otherwise in accordance with applicable law.

Additional Information and Where to Find It:

This communication is being made in respect of the proposed merger of a wholly-owned subsidiary of Dell Technologies Inc. ("Dell Technologies") with and into Dell Technologies, with Dell Technologies as the surviving entity, pursuant to which each share of Class V common stock of Dell Technologies will, at the election of the holder, convert into the right to receive shares of Class C common stock of Dell Technologies or cash, without interest, and each existing share of Class A common stock, Class B common stock and Class C common stock of Dell Technologies will be unaffected by the merger and remain outstanding. The proposed transaction requires the approval of a majority of the aggregate voting power of the outstanding shares of Class A common stock, Class B common stock and Class V common stock other than those held by affiliates of Dell Technologies, in each case, voting as a separate class, and all outstanding shares of common stock of Dell Technologies, voting together as a single class, and will be submitted to stockholders for their consideration. Dell Technologies has filed a registration statement on Form S-4 (File No. 333-226618). The registration statement was declared effective by the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") on October 19, 2018, and a definitive proxy statement/prospectus is expected to be mailed to each holder of Class A common stock, Class B common stock, Class C common stock and Class V common stock entitled to vote at the special meeting in connection with the proposed transaction on or about October 23, 2018. INVESTORS ARE URGED TO READ THE PROXY STATEMENT/PROSPECTUS AND ANY OTHER DOCUMENTS RELATING TO THE TRANSACTION FILED WITH THE SEC CAREFULLY AND IN THEIR ENTIRETY IF AND WHEN THEY BECOME AVAILABLE BECAUSE THEY WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT THE PROPOSED TRANSACTION. You may get these documents, when available, for free by visiting EDGAR on the SEC website at www.sec.gov or by visiting Dell Technologies' website at http://investors.delltechnologies.com.

Participants in the Solicitation:

Dell Technologies and its consolidated subsidiaries and their directors, executive officers and other members of their management and employees, and Silver Lake Technology Management, L.L.C. and its managing partners and employees, may be deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies from the stockholders of Dell Technologies in favor of the proposed merger and the other transactions contemplated by the merger agreement, including the exchange of shares of Class V common stock of Dell Technologies for shares of Class C common stock of Dell Technologies or cash. Information concerning persons who may be considered participants in such solicitation under the rules of the SEC, including a description of their direct or indirect interests, by security holdings or otherwise, is set forth in the aforementioned proxy statement/prospectus that has been filed with the SEC.

Dell Technologies Inc. Disclosure Regarding Forward-Looking Statements:

This communication contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The words "may," "will," "anticipate," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "plan," "aim," "seek," and similar expressions as they relate to Dell Technologies or its management are intended to identify these forward-looking statements. All statements by Dell Technologies regarding its expected financial position, revenues, cash flows and other operating results, business strategy, legal proceedings, and similar matters are forward-looking statements. The expectations expressed or implied in these forward-looking statements may not turn out to be correct. Dell Technologies' results could be materially different from its expectations because of various risks, including but not limited to: (i) the failure to consummate or delay in consummating the proposed transaction, including the failure to obtain the requisite stockholder approvals or the failure of VMware to pay the special dividend or any inability of Dell Technologies to pay the cash consideration to Class V holders; (ii) the risk as to the trading price of Class C common stock to be issued by Dell Technologies in the proposed transaction relative to the trading price of shares of Class V common stock and VMware, Inc. common stock; and (iii) the risks discussed in the "Risk Factors" section of the registration statement on Form S-4 (File No. 333-226618) that has been filed with the SEC and declared effective as well as its periodic and current reports filed with the SEC. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date as of which such statement is made, and, except as required by law, Dell Technologies undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement after the date as of which such statement was made, whether to reflect changes in circumstances or expectations, the occurrence of unanticipated events, or otherwise.

SOURCE Dell Technologies

Related Links

http://www.delltechnologies.com


(Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/644091/Artprice_Logo.jpg )



(Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/772347/Artprice_Artron.jpg )



This long and infallible relationship has allowed both groups to work extremely quickly without cultural barriers to build an "Art Media Mogul". By analogy, it's exactly as if Baidu and Google were merging their respective knowledge.

Artron is the world's largest printer of art books with more than 60,000 books and auction catalogues and a total publication volume of 300 million a year. Artron.net is the most respected brand in the Chinese art world. Artron is celebrating his 25th anniversary. Established in 1993, Artron Art Group celebrates its 25th anniversary this year.

Artprice is the world leader in Art Market Information since 1987 with 4,500,000 members in its databanks with information from 6,300 auctioneers, and publishes a constant flow of art market trends for the world's principal news agencies and approximately 7,200 international press publications. Artprice gives access to the world's leading Standardised Marketplace for buying and selling art.

Last Friday, 12 October 2018, at Artprice's head office in Lyon, France, Artron CEO and founder, WAN Jie, along with his staff, and Artprice CEO and founder, Thierry Ehrmann, along with his staff, signed a historic agreement between the two groups.

Official video of the Friday 12 October 2018 signing ceremony and talks about the 10 new development agreements at Artprice's head office in France:

https://vimeo.com/296010836

Facebook (450k views)

https://www.facebook.com/228501370495445/posts/2201077099904519

Twitter

https://twitter.com/artpricedotcom/status/1053538253192749056

Chinese:

https://vimeo.com/296008906

A series of development agreements in principle (10, soon to be delivered) was discussed and they go far beyond the exclusive distribution contract allowing for Artprice subscriptions to be marketed through the Chinese Intranet to millions of Chinese art collectors - via Artron Group's customers - in China.

The scope of the 10 new development agreements discussed on 12 October 2018 will have a structural impact on the Global Art Market and on Art History, according to Art historians, in a way that no one could have imagined. At the same time, Artprice and Artron are on the verge of an extraordinary evolution during which, from a shareholder perspective, Artprice will change in dimension - economically, financially and historically - as of 2019.

Artron produces all the catalogues of Chinese auction houses and handles the postal or digital mailing of these catalogues to their final customers. It will be possible for Artprice subscriptions, sold exclusively by Artron in China, to directly reach the target audience.

Similarly, Artprice will be featured on the homepage of Artron.Net which, according to many studies, is the most respected brand in the Chinese art world. Artron.net has more than three million members and receives more than nine million online visitors per day (on average) or 270 million visitors per month to their website.

Via Artron, there exists a massive potential demand for Artprice subscriptions, including its unique decision support tools, because these tools allow China's collectors, art professionals and its museum industry to acquire Western artworks with total assurance that they have complete mastery of all the relevant pricing information, the artist's background and their 'economic profile'.

Thanks to Artron's expert advice, Artprice fully complies with the specifications and conditions of China's Great Electronic Firewall (Law CL97 (1997) et seq.) and its Golden Shield protocol (1998).

To do so, Artprice has deployed the obligatory Alipay and WeChat Chinese payment platforms (1.8 billion users) for Chinese buyers after developing no less than 54 million pages in Mandarin on its Internet accessible data banks (which took seven years).

In order to conform to Law CL97, Artprice spent two years rewriting all its data bank code in order to eliminate all US and European corporate source code containing cookies, tags, metadata or backdoor elements (amongst other elements).

In fact, thanks to Artron's assistance and advice, Artprice has managed to achieve what the GAFA's have tried on numerous occasions but failed. It has managed to penetrate the core of the Chinese Intranet.

What was discussed on Friday 12 October 2018 far exceeds what was originally planned. It follows on from a summit meeting held in March 2018 in Beijing between Artprice's and Artron/AMMA's executive teams, and should broaden the two companies' Marketplaces.

Artron is the world's largest printer of art books with more than 60,000 books and auction catalogues and a total publication volume of 300 million.



To understand the power of Artron and its unavoidable position in China, follow the link to this video in English...

http://english.artron.com.cn/about/video/index

Read Artron's official presentation: http://english.artron.com.cn/about/introduction/index

The exclusive contract for the distribution of Artprice subscriptions to Artron's customers and the ten new additional agreements in principle can be implemented rapidly on the basis of the two companies' mutual knowledge resulting from seven years of constant partnership, proving that long-term collaboration, patience and hard work are the keys to success.

In 2018, China accounted for 45% of global online art trade, conducting twelve times more online transactions than the United States. China has a huge advantage over the West because it is building its market economy directly on the Internet. Moreover, no one doubts that China's Art Market will account for 70% of the global Art Market as of 2020. Artprice, as the world leader in Art Market information, had to be central to its market. It should not be forgotten that France accounted for 4% of H1 2018 results.

For further information regarding the historical background of relations between Artprice and Artron/AMMA and its economic consequences, please refer to Artprice's reference documents and, in particular, to its 2017 registration document filed with the AMF (France's Financial Markets Supervisory Authority) on 1 June 2018 (in accordance with the Article 212-13 of the AMF's General Regulations) and to Artprice's Press Releases.

More details, video clips and photos of the signing and accompanying speeches will be online shortly on Artprice's and Artron's social networks.

About Artprice:

Artprice is listed on the Eurolist by Euronext Paris, SRD long only and Euroclear: 7478 - Bloomberg: PRC - Reuters: ARTF.

Dicover Artprice in video: https://www.artprice.com/video

Artprice is the global leader in art price and art index databanks. It has over 30 million indices and auction results covering more than 700,000 artists. Artprice Images(R) gives unlimited access to the largest Art Market resource in the world: a library of 126 million images or prints of artworks from the year 1700 to the present day, along with comments by Artprice's art historians.

12 Oct. 2018: Artprice and Artron have just created an "Art Media Mogul" :

Video : https://vimeo.com/296010836

Artprice permanently enriches its databanks with information from 6,300 auctioneers and it publishes a constant flow of art market trends for the world's principal news agencies and approximately 7,200 international press publications. For its 4,500,000 members, Artprice gives access to the world's leading Standardised Marketplace for buying and selling art. Artprice is preparing its blockchain for the Art Market. It is BPI-labelled (scientific national French label) Artprice's Global Art Market Annual Report for 2017 published last March 2018: https://www.artprice.com/artprice-reports/the-art-market-in-2017

Artprice's Contemporary Art Market Annual Report for 2017 - free access at: https://www.artprice.com/artprice-reports/the-contemporary-art-market-report-2017

Artprice's press releases:

http://serveur.serveur.com/Press_Release/pressreleaseen.htm

https://twitter.com/artpricedotcom

Artmarket News:

https://twitter.com/artpricedotcom & https://twitter.com/artmarketdotcom

https://www.facebook.com/artpricedotcom & https://plus.google.com/+artpricedotcom/posts

http://artmarketinsight.wordpress.com/

Discover the Alchemy and the universe of Artprice http://web.artprice.com/video, which headquarters are the famous Museum of Contemporary Art, the Abode of Chaos:

http://goo.gl/zJssd

https://vimeo.com/124643720

The Contemporary Art Museum The Abode of Chaos on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/la.demeure.du.chaos.theabodeofchaos999

Contact: Thierry Ehrmann, [email protected]

SOURCE Artprice.com
With 25 years of development, CMC has been providing ICT products and services for major partners from multinational corporations in 21 countries such as Japan, Korea, USA, Singapore, etc. CMC has consulted and implemented SAP ERP system for Honda Vietnam, AEON IBS, provided telecommunications services for NTT Communications, SAMSUNG, AT&T Ciber-CMC (a member company of CMC Corporation) is a leading consulting company to deliver professional implementation services in SAP's enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution and Microsoft Dynamics customer relationship management (CRM) solution. With more than 150 leading SAP & Microsoft Dynamics CRM consultants, Ciber-CMC is the most trust-worthy provider in Vietnam with more than 30% market share of SAP, and has been honored "SAP's Best Service Partner" in 2015, "Top Performance Partner" of SAP in 2016.

Approxima is a leading SAP consultant in Denmark with many years of experience in consulting and deploying SAP solutions for medium and large organizations. Under the strategic cooperation agreement, Approxima will be responsible for expanding CMC's business in European markets such as Scandinavia, Denmark, Germany and Russia which are the areas where Ciber-CMC is aiming for the No.1 position of SAP solution provider. Approxima is expected to tap into the digital convergence market for businesses with a market size of hundreds of millions of euros, aiming at reaching 100 million euros from the European market in 2023. In addition, Approxima will also share its methods and experience to promote Ciber-CMC's growth, supporting Ciber-CMC to meet international capacity requirements in service delivery. This also matches CMC's "Go Global" strategy with the goal of exporting software, ICT services and products to the global market.

Speaking at the signing ceremony on October 20th 2018, Mr. Lars Damgaard (Partner, Director of Approxima) said: "The reason we chose Ciber-CMC to deploy SAP solutions in the Nordic market as well as throughout Europe is that we want to increase the power of Approxima to meet the ever-increasing demand for SAP solutions. Ciber-CMC has more than 10 years of experience in providing SAP solutions to the international market. With the abundant human resources and the goal of delivering the SAP solutions on the cloud computing platform of Ciber-CMC, we completely believe in the success of the strategic partnership between CMC and Approxima."

Mr. Nguyen Trung Chinh (Chairman/CEO of CMC Corporation) also expressed optimism in the agreement: "CMC Corporation has a strategic goal of reaching out to the global market with the best IT and telecommunications products to meet the world standard. In fact, we have been present in 21 countries, including Japan, Korea, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, and we are expanding to international markets like USA and Europe. Through this cooperation with Approxima, we are confident that CMC will make a strong move in the European market."

About CMC Corporation:

CMC Corporation is the second largest ICT corporation in Vietnam with more than 25 years of establishment and development. With 12 member companies, joint ventures and research institutes, CMC has affirmed its position in the market of Vietnam and many countries in the world through 4 core business fields: System Integration, Telecommunications & Internet, Software Services and Manufacturing, assembly and distribution of ICT products. In Vietnam, CMC Corporation is known as a reliable and prestigious partner in medium and large ICT projects for Government, Education, Taxation, Treasury, Customs, Electricity, Banking, Finance and Business. In fiscal year 2017, total consolidated revenue of CMC was 250 million USD, pre-tax profit reached nearly 12 million USD, targeting total revenue of 500 million USD in 2020.

SOURCE CMC Corporation
WASHINGTON, Oct. 20, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Press Club will hold a moment of silence for Washington Post Contributor Jamal Khashoggi on Monday, Oct. 22 at about 1:15p.m. Club members, staff and journalists will participate.

People should gather near the main staircase in the lobby at 1pm to organize and to hear some brief remarks.

We believe that 1:15 was about the time of day on Oct. 2 Mr. Khashoggi was last seen alive walking into the Saudi consulate in Istanbul where he was killed moments later by representatives of the Saudi government.

The Press Club is located at 529 14th Street NW on the 13th floor.

The National Press Club, founded in 1908, is the World's Leading Professional Organization for Journalists and has 3,100 members. Through the activities and programs of the National Press Club Journalism Institute, a 501c-3, the Club fights for a free press worldwide.

Contact: Bill McCarren, 202-662-7534 or [email protected] for NPC

SOURCE National Press Club
WASHINGTON, Oct. 19, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- National Press Club President Andrea Edney issued the following statement Friday after the Saudi government acknowledged that Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi was killed at its consulate in Turkey:

"Along with journalists everywhere we mourn the death of our colleague Jamal Khashoggi.



We hope that President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, will respond appropriately to the lies it is now clear they were told by Saudi leaders. We join the call for a United Nations investigation into this atrocity.



The best memorial for a journalist is pursuit of the truth."

Founded in 1908, the National Press Club is the world's leading professional organization for journalists. It has more than 3,100 members worldwide. The Club supports press freedom through its nonprofit National Press Club Journalism Institute.

Contact: Kathy Kiely, Press Freedom Fellow, National Press Club Journalism Institute: [email protected]

SOURCE National Press Club
Damascus, Oct 20 : At least 32 civilians were killed over the past 24 hours in US-led airstrikes on Syria's eastern province of Deir al-Zour, a war watchdog reported on Friday.

The US coalition launched airstrikes on the town of Souseh, which is located in the last pocket held by Islamic State (IS) militants in the eastern countryside of Deir al-Zour, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Women and children were among the killed in the aerial bombardment, reported Xinhua news agency quoting the London-based watchdog.

The US-led coalition is supporting the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in their advance on the IS-held areas on the eastern bank of the Euphrates River in eastern Deir al-Zour.

The Syrian Foreign Ministry recently urged the UN to conduct an international investigation into the "crimes" of the US-led coalition in Syria, charging that Washington is using the anti-IS battles as a pretext for continued intervention in Syria's affairs.

The US-led coalition entered the course of anti-IS battles in Syria in 2014 without the consent of the Syrian government, which questions its intention and brands its intervention as illegal.
Riyadh, Oct 20 : Journalist Jamal Khashoggi died as a result of a physical altercation inside the kingdom's consulate in Istanbul, Saudi Arabian official media reported on Friday. Two senior Saudi officials have been fired over the incident.

Khashoggi was last seen on October 2 when he entered the consulate to obtain documents he needed to wed his Turkish fiancee, Hatice Cengiz, who called Turkish police after waiting outside the mission for more than three hours for the Washington Post columnist to come out, an Efe report said.

Citing the Attorney General's Office, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) said Khashoggi and the people who received him at the consulate got into an argument that turned violent, leading to the journalist's death.

Prosecutors said that 18 people had already been arrested in connection with the case and emphasized the "commitment of the authorities in the Kingdom to bring the facts to the attention of the public and to hold accountable all those involved".

In related developments, Saudi state television announced that Maj. Gen. Ahmed al-Asiri had been relieved as deputy head of the intelligence services, while SPA reported that Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, the kingdom's defacto ruler, dismissed his closest adviser, Saud al-Qahtani.

Khashoggi, himself a member of the Saudi elite, had been critical of the crown prince.
United Nations, Oct 20 : In its push to promote Hindi at the world body, India has reiterated its request to the UN to conduct tours for visitors to the headquarters in that language.

Saying that the tour is popular with Indians visiting New York, Deepak Misra, a minister in the Indian Mission, made the request while speaking at a meeting on Friday on information issues held by the General Assembly committee dealing with special political matters.

"The guided tour has been very popular with Indian tourists to New York and, as highlighted by our delegations last year. We urge the addition of guided tour in Hindi, India's official language, to facilitate the tourists," he said.

The UN now offers tours in its six official languages - Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, and Spanish - as well as in German, Italian, Japanese, Korean and Portuguese.

The tours run between 45 minutes and an hour and cost $22 for adults and $15 for students and seniors.

Besides viewing the Security Council and General Assembly Chambers and visiting exhibits, the visitors get an overview from the tour guides of issues important to the UN like disarmament, peace and security, human rights and sustainable development.

Stressing the case for Hindi, Misra said: "Genuine multilingualism promotes unity in diversity and international understanding by recognising the importance of communicating to the peoples of the world in their languages by bringing the common goals and ideals closer to the people."

Misra also asked the UN to publish its peacekeeping website in "the main languages" of the troop contributing countries.

He acknowledged that the UN was facing a financial crunch that affected its ability to expand its activities.

Therefore, he said, the Department of Public Information has to look at innovative ways to raise resources through initiatives like raising voluntary contributions to expand its global outreach activities in the widely-spoken non-official languages.

The UN began to incorporate Hindi in its social media outreach by launching a Twitter feed in the language in July.

Last month, the UN advertised for a Hindi Public Information Officer at its headquarters in New York.

The advertisement said that besides monitoring media, the officer's responsibilities would include production of news stories and multimedia feature materials on UN activities.

(Arul Louis can be reached at arul.l@ians.in and followed on Twitter @arulouis)
United Nations, Oct 20 : The commander of the Sri Lankan contingent in the UN peacekeeping operations in Mali has been ordered back home after a review of his human rights record, according to Stephane Dujarric, the spokesperson for Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

The decision to send Lt. Col. Kalana Priyankara Lankamithra Amunupure back was made after new information about him was received by the UN, Dujarric said on Friday, Besides the usual vetting for all peacekeepers, "there were some extra procedures done with the Sri Lankan contingents", he said.

Amunupure was reportedly involved in atrocities against Tamils during the civil war in Sri Lanka when tens of thousands of civilians perished and the UN has said that war crimes were committed.

A human rights group, International Truth and Justice Project (ITJP), said in an April press release from London that it had sent the UN a list of 56 paramilitary Special Task Force (STF) personnel who should be barred from serving as peacekeepers because of their human rights record.

It said they "are either alleged perpetrators or were involved in frontline combat in the final stages of the war when the UN says system(ic) crimes were committed by security force units".

While ITJP kept the names confidential, its Executive Director Yasmin Sooka, said at that time: "One STF officer who appears currently to be serving in a UN peacekeeping mission in Africa is alleged to have ordered summary executions of Tamils in the East of Sri Lanka in 2006-7."

Sooka said her organisation had a "substantial database of evidence" of human rights violations and was ready to help UN investigations.

ITJP also released a report in April about human rights violations and extra-judicial killings by the Special Task Force "based primarily on the testimony of Sinhalese insiders who worked for the unit in the past and on the testimony of former Tamil paramilitaries, who worked with them".

Of Sri Lanka's 682 peacekeepers, about 200 are deployed in the West African nation with the operation known as UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilisation Mission in Mali.

(Arul Louis can be reached at arul.l@ians.in and followed on Twitter @arulouis)
Amritsar, Oct 20 : Hours after 60 hapless Dussehra revellers were mowed down by a train here in Punjab, Chairman Railway Board Ashwani Lohani on Saturday dismissed the railways' responsibility in the tragedy.

Lohani said at Jora Phatak the Jalandhar-Amritsar Diesel Multiple Unit (DMU) passenger train which was running at its assigned speed, its loco-pilot applied brakes to slow it down.

"Trains run at their assigned speed and people are not expected to go on the tracks. It was a clear case of trespassing.

"There was no intimation to the railways regarding this (Dussehra) event adjoining the railway track," Lohani told reporters here.

The accident happened near Dhobi Ghat on Friday evening when the people who had come to see the burning of the Ravan effigy.

Lohani said the accident site falls under the "mid-section of the two stations" where the trains run at their "assigned speed" as per the condition of the track.

"The place where the accident happened was basically mid-section between two stations -- Mananwala and Amritsar and not at a level crossing," the Chairman Railway Board said.

According to a senior railway official, the incident happened some 340 metres from an interlocked level crossing of the railways.

Lohani also said that the railway posts its staff at the manned level crossing to regulate the road traffic and nod at the mid-sections of the railway track between two stations.

When asked about the responsibility of the loco-pilot, Lohani said, "Our initial report suggest that the loco-pilot applied the brakes and the speed came down from 90 kmph to around 60-65 kmph. We are still looking at the seepdometer charts," Lohani said.

He also cautioned the general public to not to trespass. "Railways regularly carries out campaign to build awareness among people to not jaywalk on tracks."

On Friday, a 700 strong crowd watching a huge Ravan effigy go up in flames amid exploding crackers spilled on to the tracks at Jora Phatahk when the Jalandhar-Amritsar DMU passenger train heading to Hoshiarpur from Amritsar came hurtling down around 7 p.m.

Most people reportedly could not hear the hooting of the train due to the exploding crackers.

In just 10-15 seconds it left behind a heap of crushed and dismembered bodies.

The Punjab government has declared state mourning on Saturday.

Video clips posted on the social media showed some people who had apparently seen the approaching train tried to run away.

Following the accident, the railways cancelled 37 trains, diverted 16 trains, short terminated 12 trains and short originated six trains on the route.

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh will visit the accident spot on Saturday later.
Jammu/Srinagar, Oct 20 : Counting was underway on Saturday for the recently concluded Jammu and Kashmir municipal polls, with preliminary results showing that the BJP was heading for a major victory in Jammu while mixed results were seen in the Kashmir Valley.

By 11 a.m., the Bharatiya Janata Party secured 23 out of the 33 wards with the Congress winning eight seats and the Independents two.

In Kishtwar, independents had won nine while the Congress one out of the 10 results declared so far.

For the Bhaderwah municipal committee, the Congress won six, the BJP three and Independents four seats.

In Kathua and Hiranagar, the BJP were declared elected in 13, the Congress in eight and the independents in seven wards.

The Congress won all the seven seats in Bannihal.

In the Valley, the victory margins in most wards were very low with some candidates getting elected with just three to 10 votes.

In Ganderbal, out of 17 wards, 13 were won by Independents while the Congress and BJP secured two each.

In Uri, the Congress candidates won six and the independents seven out of the total 13 wards.

The BJP won seven seats in Anantnag.

In Srinagar, independents and BJP candidates were poised to win most of the seats as their candidates were leading.

By Saturday afternoon, all the results were likely to be announced thereby successfully concluding the municipal electoral exercise that was held in four phases after 13 years.

The regional National Conference and the Peoples Democratic Party did not participate in the polls.
New Delhi : There was never any doubt about the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) anti-minority electoral gambits but the agenda has now been unambigiously and forcefully articulated by the party's friend, philosopher and guide, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

Delivering the organisation's customary message on the occasion of Dussehra/Vijay Dashami, its chief, Mohan Bhagwat, has left no stone unturned about what the Narendra Modi government should immediately do -- which is to start building the Ram temple in Ayodhya even by enacting an ordinance.

By pointedly ignoring the fact that the issue is currently before the Supreme Court, the RSS chief has taken the party and the Hindutva brotherhood to the days of the Ramjanmabhoomi movement in the 1990s when the saffron storm-troopers used to say that the courts can have no say in a matter of faith.

Apart from a reiteration of this aggressive "religious" stance, Bhagwat's directive to the BJP to get down to business and not dilly-dally any longer on building the temple has scrapped Atal Behari Vajpayee's decision in 1996 to put in cold storage the three "core" issues of the Sangh parivar -- building the temple, doing away with Article 370 of the Constitution conferring special status on Jammu and Kashmir, and introducing a uniform civil code That the negation of Vajpayee's wishes has been done in the year of his death is not without significance. It remains to be seen whether the RSS will give any "advice" to the government on the two other issues -- Article 370 and the uniform civil code.

But why the sudden hurry about constructing the temple? There may be two reasons. One is that it is the last throw of the dice by the party and the parivar in an election season to consolidate its vote bank of communal-minded Hindus at a time when the less than favourable economic scene may make sections of the liberal Hindus, who voted for the BJP in 2014, drift away.

The other is the realisation in the saffron brotherhood that it is now or never where the temple is concerned since the BJP is unlikely to get a majority on its own in the Lok Sabha in 2019. The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) led by it may get it, but it will not be easy for the BJP to persuade some of its allies such as the Janata Dal (United) -- which has opposed the BJP's favourite triple talaq ordinance -- and the Akali Dal to endorse a construction programme which cannot but alienate the minorities.

Notwithstanding BJP president Amit Shah's conviction that the party will reign for half a century, there may be an awareness in the organisation that the 2014 outcome was the result of several unforeseen events -- the Congress's sudden and somewhat inexplicable collapse and Modi's emergence (against the wishes of several in his party) as some kind of a messiah. From this standpoint, 2019 will not be the same as 2014.

Ever since the party and the parivar sensed that the mantras of neither "achhe din" (good days) nor "sabka saath, sabka vikas" (development for all) is evoking a favourable response, the focus of the saffron propaganda has been on Hindu-Muslim polarisation.

Whether it is extending the scope of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) from Assam to other states or the removal of long-established Muslim names in Uttar Pradesh like Mughalsarai and Allahabad, the BJP's aim has been to send the message that Muslims will be under pressure to prove the genuiness of their citizenship and that India's multi-cultural past will be erased as Hindu rashtra takes root.

Along with the direct and indirect offensive against Muslims, the parivar is also intent on confirming its Hindu credentials by opposing the Supreme Court's verdict allowing women of all ages to enter the Sabarimala temple in Kerala on the grounds it violates centuries-old beliefs.

The Sabarimala episode enables the RSS and the BJP to try and kill two birds with one stone. One is to project themselves as the standard-bearers of Hinduism, and the other is to flaunt a defiance of the Supreme Court.

The court has aroused the saffron lobby's ire ever since it delivered a series of "progressive" judgments (of which Sabarimala is one) such as the one upholding the rights of privacy, which the government argued was an elitist concept, and the other was to decriminalise homosexuality in a case from which the government recused itself evidently because while the legalisation went against the BJP's crusty orthodoxy, the party could not afford to be seen as living in Victorian times.

Sabarimala has given an opportunity to the RSS and the BJP to defy the apex court and suggest that it is not right all the time. The defiance may have also been motivated by the #MeToo movement which has claimed the scalp of a Union minister and persuaded another minister to say that those who support the movement are "perverted".

Among the others who also answer to the description of being perverted are the so-called "Urban Naxalites", a new form of abuse coined by the RSS and the BJP for the Left-Liberals who have always been called anti-nationals. Not surprisingly, another of the RSS chief's advice to the government was to keep the "Urban Naxalites" under surveillance.

It will be interesting to know what those "secularists" who interacted with the RSS recently like former President Pranab Mukherjee and the business tycoon, Ratan Tata, think of the pitch for the temple and the castigation of "Urban Naxalites".

(Amulya Ganguli is a political analyst. The views expressed are personal. He can be reached at amulyaganguli@gmail.com)
Los Angeles, Oct 20 : Actor Bruce Dern was hospitalised here and later released after he suffered a possible fractured hip.

TMZ had reported that the incident took place at 3.45 p.m on Friday. It posted a photo taken by a bystander of a shirtless Dern, 82, on the ground as he was being treated and said the incident occurred at Runyon Canyon, a popular and rugged hiking area in the Hollywood Hills.

Dern's manager Alan Somers told Variety that the accident took place after he slipped on gravel while jogging, while his publicist Lee Wallman said he jogs everyday.

Wallman said that Dern had recently completed filming his role as George Spahn in Quentin Tarantino's "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" Dern was cast as a replacement for the late Burt Reynolds.

Wallman said she expects that Dern will want to return to shooting the upcoming Showtime comedy series "Black Monda" next week.

"Knowing Bruce, he'll want to get back to work as soon as possible," she added.

Dern, the father of actress Laura Dern, has credits dating back to "Route 66" in 1960. He was nominated for the Academy Award for supporting actor for "Coming Home" in 1978 and for best actor for "Nebraska" in 2013. He also appeared in Tarantino's "The Hateful Eight."
Amritsar, Oct 20 : A day after 60 hapless Dussehra revellers were mowed down by a train here in Punjab, Union Minister of State for Railways Manoj Sinha on Saturday said his ministry is not to be blamed for any lapses leading to the disaster.

The Railways was not informed about the Dusshera ceremony near the Jora Phatak vicinity either by the area administration or the event organisers, he added.

"In fact, the Commissioner (Amritsar) in his report has said he has not granted permission to hold the Dusshera festival at the spot," Sinha, who visited the accident site at midnight, told reporters.

On Friday, a 700 strong crowd watching a huge Ravan effigy go up in flames amid exploding crackers spilled on to the tracks at Jora Phatahk when the Jalandhar-Amritsar DMU passenger train heading to Hoshiarpur from Amritsar came hurtling down around 7 p.m.

In just 10-15 seconds it left behind a heap of crushed and dismembered bodies. Video clips posted on the social media showed some people who had apparently seen the approaching train tried to run away Sinha said the venue was nearly 70 metres from the accident spot which was not the Railways'.

Witnesses and survivors said the deafening noise of fire crackers masked the sound of the approaching train.

Saying it was not the time for the blame game, Sinha added that there was no provision of barricading along railway tracks across the country.

Earlier Chairman Railway Board Ashwani Lohani had explained that the accident site falls under the "mid-section of the two stations" where the trains run at their "assigned speed" as per the condition of the track.

Lohani on Saturday also dismissed the railways' responsibility in the tragedy. "The place where the accident happened was basically mid-section between two stations -- Mananwala and Amritsar and not at a level crossing."

"Trains run at their assigned speed and people are not expected to go on the tracks. It was a clear case of trespassing," he said.

"It's the duty of the public not to hold public functions near the railway tracks. Even the local administration should not allow such functions," Sinha said, adding "The driver could not see the crowd standing on the tracks because of the curve," he added.

According to a senior railway official, the incident happened some 340 metres from an interlocked level crossing of the railways.

Lohani also said that the railway posts its staff at the manned level crossing to regulate the road traffic and nod at the mid-sections of the railway track between two stations.

The Railway Board chairman said at Jora Phatak the Jalandhar-Amritsar Diesel Multiple Unit (DMU) passenger train which was running at its assigned speed, its loco-pilot applied brakes to slow it down.

At the time of the incident the gates of the manned level crossing were closed and the train was given the green signal.

When asked about the responsibility of the loco-pilot, Lohani said, "Our initial report suggest that the loco-pilot applied the brakes and the speed came down from 90 kmph to around 60-65 kmph. We are still looking at the seepdometer charts," Lohani said.

The train driver has been detained at the Ludhiana railway station and questioned by the Punjab and Railway Police on Saturday.

A senior Railway Ministry official, however, admitted that the loco-pilots of the Diesel Multiple Unit (DMU) Jalandhar-Amritsar Passenger train did not apply emergency brakes.

Emergency brakes could also derail the train at high speed, the official explained.

Doctors at the Civil Hospital said that the death toll could rise as some of the injured were critical. Many killed were migrants from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.

The Punjab government has declared state mourning on Saturday and a probe has been ordered.

Railway Minister Piyush Goyal who was in the US, cancelled all his engagements and was set to return.

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh who arrived in Amritsar on Saturday at the accident spot 16 hours after the tragedy, has announced Rs 5 lakh compensation each to the kin of the deceased immediately after the incident.

He also cancelled his proposed Israel visit in the aftermath of the disaster.

The Prime Minister also announced Rs 2 lakh compensation each to the families of the dead and Rs 50,000 each to the injured.
New Delhi, Oct 20 : External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj called on visiting Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe here on Saturday and reviewed progress on development projects being implemented on the island nation with India's aid "Continuing commitment to deepen our partnership with a close friend," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar tweeted following the meeting.

"Exchanged views on strengthening bilateral relations and reviewed progress on development projects," Kumar said.

Wickremesinghe will also hold talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The Sri Lankan Prime Minister arrived here on Thursday in what is his fifth visit to India since assuming office in 2015.
Amritsar, Oct 20 : Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh said on Saturday the Jalandhar Divisional Commissioner will conduct an inquiry within four weeks into the Amritsar train tragedy in which 59 people were crushed by a speeding train.

The Chief minister also said that nine of those killed were yet to be identified, while 57 other Dussehra revellers were injured as the Jalandhar-Amritsar Diesel Multiple Unit (DMU) passenger train mowed them down at Jora Phatak here.

Earlier, the toll was reported to be 60.

Amarinder Singh, who reached the accident site on Saturday from Delhi, said the inquiry will look into all aspects, including whether the train followed the signals and if there was any trespassing.

"It's a terrible tragedy we all accept it. Inquiry will find out who is at fault and who is not. I cannot prejudge an inquiry. Let them come up with the report. I have given four weeks for the inquiry to be completed," he said.

He said while the Railways were also probing the issue, the state government will hold its own inquiry.

"This is not a time for making allegations. The tragedy needs to be dealt with in a proper manner. All parties should come together at this time of grief," he said.

On Friday, 700 people watching a huge Ravan effigy go up in flames amid exploding crackers spilled on to the tracks at Jora Phatahk when the passenger train heading to Hoshiarpur from Amritsar came hurtling down around 7 p.m.

Most people reportedly could not hear the hooting of the train due to the exploding crackers.

Asked why the Chief Minister reached Amritsar after 16 hours of the tragedy, he said, "I was supposed to go to Tel Aviv. I came from New Delhi to Amritsar."

He also said he did not want the administration to get busy making arrangements for his visit.

He was accompanied by Cabinet Ministers Braham Mohindra and Navjot Singh Sidhu.
Hyderabad, Oct 20 : Congress President Rahul Gandhi kicked off his party's election campaign in Telangana by targeting both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao by accusing them both of indulging in corruption.

Promising to build 'new Telangana', he addressed a massive public meeting at Bhainsa town in Adilabad district, where he told people that five years were wasted as Chief Minister Rao shattered the dreams of the new state.

Gandhi said it was only KCR's family which "cornered" all the benefits. He said only Congress could build a Telangana which is free from corruption and farmers' suicides.

On his first visit to Telangana after the announcement of the poll schedule, Gandhi was scheduled to address public meetings in Kamareddy and Hyderabad later in the day.

The Congress chief told the gathering at Bhaina that governments of both Modi and KCR were on their way out.

He also alleged that KCR insulted B.R. Ambedkar by changing the name of an irrigation project in the state to Kaleshwaram.

He claimed that KCR was resorting to corruption in irrigation projects by redesigning them to benefit his family and friends.

"This project was named after Ambedkar and was to be built at a cost of Rs 38,000 crore but KCR has revised the cost to Rs 1 lakh crore. Other irrigation projects were also redesigned to hike their cost," he said.

He promised that if voted to power Congress would implement the legislation brought by the UPA government to protect the lands of farmers and tribals and return the lands which were forcibly acquired by the KCR government.

He claimed that the purpose of the legislation was to ensure that the lands of farmers were not acquired without their consent and if the lands are acquired with their consent they should be paid compensation which is four times the market value.

Gandhi said if voted to power Congress would waive all farm loans up to Rs 2 lakh and pay Rs 3,000 unemployment allowance to youth.

He alleged that KCR failed to fulfil his promises to provide one job in each family, three acres of land to every Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe family, two bed-room houses for poor and drinking water to every household.

Gandhi said like KCR, Modi had also made false promises including Rs 15 lakh in every bank account, two crore jobs every year and remunerative prices for farmers.

On Modi's charge that Congress did nothing for the poor, Gandhi claimed that it was Congress which pulled out many families out of poverty by brining MNREGA and providing right to food.

Gandhi said Modi had promised that he would work as a "chowkidar" but he did not mention whose "chowkidari" he would do. He alleged that Modi was doing "chowkidari" of the likes of Nirav Modi, Vijay Mallya, Mehul Choksi, Lalit Modi and Anil Ambani.

He reiterated that Modi snatched Rafale contract from public sector Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and gave it to Anil Ambani to benefit him to the tune of Rs 30,000 crore. "India's chowkidar has stolen people's money," he said.

The Congress leader also alleged that Modi spreads hatred. "He pits people of one religion against another, one caste against the other and one region against another.

"He is weakening the country. Congress believes in uniting people irrespective of their religion, caste and region and that the difference between BJP and Congress," he said.
Kabul, Oct 20 : At least five people were killed and 118 injured in a series of violent attacks and explosions in Afghanistan as the long-awaited parliamentary elections got underway in the militancy-plagued country on Saturday.

In Kabul, blasts killed at least three people and injured 78, said Zear Khan, a spokesman for the Ministry of Public Health.

In Kunduz province, two people were killed and over 40 were injured in Taliban mortar and armed attacks, Kunduz Provincial Council Chief Yusuf Ayubi told Efe news.

"Around 30 rockets were fired on Kunduz city and Imam-Sahib district. Around 15 rockets landed in Shir Khan High School and Bandahar-e-Imam Sahib of Kunduz city" he said.

"We have people martyred and injured. At least two persons martyred and over 40 injured in the mortar and armed attacks. There was fighting in at least three districts of Kunduz today" he added.

The Afghan government deployed 70,000 troops -- an increase of 16,000 from the figure announced previously -- to boost security during the electoral process, Interior Ministry spokesperson Najib Danish said at a press conference.

He added that 4,900 polling centres had opened in 32 out of the 34 provinces. The voting was to begin at 7 a.m. across the country, but in some polling stations it started at around 9 a.m. and in some even later.

In some of the polling stations biometric devices were malfunctioning, while in others election material, including ballots, did not arrive on time.

Elections were delayed in the Ghazni province owing to ethnic tensions and security concerns, while in Kandahar it was pushed back by a week after a brazen attack by the Taliban on Thursday during a high-level security meeting that killed and injured top officials.

The Election Commission said it will continue till Sunday in centres which were unable to open on Saturday.

"Holding of this election is the success of the constitution, success of the people and the democracy," President Ashraf Ghani had said in an address to the nation even as the Taliban warned again on Saturday that they would target all polling booths and warned people against voting.

"Enemy's polling stations all over the country are under attack by Mujahideens, countrymen must refrain from taking part in this fake process, to save their lives and not to become a tool for the implementation of the evil plans of the enemy," said Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid in a statement.

The insurgents claimed on Twitter that they perpetrated attacks in at least 20 of the 34 provinces in Afghanistan on Saturday.

The elections are being held after a delay of three years owing to security challenges and political and economic instability in the country.

Violence in the run-up to the vote caused 30 per cent of all polling stations to shut and left 10 candidates dead.

More than 2,500 candidates, including many women, are vying for 250 seats in the legislative elections. Nearly nine million voters were entitled to cast their ballots.
New Delhi, Oct 20 : Come January, literary heavyweights will gather in Jaipur for a sumptuous feast of ideas at the annual Zee Jaipur Literature Festival. Its co-director and noted historian William Dalrymple said the organisers will be fielding the strongest lineup of literary heavyweights in the upcoming edition as the first 30 speakers were announced on Saturday.

The speakers include Colson Whitehead, author of nine books of fiction and nonfiction, including the Pulitzer Prize winning "The Underground Railroad"; Markus Zusak, the international bestselling author of "The Book Thief", which spent more than a decade on the New York Times bestseller list and has been translated into more than 40 languages; Andrew Sean Greer, bestselling author of six works of fiction, including the 2018 Pulitzer Prize winning novel "Less"; acclaimed British novelist and journalist Hari Kunzru; and Juergen Boos, President and CEO of the Frankfurt Book Fair since 2005.

"In 2019 we'll be fielding the strongest Jaipur lineup ever, an unrivalled literary First Eleven of remarkable poets and acclaimed novelists, historians and biographers, thinkers and dreamers, travellers and critics, actors and screenwriters, genii and major league prize winners. It's an astonishing line up and I can't wait for the 24th of January to see it all become a reality," Dalrymple said.

Manisha Koirala, who after her break from fighting ovarian cancer, recently returned to the screen with the coming-of-age drama "Dear Maya", Netflix's "Lust Stories", and "Sanju", will also be a part of the festival.

They will be joined by Tamil author, scholar and literary chronicler Perumal Murugan whose works include six novels, four collections of short stories and four anthologies of poetry, along with astrophysicist and Professor at Yale, Priyamvada Natarajan.

Other speakers announced in the first list include Uday Prakash, Upamanyu Chatterjee and Vikram Chandra.

"It has been a year of many upheavals and changes in the struggle for gender equity, and our programming will reflect these issues and concerns. We also have a special emphasis on science, the scientific temper, speculative fiction, as well as artificial intelligence and what the future might hold for our planet. Looking forward to Jaipur in January as the 2019 edition returns with its own special brand of magic, whimsy and intellectual rigour," said writer and co-director Namita Gokhale.

The 2019 edition of the festival will take place January 24-28, 2019. It is produced by Teamwork Arts, headed by Sanjoy K. Roy.
New Delhi, Oct 20 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hoist the national flag at Red Fort on Sunday to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the formation of the government of 'free India'.

Traditionally, the country's Prime Minister hoists the flag at the historic fort on Independence Day every year on August 15.

This year, Modi will hoist the Tiranga and unveil the plaque to celebrate anniversary of the Azad Hind government, inspired and headed by Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose.

An official statement said that the commemoration of this historical event will also have the presence of Union Minister Mahesh Sharma and Indian National Army (INA) veteran R.S. Chhikara among others.

Founded on October 21, 1943, the Azad Hind government was inspired by the ideals of Subhas Chandra Bose.

It was a part of the freedom movement, originating in 1940s outside India with a purpose of allying with axis powers to free India from the British rule.

The INA played a crucial role in bequeathing a much-needed impetus to the country's freedom struggle.

The Red Fort will remain closed for the general public and visitors till the function in over.

The Prime Minister will also lay the foundation stone for a museum dedicated to the Azad Hind Fauj or the INA.
Mumbai, Oct 20 : Challenging Prime Minister Narendra Modi's statement that 16,000 villages in Maharashtra have become 'drought-free', the state Congress on Saturday demanded that the Bharatiya Janata Party government release the list of all these villages.

In his speech in Shirdi (Ahmednagar) on Friday, Modi had patted Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis' government for making 16,000 villages self-sufficient in water, while work was on to make another 9,000 villages drought-free very soon, under the flagship Jalyukta Shivar Abhiyan (JSA) scheme.

"The reality is that there is a serious drought situation prevailing in at least 20,000 villages in 201 sub-districts of the total 353 sub-districts in the state.

"The state government claims that the number of tankers supplying water to villages has reduced by 80 per cent, but from October (2018) itself, hundreds of tankers have already been deployed to grapple with the water shortage," state Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant said.

This makes it clear that the implementation of the JSA scheme by the BJP is a complete failure and there is massive corruption in it with the Prime Minister uttering 'lies' on the figures of the drought-free villages, he pointed out.

Sawant added that the government has spent more than Rs 7,459 crore on 541,000 JSA schemes, plus another 20,420 works are in progress, yet the spectre of drought has hit the state as the monsoon ended this year.

In this context, he cited the Pune-based Directorate of Geographical Survey & Development Agency (GSDA)'s 2018-2019 report to the state government which warns of a severe water crisis in view of the shocking state of groundwater levels in the state.

"The GSDA report says that compared to the situation five years ago in Maharashtra, the current groundwater level in 13,984 villages in 252 sub-districts, has plummeted by more than one metre, in 7,212 villages upto two metres, in 3,430 villages by upto three metres and in 3,342 villages it has gone down by more than three metres," Sawant said.

Alleging that this is a serious indicator of the corruption in the JSA scheme, he demanded a judicial inquiry into the scheme to ascertain where the Rs 7,500 crore has gone.

He also sought the list of all the 16,000 villages already declared drought-free and the names of the 9,000 which will be declared water-sufficient, as per the PM's statement on Friday, "to unmask the massive corruption in the scheme by the BJP government here."

Sawant said that it was "unfortunate that Modi is seen 'lying' even in a sacred place like Shirdi" though holding an important position of dignity.
New Delhi, Oct 20 : India and Sri Lanka discussed the entire gamut of their bilateral relationship during delegation-level talks headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Sri Lankan counterpart here on Saturday.

"Both the Prime Ministers discussed the entire gamut of bilateral relations and ways to further deepen the historically close and friendly relations between the two countries," the External Affairs Ministry said in a statement.

"The leaders exchanged views on regional and global issues," it stated.

According to the statement, the two leaders reviewed the progress in implementation of various decisions taken during high-level exchanges in the recent past, including the visit of Wickremesinghe in April and November 2017, Modi's visit to Sri Lanka in May 2017 during the International Vesak Day Celebrations and the visit of Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena for the International Solar Alliance Founding Conference here in March 2018.

"The visit is part of our continuing engagement with the government of Sri Lanka at the highest level," it stated.

"This multi-faceted partnership has been marked by close contacts at the highest political level, growing trade and investment, wide ranging development cooperation, increasing linkages in the fields of education, health, infrastructure, connectivity and capacity building and broadening people-to-people contacts."

India is a leading aid partner of Sri Lanka and New Delhi has extended several lines of credit to Colombo.

Earlier in the day, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Minister of Home Affairs Rajnath Singh and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval called on Wickremesinghe.

The Sri Lankan Prime Minister arrived here on Thursday in what is his fifth visit to India after assuming office in 2015.

A high-level delegation comprising Minister of Development Strategies and International Trade Malik Samarawickrama, Minister of Petroleum Resources Development Arjuna Ranatunga, Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister and Minister of Youth Affairs, Project Management and Southern Development Sagala Ratnayake and other senior government officials accompanied him.

The visit comes after reports in a section of the media alleged that President Sirisena has alluded to the involvement of an Indian agency in a plot to assassinate him.

Firmly dismissing the reports, Sirisena held a telephonic discussion with Modi earlier this week to clarify the matter.
New Delhi, Oct 20 : Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Saturday opened the gates to a "primary library" in a government school -- the first among 100 libraries which will be open for students in the coming days.

"100 new primary libraries being opened from today (Saturday) in Delhi government schools! Inaugurated one at President Estate School. Keep reading, keep gaining wisdom and keep imparting it all around," Sisodia tweeted.

As a part of its policy, the Delhi government is going to set up libraries in every section of the primary classes of government schools to engage children with books.

Taking to Twitter, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal lauded the initiative.

Speaking with the teachers and students, Sisodia said that though these libraries are for small children, "if a small child gets active in the older ones, they too should come here and read story books".

"Children's library is a great place to read and learn, understand and explain," Sisodia asserted as he went on to inaugurate a similar library in School of Excellence, Khichripur.

This is the second phase of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government's initiative to open special libraries designed for the primary sections of 100 Sarvodaya Vidyalayas.

In 2017, the Kejriwal government, in partnership with Room To Read, had similarly opened 100 libraries for primary levels in public schools across the national capital.
Chennai, Oct 20 : Tamil cinema superstar Rajinikanth on Saturday welcomed the Supreme Court verdict on Sabarimala, but cautioned against interfering with the traditions of temples.

He said that every temple had some traditions, and it was better not to interfere with those traditions.

However, he was quick to hail the September 28 Supreme Court verdict that overturned a centuries-old practice barring women of menstrual age (10-50 years) from entering the hill temple, where a celibate deity Lord Ayyappa is worshipped.

His cine rival Kamal Haasan, however, refused to be drawn into the Sabarimala controversy.

Haasan, the founder of Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) party, said he was not the right person to comment on the issue, as he had never been to the Sabrimala temple.

He observed that Karnataka did not follow the SC verdict asking for the release of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu, and now Kerala was not obeying the SC ruling on Sabarimala.

Rajinikanth said that a lot of work had been completed towards forming his political party but denied reports that it would be launched on December 12.

The two Tamil cinema rivals are now set to slug it out in the world of politics.

Protesters have blocked the entry of women in the age group of 10-50, in defiance of the SC order, and despite the state government's assurance to facilitate the entry of women to the shrine.
New Delhi, Oct 20 : Two Hindu organisations on Saturday joined the Vishwa Hindu Parishad in condemning the alleged action of the Kerala Police on devotees of Sabarimala temple and alleged that the real face of the CPI-M has been exposed.

"The way sanctity, religious belief and the serenity of Sabarimala has been attacked shows the real face of CPI-M," Sanatan Dharm Pratinidhi Sabha and Delhi Sant Mahamandal said in a joint statement.

The statement came a day after the VHP also condemned the Kerala Police action over the devotees.

The two organisations alleged the Kerala Police lathi-charged the devotees. "However, despite the brute force of administration, Kerala government could not force the Hindu devotees to submit. This is a victory of faith and devotion," they said.

The organisations also thanked the devotees saying "they were trying to save the tradition of Sabarimala".

Attacking the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), they said, "The role of the CPI-M has always remained under question on the issue of saving the rights of women."

The organisations pointed out that the Hindu community has never been anti-women. "But there has been a tradition of temples and one has to respect that. And due to these different traditions, India has unity in diversity," they said.
London, Oct 20 : Over half a million people marched through central London on Saturday calling for a second, final vote on the UK's withdrawal from the EU, protest organizers announced.

Demonstrators assembled at London's Park Lane before marching en masse towards Parliament Square in a show of force that hoped to bring about a so-called People's Vote, essentially a second referendum on whether to go ahead with Brexit once a final deal has been drafted, the BBC reported.

Organizers at the People's Vote HQ said more than 570,000 people had descended on central London, with many coming from across the nation to vent their frustration with the Brexit process. Scotland Yard said it was not able to estimate the size of the crowd.

Several well-known British personalities have endorsed the People's Vote initiative, as have politicians from across the political spectrum, including London Mayor Sadiq Khan.

Khan, who started the march, was among those to speak at Parliament Square, along with representatives from the main political parties.

"What's clear is that the only options on the table now from the Prime Minister are a bad Brexit deal, or no deal whatsoever. That's a million miles away from what was promised two-and-a-half years ago," he said.

Labour's Lord Adonis, a campaigner for People's Vote, said: "Brexit's becoming a dog's dinner. This week's fresh chaos and confusion over Brexit negotiations has exposed how even the best deal now available will be a bad one for Britain."

First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon sent a message of support to the rally, saying the Scottish National Party would support a vote that would give the option of staying in the EU.

Richard Tice, founder of Leave Means Leave and former co-chair of Leave.EU, said: "The idea that you should have a second referendum would be incredibly damaging, most of all to the trust in democracy from people up and down this country."

The protest came at a time when Brexit negotiations were deadlocked over how to maintain a soft border between the Republic of Ireland, an EU member state, and Northern Ireland, which is part of the UK, once Britain is no longer part of the EU's single market.

British Prime Minister Theresa May, who leads the minority Conservative Party government, had dismissed the possibility of staging a referendum on the terms and conditions of Brexit.

The UK narrowly voted to leave the EU in a referendum in June 2016. The country is on track to leave in March 2019, with or without a deal.
New Delhi, Oct 20 : On the occasion of Police Commemoration Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the National Police Memorial on Sunday to recognize the the sacrifices made by police personnel since Independence.

The 30-ft monolith erected on 6.12 acres in Chanakyapuri represents all state and union territories' police forces as well as central police organisations of the country, an official statement said.

"Since 1947, 34,844 police personnel have been martyred, with 424 losing their lives this year. Many of these brave lives were lost in the fight against terrorism," it said.

"Further, a large number of police lives were lost in prevention of crime and in maintenance of law and order."

The statement said a police museum would also be inaugurated.
New Delhi, Oct 20 : Malegaon blast accused Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur on Saturday expressed her inclination towards joining politics, saying she would surely do so "if the nation wants".

Making a controversial statement, she said while Muslims were good citizens, but there were "some anti-national elements among them who needed to be dealt with", according to a statement issued by India TV.

"Muslims are good citizens of our country, but there are elements among Muslims who are anti-national, and they have to be dealt with," she said in India TV's 'Aap Ki Adalat' programme.

On her intentions to join politics, Sadhvi Pragya, who was in jail for nine years in connection with the 2008 Malegaon blast, said: "If the nation wants, and if the nation gives me a call, I will surely join politics."

Expressing support for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, she said she wouldn't mind campaigning in the elections even as she called Congress President Rahul Gandhi a "child".

"There is no restraint in his (Gandhi's) statements. There is no mention of the nation's welfare in his statements. Abroad, he gives statements which bring a bad name to our country. On the other hand, wherever Modiji has gone, he has enhanced India's prestige," she said.
Amritsar, Oct 20 : The Punjab government on Saturday ordered a magisterial probe into the Amritsar train tragedy in which 59 people watching Dusshera effigy burning were crushed to death by a speeding train even as the railways said it was not responsible for the tragedy.

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh ordered a magisterial probe into the incident, including finding out if mandatory permissions for holding the function were given.

Amarinder, who visited the accident site and the injured in hospitals on Saturday, said the Jalandhar Divisional Commissioner will conduct an inquiry within four weeks.

"Action will be taken against those responsible for the tragedy once the inquiry report comes," he said.

Opposition Shiromani Akali Dal demanded that a case of murder be registered against the organizers, who are mostly ruling Congress leaders.

"This is a massacre and murder. The organizers should be booked for murder of these people," said SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal after visiting the accident spot.

The Chief Minister said that nine of those killed were yet to be identified, while 57 other Dussehra revellers were injured as the Jalandhar-Amritsar Diesel Multiple Unit (DMU) passenger train mowed them down at Joda Phatak in Amritsar.

Asked if there were any lapses on the part of the railways, the Chief Minister said the probe would look into the matter. "It (the probe) will ascertain whether approvals for holding the function were given," Amarinder said.

Union Minister of State for Railways Manoj Sinha on Saturday said that the railway ministry is not to be blamed for any lapses leading to the disaster.

"The Railways was not informed about the Dusshera ceremony near the Joda Phatak vicinity either by the area administration or the event organisers," he said.

"The Commissioner (Amritsar) in his report has said he had not granted permission to hold the Dusshera festival at the spot," Sinha, who visited the accident site at midnight, told reporters.

On Friday, hundreds of people watching a huge Ravan effigy go up in flames amid exploding crackers spilled on to the tracks at Joda Phatak when the passenger train heading to Hoshiarpur from Amritsar came hurtling down around 7 p.m.

Most people reportedly could not hear the train due to the exploding crackers.

Asked why the Chief Minister reached Amritsar after 16 hours of the tragedy, he said, "I was supposed to go to Tel Aviv (Israel). I came back from New Delhi airport."

He said he did not want the administration to get busy making arrangements for his visit.

The Amarinder government is under fire for reacting late to the massive tragedy and also for not taking action against organizers of the Dusshera function since they are from the ruling Congress and close aides of Punjab cabinet minister Navjot Singh Sidhu.

The Chief Minister urged all political parties "to rise above petty politicking to join hands to mitigate the sufferings of the victims and their families".

"Though I wanted to visit Amritsar last night itself, I was advised against it by the district authorities which did not want a VIP movement to divert attention from the urgent rescue and relief efforts needed at that hour," he said.

He said two little girls he met in the hospital had lost their entire families in the accident.

Chairman Railway Board Ashwani Lohani also dismissed the railways' responsibility in the tragedy. He said the train which was running at its assigned speed, its loco-pilot applied brakes to slow it down.

"Trains run at their assigned speed and people are not expected to go on the tracks. It was a clear case of trespassing. The Punjab and Railway Police on Saturday questioned the driver of a train that crushed the people.

Sources said that the driver claimed that he was given green signal and all-clear and had no idea that hundreds of people were standing on the tracks when the train crossed the area.

No action has so far been initiated against the organisers, who are leaders of the ruling Congress in Punjab, of the Dusshera event. Police sources said that the organisers had gone underground.

There is a big question mark over the permissions being granted to the organizers to hold the event so close to the railway tracks.

Punjab Local government minister Navjot Singh Sidhu is being targeted as the Congress leaders behind the function are his close aides in Amritsar and went ahead with the function without mandatory permissions.

Sidhu's wife, Navjot Kaur, was the chief guest at the event where the tragedy happened.

Ironically, just two minutes before the DMU crushed the people, another train crossed the same spot without a problem with the same number of people standing there.
Lucknow, Oct 20 : Senior BJP leaders interacted with district party office-bearers on Saturday and issued instructions on how to roll out the election campaign ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

The meeting was chaired by state unit president Mahendra Nath Pandey and attended by assistant general secretary Shiv Prakash and Sunil Bansal, who is in-charge of the party affairs in the state.

It was decided that the workers will fan out in different parts of the state and expose the "unholy nexus" between the Congress and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP)-Samajwadi Party (SP) combine as they plan a grand alliance against the ruling party.

"These parties ensured that the roots of dynastic, communal and caste politics remained deep even as they looted the country," Pandey said in his address.

All district-level leaders were told to ensure that the electoral rolls were corrected and anomalies removed in time and that the new voters are added in the voter list after they duly sign and submit their forms.

"The good work done by the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre and the Yogi Adityanath-led state government in UP will ensure that we would win by a thumping majority in polls," said Pandey.

The district office-bearers were also given talking points on schemes such as Ujjwala, Jan Dhan bank accounts, farmer loan waiver and other welfare schemes ushered in by BJP governments.
New Delhi, Oct 20 : An advocate got into a scuffle with her brother's wife within the court compound on Saturday. The police have lodged cross FIRs.

While the bar association has complained about delayed action, the advocate involved in the scuffle said she had no complaints against the police.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Meghna Yadav said the incident happened around 10.30 a.m. in the Karkardooma Court, where Aruna Singh is fighting her brother's divorce case.

A few lawyers, she said, went to the nearest police station and started "screaming" at the Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) even after he had sent two women police personnel to deal with the matter.

The DCP refused to comment on the behaviour of the lawyers. "But I can guarantee that the ACP behaved in the most appropriate manner and in spite the provocation, he restrained himself," she said.

According to the Shahdara Bar Association, Singh, the advocate fighting her brother's case, was among the lawyers who approached the police station to protest their "inaction".

Association president Pramod Nagar condemned the incident, but said no inquiry was initiated by him as "the matter was between women belonging to one family".

"The incidents in the court and at the police station are condemnable. The police will investigate and take action."

Singh, however, told IANS that the police reached "within half hour after we called up and action was taken immediately".

She expressed disappointment at the current security situation in the city courts.

"How can someone attack a lawyer inside the courtroom? There is a certain decorum that everybody is supposed to follow. It's high time the bar council provided its female advocates some security."

"She may be my relative, but this is no way to behave inside the court."

The police said that both the women had injuries and bite marks.
Shillong, Oct 20 : The Congregation of Christian Brothers, a worldwide religious community within the Catholic Church, on Saturday said an "internal investigation" will be carried out against Brother Francis Gale, who is accused of sexually abusing a tribal Khasi woman in Meghalaya.

"Something has happened. We understand the hurt, the pain and the shame of the victim (Kurkalang). We want to address it," a senior Brother of the Congregation at St. Edmund's campus in Shillong told IANS on the condition that he not be named.

The Society Protection Officer for Safeguarding Children and Vulnerable Adults will come down from New Delhi to Shillong in a day or two and collect all facts related to the incident, he said.

Mary Therese Kurkalang, from the state capital Shillong, on Friday took to the social media #MeToo campaign, accusing two Catholic brothers - Francis Gale and Muscat - of sexually abusing her since she was five.

The Brother quoted above said that the Congregation had earlier carried out an internal investigation, after they came to know of such allegations against Gale.

Mary, who said she had attempted suicide thrice in the past, in her Facebook post named two Catholic brothers "Br Francis Gale of the Christian Brothers and Br Muscat of Don Bosco" for sexually abusing her since she was 5".

Gale, who is now based in West Bengal, had "sexually abused Mary for eight years".

"He (Gale) was a trusted friend of my family and was held in great esteem as a religious man. I was sent to him for tuitions -- I was 5 when he first showed me his '----' and asked me to touch it."

However, Mary's family members distanced themselves from the alleged sexual scandal.

"I have nothing to say on the matter. You go and ask her. Please get out of my sight," Mary's elder sister Zita Kurkalang told journalists.

Mary said that she never got the support of her family members, one of whom instead "slapped" her when she informed them about the sexual abuse committed by Gale.

"I never spoke about it again, the abuse continued all the years till when I turned 12 and started menstruating, I mustered the courage to refuse to meet this man (Gale) or talk to him," she said.

Father Edmund Gomes, who is the Rector of Don Bosco Technical School, where Muscat had abused his victims by giving them sweets and toffees, refused to comment on the matter.

"I have spoken to the Special Branch people (Meghalaya police) and I will not speak to the media on the matter," Gomes said.

Mary alleged in her Facebook post that Muscat would call children to his side of the table and ask "us (children) to choose toffees from his drawers and while we did, he would slide his hands up," she said.

The victim said that she never told anyone about the sexual abuse committed by Muscat because of the larger abuse she faced from Gale.

Mary told IANS over phone on Friday that she had consulted her lawyers to understand the repercussions before she put out her statement on Facebook against the two Catholic brothers.

"I don't know yet what my next steps would be. I have taken the first steps for now and these were not easy," she said.
Lucknow, Oct 20 : A Bharatiya Janata Party corporator in Meerut was arrested on Saturday for assaulting a uniformed sub-inspector at a restaurant that the former owns, police said.

On Friday, the sub-inspector had gone to a restaurant -- Black Pepper -- with a woman lawyer. There, he allegedly got into a tiff with a waiter after which Corporator Manish Chowdhary attacked him and was caught on a video slapping the police officer thrice.

He was also abusing the duo even as the woman lawyer threw crockery at the restaurant staff, mouthing obscenities.

Meerut City Superintendent of Police R. Singh said that the BJP leader had been booked under non-bailable offences. BJP workers created a ruckus soon after the corporator was arrested and tried to prevent the police from discharging their duties.

Chowdhary has also lodged a complaint, alleging that Sub-Inspector Sukhpal Singh came to his restaurant drunk, vandalized property and attacked his staff.
New Delhi, Oct 21 : The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday released its first list of candidates for the Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Mizoram Assembly elections after long deliberations at a central election committee (CEC) meeting of the party.

The party announced names of 77 candidates for Chhattisgarh, 38 for Telangana and 13 for Mizoram.

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh, who is seeking his fourth consecutive term, will contest from the Rajnandgaon seat.

Among the 77 candidates announced out of a total of 90 Assembly seats in Chhattisgarh, 14 are women candidates and 14 sitting MLAs have been replaced with new names, Union Minister J.P. Nadda told reporters after the CEC meet attended among others by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah.

Among those fielded by the BJP include former IAS officer O.P. Chaudhary and tribal leader Ramdayal Uike, who recently left the Congress to join the party.

Chaudhary, the former Collector of Raipur, has been fielded from Kharsia constituency, while Uike will contest from Pali Tanakhar (ST) seat.

Besides, Chaudhary and Uike, the BJP named Ama Agarwal from Bilaspur, Brij Mohan Agrawal from Raipur City (South) seats.

Nadda said the BJP will also contest the Mizoram Assembly elections on 13 seats.

The party also released the list of 38 candidate for the upcoming Telangana Assembly polls.

"The party has considered the aspirations of our dedicated workers in Telangana region. Adequate representation has been given to the representatives of all communities," Nadda said.

Elections in Chhattisgarh are scheduled in two phases -- on November 12 and November 20, while the polling in Mizoram and Telangana will take place on November 28 and December 7, respectively.

The counting of votes will take place on December 11.
Brussels, Oct 21 : India's Vice President Venkaiah Naidu visited the Jain Temple in the Belgian port city of Antwerp on Saturday where he addressed the Indian community.

The event, organised by the members of Indian Association in Belgium and the Jain Culture Centre, was also attended by Antwerp Governor Ms. Cathy Berx.

The function began with a Kathakali performance by Margi Kathakali Group from Trivandrum which presented "Geetopadesham", a performance based on the Bhagavad Gita.

Naidu began his address by mentioning the contributions and sacrifices made by Indian soldiers who fought alongside their Belgian counterparts during the First World War.

He praised the Indian community and their contributions to the continued success of Belgium as the hub of global diamond trade and towards the prosperity of the Belgian economy. The Indian Diaspora in Antwerp mostly came from Palanpur in Gujarat and contributes 80 per cent of the Belgium's global diamond trade.

In his speech to the Indian community, the Indian Vice President also talked about the ASEM (Asia-Europe Meeting) Summit held in Brussels on Thursday and Friday, saying the two-day meet was aimed at strengthening Asia-Europe cooperation to promote world peace and stability.

He also briefed the community on the transformational changes in India under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

He referred to India's inherent advantages, including its expanding workforce and consumer market, rapid urbanisation, growing education and skill capabilities, stronger technology adaptation, and potential for driving exports through greater local manufacturing, among others.

He spoke at length on India's flagship programmes in the areas of manufacturing, digitisation, skills, financial inclusion, urbanisation, startups, infrastructure, clean energy and transportation, which have unleashed a new momentum that is driving organic growth in the country.

Naidu also mentioned about India's fight against climate change, terrorism and efforts taken against economic offenders and to tackle corruption and black money.

After the community event, the Vice President visited the Office of the Governor of Belgium to pay floral homage to the bust of Mahatma Gandhi.
Kabul, Oct 21 : At least 67 people were killed -- 27 civilians, nine members of security forces and 31 insurgents -- and 126 injured in 193 attacks carried out throughout Afghanistan by the Taliban, who had threatened to target Saturday's parliamentary elections, which were held three years late.

The 193 attacks against security forces and polling centres began at around 7 a.m and continued until at least 6 p.m, Deputy Interior Minister Akhtar Mohammad Ibrahimi told a press conference, reports Efe.

The attacks include a suicide blast in Kabul, 76 raids against polling centres throughout the country, a dozen explosions near those polling centres, as well as armed fighting between the Taliban and Afghan security forces.

As a result of these attacks, 27 civilians were killed and close to 100 were wounded, while at least nine members of the security forces died and 25 were injured, Ibrahimi said.

In addition, 31 Taliban insurgents were killed and 18 were arrested, he said.

According to the Deputy Interior Minister, the number of attacks on Saturday represent half of those that took place in 2014 during the presidential elections.

Despite the violence, presidential spokesman Haroon Chakhansori described the elections as a "success" and a "defeat for terrorists".

According to Afghanistan's Ministry of Interior, authorities deployed 70,000 soldiers and police officers to provide security during Saturday's election.

The Taliban warned Afghans that they would target all polling booths and urged people against voting.

"Enemy's polling stations all over the country are under attack by Mujahideen, countrymen must refrain from taking part in this fake process to save their lives and not to become a tool for the implementation of the evil plans of the enemy," Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said in a statement.

Another Taliban spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi claimed that 400 attacks were carried out, in which "dozens of soldiers and police were killed or injured," adding that "the elections failed".

The elections were initially planned to take place in 2015, but were delayed for three years due to security challenges and political and economic instability.

These elections have been seen as a test regarding the state of Afghanistan's fragile democracy, as well as a trial ahead of the presidential elections set to take place in April 2019.

This was the first time that the Afghan government was responsible for security during an election since NATO ended its combat operations in the country in 2014.
Since 2001, the Telecom Council has worked to identify and recognize companies who represent a broad range of cutting-edge telecom products and services. From there, dozens of young companies are presented each month to the Service Provider Innovation Forum (SPIF), ComTech Forum, IoT Forum, and Investor Forum.

SPIF members, who represent cutting-edge telcos from over 50 countries and who serve over 3B customers, selected four companies from hundreds of presenting communication startup companies and 20 SPIFFY nominees as best-in-class in their respective categories. Each winner, who is set apart for their dedication, technical vision, and interest from the global service provider community, is a company to watch in the telecommunication industry.

The winners below represent the best and brightest in their respective categories.



The Graham Bell Award for Best Communication Solutions - Voicebase

Edison Award for Most Innovative Startup - DigitalGenius

San Andreas Award for Most Disruptive Technology  what3words

Zephyr Award for Best Mobile Opportunity  Vapor IO

And this year's entrepreneurs had a chance to vote on the operators as well, to give a shout out to those telcos who were supportive, approachable, and helpful to young and growing telecom companies. And they chose:

Fred & Ginger Award for the Most Supportive Carrier  Orange

Last night, SPIFFY nominees attended the awards ceremony, joined by 50 global fixed and wireless communications companies and over 300 industry professionals. Congratulations to those nominees and the four winners. Learn more about the SPIFFY Awards at https://www.telecomcouncil.com/spiffys/ and see the full list of nominees at http://blog.telecomcouncil.com/blog/global-carriers-select-candidates-telecom-councils-2018-spiffy-awards/.

About the Telecom Council: The Telecom Council of Silicon Valley is Where Telecom Meets Innovation. We connect the companies who are building communication networks, with the people and ideas that are creating them - by putting those companies, research, ideas, capital and human expertise from across the globe together in the same room. Last year, The Telecom Council connected over 2,000 executives from 750 telecom companies and 60 fixed and wireless carriers across 40 meeting topics. By joining, speaking, sponsoring, or simply participating in a meeting, there are many ways telecom companies of any size can leverage the Telecom Council network. For more information and to join our invitation list, visit: https://www.telecomcouncil.com.

If you would like more information about this topic, please contact council@telecomcouncil.com or +1-408-834-7933.
The latest title from Workman Publishings Flow series is The Big Book of Less, encouraging mindfulness and decluttering, not just of physical stuff but of emotional and mental stuff as well. It will be on the shelves in April 2019, in time for Mothers Day, executive editor Megan Nicolay tells me. We are sitting in her office in New York, surrounded by the delightful and colorful graphics that appear in the book.

The series is a partnership with Astrid van der Hulst and Irene Smit, the creators of the Dutch magazine Flow. The two editors were working at Marie Claire in the Netherlands when, 10 years ago, they were asked by parent company Sanoma, one of the biggest media companies in the country, to think about a new magazine. They were both working mothers struggling with time and responsibilities. We sat together in Irenes attic with piles of ideas and developed the concept for Flow, van der Hulst says. We wanted a magazine about us: real lives, real people, about embracing failures, daily life, tiny pleasures.

A key to the magazines concept was paper. We have a good gut feeling for what is happening, what the zeitgeist is, Smit says. And we both love paper. Its such a simple, basic product, but when you turn it into something, its suddenly a gift. How good does it feel to receive a handwritten letter, to wrap a present in beautiful printed paper? And, of course, we love the smell of it and how it feels.

The creation of Flow is a bit of a love storywith paper, with the tactile, with discovering whats important. Nicolay says the magazine resonates in an increasingly digital world. It publishes six international English-language editions per year (in addition to German and French editions) and special editions, one of which, Flow: A Book for Paper Lovers, with more than 300 pages of paper Goodies (which is what van der Hulst and Smit call the mini cards, paper dolls, wrapping paper, postcards, and other inserts in the book), led to the serendipitous relationship with Workman.

A photo director at Workman stumbled upon Flow: A Book for Paper Lovers, which led to a meeting with van der Hulst and Smit, who were in New York for a Barnes & Noble event. The agreement to collaborate began via email and video chats, and when Nicolay went to Amsterdam in 2015 to see her sister, the visit gave her the opportunity to look through the Flow archives with the two editors to determine the direction of the first projects.

The line launched in 2017 with A Book That Takes Its Time, The Tiny Book of Tiny Pleasures, and the 2018 Year of Tiny Pleasures Page-a-Day Calendar. Its since expanded to include more calendar versions and a line of stationery. Workman has world rights except for basically anywhere Dutch is spoken. A Book That Takes Its Time has 205,000 copies in print to date.

The Big Book of Less continues the theme of simplifying readers lives. It is, according to Nicolay, about finding balance, cleaning out, leaving room for what matters. Its nostalgican anti-page-turner, she says. It revels in idleness, in the joy of delicious nothingness.

Smit explains that she grew up with two working parents and a very feminist mother. She always told me if I studied and worked hard, I could have anything I wanted. I became a real perfectionist, thinking there would be a sort of pot of gold waiting for me at the end of the rainbow: a happy family life, nice house, great job, lovely children, and lots of friends. By the time I was in my late 30s, I had almost everything on my wish list, but I wasnt happy. I felt stressed all the time, and then I started following a mindfulness course, and I started to look at life differently.

Van der Hulst had the traumatic experience of losing a child when she was eight months pregnant. I used to be a reasonably optimistic person, but after that I turned into a real coward, terrified that something bad would happen, she says. And then Irene jumped in. We were working together, and she invited me to go with her to a mindfulness course. And so, every Tuesday, for eight weeks, we drove from our work as magazine editors in the city to a village in the woods and ate not-so-tasty sushi or salad from the supermarket on a park bench before we went in to the mindfulness course. I immediately found it a relief and learned that you can think differently about things, and the advice was practical and applicable in daily life. For me, it was the beginning of so many beautiful things: making Flow with Irene andsomething else that mindfulness gave mea love for nature and for silence.

Smit and van der Hulst live their philosophy, enviably. Every Wednesday, Smit says, they sit together in a nice coffee shop with a latte and no smartphones or computers, talking about their lives, whats happening in society, and about friends. Thats when the best ideas pop up, she adds. We call these our golden hours.

And the loveliest piece, to me, of their collaboration? We sometimes feel overwhelmed and need some time to unplug, to walk in the dunesboth women live close to the seaor some time for our family, for instance, Smit says. Whenever we feel like this, we tell each other, and the other person takes over for as long as necessary.

Smit and van der Hulst agree that Workman is a perfect fit. The vibe in their company is amazing, Smit says. We never could have dreamed this would happen when we started making a magazine 10 years ago. Last spring, in New York, we were saying, Oh look! all the time, because we kept seeing Flow products in windows, on magazine shelves, and in bookstores everywhere. We had to pinch each others arms to make sure it was real.
For the last several years, many groups, individuals and parties interested in preserving public education for our children have stood firm as a rampantly growing privatization movement has descended upon our local educational landscape. We saw last year the Department of Education push a plan that would form a partnership zone which could potentially lead to schools in the opportunity zone being placed in the dysfunctional Achievement School District. The recent Every Student Succeed Act plan for Tennessee includes provisions for school takeover by the State. This has been in the face of empirical data and evidence that suggest several current strategies are more effective than many of the approaches that are periodically proposed.

Now the public has been informed that Teach for America is pushing to gain a foothold in Hamilton County, and if one was to look in education journals, newspapers like the Washington Post, or listen to education advocates like Dianne Ravitch, you might become disturbed on what the inclusion of Teach for America might mean for our system.

Teach for America professes to recruit the best students across the nation and incentivize them to join the teaching ranks. These teachers, who in many instances have failed to study education psychology, cognitive development, the diverse needs of learners, and a wide array of elements essential to understanding child development and education, are placed into quick track teacher training programs that last less than six weeks and are then placed into classrooms under the assumption that anyone who gives half a hoot can teach children. These bright minds in turn commit to staying in a school system, often under the guise of providing a valuable service to an underserved or underprivileged school, for a two year term.

T. Jameson Brewer and Kathleen deMarrais have highlighted concerns about Teach for America in the published work, Teach for America Counter Narratives: Alumni Speak up and Speak Out (2015). This book sought to provide individuals who had previously been employed with TFA a platform to discuss and detail their experiences and insights into the practices and designs that in their opinion dictated the scope and scale of how TFA operates. Alexandra Hootnicks 2014 article in The Nation, Teachers Are Losing Their Jobs, but Teach For America Is Expanding. Whats Wrong With That?, also referenced several concerns raised by former employees of TFA. Likewise, Kerry Kretchmar helped provide a chronological assessment of TFA in a 2014 article for the Urban Review entitled, The Revolution will be Privatized: Teach For America and Charter Schools. In reviewing these critiques by respected scholars and former individuals in the TFA ranks, numerous questions do arise.

How is their method of quick-tracking college graduates, however gifted they may be, of greater benefit than current teacher education programs, no matter how flawed they may be? What happens to the long-term stability of the teaching workforce if wages, workplace standards and professional development opportunities are undercut? Will the ability of teachers to garner present and future contractual obligations be usurped because of a workforce that only has a short-run interest? Will the relationship between TFA and policy makers be geared towards providing the essential needs of all students or relegated to promoting the aspirations of for profit businesses entities?

If history proves correct by what we have seen in New Orleans and the more than 50 areas TFA has become entrenched in, Hamilton County and indeed the State of Tennessee may well become ground zero for the next big wave of school privatization. Legitimate necessities such as the need to replenish an aging teaching workforce, provide greater parity and equity in schools, and close achievement and opportunity gaps could very well be manipulated and misconstrued to a citizenry who rightfully and urgently want our children to be provided the best possible education by those whose true motives are to advance and accelerate an agenda promulgated by big business and the for profit corporations, laying public education as we now conceive it asunder.

Some 190 years later, Horace Manns six guiding principles for common schools still reverberates: (1) Citizens cannot maintain both ignorance and freedom; (2) This education should be paid for, controlled, and maintained by the public; (3) This education should be provided in schools that embrace children from varying backgrounds; (4) This education must be nonsectarian; (5) This education must be taught using tenets of a free society; (6) This education must be provided for by a well trained and professional set of teachers and staff. For these reasons, we should be highly skeptical of any entity who is pushing market-based education solutions until they can demonstrate that it will be for the sheer betterment of our schools and students.

Respectfully,

Eric Atkins


Nana Addo said this at the graduation ceremony of new army personnel at the Ghana Military Academy in Accra.

You will bear testimony that since my government assumed office last year, we have done a lot to improve upon certain areas of your logistical supplies. For example, the government delivered, recently fifty robust high occupancy Kia buses for the purpose of transporting service personnel across the length and breadth of the country", the President said.

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READ MORE: NADMO warns public to be cautious when consuming tilapia

But it has been reported that some fishmongers from Volivo, Alabonya and Aveloenye near Asutsuare managed to smuggle some of the dead tilapia.

Suspicions are that they are going to process the fish into dry salted fish locally known as koobi.

The fishmongers sped off in their boats when they saw NADMO and Fisheries Commission officials approaching the Volta Lake.

Reports say they were spotted with more than six bags of the dead fish.

Where from the tilapia?

The 18 tonnes of shoals of fish were imported into the country by the Chinese fishing company Fujian Farm.

Fujian Farm is also co-owed by a Ghanaian called Jonathan Aryee.

The tilapia are suspected to be poisonous and earlier reports suggested some of the tilapia may be on the market.

The Food and Drugs Authority are analysing samples of the tilapia.

How were the tilapia discarded?

The tilapia were buried in a large pit after it was suspected to be unwholesome.

About 18 tonnes were disposed off and according to NADMO officials, measures have been put in place to ensure no one smuggles the fish into the market.

Fish experts and agriculturists from the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development were sent to contain the situation.

Should Ghanaians panic?

President of the Ghana Aquaculture Association, Jennifer Sodji, has said Ghanaians should not panic over the matter.
The best way to avoid hitting a deer is to stay in the center lane, if there is one, to increase visibility from the side of the road. If theres no oncoming traffic, use the high beams at night. Stay buckled, avoid swerving, heed deer crossing signs, and if you do see a deer, slow down without slamming the brakes and sound the horn. Some people argue that  if a collision is unavoidable  accelerate to shift the vehicle weight to the rear and raise the front angle of the vehicle.
The author in a chat with Esquire's Editor-In-Chief Alex Bilmes explains when her host said, "You say that you are angrier about sexism than you are about racism."

She mentioned that having to give obvious reasons why women are disadvantaged can be a bit of a stress.

ALSO READ: Chimamanda Adichie will be speaking at 2018 Esquire Townhouse

But she does not get this reaction when talking about racism.

"I said that because in my very own personal space, the people I love, the people Im close to, my family, my friends, all get race. So, I have never with them have to make a case, for why something was racist.

"So, Im in my circle of friends, White people, Black people, Asian people, Hispanic people and when something happens to do with Blackness, immediately, we all get it.

"But with gender, I find that with the people I love, Im constantly being expected to make the case, the ways in which, women are reduced, the ways in which authority in women is judged much more different than authority in a man.

"And Im constantly being asked by the people, I love. So, Im not talking about anonymous people, to make that case and it gets emotionally exhausting.

"Because, I dont feel like I have the kind of effortless support that I have, when I talk about race."

Adichie's feminist views may be misleading women

Chimamanda Adichie's thoughts on feminism seem to be driven towards societal change and reforming but a presidential aspirant thinks it can mislead women.

Eunice Atuejide, the founder of the National Interest Party was on an interview with Cool FM's Daddy Freeze. In their conversation she talked about not subscribing to the idea of feminism and the threat the writer poses.
Speaking exclusively to Pulse, Gideon said, "It's my first AMAA nomination and I am 12 years old in the business. someone said to me, it's about that time and no time is a better time because anytime is a good time."

Continuing, he said, "My expectations with the awards and even the nomination is that is always a honour to be recognised and moreso, when you are recognised by practitioners of the business.

"The category in which I was nominated is a jury based, so when you are recognised by the people that matters in the industry or industry colleagues, it tells that your cursor is strong and you are doing great.

"I am not aversed to not saying that I am aversed to public voting but it's more juice when your colleagues love or judge what you do," he said

On his expectations for the awards ceremony, Okeke said, "For expectations, I would love to see a more pan African film industry than a Nollywood, Rwandan film industry, and that is why AMAA is going to Rwanda, Malawi and South Africa with the hope and aim that one day, we would all converge telling the African story collectively. You know, our story should be more pan African than a sectionalised Nollywood, Rwanda or Malwaian film industry.

The scenerey out here in Kigali is dope and I'm just wondering with the Nollywood and Kigali romance, when will we open cameras and start telling the stories here. I mean Hotel Rwanda is such a powerful film and I saw it recently just to put things in perspectives because I am in Rwanda. So, my question is when will we open cameras to become more pan African, people who made such efforts are Kunle Afolayan with his films and several other filmmakers as well but hey, it's a good feeling all through," he said.
The exciting event will feature an exhibition of over 60 schools and education service providers, with leading experts also on hand to provide practical, yet innovative, solutions for teachers, parents and service providers in education.

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Holding on the 23 and 24 of October at the Harbor Point, Off Ahmadu Bello Way, Victoria Island, the ground-breaking 2-day affair will also serve as a hub for the various stakeholders in the education sector to interact, share knowledge and build capacity.

Hilghlights of the event include digital skills training by Google, Robotics classes by School Store Ng and Coding classes by Pearls Africa.

Topics to be discussed by various panelists include ; ; ;  and so many more exciting discussions.

There will also be teacher training workshops covering topics such as 21 century teaching and learning strategies; Creativity in learning; Building a visually stimulating environment etc., with teachers to receive free educational resources  books, lesson planners and visual aids for learning!

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Children and young adults arent left out! Therell be fun and games with cool prizes to be won, experiential learning sessions, and tailored workshops on pertinent topics including, Money matters; Boosting your self-esteem; Getting a digital dream job etc.

The lineup of speakers includes Modupe Adefeso-Olateju, Managing Director, The Education Partnership (TEP) Centre; Bikiya Graham-Douglas, performing artiste and Founder of BEETA Arts Foundation; Lola Cardoso, Chief Digital and Innovation Officer, Union Bank; Yetty Williams, Founder and CEO, LagosMums; Jadesola Adedeji of STEM Mets Resources; and Dr. Yewande Oshodi, renowned child and adolescent psychiatrist.

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So, come with all your questions about educating a child in the 21 century and youll be sure to get answers.

There will be free transportation for Education students from University of Lagos, Yaba College of Technology and College of Education, Akoka.

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Log on to www.unionbankng.com/edu360 to register and get more information about edu360. Registration to the event is free and open to members of the public.

Union edu360 is organised by Union Bank, in partnership with Google, TEP Centre, Nescafe, and Simpli Foods.
The State Commissioner of Police Ahmad Abdur-Rahman who disclosed this at a press briefing in Kaduna, said that the police had arrested 22 suspects in connection with the mayhem.

Abdul-Rahaman said mobile and conventional policemen, as well as a team of the state joint security operatives, Operation Yaki, despatched to the town had restored normalcy in the area.

According to him, he has also visited the town and engaged youth leaders, traditional and religious leaders in the efforts to stop the crisis and prevent its spread

He noted that the timely imposition of curfew by the Kaduna State Government also helped to douse tension in the area.

The police chief assured that all perpetrators of the mayhem would be brought to book.

Anybody that has a hand in this crisis must face the full wrath of law, we will not allow lawlessness; we remain committed to saving lives and property of every citizens, he said.

He appealed to the public to continue to live in peace and assist the command with useful information to track the perpetrators.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that a similar crisis in February left more than 10 people dead and hundreds of shops and residences burnt.
The award ceremony was conducted to commemorate the 2018 Episcopal Harvest with the theme: Harvest of Ceaseless Blessings.

Mrs Buhari, who was represented by the wife of former Military Administrator of Katsina State, Mrs Grace Shamah, called on Nigerians to remain steadfast in praying for the peace and progress of the country.

She noted that there is power in the spoken word, the power of life and death. Nigerians should therefore make positive declarations (utterances) about their country.

The wife of the President called on Nigerians to pray for the nations leaders to enable them make the right decisions in the interest of the country and the people.

She urged Nigerians to pray for the Nation to achieve peace, stability and prosperity.

According to her, As prayers heal the land, so do bad declarations bring hardship.

She pledged to continue to give priority to the health and physical wellbeing of women and children.

Women, children and the less privilege people will always be the focal point of my service.

This award touched my heart because I see that even in the Church people are appreciating what we are doing to the less privilege Nigerians and the Internally Displaced Persons, she said.

She added that the award would encourage her to do more in serving humanity, especially women and children.

In his response, the Chief host and Bishop of Gwagwalada Diocese, Rev. Moses Tabwaye, said the decision of the Church to honour Aisha Buhari was borne out of the desire of the church to see the progress of mankind.

We decided to honour Aisha Buhari because of the numerous works she is doing to impact the lives of people especially the vulnerable children because she has shown that she is a mother to all Nigerians irrespective of sectional differences.

And my expectations for her is that she should keep on doing the good work she is doing. The lord will continue to bless her, he said.

He also commended the wife of the President for her continued support to the Federal Government in the fight against corruption, adding that if corruption is not tackled it will destroy the entire system.

News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that the wife of the President had through her pet project Future Assured Initiative provided humanitarian services to the victims of Boko Haram insurgency and the less privilege families.

NAN recalled that Mrs Buhari had provided support to women and children living at the IDPs Camps which had also earn her both national and international recognition.
Deputy Director, Army Public Relations, Col. Kayode Ogunsonya, who debunked the report in a statement on Saturday in Jos, by warned against fake news injurious to 3 Division, Nigeria Army, Rukuba.

Ogunsonya said that the Divisions headquarters wish to state categorically that the report was a deliberate falsehood and an attempt to portray the division in bad light.

I wish to state that contrary to the report, the soldiers were in the Dura-Du District and its environs from Monday, 15 October  Wednesday, 17October, 2018.

They were there to provide security to the sniffer dogs deployed to assist in locating the whereabouts of the missing retired senior officer, Major-General Idris Alkali, and not on Friday, 19 October 2018 as reported.

On completion of the mission, the troops and sniffer dogs returned to the barracks on Wednesday, 17 October, 2018.

The troops did not engage anyone in fire fight because the entire district has been deserted.

No soldier fired any shot. All the ammunitions were duly accounted for by the troops, he explained.

The spokesperson said that the report further insinuated that soldiers stopped people from accessing their homes, burgled their shops, ate their chickens and goats and ransack their homes.

He stated the insinuation was untrue, pointing out that the headquarters had earlier advised residents who fled their homes and business premises to return.

According to him, this is to avoid their homes and business premises from being broken into by miscreants.

Ogunsonya advised the public to disregard the report describing it as antics of fifth columnists to prevent the Division from locating the whereabouts of the missing retired senior officer.

He vowed that the division would leave no stone unturned in locating the whereabouts of Alkali in spite of the distractions.

Consequently, this Division wishes to warn online and traditional media as well as agents of fake news and other like-minded mischief makers.
The pipeline explosion which occurred on Friday, October 12, 2018,in Osisioma Local Government Area of Abia state, claimed many lives.

According to Vanguard, Buhari blamed the explosion on vandals who were scooping petroleum products.

This was made known in a statement issued by the Presidents media aide, Garba Shehu in Abuja on Saturday, October 20, 2018.

Buhari also called on host communities to work with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to stop pipeline vandalism.

The statement said Despite repeated warnings, these unscrupulous people have vandalised that particular pipeline 684 times in the last six months alone. Each time the pipeline is repaired, they resume their activities, even collaborating with security agents, who are reported to have set up toll gates collecting fees from the vandals.

A fight broke out as a heist was going on and there was shooting, which is believed to have ignited Friday mornings explosion, during which three security personnel also lost their lives.

President Buhari urges communities and state governments that host oil pipelines to be more vigilant and rise to combat the challenge posed by pipeline vandalism.

The Enugu depot of the NNPC has been repaired and ready to function, but remains idle today because of the vandals.

Atiku Abubakar donates N10m

Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)has donated N10 million to the people of the affected communities.
Buhari made the disclosure at the official launch of a book the Benin Monarchy an Anthology of Benin history held in Benin on Saturday in commemoration of the 2nd coronation anniversary of the Oba of Benin Oba Ewuare 11.

The president, represented by the Secretary to the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Mr Boss Mustapha commended the good relationship that exist between the Sultanate and the Benin Kingdom saying it should cut across the country.

He said traditional institutions must continue to stay abreast with the digital changes in the world and should not allow the changes to affect the preservation of customs, languages and tradition of the people.

Buhari congratulated Oba Ewuare 11 and the council of chiefs for preserving the Benin culture, saying that the kingdom is a role model for others to copy.

He further called on traditional rulers across the country to join hand with the Federal Government in preaching against hate speech and money politics as the 2019 elections draws nearer.

The Chairman of the occasion, Retired Gen. Yakubu Gowon commending the outstanding features of the Benin Monarchy describing the book a masterpiece that tells African history written by Africans.

One of the tragedies of Africa is that our story has always being told by others from their own perspective and from their own purpose.

The result is that much of the narratives of our continent have been a distorted picture against this background, we appreciate the impact of this singular effort of telling the history of the Benin Kingdom, he said.

Also speaking, former President Good luck Jonathan said the Benin Kingdom had always made the country proud via its rich history and well structured governance system.

Jonathan commended the Oba of Benin for his resourcefulness and protection of his people.

In his remarks, Gov. Godwin Obaseki of Edo assured that the construction of Benin Royal Museum would be completed before Oct. 20, 2021.

He said he took the decision to complete the project at the recent meeting of the Benin Dialogue Group which was made up of all prominent museums in Europe.

We also got the commitment of the group to return many of the works that were taken from the palace during the expedition in 1987, the governor said.
According to the source who spoke to The Nation, Fayose has been served with the charges against him and his trial notice.

EFCCs spokesman, Wilson Uwujaren also said that Fayose has been served with charges alongside his company, Spotless.

Fayose in EFCC custody

The former Governor has been in EFCCs custody since he surrendered himself on Tuesday, October 16, 2018.

The anti-graft agency also obtained an order from a Federal High Court mandating it to keep Fayose for 14 days.

Dasuki loot

The Governor Gov is being investigated for allegedly receiving N1.3 billion from the office of former National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki.

The EFCC source said We have preferred charges against Fayose at a Federal High Court in Lagos.

He will be prosecuted for receiving N1.299 billion and $5.3 million from ONSA through a former minister, Musiliu Obanikoro.

Although the illicit cash was released for the 2014 governorship campaign of Fayose, it was diverted to acquiring properties.

ALSO READ:Fayose begs EFCC for extra mattress to sleep comfortably inside holding cell

The minister flew N1.299 billion in cash in two flights to Akure Airport for Fayose, and it was Agbele who received the slush funds from Obanikoro.

While Fayose admitted knowing Obanikoro, he told his interrogators that he did not collect $5.3 million from the ex-minister.

The EFCC will relocate Fayose from Abuja to Lagos either on Saturday or Sunday for the trial.
For this potentially awkward midsection in his American career  hes not the almost anonymous name he was when he first moved here, but hes nowhere near the acclaimed celebrity of his home country  Elmaleh has to put all of his skills to full use every night in order to move forward. Right now his most powerful asset is his complete sense of openness and honesty, following every live moment wherever it goes, even if it may lead him astray.
The Kaduna state Governor said this after an assessment visit to the area.

According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), 55 people were killed during the violence on Thursday, October 18, 2018.

Vanguard, reports that El-Rufai said the prosecution of conflict entrepreneurs involved in the crisis and other crises in the is inevitable while calling on all parties to value the sanctity of life and cooperate with the security agencies to fish out perpetrators.

We must live in peace and never use violence to solve a problem. We are not happy with this and government will pursue and punish those responsible for this devilish act.

22 suspects arrested

Also speaking on the riot, the Kaduna state Commissioner of Police, Ahmad Abdur-Rahmansaid 22 suspects have been arrested.

Abdur-Rahman also revealed that he has dispatched his men to the area to forestall a breakdown of law and order.

The Kaduna police boss said he has held meetings with stakeholders in Kasuwan Magani to douse the tension.
Head of Media and Publicity of the commission, Mr Wilson Uwajeren, told News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Saturday in Abuja that there was nothing to report at the moment.

If there is anything, I will get across to you, he said.

While reporting at the EFCC on Tuesday, Fayose had said that he was there to keep his promise to honour the commissions invitation, and to respond to any allegation against him.

The former governor, whose tenure ended on Monday, was accompanied to the EFCC by Rivers Governor, Mr Nyesom Wike and former Minister of Aviation, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode.

He had at the commissions office said I am here in line with my promise that I will be here on the 16th of October.

A senior lawyer, Chief Mike Ozekhome (SAN), had told NAN on Thursday that the EFCC had no right to keep Fayose beyond 24 hours without charging him.

He said that it was either that the commission charged the former governor to court or free him so as not to foul the law.

According to the human rights lawyer, the EFCC has no right to keep him for over 24 hours.

He said If they have done that by obtaining a Magistrate Courts order that will be in the form of a holding charge, which has been declared unconstitutional and illegal by the Supreme Court.

Holding charge is illegal. It is unconstitutional.

Ozekhome said that the section of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) permitting a magistrate to detain a suspect for 14 days was illegal.

He explained that any action outside the provisions of Section 35 of the Constitution, which specifically provided for 24 hours, was illegal and unconstitutional.

He said that the ACJA allowed for detention of a suspect for 14 days, but that Section 35 of the Constitution made it clear that a person could only be detained for 24 hours.

So, when there is a clash between the statute, like the ACJA, and the Constitution, the Constitution prevails by virtue of Section 1(3).

If they have gotten an order for two weeks from the magistrate court, it is unconstitutional, Ozekhome stressed.

He, however, disclosed that efforts had begun to secure the release of Fayose.

According to Ozekhome, Fayoses lawyers are already taking steps to enforce his fundamental human rights by getting him released.
Maj.-Gen. Bamidele Shafa, Coordinator, Operation Safe Corridor, announced the development during a town hall meeting and dialogue with Boko Haram affected communities on Saturday in Yola.

The meeting was organised by the Presidential Committee on the North East Initiative in collaboration with the Centre for Democracy and Development.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the meeting was designed for the reconciliation and reintegration of repented Boko Haram members from most affected three states, Adamawa, Borno and Yobe.

Shafa recalled that majority of the repented youths of Boko Haram were victims of circumstances.

So far, the Operation Safe Corridor had treated no fewer than 254 repented Boko Haram members.

Out of this number, 95 were already handed over to their respective states, Shafa said.

He explained that the remaining 157 reintegrated members would soon be dispatched, with Adamawa having three; Yobe seven and Borno 143.

He said that among the reintegrated were three foreign national from Chad Republic.

According to the coordinator, the operation Safe Corridor is in collaboration with PCNI and National Directorate for Employment where they given tools and other small business entrepreneur equipment for the reintegrated members.

The chairman also provided some funds to the ex-combatants for take off businesses after training in various skills acquisition.

Among the skills acquired by the ex-combatants include vocational, tailoring, carpentry and shoemaking.

He solicited the support of the affected communities in the reintegration of the youth.

Gen. Theophilus Danjuma, the chairman PCNI, said that the initiative was in collaboration with various government and non-governmental authorities towards rehabilitation, resettlement and reintegration in the region.
According to Vanguard, this was made known in a statement signed by the groups Deputy President General, Comrade Obinna Achionye in Ebonyi state on Friday, October 19, 2018.

In the interest of national reconciliation

ONYCW also called on the Federal Government to drop charges against all Biafra agitators in the interest of national reconciliation.

Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Council Worldwide also said Buhari should extend amnesty to IPOB just like he released 500 Boko Haram detainees in Kano state.

The groups statement reads: We received the news of sighting Nnamdi Kanu at Israel with Joy, and as he is observing the Sabbath ordinances and Prayers.

We Urge President Buhari to grant him Presidential pardon and squash all legal proceedings against him and other Biafra agitators in the spirit of National reconciliation and forgiveness, if Federal government can release 500 Boko Haram detainees in Kano and planning to give Amnesty to Boko Haram,this gesture should be extended to Ipob, and reversal of the tag that Ipob is a terrorist organization is imminent and they should allow peace to reign.

We beg the Ipob followers not to go to the street now in the spirit of jubilation in other not to create political tension in the South East and South/south and fall victims of security agents, Until Oyc persuade Federal Government to reverse its decisions against Ipob.

We Urge the South East Governors to close ranks and rebuild the palace of HRH Eze I. Kanu, which was destroyed during the Python dance, and ask the leader, Nnamdi Kanu to change strategy and embrace the hands of genuine Igbo brothers and leaders, We still ask Ipob to have rethink on its decision of Proscribing The parent body of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, and disruption of Ohanaeze events and gathering.

Oyc will lead any struggle to ensure self determination is not tagged terrorism, and ensure there is peaceful co existence between all stakeholders in Southeast.

Nnamdi Kanu resurfaces in Jerusalem

This is following reports that Nnamdi Kanu was seen in Jerusalem, praying at the Wailing Wall.

Before now, Kanus whereabouts has been unknown, following an alleged attack on his father's compound by soldiers on September 14, 2017.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that the lawmakers recently passed a Bill, prohibiting dealings in human parts in any form in the state.

The state governor, Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed, has assented to the Bill.

At a news conference on Saturday in Ilorin, AbdulRafiu urged Police in Kwara to as matter of urgency publish the names of the suspects arrested in the state in connection with the crime.

He commended security agencies in the state for their effort in exposing perpetrators of criminal activities.

The lawmaker called on traditional rulers in the state and the public to always render useful information on security matters to law enforcers.

According to him, this will curb the activities of criminals and rid the state of crimes against humanity.

He said that the law enacted by the state was sufficient to try the suspects arrested in connection with the sales of human parts.

The lawmaker stated that in spite of the existence of the law, the assembly was surprised over the transfer of the suspects to Abuja for an offence that occurred in the state.

He explained that the state had the most adequate legislation on the subject matter in the country.

He expressed fear that the case, if allowed to be handled in Abuja, may go the way of the Offa bank robbery case that was turned into avenue to witch-hunt perceived opponents or political enemies.
This development occurred in London during a three day engagements of the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, with major media networks and think tanks.

Giving a wrap up of the engagements on Saturday in London, the minister said the media houses he visited raised questions as to why Atiku could emerged as presidential candidate, considering the anti corruption stance of President Muhammadu Buharis administration.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports the minister, engaged with media organisations including Reuters, Aljazeera, the Economists, AP, New African, African Business and African Review Magazines.

The minister said: One curious issue that kept occurring was that anytime I spoke about how we have waged war against corruption, the journalists kept asking me a question.

They asked me: How can you claim to have succeeded in waging war against corruption, when one of the major contestants in the 2019 general elections is actually a man with stupendous wealth but cannot explain the source of his wealth?.

That baffled me a lot, because it mean that we are still being perceived as a country where corruption thrives.

It was difficult for me to explain to them that yes, we are fighting corruption but these are the same people who have put this country where we are today and who are also trying to come back to power.

The minister assured the media organisations that this will however define the task of choice for Nigerians.

The choice for Nigerians today is either they go back to the corrupt past where our commonwealth was shared by a few elites or move forward and continue with this new trajectory where the national resources are used for the benefit of all Nigerians.

I explained to them that the 2019 elections have been defined, and the choice have been made easy.

We are sure that Nigerians will choose rightly.

NAN reports that the minister during the visit also delivered lecture in Chatham House, a UK based Royal Institute of International Affairs on the topic, Nigerias National Unity: Towards Participation and Shared Values

Mohammed also engaged with foreign and Commonwealth Office, All Party Parliamentary Group and Royal African Society, a body founded in 1990 to promote relations between the UK and Africa.

On his general assessment of the trip, the minister said that it was exciting and fruitful.

We set out from home to engage the major media networks and the major think tanks and stakeholders here.

The Chatham House platform gave me the opportunity to explain the role of my Ministry in enhancing national unity, participation and share values.

We have in attendance many stakeholders, including the High Commissioners of Nigeria and that of Cyprus to the UK and many people in the diaspora.,

He said the parliamentary visits afforded him the opportunity to explain issues on Boko Haram, the abducted girls and those who were executed.

The minister said he gave insight and government position on farmers/herdsmen clashes, the role of the media and the efforts of the government in revamping the economy.

At every occasion, we were able to bring to fore the good narratives on the country and what the government had achieved in the last three and half years.

The kennel of the visit is that we were able to tell the whole world that we do not need to do anything extra because we have delivered on all our promises and Nigerians are quite happy and satisfy with the government, he said.

Mohammed said the government was aware of conspiracy by disgruntled elements to bring down the Administration at all cost.

This government has actually adversely affected the fortunes of many people who were simply parasite, people who sucked the blood of the nation doing nothing.

These are people who amassed unexplained wealth just by being agents or consultants to none existence projects.

We are not surprised by the kind of bitterness and hatred such people has for the government, but they will not succeed, he said.
Obi said this on Friday in Enugu during a visit to the state governor, Chief Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi.

It would be recalled that the presidential candidate of the PDP, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar on Oct. 12 announced Obi as his running mate, a situation that generated mixed reactions from party chieftains in the area.

Governors of the PDP and party chieftains from the zone subsequently met and expressed their dissatisfaction that they were not consulted prior to the announcement.

However, Obi, who said he was in the state to seek the support of Ugwuanyi, pointed out that his candidacy, was about Ndigbo in particular and Nigeria in general.

The former governor said that the success or otherwise of his nomination would depend on the leaders of the South East.

Obi said that if elected into office, he would attract meaningful development to the area, adding that the time to address the yearnings of the people was now.

This nomination is about our own area. We cannot continue to say we are marginalised. These are some of the opportunities to address whatever we think is not in our positions, he said.

Obi said that his record as governor was not in doubt, adding that he believed in the masses.

Responding, Ugwuanyi described the former governor as a `trusted party man and a household name in the zone as well as in Nigeria.

The governor said that the PDP enjoyed great followership in the state, adding that they were appreciative of the massive support the party enjoyed during the 2015 general elections.

Ugwuanyi said that he had no doubt that the party would also do very well in the forthcoming elections in the state.

The governor congratulated the entire PDP on their successful and peaceful convention in Port Harcourt.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Obi also visited the President General of Ohaneze Ndigbo, Chief Nnia Nwodo in his Enugu residence.

Nwodo, while receiving him said that the apex Igbo socio cultural organization would soon convene a meeting to take decision on the direction of the people in the coming election.

He described Obi as humble and incorruptible adding your incorruptibility in government speaks volume.
This is coming after pictures of the IPOB leaderpraying at the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem, surfaced on social media on Friday, October 19, 2018.

According to Daily Post, IPOBs spokesman, Emma Powerful said Kanu will broadcast his speech live on Radio Biafra on Sunday.

Kanu disappears

The IPOB leader suddenly disappeared after soldiers attached to a military exercise in the South-East, Operation Python Dance, allegedly stormed his country home in Abia state.

Members of his group accused the Federal Government of abducting him following his sudden disappearance.

Kanus second coming

Speaking on the broadcast, Powerful, in a statement issued to newsmen, said Following the second coming and appearance of IPOB leader Mazi Nnamdi Kanu who was sighted praying at the Wailing Wall in the city of David in Jerusalem state of Israel, we the indigenous people of Biafra (IPOB) wish to announce to Biafrans, friends of Biafra, lovers of freedom, men and women of goodwill across the world that the supreme Leader of the Indigenous people of Biafra, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu will be coming live on Radio Biafra London on Sunday 21st October 2018 at 6pm Biafran time.

IPOB leader Mazi Nnamdi Kanu has been missing since September last year after Nigerian Army invaded his compound that resulted to the deaths and killings of many IPOB members and other Biafrans who were coming to visit him in his compound at Afaraukwu Ibeku Umuahia, Abia State.

IPOB leader Mazi Nnamdi Kanu and other reputable and hardcore Biafrans will leave no stone unturned to restore Biafra sovereignty as long as Fulani and other Nigerians hold Biafrans down."

Freedom from bondage

"Biafra independence and freedom is gathering momentum around the world right now we will not relent in pursuing hard for total Biafra freedom in the near future. With this, we are advising all Biafrans to be resolute and committed towards this fight to free our people from the bondage and slavery in Nigeria.

Our leader Mazi Nnamdi Kanu will speak during his broadcast to Biafrans, friends of Biafra and the world at large on his whereabout over a year now and what transpired on 14th of September, 2017 as Nigeria military invaded his fathers compound during operation python dance 2 and why he decided to talk. He will also highlight about our upcoming and uncompromised referendum for Biafra freedom.

Therefore, we urge you to inform your friends, families and well wishers to join us on Radio Biafra London on the above date and time, dont miss the golden opportunity, Biafra is around the corner," the IPOB spokesman added.

Presidential pardon for Kanu

Also, a group known as Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Council Worldwide (ONYCW) has called on President Buhari to grant the IPOB leader presidential pardon.

The group also said Buhari should extend amnesty to IPOB just like he released 500 Boko Haram detainees in Kano state.
Governor Okowa made the call in Asaba during the swearing-in ceremony of Ben Igo and Frank Atube as chairman and secretary respectively of the local government pensions bureau.

The governor decried the poor number of state enrollment into the contributory pension scheme.

The federal government should look at ways to ensure that all the states of the federation implement the contributory pension scheme; until more states enlist in the pension scheme, we will not have sustainable pension plan for all our workers, Okowa said.

It is becoming increasingly difficult to administer pension in Nigeria. Delta State has enrolled into the contributory pension scheme and only eight states as at today have enrolled into the scheme. No doubt, the contributory pension scheme comes with a lot of challenges but it is the best for the future of our country and the states.

The biggest challenge is the payment of the backlog of past services and we need to find ways of settling these payment of past services. Until we do that, many states will not enroll and they will not have sustainable pension scheme for workers.

I want to urge the federal government and states to come together and look at the best possible ways of funding the payment of these past services so that all states can enroll into the scheme.

While congratulating the appointees, Okowa urged them to see their appointment as an opportunity to serve the people.
Fayose has dramatically made the transition from the Ekiti State Government House to a holding cell of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

The former governor gave himself up to the anti-graft agency on Tuesday, October 16, 2018, amid allegations of receiving N1.3 billion from the office of former National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki, in the run up to the Ekiti State governorship election in 2014.

Never one to shy away from being dramatic, Fayose made a show of turning himself in on Tuesday as he wore a shirt with "EFCC, I'm here" inscribed on it, and also carried two packed bags as he earlier said he was prepared to be detained.

The former governor has dared the agency to take him to court with whatever evidence it has against him, and also requested an extra mattress in his holding cell to make him more comfortable.

Hauwa Liman's execution

Hauwa Liman, a worker with the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC), who was kidnapped by the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), a faction of Boko Haram, was executed this week, seven months after she was abducted.

Former Minister of Education and presidential candidate, Oby Ezekwesili, condemned the government's inaction and failure to rescue Hauwa. She also joined a protest to the Presidential Villa where protesters fought back tears.

In his reaction to the execution, President Muhammadu Buhari said the Federal Government did everything within its power to prevent Hauwa's death but failed.

Hauwa's bereaved parents have demanded that her corpse be sent home so she can be properly buried.

In other news...

The Nigerian Senate called on the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to suspend the ATM card maintenance charges being deducted from customers. The chamber also directed commercial banks operating in the country to configure their machines to dispense up to N40,000 per withdrawal.

The Senate also resolved to set up an ad hoc committee to investigate $3.5 billion Subsidy Recovery Fund allegedly created by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

Presidential candidate of the People's Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, appointed Senate President Bukola Sarakias the Director General of the Atiku Abubakar Campaign Organisation ahead of the 2019 presidential election.

Senator Ademola Adeleke, the PDP's candidate in the recently-concluded Osun governorship election filed a petition at a tribunal to challenge the outcome of the election which he lost.

Unknown gunmen killed the treasurer of the Ekiti State chapter of the All Progressive Congress (APC), Moses Adeoye, in his home.
With the move, Netflix severs further ties with Marvel as the producer prepares to shift gears toward providing content for parent company Disney's yet to launch streaming services. Disney has already indicated that it will allow its licensing deals with Marvel to expire so that library content can be moved to Disney-owned services. That decision would not have any affect on series such as "Luke Cage," which are produced by Disney for Netflix.
Laolu Akande, Senior Special Assistant to the President, Media and Publicity, Office of the Vice President, in a statement on Friday in Abuja, said Osinbajo gave the assurance in Bayelsa State.

Osinbajo spoke at St. Johns Catholic Church, Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp, Igbogene, Yenegoa, Bayelsa after his inspection of flooded areas in the state on Friday.

He said that he was touched that despite the flood and what all the people had been through, they were still able to welcome him warmly.

The vice president commended the very Rev. Joseph Okplema, the Vicar-General of the parish for taking care of the flood victims. He said the Vicars action was exemplary of a Christian leader.

He said it was the duty of the state and the Federal Governments to ensure that they provided help and succour for the victims.

The vice president said that he looked forward to giving the victims as much support as possible.

This is one of the reasons why I am here; I am not here alone; I am with the Minister of Environment, Mr Ibrahim Usman Jibril and also the Director-General of National Emergency Management Agency(NEMA), Engr. Mustapha Maihaja to assess for ourselves, what exactly is going on.

We want to know how bad it is; how many victims there are, the nature and extent of the disaster, so we can advise properly and give you the kind of comfort and succour you need.

So that is why we are here and I am very happy that I have been able to see for myself.

I want to commend you for your spirit, for not giving up at all, but remaining resolute and confident. That is the true Bayelsan spirit, the true spirit of the Nigerian. We cannot give up and we will not give up.

I want to say on behalf of President Muhammadu Buhari, on whose instructions I am here, that we will stand by you and make sure we provide what you need, he said.

He said he had been told that some people still needed mattresses, nets and among others things.

Osinbajo said that he would make sure that everything needed by the victims was provided, adding that cow meat would also be provided to complement the food stuffs available.
The two sensationally fell out during their administration as Obasanjo accused Atiku of being corrupt while Atiku stood in the way of Obasanjo's doomed third term ambition.

Their personal beef almost denied Atiku a chance to contest in the 2007 presidential election which he eventually lost to Umaru Musa Yar'Adua, a candidate believed to have been handpicked by Obasanjo.

Obasanjo had been a vocal campaigner against Atiku's presidential ambition since then and vowed in August 2018 that he'd never be on the same side with his former deputy.

The former president has since gone back on his word and publicly endorsed Atiku for the 2019 presidential election last week.

However, just days before that public endorsement, Obasanjo had revealed a little bit about his experience with Atiku when they were both in government.

While speaking during an interview on 'The Talk', a program anchored by Seun Adebajo, Obasanjo disclosed that Atiku complained about taking on too many responsilities as the nation's Number 2 citizen.

He revealed that he had big plans to mentor Atiku to take over as president, but gave up on him because 'his judgement was not right'.

He said, "What people have forgotten very easily was that Atiku didn't want to become even a Vice President. He was elected as a governor.

"Now judging from the experience that I had, I thought, 'Okay what we should do this time is take somebody who it doesn't matter what has been his experience, I can mentor him'.

"And then he can learn over a period of time that we'll be in government together. And with a bit of luck, he can then take over from me.

"That was my plan. And my plan was that the first term, he would be given a lot of work to do domestically and Atiku even complained that I've given him too much to do which was intentional.

"My second term, my idea was that okay, having prepared him for the domestic, I want one year for him to visit to represent Nigeria at the ECOWAS, one year at the AU, one year at the UN so that he's fully prepared.

"The first thing I found was that his judgement was not right and, on a number of occassions, I pointed this out to him.

"As president of Nigeria, there are certain things that you should not do. I believe it was too much for him to be able to understand and to learn. So, I gave up."

Atiku-Obasanjo reunion

Atiku was elected the presidential candidate of the People's Democratic Party (PDP) at the party's national convention in Port Harcourt, Rivers State on October 7.

After a peace meeting with Obasanjo days later, the former president announced that he has forgiven the sins of his former deputy because he has shown remorse and learnt good lessions.

He's is now backing Atiku to boot next year because he believes he can do a better job.
According to The Cable, the Senator sent his resignation letter to the chairman of ward 6, Tudun wada north, Kaduna state.

Resignation letter

The Senator, in his resignation letter, said I present to you my highest compliments and wish by this communication to formally offer to you my resignation from the All Progressives Congress (APC).

l had joined the APC and remained with it against all odds in the belief that it will constitute a veritable platform for the realization of those democratic ideals which I hold very dear, that honor and integrity will be the ultimate ethos of the patty and, most importantly, that internal party democracy will always be the norm. However, only posterity can affirm the extent to which the APC has committed to and reflected these values.

As I exit the APC at this point in time. I wish to formally thank the party for availing me the platform upon which I am currently serving this country in the honoured capacity of Senator of the Federal Republic.

I wish the party well in all her future endeavors and ask sir, that you please accept the assurance of my highest considerations.

Sanis automatic ticket

The APC had reportedly given the outspoken Senator an automatic ticket during its primaries in Kaduna.

The decision of the party leadership did not go down wellwith Governor Nasir El-Rufai, who labelled Sani a traitor.

Another primary election was held, and Elrufais aide, Uba Sani, emerged the winner.

In his reaction, Sani dismissed the result and described the primary election as illegal.

Sani, APC only candidate

Following the dust raised as a result of the primary that saw El-Rufais aide emerge as winner, the APC leadership issued a statement which was signed by its acting spokesman, Yusuf Nabena, declaring Sani as the only candidateof the party for the 2019 Kaduna Central Senatorial district election.

Also on Wednesday, October 17, 2018, the APC National Appeal Committee set up by Adams Oshiomhole, upheld Senator Sanis candidacy.

The committee was inaugurated to investigate complaints arising from various APC state primaries across the country.
Since the end of the 1998-1999 war between Serbia's armed forces and pro-independence ethnic Albanian guerillas, NATO-led international forces (KFOR) have been tasked with security in Kosovo.

More than 4,000 KFOR troops are currently deployed throughout the breakaway territory whose independence is recognised by more than 110 countries, but not by Serbia which still considers it to be its southern province.

Since it unilaterally declared independence from Serbia in 2008, Kosovo has sought to establish its own army but those efforts have been met by bitter opposition from Serbia, which has a crucial influence on the Kosovo Serb minority and their MPs in the parliament.

After meeting US State Department official Matthew Palmer, Vucic said he had urged the United States, a strong supporter of Kosovo's independence, "to well understand that it (the army creation)could jeopardise peace and stability and lead to tragic consequences."

"We would be in a big trouble and pushed into the corner... if policy of creation of Kosovo army... continued," Vucic told reporters.

The parliament in Pristina on Thursday passed three bills laying the groundwork for transforming the Kosovo Security Force (KSF) -- an emergency force trained to respond to disasters -- into a regular army.

'Horribly difficult position'

The move is aimed at avoiding the need for a constitutional change to legally establish armed forces, a measure that would require a two-thirds majority of both ethnic Albanian and the 20 non-Albanian MPs, half of whom are ethnic Serbs. Serb MPs have blocked any such initiative in the past.

NATO has repeatedly made clear that it would prefer the KSF to be transformed into a regular army via constitutional changes and "in consultation with all communities in Kosovo".

"NATO supports the development of the Kosovo Security Force under its current mandate," a NATO official in Brussels told AFP earlier Friday.

"Should this mandate evolve, the North Atlantic Council would have to re-examine the level of NATO's engagement in Kosovo," the official said.

On Thursday Vucic warned that creating a Kosovo army, as well as the possible departure of the UN mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) -- deployed after the war to run the breakaway territory until its status was solved -- would push Serbia into a "horribly difficult position".

In such a position "we have no choice any more... than to protect our country and our people," Vucic was quoted by Beta news agency as saying.
Assange found refuge in the embassy in 2012 after a British judge ruled he should be extradited to Sweden to face allegations of sexual assault.

That case has since been dropped but Assange fears being extradited to the United States to face charges over the WikiLeaks website's release of troves of sensitive US government files.

WikiLeaks said its general counsel arrived in Ecuador on Thursday to launch a legal case against the government for "violating (Assange's) fundamental rights and freedom".

"The move comes almost seven months after Ecuador threatened to remove his protection and summarily cut off his access to the outside world, including by refusing to allow journalists and human rights organisations to see him," WikiLeaks said.

It added that the embassy was requiring Assange's visitors -- including journalists and lawyers -- to disclose "private or political details such as their social media usernames".

The Ecuador government issued no immediate statement in response.

Quito confirmed blocking Assange's internet and mobile phone access in March after accusing him of breaking "a written committment" not to interfere in Ecuador's foreign policies.

A protocol governing Assange's stay at the embassy -- revealed by Ecuadoran internet site Codigo Vidrio and never denied by Quito -- warns that further breaches will lead to "termination of asylum."

The website reported that the embassy intends to stop paying for Assange's food and medical care in December.

WikiLeaks lawyer Baltasar Garzon told a press conference in Ecuador on Thursday that Assange's conditions were "inhuman".

"It is not a comfortable situation, it is an inhuman situation, because the solution that should already have been reached by the involved states is extending over time," said the lawyer.

"We have to find a solution, to comply with what is established by the international law and certainly not aggravate the humanitarian situation of an individual, as I say, who is not deprived of liberty."

Britain's Press Association news agency said the case is expected to be heard in Ecuador next week.
He has pledged a "moderate" Saudi Arabia as he seeks to get international investors on board with his grandiose vision to overhaul the kingdom's oil-reliant economy.

And he has taken on the powerful clerics who long dominated Saudi life and struck out at the nation's coddled elite with a dramatic purge in September last year of royals, ministers and business figures that saw hundreds detained in a probe over graft worth $100 billion.

But Riyadh's admission Saturday, after two weeks of denials, that prominent critic Jamal Khashoggi was killed in "a brawl" inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2 risks jeopardising the reformist image that the crown prince has so carefully cultivated.

Two of the prince's inner circle, deputy intelligence chief Ahmad al-Assiri and royal court media advisor Saud al-Qahtani, have been sacked for their roles in Khashoggi's killing. Three other intelligence officials were also dismissed, while 18 Saudi suspects have been arrested.

'Old-fashioned tribal leader'

Prince Mohammed, 33, was named Saturday as the head of a new committee "to restructure" the intelligence service and "modernise its regulations and define its powers precisely," the official Saudi Press Agency said.

In just a short time, the son of King Salman has developed close ties with the White House under US President Donald Trump, especially with his son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner.

He has presented himself as reformer to Western governments -- keen to carry on doing business and earning Saudi petrodollars -- through a series of measures including lifting the decades-long ban on women driving, reducing the powers of the religious police and agreeing to the reopening of cinemas.

It is all part of Prince Mohammed's Vision 2030 plan for economic and social reforms as Riyadh prepares for a post-oil era. The second investment forum aimed at diversifying the country's economy is due to open on Tuesday in Riyadh.

But many organisations have criticised the prince's crackdown on political dissent.

In September 2017, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International reported the arrest of dozens of writers, journalists, activists and religious leaders, including prominent Islamist cleric Sheikh Salman al-Awda.

It was around this time that Khashoggi left the kingdom for self-imposed exile in the US.

The crown prince was also heavily criticised for placing Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri under house arrest in Riyadh in November, and has raised alarm with a ruinous conflict in neighbouring Yemen seeking to shore up the government against Iran-backed Huthi rebels as well as a dragging blockade against Qatar.

"Deep inside him, he is an old-fashioned tribal leader," Khashoggi told Newsweek earlier this year in an off-the-record conversation, only released on Saturday after the rumours of his killing had been confirmed.

"He wants to enjoy the fruits of First World modernity and Silicon Valley and cinemas and everything, but at the same time he wants also to rule like how his grandfather ruled Saudi Arabia," Khashoggi added.

'Saudi according to MBS'

In a rare public appearance last year, the crown prince said he would strive for "a country of moderate Islam that is tolerant of all religions and to the world".

He has pushed to curb the power of hardline clerics and prominent sheikhs who promote the kingdom's uncompromising version of Islam, recognising that his country's association with Wahhabism is a problem.

The draconian religious ideology has been accused of fuelling intolerance and global terrorism. Dozens of conservative Saudi religious figures have been detained under a crackdown initiated by the prince.

But earlier this year in an interview, Prince Mohammed said the spread of Wahhabism was a consequence of the West asking Saudi Arabia to use its resources in Muslim countries to counter the Soviet Union during the Cold War.

"I believe Islam is sensible, Islam is simple, and people are trying to hijack it," he told The Washington Post in March.

The kingdom has also detained a number of human and women's rights campaigners this year, some of them accused of undermining national security, with scant information about their whereabouts.

The prince "is very much a believer in himself. He doesn't believe in anybody else," Khashoggi told Newsweek.
SASHA AND ALEXA RETURN TO THE RING; 10/19 WWE RAW IN BANGOR, MAINE RESULTS

By Adam St. Pierre on 2018-10-20 09:31:00

Baron Corbin vs Finn Balor: A decent opener as fans were hot for Finn. They missed a few spots and looked sloppy at times. Finn ends up winning via rollup, but Corbin restarts it as a No DQ match. Corbin quickly wins it with a chair shot to the back.



Bayley & Sasha Banks & Dana Brooks vs. Ruby Riott & Liv Morgan, and Alicia Fox: No Sarah Logan but still a very good six-woman tag with all women shining. Banks makes Morgan tap for the victory.



Elias vs No Way Jose: Elias does a mini concert before the match. Jose comes out and fans are excited but I'm disappointed. I expected Apollo Crews but oh well. Jose has no crew with him. A good little match with Jose getting in some good offense. A theme of tonight's show was wrestlers who barely get TV time on Raw getting the chance to shine. Elias wins via Drift Away.



Ronda Rousey and Nia Jax vs. Mickie James and Alexa Bliss: It felt at this point like they were rushing through the card but again the women show up the men with another good match. Bliss stalled for a long time but once it got going, it was good. Jax was beat on for several minutes until she made the hot tag. Ronda makes Bliss tap out.



Jinder Mahal with The Singh Brothers vs. Chad Gable: a real good contest. Gable show a lot of skill and did Roodes Glorious pose even though he wasn't there, and people wanted to see him. Gable wins via rollup. Mahal attacks the Singh brother but stops and they leave together.



B Team vs. The Revival: A good match with them trying out a few cool tag maneuvers. Once again match ends with a roll up.



Dean Ambrose & Intercontinental Champion Seth Rollins vs. WWE Tag Team champions Dolph Ziggler & Drew McIntyre: This started slow, but then gained steam midway through with the crowd hot for Rollins & Ambrose as both teams start hitting their big moves. Rollins hits a Falcon Arrow and a Buckle bomb. Ziggler hits a Zig Zag. A This is awesome chant starts up. Dolph hits Rollins low and the match is over as fans boo. Ziggler & Drew grab chairs to attack but as predicted Braun Strongman hits the ring to make the save. He powerslams Ziggler, rips off his shirt, and leaves as Rollins and Ambrose stay in the ring for a few minutes.



No Roman Reigns who was advertised for months and no word on why he missed out. I heard people behind me say before the show he wasnt there, but I didn't believe it. Lashley was also advertised but a no show. Kevin Owens was the one I wanted to see but of course was injured a week before the show.

Despite missing a few talents missing, the women really stepped it up. It was good but far from the best live event Ive seen from WWE.

If you enjoy PWInsider.com you can check out the AD-FREE PWInsider Elite section, which features exclusive audio updates, news, our critically acclaimed podcasts, interviews and more by clicking here!
The governments mental health inquiry has been underway for a number of months, taking submissions and meeting with groups.

One of the groups that made a submission is Pause, Breathe, Smile; a programme developed by the Mental Health Foundation and mindfulness education group PBS to bring mindfulness into schools.

Grant Rix, the PBS Director, joins Weekend Life with Carly Flynn to talk about why mindfulness in schools is so important.

Mindfulness is all about being present in the moment and not overreacting or getting overwhelmed by whats happening around us.

Taking into account mindfulness programmes in schools internationally Mr Rix put together a report for what could be put into place in New Zealand.

With help from donations they were able to develop Pause, Breathe, Smile in 2013, and with help from research from AUT, they have been getting great results.

Some of the major improvements from mindfulness programmes include reducing symptoms of anxiety, stress and depression.

Mr Rix said that the results they got in the school programme was an almost immediate increase in calmness, and an increase in focus and attention.

Probably the biggest outcome from Pause, Breathe, Smile is kids really effectively regulating their own emotional responses to everyday situations he told RadioLIVE.

Even though the programme is reaching out for funding, teachers can already sign up to implement these programmes in schools.

Listen to the full interview with Grant Rix above.

Weekend Life with Carly Flynn,10am - 2pm on Saturday and streaming live on 'rova' channel 9 - available on Android and iPhone.

RadioLIVE.
(CNN Business)  China's economic slowdown is deepening as its trade war with the United States gets worse.

The world's second biggest economy grew 6.5% in the third quarter of this year, according to official data published Friday. That's its weakest quarterly growth since the depths of the global financial crisis in early 2009 and below economists' expectations of 6.6%.

The Chinese economy has lost momentum this year following government efforts to try to rein in high levels of debt. It has also started coming under pressure from US tariffs on more than $250 billion of its exports.

Chinese officials have turned to tax cuts, infrastructure spending and looser monetary policy as they seek to prop up growth.

"We think more easing will still be needed in order to stabilize growth," Julian Evans-Pritchard, senior China economist at research firm Capital Economics, said in a note to clients Friday. He predicts the slowdown will bottom out around the middle of next year.

The country's stock markets and currency have been pummeled in recent months by fears about the economy and the impact of the trade war.

As the disappointing growth numbers came out Friday, top Chinese economic and financial officials made a rare, coordinated attempt to ease investors' concerns.

Central bank chief Yi Gang said in a statement that the slump in the stock market didn't reflect the state of the economy, which he described as "moving forward" in a stable manner.

He added that the government would take more measures to support the economy. Similar comments were made by the heads of China's securities and banking regulators and President Xi Jinping's top economic adviser. Stocks in Shanghai were up more 2% in afternoon trading.

Intensifying trade fight

Despite the slowdown, China still looks on track to meet the government's 2018 growth target of about 6.5%. Experts have for a long time cast doubt on the accuracy of official Chinese economic data, turning to other indicators like electricity output and freight shipments to get a clearer picture of what's going on.

The intensifying trade fight with the United States is likely to weigh more heavily on China in the coming quarters.

The Trump administration plans to raise its tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese goods from 10% to 25% at the end of the year. And Trump has said he's prepared to expand the tariffs to effectively cover all Chinese exports to the United States, which topped $500 billion last year.

China's exports grew strongly in September, but analysts said that the numbers may have been boosted by companies rushing to ship goods before new US tariffs kicked in near the end of the month.

Chinese officials acknowledged last week that tougher months lie ahead for exports. And further pressure may come from a potential slowdown in global growth next year

"The worst is yet to come," Kevin Lai, an economist at investment bank Daiwa Capital Markets, said in a note to clients Friday.

This story was first published on CNN.com, "China's economy is growing at its slowest pace since the financial crisis."
But what I cant get over is that he let his wife take the fall for it, rather than stand up and take the blame himself. Boss Madigan wouldnt let his wife, Shirley, take the fall. Most men wouldnt. But Toilets did. And Madigan files that weakness away in that aging yet still supple brain of his.
Nearing the end of the year Sandie Myhre talks about the awards seasons coming up and what cars have made an impression this year. Plus, the price of petrol continues to rise but are there places in New Zealand that are more expensive or, even better, cheaper?

Listen to the full interviews above.

Weekend Life with Carly Flynn,10am - 2pm on Saturday and streaming live on 'rova' channel 9 - available on Android and iPhone.

RadioLIVE.
This week on Astronomy - Go look at the Moon tonight.

Its international Look At The Moon Day!

There may be big problems in searching for life in one of Marss subterranean lakes.

For the Space Weather Lectures go here and you can get free tickets here.



Take a look at this stunning HD video of the Moon over a month.



And from the Moon, a 2015 Hi Res picture taken from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter of that famous Earth-Rise first taken in 1968.
UK: On November 5 Network Rail is to begin a six-week public consultation on the proposed Croydon area remodelling scheme. This aims to improve punctuality, reduce journey times and increase capacity through a major bottleneck on the London  Brighton line.
Find a great selection of commercial real estate, manufactured homes, timeshares and more for Sale

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The 82-year-old was shot about 5:30 p.m. in the 7000 block of South Cornell Avenue in the South Shore neighborhood. The man, wounded in the upper right arm, was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center where his condition was stabilized, police said.
Khloe Kardashian is giving fans a glimpse into her cupcake party with family.

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The 34-year-old shared photos Thursday of True, her 6-month-old daughter with Tristan Thompson , attending a bash with North West and True's other cousins.

True enjoyed sweet treats with North and Kim Kardashian's other children, Saint and Chicago, Kourtney Kardashian's kids, Mason, Penelope and Reign, Rob Kardashian's daughter, Dream, and Kylie Jenner's baby girl, Stormi.

Kardashian and her sisters provided the kids with unicorn costumes and other outfits, in addition to an array of cakes and cupcakes.

Kardashian shared photos and videos of the spread on Instagram Stories.

"A little @breescakes for the cupcake party," she wrote.

The "Keeping Up with the Kardashians" star also captured a photo of True with her grandmother, Mary Jo Campbell.

Kardashian previously told fans she planned the party in honor of North returning home to the U.S.

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The 5-year-old accompanied her parents, Kim and Kanye West , on their trip to Uganda this month.

"I'm so excited!! Planning another cupcake party 4 Norths return w all the cousins. Maybe this time @kourtneykardash won't 'forget' lol I mean..." Kardashian tweeted Oct. 13.

"I bought all the girls tutus this morning! You know we have a color scheme to abide by," she added. "I need to buy the boys something too. Maybe capes for the boys!!!"

Kardashian gave birth to True in April.

She shared a photo of her daughter wearing an all-pink ensemble in August following a trip to Mexico with Thompson.
Ginus Vath, of Belleview Elementary School, reacts as getting tangled in a rope Friday, Oct. 19, 2018 at the annual Butterfield Stage Days at Zalud Park in Porterville. The Porterville area fourth-graders enjoy learning had-on Western history.
Porterville, CA (93257)

Today

Cloudy skies early, followed by partial clearing. Low 46F. Winds light and variable..

Tonight

Cloudy skies early, followed by partial clearing. Low 46F. Winds light and variable.
The Athens chapter of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History will receive a charter at the national conference in 
Its not often you see a group of over 50 adults singing along to Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes, but thats exactly what happened at the b
The news desk has compiled a list of events going on throughout the upcoming week that are open to Athenians and University of Georgia students.
The substance  which, by the way, is pronounced GRAH-pull  is essentially a smaller and softer form of hail that resembles Dippin Dots. Unlike sleet, which is snow that melts and refreezes on its way to the ground, forming translucent pellets, graupel is rain that freezes traveling upward before it drops, creating tiny snowballs.
About 11 p.m. Thursday, the victim, 21, was walking away from a bus stop at 75th and Coles Avenue. She continued south on Exchange Avenue when she noticed a man following her, police said.
Afghan voters went to the polling stations across the country on October 20 to vote in parliamentary elections, which are seen as a key test of the government's ability to provide security across the country. The Interior Ministry announced that an additional 20,000 security personnel had been deployed across the country to protect voters and polling stations.
White House national security adviser John Bolton leaves on a trip to Russia and the Caucasus on October 20 amid reports that Washington is moving toward withdrawing from a bedrock Cold War-era nuclear arms control treaty that it has accused Russia of violating.

The New York Times reported on October 19 that Bolton plans to warn Russian President Vladimir Putin that the Trump administration is preparing to leave the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF), negotiated by former President Ronald Reagan during the waning days of the Soviet Union.

Despite the threat, the newspaper said no final decision had been made on withdrawing from the treaty. White House officials did not deny The New York Times report.

The newspaper said the United States believes Russia is violating the deal by deploying tactical nuclear weapons in places like Russia's Kaliningrad enclave on the Baltic Sea to intimidate former Soviet allies in Eastern Europe that have joined the Western bloc.

Meanwhile, The Guardian newspaper reported that Bolton recently recommended that Trump withdraw from the treaty.

In 2014, Washington publicly accused Moscow of developing a ground-launched cruise missile that U.S. officials said was in direct violation of the 1987 agreement because it could allow Moscow to launch a nuclear strike on Europe on short notice. The U.S. State Department later said Moscow had begun deploying the missile.

Earlier this month, U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Russias violation of the INF treaty was "untenable" and, unless it changed course, the United States would respond.

"Across two administrations, the United States and our allies have attempted to bring Russia back into full and verifiable compliance with INF," a senior administration official told reporters in Washington on October 19. "Despite our objections, Russia continues to produce and field prohibited cruise missiles and has ignored calls for transparency."

Russia, for its part, has repeatedly denied the U.S. accusations, and also has alleged that some elements of the U.S. missile-defense systems in Europe are in violation of the agreement.

The treaty, signed by U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, was the first arms control agreement to eliminate an entire class of missiles.

During his visit to Moscow, Bolton is also expected to broach other major topics with Russian officials, including North Korea, Ukraine, and Syria.

He said in a tweet on October 19 that he will start his visit meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev. Russian news agencies reported that the Kremlin is also arranging a meeting with Putin during the trip.

While in Moscow, Bolton will emphasize the importance of maintaining UN sanctions against North Korea to keep pressure on Pyongyang to eliminate its nuclear weapons program. Russia and China have suggested easing sanctions.

Bolton will later travel to Azerbaijan for discussions on a range of regional issues, including Iran, before continuing to Armenia and Georgia.

With reporting by AP, AFP, and Reuters


A global financial watchdog has given Iran until February to crack down on terrorism funding or risk further sanctions on its struggling economy.

The Financial Action Task Force warned on October 19 that it would effectively blacklist Iran if it doesn't fulfill 10 promises Tehran made to pass and enforce laws against financing terrorist groups.

Iran has long provided support to the Lebanese Hizballah militant group and Palestinian armed groups, which Western countries view as terrorist organizations.

Iran's parliament approved some new measures against funding terrorism earlier this month under pressure to adopt international standards. But the task force said that it could only consider fully enacted legislation.

"We expect Iran to move swiftly to implement the commitments that it undertook at a high level so long ago," said Marshall Billingslea, U.S. assistant treasury secretary for terrorist financing and chair of the global task force.

"In line with that, we expect that it will have adopted all of these measures by February. If by February 2019 Iran has not yet done so, then we will take further steps," he said.

Billingslea said the task force for now has decided to continue suspending an earlier decision to blacklist Iran.

Blacklisting by the organization can result in limits or even bans on transactions with a country, greatly hindering global investment at a time when the United States has already moved to block foreign investment in Iran after pulling out of its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.

Britain, France and Germany are trying to keep some financial channels open for Iran amid the U.S. push to reimpose sanctions, and have urged Tehran to comply with the task force's demands.

Analysts say that missing the task force's February deadline and being blacklisted could effectively nullify the European efforts on behalf of Iran.

Based on reporting by AP, AFP, and Reuters
Following his critically acclaimed 2016 movie, Collector, Aleksei Krasovsky is preparing to release a new film. Wrapping up a crowdfunding campaign for the project on September 22, the Russian director thanked those who had donated in a video address. "I'm sure we'll bring this film to a conclusion," he said, "and everything will be fine."

But Holiday, a comedy set during the Siege of Leningrad in 1941, touches on a topic considered sacred by many in Russia -- the Soviet Union's World War II legacy. The 900-day blockade of the city by advancing Nazi forces claimed over 1 million lives, and is seen as a lasting example of Soviet sacrifice and heroism in the victory over fascism.

As Krasovsky completes postproduction, his film is encountering the hazards of dealing with history in Russia -- especially when it conflicts with the generally accepted narrative. After attracting harsh criticism from government officials, Holiday risks being banned from cinemas before it's even complete.

Sergei Boyarsky, a deputy in the State Duma, called the very notion of a comedy about the 900-day siege by Nazi forces "blasphemy and a disgrace," and promised on Twitter to do everything in his power to stop the film's release.

The Military-Historical Society, a quasi-governmental body tasked with promoting a positive version of Russia's history, has also chimed in. In a lengthy video tirade, Mikhail Myagkov, the head of the society's education council, said the film is part of an "information war" allegedly being waged against Russia and compared it with Nazi propaganda. Neither Krasovsky nor Myagkov responded to several requests for comment.

Set in Leningrad in 1941, Holiday tells the story of a wealthy family living in the besieged city. On New Years Eve, the family prepares a feast lavish for the conditions of the time, when hunger and misery prevailed on the streets outside.

When two uninvited, starving guests arrive, comedy ensues. There's a chicken no one's able to prepare, clumsy attempts to hide the extent of the familys wealth, and subtle social commentary on the privilege of some amid the penury of the masses.

Krasovsky based the film in part on the diaries of Nikolai Ribkovsky, a government official in Leningrad who, according to a description on the film's crowdfunding site, documented extravagant consumption habits as the rest of the city suffered. In an interview with independent news site Meduza, Krasovsky denied that his film mocks the experience of siege survivors and said he aimed to highlight the audacity of those Leningrad residents whose status afforded them favorable conditions.

"I wanted to talk about how this segregation developed between the rich -- often the unjustly and undeservedly rich -- and everyone else. When did it begin?" Krasovsky said. "Those people didnt feel it and continued to live lavishly, as if nothing was happening."

More than seven decades on, the city, since renamed St. Petersburg, commemorates the lifting of the siege in January 1944. The story of how its residents overcame adversity is key to the local identity and is part of a narrative on World War II zealously defended against alleged attempts at distortion.

"I can accept that there were some funny moments, but showing a New Year's Eve feast is wrong," a woman who claimed to have survived the siege told Current Time TV on October 16.

The Russian government has frequently taken issue with what it sees as historical revisionism, particularly when it comes to the Soviet Union's role in World War II, in which the U.S.S.R. lost an estimated 27 million lives. In January, as Poland launched a campaign to remove Red Army monuments across the country, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Russophobia in the form of a national idea is being propagated consciously, deliberately, and on a large scale."

Krasovsky spent 3.5 million rubles ($53,000) on the film, he told Meduza, and some of the crew worked for free. Before launching his fundraising campaign, the team approached major film studios with the screenplay, but none were willing to take it on.

Recent scandals involving historical films in Russia made producers think twice, he said.

This January, the Culture Ministry banned the slapstick British comedy Death Of Stalin from Russian cinemas, describing the film as extremist, mendacious, and insulting to the Russian nation. The decision provoked international ridicule and heated debates in Russia over freedom of expression, driven in part by the ministrys clumsy attempts to justify its prohibition. When one Moscow movie theater decided to show the film anyway, attracting a sizeable audience, it was subjected to a police inspection and forced to cease all screenings.

In 2016, a costume drama about an affair between the future Tsar Nicholas II and his Polish lover led to a monthslong controversy that culminated in arson attacks on movie theaters, threats against director Aleksei Uchitel, and widespread calls for a ban. Uchitel, like Krasovsky, insisted his film was based on archival evidence and not intended to provoke Russias conservatives. When the film, Matilda, finally premiered in October 2017 the event was accompanied by a heavy police presence.

The current backlash against Holiday also coincides with effusive official praise for Sobibor, a movie funded by the Culture Ministry that tells the story of a Red Army officer who led a prisoner uprising at a Nazi concentration camp in Poland. By a twist of fate, Sobibor director Konstantin Khabensky was the lead actor in Krasovsky's Collector. The two now unwittingly find themselves as representative of opposing sides in a standoff over artistic treatment of the past.

In his comments to Meduza, Krasovsky suggested that the threat that his film might shed light on the lifestyles of todays elite may be angering the government more than any commentary about one of the most tragic episodes of Russias past.

Citing three war comedies that became classics of Soviet cinema, Krasovsky suggests theres more to the backlash than a simple desire to defend Russias history.

"I think the story of privilege and special treatment -- that shameful page in our history -- obviously annoys those people who take advantage of such benefits to this day," he told the news site.
Iran's ministers of industry and roads have resigned, in the latest departures from President Hassan Rohani's government.

In a statement posted on the presidential website October 20, Rohani thanked Industry Minister Mohammad Shariatmadari and Roads Minister Abbas Akhoundi for their "selfless service" and "sincere efforts."

The two ministers reportedly handed in their resignations over a month ago as lawmakers were gearing up for impeachment hearings.

Rohani's labor and economy ministers were forced to resign in August, with lawmakers angry over their handling of the country's economic crisis.

The crisis has been fueled in part by the United States decision to withdraw from the 2015 nuclear deal and reimpose economic sanctions.

The U.S. decision to pull out of the deal has put major pressure on Rohani, who had lobbied hard for the deal despite opposition from Iranian hard-liners.

Rohani himself was summoned to answer questions in parliament in August, the first time that's happened during his five years in power.

Based on reporting by AFP and Reuters
News reports say the United States is moving toward withdrawing from a bedrock Cold War-era arms control treaty that it has accused Russia of violating.

The New York Times reported that White House national security adviser John Bolton plans to warn Russian President Vladimir Putin about the U.S. intentions on the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty, known as the INF.

Bolton, who travels to Moscow on October 20, will give that message to Putin directly, according to the Times.

The newspaper on October 19 said no final decision had been made on withdrawing from the INF agreement.

But President Donald Trump has voiced doubts about it, and other arms control agreements, in the past.

The Guardian, meanwhile, reported that Bolton has issued a recommendation for the withdrawal, and a White House meeting earlier in the week specifically discussed that question.

U.S. officials have also briefed European allies this week about the move, both papers reported.

In 2014, Washington publicly accused Moscow of developing a ground-launched cruise missile that U.S. officials said was in direct violation of the 1987 agreement. The U.S. State Department later said Moscow had begun deploying the missile.

Russia, for its part, has repeatedly denied the U.S. accusations, and also alleged the some elements of the U.S. missile defense systems in Europe were in violation of the agreement.

The treaty, signed by U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, was the first arms control agreement to eliminate an entire class of missiles.
Norway has freed a Russian suspected of spying, as Moscow demanded an apology from Oslo.

Mikhail Bochkaryov was detained last month at the Oslo airport after participating in a seminar in Norway's parliament.

After leaving an Oslo prison October 19, Bochkaryov said he was "feeling better now than before his release."

Authorities accused Bochkaryov, who works in the Russian parliament's upper chamber, of collecting data on the building and its network. He denied any wrongdoing.

A Norwegian court ordered his release on October 18, after ruling that investigators had failed to substantiate their case. But Bochkaryov was kept in custody after the national police agency appealed the decision.

Prosecutor Kathrine Tonstad told Norwegian television that an investigation is continuing.

"No decision has been made on whether to file any charges. He is free to go home," she said October 19.

Reports had said Bochkaryov might be used as leverage in efforts to obtain the release of a Norwegian held in Russia on suspicion of spying.

Frode Berg was arrested in April and is still awaiting trial after reportedly admitting to having helped Norwegian intelligence by acting as a courier.

Russia demanded Oslo throw out "the absurd charges." And the Russian Embassy in Oslo said in a post to its Facebook page that "an official apology" from Norway was expected.

With reporting by Reuters and TASS
KABUL -- Polls have closed in Afghanistans long-delayed parliamentary elections, with voting marred by deadly attacks and chaotic scenes at polling stations hit by technical and organizational problems.



Voting was extended by one day in some constituencies after voters were unable to cast ballots. Afghans expressed frustration over polling stations not opening on time, absent election staff, missing election materials, and technical glitches with biometric voter verification devices.



The Independent Election Commission said it was uncertain how many of the countrys 21,000 polling stations had closed by the official closing time, 4 p.m. local time. In some places, polling stations stayed open for four more hours and others were authorized to reopen on October 21.



Preliminary results were not expected for several days at the earliest.



The chaos at the polls came as several dozen people were killed earlier in the day across the country in attacks on polling stations and security forces.



At one polling station in the capital Kabul, a suicide bomber killed at least 10 people, including police officers and voters, officials said.



Earlier, multiple blasts struck other stations in Kabul, leaving at least three dead and over 30 wounded, health officials said. In the central province of Ghor, 11 police officers were killed while three people were killed in the northern province of Kunduz.

Almost 9 million people have registered to vote in the parliamentary election, which are seen as a key test of the governments ability to provide security across the country.

Abdul Badi Sayad, the head of the Independent Election Commission, pleaded for patience with the new biometric system and said that dozens of teachers who had been trained in the system did not show up for work at the polling stations.

Mohammad Mohaqiq, a deputy to Afghan Chief Executive Officer Abdullah Abdullah, told a local television station that he waited hours to vote and feared frustrated voters would abandon the polling stations without marking their ballots.

Sayad said technical glitches had occurred, although he did not say if polling would be extended.

"More than 3,000 men and around 2,000 women are standing on the streets outside this polling station, a resident of the western city of Herat told RFE/RL. They dont know what to do. The election officials say the voter registration lists havent arrived.

Khaled Haq Parast, a Kabul police official, said two police officers were wounded when they tried to defuse an improvised explosive devise found near a polling station in Kabul. He said two civilians were also injured.

Jan Agha, another police official in the Afghan capital, said a "sticky bomb" -- a type of improvised grenade -- placed underneath the vehicle of an intelligence official exploded in Kabul but no one was hurt.

Officials said two people were wounded in the western province of Farah after a mortar landed in a residential area. In the eastern province of Kunar, gunmen fired on polling stations, leaving two injured.



Seven people were wounded in the eastern province of Nangarhar.

Interior Ministry spokesman Nasrat Rahimi said several "plots" in Kabul and elsewhere had been "neutralized."

"Several plots in the [provinces of] Kabul, Takhar, Badakhshan, and Jowzjan have been exposed and neutralized," he said.

The Interior Ministry announced that an additional 20,000 security personnel had been deployed to protect voters and polling stations, bringing the total number to around 70,000.

Despite the risks, President Ashraf Ghani urged "every Afghan, young and old, women and men" to exercise their right to vote, after casting his ballot in Kabul.



Photos posted on social media showed scores of men and women holding their identification documents lining up outside polling stations across the country amid a heavy security presence.



An RFE/RL correspondent in the northern province of Parwan said despite worries over low turnout many people had turned out to cast their ballots in the face of security concerns and technical problems at polling stations.



The queues are long and they show peoples interest in the election," he said.



An RFE/RL correspondent in Kabul said there were extreme irregularities in the voting process at a polling station she visited in the capital.

Originally scheduled for 2015, the parliamentary vote was delayed for three years amid disputes over electoral reforms and because of the instability following NATOs handover of security responsibilities to Afghan forces at the end of 2014.

In a fresh warning issued on October 20, the Taliban urged voters to boycott the "sham and theatrical process to protect their lives."

The killing of the powerful police chief of the southern province of Kandahar on October 18 has eroded confidence in the ability of the government to conduct the vote safely and transparently despite ongoing fighting between government forces and militants in at least 20 of Afghanistans 34 provinces.

Voting in Kandahar has been delayed by a week following the attack, which killed three people, including the provincial intelligence chief. It also left the provincial governor in critical condition.

Candidates, campaign rallies, and senior security officials have been targeted in deadly attacks by Taliban and Islamic State (IS) extremists -- including suicide attacks, motorcycle bombings, and drive-by shootings.

During the three-week campaign period, two candidates and 34 civilians were killed in militant attacks.

Eight other candidates were killed by militants during the run-up to campaigning, and the fate of two abducted candidates remains unknown.

Elections will not be held on October 20 in 10 Afghan districts in different parts of the country that are under Taliban control.

They include five districts in the Taliban stronghold of Helmand Province, two in the northeastern province of Badakhshan, one in the southern province of Zabul, and districts in the northern provinces of Baghlan and Sar-e Pul.

Voting also has been postponed indefinitely in Ghazni Province amid a dispute over how to map out voting precincts to achieve more balanced ethnic representation.

Voting for district councils across the country also was supposed to take place on October 20, but has been postponed amid threats by the Taliban to attack candidates and security forces.

Altogether, there are more than 2,500 candidates contesting 249 seats in Afghanistans lower house of parliament, known as the Wolesi Jirga. Of those candidates, 417 are women.

Hundreds of those running are young, first-time candidates who include reporters, entrepreneurs, and educators.

But no major opposition party is poised to win enough seats to contest the national unity government headed by Ghani and Abdullah.

Most candidates for parliament are running as independents.

With reporting by AP, Reuters, and AFP
An argument between people in two cars Friday night in the East Ukrainian Village neighborhood led to one car hitting a man who had been a passenger in the other car, killing him, police said.
Russia has accused the United States of "fabricating a pretext" to impose fresh sanctions against Russia after Washington charged a Russian of conspiring to interfere in U.S. elections.

"We understand that Washington is fabricating a pretext in order to impose its notorious sanctions once more against our country," Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said in a statement quoted by Russian media on October 20.

His comments come a day after U.S. prosecutors charged a Russian woman with conspiring to interfere in U.S. elections, in what appeared to be the first such charges related to next months key congressional elections.

The indictment came as U.S. intelligence agencies said in a joint statement that they were concerned about efforts by Russia, China, and Iran to influence U.S. voters and policy.

In a filing in U.S. federal court in Alexandria, Virginia, on October 19, prosecutors accused Elena Khusyaynova of running an operation called Project Lakhta that was funded by a St. Petersburg businessman with close Kremlin ties who was indicted earlier this year.

The project, according to the criminal complaint, intended to wage "information warfare against the United States" and sow distrust in U.S. political candidates and the U.S. political system overall.

The complaint said Khusyaynova had served as chief accountant for Project Lakhta since about April 2014.

The St. Petersburg businessman who allegedly funded the effort was Yevgeny Prigozhin, who was indicted by Special Counsel Robert Mueller earlier this year on similar charges of trying to interfere with past U.S. elections.

He, two of his companies -- Concord Management and Concord Catering  and 12 other Russians were accused by Mueller of meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential race in an effort aimed at bolstering Donald Trump and denigrating his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton.

Khusyaynova and Prigozhin are believed to be in Russia and are unlikely to face justice in the United States.

A joint statement released by four intelligence and law enforcement agencies on October 19 said methods of influencing used by China, Iran, and Russia included the use of social media to amplify divisive issues, seeding disinformation about political candidates, and sponsoring content in English-language media.

The statement by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the Justice Department, the FBI, and the Department of Homeland Security was issued just weeks before the November 6 elections.

That election will, among other things, determine whether the Republicans continue dominating both the House of Representatives and the Senate, or if Democrats will take control.

With reporting by AP, Reuters, and AFP
Saudi Arabia has acknowledged for the first time the death of Jamal Khashoggi at its consulate in Istanbul, with Saudi state-run media reporting the missing journalist had died as a result of a violent "fistfight."



The official Saudi Press Agency on October 20 cited an initial investigation by Saudi prosecutors saying that "an argument erupted between [Khashoggi] and others whom he met in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, leading to a fistfight which led to his death."



"The kingdom expresses its deep regret," the agency said.



Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist who was critical of the Saudi royal family, went missing on October 2 after he entered the consulate to get papers for his wedding.



Prosecutors said that 18 people, all Saudi nationals, have so far been arrested, SPA reported.



The Saudi public prosecutor said that royal court adviser Saud al-Qahtani and deputy intelligence chief Ahmad Asiri have been sacked from their positions.



The announcement followed days of shifting explanations from Saudi officials.



Unnamed Turkish and U.S. officials have been quoted in news reports as saying that Khashoggi was killed shortly after he entered the consulate by a team of Saudi officials and then dismembered. Initial press reports said his Apple Watch may have recorded audio and video of the killing.



Khashoggis death has prompted sharp criticism in the West.



"We expect transparency from Saudi Arabia about the circumstances of his death....The information available about events in the Istanbul consulate is inadequate, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said in a statement issued October 20 along with Foreign Minister Heiko Maas.



U.S. President Donald Trump, who has made close ties with Riyadh a centerpiece of his foreign policy, called the Saudi announcement a "good first step," but said what happened to Khashoggi was "unacceptable."

Based on reporting by AP, Reuters, AFP, and dpa
Daisy Hayes, 65, was last seen May 1 in the 6300 block of South Minerva Avenue on the citys South Side, Chicago police said. Hayes was listed as a missing person but on Friday, police arrested a man named James Jackson on a warrant, police said.
"The Russian violation of the treaty is dangerous, but it is still possible to get Moscow back into compliance with the agreement," said Alexandra Bell, a senior policy director at the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation. "One formal strategic stability dialogue in 22 months does not represent an earnest attempt at diplomacy. The State Department needs to be leading technical conversations with the Russians about how to resolve this violation."
"This was really one of the first of the McCarthy-era free speech cases," with an official shutting down unpopular ideas because they provoked such an angry reaction, said Gutterman, director of the Tully Center for Free Speech at Syracuse. He said the "heckler's veto" has been happening lately on college campuses, as at the University of California at Berkeley last year, when protesters upset by a conservative speaker set fires and smashed windows, causing the event to be canceled.
Phoenix resident Lizzy Durso described herself as a "silent supporter" of Trump who now feels comfortable enough to back the president openly and attend her first rally for him, and said she's one of many. That same silent support will help carry McSally to victory, she said.
A surge in Lassa fever cases in Nigeria in 2018 does not appear to be linked to a single virus strain or increased human-to-human transmission, according to a genomic analysis published in The New England Journal of Medicine. Multiple institutions collaborated on the report, including the African Center of Excellence for Genomics of Infectious Diseases at Redeemer's University in Ede, Nigeria; the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard in Cambridge, Massachusetts; the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California; and Tulane University in New Orleans, among others. The research was supported in part by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), and the NIH Common Fund's Human Heredity and Health in Africa Program, all components of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) reported an unusually large increase in Lassa fever cases in 2018, with 523 laboratory-confirmed cases and 135 deaths from January 1 through October 7. Lassa fever is endemic to West Africa, where Mastomys natalensis rodents, a primary animal reservoir of Lassa virus, are common. The rodent is often found in or around human habitats, and people become infected with Lassa virus through direct contact with rodent urine and stool. People with Lassa fever also can transmit the virus to other people through close contact, although experts believe this is rare. About 15 to 20 percent of people hospitalized with Lassa fever die from the disease, but only 1 percent of all Lassa virus infections result in death, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Public health officials were concerned that the Lassa fever outbreak in Nigeria in 2018 might be driven by a previously unknown factor, such as a new or more virulent Lassa virus strain, according to the authors. This prompted the research team to analyze Lassa virus genomes from patient samples to determine if genomic data signatures could explain the surge in cases.

The authors analyzed Lassa virus genomes of 129 patients from the 2017-2018 outbreak and from 91 patients from the 2015-2017 seasons. They discovered that Lassa genomes from 2018 were drawn from a diverse range of viruses previously observed in Nigeria rather than from a single dominant strain. This indicates that a single virus strain was not driving the surge in cases in 2018. Additionally, dating of the most recent ancestors of samples from 2018 showed limited support for human-to-human transmission. Rather, the dataset had features consistent with many, independent zoonotic transmissions (humans becoming infected through contact with rodent feces or urine).

The research team reported their findings in real time to the NCDC and local health authorities to support the public health response to the outbreak. The research serves as a model for investigating infectious disease emergencies by combining genomic information with traditional epidemiological data to inform response strategies, the authors note.
The age old adage of virtue being its own reward may not hold true in the corporate world -- in fact, honourable acts could lead workers to behave more selfishly later on, new research has shown.

A new study has revealed the true extent to which a phenomenon called "moral licensing" can transform how employees self-govern their actions over a course of time.

The research shows they leverage feelings of virtuousness from having resisted a large temptation to act selfishly on a different occasion. The findings have important implications for how companies deal with corporate misconduct and unethical actions.

The study, co-authored by experts from the University of Exeter and the London School of Economics, suggest that traditional methods employed by organisations to deter unethical behaviour may not be sufficient.

Instead, researchers speculate, in light of their findings, that it may be more effective to remove any substantial temptations for staff to cheat, and pay closer attention to how decision-making processes are structured when it comes to high-stakes decisions.

Zoe Rahwan, who led the research while at the London School of Economics, said: "We found that when people do behave honourably amid an opportunity to significantly enrich themselves through unethical means, they then become more self-serving and less cooperative immediately after."

Dr Oliver Hauser, from the University of Exeter Business School, who was part of the research team, said: "Senior staff in organisations are by definition most commonly exposed to high-stakes decisions with associated personal gains and therefore are perhaps the most vulnerable to "moral licensing."

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"To avoid the feelings of moral virtuousness that may stem from resisting a personal gain from a high-stakes decision turning into less cooperative behaviour subsequently, organisations may wish to consider assigning responsibility for multiple high-stakes decisions to different decision-makers or reviewing the timing between such decisions."

For the research, the experts asked 2,015 participants to play 10 rounds of a coin-flipping task, where they could earn money by reporting that the outcome of a coin toss matched their prediction. This provided an opportunity to lie in a manner which nobody else could verify. The responses were then measured against the statistically most likely set of results for correct guesses.

The researchers later told the participants that they could also donate any of their winnings from the coin-flipping task to one of five charities.

People's self-perception of their morality was measured immediately after the coin-flipping task, and a day later.

The researchers first examined how the size of temptation affected cheating behaviour. They varied the rewards by 500 times with rewards ranging from a maximum 10 US cents (~8 pence) to 50 US dollars (~40 pounds) -- a much higher reward, and ultimately temptation, than is commonly used in such experiments.

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Consistent with past research, they found that the reward size had a negligible effect on unethical decision-making -- in the first instance. However those who cheated the least when tempted with high stakes were more likely to license themselves not to behave so charitably in another task.

Many of the most 'dishonest' participants felt more guilty than other groups about their behaviour immediately after the task and were the only group to feel even worse a day later. This suggests people under-estimate the psychological costs of unethical behaviour.

Dr Barbara Fasolo, Associate Professor at the London School of Economics and a member of the research team, said of the findings: "Our research complements a growing experimental literature that shows that the size of the payoff is not a key driver of immediate unethical behaviour and many people engage in low-level cheating.

"However, we also demonstrate that there are costs to resisting great personal temptations in the form of subsequent non-cooperative behaviour, and that the few people who engage in maximal cheating underestimate the toll it takes on how they perceive their own morality their moral self-perception.."
Chicago has 3 times the per capita gun violence of Los Angeles and a shocking seven times as much as New York City. The people who live and work in Los Angeles and New York City are not smarter than us; they dont work harder or love their neighbors more than Chicagoans do. The difference is both cities have been more strategic, determined and holistic in their approaches to stopping violence. For example, both have well-funded offices of violence prevention and intervention that focus city resources in neighborhoods most impacted by violence and on individuals who have been victims and perpetrators of violence.
Researchers in Singapore can now explain what gives the mantis shrimp, a marine crustacean that hunts by battering its prey with its club-like appendages, the most powerful punch in the animal kingdom. In a paper publishing October 19 in the journal iScience, they show that a saddle-shaped structure in the mantis shrimp's limbs, which acts like a spring to store and then release energy, is composed of two layers made of different materials. Measuring the composition and the micro-mechanical properties of the layers -- which are mostly bioceramic and mostly biopolymeric, respectively -- allowed the researchers to simulate how the saddle stores such large amounts of elastic energy without breaking.

"Nature has evolved a very clever design in this saddle," says senior author Ali Miserez, a materials scientist who studies unique biological structures at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. "If it was made of one homogeneous material, it would be very brittle. It would for sure break."

Previous research from the lab of biologist Sheila Patek had examined the mantis shrimp's dactyl clubs -- the appendages they use to attack their prey -- and suggested that muscles alone couldn't be creating the amount of force with which the crustaceans strike. Other research had hypothesized that the saddle might be used to store elastic energy, but studying the structure and mechanical properties of the saddle was challenging. "The movement is so fast that people hadn't been able to focus just on the saddle itself, which is why we needed to study it by computer simulation," says Miserez.

His team analyzed the composition of the saddle, making micro-measurements of the materials' mechanical properties to develop a simulation of the mantis shrimp's strike. They found that the top layer of the saddle is composed mostly of a relatively brittle bioceramic similar to tooth or bone, while the underside contains a higher content of biopolymers, which are fibrous like a rope and therefore strong when pulled on. When the mantis shrimp's muscles and connective tissues load energy into the saddle, the top layer is compressed and the bottom layer is stretched, meaning that each layer is placed under the forces it is best able to withstand.

"If you asked a mechanical engineer to make a spring that can store a lot of elastic energy, they wouldn't think of using a ceramic. Ceramics can store energy if you can deform them, but they're so brittle that it wouldn't be intuitive," says Miserez. "But if you compress them, they're quite strong. And they're stiffer than metal or any polymer, so you can actually store a higher amount of energy than you could with those materials."

The researchers also performed a series of experiments using small strips of actual saddle structures that they cut with a powerful picosecond laser beam. They analyzed how forces were distributed when the strips were bent the way they are in the mantis shrimp and when they were bent the wrong way. When they were bent the wrong way, with the biopolymers compressed and the bioceramics stretched, the strips were less able to withstand strong forces, likely due to tiny fractures in the ceramic layer.

Miserez and his colleagues are continuing to study the structure of the mantis shrimp saddle and have even started 3D-printing some mantis shrimp-inspired springs of their own, which could potentially be used in microrobotics.

"From a fundamental science perspective, the mechanics of this structure are quite interesting," he says. "But what this design also shows is that you can make a very efficient spring -- and you can make it out of ceramics, which are more efficient than other materials people are using now. You can use materials that you wouldn't have thought about based on your mechanical engineering knowledge."
Researchers at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego and colleagues have found that corals living in more productive waters take advantage of the increased food availability. The findings, published in the journal Current Biology on October 18, reevaluate scientific understanding of how corals survive and could aid predictions on coral recovery in the face of climate change.

Coral reefs grow in what are considered oceanic deserts where warm, clear waters are generally less nutrient-rich than colder waters. Previously researchers have tied coral survival to symbiotic algae that live within corals. The algae are provided with shelter and nutrients in exchange for carbohydrates. It is estimated that these algae can supply some corals with up to 95 percent of their daily energy needs.

Scripps scientists found, however, that corals living in waters with higher chlorophyll concentrations get more of their energy from feeding on plankton and other microorganisms, suggesting some corals are less reliant on their algae-which could have implications for coral resilience. Chlorophyll concentration is an important proxy for marine nutrients, acting as an indicator for the amount of phytoplankton in the surface waters of the ocean. Phytoplankton are the base of most marine food webs and the prey for zooplankton, a favorite food of corals.

"This paper is the first to provide robust evidence for such a simple premise -- that corals eat more where there is more food," said Michael Fox, a recent PhD graduate of Scripps and lead author of the study. "It's quite shocking that it's something research hasn't focused on, as we tend to think of corals more as plants instead of animals."

As intuitive as it sounds, the scale of coral feeding is something that coral reef ecologists have been unable to examine over the past 30-40 years due to a lack of sufficient data and technology. Fox was able to come to his findings by analyzing differences in isotopic signatures of carbon between corals and their symbiotic algae from coral specimens collected in the central Pacific Ocean. Stable isotopes-variants of chemical elements containing different numbers of neutrons-are commonly used in biological research to track metabolic processes.

Fox started by separating coral and algal cells in a laboratory. This allowed him to analyze the isotopic composition of each and compare them. If the coral in question was deriving more of its food from the algae, its isotopic signature would resemble that of its plant tenant. On the other hand, corals that were eating mostly plankton had isotopic values more similar to that of its planktonic prey.

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Using satellite measurements of chlorophyll concentrations across the world's oceans, Fox and his team found that most coral collected from chlorophyll-rich waters were consuming greater proportions of plankton. Across the central Pacific, there is huge variability in nearshore phytoplankton, with concentrations of chlorophyll greatest along the equator and declining to the north and south. Fox then pulled together published satellite measurements and isotopic data from 11 other locations from around the world, finding a strikingly strong relationship between chlorophyll in the ocean and the feeding strategy of reef corals.

"This is not just something that's happening in the central Pacific, it's a pattern that holds on coral reefs across numerous ocean basins, from the Red Sea to the Caribbean," Fox said. "What we now have is a map of potentially more resilient coral reefs. If these corals are relying more on planktonic food, perhaps they can recover from coral bleaching events faster."

How much-and what-corals eat is a critical knowledge gap in coral biology and it is essential for understanding how corals are likely to persist in a warming ocean. Numerous laboratory studies have shown that if corals are fed they are more capable of surviving the stress associated with warming ocean temperatures and decreasing ocean pH. Feeding can also increase the reproductive capacity of corals, which is key to repopulating reefs that have suffered high levels of coral mortality.

But determining these feeding strategies on a global scale has been both logistically and economically challenging; to build such a model would require traveling to many reefs, collecting and processing many coral samples, and then solving the challenge of measuring primary production at each of the study sites. Now, satellite technology is helping coral scientists.

"We wanted to develop a method that would allow people to predict coral feeding strategies for their reef system without having to do all this themselves, so we turned to satellite technology to help us," said Gareth Williams, associate professor at Bangor University in the UK and co-author of the study. "We worked out that you can predict coral feeding strategies in the field from satellite-derived estimates of primary production. We can effectively predict coral feeding from space."

Massive coral bleaching events have swept through large swaths of reefs around the world, most notably the 2016 event on the Great Barrier Reef, which lost 30 percent of its shallow water corals. When waters warm too much, the relationship between the algae and their coral host breaks down. Corals then expel the algae, losing both their color and potentially their main food source. If the corals can survive long enough without the algae and the water temperature returns to normal, corals can regain them. Those corals that are able to eat more or have access to more food have a better chance at surviving and recovering from bleaching than those relying mostly on their algae.

"Our study is the first to take our understanding of coral feeding outside of the lab and show that global patterns of food availability likely influence the health and resilience of coral populations around the world," said Jen Smith, a coral scientist at Scripps and co-author of the study. "It is exciting to know that corals have a lot more food flexibility than we previously thought and this flexibility could help them ride out the climate change storm that is seemingly inevitable."

Recovery patterns from bleaching events can vary by region, suggesting that some areas are more resilient than others. This study and the work described above lays the foundation to begin more detailed investigations into the possibility that reefs in more productive areas have a greater capacity for recovery from disturbance than reefs in other regions.

This research was supported by the NOAA Nancy Foster Scholarship, the Moore Family Foundation, the Scripps Family and several anonymous donors.
Florida has become a haven for invasive species in the United States, but perhaps the most well-known of the State's alien residents is the Burmese python. These giant snakes, native to Southeast Asia, have become well-established over the past few decades and even flourish in their new environment.

"In Burmese pythons, we observed the rapid establishment and expansion of an invasive population in Florida, which is quite ecologically distinct from Southeast Asia and likely imposes significant ecological selection on the invasive Burmese python population," said Todd Castoe, biology professor at the University of Texas at Arlington and director of the Castoe Lab. "This situation had all of the hallmarks of a system where rapid adaptation could occur, so we were excited to test for this possibility using cutting-edge genomic approaches."

The researchers originally set out to determine whether pythons could have adapted to an extreme Florida freeze event in 2010. They generated data for dozens of samples before and after the freeze event. By scanning regions of the Burmese python genome, they identified parts of the genome that changed significantly between the two time periods, providing clear evidence of evolution occurring over a very short time scale in this population.

"The 2010 Florida freeze event led to a 40 percent to 90 percent documented field mortality in invasive Burmese pythons, so if evolution and adaptation were to be occurring, we knew we should see it over this time period that imposed a very strong bottleneck of selection," Castoe said.

"We employed a technique commonly referred to as a genome scan, which identifies regions of the genome that appear to be under strong natural selection, which could contain genes important in adaptation that may have allowed a subset of this population to survive these freeze events," he added.

The researchers expected to find genes in these regions that are important for potential adaptation to cold, but as they further scrutinized the data, a different signal began to emerge that told a more broad story about adaptation in this invasive population.

"We kept seeing evidence of adaptation in genes related to cell division, organ growth, and tissue development, which admittedly puzzled us at first. However, it eventually occurred to us that there was a connection with a parallel project in the lab that uses Burmese pythons as a model system for understanding regenerative organ growth, where tissues are downregulated when fasting and then regenerated in cyclical patterns corresponding with feeding cycles of most pythons. We began to wonder whether the signal we were seeing in the genome of Florida Burmese pythons was linked to adaptation in how they regenerated organ systems based on their feeding ecology," said Daren Card, a recently graduated Ph.D. student in the Castoe lab who worked on this project for his dissertation.

Armed with a working hypothesis that invasive Burmese pythons may be adapting to more regular feeding opportunity in Florida, the researchers gathered further ecological, functional genomic, and morphological data to understand the frequency at which pythons are feeding and whether there are physiological changes consistent with more regular feeding.

"These additional analyses showed that Burmese pythons in Florida are constantly feeding and that tissue morphological and gene expression patterns support a more up-regulated physiological state in fasted pythons -- Florida pythons appear to have adapted to regulating their digestive physiology to more efficiently eat prey constantly. This is alarming because these snakes have already been shown to have major negative impacts on endemic mammalian and bird populations in South Florida, including Everglades National Park, and our data was suggesting that, through rapid adaptation, they are only 'getting better' at being an effective invasive predator," Card added.

UTA biology chair Clay Clark congratulated the team on this work, which provides tangible evidence that evolution can occur extremely rapidly in natural populations, and that such rapid evolution can result in major changes in very complex traits that impact the physiology and ecology of vertebrates.

"These results provide an unprecedented perspective at how quickly a vertebrate population can evolve, while also providing new links between genomic adaptation and complex physiological change related to the ecological impacts of invasive species," Clark said. "It is particularly important work given UTA's strategic focus on global environmental impact."
88th District: The economy in this district depends on three engines: State Farm Insurance, Caterpillar and Illinois State University. (And gondola subs from Avantis Italian Restaurant.) State Farm has been transitioning jobs out of state. Caterpillar moved its headquarters to Deerfield. ISU got pinched during, but survived, the budget impasse. This district needs a strong voice in Springfield. It has been represented by Rep. Keith Sommer, R-Morton, since 1999. He happens to be one of the most soft-spoken members of the House and rarely gets challenged at the ballot box. Voters should go with Jill Blair, a Democrat from Bloomington, who worked for Heartland Community College. We dont agree with her on a graduated income tax  she supports the idea  but this district needs a stronger presence in the Capitol. She would fight for more higher education resources and would partner with central Illinois lawmakers on regional projects. Blair is endorsed.
"There are two ways to join the RTA  one is to pass a referendum to join, which means a 0.75 percent sales tax would be implemented in Kendall County like the other collar counties (0.50 percent goes to RTA and 0.25 percent goes to the county). This is the traditional way, and would mean that not only would Kendall County pay into the Metra system but also would receive Pace bus services."
A man once connected to disgraced R&B singer R. Kellys entourage was sentenced to eight years in prison Wednesday for torching a vehicle belonging to one of the former star's accusers.
If I didnt know better, Id swear President Trump and his brain trust conceived of, recruited and delivered marching orders for the latest caravan of thousands of refugees headed up from Honduras for the U.S. border.

And told them to arrive at the crossing on midterms election day.

Trump has threatened to close the border if Mexican authorities dont keep the refugees from getting there. He has to be praying they run the gantlet to the Rio Grande, because this has turned into a gift issue that energizes the Republican base while it splits the Democrats.

The bigger issue, of course, is immigration itself.

Despite all the attention the media give to Washingtons inability to enact comprehensive immigration reform, comprehensive immigration reform has never been something the public clamors for.

Even here in sanctuary state California, illegal immigration is a liability for non-hardliners. Just look at the results of a statewide poll taken in December by UC Berkeleys Haas Institute for a Fair and Inclusive Society.

The poll found that while nearly 3 out of 4 of those surveyed supported a pathway for citizenship for undocumented people living and working here, more than half also said it was either very or somewhat important for the U.S. to increase deportations of undocumented immigrants.

The results cut across all ethnic and racial lines.

Trump knows that the issue is not about race, as the Democrats like to believe, but about the threat that blue-collar workers of all races perceive that someone is coming across the border to take their jobs.

And hes going to play it for all its worth.

Big tent: When Democrats talk about big tent politics, theyre talking about inclusion.

When President Trump puts up his big tent, its showtime.

Like the carnivals or medicine shows of yesteryear, when it comes to rallies, Trump is steering clear of big cities.

He prefers playing the hustings of Montana, Nevada and Arizona, where a president showing up is as big an event as the county fair.

Trump draws much the same crowd as a carnival as well, and the folks who turn out love the act.

When Trump praises the likes of Rep. Greg Gianforte, R-Mont., for body-slamming a reporter, saying, Any guy that can do a body slam ... hes my guy, the crowd goes nuts.

Its an hour of straight-up political comedy, complete with set pieces like the crowd chanting, Lock her up.

A political Gallagher show, complete with smashing a watermelon.

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.

Demo-graphic: The line of Democrats eyeing a run against President Trump in 2020 is growing longer every day. On Meet the Press, Gov. Jerry Brown sounded like a candidate. Add in former Vice President Joe Biden and ex-New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and Democrats will have cornered the market on the senior vote.

Big stakes: The Chronicles series on campaigns in the Bay Area included one that deserves especially close attention. Its the race in Assembly District 15, which includes Richmond, Berkeley, Piedmont and parts of Oakland. Berniecrat democratic socialist Jovanka Beckles is running against a progressive, Barack Obama-type Democrat, Buffy Wicks.

Establishment Dems including Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, Sen. Kamala Harris, state Sen. Scott Wiener and Assemblyman David Chiu have all endorsed Wicks. Lefty Rep. Barbara Lee is going for Beckles.

The results will be instructional for the future of the Democratic Party around here. If a democratic socialist can knock off an establishment Democrat, youll have a slew of Berniecrats challenging mainstream candidates.

Democratic socialists are not Democrats. They run under the Democratic banner, but they have contempt for traditional Democrats. They just dont have nerve to run as a third party.

Just like Bernie Sanders, they want the benefit of the traditional Democratic vote without going to the effort of building a party infrastructure.

Movie time: First Man. Slow, slow, slow. Neil Armstrong as the first man to walk on the moon is an interesting story, one we all know well, and one that clearly does not lend itself to good moviemaking.

In the can: Heather Knights story in The Chronicle about the Bigbelly trash cans was instructional. I was amazed at how many street people called it to my attention.

Seems the homeless dont want their living spaces cluttered either.

Want to sound off? Email Willie Brown: wbrown@sfchronicle.com
Death and taxes may be inevitable, but the business of death is changing.

Funeral homes that have been around for decades have been closing around San Francisco as sons and daughters of owners pursue other careers. Morticians are cashing out in the hot real estate market by selling their building sites for bigger housing developments.

Duggans Funeral Service is an exception. The family-owned, Mission District company celebrates its 100th anniversary on Saturday. Its one of the oldest small businesses in the city.

Steven Welch, the fourth-generation manager of Duggans, said hes constantly on the job, with clients who could call any time, any day.

Somebody calls at 2 oclock in the morning  you get up and go, Welch said.

Duggans roots were historically in the Irish-Catholic community, which made up the bulk of its business. But since the 1960s, its grown to serve virtually all ethnicities and religions.

Three people  Welch, his father and an assistant  worked at Duggans in the 1980s. These days its 13 people, plus independent contractors. Duggans staff speaks Cantonese, Mandarin and Spanish.

More for you Last gasp for S.F.s long tradition of funeral homes

The business has grown exponentially over the last 25 years, Welch said. We can take care of everybody.

The company performs 665 funerals a year, up from 112 in the 1980s, said Welch. That translates to two or more a day  funerals typically arent held on Sundays because churches are busy with regular services. Duggans also operates a crematory in Benicia.

Welch constantly gets offers from housing developers who want to buy his building, but he always says no.

I see the funeral home as the key element of the community, he said. We have a responsibility to keep it going.

Founder William Duggan, Welchs great-grandfather, ran away from home in Ireland at the age of 16. After his U.S. army enlistment ended, Duggan opened the business in 1918 at 1234 Valencia St. in the Mission.

Since 1932, the business has been at 3434 17th St. Its an area filled with century-old buildings and gleaming new apartments; hole-in-the-wall taquerias and pricey new clothing shops. Duggans former Valencia Street location is now a Yoga Tree, which has repurposed the buildings chapel.

Welch has been working at Duggans since the age of 17. Hes 54 now.

Liz Hafalia / The Chronicle

He grew up in the Mission and remembers being surrounded by Central American immigrants.

The difference is now the immigrants come from the Midwest. Theyre American, for the most part, and many work in tech, he said. Its always been changing. Youre not going to stop change.

Funeral homes have grappled with declining revenue because fewer people are tied to one community, so theres less of a connection between families and one funeral business, said Bob Achermann, executive director of the California Funeral Directors Association.

Its a very different society that we live in, Achermann said. Its a much more transient population.

Another struggle: online retailers and Costco offering caskets at a lower price than many funeral homes. Cremation, a cheaper option compared to burial, is becoming more popular.

San Franciscos Valente Marini Perata & Co., Sullivans Funeral Home and Hogan & Sullivan have closed in recent years to make way for housing construction.

Air Quality Tracker Check levels down to the neighborhood Ratings for the Bay Area and California, updated every 10 minutes

But Duggans has held on, and Welch still runs into neighbors whose families have worked with the funeral home. His niece, Megan Doyle, works at Duggans and lives next door and is now a leader in training.

Sheriffs, fire chiefs and politicians alike have passed through Duggans doors. San Francisco Mayor London Breeds family has also been a client, he said.

Welch said the key to his job is empathy, but not too much emotional attachment.

It requires a balance. You have to want to help people, said Welch. You have to be someone to not let it affect you too much.

One of Welchs hardest experiences was working with four families involved in the 2015 Berkeley balcony collapse, in which six Irish exchange students were killed.

It took me a few months to recover, he said.

But Welch doesnt plan to ever retire. His uncle worked until he passed away.

You need to have a funeral director, or youre not really a community, Welch said.

Roland Li is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: roland.li@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @rolandlisf
One of 15 former priests named by the Diocese of San Jose this week as credibly accused child sex abusers is facing new allegations of molesting young girls in Santa Clara County.

The diocese report made public Thursday states that 90-year-old Hernan Toro was convicted of sexual misconduct with a child 35 years ago while in Santa Clara. He went on to spend seven more years working in South Bay and Peninsula churches before being permanently banned from the ministry in 1990, church officials said.

But the report makes no note of the current allegations against Toro, who is now in jail and accused of molesting two girls between 2011 and 2015.

In an email Friday, Diocese of San Jose spokeswoman Liz Sullivan said the church was not aware of the current allegations against Toro. She did not respond to requests for comment about how the diocese conducted its research on the former priests current whereabouts.

The diocese report lists Toros whereabouts as San Leandro, but records show he has been held at the Santa Clara County Jail in San Jose since October 2017. The California Department of Justice sex offender registry lists Toros last known address as San Leandro, but it also notes that he is in violation of Megans Law.

Toro is one of six of the 15 named ex-priests still living, and all of them have been permanently banned from ministry.

The first five charges of molestation against Toro were based on allegations from the first girl, who was between 4 and 6 years old in 2011, according to court records. The sixth charge stemmed from a 2016 allegation from a second girl, who was 11 at the time.

Toro was initially convicted of sexual misconduct with a child in 1983, while he was at Our Lady Star of the Sea Parish in Santa Clara County. He registered as a sex offender that same year but was also allowed to immediately return to the church, the diocese report shows.

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.

He was at St. Athanasius Parish in Mountain View from 1983 to 1984; St. Catherine Parish in Morgan Hill from 1984 to 1986; St. Aloysius Parish in Palo Alto from 1986 to 1988; and in Detention Ministry from 1988 to 1990, the report states.

In a statement Thursday, San Jose Bishop Patrick McGrath said he expressed his deepest apologies for the actions of those who were in positions of authority and who violated that sacred trust by abusing children. The sexual abuse of children and young people is an appalling crime and a sin. When these perpetrators are members of the clergy, there are not only psychological wounds but spiritual wounds.

Abuse survivors and their advocates said McGraths words were inadequate. Many have called for a probe to be conducted by outside authorities, similar to whats happening in Pennsylvania. In August, a Pennsylvania grand jury published a bombshell report on the systemic cover-up of child sex abuse by diocesan leaders in the state and at the Vatican.

Bishop Michael C. Barber, of the Oakland Diocese, said he will also release a list of clergy members credibly accused of sexual abuse in the coming weeks. Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco hasnt committed to such a move, but he said he is considering it.

Megan Cassidy is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: megan.cassidy@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @meganrcassidy
After I read the United Nations new apocalyptic climate change report, I looked to see when my house was going to be underwater.

For this grim task, I set out to model different possibilities with an online sea level rise tool from Cal-Adapt, a public database for research from California scientists and researchers. (Isnt the internet amazing? It provides those of us who believe in climate change with all the tools we need to find out when its going to swallow us whole, and those of us who arent willing to be convinced with all the conspiracy theories we need for political arguments.)

I zoomed in to my street and tried the tools first option, no rise.

My neighborhood remained gray and dry, untouched by the neon blues of inundation.

Comforted, I tried half a meter. Thats about 1.6 feet, which sounded like a lot until I remembered that the California Coastal Commission has told cities to be prepared for more than 10 feet of ocean rise by 2100.

My house wasnt underwater yet, but suddenly I could no longer get downtown. Nearly 10 feet of water had inundated the area just north of Mission Bay. San Francisco had lost an Interstate 280 exit, and its pretty much assured that all of my Muni buses were getting re-routed as well.

I switched to 1 meter (about 3.3 feet).

My house was still OK, but the water was approaching fast.

Many buildings in the surrounding neighborhoods, including Mission Bay and the Dogpatch, were underwater at least some of the time. The Bayview and Hunters Point neighborhoods were receding into marshland. San Franciscos Board of Supervisors just approved the construction of a new community in India Basin this week thats going to be soggy as soon as its built.

At 1.41 meters (4.6 feet), Hunters Point was half as large as it should have been, South Beach was surrounded by water on all sides, and Interstate 280 was swamped heading out of Potrero Hill.

Ten feet of ocean rise by 2100. I imagined myself standing on my roof and waving a white T-shirt for rescue. In fact, I should start practicing right now  according to that new U.N. climate report, the party starts in just 12 years. Given the level of anxiety I feel about all of this, its going to take me at least six years just to loosen up my spine.

Bad joke, I know. And the truth of the matter is that cynical humor  which is quite frankly the most natural human reaction to the news that the world is about to be flooded and theres nothing you personally can do to stop it  is not going to get us out of this mess.

So what kind of attitude will get us out of this?

Ive been thinking about that a lot, partially because Im so terrified by all of the political inaction and partially because Ive noticed so many otherwise indomitable people responding to the news on climate change with a sense of helplessness.

Like cynical humor, helplessness is a natural reaction. But it wont work, and neither will telling other people to give up the benefits of modernity to save the Earth. (Everyone I meet in Berkeley is eager to tell me how climate change will evaporate if we all just stop flying on planes, eating meat and having children, but I have yet to see any of them take their own advice.)

What might work?

Optimism.

Its hard to find optimism anywhere in America in October 2018, but Im finding it in the lawsuit brought by 21 young people against the U.S. government for failing to tackle climate change.

Its scheduled to go to trial on Oct. 29, and while the Justice Department has asked the Supreme Court to block it from happening, something about their action feels ... antediluvian. A lot of that has to do with the fact that the children are unshaken by the size of the fight theyve taken on.

I believe that the momentum is on our side, said one of the plaintiffs, then-17-year-old Nathan Baring, when the kids were presenting their lawsuit before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco in December.

The youngest plaintiff, 11-year-old Levi Draheim of Florida, has said that if he doesnt do this, he may not have a home when hes older.

Its the simplest reason to take on this fight, and its also the most inspiring one. It smacks of can-do spirit, a trait that used to be associated with American values. I think its time we brought it back again.

Why not make fighting climate change our next national challenge, like putting a man on the moon once was? Why not at least believe we can do that, and behave accordingly?

I can tell you this much: Optimistic action sounds like a lot more fun than clicking for your personal flood zone.

Caille Millner is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: cmillner@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @caillemillner
GREENVILLE, S.C.  Kamala Harris came to South Carolina with the stated intent of boosting turnout for the midterm elections, but many voters here wanted to talk to the California senator about her role in the battle over Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaughs confirmation, and her next political moves.

Perhaps thats no surprise for Harriss first trip as a potential presidential candidate to the state that hosts the Souths first presidential primary.

This is an inflection moment in the history of our country, she told Democratic Party volunteers at a phone bank Friday, adding that the November midterms are about fighting for the best of who we are.

At an afternoon rally, Harris bemoaned Republican efforts to dismantle the Affordable Care Act, blasted the GOPs tax overhaul for being tilted to the rich and cited unnamed forces trying to sow hatred and division in American society. But the former prosecutor invoked the language of the legal profession to reject the premise that the U.S. is as divided as it may appear.

We have so much more in common than what divides us ... lets speak that truth, she said to a crowd that would later serenade her with Happy Birthday. Harris turns 54 on Saturday.

Harris is among several potential Democratic presidential contenders who visited the state this week. New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker on Friday finished a two-day swing in South Carolina. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who sought the Democratic nomination in 2016, is scheduled to be in the state Saturday. Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg was here Thursday. Former Vice President Joe Biden campaigned for South Carolina Democrats last weekend.

South Carolina has proven critical in Democratic politics, offering the first opportunity for a would-be president to face a significant number of black voters. The state helped propel both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton to the 2008 and 2016 nominations, respectively.

Harris steered clear of White House campaign talk in her first stops, though shes expected to make a decision about 2020 soon after the Nov. 6 midterms.

Several women thanked Harris for how she handled Christine Blasey Fords allegations of sexual assault against Kavanaugh. Harris said from the outset that she believed Fords accusation that Kavanaugh assaulted her when they were in high school. Kavanaugh vehemently denied the accusation.

Bill Barrow and Meg Kinnard are Associated Press writers.
Families will heal from their losses and communities will be rebuilt. On social media, some expressed concern that places like Mexico Beach and Port St. Joe will never be the same. There is concern that multi-unit condos and high-rise hotels will replace the charming single-family homes that were destroyed.
Stormy Daniels attorney Michael Avenatti, a guy with a keen wit who packs a punch, has hired Democratic strategist Roger Salazar, a master of political messaging who also packs a punch. The new venture for this duo? #FightClub.

Sacramento was atwitter when Avenatti, a potential presidential candidate, tweeted that Salazar was joining to promote his political action committee, which is focused on defeating Donald Trumps Republican cronies and enablers across the nation. Salazar has seen action in some tough political battles  he has represented the Clintons, Al Gore, venture capitalist Tim Draper and Big Soda in its campaigns to defeat tax measures.

But Avenatti has mastered the science of self-promotion  what in the world can Salazar add?

I think Michael Avenattis core beliefs and his principles guide his message, so he doesnt need any help from me on that front, Salazar emailed, adding he will assist with media requests. Its always nice to work with someone who knows exactly what they stand for.

Lois Kazakoff, deputy editorial page editor
Every ghastly new detail we learn about the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi suggests that this was a premeditated murder, carried out at the direction of the highest level of the Saudi dictatorship. The cascading revelations rival the gore of horror films, from the 15 Saudis who flew into Turkey, lying in wait for Khashoggi inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, to the bone-saw-equipped forensics specialist who reportedly dismembered Khashoggis body wearing headphones and recommending that others listen to music as well.

Just weeks before, Khashoggi had publicly pleaded with the de facto ruler of the Saudi regime, Prince Mohammed bin Salman, to curb his propensity for violence. Khashoggis September column for the Washington Post was headlined Saudi Arabias crown prince must restore dignity to his country  by ending Yemens cruel war.

Cruel is, if anything, an understatement. Since 2015, the Saudis have launched an estimated 18,000 air strikes on Yemen, attacking hospitals, schools, water treatment plants, funerals, markets and even farms. The Saudis also imposed a blockade on food, fuel and medicine from freely entering the country in what can only be described as a deliberate effort to starve the civilian population into submission. Buried by the news of Khashoggis slaying was a grim new warning by Lise Grande, the U.N.s humanitarian coordinator for Yemen: The nation could experience the worlds worst famine in 100 years, with 12 million to 13 million innocent civilians at risk of dying from the lack of food within months.

As early as 2015, Foreign Policy magazine reported the Saudi coalitions daily bombing campaign would not be possible without the constant presence of U.S. Air Force tanker planes refueling coalition jets. Yet there was never a debate or vote by the peoples elected congressional representatives, as required by the Constitution, as to whether the U.S. military should participate in the Saudi governments genocidal war.

As the architect of this hideous military strategy, Mohammed bin Salman reacted to Khashoggis criticisms the way he knew best. MbS, as hes known, probably ordered the assassination of Khashoggi and then  just as the Saudi regime did after bombing a school bus filled with Yemeni children last month  issued ever-shifting and contradictory lies, relying on the Trump administrations full backing and clumsy assistance in the cover-up.

MbS campaign of killing Yemenis and Saudis alike must come to an end. Congressional Progressive Caucus co-chair Mark Pocan, D-Wis., and I are leading dozens of our colleagues, including top House Democrats, in demanding answers from the Trump administration about its possible complicity in Khashoggis killing. We also are working to force a vote in Congress to decisively shut down unconstitutional U.S. participation in the Saudi regimes gruesome war in Yemen within weeks.

Partnering with Sen. Bernie Sanders, independent-Vermont, we aim to secure majorities in both chambers of Congress as soon as we return to Washington to direct the president to remove U.S. forces from unauthorized hostilities in Yemen. We are invoking the War Powers Resolution with the aim of passing House Congressional Resolution 138 and Senate Joint Resolution 54. These resolutions have priority over other foreign policy considerations in the chambers, and the votes on them cannot be blocked by Republican leadership. Never before has such a feat been attempted in both houses of Congress at once  but the War Power Resolution allows members of Congress to force votes to end illegal U.S. military participation in this war. When we succeed, the Saudi campaign will inevitably collapse.

If our moral compass is to guide our country after the butchering of Jamal Khashoggi, the incineration of thousands of Yemenis in U.S.-Saudi air strikes, and the quiet deaths of more than 100,000 Yemeni children who succumbed to war-triggered hunger and disease over the past two years, Congress must pass these resolutions.

Americas founders deliberately broke with the unchecked power enjoyed by Europes monarchs by vesting Congress with the sole authority over the question of war and peace.

By forcing long-overdue sunlight and public participation into the now-secret realm of war, these resolutions will help restore our republic and end Americas complicity in such incomprehensibly immense human suffering.

Todays leaders owe it to all those who have sacrificed for a fairer world to bring an end to the worst humanitarian crisis on Earth.

Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Fremont, represents the south bay in the U.S. House of Representatives, where he serves on the Armed Services Committee. He is the vice chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. To comment, submit your letter to the editor at SFChronicle.com/letters.
Gov. Jerry Browns beloved Welsh Corgi mix, Colusa, deserves all the love and attention in the world. But Californias first dog has better access to food, shelter and health care than 134,000 people in California who will be homeless tonight. Thats a quarter of the nations total.

Cities throughout the state (including San Francisco) have repeatedly petitioned the governor to declare the homelessness crisis an emergency in order to increase state money and staff focus on the problem. To date, he has said no.

Like the state of emergency declared by the governor last year on hepatitis, many problems spill across city borders and demand a coordinated approach by state government.

In fact, the hepatitis outbreak, a deadly symptom of poor hygiene and the lack of proper sanitation within many homeless communities, had caused 18 deaths statewide at the time the emergency was declared. But the underlying cause of the hepatitis emergency, homelessness, caused 831 deaths last year in Los Angeles County alone and negatively impacts quality of life in all 58 California counties.

The typhus outbreak in Los Angeles County is traced to disease-ridden fleas in areas with concentrated homeless populations, and the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors actually approved a plan Tuesday for mobile health teams to distribute flea collars in the Skid Row area. Dogs often have flea collars, too.

Why is a symptom an emergency while its cause is not?

An additional 1.7 million low-income Californians face the threat of homelessness, with more than half of their monthly spending devoted to housing costs, and any financial misfortune or missed paycheck placing them at risk.

In April, the State Auditor reported that California is doing a poor job on homelessness and requires state leadership to address the crisis. Its a bad problem thats getting worse every day. Despite some laudable efforts, the conventional legislative process and administrative tools arent working sufficiently, or producing enough tangible results in a timely manner, that we all urgently need.

Permanent supportive housing is the ultimate solution for homelessness, and is more humane and cheaper than the status quo. But it takes many years to plan, construct and staff, and central coordination to make sure its built in feasible locations that are affordable for the workers required to support it. We need temporary shelter first, and we need the governors leadership firster.

Just as a majority of California voters supported the governor in four gubernatorial elections, I am also a proud Jerry Brown voter and admire him for his financial rectitude and often-fresh thinking. I have thought of him as someone who doesnt rest on his laurels and has plenty of fight left in him. But his relative inaction on homelessness, so far and with little time left, is a troubling mystery.

Polished plans now exist to promptly provide temporary housing throughout the state in the event of an earthquake or other calamity. One such plan, the governors Bay Area Earthquake Plan, cites the availability of shelter for 280,000 people in 16 counties.

The governor can use a fraction of such vast designated resources to shelter the homeless right now, while the state and California cities follow through on current and pending plans to build the necessary supportive housing.

No one is better positioned than a popular four-term governor to demonstrate his mastery of the machinery of state government and set an example for the nation. He can:

Declare a state of emergency.

Use emergency executive powers to effect immediate solutions that are not otherwise possible.

Deploy his Office of Emergency Services and activate the State Emergency Plan as required.

Before the governor and first dog Colusa retire to their Colusa County ranch on Jan. 7, he needs to declare homelessness an emergency and use his powers to begin providing temporary shelter.

Its much better for Gov. Brown, and for the states homeless, for him to be remembered as the leader who took bold action prior to leaving office, not the one who left behind this mess.

If the Democratic governor of a deeply blue state wont step up on behalf of societys most vulnerable, its not just the homeless who are in trouble. You are.

Ian McCuaig is a fundraising consultant who has worked with the homeless in San Francisco and British Columbia.
Former Brisbane Mayor Clara Johnson says she sympathizes with the housing advocates whove been coming to City Council meetings over the past few years to lobby for the building of thousands of units of housing in her little town.

She wishes some of them could move to Brisbane, she really does. But not 4,000 of them. And not at the 684-acre former rail yard and landfill known as the Baylands, which she believes is sufficiently contaminated enough that it cant be made safe for human habitation.

All the young people who have been calling us bad names  I wish I had an answer for them, she said. I certainly dont believe that I, or the city of Brisbane, can solve this problem for the whole Bay Area.

Johnsons stand against a major infusion of housing comes as Brisbane, population 4,693, wrestles with Measure JJ, a general plan amendment on the November ballot that would allow 1,800 to 2,200 homes and up to 6.5 million square feet of commercial space to be built on the Baylands, a barren, triangular site on San Franciscos southern border.

But while only Brisbanes 2,686 registered voters will weigh in on Measure JJ, its not just Brisbane residents who are interested. Across the region the future of one of the Bay Areas biggest buildable sites is seen as a litmus test of whether Bay Area towns have the political will to tackle the ongoing housing crisis, even if that means disruption in a town many residents like the way it is.

In conversations at places like Madhouse Coffee on Visitacion Avenue, residents pick apart how the development would impact city finances, environmental safety, public education and open space.

There is a lot of interest and a lot of anxiety on both sides  people in Brisbane tend to resist change, said Nancy Lacsamana, a 34-year resident who heads the Yes on Measure JJ committee. We recognize how big this is and how it could change peoples feeling about the town. Its going to be a lot of one-on-one discussions, just talking to your neighbors. To be perfectly honest, in our town, it could come down to 20 or 30 votes.

Todd Trumbull

The Baylands site is now zoned for commercial use only.

Measure JJ would amend Brisbanes zoning plan to allow housing on about 20 percent of the property at its northern end. The housing would start at the top of Industrial Way and extend to the former Schlage Lock property across the San Francisco border, where the owner of the Baylands property, Universal Paragon Corp., is in the early stages of developing 1,650 units.

Measure JJs proponents argue that the Baylands is one of the best spots for dense housing in the inner Bay Area. While Brisbane may be a small town, they say, the regional housing crisis requires that large sites be developed, particularly ones close to transit and jobs.

The Baylands is home to a little-used Caltrain station, and the northwestern corner is next to the end of San Franciscos T-Third Muni line. The housing units would be steps from the retail, parks and offices also planned for the site and a short train ride to job centers in San Francisco and the Peninsula.

The development is also an opportunity to create large new parks and bike trails, and potentially build a new K-12 school, according to City Councilman Cliff Lentz, a supporter of the measure. Brisbane does not have a high school.

We have an incredible opportunity to create one of the most sustainable developments in the country  a wonderful community on lands that have been abandoned and abused, Lentz said.

But nearly as compelling as the benefits the measure could bring local residents, Lentz said, is what will happen if it does not pass.

Before the Brisbane City Council voted to put Measure JJ on the ballot, state Sen. Jerry Hill, D-San Mateo, had introduced draft legislation that would have taken planning authority for the Baylands away from the city and given it to the state, a move that was also supported by state Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco. Hill withdrew the legislation after Measure JJ was placed on the ballot.

If the zoning were to be left up to the state, the number of housing units built there could end up closer to 4,400, which is what the property owner, Universal Paragon, had originally proposed. Matt Regan, senior vice president of public policy for the Bay Area Council, the regional business-supported economic policy organization, said the state has an obligation to step in if Brisbane residents dont allow residential development on the site.

He said he hopes Brisbane voters take control of their destiny and approve the measure.

Nobody wants a situation where the state is mandating, at a granular level, how cities have to grow, Regan said. But if you have a significant parcel like the Baylands that is so important to the region, and the city chooses not to act, then the state has an obligation to step in.

Lentz said the scaled-down project is the citys best bet to retain planning authority over the Baylands.

I want Brisbane to maintain land use authority, not just for the housing but also in regards to public transportation, open space, recreation and commercial development, he said. Its important that Brisbane is the one that decides land use decisions for the Baylands  not Sacramento.

Amy Osborne / Special to The Chronicle

To opponents, the prospect of the state forcing thousands of new housing units on Brisbane amounts to bullying, said Johnson, the former mayor.

Im not going to support putting homes in places that are unsafe, she said.

Measure JJ requires the land to be cleaned to a level allowing for ground floor contact  a high standard of remediation which, in addition to housing, allows uses like schools, day care centers and parks. The state Department of Toxic Substances Control and the San Francisco Regional Water Quality Control Board would oversee the cleanup of the site, which is permeated by fuel oils, heavy metals and methane gas.

But Michele Salmon, who heads up the No on JJ committee, said housing development should only be considered if the site is cleaned up. And she doesnt think thats possible.

Do I trust it can be cleaned up to a level that is safe for human habitation? No I dont, she said. I dont think we have technology or the ability to deal with that level of contamination. And I dont consider covering it with a bunch of dirt to be remediation. Its a cover-up, not a cleanup

They have not done a thorough examination of the toxins on the property, yet they have the hubris to think they can clean it up to ... the highest standard set by the state, she said.

Salmon also contends the housing is likely to be too expensive for most current Brisbane residents to afford. The plan calls for 15 percent of it to be below market rate.

She favors using the property to generate clean energy  either solar panels or wind turbines. Filling the site with clean energy production would do more to benefit the region environmentally than 2,200 units of housing, she said.

For now the group that has perhaps the most at stake on election day  property owner Universal Paragon  is remaining quiet. The corporation bought the property 13 years ago for $107 million and has spent the last decade trying to build support for the project, mostly without success. Universal Paragon declined to comment on the ballot measure.

Amy Osborne / Special to The Chronicle

Lacsamana said the Yes on JJ committee, which has raised about $2,000, is not accepting help or campaign contributions from the developer or other pro-development groups such as trade unions.

It needs to be a local issue decided by the local community, Lacsamana said.

The No on JJ has raised about $3,000, according to Anja Miller, a longtime Brisbane resident who opposes the plan. She says its a door-to-door campaign.

The people on both sides of this issue have the same love of Brisbane, Miller said. We respect each other and understand why we have these differences of opinion. There is a lot of community spirit behind both yes and no in this debate.

J.K. Dineen is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jdineen@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @sfjkdineen
President Trump dived headfirst into one of Californias most contentious fights Friday, signing a memorandum intended to divert more water to farmers and reduce regulatory burdens that include protections for endangered species and environmental laws.

Senior officials in the Trump administration said the memo allows for speedy environmental reviews of major water projects in the West, including the federally operated Central Valley Project, and will cut federal regulations that get in the way. Trump called for strict timelines to ensure more water makes it to farmers.

Trumps memo directs his interior and commerce secretaries to streamline regulatory processes and remove unnecessary burdens and develop a timeline for completing compliance requirements for major water projects.

This will move things along at a record clip, Trump said after signing the memo in Arizona alongside California GOP Reps. Kevin McCarthy, the House majority leader, and Devin Nunes, David Valadao, Jeff Denham and Tom McClintock. All represent Central Valley districts with substantial agricultural interests.

And youll have a lot of water. I hope youll enjoy the water youll have, Trump said.

Trump signed the memo less than three weeks before midterm elections in which several California Republicans are locked in competitive races, including Denham of Turlock (Stanislaus County), Valadao of Hanford (Kings County) and Nunes of Tulare. After signing the memo, Trump handed his pen to Nunes, the House Intelligence Committee chairman and one of the presidents most loyal defenders in Congress.

Trump and California Republicans have pledged to fight what they call burdensome regulations to increase water supplies for Central Valley farmers. In August, as wildfires were raging across the state, the president tweeted that Gov. Jerry Brown should allow the Free Flow of the vast amounts of water coming from the North and foolishly being diverted into the Pacific Ocean. Can be used for fires, farming and everything else.

The timing of Fridays announcement was not lost on Doug Parker, director of the California Institute for Water Resources, a University of California research organization.

This has a lot to do with the upcoming elections and helping their base, Parker said. Its a feel-good move.

However, he said, its unlikely to accomplish much.

Major changes to move water for agriculture will be caught up in courts, so this wont likely lead to any action, Parker said.

The Brown administration took a tepid tone toward Trumps plan, saying there must be a balance between the needs of the environment and farmers.

California is advancing the policies needed to improve water supply reliability and protect ecosystems, said Lisa Lien-Mager, spokeswoman for the California Natural Resources Agency. We can and must do both, without sacrificing one for the other. We hope we can continue working with the federal government to achieve these shared goals.

In a statement, California House Republicans said Trumps action would bring immense relief for the farmers and families of the San Joaquin Valley and communities across California.

Gubernatorial candidate John Cox also latched onto the announcement, calling it good for Californians, our farmers and farm workers.

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.

Deputy Interior Secretary David Bernhardt called the directive the most significant action a president has taken on water in his lifetime. He said the memo would reduce the time devoted to planning and environmental reviews of water projects.

Bernhardt is a former partner at a lobbying firm that represented the Westlands Water District in the western San Joaquin Valley, which has long sought increased water deliveries for its largely agricultural customers.

The Trump administration has for months expressed an interest in getting involved in Californias long-standing water wars. In August, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke issued a memo calling for more water from the Central Valley Project to go to agriculture and water contractors by streamlining the Endangered Species Act.

Environmental groups said that diversion would hurt imperiled salmon and other fish in the San Joaquin, Sacramento and Klamath river watersheds.

Peter Gleick, a noted water expert and co-founder of the nonprofit Pacific Institute, said any attempt by the administration to weaken environmental regulations and protection for endangered species would almost certainly be challenged in court.

What they call regulatory burdens, most people call environmental protections, Gleick said. When they talk about speeding up environmental reviews, what they mean is silencing the voices of people who want to participate in decisions about critical water projects.

Melody Gutierrez is The San Francisco Chronicles Sacramento bureau chief. Email: mgutierrez@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @MelodyGutierrez
You need not look farther than your own backyard for some great Halloween costume ideas.

San Francisco, its classic landmarks and colorful people provide endless inspiration and fodder for figuring out what to wear trick-or-treating or out to costume parties.
After repairs are made to the water line, a period to check the pressure and test the water has to happen before residents are allowed back into their apartments, which could take two to four days, Motley said.
More than 1,000 hotel union workers and supporters marched through San Francisco on Saturday morning, stopping to chant at four of seven hotels in the city where workers have been on strike for roughly two weeks to demand higher wages and more job security.

Workers from the W, St. Regis, the Palace and Marriott Marquis hotels squeezed into the plaza on Yerba Buena Lane between Third and Fourth streets on Market Street for a rally before taking to the streets.

The march was part of solidarity demonstrations that were scheduled in Oakland, San Jose and other cities nationwide Saturday, according to officials with the Bay Area hotel workers union, Unite Here Local 2.

When you pick a fight with the hotel workers in this city, you pick a fight with the whole city, said Anand Singh, the unions president. We are going to win this fight the way we win every fight  with the solidarity and the resolve of working people.

More than 20 San Francisco police officers escorted the marchers through the streets, helping navigate traffic as strikers weaved through the city. Drummers and musicians with trombones, tubas and saxophones played tunes for strikers chanting All day, all night and We got the power, union power.

Rafael Linares, 59, has been on the picket line outside the St. Regis. On Saturday, he was there again, just steps away from where hes worked as a food server for the past 14 years.

We just want basic things  to be able to pay our rent and pay for our food, not to get rich, Linares said. We provide services that make these hotels five-star hotels, so were fighting for better conditions and pay.

San Francisco Supervisor Rafael Mandelman joined the demonstration, calling it one of the Bay Areas most important workers movements.

The people who make the beds in the hotels, the cooks  these are people who we absolutely should be standing with in this global economic environment, Mandelman said.

The demonstration contrasted with the Oct. 12 gathering outside the Marriott Marquis, where 41 adults were arrested for blocking streets and refusing to cooperate with police orders to stay on the sidewalk.

Lauren Hernandez is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: lauren.hernandez@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @LaurenPorFavor
A Burning Man camp's massive art piece made from a Boeing 747 is now a tourist attraction in Nevada's remote Black Rock Desert, and the Bureau of Land Management says 20 private planes landed in the area Thursday to visit the oddity.

In recent weeks, many other cars and planes have journeyed to the out-of-the-way spot in the northwest corner of the state, though the BLM doesn't have an exact number.

"Who knew this would become such a thing," says Fernando Pitones, a spokesperson for the BLM's Winnemucca office. "It's like, "Yeah, let's just fly to the desert?'"

While the plane was moved to private land after the festival, it's now 10 miles from the Burning Man location and steps from the Black Rock Conservation Area and what's known as the "playa," an ancient lakebed that's basically a bowl of 10,000-foot-thick compact ceramic dust.

ALSO, Police report from Burning Man: 44 arrests, 1 death, armed car jacking and plane crash

Landing a plane on the playa and driving on designated routes is allowed, but the BLM says the route the visitors have created across dune fields to access the plane is unauthorized and violates the Congressional Act that banned the creation of new roads and routes when conservation area was created. The vehicle activity is leaving tire tracks across the fragile landscape.

"The more you drive around on it, the more irregular the surface becomes," says Rudy Evenson, a spokesperson for the BLM. "The untouched natural condition of the landscape is one of the features of the National Conservation Area. That's one of the things people visit the Playa to see and experience. Now you have this vast untouched swath of land and if it's all marked up with tire marks it."

The plane first drew attention after this year's Burning Man when the owners, a nonprofit called Big Imagination, faced logistical problems in moving it off the Playa, breaking one of the annual festival's most important rules, "leave no trace."

MORE, Burning Man without drugs: 'The type of fun you have sober is on a different level'

Ken Feldman, co-founder and CEO of Big Imagination, said the original plan was to move the plane to a piece of private property near the Playa, but the landowner backed out at the last minute.

Feldman and his team scrambled to resolve the situation and secured a new location, moving the plane on Oct. 1. The plane had sunk into the ground, says Fernando, and a crew dug into the playa to move it. The BLM visited the Playa on Thursday to assess damage to the landscape and Fernando says they're waiting on a final report.

SFGATE reached out to Big Imagination for comment and will update the story if we hear back.
SEATTLE  Before he died Monday, billionaire Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen invested large sums in technology ventures, research projects and philanthropy, some of it eclectic and highly speculative. What happens to those commitments now?

Outside of bland assurances from his investment company, no one seems quite sure.

Allen died from complications of non-Hodgkins lymphoma, according to his company Vulcan Inc. He was 65. He never married and had no children, and details of his estate arent known.

Forbes recently estimated Allens net worth at $20.3 billion. He used much of the money he made from Microsoft for a second act as a sports-team owner, prolific investor and philanthropist after leaving the tech giant in 1983, when he resigned after being diagnosed with Hodgkins disease.

Allens technology interests ran a wide gamut, from space travel and new energy sources to more conventional ventures such as Uber, Spotify and smaller companies focused on financial technology and artificial intelligence. Allen previously invested more than $20 million in SpaceShipOne, the first privately financed and manned rocket to reach the edge of space (though not Earth orbit). It accomplished that feat in 2004.

One of Allens more esoteric ventures is Stratolaunch, which is building an enormous twin-fuselage jet aircraft designed to launch satellites from high altitudes. The vehicle has yet to make its first flight, although the company hosted Vice President Mike Pence at its Mojave hangar during a 2017 visit.

But Stratolaunch isnt commenting on its post-Allen future. A representative said simply, Now is the time to focus on Pauls life and allow his family and friends to grieve.

Vulcan likewise declined comment beyond this reassurance offered in a statement: Paul thoughtfully addressed how the many institutions he founded and supported would continue after he was no longer able to lead them. Company representatives declined to discuss specifics given his recent passing but said there are no imminent changes planned for the number of institutions and programs that Allen led and funded.

In the world of big-ticket philanthropy, meanwhile, its rare for a foundation to have no obvious next-generation heirs, said Amir Pasic, dean of the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy at Indiana University.

Clearly, there wasnt a preprogrammed plan to institute on day one after his passing, Pasic said.

Allen was tied to many high-profile endeavors, including commercial real estate work redeveloping Seattles South Lake Union neighborhood for Amazon.coms urban campus, ownership of the NFLs Seattle Seahawks and the NBAs Portland Trail Blazers, and even funding underwater expeditions that made important shipwreck discoveries.

Around town, his legacy is etched on a portfolio of research institutes, museums, school buildings, endowments and programs. Allen over his lifetime had given more than $2 billion to efforts aimed at improving education, science, technology, conservation and communities. He tackled climate change, advanced brain research and supported his native Seattle through funding for homelessness services and cultural institutions.

Allen was a strong backer of Bill Gates and Warren Buffetts Giving Pledge to donate the majority of their wealth to charity, said Jon Lazarus, a friend of Allens for more than three decades who collaborated with him on a number of technology projects.

Allens tactical investments in brain science and artificial intelligence research, where he provided guidance as well as money, were particularly notable, Lazarus said. Allen specified that the results of the brain research, for example, should remain publicly available.

Allens sister, Jody Allen, co-founded their 30-year-old Paul G. Allen Family Foundation. Shes listed as its director and president on the private nonprofit foundations latest IRS tax filing from the 2016 fiscal year, which indicates it held net assets worth $756 million, much of it from investments.

Sally Ho and Frank Bajak are Associated Press writers.
Lincoln Cushing lives in Berkeley and works in Oakland as the archivist and historian for a major national health care provider. His passion is documenting 20th century social justice posters, but he also enjoys his family, the High Sierra and fixing machines. This story honors the spirit of Lincolns older brother Jeff, an automotive journalist who helped him buy his first motorcycle in 1972 and taught him how to ride.

I love driving and I love cars. Ive owned some sweet machines in my day, including a 1953 Mercedes-Benz 220S, a 1968 Volvo P1800 and a 1948 Willys CJ2A Jeep.

But nothing beats the regular joy I get from riding a motorcycle. In high school during the late 1960s, the coolest kids rode used British bikes. Ariel, Matchless, Triumph  these brutish, temperamental monsters would tear your leg off if you kick-started them the wrong way. God, how I wanted one. But my parents wisely said no.

When I moved to California for college, I promptly bought a 1956 Zundapp dirt bike and have been two-wheeling ever since. After years of riding Japanese bikes (not to mention a dreadful 1968 Harley Sprint), I bought a new Triumph in 2006. I finally had my British bike.

My first Triumph was a modern retro bike, appealing to baby boomers who loved the old styling but also wanted solid electrical systems and crankcases that didnt cover your floor with oil.

CHECK CAR PRICES:

When the ailing Triumph Motorcycles re-launched in 1983, they produced the completely redesigned Bonneville 800, which debuted in September 2001.

My all-black 2006 model was the last year that had carburetors and chromed tank badges, and I loved it. After it was stolen five years later, I considered an old BMW airhead, but they were just too expensive.

On my way to the Triumph dealership, a serendipitous phone call connected me with Greg Walker, a lawyer who had recently decided to sell his Bonnie with 19,000 miles on it. He had bought it new and had only ridden it on weekends with (I cant make this up) a buddy group called The Presidents. Was I interested?

Attention Bay Area drivers We are looking for My Ride submissions. We want to know what you drive and why. Send story ideas to cars@sfchronicle.com with the subject line My Ride. See More Collapse

Fifteen minutes later Greg opened his garage door and showed me his 2001 Triumph Bonneville with a two-tone painted gas tank. Motorcycles are easy to customize, and Greg had spared no expense.

His had double-wall Swedish exhaust, bar-end mirrors, silver Thruxton fenders to match the tank, upgraded speedometer/tachometer cluster, small turn signals and chrome replacement covers everywhere.

Those werent modifications that I would have made, but I respected them and didnt change a thing.

I added a center stand (essential if you do your own maintenance), rubber gaiters for the front forks (to enhance the retro look), a primary gear with more teeth, and an air horn because you cant be subtle when you need someones attention on a bike. I also installed a helmet lock cable and a custom disk brake lock bracket.

This bike gets many positive comments and often gets confused for a vintage Triumph. The exhaust pipes are loud  sometimes too loud, as in setting-off-car-alarms-as-I-go-by loud.

But then one day at a stop light in Berkeley an elderly woman in a Prius rolled down her window and looked at me. I expected her to chastise me, but instead she said, Nice pipes! Great sound! Are they aftermarket?

The fact that I could have that conversation is one of the many reasons I like a bike for my daily commute. With my flip-face helmet open at low speeds, I can talk to strangers, smell the guy two cars ahead vaping his medicine and feel sunshine on my face.

Its a much more engaged way to roll down a road. Plus, I can park almost anywhere for free. In a perfect world, Id have a sixth gear, but beyond that Im happy with my sweet British twin.
In route news this week, United unveils more changes to its domestic network, including new California routes; Aeromexico backs off a San Jose market; Delta plans a new transatlantic flight from Boston and a new California route, but drops some domestic service; British Airways will add a new U.S. gateway for 2019; Southwest grows at New Orleans; and Iceland's WOW will end flights to three Midwestern cities.

United Airlines has announced plans to add a new route from San Francisco next year along with three new routes from Los Angeles. On June 6, the airline will begin new daily A319 non-stops from SFO to Columbus, Ohio, and on March 31 it will begin daily service from LAX to Eugene, Oregon; Madison, Wisconsin; and Pasco/Tri-Cities, Washington, all operated by SkyWest with E175s.

Elsewhere, United said it will add seasonal service to South Carolina's Hilton Head coastal resort area from three hubs, with twice-daily flights from Washington Dulles beginning March 31 and weekend service from Chicago O'Hare and Newark starting April 6. All three routes will continue through September 8. On February 14, United will also begin new service from Dulles to Asheville, North Carolina, replacing its existing Newark-Asheville route; and on June 6, it will add seasonal daily flights from Newark to Pensacola, Florida.

At Denver, United will begin daily service on June 6 to Arcata/Eureka, California and to Charleston, South Carolina. However, the 2019 network changes at United also include the end of some routes. United will drop Los Angeles-Albuquerque flights on January 6, as well as LAX-Dallas/Ft. Worth service on March 30. Other routes getting the axe include Dulles-Charleston, West Virginia and Dulles-Philadelphia as of January 6. On the international side, United will eliminate its 2019 seasonal service from Newark to Hamburg, Germany, that was due to start April 29.

As part of its ongoing shift of routes from Newark to Dulles, United will move EWR-Elmira, New York to Dulles-Elmira on March 31; EWR-Lexington, Kentucky to Dulles-Lexington on February 14; and EWR-Manchester, New Hampshire to Dulles-Manchester on March 31. The shift of regional routes away from Newark to Dulles frees up slots at EWR that United will use to add more frequencies from Newark to Detroit, Kansas City, Omaha, Richmond and St. Louis beginning March 31.

Mineta San Jose continues to shed international routes. Last month, Air China suspended SJC-Shanghai service, and at the end of October, Lufthansa will drop its SJC-Frankfurt flights. And now it looks like Aeromexico is pulling an SJC route. Although the effective date hasn't yet been announced, FlightGlobal reports that the Mexican carrier will end San Jose-Guadalajara service in 2019, part of a transborder pullback that will also include the end of Aeromexico flights to Mexico City from Boston, Portland and Washington Dulles, and from Las Vegas to Monterrey.

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Delta, which last week kicked off new service six days a week between New York JFK and Orange County, California's John Wayne Airport, is now planning another new route to southern California. On April 22, Delta said, it will begin daily 737-900ER flights between Ontario, California and its Atlanta hub, adding a second daily roundtrip on June 9.

But Delta is also making some domestic network cutbacks in the weeks ahead. A few weeks ago, Delta dropped Los Angeles-Oakland service, and during the last week of November it will also end service from Cincinnati to Milwaukee and Nashville; from Detroit to Akron, Ohio and Peoria, Illinois; from Minneapolis-St. Paul to Bloomington, Indiana and Flint, Michigan; and from New York JFK to Bangor, Maine, followed on January 2 by the end of Minneapolis-St. Paul flights to West Palm Beach, Florida.

On the international side, Delta said that in addition to the new Boston-Lisbon service it announced last week, it will begin daily Boston-Edinburgh service on May 23, using a 168-seat 757. It will also increase capacity on its Boston-Dublin route by switching from a 757 to a larger 767-300ER.

Charleston Convention & Visitors Bureau

Another new transatlantic route in 2019 is coming from British Airways, which said it will begin service on April 4 between London Heathrow and Charleston, South Carolina  the only non-stop service in the market. BA will use a 787-8 to fly the route twice a week.

Iceland's low-cost WOW Air, on the other hand, is cutting back U.S. service to its Reykjavik hub. The carrier will suspend service to St. Louis on January 7 and has reportedly decided not to resume seasonal flights next summer to Cleveland and Cincinnati. This year's seasonal service on both those routes ends later this month. It's also switching to seasonal service at SFO.

Southwest Airlines, which suspended San Jose-New Orleans service in August, plans to resume flying the route on April 14, using a 737-700 to operate Sunday-only service. On November 4 of this year, Southwest will add a new daily flight between New Orleans and New York LaGuardia.

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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.
Creig. Creeg. Greg. Gary.

These are just some of the names I have gotten on my Starbucks cups over my years of paying more money than I probably should for caffeine.

Starbucks shops are by and large loud and busy places, with machines going off non-stop, doors opening and closing, team members hard at work like submarine crews in the Atlantic Ocean during World War II.

HOT BEAN WATER: Here's where to celebrate International Coffee Day in Houston

It's a fun game for Starbucks devotees to show off the misspelled names on their life-giving soy latte or pumpkin spice whatever. According to current and former employees, they're in on the joke.

Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

Former employee Lex Entwistle spent three years in management at Starbucks working at shops on Houston's southwest side. He said that the name all depends on the barista and their connection to the customer.

"If I know the person, I might spell their name horribly wrong on purpose to mess with them or even give them a nickname, Entwistle told Chron.com. "We once had a customer we called "douchebag" and he loved it."

BIG SPENDERS: How to spend $1 million in Houston in one day on just experiences

And yes, things are rushed and loud and the hectic nature of a coffeehouse during its busiest hours means that your name sometimes comes second to getting a cup of coffee in your hand fast.

"I think other times the barista might just be in a rush and do their best to keep the flow going in a rush," Entwistle said. "And of course there is always just mishearing the person or not having a clue how to spell a certain name."

With a wink Entwistle said that baristas like throwing us for a loop too.

"There is definitely a small joy in messing up a basic name sometimes. Joe might become Jo or Bob might become Bobb or Bobbert," he said.

LOCAL LEGENDS: Houston's most famous signs, marquees and billboards

Sometimes lagging or defective touchscreens leave random letters in names and that leads to some entertaining mistakes. Imagine trying to take someone's name down correctly next to a busy Houston street or highway.

A Starbucks media representative told Chron.com this week that the tradition of writing names on cups began at the company's founding as a way of fostering a community within each store.

"Writing names on cups is a fun tradition born out of the relationship and interaction between our partners and customers," the representative said via email. "Our partners aim to do their best when it comes to spelling the names of our customers, though at times it can be tricky. "

Over time and with familiarity the names begin to suss themselves out. There have some reports of customers being offended by the names on their cups too, which usually leads to someone facing disciplinary action. Don't be that guy, or girl.

"Our partners pride themselves on the genuine connection they have with the customers who visit their stores. It's part of what the green apron represents," the rep added.

CULT HITS: Where we like to eat, drink and be seen in the Bayou City

Customers, meanwhile, like to have fun too.

"I always give the most ridiculous fake names I can think of at Starbucks," Starbucks customer Marsha Roberts said this week. "Spanky McBanks, Corn, Alyoisius Gerbil. I also use Liza Lott, Hester Pringles, Dorcus, Candida. really just anything that pops in my head at the moment and I want to watch them have to shout out to a crowd."

There could also some interoffice play at hand too, according to Entwistle.

"The barista taking the order just wants the person handing out drinks to look like an idiot when they call out the name," Entwistle said. "I'd definitely do that to some of my baristas."

Which likely leads to your reporter here walking out with a fresh, grande cold brew meant for Creeg.

Craig Hlavaty covers Houston history and pop-culture. Read him on our breaking news site, Chron.com, and on our subscriber site, HoustonChronicle.com. | craig.hlavaty@chron.com | Text CHRON to 77453 to receive breaking news alerts by text message
PANAMA CITY, Fla.  Already sick with strep throat and asthma, Aleeah Racette got sicker when she cleaned out a soggy, moldy home after Hurricane Michael, so she sought help at the hospital where she began life. She was stunned by what she saw there.

The exterior wall of Bay Medical Sacred Heart in Panama City is missing from part of the building, and huge vent tubes attached to fans blow air into upper floors through holes where windows used to be. Plywood signs with green spray-painted letters point to the entrance of the emergency room, the only part of the 323-bed hospital still operating.

Ive never seen anything like this before, Racette, 20, said in a croaky voice. I was born in this hospital.

Medical services in the Florida Panhandle are still on life support more than a week after Hurricane Michael.

Panama Citys two major hospitals, Bay Medical and the 216-bed Gulf Coast Regional Medical Center, still arent admitting patients. Only emergency room services are available at either facility. Patients with the most serious needs are being sent to other hospitals by ambulance or helicopter.

Both hospitals are receiving help from Disaster Medical Assistance Teams, which set up air-conditioned tents in parking lots and operate something like the military field hospitals depicted in the old television series MASH. Besides the care theyd provide on a typical basis, like treating Racettes strep throat, doctors and nurses also are treating many people with storm-related injuries and health conditions.

Were seeing cuts, were seeing bruises and fractures, said Martha Crombie, a spokeswoman for Bay Medical Sacred Heart who was flown in from Nashville to help with hospital communications.

Back injuries are common, she said, as are people who have chronic illnesses and are out of medication. The hospital is filling prescriptions and providing a list of open pharmacies.

Crombie said Bay Medical Sacred Heart and its other facility in Panama City Beach have treated an average of 200 people a day  a number she expects to rise when a county curfew is lifted. She said fewer patients arrive after the nightly curfew takes effect, which does have an exemption for people with medical emergencies.

Gulf Coast Regional Medical Center spokesman Brad Palmer said the facility had treated 560 emergency room patients in the week since the storm.

Conditions are improving, but its unclear when area hospitals might resume normal operations. Cleanup crews swarmed Bay Medical Sacred Heart on Thursday, the same day it regained power. The water also is back on, even though its not yet safe to drink.

Were bagging water fountains right now. Its not ready yet, but its coming. Crombie said.

Brendan Farrington and Jay Reeves are Associated Press writers.
Some communities are perfectly comfortable with having their teachers and school staff trained and armed to protect the people in their buildings. Other communities are adamantly opposed to the idea. Thats OK. The districts in our state should be allowed to determine whats best for them, Mercer County District 404 wrote in its rationale statement.
So the idea behind that is if you have a permit, but your neighbors on the wait list, they should car pool with you, Louden said. But if the main permit holder is, for example, traveling for a week, they should be able to let the neighbor use the permit they rely on for the carpool.
SAN FRANCISCO (BCN)



A man charged with murder for allegedly stabbing his 82-year-old grandmother and then severing her head last month in San Francisco was arraigned this afternoon at a hospital, his attorney said.



Andrew Luke, 30, has been at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital since the Sept. 26 slaying, in which he's accused of killing his grandmother Chii-Chyu Horng at an apartment they shared in the South of Market neighborhood.



According to prosecutors, Luke was hearing voices when the stabbing occurred and believed that Horng was "possessed by a demon."



Luke's attorney, Deputy Public Defender Mark Jacobs, said today that Luke suffers from bipolar disorder.



"He is currently being medicated in the hospital. He was in a psychotic state when this incident occurred," Jacobs said. "He is heartbroken and misses his grandmother."



During his arraignment at the hospital this afternoon, Luke pleaded not guilty to the murder and elder abuse charges. But, Jacobs said, Luke will be entering a not guilty by reason of insanity plea in the near future.



According to court documents, Luke had been hospitalized just two days before the alleged murder for head injuries he suffered when he banged his head against a wall in order to "get the demon out of him."



His delusions continued the following night and into the early morning of Sept. 26.



When he began banging his head against the bathroom floor at the apartment in the 800 block of Howard Street, Horng, went to check on him. Believing she was possessed, Luke allegedly grabbed her and dragged her to the apartment's kitchen, where he stabbed her with two knives and beat her head with a rolling pin.



He then used a knife to cut her head off, court documents said. Afterward, around 12:25 a.m., Luke called police.



He told investigators that Jesus told him to get rid of the demon that he believed was possessing Horng. He also told investigators that Horng was "the person he loves the most," according to court documents.



Luke remains in custody while he's being hospitalized and is being held without bail. His next court date is scheduled for Nov. 27.





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SAN FRANCISCO (BCN)



A group of Honduran nationals and their supporters rallied outside San Francisco's Guatemalan Consulate this afternoon to decry what they say are injustices being committed against immigrants traveling through there on their way to the U.S.



"It's time the Guatemalan government stand up for its Honduran brothers and sisters," said Alex Mensing with the San Francisco-based organization Pueblo Sin Fronteras, a group that advocates for migrants' human rights. "The people who are currently fleeing Honduras are being forcibly displaced from their country ... and that is a direct result of the corrupt Honduran government and U.S. intervention and support for that corrupt government."



According to the rally's organizers, Guatemalan authorities are criminalizing the migrants by detaining, harassing and deporting them.



The organizers are calling on the Guatamalan government to respect the free movement of the migrants through Central America and to respond to what they call a humanitarian crisis with aid, not increased security.



The caravan, known as the Caminata del Migrante, left Honduras last week and is trying to pass through Guatemala and Mexico to head to the U.S. It's reportedly made up of about 3,000 Hondurans who are fleeing political upheaval, organized crime and violence.



Veronica Aguilar, an immigrant from El Salvador said at today's rally that she arrived in the U.S. via a different caravan last year.



"I'm here today to tell Hondurans that we are with them. The people in the caravan are not delinquents, criminals nor murderers. We're people who are fighting to survive because we want a better life, a better future for our families. We want to walk down the streets with our children without fear of being murdered at any moment."



Aguilar said when she first arrived to the U.S., she was detained for seven months and treated worse than she had ever experienced.



Miriam Lopez, a Honduran national, said she arrived from her country to San Francisco last year while eight months pregnant, after being detained in Mexico for 16 days. Lopez said she and her siblings had to leave Honduras because people there live under constant fear of being robbed or killed.



"It's really bad there. And the president says that everything is fine. It's not," she said.



Lopez said she knows a Honduran family that is currently traveling with the caravan through Guatemala.



"They (Guatemalan authorities) are requiring families to bring passports for their children. To get a passport is not very easy," she said, explaining that to apply for a passport can be costly and can take months to obtain.



According to Mensing, some migrants with the caravan have begun crossing the Guatemalan border with Mexico and are being met with teargas from Mexican authorities.



Today, Felipe Gonzalez Morales, the United Nation's special rapporteur on the human rights of migrants, said that governments in countries where the migrants are passing through should respect their human rights and allow the migrants to pass, instead of criminalizing them and deporting them.



He said that increasing rhetoric against migrants is resulting in xenophobic discourse, while "the detention of migrants is taking place on a massive scale."





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OAKLAND (BCN)



An Alameda man who allegedly was seeking revenge for the fatal shooting of his son four months earlier was sentenced today to 22 years in state prison for a shooting near San Pablo Park in Berkeley in August 2015.



Jamell Tousant, 41, was convicted on March 9 of four counts of assault with a deadly weapon and seven other felony charges for the shooting in the 2800 block of Mabel Street, near Oregon Street, at about 6:40 p.m. on Aug. 15, 2015.



Alameda County prosecutor Nick Homer admitted in his closing argument in Tousant's trial that there weren't any eyewitnesses who testified that Tousant was one of the two shooters in the slaying.



But Homer said a mountain of circumstantial evidence, such as records from his two cellphones, bullets found at his home in Alameda and a photo that Tousant posted on his Facebook page of him posing with an assault rifle with a high-capacity drum style magazine, connects Tousant to the shooting.



Homer said he believes that the motive for the Berkeley shooting was that Tousant was seeking revenge for the fatal shooting of his 21-year-old son, who was also named Jamell Tousant, in the 1400 block of 90th Avenue in Oakland at about 6:15 p.m. on April 25, 2015.



The prosecutor said Tousant believed that the people who killed his son belonged to the Berkeley-based Five Fingers Gang, had done research on the gang on his cellphone and thought that the four people who were shot at belonged to the gang and were involved in his son's death.



One of those four men was hit in his leg with a bullet and had to be treated at a hospital but none of the four victims cooperated with police, Homer said.



The second shooter has never been arrested or charged, according to Homer.



Defense attorney Ernie Castillo admitted that a car that belonged to Tousant was involved in the shooting but told jurors Tousant should be found not guilty because the prosecution couldn't prove that Tousant was in the car at the time of the shooting and was one of the shooters.



Authorities said no one has been arrested and charged in connection with the shooting death of Tousant's son.



In addition to four counts of assault with a deadly weapon, Tousant was convicted of two counts of shooting at an inhabited dwelling, shooting at an unoccupied vehicle, carrying a loaded firearm in a vehicle, carrying a loaded firearm in a city and two counts of possession of a firearm by a felon.



However, jurors didn't find that Tousant personally fired a weapon in the Berkeley shooting, which was a victory for Tousant because such a finding would have meant he could have been sentenced to life in prison.



In sentencing Tousant, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Kevin Murphy said the shooting "endangered a number of people in the neighborhood" because bullets flew into houses and cars.



Murphy said, "It's a matter of luck that any of a number of people weren't killed, including the four people who were targeted and people who were in houses and cars."









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DUBLIN (BCN)



A Livermore man was sentenced today to 30 years to life for killing a mother and her baby in a drunk-driving crash in Livermore in 2015.



Brian Jones, 39, was convicted last Nov. 13 of two counts of second-degree murder for causing the deaths of 46-year-old Esperanza Morales-Rodriguez of Seaside and her 14-month-old daughter, Ulidia Perez-Morales, on May 2, 2015.



Prosecutors and police said Jones lost control of his car while driving under the influence of alcohol and killed Morales-Rodriguez and her daughter when he crashed into an apartment complex in the 900 block of Murrieta Boulevard just before 6:50 p.m. that day.



Police said debris from the crash also struck two boys ages 6 and 7, who were taken to a hospital for treatment.



In addition to the two murder counts, Jones was convicted of felony driving while intoxicated for injuring the 7-year-old boy.



Livermore police said Jones had attended the Livermore Wine Country Festival before the collision and Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O'Malley said his blood-alcohol content was 0.14 percent, well above the legal limit for drinking and driving.



O'Malley said Jones was under the influence of alcohol as he drove his car at speeds ranging from 75 mph to 99 mph through residential streets in Livermore.



Jones' lawyer Ernie Castillo asked that Jones be allowed to serve his two second-degree convictions concurrently for a total of only 15 years to life but Alameda County Superior Court Judge Paul Delucchi ruled that Jones should serve them consecutively for a total of 30 years to life.



Castillo said after the sentencing that Delucchi acknowledged that Jones genuinely is remorseful for what he did and that a parole board should take that under consideration when he's eligible for parole.



Castillo said Jones has an appellate lawyer lined up to seek a new trial based on the defense's contention that there was juror misconduct during his trial late last year.



Delucchi ruled before Jones' trial began that the prosecution couldn't tell jurors that Jones has a prior conviction for driving while intoxicated in Sacramento County in 2003 because that information would be prejudicial.



But Castillo said that when a female juror told other jurors during deliberations that she would vote to convict Jones of gross vehicular manslaughter instead of second-degree murder, another female juror, in an attempt to get her to change her mind, told her in front of the entire panel about Jones' prior conviction.



Castillo said Delucchi dismissed the juror who disclosed Jones' prior conviction but he also dismissed the juror who had reported that juror's comments.



Castillo said he believes "jurors used external information to deliberate, which is a violation of fundamental principles of constitutional law and the right to a fair trial."



In his closing argument in the case, Castillo admitted that what Jones did was irresponsible but said he should only be convicted of the lesser charge of gross vehicular manslaughter because he believes Jones didn't intend to kill anyone.





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A man went missing this afternoon from Menlo Park and police are asking for help finding him, police said.



Mike Andrews, 38, was last seen at about 1:15 p.m. in the area of Middle Avenue and University Drive.



The person who reported Andrews missing said he is unable to care for himself and may be homeless.



Andrews has lived in San Francisco in the past and may be trying to get back to San Francisco by bus or train.



Andrews is described as 6 feet 2 inches tall, 218 pounds with black hair and a full beard. He was last seen wearing a dark brown knit cap, light blue shirt, black jacket and dark blue slacks.





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A man charged with murder for allegedly stabbing his 82-year-old grandmother and then severing her head last month in San Francisco has been arraigned at a hospital, his attorney said.



Andrew Luke was arraigned Friday.



Luke, 30, has been at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital since the Sept. 26 slaying, in which he's accused of killing his grandmother Chii-Chyu Horng at an apartment they shared in the South of Market neighborhood.



According to prosecutors, Luke was hearing voices when the stabbing occurred and believed that Horng was "possessed by a demon."



Luke's attorney, Deputy Public Defender Mark Jacobs, said Friday that Luke suffers from bipolar disorder.



"He is currently being medicated in the hospital. He was in a psychotic state when this incident occurred," Jacobs said. "He is heartbroken and misses his grandmother."







A family expressed frustration outside the Santa Clara County main jail over the lack of information they've received from law enforcement about the death of one of their kin who died in the jail on Sunday.



At a vigil and small demonstration Friday evening outside the jailhouse at 150 W. Hedding St. in San Jose, the family remembered 23-year-old Isai Lopez and told of their frustration.



Sheriff's officials reported Lopez's death on Monday and said it was likely a suicide. Dozens of family members who mourned Lopez Friday questioned the circumstances of his death and demanded more information.



Nallely Escobedo, the oldest of Lopez's five siblings, said she was presenting a strong face for the family as they stood, arms wrapped around each other on the steps leading into the jail.



She said her mother had spoken to Lopez exactly one week ago on Oct. 12, and the family hadn't seen signs of a man who was suffering from depression or mental health issues, but one who wanted to build a new life for himself.







Testimony has begun in Sonoma County Superior Court at the trial of a Napa man charged with sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl on the Sonoma Coast last year.



The testimony began Friday morning.



Timothy Marble, 51, is charged with six counts that include forcible rape and oral copulation and committing a lewd act on a minor. The charges include enhancements of tying and binding the victim, aggravated kidnapping and furnishing a drug to a victim.



In her opening statement, Deputy District Attorney Laura Passaglia told the jury the teen snuck out of her father's house on March 30 and went to a gas station in Napa where she encountered Marble. They smoked marijuana and Marble invited her into his truck, Passaglia said.



Marble and the girl drove around listening to music and Marble pretended to be nice to gain control, Passaglia said. He also injected her with methamphetamine, and as the two lay on a blanket under the stars, Marble said he wanted sex, Passaglia said.







A judge has ordered two former Alameda County sheriff's deputies to stand trial on a single felony assault charge for allegedly allowing an inmate to throw feces and urine at another inmate in a maximum security unit at the Santa Rita Jail in Dublin two years ago.



The judge gave the order Friday.



At the end of a short preliminary hearing for Sarah Krause, 27, and Stephen Sarcos, 31, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Morris Jacobson denied a request by their attorneys to reduce the assault charge to a misdemeanor.



Defense attorneys for Krause and Sarcos admitted that the two former deputies engaged in misconduct in September 2016 but said their actions weren't felonies.



Krause's attorney Paul Goyette said Krause "engaged in misconduct and used poor judgment but it's not felony misconduct."



But prosecutor Tim Wagstaffe objected to treating the case as a misdemeanor, saying, "This crime violates the trust of inmates and the community."







Job growth in most of California's urban areas -- including San Francisco, the South Bay and the East Bay - will continue in 2019, but at a slower pace than in recent months, according to a Los Angeles-based economic research firm.



That slower growth is nonetheless accompanied by falling unemployment in all California metropolitan markets. The shrinking labor pool, and the high cost of housing, will dictate job growth, or lack of it, over the next few years, Robert Kleinhenz, executive director of research for Los Angeles-based Beacon Economics, said.



He said that, in all areas but especially in the Bay Area, that addressing the high cost of housing will be key to long-term growth.



"Economic growth is going to continue in California, but 2019 is looking like the year when the jobs slowdown we've anticipated for some time begins to materialize," Kleinhenz said. "It is highly unlikely that industries in the state's biggest urban centers - from tech to professional business services to construction - will be able to hire at the same pace we have seen in the past few years.







The chance of smoke from wildfires in Northern California and Oregon working its way on the wind down to the Bay Area prompted the Bay Area Air Quality Management District to call for an air quality advisory through Sunday.



Similar advisories have been in effect since Wednesday, district spokesman Ralph Borrmann said. It isn't known where, or if, smoke could become a health concern, as that is largely based on wind patterns that have yet to develop.



There was a light smoky haze over parts of the Bay Area Friday, but Borrmann said that doesn't present a health concern. More smoke, and smoke closer to ground level, could become more of an issue, he said.



"We're not getting exceedances of federal health standards - the smoke is higher aloft, not at ground level where our monitors would pick it up," Borrmann said.





























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OAKLAND (BCN)



A judge today ordered two former Alameda County sheriff's deputies to stand trial on a single felony assault charge for allegedly allowing an inmate to throw feces and urine at another inmate in a maximum security unit at the Santa Rita Jail in Dublin two years ago.



At the end of a short preliminary hearing for Sarah Krause, 27, and Stephen Sarcos, 31, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Morris Jacobson denied a request by their attorneys to reduce the assault charge to a misdemeanor.



Defense attorneys for Krause and Sarcos admitted that the two former deputies engaged in misconduct in September 2016 but said their actions weren't felonies.



Krause's attorney Paul Goyette said Krause "engaged in misconduct and used poor judgment but it's not felony misconduct."



But prosecutor Tim Wagstaffe objected to treating the case as a misdemeanor, saying, "This crime violates the trust of inmates and the community."



Wagstaffe said, "It is absolutely disgusting to participate in the gassing of another person," using the term to describe throwing feces and urine at someone.



Wagstaffe said, "It's absolutely foul."



Sheriff's Detective Patrick Smyth, the only witness at the hearing, testified that the gassing involved an inmate who had an ongoing feud with fellow inmate Johnny Bowie.



Smyth said Bowie had been "very disrespectful" to Krause and the other inmate told her that he wanted to get back at Bowie and gas him.



Smyth said Krause agreed to the inmate's plan and opened his cell door and the inmate then walked upstairs with her to Bowie's cell.



Krause then opened the door to Bowie's cell and the other inmate threw a cup of feces and a cup or urine at him, although it missed Bowie, Smyth testified.



Goyette said Bowie "seemed to hate" Krause from the start and she was afraid of him because he constantly threatened her.



Goyette said the inmate who tried to gas Bowie was "a sophisticated inmate" who used Krause and Sarcos, who he said were young an inexperienced, to further his feud with Bowie.



Sarcos' attorney Joshua Olander said Sarcos was "an inexperienced young deputy who was trying to find his way and earn the trust of his colleagues but unfortunately lacked the judgment and courage to stop it (the attempted gassing).



Olander said Sarcos admitted his conduct voluntarily and resigned shortly after the attempted gassing came to light and said a felony conviction would be "devastating to him" because he has to support two children and his wife, who has health issues.



Jacobson said he understands that Krause and Sarcos "paid a high price" by resigning and ending their law enforcement careers but he believes their conduct merits a trial on a felony charge, not a misdemeanor charge.



Jacobson said it was dangerous to open the cell doors of two inmates at the high security unit and said somebody might have been killed because Bowie wanted to go after the inmate who gassed him but fortunately deputies were able to lock his door before he could do so.



Two other former deputies, Justin Linn, 25, of Tracy, and Erik McDermott, 28, of Concord, are also charged in the same case but will have a separate preliminary hearing in January because they face more serious charges.



Linn is charged with four counts of felony assault by a public officer, one count of dissuading a witness by force or threat and one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice and McDermott is charged with two counts of assault and one count each of dissuading a witness and conspiracy.



Last week former inmate Miguel Soria filed a lawsuit against Linn, McDermott, Sarcos and Krause for allegedly allowing another inmate to gas him in a separate gassing at Santa Rita in 2016.





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OAKLAND (BCN)



Two convicted robbers pleaded not guilty today to special circumstances murder charges for the death of the owner of a Vietnamese restaurant in Alameda during an alleged attempted robbery in April.



Paul Paez and Donte Holloway, who are both 38-year-old Oakland residents, are scheduled to return to court on Nov. 29 in connection with the death of 61-year-old Cindy Le.



Alameda police said Le was attacked outside the Pho Anh Dao restaurant at 1919 Webster St. at about 11 p.m. on April 6 and died from her injuries on April 10.



Alameda police Officer Koby Burns wrote in a probable cause statement that surveillance camera footage shows that Paez followed Le from a restaurant she owned in Oakland to her restaurant in Alameda.



Burns said that when Paez arrived in Alameda he tried to take Le's purse from her and when she resisted he punched her in the face, causing her to fall and strike her head on the concrete sidewalk.



Burns said Holloway also participated in the attempted robbery and struck Le and her daughter's boyfriend, who was trying to defend Le, in the head with a metal pipe.



The officer wrote that Holloway "admitted to being at the scene and swinging the metal pipe at unknown individuals."



In addition to murder, Paez and Holloway are charged with two special circumstance clauses: murder by lying in wait and murder during the course of a robbery.



The two men also are charged with attempted second-degree robbery and assault by means likely to produce great bodily injury.



Prosecutors allege that Paez has a prior conviction for second-degree robbery and Holloway has three prior convictions: two for second-degree robbery and one for being an accessory after the fact.





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SANTA ROSA (BCN)



Santa Rosa police arrested two Vallejo men on suspicion of attempted murder and robbery during a marijuana deal Wednesday night in west Santa Rosa.



Two male suspects shot the alleged dealer in the hand in his Ludwig Avenue home around 11:50 p.m. and left with an undisclosed amount of marijuana, Sgt. Josh Ludtke said.



The suspects crashed into a fence and a gate as they drove away from the property, and the resident shot the tires of the suspects' vehicle as they fled, Ludtke said. The vehicle became inoperable and was found later on state Highway 116 near Sebastopol.



Detectives identified the suspects as Milton Thompson and Samuel Hernandez, both 31. Detectives also determined their whereabouts in Antioch, and Santa Rosa and Antioch police arrested one of the men as he left a home late Thursday evening, Ludtke said.



The second suspect, who was still in the Antioch residence, tried to escape from the side doors of the home, but officers were waiting outside and he also was arrested, Ludtke said.



Marijuana and other evidence from the alleged robbery were recovered during the arrests, Ludtke said.



Thompson and Hernandez were booked in the Contra Costa County jail.





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Porter County Sheriff spokeswoman Sgt. Jamie Erow said in a release late Friday that Boone Grove High School students told its principal, Clay Corman, the 15-year-old had been showing fellow students videos with explosions and making threats about blowing up the school earlier in the week. The students didnt come to Corman until late Friday morning, according to Erow.
The 2018 World Conference on VR Industry is being held in Nanchang, capital of Jiangxi Province, Oct. 19-21.

With the theme "VR makes the world better", the event is dedicated to the VR/AR field, bringing together over 2,000 participants from 18 countries and regions to focus on developments in virtual reality, artificial intelligence and 5G technology.

At the opening ceremony, Miao Wei, minister of Industry and Information Technology, said virtual reality had become an important frontier sector in the new generation of the information technology. VR-based technology is expected to become a basic platform for many innovative applications, leading to a new round of technology and industrial transformation, he predicted.

He added that the conference would become a window for the world to understand the development of China's virtual reality industry.

Liu Qi, secretary of Jiangxi Provincial Party Committee, said the province was focusing on accelerating the construction of the VR industry, relying on hardware manufacturing, software R&D and content production to jointly build a world-class VR industry center.

Jack Ma, founder and chairman of Chinese retail giant Alibaba who delivered the keynote speech,said VR was an amazing technology; however, it needed to be combined with big data, cloud computing and artificial intelligence. This would help it move from being something of a "toy", a mere novel application, to become a core technology for solving practical problems.

According to organizer, the conference has created an exhibition area of 20,000 square meters. More than 150 domestic and foreign VR/AR companies, including Huawei, Microsoft, HTC, etc., are exhibiting new technologies and products, many of them for the first time.

During the conference, the names of the recipients of the annual gold award and annual innovation award in the VR Industry will also be released.
The 2018 National Responsible Drinking Awareness Week was launched in Beijing on Friday as part of ongoing efforts to remove the deadly impact of drunk driving.

Initiated by China Alcohol Drinks Association in 2015, the annual awareness week starts from the third Friday of October each year, with three alternate themes of "Be Responsible & Rational - No Drinking & Driving", "Caring for, but no Alcohol for Minors" and "Drink Moderately & Live a Happy Life".

Focusing on "Be Responsible & Rational - No Drinking & Driving", this year's event is designed to stop the scourge of drunk driving through the collective efforts of government departments, the business community, social organizations, media and the public.

Apart from Beijing, the event is also being held in more than 400 other cities, including Shanghai, Guangzhou and Chengdu.

One of the highlights of Friday's launch ceremony was the release of a themed micro movie entitled "In a moment", revealing the dangers of drunk driving through the story of two strangers brought together on a rainy night.

Chinese actor Zhang Xilin, who also starred in the movie, was appointed a publicity ambassador for this year's awareness week.

The ceremony also featured the release of "White Paper on Preventing Drunk Driving 2018", the launch of a booklet on responsible drinking and other activities.
For years the home at 38 Liberty St. in the Liberty Hill Historic District would turn heads  albeit for unflattering reasons. On a street lined with original and restored Victorians, the residence that dates back to the 1870s looked downright decrepit by comparison.

But those days are over, thanks to a deep-pocketed renovation that revitalized and expanded the four-bedroom now boasting bespoke finishes, 21st century conveniences and a multitude of decks and terraces.

It was an eyesore, said Joe Marko of Compass, who is co-listing the home with Rafael Acevedo for $8 million. But the neighbors in this historic neighborhood are very pleased with the changes.

Black marble, European white oak and Rejuvenation hardware fashion a chic interior concealed behind a restored facade. The rebuild added square footage, as well as a side-by-side garage with electric vehicle chargers.

An elevator accesses all four levels, as does an architectural staircase with floating treads. This staircase is situated beneath a Rollmatic skylight, which retracts to reveal a spacious roof deck with sweeping views of downtown San Francisco.

From dentils on the facade to oak wall paneling that surrounds the architectural staircase, the home makes plenty of subtle nods to classical architecture.

The wall paneling by the stairs represents the level of thought and detail poured into the home, Marko said. Its an extra step, and something thats rarely done.

Details Address: 38 Liberty St., Liberty Hill, San Francisco. Price: $8 million. Features: Originally built in the 1870s, this revitalized four-bedroom boasts chic finishes, a dramatic chef's kitchen and a sumptuous owner's suite with a two-person shower. A roof deck with sweeping city views crowns the home that includes elevator access to all four levels. An outdoor kitchen with a built-in barbecue anchors the landscaped backyard. See More Collapse

Though in touch with the past, the design is decidedly contemporary. Patios or terraces await on three levels, affording a plethora of indoor/outdoor living opportunities.

The updated infrastructure boasts fire sprinklers and seismic upgrades, as well as new plumbing and electrical systems. Each floor pairs a Sonos sound system with Keff speakers and two of the bedroom suites enjoy air conditioning.

Three bedroom suites reside on the third level. The largest of these enjoys a gas fireplace, a massive walk-in closet and a spa bathroom with a two-person shower and a soaking tub.

The fourth bedroom, which also offers an en suite bathroom, opens to a private terrace framing views of the cityscape.

Found on a street lined with mature Modesto ash trees, the home stands down the block from bustling Valencia Street, where bookstores, boutiques and restaurants await. The Mission Playground is a block north. Those looking for more outdoor space need head only two blocks west to the palm trees, sport courts and rolling hills of Mission Dolores Park.

Learn more at www.38

liberty.com.

Listing agent: Joe Marko,

Compass, 415-378-4651, joe@team

415.com; Rafael Acevedo, 415-577-6272, rafael@team415.com.
EKURHULENI, South Africa  As South Africas passionate debate over land redistribution grows, one city outside Johannesburg is preparing what the mayor calls a test case for the nation  the seizure of hundreds of acres of land from private owners to build low-cost housing.

Like other South African cities, Ekurhuleni faces a dire housing crunch, with some 600,000 of its nearly 4 million people living in informal settlements and a shortage of land to build homes.

Last month, Ekurhulenis city council voted in favor of forging ahead with expropriation without compensation, a legal tool that the ruling African National Congress says is necessary to correct the historic injustices of apartheid and distribute land more equitably.

Nearly a quarter-century after the end of white-minority rule, white South Africans comprise just 8 percent of the population but still hold most of the individually owned private land, keeping most economic power in the hands of a few and making the country one of the most unequal societies in the world.

In July, President Cyril Ramaphosa said the ANC planned to amend the constitution to allow for expropriation without compensation, sparking concerns that the move could destabilize the fragile economy and spur conflict in an already socially divided nation.

In August, President Trump waded into the controversy by tweeting  incorrectly  that South Africa had begun seizing farms and that high numbers of farmers were being killed.

The ANC has sought to reassure people inside and outside the country that its efforts to ensure the majority of black South Africans have better access to land will be legal and should not be cause for alarm. Ramaphosa has said everyone should relax about the land reform process and that it would end up very well.

Ekurhulenis Executive Mayor Mzwandile Masina, who heads the local ANC-led coalition, echoed the president, saying landowners in South Africa dont need to be scared.

Our policy is not to take the land by force, Masina told the Associated Press. Our policy is to make sure the land is shared amongst those that need it.

Ekurhuleni plans to expropriate about 865 acres of land in the city limits, both private and government-owned, that has been vacant for decades and develop it. The mayor did not identify the landowners.

He expects the city to be taken to court once it notifies landowners of its intent to seize their property  and that is the point, he says. The municipality wants the case to force a ruling on whether expropriating land in the public interest is legal as the nations laws stand, or whether the constitution needs to be amended.

Whether the court case will pan out favorably for the city is unclear.

You cant guarantee the outcome, said Ben Cousins, research chair in poverty, land and agrarian studies at the University of Western Cape. The court may find you do have to pay some level of compensation. It could backfire quite badly.

Krista Mahr is an Associated Press writer.
KABUL  Afghanistans first parliamentary elections in eight years suffered from violence and confusion Saturday, with a multitude of attacks by militants killing at least 36 people, key election workers failing to show up and many polling stations staying open hours later than scheduled to handle long lines of voters.

Problems surrounding the elections  already three years overdue  threaten to compromise the credibility of polls, which an independent monitoring group said were also marred by incidences of ballot stuffing and intimidation by armed men affiliated with candidates in 19 of the countrys 32 provinces. Some areas have yet to vote, including Kandahar, where the provincial police chief was gunned down Thursday.

Stakes were high in these elections for Afghans who hoped to reform Parliament, challenging the dominance of warlords and the corrupt and replacing them with a younger, more educated generation of politicians. They were also high for the U.S., which is still seeking an exit strategy after 17 years of a war with the Taliban and other extremists that has cost more than $900 billion and claimed more than 2,400 U.S. service personnel.

Deputy Interior Minister Akhtar Mohammed Ibrahimi said 36 people were killed in 193 insurgent attacks across the country. Security forces killed 31 insurgents.

The most serious attack on the polls was in a northern Kabul neighborhood where a suicide bomber blew himself up, killing three people and wounding 20 others, many seriously, said Dr. Esa Hashemi, a physician at the nearby Afghan Hospital.

Polling stations also struggled with voter registration and a new biometric system that was aimed at stemming fraud, but instead created enormous confusion because many of those trained on the system did not show up for work.

The widespread reports today of confusion and incompetence in the administration of the elections ... suggest that bureaucratic failures and lack of political will to prioritize organizing credible parliamentary elections may do more to delegitimize the election results than threats and violent attacks by the Taliban and Daesh, said Andrew Wilder, vice-president of Asia Programs at the U.S. Institute of Peace, using the Arabic acronym name for the Islamic State group.

Results of Saturdays voting will not be released before mid-November and final results will not be out until December.

Rahim Faiez, Amir Shah and Kathy Gannon are Associated Press writers.
About 2,000 Central American migrants who circumvented Mexican police at a border bridge and swam, forded and floated across the river from Guatemala decided to re-form their mass caravan Saturday and continue their trek northward toward the United States.

Gathered at a park in the Mexican border city of Ciudad Hidalgo, the migrants voted by a show of hands and then marched to the bridge to urge those still there to cross the river and join them.

The groups decision capped a day in which Mexican authorities again refused mass entry to migrants on the bridge, instead accepting small groups for asylum processing and giving out 45-day visitor permits to some of them.

Mexico had sought to maintain order after a chaotic Friday in which thousands rushed across the bridge only to be halted by a phalanx of officers in riot gear. Authorities began handing out numbers for people to be processed in a strategy seen before at U.S. border posts when large numbers of migrants show up there.

But despite a continued heavy police deployment on the bridge, a steady stream of migrants made it to Mexican soil with relative ease by crossing the Suchiate River that demarcates the notoriously porous border.

They swam, waded with the aid of ropes or paid locals who charge the equivalent of $1.25 to ferry people and goods across the muddy waters, and were not detained on reaching the Mexican bank.

We dont yet know if we will make it to the (U.S.) border, but we are going to keep going as far as we can, said Rodrigo Abeja, one of the migrants leaders, adding that they would strike out Sunday morning for the city of Tapachula.

Where at least 3,000 people were on the bridge Friday, the crowd thinned out considerably Saturday. In addition to those who crossed the river, immigration agents processed migrants in small groups and then bused them to a fairground in Tapachula, where the Red Cross set up small blue tents on the concrete floor.

Mexicos Interior Department said it had received 640 refugee requests by Hondurans at the border crossing.

The caravan elicited a series of angry tweets and warnings from President Trump last week, and he warned the migrants that they should turn back.

Theyre not coming into this country, said Trump, who has sought to make the caravan and border security in general a campaign issue for Republicans ahead of the U.S. midterm elections.

Mark Stevenson and Sonia Perez D. are Associated Press writers.
SKOPJE, Macedonia  Lawmakers in Macedonia have backed a landmark proposal to amend the constitution, allowing the country to change its name and join NATO.

The session was delayed for more than 10 hours Friday amid a heated confrontation. Parliament eventually voted in favor of the proposal  a key step in accepting the deal struck with neighboring Greece in June.

Prime Minister Zoran Zaevs Social Democrat government struggled to woo support from the conservative opposition members needed to achieve the two-thirds majority required in the 120-seat house.

Together we have made history, Zaev said. Our journey toward a better future, toward European Union and NATO membership, has just begun. ... We will strive for reconciliation, and national unity.

With strong backing from Western leaders, Zaev is leading a campaign to rename the country North Macedonia, resolving a long dispute with Greece that will allow the country to join NATO.

Top EU official Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council, tweeted: With one voice, you are one big step closer to taking your rightful place in our trans-Atlantic community.

Conservatives in Macedonia vehemently oppose the name change and boycotted a referendum last month on the issue.

Igor Janushev, secretary general of the opposition VMRO-DPMNE party, said conservative lawmakers had endured a campaign of political intimidation ahead of the vote and claimed that three lawmakers had been offered bribes of between 250,000 and 2 million euros.

The government rejected the allegations and said it would respond with legal action. Zaev would have been forced to call an early election if the government had lost the vote.

The amendment process now must formally start within the next two weeks.

The name-change would end a 27-year dispute with Greece, which claims its neighbors current name implies claims on its own adjoining province of Macedonia, and on ancient Greek heritage.

Western officials strongly back the deal, which would reduce Russian influence in the Balkans.

Konstantin Testorides is an Associated Press writer.
SYDNEY  Australias ruling coalition was forced into the minority on Saturday after a major swing against its senior partner, the Liberal Party, in a by-election for the seat of the prime minister the party itself had dismissed.

In a stinging backlash from the electorate after the fourth toppling of an Australian leader by internal party vote in just eight years, a swing of more than 20 percent against the sitting Liberals propelled independent candidate Kerryn Phelps to a decisive victory.

The result cost the conservative Liberal-National party coalition its one-seat majority in the House of Representatives, forcing Prime Minister Scott Morrison to rely on deals with independent lawmakers to guarantee confidence in his government and enact legislation.

The next general election is due in seven months, and there was no immediate talk Saturday that it would be held any sooner.

With Phelps saying she has no intention of bringing down the government, and other independent lawmakers also vowing to support Morrisons administration, it would seem unlikely that any no-confidence motion brought against the government between now and the election would succeed.

Australian Broadcasting Corp. projections hailed Phelps as the winner after just 9 percent of votes had been counted, forecasting she would gain a 57 percent share of votes.

Liberal candidate Dave Sharma conceded defeat soon afterward, saying: Tonights result has been over a little sooner than I expected. Im certainly glad I kept my day job.

Of the 150 seats in the House of Representatives, the Liberals now hold 75, including that of the speaker. The opposition Labor Party holds 69 seats, while independents have six.

The by-election was triggered when Malcolm Turnbull quit politics after being deposed as prime minister in August.

Its the first time in their 117-year history the Liberals have lost the Wentworth seat, showing the depth of voter reaction to Australias latest change of leadership without the people having their say.

Morrison pledged that his government would continue as usual  even without a majority  when Parliament returns on Monday, promising to work closely with independent lawmakers.

Trevor Marshallsea is an Associated Press writer.
Page Content

Canadian employers must accommodate the use of medical marijuana to the same extent as always: to the point of undue hardship. Although the obligation to address medical marijuana use by employees has added to the scope of concerns faced by Canadian employers, employers' broad obligations have not changed. Employers have long had a duty to accommodate employees' disabilities, including the corresponding need to use prescribed medications in or around the workplace. The following discussion is intended to help employers better understand how medical marijuana fits into the broader duty to accommodate.

An employer's first question in assessing the duty to accommodate medical marijuana use is whether the employee seeking or requiring accommodation has a disability. Any individual seeking medical marijuana must obtain a medical certificate from a prescribed medical practitioner, in accordance with the Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes regulation (SOR/2016- 230) under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. Employers should remain mindful, however, to limit requests for medical documentation to only what is needed to accomplish their accommodation needs. Moreover, an employer cannot request medical information until accommodation is sought by the employee. When in doubt, an employer should ask an employee if accommodation is needed and proceed accordingly.

Given all of the focus on recreational marijuana, employers should bear in mind that their duty to accommodate extends only to medical marijuana. There is no obligation to accommodate recreational marijuana use, which should be treated in much the same way as any other nonprescription drug or alcohol.

Extent of the Duty: Undue Hardship

Once an employer confirms that accommodation is required, the inquiry turns to the extent of the duty to accommodate. An employer must accommodate an employee's disability, and corresponding need for medical marijuana, to the point of undue hardship. Undue hardship, in the medical marijuana context, often means balancing safety interests with obligations to the accommodated employee. Any safety standard (including any zero-tolerance policy) must satisfy the following test:

The standard must be rationally connected to the performance of the job in question.



The standard must be adopted in an honest and good faith belief that it is necessary.



The standard must be reasonably necessary to accomplish the work-related purpose (i.e., keeping at-risk employees safe).



In setting a safety standard, employers are required, therefore, to consider the severity of the safety risk, the probability of an accident and the employees that are at risk from any medical marijuana use. These considerations arose in Calgary v. CUPE, 37 (2015 CanLii 61756) ("Hanmore"), where an employee known to be using medical marijuana caused a safety incident and injured himself. After the accident, the employer transferred the employee to a nonsafety sensitive position, which the employee challenged. The arbitrator found that the employer's belief in the need for the transfer was not honest, because there was no evidence suggesting that the employee was dependent on marijuana. Instead, the employee was reinstated in his former position and agreed to lower his marijuana dosage.

Similarly, in French v. Selkin Logging (2015 BCHRT 101), a driver was involved in an accident and marijuana was found in his truck. The driver was a known marijuana user but did not have a medical certificate. Nevertheless, when the employer demanded that he return to work drug- free, it was found to have terminated his employment. The tribunal deemed the termination inappropriate and, instead, required the employee to obtain a medical certificate before returning to work.

Overall, Hanmore and French show us that an employer must be careful in balancing safety needs with the accommodation needs of the employee in question. An abrupt reaction, such as moving the employee to a nonsafety sensitive position or implementing a zero-tolerance rule, may not be appropriate.

Despite these cases, employers should know that there is no absolute right to use medical marijuana in the workplace. In Aitchison v. L&L Painting (2018 HRTO 238), the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario recently upheld a termination resulting from an employee found using medical marijuana while working as a high-rise painter. Although the employee had a medical certificate, he had not disclosed the certificate to his employer. Moreover, the employee's own doctor testified that he would have prescribed a lower dosage had he known about the employee's occupation.

What appears to distinguish Aitchison from Hanmore and French is the employee's lack of good faith. The employer had a known zero-tolerance policy, yet the employee did not seek accommodation.

Lessons for Employers

As a result, employers should bear the following lessons in mind:

There is no absolute right to use medical marijuana in or around the workplaceaccommodation remains a two-way street.



Employers should establish clear policies on both prescription drug use, including medical marijuana, and workplace accommodation.



Employers wishing to limit the potential risks of medical marijuana should make their policies clear and known, including through workplace training when appropriate, thus putting the onus on employees to seek appropriate accommodation.



When it comes to accommodating a disability, including one that requires the use of medical marijuana, there will always be cases on the margins. However, employers that understand their duty to accommodate and that take appropriate steps to identify and mitigate workplace risks before an incident arises will be able to substantially reduce the gray area associated not just with the emerging issue of marijuana in the workplace, but with their broader duty to accommodate as well.

Kyle Lambert is an attorney with McMillan LLP in Ottawa, Canada.  2018 McMillan LLP. All rights reserved. Reposted with permission of Lexology.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Today's archive page is from July 26, 1969.

Two gunmen escaped after robbing a Castleton Corners deli. It was the second such incident of the month.

Frank Kisch, owner of Lorraine Delicatessen and Buffet Caterers, said he was "getting out of the business" because he could no longer deal with the robberies.

Kisch said the two gunmen entered the store after 9 p.m. and pretended to look around. Once the store was empty, the two pulled out revolvers and demanded cash, he said. They were able to get away with about $70.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A Stapleton ex-convict, accused of punching a woman and threatening her with a gun last year, is headed back to prison for a stretch.

Jake Pankey, 53, has pleaded guilty to second-degree criminal weapon possession to satisfy all charges arising from a Dec. 12, 2017 incident in his community.

Police said Pankey displayed a black firearm and smashed the victims head with his fist during a dispute.

The defendant then grabbed the womans cell phone from her hand and threatened to kill her and her family, said police.

Pankey and the 23-year-old woman were in a relationship, a source with knowledge of the incident previously told the Advance.

Responding officers arrested Pankey at his Gordon Street home, where they found a black, .40-caliber handgun, the victims cell phone and a small amount of crack cocaine, said police.

Pankey was indicted on charges of robbery, assault, grand larceny, criminal weapon possession and criminal firearm possession.

He was also accused of misdemeanor counts of criminal possession of a controlled substance, petit larceny and stolen-property possession.

A picture of a handgun and a magazine loaded with bullets was posted on the 120th Precinct Twitter feed.

In exchange for his plea, Pankey will be sentenced on Nov. 9 in state Supreme Court, St. George, to five years behind bars and five years post-release supervision.

Pankey has previously spent time in prison.

In 1996, he was sentenced to 54 months for an attempted-burglary conviction in Queens, according to online state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision records.

Pankeys lawyer could not immediately be reached for comment.

Assistant District Attorney Darren Albanese is prosecuting the case.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  Two of the three Staten Island community boards have meetings scheduled this week, including a waterfront committee meeting with Port Authority representatives on Monday at Community Board 1 headquarters to discuss the proposed rail freight tunnel in New York Bay.

All community board meetings are open to the public and offer residents a great opportunity to learn about whats happening in their neighborhood.

The following meetings are scheduled this week:

Community Board 1

Arlington  Castleton Corners  Clifton  Concord  Elm Park  Fort Wadsworth  Graniteville  Grymes Hill  Livingston  Mariners Harbor  New Brighton  Port Richmond  Randall Manor  Rosebank  St. George  Shore Acres  Silver Lake  Stapleton  Sunnyside  Tompkinsville  West Brighton  Westerleigh

Monday, Oct. 22

The Waterfront Committee will meet in the board office at 7 p.m.

Representatives from the Port Authority will be in attendance to discuss the Cross Harbor Rail Freight Tunnel, a proposed transport tunnel under New York Bay.

Community Board 1 meets in 1 Edgewater Plaza, Suite 217, Rosebank. The chairman is Nicholas Siclari. Megan Delmar is first vice chairwoman. The telephone number is 718-981-6900.

Community Board 2

Arrochar  Bloomfield  Bulls Head  Chelsea  Dongan Hills  Egbertville  Emerson Hill  Grant City  Grasmere  High Rock  Lighthouse Hill  Midland Beach  New Dorp  New Springville  Oakwood  Ocean Breeze  Old Town  Richmond  South Beach  Todt Hill  Travis.

Community Board 2 has no meetings scheduled this week.

All meetings are held in the Lou Caravone Community Service Building at 460 Brielle Ave., Sea View. The office telephone number is 718-317-3235. The chairwoman is Dana T. Magee. The district manager is Debra A. Derrico.

Community Board 3

Annadale  Arden Heights  Bay Terrace  Charleston  Eltingville  Great Kills  Greenridge  Huguenot  New Dorp  Oakwood  Pleasant Plains  Princes Bay 

Tuesday, Oct. 23

There will be a general board meeting at 7:30 p.m.

All committee meetings take place at the Community Board 3 office, located on the second floor of 1243 Woodrow Rd. All general board meetings take place at the Woodrow Methodist Church Hall located at 1075 Woodrow Rd. The office phone number is 718-356-7900. The CB 3 board chairman is Frank Morano; the district manager is Charlene Wagner.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The city Fire Department (FDNY) Marine Unit and U.S Coast Guard rescued a male crew member, 45, from a Disney Magic Cruise Ship on Friday after he suffered a seizure, according to authorities.

The Coast Guard Sector New York Command Center was alerted that the male crew member suffered seizure while the cruise ship was enroute just north of Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge

City firefighters rescued the crew member from the cruise ship and transported him to Coast Guard Station New York where EMS transported the patient to an area hospital, said a U.S. Coast Guard spokeswomen.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A Stapleton man, who authorities said fired a gun in his wifes direction during a domestic dispute eight month ago, will relocate upstate for the next few years.

Luis Hamilton, 46, has been sentenced to 28 months to seven years in prison stemming from the Feb. 11 incident.

Hamilton, of Pine Place, shot a gun toward his 51-year-old spouse outside their home, police said. No one was hit, said cops.

He then took off in a Toyota, said a source with knowledge of the investigation.

The defendant was arrested two days later.

He was indicted on charges of attempted murder, attempted assault, criminal weapon possession, reckless endangerment and menacing.

Two weeks ago, Hamilton pleaded guilty in state Supreme Court, St. George, to felony counts of third-degree criminal weapon possession and reckless endangerment.

In exchange, he was sentenced earlier this week to concurrent terms of 28 months to seven years behind bars.
Editors note: This story has been updated on Oct. 29 with comment from Words N' Motions comptroller, Deanna Quinlin.

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Staten Island special education preschool providers are undergoing audits by the state comptrollers office as part of legislation passed in 2013 -- a five-year process that has taken on more significance in light of recent reports that some providers have allegedly misused state funds.

As part of the legislation, State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli instituted the audit process of every state-funded special education preschool provider in New York State, including 14 providers on Staten Island.

Three audit reports of Staten Island special education providers are currently available, including: Words N' Motion, Annadale; Child Study Center of New York, West Brighton; and Thera Care Preschool Services, Bulls Head.

The audits found that the three special education providers allegedly misused state funds, according to the Office of the State Comptroller (OSC).

For Thera Care Preschool Services, the state comptrollers office reported in its audit more than $850,000 in ineligible costs claimed by the provider. Words N' Motion and Child Study Center of New York each claimed more than $100,000 in ineligible costs, the state comptrollers office reported in the schools' audits.

Deanna Quinlin, comptroller for Words N Motion, denied that there was any misuse of state funds.

There was no misuse of funds, there were disallowances, she said. In the additional response from the state, from OSC [Office of the State Comptroller], some of the disallowances originally in the findings were removed. There was 0 percent fraud.

She added that the disallowances reported by the state comptrollers office were 1 percent of the schools revenue during the three audited fiscal years ending in June 2013.

Phone calls requesting comment from the other two audited Staten Island special education providers went unanswered.

After a special education provider is audited, it is given an opportunity to formally respond to the findings. The process also involves a chance for the State Education Department to respond.

For a site to receive state funding to offer special education preschool services, it must be approved by the State Education Department as part of the original application process.

The New York State Education Department (NYSED) supports the OSC audit initiative," said Emily DeSantis, spokeswoman for the State Education Department. Following every audit, NYSED reviews the findings, requires appropriate corrective action by providers, provides technical assistance, and, as appropriate, applies a disallowance to recoup funds identified by OSC as improperly spent.

The state did not return a request for comment about the three Staten Island special education providers specifically.

The audit status of the other Staten Island providers is as follows: One provider is subject to an ongoing audit, while the remaining 10 providers have not yet been audited, according to Matthew Sweeney, assistant communications director for the state comptrollers office.

To access your preschools reports, you can go to the state comptrollers website.

Its unclear when new reports will be available, but annual special reports of the preschool special education audit initiatives are released in January. DiNapolis office is required by law to report findings of the audits conducted within the last 12 months to the governor of New York State and the Legislature.

LEGISLATION

DiNapoli signed legislation in 2013 proposing that every special education preschool provider that receives state funding would be audited by March 2018, as long as resources were provided to meet that target.

Audits of special education providers statewide remain ongoing, as 23 audits are currently in progress, according to Sweeney. Audits will continue until every special education preschool provider has been audited at least once.

The state comptrollers office has conducted 118 special education audits since 2014 when the office received enhanced state funds to conduct the audits. Prior to that funding, the office issued 21 audits of special education schools between 2004 and 2013.

Once the mandate to audit all providers is completed, DiNapolis office will make the determination of how and when providers will be audited going forward.

State Comptroller DiNapoli is committed to auditing all of New Yorks special education preschool providers to ensure the states most vulnerable children are getting every dollar spent on their education and care, Sweeney told the Advance recently.

AUDIT PROCESS

The state comptrollers office conducts an audit of a provider during a particular set of years. The office then examines, audits and evaluates relevant financial documents and records of providers.

The comptroller shall refer any findings of fraud, abuse or other conduct uncovered during the course of an audit, as warranted, to an appropriate agency or agencies. The final audit reports are posted to the comptrollers website and are available to the public. The state comptroller then publishes a yearly report of audits conducted within the last 12 months.

Audits prior to the legislation identified a widespread pattern of the following: unsupported expenditures; expenses claimed from other programs; personal expenses, included with program expenses; no-show jobs; less-than-arms-length transactions, and ineffective school boards. Yearly reports of audits conducted were not required to be published to the state comptrollers website prior to the legislation.

The state comptrollers office signed the legislation after it decided that stopping fraudulent, wasteful and abusive practices by these providers required a more comprehensive approach.

The law requires that the priority and frequency of these audits would be based upon a risk assessment process and include the review of financial documents and other records of providers.

APPLICATION PROCESS

For an agency to offer special education preschool services, the applicant must first receive written confirmation from the State Education Department that regional need has been established for a proposed special education preschool.

An agency then must fill out and submit an application provided by the State Education Department.

The application assesses an applicants capacity on a number of levels, including: provide a high-quality and cost-effective program and ensuring that the program environment addresses health, safety and accessibility issues for students with disabilities. It also assesses an applicants background, qualifications and governance structures to provide sound programmatic and fiscal practices, according to the State Education Departments application.

Every agency that receives funding from the state is required to submit an annual cost report in a form approved by the State Education Department commissioner, which is MaryEllen Elia.

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A Russian billionaire fighting one of the largest divorce payouts in British history lost a Moscow court case where he was trying to prove that his marriage had been dissolved 16 years earlier.

Farkhad Akhmedov was ordered to pay his wife Tatiana Akhmedova more than 450 million ($827 million) following a London trial that he refused to participate in on the grounds that he was already divorced in Russia. Now the Moscow City Court has rejected an appeal by the businessman seeking to prove the existence of that divorce.

The possibility of a prior divorce has hung over the dispute between Akhmedov and his wife, who has been attempting to seize the billionaire's 115-metre luxury yacht to enforce the payout. The $US492 million ship -- the MV Luna -- is currently impounded in Dubai.

A court in April ordered Akhmedov to hand over the yacht, valued at roughly $US500 million, to his ex-wife. It has since been impounded by authorities in Dubai, where it had turned up for maintenance.

The Moscow court upheld a decision by a lower court that dismissed an attempt to prove the existence of the earlier divorce proceedings in Russia. Akhmedov failed to submit 'sufficient and credible evidence,' the lower court said in its earlier judgment.
The boom is long gone. But that doesnt mean Australias anxiety about housing affordability has disappeared. Despite the steady tempo of headlines about falling prices, people are still troubled by the cost of housing.

During the five-year property price rally, which peaked last year, opinion polls began to show housing had become a key worry alongside more traditional bugbears such as healthcare, crime and the cost of living. Public unease about how the high cost of housing was affecting modern families became entrenched.

House prices are falling but affordability is still a concern. Credit:Peter Rae

This trend has been most obvious in Victoria and NSW, the states disproportionately affected by rising property values. The quarterly Ipsos Issues Monitor, which asks respondents to select the three most important issues facing the community, revealed housing topped the list of concerns in NSW for the first time early last year.

The latest results, published last week, showed housing is still the No. 1 concern in NSW even though property prices in Sydney have been falling for a year. In Victoria anxiety about housing also peaked last year and remains the second top issue facing the community, although it is ranked the No. 1 worry among those aged under 35.
I am nearly 69 and have my own self-managed super fund (SMSF). Unfortunately my company is the trustee and only exists because of the SMSF, thus requiring accounting fees. I am retired and it's becoming too much to continue operating in this way. The super fund is all shares, held either directly or via a fund, such as Colonial First State. I believe I could convert it all to cash and start a new SMSF with myself as the trustee and so eliminate the company. Alternatively, can I pay out the super in total to myself? What are the tax implications? R.J.

There are different ways to house your superannuation nest egg. Credit: Simon Letch

You have a number of choices. First, you could change the trustee from a corporate trustee to individual trustees but, whereas you can have a single director of a company trustee, you must have two personal trustees, even though the second person you nominate does not need to be a member of the fund. The trust deed must also state that the end benefit is intended to be a pension, although this could be commuted to a lump sum. All in all, these requirements may not suit your wishes.

Or, being over 65, you could choose to cash in your super benefits and invest the money in your own name, and pay tax on the earnings. But you would have been saving over your working life in order to obtain tax-free benefits in retirement, so why would you not do so? Unless its a small amount in which case tax is largely irrelevant, there is a tax saving to staying within the super system.

If it's becoming too much , one option is to sell your shares while still in the pension phase to eliminate capital gains tax and roll over the entire amount into a public fund. If you want to pick your own shares, a number of funds allow you to so, such as Media Super (generally regarded as being the lowest cost), NGSS, CBUS, AustralianSuper, BT Super Invest and other wrap funds such as NetWealth. Many of the older style wraps require you to have an adviser, so read all terms and conditions first, and check the fees.
The Wharf Revue 2018: Deja Revue. Written and created by Jonathan Biggins and Drew Forsythe. Musical director: Andrew Warboys. Sydney Theatre Company. The Playhouse, Canberra Theatre Centre. October 23-November 3. canberratheatrecentre.com.au or 62752700.

Simon Burke, left, and Jonathan Biggins in the 2013 Wharf Revue. Credit:Tracey Schramm

Stepping into a show at perilously short notice when an actor is suddenly taken sick or injured is a show business cliche. But it does happen.

Simon Burke says when that very situation arose during this year's edition of The Wharf Revue, it gave him the opportunity to do something he'd never done in his long career: join a show at the last minute.

It happened a couple of weeks ago just as he was finishing a run in a play in Sydney.
About 2900 solar panels will be installed at the CSIRO's Black Mountain facility as part of a larger plan the federal government agency says will eventually help it save more than $900,000 on energy bills each year.

The CSIRO called for tenders this month and plans to negotiate and sign a contract with its preferred contractor by November 22 before deciding on a timeline for the work.

The installation, which will include about 1000 kilowatts of solar cells installed across the site, follows the introduction of 480 panels at Black Mountain earlier this year.

Solar panels on the roof of the CSIRO Discovery Building at Black Mountain, after the first phase of installation earlier in 2018. Credit:CSIRO

More than 880 kilowatts of solar photovoltaic system capacity has already been rolled out across CSIRO sites at Black Mountain, Armidale in NSW, Werribee in Victoria, Kensington in Western Australia and Darwin since 2016.
Of those 77 properties, the ACT government requires 48 to have an asbestos management plan. The government says 21 are considered non-compliant and a further four are partially compliant, with no change to those figures since last month despite WorkSafe ACT commissioner Greg Jones writing to non- or partially compliant homeowners for the fourth time on September 26 to remind them of their legal obligations. Mrs Carvalho said she didn't need a management plan because three separate inspections have cleared living areas in her home of asbestos, which had been only found beneath the original section of the house. She refused to participate in the buyback and demolition scheme after being offered $985,000 for her property in 2014, believing it was undervalued and was actually worth more than $1 million at the time. Lorraine Carvalho has placed her own Mr Fluffy warning notice in the electricity meter box at her home, informing visitors that there is no Mr Fluffy contamination in the living areas. Credit:Dion Georgopoulos

With a smaller block nearby having recently sold for $1.35 million, Mrs Carvalho said the government had better make her a better offer or come with a court order if they wanted her and husband Leo to move out. "They won't get me out of here unless it's an involuntary acquisition, or if we come to terms before 2020, but it'll have to be a lot better than what they've offered," she said. Ministerial responsibility for the ACT government's Asbestos Response Taskforce sat, until August, with Mick Gentleman. Despite the looming end of the buyback and demolition scheme, Mr Gentleman told an ACT government select committee on June 29 that the issue of Mr Fluffy homeowners refusing to leave their homes in 2020 was "a hypothetical question". Opposition leader Alistair Coe refused to accept that response, insisting it was a real scenario and one the government had had years to consider.

"At this stage, there has been no decision on that," Mr Gentleman replied after being asked what the government would do if a homeowner said, "No, I'm not budging." Rachel Stephen-Smith became the minister responsible for the taskforce after a reshuffle in August, but the situation has not changed, with no clear exit strategy in place to dictate how the ACT government will deal with owners who refuse to move out. "The ACT governments position remains that properties affected by loose-fill asbestos insulation should be vacated as soon as possible, and that the only way to remove the physical, financial and social risks is through demolition," a government spokesman said this week. "The [Asbestos Response] Taskforce continues to work with homeowners and individuals affected by loose-fill asbestos insulation and will work to determine the best course of action between now and 2020." In the meantime, those who remain in their Mr Fluffy homes are left in the dark about their futures.

That situation is all too familiar according to Felicity Prideaux, a former Mr Fluffy homeowner who acts as a spokeswoman for the Mr Fluffy Homes Full Disclosure group. The former public servant and Mrs Carvalho were unaware of the change in ministerial responsibility for the taskforce until told by the Sunday Canberra Times, despite the ACT government's insistence that it maintained regular contact with affected homeowners. Asked how often she and other Mr Fluffy homeowners found out about major developments in the Mr Fluffy crisis through the media or the rumour mill, Mrs Prideaux replied: "Every time." "As far as [the government] is concerned, the less they can tell the Mr Fluffy people, the better," she said. "There is a complete lack of communication, except for threatening letters, between the government and the Mr Fluffy community. It's horrendous.

"The stress on [the homeowners] is enormous." Mrs Prideaux's reference to threatening letters relates to WorkSafe ACT's correspondence with homeowners who don't have an asbestos management plan in place despite the government requiring them to have one. Loading In the fourth round of letters, sent on September 26, WorkSafe ACT commissioner Greg Jones repeated the government's warning that regulatory action could be taken against owners who failed to comply. The letters were sent after The Canberra Times revealed last month that more than half the ACT homes required to have asbestos management plans were non-compliant or partially compliant, and that WorkSafe ACT was open to taking regulatory action on a case-by-case basis.

Mrs Carvalho, who refuses to pay what she calls "dead money" for a two-yearly asbestos management plan, which can cost more than $1000, said the latest letter was almost identical to the three others she had received from the work safety commissioner since May 2017. The only real differences, Mrs Carvalho said, were that her name had been spelt incorrectly this time and that the latest letter included a new list of phone numbers for people who required an interpreter. "It's virtually the same thing I've had before and my position hasn't changed; I'm not getting one," Mrs Carvalho said. "We didn't cause the problem and neither did the other 1000-odd [Mr Fluffy] homeowners, so we shouldn't have to keep paying for it." Mrs Carvalho said given living areas in her Lyons home had been cleared of contamination and because she was getting no value from the buyback and demolition scheme, it would not be unreasonable for the government to cover the costs of the assessment.

Mrs Prideaux agreed, saying the ACT government should put money towards more than just the buyback and demolition scheme. After participating in an Australian National University study that found a link between living in a house with loose-fill asbestos and developing mesothelioma, Mrs Prideaux fears she and her husband could one day be struck down by a disease contracted in their former Mr Fluffy home in Hackett. "What about providing some health testing for people [who lived in Mr Fluffy homes]?" Mrs Prideaux said. Loading "The government hasn't even offered to help with that.

"If they're really, really worried about helping people, why don't they start with health testing?" An ACT government spokesman said the Asbestos Response Taskforce would continue to work with Mr Fluffy homeowners in the lead-up to 2020. He said seven homeowners had brought forward their surrender dates in 2018, with one self-funded private demolition also taking place this year and a further four being considered or already underway. "The taskforce expects movement in surrender dates and private demolitions to occur over the next year, further decreasing the number of remaining affected properties," the government spokesman said. "It would therefore be premature to provide advice now when the final number and circumstances of those remaining is not known."
Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size In his lounge room, Geoff Steele has a framed black-and-white photograph of the old Melbourne Orphanage in Brighton. It shows a grand, two-storey bluestone building, its windows embellished in white. Dark cypress trees stand sentry at the entrance. And oh, how Geoff hates it. The reason I have it is to look at it all the time, and drive me forward to get justice. Some people just dont understand what it was like to be incarcerated in those places as a child. You had a number, no rights, no love or compassion, says the 71-year-old. Imagine Geoff as young boy. Hes shy, with a big blond mop of hair. But hes also a happy little fella. Animals and steam trains enchant him and under his arm he often carries his favourite soft toys; Donald Duck and a well-loved monkey. When he is nine, Geoffs mother lands a job in the baby section of the Melbourne Orphanage, in the genteel bayside suburb of Brighton. And her son is separated from her, forced to live in a dormitory with 50 boys in another part of the orphanage. He does not see his mum once in 18 months, even though she works near his dorm. So he doesnt know that a few months into the job she has a nervous breakdown, is admitted to the Larundel Mental Asylum and lobotomised, with the permission of the chief executive officer of the orphanage. She never really recovers and remains a sick and damaged lady throughout her life. But he does know something grim and terrifying happens to him one night in the orphanage laundry. This experience leaves him traumatised, and colours the rest of his life. And it takes him 51 years to write the words I was raped at nine years old, almost subconsciously, in a letter one morning to his solicitor.

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Along with about 8000 other child sexual abuse survivors Geoff, who lives in Albury in NSW, told his painful story to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. Finally, he was believed and it lifted some of the burden he was carrying inside. Being listened to, being believed helped ease Geoff Steele's pain. Credit:Mark Jesser The royal commission delivered its exhaustive and powerful 17-volume report almost a year ago. Commissioners found the innocence and future of thousands of children, over generations, had been wrested from them by sexual predators at the very institutions where they should have been safe. This child sexual abuse was a national disgrace, and the nature of that abuse so heinous it was difficult to comprehend, they wrote. At 11am on Monday Prime Minister Scott Morrison will deliver a national, apology to child sexual abuse victims and survivors at Parliament House. Opposition Leader Bill Shorten will also speak. Their apologies will be heard by 800 people gathered in the Great Hall of Parliament House, who were allocated tickets in a ballot. Still more will gather on the lawns outside, and around the country the televised apology will be watched at local stadiums and community halls. There are an estimated 60,000 victims and survivors of institutional child sexual abuse in Australia. Many will find the day intensely painful, says Craig Hughes-Cashmore, the co-founder and chief exective of the Survivors & Mates Support Network, which has a number of members going to Canberra for the apology. Its going to be a bloody big day for a lot of people, he says. There are a lot of people who have never disclosed their abuse and they will be greatly affected. Hughes-Cashmore is also a member of the apology reference committee, which travelled the country to ask survivors how to create an apology that would resonate for them.

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Some told him theyd organised to take the day off work, even the whole week, apprehensive about how theyd react. And while it might bring great comfort to some, others remain bitterly suspicious of governments and official gestures. Whatever the wording of the apology, it must be heartfelt, genuine and sincere, people told the reference group, and it must be matched with action. In their findings, the commissioners noted survivors were remarkable people with a common concern to do what they could to ensure that other children are not abused: They deserve our nations thanks. Five years ago, Julia Gillards moving parliamentary apology to the mothers and families affected by forced adoptions unfortunately became only a media footnote in a week where a clumsy (and ultimately uncontested) leadership spill saw her reconfirmed as PM. Now there are fears the political wash-up from the Wentworth byelection on Saturday could distract from this apology. I am concerned politicians will head back into parliament on Monday and start squabbling after such a solemn event, says Hughes-Cashmore. This is a day for child survivors and their supporters. Not to start fighting over the spoils of Wentworth. Alan Bowles and his sister Lyn Langanke were abused by the same man. Credit:Jason South Melbourne woman Lyn Langanke, 62, and her brother Alan Bowles, 64, wont be dwelling on political intrigue when they arrive in Canberra. Instead theyll remember their mother and how societal disregard  even disdain  for women in her situation tore families such as theirs apart. Their teenage mother fled her violent husband and left her Victorian country town for Melbourne. Struggling to cope with her sons behaviour  Alan was bullied and often fled from school  she turned for help to the welfare department. But instead of supporting her, the department took 12-year-old Alan and put him in the Turana Childrens Home and later the notorious, Salvation Army-run Box Hill Boys Home.

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His mother wrote letters pleading for his return but Alan was never told she had and grew up blaming her for his predicament. The only way she could get her son back, the department told her, was to stop working, stay home and pursue her husband  who had threatened to kill his family  for maintenance. Eventually Alan and Lyn's mother entered hospital with a nervous breakdown. Lyn had to couch surf with school friends for two years and spent time at Allambie Childrens home where she remembers being shut in a cupboard as a punishment. I get so angry when I look at the records, Lyn says. I feel like saying to my mum it wasnt your fault. You fled domestic violence, you were in and out of hospital. And the department did nothing. Alan endured life at Box Hill, a cold and often sadistic place where staff relished dishing out discipline to children. Speak when youre spoken to. Prayers before every meal. As a teenager, Alan was groomed and sexually abused by one of the people involved in the scout group and musical theatre at the home. On his record it notes suspected sexual abuse, which was never investigated. This man was allowed to take his victim out of Box Hill by posing as a family member, with no oversight from staff. He took Alan to visit his sister, and sexually abused Lyn on two occasions. The brother and sister have only spoken about it in recent months. We never talked about it but I knew something really bad had happened to Alan, says Lyn. After hitting the drugs when he left Box Hill, Alans talent for music was a lifeline and he made a name for himself as a harmonica-playing session musician. But the emotional wounds from his early years damaged his relationship with his wife and children.

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I didnt grow up in an environment of love, he says. I concentrated on working, and trying to make a living, but couldnt offer emotional guidance and real practical things that a more balanced person would have taught them. Through her work as a community educator at Open Place, a support service for Forgotten Australians, Lyn has seen many of her clients die young  some through suicide  or suffer early-onset ageing as a physical impact of trauma. Her own husband Doug, a fellow abuse survivor, died two years ago at 63 after a long illness. Shell hold his memory in her heart on Monday. Ill be thinking about all the people who arent able to be there, she says. Peter Daverington, left, and Robert House admire The Raft of the CLAN'. Credit:Joe Armao The royal commission warned against assuming that institutional child sexual abuse was a historical artefact or the product of a few bad apples. In fact, it was endemic. The greatest number of alleged perpetrators were in Catholic institutions, but sexual abuse happened in every place where adults (about 94 per cent of survivors said they were abused by a man) came into contact with children  schools, orphanages, surf clubs, scout groups, churches and synagogues. And its still happening. More than 250 survivors, some as young as seven, told commissioners in private sessions that they had been sexually abused in contemporary settings (post-1990), two-thirds with foster or kinship carers.

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Police who investigated a "cult leader" charged with sexually assaulting children have been accused of maliciously sending him a letter that caused him psychological harm and led to him taking his own life.

Ken Dyers was the leader and founder of Kenja, a Sydney-based group that describes itself as a personal development organisation exploring "spiritual understanding" using concepts such as "energy conversion meditation".

Ken Dyers (left) pictured with his partner Jan Hamilton outside court in 2006. Credit:Lisa Wiltse

His widow Janice Rita Hamilton, 69, who co-founded Kenja, is suing the state of NSW in the Supreme Court, alleging two police officers who investigated Mr Dyers were motivated by malice, did not carry out the investigation impartially, and are guilty of misfeasance in public office.

She is seeking aggravated damages and costs for psychological injuries, including post-traumatic stress disorder after witnessing Mr Dyers' suicide.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex had us at "hello". They'd barely touched down on old colonial soil in Sydney, when Kensington Palace let us know on their first day in Australia that the royal twosome would soon be a threesome. And didn't we lap it up.

Following in the footsteps of Prince Harry and his wife Meghan, as I did for much of this week, is like walking in the wake of rock stars.

Prince Harry and his wife Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, at the Opera House. Credit:AAP

From the moment she uttered "thanks" in her still American accent at Admiralty House, the newlywed managed to bewitch all those who came close to her with that Meghan Markle magic. When her lady-in-waiting whispered in our ears the name "Karen Gee"  the Australian designer whose dress the duchess wore that first day for the compulsory Opera House shot  the commercial flow-on was keenly felt. Within minutes the website of the mother of five, with no formal business or fashion training, had crashed. In an instant Gee's womenswear brand, known for simplicity, elegance and timelessness, had reached cult status.

There is an unmistakeable aura about the royal couple. Whether it was the hot Sydney sun or a Dubbo drenching, the hand-holding, big smiling, loved-up duo seemed at ease with all they met. From Governor-General Sir Peter Cosgrove and his wife, Lady Cosgrove, to five-year-old Luke Vincent, the couple's celebrity status melts in the face of all who come in their path. Even kicking off their shoes and sitting in a circle on Bondi Beach, they seem to try genuinely to engage with all they meet. You can see it in the smiles of those who do so.
At the lower end of Wickham Terrace, Ballow Chambers is a relatively unassuming, though elegant, three-storey brick building. Its story is anything but ordinary.

Both murder and art theft have passed its Georgian arches.

Ballow Chambers has a storied history. Credit:Brismania

Wickham Terrace is Brisbanes answer to Londons Harley Street or Sydneys Macquarie Street, establishing itself in the 19th century as the address of choice for private doctors, specialists and surgeons.

Ballow Chambers was among the first purpose-built medical buildings in Brisbane when it went up in 1924, (the top two floors were added in 1926), to house medical practitioners of all persuasions as it still does.
If the trend continues, the total number of cases for the year could reach 400 by the end of the year. Daniel OBrien from Geelongs Barwon Health, who is currently treating more than 100 patients, said new research into why the ulcer was spreading and how to stop it was due to begin next week. The epidemic is getting bigger and bigger, he said. Its looking like well see up to 400 cases this year and who knows how many well see next year and the year after, so thats the concern. Its not turning around. And then its moving, we dont know where it will appear.

"But we don't 100 per cent know how to prevent it, we are not having much success," he said. The leading specialist on the outbreak accused the government of inaction in a paper in the Medical Journal of Australia earlier this year. Jan Smith nearly lost her foot after the ulcer on her ankle was misdiagnosed. It led to $3 million of state and federal funding for a research project that will examine risk factors for contracting the ulcer, including a questionnaire and house visits in hotspots.

Also known as the Bairnsdale ulcer, the disease was first recorded in the East Gippsland town in the 1930s, but has more recently been seen on the Mornington and Bellarine peninsulas. By 2015, it had moved to Melbourne's south-east suburbs, including Bentleigh, Hampton and Cheltenham. There have now been cases recorded in Melbourne's Bayside and Port Phillip council areas. This map shows numbers of recent cases Victorian council area. The size of the circles is indicative of recent risk of infection in the locations shown. Credit:Professor Paul Johnson What is most baffling to scientists is that Victoria is the only non-tropical part of the world where the ulcer is detected. Much smaller numbers of cases are recorded in Far North Queensland.

The bacteria is otherwise largely confined to countries in west and central Africa, including Benin, Cameroon and Ghana. About two months ago, four-year-old Addison Taylor woke her mother Nicole up in the middle of the night at their Rye home complaining that her knee hurt. It had swollen to about twice the size as her other one and she couldnt stand up. However, by the next morning the pain had gone away and only a small pink bruise was left. Ms Taylor believed Addison must have fallen over and there was no need to follow it up.

It remained that way for weeks, then all of a sudden the sore cracked open. It happened so fast, within a week it opened up into a big wound, she said. Her doctor booked Addison straight in to see Professor OBrien, who gave her a course of antibiotics and told her it would get worse before it got better. Ms Taylor said more was needed to be done to warn people about the ulcer. I wish Id know a bit earlier because now it's quite bad, she said.

Addie's been so brave. Its quite scary for her, its not nice to look at. Professor OBrien said awareness of the ulcer among doctors had improved since misdiagnoses that led victims to require surgery were common. However, he said more was needed to be done to warn the public as early treatment was key to much less intrusive treatment. "The message is if you've got any sore on your body that's not going away, that you're not sure what it is, to present to your health practitioner as soon as possible and check it's not a Buruli ulcer."

Recorded cases of the Buruli ulcer in Victoria: 2018 276 (year to date) 2017 277 2016 182 2015 107

2014 89 2013 65 2012 75 2011 78 2010 32
The completely breathless coverage of the visit to our shores by Prince Harry and the Duchess of Sussex? The slavish insistence by some in the celebrity-obsessed section of the media that because we have been visited by uber-celebrities and large crowds have turned up to see them, this means that somehow the Australian Republic Movement, which I chair, has been set back? Please.

Britain's Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex and his wife Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, on Bondi Beach on Friday. Credit:AAP

It means no more and no less than that a lot of people, including many of the commentariat, go weak at the knees when in the presence of very famous people and will seize any opportunity they can to see them up close. Good luck to them. As to political ramifications, there are none. We live in a nation where one in four people still believe Australia is not yet ready to be independent, that we must find our heads of state from a family of aristocrats living in England. That is their perfect right. But with four or five million monarchists still among us, it would be amazing if the visiting Royals didnt draw a crowd.

As one who was interviewed by British television on Bondi Beach on Friday morning with the royals as a backdrop, I was interested to see how many people came up to me and endorsed remarks made by one of the lifesavers: "Dont worry mate, were with you, but it was fun to see them up close." No worries, mate.

Honour for our greatest garbo
If you find it breathtaking that Scott Morrisons Liberal Party has managed to lose one of its bluest of blue-ribbon seats in what appears to be the biggest by-election swing against a government in Australian political history, it might conceivably have even been worse.

Imagine the level of devastation the furious voters of Wentworth might have served up if the partys lets get rid of Malcolm Turnbull strategists had got what they wanted in the first place  a Peter Dutton government.

Morrison, as has become clearer by the day, has proved to be a prime minister with the instincts of a door to door salesman, trying to be an everyman for everyone.

Peter Dutton, the man where it all started. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

It hasnt worked, and certainly not in Wentworth.
A two-month-old baby boy missing with his parents for a month has been found safe and well.

Lauren Summers, Muhammad Durrani and their son Eesa Durrani were last seen in Yarraville, in Melbourne's inner-west on September 20.

Lauren Summers, and two month old baby Eesa Durrani had been missing for the last month.

Police had concerns about Eesa's welfare due to his age.
Jakarta: It's the slogan that helped propel Donald Trump to the White House, emblazoned on hats, bumper stickers and t-shirts across the USA and which has resonated around the world: "make America great again".

And it seems Indonesian presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto, the man who lost the 2014 presidential election to Joko "Jokowi" Widodo, has decided to inject some Trump-like rhetoric in a bid to turn the tables and claim victory in the April 2019 election.

Prabowo Subianto pictured at an event in Bali waving a 'V' for victory sign, or maybe '2', his ballot number, to his volunteers. Credit:James Massola

Just don't accuse him of copying the US president.

In a speech last week to the Lembaga Dakwah Islam Indonesia - the Indonesia Islamic Preaching Institute, in Jakarta - Prabowo reflected on how President Trump had declared a trade war on China and promised to make America great again" with his America first policies.
Moscow: For more than three years, a Finnish journalist who investigated Russia's army of vicious internet trolls faced a barrage of false accusations online that she was a US intelligence operative, a drug dealer and an unhinged bimbo driven by Russophobia.

This week, the journalist, Jessika Aro, got a measure of satisfaction when a court in Helsinki convicted two of her most dedicated slanderers of defamation and handed them unusually harsh sentences.

Ilja Janitskin, a Finn of Russian descent who ran MV-Lehti, a vituperative website that rails against Russia's critics, immigrants, Jews and the EU, was sentenced to 22 months in jail after being convicted on 16 criminal counts related to his website. His lawyer said he would appeal the judgment.

Johan Backman, a self-declared "human rights defender" who spends much of his time in Russia and has acquired a reputation as a strident defender of Russia's president, Vladimir Putin, received a one-year, suspended jail sentence for aggravated defamation and stalking. Scorning the judgment as "another dirty trick by NATO," he said that he, too, would appeal.
Daniel Van Buyten's goal in the third minute of stoppage time secured a precious 2-2 draw for Bayern Munich in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final against AC Milan on Tuesday.

AC Milan had appeared to be on their way to a controversial win when Kaka had tucked away a highly dubious penalty in the 84th minute, awarded after he had gone down in the box after a sliding tackle from Lucio.

Replays clearly showed Lucio making contact with the ball rather than Kaka, his Brazil international team-mate, but Russian referee Yuri Baskakov pointed straight to the spot.

However justice was served when Belgian defender Van Buyten popped up right at the death to score his second goal of the night and Bayern left the San Siro with two vital away goals.

Milan only had a rare headed goal from Andrea Pirlo to show for a first half of intense pressure that should have yielded more for the six-time European champions.
Kabul: Dozens of people have been killed and more than a hundred injured in Taliban attacks carried out throughout Aghanistan on the day of parliamentary elections.

At least 67 people were killed, including 27 civilians, nine members of the security forces and 31 insurgents, and 126 people injured in the violence, according to Afghanistan's Deputy Interior Minister Akhtar Mohammad Ibrahimi.

Security forces block the main road at the site of a suicide attack during the first day of parliamentary election in Kabul, Afghanistan, Saturday, Oct. 20, 2018. Credit:AP

The 193 Taliban attacks against security forces and polling centres began at around 7am local time on Saturday and continued until at least 6pm, Ibrahimi told a press conference.

The attacks included a suicide blast in Kabul, 76 raids against polling centres throughout the country, a dozen explosions near those polling centres, and armed fighting between the Taliban and Afghan security forces.
Istanbul: Turkey will "never allow a cover-up" of the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Saudi Arabia's consulate in Istanbul, a senior official in Turkey's ruling party said Saturday, reflecting international scepticism over the Saudi account that the writer died during a "fistfight."

The comment was one of many critical reactions to Saudi Arabia's announcement of the writer's violent death, indicating the kingdom's efforts to defuse a scandal that has gripped the world were falling short. US President Donald Trump, however, was an exception. Asked whether he thought the Saudi explanation was credible, he replied: "I do. I do."

Saudi Arabia has confirmed Jamal Khashoggi was killed inside their Turkish consulate. Credit:Metafora Production

Despite widespread outrage over the killing of theWashington Post columnist, it is unclear to what extent the top leadership of Saudi Arabia, a key US ally and a powerful player in a volatile region, would be held accountable for what human rights activists describe as an extrajudicial killing by Saudi agents.

The only way to find out what happened would be through an international investigation led by a UN-appointed panel, the editorial board of The Washington Post said.
New York: The Trump administration is preparing to tell Russian leaders next week that it is planning to exit the landmark Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, in part to enable the United States to counter a Chinese arms build-up in the Pacific, according to US officials and foreign diplomats.

President Donald Trump has been moving toward scrapping the 30-year-old treaty, which grew out of President Ronald Reagan's historic meeting with Mikhail Gorbachev in 1986. While the treaty was seen as effective for years, Russia has been violating it at least since 2014.

US President Donald Trump speaks to media on the tarmac before boarding Air Force One, last week. Credit:AP

But the pact has also constrained the United States from deploying new weapons to respond to China's efforts to cement a dominant position in the Western Pacific and to keep US naval forces at bay. Because China was not a signatory to the treaty, it has faced no limits on developing intermediate-range nuclear missiles.

The White House said no official decision had been made to leave the treaty, known as INF. But in the coming weeks, Trump is expected to sign off on the decision, the US officials said.
Simpson Bay:--- Three employees of the Princess Juliana International Airport (SXM) were honored with awards for their heroic efforts at the first-ever Security Day celebration held on Sunday, October 14, 2018. Andrew Rombley, Clyde Boasman, and Jubert Spanner were the honorees of the event. Honoree, Clyde Boasman was absent for the celebration and would later receive his award. The ceremony was also addressed by the Safety and Security Inspector of the St. Maarten Civil Aviation Authority, Raymond Jacobs.

Speaking at the ceremony, Michel Hyman, COO of the airport noted that All over the world, airport security has become priority number one, especially in the aftermath of 9-11 and continuing threats of international terrorism. He said this crucial aspect of the aviation industry is usually handled directly by government agencies, however, in the case of St. Maarten, airport security is not executed by any government body.

This important function was officially delegated to the Princess Juliana International Airport operating company, PJIAE N.V. on October 14, 1977 as indicated in the Publicatie Blad 1978, Hyman explained, adding: That is why October 14th, has been chosen as Security Day, to celebrate and honor all our security personnel who have been doing a tremendous job in ensuring the safety of the hundreds of thousands of passengers, airline staff and others that make use of our airport facilities on a daily basis, all year round.

He said he considers it a big vote of confidence in PJIAE N.V. that the St. Maarten government would charge it with such a great responsibility.

Safety and Security have always been priority number one for us, and the performance of our security personnel has shown that this is not just a slogan. We live by it. We train for it. We abide by it. We invest heavily in it, he told the gathering.

Stating that he was mighty proud of the Security personnel at the airport, Hyman added: Not only are you the backbone of our operations here at the airport, you have also demonstrated that you are topnotch professionals in your field. I salute you today on this auspicious occasion and wish you abundant blessings and Gods guidance as you continue to make the Princess Juliana International Airport one of the safest airports in the world.

Security Day will be observed from now on as an annual event at SXM Airport.
Tonight (Oct. 20) is International Observe the Moon Night, an annual celebration allowing people all over the world to enjoy the science and beauty of our closest neighbor. Two livestreams will allow you to participate online.

The online astronomy service Slooh will present a livestream starting at 8 p.m. EDT (midnight GMT Oct. 21). It will show live telescope feeds of the moon from amateur astronomers worldwide, and live feeds from Slooh's observatories. Slooh will showcase feeds from the Institute of Astrophysics of the Canary Islands, and the Catholic University in Santiago, Chile. Questions during the show can be asked using the hashtag #ObserveTheMoon. You can watch the livestream on Slooh's website, and you can also watch here on Space.com, courtesy of Slooh. [The Moon! 10 Surprising Lunar Facts]

International Observe the Moon Night occurs on Oct. 20 this year, coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the Apollo moon program. (Image credit: NASA)

But if you've got a live feed of the moon that you are running yourself, Slooh has a contest for you. Post a link to your livestream on Twitter, making sure to tag @slooh. The Slooh hosts  along with the audience  will announce the best feeds at the end of the show. The categories include most exotic locale, best background scenery and sharpest live imagery. The winners will not only be featured on the Slooh website, but will also receive a copy of Slooh's anthology of short fiction about space, "The Saturn Above It."

Slooh astronomer Paige Godfrey "will talk in depth about our closest neighbor, the only other celestial body humans have stepped foot on," Slooh representatives said in a statement. "We will cover the moon's importance throughout history as an inspiration for storytelling and mythmaking."

Another livestream will showcase the moon above the historic city of Rome. The Virtual Telescope Project plans to show the moon "hanging above the celebrated monuments of the Eternal City, with the live commentary of astrophysicist Gianluca Masi, founder of the Virtual Telescope project." This livestream will start at 11 a.m. EDT (1600 UTC).

Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook. Original article on Space.com.
What would you do if you saw this thing in your walnut orchard?

A walnut farmer in central California found a strange metal object in his orchard on Oct. 13.

He called the local sheriff's office, according to a KGET report. The sheriffs reached out to Vandenberg Air Force Base, and experts there reportedly said the burnt husk was likely a fuel tank from an Iridium communications satellite. Specifically, it came from Iridium 70, which according to the satellite tracking site n2yo.com fell out of its orbit three days earlier, on Oct. 10.

Iridium 70 was part of a constellation of communications satellites first launched in the late 1990s. This one, according to Astronautix.com, rode a Delta 7920-10C rocket into space on May 17, 1998 along with Iridiums 72, 73, 74 and 75. (Coincidentally, the launch site was Vandenberg Air Force Base.) Of those satellites, only Iridium 73 is still in orbit.

Iridium 70 hung in low-Earth orbit for 20 years, 4 months and 23 days; and for its operational lifetime, it supported satellite phone calls on the global Iridium network. According to KGET, this is the first piece recovered from an Iridium satellite after re-entry. As Live Science has previously reported, it's wildly unlikely that any given de-orbiting object will drop significant debris on land, let alone anywhere where the debris might be recognized.

Originally published on Live Science.
BRIDGEPORT  The last place Eunice Thomas wanted to be Friday morning was on Stratford Avenue between Central and Newfield avenues.

Since Jan. 16 she has tried to avoid that block of the East End.

I cant stomach it, Thomas said. When Im on the bus, Ill sit with my back to this area.

Thomas son, JaWuan Green, was shot on Newfield Avenue on that mid-January day and pronounced dead at Bridgeport Hospital.

He was the first homicide of the year, Thomas said.

So she returned to the scene Friday, hoping her presence would make a difference to the Democratic politicians who, weeks before the November election, walked that troubled section.

Well, its that time of year, said the Rev. Charles Jackson, pastor of Temple Emmanuel Church on nearby Union Street, as the crowd passed, accompanied by a heavy police presence.

But first, gubernatorial candidate Ned Lamont, U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy and U.S. Rep. Jim Himes  each of them white and needing heavy minority voter turnout in Bridgeport  gathered behind-closed-doors with Mayor Joe Ganim and East End leaders.

Reporters were not allowed into their meeting on the second floor of the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit, on Union Avenue.

A lot of people expressed some deep concerns regarding how (politicians) dont follow through with promises they make, said Ralph Ford, a prominent black East End Democrat who recently complained that Lamont was ignoring the neighborhood. We elected Democrats, year after year, and nothing changes.

City Councilwoman Eneida Martinez said afterward that she told Lamont, Murphy and Himes, Its all good you guys are all here, but when will you be back? Another two years from today (during the next election)?

Lamont, a Greenwich millionaire and businessman, also campaigned in Bridgeport last weekend, and on Monday. Some political insiders have recently questioned whether the citys voters are enthusiastic enough about Lamont and the upcoming election.

A governor can make a difference here, Lamont said during Friday mornings walk, after rattling off some of his priorities  economic development, gun control and investing in education and anti-gang youth programs. Ill be back as governor.

From cathedrals to crime scenes

The modern, grand Cathedral of the Holy Spirit is an example of the contradictions found in the East End, where neglected, unsafe areas coexist  sometimes right next door  with other addresses representing hope and economic opportunity.

Lamont, Murphy, Himes and Ganim walked from the church, down Union Avenue to Stratford Avenue, passing by the Sunshine Deli. The 24/7 market has been identified by community leaders and police as a trouble spot for drug deals, public drinking, loitering and shootings.

In September, Len Smith, 25, was fatally shot while sitting in a car parked outside of the deli. A woman, also in the car, was critically injured but recovered.

Were so concerned about whats going on on the corner, Temple Emmanuels Jackson said after Ganim, who lost Augusts Democratic gubernatorial primary to Lamont, introduced his ex-political rival to the pastor. I know the mayors doing all he can (by providing more police patrols). That is a help to us, but the corner is not a good corner.

From Sunshine Deli it is a brief walk down Stratford Avenue to Central and Newfield avenues, where Thomas son was killed.

Weve had four homicides in this area this year, said city resident Dawn Spearman, head of the You Are Not Alone grief support group, adding for emphasis. This is this year.

And yet that same corner is another example of the East Ends contrasts. While Thomas cannot stand to go there, construction workers are clearing property for a new grocery store and retail space the city believes will help revitalize the area.

Its a huge project in the East End, Ganim told the crowd.

Ford said the East End needs elected officials at the federal and state levels to support more of that type of investment.

If they can get resources behind those projects, youll see change, he said.

Policies and people make a difference, Ganim said before the walk concluded. These individuals (Murphy, Himes) do make a difference, and I believe this individual to my right (Lamont) will as governor.

Asked afterward if she felt the same, Spearman paused for several seconds, then said, I pray for the best.

Thomas said she, too, is praying, but added seeing the politicians Friday left her feeling optimistic.

Get some of these guns off the street, she said. More programs for the community. More programs for these young men.
S hopping on Oxford Street isnt always the most leisurely of pastimes  for a major retail reckoning, you need some serious sustenance.

And what with your bank balance likely to depreciate considerably by the end of the day, you may want to keep lunch costs down.

From mezze spectaculars to budget-friendly burgers, these are your perfect refuelling dishes  all under 10 and all less than five minutes walk from Oxford Circus tube station.

Margherita at Pizza Pilgrims - 6.85

If you are looking for some of the best cheap eats in the area, Kingly Street is your first stop. Pizza Pilgrims is not be the only Carnaby location on this list, but it is our pick for pizza, serving up near-perfect pies at an absurdly reasonable price. The sourdough crust is the star, so set it off with a simple mix of tomato, fior di latte mozzarella and fresh basil. If this fast food staple doesn't appeal, head to Le Bab  also in Kingly Court  for an upmarket, deconstructed kebab. All of them come in around the 10 mark.

11 Kingly Street, Soho, W1B 5PW, pizzapilgrims.co.uk

El Presidente burrito at Benitos Hat - 8.90

This isnt just the governor of burritos, this is El Presidente. Burrito and margarita enthusiasts Benitos Hat packs this wrap with not one meat, but three  pork, chicken and beef  along with guac, salad, beans and rice. The whole bundle weighs in at a whopping half a kilo  for 8.90, this is a proper belt buster.

12 Great Castle Street, Marylebone, W1W 8LR, benitos-hat.com

Bacon naan at Dishoom - 5.90

Bacon sandwiches simply havent been the same in the capital since Dishoom got hold of them.Theres surely no better way to start a retail therapy session than taking stock over a bacon naan: the legendary breakfast dish sees Ginger Pig bacon topped with cream cheese and chilli sauce before being wrapped up in one of Dishooms fresh naans.

22 Kingly Street, Soho, W1B 5QB, dishoom.com

Village mezze platter at Yalla Yalla - 9.50

Yalla Yalla boss an extensive mezze menu

The Soho site of cheap eats go-to Yalla Yalla is on the tiny side of cosy, so Oxford Street shoppers should head to the closer Winsley Street location. For a taste of its fabulous Lebanese fare, go vegetarian with its pocket-friendly Village mezze platter. Falafel, cheese samboussek, tabbouleh are accompanied with an array of dips and some warm flatbread.

12 Winsley Street, Fitzrovia, W1W 8HQ, yalla-yalla.co.uk

Fish bites and chips at Golden Union - 9.50

If you don't fancy a whole fish, go for goujons at Golden Union

Really, Golden Union is all about the stonkingly good chips, but you can get your fish fix for under a tenner too. If you cant face an entire fish, then nibble on the line with the fish bites, a sizeable portion of deep fried cod and haddock goujons (if youre a batter fiend, you get more for your money with this dish).

38 Poland Street, Soho, W1F 7LY, goldenunion.co.uk

Fritter 2.0 burger at Honest Burgers - 8.50

Honest pride themselves on their prime beef patties, but youll hardly miss the meat if you plump for the veggie option. The fritter burger here features a deep fried bundle of cauliflower, sweetcorn and chickpea, topped with cheddar, hot sauce, lime and coriander mayo and the usual salad suspects.

4 Market Place, Fitzrovia, W1W 8AD, honestburgers.co.uk

Salmon, Greens and Grains salad at Vital Ingredient - 6.99

You can get your greens and your grains at Golden Union

Just because youre in a hurry doesnt mean you have to jump to junk food. Vital Ingredient allows you to pick pretty much anything you like to compose a substantially sized salad for just 6.39. If you cant decide plump for one of the pre-designed combinations: this one will get you your greens and your grains, along with roasted salmon, avocado, edamame and more.

18A Maddox Street, Mayfair, W1S 1PL, vitalingredient.co.uk

Classic ahi bowl at Island Poke - 7.85

Carrying on your health kick is Island Poke, a specialist in the increasingly popular Hawaiian staple. This bonanza of a sushi rice-bottomed bowlful comes topped with spicy ahi tuna, pineapple chilli salsa and seaweed, and sprinkled with crispy onions, spring onions and sesame seeds. You're welcome to design your own dish here, but all the House Bowls come in at a 7.85

8 Kingly Street, Soho, W1B 5PQ, islandpoke.co.uk

Crab Mac and Cheese at Claw - 8

Sustainable fishing fan Claw serves up cracking crab all over its menu, but a hard days shopping calls for that crab to come swimming in mac and cheese. Ever the ones to champion locality, Claw uses Londons hailing cheese from both Bermondsey Raclette and Ogleshield cheese. The dishes here are technically to share, but this sizeable portion can hold its own for greedy sorts.

21 Kingly Street, Soho, W1B 5QA, claw.co.uk

Pulled pork sandwich at Bodeans BBQ - 7.95

Pitmasters Bodean's offer barbecued meat in myriad forms

Kansas City beckons on the outer corners of Soho thanks to Bodeans BBQ, who are serious about taking it slow. For a cheaper taste of Bodeans smokehouse style, plump for the pulled pork sandwich, which sees a lunch-perfect fluffy bun stuffed with generous lashings of the slow cooked meat. A large is 7.95, but you can also get a smaller one for 6.95.

10 Poland Street, Soho, W1F 8PZ, bodeansbbq.com

Se n or Ceviche at Se n or Ceviche - 9.50

If youve made it to the end of your retail mission, you could do worse than celebrating at Senor Ceviche. Pick up a Pisco cocktail at this Peruvian restaurant, and sip it alongside a snack of Senor Ceviches eponymous dish. Both seabass and octopus are cured in aji amarillo tigers milk, and served with sweet potato puree, avocado, red onion and crispy squid.

Kingly Street, Soho, W1B 5PW, senor-ceviche.com
L ast year, on January 21, I joined 100,000 other people marching the streets of London in the name of women's rights.

It was the day after Donald Trump's inauguration as President of the United States, and people - especially women - were angry. The Women's March originated in Washington DC but soon spread globally, calling on concerned citizens to stand up for inclusion, equality, diversity and for women's rights to be recognised and equal human rights.

Today, protestors will be marching through London for a very different reason - calling for a people's vote on the final Brexit deal before the deadline next year.

According to peoples-vote.uk: "Whether you voted leave or remain, nobody voted to make this country worse off, to harm jobs, to damage the NHS, to affect the future of millions of young people, or to make this country more divided. The more the shape of the final Brexit deal becomes clear, the more it is clear that it will do nothing to improve social justice, reduce inequality, increase our standard of living, or create a better future for future generations."

Thousands of protestors are expected to line the streets of London tomorrow for the march - which starts on Park Lane just north of the Hilton at midday and will culminate at Parliament Square at 2pm.

The UK has a lengthy history of politically-motivated protest marches. From the violent Peterloo Massacre at the Manchester Reform Meeting in 1819, to the Suffragette's marches of the early 1900's, to anti-Vietnam war marches in the '60s and anti-Iraq war marches in 2003. If there's one thing the UK public are good at, it's rallying together for a cause we're passionate about.
P olice have charged two men with murder after father died following a mass brawl near his south-west London flat.

Ian Tomlin, 46, was found slumped by the lifts outside his flat in south-west London on Wednesday night.

Michael Swan, 45, and Gary Beech, 48, will appear in court in connection with his death.

Officers at the Met said Mr Tomlin died of a head injury caused by blunt force trauma following an incident in a communal area of a block of flats in Battersea, south-west London, on Wednesday.

Police at the scene in Charlotte Despard Avenue, Battersea / PA Wire/PA Images

Police were called to a group fighting at the building on Charlotte Despard Avenue at about 5.30pm.

Police and Forensic Staff at the Crime Scene in Battersea / NIGEL HOWARD

Medics battled to save Mr Tomlin's life, but he was pronounced dead 45 minutes later.
A man was taken to hospital after a gas explosion ripped off the front of a house in south-west London.

Police, fire and ambulance services scrambled to the scene after both floors and the roof of the terraced house in Haynt Walk, Wimbledon, were damaged by the explosion on Friday.

Some 18 people in adjoining houses evacuated their homes following the incident shortly before 6.30pm.

Scotland Yard said two people were treated for shock and a man who lived near to the house was taken to hospital as a precaution.

While the cause of the explosion has not yet been established, it is not believed to be suspicious.

The Health and Safety Executive and London Fire Brigade will be looking into the circumstances of the incident.

Concerned neighbours tweeted after the incident.

One Wimbledon resident said: "The house is wrecked! Thank goodness no one was in the house."

A London Fire Brigade spokeswoman said: "A mid-terraced house of two floors was damaged by a gas explosion.

"Eighteen people left adjoining properties before the arrival of the brigade.

"All persons from the house were accounted for," she added.

A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police said: "Police were called at approximately 6.25pm on Friday, October 19 to reports of a suspected gas related explosion at a residential address on Haynt Walk.

"Emergency services attended. There were no physical injuries. Two people were spoken to as they were believed to be experiencing shock.

"A man who lived nearby was taken to hospital as a precaution. His condition is stable.
T here were no significant arrests made after thousands took to central London for a Peoples Vote march, police said.

A spokeswoman for the Metropolitan Police has confirmed there were no significant arrests made during the day of the large march.

Peoples Vote UK said 700,000 people attended the protest, which was calling for a fresh referendum on Brexit.

Celebrity cook Delia Smith, Dragons' Den businesswoman Deborah Meaden and London Mayor Sadiq Khan were among the speakers at the event, as well as others.

People's Vote protesters march on Parliament Square - in Pictures 1 /44 People's Vote protesters march on Parliament Square - in Pictures Some 700,000 people attended the march on the last count. EPA A boy rides a man shoulders while waving a sign that says "I want breakfast, not Brexit" REUTERS/Henry Nicholls A Cardboard model of the "may-bot" made an appearance at the huge demonstration in Parliament Square. REUTERS London Mayor Sadiq Khan led the march procession and gave a speech to the crowds. PA A vocal anti-Brexit voice, Delia Smith also spoke to the rally at Parliament Square. PA/Yui Mok The crowds filled Traflagar Square, Whitehall and Parliament square as protesters marched through central London PA/Yui Mok A young protester waves an EU flag. REUTERS/Henry Nicholls Chukka Umunna, Conservative, and Caroline Lucas, Green Party on the stage at Parliament Square. PA/Yui Mok One of several adaptations of Banksy's art work "Girl with Love Balloon". REUTERS/Henry Nicholls Mayor of London Sadiq Khan delivers a speech in Parliament Square during the People's Vote March for the Future in London. EPA/Vickie Flores Conservative MP Anna Soubry gave an impassioned speech. PA The "May-Bot" did the rounds PA/Yui Mok A model of the Palace of Westminster clock tower being lifted by EU balloons PA/Yui Mok One adaptations of Banksy's recent art auction stunt depicted the Vote Leave symbol being shredded in a picture frame.. PA/Yui Mok Anti-Brexit campaigners take part in the People's Vote March PA Over 500,000 peoples have attended the People's Vote for the Future march. EPA/Vickie Flores A campaigner holds a placard likening Brexit to Britain shooting itself in the foot. Reuters/Simon Dawson A placard depicting politicians calls Brexit an "Eton Mess". EPA/Vickie Flores A British-European hybrid flag is raised at the march. EPA/Vickie Flores "A pack of lies, a pack of jokers," says another placard. EPA/Vickie Flores The unprecedented crowds are expected to far-outnumber the previous People's Vote in July. EPA/Vickie Flores "I love EU", and "Lets stay together" are some of the more positive placards. Reuters/Simon Dauson An anti-Brexit campaigner dressed as Theresa May waves European Union flags PA/Yui Mok An anti-Brexit campaigner with her face painted in the colours of the European Union flag takes part in the People's Vote March for the Future PA/Yui Mok The crowds filled London's streets for the People's Vote march. PA/Yui Mok A protester participating in the huge demonstration. Reuters/Simon Dawson Demonstrators hold placards and European Union flags AFP/Getty Images Britons dreading life outside Europe gathered from all corners of the UK to London on Saturday to try to stop their country's looming breakup with the EU. AFP/Getty/Niklas Helle'n Mayor of London Sadiq Khan (C) joins demonstrators as they take part in a march AFP/Getty/Niklas Helle'n Demonstrators hold placards as they take part in a march. AFP/Getty/Niklas Helle'n "Never gonna give EU up", says one placard, in a tribute to singer Rick Astley AFP/Getty/Niklas Helle'n The march was led by young people who said they wanted another vote to secure their future. PA Demonstrators arrive for the 'People's Vote March for the Future,' in central London. EPA/Vickie Flores Reports state that the 'March for the Future' is to be led by a column of young people and call for a People's Vote on the Brexit deal. After marching through central London, there will be a rally on stage in Parliament Square, including speeches from Mayor of London Sadiq Khan. EPA/Vickie Flores A demonstrator wears a teddy bear, who himself waves an EU flag at the march in central London. EPA A man with an EU tattoo on his arm holds a sign saying avoiding Brexit will "save the UK". EPA An anti-Brexit campaigner holds a placard in Hyde Park, London. PA A sign depicting key Brexit proponents, Boris Johnson MP, Jacob Rees-Mogg MP and Nigel Farage - calling them the "Three Wrexiteers". REUTERS Campaigners from Another Europe is Possible lowered a banner off Westminster Bridge before taking part in the People's Vote march today. PA/Jess Hurd/AEIP A protester arranges a figure resembling former UKIP leader Nigel Farage, in a cage. Reuters/Simon Dawson Protesters gather and prepare their plaques before they take to the streets calling for a second referendum on the government's final deal for Brexit. Reuters/Simon Dawson A protester wears badges pinned on jeans before an anti-Brexit demonstration, Reuters/Simon Dawson A protester wears a beret as they prepare to march from Park Lane to Parliament Square in London. Reuters/Simon Dawson Protesters say its right the public should have a second say on Brexit, while supporters from Leave Means Leave have said a second vote would "undermine democracy". Reuters/Simon Dawson

During the march, a small group of counter protesters were seen shouting losers at a crowd of Peoples Vote attendees.

Officers formed a chain in front of the group of about 10 to 20, for crowd control measures.

Thousands took part in the march / Gemma Chan/Twitter

There was no disruption or arrests following this, police said.

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan spoke after the march, praising the diversity of those attending.

Counter protesters were pictured attending the march / Nick Charity

He said: "Incredible atmosphere on today's People's Vote march - with people from every corner of our country, every age, faith, race, gender and background coming together to demand the British people get their final say on Brexit."

Attendees of the march also spoke about how it felt good to have so many in attendance.

Tim Evans, who attended with friends from Manchester, said: It's been a lovely atmosphere, festival atmosphere, very friendly, very boisterous, with a variety of folks."

His friend Richard had a Brittany flag and said: "It definitely feels good so many people here.

Tim Evans, left, with friends Richard and Lisa / Jacob Jarvis

"We feel that Brexit is not right as European people.

"We feel Britain is part of the same family, that's the feeling we've got."

While the march took place, former UKIP leader Nigel Farage held a counter Leave means Leave rally in Harrogate, Yorkshire.
H undreds of thousands of anti-Brexit campaigners have joined a central London protest calling for a fresh referendum.

Organisers claim more than 600,000 protesters descended on the capital on Saturday.

Some 100,000 were initially expected to attend the march, which set off led by young voters and Mayor of London Sadiq Khan at around 1pm.

The People's Vote march set off from Park Lane before ending in a rally in Parliament Square.

Thousands hit London's streets for Brexit People's Vote rally

Celebrity cook Delia Smith, Dragons' Den businesswoman Deborah Meaden and London Mayor Sadiq Khan were among the speakers at the event, which is being compered by broadcasters Richard Bacon and Mariella Frostrup.

The People's Vote campaign said its stewards estimated the size of the crowd to be around 670,000.

In a tweet, the organisers wrote: "670,000 are on the #PeoplesVoteMarch demanding a #PeoplesVote on the Brexit deal."

Hundreds of thousands gathered in central London for the event / Sky News

Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, speaking ahead of his platform appearance, said: "Today will go down as an historic moment in our democracy. A moment when in their thousands, people from every corner of our country and every section of our society will take to the streets - coming to make our voice heard.

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan joins young voters at the start of the march (AFP/Getty Images) / AFP/Getty/Niklas Helle'n

"We've heard some complain that a public vote would be undemocratic and unpatriotic. But the opposite is true. There's nothing more democratic - nothing more British - than trusting the people to have the final say on our future.

"The lies, the mistruths and the deceptions of the referendum campaign have now been exposed, and it's clear the will of the people is changing. No one voted to leave the EU to make themselves poorer. No one voted to make life harder for our children and grandchildren. No one voted to see our NHS damaged. And no one voted for the shambles that this Government has created."

Delia Smith was among speakers at the event / PA

In a video message of support, Nicola Sturgeon, the First Minister of Scotland, said: "Let me say this loudly and clearly, if the issue comes before the House of Commons, SNP MPs will support a People's Vote which includes the option to remain in the EU."

She added: "The Tory government's handling of these negotiations has been chaotic, incompetent and shambolic.

"Having spent two years telling us that no deal was better than a bad deal, the Prime Minister is now preparing to pile pressure on MPs to vote for a bad or blindfold deal on the grounds that 'no deal' would be catastrophic.

"She is trying to scare the UK into the frying pan out of fear of the fire. It is a scandal and it should not be accepted."

Young voters led the march as it set off on Park Lane / PA

Leading speeches in Parliament Square, Delia Smith said people were not fully informed when they voted but now understood "the dire consequences".

"When the vote first happened we weren't fully informed," she said.

"Now we know the dire consequences that can be summed in two words: unmitigated chaos."

She ended by asking MPs where they are and said: "where are you let's be having you," in homage to another famous speech she made.

While Deborah Meaden of Dragon's Den fame said: "If there's one thing business doesn't like its uncertainty."

Ms Meaden explained what she would do if someone came to me and said, 'I will make your family poorer,' as well as damage businesses and cut off ties to a trading partner.

She said she would respond: "I'm out."

The march was led by a group of young voters calling for a second referendum.

Nicky Tarran, 18, Arriana Robertson, 18, Sophie Shanahan, 18 and Alice Beal, 19 travelled to London from Bristol

The Standard spoke to one group of friends who travelled three hours from Bristol University today.

Alice Beal said: "All of us were under 18 at the time of the referendum."

Nicky Tarran said: "People say the British people have spoken, we haven't."

An anti-Brexit campaigner with his face painted in the colours of the European Union flag / PA

The march attracted a number of famous faces, including actor Andy Serkis, who was spotted marching with his 14-year-old son Louis and wife Lorraine Ashbourne.

The Lord Of The Rings actor said he is supporting the protest as he believes there should be a second referendum "now that people are more informed".

Despite an expected start time of around 2pm for the speeches, the march was still going well into the afternoon.

The back of the march reached Hyde Park Corner shortly before 4pm, the organisers announced.

Images shared online showed huge numbers of people still marching while the speeches were going ahead in Parliament Square.

Journalist Robert Peston wrote: "Trying to give you a sense of scale of this march. Theyve been marching since 12 and these people still circa  mile from destination in Parliament Square. Its a big thing. #peoplesvotemarch."

Placards read 'let us vote again' during the march / PA

While Louise Freya Garner wrote: "#PeoplesVoteMarch - think weve missed the speeches but were still going!"

And Jim Lorimer tweeted: "This is worse than the M42 on a Friday night - we've done about 100 metres in an hour."

Prime Minister Theresa May has repeatedly ruled out a second referendum, but people travelled from all over the UK to join the rally.

MPs from across all the main political parties are supporting the demonstration.

This includes Labour MP Chuka Umunna, Tory MPs Sarah Wollaston and Anna Soubry, Lib Dem leader Sir Vince and Green Party MP Caroline Lucas.

Meanwhile, former UKIP leader Nigel Farage is leading a pro-Brexit rally at Harrogate Convention Centre later.

The so-called People's Vote is the idea of another vote on the final Brexit deal, which would likely take the form of another referendum.

Many believe the UK is heading for a no deal or bad deal Brexit - which they say is not what the country voted for in June 2016.

The Peoples Vote is a grassroots campaign with support from across the political spectrum. It has more than a million social media followers and is growing every day.

TODO: define component type apester
T housands of people from across the country have marched in the capital to demand a final say on the Brexit deal  including famous faces.

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan led Saturdays march, which kicked off at about 1pm and was included by celebs such as Delia Smith and Lord of the Rings actor Andy Serkis.

Mr Serkis said he believed there should be a second referendum, now people are more informed, compared to 2016 when the vote was cast.

He added: The will of the people doesnt have to stand still, its not an immovable thing that is fixed.

Humans and Crazy Rich Asians actress Gemma Chan also attended, holding a banner with actor Dominic Cooper, which read: Even Baldrick had a f***ing plan.

Comedian Jenny Eclair wrote on Twitter that it was a lovely day for marching, adding there were so many people there was no room to actually march.

Deborah Meaden, the entrepreneur and Dragons Den star also attended, posting an image with herself and Labour MP Chuku Umunna.

She said: If there's one thing business doesn't like its uncertainty."

Ms Meaden explained what she would do if someone came to me and said, 'I will make your family poorer,' as well as damage businesses and cut off ties to a trading partner.

She said she would respond: "I'm out."

Chefs Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Delia Smith also marched.

Leading speeches in Parliament Square, Delia Smith said people were not fully informed when they voted but now understood "the dire consequences".

"When the vote first happened we weren't fully informed," she said.

"Now we know the dire consequences that can be summed in two words: unmitigated chaos."

She ended by asking MPs where they are and said: "where are you let's be having you," in homage to another famous speech she made.

Stars from the Thick of It were also out in force for the march.

And for the stars unable to attend, tweets of solidarity were posted out.

Actor Hugh Grant said: Very sorry not to be in the UK for #PeoplesVoteMArch. Will march by myself along around a French village chanting.
T he Duke of Sussex today officially unveiled Sydney's Hyde Park war memorial 84 years in the making.

Prince Harry was joined by his wife Meghan at The Anzac Memorial, which commemorates the sacrifices made by those who served for Australia and New Zealand, was initially designed in the 1930s by Bruce Dellit.

After the Great Depression, the funds were not available to make Mr Dellit's vision a reality, including a four-tier cascading waterfall on the Liverpool Street side of the monument.

Harry, wearing the tropical dress of his regiment, the Blues and Royals, with medals, KCVO and sword, and Meghan, wearing an Emilia Wickstead dress and Philip Tracey hat, were met by Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Premier of New South Wales Gladys Berejiklian and David Elliott, minister for Veterans Affairs on an overcast Sydney morning.

Prince Harry unveils a plaque during the official opening of the refurbished ANZAC Memorial. / AFP/Getty Images

Governor General David Hurley welcomed the couple to the monument, where Harry formally opened the new 22 million centenary wing underneath the main memorial.

He led them down into the depths of the new extension, where they were treated to a traditional Welcome to Country ceremony by two Aboriginal men.

There were also crowds along Liverpool Street, while other people - and a cardboard cutout of Harry and Meghan - watched on from balconies as the royals arrived.

Harry and Meghan at the Anzac memorial / Getty Images

The Sussexes then looked at the walls which contained soil from 1701 spots across New South Wales, representing every town, suburb and district from addresses of those who had enlisted in the First World War.

On the floor was a large stone circle, lined with 100 phials of soil from battlefields across the world, showing all the places the state's personnel have served.

The parents-to-be were told nearly four in every ten Australian men signed up for the war effort, with 164,000 of the 420,000 coming from New South Wales.

Meghan wore a black Emilia Wickstead dress and black Philip Treacy hat / Getty Images

Meghan admired the thousands of stars which cover the domed ceiling of the building - representing men and women from the state who served in the First World War - while Harry looked solemn and contemplative.

The party then walked down the steps of the monument to an open air ceremony.

Harry formally opened the extension with a plaque that read: "This memorial extension was opened by a grandson of the Queen on the 25th October 2018".

Harry and Meghan laid their first wreath as a married couple / PA

The simple message - designed to focus on those lost rather than the person performing the ceremony - was an echo of the plaque unveiled by Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester, in 1934 which said: "Opened by a son of the King".

Harry and Meghan also laid a wreath - their first one as a married couple.

The hand-written message under Harry's cypher read: "In grateful memory of those who paid the ultimate sacrifice and in recognition of the men and women for whom the scars of war endure."

Choristers then sang one of Princess Diana's favourite hymns, which was sung at both her 1981 wedding and funeral in 1997, I vow to thee my country.

The completion of the extension coincides with the 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War.

Harry and Meghan then took in the Jaguar Land Rover Driving Challenge at the city's Cockatoo Island as part of the Invictus Games.

They are due to attend a reception hosted by New South Wales premier Gladys Berejiklian later before the opening ceremony at the Sydney Opera House.
M uch of the UK is in line for glorious sunshine this weekend as more than 100,000 people are set to descend on London to demand a peoples vote on Brexit.

The capital will see long spells of bright sunshine with temperatures of 17C for the huge Peoples Vote march on Saturday afternoon.

Most of the country will enjoy similarly pleasant conditions, however rain is forecast in western parts of Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Forecasters had earlier predicted possible highs of 19C on Saturday.

Met Office meteorologist Simon Partridge told the Standard after a chilly night Saturday will pick up where Friday leaves off.

It will be a pretty dry end to the day across much of the UK, he said.

It will be a chilly night, with rain in western Scotland and Northern Ireland and everywhere else dry.

Temperatures could get down to 4 or 5C overnight in the south and one or two places further north could get as low as freezing.

Saturday will be a very similar day to today, with rain in western Scotland and Northern Ireland which will gradually edge further south, possibly reaching Cumbria by the end of the day.

Wales and central and southern England will be dry and temperatures could reach 18 or 19C in London.

A change in weather is on the way on Sunday however, as a band of rain travels across Britain.

Mr Partridge said: Things will change on Sunday however. Rain will move south east although it will get patchier as it moves south.

Southern parts could see some rain by the end of the day, with temperatures around 17 or 18C.

It will be the reverse situation in Scotland, starting cloudy and getting drier and brighter by the end of the day.

Temperatures will peak at about 18C in the south and will be around 13 or 14C further north.
T hese stunning images show previous royal visits to Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific.

The royal family have a long history of visiting Australasia and the Pacific islands, as these images show.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are currently in the middle of their first royal tour down under and are yet to visit Tonga, Fiji and New Zealand.

The Queen was the first reigning monarch of Australia to set foot on the countrys soil in February 1954 and since then has visited the country over 16 times.

However she is not the only royal to have spent time in the region.

Meghan and Harry are currently in Australia as part of their first royal tour together there / Getty Images

In images from 1927, future King George VI and his wife Elizabeth can be seen wearing Maori mats presented to them at a gathering in Rotorua, New Zealand.

In 1977, their daughter, now Queen Elizabeth, was seen sporting the same Maori cloak during a trip to New Zealand. She was in the continent as part of a Silver Jubilee tour.

Prince Charles and Princess Diana visited Australia and New Zealand in 1983, bringing nine-month-old William along with them.

Prince William plays with a wooden toy on the lawn of Government House in New Zealand / PA Archive/PA Images

An adorable image shows a young William playing with a bumblebee toy with his parents on the lawn of Government House in New Zealand.

Photos show the Prince of Wales bringing the Duchess of Cornwall with him to Papua New Guinea in 2011.

Prince William returned to Australasia two more times, bringing his wife the Duchess of Cambridge and his son Prince George with him to New Zealand in 2014.

Prince Harry who is currently in Australia along with his wife Meghan, previously visited Sydney and Perth in 2013.
D onald Trump has said he will pull the United States out of a nuclear arms treaty with Russia.

The US President said he will withdraw the US from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces, over violations by Moscow.

Mr Trump has claimed Moscow is violating the treaty and said he would like a new deal with Russia and China.

No details, at this stage, have been offered of how Moscow had allegedly violated the 1987 agreement.

The 1987 pact helps protect the security of the US and its allies in Europe and the Far East.

It prohibits the United States and Russia from possessing, producing or test-flying a ground-launched cruise missile with a range of 300 to 3,400 miles.

Mr Trump made the announcement following a campaign stop in Elko, Nevada.

National Security Adviser John Bolton is heading to Russia, Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia.

Mr Trump added: "We are going to terminate the agreement and then we are going to develop the weapons", unless Russia and China agree to a new deal.
G rammy award-winning artist and businessman Akon has said he would consider running for president of the United States.

The 45-year-old made the surprise announcement at the annual One Young World summit in the Hague on Friday, causing actress Rosario Dawson and other to rise to their feet with applause.

Speaking to the audience, he said: I know it may sound crazy but you guys just motivated me to run for the President of the United States.

The popular musician was one of the panellists at the summits plenary session on poverty alleviation and economic development.

He said to his fellow panellist and Luke Cage star: Like, Im dead serious.

Akon made the announcement in front of a large crowd / One Young World

Just remember when that day comes and Im elected, I will let everyone know that it all started right here at One Young World. So start pre-campaigning for me now, he added.

Earlier on the day, the rapper unveiled a new mentorship programme supporting nine young change makers from the developing world.

He will be helping young entrepreneurs working in different fields including science, healthcare and education in countries such as India, Malawi and Mongolia.

The individuals will get personal access to the rapper, his team and partners for support and advice in achieving their various campaigns.

It is hoped they will then progress into mentors for other young entrepreneurs.

His prodigies include Leckraj Amal Bholah, who has launched a technology startup in Mauritius to make healthcare services more accessible, affordable and efficient.

Sir Bob Geldof was among the famous faces to speak at the event / One Young World/PA Wire

While Batdulam Gaubat has developed a company aiming to address one of Mongolias greatest problem, plastic waste.

Akon, born Aliaume Thiam, is a multi-platinum selling artist who in 2014 founded the Lighting Africa Foundation with a mission of powering the homes of some 250 million across the continent.

In June 2018, he was gifted 2,000 acres of land from the Senegalese president and since then he has been in the process of building a futuristic city with an economy based around his new cryptocurrency, AKoin.

On helping the entrepreneurs, he told the Standard: The idea came about when I realised that the most impactful parts of what we were doing always came from young entrepreneurs.

They were always the most creative, the most destructive and the most productive.

The rapper was one of many speakers at the summit in The Hague where thousands of young future leaders from across 196 countries were brought together with world leaders and activists to help solve some of the worlds most urgent issues.
T he Saudi Arabian government has acknowledged that journalist Jamal Khashoggi died in its consulate in Istanbul after a fight broke out.

Some 18 Saudi Arabian nationals are being held as suspects in connection with the death.

The announcement came in state media more than two weeks after Khashoggi entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul for paperwork required to marry his Turkish fiancee. He never came out.

A royal court adviser, close to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, was reportedly fired along with three leaders in the kingdom's intelligence services. Other officials have also reportedly lost their positions.

Saudi Arabia had rejected claims that Khashoggi was killed and dismembered inside the consulate.

Turkish forensic police pack up after searching the Saudi Arabian consulate / Getty Images

But the country had faced growing pressure to explain what happened to him.

The Saudi prosecutors' statement read: "Preliminary investigations carried out by the Public Prosecution Office into the disappearance of Saudi citizen Jamal bin Ahmad Khashoggi revealed that the discussions that took place between him and the persons who met him during his presence at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul [leading] to a brawl and a fist fight with the citizen, Jamal Khashoggi, which led to his death, may his soul rest in peace.

"The investigations are still underway and 18 Saudi nationals have been arrested."

Turkish police officers prepare to enter the residence of the Saudi consul General Mohammed al-Otaibi to conduct a search / AP

This contradicts reports by pro-government media in Turkey.

These have published surveillance video and other material suggesting Khashoggi was killed by an assassination squad, reportedly with ties to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

On Wednesday the Turkish pro-government newspaper, Yeni Safak, cited what it described as an audio recording of Khashoggi's slaying.

Turkish forensic police pack up after searching the Saudi Arabian consulate / Getty Images

It said the squad immediately accosted the journalist after he entered the consulate.

It reported that his fingers were cut off and he was later decapitated.

Turkish crime scene investigators previously searched the Saudi Consulate building in Istanbul.

The nearby residence of the Saudi consul general was also investigated. Staff involved came out carrying bags and boxes.

Turkish forensic police officers leave after gathering evidence at the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul / AFP/Getty Images

Turkish media and a security official said investigators questioned staff and explored whether his remains could have been dumped outside Istanbul after his suspected killing.

The prominent journalist had written columns critical of the Saudi government. He lived in self-imposed exile in the US.

President Donald Trump said that the consequences for the Saudis "will have to be very severe" if they are found to have killed him.

However, he insisted that more facts must be known before making assumptions into the incident.

Republican US Senator Lindsey Graham, who has been sharply critical of Saudi Arabia after the disappearance of Khashoggi, said on Friday he was highly sceptical of the Saudi explanation for Khashoggi's death.

"To say that I am sceptical of the new Saudi narrative about Khashoggi is an understatement," Graham said on Twitter.
S audi journalist Jamal Khashoggi died in a "fistfight" in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, the Saudi Arabian government has claimed - finally acknowledging that the writer was slain at its diplomatic post.

So far, 18 Saudi nationals have been arrested and deputy intelligence chief Ahmad al-Assiri and Saud al-Qahtani, a senior aide to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, have been dismissed, state TV reported.

The overnight announcement came in state media more than two weeks after Mr Khashoggi, 59, entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul for paperwork required to marry his Turkish fiancee. He never came out.

They also contradicted assertions in Turkish media leaks that Khashoggi was tortured, killed and dismembered inside the consulate, claims the country had rejected as "baseless."

US President Donald Trump has said he believes the explanation for the journalist's death is credible, despite previous reports torturers severed the journalist's fingers during an interrogation and later beheaded and dismembered him.

Donald Trump has said Saudi Arabia's explanation is credible / AFP/Getty Images

A royal court adviser, close to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, was reportedly fired along with three leaders in the kingdom's intelligence services. Other officials have also reportedly lost their positions.

Saudi Arabia had rejected claims that Khashoggi was killed and dismembered inside the consulate.

Turkish police officers prepare to enter the residence of the Saudi consul General Mohammed al-Otaibi to conduct a search / AP

But the country had faced growing international pressure to explain what happened to Mr Khashoggi.

While it fired officials close to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia stopped short of implicating the heir-apparent of the world's largest oil exporter.

Saudi Arabia announced the sacking of two top officials including deputy intelligence chief Ahmad al-Assiri / AFP/Getty Images

King Salman, his father, appointed him to lead a committee that will restructure the nation's intelligence services after Mr Khashoggi's slaying. No major decisions in Saudi Arabia are made outside of the ultraconservative kingdom's ruling Al Saud family.

The kingdom also offered a far different version of events than those given by Turkish officials, who have said an "assassination squad" from the kingdom including an official from Prince Mohammed's entourage and an "autopsy expert" flew in ahead of time and laid in wait for Khashoggi at the consulate.

Beyond its statements attributed to anonymous officials, Saudi Arabia offered no evidence to support its claims.

Turkish forensic police officers leave after gathering evidence at the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul / AFP/Getty Images

Mr Khashoggi, a prominent journalist and royal court insider for decades in Saudi Arabia, had written columns for The Washington Post critical of Prince Mohammed and the kingdom's direction while living in self-imposed exile in the US.

"God have mercy on you my love Jamal, and may you rest in Paradise," Mr Khashoggi's fiancee, Hatice Cengiz, tweeted following the Saudi announcements.

In a statement on Friday night, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the US will closely follow international investigations into Khashoggi's death and will advocate for justice that is "timely, transparent and in accordance with all due process."

Mr Trump meanwhile called the Saudi announcement a "good first step," but said what happened to Khashoggi was "unacceptable."

Saudi Arabia's consulate in Istanbul / AP

The announcements came in a flurry of statements carried by the state-run Saudi Press Agency early Saturday morning.

"Preliminary investigations conducted by the Public Prosecution showed that the suspects had traveled to Istanbul to meet with the citizen Jamal Khashoggi as there were indications of the possibility of his returning back to the country," the statement read.

"Discussions took place with the citizen Jamal Khashoggi during his presence in the consulate of the kingdom in Istanbul by the suspects (that) did not go as required and developed in a negative way, leading to a fistfight. . The brawl led to his death and their attempt to conceal and hide what happened."

There has been no indication Mr Khashoggi had any immediate plans to return to the kingdom.

A Turkish forensic police officer carries evidence packs while he leaves the Saudi consulate / AFP/Getty Images

The Saudi statements did not identify the 18 Saudis being held by authorities and did not explain how so many people could have been involved in a fistfight.

The statement also did not shed any light on what happened to Khashoggi's body after his death.

"The kingdom expresses its deep regret at the painful developments that have taken place and stresses the commitment of the authorities in the kingdom to bring the facts to the public opinion, to hold all those involved accountable and bring them to justice," the statement said.

Earlier, former MI6 chief Sir John Sawers said "all the evidence" suggested that Mr Khashoggi had been murdered on the orders of someone close to the crown prince.

Turkish government sources have alleged Mr Khashoggi, a critic of the prince and the Saudi government, was tortured and murdered and by a hit squad flown in from Riyadh.

The Saudis first dismissed the claims as baseless, without providing an explanation as to how he disappeared after entering the consulate on October 2.

News of the arrests came as it was reported that members of the suspected hit squad came to Britain during the Saudi crown prince's state visit in March, during which he met the Queen and Theresa May.

At least three of the suspects, First Lieutenant Dhaar Ghalib Dhaar Al-Harbi, Sergeant Major Walid Abdullah Al-Shihri and Abdul Aziz Muhammad Musa Al-Hawsawi, were part of the crown prince's entourage, the news site Middle East Eye reported.
T urkey has promised to reveal all details about Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggis death, after a ruling party spokesperson said the country would not allow a cover up.

A senior official in Turkeys ruling party made a comment on Saturday after Saudi Arabia announced hours earlier that Mr Khashoggi had died following a fist fight in its consulate.

It is the first time that it has been formally acknowledged that the Washington Post writer was slain.

So far, 18 Saudi nationals have been arrested and deputy intelligence chief Ahmad al-Assiri and Saud al-Qahtani, a senior aide to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, have been dismissed, state TV reported.

Numan Kurtulmus, deputy head of the Justice and Development Party, suggested that Turkey, which started its own investigation amid pro-government media reports that a Saudi hit squad killed Khashoggi, was not prepared to go along with the Saudi version of what happened to the writer.

An Indonesian journalist holds a placard during a protest over the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in front of the Saudi Arabia embassy / REUTERS

"It's not possible for the Saudi administration to wiggle itself out of this crime if it's confirmed," Kurtulmus said.

He also said that Turkey would share its evidence of Khashoggi's killing with the world and that a "conclusive result" of the investigation is close.

Another Turkish ruling party official also criticized Saudi Arabia, saying the kingdom should have given its explanation "before the situation reached this point."

Saudi Arabia's consulate in Istanbul / AP

Leyla Sahin Usta, a human rights official in the ruling party, said it would have been "more valuable" if Saudi officials had earlier admitted that Khashoggi was killed in its diplomatic post.

The overnight announcement of Mr Khashoggis death has come more than two weeks after the 59-year-old entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

Donald Trump talks to reporters about journalist Jamal Khashoggi's disappearance / REUTERS

US President Donald Trump has said he believes the explanation for the journalist's death is credible, despite previous reports torturers severed the journalist's fingers during an interrogation and later beheaded and dismembered him.

Saudi Arabia had rejected claims that Khashoggi was killed and dismembered inside the consulate.
T he Duke and Duchess of Sussex were met by crowds of well-wishers as they arrived at the reception of the 2018 Invictus Games today.

Prince Harry and Meghan were welcomed to the reception hosted by New South Wales premier Gladys Berejiklian later before the opening ceremony at the Sydney Opera House.

But just a few hours earlier Harry was pictured making his final speech preparations ahead of the competition's opening ceremony.

The image showed the Duke practising his speech at Sydney Opera House in a rare moment of solitude with his wife Meghan.

Harry and Meghan attend a reception before the opening ceremony of the 2018 Invictus Games / Getty Images

The proud duchess took a front row seat to watch her husband take to the stage during their official 16-day Autumn tour.

The Duchess of Sussex attends a reception at Sydney Opera House / PA

The Invictus Games was founded by Prince Harry in 2014.

The couple are due to visit cities in Australia, Fiji, Tonga and New Zealand throughout the tour.

Earlier on Saturday the couple attended the Anzac Memorial service in Hyde Park to pay tribute to Australia's war dead and unveil an extension to the memorial.

Meghan wore a black Emilia Wickstead dress and black Philip Treacy hat for the Anzac Memorial service earlier on Saturday / Getty Images

Harry and Meghan then took in the Jaguar Land Rover Driving Challenge at the city's Cockatoo Island as part of the Invictus Games.

They later arrived at the delayed opening reception of the Invictus Games at Sydney Opera House.

The couples arrival was delayed by around half an hour after a huge thunder storm threatened to make the opening of the event a wash out.

The city and opera house was hit by lightning bolts and dark clouds swirling overhead.
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China welcomes Britain to seize the opportunity arising from its further opening-up and bring the mutually beneficial cooperation to a new height, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said on Friday.









Li made the remarks when meeting with British Prime Minister Theresa May on the sidelines of the 12th Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) Summit in the Belgian capital Brussels.





The annual meeting between the heads of government of China and Britain at the beginning of the year injected new impetus into the bilateral ties and pragmatic cooperation, Li said.





In particular, the two sides reached consensus on speeding up the Shanghai-London stock connect, which shall make Britain the first country to connect its securities market with the Chinese market, said the Chinese premier.





Li said China is willing to work with Britain based on the principles of mutual respect and equality and boost mutual trust so as to create a favorable environment for boosting the bilateral cooperation.





China will continue to further open up and expand access by foreign businesses to its market, including industries such as finance and services, the Chinese premier said.





He said that China welcomes Britain to seize the opportunity and expand cooperation with China in economy and trade, finance and manufacturing, as well as in jointly exploring third-party markets, bringing the mutually beneficial cooperation between the two countries to a new height.





For her part, May said Britain sees its ties with China as an important part of its global partnership. She said she is looking forward to Li's visit to Britain for the next meeting of British and Chinese heads of government.





Britain welcomes China's further opening-up and is keen to continue promoting the sustained and healthy development of bilateral economic and trade relations through mechanisms such as the China-UK Economic and Financial Dialogue, she said.




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China and Russia have become the key factors and constructive forces in promoting world peace and stability, setting a good example of relations between major countries and neighboring countries, President Xi Jinping said on Friday.





He made the remarks while meeting with Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu, who extended cordial greetings to Xi from Russian President Vladimir Putin.





Xi called for the two countries to deepen strategic coordination and serve as the ballast for stabilizing the international order so as to safeguard individual and common interests.





International morality and the trend of the times will stand with countries and people who love peace all over the world, he said.





Xi said the China-Russia relationship has continued its high-level development this year, with political mutual trust hitting an all-time high.





Xi and Putin have met three times over the past nearly five months, with the latest meeting in September, when Xi attended the fourth Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, Russia.





China will use the opportunity next year of the 70th anniversary of the establishment of bilateral diplomatic ties to work with Russia and enhance comprehensive coordination and mutual support, thus promoting the comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination and better benefiting their peoples, he said.





The president also said the military relationship between China and Russia is a significant symbol that reflects the high level and special nature of the China-Russia relationship, and also is the highlight and pillar of their bilateral strategic cooperation.





In recent years, the two militaries have deepened cooperation in various areas such as joint drills and battle training.





From August to September, China sent 3,200 soldiers, along with more than 1,000 pieces of weaponry and 30 fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters, to participate in Russia's Vostok 2018 military drills, which were the largest of their kind in modern Russia's history and involved nearly 300,000 Russian troops.





Xi said the two militaries should enhance cooperation and focus on addressing common security threats and creating a favorable external environment for the two countries' national development and rejuvenation, to provide strong support for the bilateral relationship.





Shoygu said the strategic guidance of Xi and Putin lays the foundation for deepening the Russia-China comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination.





Russia highly values the relations between the two countries and their militaries and stands ready to improve bilateral military cooperation with China and jointly improve the capability to deal with various security challenges, thus contributing to safeguarding common interests as well as global peace and stability, he said.





Shoygu is the second Russian guest with whom Xi met in three days.





On Wednesday, Xi met with Anton Vaino, chief of staff of the Presidential Executive Office of the Russian Federation.




 Flash





Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday met with visiting Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu in Beijing.







Shoigu conveyed Russian President Vladimir Putin's cordial greetings to Xi while Xi expressed his thanks and asked Shoigu to convey his sincere greetings and good wishes to Putin.





Xi said that China-Russia relations have continued to maintain a high level of development and political mutual trust has reached its highest level since the beginning of this year.





"I have met with President Putin three times in the past five months, which embodies the high level of the China-Russia relationship and its distinctiveness," Xi said.





Noting that both sides value each other as their most important strategic partner of coordination and their diplomatic priority, Xi said China-Russia cooperation in various fields is fruitful and the two countries coordinate and cooperate closely with each other in international affairs, and have become a key factor and constructive force to promote world peace and stability, setting an example of major-country relations and neighborhood interaction.





Stating that 2019 will mark the 70th anniversary of China-Russia diplomatic ties, Xi said the Chinese side will work together with the Russian side to take this opportunity to strengthen comprehensive coordination and mutual support, and promote China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination to a new level, so as to better benefit the two peoples.





Xi said military ties between the two countries are an important symbol of their high-level and distinctive bilateral relations and the highlights and important support of the strategic cooperation.





Xi said, cooperation between the two militaries has been deepened continuously and positive achievements have been made in areas including joint drills, real combat training and military competition in recent years. Xi said he hoped that "both militaries can work to deal with common security threats, create a benign external environment for their respective state development and national rejuvenation, continue to improve cooperation, and provide a solid foundation for the development of China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination."





China and Russia should unswervingly deepen their strategic coordination, jointly become a bedrock for stabilizing international order and defend well their respective and common interests, Xi said. "We firmly believe that the international moral high ground and the trend of the times are on the side of peace-loving countries and people."





On his part, Shoigu said the strategic leadership of President Xi and President Putin is an important foundation for deepening Russia-China comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination.





Putin attaches great importance to developing bilateral military ties and spoke highly of coordination and cooperation between the two militaries in the recent Vostok-2018 (or East-2018) strategic drills, he said.





The Russian side is willing to work together with the Chinese side to continuously strengthen the strategic coordination, further improve military cooperation, jointly enhance their abilities to tackle all kinds of security challenges, and contribute to safeguarding the common interests of the two countries and international and regional peace and stability, Shoigu said.





Zhang Youxia, vice chairman of the Central Military Commission, also attended the meeting.




Minister of National Defense Mihai Fifor, commenting on Saturday the interception on Thursday of a Russian airplane above the Black Sea, near the Romanian airspace, said this is no reason for concern but that such incidents are not infrequent and put to the test the NATO Force speed of reaction.

"Regrettably, such situations are not extremely rare, yet I don't think we should talk about concern. These are (...) actions by the Russian Armed Forces in the Black Sea area, in a way this puts to the test the response speed of our troops, of the Romanian Air Force and of the NATO Forces. We are here, we are ready, we are a member of the North Atlantic Alliance and we fulfill the mission we committed to without any problem," Fifor said in a phone-in with Antena 3 TV station.

He said the Russian plane had been intercepted on Thursday in an air policing mission that had scrambled from the Mihail Kogalniceanu airport; two Romanian Air Force aircraft, and subsequently two jets of the Royal Canadian Air Force had taken off for the policing mission in the Romanian and NATO airspace, to monitor the Russian aircraft which actually did not enter any moment the Romanian or NATO airspace; this is the procedure and that's the customary way such missions are carried out. (...) Unfortunately such events are not extremely rare, such things happening, these are missions both the Romanian Air Force, and our partners - whether the British or now the Canadian Air Force have to accomplish Fifor said.The DefMin mentioned that there was no contact with the Moscow authorities following the spotting of the Russian plane on Thursday and that the jets were scrambled just as per the customary procedure.In a Facebook message on Friday, CAF Operations wrote that "working with the Romanian Air Force as part of the NATO enhanced Air Policing, Royal Canadian Air Force CF-188 Hornets intercepted a Russian SU-27 Flanker aircraft that was operating near Romanian airspace over the Black Sea. When the Russian aircraft was detected by the Control and Reporting Centre of the Romanian Air Force, RCAF Hornets were scrambled by NATO's southern Combined Air Operations Centre at Torrejon, Spain. The Russian aircraft was closely monitored by our Hornets before it left the Romanian flight information region."
Minister of Public Finance Eugen Teodorovici and Liberal Senator Florin Citu traded fire over the next state budget draft, following a document the Ministry of Public Finance sent to the EC listing a set of measures pondered in order to keep the budget deficit within the limit of 3 percent of GDP.

Senator Florin Citu published a fragment of the document on his Facebook account, blaming the government that it plans to default on its promises. In reply, Finance Minister Teodorovici on Saturday told Digi24 TV channel that the document on the tentative freezing of public sector wages, presented by Liberal Senator Florin Citu, is public and was sent to the European Commission as a working document, as a variant to consider.

Teodorovici added that the authorities are also weighing in on enforcing the wage law ahead of term, by 2020 instead of 2022."It is a document sent to the European Commission, a working document, so to say, a possible variant sent to the European Commission because this is the way the government has been working for years, and all member states are doing this: send the European Commission debates, scenarios, calculations for a final decision to be made one way or the other. In a few weeks we will table to the government the 2019 budget bill where the final version will be put on paper. This is a discussion, a scenario proposed by the Ministry of Finance, based on calculations, and there is even a proposal to apply the wage law not until 2022, but by 2020, just to clearly show that we are very sure of what we are doing, that we are not applying measures beyond the term of this government, ie 2020. Moreover, I must emphasize once again that the PSD-ALDE government has put into practice everything it promised. It didn't cut the Romanians' incomes," Teodorovici explained.With regard to the possible freezing of public sector hiring, the Finance Minister said that freezing the number of employees in the central public administration is indeed a working scenario, as a way to resettle, restructure, render efficient the central public administration, because a long-term common sense observation is that a much more efficient administration is needed. "As an example I gave in previous interventions, I said that in the Ministry of Finance, support jobs are somewhere at 18 percent of the ministry's personnel, and in other ministries they are somewhere at 30 percent or more, which needs to change, because the administration should not be oversized or indulge in unjustified public spending. That is, provided that the government has respect for taxpayers, for the Romanians in general," Teodorovici said.The FinMin also assured the money is definitely in place for the promises related to the higher pension point to be carried out and said that the Pension Bill approved by the government and sent to Parliament provides for a 15 percent increase of the pension point next year, and that the minimum wage could be raised even before January 1, 2019."There are no issues with the money in the budget coffers and we, as a responsible party and government, respect our promises. As a principle, that's what we, as a government are required to do, effectively manage public money. 2019 must be for us, for the entire country, a year of investment in the private sector and especially in the public area. Large infrastructure projects and small local projects need to continue and especially increase their speed and volume. Raising the minimum wage means there is money available," the head of Finance said.According to the document sent to the European Commission and that was also posted by Liberal Senator Florin Citu on his Facebook page, the measures contemplated for drafting the 2019 budget blueprint include freezing wages in the public sector at the level of 2018 (the uniform wage law would no longer be applied) and keeping the value of holiday vouchers the same as in 2018, respectively at 1,450 lei / employee. Another possibility is to keep the average number of employees in the public sector the same as in 2018.
President Klaus Iohannis intends to invite next week the leaders of the parliamentary parties to consultations on the justice package, political sources told STIRIPESURSE.RO

The head of the state urged Parliament to take into account the opinions of the Venice Commission and reassess the amendments to the justice package, but also to the Criminal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure, so as to put an end to "the negative impact on justice and the rule of law."

Iohannis considers that the very serious aspects the Venice Commission takes issue with regarding the amendments to the laws of justice and to the criminal codes send an unequivocal signal the current government and parliamentary majority must take into account in order not to push Romania in a direction that is incompatible with the values of the European Union."The two opinions of this European forum are extremely critical and confirm, as predictable, all the irregularities the President of Romania, the parliamentary opposition, the civil society, the Superior Council of the Magistrates, judges and prosecutors have been pointing fingers at for more than one year now," shows a release on Friday.The Venice Commission adopted on Friday a report that is highly critical of the amendments to the criminal codes, cautioning that the adopted amendments weaken the efficiency of the criminal judicial system in the fight against corruption, violent crime and organized crime.The Venice Commission recommends the Romanian authorities to proceed to fully reassessing the amendments to both codes through a broad and efficient public consultation process, so as to put together solid and consistent legislative proposals, broadly backed by the Romanian society, to take into account the applicability standards and follow the recommendations of the Constitutional Court.In this context, President Iohannis firmly condemned the "irresponsible behavior" of Minister of Justice Tudorel Toader, blaming him of having definitively compromised his credibility, which is solid enough reason to hand in his resignation from office.""President Klaus Iohannis strongly condemns the irresponsible behavior of the Minister of Justice who, under the pretext of implementing the recommendations of the Venice Commission into Emergency Ordinance No. 92/2018, included provisions that are completely unrelated to or even contrary to the recommendations, which is likely to increase the concerns of our European partners," the release reads.
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Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has called on Asian and European countries to jointly safeguard the positive momentum of the global economic recovery, stressing the importance of multilateralism, open economy, connectivity and people-to-people exchanges.





Li made the remarks on Friday in Brussels when addressing the 12th Asia-Europe Meeting Summit (ASEM) themed "Europe and Asia: Global Partners for Global Challenges", which brought together leaders of 53 ASEM members and international organizations.





Risks and challenges can't be overlooked as countries strive for peace and development in a world faced with uncertainties, Li said.





Noting that Asia and Europe are two stabilizing forces of the world as well as two major economic blocs, Li said Asian and European countries, faced with new circumstances and challenges, should rise up to their responsibilities to maintain world peace while boosting development and prosperity.





He said countries should address global challenges by enhancing cooperation and practicing multilateralism.





Li said Asian and European countries must strengthen consultation and cooperation, firmly uphold the rules-based international order, the authority of the United Nations, and the purposes and principles of its charter.





The premier urged Asia and Europe to stay committed to building an open world economy, saying that the hard-won momentum of the world economic recovery still calls for adherence to open development, and promoting a more inclusive and balanced global division of labor.





The two continents should also resolutely safeguard the rules-based multilateral trading system and consolidate the foundation for economic globalization and free trade, he added.





When making appropriate adjustments and improvements to the existing rules of the World Trade Organization, Li said, the basic principle of free trade should be adhered to, the interests and concerns of all sides should be fully taken into consideration. Special attention should also be paid to protecting the rights and interests of developing countries.





Efforts should be made to both promote global economic growth and prosperity and narrow the South-North gap, the premier said.





Li called for promoting connectivity of infrastructure to build networks of transportation, industries, and logistics across Asia and Europe.





Meanwhile, he said, involved countries should also enhance "soft connectivity" of systems, policies, rules and standards in order to stimulate vigor of elements such as capital, technology, services and data.





He also called for efforts to further align the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative with development strategies of various countries to achieve shared development and prosperity.





Li stressed the need to increase people-to-people exchanges to inject greater vitality into the Eurasian cooperation.





The Chinese premier said China is still a developing country with insufficient and imbalanced development.





But he said China, with over 1.3 billion population and a huge market, has the ability and ample room for maneuver to deal with external changes.





"China surely can maintain healthy and sustainable economic growth," Li said.





He said China will deepen reform across-the-board to build a just and fair market environment in which all domestic and foreign enterprises are treated equal.





"We will further open up, strengthen intellectual property rights protection, create a world-class law-based business environment," he said. "I am confident that as long as we work together through thick and thin, more benefits can be delivered to the people of Eurasia."





Delegates from other countries said Asian and European countries have become the major engine driving global economic prosperity and trade growth.





Against the backdrop of complicated and uncertain international environment, they said, all countries on the two continents should further build their consensus, work together, jointly safeguard rules-based multilateralism and free trade system, and work hard to eradicate poverty, expand opening-up, and make concerted efforts in coping with challenges such as climate change and terrorism.





The Belt and Road Initiative and the Eurasian connectivity strategy would be conducive to utilizing the regions' comparative advantages and resources, and promoting regional connectivity and trade balance, they said.





Noting that trade is mutually beneficial and win-win in essence instead of a zero-sum game, the delegates said countries on the two continents are willing to push forward relevant free trade arrangements, which will help resist protectionism, reduce trade barriers, promote sustainable trade and economic growth, and jointly safeguard regional development, prosperity, security and stability.




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The festival of Dussehra turned tragic in India's northern city of Amritsar on Friday as a passenger train mowed down at least 50 people, and injured many others, who were among the revelers to witness festivities.





Amritsar is a city in the northern state of Punjab.





A large number of people, at least 700, had gathered to watch the festival as the effigy of Ravana was put to flames near Joda Phatak railway crossing, as a mark of festivities.





When the effigy caught fire and crackers started bursting, the revelers ran helter-skelter in a near-stampede like situation without realizing the train approaching at a high speed.





The smoke from the crackers and the burning effigy had brought down visibility as well, reported the "India Today" TV channel.





Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has condoled the deaths in the train tragedy. He offered immediate assistance to the accident spot.





"Extremely saddened by the train accident in Amritsar. The tragedy is heart-wrenching. My deepest condolences to the families of those who lost their loved ones and I pray that the injured recover quickly. Have asked officials to provide immediate assistance that is required," tweeted Modi.





State Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, who is currently on an official trip to Israel, said he had cut short his visit, and will return to Amritsar by Saturday.





"Rushing to Amritsar to personally supervise relief and rescue in tragic rail accident on Dussehra in Amritsar. My government will give Rs 500,000 (6,809 U.S. dollars) to kin of each deceased and free treatment to injured in government and private hospitals. District authorities have been mobilised on war footing," tweeted the chief minister.





Meanwhile, according to sources in the ministry of railways, junior minister of railways Manoj Sinha has already rushed to the mishap spot along with senior railway officials to take stock of the situation.





According to media reports, the Ravana was put to flames only around 70-80 meters away from the railway tracks.




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Iraqi President Barham Salih on Friday confirmed that eliminating corruption, improving services and addressing unemployment will be priority for the new government.





"The next government will work to address corruption and to hold the corrupted people accountable," Salih told crowds of people during his visit to Mutanabi Street in central Baghdad, which is a gathering place for intellectuals and artists in Baghdad.





"Providing better public services and addressing the issue of unemployment will find a lot of interests in the next government," said Salih who was accompanied with his wife Sarbagh.





Salih's visit came as Iraqi Prime Minister-designate Adel Abdul Mahdi prepared to submit his cabinet list next week after tough negotiations with the parliamentary political blocs.





Mohammed Hashim, a political analyst in Mutanabi Street, told Xinhua that he is optimistic as "the political blocs are trying to keep away from pressing Mahdi so that he can be free to choose his cabinet."





"I think he will be able to accomplish his mission ... and I think the people of Iraq are hopeful that many projects which have not been done before will be achieved now," Hashim added.





However, civilian activist Mohsen Bahadli said "there is still a blur in the political situation in terms of forming a government, as there are still political pressures on the PM-designate and the political blocs have not yet waived their political gains."





Salih also visited al-Shabander coffee shop and took his tea as he was listening to remarks and demands of citizens about the new government.





The old coffee shop is one of the most famous coffee shops in Baghdad and usually witnesses a variety of cultural activities on each Friday, as it is a gathering place for many intellectuals, poets and artists.





"I visited Mutanabi Street first time after devastating terror attack in 2007. Now, Sarbagh and I were pleased to see it reconstructed, buzzing with intellectuals and books lovers," Salih said on his Twitter account.





Mutanabi Street was attacked by a suicide car bombing in March 2007, leaving some 26 people killed and more than 50 others injured.





Salih is the first Iraqi president to visit the busy book market of Mutanabi Street since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.





The cultural iconic location of Mutanabi Street has a history of hundreds of years, which is filled with publishing houses, bookstores and dozens of outdoor book stalls.




The hazard of writing about the Saudis absurd gyrations as they seek to avoid blame for the murder of the late, not notably great journalist and Muslim Brotherhood activist Jamal Khashoggi is that by the time a sentence is finished, the landscape may have changed again.

As though right on cue, the narrative has just taken another sharp turn.

After two weeks of denying any connection to Khashoggis disappearance, Riyadh has fessed up (sorta) and admitted that he was killed by Saudi operatives but it wasnt really on purpose:

Ysee, it was kindaf an accident. Oops Ysee the guys were arguing, and  uh  a fistfight broke out. Yeah, thats it  a fistfight. And before you know it poor Jamal had gone all to pieces. Ysee?

Mustve been a helluva fistfight.

The figurative digital ink wasnt even dry on that whopper before American politicos in both parties were calling it out:

To say that I am skeptical of the new Saudi narrative about Mr. Khashoggi is an understatement, tweeted Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. First we were told Mr. Khashoggi supposedly left the consulate and there was blanket denial of any Saudi involvement. Now, a fight breaks out and hes killed in the consulate, all without knowledge of Crown Prince. Its hard to find this latest explanation as credible."

California Rep. Adam Schiff, the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said in a statement that the new Saudi explanation is not credible. If Khashoggi was fighting inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, he was fighting for his life with people sent to capture or kill him, Schiff said. The kingdom and all involved in this brutal murder must be held accountable, and if the Trump administration will not take the lead, Congress must.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan must think hes already died and gone to his eternal recreation in the amorous embraces of the dark-eyed houris. The acid test for the viability of Riyadhs newest transparent lie is whether the Turks actually have, as they claim, live recordings of Khashoggis interrogation, torture, murder, and dismemberment (not necessarily in that order)  and if they do, when Erdogan decides its the right time to release them.

Erdogan has got the Saudis over a barrel and hell squeeze everything he can out of them.

From the beginning, the Khashoggi story wasnt really about the fate of one man. The Saudis have been getting away with bloody murder, literally, for years. Theyre daily slaughtering the civilian population of Yemen with American and British help, with barely a ho-hum from the sensitive consciences always ready to invoke the so-called responsibility to protect Muslims in Bosnia, Kosovo, Libya, Syria, Xinjiang, Rakhine, and so forth.

Wheres the responsibility not to help a crazed bunch of Wahhabist head-choppers kill people?

But now, just one guy meets a grisly end and suddenly its the most important homicide since the Lindbergh baby.

What gives?

Is it because Khashoggi was part of the MSM aristocracy, on account of his relationship with the Washington Post?

Was it because of his other, darker, connections? As related by Moon of Alabama: Khashoggi was a rather shady guy. A 'journalist' who was also an operator for Saudi and U.S. intelligence services. He was an early recruit of the Muslim Brotherhood. This relationship, writes MoA, touches on the interests of pretty much everyone in the region:

The Ottoman empire ruled over much of the Arab world. The neo-Ottoman wannabe-Sultan Recep Tayyip Erdogan would like to regain that historic position for Turkey. His main competition in this are the al-Sauds. They have much more money and are strategically aligned with Israel and the United States, while Turkey under Erdogan is more or less isolated. The religious-political element of the competition is represented on one side by the Muslim Brotherhood, 'democratic' Islamists to which Erdogan belongs, and the Wahhabi absolutists on the other side.

With the noose tightening around Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman (MbS), the risible fistfight cock-and-bull story is likely to be the best they can come up with. US President Donald Trumps having offered his rogue killers opening suggests hes willing to play along. Nobody will really be fooled, but MbS will hope he can persuade important people to pretend they are fooled.

That will mean spreading around a lot of cash. The new alchemy of converting Khashoggi dead into financial gain for the living is just one part of an obvious scheme to pull off what Libyas Muammar Kaddafi managed after the 1988 Lockerbie bombing: offer up some underlings as the fall guys and let the top man evade responsibility. ( KARMA ALERT : That didnt do Kaddafi any good in the long run.)

In the Saudi case the Lockerbie dodge will be harder, as there are already pictures of men at the Istanbul Consulate General identified as close associates of MbS. But theyll give it the old madrasa try anyway since its all theyve got.Firings and arrests have started and one suspect has already died in a suspicious automobile accident. Heads will roll!

Saving MbSs skin and his succession to the throne of his doddering father may depend on how many of the usual recipients of Saudi  lets be honest  bribery and influence peddling will find sufficient pecuniary reason to go along. Saudi Arabias unofficial motto with respect to the US establishment might as well be: The green poultice heals all wounds.

Anyway, thats been their experience up to now, but it also in part reflects the same arrogance that made MbS think he could continue to get away with anything. (Its not shooting someone in the middle of Fifth Avenue, but its close.) Whether spreading cash around will continue to have the same salubrious effect it always has had in the past remains to be seen.

To be sure, Trump may succeed in shaking the Saudi date palm for additional billions for arms sales. That wont necessarily turn around an image problem that may not have a remedy. But still, count on more cash going to high-price lobbying and image-control shops eager to make obscene money working for their obscene client. Some big American names are dropping are dropping Riyadh in a sudden fit of fastidiousness, but you can bet others will be eager to step into their Guccis, both in the US and in the United Kingdom. (It should never be forgotten how closely linked the US and UK establishments are in the Middle East, and to the Saudis in particular.)

It still might not work though. No matter how much expensive PR lipstick the spinmeisters put on this pig, that wont make it kissable. Its still a pig.

Others benefitting from hanging Khashoggis death around MbSs neck are:

Iran (the drive for regime change (the drive for regime change rests on twin Israeli and Saudi pillars , and the latter is shaky right now);

Yemen (support is building for (support is building for Kentucky Senator Rand Pauls bill to cut of support for the Saudi war effort against that unfortunate country); and

Qatar (after last years invasion scare , theres no doubt a bit of Schadenfreude and (figurative) champagne corks popping in Doha over MbSs discomfiture. As one source close to the ruling al-Thani family relates, The Qataris are stunned speechless at Saudi incompetence! You just cant get good help these days).

Among the losers one must count Israel and especially Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu. MbS, with his contrived image as the reformer, was the Sunni beard he needed to get the US to assemble an Arab NATO (as though one NATO werent bad enough!) and eliminate Iran for him. It remains to be seen how far that agenda has been set back.

Whether or not MbS survives or is removed  perhaps with extreme prejudice  theres no doubt Saudi Arabia is the big loser. Question are being asked that should have been asked years ago. As Srdja Trifkovic comments in Chronicles magazine:

The crown princes recklessness in ordering the murder of Khashoggi has demonstrated that he is just a standard despot, a Mafia don with oil presiding over an extended cleptocracy of inbred parasites. The KSA will not be reformed because it is structurally not capable of reform. The regime in Riyadh which stops being a playground of great wealth, protected by a large investment in theocratic excess, would not be Saudi any longer. Saudia delenda est.

The first Saudi state, the Emirate of Diriyah, went belly up in 1818, with the death of head of the house of al-Saud, Abdullah bin Saud  actually, literally with his head hung on a gate in Constantinople by Erdogans Ottoman predecessor, Sultan Mahmud II.

The second Saudi state, Emirate of Nejd, likewise folded in 1891.

Its long past time this third and current abomination joined its antecedents on the ash heap of history.
No late-breaking scoops this time. As expected, the EU summit on October 17 made no progress on Brexit. The plans to hold an extraordinary divorce summit on November 17-18 were dropped. That decision can be reconsidered if there is a sudden breakthrough. A summit is scheduled for December anyway, but the chances for an agreement are slim. The UK is set to leave the EU in March. A "no-deal" outcome is the worst possible scenario and would be fraught with consequences.

The possibility of extending the post-Brexit transition period by a year (until the end of 2021) has been raised. It would buy more time to negotiate. In that event, Great Britain would continue to be subject to EU rules for a longer period, without having a say in any of them. The government would come under fierce attack from the Brexiteers.

The Brussels-supported Irish demand for a backstop insurance clause to ensure that no hard border is erected between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland is a big problem. Northern Irelands Democratic Unionist Party lawmakers, Theresa Mays parliamentary allies, are adamant in their desire to prevent customs checks between Northern Ireland and the rest of Great Britain. How to keep the land border between the Republic of Ireland and British Northern Ireland friction-free is a tricky problem. Nothing was proposed at the summit that offered any hope for finding a solution.

Fresh ideas are the only answer to this predicament and there is very little time left. If we want to call a spade a spade  a backstop is the path to separation. As Boris Johnson, former foreign secretary, put it It is a choice between the break-up of this country, or the subjugation of this country, between separation or submission. It is between treating Northern Ireland as an economic colony of the EU, or treating the whole of the UK as such a colony. It is a choice between protecting the Union or saving Brexit.

Any agreement, even if the British prime minister had one in hand, would be scrutinized by MPs. It will be no cakewalk to push it through Parliament. European parliaments also need time to ratify an agreement, even if the text is acceptable to the MPs, which is difficult to imagine. Its hard to see how such a wide gap could be bridged. And if an agreement is not ready in December, and there is nothing suggesting that one might be possible, Britain will either leave without it or else a miracle will pull the country from the impasse.

The British government has the following options: one is to leave Northern Ireland in the EU and bear the responsibility for the breakup of the country. That plan has no chance in Parliament and the government would definitely be forced to step down. This option is a no-go.

But its hard to imagine the EU making concessions on the issue. Theres the rub. That makes leaving the EU without an agreement the only viable option. It that in the best interests of the UK as a nation? Hardly. The government would be out anyway and no one knows what the UKs future would hold. It looks murky at best.

Lets suppose a miracle happens and the British Parliament approves a decision to let Northern Ireland remain in the EU. The issue of Scotlands independence would immediately take center stage. Edinburgh has already made it clear that it wants a special status that would allow it to stay in the European Union. Parts of the kingdom will live in accordance with their own laws. If thats not disintegration, then what is? A refusal will spur the separatist sentiments that are already strong in Scotland. There can be no doubt that Scotland would raise the issue of sovereignty if the UK leaves the EU. Its parliament could declare independence without holding a referendum. That scenario would hardly please London.

What can we expect? The most likely scenario looks like this: no agreement is reached, the deadline is extended but nothing happens, Theresa Mays government steps down, and a new nationwide referendum on EU membership is held in the UK that is won by the supporters of the EU. Thatll be followed by new elections. If not, London will withdraw from the bloc and thatll be the end of the United Kingdom as we know it. Great Britain will be history and England will appear on the map as an independent state. New countries will emerge in Europe, and their NATO membership will top the agenda. The US will lose a staunch ally. Germany and France will become the undisputed leaders of Europe, with no counterweight to keep the balance.

In theory, a politician with an extraordinary mindset who is able to come up with new initiatives could turn the tide if elected prime minister in the UK. A new leader will have to roll up his or her sleeves and get down to business. Those who would hate to see that country dismembered should keep their fingers crossed and hope for this scenario. But would Brussels agree to a compromise if offered an acceptable deal?

Evidently the EU has no interest in losing the UK. Why should it? Perhaps the current situation is nothing but an artificial construct created as a plot to keep Great Britain in the bloc. And those in the kingdom who oppose the idea of Brexit will make a grab for this chance in an effort to keep the country intact. Just a thought.
Some of the worlds hottest points of conflict during the Cold War are, once again, in the headlines because of Donald Trumps erratic and bombastic saber-rattling antics. Even a military pact between North and South Korea, one worked out between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at their third summit in Pyongyang in September is being actively opposed by Trumps pompous Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo. In remarks in the South Korean parliament, Foreign Minister Kang Kyung said that Pompeo wanted Seoul to go slow on its talks with North Korea. It is known that Trump wants another summit with North Koreas Kim. Little resulted from the first Trump-Kim meeting in Singapore, which was largely a much-ballyhooed photo op, but was heralded by some myopic Trump supporters as an epic event rivaling President Richard Nixons trip to China.

Trump is likely opposed to the inter-Korean agreement, which would see a moratorium on military drills, removal of land mines and guard posts within the Demilitarized Zone and establish a no-fly zone around it, and other major steps, because he was not part of the talks between the two Korean leaders that brought about the deal. No world leader who is interested in any sort of peace deal would want the bellicose and mentally-imbalanced Trump, a self-described deal maker, involved. Trumps ego and his ignorance of world history and international relations serves as an impediment to any meaningful multilateral talks, whether they are between the two Koreas or further south between China and Taiwan.

Cross-Strait relations between China and Taiwan have grown tense since the Trump administration announced that it was increasing military relations with Taiwan. This has included more exchange visits between US and Taiwanese military and intelligence officials. In March 2018, Trump signed the Taiwan Travel Act, which permits high-level diplomatic and government-to-government visits by US and Taiwanese officials. In July 2018, the US completed a $1.94 billion sale of US Apache attack helicopters to Taiwan. In September 2018, the Pentagon announced the sale to Taiwan of spare parts for F-16 and F-5 fighter aircraft and C-130 military transports, in addition to other military hardware.

After the US Navy embarked on several show of force missions near Chinese-occupied islands, reefs, and atolls in the South China Sea, it was announced that similar show of force would take place in the Taiwan Strait, all but destroying previous improvement in Cross-Strait relations between Beijing and Taipei. The island of Quemoy, a Taiwanese-occupied island now known as Kinmen, and another Taiwanese island, Matsu, now known as Mazu, lie just a few miles off the Chinese coast. Fighting between Communist Chinese and Nationalist Chinese military forces for control of both islands subsided in the 1950s, however, Trump administration saber-rattling has, once, again, led to the islands again becoming hot spots in the Cross-Straits rivalry egged on by the White House. During the Nixon-Kennedy presidential contest of 1960, Nixon accused Kennedy of not being willing to commit to the use of nuclear weapons if mainland China invaded the two coastal Nationalist-held islands. Although Taiwan abolished military control over Kinmen and Mazu in 1992, when it disestablished the Battle Field Administration over the islands, Trumps incendiary moves with regard to Taiwan, a trade war with China, and accusations that China is waging a mid-term election meddling and espionage campaign against the United Sates, have thrust Kinmen and Mazu, as well as the mid-Taiwan Strait Penghu Islands, into a neo-Cold War in East Asia.

US Defense Secretary James Mattis is seen as a more moderating influence inside the Trump administration, however, no sooner had he been sworn in as secretary in February 2017, Mattis committed the US to a full-throttled military invocation of the US-Japan Security Treaty of 1960, if China made a military move on the disputed Senkaku/Diaoyu islands in the East China Sea, which are under Japanese administration. The US-Japan treaty was agreed upon as US and Chinese forces faced off over Kinmen, Matsu, and Penghu islands in the Taiwan Strait. For the peoples of Japan, the Korean peninsula, Taiwan, and mainland China, Trumps retrogression to the era of the Cold War threatens to ignite a massive arms race and a possible war in East Asia.

During the Cold War, the so-called Formosa Lobby, which was bankrolled by wo of the notorious Soong Sisters, convinced the US leadership that the Nationalist Chinese government on Taiwan, also called Formosa, was Americas Frontier Island in the battle against Communism. Taiwan, under its Nationalist government, was shown on propaganda maps as leading the Western vanguard in protecting the Maritime Frontier of Japan, South Korea, Okinawa, the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, and South Vietnam against Communist aggression. Eling (Nancy) Soong, the wife of Nationalist Chinas richest man, and Soong Mei-ling, the wife of Nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shek, inserted themselves, with the help of their immense wealth, into right-wing circles in Washington and New York.

Another major figure in the Formosa Lobby was Anna Chennault, born Chan Sheng Mai, the wife of General Claire Chennault, the head of the Flying Tigers, a US mercenary force that flew for Chiang Kai-sheks forces against the Japanese prior to Americas entry into World War II. Chennault helped create a network of airlines for the Central Intelligence Agency after the war. One was Civil Air Transport, which was renamed Air America during the US war in Southeast Asia.

Today, the Formosa Lobby has re-emerged. Taiwan secured the representation of the nonagenarian former Republican Senate leader and presidential candidate, Bob Dole, to represent its interests in Washington. After Trumps election in 2016, Dole arranged for Trump to receive a congratulatory phone call from Taiwans President Tsai Ing-wen. China saw the call as a complete breach of diplomatic agreements between Beijing and Washington.

Under Trump, Taiwans unofficial embassy in Washington, the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office, has been treated more like an official diplomatic legation, even though the United States only recognizes the Peoples Republic of China as the government of all of China, including Taiwan. Dole set up meetings between the Taiwan office and members of the Trump transition team between November 2016 and January 2017. Taiwan exerted influence on the Trump administration via support from the neo-conservative Heritage Foundation and American Enterprise Institute, both of which receive generous financial endowments from Taiwan. One of Taiwans strongest advocates is New Gingrich, former Republican Speaker of the House of Representatives. Gingrichs wife serves as US ambassador to Vatican City, the only European state that still maintains diplomatic relations with Taiwan.

Taiwan also has its reconstituted Formosa Lobby advocates in the US Senate. They include Senators Tom Cotton (Republican-Arkansas), John Cornyn (Republican-Texas), Marco Rubio (Republican-Florida), Ted Cruz (Republican-Texas), Cory Gardner (Republican-Colorado), Ron Wyden (Democrat-Oregon), and Chris Van Hollen (Democrat-Maryland).

Trumps turning back the clock to the days of the Cold War has also manifested itself into a increased US military presence in the Philippines and Guam. The largest US military contingent in many years joined the 2018 Cobra Gold military exercises in Thailand. For the first time ever, US military forces trained with forces from Myanmar.

In return for access to highly-advanced US military technology, India is granting visiting US military forces greater access to Indian border outposts on the border with China. This border was the scene of a border war between China and India in 1962, one, in which, the United States provided military and intelligence support to India.

Donald Trump has turned back the clock on US policies around the world. From Asia to Latin America, where Trump has said he favors a US military invasion of Venezuela, and Europe to the Middle East, Americas policies appear to be directed from the graves of 1950s and 60s Cold Warriors.
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Peruvian President Martin Vizcarra on Friday announced the fugitive former Supreme Court Judge, Cesar Hinostroza, has been arrested in Spain.





"Today in the early hours of the morning, Peru time, Cesar Hinostroza was captured," Vizcarra told Radio Programs Peru.





The former judge is wanted for allegedly leading a criminal organization formed of judges, politicians and business leaders accused of influence peddling and corruption.





Hinostroza is now in custody in Spain and paperwork has already begun to bring him back once his request for asylum has been denied by Spanish authorities, said Vizcarra.





"We're doing as much as we can, working with the Foreign Ministry and directly with the Spanish Prime Minister," he said.





According to Peruvian government, Hinostroza fled to Ecuador on Oct. 7 before flying to Madrid via Amsterdam.





Hinostroza was removed from his position as Peru's Supreme Judge on July 8 after recordings were released showing judges being bribed for lowering the sentences of criminals.





He is also accused of being the leader of the "White Necks of the Port" criminal organization. Some of the gang's members have already been arrested.




Firefighters from throughout the Western Bay of Plenty have bid farewell to one of their own, forming a motorcade of fire engines as part of a funeral procession for an ex-firefighter.

The occasion caught the attention of Tauranga residents on Friday afternoon, with many stopping to witness the motorcade for Malcolm Walter Langdon, who died on October 14.

Five fire engines and their men from Tauranga and Greerton stations, along with a vintage fire engine from Omokoroa carrying Malcolm, travelled along Cameron Road from 16th Ave to Pyes Pa road.

Mount Maunganui fire station officer Kevin Cowper says for a lifelong member such as Malcolm, the motorcade is standard practice.

He continued to give back to us even after his retirement and we thought supporting him and his family in this way was only appropriate, says Kevin.

Malcolm had been an active member of the New Zealand Fire Service for 47 years, beginning in Hutt Valley before moving to Tauranga for a brief period of time, then to Whangarei, and returning once more to Tauranga where he finally retired.

He was a life-honouring member of our brigade and kept his involvement going even after he had retired including taking on the role of the regional representative in our Firefighter Welfare Society.

He did this right up until last year when he finally stopped, due to his health.

Alongside this, Malcolm was well-known within rugby circles, says Kevin.

He was a keen referee for more than four decades and was well-known to the Tauranga rugby community.

And to add to a long list of community endeavours, Malcolm was also scout leader for a number of years.

A charity page has been created by Malcolms family in his honour, asking that people donate to Scouts New Zealand in lieu of flowers.

All funds will be donated to Scouts NZ to enable young people to experience the adventure of scouting. To donate visit the Good Registry website.
Boaties are being warned to take it easy on the water this Labour Weekend which marks the unofficial start of the summer holiday season.

A number of agencies have gathered at boat ramps in the Western Bay of Plenty today, offering pleasure-craft boaties information on water safety and local regulations.

Those in attendance will include Tauranga and Maketu Coastguards, Police Search and Rescue, the Harbour Master, and the Ministry for Primary Industries.

Western Bay of Plenty Search and Rescue co-ordinator, Sergeant Craig Madden, says the day has been organised due to the high number of fatal marine incidents in the past couple of years.

He says the Western Bay of Plenty has a big influx of holidaymakers, and a large number of them are boaties.

A number of deaths in and on our waters would have been preventable if a higher level of safety was adhered to.

All boaties should have at least two different methods of communication with them, and if one is a cell phone it should be in a water-tight package.

A snap-lock bag is ideal, and you can still use it while its in the bag, he says.

Harbour Master Peter Buell concurs that preparedness is important.

Kapok life jackets  the older-style life jackets that go over the head  are unsafe, and need to be replaced with a more modern alternative. Along with this jet skis should also be registered.

Safety information and advice is freely available from the Harbour Master and Coastguard for new and visiting boaties and water-users.

While on the water you also need two forms of communication, because if you cant be heard you cant be helped, he says.

Simon Baker of Tauranga Coastguard says we all want to see boaties go out and have an enjoyable time on the water, and come home safe at the end of the day.

We want to remind skippers that when crossing a bar, its the skippers responsibility to ensure all passengers wear a life jacket, and its advisable to log a report with Coastguard before and after crossing the bar.

Also, lifejackets must be in good condition, fit for purpose, and correctly fitted.

They can often be your last chance of survival if the worst happens, says Simon.

Boaties are reminded that Coastguard is an organisation run by volunteers and relies on memberships and donations to exist.

Members that need assistance on the water receive it for free, whereas non-members are charged a fee.

MPI Fisheries Officers are also reminding fishers of their catch limits and minimum sizes.

If members of the public see any non-compliance theyre asked to call 0800 4POACHER (0800 476 224).
About 40 Western Bay of Plenty schoolchildren have joined Waikato University scientists, Manaaki Te Awanui, NIWA, DoC and iwi experts for hands-on lessons in marine biosecurity.

The students gathered at Tauranga Bridge Marina to check pest crab traps and study aquatic species alongside scientists from the universitys coastal marine field station.

The culturally-infused programme is part of a biosecurity week events calendar co-ordinated by the newly-launched Tauranga Moana Biosecurity Capital collective.

The two-day iwi-led wananga aims to help young people identify, understand and combat the invasive pest species that threaten the region.

Children from Katikati Primary, Te Puna School, Te Kura o Matapihi,Te Kura Kaupapa o Te Matai and Te Kura o Maketu will also focus on native bush biosecurity threats.

Pupils from all five participating schools are encouraged to share the new knowledge with their whanau and classmates.

In addition each teacher and student has received an education pack from the university so participants can continue being kaitiaki beyond the days activities.

Reon Tuanau, who is overseeing the programme on behalf of Te Rnanga o Ngai Te Rangi Iwi Trust, hopes the Mana Taiao programme will help protect Tauranga Moana from future biosecurity incursions.

Were in a very, very scary time in terms of biosecurity with the invasive species, Reon says. This port is the busiest export port in New Zealand, also weve got a busy airport, so weve got all these threats surrounding us.

We need to work with our rangatahi, our young ones, and we need to start arming them. The day is about passing on knowledge, starting to get them thinking around biosecurity and hopefully, in the years to come, they become the leaders of the future in terms of protecting the taonga that we have here.

Dr Kaeden Leonard, biosecurity specialist at the Coastal Marine Field Station, echoes his biosecurity fears.

There definitely needs to be a lot more education out there with regards to how we could be affected, Kaeden says. It's not just the marine industry. It's all of us. And so these sorts of wananga for our youth are a really important part of our awareness campaign.

The wananga is the result of a collaboration between the University of Waikato and Tauranga Moana iwi, Manaaki Te Awanui, Kiwifruit Vine Health, Dept of Conservation, Predator Free BOP, Manaaki Whenua, Landcare Trust, BOP Regional Council, NIWA and MPI.

University of Waikato marine biology masters student Mel Kellett helps students identify invasive paddle crabs during the Mana Taiao event at the Tauranga Bridge marina.

Matapihi students Nixon Mohi, Moana Dixon, Maikea Williams and Kaya-Rae Donnelly-Reedy analyse their collection of sea life during the Mana Taiao event at the Tauranga Bridge marina.
A police operation targeting child restraints in vehicles has sent a message loud and clear that all kids in vehicles need to be restrained, including goats.

Over the past two days Eastern Bay of Plenty Police carried out an operation which involved checkpoints in Kawerau, Te Teko, Opotiki and Whakatane.

The operation was part of an Eastern Bay of Plenty road safety group initiative and involved Eastbay REAP, Te Puna Ora O Mataatua, East Bay Road Safety and Te Pou Oranga O Whakatohea.

Whakatane road policing constable Marty Sanderson says during the checkpoints an unrestrained goat has been discovered.

It was odd seeing an unrestrained goat in a car, but the good thing was, all the human passengers had seat belts on.

Although its not illegal to have an unrestrained animal in your vehicle, pets should be safely restrained with an appropriate harness or restraint, in a cargo barrier, cage or crate.

Road Policing Team Sergeant Ray Wylie was pleased with how the operation went.

"Faults identified included children not restrained at all, twisted shoulder straps, loosely fitted seats and children in restraints that were the wrong size.

In almost every case where a child was found unrestrained, the driver was wearing a seatbelt.

Police would like to remind drivers that it is their responsibility to ensure children in vehicles up to the age of 15-years-old are correctly restrained, says Sergeant Wylie.

Correct use of a child restraint can be the difference between life and death so its important to regularly check restraints to keep our children safe.

Over the course of the operation, 166 child restraints were inspected by a technician, six child restraints were given to people who needed them and 33 infringement notices were issued, including 15 for child restraint breaches.
The kereru has swooped to glory for the first time in Forest and Birds annual Bird of the Year competition.

Amassing a total of 5833 votes, the kereru, or wood pigeon, whooshed ahead early and managed to maintain a formidable lead to the finish despite strong challenges from the kakapo and the kaki, or black stilt.

The wood pigeons successful 2018 Bird of the Year campaign was led by a team of digital natives, who focused on the birds size and appetite, kicking off a meme war over which native bird is the roundest.

New Zealanders have voted overwhelmingly for change, and the kereru pledges to honour this groundswell of popular opinion and govern for the many, says Team Kereru co-campaigner Tim Onnes.

While the kereru population is classed as stable overall, it is in danger of becoming locally extinct in some areas where there has not been sustained predator control.

The Bird of the Year competition aims to raise awareness of New Zealands unique native birds and the threats they face.

This years competition prompted celebrity endorsements from Stephen Fry for the kakapo, and from comedian Bill Bailey for the takahe.

Bird of the Year also featured on Tinder for the first time, with Shelly the kaki attracting 500 matches across New Zealand.

There was attempted international election fowl-play when IP addresses in Australia sent through more than 300 votes for the shag, and more than 1500 for the kaki.

The competition also transcended the generation divide, with pupils from Bethlehem School in Tauranga making a video in te reo Maori supporting the kakaruia, or black robin, while a postal vote was submitted by an octogenarian who didnt have a computer to vote online.

This years competition was the most popular yet, attracting more than 48,000 votes. It also gained worldwide coverage in The Guardian, the Australian Daily Mail and on CNN.
Bay of Plenty

We are looking for a storeman with an OSH forklift license. You will need to be physically for as the job is about 70% forklift...



View or Apply on GoodWork.co.nz
Just one Canterbury wicket came between Northern Districts and their second win of the Plunket Shield first class cricket season at the end of a dramatic fourth day in Christchurch yesterday.

They were forced to settle for the draw, but it would have been a victory had the new concussion substitute rule for batsmen not come to the home side's aid in the final session.

Canterbury's Ken McClure was struck on the helmet by a Neil Wagner bouncer as they began to look vulnerable after tea, and was replaced by 12th man Theo van Woerkom, as the rule now allows. He it was, along with number 11 Fraser Sheat, who held out for the final seven overs to deny ND the victory.

They had begun the final day setting Canterbury 385 to win with a declaration at 234 for six, after adding a quick 30 runs to their overnight total of 204 for five. They had earlier taken a 150 run first innings lead after rolling the home side for 228 in response to their 378.

ND then promptly got on with the job of running through Canterbury's batting lineup for a second time with two wickets, including Blackcap Tom Latham, back in the shed for 38 runs.

A third wicket partnership of 136, however, between opener Jack Boyle and Blackcap Henry Nicholls turned the game around, and ND's win looked beyond their reach.

But then after tea the game turned again dramatically as ND's international bowling combination of Ish Sodhi and Neil Wagner caused havoc.

Nicholls and Boyle went quickly, then the remainder of the Canterbury lineup could only add 31 more runs between them, including 14 to the concussed McClure.

Sodhi finished with four wickets, and Wagner with three, but that final wicket which would have moved them up from third to top of the Plunket Shield table just wouldn't come.

They now take a break from the four-day competition to kick off the one-day Ford Trophy on Wednesday.

ND travel to Eden Park Outer Oval to take on the Auckland Aces.




Months of training will come to a head for Otumoetai Colleges Caitlin Reid next month, when she takes on 18 of the countrys top spellers to compete for the coveted title of 2018 New Zealand Spelling Bee champion.

Caitlin won her place out of a field of hundreds of Year 9 and 10 students, from more than 100 secondary schools and colleges around New Zealand.

The rigorous competition against the dictionary began with a written classroom test, which identified the top 200 spellers that would go head-to-head in six hotly-contested regional semi-finals around New Zealand.

On November 3, the top students from each region will face off at the tension-filled national final in Wellington, with the winner receiving the Spelling Bee trophy and $5000 towards their academic pursuits.

Now in its 14th year, the New Zealand Spelling Bee, supported by the Wright Family Foundation, is a competitive spelling event aimed at encouraging Year 0 to 10 students to gain a love of the English language.

The programme improves spelling capabilities, comprehension and communication skills.

Spelling Bee founder Janet Lucas is expecting a tough competition  with many of the spellers taking an extremely competitive stance and working hard.

It will be an interesting final, says Janet. There are some amazing spellers - some who are in the final for the second year in a row - and many of them really want to win and have worked hard to get here.

One of the things thats great about the Spelling Bee is that anyone can take part. Money is no barrier, which makes it fair and equal for everyone.

Our sponsorship from the Wright Family Foundation means that the finalists win airfares and accommodation for themselves and a parent or caregiver to travel to the final, so successful students dont have to fundraise to get there.

All the resources are free, so long term our hope is that every school will take part as there is no cost to it. We want it to be accessible to everyone and make it easy for teachers to include spelling in their classroom programme.

Janet says its a fallacy that in the age of spellcheck, knowing how to spell is not important.

Its actually more important than ever, she says. By widening word knowledge, children are better able to understand and enjoy language, be it online, spoken or in print.

Lack of communication skills is at the root of so many problems in society. The Spelling Bee aims to increase vocabulary, leading to effective communication skills and a persons ability to express themselves.

The fact that the Bee grows every year proves the demand for a sport with a more intellectual focus  one that is competitive and challenging in a fun way.

The Bee encompasses two programmes: the New Zealand Classroom Spelling Bee (Years 0 to 8), and the New Zealand Spelling Bee (Years 9 and 10).

The competition has grown significantly since 2014, when the Wright Family Foundation came on board as the programmes sole sponsor.

The foundations support secured the events future, resourcing it so that the programme could be expanded into primary and intermediate schools. About 800 primary and intermediate schools now sign up every year.
Some diners thought that because nine and ten-year-olds were cooking, theyd be getting fairy bread and sausage rolls.

But executive chef and senior head teacher Ben Brock and his Ruapehu Restaurant crew of 150 Greenpark School kids defied the doubters and wowed the critics with a tantalising eating experience  pumpkin or leak and potato soup, vegetable curry or beef lasagna, chocolate brownies and lemon drizzle cake.

Diners judged with their wallets. They paid what they thought the meal was worth. When we were given the first $50 note, I was shocked and surprised.

And after a week of shocks and surprises, Greenpark Schools restaurant turned over $2500 for a school trip  far more than they ever expected.

It might have been easier to hold a sausage sizzle, a garage sale or a mufti day, but not as much fun, says Ben of an enterprise he was warned off.

Its fraught with difficulties they told him, everything and anything could go wrong. But it didnt, and 150 kids spent a day having surf lessons at the beach as a result.

It just made education and teaching more exciting and more real life for everyone, he says.

Nothing breeds success quite like success, so this year, Greenpark is boldly rebranding the Ruapehu Restaurant and lending a touch more cultural flair and sophistication to the menu.

The whets are rustic vegetable soup and pork sliders with homemade coleslaw, a very Moroccan vegetable terrine with couscous or chorizo, and broccoli pasta with cheese sauce.

The popularity of the Brownie ensured its return  the only item on the 2017 menu to do so  and theres also lemon curd cake.

There was confusion over the name Ruapehu  the peak is 250 kilometres away and cant even be seen from Greenpark Schools flash kitchen. So Ruapehu becomes Ngaru.

Its Maori for a wave you can surf, explains Ben. The idea is that surfing is relaxing and we want Ngaru to be a relaxing place where people dine.

Ngaru follows on from a dinner party held at school where kids brought prepared food from home and invited teachers as guests.

But they wanted to make it bigger, brighter and bolder, and when they opened their flash new kitchen facility, a restaurant became a natural progression.

The idea of kids running a restaurant means people dont have very high expectations, says Ben. If you achieve greatness you have been very successful. But if you achieve the expectations of the kids then you have also been successful, so its a no-lose situation. And you make money  so its win-win.

But this is not just about the restaurant. Theres a whole terms worth of learning involved, including all of the writing, reading and math thats been based around this venture, as well as the menu, the provisioning and budgets.

Its been a full learning experience, says Ben, and the kids who did it last year are still talking about it. They are really excited for the 150 kids involved with this years restaurant.

Ben was a deputy principal in England, then a principal here in New Zealand before deciding his calling was in the classroom with the kids. Thats what I love about education here, he explains. The UK is far more prescriptive, but here we are able to take what we need to teach and be more adventurous in how we apply it.

The Ngaru Restaurant opens on Monday, but unfortunately it has been overwhelmed by its own success. It has been swamped with bookings from parents and the local community. We could have filled each table ten times over, says Ben. We cant open to the general public - we dont have the space.

Fortunately, this reporter has scored himself a booking for a special dining experience. He will report back with his critique. Also, fortunately, 150 Greenpark kids will be getting a special beach experience before Christmas.
 Flash

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang pledged on Friday joint efforts between his country and Greece to push for new achievements in practical cooperation marked by port projects in Piraeus.









Li made the remarks when meeting with his Greek counterpart, Alexis Tsipras, on the sidelines of the 12th Asia-Europe Meeting Summit in Brussels.





Li called Greece a reliable friend and partner of China and said China has attached great importance to its relations with Greece.





He said the Chinese side is happy to see the end of Greece's bailout program and that the country has opened a new chapter in socio-economic development.





China is ready to join efforts with Greece to intensify high-level exchanges, deepen mutually beneficial cooperation, and achieve mutually beneficial and win-win results, so as to lift their comprehensive strategic partnership to a new level, he said.





The Chinese side is willing to work with Greece to implement the cooperation agreement on the construction of the Belt and Road, Li said.





China, Li pledged, will encourage its capable enterprises to invest and develop in Greece, increase imports of Greece's competitive agro-products and deepen financial cooperation with the country based on the principles of commercialization and sustainability.





As countries with ancient civilizations, China and Greece should continue to enhance dialogue between different civilizations, blaze the trail for the diversified development of human civilization, and create a lasting impetus for mutual understanding and common development between the two countries, Li said.





Tsipras said the dialogue and cooperation between Greece and China are far-reaching, as both are countries with ancient civilizations that have made significant contributions to oriental and western civilizations.





China has stood together with Greece in times of difficulty, he said, adding that his country is now striving to advance socio-economic development, which produces vast room for Greek and China to carry out mutually beneficial cooperation.





The Greek side believes that the port projects in Piraeus will drive Greece-China cooperation in logistics and connectivity, and is ready to take this opportunity to strengthen bilateral cooperation and exchanges in economy, trade and investment within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative, to achieve common prosperity, he said.




ShoppingTown Mall's owners filed a lawsuit late Thursday night in state Supreme Court asking a judge to stop Onondaga County from seizing the mall for back taxes.

ShoppingTown owes $7.74 million in back taxes, and was originally scheduled to be auctioned Monday.

The county Legislature voted Oct. 9 not to auction the mall for back taxes, and instead to turn it over to the Onondaga County Industrial Development Agency, who would seek someone to redevelop the property.

ShoppingTown Mall's owners -Moonbeam Capital Investments LLC - allege that the proposed transfer to OCIDA is illegal and violates tax law, according to the lawsuit.

The owners also said they should have two years to redeem a property that has been sold at auction, and this move would prevent them from doing that, the papers say.

Onondaga County Legislature Chairman Ryan McMahon said Friday night the county's position remains the same.

Supreme Court Justice Gregory Gilbert denied ShoppingTown's request for an immediate injunction, but scheduled a hearing for Nov. 1.

However, ShoppingTown's owners are appealing the judge's ruling this Sunday, according to McMahon.
Dramatically forceful and robustly performed, Syracuse Opera's production of Giuseppe Verdi's "Macbeth" carries the weight of centuries filled with greed and gore. It is the perfect season opener, presenting a solid cast of spectacular vocal artists and evoking the eerie milieu of Halloween,

Innovative director R. B. Schlather intrepidly strips away all but the essentials to convey the corruption of political tyranny and the morbid conflicts of a greedy, power-hungry middle-aged couple. Details essential to the story arc, however, are never overlooked: helium-filled balloons float skyward to signal the death of King Duncan; pumpkins are eviscerated to foreshadow the brutality to come; glaring lights symbolize the flaming cauldron. Schlather's interpretation highlights the timeless nature of the story and emphasizes its relevance to ancient Scotland, 19th century Italy, and 21st century America.

The "Scottish Play," the first of three Shakespeare works Verdi set as operas, summonses witches and prophecies to tell the 11th century story of Macbeth and Banquo, generals in King Duncan's army. In the opening scene, they learn from witches that Macbeth will be king and Duncan will be the ancestor of kings. Macbeth's wife, having heard of the prophesy, plots the murder of Duncan just to make sure her ambitions for Macbeth to claim the throne are realized. The intrigue continues and blood flows freely as Macbeth wallows in guilt, and Lady plots more atrocities until her death by her own hand in Act IV.

Luis Ledesma sings Macbeth in tones as rich, smooth, and zesty as the chocolate-chili sauce of his Mexican homeland. Known for his operatic and concert stage performances, he is an experienced performer of Italian opera whose expressive baritone communicates the depth of anguish his character suffers.

Ledesma's dramatic voice is especially breathtaking in the Act III fainting scene, as he learns the news that Banquo's son will survive, a threat to his own rise to power. His final scene aria, when Macbeth acknowledges his failure and laments that his legacy will only be bitter curses, is emotionally dense, conveying at once the bogus king's false bravado and his ultimate despair.

Alexandra Deshorties brings her own special brand of chilling terror--suitable for Syracuse's Fright Night at the Fair--to her role as Lady. Macbeth's wife is no lady in the societal sense and, in fact, she begs to be relieved of her feminine qualities so she can be as ruthless as a warrior. Sopranos know that 34-year-old Verdi was not looking for bel canto lyricism when he envisioned this mad, ambitious wife. His score demands dark, diabolical tones and alarming passion, and this Lady fulfills those demands

Deshorties powerfully delivers her boisterous brindisi, or drinking song, in Act II, which is all the audience needs in order to grasp the artistic discipline behind her performance. She plays a vigorous, physical Lady Macbeth, always dominating her husband in gesture and stance. In the famous Act IV sleepwalking scene, Deshorties mesmerizes the audience as she curses the blood stains that won't be washed away. Hers is a talent that has already taken her to the world's most notable opera houses and concert halls; it was a privilege to see her in this demanding role in her recently adopted hometown of Syracuse.

For cathartic heartbreak amidst all the rage, Dominic Armstrong's affecting portrayal of Macduff conjures pathos in the opening scene of the final act, as he mourns the murders of his wife and children. The audience's applause affirms the beauty of his lyrical tenor. Italian bass Paolo Pecchioli, making his debut with Syracuse Opera in the role of Banquo, is captivating with his dark, enveloping voice and charismatic stage presence.

Hailed as a natural talent, Angolian tenor Nelson Ebo animates the role of Malcolm, the rightful leader, who returns to ascend to the throne of Scotland. Ebo's vocal purity, physical strength and commanding stage presence make him a natural monarch.

Paul Tate DePoo's scenic designs and JAX Messenger's lighting are stark--a few jack-o-lanterns and some picnic tables, with mostly white spotlights to flood the stage with contrast for mood and depth. Kitschy, contemporary costumes that hint at trips to the thrift store are Schlather's design, coordinated by Jody Luce.

The ensemble chorus, Richard Crawley chorus master, and the chorus of witches, as well as local children, provide essential story support. The chorus is brilliant after Duncan's death and in the final, victorious scene.

Symphoria musicians contribute rich intensity to the production, with Christian Capocaccia, their associate conductor and the artistic director of Syracuse Opera, leading them in a vigorous interpretation of Verdi's score. Capocaccia, a native of Rome, Italy, who has earned international acclaim, has established a sense of intimate communication with the orchestra that translates into a seamless, nuanced, and powerful performance.

With his wife, Deshorties, in a lead role and his 6-year-old son as Fleance, surviving son of Banquo, Capocaccia has made his first performance as artistic director a family affair.

THE DETAILS:

Who: Syracuse Opera with Symphoria and Syracuse Opera Chorus

What: Verdi's "Macbeth"

Where: Crouse-Hinds Theater, John H. Mulroy Civic Center

When: Reviewed Oct. 19; plays again Oct. 21 at 2 p.m.

Of Interest: Free conductor's talk for ticket holders one hour prior to curtain

Running Time: Approximately 2 hours 10 minutes with one 20-minute intermission

Language: Sung in Italian with projected surtitles in English

Tickets: From $26; students, $10; season tickets still available

Purchase: online at syracuseopera.org or by phone at 315-476-73


Gov. Andrew Cuomo has had eight years in office, and all the successes and failures that come with it. Before voters decide whether to give him four more years, they deserve to hear the governor defend his record.



Cuomo should drop his reluctance and onerous demands, and agree to debate his four challengers in front of a statewide audience.



As of this writing, less than three weeks before Election Day on Nov. 6, Cuomo has not agreed to either of the two debate offers on the table - an Oct. 24 event hosted by Spectrum's NY1 in New York City, and a League of Women Voters of New York event in Albany during the last week of October.



Why not? So far, Cuomo hasn't provided a credible answer.



We're not the only ones asking. The New York Post dressed Cuomo in a chicken suit and put him on the front page two days running. Pressed about it during a WCBS radio interview Friday, the governor grudgingly offered to a one-on-one debate with Republican candidate Marc Molinaro at 8 a.m. Saturday on the same radio station. Molinaro blasted the offer as a "fraud" and rejected it. He later countered with an offer to debate Cuomo if it were on a weekday and TV cameras were present.



And what about the other candidates for governor -- former Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner, Howie Hawkins of the Green Party and Libertarian Larry Sharpe? Cuomo's offer of a one-on-one appearance with Molinaro is a turnabout from eight years ago, when he insisted all seven candidates be present. The "Rent is Too Damn High" party's Jimmy McMillan stole the show.



The 2018 debate drama is nonsense. First, Cuomo relishes verbal combat. Second, if you believe the polls and take a reading of the campaign accounts of the other candidates, the governor has little to fear from them. It's true, the incumbent also has little to gain from letting his challengers take their best shots. Cuomo should do it anyway. That's the price of seeking elective office.



We urge Cuomo to debate his challengers. Refusing to debate, or setting impossible conditions, will say to New York voters: The governor is above criticism. He does not respect his opponents. He takes your votes for granted.





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A Watertown charter boat captain's huge channel catfish that he caught this year has been recognized as a world record for the longest for that species by the International Game Fish Association.

The Florida-based Association this week began listing Capt. Eric Scordo's 83-centimeter (32.6 inch) catch on their website. It's listed under the "all-tackle, length" category

Scordo caught the fish on May 18 on Lake Ontario near Chaumont Bay using cut bait. It was released after it was measured.

"I had to take pictures of it on the measuring device to be official," he said.

Scordo also holds the state record for a channel catfish that he caught last year on Chaumont Bay on Apri. 2017. The fish weighed 35-pounds, 3 ounces and measured nearly 40 inches. He did not have an official IGFA measuring device at the time, thus it was ineligible for an IGFA record.

Scordo with his world record catfish that he landed this spring.

New York State fishing records are determined by weight, not length. Scordo said his New York State record actually beat the previous world record length by about 7 inches.

Reached on Friday, Scordo told NYUP.com, "Just got the official paperwork today. It's pretty neat seeing Lake Ontario having a world record swimming around in it."

Scordo, who runs NNY Catfish Hunter Charters, predicted "I'm going to smash this (IGFA) record again this spring."

"Since I was 12 and hooked my first one, I never looked back. They're one of the strongest fish you'll ever catch in Lake Ontario," he added.

He said that in addition to his charter boat business, Scordo has earned his United States Coast Guard license for captaining a tour boat during the summer.

"These are things I've always thought I wanted to accomplish, but never thought I would," he said. "I've very thankful and blessed."

Scordo said he practices catch and release with any fish weighing more than 20 pounds when he takes clients out.

He said he'll begin his charters again for catfish outings next spring. He wanted to thank everyone who supported him up to this point "in my quest to make people realize what a great fish and how much fun it is to catch these beasts."
In the first issue of the abolitionist newspaper The Liberator, published in 1831, William Lloyd Garrison articulated a notion that would colour anti-slavery discourse for generations to come: Enslave the liberty of but one human being and the liberties of the world are put in peril.

Almost 200 years after these poignant ruminations, however, the idea that we live the society sketched by Garrison, one free from institutionalised exploitation, is but a comforting facade. For many, slavery is not a distant historical tragedy or a meaningless abstraction, but rather a very real spectre that haunts their daily existence. Slavery may have changed its forms, but its actuality is undeniable. From forced labour and debt bondage to human trafficking and drug cartels, slavery in our modern age remains both rife and systematic. According to UN estimates from last year, 40 million people in the world are subjected to modern slavery, with almost a quarter of these being children and over 70% females.

And yet, however abstract and detached modern-day slavery may seem, this barbaric yet lucrative trade has in fact crossed into the streets of Cambridge. Indeed, last years National Crime Agencys report show that in Cambridgeshire there were a total of 25 cases of modern-day slavery. The general categories were those of labour and sexual exploitation, with two of the victims being younger than 18. At the beginning of October local police safeguarded nine women and arrested four individuals after uncovering a case of exploitative sex work in the city.

The Global Slavery Index estimates that there are roughly 136,000 individuals experiencing a form of modern slavery in the UK at present, with roughly 1,600 cases being referred to the government between April and June of this year. International human trafficking, moreover, remains a harrowingly expansive trade. The US Department of State estimates that 600,000 to 820,000 individuals are trafficked across international borders each year.

Modern slavery shows itself in a number of different forms including forced labour and sexual exploitation where women are taken and deceived, and abused, says Kathy Betteridge, director of the Salvation Armys anti-trafficking and modern slavery unit.

On October 20th, for the first time in recent history, Cambridge students will be participating in a Walk for Freedom. The city can expect to see the participants, clad in black, traverse the town centre, walking in single-file, holding posters and handing out flyers. It is part of an international campaign spearheaded by the global anti-trafficking organisation, A21, that mobilises tens of thousands each year for a fundraising and awareness. The organisers argue that by acting locally, we will have an impact globally.

Kathy Betteridge recognized that in the UK awareness and understanding of modern slavery are increasing leading to more active enforcement agencies.

We are convinced that if we do this together, if we keep showing up, if we continue to be tenacious, if we continue to turn up with strength, numbers, and courage, then we can see slavery eradicated in our lifetime, says Christine Caine, A21s Founder.

Phrases like slavery and human trafficking can still feel ambiguous. This is the reality: slavery is violence. Its physical, verbal, and sexual abuse. Its the illegal trade of human beings
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This story was originally published on LinuxInsider on June 21, 2018, and is brought to you today as part of our Best of ECT News series.

The 2018 Open Source Technology Jobs Report shows rapid growth in the demand for open source technical talent, with Linux skills a must-have requirement for entry-level positions.

The seventh annual report from The Linux Foundation and Dice, released Wednesday, identifies Linux coding as the most sought-after open source skill. Linux-based container technology is a close second.

The report provides an overview of open source career trends, factors motivating professionals in the industry, and ways employers attract and retain qualified talent. As with the last two open source jobs reports, the focus this year is on all aspects of open source software and is not limited to Linux.

This years report features data from more than 750 hiring managers at corporations, small and medium businesses, and government organizations and staffing agencies across the globe. It is based on responses from more than 6,500 open source professionals worldwide.

Linux skills rank as the most sought-after skills in the 2018 report, with 80 percent of hiring managers looking for tech professionals with Linux expertise.

Linux is required knowledge for most entry-level open source careers, likely due to the strong popularity of cloud and container technologies, as well as DevOps practices, all of which typically are based on Linux, according to the report.

Open source technology talent is in high demand, as Linux and other open source software dominates software development, said Linux Foundation Executive Director Jim Zemlin.

I am encouraged that companies are recognizing more and more each day that open source technology is the way to advance their businesses, he continued. The Linux Foundation, our members and the open source ecosystem are focused on ensuring training and certification opportunities are highly accessible to everyone who wants to seek them out, and we are supporting the developer community and its growth in every possible way.

Bolstered Recruitment Efforts

There has been an increase in recruitment activities among companies and organizations that want to bolster open source technology talent, the report reveals.

Slightly more than half (55 percent) of the responding companies said they were offering additional training and certification opportunities for existing staff in order to fill skills gaps. That total is up from 47 percent in 2017 and only 34 percent in 2016.

Eighty-seven percent of hiring managers reported difficulty finding open source talent. Nearly half (48 percent) reported their organizations had begun to support open source projects by contributing code or other resources for the explicit reason of recruiting individuals with those software skills.

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

Hiring skilled technology professionals remains a real pain point for employers, and our report shows newer skills like containers are growing in popularity, putting more pressure on organizations to find good talent to carry out necessary projects, said Art Zeile, CEO of DHI Group, the parent company of Dice.

Important Takeaways

There appears to be a disparity between the views of hiring managers and open source pros over the effectiveness of ongoing efforts to improve diversity. Only 52 percent of employees saw those efforts as effective, compared to 70 percent of employers, the report found.

Other findings:

Hiring open source talent was a priority for 83 percent of hiring managers, an increase from 76 percent in 2017.

Containers have been growing rapidly in popularity and importance, with 57 percent of hiring managers seeking container expertise, up from only 27 percent last year.

Hiring managers have been moving away from hiring outside consultants, increasingly opting to train existing employees on new open source technologies and help them gain certifications.

Many organizations have been getting involved in open source with the express purpose of attracting developers.

Sound Business Strategy

Demand for open source talent is high because more companies have begun embracing open source technologies for next-generation workloads and applications, said Ian McClarty, CEO of Phoenix Data Center.

Business leaders see open source as a way to rein in licensing costs, and technologist are enamored with new ways to deploy code and systems in a scale-out fashion, he suggested.

The big push into cloud services and virtualization has also helped to drive adoption of open source technologies, McClarty told LinuxInsider. Developers want rapid systems to deploy in, and do not want to wait around for purchasing and logistics to take care of their needs.

IT has changed from driving the bottom line to driving the top line for enterprises. Most new applications are developed and built using the DevOps model, according to Brajesh Goyal, vice president of engineering at Cavirin.

This movement was driven by new-generation companies such as Google, Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest and Twitter, he noted.

In addition to changing the business landscape, these companies also built the next set of tools for big data, cloud, AI/machine learning and containers, Goyal told LinuxInsider. All of these technologies are mostly open source. [They] are now entering the scale of massive adoption across the business landscape and hence driving the need for open source talent.

High Demand Is Catching

Two of the leading reasons for open sources growing popularity are its effectiveness in improving time to market and in developing base software.

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

It is the way most new software is being built, particularly infrastructure software that is broadly applicable across many industries and use cases, said Howard Green, vice president of marketing at Azul Systems.

People who work on open source projects on their own time typically are willing to give their creativity and their work to the community. Almost any business that plans to survive wants motivated, creative people.

That includes people who are excited enough about what they do to work on their own open source projects and make their skills and ideas directly visible to their peers, Green told LinuxInsider.

Demand for open source talent increases because open source has become the most relevant way of producing base software, noted Stefano Maffulli, director of community for Scality.

Open source powers everything, he pointed out.

Software drives innovation, and the productivity of whole nations depends on it, Maffulli told LinuxInsider. According to a Black Duck report, 57 percent of proprietary codebase includes open source code, up from 36 percent last year. I expect that percentage to keep on rising.

Hiring Practice Insights

Companies and job candidates can take steps to benefit from the report findings. The key is to leverage their interest in open source.

Companies can take advantage of this trend by being clear that they support open source technologies [and] use them, noted Azuls Green.

Most newer open source technologies are not available via traditional certification means. The easiest way to get into the open source field is to get a virtual instance in one of the many public cloud companies that are out there  it isnt just about the hyper scalers, he said.

There are excellent documentation and videos readily available for beginners. Most open source software has toasters available that are step-by-step guides on how to configure, install and test, Green pointed out.

Finding a small project to apply the knowledge gained is also critical, he continued. The just do it mentality married with a small project will give someone the necessary foundation to open up a new career field in their daily operations, and value people who also work on their own projects and/or contribute to larger-scale projects.

Very large enterprises and early-stage companies often hire people full-time, with their sole responsibility being to contribute to a high-value open source technology, Green said.

Job candidates can respond to this trend by walking the walk. They can do this by contributing to one or more open source projects they care about. Another strategy is to learn how to make the best use of todays powerful open source technologies.

In the case of applications ranging from databases to development tools to messaging stacks, understand the tradeoffs between specific open source offerings and their closed-source analogues, advised Green.

Developers and engineers interested in working on open source projects and tools can enter the field by demonstrating value within an existing community. Or they can build open source products or tools of their own.

The great thing about open source is that quality of the design and the code is visible, noted Green. It is a living CV. Open source contributions and developers are by their nature visible, verifiable and stand on their own.

Schooling and Professionalism Matter

Technical schools need to start teaching social skills to engineers, suggested Scalitys Muffulli.

The old stereotype of the lone open source coder in the basement is not accurate anymore, he said. With so much code and documentation being developed in the open, across cultural boundaries, developers cannot avoid human interactions.

In my job, a lot of effort is spent explaining how to craft comments to a pull request that is not offensive and can lead to actual progress. It should not be surprising, but candidates that are pleasant human beings have a better chance of being hired, Muffulli observed.

Presentation skills are important to new developers, he added. Be ready to show equally good code, well-done documentation, and social interactions on platforms like mailing lists, GitHub, forums and the like. [Candidates] need to demonstrate that they can develop and solve issues in a collaborative environment.

A Different Path

Most newer open source technologies are not available via traditional certification means, according to Phoenix Data Centers McClarty.

The easiest way to get into the open source field is to get a virtual instance in one of the many public cloud companies, he suggested.

For job candidates, its a no-brainer: Learn open source software, said Kaj Arno, chief evangelist at MariaDB.

Document your usage through certification  and if you are into developing open source infrastructure software yourself, start by writing contributions to existing open source software, he advised.

Almost all of our developers started out that way, Arno told LinuxInsider.

The key is to learn, certify and develop by contributing. Then decide whether a career in open source means a career in developing applications that are based on open source, or a career in developing open source software, he suggested. Those are two different things, albeit related.
Why it matters: After the European Commission declared Googles practice of bundling Google Chrome and Google Search with Android illegal, Google said theyd have to charge manufacturers to include all Google apps on their phones. Turns out theyre charging lots, and companies will have to pay up to be able to include the Play Store and other essential apps or simply bundle Chrome and Search anyway.

The European Commissions decision was based on the fact that all phone manufacturers are basically forced to include Google Chrome and Search as default apps in order to use Googles free Android operating system. By unbundling them, it theoretically creates a competitive market for default browsers and search engines allowing companies to choose and negotiate. This should mean that consumers receive better apps on their devices, but it probably wont change anything.

As documents uncovered by The Verge reveal, the Google Mobile Services bundle that companies will be able to purchase to preinstall on their phones include the Play Store, YouTube, Maps, Gmail, News, Drive, Calendar and many more. It doesnt appear to include Chrome or Search. The cost of this bundle is based on three tiers of country and three tiers of device: for the highest tier of country; including the UK, Sweden, the Netherlands, Norway and Germany; Google will charge $40 for phones with over 500ppi, $20 for phones with a PPI between 400 and 500, and $10 for phones below 400ppi.

But Google isnt actually expecting any manufacturer to just pay up, in fact, they dont even want them to.

Google seems to expect people with more money to spend on a phone to be happier to pay for their apps: the highest tier countries are at the top of the list of highest GDPs per capita, and PPI (pixels per inch) appears to be a proxy for the cost of the phone. Thats not a particularly effective proxy, however, as so many budget phones have such high-resolution screens.

In the lowest tier of countries, the bundle can be as cheap as $2.50, and theres a different system for tablets that doesnt take the country into account and maxes out at $20. Thats all the pricing details currently revealed. An anonymous source familiar with the matter told The Verge that negotiation is possible, but manufacturers are unlikely to get the prices down much.

But Google isnt actually expecting any manufacturer to just pay up, in fact, they dont even want them to. This whole thing is just a way for Google to avoid another $5 billion fine while continuing to bundle their apps with Android. They want manufacturers to sign on to a different deal: one that includes their Google Mobile Services bundle and Google Chrome and Search  the two apps that Google makes basically all their app revenue from.

While specific details arent known, this deal will be substantially cheaper. Manufacturers will even receive a percentage of the profits from Google Chrome if they place it on the home screen, just like they do now. Technically, no Google apps require being preinstalled as they can all be downloaded through a web browser, but it is substantially more convenient if they are preinstalled. Its expected that most companies will decide to go this route.

If you live outside Europe, this wont affect you at all. If you live in Europe, it seems this wont affect you either. Googles new bundling scheme will come into effect on February 1st, 2019. Google declined to comment.
Antarctica is singing. Scientists found that one of the world's biggest slabs of ice is producing an almost continuous series of tones.

The phenomenon was observed by accident at the Ross Ice Shelf. Scientists who were monitoring the vibrations of the largest ice shelf within the continent were "stunned" to discover the low hum caused by the wind blowing over its snow dunes.

A study that discusses the seismic noise created by the Ross Ice Shelf was published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters of the American Geophysical Union.

The Singing Ice Shelf

Unfortunately, the gentle song of the ice shelf is too low for the human ears to hear  the sound registers at about >5 Hz frequency. To "listen" to the seismic tones of the Ross Ice Shelf, scientists buried sensitive sensors beneath the ice surface. A sped-up recording of the hum was released by the American Geophysical Union on its social media pages (watch below).

"It's kind of like you're blowing a flute, constantly, on the ice shelf," described geophysicist Julien Chaput, the lead author of the study.

The low hum of the Ross Ice Shelf is produced when the wind blows across the snow dunes, causing the surface to vibrate and produce a seismic tone only sensitive machines can detect. Scientists were at the site to study the low-frequency vibrations caused by earthquakes and ocean waves. However, upon closer look, they discovered that the surface of the ice sheet is constantly vibrating.

They also found that the hum of the ice shelf changed according to weather conditions. When there is a strong storm blowing wind over the surface of the ice shelf and rearranging the snow layer over it, the ice vibrates at different frequencies. The air temperature also affects how fast the seismic waves travel through the snow on the surface. The scientists compare the process to a musician changing the pitch of a note on a flute by altering the speed of air flow or picking which hole the air exits.

"Either you change the velocity of the snow by heating or cooling it, or you change where you blow on the flute, by adding or destroying dunes," explained Chaput. "And that's essentially the two forcing effects we can observe."

Diagnosing The Ross Ice Shelf

The researchers hope that the changes to the ice shelf's seismic hum could reveal new details about the ice shelf, specifically if it is in danger of breaking apart.

The Ross Ice Shelf is the biggest slab of ice in Antarctica. It measures at about 487,000 square-kilometers or about the size of Texas and France. It also plays an important role in stabilizing the ice sheet in the continent and acts as a "cork" that prevent inland glaciers from melting into the ocean.

Because of global warming, ice sheets in Antarctica are growing thinner. Some have retreated or even collapsed due to the rising ocean and warming temperature.

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
WASHINGTON  Theres an all-out battle raging over control of Congress as the midterm elections loom, with Democrats  backed by record fundraising and grassroots anger at President Donald Trump  seeking to storm back to power.

Back home in Louisiana, though, things are a lot quieter.

If any of Louisianas incumbent congressmen  five Republicans and a lone Democrat  get knocked off in November, itll drop the collective jaws of pundits and rank among the biggest Louisiana political upsets in recent memory.

National Democratic groups have put more than 100 of the chambers 435 seats on a battleground list of competitive races and publicly targeted roughly 90 Republican-held seats in their effort to flip control of the House of Representatives.

None are in Louisiana.

Forecasters, national political reporters and pollsters are likewise ignoring the Bayou State. The nonpartisan Cook Political Report lists all six of Louisianas House seats as safe. So too do fellow election forecasting outfits like Inside Elections, FiveThirtyEight and the University of Virginia-based newsletter Sabatos Crystal Ball.

It does seem to conflict with what we hear nationally. Theres a lot of excitement about the midterms, theres more competitive seats nationally than usual, said Mike Henderson, the director of LSUs Public Policy Research Lab. So theres that story nationally but were not experiencing any of that here.

It would take an act of God to put any of Louisianas congressmen in danger of being unseated, said David Wasserman, who analyzes House races for the Cook Political Report. Wasserman gave a blunt no when asked if he could imagine a scenario where Democrats flipped a Republican-held Louisiana seat.

The Democratic wave will not go to Louisiana this year, said Leah Askarinam, a reporter and analyst with Inside Elections. It might go to Texas, parts of Florida, it might even hit the Georgia governors race. I cant think of any races in Louisiana that would tip.

Pretty safe is how U.S. Rep. Steve Stivers, R-Ohio, summed up the standing of Republican incumbents in Louisiana.

Stivers, the chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, the campaign wing of the House GOP, said he doesnt expect to spend a dime of his money on races in Louisiana this year unless something drastic happens.

I dont think were going to pick up any seats in Louisiana, Stivers said, making a concession to the formidable position of U.S. Rep. Cedric Richmond, D-New Orleans, in an overwhelmingly Democratic district that Hillary Clinton carried by more than 50 percentage points, but I dont think were going to lose any either.

The outcome of the November elections could have significant implications for Louisiana  and for House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, a Jefferson Parish Republican whos eyeing a potential major promotion to majority leader or even speaker if his party can hold the chamber.

Scalise has crisscrossed the country to campaign for potentially embattled Republican members of Congress and posted record-breaking fundraising hauls.

Although Scalise faces challengers on the Nov. 6 ballot, including from several fired-up Democrats, hes widely seen by strategists and pundits as a lock to coast to victory in his deep-red district. No opponent has come within 40 percentage points of Scalise in his four previous races.

Nationally, Democrats have put up a significant fundraising edge over Republicans, with upstart candidates bringing in millions of dollars even in seats considered long shots for Democrats.

That same dynamic hasnt played out in Louisiana, where all six incumbents hold sizable fundraising leads over their competitors. The brief exception was in Louisianas 3rd Congressional District, where first-term Republican Rep. Clay Higgins of Port Barre briefly fell behind Republican rival Josh Guillory, a Lafayette attorney, in fundraising late last year. Higgins, though, has since passed Guillory by posting several six-figure quarterly hauls.

A review of federal campaign finance filings shows only relatively minor contributions from deep-pocketed political action committees and few of the major investments in advertisements and direct mailers outside groups have pumped into competitive House and Senate races.

The national parties have dispatched top talent to Louisiana for fundraisers  such as Vice President Mike Pence, who visited New Orleans in August  but have spent much of the collected cash elsewhere.

Republicans and Democrats pretty much only come to Louisiana to pick up checks, said Pearson Cross, a political science professor at the University of Louisiana in Lafayette.

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The Trump factor

Republican members of Congress whose constituents voted for Clinton are among Democrats top targets this year. But those sorts of mismatches dont exist in Louisiana, said LSUs Henderson.

In 2016, all the incumbent congressmen won by large margins and their same party won the presidential race in their district by a large margin, Henderson said.

John Couvillon, a Louisiana-based pollster, said Trumps approval ratings have remained high among voters in all five Republican congressional districts  and have remained dismally low in the states lone Democratic district, which includes much of the urban cores of New Orleans and Baton Rouge.

The GOP-held seats Democrats are threatening this year are largely in affluent suburbs where once-reliable Republican voters turned against Trump in 2016. There, election analysts said, the presidents unpopularity appears to be pushing highly educated moderate Republicans away from the party.

The most telling indicator of whether a district will be competitive is Trumps performance in the district in 2016 and there werent any districts in Louisiana that were remotely close, said Wasserman with the Cook Political Report. Louisianas particularly extreme but we can observe similar phenomena in Alabama and Mississippi.

Rural areas  which make up the majority of most Louisiana congressional districts  have tilted increasingly toward Republicans in recent years. In rural Louisiana, Trumps approval ratings among generally conservative white voters remain high.

In Louisiana, rural white voters tend to be far more conservative  and have become increasingly reliably Republican in recent years  and outnumber a sizable minority of mostly black Democratic voters.

Redistricting safe seats

Louisiana midterms havent always been so sleepy. But the current lines dividing the state into six congressional districts give Republicans and Democrats overwhelming control of their seats, analysts said.

Several said only a remarkably flawed candidate could potentially swing partisan voters to knock off the dominant party in one of Louisianas heavily partisan congressional districts, pointing to Alabama, where Roy Moore, a twice-impeached former Alabama Supreme Court justice who lost a deep-red Senate seat to Democrat Doug Jones in 2017 while facing numerous allegations of sexual misconduct.

The stench of corruption in 2008 from U.S. Rep. Bill Jefferson, a New Orleans Democrat then under federal indictment and later convicted, led voters in his heavily Democratic majority black congressional seat to narrowly pick a Republican  Joseph Cao  instead.

Cao lasted only one term. Richmond, the current incumbent, beat him by more than 30 points in 2010.

But none of the six incumbents this year have faced any comparable scandals or allegations. And even if they did, its possible that partisan voters could cast out the crooks by voting for another candidate from the same party on Louisianas wide-open jungle primary ballot, said Cross, the Lafayette political scientist.

The lines didnt necessarily have to be drawn that way, Henderson said. Democrats have consistently carried about 40 percent of the vote in statewide races over the past decade but the party holds only one in six  or 17 percent  of the states congressional seats.

Those Democratic voters  mostly black  are heavily concentrated in Richmonds district, which includes most of New Orleans and then stretches up the Mississippi River to include much of north Baton Rouge.

The current lines were locked in under former GOP Gov. Bobby Jindal and a majority Republican state Legislature during the once-a-decade redistricting process in 2010.

Among the changes? Black Democratic voters in Baton Rouge whod cast ballots in an increasingly competitive Republican-held 6th Congressional District around Baton Rouge  then represented by Bill Cassidy and now held by Garret Graves  were shifted into Richmonds district to make up for post-Katrina population losses in New Orleans.

The state will redraw its congressional districts again after the 2020 Census. A competitive set of state legislative races in 2019  along with Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards re-election bid  means voters next year will decide how much power each political party will hold.

For Louisiana Democrats hoping to flip a U.S. House seat and the Republicans playing defense, it might well be 2019  not the 2018 midterms  that matter the most.

I think thats actually the most important Louisiana election on the horizon, said Askarinam.
The Lafayette City-Parish Council chairman on Friday shot back at Mayor-President Joel Robideaux the day after the mayor-president publicly opposed new property tax measures on the Nov. 6 ballot.

Council Chairman Kevin Naquin questioned why Robideaux would suddenly air his last-minute opposition on a radio program, given that the mayor-president has been mum on the tax proposals in the five months since the council voted 5-4 to place them on the upcoming ballot.

+17 Lafayette City-Parish Council approves property tax ballot measures Lafayette voters will be making a decision on Nov. 6 whether to approve two new property taxes to help fund the parish courthouse and jail.

Hes a leader in the community, Naquin said in an interview. I think if thats how he felt, that should have been expressed the night of the meeting, and before the meeting.

The property taxes proposed for the Lafayette Parish jail and courthouse are meant to relieve the beleaguered parish general fund, which is tapped every year to make up for shortfalls in existing taxes for the court and jail. That, along with other pressures such as declining sales taxes and municipal annexations, has virtually eliminated all parish general fund reserves.

Robideaux hasnt been shy about highlighting the parishs budget problem, and he campaigned forcefully late last year for renewal of existing property taxes after voters defeated them in a spring ballot. But he hasnt given any opinion on the proposal to increase property taxes by 4.94 mills, with an estimated $11.3 million in annual proceeds.

The mayor-president broke his silence on Thursday on KLBW radio, characterizing the tax proposals as an unspecific appeal for more money without tying them to any specific issues.

Thats not at all what the public expects of us as elected officials, Robideaux said, as quoted by KATC. We can survive without it and weve proven we can survive without it for the last three years. Thats why Im opposing it.

Robideaux did not respond to queries on Friday.

Robideaux hasnt offered a specific solution to fix the parish budget, beyond expressing a general preference for increased economic development, especially in downtown Lafayette.

The other two options are cutting into an already starved budget or raising taxes, Robideaux said in a February interview with The Advocate, and both are pretty unattractive. Padding the tax rolls with development is a much easier lift, in my opinion, he added.

Every council member realizes the desperate need the parish has for more revenue, Robideaux said in February. The need for that revenue is real. The easiest way to replenish that is to find areas where there is underdevelopment or underutilized property and find a way to put it back into commerce.

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That was Robideauxs stated reason for pushing to redevelop the old federal courthouse site, to the chagrin of some 15th Judicial Court judges and others who want to re-purpose it as a new state courthouse.

While that and other projects would yield property tax revenue, the future returns are undefined and years away. The parish budget, meanwhile, faces immediate stress following four straight years of expenses exceeding incoming revenue.

+4 Lafayette Parish fiscal crisis sparks threats of lawsuit, staff cuts A district attorneys office that can prosecute only murder cases. State judges suing the parish governing authority. A prisoner wresting a g

For the fiscal year starting next month, Robideaux proposed dedicating $4.2 million from the parish general fund to the District Attorneys Office and 15th Judicial District Court. Thats more than one third of all parish general fund expenses, which include a variety of other services, such as recreation and public works.

The proposed new millage revenue would essentially double that which is already dedicated to the court and jail through two property taxes. One of the existing taxes is for both the jail and the court, and the other is for the jail alone. But the four-decade old jail tax doesnt cover the facilitys needs, which consume a disproportionate share of the combined tax.

Councilman Bruce Conque noted Friday in an interview that the administrations budget message for the next fiscal year highlighted the insufficiency of the existing taxes, which he said validates the action that we took.

Naquin on Friday said the only message he received from the administration concerning the tax proposals have been generally positive, if not explicitly supportive.

Not one time did he come in and say I oppose this, I dont think its right, Naquin said. If it gets killed, then whatever consequences come from that is going to fall on the administration. They are going to have to figure out how to make that courthouse, the judges and all of that work.

Naquin and Conque, along with the two other sponsors of the tax measures, Councilman Kenneth Boudreaux and Councilman Jay Castille, hosted a fiscal summit in March aimed at generating ideas for the parish budget.

New taxes were the only concrete idea to come from that summit, with District Attorney Keith Stutes urging elected officials to raise taxes to cover all the expenses you know are necessary.

Dont be afraid to commit political suicide, Stutes said at the meeting.
The internal investigation into the fired Baton Rouge police officer who shot at a fleeing motorist found that the former cop's body and in-car cameras could have recorded the shooting had they been turned on  and raised other questions about the then-officer's response.

+2 Baton Rouge Police fire officer who shot at motorist then claimed he had been shot at first The Baton Rouge Police officer who shot his gun at a civilian and then claimed he had been shot at first was fired Thursday after an investiga

The Baton Rouge Police Department fired Yuseff Hamadeh last week after an investigation into the Aug. 7 shooting found evidence that didn't match the former officer's recollection. Hamadeh said he shot only to return fire from the suspect, but prosecutors have dropped the case against the suspect because there is no evidence Raheem Howard, 21, even had a gun. No one was injured in the shooting.

No police department-issued cameras caught any of the incident  from the traffic stop over a missing license plate, then a foot chase, then the shooting. Investigators found there was no malfunction or technical error: The cameras did not record simply because Hamadeh's body camera and in-car front camera were turned off despite having worked for hours before or the day before, an audit of the cameras showed.

Hamadeh's rear in-car camera was disabled in a way that it recorded no video, only audio, a problem that Hamadeh had reported to the department's video unit more than three weeks prior to this shooting but never followed a sergeant's instructions to bring it in for repair.

"This information suggests that the front fleet camera would have recorded the incident if it would have been powered on at the time of the subject incident," according to the documents sent from Baton Rouge Chief Murphy Paul to Hamadeh explaining his disciplinary ruling. "The evidence further suggests that your cameras were in fact in working order at the time of the subject incident.

The in-car cameras and body cameras will automatically begin recording in certain circumstances, including after a police unit's lights are activated, when a crash occurs or the gun lock release button is pressed. All of these circumstances occurred and would have triggered the video recordings if they had been on.

+3 No body camera, dash camera video recorded in Aug. 7 officer-involved shooting, BRPD chief says The day after the Baton Rouge Police Department announced it would not yet release the body and dash camera video from an Aug. 7 officer-invol

The investigation also found that Hamadeh was untruthful in reporting that his vehicle crashed into the back of Howard's vehicle. After the traffic stop, investigators wrote to Hamadeh, saying "you either forgot to put your unit in 'park' or because you were unsuccessful in doing so after you exited your car to pursue the fleeing suspect," the report says. They called it a low-speed rear-end crash.

You claimed to have reported the crash to your supervisor, Sgt. Troy Lawrence," the investigative report reads. "However, Sgt. Lawrence denies that you reported the crash to him.

The investigation also revealed a lag in how Hamadeh first reported the shooting, even to other officers. The report says that at 6:27 p.m., a single gunshot is heard on the recorded audio, and seconds later Hamadeh is heard through police radio breathing heavily, saying "F---!" Hamadeh then gives his location and a clothing description of the suspect.

But it is not until 47 seconds after the gunshot that Hamadeh reports the suspect is armed. Then more than another minute later, Hamadeh reports that the suspect fired a round at him.

"A period of one minute and 51 seconds elapsed between the time the single gunshot is heard to the time you report that Mr. Howard fired upon you," the investigative report says.

BRPD detectives find no 'probable cause for any crime' by fired Baton Rouge officer, DA says Despite the firing of the Baton Rouge police officer who shot at a motorist in August, the department's investigators found no probable cause 

+12 BRPD detectives did not find cause to arrest fired officer, but advocates call for criminal case Even though Baton Rouge police administrators fired an officer who shot at a motorist in August, the department's detectives did not find a re

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The report also further examines the evidence from the shooting that indicates only one shot was fired, and even questions whether Hamadeh could have even seen Howard when he fired at him.

"The evidence elicited during the internal affairs investigation suggests that only one shot was fired during the above described incident, and that shot was fired from your weapon," the report notes. The report includes the statement from a fellow officer who came for backup who only heard one shot and the woman whose home Howard and Hamadeh entered during the chase, and from where Hamadeh fired his weapon. The woman told police that the officer fired from within her house, filling the kitchen "full of gunpowder," the report says. Hamadeh said he shot from the back steps, outside of the home.

If he fired from where the resident said he was standing, Hamadeh would not have been able to see Howard "due to heavy foliage," the report says. But if he was on the back steps like the former officer contended, Howard would have been visible.

But, internal investigators also note that the evidence presented is "not intended to be an exhaustive survey of the entirety of the evidence."

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Hamadeh's attorney, Tommy Dewey, said there are two other 'ear' witnesses who were not included in the internal affairs investigation who told police they heard two shots in the case. Dewey did not name the witnesses.

Dewey also explained that Hamadeh had attempted to turn on his body camera before the traffic stop. He said the officer had the camera off to conserve battery due to his long shifts and that when he tried to turn it from "off" to "record," it didn't power up completely.

+3 Fired Baton Rouge officer to appeal, stands by disputed claim he was shot at, attorney says Former Baton Rouge police officer Yuseff Hamadeh, who was fired last week after an investigation into an August shooting, will appeal that dec

Dewey appealed Hamadeh's termination Thursday. Hamadeh was fired for violating police department policy on truthfulness, carrying out orders, the proper use of digital mobile video and audio equipment and conduct unbecoming to an officer. The allegations that he violated the use of force and command of temper policies were not sustained.

Dewey claimed in the appeal that Hamadeh's termination was "not made in good faith and for cause."

The criminal investigation into Hamadeh's actions has been handed over to the East Baton Rouge District Attorney's Office, which will review for any potential charges. District Attorney Hillar Moore III has noted that the Baton Rouge police detectives who investigated the case did not find probable cause to arrest Hamadeh.

But Howard's attorney, Ronald Haley Jr., has called for the former officer to be prosecuted for attempted murder, an allegation his client first faced before the facts of the shooting changed the direction of the case.
Louisianas voters are reliably conservative, so when they learn that the Koch brothers are supporting a proposition, theyre inclined to vote
WASHINGTON  A sprawling riverside federal research lab tucked in the Maryland countryside just outside of Washington has for the past half-century been the most fertile breeding ground for endangered whooping cranes.

But about half the labs remaining flock took flight this week, packed in crates in the cargo hold of a U.S. Coast Guard plane bound for New Orleans as the U.S. Geological Survey's Patuxent Wildlife Research Center winds down its ground-breaking whooping crane breeding program.

Twenty of the whooping cranes aboard Wednesday's unusual flight  each of them hatched and reared at the federal Patuxent lab  will make their permanent home at New Orleans Freeport-McMoRan Audubon Species Survival Center, where theyll bolster a nascent local breeding program supporting the still-tenuous wild flocks of the birds.

Once the cranes settle into their pens on the centers 1,100-acre facility on the West Bank of New Orleans, researchers hope theyll start laying eggs and rearing chicks that will eventually end up joining reintroduced flocks in the wild, including a growing group of cranes in western Louisiana.

The whooping crane  a majestic white-feathered bird with a black-tipped wingspan of more than seven feet  once perched on the brink of extinction.

In 1941, fewer than two dozen of the birds remained in a single flock that ranged from northern Canada to the marshy Gulf Coast of southeastern Texas.

That flock  which is currently making its annual winter migration down from Canadas Wood Buffalo National Park to the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge near Corpus Christi  has since rebounded to more than 500 birds.

Captive breeding of whooping cranes, an effort pioneered and led by scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey's Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, has also bolstered the species by building up reintroduced flocks with young cranes hatched in captivity.

The effort began in earnest after the lab, located about halfway between Washington and Baltimore on the banks of the Patuxent River, received a broken-winged young crane named Canus in 1966. The bird had been captured on the breeding grounds in Canadas Northwest Territories.

Scientists at Patuxent have since devised a number of tricks for rearing whooping cranes, donning white costumes to interact with the birds and using crane puppets for feeding. For a number of years, biologists used ultralight aircraft in an effort to teach the cranes to migrate.

In recent years, theyve raised roughly 30 chicks every year to bolster reintroduced flock in Louisiana and another that migrates between Wisconsin and Florida.

That success is part of the reason the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center is shutting down its crane program, said John French, the centers director.

The facilitys mission is to study endangered species, French said, and not simply breed them. Facing recent budget cuts and limited resources, the federal facility is turning over the breeding effort to a number of research institutes, including the Audubon Institute.

We know how to breed these birds in captivity, we know how to train them for release, French said. Its time for this program to be handed over to someone to take over. There will be other challenges in the world of endangered species and wildlife management that well need to meet, programs that arent nearly as well-developed or matured.

The Species Survival Center in New Orleans has housed a handful of whooping cranes for nearly two decades and for years shipped whooping crane eggs to Patuxent to be hatched and raised, said Richard Dunn, the Freeport-McMoRan Audubon Species Survival Centers assistant curator.

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Dunn said the Species Survival Center began raising chicks of its own last year as Patuxent made plans to hand off its flock, rearing a cohort of a dozen whooping cranes that were released at the Rockefeller Wildlife Refuge in Cameron Parish.

Its a transitional moment, its a huge one, for whooping crane conservation efforts in Louisiana, said Dunn. The majority of the chicks were raised at Patuxent and they had the staff to help raise a lot of chicks. Thats a big undertaking when you think about a bird that takes that much time and energy.

The Louisiana flock of whooping cranes  once native to the state  was launched in 2011 when 10 birds from Patuxent were set free in the White Lake Wetlands Conservation Area in Vermilion Parish.

Its since grown to 66 whooping cranes that live across southwest Louisiana year-round, boosted in large part by additional cranes hatched in captivity and released into the wild, said Sara Zimorski, a biologist who leads the whooping crane program for the Louisiana Department of Fish and Wildlife. The birds are the first in the state since 1950.

The whooping cranes in Louisiana hatched and raised five fledglings over the past year, a success celebrated by state biologists but not yet enough offspring to sustain the flock. Cranes dont reach sexual maturity until theyre 3 to 5 years old, Zimorski said, and are particular about their breeding habits.

For the first seven years of the project, Patuxent raised the majority of the birds that weve received and released down here, Zimorski said. We are incredibly grateful to Patuxent for everything theyve done for whooping crane conservation over the years.

The end of Patuxents breeding program comes as the whooping crane population has steadily rebounded. But major challenges remain, including securing enough safe habitat for the whooping cranes as they begin to spread out beyond the confines of wildlife refuges.

Theyre certainly in a much, much stronger position today than when we got started 50 years ago, said French, the Patuxent director. The numbers are much, much greater. There are 750 or 800 birds alive today when, back in the 1940s, there were 22 birds alive, which is vanishingly small.

Just when the whooping cranes who flew into New Orleans on Wednesday from Patuxent will begin laying eggs remains to be seen. Cranes, Zimorski said, are notoriously finicky about reproduction and often put off mating until theyve become comfortable in their new surroundings.

Once chicks begin hatching at the Species Survival Center, Dunn said, theyll be raised both by pairs of whooping crane parents  and by biologists dressed up in crane-like costumes.

Its almost like a big canvas sheet that theyre wearing and we have a crane puppet head that we walk around and feed the chicks with, Dunn said.

At three months, the chicks will move into a bigger enclosure together at the West Bank facility to socialize with their cohort. By the time they hit seven months, Dunn said, theyll be trucked out to Rockefeller or White Lake wildlife refuges in western Louisiana to spend one more month in a temporary pen before being set loose.

___

Editors note: An earlier version of this story neglected to note that the U.S. Geological Survey is the federal agency that runs the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center.
For Goldman Sachs's millionaire clients, it can take the firm five minutes to underwrite a loan to start a new business or pay down taxes. At Morgan Stanley, bankers are keen to give you bridge financing so you can bid for your mansion in cash.

Beyond the billions in trading gains and deal fees, the Wall Street firms' profit reports this week showed they're increasingly rushing into the booming market for lending to high-net-worth individuals. So far, it's paying off: Morgan Stanley has tripled those loans in the past five years, while Goldman Sachs is expanding overseas.

Need some change for a yacht? It seems no problem for the ultra rich. Credit:Alamy

Forced into becoming bank holding companies by the financial crisis, the firms have embraced the lending business in recent years. Morgan Stanley set a goal to double the percentage of clients that got loans from the bank. Goldman Sachs has pegged a key chunk of its revenue growth plan to increasing lending to wealth management customers.

'Relative to things like the securities trading markets that generally haven't grown post crisis, the wealth market continues to grow and the ultra-high-net worth market is even more attractive, it grows fast and has high margins,' said Christian Bolu, a bank analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein. 'It tends to be very bespoke; you can't go to your regular, mainstream bank to get loans on your artwork."
On a warm morning in late August, Kevin Mitchell is pacing around his living room, cursing at the television. Unfolding on his screen is the latest episode in the Machiavellian spectacle that is Australian politics, and the 41-year-old is watching on wearily as Malcolm Turnbull becomes the latest prime minister to lose his post thanks to in-party backstabbing.

"Sometimes I just go, I give up," he sighs with a bemused laugh. "I'm going to stop caring. It's just exhausting! Investing emotional and intellectual energy into this f---ing shit show"

Still working it out: Bob Evans, aka Kevin Mitchell. Credit:Photographer Tajette O'Halloran

In truth, Mitchell would be better served by spending his time re-learning some of the 80-plus songs he's released as Bob Evans, the pseudonym the Jebediah frontman assumes when in solo mode. Hits, deep cuts and fan favourites from Evans' five albums have just been compiled into a best-of called Full Circle.

It's been 20 years since Mitchell started playing regular Tuesday night solo shows at the Grosvenor Hotel in Perth. Having grown up listening to Don McLean, Billy Joel and Glen Campbell prior to hitching his flag to the post-Nirvana alt-rock revolution that fuelled Jebediah, this was an opportunity to show another side of his musical personality.
The key to making good masa? You have to dance to it. That's what Rosa Cienfuegos learnt as a child, while her grandmother tended to massive pots of the maize dough  the main ingredient in tortillas and tamales.

The flan at Tamaleria and Mexican Deli. Credit:Janie Barrett

Her nan also believed you couldn't cry in the kitchen, or the masa would "go bad". She had a superstition about hangovers cursing the preparation process, too. "Thanks, Grandma, I can't even have a beer night if I'm planning to cook," says Cienfuegos with a laugh.

While Cienfuegos might not fully subscribe to her grandmother's Mexican beliefs, there's no doubt family connections inspire her Tamaleria and Mexican Deli in Dulwich Hill. She has memories of eating tamales de elote with her grandma (the corn tamales are a breakfast staple) and waiting for her aunt Luz to visit  bringing the regional flavours of her Mexican town to their family table in the process.

And while Cienfuegos takes care of her store's tamales and other menu items, her dad helps out with the mole, sweetbread and other dishes - including an exceptional flan he makes traditionally. The way the caramel flavour infuses the silken egg custard is truly worth savouring.

Step into the tiny store and you'll see an oven filled with just-baked empanadas, a display shelf lined with three-milk desserts and a counter topped with concha sweetbreads (pastries shaped like the conch shell they're named after). There's also a row of dried chillies, ranging on the "watch out!" heat scale from mulato (the mildest, in other words, "you're safe") to the habanero (famously fiery and designed to give your pain receptors a merciless workout). These ingredients can be used to marinade meats, create sauces or prank heat-sensitive friends you don't actually like.
After months of disruptive construction, the Hibberson Street shared zone opened on Saturday with the Gungahlin Community Festival held in conjunction to celebrate.

The weather gods clearly weren't in the mood for a party with severe thunderstorms bringing rain and even some hail to put a dampener on the day.

Pedestrians are now the focus around the Gungahlin town centre with the opening of the Hibberson Street shared zone on Saturday. Credit:Elesa Kurtz

However the mood of businesses along Hibberson Street was high, despite the weather, now that the construction stage was in the past.

The project to revitalise Hibberson Street and the broader Gungahlin town centre was a long-held goal for Yerrabi MLA Meegan Fitzharris who began canvassing community ideas about the town centre in 2012.
Reflect today on just how far we have come as a nation, and as individuals, in our approach to the appalling, widespread tragedy of child abuse. For on Monday, the Prime Minister will stand in the Parliament and apologise, on behalf of all Australians, to the many tens of thousands of people who were cruelly and ruthlessly abused inside the very institutions where children should have been safe.

To have their stories believed, their pain and suffering properly acknowledged, and the offences openly and accurately recognised is imperative for those who have survived sexual abuse in government and privately-operated institutions.

We say, at last as a nation, that we hear you, that we acknowledge the hurt and empathise with your pain, and that we are committed not to acquiesce in silence again.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

We acknowledge such words are late, coming as they do decades  generations  after the event, and that so many survivors endured tremendous psychological damage while the nation and its leaders said nothing.
A man has been rushed to hospital in a critical condition after a boat crash in Sydney's south involving a jetski.

Emergency services, including two rescue helicopters, were called to the Georges River at Illawong, following reports a boat and jetski had collided about 9.30am on Saturday.

A 21-year-old man, who was in the boat, was treated at the scene and stabilised before being taken to St George Hospital. He is in a critical condition, a hospital spokesperson said, and is scheduled for surgery after which he will be transferred to intensive care.

A 24-year-old male suffered minor injuries and was expected to be discharged from hospital shortly.

Sutherland police are at the scene and an investigation is underway by officers from the Marine Area Command.
Jackie Sherwood, Point Vernon, Qld In France, the shine is wearing off Macron In an electoral system where voters choose a candidate off the "footpath" without a political track record, disillusionment is bound to happen ("Why the gloss is wearing off Macron, The Sunday Age, 14/10). His greatest contribution to universal unpopularity is his attempt to reform the SNCF intercity train system. Reform for him is where worker benefits will not apply to new recruits. No union will ever accept a future less worthy than current conditions. Like Donald Trump, a second term looks remote.

Graeme Lee, Fitzroy FORUM The NZ option New Zealand politicians have embarked on a process for agreeing on climate emergency policy and action. Specifically, their major parties are aiming to achieve "a zero carbon bill by year's end"; hence meantime, they will take advice on NZ targets "from an independent commission"; and the resulting bill will then become national law ("NZ gives lessons on climate change", The Sunday Age, 14/10). This plan seems so simple, sensible and speedy, and it would indeed be helpful to Australia if we could learn some lessons from it. But first we urgently need to elect far wiser politicians who understand the fundamental importance of the whole world, including our nation, co-operating fully to overcome the deadly climate threat. Barbara Fraser, Burwood

Under and over The Rockpool restaurant group is apparently going to pay more than $1.6 million to its underpaid workers ("Rockpool to pay back $1.6m", The Sunday Age, 14/10). It's time to under support restaurants that have underpaid workers and overpriced menus. Dennis Fitzgerald, Box Hill A bad taste Expensive restaurants significantly underpaying their staff leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

Jennifer Grimwade, Richmond Feeble excuse Yet another employer ("Rockpool to pay back $1.6m to staff", 14/10) is caught underpaying their staff. Yet another feeble excuse, "replace and modernise legacy systems" as if it wasn't its fault. Yet another case where the employees will be paid back their rightful wages after the employer was caught. If these instances were genuine mistakes then surely by now we would have heard of the employer that overpaid their workers. Yet surprisingly that hasn't happened. Ross Hudson, Camberwell

Waiting in Kew The photograph accompanying the article ("Here's how to fix a crowded city", The Sunday Age, 14/10) shows a group of people waiting at an elevated tram stop in the CBD to catch a low-floor tram. Trams outside of the CBD are pretty well inaccessible to people with walking frames and people with prams as well as shopping trolleys, unless they are with someone who can help them. I deliberately chose to live close to two tram lines so that I could live without a car. Now, obliged to use a walking frame, I am unable to get on or off any tram from Kew, even if all I want to do is get in or out of the CBD. Of course, in a rich electorate, it's useless to expect the slightest interest in improving this situation from either the state or federal member of Parliament.

Juliet Flesch, Kew The Mencken moment Warwick McFadyen (Comment, 14/10) quotes American satirist H.L. Mencken's observation of the US presidency: "As democracy is perfected, the office (presidency) represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. We move toward a lofty ideal. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last, and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron (whose adviser will be a celebrity rapper ...)." Mencken: Satirist or prophet? Deborah Morrison, Malvern East

No core values Enough is enough, Scott Morrison, of imprisoning people. They do so for no reason other than they are trying to escape from diabolical regimes and circumstances and to forge a better life for themselves and their families. Would you not do the same? For that, they are locked up indefinitely and stripped of their identity and their hope. And worst still, we are imprisoning children, taking away their childhood and replacing it with desperation, self-harming and suicidal thoughts. These poor souls have become pawns in a chest-beating exercise of, "we stopped the boats". This is a government without humanity and with no core values. Mark Thomson, Beaumaris Avoiding Australia Has anyone thought to ask the refugees on Manus Island and Nauru which they would prefer: stay in their current appalling situations or go to New Zealand and cop the visa ban? My guess is that, given the time they have spent as "guests" of Australia, they would willingly avoid Australia for the remainder of their lifetimes.

Kate Nash, Brunswick West Foreign aid disgrace No, Michael Burd (Letters, 18/10), 0.23 per cent of GNP does not represent "huge foreign aid". Less than a third of the UK contribution and one-sixth of Sweden's, our assistance is at a pathetic 40-year low. Richard Aspland, Rosanna Strange support

The hypocrisy of Indonesia and Malaysia in condemning Australia contemplating moving its embassy to Jerusalem in "support" of the Palestinian people, is staggering. These Muslim countries, instead of welcoming asylum seekers from mainly Muslim Middle East countries, encouraged them to get on rickety ships and risk everything to head to Australia. Those still in Indonesia or Malaysia are probably being held in internment camps not unlike those on Manus Island. Very strange definition of "support". Jack Wajntraub, South Melbourne Beyond fiction We moved seven years ago to the Western Port side of the Mornington Peninsula for a healthier and affordable life on the coast. We love it here but, as with Barwon Heads, beach shacks increasingly are being replaced with McMansions. Western Port Bay also faces the prospect of a massive, 24-hour, floating gas platform with associated pipeline works, supposedly for gas that Australia sends offshore for a profit so it can be bought back more cheaply. Now the Planning Minister has approved key Western Port works in a project chain that will link mining brown coal with digging offshore from Ninety Mile Beach for a corporate experiment in sending hydrogen to Japan. Bob Jelly couldn't make this up. And where to for the next generation of Lauras and Diver Dans?

Chris Atmore, Somers No comparison Barack Obama, Lionel Messi, Ariana Grande and Roger Federer. What do all these influential figures have in common? Well, it is safe to say that they have all worked hard to achieve fame in their respective fields. However, the royal family, one of the most popular global entities, does not compare to the work ethic of the former. So why are we constantly looking up to these people, simply because they were born in a particular family? Not to mention that we also need to pay tax for the royal visit in Australia. It is unfair to ask us hardworking Australians to pay for the lavish extravagances of a couple of normal British people who have achieved little compared to their peers in other fields. Nathan Chan Yam, Black Rock It's not all white

A few days ago the Senate considered a motion: "It's OK to be white". Senior government ministers in the Senate voted in favour. The phrase is a key slogan of the white nationalist movement in Europe and North America. The Prime Minister's response? "It is regrettable." The leader of the Senate's response? "It was an administrative error." Queensland senator Fraser Anning is proposing a plebiscite on ending non-white immigration. As Australians, we need to painfully accept that a fair number of parliamentarians are white nationalists who dream about the British Empire and White Australia policy. Our central tenet of human dignity and human rights for all is under threat Nalliah Suriyakumaran, Preston A stark change

Why do so many "outstanding" Coalition candidates become incompetent practitioners once elected? Barry Toll, South Melbourne Rich and privileged Could someone please explain the irrational nauseating fawning over an irrelevant, rich, privileged, foreign couple costing us a fortune to visit? Trevor Street, Park Orchards
The man has been identified by friends and former colleagues as Spiro Boursine (also known as Spiro Boursinos), founder of Australia's pioneering outdoor dance festival.

Officers were called to Antique Bar in Elsternwick following reports of a man assaulting patrons at the premises about 2.15am, police said in a statement.

Tributes are flowing for Earthcore founder Spiro Boursine who died in police custody after being held down by patrons at a Melbourne bar on Saturday.

Close friend and former Earthcore general manager Gary 'Binaural' Neal told The Age that he had confirmed the sad news with Mr Boursine's family members on Saturday.

"Spiro created a subculture in Australia that turned in to one of the biggest alternative community followings that I think Australia's got within the dance scene," Mr Neal said.

"I mean, it created dance, it created fashion ... it became a lifestyle for many, many people.

"Without Spiro, we wouldn't have that.

"He's given me some of the most valued times in my life, to be honest, as a young person going to his events and then again working for him  it was my dream working in events and something I was proud of."
The Royal Commission into Family Violence took 13 months to complete, hearing harrowing testimony from hundreds of survivors over 25 days of public hearings.

The commission reviewed nearly 1000 written submissions, cost $13.5 million and was an unprecedented example of government and community collectively committing to ending the horror of family violence.

It would be a terrible shame to see all that time, effort and money disappear into the machinations of short-term politics and quick-fix reactions.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews and the late minister for the prevention of family violence Fiona Richardson, left, at the release of the royal commission report. Credit:Eddie Jim

The royal commission forensically reviewed the family violence system, looked at the international evidence base and handed down 227 recommendations in a carefully considered report. No other jurisdiction in the world has had the benefit of such a review.
Revenge may be a dish best served cold, but nobody ever told Taylor Swift that.

Her Reputation tour kicked off in Perth last night and, despite a few drops of rain, it was hot, hot, hot.

Opening with the big guns from her latest album, Swift embraced her big reputation with audio grabs from critical media commentators being aired to the sold-out, 50,900-strong crowd.

Taylor Swift kicked off her national tour in Perth on Friday night. Credit:AAP/Richard Wainwright

We were ready for it.
This was a swift and savage message to Scott Morrison that puts him in a diabolical position in Parliament and sets him on course for catastrophe at the next election.

The Prime Minister now faces an immense challenge in running the government until an election in May next year when he has lost his majority in Parliament, making an early election a possibility.

Worse, he governs with an unsteady party room of Liberal MPs who will bicker over anything and make their leaders job impossible.

For all the focus on leaders in Australian politics, perhaps nobody could lead that divided and desperate party room. If the past week was a display of Liberal discipline, imagine the week ahead when the recriminations get underway.
So there you go. Libertarian MP skips WA Parliament for NZ airsoft war games Liberal Democrat MP Aaron Stonehouse was missing from parliament this week, telling reporters who tried to contact him he had a cold and wasn't available for interview. Liberal Democratic Party MP Aaron Stonehouse MLC. He appeared on the Hansard record briefly on Wednesday afternoon, in a failed attempt to overturn the state government's plastic bag ban.

But then it was overheard on the hill by WAtoday that he flew to New Zealand later that evening, missing Parliament on Thursday. Mr Stonehouse told WAtoday he was in New Zealand on parliamentary business attending a "weekend long airsoft event". He was hoping to change the law to make the shooting sport legal in Western Australia. "It's a great way to learn about the sport and to meet stakeholders, as players from across Australia travel to New Zealand to participate in this event this event," Mr Stonehouse said. Mr Stonehouse said he left Perth on Wednesday to arrive in New Zealand on Thursday ahead of the airsoft competiton which started Friday.

"But it is not unusual for MPs to be away from the chamber on other business (attending events, meeting constituents, etc)," he said. "I go to great efforts to ensure Im in the chamber as often as possible, but with an eight hour flight and the time difference, I had to leave one day early to arrive on time." Mr Stonehouse said he was indeed unwell, had been cooped up in his hotel room and probably wouldn't be enjoying his time at the airsoft event. Loading The good news was, however, that he would be staying on in New Zealand next week on leave while Parliament wasn't sitting.

The South Metro MP copped some heat this week over his policy of not taking "unscheduled phone calls" from his consituents. Collier rips 'Alfoil government' on transparency Liberal frontbencher Peter Collier ripped into the McGowan Government in Parliament on Thursday morning over its record on transparency. Labor was elected in 2017 promising to set a new standard of transparency in government. "The public interest must come first, transparency must come first, openness must come first," he told reporters before the election.

Mr Collier said instead of being a "Glad Wrap" government, Labor had become an "Alfoil" government. "We cannot see through this government because we cannot get answers," he said. "We receive vague and ambiguous responses to our questions or no responses at all and no reports are being tabled. "Quite frankly, it is an absolute disgrace."

Mr Collier blasted the government for the late tabling of everything from annual reports to questions on notice to travel reports. He also had a crack at the Premier for hiding messages to 6PR listeners in his written answers to parliamentary questions. "It should be noted for listeners of the Rumour File program on 6PR that the Premier has no intention of moving from Dumas House and enjoys being in the same building as his ministers," Mr McGowan wrote in an answer. "I am sure he has his little minions, his little Young Labor movement guys who do these questions and think, 'Let us put on this about Rumour File. Look how smart we are'," Mr Collier said. Tweet of the Week
Kabul: Their faces beam down from campaign billboards and banners blanketing the Afghan capital: young people, more than ever before, competing in this month's parliamentary elections.

Nearly half of the roughly 2500 candidates are younger than 40, an unprecedented wave that is challenging entrenched power brokers and promising to fight corruption and mismanagement in Afghanistan's beleaguered government.

"We have seen in the past that most parliament members were not educated or were notorious war criminals, corrupt or convicts," said Javid Faisal, 26, a former government spokesman running to represent the southern city of Kandahar in the 250-seat legislature. "Now it's the time and opportunity for voters to elect and recognise the best candidate - not to vote for those malefactors again but to vote for competent and qualified candidates."

A man from the minority Sikh casts his vote in Parliamentary elections in old city of Kabul, Afghanistan, on Saturday. Credit:AP

Zohra Nowruzi, a 29-year-old TV anchor running to represent Kabul - and one of more than 400 female candidates - adopted the campaign slogan "People have the power."
London: Hundreds of thousands of protesters opposed to Britain's impending exit from the European Union marched through central London on Saturday, demanding a new referendum and to have a say on the government's final Brexit deal with the EU.

European Union (EU) and Union flags fly in front of the Houses of Parliament during the anti-Brexit People's Vote march in London, UK. Credit:Bloomberg

Organisers say another public vote is needed because new facts have come out about the costs and complexity of Britain's exit from the bloc since voters chose to leave in 2016.

They estimated that some 700,000 people took part Saturday in the "People's Vote March," which saw 150 buses of marchers pour into the British capital from all across the country. Police did not provide an attendance estimate.

"What's clear is that the only options on the table now from the prime minister are a bad Brexit deal, or no deal whatsoever," London Mayor Sadiq Khan, who joined the march, told the BBC. "That's a million miles away from what was promised 2 1/2 years ago."
Elko: US President Donald Trump says he is not satisfied with Saudi Arabia's handling of the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul, and says questions remain unanswered.

Saudi Arabia said early on Saturday that Khashoggi, a critic of the country's de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, had died in a fight inside its consulate in the Turkish city.

US President Donald Trump. Credit:AP

Riyadh provided no evidence to support its account, which marked a reversal of an initial statement that Khashoggi had left the consulate the same day he entered on October 2 to get documents for his upcoming marriage.

Asked during a trip to Nevada if he was satisfied that Saudi officials had been fired over Khashoggi's death, Trump said: "No, I am not satisfied until we find the answer. But it was a big first step, it was a good first step. But I want to get to the answer."
Ciudad Tecun Uman, Guatemala: Members of a caravan of migrants that have been travelling from Honduras toward the United States, infuriating President Donald Trump, overran a border gate in northern Guatemala on Friday and broke through another gate leading to Mexico before coming to a halt in the face of a large phalanx of Mexican riot police.

After a tense hour-long stand-off, during which migrants hurled objects at the police, including rocks and shoes, the police fired canisters of tear gas, forcing the migrants to retreat.

At least six police officers were wounded in the confrontation, officials said.

After the violence had subsided, however, leaders of the caravan organised the migrants into orderly lines for processing by Mexican migration officials. By mid-afternoon, the migrants were gradually being allowed into Mexico, where they boarded buses, some to a migration centre in the city of Tapachula for processing and others to a government shelter, said Manelich Castilla Craviotto, general commissioner of the Federal Police. It remained unclear how long it would take the authorities to register all the new arrivals.
Child Stealing Operation Busted Across Australia, 4 Charged, Police Expect More

Two men involved in helping parents abduct their own children have been released on bail in Brisbane, Australia, on Oct. 19, after a police investigation uncovered a parental abduction ring operating across multiple states.

Update: Police on Nov. 5 served three more women with summons to appear in court, in relation to their participation in the parental abduction ring.

The group was allegedly modifying a yacht and was planning to leave Australia to New Zealand or Zimbabwe, possibly with two mothers and three abducted children on board, 9 News reported. Police found and raided the yacht in Perth on Oct. 18.

What we think that vessel was likely to be used for was to convey children from where it was moored in Fremantle to Tasmania and then perhaps onto New Zealand,Australian Federal Police (AFP) major crime and operation commander Justine Gough said, AAP reported.

Police said they raided multiple properties in Grafton, Dubbo, Perth, and Townsville to find the suspects and the yacht. Police have arrested and charged four people so faramong them the two menbut believe the group has about ten main suspects.

The three children who were found are safe, police said.

Police said that one of the men, William Pridgeona 64-year-old GP from Graftonorganised and financed the recently busted operation to help two women abduct and conceal their children, effectively breaking family court orders. He has since been granted bail.

Pridgeon is also the founder of the Australian Anti-Paedophile Party.

According to investigators, several mothers who sought help from the child abduction ring claimed they feared the children were being sexually abused by their fathers.

Another other man granted bail, 63-year-old Patrick ODea from Grafton, helped the operation by transferring money to the two mothers, and using social media to paint the childrens fathers as pedophiles, police said.

According to AFP, the women and children were relocated and given aliases and disguises to avoid authorities.

The level of sophistication with this case, especially with encryption communication, is quite high, Commonwealth prosecutor Christine Wilson said, the ABC reported.

The actions of this group do not protect children. What it does is potentially endanger the safety and wellbeing of them, AFP Assistant Commissioner Debbie Platz said, according to a news release.

Operation Noetic

The bust is the latest of an ongoing investigation into people conspiring in parental abduction of children in Australia, called Operation Noetic, that began two years ago.

Operation Noetic has so far recovered 10 children along with the parents who abducted them. Five of the ten were abducted by the group to which Pridgen and Odea belonged.

Police believe the group comprises about 10 main members and a wide network of contacts who lend aid to the groups child-stealing operations. The contacts provided funding, food, accommodation, and transport.

Police said the group was able to evade authorities for a decade by using fraudulent IDs, encrypted messaging apps, and an internal cash economy, AAP reported.

We believe this group has sought assistance from other peoplesome who may be unaware of their involvement in criminal activityso we are urging anyone with any knowledge about these activities to come forward to the [AFP], Platz said.

Charges

Pridgeon and Odea had been refused bail in Grafton Local Court on Oct. 18. Both were then extradited from New South Wales to Queensland to be released on bail in the Brisbane Magistrates Court under strict conditions, the ABC reported.

Pridgeon has to report daily to police, not visit Queensland for any reason other than court matters, and to surrender his Australian, New Zealand, and Zimbabwean passports, the ABC reported. He is not allowed to use social media, nor contact those involved in the kidnapping operation. Odea is also subject to similar conditions.

Pridgeon was charged with two counts of conspiracy to defeat justice and dealing in proceeds of crime. Police added stalking and child stealing to the charges on Oct. 19.

ODea was charged with two counts of conspiracy to defeat justice, using a carriage service to menace, harass, or cause offence, and publishing an account of proceedings.

On Oct. 18, police had also arrested an 83-year-old Townsville man, Arthur Doublebay, and a 78-year-old Perth woman for helping the operation.

Doublebay was granted bail under strict conditions including surrendering his passport, having no contact with 36 identified people, and reporting to police three times a week.

The woman is due to face the Perth Magistrates Court on Dec. 14.

From NTD.tv

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Facebook Shuts Down Pages of Disabled Veteran With 3 Million Fans

An Air Force veteran who lost three limbs in the Iraq war is concerned about his livelihood after Facebook shut down pages of his coffee business and a political commentary website.

Brian Kolfage was severely injured in combat on Sept. 11, 2004, losing both legs and his right arm when an enemy rocket hit the Balad Air Base north of Baghdad. Im the most severely wounded U.S. Airman to survive, he said in an Oct. 11 article.

After retiring from the military, Kolfage founded a coffee company, called Military Grade Coffee. He also started to work with conservative columnist and author John Hawkinsthe founder of the political commentary site RightWingNews.com.

But Kolfage refuses political categorization. Im not a conservative, Im not a liberal. Im an American, with deep beliefs in what our country stands for, he said.

Former Democrat Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords called Kolfage her friend and inspiration as she was recovering from a severe shooting injury. He even served on her veteran advisory committee, he said.

Right Wing News

Starting this year, Kolfage took over the management of the Right Wing News (RWN) Facebook page from Hawkins, which was followed by more than 3.1 million people.

In March, he set up the RWNOfficial.com conservative political news and commentary website, and used the RWN and other Facebook pages to promote content from the site.

A cursory review of the site showed headlines in sensational tone and articles written as a mix of news and commentary.

To satisfy Facebooks policies against fake news, Kolfage had to get a special authorization from Facebook to post political content. He dutifully provided pictures of his passport, his drivers license, his home address, and set up a two-step account authentication. Still, his personal account was repeatedly disabled and then enabled again after he complained.

Two RWN articles were flagged for misleading headlines but in both cases, the issue was addressed and the complaints overturned, he told The Epoch Times in a phone call.

As Facebook constantly evolves its content policies, Kolfage tried to keep his Facebook pages in compliance. He repeatedly reached out to his contact at Facebook, Katie Harbath, to set up a call with Facebook personnel to get some answers about the tightening regulations.

He spent over $300,000 to promote RWN articles on Facebook and managed to arrange a webinar with Harbath, scheduled on Oct. 3. A weak before, however, she canceled.

On Oct. 11, all three Kolfages pages were shut down. Not just the ones with political content, but also one page for his coffee business with over 200,000 fans.

We have some updated family photos to share!    Brian Kolfage     

My income as a father and husband is threatened, he said.

About four pages set up by individual RWN writers were taken down too.

Pre-Election Purge

The official explanation was that, ahead of the Nov. 6 midterm elections, Facebook removed 559 pages and 251 accounts that have consistently broken our rules against spam and coordinated inauthentic behavior.

These actors, Facebook stated, were posting political content, but the company was clear it wasnt the content that got them removed, noting the news stories or opinions these accounts and Pages share are often indistinguishable from legitimate political debate.

Instead, it was the behavior. These users, the company stated, promoted their content using fake accounts or multiple accounts with the same names and/or posted in dozens of Facebook Groups, often hundreds of times in a short period and/or used networks of accounts or Pages working to mislead others about who they are, and what they are doing and/or directed users to ad farms, that is sites that dont provide promised content and lure users to pages filled with ads.

Kolfage maintains that nothing of this applied to his business.

We did run multiple Facebook pages; Facebook allows businesses to have more than one page, and we did own them and had them for years, he said. We were not spamming, we were not using fake accounts, we were not doing anything wrong  except we supported President [Donald] Trump, and apparently thats not allowed.

Facebook didnt respond to a request for a comment.

Never once did Facebook come to us to say there was any issue with Right Wing News or our other pages. Never, Kolfage said. But they sure loved taking our money.

Facebook Bias

Kolfage believes Facebook targeted him for his political views.

Tech giants have been implementing their own bias into business, blatantly attacking anyone who has a view that differs from theirs, he said.

Former senior Facebook engineer Brian Amerige previously told The Epoch Times he didnt see the company intentionally filtering conservative perspectives. He acknowledged, though, that there is an entrenched leftist culture within the company that may reflect in its content policing.

Facebooks community standards are chaotically, almost randomly enforced with escalations and occasional reversals happening when the screw-ups are prominent enough to cause media attention, he wrote in an Oct. 17 Facebook post.

At least two left-leaning Facebook pages were also part of the Oct. 11 purge, according to The New York Times. Both had fewer than a million followers.

Kolfage intends to fight Facebook to get his pages back and is asking people to support him at Fight4FreeSpeech.com. He lawyered up too and is looking into whether Facebook acted illegally by moving against him.

Theyre going to learn that theyre not untouchable, he said.

Correction: A previous version of this article misstated when was Brian Kolfages webinar with Facebook cancelled. It was on or around Sept. 27. The Epoch Times regrets the error.

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Florida Commissioner Charged With Murder, Held Without Bond After Killing Suspected Shoplifter

A city commissioner in Florida seen on video shooting to death a suspected shoplifter was charged with murder and ordered held without bond.

Michael Dunn, the city commissioner for Lakeland, also co-owns an Army-Navy surplus store called Vets Surplus Inc.

Dunn said he saw Cristobal Lopez, 50, grabbing a hatchet in his store and trying to flee the store without paying.

Dunn stopped Lopez asking him if he was going to pay for the item and a confrontation ensued. Dunn then fired his weapon, striking Lopez who was still in possession of the hatchet, the Lakeland Police Department said in a statement.

Lopezs father and two store employees witnessed the shooting, which took place on Oct. 3.

The surveillance footage also clearly captured Dunn shooting Lopez.

Charged With Murder

Dunn, who took office in January, was charged with second-degree murder.

A judge ruled on Oct. 20 that Dunn will remain held without bond at the Polk County Jail, reported WFTS. A grand jury indicted Dunn on Oct. 19.

Dunns next court appearance is set for Nov. 6.

Dunn told officers that he was in fear when he shot Lopez. According to an arrest affidavit, when asked what would have happened if he didnt shoot him, he replied, It might be fair to say, that if I just stepped back and let somebody come in and take what they want, that there would be no issue!

Polk County State Attorney Brian Haas told reporters at a press conference on Friday that he thinks Dunn might try to use Floridas Stand Your Ground law as a defense but he believes the case falls outside of the protection of the law.

Witness Speaks

One of the witnesses told police that Lopezs father had bought something at the front counter and he and his son were on their way out of the store when a hatchet apparently in the younger Lopezs pants fell to the floor, according to the affidavit, which was obtained by WFTS.

The hatchet falls down the victims pant leg onto the floor. The victim picked up the hatchet, at this time, according to witness [redacted], the victim made the statement, I will pay, I will pay! as he walked back toward the cash register counter area. The surveillance shows that the victim stood at the counter for a moment before hastily attempting to leave the business with the hatchet in hand, according to the arrest affidavit.

When Dunn shot Lopez, Lopez was holding the hatchet, although officers noted that the blade was facing away from Dunn.

At no time did the victim (Lopez) appear to have made any threatening movements toward the suspect (Dunn), according to the affidavit. Witnesses confirmed Lopez didnt threaten Dunn verbally.

From NTD.tv
Girl Dies After Court Allows More Time on Life Support

FORT WORTH, TexasA 9-year-old Texas girl at the center of a three-week court battle with a hospital to keep her on life support has died hours after an appeals court allowed her parents more time to find a facility to maintain her life support.

A spokeswoman for Cook Childrens Medical Center in Fort Worth told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that Payton Summons died on the evening of Oct. 19. She declined further comment.

The Texas 2nd Court of Appeals on Friday afternoon had upheld a Oct. 15 court order allowing her parents to keep her on life support at Cook until Oct. 22.

The hospitals doctors had declared the child brain-dead and beyond hope of recovery after her heart went into cardiac arrest for an hour on Sept. 25. They had wanted to remove her from life support on Oct. 1, but her parents obtained a court order blocking the move for a week. After the order expired but before hospital doctors could remove her life support, the parents obtained another week extension after failing to find a facility willing to assume her life support. That extension was to expire at 6 p.m. Monday.

Attorneys for the hospital appealed, saying the extension asked hospital staff to maintain a dead person on ventilation and continue treating a deceased deteriorating body. The attorneys argued such measures were medically, ethically, and morally repugnant.
Jamal Khashoggi Killed in Saudi Arabia Consulate After Fist Fight: Officials

Missing Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi was killed in the Saudi Arabia Consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, the Saudi Foreign Ministry said on Oct. 19.

An investigation into Khashoggis disappearance and presumed death found that the suspects, all Saudis, traveled to the consulate to meet with Khashoggi after it appeared possible that Khashoggi, a Saudi citizen who had been living in a self-imposed exile in the United States, could be convinced to return to Saudi Arabia.

The results of the preliminary investigations revealed that the discussions that took place with the citizen during his presence in the consulate by the suspects did not go as required and escalated negatively, which led to a fight between them and the citizen, which aggregated the situation and led to his death, may God rest his soul, the Foreign Ministry said.

In another statement, the Saudi attorney general said that the discussions at the consulate led to a brawl and a fist fight  which led to his death.

#STATEMENT | On the case of the disappearance of the Saudi citizen Jamal bin Ahmed Khashoggi pic.twitter.com/RmgOwtYdNW  Foreign Ministry  (@KSAmofaEN) October 19, 2018

The suspects concealed what happened and attempted to cover it up.

Eighteen Saudi citizens are being held in connection with the death. In addition, the kingdom announced that it fired five top officials, including Deputy Chief of General Intelligence Ahmad bin Hassan Assiri, a royal court adviser Abdullah Al-Qahtani, and Mohammed Bin Saleh Al Rumaih an assistant to the intelligence chief.

A number of lower officials were also relieved of their posts.

Saudi Arabias King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud also issued a directive to set up a committee chaired by Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman to restructure the countrys intelligence agency.

Statement on Saudi Arabia Investigation: pic.twitter.com/DjBdwZAGAi  Sarah Sanders (@PressSec) October 19, 2018

U.S. Reaction

We are saddened to hear confirmation of Mr. Khashoggis death and we offer our deepest condolences to his family, fiancee, and friends, White House press secretary Sarah Saunders said in a statement.

President Donald Trump told reporters at a defense roundtable in Arizona on Oct. 19 that people are not happy about what happened, and noted how many people were allegedly involved on the Saudi side, including officials high up in the administration there. This is a horrible event. This has not gone unnoticed, he said.

Trump said he would be open to punishing Saudi Arabia in some way but doesnt want to cancel an arms supply agreement between the two countries, citing a potential economic impact on America.

Trump said he would be speaking with Crown Prince bin Salman, and that hes already spoken with King Salman. I think were getting close to solving a big problem, he said. Theyve been a great ally in the Middle East. We need them as a counterbalance to Iran.

Video, Audio Evidence?

Turkish officials have claimed to have video and audio evidence proving that a team of Saudi agents killed Khashoggi in the consulate and then moved his body to a different, unknown location but have declined to show the evidence to either the Saudis or the United States, nor has it been made public.

Ive heard no tape, Ive seen no transcript. And the network that reported that ought to pull down the headline that says I have, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told reporters, referring to a report relying on an anonymous source that claimed he had heard an audio recording of Khashoggi in the consulate.

Trump went further, calling it fake news.

He said, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was never given or shown a transcript or video of the Saudi Consulate event.

From NTD.tv
Killer of 6-Year-Old Zainab Ansari Hanged in Pakistan

Mohammad Imran, the man who was convicted of raping and killing 6-year-old Zainab Ansari, was hanged on Oct. 17 at a prison in the city of Lahore.

Imran murdered Zainab and threw her body into a garbage dump. Zainabs body was found near her aunts house in Kasur on Jan. 9, five days after she was abducted.

Authorities said Zainab was strangled to death.

DNA samples were collected from over 1,000 people in the area through Jan. 23. Officers arrested Imran, a neighbor of Zainab, after his DNA matched samples collected from the 6-year-old and seven other victims.

Imran confessed to the slayings and pleaded guilty after his arrest. He was convicted of raping and murdering eight minors in February.

After his conviction, an anti-terrorism court in Lahore issued multiple so-called black warrants and scheduled the execution for Oct. 17, DAWN reported.

Imran was taken to the gallows just before dawn and he has been hanged with a rope in the presence of the magistrate and a doctor, local police official Mohammad Afzal said.

Mohammed Amin Ansari, Zainabs father, was allowed to witness the execution. Ansari had demanded that Imran should be hanged at some public place in order to deter others, but the motion was turned down by the judges.

Shortly after witnessing Imrans execution, Ansari thanked the judiciary, government, and investigators for giving them speedy justice.

My daughter will not come back, but I am satisfied that we got justice, he said.

Zainabs Killing Ignites National Protests

Zainabs rape and murder shocked the nation after a photo of her went viral on social media, showing the smiling girl in her favorite bright pink coat, with a pink barrette in her hair.

Pakistanis rallied across the country, demanding the immediate arrest of the killer. Two protesters were killed by police officers during the protests.

The abduction, rape, and murder was the 12th to occur in Kasur over a 12-month period.

Kasur is a congested district of around 2.5 million people in eastern Pakistan, near the border with India. The city of Kasur is surrounded by brick kilns and tanneries and has hundreds of small factories making shoes and embroidery, all of which employ children who are vulnerable to abuse.

In 2015, an extensive child pornography ring was uncovered in the city; it had been flourishing for nearly a decade and involved nearly 250 children, some of whom were forced at gunpoint to have sex.

Associated Press reporter Zaheer Barbar and NTD reporter Zachary Stieber contributed to this report.

From NTD.tv
Man in Custody After Six Hours Atop a Cell Tower

A 58-year-old man climbed a cell tower near his home in Hialeah, Florida, and refused to come down for six hours.

Pablo Torres began climbing the cell tower next to the Milander Center, near Palm Avenue and 45th Street in Hialeah at around ten in the morning on Friday, Oct. 19.

Hialeah police were called around 10 a.m. When they arrived, they found Torres partway up the tower and in no mood to come back down.

For whatever reason, Torres seemed bent on reaching the topwhich he did, around noon.

According to NBC News, the tower is 222 feet tall.

Torres had no safety gear and no climbing gear. He did have a rope and a yellow bag. He also brought a cell phone.

When he reached the top, Torres laid downpossibly fatigued from the effort, or maybe gathering strength for the three hours of negotiations to come. Authorities are unsure of what motivated Torres to climb the tower.

Literally Trying to Talk Him Down

Police closed off the roads around the cell tower, then called in the negotiation specialists. The mediation team tried to convince Torres to come down by talking with him on his cell phone, but the gentleman was not interested in complying.

Torres, who lives with his mother, had seemed fine that morning, his relatives told Fox News.

His relatives called him around 10 a.m. but no one answered. Shortly after, the Hialeah Police called, telling them the police had found Torres.

The family feared for his mental health, his relatives told Fox News. I dont know, hes kind of, hes sick, said family member Maria Weiner.

Another relative, Mylene Gonzalez, told Fox, I dont know, really I dont know what happened to him.

After police negotiators had no luck talking to Torres, they brought his mother down to the tower to help. Torres wouldnt listen to his mother either.

Man on top of Hialeah tower MAN SCALES TOWER  We're back live in Hialeah where a man has climbed to the very top of a communications tower. Police and fire rescue are attempting to talk to him. WARNING: This video is live and unedited.LATEST: https://bit.ly/2CUaWuS    WSVN-TV     

What Goes Up 

After several hours of debate, police decided that they could not count on Torres coming down on his own. The only solution, it seemed, would be to send a climbing team up after him.

That proved to be the impetus which moved the wayward climber. When police officers started up the tower shortly before 3 p.m., Torres decided he might as well climb down to met them halfway.

When he was low enough, officers put him in the basket of a Miami-Dade Fire Rescue ladder truck. A few minutes later, and Torres was on a stretcher in the back of an ambulance and on the way to a hospital for reexamination and observation.

We want to first thank Miami-Dade County Police, Miami-Dade County Fire, Hialeah Fire, our officers, our members of our negotiation team that worked for hours speaking with this man to finally bring this to a peaceful resolution, said Hialeah Police Sgt. Eddie Rodriguez told Fox news..

When he is released from the hospital, assuming he is found competent, Torres will face charges of robbery and trespassing.

From NTD.tv

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Jerry Hughes with a boy he met through the Wheels of Hope program in India. (Courtesy of Jerry Hughes)

Man Transforms Lives of Kids in India

For eight years, Jerry Hughes worked as an account executive for an advertising company called Infinity Direct in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He managed many big-name clients, including Macys and Caribou Coffee.

In 2004, when Hughes was 30 years old, he left the office during his lunch break to visit the doctor. He thought it would be a routine visit, but when the doctor did a blood test, she made a shocking discovery: Hughes had HIV.



Hughes told The Epoch Times that he felt like a zombie on the drive home but also said, I remember telling [the doctor] at that very moment that Im not going to let this stop me from living. I didnt really know what else to do in life but to push forward.

He would soon prove that determination, beyond a shadow of a doubt. After a youth conference in India just one month past his diagnosis, he felt inspired to give back. This led to the formation of an organization that would forever change the lives of Hughes, as well as several orphaned children.

A Conference in Nagpur

Hughes attended the Youth Camp Conference in Nagpur, India, as a motivational speaker where he talked openly about his diagnosis, despite its recency.

Seeing the positive reception from the crowd, and knowing that India had a serious HIV crisis on their hands, Hughes created a new organization dedicated to helping others with the virus, called Hughes Foundation.

By January 2005, Hughes Foundation was already a registered nonprofit in the U.S. Its early mission statement was only four words: Hope, Healing, Prevention, Life.

Hughes gave motivational speeches and inspired others with HIV to share their stories as well. Hughes Foundation provided free HIV medication to people in India and Namibia, helped poor HIV patients get government assistance, and mentored sick kids within the Minnesota community.

In those days, Hughes didnt get paid for any of his work with the foundation and had to take on other jobs to support himself.

Managing a standard 9 to 5 job and then working online with people in India when he got home, Hughes felt overextended, yet he also felt like he wasnt doing enough to directly combat the AIDS epidemic.

My heart was always like I wanna really do this full-time. I need to be there full-time,' He said. If I really want to be dedicated to the work we do and if I really want it to come to fruition, I have to be there physically.

So, in 2014, Hughes planned his move to Nagpur, India, as a permanent resident.

Sanjay Patil

There was one issue with Hughes moving to India: he didnt speak Hindi. In order to move there, he knew it would be necessary to hire an assistant and interpreter.

One day, Hughes came across a Facebook message from a man named Sanjay Patil. At first, he thought of him as just another person on Facebook wanting to chat, but over the course of their conversation, decided he was worth meeting in person.

Hughes soon discovered that Patils respect for him and desire to help out were 100 percent legitimate.

Jerrys willing to give his time, to give his everything for our people, for our community! Patil told The Epoch Times. I got so impressed by him, I decided I have to work with him.

Hughes had made his decision as well. Patil was hired on as his assistant and interpreter, and the second-in-command for Hughes Foundation.

Working with each other was mutually beneficial. Not only did Hughes find someone who could interpret for him and run the organization whenever he had to leave, but Patil found an incredible opportunity to give back to his community and hone his English skills.

Patil recalled movie nights in which theyd watch a film in English with a few of Hughes English-speaking friends, and as the actors spoke, Patil would study their lips to determine what they were saying.

The early days of Hughes and Patil collaborating consisted of putting together programs like Wheels of Hope (which provides HIV patients with transportation to Antiretroviral Therapy Centers to get their medicine) and working with local orphanages. Yet, after being there for a few years, they decided it was time to provide some housing for others.

House of Hope

In 2017, Hughes Foundation launched House of Hope, a housing facility for orphans with HIV which provides meals, tutoring, medication, and more. Since its launch, House of Hope has become the main focus of their nonprofit.

Besides Hughes and Patil, who live nearby, the team is small with just two house mothers, a cook, and a part-time tutor.

With so few people, theyre only able to provide for 10 kids at a time. However, Hughes believes that the quality of care that they provide is more important than the quantity of kids they can bring in.

I dont imagine ever being a large corporate orphanage like a lot of orphanages in India are  just hundreds and hundreds of kids and it becomes more like a corporate feel, he said.

However, they would like to expand if they can get the donations. Hughes has even floated the idea of a House of Hope 2, which would focus on transitioning young adults with HIV into the workforce.

For now, all of the children at House of Hope are 16 years old or younger. One boy named Mohit became blind as the result of the medication he was taking. When none of the local blind schools would enroll him, House of Hope gave him a chance.

Because of the HIV, nobody would put me into the schoolhouse, Mohit told The Epoch Times, as interpreted by Patil. Before, I was in my home but Jerry came into my life and my life has really changed. I was hoping to get education but nobody was willing to give it to me but, because of Jerry, I am just learning braille.

Creating a foundation to help people like Mohit in India was an unexpected path for his life to take, but one Hughes is proud of nonetheless.

I wouldve never imagined being HIV-focused. I wouldve never imagined being in Nagpur, India. I mean that was never planned, said Hughes, now 44.

Hughess positive, loving, and persistent personality really gets a chance to shine through in his work.

I couldve just said Im gonna be scared of this and not do anything about it but I chose to try and make a difference in life. The simple message really is just about keeping up faith, regardless in life of whatever youve gone through or are going through, he said.

If you want to support Hughes Foundation, consider visiting their website.
Prosecutors Say Bill Cosbys Bid for a New Trial Is Meritless

Prosecutors in Bill Cosbys sex assault case called his bid for a new trial or sentencing hearing meritless, and asked the judge to deny him a post-trial hearing.

The legal team for Cosby, 81, had beseeched the judge for a sentence that kept him out of jail after he was convicted of drugging and sexually assaulting Andrea Constand at his Philadelphia home in 2004.

Instead, Montgomery County Judge Steven ONeill sentenced him to three to 10 years in prison.

It is time for justice. Mr. Cosby, this has all circled back to you. The time has come, Montgomery County Judge Steven ONeill said, before quoting from the victims own statement to the court, in which she said Cosby took her beautiful, young spirit and crushed it.

The judge also declared him a sexually violent predator who remains a danger to the community.

Meritless

Prosecutors said that Cosbys bid for a new trial or sentencing hearing, which focused on what Cosbys lawyers said is a number of errors that the judge made during the initial mistrial in 2017 and the retrial this year, arguing that the judge should have recused himself.

But in a memo filed Friday, District Attorney Kevin Steele said Cosbys objections are time-worn and have been rejected by the judge before.

Cosby said the sentence, more than twice the minimum suggested in state guidelines was too much and complained he must admit the crime and undergo sex-offender therapy to have any real chance at parole in three years. Steele, in response, called parole only a possibility, and said the state parole board was free to set the rules.

The defense had also attacked the validity of a taped phone confrontation between the accusers mother and Cosby in early 2005. Cosby, in his post-trial motion, said the tape had been doctored. Prosecutors said it has long been clear the mother was struggling with the tape recorder and did not record the entire call.

The defense also claimed the actors 2015 arrest may have come too late because its unclear when the encounter took place. But Steele noted that Cosby himself said in a deposition it occurred in 2004, which was within the 12-year window to file charges.

Drugged and Raped

Cosby has admitted giving Benedryl to Constand but has argued that the sex they had was consensual. Constand, a former Temple University employee, said Cosby took advantage of her in 2004 at his Philadelphia home after he drugged her.

I was completely vulnerable and powerless to protect myself. After the assault, I wasnt sure what had actually happened but the pain spoke volumes. The shame was overwhelming. Self-doubt and confusion kept me from turning to my family or friends as I normally did. I felt completely alone, unable to trust anyone, including myself, she wrote.

Cosby, best known for playing the wise-cracking Dr. Cliff Huxtable on the top-ranked Cosby Show from 1984 to 1992, is imprisoned at a state prison in Collegeville, about 30 miles northwest of Philadelphia.

The Associated Press contributed to this report

From NTD.tv
Saudi Arrests in Journalists Death Good First Step, Says Trump

President Donald Trump said the 18 arrests by Saudi Arabia in the death of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi is a good first step and a big step. He noted that the United States is continuing its investigation into the unacceptable incident. He made the remarks during a visit to Luke Air Force Base in Arizona on Oct. 19.

All the arrested are Saudi citizens. The kingdom also announced that it fired five top officials and a number of lower officials were also relieved of their posts.

Khashoggi was killed in the Saudi Arabia Consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, the Saudi Foreign Ministry said on Oct. 19.

The results of the preliminary investigations revealed that the discussions that took place with the citizen during his presence in the consulate by the suspects did not go as required and escalated negatively, which led to a fight between them and the citizen, which aggregated the situation and led to his death, may God rest his soul, the Foreign Ministry said.

The suspects then tried to cover up the crime.

In another statement, the Saudi attorney general said that the discussions at the consulate led to a brawl and a fist fight  which led to his death.

Trump said he considers the Saudi statement credible, though its early.

We havent finished our review, he said.

Since the news of Khashoggis disappearance came out, Trump indicated that he would consider sanctions or other means to penalize Saudi Arabia, but wouldnt want to cancel the $450 billion in purchases and investments the kingdom promised the United States, which includes a $110 billion arms contract.

There are plenty of other things we can do, Trump said on Oct. 19.

Trump also pointed out the Saudis are a great ally to the United States.

We need them as a counterbalance to Iran, he said.
The End Game of Climate Change: Socialism

Climate change isnt about the environment

I discussed in my previous column some of the scientific issues pertaining to the climate change alarm sounded by a press release issued by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Summary for Policymakers of IPCC Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5C Approved by Government, released on Oct. 8.

The IPCC is the United Nations body for assessing the science related to climate change.

Now, lets do a thought experiment: Pretend for a moment that you have never heard of global warming or climate change.

Focus entirely on the IPCCs policy recommendations. The press release calls for rapid and far-reaching changes in land, energy, industry, buildings, transports, and cities. Among other major changes the U.N. wishes to oversee, as Brian McNicoll of Accuracy in Media summarized with the irony of massive understatement, all we have to do is eat a third less meat, move into smaller houses, use mass transit, and switch entirely from fossil fuels to renewables.

Question: What kind of political agenda does that sound like to you? The environmentalist movement today is dominated by an ideology that seeks massive government power over every important sphere of human activity.

Individual liberty must be curtailed. Environmentalism is simply the latest iteration of those illiberal ideologiesfascism, socialism, and communismthat share the worldview that the world is a critically messed up place that can only be saved if governments strip away individual rights and compel the masses to obey a government-designed central plan.

Without a doubt, the U.N. leans heavily toward socialism. Goal No. 10 of United Nations Agenda 2030 aims to reduce inequality within and among countries, which will only be possible if wealth is shared. The document goes on to advocate making fundamental changes in the way that our societies produce and consume goods and servicestypical top-down central economic planning.

Climate Change Is About Wealth Distribution

Senior IPCC official Ottmar Edenhofer has openly said, One has to free oneself from the illusion that international climate policy is environmental policy. Instead, climate change policy is about how we redistribute  the worlds wealth. There you have it from a climate change insider: The real agenda is wealth redistribution. Climate change is merely a convenient pretext.

And what about environmentalists here in the United Statesdo they have similar political goals? Yes, they do. I first became aware of the leftist orientation of the Green Movement in the 1970s. As a young teacher, I would periodically send a modest contribution to various environmentalist groupsthe Sierra Club, the Cousteau Society, et al.

However, the more I read their publications, the clearer it became that these groups were not only lobbying for cleaner air and watervery worthy goals both then and nowthey were also usingmisusing, as I saw itmy donations to promote an entire slate of leftist/progressive causes, including unilateral U.S. disarmament in the face of Soviet aggression around the world, abortion, labor union privileges, etc.

Fast forward to the early 1990s, when the Soviet Union imploded. Socialism was discredited globally, but what happened to American socialist intellectuals and activists? Far from repenting and forsaking government control of economic activity, they cloaked their desire for bigger government in the green garb of environmentalism. That gave rise to the term watermelongreen on the outside but dark pink within.

At a Moscow conference in 1990, Mikhail Gorbachev, general secretary of the Communist Party, candidly said, the threat of environmental crisis will be the international disaster key to unlock the new world order. Gorbachev explicitly called for an international Green organization to further that agenda. Heres where the plot thickens: Al Gore reportedly attended that conference.

The late Natalie Grant, an expert on Soviet disinformation, wrote in a 1998 article, entitled Green Cross: Gorbachev and Enviro-Communism, that Gorbachevs plan included having environmental scare stories concocted and disseminated by pro-Moscow sympathizers and gullible dupes in academia, the sciences, and the press.

Today, there is abundant evidence of Russian involvement in domestic anti-fracking and anti-pipeline campaigns. The goal is to cripple U.S. production of fossil fuels so Russia can gain market share. Here, the Russians and the U.S. Greens make common cause.

The Russia-Environmentalist Connection

Kenneth Stiles, a retired CIA officer, has found a money trail leading from Russian energy interests through Bermuda to various U.S. environmentalist groups. Stiles declared that without a doubt, environmental groups are  agents of influence to Moscow through [a] networking system of shell companies and foundations.

Its no coincidence that the IPCC issued its latest dire predictions just a month before the biennial elections in the United States. The IPCC would love to help Democrats retake control of Congress in next weeks midterm elections. They seek revenge for President Donald Trump having the courage to withdraw from the so-called Paris Climate Agreement, which was a huge redistribute-the-wealth scheme. Surprise! It isnt just the Russians who want to influence U.S. elections.

There is one more important indicator that climate-change hysteria isnt primarily about the environment. Why is green a synonym for environment? Its because we believe a healthy environment is lush and green, not barren and brown. That being the case, the environmentalist movement should be acknowledging with gratitude, and celebrating with joy the fact that the world has become noticeably greener over the past few decades.

A global study conducted by an international team of scientists and published two years ago in the journal Nature Climate Change found that Earths greening over the past 33 years  is equivalent to adding a green continent about two times the size of the mainland USA.

The primary cause of this global greening is the increased concentration of CO2the elixir of plant lifein Earths atmosphere.

So what do the self-professed greens want? They clamor for anti-green policies. They want drastic reductions in CO2 emissionsbad for plantsreduced use of relatively cheap energy (especially bad for poor people), and they seek to impose heavy government controls over our daily livesbad for everyone who isnt one of the national and global political elites or their minions.

It isnt within human capability to decide what Earths temperature will be in the coming years. However, it is very much within our power to decide whether we want to live in a free, prosperous society or in a highly regimented, poor society. The anti-green Greens favor the latter. I do not. Where do you stand?

Dr. Mark Hendrickson is an adjunct professor of economics at Grove City College. He is the author of several books, including The Big Picture: The Science, Politics, and Economics of Climate Change.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Trump Campaigns in Arizona for Rep. Martha McSally, Locked in Tight Senate Race

MESA, Ariz.After attending a roundtable event with supporters in the morning, a fundraiser luncheon, and the signing of a presidential memorandum on farming waterPresident Donald Trump made a final stop at the Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport to speak at a MAGA rally.

Trump was in Mesa, Arizona on Oct. 19 to stump for Republican Rep. Martha McSally who will face off against Democratic Rep. Kyrsten Sinema in the upcoming midtermsnow just 18 days away. The states tight Senate race comes as the president ramps up voters in hopes of maintaining Republicans current slim majorities in both the Senate and House.

I love Arizona. Weve been here all day and all night, Trump told the sea of red MAGA hats gathered in the aviation hangar. Some in the crowd of Republican supporters arrived a day earlier just to secure their place in line.

Trumps visit was the second in a three-day Western swing campaign this week at three important battleground states. He was in Missoula, Montana the day before.

Early voting has already started in Arizona, Trump capitalized on this as he reminded his supporters to get out. He also used the Democrats destroy tactics during Justice Brett Kavanaughs confirmation hearings as a rallying cry for republicans.

Dont forget it on Nov. 6, Trump said.

Trump won the state of Arizona by a slim margin of 3 percentage points in the 2016 presidential elections, according to election data. Earlier on Twitter, he appeared to promote a new rally catchphrase #JobsNotMobs! and rally attendees wore t-shirts with the slogan.

Neck and Neck

But the focal point of the event was to get Republicans to back Rep. Martha McSally.

They are all talking about Arizona, they are all talking about Martha. The choice for every American could not be more clear than it is right now, Trump said. Democrats produce mobs, Republicans produce jobs.

Shes tough and shes smart and shes brave and she can fly a plane better than anybody.

Trump was referencing McSallys experience as a colonel in the United States Air Force. During her 26-year military career she was deployed six times to the Middle East and Afghanistan, flying 325 combat hours and earning a Bronze Star and six air medals.

She not only became the first woman in U.S. history to fly a fighter jet in combat but the first woman to command a fighter squadron.

McSally used her background to her advantage as she touted her policies on the military, economy, and national security.

We have so many job opportunities, we are rebuilding our military. I said I would vote for Kavanaugh, Sinema said she would vote no, she told the crowd.

On national security we fought and kept the A10 Warthog. Sinema advocated to shut down Luke Air Force base.  On economic security I voted for your tax cuts, and Sinema voted no.

According to a recent poll by RealClearPolitics, McSally was just 0.3 of a point ahead of her opponent.

McSally also criticized Sinemas previous voting to protect sanctuary policies. Trump agreed with her.

The Democrats dont care that a flood of illegal immigration is going to bankrupt our country. All the Democrats care about is power, he said.

We cherish ICE, we cherish Border Patrol, Trump said in response to what he described as sick Democrat policies.

The casualties in the Democrats open border crusades are innocent American families and lives. And we have some of those incredible people tonight.

He said Republicans need a person like McSally in Washington. During the rally Trump also endorsed incumbent Gov. Doug Ducey who is seeking re-election. Ducey will face Democrat candidate David Garcia in the general election.

The president continued to lament over Sinemas policies throughout the rally, describing them as far left. At one point he said she was protected by the fake news back there as he pointed to the line of media cameras pointed at him.

Meanwhile, Trump summarized the support he was receiving as: The greatest movement in the history of our country. Never happened before.
Fusion GPS co-founder Glenn Simpson in the Rayburn Office Building on Capitol Hill, where he testified before the House Judiciary and Oversight Committee on Oct. 16, 2018. (Zach Gibson/Getty Images)

Why Would Fusion GPSs Simpson Invoke the First Amendment?

Fusion GPS co-founder Glenn Simpson reportedly invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination during a closed-door interview on Oct. 16, after being subpoenaed by a joint House panel. What might be overlooked is that Simpson also invoked his First Amendment right to freedom of speech and freedom of association.

Fusion GPS, the firm that commissioned the dossier produced by former MI6 agent Christopher Steele, also employed Nellie Ohr, the wife of former Associate Deputy Attorney General Bruce Ohr.

There are some obvious reasons why Simpson might plead the Fifth.

Bruce Ohr recently testified during congressional testimony that he met with Simpson prior to the FBI obtaining a FISA warrant on Trump campaign adviser Carter Page. At the time, Ohr was the fourth-highest ranking official at the Justice Department (DOJ) and was the director of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces. Ohr also was communicating on an ongoing basis with Steele.

Of importance is that Simpson previously told Congress he had no contact with Ohr until after Thanksgiving 2016and the presidential election. This fact was highlighted by Rep. John Ratcliffe (R-Texas), in an interview with Fox News Maria Bartiromo:

Simpson had previously testified under oath to the House Intelligence Committee that he never met with Bruce Ohr or discussed with Bruce Ohr the Steele dossier prior to the October FISA application in 2016 or the 2016 presidential election. That is in direct contradiction to what Bruce Ohr told me under oath last month, Ratcliffe said.



Ohrs assertion appears to be backed up in documents turned over to Congress by the DOJ. On Aug. 22, 2016, Ohr received an email from Simpson asking, Can u ring. Ohrs contact log lists some type of interaction with Simpson that day.

Steele had finished a new dossier installment that referenced former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort on Aug. 22, 2016.

The Fifth Amendment provides certain levels of protection against self-incrimination. It doesnt, however, protect an individual from testimony concerning other individuals.

This distinction was noted by Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), who told reporters, Glenn Simpson has to have a reasonable apprehension of criminal prosecution to validly invoke the Fifth. If not, you cant just invoke the Fifth to avoid answering congressional questions.

The distinction provided by Meadows is notable and worthy of an answer. It also brings us to Simpsons unusual legal stance of invoking the First Amendment. Simpsons intent was stated in an Oct. 11 letter from his attorney to Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.), the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee:

Mr. Simpson, whose testimony is a matter of public record, will not be participating in a confidential deposition before this Committee. He will instead invoke his constitutional rights not to testify under the First and Fifth Amendments of the Constitution.

The letter cited two cases from 1955 that relate to congressional investigations of communist political activities. First Amendment protection from congressional power to investigate and punish for contempt has proven to be a murky area with little in the way of clear answers. The Supreme Court touched on this in Barenblatt v. United States:

Undeniably, the First Amendment in some circumstances protects an individual from being compelled to disclose his associational relationships. However, the protections of the First Amendment, do not afford a witness the right to resist inquiry in all circumstances.

Where First Amendment rights are asserted to bar governmental interrogation, resolution of the issue always involves a balancing by the courts of the competing private and public interests at stake in the particular circumstances shown.

This wasnt the first time that Simpson invoked his First Amendment right. He also did so during his Nov. 8, 2017, interview before the House Intelligence Committee, as negotiated by his lawyer, Joshua Levy:

Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.): Which privileges, in particular, are you concerned about?

Joshua Levy: Constitutional and common law privileges, First Amendment, Fifth Amendment, attorney work product doctrine.

Levy noted these privileges had previously been afforded by other committees. This included Simpsons Aug. 22, 2017, appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee in which Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) had granted Simpsons request. Levys demand for First Amendment privilege took committee members by surprise, including Gowdy, who pressed Simpsons attorney on the matter:

Gowdy: I have a vague familiarity with the Fifth Amendment. What is the First Amendment privilege?

Levy: There is a First Amendment privilege to free association and free speech.

Gowdy: I agree with both of those. How would they limit your clients ability to answer questions?

Gowdys sentiments were echoed by Rep. Mike Conaway (R-Texas), who noted, I dont have a clue why your First Amendment rights are at risk from this committee.

Levy hinted at what was at stake:

Well, they wouldnt if the committee agreed that nothing he said would interfere with his ability or the companys ability to assert that privilege going forward in the investigation as to requests for documents or to other testimony sought by this committee from Mr. Simpson or any other individual at Fusion GPS.

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) clarified Simpsons reasoning for invoking the First Amendment, noting that topics relating to the Russia investigation were probably fine. Other areas of investigation, including finding out about other clients who are unrelated to this investigation or other op research theyve done were out of bounds.

Ultimately, an agreement was reached, leading to Simpsons full interview on Nov. 14, 2017, before the House Intelligence Committee.

The issue of First Amendment protection first arose during negotiations between Simpsons lawyer and Grassley, in preparation for Simpsons Senate Judiciary testimony on Aug. 22, 2017. In a series of backand-forth letters, Simpsons lawyer repeatedly sought protection and preservation of First Amendment rights:

Fusion GPS worked with and for its clients in furtherance of its clients First Amendment rights to engage in political activity and political speech, to speak anonymously, to associate freely with others and to petition their government.

Levy then brought us to the heart of the matter:

You have requested that Fusion GPS reveal the names of any clients that had retained the company for the purpose of performing opposition research on a major political party candidate for president. You likewise have requested that Fusion GPS disclose all of its internal communications regarding any such opposition research.

Requiring Fusion GPS to produce the requested information and materials would chill the exercise of Fusion GPS and its clients First Amendment rights; thus, a compulsory process is not warranted here for the information and material now being requested.

An agreement was ultimately reached between Grassley and Simpsons attorney that allowed for Simpson to be interviewed by the Senate Judiciary Committee in August, without waiving First and Fifth Amendment privileges that protected Fusion GPS and the identity of its clients in future litigation.

Simpson has consistently attempted to cloak his clients under the protection of the First Amendment.

Which raises several questions: Did other clients or participants remain unnamed? What activities were these clients engaging in? And where might these clients lead investigators?

Simpsons invocation of the Fifth and First amendments goes beyond self-incrimination.

Jeff Carlson is a CFA charterholder. He worked for 20 years as an analyst and portfolio manager in the high-yield bond market. He runs the website TheMarketsWork.com

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
ISTANBUL - Saudi Arabia's decision to acknowledge the death of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi followed calls for justice from around the world. But no individual had put more pressure on the oil-rich monarchy than Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

After Khashoggi disappeared at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, Erdogan and his aides did more than just quietly investigate: They narrated the crisis, focusing the world's attention on what they said was a brazen, state-sponsored assassination on its soil.

Grisly details of the alleged killing were released to the Turkish and international news media. Erdogan publicly upbraided Saudi Arabia's leaders, accusing them of obstructing the probe.

Turkey's revelations may have helped push the Saudi government to reverse its repeated denials of wrongdoing and announce early Saturday that it had arrested 18 people and fired several top officials in the case. Saudi officials said Khashoggi was killed in a fight inside the consulate.

In a final act of Turkish pressure, prosecutors said Friday that they were interviewing Turks who worked at the consulate - employees who might have insight into the movements and actions of Saudi officials around the time Khashoggi disappeared.

Turkey's foreign minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, also warned that when Turkey completed its investigation, it would share the results "with the world."

For Erdogan, the benefits of turning up the heat on Saudi Arabia and its young crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, were apparent, analysts said. The two countries have competed for influence in the Middle East and clashed over Turkey's support for Qatar in a feud that divided the region.

Erdogan has little personal affection for Mohammed, who referred to Turkey this year as part of a regional "triangle of evil," along with Iran and regional Islamist groups. The Khashoggi investigation, with its allegations of high-level collusion by Saudi officials, provided Turkey an opportunity to damage the crown prince's reputation, analysts said, and to drive a wedge between Saudi Arabia and the United States.

The Turkish president has also said he regarded Khashoggi as "a friend."

Erdogan may be seeking other leverage for Turkey as well, including preventing Saudi meddling in Syria along Turkey's border, and financial aid or relief from the United States or the Saudis, analysts said.

The crisis provided a measure of respite for Turkey, at a time when Erdogan was facing criticism at home for the ailing Turkish economy and criticism abroad for detaining foreign nationals and engaging in "hostage diplomacy."

Instead, Khashoggi's case thrust Erdogan into the ironic role of defender of journalistic freedom and dealmaker between the United States and Saudi Arabia as the two longtime allies have sought to manage the blowback over what many have concluded was Riyadh's unrepentant killing of a prominent critic.

If Khashoggi's status as a veteran journalist who wrote for The Washington Post first helped elevate his case from local mystery to global crisis, Turkey's response amplified his plight.

Four days after Khashoggi's disappearance on Oct. 2, Turkish officials shared their explosive conclusions with the news media: He had been killed soon after he entered the consulate to obtain papers that proved he was divorced. His murder, the investigators added, was at the hands of a 15-man "hit team" dispatched from Riyadh to silence Khashoggi, who had written columns in The Post criticizing the crown prince.

Leaks about the case seemed to dry up about a week ago. But they started again, more lurid than before, after President Donald Trump speculated that "rogue killers" were behind Khashoggi's disappearance and as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo traveled to Riyadh, the Saudi capital, and was photographed smiling next to the crown prince.

The leaks fueled speculation that Erdogan was raising the cost of his government's cooperation with Saudi Arabia, which badly wants to put the Khashoggi incident behind it.

U.S. officials had expected Saudi Arabia to take responsibility for Khashoggi's death but to explain it in a way that shielded the crown prince from responsibility.

The announcement early Saturday appeared to meet that criteria, though it immediately came under criticism from policymakers in Washington. Erdogan, however, can claim Riyadh dismissed two senior aides to the crown prince as a result of his pressure campaign and may be able to walk away satisfied.

"The Turks have leaked information in drips and drops, ultimately in my estimation to increase the price of settlement," said Joshua Walker, a former Turkey specialist at the State Department. "Turkey has been in a tough economic situation since the summer, and as we have seen with its relationship with Qatar, it is not above leveraging its relationships," he said, referring to a pledge by Qatar in August to invest $15 billion in Turkey.

There is no indication that Erdogan has asked for monetary compensation or political favors from Riyadh, but Western diplomats suspected that Saudi Arabia would compensate Turkey if it blessed the kingdom's explanation for Khashoggi's disappearance - a payback that could come in the form of large-scale debt relief, strategic buyouts or other arrangements.

"Right now what Turkey needs most is financial support. The economy is still brittle, it hasn't recovered from the crash of its currency this summer, and Turkey is expected to face a massive fine for Iran-related sanctions," said Soner Cagaptay, a Turkey scholar at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. "Erdogan is a master of creating an opportunity out of a crisis," he said. "He's an excellent politician in that regard, and he's looking for an opportunity."

But Asli Aydintasbas, a fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, said that Turkey's goals were primarily strategic and that it was looking, among other things, for a "readjustment of U.S. policy" that had relied heavily on the Saudi crown prince as the linchpin of the Trump administration's strategy to isolate Iran.

"They don't want the Americans to base their whole policy on Mohammed bin Salman," she said, but at the same time, Turkey does not expect the United States to pivot from the alliance with Saudi Arabia. Turkey's aim, she added, is to deter "the more thuggish behavior associated with Mohammed bin Salman and the United Arab Emirates," a key Saudi ally.

But the leaks, and the pressure they created, carry risks for Turkey as it tries to avoid a total diplomatic break with the Saudis and worries about Saudi retaliation, analysts said.

Erdogan "doesn't want to go it alone against the Saudis," said Gonul Tol, the director of the Middle East Institute's Center for Turkish Studies. "They want to frame this as a world problem."

Pompeo on Thursday said he had asked the White House to give Saudi Arabia "a few more days to complete" its investigation, even as he came under fire for failing to get answers about Khashoggi's fate in his fact-finding mission to Riyadh and Ankara this week.

The Saudi crown prince, in private discussions with U.S. officials, had vociferously denied any involvement in Khashoggi's disappearance, saying he would never be so stupid as to order the type of assassination being alleged, according to diplomats familiar with the conversations, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive topic. Critics had accused the United States of buying the Saudis time to come up with a plausible scenario that exonerated the crown prince.

But as Turkish authorities continued to leak more gruesome details to the press, Trump took an increasingly dim view of the situation, acknowledging for the first time Thursday that he believed Khashoggi was no longer alive.

One day later, Saudi Arabia finally acknowledged Khashoggi's death, more than two weeks after he disappeared.

- - -

Hudson reported from Washington.
STAMFORD A high-powered telephone executive had an animal cruelty charge all but dropped on Friday, diffusing a legal showdown brewing over an Australian shepherd.

Vermont Telephone President Michael Guite, 73, won a nolle on the charge from the Stamford States Attorneys office, which gives prosecutors up to 13 months to refile the charge or it will be automatically dismissed.

The office declined comment on the disposition of Guites case, but one court watcher suggested it might be difficult to prove that Guite had deprived the animal of wholesome air, food or water, as the statute requires.

Guite said he had wanted the case to serve as a teaching moment for police, who arrested him for leaving his Australian shephard, Cody, in his SUV, which was parked in the Stamford Town Center parking garage next to Capital Grille, where he was having dinner on June 22.

Police at the time said Cody, who is three years old and stars in television commercials for Vermont Telephone, was in the SUV with no water for at least 90 minutes while the windows were rolled up during a humid night with an outside temperature of 75 degrees.

But Guite says Cody was not uncomfortable in the car that night and he knows because the two are nearly inseparable. Guite claims that he loves his dog and he and Cody travel about 40,000 miles per year in the car that has a super heavy duty air conditioning system that he keeps at a chilly 60 degrees wherever they go.

That was the situation that night, he said, when he went to the Capital Grille to celebrate the 18th birthday of his son, who lives in Greenwich.

Guite said that people rightfully understand that when a car sits in the sun it can get very hot, even on a cloudy day. But his car, which he said has great insulation, was not in the sun. It was in the covered parking garage.

By the time he got done with dinner he said there were about a dozen cops and several firefighters milling around his car.

And when he opened it up, he could feel a little cold air spill out.

When I came back and opened the door, cool air came out. It wasnt a blast, but you could feel it was colder, Guite said Friday morning, while driving back to Vermont with Cody riding along with him.

Guite said Cody then got out of the car and greeted all the first responders and took a couple licks of water and jumped back into the SUV.

Guite says the police should have known he was not being cruel to his dog. I believe animal rights are important enough and animal cruelty laws arent strong enough, he said.

But, he said, he felt that police and fire fighters are not being given the training to understand what makes a car hot and that does not show much respect for animals.

He was ready to hire an attorney to take the case to trial and because Cody has his own money from the commercials, he was going to get his own attorney too, Guite said.

But there was no need for Cody to hire his own representation because state law now requires any dog involved in an animal cruelty case have a pro-bono attorney to represent the interests of the animal.

jnickerson@stamfordadvocate.com
Special Events

Monday, Oct. 22  Weir Farm Artist-in-Residence Exhibition/Reception: Helaine and Ira Soller, 6-7:30 p.m.  October brings Helaine and Ira Soller to the Weir Farm Artist-in-Residence program. Helaine Sollers style combines expressionism, abstraction and realism. Nature challenges her to invent a personal language using spontaneous brush strokes to capture its rhythms and forms. Ira Soller, Helaines husband, is a photographer and will be documenting her work. Co-sponsored by Weir Farm Art Center and Weir Farm National Historic Site and presented by Wilton Library. No charge. Registration suggested. Register online or call 203-762-6334.

Wednesday, Oct. 24  Get Well, Stay Well: Stroke Prevention, Symptoms, and the Latest Treatments, 7-8:30 p.m.  Get Well, Stay Well: A health literacy series presented by Wilton Library and Western Connecticut Health Network presents an update on stroke risk, prevention, symptoms, and treatment. The featured speaker will be Dr. Joshua Marcus, a neurosurgeon who will talk about what a stroke is, who is at risk for stroke, how to reduce your risk of stroke, the signs and symptoms of a stroke, and perhaps most importantly, what to do if you think you are experiencing a stroke. Moderated by Wilton Library Trustee Saras Nair, who was previously chairman of the Pathology Department at Norwalk Hospital. See librarys registration link for more details. No charge for the program. Registration is recommended. Register online or call 203-762-6334.

Thursday, Oct. 25  A Visit with Author Sally Allen at Goldenberry, 6-8 p.m.  Local author Sally Allen will be discussing her book, Unlocking Worlds  A Reading Companion for Book Lovers at Goldenberry in the Stop & Shop Plaza in Wilton. For this evening only, 10 percent of the proceeds of the sales in the shop will be donated to the library. For information, call 203-972-5887.

Friday, Oct. 26  John Harris and William McCarthy: Water Air Earth Art Exhibition/Reception, 6-7:30 p.m.  John Harris and William McCarthy bring their love of nature to the walls of Wilton Library for this October exhibition, Water Air Earth. Harris is most interested in exploring waters physical properties  reflection, turbidity, rhythm, pattern  that make up its unique viewing experience. McCarthys landscapes have evolved over the years evoking a subtle variation of light and atmosphere. Reception free and open to the public. Exhibition runs through Nov. 8. Most of the works will be available for purchase with a portion of the proceeds benefiting the library.

Now through Thursday, Oct. 25  25 for 25 Challenge Grant Campaign  In this years budgeting process, the library was challenged by the town of Wilton to raise $25,000 in additional funding which would be matched by the town, thereby reaching Wilton Librarys original budget request. The shortfall of $50,000 in the librarys Fiscal 2019 budget is crucial to the librarys operations. The library needs 1,000 people to donate just $25 or more each.

Calendar

Sunday, Oct. 21 & 28  Video Game Creation for Middle School, 1-3 p.m.  Interested in learning how to create your own video game? If youre a student in grades 6-8, join us for this two-day workshop. Well be using Unity, a 3D Game and Image Design platform to build a simple video game. Must be able to attend both sessions: Sunday, Oct. 21 and Sunday, Oct. 28 from 1-3 p.m. Registration required. Supported by the Amadeo Family. Register online or call 203-762-6342.

Tuesday, Oct. 23  Senior Center Book Discussion: The Shepherds Life: Modern Dispatches from an Ancient Landscape, 11-noon.  Barbara Jones will lead a discussion of The Shepherds Life: Modern Dispatches from an Ancient Landscape by James Rebanks. This group meets on the fourth Tuesday of each month from September through May, excluding December. Call the Senior Center for details and to register at 203-834-6240. Comstock Community Center, 180 School Road, Wilton.

Tuesday, Oct. 23  Considering a Gap Year?, 6:30-7:30 p.m.  In this seminar, Matthew Greene will discuss various approaches to gap year planning, drawing on his years of college admission counseling experience, and his work with many students who have taken gap years all over the world. Recommended for high school students and parents. Registration recommended. Register online or call 203-762-6342.

Friday, Oct. 26  Watercolor Coffee Mugs: Drop-in Craft, 11 a.m.-12 p.m.  Transform a plain white coffee mug into a one-of-a-kind artistic cup. Give as a gift or enjoy with your morning java. $5 per mug, payable upon arrival. For ages 18+. Swing by anytime between 11 a.m. - noon, as long as supplies last. You only need ~15 minutes!

WILTON LIBRARY 137 Old Ridgefield Road 203-762-3950 www.wiltonlibrary.org See More Collapse

Saturday, Oct. 27  Tales to Tails, 11 a.m.-12 p.m.  ROARs (Ridgefield Operation Animal Rescue) Therapy Dog Program will be bringing a therapy dog to be read to by children who are independent readers. The use of trained therapy dogs in reading programs can result in children who feel comfortable reading out loud, read more often, attempt more difficult books, and actually look forward to reading. No program charge, registration is required. Register online or call 203-762-6336.

Classes in Innovation Station  Monday, Oct. 22: Vinyl Adornments with the Cricut Die Cutter, 10:30 a.m.-12 p.m.; Stitch Time for Knitters and Crocheters, 1-2:30 p.m.; Wednesday, Oct. 24: Embroidering with the Janome Memory Craft, 10 a.m.-12 p.m.; Enhancing Your Pictures with Photoshop, 6-7:30 p.m.; Thursday, Oct. 25: Scanning Slides into Digital Images, 2-4 p.m.

Childrens programs  Monday, Oct. 22: Sign, Say and Play, 10:30-11 a.m.; Tuesday, Oct. 23: Terrific Tales for Twos and Threes, 10:15-10:45 a.m.; Wednesday, Oct. 24: Books for Babies, 10:15-10:45 a.m.; Wonderful Ones and Twos, 11-11:30 a.m.; Thursday, Oct. 25: Scary STEM, 4-5 p.m.; Sunday, Oct. 28: Drop-in Halloween Crafts, 1-4:30 p.m.
A state senator is defending using money from pro-union groups to go after House Republicans, a move that cost him an endorsement from an anti-abortion group.

Just last week, Conservative Party gubernatorial candidate Sam McCann, who is a Republican state senator from Plainview, picked up the endorsement of Illinois Family Action for his anti-abortion position.

With early voting for the November general election under way, we want to remind you how important it is to exercise your civic duty to vote and be good stewards of Gods amazing gift of self-government, Illinois Family Action Executive Director David Smith said in a video posted online Oct. 12. McCann  share[s] our conservative Christian values and we urge you to support [him] when you cast your ballot.

This week, McCann sent out mailers against an anti-abortion Republican, calling him a Rauner RINO, or Republican In Name Only.

Smith said that triggered his board to decide to take back its endorsement, a first for the group.

What Sam McCann is doing with this mailer is actually enabling a pro-abortion Democrat to get an upper hand on a pro-life incumbent state lawmaker, Smith said.

With McCann getting big dollars from union interests, Smith said its clear to him McCann is more interested in fighting right to work candidates than supporting anti-abortion candidates.

Thats what it really is about, Smith said. So we were misled. We were lied to. We were deceived.

McCann dismissed Smiths criticism, saying hes 110 percent anti-abortion. He said its House Republicans that are falling in line with incumbent Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner, who McCann has called the states most liberal Democratic governor in history.

Is it really about being conservative and leading or is it about being sheep and getting re-elected, McCann said.

McCann this month alone has gotten $1.2 million from a group called Fight Back Fund that supports union politics. He said thats money from a mix of people in unions who support his campaign.

State Rep. Jeanne Ives, R-Wheaton, said what McCann is doing with that union support is effectively working to give more power to Democrats, and, by extension, House Speaker Michael Madigan.

McCann said thats not true.

To use the governors term, thats baloney, McCann said. What were doing is were calling people out.

One of McCanns targets, Palatine state Rep. Tom Morrison, said its imperative Republicans maintain and gain seats in the House to stop Madigans use of a supermajority. He said a supermajority would allow Democrats to push an agenda thats wrong for Illinois.

McCann said Republicans and Smith are doing Rauners bidding.

Smith said IFA is now telling voters to support none of the above in the gubernatorial race.
ALTON  State Senator William Haine is retiring from the Illinois Senate at the end of this year and is preparing to leave office: quite literally, he is packing his personal belongings and furniture to move them out of his Henry Street district office in Alton.

Next Wednesday, Oct. 24, movers will arrive to load up 16 years worth of memories, awards, papers and his office furniture to take them to his home. The Senator is inviting area media outlets to stop in and talk with him about his time in the Senate and what leaving office will mean for him and the district.

I am so humbled to have served the 56th District since 2002 and, of course have mixed emotions about leaving office, Haine said. I am proud of what Ive accomplished and look forward to what our future senator will do for the district.

Haine will officially leave office Jan. 8, 2019 on the last day of the 100th Session of the General Assembly; he will continue to meet with constituents and operate from his Henry Street suite until then.

I think taking this step of moving my desk and belongings out of this building for the first time since January, 2003 will help my colleagues, friends in the district and I prepare for my transition out of the elected office of State Senator in January.

The desk and some of the other furniture has been with Senator Haine for the last 40 years. He purchased the desk and credenza in Wood River when he went into the law business with Attorney Randy Bono, later Judge Bono. He also used the furniture when he was States Attorney and then when he opened his legislative office in Alton in the Honke Building.

The Honke family has been very generous and has been great landlords, Haine said. It is a great place to have an office near the bridge and Route 3, as well as Route 143. It is easily accessible to all parts of my District.

The former Madison County States Attorney has focused much of his work in the senate on criminal law, insurance, the judiciary and veterans affairs. Sen. Haine and his wife Anna have seven children and at last count, 33 grandchildren. Many lawmakers who retire from office speak of looking forward to spending time with family, and in Sen. Haines case that will be a likely full-time endeavor.
EDWARDSVILLE  House Speaker Paul Ryan, (R-Wis.) on Tuesday will meet with employees and tour World Wide Technology in Edwardsville.

Ryan, alongside Rep. Rodney Davis (R-Bunker Hill), will highlight how tax reform is growing our economy at a historic rate and allowing companies to create jobs and invest in their workforce, according to a press release issued by Davis office Friday afternoon.

Ryan is stumping for Davis in a closely contested primary election battle with Democratic challenger Betsy Dirksen Londrigan for a critical 13th Congressional U.S. House seat.

It will be the fourth time in recent campaigning that a top Republican has visited the district in support of Davis. This summer, President Donald Trump held a rally at Granite City U.S. Steel. Just weeks later, the presidents daughter/advisor Ivanka Trump co-hosted a workforce roundtable with Davis at Lewis & Clark Community College. Last week, Vice President Mike Pence appeared at fundraisers for Davis in Springfield and Belleville.
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) is the most significant tax reform the U.S. has seen in more than 30 years. The law will have a large impact on both businesses and individuals, and there may still be opportunities before the end of the year to reduce your tax liability.

Scheffel Boyle CPAs will be offering Year-End Tax Planning & Tax Reform Update Seminars in November to discuss some major changes from the TCJA that may affect you or your business. With three chances to attend, we hope you can make the event most convenient for you. The Scheffel Boyle Tax Team will present both business and individual changes with attendees and provide important information on ways you can prepare for your 2018 filings.
11 hours ago

The TJX Companies Is Breaking Out To New Highs

The TJX Companies Is A Retailer You Can Buy Earnings from the retail sector have been robust this quarter and The TJX Companies (NYSE: TJX) is participating in the trend. The company not only reported better than expected earnings but gave an indication business trends were still advancing.

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Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation advice on weather warning

Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM) Bangkok office have followed up on the weather situation and risk factors including a letter from the Thai Meteorological Department (TMD) on Oct 19 regarding heavy rain within the central and northern region of southern Thailand during Oct 20-22 that may cause flash flooding in these areas.

weather

By The Phuket News

Saturday 20 October 2018, 01:57PM

Thai Meteorological Department weather map as of Saturday, October 20

To be prepared and reduce damage from the weather situation, the warned provinces should act upon the advice in the letter from the DDPM as quickly as possible.

Prapan Kanprasang, Chief of the Phuket DDPM, told The Phuket News this morning that the letter informed us that Phuket is one of the warned provinces that must be aware of flash flooding. For the risk of landslide, it depends on rainfall during Oct 20-22. People in areas such as Kamala should at least bring their valued items to a high place to prevent from damage if a bad situation happens.

The letter can be viewed on the DDPM website (Thai language).
Nation to commemorate Chulalongkorn Memorial Day

PHUKET: Government offices and many businesses will be closed this Tuesday (Oct 23) as the nationa commemorates Chulalongkorn Memorial Day in honour of King Chulalongkorn, also often reffered to as Rama 5.

culture

By The Phuket News

Saturday 20 October 2018, 11:42AM

As such all government offices will close on Tuesday, including Phuket Immigration Office, the Employment Office, the Land Transport Office, and all three District Offices in Phuket.

The Post offices and Hospitals will open.

All main bank branches will close, but branches in shopping centres will remain open.

All Royal Thai Police and Tourist Police stations will remain open and some local consulates will remain open to serve their respective citizens.

The sale of alcohol is not prohibited on this day.

The Class Act Media offices will be open.
Police arrest man after 11 year hunt for police killer

PHUKET: Police on Friday (Oct 19) placed under arrest a man who runs a restaurant in Kathu who is also suspected of being wanted for slaying a policeman in Songkhla 11 years ago.

murdercrimepolice

By Eakkapop Thongtub

Saturday 20 October 2018, 03:04PM

Mr Kamhang (in patterned shirt) arrested on Friday (Oct 19) by Phuket Provincial Police

Lt Col Tammasan Bonrong of the Phuket Provincial Police arrested the man as he exited his rented room on Chumporn Rd in Phuket Town at about 6pm.

On request, the man was unable to show police his ID card, so the officers then took him to Phuket Provincial Police Station for further investigation.

Police explained that the man is believed to be Kamhang Kunprom, 35, originally from Phattalung, who is wanted for slaying a police officer in Songkhla province, in 2007.

Kamhang is wanted under an arrest warrant from Phattalung Provincial Court for murder, owning an illegal gun and ammunition, and possession of stolen goods, Col Tammasan explained.

According to the details of the arrest warrant, Kamhang is wanted for the murder of Maj Wuttichai Jantakan, 37, a police office who was stationed at Thung Tam Sao Police Station, in Hat Yai District, Songkhla,

Maj Wuttichai was killed on April 10, 2007, said the warrant. His body found in Khao Chaison District, in Phattalung. His throat had been slashed and he had a bullet hole in his right cheek

The suspect for the murder, Kamhang, disappeared at the same time.

Col Tammasan explained that from their investigations, the police have confirmed that the man arrested on Friday is Kamhang.

He added that that since the time of the killing, Kamhang had moved to Phuket to open a restaurant in Kathu and had changed his name to Phupa Khunpet.

The man arrested on Friday, however, denied any part in the killing, saying he he was asleep at the time of the killing over 11 years ago.

The police have now transferred the man to Khao Chaison Police Station in Phattalung to undergo further investigation.
Similans limited: Tourist quota shakes tour operators

PHUKET: In a move to prevent more environmental damage by heavy overtourism, the number of tourists allowed to enter Mu Ko Similan National Park, a key natural tourist attraction just over 80km northwest of Phuket, has been halved with a quota brought into effect on Monday (Oct 15).

tourismeconomicsenvironmentnatural-resourcesmarine

By Tanyaluk Sakoot

Saturday 20 October 2018, 09:00AM

Tour boats line the shore at Ao Kuerk on Similian Island during the tourism high season in January. Photo: Kaj Schmidt

The order was issued by Thanya Netithammakun, Director-General of the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP), on Oct 8, Similan National Park Chief Ruamsilp Manajongprasert told The Phuket News this week.

Despite the strong opposition by tour operators, the quota  allowing only 3,850 visitors per day  will stay in effect, Chief Ruamsilp assured.

A total of 1,625 persons per day will be allowed to enter the park via Koh Miang (Island No 4), 1,700 will be allowed to enter per day via Koh Similan (Island No 8) and a further 525 persons per day will be allowed entry to dive at any of 21 dive sites in the park, he explained.

The limit on the number of tourists will remain in effect. We have no thoughts on changing this, Mr Ruamsilp said.

The move is to prevent further environmental damage by heavy tourism, and follows the DNP in June this year banning overnight stays at the islands, whereby it is no longer possible to book bungalows or stay at the camping sites.

The main aim is to reduce damage to corals and the environment by tourists, tour operators and divers, Chief Ruamsilp explained.

From Oct 15, 2017 to May 15, 2018, the park issued B1.1 million in fines for people breaking the law in the park. This included people smoking cigarettes, using drones in the park, boats dropping anchor in banned areas in the park, and divers touching and feeding marine animals and touching or breaking corals, he said.

All this is reason enough for us us to introduce the quota, he said.

Chief Ruamsilp also noted that the improvement in the marine environment at Koh Tachai, which is also in the park but has been closed to all tourism activities since May 2016, provided inspiration for the quota.

After we saw that the environment at Koh Tachai is improving, we had research conducted into what should be done to protect the rest of the park, he added.

As for Koh Tachai, he said, It will remain closed for now. We have no idea when it will reopen.

Research by experts from Kasetsart University had identified that sun creams worn by tourists entering the water were having an effect on the corals, Chief Ruamsilp noted.

The research team found that chemicals in the sun cream lotions were directly affecting coral growth, making the coral regeneration process much slower, he said.

So now we are asking for cooperation from tourists to use sun creams without Oxybenzone (BP-3), Octinoxate, Methybenzylid Camphor and Butylparaben.

We have also repeated to tour companies to prevent their customers from feeding marine animals, to not drop any rubbish in the park, and that snorkelling tours must be conducted in water at least three metres deep, and the tour boats must be fitted with GPS location devices, Mr Ruamsilp said.

Regarding how the quota is managed, Park Chief explained, To visit the park you can either book a trip with a tour operator or buy an entry ticket at the Similian Park Office at Laem Kaen, in Thai Muang District.

Tickets are not available anywhere else, he said.

Thais must show their ID card, Foreigners must show their passport, Chief Ruamsilp added.

Entry to the park costs B500 per adult and B300 per child for foreigners, and B100 per adult and B50 per child for Thais.

SUDDEN IMPACT

Tour operators have railed against the quota, saying that the move will cost jobs and put operators out of business.

Before the quota, the national park saw up to 7,000 visitors a day during the peak season, with 912,000 tourists in total visiting the park last year.

That number has now been halved by the quota.

Nattakit Lorwitworrawat, Managing Director of Sea Star Andaman tour company in Phang Nga, as the President of the Similan  Surin Tourism Boat Association spearheaded the campaign against the quota up until Wednesday (Oct 17), when he resigned his position due to internal conflict.

This will have a big impact on us as we have to cancel bookings with agents. We cannot even estimate the revenue this will cost us, Mr Nattakit told The Phuket News.

Right now we have stopped selling trips to the Similans, and this affects boat captains, tour guides, staff and other people, he added.

Suriya Kung Thamchu, CEO of Nonthasak Marine, which has been in operation since 1990 and has the largest fleet of speedboats in Phuket, said that tour operators in Phuket have banded together to submit a formal request for Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha to intervene.

Yesterday, Phuket tour and boat companies united with companies in Phang Nga to send this request to the Prime Minister's Office through the Phang Nga Governor Siriphat Pattanakul, Mr Suriya said on Wednesday.

This definitely will have an impact, which at this stage we cannot estimate the value of. Not only will tour companies be affected, it will also affect van, bus, boat and hotel operators. This will also affect employees as they might lose their jobs, he added.

We have not yet decided to stop our Similan trips, we might start again on Oct 25-30, but we have to make discuss this with out board members and management, Mr Suriya said.

The cost of tours might increase, but we cant confirm that yet.

CALL TO DELAY

Mr Suriya said that the ongoing changes and short notice of such dramatic changes were gaining Thailands tourism industry a reputation as unreliable.

Especially after the policy to close Maya Bay and Loh Samah Bay, and now to limit the number of tourists at the Similan National Park, he said.

It was short notice to me and others (tour companies). I received this notice on Oct 11, then the notice became active (almost) immediately.

We asked the Department of National Parks to reconsider this policy. We used to have 700 tourists (on trips to the Similans) per day, but now tour companies are limited to 35-70 tourists per a day for each company  and there are 52 tour companies in Phuket, Mr Suriya explained.

Please DPN, postpone the quota until next season so we have enough to adjust for tourists. We promise that we will protect the environment, keep areas clean, not drop anchors (on corals) and stay in the dedicated swimming areas as per the national park regulations, he pleaded.

However, asked why he thought the quota was introduced, Mr Suriya said, I dont think the reason is to preserve the environment, or the trash or sun cream at all. We care about the marine environment. We wouldnt destroy it, for sure  they are doing this for some other reason.

Asked what that reason was, Mr Suriya declined to answer.
Thai AirAsia seeks face scans in Krabi

BANGKOK: Thai AirAsia (TAA), Thailands largest low-cost carrier, plans to provide a facial recognition system at check-in for volunteer passengers on a trial basis at Krabi International Airport.

tourismtechnologytransportimmigration

By Bangkok Post

Saturday 20 October 2018, 10:39AM

Thai AirAsia passengers check in at Don Mueang airport. The carrier wants permission to use a facial recognition system. Photo: Bangkok Post

According to Pichet Durongkaveroj, the digital economy and society minister, TAA recently asked the DE Ministry for an opinion on whether the company would have to get permission from the ministry and related agencies.

Mr Pichet said the ministry supports the idea of a facial recognition system for airlines as a check-in alternative for passengers, one that several airlines already provide.

But he said Airports of Thailand and the Immigration Bureau of the Royal Thai Police must grant permission to TAA to use facial recognition technology, as the DE Ministry lacks the authority to green-light the project.



Facial recognition systems work by verifying the identity of a person by comparing selected facial features from a presented image with faces in a database.

Mr Pichet said the DE Ministry is pleased to give suggestions and collaborate with related agencies. Even so, it will probably be a while before a facial recognition system for passengers is in place, he said, because of the various sensitivities involved with handling personal data and the data protection bill still awaiting passage.

Mr Pichet said TAA may have to consider five points when implementing its system: passenger acceptability, good security, personal data usage, responsibility for damage and usability.

Thailand is developing a data protection law. The bill is in the drafting process, after which it will be submitted to the cabinet before going to the Council of State for amendment. Then the draft will go to the National Legislative Assembly (NLA) for a vote.

The data protection draft bill is one of two draft bills driving the governments digital economy transformation policy. The other is the cybersecurity draft bill. Both have yet to be approved by the NLA.

Once the bills go into effect as law, they will set up two new agencies called the National Data Protection Agency and the National Cybersecurity Agency.

Mr Pichet said personal data protection is quite complex, driven partly by rapidly evolving technology, but many agencies and sectors still lack awareness and knowledge for understanding personal information protection.

Previously, the government through the DE Ministry set up the Data Protection Knowledge Centre (DPKC), acting as a centralised unit to create awareness of data protection in line with international standards for state agencies and the private sector, especially online businesses.

The DPKC operates under the Electronic Transactions Development Agency (ETDA) structure, but the National Data Protection Agency won't be established until the data protection bill is passed.

The move coincides with Europe's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which went into effect on May 25 this year.

The GDPR will influence domestic enterprise operations, especially in the online sector, with regard to processing personal data involving European citizens.

The DPKC was established as a competent state agency that will work independently in a manner that protects the rights of the public and raises awareness and educates. It will also clamp down on digital piracy.

The DPKC is meant as an initial step before the establishment of the National Data Protection Agency.

All sectors need to be prepared to take care of personal data in order to comply with the principles of the law, Mr Pichet said.

Although there are several laws currently in place regarding the protection of personal information, including the Official Information Act, they only provide protection for certain personal data and do not fully protect all personal information.

There are still gaps in the protection of personal data, Mr Pichet said.

Read original story here.




If, as appears increasingly likely, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, then he has joined Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un among the ranks of rogue leaders who assassinate their critics on foreign soil. The only difference is that the Russian president and North Korean leader werent reckless and stupid enough to kill their opponents inside their own consulates.

The disappearance of Khashoggi, a Post contributing columnist, is a horrific crime. His loss will be felt deeply for those who cherish freedom of expression and believe that all people, including those in the Arab world, deserve to be free.

Khashoggis disappearance is also a betrayal of President Trump. Upon taking office, Trump made Saudi Arabia his first foreign trip and put his new administrations reputation and prestige behind the crown prince and his reforms. The crown prince, or MBS, as he is widely known, has possibly repaid those efforts by brutally killing a permanent U.S. resident. His betrayal has now put Trump in an impossible bind. The president must now find a way to reconcile three sets of irreconcilable facts:

Fact No. 1: The United States cant simply ignore or sweep Khashoggis death under the table. Even if Trump wants to do so, Congress wont let him  nor should it. There must be consequences.

Fact No. 2: MBS is not going anywhere. Saudi Arabia is a monarchy. He is the son of the king. He has spent the past few years systematically eliminating his rivals and consolidating power. The idea that a new leader is going to emerge to replace him is not realistic. And if, by chance, such a leader did emerge, it would likely be someone who wants to roll back the crown princes efforts to rein in the religious establishment, clean up corruption and open up Saudi society. Be careful what you wish for.

Fact No. 3: We need Saudi Arabia, less as a source of oil  the fracking revolution has dramatically expanded our energy independence  than as a counterweight to Iran, which is the main strategic menace to U.S. interests in the region. Saudi Arabia is our most important ally in countering that threat. No other country in the Middle East can play that role. A permanent breach with Saudi Arabia is not an acceptable outcome.

How does Trump reconcile these three irreconcilable realities? The answer is: He cant. The result is going to be unpleasant and unsatisfying.

Many Democrats taking shots at the president as he tries to figure out a path forward need to check their hypocrisy. As my American Enterprise Institute colleague Danielle Pletka pointed out, if you cant restrain yourself from blaming Trump, spare a moment to blame [President Barack] Obama for the war in Syria, where more than 470,000 men, women and children have died while the United States has stood by and done nothing. If you had a role in Middle East policy in the past eight years, that finger you are pointing at the Trump administration has blood dripping off it.

So, what is going to happen? While we do need Saudi Arabia, Saudi Arabia also needs us. Trump said that he has told King Salman that Saudi Arabia would not last two weeks without U.S. military support. Hes right. We saved the Saudis from Saddam Husseins aggression and now protect them from Irans.

Moreover, the United States has other leverage. Trump should make clear that Saudi Arabias actions have squandered the once bipartisan support in Congress for the kingdom  and that, unlike Saudi Arabia, the United States is not a monarchy. Congress has a say in our Middle East policy. It can impose costs on Saudi Arabia, by blocking military aid and arms sales. A bipartisan group of senators sent a letter to Trump calling for an investigation under the Magnitsky Act  a U.S. law that mandates sanctions, including travel restrictions and freezing assets, of foreign individuals who have committed gross violations of human rights.

Magnitsky sanctions would have real teeth, because members of the royal family love to travel outside the Arabian Peninsula, where they can do things they cannot do at home. If MBS wants to avoid a rupture in relations, then he must accept responsibility and make restitution. He must acknowledge that he understands the gravity of this mistake  that he has made Saudi Arabia an international pariah, and is willing to do what is necessary to dig himself out of that hole through steps such as the release of political prisoners. And he must commit to stopping this kind of brutal behavior. Because his professed desire to modernize Saudi Arabia is incompatible with the medieval horrors that apparently took place in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

Follow Marc A. Thiessen on Twitter, @marcthiessen.

(c) 2018, The Washington Post Writers Group
CALGARYThe Aga Khans busy week visiting Alberta culminated with an announcement on Thursday that the University of Calgary will enhance its partnership with Aga Khan University.

The U of C and AKU signed a memorandum of understanding to build the existing partnership between the two schools. The announced relationship promises to create more opportunities for student internships, faculty exchanges, and education and research collaborations.

The agreement was timed to coincide with the Aga Khans visit to Calgary to receive an honorary doctor of laws degree from U of C.

The Aga Khan is the 49th imam (spiritual leader) of the Shia Ismaili Muslim community, internationally, and AKU is a research university with campuses in countries around the world like Pakistan, Kenya, the United Kingdom and Afghanistan.

U of C provost Dru Marshall said there will be little, if any, cost to the universitys base budget by signing this agreement.

Theres no question that the Aga Khan himself is very interested in pluralism, hes very interested in research and so he will provide some seed funding to get things going, Marshall said.

Marshall added that some philanthropic funding and joint fund development from both universities will help cover these new initiatives.

The schools partnership in the past has included programs on more of a faculty-to-faculty basis, with initiatives available for U of Cs faculties of nursing, arts, graduate studies, school of medicine, and school of education.

Both sides had been in talks for more than a year, but U of C officials wanted to accelerate the process to be able to sign the agreement while the Aga Khan was in Calgary. Earlier this week, he also visited Edmonton to open a garden in his name at the University of Alberta Botanic Garden.

Between the $25-million garden that took eight years to plan and this new memorandum with the U of C that had been discussed by both sides for a year, the past week has seen a significant investment from the Aga Khan Development Network in partnerships with Alberta schools.

In a meeting with the Aga Khan after he received his degree, Marshall said he was interested in developing programs related to pluralism and expanding AKUs research capabilities by comparing its work with the U of Cs.

One faculty that has benefited from working with AKU in the past has been U of Cs nursing program. The Queen Elizabeth Scholarship (QES) program has given Calgary students academic and research opportunities at AKU campuses, which will now be available for more U of C faculties.

Nilufer Hasanova is a graduate of the U of Cs faculty of nursing who interned through QES in Uganda from January 2017 to April 2017. Hasanova was so accustomed in her clinical program on how Canadas health-care system works, that she said interning in another countrys system improved her work in Calgary.

Being critical, comparing and contrasting different health-care systems makes you more critical to the health-care system you are in as well, Hasanova said. We shouldnt just assume that were in this perfect health-care system. Theres always room for improvement.

Hasanova said working in a different health-care system helped her become more concerned with the equity of her patients, and more aware of the privileges she has in her work in Canada.

Whenever I take care of patients here, youre always mindful of resources, but its not something were concerned about, Hasanova said. You dont have to ration it. But there, its something you actually think about every day.

Read more about:
HALIFAXA crowd of at least 80 people gathered in downtown Halifax on Friday afternoon for a rally to support Nhlanhla Dlamini and to call for an end to anti-Black racism in the provinces workplaces.

Dlamini, 21, was shot in the back by a co-worker with a nail gun on Sept. 19 at a construction site in Abercrombie, Pictou County. On Oct. 4 his mother Stacey Dlamini told StarMetro the incident was the culmination of weeks of bullying and racist slights.

The workplace incident resulted in Dlamini undergoing emergency surgery for a collapsed and punctured lung and a four-day hospital stay.

For everyone who says racism is no more, we stand here as witnesses today because of what has happened to this man, said Rhonda Britton, pastor at New Horizons Baptist Church and one of the events speakers.

You cannot deny Mr. Dlaminis attack at his job and that it was racially motivated. It is a hate crime and we need to stop trying to whitewash that. We need to say what it is so that we can address it.

The rally was occasionally peppered with honks of support from drivers passing by. The crowd gathered in front of the building at 1505 Barrington St. included Dlamini and his family.

As the young man looked around at the placards offering support for him and for all black workers, and as he listened intently to the speakers, he frequently teared up and dabbed at his eyes with Kleenex.

Hes now out of work, not expected to go back to this toxic environment. Next time, one inch the other way or the other way hed be dead now. Id be attending his funeral, said Raymond Sheppard, one of the rally organizers.

So he cant be expected to go back into the lions mouth. Its not possible, and so he needs help and support. There should be some form of compensation for him. He did not initiate anything  This was perpetrated upon him.

Another speaker, Angela Bowden, came from New Glasgow to attend the rally. She said its concerning that Black youth in Nova Scotia feel hopeless in these situations and that they continue to be targets of hateful attacks that arent being responded to with the urgency required.

What we are collectively saying is we the Black community of Nova Scotia refuse to allow anyone to create another wound in our children to be left unhealed, Bowden said. Our children deserve better and we demand better. We seek justice. Period. Nothing special, just the law.

When Dlamini had his turn at the microphone, he gave the crowd a few laughs, joking about how difficult his name was to pronounce. He briefly spoke about how he didnt feel comfortable coming forward to his employer about the ongoing bullying before the nail gun shooting. He said being so new to his job, he didnt want to make waves and feared he wouldnt be believed. He expressed gratitude for the community supporting him and his family.

I highly appreciate to know that Ive got this much people  standing behind me for this situation. Thank you, he said.

His father Buhle Dlamini also took a turn at the microphone. He said when they moved from South Africa to Canada to be closer to his wifes family, he never expected to be dealing with this kind of situation. He thanked the crowd for standing up for justice and for supporting workers and his family.

We know that what happened to Nhlanhla is not normal, he said. We know that what happened to Nhlanhla is not what Canada is about, its not what Nova Scotia is about, because of people like you who are here today to say this is not us, this is not OK.

On Oct. 5, Shawn Wade Hynes, 43, of Trenton, N.S. was charged with criminal negligence causing bodily harm. The charge relates to a Sept. 19 incident at a work site in Abercrombie, N.S. Hynes was arrested on Sept. 27 and released the same day on the condition that he have no contact with the injured party, a 21-year-old man.

RCMP did not release the injured mans name, but when StarMetro spoke to the mother of Nhlanhla Dlamini on Oct. 4 she said it was her son who was hurt. She believes her son was the target of racist bullying on the part of Hynes. None of the allegations have been proven in court, and Hynes is scheduled to appear in court in December.

On Oct. 10 work at the construction site where the incident occurred was halted in response to threats directed at the company that employed both the victim and the accused shooter.

While addressing the crowd gathered for Fridays rally, Sheppard said supporters were calling on the RCMP to upgrade the charges from criminal negligence causing bodily harm to attempted murder and a hate crime.

On Friday afternoon, Nova Scotia RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Dal Hutchison said he could not comment on the charge because the case is now before the court.

Sheppard said they are also calling for a thorough and immediate investigation by the Department of Labour and Advanced Education.

When reached for comment Friday afternoon, Department of Labour and Advanced Education spokesperson Shannon Kerr said they have responded to the incident and are conducting an inspection of the workplace in relation to the requirements of the Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Act.

Through our inspection, we will be verifying compliance, and this inspection will determine whether or not an investigation is required under the OHS Act. Harassment in the workplace, in any form, is unacceptable. The Nova Scotia Human Rights Act specifically prohibits harassment associated with protected characteristics such as race, religion, and age, Kerr said in an emailed statement.

Workers who have experienced this type of harassment can file a complaint with the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission. Where this is a matter before the courts, and as our inspection is ongoing, we cannot speak to specifics of this case.

Yvette dEntremont is a Halifax-based reporter focusing on health and environment. Follow her on Twitter: @ydentremont

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SIOUX LOOKOUT, ONT.Dr. Mike Kirlew meets me at the Sioux Lookout Airport because it is -40 C and my rental car wont start. During the winter months, cars need to be plugged into power outlets overnight or their batteries will freeze. Mike laughs as he tries to jam the key into the ignition of the Toyota-turned-ice-block, but the key wont move. The steering wheel wont budge. Everything is frozen.

The sun blazes in the cloudless blue sky, but it gives us no warmth as we scurry to his car and hop in. Mike takes off his thick, beautifully beaded moose-hide mitts and pushes back his beaver fur hat before he starts the car and turns up the seat warmers. He pops in some Bob Marley. The smooth sounds of reggae evoke images of a climate about 80 degrees warmer, a perfect antidote to the harsh realities of the Canadian winter.

Mike, who was born in Ottawa to Jamaican immigrant parents, is a physician who has devoted his entire life to living and working in Sioux Lookout. He arrived here by fluke  he had hoped to go to Moose Factory, along the James Bay coast, but he was told the medical residency program was full and instead he had to go to the Sioux. He, his wife, Yolaine, and their three children make this their home. For nearly 11 years, Mike has been grappling with the suicide crisis in northern Ontario, and he sees no end in sight. He is the one who, on a moments notice, drops everything to respond to a health crisis in Canadas remote North. He cared for Jolynn Winter and Chantell Fox in Wapekeka when they were toddlers. He sees first-hand how a lack of the determinants of health  education, basic services, a safe environment, and employment  debilitates these communities.

Let me take you on the five-dollar tour of town, he says, then laughs: OK, maybe its the $4.99 tour.

READ MORE:

When you grow up surrounded by suicide, it seems normal. How do you heal a broken spirit?

Friends to the end: How the suicides of seven Indigenous girls revealed a community undone

Sioux Lookout is a modest town of nearly 5,000 located halfway between Thunder Bay and Winnipeg, high up on the Canadian Shield. Carbon dating has uncovered evidence that Sioux Lookout has been home to various First Nations for the past 8,000 years.

Sioux Lookout gets its name from the top of a hillside near Pelican Lake. As the story goes, the Ojibwe who lived around Gichigami, or Lake Superior, were constantly under attack from the Sioux, who lived on the western plains. One day, the Ojibwe devised a plan. When their lookout spotted the Sioux on Frog Rapids, he sent a warning to those camped below. When the Siopelux landed, the Ojibwe ambushed them, and a great battle ensued. All but one Sioux boy were drowned or killed.

Sioux Lookout today is a picturesque town full of American fishermen and adventurers in the summer, and forestry and health-care workers all year round. Throughout the day, float planes land on Pelican Lake and pickup trucks stream past the drive-through window at the Tim Hortons. But the best coffee and home-baked goods can be found at Roy Lane Coffee, on Sioux Lookouts main drag, Front St., also known as First Ave. N., depending on which direction youre travelling. The towns quiet is broken only by the frequent sound of trains rumbling along the Canadian National Railways transcontinental main line. Lac Seul First Nation, made up of three communities  Frenchmans Head, Kejick Bay and Whitefish Bay  is located about 40 kilometres outside of town.

We turn up Seventh Ave. and park the car beside an institutional-looking cream-coloured low-rise building, boarded up and covered in No Trespassing signs. This is the old Zone Hospital, Mike tells me. He pauses and then says, This is the Indian hospital.

During the 1920s, the government began to build segregated Indian hospitals. Many community and city hospitals refused to treat Indigenous patients or relegated them to separate wards, basements and poorly ventilated areas. Missionaries had established Indian tuberculosis sanitoriums, which were then taken over by the government and later converted to general hospitals for Indigenous people. For nearly a century, the prevailing belief was that TB became more virulent when an Indigenous person was infected.

According to the Canadian Public Health Association, during the 1930s and 1940s, TB death rates were 700 per 100,000, among the highest ever reported. The death rate from TB among children living in residential schools was even worse, with 8,000 deaths per 100,000 kids. Residential school children lived in a state of neglect, inadequately clothed and fed. When they complained of feeling ill, they were often ignored, or they were sent to the school nursing station, which routinely failed to provide adequate care.

In 1907, Dr. Peter Bryce, the chief medical officer of Canada, visited 35 residential schools and found them overcrowded, unsanitary and poorly ventilated. In Report on the Indian Schools of Manitoba and the North-West Territories, he noted, Of a total of 1,537 pupils reported upon nearly 25 per cent are dead, of one school with an absolutely accurate statement, 69 per cent of ex-pupils are dead, and that everywhere the almost invariable cause of death given is tuberculosis. He laid blame on the churches and government officials.

Duncan Campbell Scott, the superintendent of Indian Affairs, confirmed that he knew the children were dying in record numbers . Still, he refused Bryces repeated requests for aid: It is readily acknowledged that Indian children lose their natural resistance to illness by habituation so closely in residential schools and that they die at a much higher rate than in their villages. But this does not justify a change in the policy of this Department which is geared towards a final solution of our Indian Problem. Scott then went on a campaign to undermine Bryce, pulling his funding and attempting to ruin his reputation and career. In 1921, Bryce was forced out of the government.

The conditions in the Indian hospitals were universally horrific. The hospitals were overcrowded with patients suffering from TB and other contagious illnesses and infections. One doctor called a ward full of women and children a pest house. Hospitals struggled to find nurses, and one had one nurse for 75 beds.

Harmful medical experimentation and questionable therapies were practised on patients. From 1949 to 1953, doctors at the Charles Camsell Indian Hospital outside of Edmonton performed 374 experimental surgeries, all under local  not general  anesthetic, to treat TB.

One 16-year-old Blackfoot patient watched doctors remove three of his ribs. They used a saw. I was awake and I could hear the saw, he later recounted. They got part way and then they told me, Now we are breaking the ribs off.  He also remembered they scraped three other ribs and extracted a part of his lung, then used wax in the cavity to hold everything together.

Surgery was painful and left many patients deformed. In Manitoba, the Sanitorium Board reported, One-third of the patients died, one-third half recovered, and one-third were cured.

If a patient died in hospital, their family was responsible for paying the cost of transporting the body home for burial. Many could not afford to, and the bodies lie in unmarked graveyards far from home.

While most of the Indian hospitals were shuttered in the 1960s, Indigenous people continued for decades to receive inadequate treatment. In 1988, Josias Fiddler, who was chief of Sandy Lake First Nation in Northern Ontario, staged a hunger strike with Peter Goodman, Allan Meekis, Peter Fiddler and Luke Mamakeesic to protest substandard treatment of the 28 surrounding First Nations communities at the Sioux Lookout Zone Hospital. Of the 18,000 living in the area, only 4,000 were not Indigenous, yet the community complained of inadequate translation services, poor treatment and frequent delays of emergency medical transports.

The two-day hunger strike prompted a report completed in 1989. It noted rising racial tensions as a result of the increased number of First Nations people who had come to Sioux Lookout for school, work and health care. It also pointed to family breakdowns due to the residential school experience, a loss of traditional spirituality, a serious rise in mental health issues and alarming rates of youth suicide.

A single regional hospital was recommended, as was access to clean water and proper sewage treatment and power systems. (That is still far from a work in progress.)

By 1997, Nishnawbe Aski Nation, the municipality of Sioux Lookout, the province of Ontario, and the federal government agreed on the new hospital. The Sioux Lookout Meno Ya Win Health Centre opened in 2010. The hospital board was made up of five First Nations people, five people from the town, two doctors, and a traditional healer. The 60-bed hospital included a circular healing room constructed from cedar. A 100-bed hostel for patients flying in from the North, and for those who need detoxification services, is attached to the hospital. The new hospital is just down the street from the old Indian Hospital, which Mike Kirlew passes daily on his way to work. It is a constant reminder of colonizations grip, he says.

The health system in northern Ontario is still in crisis. And it isnt just northern Ontario; the United Nations special rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous peoples says the crisis exists throughout Canada, and significant improvements in funding and policy changes are desperately needed. The need for relief and change is overwhelming.

When Mike Kirlew looks at the way health care is administered in the North, he sees people who have been denied services from the very start. The system isnt broken; it is designed to do what it is doing, he says.

One of his patients, an Elder, once told him, I dont want to talk about reconciliation. I want to talk about rights. Mike couldnt agree more: The goal of reconciliation isnt just to be friends. Civil rights legislation needs to occur here.

He believes that structurally the system  the health and social services system  is designed to fail Indigenous children. He sees children routinely taken away from their parents by social workers and shuffled from home to home to home. He knows of one small child who was moved 46 times. What is the fundamental mindset of doing that? he asks. How do you even vaccinate that child? Time and time again, the children are taken away and the parents are left to their own devices. I dont see bad parents, he says. I see parents with addictions.

The medical system that operates in Canada is not structured to look at the historical systemic racism that affects Indigenous families every day. Our mindset is that the families are deficient, he says. But what we need to ask is How do we support these families and keep them together? How do we surround these children with care? 

It is now in vogue for Canadian federal politicians to talk about how the system needs to be indigenized, culturally adapted for First Nations, Metis, and Inuit. In April 2017, Health Canada finally agreed to cover the cost of providing an escort to the hospital for women who are about to give birth. Previously, a pregnant woman was sent alone on a plane to a city hospital, even though doctors always request that the mother have someone to assist in the labour. When the government announced the change and called it a great success, Mikes response was, That is not innovative; it is just not hurting people today. Health care and education are need-informed care.

Mike points to the story of Brian Sinclair, an Indigenous man who died of a treatable bladder infection after waiting 34 hours in a Winnipeg emergency room in September 2008. Sinclair was a double amputee, confined to a wheelchair. The staff assumed he was drunk or homeless and killing time in the ER, said his cousin Robert Sinclair. No one checked on him, even when he vomited on himself.

The inquest resulted in 63 recommendations, including a review of all emergency-department floor plans to ensure that patients requiring medical care are visible from the triage desk and that health authorities check that those waiting in emergency are awakened at regular intervals.

It wasnt what we saw; it was what we thought we saw that killed him, Mike says. If you are conditioned not to care, you are conditioned to indifference. And there is a violence to that indifference. Maybe the question Canadians need to ask themselves is deeper, he says: Why dont we care? Maybe that is the issue. Not just What can we do? 

Children in the North are dying of preventable diseases. Two children recently died from strep throat. In 2014 two 4-year-old children died of rheumatic fever that had not been diagnosed. According to a medical study published in 2015, rheumatic fever rates are 75 times higher in northern First Nations communities.

Opioid use is rampant, and First Nations are unable to deal with the epidemic. In some communities, opioid use is especially high, at 80 per cent or more. Addictions counsellors are rare, and opioid substitution programs are in high demand.

The availability of mental health care for children everywhere is an issue, but in Indigenous communities the situation is even worse. If a child needs immediate help they have to be flown out to a city centre. Thunder Bay, the regional referral hospital, has only 1.2 dedicated child psychiatrists for the entire region. The 0.2 represents a psychiatrist who works part-time with children and spends the rest of her work time on research.

The existing mental health services are barely coping with what in some communities is an acute suicide crisis among children and youth. The Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre is the only hospital in all of northwestern Ontario that provides in-patient psychiatric care. It is also the only institution that has staff trained to work with children 15 or younger.

The facility has only eight beds, and it is always at capacity. In some cases, the overflow is sent to the pediatric department. For those over the age of 15, the psychiatric beds are in Thunder Bay and Kenora. Both are almost always functioning over capacity.

Dr. Peter Voros, the executive vice-president of in-patient care programs in Thunder Bay, explains that children need a transitional space, a step-down unit where they can be stabilized. Once the children are treated, however, there is no place to send them, so they stay in hospital. Some mentally fragile youth are sent alone to a facility thousands of kilometres from their home communities.

Voros says the community also needs a secure treatment facility solely for mental health and addiction patients, and ideally seven child psychiatrists to handle the patient load. He needs four to just barely function. And he needs them yesterday.

Identifying risk factors for suicidal behaviour begins with examining the age at which a person first attempts suicide. Those who try it in their teens or 20s are more likely to have cumulative risks, such as anxiety disorders, a history of emotional and sexual abuse, or cannabis misuse. If a 15-year-old comes from a poor, unstable household, suffers from malnourishment and abuse, is bullied at school, and suddenly receives news that a friend has died or has gone through an emotional breakup, they are at greater risk of suicide than a 50-year-old who has just lost their job.

Jack Hicks, along with his colleague Dr. Allison Crawford, director of the Northern Psychiatric Outreach Program at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, conducted a study comparing Indigenous communities with high incidences of youth suicide to those that have lower rates. They found that early childhood adversity may be understood as a key mechanism by which disruption and loss related to colonization is mediated into suicidal behaviour; as examples of colonization, they cite residential schooling and forced relocation from ancestral land.

A child born into a home affected by colonization  a home that has experienced the loss of language or connection to its cultural history, knowledge and traditions  enters an environment marked by unresolved intergenerational trauma. Parents may be grappling with their own adverse childhood experiences. Childhood adversity, Hicks and Crawford note, includes exposure to family violence; physical, emotional and sexual abuse; neglect; and lack of access to interventions or medical care. All these factors can lead to increased risk for suicidal behaviour.

We must appreciate relevant early life risk and protective factors, and find novel and efficacious ways of intervening, Hicks and Crawford conclude. We need to address upstream risk factors by promoting optimal early childhood development and reducing socioeconomic and early life disadvantage.

Doing nothing is not an option, yet Canada is the only G8 country without a national suicide strategy. In Scandinavia, Gunn Heatta helped establish the Sami Psychiatric Youth Team in 1990 in the small town of Karasjok, Norway, in response to a suicide cluster of young Sami men in the mid-1980s. By 2001, it had become a crucial part of the Sami National Centre on Mental Health and Substance Abuse (SANKS).

Karasjok, which has a population of roughly 3,000, lies deep in the interior of Finnmark, near the northern Finnish border. This is rugged terrain sprinkled with tall white birch and fir trees and fast-moving clear-water rivers. Inner Finnmark resembles in both look and feel the remote regions of northern Ontario.

Troms, about 400 kilometres north of the Arctic Circle, is the only large town in the area. Brightly coloured homes are nestled among the fjords lined with white-capped mountains, and the settlement clings to the coastline. Its famous as an ideal location to see the Northern Lights or go whale-watching. Those who live in Karasjok and the adjacent town of Kautokeino are Sami. There are small wooden homes belonging to the reindeer herders, and if youre lucky, youll catch a glimpse of reindeer wandering across the road or grazing in the valley.

I met Gunn in May of 2018. She began her career as a therapist 40 years ago, and has since felt compelled to do something to stop the suicides. There are no official statistics on how many Sami have taken their lives. That is part of their battle  trying to collect accurate numbers from health officials, which is difficult because of international borders and differing national protocols. A social worker by training, Gunn formed a team of practitioners who fanned out, visiting schools, clubs and other local spots to convince youth to seek counselling with Sami-trained professionals instead of turning to the traditional medical system.

If any young person had suicidal thoughts or struggled with alcohol addictions, Gunn gave out her private cellphone number and said to call, whatever the time. Everyone told her she was crazy, but no one abused the privilege. She received calls only from teens in dire need of help. I know we saved lives when people called us, Gunn says.

Gunn never thought that she would still be leading the SANKS team that administers mental health and addiction services. SANKS prides itself on not being part of the Norwegian health system. Its treatments are based on Sami values and culture, conducted in Sami language according to traditional teachings, and include trips to provide youth with a holistic understanding of who they are and where they come from.

In 2001, the government provided funding to address the mental health and substance abuse issues. Gunn and her team formed a Sami competency centre and worked specifically with those afflicted by suicidal behaviour, broken families, substance abuse, and the aftermath of family violence.

The SANKS program runs a treatment centre for children and their families that includes one month of residential care for children and families in crisis. Entire families are moved into one of a half-dozen IKEA-inspired townhouses. The families are not penalized by their employers while they live at the facility, where they receive in-patient clinical care by trained mental health workers. The belief is that in order to treat the child or adolescent, you must also treat the parents.

The program has had incredible results, but it hasnt been easy to set up or maintain. SANKS is in a constant tug-of-war with its government funders on the cost efficiency and necessity of Indigenous-led and -created programs.

We havent had suicides here in the Karasjok region for several years now. But the young Sami reindeer herders in southern Sweden and Norway are now feeling it, Gunn says.

If youre experiencing emotional distress and want to talk, call the First Nations and Inuit Hope for Wellness Help Line at 1-855-242-3310. Its toll-free and open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

ABOUT THE SERIES

The Atkinson Fellowship awards a seasoned Canadian journalist with the opportunity to pursue a yearlong investigation into a current policy issue. The award is a project funded by the Atkinson Foundation, the Honderich family and the Toronto Star.

Tanya Talaga won the 2017-18 fellowship to explore the causes and fallout of youth suicide in Indigenous communities. Talagas project is also being featured in the 2018 CBC Massey Lectures.

Talaga is a national columnist for the Star who specializes in Indigenous affairs. A two-time National Newspaper Award winner, her 2017 book, Seven Fallen Feathers: Racism, Death and Hard Truths in a Northern City (House of Anansi Press) won the RBC Taylor Prize and the Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing.

Her new book, based on her Atkinson/Massey project, is titled All Our Relations: Finding the Path Forward.

Talagas final Massey lectures will be delivered on:

Oct. 23 and 24 in Vancouver at York Theatre

Oct. 26 in Saskatoon at Broadway Theatre

Oct. 30 in Toronto at Koerner Hall

The lectures will be recorded and are due to be broadcast on CBC Radio the week of Nov. 12.
GRANDE PRAIRIE, ALTA.The mother of a Canadian who was arrested in northern Thailand on charges of spraying paint on an ancient wall says her daughter made a drunken mistake.

Tara Schneider, who lives in Grande Prairie, Alta., said she received a phone call from her daughter, Brittney, around 3:30 a.m. Thursday.

She just said, Mom, Im in trouble, she told The Canadian Press Friday. I said, Whats wrong? Are you OK? 

She said, Ya, Im OK but Im in prison. I asked her what she did and she told me, and our phone call ended briefly after as they took her phone shortly after that.

Security camera footage shows Furlong Lee, 23, and Schneider, 22, spraying a message on the walls of the Tha Pae Gate in the northern province of Chiang Mai at around 4 a.m. Thursday.

Col. Teerasak Sriprasert, chief of the Chiang Mai police, said the tourists are in custody and have been charged with vandalizing registered ancient artifacts, which carries a penalty of up to 10 years in prison and a million baht  or $40,000  fine.

The chief said the pair admitted to spraying the message out of drunken revelry. He said that Lee, who is from Liverpool, admitted that he wrote Scouser Lee on the wall while Brittney told police that she wrote the letter B underneath it.

The 13th century Tha Pae Gate is part of an ancient wall that forms a square around Chiang Mais inner city.

Schneider said her daughter told her she was drunk and she was following along.

After she wrote the letter B, she knew it was wrong right away, said her mom. She knew and she discontinued the engagement.

She said she is overwhelmed by the charges against her daughter.

You would have to know Britteny to know this is not her, said Schneider. She is liked by many, shes got friends everywhere in the country. People are baffled.

This is something youd expect, no word of a lie, from my son. Im sorry to say it, but not my daughter, not my Britteny.

She never did a bad thing in her life.

An official with Global Affairs Canada said they are aware of the charges against Schneider.

Consular services are being provided to a Canadian citizen who has been arrested in Thailand, said a statement from spokesman Philip Hannan. Canadian consular officials are in contact with local authorities to gather additional information.

Schneiders mom said they have been working with the consulate.

Weve currently sent the bail money. The bail was set at 149,000 Thai baht, which is $6,000 Canadian, she said. Thats been shipped off in the process and she will be released Monday.

Schneider said her daughter wont be able to leave the country until the trial so she will fly to Thailand as soon as possible to be with her.

I would like to be there for her during the time she waits for trial so shes not alone.

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VANCOUVERBritish Columbia cabinet ministers defended the provincial governments pace in approving marijuana stores as they toured the only brick-and-mortar shop in Kamloops Friday.

Attorney General David Eby and Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth visited the new BC Cannabis Store in the provinces Interior. The Liquor Distribution Branch is currently engaged with a number of municipalities about opening additional stores, Eby said.

The key for them is what we found in Kamloops, which is a municipality with clear guidelines, with an intent to work with the (branch) in establishing a store, he said.

Theres no question that over the next period of weeks and months, theyre going to see more and more stores coming online, both public and private.

The managers of two illicit pot shops that were raided by RCMP in Port Alberni on Wednesday have criticized the province for not processing applications more quickly. Both stores have applied for provincial licences and are waiting for approval.

While B.C. only has one legal store and a website, Newfoundland and Labrador and New Brunswick have 20 stores each and Alberta has 17. Ontario, on the heels of a recent provincial election, has no physical stores.

Read more:

Nearly half of B.C. residents dont want a cannabis store within a block of their home

B.C. government-approved pot store to open Wednesday, province expects more to follow

Legalization, Day 1: What we know and dont know about where to purchase pot in B.C.

Farnworth said other provinces established stores with very little community consultation, but B.C. made clear that local governments could decide what kind of stores, if any, they wanted.

The province also has local government elections on Saturday and many communities have said they want to deal with licences and locations afterward, Farnworth added.

Weve taken an approach that was very much collaborating with local governments and we believe that was the right approach to take.

Farnworth also said the province could not legally issue private retail licences until after the federal Cannabis Act came into force on Wednesday. He wouldnt explain when asked why the act was a roadblock for B.C. but not for other provinces.

A spokesman for the attorney generals office said in an email that the province could legally create the regulatory framework to allow provincial licensing before legalization.

However, it could not issue a licence to sell cannabis (which is an official instrument of government) while it was still federally illegal, he said.

Alberta issued interim licences to 17 retailers by early October that allowed them to order product and get stores ready for legalization. Stores with interim licences that fulfilled all conditions were issued a sales licence on Wednesday so they could open to the public.

In B.C., the provincial government forwards applications to municipalities, which review them and make a recommendation to the province. The province then decides whether to issue a licence. Some municipalities have also established their own business licences in addition to that process.

Jag Sandhu, a City of Vancouver spokesman, said the province has notified it of eight applications for stores. Seven applicants have previously been issued development permits, the first step that needs to be completed, and must now post a sign on site for 14 days notifying the public they intend to obtain a provincial retail licence.

Once the provincial licence is granted, the operator can apply for a municipal business licence, he said.

We do not have a timeline on when the first store will open as it will depend on the applicant completing the process and fulfilling all provincial and municipal requirements, he said.

The City of Surrey has banned any business growing, producing or storing cannabis, and plans to tackle retail marijuana after the local election.

Council endorsement of the specific details of a Surrey framework, including retail sales, has not occurred. This will be an issue that the new Council will review once they are in office. Until then the existing bylaw is in place, said Terry Waterhouse, general manager of public safety.

Most B.C. residents who purchased legal weed this week did so online. There were 9,175 sales online and 805 purchases at the provinces only physical store in Kamloops on Wednesday, according to the Liquor Distribution Branch.

But on Thursday, sales slid nearly 70 per cent, with 2,563 online transactions and 521 at the BC Cannabis Store.

The branch is not releasing the total value of the sales, which it says is its policy for liquor store sales as well.

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It has been three months since a fire at 650 Parliament forced hundreds of tenants onto the street and now some of the displaced residents will be expected to pay rent at the start of next month.

People had to pay a lot of other expenses, said Mark Slapinski, 27, who lived in the building for about eight years and is staying in a downtown hotel. It is going to be very hard for people to do that.

Two notices detailing the looming changes were posted on a Twitter account run by building management earlier this week.

The first, dated Oct. 14, informed residents who are not staying with family or friends that they will be required to pay the equivalent of their monthly rent starting in November.

Read more:

Displaced by the 650 Parliament blaze, his life has been turned upside down

I dont know what happens next month: 650 Parliament residents return to collect allowance cheques

Displaced 650 Parliament residents scrambling to find temporary homes

We are going to be paying everything above their rent, or covering the difference between the actual cost of where they are staying and the amount they were paying on a monthly basis, said James Thomas, relocation manager.

Tenants were reimbursed August rent and have not paid September or October rent, he said. People in hotels who are getting money to cover daily food costs will continue to receive it, he said.

Slapinski has been at the hotel for about six weeks and both he and his roommate receive an allowance for food. Hundreds of tenants are still in hotels, and Airbnbs or staying with family or friends.

In the meantime, Slapinski has devised a way for residents to remain connected and share information about what for some is very uncertain future, as well as create a highly public record detailing what tenants are experiencing. I felt that I needed to do something, or nothing would happen, said Slapinski, a social media student at Seneca College, who created and runs the Facebook page Displaced Residents of 650 Parliament and a Twitter account with the same name.

The second notice from management to tenants, dated Oct. 16, informed them that if they had insurance they would be required to produce information on either policies or claims submitted on or before Oct. 23, or they would no longer receive help paying for accommodations.

When asked if people who failed to provide insurance information, or pay rent, could face eviction Thomas said he has not had to deal with that eventuality yet, but everything would be dealt with on a case-by-case basis.

At this moment, I dont have a contingency plan for that. It will the same for people who dont use their insurance after the seven days. I think it will be clear that they have to pay their rent.

Thomas said the intake and relocation process revealed that about 100 units, out of about 550, have insurance, but some people were not using it, or not providing the relocation office with claim information. The exact number is not clear, he said.

We are not throwing anybody out. We want to make sure that, if you do have insurance, you are using it. As soon as they make a claim they will be paying through their insurance company until they exhaust it. Once they exhaust it, then they come back to us and we take care of it.

For Slapinski and his roommate the major costs were transportation and replacing items such as electronics. They only had 20 minutes, he said, to collect their belongings. I had to get a new computer, because mine was in there and I couldnt get it out. I think the biggest thing was clothing and new electronics. Slapinski moved in with his grandmother and his roommate stayed with friends, before management provided them with a hotel room, he said.

People are very upset about it. I got lucky, because I was provided with accommodations. A lot of people I talked to havent, he said. I think they should increase efforts to help relocate people. Slapinski said that he and his roommate are neat people, but living with little privacy has been challenging. Management has told them they should be moved into an apartment in November, he said.

Slapinski said the company has said they are prioritizing people who are the most in need, but it is not clear to tenants how that decisions are being made.

He doesnt have insurance. It was not required when he moved in. Lots of people in the building do not have it.

Kenn Hale, with the Advocacy Centre for Tenants Ontario, said tenants insurance is a legal grey area.

Tenants who are required to have insurance as part of their lease and fail to get or maintain it, could end up at a hearing before the landlord and tenant board, but it is not guaranteed grounds for eviction, said Hale.

So it is still a bit of an open question, but, when you see bad things like this happen, it demonstrates why it is a good idea to have it, said Hale.

While we would tell everybody insurance is a really important thing to have a lot of them cant afford it. We dont think that landlords should be able to compel people to buy insurance.

One class action lawsuit on behalf of tenants was filed in Superior Court in September and lawyers for a second firm have also said they will be launching a class action. Jack de Klerk, director of legal services at Neighbourhood Legal Services, said civil court may be the only way for some tenants to be reimbursed.

I know some people are being forced to incur the expenses and they are not going to get reimbursed for them anytime soon, said de Klerk.

What we do know is the tenants are not at fault and I think the landlord should be covering costs for the tenants pending determination.

Thomas has said that he is aware of five units where people had insurance, but he said when they were asked, they would not provide the intake office with any information on whether they had pursued claims.

That included one family he dealt with yesterday, who, he said, flat out refused to provide him with information.

What exactly is tenants insurance and do you need it?

The short answer is: yes. If your landlord doesnt require it as part of your lease, which is an option, it is worth looking into.

If a fire or flood happens in your apartment, insurance should allow you to recover some of the cost of your burnt or soaked possessions. It could also provide you with some financial support, or reimbursement, if you need to temporarily rent another apartment or end up in a hotel.

So how does it work?

Pete Karageorgos, director of consumer and industry relations for the Insurance Bureau of Canada, said tenants are typically sold a package deal. The first part covers contents. That is anything you would pack up if you were moving out. The second usually covers additional living expenses, including the cost of renting another apartment if you are forced to move out because of an insurable event, such as a fire.

Typically, insurance is a contract and typically it reimburses you, from out-of-pocket expenses, said Karageorgos. But exactly how it works varies by company. Unlike auto insurance, rental insurance is not standard, and there is a wide range of prices and coverage options, he said.

Claims do not need to be filed right away, he said, and if you do have insurance, it is vital to maintain records and receipts that could be required to be submitted as part of a claim.

Sometimes people will just go and spend money and not document the receipts as proof.

With files from Gilbert Ngabo
The Presto system continues to experience unacceptably high failure rates, cant perform some transactions that its supposed to, and its fare card readers actually became less reliable this summer, according to an internal TTC briefing note.

The Oct. 15 document, which has not been made public but which was obtained by the Star, was prepared for the TTC board by the agencys chief customer officer Kirsten Watson and raises significant concerns with what it describes as the fare card systems continued performance below targets.

It asserts that sporadic outages are all too frequent and Presto machines are performing at levels that are not sustainable over the long term given the impact on customers, revenue, and reputation.

There are several types of Presto machines deployed throughout Torontos transit network. Under the terms of the agreement between the TTC and Metrolinx, the provincial agency is to ensure the devices have reliability rates of 99.9 per cent.

According to the briefing note, the reliability of 5,000 fare card readers, which are installed on TTC buses and streetcars and allow customers to pay their fare with a tap of a Presto card, had been improving earlier this year. But between June and August it declined, and over the past five months 2 to 3 per cent of readers have typically not been in service.

The reliability of other types of machines is far worse. Of the 180 Presto fare vending devices installed at subway station entrances, 10 per cent have not been fully functional at any given time, meaning some customers were unable to complete transactions such as purchasing a new card or loading funds.

The approximately 215 fares and transfer machines deployed on the TTCs new streetcars and at some streetcar stops had average reliability rates of just 80 per cent in August. Metrolinx has enlisted a second supplier after the original devices, made by a German company called Scheidt & Bachmann, performed very poorly, according to the briefing note.

The availability of 200 self-serve reload machines, which allow customers to put money on their cards, has averaged about 95 per cent, which the report called concerning and not sustainable over the long term.

The report says that Metrolinx believes it can fix three quarters of the Presto defects by mid-2019, but solutions for the remaining problems are under assessment.

Presto was designed to enable complex fare transactions, but the briefing note says the system has proved unable to support the payment of the double fares the TTC charges for express downtown buses and bus trips that cross the city border into Mississauga and York Region.

The method Metrolinx devised to charge double fares had a significant error rate of about 8 per cent. Presto payments for downtown express buses and cross border trips was supposed to be enabled by this month, but have now been put off indefinitely.

The document asserts the TTC is experiencing a significant amount of lost revenue as a result of the Presto reliability issues.

As an example, it cites a significant streetcar outage that occurred between Sept. 26 and 28 and cost the transit agency an estimated $8,900 in lost fares.

While the amount in isolation is small, we are alarmed by the root cause, the report states, ascribing the problem to an inadvertent and unauthorized software upload that is solely the responsibility of Metrolinx and its equipment and software provider.

Regardless, it is the TTC customer that is impacted as the customer is unable to pay and the TTC is impacted with respect to lost revenue and overall reputation on our ability to collect fares.

Shelagh Pizey-Allen, executive director of transit advocacy group TTCriders, said the briefing note is evidence the TTC needs to delay phasing out older forms of payment until its certain the problems are resolved.

I think it confirms what transit riders already know, that Presto is highly unreliable. And I think until its working and its reliable we have to keep tokens and the Metropass in play, Pizey-Allen said.

She said until Presto is working properly, passengers are at risk for being hit with really expensive fines for fare evasion at no fault of their own.

The TTC plans to discontinue Metropasses in January, and to stop accepting older fare options such as tokens and tickets at the end of 2019.

Presto is owned by Metrolinx, the provincial agency responsible for transportation planning in the GTA. It has cost the province $1 billion so far to implement the system on 11 transit agencies across Ontario, with $200 million in additional spending expected over the next three years. Of the money spent so far, $478 million went to installing Presto on the TTC.

In a statement, a spokesperson for Conservative Transportation Minister John Yakabuski blamed the problems on the previous Liberal government, which she said mismanaged the Presto file and Metrolinx.

They threw money at problems and expected the people of Ontario to pay for their mistakes. We are cleaning up their mess. We are working with the Metrolinx senior leadership team on a path forward  to maintain and improve the Presto system, and to ensure that it achieves the best value for customers, wrote Justine Lewkowicz.

The TTC has billed Metrolinx for $4.2 million in lost revenue for a two-year period ending in December 2017, but the provincial organization has disputed the TTCs claims. According to the briefing note, the two sides have agreed to take the disagreement to a mediator for resolution.

TTC spokesperson Brad Ross said the agency doesnt yet have an updated estimate for lost revenue in 2018.

Despite the strong language in the document, Ross downplayed the agencys concerns about Presto, saying Metrolinx is is working hard to address them.

It is important to note that while the TTC is flagging issues for its board here, the Presto system, overall, works flawlessly for the vast majority of its users, he said.

In a written statement, Metrolinx CEO Phil Verster didnt dispute the content of the note, but maintained that Presto customers are getting excellent service and we are always improving. The continuous improvement is evident.

Verster said the most recent figures, which werent captured in the briefing note, put the reliability of fare card readers at 98.8 per cent.

Aside from addressing problems with Presto, the briefing also reveals the TTC is planning to distribute 500,000 free Presto cards to students, Metropass Discount Plan and VIP members, and recipients of the low-income Fair Pass discount.

The agency is buying the cards from Metrolinx at a reduced rate for a total cost of roughly $2 million, and plans to start distributing them by the end of this year.

Ben Spurr is a Toronto-based reporter covering transportation. Reach him by email at bspurr@thestar.ca or follow him on Twitter: @BenSpurr

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The four-year-old contract dispute between the Ontario Medical Association and the provincial government has reached a critical juncture.

The leadership of the OMA is gathering this weekend to tackle a thorny issue that has long dogged the medical profession  the big pay gaps between different medical specialties.

On Sunday, the OMAs governing council is holding a special meeting at which a vote is scheduled to take place on how to narrow the gaps between what physicians on the high- and low-ends of the pay scale make.

At the same time, some higher-paid doctors are trying to break up the OMA and form a separate specialists association.

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Radiologist resigns from OMA board, says specialists receptive to the idea of breaking away

All of this is happening on the eve of the resumption of binding arbitration, aimed at resolving what has become a protracted and ugly contract dispute.

The stakes are high. The province now spends $12 billion annually on doctors, or about 10 per cent of the entire provincial budget.

Meantime, the OMA is seeking redress for fee cuts and freezes that doctors have been hit with in recent years.

But its patients who ultimately pay the price when physician fees are out of sync with health-care needs. When physician services are overvalued, there is less money available for lower-valued colleagues and for other parts of the health system such as hospitals and homecare.

The imbalance presents medical students with an incentive to specialize in overvalued specialties, such as radiology, cardiology and ophthalmology.

The contract dispute was at the binding arbitration stage prior to the June provincial election. But the provinces new Progressive Conservative government wanted to take a stab at resolving it, so the two sides went back to the bargaining table.

However, talks broke down earlier this month because the province isnt offering as much new money as the OMA wants. The two sides remain billions of dollars apart.

This coming Monday, the ball will be back in the court of an arbitration board led by William Kaplan, a seasoned lawyer, mediator and arbitrator. In resolving the dispute, the board has two main questions to address:

How much more should the province pay the approximately 30,000 doctors who bill OHIP, including part-timers?

How should funding be divvied up among the 35 different medical specialty groups?

Its this second question that the 200-plus members of the OMAs governing council will grapple with when they gather Sunday at a Toronto hotel. Their plan is to come out of the meeting with recommendations for the arbitration panel to consider.

Its accepted that some physicians should be paid more than others. Doctors who deserve higher wages include those who have spent more years in training, do more complex and intense work, have higher overhead costs and work longer hours.

But its also recognized that the existing system of compensating physicians is unfair. Disparities have grown over the decades, fuelled in part by improved technology, much of which is funded by taxpayers.

These technological advances have mostly benefited proceduralists such as radiologists, ophthalmologists and cardiologists. Because they are paid per procedure  for example, per diagnostic test or operation  these specialists are able to work faster and bill OHIP more.

Those physicians who have not benefited as much are known as cognitive specialists. They include infectious disease specialists, pediatricians, psychiatrists and geriatricians. They also include family doctors (who are not formally considered specialists.) These doctors use their experience, learning and interpretative skills to determine diagnoses and provide treatment advice.

Restoring fairness to the compensation system is what the medical profession refers to as achieving relativity. But progress on this has been glacial, despite repeated efforts over the years. The OMAs governing council passed a motion in 2010 to achieve pay equity across every specialty by 2024, but the association is not on track to reach that goal.

The slow pace of change is acknowledged in a report by the OMAs Relativity Advisory Committee, which is going to be up for debate on Sunday. Income relativity disparities have existed in the medical profession for a long time, and the Ontario Medical Association has identified this as an important issue requiring correction, the report says. There have been many efforts over the past 25 years to develop an appropriate relativity model.

The relativity report reveals the highest billing specialties are overpaid to the tune of 52 per cent and the lowest billing ones are underpaid to the tune of 30 per cent.

Among recommendations contained in the report is one to cut the pay of the four top-billing specialty groups by up to 1 per cent annually for 11 years. Those four specialty groups are radiologists, ophthalmologists, cardiologists and gastroenterologists.

The report also recommends payment top-ups of up to 4 per cent annually for 28 underpaid specialty groups. For another three specialty groups, there would be no redistribution of funding.

At the end of the 11-year plan, inequities would be significantly reduced, but still not eliminated. The highest billers would still be overpaid by 10 per cent and the lowest billers underpaid by the same amount.

The report does not spell out what kind of changes an individual specialist could expect in annual income under the plan, but to get a sense of that, one just has to cross reference data from the Canadian Institute for Health Information.

According to 2016 CIHI data on Ontario physicians, the average payment to an ophthalmologist was $691,575, while the average payment to a psychiatrist was $210,188.

The committees proposals to address relativity would see the ophthalmologists pay cut by just under $7,000 in the first year of the 11-year plan. A psychiatrist would see a top-up of just over $4,200 in the same period.

Council will vote on the proposals to address relativity on Sunday. Those that are passed will then be presented to the arbitration board as recommendations from the OMA. They are not binding.

The proposals are not going over well with some specialists who would see their pay cut. In late September, the day after the relativity committee presented its report to the OMAs 24-member board of directors, radiologist Dr. David Jacobs announced his resignation from the board.

Jacobs, who is also vice-president of the Ontario Association of Radiologists, wrote an open letter to doctors in which he warned that Sundays special meeting will further divide the OMA. He announced intentions to form a breakaway association of specialists who could negotiate their own payment deal with the province.

Jacobs has not responded to requests for an interview. Its unclear how much support his movement has.

In response to the breakaway threat, the OMAs board has come up with an additional approach to address relativity. This idea, which will also be debated Sunday, would allow individual specialty groups to make their own recommendations on how to deal with relativity to the arbitration panel. Different specialties would be able to voice their unique concerns rather than relying solely on the OMA to speak on behalf of the entire profession.

In a written statement to the Star, OMA president Dr. Nadia Alam indicated the association would stand a better chance of remaining intact if this new approach is adopted.

Were confident that the profession can work through the relativity challenge without fracturing, and that the overwhelming number of OMA doctors support the OMAs role as their bargaining agent. After five years of cuts and freezes, this is not a time to provide an opening for divide and conquer which is a real risk if the profession were to fracture.

But some physicians are unhappy with the OMAs response and charge that the organization is bowing to pressure from the high-billing specialists. London family physician Dr. Frank Warsh, who maintains a blog about the goings-on in the profession, recently expressed doubt the relativity dilemma will be resolved any time soon.

Doctors from lower-earning specialties have good reason to be pissed. Relativity has been a festering problem in the profession for decades, and only a handful of the highest-billing specialties stood to lose anything under the new framework, he wrote in reference to the relativity committees proposals.

Seeing as the plan is being changed to meet the demands of specialists looking to go their own way regardless, its hard to see this whole process playing out to a conclusion, he continued.
The Special Investigations Unit is investigating a police-involved shooting early Saturday that resulted in the death of a woman in downtown Hamilton.

The SIU said based on preliminary information Hamilton police received a call around 1 a.m. about a woman armed with a knife at a residence on King St. E. near Wellington St. N.

Police entered the apartment, where an interaction between the woman and a police officer took place that ended with the officer discharging his firearm, an SIU investigator said Saturday. According to a SIU press release, before the officer fired his weapon, another officer used a Taser.

The woman was taken to hospital where she was later pronounced dead at 2:04 a.m., the SIU said.

The unit said they are still in the process of interviewing witnesses and police officers and cannot release further details about the incident, of which they were notified about at 2:30 a.m.

The SIU, which is called in to investigate incidents involving police that result in death, serious injuries or any allegations of sexual assault, is appealing to any witnesses with information to reach out to them at 1-800-787-8529

Premila D'Sa is a breaking news reporter, working out of the Star's radio room in Toronto. Follow her on Twitter: @premila_dsa

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The response was immediate  and incendiary  when people learned that students at the University of Southern Maine had been offered course credit if they joined a bus full of people planning to protest Brett Kavanaughs nomination to the Supreme Court and lobby Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, to vote against it.

Hundreds of people called the university, including furious alumni, upset students, and prospective students and their parents. Critics saw the class as an outrageous abuse of the public universitys mission, a case of liberal academics trying to indoctrinate students. It was fierce, ferocious ... and threatening, said Glenn Cummings, the president of the university.

This week, he announced that Susan Feiner, the recently retired longtime faculty member who had offered the one-credit course, would be barred from teaching at USM and any of the states other public universities.

University leaders called it a rogue action by a former employee.

Feiner, whose father was the plaintiff in a well-known Supreme Court case after he was arrested for a speech that angered a crowd, saw it very differently. Hecklers were permitted to shut down what they disagreed with, she said.

Feiner, who was a tenured professor of economics at USM, had been outspoken as a faculty union leader and an advocate for students who said they had been sexually assaulted. She retired in September. But a National Education Association grant had funded the universitys faculty union for the Frances Perkins Initiative for Social Justice Education, intended to create high-impact pop-up classes for busy students.

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Ricin threat to Collins mentioned Kavanaugh vote

After hearing Kavanaugh and a woman who accused him of sexual misconduct testify, Feiner had the idea of getting students on a bus to Washington for a lesson in civic engagement and a chance to witness history.

Cummings told the campus Wednesday that Feiner had been barred from teaching for her role in listing and promoting an unauthorized class that advanced her personal political agenda. The course was promptly rescinded and university officials took immediate steps to ensure that institutional resources were not ... used to support one-sided political activism.

Feiner said she didnt think the class was a partisan effort. Any student from any political perspective at USM would have been welcome on that bus ... I think it was taken as partisan because the Republicans in Maine turned it into something that was partisan.

The executive director of the Maine GOP did not respond to a request for comment. Earlier this month, the party issued a RED ALERT on its Facebook page saying USM was offering a free college credit and a free bus ride to Washington to protest Collins, calling it shocking and unacceptable, and noting, The event page goes so far as to ask if STUDENTS are OK with being ARRESTED.

The main organizer of the bus to Washington was Diane Russell, a former Democratic state legislator and gubernatorial candidate in Maine. Everyone on the bus, other than some reporters covering the protest, opposed Kavanaughs confirmation to the court, Russell said.

A photo in the Portland Press Herald shows Feiner leaving the bus holding a printed sign aloft: A sexual predator does not belong on the Supreme Court.

Russell said the bus was paid for by the Center for Popular Democracy, a liberal advocacy group.

She said USMs leaders had sent a message to faculty members, and to women, with their decision: If youre willing to stand up and fight for social justice ... you will be attacked and vilified.

Feiners father, Irving, gave a speech about civil rights and other political issues in 1949 while he was a student at Syracuse University, said Roy Gutterman, a communications law professor at Syracuse who is writing a book about him. A crowd gathered around Irving Feiner, upset by his words and suspicious he might be a communist sympathizer.

Instead of protecting Irving Feiner from the angry group around him, police arrested him for disorderly conduct. A judge sentenced him to 30 days in jail  which he served after losing his case, Feiner v. New York, before the Supreme Court.

This was really one of the first of the McCarthy-era free speech cases, with an official shutting down unpopular ideas because they provoked such an angry reaction, said Gutterman, director of the Tully Center for Free Speech at Syracuse. He said the hecklers veto has been happening lately on college campuses, as at the University of California at Berkeley last year, when protesters upset by a conservative speaker set fires and smashed windows, causing the event to be cancelled.

The University of Maine Systems board of trustees  a politically appointed panel that includes Susan Collins brother, Samuel Collins  passed a policy this spring that worried some faculty members, who thought it might limit their free speech.

The policy does not ban partisan activity on the campuses, University of Maine System spokesman Dan Demeritt explained in an email, but makes it clear that our publicly funded institutions are to remain non-partisan and impartial. He gave the example of a faculty member who appears in a campaign ad, but with a disclaimer that notes she is speaking as an individual.

Cummings said it has always been clear that professors can discuss political issues in class, but that they should provide a range of perspectives and let students settle on their own opinions.

Feiner has the right to voice her own opinion, he said, but she crossed a significant line when she used the name of the university to promote her political agenda. That is why we felt the need to be firm, Cummings said.

USMs provost, Jeannine Diddle Uzzi, said that when officials heard concerns and began to investigate the class, they learned that there was never a course proposal or committee review of the syllabus, as required.

Feiner isnt an employee any longer, Uzzi said, and didnt have a contract to teach the class.

Feiner acknowledged that she didnt go through the regular process for creating the pop-up class: With things moving quickly in Washington, I was just bulling through it, she said. But she said university officials havent been straightforward about why they shut it down.

Uzzi and Cummings said they both have known Feiner for many years but have lost trust in her.

Shes a spitfire, Cummings said, someone with strong views and a commitment to action. But you have to use good judgment.
ELKO, NEV.U.S. President Donald Trump said Saturday he will exit a landmark arms control agreement the United States signed with the former Soviet Union, saying that Russia is violating the pact and its preventing the U.S. from developing new weapons.

The 1987 pact, which helps protect the security of the U.S. and its allies in Europe and the Far East, prohibits the United States and Russia from possessing, producing or test-flying a ground-launched cruise missile with a range of about 480 to 5,500 kilometres.

Russia has violated the agreement. They have been violating it for many years, Trump said after a rally in Elko, Nev. And were not going to let them violate a nuclear agreement and go out and do weapons and were not allowed to.

The agreement has constrained the U.S. from developing new weapons, but America will begin developing them unless Russia and China agree not to possess or develop the weapons, Trump said. China is not currently party to the pact.

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Well have to develop those weapons, unless Russia comes to us and China comes to us and they all come to us and say lets really get smart and lets none of us develop those weapons, but if Russias doing it and if Chinas doing it, and were adhering to the agreement, thats unacceptable, he said.

National Security Adviser John Bolton was headed Saturday to Russia, Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia. His first stop is Moscow, where hell meet with Russian leaders, including Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev. His visit comes at a time when Moscow-Washington relations also remain frosty over the Ukrainian crisis, the war in Syria and allegations of Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential race and upcoming U.S. midterm elections.

There was no immediate comment from the Kremlin or the Russian Foreign Ministry on Trumps announcement.

Trump didnt provide details about violations, but in 2017, White House national security officials said Russia had deployed a cruise missile in violation of the treaty. Earlier, the Obama administration accused the Russians of violating the pact by developing and testing a prohibited cruise missile. Russia has repeatedly denied that it has violated the treaty and has accused the United States of not being in compliance.

Defence Secretary James Mattis has previously suggested that a Trump administration proposal to add a sea-launched cruise missile to Americas nuclear arsenal could provide the U.S. with leverage to try to convince Russia to come back in line on the arms treaty.

Russias Foreign Ministry said in February that the country would only consider using nuclear weapons in response to an attack involving nuclear or other weapons of mass destruction, or in response to a non-nuclear assault that endangered the survival of the Russian nation.

We are slowly slipping back to the situation of cold war as it was at the end of the Soviet Union, with quite similar consequences, but now it could be worse because (Russian President Vladimir) Putin belongs to a generation that had no war under its belt, said Dmitry Oreshkin, an independent Russian political analyst. These people arent as much fearful of a war as people of Brezhnevs epoch. They think if they threaten the West properly, it gets scared.

Trumps decision could be controversial with European allies and others who see value in the treaty, said Steven Pifer, a former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine and now a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution who focuses on nuclear arms control.

Once the United States withdraws from the treaty, there is no reason for Russia to even pretend it is observing the limits, he wrote in a post on the organizations website. Moscow will be free to deploy the 9M729 cruise missile, and an intermediate-range ballistic missile if it wants, without any restraint.

U.S. officials have previously alleged that Russia violated the treaty by deliberately deploying a land-based cruise missile in order to pose a threat to NATO. Russia has claimed that U.S. missile defences violate the pact.

In the past, the Obama administration worked to convince Moscow to respect the INF treaty but made little progress.

If they get smart and if others get smart and they say lets not develop these horrible nuclear weapons, I would be extremely happy with that, but as long as somebodys violating the agreement, were not going to be the only ones to adhere to it, Trump said.

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ISTANBULTurkey will never allow a coverup of the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Saudi Arabias consulate in Istanbul, a senior official in Turkeys ruling party said Saturday, reflecting international skepticism over the Saudi account that the writer died during a fistfight.

The comment was one of many critical reactions to Saudi Arabias announcement early Saturday of the writers violent death, indicating the kingdoms efforts to defuse a scandal that has gripped the world were falling short. U.S. President Donald Trump, however, was an exception. Asked whether he thought the Saudi explanation was credible, he replied: I do. I do.

Despite widespread outrage over the killing of the columnist for The Washington Post, it is unclear to what extent the top leadership of Saudi Arabia, a key U.S. ally and a powerful player in a volatile region, would be held accountable for what human rights activists describe as an extrajudicial killing by Saudi agents.

The only way to find out what happened would be through an international investigation led by a U.N.-appointed panel, the editorial board of The Washington Post said.

Saudi Arabias latest version asks us to believe that Mr. Khashoggi died after becoming engaged in a brawl with officials who had been sent to meet him. His body, Saudi officials told several journalists, was handed over to a local collaborator for disposal, it said, while also criticizing Trump for allegedly trying to help top Saudi leaders escape meaningful accountability.

Saudi Arabia said 18 Saudi suspects were in custody and intelligence officials had been fired. But critics believe the complex scheme that led to Khashoggis death could not have occurred without the knowledge of Mohammed bin Salman, the 33-year-old crown prince whose early promises of sweeping reform are being eclipsed by concerns that he may be an impulsive, even sinister figure.

Read more:

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The Saudi narrative of Khashoggis death  that he was killed in a brawl following discussions with visiting officials in the consulate  contrasts with Turkish pro-government media reports that a Saudi hit squad, including an autopsy expert, travelled to Istanbul to kill Khashoggi and dispose of his body, which has not yet been found.

The overnight statement, released by the state-run Saudi Press Agency, that the writer died in the consulate also came more than two weeks after Khashoggi, 59, entered the building for paperwork required to marry his Turkish fiancee and never came out. Saudi Arabia initially denied any knowledge of his disappearance.

The kingdom has described assertions in Turkish media leaks, based on purported audio recordings that Khashoggi was tortured, killed and dismembered inside the consulate, as baseless. Turkish politicians pushed back Saturday.

Its not possible for the Saudi administration to wiggle itself out of this crime if its confirmed, said Numan Kurtulmus, deputy head of Turkeys Justice and Development Party. He also said Turkey would share its evidence of Khashoggis killing with the world and that a conclusive result of the investigation is close.

Another Turkish ruling party official, Leyla Sahin Usta, also criticized Saudi Arabia, saying the kingdom should have given its explanation before the situation reached this point. She said it would have been more valuable if Saudi officials had earlier admitted that Khashoggi was killed in its diplomatic post.

In firing officials close to Prince Mohammed, Saudi Arabia stopped short of implicating the heir-apparent of the worlds largest oil exporter. King Salman, his father, appointed him to lead a committee that will restructure the kingdoms intelligence services after Khashoggis slaying. No major decisions in Saudi Arabia are made outside of the ultraconservative kingdoms ruling Al Saud family.

Khashoggi, a prominent journalist and royal court insider for decades in Saudi Arabia, had written columns critical of Prince Mohammed and the kingdoms direction while living in self-imposed exile in the U.S.

God have mercy on you my love Jamal, and may you rest in Paradise, Khashoggis fiancee, Hatice Cengiz, tweeted following the Saudi announcements.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged a prompt, thorough and transparent investigation into the circumstances of Mr. Khashoggis death and full accountability for those responsible, spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.

Standing outside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, the head of a media group said the authority that gave the orders in the killing of Khashoggi should be punished.

Turan Kislakci, president of the Turkish Arab Media Association, said Khashoggi was slaughtered by bloody murderers and that his group wants true justice for its slain colleague.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the U.S. will advocate for justice in the Khashoggi case that is timely, transparent and in accordance with all due process.

Trump has called the Saudi announcement a good first step, but said what happened to Khashoggi was unacceptable.

The Saudi announcements about Khashoggi came in statements carried by the state-run Saudi Press Agency.

Preliminary investigations conducted by the Public Prosecution showed that the suspects had travelled to Istanbul to meet with the citizen Jamal Khashoggi as there were indications of the possibility of his returning back to the country, the statement read. Discussions took place with the citizen Jamal Khashoggi during his presence in the consulate of the kingdom in Istanbul by the suspects (that) did not go as required and developed in a negative way, leading to a fistfight. The brawl led to his death and their attempt to conceal and hide what happened.

Theres been no indication Khashoggi had any immediate plans to return to the kingdom.

The Saudi statements, which expressed regret and promised accountability, did not identify the 18 Saudis being held by authorities and did not explain how so many people could have been involved in a fistfight.

The kingdom at the same time announced the firing of four top intelligence officials, including Maj. Gen. Ahmed bin Hassan Assiri, a one-time spokesman for the Saudi militarys campaign in Yemen who later became a confidant of Prince Mohammed.

Saud Qahtani, a powerful adviser to the prince, also was fired. Qahtani had led Saudi efforts to isolate Qatar amid a boycott of the country by the kingdom and three other Arab nations as part of a political dispute.

On Twitter, where Qahtani had launched vitriolic attacks against those he saw as the kingdoms enemies, he thanked the Saudi government for the opportunity to serve.

I will remain a loyal servant to my country for all times, he wrote.

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More questions than answers with our cannabis experiment, Oct. 18

Ontarios cannabis plan leaves practical questions of impaired driving and workplace policy unresolved, and will allow for injustice and inequality.

The purported purpose of legalization is to quash a black market that enables and enriches a criminal element, the controlling of which wastes valuable public resources in the form of law enforcement and the justice system.

The rationale for legalization also has a moral element. We no longer believe, as a society, that smoking a joint is behaviour reprehensible enough to be criminal.

However, due to the unclear and inconsistent rules in Ontario, there is still a large amount of activity around cannabis that falls in the realm of illegality. Limitations on where consumption can take place, for example, or the reality of there being a single legal procurement option that is only available for those with access to a computer, an address and a credit card.

For as long as cannabis has been illegal, it has been more illegal for certain people than for others. I worry that the result of Ontarios inadequate regulatory scheme will be unequal enforcement and the continued over-representation of marginalized groups in our criminal justice system.

Margaret Donolo, Ottawa

Dr. McKenzies questions and answers are those that a caring parent or guardian would discuss with young adults. I think he raises them because the government may appear to have pursued legalization on the basis that the subject matter is safe.

The rational basis for legalizing pot is that legalization is a better public policy choice than criminalization, which causes a great deal of violence and corruption, is often prosecuted in a discriminatory manner, and saddles young people unnecessarily with criminal records.

Safety is not the issue. There are lots of unsafe activities that are discouraged but not criminalized, partly because criminalization is often a worse option.

Romain Pitt, Toronto

I am old enough to remember when drugs came with cute acronyms as names, like LSD, and ended up in Beatles songs.

I also remember when the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers, hippie heroes of underground comics, invented a great new drug called COP. It gave you a fantastic high, but the side-effects were problematic: your hair fell out, you instantly grew a beer belly and your IQ got cut down by half.

Nowadays, cops, or rather former cops, are investing heavily in the new cannabis business, as are former OPP commissioner Julian Fantino, former RCMP deputy commissioner Raf Souccar, former RCMP head Norman Inkster, former Toronto deputy chief Kim Derry and quite a few others who spent their careers putting people in jail for growing marijuana on their balcony.

You know what? I dont think I feel like lighting up anymore.

Vittorio Frigerio, Toronto

Let me get this straight. Marijuana is harmless, but the federal government wants to stop organized crime from selling it. Excellent. Now organized crime can replenish that lost income through increased cocaine sales, human trafficking and running Quebecs construction business.

Do not expect layoffs in the criminal world. They will just find another source of money, perhaps one not as harmless as marijuana.

Robert Prior, Belleville

With the various agencies, regulators, municipalities and employers getting their oar in the water to determine when and where one can smoke and/or consume recreational cannabis products, there is one group that has been conspicuous by its silence. Have there been any statements from either the federal or provincial authorities addressing the prison population?

Who knows? It may be a mellowing experience.

Frank Feeley, Fonthill, Ont.

The legacy of the father, Pierre Elliott Trudeau, who served as prime minister from 1968 to 1979 and again from 1980 to 1984, includes the defeat of Quebec separatism, official bilingualism, the patriation of our Constitution, the Charter of Rights and the reduction of Cold War tensions.

PETs son, Justin Trudeau, has been serving as prime minister since 2016. His legacy to date is handing pot to the young and vulnerable of our nation on a silver platter.

Miriam Snowbell, Thornhill

Quite the legacy for Justin Trudeau. He can brag to the world that he brought legalized marijuana to Canada in spite of warnings from the medical community, who are a lot wiser than he is, that this is a mistake.

Joe Spence, Ottawa

It is certainly a bad move by the federal government to legalize cannabis. There is no way abuse can be controlled, which will result in elevated crimes akin to drunk driving. Additionally, addiction will lead to health hazards the same way smoking does.

The mayor of Richmond Hill has wisely opted out of the sale of marijuana in his town, for which he should be highly commended.

Raza Kara, Richmond Hill

Doug Ford may like to blame Justin Trudeau for legalizing cannabis, but he has only himself to blame for the way it will affect Ontario.

Instead of looking at the regulations chosen by other provinces, he and his attorney general and health minister deliberately gave us the laxest of all possible regulations, hoping that those of us who abhor them will take it out on the federal Liberals in 2019.

Our memories need to be much longer than that, right up to June 2022.

Judith Butler, Toronto

With pot being legal, I believe the acceptance of it will increase. That does not mean it wont be problematic. Just as alcoholism takes away from the quality of ones life, being a pothead can be seen to do the same. Having both alcohol and marijuana used for recreation on a Friday night isnt so bad. We just have a toss-up on what to buy.
Keira Knightleys daughter wants to be a dentist when she grows up, which suits the Oscar-nominated actress just fine. Better a girl grow up dreaming of fixing teeth than dreaming of fixing dinner for her evil stepsisters while she waits around for a rich prince to rescue her.

Rescue yourself, obviously! Knightley told Ellen DeGeneres last week on the comedians talk show, inspiring a chorus of cheers from the audience.

She didnt, however, go on to explain how Cinderella, a woman of very limited means with no supernatural powers, could possibly rescue herself from a life of poverty and servitude in a patriarchal kingdom without the help of a male benefactor.

What Knightley did do is tell DeGeneres that in her household certain Disney films are banned, among them Cinderella and The Little Mermaid, the latter a movie she admits liking very much, but one she wont allow her aspiring dentist daughter to watch because of its allegedly anti-feminist elements  namely the fact that mermaid Ariel chooses to swap her voice for legs and a chance at love on land.

Or as Knightley put it: I mean the songs are great, but do not give your voice up for a man. Hello!

This is an ungenerous reading of The Little Mermaid. Ariel wants to walk  and she wants to travel. She wants to stay all day in the sun. Prince Eric is a bonus. But thats not the point.

The point is that Knightley, a Disney star in her own right (Pirates of the Caribbean), is one of many modern moms trying her best to raise a daughter who grows up knowing there is more to life than Disney princesses; who thinks for herself and who values herself. It appears Kristen Bell is walking the same path with her own kids.

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Bell, also a Disney star (she voices Anna in the megahit Frozen), made headlines alongside Knightley when she told Parents magazine recently that she takes issue with the fairy tale classic Snow White.

Every time she reads the story to her kids, she told the magazine, I look at my girls and ask, Dont you think its weird that Snow White didnt ask the old witch why she needed to eat the apple? Or where she got that apple? I say, I would never take food from a stranger, would you? And my kids are like, No! And Im like, OK, Im doing something right.

Bell also objects to the famous kiss at the end of the modern version of Snow White, a kiss that is technically nonconsensual because SW is unconscious. As a result, the actress asks her kids after reading the story:

Dont you think that its weird that the prince kisses Snow White without her permission?

Of course its weird because the whole thing is weird: its a fairy tale. This appears to be the popular consensus online among people who are deeply annoyed by Bells and Knightleys critiques of classic kids stories  critiques they chalk up to politically correct nonsense. Both actors comments have gone viral in recent days inciting outrage from a mostly right wing audience protective of the classics and wary of censorship.

Conservative commentator Ben Shapiro weighed in tweeting sarcastically, Oh well if Kristen Bell is uncomfortable we should probably discard centuries-old fairy tales.

But its important to note that Bell herself is not advocating discarding anything. In fact, its ironic that conservative critics are so bothered by her insistence on critiquing Snow White with her girls because the actress is doing exactly what conservatives rightly demand liberals do all the time: she isnt censoring themes and ideas that offend her. She isnt banning these stories from her household. She is engaging with them head-on with her kids and, where necessary, challenging them.

Knightley, meanwhile, is banning problematic themes from her kids media diet  a practice thats censorious and, lets face it, useless. The world is full of imperfect messages. Better to receive them and critique them than pretend they dont exist or worse, only allow your kid to watch films that meet the highest standards of moral purity, which means depriving them of every great kids movie that came before 2016.

Whats interesting is that both actors have unwittingly presented a microcosm of the free speech debates raging among right and left on university campuses today. Bell is the professor who wants to teach the controversial book and invite the inflammatory speaker to the school  provided of course that both spur a lively debate. Knightley is the prof who wants to shun them.

Whatever your feelings about vintage Disney movies (Ive always been partial to The Rescuers), theres no doubt that in an age of mass misinformation Bells method is the better one. Girls should be critical consumers of media, not naive ones. Besides, watching The Little Mermaid with your daughter means you can take a break from Frozen.
Ontarios rape crisis centres are waiting for a boost in funding promised by the previous Liberal government  news that came in the same week the province disbanded a roundtable looking at ways to prevent violence against women.

New Democrat MPP Suze Morrison, her partys womens issues critic, called the 33 per cent increase announced earlier this year much-needed funding (that) would have enhanced services at existing centres and expanded programs to underserviced communities, amid a huge increase in demand.

Morrison, who told the legislature she is a sexual assault survivor, questioned the governments commitment to violence against women given the question around funding and the end of the roundtable.

This roundtable was a vital component in the fight to end violence against women, added Liberal MPP Nathalie Des Rosiers, and it created dozens of recommendations that were the basis of her partys $242 million gender-based violence strategy.

Des Rosiers said the governments move is the first toward dismantling this incredibly important strategy. There is no excuse for dismantling an advisory group designed to reduce violence against women.

But Progressive Conservative MPP Sylvia Jones, who took questions on the issue at Queens Park, said our government is 100 per cent committed to make sure that the women in this province who have been abused in the workplace, in their homes, in their schools will get the help they need.

She said I dont think that there is a member in this chamber who would ever suggest that workplace violence in our schools, in our classrooms, in our homes is appropriate.

Read more:

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We all need to work together on this issue. It is non-partisan and we need to get past the throwing of knives back and forth and actually work together.

Earlier last week, co-chairs Farrah Khan and Pamela Cross resigned from the roundtable saying they had reached out to the new government but were ignored.

Meanwhile, Nicole Pietsch, co-ordinator of the Ontario Coalition of Rape Crisis Centres, said the network of 30 centres has unsuccessfully attempted to reach Ontarios Attorney General Caroline Mulroney to ask about the additional funding under her ministrys control, and had only recently heard back from her chief of staff.

The promised funding would be enough for each centre to hire one full-time, front-line staffer, Pietsch said.

It would make a significant difference  particularly for agencies that are seeing increases in demand and have waitlists, she said.

Right now, they cant plan, and will just continue to operate with the modest resources they have for an issue that takes a huge toll on our communities.

Mulroney  who years ago founded the Shoebox Project, a charity that provides homeless women with gift boxes  told the legislature when asked about the funding for rape crisis centres that our government believes that all Ontarians should live free from violence and the threat of violence. That is why we take the programs that our ministries offer to keep Ontarians free and to help them through the justice system very seriously.

Were looking at them because we want to make sure that they are delivering the services in an effective and efficient way, so that they can actually provide the real help and services that the women need, she said.

And so, I am committed to looking at all those programs across our government. We are all doing that. We will have more to say on that in the future.

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BURNABYMike Hurleys succession of careers adds a layer of complexity to his metaphors.

Im a bridge-builder, not a bridge-burner like Corrigan, the newly 60-year-old quipped, perhaps riffing on his history as both a Red Seal carpenter and firefighter.

Hurley, who has also been a folk musician and unionist, is now taking on the role of upstart Burnaby hopeful trying to unseat five-term mayor Derek Corrigan on Saturday. He sat down for an interview with StarMetro in his campaign headquarters, located in a blue-painted former Pizza Hut on Hastings St.

If the latest poll Monday from Justason Market Intelligence is to be believed  keeping in mind that surveys have proven disastrously wrong in B.C. before  a total electoral novice could wrest power from the communitys decades-long Burnaby Citizens Association establishment.

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Hurleys apparent eight-point lead is up from two weeks earlier when he and Corrigan appeared to be neck-and-neck  though the BCA attacked that earlier Justason poll as biased because it was commissioned by the firefighters association, of which Hurley is district vice-president.

After a bitter election race, theres no love lost between Corrigan and Hurleys union, with the mayor recently labelling the fire department too white in a city where two-thirds identify as a visible minority, according to the 2016 census  more than in Vancouver or Surrey.

Hurley knows what its like being an outsider from his experience as an immigrant from Northern Ireland. He still carries a slight Irish lilt, a love for playing Celtic music and Gaelic football and lingering memories of alienation upon first moving to Burnaby decades ago.

It wasnt until he took up soccer here that Hurley belonged, he recalled.

Corrigans team have attempted to portray Hurley as being on the political right in a historically working class city and as dangerously lukewarm on the locally unpopular Trans Mountain pipeline. They also pounced on his endorsement by the Burnaby First party; two candidates from that party were themselves endorsed by a pro-family, pro-life organization opposed to the sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) 123 curriculum in schools.

I have always been clear in my position on SOGI 123, Hurley quickly countered on his Facebook page. I support it and was proud to attend the Pro-SOGI rally  the only mayoral candidate to attend the rally. It wasnt my first and it certainly wont be my last.

As for him being pro-pipeline, Hurley chuckled as he pointed out that he spoke publicly against what he sees as the pipeline tank farms fire dangers in his firefighter association role.

And as a longtime labour activist and leader  dating back to his involvement in the Northern Irish musicians union decades ago  he scoffed at any notion hes somehow anti-labour or right-wing.

But some of Corrigans left-wing backers have grumbled about the $1,500 someone matching Hurleys name donated as an individual in fall 2013 to the newly re-elected B.C. Liberals. (Thats according to that partys amended 2013 disclosures, filed this year.) However, a year earlier hed given $1,200 to the B.C. NDP.

In his union roles, he also signed off on nearly $100,000 to the B.C. Liberals when they were still in government  in the decade before corporate and union donations were banned  but thats almost the exact same amount he directed to the B.C. NDP, according to Elections B.C.

But the ultimate weakness the BCA are hoping to exploit in the Hurley campaign is his total inexperience in elected office.

Thats a point to which Corrigan returns repeatedly in two of his three conversations with StarMetro during the campaign, arguing that running a city is extremely complex, and that Burnabys economy is on a stable course thanks to his low taxes and balancing act between labour and commerce.

Hurley insists hes cut out for the job and that a more consultative, collaborative vibe at city hall will get him up to speed fast. He wants to pause renovictions from developers at Metrotown, revisit how developments are approved, boost police budgets and, he claims, maintain local taxes that are among the lowest in the region.

He calls back soon after his last phone interview with StarMetro ends to add that he has in fact successfully pushed firefighter protection legislation through government and even secure funding for a health facility.

The key to being a leader is really to be a good listener, he said. But also to come from a position of solution-finding.

Mr. Corrigan has been in power for 16 years. None of these things (hes promising now) seem to have been a priority for him in 16 years  Suddenly he now seems to care about what people think? Im under no illusion hell actually do them.

Less than a minute after that second call ends, Hurley phones back. Though repeat phone calls could be seen as unusually zealous from a would-be politician, he is eager to insert one final postscript to the record about being a rookie.

Id just like to add, he said, that the most popular mayor Burnabys ever seen, Bill Copeland, came from the exact same position Im in.

In 1987, he came from the same position I have in the International Association of Fire Fighters. I still talk to his wife today.

An outsider, Hurley implies. Just like him.

And with the late firefighting former mayor as forerunner, Hurley hopes he too can build, not burn, in Burnaby  where polls are open 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday at voting locations across the city.

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BURNABYThe pinboard in the bowels of Derek Corrigans campaign office  tucked away near a collection of half-eaten muffins and other volunteer snacks  is carefully adorned with story clippings, old Burnaby Now newspaper covers and greying candidate lists from decades past.

Anyone who says something kind, Ive framed it, the citys five-term mayor quipped in an interview Tuesday.

The 66-year-old lawyer has long been known for his frosty relationship with the media, but he has done multiple interviews since his re-election campaign kicked off, including three with StarMetro.

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Even then, he veered into jabs at reporters coverage. He said they give his opponents too much credence while ignoring everything in his platform, such as maintaining Burnabys unusually low taxes, building new community amenities at no cost to taxpayers and protecting the environment.

The media, he said, treat him a bit like a pinata, hoping youll break the harder they hit you.

Well, Im not breaking, he said. Im proud of what weve accomplished.

Its not merely reporters, nor conservative foes, nor pipeline-lovers brandishing a stick in the mayors mind.

He lists a litany of housing activists protests at council and even sit-ins of his cluttered city hall office.

They can disrupt; it attracts media attention, he said. But I dont think that reflect the issues our community is concerned about.

A report released Monday by the low-income advocacy group ACORN (the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now) reserved special contempt for Corrigans self-described progressive Burnaby Citizens Association (BCA).

The BCA policy of mass demoviction in Burnaby is destroying the citys supply of affordable housing  during an unprecedented housing crisis, ACORN wrote.

Last year was Corrigans 30th in his citys political life, having ruled Burnaby since 2002 as mayor, winning five elections, and previously serving as a city councillor.

The steadfast Corrigan, who won with 76 per cent of the vote in 2011 and 69 per cent in 2014, is running his campaign on a simple, stay-the-course motto: Trusted Leadership. Delivering for Burnaby. Its in challenging those very grounds that his opponents hope to find his weakness.

Im always confident but Im always worried too, Corrigan said in a Sept. 27 interview in his campaign office. You go in with a healthy respect for your opponent  and ensure the public knows about your accomplishments.

Corrigan, a father of four 30-something children he says both inspire and challenge him  All the time, Ill tell you  is an unabashed New Democrat. His wife, former BCA councilmate and law school peer Kathy Corrigan, was an MLA for the provincial NDP until last year. The BCA historically was a local branch of the NDP and uses that partys orange branding.

However, while you might assume the left would firmly back someone with Corrigans NDP bone fides, that assumption would be wrong. His rival, political newcomer Mike Hurley, surpassed him by eight points in a home-stretch poll Monday after gaining union endorsements from Hurleys own firefighters association and the local labour council.

(Corrigans team explained he hadnt applied for their endorsement in the first place because they uniquely demanded an in-person interview and because of perceptions the council was too cosy with firefighters.)

While voters in what some jokingly dub the Peoples Republic of Burnaby have clearly gone to poll after poll renewing the BCAs progressive mandate, any political party with as long a history as Corrigans BCA can risk either indifference or wrath from voters if an alternative emerges.

Corrigan defended the $1.2 million in public money he spent on a series of unsuccessful legal challenges to stop the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion through Burnaby. (The final lawsuit did pause the project, but not on the citys arguments.) Hes stored in his city hall office a wooden slingshot  a not-so-subtle reminder that his supporters view him as David to the corporate Goliath.

Corrigan says that allegations he is against tenants and the homeless are a drive-by smear that ignores his record of green-lighting thousands of rental units and the provinces first rental-only zoning as well as backing comprehensive care facilities for people on the streets.

Theres a great deal of public empathy for anyone having to move out of the place theyve enjoyed, especially when theyve had extremely cheap rents, Corrigan said. I grew up in East Vancouver with a single mom; we moved multiple times, I went to multiple elementary schools, so Im not insensitive to the stories of having to move out of a location theyve made themselves comfortable in over years.

By saying were going to increase density, we were able to leverage much more  to find ways to divert some of that profit into housing affordability.

His long-governing partys platform was released just days before Saturdays municipal elections, two days after advanced polls had closed, giving voters little chance to review it  or opponents to pick it apart.

On Wednesday, a poll by Justason Market Intelligence suggested that independent mayoral hopeful Hurley has the support of 51 per cent of decided voters compared to Corrigans 43 per cent, among the 469 Burnaby residents surveyed.

Thats up from two weeks earlier when the pair appeared to be neck-and-neck  though the BCA disputed that earlier Justason poll commissioned by the firefighters association, of which Hurley is district vice-president.

But the fact remains that no election rival has ever pierced Corrigans armour. Hurley is a complete outsider running with an almost comically uninspiring slogan: Its time for a new mayor in Burnaby.

Corrigan scoffs at the retired firefighters insults on the hustings: that he burns bridges instead of building them, that listening isnt in his DNA or that city hall has become a place solutions go to die.

I continue to hope that people will put a little bit of a microscope on what my opponents are promising, Corrigan said with a sigh. I can tell you, anybody who comes onto council or especially the mayors chair without any experience, its not an easy job to be able to understand all these issues.

Its easy to make promises; its tougher to deliver.

The ultimate test of Burnaby voters feelings toward Corrigan, of course, is whether his BCA dominion stands or falls this Saturday. Voters in Burnaby can cast their ballots from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. at polling stations across the city.

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EDWARDSVILLE  Several county departments are opting out of an Information Technology Department penetration test, and the challenger to County Clerk Debra Ming-Mendoza is attempting to make it into a political issue.

The test, which is now underway, looks at vulnerabilities in the countys IT infrastructure and the ability of someone to hack into the system.

The county had budgeted $100,000 for the test in the 2017 budget, but carried the money over to the 2018 budget.

IT Director Rob Dorman said four departments: Madison County States Attorneys Office, County Clerk, Regional Superintendent of Schools and Circuit Clerk are not participating.

Steve Adler, current Metro East Sanitary District executive director and Republican candidate for Madison County Clerk, issued a press release critical of Mendoza, citing both the election and the County Clerks Office as the official repository of vital records.

Mendoza said she had no problem with the test, but had issues with the timing of it.

She objected to having people wandering through her department 20 days out from an election. She also noted that the state and federal Homeland Security departments were conducting their own penetration tests to guarantee election security.

States Attorney Tom Gibbons said part of the reason his office is opting out of the test is because of the nature of their information.

Because of the nature of the confidential, private and law enforcement  sensitive information, as well as information that is protected by attorney-client privilege and the protection of the rights of juveniles, we did not provide permission for the penetration test or the IT department to gain access to the storage or communications of the states attorneys office, Gibbons said Wednesday.

Because of the structure of the Madison County IT system if someone successfully penetrates the firewall protections that are in place, they will have access to a broad range of things including, unfortunately, also those things that are under the management and control of the States Attorneys Office.

He also noted that granting access to some of those confidential files could create legal issues.

Gibbons also said that there is a lack of confidence in the IT Department.

Earlier this year an anti-corruption task force conducted searches of several county administration offices, including the IT Department. Because of objections by administration officials, including Dorman, Gibbons office was removed from the investigation and it has been taken over by the Illinois Attorney Generals Office. No formal action has ever been taken.

I think its fair to say that we have a substantially diminished confidence in the IT department, Gibbons said. We are not confident in their ability and their commitment to protecting the security of our data and communications.

Reach reporter Scott Cousins at 618-208-6447.
EDWARDSVILLE  In order for mankind to move forward, we must continue to give back.

That phrase is at the heart of the actions and aspirations of Southern Illinois University School of Dental Medicine (SIU SDM) fourth-year student Jaterra Castine-Ross.

Castine-Ross, of Chicago, has been awarded a $5,000 scholarship from the Dental Trade Alliance Foundation in recognition of her impressive commitment to community service and academic excellence.

My reaction to receiving this scholarship was shock, followed by joy, Castine-Ross said. This scholarship funding will allow me to further my academic education through coursework and continued service to the community.

SIU SDM faculty nominator Katie Kosten, DMD, assistant professor and director of community dentistry, says Jaterras professionalism and aptitude are impressive. Her path to dental school and her motivation for entering the dental profession, in particular, make her stand out.

Jaterra was raised in a community that has many socioeconomic challenges, so she has seen the need from a very personal perspective, Kosten said. She is a deserving recipient of this scholarship, because she has a heart for giving back to communities in need just like hers. She is also living proof that determination, hard work and sacrifice open up opportunities to make real change in the world. She will be a great dentist, because she is a great person. Young people need role models like Jaterra.

When considering a career path, Jaterra says she narrowed her choices to either teaching or dentistry. She chose dentistry because she says it offers the best of both worlds.

In dentistry, I not only get to help people with their confidence by improving their smile, but also I have the opportunity to educate them about how their oral health affects their overall health, she explained.

Jaterra has been actively involved in community engagement through volunteering at the Boys and Girls Club in Carbondale, participating in walks and donating time at events such as the Illinois Mission of Mercy, and providing free services with the Christian Dental Society during a mission trip to Jamaica.

My passion and heart lie in community, she said. I have always been grateful and filled with joy anytime I can help someone who may not have the means or resources to help themselves. Upon graduation in June 2019, I plan to continue to volunteer my time and services through various outlets as often as I can to underserved communities.

According to Kosten, service to others should be at the heart of any patient-centered profession.

Not every dental student who graduates will enter the field of public health, and thats perfectly fine, Kosten explained. Every dental student should understand, however, that he or she has a responsibility to others and the profession to contribute toward solutions that help all patients.

That may be volunteering time for programs like Give Kids a Smile or Mission of Mercy, advocating for solutions to policy issues, serving in an advisory capacity, or working full-time in a public health role, she continued. Regardless of how one chooses to give back, at the end of the day, if we treat others the way we would want to be treated, we will be on the right path.
The adage that failures can teach many lessons seems quite...
As the counting of votes for municipal polls gathers momentum in Jammu and Kashmir, one question that has aroused curiosity across the state is who will become the Mayor of the prestigious Srinagar city due to the boycott of the polls by the NC and the PDP over Article 35A row.

Both the Congress and the BJP, which has won several wards unopposed due to the boycott, have claimed they will win enough seats to stake the claim for the post of Mayor in Srinagar. However, Sajad Lone of Peoples Conference (PC), an ally of the BJP, in a recent tweet declared that the Mayor for Srinagar will be from the PC. All set, inshallah, to have the first mayor from PC. Expecting very good results. Time to give Srinagar what it deserves. A set of hardworking people who work there on the ground, Lone wrote on Twitter.

Earlier, the BJP's state president Ravinder Raina had made a similar claim. This time, lotus will not only bloom in Jammu but in Kashmir as well,'' Raina told reporters in Jammu. ''BJP will have its Mayors in both capital cities.

The Congress also has sounded positive about bagging the post of Mayor in Srinagar. The party has fielded candidates in 66 of the 74 wards in Srinagar Municipal Corporation.

Junaid Mattoo, who quit the NC on the eve of municipal polls to contest the polls, is believed to be a front-runner for the Mayor's post. Mattoo contested the polls as an independent. There are reports that he might be joining the PC after results are out.

Governor Satya Pal Malik, in an interview, had also hinted at Mattoo becoming the Mayor of Srinagar when, as per his information, Srinagar is getting a foreign-educated young person for the role. This had led to allegations of favouritism against Malik.

The Raj Bhawan, however, was quick to clarify that the elections were being conducted in a free, fair and transparent manner, and the outcome of the polls would be in the hands of the people.

Independents will play a major role in the selection of the Mayor if the BJP, Congress, and PC do not get enough seats to stake claim for the Mayorship of the city. There are also reports that the independents could form their own party to keep the post of Mayor with them.
More than two weeks after his disappearance and straining of diplomatic relations between Saudi Arabia and Turkey, the former has admitted that Jamal Kashoggi was killed inside its consulate in Istanbul.

Saudi Arabia had strongly denied the charges for two weeks and had accused other countries, who condemned it, of interference. But President Donald Trump threatened Saudi Arabia with sanctions which seems to have forced Saudi officials to admit the killing.

The kingdom has sacked Deputy Intelligence Chief Ahmad al-Assiri and royal court Media Advisor Saud al-Qahtani, both top aides to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman who has faced mounting pressure over the Khashoggi affair.

Though the death has been admitted there was no statement on where the body was disposed. Saudi Attorney General Sheikh Saud al-Mojeb said Khashoggi died after "discussions" at the consulate devolved into an altercation.

"Preliminary investigations... revealed that the discussions that took place between him and the persons who met him... at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul led to a brawl and a fist fight with the citizen, Jamal Khashoggi, which led to his death, may his soul rest in peace," the attorney general said in a statement.

In its first reaction to Khashoggi's confirmed death, the White House said it was "saddened" but made no mention of any possible action against its major ally.

"We will continue to closely follow the international investigations into this tragic incident and advocate for justice that is timely, transparent and in accordance with all due process," White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said.

UN chief Antonio Gutterres said he was "deeply troubled" adding there needed to be "full accountability for those responsible."

Saudi journalist Khashoggi, a critic of the Islamic petro-state's powerful crown prince and a Washington Post contributor, was last seen on October 2 entering his country's consulate in Istanbul.

His disappearance had been shrouded in mystery and triggered an international crisis, with Turkish officials accusing Saudi Arabia of a state-sponsored killing and dismembering his body.

The public prosecutor said 18 people, all Saudi nationals, have been detained in connection to the probe.

The Saudi king also ordered the setting up of ministerial committee under the chairmanship of the crown prince, widely known as MBS, to restructure the kingdom's intelligence agency and "define its powers accurately", state media said.

It evolved into a major crisis for Prince Mohammed, a Trump administration favourite who has portrayed himself as a modernising Arab reformer, but whose image and even position at home could now be gravely undermined.

"Dismissing Saud al-Qahtani and Ahmad al-Assiri is as close to MBS as it is possible to go," said Kristian Ulrichsen, a fellow at Rice University's Baker Institute in the United States.

"Interesting to see if these moves prove sufficient. If the drip-drip of additional details continue, there's no buffer to shield MBS any longer."

Shortly before Riyadh confirmed that Khashoggi had been killed, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Saudi King Salman agreed in telephone talks to continue cooperation in the investigation into the Khashoggi affair.

Erdogan and Salman "emphasised the importance of continuing to work together with complete cooperation", said a Turkish presidential source, who asked not to be named.

The United States warned on Friday of a "wide range" of responses should it determine that Saudi Arabia is behind the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, as Turkey widened its investigation into the scandal.

President Donald Trump said the United States could impose sanctions over the feared murder of Khashoggi while his top diplomat Mike Pompeo told Voice of America Radio: "We'll certainly consider a wide range of potential responses." The Trump administration has been notably slow to criticise Saudi Arabia, despite mounting evidence that Khashoggi, a critic of the Islamic petro-state's powerful crown prince, vanished after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

The Khashoggi case has presented Trump with one of the most acute foreign policy crises of his nearly two-year-old presidency.

Saudi Arabia's admission comes after Turkish authorities widened their probe on Friday, searching a forest in Istanbul city.

Fifteen staff, all Turkish nationals, testified at the chief prosecutor's office, state-run news agency Anadolu said. It has been reported that Turkish employees were given the day off on October 2, the day Khashoggi disappeared.

Pro-government Turkish media have repeatedly claimed that Khashoggi was tortured and decapitated by a Saudi hit squad inside the diplomatic mission, although Turkey has yet to divulge details about the investigation.
A Russian woman has been found guilty of foreign interference in the 2018 mid-term elections in the United States. The woman is accused of trying to sway public opinion through social media in the first federal case on the 2018 mid-term elections.

Elena Khusyaynova, 44, a St. Petersburg, Russia-based accountant, was charged in a criminal complaint to defraud the US for taking part in a scheme targetting social media ads and web postings aimed at sowing "division and discord in the US political system.

Khusyaynova works for Concord, a Russia -based company that Special Council Robert Mueller's office had indicted for alleged interference in the 2016 election.

Investigation by Mueller, who is leading the investigation into the Russian interference of the 2016 presidential election, had laid bare techniques to influence US politics used by Russians. According to complaints filed against Khusyaynova, the Russians are using the same techniques for this year's mid-terms.

The unsealing of the new charge Friday appears to signal that U.S. law enforcement is not letting up in its efforts to investigate, deter and publicize alleged Russian interference in U.S. politics. The release was coordinated with a statement from President Donald Trumps top national security leaders warning about the foreign interference efforts from Russia, China and Iran.
On October 13, a summary general court martial held at an Army unit in Assams Dibrugarh district sentenced a major general, two colonels and four soldiers to life imprisonment. The court found that they were involved in the killing, in 1994, of four members of the All Assam Students Union, whom they branded members of the militant United Liberation Front of Asom.

One of the men grabbed Manorama and tried to drag her outside. He gagged her when she called out, Ima, Ima, khamu (Mother, mother, please stop them). From the main door that was ajar, Dolendro saw his sister being forced to sit on a bench on the verandah, while a soldier held her by her hair. They were preparing to waterboard her. Assam Rifles maintained that Manorama was shot dead while trying to escape. The commission termed it a concocted story which cannot be accepted. It [the Manorama killing] is the most high-profile case involving senior officials, and we had no control over it. - Renu Takhellambam, president of the organisation that filed the writ petition in the Supreme Court, asking for inquiries into extrajudicial killings in Manipur Through the window, I saw them taking off didis clothes. You wanted to know whether I saw her being raped? Yes, I saw them doing ghastly things. - Basu Singh, Manorama's younger brother

Cases related to rights violations and alleged fake encounters are hounding the Army. On August 14, as many as 356 officers filed a writ petition asking the Supreme Court to stay all court-monitored investigations into alleged fake encounters by the Army. The petition repeatedly mentions the barrage of cases against the Army in Manipur, which has had 1,500 cases of encounter killings in the past two decades.

Last year, the Supreme Court ordered the CBI to inquire into 46 of 1,528 alleged extrajudicial killings in Manipur. Sadly, though, almost everyone seems to have forgotten the states most notorious fake encounter. In fact, there is not even a first information report about the killing that shocked Indiathe killing of Thangjam Manorama in 2004.

IMPHALS HEART HAS for long belonged to women.

The proof of it is a sprawling market in the heart of the city, where more than 5,000 women vendors sell everything from clothes and handicrafts, to dried fish and the famous umorok chilli. The place is called Ima Keithal, meaning mothers market in the Meitei language. The keithal is run by married women; male vendors are banned.

It was history that gave Imphals heart to the mothers. For centuries, frequent battles and forced labour kept the men of Manipur away from their families. The women worked the fields and sold the produce in makeshift marketplaces. These markets evolved into independent bodies and became symbols of empowerment. When the British tried to seize their control, they got embroiled in nupi lan (womens war), a series of historic struggles the mothers fought from 1904 to 1939.

Ima Keithal, the largest of the women-only marketplaces in Imphal, is today calmer than it had been in decades. Long gone is the intensity of mothers protests against human rights violations and the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act. Unlike a year ago, business hours now extend late into evenings. There is no rush to go back home as soon as dusk falls.

There is a general feeling of calm even around the city. Roads are no longer deserted at night. The only unsettling sight is of Army personnel patrolling the streets, fingers resting on triggers.

The change has been attributed to the BJP, which came to power in March last year, ending the 15-year Congress rule under chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh. Even Congress leaders admit it, albeit sardonically. You are seeing calm because the people who used to incite terror outfits are today part of the government, said state Congress president T.N. Haokip. But I am not sure whether the calm would last long.

The writing is on the wall, quite literally. There are slogans graffitied into walls outside Ima Keithal, the state secretariat and even the chief ministers bungalow. Justice delayed is justice denied, says one message. Lets honour the law, says another. The reference is to the alleged extrajudicial killings. Clearly, peace in Manipur will depend a lot on the progress of the ongoing CBI inquiries, and their results.

Everyone, however, is at a loss to explain how the killing of Manorama is not being investigated. Her body was found near a paddy field on the morning of July 11, 2004, with multiple gunshot wounds and other injuries on her genitals and thighs. The previous night, a contingent of 17 Assam Rifles had taken Manorama, 32, into custody from her home, and her brother had lodged a complaint at the nearby Irilbung police station at dawn.

As news of her brutal killing and alleged rape spread, Assam Rifles claimed that she was shot while trying to escape, and that she was a key member of the Myanmar-based separatist outfit Peoples Liberation Army (PLA). Her family said she was an activist who was not involved in any crime. A day after the body was discovered, the state government constituted an inquiry commission under Justice C. Upendra Singh, known to be an upright and fearless judge. But it failed to put a lid on the billowing public anger.

On the morning of July 15, a group of women gathered at the western gate of the historic Kangla Fort, once the seat of power of Manipurs kings. Barely a kilometre from Ima Keithal, the Kangla Fort housed the office of the commandant of 17 Assam Rifles. As the women waved banners in protest, some of them took off their clothes. Indian Army, rape us, too, they screamed. We are all Manoramas mothers.

The naked protest got nationwide attention. Assam Rifles, however, insisted that Manorama was a dreaded insurgent, expert at making explosives and that her codename in the PLA was Henthoi.

Fourteen years later, the government is yet to bring closure to the case. In fact, there is no ongoing investigationeither by the police or by any Central agencyinto her killing. Seven of 13 women who led the naked protest are no more, while age and illness have caught up with the rest. The report of the Upendra Singh commission was submitted to the state government in November 2004, but it was kept secret.

In December 2014, while hearing a petition challenging the legal validity of constituting the Upendra Singh commission, the Supreme Court directed the government to pay Rs 10 lakh as interim compensation to Manoramas family. The money was paid this year.

The campaign to bring Manoramas killers to book has fizzled out. Which begs a question: Has Manipur forgotten Manorama? Actually, no, said Onil Kshetrimayum, a human rights activist. The Manorama case gave us the courage to fight against AFSPA. But, the reality is, many more cases have come up after that.

Painful memories: Khumanleima holding Manorama's picture. Flanking her are Manorama's two brothers and sister, Sunita | Salil Bera

The Supreme Court ordered CBI inquiries into the 46 cases following a writ petition in 2012 by the Extra Judicial Execution Victims Families Association (EEVFAM). Its president Renu Takhellambam said it was difficult to explain why she did not press for the inclusion of the Manorama case in the CBI list. It is the most high-profile case involving senior officials, and we had no control over it, she said. Also, the family recently got Rs 10 lakh as compensation, so some justice was done. So we did not take it up.

EEVFAM, actually, had filed its petition in 2012two years before the Supreme Court ordered the compensation.

Manorama had no police record. We inquired into her past in detail, said Haokip, who was speaker of the legislative assembly when she was killed. There was no [incriminating] information. We dont believe she was an insurgent. She belonged to a very poor family.

The arrest memo was allegedly forged, and it did not have the mandatory signature of a third-party witness. And no policewoman was present while taking Manorama into custody, nor was she handed over to any police station. In fact, no information about her arrest was given by the arresting party at any police station before her death, even [though] she was taken to various places, said the inquiry commission report.

Manorama

After keeping the inquiry report under wraps for a decade, the government finally handed it over to the Supreme Court in November 2014, during the hearing on the petition filed by EEVFAM. The contents of the report are as explosive as they are disquieting.

The inquiry report says troops of 17 Assam Rifles cordoned off Manoramas house at 12.30am on July 11, 2004. Being unmarried, she lived with her mother, Khumanleima Devi, and two younger brothers, Basu Singh and Dolendro Meitei. Basu was watching a Hindi film, Raju Chacha, on television when seven men in military uniforms and two in civilian clothes broke into his room.

Khumanleima, too, rushed in. One of the men asked them something in Hindi. Basu and his mother did not respond, as they did not know the language. A man who appeared to be a Meitei then asked them in the local language, Nakhoi sida Henthoi kouba leibra (Is there a person named Henthoi here)?

The mother and son said no. Just then, Manorama and Dolendro entered the room. One of the men in civilian clothes grabbed Manorama and tried to drag her outside. He gagged her when she called out, Ima, Ima, khamu (Mother, mother, please stop them). The mother was shoved aside twice and was hurt.

According to the report, the soldiers took Manorama to the courtyard, and asked others to stay put inside. As they tied her hands and began interrogating her, a soldier took a towel and some clothes from Basus room. Another took a knife and an aluminium vessel from the kitchen. From the main door that was ajar, Dolendro saw his sister being forced to sit on a bench on the verandah, while a soldier held her by her hair. They were preparing to waterboard her.

They demanded that she tell them about hidden weapons and explosives. Says the inquiry report: Then, Basu went to the room of his sister and, when he slightly opened the window of that room, saw Manorama lying on her back on the ground, her hands behind her back. A personnel [dressed in civilian clothes] knelt on the left side of his sister and, with his right hand, inserted the kitchen knife under her underwear.

Manorama was wearing a phanek, the sarong-like outfit of Manipuri women. The soldier pulled her phanek down to her knees, and unbuttoned and pulled up her T-shirt to expose her breast. Another soldier, who saw Basu watching through the window, smashed the wooden grille with the butt of his rifle. Basu was taken away, while Dolendro was questioned about his sisters accomplices.

Manorama was taken back inside the house after a while. Her face was swollen, her mouth gagged, and her clothes were wet and soiled. She was asked to change in front of the soldiers. Thereafter, about three personnel of the arresting party dragged Manorama out of her room, holding her hair, and forced her to sit on a bench on the veranda, says the report. One person left behind the kitchen knife, [which was] stained with blood. [Another person] prepared the arrest memo, on which Manorama and Dolendro were made to sign. The thumb mark of Khumanleima was obtained with the ink of a ball-pen refill. A copy of the arrest memo and a no-claim certificate were given to the family.

Mothers of fury: Women protesters at Kangla Fort in 2004 | Getty Images

The time of the arrest is disputed. Assam Rifles said the arrest memo was issued at 3.30am, while Manoramas mother and brothers maintained that she was arrested at 12.30am. They told the commission that the soldiers remained at their home for some hours, or [a] considerable time after preparing and handing over the memo. Interestingly, the memo says no items were seized from the house. Still, Assam Rifles submitted a seizure memo during the commissions inquiry, saying a Singapore-made Kenwood radio set and a Chinese grenade were recovered from Manoramas house.

The inquiry report points out discrepancies in the seizure and arrest memos. It also notes that the seizing officer and two seizure witnesseswho were part of the arresting partyhad no knowledge of the alleged recovery of incriminating articles from the house. Also, Manoramas name is misspelt in the seizure memo, and her signature is apparently not genuine.

There is little clarity on what happened after Manorama was taken from her house, other than that her arrest was not reported to the police or civilian authorities. Assam Rifles personnel told the commission that Manorama had told them the whereabouts of a PLA lieutenant called Ruby. But the commission said their submissions were difficult to believe.

The commission cites the statements of Major M.S. Rathore, who was part of the group that arrested Manorama. After the arrest, Rathore telephoned an Army rifleman stationed at the police control room near Imphal, telling him to request the police to dispatch a lady constable to the nearby Assam Rifles camp at Chinga. There is every possibility of bringing Manorama first to the Assam Rifles camp at Chinga, and then [to] where her dead body was found, says the report.

Renu Takhellambam

Assam Rifles maintained that Manorama was shot dead while trying to escape. It told the commission that she wanted to relieve herself when the convoy reached Yairipok road, about 3km from the Irilbung police station. She was allowed to do it in an open area by the road, near a hedge along a paddy field, but she ran after seeing people working in the field. A havildar shouted in Hindi, Ruko, ruko (stop, stop). When Manorama did not stop, said the soldiers, a warning shot was fired in the air, before they took aim at her legs.

The commission termed it a concocted story which cannot be accepted, after asking questions such as: How could a barely 5ft-tall woman in a phanek outmanoeuvre 13 armed and well-trained soldiers? How could a woman in a phanek, with her hands tied behind her back, outrun the soldiers? Why didnt they issue a warning in the local language (as required by rules) before they fired? And how come not a single bullet, out of the 16 fired, had hit Manoramas legs?

Belying the claim that she was shot at while fleeing, a second autopsy revealed that two bullets hit her from the front. (This autopsy was supervised by a three-member medical board, after the doctor who conducted the first one, H. Nabachandra Singh, allegedly did not do certain examinations that could have shed light on the cause and manner of her death.) The second autopsy concluded that she was shot from close rangeas close as three feet.

There were bloodstains only on her clothes. No pool of blood was seen at the spot. As her heart was perforated, at least a litre of blood should have been on the spot, had she been shot there.

Depositions of at least two civilian witnesses indicated that the soldiers killed her elsewhere and dumped the body in the paddy field. One civilian witness, P. Bilashini, whose family owned a nearby paddy field, told the commission that she saw four military vehicles approaching from the Irilbung side and cordoning off the road. Then, three persons in Army uniforms took down a body, which appeared to be female [because of the phanek], says the report. The person appeared to be lifeless. They took the body towards a hillock, and after about two minutes, [Bilashini] heard one gunshot. Thereafter, at intervals of one or two minutes, she heard another five or six rounds of firing.

Basu Singh | Salil Bera

The ballistics expert deposed that a person who was running could not sustain some of the gunshot wounds seen on Manoramas body. The autopsy found that her vagina, hymen and uterus were lacerated, and the petticoat had blood and semen stains. The vaginal swab collected during the autopsy could have pointed to rape, but it was handed over to the police only 11 days later.

An injury in the vaginal area suggested that she was shot while she lay flat, face downwards. The arresting team of Assam Rifles fired on [Manoramas] genital organ, says the report. It appears that this aspect exposes not only [the teams] barbaric attitude, but also their attempt to fabricate evidence with a view to cover up the offence committed by them.

The commission had been asked to submit its report within a month, but it extended the deadline three times, partly because Assam Rifles delayed affidavits and production of witnesses, and dodged summons several times. Col Jagmohan Singh, commandant of 17 Assam Rifles, challenged in the Gauhati High Court the legal validity of the commission. Even after the court upheld the validity, Assam Rifles delayed procedures, compelling the commission to issue arrest warrants against four of its witnesses.

The first information report lodged at the Irilbung police station, signed by Naib Subedar Digamber Dutt, had details about the arrest and the items seized from her house. Dutt, however, told the commission that he did not know what was written in the FIR, and that he had signed it only because Major Rathore had asked him to do so. Dutt was named as the seizing officer in the seizure memo; but he deposed that he had not witnessed the seizure. He, and two others who had signed as witnesses in the memo, had no knowledge of how and when Manoramas signature was obtained for the document. The arrest and seizure memos were prepared by Major Rathore, but he did not sign them. The reason cited was that he was an officer of the Army on deputation to Assam Rifles.

Submitting its report to the government in November 2004, the commission termed Manoramas killing as one of the worst crimes in a civilised society governed by the rule of law. It said nine personnel of 17 Assam Rifles, including Major N. Dagar, who led the arrest party, were directly or indirectly involved in the torture and murder of Manorama.

Manoramas mother, Khumanleima, 73, spends most of her time sitting in the courtyard full of painful memories. The compensation she received was used to rebuild the housethe thatched roof is now a concrete one. A part of the money has gone into a bank account, so that a committee of local people could observe Manoramas death anniversary every year.

Both the brothers are now married, with children. Dolendro said he had failed to get a government job, as he could not pay 05 lakh as bribe. He was also denied a bank loan under the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana to start a business.

Their elder sister had married well before Manorama was killed. Manorama was the familys breadwinnershe used to stitch clothes and sell them at a local garment market. Didi paid our school fees, said Dolendro. I passed college thanks to her. Basu dropped out of school after didis death. Today, I continue the business she ran.

Basu sells fish at a market in Imphal. The sight of his sister being tortured is burnt into his memory. I was 18 then, he said. Through the window, I saw them taking off didis clothes. You wanted to know whether I saw her being raped? Yes, I saw them doing ghastly things. Could he still identify the soldiers? I would not be able to forget them till I die, he said.

After the ordeal, Basu said, the soldiers took Manorama to her room. They closed the door after them, he said. She was forced to change her dress in front of them.

Manorama came out wearing a fresh phanek and a petticoat beneath itthe same one on which a forensic lab in Kolkata later detected semen stains. After she left, her mother washed the soiled clothes. In hindsight, they realise that it was a mistake. But then, they thought the worst was over. Before she left, she had told Dolendro: They did what they wanted to do. Bring me home from the police station in the morning.

The memories are haunting. I was in college then, said Renu Takhellambam. Shortly after the incident, curfew was declared. My father asked me to stay indoors for days. Her parents got her to marry rather early, though she wanted to study further.

Parents across Manipur did so, to protect their daughters from being raped. Murders and rapes by security forces were rampant in Manipur for years, said Renu. Our parents were more worried about rape. It was worse than death.

Renus husband was shot in 2007, after being branded a terrorist. She has a 10-year-old son. It was for his sake, too, that she went to the Supreme Court, seeking inquiry into the extrajudicial killings in Manipur.

I am ashamed being a politician in Manipur, said Haokip. The kind of treatment the Manorama case has received makes me feel that justice in India is not for poor people.

Haokip said he had not seen the inquiry commissions report. Chief minister Ibobi Singh neither shared it with his cabinet nor tabled it in the assembly. The two autopsy reports and the ballistics record were also not made public.

Manoramas family went to the High Court seeking a criminal investigation based on the commissions report. The court, in 2011, asked the state to act on the report, said the familys counsel M. Rakesh.

But Assam Rifles filed an appeal in the Supreme Court. The matter has since been pending, with hearings postponed every six months or so, said Rakesh.

Politicians, too, failed Manorama. Three days after the killing, minister N. Biren Singh stormed into Ibobi Singhs room, demanding investigation. It was a horrible situation, recalled Haokip. Our government was about to fall. A team of MLAs led by Biren Singh came to the chief minister with resignation letters. Prime minister Manmohan Singh had to rush to Imphal to control the damage.

Haokip said Biren Singh had even disrupted the assembly. Pity that the minister who created trouble for us then is in the chief ministers chair today, he said. Cant he make the Central government request the Supreme Court to speed up the case? Biren Singh joined the BJP last year.

Ibobi Singh declined to speak about the killing. It would not be proper for me to talk on this, he said. Yes, I had ordered the inquiry, but it is now between the court and the government of the day.

Biren Singh said he had not seen the commissions report, not even after becoming chief minister.

THE WEEK has learnt that the Army recently started a court of inquiry into the killing, but the proceedings are yet to begin. Its Eastern Command did not respond to requests for comment. But, a senior officer of III Corps, which oversees Assam Rifles, said, It is pathetic that because of a few officers the Army has to bear a bad name. They should be punished if guilty.

Are they guilty? And was she a terrorist? If they are not guilty, why was the family given Rs 10 lakh as compensation? As the lawyer Rakesh said, Can the Supreme Court, or an elected government, pay compensation to a terrorist?

The report of the judicial commission that shed light on the circumstances that led to Manoramas death has been in the public domain for the past four years. The story of her final hours, however, has mostly remained untold.

Until now, that is.
Riyadh, Oct 20 (AFP) Saudi Arabia on Saturday admitted that critic Jamal Khashoggi was killed inside its consulate in Istanbul, more than two weeks after his disappearance tipped the kingdom into one of its worst international crises.

The kingdom also sacked deputy intelligence chief Ahmad al-Assiri and royal court media advisor Saud al-Qahtani, both top aides to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman who has faced mounting pressure over the Khashoggi affair.

The admission that Khashoggi died at the hands of Saudi officials after weeks of vehement denials by the Gulf kingdom comes after President Donald Trump said that the United States, which is Saudi Arabia's biggest backer, could impose sanctions if it was proved the journalist was killed.

Saudi Attorney General Sheikh Saud al-Mojeb said Khashoggi died after "discussions" at the consulate devolved into an altercation, without disclosing any details on the whereabouts of his body.

"Preliminary investigations... revealed that the discussions that took place between him and the persons who met him... at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul led to a brawl and a fist fight with the citizen, Jamal Khashoggi, which led to his death, may his soul rest in peace," the attorney general said in a statement.

In its first reaction to Khashoggi's confirmed death, the White House said it was "saddened" but made no mention of any possible action against its major ally.

"We will continue to closely follow the international investigations into this tragic incident and advocate for justice that is timely, transparent and in accordance with all due process," White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said.

UN chief Antonio Gutterres said he was "deeply troubled" adding there needed to be "full accountability for those responsible."

- Shrouded in mystery -

================

Saudi journalist Khashoggi, a critic of the Islamic petro-state's powerful crown prince and a Washington Post contributor, was last seen on October 2 entering his country's consulate in Istanbul.

His disappearance had been shrouded in mystery and triggered an international crisis, with Turkish officials accusing Saudi Arabia of a state-sponsored killing and dismembering his body.

The public prosecutor said 18 people, all Saudi nationals, have been detained in connection to the probe.

The Saudi king also ordered the setting up of ministerial committee under the chairmanship of the crown prince, widely known as MBS, to restructure the kingdom's intelligence agency and "define its powers accurately", state media said.

The controversy has put the kingdom -- for decades a key Western ally and bulwark against Iran in the Middle East -- under unprecedented pressure to offer an explanation to take the heat off its rulers.

It evolved into a major crisis for Prince Mohammed, a Trump administration favourite who has portrayed himself as a modernising Arab reformer, but whose image and even position at home could now be gravely undermined.

"Dismissing Saud al-Qahtani and Ahmad al-Assiri is as close to MBS as it is possible to go," said Kristian Ulrichsen, a fellow at Rice University's Baker Institute in the United States.

"Interesting to see if these moves prove sufficient. If the drip-drip of additional details continue, there's no buffer to shield MBS any longer."

- Threat of sanctions -

==============

Shortly before Riyadh confirmed that Khashoggi had been killed, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Saudi King Salman agreed in telephone talks to continue cooperation in the investigation into the Khashoggi affair.

Erdogan and Salman "emphasised the importance of continuing to work together with complete cooperation", said a Turkish presidential source, who asked not to be named.

The United States warned Friday of a "wide range" of responses should it determine that Saudi Arabia is behind the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, as Turkey widened its investigation into the scandal.

President Donald Trump said the United States could impose sanctions over the feared murder of Khashoggi while his top diplomat Mike Pompeo told Voice of America Radio: "We'll certainly consider a wide range of potential responses." The Trump administration has been notably slow to criticise Saudi Arabia, despite mounting evidence that Khashoggi, a critic of the Islamic petro-state's powerful crown prince, vanished after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

The Khashoggi case has presented Trump with one of the most acute foreign policy crises of his nearly two-year-old presidency.

Saudi Arabia's admission comes after Turkish authorities widened their probe on Friday, searching a forest in Istanbul city.

Fifteen staff, all Turkish nationals, testified at the chief prosecutor's office, state-run news agency Anadolu said. It has been reported that Turkish employees were given the day off on October 2, the day Khashoggi disappeared.

Pro-government Turkish media have repeatedly claimed that Khashoggi was tortured and decapitated by a Saudi hit squad inside the diplomatic mission, although Turkey has yet to divulge details about the investigation. (AFP) CPS
Islamabad/Colombo, Oct 20 (PTI) Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan and Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena Saturday expressed grief over the death of 59 people, run over by a train during Dussehra celebrations in Amritsar, Punjab.

In a series of tweets, Khan said "Saddened to learn of the tragic train accident in Amritsar India".

"Condolences go to the families of the deceased," he tweeted.

At least 59 people were killed and 72 injured Friday evening after a crowd of Dussehra revellers that had spilled onto railway tracks while watching burning of Ravana effigy was run over by a train.

The train was coming from Punjab's Jalandhar city when the accident occurred at Joda Phatak near Amritsar, where at least 300 people were watching 'Ravana dahan' at a ground adjacent to the tracks.

Meanwhile, Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena also wrote to his Indian counterpart Ramnath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi extending his condolence over the incident.

"Sri Lanka stands in solidarity with the people of India at this time of difficulty and our thoughts and prayers are with those affected," Sirisena said in his message to Kovind, according to Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry release.

"The people of Sri Lanka join me in extending heartfelt condolences to you," he said in his message to Modi.

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, who at present is in New Delhi, in his message to Modi said: "I am deeply saddened to hear about the tragic train accident in Amritsar last night."

Forty of the 59 people killed in the accident have been identified and the bodies of 36 were cremated on Saturday. PTI SMJ/CORR SMJ

SMJ
(Eds: Combining related series, updating death & wounded toll, adding voting figures)

Kabul, Oct 20 (AFP) Nearly 170 Afghans were killed or wounded in poll-related violence on Saturday, officials said, as the legislative election turned chaotic with many polling centres opening hours late -- or not at all -- due to technical glitches and lack of staff.

In the latest attack, a suicide bomber blew himself up inside a Kabul polling centre, killing at least 15 people and wounding 20, police said, taking the number of casualties across the Afghan capital to 19 dead and nearly 100 wounded.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast, but the Taliban said earlier it had carried out more than 300 attacks on the "fake election" across the war-torn country.

Violence also disrupted voting in the northern city of Kunduz where a health official said three people died and 39 were wounded after more than 20 rockets rained down on the provincial capital.

An Independent Election Commission (IEC) employee was killed and seven others were missing after the Taliban attacked a polling centre several kilometres from Kunduz city, destroying ballot boxes, provincial IEC director Mohammad Rasoul Omar said.

Eight explosions were recorded in the eastern province of Nangarhar, with two people killed and five wounded, the provincial governor's spokesman said.

Initial figures showed at least 1.5 million voters turned up at polling centres in 27 provinces, election organisers said -- a fraction of the nearly nine million voter registrations. Many voters waited hours for the doors to open.

Most polling sites opened late after teachers employed to handle the voting process failed to show up on time, said the IEC.

The election commission, which has been skewered over its shambolic preparations for the long-delayed ballot, said they would extend voting until Sunday for 371 polling centres after hiccups with voter registration lists, biometric verification devices and staffing.

University student Mohammad Alem said he felt "frustrated" after spending more than three hours trying to vote in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif, only to discover his name was not on the registration list.

"There also were some problems with the biometric devices because they were already running out of charge," he said.

After waiting four hours at a polling centre, Tabish Forugh tweeted he had not seen "even remotely similar... chaos" at previous elections.

The parliamentary election is more than three years late and only the third since the fall of the Taliban in 2001.

Turnout was likely affected after the Taliban issued several warnings in the days leading up to the poll calling on candidates to withdraw from the race and for voters to stay home.

Hundreds of people were killed or wounded in the months before the poll.

The killing of a powerful police chief in the southern province of Kandahar on Thursday further eroded confidence in the ability of security forces to protect voters.

Voting in Kandahar has been delayed by a week following the attack.

Despite the risks, President Ashraf Ghani urged "every Aghan, young and old, women and men" to exercise their right to vote, after casting his ballot in Kabul.

Photos posted on social media showed scores of men and women clutching their identification documents lining up outside voting centres amid a heavy security presence.

A woman dressed in a burqa leaving a polling centre in Mazar-i-Sharif told AFP she had been worried about "security incidents", but decided to vote anyway.

"We have to defy the violence," Hafiza, 57, said. "In previous years we were not happy with the elections, our votes were sold out."

At least 10 candidates out of more than 2,500 contesting the lower-house election were killed ahead of the poll.

Most of those standing are political novices, and include doctors, mullahs and journalists. Those with the deepest pockets are expected to win.

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, which has spearheaded international efforts to keep Afghan organisers on track, on Friday called on voters to "exercise their constitutional right to vote".

The poll is seen as a crucial test for next year's presidential election and an important milestone ahead of a UN meeting in Geneva in November where Afghanistan is under pressure to show progress on "democratic processes".

Preliminary results will be released on November 10 but there are concerns they could be thrown into turmoil if the biometric verification devices are broken, lost or destroyed.

Votes cast without the controversial machines will not be counted, the IEC has said. (AFP) SCY

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Lakeland Police Department(LAKELAND, Fla.) -- The Florida city commissioner who confronted and shot an alleged shoplifter at a military surplus store earlier this month was charged with murder on Friday.



Michael Dunn, who serves as Lakeland's city commissioner for the Southwest District, was confronting a man police said had taken a hatchet from the store he owns when he shot and killed him. Surveillance footage from the incident, which took place Oct. 3, was released on Monday.



Christobal Lopez, 50, was killed in the shooting.



Dunn was charged with second-degree murder on Friday. If convicted, he could spend up to life in prison.



The 47-year-old Dunn had claimed he acted in self-defense, knowing the man was in possession of a hatchet, and cited the state's "stand your ground" law. The state attorney for Florida's 10th Judicial Circuit said otherwise.



"I have determined that this case and the actions of Mr. Dunn fall outside the protection of the 'stand your ground' law," Polk State Attorney Brian Haas said at a news conference Friday night.



According to an affidavit and the store surveillance footage, Dunn left his office at the Vets Army Navy Surplus store when he saw Lopez take a hatchet from a shelf and stick it in the waistband of his pants. Dunn grabbed a handgun, stuck it in his waistband and cut off Lopez from leaving the store. The two got into an argument, according to the affidavit, before the hatchet fell out of Lopez's pant leg and onto the floor.



Lopez said he would pay for the hatchet and moved back to the counter, before "hastily attempting to leave the business with the hatchet in hand," according to the affidavit. Dunn is seen grabbing Lopez's shirt to prevent him from leaving. He then loses his grip on the shirt and raised his gun to "eye level" and fired two shots.



One shot struck Lopez in the left upper torso and another hit him in his back, according to the affidavit. He died on the scene. Dunn did not attempt to "render aid to the victim," the affidavit says.



The affidavit also includes statements to police from Dunn after being read his Miranda rights: "The suspect stated he was in fear, but when he was asked what would have happened if he let go of the victim, the suspect replied, 'It might be fair to say that if I just stepped back and let somebody come in and take what they want, that there would be no issue."



Rusty Franklin, Dunn's lawyer, told ABC News on Monday -- prior to his client's arrest -- that "all legal defenses are under analysis and will be pursued."



Franklin later said at a press conference Monday that Dunn "acted responsibly and legally."



Dunn is currently being held in Polk County Jail, and an arraignment date has yet to be set.



The charge is the second example in three months in the state in which a prosecutor did not accept a "stand your ground" defense. Michael Drejka was charged with manslaughter after shooting a man outside a Clearwater convenience store in August. Security footage in that incident showed Markeis McGlockton pushing Drejka to the ground after he confronted his fiance outside the gas station. Drejka shot and killed McGlockton.



Florida's "stand your ground" law came to national prominence in 2012 with the acquittal of George Zimmerman for the fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Florida. The law says a person "does not have a duty to retreat and has the right to stand his or her ground if the person using or threatening to use the deadly force is not engaged in a criminal activity and is in a place where he or she has a right to be."



Copyright  2018, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
New Delhi, Oct 20 (PTI) Following are the top foreign stories at 2030 hours:



FGN31: AFGHAN-LDALL POLL

Kabul: Nearly 170 Afghans were killed or wounded in poll-related violence on Saturday, officials said, as the legislative election turned chaotic with many polling centres opening hours late -- or not at all -- due to technical glitches and lack of staff. (AFP)



FGN27: SYRIA-US-LD JIHADISTS

Beirut: An offensive by US-backed forces against the Islamic State group's last redoubt in eastern Syria killed 35 jihadists on Saturday, a Britain-based war monitor said. (AFP)



FGN19: PAK-FATF

Islamabad: Expressing dissatisfaction over Pakistan's efforts to combat terror financing, a delegation of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has asked the country to take robust steps to strengthen its legal framework if it wants to avoid being blacklisted by the anti-money laundering watchdog, according to a media report on Saturday. By Sajjad Hussain



FGN16: GUTERRES-TRAIN-ACCIDENT

United Nations: UN chief Antonio Guterres has expressed his deepest condolences to the families and friends of over 60 people who died in a train accident in Amritsar, terming the incident as "tragic".



FGN15: US-3RDLD KHASHOGGI

Washington: US President Donald Trump said Saturday he believed Saudi Arabia's explanation that dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi died in a "fist fight" and termed the arrest of 18 people by the Gulf kingdom "a great first step". By Lalit K Jha



FGN12: US-H1B-INDIANS

Washington: Nearly three out of every four H-1B visa holders as of October 5 are Indian citizens, an official US report has said. By Lalit K Jha



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New Delhi, Oct 20 (PTI) The railways will launch a massive drive against trespassing on tracks across its network, Chairman Railway Board Ashwani Lohani said Saturday, a day after 59 Dussehra revellers were run over by a train in an incident described by the railways as a "clear case of trespassing".

Lohani said the railways has launched such campaigns in the past as well, but intermittently. The national transporter had initiated a drive last year too, after a slew of 'selfie deaths' on tracks were reported from across the country.

"We will launch a nationwide campaign against trespassing and the dangers thereof. This is all that we can do to avoid such tragedies," he said. In the first six months of 2017, more than eight people lost their lives in accidents while clicking selfies on tracks, officials said, adding a campaign was launched after these reports.

In 2018, as of September, 1,20,923 people were arrested and prosecuted by the railway protection force (RPF) for intruding the railway system.

Under section 147 of Indian Railway Act, a total fine of Rs 2.94 crore was imposed on them by courts during the period, according to data provided by the railways.

In 2017, 1,75,996 persons were arrested and prosecuted by the RPF for trespassing the railways system and a fine of Rs 4.35 crore was imposed on them.

"We will increase the frequency of such campaigns and budget will not be a constraint," General Manager, Northern Railway, Vishwesh Chaube told PTI.

The gathering of people close to tracks was a "clear case of trespassing", a senior official had said Friday, after the accident in Amritsar in which the speeding train ran through people standing on track and watching a Ravana effigy burn. Fifty-nine people were killed in the incident.

Railway Board chairman Ashwani Lohani said Saturday it was an "incident" where people were "trespassing" on the tracks and not an "accident". PTI ASG TIR
New Delhi, Oct 20 (PTI) Releasing its first list of 77 candidates for assembly elections in Chhattisgarh, the BJP Saturday fielded Chief Minister Raman Singh from his traditional Rajnandgaon seat and dropped 14 incumbent MLAs in its bid to capture power in the state for a fourth straight term.

After a meeting of the BJP's Central Election Committee, which was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and its president Amit Shah, the party also announced the names of 38 candidates for the election to the 119-member Telangana Assembly.

Names of 13 candidates, all Christians, have been also been declared for the polls to the 40-member Mizoram Assembly, Union minister J P Nadda said.

Chhattisgarh, along with Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, is ruled by the BJP out of the five poll-bound states. Chhattisgarh has 90 assembly seats and will be the first to go to the polls in two phases on November 12 and 20.

The Bharatiya Janata Party has fielded Ramdayal Uike, the working president of the Chhattisgarh Congress who joined the saffron party recently, from Pali-Tanakhar seat, and former IAS officer O P Chaudhary, who quit the service to join the party, from Kharsia, a Congress stronghold.

Among the candidates announced so far, 14 are women, 25 are less than 40 years of age, 10 candidates belong to the Scheduled Castes and 29 STs.

The first phase of polling covers 18 seats spread across eight Naxal-affected districts  Bastar, Bijapur, Dantewada, Sukma, Kondagaon, Kanker, Narayanpur and Rajnandgaon. Out of these 18 seats, the BJP Saturday named candidates for 17 assembly segments.

The BJP had won 49 seats in the previous assembly polls in 2013 in the 90-member Chhattisgarh Assembly.

A two minute-silence was held for the victims of the Amritsar train accident during the Central Election Committee meeting, Nadda said.

He said party leaders also expressed satisfaction at the performance of the party in local body polls in Tripura and Jammu and Kashmir. PTI VIT ASK KR ASK ABH

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New Delhi, Oct 20 (PTI) Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday offered condolences to India on a train accident near Amritsar in Punjab, which claimed 61 lives, the Russian Embassy said.

According to the Russian embassy, Putin offered condolences to President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the train accident.

He conveyed his support to families of the victims of the train accident.

"I offer my deepest sympathies over tragic consequences of an accident on railways in the Punjab state. I ask to convey my words of sympathy and support to families and friends of the killed people and to wish the soonest recovery to those injured," Putin said, according to the Russian embassy.

At least 61 people were killed and 72 injured Friday evening after a crowd of Dussehra revellers that had spilled onto railway tracks while watching burning of Ravana effigy was run over by a train near Amritsar, officials said.

The train was coming from Jalandhar when the accident occurred at Joda Phatak near Amritsar, where at least 300 people were watching 'Ravana dahan' at a ground adjacent to the tracks. PTI MPB SLB SLB SMN

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Amritsar, Oct 20 (PTI) Scores of people Saturday staged a sit-in on the railway tracks where 61 people were mowed down by a train during a Dussehra event.

The protesters raised slogans against the state government and demanded action against the train driver.

One of the protesters alleged the train passed the area at a high speed and that the driver did not slow down the train despite the presence of a large crowd.

At least 61 people were killed and 72 injured Friday evening after a crowd of Dussehra revellers that had spilled onto railway tracks while watching burning of Ravana effigy was run over by a train near here, officials said.

The train was coming from Jalandhar when the accident occurred at Joda Phatak near Amritsar, where at least 300 people were watching 'Ravana dahan' at a ground adjacent to the tracks.

Thousands of people have gathered at the accident site since morning. Police have made elaborate arrangements to manage the crowd. PTI BUN SMN

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New Delhi, Oct 20 (PTI) A Delhi court Saturday framed molestation charges against former TERI chief R K Pachauri in a case of alleged sexual harassment lodged by his former colleague.

Metropolitan Magistrate Charu Gupta put Pachauri on trial for the offence punishable under sections 354 (outraging modesty), 354 A (making physical contact, unwelcome and sexually coloured remarks) and 509 (teasing and using vulgar gesture and actions) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

The charges were framed after Pachauri, who was present in the courtroom, pleaded not guilty and claimed trial.

Advocate Ashish Dixit, appearing for the accused, sought a speedy trial after which the court put up the matter for further proceedings on January 4, 2019.

On February 13, 2015, an FIR was registered against Pachauri and he was granted anticipatory bail in the case on March 21, 2015.

The former TERI chief had earlier secured an interim order from Additional District Judge making it mandatory for media houses to publish or telecast the coverage of the case with a title that "in any court, the allegations have not been proved and they may not be correct".

This order had also said "when such information is published in any page of a magazine or report, then it should be in middle of the page in bold letters and it should be five times larger than the font in which the article is being published".

Over 1,400-page charge sheet was filed by the Delhi Police on March 1, 2016, saying there was "sufficient evidence" against Pachauri that he had sexually harassed, stalked and threatened the complainant.

A supplementary charge sheet was filed in March 2017 after the police said it had retrieved several deleted e-mails and chats exchanged between the accused and the complainant.

The final report had said the deleted WhatsApp chats, text messages, retrieved from the cell phones, computer hard disks and other devices, were "not fabricated".

The charge sheet, which was filed a year after the former research analyst of TERI lodged the complaint, had said Pachauri had committed offences under various sections of IPC. Pachauri has denied all the allegations against him. PTI UK SMN

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Guwahati, Oct 20 (PTI) The Assam government Saturday suspended Guwahati West Deputy Commissioner of Police for not ensuring adequate security for Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi who was on a visit to the Kamakhya Temple recently.

Bhanwar Lal Meena has been suspended with immediate effect under Rule 3(1) of the All India Services (Disciple and Appeal) Rules, 1969, according to an order issued in the name of the Governor by the state Home Department.

The order, signed by Secretary Home (A) Department, Deepak Majumdar, further stated that during the period of this order in force, Meena shall remain at the Assam Police headquarters and not leave it without obtaining permission from the competent authority.

CJI Gogoi and his wife had visited Guwahati on October 17 and his programme was intimated by the General Administration Department to all concerned.

There was, however, lapse of adequate security arrangements for the CJI at Kamakhya Temple causing him inconvenience, the order stated. PTI DG JM RCJ
The bosses of the country's biggest health insurers have warned Philip Hammond against further insurance tax reform, following a damning report which has revealed a 126million knock-on cost to the NHS.

In a letter seen exclusively by This is Money, the chief executives of Bupa, Vitality, Axa Healthcare and Global Health Aviva have urged the Chancellor to freeze insurance premium tax.

IPT, a tax on insurance premiums, has doubled over the past three years to 12 per cent, causing the average health insurance customer to pay 117 more per year than they did in 2015.

According to analysis from the Centre for Economics and Business Research, this has resulted in 200,000 private medical insurance customers leaving their policies and going back to the NHS.

The cost of treating 200,000 extra NHS patients equates to more than 126million per year

The cost of treating this influx equates to more than 126million annually - money that could be spent paying for 5,400 extra nurses.

And while the Government raises around 37million a year for every 1 per cent increase to the tax, it suffers a 21million knock-on cost to the NHS as a result of patients leaving private care, according to Cebr.

Experts are concerned that the Chancellor will further hike IPT in this month's budget to 20 per cent, to help fund the 20billion injection for the NHS promised by the Prime Minister in June.

Bupa estimates this would cause a further 250,000 people to move from private health into public care, doubling the existing cost to the NHS of caring for formerly private patients to nearly 300million a year.

And in a letter to the Chancellor the chief executives of Bupa, Vitality, Axa Healthcare and Global Health Aviva have strongly warned against any further rise.

The letter reads: 'As the four principal health insurers in the UK, we represent over six million customers who choose to take responsibility for funding some of their own healthcare.

'When businesses or individuals stop or downgrade their health insurance policies, they become more reliant on the NHS for their healthcare needs, including costly care and treatment for conditions which their health insurance would have covered.

The impact of IPT hikes on the number of UK private health insurance customers. Source: Cebr

'With the knock-on repercussions for the NHS, and the wider impact of IPT on households and businesses across the UK, any increase in IPT is something that everyone should be concerned about.

'We are therefore calling on the Government to commit, at a minimum, to freeze the standard rate of IPT for the rest of this parliament.'

Labour has also proposed to increase IPT on health insurance to 20 per cent to fund NHS car parks.

Alex Perry, chief executive of Bupa Insurance, said: 'We want to highlight to the Chancellor that raising this tax is unfair, and a case of robbing Peter to pay Paul, as it drives consumers away from health insurance straight onto the NHS at a time when the service would struggle to increase capacity.'

What is IPT, and what does it pay for?

IPT is a tax on insurance policies, which was introduced in 1994. The amount of tax you pay on most types of insurance is now set at 12 per cent  things like car, pet and home cover all fall under this bracket.

There's also a higher rate of tax, at 20 per cent, which covers things like travel insurance and certain specialist types of motor insurance, such as for vehicles designed for people with disabilities.

Raising IPT to 20 per cent could push 250,000 people off private health and onto public care

A small portion of the income raised is ring-fenced to pay for flood defences, but the majority goes straight into the Treasury's coffers.

And IPT is extremely lucrative for the Treasury  it raises more than beer and cider duties, betting and gambling duties, and air passenger duties. Roughly half of this is paid for by consumers, with the rest paid for by businesses.

Despite this, an Opinium survey found that half the population is unaware that IPT exists  far more than any other tax.
Property mogul John Whittaker has launched a 2.9bn takeover bid for one of Britain's biggest shopping centre groups.

The 76-year-old has joined forces with Brookfield Property Group of Canada and Saudi Arabia's Olayan Group to swoop for Intu, whose empire includes the Metrocentre in Gateshead, Lakeside in Essex and Manchester's Trafford Centre.

The offer valued Intu shares at 215p each. The stock jumped 12.6 per cent, or 22.3p, to 200p, leaving it some way off the offer price, suggesting investors are sceptical over whether a deal will be agreed.

Takeover bid: Intu's empire includes the Metrocentre in Gateshead, Lakeside in Essex and Manchester's Trafford Centre

Analysts at Liberum said shareholders may not accept any offer below 239p a share, or 3.2bn.

Whittaker is deputy chairman of Intu and owns a 27 per cent stake through his firm Peel Group.

His offer is far below the 3.4 billion rival shopping centre owner Hammerson offered for Intu before their deal collapsed earlier this year.

Intu said Whittaker and his consortium of investors increased their possible bid from 205p after meeting to discuss the deal.

But Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, added: 'It could hardly be construed as generous, particularly as any dividends paid before the deal completes will be taken off the offer price.

'An imminent revaluation of Intu's assets might cast the price in a better light, as many analysts believe retail sector property valuations will have to be marked down.'

Hammerson, which owns Bicester Village and Brent Cross Shopping Centre, was embarrassed earlier this year when it was forced to walk away from a takeover of Intu due to shareholder opposition. Its shares climbed 0.5 per cent, or 2.4p, to 447.3p last night.

Intu's chief executive David Fischel subsequently stepped down as the company swung to a loss and warned of lower growth in rental income. But experts have said renewed interest in a takeover of Intu is a sign of confidence in the retail sector at a time when companies such as Marks & Spencer, House of Fraser and New Look are all closing shops.

The 2.9 billion proposal is in contrast to the total value of Intu's assets, which are worth 5.6 billion. The value of retail sector properties has slumped amid uncertainty over further store closures or retail failures, after Toys R Us, Poundworld and Maplin went bust earlier this year.

Retailers are also busy renegotiating rents with landlords as they battle with rising staff costs and crippling business rates and an onslaught from online rivals. A spokesman for Intu said last night that the company 'intends to issue a trading update for the period from July 1 as soon as practicable, which will include the outcome of an updated independent valuation of the company's investment and development properties as at September 30'.
The Italian banking sector was hit by a sharp sell-off and its debt costs surged amid fears of a massive row with the EU.

The country's new political leaders are preparing a spending spree which economists fear is unsustainable and will breach European Union rules.

It sent stock in the country's lenders plummeting as investors bet their profits could be wiped out by the turmoil ahead.

Collision course: Italian prime minister Giuseppe Conte branded his budget 'beautiful' and refused to back down

Shares in Italy's only globally important lender, Unicredit, dropped 1 per cent in Milan and rival Monte dei Paschi di Siena shed 4.7 per cent. The stock market as a whole was down by 1.7 per cent at one stage, but closed flat.

The row has also spooked bond investors, causing them to dump Italian state debt because they fear it might never be paid back.

Borrowing costs in Italy have now surged to a four-and-a-half-year high.

And the gap between Italian and German bond prices  seen as a crucial measure of how worried investors are about Rome  widened to its highest level since 2013 when the eurozone crisis was still in full swing.

Italy plans to boost government spending by 2.7 per cent next year, much higher than a limit agreed with Brussels of 0.1 per cent.

The European Commission this week warned Rome in a letter that its plans have caused serious concern.

But Italian prime minister Giuseppe Conte branded his budget 'beautiful' and refused to back down.

Critics have warned that the ensuing chaos could reignite the eurozone crisis.
A Somalian whose deportation from Britain was dramatically halted after airline passengers staged a mutiny demanding his release can be exposed today as a convicted gang rapist who was being kicked out of the country because of his sickening crime.

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.

At one stage during the astonishing episode, filmed on mobile phones, one traveller complained: Theyre separating him from his family, while others chanted take him off the plane.

When harassed security guards caved in and walked 29-year-old Ahmed off the Turkish Airlines flight, he was seen thanking those on board for their support as they cheered and applauded.

One person was heard declaring: Youre free, man!

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

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

But 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 later fought for Islamic State in Syria.

Today The Mail on Sunday can reveal how Ahmed and three other youths preyed on a 16-year-old stranger after she became separated from her friends during a night out in Londons Leicester Square, in August 2007.

In a planned attack, they lured her back to a flat in Crouch End, North London, by pretending her friends were waiting for her there  then gang-raped her.

The gang, aged between 18 and 20, were caught when neighbours heard the girls cries for help and rang police.

All four men denied rape, despite DNA evidence. They were found guilty at Wood Green Crown Court and each jailed for nine years. Police detective Emma Bird said at the time: The sentences given out by the judge reflect the seriousness of this offence.

Ahmed, 18 at the time of the rape and living in Clerkenwell, North London, is thought to have been granted refugee status after arriving in Britain from war-torn Somalia as a boy.

Stunned plane passengers turned around to witness the commotion at the rear of the flight

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. But when video of the protest was published by MailOnline, hundreds of readers expressed their outrage.

One wrote: The police should have been called and all the passengers who were interfering should have been arrested and removed from the plane.

Another user said: Looked like a plane full of snowflakes. And a third pointed out: Now it will cost a lot more to fly the man back on a private charter! Well done silly interfering, self-seeking, do-gooding idiots!

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.

Last night, Tory backbencher Philip Hollobone, who has tabled bills to speed up the deportation of foreign criminals, said: We need to deport these people and members of the public should not be allowed to obstruct the proper course of justice.

Officials accompanying the deportee need to react appropriately to passengers who do not know what is going on. To simply walk off in the face of passenger confusion is not good enough.

Harry Fletcher of the Victims Rights Campaign said: This deportation was clearly in the public interest. Sitting deportees in the general passenger area of a plane is wrong and leads to this kind of ill-informed protest.

Ondogo Ahmed was jailed for eight years alongside Ahmed for the gang rape of a teenager

Passengers caused a commotion when they realised Ahmed was being deported - although he did not tell them he was a convicted rapist

Passengers began to record what was happening and stood up for the man, now 19, being returned to Somalia

A man pulled out his camera phone to record the deportation team at the back of the plane until so much pressure was put on security the Somalian was led off the plane

It is not the first time that planned deportations have been disrupted on planes.

In July, a Swedish student filmed herself halting the deportation of an Afghan asylum seeker on a Turkish Airlines flight from Gothenburg to Istanbul.

Elin Ersson said in the video that was streamed live on Facebook: A person is going to get deported to Afghanistan where there is war and hes going to get killed.

Then, in August, a Turkish Airlines pilot refused to take off from Heathrow after campaigners convinced him that the asylum seeker on his jet would face beheading by the Taliban if he was returned to Afghanistan.

Virgin Airlines has stopped assisting the deportation of illegal immigrants after pressure from activists.

The Home Office previously spent millions of pounds a year chartering planes to fly failed asylum seekers and foreign national offenders to their home countries, most commonly Albania, Pakistan and Nigeria. But because of the cost of the flights, it now increasingly books seats on commercial services.

Latest figures show the Home Office spent 17 million on scheduled flights and 8.6 million on charter flights to deport people in 2016-17.

The man should not be being 'separated from his family' according to those who put a stop to his deportation

A Home Office spokesman said: All foreign nationals who are given a custodial sentence will be considered for removal. Those who abuse our hospitality by committing crimes in the UK should be in no doubt of our determination to deport them and we have removed more than 43,000 foreign offenders since 2010.

One of Ahmeds co-defendants, Adnan Mohamud, was granted refugee status in Britain in 2002 having been born in Somalia, and is still thought to be in the UK. The youngest member of the gang, Ondogo Ahmed, travelled to Syria to fight for Islamic State just months after he was freed from jail. He is thought to have been killed a few weeks later.

Additional reporting by Abul Taher, Jonathan Bucks and Mark Wood
Today youll climb the ladders and cliffs known as the Wall of Death, says Peter, chief warden at Mount Elgons National Park office in Uganda. Nobody, he adds, has yet died on them.

My daughter, Anya, 22, and I look at one another. Its too late to turn back. Weve already flown eight hours to Nairobi, then another 75 minutes to Entebbe.

Next, a six-hour car journey  covering just 165 miles to East Uganda  past Lake Victoria, sugar cane fields and men sitting on pavement sofas, their roadside shops.

Majestic: Cave elephants are known to spend nights in caves and scrape salt off the rocky walls with their tusks

Eventually we reach Mbale town, sleep six hours at Mt Elgon Hotel  with its panoramic view of Mt Elgon, a 24 million-year-old extinct shield volcano  then get up at 5am to start our expedition.

Our goal is to hike for four days in this little-explored area of Uganda, and then across to Kenya. Were searching for cave elephants. Theyre unusual because they tend to spend their nights in caves, scraping salt off the rocky walls with their tusks.

Soon were bumping along a dirt track to Bumasola, the trailhead for the Sasa Trail. Its the parks most popular route, although a mere 908 people walked it last year.

Here we meet our ranger guides, cook and porters. The two guides sport army fatigues, rifles and wellies. Three porters carry sacks on their heads: our food, water, rented tent, sleeping bags and mats. One, Moses, clutches a live chicken.

Dinner, he explains. We start our hike, clambering up a slippery, rocky path alongside sweet potato and cassava plots. Will the 32 miles from start to finish be as strenuous? Children and barefoot Bagisu tribesmen stagger down with sacks of Irish potatoes on their heads. Mulembe [hi], they say. Three miles on, we reach the ladders ascending the 984 ft-high Mudange Cliffs  the Wall of Death.

People used to climb the cliffs by rope, explains Alex, head guide. The terrain is so difficult that we take five hours to walk 3.4 miles on the first day. But despite that, you dont have to be super fit.

At Sasa River Camp, the first of our two overnight camps, the porters pitch our tent inside a hut. The chef cooks beans and rice over a big log fire, and the chicken lives to see another day.

That night, I shiver in three pairs of trousers, four T-shirts and an anorak in our lightweight sleeping bag. Its three degrees in June.

Epic trek: Climbing Mt Elgon in search of cave elephants is tough but the views along the way are spectacular

Monkeys came when you were asleep, Alex tells us, over breakfast. Its possible to spy leopards, baboons and buffalo, too.

On day three, I get air hunger  altitude sickness. Were now on our second night in Mude Cave camp. Anya charges up Wagagai peak to 14,177 ft  later declaring it her Sir Edmund Hillary moment.

Over four days, we hike past subsistence farming (coffee, maize and bananas), tropical montane (orchids and ferns), mixed bamboo (dense forest above 2,000 metres) and heath (shrubby moorland).

Then theres Suam Gorge, dotted with coffee smugglers caves and the five-mile-wide caldera with its Jurassic Park-style landscape.

Finally, we reach Kenya, Kitum Caves location, where elephants and antelope go for their salt lick. Its pitch-black, the ground carpeted with elephant dung, the air filled with fruit bats screeching. As we shine phone torches, a thousand yellow eyes gleam spookily from the ceiling.

We marvel at the tusk art, where elephants have scratched off the walls for salt. When these etchings were first discovered, they were reckoned to be the work of ancient Egyptian gold diggers.

At last the rangers locate the elephants. After an hours bumpy car ride, we scramble with 40 locals to the top of a rocky hillock. Soon Babar and family hove majestically into view 50 ft away, moving slowly, tearing down branches. Its an awesome sight  and a grand finale.
C&J Energy Services, Inc. provides well construction, well completion, well support, and other complementary oilfield services and technologies to oil and gas exploration and production companies throughout the continental United States. It operates through Completion Services and Well Support Services segments. The Completion Services segment provides hydraulic fracturing; cased-hole solutions comprising cased-hole wireline, pumpdown, wireline logging, perforating, pressure pumping, well site make-up and pressure testing, and other complementary services; and well construction and intervention services, which include cementing, coiled tubing, rig services, fluids management, and other completion and well support services. This segment also engages in the engineering and production of various parts and components, such as perforating guns and addressable switches, which are used in the completion process. The Well Support Services segment offers rig services, such as providing workover and well servicing rigs that are primarily used for the routine repair and maintenance of oil and gas wells, re-drilling operations, and plugging and abandonment operations; fluids management services, including storage, transportation, and disposal services for fluids used in the drilling, completion, and workover of oil and gas wells; and other special well site services, such as fishing, contract labor, and tool rental services for the completion and workover of oil and gas wells. The company was founded in 1997 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.

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iShares China Large-Cap ETF's stock was trading at $38.80 on March 11th, 2020 when Coronavirus (COVID-19) reached pandemic status according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Since then, FXI stock has increased by 6.1% and is now trading at $41.16.

View which stocks have been most impacted by COVID-19.
The West can be a bit patronizing to other parts of the world. This attitude was on full display when French president Emmanuel Macron declared, I always say: Present me the woman who decided, being perfectly educated, to have seven, eight or nine children.

He could not have known what he was getting into.

Thanks to Catherine Pakaluk, a professor of social research and economic thought at The Catholic University of America, certain regions of the Twittersphere exploded with posts bearing the #PostcardsforMacron hashtag, most of them pictures of beautiful families with more than a few children.

As one woman put it: Macron said that educated women never actually desire a lot of kids. #postcardsformacron is an effort to show him he shouldnt try to speak on behalf of educated women, and to demonstrate that many children can be a choice and a blessing.

Christopher Scalia, one of the sons of the late Supreme Court justice Antonin Scalia, paid tribute to his mother, Maureen: BA in English from Radcliffe. Nine children. 39 grandchildren. Two great-grandchildren. Because this is social media, Scalia took some criticism for celebrating his mother!

Pakaluk included a photo of herself in academic robes with her eight children. She has degrees from the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard.

Erika Bachiochi is a legal scholar and fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center. An author, she has degrees from Boston College and Boston University and has been a visiting scholar at Harvard. She has a 7-week-old baby she and her husband recently added to their family of six children.

Postcards for Macron has been so inspiring! she explains. I have especially loved showing the pictures of families to my own teenage girls. We are grateful to enjoy a community with many large families here in Massachusetts, but to see other families like ours from around the globe has inspired us all.

My wish for President Macron, and Bill and Melinda Gates at whose conference he was speaking, she says, is that they understand the great good that a large family can bring to that familys children, their parents, and the world. A proper education is one that involves and requires virtues of self-discipline, patience, and generosity for the good of others. Big families quite naturally inculcate these virtues, by necessity.

Dr. Grazie Christie, a radiologist from Miami, posted a picture of her daughter from China with the declaration: Im a fifth child and my mother is very educated!

Catching her after she participated in a recent March for Life press conference in Washington, D.C., she told me: I responded because it seems very obvious to me that children are good things. To know this in ones bones is like having a passport to joy. It implies optimism, acceptance, flexibility, detachment from the cruel demands of the self.  As an educated woman, Im stupefied by Macron connecting that state to a disdain for children.

Not everyone who participated in #PostcardsforMacron has multiple children. Just defended my doctoral dissertation with my 8-month-old cheering me on! Julia M. Dezelski posted, with the addendum: Oh yes, and I plan to have many more, God willing 

As a new mother and professional who aspires to contribute to society in a meaningful way, it was important to send a clear message that women  in many different capacities  are building society with their families first and secondly their careers, Dezelski says.

I hope that leaders in the West realize that to undermine the family is to undermine the people they serve, she asserts. This is a universal truth that transcends socio-political and cultural differences between continents and nations. The service of women  and men  who raise healthy families is a civic service that political leaders would do well to promote and support in every way.

Not everyone can or will want to have seven or eight or nine children, but the president of France ought to consider that for some, it is not only doable, but a joy. Work on fixing poverty, not fertility. Help us be more fruitful, not less. And dont dis some of the most wise and dynamic among us.

(Kathryn Jean Lopez is senior fellow at the National Review Institute, editor-at-large of National Review Online and founding director of Catholic Voices USA. She can be contacted at klopez@nationalreview.com.)
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BRUNSWICK  An 86-year-old woman was killed Friday night after she was struck by one or more vehicles on Hoosick Road/Route 7 in front of the Center Brunswick Fire Station, State Police said in a news release Saturday. The identity of the driver or drivers is not yet known.

Petra Gabriel of Troy died after she was struck in the eastbound lane shortly before 8 p.m., according to State Police. The victim had reportedly been walking along the side of the busy highway and may have tripped.
GRANVILLE  A single victim died Saturday in an early morning fire in the hamlet of North Granville, Washington County, according to State Police.

Police said they received reports of a structure fire shortly after 1 a.m. and responded within minutes. Upon arriving at the scene, police learned that someone might be trapped inside the burning house on Route 22. Troopers entered the structure in an attempt to locate and rescue the victim, but were turned back by thick smoke and intense heat, according to a news release.
Menlo Park, Calif.

In an otherwise innocuous part of Facebook's expansive Silicon Valley campus, a locked door bears a taped-on sign that reads "War Room." Behind the door lies a nerve center the social network has set up to combat fake accounts and bogus news stories ahead of upcoming elections.

Inside the room are dozens of employees staring intently at their monitors while data streams across giant dashboards. On the walls are posters of the sort Facebook frequently uses to caution or exhort its employees. One reads, "Nothing at Facebook is somebody else's problem."

That motto might strike some as ironic, given that the war room was created to counter threats that almost no one at the company, least of all CEO Mark Zuckerberg, took seriously just two years ago  and which the company's critics now believe pose a threat to democracy.

Days after President Donald Trump's surprise victory, Zuckerberg brushed off assertions that the outcome had been influenced by fictional news stories on Facebook, calling the idea "pretty crazy ."

But Facebook's blase attitude shifted as criticism of the company mounted in Congress and elsewhere. Later that year, it acknowledged having run thousands of ads promoting false information placed by Russian agents. Zuckerberg eventually made fixing Facebook his personal challenge for 2018.

The war room is a major part of Facebook's ongoing repairs. Its technology draws upon the artificial intelligence system Facebook has been using to help identify "inauthentic" posts and user behavior. Facebook provided a tightly controlled glimpse at its war room to The Associated Press and other media ahead of the second round of presidential elections in Brazil on Oct. 28 and the U.S. midterm elections on Nov. 6.

"There is no substitute for physical, real-world interaction," said Samidh Chakrabarti, Facebook's director of elections and civic engagement. "The primary thing we have learned is just how effective it is to have people in the same room all together."

More than 20 different teams now coordinate the efforts of more than 20,000 people  mostly contractors  devoted to blocking fake accounts and fictional news and stopping other abuses on Facebook and its other services. As part of the crackdown, Facebook also has hired fact checkers, including The Associated Press, to vet news stories posted on its network.

Facebook credits its war room and other stepped-up patrolling efforts for booting 1.3 billion fake accounts over the past year and jettisoning hundreds of pages set up by foreign governments and other agents looking to create mischief.

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But it remains unclear whether Facebook is doing enough, said Angelo Carusone, president of Media Matters For America, a liberal group that monitors misinformation. He noted that the sensational themes distributed in fictional news stories can be highly effective at keeping people "engaged" on Facebook  which in turn makes it possible to sell more of the ads that generate most of Facebook's revenue.

"What they are doing so far seems to be more about trying to prevent another public relations disaster and less so about putting in meaningful solutions to the problem," Carusone said. "On balance, I would say they that are still way off."

The election war room and its inner workings remain too opaque to determine whether it's helping Facebook do a better job of keeping garbage off its service or if it's just a "temporary conference room with a bunch of computer monitors in it," said Molly McKew, a self-described "information warfare" researcher for New Media Frontier, which studies the flow of content on social media.

McKew believes Facebook is conflicted about blocking some content it already knows is suspect "because they keep people on their platform by sparking an emotional response, so they like they like the controversial stuff. There will always be this toeing of the line about pulling down radical, crazy content because that's what people engage on, and that's what they want."

Facebook defends its war room as an effective weapon against misinformation, although its efforts are still a work in progress. Chakrabarti, for instance, acknowledged that some "bugs" prevented Facebook from taking some unspecified actions to prevent manipulation efforts in the first round of Brazil's presidential election earlier this month. He declined to elaborate.
We're looking at a new dust-up in the retirement universe. What, exactly, is a reasonable age for retiring?

Is 70 the new 65? Or is 35 the magic number?

TV personality Suze Orman said don't dream about retiring a minute before you hit 70, while Twitter showman and blogger "Mr. Money Mustache" is promoting a lifestyle through the FIRE movement  which stands for Financial Independence, Retire Early  which might enable you to leave your day job by your 30s or 40s.

Join the FIRE movement? Or prepare to burn out by working eight years beyond a solid retirement age?

Unfortunately, it's one extreme or another to snag a sound bite.

Magic numbers do drive blogs and podcasts

Let's face it, if you're trying to build a huge following why not create a cash cult based on the idea of retiring young.

The theory that you can take control of your money  as well as your time and energy  so that you can ultimately walk away from the rat race is hugely appealing.

And I'd imagine that the FIRE movement isn't hurt by the incredible steady returns for the stock market in the past few years.

Much easier to talk about retiring early when the Dow is sitting around 26,000  not 6,000. It doesn't hurt that the U.S. jobless rate for September was 3.7 percent  the lowest rate since 1969, when the Beatles released "Abbey Road."

"The skill is deciding not to buy it, even when you do have the money for it," according to a recent tweet by "Mr. Money Mustache," a Canadian-born blogger whose real name is Pete Adeney and who promotes himself as a "30-ysomething retiree who now writes about how we can all lead a frugal yet Badass life of leisure."

Forget asking yourself things like "Can I afford it?" Sure, you might easily afford a $5 coffee or a $50 bottle of wine at dinner. But do you need it? And what might you be giving up in the long run if you give in to a small splurge now?

"It's a trade-off between your current self and your future self," said Jean Young, senior research associate in the Vanguard Center for Investor Research.

No matter your age, it's a worthwhile point to consider before spending money.

Yet is it really possible to save 40 percent or 50 percent of your pay toward retirement when you're in your 20s or 30s? And live debt-free as early as possible?

Maybe, if you're extraordinarily frugal and live an extremely modest lifestyle. It can involve consistently packing the kids salami sandwiches to take on a day of activities instead of stopping at McDonald's or Burger King, skipping trips to Disney World and avoiding high-priced school activities and hobbies.

You'd need to question whether you really need the latest SUV, too. Or will a boring used sedan do? Or do you even need a car at all? Can you get there by bike?

The whole focus is to get out of a work-to-buy, spend-to-save culture. It's not easy, even on a small scale.

You'd need an even bigger level of savings because if you stop working in your 40s, you're not going to be building up a significant retirement benefit from Social Security, said David M. Blanchett, head of retirement research for Morningstar Investment Management in Chicago.

While some might be able to retire earlier, plenty of people aren't able to do that.

"Like everything else, there's no one number for everyone," Blanchett said.

One guideline suggests you need 10 times the last year of your salary saved for retirement if you're retiring in your 60s. But even that might not be enough if you retire earlier or live in a high-cost community.

To retire in your 30s or 40s, some suggest, you could need to have saved up 30 times or more of your living expenses before you retire. If you're spending $40,000 a year, that's $1.2 million. But remember, you might need much more money because you could have higher expenses in retirement if you suddenly need to pick up the cost of your own health care, instead of receiving coverage from your employer. Medicare doesn't kick in until age 65.

"The reason most people have this 'pipe dream' but never execute it is because of health insurance," said Sam Huszczo, a chartered financial analyst in Southfield, Mich.

"To be responsible for your own health expenses for 20-plus years is asking for disaster."

As a result, he sees his average client retiring at age 62.

Huszczo said some are more comfortable with turning to a phased-in retirement where someone who has excelled in one career chooses to switch to a less demanding job for another 10 years to 20 years.

Another hurdle: Retirees in their early 40s would have to wait about 20 years to be eligible for Social Security retirement benefits as early as age 62. On top of that, Social Security benefits would be significantly reduced because of a shortened work history. To calculate retirement benefits, Social Security reviews an average of indexed monthly earnings during the 35 years in which you earned the most taxable income. Granted, someone who is super wealthy might not be worrying about a Social Security check down the road.

What's a realistic retirement age?

Young says the vast majority of people are not going to be able to save enough to retire after working just 20 years or so in their careers. But at the other extreme, she doesn't believe most people need to wait to retire until age 70, either.

"Suze's got one extreme. The FIRE people have the other extreme," Young said.

The steady, consistent plan to save 12 percent to 15 percent of pay toward retirement and aim for a balanced asset allocation can get many to a spot where they can retire in their 60s, she said.

Retiring in your 60s isn't really going the way of the gold watch and the monthly pension check, experts say.

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"Most of my clients retire in their mid- to late-60s," said Robert Bilkie, president of Sigma Investment Counselor in Northville.

Many people may expect to retire at age 65. In reality, the median age is 62  where half retire below that age and half above, according to Craig Copeland, senior research associate with the Employee Benefit Research Institute.

"In many cases, they're retiring because they're forced to retire due to circumstances, either their own health or the health of the company," Copeland said.

Telling someone that they should work until age 70, he said, might work for a person who is healthy, sits at a computer in an office and enjoys working for a company that's making money.

Someone who expects to live well into their 90s might even want to delay collecting Social Security benefits until age 70 because you'd get 132 percent of the monthly benefit because of the delay. When you reach age 70, your monthly Social Security retirement benefit stops increasing even if you continue to delay taking benefit.

"If everything is perfect, 70 should probably be the goal," Copleland said. "But nobody's life is perfect."

Many things  including your health and job security  aren't predictable. So if you spend money too freely in your 40s or 50s with the full intention of working until age 70, you could be in trouble.

"Maybe 70 is the goal but people should consider what if X, Y, or Z happens," he said.

Who can really retire in their late 40s or early 50s?

Typically, it's someone who has experienced a life-changing event, said Tom Pursel, senior vice president and private wealth adviser for Merrill Lynch in Troy.

Pursel only recalled seeing someone retire that young when they've started and then sold a successful business or received a sizable inheritance.

In general, he said, he's seeing people retire after age 55.

Each situation can vary, though, based on one's savings, health and opportunities for taking an early retirement.

"We do hear sometimes, 'No man in my family has lived past age 70.' Well, maybe taking it early makes sense," Pursel said.

What people need to realize, he said, is that the earlier someone retires, the longer they typically need to make their money last.

Blanchett, who is 37, said he doesn't believe it's realistic for most people to think they can retire in their 30s or 40s.

"Are you willing to go back to work if things don't go well?" he asked. "If you retire at 35, you can go back to work at 45. But what will you be able to do if you've been out of the workforce for 10 years?"

Many stay-at-home mothers know the story all too well. They may be able to find a job after their children have grown but many times, the jobs aren't paying as much as they would have if they stayed in the workforce.

Instead of dwelling on what could be an unrealistic retirement age, he said, it may be more important to figure out a way to save more money and remain in the workforce.

"People by and large tend to wish they would have saved more. So save more if you can," Blanchett said.
RENSSELAER  Dozens of groups from around the Capital Region took part Saturday in the 2018 Renewable Energy and Sustainable Living Fair at the Doane Stuart School in Rensselaer.

Forty-four organizations had exhibits at the fair, and 16 speakers gave presentations on topics like sustainable methods to heat and cool homes, and ways to improve the efficiency of your home. Other presentations discussed the intersection of faith and environmentalism, while another refuted climate change denial.

The wide-ranging fair not only aimed to teach people how to reduce their environmental footprint, but also sounded the alarm in the wake of the United Nation's damning climate report issued earlier this month.

"Where (the climate is) almost at, what I call 'oops, too late. Might as well keep doing because we can't fix it now. It's so broken it can't be fixed.' Unfortunately, we're talking about our planet," said Rabbi Glenn Jacob, executive director of the New York Interfaith Power and Light, a faith-based climate advocacy group. "There is no planet B."

The presentations sought to inform people about ways to impact the Capital Region specifically, including how home improvements can drastically increase efficiency and reduce energy use and emissions.

One presentation put on by Kathleen Langton, an energy program manager with the Affordable Housing Partnership, could prove to be particularly useful for homeowners and renters.

Through the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), most New Yorkers can get a free home energy assessment by state-approved contractors to determine what changes could be made to the home to increase its energy efficiency.

"They will go basement to attic," Langton said. "They're measuring the air leaks in the home, they're looking at whether you have insulation, they're checking the combustion equipment."

The catch? For the assessment to be free, Capital Region residents must have a household income of less than $164,000  200 percent of the area median income. Those who earn more can still receive the assessment, but at a $50 cost.

After the assessment, the contractors present a report detailing recommendations and their cost, as well as how much money the home dweller would save on their monthly utility bill by making the home improvements.

"Oftentimes, in many homes, there are a lot of things you can do," Langton said. "NYSERDA has a couple of products to help pay for that work."

Households can be eligible for a subsidized loan based on income and the number of people in the household. For example, a two-person household bringing in below $53,200 - 80 percent of the area median income - would be eligible for the subsidy.

The subsidy can cover half of a single family home's upgrade costs up to $4,000, according to Langton, and up to $8,000 for a two-to-four unit home.

"It's a pretty significant benefit," Langton said. "For some people I've worked with, they go 'well that's wonderful, but where am I going to come up with the other half for the rest of it?'"

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One "creative" NYSERDA financing option is the on-bill recovery loan.

Say, in the home assessment report, it's found that a homeowner can save $50 off of their $200 utility bill if they make the full, recommended home upgrades.

Then, for the on-bill recovery loan, NYSERDA will keep the homeowner's bill at $200, rather than lowering it to $150, in order to finance those upgrades.

"Most people think 'I can't afford a loan,'" Langton said. "Wait a second, you're willing to pay the utility company that much. You can get the benefit, those are all improvements for you."

In addition, low-income households can use the EmPower New York program to have up to $7,000 in home efficiency upgrades made at no cost to the homeowner. For a low-income tenant, it can be up to $5,000 in upgrades that come at no cost.

Langton pointed out that homeowners or tenants have no obligation to perform the upgrades after the home energy assessment, and grants and other resources are available through the Affordable Housing Partnership.

"I call them puzzle pieces. Get the audit done, let's go collect all the puzzle pieces." Langton said. "Let's see what's being recommended over here, then let's see what resources we have. Then let's figure out, 'Does this make sense to you?' Whatever makes sense to you, we try to work all that out."

Jay Egg, a geothermal expert, gave the keynote speech about the viability of household, underground systems that pump out natural geothermal energy to heat and cool homes.

You can learn more about Egg, the author of two books on the subject, and his zero-energy systems at egggeo.com.
Thurles native and renowned designer Louise Kennedy was honoured last night when she won the prestigious President's Award at the County Tipperary Business Awards in the Clonmel Park Hotel.

Ballydine plant MSD was honoured as the Best Business of the Year at the glittering ceremony in Clonmel on Friday night.

The pharmaceutical giant took the top accolade at the second County Tipperary Business Awards in the Clonmel Park Hotel.

It had earlier taken the top prize in the Best CSR or Contribution to the Community category.

Fashion designer Louise Kennedy accepts her award.

It was a special night too for Tipperary fashion designer Louise Kennedy who won the prestigious President's Award.

Described by chamber president TJ Kinsella as the 'queen of Irish fashion', the Thurles native has been at the top of the Irish and international fashion trade for thirty five years.

She has designed for presidents and royalty, designed the Aer Lingus uniforms and has been recognised with a special stamp by An Post.

She said she was absolutely thrilled to win the award and to be honoured by the Tipperary business community.

Wherever I go in the world, I am always Tipperary first, she told the audience of over 250 at the gathering.

Mr Kinsella had said that the ceremony was a celebration of all that's great and good about Tipperary  a great place to live and a great place to do business.

He congratulated all the winners and nominees and remarked that between them all gathered in the room that evening, they employed over five thousand people.

The winners were -

Best Business of the Year  MSD Ballydine

Best Small or Medium Enterprise  Ryans Cleaning

Sports Art and Culture Setanta College

Best CSR or Contribution to the Community  MSD

Best Employer (Talent Development, Training and Wellness)  Metis Ireland

Best Start up or Emerging New Business  Horan Automation and Consulting

Best Use of Social Media  Acorn Regulatory

Best Large Business  Boston Scientific

Best Family Business  Cantwell Electrical Engineering

Tourism and Hospitality  The Cottage Loughmore

Food and Agriculture  Blanco Nino

Best Services Provider  Eishtec

Best in Retail  Shanahans Centre, Borrisoleigh

Best Social Enterprise  Knockanrawley Resource Centre, Tipperary town
A woman who stole clothes and cosmetics from a supermarket was "embarrassed" to be back in court after a 14-year absence, Nenagh Court was told.

Rachel Nolan of Tombricane, Borrisokane, pleaded to stealing the items, valued at 85, from Dunnes Stores, Annbrook, Nenagh, on June 26, 2016.

The court heard Ms Nolan left without paying and was apprehended by security. The goods were recovered.

The court heard she had 20 previous convictions, including theft.

Her solicitor, David Peters, said Ms Nolan was 51 years old with grown-up children and and was now back in full time education.

"It is 14 years since her last indiscretion. She is highly embarrassed to be back in court," he said.

Mr Peters said that Ms Nolan had a "lot of things" going on and the time and could not explain why took the items.

"I have suggested counselling to her. Things may have got on top of her," he said.

The solicitor said Ms Nolan was prepared to seek help through her doctor.

Judge Elizabeth MacGrath noted Ms Nolan had said she would seek help and said she was concerned that Ms Nolan's reaction to being under pressure was to steal.

She fined Ms Nolan 100.
[October 19, 2018] NEVRO 72 HOUR DEADLINE ALERT: Approximately 72 Hours Remain; Former Louisiana Attorney General and Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC Remind Investors with Losses in Excess of $100,000 of Deadline in Class Action Lawsuit against Nevro Corp. - NVRO

Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC ("KSF") and KSF partner, the former Attorney General of Louisiana, Charles C. Foti, Jr., remind investors with large financial interests that they have only until October 22, 2018 to file lead plaintiff applications in a securities class action lawsuit against Nevro Corp. (NYSE: NVRO). Investor losses must relate to purchases of the Company's shares between January 8, 2018 and July 12, 2018. This action is pending in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. What You May Do If you purchased shares of Nevro and would like to discuss your legal rights and how this case might affect you and your right to recover for your economic loss, you may, without obligation or cost to you, contact KSF Managing Partner Lewis Kahn toll-free at 1-877-515-1850 or via email (lewis.kahn@ksfcounsel.com), or visit https://www.ksfcounsel.com/cases/nyse-nvro/ to learn more. If you wish to serve as a lead plaintiff in this class action by overseeing lead counsel with the goal of obtaining a fair and just resolution, you must request this position by application to the Court by October 22, 2018.



About the Lawsuit On July 10, 2018, analysts reported that a tentative court ruling in patent litigation involving Nevro nullified at least five patents related to the Company's "proprietary" HF10 therapy and Senza delivery systems, which resulted in some analysts downgrading the Company. Then, on July 13, 2018, Nevro disclosed that it had terminated the employment of James Alecxih, Vice President, Worldwide Sales. News of both events caused the price of Nevro's shares to plummet, wiping out over $650 million in market capitalization.

About Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC KSF, whose partners include former Louisiana Attorney General Charles C. Foti, Jr., is a law firm focused on securities, antitrust and consumer class actions, along with merger & acquisition and breach of fiduciary litigation against publicly traded companies on behalf of shareholders. The firm has offices in New York, California and Louisiana. To learn more about KSF, you may visit www.ksfcounsel.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181019005590/en/

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[October 20, 2018] C5 Capital to Sign Landmark Atlantic Future Forum Accord on Cyber Security and Artificial Intelligence

C5 Capital Limited ("C5"), the specialist venture capital firm focused on investing in cloud computing, cyber and artificial intelligence, announces managing partner and founder Andre Pienaar will take part in the inaugural Atlantic Future Forum ("the Forum"), being held on Monday, 22nd October in New York. The Royal Navy's new flagship, the HMS Queen Elizabeth will host the joint drive between the UK and US to outpace adversaries on the cyber battlefield. During the Forum, Andre will also participate in the plenary session 'How artificial intelligence will shape the world of the future.' He will also sign the new Atlantic Future Forum Accord ("the Accord"). The Forum will bring US and UK industry and military together in the face of changing warfare and the fight against growing cyber threats, both at home and abroad. It will combine the brightest minds, innovators and tech entrepreneurs from across government and industry to collaborate on the changing cyber landscape Britain and its allies now face. The Forum will be an opportunity to explore the emerging trends and technologies that will dominate the world ahead and to cement the leading role that the UK and US will jointly play in shaping them. They will be joined by political leaders, policy makers and sector specialists. Andre will also be a signatory of the Accord, a commitment from the UK and US to work with a new committee of firms in cyber and artificial intelligence to ensure that the 'special relationship' remains the world leading partnership for cyber security, defence and artificial intelligence amid a climate of rapidly changing threats. It will be signed by both Government and industry experts, providing a future framework for cooperation between UK and US industry and military on cyber and artificial intelligence. The committee will form a sub-committee of the UK Board of Trade and will be supported by the UK Department for International Trade. The Accord features a commitment to meet again in a year's time for a follow-up summit, which will become an annual event. Andre Pienaar, managing partner and founder, C5 Capital said, "The Atlantic Future Forum will be a historic event, bringing together not only the US and UK Governments, but also some of the world's leading technology and cyber security companies. Recent years have seen rapid growth in the percentage of the world's population that is online, and the Forum recognised the need for investment and careful consideration of how we protect internet users. It's crucial that we make the online world as safe as we're making our physical world. We are honoured to be a part of this first meeting and are looking forward to providing our expertise and global reach as we continue to work with some of the world's leading organisations in this crucial area."



General (Ret) Keith Alexander, former Director of the National Security Agency ("NSA") and Chief of the Central Security Service (" CSS (News - Alert) "), as well as founder and CEO of C5 portfolio company IronNet Cybersecurity, will also attend the Forum. He will be speaking at a panel session entitled How do we gain decision advantage through cyber security and develop the policies we need? Gen. Keith Alexander, IronNet Founder, CEO and Chairman of the Board, IronNet said, "Cyber has become an element of National Power. It is important that we employ the latest technologies, rules and procedures to ensure the security of Governments, commercial entities and individuals. This inaugural Forum, which truly is 'hands across the water', is a historic and important occasion for both governments and private business. I'm extremely pleased to be a participant, and to see so many other senior business leaders and government officials discussing topics of such high importance."

The Forum is part of the QNLZ in NYC Expo: a series of themed events designed to showcase the Government's 'Global Britain' agenda and to celebrate the special relationship between the UK and US. The day will include a number of plenary sessions and meetings organised by The UK Department of International Trade. In addition to the plenary and expert sessions, the Forum will also include keynote addresses from the Rt. Hon Dr. Liam Fox, MP, UK Secretary of State for International Trade; Teresa Carlson, Vice President of Amazon Web Services (News - Alert) (AWS), as well as an evening reception hosted by Captain Jerry Kid, Commanding Officer of HMS Queen Elizabeth. Dr. Fox will also present the Board of Trade Awards. Pictures of the event and videos of the speeches will be available from the Royal Navy following the event. About C5 Capital C5 Capital Limited (C5) is a specialist venture capital firm, focused on Innovative Technologies in Cyber Security, Artificial Intelligence and Cloud Computing. Headquartered in London, C5 also has offices in Washington, Munich, Luxembourg and Bahrain. For more information, visit: www.c5capital.com About IronNet Cybersecurity IronNet Cybersecurity's founding mission is to redefine cybersecurity based on next generation technology, cutting edge engineering, and a leadership team with decades of military, intelligence, and commercial experience. Founded by General (Ret) Keith Alexander and a team of highly experienced strategic, operational, and technical cybersecurity experts, the company's goal is to continue the mission of securing the nation in cyberspace based on the leadership team's experience in conducting full-spectrum cybersecurity operations and building cybersecurity forces. IronNet provides best-in-class cyber defense using complex behavioral modeling, big-data analytics, and advanced computing capabilities to delivers unprecedented network visibility, early threat detection, and targeted, business-informed mitigation actions and also provides for collective defense by sharing and correlating threat and event data across multiple companies and sectors. IronNet is based in the Washington, DC metropolitan area. For more information, visit: IronNetCybersecurity.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181020005013/en/

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Samsung was one of the first phone makers to embrace big screens, making display real estate a focal point in its Galaxy Note lineup. It's a move that smartphone shoppers have also embraced, and one that competitors have tried to ape with phablets of their own.

Google is the latest to come at the king, with its 6.3-inch Pixel 3 XL. That's the biggest display ever featured on one of Google's phones, and the company had to make some design changes from previous Pixels to fit in all that screen space. But is it enough to knock the Galaxy Note 9 off its perch? Let's see how these two massive smartphones measure up.

Note 9 vs. Pixel 3 XL Specs

Phone Note 9 Pixel 3 XL Starting Price $999 $899 Screen (Resolution) 6.4-inch Super AMOLED (2960 x 1440) 6.3-inch OLED (2960 x 1440) CPU Snapdragon 845 Snapdragon 845 RAM 6GB, 8GB 4GB Storage 128GB, 512GB 64GB, 128GB MicroSD Yes No Rear Camera Dual 12-MP (f/1.5-f/2.4) 12.2-MP (f/1.8) Front Camera 8-MP (f/1.7) 2 8-MP (wide: f/2.2; telephoto: f/1.8) Battery Size 4,000 mAh 3,430 mAh Battery Life (Hrs:Mins) 11:26 9:30 Water Resistance IP68 IP6X Size 6 x 3 x 0.34 inches 6.2 x 3 x 0.3 inches Weight 7.1 ounces 6.5 ounces Colors Lavender Purple, Ocean Blue, Midnight Black, Cloud Silver Clearly White, Just Black, Not Pink

Design

Both phones opt for expansive, full-screen views that offer displays with an 18.5:9 aspect ratio. They just take different routes to getting there.

In the Note 9's case, it retains the Infinity Display that Samsung introduced with the Note 8. The curved 6.4-inch screen goes from edge to edge with minimal bezels at the top and bottom. The Pixel 3 XL uses a notch to fit in more screen space on its 6.3-inch display, and it's a fairly chunky notch as well. There's also a bit more bezel on Pixel's chin than what you get with the Note 9.

Even so, the 6.2 x 3 x 0.3-inch Pixel 3 XL is not as tall as the 6.3 x 3 x 0.34-inch Note 9, and it weighs less, too (6.5 ounces versus 7.1 ounces on the Note 9).

The Note 9 is basically unchanged from the Note 8, with the exception of its fingerprint sensor, which moves to a more accessible location on the back of the phone. Meanwhile, Google has made a big change to the Pixel 3 XL's design so that it could add wireless charging. The Pixel 3 XL has a glass back, but Google still managed to give it a matte finish to retain the Pixel's distinctive two-tone look. We like how that design feat not only makes the Pixel 3 XL easier to grip, but also how it resists fingerprints, too.

MORE: Pixel 3 XL vs. iPhone XS Max: Google's Big Phone Could Win

Neither phone is really known for its bold use of color, though Samsung has shaken things up a little bit with the Note 9. That phone debuted in Lavender Purple and Ocean Blue and it's since added Midnight Black and Cloud Silver options. The Pixel 3 XL features the same-old black and white options, while adding a new shade that it's dubbed Not Pink. (Spoiler alert: it's pink enough.)

Winner: Note 9

Display

On paper, the Note 9 and Pixel 3 XL have matching 2960 x 1440 resolutions on their OLED panels. In the lab, however, the Note 9's display performs a little bit. It reproduces 224 percent of the sRGB color gamut, and those vibrant colors are pretty accurate, too. We recorded a Delta-E score of 0.34 for the Note 9. (A score of 0 is ideal.) The Pixel 3 XL doesn't capture as many colors  170.2 percent of the sRGB gamut by our testing  though its colors are about as accurate as the Note 9's based on its 0.35 Delta-E rating.

Where the phones' displays really diverge is brightness. The Note 9 maxed out at 604 nits when we measured it with a light meter. The Pixel 3 XL could only reach 362 nits. That's not just dimmer than the Note 9, it also falls short of the smartphone average.

The Note 9 is noticeably brighter in day-to-day use, but the Pixel screen compares favorably in other aspects. We watched the Aquaman trailer on both phones with their adaptive display modes turned on and boosting colors. The Note 9 tends to favor saturated colors and darker overall blacks, which made some of the underwater scenes less visible than they were on the Pixel 3. Then again, the Note 9 offers a range of display profiles so you can tweak the screen to your preference. On the Pixel 3, your choice boils down to saturated colors or not.

Winner: Note 9

Cameras

Are two cameras better than one really smart one? That's what a Note 9/Pixel 3 XL camera face-off really boils down to.

On the Note 9, you'll get two 12-megapixel rear cameras, including one lens with a variable aperture that lets in more light as circumstances demand. Samsung has also leaned hard into artificial intelligence with a Scene Optimizer feature capable of recognize 20 different scenes (food, sunsets, backlit settings and more) and adjusting camera settings on the fly to produce the best shot.

The Pixel 3 XL will see that AI-powered camera and raise it, with some smart camera capabilities of its own. Top Shot sorts through all the exposures captured by the Pixel 3 XL's single 12.2-MP lens and picks out the best one, so you're not stuck with a photo where someone blinked or moved suddenly. Super Res Zoom compensates for the Pixel's single rear lens and lack of optical zoom by using computation photography to fill in the details when you zoom in and reframe a shot. A Night Sight feature arrives soon to help the Pixel 3 XL perform better in low-light

But how do these cameras perform in the here-and-now? This close-up of some purple flowers shows the Note 9's expertise with optimizing your photos to make colors pop. The green leaves really come alive in the Note 9's shot, striking a nice contrast to the purple in the flowers. But I prefer the more natural colors in the Pixel 3 XL's image, which also does a better job of making sure the plants in the background aren't lost in shadow the way they are in the Note 9's photo.

My colleagues Phillip and Jorge took the time to pose in a corner of the office with some unforgiving lighting. The Pixel 3 XL handles the shadows a bit better. Phillip's has a less natural shine to it in the Note 9 image and Jorge recedes into the shadows. The Pixel photo also gets more little details right, like the brightly lit keys on Jorge's keyboard. The Note 9's camera washed out those colors.

The Note 9 does a better job, though, when the lights get really low. The Pixel 3 XL's photo of a variety of objects on a shelf in a dimly lit area is very dark, and it's difficult to make out words like "Unicorn Meat" and "Ryzen" in the background. That's not the case with the Note 9's shot, which is brighter with more realistic colors and sharper details. The upper right corner of the Note 9 pic is lost in shadow, but it's even darker when shot with the Pixel 3 XL.

The camera count reverse itself on the front of the Note 9 and Pixel 3 XL. Samsung's phone features a single 8-MP selfie cam, while the Pixel 3 XL offers a pair of front lenses, letting you switch to wide-angle shots when you want to squeeze more people and background details into your shot.

My colleague Sherri volunteered to take some self-portraits with the two phones, and the Pixel 3 XL takes the win here. Sherri's skin looks smoother in the Note 9's effort, and colors are certainly brighter from her sweater to her hair. The background detail on the Pixel 3 XL selfie is sharper, though, and individual braids stand out more.

Winner: Pixel 3 XL

Performance

The Note 9 and Pixel 3 XL feature the same chipset  Qualcomm's Snapdragon 845, which you'll find in just about any high-end Android phone these days. But Samsung's phone enjoys a slight edge, with 6GB of RAM in the base model to 4GB in the Pixel 3 XL. (And if you prefer, you can max out the RAM in the Note 9 to 8GB.)

The extra memory helps the Note 9 in our performance testing. It scores an 8,876 in the Geekbench 4 test, which measures general performance. The Pixel 3 XL tallies 7,684  a good number for Android flagships, but not quite up to what the Note 9 can do.

On the 3DMark Slingshot Extreme test for graphics, the Note 9 finishes on top, too. It scored a 4,639, topping the 4,396 result turned in by the Pixel 3 XL.

MORE: Best Phablet: Top Big Screen Phones (6 Inches or Larger)

The bottom line: You'll get flagship-level performance out of Google's new phone, but the Note 9 has the extra processing oomph that has made the Note lineup the go-to phone for power users.

Winner: Note 9

Software and Special Features

Pixel phones enjoy one clear advantage over the Android brethren: they get the latest version of Android as soon as Google can crank it out. The Pixel 3 XL is no exception, shipping with Android 9 Pie. The Note 9 is going to eventually get the newer version of Android  it's not clear when exactly  but for now, you're still stuck using Android 8.1.

That means that Pixel 3 XL owners get all the benefits of an up-to-date Android, including new gesture navigation and time-saving App Actions. The Pixel 3 also supports Android 9's Digital Wellbeing feature for monitoring smartphone use, quieting notifications and setting app time limits.

The Pixel 3 XL enjoys a few other software advantages as well, thanks to Google's investments in artificial intelligence and machine learning. Call Screen, for example, lets you have the Google Assistant weed out telemarketers by answering your phone call.

A real-time transcript of the call appears on the screen, allowing you to decide whether to jump in on the phone call or report it as spam. Next month, you may be able to have Google Assistant make reservations for you over the phone, as Google rolls out its Duplex support to select cities.

That's not to say the Note 9 is without any special software features, particularly if you view your smartphone as a productivity tool. The versatile S Pen returns with the Note 9 and this time it has Bluetooth connectivity, which turns it into a remote control for music playback, presentations, and even snapping photos. The Note 9's upgraded DeX features mean all you need is an HDMI cable and an external monitor and you can use your smartphone like it's a pocket-sized laptop.

The Note 9 has its own digital assistant, too, and while Bixby is picking up new skills like booking reservations, it's still got a ways to go before it approaches the polish of Google Assistant.

Winner: Pixel 3 XL

Battery

The Note 9 packs a 4,000-mAh battery, bigger than even the 3,500-mAh power pack inside the ill-fated Note 7. The end result is happier here, as the Note 9 lasted a lengthy 11 hours, 26 minutes on our battery test (which involves continuous surfing over T-Mobile's LTE network until the phone runs out of gas).

The battery on the Pixel 3 XL is much smaller at 3,430-mAh, and not coincidentally, so is its battery test result. Lasting 9 hours, 30 minutes on our test, the Pixel 3 XL feel just shy of the 9:48 average for smartphones.

MORE: Pixel 3 vs. iPhone XS Camera Face-Off: Why Google Wins

Both phones ship with an adapter that lets you quickly charge the device, and both support wireless charging. The separately sold Pixel Stand ($79) gives the Pixel 3 XL a slight boost by essentially turning your phone into a smart display while it charges, letting you talk to Google Assistant all the while. But this is a tale of endurance, and at the end of the day, the Note 9 lasts longer on a charge.

Winner: Note 9

Price And Availability

Smartphone prices have been climbing upward with the addition of each new feature, and the Note 9 has been at the front of that charge. Samsung's flagship costs $999 for its 128GB base model. Boosting the storage to 512GB adds another $250, pushing your Note 9 price tag beyond the $1,000 mark.

Galaxy Note 9 Galaxy Note 9

You won't pay as much for a Pixel 3 XL, but you'll give up a little capacity for that lower starting price. The 64GB version of Google's phone starts at $899. The $999 version of the Pixel 3 XL has the same 128GB of storage as the base Note 9 model. And Google's phones lack a microSD slot, so the capacity that comes with the Pixel 3 XL is what you're stuck with.

Pixel 3 XL Pixel 3 XL

The Note 9 is more widely available than the Pixel 3 XL, as you can buy Samsung's phone from any of the major carriers. Only Verizon offers the Pixel, though Google sells an unlocked version of the Pixel 3 XL that you can take to the carrier of your choice. You can also use Google's phone with its Project Fi wireless service, which doesn't support the Note 9.

Winner: Draw

Bottom Line

Phone Note 9 Pixel 3 XL Design (10 points) 8 7 Display (20 points) 18 17 Cameras (20 points) 16 18 Performance (20 points) 18 16 Software/Special Features (10) 8 9 Battery (10) 8 6 Price/Availability (10) 7 7 Total (Out of 100) 83 80

The Pixel 3 XL is a very good phone, particularly if you want a pure Android experience or the best camera phone available. But the Note 9 offers the better phablet experience, edging out Googles phone in more categories.

The Note 9 nails the things that youd want from a big-screen phone  a bright display, a lot of processing power and a long-lasting battery. Even in areas where the Pixel winds up on top, such as camera and software, the Note 9 isnt that far behind. Samsungs phones take great pictures in low light and features like the S Pen add value to the Note.

Which phone you ultimately get depends on whether you plan to use the device primary for photography or productivity. But the Note 9 offers the best blend of both.

Credit: Tom's Guide
Have you ever spilled a cup of coffee on your keyboard and felt like a complete mess? What about dropping far too many crumbs into your PC? Times like these can you make you wonder if youre the last person who should even own a computer.

But it turns out, youre not the worst. Spills and crumbs are normal as can be and probably even a welcome deviation from the weapons, wounds, critters and carcasses PC refurbishers have found on the job. The following is a collection of horrific tales from real refurbishers that prove theres much worse that can happen to a computer than spilled coffee. Welcome to PC refurbishing nightmares.

Say Hello to My Little Friend

(Image credit: Sascha Burkard/Shutterstock)



Gun control is a controversial topic with many layers, but weve yet to see the debate take on this next issue.

Free Geek takes electronics donations and refurbishes them to sell for low or no cost. Once, the company opened a donated desktop to remove its hard drive and any other data and found it was packing heat  and were not talking about the CPU.

In the slot where the optical drive normally sits was a handgun sitting in the slot, Amber Schmidt, Free Geeks Manager of Technology Refurbishment, told Toms Hardware. The safety was off. There wasnt a bullet in the chamber, but there were six rounds in the clip,

However you feel about guns, perhaps we can all agree there are safer places to store one than inside your chassis.

Thats not the first place you would think to stash a gun, at least for me. Its not particularly easy to get inside a computer quickly if you need to respond to something. They wouldve had to take the side panel off and actually reach into the machine and pull the gun out to be able to do anything, Schmidt said.

In the slot where the optical drive normally sits was a handgun sitting in the slot, Amber Schmidt, Free Geeks Manager of Technology Refurbishment, told Toms Hardware. The safety was off. There wasnt a bullet in the chamber, but there were six rounds in the clip,

While armed PCs are out of the norm for Free Geek, computers suffering from bullet wounds are quite typical for Rugged Depot a refurbisher focused on military-grade and first responders Panasonic devices.

Its going to be bullet holes made by either a 9mm or a .45 caliber or an AR-15 round with a .223 [Remington rifle cartridge] or 5.56 [cartridge] or a .308 [Winchester rifle cartridge]. We can actually identify the caliber based on the hole size because weve seen it so many times that we know what type of weapon was used, Robert Baldyga, VP of service at Rugged Depot, told Toms Hardware.

It depends on where the bullet goes through. Nine out of 10 times the bullet holes going to be in the computer screen, he explained, pointing to clamshell laptops. So the screen opens up and somebody might duck down so they dont get hit with a bullet and get killed, and the bullet will hit the computer screen from the back and go through.

Panasonic CF-31 Toughbook with a 9mm bullet hole that was brought to refurbisher Rugged Depot. (Image credit: Robert Baldyga/Rugged Depot)

When we refurbish those, basically the entire upper assembly needs to be replaced. You're talking the LCD screen itself, theyre all touchscreen, the touch panel, all the antennas that go from the bottom of the computer go into the screen for Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, 4G LTE  all of those components need to be replaced.

Nine out of 10 times the bullet holes going to be in the computer screen.

Baldyga said repairing a computer thats been shot costs upwards of $1,500-$2,000.

The Phoenix PC

Image 1 of 3 Image 2 of 3 Image 3 of 3

Credit: Robert Baldyga/Rugged Depot

Rugged Depot also works with electronics first responders use. The PC above was caught in a fire and melted down into what Baldyga could only describe as a melted and crazy glob of gloop. The best part is that like the mythical Phoenix, this Panasonic Toughbook CF28 was able to survive the flames and rose from its metaphorical ashes with the ability still to turn on and function.

Thats a testament to Panasonic products and how durable they actually are, Baldyga said.

The Other Kind of PC Storage

(Image credit: Valentina De Menego/Shutterstock)



Here in New York, we know how difficult it can be to find good storage solutions. But this next story takes the idea of PC storage to a new level.

Casey Sorensen, CEO of PCs for People, recalls receiving a PC case with two of the covers to the optical drive missing and replaced by a mysterious residue.

Someone had just been sliding everything into that, from chicken bones to other pieces of food, toys, fast food wrappers and about six or seven pieces of silverware that wasn't like the throwaway plastic; this was someones nice household silverware, he explains.

Sorensen suggested a toddler may have been the culprit, but we still think its possible it was the result of an adult trying to juggle a lack of spacious real estate and plethora of chicken wings  just like New York City.

Someone had just been sliding everything into that, from chicken bones to other pieces of food, toys, fast food wrappers and about six or seven pieces of silverware that wasn't like the throwaway plastic; this was someones nice household silverware, he explains.

Cockroach Horrors

Whats absolutely disgusting and lurking in a surprising volume of unwanted PCs? Unfortunately, its everyones least favorite pest, cockroaches.

PCs for People staff once found a whopping 25 cockroaches getting cozy in the mid-tower case of a Windows-based PC.

They shined a light in it, and underneath the motherboard cockroaches just started going everywhere, trying to get out of the case, get away from the light and scramble, Sorensen said.

The dozens of cockroaches ran across desks and were bagged and wiped away. But eventually PCs for People realized they had an infestation on their hands.

We ended up finding some in the kitchen and on some of our staffs desk, and so we had to get an exterminator in and pay them to take care of the problem, Sorensen says. It took multiple visits from the exterminator to end up getting the cockroaches out of the building.

They shined a light in it, and underneath the motherboard cockroaches just started going everywhere, trying to get out of the case, get away from the light and scramble, Sorensen said.

Sadly, clusters of cockroaches are pretty common for PC refurbishers. In fact, PCs for People has a method for knowing if an electronic might be the local hangout for cockroaches. How? By sniffing out a distinct, lingering, pungent mix of sweet, musty and oil.

Its more regular than we would like, especially with individual computers that may not have come from the cleanest environment. The computer is a nice, warm nest of cables and cords where if there are [pests] they like to get in there and make themselves a home, Sorensen said.

(Image credit: puwanai/Shutterstock)



At PCs for People, items infected by any creatures are wiped clean of any data, stored in a black plastic bag and quarantined in a back garage separated from the rest of the facilities before heading to a recycler. No refurbishing these roach motels.

City Mouse, Country Mouse, Keyboard Mouse

Also disturbingly common in the refurbishing world is finding mice chilling in chassis. Motherboard once found an entire family of mice, and their droppings, in a box of donated keyboards.

The keyboards were all chewed up. The mice had brought some packaging materials from another box. They made a little nest out of some styrofoam peanuts, and cardboard and even little chunks of plastic from the keyboards and chewed through all the wires and such, Toller said.

I think weve found deceased rodents more than living rodents. Maybe a couple times a year well find a carcass of something inside of a PC, Free Geeks Schmidt said.

Even worse, the mice made their way outside of their keyboard homes.

We had little mice running all through our stuff, Toller said. One escaped through the back door, and one we know we caught in a trap. One, we think, the joke around here, is that its still around somewhere... Anytime anything odd happens around here, we blame the mouse.

Unfortunately, mice seem to be a relatively common occurrence in this business, be they alive or otherwise.

I think weve found deceased rodents more than living rodents. Maybe a couple times a year well find a carcass of something inside of a PC, Free Geeks Schmidt said.

RIP Fluffy

Whats worse than finding living animals in your refurbishing pile? Finding a dead one.

Schmidt and a colleague once took in several seemingly average boxes of miscellaneous electronic donations. While going through the items, the pair noticed a jar nestled in the bottom of one of the boxes.

We pull out the jar, and it had a little plaque on the jar that said Fluffy, Schmidt said. So we opened up the jar because why wouldnt you open the jar? And there were ashes. There were cremated remains in this jar.

Free Geek contacted the donor, and it turned out the person had misplaced the urn and was desperately searching for Fluffys memory.

Note that all refurbishers I spoke to who have found a creature (living or otherwise) in an item say those systems do not get refurbished and are instead recycled.

If I find dead animals in things, even if its a really nice machine, Im going to choose to not refurbish it because I dont know what could possibly be in that machine and I dont want to pass that along to other people,  Schmidt explained.

The Hacksaw Modder

PC modders are known for doing what it takes to have a distinctive machine that mirrors their unique style and needs. Usually this means picking an aesthetically pleasing case, handpicking components and RGBing to your hearts content. For one so-called modder, it meant taking a hacksaw to a chassis it in order to fit a full-sized PCI card into a half-size case. This was then donated to PCs for People for refurbishing.

They said, Well, I went to a store and they didnt have the card that I wanted in half-size cards, so I did a mod to my case. I was like, I dont think I would call that a mod, Sorensen recalled.

But in that persons defense, the PC still worked. Half of the card was just visibly sticking out of the top of the slim case.

Are you a refurbisher with a crazy story of your own? Or maybe youve done some shocking things to your own PC that would make any one in this industry gasp. Either way, share your stories in the comments section below.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (JTA) - The scribbled, shorthand note is faded, but the formal origins of the first modern Jewish state are clear: "H(is) M(ajesty's) G(overnment) accepts the principle that P(alestine) shld. reconstitute as the Natl. Home of the J(ewish) P(eople) ..." Jotted on stationery from London's Imperial Hotel, the memo would be forwarded along...
Kansas City Saturday Sink

Water rescue near Broadway Bridge Water rescue near Broadway Bridge

Local Search Continues

Mother continues to search for daughter who has been missing for 22 days KANSAS CITY, MO (KCTV) -- A Kansas City mother is fearing the worst after her 24-year-old daughter disappeared 22 days ago. Kenisha Washington's family members and police are asking anyone with information about her whereabouts to come forward. Her mother is pleading for help because she has not seen or heard from her daughter since Sept.

KCK Overnight Shootout

One person critically injured in shooting near KCK gas station KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- A man has suffered critical injuries Friday night after a shooting at a KCK gas station, officials say. Police said the shooting happened around 8 p.m. Friday at a Quick Stop gas station near 13th and Quindaro. Details about what led up to the shooting were not immediately available.

KCPS Desperate For Cash

Kansas City Public School District is looking to sponsor more charter schools | The Kansas City Star Kansas City Public Schools Superintendent Mark Bedell said Thursday the district is ready to compete for the sponsorship of charter schools in the city.

Lesson In FAIL

Commissioners reject JCCC's request for access to Stoll Park OVERLAND PARK, KS (KCTV) -- A board of Johnson County Commissioners sided with people trying to save a park from becoming an emergency exit for Johnson County Community College, easing tensions between the two groups for the moment. On Wednesday, Johnson County's Board of Parks & Recreation Commissioners voted unanimously to reject JCCC's request for access to Stoll Park.

Kansas City Lost & Found

The Big Search seeing some results in Kansas City The Big Search is seeing some results as volunteers canvass the metro looking for missing people.

Kansas City East Side Brew

Dream Coffee roasts hipster coffee shop stereotype with protein brew When life hands out lemons, some people turn them into lemonade. But what happens when it throws 300 pounds of coffee beans in your direction? You percolate new ideas that can disrupt an overcaffeinated market and strengthen a community, Timothy Shockley chuckled. "A friend of mine closed his [Shawnee] coffee shop and left [the beans] to me.

Quick peek at our weekend Kansas City news scene . . .Checkit:this is thefor right now . .
editorial@tribune.com

PK Jaiswar

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, October 20

Opposition leaders on Saturday trained guns at Local Bodies Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu and his wife Dr Navjot Kaur Sidhu, holding them responsible for the train accident that took lives of 61 persons, including women and children, besides leaving scores of persons injured.

SAD president and former deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal termed the tragic rail accident a massacre and intentional murder and demanded a fresh FIR registered on the statements of the victims. Addressing mediapersons after visiting the spot at Jora Fatak after meeting injured at Guru Nanak Dev Hospital, he said the organisers should be booked and put behind bars. He said the Government Railway Police (GRP) had booked four unidentified persons and this showcased the seriousness of the Punjab government.

A senior minister and his family is involved. A Dasehra committee, considered close to them, is involved. People are blaming Navjot Sidhu and his wife for the incident. The Punjab government should expel him from the Cabinet and register an FIR in this connection, he said.

When asked whether he held the Punjab government or the Railways responsible for the tragedy, he said it was the state government elected by the people. The government should have informed the railway authorities about celebrating Dasehra at Dhobi Ghat near the main Amritsar-Delhi railway line, he said. He also demanded Rs 1 crore as compensation and government job for the kin.

Former Cabinet minister Bikram Singh Majithia said, Navjot Kaur Sidhu is telling a lie. A number of videos of the event shows that she was present on the stage at the time of the mishpa. Instead of helping the victims, she left the scene four minutes after the tragedy.

Earlier, BJP MP Shwait Malik and national secretary Tarun Chugh also accused the state government of being lax in its approach. When there was no permission from any authority, how they managed to organise the function? they asked.

MLA Raj Kumar Verka said the CM had announced magisterial probe into the incident. New guidelines would be formed for holding religious functions, he said. Action will be taken against whosoever responsible for the tragedy, he said.

He said there was a lack of coordination among the administration, the police and the Railways, which resulted in the mishap.

AAP leaders, led by Leader of Opposition Harpal Singh Cheema, expressed solidarity with the families of the victims. Cheema was accompanied by MLAs Sarabjit Kaur Manuke, Aman Arora, Amarjit Singh Sandhwan, Gurmeet Singh Meet, Baljinder Kaur and local leaders. It is a result of negligence of the government. The rescue work pace was slow. The compensation of Rs 5 lakh is meagre. Victims kin should get Rs 1 crore each and government jobs, he said.

CPI national executive member Hardev Arshi and state secretary Bant Singh Brar also met victims. They also sought government job and Rs 50 lakh as compensation for the victims kin.
ROBINSINGH@TRIBUNE.COM

Ramkrishan Upadhyay

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, October 20

Traders have given thumbs down to the UT proposal to open the market round the clock.

During a meeting held here today, the executive body of the Chandigarh Beopar Mandal (CBM) rejected the proposal, saying that it was not feasible. Representatives of city market welfare associations attended the meeting and gave their views on the matter.

The UT Administration had sought the views of traders on the proposal to allow shops to remain open 24X7. Deputy Commissioner Sachin Rana had asked the traders to submit their views before taking any decision on the issue.

CBM chairman Charanjiv Singh said a majority of the members was in favour of extending the timings till 10 pm. Most traders run their shops by themselves and dont have enough wherewithals to keep the establishments open all the time, he added.

Shops are allowed to remain open till 8 pm as per the Shops and Establishment Act. The Administration has already allowed 24X7 shops at certain petrol stations in the city. With an aim to promote ease of doing business, the Centre had asked all states to open the markets round the clock.

CBM president Anil Vohra said city traders raised the issues of security and availability of workforce during the meeting. He said the CBM would now recommend to the Administration to extend the timings till 10 pm and not round the clock.

The Centre has already approved the Model Shops and Establishments Bill, permitting 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.

Markets to illuminate

Meanwhile, traders have agreed to the UT proposal to illuminate markets for the festival of lights. The Administration has, for the first time, asked shopkeepers to illuminate the markets with fancy lights during Diwali.
vinaymishra188@gmail.com

Naina Mishra

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, October 19

Now, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has made it mandatory for schools to follow rules and regulations pertaining to regulation of fee formed by the state/UT government, defiance of which will lead to disaffiliation.

On Thursday, the board, in the revised affiliation bylaws, made it compulsory that the fees will be charged under the heads prescribed by the Department of Education of state/UTs. The board also made it mandatory for the schools to adhere to the laws, regulation, and directions of the government for the revision of fee. The fee will not be revised without the process prescribed by the government under any circumstances.

It further directed that the Acts and regulations of the Central and state/UT government enacted or framed in connection with the regulation of fee in respect to various categories of school will be applicable to the CBSE schools of that region as well.

With intent to curb profiteering motive of schools, the board said the schools shall charge fee to the extent of expenses being met by it.

The UT Education Department had recently constituted a seven-member fee regulation committee chaired by Education Secretary BL Sharma under the Chandigarh Administrations Fee Regulation Act, modeled on the lines of the Punjab Regulation of Fee of Unaided Educational Institution Act-2016. Baffled at the Fee Regulation Act, both the parents association and private schools association are mulling to challenge the fee regulation committee in the court for their own reasons.

Govt cant issue diktat to us: Private schools

HS Mamik, president of the Independent Schools Association, said: The Punjab fee Act has already been challenged before the High Court. We will now challenge the Chandigarh Fee Act by attaching it to our former case. Legally, the government cannot issue a diktat to private schools for revising fee.

Act fails to check existing exorbitant fee structure

Nitin Goyal, president of the Chandigarh Parents Association, said: The Act does not question the existing fee structure of the schools, even though it directs that the school cannot increase the fee more than 8 per cent. There are many schools that are charging a hefty amount, but not being questioned for the same. Ever since the inception of the Punjab Fee Regulation Act, the schools in the city have been hiking fee by even 20 per cent so that they can heave profit till the time the UT act upon the regulation by forming a committee.

Committee will stick to law: Education Secy

Education Secretary BL Sharma said: A committee was formed two months ago and it will take into considerations the cases henceforth. If any school is devising fee structure beyond the prescribed limit, parents can file a complaint against the school through a proper procedure. Now, we cannot dig into the past and see what happened 10 years ago, the committee will oversee issues from the date of its coming into force. We will conform to the law and cannot question the existing fee structure.
ROBINSINGH@TRIBUNE.COM

Tribune News Service

Mohali, October 20

The local police have arrested a former constable of the Punjab Police for threatening and extorting money from a Delhi resident by impersonating a sub-inspector.

The accused, Ranjit Singh (48), a resident of Phase 9, Mohali, has been arrested on the complaint of Rajiv Arora, a resident of Indra Vikas Colony, Delhi.

In his complaint, Arora had alleged that the accused, along with his accomplices, extorted money from him by threatening him with a police case. The accused had demanded Rs 20 lakh from him. The accused told him told that he had to give Rs 10 lakh to his seniors, including a senior superintendent of police and the Director-General of Police.

Giving details, Inspector Tarlochan Singh, Station House Officer (SHO), Sohana police station, said as per the complainant, Ranjit Singh impersonated as Punjab Police sub-inspector and extorted money from him near a mall at Sector 66 here on September 13 this year.

The accused first went to the office of the complainant at Delhi and threatened him, said Inspector Tarlochan Singh, adding that his (Ranjit) other accomplices have been identified as Sukhpal Singh and Kuldip Singh.

According to the police Ranjit Singh, who originally hailed from Saniyal village in Amritsar, was working as a constable of the Punjab Police until he was dismissed in 2011. His wife is a government teacher.

A case under Sections 419, 420 and 386 of the Indian Penal Code has been registered against the accused at the Sohana police station.

The police claimed that as many as four cases have already been registered against the accused at police stations in Jammu and Kashmir, Zirakpur, Tarn Taran and Nawanshahr.
vinaymishra188@gmail.com

Tribune News Service

Patiala, October 19

Unidentified persons tried to rob the State Bank of Indian (SBI) ATM near district administrative complex and district police complex here on the intervening night of Thursday and Friday.

The police said burglars attempt to rob the bank ATM remained unsuccessful as they were unable to take out money from the machine.

Officials of the Tripuri police station said the incident occurred on the intervening night of Thursday and Friday.

The accused fled from the spot after they could not take out money from the SBI ATM, they added.

The Tripuri SHO, Rajesh Malhotra, said the police would register a case against unidentified accused in this connection. The police have started investigation and will act according to the video footage recovered from the CCTV cameras of the SBI ATM, he added.
ROBINSINGH@TRIBUNE.COM

Mohali, October 20

Sleuths of the Special Task Force (STF) arrested three drug peddlers, including a Nigerian, with 150 gm of heroin.

The accused have been identified as Nonso Ifedioroa from Nigeria, Mukesh Kumar, alias Bobby, a resident of Muktsar, and Pushpinder Singh, alias Ravi, from Baari village in Kangra, Himachal Pradesh.

According to Rajinder Singh Sohal, Superintendent of Police (SP), STF, the accused were arrested while on their way to Mohali in a black SUV. They were going to supply heroin to their regular customers.

SP Sohal said during preliminary investigation, Nonso confessed that he, along with Bobby and Ravi, used to procure drugs from Delhi and sell it in Mohali, Chandigarh and nearby areas.

Nonso had arrived in India in 2017 on a business visa. Earlier, he was into the garments and cosmetics business. His visa had expired in March this year but he did not return to his country, said Sohal.

He added that Bobby had recently completed his graduation from Panjab University. Bobby himself is a drug addict. He is into the drug trade for the past three years, said Sohal, adding that Ravi was booked in similar cases earlier too.

Ravi is a graduate with BSc degree. He has been into the drug business for the past two years. He is ,too, a drug addict, added Sohal.  TNS
ROBINSINGH@TRIBUNE.COM

Tribune News Service

Panchkula, October 20

In an embarrassment to the police, a local court, while acquitting the accused in an NDPS Act case, directed the Deputy Commissioner Police to take appropriate action against the investigating officials in the case and submit an action-taken report to the court within three months.

In the judgment, Additional Sessions Judge Narender Sura observed that there was lack of skill and quality in the investigation conducted by Sub-Inspector Mange Ram and Sub-Inspector Deepak Kumar, SHO, Pinjore police station. The court was of the view, the order stated, that the investigation conducted in the case is most unscientific, non-professional and lopsided, which cannot be considered as fair by any stretch of the imagination.

The judge said the DCP should take appropriate action against SI Mange Ram and SI Deepak Kumar so that in future no innocent person was made to face trial or no culprit shall go scot free because of such investigations.

The case dates back to July 4, 2016, when the Pinjore police had arrested Pasang Lamba, a native of Kullu in Himachal Pradesh, from his house near Mallah chowk and recovered 2.890 kg of charas. During interrogation, Lamba told the police that Praduman Kumar Gupta had supplied him the contraband. Later, the court had granted bail to both.

The police filed a challan against the two accused on December 1, 2016, and on the next date of hearing on December 12, Lamba failed to appear. He was declared proclaimed offender on April 17, 2017, and had been at large till date.

Arguing the case, the public prosecutor prayed that the accused be convicted of the offence.

Defence counsel Manbir Singh Rathi submitted that the prosecution case was that the contraband was recovered from Pasang Lamba, which was supplied to him by Gupta. He said the question of who supplied the contraband would arise only after the prosecution first proved the recovery from Lamba. He said the prosecution even failed to prove the relationship between Lamba and Gupta as neither any call records were produced for the purpose nor Lamba identified Gupta.
ROBINSINGH@TRIBUNE.COM

Tribune News Service

Mohali, October 20

A drug peddler escaped from clutches of the police after thrashing a head constable of the local police on the Mohali Judicial Complex premises at Sector 76 here today.

The accused, identified as Gurinder Singh (30), alias Ginda, a resident of Ludhiana, was being taken to a court room around 3 pm by Head Constable Manjit Singh when he pushed the cop. As the latter tried to catch him, the accused thrashed him and ran towards the advocates chambers, escaping through the buildings side gate, which opens towards the Mohali DC Complex. The gate in question is usually manned by two cops.

Even as the policeman raised the alarm, nobody could catch Ginda.

Head Constable Manjit Singh received bruises on his hands and arms, said the police.

According to Inspector Tarlochan Singh, SHO, Sohana police station, Manjit Singh was taking Ginda for a hearing in a drug case. The cop was holding his hand at the time of the incident.

The police had brought Ginda from the Ropar Jail for the court hearing around 11 am today. He was kept at the bakshikhana (lock-up room) of the Courts Complex, said the SHO.

Ginda, along with one of his accomplices Prince Sharma, was nabbed by the Special Task Force, Mohali, with 850 gram of heroin from the Airport Chowk here in October last year. A case was registered in this regard at the STF police station in Phase 4 here. The trial in the case is on at the Mohali district courts.

Inspector Tarlochan Singh said a case under Sections 224, 332 and 354 of the IPC has now been registered against Ginda at the Sohana police station. Raids are on to nab Ginda, said the SHO.

Meanwhile, the police authorities have also initiated a departmental inquiry against Head Constable Manjit Singh.

How it happened

The accused, identified as Gurinder Singh (30), alias Ginda, a resident of Ludhiana, was being taken to a court room around 3 pm by Head Constable Manjit Singh when he pushed the cop. As the latter tried to catch him, the accused thrashed him and ran towards the advocates chambers, escaping through the buildings side gate, which opens towards the Mohali DC Complex.
amansharma@tribunemail.com

Bijendra Ahlawat

Tribune News Service

Faridabad, October 20

Three sisters and their brother committed suicide in their flat in a society in the Dayalbagh area of Surajkund here under mysterious circumstances.

The bodies had deteriorated when they were recovered this morning after neighbours reported the matter to the police. Meena Mathew (42), Beena Mathews, (40) Jaya Mathews (39) and and their brother Pradeep Mathews (37) had ended life few days ago by hanging.

In a puported suicide note, they claimed that nobody was responsible for their death. Though the cause of the death is still to be ascertained, police sources claimed that circumstances point towards the poor financial condition of the family after the death of their parents.

While their father expired a few years ago, mother died five months back, it is learnt. The victims have named some person, to whom the family reportedly owed some money and who had helped them directly or indirectly in the past.

A team of forensic experts visited the spot. The police have sent the bodies for post mortem examination and have ruled out the murder angle.

None of the vicitms was married. They had stopped interacting with neighbours for the past couple of weeks, suggesting that they had been under some stress, police sources claimed. In the purported note, they have expressed the desire of burial in the cremation ground of Burari in Delhi. The bodies will be handed to over to Father of local Church, said the police.
editorial@tribune.com

Tribune News Service

Faridabad, October 20

Four members of a family, including three sisters and a brother, allegedly commited suicide inside their flat in a society in the Dayalbagh area of Surajkund here under mysterious circumstances.

The bodies, lying in a bad condition, were recovered this morning after neighbours reported the matter to the police.

The bodies were identified as those belonging to Meena Mathew (42), Beena Mathews (40), Jaya Mathews (39) and Pradeep Mathews (37). The siblings reportedly ended their life a few days ago by hanging themselves inside their house.

A suicide note was found in which they said nobody was responsible for their death and the decision to do this was their own due to some financial matters.

The police ruled out the angle of murder in the incident. All of them had been unmarried and had stopped interaction with their neighbours for the past couple of weeks, suggesting they had been under some stress, claimed the police sources.

The bodies would be handed to over to the Father of the local church, said police officials.
editorial@tribune.com

Pratibha Chauhan

Tribune News Service

Shimla, October 20

The cash-strapped state government will raise a loan of Rs 500 crore to meet its liabilities towards serving and retired employees.

The nod for raising the loan has been sought by the state government from the Centre. With this, the total loan raised by the Jai Ram-led BJP government will touch Rs 2,000 crore.

The loan will be repayable over a period of 10 years. The money is expected to be transferred to the government within two days.

Even though meeting development needs have been cited as the reason for raising the loan, sources said the main reason for seeking additional money was to disburse dearness allowance (DA) to employees before Diwali. However, it was not certain whether the DA would be given only to the employees or retirees would also get this benefit.

A decision on the grant of the remaining DA is expected to be taken by the Cabinet, which will hold its meeting on October 22.

This will be the third instalment of loan raised by the Himachal Government this year. Prior to this, two loan instalments of Rs 800 crore and Rs 700 crore had been taken this year.

The state government is yet to implement the Sixth Pay Commission and the DA to be given to the employees will be on the unrevised scale.

According to the unrevised scale, 6 per cent DA is yet to be given to the employees. However, it is uncertain whether the entire 6 per cent will be given around Diwali or only half the due amount will be given.

Even after raising the loan, the government still has a limit of raising Rs 4,500 crore this financial year.

The debt on the state has crossed Rs 48,000 crore. With limited sources of revenue generation, the state is largely dependent on the Centre for implementing its schemes and funding most development projects. A major part of the revenue comes from the states share in taxes.

Notwithstanding, the poor financial health of the state, the government seems to have made up its mind to release DA to its employees and pensioners.

6 pc allowance yet to be given
editorial@tribune.com

Lalit Mohan

Tribune News Service

Dharamsala, October 20

While all shepherds have come out of Bara Bhangal safely, the National Disaster Management Force (NDRF) left for the valley today. The team reached Multhan, the last tehsil connected by road before the track to the Bara Bhangal valley starts.

Leader of the team Hari Om said on the phone that they were leaving to prepare a map of the area for better understanding of the track. The team would go up to Bara Bhangal village.

However, the NDRF team has drawn the ire of the shepherds and volunteers involved in rescue operations.

Akshay Jasrotia, an activist from Baijnath, who was involved in the rescue operations, said the team should have been involved in relief and rescue operations. By going into the valley when all shepherds had been rescued was a wastage of money.

Meanwhile, the rescued shepherds, along with their livestock, have reached Multhan. Many of them had tales of their misery.

Roshan Lal said they got trapped in Bara Bhangal village due to heavy snow at Thumsar Pass on September 21. We made a few attempts on our own to cross Thumsar but the pass had about 10 to 12 feet snow and it was impossible to cross. We left stranded in the valley. Our ration was almost finished. We lost many sheep and goats as there was not enough grass to feed them. It was only after the intervention of the district administration that a PDS shop in Bara Bhangal started given them ration, he said.

Rangeela Ram, another shepherd, said about 50 per cent of his goats and sheep perished. I had frostbite in my feet and many animals are also suffering from it. I do not know if they will survive or not, he said.

Most of the shepherds are yet to reach their homes. They are in Multhan to get their sheep sheared. Lachhu Ram said they had requested the wool federation to send their sheep-shearing machines here at the earliest.

Jasrotia said the state government should provide financial relief to the shepherds for the loss of their livestock in snow. Many shepherds had lost half of their livestock. The entire flock of about 500 livestock of Rakesh Kumar, the shepherd who died in Bara Bhangal, had perished, he said.
editorial@tribune.com

Tribune News Service

Jammu, October 19

As all eyes are set on the counting of votes of the urban local bodies elections on Saturday, the BJP may find going tough in its stronghold of Doda, Kishtwar and Ramban districts.

In these districts, the saffron party had won four of the six seats during the 2014 Assembly elections. Two of the four MLAs were also inducted in the Council of Ministers in the PDP-BJP government in the state.

There are seven municipal committees in these districts, three in Doda, one in Kishtwar, and three in Ramban. However, poll trends suggest that the BJP has chance only in two committees  Ramban and Batote of Ramban district.

In all other committees, observers say the saffron partys chances are bleak, and Independents, backed by the National Conference (NC) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), have an edge.

In Kishtwar town, from where former minister Sunil Sharma of the BJP hails, voting for 13 municipal wards was held on October 10. The BJP seems to be facing a tough time from the proxy candidates of the NC and PDP, say sources.

Similarly, in the 17 wards of the Doda municipal committee, Independents backed by the NC have more chances of winning. The Assembly segment of the area is represented by Shakti Parihar of the BJP.

In Bhaderwah also, the BJP is facing a tough time from NC and PDP proxy candidates while the Congress has an edge in Thathri, add the poll observers. The Bhaderwah Assembly seat is represented by BJPs Daleep Singh Parihar.

In the Muslim-majority Banihal municipal committee of Ramban, three Congress candidates have won unopposed while on the remaining four seats, the BJP has slim chances, say the observers. In the other two municipal committees, Batote and Ramban, the BJP has a shot at winning but is facing a stiff competition from the Congress.

7 MCs in three dists

There are seven municipal committees (MCs) in these districts, three in Doda, one in Kishtwar, and three in Ramban. However, poll trends suggest that the BJP has chance only in two committees  Ramban and Batote of Ramban district.
editorial@tribune.com

Suhail A Shah

Anantnag, October 20

In the restive south Kashmir region, the BJP has emerged as the single largest party in the urban local bodies elections held amid a boycott call by the Peoples Democratic Party and National Conference.

The Congress, however, is not far behind the BJP in the tally of the total wards won.

The region comprising Anantnag, Pulwama, Shopian and Kulgam districts is considered to be a militancy hotbed. The region has 25 municipal committees and councils, including 15 in Anantnag, five in Pulwama district, four in Kulgam and one in Shopian district.

A total of 265 wards were up for grabs in the 25 municipalities. The BJP has emerged as the single largest party with a total of 57 wards in its kitty.

The Congress has garnered 53 wards and Independents 21 wards. A large chunk of the wards  131  have remained vacant.

Only four municipalities of the Anantnag district witnessed polls. In the remaining three districts, no voting was conducted. The nominees in these districts were either declared elected unopposed or there were no candidates at all.

Like in the Shopian municipality, the BJP candidates swept the polls by getting elected unopposed. For the 13 wards, 12 nominations were filed by BJP candidates, including four women.

All of them were elected opposed, an official from the district said, adding that the all were migrant Kashmiri Pandits living in Jammu.

In the militancy-infested Tral area of Pulwama district, four BJP candidates were elected unopposed. The BJP has also done well in the Pahalgam municipality where it secured seven of the 13 wards, unopposed.

In certain municipalities, due to militant threats, the authorities received no nominations at all.

In Khrew of Pulwama district, no nominations were filed for its 13 wards. Likewise in the Frisal municipality of Kulgam district, not even a single nomination was received by the authorities for 13 seats.
amansharma@tribunemail.com

New Delhi, October 20

The National Investigation Agency has arrested a man wanted in the 2016 attack on an army camp in Jammu's Nagrota when he was allegedly trying to flee the country through Sri Lanka, officials said on Saturday.

Ashraf Khandey, a resident of Pulwama in Jammu and Kashmir, was taken into custody from the Indira Gandhi International Airport here when he was trying to leave for Saudi Arabia via Sri Lanka, they said.

Khandey was arrested for his alleged involvement in the terrorist attack on the army camp in Nagrota on November 29, 2016, in which seven Army personnel, including two officers were killed and three others injured, they said.

The agency was looking for him for a long time and a lookout circular was issued against him which was triggered during his attempt to flee the country, they said.

Three Pakistani terrorists were killed in the operation and a huge quantity of firearms, ammunition, explosives and other articles were seized from them, they said.

Khandey had allegedly provided transport to the terrorists after they had crossed over from Pakistan to carry out their nefarious activities, they said.

In May, the agency had taken custody of Jaish-e-Mohammed operative Muneer-ul-Hassan Qadri from the Jammu and Kashmir Police in connection with the 2016 attack.

The investigation has so far revealed that the attack was carried out by the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) banned terror group in furtherance of a well-planned conspiracy from Pakistan, the NIA had said.

Qadri and other Valley-based JeM operatives were in touch with the outfit's leadership in Pakistan and had received a group of three Pakistani terrorists, who had infiltrated from Pakistan, from the Samba sector a day before the attack.

Subsequently, they stayed at a hotel in Jammu and then left the attackers outside the army camp in Nagrota late at night, and proceeded to the Kashmir Valley, the NIA spokesman had said. - PTI
editorial@tribune.com

Shiv Kumar

Tribune News Service

Mumbai, October 20

A woman crew member of Phantom Films who had accused filmmaker Vikas Bahl of sexually harassing her nearly three years ago has decided not to pursue the case.

Her counsel Navroz Seervai told the Bombay High Court on Friday that the woman did not wish to pursue the case.

Instead of appearing in court, the woman put out a statement via her counsel. I have had enough and I am still suffering at the hands of this man even after three years. I do not want to be involved in litigation so will not file an affidavit, the counsel read from her statement in court.

The Bombay High Court is hearing a defamation suit for Rs 10 crore in damages filed by Bahl against former partners  filmmakers Anurag Kashyap and Vikramaditya Motwane  who were part of Phantom Films.

The company had produced movie Bombay Velvet in 2015. It was during the promotion of the film in Goa that the alleged incident of sexual harassment had taken place.

Media reports quoting the survivor had stated that Bahl had harassed her and his business partners did not do anything about it.

In his plea before the High Court, Queen director Bahl alleged that Kashyap and Motwane, among others, took advantage of the ongoing #MeToo movement in India and published false, malicious, unsubstantiated imputations, allegations and statements against him through their social media platforms.

Further in his plea, Bahl had referred to an interview by the victim where she hit out at Kashyap for dissolving the company citing the harassment issue. ...the issue was in cold storage for months. I had moved on. And one day suddenly, (Kashyap) woke up and said he wanted to set things right. It didnt seem right to me. Something seemed off. I felt like it wasnt done for me, but for some other gain, according to excerpts from the womans interview quoted by Bahls lawyer in court.

Justice SJ Kathawala also agreed with the womans contention about the timing of the action taken by Kashyap and Motwane. If the woman says she does not want to pursue the case, then no one can fire from her shoulder. I dont want her to be used by anyone, he remarked.

The court also noted that the #MeToo campaign was for victims to come out and complain. The matter has been adjourned to October 23.
laxmi@tribune.com

Manmeet Singh Gill in Amritsar

Jitendra had taken his wife Aarti and two-year-old son, Shivam, to watch the Dasehra celebrations when a speeding train cut short the revelry and ran into a huge number of onlookers who had gathered to watch the burning of Ravanas effigy.

Jitendra and his son are among the dead, while Aarti, unaware of the tragedy that has befallen her, has been admitted to a private hospital with a critical head injury. The family of three is alone in this dark hour. Theres no one to claim Jitendra and Shivams bodies or attend to Aarti. The family had migrated to Amritsar from Bhagalpur, Bihar, two years ago in search of a better life. Among the injured, the 62 critical patients are still admitted to various hospitals, while a similar number have been discharged after first aid. People had gathered there in festive spirits, with families and children in tow. They unwittingly chose the railway track as it offered a better vantage point, little realising this decision would cost many of them their lives.

An evening meant for festivities had turned into a nightmare. Amid wails, people were moving from hospital to hospital all night to look for their dear ones missing after the mishap.

While this tragedy of unfathomable magnitude has left many with emotional scars, there are others who will bear permanent disabilities as their limbs have been cut. As there were a large number of people who sustained serious head injuries, the government hospitals fell short of neurosurgeons. They had to be called in from private hospitals. Even the mortuaries were overflowing with dead bodies. As a large number of bodies could have affected inside temperatures, the administration had to arrange for ice slabs to maintain the required temperature. The post-mortems had to be conducted immediately as the badly wounded bodies had already started to deteriorate. The rush of patients also exhausted the stocks of simple medicines like tetanus injections and Betadine solution used for washing wounds. The antibiotics, too, were out of stock.

Good Samaritans to the rescue

Many social organisations were providing tea, snacks and meals to people outside hospitals and at the accident site, free of cost as they frantically looked for their dear ones till wee hours. Apart from blood donor societies, hundreds of individuals also turned up at blood banks after learning about the accident. Dr Neeraj Sharma, in charge blood bank, Government Medical College, said, Over 600 persons came after hearing about the accident. Even those who had come to visit Golden Temple turned up to help.

We needed blood from 220 persons only. Our stocks were almost full though many were not ready to leave without donating any blood.
rchopra@tribunemail.com

Mumbai, October 20

A criminal with several offences against his name and an accomplice were on Saturday injured in an encounter with the Navi Mumbai police in the neighbouring Raigad district.

History-sheeter Faiyaz Khalid Shaikh and aide Salim were injured in retaliatory firing by police in an encounter that took place in the early hours of Saturday at Nadhal village in Khalapur taluka, said Navi Mumbai Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Tushar Joshi.

He said two Crime Branch officials were fired upon by Shaikh but escaped injuries due to the bulletproof jackets they were donning.

Despite sustaining a bullet wound, Shaikh tried to flee but was chased down after around 1.5 kilometres, he said.

Shaikh, along with two aides, was arrested from the spot and is currently under treatment at a private hospital for his injuries, DCP added.

Shaikh has 87 offences registered against his name, including for chain-snatching and theft, as well as three cases of attacking policemen.

Joshi said the police were on the lookout for Shaikh for the past few months and he had been recently spotted at Kahanvade toll point in Virar in the neighbouring Palghar district.

A police team had tried to nab him then but he had escaped after opening fire on them, Joshi said. PTI
uttara@tribuneindia.com

Smita Sharma

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, October 20

India and Sri Lanka on Saturday took stock of bilateral relations with delegation level talks held between Prime Minister Modi and his counterpart Ranil Wickremesinghe in Delhi.

The status of India-assisted housing projects in Jaffna and maritime security was discussed in talks in Hyderabad House, sources said. According to Sri Lankan PM's office, Modi expressed 'his deep disappointment and discontent over delays in commencement of India-assisted development projects' spelled out in MoU's signed back in 2017 .

Modi asked Wickremesinghe 'to ensure that projects pick up momentum'.

"This multi-faceted partnership has been marked by close contacts at the highest political level, growing trade and investment, wide ranging development cooperation, increasing linkages in the fields of education, health, infrastructure, connectivity and capacity building and broadening people to people contacts," said an official Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) statement.

This meeting comes just three days after Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena spoke to Modi to reassure of bilateral ties following media reports that he alleged involvement of India's External intelligence agency RAW in a plot to assassinate him and a former defence secretary. Colombo issued official categorical denials later. "Both the Prime Ministers discussed the entire gamut of bilateral relations and ways to further deepen the historically close and friendly relations between the two countries," added the MEA statement today.

In what seems to be a reflective of growing divide between Sirisena and Wickremsinghe in the island nation, according to the Sri Lankan statement PM Modi added that "he was not satisfied with the response he had received from Colombo Government to his diplomatic overtures". Modi reportedly told Wickremesinghe that "if the Sri Lankan governments had issues with India, or any doubts about the country, these should be aired freely and discussed" and the Srilankan PM "may come forward to discuss them".

"While reiterating that neither the Prime Minister nor the people of Sri Lanka have any doubts or reservation on the Indian government, PM Wickremesinghe extended his apologies on any acts or omissions that may have given rise to such an understanding," said the formal statement released in Sinhala.

In remarks alluding to Chinese stronghold on Sri Lanka, Modi also spoke to his counterpart about 'foreign interventions'. "Sri Lanka will never let any activity to function in its land which could be a threat to India. Sri Lanka is closely working with any country in the world only in economic and cultural affairs," responded Wickremesinghe.
pardeepdhull@gmail.com

Mumbai, October 20

A special NIA court here on Saturday rejected 2008 Malegaon blast case accused Lt Col Prasad Shrikant Purohits petition challenging the validity of the prosecution sanction for his trial under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).

Special NIA court judge Vinod Padalkar rejected his petition after hearing the arguments of Purohit and other accused in the case.

The court has set October 26 as the next date of hearing in the case.

The Bombay High Court had last month rejected Purohits plea to restrain the trial court from framing charges against him and other accused in the case.

The NIA court was set to frame the charges against him and others, but it was deferred after the accused raised objections over the validity of the prosecution sanction.

A prior sanction for Purohits prosecution was required since he was a serving Army officer at the time.

The sanction was issued on January 17, 2009 by additional chief secretary of the Maharashtra Home department.

Six people were killed and nearly 100 injured when an explosive device strapped to a motorcycle went off near a mosque at Malegaon, a town in Maharashtras Nashik district, on September 29, 2008.

On December 27, 2017, the special NIA court dismissed the pleas filed by Purohit, his co-accused Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, and six others seeking discharge from the case.

The court, however, gave them partial relief by dropping all charges against them under the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA). PTI
editorial@tribune.com

Smita Sharma

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, October 20

India and Sri Lanka on Saturday took stock of bilateral relations with delegation-level talks between PM Modi and his counterpart Ranil Wickremesinghe in Delhi.

The status of India-assisted housing projects in Jaffna and maritime security were discussed in talks in Hyderabad House, said sources.

According to the Sri Lankan PMs office, Modi expressed his deep disappointment and discontent over delays in commencement of India-assisted development projects spelled out in MoUs signed back in 2017.

This meeting comes just three days after Sri Lankan President Sirisena spoke to Modi to reassure him of bilateral ties following media reports that he alleged involvement of Indias external intelligence agency RAW in a plot to assassinate him and a former defence secretary. Colombo issued official categorical denials later.

In what seems to be a reflective of the growing divide between Sirisena and Wickremsinghe in the island nation, PM Modi added according to the Sri Lankan statement  that he was not satisfied with the response he had received from Colombo Government to his diplomatic overtures.

Modi reportedly told Wickremesinghe that If Sri Lankan Governments had issues with India, or any doubts about the country, these should be aired freely and discussed and the Sri Lankan PM may come forward to discuss them.

While reiterating that neither the Prime Minister nor the people of Sri Lanka have any doubts on the Indian Government, PM Wickremesinghe extended his apologies on any acts or omissions that may have given rise to such an understanding, said the formal statement released in Sinhala.

In remarks alluding to the Chinese stronghold on Sri Lanka, Modi also spoke to his counterpart about foreign interventions.

Sri Lanka will never let any activity function on its land which could be a threat to India, responded Wickremesinghe.
pardeepdhull@gmail.com

New Delhi, October 20

Prime Minister Narendra Modi held talks with his Sri Lankan counterpart Ranil Wickremesinghe on Saturday and discussed a range of issues related to bilateral ties, including the progress of India-assisted development projects in the island nation.

The two leaders held talks at the Hyderabad House here on the third and final day of the Sri Lankan Prime Ministers India visit.

Special place in our hearts for Sri Lanka. PM Narendra Modi welcomes the Sri Lankan PM Ranil Wickremesinghe. At the delegation level talks, the leaders took stock of the entire range of our bilateral relations, specially the development projects in Sri Lanka, Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar tweeted along with pictures of the two leaders at the Hyderabad House.

During the visit, the two sides reviewed the status of the India-assisted housing projects in Jaffna. They were also expected to deliberate on the Tamil issuethe reconciliation process and devolution of powers in Tamil-dominated areas.

Wickremesinghes India visit comes in the backdrop of controversial media reports that Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena has accused Indian intelligence agency RAW of plotting his assassination, a claim firmly rejected as false by Colombo.

Earlier in the day, Home Minister Rajnath Singh and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj also separately called on the visiting Lankan leader.

Wickremesinghe and Singh discussed issues related to security and anti-terror cooperation between India and Sri Lanka.

In her meeting with the Lankan premier, Swaraj also reviewed the progress of India-assisted development projects in the island nation.

Wickremesinghe arrived here on Thursday on a three-day visit to boost ties in a range of areas, including trade, investment and maritime security.

On Friday, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress president Rahul Gandhi and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi met Wickremesinghe and discussed cooperation between the two countries. PTI
editorial@tribune.com

Sabarimala (Kerala), October 20

A massive protest by devotees of Lord Ayyappa broke out near the Sabarimala Sannidhanam Saturday following rumours that a woman from Tamil Nadu below 50 years of age climbed the hills to offer prayers to the presiding deity.

The situation turned tense in the area, where section 144 was clamped, as devotees gathered in large numbers at Valiya Nadapandhal to protest against the womans entry into the temple.

However, the tension was defused after the woman, who had come with her family members, convinced the protesters that she was above 50 years, and proceeded to the shrine.

The woman carrying irumudikkettu (holy bundle) climbed the 18 holy steps amid security cover to reach the temple and have darshan. Meanwhile, Pathanamthitta District Collector P B Nooh said there was no tension at Sannidhanam.

A woman came for darshan. Some news channels followed her... then a crowd gathered...That was the only issue, he said. The collector also dismissed as rumours reports that some young women were planning to trek the hills to reach the shrine.

There were some rumours (spread) through social media. We verified them...There is no confirmed report (on young women visiting the shrine) so far, Nooh said. A Dalit woman activist, who was planning to visit the Sabarimala shrine Saturday, has put her plans on hold following heavy rain and is camping here.

The police are verifying the background of Manju, leader of Dalit Mahila Federation and said to be in her late 30s. A decision regarding her trekking will be taken Sunday morning, sources said. If she reaches the shrine, she would be the first woman from the menstruating age group to visit the temple after the apex court verdict last month. It is the responsibility of the administration to facilitate the darshan of Lord Ayyappa for all devotees, the collector asserted.

The Sabarimala temple complex had witnessed high drama and tense moments Friday when two women reached the hilltop with heavy police escort, but had to return before reaching the sanctum sanctorum following massive protests by Lord Ayyappa devotees.  PTI

Fathimas Kochi house ransacked
amansharma@tribunemail.com

Bengaluru, October 20

Former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda on Saturday said the country's secular parties will come together under the leadership of the Congress to defeat the BJP in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls as he denied reports that the grand alliance was losing its sheen.

The Janata Dal-Secular supremo accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of indulging in politics of polarisation and exploiting public sentiments, be it the Ram temple issue or the ongoing Sabarimala row.

"Some development will take place before Parliament election (and) some will take place after the election is over," he told reporters here.

"Whatever may be the differences, they (secular parties) will come together under the leadership of the national party Congress to see to it that the BJP is not in power," he added.

The JDS is running a coalition government with Congress in Karnataka which came into being after a post-poll arrangement between the two parties following a fractured verdict in the May assembly polls.

On reports that the grand alliance was running out of steam after regional parties refused to forge alliances with the Congress for the state assembly polls, Deve Gowda said, "The problem is in every state... There will be two or three regional parties and at the same time the Congress which is a national party is also powerful in some of these states."

"So, in some states there will be a coalition and in some states it will not be possible," he added.

"Seat sharing before election in some states would be successful and in some others, it may not be successful, but that does not mean the coalition has broken into pieces," he said further.

Recently, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati had ruled out a poll pact with the Congress for the assembly elections in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.

Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav too had reacted in a similar fashion, which was seen as a blow to the Congress' attempt to form a grand alliance to defeat the BJP.

Responding to a question whether BJP was raising issues like Ram temple and Sabarimala to score political points, Deve Gowda said, "There is no doubt about that, the main motto of BJP is to divide and rule." - PTI
laxmi@tribune.com

Manoj Sinha

Minister of State for Railways

No doubt the horrific accident that occurred on the railway tracks in Amritsar on the ill-fated Friday evening during Ravana dahan as part of the Dasehra celebrations was avoidable, but the Railways cant be blamed for any lapses on its part. Loss of precious lives, however, pains me beyond comprehension and my heart goes to those innocent people, who lost their lives.

At this juncture, I will not prefer going for scoring brownie political points, as the time is not right for it. But I must say that there was no provision of barricading along the railway tracks across the country. This was a very unfortunate incident, and I believe that politics should not be done on this issue.

Intending only to put the record straight, I must say, the Railways was never informed that the Dasehra event would be conducted near the Joda Phatak vicinity in Amritsar either by the area administration or the event organisers. The Commissioner (Amritsar), in his report, has said he has not granted permission to hold the Dasehra festival celebrations at that spot.

On Friday, a 700-strong crowd watching a huge effigy of Ravana go up in flames amid exploding crackers spilt on to the tracks at Joda Phatak when the Jalandhar-Amritsar DMU passenger train heading to Hoshiarpur from Amritsar came hurtling down that ill-fated evening. The events venue did not even fall under the Railways as it was nearly 70 m away from the tracks, where the accident took place.

The organisers should have realised the danger of holding events so close to a railway track. It was not the fault of the Railways. The department was not informed of any such event being organised there. When such events are organised, the local administration grants permission but the officials denied giving permission.

The level-crossing is about 300 m away from the place of incident. The railway track is at some height, and when the Ravana effigy was burnt, people couldnt hear the horn of the train due to crackers being burnt at the time, and thus the unfortunate incident took place.

Since law and order is essentially a state subject, the Punjab Government will definitely take appropriate action and as the information is available, Chief Minister Amarindar Singh has already announced an inquiry into the incident. Drivers are pre-briefed by the Railway authorities about where they have to slow the speed or blow a horn. There is a curve at the place of incident and driver might have not seen the people on the track. In this hour of grief, the Indian Railways and, for that matter, the entire Central government is with the people of Punjab and the state government. We are in touch with the Punjab Government and assure every possible medical help to the people injured in the tragic incident.
monicakchauhan@gmail.com

Amritsar, October 20

For more than 20 years, people from adjoining villages would gather at the vacant plot at Joda Phatak, barely 50 metres from railway tracks, to witness the burning of Ravana effigy as part of Dussehra celebrations.

What has been a source of joy and excitement to the young and the old for over two decades turned out to be a nightmare on Friday, after at least 61 revellers who had spilled onto railway tracks were mowed down by a train.

Fifty-year-old Jaswant said that the Ravana effigy is burnt at this plot, while the Ramlila event was organised at a good distance from the railway tracks.

Jawant claimed that people did not hear horn of the train coming from Jalandhar as there were noise due to bursting of firecrackers.

Before the train going to Amritsar from Jalandhar that mowed down the revellers, two trains passed through the tracks, but they slowed down their speed, he claimed.

Locals said that the train tragedy took place around 7.10 pm on Friday when railway tracks were packed with people who were watching the burning of Ravana effigy.

"Ravana effigy is being burnt at this vacant plot for over 20 years, but no such incident has happened earlier," Balwikdar, another resident, said.

At least 61 people were killed and 72 injured Friday evening after a crowd of Dussehra revellers that had spilled onto railway tracks while watching burning of Ravana effigy was run over by a train near here, officials said.

The train was coming from Jalandhar when the accident occurred at Joda Phatak near Amritsar, where at least 300 people were watching 'Ravana dahan' at a ground adjacent to the tracks. PTI
gspannu7@gmail.com

Amritsar, October 19

As many as 58 persons (61 according to PTI) were killed and over 40 injured on Friday evening after a crowd of Dasehra revellers that had spilled onto railway tracks while watching burning of the Ravana effigy was run over by the 74643 Jalandhar-Amritsar Diesel Multiple Unit (DMU) near Joda Phatak area.

At least 300 persons were watching Ravana dahan at a ground near the tracks and as the effigy was lit and the fireworks went off, a section of the crowd started retreating towards the tracks where a large number of people were already standing to watch the event, officials said.

Eyewitnesses said two trains arrived from the opposite direction at the same time (the Howrah Mail from Amritsar on the other track), giving little opportunity to people to escape.

Several people were mowed down by one of the trains, they said.

Wails and cries of people filled the air as friends and relatives frantically looked for their near and dear ones. Severed bodies, including of many children, were still lying on the accident site hours after the incident with angry people not allowing authorities to remove them.

It was a heart-rending sight as the dismembered body parts laid strewn on the blood-soaked ground. Many bodies could not be identified.

There was shock and disbelief as panic-stricken people recounted the horror. I have lost my minor child. I want him back, an inconsolable mother could be heard.

Several times we have been requesting the authorities and leaders to take up the issue with railway authorities to slow down the trains near this phatak during Dasehra, but no one has listened, a local said. Another said people could not hear the sound of the train.  TNS

Rail services suspended

New Delhi: All services on the Jalandhar-Amritsar route remained suspended three hours after the tragedy. A railway official said while some trains are being diverted, many are stationed near Jalandhar. Railway officials termed the dead as trespassers and said they were unlikely to get any compensation from the national transporter as they were not passengers. PTI

State mourning today

All offices, educational institutions in Punjab to remain closed on Saturday

Railways helpline numbers  0183-2223171, 0183-2564485

PM announces Rs 2 lakh for family of dead, Rs 50,000 for the injured

MoS, Railways, Manoj Sinha, reached the spot late at night. The train driver, whose identity is withheld, is being questioned

Permission not sought

Was permission sought and granted to burn Dasehra effigies near the railway tracks? Soon after the tragedy, the MC Commissioner said it wasnt. The CM said the administration will look into why the effigy was erected next to rail tracks, but MLA Navjot Kaur Sidhu said Dasehra celebrations took place at the spot every year. Railways should have ensured trains slow down, she added. TNS

Rushing to Amritsar to personally supervise relief & rescue in tragic rail accident on Dussehra in Amritsar. My govt will give Rs 5 lakh to kin of each deceased & free treatment to injured in govt & pvt hospitals. District authorities have been mobilised on war footing.  Capt.Amarinder Singh (@capt_amarinder) October 19, 2018




amansharma@tribunemail.com

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, October 20

Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh has directed Home Secretary NS Kalsi to prepare detailed guidelines for permission to hold religious and social congregations, in order to prevent the kind of tragedy that struck Amritsar during Dussehra celebrations on Friday evening.

The guidelines should clearly define the rules and regulations for holding such events/gatherings in any part of the state on any occasion, as per the directives issued by the Chief Minister.

Captain Amarinder has also asked the Home Secretary to issue an immediate advisory for sale and storage of crackers for the upcoming Diwali festival, to ensure strict adherence to the safety rules and guidelines for the same.

Taking serious note of the train tragedy that killed and injured dozens, when a train mowed them down on railway tracks in Amritsar yesterday, the Chief Minister made it clear that no laxity would be tolerated in these matters.

While the culpability in yesterday's tragic incident would be fixed, it was imperative to ensure that such an incident is not repeated, he said.
amansharma@tribunemail.com

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, October 20

Even though the official advance team has already reached Tel Aviv, Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh will take a final decision on his Israel trip after closely monitoring the situation in Amritsar.

Flying back to Delhi from Amritsar, the Chief Minister told the Tribune that he was keeping close tabs on the situation and would accordingly take the decision on the trip that was officially scheduled to commence on October 21. Captain Amarinder had last night postponed his scheduled departure to rush back from the airport in Delhi after receiving information about the train tragedy.

The Chief Minister had a tight schedule in Israel, where he was slated to meet the President of Israel, Reuven Rivlin, on October 23 as per the original agenda.

Hitting back at the opposition over allegations of reaching the mishap venue late, Capt Amarinder Singh said, "I was at the airport, ready to leave for Tel Aviv, when I heard of the rail mishap. Though I wanted to visit Amritsar last night itself, I was advised against it by the district authorities that did not want a VIP movement to divert attention from the urgent rescue and relief efforts needed at that hour."

Regarding the terms of reference of the magisterial probe, he said the Jalandhar Divisional Commissioner has been asked to look into all the lapses -- including lapses on the part of the railways, if any. The probe will cover all aspects of the tragedy, he added.

On being asked about any preliminary findings, he said, "I can not preempt what the inquiry will reveal. The government will act on the recommendations of the Commission. Let the Commission pinpoint the lapses and those responsible."
rchopra@tribunemail.com

Neeraj Bagga

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, October 20

The railways has decided not to hold a probe against the driver of the DMU that was involved in the Amritsar rail tragedy.

Meanwhile, plying of all trains from the Amritsar railway station has been withheld subject to security clearance from the state government.

Security has been beefed up in and around the railway station to avert any untoward situation arising out of the possible protests by people.

As per the train speedometer, the DMU was running at 91 kmph when the accident took place. During the accident the speedometer also got damaged.

Railway officials refused to reveal the identity of the driver, who said that after noticing the people he applied the brakes to bring down the speed but it was too late.

There is a manned railway crossing nearby called Jodda Phatak as twin railway lines--Amritsar to Jammu and Amritsar to Delhimeet here leading to the Amritsar railway station.

People say the gateman could have alerted the authorities after seeing a large number of people gathered over the railway tracks.

On Saturday, as a precautionary measure, the gateman was removed from the level crossing and armed guards of the Railway Protection Force were guarding the railway installation there.

At the accident site, an irregular boundary wall was seen on both sides of the railway lines to separate railway tracks from the residential localities.

Meanwhile, Divisional Railway Manager Vivek Kumar refused to hold a probe into the accident and termed it a run-over on a largescale. He said the people standing on the railway tracks amounted to trespassing and that the railways had not got any case registered.

He said the driver was not at fault as the train was being driven on the major Amritsar-Delhi railway line, which is supposed to accommodate trains running at 110 kmph.

He said that the driver after noticing the people over the tracks applied the brakes and brought down the speed to 68 kmph but the damage was already done.

He ruled out any mistake of the gateman saying the accident site was about 400 metres ahead of the level crossing. He said the duty of the gateman was to manage the gate; besides, the accident site was not properly lit and was not clearly visible from the level crossing.

GRP registers FIR

The Government Railway Police (GRP) on Saturday registered a case against unknown persons in connection with the Amritsar tragedy.

A case has been registered under Sections 304 (punishment for culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 304A (causing death by negligence) and 338 (causing grievous hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others) of the IPC, a GRP official said.

SHO of GRP railway station Amritsar Balvir Singh said the FIR has been registered against the unknown persons and names of the accused would be added in the FIR after investigation.

"It is too early to say anything about the accused (or) who was responsible for the mass killing on railway track. But during the course of investigation, many facts and causes are expected to come to light. Investigation will be conducted to find out the causes and lapses that led to the killing of so many people," he said.

Singh said the GRP was informed by Punjab police personnel about the incident and they immediately rushed to the spot.

"We found bodies of many people, including women and children. We extended all possible help to shift the injured people to different hospitals and assisted the administration in the rescue operation," he said.

Asked about the driver of the train, Singh said he has not been arrested as he has not been named in the FIR.  With PTI inputs
rchopra@tribunemail.com

Amritsar, October 20

Seven of the 70-odd people injured in a train accident near here were in critical condition, officials said on Saturday.

At least 61 people were killed on Friday evening after a crowd of Dussehra revellers that had spilled onto railway tracks while watching the burning of a Ravana effigy was run over by a train near Joda Phatak here.

The injured were admitted to different hospitals in Amritsar.

Among the injured, the condition of seven people continues to remain critical, an official said.

According to the officials, many of the deceased were yet to be identified.

A forensic science team had reached the site, they said.

The Punjab government has ordered a probe into the incident.

The incident took place on Friday evening when at least 300 people were watching the Ravana dahan at a ground adjacent to the tracks.

As the effigy was lit and fireworks went off, a section of the crowd started retreating towards the tracks where a large number of people were already standing to watch the event, officials said.

A video of the tragic incident showed that several people were run over by a train when they were watching the burning of an effigy of Ravana as part of the Dussehra celebrations.

Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, who has postponed his Israel trip, will reach Amritsar on Saturday morning to assess the situation and meet the families of the victims, officials said.

All offices and educational institutes will remain closed on Saturday in view of the tragedy.

On Friday night, Union Minister of State for Railways Manoj Sinha, along with Punjab BJP chief Shwait Malik, visited the site to take stock of the situation, officials said. PTI
editorial@tribune.com

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, October 20

The kin of victims blocked the railway tracks at the mishap site for hours on Saturday morning and shouted anti-government slogans. They alleged misreporting of the toll by the authorities and blamed them for the incident.

The protesters turned aggressive and attacked the police personnel deployed at the venue with stones. We have lost our loved ones. The announcement of compensation cannot replace them. The authorities and local leaders were also present at the venue for celebrations. Now they say that there was no permission for the event, said Sarwan, a daily wager, whose elder brother Mahesh died in the tragedy.

Surinder Sharma, a local activist, claimed: Over 150 people have been killed. The authorities are trying to hide facts and downplay the impact of the tragedy.

Later, the police resorted to lathicharge to disperse the crowd. The protesters also showed resentment against former MLA Navjot Kaur Sidhu, blaming her for the mishap.

She arrived late that led to a delay in the commencement of the function, which was scheduled for 6 pm. Had everything gone as planned, the crowd would have dispersed by the time the train crossed, said Santosh, another eyewitness.

Meanwhile, Gurdaspur ADC Subhash Chandar, who was among the team of officials commissioned to provide assistance to the affected families, said every possible step was being taken to ensure that the victims get aid. We have been visiting the affected families to gather information about missing persons so that unclaimed bodies can be identified. Three to four officials are working round-the-clock and taking care of their needs, he said.

Seven children among deceased

As per information released by the district administration, the dead included five children aged two years and one each aged three and five years. There were 12 casualties in the age group of 10 to 20. The dead also included at least seven females.
editorial@tribune.com

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, October 20

More than 16 hours after a train rammed into a Dasehra crowd, killing 59 persons and injuring 62, Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh arrived here on Saturday morning to review the ground situation. After visiting the accident site and the injured in various hospitals, he announced a magisterial inquiry with a report in four weeks.

On the Railways refusing to take responsibility, the CM replied: An inquiry will be conducted by a team under the Jalandhar Division Commissioner. It will take four weeks to reach a conclusion on every aspect, but I cannot prejudge.

He said he had put off his visit to Saturday on the advice of the district authorities, which pointed out that any VIP movement would divert attention from rescue and relief efforts. I was at the Delhi airport to board a Tel Aviv flight when I got information of the terrible disaster. I rushed back.

On Cabinet Minister Navjot Singh Sidhus alleged parmatma ka parkop (Gods wrath) remark, the CM said he (Sidhu) too was distressed and his remark may have been misconstrued. This is not the time for political blame game, he stressed, calling upon all to join hands in relief operations.

The national flag will fly at half mast and educational institutions in the district will remain shut till Monday, the CM announced.

A three-member crisis management group, headed by Health Minister Brahm Mohindra, will stay put in the city to monitor and assist in the relief operations.

Rs 2 lakh ex gratia for kin of dead from Bihar: Nitish

Patna: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Saturday announced Rs 2 lakh ex gratia for the next of kin of those hailing from the state who died in the train accident in Amritsar. Four persons from Bihar  one each from Patna and Bhagalpur districts and two from Bhagalpur  were confirmed to be among those killed. Kumar, who served as Railway Minister during Atal Bihari Vajpayees tenure, had earlier expressed grief at the loss of life. PTI

Railways to launch massive anti-trespass campaign

New Delhi: The Railways will launch a massive drive against trespass on tracks across its network, Railway Board Chairman Ashwani Lohani said on Saturday, a day after the Amritsar train accident described by the railways as a clear case of trespassing. We will launch a nationwide campaign against trespassing and the dangers thereof. This is all that we can do to avoid such tragedies, he said. PTI

Imran, Sirisena express grief

Islamabad/Colombo: Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan and Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena on Saturday expressed grief over the Amritsar tragedy. Khan tweeted, Saddened to learn of the tragic train accident... Condolences go to the families of the deceased. PTI

SGPC to hold akhand path

Amritsar: The SGPC will start an akhand path for the train mishap victims on Sunday at Gurdwara Diwan Hall in the Golden Temple complex, followed by the bhog on October 23. An SGPC delegation, including chief secretary Dr Roop Singh, visited the accident site and met the victims kin. TNS

Youth leaves behind disabled brother

Amritsar: Petrol pump employee Udho Ram Pandey, who had migrated from UP to the city a few years ago, lost his younger son, Bobby Pandey. I now see a bleak future for my polio-afflicted son, Rohit Pandey, and me. There is no one left to take care of us, he said. TNS
editorial@tribune.com

Rajmeet Singh

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, October 20

While the Railways has declined to conduct an investigation into the Amritsar tragedy, the Punjab Government has maintained that it will, in its magisterial inquiry, examine the role of railway officials besides other aspects related to the incident.

The Jalandhar Divisional Commissioner, Baldeo Purushartha, has been directed to look into the lapses, including those on the part of the Railways, if any. The investigation will cover all aspects of the tragedy, Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh told The Tribune.

Additional Chief Secretary (Home) issued a notification directing the Divisional Commissioner to conduct the probe and submit the report in four weeks. The commissioner has been appointed Special Executive Magistrate under the provision of Section 21 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973. While conducting the inquiry, he shall exercise all powers conferred upon an Executive Magistrate.

Official sources said in initial briefing to the Chief Minister by the officials concerned, the role of police authorities had come under the scanner.

The organisers of the event near Joda Phatak in the holy city would also be questioned for not taking the necessary permissions. Many heads could role, indicated a senior officer.

Terms and reference

In the terms and reference of the magisterial inquiry, the Divisional Commissioner has been authorised to conduct a thorough probe into the tragedy and examine acts of omission and commission by an individual or agency, if any, and accordingly fix responsibility. The inquiry will also suggest remedial measures to ensure that such incidents do not reccur.

Didnt want to hit relief, delayed visit: Capt

Hitting back at the Opposition over allegations of reaching the mishap venue late, Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh said: I was at the airport and was about to leave for Tel Aviv when I got information about the tragedy. I wanted to visit Amritsar last night itself, but was advised against it by the district authorities who said the VIP movement would divert their attention from the rescue and relief efforts.

No decision yet on Israel visit

Even as an official team of the state government has already reached Tel Aviv, Capt Amarinder is yet to take a decision on his Israel trip. On flying back to Delhi from Amritsar, the CM told the Tribune that he was keeping a watch on the situation and would later take a decision on the trip, which was scheduled to commence on October 21. The Chief Minister was slated to meet Israel President Reuven Rivlin on October 23.

Jakhar backs ex-MLA

On SAD chief Sukhbir Badal holding Navjot Kaur Sidhu responsible for the tragedy, PPCC president Sunil Jakhar said: "It is rubbish to blame her. She has been attending to patients the whole night." He said instead of giving statements, the Opposition should help in taking care of the injured. "Our workers are going to the homes of those killed and injured. Peace prayers will be held in Amritsar," he said. Ferozepur MLA Parminder Pinki said the PM should offer jobs to the families of those killed.
editorial@tribune.com

Charanjit Singh Teja

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, October 20

Local councillor Vijay Madan and her son Sourabh Madan Mithu, the main organisers of the Dasehra celebration in Amritsar, have gone underground with other family members. Their residence was attacked with stones by an angry mob late Friday night after the train tragedy, the police said.

Vijay Madan is the councillor from Ward no. 29 that falls under the Amritsar East Assembly constituency.

Mithu Madan had shot into limelight when he interrupted an anti-encroachment drive and managed the transfer of Estate Officer MC Sushant Bhatia on August 26.

He started his career with Youth Congress leader Dinesh Bassi. Owing to his proximity to Cabinet Minister OP Soni and MLA Raja Warring, he succeeded in getting a post in the Youth Congress.

When Navjot Sidhu joined the Congress, he drew close to him and his family. Recently, sources had claimed he was behind the attack on veteran Congress Councillor Jeet Bhatia. It is believed it was because of his proximity with the Sidhus that he was not named in the FIR.
amansharma@tribunemail.com

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, October 20

Shiromani Akali Dal leader and Member of Parliament Naresh Gujral has sought global cooperation for safe migration calling it integral to economies today.

Gujral was addressing the second committee agenda item on Globalisation and Interdependence at the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). India aligned itself with the statement delivered by Egypt earlier on behalf of the Group of 77.

While economic and financial integration has significantly helped global economic growth, including in developing countries, the impacts of globalisation and emerging technologies have been uneven causing discontent in certain sections, said Gujral.

Such as the ongoing conflicts in many regions that force people to flee their homes; and terror networks that continue to expand their reach through cross-border recruitment, propaganda, financing and targeting of innocents. Spread of disastrous pandemics in recent years as also many global health issues such as Anti-Microbial Resistance, HIV/AIDS or Tuberculosis point to another serious challenge, he added.

In times of hyper-nationalism with walls closing in for migrants, India batted for mobility of persons required by todays knowledge and innovation-driven economies. Incidentally Gujrals statement on migrants and refugees comes at a time when India finds itself in a controversy over its stand on Rohingya in the country.

During the last one year, the United Nations has focused its attention on the large scale movements of migrants and refugees in response to events unfolding in certain parts of the world that are having ramifications far and wide. Most nation states and societies have been built upon waves of migration over the past several centuries. Migration has continued to expand and now in a globalised world it is an integral aspect of the integration of economies over the last few decades, said Gujral.

The SAD MP welcomed the Inter-Governmental Negotiations on Global Compact on Migration to provide framework that facilitates international cooperation on safe, orderly and regular migration. The Global Compact will be adopted in an international conference in Morocco later in December this year.
editorial@tribune.com

Perneet Singh

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, October 20

Farmers are having a tough time in the regions grain markets due to high moisture content in their paddy produce while they allege that moisture meters of the purchase agencies have only added to their woes.

Talking to The Tribune, Darshan Singh, a farmer from Jassi Pauwali village, said, I have been waiting for the purchase of my paddy for the last five days, but the agencies are saying its moisture content is high. The procurement agency and rice sheller representatives, armed with separate moisture meters, had come to purchase it a couple of days ago. However, both the meters were showing different readings. While one of them showed moisture content at 22, the other put the figure at 26. I am clueless what to do now.

He said he had been drying up his paddy in the sunlight for the last four days and it seemed completely dry to him. He was now waiting for the moisture content to dip to the permissible limit of 17.

Harpreet Singh, another farmer, said his paddy, too, had high moisture content. He also echoed similar sentiments regarding two moisture meters showing varied readings.

When contacted, Bathinda Deputy Commissioner Praneet said the farmers should only go by the moisture meter reading of the government agency official. He said he was not aware of the rice sheller representatives also checking moisture content in the grain market.

Meanwhile, there are reports that Punjab farmers from areas bordering Haryana are selling their paddy produce in the neighbouring state (Haryana), where they find the scenario a bit lenient when it comes to procuring paddy with high moisture content. Sources said farmers from Mansa district were heading with their paddy to Haryanas purchase centres like Brahmanwala, Ladhuwas, Babbanpur and Mahindoke, which were close to the interstate border.

The BKU Ekta Ugrahan Mansa district president, Ram Singh Bhainibagha, also confirmed the trend. He said they had even resorted to protest recently after paddy with high moisture content was not allowed to be unloaded at the Bareta grain market in Mansa. He warned that more paddy from Punjab would be sold in Haryana, if the state government did not relax the norms regarding the moisture content.

On the other hand, Mansa Deputy Commissioner Apneet Riyait said she had asked the SSP to enhance vigil at the nakas and ensure that paddy-laden trolleys from Punjab were not allowed to cross over to Haryana. Besides, she said, they had also taken up the matter with the Fatehabad Deputy Commissioner, urging him to look into the matter and also initiate action against the arhtiyas who were indulging in these practices.

Farmers protest poor facilities in mandis

Muktsar: Irate over the poor arrangements in grain markets, farmers on Saturday lodged a protest near Jhabelwali village by blocking the Muktsar-Kotkapura highway for over two hours. They said the state had not made adequate arrangements for stubble management. They said the rice millers were not lifting paddy citing high moisture content. tns
rchopra@tribunemail.com

Amritsar, October 20

Most people who were mowed down by a speeding train in Amritsar during Dussehra celebrations on Friday evening were migrant workers from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, an official said here on Saturday.

The accident has claimed 59 lives so far out of which 39 bodies have been identified by the authorities.

A senior official in the district administration said most migrant workers from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar work in an industrial area a stones throw from the accident site and live nearby.

The Dussehra celebration gathering on Friday evening had a good number of people who belonged to these two states as the festival is celebrated with great devotion and pomp back in their home towns, he said.

As per initial reports, most of deceased were migrant workers from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar and were working in the industrial area to earn their livelihood, the official said.

The official, however, did not give the exact breakdown of numbers as 20 bodies were yet to be identified.

Jagunandan, a 40-year-old wage labourer from Hardoi in UP who suffered injuries in the head and leg, said he was not standing near the tracks but was pushed as people started running away from the main stage after the Ravan effigy was set afire.

The father of four was brought to hospital by a relative, who accompanied him to the event.

The district administration is providing all possible help to the families of the deceased in sending bodies to their home town, another official said.

Since morning, a large number of people have been sitting on railway tracks where the accident took place due to which train services have been suspended on this line.

Angry people are raising slogans against the state government, saying it did nothing to ensure proper security arrangements for the Dussehra event.

The Punjab government has ordered a magisterial inquiry to ascertain the reason behind the tragic accident. PTI
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Charanjit Singh Teja

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, October 20

The local SDM and the Municipal Corporation have confirmed that Mithu Madan, Congress leader and son of area councillor Vijay Madan, had not applied for permission to organise the Dasehra event at Dhobi Ghat. He, however, had been allowed to hold a public gathering and use a public address system by the SHO, Mohkampura. Mithu had also written to the MC to provide a water tanker and a fire tender.

Vikas Heera, SDM, said: The organisers had not applied for approval from the administration, which is mandatory.

Nine major and 20 minor Dasehra events were organised in the city on Friday. Only four Dasehra committees had taken permission from the MCs Estate Office, two from the Amritsar Improvement Trust (AIT) and one from the Army (Durgiana Management Committees event was held on land belonging to the Army).

Sushant Bhatia, Estate Officer, said: Organisers at Chheharta, Focal Point, Haripura and Bhadar Kali were given permission. No other committee approached us.

Rajiv Sekhri, Superintending Engineer, Amritsar Improvement Trust, said: Two committees submitted security bonds and were given the go-ahead. Sonali Giri, MC Commissioner, said: We can act under the Punjab Municipal Corporation Act, but the CM has already ordered a magisterial probe.

Rules governing public events

Permission from owner of land where the event is planned (MC and Improvement Trust in most cases)

Intimate the police and get permission for assembly and using loudspeakers (as per specified timings)

If case a stage is to be erected, a certificate from the PWD is required

Intimate Health Department to depute team for medical emergency

MC norms for giving approval
monicakchauhan@gmail.com

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, October 20

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Saturday ordered a magisterial inquiry into the Amritsar train accident after visiting injured and kin of those killed in the tragedy.

The Chief Minister postponed a trip to Israel and arrived here this morning to assess the damage.

After landing at Amritsar airport, Capt Amarinder reached the accident site. He met senior officials and members of the crisis management group and took stock of the relief work.

He was accompanied by Health Minister Brahm Mohindra, Local Bodies Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu, Education Minister O P Soni, Punjab Congress chief Sunil Jakhar, among others.

The officers briefed him about the whole tragedy and the number of deaths and injuries.

We are announcing a magisterial probe into the incident, Singh said while talking to media here.

He said four weeks have been given to submit the report to find out who was at fault. The divisional commissioner of Jalandhar has been entrusted with the job of holding the inquiry, he said.

He also ordered immediate release of Rs 3 crore to the Amritsar DC for payment of ex gratia to the deceased.

He said compensation of Rs 5 lakh each for the families of the deceased had already been announced by the state government. Besides, the government would bear the cost of medical treatments of the injured admitted to different hospitals, he told reporters.

At least 61 people were killed on Friday evening after a crowd of Dasehra revellers that had spilled onto railway tracks while watching the burning of a Ravana effigy was run over by a train near Joda Phatak here.

A 700-strong crowd was watching the Ravana dahan at a ground adjacent to the railway tracks when the Jalandhar-Amritsar Diesel Multiple Unit (DMU) passenger train heading to Hoshiarpur from Amritsar came hurtling down at around 7 p.m.

Most people reportedly could not hear the hooting of the train due to the exploding crackers.

In just 10-15 seconds it left behind a heap of crushed and dismembered bodies.

Following the accident, the Railways cancelled 37 trains, diverted 16 trains, short terminated 12 trains and short originated six trains on the route Railway authorities have said that the tragedy was not their responsibility as the organisers and local authorities had not informed them about the event being held so close to the railway tracks.

Senior railway officials said here that the presence of so many people, who were watching the function, on the railway tracks was a trespass. With agencies
editorial@tribune.com

PK Jaiswar

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, October 20

Heart-rending scenes were witnessed at Shiv Puri cremation ground, where most of the Amritsar mishap victims were consigned to the flames after a post-mortem examination. Inconsolable, some family members fainted.

The cremations started at 8:30 am, even as ambulances kept bringing bodies every 10 minutes. A heavy police force was deployed.

I have never seen such a large number of cremations on a single day in the holy city. It is a dark day in the history of Amritsar, said Ramesh Chander Sharma, president of the Durgiana Temple management committee that manages the cremation ground.

We even used vacant spaces between two platforms, meant for the rituals of the Arya Samaj community, for cremating the victims and other deceased persons, he added.

The committee did not charge anything from the families for the cremations. In this hour of grief, our deepest sympathies are with the families, said Pink Raj, an employee of the committee. The latter has been providing food and tea to the people at the Civil Hospital and Guru Nanak Dev Hospital since Friday night. Students of Laxmi Narayan Ayurvedic College donated blood to the injured.

As many as 29 bodies were cremated at Shiv Puri (Durgiana Temple), while five were cremated in the Mohkampura area. Two victims were consigned to the flames at the cremation ground near Gurdwara Shaheed Baba Deep Singh. Four bodies had been sent to Uttar Pradesh. The bodies of three migrants were kept by the committee as relatives from their native places were on the way to the city.

Sharma said a bus would be arranged for family members of the victims for the funeral rites at Hardwar.

Former Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal visited the Shiv Puri cremation ground and expressed condolences with the bereaved families.
editorial@tribune.com

Neeraj Bagga

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, October 20

The Divisional Railway Manager (DRM), Ferozepur, Vivek Kumar, on Saturday refused to hold an inquiry against the driver of the DMU which mowed down a Dasehra crowd in Amritsar, killing 59 and injuring 62, contending that standing on the tracks amounted to trespass.

Railway officials refused to reveal the identity of the driver, who reportedly informed the authorities about the mishap on reaching the station. He told the authorities he had applied the brakes to bring down the train speed, but in vain.

Meanwhile, plying of trains from the Amritsar railway station has been withheld, subject to security clearance by the state government. In view of angry protests by surging crowds, security has been beefed up in and around the railway station.

There is a manned railway crossing at the dual railway tracks that lead to the Amritsar railway station. Locals say the gate man could have alerted his seniors about the large crowd gathered at the tracks to watch the effigies burn. As a precautionary measure, the gate man has been removed and personnel of the Railway Protection Force put on guard.

The DRM maintained that the driver was not to blame in any way. The train is driven on the major Amritsar-Delhi rail line meant for trains running at 110 km per hour. The driver noticed the crowds and applied the brakes, bringing down the speed to 68 km per hour, but in vain. Sources claimed the train speedometer showed that the DMU was being driven at 91 km per hour.

Defending the employee at the railway crossing, the DRM pointed out that the accident site was about 400 metres away and that he could not possibly have noticed the crowds. His duty is at the gate. In any case, the accident site was poorly lit and he could not have seen anything, he said.

On an irregular boundary wall on either side of the railway lines and people accusing the Railways of not raising a wall or a wire fence to keep off inhabitant, the DRM said there was no such rule. On the clearance by Permanent Way Inspector (PWI), responsible for inspection and maintenance of tracks, he said the clearance was for the condition of tracks and not for crowds.

GRP case against unknown persons

Amritsar: The Government Railway Police (GRP) have registered a case of culpable homicide and other sections of the IPC against unknown persons. The accused could be named later during the course of investigation. An official said the police would name the suspects only on completion of a magisterial probe ordered by the CM. TNS
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Amarjeet Baath

The grapevine of the Hindi film industry has been abuzz and the news has been doing the rounds since long  a biopic on Sahir Ludhianvi is in the making. Sanjay Leela Bhansali, the maker of spectacles like Devdas, Bajirao Mastani and Padmavat has been working to bring Sahirs story to celluloid. The actor who is likely to slip into the shoes of the poet lyricist is Abhishek Bachchan. As to who will play Amrita Pritam, his love interest  from Priyanka Chopra to Deepika Padukone and more recently Alia Bhatt  many names have been doing the rounds.

The big question, however, on everyones mind is  will the biopic do justice to Sahirs personality, will his poetry mesmerise again, will the film industry pay a perfect ode to one of its own. These are the nebulous queries at this point.

On his death anniversary (October 25), let us remember the revolutionary poet who lived ahead of his time.

Born Abdul Hayee, he adopted the name Sahir and lived true to his name. For he was a magician of words, who conjured up verses of hopes and inspired dreams of eradicating social evils. Dipped in realism, written with honesty, committed to the cause of common man, Sahirs writings touched the nerve of his readers.

Raised by his mother, Sahir was well aware of the struggle and exploitation that society handed out to women. His empathy was captured in his Aurat ne janam diya mardo ko, mardo ne ne use bazaar diya.

His deep-rooted sympathy for the working class stemmed from his leftist leanings. He read Marx extensively and was a member of All India Students Federation (AISF), affiliated to the Communist Party of India (CPI).

His compassion for the toiling masses, reflected in his verses, made them connect to his words. His collection of poems Talkiyan followed by a long poem Parchaiyan become popular with progressive writers.

His mother had left his father due to his feudal and philandering ways and had raised Sahir on her own. So he had experienced the harsh realities of life and social imbalances firsthand. Thats how his writings became the voice of people of India. Born and raised in Ludhiana, he studied at Malwa Khalsa School and later Government College for Boys from where he was thrown out. Ironically, after he became a celebrity lyricist, the same college which had expelled him, claimed its famous son and named an auditorium after him.

Parental differences made him and his mother leave Ludhiana and settle in Lahore. But he came back in 1949 after Partition and settled in Bombay.

In an industry, already having many established and renowned poets, Sahir tasted success soon as he ushered in an era of progressive and revolutionary lyrics. He was already an acclaimed writer when he came to Mumbai. His poetry, which had been confined to mushairas and writers circle, now found a wider audience as his songs became popular.

His progressive views and lyrics found a resonance not only among audience but his contemporaries too. Many of them like Kaifi Azmi and Shailendra Singh were part of the Progressive Writers Association (PWA). Sahir himself had been a part of this movement and it was this association that provided Sahir his cultural platform to express himself as a socialist poet.

A language of social revolution flowed freely from his pen. He wrote verses on fallout of political ideologies, conflicts of religion, atrocities on the common man, womens rights, etc. His songs challenged patriarchy, morality, social norms and etiquettes, class boundaries, differences of caste and creed, greed, materialism and falling human values.

His anguish and refusal to compromise finds an echo in Pyaasas iconic song ...

Ye mahalon, ye takhton, ye taajon ki duniya

Ye insaa ke dushman samaajon ki duniya

Ye daulat ke bhukhe rivaazon ki duniya

Ye duniya agar mil bhi jaaye to kya hai

Despite being an atheist, he could write about God with ease and simplicity . His Allah tero naam, Ishwar tero naam, Toraa man darpan kehlaye, Tu Hindu banega na Musalman banega, insaan ki aulad hai insaan banega amply demonstrated his belief in the equality of mankind and universal brotherhood.

Not only for downtrodden, Sahir is also credited with bringing dignity to his own fraternity in the film industry. He was responsible for the acceptance of a long pending demand of getting the name of the lyricist included in the credits of the films.

Such was his aura in his heydays that whenever Sahir penned songs for a film, even his photo appeared on the film poster, along with that of lead actors. A Padma Shri awardee and a two-time Filmfare award winner, Sahir was not just a poet of his times. His vast poetic canvas has stood the test of time.
editorial@tribune.com

Salil Desai

With Nandita Das directed biopic Manto garnering critical acclaim as well as audiences appreciation, the focus has now shifted to Ludhianas other famous son, Sahir Ludhianvi.

Bollywood, taking a cue from the West, is going to pay tribute to one of its most famous artists with a biopic on his life  capturing his idealism, inner conflicts, vanity, self-destructive tendencies and his love interests.

Both British and Americans have made biopics on some of their famous authors. Iris (2001) based on British writer, Iris Murdoch, Capote (2005) featuring American author Truman Capote, Enid (2009) on famous childrens author, Enid Blyton and Trumbo (2015) based on American screenwriter Dalton Trumbo.

Iris is a touching film on Iris Murdochs inevitable decline afflicted by Alzheimers and her husband, John Bayleys tender love for her, as he struggles to look after her. Director Richard Eyre juxtaposes their present and past through superb flashbacks, which reveal the nature of this childless couples lifelong relationship  unequal, contradictory and yet abidingly deep. Despite her own unfaithfulness, Iris considers her husband the centre of her existence, while the shy, sensitive John possesses the super-human ability to forgive and love her beyond himself. Kate Winslet and Judi Dench, playing the young and old Iris Murdoch, respectively, have delivered spell-binding performances. Jim Broadbent as the aged, frustrated yet gentle John Bayley gave an Academy Award winning performance while Hugh Bonneville as young John, too, was remarkable.

In Capote, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, has essayed the Oscar-winning role of Truman Capote. Directed by Bennett Miller, the film subtly captures the basic duality and hypocrisy intrinsic to many authors  the ability to feel deeply, empathise and understand human frailty and yet unabashedly manipulate people only to gain insight into their stories. The script dwells on Capotes relationship with two murderers, who killed a Kansas family in 1959, which inspired him to write his famous novel, In Cold Blood. Rivetingly realistic, the film shows how Capote gains access to the murderers, secures the confidence of one of them, Perry Smith and teases out the story, bit by bit, as the case drags through the criminal justice system.

Enid, directed by James Hawes, shattered the public image of Enid Blyton. That the creator of Secret Seven, Famous Five and Noddy was not a gentle and affectionate woman, but a cold, calculating and selfish person, who treated her children and husband quite shabbily, comes as a rude shock and reminds us how different reality can be from perception. Helena Bonham Carter played Enid Blyton, with hard-as-nails frostiness. The film shows how she uses, mistreats and divorces her first husband, Hugh Pollock (Mathew Macfadyen), who was also her first publisher, and then deprives him of visitation rights to meet their daughters. There is another scene where Enid hosts a party for children, in keeping with her public image, while keeping her own daughters away from it.

Trumbo, directed by Jay Roach narrates the ordeal of Dalton Trumbo, Hollywoods highest paid screenwriter of his time. He was persecuted, even jailed by the US government for suspected Communist sympathies during the McCarthy era, which led to his blacklisting by Hollywood as well. With his livelihood and finances threatened, the feisty Trumbo, played marvellously by Bryan Cranston, adopts guerrilla tactics for survival. First, he convinces his friend Ian McLellan Hunter to sell and take credit for his original screenplay, Roman Holiday and then starts writing screenplays for B-grade films under a pseudonym. In fact, one of his screenplays, The Brave One, even won an Academy Award which Trumbo could not claim. Eventually his rehabilitation started when actor Kirk Douglas and director Otto Preminger defied the ban on him and engaged him for their films, Spartacus and Exodus, respectively.

The film had several fine performances, by Helen Mirren, who plays Trumbos chief tormentor Hedda Hopper, a Los Angeles Times gossip columnist and Diane Lane as Trumbos wife Cleo.

Like Manto and now Sahir, these films are worth watching because they capture the elements of utter fragility, vulnerability, sensitivity and desolation of authors.
Monica Sharma

Monica Sharma

Australias Hindu community is worried after a temple was vandalised in Sydney during the Navratras (on October 14).

More than 30 idols at the Barathiye Mandir in Sydneys Regents Park were destroyed. The temple was in ruins when devotees arrived for the Sunday evening prayers, said priest Paras Ram Maharaj.

He said a church was converted into the temple 20 years ago by the Fiji Hindu community. We respect all religions and have also preserved Catholic symbols at the temple, which was attacked 10 years ago as well. I want strict action against the miscreants, the priest said. Jeet Singh, a devotee, said there were no CCTV cameras installed on the temple premises. But the police must act fast to nab the culprits. It is about the sentiments of people.

Calling for public awareness programmes on various religions, Paras Ram Maharaj said, Australia is known to be a multicultural country and we must protect its identity.

The incident sparked condemnation and concern among the Hindu community in Australia, many of whom suspect it could be a hate crime. The president of the Hindu Council of Australia, Prakash Mehta, claimed that the idols were damaged deliberately and the miscreants did not touch the donation box, making it evident that it was not a robbery bid.

Minister for immigration, citizenship and multicultural affairs David Coleman has condemned the temple vandalisation. He said it was against the essence of Australia. The New South Wales minister for multiculturalism, Ray Williams, has said, We will not tolerate the destruction and desecration which threaten the cohesion of the multicultural communities. Hindu Council of Australia vice-president Surinder Jain said the Australian government and people coming from various communities have condemned the incident. Many of them have offered aid to refurnish the temple.

Not the first case

This is not the first time that a temple in the country has been attacked. Eight years ago, firing took place at the Sri Mandir Temple, one of the oldest temples in Australia. In March 2011, shots were fired at the Australias first Hindu temple. In November, 2010, miscreants smashed windows of the same temple. In 2010, a gurdwara was torched in Melbourne.
Saba Naqvi

Saba Naqvi

Asouffle has to be baked at the right temperature to make sure that it puffs up and rises at the right moment and does not fall flat. It cannot be made to rise again and again, though a badly cooked and flat souffle can be eaten up.

The Ram mandir as a political plank has actually not worked for the BJP for over two decades. It lost its fizz decades ago and no one less than the man who helmed the emergence of the party on the national stage, LK Advani, knew so once the Babri mosque fell. Hes still facing criminal charges regarding the Babri demolition and does not say very much these days. But the facts speak for themselves. In several elections in the Hindi heartland, the BJP floated the mandir card but it did not work as an electoral issue. Uttar Pradesh, in particular, appeared to be bored by the mandir as a voting issue.

In the two significant sweeps that the party registered in 2014 and in the 2017 Assembly election in UP, the Ram mandir was not a primary ingredient in the cocktail of Hindutva. The Muzzafarnagar riots, love jihad, social cleavages with Muslims, the belief in Hindu rashtra, the hope in Modi, romeo squads, beef, meat and butchers, and so on were the various unstable chemicals thrown into the pot to create the combustion.

So, why are the BJP and the RSS so keen on the Ram mandir issue somehow being resolved before 2019? To an extent, it is indeed about personal faith and the belief that a temple should exist at a spot believed to be the birthplace of Lord Rama. Extend this to the charge that is coming from within the ranks of the cadre: you promised us the Ram temple, why is it still not there when you and our elected leaders are so powerful? If a simple majority BJP regime led by a powerful figure cannot build the Ram temple, who can? Hence, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwats need to project a sense of urgency over building the Ram temple. He stated in his Vijaydashami address: Bring in a law, bring in an ordinance. This goes beyond the BJPs position that a temple should be built either as a result on an agreement between Hindu and Muslim parties or from a court verdict. But it does dovetail with BJP president Amit Shahs statements last month that the original demolition of the Ram temple at Ayodhya 600 years ago should also be relevant to any decisions taken by courts and he would like to see the temple built before 2019. Beyond the personal faith, for those who see political projects as part of larger socio-cultural strategies, the Ram temple would indeed be an important symbol of victory. It would mark a triumph against the foundational ideas of India and would be a totem of the new India.

The BJP has always tried to calibrate the Ram temple issue carefully, but it has not always struck the right note. Even Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the moderate PM, who did not derive his strength from the Hindutva issues, at times fell back on the Ram temple when he needed to shore up support from the RSS that did not have the best of relations with his PMO.

In December 1999, BJPs Shahnawaz Hussain was then the sole Muslim minister in the Union Cabinet. Hed started hosting iftars and the entire Vajpayee Cabinet attended. At the iftar, Vajpayee made a statement in support of the Ram mandir, saying the temple could be built at the disputed site and a masjid elsewhere. This created a furore because it was Vajpayee saying it as many allies were with the coalition because certain issues were to be off the table. Mamata Banerjee was then part of the NDA and had a great rapport with Vajpayee. She, along with the TDPs Yerran Naidu, went marching off to meet him and came back to tell the press that he explained that there are some issues that the BJP as a party has to raise.

Whats clear is that two decades later the BJP is still on the same ground. What has changed is the level of political and institutional power that the BJP enjoys. The Ram temple would be a crowning glory, but at this point it is still a mirage.
Shahzad Raza

Shahzad Raza

One phrase can best define the existing state of Pakistan: if the worse is over, the worst is yet to come. Since the victory of Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaaf (PTI) and coronation of Imran Khan as a messiah-in-chief, Pakistan has observed a series of unfortunate events. The stock market nosedived, tax collection dwindled, credibility of state institutions eroded, foreign exchange reserves shrank further, business community withheld investments and the common people suffered with higher taxes and heavier utility bills. And the last but not least, the PTI lost several key seats in the national and provincial assemblies in the recent byelections.

With its election campaign, the PTI converted the once-aloof people of Pakistan into a large group of jittery individuals who would not accept any excuse. They voted Imran Khan to power because he had promised a quick change. Selling buffalos and additional vehicles of the Prime Minister House could have been a good publicity stunt, yet it failed to impress people, who were expecting a sudden change.

Perhaps, Khan and his team underestimated the magnitude of problems  some of which are chronic in nature. For instance, less than one million of the 200 million Pakistanis are registered taxpayers. Big businessmen and politicians evade taxes by exploiting the loopholes or bribing the collectors.

During the elections, the party ran a smear campaign against its opponents. Khan vowed to punish the corrupt. People however didnt understand that decades of wrongdoing could not be corrected overnight. However, that misunderstanding has started costing the PTI.

In the recent byelections, the ruling party lost four national assembly (NA) seats, which it had won in the last general elections. Khan had won the four, and had to retain only one under the law. Interestingly, the two seats he vacated were retaken by his rivals. In another keenly watched contest, the widow of Haroon Bilour, a slain Awami National Party leader, defeated the PTI candidate. What really happened in just two months that people voted against Khan on those two seats?

According to experts, in his ambitiousness and over confidence, Khan couldnt gauge public sentiment and the level of their expectations. In his inaugural speech, he pledged to implement corrective measures within the first three months of his tenure. He was, perhaps, unable to grasp that the system not only needed a massive surgery but also a long-term chemotherapy to get rid of the chronic problems. Business activities have literally come to a standstill in Pakistan. Scared of getting hounded by tax authorities, the rich in Pakistan have gone into hibernation. The once-flourishing real estate sector has crumbled with everyone following the wait-and-see policy.

Before coming to power, PM Khan was advised to rely less on China and enhance economic ties with the rest of three neighbouring countries. Though he ordered to revisit all projects under the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), he failed to make a single concrete initiative vis-a-vis Iran, Afghanistan and, most importantly, India. Now Pakistan seeks a $10 billion bailout package from the IMF. Pakistani rulers in the past, too, had taken fresh loans to repay old debts. The present government is about to commit the same mistake. It has already slashed subsidies worth billions, which will affect the poor. It has increased the rate of indirect taxes and reduced the size of development budget without giving a roadmap of curtailing non-development expenditures, including defence spending.

PM Khan chose Saudi Arabia, his first foreign destination after assuming power, while ignoring Iran, which can cater to the energy needs of Pakistan. The foreign policy goals of the government are vague.

The first three months of the government in power seem like the last three months of its five-year tenure. The arrest of opposition leader Shahbaz Sharif provided enough ammunition to the opposition, who is accusing the government of settling personal scores. Khan had showcased himself as the last saviour of Pakistan. He conveniently sold the slogan of Now or Never, without giving himself any margin of error or mistake. He set for himself an arduous task of cleansing the Augean stables. Would he divert the flow of river Alpheus is difficult to predict? The upcoming five years are critical for his and the countrys survival.

 The writer is an Islamabad-based journalist
pardeepdhull@gmail.com

London, October 20

An anonymous political campaign on Facebook has reached nearly 10 million voters, asking them via advertisements to oppose British Prime Minister Theresa Mays Brexit deal, the media reported on Saturday.

According to The Guardian, it was discovered by the digital campaign group 89up, which shared the details with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sports (DCMS) panel into fake news.

In adverts micro-targeted to individual constituencies, voters are exhorted to tell your local MP to bin Chequers, said the report.

This advertising is designed to specifically influence MPs, 89up said.

All that is known about the campaign is what can be found on its website, Twitter and Facebook accounts.

Going by the name Mainstream Network, the group writes and publishes news stories on its website with an almost exclusively pro-Brexit slant, shared on its social media accounts, the report added.

Over the last couple of weeks, I received a flood of about 50 emails - some quite abusive - urging me to chuck Chequers and vote for out-and-out Brexit, Labour MP Paul Farrelly was quoted as saying The news comes at a time when Facebook is reeling under a couple of massive data breaches including the Cambridge Analytica scandal that impacted 87 million users earlier this year.

Facebook says it has set a goal of bringing a transparency feature for political adsnow available in the US and Brazilto the UK and India by March 2019.

With the new ad architecture in place, people would be able to see who paid for a particular political ad.

Facebook has also set up a War Room to reduce the spread of potentially harmful content.

Facebook faced flak for not doing enough to prevent spread of misinformation by Russia-linked accounts during the 2016 US presidential election.  IANS
uttara@tribuneindia.com

London, October 20

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange is taking legal action against Ecuador, the South American nation that continues to provide him asylum, for allegedly violating his "fundamental rights and freedoms".

The 47-year-old Australian national, who has been holed up in a back room of the Ecuadorean embassy in central London for over six years, was placed under a new set of house rules after he was allowed limited internet access recently after a seven-month hiatus.

The WikiLeaks said Ecuador had threatened to remove the protection Assange has had since being granted political asylum in 2012, and added that his access to the outside world had been "summarily cut off".

WikiLeaks lawyer Baltasar Garzon is now in Quito, the capital of Ecuador, to launch the case, which is set to be heard in a domestic court next week, according to UK media reports.

"Ecuador's measures against Julian Assange have been widely condemned by the human rights ommunity," a Wikileaks statement said.

Assange's lawyers said they are also challenging the legality of the Ecuadorian government's "special protocol", which makes his political asylum contingent on "censoring" his freedom of opinion, speech and association.

The protocol also requires journalists, lawyers and anyone else seeking to see Assange to disclose their private or political details, such as social media usernames and the serial numbers and codes of their phones and tablets, with Ecuadorwhich the protocol says the government may "share with other agencies".

The protocol claims the embassy may seize the property of Assange or his visitors and, without a warrant, hand it over to UK authorities, notes the Wikileaks statement.

Assange sought refuge at the Ecuador Embassy in Knightsbridge in June 2012, having lost an ppeal against extradition to Sweden for questioning on allegations of rape and sexual assault that went to the Supreme Court.

While the Swedish case has since been dropped, Assange is still wanted by the Scotland Yard for breach of bail and faces arrest the moment he steps out of the diplomatically immune territory.

Assange had been granted asylum six years ago on the grounds that he feared extradition to America, where he faced a possible death sentence or torture for Wikileaks' alleged leak of secrets. PTI
uttara@tribuneindia.com

LONDON/BELFAST, October 20

Hundreds of thousands of supporters of the European Union marched through London on Saturday in the biggest demonstration so far to demand that the British government holds a public vote on the terms of Brexit.

The protesters waved the blue and gold flag of the EU and held up "Bollocks to Brexit" banners under sunny skies to call for another referendum on the eventual deal on how Britain will leave the world's biggest trading bloc.

The march comes after another tumultuous week for Prime Minister Theresa May in which she failed to agree a divorce deal with EU leaders in Brussels and infuriated members of her own party by making further concessions in the talks.

With just over five months until Britain is due to leave there is no clarity about what a future trade deal with the EU will look like and some rebels in May's Conservative Party have threatened to vote down a deal if she clinches one.

James McGrory, one of the organisers of the march, said voters should have the chance to change their minds because the decision will impact their lives for generations.

"People think the Brexit negotiations are a total mess, they have no faith in the government to deliver the promises that were made, partly because they cannot be delivered," he said.

At the march, demonstrators carried placards saying "Brexit is pants", "Time for an EU turn" and "European and proud. Organisers said about 670,000 people took part in the march, which would make it the largest in Britain since a demonstration against the Iraq war in 2003.

The "People's Vote" campaign, which includes several pro-EU groups, said they had stewards stationed at regular intervals to estimate the size of the crowd. The police did not provide an independent estimate of numbers participating.

Protesters originally gathered near Hyde Park and then walked past Downing Street and finished outside parliament where they listened to politicians from all main political parties.

Brexit reversed?

Britain's 2016 referendum saw 52 per cent vote in favour of leaving the European Union. But the past two years have been politically fraught as the government has struggled to agree on a plan and there are fears that Britain could leave the bloc without a deal.

Some opinion polls have shown a slight shift in favour of remaining in the European Union, but there has yet to be a decisive change in attitudes and many in Britain say they have become increasingly bored by Brexit.

The prime minister has repeatedly ruled out holding a second referendum. The opposition Labour party's Brexit spokesman said last month his party was open to a second referendum with the option of staying in the bloc in certain circumstances.

In Belfast in Northern Ireland, around 2,000 people gathered on Saturday to oppose Brexit.

Brendan Heading, a 39-year-old IT worker, said he was worried the decision to leave the EU would damage the economy and could lead to the breakup of the United Kingdom.

"I feel that Brexit threatens prosperity and stability," he said. "People should have the opportunity to vote for an alternative based on what we now know."

Brexit supporters held their own rally in the town of Harrogate in the north of England.

Richard Tice, Vice-Chairman of Leave Means Leave and one of the speakers at the event, described the people on the march in London as "losers" and said a second referendum would trigger a constitutional crisis.

"We had a vote, we voted to leave, the idea to have a second referendum would be incredibly damaging," he said.

"People need to be under no illusions as to how people feel about what is a significant potential for a total betrayal of democracy in this country." Reuters
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ISTANBUL/WASHINGTON, Oct 20

Saudi Arabia said on Saturday that dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi died in a fight inside its Istanbul consulate, its first admission of his death after two weeks of denials that have shaken Western relations with the powerful kingdom.

Riyadh provided no evidence to support its account of the circumstances that led to Khashoggis death and it was still unclear whether other governments would be satisfied with it.

Turkish officials suspect Khashoggi, a critic of the powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, was tortured and killed inside the consulate by Saudi agents. His body has yet to be found.

US President Donald Trump, who has forged close ties with the worlds top oil exporter and made Prince Mohammed a centerpiece of his foreign policy, said the Saudi account was credible.

Trump said he would speak with the crown prince, the kingdoms de facto ruler. But Trump again emphasised Riyadhs role in countering regional rival Iran and the importance a lucrative US arms sales to Saudi Arabia for American jobs.

Khashoggi, a US resident and Washington Post columnist, went missing after entering the consulate on October 2 to obtain documents for his upcoming marriage.

Days later, Turkish officials said they believed he was killed in the building and his body cut up, an allegation Saudi Arabia had, until now, strenuously denied.

The Saudi public prosecutor said on Saturday that a fight broke out between Khashoggi and people who met him in the consulate, leading to his death. Eighteen Saudi nationals had been arrested, the prosecutor said in a statement.

A Saudi official told Reuters separately: A group of Saudis had a physical altercation and Jamal died as a result of the chokehold. They were trying to keep him quiet.

Turkish investigators, who have been combing a forest and other sites outside Istanbul, are likely to find out what happened to Khashoggis body before long, a senior Turkish official told Reuters on Saturday.

Saudi state media said King Salman had ordered the dismissal of five officials, including Saud al-Qahtani, a royal court adviser seen as the right-hand man to the Crown Prince and deputy intelligence chief Ahmed Asiri.  Reuters

Amnesty urges UN probe, independent autopsy

Amnesty International said Saudi Arabias explanation of journalist Jamal Khashoggis death in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul appeared to be a whitewash of an appalling assassination

The probe findings by the Saudi authorities claiming that Khashoggi died as a result of a fist-fight inside the consulate are not trustworthy and marks an abysmal new low to Saudi Arabias human rights record, Middle East director, said

It called on Saudi authorities to produce Khashoggis body so that independent forensic experts could perform an autopsy. It also said the United Nations should investigate his death

Western reaction cautious on confession
pardeepdhull@gmail.com

Dubai, October 20

A complex man of contradictions, journalist Jamal Khashoggi went from being a Saudi royal family insider to an outspoken critic of the ultra-conservative kingdoms government, and was ultimately killed inside its consulate in Istanbul.

In his final column for The Washington Post, Khashoggi perhaps presciently pleaded for greater freedom of expression in the Middle East.

The Arab world is facing its own version of an Iron Curtain, imposed not by external actors but through domestic forces vying for power, he wrote.

The Arab world needs a modern version of the old transnational media so citizens can be informed about global events. More important, we need to provide a platform for Arab voices, Khashoggi wrote.

Now his voice has been permanently silenced.

The Saudi journalistwho disappeared after entering his countrys consulate in Istanbul on October 2 to obtain marriage paperswent into self-imposed exile in the United States in 2017 after falling out with Saudis powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

His disappearance has been shrouded in mystery, and triggered an international crisis for both Riyadh and Washington as Turkish officials accused Saudi Arabia of a state-sponsored killing.

Riyadh, after insisting that Khashoggi left its consulate alive, finally said over two weeks after his disappearance that he died in a fight that arose from a dispute with people he met there.

Bin Laden to Muslim brotherhood

Khashoggi came from a prominent Saudi family with Turkish origins.

His grandfather, Mohammed Khashoggi, was the personal doctor of Saudi Arabias founder, King Abdul Aziz al-Saud. His uncle was the notorious arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi.

A friend of a young Osama bin Laden, a Muslim Brotherhood sympathiser, an aide to the Saudi royal family, a critic of the kingdoms regime and a liberalsuch conflicting descriptions were all ascribed to Khashoggi.

After graduating from Indiana State University in 1982, he began working for Saudi dailies, including the Saudi Gazette and Al-Sharq al-Awsat.

When he was sent to cover the conflict in Afghanistan, a picture of a young Khashoggi holding an assault rifle and dressed in Afghan clothing was widely disseminated.

Khashoggi did not fight in the country, but sympathised with the mujahideen in the 1980s war against the Soviet occupation, which was funded by the Saudis and the CIA.

He was known to have been drawn to the Muslim Brotherhoods policies seeking to erase the remnants of Western colonialism from the Arab world.

It was this shared vision that brought him closer to a young Osama bin Laden, who went on to found Al-Qaeda, which carried out the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.

As a young journalist, Khashoggi interviewed bin Laden several times, garnering international attention. But later in the 1990s, he distanced himself from the man who called for violence against the West.

Too progressive

Born in the Saudi holy city of Medina on October 13, 1958, Khashoggi spent his youth studying Islamic ideology and embraced liberal ideas.

But Saudi authorities came to see Khashoggi as too progressive and he was forced to resign as editor-in-chief of the Saudi daily Al-Watan in 2003 after serving just 54 days.

Over the years, he maintained ambiguous ties with Saudi authorities, having held advisory positions in Riyadh and Washington, including to Prince Turki al-Faisal, who ran Saudi Arabias intelligence agency for more than 20 years.

When Faisal was appointed ambassador to Washington in 2005, Khashoggi went with him.

In 2007, Khashoggi returned to Al-Watan newspaper, lasting almost three years before being fired for his editorial style, pushing boundaries of discussion and debate within Saudi society, according to Khashoggis website.

He became close to Saudi billionaire Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal and together they launched in Manama a 24-hour news station, Al-Arab.

However, Bahraina staunch Saudi allyshut the station down in 2015, less than 24 hours after it broadcast an interview with an opposition official.

Fear, intimidation

Khashoggi fled Saudi Arabia in September 2017, just months after Prince Mohammed was appointed heir to the regions most powerful throne.

Months later, Prince Al-Waleed and hundreds of officials and businessmen were arrested in November 2017 in what the Saudis called an anti-corruption campaign.

In an article published in the Post last year, Khashoggi, whose 60th birthday was on October 13, said that under Prince Mohammedthe kingdoms de facto rulerSaudi Arabia was entering a new era of fear, intimidation, arrests and public shaming.

He said he had been banned from writing in the pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat for defending the Muslim Brotherhood, which Riyadh has blacklisted as a terrorist organisation.

And he said Saudi authorities had barred him from using his verified Twitter account after he said the country should be rightfully nervous about a Trump presidency.

Trump has expressed support for Crown Prince Mohammed, and his son-in-law and advisor Jared Kushner has deliberately cultivated close ties with the prince, known as MBS.

Khashoggi, who was due to marry his Turkish fiancee Hatice Cengiz this month, also criticised Saudi Arabias role in the Yemen conflict and opposed a Saudi-led boycott of Qatar.  AFP
pardeepdhull@gmail.com

Tecun Uman (Guatemala), October 19

Hundreds of people in a caravan of migrants that crossed from Honduras into Guatemala staged a dramatic bid to breach the Mexican border on Friday, as local governments began preparing to disperse the convoy under pressure from Washington.

Migrants poured through Guatemalan border posts in the town of Tecun Uman and onto a bridge leading to Mexico, only to be halted by dozens of Mexican police in riot gear. Mexicos president sharply rebuked the migrants for the border surge.

US President Donald Trump has warned the Central American caravan must be stopped before it reaches the United States, and Honduras and Guatemala said late on Friday they were mobilizing to assist the return of Honduran migrants to their homeland.

Some migrants violently shook fences at the border and police said a few officers were injured in clashes. A handful of migrants jumped into the Suchiate River below to swim for rafts.

Others turned back toward Guatemala.

Carrying backpacks and small children, many bedraggled migrants simply sat down on the bridge. Some said that they had been teargassed. As the afternoon drew on, a tropical storm, Vicente, formed nearby off the Pacific coast.

Jose Brian Guerrero, a 24-year-old Honduran traveling with neighbors and his extended family, said he had joined the caravan to escape violent street gangs, and to find work.

Theres nothing for us in our country, said Guerrero, who used to sell beans in Honduras.

On Friday evening, Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez said he had spoken to his Guatemalan counterpart Jimmy Morales for clearance to send civil protection personnel to help the Hondurans and to find transport for those wanting to return.

Well continue this operation for as long as is necessary, Hernandez said in a post on Twitter.

Shortly afterwards, Guatemalas government tweeted that Hernandez would meet Morales on Saturday in Guatemala City to implement a strategy for returning the Honduran migrants.

Meanwhile, in a late televised address, Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto called the mass rush to penetrate the border unprecedented, accusing some migrants of attacking police.

Mexico does not and will not allow (people) to enter its territory illegally, let alone violently, he said.

A similar caravan of Central Americans that formed in southern Mexico in late March also drew the ire of Trump, who on Thursday threatened to use the military and close the southern border if Mexico did not halt the new march.

Such a move would cause chaos on the crossing, one of the worlds busiest, and badly disrupt trade.

Speaking in Scottsdale, Arizona on Friday, Trump said he appreciated very much Mexicos efforts to stop the caravan.

If that doesnt work out, were calling up the military - not the (National) Guard - were calling up the military, he told reporters. Theyre not coming into this country. Trump has also threatened to cut off aid to Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador - some of the poorest and most violent countries in the Americas - if they fail to prevent undocumented immigrants from heading to the United States.

Their emigrants make up the bulk of people now caught trying to enter the United States illegally every year.

Several migrants at the Guatemala-Mexico border spoke of entire neighborhoods leaving their homes to join the trek after news circulated on social media of a call for a new caravan to Mexico six months after the previous one.

UN assistance

Earlier, Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met in Mexico City and discussed the caravan, which set off from Honduras last weekend.

Its a challenge that Mexico is facing, and thats how I expressed it to Secretary Pompeo, Videgaray told a joint news conference.

Pompeo said he and Videgaray spoke of the importance of stopping the caravan before it reaches the US border.

In contrast to the earlier caravan, which had advanced into Mexico before officials began intensive efforts to process the migrants, the Mexican government turned its attention to the new group right on its southern border.

Mexicos government has sought assistance from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). As Mexico processes the migrants, the caravan will likely slowly disperse.

On Friday morning, Videgaray said the caravan had close to 4,000 people and that the migrants could individually present their claims to enter Mexico or seek refugee status.

We havent had a caravan or group of this size seeking refuge at the same time, thats why weve sought the support of the United Nations, he told Mexican television.

Mexico says the migrants without a legitimate case to claim refuge in Mexico will be returned to their countries of origin.

A Mexican official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the country had the capacity to process around 200 people a day.

Police waiting

Hundreds of Mexican police were sent to guard the border between the Guatemalan town of Tecun Uman and Ciudad Hidalgo in Mexico to prepare for the migrant caravans arrival.

Manelich Castilla, the head of Mexicos federal police, said at the scene that his officers had restored order after the rush of migrants towards the border, and would begin allowing people to be processed in an orderly fashion.

Six police had been injured, Castilla said.

UNHCR spokesman Charlie Yaxley said the agency was reinforcing capacity in southern Mexico to offer counseling, legal assistance and humanitarian aid to asylum-seekers.

UNHCR is concerned that the mobilization of such a large number of people in a single group will overwhelm the capacities that exist in the region, he told a news conference. Reuters
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Dubai/Glendale, Aariz./Washington, October 20

Saudi Arabia said on Saturday a missing journalist had died in a fight inside its Istanbul consulate and it had fired two senior officials over his death, an account President Donald Trump said was credible but US lawmakers found hard to believe.

Saudi Arabias acknowledgement that Jamal Khashoggi died in the consulate came after two weeks of denials it had anything to do with his disappearance, and followed growing demands from Western allies for an explanation of what happened.

His disappearance sparked a global outcry and prompted some US lawmakers to call for harsh action against Riyadh.

Saudi state media said King Salman had ordered the dismissal of two senior officials: Saud al-Qahtani, a royal court advisor seen as the right-hand man to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and deputy intelligence chief Ahmed Asiri, a statement on state media said.

Saudi Arabia provided no evidence to support its account of the circumstances that led to Khashoggis death and it was unclear whether Western allies would be satisfied with the Saudi version of events.

I think its a good first step, its a big step. Its a lot of people, a lot of people involved, and I think its a great first step, Trump, who has made close ties with Saudi Arabia a centerpiece of his foreign policy, told reporters in Arizona.

Saudi Arabia has been a great ally. What happened is unacceptable, he said, adding he would speak with the crown prince.

Trump also emphasized Riyadhs importance in countering regional rival Iran and the importance for American jobs of massive US arms sales to Saudi Arabia.

Some US lawmakers however were unpersuaded by Riyadhs account.

To say that I am skeptical of the new Saudi narrative about Mr. Khashoggi is an understatement, said Republican US

Senator Lindsey Graham, a Trump ally who has been sharply critical of Saudi Arabia over the incident.

Trump said he would be working with Congress on next moves, but I would prefer that we dont use as retribution cancelling $110 billion worth of work, which means 6,00,000 jobs ... we need them as a counterbalance to Iran.

Khashoggi, a critic of the crown prince who lived in the United States and was a Washington Post columnist, had led to mounting pressure from the West on Saudi Arabia to provide convincing answers.

He went missing after entering the consulate on October 2 to obtain documents for his upcoming marriage. Days later, Turkish officials said they believed he was killed in the building, an allegation Saudi Arabia had, until now, strenuously denied.

In a separate statement on Saturday, the Saudi public prosecutor said a fight broke out between Khashoggi and people who met him in the consulate, leading to his death.

The investigations are still under way and 18 Saudi nationals have been arrested, the statement said.

Turkish sources have told Reuters the authorities have an audio recording purportedly documenting Khashoggis murder inside the consulate. Turkish pro-government newspaper Yeni Safak has published what it said were details from the audio. It said Khashoggis torturers cut off his fingers during an interrogation and later beheaded and dismembered him.

Before the Saudi announcements, Trump said he might consider sanctions, although he has also appeared unwilling to distance himself too much from the Saudi leadership.

Other Western allies have yet to react to Riyadhs explanation and a main question will be whether they believe Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who has painted himself as a reformer, has no culpability.

King Salman has handed the day-to-day running of Saudi Arabia to his son, commonly known as MbS.

But, the disappearance of Khashoggi has tarnished Prince Mohammeds reputation and deepened questions about his leadership.

The growing crisis prompted the king to intervene, five sources with links to the Saudi royal family told Reuters.

The king also ordered the formation of a ministerial committee headed by the crown prince to restructure the general intelligence agency, state media said on Friday, suggesting MbS still retained wide-ranging authorities.

The White House said in a statement it would continue to press for justice that is timely, transparent, and in accordance with all due process.

Republican Senator Rand Paul tweeted: We should also halt all military sales, aid and cooperation immediately. There must be a severe price for these actions by Saudi Arabia. Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal told CNN the Saudi explanation absolutely defies credibility while Democratic Senator Jack Reed, the Ranking Member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the Saudis were still not coming clean with the truth.

This appears to have been a deliberate, planned act followed by a cover up, he said in a statement. You dont bring 15 men and a bone saw to a fist fight with a 60 year old. In an earlier rebuke to Riyadh, senior officials from several governments, including US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, executives from major companies, and international media commentators withdrew from a high-profile investment conference slated for later this month.

No orders to kill him

Qahtani, 40, entered the royal court under the late King Abdullah but only rose to prominence after latching onto Prince Mohammed, becoming a rare confidante in his secretive inner circle.

Sources say Qahtani would regularly speak on behalf of the crown prince and has given direct orders to senior officials including in the countrys security apparatus.

People close to Khashoggi and the government said Qahtani had tried to lure the journalist back to Saudi Arabia after he moved to Washington a year ago fearing reprisals for his views.

In a Twitter thread from August 2017 asking his 1.35 million followers to flag accounts to include in a black list for monitoring, Qahtani wrote: Do you think I make decisions without guidance? I am an employee and a faithful executor of the orders of my lord the king and my lord the faithful crown prince.

In a tweet on Saturday, he thanked the king and crown prince for the big confidence they had in him.

The other dismissed official, Asiri had joined the Saudi military in 2002, according to Saudi media reports, serving as spokesman for a coalition backing Yemens ousted president after Prince Mohammed led Saudi Arabia into that countrys civil war in 2015. Asiri was named deputy chief of foreign intelligence by royal decree in April 2017.

The crown prince had no knowledge of the specific operation that resulted in Khashoggis death, a Saudi official familiar with the investigation said.

There were no orders for them to kill him or even specifically kidnap him, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity. There was a standing order to bring critics of the kingdom back to the country, he added.

MbS had no knowledge of this specific operation and certainly did not order a kidnapping or murder of anybody. He will have been aware of the general instruction to tell people to come back, the official said.

The official said the whereabouts of Khashoggis body were unclear after it was handed over to a local cooperator but there was no sign of it at the consulate.

The public prosecutors statement did not specify where the operatives had put Khashoggis body or if they plan to inform the Turks. The Saudi official told Reuters, We dont know for certain what happened to the body.

Saudi critics said it was obvious the authorities didnt want to hand over Khashoggis body as it would reveal how badly he was tortured.

In Istanbul, Turkish prosecutors investigating Khashoggis disappearance questioned Turkish employees of the Saudi consulate on Friday. Turkish police searched a forest on Istanbuls outskirts and a city near the Sea of Marmara for Khashoggis remains, two senior Turkish officials told Reuters.

Khashoggis Turkish fiancee, Hatice Cengiz, tweeted in Arabic: The heart grieves, the eye tears, and with your separation we are saddened, my dear Jamal, she said, also asking #where is martyr Khashoggis body? Reuters
pardeepdhull@gmail.com

Taipei, October 20

Several thousand pro-independence demonstrators rallied in Taiwans capital on Saturday to protest against Beijings bullying and called for a referendum on whether the self-ruled island should formally declare independence from China.

The rally, one of the largest seen on Taiwan this year, was organised by a group called Formosa Alliance founded six months ago, and the protesters gathered near the headquarters of President Tsai Ing-wens Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).

Kenny Chung, a spokesman for Formosa Alliance, described the turnout as very successful.

Relations with Beijing have deteriorated since Tsai came into office in 2016, with China suspecting that she wants to push for formal independence, a red line for Beijing.

China views Taiwan as a wayward province and has never renounced the use of force to bring democratic Taiwan under its control. This year, China increased military and diplomatic pressure, conducting air and sea military exercises around the island and persuading three of the few governments still supporting Taiwan to drop their backing.

Protesters said Tsais government should push back against Beijing, and advocated a referendum on independence to avoid being swallowed up. Some carried placards bearing the message: No more bullying; no more annexation.

The next presidential election is not due until 2020, but the ruling DPP will draw some indication of support from island-wide local elections that are set to take place in late November.

Tsai said last week she will maintain the status quo with Beijing, but she also vowed to boost Taiwans national security and said her government would not submit to Chinese suppression.

Beijing has already been irked by the Taiwanese governments approval for a referendum next month to decide whether to enter future Olympics events as Taiwan rather than Chinese Taipei, the name agreed under a compromise struck in the late 1970s. Reuters
pardeepdhull@gmail.com

Beijing, October 20

The worlds longest sea bridge Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge will be thrown open for traffic on October 24, the authorities said on Saturday.

The 55-kilometer-long bridge, situated in the Lingdingyang waters of the Pearl River Estuary, will be the worlds longest sea bridge, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

The construction of the multibillion-dollar bridge had begun in December 2009.

It will slash the travel time between Hong Kong and Zhuhai from three hours to just 30 minutes, further integrating the cities in the Pearl River Delta.

The bridge will be opened for traffic on October 24, the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge Authority said.

Earlier, lawmakers in Hong Kong warned that the bridge, which provides a direct link to Hong Kong International Airport, could bring extra traffic to Lantau Island, and cause congestion, South China Morning Post said in a report.

The Transport Department has already capped the number of permits for cross-border private cars at 5,000, it said.

A government-commissioned study from 2016 estimated that 29,100 vehicles would use the bridge daily, by 2030, which was 12 per cent down from a report written in 2008. PTI
ASSET by asset, the liquidators of the CL Financial group are selling off the company that it took Cyril Duprey and his nephew, Lawrence, 73 years to build up.

The liquidators are plodding through the sale of thousands of acres of land, millions of dollars worth of shares in a local conglomerate, a major local insurance firm, a manufacturer of resins and a security company.
While reported measles cases have fallen compared to previous years, progress toward measles elimination continues to decline and the risk of outbreaks is mounting, according to a new report from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). During 2020, more than 22 million infants missed their first dose of measles vaccine  3 million more than in 2019, marking the largest increase in two decades and creating dangerous conditions for outbreaks to occur.
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In previous articles weve covered a few of the most significant issues facing the environment today and how our Government is addressing these. A large part of our, and indeed many other countries, strategy to do this involves being part of Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs) and a crucial factor for the successful implementation of MEAs is our youth.

More here
Hello! Im planning a trip to Perth and would like to drive all the way to Shark Bay as there are some great nature spots on the way. I like to rent a car in Perth and drop off it around Shark Bay to catch a flight in the vicinity... I was looking for a rental car provider that allows such services but could not find any. Does anyone know?
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First trip for couple in our 40's - 16 nts April 2019

First trip for couple in our 40's - 16 nts April 2019

Hi looking at doing our own trip with booking Direct return flights from London to Hanoi and internal flights with hotels (leave UK Thurs 11th and return UK Sun 28th, giving us 16 nights in Vietnam) and some trips being booked before travelling.

We are a couple in our late 40s having never really done this sort of travel before just European City breaks and will be happy with mid range hotels. Husband is interested in the Vietnam war history and just really want to explore the different culture, foods and sights.

Any help/advice is appreciated. Our rough itinerary is as follows:

Arrive Hanoi - stay 2 nights, trip to Halong Bay and overnight on boat

travel to Halphong for flight to Hoi An (or overnight train from Hanoi to Hue an option?)

2 nights in Hoi An

Bus to Hue and 2 nights in Hue (City Group tour with dragon boat and tour of demilitarized zone)

Flight to Saigon and 2 nights in Saigon (Cu Chi tunnels by speedboat trip) and possibly 1/2 day historical landmarks tour round district 1)

Then on to Phu Quoc or Singapore? for a few nights before returning to Hanoi and 1 night stay before return flight home

Would like to see the newly opened Golden Bridge but dont know how far it is from Hue/Hoi An to fit this in as an option.

This is only our first sketched out ideas so really just after some recommendations for now and really if we need more or less time in each place

Thanks for any help as really want to get started with booking now.
Help, i need inspiration and tips for best hotels to stay at in FIJI with kids.

Husband and Father will be surfing so ideally one with a boat pickup for half day trips or if there is any recommended on islands??

we went a long time ago pre kids and stayed somewhere quite far away and it took us forever to get to boat trips etc??
- Majority of Kenyans feel the MPs are so corrupt and cannot give them a genuine president if given powers

- Only 12% of the public supported move to give the lawmakers power to elect the president

As the referendum debate continues, Kenyans have vowed to oppose any proposal that seeks to give the MPs a right to vote for the president on behalf of the citizens.

A recent Facebook poll by TUKO.co.ke indicated 88% of Kenyans were not ready to give the lawmakers powers to elect the Head of State.

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Kenyans have rejected proposal giving powers to the lawmakers to elect president. Photo: UGC

Source: Facebook

READ ALSO: Senator Naisula Lesuuda to walk down the aisle one year after rumoured affair with Kipchumba Murkomen

The poll was conducted on Tuesday, October 16, with a majority of the 540 Kenyans who voted indicating corruption in the National Assembly could not allow them to give the MPs the powers to elect a president.

READ ALSO: Moses Kuria warns against giving Parliament power to elect president

READ ALSO: Governor Anne Waiguru leaves Kirinyaga residents in ecstasy as she pulls delicate dance moves

Only 12% voted to give the powers to the MPs with Yusuf Ali saying corruption was a not a determining factor as it would be clear the party with majority members in National Assembly can only win the election.

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A Busia man is on the police radar after killing his ex-wife's new lover in one of the most bizarre love-triangle conflict.

The man, whose identity is still a mystery, stabbed the victim identified as Benard Bwire, 29, on Wednesday, October 17, in Mugonga Village in Funyula Constituency.

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The suspect wanted to know the nature of the relationship between the victim and his ex-wife. Photo: UGC

Source: UGC

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The incident was confirmed by Funyula OCPD Mary Kiarie who said police launched a search for the suspect who still remains at large.

The deceased died on Thursday, October 18, at the Kakamega County Referral Hospital where he had been referred to from the Busia County Referral Hospital.

The suspect is said to have stabbed the victim after confronting him wanting to know the nature of relationship he had with his former wife.

The suspect fled the scene immediately after the incidence. Photo: UGC

Source: UGC

READ ALSO: Detectives arrest two women in Lucky Summer for child trafficking, rescue five-month-old baby

According to Bwire's mother, her son met his death after rushing to his lover's house to help her.

Apparently, the woman's ex-husband had threatened to kill her.

My sons girlfriend, who is a divorcee, texted him in the night, saying: My ex-husband has sent me a message, threatening to kill me. Bwire rushed to her house, not knowing that the womans ex-husband was hiding in a nearby thicket.'' the bereaved Majuma Were revealed.

Police launched search against the suspect who is still at large. Photo: UGC

Source: UGC

READ ALSO: Kenyan woman questioned over disappearance of Tanzanian tycoon Mohammed Dewji

Upon reaching the womans house, the womans ex-husband confronted him, and a fight ensued.

"It was during the fight that my son was stabbed in the stomach and the suspect fled the scene. We rushed him to hospital but he was pronounced dead not long after the incident, she added.

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- Water and Sanitation Cabinet Secretary Simon Chelugui said water services providers still had mandate to manage supply in Murang'a county

- Chelugui said assets under Murang'a water and sanitation company belonged to national government

- The CS said water services' providers were national government custodians and needed to be allowed to operate until assets were transferred to counties

- He clarified defunct municipalities of Kisumu, Nairobi and Nakuru alone had independent assets and were free to control water services operations

he government has cautioned Murang'a county leaders against interfering with operations of water services providers saying they are constitutionally mandated to manage the commodity's supply services.

Water and Sanitation Cabinet Secretary Simon Chelugui said assets belonging to Murang'a Water and Sanitation Company (Muwasco) were still the property of the national government which had the mandate to control its operations through the providers

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Water Cabinet Secretary Simon Chelugui said water services providers had been mandated by Constitution to manage the commodity's supply in counties that did not own assets. Photo: Nation

Source: UGC

READ ALSO: Recce officer attached to US Embassy arrested in connection with Monica Kimani's murder

In a statement to newsrooms seen by TUKO.co.ke, on Friday, October 19, Chelugui said only major defunct municipalities like Nairobi, Nakuru and Kisumu own assets.

"Small towns like Muranga, Othaya, Kirinyaga and Nolturesh formed companies limited by guarantee since assets are owned by national government. Assets from these companies haven't been transferred to counties to enable them form companies by shares," Chelugui clarified.

The CS said the process of asset transfer was yet to be complete and the gazette notice number 858 of Friday, January 27, 2017 issued under the Intergovernmental Relations Act was clear the transfer process was ongoing.

Murang'a Governor Mwangi wa Iria had engaged in a fierce battle with water services providers seeking to take over control. Photo: UGC

Source: UGC

READ ALSO: Poll shows majority of Kenyans prefer to elect president directly, not through MPs

"Transfer process is on where we are identifying assets and liabilities. Similarly, Water Act 2016 provides for three years' transition period. Meanwhile my ministry requests due legal process is followed. Assets not owned by the defunct local authorities remains the property of national government and that the status quo shall be respected," he explained.

He said the assets shall shall continue to be used in water service provision by water service providers in accordance to the standards in the Water Act 2016.

Water Act 2002 which became operational after water reforms created water service providers which took over management of water and sanitation from the defunct municipalities.

The objective was to ring fence water and sanitation revenue for the sector development and provide operational autonomy for efficient management of services.

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- Dewji was found dumped at the Gymkhana grounds in Dar es Salaam

- According to the police, he was in good health

- They however noted he had bruises on his hands and feet from being tied up

- It is still not clear how he either escaped or was freed from his captors

Tanzanian Simba FC owner and Africa's youngest billionaire, Mohammed Dewji, who was kidnapped on Thursday, October 11, outside his hotel gym, has been found.

Dewji is reported to have been found in the early morning hours of Saturday, October 20, dumped at the Gymkhana grounds in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

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Dewji is reported to have been found in the early morning hours of Saturday, October 20, dumped at the Gymkhana grounds in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Photo: Forbes.

Source: UGC

READ ALSO: Police impound 5000 bales of expired diapers in Nairobi

His return was confirmed by Dar es Salaam's Special Police Zone Commander SPZC Lazaro Mambosasa who said he found his way home after he was dumped at there, The Citizen reported.

He also said the vehicle which was used during his kidnapping was also found abandoned along Ocean road

"Mo has been found safe and sound, He says he was dumped at the Gymkhana grounds in the early hours of Saturday, October 20, after he was kidnapped on Thursday, October 11. )," said the commander

READ ALSO: Rongo University students disrupt burial of Sharon Otieno

A message from his company METL Group said the 43-year-old is safe and sound but did not provide details on how he was freed or escaped from his captors.

I thank Allah that I have returned home safely. I thank all my fellow Tanzanians, and everyone around the world for their prayers. I thank the authorities of Tanzania, including the Police Force for working for my safe return  Mohammed Dewji (3:15am, Dar es Salaam), the message reads.

Tanzanias Environment Minister January Mkamba said he had spoken to Dewji but noted he had bruises on his hands and feet from being tied up by his kidnappers.

Dewjis family had offered a reward of 1 billion Tanzania shillings (KSh 44 million) for information leading to his release.

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- The deceased's ex-husband claimed he was hurt by the fact that he was not allowed to bury her

- He claimed he should have been allowed to bury her since they had five children together

- That did not go well with the deceased's current husband who then attacked the ex-husband

- They engaged in a fist fight but other mourners stepped in to separate them

Mourners scampered for safety during the burial ceremony of a Jubilee supporter, mama Catherine Naliaka, alias Mama Brenda, as two men engaged in a fight over her body.

TUKO.co.ke understands the deceased's current and former husband's almost engaged in a physical fight making majority of mourners who had turned up to run for their lives.

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The first husband Davis Barasa (In suit) whom the diseased had sired with five children is shielded from being attacked by the current husband . Photo: Titus Oteba.

Source: Original

READ ALSO: Police impound 5000 bales of expired diapers in Nairobi

The drama unfolded after her current husband, Tom Wekesa, delivered his speech narrating his struggles with his deceased wife which had moved the masses into tears.

According to Wekesa, the first Bungoma Governor Ken Lusaka had helped in off setting some of his wife's hospital bills at Mediheal hospital in Eldoret town.

It was at that point when the master of ceremony invited the deceased ex-husband, Davis Barasa, with whom she had sired five children.

READ ALSO: Tanzania billionaire and Simba FC owner kidnapped at posh Dar-es-Salaam hotel

Upon taking the microphone, Barasa narrated how they had lived happily in their ancestral home until domestic quarrels led to their immediate break up.

"It was not an easy decision for a man who has sired five children to allow her wife to be buried by another man who has sired only one, I made a bold decision but it is still painful," he told mourners.

That did not go well with Wekesa who attacked Barasa but other mourners stepped in and cooled the tempers and the burial committee chairman Pius Ndumba amicably resolved the issue.

READ ALSO: Kenyas unsung heroes who have given Mashujaa Day its true meaning in 2017 and 2018

Tom Wekesa (Centre) being separated by relatives from attacking Davis Barasa (Left) over a dead body. Photos:Titus Oteba.

Source: Original

The deceased is said to have succumbed to a short illness following an admission at Bungoma county referral hospital.

Apart from being a Jubilee supporter, the deceased was also a renowned business woman selling fruits and vegetables at Kanduyi market.

She was also a frequent caller on Sulwe FM, a Bukusu vernacular radio station owned by Royal Media Services, and used to criticise the government on its strength and failures.

READ ALSO: Rongo University students disrupt burial of Sharon Otieno

Tom Wekesa (Centre) being separated by relatives from attacking Davis Barasa (Left) over a dead body. Photos:Titus Oteba.

Source: Original

The burial ceremony had been attended by Jubilee leaders including the Senate Speaker, Ken Lusaka, Kimilili MP Didmus Barasa, Bungoma county Jubilee youth coordinator Evans Kakai.

Former Bungoma woman Rep Reginalda Wanyonyi and area MP Wafula Wamunyinyi were also present at the burial ceremony.

Story by Titus Oteba, TUKO Correspondent.

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- Rwanda's president announced that involving women in decision making reduced gender based violence

- Rwanda becomes second country in Africa to adopt the gender-balanced cabinet

- The decision was arrived days after Ethiopia announced the same

Two days after Ethiopia announced one of the world's few gender-balanced Cabinets with 50% women, Rwanda has done the same.

Rwanda announced on Thursday, October 18, the slimmed-down, 26-seat Cabinet would now comprise of 50% women.

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Rwanda Foreign Affairs Minister, Louise Mushikiwabo is the newly appointed head of the International Organisation of la Francophonie (OFI). Photo: Getty Images.

Source: UGC

READ ALSO: Police impound 5000 bales of expired diapers in Nairobi

It joins a handful of countries where women make up 50% or more of ministerial positions, according to the Inter-Parliamentary Union and United Nations (UN) Women.

While expressing his remarks to judicial officials, Rwanda's President Paul Kagame noted that including women in decision making had reduced gender-based violence.

"A higher number of women in decision-making roles have led to a decrease in gender discrimination and gender-based crimes," Rwandan President Paul Kagame said Friday in remarks to judicial officials.

READ ALSO: Rongo University students disrupt burial of Sharon Otieno

"That doesn't mean men shouldn't be involved, the president said. "But you must play an important role in upholding the rights of women."

Ethiopia had on Tuesday, October 16, made history by appointing a Cabinet made up of 50% women.

Prior reports by TUKO.co.ke indicated the Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed appointed the first ever female Defense Minister, Aisha Mohammed.

READ ALSO: Two Bungoma men fight over woman's body at her burial

Gender equity remains a major issue in most African counties despite spirited campaigns by female African leaders who have been fighting for a 50-50 gender balance in their respective parliaments.

In Kenya, female MPs have been pushing for implementation of the two-third gender rule in Parliament since the promulgation of the Constitution on August, 27, 2010.

Most recently, the female legislators adopted a new tactic which they hoped could force Parliament to pass the controversial two-third-gender rule.

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- Roselyn Akombe was Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) commissioner during the August 8, General Election

- She resigned on Wednesday, October 18, 2017 one week from the repeat presidential election

- Akombe enjoyed a close relationship with former IEBC Information Communication Technology boss Chris Msando who was killed few days to General Election

- She said Msando would forever be her hero for standing firm with the truth

- Akombe wished Msando's children greatness in life

As Kenyans flooded social media sites with messages celebrating their heroes during the the eighth Mashujaa Day on Saturday, October 20, former Independent Electoral Boundaries Commission ex-commissioner Roselyn Akombe was not left out.

Many Kenyans mentioned family members, friends and politicians as their heroes but Akombe who controversially resigned from the commission pointed out former IEBC Information Communication Technology (ICT) boss Chris Msando as her all time hero.

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Ex-IEBC commissioner Roselyn Akombe worked closely with former ICT boss ahead of the Tuesday, August 8, 2017 General Election. Photo; The Star.

Source: UGC

READ ALSO: Rwanda follows Ethiopia's example by appointing Cabinet made up of 50% women

In a message posted on her Twitter account seen by TUKO.co.ke, Akombe who left the commission on Wednesday, October 18, 2017 before repeat presidential elections on Thursday, October 26 said Msando stood for the truth and had an accurate reflection of integrity.

Akombe worked closely with Msando ahead of the Tuesday, August 8, 2017 General Election and was adversely affected by the death of her colleague who was murdered on Saturday, July 29, only a week to the polls date.

She said Msando was her hero because he ended up being killed for refusing to compromise integrity and truthfulness, attributes which were unmatched.

"Chris Msando, you will forever be my Mashujaa Day hero for standing for the truth and integrity and sadly paying the ultimate price in the most brutal and horrific manner. May your kids grow up with the knowledge of your service to your country," read Akombe's tweet.

READ ALSO: Raila speaks on Akombe's resignation from IEBC

Eva Buyu Msando was appointed by Uhuru Kenyatta as a member of the board for Export Processing Zones (EPZ) Authority.

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- The teenager is reported to have been lynched by fellow youth after he assaulted a high school student

- He is said to have been repeatedly assaulted with both blunt and sharp objects until he died

- Police reports indicate the student was nursing serious injuries in a hospital

- Police are also investigating a separate incident where a 24-year-old man allegedly took his own life

- In a suicide note left behind, the claimed he would hunt his wife if she did not attend his burial

A 17-year old boy was on Wednesday, October 17, tortured to death by a mob over assault on a secondary school student in Homa Bay County.

Stephen Ochieng died outside his fathers house in Ojunge village after the mob tied his hands and legs while repeatedly assaulted him with blunt and sharp objects.

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Homa Bay County police boss Marius Tum said the injured high school boy was recuperating in hospital. Photo: Daily Nation.

Source: UGC

READ ALSO: Two Bungoma men fight over woman's body at her burial

Ochieng' who was a school dropout was accused of attacking Form Two student Daniel Ojijo of Ojunge Secondary School with a machete on Saturday, October 13.

The student is reported to have suffered serious injury.

A police report indicated the youths hunted for the man who had at that time gone into hiding, flushed him out and lynched him.

Homa Bay County police boss Marius Tum said the injured high school boy was recuperating in hospital while investigations to apprehend those behind the lynching of the suspect had begun.

READ ALSO: Rwanda follows Ethiopia's example by appointing Cabinet made up of 50% women

We have been asking people not take the law into their own hands and we continue to urge this," he warned

"But on this particular incident, we are going to narrow down on specific people and charge them with murder because we have reason to believe perpetrators just hid behind the mob to escape with a capital offence, he added.

The police boss said they were also investigating an alleged suicide by a 24 year old man who is said to have taken his life by hanging himself over a domestic dispute.

Tum said they would analyse a suicide note allegedly left behind by Reegan Odongo whose lifeless body was found hanging on a tree near their home in Kanyabala village, Homa Bay Sub County.

READ ALSO: Kidnapped Tanzanian tycoon Mohammed Dewji found

You cannot just rule that someone took their own lives because of a note found near him. We will want to know what really may have pushed him to take this drastic turn, if at all it was suicide, and investigate whether he actually authored the note, he said

"Those mentioned in the note will be questioned," he added.

The man committed suicide after he was divorced by his wife, with whom they had a protracted disagreement, according to the note.

He has reportedly threatened to haunt and kill his estranged wife if she does not attend his burial.

Story by Fred Okul, TUKO correspondent.

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- The African Union appointed Opposition leader Raila Odinga as High Representative of Infrastructure and Development in Africa

- His roles will include addressing missing links along transnational highway corridors and establishing high speed train line to link Africa

- AU Commission Chairperson Moussa Faki said Raila had rich political experience and deep knowledge in infrastructure development

- President Uhuru Kenyatta lauded Raila on his appointment saying he was equal to task and would help develop Kenya

Opposition leader Raila Odinga has landed a plum job at the African Union where he will be tasked with overseeing infrastructure development.

African Union Commission Chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat announced he had appointed Raila as High Representative of Infrastructure and Development in Africa on Saturday, October 20.

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Opposition leader Raila Odinga and Moussa Faki at African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa. Raila was appointed as high representative of infrastructure and development. Photo: Raila Odinga/Twitter

Source: Twitter

READ ALSO: Kidnapped Tanzanian tycoon Mohammed Dewji found

In a statement to the press, seen by TUKO.co.ke, Faki said the union had arrived at the decision as part of its desire to hasten integration of Africa through infrastructure in a bid to promote economic growth and sustainable development.

The appointment comes a few days after Raila held talks with Faki at the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa on Wednesday, October 19, where they discussed issues around Africa's 2063 agenda.

Faki stated the appointment came against backdrop of renewed efforts in the push for integration of the continent which was illustrated by adoption of Agreement on African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) in Kigali in March.

"The high representative will work to support and strengthen efforts of the commissions relevant departments and those of the planning and coordinating agency of the new partnership for Africas development. It's in line with framework of the program for infrastructure development in Africa endorsed by the Assembly of the Union in January 2012," explained Faki.

The former prime minister will be tasked with mobilising enhanced political support in establishing Trans-African Highways and high speed train introduction. Photo: Raila Odinga/Twitter.

Source: Twitter

READ ALSO: 17-year-old boy tortured to death over assault on high school student

The chairperson explained Raila's mandate would include mobilising enhanced political support from member States and Regional Economic Communities (RECs) alongside facilitating greater ownership by stakeholders in Africa.

Raila is also expected to give particular focus on addressing missing links along transnational highway corridors identified as part of the Trans-African Highways Network, with a view to facilitating their development and modernisation and continental high-speed train.

"I am grateful to Raila Odinga for accepting this important assignment. He brings with him a rich political experience and strong commitment to the ideals of Pan-Africanism and African integration, as well as a deep knowledge of infrastructure development," Faki said.

READ ALSO: Rwanda follows Ethiopia's example by appointing Cabinet made up of 50% women

Speaking in Kakamega during Mashujaa Day Celebrations, Raila said confirmed he had accepted position.

President Uhuru Kenyatta lauded Raila on his new appointment attributing it to their Friday, March 9, handshake and challenged other politicians to learn the benefits of unity from them.

"There are a lot of opportunities to help our country out there. If we could still be fighting with Raila the opportunity could have gone elsewhere. Don't you think with such an appointment Raila will not help us build important roads? Let's work together because no one can lift this nation alone," Uhuru said.

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Deputy President William Ruto has followed in the footsteps of President Uhuru Kenyatta to congratulate Opposition leader Raila Odinga on his new appointment by the African Union.

African Union Commission Chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat announced the appointment of Raila as High Representative of Infrastructure and Development in Africa on Saturday, October 20.

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Deputy President William Ruto congratulated Opposition leader Raila Odinga on his new AU job. He wished him well and described details of the appointment. Photo: William Ruto/Twitter.

Source: Twitter

READ ALSO: Family of Luhya pre-independence activist ask government to uplift their living standard

In a tweet seen by TUKO.co.ke, on Saturday, October 20, Ruto congratulated his political foe and wished him well in his new appointment, briefly describing the nature of the job.

"Congratulations Raila Odinga as you begin a new assignment as the African Union High Representative for Infrastructure Development in Africa," read part of Ruto's tweet.

READ ALSO: Two Bungoma men fight over woman's body at her burial

Kenyans however, raised doubt with Ruto's well wishes to Raila, citing his initial sentiments when he addressed Kenyans during Mashujaa Day celebrations in Bukhungu stadium Kakamega after the opposition leader had given his speech.

Ruto said he did not believe Raila's proverbial journey to Canaan because the bible he read never indicated there were crocodiles in River Jordan which impeded the exodus.

"Zamani tukisoma kuhusu safari ya kwenda Canaan kwa bibilia hatukuona mahali kulikuwa na mamba mto Jordan. Lakini Nashukuru mheshimiwa Raila ametuambia. Yeye angekuwa mwalimu mzuri wa Sunday School. (Long ago when we read the story of journey to Canaan in the bible we didn't see where crocodiles were in River Nile. Anyway I thank Raila for the revelation. He could make good sunday school teacher," Ruto said.

READ ALSO: Driver of Tahmeed bus captured doing over 120km/hr pleads guilty, fined KSh 30,000

Raila had made a symbolic speech to explain why he chose to bury the hatchet with Uhuru and instead walk together to deliver both Jubilee and National Super Alliance (NASA) supporters to the promised land of a prosperous Kenya.

Uhuru had congratulated Raila on the new appointment saying his position would benefit Kenya in infrastructure development.

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Source: Kenya Breaking News Today
- Miguna said he did not deserve to be locked out of the country having served Raila diligently as his senior most adviser

- He pleaded with Raila to help him in his return on grounds that he is a legal Kenyan citizen by birth

- Miguna's tweet was in response to Raila Odinga's Mashujaa Day message to Kenyans in which he urged everyone to strive together

Firebrand politician Miguna Miguna has humbly requested Opposition leader Raila Odinga to help him negotiate his return to the country, in a well-mannered tweet seen by TUKO.co.ke.

Taking to Twitter on Saturday, October 20, as the country marked Mashujaa Day, the former gubernatorial aspirant pleaded with Raila to help in his case on grounds that he is a legal Kenyan citizen by birth.

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Miguna Miguna wants to come back to Kenya, but through Baba's help. Photo: UGC

Source: UGC

READ ALSO: Immigration department says Miguna Miguna is not a Kenyan citizen and has an illegal Kenyan passport

In his tweet, Miguna went ahead to tell Raila he did not deserve to be locked out of the country especially having served him diligently as his senior most adviser from 2008 to 2011.

''Mr. Raila Odinga: Practice what you preach. I was born in Kenya, just like you. I have never renounced my Kenyan citizenship. I was your senior most adviser from 2008-2011. I vied for the position of governor in 2017. Fight for Justice; not Hand Cheques! #MashujaaDay2018 #Mashujaa,'' Miguna Tweeted.

READ ALSO: Moses Kuria introduces never seen wife and kids on flight which flew Miguna to Dubai

READ ALSO: Miguna Miguna suffers asthma attack while at Lari police station, claims his lawyer

Miguna's Tweet was in response to Raila Odinga's Mashujaa Day message to Kenyans in which he urged everyone to strive together united with a singular aim of making the country a better place for all.

This came as a surprise to many who know Miguna as a vicious social media user who would rarely tone down his voice whenever engaging or talking about Raila online.

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The Tanzanian movie fraternity and the entire East African community is in mourning following the sudden demise of a legendary thespian Ramadhan Mrisho Ditopile, known to many as Mashaka.

Mashaka who belonged to a theater group dubbed Kaole died on Saturday, October 20, morning at the Amana Hospital, in Ilala Dar Es Salaam.

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READ ALSO: Jacque Maribe amtaja Mike Sonko katika kesi ya mauaji ya Monica Kimani

Legendary Bongo movies actor Ramadhan Mrisho died at Amana Hospital in Ilala, Dar Es Salaam. Photo: Millard Ayo

Source: UGC

READ ALSO: Nigerian artist Burna Boy kicked out of TV interview after refusing to explain why he insulted Kenyans

The cause of Mashaka's death is yet to be made public by his family and the Amana Hospital.

However, TUKO.co.ke has learnt the revered Swahili thespian had been ailing but managing his condition until Thursday, October 18, night when he couldnt take it anymore and was rushed to the hospital.

Mashaka may have not been big on TV but he was one of the popular thespians in Tanzania and appeared in various Kaole's productions from as early as 2000.

READ ALSO: It wasn't me! Avril distances herself from bedroom photos with woman 3 years after leak

READ ALSO: Wema Sepetu's new lover accused of neglecting wife and newborn baby

Mashake's demise came hot on the heels of yet another death of Tanzania's legendary actor Mzee Majuto who passed on about two months ago.

As reported by TUKO.co.ke earlier, King Majuto died while receiving treatment at Tanzanias Muhimbili National Hospital in Dar es Salaam.

The veteran actor was reported to be suffering from a hernia and had been admitted to the Intensive Care Unit due to his deteriorating condition.

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.

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Italy's low-cost airline Ernest Airlines will launch direct flights to Milan and Rome from Kharkiv International Airport, the airport's press service has told Ukrinform.

"Kharkiv International Airport, which is part of the DCH group of Oleksandr Yaroslavsky, will open direct flights with the Italian cities of Rome and Milan next year. The long-term agreement signed by the airport with low-cost carrier Ernest Airlines provides that flights will be performed from March 21, 2019," reads the statement.

The airport's press service also added that the beginning of the airline's work in the region was discussed at a meeting between Ernest Airlines President Shadi El Tannir and Head of Kharkiv Regional State Administration Yulia Svitlychna on October 19.

"Direct flights with Rome and Milan will be a great gift for both tourists and business representatives. The Italian low-cost airline will join the ranks of airlines flying from the Kharkiv airport, which will undoubtedly contribute to expanding our route network," said Volodymyr Vasylchenko, Director General of New Systems AM, the operator of the Kharkiv airport.

Ernest Airlines, in turn, said that Kharkiv had been chosen due to its strategic location in the densely populated eastern region of Ukraine, where there is a high demand for flights to Italy. Ukrainians living there often fly to Italy for tourism, work, to visit their relatives and friends, and many Italians are doing business in Ukraine.

The cost of tickets, including taxes and hand baggage, will begin from 45 euros. Flights from Kharkiv to Italy will be conducted on Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays on the new 180-seat Airbus A320. Tickets will be on sale already next week - after October 22 - on the website flyernest.com, as well as in travel agencies and ticket offices.

Ernest Airlines was founded in 2015 by a group of Swedish and Italian investors.

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Russia is not taking steps to implement the Minsk agreements regarding the situation in Donbas, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs Kirsten Madison has said.

She said at a briefing at the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) on Friday that everyone hopes that this conflict, which has claimed numerous human lives and caused a lot of sufferings, will end soon.

Madison also said she is aware of the Minsk agreements and added that Russia is not doing as many steps as Ukraine in order to implement the Minsk agreements.

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The persecution of journalists, as well as their illegal detention, as was the case with Ukrinform correspondent Roman Sushchenko, remains the usual tactic used by the Kremlin to reduce the counteraction to its own propaganda, as well as to justify armed aggression and the occupation of Ukrainian territories.

First Secretary of the Permanent Mission of Ukraine to the United Nations Oleg Nikolenko made such a statement at a meeting of the Fourth Committee of the UN General Assembly in New York on Friday, October 19, according to an Ukrinform reporter.

"Targeting Ukrainian activists and journalists has become a tactic that Russia itself uses against my country. For one, we reiterate our resolute protest against ongoing unlawful actions of the Russian Federation towards Roman Sushchenko, a foreign correspondent for Ukrainian online news agency Ukrinform, who has been put behind bars and prosecuted by the Russian authorities including for his opposition to the Russian occupation of Ukraine's Crimea," Nikolenko said.

He said Ukraine demands that Russia immediately release Roman Sushchenko. "We also call on Member States to condemn this cynical crime against fundamental human rights and step up political and diplomatic pressure on the Russian Federation to ensure that all illegally detained citizens of Ukraine are released and guaranteed safe return home," the Ukrainian diplomat said.

He also recalled the persecution by the Russian occupation regime of other activists who tell the true story of occupation. "Such is the case of Ukrainian writer and journalist Stanislav Aseyev (pen name Stanislav Vasin), who has stayed in Donetsk since it was occupied by Russia-controlled and supported terrorists, was writing articles in top Ukrainian media outlets about the situation in Donbas and his life under occupation," Nikolenko said, adding that in mid-2017 Aseyev was kidnapped and incarcerated by the occupation forces under the absurd charges.

At the same time, the Ukrainian diplomat drew attention to the fact that the Russian authorities had created "exclusion zones" for Ukrainian media outlets in Crimea and occupied territories of Donbas. The Ukrainian media has been eliminated and replaced by the Russian propaganda sources, he added.

"It is clear that such hybrid hostile practices involving state-controlled media are a direct threat to United Nations values," Ukraine's representative said.

The Fourth Committee of the UN General Assembly is one of the six main committees of the General Assembly. It considers a broad range of issues, including questions relating to information and media freedom, as well as harassment and persecution of journalists.

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Tolerance, restraint, and understanding are key to ensuring that people with different religious affiliations can live and prosper together in peace, he said.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has supported Kyiv it its efforts to establish an autocephalous Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

Read alsoRussia mulling to use religious factor to destabilize situation in Ukraine  analyst

"The United States reiterates its strong support for religious freedom and the freedom of members of religious groups, including Ukraine's Orthodox community, to govern their religion according to their beliefs, free of outside interference," he said in a press statement on October 19, according to the U.S. Department of State's website.

"We support Ukrainians' ability to worship as they choose and hope this will be respected by all. Tolerance, restraint, and understanding are key to ensuring that people with different religious affiliations can live and prosper together in peace," he said.

"We urge Church and government officials to actively promote these values in connection with the move towards the establishment of an autocephalous Ukrainian Orthodox Church," Pompeo added.

As UNIAN reported earlier, on October 11, following a meeting of the Holy 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.

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."

On October 15, the Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church made a decision to sever eucharistic communication with the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.
Over the past two years, targeted assistance for the economic development of the Hungarian community has reached UAH 1.7 billion ($60.6 million).

The representative of the Hungarian government, Arpad Janos Potapi, says in 2019, Hungary will double the financial assistance for the Hungarian minority in the Transcarpathian region (or Zakarpattia region in Ukrainian, which is an administrative unit of Ukraine) to UAH 300 million (US$10.7 million).

Read alsoUkraine, Hungary to hold consultations over distribution of Hungarian passports among Zakarpattia residents

According to the official, the funds will reach some 23,000-24,000 people in the fields of education, health care, as well as the social and culture sectors, as annual supplementary payments, RFE/RL's Ukrainian bureau wrote on October 19.

In turn, Parliamentary State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade Levente Magyar informed the representatives of the Hungarian minority in Transcarpathia about such a decision of the Hungarian government. He says that over the past two years, targeted assistance for the economic development of the Hungarian community has reached UAH 1.7 billion ($60.6 million).

Magyar says that if there is a state and people who are interested in a strong Ukraine, then this is Hungary and the Hungarian people. After all, the stronger, richer and sovereign it is, the better for Hungary and Transcarpathian Hungarians, he added.

The official says that Budapest wishes Kyiv to successfully overcome difficulties, to cope with challenges, while Hungary is ready to help Ukraine in this.

As was earlier reported, the Hungarian government allocated nearly $5 million for the education in Ukraine's Zakarpattia region.

As UNIAN reported earlier, in September, a video was uploaded on the internet showing Ukrainians being granted Hungarian citizenship with an instruction not to inform the authorities about the fact. People on the video read out the oath of allegiance as Hungarian citizens. Then the Hungarian diplomat urged them to conceal from the Ukrainian authorities the fact of obtaining Hungarian citizenship.
Russia and Putin pursue an aggressive foreign policy, as they want to undermine the world order set after the Cold War.

Former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine, Eurasia Center Director at Atlantic Council John E. Herbst says it is necessary to supply more weapons to Ukraine, while the West should impose stronger sanctions against Russia to stop its aggression.

The diplomat says Russia and Putin pursue an aggressive foreign policy, as they want to undermine the world order set after the Cold War, Voice of America's Ukrainian service wrote on October 19.

Read alsoU.S. to impose sanctions against 12 Russian companies

He added that ensuring a strong and stable world order is in line with the U.S. interests and values.

If we give up this world order, then let Russia carry out an aggressive policy against Ukraine and Georgia, he said.

According to the official, the West is still getting used to the idea that Russia is pursuing an aggressive foreign policy. "Our position today is much better than it was four years ago, but it's still not good enough. I think it will improve," the diplomat added.

In his opinion, Georgia, Ukraine and Moldova need more support. Moreover, it is necessary to impose stronger sanctions against the Kremlin for its aggression in Georgia and Ukraine. "The stronger sanctions will weaken the Kremlin. While the Kremlin is pursuing an aggressive foreign policy, it's in our interests that it become weaker. In addition, Ukraine needs more weapons, which will make further Russian aggression harder and more painful," he added.

Herbst says that everyone needs to realize that the Donbas events are the Kremlin's war and aggression against Ukraine.

To stop the Kremlin is extremely important, he says, adding that the front line is now in the east of Ukraine. It is in the interests of the West to stop the Kremlin's aggression in Donbas, which is the basis for providing a package of annual aid worth US$1 billion during five years for military equipment, the diplomat said. Such a package will meet the current requirements for anti-tank missiles, secure communications, modern drones, and anti-aircraft radars.

In the same vein, the U.S. should consult with Georgia on military needs. The United States, along with NATO allies, should consider increasing their presence in the Black Sea region, the diplomat added.
The military on duty were alerted immediately and security measures  strengthened, but the men in camo attire were never found.

Witnesses said they had spotted two suspicious men in camo lurking near the Ichnya ammunition depot at about 2:00 at night, just four days before the blasts hit the facility and led to a massive fire, according to Ukraine's chief military prosecutor, Anatoliy Matios.

I can already state today that following a series of interrogations, carried out including with the use of a lie detector, it has been reliably established that on Oct 4, that is, four days before the explosions, two people wearing camouflaged attire were spotted, just 50-70 meters from the technical area where the arsenals were located, in the night hours, at 2:00, as they were moving around the perimeter, Matios said, according to 112 Ukraine TV channel.

Read alsoPoroshenko on ammo depot fire: No coincidence sabotage is the main version given proximity to Russia border

The military on duty were "alerted immediately" and security measures  strengthened, but the men in camo were never found, said Matios.

Most likely, explosives were planted, the chief military prosecutor concluded.

As UNIAN reported earlier, in the early hours of Tuesday, October 9, explosions caused a massive fire at the 6th Arsenal of the Ministry of Defense near the village of Druzhba in Ichnya district of Chernihiv region.

More than 12,000 people were evacuated from the adjacent territories. A 30-km no-fly zone was established, while railway and motor traffic was suspended.
One Ukrainian soldier was injured in the enemy attack.

In the past day, October 19, Russian occupation troops in Donbas opened fire 16 times on the positions of the Joined Forces.

In three cases, the enemy used weapons proscribed by the Minsk agreements as they opened aimed fire from 82 mm mortars on the positions of Ukrainian military in the areas of Krymske, Avdiyivka, and Hnutove, according to the Joint Forces Operation Staff.

One Ukrainian soldier was injured in the enemy attack. His condition is satisfactory, the press service reports.

Read alsoEnemy forces mortar Avdiyivka suburbs, leaving one soldier injured

"The Russian-occupyation troops shelled Joint Forces units in the settlements of Krymske, Troyitske, Verkhniootretske, Avdiyivka, Pisky, Opytne, Hranytne, Pavlopil, Vodiane, Hnutove, and Lebedynske," reads the report.

The enemy continues to use grenade launchers of various types, large-caliber machine guns, and small arms, the press service noted.

According to intelligence data, on October 19, four occupation troops were killed in action and another two  wounded.

As reported earlier, the militants pulled Grad multiple rocket launchers and howitzers toward Luhansk.
The situation in the zone of the Joint Forces Operation remains under control of Ukrainian troops.

Russia's hybrid military forces mounted seven attacks on Ukrainian army positions in Donbas on October 20, with one Ukrainian soldier reported as wounded in action (WIA).

Read alsoEnemy forces mortar Avdiyivka suburbs, leaving one soldier injured

"In one case, the enemy used an anti-tank guided missile in the area of Hnutove," the press center of Ukraine's Joint Forces Operation (JFO) said in an update on Facebook as of 18:00 Kyiv time on Saturday.

In addition, Russian occupation forces opened aimed fire from grenade launchers of various systems, heavy machine guns and small on the positions of the JFO troops near the town of Maryinka, as well as the villages of Shumy, Hnutove, and Shyrokyne.

The situation in the zone of the Joint Forces Operation remains under control of Ukrainian troops.
Kingdom sacks intelligence official, arrests 18 Saudis saying missing journalist was killed in a "fist fight."

Saudi Arabia admitted journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed inside its consulate in the Turkish city of Istanbul, saying he died in brawl but made no mention of where his body is.

Preliminary results of investigations showed the dissident writer died after a fight broke out inside the building shortly after he entered, Al Jazeera reported Saturday citing the official SPA press agency.

Saudi Attorney-General Sheikh Saud al-Mojeb said Khashoggi died after "discussions" at the consulate devolved into an altercation.

"Discussions that took place between him and the persons who met him  at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul led to a brawl and a fist fight with the citizen, Jamal Khashoggi, which led to his death, may his soul rest in peace," the attorney-general said in a statement.

"The investigations are still under way and 18 Saudi nationals have been arrested."

Royal court adviser Saud al-Qahtani and deputy intelligence chief Ahmed al-Asiri were fired from their positions, the statement said.

It remains unclear where Khashoggi's body is following his killing.

Khashoggi, a columnist for The Washington Post who wrote critically of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's (MBS) rise to power, went missing on October 2 after entering the consulate in Istanbul to obtain documents needed for his upcoming marriage.

His whereabouts remained unknown since.

U.S. President Donald Trump said he found Saudi Arabia's explanation about Khashoggi's credible.

Read alsoSaudi Arabia's ban on women driving officially ends  BBC

"It's early, we haven't finished our review or investigation, but  I think it's a very important first step," he said.

Trump said sanctions against Saudi Arabia "could be" something he would consider but "it's too early to say" how the U.S. will respond for now.

He said he doesn't want to cancel a multi-billion dollar arms deal with the Saudis in response to the admission of guilt.

"I would prefer, if there is going to be some form of sanction or what we may determine to do, if anything... that we don't use as retribution canceling $110bn worth of work, which means 600,000 jobs," he said.

Read alsoThe Telegraph: New sanctions to be imposed following Salisbury nerve attack

Saudi officials previously denied the writer had been killed inside the diplomatic facility, insisting Khashoggi had left the building before vanishing.

Turkish media reports have suggested Khashoggi was killed by a 15-person "assassination team" who flew in on two chartered planes to interrogate, torture and kill him.

A Saudi official familiar with the investigation told Reuters news agency the crown prince had no knowledge of the Khashoggi operation.

Aaron David Miller, Middle East analyst at the Wilson Center in Washington, to Al Jazeera the Saudi announcement was an effort to protect the powerful crown prince.

"Part of this is unprecedented. For an intel operation, for renditions and kidnappings, which they have done all the time, they have never disclosed or assumed any responsibility. And they've done it in response to pressure," said Miller.

"They are creating this cover story that his death occurred during a fist fight. It's another step in a big kabuki theater."
On October 15, the Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church made a decision to sever eucharistic communication with the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.

The Russian Orthodox Church has recognized Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople as a schismatic based on the Orthodox Church canons, according to Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, head of the Russian churchs external relations.

Read alsoU.S. Secretary of State supports Ukraine in efforts to create autocephalous church

"The Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople has joined the schism himself by recognizing schismatic individuals. That is how the church canons work. Therefore, the Patriarch of Constantinople is a schismatic for us," the Russian news agency TASS quoted Metropolitan Hilarion as saying on October 20.

As UNIAN reported earlier, on October 11, following a meeting of the Holy 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.

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."

On October 15, the Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church made a decision to sever eucharistic communication with the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.
(@FahadShabbir)

Petrobras is the jewel in Brazil's crown: Latin America's most valuable enterprise, a $100-billion oil and gas group whose crude output puts the country in the top 10 league globally, rivalling that of many OPEC members.

Rio de Janeiro, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 20th Oct, 2018 ) :Petrobras is the jewel in Brazil's crown: Latin America's most valuable enterprise, a $100-billion oil and gas group whose crude output puts the country in the top 10 league globally, rivalling that of many OPEC members.

Yet it is also the most indebted oil company in the world. And it is at the heart of the biggest corruption scandal to rock Brazil: a graft probe that has claimed numerous political scalps, not least that of former leftist president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

Much attention in Brazil and abroad is now being focused on Petrobras because of what looks likely to be a Brazilian presidential election victory by Jair Bolsonaro. The ultraconservative has expressed a willingness to oversee further sales of Petrobras' non-core assets.

Petrobras was founded 65 years ago as a government monopoly to tap the tiny reserves that existed at the time. It grew in the mid-1970s when shallow offshore fields was discovered, but they were not big enough to provide self-sufficiency for the vast South American nation.

Brazil's real oil bonanza happened in late 2006 when Petrobras discovered what turned out to be huge amounts of crude lying under the oceanic crust far offshore -- so-called pre-salt deposits.

That pre-salt oil is costly to get at, but its extraction soon made the country a net exporter, propelled into the same league as members of OPEC, of which it is not part.

Today, Brazil has proven reserves of 13 billion barrels and produces 2.5 million barrels of oil a day, according to the US Energy Information Administration. Half the production comes from the pre-salt fields, with that proportion forecast to grow.

Petrobras used to the sole producer on all the pre-salt fields, though foreign oil companies were later allowed to participate. Under Brazil's outgoing center-right government tender conditions have eased up.

Currently one deepwater zone, the Libra field, is being tapped by Petrobras in partnership with France's Total, British-Dutch giant Shell, and Chinese groups CNPC and CNOOC. Analysts believe the Libra field could by itself hold up to 15 billion barrels.
Unidentified persons planted a bomb and blew up an oil pipeline in Colombia operated by Canada-based Gran Tierra Energy, local media reported on Friday.

MEXICO CITY (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 20th October, 2018) Unidentified persons planted a bomb and blew up an oil pipeline in Colombia operated by Canada-based Gran Tierra Energy, local media reported on Friday.

The bomb was planted by unidentified armed men in the department of Putumayo in southern Colombia, El Espectador newspaper reported, citing a source in the country's armed forces.

The explosion occurred early on Friday. The company sent employees to the scene of the accident to repair the pipeline.

The insurgents of the National Liberation Army (ELN) guerilla group, as well as dissidents from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) refusing to accept the FARC's 2016 peace treaty with Colombian government, continue to regularly attack infrastructure facilities, despite the ongoing peace talks with the authorities of the country.
Dr. Amal Abdullah Al Qubaisi, Speaker of the Federal National Council FNC, met today, on the sidelines of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, IPU, meetings in Geneva, with Marzouk Al-Ghanem, Speaker of the Kuwaiti Umma Council.

GENEVA, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News / WAM - 20th Oct, 2018) Dr. Amal Abdullah Al Qubaisi, Speaker of the Federal National Council FNC, met today, on the sidelines of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, IPU, meetings in Geneva, with Marzouk Al-Ghanem, Speaker of the Kuwaiti Umma Council.

During the meeting, Dr.

Al Qubaisi and Al Ghanem stressed the importance of coordinating their stance at all IPU events in a way that will serve the interests of Arab and Islamic causes.

Dr. Al Qubaisi praised UAE's deep-rooted fraternal ties with Kuwait, emanating from the keenness of the leadership in the two countries.

Al Ghanem described his country's relations with the UAE as "exemplary" and underlined the success of the parliamentary diplomacy approach, adopted by the FNC and the active role of Dr. Al Qubaisi.

The meeting was attended by the members of the FNC delegation participating in the IPU meetings.
The Saudi-lead Arab Coalition in Yemen has intercepted and destroyed two ballistic missiles fired by Houthi militias at the district of Ad Durayhimi in the Yemeni Governorate of Hodeidah.

(UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News / WAM - 20th Oct, 2018) ABU DHABI, 20th October 2018 (WAM) - -The Saudi-lead Arab Coalition in Yemen has intercepted and destroyed two ballistic missiles fired by Houthi militias at the district of Ad Durayhimi in the Yemeni Governorate of Hodeidah.

The coalition's air defence forces monitored the launch of the two missiles towards a densely populated area in Ad Durayhimi before intercepting and destroying them without any casualties or damage to property.

In August, the Iranian-backed Houthi militias bombed the recently-liberated village of Al Ghalifqa in Ad Durayhimi District, Hodeidah Governorate, with an Iranian-made ballistic missile.

The attack, which killed a child and injured dozens of civilians, three of them seriously, is a continuation of their targeting of areas inhabited by civilians and their defiance of international laws that criminalise the targeting of civilians and civil establishments during times of war.

The targeting of civilians by the militias confirms Irans continuing support and its supply of weapons that are being used against the Yemeni people, especially children, women and elderly people.

This crime is a violation of the international humanitarian law and the Geneva Convention and is a crime against humanity, which requires the international community to pressure the Houthi militias to cease all forms of violations and attacks against civilians.

The targeting of inhabited areas by Houthi militias with ballistic missiles and the destruction of infrastructure shows that Iran continues to arm these militias in Yemen with ballistic missiles and drones, among other weapons, in defiance of the Security Council Resolution No.2216 that stipulates the prohibition of the provision of weapons to these militias.

It also shows that the Houthi militias are using the ports, meant for receiving shipments of humanitarian aid, to smuggle the Iranian-made "ballistic missiles, in a clear violation of the UN resolutions.
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The Federal Tax Authority (FTA) has revealed that compliance with Tax Returns requirements for Excise Tax one year after its introduction in the UAE has amounted to 97.7% of registered businesses  one of the highest rates in the world  while the total number of registrants reached 715 registrants.

ABU DHABI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News / WAM - 20th Oct, 2018) The Federal Tax Authority (FTA) has revealed that compliance with Tax Returns requirements for Excise Tax one year after its introduction in the UAE has amounted to 97.7% of registered businesses  one of the highest rates in the world  while the total number of registrants reached 715 registrants.

Khalid Ali Al Bustani, Director General of the FTA, said: "All indexes confirm that the implementation of Excise Tax in the UAE has been remarkably successful at all levels, thanks to the Authoritys state-of-the-art electronic systems, characterised by their simplicity and ease of use, as well as to the tremendous cooperation and compliance on the part of businesses in the UAE.

"

"These positive outcomes clearly indicate that we have begun achieving the main objectives of introducing Excise Tax, most notable of which is building a safe and healthy society by reducing the consumption of goods that harm the health of community members and affect the quality of the environment. The tax system has also helped increase financial resources to support the expansion of government services provided to the public," he added.
Mariam Hareb Almheiri, Minister of State for Food Security, have met with Elisabeth Backteman, State Secretary of the Swedish Ministry of Enterprise and Innovation, to discuss means of enhancing cooperation in innovations in food technology.

STOCKHOLM, Sweden, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News / WAM - 20th Oct, 2018) Mariam Hareb Almheiri, Minister of State for Food Security, have met with Elisabeth Backteman, State Secretary of the Swedish Ministry of Enterprise and Innovation, to discuss means of enhancing cooperation in innovations in food technology.

This meeting was held as part of the UAE minister's visit to Sweden, where she visited a number of research centres and companies which support environmental sustainability and food innovation.

Accompanying Almheiri on her visit were Sultan Rashid Al Kaitoob, the UAE Ambassador to Sweden, and a number of Emirati officials.
(@rukhshanmir)

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 19th Oct, 2018 ) :Chairman Pakistan Peoples Party Bilawal Bhutto Zardari's Spokesman Senator Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar Friday said that the constitution did not allow any cut in the share of the provinces in National Finance Commission.

In a statement, the senator suggested the incumbent government to consult the constitution before any such move.

The government should stop thinking about meddling with 18th constitutional amendment and the NFC award, Senator Khokhar said.

Playing with the provincial autonomy and their financial rights amounted to threatening the federation since the country was already passing through the worst economic crisis, he pointed out.
Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Friday expressed concern over non-issuance of visas to Pakistani zaireen (pilgrims) aspiring to visit Iraq.

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 19th Oct, 2018 ) :Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Friday expressed concern over non-issuance of visas to Pakistani zaireen (pilgrims) aspiring to visit Iraq.

In a meeting with ambassador of Iraq Dr Ali Yassin Mohammed Karim here, the Foreign Minister raised the matter about the zaireen facing difficulties in attending Arbaeen, the religious commemoration marking 40 days after the Ashura Day when Hazrat Imam Hussain (AS) was martyred in the battle of Karbala.

Foreign Minister Qureshi said since Arbaeen was only 10 days away, many zaireen who had to travel by road, would not be able to attend the religious event owing to inordinate delay.

He stressed urgent streamlining of visa procedures and their placement at the embassy's website along with the list of authorized travel agents for the convenience of visa applicants.

He assured the Iraqi Ambassador of his government's full support in ensuring return of zaireen.The Ambassador assured the Foreign Minister of maximum cooperation from Iraqi side for issuance of visas in time and in transparent manner. He said the backlog of visa applications for Arbaeen would be cleared within next few days.

It was also decided that a meeting of 12 registered tourist companies would be convened Friday afternoon at Iraqi Embassy in the presence of Additional Secretary (middle East) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to identify, discuss and resolve the visa problems of the zaireen.
(@FahadShabbir)

LAHORE, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 19th Oct, 2018 ) :An anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Friday issued non bailable arrest warrants of former DIG (operations) Rana Abdul Jabbar and former DCO Lahore Capt. (Retd) Muhammad Usman over non-appearance in Model Town case.

The court had summoned both the officials for today but they failed to appear in person. The court took serious note of their absence and issued their non-bailable arrest warrants.

The court directed CCPO Lahore to arrest them and produce before the court on next date of hearing, October 20.

ATC-II Judge Ejaz Awan conducted the proceedings of the trial.

The court had already indicted 116 police officials including former inspector general of police Punjab Mushtaq Sukhera and district management officials on a private complaint, filed by Idara Minhajul Quran, sister organisation of the Pakistan Awami Tehreek, for their trial on charges of killing its workers during 2014 Model Town incident.
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Chief Secretary Punjab Yousaf Naseem Khokhar Saturday said that the provincial government will launch a crackdown against power thieves across the province.

LAHORE, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 20th Oct, 2018 ) :Chief Secretary Punjab Yousaf Naseem Khokhar Saturday said that the provincial government will launch a crackdown against power thieves across the province.

On the directions of the Federal government, national campaign against electricity theft would begin in all districts of Punjab soon, he added.

The decision was taken at a high-level meeting, presided over by the Punjab chief secretary here. In the first phase, those stealing electricity from industrial, commercial or high-end domestic connection would be punished.

Addressing the meeting, the chief secretary said that action would be taken against electricity thieves without any discrimination under the federal government's national campaign against power theft.

He mentioned that a comprehensive plan had been devised to make the national drive against power pilferage a success.

He added that Chief Minister's Taskforce has been set up at provincial level, whereas committees have been formed in divisions and districts.

The taskforce, headed by secretary energy, would take measure to curb power theft, besides monitoring the performance of divisional and district committees formed for the purpose.
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The Islamabad High Court (IHC) Friday granted protective bail to Tariq Mansha, the son of Mansha Bomb, and directed him to approach the relevant trial court till October 24, in land-grabbing cases.

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 19th Oct, 2018 ) :The Islamabad High Court (IHC) Friday granted protective bail to Tariq Mansha, the son of Mansha Bomb, and directed him to approach the relevant trial court till October 24, in land-grabbing cases.

Justice Mohsin Akhter Kiyani of IHC conducted hearing over the petition seeking protective bail of Tariq Mansha, who was required to Lahore Police in land-grabbing cases.

The petitioner stated in his plea that he had not been involved in any offense pertaining to land grabbing as he had the evidence that the land in his posses belong to his father.

The bogus cases were initiated against him by the former chief minister Punjab for political victimization, he added.

He prayed the court to grant him protective bail stopping the police from his arrest.

After hearing the arguments, the court accepted his plea and granted him a five-day protective bail besides ordering him to approach the trial court till October 24.

It may be mentioned here that Mansha had been arrested on October 15, after the orders of apex court as a number of cases against him were registered by the Punjab Police pertaining to land grabbing.
Thar coal power plant will be completed by March 2019 and start the power generation 660MW as most of the work on mining and power have been completed.

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 19th Oct, 2018 ) :Thar coal power plant will be completed by March 2019 and start the power generation 660MW as most of the work on mining and power have been completed.

Talking to a private news channel on Friday, Ex-Chief Executive Officer of HUBCO Zafar Subhani said that Pakistan was a rich state in natural resources but there was lack of management and adding that it was the responsibility of all political parties to work together for the national cause.

He termed government should change the previous policy and adopt new policy to bring reform in bureaucracy as right person for the right job then Pakistan would be developed in all sectors.

Engineer Arshad Abbasi head of ISDP observed that establishment of Coal Power project in Sahiwal was a wrong decision of previous government.

He said that due to that project the industry of dairy form and agriculture sector badly effected and pollution had increased in the region.

Abbasi pointed out that there was no concept of debate and detail discussion on media before set up of any mega project in the country.

The country already was facing environmental problems and in the past no government paid attention to mitigate the pollution, he added.

He said 50 percent oil and gas resources explored in Khyber Pukhtunkhaw.
(@FahadShabbir)

Vitebsk became the first Belarusian city to join the UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities, Belarus Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Oleg Kravchenko said at the event to mark this achievement on 18 October, BelTA has learned.

MINSK, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 19th Oct, 2018 ) :Vitebsk became the first Belarusian city to join the UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities, Belarus Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Oleg Kravchenko said at the event to mark this achievement on 18 October, BelTA has learned.

An important decision was made to include the first Belarusian city, Vitebsk, to the UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities. This is an acknowledgment of the efforts that Vitebsk has put in the process of ensuring continuous education of the population. This leads to the achievement of one of the Sustainable Development Goals [the Goal on Quality Education],"said Oleg Kravchenko.
The appeal case of a Chadian child bride who has accused her husband, a man in his 50s, of kidnap and torture was postponed in N'Djamena Wednesday, her lawyer told AFP.

N'Djamena, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 10th Oct, 2018 ) :The appeal case of a Chadian child bride who has accused her husband, a man in his 50s, of kidnap and torture was postponed in N'Djamena Wednesday, her lawyer told AFP.

Hawariya Mahamat Abdoulaye, 16, says she fled her husband in 2016 after marrying him years earlier when she was just 11 years old.

Abdoulaye claims she was re-captured near the Chad-Sudan border, tied up and beaten, later going to live with her family where she filed a legal suit against her husband, Haroun Hissein.

The case went to trial in the capital N'Djamena in 2017 but Hissein was found not guilty of abduction, with the case dismissed on a legal technicality.

"The court of appeal in N'Djamena has postponed the trial to Wednesday, October 31," said one of her lawyers, Midaye Guerimbaye, citing a strike by civil servants.

Chad has one of the highest rates of under-age marriage in Africa.
Santiago, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 21st Oct, 2018 ) :Chilean President Sebastian Pinera on Saturday insisted he had no problem with Argentina despite its claim to extensive Patagonian glaciers along the joint but unmarked border.

The disputed glaciers lie in a mountainous area that has been waiting to be definitively marked since 1998. It is one of the last of many often-thorny border disputes between the two neighbors still awaiting final resolution.

When Argentine scientists included the glaciers in an inventory of Argentine-controlled ice, Chile's Foreign Ministry sent a note to its Argentine counterpart seeking clarification.

But Pinera, on a visit to the Patagonian city of Coyhaique, said the dispute stemmed from a difference in the measuring systems used by the two sides.

"Argentina has one scale, and Chile has another," he said.

Pinera denied that "Chile has ceded any glaciers whatsoever." He added that "we have a very good relationship with Argentina" and that the border incident "does not affect or alter Chilean sovereignty at all." The Patagonian glaciers provide some of the area's most spectacular scenery.

The Chilean-Argentine border stretches nearly 5,000 kilometers (3,000 miles) -- roughly equal to the distance across the continental United States.

The armies of each country guard the border, but it is not uncommon for patrols to cross the frontier -- which is allowed by "tacit agreement" between Santiago and Buenos Aires, Pinera said.

Chile, though far smaller than Argentina, contains four-fifths of all South American glaciers.
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UN's special envoy for Syria will travel to Damascus next week in a bid to push forward preparations for the meeting of a commission tasked with rewriting the Syrian constitution, the office of the EU's foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said after her meeting with Staffan de Mistura.

BRUSSELS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 19th October, 2018) UN's special envoy for Syria will travel to Damascus next week in a bid to push forward preparations for the meeting of a commission tasked with rewriting the Syrian constitution, the office of the EU's foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said after her meeting with Staffan de Mistura.

"The High Representative expressed full support of the European Union for the work of Staffan de Mistura ahead of his visit to Damascus next week intended to advance preparations for convening the first meeting of the Constitutional Committee in November," the EU external action service said.

The officials met in Brussels on Friday to discuss the possible ways for the European Union to support the constitutional reform process needed for a "credible, political transition in Syria." Mogherini also praised the envoy, who is to step down at the end of November, for his dedicated work.

The idea of creating an inclusive constitutional committee under the auspices of the UN in Geneva was floated at the Syrian National Dialogue Congress in Russia's Sochi. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has earlier warned against rushing it.
(@FahadShabbir)

Greece will start pushing its maritime boundaries outward, starting from the western coastline, to gradually expand its territorial waters to 12 nautical miles, its outgoing foreign minister said Saturday.

ATHENS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 20th October, 2018) Greece will start pushing its maritime boundaries outward, starting from the western coastline, to gradually expand its territorial waters to 12 nautical miles, its outgoing foreign minister said Saturday.

Turkey warned in 1995 that an attempt by Athens to expand its territorial sea beyond 6 nautical miles would authorize its government to declare a war on Greece.

"It [border] will stretch from [Ionian Sea island] Othonoi to Antikythera [northwest from Crete]. It will expand to 12 miles from 6 miles for the first time since we got the Dodecanese [islands in the southeast Aegean Sea]," Nikos Kotzias said.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, who accepted the diplomat's resignation this week, said at the handing-over ceremony that his office would continue the work to expand the maritime border.
Tehran, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 21st Oct, 2018 ) :Iran's President Hassan Rouhani has accepted the resignation of the embattled ministers of industry and roads, a statement on the presidential website said Saturday.

The president thanked industry minister Mohammad Shariatmadari and roads minister Abbas Akhoundi's "selfless service" and "sincere efforts" during their tenures and appointed two acting ministers.

Reza Rahmani, current deputy industries minister, will take over for Shariatmadari and the current governor of Mazandaran, Mohammad Eslami, will become acting roads minister effective immediately, the website said.

The two ministers reportedly handed in their resignations over a month ago as lawmakers were preparing impeachment proceedings against them.

Rumours of Shariatmadari's resignation first surfaced mid-September but were quickly denied by the ministry.

Akhoundi published his resignation letter dated September 1 on Saturday, pointing to a "difference of opinion" as the main cause.

Rouhani's labour and economy ministers were sacked by the parliament in August over their handling of an economic crisis, partly triggered by the withdrawal of the United States from the 2015 nuclear deal and reimpoisition of sanctions.

Rouhani himself was summoned to the parliament to answer questions from lawmakers on August 28, a first in his five years in power, and only the second time for a sitting president.

Lawmakers were also ready to impeach education minister Mohammad Bathaei but called it off on September 2 due to the upcoming school year.
(@FahadShabbir)

At least five secondary school students were abducted by gunmen in Cameroon's northwestern city of Bamenda, local media reported on Saturday citing sources.

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 20th October, 2018) At least five secondary school students were abducted by gunmen in Cameroon's northwestern city of Bamenda, local media reported on Saturday citing sources.

One of the students managed to escape and returned to the school with a bruised leg, according to Journal du Cameroon newspaper.

The fate of other students remains unknown as school authorities are yet to issue an official statement, the newspaper said.

Cameroon's police launched a chase but were unable to capture the gunmen.
Two teenage girls hurt in this week's college shooting in Crimea will be flown to Moscow soon to continue their treatment, regional authorities said Saturday.

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 20th October, 2018) Two teenage girls hurt in this week's college shooting in Crimea will be flown to Moscow soon to continue their treatment, regional authorities said Saturday.

A shooting at Kerch Polytechnic left 21 people dead and over 50 injured. The Russian Health Ministry said 45 remained in hospital as of Saturday morning, three of them in critical condition.

"Medical specialists from Moscow flew to Crimea to consult those injured and determine their treatment plan... They decided to send two female patients... to Moscow clinics," the Crimean government said in a statement.

Some of the critically injured were airlifted to Moscow on Wednesday after a bomb and gun attack on the vocational school for teenagers in the city of Kerch. Police sources told Sputnik the gunman, a fourth-year student who killed himself, had planned the shooting since January 2017 and acted alone.
(@ChaudhryMAli88)

Moscow is awaiting an official apology from Norway for the situation around Russian Federation Council employee Mikhail Bochkarev, who was previously detained in Oslo on suspicion of involvement in spying activities and is now released over the lack of evidence against him, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Friday.

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 19th October, 2018) Moscow is awaiting an official apology from Norway for the situation around Russian Federation Council employee Mikhail Bochkarev, who was previously detained in Oslo on suspicion of involvement in spying activities and is now released over the lack of evidence against him, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Friday.

On Thursday, a Norwegian court ruled not to prolong Bochkarev's arrest due to the lack of evidence against him. The Norwegian police appealed the decision, but later withdrew its appeal. On Friday, Bochkarev was released from detention.

"He is currently in the Russian Embassy in Norway. Russian diplomats provide him with all the necessary assistance.

He is planning to depart for Moscow tomorrow. From the very beginning, we pointed to the false nature of 'espionage' accusations brought against M.A. Bochkarev. We expect an official apology from the Norwegian side," the ministry said.

Bochkarev was detained at the Gardermoen airport outside Oslo on September 21 following his participation in an IT conference in Norway's parliament, arranged by the European Center for Parliamentary Research and Documentation. The Norwegian security suspected Bochkarev of gathering data via wireless signals and networks in the parliament building. Bochkarev has denied accusations.
(@ChaudhryMAli88)

A Russian man suspected of spying at the Norwegian parliament was released from prison on Friday after Norway's intelligence service withdrew an appeal against the decision.

Oslo, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 19th Oct, 2018 ) :A Russian man suspected of spying at the Norwegian parliament was released from prison on Friday after Norway's intelligence service withdrew an appeal against the decision.

Mikhail Bochkarev, 51, was arrested on September 21 at Oslo airport after attending a seminar in Norway's parliament, accused of having collected data on the building and its network.

Television footage showed Bochkarev leave Oslo prison on Friday in a car from the Russian embassy.

His release came after a Norwegian judge ruled on Thursday that investigators had failed to substantiate their case.

The PST intelligence service initially appealed the decision but on Friday the agency made a U-turn.

"The PST has decided to withdraw its appeal... He is released today," the agency tweeted without an explanation.
Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed his condolences on Friday to Indian President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the deadly train incident in the country's northern state of Punjab.

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 19th October, 2018) Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed his condolences on Friday to Indian President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the deadly train incident in the country's northern state of Punjab.

Earlier in the day, the Indian authorities declared Saturday a day of mourning in Punjab over the reported death of over 50 people.

"Please accept deep condolences over the tragic consequences of an accident on a railway in the state of Punjab. Please convey the words of sympathy and support to the families and friends of the victims, as well as the wishes of a speedy recovery to all the injured," Putin said in a telegram, as quoted by the Kremlin press service.

The train ran over a crowd in the city of Amritsar on Friday when they were celebrating Dussehra, a major Hindu festival, and were reportedly standing on the tracks.
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Members of the Russian delegation discussed with Syrian President Bashar Assad the situation in Syria and the fight against terrorism during their visit to the Middle Eastern country, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Saturday.

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 20th October, 2018) Members of the Russian delegation discussed with Syrian President Bashar Assad the situation in Syria and the fight against terrorism during their visit to the middle Eastern country, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Saturday.

The Russian delegation, including Special Presidential Envoy for Syria Alexander Lavrentyev, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin and the Defense Ministry officials, held consultations in Syria and was received by Assad on Friday.

"The sides held a detailed discussion on a range of issues related to the development of the situation in Syria. They reaffirmed their commitment to the complete destruction of terrorists and moving toward a long-term political settlement [in Syria]," the ministry's statement read.
Russia's First Deputy Foreign Minister Vladimir Titov met Friday with Ambassador of the European Union to Russia Markus Ederer to discuss the state of Russian-EU ties and agree upon future contacts, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 19th October, 2018) Russia's First Deputy Foreign Minister Vladimir Titov met Friday with Ambassador of the European Union to Russia Markus Ederer to discuss the state of Russian-EU ties and agree upon future contacts, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

"They discussed an array of pressing issues in Europe, including those related to bilateral relations between Russia and the European Union. The schedule of further Russian-EU political contacts was considered," the statement said.

During the meeting, the diplomats also stressed the need to maintain bilateral cooperation on key international issues and work together to address common challenges and threats, the ministry added.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Uzbek counterpart Shavkat Mirziyoyev launched on Friday a project to construct Uzbekistan's first nuclear power plant (NPP) based on a Russian design and participated in a ceremony of the construction works' beginning via video link from Tashkent, Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom said in a press release.

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 19th October, 2018) Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Uzbek counterpart Shavkat Mirziyoyev launched on Friday a project to construct Uzbekistan's first nuclear power plant (NPP) based on a Russian design and participated in a ceremony of the construction works' beginning via video link from Tashkent, Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom said in a press release.

The event marked the start of the engineering studies to choose the site for the construction of the future NPP.

"On October 19, 2018 a solemn ceremony was held in Uzbekistan to celebrate the launch of the first NPP construction project in Uzbekistan. The event marked the beginning of investigation studies to select the construction site for the future NPP. The President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev and the President of Russia Vladimir Putin, who was in Uzbekistan with a state visit, joined the event by way of a videoconference from Tashkent," the press release said.

As part of the event, a memorandum of cooperation in education and training of staff in the field of nuclear energy was signed by Rosatom, the academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan and Uzatom agency for the development of atomic energy operating under the Uzbek government.

In addition, a memorandum of understanding on forming a positive public opinion about nuclear energy in Uzbekistan was signed by the representatives of the two countries. Within the framework of the document, the two parties are expected to carry out activities aimed at popularization of nuclear energy in the country and increasing the awareness of the country's population of the modern nuclear energy technologies, to hold thematic conferences and to educate national media workers.

The NPP project provides for the construction of two power units equipped with the 3+ generation VVER-1200 reactors, which are fully in compliance with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safety requirements. The estimated cost of the NPP construction will be about $11 billion.
MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 20th October, 2018) US President Donald Trump may meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the commemoration marking the centenary of the end of World War I in Paris or the G20 summit in Buenos Aires, both scheduled for November, US media reported, citing a senior White House official.

Trump's next meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was likely to be held in 2019, Bloomberg reported.

The first full-fledged meeting between Putin and Trump was held in July in Helsinki.

Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday that despite the two leaders were planned to attend the same events in France and Argentina in November, their next meeting was not being discussed. Moscow has said it is ready to discuss the possibility of arrangement of the second meeting between the two presidents if Washington is interested in continuing high-level dialogue.
Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates sided with Saudi Arabia on Saturday, praising its "great efforts" in probing the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

DOHA (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 20th October, 2018) Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates sided with Saudi Arabia on Saturday, praising its "great efforts" in probing the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

"The Kingdom of Bahrain commends the great efforts exerted by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, in order to establish justice," its Foreign Ministry said.

It applauded the kingdom's "wise directives" in the inquiry, which established that the Saudi critic was beaten to death more than two weeks ago inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

The UAE foreign office commended the Saudi king for his "great efforts to explore the truth and seek legal accountability" in what it described as an "unfortunate and tragic incident that killed" Khashoggi.

Both Gulf Arab monarchies reiterated their trust in Saudi Arabia's judgment on the case, its values and principles, and warned against any threats to its security after Western governments said they were mulling response.

Saudi Arabia has been under international pressure after Khashoggi disappeared inside its consulate on October 2. It admitted in a report that the Washington Post columnist was dead. Turkey is conducting a separate probe and will make all findings public once it is completed.
Dumas et al. J Cancer 2017

Munich, Germany (UroToday.com) It is known that insurance is required to obtain a loan and requesting home loans is quite common. Approximately 27% of the European population live in an owner-occupied home with and outstanding loan. Mortgage loans enable the bank to repossess the house to pay off the loan. It is seldom used in France, like other European countries  Italy, Germany, as opposed to England. The insurance is important because the loan is not protected by the property.In order to obtain a loan in France, there is a need for full disclosure of all medical history. This would include all history of cancer and chemotherapy if the patient received it. Based on the medical history, the insurer may ask for higher premiums (increasing the cost of insurance by 50-300%), limit the insurance policy by excluding some risks (including cancer), and refuse to give any insurance policy. Not disclosing the complete medical history will result in cancellation of the contract, even if the damage is completely unrelated to cancer and might even result in prosecution for fraud.Dr. Dumas described the published French study on access to a loan after a history of childhood cancer. This study included patient-reported outcomes and data from medical files. All participants needed to fill out a questionnaire, and the response rate was 72% out of 1920 participants. The mean age of participants was 36, with a mean time since diagnosis of cancer being 31 years. Out of the 1920 participants, 47% tried to obtain a home loan, 30% of them reported some difficulty in obtaining the loan, with 15% of them being rejected, 23% of them having to pay an extra premium, and 62% having significant insurance exclusions.When assessing the factors associated with difficulties in accessing loan-related insurance, the disclosure of childhood cancer was the most significant factor, preventing the participants from getting insurance. In France, 31% reported difficulty in accessing loan-related insurance, while in other countries such as the Netherlands, this percentage ranged between 9-22%, depending on the type of childhood cancer.Dr. Dumas then discussed on the right to be forgotten. This issue of complete medical history disclosure led the people to organize since the 1990s until the law was finally adopted in 2016. According to this law, cancer survivors do not have to disclose their history of cancer to the insurer, and have a right to be forgotten If the person is younger than 18, after five years had passed from the treatment, he/she does not need to report cancer. Similarly, in adults older than 18 at time of diagnosis, they do not need to disclose the history of their cancer, if ten years had passed from treatment. The newly adopted law also forbids premiums and all sorts of exclusions. For each cancer, specific conditions were formulated on the specific amount of time that needed to pass to allow the participant not to be mandated to report on his cancer history.Dr. Dumas concluded the discussion stating that access to insurance can impact material living conditions and social well-being, Update of the list of conditions entailed in the right to be forgotten include working group gathering, health care professionals, epidemiologists, insurers, patients representatives, national cancer institute, and national authority for health.Reference:Presented by: Agnes Dumas, Villejuif, France, Centre for research in epidemiology and population health; Institut Gustave RoussyWritten by: Hanan Goldberg, MD, Urologic Oncology Fellow (SUO), University of Toronto, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre @GoldbergHanan at the 2018 European Society for Medical Oncology Congress (#ESMO18), October 19-23, 2018, Munich Germany
Munich, Germany (UroToday.com) With time progressing, the number of people living after been diagnosed with cancer is rising significantly. In the US these constitute 15 million people, and in Italy, they are 3.5 million (6% of the entire population). Dr. Dal Maso believes that we need to better categorize these patients, to bring survivorship into precision medicine era.First, it is critical that we learn and standardize how we define a cured patient. Unfortunately, a widely accepted epidemiological measurable definition of cured patients is lacking. At a population level, a patient can be considered cured when they reach the same mortality rate (life expectancy) of the general population of the same sex and age. At the individual level, a measurable excess risk may remain after the elimination of all detectable malignant cells (complete remission).Some important question that needs to be answered include how many years will a patient need to wait to consider himself cured? How many patients will he/she be cured of the disease? How many patients are already cured of the disease? What is the life expectancy of cancer patients?Dr. Dal Maso next described a study assessing 0.8 million Italian cancer patients with 18-28 years of follow-up diagnosed after the year 1976. Validated statistical methods were used to estimate population-based indicators of cancer cure, by cancer type, gender, age, and time-period. Conditional relative survival (the cumulative probability of surviving an additional five years, given that the patients already survived a certain number of years) was also demonstrated.For this study, patients had to be stopped being recruited several years ago, so that a long enough follow-up would exist on each patient. Cancer types of different organs have various cure rates and varying time to cure.The limitations of this study include the fact that the definition of time to cure is still questionable, and there was no information on histology, stage, and treatment. Lastly, estimates can vary over time and in various countries. In summary, a reliable and accurate answer to the question when is a cancer patient cured can be found, making the lives of patients easier.Presented by: Luigino Dal Maso, Cancer Epidemiology Unit, CRO Aviano National Cancer Institute IRCCS, Aviano, Italy.Written by: Hanan Goldberg, MD, Urologic Oncology Fellow (SUO), University of Toronto, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre @GoldbergHanan at the 2018 European Society for Medical Oncology Congress (#ESMO18), October 19-23, 2018, Munich Germany
Most countries and continents/regions have had increases in life expectancy  including in Europe and North America However, with increasing life expectancy means an aging population with chronic diseases and multimorbidity Health systems resource use: 80/20 rule

More money spent does not mean better healthcare! This goes back to value based healthcare. A perfect example is an amount the US spends on healthcare  for no different outcomes that many other countries. The US spends more on health care than the GDP of some European countries.

Europe is a tale of 2 stories  eastern and western Europe are very different

Munich, Germany (UroToday.com) In this last talk of the session, Vlad Voiculescu, a lawyer and former health minister of Romania, focuses on healthcare efficacy, with a discussion of where countries fall short and the challenges of making the changes necessary to improve. His own personal experience and anecdotes were quite informative.Unfortunately, currently in healthcare in all regions, healthcare demands outstrip the ability to pay for it. Good health is an economic asset; Good healthcare is a political asset; equity of access is important; health (especially in Europe) is increasingly being seen as a right  in contrast to other parts of the world (including the United States!). Unfortunately, GDP growth trajectory wont keep pace  the current trajectory is unsustainable.There are multiple forces at interplay here. Here is a nice diagram to depict those forces  and each has far-reaching consequences.There are 3 challenges that will result in rapid demand for innovation:1) Higher disease burden, demand, and expectations2) Higher expenditures without fiscal constraint, sustainability or universal coverage3) ProductivityHow do we get to well-functioning healthcare system? 3 Is:1) Include  Move towards universal health care for all of Europe free of impoverishing payments for healthcare2) Invest  Invest in health systems and enact cost-effective AND evidence-based public health approaches3) Innovate  Accelerate uptake, roll out and scale up innovations to meet peoples needsEnabling Innovation  3 possible solutionsSpecifically, he wants to focus more on obtaining a value for the money put in  and that can be defined as health outcomes that matter to patients divided by the cost of achieving those outcomes. The goal is to maximize our efficiency.He then highlighted some European and national trends.- 20% of the population used 80% of the resources- That 20% includes the elderly and patients with chronic diseases- Current systems arent in place to help effectively take care of these populations- Western European countries spend a much larger percentage of their GDP on health care, and this correlates to ~5-8 year longer life expectancy.- Healthcare expenditure varies greatly across the European Union  looking at the amount of money spent per person, ranges anyway from 800 Euros (Romania) to 6000 Euros (Luxemburg).Presented by: Vlad Voiculescu, Bucharest, RomaniaWritten by: Thenappan Chandrasekar, MD, Clinical Instructor, Thomas Jefferson University, twitter: @tchandra_uromd, @TjuUrology at the 2018 European Society for Medical Oncology Congress (#ESMO18), October 19-23, 2018, Munich Germany Further Related Content: Pillars of an Effective Healthcare System in Europe Key Components of a Well-Functioning Healthcare System
Munich, Germany (UroToday.com) Dr. Martin Walz gave the surgical perspective on how to treat pheochromocytoma and paraganglioma. Pheochromocytoma was always believed to be the 10% tumor, meaning that all rare subtypes of the tumor were thought to be prevalent in approximately 10% of cases. However, real-world data from Dr. Walzs institution demonstrate different numbers. Approximately 15% of these tumors are bilateral, 5% are pediatric, 35% have some genetic component, 15% are extra-gonadal, and the percentage of malignant tumors is not clear.These tumors can be seen using various advanced PET imaging techniques, including MRI, PET-CT, and PET-MRI (Figure 1).Figure 1  Pheochromocytoma in the various imaging modalities:Dr. Walz did not go into the extensive process of diagnosing these tumors due to interests of time. Instead, he focused on reporting some surgical cases he was involved in and even showed some interesting videos of previous procedure that he has performed, both laparoscopically and robotically.He summarized his talk, stating that for unilateral pheochromocytoma, the optimal treatment is surgical removal. When there are bilateral tumors, partial adrenalectomy should be attempted, at least at one side, in an attempt to avoid forcing the patient to take lifelong hormonal replacements. For a large paraganglioma, as seen in figure 2, surgical extirpation is recommended as well. This treatment is also recommended for multiple chromaffin tumors, recurrent pheochromocytoma, and for recurrent paraganglioma.Figure 2 -Large Paraganglioma:When the recurrent pheochromocytoma is accompanied by multiple metastases, there is no point in surgery at this time. In contrast, in chromaffin tumors with only some visualized metastases, it is possible to attempt a mastectomy along with the removal of the primary tumor.Dr. Walz then described in short, his surgical technique, which is usually attempted with minimally invasive techniques, with either the robot or laparoscopic surgery. Minimally invasive techniques are being used more often worldwide for these tumors, and this modality seems to be an effective and safe technique. Dr. Walz commonly uses the posterior retroperitoneal approach, where the patient lies on his abdomen, because the approach to the tumor is the fastest and most simple, according to him.Dr. Walz believes that the renal vessels represent a line, where above it the surgery should be done in a retroperitoneoscopic approach, and below these vessels, the procedure should be done laparoscopically. Following this simple rule will make the surgery technically easier for the surgeon.Presented by: Martin Walz, MD, Professor, The Essen-Mitte Clinic, Essen, GermanyWritten by: Hanan Goldberg, MD, Urologic Oncology Fellow (SUO), University of Toronto, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre @GoldbergHanan at the 2018 European Society for Medical Oncology Congress (#ESMO18), October 19-23, 2018, Munich Germany
The Synod Fathers are visiting the Regina Coeli prison as part of the Liberi nelArte project that works for the reintegration of prisoners.

By Robin Gomes

Synod Fathers participating in the world Synod of Bishops on young people, taking place in the Vatican, are visiting Romes famous Regina Coeli prison, Saturday evening, where they will be treated to a cultural and artistic show.

Present along with the Synod participants will be representatives of institutions, civil society, young people and volunteers.

The October 3-28 Synod of the Bishops has as its theme, Young People, the Faith and Vocational Discernment.

The highlight of the October 20 event at Regina Coeli prison, not far from the Vatican, will be a concert by the Div4s Sopranos, a female vocal quartet. It will also include reading of excerpts from speeches of Popes who have visited the prison.

The event is part of what is called the Liberi nellArte (Free in Art) project sponsored by the Italian Catholic Press Union (UCSI) of Molise region, in collaboration with Vatican News, Shy Arte, Italys Ministry of Justice and the inspectorate general of Italys prison chaplains.

The "Liberi nell'arte " initiative aims to promote the reintegration of prisoners into the labour market and into society through art.

Art ushering in goodness, beauty, hope

In a note, "Liberi nell'arte " explained that in the theatre of human and social peripheries, Saturday evening's event, will be a moment that will be remembered as the beginning of a new path in the heart of the Synod, where art meets suffering and becomes the spokesperson of a message of beauty and hope for all.

Father Raffaele Grimaldi, the inspector general of Italys prison chaplains has appealed to the Synod Fathers urging that a special attention be paid to prisoners in the Synods final document.

Commenting on Liberi nellArte, the priest said it is an initiative that reaches out to prisoners to give them a taste of their freedom. Through art, music and culture, he said, prisoners are helped to establish a relationship with things good and beautiful.

The artists who will be performing said they will be interpreters of a message of love, beauty and joy. It will also be an opportunity for joy and sharing that, we hope, will instil in them courage and the right determination to be able to rebuild their own path," they said.

Allowing beauty enter prisons

The purpose of Liberi nellArte is to allow beauty into prisons in order to elevate the soul, explained Fr. Grimaldi to SIR news agency. Art, he said, is important because when a person lives in an environment of misery and low culture, beauty, art and culture help him to get out of certain schemes. Liberi nellArte, he continued, helps beauty enter the prisons so that young people can ask themselves how they have lived their lives so far and encourage them to change paths.

Fr. Grimaldi said the project was born after Italys juvenile prison chaplains wrote a letter in March to the directors of youth ministry of Italian dioceses asking them what they could do for young people in prison, on the occasion of the Synod of Bishops.

The artistic and cultural programme of Liberi nellArte is currently being held from 18 to 25 October in four prisons of Italys Lazio region. It includes music, live opera performances and screening of art films.

On Thursday the womens prison of Rebbibia watched a film on Michelangelo and on Friday the Casal del Marmo juvenile prison watch a show called the Last Judgement. The concert by Div4s Sopranos is featuring of Saturday at Regina Coeli and on October 25, a film on Caravaggio will be screened at Paliano prison.
B+H partners with Surbana Jurong

On October 16, architecture, interior design, planning, landscape design, and strategic consulting firm B+H is partnering with one of Asias largest urban and infrastructure consulting firms, Surbana Jurong Private Limited (Surbana Jurong).

Poised for the next phase of its transformation into a world-class strategic consulting and design powerhouse, this new partnership aligns B+H with a global industry leader and provides unprecedented access to a deeper and broader platform from which to propel the firms growth.

This new partnership marks Singapore-based Surbana Jurongs first investment in a North American consulting and design practice and a key phase of its urban transformation strategy. Sharing common goals and service, sector and geographic synergies, B+H will deepen Surbana Jurongs architecture and design capabilities. In turn, B+Hs ability to transform spaces, communities and economies will be dramatically expanded through the Surbana Jurong Groups global network.

This partnership accelerates B+Hs continued growth strategy and positions us to compete with some of the most powerful firms in the world, says Bill Nankivell, CEO, B+H. Continued investments, consolidation and mergers in our industry are providing platforms for firms to grow, diversify, compete, and attract and retain the best talent. The B+H and Surbana Jurong partnership will allow us to deliver bold and inspiring projects in new geographies and sectors, providing extraordinary opportunities for our people.

A shared vision

Sharing a legacy of progressive projects that have made significant contributions to their communities  Surbana Jurong are the innovators behind one million public housing units in Singapore and the iconic Snowy Mountain Hydroelectric Scheme in Australia  both firms are committed to design excellence and continual growth at all scales. This synergistic alignment of purpose and values was the impetus for the partnership and the reason why B+H selected Surbana Jurong as an investor in its future.

Surbana Jurong and B+H believe in shaping spaces, communities, cities, economies and lives, says Wong Heang Fine, Group CEO of Surbana Jurong. Both firms are committed to delivering resilient and healthy environments. Together, we will aim to provide integrated, end-to-end and best-in-class solutions, from real estate and development strategies, to design and consulting services and through to facilities management. We will create spaces and design infrastructure where people live, work and play, shaping cities into homes with sustainable jobs where communities and businesses can flourish.

A new platform for strategic growth and design leadership

Founded in Toronto in 1953, B+H first established its name by working on small-to-medium-scale developments throughout the city, gradually building its portfolio through collaborations with well-known starchitects on the execution of some the citys most iconic projects, such as Mies van der Rohes TD Centre.

The B+H and Surbana Jurong partnership will allow us to deliver bold and inspiring projects in new geographies and sectors, providing extraordinary opportunities for our people.

Over the years, B+H grew in response to shifting market conditions, expanding into new geographies and acquiring smaller firms to diversify its services, access new sectors, and grow internationally. This agility allowed B+H to broaden its conventional business model and establish a reputation for high design and advanced consulting services.

The next phase of its evolution will see B+H play a key role in shaping Surbana Jurongs global urban transformation vision through its design leadership, talent, portfolio, and consulting services that use design thinking to create high value solutions for the built environment.

Maintaining B+Hs Canadian roots and identity

B+H Principals will continue to be owners and the firm will be managed as an independent entity by its Managing Principals, with its head office remaining in Toronto thereby retaining its strong Canadian brand.

Surbana Jurongs business model is to have specialist groups operate independently in the global marketplace, with the flexibility to work separately or collaboratively in response to need and opportunity. B+H and Surbana Jurong will collaborate on strategic opportunities in North America where feasible, where Surbana Jurong does not currently have a strong market presence.

In China, Hong Kong, Singapore and Vietnam, where both firms have a presence, B+H will continue to operate independently, providing a full suite of design services and collaborating with Surbana Jurong and member companies. The partnership will allow B+H to leverage Surbana Jurongs presence in Malaysia, Myanmar, The Philippines, India, Indonesia, Australia and Africa to pursue new project opportunities.

An investment in Canadas knowledge economy

Surbana Jurong is a group of companies with a global network of 130 offices with 14,500 employees. Its other member companies are AETOS and KTP in Singapore, RBG and SMEC in Australia and Sino-Sun in China. The group is committed to delivering long-term sustainable value for present and future generations. The partnership provides B+H with access to a much broader and deeper network that will allow the firm to scale and grow both in Canada and overseas and will provide new job opportunities for Canadian talent both at home and abroad.

B+H is a global, award-winning consulting + design solutions firm. We leverage the core visualization and integration skills of an architecture and design practice to understand and articulate complex data into transformative solutions across a broad spectrum of sectors and services.

Founded on a 65-year legacy of creating bold and inspiring spaces for people, B+H provides core architecture, planning, landscape, and interior design services. Today our team includes more than 450 curious designers, place makers, strategists, storytellers, and creative human beings who believe in embracing change and challenging the status quo to deliver resilient, healthy environments that make positive contributions to their communities and are characterized by vibrant human experiences.

Collaborating across ten studios in Toronto, Singapore & Ho Chi Minh City, B+Hs architects, interior designers, planners, landscape architects, organizational design specialists, experience designers, researchers, analysts, and brand strategists combine strategic thinking, bold design and advanced technology with the creative human energy of an interdisciplinary, multigenerational team.

A member of the Surbana Jurong Group, B+H delivers strategic consulting and high value design solutions that shape spaces, communities, and economies.
Traffic on e-commerce platforms (unit: million)

Breakthrough growth of Shopee

According to the Map of E-commerce in Vietnam, in the third quarter of this year, traffic at Shopee increased to 34.5 million visits, overwhelming other competitors to become the first-ranking e-commerce platform. It also ranks first in terms of visits via iOS and Android.

Mobile World has maintained the second position since the second quarter of last year. This retailer got 30.3 million visits in the last quarter.

Meanwhile, Lazada dropped to the third position with 30.2 million visits. This is the first quarter in the past five that Lazada has lost the first rank.

They are followed by Tiki.vn and Sendo.vn with 29.4 and 20.8 million visits, respectively.

As a result, over the last six quarters, Shopee has been developing well. Its traffic has increased from 7.6 million in the second quarter of last year, equivalent to one-fifth of Lazadas traffic, to where it stands now.

Lazada slowing down

In contrast to other e-commerce platforms growth, traffic at Lazada has been decreasing for three consecutive quarters. Its quality of goods and services seems not to have improved.

Last month, a Lazada customer who also reads VIR, Patrick Tang told us that he had ordered one Samsung phone cover in blue colour for his daughter on Lazadas website. After two weeks, I received the package but to my great surprise and disappointment I found the cover totally different from what I ordered. The cover I received was pink and had a different motif. If Lazada did not have the item, they should have informed me instead of delivering what they do have in stock, Patrick Tang claimed.

The cover Patrick ordered on Lazada (left) and the one he got

He called Lazadas customer service and they sent him an email, which he replied to and asked for a return. So far, it has been complete silence since then. This shows just how bad Lazadas services are. Lazada is not a serious company.

His anger pushed him to boycott the e-commerce platform. I do not want to hear about Lazada anymore. I have uninstalled the app and will forget Lazada because each time I think of them I get a headache.

Lazada received the highest number of complaints about its goods and services and its traffic is slowing down day by day.
Lien Chieu Port is designed as a major wharf area in the central region's international gateway port

On October 18, the Government Office sent a document to the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI), the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Transport, and the Danang People's Committee on the allocation of capital for the projects deployment.

With respect to Danang citys proposal on the allocation of capital for the port project, Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue has assigned the MPI to review and summarise reports at the upcoming meeting of the governments Standing Committee.

Before that, the Danang People's Committee has proposed the prime minister, the National Assembly (NA)s Finance and Budget Committee, and relevant ministries to allocate VND500 billion ($21.7 million) sourced from the mid-term public investment plan for 2016-2020, paving the way for the project to start work during 2019-2020.

To finalise the project according to the approved scale, Danang wanted the prime minister and the NAs Finance and Budget Committee to consider capital allocation for the project when reviewing the mid-term public investment plan for 2021-2025.

Danang expects investment preparation to be finalised next year (2019) and the project will begin construction and be put into operation during 2020-2022.

According to the projects pre-feasibility study, Lien Chieu Port will become a major wharf area of an international gateway port in the central region, having the capacity to receive ships up to 100,000 dead weight tonnage (DWT), and container ships with capacity from 6,000 to 8,000TEUs.

The infrastructure for the ports two terminals is estimated to cost more than VND3.4 trillion ($147.8 million), more than VND2.99 trillion ($130 million) of which is construction costs, while the rest is the cost of equipment and site clearance, among others.

To lift the project off the drawing board, Danang proposes sourcing 87.4 per cent of the total investment value from the central budget, equal to VND2.99 trillion ($130 million).

The Ministry of Transports budget for the project would be sourced from the mid-term public investment plan for 2016-2020, while Danang city will also allocate VND433 billion ($18.8 million), equal the remaining 12.6 per cent of the total investment capital, for the projects implementation.

Danang expects investment preparation to be finalised next year (2019) and the project will begin construction and be put into operation during 2020-2022.
At a seminar held by Education New Zealand (ENZ), the New Zealand Embassy in Hanoi and the Hanoi Department of Education and Training (DoET) yesterday to share New Zealands expertise in preparing students for the future, Robbie Pickford, project manager of Schools International Education Business Association (SIEBA), shared that she has observed a great deal of curiosity among students in Vietnam, a trait which would be most welcome and encouraged in schools in New Zealand as teachers there love it when students ask questions and are happy to satisfy their interest.

The New Zealand education system, backed by the government with plentiful resources, according to Pickford, will provide international students like those from Vietnam with facilities to pursue both in-class study and outdoor activities to fully nurture their mental and physical states.

New Zealand schools are incredibly lucky in the way they are funded by our government with the resources we have: beautiful grounds so the students do get the opportunity to spend time outdoors doing sports, but also in our classrooms, students dont have to buy textbooks, as we dont use a lot of textbooks anymore, we use a variety of ways to teach our students. We are very privileged that the government supports us incredibly well, she said in an interview in Hanoi.

I think education methods in New Zealand are quite different from those in most countries. We focus on teaching our students to be ready for the future. A key tenet is to teach students skills rather than just knowledge. We want them to achieve knowledge, but we want them to understand the material and know what to do with that knowledge and how to use it.

Studying in New Zealand teaches students independence

While there are quite a number of international schools in Vietnam where local students can also get globally-recognised qualifications, it comes down to the experience of living in another place why many local parents and students choose New Zealand as a place to study. According to Pickford, living with a host family and studying in New Zealand can be the best way for Vietnamese students to learn the language.

Another great advantage of studying abroad is that students learn to be independent.

Given the six-hour time difference between New Zealand and Vietnam, calling home to ask their parents for advice can be difficult, which prompts students to solve their problem themselves, according to Pickford.

They enjoy the day-to-day life in New Zealand. All of their experiences in another country is part of their learning, each new memory a step towards independence. When theyre in New Zealand, theyre learning a huge number of skills, independence and self-management being only two of them.

According to Economist Intelligent Unit, the rapid development of digital technology and the globalisation of economic systems are creating an entirely new set of educational challenges for the world. The workers of the future will need to master a suite of interpersonal, problem-solving, and critical-thinking skills and navigate an increasingly digital and automated world.

For developing countries like Vietnam, where the young (from 10 to 24) account for approximately 40 per cent of the population, the need to prepare a workforce for the future starting from secondary school onwards is even more pressing.

New Zealand Ambassador to Vietnam Wendy Matthews shared that the seminar is another important step to promote the long-term commitment between the New Zealand government and Hanoi DoET: We are thrilled that Vietnamese families and students are increasingly choosing to study in New Zealand, with 36 per cent more Vietnamese school students and 14 per cent more university students enrolling in New Zealand institutions over the past year.

Conducting this seminar for the first time alongside DoET allowed us to share more about New Zealands future-focused approach to education, which promotes inquisitive and project-based learning and provides flexible learning pathways for students. New Zealand is committed to the education partnership with Vietnam, to future-proofing Vietnamese students, and enabling Vietnamese students to pursue successful global careers.

More importantly, the seminar was a fantastic platform for both Education New Zealand and DoET to share best practices and to enable New Zealand to better understand ways in which it can support the development of 21st century skills in Vietnam, said Ambassador Matthews.

In addition to the seminar, Education New Zealand will also organise roadshow activities at nine schools in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi to further promote New Zealands culture, people, and education system, and foster future exchanges between New Zealand and Vietnams education institutions.
Fifteen people were killed and another 60 wounded Saturday when a suicide bomber tried to enter a polling station in northern Kabul.



Eight of the dead were policemen who stopped the attacker at the first security check point, just before he set off his explosives, according to Nasratullah Rahimi, deputy spokesman for Afghan Ministry of Interior.



Saturdays parliamentary elections in Afghanistan were reportedly marred by sporadic attacks throughout the day, along with reports of long lines and millions of people casting ballots.



The Taliban had issued repeated warnings of attacks on polling stations and all election related activity. The threats, however, were not enough to keep many registered voters home.



We are not afraid of threats because we want to build our country. Today we had a lot of threats, but we are still here to vote, said Fariba, a female voter in Kabul.

VOA teams across the country reported a seemingly high turnout, judging by the number of voters at various polling stations.



The chairman of the Independent Election Commission of Afghanistan, Gulajan Bade Sayad, said more than 2 million Afghans had voted in 27 provinces by 2 p.m. local time. The highest turnout, 638,000 votes, was in Kabul. Faryab saw the lowest number of votes cast.



Reports from five other provinces, he said, were not yet available and promised further details later Saturday.

The U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said Saturday night that it was encouraged by the large turnout by Afghans to exercise their constitutional right to vote for representatives of their choosing. It also emphasized steps being taken in light of the violence.

"The mission notes the immediate steps taken by the Afghan electoral authorities to ensure that no eligible voter is denied the right to vote due to technical failures: Many polling stations will have extended hours tonight and those that did not open today will be opened tomorrow. The mission also notes that arrangements are being put in place to enable citizens of Kandahar to vote next Saturday, after the polling was postponed due to recent security incidents."

Voting was carried out in 32 of Afghanistans 34 provinces. In Kandahar, voting was postponed for a week after Thursdays killing of influential commander General Abdul Raziq that was claimed by Taliban. Elections in Ghazni were postponed until next year due to political disputes among the local population.

Voting, scheduled to start at 7 a.m. local time, was delayed in several stations due to either the election staff not arriving on time, or technical difficulties with the biometrics system newly introduced in Afghanistan in an effort to reduce fraud. The Independent Election Commission of Afghanistan announced that it would compensate by keeping those sites open until 8 p.m. rather than the scheduled closing time of 4 p.m.



The Election Complaint Commission of Afghanistan expressed concerns over what it called irregularities in the process.



Ali Raza Rohani, a spokesman for the ECC, said a delayed start, the late arrival of election material in several places, problems with the biometric system, and the refusal of election staff to allow independent observers or ECC staff inside various polling stations all were matters of concern and would cast a shadow over the legitimacy of the process.

Apart from the suicide attack in Kabul, several other explosions and shootings were reported from various parts of the city. Mohibullah Zeer, the acting spokesman for health ministry, said three people had died and 25 were wounded in those incidents.



In Kunduz, in northern Afghanistan, the Taliban attacked a polling station set up in a school and killed three people, including one IEC official and two policemen. They later set fire to the building. According to Kunduz IEC chief Mohammad Rasul Omar at least seven IEC personnel were missing after the attack.



Marzia Salam Yaftali, head of the Kunduz Hospital, confirmed the three deaths and said 39 others had arrived in the hospital for treatment after suffering attack-related injuries in various parts of the province. Several rocket attacks were also reported in the province throughout the day.

In Nangarhar in eastern Afghanistan, where Islamic State Khorasan Province, the local branch of IS, has a strong presence, 2 civilians were killed and several others were wounded. It was not clear which militant group carried out the attack.

In Baghlan, three mortar shells killed four and wounded several others. In Kunhar province, more than 10 civilians reportedly were wounded.



In several other districts across the country, reports emerged of either shootings, shelling, or small explosions without reports of casualties. News was hard to get from Baghdis where cellphone service was not working.



The last few months in Afghanistan were marred by election related violence. Ten candidates died in various attacks across the country, along with dozens of their supporters, since the beginning of the nomination period in late May.



The government had responded to the security concerns by deploying 70,000 security personnel around the country to safeguard 5,100 polling stations. The original plan was to operate more than 7,000 polling stations but was changed due to security concerns and high threat alerts in several areas.



About 132 observers from various countries and the European Union are joining close to a half-million local observers. Many of them are agents of candidates or political parties, civil society activists, and other groups monitoring the elections.



More than 2,500 candidates are competing for the 249 seats in the next parliament. Some 400 female candidates are among them, competing for 68 seats reserved for women.



Talking to VOA's Afghan service, Hamdullah Mohib, the National Security Adviser of Afghanistan, said the Taliban had been trying to show that Afghans could not handle this process all on their own, but they will be proven wrong.



These are the first elections since the fall of the Taliban that are primarily managed by the Afghan government, including security arrangements.
Australias center-right government has lost its one-seat majority in parliament following a defeat in a by-election in Sydney. The ballot was prompted by the removal of Malcolm Turnbull as prime minister in a party room coup.



The defeat of the governing Liberal party candidate is seen by analysts as an act of retribution by Sydney voters furious at the way their former member of parliament, Malcolm Turnbull, was ousted as prime minister. He was forced out by government colleagues in August, and he then resigned as lawmaker.

For the first time ever the seat of the Wentworth electoral district is not in conservative hands. It will be represented by Kerryn Phelps, a local doctor and prominent gay rights campaigner. She accused the government of ignoring voters and of doing too little to address the impact of climate change.

She was given little of chance of winning when the campaign began, but she is savoring her famous achievement.

People have been concerned about the direction of the government for a very long time and we have seen a lack of decency, a lack of integrity, and we really need to go back to looking at what the House of Representatives is all about. It is about representing the people and the people have spoken loud and clear, Phelps said.

The Wentworth vote represents the biggest by-election swing against a federal government ever recorded in Australia.

It strips the center-right Prime Minister Scott Morrison of his narrow one-seat parliamentary majority in the lower house of parliament.

He accepted blame for the defeat but says he will fight on.

The result today is on us, the Liberals. But leadership requires you to turn up on the tough days and the good days, and that is what you will always get from me as the leader as the leader of the Liberal Party, Morrison said.

The Morrison government will probably survive for now with the support of independent MPs but with a federal election due next May its longer-term prospects appear grim.

There is speculation that the governments grip on power is so tenuous that an early poll is considered in certain quarters to be inevitable.




U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton will meet Saturday in Moscow with Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, amid reports that Washington will tell Russia it plans to quit a landmark nuclear weapons treaty.

The visit comes ahead of what is expected to be a second summit between presidents Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump this year.

Bolton, who will also meet Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev, announced the visit to Moscow in a tweet, saying he would "continue discussions that began in Helsinki," referring to a summit held in July.

The New York Times said the Trump administration plans to inform Russian leaders in the coming days that it is preparing to leave the three-decade-old Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, known as the INF.

The newspaper said the U.S. accuses Russia of violating the deal, signed in 1987 by president Ronald Reagan, by deploying tactical nuclear weapons to intimidate former Soviet satellite states that are now close to the West.

US-Russia ties are under deep strain over accusations that Moscow meddled in the 2016 presidential election, as well as tension over Russian support for the Syrian government in the country's civil war, and the conflict in Ukraine.

However, Washington is looking for support from Moscow in finding resolutions to the Syria war and putting pressure on both Iran and North Korea.

No new summit between Trump and Putin has been announced, but one is expected in the near future.

The two leaders will be in Paris on Nov. 11 to attend commemorations marking the end of World War I.

A senior Trump administration official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said another potential date would be when the presidents both attend the Group of 20 meeting Nov. 30-Dec. 1.

"There are a couple possibilities, including the G-20 in Buenos Aires or the Armistice Day parade in Paris. At the G20 is probably more likely," the official said. "President Trump's invitation to Putin to visit Washington, D.C., still stands."
The University of Southern California said Friday that it had reached a tentative agreement to pay $215 million in compensation to victims who alleged they were sexually harassed or abused by a campus gynecologist.

The university said students who alleged abuse would receive compensation ranging from $2,500 to $250,000. A federal judge must still review the deal.

More than 450 current and former students made accusations against Dr. George Tyndall, saying the abuse took place between 1988 and 2016.

The students accused the gynecologist of range of abuses, including making lewd comments, taking inappropriate pictures and groping them. Tyndall has denied the allegations.

Attorney Gloria Allred, who represents several dozen women who have accused Tyndall of abuse, said in a statement that the amount of money in the proposed settlement was "way too minimal."

Attorneys said that if the settlement was approved, any victims who had not yet come forward and filed legal action against Tyndall would be held to its terms.

Tyndall spent about three decades as a USC staff gynecologist. He was suspended in 2016 after a health worker accused him of making sexually inappropriate comments to patients.

The university has faced criticism of its handling of the matter after a Los Angeles Times report this year said that complaints about Tyndall's care went unheeded by the school for decades. President C.L. Max Nikias stepped down following the criticism.

Interim President Wanda Austin said in a statement Friday that since she took office, "a fair and respectful resolution for as many former patients as possible has been a priority for the university and for me personally."

"I regret that any student ever felt uncomfortable, unsafe or mistreated in any way as a result of the actions of a university employee," Austin said.
Macedonias parliament has approved a proposal to change the countrys name, a move that could pave the way for it to join NATO and the European Union.

Eighty members of parliament in the 120-seat body voted in favor of the measure Friday to rename the country North Macedonia, just surpassing the two-thirds supermajority needed to enact constitutional changes.

Parliament was forced to address the issue after a September referendum on the matter failed to achieve the turnout threshold of 50 percent.

According to election officials, only about a third of eligible voters cast ballots in the September referendum. However, they said more than 90 percent of those voting cast ballots in favor of changing the countrys name to North Macedonia. Conservatives in Macedonia strongly oppose the name change and boycotted the referendum.

Macedonians are being asked to change the name of their country to end a decades-old dispute with neighboring Greece and pave the way for the countrys admission into NATO and the EU.

Athens has argued that the name Macedonia belongs exclusively to its northern province of Macedonia and that using the name implies Skopjes intentions to claim the Greek province.

The two countries agreed on the name change in June.

Greece has for years pressured Skopje into renouncing the countrys name, forcing it to use the more formal moniker Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia in the United Nations. Greece has consistently blocked its smaller neighbor from gaining membership in NATO and the EU as long it retained its name.

The process for Macedonias parliament to fully change the countrys name is lengthy and will require several more rounds of voting.
U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley strongly condemned Iran for its alleged recruitment and use of child soldiers in battlefields across the Middle East.

"The use of child soldiers is a moral outrage that every civilized nation rejects while Iran celebrates it," Haley said Thursday during a U.N. Security Council meeting.

Haley's remarks came two days after the U.S.Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control announced new sanctions targeting businesses that provide financial support to the Basij Resistance Force, a paramilitary force under the command of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

"Iran's economy is increasingly devoted to funding Iranian repression at home and aggression abroad," she said. "In this case, Iranian big business and finance are funding the war crime of using child soldiers. This is crony terrorism."

The latest sanctions are part of the U.S. efforts to pressure Iran economically for what the Trump administration has described as Iran's destabilizing role in the Middle East and its sponsorship of terrorism in the region.

The U.S. Treasury Department has listed a network of some 20 companies and economic entities that are believed to be funding the recruitment and training of child soldiers for the IRGC.

"Any company or individual that does business with this Iranian network is complicit in sending children to die on the battlefields of Syria and elsewhere," Haley said.

The network providing financial support to the Basij is known as Bonyad Taavon Basij.

"This vast network provides financial infrastructure to the Basij's efforts to recruit, train and indoctrinate child soldiers who are coerced into combat under the IRGC's direction," U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement earlier this week.

"The international community must understand that business entanglements with the Bonyad Taavon Basij network and IRGC front companies have real-world humanitarian consequences, and help fuel the Iranian regime's violent ambitions across the Middle East," Mnuchin added.

Iran's reaction

Tehran called the U.S. sanctions a violation of international law.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif wrote in a tweet on Wednesday that the latest U.S. sanctions violated two orders by the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

"Utter disregard for rule of law & human rights of an entire people. U.S. outlaw regime's hostility toward Iranians heightened by addiction to sanctions," Zarif said in a tweet.



Bahram Qassemi, a spokesperson for Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said on Thursday it's part of a psychological war waged by the U.S. against Iran.

"Such actions show the spitefulness of the U.S. government towards the Iranian people and are a clear insult to legal and international mechanisms," the state-run IRNA news agency quoted Qassemi as saying.

Measures welcomed

Some Iranian rights activists have welcomed the U.S. move, however, and described it as a positive step to discipline the Iranian government for its actions in the region.

"Any action focused on children's rights is important because it highlights the importance of protecting children's rights and puts the issue of child soldiers under the spotlight," Hamed Farmand, a Virginia-based children's rights activist, told VOA. "Any international action with the purpose of condemning child soldiers is widely appreciated but it needs more action than just financial sanctions on some institutes involved in it."

A 2017 Human Rights Watch report accused Iran of committing war crimes by recruiting and sending Afghan refugee children "as young as 14" to fight in Syria. The New York-based organization also has documented how the IRGC has recruited Afghan immigrant children living in Iran to fight in Syria along Syrian regime troops.

Maryam Nayeb Yazdi, also an Iranian human rights activist, said there should be an effective mechanism to force Iran to improve its human rights record.

"To change the behavior of the Iranian government, the international community needs a human rights-focused approach and must take multiple actions simultaneously," she said during a recent Geneva Summit on Human Rights and Democracy.

Effects of sanctions

But Sadegh Hosseini, a Tehran-based analyst, said U.S. sanctions on the Basij force actually are indirect punishment inflicted on the Iranian people.

"Sanctioning the Basij could affect many Iranians who have voluntarily become members of it or have joined it in the past," he said.

He told VOA "the purpose of this embargo is unclear but many Iranians who have bank accounts with those financial institutes could be affected, since many of them receive their employment salaries only through accounts at those targeted banks."

Other experts say that following the U.S. withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, the U.S. Treasury Department has stepped up its efforts on this front because it is the main pillar that can block Iran's sale of oil and impose banking restrictions on the country.

"The latest move by the [U.S.] Treasury to sanction Iran's Basij Resistance Force is an important part of that campaign," said Farhang Jahanpour, a professor of international law at Oxford University.

"So far, other signatories to the [nuclear deal] have refused to go along with American sanctions on Iran, but many major European companies have cut back or have completely ended their dealings with Iran in fear of U.S. retaliation," Jahanpour added.

Behnam Ben Taleblou, a researcher at the Washington-based Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said the recent designations were different from previous measures "because they focused on the role of select financial institutions in generating revenue that was ultimately used to benefit the Basij."

"The [U.S.] Treasury Department's willingness to go after the entities in the Basij financial support network highlights the challenge of doing due diligence in Iran, as well as signals to the international community that the U.S. is serious about putting the squeeze on all elements of the Iranian economy tied to the IRGC," Taleblou added.
The American pastor recently released after two years of confinement in Turkey said Friday that he suffered a breakdown during his time in prison and was put on anti-anxiety medication.

Andrew Brunson said he was deprived of books, even a Bible, for long stretches of time. For eight months, he spent 24 hours a day with more than 20 men in a cell designed for eight.

But the worst of it, he said, was the uncertainty. The pastor who had led a small congregation faced the possibly of life in a Turkish prison if convicted on charges of terrorism and related counts, accusations he still calls ridiculous.

I was just a basket case

I didnt do very well, Brunson said of living in the crowded prison cell. It was very high stress, and I was sleeping three to four hours maximum a day. And I was really struggling a great deal. I didnt know how long this would continue. I didnt know why I was in prison.

He added: I really had a breakdown emotionally. And I received medication for anxiety because I was just a basket case.

Sitting next to his wife, Norine, Brunson spoke inside the Virginia Beach headquarters of the Christian Broadcasting Network after an interview on The 700 Club, among other CBN shows. The network closely followed his ordeal, which became a cause celebre for evangelical Christians as well as President Donald Trump.

Earlier this month, Brunson was convicted in Turkey and sentenced to more than three years in prison. But he was freed and allowed to leave for the two years he had already spent in custody. For the past few months, he had been on house arrest.

Brunson was accused of links to Kurdish militants and a U.S.-based Muslim cleric whom Turkey blames for a failed coup in 2016.

Praying with Trump

Upon his return, Brunson, 50, visited the White House and placed his hand on Trumps shoulder in prayer before asking God to provide the president supernatural wisdom to accomplish all the plans you have for this country and for him.

Trump was insistent on Brunsons release without conditions. And the president maintained there was no deal for Brunsons freedom.

Brunson said Friday that he was unaware of any deals. And he pointed out that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had previously suggested trading Brunson for Pennsylvania-based Muslim cleric, Fethullah Gulen, who is accused by Turkey of engineering a failed coup in 2016. The swap was never made.

The Brunsons, who spent 25 years in Turkey, said they still love the country but cant return any time soon. They said they dont know whats next, but they view their ordeal as part of Gods plan.

We havent done anything great, Brunson said. But for so many people in so many countries to be praying for us, this is something that God did. It wasnt just to bless me. Hes using that to bless Turkey.

Missionary for two decades

In the meantime, the couple is still recovering from the past two years, which included Norine Brunsons arrest with her husband and the two weeks she spent with him in prison.

She was released and allowed to stay in the country while he was moved around to various prisons. Their children, then ages 15, 18 and 21, were in the U.S. and remain there.

The Brunsons said they still dont know why the Turkish government made its accusations. Their missionary work was legal and out in the open for more than two decades.

But they said they were American Christians, who are viewed with suspicion in Turkey. And they were there after the failed coup.

Brunson said Turkish authorities never offered any proof to support the charges; no emails, no social media postings or recordings.

People the Brunsons had known testified against him. Its something the pastor is still processing.

Its not an option not to forgive; we are required to as Christians, Brunson said. Is it easy? No. But God forgave me. As I get emotions that come back, I say, I forgive.
Angry relatives of the scores of people who were killed in India when they were run over by a speeding train staged protests Saturday while one of the country's railway officials maintains the railway is not responsible for the tragic accident.

The train was traveling at high speed when it ploughed through a crowd Friday at a religious festival on the outskirts of the northern city of Amritsar, killing 59 people, Punjab state's Chief Minister, Amarinder Singh, told reporters Saturday. Singh said 57 others were injured and an official investigation would be carried out over the next four weeks.



The Jalandhar-Amritsar express was traveling at 90 kilometers per hour when it hit the crowd, which had gathered on the tracks to watch a fireworks display marking the Hindu festival of Dussehra.

Hundreds of relatives of the victims engaged in sporadic protests on and near the tracks Saturday, calling for action against local authorities and the train operator, who was questioned Saturday by police.

Authorities moved the protestors off the tracks and brought in reinforcements to control the crowd.

No lapse on our part

The railway accident was India's worst in years, but the junior minister who manages Indian Railways, the world's fourth largest rail system, refused to accept responsibility.

"Railways cannot be blamed. Railways were not informed about the ceremony," Manoj Sinha told reporters Saturday. Speaking to reporters, Sinha ruled out any punitive action against his staff, saying, "There was no lapse on our part and no action against the driver will be initiated."

Local government officials said the festival takes place every year on the outskirts of Amritsar and that railroad authorities are alerted to run the trains at slow speeds.

Witnesses said the victims did not realize the train was coming because of the sound of the fireworks and celebrations.



Heart-wrenching

Some witnesses said the train did not sound its whistle as it sped past the festival site.



Prime Minister Narendra Modi called the accident a "heart-wrenching tragedy" and asked officials to provide immediate assistance to the injured.



India's railway network remains the main form of travel in the vast country, where railway accidents are relatively common.



Millions of Hindus celebrate the Dussehra festival by burning giant effigies of the demon Ravana, symbolizing the triumph of good over evil.
France and Germany are condemning the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi inside his country's consulate in Istanbul.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian called Saturday for an "exhaustive and diligent investigation to establish exactly who was responsible" for Khashoggi's death. Le Drian also said "those guilty of the murder" must be held accountable for their actions.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and her foreign minister, Heiko Maas, said in a joint statement Saturday that they condemned the death "in the strongest possible terms." They went on to say "we expect transparency from Saudi Arabia" regarding the details of Khashoggi's death and called the available information on the incident "insufficient."

Explanation required

"Nothing has been explained so far," Merkel said, "and we need to explain it."

European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said Saturday that the circumstances around Khashoggi's death were deeply troubling, and she called for a thorough, credible and transparent investigation.

The statements came in response to Saudi Arabia's announcement that Khashoggi, who has been missing since entering the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2, died inside the compound after "discussions" between him and people he had met inside the consulate turned into a fistfight.

Saturday's comments were the first admission by the Saudi government that Khashoggi had died.

President Donald Trump, who was at a campaign-style rally in Nevada on Saturday, told reporters he was not satisfied with the Saudis' explanation of what happened to Khashoggi. He added that it was possible Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had been unaware of the death.

Rights group Amnesty International called on Saudi Arabia to "immediately produce" Khashoggi's body so an autopsy could be performed.

Amnesty's director of campaigns for the Middle East, Samah Hadid, said the Saudi version of events could not be trusted. She said a U.N. investigation would be necessary to avoid a "Saudi whitewash" of the circumstances surrounding Khashoggi's death.

Hadid said such a cover-up might have been done to preserve Saudi Arabia's international business ties.

Earlier Saturday, a statement from the Saudi public prosecutor carried by Saudi state TV said 18 Saudi nationals had been arrested so far in connection with Khashoggi's death. The statement also said royal court adviser Saud al-Qahtani and deputy intelligence chief Ahmed Assiri had been fired from their positions.

No cover-up, Turkey pledges

A senior official in Turkey's ruling party said Saturday that Ankara would never allow a cover-up of the death.

Numan Kurtulmus, deputy head of the Justice and Development Party, said Turkey would share "conclusive evidence and findings" after an investigation was complete. "It's not possible for the Saudi administration to wiggle itself out of this crime, if it's confirmed," Kurtulmus said.

Turkish officials had said they believed Khashoggi, a columnist for The Washington Post, was killed in the Saudi Consulate after he entered the building to collect paperwork for his scheduled wedding. Saudi Arabia had previously denied the allegations and said Khashoggi left the building shortly afterward.

Late Friday, the White House released a statement acknowledging "the announcement from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia that its investigation into the fate of Jamal Khashoggi is progressing and that it has taken action against the suspects it has identified thus far."

When asked about the Saudi announcement, Trump, who was holding a campaign-style rally in Arizona, told reporters, "It's a big first step." However, he said, "We do have some questions" for the Saudis, and added, "We'll be working with Congress."

He said he wanted to talk to the Saudi crown prince before the next steps were taken.

When asked whether the Saudis could produce a credible report about the killing of Khashoggi, Trump said, "We're involved. Turkey is involved.  This has been a horrible event. It has not gone unnoticed."

Before the Saudi announcement, Trump told reporters Friday that he might consider sanctions against Saudi Arabia over the disappearance of Khashoggi.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo discussed Khashoggi's disappearance during an interview Friday with VOA contributor Greta Van Susteren.

Trump had warned there would be "very severe" consequences if it was learned that Saudi Arabia was behind the disappearance of the journalist, but Pompeo said, "I'm not going to get into what those responses might be. We'll certainly consider a wide range of potential responses, but I think the important thing to do is that the facts come out."

Pompeo, who traveled to Riyadh earlier this week to speak to King Salman and the crown prince, told VOA, "I made very clear to them that the United States takes this matter very seriously. That we don't approve of extrajudicial killings. That we don't approve of that kind of activity. That it's not something consistent with American values, and that it is their responsibility as this incident happened in the consulate.

"It's their responsibility to get to the bottom of this, to put the facts out clearly, accurately, completely, transparently, in a way that the whole world can see," Pompeo said. "And once we've identified the fact set, then they have the responsibility and the first instance to hold accountable those inside the country that may have been involved in any wrongdoing."
President Donald Trump said Saturday that he would pull the United States from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty because Russia had violated the agreement, but he provided no details of the violations.

This would be a very dangerous step, deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov told TASS state news agency Sunday, that, Im sure, not only will not be comprehended by the international community but will provoke serious condemnation.

The 1987 pact, which helps protect the security of the U.S. and its allies in Europe and the Far East, prohibits the United States and Russia from possessing, producing or test-flying a ground-launched cruise missile with a range of 300 to 3,400 miles.

Russia has violated the agreement. They have been violating it for many years, Trump said after a rally in Elko, Nevada. And we're not going to let them violate a nuclear agreement and go out and do weapons and we're not allowed to.

The agreement has constrained the U.S. from developing new weapons, but America will begin developing them unless Russia and China agree not to possess or develop the weapons, Trump said. China is not currently party to the pact.

We'll have to develop those weapons, unless Russia comes to us and China comes to us and they all come to us and say let's really get smart and let's none of us develop those weapons, but if Russia's doing it and if China's doing it, and we're adhering to the agreement, that's unacceptable,' he said.

But Ryabkov denied Trumps accusations, throwing the accusation back at Washington.

We dont just not violate (the treaty), we observe it in the strictest way, he insisted. And we have shown patience while pointing out over the course of many years the flagrant violations of this treaty by the U.S. itself.

National security adviser John Bolton was headed Saturday to Russia, Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia. His first stop is Moscow to meet with senior Russian officials at a time when Moscow-Washington relations remain frosty over the Ukrainian crisis, the war in Syria and allegations of Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential race and upcoming U.S. midterm elections.

Back to cold war

"We are slowly slipping back to the situation of cold war as it was at the end of the Soviet Union, with quite similar consequences, but now it could be worse because [Russian President Vladimir] Putin belongs to a generation that had no war under its belt,'' said Dmitry Oreshkin, an independent Russian political analyst. "These people aren't as much fearful of a war as people of [former Soviet leader Leonid] Brezhnev's epoch. They think if they threaten the West properly, it gets scared.''

U.S. officials have previously alleged that Russia violated the treaty by deliberately deploying a land-based cruise missile in order to pose a threat to NATO. Russia has claimed that U.S. missile defenses violate the pact.

The administration of former President Barack Obama worked to persuade Moscow to respect the INF treaty but made little progress.

"If they get smart and if others get smart and they say let's not develop these horrible nuclear weapons, I would be extremely happy with that, but as long as somebody's violating the agreement, we're not going to be the only ones to adhere to it,'' Trump said.
The U.N. rights chief is urging the Sudan Peoples Liberation Army In-Opposition to free hundreds of civilians they abducted in South Sudans Western Equatoria region between April and August. A report by the U.N. Mission in South Sudan and the Geneva-based U.N. Human Rights Office documents horrific cases of abuse and suffering experienced by civilians in the region.

High Commissioner Michelle Bachelet warns the continued captivity of some 900 civilians abducted by the opposition group led by Riek Machar could have a negative impact on the revitalized South Sudanese peace process. She says the government must hold perpetrators of abuses and violations detailed in the report accountable.

The report describes horrific cases of widespread abuse and gross violations of human rights, including unlawful killings, abduction, rape, sexual slavery, forced recruitment and destruction of property.

Eugene Nindorera, head of the human rights division of UNMISS, the U.N. Mission in South Sudan, considers the abduction of the civilians very worrisome. He says he is particularly concerned about the children - both boys and girls - who have been forcibly recruited by the rebels.

I think the more important concern is about what has happened to the young girls. Girls were sometimes only 12 years old and they were chosen as wives for the military. They had to parade in front of them and then they could really choose whoever they wanted. And, they used them, and they were, of course, doing the rape and also sexual slavery, Nindorera said.

The report documents attacks by the SPLA-IO rebels on at least 28 villages, a settlement of internally displaced people, and a refugee camp. It says a surge in violence between April and August caused 24,000 people to flee their homes.

UNMISS has identified three commanders who allegedly controlled the forces committing abuses, which it says may amount to war crimes. It says the Sudan Peoples Liberation Forces, SPLA, also committed serious violations, including unlawful killings and destruction of civilian property, particularly around Nagero in May.
In Tanzania, protecting endangered animals has become easier thanks to Earth Ranger. Earth Ranger is not a superhero, it's a technology platform, developed by Vulcan Inc., a company co-founded by U.S. philanthropist and Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen. The system helps rangers remotely monitor elephants and other animals to stay ahead of poachers. Faiza Elmasry has the story. VOA's Faith Lapidus narrates.
Saudi Arabia says preliminary results from its investigation into the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi shows he died in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul after a fight with people he met there, state media reported.

A statement from the Saudi public prosecutor said 18 Saudi nationals have been arrested so far in connection with Khashoggi's death and said Royal court adviser Saud al-Qahtani and deputy intelligence chief Ahmed Asiri have been fired from their positions.

He said the investigation into Khashoggi's death still under way.

Khashoggi was last seen Oct. 2 after he entered the consulate to retrieve paperwork for his upcoming wedding. Turkey has said it believes Khashoggi was killed minutes after entering the consulate, but Saudi Arabia has denied the allegations.

Earlier Friday, Turkish police said they were questioning employees of the Saudi consulate in their ongoing investigation into Khashoggi's disappearance. Police also were conducting searches for the missing journalist in Belgrad Forest, near Istanbul, and in the city of Yalova, about 90 kilometers south of the city, Turkish officials said.

More than a dozen Turkish employees of the Saudi consulate were interviewed, including the consul general's driver, technicians, accountants and telephone operators, Turkey's state-run Anadolu Agency said.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo discussed Khashoggi's disappearance during an interview Friday with VOA contributor Greta Van Susteren.

WATCH: Pompeo on Probe into Journalist's Disappearance

President Donald Trump has warned there will be "very severe" consequences if Saudi Arabia is behind the disappearance of the journalist, but Pompeo said, "I'm not going to get into what those responses might be. We'll certainly consider a wide range of potential responses, but I think the important thing to do is that the facts come out."

Pompeo, who traveled to Riyadh earlier this week to speak to King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, told VOA, "I made very clear to them that the United States takes this matter very seriously. That we don't approve of extrajudicial killings. That we don't approve of that kind of activity. That it's not something consistent with American values, and that it is their responsibility, as this incident happened in the consulate.

"It's their responsibility to get to the bottom of this, to put the facts out clearly, accurately, completely, transparently, in a way that the whole world can see," Pompeo said. "And once we've identified the fact set, then they have the responsibility and the first instance to hold accountable those inside the country that may have been involved in any wrongdoing."

Turkish authorities also denied Friday they have shared with U.S. officials an audio recording of the torture and killing of Khashoggi.

Media reports said Pompeo heard the recording earlier in the week when he visited Turkey. But Pompeo, traveling in Mexico, told reporters, "I've seen no tape ... I've heard no tape. I've seen no transcript."

According to Anadolu, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said, "It is out of the question for us to share this or that information with any country."

Asked by reporters Thursday whether Khashoggi was dead, Trump responded it "certainly looks" like he is and that is "very sad."

Upon his return from speaking with Saudi and Turkish leaders, Pompeo briefed Trump at the White House earlier Thursday, asking him to give Saudi Arabia a few more days to complete its investigation of the disappearance of the writer.

Pompeo said there are "a lot of stories out there about what has happened" to Khashoggi, but he declined to speculate on the outcome of investigations in Saudi Arabia and Turkey. The top U.S. diplomat said he believes "a complete picture will emerge" from the probes.

Pro-government Turkish media have published investigators' claims that Saudi agents linked to the crown prince cut off Khashoggi's fingers, decapitated him and then dismembered his body shortly after he arrived at the consulate to pick up documents for his wedding to Turkish national Hatice Cengiz. She waited in vain outside the consulate for Khashoggi's return.

The pro-government Turkish newspaper Sabah identified Saudi security official Maher Abdulaziz Mutreb as the leader of what it said was a 15-member "assassination team" that flew into Istanbul to carry out the execution of Khashoggi.

Khashoggi had been living in self-imposed exile in the United States while writing columns for The Washington Post that criticized the crown prince and the Saudi involvement in the war in Yemen.

The Turkish newspaper said Mutreb, who has been photographed near the crown prince on his foreign travels this year, was spotted on surveillance tapes entering the consulate more than three hours before Khashoggi arrived, then later the same day outside the consul's residence and then again in the evening at the airport as he left Turkey.
Saudi Arabia says preliminary results from its investigation into the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi shows he died in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul after a fight with people he met there, state media reported.

A statement from the Saudi public prosecutor carried Saturday by Saudi state TV said 18 Saudi nationals have been arrested so far in connection with Khashoggis death and said royal court adviser Saud al-Qahtani and deputy intelligence chief Ahmed Assiri have been fired from their positions.

WATCH: Saudis Admit the Death of Khashoggi; Crown Prince in Charge of Investigation

The prosecutor said the investigation into Khashoggis death is still underway.

The state-run news agency also said King Salman has also ordered the formation of a ministerial committee headed by the crown prince to restructure the kingdoms intelligence services.

Saturdays comments are the first admission by the Saudi government that Khashoggi died.

Turkish officials had said they believed he was killed in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul after he entered the building Oct. 2 to retrieve paperwork for his upcoming wedding. Saudi Arabia had previously denied the allegations and said Khashoggi had left the building shortly after.

The White House said in a statement that it acknowledges the announcement from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia that its investigation into the fate of Jamal Khashoggi is progressing and that it has taken action against the suspects it has identified thus far.

When asked about the Saudi announcement, President Donald Trump told reporters in Arizona, Its a big first step. However, he said, We do have some questions for the Saudis, and added well be working with Congress.

He said that he wants to talk to the Saudi crown prince before the next steps are taken.

When asked whether the Saudis can produce a credible report about the killing of Khashoggi, Trump said, Were involved. Turkey is involved.  This has been a horrible event. It has not gone unnoticed.

Before the Saudi announcement, President Trump told reporters Friday he might consider sanctions against Saudi Arabia over the disappearance of Khashoggi.

WATCH: Pompeo on Probe into Journalist's Disappearance

Earlier Friday, Turkish police said they questioned employees of the Saudi consulate in their ongoing investigation into Khashoggis disappearance. More than a dozen Turkish employees of the Saudi consulate were interviewed, including the consul generals driver, technicians, accountants and telephone operators, Turkeys state-run Anadolu Agency said.

U.S Secretary of State Mike Pompeo discussed Khashoggis disappearance during an interview Friday with VOA contributor Greta Van Susteren.

Trump has warned there would be very severe consequences if Saudi Arabia is behind the disappearance of the journalist, but Pompeo said, Im not going to get into what those responses might be. Well certainly consider a wide range of potential responses, but I think the important thing to do is that the facts come out.

Pompeo, who traveled to Riyadh earlier this week to speak to King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, told VOA, I made very clear to them that the United States takes this matter very seriously. That we dont approve of extrajudicial killings. That we dont approve of that kind of activity. That its not something consistent with American values, and that it is their responsibility as this incident happened in the consulate.

Its their responsibility to get to the bottom of this, to put the facts out clearly, accurately, completely, transparently, in a way that the whole world can see, Pompeo said. And once weve identified the fact set, then they have the responsibility and the first instance to hold accountable those inside the country that may have been involved in any wrongdoing.

Turkish authorities also denied Friday they have shared with U.S. officials an audio recording of the torture and killing of Khashoggi.

Media reports said Pompeo heard the recording earlier in the week when he visited Turkey. But Pompeo, traveling in Mexico, told reporters, Ive seen no tape. ... Ive heard no tape. Ive seen no transcript.

According to Anadolu, the state-run news agency of the Turkish government, Turkey Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said, It is out of the question for us to share this or that information with any country.

Late Friday, some U.S. lawmakers weighed in on the Saudi announcement about Khashoggis fate.

Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, a close Trump ally, tweeted, To say that I am skeptical of the new Saudi narrative about Mr. Khashoggi is an understatement.

Bob Menendez, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said the U.S. should pursue sanctions against those Saudis involved in the journalists death under the Sergei Magnitsky, which is named after the anti-corruption Russian accountant who died in police custody.

The Global Magnitsky Act doesnt have exceptions for accidents. Even if Khashoggi died because of an altercation, thats no excuse for his murder, Menendez tweeted Friday. This is far from the end and we need to keep up the international pressure.
VOA contributor Greta Van Susteren interviewed U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo Friday in Mexico City, where Pompeo is traveling.

Greta Van Susteren: Mr. Secretary, nice to see you sir.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo: Greta, its great to be with you.

Q: This is your second trip to Mexico but why are you here now in Mexico?

Pompeo: So as the new government makes this transition, beginning on December 1st, were working diligent to make sure we have a solid foreign policy relationship with them so were certainly are working with the existing government, Ill see President (Enrique) Pena Nieto in just a few minutes -- was with Foreign Secretary (Luis) Videgaray (Caso) this morning. But also working with my new counterpart, Marcelo Ebrard, to make sure that the united states and Mexico coordinated across a broader aware of issues, security, trade and of course migration as well.

Q: The United States just negotiated a new deal with Mexico and Canada. Let me turn to the issue of the migration, that caravan that is coming up from Guatemala heading to Mexico and then presumably, maybe some place else, maybe the United States. Whats Mexico say about that?

Pompeo: So Mexico agrees that it is not constructive to have unlawful migration transit from these norther triangle countries through Mexico into the United States and so part of my mission here today is to coordinate with them in a way that takes these folks who are often victims -- coyotes taking money from these people to transit them through a very difficult transit -- kids, children who put in really bad places to work with the Mexican government to accomplish President (Donald) Trumps mission which is to make sure we have American sovereignty and a secure border.

Q: What is Mexicos strategy to stop the caravan?

Pompeo: So were working with the current government, its their strategy and we recognize Mexican sovereignty, their right to make the decisions the way they want. Just yesterday they spoke with the U.N. and so theyre going to use all the resources at their disposal to make sure that they treat these people with the dignity and the respect that they deserve. But that the same time create a situation where they understand that it is not fruitful to transit though Mexico into the United States. There are multiple components to this. Weve worked with the incoming government too to make sure this is a sustainable model once we achieve our goal.

Q: And then I imagine one of the things to worry about them-you know-the root reason why they are migrating and what is being done by the United States or Mexico -- if anything -- to sort of deal with the root reason why their leaving their home countries.

Pompeo: So the new Mexican government has a vision for how they will work to create jobs and wealth in the southern part of their country. And we all have a vision to try and create opportunity in Honduras, and El Salvador, and Guatemala, in the norther triangle countries as well. Most all of these people are leaving because of economic opportunity. They just dont have any and we need to do our best to create an environment where they dont need to transit, not only to the United States or to Mexico or any place else.

Q: "President Trump has said, and I'm sure, I mean I suspect the Mexican government authorities brought it up with you, is that if they come up to the United States is that two things -- one is that they close the border and consider sending military to the border. Did they bring that up with you?

Pompeo: We talked about a whole wide range of alternatives. Alternatives that the Mexican government could take, that the norther triangle countries could take, and certain ones that the United States could take. We are optimistic, we are watching whats taking paces with these caravans, which by the way are not organic, are being created by outside forces and supported by them. And working diligently to make sure these people understand that it is not in their best interest to try and make this trip up to the United States southern border.

Q: Who are the outside forces? What groups?

Pompeo: There are political opponents of the Honduran leaderships that are underwriting this. If you take a look at whats going on down there, this is not just a group of people who happen to wonder together into a big group.

Q: Before Mexico you were in Panama. Why did you stop in Panama?

Pompeo: Longtime partner of the United States. On security, on counter narcotics. Ive known President (Juan Carlos) Varela for some time and I wanted to go back to talk to them about several issues where theres more work to be done between the two countries, including some concerns we have about Chinese investment throughout Central America, and Panama, and in South America and make sure that we understood each other with respect to the wide range of issues where Panama and the United States work together and important economic relationships as well. And I wanted to make sure he understood we want an investment from them and we were looking to build U.S investment in his country as well.

Q: Are you suspicious of the motives of the Chinese investment in Panama?

Pompeo: Yes

Q: In what way?

Pompeo: Look, weve watched this all around the world. Panama is fortunate, they are a sophisticated country with a real economy and a growing GDP so theyre in a pretty good place relative to some other countries. But weve watched Chinese predatory activity in countries around the world where they show up with a bunch of money and then puts strings on it which put the people in that country in a terrible position two, and five and 10 years down the road. And we think its very important that if the Chinese want to invest, thats great, but it needs to be done in a way that is transparent and open and in the best interest of the people of the country in which their investing and not tethered to some constraint that the Chinese would place on that country in the event that countrys not able to pay the debt that theyre incurring.



Q: So how do you convince Panama to turn down Chinese money? Is the United States sort of step up to the plate and do its own investment?



Pompeo: Country like Panama is pretty straightforward, they want to be a part of western society. They want to do things by the book by the rule of law without the corruption. They want to engage in activity thats beneficial to their own people and have the economic capacity to do so. Theyre not in the position where the poverty in their country drives them to have to take money even under onerous conditions and so, you just talk about how you can help make sure that America will be there to provide alternatives and that other western countries will be there too to make sure they understand that its in their peoples best interest to engage in commercial activity that truly, over the long haul benefits their own people.



Q: Well it certainly seems like Chinas getting a bigger footprint there, especially when the fact that about a year ago Panama recognized China and not Taiwan. It seems that China certainly is moving into that area.



Pompeo: Yeah, China is intent on that and again, we dont have any problem with Chinese commercial investment. Thats their right to go compete in the world. Im convinced that if we compete with them all over the world well do incredibly well. But what we cant accept and what we need to make sure every country understands that when they show up and it looks too good to be true, it almost certainly is.

Q: And have you brought that up with China about their trading in the West but operating in Panama?



Pompeo: I dont know that Ive brought up Panama in particular, but Ive certainly brought up what we view as commercial practices, whether state-owned enterprises that are inconsistent with good behavior around the world.

Q: Venezuela is also an issue in this hemisphere, its a failed state, President (Nicolas) Maduro, it doesnt look like its getting any better. Whats the U.S. strategy if any with Venezuela?



Pompeo: Weve been very consistent. We have urged the people of Venezuela to restore democracy to their own country and youve seen the sanctions that weve put in place. Not only against the country which sometimes have an adverse impact on the people of Venezuela but also against the Venezuelan leadership and those people who are pressing their own citizens and another reason for my visit to this part of the world is to urge the countries of OAS (Organization of American States) and of the region to ensure that we have a coordinated set of policies. A common understanding of frankly, the Lima group and other organizations have done really good work to put pressure on the Maduro regime and to try and create opportunity for those in Venezuela who want the restoration of democracy. This is a nation with enormous economic capacity the ability to have real wealth and what they need to do then is the rule of law and democracy and we are continuing to work with the Venezuelan people to assist them in achieving that.



Q: Coincidentally I was at the border of Venezuela, I was in Colombia a few days ago and it looks pretty bleak. People were parading-



Pompeo: Stuff, lots of migration there as well.



Q: And with no hope, they tell me stories about the hope -- the industry has collapsed to the extent, its all been nationalized but they dont have groceries on the shelves. Its just getting worse there and Cuba has moved in there.



Pompeo: We are searching for a solution which will deliver democracy to Venezuela and then it can go back to being a country with the things that you described, simple accommodations for their people. Its the Maduro regime that has inflicted this set of horrible living conditions on the people of Venezuela and it will ultimately be the people of Venezuela that fix it.





Q: Can/will the U.S. or do you anticipate the U.S. will increase sanctions in Venezuela?



Pompeo: Were pretty consistent at our pattern of identifying sanctions that we think will deliver on the democratic outcome and so I, well I dont want to tell you what well do tomorrow. Im confident we find other places where we think we can exert pressure in a way that will convince Maduro that this isnt gonna work, that hes not gonna get to retain power forever and that oppressing his people in the way youve just described is inhumane and inappropriate and not what real leaders do and so were hoping this transition led by the Venezuelan people will take place and Im confident that we will find other places where sanctions will be appropriate.



Q: You use the term transition is that sort of uh, is that a word for coup? I mean do you expect Maduro not to be in power?

Pompeo: I expect the Venezuelan people to restore democracy to their country. If they happen to choose Maduro  well, you know, the Venezuelan people get to choose. As you described the horrors that Maduro has inflicted on his people, that seems unlikely to me.

Q: Have you filed the litigation with Citgo, which is 90 percent of the income to the government of Venezuela is from their oil, from Citgo and now theres a question of whats going to happen with Citgo which will only add increased financial pressure on Venezuela. Are you following that at all?

Pompeo: I am. Thats a very complicated issue be were, Treasury and State Department, are both following this very, very closely and were constantly reevaluation our approach to all of the economic issues surrounding Venezuela.

Q: This is not your first trip this week. You were also over in the Middle East. You were in Saudi Arabia and Turkey. How do you describe currently the importance of Saudi Arabia to the United States?

Pompeo: They have been a strategic ally of ours since the early 1930s and recently have been even more important. They have assisted us in pushing back against the worlds largest state sponsor of terror, the Islamic Republic of Iran. Theyve been a great counterterrorism partner during our administration. We have economic ties with them that are deep and important, a broad spectrum of strategic relationships between the United States and Saudi Arabia."

Q: If the investigator turns out, if the investigation thats on going that the Crown Prince (Mohammed bin Salman) or the King (Salman) had deeper involvement thats being suspect or people are saying in the media that its determined to be that. What can the United States do or what should it do in light of the fact of its strategic importance?

Pompeo: Well the president has said that itll have to be some response in the event that the fact turn out the way that you hypothesized that they will turn out. Im not going to get into what those responses might be. Well certainly consider a wide range of potential responses, but I think the important thing to do is that the facts come out. When I traveled to Saudi Arabia I met with the king, I met with the crown prince at great length. I met with Foreign Minister (Adel el-)Jubeir, and I made very clear to them that the United States takes this matter very seriously. That we dont approve of extrajudicial killings. That we dont approve of that kind of activity. That its not something consistent with American values, and that it is their responsibility as this incident happened in the consulate. Its their responsibility to get to the bottom of this, to put the facts out clearly, accurately, completely, transparently, in a way that the whole world can see. And once weve identified the fact set, then they have the responsibility and the first instance to hold accountable those inside the country that may have been involved in any wrong doing.

Q: Alright, Turkeys been at odds with Saudi Arabia. This certainly has put them at greater odds in light of whats happened. Whats the strategic importance of Turkey to the United States?

Pompeo: So my second stop this week was in Ankara. I met with President (Recep Tayyip) Erdogan and my counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu. We have deep relationships. Theyre a NATO ally. We have had challenges with them. They had held Pastor (Andrew) Brunson. They still continue to detain three locally employed people who were at our embassy there, so theres still many challenges in this relationship but they sat at an incredibly important place and they always will. The bridge between Europe and the Middle East, and as a member of NATO we need to work to continue to improve that relationship so that we can work together to achieve the ends of NATO and ends in places where Turkey and the United States have over lapping interests including the challenges that are in Syria today. I think there are real places where we can work with Turkey in Syria to get better outcomes for the Syrian people.

Q: Its incredibly complicated isnt it?

Pompeo: It is complicated.

Q: Completely complicated. Alright, North Korea, you were recently over in that region and it was announced that some military exercises with South Korea are going to be postponed, ones that were scheduled for December. Do you anticipate a meeting between Kim Jung Un and President Trump in the very near future?

Pompeo: I do.

Q: How do you define very near future?

Pompeo: Im not prepared to tell you when its going to be as the date has not yet been set, but the presidents committed to doing that. Were working on finding dates and times and places that will work for each of the two leaders. Im very hopeful well have senior leader meetings here in the next week and a half or so between myself and my counterpart to continue this discussion so that when the two of them get together theres real opportunity to make another big step forward on denuclearization. Chairman Kim reiterated when I was with him, I guess its two weeks ago, his commitment to that. That he stands by the commitment he made to President Trump in Singapore on June 12th, and we intend to do everything we can to make sure that he delivers on that so that we can come to day where the people of North Korea will indeed have a brighter future. President Trump is determined to help North Korea achieve that.

Q: What surprised you the most about the negotiations with Kim Jung Un?

Pompeo: Ah, goodness, Im not sure much has surprised me. In the sense of this is very difficult -- for decades North Korea has depended on their nuclear arsenal, or the promise thereof, as their lynchpin for their security. And, so, to make that transition decision to make that strategic decision that Chairman Kim tells us he has made that says we no longer need our nuclear arsenal for our country to be successful is a very difficult challenge for a North Korean leader. I am very happy that he has made this decision but to execute on that is complex and will take time and so long as we can continue to make process -- progress -- and not have missiles being fired and nuclear tests being conducted to perfect their program even further then I think its all to the good.

Q: One last question -- whats a better job director of CIA or secretary of state?

Pompeo: Thats the only question Im not going to answer, Greta. They are both great jobs.

Q: Which one do you get more sleep with?

Pompeo: Its an incredible privilege to have the chance to do each of those two.

Q: Which do you get more sleep with?

Pompeo: I think I got a little more sleep in the previous one.

Q: Thank you, Mr. Secretary.

Pompeo: Thank you, Greta.
A man is behind bars in Limestone County after a large amount of marijuana was sent through the mail.

Deputies charged Micah Mullins with drug trafficking after they say he had more than four pounds of pot shipped to his home in Athens.

WAAY 31 got an exclusive look at that shipment and talked to neighbors about the bust.

This is really out in the country and its not where I expected this kind of thing to happen," said Miranda Cottrell. "In the city, yes, but I had no idea.

Cottrell says she and her family recently moved to their home on Wooley Springs Road because they thought it was a safe neighborhood.

So, when she found out one of her neighbors was arrested for having marijuana shipped to his home, she was shocked.

We dont know a lot of people, but we thought this was a pretty decent area, so its very surprising," she said.

Cottrell says it makes her worry because shes heard of cases where neighbors can sometimes unknowingly be involved. The Limestone County Sheriffs Office said theyve seen those kinds of cases before.

While it wasnt the case this time, people who traffic narcotics by having it shipped to an address sometimes dont use their own, so its important that people be aware of packages they may receive at their residence," said Stephen Young with the sheriff's office.

Its very scary to know," Cottrell said. "I mean, what happens if they forget to pick up a package and I get this box on my porch?

Cottrell says shell definitely be keeping an eye out and that shes glad the man was arrested. She said she hopes to never hear of another drug bust in her community.

I hope they can kind of crack down on that and, hopefully, this will be cleaned up soon and the rest of us can sleep a little easier at night," she said.

Mullins is being held in the Limestone County Jail on a $25,000 bond.

This isnt the first time drugs have been found in the mail in north Alabama.

One of the most recent cases happened in Colbert County where agents say two men chased down a mail carrier to get a package containing about seven pounds of pot.
Handsome as the statue may have been, Congress wasnt sure it wanted it. One objection, wrote art historian Fairman, was that if Congress desired to have a statue of this distinguished man, it would be more consistent with propriety to procure one for themselves than to be indebted to any person whatever.
In her poetry, Shockley, who was a 2018 Pulitzer Prize finalist for poetry, manages to make sense of the news reports, of the chatter online, of the debates in hair salons and in barber shops, and of the wailing in the streets, the judges said. Despite the ugliness of the violence around us, she has written a collection of poems that both chronicles it and decries it, all while offering us the beauty of her lines.
As the six bells chimed one after the other in careful sequence, Regan held his forehead in his hand, leaning against a long wooden table. He scrawled out notes on a sheet of paper, keeping a tally of the number of times when the sequence was uneven. He counted in his head, imagining himself in that circle, performing an art he has known since he was a teenage boy growing up in England.
In addition to the five seats originally targeted by the GOP, the party has recently provided funds to Republicans trying to win seats being vacated by retiring longtime Sens. Edward J. Kasemeyer (D-Baltimore County) and James E. Ed DeGrange (D-Anne Arundel). It is also supporting Republican nominee Bill Dotson in Charles County, where GOP officials consider progressive Democrat Arthur Ellis, who beat moderate longtime Sen. Thomas M. Middleton in a bitter primary, to be potentially vulnerable in a normally blue district. Some Democratic operatives say they are hoping to capitalize on anger at Trump to flip two seats held by Republicans in Howard and Harford counties, but that could be an uphill battle given the large margins by which Hogan won them.
Williams, a civil engineer, said this summer that the board has been hurt by a lack of stable leadership, and she does not think it matters whether members are appointed or elected. She was appointed to an open seat in 2014 and elected to a four-year term a year later. She said she is running for a second term to continue addressing issues such as aging infrastructure in the districts schools.
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Salvatore Ferragamo learned the cobblers trade as a boy in Italy, making his first pair of shoes for his sister when he was 9. He later moved to the United States, working in Boston and later in Hollywood, where his elegant designs for womens shoes became renowned during the early years of moviemaking.
First Church Crime Study Based on FBI Crime Data



AUBREY, Texas, Oct. 19, 2018 /



NOCSSM's president, Chuck Chadwick, said "Since 2009, one of our ongoing research projects is to analyze data from various databases. One database of particular interest is the FBI's ICPSR National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS)



The study was undertaken in the effort to use verified quantitative data to research the rate of church crimes in the U.S. It is the first such analysis of Church violent crimes derived from the FBI's National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS). The study covers the years 1991-2016 and focuses on crimes of a violent or forceful nature against persons. The results are derived from research conducted on actual FBI data and not internet searches or news articles.



The study included over 97 million incidents, extracting incidents where the location code included church / synagogue / temple / mosque. The result was over 393,000 church related incidents.



V-Crimes - Data collection models differ in how they collect their data and which data they choose to count as what type of crime. This study focuses on crimes of force or violence against persons. V-Crimes include those crimes against persons coded as: Aggravated Assault, Assault, Murder/Nonnegligent Manslaughter, Negligent Manslaughter, Kidnaping/Abduction, Robbery, Forcible Rape, Forcible Sodomy, Sexual Assault with an Object, Forcible Fondling.



NIBRS is not perfect. NIBRS is an ongoing effort by the Federal Government to track crime in the U.S. Not all states report equally. There are exceptions to which states are included in the data available. However, it is the best quantitative data available. Some states report in Summary files, whereas other states report the Detailed Incident records.



Study findings:

National crime, as well as church specific incidents, increase as the number of people to commit them increases. The number of church crimes of all types has leveled off at approximately 23,000 per year for the past ten years trending downward. The number of violent crimes has leveled off at around 1,600 per year, trending upwards of only 13% for the past ten years.



Violent Church incidents have always happened at a steady percentage of all national and all church incidents and have not grown substantially over the 26 years of the study.



The available quantitative data supports the hypothesis that it is the amount of media/press coverage and the growth of technology that has generated a sense of accelerated growth in church crime.



NOCSSM looks forward to publishing other data from the study soon.



For further details go to



About NOCSSM

The National Organization of Church Security & Safety Management (NOCSSM) is dedicated to church security and safety issues through the implementation of security and safety measures specifically designed and time tested for churches.



CONTACT INFORMATION:

Chuck Chadwick -

The National Organization of Church Security & Safety Management (NOCSSM)

(214) 305-5616

www.nocssm.org





Share Tweet Contact: Chuck Chadwick, The National Organization of Church Security & Safety Management , 214-305-5616, cchadwick@nocssm.org AUBREY, Texas, Oct. 19, 2018 / Christian Newswire / -- The National Organization of Church Security & Safety Management (NOCSSM) has produced a first-of-its-kind study of church crimes based on the FBI's National Incident-Based Reporting System or "NIBRS."NOCSSM's president, Chuck Chadwick, said "Since 2009, one of our ongoing research projects is to analyze data from various databases. One database of particular interest is the FBI's ICPSR National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) ucr.fbi.gov/nibrs-overview , which contains summary reports and databases of individual crime incidents reported to the FBI. There have been other studies based on internet articles, but this study used actual FBI reports. This is the very first time anyone has actually studied church crime scientifically."The study was undertaken in the effort to use verified quantitative data to research the rate of church crimes in the U.S. It is the first such analysis of Church violent crimes derived from the FBI's National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS). The study covers the years 1991-2016 and focuses on crimes of a violent or forceful nature against persons. The results are derived from research conducted on actual FBI data and not internet searches or news articles.The study included over 97 million incidents, extracting incidents where the location code included church / synagogue / temple / mosque. The result was over 393,000 church related incidents.V-Crimes - Data collection models differ in how they collect their data and which data they choose to count as what type of crime. This study focuses on crimes of force or violence against persons. V-Crimes include those crimes against persons coded as: Aggravated Assault, Assault, Murder/Nonnegligent Manslaughter, Negligent Manslaughter, Kidnaping/Abduction, Robbery, Forcible Rape, Forcible Sodomy, Sexual Assault with an Object, Forcible Fondling.NIBRS is not perfect. NIBRS is an ongoing effort by the Federal Government to track crime in the U.S. Not all states report equally. There are exceptions to which states are included in the data available. However, it is the best quantitative data available. Some states report in Summary files, whereas other states report the Detailed Incident records.Study findings:National crime, as well as church specific incidents, increase as the number of people to commit them increases. The number of church crimes of all types has leveled off at approximately 23,000 per year for the past ten years trending downward. The number of violent crimes has leveled off at around 1,600 per year, trending upwards of only 13% for the past ten years.Violent Church incidents have always happened at a steady percentage of all national and all church incidents and have not grown substantially over the 26 years of the study.The available quantitative data supports the hypothesis that it is the amount of media/press coverage and the growth of technology that has generated a sense of accelerated growth in church crime.NOCSSM looks forward to publishing other data from the study soon.For further details go to www.NOCSSM.org About NOCSSMThe National Organization of Church Security & Safety Management (NOCSSM) is dedicated to church security and safety issues through the implementation of security and safety measures specifically designed and time tested for churches.CONTACT INFORMATION:Chuck Chadwick - cchadwick@nocssm.org The National Organization of Church Security & Safety Management (NOCSSM)(214) 305-5616
Surveillance video from the casino shows that the girl and her brother were hanging from one handrail and swinging their legs to another handrail when lights in the area began to flicker, according to the court document that focuses on the electrical concerns in the plaza area. The mother then rushed to the area to pull her children away.
The school notified all security officers to be on alert for Cabreras presence if he came to the school, investigators wrote in court papers. A letter was drafted and sent to Cabrera to (officially) inform him that he is not allowed to come on school grounds, and his photo was distributed to all the main office staff in order to not allow him into school.
So that makes it okay to kill him in a consulate as a journalist living in Virginia and saw his body up? Kaine said. I mean, the attempt by some people on the right to minimize the horrific nature of this just makes me sick to my stomach. This was a Virginian, working journalist who was entitled to safe haven in a consulate. . . . What the current administration and their enablers are doing in both excusing the inexcusable but also trying to tear down the reputation of a journalist is just gonna make me work twice as hard between now and Election Day.
The lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California alleges that George Tyndall, a gynecologist at the student health center for decades, subjected his patients to unnecessary penetration with his hands and other inappropriate touching, as well as sexual harassment that included lewd comments and photography.
Under the new plan, a five-minute visit will pay your doctor the same as a 50-minute visit. Thats like going to fill up your car with gas and being told that, regardless of the type of fuel you want, or how much gas you pump, you will be charged a flat fee of $20. The station owners get to decide how much gas you get, so they are left no recourse but to limit the amounts. If you need to fill up your tank, you are forced to make several stops for a few gallons of gas each time.
6. Medicare Advantage plans  Medicare Part C  may work better for you than signing up for the various parts of Original Medicare, so learn how they work. More than 20 million Americans annually sign up for these private insurance plans. Because they roll Parts A, B and D into one, and also can provide vision and dental coverage, some people find them easier to use and, depending on the plan chosen, less costly. If you are enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan, you will not need a Medigap plan. Advantage plans generally require you to stay within their network of doctors and hospitals to control costs. Your choice of plans will depend on where you live; some places have 20 or more plans available, others have only one or two.
Uruguay passes law granting rights to transgender people: Uruguay's General Assembly has approved a law that guarantees rights to the South American country's transgender community. Lawmakers in the lower house voted in favor of the measure late Thursday. It had already been approved by the Senate. The law grants transgender people the right to get an operation that matches their sexual identity. It will be paid for by the Uruguayan state along with hormone treatments. The law also will ensure that a minimum number of transgender people are given public jobs in the next 15 years.
Another man positively identified as a member of the team, Salah Muhammed al-Tubaigy, is the head of forensic science at the Saudi General Security Department and a specialist in on-site autopsies. According to the Turkish account, he cut off Mr. Khashoggis fingers and head, after donning headphones and advising his colleagues to do the same. If, as the Saudis now contend, the security team was sent to meet Mr. Khashoggi because there were indications of the possibility of his returning to Saudi Arabia, why was such a man, along with Mohammed bin Salmans personal muscle, on the mission? In fact Mr. Khashoggi, a Post contributing columnist, had no intention of returning to the kingdom. He visited the consulate in order to obtain a paper that would allow him to marry a Turkish woman, with whom he had obtained a new home in Istanbul.
Another factor, however, could be the president himself, his ability to shape both the conversation and the electorate. What worries some Democrats is that in typical elections, enthusiasm goes up on one side and down on the other. This year, enthusiasm has been up among Democrats, and, among some groups, way up. But the corresponding falloff in enthusiasm among Republicans is not taking place. If GOP voters are not quite as intensely focused as Democrats, theyre not down as much as some Democrats had hoped.
Trump more was a catalyst to energize something that was already there, that never left our culture, he said. The timbre of the races has become more contentious in the past two years, sometimes devolving into name-calling and animus, Smith said. In August, tempers flared after someone defaced a Confederate monument that stands just outside city hall. Later, Ku Klux Klan fliers tied to rocks were thrown into yards in suburban neighborhoods.
The drama has captured the attention of those voters, who are mailing in absentee ballots and lining up to vote early in droves  and who are as divided over what to make of the voting controversies as they are over whom to support. As of Thursday, in-person early voting as well as mail-in balloting were on track to exceed that of the presidential election of 2016 in at least two large counties near Atlanta  Cobb and Gwinnett.
Phoenix resident Lizzy Durso described herself as a silent supporter of Trump who now feels comfortable enough to back the president openly and attend her first rally for him, and said shes one of many. That same silent support will help carry McSally to victory, she said.
In the capital and across the country, however, many polls opened hours late and some not at all. People waited in lines all morning and gave up. Many who managed to cast votes described scenes of frenzied confusion and disorganization, with ballot boxes missing and names recorded wrong. A biometric ID system, installed at the last minute to reduce fraud, confounded unprepared poll workers and in many cases did not work.
But what sets Japan apart, the government repeatedly insists, is the quality, rather than quantity, of its investment, along with a commitment to environmental and financial sustainability while not creating unmanageable debt burdens. In Tokyos emphasis on this approach, it is hard not to see a dig at Chinas Belt and Road, which has been criticized for failing on precisely those fronts, experts say.
Khashoggi, a resident of Virginia, vanished on the afternoon of Oct. 2 after entering the Saudi Consulate to obtain documents that he needed to remarry. For more than two weeks, Saudi Arabia denied any knowledge of his whereabouts and insisted that he had walked out of the consulate unharmed. The journalists disappearance and slaying have sparked an international outcry as well as intense criticism of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the countrys de facto ruler, tarnishing his image in the West as a reformer.
One obvious contributing factor, some say, was the dramatic power shift in Saudi Arabia since Mohammeds assent to power. Previously, Mr. Khashoggis main patrons in the government were members of the al-Faisal branch of the royal family, including Turki and Prince Khalid al-Faisal, who was the journalists boss while he served as editor at al-Watan. But over the last two years, many of his backers were sidelined, and some were arrested by the crown prince, who has cracked down on all forms of dissent while also liberalizing certain aspects of Saudi society and culture.
Erdogan is going to accept this, said Soner Cagaptay, a Turkey scholar at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. Erdogan is smart. He knows Trumps not going to rupture with the Saudis over this. He knows the limits the U.S. can push against the Saudis. Hes getting enough face-saving measures that hes thrown not one but two big fish under the bus.
As the migrants amassed in the center of this small city in Chiapas state, they shared stories of the lives they were leaving behind. Some carried Honduran flags. For many, the decision to join the caravan had been made without much forethought. They left their homes without telling their families, without packing their bags, without informing their bosses that they wouldnt be returning to work.
Within days of a government minister repaying obscene amounts billed for internet use we learnt this week that one in five Australians regularly struggles to afford food.

The hunger relief organisation Foodbank categorised one in four of these people as having very low food security.

Its worst away from our cities, and when big bills arrive.

Schools respond with volunteer-run breakfast clubs. There are about a dozen across Canberra and Queanbeyan, feeding more than 500 children.
Dont be fooled by its fruity flavours. Smoking shisha for one hour is equivalent to inhaling the volume of smoke from 100 to 200 cigarettes.

A new grassroots campaign will urge water pipe smokers to quit, dispelling the dangerous misconception that the centuries-old pastime is harmless and even purifying.

The Lebanese Muslim Association and South East Sydney Local Health District have joined forces to lead the project backed by a $386,000 NSW government grant to warn people off the water pipes also known as nargila, argileh, hubbly bubbly, hookah and goza.

Smoking shisha for one hour is equivalent to inhaling the volume of smoke from 100 to 200 cigarettes. Credit:Christopher Pearce

They will focus their efforts on areas around Bankstown, Canterbury and St George on Sydney and Bankstown where shisha has slowly grown in popularity at cafes, restaurants and bars.
A Melbourne doctor and sweet shop owner allegedly forced an Iranian refugee to work 14 hours a day for nothing by threatening to dissolve his body in acid or have him deported to face the death penalty, a tribunal has heard.

Seyyed Ali Farshchi, who came to Australia from Iran more than a decade ago, was charged by Australian Federal Police in January under Commonwealth slavery laws and released on $200,000 bail over the forced labour allegations, which took place between 2015 and 2017.

Details of the accusations were outlined during a recent Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal hearing in which Dr Farshchi challenged restrictions that were placed on his medical registration after his arrest earlier this year.

Dr Ali Farshchi, Melbourne doctor and sweet shop owner.

Dr Farshchi strenuously denied the forced labour allegations to the tribunal.
The independent Kerryn Phelps has made history, winning one of the safest Liberal seats in the country and stripping the Morrison government of its one-seat majority in Parliament.

In a devastating loss for the Liberals, the party suffered a massive 21.8 per cent swing against it in the byelection, which saw Wentworth leave the hands of the Liberals and its predecessors for the first time in a century.

Dr Kerryn Phelps at North Bondi SLSC celebrating her win. Credit:James Brickwood

Dr Phelps' win meant she secured the strongest swing against any government in federal political history.

"Just a few short weeks ago I was told this was an impossible task and if we actually managed to win the seat of Wentworth, that it would be a miracle" Dr Phelps told supporters at the North Bondi Surf Life Saving Club.
When she was managing director, ABC staff used to wince over Michelle Guthries nervous media performances, doubting she had the mettle for the top job.

Since shes been sacked, though, she has more than demonstrated her capacity as a street fighter. Shes already toppled chairman Justin Milne and now shes going after the rest of the board.

The ABC board sacked managing director Michelle Guthrie last month. Credit:AAP

And its a safe bet that more revelations are coming about what she claims to be intolerable pressure from Milne to pander to the government of his friend, former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull.

So too, inevitably, will more details emerge about the ham-fisted manner in which the board got rid of her, which has to go down in history as one of the most inept sackings of a chief executive of any public corporation, let alone a cherished, publicly-owned national institution like the ABC.
Geishas are rare and uncommonly beautiful creatures who labour on their appearances before performing or appearing in public. They dress in vivid butterfly kimonos, style their hair in elaborate fashions and dust their red-stained lips with crystallised sugar. Nobel Prize-winning author Yasunari Kawabata described their white painted skin as having the lustre of a seashell in the moonlight.

For decades, geisha  which means person of the arts - were misunderstood by Westerners and thought to be sex workers, not entertainers who sing and dance at traditional teahouses.

The two geisha leave a laneway in Kyoto. Credit:Julia Baird

The largest surviving community of these exquisitely costumed artists  only about a thousand still remain in Japan - lives in Kyoto, though they are usually hidden from public view. But last week, I was strolling with my son through the back streets of the city when I saw two of them talking in a laneway. We stood still, struck, then quickly took a photograph and watched them part; one trotted on her wooden shoes back down the lane, while the other merged into the crowds of Gion with a fixed expression on her face.

And then the ugliness began. A throng of people surrounded her, some tourists in rented kimonos, taking photographs, trying to take selfies, manoeuvring professional cameras with long lenses as she ducked her head and kept walking.
A Russian woman, allegedly one of the masterminds behind a conspiracy to interfere in both the 2016 and 2018 elections, was charged in the US on Friday in relation to attempts to corrupt next month's congressional midterm vote.

The woman, identified as Elena Alekseevna Khusyaynova of St. Petersburg, Russia, allegedly served as the chief accountant for an operation known as "Project Lakhta," the Justice Department said pn Friday in a statement. The department identified the operation as 'a Russian umbrella effort funded by Russian oligarch Yevgeniy Viktorovich Prigozhin and two companies he controls, Concord Management and Consulting LLC, and Concord Catering.'

The charges come as top US law enforcement and intelligence agencies warn Americans about ongoing efforts by Russia, China and other foreign actors to interfere in the 2018 midterm and 2020 presidential elections.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping after their news conference at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, Russia, Credit:Sergei Chirikov/Pool Photo via AP

The charges announced on Friday centred on a conspiracy that included the creation of thousands of social media and email accounts that appeared to be run by US persons as part of what the conspirators referred to as "information warfare against the United States."
by Lawrence W. Reed

When Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn died 10 years ago (in 2008) at age 89, men and women of conscience in every country mourned the passing of a towering figure. His unending courage in the face of brutal tyranny was astonishing. His prolific contributions to Russian literature earned him a Nobel Prize, while his bravery on behalf of freedom gained him the gratitude of oppressed peoples everywhere.

At great risk to themselves, some people muster the courage to speak truth to power. In a world teeming and cursed with the corrupt and power-besotted, thats a supremely admirable quality. We should hope and pray for a lot more of it. Solzhenitsyn confronted power with truth until that power literally dissolved.

His revelations gave President Ronald Reagan all the ammunition he needed to brand the Soviet regime an Evil Empire. Another Nobel laureate in Literature, Perus Mario Vargas Llosa, declared,

The extraordinary political and intellectual feat of Solzhenitsyn was to emerge from the hell of a concentration camp to tell the story in books whose moral and documentary force has no parallel in modern history.

December 11, 2018, will mark the centennial of Solzhenitsyns birtha perfect occasion to once again celebrate his remarkable legacy.

"So Were We Any Better?"

Soviet communism had just marked its first birthday when Solzhenitsyn was born. He grew up knowing nothing else. During World War II, while in his mid-20s, he fought in the Red Army against the Nazi German invasionfor which he was twice decorated. His war-time service, when he witnessed Soviet atrocities against both soldiers and civilians, led him to start questioning the moral legitimacy of the Soviet regime and the Marxist ideology upon which it rested. Recalling this time many years later, he wrote:

There is nothing that so assists the awakening of omniscience within us as insistent thoughts about ones own transgressions, errors, mistakes. After the difficult cycles of such ponderings over many years, whenever I mentioned the heartlessness of our highest-ranking bureaucrats, the cruelty of our executioners, I remember myself in my Captains shoulder boards and the forward march of my battery through East Prussia, enshrouded in fire, and I say: So were we any better?

Being a very thoughtful and introspective intellectual, Solzhenitsyn could not dismiss what he saw as simply the failure of a few bad people. He sensed something rotten in the system itself. And of course, he was right. Bad people are everywhere, but nothing brings them forth and licenses them to do evil more thoroughly than concentrated power and the subordination of morality to the service of a statist ideology.

Even before the war ended, he ventured a few critical comments about the system in letters to a friend, which fell into the hands of the authorities and led to his arrest. For his thoughts, he was incarcerated. He endured nearly a decade in the hard-labor camps he later christened The Gulag Archipelago in the title of his most famous work.

Beating Labor Camps, Cancer, Ricin, and Exile

In an October 2017 essay noting the centennial of the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution, I wrote about a particularly notable experience that deeply affected Solzhenitsyn. A fellow inmate at the Ekibastuz prison camp, a recent convert to Christianity named Boris Kornfeld, imparted a few kind words and personal attention. Solzhenitsyn would later credit Kornfeld with giving him enormous mental and spiritual strength.

After his release in 1953, Solzhenitsyn was forced into three years of internal exile. He endured (and recovered from) a deadly cancer. Quietly, he spurned Marxism and its progeny, communism and socialism. He became a convert to Eastern Orthodox Christianity. He reflected on his wartime and prison experiences. And he began to write, though only one of his many full-length books was ever allowed to be printed in the Soviet Union, A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich. He won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1970, though Soviet authorities would not permit him to leave the country to accept it.

The secret police raided his living quarters, seized his papers, and interrogated his associates, one of whom hanged herself afterward.

All of his books, short stories, and poems are literary gems and/or historical masterpieces, but none surpasses The Gulag Archipelago in importance to the world. It remains a gripping account of life in the vast network of Soviet prison camps where people were enslaved, overworked, tortured, and killed forin many casesnothing more than opposing socialism, communism, Stalin, the Party, or some other aspect of the vaunted workers paradise. Its been described as an unrelenting indictment of communist ideology. Terror was the modus operandi from its founding philosophical father Karl Marx to his acolytes in Russia, Lenin and Stalin.

Solzhenitsyn secretly labored on the manuscript for ten years, from 1958 to 1968. Then he had to solve the problem of how to get it smuggled out of the country for publication. Soviet authorities were keeping an eye on him 24/7. In August 1971, he was poisoned with the deadly toxin ricin, but he survived. More than once, the secret police raided his living quarters, seized his papers, and interrogated his associates, one of whom hanged herself afterward. Fortunately, he had produced more than one copy, so even after the police had confiscated one, he was eventually able to get another spirited to Paris, where it was published in 1973.

Much credit is due to the famous cellist Mstislav Rostropovich, who sheltered Solzhenitsyn in the early 1970s and was later expelled from Russia because of it. Every so often, I watch the YouTube video of Rostropovich playing Bachs cello suites to remind myself of what a great man he was, too.

In His Own Words

The book was an instant sensation, and the rest is great history. The Soviet Union would never be the same. It disappeared less than 20 years later under the weight of its own inherent evil, from the challenge of domestic opposition emboldened in part by Solzhenitsyn and because of international pressure from Westerners including Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher, and Pope John Paul II.



Solzhenitsyn was arrested and expelled from the Soviet Union in early 1974. He settled in the US (in Vermont), where he resided for almost 20 years. In 1994, he returned to a post-communist Russia, where he lived out his remaining days until his death in 2008. Since 2009, Gulag has been mandatory reading as part of the curriculum in Russian schools.

In his honor, I devote the balance of this essay to some of my favorite words of Solzhenitsyn himself.

From a February 2003 Interview with Joseph Pearce, Sr., published in the St. Austin Review:

In different places over the years I have had to prove that socialism, which to many western thinkers is a sort of kingdom of justice, was in fact full of coercion, of bureaucratic greed and corruption and avarice, and consistent within itself that socialism cannot be implemented without the aid of coercion. Communist propaganda would sometimes include statements such as "we include almost all the commandments of the Gospel in our ideology." The difference is that the Gospel asks all this to be achieved through love, through self-limitation, but socialism only uses coercion.

From The Gulag Archipelago:

If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?.... This is surely the main problem of the twentieth century: Is it permissible merely to carry out orders and commit ones conscience to someone elses keeping? Can a man do without ideas of his own about good and evil, and merely derive them from the printed instructions and verbal orders of his superiors? Oaths! Those solemn pledges pronounced with a tremor in the voice and intended to defend the people against evildoers: see how easily they can be misdirected to the service of evildoers and against the people!

From The First Circle (1968):

For a country to have a great writer is like having a second government. That is why no regime has ever loved great writers, only minor ones.

From his Nobel lecture (printed version, since it was not personally delivered for reasons explained above):

Woe to that nation whose literature is disturbed by the intervention of power. Because that is not just a violation against "freedom of print," it is the closing down of the heart of the nation, a slashing to pieces of its memory. The nation ceases to be mindful of itself, it is deprived of its spiritual unity, and despite a supposedly common language, compatriots suddenly cease to understand one another.

And finally, this profound warning from The Gulag Archipelago:
GREENWICH  Data compiled by the Greenwich Fire Department shows a stark contrast in call response times between the north side of the community and the southern end of town.

Response-time data from 2017 and 2018, obtained through a Freedom of Information request, shows that residents and business owners in Cos Cob and Riverside can expect to see a fire truck rolling up to the scene of a call or alarm in two to three minutes. In the north end of town, however, particularly the northwest corner along the King Street corridor, it can take 10 minutes or more for a fire truck to arrive.

Firefighters absolutely make a maximum effort to get to the scene of a fire as quickly as possible, Assistant Fire Chief Robert Kick said. But due to the lack of a fire station in the northwestern, now the subject of renewed discussions among town leaders, response times lag substantially.

The standard is four minutes for travel, Kick said. And the standard is to meet that 90 percent of the time. Obviously, we do have many areas where we meet the standard. In the northwest quadrant, we never meet that standard.

At a house fire on Meadow Road in Riverside in May, for instance, a fire unit arrived on scene in one minute and 30 seconds. By contrast, at a fire on Locust Road off King Street in August, it took nine minutes and 56 seconds, according to the fire department.

When looking at the response times for car fires, another wide gap is apparent. A car fire on I-95 in January 2017 triggered a fire vehicles arrival in three minutes and five seconds. For a car fire on the Merritt Parkway in June of last year, it took 10 minutes and 41 seconds for a unit to arrive on-scene.

Response time is measured by mobile digital devices inside the trucks. Some vehicles in the fleet dont have the digital devices installed, and in those cases, the dispatcher will mark the time using radio transmissions, Kick said.

Members of the Representative Town Meeting and other town leaders have been studying the problem this summer and fall. But the issue isnt new. Previous efforts to fund a new fire facility in the northwest corner, or even study the need for one, have failed to advance.

In the fire department administration, weve identified the northwest quadrant, where were not meeting the minimum standards, ever. We want to correct that problem, and our suggestion is to build a station there, so we can better protect the citizens of the area, said Kick.

First Selectman Peter Tesei put money for a study of town fire services, to determine whether the station was needed, in his budget in 2017, but the RTM voted to cut the funding. It was the latest setback in a long-fought effort to get fire coverage in the northwest.

The issue of response times is one of deep concern to many residents of the area. The fire on upper King Street this past summer gave renewed attention to the issue of fire safety.

2018 Structure fire response times 1 Cotton Tail Road Jan. 17 5:54 5 Perkins Road Jan. 21 1:49 522 Putnam Ave. Jan. 22 4:11 18 Indian Chase Drive Jan. 31 5:53 218 Bible Street March 2 2:43 168 John St. March 3 3:48 48 Sunshine Ave. March 8 5:14 918 North St. April 22 8:24 44 Sinawoy Road April 26 3:05 14 Meadow Road May 15 1:30 29 Bible Street May 19 3:49 15 Palmer Street May 28 2:30 30 Field Point Circle June 1 5:34 10 Mead Point Drive June 25 7:44 19 St. Roch Ave. July 2 4:08 453 Post Road July 19 0.49 2 Locust Road Aug. 9 9.56 Source: Greenwich Fire Department See More Collapse

It was deeply unsettling to Ilana Grady and her children.

As a parent, you want your kids to be safe and feel safe, she said, adding she has been working to assuage their anxieties. Hopefully having a fire station close to us will happen sooner rather than later. Knowing that the solution isnt a reality yet, I had my girls write poems to focus on how amazing the firefighters were.

The RTM appears to be softening its resistance to a new station. Last month, its members approved a nonbinding, sense of the meeting resolution calling for Tesei to put funding for a new station in the 2019-20 municipal budget. The resolution does not obligate the RTM to pass the actual funding, however.

If we dont reduce the response time by us, someone will pay the price with their life, said Grady, an educator. You cant put a price on someones life. Thank goodness some of our neighbors realized how serious of a concern that fire response time is in our neighborhood. They have been actively working to rectify the situation.

Allen Williams, president of the Northwest Greenwich Association, has been lobbying for years for a new fire station in the neighborhood. Maps and data released by the fire department put the issue into clear, concise terms, he said. A map depicting response times was part of a recent presentation to the RTM.

I believe the GFD response times map and data has helped open and changed some minds, Williams said. It has certainly opened many pairs of eyes on the RTM to the fact that there is, and for many years has been, an obvious fire protection deficiency in the northwestern backcountry.

The first step will be getting a concept for a new station approved, he said. Then town and fire officials will have to find a suitable piece of land. Several possible sites have been pegged and rejected in past years. Most recently, Tesei in 2016 proposed buying 4.76 acres on King Street from the Fairview Country Club, an idea that won approvals from the Fire Department, finance board and Planning and Zoning Commission, only to be shot down by the RTM.

The siting decision will likely be a hotly contested hurdle, Williams said.

Counter ideas that have been raised in the past are likely to be aired again, he said  such as forming affiliations with nearby Westchester County fire departments  which Williams called worn-out alternative solutions.

Yes, it will be a substantial investment, he said. But its an essential and expected town service. It should have been started years ago as the corridor's larger properties were developed into additional assisted-living centers, larger private schools and houses of worship.

The country club property is still available, but Tesei has said he is going into the new process with an open mind toward potential options as some in town have questioned whether the site is the best location for a new station. Tesei said he would continue to work to find a solution.

The Greenwich fire services response travel times to incidents in the northwest quadrant continue to be more than double (average 8-12 minutes) the recognized national minimum standard, he wrote in an email. The town administration is in the process of addressing the RTM-approved sense of the meeting resolution. We have engaged stakeholders ... to uniformly collect all of the questions members may have so a unified and thorough response is given.

rmarchant@greenwich time.com
Jim was a hard-working man who always had a smile for everyone
I got lost in the ocean, Rob Stewart recalls, in the opening sequence of this new eco-documentary. I thought I was going to die.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 20/10/2018 (1124 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

I got lost in the ocean," Rob Stewart recalls, in the opening sequence of this new eco-documentary. "I thought I was going to die."

"The only thing I could do was not give up."

WILL ALLEN Diver and filmmaker Rob Stewart.

Stewart goes on to describe this as a metaphor for his work as an advocate for sharks and their ocean ecosystems  except in the end, the metaphor took a turn toward a tragic actuality, when Stewart died in a diving accident off the Florida Keys in January 2017, during the production.

Sharkwater Extinction, the final film from the Canadian photographer and environmental activist, feels elegiac, but also incomplete. Rushed and bumpy, its disparate parts are held together by Stewarts sincere, personal commitment, which was his strength as a filmmaker, but also his limitation.

Stewarts untiring work for sharks started with his 2006 debut documentary Sharkwater.

D FILMS Stewart snorkels beside a hammerhead shark in Sharkwater Extinction.

The films extraordinary  and extraordinarily beautiful  footage of Stewart swimming with sharks, without a cage or protective equipment, aimed to turn around the damaging cultural narratives perpetuated by Jaws and Shark Week, in which sharks are presented as non-stop killing machines. In fact, as Stewart points out, there are, on average, about six human deaths by shark attacks a year. Meanwhile, humans annually kill 100 million sharks.

The other side of the first Sharkwater film was the graphic and hard-to-watch footage of the destructive, wasteful and cruel practice of shark finning, in which fishers cut off a sharks fins and then dump the animal back into the water, where it is left to slowly die.

Stewarts film helped shift perceptions, which ultimately contributed to a change in global policies on shark finning. That success was hard to follow up, at least in cinematic terms.

D FILMS The underwater photography is the strength of the film Sharkwater: Extinction.

It is difficult to say what Sharkwater Extinction would have been if it hadnt been interrupted by Stewarts death. Icelandic-Canadian filmmaker Sturla Gunnarsson was brought in to finish the film, and while he delivers a competent edit, handling the final chapter of Stewarts death with particular sensitivity, the raw material is lacking.

One wishes the film concentrated more on Stewarts strengths, particularly his stunning underwater photography, which is brought to the big screen with brilliant, blue clarity. On dry land, unfortunately, Sharkwater Extinction often falters awkwardly. Stewarts filmmaking relied on passion rather than craft, and while the importance and urgency of his educational message are undeniable  he shows that even though shark finning and overfishing are mostly illegal, these practices continue in a multimillion-dollar underground industry  the project heads in too many directions. There are rushed sequences touching on investigative journalism, scientific inquiry and personal journey, but they remain frustrating fragments.

Again, its hard to know where Stewart might have taken the material, given more time. As it is, we head inexorably toward that last dive, when the film, sadly, becomes its most complete: as a poignant memorial to the filmmaker.

alison.gillmor@freepress.mb.ca

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When Greyhound Canada announced that it would stop service in Western Canada on Oct. 31, there was a lot of hand-wringing and concern about the public transportation network across the province.

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This article was published 19/10/2018 (1125 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

When Greyhound Canada announced that it would stop service in Western Canada on Oct. 31, there was a lot of hand-wringing and concern about the public transportation network across the province.

But three months later, with Greyhound about to wind down, the competition is heating up. In fact, its getting red-hot.

No fewer than four different operators have announced their intention to get into the intra-provincial bus service, providing regular service from Winnipeg to the North after Oct. 31. One of them, Thompson Bus, is already up and running.

Provincial Highway 6 to Thompson is about to start seeing some much heavier bus traffic.

On Friday, Mahihkan Bus Lines was the latest to enter the market. Mahihkan (Cree for "wolf") was formerly Kelsey Bus Lines, a charter service that was acquired four years ago by the Aseneskak Casino located in Opaskwayak Cree Nation owned by six First Nations.

Others who have already announced their intention to operate include Maple Bus Lines and Kasper Transportation out of Thunder Bay, Ont.

Elwood Zastre, chief of Wuskwi Sipihk First Nation, located north of Swan River, and chair of Aseneskak, said the ongoing need of people in the North  especially those from their own First Nation communities  to get into the city, coupled with the experience of running Kelsey for a few years, led them to apply for the running rights they needed from the Motor Transport Board.

"We have crunched the numbers and did the analysis and we think we have a viable service that is going to happen," Zastre said.

At first, Mahihkan plans to run daily service between Winnipeg and Thompson, and between Winnipeg and Flin Flon. Zastre said there is still tweaking to be done, but planning is already underway to extend routes, including perhaps Flin Flon to Saskatoon.

The company currently has a couple of Prevost buses, but it is putting the final touches on the lease for a couple of brand new MCI J4550 buses equipped with seatbelts, Wi-Fi and video surveillance.

RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Suzanne Barbeau-Bracegirdle, CEO of Kelsey Bus Lines, next to one of their new busses in Winnipeg.

Suzanne Barbeau-Bracegirdle, CEO of Aseneskak, said, "Safety is our top priority. All our staff has already received COR training (Certificate of Recognition) from the Manitoba Heavy Construction Association."

While Greyhound claimed that its volumes had declined by 41 per cent over the past few years in Western Canada, Zastre said their information is that there was always solid traffic in the Manitoba market.

But it remains to be seen if there is enough traffic to support four competitors.

Maisie Hick, general manager of Maple Bus Lines, said Maple is not paying attention to what the competition is doing.

"It all comes down to relationships," she said. Hick and her partners acquired Maple, previously run exclusively as a charter service, at the beginning of this year.

Hick, a former Greyhound staffer, said Maple will continue to operate charters. The company has hired other ex-Greyhound people, including experienced mechanics.

Sid Varma, one of the partners of Thompson Bus Lines, said there has been good early demand on its Thompson to Winnipeg route that began operation at the beginning of last week. The company has been running service to Split Lake and Gillam, north of Thompson, for almost two weeks.

"In every competitive environment, it comes down to customer service," he said. "Whoever is performing better will get the business."

Officials from Kasper Transportation could not be reached, but the company has been running Facebook ads for its Northern Bus service.

All the pricing is not yet available but it seems clear most of the companies are charging in the range of $130 for a one-way trip on the Winnipeg-Thompson route.

A spokesperson from Infrastructure Minister Ron Schulers office said, "We are encouraged by private operators who are working to set up business in our province. From the outset, we believed that Greyhound exiting the market would provide an opportunity that is being realized by companies in our province."

martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca
Its likely the name Marin Katusa rings no bells of recognition. That is, unless youre a follower of Canadas junior resource sector.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 20/10/2018 (1124 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Its likely the name Marin Katusa rings no bells of recognition. That is, unless youre a follower of Canadas junior resource sector.

Home to firms often jokingly referred to as owning a moose pasture and dreams of striking commodity gold  be the black, silver, copper kinds, or indeed the real deal  this segment of Canadas stock market demonstrates the never-ending interplay of greed and fear that roil investors psyches and portfolios. Fortunes are made. But many more are lost in this highly speculative sector.

Among those following this space, Katusa has a reputation as an accomplished value investor, a style at odds with junior resource firms with little to no profits and very short histories.

Yet, the author of the New York Times bestseller The Colder War has made this strategy viable in the sub-billion-dollar resource company space. Developing specific theses on narrow segments of the industry, he has produced profitable outcomes for himself and investors subscribing to reports from his Vancouver-based firm Katusa Research.

Also a fund manager, Katusa recently spoke with the Free Press about his approach to the resource sector.

Given all the interest in the cannabis stocks of late  arguably more speculative than junior resource companies  his insights are of interest to investors willing to risk a small portion of capital for possible high returns.

"I bring an alligator approach to investing," he says.

While that involves seeking companies with assets and cash flows under-represented by their share price, Katusa doesnt chase stock prices.

Like the reptilian predator, "you have got to sit back and let the share price come to you," Katusa says.

Central to his strategy is buying companies by instalments. Rather than buying a large swath of shares at once, he recommends buying in tranches  basically by 25 per cent increments as a company achieves certain milestones like receiving a permit for developing a mine.

"It can take many years to get my full allocation," he says, adding investing in the junior resource space requires patience.

Developing mines, green energy projects and oil and gas finds takes several years and needs enormous capital. Most projects have to be drilled, proven, permitted and built before generating any revenue.

To illustrate this approach, he points to a recent success involving a green energy company called Alterra Power Corp., which runs one of the largest run-of-river hydroelectric projects in B.C.

He first recommended buying at $3.50 a share or less and then a few months later at under $4.

"Some people will say, But you paid more for your second tranche, yet, it doesnt matter because the company was worth more."

Alterras share price recommendation may have been $3.50 per share for the first tranche, but he estimated its intrinsic value at about $6 per share. And when the second tranche recommendation was for roughly $4 a share, the companys real value was closer to $8 per share. So, paying more to own the company still made sense, if not, more so.

The strategy paid off. Shortly after the fourth and final recommendation at $5 or less per share, Alterra was bought out at $8.25 a share by Innergex Renewable Energy Inc, one of Canadas largest green energy producers.

"People think that was an overnight success, but it really took years."

Most investors obviously dont have the time and expertise to do what Katusa does. But his approach is instructive to investors seeking to understand how to find companies with assets that can produce commodities trading at a premium even in the current bear market for raw materials.

Among one of his latest buy recommends is Blackbird Energy Inc.

One thing to keep in mind, however, is the following discussion is not a recommendation to buy this stock.

The company in question may or may not turn out to be profitable  though Katusa certainly believes in its potential.

Regardless, his take on the company and where it sits in the industry highlights challenges of Canadas energy sector, and why those who follow it believe it is unduly unloved.

"The Canadian oilpatch  because it is pipeline restricted  is significantly undervalued," he argues.

The reason being is that all Canadian oil  heavy and light  trades at a discount because Canada really has one market: the U.S.

Adding insult to injury, heavy oil piped south requires a liquid gas referred to as condensate to make it transportable via pipeline. And despite Canada having rich reserves of condensate, oilsands producers buy most of it from the U.S.

Katusa calls this "insane" because "were paying a premium for American condensate to mix with our discounted heavy oil to sell back to the Americans."

Its this market inefficiency that forms the basis of his reason to buy Blackbird  a producer of condensate. Its production base located near Grande Prairie is rich in condensates of higher quality than condensate produced in Texas, which is shipped up to Fort McMurray so heavy oil can be piped into the U.S.

Thousands of trucks from the U.S. bring condensate to Canada daily.

Whats more is American firms extract the condensate from the oil we send to them, and then ship it back to Canada, selling it at a premium.

Katusa argues Blackbird could disrupt this model. It is already producing condensate and "has massive land position in the heart in one of the most liquid-rich corridors for condensate in North America."

As a result, he figures its a matter of time before a larger energy company buys Blackbird at a premium to its current price.

More broadly, the resource industry is undervalued relative to the rest of the market  which is frothy.

"Everything is expensive" except commodities.

"So its like Wayne Gretzky says, Go where the puck is going to be," he says. "Because the resource industry in general has been so bashed, the good has gone down with the bad."

Like many observers, Katusa believes weve reached the bottom of the bear market in commodities.

Among the best indicators, he adds, is you can now buy companies at share prices cheaper than the value at which corporate management teams received their stakes. This is in stark contrast to a bull market, when investors often pay several times more than the share price at which management received its stock.

"It doesnt mean were there (the bottom) just yet," he cautions.

But its a positive for shrewd investors.

"Its an indicator that says You know what? I should spend more time looking at these companies." Or put another way: "If Warren Buffett wanted to invest in the resource sector, now is the time he would start looking."
OTTAWA  The federal Liberals insist theyre eager to help save Canadas collapsing news industry, but wont commit to a timeline for funding they earmarked seven months ago.

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This article was published 19/10/2018 (1125 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

OTTAWA  The federal Liberals insist theyre eager to help save Canadas collapsing news industry, but wont commit to a timeline for funding they earmarked seven months ago.

"Theres no holdup," Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez told the Free Press. "As weve said before, this is an absolute priority for all of us, and (news) journalism is one of the fundamentals of our society."

In the March budget, the Liberals allocated an annual $10 million for five years, to "support local journalism in underserved communities." That funding came into effect in April, but Canadian Heritage hasnt published any information on how to apply for it.

Rodriguez took over the department in July, and getting that funding out the door was listed among 11 priorities in his mandate letter.

Yet, Rodriguez couldnt confirm whether those any details would come before 2019. "Were working on that. Were taking it very seriously, and its a priority you will hear about soon," he said Friday.

On Monday, general trade union Unifors media branch will lobby the government for more funding, dispersed faster. They also want a timeline on the Liberals pledge (also outlined in the mandate letter) to allow newsrooms to fundraise through non-profits, a move Montreals La Presse already intends to make.

The unions media director, Howard Law, noted the $10 million annual funding came after outcry from journalism advocates, after the Liberals sweeping cultural policy review didnt include any funding for daily newspapers.

THE CANADIAN PRESS / Adrian Wyld Minister of Canadian Heritage and Multiculturalism Pablo Rodriguez on how to get access to the Liberals pledged $10M in federal funding for local journalism: "We're working on that. We're taking it very seriously."

Unifor and the National NewsMedia Council (whose board includes Bob Cox, the publisher of the Winnipeg Free Press) originally asked Ottawa for $350 million per year.

Its unclear whether the promised annual $10 million will subsidize reporter salaries in newsrooms across Canada  just as long-standing grants do for magazines and weekly newspapers  or other initiatives such as open-source, investigative projects.

Law claimed Heritage bureaucrats told media advocates not to expect funding information until February 2019. That would mean the current years funding will likely be folded into the coming year.

The department did not respond to an email asking to confirm the timeline.

Daily newspapers in Nanaimo, B.C., Moose Jaw, Sask., and Guelph, Ont., have closed during the Liberals recent time in office. Each paper had operated for more than 100 years.

Heritage Canada estimates Canada has lost 10,000 media jobs in the past 12 years. Last month, the Public Policy Forum released a report finding the number of articles generated by newspapers has dropped by almost half over the past decade.

Law said the Liberals have helped the CBC and topped up magazine subsidies, but have left newspapers at a crisis point.

"They have been kicking the can down the road constantly on everything else."

dylan.robertson@freepress.mb.ca
A new poll measuring voter intentions predicts a lower-than-usual turnout for Wednesdays civic election, which could help Jenny Motkaluk in her long-shot quest to become mayor of Winnipeg.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 19/10/2018 (1125 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A new poll measuring voter intentions predicts a lower-than-usual turnout for Wednesdays civic election, which could help Jenny Motkaluk in her long-shot quest to become mayor of Winnipeg.

A cross-Canada survey of voter intentions in eight different municipal elections has found Winnipeg voters are pretty apathetic to the outcome, and not even a ballot question on pedestrian traffic at Portage Avenue and Main Street is expected to get more people out to vote.

Aaron Moore, a political studies professor at the University of Winnipeg who is participating in the cross-country polling, said the survey findings still show incumbent Mayor Brian Bowman with a sizable lead over challenger Jenny Motkaluk, but Bowmans team has to ensure his supporters cast their ballots.

"If we actually see Motkaluk somehow pulling off a victory, it will be because of poor turnout by Bowman supporters," Moore said. "I get the sense that the anti-Bowman crowd are pretty motivated, so that has to be a concern for him. But I still think that with the size of the gap between Bowman and Motkaluk, I still dont think shell make that up, but itll probably be closer than people had been anticipating."

This portion of the survey was conducted between Sept. 27 and Oct. 15 by Forum Research on behalf of the Canadian Municipal Election Study, which is looking at municipal elections in Winnipeg and seven other cities: Vancouver, Calgary, London, Ont., Mississauga, Ont., Toronto, Montreal and Quebec City.

The polling so far in Winnipeg found:

Incumbent Mayor Brian Bowman is more likeable than challenger Jenny Motkaluk.

Respondents think Bowman has the best chance to win, with an average score of 73.4, compared to a score of 34 for Motkaluk.

The most important issue in the campaign is crime and community safety, followed by economic development. Re-opening Portage and Main was sixth on peoples priority list.

Moore said the survey isnt the typical "snapshot" done by most polling firms during an election, with intense polling over a limited number of days. The project involves getting peoples opinions on a variety of issues over a much longer period of time.

Moore said about 1,000 Winnipeggers have been surveyed to date, and more than 2,000 will have participated when its over on election day. In addition, most questions focused solely on the two front-runners.

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Mayor Brian Bowman

Because of how the polling is conducted, Moore said the project team opted not to release data which suggests a winner, but he did say their data is showing a similar gap between Bowman and Motkaluk to that reported by Probe Research in the two polls it has released.

"While we want to share our findings with the public, our survey is not equivalent to the horse-race polls that firms like Probe conduct, so we are not comfortable making predictions about outcome," he said.

Moore said the data revealed many factors which suggest a lower turnout: people dont feel its their duty to vote in civic elections; they believe Bowman will win; theres nothing motivating them to get out and vote.

The 2014 election recorded a turnout of 50.23 per cent. While city hall reported Friday a record turnout in the advance polls, Moore said he doesnt believe that will be an indicator on voting overall.

"It just means more people are choosing to vote ahead of election day, not that more people will vote," he said, adding he believes the turnout will be less than what it was four years ago.

"The less competitive the election is seen, the less people vote," which suggests voter turnout will be lower because "people think Bowman has this in the bag already."

Low turnout in an election usually benefits the incumbent, but Moore cautioned Bowman and his supporters not to be overconfident.

"Theres a risk for Bowmans campaign that a lot of people who support him or who just assume hes going to win, fewer of them might come out to vote," Moore said. "Whereas, Motkaluk supporters might be a lot more keen on going out to support her to ensure she wins.

"Theoretically, she could get a boost of a turnout because her supporters are more motivated."

Moore said many people might find the survey question on whether people thought voting in an election is a duty or choice quite boring, but he said its revealing.

"The more people who view voting as a choice,' the lower the turnout you get. Coupled with the lower interest in municipal politics, and the fact respondents dont see this as a competitive election, it means that were probably going to get a lower turnout."

Moore said the ballot question on reopening Portage and Main isnt generating much excitement among voters: its low on voters priority list and people are less interested in voting on the question than they are on voting for a politician, which is generally lower for civic elections than either federal or provincial.

"If youre expecting the ballot question to drive voters to the polls, Im not sure thats actually going to happen."

aldo.santin@freepress.mb.ca
By the age of 13, Griffin Jenkins had attempted suicide twice. For a year or so after that, he stumbled through junior high, wearing a fake smile, before a second relapse knocked him to his knees.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 20/10/2018 (1124 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

By the age of 13, Griffin Jenkins had attempted suicide twice. For a year or so after that, he stumbled through junior high, wearing a "fake smile," before a second relapse knocked him to his knees.

By then, the teen was in Grade 9.

In December 2011, Jenkins, now a 21-year-old University of Winnipeg business student, found himself in the hospital. He was diagnosed with a form of depression and underwent 12 weeks of intensive therapy.

Looking back, he said that low point turned out to be the first step to a new life.

The medical help put him on solid ground and offered him insight that he wasnt just a weird kid who didnt fit in.

The second step was a radio ad his father had heard about a summer music camp. "He said it sounded like band camp for moody kids, and that I should look into it," Jenkins recalled.

Music camp turned out to be a ticket to freedom. He met other youth like him, tapped into his musical talents, started playing bass guitar, drums and learned the keyboard. He still plays in a band, called A Grizzly Fate.

"It wasnt until that summer, when I got involved with this band camp, that things really started to kick up and make sense," Jenkins said.

Let it Out Summer Band Camp was a United Way-supported program and it still is today, under the name Rock It Out, also supported by the Mood Disorders Association of Manitoba.

"Im very open about it," Jenkins said in an interview to support the 2018 United Way Winnipeg campaign. "I dont think Id be where I am today if it wasnt for that program. Theres no way."

Until this fall, Jenkins paid it forward, working full time as a mental health educator with Mood Disorders, a partner agency with United Way.

These days, he is moving forward again.

The freelance mental health educator is enrolled in business administration at the University of Winnipeg. He lives at home, with his mother and stepfather, and uses healthy coping mechanisms to keep depression at bay.

"Most of the time, I like to say Im 75 to 80 per cent symptom-free, so like, Ive had a full-time job. Now, Im a full-time student and I have a relationship. Im here with my family and Im able to live a life that for a long time I didnt think Id be able to have," Jenkins said.

United Way is well into its 2018 campaign, which runs from September to January. It raised $20 million last year, and its goal for 2018 is $21 million.

More than 600 workplaces run internal fundraising drives, and every penny Winnipeggers donate goes back into the community, thanks to an operating grant from the province that supports fundraising and administration costs.

Organizers and supporters who have benefited from its programs emphasize the need is great.

Every 90 seconds, someone walks through the doors of an agency supported by the United Way, adding up to more than 325,000 visits every year.

The campaign supports a comprehensive community plan with a goal to help 11,000 more Winnipeggers, including children and families, in four priority areas.

The United Way wants to assist 4,000 more young people with mental health support. The campaign also hopes to connect another 1,800 children with mentors to exit or avoid gang involvement and graduate high school.

The agency also wants to help an additional 2,800 adults with job and money management skills, and link some 2,700 more families to services at neighbourhood family resource centres.

alexandra.paul@freepress.mb.ca
You know who you are. At 6:45 p.m. on Tuesday, you were driving the black Chevrolet Tahoe that tailgated my grey Nissan Altima heading north on Main Street past Kildonan Park.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 20/10/2018 (1124 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Opinion

You know who you are. At 6:45 p.m. on Tuesday, you were driving the black Chevrolet Tahoe that tailgated my grey Nissan Altima heading north on Main Street past Kildonan Park.

I was driving the speed limit of 60 km/h, but you followed alarmingly close, about an arms length from my rear bumper.

Suddenly, without signalling, you jerked your vehicle into the left lane and floored it, roaring past my vehicle and, again without signalling, cut back in front of my vehicle, dangerously close.

I pulled up behind you at the traffic light at the intersection of Main and Chief Peguis Trail. As we waited for the red to change, I had plenty of time to look at the back of your head and wonder what type of person drives so aggressively.

Perhaps you were in a hurry. But the reality of city traffic is that speeding drivers are stopped by red lights and stop signs, just like those of us who lock in to the traffic flow. Your dangerous pass gained you a cars length, but was it worth risking the safety of both of us to arrive a minute earlier at your destination?

You likely think youre a good driver with superior control of your vehicle. Perhaps your impression of your driving ability has been inflated by daydreams of driving race cars, or your high scores on video games that emulate driving at high speeds through make-believe traffic.

The truth is, though, youre a bad driver. Most of us wish you would park it and take the bus. We wish police would invest more resources in catching aggressive drivers like you.

Distracted driving, not aggressive driving, seems to be the main target of the Manitoba government. It announced on Tuesday that drivers caught on their phones  or even eating pizza, according to Infrastructure Minister Ron Schuler  get a $672 fine, a three-day licence suspension and a penalty of five demerits.

Its unfortunate the province shows no signs of extending its traffic-enforcement zeal to aggressive driving, which seems to be increasing.

Often in Winnipeg social gatherings, people tell of their unnerving encounters with aggressive drivers who tailgated, passed dangerously, sped up through an orange light, honked with hostility, used rude hand gestures or glared with apparent anger. Theyre like bullies using 5,000-pound vehicles to intimidate their way through traffic.

Its not just in Winnipeg. A survey by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety in the U.S. showed nearly two in three drivers believe aggressive driving is a bigger problem today than three years ago, while nine out of 10 believe aggressive drivers are a serious threat to their personal safety.

Whats at the root of this aggression? One theory is that the anonymity of being inside a vehicle lets people act belligerently in a way they wouldnt in face-to-face gatherings such as a supermarket line. A study by the American Psychology Association found people were more likely to perform acts of aggression in an environment that masked the identity of the perpetrator, such as driving at night or with tinted windows.

Another possibility is that some drivers are influenced by aggressive driving they see on TV or in movies. This is the intriguing finding of two studies by University of Alberta faculty member Deanna Singhal, who analyzed Edmonton speed camera data and found more people drove unlawfully fast after the release of a movie in the Fast and Furious franchise, which glamorizes high-speed driving stunts.

Other experts suggest aggressive drivers have been shaped by the driving habits of their peers or parents who drive with menace.

The most obvious problem with aggressive driving is that it causes crashes. Tailgaters cant stop in time in an emergency. Drivers weaving through traffic without signalling can be a hazard, especially on Winnipeg streets that are often slippery because of ice and snow.

Another consequence of aggressive driving is the irritation, even anger, it prompts in other drivers. When an aggressive driver blares his horn, shakes his fist or extends a middle finger, such rudeness can infect the courteous calmness which is the ideal buffer between drivers in city traffic.

A key to avoiding anger is to avoid blaming others. All drivers are human beings who make mistakes. When they goof up, we should breathe deeply and forgive them, as hard as it is.

An article in Psychology Today from March offers tips to avoid anger while driving. Listen to calming music or a meditation program. Dont argue in the vehicle with other passengers. Hang a peppermint or cinnamon air freshener; according to a NASA-funded study, these scents lower frustration.

Another tactic is to put pictures of your loved ones on your dashboard. Their faces will remind you of people who want you home safely.

Carl DeGurse is a member of the Free Press editorial board.
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 20/10/2018 (1124 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Opinion

Are things finally looking up for Manitoba Hydro?

Last summers drought conditions have given way to a soggy fall that may  emphasis on may  suggest a winter with robust snowfall, a condition that is essential to keep Manitobas rivers high and Hydros dam turbines churning out electricity.

Back in the corporate home office, a leadership vacuum is finally being filled.

The utility more or less has its board of directors back together after former chairman Sandy Riley and nearly all of the board resigned last year over a dispute with Premier Brian Pallister. Hydro is also looking for a new CEO after Kelvin Shepherd announced he was stepping down, but the succession planning seems to be unfolding in a thoughtful manner.

The good news continues this week with details that Hydro has reined in costs and construction delays at the Keeyask generating station.

In an email to the Free Press, Hydro communications director Scott Powell confirmed that productivity improvements this year have lowered the estimate of the total cost of the project and moved up the date the dam will start generating electricity.

In 2017, Hydro released a consultants study which estimated total costs for the dam could be as high as $10.5 billion, nearly $4 billion more than the original $6.5-billion price tag. Now, the utility believes it can keep costs to no more than $8.7 billion, while bringing the first turbine online by October 2020, nine months ahead of the earlier estimate.

"The project is over 60 per cent through construction, and while risks remain, we are working hard to mitigate those risks," Powell said.

Why, then, would the premier choose this week to announce he was spending $2.5 million of precious taxpayer dollars on a review of the economics of Keeyask and the related Bipole III transmission line?

The review, which Pallister promised last year, is to be conducted by former British Columbia premier Gordon Campbell, who has been dabbling in government consulting work since he left his post as high commissioner to the United Kingdom in 2016.

The announcement of the Campbell review is intriguing for many reasons, not least of which is the fact that, arguably, the economics of Keeyask and Bipole III have been deeply and thoroughly reviewed.

Hydro paid for two of its own detailed reviews of the capital projects, one in 2016, and Manitobas auditor general has also weighed in on Keeyask, releasing a report in 2016 on Hydros agreements with affected northern First Nations.

Keeyask was also subject to a detailed NFAT (Needs For and Alternatives To) assessment as part of the regulatory approval for dam construction.

And throughout the planning, design and implementation stages of Keeyask and Bipole III, the Public Utilities Board (PUB) and an array of third-party interveners have poked, prodded and drilled deep into the economics of both projects. This included a detailed examination by an outside consultant contracted by the PUB specifically to provide "an independent review of Manitoba Hydros capital expenditure program."

And what conclusions have been drawn from all this scrutiny?

Largely, that the former NDP government rushed its approval and ignored changing energy market conditions that undermined the viability of both projects. Although questions still remain about whether Hydro needs another major north-south transmission line to guarantee uninterrupted power supply to the south and export markets, the verdict is already in on the macroeconomics of both projects.

They were hastily conceived, expensive, risky and  given continuing low prices for electricity on the export markets  may never pay for themselves.

So, again, why this review, and why now?

Part of the answer is political. One of the strongest cards Pallister has to play in the last two years of his current mandate is reminding voters just how bad the NDP was at managing its finances. And there is no better example of financial incompetence than the Hydro capital projects.

The Campbell report is expected to be delivered by December 2019. Bank on the idea that the government will take a few weeks, or even a few months, to review it and devise a strategy for release. That will mean the conclusions in this report will start making headlines in the first quarter of 2020, which is right at the start of the unofficial campaign for the October 2020 provincial election.

Reminding voters of NDP incompetence right before asking for another four years to "fix" the provinces finances, as Pallister loves to say, is a pretty tight political strategy. In fact, the only potential downside is if Campbells report is so thin or redundant that it exposes the Pallister government to allegations that it wasted money ordering the review in the first place.

At first blush, the choice of Campbell does not, on its own, create a lot of confidence in this process.

Campbell does not appear to have any clear expertise in hydro-related issues. In the government news release announcing the study, Campbell is described as CEO of Hawksmuir International Partners. A detailed background search determined this firm has no website, and has not been publicly associated with any similar projects.

His only previous consulting gig seems to be the high-profile review of Ontario finances he did earlier this year for newly elected Ontario Premier Doug Ford.

As a result of his limited range of experience, you can bet most of the $2.5 million he has been given will be spent on hiring subject-matter experts to review the planning, design and construction of Keeyask generating station and the Bipole III transmission line.

That means there is a high likelihood he will retain the exact same type of expert, if not the very same experts, hired by Hydro, the PUB and interveners.

There is no doubt that someone who has served more than a decade as a first minister of one of Canadas larger provinces understands government financial statements and accounting principles. But Hydro capital projects are a whole different ball game, and it will be interesting to see whether Campbell can uncover anything new and alarming in the wake of a long history of alarming reviews of Hydro capital projects.

The NDP messed up big time on Hydro, leaving the utility awash in debt and vulnerable to additional cost overruns with the two remaining capital projects. The NDP should expect to carry baggage from those transgressions for at least one more election cycle.

However, at some point there should be a limit to Pallisters use of Hydro as a political bludgeon. At least, until he can establish a longer, better track record of managing Hydros affairs.

dan.lett@freepress.mb.ca
If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck... well, you know the rest.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 19/10/2018 (1125 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck... well, you know the rest.

The rise of far-right groups in Canada and the United States should be cause for concern.

Recently, the Proud Boys, a far-right group founded in 2016 by Canadian Gavin McInnes (himself a migrant from England, now living in the United States) took part in a violent assault on Oct. 12 near an event Mr. McInnes headlined in New York City. Confronted by a smaller group of anti-fascist protesters, dozens of members of the Proud Boys were captured on video attacking them, kicking them on the ground and shouting homophobic slurs.

Three of the protesters and nine members of the Proud Boys face various counts of rioting, assault and attempted assault, according to The Daily Beast. More attacks by Proud Boys against leftist protesters in Portland, Ore., and Providence, R.I., followed in the next few days.

Mr. McInness event, hosted by the Metropolitan Republican Club on Manhattans Upper East Side, was itself an expression of far-right violence. Mr. McInnes had announced he would be re-enacting the 1960 murder of Japanese socialist Inejiro Asanuma, who was assassinated during a televised political debate by a 17-year-old nationalist wielding a samurai sword. Its a gruesome and horrifying event to re-enact, regardless of ones political beliefs.

Marcio Jose Sanchez / The Associated Press Files Proud Boys founder Gavin McInnes

The Proud Boys attracted notoriety in Canada last year when five members  who were also members of Canadian Armed Forces  interrupted Indigenous activists protest of an Edward Cornwallis monument in Halifax on Canada Day. The five men, whose actions the Canadian Forces described as "inconsistent with the values and ethics expected of those in uniform," were investigated by military police, but ultimately faced no charges.

In April 2017, the Southern Poverty Law Center reported that the Proud Boys would receive support from a paramilitary group known as the Fraternal Order of Alt-Knights, created by Kyle Chapman, a California activist arrested at a clash between anti-fascist protestors and pro-Trump demonstrators. "Im proud to announce that my newly created Fraternal Order of Alt-Knights will be partnering with Proud Boys," Mr. Chapman said, with the "full approval" of Mr. McInnes.

The altercation in New York showed the Proud Boys have plenty of interest in violence themselves. Its a far cry from their stated goal of "defending" Western culture, or their rather odd ritual of initiating members by smacking them while the inductee recites the names of breakfast cereals.

Mr. McInnes has a long, public record of anti-Semitic, racist, Islamophobic and misogynist statements, up to and including defending Nazis and denying the Holocaust. He has also espoused violence in numerous online videos.

A larger question is: whos supporting them? Clearly, the Republicans who invited McInnes to speak at their club were willing to provide him and his group with a platform. They werent the only ones. Republican operative Roger Stone employed members of the Proud Boys as security during a Republican conference in Oregon in March 2017.

There is, of course, historical precedent for a loosely-affiliated, but tightly-organized far-right militia that could terrorize political foes and marginalized groups. The Nazi-supporting Brownshirts were notorious for advancing Adolf Hitlers social agenda through violence against Jews and leftists.

With the Proud Boys, its not a question whether it just walks or quacks like a duck. Its more about whether it steps like a goose, or just plain goose-steps like a...

Well, you know the rest.
Vanguard Small-Cap ETF's stock was trading at $127.56 on March 11th, 2020 when COVID-19 (Coronavirus) reached pandemic status according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Since then, VB shares have increased by 84.4% and is now trading at $235.28.

View which stocks have been most impacted by COVID-19.
Genworth Financial, Inc. is a financial services company, which engages in the provision of insurance, wealth management, investment and financial solutions. It operates through the following segments: U.S. Mortgage Insurance, Australia Mortgage Insurance, U.S. Life Insurance, and Runoff. The U.S. Mortgage Insurance segment offers mortgage insurance products predominantly insuring prime-based, individually underwritten residential mortgage loans. The Australia Mortgage Insurance segment offers flow mortgage insurance and selectively provides bulk mortgage insurance that aids in the sale of mortgages to the capital markets and helps lenders manage capital and risk. The U.S. Life Insurance segment offers long-term care insurance products as well as service traditional life insurance and fixed annuity products in the United States. The Runoff segment includes the results of non-strategic products which are no longer actively sold but continue to service its existing blocks of business. Its non-strategic products primarily include variable annuity, variable life insurance, institutional, corporate-owned life insurance and other accident and health insurance products. The company was fo

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HELLA GmbH & Co. KGaA, together with its subsidiaries, develops, manufactures, and sells lighting and electronic components and systems for automotive industry worldwide. It operates through three segments: Automotive, Aftermarket, and Special Applications. The Automotive segment offers headlamps, rear combination lamps, car body and interior lighting products, and radomes; and body electronics, energy management, lighting electronics, and steering solutions, as well as driver assistance systems and components, including sensors and engine compartment actuators. The Aftermarket segment produces and sells automotive parts and accessories primarily in the areas of lighting, electrics, and electronics; and provides workshop solutions in the areas of diagnostics and calibration, as well as various services for wholesalers and workshops. The Special Applications segment develops, manufactures, and markets lighting technology and electronic products for special vehicles comprising construction and agricultural machinery, buses, and motor homes, as well as for the marine sector. The company has strategic collaboration with AEye, Inc. to develop LiDAR sensor systems. The company was formerly known as HELLA KGaA Hueck & Co. and changed its name to HELLA GmbH & Co. KGaA in October 2017. HELLA GmbH & Co. KGaA was founded in 1899 and is headquartered in Lippstadt, Germany. As of June 26, 2020, HELLA GmbH & Co. KGaA operates as a subsidiary of Hella Stiftung GmbH.

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Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, a diversified financial institution, provides various financial products and services to personal, business, public sector, and institutional clients in Canada, the United States, and internationally. The company operates through four strategic business units: Canadian Personal and Business Banking; Canadian Commercial Banking and Wealth Management; U.S. Commercial Banking and Wealth Management; and Capital Markets. The company offers chequing, savings, and business accounts; mortgages; loans, lines of credit, student lines of credit, and business and agriculture loans; investment and insurance services; and credit cards, as well as overdraft protection services. It also provides day-to-day banking, borrowing and credit, investing and wealth, specialty, and international services; correspondent banking and online foreign exchange services; and cash management services. The company serves its customers through its banking centers, as well as direct, mobile, and remote channels. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce was founded in 1867 and is headquartered in Toronto, Canada.

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Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA engages in the traditional banking businesses of retail banking, asset management, private banking, and wholesale banking. It operates through the following segments: Spain, the United States, Mexico, Turkey, South America, and Rest of Eurasia. The Spain segment includes mainly the banking and insurance business that the group carries out in Spain. The United States segment consists of the financial business activity of BBVA USA in the country and the activity of the branch of BBVA SA in New York. The Mexico segment refers to banking and insurance businesses in this country as well as the activity of its branch in Houston. The Turkey segment reports the activity of Garanti BBVA group that is mainly carried out in this country and, to a lesser extent, in Romania and the Netherlands. The South America segment comprises of operations in n Argentina, Colombia, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela. The Rest of Eurasia segment includes the banking business activity carried out by the group in Europe and Asia, excluding Spain. The company was founded in 1857 and is headquartered in Madrid, Spain.

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Cartier Resources Inc. engages in the acquisition and exploration of mining properties in Canada. The company explores for gold deposits. Its flagship project is the Chimo mine property located to the east of Val-d'Or, Quebec. The company also holds interest in Benoist, Fenton, Wilson, Cadillac Extension, Dollier, and MacCormack metal deposit projects, which are located in Quebec. Cartier Resources Inc. was incorporated in 2006 and is headquartered in Val-d'Or, Canada.

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United Technologies Corporation provides technology products and services to building systems and aerospace industries worldwide. Its Otis segment designs, manufactures, sells, and installs passenger and freight elevators, escalators, and moving walkways; and offers modernization products to upgrade elevators and escalators, as well as maintenance and repair services. The company's Carrier segment provides heating, ventilating, air conditioning, refrigeration, fire, security, and building automation products, solutions, and services for commercial, government, infrastructure, residential, and refrigeration and transportation applications. This segment also offers building services, including audit, design, installation, system integration, repair, maintenance, and monitoring. Its Pratt & Whitney segment supplies aircraft engines for commercial, military, business jet, and general aviation markets; and provides aftermarket maintenance, repair, and overhaul, as well as fleet management services. The company's Collins Aerospace Systems segment provides electric power generation, power management, and distribution systems; air data and aircraft sensing systems; engine control, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance systems; engine components; environmental control systems; fire and ice detection, and protection systems; propeller systems; engine nacelle systems; aircraft lighting, seating, and cargo systems; actuation and landing systems; space products and subsystems; avionics systems; flight controls, communications, navigation, oxygen, and training systems; food and beverage preparation, and storage and galley systems; and lavatory and wastewater management systems. The company offers its services through manufacturers' representatives, distributors, wholesalers, dealers, retail outlets, and sales representatives, as well as directly to customers. United Technologies Corporation was founded in 1934 and is headquartered in Farmington, Connecticut.

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The following companies are subsidiares of Procter & Gamble: "Procter & Gamble Services" LLC, "Procter & Gamble" LLC, Agile Pursuits, Agile Pursuits Franchising, Arbora, Arbora & Ausonia, Arborinvest, Billie, Braun (Shanghai) Co., Braun GmbH, Braun-Gillette Immobilien GmbH & Co. KG, Celtic Insurance Company, Compania Procter & Gamble Mexico, Compania Quimica S.A., Corporativo Procter & Gamble, Cosmetic Products Pty. Ltd., Detergent Products B.V., Detergent Products SARL, Detergenti S.A., Eurocos Cosmetic GmbH, FPG Oleochemicals Sdn. Bhd., Fameccanica Data S.p.A., Fameccanica Industria e Comercio Do Brasil LTDA., Fameccanica Machinery (Shanghai) Co., Fater S.p.A., Fountain Square Music Publishing Co., Gillette (China) Ltd., Gillette (Shanghai) Ltd., Gillette Aesop Ltd., Gillette Australia Pty. Ltd., Gillette Canada Holdings, Gillette Commercial Operations North America, Gillette Diversified Operations Pvt. Ltd., Gillette Egypt S.A.E., Gillette Group UK Ltd, Gillette Gruppe Deutschland GmbH & Co. oHG, Gillette Holding Company LLC, Gillette Holding GmbH, Gillette India Limited, Gillette Industries Ltd., Gillette International B.V., Gillette Latin America Holding B.V., Gillette Management LLC, Gillette Nova Scotia Company, Gillette Pakistan Limited, Gillette Poland International Sp. z.o.o., Gillette Poland S.A., Gillette U.K. Limited, Gillette del Uruguay, Giorgio Beverly Hills Inc., Hyginett KFT, Industries Marocaines Modernes SA, LLC "Procter & Gamble Novomoskovsk", LLL "Procter & Gamble Distributorskaya Compania", Laboratorios Vicks, Liberty Street Music Publishing Company, Limited Liability Company 'Procter & Gamble Trading Ukraine', Limited Liability Company with foreign investments Procter & and Gamble Ukraine, MDVIP, MERCK KGAA NPV, Marcvenca Inversiones, Modern Industries Company - Dammam, Modern Products Company - Jeddah, New Chapter, New Chapter Canada Inc., Olay LLC, Oral-B Laboratories, P&G Distribution Morocco SAS, P&G Hair Care Holding, P&G Industrial Peru S.R.L., P&G Innovation Godo Kaisha, P&G Israel M.D.O. Ltd., P&G K.K., P&G Northeast Asia Pte. Ltd., P&G Prestige Godo Kaisha, P&G Prestige Service GmbH, P&G South African Trading (Pty.) Ltd., PGT Health Care (Zhejiang) Limited, PGT Healthcare LLP, PPI ZAO, PT Procter & Gamble Home Products Indonesia, PT Procter & Gamble Operations Indonesia, Phase II Holdings Corporation, Procter & Gamble (Chengdu) Ltd., Procter & Gamble (China) Ltd., Procter & Gamble (China) Sales Co. Ltd., Procter & Gamble (East Africa) Limited, Procter & Gamble (Egypt) Manufacturing Company, Procter & Gamble (Enterprise Fund) Limited, Procter & Gamble (Guangzhou) Consumer Products Co. Ltd., Procter & Gamble (Guangzhou) Enterprise Management Service Company Limited, Procter & Gamble (Guangzhou) Ltd., Procter & Gamble (Health & Beauty Care) Limited, Procter & Gamble (Jiangsu) Ltd. China, Procter & Gamble (L&CP) Limited, Procter & Gamble (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, Procter & Gamble (Manufacturing) Ireland Limited, Procter & Gamble (Shanghai) International Trade Company Ltd., Procter & Gamble (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., Procter & Gamble Acquisition GmbH, Procter & Gamble Administration GmbH, Procter & Gamble Algeria EURL, Procter & Gamble Amazon Holding B.V., Procter & Gamble Amiens S.A.S., Procter & Gamble Argentina SRL, Procter & Gamble Asia Pte. Ltd., Procter & Gamble Australia Proprietary Limited, Procter & Gamble Azerbaijan Services LLC, Procter & Gamble Bangladesh Private Ltd., Procter & Gamble Blois S.A.S., Procter & Gamble Brazil Holdings B.V., Procter & Gamble Bulgaria EOOD, Procter & Gamble Business Services Canada Company, Procter & Gamble Canada Holding B.V., Procter & Gamble Chile , Procter & Gamble Chile Limitada, Procter & Gamble Colombia Ltda., Procter & Gamble Commercial LLC, Procter & Gamble Commercial de Cuba S.A., Procter & Gamble Czech Republic s.r.o., Procter & Gamble DS Polska Sp. z o.o., Procter & Gamble Danmark ApS, Procter & Gamble Detergent (Beijing) Ltd., Procter & Gamble Deuttschland GmbH, Procter & Gamble Distributing (Philippines) Inc., Procter & Gamble Distributing New Zealand Limited, Procter & Gamble Distribution Company (Europe) BVBA, Procter & Gamble Distribution S.R.L., Procter & Gamble Eastern Europe, Procter & Gamble Ecuador Cia. Ltda., Procter & Gamble Egypt, Procter & Gamble Egypt Distribution, Procter & Gamble Egypt Holding, Procter & Gamble Egypt Supplies, Procter & Gamble Energy Company LLC, Procter & Gamble Espana, Procter & Gamble Europe SA, Procter & Gamble Export Operations SARL, Procter & Gamble Exportadora e Importadora Ltda., Procter & Gamble Exports, Procter & Gamble Fabricacao e Comercio Ltda., Procter & Gamble Far East, Procter & Gamble Finance (U.K.) Ltd., Procter & Gamble Finance Holding Ltd., Procter & Gamble Finance Management S.a.r.l., Procter & Gamble Financial Investments LLP, Procter & Gamble Financial Services Ltd., Procter & Gamble Financial Services S.a.r.l., Procter & Gamble Finland OY, Procter & Gamble France S.A.S., Procter & Gamble Germany GmbH, Procter & Gamble Germany GmbH & Co. Operations oHG, Procter & Gamble GmbH, Procter & Gamble Grundstucks-und Vermogensverwaltungs GmbH & Co. KG, Procter & Gamble Gulf FZE, Procter & Gamble Hair Care, Procter & Gamble Hellas Ltd., Procter & Gamble Holding (Thailand) Limited, Procter & Gamble Holding France S.A.S., Procter & Gamble Holding GmbH, Procter & Gamble Holding S.r.l., Procter & Gamble Holdings (UK) Ltd., Procter & Gamble Home Products Private Limited, Procter & Gamble Hong Kong Limited, Procter & Gamble Hungary Wholesale Trading Partnership (KKT), Procter & Gamble Hygiene & Health Care Limited, Procter & Gamble Inc., Procter & Gamble India Holdings, Procter & Gamble Indochina Limited Company, Procter & Gamble Industrial - 2012 C.A., Procter & Gamble Industrial Colombia Ltda., Procter & Gamble Industrial S.C.A., Procter & Gamble Industrial e Comercial Ltda., Procter & Gamble Interamericas de Costa Rica, Procter & Gamble Interamericas de Guatemala, Procter & Gamble Interamericas de Panama, Procter & Gamble International Operations Pte. Ltd., Procter & Gamble International Operations SA, Procter & Gamble International Operations SA-ROHQ, Procter & Gamble International S.a.r.l., Procter & Gamble Investment Company (UK) Ltd., Procter & Gamble Investment GmbH, Procter & Gamble Italia, Procter & Gamble Japan K.K., Procter & Gamble Kazakhstan Distribution LLP, Procter & Gamble Kazakhstan LLP, Procter & Gamble Korea, Procter & Gamble Korea S&D Co., Procter & Gamble Lanka Private Ltd. Sri Lanka, Procter & Gamble Leasing LLC, Procter & Gamble Levant S.A.L., Procter & Gamble Limited, Procter & Gamble Manufacturing (Thailand) Limited, Procter & Gamble Manufacturing (Tianjin) Co. Ltd., Procter & Gamble Manufacturing Belgium N.V., Procter & Gamble Manufacturing Berlin GmbH, Procter & Gamble Manufacturing GmbH, Procter & Gamble Manufacturing Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Procter & Gamble Manufacturing SA (Pty) Ltd, Procter & Gamble Marketing Romania SRL, Procter & Gamble Marketing and Services doo, Procter & Gamble Maroc SA, Procter & Gamble Mataro, Procter & Gamble Mexico Holding B.V., Procter & Gamble Mexico Inc., Procter & Gamble Middle East FZE, Procter & Gamble Nederland B.V., Procter & Gamble Netherlands Investments B.V., Procter & Gamble Netherlands Services B.V., Procter & Gamble Nigeria Limited, Procter & Gamble Nordic, Procter & Gamble Norge AS, Procter & Gamble Operations Polska Sp. z o.o., Procter & Gamble Overseas India B.V., Procter & Gamble Overseas Ltd., Procter & Gamble Pakistan (Private) Limited, Procter & Gamble Partnership LLP, Procter & Gamble Peru S.R.L., Procter & Gamble Pharmaceuticals France SAS, Procter & Gamble Philippines, Procter & Gamble Polska Sp. z o.o, Procter & Gamble Portugal - Produtos De Consumo, Procter & Gamble Product Supply (U.K.) Limited U.K., Procter & Gamble Production GmbH, Procter & Gamble Productions, Procter & Gamble Productos de Consumo, Procter & Gamble RHD, Procter & Gamble RSC Regional Service Company Ltd., Procter & Gamble Retail Services BVBA, Procter & Gamble S.r.l., Procter & Gamble SA (Pty) Ltd, Procter & Gamble Satis ve Dagitim Ltd. Sti., Procter & Gamble Seine S.A.S., Procter & Gamble Service GmbH, Procter & Gamble Services (Switzerland) SA, Procter & Gamble Services Company N.V., Procter & Gamble Services Ltd., Procter & Gamble Share Incentive Plan Trustee Ltd., Procter & Gamble South America Holding B.V., Procter & Gamble Spol. s.r.o. (Ltd.), Procter & Gamble Sports and Social Club Ltd., Procter & Gamble Sverige AB, Procter & Gamble Switzerland SARL, Procter & Gamble Taiwan Limited, Procter & Gamble Taiwan Sales Company Limited, Procter & Gamble Technical Centres Limited, Procter & Gamble Technology (Beijing) Co., Procter & Gamble Trading (Thailand) Limited, Procter & Gamble Tuketim Mallari Sanayii A.S., Procter & Gamble UK, Procter & Gamble UK Group Holdings Ltd, Procter & Gamble UK Parent Company Ltd., Procter & Gamble Universal Holding B.V., Procter & Gamble Verwaltungs GmbH, Procter & Gamble Vietnam, Procter & Gamble d.o.o. za trgovinu, Procter & Gamble de Venezuela S.C.A., Procter & Gamble de Venezuela S.R.L., Procter & Gamble do Brasil S/A, Procter & Gamble do Brazil, Procter & Gamble do Nordeste S/A, Procter & Gamble-Rakona s.r.o., Progam Realty & Development Corporation, Redmond Products, Richardson-Vicks Real Estate Inc., Richardson-Vicks do Brasil Quimica e Farmaceutica Ltda, Riverfront Music Publishing Co., Rosemount LLC, SPD Development Company Limited, SPD Swiss Precision Diagnostics GmbH, Scannon S.A.S., Series Acquisition B.V., Shulton, Surfac S.R.L., Sycamore Productions, TAOS - FL, TAOS Retail, Tambrands Inc., Temple Trees Impex & Investment Private Limited, The Art of Shaving - FL, The Dover Wipes Company, The Gillette Company, The Gillette Company LLC, The Gillette co., The Procter & Gamble Distributing LLC, The Procter & Gamble GBS Company, The Procter & Gamble Global Finance Company, The Procter & Gamble Manufacturing Company, The Procter & Gamble Paper Products Company, The Procter & Gamble U.S. Business Services Company, This is L., US CD LLC, Vidal Sassoon (Shanghai) Academy, Vidal Sassoon Co., WEBA Betriebsrenten-Verwaltungsgesellschaft mbH, Walker & Company Brands, and iMFLUX Inc..
BNP Paribas SA provides a range of banking and financial services in France and internationally. It operates through two divisions, Retail Banking and Services, and Corporate and Institutional Banking. The company offers long-term corporate vehicle leasing, and rental and other financing solutions; and digital banking and investment services, cash management, and factoring services to corporate clients, as well as wealth management services. It also provides credit solutions for individuals under the Cetelem, Cofinoga, Findomestic, AlphaCredit, and Opel Vauxhall brands; savings and protection solutions, including insuring individuals, and their personal projects and assets; and asset management, private banking, and real estate services. In addition, the company offers global market services, including investment, hedging, financing, research, and market intellingence across asset classes; security services comprising clearing, custody, and asset and fund services, as well as corporate trust, and market and financing services; and corporate trade and treasury, debt financing, specialized financing, strategic advisory, mergers and acquisition, and equity capital market services for institutional and corporate clients. The company was formerly known as Banque Nationale de Paris and changed its name to BNP Paribas SA in May 2000. BNP Paribas SA was founded in 1848 and is headquartered in Paris, France.

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Ralph Lauren Corp. engages in the design, marketing, and distribution of premium lifestyle products. The firm offers apparel, accessories, home furnishings, and other licensed product. It operates through the following segments: North America, Europe, and Asia. The North America segment consists of sales of Ralph Lauren branded apparel, accessories, home furnishings, and related products made through the Company's wholesale and retail businesses in the U.S. and Canada, excluding Club Monaco. The Europe segment caters to sales of Ralph Lauren branded apparel, accessories, home furnishings, and related products made through the Company's wholesale and retail businesses in Europe and the Middle East, excluding Club Monaco. The Asia segment covers the sales of Ralph Lauren branded apparel, accessories, home furnishings, and related products made through the Company's wholesale and retail businesses in Asia, Australia, and New Zealand. The company was founded by Ralph Lauren in 1967 and is headquartered in New York, NY.

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Four Corners Property Trust pays an annual dividend of $1.27 per share and currently has a dividend yield of 4.47%. FCPT has a dividend yield higher than 75% of all dividend-paying stocks, making it a leading dividend payer. Four Corners Property Trust has been increasing its dividend for 4 consecutive year(s), indicating that it does not yet have a strong track record of dividend growth. The dividend payout ratio of Four Corners Property Trust is 117.59%. Payout ratios above 75% are not desirable because they may not be sustainable. Based on EPS estimates, Four Corners Property Trust will have a dividend payout ratio of 78.88% in the coming year. This indicates that Four Corners Property Trust may not be able to sustain their current dividend.

View Four Corners Property Trust's dividend history.
Medtronic Plc is a medical technology company, which engages in the development, manufacture, distribution, and sale of device-based medical therapies and services. It operates through the following segments: Cardiac and Vascular Group; Minimally Invasive Technologies Group; Restorative Therapies Group; and Diabetes Group. The Cardiac and Vascular Group segment consists of products for the diagnosis, treatment, and management of cardiac rhythm disorders and cardiovascular disease. The Minimally Invasive Technologies Group segment focuses on respiratory system, gastrointestinal tract, renal system, lungs, pelvic region, kidneys, and obesity diseases. The Restorative Therapies Group segment comprises of neurostimulation therapies and drug delivery systems for the treatment of chronic pain, as well as areas of the spine and brain, along with pelvic health and conditions of the ear, nose, and throat. The Diabetes Group segment offers insulin pumps, coninuous glucose monitoring systems, and insulin pump consumables. The company was founded in 1949 and is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland.

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Everest Re Group Ltd. is a holding company, which engages in the provision of reinsurance and insurance services. It operates through the following segments: U.S. Reinsurance, International, Bermuda, and Insurance. The U.S. Reinsurance segment writes property and casualty reinsurance and specialty lines of business, including marine, aviation, surety, and accident and health business, on both a treaty and facultative basis, through reinsurance brokers, as well as directly with ceding companies primarily within the U.S. The International segment offers foreign property and casualty reinsurance through Everest Re's branches in Canada and Singapore and through offices in Brazil, Miami, and New Jersey. The Bermuda segment comprises reinsurance and insurance to worldwide property and casualty markets through brokers and directly with ceding companies from its Bermuda office and reinsurance to the United Kingdom and European markets through its UK branch and Ireland Re. The Insurance segment writes property and casualty insurance directly and through brokers, surplus lines brokers, and general agents within the U.S., Canada, and Europe. The company was founded in 1999 and is headquartere

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Hannover RAck SE, together with its subsidiaries, provides reinsurance products and services worldwide. It operates through Property & Casualty Reinsurance, and Life & Health Reinsurance segments. The Property & Casualty Reinsurance segment offers specialty lines comprising marine, aviation, facultative and direct business, credit, surety, and political risks reinsurance products; and treaty, catastrophe XL, and structured reinsurance, as well as insurance-linked securities. This segment also provides risk solutions for agricultural, livestock, and bloodstock businesses; aviation and space business; and marine and offshore energy business. The Life & Health Reinsurance segment offers group and individual credit life, enhanced annuities, group life and health, and Sharia-compliant Takaful reinsurance products. This segment also provides risk solutions in the areas of critical illness, disability, health, longevity, long term care, and mortality and morbidity, as well as underwriting services. In addition, it offers various financial solutions, including new-business financing; monetization of embedded value; reserve and solvency relief; and divestiture of non-core businesses. The company was formerly known as Hannover RAckversicherung AG and changed its name to Hannover RAck SE in March 2013. The company was founded in 1966 and is headquartered in Hanover, Germany. Hannover RAck SE is a subsidiary of Talanx AG.

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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.

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Fraport AG operates airports in Germany, rest of Europe, Asia, and the United States. The company primarily focuses on the operation of Frankfurt Main airport. It operates through four segments: Aviation, Retail & Real Estate, Ground Handling, and International Activities & Services. The Aviation segment operates landside and airside infrastructure, which covers the area of airport charges. The Retail & Real Estate segment engages in retail activities, including marketing of real estate properties and land. This segment also manages buildings and facilities, and parking and retail areas; and rents advertising space. The Ground Handling segment provides loading, baggage, and passenger services through airmail and luggage transport to freight handling. The International Activities & Services segment acquires, operates, maintains, develops, and expands airports and infrastructure facilities. This segment also offers integrated facility and corporate infrastructure management, airport expansion south, and information and telecommunication services. Fraport AG was founded in 1924 and is headquartered in Frankfurt am Main, Germany.

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KBR, Inc. engages in the provision of differentiated professional services and technologies across the asset and program life-cycle within the government services and hydrocarbons industries. It operates through the following segments: Government Solutions, Technology Solutions, Energy Solutions, Non-strategic Business, and Other. The Government Solutions segment provides full life-cycle support solutions to defense, space, aviation, and other programs and missions for military and other government agencies. The Technology Solutions segment combines KBR's proprietary technologies, equipment, and catalyst supply and associated knowledge-based services into a global business for refining, petrochemicals, inorganic, and specialty chemicals as well as gasification, syngas, ammonia, nitric acid, and fertilizers. The Energy Solutions segment provides full life-cycle support solutions across the upstream, midstream and downstream hydrocarbons markets. The Non-strategic Business segment represents the operations or activities which the company intends to exit upon completion of existing contracts. The Other segment includes corporate expenses and general and administrative expenses not all

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The following companies are subsidiares of Quaker Chemical: AC Products Inc., Applied Surface Concepts Holdings Ltd. , Binol AB, Binol Biosafe OY, Commonwealth Oil Corporation, DA Stuart India Private Limited, DA Stuart Shanghai Co, ECLI Products LLC, EFHCO LLC, Engineered Custom Lubricants, Engineered Custom Lubricants GmbH, Epmar Corporation, G.W. Smith and Sons, GH Holdings Inc., GHG Lubricants Holdings Limited, GHGL London Ltd., GHI Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd., Global Houghton Ltd., Houghton (Shanghai) Specialty Industrial Fluids Co. Ltd, Houghton Argentina S.A., Houghton Asia Pacific Co. Limited, Houghton Australia Pty. Ltd., Houghton Benelux BV, Houghton CZ s.r.o, Houghton Canada Inc., Houghton Denmark AS, Houghton Deutschland GmbH, Houghton Europe BV, Houghton Holdings Limited, Houghton Iberica S.A. , Houghton International, Houghton International Inc., Houghton Italia S.p.A., Houghton Japan Co. Ltd., Houghton Kimya Sanayi AS, Houghton Magyarorszag Kft, Houghton Mexico S.A. de C.V., Houghton Oil (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd., Houghton Polska Sp. Zo.o., Houghton Romania S.R.L., Houghton S.A.S., Houghton Sverige AB, Houghton Taiwan Co. Limited, Houghton Technical Corp., Houghton Ukraine ToV, Houghton do Brazil Ltda., Houghton plc, Internationale Metall Impragnier GmbH, Lubricor Inc, Lubricor Inc., Lubricor Mexicana S.A. de C.V., Lubricor USA Inc., MIH Acquisition Company LLC, MX Systems International Ltd, Maldaner GmbH, NP Coil Dexter Industries, New Houghton Brazil Inc., Norman Hay Engineering Ltd., QH Chemical Limited, QH Europe BV, QH Holdings Limited, QH International Limited, Quaker (Thailand) Ltd., Quaker Australia Holdings Pty. Limited, Quaker Chemical (Australasia) Pty. Limited, Quaker Chemical (China) Co. Ltd., Quaker Chemical B.V., Quaker Chemical CV, Quaker Chemical Canada Holdings Inc., Quaker Chemical Canada Limited, Quaker Chemical Europe B.V., Quaker Chemical Holdings South Africa (Pty) Limited, Quaker Chemical India Private Limited, Quaker Chemical Industria e Comercio Ltda., Quaker Chemical Investment Management (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Quaker Chemical Limited, Quaker Chemical MEA FZE, Quaker Chemical Operacoes Ltda., Quaker Chemical Participacoes Ltda., Quaker Chemical S.A., Quaker Chemical S.r.l., Quaker Chemical Services EURL, Quaker Chemical South Africa (Pty.) Limited, Quaker China Holdings B.V., Quaker Denmark ApS, Quaker Houghton (Finco) Ltd., Quaker Houghton Holdings Limited, Quaker Houghton Holdings Ltd., Quaker Houghton International LP, Quaker Houghton Ltd., Quaker International Holdings LLC, Quaker Italia S.r.l., Quaker Russia B.V., Quaker Sales Europe BV, Quaker Shanghai Trading Company Limited, Quaker Spain Holding SLU, Quaker Specialty Chemicals (UK) Limited, SB Decking Inc., SIFCO Applied Surface Concepts (UK) Ltd, SIFCO Applied Surface Concepts LLC, SIFCO Concepts Sarl, SIFCO Concepts Sweden, Sterr & Eder Industrieservice GmbH, Summit Lubricants Inc, Summit Lubricants Inc., Surface Technology (Coventry) Ltd, Surface Technology (Dalian) Co Ltd, Surface Technology (East Kilbride) Ltd., Surface Technology (Leeds) Ltd, Surface Technology Aberdeen Ltd, Surface Technology Australia, Surface Technology Holdings Ltd., TecniQuimia Mexicana, Tecniquimia Mexicana S.A. de C.V., Thai Houghton 1993 Co. Ltd., Ultraseal Asia Limited, Ultraseal Chongqing Limited, Ultraseal Germany GmbH, Ultraseal International Group Ltd, Ultraseal Machinery Dongguan Ltd, Ultraseal Shanghai Limited, Ultraseal USA Inc., Unitek Servicios De Asesoria Especializad S.A de C.V., Verkol S.A.U., Verkol SAU, Wallover Enterprises Inc., Wallover Oil Company Incorporated, Wallover Oil Hamilton Inc., and Wuhan Quaker Technology Co. Ltd.
Rolls-Royce Holdings plc operates as an industrial technology company in the United Kingdom and internationally. The company operates in four segments: Civil Aerospace, Power Systems, Defence, and ITP Aero. The Civil Aerospace segment develops, manufactures, and sells aero engines for large commercial aircraft, regional jet, and business aviation markets, as well as provides aftermarket services. The Power Systems segment provides high-speed and medium-speed reciprocating engines, and propulsion and power generation systems for the marine, defense, power generation, and industrial markets. The Defence segment offers aero engines for military transport and patrol aircraft applications; and naval engines and submarine nuclear power plants, as well as aftermarket services. The ITP Aero segment engages in the design, research and development, manufacture and casting, assembly, and testing of aeronautical engines and gas turbines. It also provides maintenance, repair, and overhaul services for regional airlines, as well as business aviation, industrial, and defense applications. Rolls-Royce Holdings plc was founded in 1884 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.

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Rowan Companies PLC (NYSE:RDC) announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October, 31st. The oil and gas company reported ($1.13) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($1.15) by $0.02. The oil and gas company had revenue of $192.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $179.39 million. Rowan Companies had a negative trailing twelve-month return on equity of 9.19% and a negative net margin of 42.12%. Rowan Companies's revenue was down 33.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.16) EPS.

View Rowan Companies' earnings history.
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.
UniFirst Corp. engages in the design, manufacture, personalization, rental, cleaning, delivery, and sale of a range of uniforms and protective clothing. It operates through following segments: U.S. Rental and Cleaning, Canadian Rental and Cleaning, Manufacturing, Specialty Garments Rental and Cleaning, First Aid, and Corporate. The U.S. and Canadian Rental and Cleaning segment purchases, rents, cleans, delivers and sells uniforms and protective clothing and non-garment items in the United States and Canada. The Manufacturing segment designs and manufactures uniforms and non-garment items primarily for the purpose of providing these goods to the U.S. and Canadian Rental and Cleaning reporting segment. The Specialty Garments Rental and Cleaning segment sells specialty garments and non-garment items primarily for nuclear and cleanroom applications and provides cleanroom cleaning services at limited customer locations. The First Aid segment provides first aid cabinet services and other safety supplies as well as maintains wholesale distribution and pill packaging operations. The Corporate segment consists of costs associated with its distribution center, sales and marketing, informatio

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iShares Short-Term National Muni Bond ETF's stock was trading at $106.64 on March 11th, 2020 when COVID-19 reached pandemic status according to the World Health Organization. Since then, SUB stock has increased by 0.6% and is now trading at $107.29.

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Shares of United States Oil Fund reverse split on Wednesday, April 29th 2020. The 1-8 reverse split was announced on Wednesday, April 22nd 2020. The number of shares owned by shareholders was adjusted after the closing bell on Tuesday, April 28th 2020. An investor that had 100 shares of United States Oil Fund stock prior to the reverse split would have 13 shares after the split.
The following companies are subsidiares of Carnival Co. &: 1972 Productions Inc., 6348 Equipment LLC, A.C.N. 098 290 834 Pty. Ltd., A.J. Juneau Dock LLC, AIDA Kundencenter GmbH, Adventure Island Ltd., Air-Sea Holiday GmbH, Alaska Hotel Properties LLC, Barcelona Cruise Terminal SLU, Bay Island Cruise Port S.A., Belize Cruise Terminal Limited, CC U.S. Ventures Inc., CCL Gifts LLC, CSSC Carnival Italy Cruise Investment S.r.L, Carnival (UK) Limited, Carnival Bahamas FC Limited, Carnival Bahamas Holdings Limited, Carnival Corporation & plc Asia Pte. Ltd., Carnival Corporation Hong Kong Limited, Carnival Corporation Korea Ltd., Carnival Corporation Ports Group Japan KK, Carnival Finance LLC, Carnival Grand Bahama Investment Limited, Carnival Investments Limited, Carnival Japan Inc., Carnival License Holdings Limited, Carnival Maritime GmbH, Carnival North America LLC, Carnival Port Holdings Limited, Carnival Ports Inc., Carnival Support Services India Private Limited, Carnival Technical Services (UK) Limited, Carnival Technical Services Finland Limited, Carnival Technical Services GmbH, Carnival Technical Services Inc., Carnival Vanuatu Limited, Costa Crociere PTE Ltd., Costa Crociere S.p.A., Costa Cruceros S.A., Costa Cruise Lines Inc., Costa Cruise Lines UK Limited, Costa Cruises Shipping Services (Shanghai) Company Limited, Costa Cruises Travel Agency (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Costa Cruzeiros Agencia Maritima e Turismo Ltda., Costa Group Digital & Strategic Services GmbH, Costa International B.V., Costa Kreuzfahrten GmbH, Cozumel Cruise Terminal S.A. de C.V., Creative Travel Lab Ltd., Cruise Ships Catering & Services International N.V., Cruise Terminal Services S.A. de C.V., Cruiseport Curacao C.V., D.R. Cruise Port Ltd., Ecospray Technologies S.r.L., F.P.M. SAS, F.P.P. SAS, Fleet Maritime Services (Bermuda) Limited, Fleet Maritime Services Holdings (Bermuda) Limited, Fleet Maritime Services International Limited, GXI LLC, Gibs Inc., Global Experience Innovators Inc., Global Fine Arts Inc., Global Shipping Service (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Grand Cruise Shipping Unipessoal LdA, Grand Turk Cruise Center Ltd., HAL Antillen N.V., HAL Beheer B.V., HAL Cruises Limited, HAL Maritime Ltd., HAL Nederland N.V., HAL Properties Limited, HAL Services B.V., HSE Hamburg School of Entertainment GmbH, Holding Division Iberocruceros SLU, Holland America Line Inc., Holland America Line N.V., Holland America Line Paymaster of Washington LLC, Holland America Line U.S.A. Inc., Ibero Cruzeiros Ltda., Iberocruceros SLU, Information Assistance Corporation, International Cruise Services S.A. de C.V., International Leisure Travel Inc., International Maritime Recruitment Agency S.A. de C.V., Milestone N.V., Navitrans S.R.L., Ocean Bahamas Innovation Ltd., Ocean Medallion Fulfillment Ltd., Operadora Catalina S.r.L., P&O Princess American Holdings, P&O Princess Cruises International Limited, P&O Princess Cruises Pension Trustee Limited, P&O Properties (California) Inc., P&O Travel Limited, Prestige Cruises Management S.A.M., Prestige Cruises N.V., Princess Bermuda Holdings Ltd., Princess Cays Ltd., Princess Cruise Corporation Inc., Princess Cruise Lines Ltd., Princess Cruises and Tours Inc., Princess U.S. Holdings Inc., RCT Maintenance & Related Services S.A., RCT Pilots & Related Services S.A., RCT Security & Related Services S.A., Roatan Cruise Terminal S.A. de C.V., Royal Hyway Tours Inc., Santa Cruz Terminal S.L., SeaVacations Limited, SeaVacations UK Limited, Seabourn Cruise Line Limited, Shanghai Coast Cruise Consulting Co. Lda, Ship Care (Bahamas) Limited, Sitmar Cruises Inc., Spanish Cruise Services N.V., Sunshine Shipping Corporation Ltd., T&T International Inc., Tour Alaska LLC, Transnational Services Corporation, Trident Insurance Company Ltd., Westmark Hotels Inc., Westmark Hotels of Canada Ltd., Westours Motor Coaches LLC, Wind Surf Limited, and World Leading Cruise Management (Shanghai) Co. Ltd..
The Bank of Nova Scotia provides various banking products and services in Canada, the United States, Mexico, Peru, Chile, Colombia, the Caribbean and Central America, and internationally. It operates through Canadian Banking, International Banking, Global Banking and Markets, and Global Wealth Management segments. The company offers financial advice and solutions, and day-to-day banking products, including debit and credit cards, chequing and saving accounts, investments, mortgages, loans, and insurance to individuals; and business banking solutions comprising lending, deposit, cash management, and trade finance solutions to small businesses and commercial customers, including automotive financing solutions to dealers and their customers. It also provides wealth management advice and solutions, including online brokerage, mobile investment, full-service brokerage, trust, private banking, and private investment counsel services; and retail mutual funds, exchange traded funds, liquid alternative funds, and institutional funds. In addition, the company offers international banking services for retail, corporate, and commercial customers; and lending and transaction, investment banking advisory, and capital markets access services to corporate customers. Further, it provides Internet, mobile, and telephone banking services. The company operates a network of 952 branches and approximately 3,540 automated banking machines in Canada; and approximately 1,400 branches, 5,200 ATMs, and 22 contact centers internationally. The Bank of Nova Scotia was founded in 1832 and is headquartered in Halifax, Canada.

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Schlumberger NV engages in the provision of technology for reservoir characterization, drilling, production and processing to the oil and gas industry. It operates through the following business segments: Digital and Integration; Reservoir Performance; Well Construction; and Production Systems. The Digital and Integration segment combines the company's software and seismic businesses with its integrated offering of asset performance solutions. The Reservoir Performance segment consists of reservoir-centric technologies and services that are critical to optimizing reservoir productivity and performance. The Well Construction segment includes the full portfolio of products and services to optimize well placement and performance, maximize drilling efficiency, and improve wellbore assurance. The Production Systems segment develops technologies and provides expertise that enhances production and recovery from subsurface reservoirs to the surface, into pipelines, and to refineries. The company was founded by Conrad Schlumberger and Marcel Schlumberger in 1926 and is headquartered in Houston, TX.

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Xcel Energy, Inc. operates as a holding company, which engages in the generation, purchase, transmission, distribution and sale of electricity. It operates through the following three segments: Regulated Electric Utility, Regulated Natural Gas Utility and All Others. The Regulated Electric Utility segment generates, transmits and distributes electricity primarily in portions of generates, transmits and distributes electricity in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, North Dakota, South Dakota, Colorado, Texas and New Mexico. In addition, this segment includes sales for resale and provides wholesale transmission service to various entities in the United States. It also includes commodity trading operations. The Regulated Natural Gas Utility segment transports, stores, and distributes natural gas primarily in portions of Minnesota, Wisconsin, North Dakota, Michigan and Colorado. The All Others segment engages in steam, appliance repair services, nonutility real estate activities, processing solid waste into refuse-derived fuel and investments in rental housing projects that qualify for low-income housing tax credits. The company was founded in 1909 and is headquartered in Minneapolis, MN.

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We want to have eye candy for everyone."The restaurant opened Saturday night in Dallas's upscale Oak Lawn neighborhood, which is also known among locals as the "gayborhood." The openingnight crowd was evenly split between women and gay men, according to staffers' estimates.

The surveillance of the Trump campaign based on arguably flimsy evidence put McCabe into President Trump's crosshairs. Three years later, Ruan signed Golden Goose up with the Lianhua Film Company, also known as the United Photoplay Service. In DNA, the nucleotides are adenine, guanine, cytosine, and thymine.

Honestly, I cannot believe she insulted my hair to try to get me to use her product. Elles sont conduites dans un camp de rfugis o vivent entre 2 000 et 3 000 migrants. Chao father is "a wealthy Chinaperson," Mr. "I want to see the man win," said Rick Routzahn, of Myrtle Beach.

He went almost completely silent as a composer for nearly eight years. Growing up during this GGDB Shoes dramatic transition from old to new, Ruan lost her father, an unskilled labourer working for the Britishowned Asiatic Petroleum Company, when she was six. He's opened up mental health care to veterans with otherthanhonorable discharges.

Whether or not the trophy was deserved for each individual, the entire team received the positive reward. Jones is attempting to block completion of negotiations between the owners' compensation committee and Roger Goodell of a fiveyear contract extension that would keep Goodell in place as commissioner through 2024.
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Cyclohexane Market  Market Overview

Cyclohexane is a colorless and flammable liquid, which is produced by catalytic hydrogenation of benzene. Cyclohexane is mainly used in the production of adipic acid and caprolactam. These materials are primarily used in manufacturing various thermoplastics, fibers, polyesters, and plasticizers. Cyclohexane is widely used in the manufacturing of nylon-based materials. The nylon-based thermoplastic components are majorly used in automotive light-weighting to increase the fuel-efficiency of the vehicles. The increasing use of nylon-based thermoplastics in manufacturing various automotive parts is likely to boost demand for cyclohexane during the forecast period. Moreover, the increasing demand for Cyclohexane in the end-use industries such as food & beverages, packaging, textile, building & construction, and paints & coating is anticipated to drive growth of the global cyclohexane market during the assessment period.

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Asia-pacific is expected to be the key region in the Global Cyclohexane Market owing to the increasing demand for the product from end-use industries such as automotive, construction, and textile. Moreover, the growing petrochemical sector in this region is anticipated to fuel the demand for cyclohexane during the forecast period. The high consumption potential, increasing production capacities, and significant economic growth of North America, is expected to favor growth of the regional market. Other regions including Europe, the Middle East & Africa, and Latin America are also anticipated to show moderate demand for cyclohexane.

Cyclohexane Market- Competitive Landscape

The Global Cyclohexane Market is witnessing a healthy growth owing to increasing demand for manufacturing Nylon-6,6 and Nylon-6, which are majorly used in the automotive, construction, and textile industries. Reliance Industries Limited (India), China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (China), BASF (Germany), DowDuPont Inc (U.S.), Chevron Phillips Chemical Company (U.S.), Idemitsu Kosan Co., Ltd. (Japan), and BP Refining & Petrochemicals GmbH (Germany) are some of the leading players in this market. Most of these participants adopt various strategies such as product launch, capacity expansion, R&D, and merger & acquisition to strengthen their market position and earn sizeable revenue. Considering these trends, the Global Cyclohexane Market is set to witness a considerable competition during the forecast period, 20182023.

Industry/ Innovation/ Related News:

25th April 2017- Lanxess (Spain), a leading manufacturer of caprolactam has announced an investment of nearly EUR 25 million, to implement measures for enhancing efficiency of the plant. The announcement was made on the occasion of completion of 50 years of the caprolactam production unit. Caprolactam is the major product of cyclohexane, hence the investment made directly influences the cyclohexane demand in the company.

03rd October 2016- AdvanSix, a leading producer of Nylon-6, started as an independent company after performing a tax-free spin-off from Honeywell. This decision was taken by the company in order to seek opportunities in the market and gain a significant market position. The company produces caprolactam using cyclohexane, hence creating a market demand for caprolactam.

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Israeli historian Adam Raz is demanding the declassification of documents on the massacre of 51 of Israels Palestinian citizens in the village of Kfar Qasem in 1956.

The lawsuit in the Military Court of Appeals targeting the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) and the Defense Establishment Archives relates to one of the most notorious crimes committed during the forcible expulsion of the Palestinians in the years following the foundation of the State of Israel in 1948. The case, and subsequent interviews and articles in Haaretz, underscores the longevity of Israels campaign of ethnic cleansing, under the then Labour government of Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion.

Raz works for the Berl Katznelson Foundation and has just published a book, Kafr Qasem Massacre: A Political Biography. He believes what has long been rumoured, that behind the horrific event was a secret plan developed at the highest level of the Israeli stateand whose details have never been releasedto transfer Israels Palestinians to Jordan.

Operation Hafarfet (Mole), officially designated as Blueprint S-59, envisaged the mass expulsion of Palestinians in a future war against Israels Arab neighbours. As in 1948-49, the expulsion would involve murderous incidents designed to strike fear into the hearts of the Palestinians and force them to flee their homes for safety.

Raz told Haaretz, Most of the material is still classified.  I was surprised to discover that its easier to write about the history of Israels nuclear program than about Israels policies regarding its Arab citizens.

The massacre took place on October 29, 1956, just days before Israels invasion of Egypt as part of its joint campaign with Britain and France to overthrow the regime of President Gamal Abdul Nasser who had nationalized the Suez Canal. As part of its preparations for war, Israel imposed a curfew starting at 9 p.m. on its Palestinian citizens in the villages in the area known as the northern Triangle, close to the West Bank, then ruled by Jordan, who were under military rule that was to continue until 1966. This was supposedly because the authorities feared a Palestinian insurgency against the Suez campaign, the first round in a series of wars with Israels Arab neighbours. In fact, the Palestinians never participated in any action against Israel, either in 1956 or any subsequent wars.

Unbeknown to the Kfar Qasem villagers, Colonel Issachar Shadmi, the commanding officer who had played a prominent role in the Arab-Israeli war of 1948-49 and served as a commander of a POW labour camp of Palestinian prisoners, brought forward the curfew time to 5 p.m. and ordered his men to shoot at anyone who violated curfew.

According to Shmuel Malinki, the chief of the border police charged with implementing his orders, Shadmi said, During the hours of the curfew, they can be in their homes and do as they desire  but whomever is seen outside, who violates curfew, will be shot. Better that a few go down, and then they will learn for the next time.

He continued, I dont want sentimentality; I dont want detainees.

When pressed on what this meant, Shadmi said, Allahu Yerhamaum, the Arabic for God have mercy on them, the blessing for the dead.

The police opened fire on Palestinians returning from work between 5 and 6 p.m., killing 51 people, including men, womenone of whom was eight months pregnantand children, and causing serious injuries to 13 more.

While the security forces in other villages of the Triangle generally allowed Palestinians to return from work until 9 p.m., less well publicized murder and disappearances of individual Palestinians took place in Kfar Tira, Tayba and Baqa al-Gharbiyya villages.

Israel said nothing at first, and then sought to justify the curfew with the lying claim that it was a response to Palestinian infiltrators from Jordan. Reporters and legislators were denied access to the village.

After sustained pressure from three Palestinian and Jewish legislators who gathered witnesses testimonies, the Israeli authorities established a commission of enquiry. Two years later, a court convicted eight of the 11 IDF officers and soldiers, sentencing them to short terms of imprisonment that were later commuted, by the president and chief of staff, so they were released by 1960. Malinki went on to become chief of security at Israels nuclear reactor at Dimona, in the Negev desert.

Shadmi, the highest-ranking officer to be prosecuted, was cleared of murder, and convicted on a procedural and technical charge of exceeding his authority by changing the hours of the curfew, the task of the military governor. The judge called his action a blatantly illegal order, but proceeded to impose a symbolic fine of 10 prutot, or one-100th of an Israeli pound, and to issue a reprimand.

The notorious photograph of Shadmi holding a 10-prutot coin as he left the court became the byword among the Palestinians for the value of their lives under Ben-Gurions Labour government.

The trials were rigged, as Shadmi admitted in an interview with Haaretz journalist Ofer Aderet and historian Raz, a year before his death at the age of 96 last month, so the outcome came as no surprise to him. He called his trial a play. He had been promised the best defence and told he could object to the judges if he did not trust them. Meir Shamgar, the deputy military adjutant general and later president of the Supreme Court, told him, Not to worry.

Some of the defendants tried to argue they were only implementing Operation Mole, but their lawyers were silenced when they explained that the plan involved imprisoning the Palestinians and then forcing them to escape to Jordanamid the chaos of a war.

Professor Ilan Pappe, an Israeli historian at Exeter University, writes in The forgotten Palestinians that most researchers believe Shadmi acted on the assumption that he was beginning to fulfil the plan. Pappe cites David Horowitz, a political scientist and journalist, who believed that the operation was based on provoking the Palestinians to break the law as the pretext for expulsions.

Raz argues, based upon extensive interviews with Shadmi and other officials, that the trial was staged to shield Israels security and political chiefs, Ben-Gurion, IDF Chief of Staff Moshe Dayan, and Shadmis commanding officer and later IDF Chief of Staff, Tzvi Tzur, from responsibility. Army archives indicate there were calls for more senior officials to be prosecuted.

Ben-Gurion made sure that the military judges appointed to conduct the trial had previously served under Tzurs command. Part of the trial was conducted behind closed doors.

On his own admission, in return for his cooperation and loyalty, Shadmi was not only exonerated but later rewarded with lucrative contracts when he left the army and took up a commercial career as a major Defence Ministry building contractor.

Shadmi also believed that an Israeli trial was meant to prevent the case from reaching the International Court of Justice, recently established by the United Nations in The Hague following World War II. Raz argued that the ICJ could not at that time prosecute Israeli politicians or officials, but Ben-Gurions response demonstrated that he was very worried about the potential international response.

Israel grudgingly provided a meagre compensation to the families of those murdered and injured to prevent them suing the government.

In 1997, President Moshe Katzav, a member of Likud, officiating at an official ceremony to commemorate the Kfar Qasem massacre, offered an apology on behalf of the state that became known as the butchers apology because Katzav means butcher in Hebrew. It was a meaningless gesture that committed the government to nothing. In 2015, the Knesset overwhelmingly rejected legislation that would officially acknowledge Israels responsibility for the bloodbath.
Simon Bridges, leader of New Zealands main opposition National Party, became engulfed in a political scandal this week after allegations that he concealed a $100,000 donation to the party from Chinese businessman Zhang Yikun.

By law, the identity of political donors must be publicly disclosed if they give more than $15,000. Bridges has denied any wrongdoing, but would neither confirm nor deny having received a donation from Zhang.

On October 16, National Party MP Jami-Lee Ross publicly accused Bridges of being a corrupt politician who had committed multiple breaches of electoral law, including instructing Ross to help disguise the source of the donation from Zhang. On October 17, Ross presented evidence to the police, including a taped phone conversation with Bridges, showing that the National Party leader was aware of the donation.

Ross, a National Party whip, was reportedly angry that Bridges did not promote him to a more senior position after becoming party leader in February. Bridges suspected Ross of other leaks to the media over the past two months relating to the leaders travel expenses. Last month, Bridges told Ross to take leave from parliament, saying he had received complaints from at least four women that Ross had behaved inappropriately towards them.

Whatever Rosss personal motivations, his public attack on Bridges indicates there are significant divisions within the National Party. Ross claims there are other MPs who oppose Bridges but are afraid to speak publicly. Following Rosss October 16 statements, the Nationals caucus voted unanimously to expel him from the party. Ross vowed to stay in parliament as an independent MP and to continue to expose Bridges.

Most significantly, Rosss claims have been seized on to intensify the right-wing campaign by sections of the media and the political establishment against supposed Chinese influence in New Zealand politics, and, in particular, the National Party.

The donation scandal erupted in the context of the Trump administrations escalating trade war and military threats against China. Washington is placing intense pressure on all its allies, including Australia and New Zealand, to ensure that they are fully aligned with war preparations aimed at maintaining US dominance in Asia.

In the recording released by Ross, Bridges expressed excitement about Zhangs donation and the two politicians discussed Zhangs proposal to elevate a second Chinese member into the National Party caucus. Bridges said two Chinese would be nice and Ross added this would be more valuable for raising funds than having two Indian MPs.

New Zealand First Party leader Winston Peters, who is deputy prime minister and foreign minister in the Labour Party-led coalition government, said the recording revealed that National had a cash for candidates policy. Such statements are profoundly hypocritical. It is hardly a revelation that political influence can be bought with donations, or that the major capitalist parties, including National, Labour and NZ First, are composed of trusted and often hand-picked representatives of the business elite.

NZ First is a right-wing nationalist, anti-Chinese party, which has for years worked with the Labour Party to scapegoat Chinese immigrants and investors for social inequality and the housing crisis. Labour gave NZ First a major role in government, despite NZ First only receiving 7 percent of the votes in the 2017 election.

Peters has previously accused the Nationals Chinese-born MP Jian Yang of being a Manchurian candidate, i.e. a spy for Beijing, and demanded that he be investigated.

The Ross-Bridges recording was also seized on by Anne-Marie Brady, who is widely promoted in the New Zealand and international media as a China expert from the University of Canterbury. In fact, Brady is an anti-Chinese propagandist whose work has been sponsored by the US government-funded Wilson Center and the NATO military alliance.

Brady told Radio NZ that the revelations were a real opportunity for the government to address Chinas political interference activities in our country, as other countries were doing. Early this month, US Vice President Mike Pence provocatively accused Chinawithout any evidenceof seeking to influence the 2018 and 2020 US elections with the aim of removing Trump.

Zhang has interests in real estate and construction businesses. He moved to New Zealand in 2000 and has donated to Labour and National Party politicians. In June, Zhang was awarded the New Zealand Order of Merit by the Labour government for services to New Zealand-China relations and the Chinese community.

Brady accused Zhangs Auckland-based Chao Shan General Association, which supports business links between New Zealand and China, of being a front for the Chinese Communist Party.

Like NZ First, Brady has also accused Yang of being a Chinese agent in parliament. In the lead-up to the 2017 election, she alleged that several National Party politicians, including former Prime Minister John Key, were in thrall to Chinese interests. She also demanded that New Zealands Security Intelligence Service be empowered to spy on Chinese community groups, student associations, newspapers and businesses.

Among Bradys most vocal supporters is the trade union-funded Daily Blog, which publishes frequent nationalist rants depicting China as a neo-colonial threat to New Zealand. The blogs editor Martyn Bradbury said the alleged donation from Zhang showed the Chinese Government was trying to buy National MPs, which he claimed was a direct threat to our fing sovereignty.

The 2008-2017 National Party government expanded trade and investment ties with China, which became New Zealands number one trading partner, overtaking Australia. National also strengthened the military-intelligence alliance with the United States, including by sending troops to Iraq and Afghanistan. Washington, however, has made clear that it will not tolerate Nationals continued ties with Chinese business leaders.

Former Republican Senator James Talent told a US congressional hearing in May that Chinese donors with links to the CCP were buying access and influence with both major parties in New Zealand. Former CIA analyst Peter Mattis told the hearing that if no action was taken, NZ should be removed from the US-led Five Eyes intelligence alliance.

Direct or indirect US involvement in the National Partys infighting cannot be ruled out. Earlier this month, US ambassador Scott Brown hypocritically attacked Beijings military build-up in the South China Sea, and warned New Zealand not to trust China.

During the coalition talks that followed the inconclusive 2017 election, Brown publicly criticised then-National Party leader Bill English for refusing to fully endorse Trumps threats to annihilate North Korea. Following the US ambassadors intervention, NZ First formed a coalition with Labour and the Greens instead of National, which got the most votes.

Since then, the Labour Party-led government has significantly strengthened New Zealands integration into the US war drive. In July, it released a defence strategy that named Russia and China as the main threats to the international order, echoing the language of the Pentagon. Last month, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern sent New Zealand air force personnel to Okinawa to join the US-led encirclement of North Korea, signalling that if war breaks out in the region, New Zealand will be involved.

The scandal over Zhangs alleged political donations and the ongoing attacks on Jian Yang, are being used to shift the entire political establishment even further to the right and onto a war footing. The aim is to demonise Chinese migrants and politicians in order to prepare New Zealand to join a potentially catastrophic conflict involving nuclear-armed powers.

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With Brazils second-round election little more than a week away, the fascistic presidential candidate Jair Bolsonaro, who fell just short of winning an outright majority in the first-round vote, has maintained a wide lead over the candidate of the Workers Party (Partido dos Trabalhadores  PT), Fernando Haddad, with the two polling 49 percent and 36 percent respectively.

The advent of a government led by Bolsonaro represents a genuine threat to the Brazilian and Latin American working class. The former army captain has vowed to put an end to all forms of activism in Brazil in order to force through the demands of international and Brazilian capital for drastic new attacks on the living standards and basic rights of the working class. In a country that was ruled by a military dictatorship for two decades from the 1960s to the 1980s, this is no empty threat.

The rise of Bolsonaro has laid bare the terminal rot of the political order established in Brazil in the wake of the dictatorship, expressed above all in the betrayals, wholesale corruption and relentless attacks upon the Brazilian working class by the PT over the course of 13 years in government, serving as the preferred instrument of rule of the Brazilian capitalist ruling class. The policies pursued by the PT under the presidencies of Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and his handpicked successor, Dilma Rousseff, earned the party the hatred and contempt of the masses of workers that it purported to represent, opening the path for a fascist like Bolsonaro  who was an ally of the PT in Congressto posture as the right-wing populist opposition.

The election was in every sense a referendum on the PT, and its role in placing the full burden of the worst economic crisis in the countrys history on the backs of the working class. The results were a crushing rejection of the party, with Bolsonaro winning by a wide margin in the ABC industrial belt where the PT was founded in 1980, as well as in virtually every other working class center. Workers also stayed away from the elections in droves, with a third of the electorateroughly the same number that voted for Bolsonarochoosing to vote for no one.

Under these conditions, the entire coterie of pseudo-left organizations that orbit the PT have united under the guise of fighting the threat of fascism in attempting once again to corral workers behind this deeply discredited capitalist party by calling for a vote for Haddad.

All of them are singing the same refrain: while they call for a vote for Haddad, they offer him and his party no political support.

Thus, the PSTU, the largest Morenoite organization in Brazil, declares that without giving any confidence or political support to the PT, we must vote for Haddad.

The MRT, the Brazilian affiliate of the main Argentine Morenoite group, the PTS, states that it will vote critically for Haddad, without giving any political support to the PT.

This is all patent nonsense. To vote for a candidate and a party and to agitate for others to do likewise is to provide political support.

Moreover, if the election of Haddad is the only means of countering the danger of fascism in Brazil, then the defense of his governmentshould he be electedagainst those on the right and within the military seeking to overthrow it will become equally necessary.

This, of course, was the path tread by the predecessors of these same pseudo-socialist and ex-Trotskyist organizations in the 1960s and 1970s in relation to the governments of Goulart in Brazil, Peron in Argentina and Allendewho invited Pinochet into his cabinetin Chile. All of them suppressed workers struggles and paved the way to the bloody military dictatorships that killed, tortured and imprisoned hundreds of thousands in these countries. These so-called left groups are incapable of learning any lessons from this tragic history.

Among the most preposterous alibis for supporting Haddad and the PT comes from Jorge Altamira, the leader of the PO (Partido ObreroWorkers Party) in Argentina, who acknowledges that the PT has served as the preferred instrument of the bourgeoisie since 2002 and describes the party as a decomposing camarilla, but nonetheless calls for a vote for its candidate on the grounds that it will serve as a bridge to the masses who are looking, despite the PT, for a road of combat against fascism.

What masses is Altamira talking about? The workers have deserted the PT; he is not building any bridge to them, but rather spreading more political disorientation. Support for the PT is not a road of struggle, but rather one of subordination to a capitalist party.

To justify his position, he says that the PO is urging a vote for Haddad based not on the politics of the PT, but rather the policies outlined by the feminist movement, as manifested in the #elenao (#not him) demonstrations organized on the eve of the election.

These demonstrations attracted hundreds of thousands in spite, not because, of their petty-bourgeois feminist leadership, which sought to unite all womenincluding female candidates of right-wing bourgeois partiesagainst Bolsonaro. This is the real orientation of Altamira's party and all those like it. They oppose the development of a left-wing movement of the working class against capitalism and seek to bolster right-wing movements of the middle class based upon one or another form of identity politics.

This orientation, in the POs case, goes hand-in-hand with its alliance with right-wing nationalist parties in Russia.

The naked opportunism of Altamiras position has apparently provoked some dissension within the PO. The historian and longtime PO supporter Daniel Gaido posted on Facebook an account of an exchange with the partys leader in which Gaido stated that it is the PT that is responsible for this rise of the right [and] which paralyzes the masses. He noted that, on the basis of following the lead of the feminists, one should have demanded a vote for Hillary Clinton against Donald Trumpand, it should be added, is preparing to line up behind the Peronist Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner in Argentina.

Nonetheless, seeking to find a means of supporting the POs line, Gaido declared that he would have to check it against the writings of Trotsky. The good professor can stick his nose in as many books as he likes, but nowhere will he find a justification from Trotsky for telling the masses to vote for a right-wing capitalist candidate as a means of defeating fascism.

With all of these organizations, the headlong rush to support Haddad is a case, as Marx put it, of justifying todays swinishness with yesterdays swinishness.

In 1980, Altamira, then in exile, joined with the followers of the French OCI of Pierre Lambert, the Argentine tendency led by Nahuel Moreno and the Pabloite United Secretariat of Ernest Mandel in playing a crucial political role in the founding of the PT. All of these tendencies entered the PT and promoted it as a new and unique parliamentary road to socialism in Brazil. They lionized Lula, a right-wing trade union official who swiftly cemented the closest ties with big business and imperialism. All of them bear a decisive responsibility for the absence of a left-wing alternative to the capitalist politics of the PT and the resulting ascendance of right-wing populism and the repulsive figure of Bolsonaro.

Pabloite revisionism in its various forms broke with the Trotskyist movement organized in the International Committee of the Fourth International based upon a rejection of the struggle for the building of revolutionary parties in the working class and the fight to develop the socialist consciousness of the working class. Before the PT, they found in Castroism and the retrograde theories of guerrillaism the substitute for the revolutionary role of the working class. The promotion of this orientation led to catastrophic defeats throughout Latin America.

In the more recent period, these same tendencies hailed Hugo Chavez and a Venezuelan government with pillars in the military and finance capital, packaged as Bolivarian socialism, as a new revolutionary alternative, a Pink Tide or left turn that would sweep Latin America.

The world capitalist crisis that developed in 2008 and laid waste to the so-called emerging market economies has left not one stone upon another of this so-called movement. The working class has faced devastating attacks in Venezuela, Brazil, Argentina and countries where supposedly left governments held power, leading to the strengthening of right-wing forces.

This tendency will not be reversed, but only strengthened by the return of a PT government in Brazil. Already, Haddad is running the most right-wing campaign in the partys history, appealing for support from the military, big business and the Catholic Church.

The working class has been utterly disenfranchised; neither candidate expresses in the slightest degree the interests of Brazilian workers.

Great struggles lie ahead. The Brazilian bourgeoisie will not be able to impose fascism or military dictatorship by means of the ballot box.

The decisive question in answering the danger of fascism is the fight to develop the workers political consciousness, to assimilate the bitter lessons of the experience with the PT and on that basis build a new, independent, revolutionary and internationalist party of the working class. This means building a Brazilian section of the International Committee of the Fourth International.
The government of the tiny Pacific nation of Nauru, doubtless collaborating with Australian authorities, has responded to growing condemnations of the dire conditions at its Australian-controlled refugee camps by seeking to silence medical professionals and critics.

Last Wednesday, Nauruan police reportedly detained Dr Nicole Montana, a senior medical officer for IHMS, the Australian-based contractor in charge of health services at the detention facilities. Montana had allegedly taken a photograph of a detained child. Photography by medical professionals has been banned, in a transparent attempt to prevent images exposing the appalling conditions.

Montana was reportedly expelled from the island, but the Australian government issued no protest. Naurus government responded to the media reports by declaring that Montana was welcome to return.

Only last month, however, another doctor working as the IHMS senior medical officer, Dr Christopher Jones, had his visa revoked after clashing with authorities over Naurus refusals to medically evacuate seriously ill refugees.

Montana was deported a week after Nauru forced Medecins Sans Frontieres health workers to leave the island. The government claimed that the charitys psychological and psychiatric services were no longer required. It rebuffed international calls for the medical professionals to be allowed to remain on the island.

Naurus government has previously banned journalists from entering the island, to prevent them reporting on the plight of detainees. Authorities on the island, which has a population of just 13,000, depend heavily on Australia and closely coordinate their actions with Canberra.

Medecins Sans Frontieres had given patients their medical files, assisting them to make legal applications to the Australian Federal Court for transfers to Australia on emergency medical grounds. Nauruan authorities opposed many of the transfers.

According to the organisation, at least 78 of its patients on Nauru had either considered self-harm or attempted suicide.

At an October 11 media conference, after the organisation was evicted from the island, its Australian director, Paul McPhun, described the detention centre on Nauru as an open-air prison.

McPhun stated: While many asylum seekers and refugees on Nauru experienced trauma in their countries of origin or during their journey, it is the Australian governments policy of indefinite offshore detention that has destroyed their resilience, shattered all hope, and ultimately impacted their mental health.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and many medical professionals have demanded that the asylum-seekers imprisoned at Nauru and another camp on Papua New Guineas Manus Island be transferred to the Australian mainland.

The calls follow a series of reports documenting a humanitarian crisis, characterised by the gutting of minimal healthcare services and attempted suicides by traumatised refugees, including children.

Successive federal governments, Labor and Liberal-National alike, have denied refugees the right to seek asylum, in violation of international law, consigning them indefinitely to concentration camp-like centres.

UNHCR spokeswoman Catherine Stubberfield told the press on October 13 that medical services at the detention facilities were collapsing and serious psychological and physical ailments were being left untreated.

Stubberfield rejected the Australian governments assertion that such cases are solely matters for Papua New Guinea and Nauru. She noted that although the centres are nominally run by the authorities of those countries, Australia has simultaneously designed, financed and managed the system.

The UNHCR spokeswoman said there had been more medical evacuations from Nauru to Australia in September, than in the previous two years. This did not, she said, express any moderating of stance by the Australian government, but was a result of the longstanding poor healthcare situation and a recent worsening of conditions.

Stubberfield noted that no refugees had been evacuated from Manus Island, despite a clear and urgent imperative for medical evacuation.

On October 15, Australian Medical Association representatives delivered a letter to Prime Minister Scott Morrison calling for the immediate transfer to Australia of all children and families detained on Nauru. Almost 6,000 medical professionals endorsed the letter.

Shocking reports continue of the disturbed psychological state of dozens of refugee children imprisoned on the island. In August, whistleblowers warned that children were at risk of death, with many suffering resignation syndrome, a condition characterised by a complete withdrawal from interaction and activity.

In one case, authorities repeatedly blocked the medical transfer of a 12-year-old Iranian boy to Australia, despite warnings from staff at the facility that his life was in danger. The boy had refused all water and food for up to a fortnight and was being fed intravenously.

Medical professionals reported that another Iranian boy, Ahoora, 7, who had been in detention since he was just three-years-old, was experiencing deep psychic suffering and post-traumatic stress disorder, which was being worsened by his continued incarceration. The boys desperate mother had repeatedly self-harmed by burning herself with cigarettes and had written a letter of complaint about her familys treatment daubed in her own blood.

Confidential Australian government documents, screened on the Australian Broadcasting Corporations 7:30 program, revealed major recent suicidal crises among children on the island. In one instance, a ten-year-old attempted to self-harm by ingesting some sharp metal objects which appeared to be from fencing wire. A 14-year-old girl doused herself in petrol as she was holding a lighter.

The Liberal-National government has flatly rejected all demands for the detention facilities to be closed. It is intent on whipping up nationalism, racism and anti-immigrant xenophobia to divert, in a reactionary direction, widespread anger over falling wages and a deepening social crisis in Australia.

Senior figures in the Labor Party opposition have adopted a sham posture of concern over the humanitarian disaster on Nauru. Labors shadow cabinet on Monday resolved to move a private members bill in parliament, supposedly to make it easier for refugees to be transferred to Australia for medical treatment.

This is a desperate attempt to cover up Labors responsibility for the unfolding catastrophe, and to assuage growing anger among ordinary people over the plight of the refugees.

It was the Keating Labor government that in the 1990s introduced mandatory detention for asylum-seekers who arrived in Australia by boat. In 2012, the Greens-backed Labor government of Julia Gillard reopened the concentration camps on Nauru and Manus Island and decreed that the refugees imprisoned there would never be granted asylum.

Backed by the trade unions, the current Labor leader, Bill Shorten, a senior Gillard government minister, has no less than the Coalition sought to promote jingoism and nationalism. In the lead-up to a federal election, to be held before May, Shorten has repeatedly stated that a government he led would stop the boats, i.e., block refugees from exercising their right to seek asylum.
Fanta was just 16 when she began having sex with her 30-year-old teacher.

A year later, she found out she was pregnant by him.

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The teacher denied he impregnated the student when her father tried to make him accept the pregnancy. Fanta lives in the Sedhiou region of southern Senegal, an area with high teen pregnancy rates.

She abandoned her education as the pregnancy progressed.

Fanta is one of the dozens of girls who told rights group Human Rights Watch (HRW) that they were coerced into having sex with their teachers in Senegal's secondary schools.

"I felt humiliated in front of my classmates," she told HRW.

In a new report titled, "It's Not Normal: Sexual Exploitation, Harassment, and Abuse in Secondary Schools in Senegal," female students -- some as young as 16 years old -- said their teachers lured them to have sex in exchange for better grades, food, mobile phones, and new clothes.

Sixteen-year-old Aissatou, whom HRW is not identifying by her real name, told the rights group that her teacher lured her to his house.

He threatened to lower grades when she refused his sexual advances.

"One day, he asked me to go to his house. When I went to his house, he offered to give me money and resources. And I told him no. ... He became nasty, (he said) he was not going to give me good grades," she said.

Students who got pregnant by their teachers have had to drop out of school, the advocacy group said.

School-related sexual- and gender-based violence is a serious problem in Senegal, HRW said in the report.

CNN has put in multiple requests for comment to the ministry of education in Senegal but has yet to receive a response.

Government reforms

The Senegalese government has implemented policies intended to protect children against many forms of violence in the country.

In 2013, the government adopted an extensive child protection strategy to tackle cases of abuse and exploitation.

A teacher faces up to a 10-year prison sentence if found guilty of having sexual relations with a student, according to the country's law.

It is also working with international NGOs on programs to prevent teen pregnancies and other forms of abuse in its secondary schools. But sexual violence is still common in Senegal's secondary schools despite laws that forbid it.

Plan International in a 2013 report found that 11% of children in Senegal named a teacher as being responsible for their pregnancy.

HRW children researcher Elin Martinez told CNN that while the government has prosecuted cases of sexual harassment perpetrated by teachers, the majority were not being held accountable.

"There are examples where teachers ask students for sex and harass them via text messages, which government cannot investigate, and schools don't have a confidential system where students can come forward with these allegations," Martinez said.

HRW researchers said it interviewed 160 girls and women, including those who claimed to have been sexually abused by their teachers, 60 parents, and government officials in eight districts of four regions in Senegal.

School principals cover up students' allegations against their staff to protect their reputation and out of fear of losing personnel, the advocacy group alleged in the report.

"Some of the principals just want to fix the cases, they take matters into their hands without necessarily taking it to a higher level," she told CNN.

All hands on deck

Nora Fyles, director of the United Nations Girls' Education Initiative (UNGEI), said the global education community was not surprised by HRW's allegations and the agency is "desperately trying to get on top of it."

"This is not just a human rights issue. It is an education agenda issue, and we are aware of it. We cannot see it continue," Fyles told CNN.

Fyles added that the education ministry in Senegal is working with UNESCO and international partners on training and improved curriculum to address gender violence in schools.

She said that "teachers and their unions should be at the forefront of solutions."

HRW called on the government to prohibit sex between students and their tutors outright.

It wants principals in schools to investigate all sexual assault allegations, and refer cases to police and prosecutors.

"The government wants girls to succeed in education," Martinez said.

"But it needs to end the culture of silence around abuse by teachers, encourage girls to speak out, and send an unequivocal message to all education staff that it will not tolerate sexual violence against students."
Uber's rival in the Middle East just got a big financial boost.

Careem, the ride-hailing app based in Dubai, received $200 million in a funding round led by Saudi Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal.

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The investment by his company, Kingdom Holding, values Careem at more than $2 billion, according to a person with knowledge of the deal. That's up from about $886 million in 2017, when Kingdom Holding bought 7% of Careem.

It comes as Saudi Arabia's network of business ties and global tech investments comes under intense scrutiny following the unexplained disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. He was last seen entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul more than 2 weeks ago.

Turkish officials have told CNN he was killed inside the consulate. Saudi authorities have so far maintained that Khashoggi left the consulate the same day, but they have provided no evidence to support the claim.

Some of the biggest names in global business and finance have since dropped out of an investment conference in Riyadh next week.

Kingdom Holding paid $62 million for its Careem stake in 2017. The latest funding round is expected to exceed $500 million, Careem said in a statement on Thursday.

Careem operates in more than 120 cities in the Middle East, North Africa, Turkey and Pakistan. Other shareholders include Japan's Rakuten (RKUNF), Saudi Telecom Company, Germany's Daimler (DDAIF) and China's Didi Chuxing.

Rakuten was also involved in the latest funding round.

Prince Alwaleed bin Talal was among dozens of royals, government officials and prominent businessmen arrested in November as part of a crackdown on alleged corruption in the kingdom.

He was held for nearly three months. His first big deal following his release was a $267 million investment in French music streaming platform, Deezer.

"The investment in Careem is a continuation of the company's strategy to invest in new promising technologies," Kingdom Holding said in a statement on Thursday.

The company owns shares in Twitter (TWTR), Citigroup (C) and JD.com (JD), and has also invested in Lyft.
The US and South Korea decided Friday to suspend another major joint military exercise to give the diplomatic process with North Korea "every opportunity to continue."

"Secretary of Defense James N. Mattis and Minister of National Defense Jeong Kyeong-doo decided to suspend Exercise Vigilant Ace to give the diplomatic process every opportunity to continue," chief Pentagon spokesperson Dana White said in a statement.

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The decision was made during Mattis' meeting with his counterpart in Singapore.

The exercise was due to take place in December. Last year's iteration of the Vigilant Ace involved 12,000 US troops and some 230 military aircraft from the US and South Korea.

President Donald Trump has long criticized US military exercises with South Korea, calling them expensive and provocative and suspending several major exercises following his June summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore.

"The President believes that his relationship with Kim Jong Un is a very good and warm one, and there is no reason at this time to be spending large amounts of money on joint US-South Korea war games. Besides, the President can instantly start the joint exercises again with South Korea, and Japan, if he so chooses," the White House said in a statement in August that was subsequently tweeted by Trump.

Trump's pick to lead US troops in South Korea, Gen. Robert Abrams, told Congress last month that the suspension of the exercises had resulted in a "slight degradation" to the readiness of US and Korean troops but called the decision a "prudent risk" to improve relations with Pyongyang.

White said Friday that both Mattis and his South Korean counterpart "are committed to modifying training exercises to ensure the readiness of our forces," saying "they pledged to maintain close coordination and evaluate future exercises."

She also said that Mattis had consulted with Japan's Minister of Defense Takeshi Iwaya on this matter, and they reaffirmed their commitment to regional security.
PRENTISS COUNTY, Miss. (WTVA) - Troopers are on the scene of a serious crash in Prentiss County.

This is on Highway 45, near Highway 30 West.

Troopers urge drivers to use caution in the area.

This is a developing story. This article will be updated as more information becomes available.
MONROE COUNTY, Miss. (WTVA) - One person is in custody and another has been hospitalized following a shooting in Hamilton, Miss., according to the sheriff.

Arrested is Ronald Tillman and he is in custody, accused of shooting Soloman Coleman in the leg and chest, Sheriff Cecil Cantrell said.

The incident happened Friday afternoon along Macks Circle near Valley Chapel, Cantrell said.

Coleman has been rushed to the Baptist Memorial Hospital - Golden Triangle in Columbus, and his condition is unknown at this time, Cantrell said.

This investigation is ongoing.
A famous Spanish church is $41 million in debt.

Barcelonas Sagrada Familia has famously been under construction for more than 100 years  since 1882 to be exact  but it turns out the facility doesnt have the proper building permits. That means the Unesco world heritage site, designed by renowned architect Antoni Gaudi, has accrued $41 million (31 million) in fees from lacking the proper permits, according to the New York Times.

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On Thursday, officials running the churchs construction agreed to pay city authorities the money over a 10-year period. The funds will go to public transportation to increase access to the tourist attraction and make other improvements in the surrounding neighborhood, BBC reported.

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For years, the board of the Sagrada Familia has maintained that it had a permit issued in 1885 by the independent town of Sant Marti de Provencals, which was absorbed into Barcelona several years later. City officials said that the church then shouldve applied for a Barcelona permit, but the board insisted no one asked for it, according to the Times.

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The church  with its famous mix of architectural styles, from Gothic revival to Art Nouveau, from modernism to Asian art  receives 20 million visitors every year, the citys press release states. Some 4.5 million of them take the time to see the inside of the space.

The Sagrada Familias construction will finish in 2026, 100 years after Gaudis death.
Jayme Closs, the Wisconsin 13-year-old declared missing and endangered after her parents were found fatally shot in the familys home early Monday, was extremely close with her slain mother, friends and relatives tell PEOPLE.

Both Jayme and 46-year-old Denise Closs were described as quiet, kind, religious and giving, an example of how a loving mom raised her daughter with her own good values.

They were just two peas in a pod, family friend Melissa Salmonson tells PEOPLE, describing the pair as almost inseparable and saying Denise was pretty quiet and shy like Jayme  they were similar.

Barron County authorities have said Jayme was home when her parents were killed. On Monday morning, just before 1 a.m., authorities received a 911 call in which nobody spoke to the dispatcher but a lot of yelling could be heard, according to a dispatch log released by the Barron County Sheriffs Department and obtained by CNN.

The call came from Denises phone, according to the dispatch logs. When police arrived at the family home, they found the bodies of Denise and her 56-year-old husband, James Closs  but no sign of Jayme, who is now the subject of an AMBER Alert.

Barron Sheriff Chris Fitzgerald said at a news conference earlier this week that Jayme, who is not a suspect in the killings, is missing and endangered.

The dispatch logs reveal that a responding officer found the door [to the Closs home had] been kicked in. Previously, Jaymes relatives told CBS News the front door to the home was shot in.

Jayme Closs

With their rural community reeling from the horror, friends, relatives and community members are opening up about Jayme and Denise.

A news release from the Barron Area School District described Jayme as a sweet, quiet girl who is a loyal friend and loves to dance. She also ran cross country.

School officials relayed an anecdote from one of Jaymes teachers: In response to a question on one of her assignments about what she would do with $1 million, Jayme wrote, Feed the hungry, and give the rest to the poor.

Story continues

The apple didnt fall far from the tree, according to Denises cousin Jodie Arnold, who said that Denise and her sisters became very active in cancer charity work after their mother died from the disease.

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Denise was the kind of person that with all of these things that happened, her reaction was to do something about it.  She was always really diligent trying to help Jayme out doing fundraisers for school and things like that, Arnold recalls.

Adds Salmonson, The family would help anyone, anytime, with anything they needed.

She describes Denise as a mother whose involvement showed how much she cared about her daughter: A lot of parents will drop [their] kids off at activities when they get to be a little older. But Denise was always there. If Jayme went to the roller rink with friends, Denise was there.

Denise Closs

The Closs family home

That sentiment was echoed by Christine Fink, a dance instructor who taught Jayme ballet and jazz dance, which helped the quiet teen develop confidence.

Denise, she said, was just a very present mom in her daughters life  you could tell they had a great mother-daughter relationship.

Both James and Denise were long-time employees of the Jennie-O Turkey Store in Barron. The company released a statement expressing sorrow at their deaths.

Our thoughts are with the Closs family and the entire Barron community, the statement reads. This is a difficult time for our entire team and we are mourning this loss and are still processing this terrible tragedy. We are also hopeful for the safe return of their daughter, Jayme, and are keeping her and the Closs family in our thoughts.

Every Second  Filled with Anxiety

Federal authorities have expanded the nationwide search for Jayme and more than 100 officers  local, state and with the FBI  are working on the case, CBS News reports.

Meanwhile, her home community is shaken by the shocking violence.

According to Salmonson, children in the town who know Jayme dont want to be alone  especially at night. They dont want to sleep alone. They want the blinds closed.

Adds Fink, Every second of every day is filled with anxiety and you cant stop praying. Scenarios go through your mind but  I just dont even want to go there. We have to find her.

Arnold says she is pained by thoughts of the hurt that Jayme might be experiencing.

When I think of Jayme  if shes alive  how scared she must be and how much trauma she must have that she cant even process, Arnold says. It just makes me sick to my stomach. I mean, 13 years old.

Jayme stands 5 feet tall and weighs 100 lbs. She has green eyes and blonde or strawberry blonde hair.

Friends have set up a fundraiser on Facebook for the benefit of the Closs family.

Anyone with any information concerning Jaymes whereabouts is urged to call the Barron County Sheriffs Department at 715-537-3106 or the tip line at 1-855-744-3879.
Democrats suggest Trump had conflicts in deciding fate of FBI headquarters originally appeared on abcnews.go.com

President Donald Trump inserted himself personally into his administrations discussion of the fate of the FBI headquarters in downtown Washington near his D.C. hotel, according to new emails released by Democrats Thursday, raising questions about possible conflicts of interest between the governments actions and the presidents personal business holdings.

Democrats, citing the new documents obtained by the House Oversight Committee, accused General Services Administrator Emily Murphy of misleading Congress about the White Houses involvement in the plans in testimony before a House committee.

The documents show that a more expensive plan to keep the existing property on Pennsylvania Avenue, demolish the existing building, and construct a new facility on the same siteand thereby prevent commercial developers from competing with the Trump Hotel directly across the streetwas approved during a meeting with President Trump at the Oval Office on January 24, 2018, Democrats wrote Thursday.

In an email exchange after the January 2018 meeting, GSA officials discussed producing a document memorializing the Oval Office conversation.

Ideally I think it would first recap the oval office meeting with what POTUS directed everyone to do then ask Emily(GSA) to execute POTUSs orders, GSA acting chief of staff P. Brennan Hart wrote in an email on January 27.

The Trump Organization had arranged to lease the Old Post Office building from the federal government prior to Trumps bid for the White House, and the GSA is now the landlord of the Trump International Hotel in Washington, which is located just blocks away from the FBIs J. Edgar Hoover Building.

In their letter to Murphy, Democrats, led by Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., the ranking member of the House Oversight Committee, said the committee is seeking more information and documents to determine whether the President is making decisions about the FBI headquarters building based on what is best for the country of what is best for his own financial bottom-line.

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PHOTO: A sign stands outside the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) headquarters in Washington, D.C., Feb. 2, 2018. (T.J. Kirkpatrick/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

The disclosures come on the heels of new reports from the agencys inspector general, and a report Thursday in the New York Times, which raise questions about President Trumps decision to intervene personally in the real estate discussions surrounding the iconic Pennsylvania Avenue property.

The White House denied claims that President Trump attempted to influence the real estate decisions about the FBI headquarters building.

The idea that the reason the president wanted the F.B.I. headquarters to remain in its current location is based on anything other than the recommendation of the F.B.I. is simply false, said Lindsay Walters, a White House spokeswoman, in a statement to ABC News.

In August, the GSA inspector general, an internal independent watchdog, concluded that Murphy initially misled Congress about Trumps interest in the project, writing that she provided incomplete testimony about conversations with the president and White House officials about the FBI headquarters project.

After suggesting to Congress that the president had no role in the discussions during a House Appropriations Committee hearing in April, Murphy was later shown to have attended two meetings at the White House in January on the relocation plan, including one meeting with Trump in the Oval Office, where the plans were discussed, the report said.

Asked twice about the White Houses role by Rep. Mike Quigley, D-Ill., Murphy said the directions to redevelop the downtown headquarters came from the FBI.

Murphys testimony was incomplete and may have left the misleading impression that she had no discussions with the President or senior White House officials in the decision-making process about the project, the inspector general concluded.

PHOTO: File photo of then Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, left, his wife Melania Trump and daughter Tiffany Trump cutting the ribbon at the new Trump International Hotel on Oct. 26, 2016, in Washington. (File-Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

After releasing the documents - including emails and a photo of Trump meeting with Murphy in the Oval Office - Cummings and other Democrats said Trump "should have avoided all interactions or communications relating to the FBI headquarters project to prevent both real and perceived conflicts of interest."

He should not have played any role in a determination that bears directly on his own financial interests with the Trump Hotel. The GSA also should have taken steps to wall off the decision from improper influence.

At stake was a plan to move the FBI headquarters out of the city  a relocation that had been in the works for several years and narrowed down to three possible sites in Maryland and Virginia in 2013. The watchdog found that the revised plan to demolish and rebuild the headquarters in Washington could be more expensive than initial plans to relocate the agency.

A GSA spokesperson insisted Thursday a number of emails referenced in todays congressional letter are taken out of context and refer to the project's funding approach, not the location decision, adding that it stands by its testimony.

Suggestions that those emails indicate presidential involvement in the location decision are inaccurate, said Pamela Dixon, a GSA spokeswoman. As previously testified by GSA and the FBI, the leadership team at the FBI made the decision to keep its headquarters at the current Pennsylvania Avenue location.

The New York Times reported Thursday that Trump had long held a personal interest in the fate of the FBI building. The newspaper report, citing congressional sources, said an executive for The Trump Organization had at one point raised concerns that, if the site was redeveloped into a hotel, new competition from across Pennsylvania Avenue could imperil the business prospects of the Trump hotel. The report said the executive sought assistance from a member of Congress to restrict what could be built on the F.B.I. site.

A federal judge recently ruled that congressional Democrats could proceed with a lawsuit against the president centered on his D.C. hotel and some other businesses and whether he is profiting illegally from their business with foreign governments.
Gamboru (Nigeria) (AFP) - Chad said Wednesday it inflicted heavy losses on Nigeria's Boko Haram, killing "over 200" Islamist militants in a border town that it wrested from the rebels in a ground offensive.

Nine Chadian soldiers were also killed and 21 injured Tuesday in Gamboru as regional forces took the fight against the insurgents on to Nigerian soil for the first time, the Chadian army said.

"This toll is provisional," the Chadian military said in a statement, adding that troops were still combing the town on Nigeria's border with Cameroon for lingering rebel elements.

Around 2,000 Chadian troops backed by armoured vehicles poured across the border into Gamboru on Tuesday after the African Union last week backed a regional force to take on the extremists.

The sound of automatic gunfire could heard Wednesday in the town, which has been abandoned by residents after a barrage of air strikes by Chad in the run-up to its offensive, an AFP journalist reported.

While the operation in Gamboru continued, the town of Fotokol on the other side of the border, in Cameroon, came under fresh attack from the jihadists.

"The guys (Boko Haram) entered this morning. The fighting between them and our soldiers is very intense," a Cameroonian security source in Fotokol told AFP by telephone.

The Cameroonian troops had managed to repel the attack by mid-morning, after Chadian soldiers crossed back from Nigeria to help defend the town.

- 'Hunt them everywhere' -

In Gamboru, the clashes left scenes of desolation, with bodies lying on the ground, houses destroyed, shops gutted and trucks charred.

"We have routed this band of terrorists," the commander of the Chadian contingent Ahmat Dari told AFP Tuesday, vowing to "hunt them down everywhere."

Nigeria's military has drawn fierce criticism for failing to hold back the insurgents, who have stepped up their campaign of terror in country's northeast in the run-up to presidential and parliamentary elections on February 14.

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In recent months the group has also carried out increasing cross-border raids, threatening regional security.

Chad's intervention reflects the growing nervousness among Nigeria's neighbours over the prospect of Boko Haram achieving its stated aim of carving out an Islamic caliphate on their borders.

- Nigerian sovereignty 'intact' -

Nigerian defence spokesman Chris Olukolade denied that the presence of foreign troops on Nigerian soil compromised the country's sovereignty.

"Nigeria's territorial integrity remains intact," he said, claiming national forces had "planned and are driving the present onslaught against terrorists from all fronts in Nigeria, not the Chadian forces".

Regional forces have gone into action on several fronts.

Chadian troops and vehicles have massed near Boko Haram-held towns along Nigeria's border with Niger, pointing the way to another possible cross-border operation.

"A contingent of about 400 vehicles and tanks is stationed between Mamori and Bosso," Niger's private radio Anfani reported.

- French help -

France is supporting the operations by carrying out reconnaissance flights over border areas of Chad and Cameroon, defence officials in Paris said.

At least 13,000 people have been killed and more than a million forced from their homes since Boko Haram launched an insurgency in 2009.

The group has stepped up its attacks in recent weeks, in a move believed to be aimed at disrupting the elections.

The rebels have tried, in vain, to capture the strategic northeastern town of Maiduguri twice in the past week.

On Monday, President Goodluck Jonathan -- who is running for re-election against a former military ruler who has vowed to defeat Boko Haram -- escaped a suspected suicide bomb attack after attending a campaign rally in Gombe in the northeast.

Chad's President Idriss Deby sent soldiers to Cameroon in mid-January to assist troops from Yaounde fighting increasing rebel incursions in the countrys far northeast.

NDjamena was already part of a long-standing regional force with Niger and Nigeria in the Lake Chad area.

But that force had been assumed to be moribund after Boko Haram overran the multi-national base in Baga, northern Borno state, on January 3, in an attack that also left hundreds of civilians feared dead.
Officers warned of the black panther sighting yesterday

Reports of a black panther on the loose in Scotland appear to be a false alarm, according to police.

Police Scotland say the sightings can likely be attributed to a regular pet cat.

A statement read: Officers who have been investigating a number of reports of a large black cat in fields near to the B730 have been liaising with a big cat expert who does not believe that it is a black panther, however cannot yet confirm what type of animal it is.

When Police Scotland initially told residents in Drongan and Coalhall not to approach a black panther said to be loose on Friday, their warning sparked a wave of social media pranks, parodies and jokes.

A hoax started by Robbie Brown on Facebook tricked some users by using a black cut-out of the looming predator and placing it in various spots in a field.

A black panther is feared to be on the loose in Ayrshire.

His prank almost sent more gullible people into a frenzy, with some telling friends and family to beware the big cat.

Meanwhile, a parody account was made to taunt local police with mocking messages.

You will never catch me I have already moved from this area, the parody panther account wrote, before suggesting its next location could be politically motivated.

Heard good things about high tea at @TrumpTurnberry but its only for Fat Cats.

This just in .. made it to Ayr. Wheres best for chips? they added.

Many Twitter users were quick to point out the dramatic reaction to similar incidents in the past, which made them sceptical of heeding the calls made to the police this morning.

Bet ye the black panther runnin aboot Drongan is some wee grans black cat thats been pumped full a roids n let loose, wrote one in reaction to the surprising news.

There is not a black panther roaming around goddamned Scotland, said another defiant Twitter user.
Miami Herald

She waited five years to confront Tom Privett, her former high school teacher, the man who groomed and manipulated her on campus. The man who raped her over and over inside his classroom.
Afghan election workers began counting votes on Saturday following a partial legislative ballot tarnished by scores of deadly militant attacks, technical glitches and administrative chaos.

Nearly 170 people -- civilians and security forces -- were killed or wounded in election-related violence, official figures showed, and there are fears of more bloodshed when voting resumes Sunday in 401 polling centres.

"Inevitable" problems with biometric verification devices, which were introduced at the eleventh hour, as well as missing voter registration lists and lack of staffing delayed or even prevented voting at those polling sites, the Independent Election Commission (IEC) told reporters.

According to initial IEC figures around three million voters turned up at 4,500 polling centres. Elections have been postponed in Ghazni and Kandahar provinces.

That compares with nearly nine million registered voters, though many suspect a significant number of those were based on fake identification documents that fraudsters planned to use to stuff ballot boxes.

Most polling sites opened hours late after voter rolls were not delivered or teachers employed to manage the voting process failed to show up following Taliban threats to attack the ballot.

There were multiple explosions across Kabul during the day. Hours before polls closed a suicide bomber blew himself up inside a polling centre in the Afghan capital, which police said killed at least 15 people and wounded 20.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast, but the Taliban said it had carried out more than 400 attacks on the "fake election" across the war-torn country.

Violence also disrupted voting in the northern city of Kunduz where a senior health official told AFP three people died and 39 were wounded after more than 20 rockets rained down on the provincial capital.

Eight explosions were recorded in the eastern province of Nangarhar, with two people killed and five wounded, the provincial governor's spokesman said.

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The interior ministry put the overall casualty toll -- including civilians and security forces -- slightly lower at 160, with 27 civilians killed and 100 wounded.

There were 193 attacks across the country, which the ministry said was half the number recorded on the day of the 2014 presidential election.

- 'Frustrated' voters -

Despite threats of violence, voters waited for hours outside polling centres across the country. Some eventually gave up and went home without casting a ballot.

University student Mohammad Alem said he felt "frustrated" after spending more than three hours trying to vote in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif, only to discover his name was not on the registration list.

"There also were some problems with the biometric devices because they were already running out of charge," he said.

After waiting four hours at a polling centre, Tabish Forugh tweeted he had not seen "even remotely similar... chaos" at previous elections.

The parliamentary ballot is more than three years late and only the third since the fall of the Taliban in 2001.

Turnout was likely affected after the militant group issued several warnings in the days leading up to the poll calling on candidates to withdraw from the race and for voters to stay home.

Hundreds of people were killed or wounded in the months before the poll.

The killing of a powerful police chief in the southern province of Kandahar on Thursday further eroded confidence in the ability of security forces to protect voters.

Voting in Kandahar has been delayed until October 27 following the attack.

Despite the risks, President Ashraf Ghani urged "every Afghan, young and old, women and men" to exercise their right to vote, after casting his ballot in Kabul.

Photos posted on social media showed scores of men and women clutching their identification documents lining up outside voting centres amid a heavy security presence.

A woman dressed in a burqa leaving a polling centre in Mazar-i-Sharif told AFP she had been worried about "security incidents", but decided to vote anyway.

"We have to defy the violence," Hafiza, 57, said.

- Crucial test -

At least 10 candidates out of more than 2,500 contesting the lower-house election were killed ahead of the poll.

Most of those standing are political novices, and include doctors, mullahs and journalists. Those with the deepest pockets are expected to win.

The poll is seen as a crucial test for next year's presidential election and an important milestone ahead of a UN meeting in Geneva in November where Afghanistan is under pressure to show progress on "democratic processes".

Preliminary results are scheduled to be released on November 10.

Votes cast without biometric machines will not be counted, the IEC has said.

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Barcelonas famously unfinished Sagrada Familia church has agreed to pay $41 million to city authorities after it was found to be lacking a building permit  despite breaking ground on construction well over a century ago.

The basilica will pay the city authorities back over a period of 10 years under new municipal registration, its first since construction began in 1882, the BBC reports. Barcelona Mayor Ada Colau hailed the deal as a historic agreement.

Funds from the deal are to be allocated to municipal projects such as improving the metro system and surface transport, as well as maintenance and public services in the area, according to a news release.

The church was designed by Catalan architect Antoni Gaudi, a modernist who also created several other eccentric edifices dotting Barcelonas cityscape.

Despite the buildings impact on the community, it has been under construction for more than a century while holding no official status and without oversight of municipal authorities, according to Spains El Pais newspaper.

Read more: The Saga of Barcelonas La Sagrada Familia

Gaudi died in 1926, but his unfinished masterpiece was nonetheless recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage site and has become one of Barcelonas top tourist attractions. Today, it receives an estimated 20 million visitors a year, including 4.5 million who enter the sprawling chapel.

The church is slated for completion in 2026  a century after its creators death.
By Steve Holland WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump's national security adviser, John Bolton, will visit Moscow next week for talks that may include telling Russian officials that the United States plans to withdraw from the landmark Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. While Bolton will discuss other major topics with Russian officials, including North Korea, Ukraine and Syria, the 1987 accord between the United States and the former Soviet Union is also expected to come up. The INF treaty, negotiated by then-President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and ratified by the U.S. Senate in 1988, required elimination of short-range and intermediate-range nuclear and conventional missiles by both countries. The United States believes Russia is in violation of the accord. The New York Times said Bolton would tell Moscow that Washington planned to withdraw from the treaty. White House officials did not deny the report. A senior Trump administration official said two administrations had tried to bring Russia back into compliance with the treaty. "Despite our objections, Russia continues to produce and field prohibited cruise missiles and has ignored calls for transparency," the official said. Withdrawing from the INF treaty could have major implications for U.S. defense policy in Asia and toward its main strategic rival there, China, with which Trump is engaged in a trade war. China is not a party to the treaty and has invested heavily in conventional missiles as part of an anti-access/area denial strategy, while the INF has banned U.S possession of ground- launched ballistic missiles or cruise missiles of ranges between 500 and 5,500 km (311 and 3,418 miles). IMPLICATIONS FOR ASIA "It has had major implications for Asia," said Eric Sayers, who served as an adviser to former U.S Pacific Commander Admiral Harry Harris and is now an adjunct fellow at the Center for a New American Security. "This will give the Pentagon and Indo-Pacific Command new conventional options to restore the military balance in the theater," Sayers said. Earlier this month, U.S. Defense Secretary Mattis said Russias violation of the INF treaty was "untenable" and unless it changed course the United States would respond. Washington believes Moscow is developing a ground-launched system in breach of the INF treaty that could allow Moscow to launch a nuclear strike on Europe at short notice. Russia has consistently denied any such violation. The Pentagons nuclear policy document released in February said that in response to Russias violation, the United States would start reviewing its own options for conventional, ground-launched, intermediate-range missile systems. The Kremlin said Russian President Vladimir Putin planned to meet with Bolton, the RIA news agency reported. Bolton's meetings in Moscow were scheduled for Oct. 22-23, RIA said. Bolton said on Twitter that he planned to meet with top Russian officials but did not mention Putin. "Heading to Moscow tomorrow to meet with senior Russian leaders, including Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev, to continue discussions that began in Helsinki between our two countries," Bolton said. Critics of Trump have accused him of being soft on Russia, and both Republicans and Democrats in the U.S. Congress are pushing for more sanctions on Moscow. Sanctions had been imposed for Russia's suspected meddling in elections in the United States and other countries, the Ukraine crisis and allegations it was behind a nerve agent attack in Britain. The Kremlin has denied any election interference or role in the nerve attack. A senior administration official said Bolton will use the trip to discuss the next meeting between Trump and Putin. The two leaders may see each other in Paris at a Nov. 11 celebration of the 100th anniversary of the end of World War One. But they may have more substantive talks on the fringes of a G-20 summit in Argentina later in November. Trump's invitation to Putin to visit Washington still stood, the official said. Trump made the invitation in the aftermath of a summit in Helsinki in which he appeared to accept Putin's denials of interference in the 2016 U.S. election over the word of his own intelligence agencies. While in Moscow, Bolton will emphasize the importance of maintaining sanctions against North Korea in order to keep pressure on the elimination of Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program. Russia and China have suggested easing sanctions. Bolton will also travel to Azerbaijan for discussions on a range of regional issues including Iran, before continuing to Armenia and Georgia. (Reporting by Steve Holland; Additional reporting by Tom Balmforth in Moscow and David Brunnstrom, Idrees Ali and Susan Heavey in Washington; editing by Richard Chang, Grant McCool and Cynthia Osterman)
Rio de Janeiro (AFP) - Investors in Brazil are cheered by the prospect of far-right presidential candidate Jair Bolsonaro winning power because of his privatization promises that -- though still unclear -- are regarded far more favorably than the status quo offered by his leftist rival.

The country's stock market has soared and declined on Bolsonaro's indications of how he plans to turn around a fragile economy that is barely managing to rise out of a record-bad recession that ended just two years ago.

Much of the investor enthusiasm lies with Bolsonaro's pick for economy minister if he wins: his advisor Paulo Guedes, a respected, US-trained liberal economist who has proposed a sweeping shake-up to do away with Brazil's protectionist traditions.

But Guedes has contemplated measures going far beyond what Bolsonaro -- a veteran politician who long backed Brazil's statist model -- has finally said he is willing to implement.

Most notably, Bolsonaro last week said he would only allow non-core units of both state oil company Petrobras and electricity group Eletrobras to be sold off, warning that foreign investors -- especially China, which he accused of "buying Brazil" -- were not welcome in strategic businesses in the energy sector.

Shares in Eletrobras, which generates around a third of Brazil's electricity, plunged more than eight percent the next day.

- 'Flip-flopping' -

"Bolsonaro's flip-flopping on privatization probably reflects his lack of knowledge and a clear position on energy policy and his populist bent," said an analyst, Lisa Viscidi of the US-based think tank The Dialogue, focused on the Americas.

But she added that overall it seemed evident that "Bolsonaro would continue with a general policy toward opening the oil and power sectors to private investment."

That makes him an investor darling when compared to Fernando Haddad, his leftwing rival for the presidency who wants a ban on new privatizations and greater state intervention in debt-laden Petrobras.

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Investors are taking Bolsonaro's free-market tilt "seriously," said another US-based analyst, Roberta Braga of the Atlantic Center.

Guedes's vision "would mean a significant if not shocking shift for Brazil if it were to go through," she said. But even if it didn't, "we are more likely to see a mild set of business-friendly policies" still aimed at trimming Petrobras's debt of over $70 billion.

In contrast, "Haddad's still vague and unclear economic plan has left investors apprehensive, and questioning whether he could take Brazil down a more competitive route."

Investors are worried Haddad will extend measures implemented by leftist former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to keep assets in government hands.

Brazil, Latin America's biggest economy, is ranked 153 out of 180 countries in the Economic Freedom index calculated by the Heritage Foundation, a conservative US think tank.

This year's World Economic Forum's Global Competitiveness Report ranked the country 72 out of 137, below South Africa and Turkey.

- Big lead -

Bolsonaro -- a former army captain and pro-gun veteran congressman who fondly remembers the authoritarianism of Brazil's 1964-1985 military dictatorship -- is easily outpacing Haddad in the competition to be Brazil's next president.

He scored 46 percent of votes in a first-round election, to 29 percent for Haddad. And polls suggest he could win around 58-59 percent in an October 28 run-off.

In his near three decades in congress, Bolsonaro had sided against attempts to sell off state enterprises. But he admitted he knew almost nothing about economy and tapped Guedes to guide him on how to bring down Brazil's public debt.

Part of the plan is to extend privatizations initiated under outgoing center-right President Michel Temer, an unpopular figure whose reforms have run up against vested interests and regulatory hurdles.

Nevertheless, Boslonaro has said "what is strategic cannot be privatized," specifically saying state-owned banks would not be ceded. For others he has suggested so-called "golden shares" which allow the government to keep control even with a minority stake.

"Investors will be watching closely. What is certain is that under Bolsonaro Brazil will not return to the strategy of resource nationalism employed by Lula and for which Haddad would surely advocate as president," Viscidi said.
Rio de Janeiro (AFP) - Brazilian officials said Friday they have recovered pieces of a 12,000-year-old fossil of a neolithic woman that was among the prized artifacts in Rio de Janeiro's burnt down National Museum.

"We found almost all of the skull and 80 percent of its fragments have been identified," museum director Alexander Kellner said, adding that fragments of a femur were also uncovered from the ashes.

The fossil, nicknamed "Luzia," was discovered in 1970 in the southeastern state of Minas Gerais by a French-led expedition.

A Manchester University team later did a digital face reconstruction based on the skull, which was used to model a sculpture of the ancient woman.

That sculpture went up in flames on September 2 along with most of the museum's 20 million artifacts. But the original skull fragments, kept in a metal urn in a closet, were found a few days ago.

"They've suffered alterations, damage. But we're very optimistic at the find and all it represents," said Claudia Rodrigues, a professor at the museum who has been picking through the debris.

The 200-year-old institution was considered the main natural history museum in Latin America, and was known for its paleontology department and its 26,000 fossils.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.
Huntington Beach (United States) (AFP) - As the door slammed in his face, Josef Siroky understood that campaigning for a Democrat in the conservative California city of Huntington Beach was not going to be easy.

But he kept knocking on doors, handing out pamphlets -- and selling the idea of political change.

Siroky is one of hundreds of volunteers canvassing the Golden State's conservative bastions like Huntington Beach, which Democrats are hoping to conquer in the November 6 midterm elections en route to winning control of the House of Representatives -- and possibly, Congress.

On a sunny Sunday in October, Siroky and the other volunteers are going door-to-door for Harley Rouda, a former Republican who is now running for office as a moderate Democrat in a tight race with a veteran Republican.

"It's great to see the blue wave right now," Rouda shouted, earning applause from the squadron of volunteers.

California is often at the forefront of the leftist resistance to President Donald Trump. But Orange County, south of Los Angeles and home to three million people, has for decades been solid red Republican.

Hillary Clinton's 2016 victory over Trump in the mainly white, rich county by 100,000 votes motivated Democrats, offering them hope that they can turn the tables this year in the 14 House seats (out of 53) held by Republicans statewide.

Democrats are running viable races in seven of those districts, including the 48th, home to Huntington Beach and represented for 30 years by Dana Rohrabacher, whose ties with Russia have become an issue in the campaign.

Rohrabacher also has come under fire for seemingly defending the idea of arming schoolchildren when he was duped by actor Sasha Baron Cohen for his Showtime comedy "Who Is America?"

"We've seen so many Republicans, moderate Republicans here in the district... who are disappointed with the extremist views of their current representative," Rouda told AFP. "They want somebody who is more moderate."

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The 56-year-old Rouda, a real estate executive, says he thinks voters have grown weary of party politics as usual.

"I think people across America as well as here are getting tired about the question of whether it's a 'D' or an 'R' next to your name. It's about your character and about your values," he told AFP.

This is the main thrust of Rouda's campaign -- de-emphasizing the party label.

His volunteers are highlighting the fact that he was a Republican until 1997, that he is a businessman, and that he does not lean too far left.

Basically, they tell voters he's not blue or red -- but purple.

"We don't want to lie, but we need to know our audience," said one campaign staffer who asked not to be named.

- At full capacity -

Siroky, a 22-year-old college graduate with a degree in political science, worked on one street in Huntington Beach with five other volunteers -- all men, all his age.

Here, the houses are huge and well maintained, and the lawns are pristine.

The young Democrats have hard work on their hands.

"It's like playing the lottery," says Siroky, whose father is of Czech descent and whose mother hails from Mexico.

After walking for five blocks, the team is not having much luck, with only two residents reached.

At one home, a 74-year-old woman who is a registered Republican is the one who slammed the door on Siroky.

At another, a much younger Asian woman who was not listed as having a party affiliation opened the door in her pajamas and listened to Siroky's spiel.

"Definitely you're trying to convince people, but I think that I can show Republicans that Democrats have good ideas too," he said.

All 435 seats in the House of Representatives are up for grabs in the election, along with a third of Senate seats and governorships in 36 states.

In Orange County, Democrats are "energized, organized, and firing on all cylinders," Rachel Potucek, the party's local spokeswoman, told AFP.

"Campaign events feel electric and unified. We feel like we're making history."

Former president Barack Obama even stopped by last month for a campaign rally in Anaheim for Rouda and other candidates.

"If these candidates win, I'm absolutely confident Washington will start working better," said Obama, who has ramped up his political activity in the run-up to the midterms.

The Republican Party's office in Orange County did not respond to repeated requests for comment.

- Giving up on Trump? -

An annual survey carried out in Orange County by Chapman University, published in April, showed that 63 percent of respondents expressed disapproval for the way Trump is doing his job.

Katherine Amoukhteh, 53, is one of those people.

A Republican since her mid-20s, Amoukhteh says that the GOP has changed drastically so she decided to shift over to Team Blue.

In her yard in a wealthy neighborhood of Laguna Niguel, which is near Huntington Beach, she even posted a sign in support of Rouda.

Like her preferred candidate, Amoukhteh says she sees herself as politically "purple" -- she supports lower taxes and a smaller government footprint.

She never liked Trump -- "how he ran his business... the fact that he thought women were just an object."

"That's what woke me up politically and I started to think maybe... I should do something about this," Amoukhteh told AFP.

"I think California can be bluer."
Ottawa (AFP) - Canada is preparing to welcome a group of Syrian White Helmets rescuers, officials said on Friday, without specifying when they will be resettled.

"Together with a core group of international allies, Canada is working to resettle a group of White Helmets and their families after they had to flee Syria as a result of being specifically targeted by the Syrian regime and its backer, Russia," Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland and Ahmed Hussen, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, said in a joint statement.

"As first responders, the White Helmets have witnessed first-hand some of the most appalling crimes committed by the murderous Assad regime. Canada has supported the work of the White Helmets by helping them to expand, train more volunteers, train more women and save more lives," they said, referring to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

In July, following the evacuation of 400 White Helmets from Syria to Israel and then to Jordan, Canada announced that it was ready to accommodate 50 of them and their families, for a potential total of 250 people.

Jordan said Wednesday a group of 279 Syrian rescue workers has left the kingdom for resettlement in Western countries.

Founded in 2013, the Syrian Civil Defense, or White Helmets, is a network of first responders who rescue wounded in the aftermath of air strikes, shelling or blasts in rebel-held territory.
MAIDAN SHAHR, Afghanistan (AP)  Hameeda Danesh was locked away at age 13 and beaten daily for six months by uncles who abhorred the thought of her attending school. Now, she's running for a seat in Afghanistan's Parliament, hoping to guarantee education for the next generation of Afghan girls, despite threats from the Taliban and outraged government-aligned warlords.

Exposing the physical scars she still bears 16 years later, Danesh said that Saturday's elections are critical for women as Afghanistan's conservative religious traditions gain momentum and efforts accelerate to find a peace deal with Taliban insurgents, whose last turn at power denied girls the right to attend school and women to work.

"This is why I struggle, because no woman or girl should ever have to face these tortures," Danesh said, hiding her scars again beneath the long sleeves of her dress.

Seventeen years after the Taliban's ouster and the injection of hundreds of millions of dollars from an international community outraged by the radical religious regime's restrictions on women, activists say they still struggle to get laws passed in Parliament that would protect women from violence and guarantee them the right to education and work.

"A lot of members of parliament are against these laws because they don't like some of the articles that allow women to work outside the house, or guarantee their education or their right to divorce or protection from their husbands," said Abdul Wadood Pedram, who heads the Kabul-based Human Rights and the Eradication of Violence Organization. Nearly 10 years after it was first drafted, Parliament has yet to ratify an Elimination of Violence law, he said.

Danesh, now 29, is competing against six men to represent the deeply conservative district of Jalrez in Afghanistan's central Wardak province, where the Taliban hold sway in vast tracts of the countryside.

"This election is so important because we need the new generation" to counter the hold on parliament by warlords, heavily armed commanders and religious conservatives, she said.

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Still, women have made great strides since the Taliban were removed from power, said Pedram.

Today, girls are able to attend school and women are in Parliament and in the media, anchoring television news programs. They are on provincial councils, government ministries are headed by women and so is the Independent Human Rights Commission. Women even sit on the government's High Peace Council, which is tasked with talking reconciliation with insurgents.

But the changes are fragile, warned Pedram, saying opposition to women's rights is deeply embedded in the country's conservative culture and traditions.

"The Taliban ideas were not foreign, they are from our society," he said. "This is why these elections are so important. Our ability to retain these rights, this progress depends on the parliamentary elections and the people we elect.

Most women jailed in Afghanistan are accused of so-called "moral" crimes, charged with adultery by abusive husbands when they seek a divorce, or arrested and jailed for fleeing a violent marriage, often imprisoned by their own parents or in-laws.

Citing a Global Rights study, U.N. Women Afghanistan said 87 percent of Afghan women suffer physical, sexual or psychological violence during their lifetime. Traditional justice, like tribal jirgas, undermine legal reform and women fleeing violence often "face indifference or criminal sanctions for committing moral crimes," the U.N. group said on its website.

In Saturday's election 417, or roughly 16 percent, of the 2,565 candidates competing for seats in the 249-member chamber are women. Yet in rural Afghanistan, especially in the country's ethnic Pashtun areas where the Taliban dominate, many women are not even registered to vote.

A former member of the eastern Paktia provincial council, Khaki Jan Zadran, an elderly Pashtun whose beard is white and scraggly, said most women in his province are not allowed by the men in their family to have their pictures taken or even have their names written on a public document, which means many are unregistered.

Women voting "is against our traditions, our culture," he said. "For most of the people in my area they believe it is a sin if their women vote in this election."

Unlike some candidates in Afghanistan who campaign accompanied by a phalanx of bodyguards, Danesh travels in a simple white sedan accompanied by two women, one of whom is her campaign manager. Posters of herself, her head covered, wearing the traditional deeply embroidered dress, adorn her car and appropriately emblazoned in white across the back window is the word 'tigershark."

In a country where most people can neither read nor write, candidates choose symbols to readily identify themselves to would-be voters. Not surprisingly, Danesh's favorite symbol is a book.

Ajmal Khan, who guards a girl's school in Maidan Shahr in Wardak province, said he might vote for a woman. "It depends how active she is," he said. "The government now does nothing."

Khan said sending girls to school is dangerous in Wardak province.

"Because of the Taliban, it is dangerous for the children coming and going from school and still there isn't even a gate," he said, pointing to the gaping hole at the school's entrance.

Danesh, whose father was a provincial governor during Taliban rule and later arrested when President Hamid Karzai first took power in 2001, was the first girl in her village to go to university. Her uncles tried and failed to stop her from going to school. She said her father never knew she was in school because he was in jail.

"My mother was my only supporter," said Danesh. Even now her father condemns her decision to seek office.

Her husband Bilal said he admires his wife's fierce independence, but worries when she sets out from their home in the capital of Kabul to travel to Wardak, about 40 kilometers (24 miles) away.

Danesh said she is not cowed by the threats she has received in letters and repeated phone calls.

"I tell the Taliban I am not like other women, if you want to attack me, then come and attack me face to face," she said.

___

Associated Press writer Amir Shah in Kabul, Afghanistan, contributed to this report.
Mutsamudu (Comoros) (AFP) - The Comoros military on Saturday regained control of Mutsamudu's old city centre on the island of Anjouan, a minister told AFP, after armed rebels staged an uprising earlier this week.

Soldiers and rebels opposed to President Azali Assoumani had fought in the narrow lanes of the medina quarter in Mutsamudu since Monday, with at least three people killed.

Tensions in Comoros, a coup-prone Indian Ocean archipelago, have mounted in recent months as Assoumani bids to extend term limits through constitutional changes that could see him rule for 11 more years.

"The army has retaken the medina," Education Minister Mahamoud Salim Hafi, who has led the government response to the rebels, said as soldiers patrolled the streets.

No fighting was reported during the day and there was no evidence of rebels being present.

AFP reporters saw civilians emerge from their houses, some for the first time in six days.

"It was difficult to eat, except with the help of neighbours... but most difficult was that we were deprived of water and electricity," Djamou Houkoum said.

As soldiers passed in single file, Salma Mohamed Dossar opened her door.

"Difficult days -- everyone fled. I refused to leave, they told me was crazy, but I will never give up my house," she said, smiling.

Her neighbour Mrs. Salma Souloufou said: "Now that I can put my nose outside and feel the fresh air, it's happiness."

One square was littered with debris of stones and tear gas grenades.

- History of coups -

A weapons' amnesty deal signed between the main opposition Juwa party and government on Friday appeared to have been rejected by the rebels, who were estimated to be about 40 strong.

Assoumani won a widely-criticised referendum in July allowing him to scrap the rotation of the presidency between Comoros' three main islands, disadvantaging opposition-leaning Anjouan, which was next in line.

The government had sent in reinforcements to quell the unrest in the old quarter of Mutsamudu after rebels erected barricades and repelled attempts by the security forces to regain control.

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Over the last six days, many civilians fled as a curfew was imposed and water and power supplies were cut.

The president, who came to power in a military coup and was elected in 2016, has indicated that he plans to stage polls next year which would allow him to reset his term limits and theoretically rule until 2029.

The Comoros islands -- Anjouan, Grande Comore and Moheli -- are located between Mozambique and Madagascar.

They have endured years of grinding poverty and political turmoil, including about 20 coups or attempted coups, since independence from France in 1975.

The last coups was in 1999 when Assoumani, then the head of the army, seized power for the first time.

He gave up power in 2006 before being elected two years ago.

The fourth Comoros island, Mayotte, remains French.

Assoumani's government accuses the opposition Juwa party of being behind the unrest on Anjouan.

Former president Ahmed Abdallah Sambi who leads Juwa, is from Anjouan. He has been under house arrest since May.

Earlier this week, Interior Minister Mohamed Daoudou blamed "terrorists, as well as drug addicts and alcoholics" for the rebellion.

The United Nations and African Union have called for restraint from all sides and for stalled talks between rival parties to resume.
Mutsamudu (Comoros) (AFP) - The Comoros government said Saturday that rebels on the island of Anjouan had to disarm by Monday and allow the city centre of Mutsamudu to return to normal after a week of clashes.

Security forces and rebels opposed to President Azali Assoumani have fought in the narrow streets of the medina quarter in Mutsamudu, with at least three people killed.

An amnesty deal signed between the main opposition and government on Friday appeared to have had little impact in disarming the rebels.

Tensions in the Comoros have mounted in recent months as President Assoumani bids to extend term limits through constitutional changes that could see him rule for 11 more years.

"Whatever the outcome of the negotiations, it is necessary that the situation becomes normal in Mutsamudu by Monday," minister Mahamoud Salim Hafi, who is leading the negotiations, told AFP.

"They had until this morning to surrender their arms, it's not done. Let them drop their weapons wherever they want, at the town hall, anywhere, we'll go get them."

He added that civilians should leave the area ahead of any military intervention.

Another senior official involved in the negotiations, who declined to be named, told AFP that he was pessimistic about whether the talks would succeed.

Assoumani won a referendum in July allowing him to scrap the rotation of the presidency between Comoros' three main islands after one term, disadvantaging opposition-leaning Anjouan, which was next in line.

The government had sent in reinforcements to quell the unrest in the old quarter of Mutsamudu after rebels erected barricades and repelled attempts by the security forces to regain control.

Soldiers surrounded the area and many civilians fled as a curfew was imposed and water and power supplies were cut.

The president, who came to power in a military coup and was elected in 2016, has indicated that he plans to stage polls next year which would allow him to reset his term limits and theoretically rule until 2029.

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"(Assoumani) has done nothing in his three years in power, no jobs for young people, nothing. If they don't want to understand our challenges, then we will turn against them," one man in Mutsamudu told AFP.

The Comoros islands -- Anjouan, Grande Comore and Moheli -- are located between Mozambique and Madagascar.

They have endured years of grinding poverty and political turmoil, including a spate of coups, since independence from France in 1975.

The fourth island, Mayotte, remains French.

Assoumani's government accuses the opposition Juwa party of being behind the unrest on Anjouan.
Democratic candidates have been advised to avoid talking about the potential impeachment of Donald Trump, even though a majority of Americans  and 75 per cent of Democrats  support such a move.

Three weeks from midterm elections that will determine whether Democrats flip the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of Congress where any proceedings against the president would begin, candidates and officials are doing all they can to avoid the I-word.

In a calculation that has upset those pushing for Mr Trumps impeachment, party officials have calculated that raising the issue could play badly among the independent and moderate Republicans they are seeking to win over. They fear it would also energise Mr Trumps base.

Speaking in August on the day Mr Trumps former lawyer, Michael Cohen, pleaded guilty to campaign finance fraud, and there was intense speculation as to what might befall the president, Nancy Pelosi, the Democrats leader in the house, insisted impeaching him was not a priority.

If and when the information emerges about that, well see. Its not a priority on the agenda going forward unless something else comes forward, she told the Associated Press.

Ms Pelosis decision has led to a remarkable degree of message discipline.

From Democrats such as Harley Rouda, contesting California 48th congressional district, to Angie Craig seeking to bag Minnesotas second, and the president of EMILYs List, a DC-based group that supports women Democratic candidates nationwide, their carefully calibrated responses are strikingly similar when asked whether they support impeachment  namely that Robert Mueller should be given time to complete his investigation into alleged collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, that voters do not really bring up the issue, and in the meantime, they are focussed on promoting a positive agenda about affordable healthcare and the economy.

Even Justice Democrats, a political action committee that supports progressive policies and backs candidates such as New Yorks Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, says it wants to promote bold ideas and that being anti-Trump cannot be its main message, according to Nasim Thompson, a spokeswoman.

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The two Democratic congressmen who tabled impeachment legislation against Mr Trump in the house, Al Green and Brad Sherman  both faced stern criticism from their party leadership for doing so  have avoided mentioning the issue on their re-election campaign websites.

Mr Green, of Texas, who still has a link to the legislation on his main site, failed to respond to questions as to whether he still supported such a measure.

Mr Sherman, who represents Californias 30th congressional district, said in a statement: I stand by my legal conclusion there is sufficient evidence to conclude that Donald Trump has committed obstruction of justice as defined by Section 1512 B3 and accordingly should be impeached.

I believe that most of the voters in my district know of my efforts regarding impeachment and accordingly when I speak to them I am focused on other issues although whenever people bring up impeachment, I am happy to talk about it.

The only Democrat who has made headlines for defending his support for impeaching the president appears to be Beto ORourke, who is challenging Texas Republican senator Ted Cruz. Speaking this week, he also said Mr Muellers probe should be completed.

Pressed on the issue, he added: I would liken impeachment to an indictment. There is enough there to proceed with the trial for a full vetting of the facts and to make the best informed decision in the interests of this country and our future.

Christina Greer, associate professor of political science at New Yorks Fordham University, said most Democrats had decided impeachment was not an issue that was polling with voters and they were focussed on other issues.

Yet the Democrats strong reluctance to discuss impeachment comes even though a majority of Americans  49-46  have said they support Congress going ahead with such a move. The Washington Post-ABC News poll published at the end of August also suggested 75 per cent of Democrats, 49 per cent of independents and 15 per cent of Republicans, backed it.

The instruction to Democrats not to talk about impeachment appears to have been delivered by Mr Pelosi at the time of Mr Cohens guilty plea. Politico said, speaking to Democrats in their home districts, her leadership team advised the politicians to frame the plea as part of a corrupt administration that needed a Democratic check in Congress. They were told to be wary of talking about impeachment as it could backfire. The New York Times said Mr Pelosis team also dispatched a memo to candidates making the same point.

Some in Washington were doubtful Ms Pelosi would have wished to leave a paper trail. One political strategist, who asked not to be named, said: As Martin Lomasney  the late, larger-than-life one-time political boss of Boston  would have said Never write if you can speak; never speak if you can nod; never nod if you can wink.

A senior official in Ms Pelosis office told The Independent they could not confirm whether the 78-year-old from San Francisco had spoken such words to her members in an August conference call.

There are talking points on our positive message that take place on a daily basis when we are in session. Members do get these talking points and that has allowed us to be incredibly focussed on that positive message, the official said.

(Getty)

Asked if Ms Pelosi had told candidates not to discuss impeachment, the official added: The leader has been asked a lot of times about this and has been clear [impeachment is not her focus]. This is not something we have had to do a lot of convincing people about  they get it.

Ms Pelosis decision to avoid talking about impeaching Mr Trump carries potential danger. If the Democrats fail to win the house, there would be an impassioned post-mortem as to whether the party chose the correct campaign strategy. It is unclear whether Ms Pelosi would survive as the Democrats leader after such a defeat.

Several groups are still pushing for Mr Trumps impeachment. The organisation Impeach Trump Now was set up shortly after his election, and Catherine Ross joined its advisory board before he took office.

Ms Ross, a professor of law at George Washington University Law School, said even at that point, she believed Mr Trumps apparent breach of the emoluments clause of the constitution, which prohibits members of the government accepting gifts, was sufficient justification for an impeachment investigation. She said that since then further evidence had mounted.

Ms Ross said she sympathised with Ms Pelosis tactical dilemma ahead of the midterms, but said congressional officials from both parties had failed to show leadership.

I can understand her decision. But I would at least wish if she is not out in front, she would give her blessing to other leaders who could be out in front.

Another organisation pushing for impeachment is Need to Impeach, a campaigning group established by billionaire hedge fund manager and philanthropist Tom Steyer. Mr Steyer has spent $50m (38m) on television adverts and a Times Square billboard calling for impeachment.

His groups petition has gathered 6 million signatures and he claims Mr Trump has commuted nine impeachable offences, including obstruction of justice and abusing the pardon power.

Keven Mack, a senior strategist for Need to Impeach, said Democrats typically spent millions of dollars trying to persuade people they were moderate on all issues, then wondered why there was no excitement among their grassroots supporters ahead of elections. He claimed the party was experiencing its lowest level of elected office since the 1930s.

Our 6 million supporters see the impeachment issue as a value [judgement]  whereas Washington sees it as a legislative process, he said. This is the biggest disconnect between ordinary Americans and officials in DC.
Doug Fish is quick to explain all the ways President Trumps trade war is hurting his business and his community.

Fish, the president and CEO of BTC Bank, a community bank in Bethany, Mo., says that low commodity prices depressed by trade tensions with China affect 95% of his customers directly and the remaining 5% indirectly. If those customers dont turn a profit, they wont be able to pay back the money they owe BTC.

But like many in the heartland, Fish has a nuanced view about how the issue reflects on the President and his political allies. Yes, Fish wants the trade tensions to ease. But he also says farming communities are willing to suffer the short-term cost of Trumps trade war if it means a better deal for the U.S. in the long term.

We should help our neighbors, Fish explains during an Aug. 31 interview in his Bethany office. The trade situation is bad for my business, but as an American I fully understand that these are issues that need to be addressed.

The Trump administrations trade agenda has challenged much of rural America, hammering local businesses and making commodities less competitive on the global market. Democrats have pounced on the issue in key races, positioning the party as a proponent of free trade. But in contested congressional contests, it remains unclear whether that message will be enough to sway the votes of the people facing the steepest trade challenges.

Take Missouri. Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill has made trade a cornerstone of her campaign pitch. At public appearances across the state, she speaks at length about how tariffs affect the local economy. Were driving, frankly, our customers into the arms of our foreign competitors, McCaskill tells TIME. Even if the tariffs go away, theres going to be a hangover.

The data suggests this should be a winning issue for McCaskill. A September NBC News-Marist survey of Missouri found that 45% of likely voters in the state disapprove of Trumps trade agenda, compared to 28% who support it. And across Missouri, businesses leaders  from beer brewers to soybean farmers  say they are worried about the issue. If you look in the agro-business area, just the threat of a trade war and tariffs has created instability, says Joe Reardon, president of the Kansas City Chamber of Commerce. That instability has a real effect on the marketplace.

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But its not clear how much of a political bump McCaskill is getting from her trade message. The Missouri Senate race is effectively a dead heat, according to polls. In rural communities, many voters say they are willing to wait as Trump reworks Americas trade relationships in an effort to benefit the U.S. economy. Farmers are accustomed to a cyclical business and say they can handle a few months of uncertainty. More than anything, locals say, they want to give Trump the time to live up to his reputation as the consummate dealmaker. Many also point to the new NAFTA deal, which Trump has branded the U.S. Mexico Canada Agreement, as a sign that Trump will eventually be able to reach a truce with China.

That confidence is good news for Missouris Josh Hawley, the state attorney general turned Republican Senate candidate, who has latched himself to the President. Hes right to recognize that were in a trade war and its a trade war that he didnt start, Hawley tells TIME of Trump. Were not going to win by doing nothing.

But the slack rural voters are giving Trump may not last forever. Farmers could experience a fast change of heart if the tensions drag into the next growing season, when they will need to decide which products to plant. Without trade certainty, the price farmers can get on the open market as they begin to negotiate new contracts will be a fraction of the prices they got in recent years. We have to eat too, says Fish. Theres probably a feeling in agriculture of support, in anticipation of something good for the entire country. But that may change.

One challenge for Democrats is that most of the pain a trade war can produce hasnt been felt yet. Around 55% of Missouri voters say they havent yet experienced or heard about the effects of Trumps trade policy, according to a September CBS News poll. (Nearly 30% say they have been hurt by the trade war).

But theres a deeper question for Democrats like McCaskill, which is whether being on the right side of trade policy would be enough to trump political affiliation. Many of the Americans hardest hit by tariffs are among the most conservative. And in Missouri, they tend to oppose the two-term senator. Republicans link McCaskill to Obama-era regulations, especially the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulation known among supporters as the Clean Water Rule and among opponents as the Waters of the U.S., or WOTUS. The Obama-era regulation would have dramatically expanded the EPAs purview protecting rivers and streams. And because those streams cross farms left and right, farmers say it would have been a costly, burdensome regulation. (In reality, McCaskill joined with Republicans on legislation to rework the regulation in 2015 and supported the first step in Trumps rollback of the regulation last year).

Still, Hawleys opposition to regulation helped him win a decisive endorsement from the Missouri Farm Bureau, a farmer advocacy group that also sells insurance, and why Trumps trade agenda hasnt yet cut into his base. The Missouri Farm Bureau didnt include any mention of trade when it announced its Hawley endorsement, but it did praise Hawley for suing the EPA over WOTUS.

Trade is not a winner for Senator McCaskill, Hawley tells TIME. She has not stood up for farmers property rights, she has not stood up against the regulators and environmentalists. She has not stood up for their right to farm.
Washington (AFP) - A former FBI agent who leaked internal documents showing how the agency used racial profiling in counter-terror investigations was sentenced to four years in prison Thursday.

In the third case this week to underscore the Trump administrations determined crackdown on media leaks, Terry Albury, a 17-year FBI veteran and son of an Ethiopian refugee, was ordered to prison for 48 months by a Minnesota judge after pleading guilty in the case.

"We are conducting perhaps the most aggressive campaign against leaks in department history," said Attorney General Jeff Sessions in a statement.

"Crimes like the one committed by the defendant in this case will not be tolerated -- they will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law and punished."

Albury was a special agent in the FBI Minneapolis field office in 2016 and 2017 when he leaked the agency's Domestic Investigations and Operations Guide to The Intercept.

The guide showed how the agency can use racial and religious profiling to target investigations, bend rules to infiltrate activist groups, and spy on journalists.

Albury's lawyers said that, as the only black field agent in the Minneapolis office, he took note of racist attitudes inside his squad and how these made it more difficult to gain the trust of the large Somali-American community in the area -- which had sent a number of young men to join jihadist groups Al-Shabab and Islamic State as fighters.

Albury's lawyer insisted that he was not seeking to divulge secrets but to advance discourse "about how to maintain the delicate balance between freedom and security."

"He was endeavoring to resolve what for him became an insurmountable moral conflict between his role as an FBI agent sworn to uphold the written law and his personal commitment to social justice and human rights," they said.

Prosecutors however suggested that Albury had a vendetta against his employers and would have continued to leak secret documents.

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The sentence was handed down one day after federal agents announced the arrest of a Treasury official for leaking documents to BuzzFeed, an Intercept competitor, on money transfers involving key figures in the Russia election collusion probe.

And on Monday, a US Senate staffer arrested this year over alleged leaks of classified information to his reporter girlfriend pleaded guilty to lying to FBI agents.

His leaks, too, involved matters related to the Russia collusion investigation, which has seen several former aides of President Donald Trump convicted or plead guilty.

Nearly one year ago Sessions said the Justice Department had 27 open leak investigations.
Abuja (AFP) - Fifty-five people were killed this week in clashes between young Christians and Muslims in northern Nigeria following a dispute in a market, President Muhammadu Buhari said on Saturday.

Sources told AFP fighting broke out between Hausa Muslim and Adara Christian youths in the town of Kasuwan Magani's market following a dispute among wheelbarrow porters.

Two people were said to have been killed in the market fracas on Thursday. The violence was temporarily halted by police but Adara youth later mobilised and attacked Hausa residents, burning homes, the sources added.

"Most of the killings were done in the second attack which took the Hausa community off guard," said Muhammadu Bala, a Kasuwar Magani resident who lost his home.

In a statement the presidency said: "President Muhammadu Buhari has condemned the latest communal violence in Kasuwan Magani in Kaduna State which claimed 55 lives."

The violence followed a dispute in a market on Thursday, the presidency added.

The president expressed concern that Nigerians were too frequently resorting to violence over misunderstandings that could be resolved peacefully.

"No culture and religion supports the disregard for the sanctity of life," he said, adding that "peaceful coexistence is necessary for the progress of any society and its wellbeing".

He said that without harmony between communities an environment conducive to "our everyday businesses would be impossible to achieve".

"Violence cannot be an alternative to peace. On the contrary, reliance on violence leads to ultimate self-destruction. Violence is an ill wind that blows nobody any good. Embracing peace is a necessity," he said.

He appealed to community leaders to take part in regular dialogue to prevent misunderstandings and foster a spirit of tolerance and patience.

Kaduna state police commissioner Ahmad Abdur-Rahman told reporters on Friday 22 people had been arrested in connection with the violence.

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The Kaduna state government also imposed a round-the-clock curfew in Kasuwan Magani on Friday.

A similar crisis in February left at least 10 people dead and hundreds of homes and businesses burnt.

Over 60 people are facing charges over the February violence.
BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany should not approve arms sales to Saudi Arabia until investigations into the circumstances of journalist Jamal Khashoggi's death have been completed, Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said on Saturday. Maas's statement, which appeared to reverse a decision to sell artillery systems to Riyadh, came after he and Chancellor Angela Merkel rejected as unsatisfactory Saudi Arabia's explanation for the death of the dissident journalist in its Istanbul consulate. In an interview for public television's Tagesthemen program, Maas said he believed no weapons should be sold to the kingdom until the circumstances of Khashoggi's death had been cleared up. "As long as investigations are underway, as long as we don't know what happened there, there is no reason to take positive decisions on arms exports to Saudi Arabia," he said. The decision last month to authorize the sale, part of an effort to normalize relations with the kingdom, stirred controversy because it ran against an earlier pledge not to sell arms to countries involved in the Yemen war. In the strongest Western reaction to Riyadh's admission that Khashoggi had died in the consulate, Merkel and Maas earlier condemned the killing, demanding that Riyadh make clear what had happened. "We condemn this act in the strongest terms," read a joint statement, in which they demanded "transparency" from Riyadh. "The information available about events in the Istanbul consulate is inadequate." Expressing deep sympathy to Khashoggi's friends and relatives, Merkel and Maas said those responsible for his death must be held accountable. Asked in the interview whether Siemens boss Joe Kaeser should follow many other international executives in cancelling plans to attend a forthcoming investment conference in Saudi Arabia, Maas said cancellations sent the right signal. "I certainly wouldn't participate in an event in Riyadh at the moment," he said. "And I have great understanding for those who have canceled." In his interview, Maas added that a United Nations-backed probe of the killing might be a means of improving the "objectivity and credibility" of any findings. Merkel's and Maas's remarks followed calls from across the political spectrum on Saturday for Germany to toughen its stance toward Riyadh following the drama around Khashoggi which comes at an awkward time for Berlin, which has been attempting to normalize its stormy relations with the kingdom. (Reporting by Thomas Escritt; Editing by Richard Balmforth)
Paris (AFP) - Scientists have discovered a primitive "supercluster" of galaxies forming in the early Universe, just 2.3 billion years after the Big Bang.

The structure, nicknamed Hyperion, is the largest and most massive to be found so early in the formation of the Universe, which sprang into existence around 13.7 billion years ago.

Its titanic mass is one million billion times that of the Sun.

"This is the first time that such a large structure has been identified at such a high redshift, just over two billion years after the Big Bang," said Olga Cucciati, a researcher at the Astrophysics and Space Sciences Observatory in Bologna and lead author of a study detailing the discovery.

Redshift is a measure of the changing wavelength of light travelling away from an observer.

"Normally these kinds of structures are known at lower redshifts, which means when the Universe has had much more time to evolve and construct such huge things," Cucciati said.

Located in the constellation of Sextans (The Sextant), Hyperion was identified by analysing the vast amount of data obtained from the VIMOS Ultra-deep Survey, which provides a unique 3-D map of how more than 10,000 galaxies are distributed in the distant Universe.

Hyperion is similar in size to nearby superclusters, though it has a very different architecture, the researchers said.

The findings were published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics.

"Superclusters closer to Earth tend to have a much more concentrated distribution of mass with clear structural features," explains co-author Brian Lemaux, an astronomer from University of California at Davis.

"But in Hyperion, the mass is distributed much more uniformly in a series of connected blobs populated by loose associations of galaxies."

This contrast is most likely due to the fact that nearby superclusters have had billions of years for gravity to gather matter together into denser regions -- a process that has been acting for far less time in the much younger Hyperion.

Over time, Hyperion will likely evolve into something like the Virgo Supercluster, which contains our own galaxy, the Milky Way.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The indictment on Friday of a Russian woman on charges of attempting to meddle in U.S. elections shows the need for "guardrails" on social media, the top Democrat on the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee said. "It is critical for Congress to step up and immediately act to employ much-needed guardrails on social media. And as I've said before, these companies need to work with Congress so we can update our laws to better protect against attacks on our democratic institutions," Senator Mark Warner said in a statement. (Reporting by Tim Ahmann; Writing by Eric Beech; Editing by Mohammad Zargham)
Photo: Sandusky County Sheriffs Office

When an Ohio high school class was given an assignment to write about overcoming obstacles, the teacher had no idea what one student had been through.

Toledos WTOL TV reported Thursday that a student had submitted an essay about the sexual assault she and two sisters had suffered years ago. When the essay was submitted, the school, Fremonts Vanguard Tech Center, contacted local authorities.

The sheriffs office then conducted an investigation into the claims the student had made. Following the investigation, 43-year-old Anthony Knight pleaded guilty on Tuesday to three counts of rape. He will be sent to prison for 20 years, WTOL reported. The Fremont News Messenger reported Wednesday that Knight will be required to register as a Tier III sex offender.

The class was asked, I believe, to write an essay pertaining to obstacles that they had overcome in their life, and she had disclosed that she had been sexually abused as a child, Detective Sgt. Kenneth Arp of the Sandusky County Sheriffs Office told WTOL.

The Associated Press noted that the students siblings were also interviewed about the assault. One of the sisters was reportedly abused when she was just 7 years old.

I think that these types of things happen a lot more often than what the average person might think that it does, Arp told WTOL. I think that if you talk to different investigators around the area, they will tell you that they work a lot of sexual assault cases similar to this. This one happens to have a positive outcome, and unfortunately a lot dont, but I think it sends a great message.

Arps words are a powerful reminder that while justice was achieved in this case, there are many other instances of sexual abuse that dont have the same result. According to data collected by RAINN from 2013 to 2017, as many as 63,000 children a year may be sexually abused in the United States.

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(Reuters) - Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez said on Twitter on Friday he had requested permission from Guatemala's government to send civil protection agents to help Hondurans in Guatemala and was seeking transport for those wishing to return home. Hernandez sent the tweets as thousands of Central Americans from a migrant caravan that began in Honduras last weekend were camped on Guatemala's border with Mexico. U.S. President Donald Trump says the caravan must not be allowed to reach the United States. (Reporting by Noe Torres; Editing by Dave Graham)
Frankie Dettori with his usual flying dismount after Stradivarius lands the Long Distance Cup

Frankie Dettori received a three-day riding ban but it was not enough to dampen his celebrations after guiding Stradivarius to a fifth consecutive win in the QIPCO British Champions Long Distance Cup at Ascot.

The Stewards deemed Dettori had caused interference in closing a gap on Thomas Hobson, yet many would argue it was an inspired ride as Stradivarius followed up his wins in the Yorkshire Cup, Ascot Gold Cup, Gold Cup and Lonsdale Cup  which earned connections a cool 1 million bonus.

This was the softest ground he had encountered all season and John Gosdens money-spinner was sent off at Evens favourite as a result when his form suggested he should be long odds-on.

READ MORE: Melbourne target for Caulfield Cup hero Best Solution

READ MORE: Cracksman odds-on for second Champion Stakes

The uneven pace of the race worked against him as well, but under a cool ride, Dettori nipped into a gap up the rail as main market rival Flag Of Honour and Ryan Moore veered wide off the home turn.

Thomas Hobson was left with little room, however, as Stradivarius came across him into the straight, but it appeared to make little impact on the result, as Dettoris mount took the spoils by a length-and-a-half.

Dettori said: I had half a chance and took it, but you can only do that when you have plenty of horse.

Hes been a model of consistency and owns the crown of being champion stayer  you cant take it away from him.

Hes all heart, this horse.

Stradivarius nipped up on the inside to continue his tremendous run of success

Gosden was full of praise for Dettori and said: I said the ground is one thing, but we are going to get put in a box drawn in stall one  and he will have to be Houdini to get out of it  but he did. He saw that glimpse on the bend and dived for it.

The trainer added: He is a fabulous horse that didnt like the ground, Frankie said.

What a clever ride. We committed sooner than we wanted on ground we didnt like, but we did a bit of a hack canter. I wouldnt have brought him here if he wasnt in great order.

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(Owner) Bjorn (Nielsen) and I had a long conversation out on the pavement for 15 minutes after I walked the course, and it was touch and go whether we ran him. I said its Champions Day, and we should run.

Full marks to the jockey and horse for being brave enough to go through the gap.

We dont run until next May for either the Sagaro or Yorkshire Cup.
WASHINGTON (AP)  The top lawmakers on two House committees will interview Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein next week about reports that he had discussed secretly recording President Donald Trump.

The announcement on Thursday that Rosenstein will sit for a transcribed interview Oct. 24 comes after weeks of negotiations over the meeting. The two Republican chairmen and top Democrats on the House Judiciary and Oversight and Government Reform committees will interview him. Members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus had originally pushed for Rosenstein to appear but will be left out of the meeting, according to the terms laid out by the panels.

Judiciary Chairman Robert Goodlatte, R-Va., and Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., said in a statement that the interview will be held in a secure room and that a transcript will be released after the intelligence community reviews it for classified information.

There was speculation weeks ago that Rosenstein would be fired or would resign following a September New York Times report that he had discussed secretly recording the president last year to expose chaos at the White House. The report said Rosenstein also discussed invoking constitutional provisions to remove Trump from office.

Rosenstein went to the White House days after the report, expecting to be fired, but his job was spared, and he later flew with Trump on Air Force One to an international police chiefs' conference in Florida. The president declared his job safe, saying he was "not making any changes."

"We just had a very nice talk," Trump told reporters. "We actually get along."

Trump and Rosenstein have had an up-and-down relationship, though the deputy has been spared the brunt of the anger directed at his boss, Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Trump's relationship with Sessions deteriorated after the attorney general recused himself from the Russia investigation.

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Goodlatte said last month that "there are many questions we have for Mr. Rosenstein, including questions about allegations made against him in a recent news article. We need to get to the bottom of these very serious claims."

North Carolina Rep. Mark Meadows, the head of the House Freedom Caucus, initially led the push to bring Rosenstein to Capitol Hill. On Thursday, he tweeted that Rosenstein "should resign immediately."

"He has not cooperated with Congress, failed to be transparent about his actions, and shown a lack of candor in the way he's characterized a number of events," Meadows tweeted. He did not elaborate or provide evidence for those claims.

Democrats have called the meeting with Rosenstein part of a Republican effort to undermine special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into possible coordination between Russia and the Trump campaign during the 2016 presidential election. Because of Sessions' recusal, Rosenstein appointed Mueller as special counsel and oversees that investigation.

___

Associated Press writer Eric Tucker contributed to this report.
After a long history of endorsing Republican candidates, the Houston Chronicle is shifting gears to throw its support behind Rep. Beto ORourke, the Democrat challenging GOP Sen. Ted Cruz in the midterm elections.

With eyes clear but certainly not starry, we enthusiastically endorse Beto ORourke for U.S. Senate, the papers editorial board wrote on Friday. The West Texas congressmans command of issues that matter to this state, his unaffected eloquence and his eagerness to reach out to all Texans make him one of the most impressive candidates this editorial board has encountered in many years.

The Chronicle noted that ORourke faces difficult odds. The last time Texas elected a Democrat to the Senate was in 1988.

But the race has been closer than expected for red Texas. Polling in the months leading up to the November election has shown ORourke and Cruz virtually neck-and-neck. ORourkes campaign has raised more than $38 million, triple what Cruzs team has collected.

A Beto victory would be good for Texas, not only because of his skills, both personal and political, but also because of the manifest inadequacies of the man he would replace, the Chronicle wrote. The paper then went on to list some of the ways that Cruz  whom the editorial board endorsed in 2012  has let his state down as a senator.

Exhibiting little interest in addressing the needs of his fellow Texans during his six years in office, he has kept his eyes on a higher prize, the Chronicle wrote. The paper continued:

Hes been running for president since he took the oath of office  more likely since he picked up his class schedule as a 15-year-old ninth-grader at Houstons Second Baptist High School more than three decades ago. For Cruz, public office is a private quest; the needs of his constituents are secondary.

During a town hall discussion on Thursday, ORourke addressed rumors that he might also be eyeing the presidency. The answer is no, he said.

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Let me put it this way, he said. I promise ... the people of Texas that Ill serve every single day of a six-year term in the United States Senate and I wont leave this state to go run for president.

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CIUDAD HIDALGO, Mexico (AP)  About 2,000 Central American migrants who circumvented Mexican police at a border bridge and swam, forded and floated across the river from Guatemala decided on Saturday to re-form their mass caravan and continue their trek northward toward the United States.

Gathered at a park in the border city of Ciudad Hidalgo, the migrants voted by a show of hands and then marched to the bridge to urge those still there to cross the river and join them.

"Let's all walk together!" and "Yes we can!" they cried, defying warnings to turn back this week from U.S. President Donald Trump, who has sought to make the caravan and border security in general into a campaign issue a little over two weeks before midterm elections.

The group's decision capped a day in which Mexican authorities again refused mass entry to migrants on the bridge, instead accepting small groups for asylum processing and giving out 45-day visitor permits to some of them.

Mexico had sought to maintain order after a chaotic Friday in which thousands rushed across the bridge only to be halted by a phalanx of officers in riot gear. Authorities began handing out numbers for people to be processed in a strategy seen before at U.S. border posts when dealing with large numbers of migrants.

But despite a continued heavy police deployment on the bridge, a steady stream of migrants made it to Mexican soil with relative ease by crossing the Suchiate River that demarcates the notoriously porous border.

They swam, waded with the aid of ropes or paid locals who charge the equivalent of $1.25 to ferry people and goods across the muddy waters, and were not detained on reaching the Mexican bank.

"We don't yet know if we will make it to the (U.S.) border, but we are going to keep going as far as we can," said Rodrigo Abeja, one of the migrants' leaders, adding that they would strike out Sunday morning for the city of Tapachula.

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Where easily 3,000 people were on the bridge the previous day, the crowd had thinned out considerably by Saturday. In addition to those who crossed the river, immigration agents processed migrants in small groups and then bused them to an open-air, metal-roof fairground in Tapachula, where the Red Cross set up small blue tents on the concrete floor.

But the pace was slow, frustrating those who remained on the bridge in hot and cramped conditions.

"Please let us in, we want to work!" they entreated agents at the main gate. Behind it, workers erected tall steel riot barriers to channel people in an orderly fashion.

Each time a small side gate opened to allow people to pass, there was a crush of bodies as migrants desperately pushed forward.

Scarleth Cruz hoisted a crying, sweat-soaked baby girl above the crowd, crying out: "This girl is suffocating."

Cruz, 20, said she was going to ask for political asylum because of threats and repression she faced back in Honduras from President Juan Orlando Hernandez's governing party.

"Why would I want to go to the United States if I'm going to be persecuted" there as well, she said.

Mexico's Interior Department said in a statement that it had received 640 refugee requests by Hondurans at the border crossing. It released photos of migrants getting off buses at a shelter and receiving food and medical attention.

At least half a dozen migrants fainted.

Some tore open a fence on the Guatemala side of the bridge and threw two young children, perhaps age 6 or 7, and their mother into the muddy waters about 40 feet below. They were rafted to safety in on the Mexican bank.

Mexican workers handed food bottled water to the migrants on the bridge. Through the bars, a doctor gave medical attention to a woman who feared her young son was running a fever.

Sustenance also came from Guatemalan locals  for Carlos Martinez, a 24-year-old from Santa Barbara, Honduras, the plate of chicken with rice was the first bite to eat he'd had all day.

"It is a blessing that they have given us food," Martinez said. "It gives me courage to keep waiting, as long as I can."

Migrants cited widespread poverty and gang violence in Honduras, one of the world's deadliest nations by homicide rate, as their reasons for joining the caravan.

"One cannot live back there," said Fidelina Vasquez, a grandmother traveling with her daughter and 2-year-old grandson, standing next to the main border gate.

Hector Aguilar, a 49-year-old sales manager who worked as a taxi driver in Honduras' Yoro province to feed his four children, said he had to pay the two main gangs there protection money in order to work.

"On Thursdays I paid the 18th Street gang, and on Saturdays the MS-13," Aguilar said. "Three hundred lempiras per day"  about $12.50, a significant amount in low-wage Honduras.

The caravan elicited a series of angry tweets and warnings from Trump early in the week, but Mexico's no-nonsense handling of the migrants at it southern border seems to have satisfied him more recently.

"So as of this moment, I thank Mexico," Trump said Friday at an event in Scottsdale, Arizona. "I hope they continue. But as of this moment, I thank Mexico. If that doesn't work out, we're calling up the military  not the Guard."

"They're not coming into this country," Trump added.

"The Mexican Government is fully engaged in finding a solution that encourages safe, secure, and orderly migration," State Department Spokeswoman Heather Nauert said Saturday, "and both the United States and Mexico continue to work with Central American governments to address the economic, security, and governance drivers of illegal immigration."

Presidents Hernandez of Honduras and Jimmy Morales of Guatemala held an emergency meeting at a Guatemalan air base.

The leaders said an estimated 5,400 migrants had entered Guatemala since the caravan was announced a week ago, and about 2,000 Hondurans have returned voluntarily.

Morales said a Honduran migrant died in the town of Villa Nueva, about 20 miles (30 kilometers) from Guatemala City, when he fell from a truck that was transporting migrants.

Thousands of migrants slept  or tried to sleep  outdoors overnight underneath tarps and what blankets were available.

Jose Yanez, a 25-year-old farmer, woke up at 5 a.m. with a backache after having nothing to cover himself from the nighttime chill. But he was determined to press onward, saying the $6 a day he made back home was not enough to live on.

"From here," Yanez said, "there's no going back."

___

Mark Stevenson reported from Ciudad Hidalgo, and Sonia Perez D. reported from Tecun Uman, Guatemala. Associated Press writers Sonny Figueroa in Guatemala City and Peter Orsi in Mexico City contributed to this report.
Montreal (AFP) - An Icelandair flight made an emergency landing in Canada after a cockpit window shattered during flight, a passenger said on Twitter.

On its website, the airline said only that Flight 688 was diverted to Bagotville, Quebec "due to a technical issue."

A passenger, Harrison Hove, tweeted that the "captain says his left window shattered and had to bring us down rapidly."

Hove, a news manager at the University of Florida, said all passengers appeared to be safe.

He reported that an airline employee estimated the crack at 20 centimeters (eight inches).

The Boeing 757 aircraft was flying from Orlando, Florida to Keflavik, Iceland with 155 passengers and seven crew, the local Le Quotidien newspaper reported.

Bagotville, about 200 kilometers (124 miles) north of Quebec, does not normally handle international flights, but Hove said Canadian immigration officers were sent onto the plane to clear the passengers.

Icelandair said another aircraft would arrive on Saturday so passengers could continue to Keflavik and then on to destinations in Europe.
By Valentina Za MILAN (Reuters) - Italy's ruling coalition patched up a row over a tax amnesty on Saturday and struck a more conciliatory tone toward EU institutions, saying it wanted to discuss its budget plans with Brussels. The coalition included the tax amnesty in measures to fund costly electoral promises that are set to sharply lift the budget deficit to 2.4 percent of domestic output next year, flouting European Union rules that require steady progress toward a balanced budget. Earlier this week, Italy brushed off criticism from Brussels after the Commission stepped up pressure over a draft budget it labeled an "unprecedented" breach of EU rules. But speaking after a cabinet meeting that settled the amnesty dispute, Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said Italy had "a comfortable place" in Europe. "We acknowledge European institutions as our counterparties (over budget matters) ... we'll sit down around a table for a constructive and peaceful dialogue," Conte told a news conference. He said he would visit EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker in the near future to discuss the issue. Deputy Prime Ministers Luigi Di Maio and Matteo Salvini, head of the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement and far-right League respectively, both reiterated Italy's commitment to the single currency. "We're well in Europe. There isn't and there won't be any plan to leave the euro or the European Union," Salvini said. Salvini had rebuffed criticism over the budget earlier this week, saying the Commission was "a bunker under siege whose days are counted," in reference to next spring's European elections. The government's free-spending plans prompted a credit downgrade by Moody's on Friday, which cut Italy's sovereign debt rating to one notch above junk status. Data released the same day showed foreign investors have reduced their holdings of Italian government bonds by 67 billion euros since May when markets first got wind of the coalition's program. "ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL" The League and the 5-Star Movement, the two parties in the coalition, had been at odds over widening the proposed tax amnesty to shield financial criminals, including money launderers. Di Maio had accused the League of tricking its coalition partner by surreptitiously broadening the scope of the amnesty in the final draft of the 2019 budget. He said on television he was ready to go to the magistrates over the incident. But Salvini offered to drop the measure and a compromise was hammered out at a coalition meeting on Saturday, followed by a cabinet meeting that approved the law decree. "Three surreal days are coming to an end ... it's been a bit tiring but all's well that ends well," Salvini said. The 5-Star has opposed tax amnesties in the past but they are popular with the League's voter base, which traditionally comprises self-employed businessmen. Italy, which suffers from high rates of tax evasion, has often resorted to tax amnesties to raise money. (Reporting by Valentina Za; Editing by Adrian Croft and Helen Popper)
Protesters at the White House accused Donald Trump and the Saudis of engaging in a cover up - AFP

Turkey vowed on Saturday that it would not allow any cover up in the Jamal Khashoggi case after Saudi Arabia admitted its operatives had killed the journalist but insisted that Mohammed bin Salman, the crown prince, was not involved.

After more than two weeks of protesting its innocence, Saudi Arabia changed course and said that Mr Khashoggi, 59, died during a fist fight inside the Saudi consulate on October 2.

The kingdom said it had arrested 18 Saudis in connection with the killing and sacked General Ahmed al-Assiri, the deputy intelligence chief, and Saud al-Qahtani, a close aide to Crown Prince Mohammed.

Saudi officials insisted that the crown prince had no knowledge of the murder or subsequent cover up. King Salman tasked him with reforming the Saudi intelligence services, a sign that Crown Prince Mohammed's position remains secure.

Donald Trump, the US president, said he found the explanation credible but the Saudi narrative was met with a wave of scepticism by American spy agencies and leading members of Congress.

To say that I am sceptical of the new Saudi narrative about Mr Khashoggi is an understatement, said Lindsey Graham, a powerful Republican senator.

Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House intelligence committee, said the explanation is not at all credible.

The claim that Khashoggi was killed while brawling with 15 men dispatched from Saudi Arabia is not at all credible. If he was fighting with those sent to capture or kill him, it was for his life.



The Kingdom must be held to account. If Administration doesnt lead, Congress must.  Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) October 19, 2018

Omer Celik, a spokesman for Turkeys ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), said the country had a debt of honour to solve Mr Khashoggis death and would continue its own investigation.

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"Turkey will reveal whatever had happened. Nobody should ever doubt about it, Mr Celik said. We are not accusing anyone in advance but we dont accept anything to remain covered [up].

His statement stopped short of saying Turkey did not believe the Saudi explanation but indicated that Turkish officials did not intend to immediately accept Riyadhs version of events.

Turkish police continue to search for Mr Khashoggis body. Saudi Arabia said that his killers handed the corpse to a local accomplice and that the kingdom did not know where it was.

Turkish officials also claim to have gruesome audio tapes showing Mr Khashoggi was tortured before he was murdered and cut apart with a bone saw. The tapes, if confirmed, could undercut Saudi Arabias claim about a fist fight.

Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, became the first major leader to say she did not accept the Saudi explanation of the "horrific events" in Istanbul. They still havent been cleared up and of course we demand that they be cleared up, she said on Saturday.

The Saudi government has been under days of intense pressure to explain what happened to the dissident journalist after he entered the consulate more than two weeks ago.

Saudi officials said that the kingdom had issued a general order for Saudi dissidents to return home but that Gen Assiri had acted on his own to plan an operation to capture Mr Khashoggi in Turkey.

"There were no orders for them to kill him or even specifically kidnap him," a Saudi official said.

[Crown Prince Mohammed] had no knowledge of this specific operation and certainly did not order a kidnapping or murder of anybody. He will have been aware of the general instruction to tell people to come back.

In the Saudi explanation, the 15-man squad confronted Mr Khashoggi when he entered the consulate and a fight broke out, resulting in the journalist's death.

A Saudi statement said the interaction between Mr Khashoggi and his kidnappers did not go as required and developed in a negative way, led to a fight and a quarrel between some of them.

Mohammed bin Salman's reputation as a reformer has come under scrutiny amid questions over Khashoggi's death Credit: Francois Mori/AP

All 15 men, mainly spies and soldiers, were arrested along with two consular staff and a driver. Saudi Arabia said the 18 would be tried in Saudi courts. Three other intelligence officials were also sacked.

Bruce Riedel, a former CIA officer and director of the Intelligence Project at the Brookings Institute, said it was ludicrous to claim Saudi officials had mounted the elaborate operation without Crown Prince Mohammeds knowledge. If this is the best cover up theyre going to be able to put forward its not going to pass muster, he said.

Regional allies - including Egypt, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates - issued statements in praise of the king.

Critics of Saudi Arabia pointed to several tweets by Mr al-Qahtani as evidence that the crown prince was fully aware of what his aides were doing.

In one 2017 tweet, Mr al-Qahtani said he would never act on his own initiative and described himself as a faithful executor of the orders of the king and crown prince. On the same day he warned a Saudi dissident living in London that the assassination file has been reopened.

After his sacking, Mr al-Qahtani tweeted his thanks to the king and the crown prince for the "great confidence" they put him in and said he would continue to be "a loyal servant".

Mr Khashoggi's Turkish fiancee, Hatice Cengiz, tweeted in Arabic: "The heart grieves, the eye tears, and with your separation we are saddened, my dear Jamal," she said, also asking "#where is martyr Khashoggi's body?"

Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques directs that a ministerial committee be formed under chairmanship of HRH Crown Prince to restructure the General Intelligence Presidency and modernize its regulations and define its powers precisely.#SPAGOV  SPAENG (@Spa_Eng) October 19, 2018

Saturday's announcements confirmed days of speculation that the royal family would blame Gen Assiri for Mr Khashoggi's death. The commander, who trained at Sandhurst, had only recently taken up the number two position in the Saudi intelligence community.

It was not clear if he would face any judicial proceedings.

Supporters of Saudi Arabia insisted that the dismissal of senior officials was proof that the kingdom was not engaging in a cover up to protect the crown prince. "This is unprecedented," said Ali Shihabi, founder of the pro-Saudi Arabia foundation.

The removal of two top officials, a cabinet ranking, very powerful and close advisor of MBS and the Deputy Head of Foreign intelligence + 4 other Generals in foreign intelligence (virtually its whole top leadership) cannot be written off as a cover up. This is unprecedented.  Ali Shihabi (@aliShihabi) October 19, 2018

Antonio Guterres, UN secretary-general, is "deeply troubled" by the admission, said a spokesman.

The UN chief called for a "prompt, thorough, transparent" probe into the circumstances of Khashoggi's death and urged full accountability for those who were involved.

The alleged killing has sent shockwaves through the world, dwarfing outrage over the kingdoms recent arrest of womens rights activists and its involvement in the deaths of civilians in the war in Yemen.

In the past few days, foreign diplomats have suspended scheduled visits to the kingdom and more than two dozen senior officials and executives from the US and Europe have cancelled plans to attend the Future Investment Initiative, dubbed the Davos of the Desert.

The announcement that Mr Khashoggi was killed at the consulate will heap more pressure on Britain to act against Saudi Arabia.

Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt is considering the "next steps" in Britain's response to the case, officials said.

Mr Hunt had earlier warned there would be "consequences" for the UK's relationship with Saudi Arabia if it was found the journalist was murdered.
San Francisco (AFP) - The crisis surrounding the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, and concerns that he may have been killed in the Saudi consulate in Turkey, has highlighted the role of the Middle East kingdom in the US economy, especially in Silicon Valley.

Saudi money has been a key source of capital for startups and other technology firms in recent years, led by the huge Saudi sovereign wealth arm known as the Public Investment Fund, but also from individual members of the Saudi royal family and the Kingdom Holding Company, the investment arm of Prince Al-Waleed Bin Talal, according to the research firm CB Insights.

The most prominent of the investments was a $45 billion contribution in 2016 to the SoftBank Vision Fund launched by the Japanese conglomerate focusing on tech and startups, followed by a pledge of another $45 billion this year.

That gives the Saudis at least an indirect role in some of the hottest companies in the tech sector, including Uber, Slack, WeWork and Nvidia.

But the Saudi funds and royal family members also have made direct investments in Silicon Valley, including the $3.5 billion infusion in Uber from the sovereign PIF fund, a deal which helped put the fund's managing director Yasir Al Rumayyan on the Uber board of directors.

Despite the big Saudi investment in Uber, its CEO Dara Khosrowshahi announced he would skip the high-profile investment conference in Saudi Arabia next week, joining a number of US and European business and political leaders who are staying away as a result of the Khashoggi controversy.

PIF has invested $461 million in the mixed reality startup Magic Leap, which has also raised capital from Google, China's Alibaba and others.

The PIF was also in focus recently when Tesla chief executive Elon Musk said in a tweet that he had secured funding -- which turned out to be untrue -- from the fund to take the electric automaker private.

The PIF later announced it was investing more than $1 billion in Tesla rival Lucid Motors, which is aiming to deliver its first vehicles in 2019.

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- Focusing on transport -

The transport sector is a key focus for the Saudis: the Vision Fund has taken a stake in GM-backed autonomous car unit Cruise, and Kingdom Holding has shares of Uber rival Lyft.

Prince Al-Waleed meanwhile has investments in Twitter and Apple, and a 2.3 percent stake in Snapchat parent firm Snap.

Saudi Arabia is also seen as a key market for US tech giants as the kingdom embarks on its "Vision 2030" plan to reduce dependence on oil and create a more diversified, tech-focused economy.

Microsoft earlier this year launched its cloud computing platform Azure Stack in Saudi Arabia in partnership with Saudi-based Sahara Net and China's Lenovo, estimating the value of the market to be worth some $29 billion.

The importance of Saudi money was seen in a visit this year by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, seen as the effective power in the kingdom to Silicon Valley, where he met top executives from Google and Apple.

In his US visit, Prince Mohammed also went to Seattle where he met Microsoft founder Bill Gates and its CEO Satya Nadella, as well as Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos.

For Bezos, the relationship with Saudi Arabia is complicated. His company operates the Souq ecommerce platform in the kingdom, but he personally owns the Washington Post newspaper, for which Khashoggi was a contributor and which has made repeated calls for information about the missing writer.
Dubai (AFP) - A complex man of contradictions, journalist Jamal Khashoggi went from being a Saudi royal family insider to an outspoken critic of the ultra-conservative kingdom's government, and was ultimately killed inside its consulate in Istanbul.

In his final column for The Washington Post, Khashoggi perhaps presciently pleaded for greater freedom of expression in the Middle East.

"The Arab world is facing its own version of an Iron Curtain, imposed not by external actors but through domestic forces vying for power," he wrote.

"The Arab world needs a modern version of the old transnational media so citizens can be informed about global events. More important, we need to provide a platform for Arab voices," Khashoggi wrote.

Now his voice has been permanently silenced.

The Saudi journalist -- who disappeared after entering his country's consulate in Istanbul on October 2 to obtain marriage papers -- went into self-imposed exile in the United States in 2017 after falling out with Saudi's powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

His disappearance has been shrouded in mystery, and triggered an international crisis for both Riyadh and Washington as Turkish officials accused Saudi Arabia of a state-sponsored killing.

Riyadh, after insisting that Khashoggi left its consulate alive, finally said over two weeks after his disappearance that he died in a fight that arose from a dispute with people he met there.

- Bin Laden to Muslim brotherhood -

Khashoggi came from a prominent Saudi family with Turkish origins.

His grandfather, Mohammed Khashoggi, was the personal doctor of Saudi Arabia's founder, King Abdul Aziz al-Saud. His uncle was the notorious arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi.

A friend of a young Osama bin Laden, a Muslim Brotherhood sympathiser, an aide to the Saudi royal family, a critic of the kingdom's regime and a liberal -- such conflicting descriptions were all ascribed to Khashoggi.

After graduating from Indiana State University in 1982, he began working for Saudi dailies, including the Saudi Gazette and Al-Sharq al-Awsat.

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When he was sent to cover the conflict in Afghanistan, a picture of a young Khashoggi holding an assault rifle and dressed in Afghan clothing was widely disseminated.

Khashoggi did not fight in the country, but sympathised with the mujahideen in the 1980s war against the Soviet occupation, which was funded by the Saudis and the CIA.

He was known to have been drawn to the Muslim Brotherhood's policies seeking to erase the remnants of Western colonialism from the Arab world.

It was this shared vision that brought him closer to a young Osama bin Laden, who went on to found Al-Qaeda, which carried out the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.

As a young journalist, Khashoggi interviewed bin Laden several times, garnering international attention. But later in the 1990s, he distanced himself from the man who called for violence against the West.

- 'Too progressive' -

Born in the Saudi holy city of Medina on October 13, 1958, Khashoggi spent his youth studying Islamic ideology and embraced liberal ideas.

But Saudi authorities came to see Khashoggi as too progressive and he was forced to resign as editor-in-chief of the Saudi daily Al-Watan in 2003 after serving just 54 days.

Over the years, he maintained ambiguous ties with Saudi authorities, having held advisory positions in Riyadh and Washington, including to Prince Turki al-Faisal, who ran Saudi Arabia's intelligence agency for more than 20 years.

When Faisal was appointed ambassador to Washington in 2005, Khashoggi went with him.

In 2007, Khashoggi returned to Al-Watan newspaper, lasting almost three years before being fired for "his editorial style, pushing boundaries of discussion and debate within Saudi society," according to Khashoggi's website.

He became close to Saudi billionaire Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal and together they launched in Manama a 24-hour news station, Al-Arab.

However, Bahrain -- a staunch Saudi ally -- shut the station down in 2015, less than 24 hours after it broadcast an interview with an opposition official.

- 'Fear, intimidation' -

Khashoggi fled Saudi Arabia in September 2017, just months after Prince Mohammed was appointed heir to the region's most powerful throne.

Months later, Prince Al-Waleed and hundreds of officials and businessmen were arrested in November 2017 in what the Saudis called an anti-corruption campaign.

In an article published in the Post last year, Khashoggi, whose 60th birthday was on October 13, said that under Prince Mohammed -- the kingdom's de facto ruler -- Saudi Arabia was entering a new era of "fear, intimidation, arrests and public shaming."

He said he had been banned from writing in the pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat for defending the Muslim Brotherhood, which Riyadh has blacklisted as a terrorist organisation.

And he said Saudi authorities had barred him from using his verified Twitter account after he said the country should be "rightfully nervous about a Trump presidency."

Trump has expressed support for Crown Prince Mohammed, and his son-in-law and advisor Jared Kushner has deliberately cultivated close ties with the prince, known as MBS.

Khashoggi, who was due to marry his Turkish fiancee Hatice Cengiz this month, also criticised Saudi Arabia's role in the Yemen conflict and opposed a Saudi-led boycott of Qatar.

"For his domestic reform programme, the crown prince deserves praise. But at the same time, the brash and abrasive young innovator has not encouraged or permitted any popular debate in Saudi Arabia about the nature of his many changes," Khashoggi wrote in the British daily The Guardian in March.

"He appears to be moving the country from old-time religious extremism to his own 'You-must-accept-my-reform' extremism."
WATERBURY, Conn. (AP)  A Connecticut teenager who says she was mocked and shamed for not standing up during the Pledge of Allegiance filed a federal lawsuit this week against her teacher and the school board.

The unnamed 14-year-old student said she and other students remained seated as part of a "peaceful and nondisruptive" protest over racial discrimination against black people in her lawsuit filed Monday in U.S. District Court.

The Waterbury Arts Magnet School teacher brought another teacher into the classroom to lecture the students on their "supposed lack of patriotism" while praising others who stood, according to the lawsuit.

The student's attorney, John Williams, said the teacher "went way overboard," and his actions violated her First Amendment rights.

"As long as they are not being disruptive, they are entitled to freely express political views," he said.

Williams told the Republican-American the student's mother reached out to him after attempts to resolve the issue with school administrators failed.

He said the student has been "frightened and intimidated" as a result of the teacher's actions.

Williams said they're seeking an injunction to stop the teacher's behavior and get undisclosed damages.

A message left at the school district's superintendent's office Thursday was not immediately returned.
Its a cold financial calculation: Saudi money for U.S.-made weaponry results in American jobs.

This is President Donald Trumps rationale in dismissing calls in Congress to halt future arms sales to Saudi Arabia following the mysterious disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi, the Saudi journalist and American resident.

I dont like the concept of stopping an investment of $110 billion into the United States, Trump said last week.

All theyre going to do is say, Thats OK. We dont have to buy it from Boeing. We dont have to buy it from Lockheed. We dont have to buy it from Raytheon and all these great companies. Well buy it from Russia. Well buy it from China, he said.

The 75-year alliance between the two nations has been built on a simple arrangement: American demand for Saudi oil and Saudi demand for American firepower.

It is a relationship that is not easily unwound as a bipartisan group of U.S. Senators found out earlier this year when they moved to cut off military assistance to the Saudis in their war against Houthi rebels in Yemen. The United Nations has said that more half of the more than 10,000 people who have been killed in the three-year old war are civilians, and the lives of millions are potentially at risk from famine.

The U.S. government has provided intelligence, munitions and midair refueling to Saudi warplanes since operations kicked off in 2015. Attempts by American lawmakers to stop that aid have thus far failed.

Saudi Arabia has spent at least $5.8 million on lobbying Congress this year, according to data compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics, a government watchdog. But recently filed documents detailing expenses and reimbursements put the actual number closer to $9 million, said Lydia Dennett, investigator with the Project on Government Oversight.

The Kingdom has a veritable army of lobbyists and PR firms working to promote their interests in a wide variety of ways, she said.

The Foreign Influence Transparency Initiative, a left-leaning think tank in Washington, recently compiled records filed under Foreign Agents Registration Act that show in 2017 Saudi lobbyists contacted over 200 members of Congress, including every Senator. The data also found the Saudi agents contacted officials in the State Department, which oversees foreign military sales, nearly 100 times.

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The Saudi-U.S. relationship is peerless when it comes to arms sales. The kingdom buys more American weapons than any other nation. Saudi Arabia accounted for nearly one-fifth of American of all weapons exports over the past five years, according to a recent report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

The Pentagon has a team of U.S. service members based out of the capital Riyadh wholly dedicated the management and administration of Saudi Arabian Foreign Military Sales. It serves as a direct pipeline to move weapons from U.S. arms manufacturers into the arms of the Saudi military.

The U.S. militarys Joint Advisory Division works alongside commanders in each branch of the Saudi military to help fill their weapons needs. Once the Saudis commit to what they want  tanks, attack helicopters, missiles, ships, laser-guided bombs  the arms packages must be OKd by the U.S. Defense and State Departments, and approved by Congress.

The arrangement falls under the U.S. Military Training Mission to Saudi Arabia, which is led by a two-star American general. The mission is primarily designed to bolster Saudi Arabia against arch-rival Iran in order to assert power and influence in the Middle East.

We have other very good allies in the Middle East, but if you look at Saudi Arabia: Theyre an ally and theyre a tremendous purchaser of not only military equipment, but other things, Trump said Wednesday in the Oval Office.

It was the Presidents latest attempt to trumpet $400 billion in business deals that his administration signed in May 2017 during a two-day visit to Saudi Arabia. The eye-popping figure includes $110 billion in military sales, which analysts point out is misleading because it represented letters of interest and not firmed-up contracts.

Saudi Arabia has thus far only committed to purchase $14.5 billion-worth of equipment since the announcement was made 17 months ago. The Administration says the Saudis are currently pursuing more than $114 billion in military hardware.

But even if the kingdom moves forward with the sales, the transactions wouldnt be worth it, according to William D. Hartung, director of the arms and security project at the Center for International Policy. Jobs are no excuse for arming a regime with Saudi Arabias dismal human rights record, whether it is its role in the killing of Jamal Khashoggi or its indiscriminate bombing of civilians in Yemen, he said.

The Khashoggi case has caused an escalating debate on Capitol Hill over the U.S.-Saudi relationship. Lawmakers on both sides have called for a reappraisal if the kingdom is found responsible for Khashoggis disappearance or death.

James Carafano, a vice president at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, says its critical that Washington doesnt rush policy changes on such an enduring alliance until the facts are clear. This isnt an episode of Law & Order. This is a murder investigation and a murder investigation takes a lot of time, he said.

The Trump Administration has repeatedly called for patience. On Thursday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told reporters outside the White House that the U.S. will give Saudi Arabia a few more days to conduct a complete, thorough investigation.

Were all going to get to see the response from Saudi Arabia to this, he said. When we see that, well get a chance to determineall of us will get a chance to make a determination as to the credibility of the work that went into that, whether its truly accurate, fair, and transparent in the very way they made a personal commitment to me, and ultimately made a personal commitment to the president when they spoke to him.

Before taking the short walk back into the White House, he added that Saudi Arabia was also an important strategic alliance of the United States. We need to be mindful of that as well.
Paul Kenny escaped serious injury after punching a shark that attacked him north of Newcastle

A man on a nudist beach has survived a head-on shark attack.

Paul Kenny, 50, said he escaped the bull shark by punching it in the head until it released him during the attack in Australia on Saturday morning.

He was body surfing at Samurai beach, known locally as a nudist beach, when the predator clenched its jaws around his arm.

Samurai beach had recently reopened due concerns of increased shark activity in the area after a whale washed ashore.

After punching the bull shark in the head repeatedly, Kenny says he run desperately out of the water.

He said: I think [my arm] got the end of his mouth because his head was bigger than [the size of the bite mark], its not just a little head like that.

Kenny was attacked by a bull shark (not pictured)

But I think he just turned and snapped and just got the end of it and just missed an artery, thank God.

I was coming in. So I went to move out a bit deeper to get a better wave and just put my head down and headbutted it and then it just grabbed me, and I just started punching it until it let go.

And then started getting back out of the surf as quick as I could holding my arm because there was blood everywhere and hoping it wouldnt come back.

Kenny is currently being treated in hospital, where he remains in a stable condition.




A four-wheel drive vehicle is parked at the police station in Roma, Australia - AP

A 23-year-old man has pleaded guilty to the rape and kidnapping of a British backpacker in Australia after holding her captive during a brutal 900-mile road trip across the outback.

Appearing via video in a court in Cairns in north Queensland, Marcus Allyn Keith Martin pleaded guilty to three counts of rape and one count of deprivation of liberty following his horrific treatment of a 22-year-old British traveller spanning about two months in 2017.

The woman was rescued after she appeared shaken and traumatised at a petrol station in south-west Queensland. She failed to pay possibly as part of a deliberate ploy which prompted the cashier to contact the police.

Beverley Page, the owner of the petrol station, later said she immediately realised something was wrong.

She came in, she couldnt pay for her fuel, Ms Page said. She was crying and shaking the whole time  she was really upset. There were two marks on her neck along with the black eyes.

When police located Martins four-wheel-drive near the outback town of Mitchell, a small rural town about 900 miles south of Cairns, they reportedly discovered Martin hiding in an alcove in the back.

The pair reportedly met at a dance party outside Cairns before starting a relationship.

The woman, who arrived in Australia on a working visa in April 2015, told police that Martin had begun abusing her shortly after they met.

Detective Inspector Paul Hart said the backpacker showed remarkable courage and had no real opportunity to escape.

What she's experienced is no doubt horrific and terrifying, he said in 2017.

A four-wheel drive vehicle is parked at the police station in Roma, Australia Credit: AP

She is a tourist, a lot of the areas where she would have been would have been unknown to her, and she wouldn't have known anyone there, so it would have been difficult for her to make an escape.

Following Martins guilty plea, prosecutors discontinued ten other charges including eight counts of rape, one of serious cruelty to animals, and torture.

Martin earlier pleaded guilty to supplying dangerous drugs, wilful damage, assault occasioning bodily harm and choking or strangulation.

He has been remanded in custody and will appear in court next February at a hearing to set his sentencing date.
Pat Cosgrave with Best Solution, winners of the Caulfield Cup

Saeed bin Suroor has been in the shadow of fellow Godolphin trainer Charlie Appleby throughout much of the past two seasons, but flag-bearer Best Solution gave him a fillip when gaining a third consecutive Group 1 victory when taking the Stella Artois Caulfield Cup.

The four-year-old son of Kodiac will now head to the Lexus Melbourne Cup after just having enough to fend off Homesman in a tight photo finish. He was immediately cut to 12/1 by GentingBet for the 2m Melbourne Cup, dubbed the race that stops a nation, on November 6.

Sent off an 11/1 chance, Best Solution dug deep under Pat Cosgrave having missed the break from his wide draw, but his rider stayed patient and with the lack of pace in the race, he made a move to kick clear some way out and rounded the home turn in front.

READ MORE: Cracksman odds-on for second Champion Stakes

READ MORE: Too Darn Hot and Frankie Dettori strengthen 2,000 Guineas claims

The colt, who had previously secured two top-level successes in Germany following a Group 2 win at Newmarket in July, held off all comers to earn a short-head verdict in the mile-and-a-half contest.

The Aidan OBrien-trained The Cliffsofmoher (known in Britain as Cliffs Of Moher) was third, with the Andrew Balding-trained Duretto fourth.

Bin Suroor, who teamed up with Cosgrave to win the Ladbrokes Stakes with Benbatl last weekend, said: It was Sheikh Mohammeds decision to send him to Australia after he won two Group Ones in Germany and it is a brilliant result for him.

The horse is doing good and the Melbourne Cup is a big race, its another dream for us, but we will try.

Cosgrave said: Its been a wonderful week. It wasnt an ideal start and he was slow away, but I ended up getting a good position halfway down the back straight.

It was quick early for the first couple of furlongs, then they dawdled down to the 3f pole and thats why I kicked early  my horse is a good stayer.

Hes been a wonderful horse for me over the last 18 months and hopefully we can go on to Melbourne now.

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He added: It was a good day today, he toughed it out well. Theres another half-mile to go (in the Melbourne Cup), but well enjoy today first, come back to Melbourne and see how we go.

However, the stewards deemed Cosgrave in contravention of the rules and suspended him for 11 meetings for careless riding.

Cosgrave did not dispute the charge and opted to serve the ban immediately.

He will therefore not be available for next weekends Cox Plate but will be back in time for the two-mile Melbourne Cup at Flemington.
By Delphine Schrank TECUN UMAN, Guatemala (Reuters) - Hundreds of people in a caravan of migrants that crossed from Honduras into Guatemala staged a dramatic bid to breach the Mexican border on Friday, as local governments began preparing to disperse the convoy under pressure from Washington. Migrants poured through Guatemalan border posts in the town of Tecun Uman and onto a bridge leading to Mexico, only to be halted by dozens of Mexican police in riot gear. Mexico's president sharply rebuked the migrants for the border surge. U.S. President Donald Trump has warned the Central American caravan must be stopped before it reaches the United States, and Honduras and Guatemala said late on Friday they were mobilizing to assist the return of Honduran migrants to their homeland. Some migrants violently shook fences at the border and police said a few officers were injured in clashes. A handful of migrants jumped into the Suchiate River below to swim for rafts. Others turned back toward Guatemala. Carrying backpacks and small children, many bedraggled migrants simply sat down on the bridge. Some said that they had been teargassed. As the afternoon drew on, a tropical storm, Vicente, formed nearby off the Pacific coast. Jose Brian Guerrero, a 24-year-old Honduran traveling with neighbors and his extended family, said he had joined the caravan to escape violent street gangs, and to find work. "There's nothing for us in our country," said Guerrero, who used to sell beans in Honduras. On Friday evening, Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez said he had spoken to his Guatemalan counterpart Jimmy Morales for clearance to send civil protection personnel to help the Hondurans and to find transport for those wanting to return. "We'll continue this operation for as long as is necessary," Hernandez said in a post on Twitter. Shortly afterwards, Guatemala's government tweeted that Hernandez would meet Morales on Saturday in Guatemala City to implement a strategy for returning the Honduran migrants. Meanwhile, in a late televised address, Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto called the mass rush to penetrate the border "unprecedented", accusing some migrants of attacking police. "Mexico does not and will not allow (people) to enter its territory illegally, let alone violently," he said. A similar caravan of Central Americans that formed in southern Mexico in late March also drew the ire of Trump, who on Thursday threatened to use the military and close the southern border if Mexico did not halt the new march. Such a move would cause chaos on the crossing, one of the world's busiest, and badly disrupt trade. Speaking in Scottsdale, Arizona on Friday, Trump said he "appreciated very much" Mexico's efforts to stop the caravan. "If that doesn't work out, we're calling up the military - not the (National) Guard - we're calling up the military," he told reporters. "They're not coming into this country." Trump has also threatened to cut off aid to Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador - some of the poorest and most violent countries in the Americas - if they fail to prevent undocumented immigrants from heading to the United States. Their emigrants make up the bulk of people now caught trying to enter the United States illegally every year. Several migrants at the Guatemala-Mexico border spoke of entire neighborhoods leaving their homes to join the trek after news circulated on social media of a call for a new "caravan" to Mexico six months after the previous one. U.N. ASSISTANCE Earlier, Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met in Mexico City and discussed the caravan, which set off from Honduras last weekend. "It's a challenge that Mexico is facing, and that's how I expressed it to Secretary Pompeo," Videgaray told a joint news conference. Pompeo said he and Videgaray spoke of the importance of stopping the caravan before it reaches the U.S. border. In contrast to the earlier caravan, which had advanced into Mexico before officials began intensive efforts to process the migrants, the Mexican government turned its attention to the new group right on its southern border. Mexico's government has sought assistance from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). As Mexico processes the migrants, the caravan will likely slowly disperse. On Friday morning, Videgaray said the caravan had close to 4,000 people and that the migrants could individually present their claims to enter Mexico or seek refugee status. "We haven't had a caravan or group of this size seeking refuge at the same time, that's why we've sought the support of the United Nations," he told Mexican television. Mexico says the migrants without a legitimate case to claim refuge in Mexico will be returned to their countries of origin. A Mexican official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the country had the capacity to process around 200 people a day. POLICE WAITING Hundreds of Mexican police were sent to guard the border between the Guatemalan town of Tecun Uman and Ciudad Hidalgo in Mexico to prepare for the migrant caravan's arrival. Manelich Castilla, the head of Mexico's federal police, said at the scene that his officers had restored order after the rush of migrants toward the border, and would begin allowing people to be processed in an orderly fashion. Six police had been injured, Castilla said. UNHCR spokesman Charlie Yaxley said the agency was reinforcing capacity in southern Mexico to offer counseling, legal assistance and humanitarian aid to asylum-seekers. "UNHCR is concerned that the mobilization of such a large number of people in a single group will overwhelm the capacities that exist in the region," he told a news conference. (Reporting by Delphine Schrank in Tecun Uman; additional reporting by Veronica Gomez, Julia Love, Daina Beth Solomon, Noe Torres and Dave Graham in Mexico City, Tom Miles in Geneva and Edgard Garrido in Tecun Uman; Writing by Dave Graham; Editing by Rosalba O'Brien and Sandra Maler)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The next summit meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is likely to happen early next year, a senior administration official said on Friday. The two sides have been engaged in talks on the leaders' second meeting after the first, unprecedented, one in Singapore in June. "A meeting is likely sometime after the first of the year," the U.S. official told a small group of reporters. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Friday he hopes to meet his North Korean counterpart soon to lay the groundwork for a "big step forward" on denuclearization during the next summit. Pompeo, in an interview with Voice of America on a trip to Mexico City, said Kim told him two weeks ago he was committed to the promises he had made to Trump during their first summit. "I'm very hopeful we'll have senior leader meetings here in the next week and a half or so between myself and my counterpart to continue this discussion so that when the two of them get together there is real opportunity to make another big step forward on denuclearization," he told VOA. Pompeo met North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho at the United Nations General Assembly in New York in September. A State Department spokeswoman declined to clarify if Pompeo meant he would meet his counterpart in Washington, saying she had no meetings to announce. The Rodong Sinmun, North Korea's official party newspaper, said the United States should not take an approach with "two faces" as Washington touts progress in denuclearization talks while keeping sanctions in place. "We do not want good will and generosity of the U.S. but urge it to act with the elementary give-and-take principle," the Rodong Sinmun said in a commentary on Saturday. The United States and South Korea on Friday said they had suspended upcoming joint air defense drills in a bid to ensure diplomatic efforts with North Korea continue. The two Koreas have held three summits this year. (Reporting by Steve Holland, David Alexander and David Brunnstrom; Additional reporting by Jane Chung in SEOUL; Editing by James Dalgleish and Ros Russell)
US Ambassador to the United NationsNikki Haley has poked some fun at President Donald Trump, just a week after announcing she would be leaving her position representing America to the world.

Ms Haley, during remarks at the 2018 Alfred Smith Dinner in New York, lightly mocked the president for getting laughed at at the UN General Assembly last month  a spectacle that both she and the president said was intentional. She later joked about the president's ongoing feud with Senator Elizabeth Warren.

The president called me this morning and gave me some good advice, he said if I get stuck for laughs just brag about his accomplishments. It really killed at the UN, Ive got to tell you, Ms Haley said on Thursday night.

The outgoing ambassador was recalling a moment during the presidents UN speech when delegates laughed at him boasting that his administration had, in two years, accomplished more than almost any in the history of our country.

Mr Trump later suggested that he had intended to get some laughs out of the boast. Ms Haley backed him up later on, supporting the presidents supposed foray into stand-up comedy.

After that joke, Ms Haley then turned her attention to Ms Warren, who recently released the results of a DNA test that strongly supported the existence of Native American ancestry from six to 10 generations ago. Mr Trump has repeatedly mocked Ms Warren with the nickname for Pocahontas for her having claimed previously that she has Native American ancestry.

I get it, you wanted an Indian woman but Elizabeth Warren failed her DNA test, Ms Haley said in New York. Actually, when the president found out that I was Indian American he asked me fi I was from the same tribe as Elizabeth Warren.

Ms Haley announced last week that she is resigning from her UN post, effective at the end of the year. She has since claimed that she has no ambitions to run for president in 2020, and it was not immediately clear where her future ambitions lie.

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The outgoing ambassador is said to have a close working relationship with the president, even though they have disagreed on certain international matters.

After her resignation announcement, Mr Trump praised the ambassador, saying she has done a fantastic job, and that she is a fantastic person.
OSLO (Reuters) - Norway, the European Union and several other countries asked the World Trade Organization (WTO) on Thursday to set up a dispute resolution panel to address U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminium.

The United States imposed a 25 percent duty on steel imports and a 10 percent tariff on aluminium imports, effective from March 23 in what U.S. President Donald Trump said was a move to protect U.S. metal makers.

"We believe that additional U.S. duty on steel and aluminium is contrary to WTO rules," Norwegian Foreign Minister Ine Eriksen Soereide said in a statement.

"Therefore, together with the EU and several others, we asked today the WTO to establish a dispute resolution panel on the U.S. additional duty," she said.

Norway said initial consultations with the United States had not led to an agreeable solution, and therefore the Nordic country had joined others in asking the WTO to set up the panel to obtain an independent assessment of the matter.

Norwegian exports of steel and aluminium in the categories affected by additional duties were worth close to 36 billion Norwegian crowns ($4.36 billion) in 2017, according to the Foreign Ministry.

"Although our exports to the United States of steel and aluminium are modest, this case is fundamentally important," Soereide said. "An open economy such as Norway is dependent on the rule-based multilateral system functioning."

The European Union is by far the largest market for Norwegian steel and aluminium.

In Brussels, meanwhile, the EU, Norway and Switzerland sought Asian support for free trade, the Iran nuclear deal and fighting global warming at a regional summit that included China, Japan and Russia as a counterbalance to a more protectionist United States.

($1 = 8.2556 Norwegian crowns)

(Reporting by Nerijus Adomaitis; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
Trump has called the press the enemy of the people, but mocking the assault of a journalist after Khashoggis disappearance is dangerous new territory



 Trump celebrated the Republican congressman, Greg Gianforte, who body-slammed a Guardian reporter in 2017 Photograph: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters

The danger of Donald Trump has always been his ability to blizzard your brain with indignities and insanities. There are too many controversies to recall, too many outrages, and like any good strongman wannabe, Trump has so shifted expectations that we can forget just how outrageous and dangerous he remains.

On Thursday night, Trump celebrated the Republican congressman, Greg Gianforte, who body-slammed a Guardian reporter in 2017. Gianforte was asked a question about healthcare and didnt like it. He attacked the journalist, Ben Jacobs, and won the Montana special election anyway.

Trump was back in Montana to rally for Gianforte and the Republicans. Any guy that can do a body slam... hes my guy, Trump said to cheers and laughter. The president then mimicked the violent move.

Trump has called the press the enemy of the people and viciously attacked just about any report critical of his administration. He has successfully guaranteed a significant portion of the country, his base, will disregard any watchdog journalism produced about his administration. The only legitimate news comes from his mouth or a sycophantic outlethe can effectively manufacture reality at will for a large share of Republican voters in this country.

That is why outrage over the alleged murder of Jamal Khashoggi, the Saudi Arabian journalist and author, has been so one-sided. The evidence is overwhelming that Khashoggis death was orchestrated by the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, a Trump ally. Trump has refused to condemn Saudi Arabia and conservative Republicans have already begun a whisper campaign to smear Khashoggis record as a means to provide cover for Trump.

This should horrify any American of any ideological stripe. As should Americas long-standing tolerance of Saudi Arabias human rights abuses, which certainly predate Trump. The brutal autocracy has been a friend to past presidential administrations and it is worth noting Trump is simply continuing a tradition of American hypocrisy abroad.

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The difference between Trump and past presidents is his systematic, frontal assault on free media and repeated attempts to delegitimize the medias role in a democratic society. The irony is bitter, and should never be overlookedTrumps rise to power was aided and abetted by credulous media outlets who gave his campaign near unlimited early television coverage. Before then, when Trump was a celebrity real estate developer and New York con artist, it was tabloid print media desperate for front page fodder which always got it from dapper Donald. (The New York Times, in writing one of the first-ever fawning profiles of Trump, helped manufacture the myth, too.)

Trump is a product of the thing he wishes to destroy. That irony is probably lost on him, not that it matters anyway. Reporters still favor-trading for access to the White House or laboring under the illusion Trump is really not so bad because Sarah Huckabee Sanders, behind the scenes at least, can be courteous to certain White House reporters should understand what is really at stake: the media has become a hate object for millions of people.

What is to be done? That is the haunting question with no good answer. Trump has accelerated a trend decades in the making and brought it here, to its horrid apotheosis. A president can condone violence against the press. He can celebrate it. He can get away with it.

The mainstream media is imperfect. News organizations have, at times, failed the public, and individual reporters make mistakes. There are no heroes here.

But Trump long ago eradicated such distinctions, such nuance. Anyone who attempts to question his movement deserves censure and violence. Anyone who stands against him should be crushed.

This is where we are. Trump has not won yet. The press is still doing its job and journalists are reporting with relative freedom. The danger is not in the Trump White House seizing the presses or jailing any Washington Post reporter who writes a negative word about him.

The danger is in whats already happeningAmericans losing any semblance of respect for what a free press means in this country, Americans disregarding fact-based reporting. Trump is doing damage, every day. We can only hope it doesnt get worse.
Lima (AFP) - President Martin Vizcarra swore in a retired police general as Peru's new interior minister Friday to replace Mauro Medina, who resigned after a fugitive supreme court judge fled to Spain.

Carlos Moran took the oath of office in a brief ceremony at the government headquarters as Vizcarra sought to cap a difficult week for his fledgling government.

Medina resigned late Wednesday after it emerged that a fugitive supreme court judge, Cesar Hinostroza -- awaiting trial in a cash-for-leniency scandal embroiling Peru's judiciary -- had slipped out of the country and fled to Spain.

"This is an embarrassing situation for the country," his Prime Minister Cesar Villanueva admitted in a statement to Congress about the judge's escape.

Hinostroza was sacked by Congress a fortnight ago and was awaiting trial for leading a criminal group inside the country's judiciary.

Vizcarra -- who has made fighting corruption his priority since taking office in March -- announced earlier Friday that Spain had placed Hinostroza in detention and was preparing his extradition.

Moran, the new minister, was a member of a special police unit that captured the leader of the Shining Path guerrillas in 1992.
SOCHI, Russia (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told him Tokyo could not immediately sign a peace treaty with Moscow without first resolving their territorial dispute. Putin, sitting alongside Abe at an economic forum in Vladivostok last month, proposed Japan and Russia conclude an unconditional peace treaty that would formally end World War Two hostilities between the two countries. Russia and Japan have been in dispute for seven decades over island territories captured by Soviet troops in the last days of the war. As a result, they have still not formally ended hostilities. Putin said he had discussed his proposal with Abe and that the Japanese prime minister had called the approach "unacceptable", adding "that we must first work out a principled decision on the territorial issues, and only then talk about a peace treaty." Speaking at a forum in the Black Sea city of Sochi, Putin said Russia was still ready to work on finding a solution, but that trust-building was needed for a peace deal and that Japanese sanctions on Russia were not fostering trust. (Reporting by Gleb Stolyarov; writing by Tom Balmforth; editing by Alison Williams, Larry King)
Roaring Lion and Oisin Murphy power home to land the QEII at Ascot on QIPCO British Champions Day

Roaring Lion successfully handled the drop in trip to land a thrilling Queen Elizabeth II Stakes and secure a first top-level success over a mile on a glorious Champions Day at Ascot.

Winner of the Coral-Eclipse, Juddmonte International and Irish Champion Stakes over 10 furlongs, John Gosden deemed the soft ground sufficient to drop back in distance and avoid a clash with stablemate Cracksman in the Champion Stakes.

And that decision paid off in style as Roaring Lion took on some of the best milers in Europe and came through with flying colours, with Oisin Murphy electing to come up the centre of the track and having enough in hand to fight off the fast finish of the Aidan OBrien-trained I Can Fly and long-time leader Century Dream to win by a neck and justify 21/ favouritism.

READ MORE: Dettori ban a low note as Stradivarius hits new heights

READ MORE: Hanagan and Sands Of Mali land Champion Sprint shock

READ MORE: Melbourne target for Caulfield Cup hero Best Solution

Roaring Lion may well have gone out on a high, as Gosden suggested that could be a career-ending win for the son of Kittens Joy.

Gosden said: Oisin said he hated the ground. That is no-ones fault, it is very deep. He won on fast ground at Leopardstown and he is probably a good ground, good to firm ground horse.

He showed his class and I thought the jockey showed his class, as he did not panic. He could have panicked at the two and thrown everything at it, but he nursed him and got him there.

Having walked the track I reassured everyone it was fine, but it is real deep, autumn ground. He was not happy on it, but he had the class to do it. Full marks to the horse.

The horse and he (Murphy) have grown in confidence together, which is an important thing. It is like a motor-racing driver with their car  when they get in tune with one and other.

He went on: It was very brave of the owners to run, because he is going to stud and if had got beaten they would have done nothing but devalue their horse. Its their sponsorship, so it is fantastic to win this race for them.

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It is down to horse and jockey and rather brave owners. I nearly got the wobbles watching it!

He added: He has never missed a dance and I think he will go to stud. I think that was his swansong and he will be greatly missed.

He is a much better horse than that and on good ground he would have flown home. He got the job done through guts. It is great credit to the horse.
(This story corrects Venice Commission description) By Luiza Ilie BUCHAREST (Reuters) - A power struggle between Romania's government and judiciary is reaching a tipping point that risks driving a new wedge between the European Union and its eastern members over democratic standards. Justice Minister Tudorel Toader has said he will soon decide the future of the prosecutor general, the last major figure in an anti-corruption drive which has won praise from Brussels for exposing high-level graft, including the theft of EU funds. Augustin Lazar oversees around 2,500 prosecutors, including anti-organized crime unit DIICOT and anti-corruption unit DNA. If Toader decides to trigger Lazar's dismissal, it will mark the end of an era for Romania's prosecutors. The head of the DNA has already been fired and DIICOT leader's mandate has expired. The government says the units have ruined innocent lives. Anti-corruption prosecutors have secured almost 5,000 convictions over the past five years, including 27 lawmakers and 83 mayors across parties, as well as ministers, county council heads, state firm managers and magistrates. Among them is Liviu Dragnea, leader of the ruling Social Democrats, who was barred from becoming prime minister by a conviction in the first of three investigations against him. He denies all wrongdoing and says he is the victim of a political witch-hunt by the judiciary. In recent months, his party has launched a slew of bills to overhaul criminal law and procedures to raise the burden of proof. It has also set up a unit to investigate judges and prosecutors for possible crimes and aims to reorganize judges panels. European diplomats, who are seeking sanctions against fellow east European states Poland and Hungary for flouting democratic values, are concerned Romania is following suit. "MOVING BACKWARDS" "There is now the real risk that things are moving backwards in a way that would be damaging not only for Romanian democracy but for the place that it has built as an EU member state," the EU executive's First Vice-President Frans Timmermans said at a meeting of the European Parliament this month. "The procedure that has been started recently in relation to the general prosecutor raises similarly worrying concerns." The Venice Commission, the Council of Europe's advisory body on constitutional matters, said on Friday that changes made to Romania's criminal code and procedures "seriously weaken the effectiveness of its criminal justice system to fight corruption offences, violent crimes and organized criminality." Any punitive measures against Romania similar to those the EU is seeking for Hungary and Poland will depend on the outcome of the wider legal changes the Social Democrats have initiated, including in the criminal code. On Monday, the government tightened hiring criteria for DNA and DIICOT prosecutors via an emergency decree; as a result, over 40 of those prosecutors will be reassigned to other work. It said this was to address the Venice Commission's concerns. Dragnea and senior party members say they aim to curb abuses by prosecutors and secret services, invoking the specter of a "parallel state" that illegally wiretaps them. DNA chief Laura Codruta Kovesi lost her job in July after an assessment by the justice minister similar to the one Lazar is undergoing now, despite resistance from the judicial watchdog and the president. Other prosecutors and judges have had inspectors in their offices looking for flaws in their work. "There is a tactic of making examples out of high profile legal professionals," one anti-corruption prosecutor told Reuters on condition of anonymity to protect pending cases. "They're trying to show what happens if you don't behave. And it is working. Some people in the judiciary are starting to think, why I am fighting this?" Minister Toader triggered the evaluation of Lazar, who oversees the prosecution service, or public ministry, in late August, saying the decision did not come out of the blue. "Over time, I have noticed how the public ministry has veered away from its constitutional role of guaranteeing citizens rights and liberties," he said. "As before (with Kovesi), I will make a radiograph of the prosecutor generals management and I will reach a conclusion." The minister told private television station Antena3 earlier this week his conclusion was days away. Lazar, who was appointed three years ago and has accused the government of trying to politicize the judiciary, said prosecutors' work was transparent and he did not fear being dismissed. "It is unfortunately a very sensitive time for the Romanian judiciary and rule of law," he told a conference after the minister's announcement, the only time he addressed the issue. "It's a context in which manipulating public opinion is often used as an instrument to destabilize prosecutors' work." The prosecutor general is in charge of requests to lift the immunity of lawmakers for investigations and has a vote on the country's judicial watchdog. Some critics have said he has not been aggressive enough in cleaning up the ranks of corrupt or inefficient colleagues, but many prosecutors admire him for standing up for them. DNA statements show the bulk of its anti-corruption cases concern public works contracts given to firms which courts later found to be paying bribes; many were overpriced and some payments, including with EU funds, were made for fictitious works. Timmermans said any changes that would weaken oversight of how EU taxpayers' money was spent in Romania "will trigger an immediate response from the Commission." Investors' associations have repeatedly warned that corruption is a strong deterrent for business. Dragnea, who is also lower house speaker, was given a two-year suspended sentence in a vote rigging case and also sentenced to three and a half years in jail for helping keep two party employees on the payroll of the state child protection agency. He has appealed and is due in court on Nov 5.[L8N1TN5FJ] He is also under investigation in a third case on suspicion of forming a criminal group to siphon off cash from state projects, some of them EU-funded, charges he denies. CHECKS AND BALANCES Romania's centrist president was forced to sign the Social Democrats' overhaul of the judiciary into law this month after he used up his chances to object. It removes his veto rights on appointing top prosecutors, one of the key checks and balances. Toader's nominee to replace Kovesi at the head of anti-corruption unit DNA has raised concerns she might be soft on high-level crime. In August, riot police fired tear gas into the crowd at an anti-government rally and beat protesters holding their hands up. An existing judicial inspectorate, whose chief Toader has kept on after his mandate expired, has been investigating magistrates at a rapid pace. Many of those probed have criticized the legislative changes. U.S. ambassador Hans Klemm told law students this month the judicial overhaul "creates greater opportunities to coerce and punish troublesome magistrates." "Cloaked in the mantle of concern for due process and human rights, some of these changes are a clear attempt to protect vested interests from an independent judiciary," he said. The ruling party does not always succeed. This month, the Constitutional Court struck down most of alterations to criminal procedures that were challenged and which would have raised the burden of proof on all criminal investigations. The Court will discuss challenges brought against proposed changes to the criminal code on Oct. 24. The Social Democrats have said their legal initiatives aim to align legislation with EU norms and address abuses, citing acquittals by higher courts, although these are rare, and corruption investigations against some prosecutors. Dragnea has also said that Romania's Secret Service (SRI), which has been gathering wiretap evidence for prosecutors based on court warrants, has been abusing its powers, faking evidence and illegally intercepting "millions of Romanians." He said either parliament or government should pass a bill to retroactively cancel wiretap evidence. That would jeopardize hundreds of verdicts ranging from corruption to human trafficking and potentially Dragnea's cases as well. DNA said that just over 36,000 people, not millions, have been wire-tapped since 2005. "When the dust settles," the anti-corruption prosecutor said, "it will take years to figure out how these laws were changed and what is left." (Reporting by Luiza Ilie; editing by Philippa Fletcher/Adrian Croft)
By Olzhas Auyezov and Polina Nikolskaya

TASHKENT (Reuters) - Russia and Uzbekistan began preliminary work on Friday on the first Uzbek nuclear power plant, a project Moscow estimates will cost $11 billion.

The plant, to be largely financed by a soft loan from Russia, will allow Uzbekistan to use more of its natural gas for other purposes such as chemicals production or export.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev pressed a symbolic button together at a ceremony in a conference hall in Tashkent to mark the start of geological surveying to decide on a location for the facility.

Uzbekistan expects to pour first concrete no earlier than 2020 because of the project's complexity. The two-block, 2.4 gigawatt plant is expected to start producing power in 2028.

Today, most electric power in Uzbekistan is generated by gas turbines, but the country wants to extract more added value from its gas reserves.

ENERGY DEALS

The nuclear project launch was a highlight of Putin's state visit to Tashkent, which saw the two sides also signed a number of other agreements, including in the energy sector.

Russia's Gazprom signed a production-sharing agreement for the Dzhel gas field where it aims to produce about 300 million cubic metres a year at peak, a small project by the region's standards. LUKOIL, signed a memorandum on exploration work, and Russian businessman Andrei Filatov signed an agreement with an Uzbek state firm over a project to develop a gas field and build a chemical plant.

Producing the same amount of energy as a nuclear power plant using modern gas turbines would consume more than 3.5 billion cubic metres of gas a year, according to Jurabek Mirzamahmudov, head of Uzbekistan's nuclear energy agency UzAtom.

"This is feedstock for one petrochemicals plant which could produce half a million tonnes of polymers," he told reporters this week.

Uzbekistan also exports gas by pipeline to Russia and China and the latter in particular has steadily increased energy purchases from Central Asia.

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Mirzamahmudov said it was possible Uzbekistan would add two more blocks to the plant in the future, doubling its capacity.

So far, however, the cost is not final even for the first two blocks. Moscow has put it at $11 billion, but Mirzamahmudov said talks on the matter would start next year and Tashkent hoped the figure could be reduced.

(Reporting by Olzhas Auyezov and Polina Nikolskaya)
Riyadh (AFP) - Saudi Arabia's admission -- after emphatic denials -- over the killing of critic Jamal Khashoggi is aimed at shifting the responsibility away from the powerful crown prince, whose position so far appears unshaken, analysts say.

The kingdom sacked two top aides to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as well three intelligence officials and arrested 18 Saudi suspects, in what some analysts called a scapegoating to quell the global outrage over Khashoggi's killing.

After 17 days of vehement denials, the kingdom's assertion on Saturday that the journalist was killed in a "brawl and fist fight" inside a Saudi consulate in Istanbul - without revealing the whereabouts of his body -- fell on sceptical ears around the world.

Saudi Arabia had previously roundly rejected allegations by Turkish officials that Khashoggi was killed by Saudi agents who dismembered his body, insisting he had walked out of the consulate alive.

"Here is Saudi Arabia's biggest problem," said Michael Stephens, a Middle East expert at the Royal United Services Institute.

The inconsistences in the Saudi statements "now totally undermines their position," he said.

Aside from the crisis of credibility, the international furore over Khashoggi's disappearance prompted fevered speculation that the 33-year-old prince, widely known as MBS, was at risk of being unseated from power by other royal family members.

But that danger appears to have subsided, analysts say.

The prince has amassed power to a level unseen by previous rulers after sidelining potential rivals, with only 82-year-old King Salman -- the prince's father -- in a position to oust him.

But the monarch issued a royal decree on Saturday to form a ministerial committee -- headed by the prince -- to revamp the kingdom's intelligence services, indicating that he was keen for him to stay.

"Despite speculation that the crisis spells the end of Mohammad bin Salman, the recent announcements prove that the king still believes that the current line of succession is suitable," said Eurasia Group, a risk consultancy.

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The unprecedented crisis apparently prompted the king -- who appears to have handed over day-to-day affairs to MBS -- to intervene, including handling a diplomatic outreach with Turkey and the United States.

- 'Aiming for accountability' -

The king also ordered the sacking of deputy intelligence chief Ahmad al-Assiri and royal court media adviser Saud al-Qahtani, both part of Prince Mohammed's inner circle.

"The decision to remove members of Mohammad bin Salman's inner circle is designed to demonstrate real accountability in the process and distance the crown prince from the murder," Eurasia Group said.

But the dramatic moves early Saturday have yet to stem the tide of global condemnation of Prince Mohammed, whose image as a modernising Arab reformer has been tarnished with his crackdown on dissent.

It has also tainted his reform program known as Vision 2030 -- to prepare the kingdom for a post-oil era.

"Dismissing Saud al-Qahtani and Ahmad al-Assiri is as close to MBS as it is possible to go," said Kristian Ulrichsen, a fellow at Rice University's Baker Institute in the United States.

"Interesting to see if these moves prove sufficient to end the crisis. If the drip-drip of additional details continue, there's no buffer to shield MBS any longer."

US President Donald Trump also appears to have thrown his weight behind the prince, swiftly endorsing Saudi Arabia's explanation about the death of Khashoggi and calling it an "important first step".

But casting doubt on the claim that Khashoggi was killed during a fist fight, the Washington Post reported on Saturday that the CIA had listened to audio recordings from Turkish officials that show he was brutally killed and dismembered by a team of Saudi agents.

US authorities have so far officially denied listening to any recordings.

- 'No cover-up' -

Pro-government Turkish media have also repeatedly claimed that Khashoggi was tortured and decapitated by a Saudi hit squad.

One Saudi agent identified by Turkey was said to be a frequent companion of Prince Mohammed, three others were linked to his security detail and a fifth is a high-level forensic specialist, according to The New York Times.

The kingdom's sudden admission on Saturday appears aimed at taking the heat off its rulers.

But people close to the Saudi leadership insist there was no cover up.

"The removal of two top officials, a cabinet ranking, very powerful and close advisor of MBS and the deputy head of intelligence ... cannot be written off as a cover up," tweeted Ali Shihabi, head of pro-Saudi think tank Arabia Foundation which is said to be close to the government.

But Shihabi himself contradicted the Saudi narrative, saying "Khashoggi died from a chokehold during a physical altercation, not a fist fight", citing a senior Saudi source.

Meanwhile, global calls are growing for Turkey to call on the UN secretary general to authorise an independent, international investigation in the case.

Turkey, on its part, vowed Saturday to reveal all it knows about the death of Khashoggi, but has yet to divulge details about the investigation.

"The Saudi regime must not be allowed to hide behind lies in order to literally get away with murder," said Summer Lopez, senior director of free expression at PEN America.
Saudi Arabia admitted that journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed in its Istanbul consulate

Saudi Arabian prosecutors believe missing journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul during a fight, according to state-run media.

The kingdom has said that 18 suspects are in custody following the death of the Washington Post columnist.

Saudi intelligence officials have reportedly been dismissed in the aftermath of his disappearance on October 2.

The kingdoms account, which follows an initial blanket denial of involvement, is vastly different to that of Turkish officials, who made allegations of an assassination squad.

US President Donald Trump previously warned he would consider sanctions against Saudi Arabia over Mr Khashoggi, since the apparent confirmation of his death, Trump has said he believed the Saudi explanation to be credible.

Trump said: Saudi Arabia has been a great ally, but what happened is unacceptable, the president said.





On the Saudi arrests, he added: Its a big first step. Its only a first step, but its a big first step.

The president said he needed to speak with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman before deciding what action the US would take.

President Trump told reporters after signing a presidential memo in Arizona on Friday that he will involve Congress in any decision. But he says he will be making certain recommendations.

He says that it is still too early to determine potential consequences but that he expects to know more by Monday.

He says: Were going to find out who knew what when and where and well figure it out.

Despite Trumps apparent satisfaction with the Saudi statement, politicians including Trump ally Senator Lindsey Graham expressed scepticism about the kingdoms account, which was vastly different from that given by Turkish officials, who said an assassination squad sent by the kingdom had killed and dismembered Mr Khashoggi.

First we were told Mr Khashoggi supposedly left the consulate and there was blanket denial of any Saudi involvement, Mr Graham tweeted on Friday. Now, a fight breaks out and hes killed in the consulate, all without knowledge of Crown Prince.

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A security guard walks outside Saudi Arabias consulate in Istanbul, Saturday, Oct. 20, 2018 (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)

Mr Khashoggi, a prominent journalist and royal court insider for decades in Saudi Arabia, had written columns critical of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and the kingdoms direction while living in self-imposed exile in the US. He went to the Saudi consulate to obtain paperwork for his forthcoming marriage.

The Saudi explanation for murdering journalist and Virginia resident Jamal Khashoggi in a consulate  a fistfight gone wrong  is insulting, tweeted Senator Tim Kaine, the 2016 Democratic vice presidential nominee. Since the Trump Administration wont stand up against atrocity, Congress must.

Democratic Representative Adam Schiff of California said Saudi Arabias claim that Mr Khashoggi died in a brawl was not credible.

If Khashoggi was fighting inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, he was fighting for his life with people sent to capture or kill him, said Mr Schiff, the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee.

The kingdom and all involved in this brutal murder must be held accountable, and if the Trump Administration will not take the lead, Congress must, he said.

In a statement on Friday night, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the US will closely follow international investigations into Mr Khashoggis death and will advocate for justice that is timely, transparent and in accordance with all due process.
ISTANBUL (AP)  Friends say Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was a proud Arab who wanted to set up a base in his ancestral homeland of Turkey, contributing to the growing community of exiled Arabs who have taken refuge there.

For Khashoggi, a history lover, the growing Arab community and Turkey's power in the region echoed aspects of the Ottoman empire, when Istanbul was at the center of a rich and multicultural Middle East. With millions of Arab exiles who fled their homes because of wars or oppression, Turkey has become a fertile ground for talent and ideas, a place where Khashoggi could have pursued his own projects, including a pro-democracy group, a media watch group, a forum to translate economic studies and launching online magazines.

Khashoggi was planning to marry his Turkish fiancee on Oct. 3, a day after he walked into the Saudi consulate in Istanbul to get his divorce from a previous marriage confirmed. He had bought a home in Istanbul and friends said he planned to split his time between there and Virginia, where he had owned a condo since 2008.

He never emerged from the consulate. Saudi authorities said Saturday that he died in a brawl involving visiting officials, an account that has drawn widespread skepticism. Turkish pro-government media say a Saudi hit squad traveled to Turkey to kill the columnist for The Washington Post which has called for an investigation led by a U.N.-appointed panel to determine what happened.

Khashoggi's killing sent a chilling message to the many exiled Arabs who have taken refuge in Turkey. Several anti-government Arab TV stations broadcast from Turkey and Istanbul's Arab Media Association has about 800 members. Turkey has also welcomed thousands of members of Egypt's now-outlawed Muslim Brotherhood group, after its then-President member was ousted from power by the military in 2013. Many Syrian groups opposed to President Bashar Assad have also unsurprisingly converged in neighboring Turkey, where nearly 3 million Syrians have fled to escape the war back home.

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Eiad Alhaji, a Syrian filmmaker who was working with Khashoggi on a video about an Ottoman military figure central to Arab-Turkish relations, described their time together after work and interviews.

"We used to go together to sit and talk, two strangers outside our country and society, about what is happening with the Arabs in Turkey and in America. Me as a Syrian, and him as a Saudi Arabian," said Alhaji.

"He was pained to be living in exile but at the same time, he was glad to be free in his opinion and new life."

Another companion, Fatih Oke, of Istanbul's Arab Media Association, said Khashoggi was an important adviser to the group and "we had plans to establish some projects."

In his last interviews, Khashoggi declared his support for Turkey's policy toward Syria, while criticizing his own government's stance.

Saudi Arabia has grown closer to the U.S. policy in Syria, openly supporting Kurdish-led forces in eastern Syria that Turkey sees as a threat. Khashoggi had criticized his country's rift with Turkey, arguing that an alliance between the two regional powerhouses should come more naturally than a U.S.-Saudi partnership.

Khashoggi, once a Saudi royal family insider, grew critical of the kingdom's rulers following their crackdown on opposition, their war on neighboring Yemen and the severing of ties with the small Gulf state of Qatar.

Khashoggi found a "welcoming place" in Istanbul, said Azzam Tamimi, a British-Palestinian.

"In Istanbul you don't feel like a stranger, the people, the food, the habits," Tamimi said. "Also, Turkey's current political authority has been the closest to Arabs since the fall of the Ottoman Empire a hundred years ago. Erdogan and his party opened up to the Arabs."

Turkey has itself faced criticism for jailing more journalists during a crackdown after an attempted coup in 2016.

Khashoggi's ancestors lived in what is today central Turkey. The family's name means spoon maker and its Turkish spelling is "Kasikci."

Alhaji, the filmmaker, said Khashoggi was an "encyclopedia" of the region's history.

Alhaji worked with Khashoggi on a documentary on the life of Fakhreddine Pasha, the last Ottoman governor and military commander in al-Medina who defended the city in modern day Saudi Arabia against an Arab revolt during World War I.

The siege signaled the fall of the Ottoman Empire and the birth of new Arab states. Khashoggi's family was displaced during the fighting  some fled to Izmir, in modern Turkey, including his father, while others went to Damascus.

The legacy of Fakhreddine, who fought against the birth of new nation states to preserve Ottoman influence, is a deeply divisive issue between Gulf leaders and Turkey.

Last year, Gulf rulers, critical of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, compared the two, accusing Fakhreddine of robbing them of their heritage by taking manuscripts out of al-Madina to Istanbul as he left. Ankara, which sided with Qatar, responded by naming the street in Ankara of the Emirati embassy after Fakhreddine.

"This period is a turning point for the future of all Arab countries and Middle East," said Alhajji on what he believed Khashoggi hoped to convey with their project. "We (should) not be focused on Fakhreddine as a biography but we should deal with the history of this period."
Dubai (AFP) - Saudi Arabia has long been a major US ally in the Middle East, thanks primarily to security considerations and oil.

But their diplomatic friendship has not always been a smooth one.

- Partners since 1945 -

The two countries established diplomatic relations in 1940, in the early stages of World War II.

On February 14, 1945 their partnership was sealed during a historic meeting between king Abdel Aziz bin Saud and president Franklin D. Roosevelt on board the cruiser USS Quincy in the Suez Canal.

The agreement saw the US guarantee military protection for the kingdom in return for privileged access to oil reserves, which were discovered in enormous quantities in the 1930s.

- Cooperation over Saddam -

After Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait in August 1990, Riyadh allowed hundreds of thousands of US troops to deploy in the kingdom.

The country served as a base for the US-led coalition during the 1991 Gulf War against Saddam.

Over the following years, the coalition continued to station planes in the kingdom to enforce a "no-fly zone" over southern Iraq, provoking the anger of Saudi fundamentalists who carried out two anti-US attacks on Saudi soil in the mid-1990s.

- Post 9/11 tensions -

The September 11, 2001 attacks against the US represented a serious setback for bilateral relations -- 15 of the 19 plane hijackers were Saudi nationals.

Saudi Arabia denounced the attacks, but was accused of quietly financing Islamic extremism.

Riyadh refused to take part in strikes against Afghanistan in late 2001, or participate in the Iraq war in 2003, although the US again used Saudi territory for air operations against Saddam.

Washington evacuated most of its remaining soldiers from Saudi Arabia and transferred them to Qatar, the headquarters for its aerial operations in the Gulf, but maintained military cooperation with Riyadh.

- Confidence crisis under Obama -

Riyadh supported the Syrian uprising against President Bashar al-Assad and did not hide its anger after US president Barack Obama in September 2013 backed away from carrying out air strikes against the regime.

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In October that year, Saudi Arabia refused to take a seat at the UN Security Council, to protest against what it regarded as multilateral and US inaction over the Syrian crisis.

The 2015 nuclear agreement with rival regional power Iran -- signed by the US and other world powers -- further undermined Saudi Arabia's confidence in the Obama administration.

- Trump boosts ties -

Delighted to turn the page on the Obama era, Saudi leaders warmly welcomed President Donald Trump's arrival.

In May 2017, Trump was received with pomp in the Sunni kingdom for his first overseas presidential visit.

The US president called for the isolation of Iran, to counter the Shiite power's growing influence in the Middle East.

The US and Saudi Arabia announced huge contracts exceeding $380 billion, including $110 billion for the sale of US arms to Riyadh to conter Tehran and Islamist radicals.

The two allies accuse Iran of arming Huthi rebels in Yemen, where since March 2015 Riyadh has intervened to support the government.

On March 20, Trump gave Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman an effusive welcome at the White House, hailing a "great friendship".

"Saudi Arabia is a very wealthy nation and they are going to give the United States some of that wealth hopefully, in the form of jobs, in the form of the purchase of the finest military equipment anywhere in the world," said Trump.

On May 8, Riyadh "supports and welcomes" Trump's decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear agreement.

- Khashoggi affair -

On October 2, Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi disappeared after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

The Washington Post contributor had been critical of the crown prince and lived in self-imposed exile in the US from 2017.

Turkish officials accused Saudi Arabia of a state-sponsored killing.

On October 20, Riyadh admitted that Khashoggi was killed inside the embassy and said he died during a "brawl".

Trump endorsed the explanation as credible and "an important first step", saying the US had not yet completed its own review of the case.

But Saudi Arabia's version of events drew scepticism from some top US lawmakers.
The missing Saudi journalist and U.S. resident Jamal Khashoggi was killed inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Saudi Arabia admitted in a dead-of-night statement from a prosecutor early Saturday.

Saudi authorities released results from what they claimed was an initial investigation, saying that Khashoggi was killed after a discussion turned into a fight during his visit to the consulate.

A Saudi prosecutor also announced the arrests of 18 people linked to the death.

A Saudi official told HuffPost the suspects identified by the kingdom had said they handed Khashoggis body over to a local collaborator, who disposed of it.

Asked if he found the Saudi explanation for Khashoggis death credible, President Donald Trump responded Friday night: I do. I do. He called the arrests a good first step, The Associated Press reported.

Its a big step. Theres a lot of people involved, Trump said at a roundtable with top defense contractors in Arizona, The Guardian reported. Saudi Arabia has been a great ally, but what happened is unacceptable. He called the death horrible. But Trump said that while he would support sanctions against the nation for Khashoggis death, he does not want to cancel or suspend billions of dollars in Saudi arms purchases from the United States.

The kingdoms statement comes more than two weeks after the journalist was first reported missing on Oct. 2.

In response to the alleged findings, Saudi King Salman has dismissed Maj. Gen. Ahmed al-Assiri and Saud al-Qahtani, both advisers to the crown prince.

#BREAKING



Saudi authorities assessment of how Jamal was killed:



discussions that took place between citizen Jamal Khashoggi & the persons who met him during his presence at the consulate in Istanbul led to a fight & quarrel by hands, which caused his death. pic.twitter.com/FBhpIyuQCv  Hassan Hassan (@hxhassan) October 19, 2018

Intelligence gathered by the U.S. and allies  in addition to clues pointing directly to the regime  make it unlikely the statement will fully quell worldwide outrage over the kingdoms treatment of Khashoggi and questions about whether the West is complicit in massive human rights violations.

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Saudi Arabia and its powerful crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, known as MBS, have faced a spiraling international crisis over the apparent murder. Reports this week have suggested that the kingdom would admit to a version of events that avoids directly implicating MBS.

The White House issued a statement from press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Friday night saying it acknowledges the Saudi account:

The United States acknowledges the announcement from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia that its investigation into the fate of Jamal Khashoggi is progressing and that it has taken action against the suspects it has identified thus far. We will continue to closely follow the international investigations into this tragic incident and advocate for justice that is timely, transparent, and in accordance with all due process. We are saddened to hear confirmation of Mr. Khashoggis death, and we offer our deepest condolences to his family, fiancee, and friends.

Saudi Arabias acknowledgment of Khashoggis death comes after The Washington Post reported on Oct. 10 that MBS had personally ordered an effort to lure the journalist back to Saudi Arabia. Officials in multiple countries had speculated at the time that the plan to capture Khashoggi may have gone awry, leading to his killing.

Khashoggi disappeared on Oct. 2 after entering the consulate to obtain a document he needed to marry his fiancee. The journalist, who was once close to the Saudi royal family, had become critical of the repression of human rights activists under the crown prince. He had been living in self-imposed exile in Washington, D.C., for the past year and was a columnist for The Washington Post.

News of Khashoggis disappearance emerged after his fiancee, Hatice Cengiz, told friends she waited outside the consulate for nearly 12 hours and didnt see him exit the building. She returned the following day, and there was still no sign of him.

Saudi leaders initially maintained Khashoggi had left the premises on foot shortly after retrieving the marriage document but didnt provide surveillance footage to back up the story. Their statement on Saturday marks a drastic reversal from that initial claim and raises questions about the kingdoms lack of transparency in handling Khashoggis disappearance.

Turkish authorities launched an investigation immediately after the journalist was reported missing and leaked information to U.S. intelligence and media outlets indicating Khashoggi had been assassinated under orders from the Saudi royal court.

Fifteen Saudi officials and intelligence officers arrived in Istanbul on two private jets on the day of the journalists disappearance. Both planes were operated by Sky Prime Aviation Services, a company frequently used by the Saudi government. Some of the officials were transported in a tinted van to the home of the Saudi consul general, and all of them later left the country on planes departing for Cairo and Dubai. Turkish staffers at the residence were told to take that day off.

The agents included several senior officials in the Saudi government and men with close ties to MBS.

According to Turkish officials, the Saudi agents were waiting for Khashoggi when he entered the consulate. They say he was killed within minutes, then beheaded and dismembered. And within hours, the killers had left the country.

The kingdom did not say in its statement on Saturday where Khashoggis body is.

Khashoggis editors at the Post described him as a committed, courageous journalist and one of the leading proponents of freedom and democratic change for Saudi Arabia and the surrounding region. He was a self-described patriot and rejected the label dissident thrust on him as a result of his criticism of the Saudi government.

I have left my home, my family and my job, and I am raising my voice, he wrote in September 2017. 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.

Carla Herreria and Akbar Shahid Ahmed contributed to this report.

Related Coverage

What We Know About The Disappearance Of Saudi Journalist Jamal Khashoggi

Saudi Crown Prince Ordered Effort To Bring Jamal Khashoggi Back To Saudi Arabia: Report

Trump Says He Doesn't 'Like' Jamal Khashoggi Disappearance, Won't Stop Saudi Arms Sales

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A Dunkin franchise owner apologized to a young Somali woman and her family after a store employee called the police on them for speaking in their native language at a drive-thru in Portland, Maine.

Hamdia Ahmed, 20, says she, her brother and mother went to a Dunkin they often frequent for coffee after a long morning on Monday. While waiting to place their order in the drive-thru, Ahmed says the family was having a conversation among themselves in Somali when an employee on the microphone refused service and threatened to call the police.

Were having our own talk. All of a sudden we hear someone say, Stop yelling. Youre yelling in my ear. Im calling the police. Im not taking your order,' Ahmed tells TIME. They never tried to take our order. She was like, You can leave, or Im calling the cops.'

Ahmed says she parked the car and walked inside the store to confront the employee. When she asked the employee why she threatened to call the police, the employee said the family had been yelling and called Ahmed agitated. The employee eventually called the police, as people in the Dunkin started siding with Ahmed, she says.

Afraid police might follow her to her home, Ahmed says, she decided to wait for them to arrive at the Dunkin location. After giving her account of the incident to a police officer, Ahmed received a no-trespass notice that bars her from returning to the store for a year.

Ahmed asked the officer what she had done wrong, to which he responded that sometimes, the drive-thru microphones can seem loud and cause misunderstandings. He told her businesses have the right to place a trespass on anyone even for no reason, she says. Representatives for the Portland police department did not immediately return a request for comment.

Ahmed, an activist and student at the University of Southern Maine, posted a video of her experience at the drive-thru on Twitter. The video does not include the exchange Ahmed had with the employee, only part of the argument that followed between the women. Ahmed can be heard asking: Youre gonna disrespect me cause I speak a different language than you? Is that what it is? The employee responds, It has nothing to do with your language. You can leave. I dont want to hear it. Im done with it. You can leave or Ill call the cops.

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Guys, I need your help. Today my family and I want @dunkindonuts. Before we even place our order through the dr thru, we were told to leave for speaking in our native language. We were called a  bitch. The police were called on us, and now cant go back their. I am disgusted. pic.twitter.com/A1foloR1ma  Hamdia Ahmed (@hamdia_ahmed) October 15, 2018

The incident went viral. A corporate representative from Dunkin reached out to apologize to Ahmed, she says. And on Wednesday, the Dunkin store owner Dave DaRosa met with Ahmed to apologize again and promise some sort of training for his employees. DaRosa did not immediately return a request for comment.

Dunkin, which this year dropped the Donuts from its original title, Dunkin Donuts, confirmed the meeting between DaRosa and Ahmed in a statement Friday.

Dunkin and our franchisees are committed to creating a positive customer service experience for all of our guests, the company said. The franchisee who owns and operates the store has confirmed he has met with the guest, sincerely apologized to her for the poor experience and is working on providing additional customer service training to his store crew.

The experience, Ahmed says, traumatized her and her family. Ahmed says her brother, who is older than her, waited at McDonalds to avoid a police encounter because he was terrified as a black man in America. Her mother said shed seen stories in the news of police being called on black people, but never expected it to happen to her. She was like, if this country is like this, then where do we go? Ahmed says.

What Ahmed wants now is accountability for people whose first instinct is to call the police on black people.

Change is the first step. Even if I wanted those employees to be fired, I know those people are working to survive. I understand, she says. There needs to be accountability, whether its training or whatever it is to make sure it doesnt happen again.
A South Carolina man has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for biting off his former girlfriends lip.

Seth Aaron Fleury, of Simpsonville, pleaded guilty to assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature on Thursday, said a release from state solicitor Walt Wilkins.

The 23-year-old defendant met with ex-girlfriend Kayla Hayes on Oct. 21, 2017, to discuss their relationship, according to court documents.

When Hayes refused to get back together, Fleury became angry and attempted to kiss her. As she pulled away, he bit down on her bottom lip with such force that her lip was amputated. Fleury then left the scene.

Hayes underwent emergency plastic surgery to try to save the lip, but doctors were not able to reattach it, according to WYFF TV. She has serious scarring and a limited range of motion with her mouth.

Hayes wrote about the attack on Facebook, saying Fleury told her he was going to leave his mark for my next boyfriend.

Fleury will have to serve at least 85 percent of his 12-year sentence  10.2 years  before he can be paroled, according to The State newspaper.

This case demonstrates the unique circumstances under which domestic violence occurs, and how quickly these situations can escalate into violence, Wilkins said in the release. Hopefully this prison sentence will make it clear to both this defendant and other abusers that domestic violence in any fashion will not be tolerated.

Hayes is now running a Facebook group, Rise Above, to help others spot the signs of domestic abuse.

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"Young L.A. Girl Slain; Body Slashed in Two"  L.A.'s Daily News

On Jan. 15, 1947, the remains of Elizabeth Short were found in a vacant lot in Los Angeles. What made this discovery the stuff of tabloid sensation, however, was the Glasgow smile left on the aspiring actress' face  made with 3-inch slashes on each side. This, coupled with Short's dark hair, fair complexion and reputation for sporting a dahlia in her hair, led her to be dubbed "The Black Dahlia" in headlines. What followed was a media circus filled with rumors and speculation about the 22-year-old's checkered past. What haunts theorists to this day, apart from the victim's uniquely nightmarish visage, is that the case remains unsolved after some 200 suspects were interviewed and ultimately released, making it one of Hollywood's most lurid legends.

"I Am Not Guilty - Thus Lizzie Borden Pleads Before Judge Hammond at New Bedford."  Boston Journal

"Lizzie Borden took an axe And gave her mother forty whacks. And when she saw what she had done, She gave her father forty-one." So goes the lurid nursery rhyme to one of the most mystifying crimes ever. The nature of the deaths of Andrew J. Borden and his wife, Abby, are trumped only by the identity of the alleged perpetrator: their daughter Lizzie. Inexplicably found "not guilty" in contrast to the era's more usual swift justice, Lizzie's legacy was to be immortalized as one of the most perplexing cases of parricide in history.

"Texas Mother Charged with Killing Her 5 Children"  CNN

In a case of mother-gone-mad that startled a nation, Andrea Yates appeared to her few friends and family to be a recluse suffering from postpartum depression leading up to the birth of her fifth child. That all changed on June 20, 2001, when she drowned five of her children in their home's bathtub. She was convicted in 2002 of capital murder, carrying a sentence of life in prison with possible parole. In a 2006 retrial, however, a Texas jury found her not guilty by reason of insanity. She was committed to a mental health facility.

"Buttafuoco Admits to Sex with Amy Fisher"  New York Times

Known as the "Long Island Lolita," Amy Fisher became involved with Joey Buttafuoco in May 1991. Shortly after the two began a sexual relationship (she was 16, while he was 35 and married with two children), his presence and influence in her life became all she cared for. Although he's since denied this, Buttafuoco would go on to help Fisher plan the murder of his wife, culminating in Fisher putting a bullet in Mary Jo Buttafuoco's head, but failing to kill her. In the highly publicized trial that ensued, Fisher accepted a plea deal for 15 years in prison in exchange for a testimony against Joey, who served out charges of statutory rape.

"Murder of a Little Beauty"  People Magazine

With her face gracing the covers of nearly every news and gossip rag during the winter of 1996, it's hard to suggest that the death of child beauty pageant queen JonBenet Ramsey had little effect outside the city of Boulder, Colorado. She was found dead from a blow to the head and strangulation in the family's basement. There was a ransom note left on the staircase asking for $118,000 (conveniently or coincidentally, nearly the same amount Mr. Ramsey received as a bonus that year) and no obvious signs of forced entry into the house. The evidence appeared to be stacked against parents John and Patsy, who maintained their innocence throughout the investigation. The case reopened in 2010, but critics cite poor handling of the crime scene as why the mystery of the events of that Christmas day continues.

"F.B.I. Joins Probe in Slaughter of 8 Nurses"  Nashua Telegraph

Tattooed with "Born to Raise Hell" on his arm, Richard Speck made good on his mantra through a history of violence, theft, alcoholism and spousal abuse. He achieved infamy when, on July 13, 1966, he walked into a dormitory armed with a knife and left eight student nurses dead in his wake. Only one, Cora Amurao, was spared, hiding under a bed until 6 a.m. Speck was found guilty of murder and died of a heart attack in prison. As one of the most press-worthy crimes of the decade, the grim events were used as the backdrop for an episode of "Mad Men."

"Sharon Tate, Four Others Murdered"  Los Angeles Times

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Perhaps the most terrifying figure in American crime to have never actually killed anyone himself, Charles Manson founded a "family" of wayward individuals who hailed him as a prophet. So strong was his manipulation that on the night of Aug. 8, 1969, he ordered four of his followers to kill everyone at the residence of 10050 Cielo Drive  including movie director Roman Polanski's wife, Sharon Tate, and her unborn child. Tate was stabbed 16 times, and her blood was used to write "pig" on the house's front door. The next night, Manson accompanied six of his family to the residence of supermarket executive Leno LaBianca and his wife, helping to bind them before ordering their deaths. In 1971, Manson and three of his fellow defendants were found guilty of murder in the first-degree and several other crimes. At the time, it was the longest murder trial in American history, spanning nine and a half months, as well as the most expensive, estimating $1 million. Manson was died in prison in 2017 at age 83.

"Lindbergh Baby Kidnapped from Home of Parents on Farm Near Princeton; Taken from His Crib; Wide Search on"  The New York Times

Used as the basis for an Agatha Christie novel (Murder on the Orient Express) and dubbed "the biggest story since the Resurrection" by famed journalist H.L. Mencken, the kidnapping and murder of aviator Charles Lindbergh's infant son continues to fascinate theorists today. Charles Jr. was discovered missing from his second-floor bedroom on March 1, 1932, along with a note demanding a then-unimaginable $50,000, igniting a media frenzy like no other. The tabloid pandemonium prompted many tips and leads, but none as concrete as a package containing the boy's pajamas and another message demanding the ransom. After some misdirection from the presumed kidnapper, Lindbergh's child was discovered in the woods along a road near the family residence. Notwithstanding the evidence stockpiled against the easily vilified illegal German immigrant Bruno Hauptmann (who was sentenced to death), speculation prevails as to the true identity of the individual responsible for this tragic tale.

"Not Guilty as Sin"  New York Post

Still fresh in the minds of many and not to be easily forgotten, the trial of Casey Anthony turned Orlando, Florida, into anything but the "happiest place on earth." Following a series of lies, misdirection and manipulation by then-22-year-old Casey, her daughter Caylee's skeletal remains were found five months into the investigation, setting the stage for what could only be described as the most incessantly publicized and shocking trial in recent memory. The media had a field day that went on for months, highlighting the young, pretty party-girl image used against Casey Anthony in court as the prosecution tore apart an aimless defense  or so it seemed. After throwing her own family under the bus, incriminating people entirely made-up ("Zanny the Nanny"), and fabricating elaborate stories for the police, Anthony was found not guilty of murder due to evidence deemed mostly circumstantial and not meeting the burden of "beyond reasonable doubt," inciting much debate regarding whether true justice was served.

"An American Tragedy"  Time

It was heralded as the "trial of the century." Former football star and actor O.J. Simpson found himself in the middle of the nation's biggest, most-televised trial following the deaths of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman, but not before fleeing an all-points bulletin in his Ford Bronco with 20 units in tow, interrupting game 5 of the NBA Finals. With a dream legal team including Johnnie Cochran, Robert Shapiro, and Robert Kardashian, the defense claimed Simpson was merely a victim of police fraud with regard to contaminated DNA evidence. Cochran famously quipped, "If it [the glove] doesn't fit, you must acquit." On Oct. 3, 1995, an estimated 100 million people from around the world tuned in to watch the jury hand down a verdict of not guilty, costing an estimated $480 million in lost productivity. The case incited a discussion of race in the judicial system that continues to this day.

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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP)  Two Kansas water park workers were acquitted Thursday of impeding an investigation into the 2016 death of a 10-year-old boy who was decapitated while on a ride that had been billed as the world's tallest waterslide.

David Hughes and John Zalsman were found not guilty of obstruction of justice in connection to the death of Caleb Schwab, the son of a Kansas legislator. The boy was killed while on the 17-story Verruckt waterslide at the Schlitterbahn water park in Kansas City.

Zalsman's attorney called the prosecution "sloppy" and accused the attorney general of overreaching in an attempt to push innocent men to turn on employees higher up in the company. The attorney general's office did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.

Hughes and Zalsman, both maintenance workers, were the first employees to stand trial in the death. Others have also been charged, including one of Schlitterbahn's owners and the designer of the slide, who have both pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder.

The since-closed waterslide used rafts that made the 17-story drop at speeds of up to 70 mph (110 kilometers per hour), followed by a surge over the hump and a 50-foot (15-meter) descent to a finishing pool. Caleb was in a raft that went airborne and slammed him into a metal pole that supported a net meant to keep riders from flying off the slide. Two women on the raft also were injured.

Prosecutors alleged that Hughes and Zalsman failed to replace a brake mat that fell off the slide two weeks earlier but told investigators that the mat had only been on the slide during testing phases. Video evidence showed that the mat was used after the ride opened to customers in 2014, prosecutors said.

"This was not a mistake, this was intentional calculated conduct," said Adam Zentner, assistant Kansas Attorney General.

The defense said prosecutors didn't understand how the slide functioned and questioned the testimony of Jason Diaz, the Kansas Bureau of Investigation agent who interviewed the defendants. The defense also noted that another Schlitterbahn employee who made false statements to investigators wasn't charged.

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"These are just two good old boys, they're hard working guys and because they're the only two adults in the room they get singled out and have to get charged ," said Scott Toth, defense attorney for Hughes, as he addressed jurors.

Diaz said he didn't believe the other employee had intentionally misled him.

Schlitterbahn has said the company had no reason to believe any employee obstructed justice.

"We have maintained our belief in the integrity of our staff and respect the process and decision by the jury," Winter Prosapio, spokeswoman for Texas-based Schlitterbahn, said in an email after the verdict.

The most serious charges in Caleb's death have been filed against one of Schlitterbahn's owners, Jeff Henry, Verruckt designer John Schooley and general contractor Henry & Sons Constructions. Each is charged with second-degree murder, which carries up to 41 years in prison; aggravated battery; and aggravated endangerment of a child. Another employee is charged with involuntary manslaughter.

They have all pleaded not guilty. Their trials have not yet been scheduled.

The slide was shut down after Caleb was killed.

The boy's father, state Rep. Scott Schwab, a Republican from the Kansas City suburb of Olathe, had no immediate comment after being informed of the verdict Thursday.

His son's death prompted Kansas legislators to strengthen the state's relatively lax oversight of amusement park rides. Their 2017 law required amusement park rides to be inspected every year by qualified inspector after previously allowing the parks to do their own. The law also mandated that parks report injuries to the state.

But lawmakers quickly delayed criminal penalties for violations and then this year loosened rules further for county fairs and other short-term, one-location events run by nonprofit groups. They also exempted attractions such as hay-rack rides.

The Schwab family will receive nearly $20 million in payments from legal settlements from companies associated with Schlitterbahn, the general contractor, the raft manufacturer and a company that consulted on the waterslide.

The elder Schwab is the Republican nominee for Kansas secretary of state.
Ciudad Hidalgo (Mexico) (AFP) - Thousands of US-bound Honduran migrants remained stranded Saturday after spending the night on a border bridge between Guatemala and Mexico where riot police barred their progress.

Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez said he would meet Saturday with his Guatemalan counterpart Jimmy Morales to discuss the next steps in the crisis, which has triggered escalating anti-immigrant rhetoric from US President Donald Trump.

Hundreds slept in the open on the bridge over the Suchiate River and in the main square of the Guatemalan border town of Tecun Uman.

Hernandez said on Twitter he had asked Guatemalan authorities "to contract land transportation for those who wish to return -- and airlift in the special cases of women, children, the elderly and the sick -- and we will continue with this operation as long as necessary."

More than 300 people have taken up a government offer of a bus ride home to their country, police said.

However, the vast majority have opted to wait on the bridge over the Suchiate River where Mexican authorities insisted they would have to file asylum claims one at a time in order to enter the country.

On Friday, they began letting them through in a trickle -- first women and children, who were ushered onto trucks and taken to shelters.

- A surge, then clashes -

The caravan of mainly Honduran migrants had surged through a series of police lines and barricades up to the final fence on Mexico's southern border on Friday.

Sections of the crowd hurled rocks and other objects at hundreds of riot police, who responded with rubber bullets and tear gas -- stalling the caravan which left Honduras last Saturday determined to reach the United States.

Several people were injured. Police used tear gas to drive the migrants back and calm was restored.

Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto described the situation as "unprecedented."

Organizers of the caravan said a section of the crowd had confronted the police and spoiled what had been an orderly attempt to cross into Mexico.

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Some camped on the bridge "are very aggressive and no longer have patience, they are already desperate because the Mexicans did not open the door to us," said Gina Paola Montes, 21, a humanities student from Honduras university.

Some, like 22-year-old Alex Benitez, paid locals to take him across the river border by raft.

"They promised they will give us a visa but the people are there (on the bridge) since yesterday and they have not given us anything," Benitez said as he waited for friends who were crossing on another raft, made from huge truck tires.

Police officers patrolling the area told AFP that for now there are no plans to move against the migrants crossing by river.

- Going home -

Some, like 25-year-old Honduran Bryon Rivera, had decided to give up on a long- held dream of a better life in America.

"It is better to go back. It is very hard. There is a lot of disorder," said Rivera, who was hoping to get on a bus back to Honduras laid on by the Guatemalan government.

The soft-spoken 25-year-old said he was travelling with three friends who decided to remain in the caravan, but that for him, the fear of being deported once he reached Mexico was too much.

Overnight, a policeman said 220 Hondurans had begun to return to their country and another 130 were awaiting transport in a local migrant shelter.

The caravan, in some cases comprising entire families -- many with babies -- has braved intense sun and torrential rains by turn since setting out last Saturday from a Honduran border town.

Many have been given food and shelter by Guatemalans along their way.

On Thursday, Trump branded the migrant caravan an "onslaught" and an "assault on our country" in a series of typically fiery tweets.

He threatened to cut aid to the region, deploy the military and close the US-Mexican border if authorities did not stop them.

The migrants are generally fleeing poverty and insecurity in Honduras, where powerful street gangs rule their turf with brutal violence.

With a homicide rate of 43 per 100,000 citizens, Honduras is one of the most violent countries in the world.
Washington (AFP) - White House National Security Adviser John Bolton will meet with Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev on Saturday, he said Friday.

Bolton announced the visit to Moscow in a tweet, saying he would "continue discussions that began in Helsinki," referring to a summit between presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin in July.

Relations between the United States and Russia are under deep strain from accusations that Moscow meddled in the 2016 presidential election, as well as tension over Russian support for the government in Syria's civil war and the conflict in Ukraine.

However, Washington is looking for support from Moscow in finding resolutions to the Syria war and putting pressure on both Iran and North Korea.

No new summit between Trump and Putin has been announced, but both leaders will be in Paris on November 11 to attend commemorations marking the end of World War I.
The US is reportedly preparing to leave the three-decade-old Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, signed by Ronald Reagan - Reuters

John Bolton, US national security adviser, will meet Sergei Lavrov, Russia's foreign minister, on Saturday in Moscow, amid reports that Washington will tell Russia it plans to quit a landmark nuclear weapons treaty.

Mr Bolton, who will also meet Nikolai Patrushev, Russian security council secretary, announced the visit to Moscow in a tweet, saying he would "continue discussions that began in Helsinki," referring to a summit between presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin in July.

The New York Times said that the Trump administration plans to inform Russian leaders in the coming days that it is preparing to leave the three-decade-old Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, known as the INF.

The newspaper said the US accuses Russia of violating the deal, signed in 1987 by Ronald Reagan, by deploying tactical nuclear weapons to intimidate former Soviet satellite states that are now close to the West.

Relations between the United States and Russia are under deep strain from accusations that Moscow meddled in the 2016 presidential election, as well as tension over Russian support for the Syrian government in the country's civil war, and the conflict in Ukraine.

Mr Trump met Mr Putin in Helsinki in July Credit: Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP

However, Washington is looking for support from Moscow in finding resolutions to the Syria war and putting pressure on both Iran and North Korea.

No new summit between Mr Trump and Mr Putin has been announced, but both leaders will be in Paris on November 11 to attend commemorations marking the end of World War One.
In his latest attempt to battle the U.S.-China trade deficit and exit multilateral agreements that dont favor the United States, President Donald Trump began the process Wednesday to withdraw from a 144-year-old international postal agreement that lets Chinese retailers mail small packages to the U.S. for rock-bottom prices.

Senior White House officials said Wednesday that the U.S. State Department will set its own self-declared rates for packages from abroad. Government officials estimated the Universal Postal Union agreement costs the U.S. Postal Service about $170 million to $300 million per year and enables unfair foreign competition.

Rates set by the Universal Postal Union, an arm of the United Nations described by Planet Money as a postal illuminati, allow merchants to ship packages under 4.4 pounds to U.S. customers more cheaply from China than from U.S. warehouses, officials said. A 1-pound package that costs the USPS about $10 to deliver can be mailed from China for just $2.50, per White House numbers.

The heavily discounted shipping rates were meant to stimulate flagging economies, but the Trump administration says Chinas status hasnt been updated since it became an e-commerce powerhouse over the past decade, clocking about $354 billion in annual sales. An official told the Wall Street Journal, This subsidy has basically facilitated the transfer of both a high level of counterfeit goods as well as the narcotic and fentanyl trade.

Administration officials said they informed the Universal Postal Union that the United States intends to withdraw from the pact. Over the one-year notice period, the State Department will try to negotiate better rates for Americans or choose to walk away from the international body in 2020, the Washington Post reports.

The UPU said it regrets the move and that it plans to meet with U.S. officials about the issue. The UPU remains committed to attainment of the noble aims of international collaboration by working with all its 192 member countries to ensure that the treaty best serves everyone, Director General Bishar Hussein said in a statement.

Robert Taub, the head of the Postal Regulatory Commission, which oversees the USPS, told the WSJ the U.S. is well-positioned to get the rate overhaul it wants, considering it processes about 50% of global mail.

As David Z. Morris wrote for Fortune, Universal Postal Union has been a crucial piece of global infrastructure since its founding in 1874, helping coordinate rates and standards between nearly every national postal system. Postal services in the UPU agree to carry one anothers international letters and small parcels from their point of arrival to their final destinations. They then compensate each other for this service at rates set by the UPU, known as terminal dues, amended every four to five years.
(Photo: Ralph Freso via Getty Images)

President Donald Trump discussed many of his usual talking points  his prized border wall, Hillary Clintons emails, his attacks on the news media  during his rally in Mesa, Arizona, Friday night.

However, Trump didnt free up any time to address with his supporters the biggest news item of the night: Saudi officials confirmed U.S. resident and Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggis death, claiming he died after getting into a fight at the Saudi consulate in Turkey earlier this month.

Trump made no mention of Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist who was living in Washington, D.C., during his roughly hour-long speech, despite the fact that it has sparked international outrage and has dominated news headlines since the journalist first went missing 18 days ago.

Trump tells rally US finally has a president who doesn't bow to foreign leaders:

"Now you have a president who's standing up for America. We're standing up for your values."

--The man who's stood beside Putin, Xi & Kim & blamed their transgressions on weak US leaders. Now Saudis.  Jackie Calmes (@jackiekcalmes) October 20, 2018

Hours before Trumps rally, Saudi authorities said that their initial investigation revealed that Khashoggi was killed after a discussion turned into a fight during his consulate visit. They initially had claimed that Khashoggi walked out of the consulate on foot after retrieving a marriage document.

At least 18 people had been arrested in connection with his death, a Saudi prosecutor said in the latest announcement.

Earlier Friday, Trump told reporters during a defense roundtable that he found the Saudi explanation for Khashoggis death credible and called the arrests of the suspects a good first step.

The White House on Friday offered a more neutral response to the Saudi findings, saying the administration would closely follow the investigation and advocate for justice that is timely, transparent, and in accordance with due process.

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Statement on Saudi Arabia Investigation: pic.twitter.com/DjBdwZAGAi  Sarah Sanders (@PressSec) October 19, 2018

During Fridays rally, many U.S. officials, including his allies in Congress, took a harder stance on the Saudi investigation.

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) warned the administration to be skeptical of the Saudis claims and called for the U.S. to launch its own investigation.

The story the Saudis have told about Jamal Khashoggis disappearance continues to change with each passing day, so we should not assume their latest story holds water, Corker said in a statement Friday night.

The story the Saudis have told about Jamal Khashoggis disappearance continues to change with each passing day, so we should not assume their latest story holds water.  Senator Bob Corker (@SenBobCorker) October 20, 2018

They can undergo their own investigation, but the U.S. administration must make its own independent, credible determination of responsibility for Khashoggis murder under the Global Magnitsky investigation as required by law.  Senator Bob Corker (@SenBobCorker) October 20, 2018

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) also expressed doubt in the Saudi investigation.

To say that I am skeptical of the new Saudi narrative about Mr. Khashoggi is an understatement, Graham tweeted. Its hard to find this latest explanation as credible.

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To say that I am skeptical of the new Saudi narrative about Mr. Khashoggi is an understatement. https://t.co/am4fraUL6H  Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) October 19, 2018

First we were told Mr. Khashoggi supposedly left the consulate and there was blanket denial of any Saudi involvement. Now, a fight breaks out and hes killed in the consulate, all without knowledge of Crown Prince.  Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) October 19, 2018

Its hard to find this latest explanation as credible.  Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) October 19, 2018

On Oct. 10, the Washington Post reported that Saudi Arabias crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, known as MBS, personally ordered an operation to lure Khashoggi back to Saudi Arabia.

Turkey authorities have also leaked information to U.S. media outlets that suggest that the Saudi royal court ordered Khashoggis murder.

Trump on Tuesday criticized earlier reports that claimed Saudi officials were behind Khashoggis disappearance and compared it to the controversy surrounding the sexual assault accusations made against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

I think we have to find out what happened first, Trump told the Associated Press. Here we go again with, you know, youre guilty until proven innocent. I dont like that. We just went through that with Justice Kavanaugh, and he was innocent all the way as far as Im concerned.

Related...

Saudi Crown Prince Ordered Effort To Bring Jamal Khashoggi Back To Saudi Arabia: Report

Saudis Claim Jamal Khashoggi Died During A Physical Altercation

Trump Criticizes Rush To Condemn Saudi Arabia Over Khashoggi

This article originally appeared on HuffPost.
By Steve Holland and Matt Spetalnick WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Six days after Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi disappeared, U.S. President Donald Trump tried to play down the crisis, saying "hopefully that will sort itself out". It did not, and on Oct. 10, amid a growing outcry, Trumps son-in-law Jared Kushner and national security adviser John Bolton pressed Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, in what one U.S. official described as a "stern" phone call, to identify who was responsible for Khashoggi's disappearance or death. Trump then seemed to give Saudi Arabia the benefit of the doubt, suggesting "rogue killers" may have been to blame and criticizing a growing view that this was a case of state murder. He changed his tone once again late this week, raising the prospect of sanctions against Riyadh. But when Saudi Arabia finally admitted on Saturday that Khashoggi was dead, saying he was killed in a fight inside the consulate, Trump said the official explanation was "credible" even as Republican and Democratic lawmakers responded with anger and disbelief. Over the last two weeks, Trump has at times spoken of punishing Saudi Arabia but appeared reluctant to follow through against a close economic and security ally in the Middle East, a key player in ensuring the stability of global oil markets, and a major customer of arms deals that he says are "tremendous". "Trump's dug himself into a hole," said Aaron David Miller, a former Middle East adviser to both Democratic and Republican administrations. "He will have to take some kind of action." Behind the scenes, though, Trump's aides scrambled to craft a response, especially as the bipartisan outcry in the Washington establishment grew. When news of Khashoggi's disappearance first broke, aides made clear to White House chief of staff John Kelly that the case was not going away, two senior White House officials said. Kushner, who had cultivated a close personal relationship with the crown prince, commonly known as MbS, urged Trump to act with caution to avoid upsetting a critical strategic and economic relationship, a senior administration official said. Kushner was heavily involved in making Saudi Arabia Trump's first stop on his maiden international trip as president last year. As grim allegations emerged from Turkey about Khashoggis death and the Saudis stuck to their denials, Trump felt pressure from congressional Democrats and some of his own Republicans. U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham, a Republican close to Trump, accused MbS of ordering Khashoggi's murder and called him a "wrecking ball" jeopardizing relations with the United States. When Riyadh came out with its official version of what happened inside the consulate, Graham quickly tweeted he was "skeptical of the new Saudi narrative". 'NOT A U.S. CITIZEN' Trump sought to justify his muted response by pointing out the incident occurred in Turkey and that Khashoggi, a U.S. resident and columnist for the Washington Post, was "not a United States citizen". Critics accused Trump of trying to give the Saudis diplomatic cover and buy time for them to get their story straight, something Trump's aides denied. At the same time, Peter Navarro, Trumps White House trade chief and architect of his Buy American policy to ease restrictions on foreign arms sales, was stressing the importance of Saudi weapons deals and the implications for U.S. jobs, another administration official told Reuters. Trump repeatedly touted the $110 billion in weapons deals he announced during his visit to Saudi Arabia last year, and insisted around 500,000 U.S. jobs were at stake. Experts have dismissed the sales and jobs numbers as highly exaggerated. Some Trump aides raised doubts about the veracity of the Turkish governments leaks of what it says happened to Khashoggi. But as the days dragged on and evidence of Khashoggis death mounted, Trump's view began to shift, White House officials said. He ordered Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to drop what he was doing and fly to Riyadh for talks at mid-week, and was then briefed by him at the White House on Thursday. Critics slammed Pompeo for appearing to hold court in a festive manner with MbS, undercutting the severity of the U.S. message. But one senior White House official countered, saying Pompeo told the Saudi royals that you need to give us some legitimate information soon, people arent just going to let it drag on.' Speaking to reporters during a trip to Arizona on Friday, Trump said he was ready to listen to what Congress has to say about actions to be taken in the Khashoggi case, yet also made clear he wanted to continue to protect defense contracts, and U.S. jobs dependent on them. Congress has already triggered a mechanism for the U.S. Treasury Department to consider human rights sanctions against Saudi Arabia and some lawmakers have vowed to block further arms sales to Riyadh, a move that Trump is likely to oppose. (Reporting By Matt Spetalnick and Steve Holland, additional reporting by Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Yara Bayoumy, Tomasz Janowski and Angus MacSwan)
Elko (United States) (AFP) - President Donald Trump confirmed Saturday that the United States plans to leave a landmark nuclear weapons treaty with Russia over claims Moscow has violated the deal.

The three-decade-old Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, known as the INF, was signed in 1987 by president Ronald Reagan.

"We're the ones who have stayed in the agreement and we've honored the agreement, but Russia has not unfortunately honored the agreement, so we're going to terminate the agreement and we're going to pull out," Trump told reporters in Elko, Nevada.

"Russia has violated the agreement. They've been violating it for many years. I don't know why president (Barack) Obama didn't negotiate or pull out. And we're not going to let them violate a nuclear agreement and go out and do weapons (while) we're not allowed to."

Trump spoke as his National Security Advisor John Bolton was in Moscow to meet with Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, ahead of what is expected to be a second summit between Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin this year.

US-Russia ties are under deep strain over accusations that Moscow meddled in the 2016 presidential election, as well as tension over Russian support for the Syrian government in the country's civil war, and the conflict in Ukraine.

However, Washington is looking for support from Moscow in finding resolutions to the Syria war and putting pressure on both Iran and North Korea.

No new summit between Trump and Putin has been announced, but one is expected in the near future.

The two leaders will be in Paris on November 11 to attend commemorations marking the end of World War I.

A senior Trump administration official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said another potential date would be when the presidents both attend the Group of 20 meeting on November 30 to December 1.
MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay (AP)  Uruguay's Congress has approved a law that guarantees rights to the South American country's transgender community.

Lawmakers in the lower house voted in favor of the measure late Thursday. It had already been approved by the Senate.

The law grants transgender people the right to get an operation that matches their sexual identity. It will be paid by the Uruguayan state along with hormone treatments.

The law also ensures a minimum number of transgender people are given public jobs in the next 15 years.

It mandates that 1 percent of government jobs be reserved and establishes a pension to compensate transgender people who were persecuted during Uruguay's 1973-1985 military dictatorship.
Beirut (AFP) - An offensive by US-backed forces against the Islamic State group's last redoubt in eastern Syria killed 35 jihadists on Saturday, a Britain-based war monitor said.

Twenty-eight IS members were killed in air strikes by the US-led coalition around the town of Hajin, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Another seven jihadists were killed in ground fighting with the Syrian Democratic Forces, who launched a coalition-backed offensive against the IS-held pocket in the Euphrates Valley last month.

Fighting has killed 414 jihadists and 227 SDF fighters in total since the assault began on September 10, the Observatory said.

Coalition air strikes on IS targets in another part of the pocket on Thursday and Friday killed at least 41 civilians, 10 of them children, the monitor said.

IS overran large swathes of Syria and neighbouring Iraq in 2014, proclaiming a "caliphate" across the land it controlled.

But the jihadist group has since lost most of its territory to various offensives in both countries.

In Syria, its presence has been reduced to parts of the vast Badia desert and the Hajin pocket in the eastern province of Deir Ezzor near the Iraqi border.

Syria's war has killed more than 360,000 people since it erupted in 2011 with the brutal repression of anti-government protests.
WASHINGTON (AP)  A brazen attack that the Taliban says targeted the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan is a stark reminder of the formidable task the Trump administration faces as it tries to extricate America from its longest war.

The commander, Army Gen. Scott Miller, escaped unharmed from Thursday's attack. Elections for the lower house of parliament are still expected to be held as scheduled Saturday in much of the country. And administration officials said U.S. resolve is unshaken.

"We remain absolutely committed to an Afghan-led Afghan reconciliation," Defense Secretary Jim Mattis told reporters Friday on the sidelines of an Asian security conference in Singapore. "Right now, we're going toward the election and we will continue to defend the Afghan people."

But the timing of the attack makes U.S. goals seem ever more distant. It comes just a week after reported U.S. back-channel talks with the Taliban and as the administration steps up efforts to kick-start peace negotiations between the militant group and the Afghan government to end the war, now entering its 18th year.

"The Trump administration, like the Obama administration before it, wants out. The Taliban knows this and is more than happy to dictate the terms of America's withdrawal," Thomas Joscelyn, a senior fellow at the Washington-based Foundation for Defense of Democracies, wrote in The Weekly Standard, a conservative magazine.

There are about 14,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan on a mission to train and assist Afghan government forces in taking the fight to the Taliban, which controls or contests close to half the districts in the country. Violence is rising, claiming the lives of hundreds of civilians every month. There have been seven U.S. combat deaths so far this year.

U.S. Army Col. David Butler, who was near where the shooting occurred after Miller met Afghan officials, disputed the Taliban and said the target was Kandahar police chief Abdul Raziq, one of the three officials killed. But even their claim that they were going after Miller cast doubt on whether the militants are indeed willing to negotiate.

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"The U.S. government has never been more invested in pursuing peace talks, and even an attack on the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan is unlikely to deter Washington in that goal," said Michael Kugelman, senior associate for South Asia at the Wilson Center. "But the attack amplifies how the Taliban will test the extent of America's willingness to pursue talks, and how the Taliban may up its violence in order to strengthen its bargaining position."

The recent appointment of former U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad as envoy for Afghan reconciliation was intended to energize the U.S. peace effort and coax the Taliban into direct talks with the government of Ashraf Ghani.

The Taliban said its political representatives in Qatar met with Khalilzad a week ago, during his first multination trip since he took up his new post. The State Department did not confirm the Oct. 12 meeting, but did not deny it either, which was widely viewed in Washington as tacit acknowledgement it happened. A similar scenario played out in July, when the Taliban reported a meeting with the senior U.S. diplomat for South and Central Asia, Alice Wells.

The risk of such back-channel talks is that could alienate Kabul. The Taliban claimed the two sides discussed finding a way to withdraw foreign forces from Afghanistan  an issue that the Afghan government would demand a say in as it would be key to any peace settlement. Since U.S. officials haven't confirmed that the meeting happened, they have not been able to publicly deny the Taliban's account of the meeting.

Aside from the rising violence, the quiet diplomacy is playing out against an unpredictable political backdrop in Afghanistan that could grow more turbulent in the weeks ahead.

The Taliban have condemned the elections, calling them a U.S.-manipulated event to further their hold on the country, and vowed to disrupt them. Militant attacks have killed seven candidates, and two other candidates have been abducted. Dozens of other people have died in attacks on election rallies.

The election for the 249-seat lower house is already three years overdue, and electoral authorities are battling both against deteriorating security and time to get polling centers ready for Saturday, using new biometric equipment intended to stop fraud that has plagued past elections. The U.S. has committed nearly $80 million in aid for U.N.-led support of Afghan election authorities.

Voting in southern Kandahar province has been postponed for a week because of Thursday's attack and will not take place at all in Ghazni, in the east, because of insecurity there.

Laurel Miller, a former U.S. envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan and now at Rand Corp., said disputes will inevitably arise among candidates over the results and that could hamper preparations for a presidential election scheduled for next April, which is far more consequential in Afghanistan's highly centralized political system.

That could undermine the standing of the electoral authorities and cause political instability that will be exploited by the Taliban. "That's not a great environment for negotiating a peace agreement," she said.

____

Associated Press writers Deb Riechmann in Washington and Robert Burns in Singapore contributed to this report.
WASHINGTON (AP)  President Donald Trump will likely have his second meeting with Kim Jong Un early next year to continue charting a way for the North Korean leader to give up his nuclear weapons in a verifiable way.

A senior administration official told White House reporters Friday that a meeting is "likely sometime after the first of the year."

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because details of the meeting have not been finalized.

Earlier this month, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made his fourth visit to North Korea, and he is coordinating with allies Japan and South Korea to arrange a second summit between Trump and Kim.

The two leaders' meeting in June in Singapore produced a vague agreement on denuclearization with few, if any, specifics.
Since 2010, Republicans have conducted an orchestrated campaign to weaponize House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. Voters appear to be tuning out  but that doesn't mean she'll remain a Democratic leader. (Photo: Yahoo Magazines PYC)

WASHINGTON  Even if Democrats win the House this November, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) might still lose.

Shes a lock for re-election in her own liberal San Francisco district, which has sent her to Congress over the last 32 years. But the real test for Pelosi will come when Democrats choose a leader for the 116th Congress  either a speaker if they take back the House or a minority leader if they dont.

In a new podcast episode of The Wave, HuffPost explores how Pelosi is facing the most serious leadership challenge of her 16-year tenure as the top Democrat in the House. We also look at how Democratic candidates are navigating questions about Pelosi.

Since 2010, Republicans have conducted an orchestrated campaign to weaponize Pelosi, demonizing her as a California liberal and casting Democratic candidates across the country as mere tools for her agenda.

In this episode, we talk to former Republican National Committee communications director Doug Heye, one of the architects of the 2010 campaign to Fire Pelosi. We also examine the race between Democratic Rep. Conor Lamb and Republican Rep. Keith Rothfus in Pennsylvanias 17th Congressional District. (The two are going against each other after Pennsylvanias old congressional map was thrown out for partisan gerrymandering.)

Lamb, who sat down for an interview with HuffPost, discussed his opposition to Pelosi, saying that his criticism has nothing to do with her personally, and everything to do with the fact that, when someones been in charge of an organization for a long time, whether its the United States Congress, or a Marine infantry battalion, or a small company, if they are not achieving the results year over year that you want, its time for a change in leadership, its time to refresh things.

Lamb is far from alone. According to The Washington Post, 87 non-incumbent Democrats have at least side-stepped questions about Pelosi. Of those Democrats, many wont win, and those who do could still support Pelosi. The number of Democrats who have emphatically said they wont support Pelosi for speaker during a floor vote is much smaller  closer to two or three dozen, depending on how much wiggle room youre prepared to give these candidates in their statements.

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But unless House Democrats take back the majority with a couple dozen seats to spare, maybe even more, Pelosi could face real problems. Politico reporter Heather Caygle, whos been closely following Pelosis potential math problem, says any election outcome that flips fewer than 40 seats is a potential threat to the congresswoman.

However, Pelosis deputy chief of staff, longtime staffer Drew Hammill, thinks her pathway is much safer. Hammill says he sees a sliding scale in which the greater number of anti-Pelosi Democrats that make it to the House, the greater the margin for a Democratic majority.

Hammills theory rests on the knowledge that many of the most emphatic anti-Pelosi Democrats are from the tougher districts to win, so if Democrats take those seats, he expects a sizable wave.

But if Democrats dont take back the House or if their majority margin is slim, Pelosi could be in real trouble, even though she seems to be less of a concern for voters these days.

Despite consistent GOP messaging against Pelosi, she doesnt rank highly as an issue voters care about. A CNN poll in August put her last in a list of 10 topics that respondents said were important factors in their votes. And voters are showing some fatigue with Republicans constant mentions of Pelosi.

During a debate this week, Rep. Dave Brat (R-Va.) brought up Pelosi 21 times. Eventually, the audience began groaning every time Brat mentioned her. And when Brats Democratic opponent, Abigail Spanberger, countered that Brat seemed to be confused about whom he was running against, she got the biggest applause of the night.

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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.
By Dave Sherwood SAN PEDRO DE ATACAMA (Reuters) - Earlier this year, the world's two biggest lithium producers publicly celebrated new deals with Chile's government that will allow them to vastly increase output of the ultralight battery metal from the Atacama, the world's driest desert. U.S.-based Albemarle Corp and Chile's SQM operate just 3 miles (5 km) apart in the remote Salar, a basin in the Atacama that is home to one of the world's richest deposits of high-grade lithium. Lithium-ion batteries are key components for most consumer electronics, from cellphones and laptops to electric cars. In celebrating the new contracts, the two companies said they were confident they could significantly boost output without drawing more than their current quotas of lithium-rich brine, or saltwater, that has for millennia accumulated in pools beneath the Atacama. The rivals said each had all the brine they needed for current and future production. "I don't see any issue with our ability to get (the brine) ... today, tomorrow and throughout the term of that agreement, which ends in 2043, Albemarle CEO Luke Kissam told investors in August. But a Reuters review of filings with Chile's environmental regulator shows Albemarle striking a different tone, expressing concern about how much brine rival SQM had been drawing and the impact that could have on future production from the area. The true state of the Salar's water supply, both fresh and saltwater, has become an obsession of lithium industry watchers because of the area's huge importance in satisfying soaring global demand for the powdery white metal. The area is the most cost-efficient place in the world to mine the metal, and both SQM and Albemarle have staked much of their future production on the Salar. In the filings, which have not been previously reported, Albemarle voices concern about a 2016 investigation by Chilean authorities that found over a period of several years SQM sucked up more of the lithium-rich brine from beneath the Salar than its permits allowed. (To see document: http://bit.ly/2NLh61j) In a March 2017 filing, for example, Albemarle said it was critical for the authorities to determine how much SQM had overdrawn because that could affect the availability of brine for other projects. (To see document: http://bit.ly/2ylq0xM) That filing came a month after Eduardo Bitran, who was then head of Chile's state development agency, Corfo, raised similar concerns about the amount of brine SQM had been drawing and other infractions. In a letter to the environmental regulator, Bitran wrote that SQM's actions pose a "severe risk" to the ecosystem of the Salar and its brine reserves. (To see document: http://bit.ly/2EtUrYi) Chile's environmental regulator has said SQM made changes to how it monitors wells without authorization, making it difficult to track the impact of SQM's pumping on brine supplies. (To see document: http://bit.ly/2EpFZjJ) SQM has not confirmed overdrawing brine. But over nearly two years it has filed four plans with regulators to bring its operations back into line with environmental approvals, which, among other things, specify how much brine SQM can pump. The first three plans were returned to SQM by regulators for further revisions; the latest, filed in September, has yet to receive a response. Meanwhile, SQM has accused Albemarle of overdrawing brine at its mine and questioned in a filing whether its rival's actions could have repercussions on the availability of brine reserves in the Salar. Albemarle declined comment when asked by Reuters whether that was correct. (To see document: https://bit.ly/2EtVYxw) Hydro-geologists and environmental chemists consulted by Reuters on the filings said the back-and-forth between the miners underscores widespread concerns over just how much brine is left and how long it will last. They said the filings show that neither the Chilean authorities nor the companies have a clear picture of the water situation at a time when the miners have been given the green light to boost production. Lithium analyst Joe Lowry said the filings had potential implications for the global production of lithium, which has become one of the world's hottest commodities. "The lithium world is on pins and needles," he said. When it comes to the Salar, "What is SQM going to be able to do, what is Albemarle going to be able to do production-wise?" 'RAISES DOUBTS' In a recent interview with Reuters, Kissam, Albemarle's CEO, insisted there was no question that there was enough water in the Salar to maintain lithium operations. The company can produce 80,000 metric tons of lithium annually in the Salar - roughly 36 percent of global demand in 2017 - helped by technology it has developed that will allow it to extract more lithium from the same amount of brine, he said. He declined to comment on the concerns expressed by his company in the regulatory filings about the area's water supplies. In one such filing, Albemarle said its rival's compliance plan failed to sufficiently address regulators' concerns and "raises doubts ... about the sustainability in time of both companies' operations." Kissam also said his company was currently using only the amount of water allowed by regulators. Were not overdrawing. Were pumping at the rates well within our permits, he said. For its part, SQM, controlled by Julio Ponce Lerou, a reclusive Chilean billionaire, says it already has all the brine it needs to produce more lithium. SQM declined to comment on its water fight with Albemarle. It said in a statement to Reuters that its submissions to the regulator spoke for themselves. But, it added, Our conclusions indicate that neither the environmental sustainability nor productivity of the Salar de Atacama are compromised. For Mariana Cervetto, a hydro-geologist who has reviewed technical aspects of the case for both Corfo, the state development agency, and the local indigenous communities that surround the Atacama salt flat, questions still outweigh answers. When people ask me, Is the water going to run out? I tell them, The truth is, we dont know, Cervetto said. WELL OF DISCONTENT The spat between Albemarle and SQM can be traced back to 2013, when government inspectors arrived at SQM's installations and found something amiss. Native Algarrobo trees - hardy desert hardwoods that survive by sending shoots deep into underground aquifers - were shedding their leaves and dying. The 23 dead trees represented one-third of those SQM had committed to monitor. Like canaries in a coal mine, the health of the trees was meant to act as an early warning signal of water problems. Two years later, more trees were dying but SQM failed to notify authorities, according to government inspection reports reviewed by Reuters. (To see document: https://bit.ly/2Ov0a4p) "If SQM is extracting more brine than it is permitted from the Salar, that can have repercussions on the availability of reserves in the basin for other projects, wrote lawyers for Albemarle subsidiary Rockwood Lithium Ltd in the March 2017 filing. SQM hit back the following month. It wrote to the regulator saying it was "outrageous" that Albemarle was presenting itself as a defender of the environment when Albemarle had acknowledged overdrawing water in 2008 and between 2010-2012. Albemarle declined comment when asked by Reuters whether that was correct. Corfo submitted a new study on the availability of water in the Salar to the environmental regulator in March that found more water and brine was leaving the system through pumping and evaporation than was coming back in via rain and snowfall. (To see document: https://bit.ly/2QWVcu1) In the filing, Corfo said, however, the study couldn't pinpoint which of the copper or lithium miners operating in the Salar was to blame for the imbalance. It said this uncertainty was reason enough for regulators to take steps to restrict extraction. (To see document: https://bit.ly/2ErPf6Z) That process is now underway. Reuters reported exclusively in August that Chile's water regulator was preparing restrictions on new water rights in the Salar in part because of uncertainty over how much extraction it can support.. (For a photo essay on Chiles Atacama, go to https://reut.rs/2yqZLWN). For an interactive version of this story, go to https://tmsnrt.rs/2EBjn06) (Additional reporting by Ernest Scheyder in Houston; editing by Amran Abocar, Ross Colvin and Paul Thomasch)
SAO PAULO (AP)  The WhatsApp messaging service said Friday that it has sent "cease and desist" letters to stop companies from sending bulk messages related to Brazil's election, after a report that businessmen were bankrolling a campaign to spread fake news in support of leading far-right presidential candidate Jair Bolsonaro.

The company framed the move as part of its larger efforts to combat the spread of false information on its service, revealing that it had banned hundreds of thousands of accounts since August, when the election campaign officially got under way in Brazil.

It said it uses "spam detection technology that spots accounts that engage in abnormal behavior so they can't be used to spread spam or misinformation."

Among the accounts it has blocked are those belonging to the companies that received the "cease and desist" letters. The action came after a report in the Folha de S.Paulo newspaper on Thursday that said a blast messaging campaign was planned for the week before the Oct. 28 runoff.

Bolsonaro's rival, Fernando Haddad, said that, if true, the scheme would amount to illegal campaign practices and asked Brazil's electoral court to investigate. Haddad, who became the candidate for the left-leaning Workers' Party after former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was banned because of a corruption conviction, alleged that hundreds of thousands of fake messages were already sent out in support of the far-right hopeful.

Bolsonaro has said any support he received from businessmen was voluntary and his Social and Liberal Party said all donations they have received were legal.

WhatsApp said in a statement that it was taking the allegation seriously. It declined to name the companies that it sent the letters to, but the Folha report identified marketing companies it said allegedly received money to do the blast messaging. None of the companies mentioned immediately responded to requests to confirm they had received the "cease and desist" letters.

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WhatsApp is immensely popular in Brazil, which is home to nearly one in 10 users worldwide, but it has come under scrutiny during this election as concerns grow about whether false or manipulated messages are influencing voters. While fake news is a concern on many social media platforms, like Twitter and Facebook, WhatsApp is more difficult to police because users exchange information directly and rumors there can gain added credibility since they're shared privately by friends.

Later, members of Haddad's Workers' Party met in Brasilia with the head of Brazil's electoral court. Chairwoman Gleisi Hoffmann said she feared there would not be a timely response to avert the false news wave before the runoff.

"I leave this meeting with a lot of concerns about the court's ability to face this new situation in the electoral process," Hoffmann told journalists. "Yesterday we filed a suit to request searches to gather evidence and so far the court had no decision. The court will treat this suit as if we were in normal times, so I am very worried."

Haddad also criticized Brazil's electoral court on Friday. "We have an analogue judiciary dealing with digital problems," he told journalists in Rio de Janeiro.

Brazil's top electoral court had been expected to hold a press conference on false news and electoral crimes, but it was postponed until Sunday. No details were given about the change.

Also on Friday Brazil's Labor Democratic Party filed a request to the country's top electoral court to cancel the results of the first round of voting on Oct.7. The left-leaning party of third-place Ciro Gomes argues Bolsonaro's campaign received illegal funds and used false news to thrive.

Meanwhile, amid the back-and-forth about whether WhatsApp was being weaponized in the campaign, Flavio Bolsonaro, who is a senator-elect for Rio de Janeiro and the presidential candidate's son, tweeted that his own account had been banned but hours later said it had been unblocked. WhatsApp confirmed that the account was blocked about a week ago for spamming users and reinstated a few days later.

"The persecution knows no limits!" Flavio Bolsonaro tweeted Friday when he initially revealed his account had been blocked. Jair Bolsonaro's campaign has frequently alleged that the mainstream media and others are working against the front-runner's candidacy.

WhatsApp noted that an account for former President Dilma Rousseff, who is from the rival Workers' Party and ran for senator in this election and lost, was also blocked during her campaign.

___

Associated Press writers Stan Lehman and Mauricio Savarese in Sao Paulo and video journalist Mario Lobao in Rio de Janeiro contributed to this report.
Yakima Central plaza advisory vote

 What is it? A ballot measure asking Yakima voters if the city should build a community plaza on a city parking lot west of The Capitol Theatre.

 What will it cost to build? The entire cost for the plaza is about $12 million. About $1.5 million of that  paid for by the city through taxes on real estate transactions  has already been used for planning and other pre-construction costs. Private residents raised nearly $10 million for the plazas construction, and the city will pay another $1.5 million. The donations will go back to donors if the project doesnt happen.

 Want to know more? For more coverage, go to www.yakimaherald.com/news/elections.

Election fundraising

 Plaza opponents: The Committee to Preserve Downtown Parking has raised $19,900, with $15,000 cash and in-kind contributions worth $4,900. Mercy Development Co. and Michael Snyder have contributed $7,500 each, with $4,900 from Yakima Valley Publishing Inc.

 Plaza supporters: Yes for Yakima has raised $60,000. Mike Smith has donated $8,000, with the following each contributing $5,000: Invest in Yakima LLC, Roger Wilson, Dana Dwinell, Morrier Hotel, Peggy Lewis and John I Haas Inc.

 Source: Public Disclosure Commission
The next summit meeting between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is likely to happen early next year, a senior administration official said on Friday.

The two sides have been engaged in talks on the leaders' second meeting after the first, unprecedented, one in Singapore in June.
Voting began in a Australian by-election on Saturday that could determine how long Scott Morrison's two-month-old premiership lasts, with the outcome keenly watched in the Islamic world after Morrison's brazen bid to woo Jewish voters.

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Morrison, Australia's sixth prime minister in eight years, needs the ruling Liberal Party to hold onto Wentworth, an affluent Sydney harbourside constituency, to keep his centre-right coalition government's one-seat majority in parliament.

The seat was vacated by Morrison's predecessor, Malcolm Turnbull, who was ousted in August by in-fighting among Liberal lawmakers.

Scott Morrison (Photo: AFP)

To boost his party's appeal in a constituency where 13 percent of voters are Jewish, Morrison proposed that Australia could follow US President Donald Trump's controversial decision last December by recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital and moving its embassy there.

Arab diplomats expressed their worries to Canberra this week, and neighbouring Indonesia, the country with the biggest Muslim population, warned that Australia was risking its trade and business relationship with the entire Islamic world.

Dave Sharma, the Liberal candidate in Wentworth, is a former Australian ambassador to Israel who is credited with first making the proposal to relocate the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

The status of Jerusalem is one of the thorniest obstacles to a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians. Israel regards all of the city, including the eastern sector that it annexed after the 1967 Middle East war, as its capital.

The Jerusalem proposal was the most controversial element of an already heated campaign. Turnbull's own son called on voters to shun the Liberal Party, while Sharma was scolded for using an unauthorised endorsement from a prominent rabbi.

Sharma's strongest rival is Kerryn Phelps, an independent candidate, who has said during campaigning that defence, trade and security implications need to be considered for any decision to be taken on Jerusalem.

Should the government fail to win Wentworth, it will need support from independent lawmakers to survive any no confidence motions.

Scott Morrison (Photo: Getty Images)

Two independents have already ruled out supporting the government, and others have warned Morrison that he will have to pay a hefty price for their backing.

While the gambit on Jerusalem has been welcomed by some members of Wentworth's Jewish community, the proposal has hardened the views of others.

"I am not thinking of voting Liberal anyway, but doing things like this makes me more inclined to vote Greens," said Jo Sharp, a 47-year-old resident, referring to the left-wing party.

Less than 0.5 percent of Australia's population is Jewish, while Muslims account for over 2 percent.
Senior Hamas official Ismail Radwan said Friday that despite the media reports suggesting that the organization intends to tone down the violent border protests , no one has actually asked Hamas to "stop the demonstrations, adding that even the Egyptian delegation made it clear it is our right to protest. Radwan told the truth, he just did not tell the whole truth.

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In the past two days, Israel and Egypt conveyed to Hamas, directly and indirectly, an unequivocal messageIf the high level of violence during the border demonstrations remainsIsrael will have to strike Gaza with a heavy military blow.

Hamas is an organization that knows how to adapt itself to the changing reality. It always knew.

Gaza protests (Photo: Reuters)

What became obvious to Hamas over the past week is that, unlike the last month and a half, the rope around their neck has started to tighten, and this time Israel will not simply look the other way and absorb the violence. This time, the holidays are really over.

The message has been internalized by Hamas as proven by the events of the past three days.

The Wednesdays statement, by senior Hamas official Bassem Naimmade following the firing of a missile on the city of Beer Sheva that hit a residential homesaid the incident prompted the groups security forces to launch an investigation into finding the perpetrators behind the rocket attack.

While on Friday, came the announcement from the March of Return campaigns organizing committee, saying it intends to ask the demonstrators not to approach the border fence in order to not provide Israel with an excuse to strike the Gaza Strip as it wishes.

It was not a coincidence that Hamas chose to publish that statement in English, as the group intended to catch the attention of every Western ear but not the ears of the demonstrations themselveswhich Hamas already knows how to control without the official announcements.

Nevertheless, for the 30th Friday in a row the March of Return demonstration once again took place, with ten thousand protesters taking part in the event.

However, in recent weeks the number of demonstrators was around 20,000, with multiple Palestinians killed and wounded. This Friday there were several attempts to breach the border fence, but not a single protester was killed.

The security establishment described the demonstration as the quietest since the March of Return campaign began seven months ago, but the truth is that it was the mildest protest since the collapse of the ceasefire talks last month (mostly because of Mahmoud Abbas, but that is a different issue).

It is safe to assume that Israel is relatively satisfied by this development, and it will most likely allow once again Qatari-bought fuel to enter Gaza.

Gaza protests last Friday (Photo: AFP)

However, its unclear if the demonstration next Friday or the Friday after that will be similar in scope. The memory span of those in Gaza is very short, and no one can be sure that Hamas will not gradually escalate the border violence once again, if it decides that the quiet does not serve its interests.

In other words, Egyptian intelligence is no more than a pain relief pillwithout a long-term solution to the core problem acceptable for both sideswhich means the winds of war will blow once again much faster than we thought.

Maybe a rocket or two will once again hit an unexpected location, but this time there might not be another Miri Tamano to save her children on time and spare us a military campaign.
Police arrested on Saturday a 20-year-old Palestinian man armed with a knife in the West Bank settlement of Har Adar.

After a preliminary investigation carried out by Border Police, it is suspected he intended to carry out a terror attack. The suspect has been taken in for further questioning.
Police arrested on Saturday a 20-year-old Palestinian man armed with a knife in the settlement of Har Adar near Jerusalem, and after a preliminary investigation it was established the suspect intended to carry out a terror attack.

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The suspect was arrested after local security guards alerted the police as well as Border Police, who arrived at the scenewhere they found a knife. The suspect has been taken in for further interrogation.

The investigation also revealed that the suspect breached the separation barrier and began to walk through the forest west of the settlement.

Knife found at the scene (Photo: Police Spokesman)

Later, according to the investigation, the suspect entered Har Adar and walked about 30 meters, before catching the attention of a female security guard, who, as mentioned earlier, alerted the Jerusalem area security forces.

Chen Filipovitz, the head of the local council, issued an official statement following the incident, praising the local security forces.

"This morning a potentially serious incident was prevented due to the vigilance of our security forces  but someone along the separation barrier was not paying attention," stressed Filipovitz.

"It has been a year since the terrible terror attack weve been through and I expect the security forces to do things differently," he added, referring to the deadly shooting which took place near the settlement last year.

On September 2017, a 37-year-old Nimer Jamal from Beit Surikwho held a work permit for the Seam Zone in the West Bank, shot and killed a Border Policeman and two civilian security guards and seriously wounded another Israeli near Har Adar, before being shot dead by security forces.
Supreme Court Presidents Emeriti Aharon Barak is concerned for the future of the Israeli democracy, which he believes is under threat, according to a speech he gave Tuesday at a conference marking the 70th anniversary of the State Attorney's Office.

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"Our approach to this issue is that it cannot happen here and it is wrong. If it happened in Germany during the times of Bach, Goethe and Beethoven, it could happen anywhere," he stressed.

Barak elaborated on his frustrations, suggesting democracy is under attack all throughout the world.





Supreme Court Presidents Emeriti Aharon Barak (Photo: Yair Sagi)

Democracy in the world today is under attack mainly because of problems with immigration and terrorism. If we do not defend democracy, it will not protect us," he exclaimed.

In his speech, Barak addressed Justice Minister Ayelet Shakeds remarks that if the Supreme Court repeals a basic law, it would equivalent to an earthquake.

"According to the speeches we hear, it seems that if the Supreme Court overturns a law passed by the Knessetit would be the end of democracy, he said without explicitly mentioning Shaked by name.

It is true that democracy is the rule of representatives of the people  But we must not forget that a regime that rejects the separation of powers, the rule of law, basic values and human rights, is not a democratic regime," Barak vented.

Barak and Shaked (Photo: Yair Sagi)

Barak attacked Shaked's bill proposal to change the procedure in which the legal advisers of government ministries are appointed, accusing the government of wanting to minimize the influence of gatekeepers.

"When the idea is to turn the attorney general into a trust servant, with a minister in charge having a decisive influence on the choice, it is a grave violation, the former Supreme Court president warned.
Opposition leader Tzipi Livni addressed on Saturday the Israeli government's policy in the Gaza Strip following the escalation of hostilities over the past week.

"The government is hiding from the public that it has moved on from the policy of wanting to remove Hamas from power to a policy that preserves the organizations regime.

"Israel is conducting indirect negotiations with Hamas instead of direct negotiations with the Palestinian Authority," Livni added during the Shabbat Talk event in Eilat.
Opposition leader Tzipi Livni said Saturday that the government is secretly trying to preserve the regime of the Hamas terror group in the Gaza Strip.

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"The government is hiding from the public that it has moved on from the official policy of wanting to remove Hamas from power to a secret policy of preserving the organizations regime, she exclaimed.

Livnis comments come in light of the escalation of hostilities along the southern border following Wednesday's rocket attack on the city of Beer Sheva which destroyed a residential home.

Tzipi Livni (Photo: Alex Gumberg)

"Israel is conducting indirect negotiations with Hamas instead of direct negotiations with the Palestinian Authority," Livni added during the Israel Bar Association event in Eilat.

The Likud party issued an official statement in response, calling the opposition leader a spokesperson for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

"We call on Livni to show responsibility and stop acting like a spokesperson for Mahmoud Abbas, who pays huge salaries to those who murder Jews and tries to incite a new war on the southern border by economically strangling the residents of the Gaza Strip," stressed the statement.

Early Wednesday morning, a rocket fired from Gaza struck a Be'er Sheva house while another landed in the sea off the shores of a city in central Israel. The missile broke through two floors of concrete.

Home hit by Gaza rocket

Seven people were treated for shock after the attack, including a 39-year-old Miri Tamano and her three children aged 9, 10, and 12, who were in the house when it was hit. In addition, three people were taken to the Soroka Medical Center in the city suffering from light bruising sustained when falling as they were running for shelter.

On Friday, some 10,000 Palestinians protested as part of Hamas's "March of Return" campaign at several spots along the Gaza border, with Israeli defense officials saying the clashes were the calmest over the past seven months and that Hamas has been able to rein in the violence.

However, on Saturday the violence resumed when several fires broke out in the Gaza border communities as a result of incendiary balloons flown from the strip into Israelwhich prompted an IAF aircraft to strike a terrorist cell responsible for launching flammable devices.
The Islamic State group early Saturday released two women and four children they had been holding since July in the first part of an exchange with the Syrian government that will set free dozens of women related to members of the extremist group, opposition activists said.

The women and children were among 30 people kidnapped by IS in the southern province of Sweida on July 25 when they carried out a raid that left at least 216 people dead. One woman died in IS custody while another was shot dead. In August, a 19-year-old man was also killed while in detention.
IDF Spokesperson Brig. Gen. Ronen Manlis said a simple truth this week. This truth must be said, and everyone who lives in Israel must hear it, and internalize it too. It is the truth that our politicians do not want to tell us about the Iron Dome, Davids Sling and the other expensive defense systems: "The system's defense capability is not hermetic. What saved the day were the correct actions of a citizen, the IDF spokesman said after a rocket hit a residence in Be'er Sheva.

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That is the truth; and we need, and can, live with this truth. Protection, any protection, will never be perfect. The illusion of absolute security, which our politicians pretend to demonstrate to us time and time again, is seductive but also a flawed and dangerous illusion.





Iron Dome missile defense (Photo: Roi Idan)

Even the coalition members, who do not say so explicitly, constantly emphasize Israel's wonderful defense capabilities. They lead us to believe that the Israeli home front is on its way to being completely protected, hinting that we will all soon live in safety under a multi-layered defense shield of the Iron Dome, David Sling, the technological barrier around the Gaza Strip and other amazing and expensive defense systems that will protect us from harm.

It is written in the monthly prayer for the sanctification of the new moon: "Just as I leap (and dance) opposite you and cannot touch you, so may my enemies be unable to touch me for harm." Our politicians lead us to believe that when crunch time arrives, the Iron Dome will ensure that hundreds of thousands of Hezbollah and Hamas rockets will not harm us.

This is not just false, it is utter nonsense; nonsense that will smack us in the face during the next major military confrontation, as it did this week in the apartment of Miri Tamano and her three children in Be'er Sheva.

Tamano home after a rocket strike (Photo: Barel Efraim)

Why do politicians insist on lying to us?

About two months ago, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu presented the "Security Concept 2030". Its main aim is to add enormous funds to the air defense and cyber defense systems at the expense of the ground forces. In other words, strengthening the home front defenses, at the cost of eroding IDF's ability to achieve a swift and decisive victory on land.

"Rest assured," the politicians say, we are watching over you. Vote for us, and we will spare no amount of money so that you are completely protected."

But why? Why do politicians insist on lying to us over and over again by telling us about the wonders of Israel's impenetrable defense technology? Why are they telling us that high-tech missiles will protect us from all evil and thwart any possibility of harming Israels citizens?

The answer is human naturewe very much want to hear it and believe it.

Iranian ballistic missiles

Our politicians, clever and efficient at marketing, are always happy to soft-soap us. Who does not want absolute security for themselves and their family? And who is unwilling to pay any price, and vote for any candidate in order to attain this confidence?

There is only one small problem: there is no such thing as absolute security; nor will there ever be. We are always living under some level of danger. Mental health is the ability to live with this knowledge, to live with doubt and in the shadow of danger, and still function normally, and feel at ease.

What we need in the home front is not blind faith in the falsehood that we are completely protected, but rather the readiness to act when attacked. The air defense systems will successfully intercept most of the missiles that would hit us, but not all of them. There is no substitute for a well-trained home front that is prepared for any challenge.

This, in fact, is what Miri Tamano , a true Israeli hero, understood this week. As her sister, attorney Ora Tamano, said: "My sister is a lioness, she slept downstairs and the children slept in three separate rooms upstairs. She simply grabbed them (upon hearing the alarm) and dragged them to the security room. It gave them life. There is nothing left of the house except for that protected room. She is special; a woman of valor. When I myself am at home, there is a dilemma whether to go to the security room or not, because we rely on the Iron Dome. She did the right thing."

She is 100% correct. We have the means to deal with the missile threat to the Israeli home front. Our air defense systems are indeed a pride-worthy technological achievement, and they are an important element in protecting the home front. But they have cracks, and there will always have cracks. They cannot  and must not  replace vigilance and resourcefulness, readiness for quick response, and use of safety rooms.

The desire for absolute security, and hermetic defense of the home front, is a dangerous illusion. And since our politicians will not tell us this, we should listen to the IDF Spokesperson's Unit. We must be prepared to carry out the instructions of the Home Front Command, which is what Miri Tamano did, and by doing so, she saved her children's lives. This is our true defense, which must be nurtured and practiced, even if it does not add points to politicians in the polls.
Heavy rain in the south of the country caused floods Saturday evening in Eilat and the Arava region. As a result, Eilat airport closed, and road 90 was blocked.

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The Israel Airports Authority reported that a cloud breakage formed large puddles on the runway and water started to drift. Therefore, they said, the runway is not fit for landings and takeoffs.

Floods in the south (Photo: Tom Lev-Adler)

As a result of the heavy floods, a Boeing aircraft and an Embraer plane on their way back to Eilat landed at Ben-Gurion and Sde Dov airports instead. In addition, the entry road to Eilat was closed earlier and Eilat municipality sent teams as well as contractors with heavy tools to restore the roads to full functionality. The airport is set to reopen at 11pm Saturday.

During the afternoon, floods hit Nahal Paran, Nahal Tzofar, Nahal Barak and Nahal Ashush in the southern Arava area. No injuries were reported.

Heavy floods in the south

X

Route 90 was closed due to floods for a few hours, and other areas are still at risk. This is the first floods in the region for this year's winter season.

(Photo: Tom Lev-Adler)

According to a statement made by the police, "a weather system is expected to enter the southern region, including a flash flood in the Jordan Valley, the Judean Desert, the Dead Sea and the Arava. Therefore, the public is asked to stay away from these areas."

Egged announced that several bus lines departing from Eilat to the north would be shut down due to floods. The company said earlier that "following the flooding on Highway 90, we had to change the route of all bus lines from Eilat to the north. They are now using Highway 12 instead. The buses headed to Eilat are travelling through Mitzpe Ramon."

(Photo: Tom Lev-Adler)

In addition, the The Israel Nature and Parks Authority reported that due to the Meteorological Service's forecast, and the high risk of floods in the Dead Sea region, the Ein Gedi Nature Reserve has been closed for travelers. Earlier, restrictions were imposed on tours in this area.

The volatile weather will continue for the next few days, with a warm-up that expected to kick in Monday, which will be unusually hot.
















A group of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip crossed the security fence seemingly on Saturday morning and hung a photo depicting a Palestinian who was killed during the Gaza border riots on an abandoned sniper position.

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The group crossed the fence near the central Gaza Strip, east of the al-Bureij refugee camp, and returned to the Strip unharmed.

Palestinians brazenly cross border fence

X

Recent footage released by Palestinians demonstrates the ease with which Palestinians cross the fence under the auspices of the weekly riots. IDF officials say that when the men crossed the fence, the infiltrators were being monitored by the forces and the observation posts in the area. IDF is invesitgating the footage.

Footage of infiltration

On Friday, Palestinians from Gaza crossed the fence three times during violent riots on the border, but returned to Gaza immediately thereafter. During one of the incidents, IDF forces fired at the Palestinians.

Gazans hung photo of 'martyr' on IDF post

On Saturday morning, IDF forces identified a group of Palestinians crossing the fence, damaging it, and then crossing into Israeli territory. After a few minutes they returned back to the Strip.

According to the IDF Spokesperson's Unit, "all crossing incidents were under the supervision of our forces."

Border crossing attempt (Photo: AFP)

In addition, an IDF aircraft attacked a terrorist squad launching incendiary balloons into Israel from the southern Gaza Strip Saturday.

This is not the first time the army attacks incendiary balloons squads in Gaza, several such operations have recently been completed.

Earlier on Saturday, fires broke out in Kissufim, Beeri, and Shokeda Forests located in the Gaza region. Firefighting teams and Jewish National Fund (JNF) employees operated on the ground. No injuries were reported.

Balloons from Gaza (Photo: Reuters)

The border crossings and incendiary balloon incidents continue even after the Security Cabinet instructed the IDF to gradually step up its response and introduce a zero-tolerance policy.

During the Security Cabinet's meetingwhich convened Thursday following a rocket attack launched from Gaza on a Be'er Sheva home and in the sea off the shores of a city in central Israelthe military brass presented two operational plans to tackle the violent border clashes and to handle the incendiary balloons launched from the strip into Israel, with the first being air strikes against terror targets in the strip, while the second is containment of the violence while gradually intensifying the army's response to breaching attempts and launching of incendiary balloons and kites.
Israel, the so-called Start-up Nation, could soon become known as the Silicon Valley of medical marijuana if leaders in the industry have their way. Israels medical cannabis sector is flourishing, thanks in part to growing business ties with Canada, which recently legalized marijuana.

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Hundreds of millions of dollars in deals between Canadian and Israeli companies have already been inked, with investments covering innovative products treating a wide range of health issuesfrom cancer, to epilepsy, to sleep disorders.

Researchers at CannRx labs in Jerusalem show their facilities (Photo: David Rawlings)

Saul Kaye is the man behind the CannaTech conferenceone of the biggest international events in the industrywhich takes place each year in Israel.

We have about 106 clinical trials running right now in cannabis and nowhere else in the world has been able to do that, Kaye, who also founded the Israel-based company iCan, revealed to The Media Line.

Weve got nearly 40,000 patients now and when I started there were 12,000 patients so thats a huge amount of growth, and obviously with growth comes capital. Capital all over the world is looking at the cannabis (industry), he added.

Kaye stresses that Israel is the perfect place to experiment with medical cannabis not only because the climate is ideal, but also because researchers are years ahead of their peers in many other countries.

For instance, CannRx Technology, a subsidiary of Izun Pharmaceuticals, has developed a revolutionary technology that can produce cannabis extractions to treat serious medical conditions.

We created VCT or Vapor Capture Technology, Dr. William Z. Levine, Founder & Executive Chairman at CannRx, explained to The Media Line.

Basically, (the machine) vaporizes cannabis. A gas plume comes out from the material similar to what you would inhale into your lungs. We then capture that gas plume, solubilize it down through a series of solubilization chambers and transform it into a very clean, efficient, very controlled liquid. It can be water soluble or oil-based, (depending on how) we choose to deliver it to the system.

Alvit Pharma is also making strides with unique products combining medicinal mushrooms and cannabis. The company has already signed deals with several Licensed Producers (or LPs) in Canada.

It seems like almost every LP here has something to do with somebody in Canada right now, Yona Levy, CEO of Alvit LCS Pharma, asserted to The Media Line.

Canada is probably the most mature market now in terms of cannabis in the world. Theyve taken it very seriously and theyve approached it the right way, she said.

Nevertheless, the prospects for medical cannabis in Israel are not as rosyor greenas they could be. The industry is plagued by uncertainty, particularly due to stringent government regulations that currently forbid the export of marijuana products.

For several years and following countless Israeli parliament debates, the sale overseas of Israeli medical cannabis remains banned.

The most recent committee meeting, held just this summer, was marred by political infighting between officials at the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Public Security, with the head of the latter, Gilad Erdan, objecting to export reform for a variety of reasons.

Medical cannabis (Photo: AP)

Cannabis industry insiders argue that while numerous foreign investors have expressed an interest in Israeli products, agreements in the works with Canada and other countriesreaching into the billions of dollarscould ultimately fall through if the government does not solve the issue quickly.

It all got held up by Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, who said I want to do a final review before we allow exports, Kaye, who created CannaTech, asserted. A third of my investors are Canadians, a third are Australians and a third are Americans so we need to be able to export to other countries.

For its part, the Canadian government is ready and willing to collaborate with Israeli companies in the near future.

Canadian and Israeli companies are exploring opportunities for trade and investment in the cannabis-for-medical-purposes industry, in addition to partnerships in research and development, a spokesperson at the Canadian Embassy in Tel Aviv wrote in a statement provided to The Media Line.

Canada does not support any international trade in cannabis for non-medical or non-research purposes, she added.

Despite the legislative and bureaucratic hurdles that remain, some in the industry have found creative ways to keep their businesses alive.

To circumvent legislative hurdles and the export ban, some Israeli businesses have relocated their research and development facilities to other nations, whereas other entrepreneurs have started growing marijuana outside of Israel.

One such company is Together Pharma, which recently reached an agreement with an unnamed Canadian firm to sell five tons of cannabis oil worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

Due to the Israeli export regulations, we are opening a greenhouse in Uganda, where regulations to export cannabis are already in place, Arik Filstein, founder of Together Pharma, related to The Media Line.

At the moment, Israel is losing money. Instead of taxable revenue being generated here, its going to other countries, which is unfortunate, Filster concluded.

Article written by Maya Margit
Germany should not approve arms sales to Saudi Arabia until investigations into the circumstances of journalist Jamal Khashoggi's death have been completed, Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said on Saturday.

In an interview with German public television's Tagesthemen programme, Maas said there was no reason to approve sales while it was still unclear what had happened to Khashoggi, in an apparent reversal of last month's decision to authorise the sale of artillery systems to Riyadh.

"So long as investigations are underway, so long as we don't know what happened there, there is no reason to take positive decisions on arms exports to Saudi Arabia," he said.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has decided to postpone Saturday the demolition of Bedouin-Palestinian village Khan al-Ahmar despite controversy among government ministers.

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We will first exhaust negotiations and discuss the offers on the table, said a source in Jerusalem. In response, Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman slammed the decision and emphasized it was made despite (his) strong objections.

Bedouin-Palestinian village Khan al-Ahmar. (Photo: AFP)

Borders Police forces, alongside police and Civil Administration personnel were updated on Saturday evening that the demolition, which was supposed to take place any day, has been halted until further notice.

The High Court of Justice rejected an appeal against the demolition of the West Bank village, ruling that its stay would expire in a week and the spartan encampment could then legally be torn down.

There is real concern of disorderly conduct and violence occuring during the demolition, especially from non-residents. Social media posts have been calling to rally against the demolition, saying to even use violence if necessary, wrote Justice Hanan Melcer in the decision.

We can only hope the demolition is conducted peacefully, with no physical violence, so that the valuables in each home can be removed in an orderly fashion, he added.

Lieberman and Netanyahu (Photo: Haim Horenstein)

The decision to demolish the village and relocate its inhabitants was taken after a legal struggle that has been going on for years.

An alternative land was decided upon, located in the neighboring community of Ezriyya, on its current dump site.

The Bedouin tribe that lives in Khan al-Ahmar, the Jahalin, is originally from the Arad region. They settled on the territories between Ma'ale Adumim and Jericho in the 1950swhen the land was still under Jordanian rule.

Bedouin-Palestinian village Khan al-Ahmar. (Photo: Reuters)

Today the community encampment includes tents and slum shacks, and an Italian-funded school. It houses 180 inhabitants.

Israel says the structures that make up the Khan al-Ahmar encampment pose a threat to residents because of their proximity to a highway.

But critics have dismissed this claim as a ploy to remove the village's residents to clear the way for new Jewish settlements.
Bessemer Township woman works on maintaining health

TAKING A break Wednesday in Bessemer's Ethnic Commons Park is Cheryl Taivalmaa, who lost her mother to breast cancer in 1987.

By P.J. GLISSON

[email protected]

BESSEMER - Cheryl Taivalmaa, of Bessemer, was living in Phoenix when she learned her mother had cancer in 1985. It changed everything.

"I quit my job and came home because I wanted to be close," she said, explaining that she took jobs in Ishpeming first and then in Marshfield, Wis., so it would be easier to drive here to provide support.

Taivalmaa said the experience of her mother, Helmi Taivalmaa, went as follows:

-She realized she had a lump in her breast, but delayed seeing a doctor for several months because she was waiting to get on Medicare.

-W...
News

Washington, DC - A new report released yesterday by the Federal Trade Commission details the agencys comprehensive efforts to protect older consumers from fraud, identity theft, and other problems in the marketplace.

The report, Protecting Older Consumers 2017-2018: A Report of the Federal Trade Commission, outlines the FTCs research, law enforcement, and education efforts aimed at protecting older Americans.

As part of its efforts to understand how fraud is affecting older Americans, the report includes new analysis of the FTCs consumer complaint data from 2017 finding that older adults are good at reporting frauds they encounter. In 2017, older adults were more likely to report fraud than younger people, and in those reports, indicated less frequently that they had lost money. While younger consumers more frequently reported losing money in their complaints, this does not suggest that older consumers need fewer protections, the report notes. In fact, when older consumersespecially those 80 and overreported losing money to fraud, they lost much more money than consumers in their twenties.

The report also highlights some of the top scams where older consumers are more likely to report losing money than younger age groups, such as technical support scams; business imposter scams; prizes, sweepstakes, and lottery scams; and family or friend imposter scams.

The report also focuses on key enforcement actions the FTC has taken to protect older Americans. These include a case involving Next-Gen, Inc., which the FTC and the State of Missouri alleged engaged in deceptive schemes that targeted or affected senior citizens with phony sweepstakes offers; a case against Genius Technologies, LLC, which the FTC alleged offered bogus computer technical support services that tricked consumers out of tens of millions of dollars; and a case against Health Research Laboratories, LLC alleging that the company deceived consumers with promises that its products could treat everything from arthritis to memory loss.

Finally, the report details the FTCs outreach and education efforts through such programs as the Every Community Initiative, which examines the impact of fraud on certain populations of consumers, including older adults. As part of its consumer education work, the FTC offers a fraud prevention campaign targeted at older Americans that encourages people to talk about scams. The Pass it On campaign focuses on providing fraud prevention resources to older Americans so they can help protect their communities by sharing the information and materials with family and friends.

The Commission voted 5-0 to approve the report to Congress.
Latest News

Chicago, Illinois - A suburban Chicago man admitted in federal court Tuesday that he tried to illegally export nearly two dozen guns and ammunition to Haiti from Illinois.

This guilty plea was announced by the following: U.S. Attorney John R. Lausch Jr., Northern District of Illinois; Special Agent in Charge James M. Gibbons, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcements (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); Special Agent in Charge Celinez Nunez, U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; and Special Agent in Charge Dan Clutch, U.S. Department of Commerces Bureau of Industry and Security, Office of Export Enforcement. Valuable assistance was also provided by U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Illinois State Police.

Patrick Germain, 45, of Evanston, Illinois, pleaded guilty to one count of knowingly and fraudulently attempting to export firearms contrary to the laws and regulations of the United States.

In a written plea agreement, Germain admitted that in 2016 he planned to illegally export 16 handguns, five shotguns, a rifle and ammunition from Evanston to Haiti by way of Miami, Florida.

Germain built a plywood container, filled it with the guns and ammunition, and then hid it inside a cargo van, the plea agreement states.

The van was then delivered to a shipping company in Miami, but law enforcement seized it before it was transported to Haiti.

According to the plea agreement, in June 2016 Germain purchased the firearms and ammunition from dealers in Illinois.

Germain also purchased three vehicles, including the cargo van that he would later use to transport the concealed firearms and ammunition. He then hired an Illinois company to deliver the three vehicles to Miami, where Germain had arranged for a Florida shipping company to transport the vehicles to Haiti.

When asked by the Illinois company why the cargo van appeared to be overweight, Germain represented to the driver that the added weight was due to furniture in the backseat.

Germain also misled the Florida shipping company by not notifying them that the cargo van was filled with guns and ammunition, according to the plea agreement.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney William Dunne, Northern District of Illinois.
Latest News

Salt Lake City, Utah - A federal grand jury in Salt Lake City returned a second superseding indictment Thursday in the Aaron Michael Shamo case. The 13-count indictment alleges a count of aiding and abetting the distribution of a controlled substance (fentanyl) resulting in death.

This case is being investigated by U.S. Postal Inspectors and special agents of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcements (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the FDA, DEA Metro Narcotics Task Force in Salt Lake City, and IRSs Criminal Investigation.

The indictment alleges that Shamo intentionally and knowingly distributed a substance containing fentanyl, the use of which resulted in the June 13, 2016, death of a person identified as R.K. in the indictment.

The superseding indictment charges one count of continuing criminal enterprise, three counts of aiding and abetting the importation of a controlled substance, one count of possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute, one count of manufacture of a controlled substance and two counts of knowing and intentional adulteration of drugs while held for sale. It also includes one count of aiding and abetting the use of the U.S. mail in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense, one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, one count of money laundering promotion and concealment, and one count of engaging in monetary transactions in property derived from specified unlawful activities  in addition to the distribution resulting in death count.

The indictment alleges Shamo directed an international drug trafficking organization that imported Fentanyl and Alprazolam from China and manufactured controlled substances, namely fake oxycodone pills made with Fentanyl and counterfeit Xanax tablets. Documents filed by federal prosecutors as a part of the case allege Shamo and his co-conspirators purchased pill tableting machines  sometimes called pill presses  to mark pills so the markings would match those of legitimate pharmaceutical drugs. The organization distributed these controlled substances to other individuals for distribution throughout the United States and elsewhere using its storefront, PHARMA-MASTER, on the Dark Net marketplace AlphaBay and through the U.S. mail, according to the indictment and case documents. According to a complaint filed in the case, when law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at Shamos house in November 2016, they found about 70,000 pills that had the appearance of Oxycodone and more than 25,000 pills that appeared to be Alprazolam. The drug trafficking organization distributed more than 800,000 pills.

Counts 8 and 9 of the indictment allege Shamo manufactured round blue tablets with markings on them to look like Oxycodone tablets. He offered the tablets for sale on the internet as Oxycodone 30mg tablets. Despite these representations, the defendant did not use Oxycodone in the manufacturing process. He substituted Fentanyl, a much more potent synthetic opioid, the indictment alleges.

The organization began as a collaboration between Shamo and Drew Wilson Crandall, but grew to include others.

Crandall, 32, most recently of Brisbane, Australia, pleaded guilty in federal court Wednesday to conspiracy to distribute Fentanyl, conspiracy to distribute Alprazolam, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. As a part of a statement in advance of the plea agreement filed in court, Crandall admitted that he and his co-defendant, Shamo, imported and distributed controlled substances in Utah and elsewhere. He admitted they sold controlled substances on dark web marketplaces. As he made plans to leave the country, he trained co-conspirators to assume the roles he had held in the organization. He admitted he stayed in contact with Shamo after leaving Utah and began to provide online customer support for Shamos vendor account on AlphaBay. This work continued until Shamos arrest in November 2016.

Crandall admitted that the co-conspirators each had a role to play and they relied on each other to meet their common objective: to earn money by selling drugs.

According to the plea agreement, Shamo normally paid Crandall by bitcoin while he was out of the country. However, at his request in November 2016, Shamo deposited drug proceeds  specifically U.S. currency  into Crandalls bank account as payment for his ongoing services to PHARMA-MASTER.

Federal prosecutors have agreed to recommend Crandall be sentenced at the low end of the sentencing guideline range determined by the Court. He faces up to life in prison with a mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison for the conspiracy to distribute fentanyl conviction, up to five years for the for conspiracy to distribute alprazolam, and a maximum of 20 years for conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Other defendants charged in earlier indictments have also reached plea agreements in the case. They include Alexandrya Marie Tonge, 26, and Katherine Lauren Anne Bustin, 28, both of South Jordan, Utah; and Mario Anthony Noble, 29, and Sean Michael Gygi, 28, both of Midvale, Utah. Sentencings for these defendants will be scheduled at a later date.

Shamo faces a mandatory life sentence if convicted of the continuing criminal enterprise count in the indictment. Several other counts carry potential life sentences, including aiding and abetting the importation of fentanyl, possession of fentanyl with intent to distribute, and aiding and abetting the distribution of a controlled substance resulting in death. Other counts carry potential sentences of five years to 40 years.

The indictment includes a notice that federal prosecutors intend to seek criminal forfeiture of property and proceeds derived from the alleged conduct or used to commit or facilitate the commission of the offenses. Included in the notice is millions of dollars in U.S. currency, an industrial large pill press and associated dyes, four 100-ounce silver bars, and cash as a substitute for two vehicles sold as a part of the case  among other things.

Indictments are not findings of guilt. An individual charged in an indictment is presumed innocent unless or until proven guilty in court.

A three-week trial is set to start on Jan. 22, 2019, before U.S. District Judge Dale A. Kimball.

Special assistant U.S. Attorneys from the Utah Attorney Generals Office are joining an assistant U.S. Attorney in the U.S. Attorneys Office in Salt Lake City in prosecuting this case.
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Gardner Denver Holdings, Inc. provides mission-critical flow control and compression equipment; and associated aftermarket parts, consumables, and services in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. It operates through three segments: Industrials, Energy, and Medical. The Industrials segment designs, manufactures, markets, and services a range of air compression, vacuum, and blower products, as well as offers associated aftermarket parts, consumables, and services. Its products are used in process-critical applications, such as the operation of industrial air tools, vacuum packaging of food products, aeration of waste water, and others. This segment sells its products through an integrated network of direct sales representatives and independent distributors under the Gardner Denver, CompAir, Elmo Rietschle, Robuschi, and other brand names. The Energy segment engages in the design, manufacture, marketing, and service of a range of displacement and liquid ring vacuum pumps, compressors and integrated systems, and engineered fluid loading and transfer equipment, as well as offers associated aftermarket parts, consumables, and services under the Gardner Denver, Nash, Emco Wheaton, and other brands. It serves customers in upstream, midstream, and downstream energy markets, as well as petrochemical processing, transportation, and general industrial sectors. The Medical segment designs, manufactures, and markets a range of specialized gas, liquid, and precision syringe pumps and compressors for use in oxygen therapy, blood dialysis, patient monitoring, laboratory sterilization and wound treatment, and other applications. This segment sells its products under the Thomas and other brands. Gardner Denver Holdings, Inc. was founded in 1859 and is headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

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- A group of Nigerian school students have made history

- Reports reveal that the students of the a school located in a village in Akwa, Anambra state made some impressive inventions

- The students who have no access to electricity or internet built a generator which runs on water, a rocket launcher and a bio-digester

There's is no doubt that talent is locked in several areas of Nigeria, waiting to be discovered. Just recently a group of Nigerian school students made interesting discoveries and invented impressive machines.

Reports reaching YEN.com.gh reveal that a village school located in Akwa, Anambra state has gifted kids who have no access to electricity, internet or world-class civilization, yet they built a generator which runs on water, a bio-digester, a torch light powered by potatoes and a rocket launcher.

The creation of a generator which runs on water will be one of the firsts in the world. Interestingly, the machine generates 610 watts of electricity and was tested for about five hours in which it powered a bulb.

READ ALSO: Ebony's sister goes viral again with wild 'pre-wedding' photos

Photos of the inventions of the brilliant minds have been making waves online, with many agreeing that with such limited exposure, the students can bring such to life. There's no stopping them if they have access to better and quality education.

Anambra school children built a generator which runs on water. It generates 610 watts of electricity Source: UGC

Source: UGC

Part of their invention was also a digester which breaks waste including plastics into different useful and valuable components that can be used for other things.

Anambra school created a digester which converts waste to useful products Source: UGC

Source: UGC

READ ALSO: Father turns whistleblower as he reports his own son for doing 'sakawa' to buy house

Anambra school children created batteries from old dettol bottles Source: UGC

Source: UGC

The students also made batteries from discarded Dettol bottles. Each cell generates more than 3 watts of electricity.

The batteries generate 2.33v watts each Source: UGC

Source: UGC

They also made a rocket launcher. Surprisingly, reports state that the kids have never heard of fourth industrial revolution.

The students also made a rocket launcher Source: UGC

Source: UGC

Super impressive!

READ ALSO: Pastor caught in video making love to beautiful church member

Ghana News Today: Shatta Wale Rocks Fans at Reign Album Launch | 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 Google Play today

Source: Yen
The Electoral Commission has confirmed postponing the second phase of the Limited Voters Registration and the planned Continuous Voters Registration at all the District Offices of the commission to next year.

Per reported by Myjoyonline.com sighted by YEN.com.gh, it further stated that the modalities and the times would be announced after the Commission has consulted with the political parties as required by law.

Consequently, it said there would be the Exhibition of the 2016 and 2018 Provisional Voters Register (PVR), from 25th- 31st October 2018 at all the polling stations of carved out areas for the referendum.

Jean Mensa (Photo credit: myxzonline.com)

Source: UGC

READ ALSO: I can confidently say that Rawlings had no hand in the judges murder - Nana Obiri Boahen

The exhibition will start at 7:00 am and end at 6:00 pm each day, including Saturdays and Sundays.

The Chairperson of the EC, Mrs Jean Mensa, who announced at a meeting convened under the umbrella of the Inter- Party Advisory Committee (IPAC), said the Commission would set up the Representative of the People Amend-mt Act (ROPAA) working group, which would be made up of representatives of registered political parties and civil society organizations.

The working group, she indicated, would undertake nationwide consultation with other relevant parties and would be tasked with the responsibility of defining the modalities, scope and timelines for the implementation of ROPAA.

READ ALSO: General Mosquito's posters come out in preparation for NDC elections

In attendance were all registered political parties, including the two major ones- the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and National Democratic Congress (NDC).

All the parties were represented by three representatives. Also in attendance were representations from some donor agencies and selected civil society organisations.

Following the postponement, she has encouraged the stakeholders to bring their concerns and suggestions to the Commission for the timely resolution as this will engender cooperation and harmony among all the stakeholders.

READ ALSO: Kennedy Agyapong reveals what Rawlings did to his mum

The Chairperson of the Commission used the occasion to outline the vision and the operational activities of the Commission for the rest of the year.

Ghana News Today: President Akufo-Addo Narrowly Escapes Jet Crash | Yen.com.gh

Your stories and photo are always welcome. Send us a message via YEN's official Facebook page.

Source: Yen.com.gh
YEN.com.gh has come across a picture of a young man standing beside a motorbike with Alumi as the number plate.

In the photo, the young man, wearing a cap, is seen fixated on his phone as he stands by the small (gas and go) motorbike with the funny plate.

It is not known whether the plate is a real one or one 'manufactured' by social media users to mock Shatta Wale.

The Sarkodie fan stands by the 'Alumi' bike (Photo: Celebritiesbuzz.com.gh)

Source: UGC

The Dancehall kingpin on Wednesday, October 17, got himself a new Mercedes Benz car to celebrate his birthday.

READ ALSO: List of Stonebwoy's expensive cars pops up after Shatta Wale's 'Advice' Benz (Photo)

Interestingly, Shatta Wale customized his number plate ADVICE-1-18 and posted photos of the new car on social media with the caption Advice well taken Mercedes Benz no Dey talk .

Shatta Wale's 'Advice' Benz (Photo: Shatta Wale)

Source: Twitter

This has been described by many as a masterstroke mockery of Sarkodie's diss track against Shatta Wale which was titled My Advice.

READ ALSO: Ebony's sister goes viral again with wild 'pre-wedding' photos

Shatta Wale had been attacking Sarkodie in many radio interviews in Accra and Kumasi as he went on a media tour to promote his upcoming The Reign album.

While Sarkodie has been relatively quiet about the disses from Shatta Wale, it seems to have finally got him and he decided to respond.

And he did so in grand style as he released the 'My Advice' track which could be described as one of his best songs ever.

Doling out loads of insults to Shatta Wale, Sarkodie warned the dancehall artiste to be wary of him.

READ ALSO: Pastor in trouble as his wild adult video with beautiful church member leaks

Sarkodie who called Shatta Wale names said though he (Shatta) boasts of riches, he was actually poor and that nobody cared about his chicken change property.

He even described Shatta Wale as someone who wears 'Alumi blings' (fake necklaces) and claim that they re pure gold.

This part of the song really got to Shatta Wale who had to respond during his 'The Reign' album launch by daring any Sarkodie fn in the house to come and feel his necklace for themselves.

With this background, there have been conclusions that the 'Alumi' registered motorbike is to counter Shatta Wale's 'Advice' Benz.

READ ALSO: Guy falls to death from the boot of a car in playful act

Ghana News Today: Shatta Wale Rocks Fans at Reign Album Launch | Yen.com.gh:

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Source: Yen.com.gh
A play gone wrong has led to the death of a young man after he fell from the back of a car.

In a video that has since gone viral on social media, the deceased appeared to have been playing with some of his colleagues before encountering his misfortune.

Rather carelessly, he opted to sit on top of a moving car, but ended up falling as the car sped off.

Please note that before you click play on the video below, viewer discretion is advised.

READ ALSO: Mzbel shares her love for other kinds of intimacy after from the normal

The deceased, who looks to be in his mid-20s, hit his head on the ground and immediately fell unconscious after the incident.

Initially his friends gathered to revive him, but soon realised that he was not responding to their calls.

The video of the incident was first shared by a Twitter user with the name Kwame Darkah, accompanied by the caption:

And just like that, Tonga is no more. This is sad but completely avoidable. Guys lets play cautiously. R.I.P bruh

The shocking incident sparked condolence messages from a number of Twitter users, who sympathised with the family of the deceased.

One user said: I always say this. We are all so fragile but the Lord somehow finds a way to protect us in ways that we can never understand.

READ ALSO: Student of Akwatia Technical Institute stabs teacher with scissors

Another added: Charley. We all have to be extra cautious No one saw this coming. R.I.P. bro.

Ghana News Today: President Akufo-Addo Commissions NaBCo Graduates | Yen.com.gh

READ ALSO: Black Stars coach who qualified Ghana to the first World Cup received GHC2.4 million

Your stories and photos are always welcome. Get interactive via our Facebook page.

Source: Yen
The Assembly member for Mafi Zongo in the Volta region Julius Karl Fieve has made history after winning the One Young Worlds Politician of the Year Award in the Netherlands.

A report by Myjoyonline.com sighted by YEN.com.gh, Julius is one of five young politicians who were awarded at a colourful ceremony in The Hague during the One Young World Summit.

The other four winners are Naisula Lesuuda who is a member of the Kenyan National Assembly; Sayida Ounissi who is the Tunisian Secretary of State for Vocational Training; Jordon Steele-John who is the youngest senator to ever serve in the Australian parliament and only the second parliamentarian to use a wheelchair; and Travis Robinson, who became the youngest MP to serve in The Bahamas legislative body.

Mafi Zongo Assemblyman claims 'Worlds Politician of the Year' award (Photo credit: Myjoyonline.com)

Source: UGC

READ ALSO: Gov't to purchase 135 Land Cruisers for army - Akufo-Addo

The winners were announced by former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Sir John Major. The award winners were chosen by an international panel of judges withfirst-hand experience of politics.

Their decisions were be based upon the work which young elected or public officials have been carrying out in their own countries and communities and the benefit and impact which it has had on young people.

Mr Fieve was awarded for the tangible and material impact he had made on young people in his community. At age 29, Julius is a Local Government Assembly Member who has inspired several development initiatives in his community.

READ ALSO: I can confidently say that Rawlings had no hand in the judges murder - Nana Obiri Boahen

He developed a Women Rising and Empowerment initiative, mentored young Ghanaian leaders, and organized a free Digital Skills Training for youths in communities in Ghana.

Mr. Fieve also organized health reproductive education workshops for over 1,000 girls and, in conjunction with the Bright Generation Community Foundation, distributed 1,000 pairs of shoes to school children who were accustomed to walking barefoot to school.

His interventions have also led to the construction of school blocks, healthcare infrastructure as well as potable water facilities in his community.

Mafi Zongo Assemblyman claims 'Worlds Politician of the Year' award (Photo credit: Myjoyonline.com)

Source: UGC

READ ALSO: You have to work hard to earn your GH700 - Akufo-Addo tells NaBCo recruits

One Young Worlds Politician of the Year Award is the first global award of its kind and has been created to counter the low level of engagement in politics and disillusionment with political processes which young people are experiencing around the world.

Despite young people increasingly being recognised as playing leading roles in business and civil society, the level of youth engagement in politics worldwide remains disappointingly low.

The purpose of this award is to highlight the work of those young politicians who are using their position to make a difference to the lives of other young people in their countries and to encourage others who are not in politics and may not have considered it as a vocation to do so.

This is a humble experience. I have no excuse not work with other young leaders in Ghana and across the world to intensify our impacts. The world deserves more from me, Mr Fieve said after picking up the award.

Ghana News Today: President Akufo-Addo Narrowly Escapes Jet Crash | Yen.com.gh

Your stories and photos are always welcome. Send us a message via YEN's official Facebook page.

Source: Yen Newspaper
A Media and Society Studies student of Midlands State University, Zimbabwe who stole female pants has been jailed.

According to report by Pulse.com.gh sighted by YEN.com.gh, the young student is reported to have told Gweru regional courts that he derives orgasm from the pants.

Prince Danda was reportedly arrested on Monday, and a collection of pants belonging to colleague female students was found in his possession.

Prince Danda (Photo credit: TheInfoNG)

Source: UGC

READ ALSO: Moesha Boduong's latest photo causes stir on social media

He was arraigned and has been reportedly sentenced to community service on Wednesday.

An incident of this kind in an African setting would normally trigger suspicion that the suspect intended to use the female pants for some fetish rituals.

However, when the suspect appeared before the court, he revealed that he uses the pants to satisfy his own sexual desires.

READ ALSO: Princess Shyngle sets social media on 'fire' with a throwback photo

He allegedly explained to the police that he would often sniff the underwear to feel the female scent and be sexually aroused, gistreel.com reported.

He added that once he has much desired female scent, while imagining himself having sexual intercourse with the owners, he reaches orgasm.

Every human being has different things that turn them on sexually and makes them attain orgasm, but Prince Dandas desire for female pants has landed him in trouble.

READ ALSO: Sarkodie fan registers motorbike Alumi to challenge Shattas Advice Benz

YEN.com.gh had earlier reported a video story of Sarkodie flaunting a new Range Rover Vogue to counter Shatta Wales customsed  Advive Benz.

In the video, Sarkodie is spotted standing behind an unregistered Range Rover Vogue.

Sarkodie went ahead ahead to present a 'Highest' branded cap to guy he said he had an interview with him.

Ghana News Today: Shatta Wale Rocks Fans at Reign Album Launch | Yen.com.gh:

Your stories and photos are always welcome. Send us a message via YEN's official Facebook page.

Source: Yen
Government has announced that the postings for graduates of the Nation Builder Corps (NABCO) programme will start from November 1.

Government arrived at this decision following concerns that the 100,000 recruits have not been assigned to their duty posts less than 48 hours for them to start work.

According to the NABCO Coordinator, Dr. Ibrahim Anyars beneficiaries will commence work by November 1, blaming the delay on the rigorous process to identify where their services are most needed.

Government reschedules start of NABCO (Photo credit: The Presidency)

Source: Facebook

READ ALSO: Mafi Zongo Assemblyman claims 'Worlds Politician of the Year' award

We are currently placing the applicants within the institutions [they are needed] with the collaboration of our module implementation partners, he told Samson Lardy Anyenini on MultiTV/Joy FMs news analysis programme Newsfile Saturday.

According to him, the discussions are finished with all module partners to be ready to welcome the graduates from November 1.

President Akufo-Addo ushered the recruits into the programme last Wednesday at an elaborate ceremony at the Black Star Square in Accra.

READ ALSO: You have to work hard to earn your GH700 - Akufo-Addo tells NaBCo recruits

Start dates of August, October 1, and October 15 have already been missed.

One beneficiary, Esther Lamptey, who spoke on Newsfile said shes still unsure where she was being posted to, just hours for her to report to work.

As of now, if even we are fit to work, I am sure they will have to train us first before we know what we are going to do for our respective offices of posting, she said.

Government reschedules start of NABCO programme (Photo credit: The Presidency)

Source: Facebook

READ ALSO: Were doing in 20 months what Ghana hasn't done in 60yrs - Bawumia

According to Ms Lamptey, they were assured that at the grounds of the graduation ceremony, they can verify their postings.

I think the event was only to get us there because that was not done. As of now, we have not heard anything regarding when our postings are coming out and when we are starting work, she said.

Allaying any fears, the NaBCO Coordinator said there is no ambiguity, those who chose a preferred district will be placed to work with an institution in that district.

Meanwhile, governance analyst Dr. Eric Oduro Osae wants government to empower the district assemblies to be able to absorb some of the beneficiaries once the three-year program ends.

Ghana News Today: President Akufo-Addo Narrowly Escapes Jet Crash | Yen.com.gh

Your stories and photos are always welcome. Send us a message via YEN's official Facebook page.

Source: Yen News
The United Nations asked the Sri Lankan government to immediately repatriate the commander of the Sri Lankan U.N. peacekeeping force in Mali following a review of his human rights background.

Following a review of the human rights background of the commander of the Sri Lankan contingent deployed to the UN Peacekeeping Mission in Mali, the Secretariat has requested that the Government of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka to immediately repatriate him to Sri Lanka, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said on Friday addressing the media.

This will be done at their cost, as per normal procedures. This decision to repatriate the commander was made by the UN following a review, based on recently received information. The Secretariat remains engaged with the Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka, the spokesman added.

Explaining further, the spokesman also said, all peacekeepers go through vetting. There were some extra procedures done with the Sri Lankan contingents that have gone through this. This decision follows information new information that was received by the UN, and so we acted on that information, and we've now asked the Sri Lankan authorities to find a replacement for the commander of their contingent."
Making counter allegations against investor Anton Deshapriya, who had recently accused a state minister of soliciting a bribe, the United National Party (UNP) yesterday called for a thorough investigation on the investor.

UNP Spokesman and Minister, Harin Fernando told a media briefing that there was an invisible hand behind this episode.

Some mischievous elements appear to have urged this investor to make allegations against the ministers. This is a move to sling mud at the government and as such we call for investigations both locally and in Italy with the support of Interpol, he said.

State Minister Sujeewa Senasinghe who made counter allegation against Mr. Deshapriya said he had received death threats from the investor and that he had received the last death threat over the phone on October 17, the day he had a news conference at the ministry.

He revealed that this businessman, living in Italy, had defaulted several banks and that his name was included in the CRIB. The state minister who appeared to be emotionally shaken up said he was going through a difficult time after the allegations were made by Mr. Deshapriya with family members relatives and friends calling him to inquire about what was happening.

I could not even talk to my mother for some time after the reports published in the media, he said and added that he would propose re-introducing criminal defamation laws to stop people making false allegations.

Deputy Minister of Law and Order, Nalin Bandara Jayamaha said he too was threatened by the same person some time ago. Mr. Bandara showed pictures of the so called office of this investor in Sri Lanka and some of his photographs.

Mr. Senasinghe is likely to file complaints with the FCID and the CID and also call for an investigation by Interpol as well. (Yohan Perera)

Pix by Pradeep Pathirana
By Secunder Kermani

17 October 2018 (BBC News)  A deadly drought in Afghanistan is causing a humanitarian crisis that has displaced more people this year than the war between the government and the Taliban. The BBCs Secunder Kermani reports from Herat.

Shadi Mohammed, 70, wells up with tears as he walks through the makeshift camp on the outskirts of the western city of Herat, where he lives with his family.

We are thirsty and hungry. We took what little we could with us, but lost most of it on the way. Now we have nothing. Eight of us live in this small tent, he says.

My wife and my brother died. Half of our children are here. The other half were left behind.

Mr Mohammed is one of an estimated 260,000 people who have been forced from their homes in northern and western Afghanistan because of a severe drought in the region. []Qadir Assemy from the United Nations World Food Programme (UNWFP) is helping co-ordinate the relief effort in Herat, which has seen an influx of people fleeing their homes. Its very challenging because of the scale of the disaster, he tells the BBC. We havent seen such a large scale disaster in the last 18 years. []One woman sitting with four young children tells me she has recently arrived from the northern province of Faryab. []There was no rain for more than a year. Everything dried up. We didnt even have water to give to our children. On top of that there was fighting between the Taliban and the army. It was chaos.Others described being forced to sell their livestock or borrow money simply to survive. Agriculture is one of the countrys main sources of income. [more]
(MarketWatch)  Much has been made about how much wealth is sloshing around in U.S. households and the significance of that fact.

Our call of the day pulls no punches as it warns that all of that oft-referenced increase in affluence has been artificially inflated by the Fed, which is ultimately bad news for the economy and the stock market. Heres how Jesse Colombo, analyst at Clarity Financial, explains it:The U.S. household wealth boom since the Great Recession is a sham, a farce and a gigantic lie that is tricking everyone into believing that happy days are here again even though the engines that are driving it are bubbles that are going to burst and cause a crisis that will be even worse than the 2008 crash, Colombo said in a video he posted via the Real Investment Advice blog.There has been a fair bit of buzz on the topic since data this summer that showed household wealth topped $100 trillion for the first time in June. Colombos isnt the only invective against bloated U.S. wealth and how it could go terribly wrong, but the commentary delivers, perhaps, the most potent argument to date, including charts, such as the following, that illustrates the degree to which wealth has been outpacing economic expansion:
Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images(SMITHTOWN, N.Y.) -- Federal authorities have arrested a New York man for allegedly threatening to attack two U.S. senators over their support for Brett Kavanaugh, whose nomination to the Supreme Court was almost derailed by an allegation he sexually assaulted a woman three decades ago while they were in high school.



74-year-old Ronald Derisi of Smithtown, Long Island, was arrested Friday morning on charges of threatening a federal official, according to court records.



Prosecutors allege that on the same day Kavanaugh and his accuser testified in separate sessions to a Senate panel, Derisi left two threatening voicemails at offices associated with a lawmaker only identified in charging documents as "Senator 1."



In one of the messages, he allegedly expressed his opposition to Kavanaugh and said he had a "present" for the senator: "It's a nine millimeter."



Then, after the U.S. Senate voted along largely along partisan lines to confirm Kavanaugh, Derisi left 10 voicemails for a second unidentified senator.



"Maybe you should go back to [your home state], he allegedly said in a message on Oct. 7. We'll be in touch soon, see ya soon, see ya soon."



The investigation was led by the U.S. Capitol Police.



Representative democracy cannot work if elected officials are threatened with death for simply doing their job, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Richard Donoghue, said in a statement. The First Amendment - the pinnacle of American achievement - protects debate, disagreement and dissent, not death threats.



According to U.S. Capitol Police, Derisi was previously arrested for leaving threatening voicemails at an unidentified victims home and office three years ago. He pleaded guilty to local charges in the case.



Friday's development comes after a threatening letter that the writer claimed was contaminated with ricin was sent to the Bangor, Maine, residence of GOP Sen. Susan Collins early Monday afternoon, the senator's communications director, Annie Clark said. Collins' husband reportedly later said the letter mentioned her vote in favor of Kavanaugh.



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Castle Creek Pharma, a Parsippany, New Jersey and Chicago, Illinois-based biopharmaceutical company developing innovative therapies for patients with rare, serious or debilitating dermatologic conditions, received $71.8m in funding.

Backers included Fidelity Management & Research Company and Valor Equity Partners.

The company intends to use the funds to continue to develop CCP-020 as an important treatment for EBS, a form of Epidermolysis Bullosa (EB), a rare genetic condition that causes fragile skin that leads to painful blisters. There are currently no FDA approved treatment options for any form of EB, including EBS.

Led by Michael Derby, co-founder and chief executive officer, Castle Creek Pharma Castle Creek is a company dedicated to developing therapies for patients with orphan dermatologic and other underserved conditions.

With this new capital, the company has invested a total of $122.5 million into the development of innovative therapies for patients with rare dermatologic conditions including EBS. It is a Paragon portfolio company.

FinSMEs

19/10/2018
Mrs Jimmy holding one of the copies of her new book at the Laucala Campus Library.
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Fernando Alonso has hit out at F1's wet tyre rules.

So often in modern formula one, drivers are reluctant to practice in wet conditions as in Austin because they do not have enough wet tyres for the weekend.

"It would be as easy as bringing 20 or 40 more sets of tyres to every race," Alonso said in Austin.

"But it's a decision for FOM or formula one itself. If the top managers want to please the public and the spectators they could do it, but if they don't want to then we will play with boats," he added.

The 'boats' comment is a reference to how drivers and engineers often try to fill their time and entertain the crowd by floating paper boats down the streams in the pitlane.

"It's a bit boring for us drivers and I guess even more for the public, but it's just a normal Friday when it rains," Alonso said.

(GMM)
Maurizio Arrivabene has played down rumours that Ferrari is splitting apart.

With the Maranello team's 2018 title hopes in tatters, some believe Arrivabene could leave the team while Sebastian Vettel could be ousted after 2019.

"To me this story is a bit funny. As soon as things do not go in the direction we like, the talking starts about splits," team boss Arrivabene told Sky Italia.

"But I've said it a million times and hopefully it's the last time: discussions are fine, but it has nothing to do with splitting."

The Italian also played down suggestions Ferrari complained about the legality of Mercedes' car heading into the US grand prix weekend.

"We have a federation that makes the rules and the technical directives and for the moment I prefer not to comment because the issue is still open," he said.

(GMM)




Haiti - Environment : Reforestation, desertification and pollution on the agenda of Haiti at the Summit of Guyana





Junior Cenanfils Adviser to the Minister of the Environment and Eder Audate, Director of Forestry and Renewable Energies of the Ministry of the Environment, participates from 13 to 21 October 2018 at the High Level Summit of the "Partnership Initiative Sustainable Land Management" (PISLM), which is held in the Cooperative Republic of Guyana.



The PISLM Initiative, developed as part of the Caribbean Small States in Development (PEID) technical program, aims to provide a framework to assist the countries concerned in implementing the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification and Drought. It also intends to take into account the management component of the Barbados Program of Action and the Caribbean PEID Strategy.



One of the important bodies of this Summit is the high-level meeting of Caribbean Ministers responsible for the implementation of the Convention, which meets at least once every two years to evaluate the work done and to establish a framework agenda for the next two years.



During his participation, the Haitian representatives will insist on the parties, on the need to develop a common position of the Caribbean PEID.



Haiti's position is also expressed through the Haitian Government's clear commitment to make reforestation a national priority. Haiti, through its representative will renew its determination to assume its responsibility in the fight against desertification and environmental pollution, a fight both regional and global, which is part of the dynamics of sustainable management of our planet.



HL/ HaitiLibre






















Haiti - Agriculture : Deliverty of modern equipment to beekeepers of Grande'Anse





As part of the Action Against Desertification (ACD) project, funded by the European Union (EU) and implemented by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), which aims to contribute to reducing poverty, eliminating hunger and improving resilience to climate change in selected fragile ecosystems in Haiti; the Ministry of the Environment and the FAO have handed over modern apiculture equipment to 30 beekeepers in the communes of Bonbon and Abricots in Grand'Anse, in the presence of the officials of the town halls of these areas.



In her speech, Kelly Maxcia, Departmental Director of the Environment emphasized "It is important to strengthen the apiculture in these areas, given the key role that beekeeping plays in reforestation with forest and fruit species honey", adding "These modern beekeeping equipment will allow beekeepers not only to increase their production capacity but also to continue to practice their profession safely."



The 30 beneficiary beekeepers, 15 per commune, each received a batch of materials including a modern extractor with a capacity of 20 liters, a manual wax waffle maker, a yellow beekeeper jacket, a beekeeper's trousers, a modern smoker and a "Varroa Action Flash" to fight against Varroa, a parasitic mite of bees responsible for Varroosis a disease that decimates bees and reduces the production of honey



Kelly Maxcia, thanking FAO and the EU, welcomed the activities that ACD is currently doing on the ground, including the restoration of degraded lands and support to farmers.



HL/ HaitiLibre






















3drenderings/iStock/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) -- Paul Manafort, the onetime Trump campaign chairman, arrived in court on Friday for a hearing about his sentencing date in a wheelchair.



Manafort is currently in detention in an Alexandria, Virginia jail awaiting sentencing on a host of charges brought by Muellers prosecutors in two separate jurisdictions as part of his investigation into Russian meddling during the 2016 campaign.



Manaforts defense attorney, Kevin Downing, told the judge that Manaforts health has suffered as a result of his incarceration.



We do think there are significant concerns with Mr. Manaforts health and much of that has to do with the terms of Mr. Manaforts confinement, Downing said. It was not immediately clear what ailment Manafort has suffered.



He will be sentenced for on February 8, 2019 for various financial crimes after a jury found him guilty in August. He is still awaiting sentencing on the two separate counts of conspiracy to which he plead guilty in September.



After a grueling two-week trial in Virginia this August in which Manafort was found guilty on eight felony counts for financial crimes related to his unregistered lobbying work in Ukraine, Judge Ellis declared a mistrial on the remaining ten counts when the jury determined it was hopelessly deadlocked.



With another trial on separate charges against Manafort looming in Washington, D.C., the judge granted a request from special counsel Robert Muellers team for more time to decide whether to retry or dismiss the remaining charges in Virginia. But then the case took a twist.



Legal teams for Mueller and Manafort announced that they had negotiated a plea agreement in which Manafort would plead guilty to two of the charges against him in Washington, D.C. as well as the remaining ten charges from the first trial in Virginia. Prosecutors, the agreement notes, could eventually argue for the dismissal of the Virginia charges depending on the level of his cooperation in ongoing investigations.



A joint status report with regard to sentencing in the D.C. case is due November 16.



Judge Ellis was not inclined to give prosecutors an additional extension to decide whether to refile the ten counts that jury deadlocked on in his courtroom. He wrote in a filing earlier this month that both the prosecution and defense appeared to anticipate that Manafort's sentencing would "be deferred until cooperation was complete." Ellis took exception to the sentencing timeline, calling that part of the agreement highly unusual in a recent court filing.



In this District, the governments decision to retry a defendant on deadlocked counts is always made in a timely manner and sentencing occurs within two to no more than four months from entry of a guilty plea or receipt of a jury verdict, the judge wrote. This case appears to be no different from any other case in which the defendant is cooperating and that cooperation is expected to extend beyond a scheduled sentencing date.



It wasnt the first time he had locked horns with Muellers team. From the time he took on the special counsel's financial crimes case against Manafort, Ellis has repeatedly jousted with prosecutors and questioned their motives for bringing the case against President Trump's former campaign manager. At one pre-trial hearing, the 78-year old jurist said the real reason for the dogged pursuit of crimes dating back more than a decade was to get Manafort "to sing, divulging anything he might know about the President.



During the trial, Ellis regularly pushed prosecutors to "expedite" their case, to drop items he thought irrelevant, and to dramatically curtail the use of pictures and exhibits illustrating Manaforts lavish lifestyle, telling jurors, "We don't prosecute people because they have a lot of money and throw it around." The judge in Manafort's D.C. case had also said she planned to limit this type of evidence in the D.C. trial.



Ellis launched barbs at the prosecution, and at one point  in a rare admission  instructed jurors during the trial to put aside his own remarks from the day before saying that he was probably wrong."



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iciHaiti - Humanitarian : Fundraising for the construction of a village in Haiti





A small village in Haiti will have hope renewed when poverty begins to recede, through the development of agricultural projects, the building of homes and water wells, and the installation of street lights.



Food For The Poor Canada hosted their annual Thanksgiving and Fundraising Luncheon this past weekend, officially launching the It Takes a Village to Build a Village campaign. The goal is to raise $1,000,000 to build 60 much-needed homes that will have water, sanitation and solar lights; also in the works are two community wells, solar street lights, and a series of sustainable-livelihood projects, including the raising of dairy cows, egg production, beekeeping, and other agricultural projects.



IH/ iciHaiti


















A man has revealed he felt very happy after meeting his 32-year-old daughter for the first time.

The 54-year-old identified as Bongani Ntombela from Umlazi, South Africa and his daughter, Sindisiwe Khathi were brought together at a meeting organised by friends and neighbours on Tuesday.

Speaking to the SunTeam on Wednesday, he said he was still over the moon and would die a happy man because he had met his child. He said he had been searching for her everywhere. He had left her mum while she was still pregnant.

He said last week, a neighbor in F section told him to go to R section to see whether he knew Sindisiwe, who was looking for her family.

I met her and after sharing our stories, we realised we were father and daughter. She even had a photo of me, which she said her aunt had given to her, he said.

Im excited to meet my daughter after so many years of searching, but I will do a DNA test just to be 100% sure before we slaughter a goat to welcome her to my family.

Bongani said he separated from Sindisiwes mum while she was pregnant in 1986. He said he lived in KwaMashu at the time, while Sindisiwes mum was at Richmond Farm.

He said he stopped visiting her because of political violence as KwaMashu was an ANC stronghold and Richmond Farm was under IFP control.

Sindisiwe said after her mum died when she was six, she went to live with her aunt in Kokstad. At 17, she moved to Durban to look for a job and people started telling her there was a man who looked like her.
The immediate past governor of Ekiti state, Ayodele Fayose has said he will not be intimidated by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), no matter how long they hold him.

Fayose, who made himself available at the EFCC office, a day after ending his tenure as governor and remained in their custody since then, said the EFCC has no evidence to prosecute him.

In a statement by the former Governors aide, Olayinka Lere on Friday, it noted that Fayose will defend himself in court because they EFCC is hellbent on prosecuting him, because he was a strong critic of President Muhammadu Buhari. The former governor said it is surprising that the EFCC, that was so desperate to have Fayose in their office, still hasnt charged him to court, four days after he willingly turned himself in.

See statement below

No amount of sponsored media reports will change the fact that as at today, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) does not have any evidence to prosecute Ayodele Fayose in court.

Fayose will only defend himself in the law court because EFCC has demonstrated that it is out to persecute him ostensibly because of his criticism of the President Muhammadu Buhari led APC government.

It is a fact that Fayose wrote to the EFCC on September 10, 2018 notifying the commission of his decision to make himself available on October 16, 2018. The EFCC replied by asking him not to wait till October 16 and that he should come on September 20, 2018.

Therefore, isnt it funny that the same EFCC that was desperate to have Fayose report on September 20 is still keeping him in detention, four days after he willingly submitted himself?

Isnt it now clear to all discerning minds that EFCC is only acting as an agent of persecution against perceived enemies of the APC and it is helping to keep Fayose out of circulation as desired by the powers that be?

Very soon, the public will still be fed with stories like; Fayose writes confessional statement and eats it, he weeps in detention, begs to return loots among other familiar lies of the EFCC.

Nigerians should just ignore the EFCC sponsored lies and continue to ask why the anti-graft agency has failed to charge Fayose to court despite the overwhelming evidence it claimed to have.

Most importantly, Nigerians should be rest assured that Fayose will not be intimidated even if he is detained for as long as the EFCC will be ready to take him to court. He wont say more than what he has said which is denying the EFCC allegations.


Former Minister of Aviation, Mr Femi Fani Kayode, has confirmed that the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra(IPOB), Nnamdi KANU is alive and well. Fani Kayode said the IPOB leader gave him a call on Saturday and that hes delighted to have spoken to him.

The peoples Democratic Party chieftain said that Kanu, who disappeared for over a year, sparking rumours that he had been killed by the Nigerian government, has promised to work with them, to vote Buhari out in 2019.

However, shocked everyone when he suddenly reappeared in a video shared by Radio Biafra on Friday, praying in Jerusalem, alive and well.

Speaking via a tweet on Saturday afternoon, the former minister wrote:

I just received a call from my brother Nnamdi Kanu. I am delighted that he is alive and well. I commend his strength and courage even as I marvel at the loyalty, resilience and commitment of his lawyer Ifeanyi Ejiofor and IPOB. We have agreed to work together to VOTE Buhari out.  Femi Fani-Kayode (@realFFK) October 20, 2018

INFORMATION NIGERIA recalls that Fani Kayode, who calls Nnamdi Kanu his brother, one of those who accused the Nigerian government and military of killing the IPOB leader alongside some of his loyalists.

There were also reports yesterday that the Biafran leader will on Saturday address his people, ordering them to boycott the election.
President Muhammadu Buhari has condemned the latest communal violence in Kasuwan Magani in Kaduna State which claimed 55 lives, according to the presidency.

In a statement signed by the Senior Special Assistant to the president on Media, Garba Shehu, the president while reacting to the violent clashes, said the frequent resort to bloodshed by Nigerians over misunderstandings that can be resolved peacefully, is worrisome.

According to the President, No culture and religion support the disregard for the sanctity of life, adding that peaceful coexistence is necessary for the progress of any society and its wellbeing.

Read part of the statement below

He noted that without communal harmony, the environment for the conduct of our everyday businesses would be impossible to achieve.

President Buhari explained that violence cannot be an alternative to peace. On the contrary, reliance on violence leads to ultimate self-destruction. Violence is an ill wind that blows nobody any good. Embracing peace is a necessity.

In commending the Kaduna State government for its rapid response to the crisis, the President appealed to community leaders to engage in regular dialogue to nip imminent crises in the bud, while admonishing the people to develop the spirit of tolerance and patience at all times.
Vanguard



ALL Progressives Congress, APC, Governorship Candidate in Delta State for the 2019 gubernatorial elections, Chief Great Ogboru and Senator Ovie Omo-Agege representing Delta Central senatorial district in the National Assembly, yesterday, said there was no feud between them contrary to insinuation that they were at each others throat.

The Nation



There were indications last night that the trial of ex-Governor Ayodele Fayose at a Federal High Court may begin on Monday.The ex-governor is facing trial in connection with N1.299 billion and $5.3 million allegedly allocated to him by the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) from N4.65 billion slush fund allegedly shared by ONSA.Ahead of the trial, Fayose may be relocated from Abuja to Lagos today.EFCC confirmed last night that Fayose has been served charges and trial notice.

ThisDay



Says Boko Haram will soon be history By Omololu Ogunmadein Abuja A President Muhammadu Buhari has praised his predecessor, former President Goodluck Jonathan for voluntarily conceding defeat to him after the 2015 presidential elections. Buhari, who poured encomiums on the former president at a dinner he hosted for Kannywood entertainers at the Presidential Villa, recently

Guardian



Professor Toyin Falola, one of Nigerias foremost Historians and currently the Jacob and Frances Sanger Mossiker Chair in the Humanities

The Sun



Bunmi Ogunyale The Aree Musulumi of Iwo land, Alhaji Wahab Sikiru has lauded the All Progressive Congress (APC) national leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu for securing the future of Osun State at the last gubernatorial elections, won by Mr. Gboyega Oyetol. Atanda said Tinubu set the state on a solid pedestal by ensuring continuity with

The Authority



The Ekiti State Governor Dr Kayode Fayemi said that his administration will priority to payment of

Daily Times



Following an invitation to some Staff of Abia State Ministry of Finance by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Abia State

Leadership



To the residents of Isikan in Akure, the Ondo State capital, a madman, simply identified as Dele, is a pathetic psychiatric patient who only wandered around the streets in an insane manner without any noticeable destination. But on Tuesday, he was arrested by the eagle eye of the Quick Response Squad (QRS) of the Nigeria

Tribune



A fast-paced plot is unfolding in the Lagos State chapter of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to sack embattled Governor Akinwunmi Ambode before the expiration of his single term on 29 May, 2018, Saturday


Presidential aide, Lauretta Onochie has explained ways in which, one can go to jail. Onochie, who is President Muhammadu Buharis aide on social media said using fake account wont shield anyone who shares either of the following.

The presidential aide asked Nigerians to protect themselves, so they dont go to jail.

Read below:

CYBERCRIMES (PROHIBITION, PREVENTION, ETC.) ACT, 2015

USING FAKE ACCOUNTS OR FORWARDED AS RECEIVED, WONT SHIELD YOU.

Read carefully and be careful of what you share!

*Here are some of the provisions to keep in mind.*

Section (24)

(1) Any person who knowingly or intentionally sends a message or other matter by means of computer systems or network that 

(a) is grossly offensive, pornographic or of an indecent, obscene or menacing character or causes any such message or matter to be so sent; or

(b) he knows to be false, for the purpose of causing annoyance, inconvenience, danger, obstruction, insult, injury, criminal intimidation, enmity, hatred, ill will or needless anxiety to another or causes such a message to be sent:

commits an offence under this Act and shall be liable on conviction to a fine of not more than N7,000,000.00 or imprisonment for a term of not more than 3 years or to both such fine and imprisonment.

(2) Any person who knowingly or intentionally transmits or causes the transmission of any communication through a computer system or network 

(a) to bully, threaten or harass another person, where such communication places another person in fear of death, violence or bodily harm or to another person containing any threat to kidnap any person or any threat to harm the person of another, any demand or request for a ransom for the release of any kidnapped person, to extort from any person, firm, association or corporation, any money or other thing of value; or

(c) containing any threat to harm the property or reputation of the addressee or of another or the reputation of a deceased person or any threat to accuse the addressee or any other person of a crime, to extort from any person, firm, association, or corporation, any money or other thing of value:

commits an offence under this Act and shall be liable on conviction 

(i) in the case of paragraphs (a) and (b) of this subsection to imprisonment for a term

of 10 years and/or a minimum fine of N25,000,000.00; and

(ii) in the case of paragraphs (c) and (d) of this subsection, to imprisonment for a term of 5 years and/or a minimum fine of N15,000,000.00.

26. (1) Any person who with intent 

(a) distributes or otherwise makes available, any racist or xenophobic material to the

public through a computer system or network;

(b) threatens through a computer system or network 

(i) persons for the reason that they belong to a group distinguished by race, colour, descent, national or ethnic origin, as well as, religion, if used as a pretext for any of these factors; or

(ii) a group of persons which is distinguished by any of these characteristics;

(c) insults publicly through a computer system or network 

(i) persons for the reason that they belong to a group distinguished by race, colour, descent or national or ethnic origin, as well as religion, if used as a pretext for any of these factors; or

(ii) a group of persons which is distinguished by any of these characteristics; or

(d) distributes or otherwise makes available, through a computer system or network,

to the public, material which denies or approves or justifies acts constituting genocide or crimes against humanity -commits an offence and shall be on conviction to imprisonment for a term of not more than 5 years or to a fine of not more thanN10,000,000.00 or both such fine and imprisonment

2) For the purpose of subsection (1) of this section, the term 

Genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group as such: killing members of the group, deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; forcibly transferring children of the group to another

group.

Racist or Xenophobic material means any written or printed material, any image or any other representation of ideas or theories, which advocates, promotes or incites hatred, discrimination or violence, against any individual group of individuals, based on race, color, descent or national or ethnic origin, as well as religion if used as a pretext for any of these factors.
Reno Omokri, who likes to ruffle the feathers of President Muhammadu Buhari has fired some shots at him again. Omokri, who was an aide to former president Goodluck Jonathan has reacted to a recent statement of Buhari, hailing Jonathan for conceding defeat in 2015.

Buhari said recently that he would continue to hold the former President in high esteem for relinquishing power to him, after he lost the 2015 presidential election without any hassle.

Omokri said in a tweet that Buharis statement is out of desperation because elections are around the corner. The author noted that the president for the last three years in office, had constantly insulted the former President, only to start hailing just because of elections.

He wrote:

After insulting and blaming ex President @GEJonathan for three and a half years, a desperate Muhammadu @MBuhari has started to praise him now that elections are around the corner. Who would have ever believe that any good thing about GEJ would come from PMBs mouth? #RenosDarts pic.twitter.com/tcFjfozsbl  Reno Omokri (@renoomokri) October 19, 2018

The former aide also blasts Buhari for hosting actors of Kannywood, just because of election, whereas be had scrapped the film industry built by Jonathan saying it was un- Islamic.

In his words:

On July 25, 2016, President Buhari scrapped the Kano Film Village that ex President Jonathan initiated to provide jobs, claiming it is un-Islamic. Now elections are around the corner, the same Buhari is hosting Kannywood movie stars. Vote for Buhari at your peril
Senior military officers from the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) are meeting in Mogadishu to review security operations in the Horn of Africa country, ahead of an upcoming Concept of Operations (CONOPs) conference, to be held later this month. The CONOPs guides all AMISOMs military operations.

The meeting, will explore ways of enhancing the Missions operations during the transition period, as it prepares to hand over the national security responsibility to the Somali security forces.

Resolutions from the pre-CONOPs review meeting will form part of the agenda of the actual conference, due later in the month.

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This conference provides us with the opportunity to articulate and argue out our ideas and compare our thoughts with a view to harmonize our positions before the main CONOPs conference due later this month, AMISOM Force Commander, Lt. Gen. Jim Beesigye Owoyesigire, said on Friday, during the official opening of the meeting.

Gen. Owoyesigire noted that the meeting is taking place at crucial moment, when AMISOM is implementing a transition plan, which had been discussed and agreed upon by the AU Mission, the UN, the Federal Government of Somalia and development partners.

This is a unique opportunity for us to come together to discuss and analyze what is going on in the field and we thank you, for the good work you have been doing in the field, the Force Commander told the military Commanders from all the sectorized regions under AMISOM.

He noted that despite operating in an extremely difficult and challenging environment, the officers have managed to carry out regular operations against Al-Shabaab and liberated more areas from militants control.

The Force Commanders sentiments were echoed by the African Union Special Representative for Somalia, Ambassador Francisco Madeira, who reiterated the Missions commitment to implementing the Transition Plan.

Ambassador Madeira urged the sector commanders to come up with robust, effective and realistic plans that would completely neutralize and degrade Al-Shabaab.

The meeting is for you to share not only what you can realistically deliver; but also, how we will deliver what is expected of us, Madeira said.

As part of the implementation of the Transition Plan, the Head of AMISOM noted, that the AU Mission has been tasked to secure remaining few areas under Al-Shabaab, including Main Supply Routes.

He said the task had necessitated the AU Mission to reconfigure itself, so as to continue being effective in pursuit of its mandate.

The only way to transition is to strengthen security and have the capacity of the Somalis elevated to acceptable level, then handover the security responsibility before exiting, he said.
A man leaves Saudi Arabia's consulate in Istanbul, Friday, Oct. 19, 2018. A Turkish official said Friday that investigators are looking into the possibility that missing Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi's remains may have been taken to a forest outside Istanbul or to another city after his suspected killing at the consulate earlier this month. Ankara's top diplomat, meanwhile, denied sharing any audio from the Saudi Consulate with U.S. officials. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)
U.S. government is set to donate $83 million in addition to humanitarian assistance offered to refugee communities in Uganda.

This new funding which will be made by the end of this year, includes a $40 million contribution to the United Nations World Food Programme, a $29 million contribution to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, and nearly $14 million to support the work of other international and non-governmental organizations.

Emergency humanitarian aid, provided by the U.S. government, will help meet the immediate food, protection, shelter, water and sanitation, psycho social, and other life-saving assistance needs of refugees and host communities,

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This assistance prioritizes procurement of food from Ugandan and regional farmers. U.S. also continues to leverage development and humanitarian resources to build self-reliance and resilience among the refugees and Ugandans in refugee-hosting districts, including support for livelihoods and nutrition.

Through this funding, the U.S. government supports the United Nations implementation of biometric registration and a new biometric-based food distribution system, which will help elevate standards of accountability, transparency, safety, and dignity in refugee food assistance.

Uganda is the largest refugee-hosting country in Africa with over 1.4 million asylum seekers from the neighboring countries of South Sudan, Rwanda, Somalia, DRC and Burundi.

Relief agencies and the Government of Uganda continue to work together to meet life-saving needs of refugees, including those who have fled conflict in South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The United States is the largest single donor of humanitarian assistance in Uganda, supporting emergency food and nutrition assistance, medical care, water, prevention of and response to gender-based violence, and livelihoods support to refugees in Uganda as well as their Ugandan host communities.
Vietnamese Ambassador to China Dang Minh Khoi (L) and

Chief Executive of Hong Kong Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-Ngor at the meeting (Photo: VNA)

The first measure is boosting delegation exchanges, he said, adding that the two sides should consider the building of a coordination mechanism for the exchange of high-ranking delegations, including those from each others ministries, sectors and localities. He welcomed his host to visit Vietnam soon.

The second one is increasing practical partnerships in economy, investment, finance, trade and service.

Khoi said Vietnam is going through a shift in its economic development model and step by step equitising its state-run enterprises. The country welcomes Hong Kong businesses to engage in the process and invest more in Vietnams infrastructure projects.

The diplomat highlighted the enhancement of people-to-people exchange as the third measure, as Vietnam and Hong Kong share a close geographical distance and cultural similarities.

Pointing to the fact that the exchange between the sides mostly takes place via the tourism channel, Khoi suggested expanding to other channels such as education, sports, and human resources.

He requested the Hong Kong authorities conduct measures to clear visa application hurdles for Vietnamese.

For her part, Carrie Lam said Hong Kong values Vietnams position and role, adding that she will visit the country in a suitable time.

Saying the two economies supplement each other, she affirmed Hong Kong is willing to boost cooperation with Vietnam, particularly in finance and logistics.

Concerning tourism cooperation, she considered Vietnams nice landscapes and many sea ports a basis for increasing bilateral partnerships in the field.

Hong Kong will consider creating conditions for Vietnamese citizens to enter the region as tourists and investors based on the effective resolution of illegal immigration between the sides./.
CHARLES CITY, Iowa - A Charles City school is finding ways to help prepare students for possible careers in media.

A group of 6th graders at Immaculate Conception Elementary School are launching a podcast called "Channel 6 IC News", featuring both audio and visual elements, with the first episode expected to be released next Friday. Students are in charge of producing, shooting and editing using equipment, including GoPros, donated by the school's development board and the PTO.

While still in the early stages of planning, topics already being discussed include school events and student opinions.

Student Blake Hoeft says it's a great way to be introduced to media at a younger age.

"If you want to do some public speaking, you wanna know how to do it in front of a camera, so you're prepared for this stuff."

He encourages those in younger classes to join.

"We get to come up with different ideas for our podcast. It's pretty cool because you don't get this opportunity. Not everybody does this, and it's really fun."

The first episode is expected to be posted next Friday.
ALBERT LEA, Minn.- Several dozen Albert Lea community members gathered with heavy hearts on Friday night to honor the family of the 9th grade boy who took his own life.

George Marin is the pastor of Grace Christian Church and says bullying played a significant role in the boy's decision to take his life.

Prayers were said in honor of the boy and his family as the Pastor called for the community to embrace them in this dark time.

Bullying statistics were shared while community members had a conversation about how to prevent bullying and what to do if you or someone you know is being bullied.

A GoFundMe page was made for the family to help pay for funeral expenses. Click here to donate.
CHATFIELD, Minn. - Gabby Brown was recently diagnosed with leukemia shortly after her 1st birthday. Her parents own the restaurant 'Estelle's' in Harmony. They're receiving support from all over Southeastern Minnesota after Gabby's diagnosis.

At Chatfield Lutheran Church, a candlelight prayer vigil was held from 9 A.M. to 3 P.M. for people to offer support and prayers for the Brown family and other families affected by cancer.

"This is a chance for us as a community to hold them, to embrace them in prayer and in love so that they know they don't just have to depend on themselves. They can depend on God and us to hold them and give them strength and hope," says Pastor Mark Dochen.
MASON CITY, Iowa - Election Day is only 18 days out, and we're taking a look at how officials are keeping your vote safe.

Iowa Secretary of State Paul D. Pate visited with the county auditor's office and poll workers to make sure everyone was voter ready, and to do that, he outlined what the county and the state as a whole have been doing to strengthen the security of each and every voter.

Pate has recently been visiting with local officials across the state to talk about voter security for the upcoming election. He says that when the big day comes, each of the 99 counties have provisions in place. Pate emphasizes that when it comes to earning voter trust, the plan is to be as transparent and visible as possible.

"Test those ballots, they test their equipment. They keep them under seals and locks. Everywhere they go, there's at least one Republican, one Democrat to ensure people of a balance. Transparency, transparency, transparency, is what we do."

In addition, he adds that Cerro Gordo County has been on the leading edge when it comes to voter security, specifically noting the county's use of the Precinct Atlas system.

"That's a laptop with all the voter data in there so instead of having these clumsy big lists, where you're going through trying to find the voter's name and are they registered or if they voted absentee, it's all at your fingertips. It goes so much smoother and faster, and the accuracy is there. That kind of tool helps the voter have a better experience."

If anyone has any questions or concerns regarding the election process, Pate advises people to contact your local county auditor's office, or through the Secretary of State's website. In addition, Pate's office released a video regarding the state's policies on election security.
NORTHWOOD, Iowa  A Minnesota man is in jail for drug charges after a North Iowa traffic stop.

The Worth county Sheriffs Office says it pulled over an SUV at around 1:15 am Saturday near the intersection of Highway 105 and Nettle Avenue, west of Northwood, for failure to dim its headlights. The deputy says a passenger in the vehicle gave a false name and then observed what appeared to be a drug pipe on the floor of the passenger seat.

The Sheriffs Office says a search of the vehicle found about 3 grams of a substance that is consistent with methamphetamine next to a wallet containing the ID of Trenton Anderson, 40 of Detroit Lakes, Minnesota.

Trenton was arrested for drug possession-3rd or subsequent offense and possession of drug paraphernalia. Hes also being held for warrants issued out of Mower County, MN, and Eau Claire, Wisconsin.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP)  Saudi Arabia acknowledged early Saturday that Saudi writer Jamal Khashoggi was killed in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul in a fight, and said 18 Saudis were being held as suspects.

The overnight announcements in Saudi state media came more than two weeks after Khashoggi entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul for paperwork required to marry his Turkish fiancee, and never came out. Saudi Arabia had rejected as baseless reports that Khashoggi was killed and dismembered inside the consulate, but had been facing growing pressure to explain what happened to him.

The overnight announcement in Saudi State media also said a royal court adviser close to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was fired along with three leaders in the kingdom's intelligence services and other officials. Saudi King Salman also had a plan to restructure the kingdom's intelligence services.

The statement contradicts reports by pro-government media in Turkey, which have published surveillance video and other material suggesting Khashoggi was killed by an assassination squad with ties to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

On Wednesday, the Turkish pro-government newspaper Yeni Safak, citing what it described as an audio recording of Khashoggi's slaying, said the squad immediately accosted the journalist after he entered the consulate, cutting off his fingers and later decapitating him.

"Preliminary investigations carried out by the Public Prosecution Office into the disappearance of Saudi citizen Jamal bin Ahmad Khashoggi revealed that the discussions that took place between him and the persons who met him during his presence at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul (leading) to a brawl and a fist fight with the citizen, Jamal Khashoggi, which led to his death, may his soul rest in peace," the Saudi prosecutors' statement read.

The Saudi statements did not identify the 18 Saudis being held by authorities.

Turkish crime scene investigators this week searched the Saudi Consulate building in Istanbul and the nearby residence of the Saudi consul general, and came out carrying bags and boxes. On Friday, investigators questioned staff and explored whether his remains could have been dumped outside Istanbul after his suspected killing, Turkish media and a security official said.

The prominent journalist had written columns critical of the Saudi government while living in self-imposed exile in the U.S.

President Donald Trump has said that the consequences for the Saudis "will have to be very severe" if they are found to have killed him, but has insisted insisted that more facts must be known before making assumptions.
MASON CITY, Iowa  A Clear Lake man gets jail time for a stolen car.

Bryon Michael Sletten, 52, pleaded guilty to operating a motor vehicle without the owners consent. Authorities say he stole a car in Mason City on August 11 and was seen by a surveillance camera in Polk County driving the car. Sletten was also accused of using the car owners credit card that was inside the vehicle.

Sletten was sentenced Friday to 30 days in jail, followed by one year of probation.
MASON CITY, Iowa  A man is pleading not guilty after law enforcement says he was caught with drugs and a gun.

Frank Salvador Alvarado, 46 of Mason City, is charged with possession with intent to deliver methamphetamine, possession of a firearm as a felon, and failure to use a drug tax stamp. He was arrested September 24 after a search of a home in the 1300 block of North Jersey Avenue.

Authorities say Alvarado was found with 30 grams of meth and a loaded handgun.

His trial is scheduled to start on December 4.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the rice cultivation area accounts for around 60% of the total area of annual crops and rice production is an important source of income for roughly nine million rural households in Vietnam.

Vietnam is one of the three largest rice exporters in the world, with an annual shipment of 5-6 million tonnes to 150 countries and territories worldwide, bringing in US$2.5 billion.

However, many economic experts have stated that Vietnams rice exports still have many shortcomings. Despite a high export volume, the quality of rice has yet to met market demands; therefore the export value has been too low.

Under the Strategy on Vietnam Rice Export Market Development for 2017-2020, with orientation to 2030, the country will gradually improve the quality of its exported rice. The annual rice export volume will be reduced to four million tonnes per year, while the export turnover will increase US$2.3 billion  US$2.5 billion.

In order to implement the strategy, the Government issued Decree No.107/2018/ND-CP on rice export businesses and a specific strategy on the development of the rice export market, to replace Decree No.109/2010/ND-CP.

On October 11, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, in collaboration with The Rice Trader Magazine, held the 10th World Rice Conference, with the participation of representatives from hundreds of rice producers, exporters and importers from 30 countries around the world. The event demonstrated Vietnams important role in coordinating with its foreign counterparts.

In addition, the rice sector should provide many types of delicious rice that the markets needs instead of the existing varieties. Therefore, Vietnamese rice export enterprises need to study, build and promote the brand of high quality and aromatic rice.

It is also crucial to clarify information and market prices as well as take measures to promote the export of high quality rice to major markets. Localities should proactively plan and build high quality rice production regions and sub-regions, while applying scientific and technological advances, to serve the fastidious market and take opportunities, contributing to improving the position of Vietnamese rice in the world.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks to the press before boarding his plane at Mexico City International Airport October 19, 2018 in Mexico City, Mexico. AFP-Yonhap



U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Friday that he hopes to meet with his North Korean counterpart "in the next week and a half or so" to continue planning for a second nuclear summit between their leaders.



Pompeo revealed the plan during an interview held with the Voice of America on the sidelines of a trip to Mexico City.



He said the date for a second meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has yet to be set. Asked if he expects it to happen "in the very near future," he replied, "I do."



"We're working on finding dates and times and places that will work for each of the two leaders," Pompeo told the VOA. "I'm very hopeful we'll have senior leader meetings here in the next week and a half or so between myself and my counterpart to continue this discussion so that when the two of them get together there is real opportunity to make another big step forward on denuclearization."



Pompeo was likely referring to North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho, although he didn't specify.



The top U.S. diplomat was in Pyongyang earlier this month to push progress on a denuclearization agreement reached by Trump and Kim at their first summit in Singapore in June.



Part of the trip's aim was also to set up a second summit, which Trump has said will happen after the Nov. 6 U.S. midterm elections in one of three or four possible locations.



"Chairman Kim reiterated when I was with him  now I guess it's two weeks ago  his commitment to that, that he stands by the commitment he made to President Trump in Singapore on June 12th, and we intend to do everything we can to make sure that he delivers on that so that we can come to the day where the people of North Korea will indeed have a brighter future," Pompeo said. "President Trump is determined to have North Korea achieve that."



In return for Kim's commitment to work toward "complete" denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, Trump promised the U.S. would provide security guarantees to the regime.



Pompeo said it's a "very difficult challenge" for the North Korean leader to agree to surrender a nuclear weapons program on which the regime has staked its survival.



"I'm very happy that he's made this decision, but to execute on that is complex and will take time," he said. "And so long as we can continue to make progress and not have missiles being fired and nuclear tests being conducted, allowing them to perfect their program even further, then I think it's all to the good."



Meanwhile, a senior U.S. administration official was quoted as telling a group of reporters the summit is unlikely to take place this year.



"A meeting is likely sometime after the first of the year," Reuters quoted the official as saying. (Yonhap)


European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, left, and European Union Council President Donald Tusk, right, greet South Korea's President Moon Jae-in during the EU-ASEM leaders summit in Brussels, Friday, Oct. 19, 2018. AP-Yonhap



South Korea and the European Union affirmed their commitment to free, multilateral trade during a summit in Brussels on Friday amid surging protectionist threats from the U.S. Donald Trump administration.



During a meeting on the sidelines of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) summit, South Korean President Moon Jae-in and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker also agreed to step up their joint efforts to peacefully denuclearize North Korea and build peace on the Korean Peninsula, Moon's presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said in a press release.



The two leaders noted the relationship between South Korea and the EU has steadily improved since their free trade agreement, which took effect in 2011.



They "agreed to strengthen their joint efforts to further increase the mutually beneficial trade between South Korea and THE EU and to promote free, multilateral trade," Cheong Wa Dae said.




South Korean President Moon Jae-in and first lady Kim Jung-sook arrive at Kastrup Airport in Copenhagen, Oct. 20. Yonhap



South Korean President Moon Jae-in arrived in Denmark on Friday for the inaugural summit of a global public-private initiative to tackle sustainable development challenges.



He will attend the first summit of the Partnering for Green Growth and the Global Goals 2030, or P4G, in Copenhagen on Saturday.



P4G is a global network of government, business and civil society organizations to advance solutions to deliver on the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Climate Agreement.






South Korean President Moon Jae-in speaks during the first P4G Summit at Danish Radio Concert Hall in Copenhagen, Oct. 20. Yonhap



By Kim Yoo-chul



COPENHAGEN, Denmark  The South Korean government is prepared to help North Korea pursue new business models that could be sustained and applicable for economic growth of the world's poorest nation with their citizens suffering food shortages.



"True humanity comes after embracing differences without prejudice. I want all the participants to think about this idea because I think this mindset should be placed as a central point between countries. Within this context, South Korea will help North Korea pursue new growth models that will be both sustained and developed," President Moon Jae-in said in his keynote speech at the P4G Summit, here, late Saturday (KST).



The South Korean leader said the country, Asia's fourth-largest economy, is pursuing its openness and liberal approach to trade, while President Moon stressed that the country is putting more emphasis on wealth distribution between haves and have-nots and domestic regions.



"South Korea's core values are to distribute economic benefits across regions and between haves and have-nots and to remain a 'responsible helper' to help citizens receive buffers over the course of their entire life journeys," President Moon said.





Moon heads home with European concessions for North Korea Moon, Juncker commit to free trade, Korean peace Moon asks UK's backing to ease sanctions on NK Given the weak infrastructure on all fronts in North Korea, President Moon said applying a manufacturing-focused growth model, which significantly helped South Korea see significant economic prosperity over several decades since the armistice of the 1950-1953 Korean War, wouldn't be the best fit for North Korea.



Moon didn't specify what business growth models could be applicable to North Korea or sought by South Korea as tools to encourage its neighbor have an increased international appearance.



Denmark's Queen Margrethe gives a speech during a dinner on occasion of the P4G Summit, at Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen, late Saturday (KST). AP-Yonhap

The P4G Summit is the last event scheduled on Moon's nine-day trip to European capitals. He attempted to receive support from two permanent United Nations Security Council (UNSC) members in Europe  France and the United Kingdom  for which they weren't clear to support Moon's drive for loosening sanctions on North Korea.



British Prime Minister Theresa May and French President Emmanuel Macron insisted the sanctions must be maintained until the North takes more detailed steps to scrap its nuclear and missile program.



At the P4G summit, Moon urged that the international community should come along to tackle looming global issues such as those in agriculture, climate, water and energy.



P4G a short of Partnering for Green Growth and Global Goals 2030 and is a global network of government, business and civil organizations to explore applicable answers to deliver on the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Climate Agreement.



The meeting ended with this statement:




In December 2017, a F-16 fighter jet lands on the Osan Air Base of the United States Forces Korea in Pyeongtaek,p Gyeonggi Province, on the first day of Vigilant ACE. Korea Times file



South Korea and the United States have agreed to suspend another military exercise to facilitate negotiations over North Korea's nuclear weapons program, the Pentagon said Friday.



South Korean Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo and U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis decided to suspend the annual air exercise, Vigilant Ace, "to give the diplomatic process every opportunity to continue," Pentagon spokeswoman Dana White said in a statement.



The two met in Singapore earlier in the day.



Vigilant Ace, which was slated for December, is the latest joint exercise to be suspended to encourage North Korea to dismantle its nuclear weapons program.



In June, U.S. President Donald Trump came away from a historic summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Singapore saying he would halt the "provocative" and costly "war games."



The allies canceled the Ulchi Freedom Guardian drill, which was slated for August, along with two Korean Marine Exchange Program training exercises. Despite assurances from Seoul and Washington that the exercises are defensive in nature, Pyongyang has long condemned them as an invasion rehearsal against the regime.



Vigilant Ace was last carried out in December, involving more than 230 warplanes and around 12,000 personnel. The exercise drew keen attention because it came shortly after the North conducted its third test of an intercontinental ballistic missile and declared the completion of its "nuclear force."



A second summit between Trump and Kim has been in the works, with Trump saying that it will take place after the Nov. 6 U.S. midterm elections, in one of three or four possible locations.



At the first summit, Kim committed to work toward "complete" denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula in exchange for security guarantees from the U.S. The two sides have since tried to hammer out the details as the U.S. wants to see verifiable steps toward denuclearization and the North demands an easing of sanctions against the regime.



White said the two defense chiefs agreed to "maintain close coordination and evaluate future exercises."



"Both ministers are committed to modifying training exercises to ensure the readiness of our forces," she said, adding that Mattis consulted his Japanese counterpart, Takeshi Iwaya, on the matter.



Speaking at his confirmation hearing last month, the nominee for commander of U.S. Forces Korea said the recent suspension of exercises likely hurt the allies' defense posture.



"I think that there was certainly degradation to the readiness of the force for the combined forces," said U.S. Army Gen. Robert Abrams. "That's a key exercise to maintain continuity and to continue to practice our interoperability, and so there was a slight degradation." (Yonhap)


By David Tizzard





A cascade of legalization swept over Canada during the week. Starting in Newfoundland, the farthest east time zone, marijuana was legalized across the country at hourly increments as the green plant went west and multiplied.

Citizens above the age of 19 may now legally possess 30 grams of marijuana in public areas, and the same amount may also be shared or distributed to other people. Plants may also be grown at home and various edibles cooked and produced.

Strict laws have been introduced and are designed to heavily penalize those found guilty of distributing the product to people under 18, and there seems to be a public awareness that this is something for consenting adults rather than the whole swathe of society.

With many American states, the Netherlands, and Portugal having come before it, is it something that might be considered in South Korea?

Coincidentally, it was here in the east of the Korean Peninsula that people would talk about marijuana growing in the fields. Gangwondo was the region in which the old-timers could simply reach out of the bus during the 1960s and grab a handful of the plant.

That all changed during the mid-1970s with the enactment of the 1976 Cannabis Control Act. President Park Chung-hee, deciding to clamp down on its use, imprisoned a host of public figures.

Shin Jung-hyeun was one of the more notable examples of this punishment, sentenced to jail for four months for being a "daemacho ringleader". Shin had previously refused to write a song in support of Park.

Somewhat more recently, the actress Kim Bu-seon caused a stir when she called for marijuana to be legalized on national TV. On an MBC show in 2009, Kim said marijuana use did not cause users to commit crimes, and that it might aid people in their battles against depression and other health conditions. She also has been arrested for marijuana use joining a roll-call of celebrities that includes Cho Yong-pil, Lee Seung-chul, Psy, G-Dragon, and T.O.P.

Now in 2018 is South Korea ready once more not to fear the reefer?

The answer must come from Korean citizens at the societal level and not merely related to individual comfort. Man is not an island. Many of us might find personal relaxation or comfort in the idea of being able to sit back and watch Mr. Sunshine with a Camberwell carrot in our hand, but what about the other 51,000,000 people who inhabit the nation?

South Korea has a rising unemployment rate among its youth. Data released from the Statistics Office this week showed unemployment to be at its highest level in 10 years, with almost one-in-10 of all young people (15-29) out of work.

As someone tasked with guiding generations of undergraduates in the university system here, I cannot see how the legalization of the herb would assist in tackling this very serious problem.

And youth unemployment has been accompanied by a steady rise in the "hon" culture: the concept of doing things alone. Now, nearly 30 percent of Koreans live alone. This is a staggering figure considering the historical collective nature of the society and all that it brought with it, for better and for worse. Again, I do not think the presence of marijuana in society is likely to reverse this trend. Rather, it might make more people retreat into smaller and smaller apartments to be alone with their thoughts and Rizla papers.

Nor do I notice any great clamoring for it among our youth. Having spent a lot of time on university campuses as well as more than a decade in the underground music scene, there is not a large visible sub-culture waiting for acknowledgement or mainstream acceptance. Conversely, many seem to speak out against it.

In a petition put to the Cheong Wa Dae website last year regarding the legalization of marijuana, only a very few people spoke out in support. There were only 1,885 digital signatories, far short of the 200,000 required for government consideration. With fewer than 2,000 people publically championing it from a population of more than 50,000,000, we are looking at percentages akin to Elizabeth Warren's claims to Cherokee heritage, so these pipes of peace may still be a long time coming.

I feel that many of the loudest voices for its legalization -- or perhaps rather its use here -- will come from outside western observers. The first and probably loudest comment will be concerned with the prevalence of drinking and the dangers of soju when held in comparison. Other suggestions might concern themselves with the art and creative industries being strangled by large overbearing corporations.

The topic of legalization, or even the discussion of it in Korean society, remains very much one for the Koreans, however. It is up to society to decide whether it is now ready to consider the herb once more following its economic and societal democratization in the past decades.

Economic and cultural issues would suggest to me that it is not the right time. But who knows, maybe in 10 years the MBC will have a show called Trailer Park Yangbans.





David Tizzard (datizzard@swu.ac.kr) is an assistant professor at Seoul Women's University.
Robert Dunn and his $150 worth of Korean coins circa 1904.



By Robert Neff



One of the biggest obstacles to doing business in Korea during the late 19th century was money  not a lack of it but rather due to the large and cumbersome amount.



Korean coins  commonly referred to as "cash"  had small square holes in the center and were carried in strings of 1,000 coins that were, unsurprisingly, quite heavy.



In 1891, a trade dollar (Mexican silver dollar) in Seoul was worth 650 cash so any transactions, even small ones, entailed hiring men and ponies to carry the money.



Robert Dunn, an American correspondent who traveled to Korea in early 1904 to cover the Russo-Japanese War, amusingly described his encounter with Korean currency. He sent his assistant out to procure $150 worth of Korean currency and was shocked with the result.



"It took me only an instant to realize that I was the proud owner of what looked like a whole city block of real money  money enough to sink a ship, money piled in heaps and heaps, money, enough, you would think, to last a spendthrift a million years."



Dunn was only able to carry a couple of strings with him and left a man to guard the rest. When he returned two weeks later, he discovered that most of his money had disappeared. Apparently he had not heard of the old winter trick of banking.



According to the tales, large sums of coins were placed in water-filled holes and allowed to freeze before being covered with dirt. In this manner, even if a thief did discover the secret cache, he would not be able to steal very much at one time.



But, by the same token, the coins' owner would not be able to use them until the spring thaw allowed him to withdraw money from his frozen bank.



The introduction of silver coinage and banknotes made it easier for transactions and for thieves. One of the first bank robberies  per se  took place on June 25, 1892.



It was a very hot day and an employee of the First National Bank of Japan in Jemulpo (modern Incheon) was told to transfer a cashbox containing a large sum (about $700) from the docks to the bank.



This was a fairly common practice and, as usual, the employee hired a Korean coolie (laborer) to carry the box.



The Japanese steamer, Owari Maru, had just arrived and so the streets and dock area were filled with passengers and coolies carrying goods from or to the ship.



In the confusion, the coolie with the cashbox simply walked off and the bank employee did not notice his disappearance until after he arrived at the bank.



It is probably safe to assume that in addition to the money, the employee lost his job and, if the Korean coolie was ever captured, he would have probably lost his head.


The European Commission adopted the EU-Vietnam trade and investment agreements on October 17, 2018, paving the way for their signature and conclusion.

The agreements include the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) and the EU-Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement.

Currently the commission is now submitting the proposals to the European Council for the signature and conclusion of both agreements. Once authorised by the council, the agreements will be signed and presented to the European Parliament for consent. Once the European Parliament has given its consent, the trade agreement can then be concluded by the council and enter into force. The investment protection agreement with Vietnam will be ratified by the member states according to their respective internal procedures.

Notably, in terms of public procurement under the EVFTA, EU companies will benefit from a level of access to Vietnamese procurement markets that companies from any other country cannot.

Specifically, EU companies will be able to bid for public contracts with Vietnamese ministries and important state-owned enterprises, as well as the two biggest Vietnamese cities, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City (see box for further details).

At present, EU firms cannot engage in bidding activities in government-funded projects because Vietnam does not allow them to do so.

The agreement is fully in line with the rules of the WTO Government Procurement Agreement, thus achieving a degree of transparency and procedural fairness comparable to other EU trade agreements with developed countries and more advanced developing countries, said a European Commission fact sheet on the EVFTA.

Public procurement concerns how public authorities spend public money when buying goods, works or services. This can range from buying IT equipment or providing water, gas and electricity, to building a hospital or a road.

According to an expert from the EU Delegation to Vietnam, EU businesses and investors want to participate in government procurement contracts in Vietnam because these contracts can bring them many opportunities.

Each year, the government invests billions of US dollars into infrastructure projects, many of which must be put out to tender, the expert said. The EVFTA will open the doors wider to EU companies.

In late 2017, representatives of 20 Slovak firms came to Vietnam with an aim to expand their multi-sectoral presence in Vietnam, to take advantage of the countrys rising demands and forthcoming tariff cuts for EU-sourced items under the EVFTA.

They met with ministries and a number of government agencies to seek possibilities to join bidding packages to be offered by Vietnamese government in public-funded infrastructure projects. They expected that the EVFTA would enable them to enter the government procurement sector in Vietnam more easily.

Currently EU investors are also expressing great interest in the Long Thanh Airport project, which requires total investment of approximately US$16 billion. The 5,000-hectare project is located in the southern province of Dong Nai, 40 km east of Ho Chi Minh City. When it is completed in 2025 as scheduled, it will become the biggest airport in Vietnam.

Minister of Transport, Nguyen Van The, said that in 2019, this project will be reported to the National Assembly comprehensively, from site clearance, investment capital, and other issues.

The government has also asked the Ministry of Transport to conduct international bidding in order to select consultants to make a master plan for the project.

It is expected that in 2019, the investor - Aviation Corporation of Vietnam will select the main constructor for the project.

According to a recently released guide to the EVFTA, Vietnam is one of the countries with the highest ratio of public investment to GDP in the world. Since 1995, this ratio has been maintained at over 39% annually with a large part invested in infrastructure projects. Last year, the ratio was 35.7% (US$26.45 billion) of the total development investment capital.

However, Vietnam has not agreed to coverage of their government procurement by the Government Procurement Agreement of the WTO (GPA). Indeed, Vietnam has undertaken to do so in the EVFTA for the first time.

This market has become very attractive to many foreign investors, said the guide.

According to Manfred Otto, senior associate of law firm Duane Morris Vietnam LLC, the government procurement provisions in the EVFTA are a big step for Vietnam. Vietnamese suppliers will have access to the EUs US$500 billion public procurement market. For Vietnam and its people, the EVFTAs government procurement provisions should, over time, improve access to high-quality goods and services from EU suppliers.

Improvements are especially expected in the healthcare and life sciences sectors, as Vietnams public procurement in these sectors takes up 67% of the total market value.

Vietnam has committed to giving EU suppliers the right to bid for up to 50% of the pharmaceutical purchases by the Ministry of Health and many of the hospitals under its control, as well as major research facilities. Even so, this is a very gradual process that will occur over a period of 15 years after the FTA comes into effect.

Currently Chinese companies profit the most from Vietnams procurement market. Some 90% of power, mining, manufacturing, ferrous and chemical projects of state-owned companies in Vietnam are awarded to Chinese contractors.
Kendallville, IN (46755)

Today

Occasional rain tapering to a few showers late. Low 33F. Winds WNW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 100%..

Tonight

Occasional rain tapering to a few showers late. Low 33F. Winds WNW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 100%.
A delegation of Members of Parliament representing the Sri Lanka - Swiss Parliamentary Friendship Association (SLSPFA) visited Geneva on 18 October 2018, continuing with a week-long programme of visit to Switzerland from 14 to 20 October 2018. The multi-party delegation, led by Hon. Ananda Kumarasiri, Deputy Speaker of the Sri Lanka Parliament, comprised Hon. Jayampathy WICKRAMARATNE, the SLSPFA President, as well as Hon. Seenithamby YOHESWARAN, Hon. J.C. ALAWATHUWALA, Hon. Edward GUNASEKARA, Hon. Dr. Sudarshini FERNANDOPULLE, Hon. Prof. Ashu MARASINGHE, Hon. Bimal RATHNAYAKE, Hon. Charles NIRMALANTHAN, Hon. K.K. PIYADASA, Hon. K. Sujith PERERA and Hon. Ishak RAHUMAN.

At the Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka, the Members of Parliament were warmly welcomed by Ambassador A.L.A Azeez and Mission's staff and were hosted to a high tea reception.

The delegation's programme in Geneva included meetings with the officials and experts of the Geneva International Center for Humanitarian Demining GICHD, the Geneva Centre for Security Policy (GCSP), the Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF), and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. They also visited the United Nations Office in Geneva, following which they were hosted to lunch by Permanent Representative of Switzerland in Geneva.

In the capital city of Bern and other cities they visited, the delegation engaged with Members of Parliament and high officials of Switzerland on a wide range of matters of bilateral significance. They also familiarized with the workings of the Swiss democratic institutions and the cantonal system, as well as development cooperation and trade, investment and migration policies of Switzerland.

Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka

Geneva

18 October 2018
Hi Im L.A. Times Books editor Carolyn Kellogg with whats happening in books this week.

THE BIG STORY

When the groundbreaking novel City of Night, about a gay hustler, was published 55 years ago, it scandalized reviewers but made it to the hands of readers who had never seen anything like it. It has never gone out of print, and its author, John Rechy, is still publishing at 87. Alex Espionza visited with Rechy at his Los Angeles home to catch up with the man and his ideas, and explains the ways his writing is so important.

Writer John Rechy. (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)

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THE BIG REVIEW

Kiese Laymons new book is Heavy, a vital memoir, writes reviewer Nathan Deuel: Quite simply, Heavy is one of the most important and intense books of the year because of the unyielding, profoundly original and utterly heartbreaking way it addresses and undermines expectations for what exactly its like to possess and make use of a male black body in America. Read the review.

Kiese Laymon, author of Heavy (Scribner)

BESTSELLERS

Debuting at No. 5 on the fiction list is Hippie, the new novel from international bestselling writer Paulo Coelho (The Alchemist.)

Making its debut at No. 9 on the nonfiction list is Rebecca Traisters Good and Mad. This week we talk to Traister about the timeliness of her books  this one is about female anger and politics  see more below.

You can find all the books on our bestseller lists here.

Paulo Coelho in Paris in 2007. His new book is Hippie. (Francois Mori / Associated Press)

A TIMELY BOOK

Rebecca Traisters Good and Mad: The Revolutionary Power of Womens Anger was published Oct. 2, in the midst of the Senate confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, which included testimony by Christine Blasey Ford, who alleged she had been sexually assaulted by Kavanaugh in high school. I feel pretty torn about being out there selling books in the midst of this and selling books to some degree off of this, Traister tells Kate Tuttle. This is a terrible time. But despite that, she says, we should not despair.

Anger as expressed by Dr. Christine Blasey Ford and Brett Kavanaugh during their testimony was perceived differently, Traister notes. (Getty Images)

MORE BOOK NEWS

Writer Stephen Elliott sued Moira Donegan, the creator of the Media Men List that shared information about alleged sexual harassers, for $1.5 million, seeking to reveal the names of the anonymous contributors to the list. Donegans supporters have raised more than $100,000 in her defense. Read the story.

Carmen Maria Machados unusual, acclaimed short story collection Her Body and Other Parties is in development at FX for television.

The Man Booker Prize, one of the worlds most coveted prizes for fiction, was awarded this week to Anna Burns for her novel Milkman. American publisher Graywolf announced it will move up publication  it will be available in time for the holidays.

Anna Burns with her book Milkman and her Man Booker Prize. (Facundo Arrizabalaga /EPA-EFE/REX)

carolyn.kellogg@latimes.com

@paperhaus
The remarks were made at a seminar on the two-year results and prospects of the Vietnam-EAEU FTA, which was held by the Vietnamese Embassy in Russia and the Russian Academy of Science on October 19.

Delegates focused their discussions on the prospects and role of the FTA in trade and investment cooperation between Vietnam and the EAEU, including the Russian Federation, the Republic of Belarus, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Republic of Armenia, and the Kyrgyz Republic.

Vietnamese Ambassador to Russia, Ngo DucManh, noted that the agreement marked a milestone in Vietnams international integration, while emphasising that the agreement will help to fuel the economy of each nation and cooperation between the two sides.

According Vietnam Customs, the two-way trade revenue between Vietnam and EAEU reached US$3.04 billion in 2016, up 23% compared to 2015 and US$3.9 billion in 2017, up 28.3% compared to 2016. Of which, Russia accounts for over 90% of the two-way trade volume between Vietnam and the EAEU.

Assoc. Prof. A.Pylin, from the Russian Academy of Science, said that the implementation of the FTA between the EAEU and Vietnam has brought about positive results and created changes in the trade balance between the FTA members, including the economic bilateral relations between Vietnam and Kazakhstan, Russia and Belarus.

The delegates also pointed out a number of difficulties in the bilateral trade cooperation including the currency of payment, high transport costs and the lack of preferential policies for small and medium-sized enterprises, among others.
Alaska Airlines, the plucky Seattle-based carrier that has won numerous customer satisfaction awards, is following the lead of its much larger rivals by increasing the fees it charges to check bags.

Starting with tickets bought Dec. 5, Alaska Airlines will raise checked bag fees to $30 from $25 for the first bag, to $40 from $25 for the second bag, to $100 from $75 for the third and to $100 from $75 for oversized luggage.

The move  announced on a tiny-print link on the airlines homepage  follows similar fee increases announced in the last few weeks by three of the nations biggest carriers, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines.

Southwest Airlines, the countrys largest domestic carrier, still doesnt charge a fee to check the first two bags.

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At Alaska Airlines, elite loyalty reward club members and Alaska Airlines credit card holders are also going to feel the pinch.

Elite members of the carriers Mileage Plan and members of its Club 49  an exclusive program for Alaska residents  get to check the first two bags for free, but the charge for the third bag increases to $100 from $75.

Fliers who have an Alaska Airlines credit card pay nothing to check the first bag, but the fees will rise to $40 from $25 for the second and to $100 from $75 for the third bag.

We havent raised bag fees since 2013 and the economics of this change allows us to invest back in our product and maintain low fares, Alaska Airlines spokeswoman Ann Johnson said. Costs, in particular fuel, have been increasing for the last two years, but revenues havent kept pace.

In the first six months of 2018, the nations top 11 airlines collected nearly $2.4 billion in checked bag fees and $1.3 billion in reservation change fees, according to the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics.

hugo.martin@latimes.com

To read more about the travel and tourism industries, follow @hugomartin on Twitter.
Less glamorous than youth and less revered than old age, the middle age years are often overlooked. For some, it is a contradictory time: interminable and fleeting, depressing and invigorating.

For the British-German performance collective Gob Squad, who are now in their middle age years, they are facing it head on and cracking some jokes along the way.

Creation (Pictures for Dorian) is the latest piece of witty, improvisatory video-art theater from the self-described seven headed monster troupe, who has performed together for a quarter of a century.

This weekend, they are back at REDCAT  where they previously presented Western Society, Super Night Shot and Kitchen  with this U.S. premiere co-presented with Center Theatre Group.

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Drawing inspiration from Oscar Wildes ageless tale about refusing to age, the focus here is less on Dorians hedonism and its consequences, and more on the passage of time and the complex relationship between artist, artwork and viewer.

To tell their jam-packed, hyper-conceptual, nonlinear, non-narrative art story, Gob Squad uses locally sourced material, namely six Los Angeles actors. The average age of three of the actors is 22. The average age of the other three L.A. actors is 80. Three Gob Squad members with an average age of 49  Sarah Thom, Bastian Trost and Sean Patten on Thursday night  complete the cast of nine.

Theyre three sets of three representing three phases of life; triangular and triadic relationships are a recurring theme.

It gets you out of binary thinking, Patten remarked as he and Thom rattled off a list of things that come in threes:

Past, present, future.

Father, Son, Holy Ghost.

Gin, tonic, ice?

Snappy, dry British humor and quippy banter propels Gob Squads sometimes self-indulgent but always visually and aesthetically engaging exploration of art theory, the human experience of aging and the desire  especially by actors such as themselves  to be seen.

Dan Guerreo, Natasha Lui and Sara Thom in Gob Squads Creation (Pictures of Dorian) at REDCAT. (Vanessa Crocini)

If Creation sounds like navel-gazing art-theater made by art-theater people for an art-theater audience, thats because it is. But humor and unexpectedly honest personal revelations from each of the nine participants transform heady theoretical and philosophical explorations into relatable, entertaining, strikingly human theater.

Throughout 90 well-executed minutes, Thom, Bastien and Patten primarily play the role of artists-creators. Sparse pastel costumes, floral arrangements, picture frames and mirrors are the only props. For material, they look to the three young and three older actors, using their bodies and talents to create still life and portrait paintings, sculptures, performance art, storytelling and, as they call it, one of those long video pieces you see in a museum that loops and you cant tell if it has a beginning or an end.

As we watch them create (and discuss and dissect the process of creation), universal truths about youth and aging reveal themselves effortlessly. Seemingly off-hand comments give us insight into the details of each actors real life: My son just moved out of the house. My mother died last year. When I recovered from my prescription pill addiction, I got married again.

Nic Prior, a young actor and performance artist, dreams about what middle age might be like. Prior pictures success, maybe a MacArthur genius award, a loving partner and children, and enough money to fund art projects, airy lofts and billowy denim fashion ensembles. The youthful optimism is tangible.

One of the older actors, Dan Guerrero, spends most of his time on stage dancing and performing beloved routines from glory days gone by. If you missed one of the best performances of his life  singing Soon Its Gonna Rain in a 1964 production of The Fantasticks in Saratoga Springs  you can catch a reprisal here. And this iteration might be even better than the first.

Nic Prior and Tina Preston in Gob Squads Creation (Pictures for Dorian). (Vanessa Crocini)

In the end, nine actors asks us to look at them, to applaud them, to see them and admire them. None do this more poignantly than Thom, who strips off her stage clothes and puts her naked body on full display.

Its a cliche, she says, a theatrical trope. In fact, shes been naked on this very stage before.

Earlier in the night, Thom noted that as a middle-aged woman in society, she often feels invisible, disappearing.

But as she casually lifts up her left breast and tucks her mike pack under it for safekeeping, she reminds us that whatever the gaze  male, feminist, artist, viewer  the middle aged female body is not to be ignored.

But now were all looking. She will never be invisible again. No matter their age, everyone has a story to tell.

Gob Squad: Creation (Pictures For Dorian)

Where: REDCAT, 631 W 2nd St., Los Angeles.

When: Oct.19-20, 8:30 p.m., Oct. 21, 7:00 p.m.

Info: redcat.org
The first time Jonah Hills mom dropped him off at the West L.A. Courthouse, she didnt want him to get out of the car. Hed told her this was his favorite place to skateboard  the spot where he and his buddies had been hanging after school. But seeing it in person  a dingy cement courtyard populated by homeless people and flanked by a bail bonds shop  she thought it was too seedy for her 10-year-old son.

But he couldnt just stop going. As a preteen, Hill was desperate to find his tribe, and hed recently fallen in with a group of skaters who hung out at the Hot Rod shop on Westwood Boulevard. He idolized them  these kids in their baggy jeans and beanies who seemed to flow through life, tackling every risk with rebellious spirit.

Skating came into my life when I really needed it, recalled Hill, now 34. If you feel like an outsider, sometimes that can make you harsh or angry. And I think skating is for an angry group of outsiders  slamming on the floor, saying mean things to one another  but ultimately really, really deeply loving one another.

He was sitting on the concrete steps of his childhood haunt earlier this week, watching the sole skater at the park attempt some low-key tricks. Hill brought his laptop to these steps to write Mid90s, his directorial debut, many times over the past few years. Though Hill insists the movie is not autobiographical, it contains numerous parallels to his youth: The protagonist, Stevie (Sunny Suljic) is a 13-year-old living in 1990s Los Angeles who finds refuge from his troubled home with a bunch of unruly teens at a local skate shop.

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Writing this was healing for me, acknowledged Hill, whose film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival last month and opened in limited release Friday. Theres a line in the movie where Stevie is told: You take the hardest hits out of anyone I know. You know you dont have to do that, right? His friend is telling him, We dont love you because you fall off of roofs and get the [crap] kicked out of you. We just like you. [Stevie] is not me, but those are things I would have liked to have learned a lot earlier in life.

(Clockwise from left) Na-kel Smith, Olan Prenatt, Ryder McLaughlin, Sunny Suljic and Gio Galicia in Mid90s, much of which was filmed at Hills childhood skate park. (A24 Films)

Hill knows what its like to take a hit. He got famous in his early 20s as the star of 2007s Superbad and was quickly branded as Hollywoods go-to goofy, chubby comedian. Even though hes flashed some serious dramatic chops in the past decade  earning Oscar nominations for his roles in Bennett Millers Moneyball and Martin Scorseses The Wolf of Wall Street  he said he has still felt an expectation from the public to be funny.

I was like, Oh, people just want me to be funny, so Ill just be funny, but I wasnt being true to myself, he said, the Santa Ana winds swirling leaves around his feet. I thought if I was funny, it allowed people to make fun of me. And thats on me  not everybody else. Being a young man coming up in this business, I didnt have the self-love or self-understanding or strength to be myself. And then I got pent up so bad that I got angry.

And his anger often manifested in public. After being harassed by a paparazzo in 2014, he lashed out and lobbed a homophobic slur at the photographer. (He quickly apologized for his hurtful and grotesque language.) The incident followed an infamous 2013 interview with Rolling Stone where, in response to playful questions about his workout routine and masturbatory habits, even Hill now admits he came off as a self-serious dick.

Christopher Mintz-Plasse, left, Hill and Michael Cera in a scene from Superbad. (Melissa Moseley / AP)

Youre young and youre egotistical and you think you deserve to be understood, he said. Id do an interview that would go poorly because the person wouldnt be sensitive or would think because I was  I think a lot of it has to do with weight and people, how they view funny. If youre funny and overweight, people can speak to you however they want. And Im the easiest bait in the world. Im so sensitive. I take it and then I go home and beat myself up because Im like, I completely fell into this thing. Then Im the one  it only hurts me. It doesnt hurt them.

Perhaps the most egregious example of this was when, during promotion for his 2016 film War Dogs, a French journalist asked in her native tongue if Hill was interested in hearing her sexual fantasy about him. Confused by the translation, he listened as she proceeded to joke: We would meet up in a hotel room at night. We would chat, youd make me laugh, and then, all of a sudden, youd bring your friends Leo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt. And then you would leave.

All of that almost derailed my whole life, Hill acknowledged. I didnt want to act anymore. I didnt want to do anything anymore. I just didnt want to be ridiculed. Im not trying to paint a picture like poor me, but  what did I do to deserve being made fun of  Im only a human being  if I look this way? Women have it so much harder, in general. Im a white, straight dude, but I still have my feelings hurt when people are just mean to me for no reason.

Hed often confide in his sister, the actress Beanie Feldstein, about the negative press, because he saw her able to accept herself in a way he strived to. In a zine he recently created for A24, which is distributing Mid90s, he did an interview with his sister in which he admitted that, unlike her, Im affected more by societys view of attractiveness and weight. That is like my Achilles heel.

I knew all of that was affecting him, and it obviously made me really, really upset, because I only saw how beautiful he was, remembered Feldstein, who is nine years Hills junior. Hes more sensitive to the elements, but I think thats a beautiful thing. As someone with thicker skin, I wish I had more of that. Hes a sensitive person, and now hes seeing what a gift that is.

Hill attends the Golden Globe Awards with his sister, Beanie Feldstein, in 2012. (Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times)

Thats because instead of retreating, Hill decided to throw himself into Mid90s. In stepping aside from acting, he wanted to explore his own identity after years of performing other characters.

I think in the past few years making this film, Ive really come to love who I am and understand who I am, said Hill. Because I was stuck in something that wasnt who I was. I love being an actor  a great color in someone elses painting. But Ive been a decent green for a long time.

After spending a number of nights at the courthouse writing, he sent his first draft to the producers Scott Rudin and Eli Bush, whom hed worked with on Moneyball. The filmmakers were excited about the material but wanted to know if Hill would be open to notes. He was, and they would go on to trade 20 drafts of the movie.

We would have very productive but big conversations about the script, and then he would go and do a lot of serious work on it, said Bush. He knows what it means to work, and we were incredibly impressed by his ability to take big swings. He wasnt precious about the script.

Hill also reached out to other filmmakers hes worked with for feedback. Not everyone was helpful. After reading a scene in which Stevie harms himself with a hairbrush, one director Hill really likes and respected suggested he remove the self-abuse from the film.

He said, Good luck with that hairbrush scene in the ArcLight, said Hill. I immediately lost respect for him. I appreciated that he took the time to read my screenplay, but I was like, Oh, were not the same.

Lucas Hedges, Sunny Suljic and director Hill on the set of Mid90s. (Tobin Yelland / A24 Films)

Other industry friends gave more constructive criticism, including Miller and Spike Jonze. Paul Thomas Anderson watched an early cut of the film and sent Hill a text message so positive that he framed it for his office. (He wont say what the text said because he doesnt want to sound like a douchebag.)

He also channeled his experience with Scorsese on set. While working with his actors  most of whom were under 21  Hill tried to be casual with his directing guidance. Before an emotional scene, hed ask an actor to take a walk with him and would tell the kid a story that indirectly related to the material.

When I was working with Scorsese, sometimes hed tell me something and Id be like, Why the [hell] is he telling me this? said Hill, adding that the Goodfellas filmmaker sat down with him for a four-hour conversation before filming began. It wasnt until after that I realized he was talking to me about what we were doing that day.

Suddenly, a security guard from the municipal building bordering the park approached and interrupted Hills story.

Have you two seen a lady? he asked. She left her dogs here, and she hasnt come back.

He pointed to two dogs in fabric crates who began barking aggressively.

I dont really understand whats happening. How long have they been there? Hill asked. Theyve just been there all day? Should we give them some water? Im going to give them some water real quick.

But as he approached the dogs, their barking turned to growling.

I love dogs, he said. Do you think they bite? This is a real situation.

He decided to wait a few moments to see if the owner returned and got up to walk around the perimeter of the park.

Hill came to the West L.A. Courthouse as a kid to skateboard, even though his mom thought it was seedy. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

I would just tell my mom I was going to the skate shop and then come here and she wouldnt know, he said, looking around. It just looks like a [crappy], empty park with dogs barking that we need to help. But to me, it still lights me up. It still has the feeling of being like the bad kid island in Pinocchio.

A few days later, Hill would host the L.A. premiere of Mid90s here. No matter how the film performs commercially, Hill is trying to remember he made the exact movie that is how I feel as a person.

Im not going to be self-deprecating about it or put myself down or whatever, he said. Its not like Ill ever be as good as my heroes and my mentors, but I have my own voice as a person and as a filmmaker. It may not be as good, but its me, and thats awesome.

amy.kaufman@latimes.com

Follow me on Twitter @AmyKinLA
On Thursday, the twice-poisoned Russian dissident Vladimir Kara-Murza looked in fine health as he accepted the Train Foundation Prize for Civil Courage in New York. The award honors steadfast resistance to evil at great personal risk.

Kara-Murza, a 37-year-old journalist and filmmaker, admitted hed been physically weakened by attempts on his life in 2015 and 2017. Hes well aware that dissent can also be fatal. After all, in 2015, just before Kara-Murza was poisoned the first time, his mentor and fellow foe of Vladimir Putin, Boris Nemtsov, was shot and killed on a bridge just outside the Kremlin.

Great personal risk, indeed.

The Civil Courage Prize was inspired by another Russian dissident: Alexander Solzhenitsyn.

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Like Kara-Murza and Nemtsov, Solzhenitsyn, a novelist and historian, criticized the Russian  then Soviet  government. In 1945, he was condemned to eight years in a work camp for poking fun at Stalin in a personal letter.

In 1971, after his release, and after decades of censorship, the KGB tried to assassinate Solzhenitsyn. Finally he left the Soviet Union for Vermont, not far from where I grew up.

What happened to Khashoggi, as we understand it, may outdo even the Kremlin for sadism.

Nearby families were proud that the worlds most famous enemy of the Kremlin had found asylum in our woods. We fiercely guarded his privacy. A sign outside the general store in Cavendish was meant to deter both KGB and literary fanboys: No Restrooms, No Bare Feet, No Directions to the Solzhenitsyn Home. My parents, hardly radicals, kept Solzhenitsyns immensely moving book, The Gulag Archipelago, on their front table.

When the collected works of Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi are published, I hope my parents and other patriotic Americans will buy those books too.

Khashoggi, like Nemtsov, was evidently killed in cold blood by a distinctly un-American government willing to desecrate the canon of human rights to shore up a fragile tyranny.

The story of what happened to Khashoggi on Oct. 2 at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul is still in flux: On Friday, the Saudi leadership arrested 18 men who were said to have argued with the journalist in Istanbul, and then engaged in a fistfight that led to his death.

The Turks see it differently. They say that photos and travel records implicate 15 people. The New York Times reported that they included four associates of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman  M.B.S.  who flew to Istanbul the day of the murder. U.S. intelligence intercepts, according to the Washington Post, picked up the crown prince as he earlier discussed his plans for Khashoggi: Draw him back to Saudi Arabia and confront him there.

The Turks also claim to have recordings documenting the torturous severing of Khashoggis fingers, as well as his dismemberment and beheading. According to Turkish officials, a Saudi doctor can be heard offering a pro tip: To ease tension while butchering a human being, he says, try music.

What happened to Khashoggi, as we understand it, may outdo even the Kremlin for sadism. And yet the response in the U.S. especially among Republicans  has been in stark contrast to the response to Solzhenitsyns abuse by the Soviets in the 20th century.

Today the Trump administration stands accused of helping to cover up the full story of Khashoggis death and even of having foreknowledge that Khashoggi was some sort of target in Istanbul. At the same time, the Republican Party is evidently smearing Khashoggi while aiming to exonerate the Saudis, with whom the oligarchs of our nation, including the president and his son-in-law, have an unholy commercial alliance.

Something has gone gravely wrong in America.

In the 1970s, Americans of every stripe considered Alexander Solzhenitsyn a hero. To fight repression in a brutal, totalitarian regime like the USSR was to gain the admiration and material support of the West, where individual freedoms are the sine qua non of our way of life.

Now Trump almost seems to consider violence toward a member of the media by an authoritarian regime something he can get behind. At a rally Thursday night, the same night Kara-Murza accepted his Civil Courage Prize, Trump praised a Montana politician for body-slamming a reporter.

Enter the Fray: First takes on the news of the minute from L.A. Times Opinion 

But things are more ominous still. It seems Khashoggis writing was banned in Saudi Arabia not because he was critical of Mohammad bin Salman or the government. It was because, two days after the presidential election in 2016, Khashoggi mildly criticized  Donald Trump.

We can only hope that one day a journalist or congressional committee will get a full accounting of the Trump circles contacts with Saudi leadership about Khashoggi. But it seems that Khashoggi, like the rest of the non-state media, indeed counted as an enemy of the people, where people means a dozen violent oligarchs who seem bent on winning fake elections, exterminating journalists and putting the world on fascist lockdown.

On Thursday I asked Vladimir Kara-Murza if he considered Trump as Putin-in-training, and what he thought we could expect if Trump is shown to be complicit in a Saudi cover-up, or worse.

Kara-Murza, usually voluble, refused to answer. Then he smiled. He said he would focus on his country, and I should focus on mine.

You have so many Russians meddling in your politics already, he said by way of conclusion. You dont need another one.

Twitter: @page88

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinionand Facebook
To the editor: I am an electrical engineer with the skills to make automation happen, and I believe the future is not as bleak as presented in the article predicting millions of Californians could soon be out of work.

Artificial intelligence is not magic, and we still have to build and program devices capable of implementing it. Where autonomous vehicles are concerned, remember that aircraft have employed autopilot systems for decades. As an instrument-rated private pilot, I would require additional training before implementing any form of autopilot. In other words, aircraft require a skilled person to be at the controls.

Automation can actually create more jobs at all skill levels. For example, there was a time when people owned exactly one shirt that was hand made. With automation, ownership of more than one shirt became the norm, and thus employment opportunities increased.

We need to understand that computers, artificial intelligence and machinery are designed and developed by human beings. Automation costs money, and if there is so much of it that mass unemployment is a possibility, there will not be enough money in the economy to support automation. There will always be plenty of work to do.

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I could write more about this, but I need to manually clean my apartment.

Kevin Rose, Goleta

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To the editor: The real threat to jobs is unregulated capital markets.

The increased productivity gains from automation and the resulting increased leisure time could potentially be a tremendous social good that benefits everyone with greater wealth and more free time to enjoy it  but only in an economic system structured for equitable distribution of those gains. For this to occur, public administration is required, either in the form of significant public oversight of private capital markets or some degree of socialization.

When the productive resources and the wealth they create are concentrated in the hands of a very few plutocrats in an unregulated capital market, automation further concentrates and cements their economic and political elitism, exponentially increasing wealth inequality.

Ultimately, this is where the struggle for income equality must receive greater attention.

Douglas Dunn, Escondido

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook
To the editor: Before I support a carbon tax in the United States, I would like to know what I can expect from one.

In fact, I would like to know what I can expect from this country reducing its carbon dioxide emissions in general. If the world (not just the U.S.) reduces its emissions 50% by 2050 (a virtual impossibility), what will the effect be? Will it stop global warming? Will it slow down global warming? And if so, how much?

Those who propose cutting carbon emissions as the solution should be able to tell me what to expect if we do.

P.J. Gendell, Beverly Hills

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To the editor: Yes, Citizens Climate Lobbys proposal calls for a slowly growing per-ton carbon fee that would likely reduce emissions more rapidly (by 50% in 20 years) than other policies. Studies show that millions of jobs would also be created, as the revenue generated by the carbon fees would be divided equally between all Americans, acting as a stimulus. Reducing health hazards from pollution would also save lives.

Does Congress know about this policy? Intimately. Citizens Climate Lobby has talked with virtually every member of Congress.

So, whats the holdup? The GOP, primarily, wont touch it. Its members cling to worn generalizations, like Sen. Ted Cruzs assertion that the climate is always changing.

Too many of us who do care about this simply dont vote. The despair of millions will rest on our political decisions.

Jan Freed, Los Angeles

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To the editor: The carbon-fee-and-dividend proposal is a carefully considered plan that will drive real change while being as fair as possible to everyone. We desperately need to enact a plan like it in order to have any hope of averting a catastrophe.

David Salahi, Laguna Niguel

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook
To the editor: Columnist Virginia Heffernan talks a lot about the men who have moved on from the Republican Party. I think the real story is the number of women who have left the party.

I have been a registered Republican for more than 53 years. I am an active feminist but have hung on to my registration in the party of individual rights and liberties, personal responsibility, limited government, free markets, a strong national defense and fiscal responsibility. I hung on to my party registration although I didnt always vote a straight GOP ticket. I hung on until I couldnt.

My Republican credentials would hold up to anyone. I founded the Anaheim Young Republicans and was a delegate to the National Young Republican Convention. I was the youngest delegate to the 1968 Republican National Convention. I attended several Republican national conventions and advocated for womens rights, the Equal Rights Amendment and to take abortion out of the party platform. In 1987, I was the regional political director for George H.W. Bushs campaign for president. I organized the California delegation to the 1988 Republican National Convention in New Orleans.

It was the Brett Kavanaugh hearings that put me over the edge. When I heard the words coming from the Republican leadership and the president, that fine thread holding me to the GOP finally broke. I couldnt believe the disrespect for women I was hearing.

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I am not alone. Surely there are thousands of women across America who gave up on the Republican Party. The GOP died years ago, but it finally got buried with the Kavanaugh hearings.

Eileen E. Padberg, Laguna Niguel

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To the editor: Heffernans column really hit home. I joined the Republican Party when Barry Goldwater told me he would keep government out of our pockets and out of our bedrooms.

Then Republicans decided they needed the religious right  never mind that science now came from scripture and intolerance became a new family value.

Then Republicans decided they needed lots of money, so along came Citizens United  never mind that candidates were now owned by special interests.

Then Republicans decided it was worth sacrificing progress to ensure that Barack Obama was a one-term president  never mind that gridlock became the new norm.

Now Republicans have thrown away any moral compass or fiscal conservatism to keep a man in office who is unfit to be there  never mind that they were humiliated into sycophancy.

Republicans: Its time to abandon ship. There has to be something better than this.

Judy Cabrera, Glendale

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook
To the parts of the country that think of Californians as unthinking liberals spending their state into oblivion, prepare to be disappointed: The reaction by our letter writers to the Los Angeles Times Editorial Boards endorsement of Democrat Gavin Newsom for governor can be best described as, Ugh, not him.

Newsom has been arguably the most visible, telegenic face of Californias ascendant progressive movement since he took over as lieutenant governor in 2011. Its noteworthy, then, that only two of the letters we received in response to the endorsement reacted favorably to it  or perhaps it isnt surprising at all, since readers who disagree with an article in The Times tend to write in greater numbers than those who agree.

Here is what some of those readers had to say about Gov. Jerry Browns likely successor.

Richard Joseph of Los Angeles was hoping The Times wouldnt endorse either candidate:

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I knew The Times would endorse Newsom, but I am still hugely disappointed in it anyway.

You admit to having reservations about his support for Californias troubled high-speed rail project and a single-payer universal healthcare plan. I would also mention Newsoms failure to fix homelessness in San Francisco and that citys ongoing housing crisis, among other problems.

The Times ends its endorsement by saying: We hope he will buckle down in this job. I was hoping against hope that The Times would have some spine, push back against its liberal impulse and at least not endorse either candidate, because God knows you wont endorse a Republican for governor again in my lifetime.

Patrick Bright of Los Angeles brings up #MeToo:

In this #MeToo era, its strange that your endorsement of Newsom ignores his admitted sexual misbehavior with a subordinate while he was mayor.

Apparently, you choose to overlook the misdeeds of your liberal favorites. Shouldnt you explain why? The political correctness crowd (that is, leftists) wants to know.

Irvine resident Harry Crowell doesnt see Newsoms extensive government experience as a plus:

When two people are vying for the same leadership position, they both have full resumes and lists of accomplishments.

Basically, Newsom has had many jobs in government, but what have been his real successes? In contrast, Republican candidate John Cox started out with only his skills, which he used to build his businesses and hire qualified people.

The secret to quality is hiring the most qualified people  and in this regard, Cox has proved his worth. Newsom, on the other hand, spouts that he has worked for 20 years in public office, and looking at all the waste in government, how can one even consider voting for him?

Lynn Lorenz of Newport Beach was one of the few readers to express enthusiastic support for the Democrat:

Kudos for your endorsement. Unfortunately, many people have been dismissing Newson as just another lightweight politician. They need to understand that behind that smiling demeanor is an astute mind and the heart of a natural leader.

Also, lets not dismiss him because he delivers a positive message. We are so used to the cynicism and self-interest of many politicians today that we find it hard to embrace an enthusiastic candidate. In this case, it is a candidate with a history of more than 20 years in public service, working his way up from the bottom.

The endorsements final sentence declared that Newsom is ready to be governor. Let me go a step further: I recently saw and heard him in person and think that he has the charisma, experience and smarts to be president.

Marcus Kourtjian of Northridge wants a non-politician to be governor:

The Times has endorsed Newsom for governor, citing Coxs lack of experience in government.

In 2008, the editorial board endorsed then-Sen. Barack Obama for president even though he had limited experience in government. Is the only difference the fact that Cox is a Republican?

Maybe what this state needs is a non-politician to run it correctly.

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook.
Parking issues, rising rents and the balance between a successful but quiet commercial area are some of the issues Burbank officials have identified in the citys Magnolia Park neighborhood.

Mary Hamzoian, the citys economic development manager, detailed to the City Council during a meeting Tuesday the concerns of business owners and residents regarding the unique neighborhood on Magnolia Boulevard, which is a blend of small business boutiques, popular eateries and single-family homes.

Though there are several successful businesses rooted in the corridor  Portos Bakery, Morphe Brushes and Tonys Darts Away, just to name a few  there are many that have struggled, primarily due to increasing rents.

Hamzoian said the current average retail rental rate in Magnolia Park is about $2.67 per square foot, below the average rate in the city, which is $3.83 per square foot. Rents in the Media District are pegged at about $5.95 per square feet.

However, rents in Magnolia Park were significantly lower just three years ago, when landlords were charging $1.64 per square foot.

Hamzoian said todays rental rates in the neighborhood are being driven by a strong economy, the popularity of the area and climbing real estate prices.

There isnt a quick fix or a viable solution to address this concern, she said. Similar to increasing residential rates and home prices of the area, these figures are dictated by market demand and supply.

Another issue has been parking in the neighborhood. With the rise in popularity of Portos and Morphe, residents have complained about too many customers parking on residential streets. Some business operators say parking spaces directly in front of their Magnolia Park storefronts are being used by patrons of other businesses.

Hamzoian said Morphe used to draw in large crowds whenever they released a new product. However, she said the business recognized the issues caused by the mass of customers flooding into the neighborhood and have opted to not host large events at its Burbank store.

Hamzoian added the city is still working on a parking management study to determine the best way to resolve the issue.

There has also been a struggle to establish a stable funding mechanism to help the businesses in Magnolia Park.

In 2006, the city created the Magnolia Park Property-based Business Improvement District, which collected fees from participating merchants to help fund the maintenance of the neighborhood, as well as pay for marketing to promote the area.

However, that entity was dissolved in 2011 due to a lack of interest from businesses owners to renew their membership, Hamzoian said. It could be reestablished, if city officials want to take that route, she said.

In 2014, several business owners created their own organization, the Magnolia Park Merchants Assn. However, its experiencing the same membership issues as the former improvement district, with about only 52 of the 400 merchants signed up, Hamzoian said.

In the last fiscal year, the city invested more than $30,000 in Magnolia Park to help pay for events such as Holiday in the Park and Ladies Night Out.

anthonyclark.carpio@latimes.com

Twitter: @acocarpio
10 / 21

Sheri Tarpnell from Utah holds her hand over her heart as a member of the The SOCOM Para-Commandos parachutes in during day one of The Great Pacific Airshow over Huntington Beach on Friday, October 19. (Scott Smeltzer / Daily Pilot )
PM Phuc took the occasions to inform the foreign leaders on Vietnams socio-economic achievements and its contributions to the common cause of the international community.

He asked the EU member countries to push for the early signing of the Vietnam-EU Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) which was approved by the EC on October 17, underlining that together with the agreement on Comprehensive Partnership and Cooperation (PCA), the EVFTA will provide an important foundation for Vietnam and the EU to bring their relations into a new period of development, as well as to strengthen ASEAN-EU partnership and connectivity between EU and the Asian-Pacific region.

The Vietnamese government leader urged the countries to back Vietnam, the only candidate of Asia-Pacific, in running for a non-permanent seat in the UN Security Council during 2020-2021. He affirmed Vietnams strong commitment to contribute more to maintaining international peace and security once it is elected to this important agency of the UN.

The foreign leaders appreciated Vietnams increasingly important role and position in the region and the international arena. Many countries confirmed their support of Vietnams candidacy for a non-permanent membership of the UN Security Council in the 2020-2021 tenure. They pledged to continue coordinating with Vietnam at the UN and other international and regional organisations in order to maintain peace, security, cooperation and development in the region and the world, including the East Sea, to settle disputes by peaceful measures on the basis of respect for international law, particularly the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. The EU member countries expressed their backing of the EVFTA, saying that the early signing and ratification of the EVFTA will be a significant step forward in realizing the EUs strategy on connecting EU and Asia.

During his meeting with President of the EC Jean Claude Juncker, PM Phuc welcomed the ECs approval of the EVFTA on October 17, saying that the two sides should demonstrate the resolve to accelerate procedures for the official signing of the pact, thus realising the great benefits from the deal for both sides.

The EC President noted his support of the early signing and ratification of the EVFTA, and affirmed that the EU attaches importance to its cooperative ties with Vietnam.

The two leaders hailed the signing of the Vietnam-EU Forest Law Enforcement Governance and Trade Voluntary Partnership Agreement (FLEGT-VPA). They agreed to continue coordination for the effective implementation of the EUs development cooperation programmes for Vietnam.

PM Phuc asked the EC to consider Vietnams efforts in order to early lift the yellow card on Vietnams seafood exported to the EU.

Talking to his Slovenian counterpart, PM Phuc affirmed that Vietnam always pays attention to developing friendship and multi-faceted cooperation with traditional friends, including Slovenia.

The two PMs took note with pleasure positive developments in bilateral economic-trade ties in the recent past. Two-way trade is growing fast, at an average rate of 75% a year, reaching US$328 million in 2017 compared to just US$59 million in 2013.

They agreed to maintain the exchange of delegations and meetings at high level, while implementing specific measures to boost win-win partnership in maritime transport, tourism, pharmaceuticals and consumer goods.

In his meeting with PM Pedro Sanchez of Spain, PM Phuc asked the Spanish Government to encourage Spanish companies to invest more in Vietnam in their strong fields, such as energy, hi-tech, education and infrastructure.

The Spanish PM said he advocates stronger relations between Vietnam and Spain as well as between Vietnam and the EU, adding that he wants to bolster cooperation with Vietnam in tourism, education-training and especially the popularisation of Spanish culture and language in Vietnam.

PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc (L) meets with Mongolian President Khaltamaagiin Battulga. (Photo: VGP)



In another meeting, PM Phuc and Mongolian President Khaltamaagiin Battulga expressed satisfaction at the development of bilateral ties recently. They assigned the two Foreign Ministries to coordinate for the successful organisation of activities to mark the 65th anniversary of the two countries diplomatic ties in 2019.

The two leaders reached consensus on maintaining all-level visits and meetings, and promoting trade. PM Phuc asked Mongolia to create favourable conditions for Vietnamese firms to invest in Mongolia, including in supplying services in mining and oil and gas.

Talking to Dutch PM Mark Rutte, the Vietnamese PM proposed that the Netherlands facilitate market access for Vietnamese goods. He affirmed that Vietnam welcomes and offers favourable conditions for Dutch firms to invest in Vietnam, especially in major projects and fields of the Netherlands strength such as agriculture, food industry, chemicals, renewable energy, water management, sea-based economy and logistics.

The Dutch PM said his government encourages Dutch businesses to invest in the sea-based economy and projects to adapt to climate change and fight coast erosion in Vietnam.

In another meeting, PM Phuc and his Polish counterpart Mateusz Morawiecki agreed to coordinate for the effective implementation of agreements reached during the Vietnam visit by the Polish President in 2017, thus promoting bilateral economic-trade-investment ties.

PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc (L) meets with his Polish counterpart Mateusz Morawiecki. (Photo: VGP)



The Polish PM said he wished to strengthen cooperation with Vietnam in defence, the environment, green growth and tertiary education.

Meeting with Finnish PM Juha Sipila, the Vietnamese PM thanked the Finnish Government and people for their support and help for Vietnam over the past years. He said development aid projects sponsored by Finland have helped improve living conditions for Vietnamese people.

He suggested that Finland continue to provide ODA for Vietnam in carrying out sustainable development goals, and that the two countries bolster ties in education-training as many Vietnamese students want to pursue education in Finland.

The Finnish leader said Finland is ready to share experience with Vietnam and encourage investment partnership in clean energy, renewable energy, the environment, water treatment, smart city and education-training.

During a meeting with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, PM Phuc hailed the new developments in bilateral ties and Chinas good will in promoting bilateral cooperation in the past time. He proposed that the two sides maintain visits and meetings between high-ranking officials of the two Parties and countries, while pushing their ministries, sectors and localities to actively take measures to promote sustainable and balanced trade along with reducing Vietnams trade deficit with China. He also urged coordination for the effective and on-schedule implementation of cooperative projects.

PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc (L) meets with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang. (Photo: VGP)



The Vietnamese government leader affirmed that Vietnam welcomes and creates favourable conditions for Chinese firms to carry out hi-tech and environmentally-friendly projects in Vietnam. He suggested accelerating cooperative projects in transport, agriculture, environment, science-technology, finance-monetary, and studying measures to cut costs for railway transport of goods from Vietnam to other Asian and European countries through China.

Regarding the sea issue, PM Phuc stressed that the two sides should control disputes, maintain peace, stability in the East Sea; seriously implement the common perception of leaders of both countries as well as the Vietnam-China agreement on basic principles guiding the settlement of sea issues; persist in settling disputes by peaceful measures in line with international law and the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, while well handling issues related to fisheries and fishermens operation at sea and respecting each others legitimate rights and interests.

Premier Li Keqiang affirmed that the Party, Government and people of China are willing to work with Vietnam to promote the friendly neighbourliness and comprehensive cooperation between the two countries. He said China hopes the two sides would seize opportunities to boost win-win cooperation in all fields, well control the situation and properly handle disputes, and maintain peace and stability in the East Sea, thus contributing to the stable and sustainable development of the Vietnam-China comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership.

In another meeting, PM Phuc and his Norwegian counterpart Erna Solberg agreed to promote bilateral partnership across the fields and continue to coordinate at multilateral forums and the UN.

The Norwegian PM said Norway supports Vietnams bid to run for a non-permanent seat in the UN Security Council during 2020-2021, while appreciating Vietnams participating in the UN peacekeeping mission in South Sudan with the deployment of the field hospital level 2 recently. Norway is ready to share experience with and help Vietnam enhance the capacity of its peacekeeping forces, the PM said.

PM Erna Solberg also affirmed that she will push for the early signing and ratification of the EVFTA.

The two PMs underlined the importance of the sea, and agreed on the need for not only preservation but also sustainable development of the sea. To this goal, it is necessary to maintain peace, stability and cooperation in each region as well as on the global scale on the basis of international law and basic principles of the UN.

In addition, PM Phuc also had sideline talks with UK PM Theresa May, Russian PM Dmitry Medvedev, and Greek PM Alexis Tsipras, during which the leaders discussed measures to enhance bilateral relations and coordination at international forums. They reached agreement on facilitating trade and investment and sustainable development, as well as on joint efforts to enhance the effectiveness of multilateral mechanisms and the role of international law and basic principles of the UN.
A Laguna Beach man was sentenced Friday to 6 years in federal prison and ordered to pay more than $7.36 million in restitution in three investment fraud schemes, authorities said.

Peter Heinrich Conrad Reinert, 63, pleaded guilty in March to one count of wire fraud and as part of the plea agreement admitted to details of the three separate schemes, which involved fictitious automotive and anti-counterfeiting technologies, the U.S. attorneys office said.

One scam was run through an Irvine-based company, Fazer Technologies, which Reinert claimed was developing technology that would increase gas mileage to 150 per gallon for any car. Another of Reinerts companies, Income from Waste Corp., was supposedly developing the ability to convert used tires to oil, the U.S. attorneys office said.

He makes up stories about who he is to get what he wants, U.S. District Judge Josephine Staton said in court Friday, according to a news release.

Reinert also falsely claimed that major car companies were interested in his products and that Tesla had stolen his technology and used it in its cars.

Reinert ran the schemes from 2010 through April 2015, inducing victims across the country to send him millions of dollars, prosecutors said.

Reinert also claimed to be a Secret Service agent and an intelligence officer in the Marines and that another of his companies, Global Encryption Imaging Corp., was developing anti-counterfeiting technology for state-issued identification documents.

Prosecutors said he also lied about being a U.S. citizen and assumed a stolen identity and a U.S. passport in the name of Peter Michael Berger and claimed he was born in Maine. Reinert actually was born in Germany.

Instead of spending the money he collected from the schemes to develop his technologies, as promised, authorities said Reinert used it for personal expenses, luxury cars, sales commissions, purchases at Apples iTunes store and wire transfers to an account in Poland.

As part of the plea agreement, Reinert forfeited $300,000 the FBI seized in 2015, as well as various luxury items, including two Mercedes-Benzes, that were part of the full restitution.

julia.sclafani@latimes.com
A 20-year-old woman was arrested earlier this month after attempting to buy $12,000 worth of electronics at the Apple store in the Glendale Galleria using fraudulent identification.

Monae Wallace, a Victorville resident, has since been linked to $100,000 in losses in connection with several stolen identities. At least one other suspect is being investigated, Glendale police reported.

People are coming specifically into our town because theyre looking for a specific item to purchase. In this case, its electronics. said Sgt. Dan Suttles, a spokesman with the Glendale Police Department.

When Glendale police confronted Wallace on Oct. 9, she at first claimed the California drivers license she provided  which had her photo but a different name  was authentic. Officers said they quickly realized it was a fraudulent card.

After her arrest for being in possession of a fake drivers license, Wallace admitted the card was fake, but claimed the named person was her grandmother.

Police called a number associated with the name, and a woman picked up who corroborated Wallaces claims and said she didnt object to the purchases, Suttles said.

However, a more thorough investigation revealed a different number for the actual person named on the license. When officers called that number, the woman said she had no granddaughter and did not know Wallace.

Wallace was arrested and released on bail.

While identity theft is a common crime, Suttles said the use of a second person to confirm the false story made the case stand out.

It shows that there was more thought put into this than Ive normally seen, said Suttles, who worked financial crimes for eight years. There were different layers of covering their tracks.

An investigation of Wallace and co-conspirators is underway, but no charges have yet been filed with the district attorneys office.

These types of cases can become drawn-out rabbit holes, Suttles said, as investigators must look into every fraudulent purchase to compile evidence.

If the suspect, as in the case of Wallace, used multiple cards in multiple locations, they have to confirm the charges with the bank, as well as with the victim, and try to obtain security footage from targeted stores to verify the suspects identity.

That takes time, energy and often a series of warrants. It could take a month or more before charges are filed due to the scope of this case Suttles said.

About 750 to 800 reports of identity theft were made in Glendale last year, Suttles estimated.

One day after Wallaces arrest, a Canoga Park man was arrested on suspicion of identity theft Tuesday after Glendale police say they spotted him driving to several gas stations and refueling his vehicle each time.

Kenyatta Couch, 42, was also arrested for reportedly driving with a suspended license.

lila.seidman@latimes.com

Twitter: @lila_seidman
I dont usually date surfers, but J. made me laugh so hard. He was a strapping, 23-year-old goofball and we met, yes, surfing. I have a standard abhorrence of other watermen, as they are often loud and obnoxious, and drop the word brah every third sentence or so.

But he was different because he was making fun of everyone else when he used surf lingo such as brah and get pitted. He was seriously unserious about surfing, and thats what I found attractive.

We frequented the pristine Los Angeles surf spots like entitled locals, but often we were just pretending to know what we were doing.

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Lets charge Point Dume, babe, he whispered in my ear one morning at 5 a.m. I groaned but let his boxer pup pull off the sheets and nudge me out of bed. I grabbed my bikini and pulled it on, but not before he tugged at the strings.

Sure you want to wear that? Youd steal all the waves if you didnt.

PCH was clear up until Santa Monica, where they were working on the bridge. I sucked on the salt from last night, the tequila still on my tongue.

Surfing is great for hangovers, babe.

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By the time we found parking, it was crowded and barreling. Perfect conditions.

I stubbed my toe running down the trail, but I didnt care. Soon I was in my silky blue world, streamlining my hands like airplanes over the water as I dug in and paddling for a wave. They were sharp rights, rocks underneath, seals slipping below. It was the best session wed had all summer. We caught one last wave together, he going left, me going right, and we laughed. Id never felt happier with anyone Id ever dated.

We were blissful in our surfer paradise.

I was surprised about how much I had grown to like him. It was slow at first; I thought he was too silly, unorganized and hasty. But I began to realize about myself that the longer it takes me to like someone, the stronger I end up feeling.

We went to parties together, hailed as that cute surfer couple living the good life in sunny California. We laughed at ourselves, at the image we presented to the world purely by accident. We were only doing what we loved, and somehow that was seen as idyllic.

It was a summer of love through the hot months of July and August, September bringing a lull in the waves and our relationship. I was researching graduate schools; he was trying to study for his contractors license. I had just come back from a trip to Oregon to check out schools when he told me, I dont see us having a future together.

Excuse me, what?

I had just gotten out of the shower and sat on his bed, shocked. He politely handed me a towel, but I threw it at him and put my clothes back on.

I dont understand.

The Endless Summer poster mocked us. He sat down next to me. This summer had been fun, he explained, adding, I really like you. But I dont see us going anywhere.

My words were soon unintelligible, garbled like slushy waves, seaweed caught in my throat: I dont know why youre doing this.

Before I left, I told him, I could have fallen in love with you, if youd let me.

I cried in the parking lot outside his apartment for an hour. A family looking for a parking spot drove up in their minivan, asking through my rolled-down window if I would be leaving soon, causing more tears. Yes, I would be leaving soon.

After we broke up, I didnt surf for weeks. I couldnt look at the water and not think of his blue eyes, crooked smile and easy finesse on the waves. I stayed far away from my first love  the ocean  because it reminded me of my second.

When a swell came in mid-October, I pulled my wetsuit out of the closet and tied my longboard to the top of my car. I went to Palos Verdes, to Bluff Cove, where wed first met, and hiked down the trail with my board tucked under my arm.

I kept my eyes peeled for him, certain I would see him. There was a truck parked at the top of the hill that could have been his. I held my breath as I paddled out from the rocky beach, ducking my head under a wave as I made my way out to the lineup. There was a nice 3- to 4-foot set rolling in, and I took off on a wave, a perfect left. I made my bottom turn and then carved right, toes on the nose.

I felt like I had the entire ocean to myself, a wide expanse of experiences ahead of me, one wave after another, if only I was brave enough to go after them alone.

Hove is at work on her first novel. She is on Instagram @camillehove

L.A. Affairs chronicles the search for love in and around Los Angeles. If you have comments or a true story to tell, email us at LAAffairs@latimes.com.

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Im black. Hes white. Heres what happened

I went on a bunch of blind dates with total losers

I was sleeping alone in a strangers bed  and falling for him

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Afghanistans first parliamentary elections in eight years suffered from violence and chaos Saturday, with a multitude of attacks killing at least 36 people, key election workers failing to show up and many polling stations staying open hours later than scheduled to handle long lines of voters.

Problems surrounding the elections  already three years overdue  threaten to compromise the credibility of polls, which an independent monitoring group said were also marred by incidents of ballot stuffing and intimidation by armed men affiliated with candidates in 19 of the countrys 32 provinces. Some areas had yet to vote, including Kandahar, where the provincial police chief was gunned down Thursday.

Stakes were high in these elections for Afghans who hoped to reform parliament, challenging the dominance of warlords and the politically corrupt and replacing them with a younger, more educated generation of politicians. They were also high for the U.S., which is still seeking an exit strategy after 17 years of a war there that has cost more than $900 billion and claimed the lives of more than 2,400 U.S. service personnel.

Deputy Interior Minister Akhtar Mohammed Ibrahimi said 36 people were killed in 193 insurgent attacks on voters across the country: 27 civilians, eight police officers and one Afghan soldier. He said attackers used a variety of weapons  including grenade, small arms, mortars and rocket launchers  and that security forces killed 31 insurgents.

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The most serious attack on the polls was in a northern Kabul neighborhood where a suicide bomber blew himself up just as voting was about to end, killing three people and wounding another 20, said Dr. Esa Hashemiat at the nearby Afghan Hospital. Interior and Defense ministry officials said 15 people were killed or wounded, including several police.

Polling stations also struggled with voter registration and a new biometric system that was aimed at stemming fraud, but instead created enormous confusion because many of those trained on the system did not show up for work. Also, the biometric machines were received just a month before the election and there was no time to do field testing.

Many polling stations opened as much as five hours behind schedule. The Independent Election Commission was uncertain how many of the estimated 21,000 polling stations closed by 4 p.m., the original closing time. Voting was extended until 8 p.m. for polling stations that opened late.

Afghanistans deputy chief executive Mohammad Mohaqiq expressed outrage at the chaotic start to polling and assailed preparation by the countrys election commission.

The people rushed like a flood to the polling stations, but the election commission employees were not present, and in some cases they were there but there were no electoral materials and in most cases the biometric systems were not working, he said.

The widespread reports today of confusion and incompetence in the administration of the elections ... suggest that bureaucratic failures and lack of political will to prioritize organizing credible parliamentary elections may do more to delegitimize the election results than threats and violent attacks by the Taliban and Daesh, said Andrew Wilder, vice president of Asia Programs at the U.S. Institute of Peace, using the Arabic acronym name for the Islamic State group.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani marked his ballot at the start of voting. In a televised speech afterward, he congratulated Afghans on the election and praised the security forces, particularly the air force, for getting ballots to Afghanistans remotest corners.

North of Kabul, thousands of outraged voters blocked a road after waiting more than five hours for a polling station to open, said Mohammad Azim, the governor of Qarabagh district where the demonstration took place.

Election commission member Abdul Badi Sayat said dozens of teachers who had been trained in the new biometric system had not shown up at the polling stations. It wasnt clear whether that was related to a Taliban warning directed specifically at teachers and students telling them to stay away.

The election commission had registered 8.8 million people to vote. Wasima Badghisy, a commission member, called voters very, very brave and said a turnout of 5 million would be a success.

At a polling station in crowded west Kabul, Khoda Baksh said he arrived nearly two hours early to cast his vote, dismissing Taliban threats of violence.

We dont care about their threats. The Taliban are threatening us all the time, said the 55-year-old Baksh, who said he wanted to see a new generation of politicians take power in Afghanistans 249-seat parliament. He bemoaned the current parliament, dominated by warlords and corrupt elite: They have done zero for us.

In the run-up to the elections, two candidates were killed, while polling in Kandahar was delayed for a week after a rogue guard gunned down the powerful provincial police chief, Gen. Abdul Raziq. In Kabul, security was tight, with police and military personnel stopping vehicles at dozens of checkpoints throughout the congested capital city

Commission deputy spokesman Aziz Ibrahimi said results of Saturdays voting will not be released before mid-November and final results will not be available until later in December.
Nearly 1,000 Central American migrants from a U.S.-bound caravan crossed illegally into southern Mexico on Saturday, vowing to continue their controversial journey north.

The migrants, most of them from impoverished and violence-plagued Honduras, crossed the Suchiate River  which defines the border between Guatemala and Mexico  after the caravan was denied entry at an official Mexican border crossing Friday. Some migrants swam across the river, their possessions wrapped in plastic garbage bags, while others boarded rafts or waded through the fast-moving water with the assistance of a rope strung from the banks.

Hundreds of Mexican federal police officers and immigration agents did not move to stop the migrants who crossed illegally, despite repeated warnings from Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto in recent days that irregular immigration would not be tolerated.

There was a range of estimates of how many people crossed illegally. The federal government said it was roughly 900. Gerardo Hernandez, head of the civil protection agency in the municipality of Suchiate, Chiapas, said it was likely much higher. He said that 7,233 immigrants have been registered in the last three days at a shelter in the border town of Ciudad Hidalgo, and that his agency has been asked to help provide the immigrants with food and shelter.

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Hernandez was not sure whether the government planned to try to deport the new arrivals. We dont know whats going to happen, he said.

The federal government said 2,200 other migrants remained in Guatemala, many of them camped out on the international border bridge that leads to Mexico. Some said they want to seek political asylum in order to stay in Mexico, while others said they were holding out hope that Mexico would open the border and let them continue toward the United States.

We are hungry; we are thirsty, said Suami Castillo, 34, as she waited with her toddler son on the bridge, which reeked of urine and rotting trash in the sub-tropical swelter. We are waiting peacefully. We ask the president of Mexico to open the border for us.

On Friday, the bridge was the scene of a violent melee that erupted when a larger group of migrants stormed through Guatemalan frontier barricades and tried to force their way into Mexico.

Hundreds of Mexican police in riot gear thwarted that effort to breach the border  an operation that drew praise from President Trump, who has labeled the assemblage of bedraggled migrants a threat to U.S. security and vowed to call out the military should the migrants make it to the U.S.-Mexico boundary.

On Saturday, Trump said he was grateful to Mexico for stopping the caravan, speculating that the countrys strong response was because they respect the leader of the United States.

But as he spoke, immigrants were streaming illegally into Mexico  and officials were not trying to stop them.

As the day went on, many more Hondurans began to leave the bridge and sought to enter Mexico via rafts from the Guatemalan side.

By the afternoon, hundreds of immigrants who had crossed the river illegally were celebrating in a plaza in the Mexican border town of Ciudad Hidalgo, dancing to the music of a live marimba band. Each time a group of newly arrived migrants entered the plaza, they were greeted with chants of Yes, you did it!

Mexican immigration agents occasionally circled the plaza in vans and dozens of federal police patrolled on foot, but none of them moved to detain the immigrants.

The migrants have been joined by activists from Pueblos Sin Fronteras, an immigrant advocacy group that organized a caravan of Central Americans earlier this spring that drew the ire of President Trump and prompted him to send National Guard troops to the border.

Jose Sorto, a member of the group, said his organization did not organize this caravan, which was launched about a week ago in the Honduran city of San Pedro Sula. He said about two dozen volunteers with the group decided to come help the migrants transit through Mexico. He said he helped about 450 immigrants cross the river Saturday, and said the caravan planned to start its journey north in the next day or two.

Just what will happen to the caravan remains to be seen.

Mexican immigration checkpoints line the roads from the Guatemalan border and Mexican authorities have aggressively sought out, arrested and deported tens of thousands of undocumented Central Americans in recent years.

Members of the caravan hope that by traveling together in a large group, they will be less vulnerable to immigration authorities. Members of the large caravan that departed this spring were given transit visas that allowed them to pass through Mexico to reach the United States.

In recent days, as President Trump has warned of dire consequences for Mexico and Central American nations if the caravan is not stopped, Pena Nieto insisted that his country would not allow the migrants to enter en masse, and that only those with visas or valid refugee claims would be allowed to enter. Their cases will be reviewed one by one, he said, a process that can drag on for weeks.

Like any sovereign nation  Mexico will not permit irregular entry into its territory  and much less in a violent manner, Pena Nieto said Friday in a stern national address. Mexico remains ready to help migrants who decide to enter our country respecting our laws.

Mexican immigration officials did let some people pass through the border checkpoint. Officials said they had received 640 applications from Hondurans seeking refugee status in Mexico. Among them were 164 women, some of them pregnant, and 104 children, some as young as 3 months old. Officials gave no indication of the status of the requests. But applicants for refugee status in Mexico are generally granted temporary residence until their applications are processed, which can take months.

The caravan has posed a significant dilemma for Mexican authorities, pitting the countrys crucial relations with Washington against its asserted respect for human rights and compassion for migrants. Mexican authorities routinely assail what they call the Trump administrations xenophobic rhetoric about Mexican immigrants in the United States and its insistence that Mexico pay for a wall along the U.S. border to keep them out.

But Mexico and Central American nations have come under intense pressure to halt the caravan from Trump, who has repeatedly highlighted the 3,000-strong caravan during campaign rallies in advance of next months U.S. midterm election.

Theyre not coming into this country: They may as well turn back, Trump said Friday in Arizona. As of this moment, I thank Mexico. If that doesnt work out, were calling up the military, not the National Guard.

The presidents of Honduras and Guatemala  both heavily dependent on U.S. support  met Saturday in the Guatemalan capital and were working on a plan to take Honduran migrants not allowed into Mexico back to their homeland.

At least 10 buses filled with Honduran migrants had already left the Guatemalan border town of Tecun Uman, ferrying discouraged migrants back home.

Theyre not going to let us pass, said a dejected Julissa Hernandez, 16, who was aboard a small bus heading back toward Honduras from Guatemala. It has been so hard.

Like others, she said she had left Honduras in search of work in the United States. But she concluded that it wasnt worth risking her life and opted to go home.

Others, however, remained intent on continuing their journey, despite what they perceived as Mexicos hard line, because of the lack of opportunity and rampant crime in Honduras.

You cant study, you cant leave your house without fear that they will kill you, said Johana Flores, 16, who was resting in a park on the Guatemalan side. I am afraid. If I go home, I will die of hunger or be killed by the gangs.

The Trump administration has characterized most U.S.-bound Central Americans as economic migrants who have no legal standing to enter the United States. Washington has generally rejected fear of criminal violence as a basis for political asylum, and has repeatedly linked Central American migrants to violent gangs such as MS-13.

You got some bad people in those groups, Trump said Friday at the Arizona rally. And Ill tell you what, this country doesnt want them.

On the border bridge, where hundreds lined up behind a tall, white steel gate that marked the Mexican side, the situation remained tense, amid scenes of desperation.

Red-eyed mothers and fathers cradled crying infants. Children drenched in sweat toted luggage.

Look at these kids without diapers, without food, said Eva Fernandez, a U.S. citizen and California resident who heads an immigrant advocacy group, as she livestreamed the scene to friends in Honduras. We are suffering.

Mexican immigration officials handed out cups of water through the border fence.

--Staff Writer Linthicum reported from Ciudad Hidalgo and McDonnell from Mexico City. Cecilia Sanchez in the Times Mexico City bureau contributed.

patrick.mcdonnell@latimes.com

Twitter: @PmcdonnellLAT

UPDATES:

8:05 p.m.: This story has been updated with additional details and background.

This story was originally published at 1:55 p.m.
It took 18 days of unrelenting world pressure and media scrutiny, stoked by a drip-feed of leaks from Turkish authorities, for Saudi Arabia to admit to the death of missing Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi at its consulate in Istanbul.

But Riyadhs cryptically worded statements, released in quick succession early Saturday morning, did little to answer questions surrounding Khashoggis violent end, even as they deflected blame from Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, the de facto leader of the oil-rich country and the main target of Khashoggis criticisms.

Turkish officials on Saturday vowed to continue the investigation.

Turkey will uncover whatever happened. No one should have doubts about that, said Omer Celik, spokesman of the ruling Justice and Development Party, in a statement to Anadolu, Turkeys state-run international news agency, adding that determining what happened had become a matter of honor.

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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Celik said, was determined to solve the case by all means.

We are not accusing anyone in advance but we dont accept a cover-up.

Preliminary investigations by the Saudi government  based on information given by Turkish authorities to a Saudi security team  showed that 18 individuals, all of them Saudi citizens, had come to meet Khashoggi in Istanbul to discuss the possibility of him returning to Saudi Arabia, according to a statement released early Saturday by the state-run Saudi Press Agency.

The encounter between Khashoggi and the men suspected of killing him escalated into a fist fight and Khashoggis death, and the [suspects] attempt to conceal and cover what happened, according to the statement.

The kingdom expresses its deep regret at the painful developments and stresses the commitment of the authorities to bring the facts to the public, continued the statement, adding that those involved would be held accountable and put on trial in Saudi Arabia.

Later, Saudi Justice Minister Mohammed Samaani said in a statement to the press agency that the Khashoggi case falls within the sovereignty of the kingdom and would be dealt with in Saudi courts after the completion of the prosecution requirements.

There was no mention of where Khashoggis body was hidden. Leaked information from Turkish officials has suggested that his body may have been dismembered with a forensic bone saw.

The Government of Saudi Arabia has shamefully and repeatedly offered one lie after another in the nearly three weeks since Jamal Khashoggi disappeared in their Istanbul consulate, said the Washington Posts publisher and chief executive, Fred Ryan, in a written statement. Offering no proof, and contrary to all available evidence, they now expect the world to believe that Jamal died in a fight following a discussion. This is not an explanation; it is a cover-up. President Trump, Congress and leaders of the civilized world should demand to see verifiable evidence. The Saudis cannot be allowed to fabricate a face-saving solution to an atrocity that appears to have been directed by the highest levels of their government.

In a phone interview with the Washington Post late Saturday, Trump criticized Saudi Arabias explanation for the death of Khashoggi, saying that obviously theres been deception, and theres been lies.

At the same time, Trump defended Saudi Arabia as an incredible ally and kept open the possibility that the crown prince did not order Saudi agents to kill Khashoggi.

Nobody has told me hes responsible. Nobody has told me hes not responsible. We havent reached that point. I havent heard either way, Trump said in the phone interview.

Earlier, when Trump suggested the Saudi explanation was credible, calling it a great first step, much of the rest of Washington responded with disbelief, saying the facts that have already emerged about the killing undermine the new Saudi narrative.

Visiting an Air Force Base in Arizona, Trump had said he wasnt concerned about the inconsistencies in the royal familys story. The new explanation followed more than two weeks of insistence by Saudi Arabia that the journalist left the consulate alive.

The president has been reluctant to criticize the Saudi king or crown prince, who is suspected of playing a role in directing the murder. Instead, hes emphasized the two countries longstanding alliance and Riyadhs pledge to buy U.S. military equipment, although he overstates the amount by tens of billions of dollars.

But the Saudi explanation for Khashoggis death was met with swift, bipartisan skepticism, disbelief and anger elsewhere in Washington.

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) said in a statement that the story the Saudis have told about Jamal Khashoggis disappearance continues to change with each passing day, so we should not assume their latest story holds water.

He renewed the demand of a large bipartisan group of senators calling for a U.S. investigation and possible sanctions. They cite a federal law, the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act, that they say requires such inquiry when leaders of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee suspect a foreign government has violated the rights of an individual expressing freedom of expression.

They can undergo their own investigation, but the U.S. administration must make its own independent, credible determination of responsibility for Khashoggis murder under the Global Magnitsky investigation as required by law.

They took your bodily presence from my world. But your beautiful laugh will remain in my soul forever. My darling #jkhashoggi #JamalKhashoggi#JusticeForJamal pic.twitter.com/vJOfhL6dEq  Hatice Cengiz /  (@mercan_resifi) October 20, 2018

The pressure on Trump from his own party to take a harder line on the Saudis is showing no sign of subsiding. The tension over the Khashoggi probe is putting on full display deep fissures between the White House and top Republicans over foreign policy at a politically sensitive time, with the midterm election just weeks away and the GOP in danger of losing control of at least one house in Congress. Republicans at odds with the administration are openly warning the administration that its approach is undermining the nations moral authority and could irreparably erode Americas global standing on issues of human rights.

#SaudiArabias changing stories on #KhashoggiMurder is [sic] getting old, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) tweeted. The latest one about a fist fight gone bad is bizarre. We must move forward with #GlobalMagnitsky investigation we requested, find out what really happened & sanction those responsible.

Another Trump ally, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), also weighed in. To say that I am skeptical of the new Saudi narrative about Mr. Khashoggi is an understatement, he tweeted.

Their concerns were echoed by Democrats. Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Burbank), the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said there was no chance that Khashoggi died while fighting with a team of Saudis.

If Khashoggi was fighting inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, he was fighting for his life with people sent to capture or kill him, he said in a statement.

Foreign policy analysts and former diplomats were also incredulous, and some accused Trump of going out of his way to defend Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is known by his initials MBS.

The Trump Administration is becoming MBSs lawyer and risking Americas values and interests in the process, tweeted Aaron David Miller, a former U.S. envoy to the Middle East under Republican and Democratic administrations.

Over the last two weeks, Turkish police investigators have examined the Saudi consulate, the Saudi consul-generals home as well as a forest near Istanbul.

Amnesty International called on Saudi authorities to produce Khashoggis body so an autopsy can be performed by independent forensic experts, according to a statement Saturday from Samah Hadid, the groups Middle East director of campaigns.

An independent investigation will be the only guarantee against what increasingly appears as a Saudi whitewash surrounding the circumstances of Khashoggis murder or any attempts by other governments to sweep the issue under the carpet to preserve lucrative arms deals and other business ties with Riyadh.

That call was echoed by Khashoggis friends in a press conference outside the Saudi Arabian consulate on Saturday.

Show us his body. Okay, youve acknowledged he died. Show us where his body is, so we can say if he had fought with someone or that he was killed and his body cut up, said Turan Kislakci, head of the Turkish-Arab Media Association. He added that he expected Turkish authorities to produce all the evidence they have within three days.

This is not over; this has just started. We want justice for Jamal, said Kislakci. We want Jamals murderers to be punished. Not just the 18 men, but also the authority that gave the order.

That authority, Kislakci and others contend, is Bin Salman himself.

Overnight, King Salman had relieved four top intelligence officials from their posts, including deputy intelligence chief Ahmed Assiri, a general who came to fame for his full-throated defense of the countrys war in Yemen, as well as Mohammad Rumaih, Abdullah Shaya and Rashad Muhamadi.

Also fired was Saud Qahtani, Salmans top communications officer and social media strategist, who has reportedly worked to.silence and discredit the kingdoms critics.

Salman was to lead a ministerial committee that would restructure the command of the Saudi intelligence service and determine its authorities and asses the procedures and powers governing its work, according to a statement from the Saudi Press Agency. The committee would issue the results of its work within a month.

Absent from Saturdays press conference was Hatice Cengiz, Khashoggis fiancee and the first to alert Turkish officials of his disappearance.

Over the last 18 days, she had insisted on her Twitter page that she did not believe her fiance was dead, even as she implored Trump and others to shed light on his disappearance.

That changed on Saturday.

They took your bodily presence from my world, she wrote on Twitter. But your beautiful laugh will remain in my soul forever. My darling jkhashoggi.

Twitter: @nabihbulos

Times staff writers Tracy Wilkinson and Chris Megerian contributed to this report from Washington.

UPDATES:

8:25 p.m.: This article was updated with new quotes from Trump.

5:20 p.m.: This article was updated with additional comments made Saturday by President Trump.

This article was originally published at 2:45 p.m.
At the meetings, the Vietnamese official discussed measures to deepen the relations between Vietnam and the countries. Speaking highly of their effective coordination with Vietnam at ASEM and other regional and international forums, Minh suggested Cyprus, Sweden and Portugal support the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), which was freshly approved by the European Commission (EC), to be soon signed and put into force in early 2019.

The deal will create more opportunities for economic and trade growth and development as well as consolidate foundations for the relationship between Vietnam and the EU in general and the three countries in particular, he said.

The Deputy PM urged the countries to back Vietnams bid to become a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for 2020-2021, affirming that Vietnam is willing to coordinate with the countries in regional and global issues for common peace, stability, cooperation and prosperity.

The representatives of the three countries affirmed to continue collaborating with Vietnam, both bilaterally and multilaterally, and in the framework of the UN and ASEM, while supporting the early realisation of the EVFTA, contributing to connecting the two regions.

The sides shared common viewpoints on regional and international issues, emphasising the importance of maintaining peace, stability and cooperation in the context of complicated developments in the world situation; ensuring security, safety and freedom of navigation and overflight; respecting laws on waters and oceans; and resolving disputes by peaceful means on the basis of international law.

At the meeting between Deputy PM Minh and President of Cyprus Nicos Anastasiades, the two sides expressed their delight at the developing bilateral ties over the past time, affirming the need to further enhance all-faceted cooperation, including increasing the exchange of delegations at all levels, boosting two-way trade which now remains modest, and fostering tourism and labour cooperation.

Minh proposed Cyprus create conditions for Vietnamese labourers to do stable and long-term jobs in the country.

The President said Vietnamese are working hard in Cyprus, contributing to local socio-economic development.

Meeting with Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom, Minh affirmed that Vietnam attaches importance to its ties with Sweden and the Vietnamese people always remember the European nations valuable assistance during their difficult times. The two sides highly valued the positive development in bilateral relations over the past time and agreed to make more efforts to raise two-way trade to 2 billion USD by 2020.

The Vietnamese official suggested Sweden step up collaboration with Vietnam in high technology application in such fields as clean and renewable energy, telecommunications, tourism, health and e-commerce.

The two sides consented to well organise activities celebrating the 50th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic ties next year.

At the reception for Portuguese Secretary of State for European Affairs Ana Paula Zacarias, the two sides appreciated the development of the bilateral relationship over the past time, saying as potential remains huge, the two countries need to tap advantages that can supplement each other, focusing on areas of Portugals strength and Vietnams demand such as marine economy development, navigation and tourism.
Home > Archives (2006 on) > 2018 > Where is Vivekanandas India?

IMPRESSIONS

Here is the noblest summing up of civilisational values by an Indian: I am proud to belong to a religion which has taught the world both tolerance and universal acceptance. We believe not only in universal toleration, but we accept all religions as true. I am proud to belong to a nation which has sheltered the persecuted and the refugees of all religions and all nations of the earth... Sectarianism, bigotry and its horrible descendant, fanaticism, have long possessed this beautiful earth.

They have filled the earth with violence, drenched it often with human blood, destroyed civilisation and sent whole nations into despair.... The present convention is in itself a vindication of the wonderful doctrine presented in the Gita: Whosoever comes to Me, through whatsoever form, I reach him. All men are struggling through paths which in the end lead to Me.

 Swami Vivekananda

Here are the most despicable understandings of values that Indians can possibly have:

Please donate to help Kerala Hindus. The Christians and Muslims worldwide raising lots of money to help mainly their own people and agenda.

 Rajiv Malhotra (USA)

Floods in Kerala are due to tantric and mantric worship. Tsunami was Gods wrath in India for idol worship.

 Evangelist Lazarus Mohan (Tamil Nadu)

In a way it is abhorrent to mention in the same breath the names of Vivekananda, the swami of enlightenment, and the latter-day peddlers of religious hatred. Chicago, where Vivekananda addressed the World Parliament of Religions, was picked as the venue for the World Hindu Congress recently. But Chicago heard this time a different voice that called for a sectarian war lest the lone lion is destroyed by wild dogs. This lone lion must be a new contraption because Hinduism can never be destroyed, not even by those who are misusing it from within.

Vivekanandas short address in Chicago is still remembered, 125 years later, as a historic marker in the march of ideas. At the assembled parliament of spiritual leaders from all corners of the world, Vivekananda stood out as a majestic figurea 30-year-old in a saffron robe with a maharaja-like turban. His opening words, My sisters and brothers of America, led to applause that made the speaker pause for a while.

The message of brotherhood and universal tolerance he conveyed in the next few minutes made him the star of Chicago. It was the first time the West heard a credible Indian voice from India, and it helped demolish the British-projected view of a benighted India lost in primitive superstitions.

Vivekanandas India, too, appears to be lost. These are days when, for every genuine holy man, there are a dozen fakes. Some flourish with ashrams spread across vast acreages. Some start business empires that conquer everything they set their sights on. Some are in jail. The religious exploiters come in many robes. Madrasas are rife with scandals of child abuse while convents are exploding with charges of nuns being used for the pleasure of priests. Perhaps for the first time in the history of the church in India, nuns have come out in the open protesting against the sexual escapades of a bishop.

Under our prevailing criminal law, a formal charge by a woman is enough to take the accused into custody for interrogation. But this bishop has proved to be special. Forces stronger than God are protecting him.When Vivekananda said, I am proud to be a Hindu, he must have had in mind the Hinduism that respected all. The greatness of Hinduismand the uniqueness of itis that you can reject all the gods in the Hindu pantheon and still be a Hindu. But the corollary is that you can worship all the gods in the pantheon and still not be a Hindu. The politicians who divide people on religious grounds are not helping their religion. They are just exploiters.

A saint who said we accept all religions as true is being appropriated by a party that suppresses minorities for political gains. Vivekananda was an original liberal. He promoted the cause of modern education and modern science. The casteism in Kerala provoked him to describe that State as a lunatic asylum. How would he describe the States where people lynch people in the name of religion? How would he describe Raja Singh Lodh, the BJP MLA in Telangana, who said, Till the cow is accorded the status of Rashtra Mata, killings for gau raksha will continue? Swami Vivekananda was blessed that he lived in another, civilised, India.
Home > Archives (2006 on) > 2018 > Lohia and Two Segregations of Caste and Sex

by Vivek Kumar Srivastava

The following article has been written and is being published on the fiftyfirst death anniversary of the Dr Rammohar Lohia (March 23, 1910-October 12, 1967)

Gandhi and Ambedkar are usually respected as major thinkers in modern times who attempted to reform the caste system in India in their own ways, but Rammanohar Lohia was also a great contributor to the theory of annihilation of caste. He analysed the Indian caste system from a socialistic framework and linked it to other dominating ideas as womens empowerment where he emerges as a leader of Indian feminism.

Dr Lohia was the first thinker who looked at caste discrimination and disempowered women as two segregations which had lowered the spirit of happiness; and both were closely related to poverty as poverty and these two segre-gations thrive on each others worms. Therefore his views are more realistic where caste and status of women have been linked with the economic status. Caste discrimination is there-fore not only a social discrimination but also nurtured by low economic status of the discriminated people. No society can be stable without alleviation of poverty but poverty alleviation cannot bring the desired fruits and all war on poverty is a sham, unless it is, at the same time, a conscious and sustained war on these two segregations.

Lohia took a socio-economic framework to understand these evils and offerd a pragmatic policy solution to the problem of the two segregations; unfortunately policy-makers did not pay attention to this practical solution for the vast section of society. For Lohia the fight against the evils of caste and womens exclusion on wider scale can succeed only with the support of members of these communities in a unified manner. Lower caste women were more at loss; the caste discrimination and status of women were interlinked. He was clear that lower caste people and women should come together. He writes a personal experience that I was part of a coffee-house group of talkers one day, when someone suggested that it was such coffee-talk that bred the French Revolution. I boiled with rage. There was not one Sudra among us. There was not one woman among us. A dull, effete and insipid lot we were, cattle ever cudding yesterdays feed.

This is true even today, the role of Dalits is being buried by several ways, the present NDA Government attempted even to wipe out the identity of Dalits by stating that in place of Dalit, the word Scheduled Caste will be used. Lohia was aware about such dangers. His rage is still valid in the contemporary order where the Dalit identity is being attacked with multiple weapons. Hence solidarity and awareness is must in the present order.

India can grow only when vulnerable people become integral part of the mainstream structures of the nation. Lohia offered solution for the development of the country by focusing on this section of society. Until the effort to animate the souls of Sudras and Harijans and women is pursued with relentless zeal, there is no hope of nurturing a new life in the country. The Dvija tradition must combine with the vitality of the Sudra. The task is by no means easy but there is no other way out. Lohia does not discount the role of upper castes in fighting the caste discriminations but he believes that there is a difference between upper and lower caste leadership in this fight. This difference is the difference of duty and right. It is true that the Dvijas take up this battle against caste as a matter of duty while the Sudras consider it a fight for their rights. This is an ignorant attitude, for this is a battle of rights for the Dvijas too and, after all, there is not in the long run, much to distinguish rights from duties. Lohia therefore wants that fight against the caste system should be the unified effort of both the castes. This is his novel contribution to the annihilation of the caste system.

He is convinced that the day Dvijas come to realise this, they shall view the abolition of caste with a different outlook. It is as much your task as mine to bring them to this standpoint. When Dvijas and Sudras line up together with the common objective of smashing the international caste system, all-round progress is bound to result. Lohias thinking on this issue kills hatred between upper and lower castes and also unifies the caste system as a single unit where nothing is stratified but every relation-ship is equalised. His theory of feminism is linked to this idea. He wanted to bring women into the mainstream of society, particularly Dalit women who had little opportunity to participate at the institutional or the functional level. So, he advocated inter-caste marriages. He emphasised We must now contribute to the simple mentality of a common caste of mankind.

There is another question of leadership in Dalit Samaj, which has attracted attention of several intellectuals. After Ambedkar a true leadership is lacking. Lohia was aware about it. He therefore presented his own view on the issue in which education was subordinated to other real world qualities. He said: When I speak of leaders arising out of Sudras, I do not mean that they should necessarily be educated. The real criterion is that they should have courage, honesty and a grasp of fundamentals. Such men should be picked up from wherever they are found. His emphasis on honesty is much needed in the present context. He meant by Fundamentalsthe capacity of a Dalit leader to really assess the problems of the community. It is a sad story that no leader from any political party, except Ambedkar, in the real sense could grasp the problems of the people. The result is already visiblea large section of discriminated castes is still deprived of the basic opportunities and a life full of dignity.

Rammanohar Lohia looked a these issues through the lens of spiritualism where every-thing is absolute truth. Human dignity is a virtue which makes society equal and pleasuresome. Lohia says that the issue of what is virtue and what is sin can no longer be shirked. I believe that spirituality is absolute but morality is relative, and each age and even individual must discover a specific morality (and) there is no greater virtue today than to smash these abominable segregations of caste and sex.

Lohia is man of all ages. He will survive with his ideas and these ideas are certain to modify the decaying culture of the society in the years to come. The only need is to make the people aware about these.

(All quoted lines have been taken from Caste System by Dr Rammanohar Lohia, Navhind Prakashan, Hyderabad, 1964)

Dr Vivek Kumar Srivastava is the Vice-Chairman, CSSP, Kanpur.
Home > Archives (2006 on) > 2018 > Midnight Raids by Security Forces: A Wild Threat among Youth in (...)

by Aijaz Ahmad Turrey and Tajamul Maqbool

Life in the Kashmir Valley, especially South Kashmir, has become hell for residents on account of increasing and continued nocturnal raids by the Indian security forces, forcing people to remain wide-awake during nights to foil arrest bids. The raids were earlier limited to family members of active Hizb-ul-Mujahideen and other militant groups. But nowadays no one is free from this dreadful grip conducted by Jammu and Kashmir Police, the Armys Rashtriya Rifles and Central Reserve Police Force jointly. People protested and blocked the roads and observed shutdowns several times but there seems to be no relaxation in this unending unrest. Residents in South Kashmir said that midnight raids by security forces have forced scores of youths to go into hiding. The forces arrest whoever they find, especially the youth, beat others and damage property including vehicles, houses and even apple trees. Many of the police and Army personnel come in civilian dress and are very rough to those who oppose them.

The situation seems like that of the 1990s where people use to sleep at the houses of their relatives and friends to avoid any harm by the security agencies. It is a kind of tactics used by the security forces to terrorise the common masses and suppress the voices against the right to self-determination. Since the 2008 uprising in the Valley, there has been an increasing number of young protestors as compared to the armed struggle of the 1990s that was confined to militants only. There has been a shift in the nature of protests. Today the protests are more intense and violent and largely led by younger generations. Earlier in the name of CASO and encounters between security forces and militants, people used to move to neighbouring villages out of fear, but today it is impossible to stop the younger generation from moving towards the encounter sites. The protestors move towards the encounter site with the aim to save the lives of militants and use stone-pelting as a tool to disturb the operation. This has resulted in that many operations against the militants were cancelled by the security forces due to intense protests.

In todays Kashmir conflict, the younger generation has been an important part of the movement and it has been a challenge for the security agencies to control the younger masses. Various programmes have been launched by the security agencies to engage the local youth and change their minds from the idea of Azadi. But these have not gained the desired results for the security establishments. Now the security forces, with the help of local informers have started nocturnal raids to arrest the protesters and to create the fear among the people so that they do not participate in the protests. The raids have not been limited to arrests only, but have resulted in the loss of property, production, humiliation of women and torture of family as a whole. Many people also charge them with stealing their money and precious things during the nocturnal raids. The families are very much disturbed with regard to the future of their children.

The victims of night-raid arrests have a kind of frustration and revenge in their minds and hearts. Instead of turning them towards peace the forces torture them badly behind bars forcing them to indulge in more violent activities. Day by day the outward calm, however, seems to melt away after sunset. So far the police have reportedly arrested thousands from different parts of Kashmir, but no official figures are available.

The forces said that they want to maintain peace by arresting only those youth who are involved in stone-pelting and other anti-India protests. But reports from the villages of South Kashmirs Anantnag, Pulwama, and Shopian followed by North Kashmirs Baramulla, Kupwara, and Bandipora, and Central Kashmirs Budgam and Ganderbal reveal that the forces do not spare anyone during night-raids, they arrest whoever they find at home and mercilessly beat whoever raises a voice. They do not even spare the women. It is the most troubling characteristic of the armed conflict in Kashmir that the warfare is conducted amongst the people and inside the houses instead of conventional battlefields.

The authors are research (Ph.D) candidates at the Central University of Gujarat, Gandhinagar.
Home > Archives (2006 on) > 2018 > Good Bye, Gandhi!

by L.K. Sharma

It was the best day for Gandhi, it was the worst day for Gandhi. The President, Prime Minister, Governors and Chief Ministers paid tributes to Gandhis memory, some Hindu nationalists took to social media to pay tributes to Gandhis killer, thousands garlanded Gandhis statues, a few saffron-clad Hindus garlanded his killers statue, the world celebrated Gandhis birth anniversary on October 2 as Nonviolence Day, some countries marking the day by violent thoughts and deeds. In India, the day saw police action against poor farmers trying to enter Delhi to highlight their plight. Indian political leaders read out homilies, they sucked morality out of politics, they called on the nation to follow the Gandhian path, while their govern-ments promoted economic policies that went against Gandhis vision.

In seminars and TV studios, some said Gandhi was more relevant today, some others said Gandhi was outdated in the modern age. Gandhi placed the poorest of the poor in the company of God by calling him Daridra Narayan. Politicians talk about the poor during the election campaigns, but once in power help the rich accumulate more wealth.

Gandhi is ignored by those who oppress the lower castes and women, deliver hate speeches against a minority and indulge in violence. Such incidents have increased and what is more vicious, the admirers of Gandhis killer have found a new voice through social media. They have come out. Their outpouring is linked to the Hindu-Muslim issue that features promi-nently in the mainstream TV channels and in the First Information Reports filed at the police stations in violence-hit towns and villages.

Godse-admirers come out

To mark this birth anniversary, scholar Vinay Lal had to write on the killers of Gandhi in modern India. The newly introduced muscular politics is on his mind as he refers to Gandhis killer, Nathuram Godse, angered by the Mahatma for effeminising Indian politics:

The so-called toxic masculinity that is on witness in the streets of every town and city in India is not only a manifestation of Hindu rage and a will to shape a decisive understanding of the past, but also a reaction to the androgynous values that Gandhi embodied and which the Hindu nationalist tacitly knows are enshrined in Indian culture.

What is different about the killers of Gandhi today is that they act with total impunity. They are aware of the fact that the present political dispensation is favourable to them, and that much of the ruling class despises Gandhi. The official pieties surrounding Gandhi Jayanti may be nauseating to behold, but October 2 is a necessary provocation.

Vinay Lal says the display of respect is just to cover up the complete contempt and hatred for the Mahatma. He refers to a poem circulating on WhatsApp calling Gandhi a fool and traitor to the nation and to the fact that Gandhis assassin can be installed as a deity in a temple! Lal promises to write about this poem.

Avijit Pathak, who teaches sociology at the famous Jawaharlal Nehru University, writes: Every year on October 2, I feel somewhat uneasy. From Rajghat (Gandhi Memorial) to Parliament, from the declaration of pro-people policies to the empty slogan initiated by the political class, I experience the death of Gandhi.

He refers to the normalisation of the brute practice of stigmatising the other through lynching and cow-vigilantism. From Gandhis time of colonialism, religious reform and the nationalist movement, we seemed to have moved towards a new reality characterised by what I would regard as a mix of neoliberal capitalism and militant cultural nationalism, and market driven consumerism and technocratic develop-mentalism.

Attenboroughs Gandhi

Indias public broadcaster dutifully screened Richard Attenboroughs famous film Gandhi. It shows the Mahatma stopping communal violence in Calcutta by going there and fasting. It shows Gandhi failing to prevent Indias Partition on the basis of religion. The film moves the secular Hindus to tears with Gandhi calling Hindus and Muslims as the two eyes of mother India. It angers the Hindu nationalists when Gandhi is shown pleading with Jinnah to give up his demand for Partition and to be the Prime Minister of an undivided India!

Those committed to social and economic equality feel enthused by Gandhis advocacy of the untouchables and women. But the extremist patriarchs and the high-caste goons perhaps switch off the TV! The pacifists thank the film-maker for reminding the nation of Gandhis warning that an eye for an eye will make the whole world blind. Some others see it as a conspiracy to weaken Hindus.

Fortunately, the screening of the Richard Attenborough film passed off peacefully! He made the film just in time. He shot it in India when ultra-nationalism was not in vogue and sectarian elements used to express their views in private. Political marginalisation of Muslims was unheard of. A civilisational state was yet to aspire to be a nation-state.

Attenboroughs film introduces Gandhis key principles even to those who only know that Gandhi was born on October 2 because on this day the schools and offices are closed. Through simple dialogue, the film highlights the foolishness of India imitating the Western consumption model, and not building self-reliant village communities, ignoring the value of handicrafts and local resources and indigenous skills. Gandhis critics have considered these views quaint, anti-modernity and anti-indust-rialisation, while even some scientists have admired Gandhi as an innovator. R. A. Mashelkar coined the term Gandhian engineering to popularise his concept of frugal techniques for doing more for less for more.

Ironically, it was Gandhis call for Swadeshi (spirit of self-reliance) that fired the Indian scientists to develop high technology when India was denied it in fields ranging from super-computers to atomic energy and from space to military hardware. While roads in India named after Gandhi have shopping malls stuffed with imported underwear and toys, the leaders of America and Europe have become firm believers in Swadeshi by campaigning against imported goods and people!

But now, since some Western economists and activists have started admiring the Gandhian vision of sustainable development, the TV debates are not dominated by the sceptic experts. It was Gandhi who relentlessly tried to impress on the world leaders that the earth has enough for human needs but not for human greed!

Gandhi would have been quite amused to observe all this. One wishes to hear his typical humorous comments. He would have quipped on seeing a photo of his statue being vandalised or on reading a news report that the tallest statue in India will not be of the Father of the Nation but of his follower Sardar Patel!

Globalising Gandhi

Gandhis birth anniversary yields a rich harvest of cartoons exposing the political elites hypocrisy and its use of the ceremonies held on this national holiday. The expected editorials appear on the lip-service being paid to the Gandhian principles. The visual media displays the images and symbols associated with Gandhi.

Gandhi remains relevant for publishers and for collectors of images and sketches. He remains invaluable for the brand mangers hired by politicians seeking votes and the commercial organisations seeking customers.

With his global appeal, Gandhi enhanced Indias brand image. Gandhi even figured on an Apple hoarding in Silicon Valley! On this 149th birth anniversary, the government took a rare public diplomacy initiative by producing a video with collected clips of artists from 124 countries singing a line of Gandhis favourite song that says that only the one who feels the pain of others can be said to be a good person. Vaishnava jan to tene kahiye, je peed parayi jaane hai..., the 15th century devotional song in Gujarati, was in the set of hymns sung every day in Gandhis Ashram. It was Prime Minister Narendra Modis idea to present this song to a global audience.

A unique product popularised by Gandhi during the freedom struggle has got noticed inter-nationally, thanks to some well-known fashion houses in France and other countries. Khadi, hand-woven cloth made from hand-spun yarn, attracted experts by the feel and look of its texture. For the same reason and not for the underlying Gandhian principle, many affluent Indians too started buying superfine khadi. On Gandhis birth anniversary when khadi is subsidised by the government, New Delhis flagship khadi store did a record sale exceeding 100,000 pounds sterling. It had to extend its business hours to handle increased footfall. So, in this case the ideological past profitably fused with the materialistic present.

Gandhi used his spinning wheel every day for meeting his own requirement. He spun yarn for a piece of lace that he gave as a wedding gift to Queen Elizabeth. (The Queen gave this piece of lace to Prime Minister Modi whose Minister promptly claimed that the gesture showed the esteem in which Modi is held! The Queens magnanimity silenced those who want Britain to return the Kohinoor.)

Gandhi popularised khadi as a substitute for the British cloth. He propagated khadi as an instrument of uplifting the rural poor and making communities self-reliant. Khadi provided livelihood to countless village artisans. In the post-liberalisation India, the khadi movement suffered, and the impressive turnover of a few glamorous metropolitan outlets does not tell the entire story. Many khadi centres remain in a bad shape and heavily dependent on the state subsidy. Take just one example of a khadi centre opened by Gandhi in 1925 which is dying, much like his legacy. The news report says the trust running the first-ever All India Spinners Association in a Punjab village was once famous for its khadi but is now dying of neglect. Today 20 of the States 28 khadi trusts are running into losses. As a result, the artisans have either migrated or changed their profession.

The famous fashion houses have given a modern touch to khadi. This year the simple but elegant Gandhi memorial in the national Capital has been equipped with digital displays! The memorial was spruced up after a court criticised its poor maintenance.

Displaying devotion to the museumised Father of the Nation and ignoring his principles have gone hand in hand for years. Gandhi and iconography has been studied by scholars. The image of his reading glasses came in handy for publicising a public sanitation campaign launched by Prime Minister Modi. All see the spectacles Gandhi used to wear and read the reports of sanitation workers killed by lethal gas while cleaning the sewage lines. The contractors do not give them the gas masks and the same tragedy is repeated over and over.

Incidents of the Dalits and Muslims being lynched are not rare. Gandhi would have launched a movement against the atrocities being committed against them. He would not have remained silent about the criminalisation of politics. Some 30 per cent of the legislators have criminal cases registered against them. The Supreme Court says it cannot bar them from fighting elections unless they are proven guilty.

Indias youth today does not feel inspired by Gandhi who faces worse than neglect from the Hindu nationalists, capitalists and the middle classes of the new India. The trusteeship principle has been abandoned by the capitalists many of whom had once responded to Gandhis call. Moderation has been marginalised. The money-mad Indians indulging in conspicuous consumption wear their contempt for Gandhi on their sleeves. Sustainable development has never been taken seriously by the governments.

Gandhi Magic

Do many new Indians read Albert Einsteins words that generations to come will scarcely believe that such a one as this ever in flesh and blood walked upon the earth?

Or Nelson Mandelas words that Gandhi was the first person to show us the method of organised, disciplined, mass protest. Gopal Gandhi, the Mahatmas grandson, asks: What does one say of the mass politics and the causes of todays India? On its thoroughfares, streets, by-lanes, village tracks and a hundred different hideouts, it damages, disfigures, destroys.

Richard Attenboroughs film picturises Gandhis fast in Calcutta as he extinguishes the fire of communal violence and restores sanity. Viceroy Lord Mountbatten writes to Gandhi: In the Punjab we have 55,000 soldiers and large-scale rioting on our hands, In Bengal our forces consist of one man, and there is no rioting. As a serving officer, as well as administration, may I be allowed to pay my tribute to the One-Man Boundary Force...?

What Mountbatten saw as a heroic feat is viewed differently by those promoting communal strife to use it as a political tool for consolidating Hindu votes through religious polarisation! For them Gandhis fast made the evisceration of secularism a bit more difficult.

It is said that Gandhi could work his magic on Britain, but he would have found it difficult to deal with Hitlers Germany. One of Gandhis achievements was to show Britons the reality of their own consciences, to reveal to them the gulf between their religious pretensions and political ideals, and their actual practice as imperialists, writes author George Woodcock.

Gandhi worked his magic on Indians of his time. Years later in mid-seventies, some Indians told V. S. Naipaul that since the death of Gandhi truth has fled from India and the world! Naipaul saw an inversion of Gandhianism in the emergence of a violent Hindu cult like the Anand Marg and wrote about the ease with which Hinduism can decline into barbarism. Now in 2018 there is no Anand Marg, but many Indians share Naipauls fear.

Gandhi Redivivus

The 149th birth anniversary provokes one to fantasise about Gandhis appearance in todays India. Suppose in his prayer meeting he talks about the Gita and the Sermon on the Mount in the same breath and says that the latter went straight to my heart. Suppose he eulogises Indias syncretic tradition and calls for freedom from fear and from cultural insecurity that have been inflicted on the people. Suppose he repeats his words that religion is outraged when outrage is perpetrated in its name and that truth is God. Suppose he asks politicians not to tell lies. Suppose he tells them to stop abusing their opponents and start loving them.

If that happens, Gandhi will have to abruptly end his prayer meeting and go on a fast! Will Indians ever again march on the street singing Gandhis favourite song about the Supreme Being named Ishwar as well as Allah and praying to Him to bestow sanity on all human beings?

Writing on Gandhi in an India stricken by faux patriotism and jingoism causes gloom. A poem in Indian English written in the seventies by Nissim Ezekiel provides an antidote.

The Patriot begins:

I am standing for peace and nonviolence.

Why world is fighting and fighting

Why all people of world

Are not following Mahatma Gandhi,

I am simply not understanding....

(Courtesy: www.opendemocracy.net)

The author is a senior journalist and writer who worked in India and abroad (notably Britain) in several major newspapers. Now retired, he is a free- lancer.
Home > Archives (2006 on) > 2018 > Listen, Why Dont We Look Right?

MUSINGS

With the recent arrests of members of the Right-wing outfit, Sanatan Sanstha, allegedly involved in murders of progressive rationalist liberals, I have been sitting introspecting on the very basicwhy have we taken so very long to look Right! This, when its a known fact that Right-wing terror is on and ongoing in our country and also in the West.

In 2011, 92 persons were killed by a 32-year old Right-wing man in Oslo. The facts that emerged from the Oslo killings seemed not just shocking but had also relayed the extent to which Right-wing terror was spreading out, unleashing its fury and strategies... And one aspect was worth taking note of: the manner in which the general public in Norway reacted to that attack and also to the mature way in which the administrators and politicians dealt with the very aftermath. They mourned collectively, without hurling allegations at each other, without coming up with hate slogans. The top political brass of Norway didnt seem running towards television studios to utter politically slanted views. They waited for the murderers name to emerge and together with that, the relevant backgrounders on him. And even then there was considerable restraint and a civilised format was observed. And the murdererAnders Breivikwas allowed to speak and talk aloud. Not just his confession but also footnotes to the whys to his terror attacks.

Compare this with what happens here, in our country. A complete contrast! The minute a terror-related blast takes off, youd see politicians running from here to there, blaring their politically twisted comments on the small screen, and even before a probe begins theres this entire drama of names of the supposed suspects tumbling out. And till about recently it was a taboo to talk of Right-wing terror! Why! Its been one of those fascist moves, much-in-circulation theories, that only Muslims could indulge in acts of violence and terror. It was almost taken for granted that if there was a blast it had to be the handiwork of a Muslim group and with that hundreds of innocents thrown into jails. Many are still languishing. But whos bothered about bailing them out, compensating, and apologising?

In fact, that hysteria and build-up gets so systematically whipped up that nobody can even dare question or veto, otherwise anti- national tags are thrown around. Its only and only after the likes of Sadhvi Pragya were held as suspects, there came about a mild change in the very attitude of the probing agencies and with that the acceptance of Right-wing terror in this country. And whatever the political critics of Digvijay Singh may mouth, it must be said that he was one of the first few who spoke out to stop hounding the Musalmaans of Azamgarh (after the Batla House encounter) and focus on the growing terror emerging from Right-wing quarters and outfits.

Its shocking how politics and political mafia comes in the way of probes, in the very handling of violent eruptions. This, when for the last several years well-respected activists have been more than pinpointing and talking aloud of the involvement of Right-wing outfits in terror activities in the country.

I recall that over a decade back at a meet at New Delhis Constitution Club that I had first heard details of Right-wing terror in the country. The speakersJustice B.G. Kolse Patil, R.B. Sreekumar (former DGP of Gujarat), Teesta Setalvad and several other activists spoke out along the strain that why dont the security agencies of this country look Right! The CBI charge-sheet into the Nanded blasts of 2006, filed in 2008, covers up the role of the RSS/VHP/Bajrang Dals wide network that was training youth in the manufacture of explosives and bombs after indoctrinating them in hate propaganda against Indian Muslims. Despite the fact that the Maharashtra ATS had charge-sheeted the accused persons involved in the blasts of 2006 for dressing like Muslims and bursting bombs at the Mohhammadiya Masjid in Parbhani (2003), Quadriya Masjid, Jalna (August 2004) and at the Meraj Ul Uloom Madrassa in Purna in Parbahni (August 2004), the CBIs chargesheet exonerates the accused and their organisations of any terror conspiracy ...The Maharashtra ATS investigations into the Thane Panvel blasts show that members of the Sanatan Sanstha, Hindu Jan Jagran Samiti and Guru Kripa Pratishthan are involved ...In Kanpur, bombs were found in a Bajrang Dal office-bearers house.

At that meet, R.B. Sreekumar had also said that its been a total non -performance  of the police and for that he blamed the politician of the day, I can say that its the politician who is responsible for this ...hundred per cent responsible for this, so much so that during the 2002 Gujarat pogrom, Sangh outfits would chant slogans yeh andar kee baat hai, police hamare saath hai!

And Justice Kolse Patil also spoke out along the strain that security agencies overlooked the role played by the Sangh outfits. He brought to the fore several relevant facts like beards, skull caps and other disguise motifs have been unearthed in RSS workers homes! For what! Or those karkhanas unearthedkarkhanas for making of bombs! ...

And if one were to read RSS books and booklets, the RSS hatred for the Muslims is writ large. Its becoming almost fashionable to criticise Islam and its followers. If nothing, youd be patted for your brazenness and for following the order of the day! Today, the RSS agenda is out there in the open, yet there has been no countering of any of the systematic moves to spread disinformation, drag along new definitions, pin labels and much more.

Space constraints come in the way, so I cannot quote extensively on the RSS agenda... Leaving you with these lines from Professor Jyotirmaya Sharmas volumeTerrifying VisionM.S. Golwalkar, The RSS and India (Penguin)

The Ram Janmabhoomi movement, the demolition of the Babri Masjid and the Gujarat riots of 2002 are just a few examples of the impact Golwalkars legacy has had on the move towards a certain brand of radical Hindu nationalism ...In Golwalkars mental universe, there are two permanent enemies, the Muslims and politics. These two are the greatest impediments in the way of the Hindu Rashtra regaining its power and glory...

To also quote these lines of Golwalkar from Sharmas bookWithin the country there are so many Muslim pockets, i.e, so many miniature Pakistanis ...such pockets have verily become centres of a widespread network of pro-Pakistani elements in this land. ...The conclusion is that, in practically every place there are Muslims who are in constant touch with Pakistan over the transmitter ...Right from Delhi to Rampur to Lucknow, the Muslims are busy hatching a dangerous plot, piling up arms and mobilising their men and probably biding their time to strike from within when Pakistan decides upon a armed conflict with our country.
Home > Archives (2006 on) > 2018 > Sabarimala Shrine and Womens Entry

by Ram Puniyani

We live in a democratic society where all of us are supposed to be equal. In pre-industrial society the inequality was very much there and it was based on birth. In Indian society this inequality, the one based on birth, pertained to caste and gender. Leftovers of this inequality are very much there even in todays society. One aspect of this has been pertaining to entry of women in places of worship. In most of the mosques, its predominantly men who pray to the Allah. In temples the discrimination has been based on the ground of caste and gender, both. One recalls the epic struggle of Babasaheb Dr Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar in the matter of the temple entry into the Kalaram Mandir for Dalits. One also recalls the recent campaigns led by Trupti Desai for entry into the sanctum sanctorums of Hindu temples (Shani Shingnapur of Maharashtra in particular). Recently we also had the agitation of Muslim women for entry into the inner precincts of the Haji Ali Dargah in Mumbai. These recent agitations did lead to the success of women gaining entry into these hallowed places.

That is not the end of the story. There are scores of famous and not-so-famous temples which still bar the entry of certain castes and women, one of the most well known of these being the Sabarimala shrine of Lord Ayappa, where women of menstruating age-group are not permitted. The premise is that Lord Ayappa had taken the vow of permanent celibacy. In a recent (September 28, 2018) Supreme Court majority judgment (4 against 1) the Court ruled that banning the entry of women to the Sabarimala shrine is discriminatory and violates the rights of Hindu women. The judgment has been welcomed by most of the womens rights groups and many others. Kavita Krishnans tweet well summed up the view of most womens rights groups,

In Instant Triple Talaq, Haji Ali, and Sabarimala cases courts have rightly held that womens equality cant be held hostage to religious practices. Just as its unconstitutional and discriminatory to debar entry to temples based on caste, its the same to debar entry based on gender. Also, we project our own values on our godsand patriarchal values that put the burden of mens celibacy or sexual choices on women are deeply damaging to women in real life. At the same time the RSS cautioned with the statement that the feelings of the people should be considered. The Congress urged the Trust controlling the temple to call for a review of the judgment while the BJP asked the State Government to bring an ordinance to reverse the same. Many other organisations are planning to get it reversed through appeal against the same.

The journey of womens march towards equality is not a smooth path. The abominable practice of sati was the first one, which was opposed to begin with by Raja Rammohan Roy. He did have massive obstacles in his path despite the supportive legislations which came to abolish the horrendous practice of burning the widow alive. Despite many legislations, the sati could not be eradicated easily. Just a few decades back we saw the sati of Roopkanwar, and when most persons from the civil society responded by calling for strict punishment, the then Vice- President of the BJP, Mrs Vijayaraje Scindia, took out rallies in support of the practice of sati. The other major reform among Hindu women related to the age of consent. The debates have ranged for increasing the age of consent initially from 10 years to 12, when even leaders like Lokmanya Gangadhar Tilak opposed this move on the ground that this went against Hindu traditions, the notion prevalent being that girls should be married before the first menstrual period. There are brilliant accounts of these struggles for such reforms which are worth being recalled, one such being Tanika Sarkars book Hindu Wife Hindu Nation. Just a few years ago many a maulana was up in arms against the age of consent being raised to 18. For them the special provisions for early marriage of Muslim girls was mandatory.

Our society is very uneven. The arguments for early marriage do relate to lack of education, mostly among the poor, where the safety of girls is a big issue. Today the Sabarimala judgment is a matter of debate between those aspiring for equality and those sticking to age-old customs, which have womens inequality in-built into it. Even today there is a wide spectrum of social thought on the topic. On one side we see that a group of women have resolved that they will ensure that menstruating women will not enter the temple; on the other we have places like Eklavya Ashram where menstruation is no taboo, where menstruating devotees also pray. To strike a balance in such situations is as difficult as tight-rope walking.

Many a womens group kept aloof from the struggle for temple entry for women on the ground that all religions are inherently patriarchal, so why fall in the trap! To the best of ones knowledge, one can say that patriarchy is the core foundation of most institutionalised religions. This demand for temple entry is a step in the direction of demolishing the patriarchal set-up, which should lead to total abolition of the same in times to come. Legislations dont solve the problems in themselves; still they are a major step in laying the direction for the future march for equality. The other social situations of poverty and lack of security for women in this set-up are major aggravating factors leading to sustenance of the patriarchal mould. We need the social policies which bring to the fore and provide the foundation for application of legislations in letter and spirit. With the Supreme Court taking the lead in this, the onus is on us to pave the path of equality in times to come. The need is to create the situations congenial for such judgments.

(Courtesy: Secular Perspective)

The author, a retired Professor at the IIT-Bombay, is currently associated with the Centre for the Study of Secularism and Society, Mumbai.
Home > Archives (2006 on) > 2018 > Oscillating between Hope and Despair

EDITORIAL

As we go to press news has just come that Minister of State for External Affairs M.J. Akbarwho went on an overdrive on his return to India (following a prolonged trip to Africa) on Sunday (October 14) to attack the women journalists who had levelled serious charges on him of sexual assault, file a defamation case against one of them as he remained completely unconcerned over the scores of women journalists coming out with their sordid experiences of working under the celebrated editor-writerhas eventually tendered his resignation from the Union Council of Minister to, as he explained, fight the case. In his own words, I deemed it appropriate to step down... for that purpose. He had earlier termed the allegations by the women journalists as false and fabricated to turn them into innuendos.

This was indeed a positive development welcomed by all who are fighting for the equality and dignity of women at the workplace.

Whether the PM pressurised him or not to step down, the fact is that it signified a resounding victory for the #MeToo movement led by the women scribes.

But the victory is as yet partial. Incidentally, as Samar Halarnkar, the editor of IndiaSpend and husband of Priya Ramani, the journalist against whom Akbar filed the defamation suit, wrote in a piece that has been widely circulated,

There are men that the women ranged against Akbar reached out to for support, men who witnessed his behaviour at close quarters, but not one of these men has spoken out.

This too is a revelation, that is, the pusillanimity of the male scribes. Even the Editors Guild of India, which Akbar had once headed as its General Secretary, remained silent. This has not enhanced the stature and prestige of the EGI.

But for now hats of to the women who single-handedly took on the high-profile Minister-cum-editor without any hesitation or ambiguity.

While this development injects hope in the minds of democratic forces of all hues, an unfortunate development in the southern part of the country has caused an intense sense of despair. Today was the day when the Kerala State Government was to implement the Supreme Court verdict on the Sabarimala case, that is, allowing women of all ages to enter the temples sanctum sanctorum to offer prayers. That, however, was not possible in the face of mob violence organised by constituents of the Sangh Parivar while the State administration remained by and large passive and did not take precautionary measures to prevent such an eventuality.

The violence that the Hindu extremists opposing the SC verdict resorted to today also resulted in assaults on journalists and members of the media covering the happenings at Sabarimala. This militated against the judgement of the highest court of the land.

Yet the sense of despair that the latest development at Sabarimala conveys cannot dampen the hope generated by the most recent event connected with the #MeToo campaign. This message should go out to all concerned at the earliest.

October 17 S.C.
Ralph Freso/Getty Images(MESA, Ariz.) -- As a caravan of about 3,000 migrants from Central America heads toward the U.S. border, President Donald Trump blamed the Democrats on Friday for the surge in illegal border crossings at a rally in Mesa, Arizona.



Democrats believe that illegal border crossers should be set free, Trump said, though he did not identify any Democrats who have said this by name. Democrats believe our country should be a giant sanctuary city for criminal aliens.



Trump was stumping for Republican candidates in the state where security along the U.S.-Mexican border is a critical issue for voters.



Democrats want to throw your borders wide open to criminals; I wanna build a wall, Trump said. The Democrats dont care that a flood of illegal immigration is going to bankrupt our country.



Arizona is the second stop on the presidents western swing. On Thursday, Trump stumped for Republicans in Montana. On Saturday, he heads to Elko, Nevada, for another rally.



Trump won Arizona by a little over 3 percentage points in the 2016 general election. Republican Senate candidate Rep. Martha McSally is neck to neck in the polls with her Democratic challenger, Rep. Kyrsten Sinema, to fill the seat vacated by Republican Sen. Jeff Flake.



The outcome of the hotly contested race could determine which party controls the Senate. The Republicans currently control the Senate by a two-seat majority.



Even though Sinema has positioned herself as a moderate, Trump called her a far-left extremist who would vote along party lines on Friday. He claimed that Sinema is against the border wall and supports sanctuary cities, even though Sinema has called for increased border security, including a physical barrier, but has called the wall an 18th-century solution.



A vote for Kyrsten Sinema is a wasted vote, but more importantly, it's a dangerous vote, Trump said to the raucous crowd.



Trump did not mention the death of Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi.



He did return to attacking Sen. Elizabeth Warren over her Native American ancestry. For the second straight rally -- in a state with the country's second-largest Native American population -- he attacked the Massachusetts senator for taking a DNA test that strongly supported she had an "unadmixed Native American ancestor" in her pedigree from six to 10 generations ago.



We're gonna have to come up with another name; I can't use the word Pocahontas anymore, he said. I have more Indian blood than she has, and I have none.



Copyright  2018, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
He further said that regional security and anti-terrorism are key to ASEAN development, and stressed the necessary of maintaining ASEANs consensus, solidarity and central role regarding important issues in the region.

The work requires the fortification of ASEAN-led mechanisms so that they can make effective contributions to ensuring peace, stability, and prosperity in the region, Lich suggested.

The minister affirmed the importance of the East Sea to peace and development, as well as to safe and free navigation and overflight in the region and in the world, and added that ASEAN should step up cooperation with its partners in the field for mutual benefits.

He welcomed and lauded Chinas efforts in its cooperation with the bloc, reflected through the sides approval of the draft framework of the Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC) and ongoing COC-text negotiations based on a single draft.

The official underscored Vietnams support for peaceful solution of disputes in line with international law and in respect of independence, sovereignty, and interest of the sides involved.

He recommended increased defence ties within ASEAN as well as between the bloc and its bilateral and multilateral partners, particularly in boosting collaboration and liaison mechanisms.

At their meeting, top defence officials of the 10 ASEAN countries agreed to establish a network for responding to new security challenges posed by chemical, biological, and radiological threats.

They also pledged to push ahead with fighting terrorism on the basis of defence and military cooperation, and coordinating in joint sea and air exercises to minimise unexpected damage and prevent tension escalations. They also reached a consensus towards investing efforts in implementing the Our Eyes initiative on sharing intelligence information in the region.

Concluding the 12th ADMM, the ministers issued a joint statement affirming the commitment to keeping peace and stability in the region and fostering cooperation to deal with current security challenges.

Within the ADMM 12 framework, unofficial meetings took place between ASEAN defence ministers and their counterparts from the US and China.

Concerning activities of the Vietnamese delegation, Minister Lich had separate meetings with his Malaysian, Indian, and Philippine counterparts on the same day.

Earlier, on October 18, he met with Singaporean Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen. They agreed on positive growth of Vietnam - Singapore defence ties, particularly in the exchange of delegations, young officers, joint work in navy, intelligence, and military medical sectors, and cooperation at multilateral forums.

Lich thanked the Singaporean Ministry of Defence for its scholarships granted for Vietnam in various fields. He asked Singapore to back Vietnams ASEAN chairmanship in 2020.
Pampa : A day after the Sabarimala chief priest made the comment that he will shut the shrine, if women enters into the temple, Malikappuram chief priest has backed his statements.

Malikappuram Chief Priest Aneesh Namboothiri made it clear that the former does have the authority to close the temple, if the temple custom are violated.

However, Devaswom Board member KP Sankaradas on Saturday slammed the priests staged a protest beside the Pathinettampadi against the entry of women and even sent a notice to the priests.
Conglomerate San Miguel Corp. received an offer to acquire the stake of AC Energy Holdings Inc. in the 552-megawatt Kauswagan coal project in Mindanao. Yes, it was offered to us, San Miguel president Ramon Ang told reporters at a recent business forum. He did not elaborate. San Miguel is one of the countrys biggest power generators. It has been expanding its power generation portfolio following its acquisition of the stakes of Electricity Generating Public Company Ltd., or Egco Group, and AES Corp. in Masinloc Power Partners Co. Ltd. for $2 billion last year. The sale included AES equity interest in the 630-megawatt Masinloc coal-fired power plant, the 335-MW Masinloc 2 coal-fired power plant under construction and the 10-MW Masinloc energy storage project in operation. Meanwhile, AC Energy owns an 85-percent economic stake in GNPower Kauswagan in partnership with the Philippine Investment Alliance for Infrastructure Fund and Power Partners. The construction of the plant is in full swing and is expected to be in commercial operation by 2019. The 552-MW plant will operate as a base load plant to support the power demand and economic development of Mindanao.The plant is a 4 x 138 MW pulverized coal combustion thermal plant with Shanghai boilers and Siemens turbines and generators. AC Energy originally wanted to sell up to 50 percent of its 1,300-MW coal platform but Aboitiz Power Corp. acquired just 500 MW of capacity. This means AC Energy can still sell up to 150 MW of coal capacity if it wants to achieve its original 50-percent coal thermal asset sale. AC Energy officials were unavailable for comment as of press time. Aboitiz Power earlier announced its acquisition of a 49-percent voting stake and 60-percent economic stake in AA Thermal Inc.., Ayala Groups thermal or coal asset platform in the country for $579.2 million (P31.4 billion). Aboitiz Power and Arlington Mariveles Netherlands Holding B.V., an affiliate of AC Energy, the power unit of Ayala Corp., signed a share purchase agreement on September 26 for the acquisition.
WashingtonThe United States has never been especially consistent in raising human rights, but President Donald Trumps administration, with its kid-glove treatment of Saudi Arabia, has sent a message clearer than ever beforeallies need not worry about criticism. And in case of US allies such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the Philippines, a former State Department official said, the Trump administration was fully justified in emphasizing good relations for a variety of important reasonsincluding counter-terrorism Since journalist Jamal Khashoggi disappeared in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, President Donald Trump has cast doubt on the widespread reports that the writer was killed and praised the kingdom for launching its own investigation. Both Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who visited Riyadh on Tuesday, said they found reasons not to risk ties with the oil-rich monarchy, including its role as the biggest foreign buyer of US weapons and its support for the US campaign against regional rival Iran. All administrations and, frankly, all governments suffer from the need to sequence and decide when they focus on national security, when they focus on human rights, when they combine the two and use the leverage to address the one versus the other, said Sarah Margon, the Washington director of Human Rights Watch. Under former President Barack Obama, human rights at least came up rhetorically and issues such as approval of arms sales were considered pressure points to influence governments, she said. But Trump and his Cabinet officials have just dropped the pretense completely and theyve made it clear that the primary interest is American sovereignty and Americas short-term economic and security concerns, Margon said. Rob Berschinski, who worked on human rights in the Obama administration and is now senior vice president for policy at Human Rights First, said that Trumps message was even more unsettling in that he had embraced leaders with dire records on how they treat their citizens, such as North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. From trying to eliminate funding for foreign assistance aimed at promoting democracy and human rights, to openly embracing dictators, to calling journalists enemies of the state, President Trump has made clear that he believes that there is no benefit to the United States in being seen as a force for good in the world, Berschinski said. One of the few areas on which the administration has aggressively supported human rights is religious freedom, an issue dear to Vice President Mike Pence and conservative Christians who are politically crucial to Trump. Trump placed sanctions on Turkey over its detention of an American pastor, Andrew Brunson, who was welcomed to the White House after his release last week. But the United States has spoken little of religious freedom in Saudi Arabia, whose rulers impose an austere form of Islam and prohibit the public practice of other faiths. The lower focus on human rights is no spontaneous shift. Near the start of the Trump administration, the State Departments then director of policy planning Brian Hook wrote a leaked memo saying that the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the rise of China and the troubled Arab Spring had lowered hopes for bringing change.In the case of US allies such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the Philippines, the administration is fully justified in emphasizing good relations for a variety of important reasons, including counter-terrorism, and in honestly facing up to the difficult tradeoffs with regard to human rights, Hook wrote to then secretary of state Rex Tillerson. It is not as though human rights practices will be improved if anti-American radicals take power in those countries. Moreover, this would be a severe blow to our vital interests, he wrote. Hook now heads the State Department campaign to pressure Iran, considered enemy number one for the Trump administration. The Trump team on a near-daily basis attacks Iran over its treatment of its citizens and also takes the clerical regime to task over its military involvements around the Middle East. The United States even recently denounced Irans record on the environmenta curious focus for an administration not known for its interest in conservation. As relations sour with China, largely over trade, the United States has also opened a new front by denouncing China over its sweeping detentions of Uighur Muslims and other religious minorities. But human rights have taken a back burner when it comes to North Korea, improving relations with which Trump considers a signature foreign policy triumph. Rights groups consider North Korea one if not the most draconian regime in the word, with a 2014 UN study finding that Pyongyang imprisons 80,000 to 120,000 political prisoners in four large camps where they face deliberate starvation. While an annual human rights report at the State Department continues to document North Koreas record, Pompeo has made clear that he is only focusing on the states nuclear, missile and other military programs in his diplomacy with Kim Jong Un, who met Trump for a landmark summit in June. Richard Haass, the president of the influential Council on Foreign Relations, recently tweeted: At some point, an amoral foreign policy becomes an immoral foreign policy. US foreign policy under [Trump] has reached such a point.
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The three-day visit is made at the invitation of Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen.

This is the first official visit made by PM Phuc to Denmark, and it took place when the two countries are celebrating five years of the comprehensive partnership establishment.

Both nations have worked closely and effectively at multilateral forums, especially the United Nations (UN), Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM), and ASEAN-EU.

PM Phuc will attend and deliver a speech at the P4G Summit themed Accelerating Partnerships for a more sustainable world. The summit is expected to draw up solutions to promote global green growth and sustainable development.

During his stay in Denmark, PM Phuc will hold talk with his Danish counterpart, and have talks with some leading investors and businesses from Denmark, among others.
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The Vietnamese expats expressed their joy to meet the PM during his official visit to Denmark. They affirmed that the Vietnamese community in Denmark have maintained close bonds and support each other in integrating into the host society while joining in activities for the homeland.

PM Phuc asked the Vietnamese expats to play the role as a bridge to promote Vietnam-Denmark cooperation across fields, as well as preserve the culture and tradition of the homeland.

He updated the overseas Vietnamese community on the development of Vietnam in recent time, and stressed that the Vietnamese Government is determined to build a growth-facilitating and action-oriented government of integrity to serve people and businesses.

The PM emphasised the need for the embassy to better perform economic diplomacy to enhance investment cooperation between the two countries, and stand ready to assist the overseas Vietnamese community.

PM Phuc is in Denmark to attend the Green Growth and the Global Goals (P4G) Summit, and pay an official visit to the European country at the invitation of Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen.

This is the last leg of his European tour from October 14.
More than 30 voters raised their voice at the meeting with the majority of opinions on the Thu Thiem new urban area.

Almost all of the voters expressed their trust in the Secretary and other National Assembly deputies who will receive and address their issues in the most appropriate way.

Voters also paid much attention to the Law on anti-Corruption and Education Law (revised) and proposed that the NA should increase sanctions to prevent and fight against corruption.

Voter Huynh Khuyen Thien from An Phu district, showed great interest in the revised Education Law and suggested that the NA should pay special attention to this law due to its significant importance.

Secretary Nguyen Thien Nhan pledged that the issues related to the Thu Thiem new urban areas would be addressed in a hastier manner.
Among the winners of the awards are also Vietnam Airlines JSC, Azerai Can Tho resort, Paradise Cruises, and the Hanoi-based French restaurant Clover at Ngoc Thuy.

With an impressive design resembling a yellow ribbon on the hands of a god, at a height of 1,400m on Ba Na peak, the Golden Bridge has quickly become the most attractive destination in Da Nang since its official launch in early June 2018.

The bridge's reputation has even surpassed Vietnam's borders, praised by prestigious news agencies, newspapers and social networks as one of the world's most spectacular walking bridges.

As part of the Sun World Ba Na Hills resort run by Sun Group, the birth of the bridge is considered a strong stimulus for Da Nang tourism.

Statistics from the central coastal citys Tourism Department showed that in the first nine months this year, the total number of visitors to Da Nang was estimated at over 6.5 million arrivals, an increase of 27.7% over the same period last year. Of which, half of them have travelled to Da Nang because of the attraction of the famous bridge.

The Guide Awards is a prestigious award organised by the Vietnam Economic Times and The Guide magazine. Since its launch in 1999, the Guide Awards has become one of the most prestigious travel awards and is sponsored by the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, the Vietnam Union of Science and Technology Associations, and the Vietnam Economic Science.

Under the theme "Tourism and Digital Transformation", the Guide Awards 2018 honoured 110 brands.
Bonds were stuck between a rock and a hard place today. Actually they were stuck between stocks and a European place. Stocks made a case for a bond rally (not that stocks are in total control of bonds, but all other things being equal, stocks' intraday momentum is frequently seen accompanying bond rallies). European markets pushed in the other direction with German Bund yields rising 3 times as fast as US 10yr yields.

The net effect was moderate weakness, mostly early in the day. That stands to reason as Europe is closed during the 2nd half of our domestic trading day (therefore not around to keep adding is influence).

In the bigger picture, the weakness wasn't a big deal. We're effectively sideways at 7-year highs in rates. That's been the case for most of the month. Stocks have been sideways and consolidating since their big sell-off on the 10th, and it seems that we're waiting to see if they make a big move back toward previous highs. If they do, it won't necessarily mean anything for bonds, but we'd learn a lot more about bonds' willingness to test out higher rates (and conversely, their likelihood to test out a bit of a bounce back toward lower rates... or at least "less high" rates).
The Turkish-American alliance has worsened dramatically since disputes broke out over Turkeys arrest of pastor Brunson. The US imposed sanctions on several of Ankaras officials, as well as doubling the tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from Turkey. Ankara also retaliated through sanctions aimed at US goods.

The US sanctions made Turkeys domestic currency, lira, tumble sharply and lose nearly 40% of its value so far this year. Relations between the two countries have also been in trouble due to differences on the war in Syria. The US-backed Kurdish force in Syria, a trusted partner of Washington in the war against the self-proclaimed Islamic State (IS), has been listed as terrorists by Turkey. After a period of prolonged dispute, Turkeys release of pastor Brunson was described by US President Donald Trump as a difficult decision. President Trump hailed the move as a big step towards a fine relationship between Washington and Ankara. However, it is regarded that the concession from Turkey aims to be an exchange for the lifting of US sanctions, which have made the economy of the country lying between Asia and Europe wobble.

The solution taken by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has helped to cool down the tensions in its relations with the US.

Receiving US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Ankara, the Turkish President discussed many hot issues with the senior US diplomat.

Turkeys release of pastor Brunson, closing a sensitive profile which once hindered the bilateral ties, has paved the way for the US to consider lifting its sanctions against Ankara. The US Secretary of States visit to Ankara also aims to promote Washingtons intermediary role in addressing the crisis in Turkey-Saudi Arabia relations concerning the missing Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Washington does not want the troubles surrounding the case to seriously harm the relations between the two important US allies, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, and also does not want to put the US in an awkward situation in the case that it is forced to impose sanctions against Saudi Arabia as President Trump once stated.

The Brunson case, which has become a focus of the diplomatic crisis between Turkey and the US, has been eliminated. However, the two countries still have to put aside their differences in the Syrian issue. Turkish President Erdogan once complained that the US had failed to implement the timetable reached concerning the withdrawal of the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) from Manbij in northern Syria. In opposition to Washingtons support for the YPG, Ankara threatened to conduct ground assaults on the YPG facilities, even if US troops were stationed there. In order to reduce the disagreement over Syria, Turkey and the US recently agreed to compromise. The two sides agreed on joint patrols in Manbij aiming to create stability and security in the region, and prevent terrorist activities.

Meanwhile, Turkey has adjusted its relationship axis towards Russia and other countries in the Middle East. Turkeys moves to shake hands with Russia in terms of economics and military had provoked the US. The benefits of both Washington and Ankara are affected when the ties between the two sides do not go smoothly. The Turkish economy has fallen into recession, while Washington has not received support from its allies in the fight against the IS in Syria.

To some extent, the recent turmoil in Turkey-US relations has adversely affected the links within NATO, to which both the US and Turkey are members. Consequently, Washington and Ankara making concessions at this time is seen as a reasonable and mutually beneficial choice.
Canadas Combat Ship Team (Lockheed Martin Canada Inc.) has been selected as the preferred bidder for the Canadian Surface Combatant (CSC) design. The Government of Canada and Irving Shipbuilding Inc. have notified Lockheed Martin Canada Inc. If all requirements are met, up to 15 Type 26 Frigates will join the Royal Canadian Navy. The design will be commissioned by the UK Royal Navy (8 frigates) and the Royal Australian Navy (9 frigates) as well.

Canadas Combat Ship Team (Lockheed Martin Canada Inc.) has been selected as the preferred bidder for the Canadian Surface Combatant (CSC) design. The Government of Canada and Irving Shipbuilding Inc. have notified Lockheed Martin Canada Inc. If all requirements are met, up to 15 Type 26 Frigates will join the Royal Canadian Navy. The design will be commissioned by the UK Royal Navy (8 frigates) and the Royal Australian Navy (9 frigates) as well.

Canadas Combat Ship Team image.



While this represents a significant milestone in the competitive process, more work is required before a contract is awarded.

Lockheed Martin Canada Inc. must now go through the due diligence process, which includes:

- negotiations with the company on intellectual property rights

- an assessment of combat systems performance

- an assessment of the companys financial capability to deliver the project, together with the verification of various other administrative matters

Should the preferred bidder not successfully demonstrate to Canada and Irving Shipbuilding Inc. that it meets all of the due diligence requirements, then the next highest ranked compliant bidder will become the preferred bidder. The new preferred bidder will then have to successfully demonstrate that it meets all of the due diligence requirements.

The identification of the preferred bidder follows a rigorous bid evaluation process. This process has been, and will continue to be, overseen by an independent Fairness Monitor. To date, the Fairness Monitor has submitted a series of interim reports on the Canadian Surface Combatant procurement process, and each of these reports have not identified any fairness deficiencies.

Type 26 GCS scale model in CSC configuration at CANSEC 2018. Navy Recognition picture.



More recently, the Fairness Monitor provided the following statement to Public Services and Procurement Canada:

As the Fairness Monitor for the Canadian Surface Combatant project, we have monitored the evaluation of proposals submitted in response to the Request for Proposals and have identified no fairness deficiencies. It is our opinion that the evaluation of proposals was conducted in a fair manner. Decisions were made objectively and free from personal favouritism or improper influence, and the process encompassed the elements of openness, competitiveness, transparency and compliance with the Request for Proposals.

A contract award is expected this winter, with construction beginning in the early 2020s.

The Canadian Surface Combatant project is the largest, most complex procurement ever undertaken by the Government of Canada. These ships will form the backbone of the Royal Canadian Navy and will be Canadas major surface component of maritime combat power for decades to come.
* China and Cambodia are ready to expand cooperation in areas including trade and investment, the two countries' leaders said Thursday. The message was sent from a meeting between Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen.

* Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday (October 18) that his country is ready to further strengthen coordination and cooperation with China to safeguard and promote common interests and global peace and development.

* The United Nations Command said Friday that it has verified a mine clearance to disarm the Joint Security Area (JSA) in the border area between the Republic of Korea (RoK) and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).

* German Chancellor Angela Merkel will travel to Istanbul, Turkey, on October 27 for a summit with the presidents of France, Russia and Turkey on Syria issues, a government spokeswoman said Friday.

* Russian President Vladimir Putin will attend a summit on Syria with leaders of Turkey, Germany and France, the Kremlin said Friday.

* US President Donald Trump said on October 18 that it seems that the missing Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi is dead, and the United States will make a "very strong" statement about his case.

* Swedish companies and government agencies are intensifying preparations for how to deal with a British exit from the European Union (EU) after negotiations deadlocked at this week's EU summit.

* Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said in Brussels on October 18 that China stands ready to work with France to further expand two-way opening-up so as to promote the continuously balanced growth of investment and trade, and maintain a positive outlook for enterprises from both countries.

* The number of women in the Rwandan cabinet has reaches 50 percent following Thursday (October 18)'s cabinet reshuffle made by President Paul Kagame.

* Turkish foreign minister on October 19 said they have not shared any audio recording of Khashoggi case with anyone, amid reports that Ankara had given a recording related to the missing Saudi journalist to the United States.

* The Afghan government decided to postpone the parliamentary elections in the southern Kandahar province following the deadly terror attack that killed the provincial police chief, a government spokesman said Friday.

* The Pakistani Foreign Ministry said on Friday that the country has temporarily closed its major border points with Afghanistan on the request by the neighboring country for security of the parliamentary elections.

* Mikhail Bochkarev, a Russian citizen, who had been detained in Norway on suspicion of spying was released Friday after the police withdrew its appeal against his release, local media reported.

* The US Navy plans to purchase 245 combat ships and 56 support ships between now and 2048, according to a report released by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) on October 18.

* Moroccan Prime Minister Saad Eddine El Othmani met with visiting Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi on October 18 to discuss the means to boost bilateral trade.

* The Moroccan navy on October 18 rescued 54 Sub-Saharan African migrants at the Mediterranean Sea, the Moroccan army said.

* Russia's Aerospace Defense Forces will soon receive a regimental unit of S-400 Triumpf missile systems and three divisional units of Pantsir-S missile systems, local news reported Thursday.

* More than 10 million residents of California, USA, Thursday morning took part in the annual ShakeOut, the world's largest earthquake drill. This year's drill was set at 10:18 a.m. local time, when millions of participants practiced to keep safe amid a major temblor.
Sreejani Bhattacharyya By

Express News Service

BENGALURU: India has slipped one position and secured ninth rank out of top 50 valuable national brands, according to a report titled Nation Brands 2018 released by Brand Finance, a leading brand valuation and strategy consultancy.

Though there has been a slip in the rank, Indias brand value has witnessed an increase of 5 per cent  to $2,159 billion from $2,046 billion in 2016. Indias brand-rating remained stagnant at AA. Italy replaced India to secure the eighth spot.

The rating is not entirely based on what a specific country is doing. It also depends on how the other countries are doing as well. It is basically in a comparative context. The brand-rating has not dropped from AA is actually a good indicator for the nation. The calculation also incorporates forecast for the country in the next five years and includes a variety of parameters like people, infrastructure and so on, explained Samir Dixit, managing director, Brand Finance Asia Pacific.

USA topped the list with a 23 per cent increase in brand value (TO $25,899 billion from $21,055 billion). China came in second with a 25 per cent increase in brand value (to $12,779 billion from $10,209 billion). India did not feature in the Top 10 Best Performing Nation Brands with cyprus leading the list and and Democratic Republic of the Congo coming in second.

The effect of a countrys national image on the brands based there and the economy as a whole is now widely acknowledged. In a global marketplace, it is one of the most important assets of any State, encouraging inward investment, adding value to exports and attracting tourists and skilled migrants, David Haigh, CEO, Brand Finance, said in the report.

The methodology used by the London-headquartered consultancy is based on the royalty relief mechanism employed to value the worlds largest companies, covering indicators like national brand strength, national brand rate ratings, royalty rate revenues, weighted average cost of capital and brand valuation.
By Express News Service

MUMBAI: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday has expressed its dissent on Central governments recommendation on making the Payments Regulatory Board (PRB) an independent regulator. The central bank maintained that PRB must remain with it and should be headed by the RBI Governor.

An interministerial committee for finalisation of amendments to the Payment & Settlement Systems Act, 2007, was formed by the Central government under the chairmanship of Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs. Even RBI was represented in the committee.

However, the RBI representative, claiming that the essence of his arguments has not been factored in the recommendations, has submitted a dissent note on certain recommendations of the committee.

The Payments Regulatory Board (PRB) must remain with the Reserve Bank and headed by the Governor, Reserve Bank of India. It may comprise three members nominated by the Government and RBI respectively, with a casting vote for the Governor to ensure smooth operations of the Board, the RBI said in its dissent note.The note also said that the composition of the PRB is also not in conformity with the announcements made in the Finance Bill by the Honorable Finance Minister.

According to RBI, it is important to distinguish the role of the central bank as an infrastructure institution providing settlement function from its role as a regulator of the payments sector.

It is not clear how non-banks can be ascribed the job of creating money via payment systems. It needs to be recalled that even banks distribute currency on behalf of the RBI and cannot create their own currency, the central bank added.

The RBI also objected to designating SAT in resolving payment system-related cases. It is not clear why the SAT is being brought in for resolving payment system-related cases and more so when exchanges and securities markets are not under the purview of the Payment Systems Bill, the RBI added in its note.

While RBI has welcomed some changes, it has warned that changes should not result in existing foundations being shaken and the potential creation of disturbances in an otherwise well-functioning and internationally acclaimed structure as far as India is concerned.

Recommendation

On September 19, the inter-ministerial panel headed by Economic Affairs Secretary SC Garg had suggested setting up an independent PRB to foster competition, consumer protection, systemic stability and resilience in payment sector.
By Express News Service

BENGALURU: Whitefield Division police on Friday arrested seven residents including two women of Kadugodi on charges of barging into an apartment block and assaulting people who were celebrating the Navaratri festival. Tension prevailed at Isha Misty Green apartment at Channasandra following the act of vandalism. The residents were reportedly upset as the revelers were playing loud music while celebrating Navaratri.

The arrested are identified as Muniswamy, Srinivas Gowda, Omprakash Gowda, Anil, Vinod, Shashikala and Hemavathi. All are residents of Channasandra and are drivers while the women are housewives. The accused also filed a counter-complaint against the residents of Isha Misty Green apartment.

A senior police officer said that on Thursday night around 9 pm the residents who live nearby the apartment heard loud music playing and upset over this, a group of fifty men broke open the main gate of the apartment and assaulted those were dancing. They also hit young boys at the venue. Kadugodi police were alerted about the incident and some of them were detained following the incident while others ran away as soon as police reached the spot.

A case of trespassing and assault was registered and in their counter complaint, the accused have said that the apartment residents were disturbing the peace with loud music. The action is yet to be taken against the residents of apartment and two policemen were deployed at the apartment premises to prevent any further untoward incidents.
Rochana Mohan By

Express News Service

CHENNAI: Outside Agarwal Bhavan, a large crowd of people gathered on the small, crowded street. Curious motorcyclists looked on as they wove through the other two-wheelers, people and street vendors. The heritage walk on Mint Street titled Navarathiri with the Gujaratis of George Town was hosted recently by Chennai Past Forward and conducted by historian Sriram V.

Under the evening sky, Sriram took the crowd down Mint Street, named after the minting factory the East India Company built there. In 1639, the East India Company began minting coins on behalf of the Raja of Vijayanagar, and in 1727, the mint was moved out of here and set up in various places, and was in Chintadripet at one point. The mint was located at the extreme end of the road, and was repeatedly modernised, said Sriram. Mint Street, one of the longest streets in Chennai, was also called Washers Street when East India Companys weavers came to the city in 1639, due to its proximity to the Elango River.

The group visited Mint Street, ZPH Matriculation School, Bairagi Matt, Naya Jain Temple, the old Jain temple, and one of the oldest textile shops owned by a Gujarati in Chennai

 Debadatta Mallick

The Gujaratis and Maharastrians in George Town were called Shroffs, and handled the exchange rate. Siram explained that there was no standardised rate of currency for trade and enormous fluctuation of the currency. The first reference to a Gujarati in Madras, although we initially thought it was in 1756, was actually in 1726. There was a peace accord signed between two warring communities here in Black Town, and the witness was Amir Tax Thakur. Interestingly, many of them had south Indian names like Ramanathan or Ragunathan, said Sriram.

The Zaveri Purushotamadas Harilal Gujarati Matriculation School, which was established in 1919 and will celebrate its centenary year in 2019, was also established by the Gujarati community settled in Madras at the time. In fact, Sriram said, they were extremely charitable, and were known to donate money towards causes and built many schools and hospitals. The Parvatiben Trikamji Bhatt Gujarati Sahayakari Hospital was established as a charitable hospital that charged only two annas for all treatment.

Sriram dubbed the area as Little Gujarat, and explained that Madras had seen a number of Gujarati Governors in the past. There was Prabhudas Patwari, a Gandhian. He was known for a truly Gandhian way of defecation; While in Chennai, he would not use any of the toilets at Rajaji Bhavan, and would rather go out onto the fields, dig a hole, and do his business. He was therefore known as Peewari for a long time in Chennai, said Sriram, to a round of chuckles from the group.

At the end of the walk, Sriram led the group to a Navaratri celebration by the local Gujarati residents. After the puja and aarti, mixed with music and singing, the men, women and children put together a garba performance, wearing red, green and white clothes with little mirrors stuck on, which picked up the light of the stars in the midnight sky.

Philanthropic Gujaratis

The Zaveri Purushotamadas Harilal Gujarati Matriculation School, which was established in 1919, was established by the Gujarati community settled in Madras. Sriram said, they were known to donate money towards causes and built many schools and hospitals. The Parvatiben Trikamji Bhatt Gujarati Sahayakari Hospital was established as a charitable hospital that charged only two annas for all treatment.
Nirupama Viswanathan By

Express News Service

CHENNAI: Some residents in the posh Besant Nagar area have intervened in the footpath widening project taken up by the Greater Chennai Corporation. They want its width to be reduced instead as their concern is that footpaths that are too wide would pave way for hawking. While factoring in the residents wishes is a welcome move, the street vendors in the stretch, on the other hand, are struggling to find a way to coexist.

Some associations in Besant Nagar are of the opinion that the width of the footpaths should not exceed six feet so as to prevent encroachments. They give their own instructions to the local engineers at work and so, the architects original demands are not being implemented, said a Corporation source.

Footpath widening work was taken up at Besant Nagar 3rd avenue and Besant Avenue, as part of the `22-crore-project to widen footpaths in 23 stretches in the city. While it was originally proposed to be nine-feet-wide at Besant Nagar, it was brought down to six feet after several rounds of talks between officials and the residents.

While residents are happy with how the footpaths have now shaped up, the vendors in the stretch said a wider footpath would only translate to a larger possibility to coexist. We have been doing business here for over 20 years and we have done so without inconveniencing anyone. If the footpaths are wider, we can go about our business with plenty of space for them to still walk or cycle, said Ramesh P, who sells fruits on Besant Nagar 3rd avenue. It is a two-way relationship; we have known some customers for years. They get to finish shopping on their way home or when they come on their daily walks, he added.

Proposals for a wider footpath were also met with opposition in some parts of Adyar. According to official estimates, there are around 4000 street vendors in Adyar zone of Chennai Corporation, which also includes Besant Nagar.

Often, while residents, especially in such localities, have a voice, street vendors do not. They are often looked upon as an inconvenience. Their right to livelihood should also be kept in mind, said Thiruvettai, president, Chennai Street Vendors Association.

As Aswathy Dilip of ITDP points out, when the Harrington road footpath was being redesigned, it was done so to include space for a vendor who was doing business outside Lady Andal school for many years. She continues to sell her wares there even today. Streets in India have traditionally played different roles. Today, they are increasingly being imagined as spaces that only allow people and vehicles move, she added.

This was not the first time that residents of Besant Nagar had resisted wider footpaths, said activists. In 2013-2014, some Besant Nagar residents had opposed the plan for the same reasons. Vijay Pingale, the then Deputy Commissioner (Works), Chennai Corporation, held talks with them to explain the design, said Satyarupa Shekhar, Director for Research and Advocacy at Chennai-based Citizen consumer and civic Action Group (CAG).
By Express News Service

NEW DELHI: A New Delhi court on Friday rejected the bail plea of Ashish Pandey, the son of a former Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MP, following his arrest on charges of brandishing a gun at the entrance of a five-star hotel here and threatening a couple on October 14. The court has extended his judicial custody till Monday.

Ashish, a Lucknow-based realtor and son of former BSP MP Rakesh Pandey, surrendered before a Delhi court on Thursday. He had been on the run for two days after he was caught brandishing his weapon and threatening the couple on video outside the Hyatt Regency hotel in south Delhi. The Delhi Police, based on the video and the statement of the people he threatened, had booked him for assault and under various sections of the Arms Act. They had also issued a Look Out Circular (LOC) against him and contacted the Lucknow police for assistance.

In his application before the Metropolitan Magistrate, Pandey said he had been wrongly framed in the FIR and was being subjected to a media trial. He made similar claims in a video he released separately on Thursday morning.

I am not denying that the incident occurred but only one side of the incident is portrayed. I request that CCTV footage from the hotel be checked to know who threatened whom, he said, accusing his alleged victim Gaurav Singh.

It was hanging behind me all the time. I didnt even address that girl; she pushed me and made obscene hand gestures, he added. In his statement to the police, Pandey claimed he was provoked by the couple.
By PTI

NEW DELHI: A 38-year-old woman was arrested for allegedly killing a 16-year-old domestic help after she demanded her salary, police said Friday.

The girl's decapitated head and chopped off limbs were found in a drain in outer Delhi on May 4, they said.

During a search operation to recover the remaining body parts of the girl, the police found the torso and chopped off arms of the victim in a bag, the police said.

One person, identified as Manjit, was arrested by the police while co-accused Shalu alias Sharu, Rakesh and Gauri continued to be at large.

They were declared as proclaimed offenders and a reward of Rs 50,000 each was declared on their arrest.

On October 18, the police learnt that Gauri, a native of West Bengal, had married one Kartar Singh to camouflage her identity, and was living in Ratta Khera of Jind district in Haryana, said Deputy Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) Sanjeev Kumar Yadav.

Subsequently, the woman was arrested, he said.

Gauri was running a placement agency here and the victim was brought from Jharkhand to work as a maid but her salary was not given to her for a year, the DCP said.

When the victim demanded her salary, the woman killed her, he added.
By Express News Service

VIJAYAWADA: The long wait for international flight services from Vijayawada airport is all set to come to an end. The first international flight is going to fly from Vijayawada airport to Singapore on October 25.

The international flight services will be operated by IndiGo.Though Gannavaram airport got international status in May 2017, the commencement of international flight services has taken a lot of time. The international flight service scheduled to start on October 2, was delayed.

Earlier, several airlines which evinced interest in the operation of international flights from Gannavaram airport backed out. Air India proposed to operate a flight to Dubai from Vijayawada early this year. However, clearance was not given for operation of the flight service due to security reasons.

Meanwhile, the airport authorities initiated talks with other airlines like Singapore-based SilkAir and Dubai-based airline Emirates and Flydubai. Finally, IndiGo has come forward to operate international flights from Vijayawada to Singapore.

Ajay Jain, Principal Secretary, Energy, I&I, CRDA, disclosed that direct flights from Vijayawada to Singapore would be operated from October 25. The flights will fly from Vijayawada to Singapore and vice versa twice a week -- Tuesday and Thursday, he added.

Speaking to TNIE, Virender Singh, CEO of AP Airports Development Corporation, said, The much awaited international flight service will start from October 25 as the customs authorities gave clearance for it on Thursday. IndiGo will officially announce the operation of international flights by Monday. All we want is to make air travel affordable for the passengers and the fare will be less than that of direct flight from Hyderabad to Singapore.

The airfare is likely to be below Rs 10,000. As of now, Gannavaram airport with 26 flights and over 50 services, handles about one lakh passengers a month.
What has China's development brought to the world? It's not a difficult question, but the United States has recently answered it in an absurd way. Some American observers think that what has come with a rising China are economic aggression, geopolitical expansion and damaged international rules. This is now taken as the official line of the US government. US President Donald Trump said on Sept 17 that Chinese practices "plainly constitute a grave threat to the long-term health and prosperity of the United States economy". On Oct 4, Vice-President Mike Pence attributed China's economic success largely to "American investment in China", saying the US rebuilt China over the last 25 years. But that is not true.

Driver of global growth, not economic aggressor

In his speech, Pence accused China of carrying out "economic aggression", saying China has used "an arsenal of policies inconsistent with free and fair trade" that "have built Beijing's manufacturing base, at the expense of its competitorsespecially the United States of America". He alleged that these actions of China have contributed to the huge trade deficit with the US and urged China to change the "unfair" practices.

But trade is a two-way activity based on mutual agreement. China has never sought to buy from or sell to the US by force, neither has it eyed a trade surplus only. According to the UN statistics, the US exported $129.89 billion worth of goods to China in 2017, an increase of 577 percent compared with 2001, much higher than the 112 percent rise in US global exports over the same period. This happened against the backdrop of tight US restrictions on the types of goods exported to China, especially on high-tech products.

In that sense, a slight easing of the restrictions would reduce the US trade deficit significantly. According to a study by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in April 2017, if the US were to liberalize its export barriers against China to the same level as those applicable to Brazil, the US-China trade deficit would be narrowed by up to 24 percent.

Similarly, should the US adjust its export barriers against China according to those applicable to France, its trade deficit with China would decrease by as much as 34 percent. Obviously the US has witnessed such a high trade deficit because it doesn't want to sell products to China, not the other way around.

The service trade between China and the US also needs to be counted in. US statistics show that from 2007 to 2017, US service exports to China grew by 3.4 times from $13.14 billion to $57.63 billion, while its service exports to other countries and regions increased by 1.8 times. The US surplus with China in services multiplied by a factor of $30 billion to $40.2 billion.

The gains and losses of China-US trade, being part of economic globalization, should be calculated from a global perspective. Over the past decades the US has moved its manufacturing industry such as processing and assembly to other parts of the world while keeping services such as design and marketing. China, being the largest receiver of international industrial relocation, has a large part of its exported goods actually produced by multinational companies from countries such as the US. In the value chain, multinational companies take the majority of profits while Chinese ones only take a tiny share for their processing payment.

With dynamic development, China has become an important engine for international economic growth. China's contribution to world economic growth has stayed around 30 percent since 2013, topping other countries, and reached 34.6 percent in 2017, twice that of the US.

China's development has also created a larger market for the world. From 2001 to 2017, China's imports of goods grew at an average rate of 13.5 percent, twice that of the world's average. In the same period China's service imports rose by 16.7 percent on average, 2.7 times that of the international average. From 2011 to 2017, the share of China's total imports of goods and services in the world's total increased from 8.4 percent to 10.1 percent, while that of the US dropped by 0.5 percentage point in the same period.

China is also an important creator of jobs worldwide. So far it has set up more than 80 overseas economic and trade cooperation zones in countries along the Belt and Road routes, creating about 244,000 local jobs. And, according to Ernst& Young, China created over 130,000 jobs in Africa from 2005 to 2016, more than three times the number of jobs created by the US. And a study by the International Labour Organization released in 2017 found that between 1990 and 2016, at least 1.8 million jobs were created as a result of China's trade, investment and infrastructure projects in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Some Americans allege that China has stolen American jobs because some American factories were relocated to China. Yet this allegation doesn't hold water. A report by the US-China Business Council released in early 2017 said the bilateral trade relationship actually supported roughly 2.6 million jobs in the US. And the US has lost more than 7 million factory jobs since manufacturing employment peaked in 1979, with 88 percent of the lost jobs taken by robots and other homegrown factors that reduce factories' need for human labor, according to a 2015 study by Ball State University's Center for Business and Economic Research. Where to set up factories is decided by US companies on profit-driven consideration, not by China.

It's fair to say that China has not been an aggressor in its development, but a contributor to the world and a strong supporter of the UN Millennium Development Goals and 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. It has demonstrated a new path toward modernization for developing countries that are home to more than 80 percent of global population, and provided an option never seen before for countries that want both development and independence. Raphael Tuju, secretary-general of the ruling Jubilee Party of Kenya, said that China's achievement has no precedent in the history of mankind and gives African people "a flicker of hope and light at the end of the tunnel".

China's development achievement is not driven by American investment, but the diligence and hard work of 1.3 billion Chinese people. Even in terms of investment, the US is not the largest investor in China. Since the 1980s, US investment has accounted for just 7-10 percent of foreign investment in China, while it has in return earned handsome profits.

Builder of world peace that does not seek geopolitical expansion

The US has accused China of conducting "debt diplomacy" to expand its influence, and Pence specifically referred to Sri Lanka. However, Karunasena Kodituwakku, Sri Lanka's ambassador to China, said in early October that "If anybody is saying that the Chinese government gave its money to put Sri Lanka into a 'debt trap', I don't agree with that. It's an absolutely wrong conclusion". The ambassador clarified that the security of Hambantota Port is entirely a matter for Sri Lankan security forces. Unfortunately in the US' geopolitical mindset, a country is an ally or a rival, there is no other option.

Instabilities and uncertainties are currently the main threats to world peace. To tell threats from efforts to promote world peace, we need to tell behavior that creates conflicts from safeguarding stability. The Belt and Road Initiative accused by the US of being a scheme with "geopolitical intent" has attracted 103 countries and international organizations to sign 118 cooperation agreements under the Belt and Road framework with China. The initiative, together with its core concepts, has been incorporated into outcome documents of important international mechanisms such as the United Nations, G20, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, and Shanghai Cooperation Organization. It is in fact a "chorus" beyond zero-sum mentality in the spirit of "peaceful cooperation, openness and inclusiveness, mutual learning, mutual benefit and win-win results", fundamentally different from the concept of geopolitical expansion.

China is committed to safeguarding peace and security and promoting global peace and stability through its own development and prosperity. China is the UN Security Council permanent member that dispatches the most peace-keeping troops, and it advocates and is committed to the Five Principles of Peaceful Co-existence. Till the first half of 2017, China had dispatched 35,000 peace-keeping military personnel who participated in 24 UN peace-keeping missions, and it has been praised as a "key factor and key force of peace-keeping" by the international community. China has never waged a war for the sake of oil or resources, nor has it used languages such as "evil" "loser" or "shithole" that are of no use except for triggering conflicts to attack other countries.

Domestically speaking, China is among the main economies with the best public security. According to a survey by Gallop's 2018 Global Law and Order Report, China ranks among the top 10 safe tourist destinations globally, and among them it is the only main economy. The US, however, suffers from a woeful domestic security situation. Statistics show that from 2014 to 2017, deaths and injuries from gun crimes in the country have risen annually by 5 percent. In 2017 alone, the number reached 61,813, of which 15,637 people have died. On average, 170 people were killed or injured as a result of gun crimes every day in the US.

As the self-appointed global sheriff, the US should have seen peace-keeping as its greatest responsibility, but it has all along been waging wars in the name of "safeguarding world peace". Since World War II, the US has started or participated in more than 30 wars. Its bellicosity has brought disasters for the world and even for its own people.

The Iraq War launched by the US caused the deaths of 655,000 Iraqi people and 2,765 American soldiers from 2003 to 2012, leaving over 20,000 American soldiers injured or maimed. The US has meddled in the chaos in Syria, displacing large numbers of people. Till August 2018, there have been 5.6 million Syrian refugees registered by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. The crisis has created profound implications for the whole world. The Afghanistan War started by the US in 2001 has caused over 300,000 deaths and injuries, and is still a "bleeding wound" today.

New factors including economic security have become vital parts of global peace. Lower trade barriers work to enhance cooperation and foster economic stability. An increasingly open China has never initiated trade conflicts and has fully fulfilled its promises upon joining the World Trade Organization. China has also increased assistance to developing WTO members, especially the least developed countries, to close the development gap between the South and the North. By March 2018, it had implemented zero-tariff policies on 97 percent tax items from 36 least developed countries with diplomatic relations with China. This year, China has again declared that it will expand openness and widen market access, while speeding up all-sector openness in services, the finance industry in particular.

On the other side of the world, however, the US in the name of "reciprocal openness" abuses "national security" and set up the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States that includes members from several government departments such as intelligence organs, constantly expanding its coverage and making "national security" a tool to block foreign companies trying to enter its market.

In 2017 alone, CFIUS blocked more than 20 foreign companies from entering the US market in the name of "national security", over half of which were Chinese companies. Both the US and China are WTO members, so economic and trade issues between them should be resolved within the WTO framework. But the US has arbitrarily dealt with trade frictions with China according to its domestic laws despite the WTO's dispute settlement mechanism. This deviates from the basic principles of the WTO and runs against its obligations for tariff concession and most-favored-nation treatment. The US president even threatened China by saying, "if China takes vindictive actions against our farmers or other industries, we will immediately take a third step: imposing customs on an extra $267 billion of imports from China". This is exactly the modern example of the saying "one may steal a horse while another may not look over the hedge".

China safeguards rather than breaks the international order

The US often accuses China of "not obeying international rules" and slanders China's role in the international community, calling it a revisionist state. Many things China does are labeled actions that "break international rules."

The fact is, however, China has directly participated in building the post-World War II global order as a founding member of the UN. China's representative Dong Biwu was the first to sign the UN Charter. Since it took its lawful seat in the UN and all its affiliated organizations in 1971, China has continually joined international organizations. Currently, China has joined more than 400 multilateral agreements, all UN organizations and about 90 percent of inter-governmental ones, fully involved in the current global order.

According to the Yearbook of International Organizations 2017-18, China's participation rate in international organizations, the fastest growing among the main economies, is rapidly nearing those of France and Germany. Many studies have concluded that China has been fully integrated into the international system and it stands as a steadfast upholder of and contributor to the global order.

More and more countries expect China to play a greater role in global governance. In recent years, China has proposed the Belt and Road Initiative in the spirit of achieving shared growth through consultation and collaboration and started the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank, which is conducive to the current global order.

China has also hosted major events such as the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting, G20 Hangzhou Summit, first Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, and the ninth BRICS Summit. It has reiterated the concept of deepening reform and expanding opening-up and welcomed other countries to take a ride on China's development. It has been well received by the international community. China's circle of friends keeps expanding.

The US as the leader in global order after WWII, on contrary, now keeps breaking the global order by "exiting", threatening to exit, or even "disbanding organizations". For example, it has withdrawn from Paris Agreement against climate change, United Nations Human Rights Council, UNESCO, Global Compact on Migration, and the Iran nuclear deal. The G7 led by the US used to play an important role in global governance. Nowadays, however, internal rifts have become its focus. Besides, the US intends to reshore industries such as automobile manufacturing, and iron and steel that enjoy a well-established global order, sending shocks through the EU and Japan. It is China that is safeguarding the global order, and the US is the spoiler.

Unilateralism and a zero-sum mentality have no future. However the world may change, China will stay steadfastly with the international community and remain devoted to building a new type of international relations, a community with a shared future for mankind and make greater contributions to the progress of mankind.

The author is a commentator with People's Daily.
phanindra papasani By

Express News Service

VIJAYAWADA: If you happen to receive a request on Facebook or other social media platforms from somebody not known to you, better give it a second thought before accepting it as the stranger might turn out to be an online predator or a blackmailer.

Facebook, which was developed as an information-sharing and network building platform, is being misused to target women, especially young ones, and exploit and extort money from them in the name of friendship. Not only students, but married and working women are also falling prey to such men.

Though the city police do not reveal such cases taking place in the region, it is believed that more than 50 cases of similar nature have been reported in various police stations, according to sources.

In one such case, a 19-year-old engineering student, Kumari (name changed), paid a heavy price for accepting the friend request from a stranger a few ago. In no time, they exchanged their phone numbers and even set a date to meet. After a few meetings, the girl was introduced to some of the boys friends. Later, they got close and the victim was even proposed.

Taking the benefit of their closeness, the boy recently took the girl to a hotel in Ibrahimpatnam where she was sexually assaulted by him and two others. The entire incident was recorded, too.

Shocked to the core, the girl was, however, able to escape and went to her native place for Dasara festival. The incident came to light after she lodged a complaint with the police when the youths uploaded that video clip online.

Five, including a juvenile, involved were arrested, the police said, adding the juvenile was the main accused. A case under cyber laws and Section 376 was registered against the accused, CI Pavan Kumar said.

Commenting on the issue, Vijayawada Police Commissioner Ch Dwaraka Tirumala Rao said, Kumaris case is not alone. While women are sexually exploited, men become victims of extortion. Staying careful is the only option in this digital era where personal security is always at stake, he said
Sajin Shrijith By

Express News Service

When the trend these days is to do a 'family entertainer' (preferably featuring 20-somethings) that would get people into theatres, most filmmakers would naturally be tempted to try something light-hearted because it's the safer option. But sometimes the safer option is much more challenging.

Rahul Riji Nair, whose debut film Ottamuri Velicham hasn't seen a theatrical release yet in spite of winning four State awards, is the latest example of a filmmaker who stepped out of his comfort zone to make something that would appeal to a wider audience. His second film Dakini is a family entertainer alright, but Rahul manages to do a couple of things that are out of the ordinary while still staying within the limitations of the genre.

For starters, its main characters are not youngsters. What would happen if four grandmothers decided to take on a dreadful mafia don? This is the basic premise of Dakini. But before that, enough time is spent establishing the characters and the little details of their world (like their eagerness to learn about WhatsApp) instead of rushing into things. Just like its four leading ladiesplayed by Sarasa Balussery, Sethu Lakshmi, Pauly Valsan, and Savithri Sreedharan the film doesn't behave in a way that others expect them to. There is nothing exciting happening in their lives, and, naturally, they yearn for an earth-shattering adventure.

Enter Kuttan Pillai (Alencier Ley), an old flame of Pauly Valsan's character Molly. One can say that Molly is the 'hero' of the story because it's her history with Kuttan that serves as the catalyst to the events that are about to follow. We learn that Molly had chosen to lead a life of celibacy after Kuttan disappears from her life when they were youngsters in love. But there is a reason why Kuttan left her and there is a reason why he came back nowboth involve Mayan (Chemban Vinod Jose), the aforementioned mafia don and Kuttan's former employer. You see, Kuttan had run off with Mayan's money.

But it doesn't take long for Mayan to snatch him. But he wouldn't kill him yet (that's what he normally does to people who betrayed him) because he wants back the money which has now unexpectedly gone missing. No one knows where it is and who has taken it. Molly, now visibly transformed by the re-ignited passion, refuses to let go of Kuttan the second time. This provides the necessary impetus for the other three to join her in a daring plan to rescue Kuttan. Giving them company are two youngsters, Jeemon (Aju Varghese doing what he does best) and a so-called local gangster Vikraman Parudeesa (Saiju Kurup, also doing what he does best).

Obviously, what we have is an unusual situation. Mayan is a character inside a comedy, sure, but in order to give us a sense of who the lead characters are up against, Rahul gives us a few moments to show us what Mayan is capable of. One of them includes viciously killing a man in front of his young daughterafter giving the girl a candy and then reminding her father of the story of Judas ("Are you trying to turn me into Jesus?").

But Rahul also puts him in a couple of comical situations which tones down his menace considerably. Indrans (in another eccentric performance) plays Mayan's crippled father Raju Bhai.

Though a couple of situations didn't work (one with a monkey, for example), Rahul surely deserves a pat on his back for taking a road less travelled. A lot of care has gone into its presentation. The usual bland TV serial look, which is typical of many Malayalam family entertainers, is ditched in favour of a more colourful, comic-book aesthetic. Every shot is neatly composed and is straight out of an interior design magazine.
Gopinath Rajendran By

Express News Service

Last seen in Mr Chandramouli alongside his father Karthik, actor Gautham Karthik, who recently wrapped up shooting for Devarattam, has signed his next. Directed by Ponrams associate, Arun Chandhiran, the film will be produced by a new banner named White Line Productions that was launched yesterday by Vijay Sethupathi who starred alongside Gautham earlier this year in Oru Nalla Naal Paathu Solren.

Speaking about the film, director Arun says, Itll be a family entertainer similar to Rajini Murugan and Varuthapadatha Valibar Sangam. Im from Madurai; so Ill be able to do justice to such a genre. The nativity factor will make it a film thatll be enjoyed by all. Soori has agreed to be part of the project, and were in talks with other actors.This untitled film will go on floors from January 2019 after the Pongal holidays. The film will be completely shot in South Tamil Nadu.
By Online Desk

SP Manju (38), the Kerala Dalit Mahila Federation President, has abandoned her attempt to visit Sabarimala after being denied the special security cordon. Inspector General Sreejith had said the heavy rain in Sabarimala made it very difficult for his team to attempt the trek and this was conveyed to Manju.

Manju, who has allegedly been named in as many as 14 criminal cases decided to head back home a short while later.

Earlier, Manju had met the police officers at the Pampa station and sought protection, saying that she wanted to pay darshan to Lord Ayyappa.

The intelligence department then began verifying her antecedents before senior officers finally decided that they can't throw the special security cordon around her "because of the heavy rain".

Manju hails from Chathnoor in Kollam. She had come dressed in traditional attire and was carrying the irumudi kettu, consisting of coconut, camphor, incense stick, row rice and flowers, according to reports. She had insisted that her visit was as a devotee wanting to have a darshan of Lord Ayyappa and not as an activist.
Harpreeet Bajwa By

Express News Service

CHANDIGARH: At least 61 people, including women and children, were mowed down by speeding trains that left 72 others injured near Amritsar on Friday, as Dussehra revelry spilled on the adjacent railway tracks.Tragedy struck around 6.45 pm at Dhobi Ghat near Jaura Phatak railway crossing at gate number 27 between Amritsar and Manawala when revellers were watching an effigy of Ravana burn about 200 ft away while standing between railway tracks.

#WATCH The moment when the DMU train 74943 stuck people watching Dussehra celebrations in Choura Bazar near #Amritsar (Source:Mobile footage-Unverified) pic.twitter.com/cmX0Tq2pFE  ANI (@ANI) October 19, 2018

They were perhaps distracted by the noise of firecrackers as the Nakodar Jalandhar DMU No. 74943, a local passenger train, came speeding in. The happy crowd were shooting videos of the event when the first train hit them. As another train arrived from the opposite direction at the same time, people on the track had little opportunity to escape.There were about 500 people at the spot when the accident occurred. The accident set off a stampede with people running helter-skelter for safety.

#Punjab: At gate no. 27 b/w Amritsar & Manawala. As Dussehra celebration was taking place some incident had occurred& people started rushing towards closed gate number 27 while a DMU train number 74943 was passing the closed gate: CPRO Northern Railway; Visuals from accident site pic.twitter.com/TMJILYC6Or  ANI (@ANI) October 19, 2018

It all happened in a flash and dismembered body parts lay strewn on the blood-soaked ground. Many bodies could not even be identified. Wails of people filled the air as friends and relatives frantically looked for their near and dear ones. Severed bodies, including that of many children, were still lying on the accident site hours after the incident with angry people not allowing the authorities to remove them.

I have lost my minor child. I want him back, an inconsolable mother wailed.

Navjot Kaur Sidhu, wife of state local bodies minister Navjot Singh Sidhu was the chief guest of the event. Locals alleged she left the venue moments after the accident.Punjab will observe a day of mourning on Saturday. All offices and educational institutions will remain closed.

READ | Punjab CM Amarinder Singh announces Rs 5 lakh aid to kin of deceased

Administration, Dussehra panel blamed

As Dussehra celebration were under way, people started rushing towards closed gate number 27 while a DMU train number 74943 was passing by, said a railway official. An eyewitness said, The administration and the Dussehra committee are at fault. They should have raised an alarm when the train was approaching; they should have made sure the train halted or slowed down.

There were no barricades near the railway tracks and people were forced to see the Dussehra ceremony standing on the tracks, said another eyewitness. Amirtsar Police Commissioner SS Srivastava said, There are more than 50 casualties. We are evacuating people and the injured are being taken to the hospital. Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Amritsar I, Rajesh Sharma, said 50 bodies had been found and at least 50 injured had been admitted to a government hospital.

#Punjab: Eyewitness say, "The administration and the Dussehra committee are at fault, they should have raised an alarm when the train was approaching, they should have made sure that the train halts or slows down." #Amritsar pic.twitter.com/xdwXpr0L1H  ANI (@ANI) October 19, 2018

Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh has ordered a probe into the accident. He was scheduled to leave for Israel on Friday evening, but postponed his trip and will fly to Amritsar in the morning to assess the damage and meet families of the victims.

ALSO READ | Railway officials rush to train accident site

Fifty bodies have been found so far| PTI

Acting on the Chief Ministers directives, Rehabilitation Minister Sukhbinder Singh Sarkaria and Health Minister Brahm Mohindra have already gone to Amritsar. The Home Secretary and the Health Secretary, along with the DGP, Law and Order, have also left for Amritsar .He announced ex-gratia compensation of Rs 5 lakh each to the kin of the deceased .The Amritsar administration has set up a helpline (No. 01832421050).
By Express News Service

CHANDIGARH: Punjab Police is investigating links of German Singh, the man behind the plot to kill former Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, with Kashmiri terror groups.

Police sources said that as Singh told Punjab Police and Intelligence officials that he was in touch with Kashmiri groups and some individuals through social media platforms including Facebook for the last few months. Singh was sent to police remand till October 23 by the court.

It is learnt that Singh was trying to recruit youths for the last six months he was in touch with some people abroad and he might have been getting funds from there.

Meanwhile, Punjab Police on Friday arrested two members of a Khalistani module, allegedly engaged in propagating the Khalistani Referendum 2020 campaign by affixing banners and posters at public places in Amritsar.

The duo, Sukhraj Singh alias Raju and Malik Singh alias Meetu, were apprehended by the Amritsar police, who seized various materials used in making the banners and posters from Kot Mit Singh Canal and Sukhraj's house.

Initial investigations have revealed that the duo were being funded from overseas as part of the campaign started by Gurpartap Singh Pannu, Legal Advisor of Sikh for Justice, a New York based organisation. The two have been booked under various sections of the IPC for attempts to spread hatred by motivating youngsters and instigating the public through the campaign.
By Express News Service

BHOPAL: UP to 80 of the 165 BJP legislators in Madhya Pradesh, including some ministers, might be denied tickets for the November 28 Assembly elections, with the party facing a resurgent Congress and anti-incumbency after 15 years in power.

After a series of internal surveys carried out by the ruling party in all 230 Assembly segments in the past few months, a ground-level survey by the workers of its parent organization, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, has pointed towards growing anti-incumbency against dozens of BJP MLAs, including some ministers.

The findings of the survey, which were discussed by top RSS functionaries in Madhya Pradesh with BJP national president Amit Shah during his recent two-day visit to the state, were subsequently discussed with top party leaders in Bhopal on Wednesday.

At the meeting at the chief ministers residence, which was attended by CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan, state election management committee chief and union minister Narendra Singh Tomar, state party president Rakesh Singh and the partys state secretary (organization), Suhas Bhagat, the state unit of the BJP was told by RSS leaders that not denying tickets to 70-80 non-performing MLAs could result in the party losing dozens of seats in the November 28 polls.

The party leaders were also told about growing resentment against the BJP among upper caste voters over the amendment of the SC/ST Act. The BJP leaders were informed that angry upper caste voters might not vote for the Congress, but their votes might go to outfits such as Samanya Pichra Alpsankhyak Kalyan Samaj (Sapaks) Samaj Party, or they might press the NOTA button, which might result in the BJP winning fewer seats.

With the RSS the issue, the BJP might find it difficult to field the non-performing MLAs in the polls, a senior BJP leader told The New Indian Express on Friday.

As per informed sources, two- or three-term MLAs whose victory margin has shrunk with each Assembly poll, and MLAs who won by small margins (900 to 5,000 votes) in 2013 are likely to be denied tickets. Some MLAs who won with sizeable margins in 2013 but are not popular with voters and party workers due to their style of functioning might also be denied tickets.

Anti-incumbency

A survey by the RSS has found growing anti-incumbency against dozens of BJP MLAs, including some ministers. The RSS has told the BJP state unit that not denying tickets to 70-80 non-performing MLAs could result in the party losing dozens of seats in the November 28 polls.
Harpreet Bajwa By

Express News Service

AMRITSAR: The railways has decided not to hold a probe against the driver of the DMU that was involved in the Amritsar rail tragedy. But Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh has set a four-week deadline for completion of inquiry by Divisional Commissioner Jalandhar.

Sources said that the Railway Police has registered a case against unknown persons for trespassing into railway property.

Divisional Railway Manager Vivek Kumar refused to hold a probe into the accident and termed it a run-over on a large scale. He said that the people standing railway tracks amounted to trespassing and that the railways had not got any case registered.

"The driver was not at fault as the train was being driven on the Amritsar-Delhi railway line, which is supposed to accommodate trains running at 110 kilometre per hour. The driver after seeing the people over the tracks applied the brakes and brought down the speed to 68 kmph but it was too late.''

He ruled out any mistake of the gateman saying the accident site was about 400 metres ahead of the level crossing.

"The duty of the gateman was to manage the gate, the accident site was not properly lit and was not clearly visible from the level crossing.'' Railway board chairman Ashwani Lohani said: "the gathering of people on the rail tracks was trespassing and that railways wouldn't hold any investigation into the incident. It would be wrong to say that railways is responsible for this accident. There are two manned level-crossing on that track, both were close. It is the main line. There is no speed restriction.

The railway administration was not informed about Dussehra celebration. If we had been informed by the local authorities then we would have taken adequate measures. People were watching Dussehra celebrations from railway tracks, they need to be more alert.''

Now the railway authorities have stopped all trains from the Amritsar Railway Station has subject to security clearance from the state government. Also, more security personnel have been deployed around the railway station to avert any untoward situation arising out of the protests by people as the situation in the holy city is tense as markets remained closed. As per the train speedometer, the DMU was running at 91 kilometre per hour when the accident took place and it got damaged in the accident.

The railway officials refused to reveal the identity of the driver, who said that after noticing the people he applied the brakes to bring down the speed but it was too late. But the locals of the area say the gateman could have alerted the authorities after seeing a large number of people gathered over the railway tracks.

Meanwhile, Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh had set a four-week deadline for completion of inquiry by Divisional Commissioner Jalandhar into the tragic train accident in Amritsar, while urging all political parties to rise above petty politicking to join hands to mitigate the sufferings of the victims and their families.

He was talking after reviewing the situation on the ground and meeting the injured in three hospitals, besides visiting the spot where the tragedy had occurred last evening during Dussehra celebrations. Amarinder said action will be taken against those responsible for the tragedy once the inquiry report comes. The probe will cover all aspects of the tragedy, he added.

However, this was not the time to play political games on the issue, said the Chief Minister, calling upon all to join hands with the government to provide relief to the victims. The three-member Crisis Management Group, headed by Health Minister Brahm Mohindra, will camp in Amritsar as long as they are needed to monitor and assist in the relief operations, he said.

The Group, constituted by the Chief Minister last night, has Revenue Minister Sukbinder Singh Randhawa and Forest Minister, Sadhu Singh Dharamsot, as its members, and is closely monitoring the situation and supervising the relief efforts.
By IANS

AMRITSAR: With at least 60 people crushed by a speeding train in Amritsar and over 70 others injured, senior political figures including Punjab Governor VP Singh Badnore and Cabinet Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu, visited the injured in hospitals here on Saturday.

Badnore arrived early on Saturday and met the injured at the Guru Nanak Dev government hospital here.

"This is a big tragedy. The doctors here are doing a good job in trying to save people," Badnore, who rushed from Chandigarh, told the media.

State Education Minister and Amritsar legislator O.P. Soni was also present during the Governor's visit. Sidhu arrived at the hospital on Saturday morning accompanied by hordes of security personnel and officials.

The accident occurred within a matter minutes when the train came at a high speed. The train did not blow the horn. CM has ordered an investigation into the incident: Punjab Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu at Civil Hospital on #AmritsarTrainAccident pic.twitter.com/QWE8pGY8qQ  ANI (@ANI) October 20, 2018

Sidhu, whose wife Navjot Kaur Sidhu was the chief guest at the Dusshera festival function where the tragedy took place near Jora Phatak area of Amritsar city on Friday evening, refused to talk to the media.

Sidhu met the injured and their families in the hospital and assured all possible help from the government and the local administration.

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh is expected to arrive here later on Saturday and meet the families of victims. Amarinder had on Friday night announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh each to those who died in the incident.

Over 700 people were watching the huge Ravana effigy going up in flames amid exploding crackers when the Jalandhar-Amritsar DMU passenger train coming to Amritsar from Hoshiarpur came hurtling down around 7 p.m.

It took just about 10-15 seconds for the train to pass -- and leave behind a heap of crushed and dismembered bodies.

People standing on the tracks did not realise that the train was approaching fast due to the noise of the firecrackers during the burning effigy. The police has said that the toll could go up.
By Express News Service

MUMBAI: Pune police should not take any coercive action against activist Gautam Navlakha and Dr Anand Teltumbde until October 26 in the Elgaar Partrishad case, the Bombay High Court said on Friday while hearing petitions filed by Navlakha and Teltumbde.

The two had urged the Court to quash the case against them. As their petition came up for hearing before a division bench of Justices R V More and Bharti Dangre, additional public prosecutor Aruna Kamat-Pai told the court that Navlakha was protected from arrest until October 26 by an order passed by the Supreme Court.

The bench then posted the petitions for hearing on October 26 and said, No coercive steps shall be taken till the next date of hearing.

Navlakha nad Teltumbde had urged the court to quash the First Information Report filed against them, claiming that there was no evidence against them and they were being falsely implicated. Navlakha and four others were arrested by Pune police on August 28 on charges of having links with the banned CPI (Maoist). Teltumbdes house in Goa was searched.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) meets with visiting Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, Oct. 19, 2018. (Xinhua/Li Gang)

BEIJING, Oct. 19 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday met with visiting Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu in Beijing.

Shoigu conveyed Russian President Vladimir Putin's cordial greetings to Xi while Xi expressed his thanks and asked Shoigu to convey his sincere greetings and good wishes to Putin.

Xi said that China-Russia relations have continued to maintain a high level of development and political mutual trust has reached its highest level since the beginning of this year.

"I have met with President Putin three times in the past five months, which embodies the high level of the China-Russia relationship and its distinctiveness," Xi said.

Noting that both sides value each other as their most important strategic partner of coordination and their diplomatic priority, Xi said China-Russia cooperation in various fields is fruitful and the two countries coordinate and cooperate ly with each other in international affairs, and have become a key factor and constructive force to promote world peace and stability, setting an example of major-country relations and neighborhood interaction.

Stating that 2019 will mark the 70th anniversary of China-Russia diplomatic ties, Xi said the Chinese side will work together with the Russian side to take this opportunity to strengthen comprehensive coordination and mutual support, and promote China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination to a new level, so as to better benefit the two peoples.

Xi said military ties between the two countries are an important symbol of their high-level and distinctive bilateral relations and the highlights and important support of the strategic cooperation.

Xi said, cooperation between the two militaries has been deepened continuously and positive achievements have been made in areas including joint drills, real combat training and military competition in recent years. Xi said he hoped that "both militaries can work to deal with common security threats, create a benign external environment for their respective state development and national rejuvenation, continue to improve cooperation, and provide a solid foundation for the development of China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination."

China and Russia should unswervingly deepen their strategic coordination, jointly become a bedrock for stabilizing international order and defend well their respective and common interests, Xi said. "We firmly believe that the international moral high ground and the trend of the times are on the side of peace-loving countries and people."

On his part, Shoigu said the strategic leadership of President Xi and President Putin is an important foundation for deepening Russia-China comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination.

Putin attaches great importance to developing bilateral military ties and spoke highly of coordination and cooperation between the two militaries in the recent Vostok-2018 (or East-2018) strategic drills, he said.

The Russian side is willing to work together with the Chinese side to continuously strengthen the strategic coordination, further improve military cooperation, jointly enhance their abilities to tackle all kinds of security challenges, and contribute to safeguarding the common interests of the two countries and international and regional peace and stability, Shoigu said.

Zhang Youxia, vice chairman of the Central Military Commission, also attended the meeting.
Richa Sharma By

Express News Service

NEW DELHI: Citing uncertainty over the time frame for approvals of Genetically Modified (GM) food crops in India and the countrys intellectual property rights (IPR) landscape, two US-based companies have approached a committee of the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change to delay biosafety trials for transgenic maize.

The Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) of the environment ministry reviewed the response received from Dow Agro Sciences and PHI Seeds Pvt Ltd regarding their decision to defer the conduct of 2nd year Biosafety Research Level (BRL-I) confined field trials with transgenic Maize hybrids in Punjab and Karnataka during the 2018 Kharif sowing season.

The BRL trials are required before large scale production and release of GM products into the environment.

The Committee noted that key reasons for deferment of their decision to conduct BRL-I trial of Maize was due to the uncertainties in the time frame for approval of GM food/ feed crops and the IPR landscape in India, noted the minutes of the meeting.

The Committee has directed the GEAC Secretariat to communicate to the companies that the liability on account of accidental release, leakage, theft, spillage, encroachment of genetically engineered (GE) material by any unauthorised persons, will be on the companies.

The GEAC also agreed to storage of the GE material by the company for one year only...The decision comes at a time when the ministry has deferred the release of GM Mustard while its impact on honey bees and other pollinators is being studies. Several scientists, farmer organizations, civil society groups have registered their concerns on grounds of insufficient research.
By UNI

JAMMU: Bharatiya Janata Party in Jammu was in a festive mood on Saturday as it made a clean sweep in civic polls by winning maximum 43 seats in municipal corporations and 48 seats in municipal committees.

In Municipal corporation, Independents came second by bagging 18 seats, followed by Congress party--14 seats.

In Municipal committees, Congress came second by winning four seats, followed by Independents--three seats.

Out of the 48 seats of municipal committees won by BJP, 13 seats came in women candidates kitty.

However, in some parts of the Jammu especially in old city where, BJP had committed voters, the lotus failed to bloom.

There were total 75 wards in the Jammu Municipal Corporation and seven block committees across the district.

Reports from seven districts including R S Pura, Arnia, Gho Manssan, Bishnah, Jourian, Akhnoor and Khour said that the BJP candidates swept away the maximum seats.

Deputy Commissioner Jammu Ramesh Kumar, who is also District Election Officer (DEO) said that BJP won 38 seats, 14 by Congress and 16 by independents in block committees.

In Jourian BJP won 2 seats, Congress 4 and independent one, in Gho Manassan, BJP won five, Congress two, in Bishnah BJP won six, independents 7, Arnia won six, Congress 1 and Independents 5, in Akhnoor BJP won 11, Congress 2, in Khour BJP won nine, Congress 4 and in R S pura, BJP won nine, Congress one and Independent 3.

Meanwhile the BJP supporters carrying the party flags dancing to the tunes of drums and 'dhols' celebrated the victory of the party candidates elected as corporators.

Amid slogans 'Har Har Modi, Ghar Ghar Modi', the BJP supporters held rallies with the winning candidates while they were garlanded by them.

BJP State President Ravinder Raina said "it is victory of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, it is a victory of people."

"It is a landslide victory of BJP and people gave bumper vote to the party," he said adding that there was no other party that stood in front of the BJP.

He however, also slammed the NC vice-president Omar Abdullah on boycott call, saying, "those who dare participate in polls and others sit in room and tweet."

"Lotus bloomed from Lal Chowk to Lal Qila and people have showed faith in the BJP," he asserted.

However, the Congress activists also celebrated the win of their candidates by distributing sweets and garlanding them at the counting point.

Jammu, overwhelmingly participated in the process with whooping 63.83 per cent vote to elect ward representatives for 75 municipals wards and 7 committees across the district.

In Jammu, the election was held in 153 wards of district including 75 wards of Jammu Municipal Corporation and 78 wards of seven municipal committees.

Out of total 4,00,283 voters for all 75 wards of JMC, 2,47,866 cast their votes, with overall percentage of 61.92.

Similarly, out of total 41,352 for seven municipal committees, 34,023 with 83.21 percent voters cast their votes to elect ward representatives from 78 wards of seven municipal committees.

There were in all 447 candidates in fray, including 75 from BJP, 74 of Congress, 274 independent, 23 of Panthers Party and one from Nationalist Congress Party.

The last ULB elections were held during the period of Mufti Mohammad Sayeed led Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Congress coalition government in 2005.

Earlier, BJP in Jammu had won historic 25 seats in 2014 state assembly elections.
By UNI

SRINAGAR: The Congress has won 18 wards in Ladakh region, where Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) failed to make inroad in the Urban Local Bodies (ULB) elections held earlier this month.

The Congress made a clean sweep by winning all the 13 wards in Leh Municipal Committee (LMC) while it bagged five seats in Kargil Municipal Committee (KMC), where eight wards have gone to Independent (IND) candidates.

Officials told UNI that all the 13 Congress candidates, contesting ULB polls for LMC, were declared winners.

They said that the BJP failed to open its account in the LMC.

"In Kargil, out of 13 wards, Congress won five while eight were bagged by independent candidates," they said, adding BJP failed to to open account in Kargil as well.

Independent candidates will hold the key in electing the chairman in KMC.

The Ladakh Parliamentary constituency is represented by BJP's Thupstan Chhewang in the Lok Sabha.

However, the Congress won three of the four Assembly seats in Ladakh region during the state elections held in 2014.

The other Assembly constituency is represented by an independent MLA.

The elections did not see participation by two main regional parties, National Conference (NC) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) besides Communist Party of India (M), who boycotted the ULB polls in Jammu and Kashmir, alleging that state and Central governments failed to clear their stand on Article 35 A.
Namita Bajpai By

Express News Service

LUCKNOW: A Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) corporator in Meerut was arrested on Saturday for allegedly thrashing a sub-inspector at a restaurant after an altercation over delayed service. An FIR was filed against the corporator, Manish Chaudhary, following the incident in which he was accused of beating up Mohiuddinpur police outpost in-charge Sukhpal Singh Panwar when the latter was at the Black Pepper restaurant, owned by the former. A video of the incident could be found on social media.

According to local police, Panwar, who could be seen in his uniform in the video, visited the restaurant for dinner on Friday night in an inebriated condition and was accompanied by a woman, who is a city-based lawyer. An argument ensued when Panwars friend allegedly heckled the staff for quicker service and then allegedly snatched Panwars service pistol and trained it at the waiter.

As Chaudhary reached the spot and intervened, confronting the lawyer, the S-I intervened following which, the corporator slapped him and pushed him to the ground, said Additional Director General, Meerut zone, Prashant Kumar.

The situation then turned into a full-blown fracas. The late night brawl, however, caught the district police administration unawares as they were busy with security arrangements for the Dusshera festival.Chaudhary was detained police after the police reached the restaurant and took statements from Panwar, his friend and the restaurants staff.

#WATCH: BJP Councillor Manish thrashes a Sub-Inspector who came to his (Manish's) hotel with a lady lawyer and got into an argument with a waiter. The councillor has been arrested. (19.10.18) (Note- Strong Language) pic.twitter.com/aouSxyztSa

 ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) October 20, 2018

Manish Chaudhary was arrested under non-bailable offences, will be produced before the court on Saturday. His supporters came to the police station to protest, we showed them evidence... The S-I is definitely at fault for he shouldnt have been there in the 1st place. The probe is on, said Superintendent of Police (City) Ravinder Singh.Meanwhile, Panwar was sent for a medical examination and was relieved of duty pending an investigation into the matter.

Dusshera night brawl

Sub-inspector Panwar visited Chaudharys restaurant on Friday night, accompanied by a woman, who is a city-based lawyer. An argument ensued with the staff over delay in service and Chaudhary then reportedly slapped and pushed Panwar.
Avay Shukla By

A disturbing characteristic of the present government is its almost complete neglect of the natural environment: It appears to subscribe to the universally discredited theory that developing countries cannot afford the luxury of conservation, and so ease of doing business gets priority over protecting the environment. The policy has left us stranded midstream: We still languish at the 100th rank in the Ease of Doing Business, while on the Protection of Environment Index we have slipped to an abysmal 155 out of 178 countries. Meanwhile, it is estimated that environmental degradation costs the country at least 3.5 per cent of GDP and leads to thousands of deaths every year.

The pillaging of the Western Ghats (and its consequences in Kerala) is just the latest example. Over the last four years the four pillars of the regulatory edificethe Environment Protection Act, Forest Conservation Act, Wildlife Protection Act and Forest Rights Acthave been systematically hollowed out and diluted to permit greater exploitation of natural resources. The Expert Appraisal Committee of the Ministry of Environment & Forests (MoEF) has been packed with bureaucrats at the cost of conservationists and scientists, and it has virtually become a rubber stamp of the political executive.

It has allowed highways, railways and river-linking projects to ram their way through national parks and tiger reserves like Panna in MP, where 5,803 hectares of prime tiger habitat will be diverted for non-forest use. Hydel projects continue to be sanctioned in river basins in Himachal and Arunachal without comprehensive basin level environmental impact assessments (EIA). Coal mining is being allowed in hitherto no-go areas, again without EIAs.

Nearly 40,000 trees will be felled for the wholly unnecessary Char Dham Highway in Uttarakhand, notwithstanding the Kedarnath tragedy in 2013. Nearly 18 lakh trees will be slaughtered for the Ken-Betwa river-linking project, which is being pushed through with no scientific study on the effects of such large water transfers from one river basin to another. Mumbai drowns in floods every year, and yet the Navi Mumbai airport is being constructed on the floodplains of a river, by artificially raising the ground level by five metres of landfill: Where on earth will the waters go? Thousands of farmers, marginalised sections and tribals continue to get displaced as a result, adding to the 60 million displaced since Independence. The Forest Rights Act has been diluted to avoid taking community consent for transfer of such lands for most projects. In a hurry to push GM crops, the GEAC (Genetic Engineering Approval Committee) of the MoEF, earlier this year, even relaxed a vital clause requiring microflora studies before release of a GM mustard variety, a condition imposed by this same committee earlier!

The only ray of hope in this dismal scenario is the judiciary: the Supreme Court, NGT and High Courts. They, at least, have realised that this way lies certain disaster and they have started to fill this vacuum, acting on PILs or even suo moto in a welcome effort to put the brakes on a rampaging executive. As the latter becomes more ruthless the judicial verdicts too are now coming with increasing rapidity. It would make interesting reading to mention a few of these, over just the last couple of years: admission of a petition challenging the Char Dham Highway (NGT), ban on use of forest rest-houses and other infrastructure for commercial activities (SC), removal of encroachments from forest lands (Himachal HC), ban on commercial activities on the Rohtang Pass and restricting the number of vehicles going there (NGT), restraining the government from further reducing the ESA (environmentally sensitive areas) of the Western Ghats as recommended by the Kasturirangan Committee (NGT) (the Karnataka government has already announced that it will oppose any ESA), disallowing night camping on alpine pastures (Uttarakhand HC), staying the felling of 16,000 trees for new residential projects in Delhi (Delhi HC), prohibiting sale of firecrackers in Delhi (SC), declaring the Ganga as a living entity with full natural rights (Uttarakhand HC).

In addition to these one-off orders, the higher courts have also initiated suo moto action on, and are constantly monitoring government action and compliance on, an exhaustive list of environmental issues such as damage to the Taj Mahal by atmospheric pollution, stubble burning by farmers, garbage and solid waste disposal by cities, industrial and sewage contamination of major rivers like the Ganga and the Yamuna, upgradation of fuel quality for vehicles, and so on. In what appears to reflect very poorly on the executive, the NGT recently even had to ask the DGCA to prohibit airlines from dumping human waste from the skies, and to impose a fine of Rs 50,000 on violators!

Each and every issue that has been mentioned above falls squarely in the executives domain, or that of the legislature, and should have been addressed by them. They all seriously impinge on the health of the natural environment and ultimately on the health and quality of life of the citizens. Governments, however, lack the vision, political will or administrative commitment to take the stringent, and sometimes unpopular, actions needed to address them. They are also hostage to business interests of various sectors: tourism, hospitality, mining, power, transport, construction, to name just a few. Short-term populism and rent-seeking also play a big role in governments abdicating their responsibility.

The tragic fact is that conservation of the environment is a long-term investment in which neither the politician nor the bureaucracy is interested. This is the age of instant gratification, of winning the next election. In this dismal scenario we need to be thankful for the  judicial overreach which is at least attempting, against heavy odds, to pass on a living planet to the coming generations. More strength to our higher judiciary.

Avay Shukla served in the IAS for 35 years and retired as Additional Chief Secretary of Himachal Pradesh

Email: avayshukla@gmail.com
By Express News Service

VIJAYAWADA: Employees Union (EU) delegates met Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Friday and recommended taking immediate steps to address the demands of Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) employees.

A total list of 18 demands were submitted to the Chief Minister. The union appealed to the State government to fulfill the demands of APSRTC employees, including raising retirement age to 60 years, paying the salaries due since April 2017, granting jobs based on educational qualification to the kin of deceased employees, annual allotment of Rs 15,000 crore from the budget to APSRTC, converting the job status of 1,500 workers from contract to permanent basis, not transferring the workshop for Ghat Road maintenance from Tirupati to Nellore and allowing APSRTC to manufacture tyres.

RTC staff demands

A total of 18 demands were submitted to the Chief Minister. The union appealed to the State government to fulfill the demands of APSRTC employees
K Shiva Kumar By

Express News Service

MYSURU: Lakhs of people witnessed the grand spectacle of world-famous Jamboo Savari to mark the grand final of Vijayadashami procession. Hit by drought and Cauvery issue in the previous year, the Dasara festivities were scaled up to promote tourism in a big way by holding the biggest cultural extravaganza in a grand manner. Despite, apprehensions that the dark clouds may open up, people braved scorching sun and made a beeline to Mysore Palace and congregated on the New Sayyaji Rao Road to witness the procession and also have the glimpse of presiding deity Chamundeshwari.

ALSO READ | Mysuru royals cancel Dasara celebrations after Pramoda Devi Wodeyar's mother dies at 98

Though, the royal family that suffered twin shocks with the demise of Puttachinammanni, mother of Pramodha Devi Wadiyar in the morning and Vishalakshi Devi, sister of Srikantadutta Narashimaraja Wadiyar in the afternoon, the government continued its programmes and Vijayadashmi procession.

However, the rituals including Vijayadasahmi procession to Somaneshwara temple inside the palace and Vajra Mushti Kalaga that was suppose to be held in courtyard of Amba Vilas palace was cancelled. Yaduveer Krishnadutta Chamaraja Wadiyar stayed away from the celebration and could not join Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy to offer floral tributes.

Meanwhile, the JD(S) stole the limelight of Dasara celebrations as the local Congress men stayed away from the festivities. Kumaraswamy, along with family members, and JD(S) Ministers reached the venue in Airavat bus and joined Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara to offer Nandhi Dawaja puja in Kumbha Lagna at the Balarama gate of palace at 2.45 pm.Kumaraswamy flagged off the colourful procession in which more than 3,000 artistes in 42 troupes participated.

The folk artists performance and tableaux kept both foreign and domestic tourists on toes clicking pictures and selfies on New Sayyaji Rao road with a sea of people who were waiting since morning to enjoy the carnival.For the first time, the Jamboo Savari procession was stopped for some time when the officials brought in howdah elephant Arjuna carrying golden howdah to offer floral tributes to presiding deity Chamundeshwari at 4.10 pm.
By Express News Service

MYSURU/ BENGALURU: Twin tragedies struck the Mysuru royal family on Friday with the demise of Puttachinnammani (98), mother of Rajmatha Pramoda Devi Wadiyar in the morning and Vishalakshi Devi (56), sister of the late scion Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wadiyar later in the evening.

The deaths cast a shadow on the Dasara celebrations and Vijayadashmi rituals conducted by the family on Friday. On the advice of the palace priests, the family members stayed away from Vijayadashami Jamboo Savari procession and the current scion Yaduveer Krishna Dutta Chamaraja Wadiyar did not join Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy in offering floral tributes to the idol of Goddess Chamundeshwari on the golden howdah.

The Vajra Mushti Kalaga, which was supposed to be held in the courtyard of Amba Vilas palace in the presence of the family members, was also cancelled.

Yaduveer also removed the kankana (sacred thread) that confines him to the Mysore palace during Navarathri festivities. Later, the family left for Puttachinnammanis residence in Lakshmipuram.

Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy consoled the deaths, but however said the Dasara festivities will go ahead without any change.

He thanked the royal family for their cooperation in conducting the 10-day-long festivities.

Puttachinnammani passed away after a prolonged illness. She was being treated at a private hospital in Mysuru for thepast few days for age-related ailments. Vishalakshi Devi, who was admitted to a private hospital in Bengaluru, died of multi-organ failure on Friday evening.
By Express News Service

BENGALURU: After12 years, friends-turned-political rivals JD (S) supremo HD Deve Gowda and Congress leader Siddaramaiah came together to address a joint press conference on Saturday urging their party cadre to work unitedly to defeat the BJP in November 3 bypolls to three Lok Sabha and two assembly seats in Karnataka.

"We have decided to bury all differences and work together to defeat communal forces in the country," former PM Deve Gowda said while addressing a joint press conference with Siddaramaiah and other Congress leaders. "We have committed mistakes in the past and we will appeal people to pardon us for our mistakes as we have decided to make a fresh start to protect the country from communal forces," Gowda said.



Admitting that in many constituencies the party workers are still not comfortable with the JD (S) and the Congress alliance, Gowda said they are confident of convincing workers from both the parties of the need for unity among secular forces. "This is the new beginning. We will go before people together and that would create a new atmosphere in the state," he added.



Former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said the Congress and the JD(S) workers will work together to ensure that secular votes are not split. "Division of secular votes will help communal forces and we have come together to avoid such a situation," he said.



Senior leaders from the Congress and the JD(S) will campaign together during the bypolls. Of the five seats, the JD(S) candidate are contesting from two Lok Sabha and one assembly segment, while the Congress is contesting from remaining two seats.



"We will win all five seats including three Lok Sabha seats and this is a foundation for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. We have already decided to face the 2019 general elections together and win all 28 seats in the state," Siddaramaiah added.



Show of unity among the top leaders is intended to bring workers together as Congress is facing discontent from its local leaders, especially in the constituencies where it is supporting its alliance partner JD (S). Both Congress and JD(S) leaders hope that joint press conference and campaigning by Deve Gowda and Siddaramaiah will help to unite workers at grassroots levels.



Though the Congress and the JD (S) formed a coalition government in the state after recent assembly elections, Gowda and Siddaramaiah had not come together on a single platform or addressed a joint press conference. Siddaramaia had left Janata Dal led by Gowda in 2006 and joined the Congress.
By PTI

PUDUCHERRY: Chief Minister V Narayanasamy Friday said he has written to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh seeking a probe into "unauthorised" mobilisation of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funds by Puducherry Lt Governor Kiran Bedi for desilting lakes.

Though it was not wrong to appeal to the private organisations for funds under the CSR, it was "highly objectionable" that the office of Lt Governor was receiving the funds for the projects without knowledge of the PWD minister, he told reporters here.

"Neither the PWD Minister nor the department Secretary and other officials are aware of assigning of the desilting work without calling for tenders..., Narayanasamy, who has been at loggerheads with the Lt Governor on several issues, alleged.

The chief minister, who returned from Delhi Thursday, said he submitted the letter demanding the probe at the office of Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh as he could not meet him.

Narayanasamy has earlier this week sought a judicial probe into the issue but Bedi has dismissed as "wild allegations" the claims and asserted that the Raj Nivas was not involved in any financial transanction.

Puducherry Chief Minister V Narayanasamy (File | PTI)

Friday, he accused two officials in the Lt Governor's office of contacting managements of private colleges and industrial houses seeking CSR funds.

Alleging violation of procedures and skipping of the CSR Committee formed in 2011 under the chairmanship of the Chief Minister, he said it gave rise to `genuine suspicion` that there were serious irregularities in mobilising the funds.

The AIADMK here too has urged the central government to order a probe into the charges over the CSR funds, accusing Bedi of misusing her authority.
BEIJING, Oct. 19 (Xinhua) -- A recent comment from U.S. Vice President Mike Pence on the Taiwan issue, part of an aggressive speech against China, was illogical and absurd, and sent the wrong signal to separatists in Taiwan.

In a speech on Oct. 4, Pence accused China of threatening the stability of the Strait by establishing diplomatic relations with three Latin American countries.

His comment was an attempt to cause trouble concerning China's core interest, raising reasonable doubt about the intentions of the United States.

It was based on the one-China principle that Chinese and U.S. leaders managed to normalize bilateral relations in the 1970s. In the following decades, the one-China principle has become a common understanding of the international community.

However, today when other countries establish diplomatic ties with China based on the one-China principle, Washington throws around accusations instead, a typical example of applying double standards and playing power politics.

Latin American countries, taking account of their own long-term interests and people's welfare, decided to develop normal and stable bilateral relations with China, complying with the mainstream of the international community.

The Latin American countries and China made the decisions independently based on their own interests. The United States has no rights to point fingers and meddle in other countries' domestic affairs.

Since 2016, the achievements of peaceful development of cross-Strait relations have been challenged by the current Taiwan authority who refuses to acknowledge the 1992 Consensus. But the Chinese mainland has not given up the efforts to promote cross-Strait exchanges and advance the welfare of Taiwan compatriots.

Preferential policies, including one that allows Taiwan residents to apply for resident permits on the mainland, have facilitated their work, study and life on the mainland and allowed them to share the benefits of the mainland's economic development.

Inspired by the vision of a community with a shared future for the two sides of the Strait, people on both sides have carried on economic and social integration and exchanges, with more and more young people coming to the mainland for personal and career development, despite the chill political atmosphere.

The United States has chosen to ignore all these facts and brought up groundless and unwarranted accusations against the mainland.

Since it took power, Taiwan's DPP administration has wantonly overthrown the political foundation of cross-Strait relations, supported and connived at attempts for "Taiwan independence," sharply restricted and reduced cross-Strait exchanges, as well as threatened and obstructed Taiwan residents from coming to the mainland.

It has also sought foreign intervention in cross-Strait affairs and repeatedly trumpeted "Taiwan independence" in the international community.

The DPP's acts have undermined the achievements in the peaceful development of cross-Strait relations.

Fraught with the "two Chinas" separatist fallacy and confrontational thinking, the recent speech by Taiwan's leader exposed the evil intention to contain the mainland in collaboration with anti-China forces in the West.

The DPP's behaviors, long indulged by Washington, are the biggest threat to cross-Strait peace and stability. Pence's bald-faced challenge to the one-China principle sent another wrong signal to the DPP.

The Taiwan issue bears on China's sovereignty and territorial integrity, and remains the most important and sensitive issue in China-U.S. relations.

The U.S. side should have abided by the one-China principle and the three China-U.S. joint communiques, prudently and properly handled Taiwan-related issues, and worked with China in opposing and restraining "Taiwan independence" forces, bearing in mind the larger picture of China-U.S. relations as well as maintaining peace and stability across the Strait.

Instead, since taking office, the current U.S. administration has constantly used Taiwan as a bargaining chip to contain China.

It intensified arms sales to Taiwan. The U.S. National Defense Authorization Act for the fiscal year 2019 even includes clauses to strengthen Taiwan's force readiness, and expand joint drills, arms sales and high-level military exchanges.

All the moves showed how the U.S. side has tried to manipulate the situation across the Strait and subjected the interests and wellbeing of Chinese people on both sides to its domestic politics. In essence, it shows a cold-war mentality, arrant egoism, and hegemony.

The world needs sound, steady, and sustainable China-U.S. relations. U.S. politicians should play a constructive role in this relations, instead of being a troublemaker for cross-Strait peace and stability.
S Kumaresan By

Express News Service

CHENNAI: Kamal Haasans invitation for an alliance with Congress has been termed by political observers an attempt to break the DMK-Congress alliance. The actor-turned-politician said last week that his party was ready to ally with Congress in the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls, if the party breaks away from DMK.

VCK general secretary D Ravikumars twitter post was perhaps the sharpest. To break DMK-Congress alliance was one of the wishes of BJP. Why @ikamalhaasan (Haasans twitter handle) is endorsing it? When queried by Express, Ravikumar explained that it is highly ambitious for Haasan to expect Congress to break alliance with a party like DMK and join with his party which has not contested an election. DMK has established a vote bank of 30 to 35 per cent and surveys point that the party will get most seats in the coming polls. Kamal Haasan is yet to contest an election and even he does not know his own strength, he said. A few observers said Congress coming out of the DMK alliance can lead to weakening of the DMK, more than Congress. DMK would need only a narrow margin to win in several seats. If they lose the Congress votes, they may lose a good number of seats. Kamals move seems to be aimed at weakening the DMK, Azhi Senthilnathan, a political observer, told Express.

A section in Congress wondered how Haasan thought he could impose preconditions. Even Vijayakant placed preconditions only after he proved his vote base. Our State president S Thirunavukkarasar has also made it clear that Kamal should not be putting any conditions before he proves his strength, said G K Muralidharan, general secretary of the farmers wing of Congress.
SV Krishna Chaitanya By

Express News Service

CHENNAI: Following a Supreme Court directive, State government has constituted a ten-member sub-committee to oversee the preparedness in relation to disaster management of the 130-year-old Mullaiperiyar dam, which has been a cause of constant tussle between Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

The panel has been set up under Disaster Management Act and will be headed by SK Prabhakar, Principal Secretary, Public Works Department (PWD). An official notification has been published in the Tamil Nadu Government Gazette. The convener of the committee would be Executive Engineer of Water Resources Department, Periyar Dam Special Division, Cumbum.

Official sources told Express that as per the Supreme Court order both Kerala and Tamil Nadu have to prepare two separate sub-committees. Already, there is a committee headed by the chairman of Central Water Commission and engineers-in-chief of Tamil Nadu and Kerala for proper reservoir management in Mullaiperiyar dam. It was formed by National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC) and these two sub-committees will coordinate with it for better disaster management.

The State-constituted sub-committee also includes Theni collector, revenue officer, chief engineer of Water Resources Department of Madurai region, superintending engineer of Periyar Vaigai Basin Circle, representatives from police, forest department, health and fire services as members.

Post catastrophic Kerala floods, the Kerala government in its affidavit before the Supreme Court blamed sudden release from Mullaiperiyar dam for the situation to worsen.

State (Kerala) was managing the spate by controlling spill and letting a major portion of the flood waters to escape to the sea. This was done by implementing a strict operational control over the spill of the two largest reservoir systems of Idukki and Idamalayar in synchronisation with eight small other reservoir systems in the above basin. The sudden release from Mullaiperiyar Dam, which is the third largest reservoir in Periyar basin, forced the Kerala government to release more water from Idukki reservoir, which is one of the main causes of the deluge, the affidavit reads. However, Tamil Nadu has vehemently contested the claim.

S Asokan, Chief Engineer (operations and maintenance), Dam Safety Directorate, told Express that the exact scope of sub-committee is yet to be formulated. The committee will be meeting shortly.

Meanwhile, the State government is preparing Emergency Action Plan (EAP) for each dam in line with the guidelines issued by Central Water Commission (CWC). The purpose of Emergency Action Plan is to identify emergency situations that could threaten dam and to plan for an expedited, effective response to prevent failure of the dam and warn downstream residents of impending danger.

As part of the ongoing Dam Rehabilitation and Improvement Project (DRIP) under the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, EAP is being prepared for 89 dams, of which 69 are operated by Tamil Nadu Water Resources Department and 20 by Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation Limited (TANGEDCO).
Donita Jose By

Express News Service

HYDERABAD: Rajeshwari (name changed) a Dalit girl from Abdullapurmet was only 22 when she was forced to take up work in a sweet shop to provide financial assistance to her family. Her work-timings, which were initially set at an hour per day, gradually extended to 4-5 hours.

Soon, her employers began expecting her to perform domestic work in their homes. In one such visit to her employers house, the employers friend forced himself on her. Despite her resistance, what followed was repeated attempts of molestation and rape which made her increasingly sick. Frightened to tell her step-mother about it, she quit her job. Months later, as it became apparent that she was pregnant, her mother learnt about the sequence of events that had played out and filed a complaint at the Hayatnagar police station. It took a month for the police to register a case.

As the #MeToo movement grips the nation, the stories of many women from the Dalit, Bahujan and Adivasi (DBA) communities reveal how caste and gender has made them more susceptible to workplace harassment, say activists. Illustrating the same with the story of Rajeshwari, Jhansi Geddam, National Convenor of Dalit Sthree Sakthi says, For Dalit women, workplace harassment is a part and parcel of life. They often dont even find the support within their families and cant opt out of work also due to financial constraints.

If they do manage to come out of the restrictions placed by their families and seek justice, experts say that most often they will be denied that right as they approach the police. When they go to the police station, their appearance and their caste ensure that their stories wont be taken seriously. In this case, despite it being a clear case of rape, it took over a month and our intervention to get the case registered, adds Daniel Prakash, an activist.

The delay in filing cases also leads to problems in investigation as scientific evidence of abuse may be lost. In this case since she was pregnant we could do something. We had to get the DNA tests done, which these women alone would never be able to, said Daniel.

Though Rajeshwari managed to have her perpetrators arrested under Section 376, 109 and SC/ST POA Act, several DBA women fail to get that as well. We have gotten at least 250 major cases of abuse on Dalit women last year from the twin states who were denied justice. For them to say #MeToo without fear, it would take a long time, added Jhansi.
By Express News Service

HYDERABAD: A week after holding discussions with BJP national president Amit Shah, founder of Kakinada-based Sri Peetham, Swami Paripoornananda has formally embraced the saffron party and joined the BJP to start his political endeavour on Friday.I am a karma yogi and will be a karma chari for the party. I have joined the party to only work and spread the BJP ideology to any corner of the country. There are no expectations with which I have joined the party, Paripoornananda said while addressing a media conference from New Delhi.

As a sadhu, I am not tied down to anything and have committed myself to educate and live a religious life. I need nothing and with that intention, I will work for the party from now on, he added. Realising the auspicious occasion of Vijaya Dasami, the seer, after holding meetings with BJP national general secretary Ram Madhav during the day, joined the party in the presence of party president Amit Shah in New Delhi by the evening.

ALSO READ | Does BJP see another Yogi Adityanath in Swami Paripoornananda?

Paripoornananda has been offered a primary membership to the BJP Telangana state unit. It can be read that he would be considered for contesting the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. His activities, at present, will be restricted to campaigning in Telangana for the upcoming elections. Swamiji will be an inspiration to the party. He will bring the needed energy and direction to the party in election campaigning. We will utilise his services that are required for anywhere in India but, it would be much utilised for the elections in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, announced Shah at the conference.

Dubbed to be the Yogi Adityanath of Telangana, Paripoornananda is set to ensure the party promotes its Hindutva linings in Telangana and cement its Hindu vote bank. His entry will also be a breather to the saffron party, especially, at a time when it looks to counter the AIMIM and the Congress party after its party president launched a slugfest against them for safeguarding the rights of infiltrators as part of its ongoing election campaign.
V V Balakrishna By

Express News Service

HYDERABAD: The upcoming Assembly elections has trained the spotlight on the future leadership of TRS, with KT Rama Rao increasingly being seen as the ideal successor to party supremo K Chandrasekhar Rao. Going by the recent developments in the TRS, the heir apparent is slowly, but steadily taking centre stage in the partys activities.

Political experts Express spoke to believe the forthcoming elections are being used as a tool to send the message across to the partys rank and file and the general public that caretaker IT Minister KT Rama Rao will head the party after his father K Chandrasekhar Raos time. The leaders will be the only two from the TRS to take up a state-wide campaign for the party: Both beginning their rallies from either corners of Telangana.

According to party insiders, the ruling TRS, which is confident of retaining power in the State, is using the forthcoming polls as an opportunity to promote Rama Rao and the son-rise will begin with electioneering. It may be recalled that the pink party rewrote history in the GHMC polls during which Rama Rao was given full charge by capturing a huge number of seats.

The Kalvakuntla family is hopeful that the TRS scion will work his magic once again. According to sources, all other senior leaders and ministers including Irrigation Minister T Harish Rao and Kalvakuntla Kavitha have been asked to confine their rallies to their respective constituencies. Promoting Rama Rao has not been without incident, especially after the party unveiled its list of 105 Assembly candidates, but the TRS scion has successfully quelled the disquiet within the party.

Recently, Rama Rao held a meeting with caretaker deputy chief minister K Srihari and Station Ghanpur nominee T Rajaiah, making it very clear there would be no change in candidates. The discussion resulted in Srihari falling in line with the partys decision and campaigning for TRS candidates in erstwhile Warangal district. All the partys major works are being routed through Rama Rao already. In a nutshell, KTR has established whos the boss in TRS.

Calling the shots

Rama Rao recently held a meeting with caretaker deputy CM K Srihari and Station Ghanpur candidate T Rajaiah, making it clear there would be no change in candidates. Srihari soon fell in line and began rallying

Focus areas

K Kavitha has been asked to campaign in 7 Assembly segments under her constituency, Nizamabad, and also focus on Bodhan and Jagtial, where TRS picks are likely to face tough fights
By Express News Service

HYDERABAD: A week after holding discussions with BJP national president Amit Shah, founder of Kakinada-based Sri Peetham, Swami Paripoornananda has formally joined the BJP on Friday.

I am a karma yogi and will be a karma chari for the party. I have joined the party only to work and spread the BJPs ideology, Paripoornananda said while addressing a media conference from New Delhi.

As a sadhu, I am not tied down to anything and have committed myself to educate and live a religious life. I need nothing and with that intention, I will work for the party from now on, he added.

Realising the auspicious occasion of Vijaya Dasami, the seer, after holding meetings with BJP national general secretary Ram Madhav during the day, joined the party in the presence of party president Amit Shah in the national capital by the evening.

Paripoornananda has been offered primary membership of the BJPs Telangana unit. It can be read that he would be considered for contesting the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.His activities, at present, will be restricted to campaigning in Telangana for the upcoming Assembly elections. Swamiji will be an inspiration to the party. He will bring the needed energy and direction to the party in election campaigning. We will utilise his services that are required for anywhere in India but, it would be much utilised for the elections in Telangana and AP, announced Shah.
By Associated Press

KABUL: Tens of thousands of Afghan forces fanned out across the country as voting began Saturday in parliamentary elections that followed a campaign marred by relentless violence.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani marked his ballot at the start of voting.

In a televised speech afterwards, he congratulated Afghans on another election and praised the security forces, particularly the air force, for getting ballots to Afghanistan's remotest corners.

He also reminded those elected to Parliament that they are there to serve the people and ensure the rule of law.

ALSO READ | Afghanistan delays elections in Kandahar after Taliban attack

The Independent Election Commission registered 8.8 million people.

Wasima Badghisy, a commission member, called voters "very, very brave" and said a turnout of 5 million will be a success.

At a polling station in crowded west Kabul, Khoda Baksh said he arrived nearly two hours early to cast his vote, dismissing Taliban threats of violence.

"We don't care about their threats. The Taliban are threatening us all the time," said 55-year-old Baksh, who said he wanted to see a new generation of politicians take power in Afghanistan's 249-seat Parliament.

He bemoaned the current Parliament dominated by warlords and a corrupt elite. "They have done zero for us."

ALSO READ | Afghan national polls: Pakistan closes two border gates ahead of elections

In the run-up to the elections, two candidates were killed while polling in Kandahar was delayed for a week after a rogue guard gunned down the powerful provincial police chief, Gen Abdul Raziq.

In the capital of Kabul, security was tight, with police and military personnel stopping vehicles at dozens of checkpoints throughout the congested city.

Commission deputy spokesman Aziz Ibrahimi said results of Saturday's voting will not be released before mid-November and final results will not be out until later in December.

More than 50,000 Afghan National Security Forces personnel have been deployed to protect the 21,000 polling stations.

Insecurity forced the election commission to close nearly a third of its polling centers and cancel elections in 11 of nearly 400 districts.

As well as Kandahar, elections will not be held in Ghazni province, where polls have been postponed until next year.

The Taliban have vowed to disrupt Saturday's vote, warning teachers and students not to allow schools to be used for as precincts and warning Afghans to stay away from the polls.

Ghani said Afghans alone are carrying out elections as he praised the millions of voters who registered, defying threats from insurgents.

"I thank you from the bottom of my heart," he said.

"The more than 8 million people who registered have shown that they themselves will decide the future of Afghanistan."
By UNI

NEW DELHI: Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Saturday condoled the tragic death of a large number of people in the Amritsar train accident.

''Saddened to learn of the tragic train accident in Amritsar India. Condolences go to the families of the deceased'', the Pakistan premier tweeted. Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin also offered condolences to President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the train accident that claimed over 60 lives on Friday evening.

"I offer my deepest sympathies over tragic consequences of an accident on railways in the Punjab state. I ask to convey my words of sympathy and support to families and friends of the killed people and to wish the soonest recovery to those injured,'' said the Russian President.

More than 61 people lost their lives while 72 were injured on Friday evening when they were at a Dussehra celebration witnessing the burning of Ravana's effigy near Amritsar.

The accident occurred near the Joda Phatak as the festival revellers were on the railway track and could not hear the train coming.
By PTI

TOKYO: European and Japanese space agencies said an Ariane 5 rocket successfully lifted a spacecraft carrying two probes into orbit Saturday for a joint mission to Mercury, the closest planet to the sun.

The European Space Agency and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency said the unmanned BepiColombo spacecraft successfully separated and was sent into orbit from French Guiana as planned to begin a seven-year journey to Mercury.

They said the spacecraft, named after Italian scientist Giuseppe "Bepi" Colombo, was in the right orbit and has sent the first signal after the liftoff.

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ESA says the 1.3 billion-euro (USD 1.5 billion) mission is one of the most challenging in its history.

Mercury's extreme temperatures, the intense gravity pull of the sun and blistering solar radiation make for hellish conditions.

The only other spacecraft to visit Mercury was NASA's Mariner 10 that flew past the planet in the mid-1970s. ( Photo | AP)

The BepiColombo spacecraft will have to follow an elliptical path that involves a fly-by of Earth, two of Venus and six of Mercury itself so it can slow down before arriving at its destination in December 2025.

When it arrives, BepiColombo will release two probes Bepi and Mio that will independently investigate the surface and magnetic field of Mercury.

The probes are designed to cope with temperatures varying from 430 degrees Celsius (806 F) on the side facing the sun, and -180 degrees Celsius (-292 F) in Mercury's shadow.

The ESA-developed Bepi will operate in Mercury's inner orbit, and JAXA's Mio will be in the outer orbit to gather data that would reveal the internal structure of the planet, its surface and geological evolution.

Scientists hope to build on the insights gained by NASA's Messenger probe, which ended its mission in 2015 after a four-year orbit of Mercury.

The only other spacecraft to visit Mercury was NASA's Mariner 10 that flew past the planet in the mid-1970s.

Mercury, which is only slightly larger than Earth's moon, has a massive iron core about which little is known.

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Researchers are also hoping to learn more about the formation of the solar system from the data gathered by the BepiColombo mission.

"Beyond completing the challenging journey, this mission will return a huge bounty of science," said Jan Worner, ESA Director General, in a statement.

JAXA President Hiroshi Yamakawa, who earlier managed the project, said, "We have high expectations that the ensuing detailed observations of Mercury will help us better understand the environment of the planet, and ultimately, the origin of the Solar System including that of Earth."

It is the second recent cooperation between the Europeans and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. JAXA's Hayabusa2 probe dropped a German-French rover on the asteroid Ryugu earlier this month.